The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire · ¶19

The memory of his defeat excited Louis, after sixteen years of wisdom and repose, to undertake the seventh and last of the crusades. His finances were restored, his kingdom was enlarged; a new generation of warriors had arisen, and he advanced with fresh confidence at the head of six thousand horse and thirty thousand foot. The loss of Antioch had provoked the enterprise; a wild hope of baptizing the king of Tunis tempted him to steer for the African coast; and the report of an immense treasure reconciled his troops to the delay of their voyage to the Holy Land. Instead of a proselyte, he found a siege: the French panted and died on the burning sands: St. Louis expired in his tent; and no sooner had he closed his eyes, than his son and successor gave the signal of the retreat. “It is thus,” says a lively writer, “that a Christian king died near the ruins of Carthage, waging war against…

Edward Gibbon · Project Gutenberg #736 (Milman edition) — public domain
Source edition
Passage preview. Read in context for the complete text, notes and references.