New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-12-30

contingent possibility, Of great renown on earth
when all in turn were so anxious 10 SELL the
ecclesiastical corporations alone mad the power
and desire to buy. The wealth thus amassed was
never alienated and by this means was brought
about that concentration Of landed property in
ecclesiastical hands which, politically speaking
was in great measure 10 cause and to JUSTIFY the
Reformation" Then there were those-and thelr
numbers increased with the failure of each eXpe-
dition-who eagerly sought TO commute the SER
vice which they had too hastily promised by the
payment of money 80 far did TINS pracuce
nroceed that it was even customary for the aged
and infrm to be given the Cross for the express
purpose of being made TO pay for exemption. 1t
was in this custom that there originated the safe
OF indulgences for other purposes which. in the
course Of time. was to become the immediate
cause OF the Reformation" 1t just depends on
the point Of view whether these things are to be
taken as indirectly tending to the benefit of Eu-
rome Those who regret the division of the
Church in the fourteenth century must see IN
them the beginning OF calamity: those who
glory in the Reformation must say that good was
wrought out of evil.
But the benefits which came unsought from
the Crusades were well worth the expenditure or
blood and treasure. Had the power OF the TURK
not been restrained for two critical centuries
while Europe arraying the forces that de-
veloped its civilization and perfected It's naohai
systems in the face Of the old mediaeVai an
archy, there Is no telling what might nave nap
pened Sobieski might not have been In exist-
ence TO stem the torrent Of Oriental invasion at
the gates Of Vienna: and the whole western
world might to-day be revolving against Islam,
instead of studying with the eye of science the
facts of life and of history. 1t was fortunate
too that Europe had temporary outpost at
critical period. by means Of which she could con-
troll the possibilities Of commerce. Not merely
the Italian cities. but the whole continent feit
the advantage of this in the enlarged comfort
and luxury of living. The Hanseatic towns ana
their prosperity were as much the produc' VI
the enlarged trade with the East were the
commercial capitals Of the Mediterranean Then
the Crusaders stimulated the growth of litera-
ture The rude tale of an earlier time gave place
to the finished romance and the elaborate poem;
the meagre and jejune annals were suppanted
nv history as eloquent and varied as that OF mod
ern times out of the increased knowledge OF the
earth's surface arose those questionings when
were answered by the crcumnaviga of Africa
and the discovery Of the New World. And these
vast enterprises put an end forever TO the cru
sading fever. The East was no longer TO be
reached through the narrow gates OF Joppa ana
the mouth Of the Nile. Nevertheless. the pfac-
teal wisdom of the Middle Ages has been N.n-
Dictated after the lapse Of centuries In the sue
cess of the Suez Canal The authors OF TINS
book do not agree with those who condemn the
medieval period wholly 1t had its own real
clories they say. and. above al. II was an IN
disnensable preliminary To modern life. THE
Middle Ages they add were, in their way. as
important and fruitful for mankind as any other
epoch of the worlds history. The Crusades were
their browning glory Of political achievement
the central drama to which all other incidents
were in some degree subordinate If the en-
thusiasm which produced them persisted II was
not until 1t had borne good fruit. We may. per-
haps. contrast the age OF the Crusaders with the
age Of the early Renaissance, which succeeded
il, In some respects to the disadvantage Of the
former: but when all is said and written. this
much al least must be admitted: II was not alto
gether a change from the worse TO the better
that gave France a Louis the Treacherous for
n Louis the Saint. and England a Richard OF the
Subtle Brain for a Richard OF the Lion Heart
The volume is copiously illustrated.