volume one

PREFACE
Kotwithstanding its glories, the fii'st Crusade was so dis-
astrous that if it had not been for such men as St. Bernard,
Foulke of Neuilly, and Innocent III,, no other crusades
would have ever taken place. The popes and the fanatics
they employed were obliged to be constantly stirring the fire
to keep it burning. And what was the nature of the fuel they
threw on ?—To the superstitious they promised Paradise
to the ambitious and covetous, dominions and wealth ; ta.
the vicious and volupt-uous, indulgences ; to the criminal,
pardon; and to all, impunity! Can any one believe that
Bernard, one of the best scholars of his age, the rival of
Abelard, was the dupe of his own knavery, or performed
it for nothing ? Power, with many minds, is like money
with others ; they must have it, however detestable the
means employed to gain it. Some of the immediate dis-
ciples of St. Bernard, with the utmost simplicity, express
their regret that the crowds that surrounded him were
so dense, they could not see him perform his miracles,
they only heard of them. No one can believe that this
shrewd man imposed upon himself by the tricks with
which he deluded the multitude, or practised his jugglery
gratuitously ! By his preaching he became one of the
greatest men of his time ; and by his legerdemain he became
a saint.
The popes and their satellites availed themselves of
the worst parts of the superstitions of the periods at
which they lived ;
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they mingled them with the passions of
cupidity and false glory, and employed their victims, as the
Crusaders may safely be called, to their own aggrandisement.
Of the advantages, in the shape of influence, the popes
gained by wars called holy, there need be no question ; and
when we find such zealous preachers as Foulke of Neuilly
and Cardinal de Cour9on, more than suspected of appropri-
ating to themselves the treasures offered to the cause of