was, that a detachment which had been left to guard the iron bridge, had been attacked and cut to pieces, and that the millions of the Persian host were pouring on towards Antioch.

All hope of procuring a supply of provisions was now at an end; and while the most terrible degree of famine began to show itself in the captured town, the first measure of Kerboga was, to establish a communication with the citadel and introduce supplies for the relief of the Turkish garrison therein. One of the officers of the Emir also threw himself into that fortress, having arranged with his superior a certain code of signals in order that he might communicate to him such of the movements of the crusaders as the lofty situation of the castle enabled him to discover.

Nothing seems to have been attempted on the part of the Christians to impede Kerboga in any of his first movements, and that general immediately invested the city on all sides, cutting off the crusaders from every channel by which supplies could be introduced. The famine now became dreadful in its intensity. The most noisome food was eaten with avidity, the flesh of horses, and all unsavory herbs became dainties at the tables of the great, and the noble chargers of the knights which had hitherto escaped, were slaughtered day by day to supply a scanty portion of sustenance to the starving population. It would seem that Kerboga and his troops-though the awful tale of the misery

which 'the Christians endured, gives terrible proof of the strictness with which all provisions were excluded-suffered his blockade of the town to be so far evaded, that tidings of what was passing without were frequently received by the crusaders, and that many of the unhappy men escaped over the walls and fled in different directions.

These fugitives carried intelligence of the state of Antioch to Stephen, Count of Blois, at Alexandretta, and that cowardly prince, instead of returning to the assistance of his brethren, retreated rapidly towards Constantinople, although he well knew that Alexius, reassured by the past successes of the Latin forces, and hoping to appropriate all that the host of the cross had won, was marching forward with a large and magnificent army, swelled by numerous reinforcements from the west of Europe. The Count of Blois met the emperor in Phrygia, and their united forces attacking Kerboga under the walls of Antioch in concert with the efforts of the crusaders within, might have obtained a victory which would have altered for ever the fate of Syria. But the dastardly conference of two such princes could have but one result. Alexius, as soon as he heard the tidings brought by the Count of Blois, retreated without a moment's delay, dragging back with him a considerable body of Italian and French pilgrims who had been hastening towards Antioch under the command of a brother of Boemond.

The news of the emperor's approach had filled the hearts of the besieged with joy and hope; the tidings of his retreat, cast them into despair; and again that singular and terrible spectacle was presented which great masses of human beings, when utterly deprived of hope, have frequently offered to the curious inquiries of historical philosophy. Vice of the grossest and foulest description, seemed born of despair, and Christian men, who appeared to have no prospect but an immediate descent into the grave, loaded themselves with all that can make the grave terrible to believers. Listless apathy followed, the troops abandoned the walls, scarcely sufficient soldiers could be gathered together to defend the towers and gates, and to drive the troops forth from the places where they lingered in vice and sloth, Boemond set fire to the town in several places. Even this barbarous measure proved unsuccessful; a portion of the nobler and higher spirits returned to their duty, but still despair, with its wings of night, brooded over the greater part of the host and lulled them into a death-like slumber, which, had their enemies been energetically active, might have ended in utter extinction. Such, happily for the crusading camp, was not the case. The Frankish host in looking from the walls of Antioch beheld the cattle feeding in myriads on the rich pastures which carpetted the banks of the Orontes, and, while pining, wasting, and dying for want,

H

imagined the choicest blessings of Heaven showered upon the heads of the infidels; but at that very time, a spirit of disunion and discontent had arisen in the Mussulman camp, which paralysed the vast power of the enemy.

Kerboga, though wielding the whole force of the Persian empire, was still in the eyes of his companions, but the Emir of Moussoul. In his own estimation, indeed, he was of a far higher grade; and it is very probable that he did, as some of the Arabian historians affirmed, display a degree of haughtiness and severity which greatly offended the emirs who accompanied him; but another cause of discontent also affected at this time a large body of the vizier's army. He had brought with him not only all those troops which he could muster in his own territories, but also all those that he could collect by the way. Amongst these were the forces of Deccac, Prince of Damascus, between whom and his brother, Redouand, Emir of Aleppo, there existed an inveterate quarrel. Redouand would not march with his brother, and he consequently remained at Aleppo, while the Mussulman army advanced. Redouand, was thus in the rear of Kerboga; and that great prince maintained with the Emir of Aleppo a friendly and serviceable intercourse, which, as soon as it was known, raised the suspicions, and called forth the anger, of Deccac.

All these discontents had subsided, however, before the last grand effort of the Christians took

place, and I have only mentioned them to shew that the first movements of Kerboga's army were impeded, and his energies cramped, by divisions among his subordinates and allies. Nevertheless, very great neglect seems to have existed on his part, as it is clearly shown that, on various occasions, the walls of Antioch were not guarded in such a manner as to resist a vigorous attack; and yet none such was made.

The famine in the meantime became more and more severe within the town, and so strong was the inclination of the soldiery to desert, that it appeared necessary for all the great leaders to bind themselves by the most solemn vows not to abandon their undertaking as long as forty horsemen would follow them to Jerusalem. At length it struck some skilful person in the host, that superstition must be brought to combat despair. Visions were seen; prophets and apostles visited the priests and the monks, and in the end it was revealed, in a dream, to a clerk of Provence, by St. Andrew the Apostle, that if a search was made in a certain part of the Church of St. Peter of Antioch, the Roman spear would be found which had pierced our Saviour's side at the crucifixion. Guided by this sacred relic, the forces of the cross were counselled by the spectre of the apostle to issue forth against the Turks and give battle, with the full assurance of obtaining a victory. Such a proceeding at that moment, was certainly the resource of despair, and prudence as well as