This discourse excited violent murmurs in the assembly of the Christians; one of the chiefs arose to answer it, and addressing himself to the deputies of the caliph: “The religion that we follow,” said he to them, “has inspired us with the design of re-establishing its empire in the places in which it was born; and we stand in no need of the concurrence of the powers of the earth to accomplish our vows. We do not come into Asia to receive laws or benefits from Mussulmans, nor have we forgotten, besides, the outrages committed by Egyptians upon the pilgrims of the West; we still remember that Christians, under the reign of the caliph Hakem, were delivered over to executioners, and that their churches, particularly that of the Holy Sepulchre, were razed to the ground. Yes, without doubt, we have the intention of visiting Jerusalem, but we have also taken an oath to deliver it from the yoke of the infidels. God, who has honoured it by his sufferings, wills that he shall be there served by his people. The Christians resolve to be both its guardians and its masters. Go and tell him who sent you to make choice of peace or war; tell him that the Christians encamped before Antioch fear neither the nations of Egypt, nor those of Asia, nor those of Bagdad, and that they only ally themselves with powers which respect the laws of justice and the standards of Jesus Christ.” The orator who spoke thus expressed the opinion and sentiments of the assembly; nevertheless, they did not entirely reject the alliance with the Egyptians. Deputies were chosen from the Christian army to accompany the ambassadors of Cairo on their return, and to bear to the caliph the definitive propositions of peace of the Crusaders. Scarcely had the deputies left the camp of the Christians, when the latter obtained a fresh victory over the Turks. The sultans of Aleppo and Damascus, with the emirs of Cæesarea, Emessa, and Hieropolis, had raised an army of twenty thousand horse to succour Antioch; and this army was already on its march towards the city, when it was surprised and cut to pieces by the prince of Tarentum and the count de St. Gilles, who had gone out to meet it. The Turks lost in this battle two thousand men and one thousand horses; and the city of Harem, in which they in vain sought an asylum after their defeat, fell into the hands of the Christians. At the moment the ambassadors from Egypt were about to embark at the port of St. Simeon, the heads and spoils of two hundred Mussulmans were brought to them upon four camels. The conquerors cast two hundred other heads into the city of Antioch, whose garrison was still in expectation of succour; and they stuck a great number upon pikes round the walls. They exhibited thus these horrible trophies, to avenge themselves of the insults the Saracens had, on their ramparts, heaped upon an image of the Virgin which had fallen into their hands.