THE ARREST OF THE TEMPLARS IN FRANCE 235
who, of his own free will, has vowed himself to one Order
change his manner of life and enter another Order that he has
not chosen ". Innovations were often dangerous, and it was
wrong to assume that because a thing was untried it was
necessarily desirable. Jealousy, said de Molay, would be
a certain result of a combination. He charged the Hospital
with caring only to amass wealth, while the Temple was
generous with its money in charitable works. Moreover, the
Templars, according to de Molay, were richer and more
renowned than the Hospitallers, and discord would break out
between the two Orders on these points. " At the instigation
of the devil " the members of the Temple and the Hospital
would be tempted to boast that their own Order was the
better, and, being men of war, they would perhaps turn their
arms against each other to prove their strength. If the
Orders were united the amount given in charity would be
reduced. Further, where at present poor pilgrims had the
choice of the houses of the Templars and Hospitallers- they
would be limited to a single house, for in places where the
Orders each had its own house, one or other would have to be
closed. This would cause the displacement of a number of
commanders of houses, and trouble would arise on this
ground. Who were to obtain the chief posts of a united
Order? For instance, the Temple and the Hospital each had
a- Marshal, but a combination of the Orders would provide
for a single Marshal. Naturally, each Order would prefer
its own nominees. Suppose, too, the man elected to the post
of Marshal in the new organisation was of Temple origin, he
would be inclined to favour the ex-Templars, and the discus-
sion and squabbling would be endless. A combined Order
might be stronger, yet it could still be less effective than the
existing arrangement.
He admitted the rivalry between the Templars and the
Hospitallers, but denied that it was disadvantageous to the
Christians j he argued that on the contrary it was a healthy