ABEY. II.]

ST. JOHN OF JERUSALEM.

257

went reconnoitring several of the neighbouringislands.

During which came other letters from the newPope; and that to the Grand Master of the Templarsmay have been a sort of duplicate of this. And ifhe of the Hospital was called only to hide the mon-strous enormity, his disobedience was easilypardoned on Molay’s being forwarded to Greece,and reaping full success; for the luckless noblemanobeyed, and went into the trap, Poitiers and Paris,

—and was lost. Quickness and great secrecy

, „ , . . . .... 1306

were the Pope s injunctions; and writingm

the earlier part of June, he says he would expect to

hear their opinion on grave matters relative to the

Holy Land, on the 15 th of next November. 1

But on his return from the islands, Sir William,finding his knights in ill humour, as ill-treated bythe Court of Cyprus, and wishing to be in a homeof their own, where they might attend to theirduties and have to render an account to none butto their own superior and grand master alone, hethought it best to avail himself of the Pontificalorders, and go to Europe to try to organise a bodyto aid him in his projected invasion. More es-pecially, seeing he was not to have the Templars, 2

1 Appendix, Ixxx.—Cod. Dipl. Geros., ii., Num xvi.

2 Sismondi : Repub. Ital., iv.—Appendix, cv.

VOL. II.

S