by Walter Scott 33 страница

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" Go thou, " said Nathan Ben Israel, " and be wise, for wisdom availed

Daniel in the den of lions into which he was cast; and may it go well

with thee, even as thine heart wisheth. Yet, if thou canst, keep thee

from the presence of the Grand Master, for to do foul scorn to our

people is his morning and evening delight. It may be if thou couldst

speak with Bois-Guilbert in private, thou shalt the better prevail with

him; for men say that these accursed Nazarenes are not of one mind in

the Preceptory--May their counsels be confounded and brought to shame!

But do thou, brother, return to me as if it were to the house of thy

father, and bring me word how it has sped with thee; and well do I hope

thou wilt bring with thee Rebecca, even the scholar of the wise Miriam,

whose cures the Gentiles slandered as if they had been wrought by

necromancy. "

Isaac accordingly bade his friend farewell, and about an hour's riding

brought him before the Preceptory of Templestowe.

This establishment of the Templars was seated amidst fair meadows and

pastures, which the devotion of the former Preceptor had bestowed upon

their Order. It was strong and well fortified, a point never neglected

by these knights, and which the disordered state of England rendered

peculiarly necessary. Two halberdiers, clad in black, guarded the

drawbridge, and others, in the same sad livery, glided to and fro upon

the walls with a funereal pace, resembling spectres more than soldiers.

The inferior officers of the Order were thus dressed, ever since their

use of white garments, similar to those of the knights and esquires, had

given rise to a combination of certain false brethren in the mountains

of Palestine, terming themselves Templars, and bringing great dishonour

on the Order. A knight was now and then seen to cross the court in his

long white cloak, his head depressed on his breast, and his arms folded.

They passed each other, if they chanced to meet, with a slow, solemn,

and mute greeting; for such was the rule of their Order, quoting

thereupon the holy texts, " In many words thou shalt not avoid sin, " and

" Life and death are in the power of the tongue. " In a word, the

stern ascetic rigour of the Temple discipline, which had been so long

exchanged for prodigal and licentious indulgence, seemed at once to have

revived at Templestowe under the severe eye of Lucas Beaumanoir.

Isaac paused at the gate, to consider how he might seek entrance in the

manner most likely to bespeak favour; for he was well aware, that to his

unhappy race the reviving fanaticism of the Order was not less dangerous

than their unprincipled licentiousness; and that his religion would be

the object of hate and persecution in the one case, as his wealth

would have exposed him in the other to the extortions of unrelenting

oppression.

Meantime Lucas Beaumanoir walked in a small garden belonging to the

Preceptory, included within the precincts of its exterior fortification,

and held sad and confidential communication with a brother of his Order,

who had come in his company from Palestine.

The Grand Master was a man advanced in age, as was testified by his long

grey beard, and the shaggy grey eyebrows overhanging eyes, of which,

however, years had been unable to quench the fire. A formidable warrior,

his thin and severe features retained the soldier's fierceness of

expression; an ascetic bigot, they were no less marked by the emaciation

of abstinence, and the spiritual pride of the self-satisfied devotee.

Yet with these severer traits of physiognomy, there was mixed somewhat

striking and noble, arising, doubtless, from the great part which his

high office called upon him to act among monarchs and princes, and

from the habitual exercise of supreme authority over the valiant and

high-born knights, who were united by the rules of the Order. His

stature was tall, and his gait, undepressed by age and toil, was

erect and stately. His white mantle was shaped with severe regularity,

according to the rule of Saint Bernard himself, being composed of what

was then called Burrel cloth, exactly fitted to the size of the wearer,

and bearing on the left shoulder the octangular cross peculiar to the

Order, formed of red cloth. No vair or ermine decked this garment; but

in respect of his age, the Grand Master, as permitted by the rules, wore

his doublet lined and trimmed with the softest lambskin, dressed with

the wool outwards, which was the nearest approach he could regularly

make to the use of fur, then the greatest luxury of dress. In his hand

he bore that singular " abacus", or staff of office, with which Templars

are usually represented, having at the upper end a round plate, on which

was engraved the cross of the Order, inscribed within a circle or orle,

as heralds term it. His companion, who attended on this great personage,

had nearly the same dress in all respects, but his extreme deference

towards his Superior showed that no other equality subsisted between

them. The Preceptor, for such he was in rank, walked not in a line with

the Grand Master, but just so far behind that Beaumanoir could speak to

him without turning round his head.

" Conrade, " said the Grand Master, " dear companion of my battles and my

toils, to thy faithful bosom alone I can confide my sorrows. To thee

alone can I tell how oft, since I came to this kingdom, I have desired

to be dissolved and to be with the just. Not one object in England hath

met mine eye which it could rest upon with pleasure, save the tombs of

our brethren, beneath the massive roof of our Temple Church in yonder

proud capital. O, valiant Robert de Ros! did I exclaim internally, as I

gazed upon these good soldiers of the cross, where they lie sculptured

on their sepulchres, --O, worthy William de Mareschal! open your marble

cells, and take to your repose a weary brother, who would rather strive

with a hundred thousand pagans than witness the decay of our Holy

Order! "

" It is but true, " answered Conrade Mont-Fitchet; " it is but too true;

and the irregularities of our brethren in England are even more gross

than those in France. "

" Because they are more wealthy, " answered the Grand Master. " Bear with

me, brother, although I should something vaunt myself. Thou knowest the

life I have led, keeping each point of my Order, striving with devils

embodied and disembodied, striking down the roaring lion, who goeth

about seeking whom he may devour, like a good knight and devout

priest, wheresoever I met with him--even as blessed Saint Bernard hath

prescribed to us in the forty-fifth capital of our rule, 'Ut Leo semper

feriatur'. [49]

" But by the Holy Temple! the zeal which hath devoured my substance and

my life, yea, the very nerves and marrow of my bones; by that very Holy

Temple I swear to thee, that save thyself and some few that still retain

the ancient severity of our Order, I look upon no brethren whom I can

bring my soul to embrace under that holy name. What say our statutes,

and how do our brethren observe them? They should wear no vain or

worldly ornament, no crest upon their helmet, no gold upon stirrup or

bridle-bit; yet who now go pranked out so proudly and so gaily as the

poor soldiers of the Temple? They are forbidden by our statutes to take

one bird by means of another, to shoot beasts with bow or arblast, to

halloo to a hunting-horn, or to spur the horse after game. But now,

at hunting and hawking, and each idle sport of wood and river, who so

prompt as the Templars in all these fond vanities? They are forbidden

to read, save what their Superior permitted, or listen to what is

read, save such holy things as may be recited aloud during the hours of

refaction; but lo! their ears are at the command of idle minstrels, and

their eyes study empty romaunts. They were commanded to extirpate magic

and heresy. Lo! they are charged with studying the accursed cabalistical

secrets of the Jews, and the magic of the Paynim Saracens. Simpleness

of diet was prescribed to them, roots, pottage, gruels, eating flesh

but thrice a-week, because the accustomed feeding on flesh is a

dishonourable corruption of the body; and behold, their tables groan

under delicate fare! Their drink was to be water, and now, to drink like

a Templar, is the boast of each jolly boon companion! This very garden,

filled as it is with curious herbs and trees sent from the Eastern

climes, better becomes the harem of an unbelieving Emir, than the

plot which Christian Monks should devote to raise their homely

pot-herbs. --And O, Conrade! well it were that the relaxation of

discipline stopped even here! --Well thou knowest that we were forbidden

to receive those devout women, who at the beginning were associated

as sisters of our Order, because, saith the forty-sixth chapter, the

Ancient Enemy hath, by female society, withdrawn many from the right

path to paradise. Nay, in the last capital, being, as it were, the

cope-stone which our blessed founder placed on the pure and undefiled

doctrine which he had enjoined, we are prohibited from offering, even to

our sisters and our mothers, the kiss of affection--'ut omnium

mulierum fugiantur oscula'. --I shame to speak--I shame to think--of the

corruptions which have rushed in upon us even like a flood. The souls

of our pure founders, the spirits of Hugh de Payen and Godfrey de Saint

Omer, and of the blessed Seven who first joined in dedicating their

lives to the service of the Temple, are disturbed even in the enjoyment

of paradise itself. I have seen them, Conrade, in the visions of the

night--their sainted eyes shed tears for the sins and follies of their

brethren, and for the foul and shameful luxury in which they wallow.

Beaumanoir, they say, thou slumberest--awake! There is a stain in the

fabric of the Temple, deep and foul as that left by the streaks of

leprosy on the walls of the infected houses of old. [50]

" The soldiers of the Cross, who should shun the glance of a woman as the

eye of a basilisk, live in open sin, not with the females of their own

race only, but with the daughters of the accursed heathen, and more

accursed Jew. Beaumanoir, thou sleepest; up, and avenge our cause! --Slay

the sinners, male and female! --Take to thee the brand of Phineas! --The

vision fled, Conrade, but as I awaked I could still hear the clank of

their mail, and see the waving of their white mantles. --And I will do

according to their word, I WILL purify the fabric of the Temple! and the

unclean stones in which the plague is, I will remove and cast out of the

building. "

" Yet bethink thee, reverend father, " said Mont-Fitchet, " the stain

hath become engrained by time and consuetude; let thy reformation be

cautious, as it is just and wise. "

" No, Mont-Fitchet, " answered the stern old man--" it must be sharp

and sudden--the Order is on the crisis of its fate. The sobriety,

self-devotion, and piety of our predecessors, made us powerful

friends--our presumption, our wealth, our luxury, have raised up

against us mighty enemies. --We must cast away these riches, which are

a temptation to princes--we must lay down that presumption, which is

an offence to them--we must reform that license of manners, which is a

scandal to the whole Christian world! Or--mark my words--the Order of

the Temple will be utterly demolished--and the Place thereof shall no

more be known among the nations. "

" Now may God avert such a calamity! " said the Preceptor.

" Amen, " said the Grand Master, with solemnity, " but we must deserve his

aid. I tell thee, Conrade, that neither the powers in Heaven, nor

the powers on earth, will longer endure the wickedness of this

generation--My intelligence is sure--the ground on which our fabric is

reared is already undermined, and each addition we make to the structure

of our greatness will only sink it the sooner in the abyss. We must

retrace our steps, and show ourselves the faithful Champions of

the Cross, sacrificing to our calling, not alone our blood and our

lives--not alone our lusts and our vices--but our ease, our comforts,

and our natural affections, and act as men convinced that many a

pleasure which may be lawful to others, is forbidden to the vowed

soldier of the Temple. "

At this moment a squire, clothed in a threadbare vestment, (for the

aspirants after this holy Order wore during their noviciate the cast-off

garments of the knights, ) entered the garden, and, bowing profoundly

before the Grand Master, stood silent, awaiting his permission ere he

presumed to tell his errand.

" Is it not more seemly, " said the Grand Master, " to see this Damian,

clothed in the garments of Christian humility, thus appear with reverend

silence before his Superior, than but two days since, when the fond fool

was decked in a painted coat, and jangling as pert and as proud as any

popinjay? --Speak, Damian, we permit thee--What is thine errand? "

" A Jew stands without the gate, noble and reverend father, " said the

Squire, " who prays to speak with brother Brian de Bois-Guilbert. "

" Thou wert right to give me knowledge of it, " said the Grand Master; " in

our presence a Preceptor is but as a common compeer of our Order, who

may not walk according to his own will, but to that of his Master--even

according to the text, 'In the hearing of the ear he hath obeyed

me. '--It imports us especially to know of this Bois-Guilbert's

proceedings, " said he, turning to his companion.

" Report speaks him brave and valiant, " said Conrade.

" And truly is he so spoken of, " said the Grand Master; " in our valour

only we are not degenerated from our predecessors, the heroes of the

Cross. But brother Brian came into our Order a moody and disappointed

man, stirred, I doubt me, to take our vows and to renounce the world,

not in sincerity of soul, but as one whom some touch of light discontent

had driven into penitence. Since then, he hath become an active and

earnest agitator, a murmurer, and a machinator, and a leader amongst

those who impugn our authority; not considering that the rule is given

to the Master even by the symbol of the staff and the rod--the staff to

support the infirmities of the weak--the rod to correct the faults of

delinquents. --Damian, " he continued, " lead the Jew to our presence. "

The squire departed with a profound reverence, and in a few minutes

returned, marshalling in Isaac of York. No naked slave, ushered into the

presence of some mighty prince, could approach his judgment-seat with

more profound reverence and terror than that with which the Jew drew

near to the presence of the Grand Master. When he had approached within

the distance of three yards, Beaumanoir made a sign with his staff that

he should come no farther. The Jew kneeled down on the earth which he

kissed in token of reverence; then rising, stood before the Templars,

his hands folded on his bosom, his head bowed on his breast, in all the

submission of Oriental slavery.

" Damian, " said the Grand Master, " retire, and have a guard ready to

await our sudden call; and suffer no one to enter the garden until we

shall leave it. " --The squire bowed and retreated. --" Jew, " continued the

haughty old man, " mark me. It suits not our condition to hold with

thee long communication, nor do we waste words or time upon any one.

Wherefore be brief in thy answers to what questions I shall ask thee,

and let thy words be of truth; for if thy tongue doubles with me, I will

have it torn from thy misbelieving jaws. "

The Jew was about to reply, but the Grand Master went on.

" Peace, unbeliever! --not a word in our presence, save in answer to

our questions. --What is thy business with our brother Brian de

Bois-Guilbert? "

Isaac gasped with terror and uncertainty. To tell his tale might be

interpreted into scandalizing the Order; yet, unless he told it, what

hope could he have of achieving his daughter's deliverance? Beaumanoir

saw his mortal apprehension, and condescended to give him some

assurance.

" Fear nothing, " he said, " for thy wretched person, Jew, so thou dealest

uprightly in this matter. I demand again to know from thee thy business

with Brian de Bois-Guilbert? "

" I am bearer of a letter, " stammered out the Jew, " so please your

reverend valour, to that good knight, from Prior Aymer of the Abbey of

Jorvaulx. "

" Said I not these were evil times, Conrade? " said the Master. " A

Cistertian Prior sends a letter to a soldier of the Temple, and can find

no more fitting messenger than an unbelieving Jew. --Give me the letter. "

The Jew, with trembling hands, undid the folds of his Armenian cap, in

which he had deposited the Prior's tablets for the greater security, and

was about to approach, with hand extended and body crouched, to place it

within the reach of his grim interrogator.

" Back, dog! " said the Grand Master; " I touch not misbelievers, save with

the sword. --Conrade, take thou the letter from the Jew, and give it to

me. "

Beaumanoir, being thus possessed of the tablets, inspected the outside

carefully, and then proceeded to undo the packthread which secured its

folds. " Reverend father, " said Conrade, interposing, though with much

deference, " wilt thou break the seal? "

" And will I not? " said Beaumanoir, with a frown. " Is it not written in

the forty-second capital, 'De Lectione Literarum' that a Templar shall

not receive a letter, no not from his father, without communicating the

same to the Grand Master, and reading it in his presence? "

He then perused the letter in haste, with an expression of surprise and

horror; read it over again more slowly; then holding it out to Conrade

with one hand, and slightly striking it with the other, exclaimed--" Here

is goodly stuff for one Christian man to write to another, and both

members, and no inconsiderable members, of religious professions! When, "

said he solemnly, and looking upward, " wilt thou come with thy fanners

to purge the thrashing-floor? "

Mont-Fitchet took the letter from his Superior, and was about to peruse

it.

" Read it aloud, Conrade, " said the Grand Master, --" and do thou"

(to Isaac) " attend to the purport of it, for we will question thee

concerning it. "

Conrade read the letter, which was in these words: " Aymer, by divine

grace, Prior of the Cistertian house of Saint Mary's of Jorvaulx, to

Sir Brian de Bois-Guilbert, a Knight of the holy Order of the Temple,

wisheth health, with the bounties of King Bacchus and of my Lady Venus.

Touching our present condition, dear Brother, we are a captive in the

hands of certain lawless and godless men, who have not feared to detain

our person, and put us to ransom; whereby we have also learned of

Front-de-Boeuf's misfortune, and that thou hast escaped with that fair

Jewish sorceress, whose black eyes have bewitched thee. We are heartily

rejoiced of thy safety; nevertheless, we pray thee to be on thy guard in

the matter of this second Witch of Endor; for we are privately assured

that your Great Master, who careth not a bean for cherry cheeks and

black eyes, comes from Normandy to diminish your mirth, and amend your

misdoings. Wherefore we pray you heartily to beware, and to be found

watching, even as the Holy Text hath it, 'Invenientur vigilantes'. And

the wealthy Jew her father, Isaac of York, having prayed of me letters

in his behalf, I gave him these, earnestly advising, and in a sort

entreating, that you do hold the damsel to ransom, seeing he will pay

you from his bags as much as may find fifty damsels upon safer terms,

whereof I trust to have my part when we make merry together, as true

brothers, not forgetting the wine-cup. For what saith the text, 'Vinum

laetificat cor hominis'; and again, 'Rex delectabitur pulchritudine

tua'.

" Till which merry meeting, we wish you farewell. Given from this den of

thieves, about the hour of matins,

" Aymer Pr. S. M. Jorvolciencis.

" 'Postscriptum. ' Truly your golden chain hath not long abidden with me,

and will now sustain, around the neck of an outlaw deer-stealer, the

whistle wherewith he calleth on his hounds. "

" What sayest thou to this, Conrade? " said the Grand Master--" Den of

thieves! and a fit residence is a den of thieves for such a Prior. No

wonder that the hand of God is upon us, and that in the Holy Land we

lose place by place, foot by foot, before the infidels, when we have

such churchmen as this Aymer. --And what meaneth he, I trow, by this

second Witch of Endor? " said he to his confident, something apart.

Conrade was better acquainted (perhaps by practice) with the jargon of

gallantry, than was his Superior; and he expounded the passage which

embarrassed the Grand Master, to be a sort of language used by worldly

men towards those whom they loved 'par amours'; but the explanation did

not satisfy the bigoted Beaumanoir.

" There is more in it than thou dost guess, Conrade; thy simplicity is

no match for this deep abyss of wickedness. This Rebecca of York was a

pupil of that Miriam of whom thou hast heard. Thou shalt hear the Jew

own it even now. " Then turning to Isaac, he said aloud, " Thy daughter,

then, is prisoner with Brian de Bois-Guilbert? "

" Ay, reverend valorous sir, " stammered poor Isaac, " and whatsoever

ransom a poor man may pay for her deliverance---"

" Peace! " said the Grand Master. " This thy daughter hath practised the

art of healing, hath she not? "

" Ay, gracious sir, " answered the Jew, with more confidence; " and knight

and yeoman, squire and vassal, may bless the goodly gift which Heaven

hath assigned to her. Many a one can testify that she hath recovered

them by her art, when every other human aid hath proved vain; but the

blessing of the God of Jacob was upon her. "

Beaumanoir turned to Mont-Fitchet with a grim smile. " See, brother, "

he said, " the deceptions of the devouring Enemy! Behold the baits

with which he fishes for souls, giving a poor space of earthly life in

exchange for eternal happiness hereafter. Well said our blessed

rule, 'Semper percutiatur leo vorans'. --Up on the lion! Down with the

destroyer! " said he, shaking aloft his mystic abacus, as if in defiance

of the powers of darkness--" Thy daughter worketh the cures, I doubt

not, " thus he went on to address the Jew, " by words and sighs, and

periapts, and other cabalistical mysteries. "

" Nay, reverend and brave Knight, " answered Isaac, " but in chief measure

by a balsam of marvellous virtue. "

" Where had she that secret? " said Beaumanoir.

" It was delivered to her, " answered Isaac, reluctantly, " by Miriam, a

sage matron of our tribe. "

" Ah, false Jew! " said the Grand Master; " was it not from that same

witch Miriam, the abomination of whose enchantments have been heard of

throughout every Christian land? " exclaimed the Grand Master, crossing

himself. " Her body was burnt at a stake, and her ashes were scattered to

the four winds; and so be it with me and mine Order, if I do not as

much to her pupil, and more also! I will teach her to throw spell and

incantation over the soldiers of the blessed Temple. --There, Damian,

spurn this Jew from the gate--shoot him dead if he oppose or turn again.

With his daughter we will deal as the Christian law and our own high

office warrant. "

Poor Isaac was hurried off accordingly, and expelled from the

preceptory; all his entreaties, and even his offers, unheard and

disregarded. He could do not better than return to the house of the

Rabbi, and endeavour, through his means, to learn how his daughter was

to be disposed of. He had hitherto feared for her honour, he was now

to tremble for her life. Meanwhile, the Grand Master ordered to his

presence the Preceptor of Templestowe.

CHAPTER XXXVI

Say not my art is fraud--all live by seeming.

The beggar begs with it, and the gay courtier

Gains land and title, rank and rule, by seeming;

The clergy scorn it not, and the bold soldier

Will eke with it his service. --All admit it,

All practise it; and he who is content

With showing what he is, shall have small credit

In church, or camp, or state--So wags the world.

--Old Play

Albert Malvoisin, President, or, in the language of the Order, Preceptor

of the establishment of Templestowe, was brother to that Philip

Malvoisin who has been already occasionally mentioned in this history,

and was, like that baron, in close league with Brian de Bois-Guilbert.

Amongst dissolute and unprincipled men, of whom the Temple Order

included but too many, Albert of Templestowe might be distinguished; but

with this difference from the audacious Bois-Guilbert, that he knew how

to throw over his vices and his ambition the veil of hypocrisy, and to

assume in his exterior the fanaticism which he internally despised.

Had not the arrival of the Grand Master been so unexpectedly sudden,

he would have seen nothing at Templestowe which might have appeared to

argue any relaxation of discipline. And, even although surprised, and,

to a certain extent, detected, Albert Malvoisin listened with such

respect and apparent contrition to the rebuke of his Superior, and made

such haste to reform the particulars he censured, --succeeded, in fine,

so well in giving an air of ascetic devotion to a family which had been

lately devoted to license and pleasure, that Lucas Beaumanoir began to

entertain a higher opinion of the Preceptor's morals, than the first

appearance of the establishment had inclined him to adopt.

But these favourable sentiments on the part of the Grand Master were

greatly shaken by the intelligence that Albert had received within a

house of religion the Jewish captive, and, as was to be feared, the

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