of Syria; but Godfrey, with 20,000 of his best men, advanced
to meet the vast host, and scattered them as if they had been sheep.
Godfrey was now chosen King of Jerusalem, and the rest of his army--save
300 knights and 200 soldiers, who agreed to remain with him--returned to
their home. The news of the victory led other armies of crusaders to
follow the example of that of Godfrey; but as these were almost as
completely without organization or leadership as those of Peter the
Hermit, they suffered miserably on their way, and few indeed ever
reached the Holy Land. Godfrey died in 1100, and his brother Baldwin
succeeded him.

"The history of the last 100 years has been full of fresh efforts to
crush the Moslem power, but hitherto it cannot be said that fortune has
attended the efforts of the Christians. Had it not been indeed for the
devotion of the Knights of St. John and of the Templars, two great
companies formed of men who devoted their lives to the holding of the
sepulchre against the infidel, our hold of the Holy Land would have
been lost.

"Gradually the Saracens have wrested post after post from our hands.
Edessa was taken in 1144, and the news of this event created an intense
excitement. The holy St. Bernard stirred up all France, and Louis VII.
himself took the vow and headed a noble army. The ways of God are not our
ways, and although the army of Germany joined that of France, but little
results came of this great effort. The Emperor Conrad, with the Germans,
was attacked by the Turk Saladin of Iconium, and was defeated with a loss
of 60,000 men. The King of France, with his army, was also attacked with
fury, and a large portion of his force were slaughtered. Nothing more
came of this great effort, and while the first Crusade seemed to show
that the men-at-arms of Europe were irresistible, the second on the
contrary gave proof that the Turks were equal to the Christian knights.
Gradually the Christian hold of the Holy Land was shaken. In 1187,
although fighting with extraordinary bravery, the small army of Christian
Knights of the Temple and of St. John were annihilated, the King of
Jerusalem was made prisoner, and the Christian power was crushed. Then
Saladin, who commanded the Turks, advanced against Jerusalem, and forced
it to capitulate.

"Such, my boy, is the last sad news which has reached us; and no wonder
that it has stirred the hearts of the monarchs of Europe, and that every
effort will be again mad