Yes! there the counterfeited hue Unfolds with moral truth to view, How false--as every mimic part-- His life--his labours--and his art! The canvass-wood devoid of shade, Above, no plaintive rustling made; That moon, that ne'er its orb has fill'd, No pitying, dewy tears distill'd. The troop stood round--and all the past In one brief comment speaks at last; "Well, he has won the hero's name, He died upon his field of fame." A girl with timid grace draws near, And like the Muse to sorrow dear, Amid the silvery tresses lays The torn stage-wreath of paper bays! I saw two men the bier sustain;-- Two bearers all the funeral train! They left him in his narrow bed, No smile was seen--no tear was shed! THE CRUSADES.[5] The Crusades are, beyond all question, the most extraordinary and memorable movement that ever took place in the history of mankind. Neither ancient nor modern times can furnish any thing even approaching to a parallel. They were neither stimulated by the lust of conquest nor the love of gain; they were not the results of northern poverty pressing on southern plenty, nor do they furnish an example of civilized discipline overcoming barbaric valour. The warriors who assumed the Cross were not stimulated, like the followers of Cortes and Pizarro, by the thirst for gold, nor roused, like those of Timour and Genghis Khan, by the passion for conquest. They did not burn, like the legionary soldiers of Rome, with the love of country, nor sigh with Alexander, because another world did not remain to conquer. They did not issue, like the followers of Mahomet, with the sword in one hand and the "Koran" in the other, to convert by subduing mankind, and win the houris of Paradise by imbruing their hands in the blood of the unbelievers. The ordinary motives which rouse the ambition, or awaken the passions of men, were to them unknown. One only passion warmed every bosom, one only desire was felt in every heart. To rescue the Holy Sepulchre from the hands of the Infidels--to restore the heritage of Christ to his followers--to plant the Cross again on Mount Calvary--was the sole object of their desires. For this they lived, for this they died. For this, millions of warriors abandoned their native seats, and left their bones to whiten the fields of Asia. For this, Europe, during two centuries, was precipitated on Asia. To stimulate this astonishing movement, all the powers of religion, of love, of poetry, of romance, and of eloquence, during a succession of ages, were devoted. Peter the Hermit shook the heart of Europe by his preaching, as the trumpet rouses the war-horse. Poetry and romance aided the generous illusion. No maiden would look at a lover who had not served in Palestine; few could resist those who had. And so strongly was the European heart then stirred,--so profound the emotions excited by those events, that their influence is felt even at this distant period.