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258 THE DECLINE AND FALL the West to march under the standard of the Cross to the relief of the Holy Land ; and yet how trifling is the sum of these accumulated evils, if compared with the single act of the sacrilege of Hakem, which had been so patiently endured by the Latin Christians ! A slighter provocation inflamed the more irascible temper of their descendants : a new spirit had arisen of religious chivalry and papal dominion ; a nerve was touched of exquisite feeling ; and the sensation vibi*ated to the heart of Europe.
