volume one

HISTOET OF THE CRUSADES. 117
After long debates, it was agreed on both sides, that the
affair should be decided by the inhabitants, and that the cityshould
belong to "whichever they should choose for master.
The assembled people at first appeared inclined towards
Tancred, to whom they thought they owed their deliverance;
but Baldwin made the Tui-ks and the inhabitants sensible of
the superiority of his numbers, and threatened them vdth
his anger and his vengeance. The fear which he inspired
decided the suffrages in his favom- ; and the flag of Tancred
was cast into the ditches of the town, and replaced by that
of Baldwin.*
Blood was about to flow to avenge this outrage, but the
Italians and Normans, appeased by their chief, listened to
the voice of moderation, and quitted the disputed city to
seek other conquests elsewhere. Baldwin entered in triumph
into the place, of which the fortress and several towers were
still in possession of the Turks. He so much feared that
his new conquest would be disputed, that he refused to open
the gates to three hundred Crusaders whom Bohemond had
sent to the assistance of Tancred, and who demanded an
asylum for the night. These latter, being obliged to pass
the night in the open field, were siu-prised and massacred by
the Tiu-ks. The following morning, at the sight of their
brethren stretched lifeless, and stripped of their arms and
vestments, the Christians could not restrain their indignation.
The city of Tarsus resounded with their groans and
complaints. The soldiers of Baldwin flew to arms, they
threatened the Turks who still remained in the place, and
vowed vengeance upon their own leader, whom they accused
of the death of their companions. At the first outbreak of
this danger Baldwin was obliged to fly, and take refuge in
one of the towers. A short time after he appeared surrounded
by his own people, mourning with them the death
* Ancient history presents us with something exceedingly like that
which is rel-ited here. During the civil wars that divided the Roman
empire under the triumvirate, Cassius and Dolabella disputed the posses-
sion of the town of Tarsus. Some, says Appian, had crowned Cassius,
who had arrived first in the city; others had crowned Uolabella, who
came after him. Each of the two parties had given a character of public
authority to their proceedings; and in conferring honours, first to one and
then to the other, they each contributed to the misfortunes of a city so
versatile in its likings.—Appian, Hist, of the Civil Wars, b. iv. c. 8.