210 THE HISTORY OF THE ORDER OF [book ii.

must be the very nearly hopeless struggle of a smallminority against illimitable numbers. No! Themoon is not entirely made of green cheese! Norlay stress on idle will-o-the-wisps, that cannot butmislead. Hopes in Europe are no better. Calcu-late but on your own resources. And what arethey ? Alas!

There were the Templars, but of them little re-maineth but glory, though their grand master andhis twelve score of knights are worthy of theirsplendid name. The Teutonics, if you go look forthem in the fine German battles; but here are onlyfifteen under a lieutenant. Other orders, too, therewere, but altogether of slender amount. The Hos-pitallers—and everyone of them is to be counted on—all heroes; each may be considered fifty accordingto the Mahometan superstition, that some Chris-tians have many souls in them; and certainly thevulgar Saracens believed to have seen the sameChristian killed several times, and beheld manyliving men proceed from within one Christiancorpse . 1 If authority would do, there are a cloudof authorities, Christian too, to verify a fact thatnone can credit ; 2 but even so, what of success can

1 Frustra contra Christianos pugnamus, quia uno mortuo alius,6tatim ex ore ejus nascitur, et ab hoc numerus nullatenus nmraitur.Leoben Chron.—Bib. Crois., iii. 197.

2 Appendix, ci.