Grand Master William de Beaujeu. He states that the same J AM E S DI mode of reception existed there as in England, and everywhere^°"jj n A throughout the order. Brother Robert de Hamilton declares that the girdles were worn from an honourable motive, that they were called the girdles of Nazareth, because they had been pressed against the column of the Virgin at that place, and were worn in remembrance of the blessed Mary ; but he says that the brethren were not compelled to wear them, but might make use of any girdle that they liked. With regard to the confessions made in France, they all say that if their brethren in that country confessed such things, they lied ! * At York the examination commenced on the 28 th of April, and lasted until the 4th of May, during which period twentythree Templars, prisoners in York Castle, were examined in the chapter-house of the cathedral, and followed the example of their brethren in maintaining their innocence. Brother Thomas de Stanford, a member of thirty years' standing, had been received in the East by the Grand Master William de Beaujeu, and Brother Badulph de Bostona, a priest of the order, of twenty-three years' standing, had been received at the preceptory of Lentini in Sicily by Brother William de Canello, the Grand Preceptor of Sicily. Brother Stephen de Radenhall refused to reveal the mode of reception, because it formed part of the secrets of the chapter, and if he discovered them he would lose his chamber, be stripped of his mantle, or be committed to prison.f On the 20th of May, in obedience to the mandate of the archbishop of York, an ecclesiastical council of the bishops and clergy assembled in the cathedral. The mass of the Holy Ghost was * Terrore tormentorum conièaei aunt et mentiti.—Cbncil. Mag. Brit., torn. ii. p. ses, m, 367. τ Depwitiones Templariorum in Provincia Eboracenai.—CorieU, Mag. Brit,, torn. ii. •p. 971—373.