Of these great mental impulses-heroic however foolish they may appear to us in moments, as Emerson would call them-in, the nineteenth century, were, nevertheless, of the history of our globe, perhaps the greatest the very highest importance to the age of is the Crusades. It was a period of deep the Crusades-to the rude, unlettered barons, feeling, when the human race seemed to and men at arms. Courage and faith, are awaken to a sense of responsibility-when they not the twin pioneers of civilizationdeath and danger were disregarded, so that courage, the strong, self-helping arm upon man could but perform the mission that was earth; faith, the sanctifier, the spirit that before him. Not but on such occasions he comes from heaven? The one without the ran into great follies; nay, doubtless, in such other is grasping selfishness or helpless moments of abandonment these were pre- inanity. The objection which is constantly dominant; the motive and the mental condition urged against the Crusades by observers in the alone were nobler. This mighty movement, so nineteenth century-that they were without greatly remarkable for the absence of selfish- practical results-is wretchedly unphilosoness in its leaders, was perhaps, at the time | phical. No age properly admits of comit occurred, the most advantageous possible parison with any but itself. It is enough for Europe. The nations were then young- that the motives appeared sufficient for our newly organized; they required pressure from forefathers. It is the purest arrogance to without to consolidate and establish their believe that, had we lived then, we should power upon a firm basis, and this they found have been wiser. The positive direct benefits in the Crusades. What other movement of these precipitations of Europe upon Asia than this-which united the strongest faith are to be found in the strong faith which was in the cross with the greatest courage and evoked, the consequent deepening of the self-exertion in the individual-could have human consciousness, and thus a general filled the heart of Europe with poetry-could awakenment of the moral nature. That have developed that noble institution, chi- these benefits have not been more clearly valry? And, doubtless, it was the holy and seen; indeed, that the present subject is religious impulses which led the way to this matter of debate at all, arises from the imwar, that softened the hearts of the rude perfect knowledge which we have of moral warriors to the gentle influences of women. forces, and the difficulty of arriving at a Here was a holiness-a devotedness--which, correct estimate of them. HAROLD. NEGATIVE ARTICLE.-IV. "The principle of the Crusades was a savage fanaticism, and the most important effects were analogous to the cause. The belief of the Catholics was corrupted by new legends, their practice by new superstitions; and the establishment of the inquisition, the mendicant order of monks and friars, the last abuse of indulgences, and the final progress of idolatry, flowed from the baleful fountain of the holy war.”—Gibbon, “ Decline and Fall," chap. Ixi. WHILE the Crusades have been a theme of exultation or regret to many, according to their feelings or prejudices, they have ever been the subject of astonishment to all. That so many human beings should, by the tale and tears of a solitary and despicable monk, be aroused from the sluggish habits of their social life, and fired with a spirit of daring enthusiasm-that the whole priesthood should have unanimously espoused his cause that monarchs and merchants, princes and peasants, chieftains and slaves, fiefs and their vassals, and even maids, and mothers with their children, should have at once entered into a scheme for leaving their fatherland and their possessions, and marching to an unknown country, cannot fail to arrest the attention of the student of history. That this enthusiasm should for such a length of years have continued to animate the minds and influence the conduct of the whole of the European nations, is indeed a matter of astonishment. That men who had hitherto led lives of the most widely different description- the unlettered boor, who had lived quietly in his humble cot; the robber, whose abode was the fastnesses of the mountains; and the haughty aristocrat, who had enjoyed the luxury of property and the services of vassals-that all should have suddenly given up their peculiarities, and have joined together, actuated by the same motive, and impelled by a like frenzy, to set out on a perilous expedition to free the Holy City from the Turk, is certainly a subject which may well engross the attention of mankind, and from which they may be willing to learn. That this could not all be effected without producing deep and powerful organic effects, even where society was rude and unformed, no one will presume to deny. That these effects were unfavourable to the civilization and moral elevation of the people, we shall now attempt to prove by the following considerations: First. The causes and the motives which led to the Crusades. We have been at some pains to inquire into the history of these wars, and we fearlessly say that we can discover in their origin and prosecution the evidence of no worthy or ennobling motive. They were the product of rude ignorance, of treacherous cunning, of martial rapacity, and of frenzied fanaticism. The end seems to have been held to justify the means. There was the first and grand appeal to the people to enter the lists against the enemies of the Saviour, to succour and avenge their injured pilgrim brothers, and to redeem the Holy City from the possession of the Mussulman. In this they were deceived by "cunningly-devised fables" respecting "lands flowing with milk and honey-of mines, and treasures of gold and diamonds—of palaces of marble and jasper." These were to be the rewards of the pilgrim; and the wealth of the infidels was regarded as the fair and legitimate object of plunder; and even the flavour of the wines and the beauty of the women were held forth as incentives to the march. Promises of pardon for the deadliest crimes, and the sure possession of eternal happiness, was to be the reward of a pilgrimage to the East, with the destruction of the infidel, and the recovery of the tomb of the Saviour. How sadly was everything holy in the faith and practice of true religion perverted, and what sickening horrors were perpetrated in the name of the Prince of Peace! Secondly. The character and conduct of the Crusaders forbid them being regarded as aids to civilization or moral elevation. "At the voice of their pastor the robber, the incendiary, the homicide, arose by thousands to redeem their souls by repeating on the infidels the same deeds which they had exercised against their christian brethren," and the terms of atonement were eagerly embraced by offenders of every rank and denomination." None were refused admission to the saintly army. The prince was honoured, the peasant flattered, the young and stalwart, whatever their character or crimes, were welcomed to the ranks, and even women and children were allowed to swell their numbers. To prisoners a general amnesty was granted, and to debtors a freedom from the diligence of creditors. Before all earthly ties and considerations was the call of the church and the battles of the cross. It was enough that they were filled with hatred to the followers of the false prophet, and longed to wreak vengeance on all who resisted the Pope, and were willing to hasten to the redemption of the holy sepulchre. Such were the elements of the army that marched to Palestine. Men ignorant, avaricious, and bloodthirsty; not themselves the subjects of civilization or enlightenment, and certainly very unlikely to teach these to others. Their conduct was such as might have been expected from such an army placed in such circumstances. Wherever their march was opposed, or their hopes of plunder excited, their revenge was fearful, and their rapacity boundless. Oppression and cruelty were their concomitants, and a butchered people and a devastated country were in the track of their progress. Nor were they able to restrain the workings of strife and cruelty amongst themselves. The strong trampled on the weak, the married state was violated, and such scenes of rioting and debauchery were witnessed in their midst, that Gibbon says, "Seldom does the history of profane war display such scenes of intemperance and prostitution as were exhibited under the walls of Antioch." Thus did the conduct and character of the Crusaders exclude the possibility of their doing any good to the nations they visited. "Heedless and unreflecting, they consumed with prodigality the stores of provisions and the water which they had. Like the plague of the locusts, they ate up and destroyed every article of food in the inland country which they traversed. The people among whom they marched either hated them and their designs with a deadly hatred, or were fain to flee before their cruel or rapacious brethren, and they were reduced to awful straits from thirst and famine. In the ex tremity of their sufferings they were sometimes compelled to roast and devour the flesh of their infant and adult captives, and acquired the character of cannibals, which was carried abroad and confirmed by spies, who discovered several human bodies preparing for food in their camps." This report the Normans were zealous to spread, in order to heighten the abhorrence and terror of the infidels. Thus debasing was the influence of the Crusades on all with whom they came in contact. Tell us not, then, in bitter mockery, that the "Crusades unfolded a Christian Europe," or were likely to carry the blessings of enlightenment, or respect for the social relations, to those with whom they came in contact. one. Thirdly. The results of the Crusades show that they were not favourable to civilization and moral elevation. If we trace the course of the Crusaders, we find that it was one series of error, misfortune, and crime, ending in their own dispersion or destruction. The doom of the first expedition was a mournful "The populace who departed under the conduct of Peter the Hermit, without preparation and without guides or chiefs, and who were followed, rather than led, by some obscure knights, after traversing Germany and the Greek empire, dispersed or perished in Asia Minor."* "Thus perished (says another writer) 300,000 persons of the first Crusaders, ere their more thoughtful brethren had completed their preparations. Yet, so inefficient was the lesson, that vast numbers still flocked under the same standard to encounter the same fate." The savage countries of Hungary and Bulgaria were whitened with their bones, their army was cut in pieces by the Turkish sultan or the Grecian emperor, and myriads perished by the climate, fatigue, and the dangers of the way, the more insuperable as they were unforeseen to these ignorant fanatics. And of the few who returned, they had learned no laws of love, they had been schooled by no kindness, and they settled down in their former state, to their former pursuits, still more gloomy and unlovely than before. They neither accomplished the object for which they were ostentatiously undertaken, nor produced any enlightening or ennobling effects on the nations. Let us hear the tes Guizo:, "History of Civilization," sect. viii. timony of history further on the matter. Gibbon says:-" As soon as the arms of the Franks were withdrawn, the impression, though not the memory, was erased in the Mahometan realms of Egypt and Syria. The faithful disciples of the prophet were never tempted by a profane desire to study the laws or language of the idolaters, nor did the simplicity of their primitive manners receive the slightest alteration from their intercourse, in peace or war, with the unknown strangers of the West; and, if the Greeks showed a less inflexible disposition, it was only the warlike propensities of their antagonists they emulated." Again:-"The ardour of studious curiosity was awakened in Europe by different causes and more recent events; in the age of the Crusades they viewed with careless indifference the litereture and learning of the Greeks and Arabians."* To set forth their effects in England we may use the language of a writer in the Edinburgh Review," who, speaking of the romances which were employed to celebrate the feats of King Richard and the Crusaders, says, "This romance (of cannibalism, which is revoltingly reiterated) is also valuable as a curious example of the CHANGE for the WORSE which the religious wars introduced into the European character. The Crusader discarded from his bosom all that was amiable and mild in the spirit of chivalry. The other exploits of King Richard in the Holy Land were in a similar taste with this cannibal entertainment; and we are of opinion that, when such feats were imputed by way of praise and merit to the hero of the Crusaders, and received, as doubtless they were, with no small applause by the audience, the fact will go a great way to ascertain whether the European character was improved or debased by these Eastern expeditions.”+ Add to these the proofs and authorities founded on, in the negative articles of G. N., J. M. S., and J. G. R., and we have abundant evidence to show that "the Crusades retarded the march of civilization, thickened the clouds of ignorance and superstition, and encouraged intolerance, cruelty, and fierceness." The principal method by which our opponents attempt to prove their position is by "Decline and Fall," chap. Ixi. "Edinburgh Review," vol. iii.; article on English Romances. asserting that, notwithstanding the manifest would have overflowed in navigation and calamities of the Crusades, national unity trade, and the Latins would have been enwas established, and an important reaction riched by a pure and friendly correspondence took place, and many indirect advantages with the climates of the East." The quotaaccrued favourable to the civilization and tion from Hume proves nothing but what all moral elevation of the people. C. W., Jun.,- admit-the unsatisfactory state of society in with a research which on this and many the eleventh century. Macaulay's testimony other subjects does him great credit, and is very meagre, and is as much a defence of entitles him to the thanks of the readers of monkish lore in general as of the Crusades this magazine-educes several authorities, in particular. He certainly does not show yet completely fails to prove that the de- us that those who returned reared such basing effects of the Crusades were balanced buildings as they said they saw, or in any by the good that resulted from them. In way improved our science or our art. The the selection of the authority of Gibbon, as boasted equality of the Crusades is by no one who "is likely to have given the subject means sustained. Even on Guizot's own mature consideration," we consider him sin- showing, monarch's still claimed their sovegularly unfortunate. We have gone deeper reignty, princes and chieftains still retained into the "Decline and Fall" than he in his command, the wealthy took money to provide extracts, and have shown what was really luxuries, and their hawks to beguile the the opinion and testimony of Gibbon, and we tediousness of the way by hunting; the will yet risk another quotation from him, to strong tyrannized over the weak, and the show his real sentiments, as opposed to the distresses of the journey were most heavily idea conveyed by C. W., Jun., in his half felt by the poor. Thus was there no good sentence: "Great was the increase, and resulting, even in this boasted matter, from rapid the progress, during the two hundred the temporary release of the bondsmen, for years of the Crusades, and some philoso-"they who returned from the holy wars rephers have applauded the propitious influence sumed their old occupations, consequently of these holy wars, which appear to me to Europe gained nothing by the matter." But have checked rather than forwarded the we must now leave the question. It has maturity of Europe. The lives and labours been well discussed in the able articles of of millions who were buried in the East G. N., J. M. S., and J. G. R., and we think would have been more profitably employed enough has been advanced to prove the in the improvement of their native country; correctness of our negative position. the accumulated stock of industry and wealth AFFIRMATIVE REPLY. "It would be a mistake to suppose that, because the Crusades failed in their immediate object, or because they were conducted at an immense expense of human labour and human life, therefore they were without beneficial influence on modern society."—Chambers' Tracts. If the amount of energy thrown, either into the advocacy of a cause, or the opposition to it, could be shown to form a criterion of its real merits and truthfulness, then we must most assuredly be content to let the flag of victory wave high over the heads of our opponents in this present question. Luckily, however, the fact is not so. There are two occasions, at least, in which unusual manifestations of zeal may be expected: the one, when the cause of truth, and truth only, is at stake, and when the advocate, inspired by the importance of his A. T. position, becomes elevated beyond himself, Under latter head: we think we can 66 for doing so. show cause" merely observing that it would be gratifying to know the claims on which the second-class authorities adduced against us are entitled to more ready credit than our own! It may be on the known principle that strangers are generally best received! Those who have perused the first papers which appeared on this question will, most likely, have noticed that, when we opened the affirmative side of the debate, we were cautious to back all our assertions with historical authority. In an historical debate, we hold that no other course can be properly pursued. It is quite possible to fill a volume with arguments to prove that certain causes could never lead to certain results; but, such is the force and purpose of history, that one line from any of its usually admitted authentic sources showing that the result sought to be disproved did happen, will at once consign to the shades all the arguments ever penned to the contrary! If, indeed, such were not the case, controversies could never be settled, and the end and aim of history would be for ever destroyed. But the point to which we desire to direct more especial attention is this:-Nearly all the negative writers have made it a chief point to quibble with our authorities. By one they are characterized as “an array of names and opinions;" another says "they are mere assertions;" and a third scatters them to the right or left, as it may best suit his purpose! Well, after such an utter disdain for authorities in this matter, we were anticipating with anxiety the expedients which should supply their place. It occurred to us that, perhaps, some special process might have been discovered by which facts even of very long standing could be brought clearly to light without the intermeddling, vexatious interference of historians, or the absurd conclusions of philosophers! But, when we first cast our eyes down the negative columns, and saw what we believed to be sundry "inverted commas" and "foot-notes," we began strongly to suspect the accuracy of our vision! How could those who despise authorities so far forget themselves as to seek their aid, and apparently rejoice in the fact of so doing? We looked again, and suspicion flashed across our mind. It was a matter of convenience to abuse our old and familiar authorities, for that afforded a pretext for introducing a number of minor and more secluded ones, to whom a glimpse of daylight was a much greater treat! Well, then, on the ground of humanity we will forget the circumstance, We have been endeavouring to discover the real bearing of our opponents' arguments, and to learn wherein we really differ. While admitting and lamenting the many baneful influences which were rife during the period of the Crusades, we have (with the other affirmative writers) endeavoured to penetrate beyond the immediate scene of action, and trace the changes and effects which followed, in order to see how far the latter were either dependent upon, or associated with, the former. This is a test which the philosophy of history plainly teaches us to apply, and without it we should despair of ever arriving at an enlightened and accurate conclusion. The negative writers have thought proper to confine themselves to a narrower, and, in our estimation, less philosophic basis. They put before us, in vivid colours, scenes of bloodshed and cruelty which are said to have characterized the Crusades; and, with an air of injured virtue, they then ask, “Can good come out of evil?” "Can you expect that such atrocities would do more than call down just retribution upon the heads of the offenders?" We answer that history, both sacred and secular, affords abundant evidence that the means employed frequently have no influence, either for good or evil, upon the result sought to be brought about. The former are not unfrequently the result of accident. The fruit being ripe, the first blast of wind brings it to the ground, irrespective of the quarter of the compass from which it may blow. So, prior to the commencement of the Crusades, domestic oppression and feudal tyranny were at their height; and, by turning attention to, and directing the energies of the feudal barons to another quarter, the Crusades did prove favourable to the progress of civilization; and the very fierceness which our opponents deprecate so strongly tended to make the result certain, by exterminating those whose existence conid only retard the march of human progress! The great error of our opponents appears to us to lie in their looking away from the question, instead of at it. We are asked, Were the effects of the Crusades favourable |