and fell into the ambush laid for them. In vain their courage, their despair. The carnage was horrible. Only three thousand escaped. The entire crusading army perished in this single battle and only their bleaching bones remained as a ghastly monument pointing out to other crusaders the way to the Holy Land. Europe learned with astonishment and horror of the sad fate of over three hundred thousand soldiers who had departed amid the promises and the blessings of the church. Their misfortune, however, did not deter others, but seemed only to inspire them with resolution; their disasters furnished a warning to the better regulated and more formidable hosts which were to pour into the East from the now thoroughly aroused West. THE CRUSADE OF KINGS AND NOBLES. The verdict of candid history is that the rabble which started in obedience to a popular ferment and perished as a miserable crowd of crazed humanity, deserved the fate they invited; for the world had never witnessed a more pitiable exhibition of demoniacal fanaticism and flagrant violence than was shown by these lawless crowds who followed the cry of Peter the Hermit. They achieved nothing heroic; but their disasters taught Europe that to conquer Jerusalem would be no holiday work. The Princes and Nobles of Germany, France and Britain now organized for war. While deliverance of Jerusalem was the popular cry and religious zeal fired the heart of all classes, the powers recognized the fact that the battles to be fought and won were for the preservation of their very existence. You may call it organized infatuation and mailed folly, yet it was a splendid spectacle. Its spiritual zeal gave a silver lining to its superstitions. Its martial fame modified its brutality. Amid fearful excesses there was a show of prudence; and although you may impeach the justice of their cause, their magnanimous devotion of spirit and fearless heroism must always command a large share of sympathy and admiration, and make the Story of the Crusades the most thrilling of all the chapters in the history of the Middle Ages.