volume one

326 HisTOEY or the ceusades.
Fridays, and that the whole ^lussulinan people should offer up
thanks to Heaven for his ^-ictories. Zengui left some troops
in the conquered city, and pursued the course of his triiunphs
but fortune did not permit him to finish that which he had
beo-un. He was besieo:ino: the castle of Schabar, in Mesopotamia,
when he was assassinated by some slaves whom illtreatment
had irritated. The news of his death consoled
the Clu-istians for their defeats, alid they expressed a joy as
immoderate as if they had beheld the whole power of the
^Mussulmans fall at once. But this joy was of very short
duration, for abundance of new enemies and new misfortunes
soon followed to overwhelm them.
Josselin, who had taken advantage of the troubles which
ensued upon the death of the prince of Mossoul to retake
the citv of Edessa, ill-guarded by tlie Mussidmans, found
himself unexpectedly besieged by Xoureddin, the second son
of Zengui. Xoureddin had received, as his share of the
O ...
heritage of his father, the principality of Aleppo, and was
easfer to signalize his zeal against the Christians. Josselin
and his companions, who had surprised the city of Edessa
amidst the darkness of night, were wanting in machines of
war to besiege and get possession of the citadel. ~\Vhen the
citv was invested by the prince of Aleppo, the Christian
warriors who were placed between the garrison of the for-
tress and the ^Jussulman army, saw at once the danger of
their position. As in desperate circumstances, a thousand
resolutions are, by turns, formed and rejected ; whilst they
deliberated, the enemy pressed and tlu'eatened them.- There
soon remained no safety for them in a citv which they had
entered as conquerors ; and, after ha\'ing braved death to
get possession of it, they decided upon facing equal perils to
get out of it. The soldiers of Josselin, consisting of Christians
who had gathered to the city, and of the small number
of inliabitants who had survived the massacre of their brethren,
had now nothing left but their endeavours to escape
tlie barbarity of the Mussulmans. They made their preparations
for flight in silence ; the gates were opened in the
middle of the night, and eveiw one bearing away that which
he esteemed most valuable, a weeping crowd pressed along
the streets. Already a great number of these unhappy
fugitives had passed the gates of the city, headed by the
;