Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 6 (1897).djvu/381

 OF THE KOMAN EMPIRE 359 royal saint. ^°* The voice of history renders a more honourable testimony, that he united the virtues of a king, an hero, and a man ; that his martial spirit was tempered by the love of private and public justice ; and that Louis was the father of his people, the friend of his neighbours, and the terror of the infidels. Superstition alone, in all the extent of her baleful influence,^'^^ corrupted his understanding and his heart ; his devotion stooped to admire and imitate the begging friars of Francis and Dominic ; he pursued with blind and cruel zeal the enemies of the faith ; and the best of kings twice descended from his throne to seek the adventures of a spiritual knight-errant. A monkish his- torian would have been content to applaud the most despicable part of his character ; but the noble and gallant Joinville,^"'^ who shared the friendship and captivity of Louis, has traced with the pencil of nature the free portrait of his virtues, as well as of his failings. From this intimate knowledge we may learn to suspect the political views of depressing their gi-eat vassals, which are so often imputed to the royal authors of the crusades. Above all the princes of the middle age, Louis the Ninth suc- cessfully laboured to restore the prerogatives of the crown ; but it was at home, and not in the East, that he acquired for him- self and his posterity ; his vow was the result of enthusiasm and sickness ; and, if he were the promoter, he was likewise the victim, of this holy madness. For the invasion of Egypt, France was exhausted of her troops and treasures ; he covered the sea of Cyprus with eighteen hundred sails ; the most modest enumeration amounts to fifty thousand men ; and, if we might trust his own confession, as it is reported by Oriental vanity, he disembarked nine thousand five hundred horse, and one 1"* Read, if you can, the life and miracles of St. Louis, by the confessor of Queen Margaret (p. 291-523. Joinville, du Louvre). i^s He believed all that Mother-church taught (Joinville, p. 10), but he cautioned Joinville against disputing with infidels. " L'omme lay," said he in his old language, " quand il ot medire de la loy Chrestienne, ne doit pas deffendre la loy Chrestienne ne mais que de I'esp^e, de quoi il doit donner parmi le ventre dedens, tant comme elle y peut entrer " (p. 12 [c. 10]). ^"8 I have two editions of Joinville : the one (Paris, 1688) most valuable for the Observations of Ducange ; the other (Paris, au Louvre, 1761) most precious for the pure and authentic te.xt, a Ms. of which has been recently discovered. The last editor proves that the history of St. Louis was finished a.d. 1309, without ex- plaining, or even admiring, the age of the author, which must have exceeded ninety years (Preface, p. xi., Observations de Ducange, p. 17). I^Joinville's His- toire de Saint Louys IX. may be now most conveniently consulted in one of the editions of Natalis de Wailly (1867, 1874, &c.). The fine Paris edition of 1761 was edited by Mellot, Sallier, and Capperonnier, and included the Annals of William des Nangis.]