King of France, and terminated in the loss of Ptolemais or St. Jean d'Acre, the last fortress of which the Christians then held possession in Palestine. If we advert to the vast multitudes who were embarked at different times in these Holy Wars, and to the intercourse which for nearly two centuries was maintained with the East, we may fairly conclude that a movement so general, and so much prolonged, towards a country whose inhabitants had so different a character, produced a great effect on the minds of the people of Europe.

In the section on the Geography of the Crusades, the different nations who engaged in this enterprize are classed under the general heads of Franks, (including the inhabitants of the West of Europe,) Greeks, and Saracens.

The section on Organization offers an account of the different routes by which the Crusaders proceeded to Palestine ; and, as the land-expeditions generally rendezvouzed at Constantinople, (then the seat of the Eastern Empire,) the impression which the riches, grandeur, politeness, arts, and letters of this stupendous capital of the Caesars made on the minds of the uncultivated Christians of the West, is duly pointed out. Hence we trace the holy warriors across the Thracian Bosphorus to the shores of Asia, through the dominions of the sultans of Iconium to Nice, to Nicomedia, and to Antioch, the capital of Syria, at which last place they obtained a second repose; and where, having surmounted the perils of their journey, they found themselves on the borders of the kingdom of Jerusalem.

All of the Crusaders, however, did not proceed to the object of their destination by land, but many went by sea; though it is observed,

• If the maritime route had been the only one that was practicable, the Holy War would not have been marked by such various results; it would not have put such multitudes in motion; and above all it would not have awakened such sentiments among the Western nations as their contact with the Greeks excited. On the other hand, the transportation of large armies by sea led to important consequences: it has given to nautical proceedings a perfection and a boldness which, without doubt, had a mighty influence on the grand voyages and discoverics of subsequent times.'

As to what properly falls under the head of Organization, viz. the interior order, arrangement, and discipline of the armies of the Cross, we must not compare it with that of the regular armies of modern Europe. The crowds of religious enthusiasts, who followed Peter the Hermit, resembled the emigrating tribes of Nomades, or wandering nations, and the leader was only the first among equals. Kings, nobles, and

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clergy

clergy engaged in this enterprize, which, thus embracing all the civil and religious professions of society, operated to produce a powerful re-action in all.

These preliminary considerations will prepare us for the examination of the question in due form, which the author has divided into three parts, the 1st treating of the influence of the Crusades on the civil liberty, manners, and civilization of the people of Europe; the 2d on their commerce and industry; and the 3d on the progress of knowlege. The first two present a sketch of the state of Europe towards the end of the eleventh century, in relation to the object here required to be developed. All these points are fully considered: but we should greatly exceed the space which we ought to allow to this article, were we to follow M. HEEREN step by step in his investigation.

Having given a picture of the political situation of Europe previously to these Holy Wars, under distinct heads of the Hierarchy and the civil state,—including in the latter, Princes, Nobles, Citizens, and Peasants,-the author specifically states the influence of the Crusades on each of these classes, and sums up the whole in the following recapitulation :

They purified and carried to perfection the feudal spirit of the nobility by means of chivalry; which gave to it a more generous and elevated spring, and prevented the return of that Larbarism which had prevailed in the three preceding ages.-Let us not, then, fear to repeat the question, What would the middle ages have been without Chivalry?

The influence of the Crusades on the inhabitants of cities, on their municipal organization, and on corporations, has not been less beneficial. In this respect, the Holy Wars laid the foundation of a new political order for the succeeding ages. The first free burghers have been the germ of our modern nations; and on this basis have been formed in Europe such states as the middle ages never witnessed.

The central power, viz. that of princes, recovered strength, and found itself able to put an end to that anarchy which marked the decay of the feudal system.

'Nobles become subjects, burghers become commercial, and cities become rich, presented new sources of public revenue; sources that were certain and regular, by which the power of princes has been cemented. This power derived an accession, moreover, from the new order of the third estate, which took rank in civil society; an order which the policy of princes opposed to the Nobility, with whom it had frequent contests.

Thus this very Nobility, which by degrees ceased to be what it had been in the period of anarchy, saw created an opposition, or counterpoise to its power; a counterpoise altogether necessary to

the

the formation of that legal and constitutional state, in which all men are admitted to a certain equality of rights.

It is thus that, by the slow march of amelioration in social institutions, and by the better spirit and principles which have been the result, we are justified in asserting that the benefits of the Crusades have extended even to the class of peasants. It is only in a well-organized state, in which the central power directs and vivifies the whole, that we perceive the value of agriculture, and the consideration which is due to the cultivators of the soil.

The era of the Crusades saw in Louis IX. and in Suger a Henry IV. and a Sully: but ages must elapse before such men could accomplish all the good which was effected by Henry and his minister.

As to the Hierarchy, we have seen all the advantages which it drew from the Crusades in establishing the supremacy of the Papal see over temporal sovereigns as well as over the church but these same Crusades, by giving rise to a new civil order in Europe, were in the end fatal to ecclesiastical domination. When Kings became in fact to be Kings, the Popes could not remain what they were before. Very soon did Philip the Fair humble the pontifical power in the person of Boniface VIII.

After the same manner, the corporations, which at first took part with the Popes against the Emperors, in the end injured the cause of the sovereign pontiffs by favouring the authority of monarchs.

The despotism exercised by Rome over conscience, the violent and coercive measures, the excommunications, the wars against heretics, the terrific nquisition, and its executioners, in short, all those instruments which seemed to prop and to perpetuate the power of the Popes, served but to inflame the indignation of a more enlightened period, and to consummate the ruin of the hierarchy.

Thus, after such various evils caused by these long wars, after so much blood spilt by them in Asia and in Europe, humanity will derive some consolation from their results; results for the most part slow, indeed, as derived from a crisis which had lasted for two centuries, and of which it required ages to complete the developement.'

The second part, on Commerce and Industry, is discussed with equal minuteness, and the inquiry undergoes the same ramifications: but we do not feel it necessary to present our readers with much more than a general view of this division of the subject. When we recollect that Europe is less rich than any of the other quarters of the globe in natural productions; that, previously to the discovery of the new world, and of the passage to the East round the Cape of Good Hope, almost the whole of its commerce was confined to the Mediterranean sea; and that the riches of India could only be brought to its shores by caravans over land; we can easily suppose that the intercourse of the western nations with the Levant was indeed very confined, and that the Crusades gave energies to commerce which were before unknown and at the time produced great effects. M. HEEREN has illustrated this point

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point with much ingenuity, in its several bearings; shewing in what way the cities of Italy and Marseilles established their relations and maintained their commerce with Constantinople, and with the cities of Palestine, Syria, and Egypt; and he adduces the origin of maritime law in the famous Consolato del Mare, about the middle of the thirteenth century, as an evidence of the extent to which the spirit of commerce was then diffused. It will not be required of us to trace the route of continental commerce which the author has pointed out, nor to explain its effect in rousing industry: but it may not be amiss to state one fact which history has recorded in relation to this `branch of the inquiry. Silk-weaving, and the manufacture of silk-stuffs, were introduced into Italy during the era of the Crusades. We know that the Latins did not confine their exploits to the conquest of the Holy Land, but attacked the Greek empire. In 1148, Roger II. King of Sicily, having taken Corinth, Thebes, and Athens, then filled, as well as Byzantium, with flourishing manufactories of silk-stuffs, transported thence to Palermo the most able workmen, and charged, them to instruct his subjects in their art.' Sugar also was brought at this time into Europe from the Levant, passing from Syria to Sicily, from Sicily to Madeira, and thence to the new world. Even in the fourteenth century, the consumption of sugar in Italy was immense; and the taste for sugared pastry and comfits was so prevalent that they grew into universal request.' Many other articles were introduced to the knowlege and use of the Europeans by their intercourse with the Orientals: but the author observes here, in general, that

The happy influence of the Crusades on European commerce and industry consisted less in the introduction of new articles, whether natural or artificial, than in diffusing a more general use of those which were already known. Silk-stuffs, spices. perfumes, and other riches of the East, were current in Europe from the age of the Carlovingians but these were not seen excepting in the courts of princes, or in the mansions of some great nobles. As soon, however, as, by means of the Crusades, the European cities were become the centres of activity, commerce, and riches, the luxury, which was before confined to courts, extended itself in every direction; and the mode of living experienced a change in all classes of society. Our cloathing, furniture, and food, altered from the fourteenth century. Architecture, till then rude, assumed a new appearance; and the European nobie, prelate, and merchant, who had viewed the magnificent struc tures of the Orientals, or even of the Italians, which were so superior to those in the West, were desirous of constructing others that should be similar to them, and were not contented with the humble roofs of their ancestors.

· Let

'Let no one, however, think that we wish to have it understood that these new enjoyments were in themselves a benefit. The real blessings hence derived consisted in the redoubled industry and exertion, the new movement which agitated humanity, the communication thus Established between one people and another, the agreeable change of manners, and the progress of knowlege, which became extended and improved. The new wants, of which men contracted the habit, engaged them in a new employment of their powers; for they very soon perceived that exertion was necessary to enjoyment. They did not first calculate what would return them the greatest profit; they did not embarrass themselves with reckoning the quantity of their money, and by a short calculation the balance of their commerce: but they forced themselves to produce articles of exchange; and very soon the products of the industry of Italy, France, the Low Countries, and Germany, were brought to market in the East. In one word, the people were left to work for themselves, and they knew how to turn their labour to their advantage: for it may be laid down as a general maxim, that the people never do better than when they are left to do for themselves."

This is a very sound principle; and it has often been remarked that governments always cause mischief when they interfere either with religion or with trade.

The last section of this essay, intended as a solution of that part of the question which respects the influence of the Crusades on the progress of science and literature in Europe, is less detailed than the preceding portions of the work: but, though M. HEEREN confesses that the half barbarian-crusaders did not seek the East with any views of intellectual improvement, and laments their destruction of the fine library of Constantinople, together with the rare monuments of science and of the arts, by the repeated conflagrations which they inflicted. on that imperial city, (a loss irreparable to letters, and doubly grievous when the library of Alexandria was no more,) he nevertheless endeavours to give a favourable representation of the general result. He instances the culture of Greek literature, of philosophy, and of medicine, and especially of geography, history, and poetry, in consequence of these holy We could have wished that he had bestowed more labour on the conclusion of his inquiry: but we must do him the justice to confess that, on the whole, we have perused his essay with much satisfaction; and that it is not unworthy of a place on the same shelf with the treatise by M. Villers on the Reformation of Luther.

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