122 HISTORY AND ETHNOLOGY. 



tions for redeeming his vow. He directed his crusade against the sultan 

 of Egypt, who still had possession of Jerusalem and Palestine. Louis 

 embarked in 1248, with his queen, his brothers, and numerous Erench 

 nobles. They landed at Damietta, which they soon conquered. Louis 

 won two other splendid victories over the sultan, but his forces beginning 

 to suffer under the influences of the climate, he saw his fortunes rapidly 

 declining. Pestilence and famine prostrated his soldiers, and compelled him 

 to withdraw. Pressed by the pursuing Mahometans, he risked another battle 

 at Mansura, 1250 ; but though the French behaved with admirable courage, 

 fortune deserted them, and they were obliged to surrender themselves prison- 

 ers to the sultan. The latter was so impressed by the noble bearing of Louis 

 that he restored him and his companions to freedom, upon their delivering up 

 Damietta, and agreeing to pay a stipulated ransom (1254). Louis at a later 

 period resolved to undertake a second crusade, but instead of doing so he led 

 his expedition against Tunis, in the hope of converting the sovereign of that 

 state to Christianity. The hope was not to be realized, and Louis closed 

 his career in Africa in 1270. 



After this failure no crusade of any importance was undertaken. By the 

 fall of Ptolemais (1291) the Mahometans obtained nearly all the Christian 

 possessions in Palestine or on the coast of Syria ; so that after more than 

 two hundred years of unparalleled exertion on the part of all Christian 

 people, they were still as far from the realization of their grand object as 

 ever. 



But though the movement resulted so disastrously, its incidental conse- 

 quences were of the highest value. Intellectual improvement and a higher 

 civilization were the fruit of the beneficial influence of these vast 

 operations. Before dismissing the subject, we call attention to the scenes 

 from the crusades represented on our plates. PL ^6, Jig. 2, departure of a 

 company of crusaders for Palestine ; pi. 37, Jig. 1, battle between the 

 crusaders and Saracens ; Jig. 2, harangue to the crusaders before the gates 

 of Jerusalem; pi. 38, fig. 1, crusaders returning to Europe; pi. ^9, Jig. 1, 

 ground-plan of the church of St. Mary of the Manger. This building 

 stands near a strong cloister of the Franciscans, in Bethlehem, and is the 

 oldest church in Palestine. A little stone grotto within its walls is pointed 

 out as the place where the infant Saviour was born. Fig. % interior of the 

 same church, with the entrance to the holy grotto ; Jig. 3, the chapel 

 containing the grotto, and constantly lighted by thirty-two lamps ; Jig. 4, 

 ground-plan of the church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem ; Jig. 5, its 

 portico and main entrance ; Jig. 6, interior view of the part under the 

 cupola, exhibiting the chapel with the Holy Sepulchre. The whole is 

 properly divided into four churches : that of the Holy Sepulchre ; the 

 church of the Crucifixion, lying to the south ; at the eastern end the partly 

 subterranean church of the Recovered Cross ; and lastly, the chapel at the 

 northern end, marking the spot where Mary Magdalene first noticed the 

 fact of the resurrection. The light penetrating through the dome falls 

 directly in the chapel of the Holy Sepulchre. The entire diameter of the 

 chapel is about thirty feet, but after deducting the enormous thickness of 

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