was faithfully kept, and neither parties imposed on. One is tempted to smile at such fooleries, yet when we look back and think what Christianity was, and see what it is, in the age we are now reviewing, a sigh would surely be far more allowable.

CENTURY XI.

CRUSADES TO RECOVER THE HOLY LAND.

THE eleventh century begins with the absurd and extravagant wars of the Crusaders. Their history is so well known and has been so often recorded, that I do not think a very particular account of them can be necessary here.

The Ottoman power was now established in Palestine, the holy sepulchre was in the possession of infidels; the crescent of Mahomet was displayed where the cross had been worshipped, and the mosque of Omar stood upon the spot which the temple of Solomon had adorned and consecrated.

Pope Gregory the seventh, wishing a little longer to uphold Christianity in the East, or to render the fanaticism and folly of men subservient to his views, called upon the nations of Europe to arouse for the delivery of captive Zion: engaged, however, in a contest with Henry of Germany, he was obliged to abandon, for a time, the rescue

of the holy city. Peter the hermit took up the work, and, under the sanction of Urban II. carried on the wild and senseless project. Multitudes, inflamed by his preaching, and by the assurances of the clergy, that by engaging in the deliverance of the holy city, they would redeem their souls and atone for their crimes, gave up their possessions to the church, or sold them to raise forces for the pious work; and, mingling the enthusiasm of chivalry and religion, enlisted under the banner of the cross.

The character and conduct of the Crusaders might lead us to think the expedition in which they embarked, anything but a holy one, and the banner under which they marched, any other than that of a holy and crucified Redeemer. But I do not mean to delineate the picture which the superstition, the madness, the enthusiasm, or the wickedness of men presented. Army after army perished on the road, or cooled in their ardour before they reached Jerusalem; these destroyed the countries through which they passed and were guilty of excesses that would have marked them rather as the servants of the wicked one than of the Saviour. At length the famous Godfrey of Bouillon led the Crusaders to the holy city, wrested it from the grasp of the infidels, and cleansed and ransomed the holy sepulchre, the object of the veneration of all devout pilgrims.

Haweis says, the history of the church in these unhappy ages, resembles the roll of Ezekiel,

filled with lamentation and mourning and woe. And indeed I regret that I can open no brighter view to you.

Gregory VII. raised popery to its highest pitch: nothing now opposed it; the doctrine of transubstantiation was established, the clergy were no longer allowed to marry, and those who were married were forced to put away their wives. I have told you that Otho appropriated to himself and his successors, the right of nominating a Pope; but Gregory, or Hildebrand, as he is generally called, commenced a scheme for depriving the Emperors of this right, and vesting it entirely in the college of cardinals; this was not accomplished until fifty years afterwards, but the right of electing popes was then fixed in the college of cardinals, in which it has ever since remained.

The papal power had not been felt or owned so much in England as in other places, but in this century, William, surnamed the Conqueror, made use of it in support of his own usurped authority, Lanfranc, whom he appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, was entirely devoted to the Pope, and confirmed the doctrine of transubstantiation, and the celibacy of the clergy in England.

Learning and religion had declined in that country. William the Conqueror, if he did not do much good to the latter, assisted in partially restoring the former. With Christianity the Normans had acquired a taste for science and litera

ture; they carried this taste to England, Italy, and Sicily: schools were erected, for hitherto they had only existed in monasteries and cathedrals; and masters from Spain, who had been instructed by the Arabic doctors there, taught the sciences with some success.

In the year 1077, we find a remarkable instance of the arrogantly assumed power of the Popes. Henry, Emperor of Germany, and Gregory, having been long embroiled, the latter summoned Henry to appear before him at Rome, and answer the criminal charges laid against him. Was this, you will say, the pretended successor of St. Peter, the fisherman of Galilee, the follower of a lowly Saviour, who thus called kings of the earth to kneel before him? Henry, as well he might, was infuriated at the Pope's audacity, and accused, condemned, and deposed the head of the church. But in return, all the thunders of the church were fulminated against him; he was excommunicated, and degraded from his throne, and his subjects absolved from their allegiance. Henry might have defied these noisy but powerless terrors, if the crafty as well as insolent Gregory had not enlisted in his cause several of the German Princes, who now revolted, and the Emperor, unable to resist, was obliged to submit. He hastened to throw himself at the feet of the Pope, and appease, by submission, the indignation of this imperious pontiff. It was the depth of winter, says the historian from whom I have taken the account, and Gregory