The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1890-04-27
STUDENTS SOCIETY.
President Done's Lecture on .The
Crusaders in Palestine"
THE CONQUEST OF PALESTINE.
1t Must be Accomplished by Peaceful and Not
by Warlike Methods-The Other
Exercises.

A very pleasant session of the Students
Society of the Latter day Saints College
was held Friday evening in the Social hall.
Inc opening exercisel was a vocal duet,
1.-THE Gypsy Countess pleasingly rem
dered by Misses Jennie Smith and Isabel
Ball President Willard Done then pro-
ceeded with his lecture on the subject,
1.-THE CRUsADEs IN PALESTINE. %
He spoke of the holy land in general, re-
Herring in brief to the mighty events which
had happened there, especially in connec-
wife the life of our Savior. In the midst
of the supers titious people Of the middle
ages, this tract of country possessed a pc
culiar charm impaired to it by the birth the
life, the sufferings, the death, the resur-
rection and the ascension of the Lord
Jes US Christ, and according to their idea,
no matter how gross the crimes committed
by any of them, they could be expiated by
bath in the river Jordan, or night of
penance on Calvary. This strange
belief led many of the inhabitants of
Europe to undertake pilgrimages to the
holy Land, and these journeys were often
accomplished on foot, through the wild
mountain passes of Europe and the burning
sands of eastern Asia. But no difficulties
were sufficient to cool the ardor of those
penitents, and their zeal was still further
increased toward the close of the tenth
century, by the belief then generally prev
alent that the second coming of the Savior
would occur in the year 1000. Noble and
peasant, merchant and tradesman king and
serf-thousands of the people of Europe
wended their way to Palestine, there to
await the coming of the Lord. During the
occupancy Of this land by the Saracens,
these pilgrims received uniformly good
treatment, but in the eleventh century this
land was oVerrun by the Turks who, in
initively more vindictive and cruel than
the Saracens, heaped all kinds of indigni-
ties upon those who attempted to atone for
their SINS among the hills of Palestine.
Soon, stories of these acts of cruelty on
the part of the Turks: began to be heard in
Europe, and whenever related they had the
the effect Of firing the zeal Of the Christians
and imbuing them with desire to free the
sacred lands of promise from the infidels.
While matters were In this state,
strange character just returned
from pilgrimage to the holy
land made his appearance in the chief
cities and villages of central Europe. Clad
IN a robe Of coarsest material, bare-footed,
bare-headed and with his crucifix sus-
pended from a rough hempen rope around
his waist, this man wandered through the
country recounting in burning words the
wrongs he and his fellow pilgrims had suf-
fered at the hands Of the infidels, and call
ing upon all who loved Christ and revered
the land made sacred by His presence to
free it from the communicating occupation
of the Moslem. This man was Peter the
Hermit.
His words had the desired effect. They
awoke in the hearts Of the people a zeal and
desire to overpower the Turks and to free
the land from their hateful presence. Steps
were accordingly taken to inaugurate the
first crusade, in which the flower of chiv-
airy and valor throughout France and Ger
many took part.
In the meantime, however,
STRANGE EVENT WAS TRANSFERRING
in France, where this zeal had been awak-
ened even before this time. Peter the
Hermit with his companion, Walter the
Penniless, led crowd Of 100000 men,
women and children through Europe on
their way to free the holy sepulchre from
the Turks Men, unskilled in the disci-
pine of war; women, delicate and unused
to hardships: children of tender age-all
were fired with devotion that knew no
bounds, and, armed with implements
of husbandry, mimic swords and
rude weapons of warfare, they robbed
the cities and villages through
which they passed, and suffered in turn the
fierce resentment of the outraged populace.
The result was that thousands were slain
on the march, and all who were spared to
see the holy land met their death at the
hands of the Turks. We shudder with
horror at the fapatical zeal and tragical
fate of these unfortnnates, but more har-
rowing details even than these viii find a
place in this brief narrative of the crasades
The work of Peter the Hermit. before
referred to, reached its contamination in the
year 1896, when an army Of half million
men was entrusted to the leadership Of
Godfrey de Bouillon, and few kindred
spirits. This vast party passed through
southeastern Europe, through CONSTANT
nople, across the Hellespont, and over the
plains of Asia Minor; the army wasting
away by famine, disease and bloodshed,
until 10000 men, all that remained of that
vast concourse, appeared before the walls
of Jerusalem. Think of the perils Of such
march. Picture to yourself the suffer
ingS OF those valiant men, their ranks
decimated by seen and unseen foes, their
path harassed by constant terrors, and
their spirits subdued by the dangers they
encountered. Truly, zeal, even when mis-
guided and perverted, can accomplish that
which seems wondrous to the unimpas
stoned mind.
The siege Of Jerusalem was long and
bloody one. Forty DAYS the army re-
manned without the city, when their final
assault gave them possession Of it, and the
crescent was replaced by the cross. Then
began massacre which has impaired
deep tinge of shame to this
otherwise brilliant exploit. Seventy thou
sand of the Turks were ruthlessly slaugh-
tered, and, to add the cope-stone of cruelty
hundreds of the Jews were burned to death
in their synagogue, whittier they had fled
for safety. But think of
THE FEARFUL sAcRILEGE
committed when these soldiers, their hands
still rocking with the blood Of their vic
tins, entered the Church Of the Holy
Sepulchre, and, singing hymns of praise to
Christ partook of His holy sacrament
Surely God would forsake an expedition,
no matter how laudable its object. cen
Quoted in such mannerl And He did
forsake it. All the advantage gained in
the first crusade seemed about to be swept
away, when in the year 1l47 the kings OF
France and Germany led an army of three
hundred. thousand men across Europe. Be
trayed by those who protested friendship
for them, reduced by famine, fatigue and
foes, and disheartened by their ill-success,
they reached Palestine and attempted to
capture the city of Damascus. Unsuccess-
ful in this, they had not the heart to
pursue the crusade farther, but abandoned
it in sorrow and despair.
Thelittle Christian kingdom established
in Jerusalem sustained the attacks made
upon it by the Mohammedans until the year
1889, when the famous Moslem warrior
Saladin, captured the city and destroyed
the last vestige of Christian rule. In the
deep grief occasioned by this disaster the
third crusade had its birth.
The very flower of European chivalry
and valor took part III this crusade, but at
tempts TO wrest Palestine from Moslem
control ended uniformly in failure, In
spite Of the fact that Frederick the red
81 "A s..l.o ,.d he