, plain, and valley covered with their
dead; I saw their banners stained with dust and blood; I saw their heads
laid low, their limbs scattered, their carcasses piled on a heap like
stones." Four days after the battle of Tiberias, on the 8th of July,
1187, Saladin took possession of St. Jean d'Acre, and, on the 4th of
September following, of Ascalon. Finally, on the 18th of September, he
laid siege to Jerusalem, wherein refuge had been sought by a multitude of
Christian families driven from their homes by the ravages of the infidels
throughout Palestine; and the Holy City contained at this time, it is
said, nearly one hundred thousand Christians. On approaching its walls,
Saladin sent for the principal inhabitants, and said to them, "I know as
well as you that Jerusalem is the house of God; and I will not have it
assaulted if I can get it by peace and love. I will give you thirty
thousand byzants of gold if you promise me Jerusalem, and you shall have
liberty to go whither you will and do your tillage, to a distance of five
miles from the city. And I will have you sup-plied with such plenty of
provisions that in no place on earth shall they be so cheap. You shall
have a truce from now to Whitsuntide, and when this time comes, if you
see that you may have aid, then hold on. But if not, you shall give up
the city, and I will have you conveyed in safety to Christian territory,
yourselves and your substance." "We may not yield up to you a city where
died our God," answered the envoys: "and still less may we sell you."
The siege lasted fourteen days. After having repulsed several assaults,
the inhabitants saw that effectual resistance was impossible; and the
commandant of the place, a knight named Dalian d'Ibelin, an old warrior,
who had been at the battle of Tiberias, returned to Saladin, and asked
for the conditions back again which had at first been rejected. Saladin,
pointing to his own banner already planted upon several parts of the
battlements, answered, "It is too late; you surely see that the city is
mine." "Very well, my lord," replied the knight: "we will ourselves
destroy our city, and the mosque of Omar, and the stone of Jacob: and
when it is nothing but a heap of ruins, we will sally forth with sword
and fire in hand, and not one of us will go to Paradise without having
sent ten Mussulmans to hell." Saladin understood enthusiasm, and
respected it; and to have had the destruction of Jerusalem connected