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 14th, 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 70,000 in
number, and so became masters of the holy sepulchre.

"The Sultan of Egypt was meanwhile advancing to the assistance of the
Mohammedans 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.