c, and possessed of a warm irregular eloquence
adapted to the pitch of his hearers, to preach an expedition for the
delivery of the Holy Land.

Great designs may be started and the spirit of them inspired by
enthusiasts, but cool heads are required to bring them into form. The
Pope, not relying solely on Peter, called a council at Clermont, where
an infinite number of people of all sorts were assembled. Here he
dispensed with a full hand benedictions and indulgences to all persons
who should engage in the expedition; and preaching with great vehemence
in a large plain, towards the end of his discourse, somebody, by design
or by accident, cried out, "It is the will of God!" This voice was
repeated by the next, and in a moment it circulated through this
innumerable people, which rang with the acclamation of "It is the will
of God! It is the will of God!"[76] The neighboring villages caught up
those oracular words, and it is incredible with what celerity they
spread everywhere around into places the most distant. This
circumstance, then considered as miraculous, contributed greatly to the
success of the Hermit's mission. No less did the disposition of the
nobility throughout Europe, wholly actuated with devotion and chivalry,
contribute to forward an enterprise so suited to the gratification of
both these passions. Everything was now in motion; both sexes, and every
station and age and condition of life, engaged with transport in this
holy warfare.[77] There was even a danger that Europe would be entirely
exhausted by the torrents that were rushing out to deluge Asia. These
vast bodies, collected without choice, were conducted without skill or
order; and they succeeded accordingly. Women and children composed no
small part of those armies, which were headed by priests; and it is
hard to say which is most lamentable, the destruction of such multitudes
of men, or the frenzy which drew it upon them. But this design, after
innumerable calamities, began at last to be conducted in a manner worthy
of so grand and bold a project. Raimond, Count of Toulouse, Godfrey of
Bouillon, and several other princes, who were great captains as well as
devotees, engaged in the expedition, and with suitable effects. But none
burned more to signalize his zeal and courage on this occasion than
Robert, Duke of Normandy, who was fired with the thoughts of an
enterprise which seemed to be made for his genius. He immediately
suspended his interesting