volume one

HISTORY or THE crusades. 207
for the deliverance of the holy city, was the arrival amongst
them of a great number of Christians who had come out of
Jerusalem, and being deprived of their property and driven
from their homes, had sought assistance and an asylum
among their brethren from the West. These Christians
described the miseries which the Mussulmans had inflicted
upon all the worshippers of Christ. The Momen, children,
and old men were detained as hostages, whilst such as were
of an age to bear arms were condemned to labours which
surpassed their strength. The head of the principal hos-
pital for pilgrims had, with a great many other Christians,
been cast into prison, and the churches had been pillaged to
furnish support for the Mussulman soldiers. The patriarch
Simeon was gone to the isle of Cyprus to implore the
charity of the faithful, and save his flock, which was menaced
with destruction if he did not pay the enormous
tribute imposed by the oppressors of the holy city. Every
day new outrages were heaped upon the Christians of Jerusalem,
and several times the infidels had formed the project
of giving up to the flames and utterly destroying both the
Holy Sepulchre and the church of the Resurrection.
The Christian fugitives, whilst making these melancholy
recitals to the pilgrims, exhorted them to hasten their attack
upon Jerusalem. In the very first days of the siege, a
solitary, who had fixed his retreat on the Mount of Ohves,
came to join his prayers wdth those of the Christians driven
from Jerusalem, and conjured the Crusaders, in the name
of Christ, whose interpreter he declared himself, at once to
proceed to a general assault. Although destitute of either
ladders or machines of war, the Crusaders yielded to the
counsels of the pious hermit, believing that their courage
and their swords Avere sufficient to destroy the ramparts of
the Saracens. The leaders, who had seen so many prodigies
performed by the valour and enthusiasm of the Christian
soldiers, and who had not forgotten the lengthened miseries
of the siege of Antioch, yielded without difficidty to the
impatience of the army ; besides, the sight of Jerusalem had
exalted the mmds of the Crusaders, and disposed even the
least credulous to hope that Grod himself would second their
bravery by miracles.
At the first signal, the Christian army advanced in good