terror of mind extinguished the ardent
enthusiasm of the pilgrims; and every motive of honor and religion was
subdued by the desire of life. Among the chiefs, three heroes may be
found without fear or reproach: Godfrey of Bouillon was supported by
his magnanimous piety; Bohemond by ambition and interest; and Tancred
declared, in the true spirit of chivalry, that as long as he was at
the head of forty knights, he would never relinquish the enterprise of
Palestine. But the count of Tholouse and Provence was suspected of a
voluntary indisposition; the duke of Normandy was recalled from the
sea-shore by the censures of the church: Hugh the Great, though he
led the vanguard of the battle, embraced an ambiguous opportunity of
returning to France and Stephen, count of Chartres, basely deserted
the standard which he bore, and the council in which he presided. The
soldiers were discouraged by the flight of William, viscount of Melun,
surnamed the _Carpenter_, from the weighty strokes of his axe; and the
saints were scandalized by the fall of Peter the Hermit, who, after
arming Europe against Asia, attempted to escape from the penance of a
necessary fast. Of the multitude of recreant warriors, the names (says
an historian) are blotted from the book of life; and the opprobrious
epithet of the rope-dancers was applied to the deserters who dropped in
the night from the walls of Antioch. The emperor Alexius, who seemed to
advance to the succor of the Latins, was dismayed by the assurance of
their hopeless condition. They expected their fate in silent despair;
oaths and punishments were tried without effect; and to rouse the
soldiers to the defence of the walls, it was found necessary to set fire
to their quarters.

For their salvation and victory, they were indebted to the same
fanaticism which had led them to the brink of ruin. In such a cause, and
in such an army, visions, prophecies, and miracles, were frequent and
familiar. In the distress of Antioch, they were repeated with unusual
energy and success: St. Ambrose had assured a pious ecclesiastic, that
two years of trial must precede the season of deliverance and grace; the
deserters were stopped by the presence and reproaches of Christ himself;
the dead had promised to arise and combat with their brethren; the
Virgin had obtained the pardon of their sins; and their confidence was
revived by a visible sign, the seasonable and splendid discovery of
the holy lance. The policy of th