to restore them. The letter, which was intended not merely for the pope, but for the emperor in the West and its princes and prelates generally, arrived in safety. It treated the capture of the city and the establishment of the empire as accomplished facts, and spoke of the future rather than of the past. Innocent, the emperor, princes, and prelates were asked "to stir up among the inhabitants of the West, of all ranks and both sexes, the desire to come and share in the immense mass of eternal and temporal treasures. Riches and honors awaited all. The clergy should come in crowds with the consent of their superiors, not to fight, but to organize amid peace and plenty, for the good of the Church." Baldwin suggested that Innocent would be consulting his own glory, and that of the Catholic Church, if he were to call a council at Constantinople, and were himself to attend it, in order that the New might be again united to the Elder Rome. He reminded the pope that, as he had already invited the Greek Church while in schism to take part in a council, he might now with greater effect preside over such an assembly. The day of salvation had arrived — the day which old men and Christians ought to celebrate ; the day destined to see peace and union re-established. Other popes, for various reasons, had visited New Rome, why not he? Baldwin declared that the bishops, the abbots, and even the lower clergy had conducted themselves so honorably, so prudently, and so bravely that it was only right that they should receive their reward at the hands of the Lord. As for himself, who had been judged worthy to be elected emperor, he recommended the Doge of Venice and his allies, the Venetians, to the apostolic benevolence. Baldwin intimated that before embarking for the Holy Land he proposed to consolidate his dominion in the new empire and to introduce there the Latin rite.[1]
Innocent was placed in a situation of some difficulty. The failure of the crusade caused him deep grief. The deviation of the expedition was in flagrant violation of his orders. But the city was captured. The great rival Church had been for-
- ↑ . "Ep." viii. p. 147 ; vii. p. 153. " Gesta," c. 95.
