volume one

166 HISTOKT OF THE CEUSADES.
mond, and the other leaders believed, or feigned to believe,
in this apparition, an account of which soon spread through-
out the army. The soldiers said among themselves that
nothing was impossible to the Grod of the Christians ; they
further believed that Jesus Christ was interested in their
welfare, and that Grod ought to perform miracles to save his
disciples and defenders. During three days the Christian
armv prepared itself by fasting and prayer for the discovery
of the holy lance.
On the morning of the third day, twelve Crusaders chosen
from amongst the most respected of the clergy and the
knights, repaired to the church of Antioch with a great
number of workmen pro'S'ided with the necessary instruments.
They began by digging up the earth under the
principal altar. The greatest silence prevailed in the
church ; the spectators expecting every instant to see the
glitter of the miraculous lance. The whole army, assembled
round the doors, which they had had the precaution to shut,
awaited with impatience the results of the search. The
diggers worked during several hours, and had gone to the
depth of twelve feet without any appearance of the lance.
They continued their operations till evening without discovering
anything. The impatience of the Christians still
increased. In the middle of the night another attempt was
made. Whilst the tvv-elve witnesses were at prayers round
the sides of the hole, Barthelemi precipitated himself into it,
and in a short time re-appeared, holding the sacred iron in
his hands. A cry of joy arose among the spectators, which
was repeated by the soldiers who waited, at the doors, and
which soon resounded through all quarters of the city. The
iron on which all the hopes of the Christians were centred, was
exhibited in triumph to the Crusaders, to whom it appeared
a celestial weapon with which God himself would disperse
with highly philosophical reflections. Yves Duchat says, on commencing
the relation— " Then there happened a marvellous affair, of which some
have left a written account, which I would not affirm to be entirely true,
nor would I oppugn it as false." Anna Conmena says nothing about
the lance, but speaks of the nails which had been used to nail Christ to
the cross. Albu-faradge commits the same error. In general the
accounts of both the Greeks and the Arabians of this war must be read
with much precaution ; they furnish us with very few positive ideas.