volume one

380 HISTORY OF THE CEUSADES.
of the infidek, and the world will accuse you of having
opened the gates of the holy city to the Saracens, as the
traitor Judas gave up the Saviour of the world into the
hands of his enemies." This speech, and the sight of the
troops which Amaurv had already collected to defend his
rio-hts, disarmed the factions which disturbed the kingdom.
The brother of Baldwin was crowned in the Holy Sepulchre,
and received the oaths of allegiance of those even who had
openly declared themselves opposed to his claims.
Assoon as Amaury had ascended the throne, he directed
all his energies towards Eg\'pt, now weakened by the victories
of the Christians. The caliph of Cairo having refused
to pay the tribute due to the conquerors of Ascalon, the
new king of Jerusalem placed himself at the head of his
army, traversed the desert, carried the terror of his arms to
the banks of the Xile, and only returned to his kingdom
when he had forced the Eg^-ptians to puix-hase peace. The
state in which Egypt was then placed was likely soon to
recall the Christian's thither ; and happy would it have been
for them if they had known how to profit by their advantages
; and if their fruitless attempts had not served to
favoiu* the progress of a rival power.
Eg^-pt was at that time the theatre of a civil war, occasioned
by the ambition of two leaders who disputed the
empire of it. Eor a length of time the caliphs of Cairo, like
those of Bagdad, shut up in their seraglio, had borne no
resemblance to the warrior from whom they derived their
origin, who had said, whilst pointing to his soldiers and his
sword, " These are my family and my race.'^ Eners'ated by
effeminacy and pleasures, they had abandoned the government
to their slaves, who adored them on their knees, and
imposed laws upon them. They no longer exercised any
real authority but in the mosques, and only preserved the
disgraceful privilege of confirming the usurped power of the
viziers, who corrupted the armies, disturbed the provinces,
and in the field of battle quarrelled with each other for the
right of reigning over both people and prince.
Each of the viziers, to secm-e the triumph of his cause,
called in by turns the arms of the neighboiu-ing powers.
On the arrival of these dangerous auxiliaries, all was in confusion
on the banks of the Xile. Blood flowed in all the