th of September, 1248, and
reckoned upon remaining there only a few days; for it was Egypt that he
was in a hurry to reach. The Christian world was at that time of opinion
that, to deliver the Holy Land, it was necessary first of all to strike a
blow at Islamism in Egypt, wherein its chief strength resided. But
scarcely had the crusaders formed a junction in Cyprus, when the vices of
the expedition and the weaknesses of its chief began to be manifest.
Louis, unshakable in his religious zeal, was wanting in clear ideas and
fixed resolves as to the carrying out of his design; he inspired his
associates with sympathy rather than exercised authority over them, and
he made himself admired without making himself obeyed. He did not
succeed in winning a majority in the council of chiefs over to his
opinion as to the necessity for a speedy departure for Egypt; it was
decided to pass the winter in Cyprus, and during this leisurely halt of
seven months, the improvidence of the crusaders, their ignorance of the
places, people, and facts amidst which they were about to launch
themselves, their headstrong rashness, their stormy rivalries, and their
moral and military irregularities aggravated the difficulties of the
enterprise, great as they already were. Louis passed his time in
interfering between them, in hushing up their quarrels, in upbraiding
them for their licentiousness, and in reconciling the Templars and
Hospitallers. His kindness was injurious to his power; he lent too ready
an ear to the wishes or complaints of his comrades, and small matters
took up his thoughts and his time almost as much as great.

At last a start was made from Cyprus in May, 1249, and, in spite of
violent gales of wind which dispersed a large number of vessels, they
arrived on the 4th of June before Damietta.

The crusader-chiefs met on board the king's ship, the Mountjoy; and one
of those present, Guy, a knight in the train of the Count of Melun, in a
letter to one of his friends; a student at Paris, reports to him the
king's address in the following terms: "My friends and lieges, we shall
be invincible if we be inseparable in brotherly love. It was not without
the will of God that we arrived here so speedily. Descend we upon this
land and occupy it in force. I am not the King of France. I am not Holy
Church. It is all ye who are King and Holy Church. I am but a man whose
life will pass away as that of any other man whenever it shall pleas