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Christians! A slighter provocation inflamed the more irascible temper of their descendants: a new spirit had arisen of religious chivalry and papal dominion; a nerve was touched of exquisite feeling; and the sensation vibrated to the heart of Europe.
Chapter LVIII:
The First Crusade.
Part I. Origin And Numbers Of The First Crusade. -- Characters Of The Latin Princes. -- Their March To Constantinople. -- Policy Of The Greek Emperor Alexius. -- Conquest Of Nice, Antioch, And Jerusalem, By The Franks. -- Deliverance Of The Holy Sepulchre. -- Godfrey Of Bouillon, First King Of Jerusalem. -- Institutions Of The French Or Latin Kingdom. About twenty years after the conquest of Jerusalem by the Turks, the holy sepulchre was visited by a hermit of the name of Peter, a native of Amiens, in the province of Picardy in France. His resentment and sympathy were excited by his own injuries and the oppression of the Christian name; he mingled his tears with those of the patriarch, and earnestly inquired, if no hopes of relief could be entertained from the Greek emperors of the East. The patriarch exposed the vices and weakness of the successors of Constantine. "I will rouse," exclaimed the hermit, "the martial nations of Europe in your cause;" and Europe was obedient to the call of the hermit. The astonished patriarch dismissed him with epistles of credit and complaint; and no sooner did he land at Bari, than Peter hastened to kiss the feet of the Roman pontiff. His stature was small, his appearance contemptible; but his eye was keen and lively; and he