countries of Europe the decree of the Pope was carried into execution; but in most districts the cruelty of the measure was tempered by those who were compelled to carry it into execution, and the Knights Templars were willingly admitted into the body of those other orders which were called to inherit their forfeited possessions. The spirit of the order was not extirpated: it ceased to act visibly, and to be talked of; but its influence was enduring and powerful, notwithstanding of its unobtrusiveness.

our

After the power which the improvement of the system of chivalry exerted over the fortunes of Europe, the most considerable among the other effects of the Crusades, was perhaps their influence upon commerce. The extension of trade, however it was brought about, operated certainly in the most striking manner, both in improving the condition of cities and their inhabitants, and through these in lending new life to the arts. The notion that our modern European nations were, in their first attempts towards refine ment in the arts, the imitators and disciples of the Orientals, falls to the ground, to whatever department we seek to apply it. The chief influence which the East had was over poetry, and even there its only effect was lending new spirit and stimulus to that mass of original imaginations which we of old possessed. Nevertheless, the period when the East had begun to exert its power over our spirits, was, we must ever recollect, the true period of our chivalrous poetry-of that poetry which flourished among the Germans and Normans of the 12th and 13th centuries, and which, somewhat later, in the hands of Ariosto, Tasso, and Spenser, gave birth to a set of masterpieces which are the common property and pride of all Europe. The Germans, even in the Carlovingian times, had heroic poems and love songs,* and, indeed, of that sort of marvellous which is the pecuculiar characteristic of the chivalrous poets, specimens may be found abundantly in the old sagas of the north. But the Crusades gave a new spring to the fancy, and, in the midst of their inspiration, the elder heroic poems were mostly either re-modelled or for ever lost. The chivalrous poet

* Mynne-lieder.

ry was the true copy and constant companion of the chivalrous life, and is therefore its best commentary and image.* The ambitious spirit of the Burghers, whose wealth and importance were every day increasing, took greater delight, on the other hand, in the more substantial monuments of architecture. Rival cities were continually endeavouring to surpass each other in the splendour of their edifices, and many of these erections are still remaining, to excite our astonishment and our admiration.

This art was developed the next after that of poetry, and its most flourishing period was in this age. In the elder Carlovingian period, and under the Saxon emperors, the close connexion between the empire and Constantinople, introduced into Germany, as well as into Italy, some imitation of the later style of Greek architecture. But at this period there came into Germany, still more distinctly and splendidly into the Netherlands and England, that fashion of architecture which we know by the name of Gothic. That this also was of Oriental origin has often been asserted, but there are many remains of Saracen architecture in Spain and Portugal, whose appearance and character leave that idea entirely without support. This style of architecture, chiefly displayed in ecclesiastical buildings, appropriated to its own purposes the painting of the day, such as it was, and consecrated it also to the ornament of churches. The effect of the allegorical paintings usual in the Greek churches, seems to have been as powerful, at one period, upon our painters, as that of the splendid churches of Constantinople was on our architects. In the oldest remains of the art, the painting of Byzantines, Netherlanders, and Italians, is seen to have been essentially the same. At a time somewhat later, both in respect to painting and architecture, the nations of the West were more original, and therefore more successful.

The true acquisition for which the Europeans were indebted to the Arabs, lay in the department of science and knowledge, and even this was restricted to a very little of chemistry, medi

*This subject may be seen more fully discussed in " Schlegel's Lectures on the History of Literature," vol. i. § &

cine, and astrology, and to a few wretched translations of some of the books of Aristotle, which, in that miserable and mutilated condition, can scarcely be said to have been a very valuable present. Compared with the Europeans, indeed, the Mahometan tribes, which possessed at that time the interior parts of Palestine, and which therefore had most intercourse with the Crusaders, were a very rude people. The flourishing era of the Caliphate was long gone by. It is true, that the Spanish Moors were far more polished and learned than any of their contemporaries in the West, but the national and religious wrath with which they were regarded, prevented the gaining any considerable advantage from the example of their cultivation.

The whole of this epoch, in which Christians and Mahometans were brought so closely into contact, when the East and West were, after a separation of many centuries, once more approximated to each other, cannot but fix the attention of the observer upon that remarkable man whose spirit has been for these twelve hundred years the spirit and unseen ruler of the half of Asia. Mahomet must awake in every mind all that admiration which the union of heroic power with enthusiasm, both directed to one end, by the energy of an overmastering spirit, is ever calculated to produce. The firmness of that unalterable faith which this man, with all the appearance of simplicity, and without having recourse, as it would seem, to any of the usual tricks of religious impostors, found means to establish in the bosom of his followers, must ever be regarded as one of the most singular and inexplicable phenomena in the whole history of the world. The people which was his instrument, and which, through his means, became in the sequel one of the most powerful in the earth, lived, before the time of Mahomet, in the Patriarchal division of tribes, but was united by the common possession of a fine language, and a body of warlike and amatory poetry. They were not altogether unacquainted with the old traditions of Sacred antiquity; they derived, at least, from the indistinct recollection of them, a certain loftiness of conception; and, compared even with the most celebrated of nations, they were still entitled

to be considered as a high-minded and noble people. With the fresh impetus which they derived from the ministrations of Mahomet, the Arabs, in a short space of time, extended their power over the finest countries of the world-from the rich islands of India to Portugal, and from Caucasus to the yet unexplored depths of Africa. The doctrine of their Prophet, founded on the purest and sublimest ideas of the Godhead, and perplexing the understanding by no unintelligible mysteries-inculcating, beyond all other virtues, the exercise of valour and heroism, and tempering these stern injunctions with many delightful and emblematic fancies,-how, it may well be asked, has it happened, that this faith, so keenly adopted by many nations, should not have taken possession, with equal ease, of the whole? That dangerous and destructive conflict, between the Church and the State, which tore Christendom in sunder, found no part in the empire of Mahomet, where both powers were for ever blended together in irresistible union. The faith of Mahomet itself may also be looked upon as more adapted for the nature of man, since, throughout Asia and Africa, its precepts have all along been not nominally, but really obeyed; while in Christendom, the life and manners not only of individuals, but of whole ages, have so often appeared to be exactly the reverse of what they should have been according to the system of Christ; where, in one word, the ideal excellence, held up by the faith, has always been looked upon as something unattainable even by its most fervent disciples.-Such are the grounds upon which a tame and common-place philosophy has frequently assigned to Mahometanism the superiority over Christianity, and it was natural that it should make such use of such arguments. But the history of the world teaches a conclusion very different from that adopted by these superficial philosophers; it has long since determined the great question, whether the faith of Christianity, or that of Mahomet, be the better fitted to promote the cultivation and excellence of the human mind? The spirit of pride and haughtiness which breathes in the pages of the Koran, and which presents so striking a contrast to the gentleness and love found in those of the Bible, might seem at first sight to be

the sure harbinger of greatness; but it formed, from the very beginning of the Mahometan sway, the lurking element of its destruction. Satisfied with the possession of that high and more than Stoical disdain of others, the disciples of the Prophet have remained stationary as he found them; nay, some which were once among the noblest of nations, have sunk gradually into the condition of dull and sluggish Barbarians.

The temptation to which, according to the Gospel, our Saviour was exposed by the fallen angel, was too much for Mahomet. He was willing to purchase the kingdoms of the earth at the expense of his integrity. Had he withstood this temptation, and had the noble-minded Arabs become Christians with the same zeal which attended their reception of Mahometanism, the most beautiful lands of the earth would then long ago, in all probability, have been also the most refined and the most happy-Asia and Europe, instead of regarding each other with the fury of combatants, or the coldness of strangers, instead of filling the world with blood and rancour, had long ago been united in the bonds of brotherhood. The proud spirit of the False Prophet, and the union of spiritual and temporal power in his empire, paved the way for the most cruel of all despotisms; one under which every vestige not only of external freedom, but even of the last resource of men-the liberty of the mind -has been utterly eradicated and erased.

An acquaintance with the nature and consequences of a faith so different from their own, was calculated to produce, upon the thinking men of Europe, a much more striking effect than a few inaccurate translations from Aristotle. That infidelity and contempt of religion of which the emperor Frederick II. has been accused, may easily be accounted for by the circumstances of the times. With those scraps of chemical, medical, and astronomical science, which the Europeans received from the Arabs, they received also much that was fitted to encourage them in all the superstitions of astrology, alchemy, and magic. The arcana, the hidden doctrines of the nights Templars, furnish another proof that a great fermentation had begun to operate in the European

mind. The effects of all this were first, and most distinctly, made manifest in the department of philosophy. Early in the 12th century, scarcely a hundred years after the first Crusades, the first of modern attempts to destroy the system of Christianity, and all the constitutions of Church and State to which it has given rise, was made by Arnold of Brescia. The fate of this man has been such as that which has fallen to the share of all ill-timed and unfortunate revolutionizers. Yet purity of intention should not be denied to him; nor should it be forgotten that, of all the enemies of the Church, few have grounded their hostility on views of philosophy so deep, and at the same time so noble, as his. He was succeeded by a host of others, who, without so openly declaring their purpose, occupied themselves in disseminating dangerous and destructive doctrines in regard to matters of religion. The first who opposed himself to the stream of infidelity, with the vigour of a Christian philosopher, was a German. Albertus Magnus was one of those preeminent spirits which the world so rarely produces-one of those who imbody the power, the learning, and the wisdom of ages. He was the Aristotle of his time. We should err very widely in refusing to philosophy a place in the history of the world. Even among the Greeks and Romans, where philosophy and common life were so much at variance, its influence was great. Nay, it is in that very feud and opposition between speculative intellect, on the one hand, and the state and the popular belief on the other, that we must seek for the true ground of the destruction of all the Ancient States. In modern history, from the time of the middle ages downwards, philosophy-extended so widely as to become almost the synonym of common opinion-has even more manifested her power. Separated although she be, from the world, the world must always regard her either as its best friend, or as its worst enemy.

Like every other great revolution, that introduced by the Crusades had the effect of destroying many of the old bands of society. It opened the the way for freedom; but, wherever occasion was offered, it opened the way for anarchy also. The tremendous conflict between the Church and the Empire which devastated Italy and

Germany during the thirteenth century, particularly towards the close, arose naturally from the relation which these powers held to each other; but though it was not caused, its operations were much facilitated and accelerated by means of the Crusades. The long absence of the last of the great and powerful emperors, Frederick II., from Germany, laid the foundation for confusion and anarchy in that country. This anarchy was at its summit of violence, when, after the house of Hohenstaufen, for a hundred years the most powerful in Europe, had expired on the scaffold of its last representative amidst a succession of doubtful, powerless, and absurd elections, Germany and Europe could scarcely be aware whether they had or had not an emperor. It was now that the verse of an older poet, on occasion of the death of an emperor, could be employed almost without hyperbole.

"Tristis et Europa, Decapitata gemit."

If we may compare the great powers of the earth with the great luminaries of nature, we may say, that at this time the heaven was for ever dark, and that neither emperor nor pope, neither the sun nor the moon, emitted any of these rays which used to guide, and cheer, and animate, the world. The only power which remained entire, was that of chivalry. A simple knight drew to himself the eyes of the world. Great in fortune and in valour, great in the possession of every noble and every warlike virtue,-but blessed with an understanding at once strong and comprehensive, Rudolph of Habsburg derived his truest greatness from his rectitude.

POEMS AND PLAYS BY THE DUCHESS OF NEWCASTLE.

"Writing is very prompt

poet, whose very existence has been detected only by keen research, may indeed have evinced but a slender portion of that spirit which has buoyed up the writings of distinguished contemporaries during the course of centuries; yet still his verses shall, in the lapse of time, acquire an interest which they did not possess in the eyes of his own generation."

This remark (which, though not new in itself, has derived great additional value from the beautiful illustrations which Mr Scott has brought together in the preface alluded to) has by no means been verified or supported by the conduct of modern bibliographers towards the thirteen folio volumes of the Duchess of Newcastle. Pope, in the "Dunciad," by giving a conspicuous place in the library of his hero to her productions, "Where stamp'd with arms, Newcastle shone complete,"

was among the first to set the example of turning her Grace into ridicule. But this was excusable on his part, for neither Pope, nor any one else in those days, was a bibliographer, in the modern acceptation of the term. Even

"Caxtons and

Wordes," were perhaps then sold for "Wynkyn de snuff-paper. Nor could her Grace's productions, at that time, have their commendation, though there were se present attractions of rarity as a reveral of them that her biographer, George Ballard, about the same period, had never seen.

Lord Orford afterwards, in his usual smile on the vacant countenances of manner, for the sake of exciting a some of his own noble readers, epitomized the lives of the Duke and Duchess in such manner as to render them utterly ridiculous. The only modern authors after Ballard, that have said a few words in favour of her Grace (at least we do not at this moment recollect any others), are Sir

new edition of Lord Orford), and Mr D'Israeli.

It is odd enough, however, that, with the exception of Sir E. Brydges, all her commentators seem to have paid much more attention to her Grace's prose than to her poetical writings; whereas her volumes, entitled, "Nature's pictures, drawn by Phancies pencil to the life," printed 1656,