“After the capture of this place the sufferings of the Crusaders so far from being diminished were redoubled.  They themselves during the siege had bought up all the food that could be brought from the surrounding country, while the magazines of the town were found, when an entry was effected, to be entirely deserted.  The enemy, aided by a great Persian host, came down, and those who had been the besiegers were now besieged.  However, when in the last strait the Christian army sallied out, and inspired with supernatural strength, defeated the Turks and Persians, with a slaughter of one hundred thousand men.  Another slow movement to the south brought them into the Holy Land, and pressing forward, they came at last within sight of Jerusalem itself.

“So fearful had been the losses of the Crusaders that of seven hundred thousand who crossed the Hellespont, not more than forty thousand reached the end of the pilgrimage.  This fragment of an army, which had appeared before a very strongly fortified town, possessed no means of capturing the place—­none of the machines of war necessary for the purpose, no provisions or munitions of any kind.  Water was scarce also; and it appeared as if the remnant of the great army of Godfrey de Bouillon had arrived before Jerusalem only to perish there.

“Happily just at this time a further band of Crusaders from Genoa, who had reached Jaffa, made their appearance.  They were provided with stores, and had skilled workmen capable of making the machines for the siege.  On July 14, 1099, the attack was made, and after resistance gallant and desperate as the assault, the Crusaders burst into the city, massacred the whole of the defenders and inhabitants, calculated at seventy thousand in number, and so became masters of the holy sepulcher.

“The Sultan of Egypt was meanwhile advancing to the assistance of the Mohammedans of Syria; but Godfrey, with twenty thousand 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 three hundred knights and two hundred 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 hundred 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 sepulcher against the infidel, our hold of the Holy Land would have been lost.