IN CHURCH HISTORY. 95 



countries were nearly depopulated and im- 

 poverished. 



As attempts to subdue the Moslem power, the 

 Crusades failed, and the sacrifice of human life is 

 appalling ; but results have flowed from the Cru- 

 sades, to bless the world to the latest days. They 

 helped dispel ignorance ; they set in motion the 

 stagnation which had before been the condition of 

 all classes ; they led to the re-distribution of the 

 soil ; they made changes in the status of the lower 

 classes ; and they excited thought and inquiry, 

 which eventually led on to reform. 



Although they were organized for the recovery 

 of the holy places in Palestine, and failed, we may 

 regard these movements as leading finally to the 

 recovery of holy truths which had been lost through 

 the reign of superstition. But for the upheaval of 

 Europe by the Crusades, the world might have 

 slumbered on, and the rust of error would have 

 gathered all the more heavily over the truth, and 

 have eaten it away. The beneficial results of the 

 Crusades were not evident at once. They came 

 out slowly, and were not fully recognized for many 

 a day after the last one ended. 



The Growth of Romish Errors. — It is hard to 

 recognize in the lordly rulers who occupied the 

 papal throne, in this period, much likeness to tha 

 primitive bishops, who with the utmost simplic'tv 



