volume one

IIISTOBT OF THE CSIJSADES. 309
before an enemy, was an action infamous in the sight of Grod
or man. In battle, their close ranks, their lofty stature,
their war-horses, like themselves covered with steel, overturned,
dispersed, or bore down the numerous battalions of
the Saracens. In spite of the weight of their armour,
nothing could exceed the rapidity with which they passed to
places the most distant. They were to be seen fighting
almost at the same time in Egypt, on the Euphrates, and on
the Orontes ; and only left these their customary theatres
of victory to threaten the principaHty of Damascus, or some
city of Arabia. In the midst of their exploits they recognised
no other law but victory, abandoned and rejoined at
pleasure the standards which led them to the enemy, and
required nothing of their chief but the example of bravery.
As their mihtia had under its colours warriors of divers
nations, the opposition of characters, the difiJerence of manners
and language kept alive amongst them a generous
emulation ; but sometimes, likewise, gave birth to discord.
Very frequently chance, or some unexpected cu-cumstance,
decided an enterprise or the fate of a campaign. When the
Christian knights believed themselves in a condition to fight
an enemy, they went to seek him, without taking the least
pains to conceal their march ; confidence in their strength,
in their arms, and, above aU, in the protection of Heaven,
made them neglect the stratagems and the artifices of war,
and even the precautions most necessary to the safety of an
army. Prudence in their chiefs frequently appeared to
them an evidence of timidity or weakness, and many of
their princes paid with their lives or their liberty for the
vain glory of encountering useless perils in the Christian
cause.
The Pranks of Palestine saw scarcely any dangers or
enemies except such as met them in the field of battle.
Several important enterprises, which fortune alone seemed
to direct, were necessary to assure the safety and the
prosperity of the Christian states in Asia. The first of
these enterprises was to lower the power of the caliphs of
Egypt ; the second, to conquer and preserve the maritime
cities of Syria, in order to receive fleets and succour from
the West ; the third was to defend the frontiers, and oppose
on aU sides a barrier against the Tui'ks and Saracens. Each