you make enquiries, since it proves that you are interested in my anecdotes.

"The object of the Crusades was to drive the infidels out of the possession of the Holy Land; and the zeal of a fanatical monk, towards the end of the eleventh century, gave rise to this wild undertaking. Peter the Hermit (for so he was named) ran from province to province, with a cross in his hand, exciting kings and people to this holy war, as it was called. His enthusiasm spread with astonishing rapidity: not only princes, and nobles, and warriors; but shepherds and mechanics, women and children, left their peaceful occupations, and hastened to enlist themselves under the banner of their deluded leader. It is asserted by contemporary authors, that six millions of persons, at different times, assumed the badge of the cross. These crosses were worn on their clothes, and their colours distinguished the different nations. The English wore them white, the French red, the Flemish green, the Germans black, and the Italians yellow.

But

"In the second Crusade a considerable troop of women rode amongst the Germans: they were arrayed with the spear and shield. the historian satirically remarks, that some love of usual delights had mingled itself with the

desire of great exploits; for they were remarkable for the splendour of their dress, and the bold leader was called the golden-footed dame.

"These ladies were, however, of an age to judge for themselves; and however we may smile at their folly, our pity is not excited, as it is for the children of France and Germany, who, seduced by the preaching of fanatics, about the year 1213, thought themselves authorized by Heaven, to attempt the rescue of the Holy Sepulchre; and ran about the country, crying, 'Lord Jesus Christ restore the cross to us.' Boys and girls stole from their homes: no bolts, no bars, no fear of fathers, or love of mothers, could hold them back; and the number of youthful converts was thirty thousand. They were accompanied by some fanatical persons, some of whom were taken and hanged at Cologne. The children passed through France, crossed the Alps; and those who survived hunger and thirst, presented themselves at the gates of the sea-ports of Italy and the south of France. Many were driven back to their homes; but seven large ships, full of them, went from Marseilles. Two of the vessels were wrecked on the isle of St. Peter; the rest of the ships went to Bugia and Alexandria, and the master sold the

children to slavery. These dreadful facts are mentioned by four contemporary writers.

"In the third crusade, Richard the First, surnamed Cœur de Lion, as I before told you, signalized himself eminently. The very word Richard was dreaded in Syria, so great was the terror he had spread. Syrian mothers used to frighten their children, by telling them that king Richard was coming; and horses, according to vulgar tradition, dreaded the lion-hearted monarch; for, if a courser started, the rider would exclaim, "What! do you think king Richard is in the bush?' In the year 1193, died the sultan Saladin, the Saracen chief; and, as his character was a remarkable one, I shall give you a brief sketch of it. He was in the fifty-seventh year of his age when he epired. During twenty-two years he had reigned over Egypt, and for nineteen years was absolute master of Syria. No Asiatic monarch has filled so large a space, in the annals of Europe, as the antagonist of Cœur de Lion. He was a compound of the dignity and the baseness, the greatness and the littleness of man. As the Moslem hero of the third holy war, he proved himself a valiant soldier and a skilful general. He hated the Christian cause; for he was a zealous Mussulman, and his princi.

ples authorized him to make war upon the enemies of the prophet; but human sympathy mollified the rigour of his enthusiasm, and, when his foes were suppliant, he often forgot the sternness of Islamism.

"He was fond of religious exercises and studies; but his mind was so much above the age in which he lived, that he never consulted soothsayers or astrologers.

"He had gained the throne by blood, artifice, and treachery; but, though ambitious, he was not tyrannical: he was mild in his government, and the friend and dispenser of justice. Eager for the possession, but indifferent to the display of power, he was simple in his manners, and unostentatious in deportment. He attempted the arts of conciliation and tuition, to change the religious sentiments of the Egyptian Fatemites; but the intolerant spirit of his religion would sometimes appear; the politician was lost in the zealot; and he inflicted punishment on those who presumed to question any of the dogmas of a Mussulman's creed.

"But I must refer you," said Mr. Wilmot, "to Mills's History of the Crusades, for further particulars of this eventful period: in the meanwhile, it is sufficient for me to say, that, before the expiration of the thirteenth century, the

whole band of adventurers were driven from their Asiatic possessions. There were, in all, nine Crusades; in which, according to Voltaire, two millions of human beings perished."

"It was, indeed," remarked Mrs. Spencer, 66 a dreadful waste and effusion of human blood. One beneficial consequence arose, however, from these extravagant excursions, which was neither expected nor intended.

"It was impossible for men to travel through so many lands as the Crusaders did, without imparting some of the improvement or knowledge they had gained, to their respective countries, on their return. The spirit of commerce was by this means fostered and spread, the progress of navigation advanced, and useful information was circulated.

"Yes," answered Mr. Wilmot; "and evil was thus wisely overruled for good. But," added he, "I recollect that I have omitted to give my little cousins any account of the Reformation in Scotland; which, as it commenced in the reign of Edward the Sixth, and was concluded in that of Elizabeth, under the intrepid, and, it must be confessed, austere John Knox, could not, with propriety, be introduced before; especially, as it was not so much my design to interweave the history of individuals, in

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