the soil, and was transferred from one lord to another, with the utensils and cattle of his farm. The king, stripped of almost every prerogative, and possessing little more than the empty title of sovereign, had neither power to protect the innocent, nor to punish the guilty. Indeed, a general anarchy, destructive of all the comforts which men expect to derive from a state of society, prevailed.

6. To complete and confirm these evils, the progress of time gradually fixed and rendered venerable an establishment, which originated in violence, and was continued with every species of despotism and injustice; a system which was as hostile to the intellectual as to the moral improvement of the mind; which banished science and the arts, sunk mankind into gross ignorance, obscured the sacred light of Christianity in the thickest darkness of superstition, and was favourable only to the growth of those stern virtues, which are characteristic of uncivilized nations. The rigour of tyranny hardened the minds of the nobles, the yoke of vassalage debased the spirit of the people, the generous sentiments inspired by a sense of equality were extinguished, and there was no check to ferocity and violence. Accordingly a greater number of those atrocious actions, which fill the mind with astonishment and horror occur in the history of the feudal times, than in that of any period of the same extent in the annals of Europe.

7. Such was the deplorable state of society from the seventh to the eleventh century. From that æra may be dated the return of government, laws, and manners, in a contrary direction. We shall hereafter notice the favourable effects of the Crusades and Chivalry upon the feudal system. In succeeding times, a variety of causes began to operate, which checked the licentiousness of the barons, softened the ferocity of their manners, and finally put a period to their domination. The establishment of standing armies in the fifteenth century gave more effectual authority to kings; and from that time they no longer regarded the nobles as their equals, or found it necessary to have recourse to timid counsels, or feeble efforts, to controul their power.

They began, not only to wield the sceptre, but to brandish the sword; and either checked the designs of their barons by intimidation, or punished their rebellion by force.

8. Charles the Seventh of France, urged by his desire of expelling the English from France in the year 1445, was the first who adopted this measure; but as it was so repugnant to the genius of the feudal system, and required the greatest boldness to carry it into execution, he retained a large body of forces in his service, and appointed funds for their regular payment. The principal nobility soon resorted to his standard, and looked up to him as the judge and the rewarder of merit. The feudal militia, composed of men of rank and military talents, who were only occasionally called out, were in time regarded with contempt, by soldiers accustomed to the operations of regular service.

9. The above example of breaking the independent power of the barons, was followed by the politic Henry VII. of England. He undermined that edifice, which it was not prudent to attack with open force. By judicious laws he permitted his nobles to break the entail upon their estates, and to expose them to sale. He prohibited them from keeping numerous bands of retainers, which had rendered them formidable to his predecessors. By encouraging agriculture and commerce, and all the arts of peace during a long reign, and by en-. forcing a vigorous and impartial execution of the laws, he not only removed many immediate evils resulting from the feudal system, but provided against their future return. The influence of his salutary plans was gradually felt, and they contributed more and more, in process of time, to the good order, prosperity, and general welfare of his subjects.

QUESTIONS.

1. Whò instituted the Feudal System of government ?-2. What was the plan of this System?-3. What was the principle of policy upon which it was founded-4. Was it attended with evils?-5. What were some of these evils?-6. What was the continuance of the deplorable state of society occasioned by the Feudal System?-7. What establishment restored to kings their proper authority?-8. At what time were standing

armies introduced?-9. What king of France adopted this method to destroy the Feudal System?-10. What king of England followed his example in this particular?

THE CRUSADES.

1. THE Crusades were expeditions undertaken for the recovery of the Holy Land out of the hands of the Infidels or Saracens. They derive their name from the French word croix, cross, which the adventurers in these holy wars always wore, as an ensign of their cause. The Crusades began in the eleventh century, and continued about two hundred years. They are important to the historian, as involving the interests of the principal nations of Europe, at that time; and to the philosopher, as fraught with consequences intimately connected with the happiness of succeeding generations. They were also highly important, if we consider the great numbers who were engaged in them, or their long and obstinate perseverance in the same design, notwithstanding an almost uninterrupted series of hardships, losses, and defeats.

2. It is natural to the human mind, to view those places which have been distinguished by being the residence of any illustrious personage, or the scene of any great transaction, with some degree of delight and veneration. Hence, Judea, or the Holy Land, has been an object of veneration with Christians from the earliest ages of the church; and, in periods of great ignorance, this veneration has nearly approached to idolatry. To visit the country which the Almighty had selected as the inheritance of his favourite people, and in which the Son of God had accomplished the redemption of mankind, was regarded as the most acceptable service that could be paid to heaven. And as this distinct pilgrimage could not be performed without considerable expense, fatigue, and danger, it appeared the more meritorious, and came to be considered as an expiation for almost every crime.`

3. An opinion which spread with rapidity over Europe about the close of the tenth and beginning of the eleventh century, and which gained universal credit, wonderfully augmented the number of credulous pilgrims, and increased the ardour with which they undertook this perilous voyage. The thousand years mentioned by St. John, were supposed to be accomplished, and the end of the world to be at hand. A general consternation seized mankind; many relinquished their possessions; and abandoning their friends and families, hurried with precipitation to the Holy Land, where they imagined that Christ would quickly appear to judge the world. But the pilgrims were exposed to outrages of every kind from the infidel Saracens and, on their return from Palestine, they related the dangers which they had encountered, and described with exaggeration the cruelty and vexations to which they had been subjected.

4. When the minds of men were thus prepared, the zeal of a fanatic monk, who conceived the idea of leading all the forces of Christendom against the infidels, and of driving them out of the Holy Land by violence, was sufficient to give a beginning to that wild enterprise. Peter the Hermit, for that was the name of this martial apostle, ran from province to province with a crucifix in his hand, exciting princes and people to this Holy War; and wherever he came, kindled the same enthusiastic ardour for it, with which he himself was animated. Others likewise engaged in this same enterprise. Some of them went clad in sackcloth, with their heads and feet bare. They flew from kingdom to kingdom with incredible speed, 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 an offended Deity.

5. Their success was beyond calculation. Persons of all ranks catched the contagion, and enlisted under the banners of the cross, The flame spread, and continued to burn, from the shores of the Baltic to the straits of Gibraltar, and from the banks of the Danube to the bay of Biscay. In all places the martial trumpet was heard,

Immense swarms

and warlike preparations were seen. of people thronged from all quarters, to places of general rendezvous, whence, in still larger bodies, they rolled like mighty torrents into Asia. If we may believe the concurring testimony of contemporary writers, six millions of persons actually devoted themselves to this holy warfare; and so completely were the nations of Europe agitated and carried away by this general and powerful passion, that to make, preserve, and recover acquisitions in Judea and its neighbourhood, was the grand and favourite object for two centuries.

6. The first efforts of valour, animated by enthusiasm, were irresistible; part of Lesser Asia, all Syria, and Palestine, were wrested from the infidels; the banner of the cross was displayed on Mount Zion; Constaninople, the capital of the Christian empire, in the East, was afterwards seized by a body of those adventurers, who had taken arms against the Mahometans; and an Earle of Flanders, and his descendants, kept possession of the imperial throne during half a century. But though the first impression of the Crusaders was so unexpected that they made their conquests with great ease, they found infinite difficulty in preserving them. Establishments so distant from Europe, surrounded by warlike nations, animated with fanatical zeal scarcely inferior to that of the Crusaders themselves, were perpetually in danger of being overturned. Before the expiration of the thirteenth century, the Christians were driven out of all their Asiatic possessions, in the acquisition of which, immense sums of money had been expended, and not less than two millions of men had perished. 7. But however vain and extravagant the Crusades were, they were productive of lasting good to mankind. 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 animosities 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 engaged in one grand cause, where life,