of the gates. The Turks flew to
repair the mischief, and Godfrey of Bouillon, seeing the battlements
comparatively deserted, let down the drawbridge of his moveable tower,
and sprang forward, followed by all the knights of his train. In an
instant after, the banner of the Cross floated upon the walls of
Jerusalem. The crusaders, raising once more their redoubtable war-cry,
rushed on from every side, and the city was taken. The battle raged in
the streets for several hours, and the Christians, remembering their
insulted faith, gave no quarter to young or old, male or female, sick
or strong. Not one of the leaders thought himself at liberty to issue
orders for staying the carnage, and if he had, he would not have been
obeyed. The Saracens fled in great numbers to the mosque of Soliman,
but they had not time to fortify themselves within it ere the
Christians were upon them. Ten thousand persons are said to have
perished in that building alone.

Peter the Hermit, who had remained so long under the veil of neglect,
was repaid that day for all his zeal and all his sufferings. As soon
as the battle was over, the Christians of Jerusalem issued forth from
their hiding-places to welcome their deliverers. They instantly
recognized the Hermit as the pilgrim who, years before, had spoken to
them so eloquently of the wrongs and insults they had endured, and
promised to stir up the princes and people of Europe in their behalf.
They clung to the skirts of his garments in the fervour of their
gratitude, and vowed to remember him for ever in their prayers. Many of
them shed tears about his neck, and attributed the deliverance of
Jerusalem solely to his courage and perseverance. Peter afterwards held
some ecclesiastical office in the Holy City, but what it was, or what
was his ultimate fate, history has forgotten to inform us. Some say
that he returned to France and founded a monastery, but the story does
not rest upon sufficient authority.

The grand object for which the popular swarms of Europe had forsaken
their homes was now accomplished. The Moslem mosques of Jerusalem were
converted into churches for a purer faith, and the mount of Calvary and
the sepulchre of Christ were profaned no longer by the presence or the
power of the infidel. Popular frenzy had fulfilled its mission, and, as
a natural consequence, it began to subside from that time forth. The
news of the capture of Jerusalem brought numbers of pilgrims from
Europe, and,