own correction.

But when measures essentially unjust and absurd are promoted by men who, having under command their own passions, are able at leisure to work upon the passions of others-when the tones of moderation and the stores of learning are employed for perverse uses-it is then that the mischief spreads and endures. Peter the Hermit was indeed author of one Crusade; but could never have excited another. St. Bernard, who, with supercilious brevity" alludes to his predecessor as an extravagant fanatic, not merely kindled the Crusade of 1148; but gave so powerful a sanction to the desire of conquering the Holy Land that, without unfairness, the luckless expeditions which occupied the next century may, in great part, be charged to his influence.

If those of the epistles of St. Bernard which relate to the Crusade, and if his Exhortation to the Knights Templars, could be read without knowledge of the specific intention, or without recollection of the historical facts whereto they relate, one might easily believe that the project in question was one fully recommended by wisdom and benignity, and sanctioned by Religion. How sedate and measured is the language-how temperate the incitements-how

17 Fuit enim in priore expeditione, antequam Jerosolyma caperetur, vir quidam, Petrus nomine, cujus et vos (nisi fallor) sæpe mentionem audistis. Is populum qui sibi crediderat, solum cum suis incedens tantis periculis dedit, ut aut nulli, aut paucissimi eorum evaserint, qui non corruerint, aut fame, aut gladio.—Ep. 363.

discreet the particular advices-how full-fraught is every page with the serenity, the forethought, the circumspection becoming a chief!-and how copious is the adduction of Scripture! almost every sentence revolves upon a text:-the sighs of piety rise in fumes from every paragraphejaculatory prayer inspirits many a sonorous period. Yes, here we find the very substance of fanaticism quite stripped of whatever one would call fanatical; and graced too by whatever appears wise and devout. Already we have turned aside to contemplate an instance of the madness of asceticism, gravely mantled and philosophic, in the person of the Cappadocian primate; now we have before us a form not less philosophic, or celestial;—it is that of the seraphic, the politic, and the accomplished Bernard-chief patron and mover of the madness of religious military ambition!

Those who will say that illusions and infatuations of this elaborate order, tranquilly affecting the very elements of the character, belong only to ages of mental slavery and superstition, and are not now to be looked for as possible, assuredly have something yet to learn of the philosophy of human nature; and, not improbably, are themselves the victims of some similar deep-spread error. St. Bernard, calmly seated in his cell-the Gospels open before him, and with the events of the first Crusade fresh in his recollection, thought that nothing was more

praiseworthy or pious than to lash the passions of the western nations to a new fury for exterminating the infidel power in the east.18

That identity of sentiment, and even of language which characterises the same fanaticism .under circumstantial differences, it is curious and instructive to notice. Mohammed doubts not a moment the lawfulness of propagating the true faith by the sword :—the very same plenary conviction runs through the pages of St. Bernard. The prophet of Mecca says-Fight for God, and he will pardon all your sins, and infallibly give you the delights of Paradise. The monk of Clairvaux, on behalf of the Church, and in her name, assures to every Crusard a full remission of all sins, and the blessedness of a martyr, beyond doubt, if he fell in the holy war.19

To be

18 Though carried away by the specific fanaticism of the Crusade, St. Bernard did not forget mercy and justice in all instances. In several of his epistles he decisively condemns the violences of which the Jews were at that time the victims. Audivimus et gaudemus, ut in vobis ferveat zelus Dei: sed oportet omnino temperamentum scientiæ non deesse. Non sunt persequendi Judæi, non sunt trucidandi, sed nec effugandi quidem.-Ep. 363.

19 Habes nunc fortis miles, habes vir bellicose, ubi dimices absque periculo: ubi et vincere gloria, et mori lucrum. Si prudens mercator es, si conquisitor hujus sæculi; magnas tibi nundinas indico; vide ne pereant. Suscipe crucis signum, et omnium pariter, de quibus corde contrito confessionem feceris, indulgentiam obtinebis. Materia ipsa si emitur, parvi constat : si devoto assumitur humero, valet sine dubio regnum Dei.—Ep. 363. The English barons, (Ep. 423,) are told by St. Bernard that the messenger he had despatched would not only explain the business of the Crusade at large, and narrate what had been effected, but exhibit to them-largissimam veniam quæ in literis domini Papæ, super eos qui cruces susceperunt, continetur. The Book, de Laude Nova Militiæ, ad Milites Templi,

slain, says the saint, is to benefit yourself;-to slay, is to benefit Christ! Impartially balanced, whom shall we first excuse, or whom rigorously condemn? The one, by violence and carnage would fain vanquish the world to God:-the other, by the like means, thought to achieve a revenge for the Church, and to effect a clearance of a single superstition from a single spot. Both egregiously misunderstood the Divine Character; both frightfully abused the language and the motives of religion:- the difference is only in the terms and style, and in the magnitude and grandeur of the project.

20

The eloquence of St. Bernard was everywhere triumphant. France and Germany lis

exhibits, page after page, elevated and impassioned religious sentiments, thick-set with Scriptural quotations, and the whole purport of this eloquence is to stimulate the murderous passions of mankind. The lawfulness of the enterprise, and its merit, and the certainty of salvation to those who should fall in the attempt, are every where, and in the boldest terms affirmed. Securi igitur procedite milites, et intrepido animo inimicos crucis Christi propellite, certi quia neque mors, neque vita poterunt vos seperare à caritate Dei, quæ est in Christo Jesu; illud sane vobiscum in omni periculo replicantes : Sive vivimus, sive morimur Domini sumus! Quam gloriosi revertuntur victores de prælio! quam beati moriuntur martyres in prœlio!.... Miles, inquam, Christi, SECURUS INTERIMIT, INTERIT SECURIOR. Sibi præstat cum interit; Christo cum interimit! This might well be given as a pointed version of more than one passage in the Koran:so like is fanaticism to fanaticism, all the world over.

20 Commota est et contremuit terra, quia Rex cœli perdidit terram suam, terram ubi steterunt pedes ejus. Inimici crucis ejus. ... officinas redemptionis nostræ evertere moliuntur, et loca Christi sanguine dedicata profanare contendunt. Præcipue autem illud Christianæ religionis insigne, sepulcrum, inquam, in quo sepultus est Dominus majestatis, ubi facies ejus sudario ligata est, omni nisu nituntur evellere.-Ep. 423.

21

tened in rapture to his sermons: England yielded to his epistles: Europe again drew the sword, and devoted herself to God, vowing to crush his enemies.22 Moreover the faults and precipitancy of the former expedition were prudently avoided in this: the counsels of the Preacher, as well as his declamations, were duly regarded.23 Visions and miracles, also, not a few,24 sanctioned the zeal with which the preacher had inspired princes and knights. Even to think ill success possible was an impiety. - Heaven audibly blessed the enterprise, and assured a

"The Epistle just quoted, was addressed to the English Barons, and the abbot does not omit the blandishments that might conciliate the parties. Et quia terra vestra fœcunda est virorum fortium, et militari juventute referta; decet vos inter primos, et cum primis, ad sanctum opus accedere, et armatos ascendere ad serviendum Deo viventi.

22 The apologist of St. Bernard may allege that he acted on this occasion in obedience to the sovereign Pontiff, Eugenius III. in writing to whom, on the subject, he says-De cetero mandastis, et obedivi. Yet even this same pope was his creature: he goes on to declare the success of his labours.-Et fœcundavit obedientiam præcipientis auctoritas. Siquidem annunciavi et locutus sum, multiplicati sunt super numerum. Vacuantur urbes et castella, et pæne jam non inveniunt quem apprehendant septem mulieres virum unum, adeo ubique viduæ vivis remanent viris.-Ep. 247.

Beside other instances of prudence, St. Bernard gave proof of his good sense in utterly declining the honour of leading in person the Crusade. His fanaticism savoured far more of the cell and the pulpit, than of the field.—Quomodo videlicet in Carnotensi conventu (quonam judicio satis miror) me quasi in ducem et principem militiæ elegerunt: certum sit vobis nec consilii mei, nec voluntatis meæ fuisse vel esse. . . . Quis sum ego, &c.—Ep. 256.

...

24. . . . nimirum, says the Saint's Notary, cum aliquando vigenti, seu etiam plures ab incommodis variis sanarentur, nec facile ab hujusmodi dies ulla vacaret.