Christian cause. The best and
most ostensible reason was the impossibility of passing the sea and
accomplishing their vow, without the license and the vessels of
Alexius; but they cherished a secret hope, that as soon as they trod
the continent of Asia, their swords would obliterate their shame, and
dissolve the engagement, which on his side might not be very faithfully
performed. The ceremony of their homage was grateful to a people who
had long since considered pride as the substitute of power. High on his
throne, the emperor sat mute and immovable: his majesty was adored by
the Latin princes; and they submitted to kiss either his feet or his
knees, an indignity which their own writers are ashamed to confess and
unable to deny.

Private or public interest suppressed the murmurs of the dukes and
counts; but a French baron (he is supposed to be Robert of Paris )
presumed to ascend the throne, and to place himself by the side of
Alexius. The sage reproof of Baldwin provoked him to exclaim, in his
barbarous idiom, "Who is this rustic, that keeps his seat, while so many
valiant captains are standing round him?" The emperor maintained his
silence, dissembled his indignation, and questioned his interpreter
concerning the meaning of the words, which he partly suspected from the
universal language of gesture and countenance. Before the departure
of the pilgrims, he endeavored to learn the name and condition of the
audacious baron. "I am a Frenchman," replied Robert, "of the purest and
most ancient nobility of my country. All that I know is, that there is
a church in my neighborhood, the resort of those who are desirous of
approving their valor in single combat. Till an enemy appears, they
address their prayers to God and his saints. That church I have
frequently visited. But never have I found an antagonist who dared to
accept my defiance." Alexius dismissed the challenger with some prudent
advice for his conduct in the Turkish warfare; and history repeats with
pleasure this lively example of the manners of his age and country.

The conquest of Asia was undertaken and achieved by Alexander, with
thirty-five thousand Macedonians and Greeks; and his best hope was in
the strength and discipline of his phalanx of infantry. The principal
force of the crusaders consisted in their cavalry; and when that force
was mustered in the plains of Bithynia, the knights and their martial
attendants on horseback amounted to one hundred thousan