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quired permanence and a regular form of government. Little had still occurred to break the force or loosen the foundations of the feudal system. It stood in its strength, and must forever have remained an effectual bar to the improvement and civilization of Europe; but wild fanaticism, and extravagant super stition at length effected, by the most extraordinary means, what never could have been looked for in a regular course of probable events. An event took place which shook the minds of men from their established foundations....tore up from the bottom their deepest prejudices....awakened them from the slumber of ignorance and the dreams of delusion, and presented before them illustrious motives and models of action.

CHAPTER II.

THE SAME CONTINUED....THE CRUSADES.

AT the end of the tenth century, a rumor

prevailed through Europe that the Son of GOD was about to make his personal advent to this world, in order to establish an universal empire, the seat of which was to be at Jerusalem. It occurred, therefore, that it was a duty, the performance of which would attach illustrious merit, to rescue the holy land from the hands of infidels, in order to be in readiness for that grand event. It was proposed that the chris

tians of Europe should march in a body sufficient to crush the Mahometan powers of Asia; and it was inculcated and believed that, under the sacred banners of the cross, they should bear down all opposition, or, if any fell in battle, that their cause would be a certain passport to the regions of bliss.

Preaching heralds were suddenly dispersed through Europe on this important mission. Some of them went clad in sackcloth, with their heads and feet bare.* They flew with incredible speed from kingdom to kingdom, promising to each soldier of the cross at least the eternal blessing of heaven, and threatening such as remained inactive with the endless wrath of Deity.

Their success was beyond calculation. The most powerful princes enlisted under the banners of the cross. The flame spread and continued to burn from the shores of the Baltic to the streights of Gibraltar ; and from the banks of the Danube to the bay of Biscay. All causes were swallowed up in one; and men of all professions, of all ages, descriptions, and nations, coalesced under the honorable title of SOLDIERS OF CHRIST, and champions of the cross. In all places the martial trumpet was heard, and warlike preparations were seen. Immense swarms of people thronged from all quarters, to places of general rendezvous, whence, in still larger bodies, they rolled like mighty torrents into Asia. Never were the nations of Europe agitated by so general a passion; nor did ever a public passion equal this for strength or duration ;

Peter the Hermit, and others. ''

since it governed Europe so entirely, that to make, to preserve, or to recover acquisitions in Judea and its neighborhood, was the grand and favorite object for two centuries.

The reader may judge of the importance of the enterprize, when he is told that, after two centuries were elapsed, and upwards of two millions of lives lost, and incalculable sums expended, the christians lost all footing in Judea, which has ever since remained under the power of the Turks. This was probably among the wildest, most vain, and extravagant enter. prizes ever undertaken by man. I shall only add the sentiment of an elegant historian, that it is matter of lasting regret, that the Crusades, being the only enterprize in which the powers of Europe ever generally engaged, should remain to all posterity an unexampled monument of human folly.

But however vain and extravagant the Crusades were, they were productive of lasting good to mankind. They changed the character and the manners of Europe. They, in the first place, drew off, and, in a measure, exhausted those fierce and fiery spirits which never can be at rest. They gave full scope to the ar dor of thousands of knights and chevaliers; so that their flaming and inordinate courage found other employ than to waste and extinguish itself in the blood of honest and peaceable citizens.

The general union of all Europe in one common cause, although a wild religious phrenzy was at the bottom of it, prevented many wars....hushed many commotions, and caused numberless priyate animosi

ties to be forgotten: the inhabitants of different countries became acquainted with each other, and especially, when they met in the remote regions of Asia, they looked upon each other as brethren en gaged in one grand cause, where life, honor, and glo ry were all at stake. The Crusades may, in fact, be regarded as the commencement of that intercourse among the people of Europe, which has been ever since increasing; and which cannot fail not only to assimilate but to polish their manners.

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The Venetian fleets were greatly concerned in transporting the armies and the provisions of the Crusaders. The latter, therefore, had an opportunity of beholding and admiring the improvement, civility, and politeness, as well as the convenience, the afflu ence, the power, and prosperity which result from commerce. They were equally astonished and in flamed with the idea. They transmitted accounts of the glory of Italy back to the countries whence they came, and inspired their countrymen with a spirit of emulation.

Many of their armies passed through Constantinople, the only great and important city, as already stated, which escaped the ravages of the northern and eastern invaders, and descended, unimpaired, through the dark ages. An earl of Flanders had the good fortune and address to obtain the government of Con stantinople, which, for several descents, remained in his family. This will account for the fact that Flanders and the adjacent countries led the way in the revival of letters. Constantinople, it is probable, con

tained the most valuable and precious remains of an tiquity which had been collected thither by the great Constantine and his successors. The enterprize of the Crusaders spread over Europe whatever infor mation they gained in their travels; and as Constan tinople was their place of general rendezvous, the light, refinement, and science which were there found, were, in the course of two centuries, during which the Crusades lasted, diffused through Europe.

In fine, the Crusades gave a general shock to the public mind, which forever shook off the tyranny of many barbarous customs, and broke the long and deadly slumbers of ignorance, whose narcotic influ ence on men's minds is always in proportion to its nature and extent. By promoting national and social intercourse, they tended powerfully to melt away the prejudices and assimilate the minds of men. As they had an union of object, they would naturally im press the mind with a sense of the power, practicability, and good policy of combinations and extensive alli❤ ances. As they passed through countries far more cultivated, more enterprising, and more opulent than their own, they must draw comparisons to their own expence; and must naturally wish to imitate those people whose wisdom and industry had secured to them prosperity and power. By all these means the eyes of mankind are opened-an extensive portion of the nations of the earth received, at the same time,important lessons of instruction-the genius of Europe was roused and stood ready to explore the avenues of knowledge, and to trace the intricate paths which lead to more extensive fields of light.