wards make in those provinces or in Sicily, took the oath of feudal fidelity to the pope. With equal vigour and success they attacked the forces of the Greek empire in the south of Italy, and the Saracens in Sicily; victory followed victory in rapid succession, until they had obtained actual possession of those countries of which the pope had only given them the empty titles. Thus powerful vassals were attached to the holy see, valuable rights of lordship were acquired, and new means of aggrandizement were procured.

A. D. 1095.

But when on high the sacred standard rose,
Through all their veins a brisker current flows,

New hopes, new strength, inspire the pious throng,
"'TIS HEAVEN'S HIGH WILL," they shout, and rush along.

MISS PORDEN.

1. We must now return to the history of France. Although Urban II. had excommunicated the king, he did not hesitate to take refuge in France when exposed to danger by the quarrels between the emperor and the holy see. He called a council at Clermont, and in a long speech recommended to the assembly's notice the state of Palestine, exhorting all to take up arms and rescue its sacred soil from the infidels. 2. The preaching of Peter the Hermit, an enthusiastic monk of Picardy, who had lately returned from a

pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and who gave a most pathetic description of the calamities to which the pilgrims were exposed, had prepared their minds; no sooner then did they hear the papal recommendation, than all with one acclaim shouted Deus id vult," God wills it." 3. At the same council, Urban once more excommunicated Philip, forbade princes to give investitures,* and ordered that bishops and priests should not for the future do homage to their sovereigns. He next travelled from province to province, commanding the people everywhere to join the crusades; deposing those bishops who had in any way resisted his power, and lavishing privileges on the monks, who had been found by experience to be the most strenuous supporters of the holy see.

4. The crusading frenzy which seized on France produced the most dreadful calamities; a disorderly rabble, headed by Peter the Hermit, and a Norman gentleman called Walter the Pennyless, first set out; their numbers exceeded 300,000. They displayed their furious zeal on the way, by the massacre of Jews, laid waste for subsistence the countries through which they passed, and excited against themselves the vengeance of the indignant population. On his arrival at Constantinople, Peter the Hermit was graciously received by the emperor of the east, Alexis Comnenus, who hastened to forward the march of the rabble who accompanied him, into Asia Minor. Nearly all of them perished miserably of hunger, fatigue, and suffering, before they reached the Holy Land.

In the regular army that followed under the command of Godfrey of Bouillon, were some of the principal nobles of France; among these the most conspicuous were, Hugh de Vermandois, brother to the king; Robert of Normandy, son of William the Conqueror; Robert, earl of Flanders; Stephen, count of Blois, father of king Stephen; and Raymond, count of Toulouse. After many vicissitudes, the crusaders captured Jerusalem, July 15th, A. D. 1099, and founded a Christian kingdom in Palestine. 5. After this exploit, most of the French who survived returned home; but being reproached by their countrymen as deserters of the sacred cause, they again set out for Palestine under the command of William, duke of Aquitaine. This chieftain, more distin

The right of the king to give the investiture or possession of the see to a bishop was always resisted by the popes; they thought that if they permitted any interference of the state in ecclesiastical matters, their own supremacy would be gradually undermined.