volume one

niSTOEY or THE CEUSADES. 43
Peter tlie Hermit traversed Italy, crossed tlie Alps, visited
all parts of France, and the greatest portion of Europe,
inflamino; all hearts with the same zeal that consumed his
own. He travelled mounted on a mule, with a crucifix iu
his hand, his feet bare, liis head uncovered, his body girded
with a thick cord, covered with a long frock, and a hermit's
hood of the coarsest stuff. The singularity of his appearance
was a spectacle for the people, whilst the austerity of
liis manners, his charity, and the moral doctrines that he
preached, caused him to be revered as a saint wherever he
came.
He went from city to city, from province to province,
working upon the courage of some, and upon the piety of
others ; sometimes haranguing from the pulpits of the
churches, sometimes preaching in the high roads or public
places. His eloquence was animated and impressive, and
filled with those vehement apostrophes which produce such
effects upon an uncultivated multitude. He described the
profanation of the holy places, and the blood of the Christians
shed in torrents in the streets of Jerusalem. He
invoked, by turns. Heaven, the saints, the angels, whom he
called upon to bear witness to the truth of what he told
them. He apostrophized Mount Sion, the rock of Calvary,
and the Mount of Olives, which he made to resound with sobs
and groans. ^Hien he had exhausted speech in painting the
miseries of the faithful, he showed the spectators the crucifix
which he carried with him ; sometimes striking his breast
and wounding his flesh, sometimes shedding torrents of
tears.
The people followed the steps of Peter in crowds. The
preacher of the holy war was received everywhere as a
messenger from Grod. They who could touch his vestments
esteemed themselves happy, and a portion of hair pulled
from the mule he rode was preserved as a holy relic. At
the sound of his voice, differences in families were reconciled,
the poor were comforted, the debauched blushed at their
nothing was talked of but the virtues of the eloquent
errors ;
cenobite ; his austerities and his miracles were described,
and his discourses were repeated to those who had not heard
him, and been edified by his presence.
He often met^ in
Vol. L—4
his journeys, with Christians from the