“In the second Crusade a considerable troop of women rode amongst the Germans: they were arrayed with the spear and shield. But the historian satirically remarks, that some love of usual delights had mingled itself with the desire of great exploits; for they were remarkable for the splendour of their dress, and the bold leader was called the golden-footed dame. “These ladies were, however, of an age to judge for themselves; and however we may smile at their folly, our pity is not excited, as it is for the children of France and Germany, who, seduced by the preaching of fanatics, about the year 1213, thought themselves authorized by Heaven, to attempt the rescue of the Holy Sepulchre; and ran about the country, crying, ‘Lord Jesus Christ restore the cross to us.’ Boys and girls stole from their homes: no bolts, no bars, no fear of fathers, or love of mothers, could hold them back; and the number of youthful converts was thirty thousand. They were accompanied by some fanatical persons, some of whom were taken and hanged at Cologne. The children passed through France, crossed the Alps; and those who survived hunger and thirst, presented themselves at the gates of the sea-ports of Italy and the south of France. Many were driven back to their homes; but seven large ships, full of them, went from Marseilles. Two of the vessels were wrecked on the isle of St. Peter; the rest of the ships went to Bugia and Alexandria, and the master sold the children to slavery. These dreadful facts are mentioned by four contemporary writers. “In the third crusade, Richard the First, surnamed Cœur de Lion, as I before told you, signalized himself eminently. The very word Richard was dreaded in Syria, so great was the terror he had spread. Syrian mothers used to frighten their children, by telling them that king Richard was coming; and horses, according to vulgar tradition, dreaded the lion-hearted monarch; for, if a courser started, the rider would exclaim, ‘What! do you think king Richard is in the bush?’ In the year 1193, died the sultan Saladin, the Saracen chief; and, as his character was a remarkable one, I shall give you a brief sketch of it. He was in the fifty-seventh year of his age when he expired. During twenty-two years he had reigned over Egypt, and for nineteen years was absolute master of Syria. No Asiatic monarch has filled so large a space, in the annals of Europe, as the antagonist of Cœur de Lion. He was a compound of the dignity and the baseness, the greatness and the littleness of man. As the Moslem hero of the third holy war, he proved himself a valiant soldier and a skilful general. He hated the Christian cause; for he was a zealous Mussulman, and his principles authorized him to make war upon the enemies of the prophet; but human sympathy mollified the rigour of his enthusiasm, and, when his foes were suppliant, he often forgot the sternness of Islamism.