Ivanhoe, by Sir Walter Scott

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``Bid Hugh Bardon, our scout-master, come
hither, as soon as he shall have spoken with Waldemar
Fitzurse.''

The scout-master arrived after a brief delay,
during which John traversed the apartment with,
unequal and disordered steps.

``Bardon,'' said he, ``what did Waldemar desire
of thee?''

``Two resolute men, well acquainted with these
northern wilds, and skilful in tracking the tread of
man and horse.''

``And thou hast fitted him?''

``Let your grace never trust me else,'' answered
the master of the spies. ``One is from Hexamshire;
he is wont to trace the Tynedale and Teviotdale
thieves, as a bloodhound follows the slot of a
hurt deer. The other is Yorkshire bred, and has
twanged his bowstring right oft in merry Sherwood;
he knows each glade and dingle, copse and
high-wood, betwixt this and Richmond.''

``'Tis well,'' said the Prince.---``Goes Waldemar
forth with them?''

``Instantly,'' said Bardon.

``With what attendance?'' asked John, carelessly.

``Broad Thoresby goes with him, and Wetheral,
whom they call, for his cruelty, Stephen Steel-heart;
and three northern men-at-arms that belonged to
Ralph Middleton's gang---they are called the Spears
of Spyinghow.''

``'Tis well,'' said Prince John; then added, after
a moment's pause, ``Bardon, it imports our service
that thou keep a strict watch on Maurice De Bracy
---so that he shall not observe it, however---And
let us know of his motions from time to time---
with whom he converses, what he proposeth. Fail
not in this, as thou wilt be answerable.''

Hugh Bardon bowed, and retired.

``If Maurice betrays me,'' said Prince John---
``if he betrays me, as his bearing leads me to fear,
I will have his head, were Richard thundering at
the gates of York.''

CHAPTER XXXV

Arouse the tiger of Hyrcanian deserts,
Strive with the half-starved lion for his prey;
Lesser the risk, than rouse the slumbering fire
Of wild Fanaticism.
_Anonymus_.

Our tale now returns to Isaac of York.---Mounted
upon a mule, the gift of the Outlaw, with two
tall yeomen to act as his guard and guides, the Jew
had set out for the Preceptory of Templestowe, for
the purpose of negotiating his daughter's redemption.
The Preceptory was but a day's journey from
the demolished castle of Torquilstone, and the Jew
had hoped to reach it before nightfall; accordingly,
having dismissed his guides at the verge of the forest,
and rewarded them with a piece of silver, he
began to press on with such speed as his weariness
permitted him to exert. But his strength failed
him totally ere he had reached within four miles
of the Temple-Court; racking pains shot along his
back and through his limbs, and the excessive anguish
which he felt at heart being now augmented
by bodily suffering, he was rendered altogether incapable
of proceeding farther than a small market-town,
were dwelt a Jewish Rabbi of his tribe,
eminent in the medical profession, and to whom
Isaac was well known. Nathan Ben Israel received
his suffering countryman with that kindness which
the law prescribed, and which the Jews practised
to each other. He insisted on his betaking himself
to repose, and used such remedies as were then in
most repute to check the progress of the fever,
which terror, fatigue, ill usage, and sorrow, had
brought upon the poor old Jew.

On the morrow, when Isaac proposed to arise and
pursue his journey, Nathan remonstrated against
his purpose, both as his host and as his physician.
It might cost him, he said, his life. But Isaac replied,
that more than life and death depended upon
his going that morning to Templestowe.

``To Templestowe!'' said his host with surprise
again felt his pulse, and then muttered to himself,
``His fever is abated, yet seems his mind somewhat
alienated and disturbed.''

``And why not to Templestowe?'' answered his
patient. ``I grant thee, Nathan, that it is a dwelling
of those to whom the despised Children of the
Promise are a stumbling-block and an abomination;
yet thou knowest that pressing affairs of traffic
sometimes carry us among these bloodthirsty Nazarene
soldiers, and that we visit the Preceptories
of the Templars, as well as the Commanderies of
the Knights Hospitallers, as they are called.'' *

* The establishments of the Knight Templars were called
* Preceptories, and the title of those who presided in the Order
* was Preceptor; as the principal Knights of Saint John were
* termed Commanders, and their houses Commanderies. But
* these terms were sometimes, it would seem, used indiscriminately.

``I know it well,'' said Nathan; ``but wottest
thou that Lucas de Beaumanoir, the chief of their
Order, and whom they term Grand Master, is now
himself at Templestowe?''

``I know it not,'' said Isaac; ``our last letters
from our brethren at Paris advised us that he was
at that city, beseeching Philip for aid against the
Sultan Saladine.''

``He hath since come to England, unexpected
by his brethren,'' said Ben Israel; ``and he cometh
among them with a strong and outstretched arm to
correct and to punish. His countenance is kindled
in anger against those who have departed from the
vow which they have made, and great is the fear
of those sons of Belial. Thou must have heard of
his name?''

``It is well known unto me,'' said Isaac; ``the
Gentiles deliver this Lucas Beaumanoir as a man
zealous to slaying for every point of the Nazarene
law; and our brethren have termed him a fierce
destroyer of the Saracens, and a cruel tyrant to the
Children of the Promise.''

``And truly have they termed him,'' said Nathan
the physician. ``Other Templars may be
moved from the purpose of their heart by pleasure,
or bribed by promise of gold and silver; but Beaumanoir
is of a different stamp---hating sensuality,
despising treasure, and pressing forward to that
which they call the crown of martyrdom---The
God of Jacob speedily send it unto him, and unto
them all! Specially hath this proud man extended
his glove over the children of Judah, as holy David
over Edom, holding the murder of a Jew to be all
offering of as sweet savour as the death of a Saracen.
Impious and false things has he said even of
the virtues of our medicines, as if they were the
devices of Satan---The Lord rebuke him!''

``Nevertheless,'' said Isaac, ``I must present
myself at Templestowe, though he hath made his
face like unto a fiery furnace seven times heated.''

He then explained to Nathan the pressing cause
of his journey. The Rabbi listened with interest,
and testified his sympathy after the fashion of his
people, rending his clothes, and saying, ``Ah, my
daughter!---ah, my daughter!---Alas! for the beauty
of Zion!---Alas! for the captivity of Israel!''

``Thou seest,'' said Isaac, ``how it stands with
me, and that I may not tarry. Peradventure, the
presence of this Lucas Beaumanoir, being the chief
man over them, may turn Brian de Bois-Guilbert
from the ill which he doth meditate, and that he
may deliver to me my beloved daughter Rebecca.''

``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 be 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_.* But by the Holy Temple! the zeal

* In the ordinances of the Knights of the Temple, this phrase
* is repeated in a variety of forms, and occurs in almost every
* chapter, as if it were the signal-word of the Order; which may
* account for its being so frequently put in the Grand Master's
* month.

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.* The soldiers of the

* See the 13th chapter of Leviticus.

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?''