ciples of which are engrafted in the nature of man; the other, of those which are more or less under the dominion of custom and fashion. To enter further into this part of the subject, would extend to too great a length: suffice it to say, that whether the choice be fixed on painting, poetry, eloquence, or any other of the numerous objects of taste, the same love of the beautiful, the same sensibility to the harmonious, is the actuating principle in all.

The influence of a quality, so refined in its nature, and requiring so many valuable attainments, should be highly beneficial to the cause of virtue; and, although it has unfortunately happened, that persons, in some degree possessed of it, have been addicted to immoral and vicious courses, yet must it generally be of decided advantage to mankind, in leading them from low and trivial pursuits, calculated only to vitiate the heart and contract the understanding, to those of a more exalted nature, which expand the best feelings of humanity, enlarge the sphere of human knowledge, and increase the sum of human happiness. Nor is it too much to assert, that vicious conduct in such individuals must originate in some perversion of this principle; since he, who could look down from the height of excellence in taste, must be so acutely sensible of the hideous deformity of vice, as to regard it with disgust and horror.

Taste possesses an influence upon the character of nations, similar to that which it exercises over individuals. This is evinced by the similitude between the character of a nationand its works of art, but still more by the style of literary composition. The vivacity of the French is displayed by a sprightly manner of writing; the boldness and irregularity of the English taste is correspondent to the genius of the nation; the grave and lofty demeanour of the Spaniard is displayed by a similar style of composition. Its effects are most beneficially shewn, where, by exalting the minds of the people, by raising in their bosoms a desire for pleasures more refined than the gross enjoyments of sensuality, the sordid pursuit of lucre, or the ambitious thirst of power; it leads them to form a more rational estimate of liberty, and to value more highly their individual reputation, and that of the state of which they are subjects. Those nations of antiquity which were the most renowned for their ardent love of liberty, and their glorious achievements, were not less celebrated for the classic purity of their taste, and their successful cultivation of the liberal arts; the period of their greatest attainments in these was coeval with the most brilliant æra of their history.

When the Roman virtues and Roman grandeur were at their greatest height, their taste was refined, and the arts

VOL. IV. PART 1.

D

flourished to an unexampled extent. As corruption crept in upon the manners of the people, this principle became vitiated; the arts were neglected, and together suffered a progressive decay with that mighty empire, until its final overthrow involved mankind in a long night of ignorance and barbarity.

During this period of darkness, when the benign influence of taste was no longer perceptible, history displays little but the unlimited sway of bigotry and superstition, and an almost uninterrupted series of domestic feuds or national warfare.

Even when, at length, the pure light of the reformed religion began to dispel the clouds of error which had so long overshadowed the earth, mankind were slow in recovering from the state of barbarism into which they had been sunk; and an eagerness to remove every vestige of their former delusion induced them to destroy many of those works of art, which mistaken piety had reared, or the apathy of their predecessors suffered to remain unmolested.

Succeeding ages have gradually restored the dominion of this desirable principle; and, while the last recorded page of history displays, in glowing characters, the names of Reynolds, of Johnson, of Burke, and many others equally worthy of our admiration; while, in the present day, poetry can exult in a Campbell, a Byron,* and a Scott; while painting can produce a West, science a Sir Humphrey Davy, and philanthropy a Bennett, like another Howard, exploring the gloomy recesses of the prison-house; it will not be too arrogant to assert, that the sun of science and of taste now shines with a lustre which may rival, and is rapidly approaching a meridian whose glories will eclipse, the most brilliant periods of antiquity.

DISCUSSION:

WAS THE SUPPRESSION OF THE KNIGHTS TEMPLARS OCCASIONED BY THE CRIMES OF THE ORDER?

On this question, the Opener proposed to contend, that the suppression of the knights did not arise from the crimes of the order. In this, he did not conceive it necessary to prove them perfectly innocent. All he should attempt would be, to shew that, if there had not been other causes, the crimes of the order would never have produced their suppression. The question

*When this essay was written, the heart of the noble Poet was still pregnant with celestial fire," and the hand of the venerable Painter had not yet felt the grasp of ungrateful Death, to whom his pencil had given immortality.

was more interesting than it might at first be imagined, since, when the proceedings were instituted against them, the reaction of the crusades had commenced. Therefore, the principles from which arose the great encouragement those undertakings had received, would materially affect the conclusion to be drawn from the circumstances under which the suppression of the order took place.

In order to shew the causes which induced him to form the opinion he entertained, the subject might be divided into four parts:

First, a view of chivalry; secondly, the history of the knights templars, and their suppression; thirdly, a consideration of this proceeding unconnected with the history of the time; fourthly, a consideration of the proceeding connected with the history of the time.*

With regard to the first point. When our ancestors, the Germans, left their woods, their manners and institutions might be expected to produce the grandest effects. They required only some guide to direct them. The operation of numerous important causes afforded them this guide; and the event proved the expectation well founded. When their love of war was employed in the defence of their country; when their ambition was occupied in the acquirement of noble objects; when their honour flowed in a worthy channel; when their gallantry was refined; when their superstition assumed a more enchanting form; an institution, the most illustrious of which the world could ever boast, appeared. That institution was chivalry. Beneath its influence arose the knighta man nearer to perfection than humanity ever yet approached. In him, the stern pagan virtues were softened by the mild influence of Christianity. What antiquity wanted to be truly great, was found in him. His valour was not brutalized by cruelty; his victory was not disgraced by indecent joy; his triumph was not poisoned by the slavery of his fallen enemy; his papatriotism was not confined to the limits of one country, nor his generosity to one nation. The world was his country, and its inhabitants his fellow-citizens. Honourably as he fulfilled these public duties, he was no less anxious for the exact performance of the private ones. While he acquired an elegance of manners in the society of the ladies, he improved his natural

* As the limits of a sketch like the present will prevent a quotation from the author for every statement made, the following names are given as those whence the information has been derived:-Du Puy, Gurtlerus, Monasterium, par le Père Helyot; Histoire de France, par le Père Daniel; Histoire de France, par Mons. l'Abbé Millot; Bzovius; Villani; Matthew Paris; Historia Major; Thomas Walsingham; Feyjóo Cartas Criticas; Historia de los Templarios, por Santiago Lopez; Voltaire Mélanges Historiques; Monumens Historiques, &c. des Chevaliers du Temple, &c. par M. Raynouard; Mémoires Historiques sur les Templiers, par Ph. G***.

sensibility and tenderness. The roughness of war was smoothed by the gallant intercourse. To be rude to a lady, or speak ill of her name, was a crime of the blackest dye. The uncourteous offender was driven from the society of the valiant, and it often required the interference of the injured fair one to save him from the punishment he deserved. In fine, besides this noble gallantry, the knight was to be the concentration of the eight virtues: piety, chastity, modesty, temperance, truth, loyalty, generosity, valour. But, however great, however magnificent, this institution might be, still it was mortal; and therefore shared the fate of mortality. Nor should we wonder, since the greatest countries, and the greatest men, have, in their turn, been subjected to fate. The heroes of Marathon, Platœa, and Thermopyla, could become so proverbially base as to afford a theme to the Latin satirist ; the demigods, who despaired not of Rome, after a Cannæ could stoop beneath the yoke of a barbarian Ostrogoth; the patriots of Numantia, Saguntum, and Toledo, could sink under the feet of that abortive mass of corrupted and superstitious royalty, which now disgraces the Spanish throne. But, nor Babylon, nor Thebes, nor Athens, nor Macedon, nor Carthage, nor Rome, nor Numantia, nor Saguntum, nor Toledo, could endure; and, therefore, a mere mortal institution like chivalry could not be exempted from their destiny: for, within every thing mundane, there is at its original conformation the cause of its future downfal. The knightly virtues were extremes; and, when carried to their full extent, they became vices. As the rose bears within itself the insect which afterwards destroys it, so the flower of chivalry had in its centre the baneful canker-worn it grew with its growth, and strengthened with its strength; and, when the beauteous plant was at perfection, the worm was at maturity. Its deadly influence spread through every leaf, it drooped, it withered, it decayed. The knights templars, as a part of this system, shared its fate. They were originally virtuous, pure, religious; but, when chivalry was corrupted, they were corrupted; when chivalry declined, they declined; when chivalry fell, they fell. Still this corruption was not peculiar to them. Every order was equally vicious; though, when tyrannical policy required their suppression, these common vices served as a veil for the infamous proceeding.

The second division in order was the history of the knights, and their suppression. All authors were agreed, that the order commenced in the year 1118, at Jerusalem, in the reign of Baldwin the Second. Their founders were Hugh Paganis, Geoffrey de Saint-Omer, Godfrey Bisoi, Pagano de Monte Desiderio, Archibald de Saint Ameno, and three others, whose names are unknown. They were regular

monks, and took the three vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, before the patriarch of Jerusalem. Baldwin was so well pleased with their piety, that, according to Mathew Paris, he gave them a residence in his own palace. This was on the south side of the Temple of Solomon; and hence arose the title of knights, or soldiery of the temple. On certain conditions, a piece of ground was granted to them, by the monks of the temple, on which to build. Their duty, and the object of their establishment, was the defence of devout pilgrims in their approach to the holy sepulchre. For nine years they continued without adding to their body. A synod being then held at Troyes, in Champagne, under Honorius the Second, it was determined that the order should be placed under certain regulations, and be ecclesiastically established. Saint Bernard, abbé of Clairvaux, was appointed to fulfil this decree; and, in 1128, the knights were subjected to certain rules. From that time, their numbers, riches, and power, increased in an extraordinary degree. They obtained extensive establishments, and large estates, in almost every inhabitable country of Europe. Riches had the same effect on them as on other mortals, and in time they became corrupted. When the Christians were totally expelled from Palestine, in 1291, the knights returned to their respective countries, either to enjoy their own estates, or the possessions of the order. Among other countries, France received her knights. In the year 1307, an insurrection took place at Paris, in consequence of Philip the Fourth, commonly called "le Bel," debasing the coin two-thirds below the standard; and in that the templars were supposed to have been concerned. However, they were either so cautious or so innocent, that only two of the order were apprehended. These were Noffo Dei, a banished Florentine, and the Prior de Montfauçon of Tholouse; and both, according to the statements, or admissions of all authors, were persons of the most infamous character. When about thirty of the insurgents had been hanged, these two men were naturally anxious to avoid a punishment which they saw must be inflicted on themselves. From circumstances, to which allusion would hereafter be made, nothing appeared better calculated to fulfil their object than an accusation of their order. Accordingly, information was sent by them to Philip, that they should be able to substantiate a charge, imputing the most horrible crimes to the knights. Philip listened greedily to their accusation, and immediately wrote to Clement the Fifth, who at that time filled the papal chair, mentioning the principal facts. Clement returned him for answer, that the charges were of so improbable a nature as to render belief of their truth quite impossible. The knights themselves