volume one

26Q HisTOEY or tue chusades.
religions armed one against the other, which redoubled tlie
hatred of the combatants, and forbade all approximatioD.
As soon as the standard of Mahomet floated over a city, the
Christians fled from it ; whilst the cross of the Christians
had the same effect upon the Mussulmans. As the greater
part of the jMussulman cities which fell into the hands of
the Christians were deserted, the latter were obliged to
people the provinces thev conquered, and exhaust their
armies, to found, in some sort, colonies wherever their arms
triumplied. If it be allowed that no wars are more sanguinaiy
than religious wars, there are certainly none in
which it is more difficult for a conqueror to extend or preserve
his conquests. This is a very important observation, if we
would appreciate the results of this crusade.
On all occasions where bravery alone was required, nothing
can be comparable to the exploits of the Crusaders. When
reduced to a small number of combatants, they triumphed no
less over their enemies than when they consisted of vast armies.
Forty thousand Christians obtained possession of Jerusalem,
defended by a garrison of sixty thousand Saracens. There remained
scarcely twenty thousand men under their standards,
when they had to contend with all the forces of the East in
the plains of Ascalon. If Alexander performed greater
things, and particularly if he conquered a greater number of
nations, it was because he commanded a disciplined army, of
which he was the absolute leader. All his military and
political operations were directed by one same mind and one
same will. It was not thus in the army of the Crusaders,
which was composed of many nations, and held within itself
the fatal germs of license and disorder. The feudal anarchy
Avith which Europe was then distracted followed the defenders
of the cross into Asia, and that turbident spirit of the
knights, which constantly led them to have recoiu'se to
and were thus disposed to adopt any advantageous faith they might meet
with in their passage. It will be objected to me that the Arabians, in the
first ages of the Hegira, invaded a great part of Asia and Africa, where
they found orher religions than their own long established ; but it may be
answered that these religions were sinking to decay. When the Mussulmans
presented themst-lves in Europe, where the Christian religion was
better established than in the East, this religion offered an insurmountable
barrier to their progress.