afterwards saw the knight Templar Brother William deliver to the newly-received brother a large roll of paper, containing the rule of the order, which the said newly-received brother was directed to transcribe in private; that after the departure of the said Brother William, the deponent approached the said newly-received brother, who was then diligently writing, and asked to be allowed to inspect the roll, but was told that none but members of the order could be allowed to read it; that he was then about to depart, when Brother William made his appearance, and, astonished and confounded at the sight of the deponent, snatched up the roll and walked away with it, declaring, with a great oath, that he would never again allow it to go out of his hands. Brother John de Donyngton, of the order of the Minorites, the seventy-sixth witness examined, being sworn, deposed that some years back an old veteran of the Temple (whose name he could not recollect) told him that the order possessed four chief idols in England, one at London in the sacristy of the Temple; another at the preceptory of Bistelesham; a third at Bruere in Lincolnshire; and the fourth in some place beyond the Humber, (the name of which he had forgotten;) that Brother William de la More, the Master of the Temple, introduced the melancholy idolatry of the Templars into England, and brought with him into the country a great roll, whereon were inscribed in large characters the wicked practices and observances of the order. The said old veteran also told the deponent that many of the Templars carried idols about with them in boxes, &c. &c. The deponent further states that he recollected well that a private gentleman, Master William de Shokerwyk, a short time back, had prepared to take the vows of the order, and carried his treasures and all the property he had to the Temple at London; and that as he was about to deposit it in the treasury, one of the brethren of the Temple heaved a profound sigh, and Master William de Shokerwyk having asked what ailed him, he immediately replied, "It will be the worse for you, brother, if you enter our order;" that the said Master William asked why, and the Templar replied, "You see us externally, but not internally; take heed what you do; but I shall say no more;" and the deponent further declares, that on another occasion the said Master William entered into the Temple Hall, and found there an old Templar, who was playing at the game called Daly; and the old Templar observing that there was no one in the hall besides himself and the said Master William, said to the latter, "If you enter into our order, it will be the worse for you." The witness then goes into a rambling account of various transactions in the East, tending to show that the Templars were in alliance with the Saracens, and had acted with treachery towards the christian cause![398]