ing aloft two pieces of wood from the Mount of Olives
tied together in the form of a cross, harangued the crowd. His words
poured forth in a fiery stream, kindling the hearts, and stirring at
once the devotion and the anger of his listeners.

He told of the holy places, he spoke of the scenes of Holy Writ, which
had there been enacted; and then he depicted the men who had died for
them. He told of the knights and men-at-arms, each of whom proved
himself again and again a match for a score of infidels. He spoke of the
holy women, who, fearlessly and bravely, as the knights themselves, had
borne their share in the horrors of the siege and in the terrible times
which had preceded it.

He told them that this misfortune had befallen Christianity because of
the lukewarmness which had come upon them.

"What profited it," he asked, "if a few knights who remained to defend
the holy sepulcher were heroes? A few heroes cannot withstand an army.
If Christendom after making a mighty effort to capture the holy
sepulcher had not fallen away, the conquest which had been made with so
vast an expenditure of blood would not have been lost. This is a work in
which no mere passing fervor will avail; bravery at first, endurance
afterward, are needed. Many men must determine not only to assist to
wrest the holy sepulcher from the hands of the infidels, but to give
their lives, so long as they might last, to retaining it. It is scarce
to be expected that men with wives and families will take a view like
this, indeed it is not to be desired. But there are single men, men of
no ties, who can devote their whole lives, as did the Knights of the
Orders of the Cross, to this great object. When their life has come to
an end doubtless others will take up the banner that their hands can no
longer hold. But for life it is, indeed, that many of humble as well as
of princely class must bind themselves to take and defend to death the
holy sepulcher."

So, gradually raising the tone of his speech, the friar proceeded; until
at length by his intense earnestness, his wild gesticulations, his
impassioned words, he drew the whole of his listeners along with him;
and when he ceased, a mighty shout of "To the Holy Land!" burst from his
hearers.

Falling upon their knees the crowd begged of him to give them the sign
of the cross, and to bestow his blessing upon their swords, and upon
their efforts.

Father Francis had prepared, in contemplation of such a mo