Chapter I. The Saint apologises for the ill-success of the Second Crusade

sorrow and consternation throughout the whole of Christendom. Jerusalem and the Holy Places would be soon again in the hands of the infidel, and the blood of the Crusaders would have been shed in vain. Pope Eugenius, then in exile at Viterbo, resolved to make a supreme effort to save the situation. He commissioned St. Bernard, the greatest orator of his time, to preach the Second Crusade. No need to describe the Saint's triumphal progress through Europe. Suffice it to say that his irresistible eloquence and his personal magnetism and the multitudinous miracles which confirmed his mission and recalled the apostolic age, aroused the world to a pitch of enthusiasm scarcely paralleled in history. The chivalry of France and Germany went forth to do battle for the Holy Sepulchre. But alas ! instead of the glorious victory promised them by the Abbot of Clairvaux, disaster and disappointment dogged their steps, until after a two years' campaign, the few who survived returned sadly to their homes. St. Bernard was held responsible for the loss of two magnificent armies, and he found himself the object of universal indignation : his disgrace was proportionate to his previous popularity. For a whole year he submitted in silence to the unjust attacks made upon him. At length, in 1 149, he wrote his Apology and sent it to Pope Eugenius, as an exordium to the second book of the de Considerations It is consoling to think that the gentle Saint was not left altogether unbefriended in this his hour of sorrow. Some of the most eminent writers of the day took up his defence with energy. Thus the historian Otho of Frisengen, who took part in the expedition, wrote, " If we say that the holy Abbot was inspired by the Spirit of God to animate us to this war, but that by our pride and licentiousness we have disregarded his salutary counsel, and that we have therefore reaped, as the harvest of our disorders, the loss of goods and of men, by

3i should feel ashamed of the delay, were I conscious that it proceeded from negligence or from any want of respect. The cause, however, has been nothing such, nothing, in fact, but the difficulties of the times whereupon, as thou knowest, we have fallen, and which threatened to put an end to my existence itself, to say nothing of my literary labours. For the Lord, provoked by our sins, chastised us with so much severity that He seemed to have judged the world before the time (i Cor. iv. 5), in equity indeed, but forgetful of His mercy (Ps. ix. 9). He hath spared neither His people nor His name. Do misery and the sword, we shall say nothing but what is conformable to reason and justified by the examples of antiquity." Similarly ,William of Newbridge, who declared that the Christian armies should seek the cause of their calamities in their own vices and disorders. Abbot John of Casa-Mari sent the following letter to the Saint himself : " I am told that thou, my well-beloved Father, art grieving still over this affair — I mean the expedition to Jerusalem, which has not had the success we desired. It is on this account that I take the liberty of humbly declaring to thee what God put into my heart on the matter, when my mind was very much taken up with it ; remembering that the Lord sometimes reveals to little ones those things which are hidden from the prudent, and that Jethro, though a stranger, gave advice to Moses who spoke face to face with God. I think, therefore, my dearest Father, that the Almighty has drawn much fruit from this Crusade, although not exactly in the manner in which the Crusaders expected. If they had conducted themselves like Christians, that is to say, loyally and piously, in this war, the Saviour would have been present with them, and caused their arms to triumph ; but as they gave themselves up to all sorts of crimes, and as God, when He suggested the expedition, fore-saw all the dangers into which they would fall, His providence made even these events to serve the designs of His mercy, and He sent them such misfortunes and checks that, being purified by crosses, they might attain to the kingdom of heaven. Many of those who have returned from the Crusade have confessed that they beheld numbers die rejoicing in their fate, fearing to fall back into their sins should they return to Europe. And in order that thou mayest feel no doubt of what I assert, I will confide to thee as if under the seal of confession that the holy Martyrs John and Paul, the two Patrons of our church, have more than once visited us ; and having been they not now say amongst the Gentiles, " Where is their God ? " (Ps. cxiii. 2). And small wonder. For the children of the Church, those who were numbered amongst the Christian people, have been overthrown in the wilderness, either consumed by famine or slain with the sword. So "Contention * was poured forth upon their princes, and the Lord caused them to wander where there was no passing, and out of the way "

asked what we ought to think about the Crusades, they answered that many of the Christians who fell in the holy wars have been called to fill the places of the fallen angels. Know also that they spoke of thee with the greatest respect and honour, and predicted thine approaching death [which occurred in 1153]. Since, therefore, this enterprise has attained its end, though not according to the will of man but of God, it becomes thy wisdom to find thy consolation in Him Whose glory alone thou art concerned for ; for it was in His foresight of the salutary effects of this enterprise that He gave thee the grace and power to put it into execution. May He vouchsafe now to crown thy career happily and to grant me the happiness of contemplating with thee His divine and adorable Majesty in heaven." Cf. Ratisbonne, History of St. Bernard, pp. 457-8, Eng. Trans.

It is a pleasure to find a modern author, and one so little disposed to be unduly partial to the saints as Mr. Frederic Harrison, acknowledging that even with regard to the object for which it was designed, the Second Crusade was not unsuccessful. In his famous Essay on " Bernard of Clairvaux," in whose life he discovers " elements of beauty and greatness which as yet have not so perfect a type in the whole story of human civilization," the redoubtable Agnostic says, " The Crusade was opened and its author lived to see its utter disaster. The shock to his hopes embittered his few last years of life. He saw in it only a judgment upon men's sinfulness and perversity. He could not see how largely it had contributed to its true object ; how the wave of Islam had been checked ; its energy exhausted ; how Europe had been knit together and brought into relation with the East ; and how the seeds had been gathered for Science and Industry. ..." — (Translator.)

(Ps. cvi. 40). " Destruction and unhappiness are in their ways " (Ps. xiii. 3) ; and fear, and woe, and confusion " in the inner chambers of their kings " (Ps. civ. 30). Oh, " how confounded have been the feet of them that brought good tidings and that preached peace ' (Is. lii. 7) ! I have said, " Peace, peace, and there was no peace " (Jer. vi. 14) ; I have promised peace, " and behold trouble " (Jer. xiv. 19). It looks as if I had acted imprudently in preaching this Crusade, or had " used lightness " (2 Cor. i. 17). But in truth "I so ran therein not as at an uncertainty " (1 Cor. ix. 26), since I was acting in obedience to thy commands, Holy Father, or rather to the commands of God, made known through thee. Then " why have we fasted, and He hath not regarded : have humbled our souls, and He hath not taken notice " (Is. viii. 3) ? For " after all these things His indignation is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still " (Is. ix. 21). How patiently He still continues to endure the sacrilegious tongues, and the blasphemous words of the Egyptians, who say, " He craftily brought them out that He might kill them in the desert " (Exod. xxxii. 12) ! " The judgments of the Lord are true " (Ps. xviii. 10) indeed : who does not know that ? Yet this present judgment " is a great deep " (Ps. xxx. 7), so dark and unfathomable that he who is not scandal-ised thereat deserves (so it seems to me) to becalled blessed.

How is it, then, that the rashness of men dares to reprove what they cannot understand ? Let us remember the divine decrees which are from .everlasting (Ps. xxiv. 6), for perchance in them we shall find some consolation, like the Prophet who said, " I remembered

O Lord, Thy judgments of old, and I was comforted " (Ps. cxviii. 52). What I am about to say now is unknown to no one, and yet, at this moment, seems to be unknown to all. For such is the perversity of the human heart, that the truths which we know well enough when they are of no use to us, we seem not to know at all when the knowledge is most needful. When Moses proposed to lead the people of God out of Egypt, he promised to bring them to a better land (Exod. iii. 37). For otherwise, when would that people, who savoured nothing but the things of the earth, — when, I ask, would that carnal people have consented to follow him ? So he led them forth from the land of bondage : but he did not lead them into the land of promise. Nevertheless, it would not have been just to accuse Moses of imprudence, because of the bitter disappointment of the hopes he had inspired. For he acted in everything according to the divine command,^ " the Lord working withal, and confirming the word with signs that followed " (Mark xvi. 20). But thou wilt tell me that this people was stiff-necked (Exod. xxxii. 9), and always contended stubbornly against the Lord and against Moses His servant. Yes, I admit they were both incredulous and disobedient. But what of the Christian host that recently set out for the same destination, relying on a similar promise ? Let them answer for themselves. Where is the need to accuse them of what they so spontaneously avow ? I will therefore content myself with this one remark : How could they have made progress who (unlike the living creatures of the Prophet's vision) were always turning back as they walked (Ezech. i. 17) ? Was there a moment during the whole journey when they were not returning in heart to Egypt ? And if the faithless Jews were overthrown in the desert and "perished by reason of their iniquity " (Ps. lxxii. 19), ought it to surprise us that the Christians who committed the same crimes, have suffered the same chastisement ? No one surely will pretend that the fate of the former belied the promises of God. Consequently, neither did the destruction of the latter. For the promises made by God can never be prejudicial to His justice. But listen now to another example.

Benjamin had sinned, and all the other tribes girded themselves for vengeance, with the sanction of the Lord. He Himself designated the man who should lead them forth to the war. And so they fell upon their enemies, relying upon their superior numbers, the justice of their cause, and especially upon the divine favour. But how " terrible is God in His counsels over the sons of men " (Ps. lxv. 5) ! The avengers of crime fled before the criminals, the many were routed by the few ! But they had recourse again to the Lord. " And He answered them : Go up against them." They went up a second time, and a second time were scattered and put to flight. Thus, on the first occasion with the divine approval, on the second by the divine command, the just engaged the wicked in battle and suffered defeat. But they showed themselves the stronger in faith in proportion as they had less success in arms. Now what, thinkest thou, would the Christians do to me if at my persuasion they again made war upon the Saracens and were again discomfited ? Dost thou suppose they would be willing to listen to me did I exhort them for the third time to undertake the same expedition and the same hardships, which had twice already ended in such bitter disappointment ? And nevertheless, the Israelites, undismayed by the failure of their first and of their second attempt, made ready for a third, and were this time successful (Judges xix.-xx.). But perhaps it will be said to me, " How do we know that this word hath come forth from the Lord ? What sign dost thou show unto us that we may believe in thee? " (Johnii. 18). Holy Father, it is not for me to answer this question : I must not be asked to do violence to my modesty. Rather do thou answer both for me and for thyself, according to the things which thou hast heard and seen, or at least according as the Lord shall enlighten thee.

But perhaps thou art wondering why I have discoursed at such length on a question so foreign, seemingly, to the subject I proposed to treat. It is not, however, that I have forgotten my theme, but I do not consider the foregoing remarks irrelevant thereto. For, as thou rememberest, I have taken it upon me to address thy sacred majesty on the subject of consideration. And surely the matter wherewith I have been occupied is important enough to call for the most diligent consideration. But if great questions ought to engage the attention of great men, to whom does the consideration of this matter belong so properly as to thee who hast no peer upon earth ? But it is thy part to act in the present circumstances according to the power and wisdom given thee from above. It would ill become a lowly religious to dictate to thee what course thou shouldst pursue, saying this or that must be done in such or such a way. For me it is enough to have intimated to thy Holiness that something ought to be done which shall edify the Church and " stop the mouth of them that speak wicked things " (Ps. lxii. 12).

I have set down the above remarks by way of apology, in order to furnish thee with facts whereby thou mayest be able to justify not only me but thyself also, if not to the minds of those men who estimate enterprises according to their visible result, at least to thine own heart and conscience. The testimony of a good conscience is the best of all apologies. For the rest, " to me it is a very small thing to be judged by " (1 Cor. iv. 3) them " that call evil good and good evil : that put darkness for light and light for darkness " (Is. v. 20). And since it is inevitable that men shall murmur, I had rather hear them murmuring against us than against the Lord. Well shall it bewith me if He condescends to make use of me as a buckler for His own defence. Gladly do I expose myself to the bitter tongues of slanderers and to the poisoned darts "of blasphemers, so that He may not be touched. I am content to take ignominy for my portion, provided only the glory of God shall thus be safeguarded. Who will grant me that I may glory like the Psalmist, saying with him, " Because for Thy sake I have borne reproach, shame hath covered my face " (Ps. lxiii. 8). It is surely a great glory for me to be associated with Christ, Who has said by His Prophet, " The reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon Me " (Ps. lxiii. 10).

But it is now time to return and to resume the orderly treatment of the subject I have undertaken to discuss.

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