Page:The Fall of Constantinople.djvu/408

 390 THE FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE. cibly brought into union or subjection. A Catholic instead of an Orthodox emperor was seated upon the throne of the East. The schism, the obstinacy, the indifference of the Greeks had been punished. He had seen what so many of his predecessors had desired to see. Against the disobedience of the Crusaders were to be set off the advantages which might result from their conquest. The expedition had been crowned with success, and that success had so completely changed the situation that for a time Innocent was bewil- dered. His reply to the letter of Baldwin was at first in vague or general terms. He " rejoiced at the success of Baldwin's arms." He would take the empire of Baldwin under the protection of St. Peter, and he ordered all the Crusaders to help Baldwin by their counsels and their deeds. He promised that he would do his best to furnish the clergy who were asked for. He urged upon Baldwin that the only way to make sure of his dominion was to make the subjec- tion of the Greek Church to the Holy See complete. On the principle of rendering unto Csesar that which is Cgesar's and unto God that which is his, he urged the new emperor to be careful to preserve all Church property. The union of the churches was evidently the one compensating fact which weio:hed ag^ainst the disobedience of the Crusaders. Address- ing the bishops and clergy in the expedition, he urged them to do their utmost to make the union complete. If they did this, there would soon be but one fold under one shepherd. In the many letters in which Innocent speaks of the con- quest, he leaves the impression that he is overwhelmed by the circumstances which had happened ; that, so far as the Crusaders are concerned, they have been guilty of sin, but that their acts and liis own desires, in his opinion, have been over- ruled by a divine interference, and that it is now his duty to make the best of a situation which has been created by a higher power than his own. Above all, the conquest appeared to have brought about the union of the two churches — a union which had now been accomplished by forcibly bringing the Eastern into subjection to the ruler of the West. But even this union had been the result of a violation of every