The Cruise of the Mary Rose | Page 2

or on what we had read or thought of. That hour
was generally the pleasantest of the twenty-four. Our father guided, if
he did not lead the conversation, and generally managed to infuse his
spirit into it. Although many of the subjects discussed even now rise up

to my memory, I will mention but one, which had a powerful influence
on the career of some of those present. I had been reading an account of
the Crusades, and my enthusiasm had been unusually stirred up on the
subject. "I wish that I could have lived in those days!" I exclaimed (I
was but a lad it must be remembered.) "What a glorious work those
warriors of old undertook, who with sword and lance, under the banner
of the cross, they went forth to conquer infidels, to establish the true
faith, to recover the blessed land, hallowed by the Redeemer's footsteps,
from the power of the cruel followers of the false prophet of Mecca.
How degenerate are we Christians of the present generation! Who
among us dreams of expelling the Turks from Syria? On the contrary,
our statesmen devote their energies to keep them there. I really believe
that were Peter the Hermit to rise from his grave, he would not find a
dozen true men to follow him."
"Possibly not," said my father, quietly; "though he might find two
dozen fully as wise, and as honest, too, as those he led to destruction.
But has it not struck you, David, that there are other conquests to be
achieved in the present age more important than winning Palestine
from the Moslem; that there is more real fighting to be done than all the
true soldiers of the cross, even were they to be united in one firm
phalanx, could accomplish? Sword and spear surely are not the
weapons our loving Saviour desires His followers to employ when
striving to bring fresh subjects under His kingdom. That they were to
be used was indeed the idea of our ignorant ancestors, when the
teaching of a corrupt Church had thrown a dark veil over their
understandings. Christians only in name, the truth was so disfigured
and transformed among them, that it exercised no influence over their
hearts; and though they believed the Bible to be of value, they regarded
it rather in the light of a mystic charm than the word of God. Thus all
the great truths of our most holy faith were so travestied and changed as
to produce alone a degrading superstition. They believed that the Bible
had the power of exorcising spirits of evil. So it has; but it is not the
closed Bible, which they in their ignorance employed--not the mere
printed paper bound into a volume--unread, or if read, misunderstood,
at which the devil and his angels tremble. No; it is the open Bible--the
Bible in many tongues--read and understood through God's gracious

teaching, sought for by prayer earnestly. It is the blessed gospel of
peace which alone can put to flight debasing superstition, gross
customs, murderous propensities, cruel dispositions, barbarism in its
varied forms, and all the works of darkness instigated by Satan and his
angels. Again, I say that the Bible, and the Bible alone, is the true
crusader's weapon; armed with that sword of the Spirit, with the shield
of faith on his arm, and under the guidance (never to be withdrawn
while he seeks it) of God's Holy Spirit, he may go boldly forth
conquering and to conquer the numberless hosts of heathenism arrayed
for battle against the truth. These weapons are dreaded by the spirit of
evil more than all those iron implements of warfare on which man in
his folly and blindness relies. The victories won by the Bible are lasting
in this world, and not only in this world, but through eternity.
"To drop metaphor, what is, and what long has been the condition of
those lands the crusaders vainly boasted they had won from the
followers of Mohammed? In what state do we find those vast territories
of the New World conquered by Spain? both gained by sword and
spear, under a banner falsely called the `banner of the cross.' Compare
these and similar conquests over heathenism with those victories won
in pagan lands by the Bible--the sword of the Spirit. How great the
contrast!"
Our father spoke with far more animation than was his wont. I listened
respectfully, though I confess that at first I did not comprehend the full
meaning of his remarks. Still, they considerably dimmed the bright halo
with which my imagination had surrounded the crusades. My second
brother, John, however, fixing his eyes attentively on our father, drank
in every word he uttered. "Yes, glorious indeed are the victories gained
by the gospel of peace in