"And shall," the Pontiff asks, "profaneness flow From Nazareth--source of Christian piety, From Bethlehem, from the Mounts of Agony And glorified Ascension? Warriors, go, With prayers and blessings we your path will sow; 5 Like Moses hold our hands erect, till ye Have chased far off by righteous victory These sons of Amalek, or laid them low!"-- "GOD WILLETH IT," the whole assembly cry; Shout which the enraptured multitude astounds![98] 10 The Council-roof and Clermont's towers reply;-- "God willeth it," from hill to hill rebounds, And, in awe-stricken[99] Countries far and nigh, Through "Nature's hollow arch"[100] that voice resounds.[101][102] FOOTNOTES: [98] 1827. ... astounded. 1822. [99] 1827. ... rebounded; Sacred resolve, in ... 1822. [100] Compare Fuller's _Holy War_, I. 8.--ED. [101] 1837. ... that night, resounded! 1822. ... the voice resounds. 1827. [102] The decision of this Council was believed to be instantly known in remote parts of Europe.--W. W. 1822. There were several Councils of Clermont, the chief of them being that of 1095, at which the Crusade was definitely planned. Pope Urban II. addressed the Council in such a way that at the close the whole multitude exclaimed simultaneously _Deus Vult_; and this phrase became the war-cry of the Crusade.--ED. XXXIV CRUSADES The turbaned Race are poured in thickening swarms Along the west; though driven from Aquitaine, The Crescent glitters on the towers of Spain; And soft Italia feels renewed alarms; The scimitar, that yields not to the charms 5 Of ease, the narrow Bosphorus will disdain; Nor long (that crossed) would Grecian hills detain Their tents, and check the current of their arms. Then blame not those who, by the mightiest lever Known to the moral world, Imagination, 10 Upheave, so seems it, from her natural station All Christendom:--they sweep along (was never So huge a host!)[103]--to tear from the Unbeliever The precious Tomb, their haven of salvation. FOOTNOTES: [103] Ten successive armies, amounting to nearly 950,000 men, took part in the first Crusade. "The most distant islands and savage countries," says William of Malmesbury, "were inspired with this ardent passion"--ED. XXXV RICHARD I