12 THE HISTORY OE THE ORDER OF [book I.

Saracens — traffic of which Venice set the example.Even at a much later period the German nobleswere mostly robbers; the burghers of the town nobetter, for they used to give the liberties of themto every stranger that offered, without the leastdiscrimination, vagabonds for the greater part, whoterrified the honest, by committing every kind ofcrime with perfect impunity; so that betweenpillage and piracy, both by sea and land, it is awonder that in Germany any had the courage'tobecome merchants at all. The sacred appetite forgold must have been very cogent. In Saxony,Poland, and Lithuania, the remains of Paganismwere trod out with a savage eagerness to compen-sate for lingering rather late.

As to the Jews, they were fair game throughoutthe entire of Christendom; the unfortunates had toendure sackage, gross insults, and murder in everyland. It was a question of more or less atrocityand injustice the vilest; but of justice or mercynever. Shame on the nefarious abusers of thereligion of peace and charity! After the fowler,and the Saxon Othos, and Franconian IIenries ;although the surnames of Guelph and Ghibellinehad not been as yet invented; nevertheless thewicked enormity itself was—the sanguinaryrivalry between the dynasties of southern and