But see, the man who spacious regions gave
A waste for beasts, himself deny'd a grave!
Stretch'd on the lawn his second hope survey,
At once the chaser, and at once the prey:
Lo! Rufus tugging at the deadly dart,
Bleeds in the forest like a wounded hart.
Succeeding monarchs heard the subjects' cries,
Nor saw displeas'd the peaceful cottage rise.
Then gathering flocks on unknown mountains fed,
O'er sandy wilds were yellow harvests spread;
The forests wonder'd at th' unusual grain,
And secret transport touch'd the conscious swain.
Fair Liberty, Britannia's goddess, rears

Her cheerful head, and leads the golden years."

A beast or subject slain were equal crimes. This alludes to the circumstance, that William's subjects were forbidden to kill wild animals which should be found in the New Forest; and that the punishment which the law inflicted upon him who took the life of a man, was no greater than that, to which he who should kill a hare or a rabbit, was liable.

Stretch'd on the lawn his second hope survey, &c. The sons of William I. were peculiarly unfortunate. William Rufus, who succeeded his father, was accidentally killed in the New Forest; and Robert, the eldest son, was deprived of the Duchy of Normandy by his brother Henry I. This cruel brother afterwards caused Robert's eyes to be put out, and kept him a prisoner at Cardiff castle in Wales twenty years.

THE CRUSADES.

After his death,

The crusades were religious wars. the Romans were masters of Jerusalem, and of the whole country which had been the scene of the life and labours of Jesus. Near the middle of the fourth century, the Roman Empire became partially Christian, and Helena, the mother of Constantine, took upon herself to

identify the very spot at Jerusalem "where the Lord lay," and also to erect churches and other monuments on the places consecrated by his living actions. After the erection of these edifices, and the establishment of convents in the Holy Land, as Palestine began to be called, religious persons from different and distant countries of Europe thought it a duty to make journeys thither, in order to visit the shrines or sacred buildings, which had been raised in honour of Christ. These pious travellers were called Pilgrims, and their journey was a Pilgrimage.

The pilgrims chiefly begged their way through the countries over which they travelled, and were regarded with universal respect by all Christians. They usually dressed in a plain garb, carried a scrip, or bag for their food, and sustained themselves upon a staff surmounted by a cross, and had fastened to the front of their hats a scallop shell. When they returned from the Holy Land they frequently brought with them a branch of palm, 'a tree of that country, whence they were called Palmers. Spenser describes a Palmer thus:

"A silly man in simple weeds foreworn,
And soiled with dust of the long dried way;
His sandals were with toilsome travel torn,
And face all tanned with scorching sunny ray,
As he had travelled many a summer's day
Through burning sands of Araby and Inde;
And in his hand a Jacob's staff, to stay
His weary limbs upon; and eke behind

His scrip did hang, in which his needments he did bind."
Faery Queen, Book I. Canto 6.

Persons who wished to conceal their real name and business, when they engaged in some dangerous undertaking, would assume a Palmer's habit, because in that disguise they were sure of being admitted any where, and of being well treated among Christians. In the seventh century, the Saracens, followers of Mahomet, took Palestine and occupied the land. Abhorrence of Christians

is among the principles of their religion; and the Saracens took every opportunity, by the abuse of its zealous professors, the Pilgrims, to show their contempt for the religion of Christ. These deluded men suffered all manner of indignities from the Mahommedans, but at length princes, nobles, and all classes of fanatics in Europe, thought it their duty to leave their homes, and their 'nearer obligations, in order to punish the Infidels, for their cruelties to the Pilgrims, and to tear from their sacrilegious hands the holy places.

Vast armies were fitted out by different princes, and from A. D. 1097 to A. D. 1248, about one hundred and fifty years, four different Crusades were undertaken. More than two millions of men, from England and southern Europe, are supposed to have marched into Asia upon these expeditions, and the greater number lost their lives. These wars were called Crusades, from the circumstance that a figure of the cross was a badge of these warriorsit was painted upon their banners, engraved on their shields, and embroidered in their garments.

RICHARD CŒUR DE LION.

The most distinguished of those saints-errant who led the Crusades, was Richard I. King of England, called Cœur de Lion, or the lion-hearted, because of his fearless and warlike disposition. Richard embarked in the third of these expeditions, A. D. 1190: Dr. Warton has celebrated his voyage to the Holy Land in the subjoined ode. It is an animated and interesting picture.

THE CRUSADE.

Bound for holy Palestine,

Nimbly we brush'd the level brine,

All in azure steel array'd:

O'er the wave our weapons play'd,
And made the dancing billows glow;
High upon the trophied prow,
Many a warrior-minstrel swung
His sounding harp, and boldly sung :

Syrian virgins, wail and weep,
English Richard ploughs the deep!
Tremble, watchmen, as ye spy,

From distant towers, with anxious eye,
The radiant range of shield and lance
Down Damascus' hills advance :
From Sion's turrets as afar

Ye ken the march of Europe's war!
Saladin, thou paynim king,

From Albion's isle revenge we bring!
On Acon's spiry citadel,

Though to the gale thy banners swell,
Pictur'd with the silver moon;

England shall end thy glory soon!
In vain, to break our firm array,

Thy brazen drums hoarse discord bray :

Those sounds our rising fury fan:
English Richard in the van,

On to victory we go,

A vaunting infidel the foe."

Blondel led the tuneful band, And swept the wire with glowing hand. Cyprus, from her rocky mound, And Crete, with piny verdure crown'd, Far along the smiling main

Echo'd the prophetic strain.

Soon we kiss'd the sacred earth That gave a murder'd Saviour birth; Then, with ardour fresh endu'd, Thus the solemn song renew'd: "Lo, the toilsome voyage past, Heav'n's favour'd hills appear at last! Object of our holy vow,

We tread the Tyrian valleys now. From Carmel's almon-shaded steep We feel the cheering fragrance creep : O'er Engaddi's shrubs of balm Waves the date-empurpled palm.

See Lebanon's aspiring head,
Wide his immortal umbrage spread!
Hail, Calvary, thou mountain hoar,
Wet with our Redeemer's gore!
Ye trampled tombs, ye fanes forlorn,
Ye stones, by tears of pilgrims worn;
Your ravish'd honours to restore,
Fearless we climb your hostile shore!
And thou, the sepulchre of God!
By mocking pagans rudely trod,

Bereft of every awful rite,

And quench'd thy lamps that beam'd so bright;

For thee, from Britain's distant coast,

Lo, Richard leads his faithful host!

Aloft in his heroic hand,

Blazing, like the beacon's brand,

O'er the far-affrighted fields,
Resistless Kaliburn he wields.

Proud Saracen, pollute no more
The shrines by martyrs built of yore!
From each wild mountain's trackless crown
In vain thy gloomy castles frown:
Thy battering engines, huge and high,
In vain our steel-clad steeds defy;
And, rolling in terrific state,

On giant-wheels harsh thunders grate.
When eve has hush'd the buzzing camp,
Amid the moonlight vapours damp,
Thy necromantic forms, in vain,
Haunt us on the tented plain :
We bid these spectre-shapes avaunt,
Ashtaroth, and Termagaunt!
With many a demon, pale of hue,
Doom'd to drink the bitter dew
That drops from Macon's sooty tree,
Mid the dread grove of ebony.
Nor magic charms, nor fiends of hell,
The Christian's holy courage quell.