to insure the progress of her civil laws and her material civilization; in order even to enjoy those pleasures of the mind for which she thirsts so much,—­ France was constantly obliged to have recourse to the kingly authority and to that almost absolute monarchy which was far from satisfying her even when she could not do without it, and when she worshipped it with an enthusiasm rather literary than political, as was the case under Louis XIV.  It was through the refined rather than profound development of her civilization, and through the zeal of her intellectual movement, that France was at length impelled not only towards the political system to which she had so long aspired, but into the boundless ambition of the unlimited revolution which she brought about and with which she inoculated all Europe.  It is in the first steps towards the formation of the two societies, French and English, and in the elements, so very different, of their earliest existence, that we find the principal cause for their long-continued diversity in institutions and destinies.

“In 1823, forty-seven years ago, after having studied,” says M. Guizot, “in my Essays upon a Comparative History of France and England, the great fact which we have just now attempted to make clearly understood, I concluded my labor by saying, ’Before our revolution, this difference between the political fates of France and England might have saddened a French-man:  but now, in spite of the evils we have suffered and in spite of those we shall yet, perhaps, suffer, there is no room, so far as we are concerned, for such sadness.  The advances of social equality and the enlightenments of civilization in France preceded political liberty; and it will thus be the more general and the purer.  France may reflect, without regret, upon any history:  her own has always been glorious, and the future promised to her will assuredly recompense her for all she has hitherto lacked.’  In 1870, after the experiences and notwithstanding the sorrows of my long life, I have still confidence in our country’s future.  Never be it forgotten that God helps only those who help themselves and who deserve his aid.”

CHAPTER XVI.——­THE CRUSADES, THEIR ORIGIN AND THEIR SUCCESS.

Amongst the great events of European history, none was for a longer time in preparation or more naturally brought about than the Crusades.  Christianity, from her earliest days, had seen in Jerusalem her sacred cradle; it had been, in past times, the home of her ancestors, the Jews, and the centre of their history; and, afterwards, the scene of the life, death, and resurrection of her Divine Founder.  Jerusalem became, more and more, the Holy City.  To go to Jerusalem, to visit the Mount of Olives, Calvary, and the tomb of Jesus, was, in their most evil days, and in the midst of their obscurity and their martyrdoms, a pious passion with the early Christians.  When,