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paramour of a brother of the Order; and when Albert appeared before him,

he was regarded with unwonted sternness.

" There is in this mansion, dedicated to the purposes of the holy Order

of the Temple, " said the Grand Master, in a severe tone, " a Jewish

woman, brought hither by a brother of religion, by your connivance, Sir

Preceptor. "

Albert Malvoisin was overwhelmed with confusion; for the unfortunate

Rebecca had been confined in a remote and secret part of the building,

and every precaution used to prevent her residence there from being

known. He read in the looks of Beaumanoir ruin to Bois-Guilbert and to

himself, unless he should be able to avert the impending storm.

" Why are you mute? " continued the Grand Master.

" Is it permitted to me to reply? " answered the Preceptor, in a tone of

the deepest humility, although by the question he only meant to gain an

instant's space for arranging his ideas.

" Speak, you are permitted, " said the Grand Master--" speak, and say,

knowest thou the capital of our holy rule, --'De commilitonibus Templi

in sancta civitate, qui cum miserrimis mulieribus versantur, propter

oblectationem carnis? '" [51]

" Surely, most reverend father, " answered the Preceptor, " I have not

risen to this office in the Order, being ignorant of one of its most

important prohibitions. "

" How comes it, then, I demand of thee once more, that thou hast suffered

a brother to bring a paramour, and that paramour a Jewish sorceress,

into this holy place, to the stain and pollution thereof? "

" A Jewish sorceress! " echoed Albert Malvoisin; " good angels guard us! "

" Ay, brother, a Jewish sorceress! " said the Grand Master, sternly. " I

have said it. Darest thou deny that this Rebecca, the daughter of that

wretched usurer Isaac of York, and the pupil of the foul witch

Miriam, is now--shame to be thought or spoken! --lodged within this thy

Preceptory? "

" Your wisdom, reverend father, " answered the Preceptor, " hath rolled

away the darkness from my understanding. Much did I wonder that so good

a knight as Brian de Bois-Guilbert seemed so fondly besotted on the

charms of this female, whom I received into this house merely to place a

bar betwixt their growing intimacy, which else might have been cemented

at the expense of the fall of our valiant and religious brother. "

" Hath nothing, then, as yet passed betwixt them in breach of his vow? "

demanded the Grand Master.

" What! under this roof? " said the Preceptor, crossing himself; " Saint

Magdalene and the ten thousand virgins forbid! --No! if I have sinned in

receiving her here, it was in the erring thought that I might thus break

off our brother's besotted devotion to this Jewess, which seemed to me

so wild and unnatural, that I could not but ascribe it to some touch of

insanity, more to be cured by pity than reproof. But since your reverend

wisdom hath discovered this Jewish queen to be a sorceress, perchance it

may account fully for his enamoured folly. "

" It doth! --it doth! " said Beaumanoir. " See, brother Conrade, the peril

of yielding to the first devices and blandishments of Satan! We look

upon woman only to gratify the lust of the eye, and to take pleasure

in what men call her beauty; and the Ancient Enemy, the devouring Lion,

obtains power over us, to complete, by talisman and spell, a work

which was begun by idleness and folly. It may be that our brother

Bois-Guilbert does in this matter deserve rather pity than severe

chastisement; rather the support of the staff, than the strokes of the

rod; and that our admonitions and prayers may turn him from his folly,

and restore him to his brethren. "

" It were deep pity, " said Conrade Mont-Fitchet, " to lose to the Order

one of its best lances, when the Holy Community most requires the aid of

its sons. Three hundred Saracens hath this Brian de Bois-Guilbert slain

with his own hand. "

" The blood of these accursed dogs, " said the Grand Master, " shall be a

sweet and acceptable offering to the saints and angels whom they despise

and blaspheme; and with their aid will we counteract the spells and

charms with which our brother is entwined as in a net. He shall burst

the bands of this Delilah, as Sampson burst the two new cords with which

the Philistines had bound him, and shall slaughter the infidels, even

heaps upon heaps. But concerning this foul witch, who hath flung her

enchantments over a brother of the Holy Temple, assuredly she shall die

the death. "

" But the laws of England, " --said the Preceptor, who, though delighted

that the Grand Master's resentment, thus fortunately averted from

himself and Bois-Guilbert, had taken another direction, began now to

fear he was carrying it too far.

" The laws of England, " interrupted Beaumanoir, " permit and enjoin each

judge to execute justice within his own jurisdiction. The most petty

baron may arrest, try, and condemn a witch found within his own domain.

And shall that power be denied to the Grand Master of the Temple within

a preceptory of his Order? --No! --we will judge and condemn. The witch

shall be taken out of the land, and the wickedness thereof shall be

forgiven. Prepare the Castle-hall for the trial of the sorceress. "

Albert Malvoisin bowed and retired, --not to give directions for

preparing the hall, but to seek out Brian de Bois-Guilbert, and

communicate to him how matters were likely to terminate. It was not

long ere he found him, foaming with indignation at a repulse he had

anew sustained from the fair Jewess. " The unthinking, " he said, " the

ungrateful, to scorn him who, amidst blood and flames, would have saved

her life at the risk of his own! By Heaven, Malvoisin! I abode until

roof and rafters crackled and crashed around me. I was the butt of a

hundred arrows; they rattled on mine armour like hailstones against

a latticed casement, and the only use I made of my shield was for her

protection. This did I endure for her; and now the self-willed girl

upbraids me that I did not leave her to perish, and refuses me not only

the slightest proof of gratitude, but even the most distant hope that

ever she will be brought to grant any. The devil, that possessed her

race with obstinacy, has concentrated its full force in her single

person! "

" The devil, " said the Preceptor, " I think, possessed you both. How oft

have I preached to you caution, if not continence? Did I not tell you

that there were enough willing Christian damsels to be met with, who

would think it sin to refuse so brave a knight 'le don d'amoureux

merci', and you must needs anchor your affection on a wilful, obstinate

Jewess! By the mass, I think old Lucas Beaumanoir guesses right, when he

maintains she hath cast a spell over you. "

" Lucas Beaumanoir! " --said Bois-Guilbert reproachfully--" Are these your

precautions, Malvoisin? Hast thou suffered the dotard to learn that

Rebecca is in the Preceptory? "

" How could I help it? " said the Preceptor. " I neglected nothing that

could keep secret your mystery; but it is betrayed, and whether by the

devil or no, the devil only can tell. But I have turned the matter as I

could; you are safe if you renounce Rebecca. You are pitied--the victim

of magical delusion. She is a sorceress, and must suffer as such. "

" She shall not, by Heaven! " said Bois-Guilbert.

" By Heaven, she must and will! " said Malvoisin. " Neither you nor any

one else can save her. Lucas Beaumanoir hath settled that the death of

a Jewess will be a sin-offering sufficient to atone for all the amorous

indulgences of the Knights Templars; and thou knowest he hath both the

power and will to execute so reasonable and pious a purpose. "

" Will future ages believe that such stupid bigotry ever existed! " said

Bois-Guilbert, striding up and down the apartment.

" What they may believe, I know not, " said Malvoisin, calmly; " but I know

well, that in this our day, clergy and laymen, take ninety-nine to the

hundred, will cry 'amen' to the Grand Master's sentence. "

" I have it, " said Bois-Guilbert. " Albert, thou art my friend. Thou must

connive at her escape, Malvoisin, and I will transport her to some place

of greater security and secrecy. "

" I cannot, if I would, " replied the Preceptor; " the mansion is filled

with the attendants of the Grand Master, and others who are devoted to

him. And, to be frank with you, brother, I would not embark with you

in this matter, even if I could hope to bring my bark to haven. I have

risked enough already for your sake. I have no mind to encounter a

sentence of degradation, or even to lose my Preceptory, for the sake

of a painted piece of Jewish flesh and blood. And you, if you will be

guided by my counsel, will give up this wild-goose chase, and fly your

hawk at some other game. Think, Bois-Guilbert, --thy present rank, thy

future honours, all depend on thy place in the Order. Shouldst thou

adhere perversely to thy passion for this Rebecca, thou wilt give

Beaumanoir the power of expelling thee, and he will not neglect it. He

is jealous of the truncheon which he holds in his trembling gripe, and

he knows thou stretchest thy bold hand towards it. Doubt not he will

ruin thee, if thou affordest him a pretext so fair as thy protection of

a Jewish sorceress. Give him his scope in this matter, for thou canst

not control him. When the staff is in thine own firm grasp, thou mayest

caress the daughters of Judah, or burn them, as may best suit thine own

humour. "

" Malvoisin, " said Bois-Guilbert, " thou art a cold-blooded--"

" Friend, " said the Preceptor, hastening to fill up the blank, in which

Bois-Guilbert would probably have placed a worse word, --" a cold-blooded

friend I am, and therefore more fit to give thee advice. I tell thee

once more, that thou canst not save Rebecca. I tell thee once more,

thou canst but perish with her. Go hie thee to the Grand Master--throw

thyself at his feet and tell him--"

" Not at his feet, by Heaven! but to the dotard's very beard will I

say--"

" Say to him, then, to his beard, " continued Malvoisin, coolly, " that you

love this captive Jewess to distraction; and the more thou dost enlarge

on thy passion, the greater will be his haste to end it by the death of

the fair enchantress; while thou, taken in flagrant delict by the avowal

of a crime contrary to thine oath, canst hope no aid of thy brethren,

and must exchange all thy brilliant visions of ambition and power, to

lift perhaps a mercenary spear in some of the petty quarrels between

Flanders and Burgundy. "

" Thou speakest the truth, Malvoisin, " said Brian de Bois-Guilbert, after

a moment's reflection. " I will give the hoary bigot no advantage over

me; and for Rebecca, she hath not merited at my hand that I should

expose rank and honour for her sake. I will cast her off--yes, I will

leave her to her fate, unless--"

" Qualify not thy wise and necessary resolution, " said Malvoisin; " women

are but the toys which amuse our lighter hours--ambition is the serious

business of life. Perish a thousand such frail baubles as this Jewess,

before thy manly step pause in the brilliant career that lies stretched

before thee! For the present we part, nor must we be seen to hold close

conversation--I must order the hall for his judgment-seat. "

" What! " said Bois-Guilbert, " so soon? "

" Ay, " replied the Preceptor, " trial moves rapidly on when the judge has

determined the sentence beforehand. "

" Rebecca, " said Bois-Guilbert, when he was left alone, " thou art like

to cost me dear--Why cannot I abandon thee to thy fate, as this calm

hypocrite recommends? --One effort will I make to save thee--but beware

of ingratitude! for if I am again repulsed, my vengeance shall equal my

love. The life and honour of Bois-Guilbert must not be hazarded, where

contempt and reproaches are his only reward. "

The Preceptor had hardly given the necessary orders, when he was joined

by Conrade Mont-Fitchet, who acquainted him with the Grand Master's

resolution to bring the Jewess to instant trial for sorcery.

" It is surely a dream, " said the Preceptor; " we have many Jewish

physicians, and we call them not wizards though they work wonderful

cures. "

" The Grand Master thinks otherwise, " said Mont-Fitchet; " and, Albert,

I will be upright with thee--wizard or not, it were better that this

miserable damsel die, than that Brian de Bois-Guilbert should be lost to

the Order, or the Order divided by internal dissension. Thou knowest his

high rank, his fame in arms--thou knowest the zeal with which many of

our brethren regard him--but all this will not avail him with our Grand

Master, should he consider Brian as the accomplice, not the victim, of

this Jewess. Were the souls of the twelve tribes in her single body, it

were better she suffered alone, than that Bois-Guilbert were partner in

her destruction. "

" I have been working him even now to abandon her, " said Malvoisin;

" but still, are there grounds enough to condemn this Rebecca for

sorcery? --Will not the Grand Master change his mind when he sees that

the proofs are so weak? "

" They must be strengthened, Albert, " replied Mont-Fitchet, " they must be

strengthened. Dost thou understand me? "

" I do, " said the Preceptor, " nor do I scruple to do aught for

advancement of the Order--but there is little time to find engines

fitting. "

" Malvoisin, they MUST be found, " said Conrade; " well will it advantage

both the Order and thee. This Templestowe is a poor Preceptory--that of

Maison-Dieu is worth double its value--thou knowest my interest with our

old Chief--find those who can carry this matter through, and thou art

Preceptor of Maison-Dieu in the fertile Kent--How sayst thou? "

" There is, " replied Malvoisin, " among those who came hither with

Bois-Guilbert, two fellows whom I well know; servants they were to my

brother Philip de Malvoisin, and passed from his service to that of

Front-de-Boeuf--It may be they know something of the witcheries of this

woman. "

" Away, seek them out instantly--and hark thee, if a byzant or two will

sharpen their memory, let them not be wanting. "

" They would swear the mother that bore them a sorceress for a zecchin, "

said the Preceptor.

" Away, then, " said Mont-Fitchet; " at noon the affair will proceed. I

have not seen our senior in such earnest preparation since he condemned

to the stake Hamet Alfagi, a convert who relapsed to the Moslem faith. "

The ponderous castle-bell had tolled the point of noon, when Rebecca

heard a trampling of feet upon the private stair which led to her place

of confinement. The noise announced the arrival of several persons, and

the circumstance rather gave her joy; for she was more afraid of the

solitary visits of the fierce and passionate Bois-Guilbert than of

any evil that could befall her besides. The door of the chamber was

unlocked, and Conrade and the Preceptor Malvoisin entered, attended by

four warders clothed in black, and bearing halberds.

" Daughter of an accursed race! " said the Preceptor, " arise and follow

us. "

" Whither, " said Rebecca, " and for what purpose? "

" Damsel, " answered Conrade, " it is not for thee to question, but to

obey. Nevertheless, be it known to thee, that thou art to be brought

before the tribunal of the Grand Master of our holy Order, there to

answer for thine offences. "

" May the God of Abraham be praised! " said Rebecca, folding her hands

devoutly; " the name of a judge, though an enemy to my people, is to me

as the name of a protector. Most willingly do I follow thee--permit me

only to wrap my veil around my head. "

They descended the stair with slow and solemn step, traversed a long

gallery, and, by a pair of folding doors placed at the end, entered the

great hall in which the Grand Master had for the time established his

court of justice.

The lower part of this ample apartment was filled with squires and

yeomen, who made way not without some difficulty for Rebecca, attended

by the Preceptor and Mont-Fitchet, and followed by the guard of

halberdiers, to move forward to the seat appointed for her. As she

passed through the crowd, her arms folded and her head depressed, a

scrap of paper was thrust into her hand, which she received almost

unconsciously, and continued to hold without examining its contents. The

assurance that she possessed some friend in this awful assembly gave

her courage to look around, and to mark into whose presence she had

been conducted. She gazed, accordingly, upon the scene, which we shall

endeavour to describe in the next chapter.

CHAPTER XXXVII

Stern was the law which bade its vot'ries leave

At human woes with human hearts to grieve;

Stern was the law, which at the winning wile

Of frank and harmless mirth forbade to smile;

But sterner still, when high the iron-rod

Of tyrant power she shook, and call'd that power of God.

--The Middle Ages

The Tribunal, erected for the trial of the innocent and unhappy Rebecca,

occupied the dais or elevated part of the upper end of the great hall--a

platform, which we have already described as the place of honour,

destined to be occupied by the most distinguished inhabitants or guests

of an ancient mansion.

On an elevated seat, directly before the accused, sat the Grand Master

of the Temple, in full and ample robes of flowing white, holding in his

hand the mystic staff, which bore the symbol of the Order. At his feet

was placed a table, occupied by two scribes, chaplains of the Order,

whose duty it was to reduce to formal record the proceedings of the day.

The black dresses, bare scalps, and demure looks of these church-men,

formed a strong contrast to the warlike appearance of the knights who

attended, either as residing in the Preceptory, or as come thither to

attend upon their Grand Master. The Preceptors, of whom there were four

present, occupied seats lower in height, and somewhat drawn back behind

that of their superior; and the knights, who enjoyed no such rank in

the Order, were placed on benches still lower, and preserving the same

distance from the Preceptors as these from the Grand Master. Behind

them, but still upon the dais or elevated portion of the hall, stood the

esquires of the Order, in white dresses of an inferior quality.

The whole assembly wore an aspect of the most profound gravity; and in

the faces of the knights might be perceived traces of military daring,

united with the solemn carriage becoming men of a religious profession,

and which, in the presence of their Grand Master, failed not to sit upon

every brow.

The remaining and lower part of the hall was filled with guards, holding

partisans, and with other attendants whom curiosity had drawn thither,

to see at once a Grand Master and a Jewish sorceress. By far the greater

part of those inferior persons were, in one rank or other, connected

with the Order, and were accordingly distinguished by their black

dresses. But peasants from the neighbouring country were not refused

admittance; for it was the pride of Beaumanoir to render the edifying

spectacle of the justice which he administered as public as possible.

His large blue eyes seemed to expand as he gazed around the assembly,

and his countenance appeared elated by the conscious dignity, and

imaginary merit, of the part which he was about to perform. A psalm,

which he himself accompanied with a deep mellow voice, which age had not

deprived of its powers, commenced the proceedings of the day; and the

solemn sounds, " Venite exultemus Domino", so often sung by the Templars

before engaging with earthly adversaries, was judged by Lucas most

appropriate to introduce the approaching triumph, for such he deemed

it, over the powers of darkness. The deep prolonged notes, raised by

a hundred masculine voices accustomed to combine in the choral chant,

arose to the vaulted roof of the hall, and rolled on amongst its arches

with the pleasing yet solemn sound of the rushing of mighty waters.

When the sounds ceased, the Grand Master glanced his eye slowly around

the circle, and observed that the seat of one of the Preceptors was

vacant. Brian de Bois-Guilbert, by whom it had been occupied, had left

his place, and was now standing near the extreme corner of one of the

benches occupied by the Knights Companions of the Temple, one hand

extending his long mantle, so as in some degree to hide his face;

while the other held his cross-handled sword, with the point of which,

sheathed as it was, he was slowly drawing lines upon the oaken floor.

" Unhappy man! " said the Grand Master, after favouring him with a glance

of compassion. " Thou seest, Conrade, how this holy work distresses him.

To this can the light look of woman, aided by the Prince of the Powers

of this world, bring a valiant and worthy knight! --Seest thou he cannot

look upon us; he cannot look upon her; and who knows by what impulse

from his tormentor his hand forms these cabalistic lines upon the

floor? --It may be our life and safety are thus aimed at; but we spit at

and defy the foul enemy. 'Semper Leo percutiatur! '"

This was communicated apart to his confidential follower, Conrade

Mont-Fitchet. The Grand Master then raised his voice, and addressed the

assembly.

" Reverend and valiant men, Knights, Preceptors, and Companions of this

Holy Order, my brethren and my children! --you also, well-born and pious

Esquires, who aspire to wear this holy Cross! --and you also, Christian

brethren, of every degree! --Be it known to you, that it is not defect of

power in us which hath occasioned the assembling of this congregation;

for, however unworthy in our person, yet to us is committed, with this

batoon, full power to judge and to try all that regards the weal of

this our Holy Order. Holy Saint Bernard, in the rule of our knightly and

religious profession, hath said, in the fifty-ninth capital, [53] that

he would not that brethren be called together in council, save at the

will and command of the Master; leaving it free to us, as to those more

worthy fathers who have preceded us in this our office, to judge, as

well of the occasion as of the time and place in which a chapter of the

whole Order, or of any part thereof, may be convoked. Also, in all such

chapters, it is our duty to hear the advice of our brethren, and to

proceed according to our own pleasure. But when the raging wolf hath

made an inroad upon the flock, and carried off one member thereof, it is

the duty of the kind shepherd to call his comrades together, that with

bows and slings they may quell the invader, according to our well-known

rule, that the lion is ever to be beaten down. We have therefore

summoned to our presence a Jewish woman, by name Rebecca, daughter

of Isaac of York--a woman infamous for sortileges and for witcheries;

whereby she hath maddened the blood, and besotted the brain, not of a

churl, but of a Knight--not of a secular Knight, but of one devoted

to the service of the Holy Temple--not of a Knight Companion, but of a

Preceptor of our Order, first in honour as in place. Our brother, Brian

de Bois-Guilbert, is well known to ourselves, and to all degrees who now

hear me, as a true and zealous champion of the Cross, by whose arm many

deeds of valour have been wrought in the Holy Land, and the holy places

purified from pollution by the blood of those infidels who defiled them.

Neither have our brother's sagacity and prudence been less in repute

among his brethren than his valour and discipline; in so much, that

knights, both in eastern and western lands, have named De Bois-Guilbert

as one who may well be put in nomination as successor to this batoon,

when it shall please Heaven to release us from the toil of bearing

it. If we were told that such a man, so honoured, and so honourable,

suddenly casting away regard for his character, his vows, his brethren,

and his prospects, had associated to himself a Jewish damsel, wandered

in this lewd company, through solitary places, defended her person in

preference to his own, and, finally, was so utterly blinded and besotted

by his folly, as to bring her even to one of our own Preceptories,

what should we say but that the noble knight was possessed by some

evil demon, or influenced by some wicked spell? --If we could suppose

it otherwise, think not rank, valour, high repute, or any earthly

consideration, should prevent us from visiting him with punishment, that

the evil thing might be removed, even according to the text, 'Auferte

malum ex vobis'. For various and heinous are the acts of transgression

against the rule of our blessed Order in this lamentable history. --1st,

He hath walked according to his proper will, contrary to capital 33,

'Quod nullus juxta propriam voluntatem incedat'. --2d, He hath held

communication with an excommunicated person, capital 57, 'Ut fratres

non participent cum excommunicatis', and therefore hath a portion

in 'Anathema Maranatha'. --3d, He hath conversed with strange women,

contrary to the capital, 'Ut fratres non conversantur cum extraneis

mulieribus'. --4th, He hath not avoided, nay, he hath, it is to be

feared, solicited the kiss of woman; by which, saith the last rule of

our renowned Order, 'Ut fugiantur oscula', the soldiers of the Cross are

brought into a snare. For which heinous and multiplied guilt, Brian de

Bois-Guilbert should be cut off and cast out from our congregation, were

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