you perceived that he was somewhat bowed. His skin was very white, and his hair inclining to flaxen; and, instead of floating wildly, as the other barbarians wore it, it did not fall below his ears. 11. "I cannot tell the color of his beard, as his cheeks and skin were shaved. I think, however, it was red. His eye, of a blue approaching to a sea-green, bespoke his valor and his pas. sionate temperament. His large nostrils took in the air freely, at the pleasure of the ardent heart which pulsated in his vast chest. There was an agreeableness in his appearance, but the agreeableness was partly destroyed by terror. There was something one could not like, and which even seemed not human, in that stature and look of his. His smile seemed to be alive with threat. He was all artifice and cunning; his speech was precise, and his replies could not be laid hold of, or wrested to his disadvantage." 12. However great the deeds of Bohemond, the voice of the people, which is that of God, has ascribed all the glory of the crusade to Godfrey, son of the Count of Boulogne (boo-lone'), margrave of Antwerp, duke of Bouillon and of Lothier, and king of Jerusalem. . . . While yet a child, he had often said that he would go with an army to Jerusalem; and as soon as the crusade was proclaimed he sold his lands to the Bishop of Liege, and set out for the Holy Land, at the head of an army of ten thousand horsemen and seventy thousand foot, French, Lorrains, and Germans.... 13. The crusaders who, in the first transports of enthusiasm into which they had been thrown at the sight of the holy city, had felt assured of taking it by assault, were repulsed by the besieged. They found themselves compelled to resort to the slow process of a siege, and to sit down before the city in this desolate region, alike destitute of trees and of water. It seemed as if the demon had blasted everything with his breath, at the approach of the army of Christ. 14. Sorceresses appeared on the walls, who hurled fatal words. at the besiegers, but it was not by words that they were answered; and one of them, in the midst of her conjurations, was struck by a stone launched from the machines of the Christians, which had been made under the direction of the viscount of Bearn, from the trees of the only wood which the neighborhood furnished, and which, by his orders, had been cut down by the Genoese and Gascons. Two movable towers were built, one for the count of St. Gille, and the other for the duke of Lorraine. 15. Daily for eight days, and barefooted, the crusaders had walked in procession round Jerusalem; which done, a general assault was made by the whole army, Godfrey's tower rolled to the walls, and on Friday, the 15th of July, 1099, at three o'clock, on the very day, and at the very hour of the Passion, Godfrey of Bouillon descended from his tower on the walls of Jerusalem. The city was taken, and a fearful massacro followed; for the crusaders, in their blind fury, not taking into account the distance of time, believed that in each infidel they slew in Jerusalem, they put to death one of the executioners of Jesus Christ. 16. When it appeared to them that they had sufficiently avenged our Saviour, that is, when hardly an inhabitant was left alive in the city, they repaired, with tears and groans and beatings of the breast, to worship the holy tomb. The next question was, who was to be king of the conquest,-who was to have the melancholy honor of defending Jerusalem. . . Godfrey resigned himself to the burden, but would not assume the kingly crown in a spot where the Saviour had worn one of thorns. The only title he would accept was that of defender and baron of the holy sepulchre... 17. And what is the effect or the crusade on the Christians of regards each other? Humanity, charity, and equality have been the lessons taught by this fellowship in extremity of peril and of misery. Christendom, momentarily collected under the same banner, has felt a sort of European patriotism. Whatever the temporal views mixed up with their enterprise, the greater number have tasted the sweets of virtue, and at least dreamed of holiness; have striven to rise above themselves, and have become Christians, at least in hate of the infidels. 18. The day on which, without distinction of freemen and of serfs, the powerful among them called their followers, OUR POOR,-that day was the era of freedom. Man having been for a moment drawn out of local servitude, and led in full blaze of day through Europe and Asia by the great movement of the crusade, encountered liberty while he sought Jerusalem. The liberating trumpet of the archangel, which the world fancied it had heard in the year 1000, was sounded a century later by the preaching of the crusade. 19. At the foot of the feudal tower, which oppressed it by its darkening shadow, awoke the village; and that ruthless man who had only stooped down from his vulture's nest to despoil his vassals, armed them himself, led them with him, lived with them, suffered with them: community of suffering touched his heart. More than one serf could say to his superior, "My lord, I found a cup of water for you in the desert-I shielded you with my body at the siege of Antioch or of Jerusalem." Arnold of Winkelried.-Montgomery. [The oppression of the Swiss by the German emperor led to a confederacy of several of the cantons; and at Sempach a great victory was gained by them (1386), chiefly through the patriotic devotion of Arnold of Winkelried (win'kel-reed). The historian, Van Müller, thus describes the incident: "The hostile lines stood unbroken and firm. Sixty Swiss had already been slain. They feared the sudden effect of some unperceived movement by the vanguard from the rear, or of some surprise by the troops of Bonstetten. This moment of delay and indecision was terminated by a man from the canton of Unterwalden, Arnold Strutthan of Winkelried, knight. He said to his companions, I'll make a lane for you,' leaped from out the ranks, called with a loud voice, Take care of my wife and children; faithful, dear confederates, remember my race;' rushed upon the enemy, grasped some lances with his hands, buried them in his breast, and, being a very tall and strong man, he pressed them with him to the ground as he sank down. Instantly his companions threw themselves over his body; and all the hosts of the confederates, in succession, pressed on with the utmost force. The lines of the astonished enemy pressed one upon another to receive them; whereby, through fear, haste, horror, and heat, many lords, wounded in their armor, were suffocated; while large bands, hastening from the forest, strengthened the forces of the Swiss." This instance of sublime self-devotion is beautifully described in the following lines by James Montgomery.] "MAKE way for Liberty!" he cried; Made way for liberty, and died! In arms the Austrian* phalanx stood, The Emperor of Germany was Duke of Austria also, and as such claimed dominion over the Swiss. A wall where every conscious stonc Till time to dust their frames should wear; Which the first stroke of coming strife So dense, so still the Austrians stood, Whose polish d points before them shine, Opposed to these, a hovering band Peasants, whose new-found strength had broke From manly necks the ignoble yoke, And now the work of life and death * This is an allusion to a passage in Tasso's poem, "Jerusalem Delivered." Yet while the Austrians held their ground, How could they rest within their graves It must not be: this day, this hour, But every freeman was a host, It did depend on one, indeed; Unmark'd he stood amid the throng, 70 In rumination deep and long, Till you might see, with sudden grace, And by the uplifting of his brow Tell where the bolt would strike, and how. The field was in a moment won: 66 'Make way for Liberty!" he cried. 80 Then ran, with arms extended wide, |