The shock to the Christians of the West was severe.

The shock to the Christians of the West was severe. The alliance was treason to the cause of Christianity. If we assume that the sole cause in dispute between the northern and the seceding states of America was that of slavery, that the Xorth fought with the sole object of setting the slaves free, and that England had made an alliance with the South, we may judge what the feelings of the French Crusaders were from what the feelings of every honest and righteous man would have been in our times.

A council was held in the French camp. Indignation was loudly expressed, and the Bishop of Langresi proposed that before attempting the deliverance of Christ’s sepulchre they should punish Christ’s enemies in Constantinople. Better counsels prevailed. All the invective, the indignation, and the eloquence of the bishop and his party were in vain. The French nobles declared that they7 had taken the cross to fight against infidels and to defend Jerusalem. It was not their business to punish heretics or destroy Christian cities.

Army crossed the Bosphorus

The army crossed the Bosphorus and pushed forward towards the Turkish dominions in Asia Minor. But fever, the necessity of finding forage, and the difficulty of making progress over a country where the roads had been destroyed, greatly reduced the numbers of the army. Many of the sick had to be abandoned. Louis embarked with the bulk of his army at Adalia for Antioch. Seven thousand men were left behind. These attempted to force their way along the coast to Antioch, but with disastrous results. Most of them perished in the attempt, though a few saved their lives by embracing Mahometanism.

The attempt upon Damascus under the combined efforts of Failure of Louis, Conrad, and Baldwin of Jerusalem complete bunted to he failed. Much had been expected of this crusade; empire. preparations had been made on a gigantic scale by both the nations of the West; and when at length the tidings reached Europe of terrible disasters and general failure men’s hearts sank within them. In the West fault was largely attributed to the schismatic Christians of the East. They had betrayed Christ; they had assisted his enemies; they had united themselves now with the Turks and now with the Saracens in order to defeat the cause of the Cross. The disorder, the jealousies among the Western soldiers, the want of discipline, were for a while forgotten.