a few thousand troops; but when he found that the whole of Europe rose for the deliverance of the Holy Land, and that some millions of people directed their march towards his country, his feelings underwent a change, and he was divided between apprehension for his safety and a hope of making the immense force thus put in motion, a means of recovering for his own benefit those Asiatic territories of which the sword of the infidel had dismembered the eastern empire. In order to effect that pur pose, as well as to guard himself against too potent allies, he judged it necessary both to weaken the armies of the crusading princes, and to bind them by engagements which he knew their habits and feelings would not suffer them to violate. With these views he pursued a system of craft, deceit, and irritation, which harassed and diminished the crusading forces, and by which he hoped to induce the various leaders to do homage, and swear to restore to the Greek empire whatever they might recover from the hands of the infidels.

This object he resolved to seek at all risks; but it is probable that neither the determination, nor the project for carrying it into execution, were formed at once,-that at the time of the arrival of the Hermit and Walter Sans-avoir, the Emperor's views were not entirely decided, and that the accidental appearance of Hugh the Great at Durazzo, in a state approaching destitution, was the event which fixed the resolution of Alexius. Certain it

is, that the Greek emperor had finally arranged his whole plan by the time that Godfrey of Bouillon arrived at Philippopoli; but a modification of that plan was of course necessary with a leader of the highest renown, at the head of many thousands of the best troops in Europe armed in the most complete manner and under the most perfect discipline.

The

No opposition was attempted at first, and everything in the conduct of the Emperor seemed smooth, conciliating, and generous, till Godfrey was suddenly astounded by the news that Hugh, his brother crusader, was held in bonds at Constantinople. Duke displayed as much firmness and determination in dealing with the Greek emperor as he had evinced in negociating with the King of Hungary; and the moment these tidings reached him, he des patched envoys to the imperial city, with letters, requiring in courteous terms, that Hugh and his companions in captivity should be immediately set at liberty. His messengers, however, were authorised to demand the liberation of the prisoners in more stern and threatening language, in case of evasion or delay.

Alexius now threw off the mask, positively refusing to restore Hugh to freedom; and with this unsatisfactory reply, Godfrey's envoys returned to seek him. That great leader, however, had not wasted his time in the pleasures of Philippopoli, but advancing rapidly towards Constantinople, had already passed Adrianople, when his messengers

rejoined the army. They found the Duke encamped in a rich pasture country, with his men maintaining the same exact discipline which had been hitherto observed. But the moment the refusal of the Emperor was made known, Godfrey gave the order to ravage the district. The armed multitude spread in a moment over the neighbouring districts, and for eight days the whole lands around Adrianople were swept of their produce with unsparing rigour.

The news of such summary retribution soon reached Constantinople; and the base Greek, as weak as he was treacherous, sent messengers to bescech the Duke of Lorraine to recal his destroying bands, giving a positive promise for the liberation of the captives. Godfrey, feeling that he had power to compel the execution of this engagement, or to punish its infraction, summoned the troops back to his standard; and, with admirable discipline and obedience, every man returned. Order and peace were reestablished, and in the same calm and regular manner as before, the army of the crusade marched on towards Constantinople, and encamped under the walls of the city. Scarcely had they arrived when the promise of Alexius was fulfilled, and Hugh, with his companions, came forth to meet Godfrey, and return thanks for his deliverance. The raptures of Hugh and the emotion that he displayed upon his liberation, to which all contemporary writers bear witness, prove in a manner not to be refuted, how severe had been his

VOL. II.

Y

captivity, and how disgraceful had been the conduct of the Emperor. The brother of the French king was followed closely by messengers from Comnenus, inviting Godfrey to visit him within the walls of Constantinople, leaving his army without; and it would appear that Godfrey expressed no hesitation, till he was warned by some of those who knew the character of Alexius, that the invitation of the Greek Emperor was merely a lure to draw the principal leader of the Crusade into his power. Godfrey ultimately declined to trust himself in such dangerous hands, but he charged some of his most distinguished followers to bear his excuses to the Emperor, and to treat with him in regard to the farther proceedings of the armies of the cross.

Alexius, however, was determined to effect by some means his great object of luring Godfrey to his court, and commanding the gates of the city to be shut against the Franks, he refused them the privilege of trading with his subjects. Unmoved by this conduct, and remembering the effect of the course which he had pursued near Adrianople, Godfrey once more spread his forces over the country, and ravaged the suburbs and the vicinity of the imperial capital. The result was the same as before; Alexius yielded, recalled the prohibition to traffic, and the crusaders returned to order with the same admirable discipline as before.

Peace was thus reestablished upon Christmas-day, and during the four days that followed, all was

tranquillity, although the season was unpropitious, and the rain descended in torrents. Taking advantage of these circumstances, Alexius sent new messengers to Godfrey, with every profession of regard, begging him to remove his troops from the unhealthy and inconvenient situation in which they were placed, and, crossing the river which flows into the port, by the great bridge near the palace of Blachernæ, to take up his abode and quarter his army in the beautiful summer dwellings which cover the shores of the Bosphorus. With this proposal Godfrey gladly complied; and doubtless expressed so much gratitude for the suggestion, that Alexius imagined he would now be induced to enter Constantinople and agree to the terms he intended to propose. In this, however, he found himself deceived; Godfrey still avoided making the desired visit, and Alexius then determined to mingle treachery and force in a sudden night-attack, with the

* The river was nearly dry in summer, but at the time when Godfrey's army was there encamped, and indeed usually in the winter, it was a torrent. Mills makes a curious mistake, supposing that Alexius proposed to Godfrey to cross the Bosphorus, and that Godfrey actually did so. He seems also to have imagined that the bridge of the Blachernæ actually crossed the Bosphorus. How this strange confusion of ideas took place, I cannot tell; but it is clear that all Alexius proposed to the Crusaders was to encamp on the higher and more convenient ground, towards the eastward of Constantinople; intending to shut them in between the Euxine, the Bosphorus, and the river Barbises, and there to feed them or starve them, as might seem best to him.