“About the middle of this century (the 12th) a certain Calabrian, whose name was _Berthold_, set out with a few companions for mount Carmel, and there, upon the very spot where the prophet Elias is said to have disappeared, built an humble cottage with an adjoining chapel, in which he led a life of solitude, austerity, and labour. This little colony subsisted, and the places of those that died were more than filled by new comers; so that it was at length erected into a monastic community by _Albert_, patriarch of Jerusalem. This austere prelate drew up a rule of discipline for the new monks, which was afterwards confirmed by the authority of the Roman pontiffs, who modified and altered it in several respects, and among other corrections mitigated its excessive rigour and severity. Such was the origin of the famous _Order of Carmelites_, or, as they are commonly called, of the _Order of our Lady of mount Carmel_, which was afterwards transplanted from _Syria_ into _Europe_, and obtained the principal rank among the mendicant or begging orders. It is true the Carmelites reject, with the highest indignation, an origin so recent and obscure, and affirm to this very day, that the prophet Elias was the founder of their ancient community. Very few, however, have been engaged to adopt this fabulous and chimerical account of their establishment, except the members of the order, and many Roman Catholic writers have treated their pretensions to such a remote antiquity with the utmost contempt.”