altars hastily erected, to ask a blessing on the expedition.

As I have told you, there was a great multitude of volunteers who, rejected by the princes, enlisted under Peter's banner; and that first party met with a sad fate, owing to the Hermit's want of discretion and military experience.

The King of Hungary, Kalmany or Coloman, gave the first body, under Walter the Pennyless' command, permission to pass through his dominions; but in spite of the religious nature of the war which they were going to undertake, the pilgrim army disgraced their cause by plundering the peasantry, and the result was that they were destroyed. The enraged Bulgarians set fire to a church in which the Crusaders had taken refuge, and but a small party of those who had started with such exalted hopes reached Constantinople, by escaping with Walter through the forests of Hungary. Nor did the 40,000 men, women, and children who followed Walter, under Peter's guidance, meet with a much happier fate. When they came to the town where their fellow - Christians had perished, and saw all their flags and crosses displayed on the battlements, they attacked the city in revenge, and slew all its inhabitants; and were only disturbed from the most disgraceful doings by a report that Kalmany was coming to punish them with a large army.

The story of Peter's expedition to the Holy Land, and how, of his vast army, but a small remnant ever reached even Constantinople, is a dark one. The Hermit, who had aroused the enthusiasm of Europe, found himself unequal to the task of commanding an army.

Another expedition of wild and lawless vagabonds, professing to be actuated by religious feelings, succeeded Peter's band, before the princes set off. They were chiefly Germans, under two leaders, one a priest called Volkenar, the other a bad man, Count Eunio. The evil passions of this herd were fostered, not restrained, by their leaders; and as my stories are to be about the 'heroes of the Crusades,' and not about the sad scenes which disgraced them at their commencement, let it suffice to say that they were guilty of not only the most shameful persecution of the Jews, but of worshipping a goat and goose. But I will not dwell on so dark a tale. The hour of retribution overtook Count Eunio and his followers, and they perished, slaughtered by Coloman on the borders of Hungary.

As a storm of rain will often clear the sky, heralding the return of brightness on a summer's day, so does the fate, the wrong-doing, and the outrages committed by the vast undisciplined numbers under Peter the Hermit, Walter, and Count Eunio, who composed the first expeditions to the Holy Land,

contrast with the higher and purer motives of the expedition then preparing to leave Europe under Godfrey de Bouillon, the subject of my next chapter, and my second hero of the Crusades, A.D. 1096. While we cannot but admire Peter's earnest zeal, his character warns us that fanaticism is ever to be shunned and blamed, even in a good cause.

CHAPTER II.

GODFREY DE BOUILLON.

HILE Peter the Hermit was preaching the first Crusade, a true knight and real

hero lay ill of a lingering fever at Rome, brought on by heat and fatigue. This was Godfrey de Bouillon, who, although he had been one of the first to ascend the walls of the pontifical city, and to plant the German Emperor's standard on its battlements, could not forgive himself for having borne arms against the Papal power. In vain had Henry IV. lavished on him honours and marks of his favour, creating him Duke of Lorraine. To Godfrey's tender conscience the Italian campaign had been in a sinful cause, and even his valour, in such a war, an error committed against the Church.

That Emperor was Henry IV., who defied Pope Gregory VII., declaring that his right of making bishops, and bestowing rings and crosiers on them, was as good as that of the Pontiff; but he had reason to rue such defiance, as in 1077 the Pope

made him do penance standing barefooted, three cold winter's nights, outside his castle gate, to implore pardon. In those superstitious days it was no use putting one's self in opposition to the priests, as the Emperor had done.

Godfrey de Bouillon, although he knew that the Emperor's cause was a wrong one, yet loved his master well. He was descended in the female line from Charlemagne, and, when quite a mere lad, had fought under the German Emperor's banner, winning early laurels by his bravery.

It was the eve of a great battle. Tell me,' cried the Emperor Henry the Fourth, 'who among your number, my nobles, is worthiest to carry my imperial banner?' Every lip named the youthful but valiant Godfrey de Bouillon's name; and his hand it was that, killing Rodolfus, Henry's rival, decided the fortunes of the day.

He was a native of Baissy, a small village of Brabant, and son of Eustace the second Count of Boulogne, celebrated for valour, and of Ida, daughter of Godfrey Barbu, Duke of Lower Lorraine. Lorraine was a small state, whose independence dated from the decay of Charlemagne's empire. There were two Duchies of Lorraine, Lower and Upper. Lower Lorraine comprised Hainault, Brabant, Luxembourg, and the lovely district of Liege and Namur.