The Crusades And The Crusaders.*

Horatian sapphics , in which he appeared to think—as do still many of our modern Latin poets—that when a man writes Latin he must also write like a heathen . Vida , however , was no more successful than was Petrarch , who addressed a most eloquent letter to the Doge of Venice . Among the ilgrims to the HolLand , before all thought

p y of a further crusade was entirely abandoned , was just one man who might have infused vitality into an effete idea , Had the enthusiasm of Ignatius Loyala been turned in . this direction , probably in him , certainly in him alone , the world mig ht have had to recognise a second Peter the hermit .

The perusal of the orig inal chronicles of the crusades is in the highest degree interesting and amusing . They are to be found in a famous old work , " Gesta Dei per Prances . " We use the Hanover edition of 1 ( 511 . An emendation has been suggested , Gesta Diaboli . " In the preface we find mention of a certain prelate in this countrywhoive r'egret to findwas greatly disgusted

, , , with the natives . " He was bishop of tho untameablc Britons , but was not able to bear with their peverseness , and so he used frequently to desert these impudeut ancl lawless people , ancl used to run away to Normandy , where he had some farms , and possessed them in quiet . There he was wont to stir up his hearers to the service of

God , and in the fear of God comforted them with his holy discourses" (/ uteris sermonibv . s comfort ahal ) . The following is another specimen of Latinity : — " In gens Tucorum multitude adventum corum besliali mente

sitiebant . The Latinity of these writers , though nervous , is coarse , and though simple is vicious , partaking neither of the majesty of the ancient masters nor the elegance of the modern scholars , and is deformed with countless barbarisms . Butneverthelesswe owe to them the

, , preservation of the language , for they have at least retained the vocabulary and the grammatical constructions . They have also preserved for us—and for this we shall always owe a debt of gratitude to these poor foolish chroniclers—the great works of the great minds of Rome . We ought never to forget the deep debt of

gratitude , although their decline was so deep that the earliest efforts of the infant literature of England ivere directed against them . There has always been a time when a bad institution has been a good institution . Because certain institutions are unnecessary in the England of free parliaments , of charitable institutions , of schools and colleges , of the press , of societies for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge , of societies for tho

Protection of "Women , it would be absurd to deny their utility in the England of 500 years ago . Tlie monks proved the great colonisers of Europe . If the clergy of the Latin Church have been charged with their enormous wealth , they may at least reply that in a measure that wealth has been obtained by their own exertions . G rants of large tracts of land ivere originally made to the

monasteries . With reference to these grants , the following facts have to be observed : —that such tracts ivere thinly populated ; or unpopulated ; that they very often consisted of heath , forest , or bog land ; that they could scarcely be compared in value to the allotments now made by colonial governors to settlors in Canada and

ISiew Zealand . The early monks dwelt in mud huts and log cabins . They sowed their own corn , ancl reaped their own harvests . They guided the plough and planted the vine , in wilds that had only known the thistle and the thorn . The aged and the infirm , tlie widow and the orphan , were made welcome to their colonies , while the barons looked with disdain on their manual

employments . While to the pioor they showed nothing but kindness , from the rich they received nothing but contempt . "We conclude with a few extracts , not from Mr . Edgar ' s book , but from the old chroniclers , on whom all accounts of the crusades must be substantiall y based . We

shall translate some passages from Albert d'Aix , who possesses a great deal both of spirit and accuracy . We do this for two reasons—first , that our readers may have a fair specimen of the st yle of these early chroniclers ; and secondly , because the events referred to are most interesting , and have received a very meagre accountor

, rather no account at all , from the regular historians of the crusades . There is a parallel account in the fifth book of William of Tyre , from which we have inserted a few sentences : —

" In the course of their long wanderings , they had now come near to the mountains that on every side stand round about Jerusalem . There their water failed them , and they sent on to Emmaus to procure some from the cisterns and fountains , ancl also some food for their cattle . That same night an eclipse of the moon took place .

About midnight it assumed the colour of blood , true portent of that which was to be . They wonderd in their hearts what this thing mig ht mean . These , however , in the camp to whom the march of the p lanets lay open , furnished them with consolation . They said that this prodi gy was no ill omen to the Christians , but that the

eclipse of the moon aud its bloody aspect portended the destruction of the Saracens , and that it ivas an eclipse of the sun that ivas an ill potent to tho Christians . "When the day was towards the gloaming , messages came from the village of Bethlehem , from certain Christians whom the Saracens had expelled from the Holy City with threats of death , praying them , in the name of

Christ , to make no delay , but to hasten to their relief . When they heard the messages ancl the prayers , and learned the peril of these Christian people , they sent a hundred armed men the very same evening to succour the desolate faithful of Christ . They travelled all ni ght with speed , and morning was just dawning on Bethlehem , and

about the hour when the Saviour of the world was born , when tho banners of tlie crusaders was waving from the walls of Bethlehem . When their arrival was known , the Christian inhabitants came forth to meet them there with hymns and praises , and sprinklings from Bethlehem ' s hallowed fountains , and the Christian knights also

joyfully received them , and kissed their hands and their eyes and said : —' ' We give thanks to God , because we see in our own day those things wliich wc have ahvays desired to see , that you , our Christian brothers , should be present at our striking off the yoke of slavery , and repairing of the holy places of Jerusalem , and the taking away of the heathen worship and uncleauness from the holy place . '

" Scarcely hacl the horseman , however , been despatched , and lo ! a report came to the ears of the chiefs , and of the whole army , that an embassy from Bethlehem had arrived for their general . And on this account it hacl hardly passed midni ght when forthwith all , both small and great , took up their tents and proceeded on

their way through tho narrow passes of the roads and the precip itous clefts of the hills ; and all the cavalry ivere burning to go first , and to make haste with their journey , lest , through a great multitude flocking into these precipitous clefts , the progress of the horses might be impeded . And so all , both small and great , with a like purpose , hasted on towards Jerusalem . And about the time that the morning dew is just dry upon the grass , the horsemen that had been sent to Bethlehem met