nd bishops in all the splendour of Romish
ecclesiastical costume, the Pope stood before the populace on a high
scaffolding erected for the occasion, and covered with scarlet cloth.
A brilliant array of bishops and cardinals surrounded him; and among
them, humbler in rank, but more important in the world's eye, the
Hermit Peter, dressed in his simple and austere habiliments.
Historians differ as to whether or not Peter addressed the crowd, but
as all agree that he was present, it seems reasonable to suppose that
he spoke. But it was the oration of the Pope that was most important.
As he lifted up his hands to ensure attention, every voice immediately
became still. He began by detailing the miseries endured by their
brethren in the Holy Land; how the plains of Palestine were desolated
by the outrageous heathen, who with the sword and the firebrand carried
wailing into the dwellings and flames into the possessions of the
faithful; how Christian wives and daughters were defiled by pagan lust;
how the altars of the true God were desecrated, and the relics of the
saints trodden under foot. "You," continued the eloquent pontiff, (and
Urban the Second was one of the most eloquent men of the day,) "you,
who hear me, and who have received the true faith, and been endowed by
God with power, and strength, and greatness of soul,--whose ancestors
have been the prop of Christendom, and whose kings have put a barrier
against the progress of the infidel,--I call upon you to wipe off these
impurities from the face of the earth, and lift your oppressed
fellow-christians from the depths into which they have been trampled.
The sepulchre of Christ is possessed by the heathen, the sacred places
dishonoured by their vileness. Oh, brave knights and faithful people!
offspring of invincible fathers! ye will not degenerate from your
ancient renown. Ye will not be restrained from embarking in this great
cause by the tender ties of wife or little ones, but will remember the
words of the Saviour of the world himself, 'Whosoever loves father and
mother more than me is not worthy of me. Whosoever shall abandon for
my name's sake his house, or his brethren, or his sisters, or his
father, or his mother, or his wife, or his children, or his lands,
shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit eternal life.'"

The warmth of the pontiff communicated itself to the crowd, and the
enthusiasm of the people broke out several times ere he concluded his
address.