The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-08-29

faith; 80 as they marched they sang:
I'VE go to plant the cross beyond the
sea, and to baptize the Moslem inf
DEL"
Why they should have separated
into two bands is not known; but the
division occurred for some reason, at
Cologne, at the very start. One beau
tiful morning in June, in the year
1912, twenty thousand children, or
about one-half the number gathered,
began their march toward Palestine,
under the leadership of Nicholas. A
greater number of the children were
boys in the German army than in the
French, and larger proportion of
them of noble birth; but there were
numbers of unprincipled creatures
who joined the ranks, the refuse of the
country, lawless and demoralized
rabble, whom the people of the towns
dreaded to see approaching.
The route chosen by this band lay
along the river Rhine. The country
wassthen wild region, the home of
many aofodgh, robber baron, and the
haunt Of wild boars, wolves, stags
and bears. The children who, from
fatigue, hunger or sickness, fell out
of the ranks, became easy prey; they
we're either held in servitude, sold for
profit, or devoured by wild beasts.
How many died in this way cannot
be told. All who lived through these
perils, kept on, coming in course of
time to the Alps mountains. The
route over the mountains was by way
of Mount Gents. The people living
among the foot hills, tilling the mar
row valleys, were Saracens, the worst
enemies of our little pilgrims. Many
who had not finched at past hard
ships, now gave up. Group after
group turned back resolved to try to
find home and friends. At the top of
the pass dwelt the good monks with
their trusty dogs, ready to give help
to such as were likely to perish.
After rest here of two orthree days,
they passed ON down the eastern
slope into Piedmont. Here they
encountered perils of another kind.
The Italians were warm friends of the
Pope, who was unfriendly to Freder-
lex, Emperor of Germany.
The children were in consequence
refused entrance into the towns, the
people refused to furnish food and
the children suffered greatly from
unkindness and cruelty. But still
poor remnant kept on until, August
25, 1912, they came in sight of Genoa
on the shore of the Mediterranean
Sea. Of the twenty thousand who
started from Cologne, only seven
thousand remained. They were lying
dead, some of them unburied, by
torrent, by forest, by hillside, along
the weary way. Some had found new
homes among strangers, some had
been kidnapped and sold into slavery,
some had returned in sickness and
rags to their homes.
The city officials at Genoa gave
permission first to them to come into
the city; but upon consideration,
fearing the effect of such a body of
children upon the youth of the city,
permission was withdrawn and they
encamped in the fields. 1t was all
alike to the children, for was not the
sea to open on the morrow and they
to pass through with dry feet? So
they believed.
The morning of Sunday, August
26, broke in beauty out of the east.
The hours wore on to noon, but the
sea rolled blue and sparkling as ever,
the waves dashed and curled as if in
mockery of their hopes. Another
morning broke, and still there stood
the barrier of the tossing sea. Fin
ally it was resolved to go forward in
some other path, since God did not
see fit to make them way through
the waters. They resolved to go to
Rome. Did not the Holy Father live
at Rome' Surely he would give sue
cor, he would add his prayers to
theirs, Jesus and the blessed Virgin
would intercede and they might still
reach the land Of their dreams. Many,
however, preferred to remain in Ge-
noa; they had had enough of hard
ship.
Some of these rose in time to wealth
and eminence, like Joseph in Egypt,
and became the founders of princely
houses. To-day more than one Gen
oese nobleman, rejoicing in proud
title, traces his ancestry back to some
boy born beside the Rhine. Those
who chose to go forward turned to-
ward Rome. They probably kept