1 files changed, 16597 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/39701-8.txt b/39701-8.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a549207
--- /dev/null
+++ b/39701-8.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,16597 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Heroines of the Crusades, by C. A. Bloss
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license
+
+
+Title: Heroines of the Crusades
+
+Author: C. A. Bloss
+
+Release Date: May 15, 2012 [EBook #39701]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HEROINES OF THE CRUSADES ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images
+generously made available by The Internet Archive.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+HEROINES OF CRUSADES.
+
+
+
+
+  HEROINES
+  OF THE
+  CRUSADES
+
+  _Adela Countess of Blois.
+  Eleanor of Aquitaine.
+  Berengaria of Navarre.
+  Isabella of Angouleme.
+  Violante of Jerusalem.
+  Eleanor of Castile._
+
+  BY C. A. BLOSS.
+
+  "Old Historic rolls I opened."
+
+  Engraved by J. C. Buttre.
+
+
+
+
+  HEROINES OF THE CRUSADES.
+
+
+  BY C. A. BLOSS.
+  AUTHOR OF "BLOSS'S ANCIENT HISTORY," ETC.
+
+
+  "Old historic rolls I opened."
+
+
+  AUBURN:
+  ALDEN, BEARDSLEY & CO.
+  ROCHESTER:
+  WANZER, BEARDSLEY & CO.
+  1853.
+
+
+
+
+Entered, according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1853, BY ALDEN,
+BEARDSLEY & CO., In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United
+States for the Northern District of New York.
+
+
+
+
+  TO MY PUPILS,
+  The "Heroines of the Crusades"
+  IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED
+  BY THE AUTHOR.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+To those whom it has been my privilege and pleasure to lead through the
+devious and darkened paths of the Past, to all who cordially receive the
+doctrine that _actions_ and not faint desires for Excellence form the
+character, I address a few words by way of explanation and Preface.
+
+Jerusalem, the capital of Palestine, whether glorious in the beauty of her
+first temple, and the excellent wisdom of her philosopher king, or veiled
+in the darkness of that fatal eclipse in which the solemn scenes of
+Calvary consummated her glory and shame, has occupied a position in the
+great drama of human events, more interesting and important than any other
+city on the globe.
+
+But Jerusalem, in the gloom of that moral night which gathered over the
+nations after the fall of the Western Empire of the Romans, exerted a
+greater influence upon the minds of men than at any former period. The
+insulting Moslem felt a degree of veneration for the splendid ruins over
+which he walked with all a conqueror's pride--the African anchorite left
+his solitary hermitage to weep upon Mount Olivet--the European adventurer
+wreathed his staff with the branching palm from her holy hills--the
+despairing Jew sat in sackcloth at her fallen gates, and even the mingled
+barbarians of the East united with the Christian to revere the spot where
+art achieved its proudest monument, and poetry found the theme of its
+sublimest song.
+
+This natural reverence, exalted into piety by the decrees of the church,
+resulted necessarily in the practice of pilgrimage. Anxious, restless
+guilt, fled from the scene of its enormities to the sweet valleys where
+the Saviour whispered peace to his disciples; poetry sought inspiring
+visions on the Mount of Transfiguration; penitence lingered in the garden
+of Passion, and remorse expiated its crimes in weary vigils at the Holy
+Sepulchre.
+
+At the dawn of the eleventh century, one sublime idea pervaded
+Christendom. The thousand years of the Apocalypse were supposed to be
+accomplished, and a general belief prevailed that on the Mount of Olives,
+whence the Son of God ascended in his chariot of cloud to heaven, he would
+reappear in all the pomp of his Second Advent. From every quarter of the
+Latin world the affrighted Christians, deserting their homes and kindred,
+crowded to the Holy Land--terror quickened devotion, curiosity stimulated
+enthusiasm. But insult and outrage awaited the pilgrims in Palestine, and
+in Jerusalem itself they encountered the scoffing taunts of idolatry and
+infidelity.
+
+To free those holy courts from the polluting tread of the sandalled
+Paynim, to prepare a pure resting-place for the Son of Man, Superstition
+roused the martial spirit of the age, and enlisted chivalry under the
+banners of the cross.
+
+Thus began the CRUSADES, those romantic expeditions which, combining
+religious fervor with military ardor, united the various nations of Europe
+from the shores of the Baltic to the Straits of Gibraltar, and from the
+banks of the Danube to the Bay of Biscay, in one common cause, and poured
+the mingled tide of fanatics, warriors and adventurers, upon the plains of
+Asia. For nearly two centuries the mightiest efforts and best blood of
+Christendom were wasted in the useless struggle, and it is computed that
+not less than six millions of people devoted their lives and fortunes to
+this desperate undertaking.
+
+But though the Crusades are so important to the historian as involving the
+politics of all nations; to the philosopher as fraught with consequences
+affecting the happiness of succeeding generations; and to the scholar as
+commencing the era when Genius, brooding over the ruins of the Past, rose
+Phoenix-like from the ashes of Arabian splendor, and soaring in the
+clearer light of Christianity, scattered from her wing the dew of
+refinement upon the barbarians of the North; yet the general reader feels
+that his knowledge of them is so vague as to detract materially from his
+pleasure in allusions to them, and continually to force upon his mind a
+painful sense of ignorance upon points where he ought to be informed.
+
+In some measure to supply a deficiency which common history cannot
+obviate, to make the period of the Crusades interesting, by giving to it
+the tangible thread of authentic narrative, these biographies of the
+"Heroines" who inspired the troubadour, animated the warrior, or in person
+"took the cross," have, with much care and labor, been selected and
+compiled.
+
+The era opens about the time of the Conquest, when William I.,
+unquestionably the greatest ruler of his time, returns in triumph to
+Normandy. No two writers agreeing as to the age of his children, I have
+arranged them as best suited my purpose, making Cicely the eldest, the
+betrothed of Harold; and the second daughter, Agatha, the bride of Earl
+Edwin; and Adela, whose ambitious character is well authenticated, the
+Heroine of the First Crusade.
+
+The character and superstitions of the Saxons, with their love of
+"legendary lore," I have endeavored to embody in the early life of Maude,
+while I have endeavored to make her riper years illustrate the principles
+and piety of a teacher to whom you are all much attached.
+
+The half-infidel Hardrager, who was necessary to show both the plan of
+Battle Abbey and the causes and character of pilgrimage, might really have
+been the leader of the Assassins, since they established themselves in
+Mount Lebanon, and incorporated in their belief some of the doctrines of
+the New Testament about that period.
+
+Eleanor of Aquitaine was one of the few women whose mature years in some
+measure atoned for a youth of folly. Agnes Strickland cites authorities to
+show that Fair Rosamond passed nineteen years in a convent, and died with
+the reputation of a saint. You will excuse me that I permitted death to
+cut her off in "her young beauty's bloom" to present a more affecting
+picture of the sad effects of guilt. The ballads are not mine; some I
+found in obsolete works, and one was versified from a legend of the Early
+Romancers.
+
+For the Tournament, and contest with the lion in Berengaria, I am indebted
+to the same veracious authority, though I cannot account for Richard's
+finding the Lion's Heart so conveniently situated at the bottom of the
+throat, except from the fact that "Physiology and Hygiene" had not then
+assigned the true position to the internal organs.
+
+I was very sorry not to make Joanna as interesting as Edith in the
+Talisman, but this was clearly impossible--first, from the fact that I had
+not the genius of Scott; and second, because I made it my study to adhere
+strictly to truth. It was Saphadin and not Saladin who sought to ally
+himself with the princely house of Plantagenet, and I found it convenient
+to console his disappointment by bestowing upon him the fictitious lady I
+had brought to seek her fortune in the East. Michelet confirms this
+decision by his statement that this was emphatically the era of women, and
+that for some years a female exercised the sovereign power over the
+territories of Islamism.
+
+Blondell, upon whose very existence so many doubts have been cast, is, I
+think, a well-authenticated character, who "_plays his part_" with great
+fidelity and truth.
+
+Had I not been limited as to space, the _ring_ in the hand of Violante's
+grandson would have projected the catastrophe of the Sicilian Vespers. For
+the same reason, I could only allude to the strife between the Guelphs and
+Ghibellines, to the civil wars of France and England, to the Crusade
+against the Albigenes, and the founding of the Inquisition by St. Dominic,
+when, in quest of heresy, he traversed the hills and vales of Languedoe,
+and doomed to death those brave spirits who dared to exercise the right of
+private judgment.
+
+Eva is the only purely fictitious character of any importance in the work,
+and she was drawn from life, a portrait which some of you may recognize.
+Fuller, in his "Holy War," contradicts the legend of Eleanora's drawing
+the poison from Edward's wound, but adds, "he who shall disprove this
+pretty fiction shall get to himself little credit," and I confess I had
+not the courage thus warned to attempt it.
+
+I would here gratefully acknowledge my obligations to the gentlemen of the
+Rochester University, through whose politeness I have been permitted to
+consult several works of early English authors not republished in this
+country, from which I have made liberal extracts both of facts and
+language.
+
+In conclusion, I can only say I have endeavored to set before you a true
+history in a series of entertaining stories. In the former, I am confident
+I have succeeded both as regards events and chronology; of the latter I am
+somewhat doubtful; but if my "Heroines" have the effect to awaken
+curiosity and induce research, I shall feel that "they have their reward."
+
+CLOVER STREET SEM., _Nov. 30th, 1852_.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+                                  Page
+
+  ADELA OF BLOIS                    19
+
+  ELEANOR OF AQUITAINE             119
+
+  BERENGARIA OF NAVARRE            195
+
+  ISABELLA OF ANGOULEME            279
+
+  VIOLANTE OF JERUSALEM            307
+
+  ELEANORA OF CASTILE              341
+
+  FIRST CRUSADE, A.D. 1090          75
+
+  SECOND CRUSADE, A.D. 1147        132
+
+  THIRD CRUSADE, A.D. 1187         221
+
+  FOURTH CRUSADE, A.D. 1198        272
+
+  FIFTH CRUSADE, A.D. 1203         281
+
+  SIXTH CRUSADE, A.D. 1215         315
+
+  SEVENTH CRUSADE, A.D. 1249       347
+
+  EIGHTH CRUSADE, A.D. 1272        377
+
+  NOTES                            461
+
+
+
+
+Leaders of Crusades.
+
+
+  GODFREY OF BOULOGNE,                     FIRST CRUSADE.
+
+  STEPHEN, COUNT OF BLOIS,                   "      "
+
+  LOUIS VII. OF FRANCE,                    SECOND   "
+
+  FREDERIC I. BARBAROSSA,                  THIRD    "
+
+  PHILIP II. AUGUSTUS,                       "      "
+
+  RICHARD I. COEUR DE LION,                  "      "
+
+  HENRY, COUNT OF CHAMPAGNE,               FOURTH   "
+
+  CONRAD OF GERMANY,                         "      "
+
+  THIBAUT, COUNT OF CHAMPAGNE,             FIFTH    "
+
+  DANDOLO, DOGE OF VENICE,                   "      "
+
+  JEAN DE BRIENNE, KING OF JERUSALEM,        "      "
+
+  HUGH X. DE LUSIGNAN, COUNT LA MARCHE,      "      "
+
+  ANDREW II. OF HUNGARY,                   SIXTH    "
+
+  FREDERIC II. OF GERMANY,                   "      "
+
+  LOUIS IX. OF FRANCE,                     SEVENTH  "
+
+  CHARLES D'ANJOU, KING OF SICILY,           "      "
+
+  EDWARD I. OF ENGLAND,                    EIGHTH   "
+
+
+
+
+ADELA.
+
+
+[Illustration: Adela. Countess of Blois.]
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+THE NIGHT OF THE 20TH OF MARCH, 1067.
+
+  "Wave high your torches on each crag and cliff
+  Let many lights blaze on our battlements,
+  Shout to them in the pauses of the storm
+  And tell them there is no hope."
+                                MATURIN'S _Bertram_.
+
+All night long the Lady Matilda, with her becoming children, knelt before
+the holy shrine in the old Abbey of Feschamp.
+
+Anxiously had they watched through the lingering twilight, for the
+whitening sails of the Conqueror's fleet. No sails appeared, and the night
+fell dark and stormy upon the English channel. Meet was it that prayer
+should ascend to Him who rules the destiny of nations, for the hopes of
+all future times were rocked upon that midnight sea. The field of Hastings
+was won, Harold was slain, England was subdued, and the ships of William
+the Conqueror, filled with the flower of Norman chivalry, and followed by
+the sad remnant of Saxon nobles, were speeding to the Norman coast.
+
+Was it Woden the storm-throned, that thus with relentless fury pursued the
+Viking's progeny,--despoilers of the Saxon race? Was it Thor the
+thunder-voiced, warning the proud Conqueror that the great heart of
+England still throbbed with the pulse of Freedom, though the vale of
+Sanguelac was red with the blood of her bravest sons? Was it the spirit of
+a milder Faith that prevailed over that night of darkness, spread a calm
+morning on those troubled waters, and through that all-pervading sunlight
+scattered blessings countless as the liquid jewels that paved the track of
+the rescued ships?
+
+The Mora with its splendid convoy was in sight, the bells rang out merrily
+their matin chimes, and while Matilda lingered to unite in the anthem of
+thanksgiving and praise, the little Adela, escaping from the care of the
+attendants, found her way through the dim aisles, to the door of the
+church, where she stood the radiant picture of delight, gazing with
+childish interest upon the scene before her.
+
+The solemn service over, Matilda with her stately train emerged from the
+Abbey and encircled by a princely retinue of knights and ladies, watched
+the swelling canvass, which under the pressure of a steady breeze, bore
+the gallant vessels into port. Impatient of delay, the royal children ran
+eagerly down the green slope to the water's edge. "Now brothers mine,"
+said the fiery William, "the fair and goodly land of England, to him who
+in three stones' cast shall twice strike yon fisherman's buoy." Seizing a
+pebble as he spoke, he was about to hurl it towards the destined mark,
+when Adela thoughtlessly grasped his arm. The stone dropped idly into the
+wave, sprinkling the short cloaks, and embroidered tunics of the little
+group. A derisive laugh followed this exploit, and Adela, familiar with
+the effects of William's anger, fled from his uplifted hand to the
+protecting care of Richard, who, sheltering her with his arm, exclaimed,
+"Robert, imagine yon buoy a Saxon Earl, and try your prowess upon him. I
+resign all claim to the conquered realm."
+
+"Book and bell, latin prayers, and a pilgrimage for my brother Richard,"
+replied Robert, selecting a smooth pebble and preparing to throw, but, ere
+the stone left his hand, a well directed missile from William struck the
+buoy, and sank it for a moment beneath the waves. With a look of proud
+disdain Robert hurled the stone. It fell dimpling the waters far beyond
+the mark. "England is mine," shouted William, as again with unerring aim
+he dashed the buoy beneath the surface. "England is mine," he repeated,
+pointing exultingly to the Saxon banner grasped in the hand of his own
+effigy upon the prow of the Mora. Robert smiled contemptuously, and
+rejoined his mother.
+
+All eyes were now directed towards the gallant bark which rode proudly
+into port, amid the joyous flutter of banners, gonfanons, pennons, and
+streamers which from every mast, spar, and standard, waved and flapped in
+the morning breeze.
+
+A glad shout burst from the assembled multitude, and cries of "Long live
+the conqueror William! Long live our good Duke of Normandy!" echoed by the
+clangor of trumpet, and chiming of bells, welcomed the victor on shore.
+Fondly embracing his lovely wife and children, and graciously receiving
+the greeting of his rejoicing subjects, he turned to present the noble
+Saxons, that swelled the pomp of his train.
+
+"My Matilda will welcome Edgar Atheling, in whose veins flows the blood of
+her sire Alfred the Great. The brave Earls Morcar and Edwin, the noble
+Waltheof, and his beautiful daughter Maude, are also guests at our court,
+and must lack no courtesy at our hands."
+
+While Matilda with high-born grace and dignity received her reluctant
+guests, the little Adela accustomed to the sight of mail-clad barons, and
+princely array, felt herself irresistibly attracted by the timid girl, who
+clung tremblingly to the arm of Earl Waltheof. Other eyes than hers were
+fascinated by the appearance of the lovely stranger. A yellow kirtle of
+the finest wool fell in graceful folds to her feet; over this was thrown a
+purple robe, which confined at the bodice by a girdle exquisitely wrought,
+draped without concealing the delicate proportions of a figure cast in
+nature's finest mould. A crimson coverchief half hid the jewelled network,
+from which her fair brown hair, brightening to gold in the sunshine,
+escaped in rich abundance over a neck of snow. The steady light of her
+meek violet eyes fell lovingly on Adela, and the faint tinge upon her
+cheek deepened into a brilliant blush, as the sprightly child kindly
+taking her hand, led her forward to receive the kiss of welcome from the
+Queen Duchess Matilda.
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+  "But doth the exile's heart serenely dwell in sunshine there?"
+
+A succession of brilliant pageants, and knightly entertainments awaited
+the Conqueror, his nobles and hostages, in their pompous progress through
+all the towns and cities of Normandy, from Feschamp to Bayeux.
+
+Robert already wearing the spurs of knighthood, girt with silver baldric,
+and bearing high the lance with its pointed banderol, led the van;
+gallantly conducting the young Earls Morcar and Edwin, and the royal
+Atheling: while the aspiring Prince William, attaching himself to a band
+of his father's best trained bowmen, practised on bright winged birds,
+those feats of archery in which he subsequently became so cruelly skilful.
+
+Adela obtained a place near the gentle Maude, and strove by every childish
+art to charm back the smiles that transiently enlivened the sad
+countenance of the Saxon maiden. Not less assiduously, and not more
+successfully did the Duke King, and his haughty consort, employ the
+fascinations of easy grace, and polished wit, to beguile the gloomy
+musings of the captive Waltheof. So passed they on, the sad hearts with
+the gay. So sat they in the halls of mirth, the one keeping strict lenten
+fast, the other revelling in triumphal feasts; one sole thought
+embittering the fast, and sweetening the feast--and that thought
+_England_.
+
+In a chamber in the palace of Bayeux were assembled the household of the
+Conqueror, busy in their daily occupations. Groups of girls, with nimble
+fingers, wrought silently under the eye of Matilda, the sad epic of
+England's fall.
+
+"Leave thy tangled skeins to these fair maids, and the skilful Turold, and
+come thou apart with me," said William, abruptly entering and drawing his
+Queen aside, within the deep embrasure of the window, "'tis of thy glory
+and mine that I would speak."
+
+The conference lasted long. The young princes summoned the maidens to the
+mimic tourney in the tiltyard, and waiting clouds prepared the gorgeous
+couch of sun, beyond the hills of Bretagne, ere the wily statesman had
+completed the unfoldings of all his schemes, for fixing the Norman line
+securely upon the throne of Edward the Confessor. He revealed his
+apprehensions from the stern character of Waltheof, and his hopes from the
+fascinations of his niece Judith d'Aumale. From Edgar Atheling he feared
+little. The boy reared in a foreign court, a stranger to Saxon language
+and manners, had neither desire nor capacity to contend for a dignity
+unsuited to his years. He was already hand and glove with Robert, and
+subject to the imperious will of the young knight.
+
+But Morcar and Edwin were more dangerous foes. Kinsmen of the late king,
+at the least disaffection they might rouse the friends of the famous Earl
+Siward, vanquisher of Macbeth; the thegns of Norfolk, Ely, Huntingdon, and
+Northumbria, stretching far to the Scottish border; and the valiant man of
+Mercia allied to the terrible Welsh.
+
+"The victory at Hastings, my Queen," said William, with his blandest
+smile, "does not establish peaceful rule o'er all the hills and vales of
+merrie England. Let policy complete what valor has commenced. Methinks our
+pretty Cicely might bind the restive Edwin in the silken toils of love,
+more securely than unwilling homage or extorted oath."
+
+"Cicely, the betrothed of Harold!" exclaimed Matilda. "Could'st thou have
+seen her agony when tidings of Harold's death came with news of thy
+victory, thou would'st scarcely speak to her of love." "A childish fancy,"
+impatiently cried William, "the breath of praise soon dries the tears on a
+maiden's cheeks. She must be the Saxon's bride."
+
+"It is impossible," replied the Queen. "In Notre-Dame de Bonnes Nouvelles,
+while my soul was filled with joy for thy safety, did I dedicate thy
+broken-hearted child to be the bride of Heaven. The holy Lanfranc has
+already sanctioned the vow."
+
+William strode hastily up and down the chamber, tying and untying the rich
+cordon of his cloak in uncontrollable anger and disappointment.
+
+Matilda laid her hand soothingly upon his arm. "Agatha is fairer than
+Cicely--Adela hath wit beyond her years, and child as she is, will readily
+comprehend all thy schemes."
+
+"Talk not of Adela, she hath a head for intrigue equal to my brother Odo.
+Wed her to one who might foster her ambition, and neither crown nor throne
+would be beyond her aspirations."
+
+"Agatha hath a loving heart," pleaded Matilda.
+
+"Thou sayest truth Bein Aimie, 'tis by the heart woman rules. Agatha shall
+be the affianced of Edwin before he leaves these shores."
+
+Thus it was settled. The new Queen received the title of the manor of
+Gloucester, and condemned the owner, her former lover, to perpetual
+imprisonment. The fair Maude was to dwell in exile a hostage for the
+fidelity of her father, till a fitting opportunity might occur to make her
+hand the bond of amity between the Conqueror and some disaffected peer.
+Other hostages with their various possessions were disposed of in a
+similar manner, and thus the shades of evening stole into that darkened
+chamber, and brooded like palpable forms over the sacrifices which the new
+sovereigns covertly laid upon the altar of Avarice and Ambition.
+
+The ceremony of betrothal took place on the following evening. There were
+guests in embroidered garments and costly jewels, there were lights and
+music, and more than wonted festivity: yet Maude saw only Edwin, and when
+taking the hand of the little princess, he pronounced with unhesitating
+voice, "Thine, and thine only," the color faded from her lip and cheek, as
+if a mortal woe had fastened on her heart.
+
+There were gifts and congratulations, and as Edwin presented his bride a
+miniature shield of silver, saying gallantly, "This shall thy heart from
+other love defend," a gleam of triumph on the countenance of William
+assured Matilda that Edwin was won.
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+                    "Oh! the joy
+  Of young ideas painted on the mind,
+  In the warm glowing colors fancy spreads
+  On objects not yet known, when all is new
+  And all is lovely."
+                                HANNAH MORE.
+
+When the spring deepened into summer, Edwin, exulting in the pride of his
+youthful elegance and princely alliance, returned loaded with honors to
+his restored domains.
+
+Agatha wept sore at his departure, but no tear trembled on the cheek of
+Maude. All external emotions were buried in the grave of hopeless love,
+and thenceforth in her pale, changeless beauty, she looked the ivory
+shrine, where the ashes of some holy thing were preserved, to work daily
+miracles upon the restless spirits by which she was surrounded.
+
+In her society the turbulent, and self-willed children of the Conqueror
+became calm and docile. Often in the long still twilight would she hold
+them a charmed circle, listening with breathless awe to wild tales and
+ghostly legends of the terrible Vikings; who drove their daring keels into
+unknown seas, and immured their wailing captives in sunless dungeons of
+northern ice, or left them naked and shivering upon a barren coast, a prey
+to the wolfish winds, that lifted and tossed them ever on the red and
+bristling spears of Aurora's giant demons.
+
+The story of the Babe of Bethlehem--cradled among the beasts of the
+stall--heralded by angels, and worshiped by the eastern sages, passing, a
+holy presence that diffused joy and comfort to every heart, through the
+green vales of Judea--walking unsandaled upon the glassy waves of
+Galilee, and standing in robes white as the light upon the top of Tabor,
+agonizing in Gethsemane, and suffering upon Calvary for the redemption of
+a ruined race, recited in the mellow tones of Maude, imparted an interest
+to the scenes of the Saviour's life and passion, which all the sacred
+relics and saintly effigies of the church had failed to awaken.
+
+But especially did Robert and Adela delight in tales of the turbaned
+Paynim. The long caravan winding its spicy track through emerald oases, or
+glistening sands--the dark-browed Saracens with spear and cimeter
+careering in battle on Arab steeds, fleet as the desert wind--terrible
+Turks from the wilds of Khosser, swifter than leopards, and more fierce
+than the evening wolves--swarthy Nubians clustering like locusts in the
+holy places--toil-worn pilgrims scourged and massacred, and christian
+children slaughtered to furnish diabolical repasts for Moslem fiends, were
+themes that never failed to excite the most intense curiosity, and to
+rouse the direct imprecations of vengeance.
+
+From one of these narrations, Robert rose with a determined air, and
+exclaimed--"My grandsire, Robert le Diable, say the monks, was carried to
+heaven on the backs of fiends; but if by the favor of St. Stephen, I ever
+visit the Holy Land, it shall be not with pilgrim's staff, but with sword
+and lance, to drive those cursed fiends back to their place of torture."
+
+"It were a holy work," said Richard, "and one the saints would bless."
+
+"Were I a knight, or might a woman set lance in rest," cried Adela, "those
+heathen dogs should no longer feed upon the flesh of christian babes.
+Shame to the peers of Normandy, that sit quietly in Rouen while the Holy
+Sepulchre is in the hands of infidels."
+
+"The peers of Normandy will sit quietly in Rouen only till my father
+returns from his conference with Lanfranc," said William. "Last night a
+small vessel anchored off the coast, and a messenger came in breathless
+haste to the palace. I could not gain speech with him, but I know he
+brings tidings from Fitz Osborne, and our Uncle Odo. Hugh de Glaville
+conjectures there is treason in England."
+
+"My mother dismissed her maidens at an earlier hour than is her wont, and
+sent away Turold with a frown, when he brought her his pattern of the
+wooden fort," said Cicely, with a sigh, "my heart misgave me then that
+some peril was impending."
+
+"Pray God it may not reach Edwin," said Agatha, with white lips.
+
+"Pray God the troubles may continue till my father moves his court to
+London," said William, as rising from the mossy bank upon which they had
+been sitting, the anxious party returned through the pleasance, to the
+great hall where the evening meal was prepared.
+
+When the silent repast was finished, Maude led the weeping Agatha to her
+own chamber, and lifting the curtain of the oratory, stood with her before
+an altar covered with a richly embroidered velvet pall. Upon the altar was
+placed a golden crucifix, before which burned a silver lamp, and in a
+niche above, an alabaster image of the Madonna.
+
+"Daughter of the Norman William," said she, taking Agatha's hands and
+kneeling before the altar, "with the holy cross before thee, and the eyes
+of our blessed lady looking down upon thee, tell me truly, lovest thou the
+Saxon Edwin?" and Agatha whispered low but firmly, "I love the Saxon
+Edwin."
+
+"Turn thy eyes to the stars, emblems of unchanging faith, and tell me
+truly, wilt thou be to Edwin a guardian Fylgia in weal or woe?" and Agatha
+answered, "I will guard Edwin in weal or woe."
+
+"Lay thy hand upon this holy shrine," again said Maude, lifting the purple
+pall, and revealing a jewelled casket, "and tell me truly, though father,
+mother, brother, friend, or priest, compel, wilt thou with Edwin keep thy
+plighted troth?" and Agatha answered, "I will with Edwin keep my plighted
+troth." "The pure Mary, the sleepless stars, and this holy relic of St.
+John the divine aid thee to keep thy vow, Amen." And Agatha responded
+solemnly--"Amen."
+
+All that night the patient Maude wrought with a magic bodkin upon the
+trothgift of Edwin, inscribing thereon a Saxon charm, that worn upon the
+breast of his mistress should shield him from danger, defeat, and death!
+the trusting Agatha keeping silent vigils by her side, while from the
+court-yard below echoed the tramp of steeds, and the heavy tread of
+mail-clad warriors hastening preparations for departure.
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+  "That cruel word her tender heart so thrilled
+  That sudden cold did run through every vein,
+  And stony horror all her senses filled,
+  With dying fit, that down she fell for pain."
+                                SPENSER'S _Fairy Queen_.
+
+  "When sorrows come, they come not single spies,
+  But in battalions."
+                                SHAKSPEARE'S _Hamlet_.
+
+The conjectures of Prince William were well founded. The peers of Normandy
+were again summoned from their castles to attend the Conqueror, and the
+following spring the royal family removed to Winchester.
+
+The coronation of Matilda was the most imposing pageant that had ever been
+seen in England. Foreign princes and peers graced the brilliant
+ceremonial--a numerous and lordly company of Normans attended her to the
+church, and a body-guard of Anglo-Saxons, among whom Agatha distinguished
+Edwin, conspicuous alike for the beauty of his person, and the almost
+oriental magnificence of his apparel, reconducted the new Queen and her
+beautiful children to the palace, where a splendid banquet closed the
+festivities.
+
+This season of rejoicing was followed by events of a sad and gloomy
+character. The peculiar miseries which fell upon England during the
+disastrous years of 1069-70 compelled the Queen with the ladies of her
+court, again to seek safety in Normandy. The revolt of Earl Waltheof--the
+invasion of the Danes--the flight of Edgar Atheling--the hostility of
+Malcolm, King of Scotland--the destruction of the city of York--the death
+of Aldred, its beneficent, and much loved bishop--the desolation of
+Northumberland--the laying waste the county of Hampshire--the confiscation
+of private property--and the cry of houseless wanderers, perishing of
+want, furnished a scene of unexampled calamities, while the odious revival
+of the Danegelt, and the still more odious imposition of the _couvre feu_,
+goaded the exasperated inhabitants to desperation, and excited constant
+rebellions and insurrections.
+
+The heart of the king, grieved and irritated, became entirely alienated
+from his Saxon subjects; and when Earl Edwin demanded the hand of Agatha,
+his claim was rejected with reproach and scorn.
+
+Meanwhile the ladies of the Norman court, no less than Matilda, deplored
+the absence of their lords, and murmurings and complaints succeeded to
+sadness and discontent, as month after month, and year after year rolled
+on, and still the troubles in England required the constant exercise of
+the Norman arms.
+
+The unheralded arrival of the Conqueror, with a military escort at Caen,
+excited a brief sensation of pleasure, but small cause had his family to
+rejoice in his coming.
+
+The princesses were listening with rapt attention while Maude related the
+romance of a northern Jarl, who each night when the moon hung her silver
+lamp on high, moored his ocean palace beneath the shadow of a castle,
+beetling the sea, to woo fair Ulnah the Pearl of the Orkneys. The maiden,
+leaning spell-bound from the lattice, had yielded to the enchanter's song,
+and dropped a pale pearl upon the deck of the war-ship; the wizard-bird
+that nestled in its shroudings had spread its broad wings and hovered
+broodingly above the casement, when flaming torches--splashing oars--and
+wild shouts, announced the coming of her father's fleet.
+
+At this point of the story a messenger hastily entered and summoned Agatha
+to the presence of her dread father.
+
+With sad presentiments the princess rose and silently obeyed the mandate.
+None were present with the Conqueror in the audience chamber save Matilda,
+Lanfranc, and the Saxon secretary, Ingulfus.
+
+"Seat thyself beside me, daughter, and listen to my words," said the
+haughty monarch, with unwonted tenderness. "That I bade thee pledge thy
+hand to Earl Edwin to secure the peace of England, instead of trusting
+that event to my good sword, hath long grieved me sore; and often have I
+prayed the holy saints to absolve me of the sin. Heaven has heard my
+prayer and averted thy doom."
+
+An involuntary shudder shook the slight frame of Agatha, but no sound
+escaped her lips.
+
+"The brave Alphonso, King of Gallicia," continued the king, "has sent to
+woo thee for his bride; ambassadors wait in the antechamber, and the good
+Lanfranc has consented to release thee from thy extorted vow. With this
+costly ring the prince of Spain plights thee his faith."
+
+Agatha instinctively drew back her hand.
+
+"Nay, shrink not, my daughter. The Saxon was unworthy of thy love. Knowest
+thou not he is leagued with thy father's foes? Resign thou his troth-gift,
+I will restore it to the proud Rebel. Bid thy maidens robe thee in apparel
+befitting thy rank, (certes, the Spanish diadem will well become thy jetty
+locks.) Even now a splendid convoy of vessels ride at anchor in the harbor
+to convey thee to thy future lord, and the pious Ingulfus, who hath long
+desired to visit the Holy Sepulchre, shall attend thee to the coast of
+Spain."
+
+Agatha neither spoke nor moved.
+
+"Give me thy troth-gift, silly girl," cried her father angrily, bending
+his brow upon her, with the terrible frown, at which bold hearts were wont
+to quail.
+
+Mechanically the trembling victim, drew from her bosom the talismanic
+shield. Lanfranc took it from her hand, placed the ring upon her finger,
+repeated the words of absolution, and the ceremony of betrothal, and when
+he ceased, Agatha lay at her father's feet, pale and cold in a death-like
+swoon. But bitterly as Matilda wept over her suffering daughter, her heart
+was torn with still keener anguish, at the maledictions pronounced upon
+her first-born and favorite son. Robert had been betrothed in infancy to
+the heiress of Maine; and had cherished the most romantic attachment for
+his affianced bride. On the death of the princess the people demanded him
+for their lord, and the young regent, generous and rash, had proceeded to
+take possession of the duchy, and administer justice in his own name.
+
+William now required him to resign the fief, not only, but to give his
+hand to Maude, the beautiful captive, who had so long been the companion
+of his sisters. With the true spirit of chivalry, Robert indignantly
+replied;
+
+"The lovely Maude hath already bestowed her affections on Earl Edwin, and
+Robert's bride shall never bear to the altar a reluctant heart. Thou hast
+sacrificed the meek Agatha to the lust of dominion, but the gentle Maude
+shall never suffer from thy tyranny, while the sword of a belted knight
+can defend her. If ever I am king of England, the lands of Huntingdon
+shall be hers, with free right to choose her own lord."
+
+"Boast not thyself of to-morrow, England shalt thou never have. I have won
+it by mine own good sword, the vicars of Christ have set its crown upon my
+head, and placed its sceptre in my hand, and all the world combined shall
+not take it from me," cried the monarch in a paroxysm of rage.
+
+"I only demand the suzerainship of Normandy and Maine, which all men say
+is my just inheritance," replied Robert.
+
+"Thou would'st do well to remember the fate of Absalom, and the
+misfortunes of Rehoboam, and beware of evil counsellors," retorted
+William.
+
+Robert insolently rejoined, "I did not come hither to listen to sermons,
+but to claim the investiture which has been promised me. Answer me
+positively, are not these things my right?"
+
+"It is not my custom to strip before I go to bed," replied the Conqueror;
+"and as long as I live, I will not divide my native realm, Normandy, with
+another, for it is written in the holy evangelists, 'Every kingdom divided
+against itself shall become desolate.'"
+
+"If it is inconvenient for thee to keep thy word, I will depart from
+Normandy, and seek justice from strangers, here I will not remain a
+subject," retorted Robert, with equal pride and scorn.
+
+"Par le splendeur de D�," shouted William, half unsheathing his sword. "It
+is not to be borne, that he who owes his existence to me, should aspire to
+be my rival in mine own dominions. May the curse of Cain light upon thy
+undutiful head."
+
+Thus they parted, Robert to take refuge with his mother's brother, in
+Flanders, and William to return to his distracted kingdom, where the fires
+of civil war still smouldered in the ashes of freedom.
+
+In such scenes was Adela nurtured, and thus in an atmosphere of intrigue
+and superstition, was a character naturally penetrating and impetuous,
+prepared to devise and carry forward the wildest schemes.
+
+Public calamities, and domestic vexations, impaired the peace and
+irritated the temper of the English monarch. Bodesmen from the north,
+brought news of leagues and plots against his power, while messengers from
+Normandy, conveyed tidings of the disaffections of his peers, and the
+hostilities of the French king.
+
+Richard, his most dutiful and affectionate son, had accompanied him to
+England. The young prince was exceedingly fond of the chase, and often
+spent whole days hunting in the New Forest of Hampshire.
+
+The malaria of the depopulated district, and the painful emotions awakened
+in his sensitive nature, by the sight of famishing wretches, vainly
+seeking food and shelter, brought on a delirious fever, which soon
+terminated his life. He was interred in Winchester Cathedral.
+
+The last tone of the curfew bell was reverberating through the silent
+halls of the palace, when the distracted father, haunted by the piteous
+lamentations, and reproachful ravings of his departed son, threw himself
+despairingly upon his couch.
+
+"News from beyond seas," said the chamberlain, entering, and presenting
+him a letter. William cut the silk and read.
+
+"In the name of the blessed Mary, ever virgin, St. Michael, and St.
+Valery, doth thy poor scribe Ingulfus pray, that strength may be given
+thee, duke William, by grace of God, king of England, to bear the dreadful
+tidings, which much it grieves me to convey. When this comes to thee thou
+wilt know that thy sweet daughter, Agatha, liveth no more. From the day of
+our departure she shed no tears, but a tender wailing sound, like the moan
+of a wounded dove, issued ever from her lips. Her heart, she said, was
+devoted to her first spouse, and she prayed that the Most High would
+rather take her to himself, than allow her ever to be wedded to another.
+Her prayer was granted.
+
+"The faintness which we witnessed at her betrothal, returned upon her by
+night and by day, but she never murmured; and on the eve of the blessed
+St. Agnes, having received the rites of our holy Church, she died, with
+the crucifix in her hand, and the name of Edwin on her lips."
+
+The scroll dropped from the hand of the stricken father and a remorseful
+pang wrung his heart.
+
+Again the chamberlain entered ushering in a dark figure wrapped in a long
+serge cloak, like those usually worn by monks. Kneeling at the monarch's
+feet, the stranger spoke. "Knowing, oh king! thy munificence to thy
+faithful servants, and moved by the love I bear thy throne and realm, I
+have discovered to Fitz Osborne the secret haunts of thine enemies, and to
+obtain thy royal favor, have brought from the Isle of Ely, that which I
+hope will please thee well. Behold the head of the Saxon chief."
+
+The Conqueror shrank back in horror, as the well-known features of Edwin,
+pale and distorted with the death agony, and the long, fair locks all
+dabbled with gore, met his bewildered gaze.
+
+"Cursed traitor!" shouted he, starting from his seat, "dost thou think to
+win my favor by bringing me the head of thy murdered lord? Ho! seneschal,
+convey this Judas to the lowest cell of the donjon. There shall he learn
+how William rewards the betrayer of innocent blood." The prisoner was
+borne from his presence.
+
+The monarch buried his face in his hands, and burst into tears of
+uncontrollable anguish.
+
+"Woe is me, my daughter,--Done to death by thy father's unholy
+ambition--Thy Edwin hunted and slain on his own hearth-stone. What has
+this sceptre brought me? Toilsome days, and sleepless nights,--a divided
+household,--and children cut off in the flower of their youth. Truly,
+saith the Scripture; 'Woe unto him that coveteth an evil covetousness unto
+his house.'"
+
+As he bowed his head his eyes fell upon the fatal, silver shield. Lifting
+it reverently from the floor, and wiping the clotted blood from its
+polished surface, with some difficulty, he deciphered the Saxon
+inscription, which has been thus elegantly translated.
+
+  "Edwin his pledge has left in me,
+    Now to the battle prest:
+  His guardian angel may she be,
+    Who wears me on her breast.
+
+  To him true hearted may she prove,
+    Oh! God, to thee I pray;
+  Edwin shall well requite her love,
+    Returning from the fray.
+
+  But if, forgetful of her vows,
+    May Heaven avert the thought,
+  She sell this love-charm of her spouse,
+    Which never could be bought;
+
+  If of her own free will she cast
+    This talisman away;
+  May Edwin's life no longer last,
+    To rue that fatal day."
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+  "Still to the truth direct thy strong desire,
+  And flee the very air where dwells a liar.
+  Fail not the mass, there still with reverent feet,
+  Each morn be found, nor scant thy offering meet,
+  Haste thee, sir knight, where dames complain of wrong;
+  Maintain their right, and in their cause be strong."
+
+The last act in the bloody tragedy of England's subjection, was
+consummated in the year 1074, when Earl Waltheof, having been drawn into a
+plot against the crown, and betrayed by his Norman wife, Judith, to her
+uncle, the Conqueror, was beheaded on a rising ground, just without the
+gates of Winchester, the first Anglo-Saxon that perished by the hand of
+the executioner.
+
+The perfidious Judith had fixed her affections on a French Count, but
+William had already secured a willing agent of his own purposes, in the
+person of Simon, a Norman noble, lame and deformed, on whom he designed to
+bestow her hand, with the rich earldoms of Northampton and Huntingdon.
+
+The haughty Judith scorned the alliance, and stripped of rank and power,
+retired to the wilds of Yorkshire in obscurity and contempt.
+
+The bitter tears occasioned by the melancholy fate of Agatha and Edwin,
+were fresh upon the cheek of Maude, when the heavy tidings of her father's
+cruel death, overwhelmed her in a tide of deeper anguish. A lingering
+illness followed, yet sweet dreams stole ever upon her rest, and the
+watchful Adela comprehended, that transported to the home of her
+childhood, in the gaiety of life's early morn, she trod again the breezy
+upland, and fragrant glade, wandered through wood and wold, with Edwin by
+her side, or sitting by the star-lit fountain, challenged the nightingale
+from out the leafy holt, with snatches of Runic rhyme, and Saxon melody.
+But young life combating disease, slowly led her back from the gates of
+the grave. One by one the bright visions faded, and sadly her eyes
+unclosed to a consciousness of the dark realities before her.
+
+William had determined that the hand of the beautiful heiress of
+Huntingdon, should compensate the pliant Simon for the mortifying refusal
+of her stepmother. The betrothal was to take place directly on the
+Conqueror's arrival in Normandy, but the happy oblivion of Maude, no less
+than the entreaties of Adela, and the menacing of Robert served to delay
+the doom they could not finally avert.
+
+William had subdued the rebel province of Maine, and moved by the
+declining health, and incessant pleading of his beloved Queen, had
+accorded to his refractory son a full pardon for his late rebellion,
+"promising at the same time, to grant him everything that he could expect
+from the affection of a father consistently with the duty of a king."
+
+Thus peace was restored throughout the Conqueror's dominions, and the
+royal family happy in their reunion, kept merry Christmas in the capital
+city of Rouen.
+
+"Sweet sister mine," said Robert to Adela, as she sat engaged upon the
+famous Bayeux tapestry, "pray leave the royal nose of our valiant sire,
+which thou hast punctured and cross-stitched, till verily it seems to
+bleed beneath thy fingers, and lend an ear to thy brother's words."
+
+"Now, gramercy! Curthose," said Adela, laughing, "thou must have a
+distinct impression of thy noble father's visage, since thou canst not
+distinguish his nose from the 'fiery train' of the terrific comet."
+
+"Nay," said Robert, taking up the simile, "the Conqueror's fiery train in
+England, has wrought more terror than all the comets since the days of
+Julius C�sar, as the inhabitants of York will testify; but come, lay aside
+that odious tapestry, I have other work for thy skilful fingers."
+
+"My duteous brother would, perhaps, employ them in puncturing his noble
+sire, at the field of Archembraye, but a maiden's needle wounds less
+deeply than a warrior's sword," said Adela, archly.
+
+"Certes, thy tongue is sharper than thy needle," said Robert, reddening,
+"and thine eyes outdo thy tongue. On the field of Archembraye I did but
+wound my father's arm, while one bright shaft from thine eyes has pierced
+Count Stephen's heart."
+
+"Methinks a heart so vulnerable, should be clad in armor," said Adela,
+reddening in her turn.
+
+"Thy woman's wit doth run before my speech and prophesy my errand," said
+Robert. "The Count Stephen, of Blois, bids me entreat the fair Adela to
+bind him in _ring armor_, that the friend of Robert may be his brother in
+arms."
+
+"_He_ bids thee!" said Adela, dropping the embroidery. "Is the count,
+then, in Rouen?"
+
+"Even so, bien amie," replied Robert. "Hast thou not marked a noble figure
+entering the church at twilight, and emerging at sunrise, his regards bent
+upon the ground except, perchance, when he steals a glance at my charming
+sister, accompanying her mother to matins or vespers."
+
+"In truth, I marked such a youth," said Adela, blushing, "but wherefore
+frequents he not the court?"
+
+"He holds his vigil of arms till twelfth day," replied Robert, "and the
+Conqueror has promised, that ere the Yule-clog, as Atheling calls it, has
+ceased to burn, he will himself lay the accolade of knighthood upon the
+shoulder of the young count. 'Tis my father's wish that his children
+assist at the ceremony."
+
+"My father's wish!" said Adela, in a tone of deep surprise.
+
+"Certes, sweet," replied her brother, "thinkest thou the Conqueror sees
+not the white flocks that range the green pastures of Blois, that he hears
+not the sound of the busy looms of Chartres, and loves not the sparkling
+wine, that flows from the blushing vineyards of Champaigne?"
+
+"Robert, thou hast broken my needle," said Adela, striving confusedly to
+hide from the penetrating eyes of her brother, the influence which these
+considerations exercised over her own ambitious heart.
+
+"I have broken thy needle of wool, that thou mightst thread a finer with
+floss of silk to embroider the scarf for thy gallant knight," said Robert,
+rising to withdraw. Adela followed him to the antechamber, and dismissing
+the attendants, concerted with him the arrangements for the pageant.
+
+Scarcely confessing to herself the sweet hopes that for the first time
+agitated her bosom, she quitted the joustings and maskings of the
+holidays, and passed the festive season in the privacy of her own
+apartment, where assisted only by the faithful Maude, she wrought upon
+Tyrian purple the golden lions of Chartres, budded the shining damask with
+the fleur de lis of Champagne, and sewed the embroidered field azure with
+the pearly crescent of Blois. The deep tones of the turret clock tolling
+the midnight hour broke the stillness that reigned through the castle,
+just as Adela severed the last silken thread from the embroidery frame,
+and held up the gorgeous baldric in the light of the lamp before the
+admiring gaze of her friend.
+
+"Hush!" said Maude, placing her finger on Adela's lip to repress a joyous
+exclamation, "we have a proverb in the north that, 'finished works bring
+prophetic dreams.'--Hasten to seek thy pillow, but beware thy glance
+wander not from yon bright star that even now glimmers through the
+casement. Breathe not a word while I wreathe the silken scarf in the folds
+of thy canopy, and whisper the mystic charm of the morthwyrtha." With an
+incredulous smile Adela obeyed, and dismissing the tire-women, Maude left
+her to her solitary slumbers. The sun had scarce risen when Maude again
+entered the apartment.
+
+"The visions of the future have visited thy rest," said she, glancing
+inquiringly at the thoughtful countenance of the princess.
+
+"Question me not," replied Adela, "a promise and a fear have bewildered
+me--coming years can alone explain the mystery."
+
+The great hall of the palace was fitted up for a brilliant ceremony. All
+the knights and nobles, bishops and clergy of Normandy, and the adjacent
+provinces, arrayed in the most gorgeous vestments of their several
+orders, with high-born dames and blushing maidens, sparkling in jewelry,
+lined the apartment, at the upper end of which stood the family of the
+Conqueror, beside an altar covered with cloth of gold.
+
+The young princes Robert and William after attending Count Stephen to the
+bath clothed him in white garments, and covered him with a crimson cloak,
+the one symbolical of the purity of his soul, the other of his
+determination to shed his blood in the cause of heaven. Arrayed in this
+simple garb, after the celebration of the high mass, he entered the hall
+and approaching the altar, presented his sword to the bishop, who blessed
+and consecrated it to the service of religion and virtue.
+
+Lanfranc then addressed him thus. "Thou seekest, Count of Blois, to become
+a knight--thou art of noble birth--of liberal gifts and high in
+courage.--Thou must be strong in danger--secret in councils--patient in
+difficulties--powerful against enemies--prudent in deeds. Lay thy hand
+upon this holy missal, and swear to observe the following rules." And
+Stephen laid his hand upon the clasped volume, and repeated slowly, after
+the priest.
+
+"I do solemnly promise and swear to spare neither my blood nor my life in
+defence of the Catholic faith,--to aid all widows and orphans--to protect
+the innocent and oppressed--to be humble in all things--to speak the truth
+from the heart--to seek the welfare of my vassals--to regard the rights of
+my sovereign--and to live righteously before God and man."
+
+Then rising from his knees and throwing off his cloak the neophyte stood
+with his head reverently inclined toward the priest, while Prince William
+buckled on the spurs of knighthood, and Edgar Atheling fastened the
+greaves, and Robert belted the corselet; gracefully he sank upon his knee,
+when Maude advancing adjusted the helmet upon his closely curling locks,
+and Constance presented the spear with its drooping pennon; but his head
+bowed in conscious devotion, and the warm blood glowed eloquently on his
+manly cheek, while Adela, the lady of his love, tremulous with agitation,
+passed the scarf about his neck--fitted the silken folds across his
+breast, and belted the jewelled knot upon the ivory sheath of his sword.
+
+Appareled in his splendid armor the young count took the consecrated
+weapon from the altar, and presenting it to the king, knelt before the
+throne while the monarch rose and laid upon his shoulder three gentle
+blows, saying in a voice whose deep tones echoed to the farthest end of
+the hall, "In the name of St. Michael, and St. Stephen, I make thee
+knight. Be loyal, bold and true."
+
+Following the example of the Conqueror, each knight advanced a step, drew
+his sword from the sheath, and while the hall gleamed with the flash of
+burnished steel, the man of God again took up the word, blessing him who
+had newly undertaken, and those who had long been engaged in holy warfare,
+and praying that all the hosts of the enemies of heaven, might be
+destroyed by christian chivalry.
+
+The trumpets sounded without, and the knights thronging around their
+brother in arms, conducted him to the court below, where vaulting upon
+their steeds, they rode through the admiring crowds, among whom Stephen
+scattered largesses with a liberal hand.
+
+The banquet over, a gallant train of mounted knights and ladies emerged
+from the wooded park and wound along the banks of the Seine. There was
+rare sport that day, when the fox broke cover, and the hounds darted away
+upon his track, and the curveting steeds bounded over the crisp green
+sward, in the wild excitement of the chase; but the proud barb of Stephen
+obedient to the rein, curved his glossy neck and moved with lofty step, by
+the dappled palfrey of Adela, while the young knight whispered words that
+the princess loved to hear; and thus in sweet converse the day wore away,
+and when the solemn night came on, beneath the blue cope of heaven, while
+the stars gazed from their sapphire thrones and the river mingled its low
+music with the murmur of their voices, Adela plighted her troth to Stephen
+Count of Blois.
+
+But a ceremonial more joyous than a betrothal--more solemn than a burial,
+occasioned the removal of the court to Feschamp.
+
+From the day of Harold's death, Cicely his betrothed, devoted herself to
+the cloister. Her father had bestowed a princely dower upon the convent of
+her choice, and fixed the day of her profession upon the high festival of
+Easter. At the close of the lenten fast, she quitted the scene of her
+childish pleasures, gazed a last adieu on the hills, vales and streams,
+over which the early spring of that bright climate was casting its mellow
+sheen--distributed alms among the mendicant crowds that thronged her
+route, and bade a kind farewell to the multitudes, that flocked from every
+village and hamlet, to invoke the blessing of heaven upon her holy
+purpose.
+
+Adela stood again in the old abbey of Feschamp, listening to the joyous
+sound of the matin chime, but neither the happy associations awakened by
+the place and hour, nor the warm breath of early love could charm the
+sadness from her heart.
+
+She had entered the dark cloister, and conducted Cicely from her weary
+vigil beside the holy relics, to wreathe her dark locks with jewels and
+gold, and array her fair form for the last time in the garb of a princess.
+With the selfishness of affection, she suffered none but Maude to share
+the pious task.
+
+Fast fell her tears as the whispered sounds of her sister's devotions
+forced upon her an appalling sense of the final separation.
+
+The convent bell had scarce ceased its summons, ere a splendid concourse
+filled the galleries, and thronged the aisles of the Abbey to witness the
+holy bridal.
+
+Proudly and painfully beat the heart of the king, as his saintly daughter
+leaned upon his breast--twined her soft arms lovingly about his neck--and
+imprinted her last kiss upon his cheek; but sympathetic tenderness
+overmastered all other emotions, as with gentle force he drew her from the
+last fond embrace of her weeping mother, and the convulsive clasp of the
+almost frantic Adela, and resigned her in all her youthful beauty, to be
+immured in a living tomb. Her three young sisters less grieved at the
+parting, than pleased with the pageant, with hasty adieus prepared to take
+their place in the ceremony.
+
+With a light step nicely modulated to the soft chanting of the nuns, the
+little Adeliza bearing a jewelled crucifix, led the procession, followed
+by Constance and Gundred, each carrying a lighted taper and bearing
+between them a lily-shaped basket of wrought silver, containing the vestal
+habit and veil which they laid upon the altar.
+
+At the solemn call of the bishop, the fair Cicely entered, prepared as a
+bride adorned for her husband, and supported by the matron sisters passed
+up the long aisle, her white robes like a gathering mist floating about
+her fragile form, and her calm and serene countenance, beaming with such
+angelic sweetness from beneath the gossamer wreath which ornamented her
+head, that to Maude's fanciful vision she seemed already crowned with the
+radiant halo of the saints. A brilliant burst of jubilant melody, pealing
+from the organ, accompanied the nuns in their welcoming hymn, "O Gloriosa
+Virginium," and a breathless silence pervaded the holy courts as the soft
+voice of Cicely responded. "Receive me, oh Lord! according to thy holy
+word."
+
+Kneeling before the bishop she begged his benediction and the name of
+Cecilia her patron-saint. The reverend Father gave her the consecrated
+name, signed her with the sign of the cross, and sprinkled holy-water upon
+her garments.
+
+The high mass celebrated, and the Kyrie Eleison sung, a waxen taper was
+placed in her hand, and seated by the chancel, she listened with devout
+attention, while the archbishop portrayed the beatitude of that high
+vocation, which had called her from the pomps and vanities of earthly
+grandeur, to the durable riches of a heavenly kingdom; from the waning
+light of earthly affection to the ineffable love of the immortal
+bridegroom;--from the fading lustre of an earthly diadem, to the
+changeless glory of an eternal crown: and scarcely had he concluded with
+the gracious words, "Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou
+excellest them all," when the whole orchestra took up the note of
+commendation and "Gloria in Excelsis" sounded through the cloistered
+aisles, echoed along the vaulted roof, and breathed to the heart of the
+waiting novice the full reality of joy. The sacred vestments were blessed
+and replaced in their silver shrine, and the children resuming their
+precious burden preceded their sister into an inner, apartment, where busy
+nuns disrobed her of her resplendent array,--despoiled her of her costly
+ornaments--and one by one shred away her long, bright locks, that never
+more might stir a thought of pride.
+
+The solemn bandeau was bound about her brow, the black serge garment
+wrapped about her form, and when she again knelt before the bishop,
+saying, "I am the handmaid of Christ," an ill-suppressed shriek from
+Adela, told how changed was her appearance, and how gloomy was the fate
+that awaited her--but the votaress saw nothing, heard nothing, save the
+sacred mysteries in which she was engaged. Prostrated as if in deep
+abasement she lay upon the marble floor, while the choir chanted the
+litany; gently she inclined to the abbess, to be bound by the girdle of
+humiliation; reverently she bowed her head to receive the veil that should
+forever shut the world from her sight; joyfully she accepted the ring that
+sealed the irrevocable vow; and while the choir chanted, "Come, oh spouse
+of Christ, receive the crown," a coronal of mingled thorns and roses was
+placed upon her head--and Cicely was a nun.
+
+Loud anthems pealed upward to the swelling dome, and every demonstration
+of joy welcomed the bride to her new home.
+
+The royal guests sat down to a splendid repast in the great hall of the
+convent, and nuns and novices shared in the sumptuous entertainment; but
+between Cicely and her family was an impassable barrier of an iron
+grating, and four thick and cold stone walls separated her forever from
+the friends of her youth.
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+  "What is't we live for? tell life's fairest tale--
+  To eat, to drink, to sleep, love, and enjoy,
+  And then to love no more!
+  To talk of things we know not, and to know
+  Nothing but things not worth the talking of."
+                                SIR R. FANE, JR.
+
+"Methinks," said Adela, as she sat with Maude in the loved twilight
+conference, "it were a weary thing, to fast and pray as doth my sister
+Cicely, and look forever on those dull, cold images of stone or pictured
+saints, whose holiness we can never hope to reach."
+
+"Thou thinkest so, dearest, because on the bright scroll of thy future is
+pictured a living form glowing with youth and beauty," said Maude; "but
+when death shuts out the light of hope, the pencil of love illumines the
+canvass ever with the image of a saint."
+
+"I have never seen a Saxon saint but thee, best one," said Adela,
+affectionately kissing her cheek. "Cicely worships the memory of him who
+would have wrested the broad realm of England from her father."
+
+"And Agatha died for one who loved that father," said Maude, half
+reproachfully.
+
+"I cannot read aright the riddle of life," replied Adela, pensively, "less
+still the riddle of love. Doth not the heart seek happiness as the flower
+seeks the light? yet what men call the 'ends life lives for,' wealth and
+power and dominion, terminate in discontent, despair, and death. No duke
+of Normandy, since the days of Rou, hath been so successful as William the
+Conqueror, yet the meanest serf is happier than he: and this love that
+makes my heart flutter like a joyous bird, has consigned our Agatha to an
+early grave--immured Cicely in the abhorrent convent--and," she added,
+with a deprecating glance, "has plucked the last pale rose from the cheek
+of my lovely Maude."
+
+"Thou speakest thus because thou knowest neither life nor love," replied
+the maiden. "Thou deemest wisely that a lofty purpose must call the strong
+man to effort, else lying dormant would his faculties perish with the rust
+of inactivity. Our pious bishop, Aldred, used to say; that any purpose so
+holy as not to need evil means to work its ends, like the consecration of
+the wafer, brings to the human soul the _real presence_ of Christ."
+
+"Thy riddle is too deep for my poor wit," said Adela. "Tell me of the love
+I know not--thy love."
+
+"Thou fanciest thou lovest Count Stephen," said Maude, with a sigh, "but
+should he plight his love to another, thou wouldst regard him with hate
+and scorn."
+
+"Aye, verily," replied Adela, her cheeks glowing, and her dark eye
+flashing, at the thought.
+
+"So loved not Maude Earl Edwin. Thy father bade him give his hand to
+Agatha, and when I marked the undivided current of their lives, flowing on
+in a stream of bliss, Ambition and Hope were quenched in my heart, but
+Love went forth to light their pathway, and gilds with heavenly radiance
+their early tomb."
+
+"Maude!" exclaimed Adela, enthusiastically, "thou wert not formed for this
+sinful world; thou shouldst dwell with the angels, for verily thou art one
+of them."
+
+"Commend me not," said Maude, "thou little knowest the bitter repinings of
+my heart when I heard I might not enter the convent with Cicely, nor how
+my soul recoils from this unnatural alliance with Simon."
+
+"And thou wouldst rather kneel upon the cold stone floor, and scourge thy
+tender flesh with knotted cords, than live almost a princess in thy merrie
+England!" said Adela, with unaffected surprise.
+
+"Nay, rather would I work a weary pilgrimage to Palestine, and dwell an
+eremite in the lonely caves of Engaddi, had choice been left with me,"
+answered Maude.
+
+"A pilgrimage were not so sad a fate," said Adela; "the marvellous tales
+with which thou didst beguile my childhood hours, so wrought upon my
+fancy, that even to this day the very name of Jerusalem calls up visions
+bright as the bowers of Eden. Never have I wondered that pilgrims flocked
+to the Holy Land when they deemed the thousand years of prophecy
+accomplished, and expected to witness the azure gates unfolding above the
+holy sepulchre, and the Saviour descending upon the Mount of Olives amid
+all the terrific splendor of the final judgment."
+
+"Scarce a century since," sighed Maude, "men looked for this heavenly
+kingdom, and verily believed they found in prophecy the confirmation of
+their hopes. My grandsire died upon the banks of the Jordan earnestly
+expecting the coming of his Lord."
+
+"There is a flash of spears in the moonbeams," interrupted Adela, gazing
+from the arrow-slit of the turret. "Seest thou not a troop of horse,
+winding along the brow of the hill? Eye and heart alike deceive me if that
+be not Count Stephen's plume. Methought, ere this, he had reached the
+borders of Maine. And there is Robert by his side. Our lady grant their
+coming bode no ill."
+
+"They pass beneath the shadow of the castle," said Maude. "They are not
+all mounted. Those men on foot, in the garb of friars, how wearily they
+follow, leaning upon their long staves."
+
+"They are pilgrims!" exclaimed the maidens with one voice. "Let us descend
+to welcome them."
+
+Prince Henry met them in the corridor. "Count Stephen has returned," said
+he, "and awaits my sister in the tapestry chamber."
+
+"Come with me, Beauclerk," said Maude, leading away the young prince.
+"Thou shalt conduct me to these holy pilgrims."
+
+"Adela," said Stephen, kissing the hand of his affianced as she entered,
+"thou art surprised, but I hope not ill-pleased at this unlooked-for
+return."
+
+"I feared me some mischance had occasioned it," said Adela, "but seeing
+thee well, I am happy--yet wherefore art thou come?"
+
+"Thy brother, Robert," replied Stephen, "vouchsafed to escort me with
+twenty lances to the town of mantes--but when we reached the banks of
+Eure, we found the bridges swept away, and the fords rendered impassable
+by the swollen waters. A band of pilgrims were encamped upon the other
+side, and at the sight of the Norman pennon, they sent forth a piteous cry
+for aid. We swam our steeds across the turgid stream, and each horseman
+mounting a palmer behind him, we brought them safely over. And what was my
+joy to find I had thus rendered some slight service to Ingulfus, the early
+tutor of my loved Adela."
+
+"Our lady be praised, the good Ingulfus has returned. His pupil then shall
+thank his benefactor as she ought."
+
+"He is wayworn and weary," pursued Stephen, "much toil hath he had in his
+long pilgrimage, and precious are the relics he has brought from
+Palestine. I craved from his gratitude a portion of the holy dust, for thy
+oratory. Should danger threaten the unworthy Stephen, the prayers of
+Adela, at such a shrine, would doubtless avail for his protection."
+
+The princess started, and the color fluctuated on her cheek, as with a
+look of surprise and recognition she regarded the beautiful crystal urn,
+with its amethystine entablature, on which were engraven the names of
+Adela and Stephen.
+
+"Dost reject my gift, or hath some sudden illness seized thee?" said her
+lover, anxiously, remarking her strange emotion.
+
+"A silly dream--a passing faintness," said Adela, convulsively grasping
+the urn, and pressing her pale lips upon the inscription. "The hour wears
+late, to-morrow we will meet again."
+
+The young count imprinted a kiss upon her cold brow, and supporting her
+trembling steps to the antechamber, consigned her to the care of her
+attendants.
+
+When the lovers met the following morning in the chapel to which all the
+inhabitants of the city repaired, to see the high altar decked with the
+palms of the pilgrims, and join in the general thanksgiving for their
+return, all traces of agitation had disappeared from the countenance of
+Adela. Relieved from his jealous fears, Count Stephen basked in the
+sunshine of her smiles, and protracted his stay during the festivities
+consequent upon the affiancing of Constance with Alan, Count of Bretagne.
+The young bride was dowered with the lands of Chester, once the possession
+of the unfortunate Earl Edwin. And William, at the same time, accorded his
+approbation to the love of Stephen and Adela. Every heart seemed filled
+with gaiety. Entertainment succeeded entertainment. The days were occupied
+with joustings, hunting, hawking, feats of archery and tournaments; the
+evenings were spent in games of hazard, or whiled away in listening to the
+wondrous tales of Ingulfus.
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+  "Some upon penance for their sins,
+      In person, or by attorney;
+  And some who were or had been sick;
+  And some who thought to cheat Old Nick;
+      And some who liked the journey;
+  And the staff was bored and drilled for those
+      Who on a flute could play;
+  And thus the merry Pilgrim had
+      His music on the way."
+                                SOUTHEY.
+
+"On my return to Caen with the remains of my dear lady Agatha," said
+Ingulfus, "I abandoned all thoughts of pilgrimage, till learning that the
+clergy of Germany had determined upon a visit to the Holy Land, the desire
+to worship at the tomb of the Saviour, returned again so strong upon me,
+that I was induced to unite with a Norman troop, which joined the company
+of the archbishop at Mentz. We were a goodly band," continued he, "out of
+every nation, kindred, tongue and people, of the Latin world--and heaven
+that moved us to this expiation of our sins, opened before us the way,
+and provided for our sustenance, both in the castles of princes, and in
+the cottages of peasants.
+
+"The monasteries, of which many have been founded by pious men throughout
+all Germany, furnished resting-places for the weary, and hospitals for the
+sick. When we entered upon the kingdom of Hungary, which is 'a
+well-watered and fruitful country,' we found a strange people, whose
+nobles and warriors indeed live in walled towns, and castles strongly
+fortified among the rocks; but the common people, for the most part, dwell
+in tents like Abraham of old, and feed their flocks and herds upon the
+banks of the streams. These be the people, which the holy fathers thought
+were the Gog and Magog of sacred writ, and truly they came like a storm
+into Europe, and like a cloud they covered the land--both they and their
+bands. And because the time of their coming was near the end of the
+thousand years prophesied by St. John, many wise men did say, that they
+were the signs and forerunners of the end of the world. Howbeit since the
+end is not yet, there be not many at the present which hold this
+doctrine."
+
+"Are there not some who say, that Gog and Magog are the heresies which vex
+the church?" inquired Robert.
+
+"Even so," said Ingulfus; "but such are not led by the true and manifest
+words of Scripture, but following 'cunningly devised fables' have
+explained away even the promises of God. Now that these are the people is
+proved, in that they came from Persia and from the north quarters, and the
+name in which they most delight is Magyar, which plainly agreeth to Magog,
+and whosoever shall dwell in the latter days, will see 'wars and rumors of
+wars' in Hungary, according to my judgment. I have learned many things
+concerning them; for either for my sins, or the badness of the roads, the
+beast on which I rode fell lame, and therefore was I forced to leave the
+horsemen, and follow on foot, supporting the weariness of the way with
+pilgrim's staff. Among us were those, who from fear and love of adventure,
+and not from devotion, had undertaken the pilgrimage. Their vain talk and
+godless manners troubled me sore. There was one who having inserted a
+shepherd's reed in his staff, played thereon and sang with his voice, not
+the pious psalms of the church, but the unholy madrigals of the sinful and
+profane. And for that he saw it pleased me not, he delighted in it the
+more, and walked by my side, and when I could not rid myself of his
+company, I questioned him concerning his history.
+
+"He was an Anglo-Dane of the north countrie, a born thrall of Earl Edwin,
+and had led a roving life from his youth. This man, whose name was
+Hardrager, was the false vassal who betrayed the young noble, and received
+from the justice of the Conqueror, the sentence of perpetual imprisonment.
+But the princes of this world are often compelled to use unworthy
+instruments in carrying forward their plans. When your royal father deemed
+it expedient for the peace of the realm to punish the treason of Earl
+Waltheof, and no man was willing to become his executioner, Hardrager
+purchased free pardon by beheading him."
+
+"It was well he sought to expiate his offences by a pilgrimage," said
+Adela.
+
+"Nay," said Ingulfus, "no thought of true penitence had ever entered his
+mind. Instead of profiting by the clemency of his sovereign, he applied
+himself anew to wicked practices, pursuing the hare and slaughtering the
+deer in the New Forest; till finally having suffered the loss of an ear
+for his crimes, and still continuing to set at naught the game laws, he
+was condemned to death; but as if the Almighty had raised him up for a
+'thorn in the flesh' to his servants, Hardrager again escaped his doom. It
+pleased your noble sire, when he founded Battle Abbey, on the field of
+Hastings, and appointed monks to pray for the souls of the slain, to grant
+to the Abbot the power of showing mercy to the guilty. It chanced
+accordingly when Hardrager was drawn from his dungeon, and carried toward
+the gibbet, that the worthy Abbot meeting the cart, caused the procession
+to stop, and moved with pity for the criminal revoked his sentence, and
+laid on him the penance of pilgrimage. Hardrager lost no time in quitting
+England, and found means to join our company, upon the banks of the
+Rhine. He seemed well provided with purse and scrip, and often on days of
+fasting, purchased an indulgence from the bishop for himself and other
+vain persons, to regale themselves with meat and wine; and yet he seemed
+not to be without a sense of sin, and a certain reverence for the commands
+of the church. He rose early, and performed his devotions with the most
+scrupulous regularity, and every night scourged his naked shoulders with a
+knotted lash; and when I looked for a reformation in his life from this
+wholesome discipline, he told me he did not that for his own sins, but for
+the sins of another, who furnished him money for the expedition; for, by
+reason of his poverty, he had engaged to work out a three years' penance,
+that had been imposed on his benefactor; and he added, with a light laugh,
+'I can better endure the smarting of my flesh by voluntary flagellation,
+than the loss of it by Compulsory abstinence.'"
+
+"By St. Stephen," exclaimed Robert, laughing, "the cunning knave is the
+true scape-goat of Scripture. It were no bad thought thus to expiate our
+sins by the vicarious suffering of some poor wretch."
+
+"Heaven forefend," said Stephen, "that we should be compelled to raise our
+own exchequer by such means."
+
+"The indulgences and requisitions of the church," gravely continued
+Ingulfus, "are too often perverted. I thank our blessed lady, who rather
+than continue me in the society of this wicked one, laid me upon a bed of
+sickness. For many days, I had with difficulty continued my journey, but
+Hardrager, who seemed insensible to fatigue, supported me by his strong
+arm, till coming to the lands of a powerful Hungarian, whose flocks and
+herds covered the hill-side for many a league, we fell behind the other
+pilgrims, and my weariness increasing upon me, I sank exhausted and
+senseless upon the ground. What was my surprise when my consciousness
+returned, to feel myself upborne in the arms of Hardrager, who was
+attempting to place me upon the back of a horse which he had stolen from
+the adjoining pasture, and bridled with the scourge that he wore about
+his loins. 'Cheer up, holy father,' said he, 'heaven has sent thee help in
+time of trouble. I will walk by thy side, and we will soon prove to yonder
+heartless drones that the last shall be first.' In reply to my
+remonstrance, he added, with a misbelieving smile, 'Nay, is it not
+written, "The wealth of the wicked is laid up for the just," yon savage
+Magyar may rejoice in the happy chance which enables him to send a
+substitute to the holy city.'
+
+"Upon my positive refusal to mount, he stood for a moment irresolute, and
+then, with a smile, 'twixt jest and earnest, fell upon one knee before me,
+saying, 'Gra'mercy, good monk, I would crave thy blessing and absolution
+for this sin ere we part, for since thou wilt not accept the bounty of
+heaven, I must e'en take it myself.' Observing my hesitation, he rose
+hastily, saying, 'It boots not, 'tis but a few lashes more, and my
+shoulders are well able to bear them. Adieu, holy father, I grieve that
+thy conscience stands in the way of thy advancement,' and springing upon
+the restive beast, he was away with the swiftness of the wind."
+
+"Nay, methinks I should have been less scrupulous," said William,
+laughing. "The fellow's dexterity merited absolution."
+
+Ingulfus resumed, "Sick and alone, and much cast down in spirit, I
+stretched myself upon the grass, and looked only for death, but He who
+suffers not even a sparrow to fall without his notice, had compassion upon
+me, and sent a good Samaritan to my relief. Korshah, the noble Magyar,
+returning from the chase, came where I was, and seeing my low estate, gave
+his servants charge concerning me, to convey me to his own castle, where I
+tarried for above the space of a month, till my bruised feet were healed,
+and my broken health restored."
+
+"It was a deed of Christian charity. I would fain learn something of this
+strange people," said Adela; "do they observe the rites of our church?"
+
+"At the beginning of the present century," replied Ingulfus, "St. Stephen,
+the Alfred of his nation, divided the country into seventy-two counties
+and twelve bishoprics, but though the people have submitted to baptism,
+and observe the sacred canons, yet there prevails among them a strange
+mixture of barbarian fables, with the truths of holy writ; and their
+language is for the most part colored with the extravagant, but beautiful
+expressions of the Orientals. And because my mind was intent upon the
+prophecies, and I would know concerning Gog and Magog and the chief
+princes of Mesech and Tubal, I questioned the noble Magyar of his country
+and the people of his ancient land. 'My people,' said he, 'are numerous as
+the stars of night, and countless as the drops of falling showers. The
+smallest twig of yonder elm, that throws its shadow across the valley, is
+greater when compared with its trunk, than is the Hungarian branch, in
+comparison with the Scythian tree, whose roots strike deep into the soil
+of China, and whose boughs overshadow the Alps--extend beyond the sea of
+darkness on the north, and distil dews upon the broad and fruitful regions
+of Persia and Cathay. Beyond the possessions of our tribes to the
+eastward,' he continued, 'may no man go; for a desert and a land of
+darkness lasts from that coast, unto terrestrial Paradise. There are the
+mountains and hills which arose from Noah's flood, when the soft and
+tender ground was worn away by the waters, and fell and became valleys.
+Paradise is the highest part of the world, so high that it touches the
+borders of the moon. And there by a radiant way through the gates of the
+morning the angels were wont to descend to commune with our first parents;
+but that way was closed that Lucifer might return no more to the regions
+of light after he had tempted them, and thus with them was he driven forth
+from the garden. And Eve carried in her hand the seeds of the apple which
+she had given unto her husband, and wherever she wandered she cast them
+into the earth, and shed her tears upon them, and they sprang up and bore
+fruit, some good and some evil, and from those seeds came every green tree
+and herb that grow upon the earth. And this garden is enclosed all about
+by a wall, which seems not to be of natural stone--and the gate is of
+carbuncle flashing, with an incredible splendor, and shooting on every
+side its beams like flaming swords. Wherefore some visionary ones said it
+was fire, and many became worshippers thereof. And in the highest place in
+Paradise, exactly in the midst, is a well that casts out four streams,
+which run by divers lands throughout all the earth, and above the fountain
+of the streams, the four princes of the stars weave the semblances of what
+shall be, and cast them upon the waters, and whithersoever these flow
+there entereth a spirit into the nation or the people that dwell upon the
+banks, and they go forth conquering and to conquer. And thus were the
+tribes of Asia inspired to go toward the west, and establish their domain
+in Europe. Therefore wise men do study the stars, and read in the scroll
+of heaven the will of the Invisible. And all the sweet waters in the world
+above and beneath, take their rise from the well of Paradise. The drops of
+the morning-dew are gendered there, and thither the clouds return after
+the rain. There the light zephyrs gather rich odors under their wings, and
+from thence carry them abroad upon all the face of the earth, and give to
+every flower its perfume. And because of the abundance of precious things
+that are found therein, many have entered these rivers and essayed to pass
+by that land of chaos unto Paradise, but they might not speed in their
+voyage; for many died of weariness, by reason of rowing against the strong
+waves, and many were dashed in pieces against the dark rocks. And many
+vessels bound with iron were drawn aside by the shipman's stone, and held
+that they might never go thence.' I inquired concerning this stone," said
+Ingulfus, "and he told me there were in the eastern seas 'certain rocks of
+adamant which attract iron; and that men would break off pieces, and
+suspend them by a thread, and that one point thereof would turn to the
+north, and another to the south; and he said also that there are two stars
+fixed in the heavens, about which all the firmament turns as a wheel upon
+an axle. He said, moreover, that the earth and sea are of a round form,
+and that by this stone many mariners have passed the whole compass of the
+earth, and come again to the same point whence they set out. And these be
+not half the things that he told me, and there is none of them all but
+have some reason and understanding in them, and some good points of our
+belief. But though this man was both learned and devout, it grieved me to
+see in him the remains of his ancient superstition, for he was accustomed
+to worship before a hideous idol. And when he knew I was grieved
+concerning the thing, he said he worshipped not the image, but the virtue
+which was in it, even as we have images of our Lady and of the saints,
+which we set before us, to keep their holiness in mind. Howbeit the man
+showed me no little kindness; and when I was sufficiently recovered, he
+furnished me with a strong, well-appointed horse, replenished my purse,
+and accompanied me to the next town on my journey.
+
+"I had hard riding to overtake my companions, which I should have failed
+in doing, had they not rested in Constantinople.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"This city was first called Byzantium, which name is still preserved in
+the imperial money called byzants. It was by divine suggestion that its
+appellation was changed. For when Constantine the Great was pursuing his
+victorious course to the east, he lodged in that place; and in his dream
+he saw, and behold there stood before him an old woman, whose brow was
+furrowed with age; but presently clad in an imperial robe, she was
+transformed into a beautiful girl, and fascinated his eyes by the elegance
+of her youthful charms--and he waked and slept again; and there came one
+unto him and said, 'The woman thou sawest is this city worn down by age,
+whose walls thou shalt restore, and whose beauty shall signalize thy name
+to the end of time. Mount thy horse and give him the rein, to go
+whithersoever he will. Take the royal spear in thy hand, and its point
+shall describe the circuit of the wall upon the ground.'
+
+"The Emperor eagerly obeyed the vision, and employed the most skilful
+architects in building the city. By casting in masses of rock and sand,
+they straitened the ancient waters, and thus the sea wonders to see fields
+unknown before amid its glassy waves, and surrounds and supplies the city
+with all the conveniences of the earth. Constantine erected there the
+circus, statues of triumphal heroes, and tripods from Delphi. And all the
+saints whose bodies he was able to collect out of every country, were
+brought thither. In Constantinople is the fairest and noblest church in
+the world, called St. Sophia. It is of a circular form, domed in, and
+supported with pillars of gold and silver, hung about by lamps of the same
+precious metal. High mass is offered there on a different altar each day
+in the year. In its innermost part on the north side, is a large and
+beautiful apartment, wherein is a chest containing three pieces of our
+Lord's cross. Three times in a year this chest is brought out into the
+nave of the church, and placed upon a golden altar, where all the people
+are permitted to worship it. Howbeit I saw it not, which thing is a grief
+of mind to me. And they say concerning this cross, that when Adam was
+about to die, Seth went unto the angel that kept Paradise, to beg the oil
+of mercy for his father. But the angel gave him only three grains of the
+tree of life. And Seth buried them in the grave of Adam, and from these
+grains sprang up three trees, and from these were fashioned the cross on
+which our Saviour was crucified, as is contained in these words, '_In
+cruci fit palma cypressus oliva_.' Thus from the death of Adam came life
+into the world. And when our Lord had risen from the dead, the Jews moved
+with envy, took the crosses from Mount Calvary, and hid them in the earth.
+And thus St. Helena, the mother of Constantine, who was descended from the
+ancient kings of Britain, found them; and when she could not distinguish
+the cross of the Saviour from those of the thieves, she caused a dead body
+to be laid upon them, and when it touched the true cross it arose. St.
+Helena caused these relics to be conveyed to Constantinople; but the cross
+of Dismas the good thief, was carried to Cyprus, and men worship it
+there. There also she found the Saviour's seamless coat, and the four
+nails that pierced his hands and feet; and of one of these the Emperor
+made a bridle for his horse to carry him in battle, and thereby he
+overcame all his enemies, and reigned from Persia to the British Sea. They
+showed me also a part of the crown of our Lord, made of the branches of
+Aubespine; and I had one of those precious thorns given to me as a great
+favor, and it hath this virtue; that whosoever beareth it about him, is
+secure from thunder and from tempest, and from the malevolence of evil
+spirits and demons. We tarried long at Constantinople, for there were many
+wonderful things to be seen. Every year the birthday of Jesus is
+celebrated with rejoicings; and on these occasions one may behold
+representatives of all the nations that inhabit different parts of the
+world; and the common people are amused with surprising feats of jugglery
+and dexterous motions of wild beasts, and birds of prey that have been
+trained to fight each other. And the Emperor entertained the bishops right
+royally in the palace of the Blaquernel, in feasts and games, and gave
+them gifts of gold and silver, rich apparel and costly jewels, so that
+they were in no haste to depart, and many of the mixed multitudes that
+followed with us, remained there, and entered the service of the Emperor."
+
+Ingulfus was surprised the following day in the midst of his studies, by a
+secret visit from Adela.
+
+"I am come," said she, "to obtain of thee, the precious thorn from the
+crown of our Lord."
+
+The countenance of Ingulfus indicated at once his reluctance to part with
+the inestimable relic, and his strong desire to gratify the princess.
+
+"Nay," said she, observing his hesitation, "I know its value, and am
+prepared to reward thee at whatsoever cost."
+
+"Though it may have been the practice of some unworthy palmers, to trade
+in relics," said Ingulfus, "I cannot make merchandise of that which
+pierced the brow of my blessed Lord. It is thine without money, and
+without price."
+
+Tears of gratitude beamed in Adela's eyes. "Good father," she answered, "I
+know right well, that by reason of thy holiness thou art safe from sudden
+danger, and therefore thou canst not need this talisman as does thy
+unworthy pupil; yet it grieves me to take without recompense that which is
+so dear to thee. Is there no gift in the power of Adela which Ingulfus
+would accept?"
+
+"Thy father hath sometime suggested," returned the friar, modestly, "that
+he would reward my poor services with a benefice. It would please me well,
+to spend the few short days that remain unto me, in England. Near the
+monastery of Croyland was I born, and within the shelter of its walls
+would I die."
+
+"Trust me for the accomplishment of thy wish," said Adela, bowing her head
+for his benediction. Then wrapping the holy thorn in a piece of silver
+tissue, and placing it in her bosom, she departed.
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+  "When thou shalt see an old man bent beneath
+      The burden of his earthly punishment,
+              Forgive him, Thalaba!
+  Yea, send a prayer to God in his behalf!"--SOUTHEY.
+
+INGULFUS' STORY, CONTINUED.
+
+From Constantinople we proceeded across the Bosphorus through Asia Minor.
+Our route was tedious in the extreme, and after we entered upon the
+territory of the Infidels, we were continually harassed by flying bands of
+Arabs; so that many were slain, and some being driven from the main body
+were lost among the mountains, and we saw them no more. At length with
+much toil, the pilgrims reached the village of Capernaum, where being
+hardly beset by the robbers, they were constrained to tarry, until they
+could obtain a safe escort from the Emir at Antioch. Howbeit I only relate
+these things as they were told me in Jerusalem; for a strange adventure
+separated me from my fellows. There are two fountains, Jor and Dan, which
+flowing down from the mountain, are collected into one, and form the
+Jordan. When we passed them in our route, I was constrained to linger
+among the shepherds, who fed their flocks in the green pastures which
+there abound, and several devout persons tarried with me; and on the
+morrow, when we had taken our leave, we journeyed on, and straightway we
+came to the conflux of these streams,--and when we saw the Jordan, each
+man hasted to divest himself of his garments, that he might bathe in that
+stream, in which our blessed Lord was baptized. So occupied were we with
+the holy ceremony, that we had not observed a band of Arabs, who assailed
+us with a shower of stones and javelins, and separated us one from
+another. What farther passed I know not, for a blow upon the temple felled
+me to the ground, and deprived me of sense.
+
+When I unclosed my eyes, I thought myself among the fiends of hell; and
+feeling for my crucifix, I found myself wrapped in many folds of fine
+cloth, in which I was firmly but gently bound. As my senses gradually
+returned, I began to note the things about me. The apartment seemed a
+long, dark cavern, whose limits I could not distinguish, lighted by a fire
+at the farther extremity, round which half clothed, swarthy figures were
+engaged in roasting pieces of flesh. Others of the same appearance were
+seated upon mats, with a cloth spread before them upon the ground, cutting
+the meat with long, crooked knives, or tearing it with their white pointed
+teeth, with savage voracity. Apart from the rest, seated upon an elevated
+cushion with his legs crossed, was a tall, strong-built man, with hair and
+beard white as snow, hanging over his shoulders, and down to his breast.
+He took no part with the revellers, but seemed to control by his look
+their wild, gibbering talk, to the end that it might not disturb my
+slumbers; for through excessive faintness, I seemed only to exist between
+sleeping and waking. His regards were fixed upon me, and his appearance
+recalled a dim recollection which I was vainly striving to trace, when at
+a word from him, the whole band disappeared behind an angle in the wall.
+The old man then lighted a torch and approached me, carefully removed the
+bandage from my head, anointed my wound with sweet-smelling balm, and gave
+me to drink of a fiery liquid, which spread like an elixir through my
+veins, and seemed instantly to reanimate me. With a smile at my puzzled
+look, he plucked away the false beard and hair, and revealed to my
+astonished sight, the swarthy countenance of Hardrager.
+
+"Well met, holy father," said he, with his wonted laugh. "Hast come to
+bring a blessing to the habitation of Hardrager?"
+
+"Is this thine habitation?" said I. "Then I was not so far wrong in
+thinking myself in purgatory!" (for I was ill-pleased with the strange
+place and bad company.) "But by what fatal mischance came I hither? Has
+the Saviour, for my sins, denied me at last the sight of his holy
+sepulchre?" and I sank back in despair.
+
+"Nay," said Hardrager, "but for the mischance which thou deplorest, thou
+mightest indeed have been in purgatory."
+
+"And where am I?" eagerly inquired I.
+
+"Thou art in the strong-hold of the Old Man of the Mountain, and guarded
+by the assassin band of Mount Lebanon," replied he.
+
+"The saints preserve me!" said I, ejaculating a prayer.
+
+"In truth thou showest little gratitude," said Hardrager, "to one who hath
+saved thy life, (thanks to the good Hungarian steed that brought me to thy
+rescue). Knowest thou not the proverb? 'Speak well of the bridge that
+carried thee safe over!'"
+
+Finding from his words, but more especially from the seriousness of his
+manner, that this wild man had really undertaken to render me an essential
+service, I began to regard him with more complacency, and finally brought
+myself to listen with interest to his story. Stung with remorse for his
+agency in the death of the noble Saxons, Edwin and Waltheof, he had
+determined, as soon as his pilgrimage was accomplished, to join the
+Varangians of Constantinople, and make perpetual war upon the conquerors
+of England. On his route through Syria, he fell in with a band of Arabs,
+wild and reckless like himself, who, scorning allegiance to any leader,
+had established themselves among the ruined towers and rocky fortresses of
+Mount Lebanon, and thence carried on predatory warfare upon all who
+ventured to travel that way. They wore the Mohammedan garb, and observed
+some of the institutions of the Koran, but were followers of Ali, uncle of
+the prophet. The superior abilities and learning of Hardrager, enabled him
+soon to master their language and their tenets, and by the fortunate
+solution of some timely mysteries, he impressed them with the belief that
+he was the prophet of Allah, and soon brought them to take oath to obey
+all his requirements. But though he had thus apostatized from the faith of
+his fathers, he retained a copy of the New Testament, and religiously
+fulfilled his vows at the holy sepulchre, and with honesty worthy a better
+man continued his nightly flagellations. He had instilled into his wild
+followers his own hatred of the Norman race, and it was because of this
+that they fell upon us with such violence at the Jordan. I should have
+perished with my companions, for the Assassins were proceeding to rip open
+the bodies of the slain and wounded in search of coin, had not Hardrager
+recognized my Saxon countenance and interposed for my rescue. With the
+greatest care and tenderness, he had me conveyed in a litter to their
+nearest haunt, where, after protracted insensibility, I found myself
+stretched upon the couch of skins in the cavern. As soon as I was
+sufficiently restored, he mounted me upon the good steed of the Magyar,
+which, being unable to walk, I was fain to ride, and accompanied me till
+we came in sight of the pilgrims encamped upon the Mount of Olives, for by
+his messengers, Hardrager had intelligence of their movements, and
+conducted me by the shortest route to join them.
+
+"Benedicite, holy father," said he, as he lifted me gently from the horse,
+and reverently inclined before me, "a blessing in the Saxon tongue would
+be health to my guilty soul."
+
+A tear glittered in his eye, and if it were a sin Heaven assoil me, for I
+yielded to his importunity and granted him the blessing. "Adieu, good
+friar," said he, "thou hast taken a load from my heart. Accept from the
+gratitude of Hardrager that which may stand thee instead, when thy fancied
+relics are of little avail." So saying, he gave me a small slip of
+parchment inscribed with Arabic characters, and rode slowly away. I thrust
+the scroll into my purse, little knowing its value, for my sight and sense
+were filled with Jerusalem, which I now saw for the first time. As I
+walked along the brow of Olivet, like my Saviour, I beheld the city and
+wept over it, for the glory of Solomon's temple had departed; the holy
+prophets and apostles had passed away, and bands of Infidels whose bright
+scimeters gleamed in the light of the setting sun dashed through her
+sacred streets, and encountered each other with barbarian clamor in her
+holy courts. The sound of the vesper-bell from the church of the Ascension
+invited us to prayer. With divine rapture we pressed our lips upon the
+stone imprinted with the last footsteps of our Saviour, and with pious
+theft we gathered some of the sacred dust from before the altar.
+
+Descending from the mountain, we spent the night in fasting and prayer in
+the garden of Gethsemane, and at the first cock-crowing, arose to pass
+over the Brook Cedron. In the valley of Jehoshaphat we were met by the
+venerable patriarch, with the Latin and Syrian Christians of Jerusalem,
+who conducted us in solemn procession through the midst of the city to the
+church of the Holy Sepulchre.
+
+There, amid the clangor of cymbals, and the sweet sounds of psaltery and
+harp, we bowed in worship and adoration, while through the cloud of
+ascending incense streamed the effulgence of innumerable lights, like the
+Shechinah of the ancient temple, and Jesus Christ the inhabitant of the
+place, alone knew the sighs we breathed, the tears we shed, the prayers we
+offered, and the thanksgivings we uttered.
+
+Our vows were accomplished, and with the benediction of the patriarch upon
+us, we went forth, to climb the hill of Calvary, to visit the pool of
+Bethesda, and to mourn over all the pleasant places which the followers of
+Mohammed have laid waste. There was one among us, who, for the sins he had
+committed, and the compunctions of conscience that he suffered, was
+desirous to yield up his soul at the tomb of the Saviour.
+
+This celebrated man, Fulk Earl of Anjou, had compelled two of his servants
+by an oath, to do whatsoever he commanded, and when we had completed our
+procession, and obtained absolution, he was by them dragged naked through
+the streets towards the Holy Sepulchre, one of them holding him by a
+twisted withe about his neck, the other, with a rod scourging his bare
+back, while the penitent cried out, "Lord, receive thy wretched Fulk, thy
+perfidious, thy runagate--regard my repentant soul, oh Lord Jesus Christ."
+
+Howbeit he obtained not his request at that time. We were desirous to go
+down from Jerusalem to Jericho, to worship at Gilgal, and view that sea,
+whose black waters roll over the cities of the plain; but the wealth of
+the archbishops had been noised abroad, and the thieves that abound in
+those parts, fell upon all those who ventured that way, stripped and
+wounded them, and departed, leaving them to perish by the wayside. But our
+Norman bands accompanied by a party of Germans, arming themselves with
+swords determined to visit the Church of the Nativity, at Bethlehem. We
+accomplished our purpose in safety, and were returning through the fields
+of the wood, when a band of mounted Saracens, with wild cries, dashed
+among us. Reluctantly, each man drew his sword and stood for his life. The
+attack fell heaviest upon the Normans, and despite our vigorous
+resistance, we should, doubtless, all have perished beneath their
+javelins, had not the frantic gestures, and more especially the green
+turbans of our assailants, reminded me of the cave of Hardrager, and
+recalled his parting words. Hastily opening my purse, I held up the Arabic
+scroll, before the eyes of a barbarian, whose drawn scimeter was flashing
+above my head.
+
+At sight of it his demeanor instantly changed. He alighted, assisted me to
+rise, laid his hand upon his heart to express his concern for what had
+happened, and shouting, Allah ackbar, to his companions, drew them from
+their work of blood, and forthwith the flying band disappeared. Nearly
+half our number were slain, and the rest of us wounded and disheartened,
+slowly retraced our steps to Jerusalem, and relinquished all attempts to
+visit the other holy places with which the vicinity abounds. Though the
+patriarch, and the monks of the various monasteries gave us hospitable
+entertainments, yet, such had been the length, the weariness and
+discouragements of the way, and such the thinning of our ranks by famine,
+fatigue, disease, and hostility, that we were fain to choose the readiest
+means of return.
+
+Learning that a fleet of Genoese merchantmen were anchored in the harbor
+of Joppa, we determined to purchase a passage over seas with them. The
+archbishops, therefore, gathered the pilgrims together, and numbered them,
+and of the seven thousand that had set out from Mentz, scarce three
+thousand remained; and on our way from Jerusalem to the place of
+embarkation through the rocky defiles which are the favorite haunts of the
+barbarians, we estimated that another thousand perished.
+
+Our voyage to Brundusium was the most prosperous part of our journey.
+Thence we came to Rome; where I showed my life to our holy father the
+pope, and was absolved of all that lay on my conscience, concerning many
+grievous points, as men must needs have that travel in company with so
+many people of divers sects and beliefs. We then proceeded through Italy,
+and the archbishops took the route to Germany; and of our band that left
+Normandy, thirty well-appointed horsemen, twenty miserable palmers, only,
+repassed the Alps, and entered France on foot, ill, weary, and penniless;
+and had not a kind Providence sent the noble Earls Robert and Stephen to
+our relief, we might at last have perished on the banks of the Eure.
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+  Can piety the discord heal,
+    Or stanch the death-feud's enmity?
+  Can Christian lore, can patriot's zeal,
+    Can love of blessed charity?
+
+The year 1077 opened with great rejoicing in Normandy. The royal family
+were reunited for the last time, to celebrate the marriage of Adela and
+Constance, with the wealthy and powerful husbands of the Conqueror's
+choice. The young Count and Countess of Blois, whose castles were numerous
+as the days in the year, determined to make a festive progress through
+their dominions, and the Earl of Bretagne, with his bride, with their
+young sister, Gundred, and her undeclared lover, the Earl of Warrenne,
+joined the happy party.
+
+In the midst of her happiness Adela did not forget her promise to
+Ingulfus. The evening before her departure, she visited the cloister of
+the palmer, and acquainted him with his preferment to the Abbey of
+Croyland. The good friar's gratitude and pleasure were unbounded.
+
+"Holy father," said the countess, "I have yet one boon to crave."
+
+"Name it," said the priest. "If it lieth in my poor ability it shall not
+fail thee."
+
+"Because it lieth in thy power do I intrust it to thee," continued she.
+"The body of Earl Waltheof, the father of our much-injured Maude, is
+interred at the four cross-roads, without the gates of Winchester; when
+thou takest possession of thy benefice, as soon as may be, thou wilt give
+him Christian burial, in the church-yard of Croyland, and cause daily
+masses to be said for his soul."
+
+Ingulfus readily promised compliance.
+
+Adela still lingered. "The lovely Maude goes with thee to England. Thou
+wilt be compelled to marry her to Simon. Soften, as much as possible, her
+hard fate, and watch over her interests, and comfort her with thy
+counsels."
+
+"It shall be done," said Ingulfus, fervently.
+
+"Father, I would confess."
+
+And the young countess, in all her beauty and pride, knelt at the feet of
+the venerable man, and with the simplicity of a child, poured out her soul
+before him.
+
+As Adela had predicted, the Conqueror, on his return to England, took with
+him Maude, as the bride of Simon. Robert sailed, also, in the same vessel,
+being commissioned by the king to establish Simon, now Earl of Huntingdon,
+in his new possessions.
+
+William, too, accompanied his father, for he, more than any of the sons,
+comprehended the policy, and partook of the spirit of the Conqueror.
+
+The remaining years of the Queen Duchess Matilda, were passed in splendid
+solitude, in the royal palace at Bayeux. The early death of the princess
+Adeliza, the failing health of Constance, together with fresh dissensions
+in her family, pressed heavily upon her mind, and occasioned the lingering
+illness that slowly conducted her to the tomb.
+
+The loss of his beloved queen, and the undutiful conduct of his sons,
+aggravated the natural irritability and imperiousness of William, so that
+according to the English chroniclers, "He became, after her death, a
+thorough tyrant." He passed the four remaining years of his life in a
+constant succession of petty annoyances, and fruitless wars, with Philip
+of France.
+
+In the stately castle of Chartres, sat the lovely Countess Adela
+apparently busy with embroidery, in that age almost the only home
+occupation of females. A shade of sadness was upon her brow, and an
+expression of anxious care indicated the mother's sympathy with the
+suffering child, that an attendant was vainly striving to soothe.
+
+"Draw the couch of the little William to my side, Therese," said the
+countess, observing the tears in the girl's eyes. "Thou hast a tiresome
+task. Remove these frames," continued she to the maidens, "and go ye all
+to disport awhile in the pleasance, I will watch my boy's slumbers."
+
+The feeble child stretched his hands to his mother, and laying his head
+upon her breast sank quietly to sleep.
+
+"Poor suffering one," soliloquized Adela, "thou knowest naught but thy
+mother's love. Already thy younger brothers despise thy imbecility--the
+courtiers regard thee with indifference--and the very menials flout thee.
+No ducal coronet, or kingly crown will grace the head of my first-born."
+
+The sound of heavy steps in the corridor disturbed the slumberer. He
+lifted his head, moaned heavily, and regarded with a vacant stare the
+warrior who entered.
+
+"Robert, my beloved brother!" exclaimed the countess, the joy of former
+times flitting across her countenance.
+
+With a moody and dissatisfied air the duke returned the frank greeting of
+his sister, and throwing himself upon a seat by her side, said in a tone
+of ill-concealed impatience,
+
+"Adela, I have come to thee, for the prudent counsel of our mother dwells
+with thee. I am robbed of my rights and stripped of my heritage."
+
+"Art thou not Duke of Normandy," inquired his sister with surprise.
+
+"Aye, verily. Our father left me the duchy with a blessing that sounded
+marvellously like a curse. 'The dukedom of Normandy,' said he, 'I granted
+unto my son Robert, and having received the homage of his baronage, that
+honor given cannot be revoked: yet he is a foolish, proud knave, and will
+be punished with cruel fortune.'"
+
+"The saints preserve thee," said the countess with a look of alarm, "and
+England"--
+
+Robert interrupted.--"'Tis of that I would speak. The Conqueror bitterly
+bewailing the desolation and woe he had wrought in England, protested that
+he had so misused that fair and beautiful land, that he dare not appoint a
+successor to it, but left the disposal of that matter in the hands of
+God."
+
+"Thou shouldst then have been king," said the Countess, "since God made
+thee his first-born."
+
+"So should I have been," said the duke, "but for the craft of William; but
+while I tarried in Germany, little thinking that my father's illness would
+terminate so suddenly, the red-haired usurper hastened over sea, and
+gaining Lanfranc to his interest secured the throne."
+
+"Always unready," sighed Adela. "And while the elder sons were thus
+employed, the young Henry watched by the bed of his dying father. Is it
+not so?"
+
+"Small watching had the Conqueror's death-bed," said Robert, with
+something between a smile and a sneer. "The filial Beauclerk set off to
+secure the treasures, and the attendants equally rapacious and inhuman,
+plundered the house of all the money, plate, and precious furniture, and
+even stripped the person of the monarch. And after Herlwin had succeeded
+in conveying the body to the abbey of St. Stephen's, and they were about
+to place it in the grave, there stood forth an insolent noble, and forbade
+the interment. 'This spot,' said he, 'was the site of my father's house,
+which this dead duke took violently from him, and here upon part of my
+inheritance founded this church. This ground I therefore challenge, and
+charge ye all as ye shall answer it at the great and dreadful day of
+judgment, that ye lay not the bones of the destroyer on the hearth of my
+fathers.' And there, exposed to the jeers of the assembled multitudes, was
+the body forced to wait, while Henry drove a sharp bargain with the owner
+of the soil, and purchased leave of burial for the paltry sum of sixty
+shillings. Oh Adela!" said Robert, rising and striding through the
+apartment in extreme perturbation, "I am weary of this greatness which
+makes enemies of brothers, and yields one scarce a grave at last."
+
+The head of the countess was bent low over her sleeping child: and the
+duke continued, "I sometimes wish I were an eremite, and unless thy clear
+wit can devise some expedient by which I can obtain my rightful
+inheritance, and chastise the vanity of this presumptuous Rufus, I am
+resolved upon a pilgrimage."
+
+"Thou saidst Lanfranc, assisted William: our uncle Odo hates Lanfranc,"
+said Adela.
+
+Robert caught at the suggestion. "My sister, I thank thee," he exclaimed
+eagerly. "Thou hast made me king. I will to Normandy, and summon my trusty
+squires to council. Simon of Huntingdon, Hugh of Norfolk, and William of
+Durham, are already disaffected and ready for revolt. Odo shall head the
+conspiracy in England."
+
+Full of his new project the duke hurried away, scarcely waiting for the
+pecuniary aid, with which the countess, who knew the impoverished state of
+his finances, hastened to furnish him.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The well-concerted scheme of the conspirators failed, through the
+characteristic indolence and procrastination of Robert. Odo effected an
+inglorious escape from England, and the rebel earls gladly made terms with
+the king. Many of the insurgents repaired to Normandy, and suffered the
+confiscation of their estates; and while the Countess of Blois daily
+expected a summons to attend Robert's coronation, she was surprised by
+intelligence that William had crossed the sea with a numerous army, and by
+menaces, bribery or fraud, had obtained possession of almost every
+fortress, on the right bank of the Seine.
+
+The barons who held lands under both brothers, labored to effect a
+reconciliation through the mediation of the French monarch.
+
+Robert still reckoning upon the liberal aid of his sister and her wealthy
+lord, resisted all overtures of peace; but Adela comprehending the
+hopeless defect of a character, that not even a crown could stimulate to
+promptitude, persuaded him to accept the terms of the treaty.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+As the splendid cortege attendant upon the Countess of Blois, and her
+young sons Thibaut, Stephen and Henry, swept along the great road from
+Chartres to Blois, the green arcades of a beautiful grove stretching down
+to the brink of a small stream that rolled its clear waters to the Loire,
+invited them to rest during the noontide hours. With loosened rein the
+steeds wandered at will cropping the tender herbage, or slaked their
+thirst in the rippling brook; while reposing upon the greensward, the
+party made a refreshing repast. The children, left to the unrestrained
+indulgence of their boyish glee, gathered wild flowers for their mother,
+hallooed to the echoes of the wood, or pursued each other along the banks
+of the stream.
+
+Allured by the sound of their happy voices, the countess left the company
+and stole after them, catching occasional glimpses of their dancing
+plumes, as they bounded on before her, till coming to an opening in the
+glen, she stopped before an antique crucifix that some pious hand had
+reared upon the verge of a fountain. Occupied with the sweet thoughts
+suggested by the place, she scarcely noted the absence of her children,
+till the little Henry, pulling her by the robe exclaimed with a face all
+radiant with joy, "This way ma m�re, Thibaut says we've found a hermit's
+cell, and Stephen is talking with the hermit." Yielding to his impetuosity
+the countess hastened forward and discovered sitting at the entrance of a
+sylvan lodge, just where the shadow of the cross fell longest at sunset, a
+youthful saint, if saint he was, reading his breviary, and telling his
+beads with affected sanctity.
+
+"Beauclerk!" said the countess after a scrutinizing gaze at his
+half-concealed features.
+
+"Thou knowest me then," said the pretended monk, in a tone of bitter
+reproach, rising and throwing off his gray friar's gown and cowl. "I
+thought myself forgotten by all my father's house."
+
+"'Tis our uncle Henry," said Thibaut, amazed and chagrined at this
+transformation of his newly discovered hermit.
+
+"And hast thou then doubted the affection of Adela?" said his sister.
+
+"It were not strange that I should doubt the love of one leagued with my
+foes," replied the prince sorrowfully.
+
+"How leagued with thy foes?" inquired the countess in great surprise.
+
+"Thou surely dost not mock me," said Henry marking the tears trembling on
+her eyelids. "Thy countenance bespeaks thy sincerity. Have I then been the
+dupe, as well as the prey of my designing brothers?"
+
+"If thou hast distrusted the love of Adela, yes," replied his sister, "but
+come thou with me. My lord awaits us at the castle of Blois. He shall
+investigate thy cause and redress thy wrongs."
+
+"Come with us, dear uncle," reiterated the children observing his
+hesitation.
+
+"Yield thyself, rescue or no rescue," said the young Stephen balancing a
+stick as a lance, and leading off the prince in triumph.
+
+"And hast thou not heard of the siege of St. Michael's Mount?" said Henry
+as he rode by the side of his sister, at the head of the cavalcade.
+
+"A passing rumor, and much I fear me, purposely perverted to restrain my
+interference, was all that reached me," replied Adela. "Tell me all."
+
+"Thou knowest," continued Henry, "that by the will of our father, the
+duchy of Normandy fell to Robert, and the rich heritage of England was
+given to William. Henry had neither patrimony nor domains, some small
+treasure was all my share. This I gave to Robert in the hour of his need,
+for the lands of Cotentin, and then passed into England, to secure the
+dower of my mother. On my return, the prodigal having squandered the
+moneys received from me, seized and confined me in one of his fortresses.
+When Normandy was invaded, he released me from my imprisonment, and I did
+him good service in compelling William to raise the siege of Rouen. In the
+treaty to which thou didst persuade Robert, I was the principal sufferer,
+and therefore"--added he with warmth, "did I deem that the guileful duke,
+had stolen into the sanctuary of my sister's affections, and robbed me of
+thy love, my choicest treasure."
+
+"My much-injured brother," said the countess, affectionately, "I knew not
+that thy interest was involved, else I had given far different counsel.
+But proceed with the story of thy wrongs."
+
+"My traitor brothers united like Pilate and Herod of old," proceeded
+Henry, with increasing asperity, "seized my castles in Cotent�n, and
+dogged my steps like sleuth-hounds on the track, till I took refuge in Mt.
+St. Michael, where the friendly tides kept them at bay; and there I had
+perished with thirst, had not Robert's tardy compassion ministered to my
+necessity, and finally effected my release. Since then, I have wandered a
+fugitive and an outcast, craving scant hospitality of my brother's
+vassals, and solacing my weary hours with clerkly studies."
+
+"Courage, my good brother," said Adela, with enthusiasm. "Thou shalt
+wander no more. Count Stephen will put thee in the way to mend thy
+fortunes; and, perchance, thou wilt one day inherit the proud fiefs of
+both thy brothers. See! yonder gleams the spires of Blois. But what
+knightly train proceeds up the broad avenue of the castle. Listen! The
+warder sounds his bugle blast, and the drawbridge is lowered. Put thy
+horse to his mettle; these laggards may follow at their leisure." So
+saying the countess and her brother dashed forward, and entered the
+court-yard just as the retinue of the Duke of Normandy wound up the
+staircase, leading to the great hall.
+
+At sight of Robert, Henry's eye flashed, and with an indignant gesture he
+turned to depart, but Adela, with a determined air, laid her hand upon his
+arm. "Remain," said she, "that portcullis bars all egress from the
+castle, and yon proud duke shall not escape till he has done thee ample
+justice."
+
+Earl Stephen gave a cordial welcome to Robert, and greeted his countess
+with much affection, but the entrance of Henry threw him into evident
+perturbation, nor did it relieve his embarrassment to see his wife, with
+characteristic heroism, advance between the rival brothers, and fix her
+flashing eyes upon Robert.
+
+The noble conduct of the repentant duke happily averted the gathering
+storm.
+
+"Spare thy reproaches, sweet sister," said he, "and thou, my brother,
+forgive the grievous injuries thou hast suffered, and accept the only
+reparation that lieth in my power. I restore unto thee Cotent�n, and would
+but for my poverty indemnify thee for thy losses. I have determined on a
+visit to the Holy Land; and I would dispose my worldly affairs, so that
+should I never return, man shall not accuse me before the throne of God."
+
+The frankness of his confession, and the seriousness of his manner,
+allayed the resentment of Henry, and effected an apparent reconciliation.
+Harmony being thus restored, Robert proceeded at proper intervals to
+unfold the desires and purposes that had brought him once again to counsel
+with Adela.
+
+Since the treaty which confirmed William in the sovereignty of England,
+not only, but secured to him several strong fortresses in Normandy, the
+duke had resigned himself to listlessness and luxury. In his aimless
+expeditions his attention had been frequently attracted by the appearance
+of a monk, who embodied in himself the spirit of a hermit, a pilgrim, and
+a soldier. His head was bare, his feet naked. His diminutive figure,
+attenuated by frequent abstinence, was wrapped in a coarse garment. His
+prayers were long and fervent, and the enthusiasm that gleamed in his eyes
+kindled the fires of holy zeal, in every town, village, and hamlet through
+which he passed. As he rode along, every street and highway was thronged
+with people, who worshipped the weighty crucifix he bore aloft, and
+listened with sighs and tears, while he depicted the sufferings of the
+Christians of Palestine, and with loud and frequent appeals to Christ and
+the holy mother, challenged the warriors of the age to defend their
+brethren, and rescue the tomb of the Saviour from the dominion of
+Infidels.
+
+Robert's curiosity was excited. He joined the eager crowds that followed
+the steps of the monk, and listened to the thrilling words till the latent
+desire of pilgrimage that had long slumbered in his mind awoke to life and
+activity, and he became a convert to the preachings of Peter the Hermit.
+But while he hesitated at the palmer's gown and staff, the united voices
+of chivalry and religion, bade him don his armor and draw his sword.
+
+In the general council of the church, at Placentia, the ambassadors of the
+Greek Emperor Alexius Comnenus had portrayed the distress of their
+sovereign, and the danger of Constantinople, from the victorious Turks.
+The sad tales of the misery and perils of the eastern brethren, drew tears
+from the assembly, and several champions declared their readiness to march
+to the East.
+
+The Greeks were dismissed with assurances of speedy and powerful succor.
+Pope Urban had given his sanction to the scheme, and summoned a second
+council to meet in Clermont the following November, to confer upon
+measures for sending armed forces into Asia.
+
+It was to secure the concurrence of Adela, and the co-operation of
+Stephen, that Robert now came to Blois.
+
+The representations of her brother, and the subject of his discourse
+renewed, in the memory of Adela, the fancy sketches of her childhood, and
+called up the half-formed purposes of her early youth. With the
+clear-sightedness peculiar to her character, she scanned the wide field
+thus opened to ambition, balanced the possible with the impracticable,
+determined for her brother the only course that would give free scope to
+his knightly abilities, and coveting for her husband a share in the
+glorious enterprise, persuaded him to embrace the scheme, and thus
+rendered herself really the "_Heroine of the First Crusade_."
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+  "Onward they came, a dark continuous cloud
+  Of congregated myriads numberless."
+
+"To dispose of his worldly affairs so that man might not accuse him before
+the throne of God," was a more serious and protracted work than the Duke
+of Normandy had anticipated. The patience of Stephen was in consequence
+nearly exhausted, in waiting his preparations, and it was not till the
+council of Clermont had been several days in session, that the nobles
+entered the district of Auvergne. As they approached the place of meeting,
+the highways were thronged by the eager crowds that flocked towards the
+city; and all the plains as far as the eye could reach, were dotted with
+tents and booths, that afforded temporary shelter for the thousands that
+could not find accommodation in the town.
+
+On the morning of the eighth day, at an early hour, the reverend clergy,
+with the pope at their head, ascended a wooden pulpit, erected in the
+midst of the concourse, and declared to them the decrees of the synod,
+concerning the various matters at that time agitating the church. But
+ecclesiastical decisions and local interests were lost in the absorbing
+theme that occupied every heart. The blessing of Heaven was invoked upon
+their deliberations; and a stillness fell upon the waiting multitudes,
+like the hush of winds before the mighty storm, while the Monk of Amiens
+in a voice of persuasive eloquence and power, told them how terrible were
+the sufferings of their brethren in the East, and how burdensome was the
+tribute exacted by the inhuman Mussulmans. He stated that lodging in the
+house of Simon, the patriarch of Jerusalem, he had become an eye-witness
+of these enormities, and had been commissioned to invite all the princes
+of the West, to contribute towards their remedy; that on a certain day
+filled with grief, he had entered the church of the Resurrection, and
+given himself to prayer, till at length sinking upon the cold stone
+pavement, there had breathed upon his senses,--first a soft strain like a
+shepherd's flute, swelling into a heavenly harmony, such as the advent
+angels sung, and then, triumphant anthems deepening into the trumpet's
+thunder tone, and the discordant clash of armor; that like Elijah of old
+he had afterwards heard a still small voice, saying, "Arise, Peter, make
+haste and fulfil without fear, what I have enjoined upon thee; for I will
+be with thee. It is time for the holy places to be purified, and for my
+servants to be succored in their distress;" that immediately after the
+seraphic vision had beamed upon his sight, the brightness of the light
+awoke him; when he beheld lying upon the altar a letter containing the
+words of the Saviour; and his own pilgrim's staff transformed into a
+sword.
+
+The Hermit ceased; and held up the miraculous scroll before the eyes of
+all the people. A wailing swept over the vast throng, and the whole
+multitude bowed, as the forest bends before the first rush of the tempest.
+
+Seizing upon the favorable moment, the pontiff arose and addressed the
+assembly. "My brethren and dearest children, whether kings, princes,
+marquises, counts, barons, or knights, all you who have been redeemed by
+the bodily passion, and shedding of the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ,
+hear the complaints of God himself, which are addressed to you concerning
+the wrongs and unlooked-for injuries, which have been done to him in Asia,
+where sprang the first germs of our faith, where the Apostles suffered
+martyrdom, and where at the present day, the persecuted christians with
+stifled sighs, long for a participation in your liberties. Have compassion
+upon your brethren that dwell in Jerusalem, and in the coasts
+thereof,--check the insolence of the barbarians, and you will be extolled
+throughout all ages--let your zeal in the expedition atone for the rapine,
+theft, homicide, licentiousness, and deeds of incendiarism, by which you
+have provoked the Lord to anger,--turn against the enemies of Christ those
+weapons, which you have hitherto stained with blood, in battles and
+tournaments against yourselves. To those present, I command this; to those
+absent, I enjoin it. For ourselves we will trust in the mercy of the
+Almighty God, and in virtue of the power He has given us, and by the
+authority of the blessed Apostles, Peter and Paul, we absolve all who
+engage in this holy war, from all the offences which they shall repent in
+their hearts, and with their lips confess, and in the retribution of the
+just we promise to the same an increased portion of eternal salvation. And
+this forgiveness shall extend also to those who contribute by their
+substance or counsel to its success. Go then, brave soldiers, and secure
+to yourselves fame throughout the world. God will accompany you on your
+march--the season of the year be propitious, both by the abundance of
+fruits, and by the serenity of the elements. Those who shall die, will sit
+down in the Heavenly guest-chamber, and those who survive will set their
+eyes on the Saviour's sepulchre. Happy are they who are called to this
+expedition, that they may see the holy places in which our Lord conversed
+with man, and where to save them he was born, crucified, died;--was buried
+and rose again. Take then the road before you in expiation of your sins,
+and go assured that after the honors of this world have passed away,
+imperishable glory shall await you, even in the kingdom of Heaven."
+
+Loud shouts of 'God wills it,' 'God wills it,' pronounced simultaneously
+in all the different dialects, and languages, spoken by the nations of
+which the multitude was composed, for a moment interrupted the prelate.
+Commanding silence by a motion of the hand, he resumed.
+
+"Dear brethren, to-day is shown forth in you, that which the Lord has said
+by his evangelist, 'When two or three shall be assembled in my name, there
+shall I be in the midst of them.' For if the Lord God had not been in your
+souls you would not all have pronounced the same words, or rather God
+himself pronounced them by your lips, for it was He who put them in your
+hearts. Be they then your war-cry in the combat, for those words came
+forth from God. Let the army of the Lord when it rushes upon his enemies,
+shout but that one cry, 'Deus vult,' 'Deus vult.' Oh brave knights!
+remember the virtues of your ancestors; and if you feel held back from the
+course before you, by the soft ties of wives, of children, of parents,
+call to mind the words of our Lord himself, 'Whosoever loveth father or
+mother more than me is not worthy of me. Whosoever shall abandon for my
+name's sake, his house, or his brethren, or his sisters, or his father, or
+his mother, or his wife, or his children, or his lands, shall receive an
+hundred fold, and shall inherit eternal life.' Gird yourselves then, my
+brave warriors, for the battle, and let him who is ready to march, bear
+the holy cross of the Lord upon his shoulders, in memory of that precept
+of the Saviour, 'He who does not take up his cross and follow me, is not
+worthy of me.'"
+
+The agony of conflicting emotions that shook the assembled throngs, burst
+forth in a storm of sighs, groans, and tears, and as the trees of the
+forest fall prostrate in the blast, the agitated multitudes sank upon
+their knees, smote their breasts in sorrow, poured forth their
+confessions, and consecrated their persons and their property to the Holy
+Crusade.
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+  "There the wild Crusaders form,
+    There assembled Europe stands,
+  Heaven they deem awakes the storm,
+    Hell the paynims' blood demands."
+                                CARLYLE.
+
+The results of the council of Clermont were speedily felt throughout
+Europe. No nation was so remote, no people so retired, but, gaining the
+intelligence by common rumor, or miraculous revelation, commenced
+preparations for the mighty enterprise.
+
+The Welshman forsook his hunting,--the Scot his native mountains,--the
+Dane forgot his wassail-bowl,--the Norwegian left his fishing-tackle on
+the sand. Whatever was stored in granaries or hoarded in chambers, to
+answer the hopes of the avaricious husbandman, or the covetousness of the
+miser, all was deserted, or bartered for military equipments.
+
+"Zeal and sympathy, and indignation and chivalrous feeling, and the thirst
+for glory, and the passion for enterprise, and a thousand vague, but great
+and noble aspirations, mingled in the complicated motive of the Crusade.
+It increased by contagion--it grew by communion--it spread from house to
+house--and from bosom to bosom--it became a universal desire--an
+enthusiasm--a passion--a madness."
+
+Princes labored like peasants at the forge or in the armory. High-born
+dames abandoned their embroidery, and employed their delicate fingers in
+fabricating garments for the retainers of their lords.
+
+The Countess of Blois laid aside the famous Bayeux tapestry, which her
+mother had left for her completion, and accompanied her husband from
+castle to castle, through all their wide domains, presiding over the
+labors of her maidens, while with pious zeal they stitched the red cross
+upon the surcoats of the warriors.
+
+Robert pledged his ducal domains to the grasping Rufus, for a sum of money
+scarcely sufficient to meet the expenses of the expedition; and Edgar
+Atheling bestowing his orphan nieces in the nunnery of Wilton, joined the
+train of his friend.
+
+Godfrey, Duke of Lorraine, a prince of the royal house of France,
+assembled his followers, from the banks of the Rhine to the Elbe; Raimond
+of Toulouse, and Adhemar, bishop of Puy, called the Moses and Aaron of the
+host, collected the Goths and Gascons, and all the mingled people between
+the Pyrenees and the Alps; Bohemond of Apulia commanded the tribes from
+the Tuscan sea to the Adriatic, while volunteers from all parts of Europe
+flocked to the standards of these noble leaders, or joined the band of the
+Hermit himself.
+
+The long-looked-for time was now at hand, when the hoary garb of winter
+being laid aside, the world clad in vernal bloom, invited the pilgrims to
+the confines of the East. And in the beginning of March, 1097, the masses
+of European population began to roll. The first band that swept on through
+Germany into Hungary consisted of twenty thousand footmen, marshalled
+under Walter the Penniless. Then followed Peter the Hermit, with forty
+thousand men, women and children. Next a German priest headed fifteen
+thousand enthusiasts, and another band of two hundred thousand unarmed and
+disorderly people hurried on by the same path; and ere these desperate
+adventurers had reached the borders of the Grecian Empire, Europe
+glittered with mustering hosts of warriors arrayed in all the pomp and
+splendor of chivalry, and led by the greatest warriors of the age.
+
+Few chieftains brought so many soldiers to the standard of the cross as
+Stephen, Count of Blois and Chartres. But notwithstanding the precipitate
+zeal of Robert, and the prompt and politic measures of Adela, the summer
+was wasted in idle delays; and it was not till the autumnal equinox that
+these distinguished nobles joined the forces of Hugh, Count of Vermandois,
+and crossed the Alps, intending to proceed by sea to the Holy Land. They
+found Pope Urban at Lucca, and received from him the standard of St.
+Peter. The autumn was passed in the gaiety and dissipation of Italy, where
+the earls disposed their troops for winter-quarters. Count Stephen
+returned once more to Blois, already dissatisfied with the prospects of
+the expedition. In the ensuing spring, one year after the time designated
+by the pope, with Robert and Hugh, and their united forces, the husband of
+Adela embarked for Palestine. In the meantime numbers, disaffected by the
+first encountering of difficulties, returned to claim subsistence from the
+bounty of the Countess of Blois.
+
+"Methinks, my beneficent sister," said Henry, observing her charity
+towards the miserable wretches, "if thou hadst seen yon beggars sell their
+flocks and herds for a few shillings, thou wouldst be better inclined to
+laugh at their folly than relieve their poverty."
+
+"Adela counts it not folly for a man to sell all he hath for the kingdom
+of Heaven's sake."
+
+"I fancy," said Henry, laughing, "that those self-sacrificers have an eye
+to the 'manifold more in this life,' rather than to the heavenly
+inheritance; and _some_, I trow, understand by the kingdom of heaven, a
+principality in Palestine."
+
+"And were not the establishment of Christian powers in Asia a worthy
+purpose?" returned Adela, little pleased at her brother's insinuations.
+
+"Certes, my beloved sister. But wherefore didst thou detain thy unworthy
+Beauclerk, is there not kingdom or duchy for him?"
+
+"Nay! I scarcely claim the merit of detaining thee," said Adela, "since I
+suspect that a stronger tie than compassion for my lone estate has
+withheld thee."
+
+"That a tender interest in the declining health of the Red King somewhat
+influenced my decision I cannot deny," replied Henry, evasively.
+
+"And had the superlative beauty of the Red King's ward no influence?" said
+Adela, pressing her advantage.
+
+"Nay, sister, since thou divinest my secret," said Henry, frankly, "I will
+e'en tell thee all. Perceiving that thy crusades would draw from the
+Norman power its military strength, I deemed it wise, in case of my
+brother's death, to entrench myself in the affections of the English
+people, by uniting my personal interest with the Saxon race. Accordingly,
+when Robert sent me to England to negotiate the mortgage of his duchy with
+Rufus, I visited the nunnery of Wilton, with Edgar Atheling."
+
+"And thou sawest there the fair novice, Matilda," interrupted Adela.
+
+"Call her not novice, she scorns the name, and hath a spirit like a queen.
+In presence of her uncle the Atheling, she tore the hateful veil from her
+head, and trampled it under her feet."
+
+"And did the spirited damsel smile upon thy suit?"
+
+"I proffered no suit save to her uncle."
+
+"And what said the Atheling to thy visionary scheme?"
+
+"He promised to give her to me with his blessing, on his return from the
+crusade."
+
+"But here comes another son of Cushi, with tidings for the Countess of
+Blois. Judging from his tattered garments, and limping gait, his story
+must eclipse all that have gone before. My '_visionary schemes_' shall not
+claim the attention that should be devoted to this magnificent eastern
+ambassador;" and with a smile of irony Henry took his departure.
+
+The appearance of the individual who entered the presence of Adela, and
+the tidings he brought, fully justified the sarcastic conjectures of
+Henry. He was a refugee from the party of Walter the Penniless, a band
+whose only recommendation for the Holy war was their poverty. Before
+setting out, each one was searched, and the man upon whose person was
+found the sum of two sous, was hooted from the camp. Animated by a blind
+fanaticism, they expected that rivers would be opened for their passage;
+that flesh would be miraculously supplied; manna rained from heaven upon
+them, and the smitten rock send forth its cooling stream. The hospitality
+of the Hungarians confirmed their faith; but when they entered the kingdom
+of Bulgaria, the illusion vanished, and the famine-stricken multitudes,
+abandoning their presumptuous trust in heaven, resorted to carnage and
+plunder. The exasperated inhabitants fell upon them without fear or mercy.
+Many were slain, numbers fled to the forests, and a remnant of the
+disappointed devotees attempted to retrace their steps to their own land.
+
+After listening to the account of the miserable fugitive, Adela remarked,
+that the misfortunes of the company doubtless proceeded from their
+forgetfulness of the last directions of the Saviour: "He that hath a purse
+let him take it, and likewise his scrip, and he that hath no sword let him
+sell his garment and buy one."
+
+"Ah, lady!" said the wretched fanatic, "think not that our misfortunes
+arose from our want of money or arms, but rather through our impatience to
+be gone, that led us to set out on Friday, instead of waiting for the holy
+rest of the Sabbath."
+
+The countess was residing with her family in Troyes, when she gave
+audience to another of her "eastern ambassadors," as Henry jocosely called
+them.
+
+This man arrived at nightfall, on a sorry mule, the self-same animal that
+a few months before, under Peter the Hermit, had led greater hosts to
+battle than Bucephalus under Alexander, and which had enjoyed such a
+reputation for sanctity that even his very hairs were devoutly treasured
+as relics. Now, jaded and dispirited, with drooping head and pendant ears,
+the poor beast slowly paced his heavy way up to the gates of the castle.
+His rider seemed no less bowed with grief and fatigue, and wearily
+dismounting, he meekly waited among the servants, till summoned to the
+presence of his mistress.
+
+"You behold, noble lady," said he, "one of those individuals whose fate it
+is to bring ruin upon every expedition in which he embarks."
+
+"Miserable man," exclaimed Adela, "hast thou betrayed the army of the
+Lord?"
+
+"God forbid that I should have been guilty of so foul a deed," said the
+pilgrim, devoutly crossing himself; "but the curse of Jonah rests upon me.
+Evil was the day when, impoverished by the wars of Duke Robert, I
+plundered the sacred vessels of a church, and melted and sold them, to
+obtain food for my starving family. The crime lay heavy on my conscience,
+and to expiate its guilt I joined the band of the Hermit. But my sinful
+love for my children prevailed over my devotion, and Satan tempted me with
+the thought, that were they permitted to accompany me, they at least might
+win the crown of martyrdom, though their father should suffer the
+punishment of his sins. With much difficulty and labor, we scraped
+together means to purchase a yoke of oxen and a cart, and the charity of
+my noble countess (heaven reward thee) provided raiment for my poor old
+father and helpless infants. Heaven pardon me, but my wicked heart was
+inflated with pride, as seating my precious ones in the vehicle, I walked
+by their side; and pleased was I as we reached any town or city, to hear
+the little ones inquire, if that were Jerusalem. Fool that I was not to
+remember the Saviour's words, 'He that forsaketh not all that he hath,
+cannot be my disciple.' There were many who, falling into the same error,
+cumbered the train with useless baggage, and many feeble and sick, both
+men and women, caused that our route was tedious and slow. The heat of
+summer came on, and the weariness of the way seemed to increase. My
+children forgot their innocent prattle, and stretched their tender limbs
+upon the floor of the cart. The old man, my father, slept, and we could
+not wake him; and my wife gave me the infant from her breast--it was
+dead--and we buried them by the wayside. This was the beginning of
+sorrows. But the _horrors_ of my crime flashed upon me, when certain sons
+of Belial among our company, set fire to the houses, and commenced to
+plunder the people through whose villages we passed. The inhabitants armed
+against us, and I shudder to describe the bloody scenes which followed.
+Enraged at the wanton attack, they rushed out upon us, fell upon the rear
+of the army, glutted their wrath with the blood of all that opposed them,
+and destroyed that part of the multitude whom weakness left without
+defence. My wife and sons fell victims to their fury, and Therese, my
+lovely daughter, was torn shrieking from my arms, and carried away by a
+brutal ruffian."
+
+"Unhappy Therese," said Adela, dropping a tear. "My poor William has pined
+for his patient nurse."
+
+"In the extremity of my desperation," continued the pilgrim, "I rushed
+into the thickest of the fight, and sought for death; but in vain. My
+crimes were too great, and I was reserved to mourn the loss of those for
+whose dear sakes I had perilled my soul.
+
+"Deploring the ruin that my sins, and the sins of such as me had brought
+upon the holy pilgrims, I determined to hide myself in a convent, and seek
+by a life of penance, the pardon I hoped to have found at the Saviour's
+tomb; and finding the deserted mule of our leader, wandering upon the
+border of a marsh, I mounted upon his back, and begged my way hither."
+
+The countess gave him money for the remainder of his journey, to the
+monastery of Caen, and with a heavy heart dismissed him.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A German monk of great sanctity resided in a solitary cell in the forest
+of Troyes. The fame of cures, effected by him, through the medium of
+invisible agents, led the countess to consult him with regard to her
+invalid son. Thibaut and Stephen, with a small train, accompanied her to
+the hermitage.
+
+On their return their way was obstructed by a crowd, collected about a
+grotesque-looking figure clothed partly in armor, and partly in priestly
+robes. His head was ornamented with a cap like that of a merry-Andrew, at
+the top of which flourished a feather cut in the form of a cross. From his
+shoulders hung numerous thongs, to which were attached boxes and bags of
+various colors and dimensions, and a rosary of small human bones was
+suspended about his neck. This he occasionally shook with demoniac glee,
+as an accompaniment to songs, whose sentiment strangely alternated between
+piety and profanity.
+
+"News from the wars," shouted he approaching the cavalcade.
+
+  "Holy relics for sinners all,
+  The thumb of St. Peter, the tooth of St Paul."
+
+"Yea more--Babylon has fallen--the Jews, the Jews--Shadrach, Meshach, and
+Abednego, are consumed in the burning fiery furnace--Ha! ha! How the
+flames crackled and sparkled--How the Long-beards winced and
+writhed--Ashes! Ashes!" said he, throwing the contents of one of the boxes
+into the faces of the spectators--"Yea more--
+
+  "The crusaders followed the spirit divine,
+  And water and blood it turned into wine;
+  That made us strong for the slaughter.
+
+Drink--heal--wassail,"--and he poured from a bottle a noisome liquid, from
+which the crowd shrank back in disgust.
+
+"The demons shrieked in the forest--and the little fiends winked in the
+marshes--they showed us the way to the holy sepulchre--bridges of
+corpses--rusty armor--glaring eyeballs. How the wolves howled on our
+track--and the black ravens croaked over the dying--'Twas rare sport to
+hear them groan.
+
+  "The goat led his followers up the steep rock,
+  The goose flapped her wings, and headed the flock;
+  List to the sound of the martyrs' bones;"
+
+and the lunatic broke into a wild fantastic dance, rattling his boxes and
+shaking his horrid rosary with demoniac frenzy.
+
+The countess was here relieved from her involuntary attendance upon the
+frightful exhibition, by the approach of Prince Henry, who having
+consigned the madman to proper care, dispersed the crowd, and permitted
+the train proceed.
+
+In reply to Adela's anxious inquiries, he informed her that the miserable
+creature whom she had seen, had belonged to a mad-rabble, that set off for
+the Holy Land without leader or guide, held together only by the strange
+infatuation of adoring a goat and a goose, which they believed to be
+filled with the divine spirit.
+
+Their malignant zeal was directed principally against the Jews, whom they
+exterminated wherever they came. The Hungarians denied them a passage
+through the country. The fanatics attempted to force their way across the
+Danube. The nation rose to arms, and for several days smote them with such
+slaughter, that the fields were strewed with the slain, and the very
+waters of the river were hidden by the multitude of the corpses.
+
+"Heaven punished their impiety with a loss of reason," said Adela, with a
+sigh.
+
+"Their impiety began with a loss of reason," said Henry, drily. "Thy
+pardon, sweet sister, but the heralds of thy grand expedition and the
+tidings they bear, remind one of the evil messengers of Job, each man
+having escaped alone to tell thee."
+
+"We have as yet gained intelligence only from the ill-appointed and
+barbarous hordes that encumbered rather than aided the expedition. When we
+shall receive news from warriors, whose heroic courage executes the plans
+of temperate wisdom, I trust that the disasters of our foes will form the
+theme of conversation," said Adela, with much spirit.
+
+"Nay, I meant not to vex thee," returned Henry, soothingly, "and to prove
+my desire of peace, I have brought with me a flag of truce," and he handed
+her a letter from her husband.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Adela's letter from Stephen contained the most gratifying intelligence.
+Completely duped by the artful policy of Alexius, the count gave a glowing
+description of his reception at Constantinople, and the splendid ceremony
+by which the Latin chiefs did homage to the Greek Emperor, for the cities
+they hoped to win in Palestine.
+
+He described the magnificence of the city, and enlarged upon the
+advantages which the holy legions would derive from this allegiance, both
+in supplies of money and provisions. He stated that Alexius had already
+furnished ships to convey them across the Bosphorus, that a part of the
+army were already in Asia Minor, and expatiated upon the munificence of
+their Imperial host, who each week presented the leader of the expedition
+with as much gold as two slaves could bear upon their shoulders.
+
+Delicately alluding to the favors bestowed upon himself, he closed the
+epistle by presenting the monarch's request to the mother, that her son
+Stephen should be sent to Constantinople, to receive princely nurture at
+the most refined and elegant court in the world.
+
+Tears of affection and gratification filled the beautiful eyes of the
+countess, as gazing upon her blooming boy, she murmured, "My son may yet
+wear the diadem of the C�sars. My father was styled The Conqueror, because
+he added a poor island to his duchy of Normandy, but what title shall he
+bear who restores a continent to the dominion of Christendom?"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+For the three following months the countess received no certain
+intelligence concerning the fate of the crusade. There were rumors of
+famine in the christian camp, and stories of dreadful battles with the
+Infidels; but the statements were vague and unsatisfactory.
+
+Prince Henry had been absent for some time quelling an insurrection in
+Normandy, and the loneliness of Adela's situation, together with the
+anxiety of her mind, filled her thoughts with melancholy forebodings, and
+subdued the natural vivacity of her manners.
+
+The prince upon his return, was alarmed by the pallor of her countenance,
+and the sadness of her tones.
+
+"Cheer thee, my sister," said he, "thou wert, indeed, a prophet, to
+declare that the victories of the warriors would compensate for the
+disasters of the rabble crowds."
+
+"Art thou the bearer of good tidings?" said Adela, a flush of hope
+irradiating her features.
+
+"Aye, verity," returned the prince, with exultation, "a well-authenticated
+account of the victories of the cross, embellished with as pretty a
+Passage of Arms in Cupid's tilt-yard, as the Romancers could well desire."
+
+"Sport not with my impatience," said Adela. "Tell me the name of thy
+messenger, and the news he brings."
+
+"The messenger is Gilbert of Becket, a Saxon esquire of Edgar Atheling,
+and, therefore, direct from Duke Robert and Count Stephen. He sailed with
+them across the Ionian Sea, and carried the shield of his master at the
+grand parade, in Constantinople."
+
+Adela interrupted him. "I know all to the time of their departure from
+that city. How have they sped in their encounters with the Infidels?"
+
+"The first place of importance which they attacked," replied Henry, "was
+Nice, the chief city of Rhoum, occupied by the Seljoukian Turks, who
+exacted tribute from all the inhabitants of Asia Minor. The Sultan Soliman
+hearing of the coming of the crusaders, left his capital defended by a
+strong garrison, and hastened to the mountains levying troops in all
+directions. The first body of croises that reached the city, was led by
+Godfrey of Boulogne, and Hugh of Vermandois, who took up their position on
+the eastern side. Raimond of Toulouse, and the Bishop of Puy, encamped on
+the south, while Robert of Flanders, and Bohemond of Tarentum pitched
+their camp upon the north. And of this Bohemond, the noble chief of
+Otranto, I must tell thee. Forty Norman gentlemen who had distinguished
+themselves in the wars of our father, returning from a pilgrimage to the
+Holy Land, disembarked in Italy. Learning that the Prince of Salerno was
+besieged by the Saracens, they threw themselves into that town, and being
+supplied with arms and horses, soon compelled the Infidels to retire.
+After their return home, deputies came to Normandy from the prince
+imploring their further assistance. In consequence of his promises and
+persuasions, several bodies of adventurers, at the head of whom was Robert
+Guiscard and his eleven brothers, emigrated together, cleared the south of
+Italy from the locust-like invaders, and established themselves lords of
+Apulia and Calabria. Robert Guiscard spent most of his life in wars with
+the Greek Emperor, and was finally poisoned by Alexius. Bohemond, the son
+of this Guiscard, espoused the quarrel, and was preparing to avenge his
+father's death, but when he heard the crusade proclaimed, his chivalric
+spirit at once caught the flame. Dashing his armor to pieces with his
+battle-axe, he caused them to be formed into small crosses, which he
+distributed among his followers, and abandoning his possessions in Italy,
+joined the pilgrims with his cousin, Tancred, a youth distinguished for
+beauty, valor, generosity, enthusiasm--"
+
+"I care not," said Adela, "though he were as beautiful as Absalom and wise
+as Solomon. There are two less distinguished chiefs, who possess far more
+interest for me than all the warriors in Italy."
+
+"Of those thou shalt hear anon," said Henry. "When this Bohemond was in
+Constantinople, the emperor sought to win his friendship."
+
+"Return not to Bohemond again," interrupted the countess, "'tis of Stephen
+and Robert I would hear."
+
+"Now, sister," said Henry, playfully, "thou knowest not what thou
+refusest. Will it not please thy woman's curiosity, to hear of the
+magnificent rooms of the Blaquernel, filled with stores of money and
+jewels, costly garments, and rich silks of unheard-of value, that Alexius
+gave Bohemond to secure his allegiance."
+
+"Nothing will please me," said Adela, "but to know what is the fortune of
+my husband."
+
+"And that will please thee well," said Henry, breaking into a playful
+laugh. "Stephen, triple Count of Blois, Chartres, and Champagne, the
+husband of my gifted sister," bowing to the countess, "son-in-law of
+William the Conqueror, father of earls, and I doubt not of kings, the most
+beautiful, accomplished, eloquent, and _prudent_ man of the times, was
+chosen president of the council of chiefs."
+
+"Heaven bless thee for thy news," said Adela, in a transport of joy; "and
+Robert?"
+
+"Justifies his youthful soubriquet of 'unready.' He came last to the siege
+of Nice. His troops, however, were fresh and vigorous, and when he
+approached the city by the west, which position had been left for his
+encampment, he scanned, with a fearless eye, the double walls, defended by
+three hundred and fifty towers, filled with bowmen, and spearsmen of the
+most determined valor. He drew up the warriors of Normandy, with those of
+Blois and Chartres, and a band from Boulogne, where a great part of the
+people led by Walter the Penniless and Peter the Hermit had been defeated
+and slain. The Infidels in mockery had formed here a great pile of their
+bones, and covered them with earth; so that when Robert arrived with his
+forces, he pitched his tent just beside the green sepulchre of those who
+had found martyrdom on that very spot. Peter the Hermit, with the remnant
+of his forces, soon after joined the besiegers, and the army, as they were
+then numbered, consisted of 600,000 infantry and 100,000 mailed cavalry.
+Each man confessed his sins, and the sacrifice of mass being offered, they
+commenced the erection of engines, and other preparations for the siege.
+Soliman himself was encamped upon the mountains, scarcely ten miles off,
+watching in what manner he might best free his city from the enemies that
+clustered around it. Two of his messengers were intercepted by Godfrey.
+They confessed that they were sent to concert with the besieged a double
+attack upon the christian camp. The crusaders immediately prepared for the
+conflict. By break of day the Moslems began to descend from the hills, and
+issue from the town. The Christians received them everywhere with
+determined valor, repulsed them on all points, became in turn the
+assailants, and all the plain around Nice grew one general scene of
+conflict. This attack was twice repeated with the same result, and the
+sultan was at last compelled to retire, astonished at the lion-like
+courage of the Franks, who with a thousand lances, could charge, and
+easily put to flight twenty thousand Turks. But amidst these splendid
+achievements, which the Saxon Gilbert described, with great vividness, he
+said it was mournful to see the pilgrims at nightfall collecting the dead
+bodies of their companions and bearing them in sad procession to the
+cypress groves adjacent, where by the melancholy glare of the torches they
+buried them without coffin or shroud.
+
+"To intimidate the besieged, the croises cut off the heads of the fallen
+Moslems, and shot them from their engines into the city.
+
+"The Turks invented a horrid method of retaliation. Long iron hooks were
+let down from the walls, by which the bodies of the slaughtered
+Christians were seized and drawn up through the air, and after being
+stripped and maimed were again cast forth upon the ground.
+
+"Young Gilbert being wounded and lying insensible, was grappled and drawn
+into the city in this manner, but finding that life was not extinct, they
+delivered him over to the care of Soliman's physicians, who tended him as
+a prisoner of note. The siege had been protracted to some length and the
+Christians had succeeded in undermining a huge tower at the north-eastern
+angle of the wall. The Sultana, alarmed at the loss of this important
+defence, determined upon flight. Several boats were prepared, and the
+Queen, with her train, among whom was young Gilbert, attended by a
+dark-eyed daughter of an Emir, beautiful as an houri, attempted to make
+her escape at night by way of the lake. As the little fleet moved
+stealthily in the shadow of the overhanging cliff, Becket seized a bow,
+and dexterously discharged an arrow towards the nearest outpost of the
+christian camp.
+
+"The twang of the bow-string attracted the attention of the Moslems, but
+Zaida perceiving the danger of her favorite smote the strings of her harp,
+and thus, ingeniously reproducing the sound, made the whole appear the
+result of accident.
+
+"Becket afterwards learned, that the dart fell at the very feet of the
+sentinel dozing by the watch-fire, who started up, aroused his comrades,
+and soon the knights of Duke Robert swarmed along the shore.
+
+"The Paynims plied their oars in vain, the Normans intercepted their
+flight. The Sultana was taken prisoner, and only the boat of the Emir with
+the disappointed Gilbert escaped capture.
+
+"The Christians having thus discovered the means, by which the city was
+supplied with provisions, procured boats from Constantinople and converted
+the siege into a blockade. All hope now abandoned the Turks, and about the
+time of the summer solstice they offered terms of capitulation.
+
+"The necessary negotiations were in progress, when Tatius, the lieutenant
+of the subtle Alexius, entered into a private treaty with the besieged,
+and while waiting for the gates to be opened, with indignation and
+astonishment the Christians discovered the imperial ensign floating upon
+the walls of Nice. Alexius endeavored to appease their wrath by
+distributing rich bribes among the chiefs, and largesses among the private
+soldiers, but dissatisfied and exasperated they struck their tents, and
+departed without setting foot within the city they had conquered.
+
+"Meanwhile, the captive Becket, was conveyed to the army of the Sultan,
+and though his ardent spirit chafed at restraint, and panted for the
+fight, his impatience was soothed by the tender attentions, and sweet
+songs, of the Emir's daughter.
+
+"Soliman, with the whole of his force, amounting to 200,000 men, hung upon
+the rear of the crusading army, concealing his own evolutions, by his
+perfect knowledge of the country, and watching those of the croises with
+the keen anxiety of a falcon hovering over its prey. By some mischance,
+Robert and Bohemond were separated from the main body of the army. They
+encamped nevertheless on the banks of a beautiful stream, in the valley of
+the Gorgon, and passed the night in repose. Scarcely had they commenced
+their march, on the following morning, when the immense army of the Sultan
+appeared upon the hills. From his station upon a lofty eminence, Becket
+had opportunity to watch the progress of the contest, and from christian
+captives that were brought to the camp, he learned many particulars
+concerning his companions.
+
+"Our brother Robert, with a vigor and promptitude foreign to his
+character, drew up his forces, formed a rampart of wagons and baggage, and
+exhorted his men to meet with bravery the overwhelming shock. The terrific
+cries of the Turks, as they bore down upon the little band, the tramp of
+cavalry--the ringing of armor--the clash of shields--the trumpets of the
+christian hosts--the shouts of the chiefs and heralds, raised so fearful a
+din that none could distinguish the war-cry of friend from foe. Becket
+perceived, however, that the Christians dropped the points of their long
+lances, and prepared to receive the heavy charge upon their swords, when
+suddenly each Moslem raised his bow, as he galloped forward, a thick cloud
+seemed to hide all objects from his sight, and two hundred thousand arrows
+dropped death among the followers of the cross."
+
+An involuntary shudder shook the frame of the countess, and she pressed
+her hands upon her eyes, as if to shut out the dreadful vision.
+
+Her brother continued, "The European chivalry spurred up the hill against
+their assailants. The Turks, as was their habit, yielded ground on every
+side, avoiding by the fleetness of their horses, the lances of the
+knights, and like the Parthians of old, continuing their fearful archery,
+even as they fled. Again they wheeled, and with fiendish yells, fell upon
+the diminished band, encompassing them within the valley; and fast as the
+Infidels fell beneath the tremendous blows of the Norman battle-axes, new
+foes stepped into their places. Borne back by the growing multitude that
+pressed upon them, the knights gave way before the Saracens, and were
+driven struggling against the very pikes of the foot-soldiers, that were
+advancing to their support. The Christians wavered. At this critical
+moment, Robert revived all the courage of his heart, and baring his head
+in the midst of the fray, seized his banner, and clear and far above all
+the roar of the conflict, Becket distinguished his cry of, Normandy!
+Normandy to the rescue! The crusaders rallied, and stood again to their
+arms, and the Turks were driven back. Again the Saracens bore down upon
+them, giving them not a moment of repose. Thick and fast was mown the
+flower of christian chivalry, soldier beside soldier, and knight beside
+knight. In the glimpses granted by the rapid evolutions of the Arab
+cavalry, Becket could see the women of the camp bringing water from the
+river to the fainting troops, and bathing the wounded and dying. Thus the
+battle lasted for many hours, when the eye of the Saxon soldier perceived
+a cloud of dust rising behind the hills. Then came banner, and pennon,
+and lance, and glittering armor, and the Red Cross fluttering on the wind.
+In scattered bands spurring on their horses for life, on came the western
+division of the croises. None waited for the others, but each hastened to
+the fight, and rank after rank, troop after troop, shouting, '_Deus
+vult_,' '_Deus vult_,' rushed over the mountains to the valley of the
+battle. The christian war-cry thrilled the heart of the heroic Gilbert,
+and he panted once more to join the standard that bore the emblem of our
+holy religion. Tearing off the white turban that Zaida had bound about his
+brow, he held it up aloft, vainly hoping to attract the attention of his
+countrymen, and regain his liberty. But all were too intent upon the rout
+of the Infidels, to notice the signal, and his heart sunk within him, as
+the emir, fearing total discomfiture, commanded the slaves to carry away
+the women and prisoners to a strong fastness in the mountains. As they led
+him along the brow of the hill, he still kept his longing eye fixed upon
+the scene of conflict, and distinctly discerned at the head of the
+division of Raimond and Godfrey, the forms of two canonized martyrs, in
+armor glittering above the brightness of the sun; and he could perceive
+that their presence struck terror into the heart of the enemy. But farther
+particulars concerning the battle he could not learn, except from the
+Saracens themselves, who seemed sadly discomfited, and hurried on in
+advance of the christian army, through Phrygia and Cilicia, laying waste
+the villages, and making a desert of the country through which they
+passed. At Tarsus he was separated from his faithful Zaida, and lodged
+alone in a Paynim tower, overlooking the Cydnus. Here he pined in
+loneliness day by day, gazing through the arrow-slit upon the
+never-varying hills, or watching wearily the waterfowl sporting upon the
+bosom of the stream. The christian host passed beneath the very walls of
+his tower. He distinguished the forms of Robert, and Stephen, and the
+Atheling, and the armorial bearings and ensigns of the various detachments
+of European chivalry, and he struggled like an imprisoned bird to be
+free. He shouted the honored names of the leaders, and the potent war-cry
+of the Christians; called on the Saviour, and Mary, and every saint in the
+calendar for release; but in vain. The walls of his prison alone echoed
+his cry; no ear heard his voice; no eye was lifted towards his lonely
+turret. He watched till the last cross disappeared in the distance, and
+overwhelmed with despair, sank in agony upon the floor.
+
+"The moon was riding high in heaven when he was awakened by the light
+touch of a delicate hand, and the soft voice of Zaida whispered, 'Gilbert!
+England!' the only Saxon words he had taught her. He started up, and an
+exclamation of joy mounted to his lip. But Zaida, with a warning motion,
+imposed silence, and beckoned him to follow her. Silently he tracked his
+stealthy way through the mazes of the castle, guided by the vision that
+glided on before him, more like a spirit of the air, than a being of
+earthly mould, and the young Englishman had dizzy work to follow her down
+a rude stone stair, winding to the base of the cliff, where a little skiff
+was moored. She motioned him to embark. He obeyed, and turned to place her
+by his side. She was gone. Far up the steep he saw the last flutter of her
+white robe. He sprang to follow, but a strong arm dashed him to the bottom
+of the boat. The rowers bent to their oars, and the little bark glided
+noiselessly down the stream."
+
+"Did he rejoin the christian army?" said Adela.
+
+"All along the banks of the river," replied Henry, "he beheld, with
+torturing gaze, the watch-fires of the christian camp, and heard the
+pass-word repeated by familiar voices, but the pirates, for such they
+were, permitted him neither to speak nor move. Reaching the sea of Cyprus,
+they put him on board a vessel, and he was conveyed to Brundusium."
+
+"And were these pirates Infidels?" inquired Adela.
+
+"Saracens they were not," said her brother, "but to what extent they
+believed in our holy religion Becket was not prepared to state. They spoke
+several dialects of the Europeans, and at the commencement of the
+crusades, turned their course towards the Holy Land, in the pleasant hope
+of serving both God and mammon with the sword."
+
+"And what farther chanced to the Saxon?" inquired the countess.
+
+"He returned through France, and when I saw him at Feschamp, had engaged
+his passage to England. And now, dear sister, I have come to take my leave
+of thee, in order to accompany him."
+
+"The news thou hast brought has removed a burden from my heart, and nerved
+me to my duties," said his sister. "But wherefore wouldst thou to
+England?"
+
+"I have learned that the Duke of Bretagne is pressing his suit with the
+fair Matilda, and I must away to see that the prize be not riven from my
+grasp."
+
+"Hast heard aught of the Countess of Huntingdon?" inquired Adela.
+
+"Aye, and strange news concerning her have I for thine ear. Thou knowest
+'tis scarce a twelvemonth since the death of her husband Simon; and she
+has again entered the holy estate of matrimony."
+
+"Impossible!" exclaimed Adela. "She who so longed for the quiet of
+conventual life!"
+
+"She was forced to forego her own inclinations to escape the tyranny of
+Rufus," returned Henry.
+
+"Poor Maude!" said Adela, "her life has been a continual sacrifice to the
+selfish interests of others."
+
+"Her patient meekness disarms even her cruel fate," said Henry. "Simon
+always regarded her with the most devoted affection, and made her sole
+heir to all her father's former possessions. It is said that our brother
+Rufus had fixed his eye upon the charming widow, and that to avoid his
+addresses, she accepted the hand of David, prince of Scotland."
+
+"She will then be thy best advocate with David's sister, Matilda."
+
+"Truth," said Henry. "The future Queen of Scotland shall aid to place the
+crown on the head of the future Queen of England. Farewell. When I come
+again I hope to present thee my lovely bride."
+
+"Heaven speed thy purpose," said the countess, fervently, and thus they
+parted.
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+  "I rather tell thee what is to be feared,
+  Than what I fear."
+
+The administration of the affairs of her domains, rendered it difficult
+for the Countess of Blois, in the absence of the most vigorous part of the
+population, to provide for the numerous families, left dependent by the
+wars; and the increasing helplessness of her idiot son, added greatly to
+the burden of her cares. 'Twas Christmas morning, the anniversary of her
+betrothal. A crowd had assembled in the grand cathedral of Chartres, to
+unite in the sacred solemnities of the day, and to witness the christening
+of Lucy, the infant countess. So occupied was Adela with the impressive
+scene, that she did not observe the entrance of several knights, on whose
+noble forms and toil-worn habiliments, the eyes of the multitude were
+riveted with the most intense curiosity; nor did she notice, while the
+bishop sprinkled the babe with the holy-water, and consecrated it to God,
+that their leader had advanced to the altar and knelt beside her at the
+font: but when the warrior stretched out his arm to receive the
+white-robed cherub from the hands of the priest, she turned to see her
+_husband_ gazing with unutterable tenderness upon his infant daughter,
+whom he now beheld for the first time.
+
+The unexpected return of their lord gave an additional impulse to the
+festivities of the day among the numerous retainers of the count.
+
+When the joyous greetings and congratulations were over, and Adela and
+Stephen were left to the free interchange of their own thoughts, the
+countess, who suspected that some misadventure had occasioned this
+unannounced arrival, led the way to an explanation. "And wherefore comes
+not Robert with thee?" she inquired.
+
+"Methinks thou mightest spare thine asking," said Stephen, looking fondly
+upon her. "Robert has not those ties that draw me to my native land.
+Adventure and war are wife and children to him."
+
+"Did wife and children draw my husband from the paths of glory and the
+cause of God?" replied the countess, apprehensively.
+
+"Those paths which thy imagination invests with glory," said Stephen, "are
+but the tracks where reptiles and savage beasts have found their way,
+among craggy rocks and thorny bushes, bleeding deadly venom. We followed
+them through deplorable suffering, and were conducted to disaster and
+defeat. And as for the cause of God, if thou hadst seen the vices of these
+_holy_ croises, and the hardships they endured, thou wouldst have deemed
+either that they were not the people of God, or that the Almighty took
+little note of the sufferings of his faithful servants."
+
+"'Tis the faint heart that feels the toils of the way, and distrusts the
+care of Providence," said Adela, reproachfully. "Did not the vows of
+knighthood alone forbid thee to abandon the holy cause?"
+
+"To abandon a cause forsaken by God and man, were the dictate of
+prudence," retorted Stephen, stung by the censure of his beloved countess.
+
+"Prudence is born of cowardice," replied she, with unabated warmth. "I
+have hitherto heard of deeds of valor, not of desertion; of victory, not
+of defeat."
+
+"Thine ignorance then excuses thy violence," said Stephen; "but if thou
+wilt listen patiently to thy lord, thou mayest perchance become better
+informed."
+
+"I will listen to nothing that brands my Stephen with cowardice!"
+exclaimed Adela. "My heart exulted in the thought that the president of
+the chiefs would counsel them to worthy deeds!" and the haughty woman
+burst into tears of mingled tenderness and mortified pride.
+
+"By the crucifix at Lucca!" exclaimed Stephen, rising in wrath, "an thou
+wilt not listen to reason, 'twere vain to talk."
+
+"And if reason determined thy return, wherefore comest thou alone?" said
+Adela, striving to conquer her emotion.
+
+"Alone!" replied the count. "Of the multitudes that left Europe at the
+preaching of Peter, three fourths have returned already or fallen victims
+to their folly. The Hermit himself has fled from the sight of miseries
+that he was impotent to relieve and unable to endure. Baldwin has joined a
+piratical band that ravage the coast of Cilicia. Raimond, of Toulouse,
+languishes the victim of a pestilential fever. Godfrey, the soul of the
+expedition, torn and lacerated, in an encounter with wild beasts, lies
+prostrate with his wounds; nay, the Count Melun, and Tatius the lieutenant
+of Alexius, have withdrawn their forces; and when sickness compelled me to
+retire for a season from the siege of Antioch, fifteen thousand Turks,
+from the heart of Asia, were on their way to join the myriads that
+surround the christian camp."
+
+"And what kind hand tended thy illness?" said the countess, her tenderness
+returning at the thought of his suffering.
+
+"The bivouac of the soldier admits few of those attentions so grateful to
+an invalid," replied her husband, much softened. "However, my
+indisposition was of short duration, and I should have rejoined my
+companions, had not intelligence reached me that caused me to abandon all
+hope for the success of the enterprise.
+
+"I tell thee that the project of subduing Asia is utterly foolish and
+vain. The Greek empire, the barrier of Europe on the east, is little less
+infidel than the sons of Islam; and every conquest of the Christians is
+claimed by Alexius as feudal lord. He wrested from us the city of Nice in
+the very hour of victory. On my return, I met him at the head of his army
+on the way to take possession of Antioch, and by representing the power
+of the Turks turned him from his purpose."
+
+"But do not the people of God always triumph in the battles with the
+Infidels?" inquired Adela.
+
+"In single encounter or in a fair field," replied Stephen, "the croises
+are uniformly victorious: but valor wields no weapon against famine and
+disease. Our army, at such a distance from their own land, must be
+dependent for supplies upon the grace of Alexius, each victory, therefore,
+but lays the foundation for another contest, and were Palestine delivered
+from the Turk, it would require still greater exertion, to wrest it from
+the Greek." The countess was silenced by reasoning which she could not
+answer, but against which all her feelings revolted. Yet though she
+apparently acquiesced in her husband's decision, her heart was keenly
+alive to every rumor that might reflect upon his fame. Nor were her
+feelings soothed, by hearing that the pilgrims besieged in Antioch,
+enfeebled by disease and wasted by famine, reproached Count Stephen, as
+the cause of all their miseries; since he had withdrawn his own forces,
+not only, but turned back the armies that were hastening to their relief.
+Her pride and ambition were deeply wounded by these reports, and when she
+learned that the Christians, at the very point to die of starvation, had
+bound themselves never to abandon the cause, till they had pressed their
+lips upon the Holy Sepulchre; that visions of saints and apostles, had
+reawakened energy and activity in their wasted ranks, that the lance that
+pierced the side of the Saviour, had been discovered and that a "bright
+squadron of celestial allies," had closed in with the battalions of the
+christian army and pursued the Saracen legions from the vale of the
+Orontes, she felt that her husband had not only tamely resigned an earthly
+crown, but had by the same cowardly act forfeited an heavenly inheritance.
+In the agony of her disappointment and chagrin, she vowed she would give
+him no rest till he returned to the Holy Land, to wipe out with his blood
+if need be, the foul stain upon his honor.
+
+In this state of mind Stephen found it impossible to interest her in any
+of their accustomed occupations and amusements. News from the Crusade
+alone restored her wonted animation, and as these tidings, generally,
+reflected little honor upon himself, he suppressed as much as possible all
+intelligence from the East, and contrived to pass his time in distant
+parts of his domains. The torturing suspense of the countess at length
+induced her secretly to dispatch a messenger to Italy. He returned bearing
+a transcript of an official letter, which the chiefs of the Crusade had
+sent to Pope Urban. After giving the details of the march from Antioch
+along the sea-coast past Tripoli, through the country of Sidon to Ramula,
+the letter went on. "Thence our troops continued their route to the
+village formerly called Emmaus, and like the disciples of old 'our hearts
+burned within us,' when there came to us certain brethren from Bethlehem
+to comfort us, after all our fatigues, and to welcome us to this holy and
+beautiful land. Sleep was banished from every eye, and ere midnight was
+well passed, every man animated by the fervor of hope and the intensity of
+desire, had girded on his armor and come forth from his tent, prepared for
+the last conflict. We wandered along the highways and fields, in darkness;
+but at length the heavens blushed with the glorious suddenness of eastern
+dawn, and as the sun shot his level rays across the sacred brow of Olivet,
+the holy city lay before our eyes. 'Jerusalem! Jerusalem!' was repeated
+with tumultuous wonder, by a thousand tongues. Every fatigue, every
+danger, every hardship, was forgotten, and the warrior became at once a
+simple pilgrim; his lance and sword were thrown aside, and the passion
+which stirred every heart, was clothed with divers gestures. Some shouted
+to the sky--some wept in silence--some knelt and prayed--some cast
+themselves down and kissed the blessed earth--'all had much to do to
+manage so great a gladness.' Taking off our shoes, we trod the sacred
+ground with naked feet, and thus proceeding, came in front of the city and
+pitched our camp upon the north, between the gate of St. Stephen and the
+tower of David. It was early summer, the harvest was upon the ground, the
+grapes were ripe upon the vines, and before the waters of the autumnal
+equinox, dropped upon us out of heaven, the ensign of the cross was
+floating upon the walls of Jerusalem. For having long assailed the
+bulwarks in vain, we prepared movable towers of great strength, which we
+rolled to the walls, commenced the assault, not as in former times at the
+sound of drums and trumpets, but with the inspiring melody of hymns and
+psalms, while the priests bowed on Mt. Zion and prayed for the aid of
+heaven on the ensuing conflict. The Infidels, to manifest their rage,
+erected the symbol of our holy religion, and cast dust upon it, but the
+Lord was with us, and the sacrilegious insult was well atoned by their
+blood, for while Godfrey and Baldwin leaped from a tower and planted a
+banner upon the battlements, Tancred and Robert burst open one of the
+gates, Raimond and his followers scaled the walls, and thus we have freed
+the city from the dominion of the Infidels, and avenged the cause of
+heaven. We laid down our arms, washed our hands from the bloody stains,
+put on the habiliments of repentance, and in the spirit of humility, with
+uncovered heads and reverent feet, walked over all those places which the
+Saviour had consecrated by his presence. The ghost of the departed Adhemar
+came and rejoiced with us, and the spirits of the martyrs who perished on
+the road from Europe to Jerusalem, appeared and shared in the felicity of
+their brethren. The whole city was influenced by one spirit, and the
+clamor of thanksgiving was loud enough to have reached the stars. Thus in
+the year of our Lord 1099, was the city of Jerusalem added again to the
+dominion of Christendom, on the very day and hour of the crucifixion of
+the Saviour. At this auspicious time, Pope Urban second sits in the Roman
+see; Henry is emperor of the German, and Alexius of the Grecian empire.
+Philip reigns in France and William Rufus in England, whilst over all men
+and all things, reigns our Lord Jesus Christ forever and ever, to whom be
+honor and glory for endless ages."
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+                          "I have deeply felt
+  The mockery of the shrine at which my spirit knelt.
+  Mine is the requiem of years in reckless folly passed,
+  The wail above departed hopes on a frail venture cast."
+                                WHITTIER.
+
+Acting upon the hint of Adela, Prince Henry repaired immediately to
+Huntingdon and secured the good offices of Maude and her husband, in
+effecting a communication with the beautiful novice Matilda. He was thus
+enabled to counteract the efforts of his powerful rival Warrenne, Earl of
+Surrey, to whom Rufus had promised her hand. Deeming it unsafe however to
+quit England, he tarried at court and passed his time in hunting and
+hawking, according to the manners of the age. The New Forest was the
+constant scene of dissolute pleasures. The sweet solemnity of the deep
+woods was daily disturbed by the Bacchanal revel, and the pure echoes of
+the dell were forced to answer the loose laugh and thoughtless
+imprecation. Godly men lifted up their voice against the corruptions of
+the age, and saintly priests warned by omens and dreams, admonished the
+Red King on a certain day, to avoid the glen in which Prince Richard was
+supposed to have contracted his fatal disease. But the impious Rufus, with
+studied contempt led the chase that way, diverting his attendants with
+ribald jests upon the warnings he had received. "Come, Deer's foot," said
+Warrenne, tauntingly to Prince Henry, "yonder bounds the stag. The fair
+hand of Matilda to him who brings the antlered monarch down." "I have
+broken the string of my arblast, and must repair to the hut of this
+forrester to replace it," replied Henry coldly. "Come on, ye laggards. Ho!
+Tyrrel, thou and I alone will be in at the death," cried Rufus, putting
+spurs to his horse. As Henry entered the cottage, a weird wife rose up as
+if from the ground before him, chanting in Norman French,
+
+  "Hasty news to thee I bring--
+  Henry, thou art now a king.
+  Mark the words and heed them well,
+  Which to thee in sooth I tell."
+
+The closing words were interrupted by hurried cries of alarm and distress.
+The prince turned, and the horror-stricken Tyrrel, whose erring shaft had
+slain the king, dashed past the door. Comprehending the whole affair at
+once, Henry remounted his horse and rode full speed to Winchester, forced
+the keys from the keeper, and took possession of the regalia and royal
+treasure. The people thronged round him in the streets, and while the
+nobles and prelates were debating on the claims of Robert, the populace,
+whose allegiance he secured by the promise of English laws and an English
+Queen, made the city resound with loud shouts of "Long live King Henry."
+Within three days he was crowned at Winchester, by the bishop of London.
+
+Scarce a month after the Countess of Blois was apprized of these events,
+the tardy Robert arrived at Chartres. He had lingered in Apulia to woo
+Sybilla, the fair cousin of Bohemond, and now returned to claim his
+inheritance, after his younger brother was securely seated on the throne.
+The countess received him with the greatest joy, and honored his peerless
+bride with the most distinguishing attentions; but when she learned that
+he depended upon her good offices with Stephen to secure assistance in a
+meditated invasion of England, her love for her favorite brother Henry,
+and her apprehension of the unsteady rule of Robert, moved her to dissuade
+him from the scheme, and she secretly hoped that he might be made
+instrumental in inducing her husband to return again to the Holy Land. She
+learned from Robert the various success of the leaders of the crusade.
+While some were still carving their way with the sword, Bohemond was
+Prince of Antioch, Baldwin of Edessa, and Godfrey enjoyed the enviable
+distinction of being King of Jerusalem.
+
+"The voice of fame has spoken oft to me of the prowess of my brother
+Robert," said she. "Did not his peers deem him worthy a principality in
+Palestine?"
+
+"Nay, it needed not the suffrages of the chiefs, since heaven itself
+preferred my poor claims above all others," replied Robert. "When a king
+was to be chosen, the bishops gave to each leader a waxen candle, and
+directed us to walk in procession to the Holy Sepulchre. As we advanced
+within the sacred place, a sudden flame kindled upon the taper I held in
+my hand, but at that moment a whisper of Rufus' death swept across my
+spirit, and remembering the throne of England I dashed out the light."--
+
+"Unhappy man!" exclaimed the countess. "Thou hast refused the call of
+heaven. Look not for success in any future enterprise. Hope not that
+divine sanction will back thine endeavor, and expect not aid or succor by
+thy sister's intervention."
+
+"By the Holy Rood," shouted Robert in wrath, "thou Queen'st it well for a
+woman whose craven husband was the first to desert his standard. It were
+indeed the part of a madman to expect assistance from the dastard earl."
+Before the anger of the countess gave her voice to reply, he strode from
+her presence.
+
+Meantime, Henry hearing that Robert had arrived in Normandy, strengthened
+his power by conciliating the English nation, and took prompt measures to
+redeem his promise of giving them an English Queen. But for some
+unaccountable reason the Saxon princess seemed averse to quitting her
+gloomy convent, nor would she consent to bestow her hand upon the
+handsomest and most accomplished sovereign of his time, till he had
+promised to confirm to the nation all the ancient laws and privileges
+established by her great ancestor Alfred, and ratified by Edward the
+Confessor. When a digest of these rights and immunities had been made, and
+a hundred copies committed to the care of the principal bishoprics and
+monasteries of England, she consented to become "the bond of peace to a
+divided nation--the dove of the newly sealed covenant between the Norman
+sovereign and her own people."
+
+The efforts of Robert, delayed till Henry's power was thus consolidated,
+of course proved ineffectual. He wasted the munificent dower of his
+beautiful Sybilla, in idle feasting, and having buried his lovely wife the
+third year after their marriage, he gave up Normandy to Henry, for an
+annual pension, and was finally taken in a revolt, conveyed to Cardiff
+Castle, where in a sort of honorable captivity he passed the remainder of
+his useless life.
+
+The spirit of crusade was still active in Europe, and combined with this
+spirit, was the hope of gain, springing from vague and exaggerated
+accounts of the wealth and principalities which the leaders of the first
+expedition had acquired. The devastated lands of Palestine were soon
+settled by families who immigrated from pecuniary or pious motives, and
+not long after the death of Godfrey, and the election of Baldwin I. to the
+throne of Jerusalem, several bodies of armed men set out to join their
+brethren in Asia. Count Stephen, wearied with the incessant importunities
+of his ambitious wife, shamed by the example of Hugh, Count of Vermandois,
+and stimulated, perhaps, by the hope of obtaining easier conquest, and
+less dangerous honors, consented to return to the Holy Land. At
+Constantinople they met with Raimond of Toulouse, who was returning for
+assistance, and proceeded under his guidance. On their way through Asia
+Minor, they encountered the Turks, lost one hundred thousand men, together
+with Hugh of Vermandois, who died of his wounds, at Tarsus. Raimond of
+Toulouse was slain at Tripoli, but Stephen, Count of Blois, with the rest
+of the leaders proceeded straight to Jerusalem; and having by the
+completion of his pilgrimage, wiped out the disgrace of his first
+desertion, embarked on board a vessel to return to Europe. The heart of
+the countess dilated with pride and joy, as from time to time she heard of
+his noble deeds, and with feelings akin to the romance of her youthful
+admiration, she hourly expected his return. One evening, sitting thus
+alone, a servant announced, that a monk in the anteroom craved permission
+to speak with her. The countess ordered him to be instantly admitted, and
+her heart sickened with a sad foreboding, as a diminutive figure veiled in
+palmer's weeds stood before her.
+
+"Speak thine errand quickly," said she, pale and breathless with
+agitation. "What of my lord?" He replied only by an upward motion of the
+hand, and Adela knew that her husband was dead. She sank back in her seat
+and clasped her hands, but kept her eyes fixed with the intensity of the
+keenest emotion upon the face of the monk. "Tell me all, good father,"
+said she, in a voice nervously firm.
+
+"I know little, noble lady," replied the palmer, "and though I have come
+all the way from Palestine to bring thee tidings, my story will be brief.
+Thou hast, doubtless, heard of the poor services of Peter the Hermit, in
+awakening the attention of Europe to the low estate of Jerusalem. When by
+Divine favor I had been so blest as to conduct the greatest warriors of
+the age to the conquest of the Holy Sepulchre, and had seen the Christians
+thus relieved from Turkish oppression, fall at my unworthy feet, and call
+down blessings upon my head, I felt to exclaim like Simeon of old, 'Lord,
+lettest now thy servant depart in peace, since mine eyes have seen thy
+salvation.' With the deepest humiliation, for having in a moment of
+temptation, wavered in faith, I thought to found a monastery upon the
+shores of Lake Gennesareth, where I might have the example of the sinking
+Peter ever before mine eyes. One evening, as I walked upon the shores of
+the sea, revolving these things in my thoughts, I felt myself suddenly
+seized from behind. A bandage was thrown over my eyes, I was forcibly
+lifted from the ground, placed upon a mule and hurried forward. I
+attempted to cry out, but a hand was laid upon my mouth, and a voice
+whispered in Anglo-Norman, 'Fear not, old man, thou art among friends, and
+bidden only to labor in thine holy calling.' Thus assured, I ceased my
+struggles. How far I was conveyed, I know not, but when the bandage was
+taken from my eyes, I found myself in a wild cave of the mountain, by the
+side of a dying crusader, and recognized in the pale countenance before
+me, the lineaments of Stephen Earl of Blois. 'Take courage, noble count,'
+said the voice that had before spoken in mine ear, 'I have caught a priest
+whose ghostly counsels will speedily prepare thee for the long journey,
+which all must sooner or later take.' With a tenderness which one would
+scarcely look for in such a savage, the chief raised the dying earl, and
+gently supported him while I received his directions concerning certain
+affairs, and ministered the last rites of our holy faith. The count
+pressed me to promise that I would, myself, bring to thee the epistle,
+which he had with much pain and difficulty indited. And when I hesitated,
+by reason of the monastery which I had resolved to found, he summoned all
+his remaining strength, and while I guided his trembling hand, drew for me
+a deed of the vale of Montier, and bade me bring it to thee for thou
+wouldst ratify it, and endow the abbey by thy bounty. Scarcely had he
+finished it, when his wounds bleeding afresh, a deadly faintness seized
+him. The chief laid him back upon the cushions. I held up the crucifix
+before his eyes, and murmuring a prayer in which were mingled the names of
+wife and children, he expired. That night I gave him christian burial
+beneath one of the cedar-trees of Mount Lebanon, the swarthy barbarians
+holding torches, and looking with reverent awe upon the solemn scene.
+Before morning I was again blindfolded, and conducted to the sea-coast,
+and put on board a vessel bound for Italy." So intent had the Hermit been
+on his narration, that he had not observed the countess, pale and rigid as
+though turned to stone; and when she clutched with convulsive eagerness
+the parcel he extended, he bowed and withdrew.
+
+She tore off the envelope, and the scarf which her girlish hand had
+wrought in the hours of her first sweet love, soiled and blood-stained,
+fell across her lap, and crept accusingly to her feet. She opened the
+letter and read--
+
+"To Adela, my best and only beloved, thy Stephen sends this last token of
+affection. In this my dying hour it is my sweetest consolation to feel
+that with my sword I have pierced the cloud that has so long been between
+us, and that could I see my Adela, she would smile upon me as the loved
+and honored husband of her youth. I have bathed in the Jordan, and
+worshipped at the sepulchre; but it was the _human love_ and not the
+_Divine_, that baptized my soul with joy, and whispered pardon to my
+wounded spirit. I have sought for glory in the land of patriarchs and
+prophets, and I have found it; but in the accents of fame my ear has heard
+only the voice of Adela. The Eternal saw mine idolatry and punished it.
+Adverse winds drove back the vessel that was to bear me to my native land.
+The King of Jerusalem called upon us again for aid. We fought in the
+plains of Ramula, seven hundred knights against the whole force of the
+Turkish army. Hemmed in on every side, we fell, bravely defending the
+standard of the cross. Fainting from loss of blood, my dull ear heard the
+cry of 'Allah ackbar.' Like one dreaming I called upon the name of
+Hardrager. Immediately the _old man_ came to me and stanching my mortal
+wound, bound it tightly with the scarf which I had thrown across my breast
+to animate me, for the conflict. I was conveyed away, and awoke as did
+Ingulfus, in the cave of the Assassins. I know that I shall die. I cannot
+long sustain the pressure of the ligament, and when once 'tis loosened my
+last blood will flow. Hardrager has promised me christian burial, and sent
+for a priest to shrive my parting soul. Think of me kindly, proudly, my
+best beloved. Teach my sons to honor their father's name, for he died
+fighting in the Holy Land. Kiss my darling Lucy, the sweet babe who
+unconsciously smiled upon my return. Darkness gathers upon my sight. The
+forms that gladdened my youthful days pass before me, and the fairest
+among them all is my bride, my Adela." A few more words were indistinctly
+traced, the page seemed blotted with tears, and the name of Stephen was
+scarcely legible.
+
+Years passed over the spirit of the countess in the intense agony of that
+one night. Her heart-strings strained to their utmost tension by the power
+of this mighty woe, thenceforth gave no response to the light fingering
+of ordinary circumstance. The tender solicitude of friendship, the sweet
+prattle of childhood, the hilarity of mirth, the consolations of religion,
+and the schemes of ambition, were endured and accepted with the same
+passionless apathy. She made a journey to Normandy, and arranged a
+reconciliation between her brother Henry and the primate Anselm with her
+accustomed wisdom. She visited Boulogne, and presided at the nuptials of
+her son Stephen with her wonted grace. She gave her Lucy to the Earl of
+Chester, with a mother's blessing, and saw her depart in the fatal White
+Ship without emotion. But when she again stood at the door of the abbey of
+Feschamp to welcome Maude once more to Normandy, the curtain of
+retrospection was lifted, and the whole drama of her life passed before
+her. Adela and Maude! The disparity between the happy child and the sad
+captive was less striking than the contrast between the elegant and
+stately Countess of Blois, and the serene and gracious princess of
+Scotland, who now met after life had gathered the bloom of their youthful
+beauty, and left the indefinable shades which character traces upon the
+human countenance. Fixed and calm were the features of Adela, once radiant
+with vivacity, but their repose was the death of emotion, and their
+calmness was not resignation, but submission to inexorable fate. The face
+of Maude, still fair and beautiful in the strength of its repose, beamed
+with the serene benignity of ineffable peace, and she seemed one, the
+joyousness of whose inner life found occasion for an overflow of
+beneficence in every outward occurrence.
+
+Again they journeyed together through the scenes that witnessed the
+triumphal progress of William the Conqueror. But it was now the task of
+Maude to soothe the spirit of her friend, bound with the chain of
+remorseful regret. Cicely, celebrated for her piety, had become lady
+abbess of the convent of Caen, and it was the intention of the countess to
+enter the nunnery under her care. In fitting up her dormitory Adela had
+laid aside all her accustomed magnificence, and the only relic of her
+former state was a gorgeous curtain that divided her oratory from the
+cheerless apartment, chosen as the home of her future years.
+
+"Maude," said she, as they sat together there, "rememberest thou the
+riddle of life and love that once formed our theme of converse in an hour
+like this? How thy heart pined for the convent, and mine shuddered at its
+gloom."
+
+"Aye," said Maude, "well do I remember it, and often have I smiled at the
+presumption which made me attempt to solve the greatest mystery of human
+existence, and arrogate to myself the choice of the future; when the
+highest wisdom leads only to the faithful performance of daily duties."
+
+"I mind me now," replied the countess, "that thy gentle admonition pointed
+to that effect.--But I scorned control, and when I saw the cruel policy by
+which my father strengthened his dominion, I determined that my hand
+should never seal the bond of a political alliance, and it was not till
+after years that I learned that the meeting between Stephen and myself
+resulted from a preconcerted plan to bind me to one whose mild virtues
+would counteract my unholy aspirings. Thy instructions had taught me the
+power of a righteous purpose, and I sought its aid to compensate for what
+I considered a defect in my husband's character, vainly hoping that
+ambition, sanctioned by religion, would secure its reward. With fatal
+skill I wrought upon his generous affections till he relinquished the dear
+delights of his family, to seek barren laurels, and find a lonely grave on
+a foreign shore."
+
+"Reproach not thyself," said Maude, tenderly.
+
+The countess heeded not her interruption. "Thou and I," said she, "have
+wrought for different ends, and the results for which I toiled have come
+to thee unsought."
+
+Maude would have replied, but the passionate woman proceeded. "Nay, let me
+speak; for since my great grief has fallen upon me, I have unburdened my
+heart to no one. As a captive thou didst bring a blessing to the household
+of the Conqueror; thy sweet spirit moulded the rude Simon into a
+benefactor of his dependents, and I know well that it was thy benevolent
+wisdom which instructed Matilda to secure the liberty of England, and the
+stability of Henry's throne. Thy silent sacrifices have made the rich
+current of thy life one stream of beneficence, while my erring spirit has
+converted the bounties of heaven into fountains of misery. My wicked pride
+found occasion in the imbecility of my first-born William for ceaseless
+repining, and sowed the seeds of sorrow in the hearts of my other noble
+beautiful children. Thibaut is in arms against his sovereign, Stephen a
+pensioner on the fickle humors of a king, Henry seeks preferment through
+the church, and my lovely Lucy, the darling of her father, lies entombed
+in the sea. Oh! Maude! Maude! my best and truest friend, pity her whose
+only occupation through long years has been 'to write bitter things
+against herself!' But I might have known it all," continued she
+impetuously, "for heaven through thy intercession deigned to warn me of my
+fate, and I would not tell thee lest thy gentle love should win me from
+it."
+
+She drew aside the curtain of the oratory, and led the princess within the
+shadow. Through the oriel windows the mellow light of the autumnal sun
+fell softly upon the altar, where stood beside the crucifix the crystal
+urn containing the hallowed dust of Palestine. The scarf of Stephen, with
+its golden embroidery rusted, and its bright pearls dimmed with his blood,
+was wound round the precious love-gift, and fastened with the thorn
+obtained from Ingulfus.
+
+"It seems but yesterday," said she, tenderly detaching the baldric, "since
+I held this up before thee with pride and pleasure, and in careless wonder
+saw thee wreathe it in the canopy of my couch. But that dream, now that my
+whole life looks a dream, seems the one reality of my existence. I shall
+tell it thee, for my spirit already feels the balm of thy gentle sympathy.
+
+"My slumbers were at first broken and disturbed. I seemed with Stephen and
+Robert in an eastern land, hurrying over rocks and sands, a tiresome,
+weary way, in pursuit of a crown which constantly tempted, but eluded the
+grasp. First I missed Stephen from my side, then Robert disappeared, and
+at last I sank down among myriads of wretches perishing of thirst. I woke
+in terror, and it was long ere I could compose myself again to rest.
+Whether I slept again I know not, but as I lay gazing into the depths of
+the heavens, my vision seemed to pierce beyond the stars; and from the
+uttermost distance came one winging his way past the bright orbs, till he
+stood within the casement, the impersonation of my lover.
+
+"My scarf lay upon his breast, and his right hand held out to me an urn,
+pure as though formed of consolidated light, upon whose amethystine
+entablature was engraven _Human Love_. As I extended my hand, and clasped
+the precious treasure, the shattered inscription fell to dust in the vase.
+I raised my eyes,--he threw a pitying smile upon me, and immediately there
+sprang up from the ashes a celestial flower, and as each living petal
+unfolded, there floated off a radiant line of light bearing the sacred
+words _Divine Love_, till the whole air was filled with redolence and
+beauty.
+
+"The ringing of the matin chimes recalled me to consciousness, and my
+bright vision was absorbed by the flood of glory which the morning sun
+poured into the apartment.
+
+"Thou saidst truth!" exclaimed Maude. "Thy dream is a reality; for in the
+ashes of _Human Love_, the _Divine_ plants the sweetest hopes of
+existence."
+
+The long sealed fountain of Adela's tears began to flow, and as the
+gracious drops distilled from her surcharged heart, and her paralyzed
+sensibilities felt once more the bliss of emotion, the strong, proud
+woman, became gentle and humble as a child.
+
+"Maude," said she, clasping her hands in gratitude, "there was ever a
+mystery about thee. I had thought to wear out my life in sad penance, and
+thou hast opened to me a source of happy contemplation: henceforth my
+desert future, fertilized by the sweet waters that have gushed from the
+rock at thy magic touch, shall blossom with the flowers of Paradise."
+
+The abbess Cicely here entered, and summoned them to the hall of general
+reception, where Maude embraced her son and received the ambassadors sent
+by her husband to conduct her to Stirling, the place appointed for her
+coronation, as Queen of Scotland.
+
+"Go," said Adela, with affectionate joy, as she saw her depart. "Go to thy
+bright destiny. Thou art a living illustration of the truth of scripture,
+'Be thou faithful over a few things, and I will make thee ruler over many
+things.'"
+
+
+
+
+ELEANOR.
+
+
+[Illustration: Eleanor of Aquitaine.]
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+                "In the midst was seen
+  A lady of a more majestic mien,
+  By stature and by beauty marked their sovereign Queen."
+
+The southern provinces of France, Poitou, Saintogne, Auvergne, Perigord,
+Limousin, Angoumois and Guienne, received of the Romans the classic
+appellation of Aquitaine. This beautiful land, watered by the Garonne and
+Loire, whose clear and sparkling streams, flowing from vine-clad hills,
+stretched their silvery arms to irrigate the fairest fields and to enclose
+the finest harbors in the world, was in the twelfth century, inhabited by
+the most civilized and polished people on the face of the earth. The arts,
+and the idealities, and the refinements of life, like the native flowers
+of its sunny vales, seemed wakened and nourished by the genial airs of a
+climate, softened by the proximity of the sea, and rendered bracing by the
+mountain breeze. The numerous and independent sovereigns, whose feudal
+sway extended over this fair territory, imbibed the spirit of chivalry,
+and caught the enthusiasm that precipitated the armies of Europe upon
+Asia. Count Raimond of Toulouse, was one of the first who took the cross,
+at the council of Clermont. He was styled _par excellence_ the Moses of
+the expedition. Before leaving for Palestine, on his returnless voyage, he
+ceded his dominions to his daughter, wife of William IX. of Poitou. The
+grand-children of William IX. were Eleanor and Petronilla. The father of
+these fair sisters, William X., left Aquitaine in 1132, with their uncle
+Raimond, who was chosen prince of Antioch.
+
+The poetical taste of Eleanor was early cultivated and developed by the
+unrestrained freedom she enjoyed in the queenless court of her minstrel
+grandfather in Gay Guienne. The language that prevailed all over the
+south of France, was called Proven�al. It was the mother-tongue of Duke
+William, the grandfather of Eleanor, who was one of the most liberal
+patrons and earliest professors of that style of composition in which the
+Troubadours celebrated the feats of love and arms. The matchless charms of
+Eleanor were enhanced by all the accomplishments of the south. Her fine
+genius found ample exercise in composing the sirvantes and chansons of
+Proven�al poetry, and her delicate fingers wiled the spirit of music from
+the echoing harp to accompany her voice adown the tide of song. She
+inherited from her grandfather the political sovereignty of her native
+dominions not only, but the brilliant talents and ancestral superiority
+that made her Empress in the realm of Taste, and Queen of the courts of
+Love.
+
+When the gay and licentious Duke William felt the infirmities of age
+coming upon him, he determined to seek the readiest means to rid himself
+of the burden of his sins. Accordingly, he resolved to resign the most
+potent sceptre in Europe to the unpractised hand of his youthful
+granddaughter, and devote the rest of his days to prayer and penitence in
+a hermitage of the rocky wilderness of St. James de Compostella. Eleanor
+had not attained her fifteenth year when her grandfather commenced his
+career of self-denial, by summoning the baronage of Aquitaine to transfer
+their allegiance to herself; and the child-sovereign exercised the royal
+functions of her new dignities while the duke visited the court of Louis
+le Gros and offered her hand to the young prince. The wise lawgiver of
+France readily accepted the proposal--for the rich provinces which
+constituted the dower of Eleanor, held allegiance to the crown, only by
+feudal tenure; and the son, equally impatient for the possession of his
+fair prize, set off with a noble train for Bordeaux. The light heart of
+Eleanor was easily won by the unrivalled attractions of Louis le Jeune,
+whose courtly graces were illuminated by the prospect of the crown of
+Charlemagne; while the damsels that composed her court, exercised their
+blandishments with cruel skill upon the too susceptible hearts of the
+cavaliers that came in the train of the bridegroom. The parliament of Love
+deliberated day by day in mock solemnity upon the pretensions of the fair
+rivals, and the discreet decisions of Eleanor, the presiding genius of the
+conclave, inspired the songs of Trouveres and Troubadours, who vied with
+each other in celebrating her charms.
+
+A succession of long, bright days, closed the month of July, and on the
+last evening the court of Love continued its session till the brilliant
+twilight had faded from the western sky, and the mellow harvest-moon
+poured a silver flood upon fountains that sprang as if instinct with life
+to catch and fling the shining radiance upon the gay company that still
+lingered in the Rose Pavilion. The Queen of the court, attired like Venus,
+sat upon a throne, canopied with Acaeia, through whose trembling leaves
+the light fell playfully contending with the envious shadows that seemed
+striving to hide her smiles. At her feet sat her favorite page, with wings
+framed of gauze attached to his shoulders, holding a lyre, fashioned to
+resemble the bow of Cupid, upon which he occasionally struck a few notes
+to announce a change in the evening's entertainment. Lovely maidens
+arrayed as Nymphs and Graces reclined upon verdant couches around the fair
+arbitress of these amorous debates. Groups of light-hearted girls,
+representing heathen goddesses, listened encouragingly to their favorite
+minstrels, and strove, by various subtle arts, to win the meed of praise
+to the verse that celebrated their charms. Sirventes and Chansons had been
+recited and sung, still the assembly listened with an air of impatience,
+as if anticipating matters of more general interest. With a smile that at
+once excited and baffled curiosity, the Queen touched the cheek of her
+page with her flowery sceptre, saying, "Why slumbers the harp of my pretty
+Peyrol? Has he no song for the ear of his lady?"
+
+"Peyrol cannot sing in the Romance Walloon," said the youth, casting down
+his eyes with jealous pique.
+
+"Proud one," replied the queen, "thou knowest that though the lord of
+_oui_ and _non_ delights our eye, his language charms not our ear. We
+would hear a pretty faibleaux of Grenada, or wilt thou give us a fitting
+apostrophe to the court, where Gaiety and Innocence preside."
+
+"Nay, honored lady," said the page, "since Gaiety and Innocence parted
+company on the plains of Pleasure, harmony hath forsaken the lyre, and not
+even the goddess of Love can heal the discord."
+
+"Thou pratest, pert boy," replied the queen, with a stolen glance at
+Petronilla.
+
+Perceiving from her tone, that he had presumed too far, the page bent over
+his harp and rapidly swept his fingers across the strings, saying
+apologetically,
+
+"If my lady will accept a lay of Bretagne, Peyrol is ready to do her
+bidding."
+
+"The sweet tones of the langue d'oc little befit the rugged legends of the
+northern clime," said the queen, "but tune thy lyre without further
+parley." The page needed no second command, but sang:--
+
+   1. In a province fair of sunny France,
+      Beside a winding river,
+      Over whose waves in joyous dance,
+      The sunbeams gleam and quiver,
+      Stood a castle tall, a goodly sight,
+      With its broad and rich domain,
+      And therein dwelt a noble knight;
+      I ween he had a lady bright
+      And three sweet babes withouten stain.
+
+   2. A generous heart, an open hand,
+      To courtlie companie,
+      And eke as any in the land
+      For beggars of low degree.
+      So gentle his mien in lady's bower,
+      So full of courtesie,
+      Yet valiant was he in tournament,
+      And a good bow in the greenwood bent,
+      I wot right dextrously.
+
+   3. He had been blest in his earthly state
+      With such fair prosperity,
+      That his heart beat high with pride elate,
+      Forgot he the giver good and great
+      And christian humility.
+      Whereat to punish his arrogance,
+      Our Lady sent him sore mischance,
+      And dire adversity.
+
+   4. Sir Isumbras to the hunt has gone,
+      Riding so gallantly,
+      With hawk and hound in the dewy morn,
+      When a vision bright above him born,
+      Appeared in the clear blue sky.
+      He saw a maiden meek and fair,
+      An angel I wist was she,
+      A messenger sent to bid him prepare
+      For chill calamity.
+
+   5. A woful man was the knight that day,
+      He turned him home in sore dismay,
+      When his good steed fell and died,
+      And hawk and hound of life bereft,
+      Sir Isumbras in the forest left,
+      With no living thing beside.
+      When to him there came his little foot page,
+      As fast as he might hie.
+      My noble master, a sad message,
+      It is that I bear to thee.
+      "Thy proud castell lies in ruins low,
+      Thy lady and children escaped the blow,
+      But and with jeopardy."
+
+   6. The knight bowed meekly to heaven's decree;
+      A wiser and sadder man was he,
+      And with his lady and children, three,
+      Sir Isumbras boune him o'er the sea--
+      A penitent pilgrim he would be
+      To holy Palestine.
+      Through seven weary lands they went--
+      The strength of the babes was wellnigh spent,
+      For charity, cold was their nourishment.
+      They came to a wood, with flowers besprent--
+      To a rapid river of broad extent,
+      Where never the sunbeams shine.
+
+   7. His eldest born, Sir Isumbras bore
+      With tenderest care to the farther shore;
+      But ere he returned again,
+      A lion fierce from the thicket sprang--
+      The little one tore from that cruel strand,
+      Nor him might they regain.
+
+   8. He found his lady weeping, full lorn,
+      For in his absence a leopard strong,
+      With a fell and bloody unicorn,
+      The others from her arms had torn.
+
+   9. The lady wished that she might die,
+      Or ever this sore calamity,
+      She should have been preserved to see;
+      But the knight with meek humility,
+      To Mary mother a prayer 'gan say,
+      That his penance might soon have end--
+      When wandering through the weary land,
+      The Sultan's captives they were ta'en
+      Before his face to bend.
+
+  10. I trow the Sultan had rarely seen
+      A lady so lovely, in form or mien,
+      Or a knight so bold and true.
+      "Sir knight, I will give thee gold and fee,
+      As much as thou might wish to see,
+      If thou wilt renounce Christianity,
+      And fight for the banners of Paynimrie,
+      And sell thy lady bright to me;"
+      His form to its height he drew.
+
+  11. "Our Lady forefend that I should e'er
+      In infidel ranks a standard bear,
+      Or the holy cross betray;
+      And for weal or woe my lady fair,
+      I wed in the face of day;
+      A recreant knight I be when e'er
+      This right I shall gainsay."
+
+  12. They have putten off his scarlet mantell
+      Within the goldis shred;
+      They drove him from that land of Baal,
+      And left him as he were dead.
+      The lady was sent to a far countrie,
+      The bride of the Sultan she should be,
+      When from the wars of Chrisendie
+      In triumph he returned.
+
+  13. Asleep in the forest the good knight lay
+      And when he awoke at dawn of day
+      He saw his treasure borne away,
+      By an eagle strong in search of prey--
+      No longer he there sojourned.
+      To the Virgin he made a fervent prayer
+      Invoking for aye her watchful care.
+      Then to Palestine he turned.
+
+  14. Through ten long years the knight pursued
+      His weary pilgrimage;
+      Then buckled he on his armor bright,
+      With heart beating free and light,
+      He hath boune him for the fight,
+      A gallant and unknown knight
+      Withouten heritage.
+
+  15. Much they marvelled then to see
+      A warrior, unknown as he,
+      Such deeds of valor do.
+      They wist he was no mortal wight,
+      But some weird magician sprite,
+      When in the thickest of the fight
+      The Sultan dread he slew.
+
+  16. They have broughten him to the christian king
+      With gladness and great welcoming,
+      And honor and praise had he;
+      But his object fell he did obtain,
+      For his mighty enemy he hath slain.
+      He donned his pilgrim weeds again,
+      And his wanderings pursued.
+
+  17. The scorching sun, with a feverish glare,
+      On the burning sands cast radiance clear;
+      When weary and faint the knight drew near,
+      Where stately and tall a castle fair
+      From a green oasis rose.
+      The cool palms waving in golden light,
+      With music of murmuring fountains bright,
+      Beckoning called the fainting knight
+      To bowers of repose.
+
+  18. He passed the portals of the hall,
+      And stood 'mong squires and good knights tall,
+      Holding it seemed high festival.
+
+  19. A lady beautiful to see,
+      Sat 'neath a gorgeous canopy.
+      She was queen of that countrie,
+      Lady of generous chivalry,
+      And eke of lowly charity.
+      The holy Palmers with reverence,
+      Welcomed she to her residence;
+      Gentle and kind was she.
+
+  20. But the knight would not be comforted,
+      For restless recollection shed
+      A sadness over all.
+      In silent mood he wandered
+      Through tower and lofty hall.
+
+  21. It fell on a day the Queen with her guest
+      Were seated at the mid-day feast,
+      When entered her favorite page in haste.
+      In the early morning he went in quest
+      Of eaglets' eyries, and on the crest
+      Of a lofty mountain he found a nest,
+      With golden treasure hid in its breast,
+      Wrapped in a scarlet mantel.
+
+  22. No sooner beheld she the page's prize,
+      Than the tears o'erflowed the ladie's eyes.
+      My true and loyal knight she cries,
+      (The palmer looked on with mute surprise.)
+      Hast thou Sir Isumbras seen?
+      One moment they gazed in silent survey,
+      The mists of memory rolled away;
+      And locked within his arms she lay--
+      The lost one found again.
+      And there was feast and festival;
+      Resounded then through bower and hall,
+      The lute and joyous madrigal;
+      And joustings there were in tournament,
+      And breaking of lances in compliment,
+      To the beauty of ladies bright;
+      Then over the Sultan's fair domain,
+      In peace the knight and lady reign;
+      Till the king in all sincerity,
+      Strove with pious zeal to free
+      From the bonds of Infidelity,
+      _His Paynim lieges hight_.
+
+  23. But no one there his cause upheld,
+      Save God and the Queen, I trow;
+      And were they e'er so valorous,
+      Never could they withstand
+      An armament so numerous,
+      As the unbelievers' band.
+
+  24. Then by a chance miraculous,
+      The tide of war was turned.
+      As they might be sent in our Lady's name,
+      Three knights came pricking o'er the plain,
+      As if the ground they spurned.
+      Came the first on a lion strong;
+      On a leopard the second was borne--
+      The third bestrode a unicorn.
+      Tall men and brave were they;
+      The hosts of the Saracens fled in dismay,
+      And repenting of their disloyalty,
+      Returned they then to their fealty;
+      And the knight and lady peacefully
+      Together with their children, three
+      Restored to them so happily,
+      Reigned in tranquillity,
+      Prosperously and long.
+
+  25. They lived and died in good intent;
+      Unto Heaven their souls went.
+      When that they dead were,
+      Jesus Christ, Heaven's king,
+      Give us aye his blessing,
+      And shield us aye from care.
+
+Rousing herself from the abstraction that had prevented her hearing the
+song of her page, the queen remarked, "Thy story is somewhat long, and for
+ourself we would have preferred that the husband had won the holy estate
+of martyrdom 'neath the sword of the Soldan. But thou hast rhymed it right
+dextrously, and we opine that the moral of thy lay accords well with the
+ascetic manners of the north." She extended her wand. The herald then
+stood forth, and sounding a few notes on a chalumeaux, cried,
+
+  "Comes there no cause of Arrets d'amour,
+  Our gracious liege and sovereign before,
+  From lady, knight, or troubadour?"
+
+The flute-like call was thrice repeated, and then a low response to the
+challenge issued from a mimic grotto, curiously roofed with overhanging
+vines.
+
+"The minstrel of our sister Petronilla has leave to present her cause
+before our court," said the queen encouragingly, as the troop of the young
+princess advanced from the shadow into the clear light, and knelt at the
+footstool of justice.
+
+"The lady Petronilla," began the Troubadour, "arraigns before the court
+her recreant knight, Count Rudolph of Vermandois. Cold greeting gives he
+for her fair looks, scant courtesy for her warm smiles; his ungloved hand
+returns not the pressure of her slight fingers, and the banderol she sent
+him flutters not from his gleaming lance." A slight pause followed this
+accusation, and the herald again stood forth and demanded if any minstrel
+or Troubadour could say aught in extenuation of the offence of the
+accused. Not a voice answered, not a harp string stirred. At the third
+call the page of Eleanor arose, and with a graceful obeisance begged to be
+heard.
+
+"Rudolph of Vermandois," said he, "witnesseth by me, that since he set
+lance in rest to do his devoir for the fair Adelais of Champaigne, his eye
+and smile, and heart and hand, as loyal husband and true knight, are due
+and devote to her alone."
+
+A general murmur attested the disapprobation of the assembly at this new
+and strange defence; for it had already become a proverb in Guienne, that
+"True love cannot exist between married persons." The importance of the
+action, however, elicited a brilliant contest among the rival Troubadours,
+and never was a case more warmly argued, more skilfully enveloped with the
+subtleties of logic, or more thoroughly transpierced with the sallies of
+wit, than that which arose from the efforts of the wily granddaughter of
+Philippa of Toulouse, to fascinate the husband of the granddaughter of
+Adela, Countess of Blois. The fair jurors finally, like their successors
+in modern days, rendered their verdict in accordance with preconceived
+opinions, independent of justice or argument. The defence being thus found
+invalid, the culprit was put under ban of the court, and all true ladies
+were forbidden to smile upon him, except by the grace of his slighted
+lady-love. The fairy camp then adjourned its sitting to receive the royal
+guests, who were already on the way to meet them. As Eleanor accepted the
+assistance of her lover to climb the terraced pathway leading to the
+castle, she said with her most bewitching smile, "We consign our young
+sister, Petronilla, to the care of our noble cousin of Vermandois." The
+count dissembling his reluctance bowed and offered his hand to the
+sprightly sorceress, and the queen whispered her sister, "The hawk is
+hooded, it must be thine to bind his jessies."
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+  Where is the antique glory now become,
+  That while some wont in woman to appear?
+  Where be the bold achievements done by some?
+  Where be the battles, where the shield and spear?
+  And all the conquests which them high did rear
+  Be they all dead, or shall again appear?
+                                SPENSER.
+
+The first of August, 1137, rose upon a brilliant ceremonial. The princely
+capital of Bordeaux glittered with all the splendor that Guienne, and its
+dependent fiefs could supply; for on that day the native subjects of
+Eleanor assembled to accept the resignation of Duke William, and to give
+the hand of their liege lady in marriage to the heir of France. Though
+Eleanor was sufficiently dazzled by the prospect of ruling in the court of
+Paris, she had the sagacity to accept the proposal of her barons and
+refuse her consent to the arrangement, till by charter and deed she had
+secured inviolate the laws and customs of Aquitaine, and the
+administration of the government to herself alone. Upon the conclusion of
+the ceremony the duke laid down his robes and insignia of sovereignty, and
+in presence of his loving subjects and weeping grandchildren, took up the
+hermit's cowl and staff and departed on his lonely pilgrimage.
+
+The royal cortege set out the following day for the north, resting only at
+the principal towns, where the young duke and duchess received the homage
+of the feudal lords.
+
+At Blois, the Count of Vermandois, who had by circumstances that seemed to
+him wholly accidental been forced to give his constant attendance upon the
+artful Petronilla, embraced once more his beautiful Adelais, and pleading
+her ill health, obtained permission of the prince to absent himself for a
+time from court. The disappointed Petronilla could scarcely conceal her
+chagrin at this unlooked-for interruption in her proceedings, and from
+that moment conceived the most violent hatred of her innocent rival. On
+their entrance at Paris, instead of the enthusiastic greeting and splendid
+festivities which Eleanor had anticipated, the bridal party was escorted
+through silent streets by weeping attendants, who conducted them to the
+death-bed of Louis VI. The great legislator of France gazed with a look of
+solemn benignity upon the youthful pair that knelt to crave his parting
+blessing, and reminding them, that their recent union involved not only
+their individual happiness, but the peace and prosperity of both the north
+and the south, added with his expiring breath, "Remember, royalty is a
+public trust, for the exercise of which a rigorous account will be exacted
+by Him who has the sole disposal of crowns and of sceptres."
+
+On the conscientious mind of Louis, the words of his dying father made a
+deep impression; but his thoughtless partner was no sooner crowned Queen
+of France, than she entered upon her career of folly, exerting all her
+talents, and exercising all her influence in the exciting games of court
+intrigue. The impassioned verse in which Abelard celebrated the beauty and
+love of the gifted but frail Heloise, furnished employment for Eleanor's
+Proven�al minstrels, and formed the topic of general remark among the
+minions of the court. She assisted the persecuted monk in his defence
+before the Council of Sens, and after his death caused his body to be
+conveyed to the chapel of the Paraclete, and consigned to the care of the
+melancholy Heloise. She persuaded Louis that the services of his prime
+minister Vermandois, were indispensable at Paris, and thus, again, brought
+that nobleman within the charmed sphere of Petronilla's attractions. She
+contrived, at the same time, to secure for herself a devoted admirer in
+the Count of Ponthieu, who became the agent of her slightest wish. Through
+his gallantry she succeeded in involving the beautiful Adelais in some
+matters of court scandal, and thus by exciting the jealousy of the Count
+of Vermandois, and exposing him to the bewitching spells of her sister,
+she finally persuaded him to divorce his lovely and amiable wife, and
+espouse the designing Petronilla.
+
+Adelais sought to hide her sorrow and her wrongs in the seclusion of a
+convent; but her brother, the valiant Count Thibault of Champagne, was not
+inclined to suffer the indignity in silence. Such, however, was Eleanor's
+power over the plastic mind of her husband, that the count appealed in
+vain to the sympathy or justice of the king. Finding that his remonstrance
+could not reach the royal ear, he presented his cause before the pope, who
+compelled Vermandois to put away the guilty Petronilla, and take back the
+injured sister of Champagne. The repudiated wife enraged at her own
+dishonor, and incensed at the undissembled joy with which Vermandois
+exchanged her dazzling graces, for the long-regretted charms of the
+weeping recluse, again had recourse to Eleanor. The queen, not less
+vindictive than her sister, and more practised in diplomacy, succeeded in
+fanning an ancient feud between Louis and Count Thibault, into the flame
+of war. The king invaded Champagne at the head of a large army, and
+commenced a devastating progress through the province. The town of Vitry,
+strongly walled and fortified, for a long time resisted the royal forces;
+but the queen, whose apprehensions of the temperate counsels of Suger,
+prompted her to accompany her husband upon every occasion, privately
+commissioned a body of Gascons to set fire to the town at the very moment
+of its surrender. The flames spread from house to house, and finally
+extended to the cathedral, and thirteen hundred persons who had taken
+refuge there, were burned to death. The king stung by the cries of his
+perishing subjects, exerted himself for their rescue, but in vain; and the
+horrors of the scene made such a fearful impression on his mind, as
+seriously to affect his health. The vision of his lamented father,
+repeating in solemn tones, "Remember, my son, that royalty is a public
+trust, for the exercise of which a rigorous account will be exacted by Him
+who has the sole disposal of crowns and of sceptres," haunted his slumbers
+and destroyed his rest. Queen Eleanor journeyed with him from one holy
+place to another, to entreat the prayers of pious monks in his behalf,
+but the dejection of his mind increased to such an extent, that even her
+insinuating blandishments failed to recall him from his gloomy
+contemplations. Wearied with fruitless endeavors, she petulantly remarked
+to Petronilla, who now triumphed in the possession of a new lover, the
+young Count Maurienne, "Fate has given me the name of queen with the
+destiny of a nun. Would we were again in our native realm, for I tire of
+this dull life. Instead of the gay minstrelsy of the sweet southwest, I am
+jaded with perpetual psalmody, and my attempts to beguile the weary hours
+with the 'joyous science,' are mocked with the mummery of muttered
+prayers. I have married a monk rather than a monarch;" and the mortified
+queen burst into tears.
+
+While this state of feeling subsisted between the conscience-stricken
+Louis and his discontented consort, news of the fall of Edessa and the
+conquests of Noureddin reached Europe, and the sagacious Eleanor saw, in
+the general sympathy which the intelligence excited, the means by which
+she might make the melancholy of Louis the instrument of her own pleasure.
+She forsook at once her gay amusements, joined her husband in alms, deeds
+and prayers, expressed the greatest pity for the misfortunes of their
+royal cousins, and constantly wished that she might be permitted to lead
+her brave Proven�als to restore the gallant Courtenays to their lost
+principality of Edessa. The gracious change in the character of Eleanor
+delighted the penitent monarch, and he began to listen with interest and
+pleasure to her oft-repeated suggestion, that a pilgrimage would prove an
+acceptable penance for the misdeed at Vitry. Animated by a renewed hope,
+he called a council of the clergy and nobility of his kingdom to
+deliberate on the propriety of an expedition to the Holy Land, and by
+their advice despatched deputies to gain the sanction of Pope Eugenius.
+The vicar of Christ entered readily into the design, and commissioned the
+famous St. Bernard, abbot of Clairvaux, to preach the _Second Crusade_.
+Louis and his queen, and all their court, attended on the ministry of the
+holy man, and such crowds flocked to listen to the eloquent saint that no
+cathedral, however large, could contain them. His auditors were impressed
+by his sanctity, persuaded by his enthusiasm, and carried away by his
+zeal. "The cross!" "The cross!" was echoed from every tongue. Louis and
+his queen were the first to adopt the holy symbol, and as the multitudes
+that pressed forward to follow their pious example soon exhausted the
+supply already prepared, the reverend orator tore his monkish garment into
+small pieces and fixed them to the shoulders of his kneeling converts.
+
+Encouraged by his success, St. Bernard passed into Germany, and every city
+and village from Constance to Carinthia responded to the call of war.
+Those who understood not even the language which he spoke, were awed by
+his gestures, and the dignity of his demeanor, and the miracles that
+accompanied his presence. The mind of the emperor Conrad III. was moved by
+his startling delineations of the judgment day, when punishment should be
+inflicted upon the idle, and heavenly rewards showered upon the faithful,
+and openly professed that the Lord of the Germans knew and would perform
+his duty to the church.
+
+The romantic purpose of becoming a female crusader now completely occupied
+the light head of Eleanor, and as she was in the very plenitude of her
+charms, and possessed sufficient wealth to practise any extravagance, she
+soon made it the fashion among all the vain sentimentalists of her court.
+The absurd arrangements which she made for the campaign, gave little
+promise of rational conquest. The female recruits sent their useless
+distaffs and embroidery-frames to all the knights and nobles who had the
+good sense to suppose that Heaven would be better pleased with their
+remaining in peace at home, than by their going abroad to destroy their
+fellow-men; and this ingenious taunt had the desired effect upon the
+doughty knights, who, fearing a woman's raillery, joined an expedition to
+Syria to prove their valor. The fair warriors clothed themselves in helmet
+and hauberk, having golden crosses tastefully embroidered upon the left
+shoulder; gilded slippers, glittering spurs, and silver-sheathed
+falchions suspended from the side completed the equipment, and mounted on
+richly-caparisoned steeds, they formed a brilliant squadron, caricoled
+about Paris and performed a thousand fantastic follies in public, calling
+themselves the body-guard of the _Golden-footed Dame_.
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+  A voice, a flute, a dreamy lay,
+  Such as the southern breeze
+  Might waft, at golden fall of day
+  O'er blue transparent seas.
+
+Louis took the cross in 1146, and in the following year, having received
+from the pope the consecrated banner as a warrior, and the staff and scrip
+as a pilgrim, set out for the general rendezvous at Mentz with his queen
+and her grotesque cavalcade. Here they were joined by an immense number of
+nobles and knights and soldiers, among whom were crusaders from England
+and the remote islands of the northern sea. After the lapse of half a
+century, the second crusade, consisting of two hundred thousand people,
+tracked their way along the banks of the Danube by the whitening bones of
+those who had fallen victims to the blind fanaticism of the first
+expedition. Manuel Comnenus, who now sat on the throne of Constantinople,
+adopted the same policy that had distinguished the councils of his
+grandfather, Alexius. His envoys, bearing letters filled with flattery and
+fair speeches, met the advancing warriors, but the imperial guides were
+instructed to conduct the soldiers of the west by difficult and circuitous
+routes, and the purveyors had secret orders to furnish them with sacks of
+flour mixed with chalk and lime. Conrad, who was the brother-in-law of
+Manuel, was so indignant at this breach of hospitality, that he crossed
+the Bosphorus without meeting or conferring with the emperor--but the
+splendid city of Constantinople presented too many attractions to the
+female adventurers to be passed in so hurried a manner.
+
+The wily Comnenus soon perceived that the readiest means to divide the
+forces of the crusade would be to amuse the fickle Queen of France. All
+the voluptuous refinements of the Greek court were accordingly put in
+requisition to detain his unwelcome visitors, and if the avaricious
+Bohemond was bribed with the contents of a treasure-chamber in the palace,
+Eleanor might well be excused if her frivolous fancy was captivated by her
+splendid suite of rooms adorned with all the luxury of eastern
+magnificence, and the richly-attired slaves that waited her slightest
+bidding, and when at last they set forward, the Damascene silks, costly
+jewels, and precious gifts, which Manuel showered upon the finery-loving
+Amazons, added not a little to the cumbrous baggage with which the
+thoughtless queen loaded the expedition.
+
+Louis, lulled into security by the flattering assurances of Manuel, had
+lingered in the Greek empire till the defeat of Conrad at Iconium, when
+convinced by the report of the discomfited Germans, of the treachery of
+his royal host, he set forward with his troops along the coast of Asia
+Minor. They passed Thyatira, Sardis, and Philadelphia without accident,
+defeated the Turks on the banks of the Meander, and arrived in safety at
+Laodicea. The freaks of Eleanor and her female warriors were the cause of
+all the misfortunes that afterwards befell the French army. On the second
+day after leaving Laodicea, their way led up the mountains, by a winding
+and difficult ascent. The prudent king sent forward the queen and her
+ladies, escorted by his choicest troops, under the guard of Count
+Maurienne, charging them to entrench themselves upon the wooded heights
+that overlooked the valley of Laodicea. Himself followed slowly with the
+rearguard, encumbered by the useless baggage, and harassed by the Arabs.
+The Count Maurienne, with Petronilla by his side, rode gallantly up the
+steep, and halted at the place appointed, but when Eleanor reached the
+spot she was so attracted by the appearance of an adjacent valley, cooled
+by waterfalls, and shaded by thickets, which seemed to beckon them on with
+an inviting grace, that she insisted upon pressing forward, and forming
+the bivouac there. The Count Maurienne endeavored to dissuade the queen
+from her purpose, by representing the danger of abandoning the commanding
+position designated by the king, but opposition only increased her
+pertinacity, and aided by the light artillery of Petronilla's eyes, she
+soon brought the discomfited knight to terms. The scene that opened before
+them as they descended into the valley, was sufficient to charm away all
+fatigue and fear. The rocky heights at the west, behind which the sun was
+just sinking, veiled their bold fronts in the misty fringes of the opal
+clouds; the blue Mediterranean circled the horizon on the south; and far
+to the east stretched every variety of woodland, meadow, and glade, till
+the Taurus ridge, melting into the sky, shut out the sands of Syria. The
+happy party soon entered the valley. The sumpter mules were speedily
+unloaded, the light spars planted, the white canvass of the tents
+stretched upon them, and a cold collation spread out for their
+refreshment. When the repast was finished Eleanor caused her couch to be
+placed at the door of the tent, so that wild roses nodded at its pillow,
+and flinging herself upon it, as the brilliant stars of that eastern clime
+looked down upon her, she exclaimed, "Petronilla, my sister, seems not
+this like our own dear Provence? I could almost fancy myself once more in
+the Rose Pavilion."
+
+"Certes," said Petronilla, "and were it not a fitting time and place to
+hold the festival of our Court of Love? Methinks yon, count," with a
+mischievous glance at Maurienne, "withstood our entreaties to enter this
+delightful retreat beyond the limits of gallantry."
+
+"Gra'mercy, fair ladies," said the count, with mock gravity, "that I fear
+the frowns of this august tribunal more than the displeasure of my royal
+master, is perhaps my sin, and it is with unfeigned apprehensions that I
+surrender to the court."
+
+"I accuse the count--" began the princess. Maurienne interrupted her,
+"Petronilla my accuser! Then am I lost indeed. I had hoped to hear her
+eloquent lips plead my excuse."
+
+"Nay! nay!" said Eleanor, striking the velvet turf with her tiny foot.
+"The court forbids these disorderly proceedings. Henry de Blois, arrest
+thou the Count Maurienne at the complaint of the princess, bind his hands
+with this string of pearls, and confront him with his accuser. Our brave
+Warrenne, take thy spear and stand sentinel by yon copse. A prowling
+Saracen would make an awkward addition to our goodly company. Knights and
+ladies, recline at ease upon these verdant cushions. When the cause of
+this culprit shall have received verdict, perchance your own delinquencies
+may pass review."
+
+"Heaven forefend!" exclaimed a chorus of voices, mingling ejaculations
+with merry laughter and gay pasquinade.
+
+The queen, now in her element, succeeded in quelling the tumultuous mirth,
+though an occasional titter was elicited by the solemn visages of
+Maurienne and Petronilla, who played their part to admiration.
+
+"Where is the petulant Peyrol?" inquired the queen, looking round the
+circle, "we can no more proceed with our important affairs without the aid
+of song than could the prophet without the inspiration of music."
+
+"Peyrol, my liege, attends upon the king," replied a Spanish cavalier, who
+had recently rode so constantly by the side of the queen that the
+courtiers dubbed him her saddle-beau.
+
+"Gonzalvo," returned Eleanor, "we have heard that thou stringest a lute
+upon occasion. Let not our pastime be marred by the defection of this
+truant boy. Give us a Moorish ballad, if thy memory serves thee with
+nothing better. Our royal spouse will be here anon and summon us to
+prayers."
+
+"I am but a poor pilgrim, and little skilled in the 'Joyous Science,'"
+said the Spaniard, with affected modesty; "but the command of my queen
+must give me the fitting inspiration." He touched a melodious prelude, and
+sung in a clear, manly voice:--
+
+  1. "I a minstrel of Grenada, Gonzalvo Bercio hight,
+      Once wandering as a pilgrim, found a meadow richly dight,
+      Green and peopled full of flowers, of flowers fair and bright,
+      A place where many a weary man would rest him with delight.
+
+  2. "And the flowers I beheld all looked and smelt so sweet,
+      That the senses and the soul they seemed alike to greet,
+      While on every side ran fountains through all this glad retreat,
+      Which in winter kindly warmth supplied, yet tempered summer's heat.
+
+  3. "And of rich and goodly trees there grew a boundless maze,
+      Rich grapes and apples bright, and figs of golden rays,
+      And many other fruits beyond my skill to praise,
+      But none that turneth sour, and none that e'er decays.
+
+  4. "The freshness of that meadow, the sweetness of its flowers,
+      The dewy shadows of the trees that fell like cooling showers,
+      Renewed within my frame its worn and wasted powers,
+      I deem the very odors would have nourished me for hours."
+
+An arrow that pierced the tent, and fell among the strings of the
+minstrel's harp, interrupted the symphony, and called forth discordant
+screams of terror. A moment after the Earl of Warrenne, breathless and
+bleeding, rushed into the assembly, and communicated the startling
+intelligence, that the Turks had taken possession of the heights allotted
+for their encampment, and that the king, unaware of his danger, was
+proceeding to the snare, spread for his whole army. Maurienne hastily cast
+away his mimic fetters, and counselling his lovely charge to remain as
+close as possible beneath the shadow of the trees, stationed a small guard
+to defend them, and hastened back to the assistance of his sovereign.
+
+The Syrian moon now rose broad and clear in the east, and the frightened
+females, huddling together like a flock of timid sheep, could distinctly
+see the heavy-armed troops on which rested all their hopes, toiling slowly
+up the mountain, in the face of a tremendous shower of arrows and loose
+masses of stone which the Moslems threw upon them from above. Men, horses
+and baggage, overborne by the sudden attack, rolled down the precipitous
+steep, and the expiring cries of familiar voices could be distinctly heard
+through the still air. Maurienne soon succeeded in putting to flight the
+Arabs that had attacked the vanguard, but the most dreadful havoc was made
+among the followers of Louis, and the king himself was only saved by the
+greatest efforts of personal valor. Seven thousand of the flower of French
+chivalry paid with their lives the penalty of the queen's caprice. The
+baggage containing the fine array of the lady-warriors, was plundered by
+the Arabs, and the fragments of their dainty supper was the only provision
+left for their sustenance.
+
+The further progress of the French was beset with dangers and privations.
+The discipline of the army was broken, and they marched or rather
+wandered, for they knew not the roads, along the coast of Pamphilia,
+purchasing or plundering food of the frightened inhabitants; and famine
+thinned the ranks with such rapidity, and so many horses and other beasts
+of burden perished by the way, that it was finally determined to turn
+aside from these scenes of desolation and proceed by sea to Antioch. But
+upon reaching the coast, a new difficulty occurred. A sufficient number of
+ships could not be procured to transport them all, and the brave peers of
+France, with honorable pride, agreed that the simple pilgrims, with the
+women and children, should alone make their passage with the king, while
+themselves should continue their route on foot. Louis distributed what
+money he had among the soldiers, who were left to surmount the higher
+difficulties of the land route, and engaged a Greek escort and guide to
+conduct them, and taking leave of the miserable beings who had followed
+him to their own destruction, went on board the ships. The escort soon
+deserted the French soldiers, the guide betrayed them, and but few if any
+ever reached Syria.
+
+The royal party arrived at Antioch in a condition little short of beggary;
+but Prince Raimond, the uncle of Eleanor, opened his hospitable gates to
+them, and by the beautiful stream of the Orontes, the distressed warriors
+of the cross refreshed themselves after their fatigues, and the
+thoughtless queen regained once more her roses and her smiles. Recent
+experience had greatly cooled her military ardor, and the gaiety of the
+court of Antioch presented greater attractions to her fancy than a journey
+over the sandy plains of Syria. Prince Raimond, wishing to avail himself
+of the panic which a new arrival of crusaders had spread among the Turks,
+to extend the limits of his own territories, set himself at once to
+prevent the immediate departure of Louis for Jerusalem. The prince was the
+handsomest man of his time, and directly began to pay the most assiduous
+court to his lovely niece. The queen, flattered by his attentions,
+commenced such a series of coquetries with him as greatly scandalized and
+incensed Louis; but it was not till she attempted to persuade her husband
+to join Raimond in an expedition against Cesarea that she found she had at
+last irritated the kind monarch beyond the limits of forbearance. Louis
+left her in anger, and departed with his forces for Jerusalem, where he
+was received with the greatest joy. Crowds of ecclesiastics and laymen
+going out to meet him, conducted him within the holy gates, singing,
+"Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord."
+
+Disappointed in the assistance of Louis, Raimond determined to secure an
+ally in Saladin, a young Emir of the Sultan. Eleanor, who was at this time
+moping with chagrin at the desertion of her husband, first saw the
+handsome barbarian at a Passage of Arms given by Raimond for her
+amusement, in which the dark-browed Saracen drove a javelin through the
+target with such skill and grace as completely pierced her heart. She
+immediately conceived the idea that if she should convert this powerful
+Infidel to the Christian faith, she should achieve a greater conquest than
+all the forces of Christendom. Prince Raimond, who gladly availed himself
+of any attraction that should detain the Arab chief within the walls of
+Antioch, smiled upon her pious project. But to bring a follower of the
+Prophet devoutly to consider the tenets of the Latin church, required
+more familiar intercourse and a greater exercise of personal influence
+than the ceremonious observances of Eastern society permitted, or the
+strictly virtuous deemed quite discreet. The zealous queen, however,
+scorned to be controlled by such fastidious considerations. Her apartments
+opened upon a terrace which conducted to a garden filled with every
+variety of odoriferous shrub and fragrant flower, at the foot of which a
+clump of olive-trees spread abroad their arms to hide a mossy seat from
+the intrusive rays of the sun. A little wicket concealed by vines led from
+the garden into the street, and Eleanor kept the key. Through this wicket
+she admitted her young disciple, and in this retreat, with missionary
+zeal, commenced her efforts for the conversion of the Mussulman. It was
+some time before the European and Asiatic succeeded in coming to a perfect
+understanding; for though Saladin was tolerably well versed in the Lingua
+Franca, his vocabulary comprehended little else than those terms used in
+common intercourse or war. Whether the philosophers of that day had taught
+that though some languages may be deficient in expressions of abstract
+ideas, all are replete in the dialect of love, certain it is, that both
+teacher and pupil became aware of the fact in their own particular case.
+But it was no part of Eleanor's religious plan to entangle herself in a
+mesalliance, and when the fascinated Emir began to stammer forth his
+admiration, she playfully told him she could understand love only in the
+Proven�al tongue. The Saracen took his departure, and though she watched
+anxiously for the arrow tipped with the eagle feather, by which he was
+wont to announce his coming, she saw him not again for twenty days. When
+the long-wished-for token at length appeared, and the handsome youth in
+his crimson robe and green baldric stood again before her, his face
+radiant with joy, and his dark eyes sparkling with delight; when she heard
+him pour forth his eloquent passion in the loved Proven�al, with all the
+fluency and ease of a native, she almost fancied a miracle had been
+wrought, and felt convinced that not to lead such talents to the bosom of
+the church would be a grievous sin. The Saracen soon persuaded her that
+love for her alone had endowed him with supernatural powers, and the
+delicate flattery determined her to exercise to the fullest extent the
+influence that could produce such wonderful effects. The young Emir belted
+his tunic with a silken girdle several yards in length. Upon this ribbon
+Eleanor, still intent upon her design, embroidered a cross which the youth
+accepted with his accustomed gallantry, saying, "I worship the Divinity it
+represents." The next day he brought her a casket of diamonds, and an
+ivory box filled with the sweetest perfumes. As he reclined at her feet
+she opened the box, and twining his raven hair about her fingers poured
+the precious liquid upon his head.
+
+Peyrol who from his childhood had regarded the queen with the impassioned
+devotion of the south, had hardly consented to share her heart with Louis.
+Since her marriage, her ambition for conquest had kept him constantly in a
+state of jealous excitement. His interested eyes had been the first to
+discern her stolen interviews with Saladin; and on the day of her
+acceptance of the diamonds, he contrived to secrete himself in the garden,
+and thus witnessed the whole affair. Convinced of her danger, he set off
+direct for Jerusalem, to advertise Louis of her conduct, and while Eleanor
+fancied herself doing God service in her efforts to convert the lord of
+the Saracens, though at some slight sacrifice of personal delicacy, the
+king arrived at Antioch, and hurried her away with small leave-taking of
+her uncle, and without even allowing her a parting interview with her
+heathen convert. Eleanor submitted to this unaccustomed harshness of her
+husband, with a very ill grace. She attempted to explain to him that she
+was doing more for the preservation of the Sepulchre than King Baldwin
+himself. She expressed the most violent anger at being the object of
+unfounded suspicion, and entered the Holy City in a most indignant mood.
+The upright mind of Louis could not be made to comprehend the piety that
+led to such an ebullition of temper, nor could he well appreciate the
+purity of a motive that induced a wife to exchange presents with a lover;
+and from this time all confidence between them was at an end. The Queen of
+France was, notwithstanding, received and entertained at Jerusalem, with
+all the honors due her rank; but Peyrol was instructed to watch her
+movements, and prevent any further communication with Raimond.
+
+A council was held at Ptolemais, composed of the christian powers of Syria
+and Palestine, and the crusaders from Europe, and though the restoration
+of the Courtneys to their lost principality was the object of the
+expedition, it was decided that Damascus was a far more dangerous neighbor
+to Jerusalem than the remote city of Edessa. The decree to march to
+Damascus was accordingly passed, and the kings Louis VII., Baldwin III.,
+and Conrad III. brought their troops into the field.
+
+The best disciplined parts of the army were the Knights of the Temple, and
+of St. John. In the early days of pilgrimages, an institution for the care
+of the sick had been established in Jerusalem. In this friendly hospital
+the wounded and dying of the first crusade were received and tended with
+the greatest care. King Godfrey with affectionate gratitude rewarded their
+pious labors by the gift of an estate in Brabant, whence they derived a
+steady revenue. The association acquired importance, and finally formed a
+religious house under the tutelage of St. John the Baptist. They took the
+usual vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience, and the patriarch of
+Jerusalem invested them with a black robe, having a white linen cross of
+eight points upon the left breast.
+
+In A.D. 1113, the Hospital was put under the protection of the Holy See,
+and their revenues increasing beyond the demands of charity, about A.D.
+1130, they determined to draw the sword against the enemies of the faith.
+The Hospitallers were accordingly arranged into three classes, nobility,
+clergy, and serving brothers, who divided their duties between making
+deadly war upon the Infidels, healing the wounds of the Christian soldier,
+and praying for the souls of the departed. The admirers of valor and
+piety either joined their standard or enriched their coffers. Great men
+sent their sons to them for instruction, and the Knights Hospitallers soon
+became a powerful monastic and military order.
+
+A few years later, some French gentlemen founded the equally honorable
+institution of the Red Cross Knights. The original design of this order,
+was to watch the road and keep open the communication between Europe and
+the Holy Land. At first they were fed and clothed by the Hospitallers, and
+to indicate their poverty, adopted a seal with the figures of two men on
+one horse. They bound themselves to the three great monastic virtues, and
+added some austerities, which were supposed to give them power with God
+and man. They were originally styled Milites Christi, but when Baldwin I.
+assigned them a residence in the royal palace, adjacent to the Temple of
+Solomon, they assumed the title of Templars, or Knights of the Temple.
+They wore linen coifs with red caps close over them, shirts and stockings
+of twisted mail, sapra vests and broad belts with swords inserted, and
+over the whole was a white cloak touching the ground. This order, too,
+rose into dignity and power; and the military friars of the Hospital, and
+the Red Cross Knights of the Temple, soon became the bulwark of
+Christendom, "the nurse of manly sentiment and heroic enterprise."
+
+Acquainted with the roads, the Templars led the way to Damascus, and
+accustomed to succor the weak, the Hospitallers brought up the rear of the
+Christian army. The eastern and southern quarters of the city of Damascus
+were defended by impregnable walls; but the north and west were faced by
+fields and gardens, and protected only by towers and ditches. Here the
+crusaders pitched their camps; and numerous and long-continued were the
+engagements between the Christians and Moslems. They succeeded in driving
+in the outposts of the Infidels and seizing several fortifications looked
+upon Damascus as their own. But now a more serious contest arose. Should
+Damascus become an appanage of Jerusalem, a fief of the French crown, or
+a German principality? Days and weeks passed away in fruitless disputes
+among the crusaders, and at length it was determined that the prize should
+be given to the Count of Flanders, because he had twice visited the Holy
+Land. This decision only increased the dissatisfaction. There were rumors
+of treason in the camp, and the Templars were accused of accepting bribes.
+A proposition was made to remove the camp to Ascalon, and while debate
+fostered delay the Saracens had time to repair the fortifications of
+Damascus, and to summon assistance from the Sultan. The German emperor,
+terrified with the report that the Emir of Mosul was marching to the city,
+was the first to abandon the siege; and the other leaders, discontented
+with themselves and with each other, gloomily retraced their steps to
+Jerusalem. Conrad, with the shattered relics of the German host,
+immediately returned to Europe; but the king of the French lingered
+several months, visiting the holy places, and seeking opportunities to do
+military service worthy the expedition; till at length learning from
+Peyrol that Eleanor, through the connivance of Petronilla, had exchanged
+letters with Saladin, and was meditating a flight to Antioch; he gathered
+together the miserable remnant of his army, amounting to three hundred
+persons, and accompanied by his enraged queen and her crest-fallen
+Amazons, embarked for Constantinople. Here Eleanor found some small
+consolation in repairing the sad inroads made upon her wardrobe at the
+defeat of Laodicea. From Constantinople the dissatisfied pair sailed for
+France.
+
+It was the intention of Louis to put away his wife immediately on his
+return, but the sagacious Abbot Suger dissuaded him from this course,
+since he would thus detach from the crown the great duchy of Aquitaine,
+the probable inheritance of the young Princesses Mary and Alix. She was,
+however, closely watched, and forbidden to visit her southern domains. In
+A.D. 1150, Geoffrey Plantagenet, the Count Anjou, came to the court of
+Louis VII., with his son Henry, a youth about the age of Saladin, whose
+fine person and literary attainments made him an object of attraction to
+all the ladies of Paris. To Geoffrey Eleanor confided her troubles, one of
+the greatest of which was, the refusal of the king to adopt the courtly
+adornings of the times, particularly the long-toed shoes, fastened to the
+knee by golden chains; and she was especially vexed that he had, at the
+suggestion of the clergy, parted with his long curls, handsome beard and
+mustachios.
+
+"Already," said she, "he wears the shaven chin and the serge robe, and he
+needs only the tonsure and cowl to make him a priest."
+
+The duke repaid her confidence by delineating his own domestic afflictions
+arising from the haughty demeanor of his consort the Empress Matilda,
+whose irritable temper had not been improved by her ineffectual struggles
+with Stephen for the throne of England. Altogether they had a very
+sympathizing meeting.
+
+Two years after, Henry of Anjou once more visited Paris to do homage for
+his domains, and the queen with a facility acquired by practice,
+transferred to him the partiality she had entertained for his father. The
+young Plantagenet was a noble, martial-looking prince, with a fair and
+gracious countenance, and eyes that sparkled with intelligence and energy.
+In the light of this new attachment, Eleanor discovered that King Louis
+was her fourth cousin, and farther that the divorce he had threatened was
+a matter of conscience and propriety. Louis for the first time in many
+years seemed to find happiness in the same plan that pleased his queen. A
+council of the church was called at Beaugencie, and in the presence of
+Eleanor and Louis, and a numerous circle of relatives, the marriage was
+declared invalid on account of consanguinity.
+
+Leaving her daughters in the care of their father, the liberated princess
+joyfully departed with her sister Petronilla and her Proven�al attendants
+to her own country. On her way southward she stopped some time at the
+castle of Blois, where the old Count Thibaut, father of Adelais, whose
+domestic peace she had so selfishly invaded, became enamored of the great
+Provence dower, and offered his hand to his fair guest. Unabashed by the
+lady's prompt refusal, the venerable suitor determined to detain her a
+prisoner in his fortress till she should comply with his proposition; but
+Peyrol accidentally learning the design, disguised his mistress and her
+sister in his own apparel, conducted them through the postern by night,
+and procuring a fisherman's boat, escaped with them down the Loire. Here a
+new danger awaited them. Geoffrey of Anjou, the young brother of Henry
+Plantagenet, captivated by the charms of the princess, stationed himself
+with a strong guard, at the Pont de Tas, with the intention of carrying
+her off. Before the fugitives reached the spot they perceived the ambush,
+and the royal ladies, each seizing an oar, concealed their faces by
+bending to their tasks, while Peyrol ingeniously evaded the questions of
+the sentinel, by displaying the fishing-tackle and turning the boat into a
+little creek, as if preparing to commence the morning's sport. Hidden by
+the willows that shaded the stream, the party pursued their way with the
+utmost rapidity, and before the count had discovered their escape, they
+were beyond the reach of capture.
+
+The enthusiastic greetings with which the Proven�als hailed the return of
+their beloved duchess, had scarcely subsided into the quiet demonstrations
+of affectionate obedience, when the young Henry Plantagenet followed her
+to Bordeaux, and in that wealthy city, with all the pomp that the
+luxurious Proven�al could command, they were married the first of May,
+A.D. 1152. Thus the sweet provinces of the south became the appanage of
+the English crown, and a foundation was laid for those desolating wars
+that for centuries drained the best blood of both France and England.
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+  "Imperial being! e'en though many a stain
+  Of error be upon thee,
+  There is power in thy commanding nature."
+
+Henry immediately conveyed his bride to Normandy, and installed her in the
+palace at Bayeux, once the residence of the family of William the
+Conqueror. The marriage of Eleanor, but little more than a month after her
+divorce, astonished all Europe. Especially was the King of France incensed
+by a union which made his already too powerful vassal lord of seven more
+beautiful and wealthy provinces.
+
+He immediately entered into an alliance with Stephen to deprive Henry of
+Normandy, and incited the baffled Geoffrey to make war upon his brother.
+
+"Let the stupid king do his worst," said Eleanor to her husband, as she
+despatched Peyrol to order the vessels of Bordeaux into the English
+Channel. "The barons of _oc_ and _no_ will raise the banner of St. George
+and the golden leopards far above the oriflamme of France, and rejoice at
+having such fair cause of quarrel with the suzerain and jailer of their
+princess."
+
+The Proven�al fleet that was thus brought to guard the coast of England,
+was of essential service to Henry in quelling the agitations excited by
+Louis not only, but in securing his peaceful accession to the throne of
+his grandfather, Henry I. During the six weeks that elapsed after the
+death of Stephen, before he was ready to assume his crown, the maritime
+power anchored in the English harbors preserved the public tranquillity,
+and kept all foreign enemies in awe. Henry and Eleanor, with a brilliant
+train, landed on the coast of Hampshire, at the beginning of December,
+A.D. 1154, and proceeded direct to Winchester. The prelates and nobles
+gathered round them from every part of the kingdom, and their journey from
+Winchester to London was a continual triumph.
+
+Their coronation, which took place in Westminster Abbey, was without
+parallel for magnificence. The silks, brocades, and velvets shot with
+silver or embroidered with gold, which the new queen had brought from
+Constantinople, and the jewels which she had hoarded as mementoes of her
+self-denying efforts in Palestine, served to illuminate this august
+ceremony. The dark beauty of the south wore her long, black hair closely
+braided, and bound about her head, like an eastern tiara, from which
+flashed the diamonds of her Paynim lover like jewels set in jet. Her snowy
+kirtle, of the finest Indian fabric, confined at the throat by a collar of
+gems, and fastened by a jewelled belt at the bodice, fell in an amplitude
+of drapery to her feet, and the same transparent vesture covered, without
+concealing, the exquisite roundness of her arms. Over this was thrown an
+elegant pelisson, bordered with fur, having full loose sleeves, lined with
+ermine. In fine contrast with his sparkling queen, stood Henry, the first
+monarch of the warlike Plantagenets. The Saxon lineaments predominated in
+his face and person, the wealth of his brown locks, and his thick, curling
+mustachios gave an air of manliness to his somewhat boyish visage, but his
+calm youthful countenance was not at that period marked with the strong
+and violent passions that afterwards kindled in his eye, and darkened in
+his frown. He wore a doublet of crimson damask, and a short Angevin cloak,
+which gained for him the soubriquet of Courtmantle. The ecclesiastics who
+graced this ceremony also appeared in gowns and cassocks of silk and
+velvet, another importation of Eleanor from Constantinople. After the
+celebration of the Christmas festivities, the royal pair took up their
+residence in Bermondsey, a pastoral village, nearly opposite London, where
+was an ancient Saxon palace and a priory.
+
+While Eleanor remained in this quiet retreat, Henry devoted his energies
+to settling the affairs of his government, with a prudence and discretion
+beyond his years. In one council, he appointed the great officers of the
+crown; in another he confirmed to his subjects, all the rights and
+liberties secured under the famous charter of Henry Beauclerk, in a third
+he induced the barons to do homage to his eldest son William, and in the
+event of William's death, to his second son Henry, a child in the cradle.
+He demolished many of the castles reared by the rebellious barons under
+Stephen, dismissed the foreign mercenaries or Brabancons, that had long
+infested the kingdom, and compelled Malcolm, grandson of David and Maude,
+to exchange three northern counties for the earldom of Huntingdon, which
+the King of the Scots claimed as the descendant of Earl Waltheof. During
+the stormy period of Stephen's reign, the ecclesiastical tribunals had
+acquired an authority above the judicial courts; and it was the ardent
+desire of the monarch to reform this abuse. He owed so much, however, to
+the friendship and constancy of Theobald, archbishop of Canterbury, that
+he found it difficult to work any innovation upon the jurisdiction of the
+church so dear to the heart of his venerable friend. Eleanor occupied in
+her own pleasures, and it is charitably to be hoped in the duties of a
+mother, took little interest in these affairs; for the death of her eldest
+boy, and the birth of a daughter, had in some sort awakened her mind to
+maternal responsibilities. She was particularly solicitous with regard to
+the tutor to be chosen for her son Henry, and herself made a visit to the
+archbishop to confer upon the subject. A few days after the king entered
+her apartments in an unusually facetious mood.
+
+"The good Theobald," said he, "who suffered banishment for my mother, has
+parted with his right hand to benefit her son. He has sent us his own
+archdeacon as a tutor for Henry."
+
+"And how looks the candidate for our favor; is he fair and wise?" asked
+Eleanor.
+
+"Nay, for that," said Henry, "the archbishop, with his wonted sagacity,
+has shown due regard for the tastes of the family, since the man he has
+sent is half Saxon, half Saracen."
+
+"A Pullani," exclaimed Eleanor, her curiosity at once excited. "I met many
+of this class in Palestine. Comes he direct from the Holy Land?"
+
+"Nay, he was born in London, and except some of the characteristics of his
+wily race, is as good a Christian as ever attended mass. His father,
+Guilbert Becket, was taken captive in the first crusade, and confined in
+the palace of an emir. The daughter of the Infidel fell violently in love
+with the young Christian, liberated him by night, and pawned her jewels to
+a band of roving pirates, to engage them to convey him safe to Europe.
+Thither she followed him through a great variety of dangers, replying only
+'London,' 'Guilbert,' to all who questioned her. These two magic words
+brought her to the metropolis, where she found the object of her search.
+She was baptized by the Saxon name of Matilda, and Becket rewarded her
+devotion by marrying her. Thomas � Becket was their only son. He passed
+his childhood under the care of the canons of Merton; he has studied in
+the schools of Oxford and Paris, frequented the lectures on Philosophy at
+Bologna, been bred in a thorough knowledge of the civil and canon law, has
+visited Rome, stands high in the favor of pope and primate, and with all
+these qualifications," added Henry, in a tone of exultation, "_he is not a
+priest_."
+
+Eleanor was delighted with the story, and Becket was immediately installed
+as tutor of Prince Henry. Becket's romantic origin, affable manners, but
+more especially his nice tact in exhibiting intelligence or ignorance,
+according to the demands of delicate emergencies, recommended him at once
+to the favor of both king and queen. The principal residences of the royal
+family were Westminster palace, Winchester, and the country palace of
+Woodstock, the favorite abode of Henry Beauclerk and Matilda the good. In
+this charming retirement, Eleanor amused herself and the ladies of her
+court, with mysteries and mummeries, contrived and acted by the priests
+and parish clerks. Even the miracles of the holy volume were degraded from
+their sacred character, and made the subjects of clumsy efforts at
+merriment. Eleanor, who delighted in scenic amusements, on one occasion
+instructed the master of ceremonies to dramatize the miraculous trials of
+St. Dunstan. So many characters were necessary for this important play,
+that new recruits of abbots, clerks and scholars were imported from the
+neighboring priory, and the queen's dames d'honneur were enlisted in the
+choir, and faithfully drilled in the chanting of most unearthly melodies.
+The usual services in the chapel were for several days omitted. The
+carpenters displaced the priests, and instead of the sound of matins and
+vespers, the walls echoed with the noise of workmen's hammers, preparing a
+false floor for the mimic purgatory. The trees of the park were robbed of
+their leafy honors, to fit up a forest over the high altar, which by the
+removal of a panel, and the addition of dry leaves, pebbles and mosses,
+answered very well for the hermit's cave. The eventful night arrived, and
+expectation, so long on tiptoe, quietly settled itself upon the temporary
+benches to enjoy the intellectual treat, while an imaginary moon broad as
+the shield of their Saxon fathers, reflected the light of a supposed
+invisible torch placed behind a window shutter. Owing to the imperfection
+of the machinery there was some difficulty in raising the curtain, but the
+queen was privately informed that the creaking was not intended as part of
+the play. The learned and gifted Proven�al must be pardoned if she
+exchanged some sly criticisms and satirical smiles, with the witty Peyrol,
+at the expense of the well-meaning performers.
+
+The scene opened disclosing a barren heath, in the centre of which was a
+mound of rubbish, strewed with grass and surmounted with a huge stone,
+which had been transplanted with much care and labor, from an adjacent
+cromlech. By its side stood a youth, who bashfully hanging his head and
+awkwardly twirling a wand, thus unfolded the plan of the drama:--
+
+  "Here you see this hill and stone,
+  For that you may know anon.
+  The story of the blest St. Dunstan:
+  For dun is hill, and stone is stane,
+  That is what this here shall mean.
+  To the holy Saint was trouble sent,
+  As we here shall represent--"
+
+When young Harlequin had concluded his prologue, he paused in great
+embarrassment staring up at the curtain, till finding that it refused to
+fall he stepped to the side of the stage and assisted its descent with all
+his strength.
+
+A considerable bustle then ensued behind the scenes, during which the
+audience amused themselves as is usual in such cases, by suppressed
+titters and whispers.
+
+The reluctant curtain again rose, and instead of the notable hill and
+stone, the individual typified thereby, St. Dunstan himself appeared, a
+burly Saxon priest wedged into his altar-cave; an appropriate arrangement
+admirably adapted to the tradition, since he could neither sit, stand, nor
+lie down at ease in it. The holy man was professedly engaged at his
+devotions, rattling off credos and ave maries in a style showing a
+lamentable want of familiarity with Latin. The arch tempter was a little
+behind his time, for the saint had evidently exhausted his stock of
+prayers, and had commenced a repeat when Lucifer appeared in the disguise
+of a laborer with spade in hand. Approaching the cave, he held out a bag
+of gold and invited the holy Father to follow him. The hermit impatiently
+waved his hand and turned his eyes resolutely away from the glittering
+lure, while the baffled demon walked off the stage. Confused groans and
+shrieks from the imps beneath followed his departure, while the choir of
+unseen angels sung with great emphasis--
+
+  "With gold he doth the saint assail,
+  But not with this can the devil prevail."
+
+The next scene was of a more striking character. The monk was this time
+interrupted by the advent of a beautiful damsel, who, gliding like an
+apparition of light from the greenwood, stopped before the cave, showered
+roses upon his missal, and in the most enticing manner sought to win him
+from his devotions. The saint, however, remained firm, and when she laid
+hold of his arm, he snatched a pair of pincers, conveniently heated for
+the occasion, and zealously seized the sorceress by the nose, who first
+cried piteously and then bellowed most lustily--but the heart of the pious
+priest was not to be moved. In the struggle, the glittering mask
+unfortunately fell off, carrying with it the whole apparatus of the flimsy
+disguise, and a saucy-looking page, thus unexpectedly revealed, scampered
+off the stage, much to the discomfiture of the players and greatly to the
+amusement of the spectators. This _contre-temps_ produced a most uncommon
+roaring among the demons below, while the choir sung with renewed
+vehemence--
+
+  "With love he doth the saint assail,
+  But not with this shall the devil prevail."
+
+Hardly had the cheering and laughter subsided, when the curtain rose the
+third time. A sulphurous vapor filled the apartment, and from a trap-door
+in the staging, amid mimic thunders and faint attempts at lightning, rose
+his Satanic majesty, in _propria persona_, with the usual adjuncts of
+horns, hoofs and tail. As if to strengthen the trembling saint for the
+final conflict, the choir reiterated with great excitement--
+
+  "With fear he doth your heart assail,
+  But not with this shall the devil prevail."
+
+The fiend advanced with diabolical grimace, and the whole staging trembled
+beneath his tread, while the terrified devotee shrank to the farthest
+corner of the cell, and throwing his huge arms round the wooden crucifix,
+told his beads with startling volubility. It was evidently the fiend's
+object, to detach St. Dunstan from the cross; but the broad-shouldered
+priest was more than a match for the sturdy boor, encumbered as he was
+with the trappings of his new dignities. A terrible struggle ensued, but
+such was the desperate energy with which the saint grasped the holy
+symbol, and so intimately was it connected with the whole design of the
+performance, that in attempting to drag the priest from its protection,
+the stout yeoman tore the crucifix from the altar, the forest from its
+foundations, and while the choir were preparing to vociferate a splendid
+song of triumph, friar and fiend, angels and apparatus were precipitated
+into the yawning purgatory beneath. At the same moment, the man with the
+moon abruptly set, leaving the chapel in total darkness. The musical pitch
+wavered and quavered, and terminated in shrieks of affright, and the
+audience, apprehensive that the devil had not yet his due, fled in most
+undignified haste. It was not until the queen had reached her own
+apartments, and her tire-women one after another came hurrying to her
+presence in ludicrous disarray, that she forgot her fright and gave way to
+a genial burst of merriment. The forlorn damsels at length found it
+impossible not to join in her mirth, and every fresh arrival was hailed
+with irrepressible peals of laughter.
+
+"Welcome, my angeliques," cried the queen. "I feared that your late
+promotion would unfit you for mortal duties; but I perceive, with
+pleasure, that a foretaste of the punishment that awaits the unfaithful,
+has rendered you more than usually alert this evening. For ourself, we
+feel the necessity for repose, and will gladly be disrobed for our couch."
+
+Notwithstanding the unsuccessful efforts of her Saxon clerks, Eleanor was
+not discouraged. She summoned from Blois a celebrated abbot named William,
+who, under her patronage, and assisted by her genius, brought out his
+tragedy of Flaura and Marcus, the first appearance of the regular drama in
+England.
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+  For close designs and crooked counsels fit,
+  Sagacious, bold, and turbulent of wit;
+  Restless, unfixed in principle and place,
+  In power unpleased, impatient in disgrace.
+
+Thomas a Becket had risen rapidly in the royal favor. His calm
+discrimination and cool judgment had made him the chosen counsellor of his
+patron, his sedulous attention to his pupil had won the heart of Eleanor,
+while his courtly qualities and knightly address made him popular with all
+classes of people. The king conferred upon him the honors of Eye, the
+wardenship of the tower of London, and made him chancellor of the realm.
+The versatility of his accomplishments enabled him to adapt himself to
+Henry's various moods, and he thus became the monarch's inseparable
+companion. The rapidity of his rise was equalled only by the splendor of
+his course. He rivalled the king in the appointments of his household,
+exercised the most unbounded hospitality towards those who visited the
+court, and became the medium through which the subjects communicated with
+their sovereign. The king was his frequent guest, and the monarch and the
+favorite seemed bound by ties of real friendship. Queen Eleanor had
+removed her court from Woodstock, to the palace of Beaumont, in Oxford,
+where the celebrated Coeur de Lion was born, A.D. 1157. On the receipt of
+this pleasing intelligence, the king set off with his chancellor and train
+to join his family. As they rode along, conversing upon terms of the most
+easy familiarity, a miserable beggar followed them asking an alms. The
+king carelessly bestowed a few pence, and the chancellor observing the
+tattered garments of the mendicant, facetiously remarked, that the command
+was not to feed the hungry alone, but to clothe the naked.
+
+"Thou sayest truth," said the king, "and art thyself worthy to illustrate
+thy own doctrine."
+
+So saying, he seized the chancellor's cloak, and began pulling it from his
+shoulders. The favorite resisted this charitable impulse, and put spurs to
+his horse. The king, however, retained his grasp, and urged his steed to
+keep pace with that of the close-fisted courtier, and betwixt their
+struggles and laughter, both had nearly been rolled in the dirt. Becket,
+finally, released his hold, and the wondering beggar wrapped his shivering
+limbs in the finest mantle in the kingdom.
+
+As their road wound through the rich meadows of Evenlod, they caught
+occasional glimpses of the nunnery at Godstow, half-hidden among the
+trees, and before they reached the outer line of the convent walls, they
+saw at a short distance before them, crossing a rustic bridge, the figure
+of a beautiful girl, mounted upon a coal-black steed. The ease and grace
+with which she reined the mettlesome animal, the exquisite symmetry of her
+form, set off by the rich drapery of her robe, first attracted the king's
+notice. Her hair of a golden brown escaping from a turban-like riding-cap,
+floated like a veil over her shoulders, and air and exercise imparted a
+brilliant bloom to a face of lily fairness, and gave additional lustre to
+eyes, whose mirror-like depths seemed formed to reflect the light of
+heaven. Henry instinctively drew rein as the beautiful being dashed across
+their way and struck into a bridle-path, followed by a venerable-looking
+serving man, in green livery.
+
+"What dazzling vision is this?" said Henry, pausing as if to recall a
+half-forgotten memory. "I have seen that face before, or my eye is, for
+the first time, at fault."
+
+"The appointments of the servant are those of the Clifford's," said
+Becket, coldly.
+
+"And what is the name of the fair creature with the golden locks?" pursued
+Henry.
+
+"If it be the daughter of Lord Walter de Clifford, her name is Rosamond,"
+said Becket, little inclined to satisfy the monarch's inquiries.
+
+"Walter de Clifford!" said the king, with a thrill of recollection. "I
+mind me now, when the King of Scotland laid the sword of knighthood on my
+shoulder, it was the Lord de Clifford that buckled on my spurs; and this
+fair girl, then a child of exquisite beauty, sat among the maids of the
+queen, who presided at the tournament. A king bred in a foreign land must
+needs be a sad stranger in his own realm. Canst thou point me to the home
+of this fair damsel?"
+
+Becket, who perceived that the impetuosity of the monarch would not brook
+evasion, answered; "Clifford castle is some two days' distance, on the
+banks of the Wye. The Lord de Clifford has been a crusader in Palestine
+this many a year, and his daughter, who after her mother's death, was in
+care of the nuns of Godstow, is haply on her way to the convent. The
+serving man, I see, is old Adam Henrid, her seneschal."
+
+"Let us push on," said Henry, "to-night we sup at Godstow. Much I wonder,"
+he added, musingly, "if the sweet girl holds in recollection the image of
+the boy knight."
+
+"Becket," he added, aloud, "there is little about me to betray the king. I
+will be to-night, the simple Duke of Maine. Be thou my squire. Our men in
+attendance may proceed to Oxford." So saying, the impatient monarch put
+spurs to his horse, and galloped forward followed by his reluctant
+courtier, and alighted at the nunnery just after Rosamond had been
+received within its walls. The sound of the bell brought to the great gate
+of the convent the portress, summoned from her evening meal, and still
+holding in her hand the bunch of leeks and slice of brown bread, which
+formed the repast.
+
+"And what wouldst thou, sir knight?" she inquired, gruffly.
+
+"Rest and refreshment," said Henry, in French. "We are weary travellers,
+and seek shelter for the night."
+
+"Ye are from beyond the sea," replied the portress, "and we will none of
+your outlandish tongue. Yonder lies the way to Oxford."
+
+"Becket," whispered the king, "let thy ready wit serve us in this time of
+need, and thou shalt not find thy lord ungrateful." The wily chancellor,
+who never lost the opportunity of laying the monarch under obligation to
+himself, instantly rejoined in Saxon to the nun,
+
+"Open to us, good mother. The Duke of Maine is a zealous patron of the
+church, and perchance thine own convent will be none the poorer for
+granting him entertainment."
+
+The mollified portress immediately admitted them, muttering
+apologetically, "The wayfarer and benighted are ever received with
+Christian charity, by the sisters of the blessed St. Bernard."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The infant Richard was a child of great promise, and his ambitious mother
+began, at once, to plan for his future advancement. She besought her
+husband to bestow upon the prince the dukedom of Aquitaine, and to permit
+her to convey him thither, to receive the homage of the barons, and to
+arrange a betrothment between him and Philippa, the infant daughter of her
+sister Petronilla and Raymond of Arragon. To her great joy and surprise
+Henry acceded at once to the proposal, and co-operated in her scheme for
+remaining some time as regent in her southern dominions.
+
+Louis VII., King of France, had given his two daughters by Eleanor, in
+marriage to the Counts of Blois and Champagne; and after the death of his
+second wife Constantia, conferred the crown matrimonial upon their
+father's sister, Adelais of Champagne, widow of the famous Rudolph of
+Vermandois. He also bestowed upon the Count of Champagne the office of
+seneschal of his kingdom, which of right belonged to Henry, as Duke of
+Anjou, who, enraged at this measure, made war upon his liege lord. The
+affair was finally compromised by the affiancing of Henry's eldest son
+with Louis's third daughter Marguerite. Henry and Eleanor repaired to
+Normandy to celebrate the nuptials, and Becket was sent to Paris to bring
+the young bride to Rouen. On this important occasion the chancellor
+travelled in the greatest state. When he entered a town two hundred and
+fifty boys singing national airs led the procession, while from wagons
+covered with skins and protected by guards and dogs the populace were
+regaled with draughts of English beer. Other wagons, each drawn by five
+horses, led by servants in splendid livery, followed with the furniture of
+his chapel, bed-chamber and kitchen, his plate, wardrobe, and attendants.
+Then came twelve sumpter horses each carrying a groom and monkey; then the
+esquires, gentlemen's sons, falconers with hawks upon their wrists,
+officers of the household, knights and clergymen, and last of all Becket
+himself in familiar converse with a few friends. The French, when they saw
+an ambassador affecting a magnificence greater than their own sovereign
+could command, exclaimed, "What manner of man must the King of England be,
+when his chancellor travels in such state." The King of France received
+Becket with the most distinguishing courtesy, and committed the infant
+Marguerite to his care. Becket conveyed the little princess to Rouen,
+where the contract of marriage was solemnized, and the juvenile bride and
+bridegroom were committed to him for education, and Louis gave to Henry
+three cities as the dower of his daughter.
+
+But a misunderstanding arising with regard to the matter, a fresh
+compromise was effected by another match. The death of the little princess
+of Arragon had left the hand of Richard again at liberty. This hand was
+given as a pledge of amity to Alice, the infant daughter of France, who
+was also conveyed to England for education. It was the policy of Henry to
+strengthen his government by powerful alliances: and these early marriages
+were followed in quick succession by similar unions between Geoffrey his
+third son and Constance the heiress of Bretagne, and his eldest daughter
+Matilda with Henry the lion Duke of Saxony.
+
+In the midst of these domestic and political arrangements Theobald,
+Archbishop of Canterbury, died; and the king entered upon his
+long-meditated design of reforming the abuses of the church. He had loaded
+Becket with every demonstration of favor and affection, and counting
+confidently upon his co-operation, offered him the vacancy. The chancellor
+objected that he was not a priest, but Henry insisted that the time
+required to take orders was only a few hours. Still the chancellor seemed
+to decline the dazzling gift. He protested that were he once a bishop he
+must uphold the rights of the church, and solemnly told the king the night
+before his consecration that the mitre would interpose an eternal barrier
+between them. Henry persisted, and Becket at last modestly accepted the
+first office in the kingdom.
+
+Directly on his investment the new archbishop became as much distinguished
+for his austerity as he had before been for his ostentation. He resigned
+his office of chancellor, dismissed his knightly train, clothed himself in
+sackcloth, fed upon the coarsest fare, drank water nauseous with fennel,
+and daily upon his knees washed the feet of thirteen beggars, whom he
+afterwards dismissed with alms. On all occasions he defended the rights of
+the church in opposition to those of the crown. As he was the most learned
+man in the kingdom, the most eloquent and the best beloved, he possessed
+unbounded influence with all classes, and Henry soon found in the man whom
+he trusted as an ally a most powerful adversary.
+
+But the king did not on this account relinquish his plans for reform. A
+parish priest had been guilty of murder under circumstances that
+peculiarly aggravated the crime. The judicial courts sought to try the
+criminal. The bishop contended that degradation from office was the
+highest punishment that could be inflicted upon a son of the church. The
+affair created great sensation throughout the kingdom, and Henry finally
+convened a general council of the nobility and clergy. Several articles,
+were drawn up called the Constitutions of Clarendon, the drift of which
+was that no churchman should be entitled to privileges greater than those
+enjoyed by his peers among the laity. Becket at first refused to sign the
+articles and the other bishops followed his example. Being threatened with
+exile or death he at length yielded; but afterwards, learning that the
+pope did not approve his course, he retracted his consent. The king
+incensed at the conduct of his favorite, ordered a succession of charges
+to be prepared, on which the archbishop was cited to trial. Becket
+declined the jurisdiction of the court and appealed to the pope, finally
+escaped across the sea and made his way to the King of France.
+
+Troubles in Aquitaine had made it necessary for Eleanor to take up her
+abode there, where, in company with her children, she remained some time
+exercising the functions of regent with great ability. To detach Prince
+Henry, who was enthusiastically fond of his tutor, from the party of
+Becket, the king sent for him to be crowned at Westminster, and admitted
+to a share of the government. But when the princess Marguerite found that
+Becket, the guardian of her youth, was not to place the diadem upon her
+head, she trampled upon the coronation-robes, and perversely refused to
+leave Aquitaine for London. King Louis took up his daughter's quarrel, and
+entered Normandy at the head of an army. Henry hastened to defend his
+domains, and hostilities were commenced, but the two monarchs had a
+private conference, and Henry finally promised to seek an immediate
+reconciliation with his exiled primate. The archbishop of Rouen and the
+bishop of Nevers were authorized to arrange an interview, and the King of
+England awaited the arrival of his rebellious subject in a spacious
+meadow, on the borders of Touraine. As soon as Becket appeared Henry
+spurred on his horse, with his cap in hand, thus preventing any formal
+recognition, and discoursed with all the easy familiarity of former days.
+At the gracious words of his master, the archbishop descended from his
+horse, and threw himself at the feet of his sovereign; but Henry laid hold
+of the stirrup, and insisted that he should remount, saying,
+
+"Let us renew our ancient affection for each other,--only show me honor
+before those who are now viewing our behavior." Then returning to his
+nobles, he remarked, "I find the archbishop in the best of dispositions
+towards me; were I otherwise toward him I should be the worst of men."
+The king, however, adroitly avoided giving the kiss of peace, a
+circumstance which the primate observed, and made the subject of the most
+gloomy presage. Having waited in vain for the money which Henry had
+promised him, Becket borrowed a sum sufficient to defray the expenses of
+the journey, and contrary to the advice of his friends, returned to his
+diocese. He despatched a letter to the king at Rouen, which closed thus:--
+
+"It was my wish to have waited on you once more, but necessity compels me,
+in the lowly state to which I am reduced, to revisit my afflicted church.
+I go, sir, with your permission, perhaps to perish for its security,
+unless you protect me; but whether I live or die, yours I am, and yours I
+shall ever be in the Lord. Whatever may befall me or mine, may the
+blessing of God rest on you and your children."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Before the meeting between Becket and the king, the pope had issued
+letters of suspension against those who had assisted at the coronation of
+the young prince, and Becket returned to England with those letters upon
+his person, and immediately proceeded upon the work of excommunication.
+These tidings were conveyed to Henry by the first ship that sailed for
+Normandy, and the outraged monarch exclaimed in a fury of passion, "Of the
+cowards who eat my bread is there not one to rid me of this turbulent
+priest?" Four knights, at the head of whom was Reginald Fitzurse,
+immediately set out for England, and proceeding straight to Canterbury,
+entered the house of the archbishop, and required him, in the king's name,
+to absolve the excommunicated prelates. Becket refused, and repaired to
+the church with the utmost tranquillity to evening vespers. The solemn
+tones of the organ had ceased, and the archbishop had opened the book and
+commenced the lesson of the martyrdom of St. Stephen, "Princes sat and
+spake against me," when the knights, with twelve companions, all in
+complete armor, burst into the church. "Where is the traitor? Where is the
+archbishop?" inquired Fitzurse. "Here am I," replied Becket, "the
+archbishop, but no traitor." He read his doom in the eyes of his pursuers.
+"Tyrant king," muttered he, "though I die I will be thy undoing." He wrote
+hastily upon a tablet, "_Woodstock_," and giving it to his only attendant,
+whispered, "Deliver this to Queen Eleanor. Tarry not till thou find her."
+Then turning calmly to the knights,
+
+"Reginald," said he, "I have granted thee many favors, what is thy object
+now? If thou seekest my life, I command thee, in the name of God, not to
+touch one of my people."
+
+"I come not to take life," replied Reginald, "but to witness the
+absolution of the bishops."
+
+"Till they offer satisfaction I shall never absolve them," said the
+prelate.
+
+"Then die!" exclaimed the knight, aiming a blow at his head. The attendant
+interposed his arm, which was broken, and the force of the stroke bore
+away the prelate's cap, and wounded him on the crown. As he felt the blood
+trickling down his face, he joined his hands and bowed his head, saying,
+"In the name of Christ, and for the defence of his church I am ready to
+die." Turning thus towards his murderers, he waited a second stroke, which
+threw him on his knees, and the third prostrated him on the floor, at the
+foot of St. Bennett's altar. He made no effort towards resistance or
+escape, and without a groan expired. The assassins instantly fled, and the
+people, who had by this time assembled, crowded into the cathedral. The
+priests with pious reverence took up the body of the dead archbishop, and
+laid it in state before the high altar. They tore his garments in pieces,
+and distributed each shred as a sacred relic. The devout wiped up his
+blood and treasured the holy stains, and the more fortunate obtained a
+lock of hair from his honored head. Becket was interred with great
+solemnity in Canterbury cathedral, and all the power he had exercised in
+life was but a trifle to the influence of the miracles wrought at his
+tomb.
+
+Henry was celebrating the holidays in Normandy, when the news of this
+event threw him into the deepest melancholy. The train of calamities,
+which would inevitably follow the curse of the church, made him tremble
+for his throne, and the natural horror of the crime alarmed his
+imagination and partially disordered his reason. He knew not how to
+receive the murderers, nor yet how to treat with the pope, and finally
+concluded to give the matter over to the judgment of the spiritual courts.
+The assassins in consequence travelled to Rome, and were sentenced by way
+of expiation to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. To evade meeting the
+legates of the pope, Henry determined to seize this opportunity for his
+long meditated invasion of Ireland.
+
+The same month that witnessed the splendid coronation of Henry and
+Eleanor, had been signalized by the succession of Nicholas Breakspear, to
+the throne of the Vatican. This prelate, consecrated under the name of
+Adrian IV. was the only Englishman that ever sat in the chair of St.
+Peter; and his partiality for his native sovereign had led him to bestow
+upon Henry, a grant of the dominion of Ireland. Now when troubles arose in
+that province and circumstances rendered absence from his own dominions
+desirable, the king led an army into Ireland.
+
+From the time of the marriage of her daughter Matilda with the Lion of
+Saxony, Eleanor had not visited England. The arrival of Becket's messenger
+in Bordeaux, conveyed to her the first intelligence of the prelate's
+death; and the mysterious word _Woodstock_, immediately revived a
+half-forgotten suspicion excited by the stratagems of Henry, to prevent
+her return to her favorite residence. Her woman's curiosity prevailed over
+her love of power, and she intrusted the regency to her son Henry,
+repaired to England, and lost no time on her way to Woodstock. As she
+approached the palace, her keen eye scanned every circumstance that might
+lead curiosity or lull suspicion, but with the exception of a deserted and
+unkept look, the appearance of the place indicated no marked change.
+Though she came with a small train and unannounced, the drawbridge was
+instantly lowered for her entrance, and the aged porter received her with
+a smile of unfeigned satisfaction. The state rooms were thrown open and
+hastily fitted up for the reception of the royal inmates, and the
+servants, wearied with the listless inactivity of a life without motive or
+excitement, bustled about the castle and executed the commands of their
+mistress, with the most joyful alacrity. Under pretence of superintending
+additions and repairs, Queen Eleanor ordered carpenters and masons, who
+under her eye, visited every apartment, sounded every wall, and tore off
+every panel, where by any possibility an individual might be concealed.
+She did not hesitate even to penetrate the dungeons under the castle; and
+whenever the superstition of the domestics made them hesitate in mortal
+terror, she would seize a torch and unattended thread her way through the
+darkest and dampest subterranean passages of the gloomy vaults. All these
+investigations led to no discovery. The pleasance offered little to invite
+her search. It had been originally laid out in the stiff and tasteless
+manner of the age, with straight walks and close clipped shrubbery, but so
+long neglected it was a tangled maze, to which her eye could detect no
+entrance. Below the pleasance the postern by a wicket gate communicated
+with a park, which was separated only by a stile from the great forest of
+Oxfordshire. Mounted on her Spanish jennet, Eleanor galloped through this
+park and sometimes ventured into the forest beyond, and she soon
+discovered that the attendants avoided a thicket which skirted the park
+wall. Commanding the grooms to lead in that direction, she was informed
+that it was the ruins of the old menagerie, located there by Henry I.,
+overgrown by thorns and ivy and trees, that shut out the light of the sun.
+The aged porter assured her that no one had entered it in his day, that
+wild beasts still howled therein, and that the common people deemed it
+dangerous to visit its vicinity. He added, that one youth who had charge
+of the wicket, had been carried off and never again seen; and that all the
+exorcisms of the priests could never lay the ghost. The old man crossed
+himself in devout horror and turned away; but the queen commanded him to
+hold the bridle of her horse, while she should attempt the haunted
+precincts alone. The thick underwood resisted all her efforts, and she
+found it impossible to advance but a few steps, though her unwonted
+intrusion aroused the beetles and bats, awakened the chatter of monkeys
+and the startled twitter of birds, and gave her a glimpse of what she
+thought were the glaring eyeballs of a wolf. A solemn owl flew out above
+her head as she once more emerged into the light of day, and the timid
+porter welcomed her return with numerous ejaculations of thanksgiving to
+the watchful saints; but he shook his head with great gravity as he
+assisted her to remount saying,
+
+"I would yon dismal bird had kept his perch in the hollow oak. Our proverb
+says, 'Woe follows the owl's wing as blood follows the steel.'"
+
+Disappointed in the wood, Eleanor relinquished her fruitless search. But
+by dint of questioning she learned, that though the palace wore the
+appearance of desertion and decay, it had been the frequent resort of
+Henry and Becket, and since the favorite's death, her husband had made it
+a flying visit before leaving for Ireland. Farther than this all inquiries
+were vain. The unexpected return of her husband, and his look of surprise
+and anxiety at finding her at Woodstock, again awakened all her jealous
+fears. His power of dissimulation, notwithstanding, kept her constantly at
+fault, and during the week of his stay, nothing was elicited to throw
+light upon the mystery. Henry had been negotiating with the pope to obtain
+absolution for Becket's murder, and was now on his way to Normandy to meet
+the legates. The morning before his departure, Queen Eleanor saw him
+walking in the pleasance, and hastened to join him. As she approached she
+observed a thread of silk, attached to his spur and apparently extending
+through the walks of the shrubbery. Carefully breaking the thread she
+devoted herself by the most sedulous attention to her husband, till he set
+out for France, when she hastened back to the garden, and taking up the
+silk followed it through numerous turnings and windings till she came to
+a little open space near the garden wall, perfectly enclosed by shrubbery.
+The ball from which the thread was unwound lay upon the grass. There the
+path seemed to terminate; but her suspicions were now so far confirmed
+that she determined not to give up the pursuit. A broken bough, on which
+the leaves were not yet withered, riveted her attention, and pulling aside
+the branch she discovered a concealed door. With great difficulty she
+opened or rather lifted it, and descended by stairs winding beneath the
+castle wall. Ascending on the opposite side by a path so narrow that she
+could feel the earth and rocks on either hand, she emerged into what had
+formerly been the cave of a leopard, fitted up in the most fanciful manner
+with pebbles, mosses, and leaves. She made the entire circuit of the cave
+ere she discovered a place of egress: but at length pushing away a verdant
+screen, she advanced upon an open pathway which wound, now under the thick
+branches of trees, now through the dilapidated barriers that had prevented
+the forest denizens from making war upon each other, now among ruined
+lodges which the keepers of the wild beasts had formerly inhabited; but
+wherever she wandered she noted that some careful hand had planted tree,
+and shrub, and flower in such a manner as to conceal the face of decay and
+furnish in the midst of these sylvan shades a most delightful retreat. At
+last she found herself inextricably involved in a labyrinth whose
+apartments, divided by leafy partitions, seemed so numerous and so like
+each other as to render it impossible for her to form any idea of the
+distance she had come, or the point to which she must proceed. The sun was
+going down when by accident, she laid her hand upon the stile. Following
+its windings, though with great difficulty, she emerged into the path that
+terminated in the forest. The low howl of a wolf-dog quickened her steps,
+and she arrived at the palace breathless with fear and fatigue. Sleep
+scarcely visited her pillow. She revolved the matter over and over again
+in her mind. "Where could Henry find balls of silk? For whose pleasure
+and privacy was the labyrinth contrived? What hand had planted the rare
+exotic adjacent to the hawthorn and the sloe? Was this tortuous path the
+road to a mortal habitation? And who was the fair inmate?" She could
+hardly wait for the dawn of the morning, and when the morning came it only
+increased her impatience, for heavy clouds veiled the sun, and a continued
+rain confined her for several days to her apartments.
+
+When she next set out on her voyage of discovery she took the necessary
+precaution to secure a hearty coadjutor in the person of Peyrol, who
+silently followed her with the faithfulness of early affection, wondering
+to what point their mysterious journey might tend. At the secret door she
+fastened a thread, and with more celerity than she had hoped, traced her
+former course to the labyrinth; with much difficulty she again found the
+stile, and after a diligent search perceived a rude stair, that winding
+around the base of a rock assumed a regular shapely form, till by a long
+arched passage it conducted to a tower screened by lofty trees, but
+commanding through the interstices of the foliage a view of the adjacent
+forest. Here all effort at concealment was at an end. The doors opened
+into rooms fitted up with all the appliances of wealth, and with a
+perfection of taste that showed that some female divinity presided there.
+Vases of fresh-culled flowers regaled the senses with rich perfume. A harp
+lay unstrung upon the table, a tambour frame on which was an unfinished
+picture of the Holy Family leaned against the wall, while balls of silk
+and children's toys lay scattered around in playful disorder. Everything
+indicated that the tower had been recently occupied, but no inmate was to
+be found. Retracing their steps into the forest they proceeded by a
+well-beaten path along the banks of a little stream, to a pebbly basin in
+which the waters welled up with a faint murmur that spoke of rest and
+quiet. A sound of music made them pause, and they heard a low gentle voice
+followed by the lisping accents of a child chanting the evening hymn to
+the Virgin. Stepping stealthily along they saw, half shaded by a bower
+inwoven with myrtle and eglantine, a beautiful female kneeling before a
+crucifix hung with votive offerings. Her face was exquisitely fair, and
+her eyes raised to the holy symbol seemed to borrow their hue from the
+heavens above. A soft bloom suffused her cheek, and her coral lips parted
+in prayer revealed her pearly teeth. The delicate contour of her finely
+rounded throat and bust were displayed by her posture, and one dimpled
+shoulder was visible through the wavy masses of bright hair that enveloped
+her figure, as though the light of the golden sunset lingered lovingly
+about her. An infant, fairer if possible than the mother, with eyes of the
+same heavenly hue, lay by her side. He had drawn one tiny slipper from his
+foot, and delighted with his prize laughed in every feature and seemed
+crowing an accompaniment to her words. Startled by the sound of footsteps,
+the mother turned, and meeting the dark menacing gaze of Eleanor, snatched
+up the baby-boy, which clasped its little hands and looked up in her face,
+instinctively suiting the action of entreaty to the smile of confident
+affection. The elder boy before unnoticed advanced as if in doubt, whether
+to grieve or frown.
+
+The deep earnest gaze of his hazel eyes and his soft brown hair, clearly
+indicated his Norman extraction, and when he passed his arm
+half-fearfully, half-protectingly around his mother's neck, and the
+eloquent blood mounted to his cheek Eleanor recognized the princely
+bearing of the Plantagenets.
+
+"False woman," said she, darting forward and confronting the trembling
+mother with flashing eyes, "thou art the paramour of King Henry, and these
+your base-born progeny." To the paleness of terror succeeded the flush of
+indignation not unmingled with the crimson hue of shame, as the fair
+creature raised her head and repelled the accusation.
+
+"Rosamond de Clifford is not King Henry's paramour. My lord is the Duke of
+Maine; and when he returns from the wars will acknowledge his babes before
+the nobles of the land."
+
+"Aye, the Duke of Maine," retorted Eleanor, in scornful mockery, "and of
+Anjou, and of Normandy, and through his injured queen lord of the seven
+beautiful provinces of the south. Thy white face has won a marvellous
+conquest. The arch-dissimulator boasts many titles, but one that bars all
+thy claims. He is the _husband_ of Eleanor of Aquitaine!" "Becket! where
+is Becket, why comes not my friend and counsellor?" exclaimed Rosamond in
+the accents of despair, as a conviction of the truth flashed upon her
+mind. "Dead," replied the infuriated woman, approaching nearer and
+speaking in a hoarse whisper. "Henry brooks no rival in his path, nor will
+Eleanor." The implied threat and fierce gestures warned Rosamond of her
+danger, and clasping her frightened children to her breast, she sank down
+at the feet of the queen in the utmost terror and abasement. "Heaven
+assoil thee of thy sin," said Eleanor, turning to depart, "at dawn we meet
+again."
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+  "Oh! think what anxious moments pass between
+  The birth of plots, and their last fatal periods;
+  Oh! 'tis a dreadful interval of time,
+  Fill'd up with horror, and big with death."
+
+The first conference of Henry with the legates proved unsatisfactory, but
+at the second, in the presence of the bishops, barons and people, with his
+hand on the gospels, he solemnly swore that he was innocent both in word
+and deed of the murder of Becket. Yet, as his passionate expression had
+been the occasion of the prelate's death, he promised to maintain two
+hundred knights for the defence of the Holy Land; to serve in person
+against the Infidels three years, either in Palestine or Spain, and to
+restore the confiscated estates of Becket's friends. Pleased with the
+successful issue of this negotiation, Henry was preparing to return with
+joyful haste to England, when his peace was disturbed by quarrels
+originating in his own family. For some unaccountable reason his children
+seemed all armed against him. His son Henry demanded immediate possession
+of either England or Normandy, and on being refused appealed to his
+father-in-law Louis VII. Before three days had elapsed, Richard and
+Geoffrey followed their brother, and soon after Henry learned to his
+dismay that Queen Eleanor had herself set off for the court of her former
+husband. Remembering the perilous vicinity in which he had left the queen,
+it at once occurred to him that she was the original instigator of the
+plot. By a skilful manoeuvre, he intercepted her flight, and sent her
+back to Winchester a prisoner. Immediately his undutiful sons, adding
+their mother's quarrel to their own grievances, bound themselves by oath
+to the King of France that they would never make peace with their father
+except by Louis's consent. The Duke of Flanders joined the league of the
+parricides, and the King of Scotland poured into the northern counties his
+strongest forces. Never was the crown of Henry in such danger.
+
+While repelling the attacks of the insurgents in Normandy, he received a
+visit from the Bishop of Winchester, who entreated him to return once more
+to England, as his presence alone could save the kingdom. Henry at once
+set out. His countenance was gloomy and troubled, and his mind seemed
+deeply affected by the rebellion of his children, the perfidy of his
+barons and general combination of the neighboring princes, and above all,
+by his fearful uncertainty with regard to the fate of those whom he had so
+long and so carefully guarded. To ease the torment of his mind, he
+secretly determined to make a pilgrimage to the tomb of the
+recently-canonized martyr St. Thomas � Becket. He landed at Southampton,
+and without waiting for rest or refreshment, rode all night towards
+Canterbury. At the dawn of the morning, he descried the towers of Christ's
+Church. Dismounting from his horse, he exchanged the garb of the king for
+that of a penitent, and walked barefoot towards the city, so cruelly
+cutting his feet with the stones that every step was marked with blood.
+He entered the cathedral, descended to the crypt, knelt before the holy
+relics of his former friend, confessed his sins; and then resorting to the
+chapter-house, bared his shoulders, and submissively and gratefully
+received three stripes from the knotted cords which each priest, to the
+number of eighty, applied for his spiritual benefit. Bleeding and faint,
+he again returned to the crypt, and passed the night in weary vigils upon
+the cold stone floor. The following morning he attended mass, and then
+mounted his horse and rode to London, where the fasting, fatigue and
+anxiety he had undergone threw him into a fever. Scarcely had he
+recovered, when he learned that his enemies had abandoned the idea of
+invading England and were concentrating their efforts upon his continental
+dominions, and that an army more numerous than any which Europe had seen
+since the expedition of the crusades, was encamped under the walls of
+Rouen. These circumstances made it necessary for him to embark again for
+France.
+
+In two successive campaigns he foiled the attempts of his rebel sons and
+their foreign allies, and finally brought them to demand a general
+pacification. The three princes engaged to pay due obedience to their
+father, the King of the Scots agreed to hold his crown as a fief of
+England, and this made it necessary for all parties to proceed to York.
+
+Peace being again restored, after a great variety of detentions and
+delays, Henry at last found himself at liberty to obey the promptings of
+his heart, and visit Woodstock. He endured with such patience as he could
+the enthusiastic greetings of the household, and at the imminent jeopardy
+of his secret, took his way through the pleasance. He was first alarmed by
+finding the concealed door in the wall wide open, and every step of his
+advance added to his apprehensions. There were marks of a bloody struggle
+at the entrance to the tower, and everything within indicated that the
+occupants had been disturbed in the midst of their daily avocations. The
+rocking-horse of Prince William stood with the rein across his neck, as if
+the youthful rider had just dismounted, the pillow of the little Geoffrey
+still retained the impression of his cherub head; the thimble and scissors
+of Rosamond lay upon the table, but the embroidery was covered thick with
+dust, and rust had corroded the strings of the harp.
+
+The scene by the Hermit's Well was yet more desolate. Withered herbage and
+leaves had stopped the welling fountain, and entirely choked the current
+of the stream. Rosamond's bower, once invested with every attraction, now
+neglected and deserted struck a chill upon his soul. Rank weeds had
+overrun the verdant seats, the eglantine struggled in vain with the ivy,
+whose long and pendulous branches waved and flapped in the night-breeze
+like the mourning hatchments above a tomb. A bevy of swallows took wing at
+his entrance, the timid rabbit fled at his intrusive step, and a green
+lizard glided from beneath the hand with which he supported his agitated
+frame against one of the columns. Rosamond was gone.
+
+But by what means had she been conveyed from the retreat where she had so
+long dwelt content with his love, and happy in the caresses of her
+children? Was she a wanderer and an outcast, with a bleeding heart and a
+blighted name? Had she made her couch in the cold, dark grave? Had her
+indignant father returned from the Holy Land, and immured her in the
+dungeons of Clifford castle to hide her shame? Or had some other hand
+dared to blot out the life so dear to him?
+
+The thought was madness. He ran, he flew to the palace. The old porter was
+summoned and closely questioned. He remembered the time of the queen's
+last visit, her anxiety to penetrate the wood and search the castle. The
+night before her departure three of her French servants suddenly
+disappeared, but as several horses were missing at the same time, and the
+queen had been employed in writing letters, it was supposed that they were
+couriers. There were lights seen, and cries heard in the wood. One of the
+grooms affirmed that the ghost of the youth who some years before was
+spirited away, appeared in the stable, and a boy belonging to a
+neighboring peasant had never since been heard of. Though Henry traced
+this story through all the interpolations and additions that ignorance and
+credulity could give it, neither his utmost inquiries nor his subsequent
+researches could elicit any further fact. Satisfied that nothing could be
+learned at Woodstock, the king hurried to Winchester. The passionate
+queen, amidst upbraidings and revilings, acknowledged that she had
+discovered the retreat of his mistress, and that, stung by jealousy, she
+had threatened to take her life by the poniard or poison; that to prevent
+the escape of her fair rival, she had stationed two of her Gascon
+servants, a guard at the tower-stair. But she declared that when she
+returned on the following morning to execute her fell purpose, she found
+the grass dripping with gore, and not far distant the dead bodies of her
+servants, and the corpse of another whom she had known in her early days
+as Sir Thomas, guarded by a wolf-dog just expiring from a sword-wound; and
+that, assisted by Peyrol, she had dragged the bodies into the thicket, and
+then vainly endeavored to trace the fugitives. Notwithstanding all the
+threats that Henry employed to extort further confession, she persisted in
+affirming her ignorance of the fate of Rosamond.
+
+Little crediting her asseverations, he increased the rigor of her
+confinement, and installed Alice, the affianced of Richard, with almost
+regal honors, in the state apartments. This sudden partiality of his
+father roused the jealousy of Richard, and he demanded the hand of his
+bride in terms not the most respectful nor conciliatory. Henry felt that
+the bond between his son and France was sufficiently strong, and
+ingeniously delayed the nuptials.
+
+Then ensued another rebellion led by young Henry; but before the day fixed
+for battle arrived, anxiety and fatigue threw the prince into a fever,
+from which he never recovered. On his death-bed his soul became agitated
+with fear and remorse. He sent messengers to his father to implore
+forgiveness for his unfilial conduct, and ordered the priests to lay him
+on a bed of ashes, where having received the sacraments, he expired. The
+king was about the same period called upon to part, in a more hopeful
+manner, with his second daughter, Eleanor, who had been for some time
+betrothed to Alphonso, King of Castile. Henry's affection for his children
+in their early years, was of the most tender character; and Eleanor's
+fondness for him for some time subsequent to their marriage, partook of
+the passionate devotion of the south, but when her fickle attachment was
+assailed by the demon of jealousy, her love was changed to hate: and as
+Henry justly imagined, the rebellion of his sons was the consequence of
+her instructions.
+
+His domestic afflictions aggravated the melancholy occasioned by the
+mysterious disappearance of Rosamond, and he lamented in bitterness of
+spirit that the tempting lure of wealth and dominion offered in the
+alliance of Eleanor, had bribed him from his boyish purpose of placing
+Rosamond on the throne of England. He cursed the ambition that had
+nurtured foes in his own household, and deplored the selfish passion that
+had remorselessly poured sorrow into the young life that ventured all upon
+his truth. The calm heroism of his early character was changed into
+petulant arrogance. He frequently spent whole days hunting in the forests,
+or riding alone in different parts of his dominions. In the simple garb of
+a country knight, he had often sought admittance to the ancient seat of
+the Cliffords, and the nunnery of Godstowe, but without success. The sight
+of a crowd of people collected round a returned pilgrim at length
+suggested another mode of disguise. Procuring a palmer's weeds, he
+repaired to Herefordshire, and craved an alms from the servants, at
+Clifford castle. He was at once admitted, and the curious household
+gathered round the holy man to listen to his story.
+
+It had been, he said, a long time since he had left the Holy Wars. He had
+been a wanderer in many lands, but his heart had led him to his native
+country, to seek for those whom he had known in his youth. He would fain
+see, once more, the good Lord de Clifford, for he had saved his life in
+Palestine. The servants replied that the Lord de Clifford had not been
+heard from for many a year. "Might he gain a moment's audience of the Lady
+de Clifford?" The lady died soon after her lord's departure. "Could he
+speak with Adam Henrid?" The good seneschal had been long dead.
+
+His voice faltered as he inquired for Rosamond. An ominous silence was the
+only reply. "And Jaqueline, the lady's maid?" She, too, lay in her grave.
+He ran his eye along the group, and said with a look of embarrassment and
+pain, "There is none to welcome my return. It was not so in the good days
+when my lord and my lady rode forth to the chase with their gallant train,
+and the sound of feasting and wassail resounded in the castle hall.
+Remains there none of Lord Walter's kin to offer welcome or charity in our
+lady's name?" A proud boy stepped forth among the listeners, and with
+princely courtesy extended his hand.
+
+"Come with me, holy father," said he, "it shall never be said, that a
+pilgrim went hungry and weary from the castle of the Cliffords." With a
+step that accorded better with his impatience than his assumed character,
+Henry followed the lad to an inner apartment, where a repast was soon
+spread before him. As soon as the servants had withdrawn he entered into
+conversation with his young host. "Thou art a De Clifford," said he, as
+though it were an undoubted fact. "What is thy name?" "William," replied
+the youth; "and this clerk," pointing to a fair boy who sat reading in the
+deep embrasure of the window, "is my brother Geoffrey." "And how long have
+you dwelt at the castle?" "Some winters," replied the boy, after a
+moment's hesitation. "Who brought you hither?" "We came with Jaqueline,
+from our cottage in the wood." "And where is your mother?" said Henry,
+making a desperate effort to speak with calmness. "She went with Jaqueline
+so long ago, that Geoffrey does not remember her." "And your father?" said
+Henry, with increased agitation. "Jaqueline said our father was a king,
+and we must never leave the castle till he came for us." "And why did
+Jaqueline leave the castle?" "She went to the convent for confession; and
+there was where she died: but it is a long way." The heart of the father
+yearned towards his sons, as he gazed from one to the other, and compared
+their features with the miniature that their infant charms had set in his
+memory, but with the sweet certainty that he had at last found the objects
+of his search, was born the thrilling hope that their mother yet lived.
+Then a struggling crowd of thoughts, emotions, and purposes rushed through
+his mind, and foremost among them all was the idea that Eleanor might be
+divorced, Rosamond's wrongs repaired, the diadem of England placed upon
+her brow, and his declining years solaced by the affection of these
+duteous sons who should take the places and titles of the rebel princes.
+Yet even in the midst of the tumult of his feelings his wonted
+self-control taught him not to risk the safety of his new-found joys by
+any premature discovery. Rising from the table with an air of solemnity,
+he pronounced his parting blessing in a tone of the deepest fervor, and
+hurriedly took his leave. Retaining his disguise, but occupied with
+thoughts that ill-became a palmer's brain, he bent his steps towards the
+nunnery of Godstowe. Near the close of the second day he entered the
+confines of Oxfordshire, and found himself, little to his satisfaction, in
+the vicinity of a country fair, with its attendant junketing, masquerade,
+and feats of jugglery and legerdemain. To avoid the crowd, he determined
+to seek lodging in a booth that stood a little apart from the main
+encampment. The weary monarch had stretched himself to rest, when the
+sound of uproarious mirth disturbed his slumbers, and a Welsh
+ballad-singer, whom he remembered to have seen in the service of Giraldus
+Cambrensis, the tutor of John, commenced in a voice of considerable power
+and pathos, the following song:--
+
+  When as King Henry ruled this land,
+  The second of that name,
+  Besides the queen, he dearly loved
+  A fair and comely dame;
+  Most peerless was her beauty found,
+  Her favor and her face;
+  A sweeter creature in this world
+  Did never prince embrace.
+
+  Her crisped locks like threads of gold
+  Appeared to each man's sight,
+  Her sparkling eyes like orient pearls
+  Did cast a heavenly light;
+  The blood within her crystal cheeks
+  Did such a color drive,
+  As if the lily and the rose
+  For mastership did strive.
+
+  Yea, Rosamond, fair Rosamond,
+  Her name was called so,
+  To whom dame Eleanor our queen
+  Was known a deadly foe.
+  The king therefore for her defence
+  Against the furious queen,
+  At Woodstock builded such a bower,
+  The like was never seen.
+
+  Most curiously that bower was built
+  Of stone and timber strong,
+  One hundred and fifty doors
+  Did to this bower belong;
+  And they so cunningly contrived
+  With turnings round about,
+  That none but with a clew of thread
+  Could enter in or out.
+
+  And for his love and lady's sake
+  That was so fair and bright,
+  The keeping of this bower he gave
+  Unto a valiant knight.
+  But Fortune, that doth often frown
+  Where she before did smile,
+  The king's delight, the lady's joy
+  Full soon she did beguile.
+
+  For why, the king's ungracious son
+  Whom he did high advance,
+  Against his father raised wars
+  Within the realm of France.
+  But yet before our comely king
+  The English land forsook,
+  Of Rosamond, his lady fair,
+  His farewell thus he took.
+
+  "My Rosamond, my only Rose
+  That pleasest best mine eye,
+  The fairest flower in all the world
+  To feed my fantasy,
+  The flower of my affected heart,
+  Whose sweetness doth excel,
+  My royal Rose, a thousand times
+  I bid thee now farewell.
+
+  "For I must leave my fairest flower,
+  My sweetest Rose a space,
+  And cross the seas to famous France,
+  Proud rebels to abase.
+  But yet my Rose, be sure thou shalt
+  My coming shortly see,
+  And in my heart, when hence I am,
+  I'll bear my Rose with me."
+
+  When Rosamond, that lady bright,
+  Did hear the king say so,
+  The sorrow of her grieved heart
+  Her outward looks did show,
+  And from her clear and crystal eyes
+  Tears gushed out apace,
+  Which like the silver pearled dew
+  Ran down her comely face.
+
+  Her lips erst like the coral red,
+  Did wax both wan and pale,
+  And for the sorrow she conceived
+  Her vital spirits did fail.
+  And falling down all in a swoon,
+  Before King Henry's face,
+  Fell oft he in his princely arms
+  Her body did embrace.
+
+  And twenty times with watery eyes,
+  He kissed her tender cheek,
+  Until he had revived again
+  Her senses mild and meek.
+  "Why grieves my Rose, my sweetest Rose?"
+  The king did often say.
+  "Because," quoth she, "to bloody wars
+  My lord must pass away.
+
+  "But since your grace on foreign coasts,
+  Among your foes unkind,
+  Must go to hazard life and limb,
+  Why should I stay behind?
+  Nay, rather let me, like a page,
+  Your sword and target bear,
+  That on my breast the blows may light,
+  That should offend you there.
+
+  "Or let me in your royal tent
+  Prepare your bed at night,
+  And with sweet baths refresh your grace
+  At your return from fight.
+  So I your presence may enjoy,
+  No toil I will refuse;
+  But wanting you my life is death,
+  Nay, death I'd rather choose."
+
+  "Content thyself, my dearest love;
+  Thy rest at home shall be,
+  In England's sweet and pleasant soil;
+  For travel suits not thee.
+  Fair ladies brook not bloody wars;
+  Sweet peace, their pleasures breed
+  The nourisher of heart's content,
+  Which Fancy first did feed.
+
+  "My Rose shall rest in Woodstock's bower,
+  With music's sweet delight,
+  Whilst I among the piercing pikes
+  Against my foes do fight.
+  My Rose in robes of pearl and gold,
+  With diamonds richly dight,
+  Shall dance the galliards of my love,
+  While I my foes do smite.
+
+  "And you, Sir Thomas, whom I trust
+  To be my love's defence,
+  Be careful of my gallant Rose
+  When I am parted hence."
+  And therewithal he fetched a sigh,
+  As though his heart would break,
+  And Rosamond, for very grief,
+  Not one plain word could speak.
+
+  And at their parting well they might,
+  In heart be grieved sore,
+  After that day fair Rosamond
+  The king did see no more.
+  For when his grace had passed the seas,
+  And into France was gone,
+  Queen Eleanor with envious heart
+  To Woodstock came anon.
+
+  And forth she calls this trusty knight,
+  Who kept this curious bower,
+  Who with his clew of twined thread,
+  Came from this famous flower;
+  And when that they had wounded him,
+  The queen this thread did get,
+  And went where Lady Rosamond
+  Was like an angel set.
+
+  But when the queen, with steadfast eye,
+  Beheld her heavenly face,
+  She was amazed in her mind
+  At her exceeding grace.
+  "Cast off from thee these robes," she said,
+  "That rich and costly be;
+  And drink thou up this deadly draught,
+  Which I have brought to thee."
+
+  Then presently upon her knee,
+  Sweet Rosamond did fall;
+  And pardon of the queen she craved,
+  For her offences all.
+  "Take pity on my youthful years,"
+  Fair Rosamond did cry,
+  "And let me not with poison strong,
+  Enforced be to die.
+
+  "I will renounce my sinful life,
+  And in some cloister bide,
+  Or else be banished if you please,
+  To range the world so wide.
+  And for the fault which I have done,
+  Though I was forced thereto,
+  Preserve my life and punish me,
+  As you think good to do."
+
+  And with these words, her lily hands
+  She wrung full often there,
+  And down along her lovely face,
+  Proceeded many a tear.
+  But nothing could this furious queen
+  Therewith appeased be;
+  The cup of deadly poison strong,
+  As she sate on her knee,
+
+  She gave this comely dame to drink,
+  Who took it in her hand,
+  And from her bended knee arose,
+  And on her feet did stand,
+  And casting up her eyes to heaven,
+  She did for mercy call,
+  And drinking up the poison strong,
+  Her life she lost withal.
+
+"Help! ho! Have done with your foolish madrigal," cried a stout yeoman,
+who had watched the terrible agony depicted upon the face of the king,
+during this rehearsal; "the holy palmer is well nigh suffocated with your
+folly."
+
+"Give him a taste of one of the psalms of David," hiccoughed a little man
+from the opposite side of the booth, "the pious aye thrive upon the good
+book," and he laughed at his own profanity.
+
+"A horn of good English beer will do him better," roared a Yorkshire man,
+pouring out a bumper of ale. "Build up the body, mon, and the soul will do
+weel eneugh." "Gramercy!" cried the minstrel, going nearer and gazing upon
+his distorted features. "Some evil demon possesses him. 'Tis a terror to
+look upon his bloodshot eyes." "An if the evil demon is in him 'twere best
+to cast him out," interposed the owner of the booth. Suiting the action to
+the word, he dragged the senseless king from the couch of fern leaves, to
+a more refreshing bed upon the dewy grass. The cool air at length revived
+the miserable monarch, and the very torture of returning recollection gave
+him strength to rise and pursue his course. On he sped through the night,
+insensible to fatigue and regardless of rest. As he struck into the bridle
+path where his eyes were dazzled by the bright vision that first led his
+feet to Godstowe, the faint sound of the convent bell fell upon his ear.
+He thought it the ringing of the matin chime; but approaching nearer, the
+solemn toll smote heavily upon his heart, for he recognized in it the
+knell of a parting soul. He quickened his steps, and by reason of his
+friar's gown, gained ready admittance to the convent. The messenger that
+had been despatched for a priest to shrive the dying nun had not yet
+returned, and Henry's services were put in requisition to perform the holy
+office. Without giving him time for question or explanation, the
+frightened sisters hurried him through the long passages of the dormitory
+and introduced him into a cell, where stretched upon a pallet of straw,
+lay the pale and wasted form of Rosamond. The faint beams of morning
+struggling through the open casement, mingled with the sickening glare of
+waxen tapers, which according to the rites of the church, were placed at
+the head and foot of the bed. The couch was surrounded with objects
+intended to familiarize the mind with the idea of death, to fit the soul
+for its final departure. A coffin half filled with ashes stood near,
+whereon was placed the crown and robe, in which she had professed herself
+the bride of Christ, now ready to adorn her for her burial, and the
+necessary articles for administering extreme unction, were arranged upon a
+small table, above which hung a cross bearing an image of the dying
+Saviour. With a despairing glance at these terrible preparations, Henry
+approached the bed, and gazed upon the unconscious sufferer. Unable to
+command his voice, he waved his hand and the attendant devotees retired
+from the room; the lady abbess whispering as she passed, "I fear our
+sister is too far gone to confess." Hastily throwing back his cowl, he
+bent over the sleeper, raised her head, clasped in his own the attenuated
+hand that had so often returned his fond pressure, and in the accents of
+love and despair, whispered her name. The dying one languidly lifted the
+snowy lids that veiled her lustrous eyes, and looked upon him, but in the
+vacant gaze was no recognition. "My Rosamond!" cried Henry, passionately
+pressing a kiss upon her ashy lips. A thrill ran through her frame, her
+slight fingers quivered in his clasp, and the world of recollections that
+rushed back upon her brain, beamed from her dilating eyes. Her palsied
+tongue assayed to speak, but Henry caught only the low sound, "My
+children!" "My children"--reiterated the monarch--he said no more--her
+breast heaved--her lips trembled with the last faint sigh, and a smile of
+ineffable joy rested on the features of the dead.
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+  Ingratitude! thou marble-hearted fiend,
+  More to be dreaded when thou showest thee in a child,
+  Than the sea-monster.
+
+The protracted imprisonment of Queen Eleanor infuriated her Proven�al
+subjects. The southern court, deprived of its most brilliant gem, no
+longer attracted the gifted and the gay from all parts of Europe. The
+troubadours in effect hung their harps on the willows, and the faithful
+Peyrol, banished from the presence of his beloved mistress, attempted to
+console the weary hours of her captivity, by tender _Plaintes_, in which
+with touching simplicity he bewailed her misfortunes. "Daughter of
+Aquitaine," wrote he, "fair fruitful vine, thou hast been torn from thy
+country, and led into a strange land. Thy harp is changed into the voice
+of mourning, and thy songs into sounds of lamentation. Brought up in
+delicacy and abundance, thou enjoyedst a royal liberty, living in the
+bosom of wealth, delighting thyself with the sports of thy women, with
+their songs, to the sound of the lute and tabor; and now thou mournest,
+thou weepest, thou consumest thyself with sorrow. Return, poor
+prisoner--return to thy cities, if thou canst; and if thou canst not, weep
+and say, 'Alas! how long is my exile.' Weep, weep, and say, 'My tears are
+my bread both day and night.' Where are thy guards, thy royal
+escort?--where thy maiden train, thy counsellors of state? Thou criest,
+but no one hears thee! for the king of the north keeps thee shut up like a
+town that is besieged. Cry then--cease not to cry. Raise thy voice like a
+trumpet, that thy sons may hear it; for the day is approaching when thy
+sons shall deliver thee, and then shalt thou see again thy native land."
+
+But the warlike chiefs of Guienne did not confine themselves to
+expressions of tenderness. Richard and Geoffrey, though often hostile to
+each other, were always ready to lead the barons of the south to battle,
+and for two years the Angevin subjects of Henry and the Aquitaine subjects
+of Eleanor, incited by her sons, gave battle in the cause of the captive
+queen, and from Rochelle to Bayonne the whole south of France was in a
+state of insurrection. The melancholy death of Geoffrey added to the
+afflictions of his already wretched mother. In a grand tournament at Paris
+he was thrown from his horse and trodden to death beneath the feet of the
+coursers. He was distinguished for his manly beauty and martial grace, and
+Eleanor had regarded him with an affection as intense as was the causeless
+hatred she bore to his wife Constance. His infant son Arthur, for whom
+Eleanor's namesake had been set aside, inherited the dower of his mother
+both in possessions and enmity. Not long after the death of her favorite
+son Eleanor was called upon to part with her youngest daughter Joanna, who
+became the bride of William II. King of Sicily. Thus deprived of all
+affection, Eleanor dragged on a monotonous existence during Henry's
+protracted search for Rosamond.
+
+The innocence of his queen being fully proved, the softened monarch began
+to regard her with more complacency: but the vindictive spirit of Eleanor,
+incensed by the indignities she had suffered, and enraged by being the
+victim of unjust suspicions, could not so easily repass the barriers that
+had been interposed between their affections, and though she accompanied
+her lord to Bordeaux, she set herself to widen the breach between him and
+Richard, and he soon found it necessary to remand her again to the
+seclusion of Winchester palace.
+
+When Henry received absolution from the pope for the murder of Becket, he
+solemnly swore to visit the Holy Land in person, and the day had been
+fixed for his departure with Louis King of France. The death of that
+monarch prevented the expedition, and Henry had delayed it from time to
+time, though the patriarch of Jerusalem and the grand-master of the
+knights Hospitallers, had made the long and difficult journey to England,
+and in name of Queen Sibylla, had delivered to him as the successor of
+Fulk of Anjou, the royal banner and the keys of the Holy City and
+Sepulchre. Now impressed with a sense of the vanity of human hopes, and
+the fading grandeur of earthly distinction, he determined if possible, to
+divert his mind from the endless train of sad recollections, by plunging
+into the excitement of novel scenes and rekindling his wasting energies at
+the fane of Religion. The eyes of all the European nations were at this
+time directed, with peculiar anxiety to the distresses of the Christians
+in Palestine. At the death of Baldwin III. the sceptre passed to the hands
+of his brother Almeric, who wasted his subjects and treasure in a
+fruitless war with the Vizier of Egypt. The crown from Almeric descended
+to Baldwin IV., his son by Agnes de Courteney, heiress to the lost
+principality of Edessa. Baldwin IV. was a leper; and finding that disease
+incapacitated him for performing the royal functions, he committed the
+government to his brother-in-law Guy de Lusignan, a French knight whom
+Henry had banished for murder. At the death of Baldwin his sister Sibylla
+and her husband Guy became King and Queen of Jerusalem, but the Count of
+Tripoli refused to do them homage. At last he consented to proffer his
+allegiance to the queen, on condition that she should be divorced from
+Lusignan and choose a partner who should be able to protect the kingdom.
+Sibylla was a woman of great beauty, majestic person and commanding
+talents. She consented to the proposal of the Count of Tripoli, only
+requiring in return the oath of the barons that they would accept for
+sovereign whomsoever she should choose. The terms were settled, the
+divorce obtained, and the ceremony of her coronation took place. As soon
+as she was crowned, turning proudly to the rebel lords, she placed the
+diadem on the head of Lusignan, saluted him as her husband, bent the knee
+to him as king, and with a voice of authority, cried aloud, "Those whom
+God has joined together let not man put asunder." The simple truth and
+affection of the queen, and the grandeur of the spectacle awed the
+assembly; and the astonished barons submitted without a murmur.
+
+The famous Saladin, about the same time, began his career of conquest in
+the East. Tiberius, Acre, Jaffa, Cesarea and Berytus were the trophies of
+his victories. One hundred thousand people flying from the sword of the
+Turks crowded into Jerusalem, and the feeble garrison was not able to
+defend them. Saladin, unwilling to stain with human blood the place which
+even the Moslems held in reverence, offered the inhabitants peace on
+condition of the surrender of the city, and money and lands in Syria; but
+the Christians declared that they would not resign to the Infidels the
+place where the Saviour had suffered and died. Indignant at the rejection
+of his offer, Saladin swore that he would enter the city sword in hand and
+retaliate upon the Franks the carnage they had made in the days of Godfrey
+de Boulogne. For fourteen days the battle raged around the walls with
+almost unexampled fury. The Moslem fanatic fearlessly exposed his life,
+expecting that death would give him at once to drink of the waters of
+Paradise,--the Christian, hoping to exchange an earthly for a heavenly
+Jerusalem, poured out his blood in protecting the Holy Sepulchre. When it
+was found that the wall near the gate of St. Stephen was undermined, all
+farther efforts at defence were abandoned; the clergy prayed for a
+miraculous interposition of heaven, and the soldiers threw down their arms
+and crowded into the churches. Saladin again offered favorable conditions
+of peace. The miserable inhabitants spent four days in visiting the sacred
+places, weeping over and embracing the Holy Sepulchre, and then, sadly
+quitting the hallowed precincts, passed through the enemy's camp, and took
+their disconsolate way towards Tyre, the last stronghold of the Latins in
+Palestine.
+
+Thus after the lapse of nearly a century, the Holy City that had cost
+Europe so much blood and treasure, once more became the property of the
+Infidel. The great cross was taken down from the church of the Sepulchre
+and dragged through the mire of the street, the bells of the churches
+were melted, while the floors and walls of the mosque of Omar, purified
+with Damascene rose-water, were again consecrated to the worship of the
+false prophet. The melancholy tidings of this event occasioned the
+greatest sensation throughout the Christian world. The aged pontiff died
+of a broken heart. The husband of Joanna put on sackcloth and vowed to
+take the cross. Henry, Philip, the new King of France, the Earls of
+Flanders and Champagne, and a great number of knights and barons resolved
+to combine their forces for the redemption of the Holy City.
+
+Immediately upon the death of Rosamond, Henry had made all the reparation
+in his power to her injured name, by acknowledging her children and
+placing them at Woodstock to be educated with his son John. The boys grew
+up to manhood, and developed a perfection of personal elegance and
+strength of character more befitting the sons of a king than any of the
+children of Eleanor. He promoted them to offices of honor and trust, and
+made Geoffrey chancellor of the realm.
+
+Everything was now ready for the king's departure. In a general council
+held at Northampton it was enacted that every man who did not join the
+crusade should pay towards the expense of the expedition one tenth of all
+his goods; and the Jews were fined for the same purpose one fourth of
+their personal property. Henry wrote letters to the emperors of Germany,
+Hungary and Constantinople, for liberty to pass through their dominions,
+and receiving favorable answers, passed over to France to complete the
+arrangement with Philip, when the whole plan was defeated by that
+monarch's demanding that his sister Alice should be given to Richard, and
+that the English should swear fealty to the prince as heir-apparent to the
+throne. Henry refused; and his son Richard, in the public conference,
+kneeling at the feet of the French monarch, presented him his sword,
+saying, "To you, sir, I commit the protection of my rights, and to you I
+now do homage for my father's dominions in France."
+
+The king, amazed at this new act of rebellion, retired precipitately from
+the council, and prepared with some of his former alacrity, to meet the
+combination against him. But Fortune, that had hitherto smiled upon him,
+seemed now to forsake him. He was defeated in every battle, driven from
+city to city, his health became impaired, his spirits failed, and at last
+he submitted to all the demands of his enemies, agreeing to pay twenty
+thousand marks to Philip, to permit his vassals to do homage to Richard,
+and above all, to give up Alice, the cause of so much domestic misery.
+
+He stipulated only for a list of the disaffected barons who had joined the
+French king. The first name that caught his eye was that of John, the
+idolized child of his old age. He read no further, but throwing down the
+paper, fell into one of those violent paroxysms of rage to which of late
+years he had been so fearfully subject. He cursed the day of his birth,
+called down maledictions upon his unnatural children and their treacherous
+mother, flung himself upon the couch, tore the covers with his teeth, and
+clutched the hair from his head, and swooned away in a transport of anger
+and grief. A raging fever succeeded; but in his lucid moments he
+superintended an artist, who, at his command, painted upon canvass, the
+device of a young eaglet picking out the eyes of an eagle. Day after day
+the monarch lingered and suffered between paroxysms of pain and grief, and
+intervals of lassitude and insensibility; and when others forsook his
+bedside in weariness or alarm, Geoffrey, unconscious of drowsiness or
+fatigue, stood a patient watcher by his dying father. The feeble monarch
+recognized in the voice of this son the tones which his ear had loved in
+youth, and obeyed its slightest bidding; and the only alleviation of his
+agony was found in gazing upon the face that revived the image of his lost
+Rosamond. Taking the signet-ring from his finger, he placed it upon the
+hand of Geoffrey; "Thou art my true and loyal son," said he. "The blessing
+of heaven rest upon thee for thy filial service to thy guilty sire.
+Commend me to thy brother William and his beautiful bride. As for the
+others, give them yon parable," pointing to the picture of the eagle,
+"with my everlasting curse." He leaned his head upon the breast of his
+son, and supported in his arms, expired.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Eleanor survived her unhappy consort more than twenty years, and in that
+time made some amends for the follies and vices of her early life. The
+first step of her son Richard on his accession to the throne, was to
+release his mother from her confinement, and make her regent of the
+kingdom. She employed her freedom and her power in acts of mercy and
+beneficence, making a progress through the kingdom, and setting at liberty
+all persons confined for breach of the forest-laws, and other trivial
+offences, and recalling the outlawed to their homes and families. During
+the absence of Richard in the Holy Land, she administered the government
+with prudence and discretion, and after the accession of John, resumed the
+sceptre of her own dominions, slowly and painfully gathering, in the
+crimes and miseries of her children, the fruit of the evil counsels she
+had given them in their childhood. At the age of eighty she retired into
+the convent of Fontevraud, and three years after died of sorrow, when the
+peers of France branded her son John as the murderer of Arthur.
+
+
+
+
+BERENGARIA OF NAVARRE.
+
+
+[Illustration: Berengaria of Navarre.]
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+  "What thing so good which not some harm may bring?
+  E'en to be happy is a dangerous thing?"
+
+"Sing no more, for thy song wearieth me," exclaimed the impatient daughter
+of Navarre, tossing upon her couch with the heavy restlessness of one who
+courts slumber when nature demands exercise. The Moorish maiden,
+accustomed to the petulance of the beautiful Berengaria, arose from her
+cushion and laying aside her lute, murmured despondingly, "The proverb
+saith truly, ''Tis ill-pleasing him who is ill-pleased with himself.'"
+Abandoning further attempts to soothe her mistress, the attendant retired
+to the extremity of the long apartment and gazed listlessly from the
+casement. "Art vexed that my ear loved not the sound of thy lute, peevish
+child?" inquired the youthful princess. "Read me a riddle, or tell me a
+marvellous tale of the Genii, such as thou hast learned in thy southern
+land." With the air of one who performs an accustomed task while his
+thoughts are far away, the girl resumed her seat, and recited
+
+A TALE OF ARABY.
+
+Once upon a time three Genii, returning from their missions to mortals
+rested beside the well Zemzem. And as they sat recounting to each other
+the things that they had seen, behold they fell into conversation
+concerning the Eternal One (whose name be exalted), the destinies that
+reign over the fate of men, the characteristics of the world, and the
+misfortunes and calamities which happen unto all, both the righteous and
+the wicked. And one said to another, "Declare unto us now what is thine
+opinion, and what knowest thou concerning this thing. What is that,
+diffused in air, dissolved in water or concealed in earth, the subtle
+essence of which, being bestowed upon one of human mould, shall bring him
+nearest to the throne of Allah, (blessed be his name), and give him right
+to eat of the tree that standeth in the seventh heaven by the garden of
+the Eternal Abode?" And the first said, "It is Beauty," and the second,
+"It is Love," and the third, "It is Happiness." And there arose a
+contention among them; and when they found that neither could convince the
+others, they agreed to depart each on his way, to search the elements of
+all things for that concordial mixture with which he would nourish a human
+soul into immortality. So they went their way. And after the lapse of a
+cycle of years, they returned again and sat by the well Zemzem. And each
+bore in his hand a phial purer than crystal, sealed with the seal of
+Solomon the wise, the magnificent. Then spake the first, saying, "Earth
+hath no form of beauty from the flash of the diamond hidden in its deepest
+caves, through all the brilliant variety of gems and sands of gold; no
+delicate pencilling from the first faint tinge upon the rose-bud's cheek
+to the gorgeous dyes of the flowers and fruits that deck the vale of
+Cashmere; water hath no shade of coloring from the sea-green lining of its
+coral caves, to the splendid iridescence of its pearly shells; air hath no
+tint of the virgin stars, no ray of parted light; vapor beareth no beauty
+in its morning clouds and rainbow hues, from which I have not ravished the
+subtlest source. Whatever form of Beauty can become apparent to the sense,
+either as breath of fragrance, sweetness of sound, or grace of motion,
+sublimated to its purest element, lieth here enclosed for the endowment of
+whomsoever we shall choose." And he held up the phial, and lo! it
+contained a liquid having a faint coloring of the rose.
+
+Then spake the second and said, "The Almighty (blessed be he) hath given
+unto me that mysterious power by which I read the thoughts and purposes of
+men, even as the Holy Prophet (on whom be benedictions) was wont to read
+the 'Book of Life.'
+
+"From the heart of the child that turneth ever to watch the movements of
+its mother, from the heart of the servant that seeketh the favor of her
+mistress, from the heart of the sister that exults with pride in the glory
+of her brother, from the heart of the maiden that beateth bashfully and
+tenderly at the sound of the footsteps of her lover, from the heart of the
+bridegroom that yearneth with strong desire towards his bride, from the
+heart of the father that expands in the fulness of joy at the sight of his
+first-born, from the heart of the mother that watcheth ever the steps of
+her child, whether he sporteth in innocence by her side or wandereth with
+vice in foreign parts; I have gathered the sweetest and purest and truest
+thought of Love. Its impalpable essence lies hidden in this phial," and he
+placed it before them. And lo! it seemed filled with a vapor which flushed
+in their gaze with the hue of the dawn.
+
+Then spake the third and said, "It is not permitted unto me the servant of
+Ifraz the Unknown, to declare unto you in what outward manifestations of
+human hope or desire, in what inward workings of thought and feeling, I
+have detected and imprisoned the elusive spirit of Happiness," and he held
+up his phial before them. And with one voice they exclaimed, "It is
+empty." And they laughed him to scorn.
+
+Then spake he in anger and said, "Truly the fool proceedeth upon
+probability, and the wise man requireth proof." And they replied, "Go to,
+now, we will abide the proof."
+
+And forthwith they took their way to the land of Suristan. And as they
+passed by the well of Israel, Ben Izak (on whom be peace), they saw a
+maiden bearing a pitcher of water. And the first said, "Behold, now,
+immortality is given unto man by the Almighty the Ordainer of fate and
+destiny (whose name be exalted), but unto woman it is not given except as
+her _beauty_ shall delight the heart of man." But the second said, "Except
+as _love_ gives her a seat by the Well of Life;" and the third, "Except
+as _happiness_ translates her to Paradise." Then said the first, "Let us
+contend no more, but let us take this damsel and bestow upon her, each our
+separate gift, and she shall be a sign and a testimony concerning these
+things." And thus they agreed together.
+
+And when the maiden retired to her couch, and the angel of sleep had laid
+his finger upon her eyelids, the first genii calling upon the name of God
+the All-perfect (blessed be he) broke the seal of his phial, and poured a
+portion of the liquid upon her lips. And the three genii watched her
+slumbers till the dawn; and thus they did evening by evening. And they
+beheld her form developing in loveliness, tall and straight as the palm,
+but lithe and supple as the bending branch of the oriental willow. Her
+smoothly rounded arms gleamed like polished ivory beneath the folds of her
+transparent izar, and the tips of her rosy fingers were touched with the
+lustre of henna. Her lips had the hue of the coral when it is wet with the
+spray of the sea, her teeth were as strings of pearl, and the melting
+fulness of her cheek was suffused with the soft bloom of the peach. In her
+eyes was the light of the stars, and her eyelids were adorned with kohl.
+Her hair was glossy and black as the plumage of the raven, and when she
+covered it with her veil, her countenance beamed from it comely as the
+full moon that walketh in the darkness of the night. Her speech was as the
+murmur of the waterfall and the clear tones of the nightingales of the
+Jordan. She was a wonder unto herself and unto her neighbors. Her step had
+the lightness of the gazelle and the grace of the swan; and when she went
+forth abroad, the eye that beheld her beauty exclaimed, "Glory be to him
+who created her, perfected her, and completed her." But the genii beheld
+with sorrow and mortification that she became vain, and that foolish
+thoughts sprang up in her heart; so that it was said of her, "Hath God the
+High, the Great, put an evil spirit in the perfection of beauty?" Then
+said the second genii, "Ye shall see what the elixir of _love_ shall do."
+And he entered into her chamber, and he broke the mystic seal which was
+the seal of Solomon Ben David (on both of whom be peace), and a sweet odor
+was diffused through the apartment. And the lips of the sleeper moved as
+with a pleasant smile, and there beamed upon her countenance the nameless
+charm with which the houris fill with delight the dwellers in the Garden
+of Eternity. And it came to pass that all who looked upon her loved her
+and said, "There is none among the created like her in excellence of
+beauty, or in charms of disposition. Extolled be the perfection of the
+Creator of mankind." And they strove one with another which should possess
+the inestimable treasure. And contention and strife arose daily among
+them; and her heart inclined unto all, and she feared to unite herself
+with one, lest grievous wars should follow. Therefore her soul was filled
+with grief, and she ceased not to weep by day and by night, and the tears
+were on her cheeks. Then said the third genii, "Behold sorrow is of earth,
+and the beauty and love ye have bestowed have gathered with them the
+noxious principles inwoven in the basis of human things. Ye shall behold
+the power of happiness." Then he took the colorless phial, and he broke
+the seal thereof, calling upon the name of Ifraz the Unknown, and lo, hour
+after hour the invisible, impalpable elixir seemed to permeate her being,
+and the light of her eye was tempered to a holy ray, the color blanched on
+her cheeks, and the vivacity of love gave place to the serenity of
+content. And as she walked forth the voluptuous and the wise said, "Behold
+she is too pure for earth, the Terminator of delights and Separator of
+companions will soon call for her. Extolled be the perfections of the
+Eternal in whose power it lieth to annul and to confirm."
+
+And when the two genii saw that Beauty and Love availed not, they were
+filled with envy, and they seized the damsel and conveyed her away to the
+cave of enchantment. And the third genii being transported with grief and
+disappointment, broke the phial, and that which remained of the elixir of
+Happiness returned to its primeval source, and entered again into the
+combinations of human things. But the seal being broken it became known to
+mortals that the elixir of Life existed in the elements, and hence it is,
+that those who are skilled in the mysteries of nature have searched its
+grand arcanum with the powerful agencies of alchemy, and tortured the
+genii with spells and incantations to wring from them the mighty secret.
+
+Berengaria had listened to the story with unwonted interest, and at its
+close started up from her couch and eagerly inquired, "What has been the
+result? Have they discovered the long-sought principle? I have heard
+wondrous tales concerning these alchemists. Men say they deal in the black
+art; but were there one in Navarre, I would brave the imputation of
+sorcery to question him concerning the elixir of beauty." "A Moorish
+physician dwells in the suburbs of Pampeluna," replied Elsiebede,
+measuring her sentences with timid hesitation, "whom I have often seen in
+the byways, gathering herbs, it is said he readeth the fates of mortals in
+the stars."
+
+"Let us go to him," exclaimed the princess, "bring me my pelisson and
+veil."
+
+The girl obeyed with a trembling alacrity, that to a less occupied
+observer, would have betrayed that the expedition was the unexpected
+accomplishment of a long-cherished desire.
+
+"This way," said Elsiebede, drawing her mistress from the public street,
+now beginning to be thronged with laborers returning from their toil, "the
+alchemist brooks not impertinent intrusion, and we must beware that no
+officious attendant, nor curious retainer find the place of his abode."
+Silently and swiftly the two maidens threaded a narrow alley, leading
+through an unfrequented part of the town, turning and winding among
+buildings more and more remote from each other, till it terminated on a
+grassy heath, surrounding a dilapidated mansion. The sun had already set,
+and Berengaria, never too courageous, began to shudder at the loneliness
+of the place. With instinctive fear, she clung tremblingly to the arm of
+her resolute dependent, whispering, "Whither dost thou lead me? There is
+here no sign of human life. Let us return." But the spirited slave bent
+the weak will of the mistress to her purpose; and with alternate
+assurances of safety and incitements to curiosity, led the way to the rear
+of the ruined pile, where descending a stone stair, she gave three raps
+upon a low door. The grating of rusty bolts was heard, the door was
+cautiously opened, and Berengaria felt herself suddenly drawn within the
+portal. A glare of dazzling light blinded and bewildered her, and a
+stifling vapor added to her former terror, almost stupefied her senses.
+
+The voice of Elsiebede somewhat reassured her, and as her eyes became
+accustomed to the light, she took a survey of the scene before her. The
+apartment seemed to have been originally the kitchen of the castle, one
+end being occupied by a wide, large chimney, now built up except in the
+centre, where a furnace, covered with crucibles, glowed with the most
+intense heat. A white screen with a small dark screen before it, nearly
+concealed one side, of the apartment, while on the other side from three
+serpent-formed tubes connected through the wall with retorts, gleamed
+tongues of colored flame. Various gallipots, alembics, horologues,
+diagrams, and dusty manuscripts were deposited upon shelves in angles of
+the wall.
+
+The principal occupant was a man of a lean, haggard figure, bowed less by
+age than by toil and privation. A few black, uncombed locks escaping from
+the folds of a turban, once white, now begrimed with smoke and dust,
+straggled over a swarthy forehead, marked with lines caused by intense
+thought, and abortive speculations. He was dressed in Moorish garments,
+the sleeves tucked above the elbows, revealing his emaciated arms, while
+his talon-like fingers grasped an immense triangular crystal, through
+which he was casting refractions upon the screen. His deep, cavernous eyes
+seemed to gleam with the fires of insanity, yet he spoke in a tone of deep
+abstraction, though with something like the voice of affection. "Disturb
+me not, my daughter, but stand aside till I have completed my
+experiment." The maidens remained silently by the door, and Berengaria had
+leisure to note the motions of a dwarf African, who sat diligently blowing
+the bellows of the furnace, rolling his eyes, and saluting the ladies with
+smiles which served at once to exhibit his white teeth and his
+satisfaction at the interruption.
+
+Notwithstanding her fears at finding herself in so strange a situation,
+the curiosity of Berengaria was so excited by the novelty of the scene,
+that she waited patiently while the philosopher experimented first with
+one light and then with another, till apparently becoming dissatisfied
+with the result, he attempted to change the position of the tubes. Scarce
+was his purpose accomplished, when a deafening explosion rent the air,
+followed by sounds as of the falling of the ruin overhead. Profound
+darkness ensued, and the groans of the wounded alchemist mingled with the
+demoniac laughter of the African, and the echo of her own shrieks
+increased the terror of the princess almost to agony. Elsiebede alone
+retained any share of self-possession. "A light, a light, Salaman,"
+exclaimed she. Instantly a line of blue flame crept along the wall, and a
+tiny torch in the hand of the dwarf mysteriously ignited, revealed again
+his malevolent countenance, and threw his misshapen and magnified image in
+full relief upon the screen. An odor of brimstone that seemed to accompany
+the apparition, did not serve to allay Berengaria's apprehensions.
+Elsiebede for once forgot her mistress. Hastily snatching the torch from
+the negro, she lighted a lamp and raising her father from the stone floor,
+began to examine his wounds. The blood was oozing from a contusion upon
+the back of his head, one side of his face was dreadfully burned, and his
+right hand lay utterly powerless. Giving hurried directions in Moorish to
+the grinning Ethiope, Elsiebede with his assistance placed her father upon
+a couch behind the screen, and bathed the painful wounds with a balmy
+liquid from one of the dusty phials, accompanying her soothing appliances
+with the soft and gentle expressions of affection. Their language was
+foreign to the ear of Berengaria, but she discovered by the tones of the
+father, and the tears of the daughter, that he was chiding her as the
+cause of his misfortune. At length overcome by his upbraiding, Elsiebede
+drew from her bosom a silken purse, and taking thence a jewel kissed it
+fervently, and like one resigning her last treasure at the call of duty,
+put it into his extended hand. The black meanwhile had prepared a cordial,
+which he intimated would soon give her father rest. The alchemist eagerly
+swallowed the draught, and soon sank into a heavy sleep.
+
+Berengaria, whose impatience had scarcely brooked the delay necessary for
+this happy consummation, hurried the reluctant Elsiebede away. "I knew
+not, Elsie," said she, when they were at a safe distance from the ruin,
+"that thy father dwelt in Pampeluna. I thought thou wert an orphan, when
+my father moved by thy beauty and distress purchased thee of the rude
+Castilian. Tell me thine history."
+
+"My father," replied Elsiebede, "was when young the physician of the
+Moorish prince, and occupied himself in separating the hidden virtues of
+nature from the impurities with which they are combined. When walking
+abroad to gather plants for the prosecution of his inquiries, he met every
+day a young flower girl, carrying her fragrant wares to the palace of the
+Alhambra. Attracted by her beauty, he purchased her flowers, and
+interested himself in her history. He learned that she belonged to a band
+of Saracens or Gyptianos, that had recently settled in Grenada. He loved
+her and she became his wife.
+
+"I was their only child. My youth was spent in listening to the wondrous
+tales of the East, with which my mother delighted me, or in acquiring the
+elements of science with my father. The sudden illness and death of my
+mother destroyed all my happiness. My father betook himself again to the
+most abstruse studies, spent whole nights in watching the stars, practised
+incantations to the spirits of the air, and pondering continually upon the
+mystery of death, commenced the search for that mighty principle which is
+said to prolong human existence. Many wonderful secrets of nature were in
+this process revealed to his sight; but he became so sad and gloomy, and
+his eyes beamed on me with such an unwonted fire, that I feared lest grief
+should dethrone the angel of reason. To divert his mind, I began to lead
+him forth in his accustomed walks. One day when we had lingered rather
+later than usual beyond the walls of Grenada, a band of armed Castilians
+fell upon us, and carried us away captives. The noble Sancho found me
+singing songs for my cruel master, and redeemed me from my fate."
+
+"And what became of thy father?" inquired Berengaria. "He was enabled by
+some of his medicines to heal a long-established malady of his captor, and
+thus obtained his freedom: since which, until within a few months, he has
+wandered through Spain in search of his lost child." "And wherefore didst
+thou commit to a dying man the precious jewel which I saw in thy hand?"
+The tears of Elsiebede began to fall fast, and with a choking voice she
+replied, "Question me not, I entreat thee. Oh, my mistress, concerning the
+ring, at another time I will tell thee all." Touched with the instinctive
+reverence that nature always pays to genuine sorrow, the princess forbore
+further inquiries, and the two maidens completed their walk in silence.
+
+The terror that Berengaria had suffered took away all desire to prosecute
+her inquiries with the alchemist, but with unusual consideration, on the
+following day, she dismissed Elsiebede at an early hour, giving her
+permission to pass the night with her father. The poor girl returned in
+the morning overwhelmed with grief. The alchemist was dead. From her
+self-reproaches and lamentations Berengaria learned, that in his
+scientific researches he had consumed all his property, and melted every
+valuable belonging to his daughter, except her mother's ring. This gem she
+had steadily refused to give him, both on account of its being a memento
+and a charm, and the failure of his experiment with its fatal results he
+had in his dying hour attributed to the lack of the potency of the
+precious gem. Stung with remorse, Elsiebede declared that if the ring
+could not save her father's life, it should at least procure him a grave,
+and telling her mistress that she could never again look upon the jewel
+without a shudder, begged her to accept it, and to assist her in burying
+him according to the rites of the Mohammedan religion. In catholic Navarre
+this was next to an impossibility; but through the generosity of the
+princess, and the ingenuity of Salaman, the corpse was secretly conveyed
+to the Moorish cemetery in Grenada.
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+                      "O, such a day
+  So fought, so followed, and so fairly won,
+  Came not till now, to dignify the times."
+
+It was a gala-day in Navarre. Sancho the Strong, the gallant brother of
+Berengaria, had proclaimed a tournament in compliment to his friend
+Richard Plantagenet, Count of Poitou. In the domestic wars which had vexed
+the south of France since the marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine with Henry
+of Anjou, these valiant youths had fought side by side, and from a
+friendship cemented by intimacy as well as similarity of tastes and
+pursuits, had become _fratres jurati_, or sworn brothers, according to the
+customs of the age. Both were celebrated for their knightly
+accomplishments and their skill in judging of Proven�al poetry, and each
+had proved the prowess of the other in chivalric encounter, and provoked
+the genius of his friend in the refined and elegant contests of minstrelsy
+and song. The brave Sancho had arranged the lists, giving to his friend
+the first place as knight challenger, reserving the second for himself,
+and bestowing the third upon their brother in arms, the young Count of
+Champagne. The gay pavilions were set, a splendid concourse assembled,
+and Berengaria, proclaimed Queen of Beauty and Love, had assumed her regal
+state attended by all the beauties of Navarre, when to the infinite
+disappointment and mortification of the prince, Count Raimond of Toulouse
+arrived to say, that Richard, having received letters from his mother, had
+found it necessary to depart suddenly for England; but that the
+festivities of the day might not be marred by his absence, he entreated
+that the bearer of the message, Count Raimond, might occupy his pavilion,
+bestride his war-steed, and do his devoir in the lists. With a courtesy
+that ill-concealed his chagrin the noble Sancho accepted the substitute,
+and conducting him to the tent glittering with green and gold, consigned
+him to the care of the esquires; while himself went to acquaint his sister
+with the mortifying fact that the spectacle, for which they had prepared
+with such enthusiastic anticipations, was yet to want the crowning grace
+expected from the presence of that flower of knighthood, Richard
+Plantagenet.
+
+To conceal from the spectators the knowledge of this untoward event, their
+father, Sancho the Wise, who held the post of honor as judge of the
+combat, decided that Count Raimond of Toulouse should assume the armorial
+bearings of Richard, and personate him in the lists. These preliminaries
+being satisfactorily arranged, the heralds rode forth and proclaimed the
+laws of the tournament, and the games proceeded. The Count of Champagne
+and the royal Sancho, better practised in the exercises of the lance than
+the Spanish cavaliers who opposed them, won applause from all beholders;
+but the crowd seemed to take especial delight in the prowess of Count
+Raimond, shouting at every gallant thrust, and every feat of horsemanship,
+"A Richard, a Richard! A Plantagenet!" Notwithstanding the unfavorable
+auspices under which the tournament commenced, the sports of the day were
+as gay and animated as the most sanguine could have hoped. The three
+challengers had overborne all opponents. With a heart fluttering with
+pride and pleasure, the young Blanche of Navarre had seen her sister
+confer a golden coronet upon the Count of Champagne, and Sancho had also
+received from Berengaria a chaplet in honor of his knightly achievements.
+But the first in honor as in place, was the warrior who had personated
+Richard. When, however, he laid aside his vizor, to receive the well-won
+laurel as leader of the victors, the multitude discovered that the hero
+whom they had greeted with such enthusiastic applause was Count Raimond of
+Toulouse, and new bursts of acclamations rent the air, while the marshals,
+and squires, and heralds, forgetting for a moment their duties, gathered
+round the throne of Love and Beauty to interchange congratulations with
+the gratified count.
+
+In the general excitement no one had noticed the entrance of a _knight
+adventurous_, one of those wandering cavaliers who, to perfect themselves
+in feats of arms, travelled from province to province, challenging the
+skill of all comers in chivalrous combat. The appearance of this
+knight-errant was such as attracted all eyes. He was mounted on a bay
+horse of spirit and mettle that hardly yielded to the strong rein; his
+helmet was surmounted with a crest of the figure of a red hound, while his
+erect form shielded in brown armor, and the firmness with which he
+maintained his seat gave him the appearance of a bronze statue, borne
+along in the procession. Disregarding the indications that the fortunes of
+the day were already decided, the stranger knight rode directly to the
+pavilion emblazoned with the arms of Richard, and struck his spear with
+such force upon the shield, as to summon at once the attendants to duty.
+
+"Whom have we here?" exclaimed Sancho, with a hearty laugh. "By our Lady,
+Count Raimond, this day's sun shall not set till the heathen hound on the
+crest of yon crusading knight hath bit the dust. Pardieu, I almost envy
+thee thy good fortune to tilt against so fair a foe." The interest which
+this new-comer gave to the flagging sports was evinced by the eager
+inquiries and hurried whispers that went round among the spectators. A
+breathless silence ensued, as Count Raimond couched his lance and started
+forward to meet his strange challenger. "A Raimond! A Raimond!" cried the
+crowd, as the two combatants dashed upon each other.
+
+"Long life to the Red Knight," "Success to the Crusaders," was echoed by
+the fickle multitude, with increased satisfaction, as the hero of
+Toulouse, overthrown by the violence of the shock, struggled beneath his
+fallen charger, while the stranger applying rein and spur, caused his
+gallant steed at one bound, to leap over the prostrate horse and rider,
+then dexterously compelling the animal to caricole gracefully in front of
+the queen's galley, and lowering his lance, the victorious knight
+courteously bowed as if laying his honors at the feet of Love and Beauty.
+The prizes for the day were already bestowed; but the enthusiastic
+Berengaria found it impossible to let such prowess go unrewarded. Hastily
+untying her scarf, she fastened it to the end of his spear, and the
+Crusader, with the armorial bearings of Navarre streaming from his lance,
+rode slowly and proudly from the lists.
+
+The squires meanwhile had extricated the vanquished Raimond from his
+perilous position, and conducted him to his tent, where his bruises were
+found to require the skill of the leech. All were busy with conjectures
+concerning the unknown, many sage surmises very wide of the truth were
+hazarded by those best acquainted with heraldic devices, and arguments
+were rapidly increasing to animosities, when the slight tinkling of a bell
+again drew the attention of the concourse.
+
+"A champion! A champion," exclaimed they again as a second knight, strong
+and broad-shouldered, sheathed in shining black armor, entered the arena.
+Glimpses of a ruddy complexion and sparkling eyes, were visible through
+the jetty bars of his vizor, and a raven with smooth and glossy plumage,
+its beak open, and a bell suspended from its neck, was perched upon his
+helmet. His coal-black steed was a war-horse of powerful make,
+deep-chested and of great strength of limb; his red nostrils distended by
+his fiery impatience, glowed like the coals of a furnace, while the
+gauntleted hand that with matchless skill controlled his speed, looked as
+though it might have belonged to a giant of the olden time. The
+impetuosity of the black knight left the spectators not long in doubt of
+his purpose. Count Henry of Champagne was summoned to reassume his armor
+and make good his claim to his recently won laurels. "Pray heaven thine
+eye and hand falter not, Count Henry," exclaimed Sancho, as he personally
+inspected the armor of his friend, and cautioned the squires to see that
+each ring and buckle was securely fastened. "The issue of this combat
+should depend upon thine own right arm, not upon a weak spring or careless
+squire." The courtesy of the black knight seemed proportioned to his
+strength and skill. Reining his horse to the left, he gave the count the
+full advantage of the wind and sun, and instead of meeting him in full
+career, eluded the shock, parried his thrusts with the most graceful ease,
+and rode around him like a practised knight conducting the exercises of
+the tilt-yard in such a manner, as to develop and display the prowess of
+an ambitious squire; and when at last Count Henry lost his saddle, it was
+rather the effect of his own rashness, than from any apparent purpose of
+his antagonist; for exasperated to the last degree at being thus toyed
+with, he retreated to the extremity of the lists, put his horse upon its
+full speed and dashed upon his opponent. The black knight perceiving the
+intent of this manoeuvre, brought his well-trained steed at once into an
+attitude of perfect repose, and sitting immovable as an iron pillar,
+received the full shock upon his impenetrable shield. The horse of the
+count recoiling from the effect of the terrible collision, sank upon his
+haunches, and the girth breaking, the rider rolled in the dust. Something
+like a smothered laugh broke from beneath the bars of the stranger's
+vizor, as he rode round his vanquished foe, and extended his hand as
+though inviting him to rise. But his demeanor was grave and dignified,
+when he presented himself before the admiring Berengaria, who in default
+of a better chaplet stripped her tiny hand of its snowy covering, and
+bestowed the embroidered glove as the guerdon of his skill. "Part we so
+soon, sir knight?" said Sancho, reining his steed, so as to keep pace with
+that of his unexpected guest. "I would fain set lance in rest against so
+fair a foe." Without deigning a reply, the knight put spurs to his horse,
+and leaping the barriers disappeared in the wood. Rejoining his two
+friends in the pavilion who were condoling with each other over their
+inglorious defeat, Sancho burst into a stream of invective. "Ungrateful
+cravens," cried he, "to repine at heaven's grace. I would have given the
+brightest jewel in the crown of Navarre, for leave to set lance in rest
+against either of yon doughty knights." "Thou shouldst have been very
+welcome," exclaimed Raimond, laying his hand upon his wounded limb. "Our
+Lady grant henceforth that dame Fortune send all such favors to thee," and
+he laughed in spite of his discomfiture. A startling blast from the wood
+interrupted the colloquy, and Count Raimond petulantly exclaimed,
+"Methinks the foul fiends have congregated in the forest! That hath the
+sound of the last trumpet."
+
+"Aye, verily," replied Count Henry, reconnoitering from the door of the
+pavilion, "and yonder comes Death on the pale horse. Prince Sancho, thine
+hour has come, prepare to meet thy final overthrow." There seemed a
+terrible significance in the words, for upon a snowy charger, whose mane
+and tail nearly swept the ground, just entering the lists, was seen a
+knight, dressed in a suit of armor of such shining brilliancy as almost to
+dazzle the eyes of the beholders. His crest was a white dove with its
+wings spread, and conspicuous upon his right shoulder appeared a blood-red
+cross. He carried neither lance nor spear, but an immense battle-axe hung
+at his saddle-bow. "By my troth," said Sancho, "be he the angel of death
+himself, I will dispute his empire, even though he bring twelve legions of
+his mysterious retainers to back him. It shall not be said that the
+chivalry of Spain, aye, and of France to boot," casting a glance at his
+crest-fallen friends, "are but trophies of the prowess of these unknown
+demi-gods." "Heaven grant thou mayest make good thy boast, for truly
+these demi-gods wield no mortal weapons," said Count Raimond, with a
+bitter smile, as the prince anticipating a challenge rode forth to meet
+the white champion. Unpractised in the use of the mace, Sancho, whose ire
+was completely roused at seeing the honors of the day borne off by
+strangers, disregarded the laws of the tournament (which required the
+challenger to use the same weapons as his adversary), and seizing his
+spear, attacked his opponent with a fierce energy, which showed that he
+fought for deadly combat, and not for trial of skill in knightly courtesy.
+The brilliant figure, at the first rush, bowed his head, till the plumage
+of the dove mingled with the flowing mane of his courser, and suffered the
+animal to sheer to the right, thus compelling the prince, in his onward
+career, to make a similar involuntary obeisance as the result of his
+ineffectual thrust. Completing the demivolte, the two champions again
+returned to the onset; and now the mace of the white knight describing
+shining circles round his head, received upon its edge the spear of the
+prince, clave the tough oak wood asunder, and sent the spear-head whirling
+through the air almost to the feet of the spectators. A second, a third,
+and a fourth spear met with the same fate. The welkin rang with the
+applause of the beholders. "Bravo, sir white knight!" "Glory to the Red
+Cross!" "Honor to the crusader!" "Death to the Paynim," accompanied the
+flourish of trumpets and the shouts of heralds, which, together with the
+flutter of pennons and the waving of signals from the galleries of the
+ladies, showed the exciting interest of the scene. At length the
+dove-crested warrior, by a skilful manoeuvre, brought himself into such
+proximity as to be able with one blow to strike the helmet from the head
+of his antagonist; at the same moment, however, he extended his hand and
+prevented the unbonneted prince from falling prone beneath the feet of his
+horse. The gallant Sancho thus compelled to yield, with knightly grace
+accompanied his vanquisher to Berengaria's throne. "Thy best guerdon, my
+sister, for thy brother's conqueror," said he. "Beside the arm of Richard
+Plantagenet, I thought there was not another in Christendom that could
+break the bars of my vizor and leave my skull unscathed. Why dost thou
+hesitate?" exclaimed he, observing her embarrassment. "The daughter of
+Sancho the Wise is not wont to be tardy when called upon to honor the
+brave. Has the same blow that still keeps the blood dancing in the brain
+of thy brother, paralyzed thy hand?" "Nay," said Berengaria, while a
+brilliant blush suffused her cheeks, "but I would fain see the countenance
+of the brave knight, who carries off the honors of the field from such a
+competitor," and drawing the ring of Elsiebede from her finger, she
+bestowed it upon the victor. Rising from his knees, the knight inclined
+courteously to the squires, who with a celerity lent by curiosity, unlaced
+his casque and unfastened his gorget, revealing the face of Richard
+Plantagenet, beaming fair and ruddy from the bright yellow curls that
+clustered round it, and eyes that sparkled in the full appreciation of the
+surprise and merriment that his unexpected apparition occasioned. "Mon
+cher fr�re," exclaimed Sancho, grasping his hand, "I am conquered by
+Richard, then am I victor. Give me joy, knights, ladies, and squires." The
+heralds taking up the word, sounded the tidings through the field, while
+the spectators shouted, "A Richard! a Richard! Long live the gallant
+Plantagenet!" The Counts of Toulouse and Champagne, assisted by their
+attendants, hastened to the scene, and discovering the scarf and glove of
+Berengaria resting beneath the loosened hauberk, recognized each his
+conqueror, and found in that circumstance a greater balm for their wounded
+pride, than all their bruises had experienced from the mollifying
+appliances of leechcraft. The knights challengers thus all vanquished by
+the single arm of Richard, left the field with the highest sense of
+satisfaction, and the ready wit of their champion, pointed the sallies and
+directed the mirth of the banquet, which followed, and continued long into
+the night.
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+            "Beshrew your eyes,
+  They have o'erlooked me, and divided me;
+  One half of me is yours, the other half yours,
+  And so all yours."
+
+In the general excitement attendant upon the discovery of Richard and the
+breaking up of the tournament, Berengaria had remarked the agitation of
+Elsiebede, and seized an early opportunity to learn the cause. "Where hast
+thou known Count Richard?" said she in a tone of feigned indifference. "I
+have never seen him till to-day," replied the attendant. "But thou didst
+start and turn pale when the White Knight disclosed the features of
+Plantagenet?" "Aye, because I saw my lady bring a curse upon his head." "A
+curse upon him? How meanest thou, silly child?" replied the princess,
+growing pale in her turn. "Pardon, my dear mistress," continued Elsiebede,
+falling upon her knees, "I should have told you, the ring bestowed upon a
+knight, is a fatal gift." "And why fatal?" inquired Berengaria, somewhat
+relieved that she had no greater cause for disquiet. "I know not why. The
+jewel of the ring has been in the possession of my mother's tribe for many
+generations, and whenever man has called it his own, sorrow and distress
+have followed, till this tradition has become a proverb.
+
+  "'Twill thwart his wish, and break his troth,
+  Betray him to his direst foe,
+  And drown him in the sea."
+
+"Thou art too superstitious," said Berengaria, as her attendant recited
+the malediction, with an appearance of the most profound sense of its
+reality; "but to please thee, foolish child, I will regain the toy."
+Berengaria secretly determined to lose no time in relieving Richard from
+his dangerous possession, and accordingly lost no occasion for conversing
+with the prince; but though he treated her with the most distinguished
+courtesy, the term of his visit to Navarre expired before their
+acquaintance had ripened into an intimacy that would warrant her venturing
+upon the delicate task of reclaiming her gift. Months elapsed before
+Berengaria again saw the knight who had made such an impression upon her
+youthful imagination, and she began to fear that the ring had, in reality,
+conducted him to his predestined sepulchre in the sea, when her brother
+Sancho returning from a tour in France, brought intelligence of the most
+gratifying character. "Rememberest thou, my sister," said he, "the valiant
+Plantagenet, who so gallantly bore off the honors of our tournament?"
+"Aye, verily," replied the princess, casting down her eyes. "He has been
+wandering through Germany, challenging all true knights to chivalrous
+combat, and has met with many strange adventures," continued Sancho.
+"Recount them," said Berengaria, "I listen with attention." "Thou who
+didst reward his valor, as red, and black, and white knight in one day,
+canst well appreciate his partiality for disguises," resumed her brother:
+"and it seems, that during this expedition, one had nearly cost him his
+life. Passing through the dominions of the King of Almaine, he assumed the
+dress of a palmer, but being discovered, was cast into prison. Ardour, the
+son of the king, learning that a knight of remarkable strength and prowess
+was confined in a dungeon, brought him forth and invited him to stand a
+buffet. Richard accepted the challenge, and received a blow that laid him
+prostrate. Recovering himself, he returned the stroke with so much force,
+that he broke the cheek-bone of his antagonist, who sank to the ground and
+instantly expired. The king awakened to fresh transports of fury, at the
+loss of his son, gave orders that the prisoner should be closely fettered
+and returned to the lowest dungeon of the castle. But the monarch had,
+also, a daughter, a princess of great beauty, who became exceedingly
+interested in the man that had so dexterously slain her brother. Learning
+that a plan was on foot to make the bold knight the prey of a lion, she
+found means to enter his cell, and acquaint him with his danger. The bold
+heart of Plantagenet did not fail him in this extremity. Rewarding the
+solicitude of the tender Margery with a kiss, he desired her to repair to
+him in the evening, bringing forty ells of white silk, and a supper with
+plenty of good beef and ale. Thus fortified in the outer and inner man, he
+calmly awaited his fate. The next day, as soon as the roar of the monster
+was heard, he wrapped his arm in the silk, and evading the spring of the
+animal, gave it such a blow in the breast, as nearly felled it to the
+ground. The lion lashing itself with its tail, and extending its dreadful
+jaws, uttered a most hideous yell; but the hero suddenly darted upon the
+beast, drove his arm down the throat, and grasping the heart tore it out
+through the mouth, and marched with his trophy, yet quivering with life,
+to the great hall of the palace, where the king with a grand company of
+dukes and earls, sat at meat. Pressing the blood from the reeking heart,
+Prince Richard dipped it in the salt, and offered the dainty morsel to the
+company. The lords rose from the table, and declaring, that since the days
+of Samson, no mortal had achieved so wonderful an exploit, dubbed him
+Coeur de Lion, on the spot. The barbarian finding it impossible, longer to
+detain a prisoner who seemed to enjoy the especial favor of Providence,
+bestowed upon him gifts and presents, mounted him on a fleet horse, and
+with great joy, saw him depart. A herald has this morning arrived, to say
+that he wends his way hither; therefore, prepare, my sister, to receive
+the lion-hearted prince, with a state becoming his new honors."
+
+Berengaria needed no second bidding. She was already more interested in
+the gallant Plantagenet than she dared confess, even to herself, while the
+conduct of Richard, upon his arrival, intimated plainly the attraction
+that had drawn him to Navarre, and the flattering attention with which
+both the elder and younger Sancho treated him, promised fair speed to his
+wooing. He was exceedingly fond of chess, and this game served to beguile
+many hours when the weather precluded more active sports. Though a
+practised, Richard was often a careless player, and his fair antagonist
+gained many advantages over him, while he pertinaciously declared himself
+vanquished by her beauty rather than her skill. The ready blush that
+followed his compliments gave occasion for renewed expressions of
+admiration, and often in the midst of triumph the victor found herself
+covered with confusion. Many gages of trifling value were lost and won
+between the amicable rivals, but it was not till after repeated defeats
+that Richard began to suspect there was some article in his possession
+that his beautiful opponent was particularly anxious to win. He playfully
+proposed to stake his head against one lock of her hair, and when he lost
+the game, gravely inquired whether she would accept the forfeit, with its
+natural fixture, or whether like the vindictive daughter of Herodias, she
+would require it to be brought in a charger, as was the head of John the
+Baptist. Re-arranging the pieces before she could interpose a
+remonstrance, he declared the stakes should next be his heart against her
+hand. The game was terminated in his favor. Gallantly seizing her hand,
+pressing his lips upon it, he protested that in all his tournaments he had
+never won so fair a prize; then suddenly exclaiming, "What magic game is
+this, in which a man may both lose and win?" he laid his broad palm upon
+his side, and with an appearance of great concern, continued, "By the
+blessed mother my heart is certainly gone; and I must hold thee
+accountable for its restoration."
+
+Making a strong effort at recovering her composure, Berengaria asserted
+that she had neither lost nor won the game, since he had arranged the
+pieces unfairly, and proceeded to capture her queen almost without her
+knowledge, and certainly without her consent.
+
+The sportive colloquy finally ended in a compromise, Richard agreeing that
+the affair could justly be accommodated by Berengaria's staking her heart
+against his hand, and she playfully avowing that a gamester so
+unprincipled might expect to lose both body and soul, if he did not
+commit the arrangements to one of greater probity. The keen eye of
+Plantagenet soon discovered that this game possessed an interest for his
+fair rival far beyond the preceding ones, and in doubt whether it arose
+from her anxiety to gain his hand, or from her desire delicately to assure
+him that he could never win her heart, he suffered himself to be beaten.
+The result only increased his perplexity; for the princess, though
+evidently elated by her success, seriously proposed to relinquish her
+claim upon his hand, in consideration of the ring that glittered upon his
+finger. Too much interested any longer to regard the game, Richard pushed
+aside the chess-board, and fixing his eyes upon her, inquired, "Wherefore
+wouldst thou the ring?"
+
+The princess more than ever embarrassed by the seriousness of his voice
+and manner, stammered forth, "The jewel is a charm." "True," said Richard,
+with unaffected warmth, "Berengaria's gifts are all charms." "Nay, nay!"
+said she, with uncontrollable trepidation, "I mean--I mean--it is a fatal
+possession."--"Of which I am a most undoubted witness," interrupted he,
+"since by its influence I have lost my head, my heart and my hand." "Have
+done with this idle jesting, and listen to me," said Berengaria,
+earnestly. "It will thwart thy dearest wish, and betray thee to thy direst
+foe." "None but Berengaria can thwart my dearest wish," said Richard,
+steadily regarding her, "and from my direst foe," he added, with a gesture
+of defiance, "this good right arm is a sufficient defence." Tears shone in
+Berengaria's eyes, and she added, "Why wilt thou misunderstand me? I tell
+thee it will break thy troth." "Our Lady grant it," responded he, with a
+shout of exultation. "Since the day I first received it, I have not ceased
+to importune King Henry to cancel my engagement with Alice of France." The
+baffled princess having no further resource burst into tears. "Nay, weep
+not, my sweetest Berengaria," said Richard, tenderly, "the gem is indeed a
+talisman, since by its aid only have I been able to discover the treasure
+thou hadst so effectually concealed from my anxious search. Fear no evil
+on my behalf, my poor life has double value since thou hast betrayed an
+interest in my fate." He stooped to kiss the tears from her cheek, and
+passing a chain with a diamond cross about her neck, left her alone to
+recover her composure.
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+  "Ah me! for aught that I could ever read,
+  Could ever hear by tale or history,
+  The course of true love never did run smooth."
+
+"A long and secret engagement, replete with hope deferred, was the fate of
+Richard the Lion-hearted and the fair flower of Navare." The vexatious
+wars in which Eleanor of Aquitaine constantly involved her husband and
+children occupied Richard in combats more dangerous than those of the
+tourney. The heart of Berengaria was often agitated with fears for his
+safety. She was also compelled to reject the addresses of numerous
+suitors, attracted by her beauty and wealth, and she thus subjected
+herself to the imputation of caprice, and the displeasure of her father,
+when her thoughts were distracted by rumors that Richard was about to
+consummate his marriage with Alice. An occasional troubadour who sang the
+exploits of her gallant lover sometimes imparted new life to her dying
+hopes, and again when a long period elapsed without tidings of any kind,
+she bitterly reproached herself for permitting him to retain an amulet
+which she was so well assured would change the current of his affections;
+and notwithstanding the general frankness of his character, and the
+unfeigned earnestness of his manner, which more than his words, had
+convinced her of his truth; she was often tortured with the suspicion that
+Richard had only amused himself with the artlessness of a silly girl, and
+had no intention of demanding her of her father. Her only confidant in
+the affair was her brother Sancho the Strong, who consoled her by
+violently upbraiding her for the unjust suspicion, and resolutely
+vindicating the honor of his absent friend. While the mind of Berengaria
+was thus cruelly alternating between hope and fear, her sister Blanche was
+wedded to Thibaut, brother of Count Henry of Champagne. On the festive
+occasion Richard accompanied the bridegroom: and when Berengaria once more
+read admiration and love in every glance of his speaking eyes, and
+listened to his enthusiastic assurances of devotion, and above all, when
+she heard his wrathful malediction against those who interposed the claims
+of Alice, she wondered how she could ever have distrusted the sincerity of
+his professions. But though her heart was thus reassured, the first
+intelligence that she received from Champagne through the medium of
+Blanche, overwhelmed her with new apprehensions. It was asserted, that an
+alliance had been formed between Richard and Philip, the young King of
+France, to wrest Alice from the custody of Henry, and that the two
+princes, to prove that they looked upon each other as brothers, exchanged
+clothing, ate at the same table, and occupied the same apartment. The
+confident Sancho even, was somewhat shaken by this report; particularly as
+the Gascon subjects of Richard began to prepare for war. Instigated by his
+own doubts, but more especially by the mute appeals of Berengaria's
+tearful eyes, Sancho made a journey to the north to prove the guilt or
+innocence of his friend. At Bordeaux he learned that Richard had gone to
+Poictiers. At Poictiers it was said he might be found at Tours. At Tours
+the rumor was confirmed, that Richard had transferred his allegiance from
+Henry to Philip, and that Henry, in consequence of his son's rebellion,
+had fallen sick at Chinon, and that Richard had been summoned to that
+place to attend the monarch's death-bed. Without delay, therefore, Sancho
+posted forward to Chinon. As he ascended an eminence commanding a view of
+the road for some distance, he saw a band of armed horsemen riding in
+advance of him, and thought he discerned, in the van, the crest of Richard
+Coeur de Lion. Putting spurs to his horse, he joined the rear of the
+cavalcade, which proved to be the funeral procession of Henry II., led by
+his erring son to the abbey of Fontevraud. The mournful tones of the bell
+mingled with the clanging tread of the mail-clad nobles, as solemn and
+slow they followed the prince up the long aisle of the church. The air was
+heavy with the breath of burning incense, and the strong and ruddy glare
+of the funeral torches, revealed with fearful distinctness the deep
+furrows made by age, and care, and grief in the noble features of the
+deceased monarch. The walls draped with the sable habiliments of woe,
+returned the muffled tones of the organ, while drooping banners, that
+canopied the bier, shook as with a boding shudder, at the approach of the
+warrior train. One solitary mourner knelt beside the altar, a fair-haired
+youth, whose features of classic purity, seemed to have borrowed their
+aspect of repose from the dread presence before him. It was Geoffrey, the
+younger son of Rosamond. The solemn chanting of the mass was hushed, and
+the startled priests suppressed their very breath in awe, as heavy sobs
+burst from the great heart of Coeur de Lion, and shook the steel corselet
+that was belted above his breast. Geoffrey silently rose, and moving to
+the head of the bier, left the place of honor to his repentant brother.
+"My father!" exclaimed Richard, bending over the dead, and lifting the
+palsied hand, "My father! oh canst thou not forgive?" He stopped in
+speechless horror, for _blood_ oozed from the clammy lips that till now
+had always responded to the call of affection.
+
+The sensitive heart of Sancho, wrung with a kindred agony, could no longer
+brook the terrible spectacle. He left the abbey, and was followed by one
+and another of the crowd till the self-accusing parricide was left alone
+with the body of his sire.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+When the Prince of Navarre returned to Pampeluna, he forbore to pain his
+sister's heart by a recital of the melancholy circumstances that had so
+affected his own, but he carried to her an assurance that _Richard would
+wed only Berengaria_, sealed with the mysterious jewel now reset as the
+signet ring of the King of England. He described the splendid coronation
+of his friend, the wealth of his new realm, and the enthusiastic rapture
+with which his new subjects hailed his accession to the throne. He also
+informed her that Richard, previous to his father's death, had taken the
+cross for the Holy Land, and that all his time and thoughts were now
+occupied in settling the affairs of the realm for this object; and that
+the alliance with Philip, which had caused her so much anxiety, was an
+engagement, not to marry Alice, but to enter with the French monarch upon
+the _Third Crusade_.
+
+The prospects of her mistress awakened all the enthusiasm of Elsiebede.
+She dreamed by night and prophesied by day of long journeys on horseback
+and by sea, and she interspersed her prognostications with agreeable tales
+of distressed damsels carried off by unbelieving Afrites, and miraculous
+escapes from shipwreck by the interposition of good Genii. But though her
+tongue was thus busy, her hands were not idle. She set in motion all the
+domestic springs to furnish forth the wardrobe of her mistress and herself
+with suitable splendor, and amused the needle-women with such accounts of
+eastern magnificence that they began to regard the rich fabrics upon which
+they were employed as scarcely worthy of attention.
+
+In the beginning of the autumn of 1190, Queen Eleanor arrived at the court
+of Navarre to demand of her friend Sancho the Wise the hand of his
+daughter for her son Richard. The king readily accepted the proposal, for
+beside being Berengaria's lover, the gallant Plantagenet was the most
+accomplished, if not the most powerful sovereign of Europe. Under the
+escort of the queen dowager the royal fianc�e journeyed to Naples, where
+she learned to her mortification and dismay that her intended lord was not
+yet released from the claims of Alice, and that the potentates assembled
+for the crusade were in hourly expectation of seeing the armed forces of
+Christendom embroiled in a bloody war to decide her title to the crown
+matrimonial of England.
+
+The forebodings of Elsiebede did not increase her equanimity. "It is all
+the work of the fatal ring," said the superstitious maiden. "Did I not
+tell thee it would thwart his dearest wish?" Berengaria could reply only
+by her tears. Other circumstances made her apprehensive concerning the
+fate of the expedition. The Emperor Frederic Barbarossa was among the
+first of those whose grief arose to indignation at the fall of Jerusalem.
+He wrote letters to Saladin demanding restitution of the city, and
+threatening vengeance in the event of non-compliance. The courteous
+Infidel replied, that if the Christians would give up to him Tyre, Tripoli
+and Antioch, he would restore to them the piece of wood taken at the
+battle of Tiberias, and permit the people of the west to visit Jerusalem
+as pilgrims. The chivalry of Germany were exasperated at this haughty
+reply, and the emperor, though advanced in age, with his son the Duke of
+Suabia, the Dukes of Austria and Moravia, sixty-eight temporal and
+spiritual lords, and innumerable hosts of crusaders, drawn out of every
+class, from honorable knighthood down to meanest vassalage, set out from
+Ratisbon for the East. The virtuous Barbarossa conducted the march with
+prudence and humanity. Avoiding as much as possible the territories of the
+timid and treacherous Greek Emperor, Isaac Angelus, he crossed the
+Hellespont, passed through Asia Minor, defeated the Turks in a general
+engagement at Iconium, and reached the Taurus Ridge, having accomplished
+the difficult journey with more honor and dignity and success than had
+fallen to the lot of any previous crusaders.
+
+When the army approached the river Cydnus, the gallant Frederic, emulating
+the example of Alexander, desired to bathe in its waters. His attendants
+sought to dissuade him, declaring that the place had been marked by a
+fatality from ancient times; and to give weight to their arguments,
+pointed to this inscription upon an adjacent rock, "Here the greatest of
+men shall perish." But the humility of the monarch prevented his listening
+to their counsels. The icy coldness of the stream chilled the feeble
+current in his aged veins, and the strong arms that had for so many years
+buffeted the adverse waves of fortune, were now powerless to redeem him
+from the eddying tide. He was drawn out by the attendants, but the spark
+of life had become extinct.
+
+The tidings of this melancholy event came to Berengaria, when her heart
+was agitated by the perplexity of her own situation not only, but by the
+intelligence that Richard's fleet had been wrecked off the port of Lisbon,
+and that he was himself engaged in hostilities with Tancred. Coeur de Lion
+was indeed justly incensed with the usurper of his sister's dominions.
+Upon the first news of the fall of Jerusalem, William the Good had
+prepared to join the crusade with one hundred galleys equipped and
+provisioned for two years, sixty thousand measures of wine, sixty thousand
+of wheat, the same number of barley, together with a table of solid gold
+and a tent of silk, sufficiently capacious to accommodate two hundred
+persons. Being seized with a fatal disease, he left these articles by will
+to Henry II, and settling upon his beloved Joanna a princely dower,
+intrusted to her the government of the island. No sooner was he deceased,
+than Tancred, an illegitimate son of Roger of Apulia, seized upon the
+inheritance and threw the fair widow into prison. The roar of the
+advancing lion startled Tancred from his guilty security, and he lost no
+time in unbarring the prison doors of his royal captive. But Richard
+required complete restitution, and enforced his demands by the sword. He
+seized upon Messina, but finally through the intervention of the French
+king, accommodated the matter by accepting forty thousand ounces of gold,
+as his father's legacy and his sister's dower. He also affianced his
+nephew Arthur of Brittany, to the daughter of Tancred, the Sicilian prince
+agreeing on his part to equip ten galleys and six horse transports for the
+crusade. Completely reconciled to the English king, Tancred, in a moment
+of confidence, showed him letters in which Philip had volunteered to
+assist in hostilities against Richard. This treachery on the part of
+Philip brought matters to a crisis. Seizing the evidences of perfidy,
+Richard strode his way to the French camp, and with eyes sparkling with
+rage, and a voice of terrible power, upbraided him with his baseness.
+Philip strongly asserted his innocence, and declared the letters a
+forgery, a mere trick of Richard to gain a pretext for breaking off the
+affair with his sister. The other leaders interposed and shamed Philip
+into acquiescence with Richard's desire to be released from his engagement
+with Alice. Some days after the French king sailed for Acre.
+
+But though the hand of the royal Plantagenet was thus free, the long
+anticipated nuptials were still postponed. It was the period of the lenten
+fast, when no devout Catholic is permitted to marry. Eleanor finding it
+impossible longer to leave her regency in England, conducted Berengaria to
+Messina, and consigned her to the care of Queen Joanna, who was also
+preparing for the voyage. The English fleet, supposed lost, arrived in the
+harbor of Messina about the same time, and arrangements were speedily made
+for departure. As etiquette forbade the lovers sailing together, Richard
+embarked his sister with her precious charge on board one of his finest
+ships, in the care of the noble Stephen de Turnham, while himself led the
+convoy in his favorite galley Trenc-the-mere, accompanied by twenty-four
+knights, whom he had organized in honor of his betrothment, under a pledge
+that they would with him scale the walls of Acre. From their badge, a
+fillet of blue leather, they were called knights of the Blue Thong.
+
+Thus with one hundred and fifty ships and fifty galleys, did the
+lion-hearted Richard and his bride hoist sail for the Land of Promise,
+that El Dorado of the middle ages, the Utopia of every enthusiast whether
+of conquest, romance or religion.
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+  "The strife of fiends is on the battling clouds,
+  The glare of hell is in these sulphurous lightnings;
+  This is no earthly storm."
+
+Trustfully and gaily as Infancy embarks upon the untried ocean of
+existence, the lovers left the harbor of Messina, and moved forth with
+their splendid convoy, upon the open sea. By day the galley of Berengaria
+chased the flying shadows of the gallant Trenc-the-mere along the coast of
+Greece, or followed in its rippling wake among the green isles of the
+clustering Cyclades; by night, like sea-fowl folding their shining wings,
+the vessels furled their snowy canvass, and with silver feet keeping time
+to the waves, danced forward over the glassy floor of the blue
+Mediterranean, like a charmed bride listening to the sound of pipe and
+chalumeaux that accompanied the spontaneous verse with which the royal
+troubadour wooed her willing ear.
+
+The treacherous calm that had smiled upon the commencement of their
+voyage, at length began to yield to the changeful moods of the stormy
+equinox, which like a cruel sportsman, toyed with the hopes and fears of
+its helpless prey. Clouds and sunshine hurried alternately across the face
+of the sky. Fitful gusts of wind tossed the waves in air or plucked the
+shrouds of the ships and darted away, wailing and moaning among the
+waters. Then fell a calm--and then--with maddening roar the congregated
+floods summoned their embattled strength to meet the mustering winds,
+that, loosened from their caves, burst upon the sea with terrific power.
+
+The females crept trembling to their couches, dizzy with pain and faint
+with fear. The sickness of Berengaria increased to that state of
+insensibility in which the body, palsied with agony, has only power to
+assist the mind in shaping all outward circumstances into visions of
+horror. She was again in the cell of the alchemist; saw lurid flames,
+heard deafening explosions, with unearthly shrieks and groans proceeding
+from myriads of fiends that thronged round her with ominous words and
+gibing leer. She felt herself irresistibly borne on, on, with a speed ever
+accelerated, and that defied all rescue, and with all there was an
+appalling sense of falling, down, down, down, into interminable depths.
+
+The fantasy sometimes changed from herself, but always to her dearer self.
+Richard contending with mighty but ineffectual struggles against
+inexorable Genii, was hurried through the unfathomable waters before her,
+the fatal ring gleaming through all their hideous forms upon her aching
+sight; and the confused din of strange sounds that whirled through her
+giddy brain could never drown the endless vibrations of the whispered
+words,
+
+  "'Twill thwart his wish and break his troth,
+  Betray him to his direst foe,
+  And drown him in the sea."
+
+The capricious winds at length sounded a truce between the contending
+elements. The baffled clouds, like a retiring enemy, discharging
+occasional arrows from their exhausted quivers, hurried away in wild
+confusion, while the triumphant sea, its vexed surface still agitated by
+the tremendous conflict, murmured a sullen roar of proud defiance.
+
+The Princess of Navarre, relieved from the thraldom of imaginary horrors,
+became aware of the actual peril which the fleet had encountered. It was
+in vain that the anxious attendants interposed, she persisted in being
+conducted to the deck, whence with longing eyes she gazed in every
+direction for the bark of her lover. Not a vessel was in sight. A wild
+waste of waters mocked her anxious scrutiny. Her own galley was so far
+disabled, that it was with much toiling and rowing, the mariners brought
+it into Limousa, the capital of Cyprus, and no sooner had they cast
+anchor, than Isaac Comnenus, the lord of the island, assailed the stranger
+bark with so much violence, that they were forced to row again with all
+speed into the offing. While the ship lay thus tossing at the mercy of the
+waves, dismantled fragments of shattered wrecks floated by, the broken
+masts and spars contending with the waters, like lost mariners struggling
+for life.
+
+While Berengaria gave way to the harrowing conviction that the
+Trenc-the-mere, with its precious freight, had foundered in the storm,
+Richard, whose ship had been driven into Rhodes, was collecting his
+scattered fleet and scouring the sea for his lost treasure. Arrived off
+Cyprus, he beheld the royal galley, and learning that it had been driven
+from the harbor by the pitiless despot, he landed in great wrath, and sent
+a message to Isaac, suggesting the propriety of calling his subjects from
+the work of plundering the wrecks to the exercise of the rites of
+hospitality.
+
+The arrogant Cypriot answered that, "whatever goods the sea threw upon his
+island, he should take without leave asked of any one." "By Jesu, Heaven's
+king, they shall be bought full dear," retorted Richard, and seizing his
+battle-axe, he led his crusaders to the rescue, and soon drove the
+self-styled emperor, with his myrmidons, to the mountains. Without loss of
+time, Richard pursued him thither, and guided by the heron of burnished
+gold that gleamed from the imperial pavilion, penetrated the camp in the
+darkness, made a great slaughter of the enemy, and brought away all the
+treasure; Isaac again escaping with much difficulty. Two beautiful Arab
+steeds, Fanuelle and Layard, fell to the lot of the conqueror.
+
+  "In the world was not their peer,
+  Dromedary nor destr�re."
+
+With this magnificent booty King Richard returned, and taking possession
+of his enemies' capital, made signals for the entrance of the galley that
+had so long kept unwilling quarantine without the port. Berengaria, almost
+overcome with fatigue and fear, and fluttered with joy, was lifted on
+shore by the strong arms of the conquering Coeur de Lion. As he assisted
+her trembling steps towards the palace, a Cypriot of beggarly appearance
+threw himself on his knees before them, and presented to their astonished
+eyes the talismanic ring! Richard felt his gentle burden lean more heavily
+upon his arm, and saw in her colorless face, that all her apprehensions
+were reawakened. Gently whispering her words of encouragement, he turned
+to the stranger, and bursting into a hearty laugh, exclaimed, "Ha! knave,
+where got'st thou the bauble? Hast news of my chancellor?" The mendicant
+replied, that a number of bodies had floated upon the beach, and that from
+the hand of one he had drawn this ring, which he brought to the English
+monarch in the hope of ransoming his wife and family, who had been taken
+prisoners. Richard, rejoiced at the recovery of the valued jewel, readily
+granted the request of the petitioner, adding as a bounty, a broad piece
+of gold. Slipping the signet upon his finger, he turned to his fair
+charge, saying, "Cheer thee, sweet-heart, thy ring has accomplished its
+destiny. The poor chancellor is 'drowned in the sea,' and thou mayest
+henceforth look upon it with favor, for to-day it shall _consummate_ my
+'dearest wish,' since the good bishop now waits to crown thee Richard's
+queen."
+
+Relieved, that the ring, after all, boded no evil to Richard, and
+reassured by his words, Berengaria yielded to the sweet emotions that
+crowded upon her heart, and joyfully permitted him to conduct her into the
+presence of the archbishop, who, with the knights and nobles, awaited
+their coming. "And there," according to an ancient writer, "in the joyous
+month of May, 1191, in the flourishing and spacious isle of Cyprus,
+celebrated as the very abode of the goddess of love, did King Richard
+solemnly take to wife his beloved lady Berengaria." The allied crusaders,
+with the consent of the Cypriots, insisted that Richard should be crowned
+King of Cyprus, and a double coronal of gems and Fleur-de-lis, was placed
+upon the head of the bride, as Queen of Cyprus and of England. The
+daughter of Isaac came soon after to crave the grace of the new
+sovereigns, and the father, resigning his dominions, was bound in silver
+chains, and presented a captive to Berengaria.
+
+It was now early summer, and the fleet of Richard, refitted and
+refreighted from the rich harbors of Cyprus, sailed once more for Acre. As
+they approached the bay, they descried a large ship laden to the water's
+edge, and despatched a light vessel to inquire whither she was bound, and
+what was her cargo. They were answered by an interpreter, that she came
+from Apulia, and was laden with provision for the French army. Perceiving
+only one man, they insisted on seeing the rest of the crew. Suddenly a
+multitude of Saracens appeared upon deck, and replied by a general shout
+of defiance. Immediately Richard gave orders to board the stranger. The
+officers of the light-armed galleys felt some hesitation in assailing the
+lofty sides of the Turkish vessel. "I will crucify all my soldiers if she
+escape," cried Plantagenet. His men, dreading more their sovereign's wrath
+than all the arrows of the enemy, bent to the oars with all their
+strength, and drove the sharp beaks of their galleys into the sides of the
+foe. After a short contest the Infidels surrendered, and the English found
+upon the prize great quantities of provision, barrels of Greek fire, arms,
+and treasures of gold and silver, which they had hardly unloaded when the
+vessel, scuttled by its despairing crew, sank like lead in the mighty
+waters.
+
+Elated by this important capture, the Christians proceeded on their way.
+Just without the port of Acre they were met by a spy, who reported that
+the harbor was rendered inaccessible by a vast chain of iron, which the
+Saracens had stretched across the entrance. This formidable obstacle lent
+new vigor to Richard's arm. Selecting the largest and strongest galley in
+the fleet, he filled it with the stoutest rowers, took his station on the
+bows of the vessel, ordered it to be directed against the middle of the
+chain, and watching the moment of utmost tension, struck it so violently
+with his battle-axe, that it gave way, and the whole fleet passed
+triumphantly into the harbor.
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+SELECTED FROM THE CHRONICLE OF VINSAUF, 1191.
+
+"On the Saturday before the festival of the blessed Apostle Barnabas, in
+the Pentecost week, King Richard landed at Acre with his retinue, and the
+earth was shaken by the acclamations of the exulting Christians. The
+people testified their joy by shouts of welcome, and the clang of
+trumpets; the day was kept as a jubilee, and universal gladness reigned
+around, on account of the arrival of the king, long wished-for by all
+nations. The Turks, on the other hand, were terrified and cast down by his
+coming, for they perceived that all egress and return would be at an end,
+in consequence of the multitude of the king's galleys. The two kings
+conducted each other from the port, and paid one another the most
+obsequious attention. Then King Richard retired to the tent, previously
+prepared for him, and, forthwith, entered into arrangements about the
+siege; for it was his most anxious care to find out by what means,
+artifice, and machines they could capture the city without loss of time.
+
+"No pen can sufficiently describe the joy of the people on the king's
+arrival, nor tongue detail it. The very calmness of the night was thought
+to smile upon them with a purer air; the trumpets clanged, horns sounded,
+and the shrill intonations of the pipe, and the deeper notes of the
+timbrel and harp, struck upon the ear; and soothing symphonies were heard,
+like various voices blended in one; and there was not a man who did not,
+after his own fashion, indulge in joy and praise; either singing popular
+ballads to testify the gladness of his heart, or reciting the deeds of the
+ancients, stimulating by their example the spirit of the moderns. Some
+drank wine from costly cups, to the health of the singers; while others
+mixing together, high and low, passed the night in constant dances.
+
+"And their joy was heightened by the subjugation of the island of Cypruss,
+by King Richard; a place so useful and necessary to them, and one which
+would be of the utmost service to the army. As a further proof of the
+exultation of their hearts, and to illume the darkness of the night, wax
+torches, and flaming lights sparkled in profusion, so that night seemed to
+be usurped by the brightness of the day, and the Turks thought the whole
+valley was on fire."
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+  "Out upon the fool! Go speak thy comforts
+  To spirits tame and abject as thyself;
+  They make me mad!"
+                                BAILLIE.
+
+From the port of Acre, the great plain of Esdraelon stretches east to the
+Lake of Gennesareth, dividing the country into two parts. This plain has
+been the Aceldama of the nations that have warred in Palestine. There the
+stars in their courses fought against Sisera, there Saul and his sons fled
+and fell down slain before the Philistines, there the good King Josiah was
+conquered by the Egyptians, and there the Christians and Moslems with
+deadly enmity contended for the sovereignty of the Holy Land. The city of
+Acre was the possession of the Infidels. Around it the besiegers, gathered
+out of every nation in Europe, lay in countless multitudes; splendid
+pavilions, gorgeous ensigns, glittering weapons, and armorial cognizances
+of every hue and form that individual fancy and national peculiarity could
+suggest, studding the plain, with all the varied colors that light weaves
+upon the changing texture of autumn foliage. Beyond the beleaguering
+forces were encamped the sons of Islam, Turks, Tartars, Egyptians, and
+Bedouins, covering mountains, valleys, hills, and plains, with white and
+shining tents, while the black banner of Saladin floated above all in
+proud defiance of the crimson standard of the cross. The arrival of the
+English increased the camp of the crusaders, so that it stretched in a
+semicircle round Acre, from sea to sea, precluding all intercourse between
+the Soldan and the city, while the Pisans with their light galleys cut off
+all supplies by sea.
+
+Richard with the money he had brought from Cyprus, liberally rewarded the
+valor of the soldiers and diffused new courage among the troops. The King
+of England on the coast of Palestine, did not acknowledge himself the
+vassal of the King of France. In the council of the chiefs he had equal,
+if not greater influence, and in matters of general interest the rival
+sovereigns were usually found upon opposite sides. Sybilla, wife of Guy de
+Lusignan, was dead. Conrad of Montserrat, Prince of Tyre, having married
+her sister Isabella, claimed the ideal crown of Jerusalem. Philip
+supported the pretensions of Conrad, while Richard lent his powerful aid
+to Lusignan. The Genoese and Templars sided with Philip, the Pisans and
+Hospitallers with Richard. Philip strove to seduce the vassals of Richard
+in right of his suzerainship, and offered three pieces of gold a month to
+each of the Norman knights that would join his standard, while Richard,
+more wealthy and less parsimonious, offered four pieces to such French
+feudatories as would be induced to fight under the banner of England.
+
+These factions destroyed the unanimity so essential to success, and
+embarrassed every enterprise. In this posture of affairs, both monarchs
+were attacked with the fever incident to the climate, and thus though the
+garrison of Acre were suffering from famine, the besiegers were not in a
+condition to press their advantage.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+King Richard lay tossing upon his couch, consumed with fever and
+impatience, and scarcely enduring the gentle endeavors of his beloved
+queen to win him from the vexing thoughts that disturbed his repose.
+"Drink, my lord," said Berengaria, presenting him a cooling draught, "and
+compose thyself to rest. The leech saith that sleep is the best medicine
+for these Syrian maladies."
+
+"Talk of sleep to the steed that hears the war trump, but speak not of
+rest and quiet to Richard while the banner of Islam floats in sight of the
+Christian camp. But for this cursed fever I should have stood beside the
+noble Alberic, and my gallant Knights of the Blue Thong on the walls of
+Acre."
+
+Berengaria repressed an involuntary shudder. "Nay then, must I thank God
+for the fever, since else, we had this night to bewail not the loss of the
+French count alone, but the destruction of the bulwark of Christendom."
+
+"Thou reasonest like a woman, as thou art," said Richard, in a petulant
+tone. "Thinkest thou the English curtel axe no better weapon than a
+Gascon's spear?"
+
+"My woman's reason follows the fears of my woman's heart," said the queen,
+her eyes filling with tears, "and teaches me were Richard gone, both
+Palestine and Berengaria would lie at the mercy of the French king."
+
+"By my halidome thou speakest truth," said Richard, tossing uneasily upon
+his side. "Therefore it chafes me to lie here inactive, lest perchance the
+crafty Philip first plant his standard upon the towers of Acre."
+
+Feeling her utter inability to select topics in which the irascible
+monarch would not find causes of irritation, Berengaria summoned his
+favorite Blondel with the lute. But scarcely had Richard consented to
+listen to a Proven�al chanson when the Earl of Salisbury entered.
+
+"Ha! Longespee," exclaimed the monarch, "thou hast tidings from the
+leaders of the christian host."
+
+At the first entrance of Richard's warlike brother Berengaria had retired
+so as to be invisible to her lord, and motioned to silence. Hastily
+returning Richard's salutation, William conferred apart for a few moments
+with the queen and Joanna.
+
+"The malady increases," said she, in much agitation. "Chafe him not with
+ill tidings, I do beseech thee. Already the fever burns to the verge of
+madness. Life depends upon his repose."
+
+"What whisper ye?" exclaimed Coeur de Lion, startling them by his energy.
+"I tell you I will know all. Longsword, shamest thou the blood of the
+Plantagenet by counselling with women and leeches? Speak, man, I command
+thee."
+
+Not daring farther to irritate the imperious invalid, the son of Rosamond
+came forward and stated that the Turks, perceiving the christian army very
+much dejected at the loss of Count Alberic and his scaling party, had sent
+to beg a truce of eight days, promising at the same time, if the Soldan
+did not send them speedy assistance, to give up the city, on condition
+that all the Turks might be allowed to depart with their arms and
+property. In consequence of the severe indisposition of Richard, the
+chiefs had deemed it prudent not to disturb him with these matters; and
+hence the King of France and the Duke of Austria had taken the
+responsibility of returning a favorable answer to the proposition.
+
+"By my father's soul," exclaimed Richard, "the son of France is more
+craven than I deemed. To give up the prize when just within our grasp is
+not to be thought of. Send the ambassadors to me. They shall find that
+Coeur de Lion will not barter glory for a deserted city. Go," added he,
+observing the hesitation of Longsword, "and venture not into my presence
+again without the envoys."
+
+"But the leech said--" interposed Berengaria. "The curse of sweet Jesus
+upon the leech! Am I to be subject to nurses, dosed with physic, and
+soothed with lullabys, like a muling child? Away! or my chamberlain shall
+enforce thy absence," said he, darting his first angry glance at his
+trembling queen.
+
+Finding all remonstrance vain, the discomfited females yielded to his
+impetuosity, only obtaining for themselves the grace of being present at
+the interview. Ill as he was, the monarch was clothed in his robes of
+state; and with a cheek glowing with fever and eyes sparkling with
+unwonted brilliancy, was supported by cushions upon a settle, hastily
+arranged to answer the purpose of a throne. Scarcely were these
+preliminaries arranged, when the chamberlain ushered in Longsword with the
+envoys. The swarthy Egyptian Mestoc, with his splendid caftan and white
+turban, particularly attracted the admiration of the silent females, and
+seemed to exercise a fascinating power upon Elsiebede, who perused his
+countenance as though she discerned in it the familiar features of a
+friend.
+
+The anger which Richard had testified towards his attendants, was modified
+into a haughty courtesy as he conversed with the noble Saracens. He cut
+off at once all parley concerning the proposition for permitting the Turks
+to leave the city without ransom, but he graciously accorded his assent to
+the truce. Berengaria observed with terror that though Caracois exhibited
+as lively an interest in the negotiations as the gravity of the Turks ever
+allowed, Mestoc seemed more occupied in scanning the person of the
+monarch, and regarded with wonder and curiosity the signet that glittered
+upon his finger.
+
+The conference was scarcely over, when Richard sank back pale and
+exhausted from his recent exertion, and the leech being speedily summoned,
+insisted that the king should be left alone with him for the remainder of
+the night. Preparing a sleeping draught, and almost forcing it down the
+throat of his refractory patient, he moved the light into the anteroom of
+the tent, and giving the chamberlain strict orders not to admit any one,
+upon whatever pretext, sat down to watch the effect of his remedies. After
+a few uneasy tossings and muttered ejaculations of vexation and disquiet,
+the monarch sank into a heavy slumber, broken only by occasional
+imprecations against the Infidels, whom he battled in sleep with an
+animosity that would have done credit to his waking vengeance.
+
+As the twilight deepened into darkness, the coolness of the Syrian evening
+shed the grateful dew of slumber upon the weary eyelids of those who had
+answered the constant demands of the royal invalid, and brought the happy
+oblivion of rest to those who had engaged in the more warlike duties of
+the arblast and mangonel. The sounds of life gradually decreased, and a
+profound silence reigned throughout the christian camp uninterrupted, save
+by the tread of the patrol who took his weary round upon the outposts,
+like the sentinel of a beleaguered city.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In her protracted efforts to quiet the sobbing queen, Elsiebede learned a
+curious and inexplicable fact, namely, that a greater draft is made upon
+the patience and energy of the nurse by the over-excited feelings of the
+sensitive wife, than by the real wants of the sick man himself. Thus the
+leech had long been dozing upon his watch, ere the anxious Moorish girl
+had found it possible to leave the bedside of her mistress. At length the
+incessant calls upon her sympathy subsided into sighs which gradually
+relaxed into the regular breathing of healthy slumber, and the impatient
+attendant stealing noiselessly from the apartment sought among the
+attendants for the wily Salaman.
+
+"Awake, Salaman," she whispered, softly. The black instantly arose,
+without salutation or remark, and stood before her rolling his eyes in
+perfect self-possession, as though to repel the suspicion that a person of
+his active vigilance could have been detected in the weakness of slumber.
+Laying her finger upon her lip, Elsiebede led the way among sleeping
+guards to the little enclosure in front of the tent. "Bring me," said she,
+"the signet-ring from the hand of the king." Salaman, who had long labored
+under the hallucination that no feat could be beyond his ability, looked
+absolutely sober at this unheard-of proposition, ejaculating, "It is to
+put my head into the lion's mouth!" but instantly recovering his
+self-complacency, he added, "Nothing can be easier. Remain here till I
+come." Skilfully avoiding the tent ropes, he wormed himself under the
+folds of the pavilion into the outer apartment, where the chamberlain and
+guard were snoring in melodious concert, and carefully lifting the curtain
+entered the royal presence. But through the darkness that reigned, he
+could not readily discern the precise location of the monarch's couch.
+Creeping stealthily over the floor, he first laid his hand upon the foot
+of the physician, which with an instinctive kick warned him of his
+dangerous vicinity. Finally, as his eyes became accustomed to the
+darkness, he discovered the sparkle of the jewel upon the hand of the
+monarch, hanging over the side of the bed. To withdraw the ring from the
+somewhat attenuated finger was the work of a moment, but the touch,
+however slight, was sufficient to disturb the slumbering lion. "Ha! the
+foul fiend!" ejaculated the dreamer, clutching the woolly hair of the
+negro. "The talisman is safe--cheer--thee--Berengaria--" Inarticulate
+sounds followed, which finally died away in silence; when Salaman, with
+practised caution, extricated his head from the lion's paw, and effected
+his retreat by the same stealthy and tedious process. Elsiebede awaited
+his coming with torturing impatience. Grasping the ring, she muffled her
+face in the veil usually worn by eastern females, and bidding him follow
+her took her way towards the city. The moon, just dipping its silver rim
+in the Mediterranean with its parting beam, threw the lengthened shadow of
+the patrol full across their way. Cowering behind the awning of a tent
+they paused breathless and terrified, while the sentinel, turning his face
+towards Jerusalem, shouted above their heads in a tone rendered clear and
+startling by the stillness of the midnight, "Help! Help! Help for the Holy
+Sepulchre!" The adjacent sentinel took up the cry, repeating the words to
+his neighbor, who passed the watchword on, till "Help! Help! Help for the
+Holy Sepulchre!" echoed in all the languages of Europe, smote upon the ear
+of every sleeper in the christian camp. When the sounds died away in the
+distance, the patrol continued his round. The terror of Elsiebede afforded
+infinite amusement to Salaman, whose irrepressible laughter added to her
+fears of being discovered, and increased her trepidation.
+
+After this adventure they pursued their course with renewed speed, and
+arrived without molestation at the outpost, where the guard challenged
+their advance. Elsiebede presented the monarch's signet saying, "Delay
+not our errand," and the guard muttering, "There is ever some woman's
+prank in the light head of the queen," suffered them to pass. As they took
+their solitary way between the camp and the walls of Acre, Salaman
+ventured to inquire, "Whither goest thou, Elsiebede?"
+
+"I scarce know," replied the girl, in a husky voice, "but this evening
+there came before King Richard, one who looked upon me with my mother's
+eyes; and as he left the pavilion, he whispered me in the language of the
+Gyptianos, 'Meet me when the moon sets, at the tower of Maledictum.'"
+
+"This way lieth the tower," said Salaman, drawing her to the right. They
+now approached the black and frowning walls of Acre, and turning an angle
+came close upon a small party of Turks sleeping upon the earth, and were
+challenged in the Moorish tongue. Salaman readily answered in the same
+language. Mestoc immediately advanced, and taking the hand of Elsiebede
+led her apart, and a long and earnest conversation ensued.
+
+When she returned to Salaman, tears were on her cheek, and hiding her face
+in her veil, with no other explanation than, "He is the brother of my
+mother," she led the way back to the royal tent. "Haste thee," said she,
+thrusting the ring into his hand. "Should the prince awake, we are lost."
+Salaman sped on his errand, and repeated his perilous adventure with
+success. Not daring, however, to place the ring upon the monarch's finger,
+he laid it upon the covering near his hand, and effected a retreat, as far
+as the anteroom, where he unluckily stumbled against the settle on which
+rested the guard. The chamberlain instantly started to his feet, and
+Salaman quick as thought overturned the light, and escaped into the
+sleeping apartment of the common attendants, but here his progress was
+arrested by a half-awakened soldier, who seized his ankle and held him
+fast. Hither as soon as the lamp could be relighted, he was pursued by the
+chamberlain, but such was the confusion, betwixt the muttering of those
+unwilling to be disturbed, and the blunders of those who fancied
+themselves broad awake, such was the cursing of devil, Turk and Infidel,
+that no one had the faintest idea of what had happened. Scarcely had the
+chamberlain fixed his eyes upon the real culprit, when with the angry and
+important air of a responsible person, most unceremoniously wakened,
+Elsiebede entered, and advancing straight to Salaman, seized and began to
+shake him with the greatest violence, thus freeing him from the grasp of
+the guard. "Waken, minion," said she, "waken, I say. What gambols art thou
+playing again in thy sleep? I warrant me, thou hast an unquiet conscience.
+My lady will send thee from her service, if thou dost not confess thy
+sins, and rest in peace." The black rubbed his eyes, and stumbling about
+like one but half awake, succeeded in gaining his pallet, and joyfully
+ensconced himself beneath the covering.
+
+"Thou seest," said Elsiebede, turning to the chamberlain, "the knave hath
+a trick of sleep-walking. Order these that they may remain quiet, for I
+would not that my mistress should be disturbed." Thus saying, she quitted
+the apartment.
+
+"A trick of walking, he certainly hath," grumbled the chamberlain, "but
+whether sleeping or waking, misdoubts me. The misshapen unbeliever can
+bring no good to a christian household."
+
+In the royal tent, there was still greater clamor. The monarch roused by
+the first unlucky step of Salaman, and finding himself in darkness,
+vociferated loudly for a light; but gaining no answer waxed wroth, and
+seizing the medicine cup as the readiest missile, hurled it in the
+direction of the snoring physician. The silver coming in contact with the
+skull of the doctor, animated him to a remarkable degree; betwixt the
+darkness and the pain, he plunged about the room without knowing for what
+intent, till he fell prostrate across the couch of the king, who mistaking
+him for an invading Turk, beat him terribly with the pillows; and roaring
+for sword, spear and battle-axe, in the name of all the saints in the
+calendar, defied him to mortal combat.
+
+At this juncture the chamberlain returned with the light, and seeing the
+king thus inflicting summary justice upon the leech, despite his own
+vexation burst into a hearty laugh, in which Richard, having already
+expended the superabundance of his choler, as soon as he comprehended the
+state of the case, joined with the greatest glee. The doctor meanwhile
+failed to see the point of the joke, and rubbing his head, declared with
+professional authority that nothing could be worse for the patient than
+such immoderate exercise and laughter. Picking up the cup, with a rueful
+countenance he mixed a fresh potion, which the facetious monarch drank to
+his health, and so composed himself again to rest.
+
+Coeur de Lion received his ring when it was found upon the floor, without
+any sign of surprise, and readily accounted for its loss, saying, "Our
+royal signet is scarcely safe upon this emaciated hand, especially since
+we are liable to do battle for Christendom without gauntlet or sword." The
+castigation which he had given the doctor put him in such high good humor,
+that he swallowed the necessary nostrums with great facility, and the
+worthy leech fully appreciating this part of the joke availed himself of
+the king's unwonted condescension, to administer those nauseous
+restoratives which the monarch had before obstinately refused.
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+  "Ah, never shall the land forget
+  How gushed the life-blood of the brave,
+  Gushed warm with hope and courage yet
+  Upon the soil they fought to save."
+                                BRYANT.
+
+The eight days' truce was over, and Philip, recovered from his illness,
+again led the assault to the walls of Acre. Richard, also slowly
+convalescing, was borne to the scene of conflict, where he directed the
+operations of his warlike engines, offering a reward for every stone the
+soldiers dislodged from the tower Maledictum. The French had a machine of
+great power which they called "Bad neighbor," and the Turks, on their
+side, opposed to it a similar one named "Bad brother." These engines were
+plied day and night, and the tower became the scene of every variety of
+fierce attack and resolute defence, both by single combat and united
+effort. One morning a gigantic Turk, wearing the armor of Count Alberic,
+showed himself upon the wall in an attitude of defiance, when Richard, who
+had yielded to the representations of the chiefs, so far as to refrain
+from personal encounter, seized an arblast and sent an arrow winged with
+death to the heart of the Infidel. The exasperated Turks ran together to
+avenge his fall. The Christians met them with equal alacrity, and a
+slaughter ensued which continued till the darkness of night separated the
+combatants.
+
+The Christians had commenced undermining the tower, and had proceeded to
+some distance under the wall, when they encountered a party of Turks who
+were mining for egress in the opposite direction. The noise of the digging
+and the uncertain light had prevented each from discovering the other,
+till the earth, suddenly giving way between them, the foes stood face to
+face, mattocks and shovels in hand. But when the astonished Turks saw that
+they had thus assisted the Christians to enter the city, they fled with
+great precipitation, and at once closed up the entrance. That night a part
+of the tower Maledictum fell, and the Saracens perceiving that all further
+resistance would be vain, offered conditions of peace. They agreed to give
+up the city of Acre with all the treasures contained in it, both in money,
+arms, and clothing, to pay over two hundred thousand Saracenic talents,
+and restore the true cross which had been taken by the Moslems in the
+battle of Tiberias. After much debate the council of chiefs acceded to
+these proposals, and all the Paynim noblemen in the city were given up as
+hostages till the conditions should be fulfilled. The preliminaries
+arranged, the gates were thrown open, and the Turks with grave but
+cheerful countenance and undaunted demeanor passed out of the city through
+the Christian camp towards Tiberias.
+
+SELECTED FROM VINESAUF.
+
+"At last when all the Turks had departed, the Christians with the two
+kings at their head, entered the city without opposition through the open
+gates with dances and joy, and loud vociferations, glorifying God, and
+giving Him thanks, because he had magnified His mercy to them, and had
+visited them and redeemed His people. Then the banners and various
+standards of the two kings were raised on the walls and towers, and the
+city was equally divided between them. They also made a proportionate
+division of the arms and provisions they found; and the whole number of
+captives being reckoned, was divided by lot. The noble Caracois, and a
+large number fell to the lot of the King of France; and King Richard had
+for his portion Mestoc and the remainder. Moreover, the King of France had
+for his share the noble palace of the Templars, with all its
+appurtenances; and King Richard had the royal palace, to which he sent the
+queens with their damsels and handmaids; thus each obtained his portion in
+peace. The army was distributed through the city, and after the
+protracted contest of so long a siege, gave themselves indulgence, and
+refreshed themselves with the rest they needed."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+No sooner were the Crusaders settled in the city than new troubles arose.
+Leopold, Duke of Austria, being a relative of Isaac Comnenus, who had
+joined the Templars, insisted that the Cypriot lady should be transferred
+to his custody; but Berengaria having become tenderly attached to her,
+refused to give her up. The quarrel ran high, and the exasperated Richard,
+in a moment of wrath, tore down the banner of Austria from the walls of
+Acre. This indignity gave rise to a mortal enmity, which hindered the arms
+and embarrassed the counsels of the croises during the whole campaign. The
+Christians, however, repaired the shattered walls and dwellings of the
+city, the clergy rebuilt and consecrated the altars, and the army watching
+for the fulfilment of Saladin's promises, rested from their fatigues in
+the enjoyment of security and luxury. Before the expiration of the period
+granted for the redemption of the hostages, Philip Augustus, feigning
+illness, but in reality suffering with a consuming jealousy of the
+superiority of his rival, declared his intention of returning to Europe.
+The chiefs assembled in council protested against this unworthy desertion
+of the common cause, since Saladin, depressed by the fall of Acre, was in
+no situation to contest their route to Jerusalem. When Richard heard of
+Philip's determination, he outdid himself in the curses and maledictions
+he called down upon the recreant prince, and peremptorily refused to hold
+any communication upon the subject: but at last having expended the
+violence of his anger, he compromised by giving his consent to the measure
+on condition that the Duke of Burgundy and a large part of the French
+should remain in Syria, and that Philip should make oath to leave the
+realm of England unmolested, till forty days after Richard should himself
+return to his dominions. The French monarch then left Acre amidst the
+hisses and imprecations of the spectators. He stopped at Tyre, and
+resigning to Conrad his claim upon the conquered city, and the ransom of
+the Turkish captives, sailed for Europe. The term fixed for the redemption
+of the hostages had well nigh expired, and still Saladin protested his
+inability to find the true cross, and under different pretexts excused
+himself from redeeming the prisoners.
+
+The palace of the Emir in Acre, with its sheltered verandahs, cooling
+fountains, and richly cultivated gardens afforded a delightful residence
+for the household of Coeur de Lion. Elsiebede, in whom it revived the
+recollections of her childhood in the Alhambra, revelled in luxuries, each
+of which was endeared by happy associations.
+
+A safe retreat being thus provided for his tender charge, Richard,
+intending as soon as practicable to commence his route to Jerusalem,
+ordered the petrarias, mangonels, and other warlike engines to be packed
+for transportation. He also despatched messengers to Conrad, Prince of
+Tyre, requiring him to repair with his hostages and army to Acre, to
+receive his share of the ransom, and to be ready to march against the
+Infidels. The marquis refused; declaring that he dared not venture into
+Richard's presence, and that if the true cross were ever recovered, he was
+to receive half of it for the King of France, and until that time he
+should not give up the hostages.
+
+A longer period having elapsed than that which had been assigned for the
+treaty, the council of chiefs was called to deliberate upon the fate of
+the captives. To leave three thousand prisoners without a sufficient
+guard, would be to surrender the city again to the Turks. To attempt to
+convey them with the army would be an inconceivable burden, attended with
+infinite danger. To provision such a multitude, whether in the city or
+camp, would be an intolerable tax upon the rapidly exhausting finances;
+and to set them free would be to add that number of active warriors to the
+ranks of their vigilant foe, and so to defeat the very end of the
+expedition. It was therefore determined that the hostages, on the
+following day, should be led forth upon an adjacent hill, and executed for
+the discomfiture of the Mohammedans, and the edification of all true
+Christians.
+
+The noble Mestoc, considered as one of the most important and valuable of
+the hostages, received distinguishing marks of favor. He was lodged
+according to his rank, and enjoyed a freedom beyond that extended to the
+other prisoners, and thus Elsiebede obtained frequent interviews without
+giving rise to a suspicion of the relationship between them.
+
+On the evening of the council of the chiefs, Salaman had managed, by means
+best known to himself, to hear all that passed, which he faithfully
+reported to Elsiebede.
+
+The following night, as Mestoc was quietly reposing unconscious of the
+fate that menaced the Turkish prisoners, he was surprised by a visit from
+his niece, who, informing him of the purposes of the Christians, besought
+him to make his escape in a disguise she had prepared for the purpose.
+
+The noble Egyptian refused, but moved by her pleadings, said to her,
+"Hadst thou a messenger by whom I might transmit a token to the
+Soldan--but no, the gray of night already foretelleth the dawn. It is too
+late. Had the Soldan valued the poor services of his servant, he had not
+left him to die by the hand of a christian dog. Allah be praised, Death is
+the key that opens the gate of Paradise."
+
+Finding further importunity vain, Elsiebede with many tears took her
+departure, revolving in her mind other methods of procuring a release.
+
+At early morning, the prisoners were conducted in mournful procession
+through the gates of the city, by a great multitude of the most devout and
+warlike Christians, who, according to a contemporary writer, "marched
+forward with delight to retaliate with the assent of Divine Grace, by
+taking revenge upon those who had destroyed so many of the Christians with
+missiles, bows, and arbalests."
+
+A report from an unknown source was in circulation among the soldiers,
+that fresh promises of ransom had been received from Saladin, and that if
+the execution could be delayed till evening, messengers would arrive with
+the treasure. By this artifice the chief emirs were preserved till long
+past noon. But no sign of rescue then appearing, those who looked for the
+downfall of Mohammedanism by the utter annihilation of its followers,
+caused the work of vengeance to proceed.
+
+The calm indifference with which the Turks regarded the terrific
+preparations for their execution, elicited even the admiration of the
+Christians. It was not in the heart of a chivalrous knight like Richard,
+to look unmoved upon the destruction of his brave and gallant foes. "By
+the holy saints," exclaimed he, "this is a hangman's work. It were enough
+to tempt the sword of a Christian knight from its scabbard, to see yon
+lion-hearted warriors slaughtered like a parcel of silly sheep held in the
+butcher's shambles. Wore they but the cross upon their shoulders, I would
+sooner reckon them among my followers than the stupid boors of Austria or
+the tilting squires of France. Longsword, summon our good bishop of
+Salisbury, with the symbols of our holy religion. Peradventure, Divine
+Grace may turn the hearts of these brave men to the acknowledgment of the
+true faith."
+
+In obedience to the order of the king, the bishop came forward, and
+holding up the cross, proclaimed life and liberty to all those who would
+renounce their heathen superstitions, and reverence the holy symbol. Not a
+voice replied to the offer of pardon, and as the priest, followed by the
+executioner, like the destroying angel of the passover, moved among the
+ranks of the doomed and presented the crucifix, each man answering, "God
+is God and Mahomet is his prophet," bent his head to the fatal stroke,
+till of the whole number the noble Mestoc alone remained. King Richard
+regarded him with a troubled look, as the priest approached, and
+involuntarily raised his hand to stay the blow. The executioner paused;
+and the soldiers gazing in silent wonder, turned their eyes doubtfully
+from their sovereign to his captive, who stood unmoved among the headless
+bodies of the heroic band, that had with him defended the city to the
+last extremity, and that now lay stretched around him, the bleeding
+holocaust upon the altar of a strange faith.
+
+The death-like silence that prevailed was broken by the faint sound of a
+trumpet, and at a distance was seen the flutter of a truce flag borne by a
+herald riding at full speed. The messenger advanced to the field of blood,
+hastened to the royal presence and presented a letter. The king cutting
+the silk with his sword, rapidly ran his eye over the contents, and then
+advancing, frankly extended his hand to the rescued Mestoc, saying, "Thy
+Soldan has at length fulfilled the conditions of thy ransom. I grieve that
+he so little valued the lives of thy brave companions. His tardy measures
+forced me upon an evil work. Heaven grant that one day I may, upon his own
+person, be able to avenge their death." Then, ordering the squires to
+prepare the Cypriot horses, he held the stirrup while the gallant Emir,
+with the same grave and tranquil air, that had characterized him through
+the whole of that eventful day, mounted Lyard, and himself vaulting upon
+the saddle of the beautiful Fanuelle, led the way to the palace.
+
+EXTRACT FROM VINESAUF.
+
+"On the morrow, therefore, of St. Bartholomew, being Sunday, the army was
+drawn up, early in the morning, to advance along the sea-coast, in the
+name of the Lord. Oh! what fine soldiers they were! You might there see a
+chosen company of virtuous and brave youth, whose equals it would have
+been difficult to meet with, bright armor and pennons, with their
+glittering emblazoning; banners of various forms; lances with gleaming
+points; shining helmets, and coats of mail; an army well regulated in the
+camp, and terrible to the foe! King Richard commanded the van, and kept
+the foremost guard. The Normans and English defended the standard, the
+Duke of Burgundy and the French brought up the rear, and by their tardy
+movements and long delay incurred severe loss. The army marched from the
+seashore, which was on its right, and the Turks watched its movements from
+the heights on its left. On a sudden the clouds grew dark, the sky was
+troubled, when the army arrived at the narrow roads impassable for the
+provision wagons; here, owing to the narrowness of the way, the order of
+march was thrown into confusion, and they advanced in extended line, and
+without discipline. The Saracens, observing this, poured down suddenly
+upon the pack-horses and loaded wagons, slew both horses and men in a
+moment, and plundered a great deal of the baggage, boldly charging and
+dispersing those who opposed them, as far as the seashore. Then there took
+place a fierce and obstinate conflict; each fought for his life. Oh, how
+dreadfully were our men then pressed! for the darts and arrows thrown at
+them broke the heads, arms and other limbs, of our horsemen, so that they
+bent, stunned to their saddle-bows; but having quickly regained their
+spirits, and resumed their strength, and thirsting for vengeance, like a
+lioness when her whelps are stolen, they charged the enemy and broke
+through them like a net. Then you might have seen the horses with their
+saddles displaced, the Turks fleeing and returning, and the battle raging
+fiercer than before; the one side labored to crush, the other to repel;
+both exerted their strength with the utmost fury, till King Richard
+hearing that the rear was put into great confusion, rode at full gallop to
+their assistance, cutting down the Turks right and left like lightning
+with his sword. And quickly, as of yore the Philistines fled from
+Maccabeus, so were the Turks now routed, and so did they fly from the face
+of King Richard and make for the mountains; but some of them remained
+amongst us, having lost their heads."
+
+This extract is a fac-simile of all the chances and changes that occurred
+to the Christians on their passage from Acre to Jaffa.
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+  "He that hath nature in him, must be grateful;
+  'Tis the Creator's primary great law,
+  That links the chain of beings to each other."
+
+At Jaffa a new contention arose. The French barons, fatigued with marching
+and fruitless skirmishing, advocated the policy of remaining a time in the
+city and rebuilding its fortifications; while Plantagenet, anxious to
+press his advantage, was desirous of proceeding to Ascalon. The soldiers
+remembering with regret the "loaves and fishes" of Acre, inclined to the
+counsel of the Duke of Burgundy, and Richard was forced to submit his
+better judgment to the unanimous voice of his followers.
+
+It was in vain that the king urged the soldiers to a rapid completion of
+the works. The summer faded into autumn, and the fortifications were still
+incomplete. The Moslems began to collect in the vicinity of Jaffa, and all
+parties of Christians, whether of foraging or falconry, were subject to
+frequent surprise and attack. On one occasion, a party of Templars fell
+into an ambuscade of the Turks, and Richard, hearing of their danger,
+rushed out with a few troops to their assistance. The conflict was
+dreadful. Hordes of Infidels fell upon the little band, who, struggling in
+the midst of their foes, with great loss carved their way to the city. On
+their return, William Longsword remonstrated with the monarch for this
+useless exposure of life, to which the generous Coeur de Lion, changing
+color with indignation, replied, "Richard Plantagenet knows not the
+prudence that weighs safety against glory, and for the rest it is the
+office of a king to defend his subjects, and the business of a crusader to
+destroy the enemies of the cross."
+
+The defences of Jaffa being complete, Richard prepared to prosecute the
+war with vigor. Leaving the city with a small garrison, he led his troops
+as far as Ramula, and made their camp on the bloody field where Stephen,
+Earl of Blois, received his mortal wound. A winter of extraordinary
+inclemency aggravated their hardships. The winds tore up the tents, and
+the rain spoiled the provisions, and rusted the arms. Through the hovering
+myriads of Saracens the Christians pressed their way almost in sight of
+Jerusalem. Richard was animated by the most ardent expectation. But the
+Templars, Hospitallers and Pisans, represented the impossibility of
+capturing the city, with their army in its present condition, the
+impracticability of garrisoning it against the Turks in the neighborhood,
+and the certainty that the soldiers as soon as the sepulchre was
+recovered, would return to Europe, leaving the rest of Palestine in the
+hands of the Infidels. Influenced by these unanswerable arguments, the
+disappointed king gave orders to fall back upon Ramula, and continued to
+retrograde with his murmuring and discontented army to Ascalon, a city of
+great consequence, being the link between the Turks in Jerusalem, and the
+Turks in Egypt. The pains and perils of this backward march eclipsed all
+former sufferings, and when the dismantled walls of Ascalon at length
+received them, Famine stared upon them with her hollow eyes, and Faction
+with its sharpened fangs tore asunder the remaining cords that bound
+together the wasted body of the croises. The Duke of Burgundy deserted the
+standard of Richard, part of the French soldiers retired to Jaffa, others
+to Acre, and others to Tyre; and while the proudest nobles and the most
+dignified of the clergy were employed like the meanest vassals, in
+repairing the ruined fortifications, Leopold wrapped in haughty
+selfishness surveyed the works with contemptuous sneers, and remarked,
+"The father of Austria was neither a carpenter nor a mason."
+
+The Turkish Soldan aware of the distress of his enemies, considered the
+war as nearly at an end, and dismissed a portion of his troops. He even
+extended the courtesies of civilized life to the valiant Richard,
+furnished his table with Damascene pears, peaches, and other delicacies,
+and with a liberal hand supplied the snow of Lebanon to cool his wines.
+
+The chief emirs who, attracted by curiosity or admiration, visited the
+court of the British Lion, returned with the most exaggerated accounts of
+the urbanity and prowess of the gallant "Melech Ric."
+
+One morning, at an hour somewhat earlier than his usual levee, Richard was
+surprised by a visit from Mestoc, accompanied by a female closely veiled.
+"Welcome, my noble Moor," exclaimed the king, as the Saracen advanced and
+bowed with the ceremonious obeisance of eastern courtesy. "Heaven bless
+the chance that hath brought thee hither. Next to a trusty friend,
+Plantagenet holds in honor a worthy foe."
+
+The Saracen gravely replied, "The Melech Ric wrongs the errand of his
+servant, if he discern not in his ransomed captive, one whom he hath made
+his friend."
+
+"I doubt not the truth of thy saying," replied the king, "since reason and
+experience teach that ingratitude is incompatible with true courage."
+
+"The chief of the Egyptians is, indeed, thy friend," continued Mestoc;
+"but were he twice thy foe, he brings a passport to the heart of the king,
+for 'from the place of the beloved, a zephyr hath blown, and thou seest
+one whose presence is as the breath of the heliotrope.'" Turning to his
+companion, he lifted her veil, and disclosed the features of Elsiebede.
+
+"Elsiebede!" exclaimed the monarch, in astonishment and alarm. "What of my
+queen? of Joanna? of England?"
+
+"My royal mistress is in health," replied Elsiebede, "and by this token,"
+handing him a casket, "commendeth her love to her absent lord: and peace
+resteth upon the household."
+
+"And wherefore comest thou hither? and why under such convoy?" inquired
+Richard.
+
+"The errand of my mistress required a faithful messenger; and the chief
+will explain the mystery of my coming," replied the girl.
+
+With a puzzled look, Richard turned to Mestoc. "It is, perhaps, unknown
+to the prince of the west," said the chieftain, "that this damsel,
+Elsiebede, is the daughter of my sister."
+
+"How?" exclaimed Richard, gazing with astonishment upon the Moorish girl.
+"Our fair queen has long blinded our eyes to other beauty, or we should
+have seen what the most careless observer could not fail to note, that she
+has the countenance and bearing of a princess."
+
+"The family of the Prophet (blessed be he)," said Mestoc, his swarthy
+cheek reddening with a touch of pride, "boasts not a more noble origin,
+than the Gyptianos slave of the Frankish queen."
+
+"But by what means hath she discovered herself to thee in this strange
+land?" inquired Richard.
+
+"What saith the proverb?" replied the Saracen. "'The heart thrills at the
+sound of the kinsman's voice.' When the Melech Ric gave audience to the
+ambassadors of Saladin, the ring upon his finger, once the talisman of our
+tribe, arrested my gaze; but the maiden's eyes, brighter than the jewel,
+moved me to speak to her in the Egyptian tongue. She comprehended my
+words, and met me that night at the tower Maledictum, where I learned her
+history and made her acquainted with her kindred. She visited me in
+prison, and when I refused to fly, despatched Salaman to the Sultan to beg
+my life. For the rest, thou knowest that I thank the brave leader of the
+Franks no less than the timely ransom for my rescue. Before leaving the
+camp of the Latins I gave the zealous Ethiope a passport, commanding all
+true Mussulmans to bring him wherever found, safe to my presence. When,
+therefore, thy queen, distressed by the enemies in thine own household,
+sought for means to communicate with thee, Salaman conducted Elsiebede to
+my tent; and I have hasted to convey her to my deliverer. For what saith
+the proverb? 'In the sky it is written, on the pages of the air, he who
+doeth kind actions will experience the like.' Notwithstanding, let the
+damsel, I pray thee, depart with me; in the tent of my women she shall
+have careful attendance. If thou wouldst confer with her, the cunning
+Ysop knows her place of rest." Richard assented, and the Saracens
+withdrew.
+
+The letters from the queen contained intelligence of the most startling
+character. The Genoese and Pisans, rivals for the carrying trade of the
+East, had made Acre their seaport, and to give dignity to their commercial
+animosities had espoused, the one the party of Conrad, the other that of
+Guy de Lusignan. Their feuds had kept the residents of the city in a
+constant state of apprehension, and Berengaria entreated her lord to
+return to Acre, or to cause her immediately to be transported to Jaffa. In
+the same package were despatches from England, of a nature equally
+alarming. No sooner had Philip reached Italy than he applied to Pope
+Celestine for a dispensation from his oath to leave Richard's domains in
+quiet. When that request was denied, he proceeded in a covert manner to
+detach Prince John from his allegiance, promised him Alice in marriage,
+and offered to make him lord of all Richard's possessions in France. The
+prompt measures of Queen Eleanor had in some degree counteracted this
+design. Forbidding John, under the penalty of a mother's curse, to invade
+his brother's rights, she conveyed the hapless Alice to the strong castle
+of Rouen, where she subjected her to an imprisonment more rigorous than
+she had herself suffered in Winchester. The principal barons had leagued
+with John, or against him, and the whole realm was in a state of ferment.
+
+The political troubles of England, the treachery of the French king, the
+solicitude of his beautiful queen, and the dubious prospects of the
+crusade, raised a tumult of agitating thoughts in the mind of the king,
+and he passed the night in a state of sleepless excitement. Scarcely
+waiting for the dawn, he summoned Salaman and despatched him for Mestoc.
+Impelled by the pressing exigencies of the case, he intrusted the generous
+foe with a knowledge of the embarrassments of his position, and entreated
+his good offices in bringing about an accommodation with Saladin,
+stipulating only for the possession of Jerusalem and the restoration of
+the true cross. The Saracen undertook the commission, and after three days
+returned with the answer. With the stateliness of eastern formality the
+Mussulman declared his strong desire of peace, and his admiration of the
+courage and abilities of Plantagenet; but he asserted that he could never
+resign Jerusalem, since the sacred city was as dear to the Moslem as the
+Christian world, and that the principles of his religion forbade his
+conniving at idolatry by permitting the worship of a piece of wood.
+Thwarted in this negotiation, Richard again employed Mestoc to propose a
+consolidation of the Christian and Mohammedan interests by the
+establishment of a government at Jerusalem, partly European and partly
+Asiatic, which should secure to the pilgrims free access to the Holy
+Sepulchre, and feudal rights to all Christians who should choose to settle
+in Palestine. Mestoc returned from this embassy accompanied by a young
+Emir named Saphadin, a brother of the Turkish emperor. The overture of
+Coeur de Lion had been favorably received by the sagacious Saladin, but
+foreseeing that a stronger bond than a political alliance would be
+necessary to bind the two nations together, he had added to the articles
+the proposition of a union between his brother and the fair sister of
+Melech Ric. Saphadin was also commissioned to conduct the English king and
+his followers in safety to Acre.
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+  "A pen--to register; a key,--
+  That winds through secret wards;
+  Are well assigned to Memory,
+  By allegoric bards."
+
+When Richard arrived at Acre, he found affairs in the greatest confusion.
+The dissensions between the rival parties had terminated in open
+hostilities, more pressing messages urging his return had arrived from
+England, and he was forced to the conclusion that without some concession
+on his part, the whole crusade would prove an entire failure. The military
+abilities of Guy, were inferior to those of Conrad. Richard thus found it
+easy to satisfy his claim by bestowing upon him the rich and beautiful
+island of Cyprus, while he conciliated the Genoese, by consenting to the
+coronation of the Marquis of Tyre.
+
+Matters being thus accommodated between the jealous mercenaries, the mind
+of the king recurred to the original project of identifying the interests
+of the east and west, by uniting the heir of the thousand tribes, with the
+daughter of Henry Plantagenet. But Joanna, less susceptible of romantic
+enthusiasm than her mother, steadfastly rejected the offer of her Paynim
+lover, and the bishop of Salisbury, with other zealous priests sustained
+her decision, and Coeur de Lion overborne by their clamor, was forced to
+relinquish his cherished project. As some slight compensation to the
+disappointed Saphadin, he conferred upon him the honor of knighthood, and
+dismissed him with the strongest expressions of favor. Coeur de Lion then
+despatched a band of nobles to bring Conrad, the newly elected king, with
+all due honor to Acre.
+
+Delighted with his splendid prospects, Conrad ordered magnificent
+preparations to be made for the ceremony of coronation, and gave himself
+up to the most extravagant joy. But returning one day from an
+entertainment given by the bishop, he was suddenly seized and stabbed by
+two assassins, followers of the Old Man of the Mountain.
+
+His sudden death threw affairs again into confusion. The French who were
+encamped outside of Tyre, to the number of ten thousand, called upon the
+widow to give up the city for the service of King Philip. This she
+steadily refused to do; declaring that her lord had commanded her with his
+dying breath to resign it to no one but Richard, or whosoever should be
+elected King of Palestine. The French at once commenced hostilities, and
+the siege of the city had been some time in progress, when Count Henry of
+Champagne arrived in the camp. He was one of the most powerful vassals of
+the King of France; his mother was the half-sister both of Richard and
+Philip; his father had twice visited the Holy Land, and he was himself
+faithful to the interest of the crusade, and a general favorite among the
+warriors. The French leaders besought him to accept the crown of the
+kingdom, marry the widow of the marquis, and heal the dissensions that
+embarrassed the movements of the croises. Richard's consent to this
+measure was easily obtained. The nuptials were solemnized with royal
+magnificence, and the new king immediately published an edict, calling
+upon all his subjects to arm for the ensuing campaign, and join the
+English forces at Acre. Before they were ready to set out for the final
+conquest of the Holy City, fresh accounts were received from England of
+the increasing power of Prince John, and the treachery of Philip Augustus,
+but Richard disregarding these pressing calls, determined to strike one
+more blow for the Holy Sepulchre. Hymns and thanksgiving testified the
+popular joy, and so sanguine were the soldiers of the speedy
+accomplishment of their wishes, that they carried with them only a month's
+provisions. When they reached Bethlehem, the heats of summer had already
+commenced, and Richard began to feel that his force was not sufficient to
+encounter the hardships of the siege, and keep up communication with the
+stores upon the coast. It was therefore agreed that a council should be
+held, consisting of twenty persons; five Templars, five Hospitallers, five
+French nobles, and five native Christians of Syria, to decide upon the
+measures to be adopted. They ascertained that the Turks had destroyed all
+the cisterns within two miles of the city, that the waters of Siloa would
+be insufficient for the use of the army, and as the siege was therefore
+utterly impracticable, they gave it as their unanimous opinion that the
+most eligible plan, would be to proceed direct against Babylon. The French
+stoutly opposed this project, declaring that they would march nowhere else
+than to the siege of Jerusalem. The debate grew so warm that the Duke of
+Burgundy withdrew his forces from the main body of the army, and took up
+a separate position.
+
+Harassed by conjectures concerning the condition of his English subjects,
+discouraged at the disaffection of his soldiers, grieved at the sight of
+sufferings which he could not alleviate, and mortified with the prospect
+of a final failure of his enterprise, Richard strolled from the camp to
+the brow of an adjacent eminence. Occupied by sad and gloomy meditations,
+he walked, with his eyes fixed on the ground, unaware of the extensive
+prospect that spread out before him, nor was he conscious of
+companionship, till William Longsword taking his arm, disturbed his revery
+by saying, "This way, sire, from yonder point can be seen where the
+setting sun gilds the towers of Jerusalem." Instinctively the lion-hearted
+monarch raised his broad shield to shut out the view, while tears forced
+themselves from his manly eyes. "Nay, my brother," said he, "since God
+forbids to my unworthy arm the redemption of his Holy Sepulchre, I may not
+bless myself with a sight of his sacred city." He turned away, and
+silently retraced his steps.
+
+That night as he lay tossing upon his couch unable to sleep, he was
+surprised by a stealthy visit from Salaman. The officious black had gained
+permission of Mestoc to conduct the king to the cell of a hermit, who
+dwelt in one of the rocky caves with which the wilderness of Judea
+abounds. The devout man, whose venerable countenance and solemn appearance
+gave a strong guaranty for his truth, received the king with the deepest
+respect, and declared to him that a long time ago he had concealed a piece
+of the Holy Cross, in order to preserve it until Palestine should be
+rescued from the Infidels. He stated that Saladin had often pressed him
+with the most searching inquiries concerning it, but he had faithfully
+guarded the secret, and to the King of England he now committed the
+precious relic, for the adoration of those brave men who had so valiantly
+fought in defence of the Christian faith. Reverently wrapping it in a
+cloth of gold, Richard conveyed it to the camp, and the following day the
+whole army were permitted to press their lips upon the sacred wood.
+
+The troops had then orders to retire towards Jaffa, but civil rancor and
+fierce dissensions prevailed to such an extent among the forces, that but
+little discipline or order could be preserved. When they arrived before
+the place, they found it closely besieged by the Saracens, and on the
+point of surrender. The conflict which ensued was the most hotly contested
+of any that occurred during the Third Crusade. Richard performed prodigies
+of valor. His battle-axe gleamed everywhere in the van of the fight,
+opening for his followers bloody paths through the centre of the Turkish
+divisions. The gallant Fanuelle, plowing her way through the serried
+ranks, bore him proudly on, while the arrows and javelins of the Saracens,
+rattled idly upon his iron vest, till at length a fallen foe, pierced with
+a spear the breast of his favorite, and amid the exulting yells of the
+barbarians, horse and rider fell to the ground. Instantly starting to his
+feet, he drew his sword, and continued the combat undaunted as before. The
+generous Saphadin, who from a distance had watched the prowess of the
+valiant European, despatched a groom to his rescue with a splendid Arabian
+barb. Remounting, Richard continued the contest till the going down of the
+sun, when darkness separated the combatants. Jaffa was rescued, and the
+joy of this signal victory in some measure compensated the English for
+their bitter disappointment in abandoning Jerusalem. On reviewing his
+troops, Richard saw from their diminished numbers the utter hopelessness
+of attempting any further conquest, and this sad conviction strengthened
+the motives which determined his return to Europe. His late success gave
+him the vantage-ground in soliciting an honorable peace with the Soldan,
+who, now that Richard was preparing to depart, was better able to estimate
+candidly, and appreciate fairly the knightly qualities and heroic courage
+that had distinguished his career in the Holy Land.
+
+The Emperor Saladin and Richard Plantagenet, each with a brilliant train
+of attendants, met near Mount Tabor, to confer upon the momentous
+interests that clustered round the Holy City, and to arrange a protracted
+truce. The preliminaries occupied some days. The Saracens insisted upon
+the destruction of the fort of Ascalon, the Christians negotiated for the
+restoration of Jerusalem. It was at last settled, that Joppa and Tyre, and
+the country between them should be ceded to Henry, Count of Champagne,
+that Ascalon should be dismantled, and that the Christians should have
+free access to the Holy Sepulchre without molestation or tribute. The
+presence of Mestoc and Saphadin contributed not a little to the harmonious
+adjustment of these intricate affairs. The treaty was to remain in force
+three years, three months, three weeks, three days, and three hours, a
+number of mysterious sanctity with the people of the East, and a space
+which Richard thought sufficient for him to compose the factions in
+England, and return to complete the conquest of Palestine.
+
+Since her expedition to Jaffa, Elsiebede had remained in care of her
+uncle; and Richard was now informed that Saphadin, disappointed in his
+suit with the lady Joanna, had transferred his affections to the
+bewitching Gyptianos. The crosses which Coeur de Lion had borne in the
+crusade had somewhat moderated the imperiousness of his temper, and taught
+him the policy of a seeming acquiescence in inevitable necessity; and thus
+though vividly impressed with an anticipation of Berengaria's frowns, he
+gracefully acceded to the request of Mestoc, and bestowed the Moorish girl
+and her swarthy attendant upon his noble friend.
+
+The Soldan had arranged the pavilion of the christian monarch with the
+utmost magnificence, at the southern extremity of the encampment, while
+his own sable tent had been pitched opposite on the north. Near the close
+of a bright Syrian day, as Richard sat listening to the strains with which
+Blondel beguiled the tedium of the listless hours, his chamberlain entered
+to announce the emperor. The illustrious Soldan came without the usual
+attendants of his rank, and Richard surprised and not ill-pleased by
+this mark of friendly familiarity, received him with the frank cordiality
+characteristic of his nature. The face of the noble Kurd wore a
+seriousness that seemed the result of thought rather than the habitual
+gravity of his nation and religion, and Richard, with instinctive
+delicacy, dismissed the minstrel, and waited in silent wonder for the
+communication of his honored guest. But what was his surprise when the
+gifted Saracen, instead of employing the common Lingua Franca, addressed
+him easily and fluently in the liquid Proven�al. "The Melech Ric," said
+he, "wonders to hear his mother-tongue in a foreign land, but not stranger
+to thee than to me are my words. Forty and three times have the
+constellations described their circles in the heavens since my lip assayed
+this language; but thy presence has been to my heart like the beams of the
+rising sun that causes the statue of Memnon to speak."
+
+Astonishment prevented reply; but every feature of Coeur de Lion evinced
+the intensest curiosity. "Know then," said Saladin, answering the mute
+interrogation, "that as the warmth of our Eastern clime flushes the grape
+with a deeper hue than the temperate north, so it earlier awakens and
+strengthens the passions in the human breast. Hence was it that though but
+a youth I saw and loved a beautiful daughter of Frangistan. Her eyes--God
+said to them, Be--and they were, affecting my heart with the potency of
+wine. Her voice--it made me forget the spirits that stand about the throne
+of Allah (blessed be his name), and had not the Prophet ordained that she
+should suddenly be torn from me, I might have become a convert to the
+faith of the Nazarene."
+
+"Would to heaven thou hadst!" ejaculated Richard, "for Godfrey of Boulogne
+could not more worthily fill the throne of Jerusalem."
+
+Without appearing to note the enthusiasm of Richard, the Saracen slowly
+unfastened the scarf that bound his caftan, and exhibited the embroidered
+cross of Aquitaine.
+
+"Thou art a Christian in thy secret heart," said Richard, starting up at
+the sight and grasping the hand of the Soldan. "It solves the mystery of
+thy victories. I knew that no unbaptized Infidel could have so prevailed
+against the armies of the Lord."
+
+"Nay," said the Mussulman, smiling gravely, "think not the prince of the
+thousand tribes worships a symbol as do the Franks, though for the memory
+of her whose slender fingers wrought the emblem, I have sometimes spared
+the lives of those whom our laws hold accursed--but there is no God but
+one God, and Mohammed is his Prophet."
+
+Somewhat abashed Richard sat holding the scarf in his hand and murmuring
+half aloud, "The Proven�al tongue; the cross of Aquitaine; a daughter of
+Frangistan." Then raising his eyes he said, with a look of painful
+embarrassment, "Noble Saladin, thy generous interest in the English
+crusader is sufficiently explained. Destroy not, I pray thee, the
+gratitude of the son of Eleanor by alluding to the follies of the mother."
+
+"Nay," said Saladin, satisfied that he had correctly interpreted the
+hereditary peculiarities, which his observant eye had detected in Richard,
+"the name of the beloved is secure from reproach; but my memory still
+looks upon her as she was, and I would fain teach my imagination to regard
+her as she is. Dwells she in the trembling tent of age? or has the angel
+Azrael drawn around her silent couch the curtain of perpetual night?"
+
+"She lives," returns Richard, proudly, "regent of my noble realm.
+Thousands receive benefits from her hands, which as thy poet saith, 'are
+the keys of the supplies of Providence.'"
+
+"I am content," replied the Saracen. "For the rest, hitherto, I have kept
+my secret in a house with a lock, whose key is lost, and whose door is
+sealed. So let it be henceforth between us. The peace of Allah rest upon
+Melech Ric, and may he die among his kindred." As he arose to leave the
+tent the voice of the muezzein was heard through the camp calling, "To
+prayer, to prayer." The noble chief paused upon the threshold, and turning
+his face toward Mecca, bowed his forehead to the dust, and reverently
+repeated the Mohammedan blessing.
+
+Early on the subsequent day, the Latins prepared for departure, and there
+remained only the last formalities of ratifying the treaty. As the two
+monarchs, disdaining the common obligation of an oath, advanced to the
+centre of that fair and flowery meadow, and extended their hands above the
+parchment, they seemed the representatives of Mohammedan superstition and
+Christian enthusiasm, and a prophetic eye might have read in the
+appearance of these leaders of the belligerent powers, that for a century
+had caused the earth to tremble beneath their tread, the character and the
+destiny of the nations which they represented. The form and countenance of
+the Saracen, erect and calm, but lithe and wary, with a certain air of
+majesty and repose, indicated a consciousness of the decay of youthful
+vigor, but a sense of compensation however in the resources of wisdom and
+skill laid up in the storehouse of experience, for the necessities of
+declining years. In the compact and muscular frame, and sparkling eyes of
+Richard, were expressed that reckless spirit of pursuit, that ardor of
+passion, enthusiasm of love, romance, and religion, that steady
+self-reliance, born of conscious strength and indomitable will, which
+characterized the growing nations of Europe, and finally gave the dominion
+of the world to the Anglo-Saxon race. Grasping each other's hands, these
+two exponents of Oriental tactics and European chivalry mutually pledged
+their faith to the treaty, and parted less like deadly foes, than faithful
+friends, who hoped to meet again.
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+            "He that can endure
+  To follow with allegiance a fallen lord,
+  Doth conquer him that did his master conquer,
+  And earns a place i' the story."
+
+On his arrival at Acre, Richard learned that the friends of Conrad accused
+him as the instigator of the assassination, and that reports had been
+conveyed to Europe impeaching his honor as a king, and his fame as a
+warrior. Deeming it unsafe to attempt the passage in the Trenc-the-mere,
+he committed Berengaria and her ladies again to the care of Stephen de
+Turnham and his faithful Blondel, and saw them safely embarked for
+Navarre, Sept. 29, 1192. The following month, having provided for the safe
+return of the soldiers and pilgrims who had accompanied him on his
+fruitless expedition, he himself last of all, in the disguise of a
+Templar, sailed from the port of Acre. As the rocky heights of Lebanon and
+the lofty summit of Carmel faded from his view, he stretched his hands
+towards the receding shores, and while tears streamed from his eyes,
+prayed aloud, "Oh Holy Land, I commend thee to God; and, if his heavenly
+grace shall grant me so long to live, I trust that I shall return
+according to his good pleasure, and set thee free from all thine enemies."
+
+The voyage proved more disastrous than was common, even in those days of
+unpractised navigation. Many of the English vessels were wrecked upon the
+shores of Africa, others fortunately reached friendly ports whence the
+warriors returned by land to Britain. Six weeks after his departure from
+Acre, the vessel of Richard encountered a pirate ship off the coast of
+Barbary. Learning from the commander that his misfortunes had become
+known, and that the French lords were prepared to seize him as soon as he
+should land in Marseilles, he determined, as his ship was already
+unseaworthy, to pass up the Adriatic, and make his way through Germany.
+Landing not far from Venice with six companions, he pursued his route to
+the north. But news of the dispersion of his fleet had already reached
+Germany, and orders had been issued, that all travellers should be closely
+interrogated. His companions were arrested; but the monarch escaped,
+attended only by a boy who understood the language of the country, and
+conducted him to houses of entertainment, unfrequented by persons of rank.
+Thus resting by day and travelling by night, they reached the borders of
+the Danube. Secure in his disguise, the king began to enjoy the frank
+hilarity and hearty cheer of the inn kitchen, and with a good nature
+appropriate to his assumed character, assisted in the preparations for the
+evening repast. A loitering spy observing a costly jewel upon the finger
+of the pretended friar, at once reported the suspicious circumstance to
+the governor. A company of soldiers were immediately despatched to arrest
+him, the leader of which was an Austrian who had served under him in
+Palestine. The house was searched, and the landlord subjected to a close
+scrutiny concerning harboring a man of the description of the hunted
+monarch. "There be no such person here," indignantly exclaimed the boor,
+"unless it be the Templar in the kitchen roasting fowls." The officers
+immediately followed the hint, and surprised the fictitious palmer with
+the spit in his hand. The Austrian cavalier recognized, at once, the
+herculean frame and ruddy countenance of the king. "It is he. Seize him,"
+cried he to his minions. Notwithstanding a valiant resistance, Richard was
+overborne by numbers and conveyed to the castle of Tenebreuse, where for
+several months all trace of him was lost.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Meanwhile the vessel containing the princesses arrived safely at Naples,
+whence they journeyed to Rome. The enmity of Philip, and vague reports
+concerning the shipwreck of her husband, so terrified Berengaria that she
+remained here under the protection of the pope till the ensuing spring.
+During the carnival, the services of the royal ladies were in requisition
+for a brilliant masquerade. The affair, involving an uncommon call for
+bijouterie, the queen found no little amusement in searching the shops of
+the jewellers in pursuit of appropriate decorations. On one of these
+excursions her attention was attracted by the appearance of a boy clad in
+mean apparel who was offering a valuable jewel for sale. The eagerness and
+suspicion with which the shopman regarded it excited her curiosity, and
+stepping forward she recognized the signet ring of Richard. Hastily
+purchasing the precious talisman she ordered the youth to follow her,
+intending to question him further concerning his master; but when she
+reached her apartments, he had disappeared. She sent messengers in every
+direction, and caused the most searching inquiries to be made, but all in
+vain; he was nowhere to be found. Her anxiety for the fate of Richard,
+found vent in fruitless exertions and floods of tears. The mysterious
+circumstances reawakened all her superstitious apprehensions. She was
+convinced that the fatal ring which she had so foolishly given and so
+weakly allowed him to retain, had finally accomplished his prediction,
+"betrayed him to his direst foe, or drowned him in the sea." At one moment
+she bewailed him as dead, at the next upbraided her friends for neglecting
+to deliver him from the dungeon in which she was positive the Duke of
+Austria had confined him. Blondel, whose devotion to his royal friend
+equalled her own, set off at once under the character of a wandering
+minstrel in search of his master.
+
+At length the pope, moved by Berengaria's distress, placed her under the
+escort of Count Raimond of Toulouse, the hero of the tournament, who, with
+a strong guard, conducted the queens across the country to Navarre. The
+valiant Raimond soon found it an easier and pleasanter task to soothe the
+mind of the lovely Joanna, than to listen to the unavailing complaints of
+the despairing Berengaria, and so resigned did he become to his grateful
+duties, that before they reached the end of their journey he had become a
+candidate for the office during life of sympathizer and protector.
+
+In the joy of welcoming her youngest daughter, Queen Eleanor forgot her
+hereditary enmity to her cousin of Toulouse, and Count Raimond received
+the hand of Joanna with the resignation of the contested claim to that
+splendid fief, which had so long filled the south of France with strife
+and bloodshed. Deprived of the society of the tranquil and considerate
+Joanna, Berengaria was more than ever lonely and disconsolate, and the
+death of her father, Sancho the Wise, not long after, added another weight
+to the sorrow that oppressed her.
+
+Eleanor's detention of the Princess Alice had drawn upon Normandy a fierce
+invasion by Philip Augustus, and the noble domain might have fallen a prey
+to his rapacity had not Sancho the Strong, moved by the pleadings of his
+sister, traversed France with a choice band of knights, and compelled his
+grasping sovereign to abandon the siege of Rouen.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Meantime the faithful Blondel traverses many a weary league in search of
+the lion-hearted king. His harp gives him ready entrance to the castles of
+the great and the cottages of the lowly. Warriors mingle their rude voices
+with the chorus of his soul-stirring tensons, and light-hearted maidens
+weep pitying tears at the sound of his tender _plaintes_. Stern jailers,
+like the Furies that guarded the lost Eurydice, leave their dismal
+avocations, and "listening crowd the sweet musician's side." The lyre of
+Orpheus draws back the rusty bolts and opens wide the ponderous doors, and
+many a hapless prisoner is charmed with the strains of light and love that
+for years had only visited his dreams.
+
+But Richard is not among the minstrels; his voice echoes not in the chorus
+of the warriors; his sad complaint is not heard among the wail of the
+captives. The troubadour turns away disappointed from each new trial, but
+restless affection prompts him to repeated endeavors, and ephemeral
+hopes continually lead him on.
+
+He wanders along the banks of the Danube, he sits beneath the dark shadow
+of the Tenebreuse, from whose portals no ransomed captive has ever yet
+come forth to the free light of day. He assays his most thrilling strains,
+but the guards, insensible as the granite effigies that frown upon him
+from the lofty turrets, remain unmoved. He throws down his lyre in
+despair, and hot tears gush from his eyes. The image of Berengaria floats
+before him, her cheek flushed with hope, and her eyes sparkling with love.
+He sees her leaning enchanted from the vessel's side, listening to the
+voice of her royal lover, while the wind with fairy fingers sweeps a wild
+symphony through the straining cordage of the gallant Trenc-the-mere. With
+the recollections come the long-forgotten emotions of that blissful
+season. Instinctively his hand grasps the harp; his spirit kindles with
+the inspiration; a melodious prelude rings out upon the still air, and he
+sings,
+
+  "Your beauty, lady fair,
+  None views without delight;
+  But still so cold an air
+  No passion can excite.
+  Yet this I patient see,
+  While all are shunn'd like me."
+
+Is it the voice of the warder mingling with his own in the concluding
+strain, or has his rapt fancy taught the echoes to mock his impatience
+with the loved tones of the royal troubadour? He pauses--'Tis neither
+memory nor fancy. From the lonely turret and the closely barred casements
+pours a liquid strain, and his fond ear drinks again the clear tones that
+answered to his own, when in harmonious rivalry each sought the rich
+reward of Berengaria's smile.
+
+  "No nymph my heart can wound,
+  If favors she divide,
+  And smile on all around,
+  Unwilling to decide:
+  I'd rather hatred bear
+  Than love with other share."
+
+It is the voice of Plantagenet!! The song, the tune are his! He lives! He
+may yet be ransomed.
+
+A rough hand is laid upon the shoulder of the minstrel, and a surly voice
+bids him, Begone! He departs without question or reply. He courts no
+danger; for on his safety depends the life of his friend. The listless
+stroll of the harper is exchanged for the quick firm pace of one who
+hastes to the accomplishment of a worthy purpose. He avoids the populous
+cities, and tarries not in the smiling villages. He reaches the
+sea-coast--he finds a vessel--he lands in England--he obtains audience of
+the queen regent. She who subscribes herself "Eleanora, by the _wrath_ of
+God Queen of England," makes all Europe ring with the infamy of those
+princes who have combined to keep her son in chains. The power of the pope
+is implored, the mercy of the holy mother is invoked. The Emperor Henry
+VI. requires the royal prisoner at the hands of Leopold. Richard is
+brought before the diet at Worms, to answer for his crimes.
+
+He is accused of making an alliance with Tancred, of turning the arms of
+the crusade against the christian King of Cyprus, of affronting the Duke
+of Austria before Acre, of obstructing the progress of the croises by his
+quarrels with the King of France, of assassinating the Marquis Conrad
+Prince of Tyre, and of concluding a truce with Saladin and leaving
+Jerusalem in the hands of the Saracen emperor.
+
+The noble Plantagenet arises in the majesty of his innocence and, "as the
+lion shakes the dew-drops from his mane," dispels the false accusations of
+his enemies. The eloquence of truth carries irresistible conviction to the
+hearts of the congregated princes. They exclaim loudly against the conduct
+of the emperor, the pope threatens him with excommunication, and the
+reluctant Henry is compelled from very shame to consent to the prisoner's
+release. But a heavy fine is required, and the monarch is remanded to his
+captivity till the sum shall be paid. Every vassal in England and Normandy
+is taxed for the ransom of his lord. The churches and monasteries melt
+down their plate, the bishops, abbots, and nobles, contribute a portion
+of their rent, the inferior clergy a tenth of their tithes, and Eleanor
+conveys the treasure to Germany, and brings back her long lost-son!
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+  "Do you like letter-reading? If you do,
+  I have some twenty dozen very pretty ones:
+  Gay, sober, rapturous, solemn, _very true_,
+  And very lying, stupid ones, and witty ones."
+
+LETTER FROM THE KNIGHTS OF ST. JOHN TO RICHARD.
+
+"To Richard Plantagenet, by the grace of God, King of England, your poor
+and unworthy servants of the Hospital of St. John, humbly set forth these
+things. We remember when it pleased the great Richard to depart from
+Palestine, leaving the Holy City still in the hands of the Moslems, that
+he pledged the honor of a knight, to return when the troubles of his own
+kingdom should be composed, and once more do battle in the cause of the
+saints.
+
+"According to our poor ability we preserved the conditions of the treaty,
+and the land had rest from war. The mighty sultan, Saladin, then kept his
+goods in peace. But God has called him to the judgment to answer for his
+crimes against the christian nations. His brother Saphadin usurps the
+throne of Jerusalem, and his sons strive to rend the kingdom in pieces,
+that each may take his share.
+
+"Now the Scripture saith expressly, 'A house divided against itself shall
+not stand,' and the fulfilment thereof is shown in that which they begin
+to do. A scarcity of food exhausts their forces, and it were easy for a
+christian army, while they lie torn with faction and reduced by famine, to
+march through the length and breadth of the land, and make the strong
+places our own. But the forces of the military friars are insufficient for
+the pious work; therefore we turn our eyes towards Europe, we fix our
+regards upon the islands of the sea, and lift our hands to Heaven and pray
+that the lion-hearted monarch, with his valiant knights, would once more
+'come up to the help of the Lord against the mighty.' May God and his
+saints incline your heart to the divine undertaking, and may the counsels
+of the Lord prevail. Amen.
+
+"Written from Palestine A.D. 1195."
+
+ENCYCLICAL LETTER OF CELESTIN III.
+
+"To the most Potent Sovereigns of Europe, to the princes, nobles, and
+barons, who by the favor of God, hold authority over the dominions and
+vassals of our Lord and Saviour--to the cardinals, bishops, prelates, and
+other clergy that rule the Church of God, Pope Celestin III. called to be
+the vicar of Christ, and in virtue of his office heir to the Apostolic
+See, sendeth greeting.
+
+"My brethren, it hath been shown to us that Jerusalem, the city of the
+Saviour's life and passion, still lieth in the hands of the Moslems, that
+the Infidels mock the rites of our holy religion even in the land where
+the sacred mysteries were first instituted, and that the Christians of
+Syria cry unto the brethren of the west for aid. Wherefore we command you
+all to spread again the crimson standard of the cross, and march against
+the persecutors of the faith. By the authority of the blessed St. Peter,
+from whom we hold the keys of the kingdom of Heaven, whereby we open and
+no man can shut; we shut, and no man can open; we ordain that all those
+who in heart and truth obey this, our holy mandate, shall have claim to
+those indulgences needful for the flesh, in this toilsome warfare;
+absolution from those sins which they have heretofore committed, or shall
+hereafter fall into:--and we set before them an abundance of the honors of
+this life, and in the life to come life everlasting.
+
+"Given at Rome, under our hand and seal, this tenth day after Epiphany, in
+the Year of Grace 1196."
+
+LETTER FROM ELSIEBEDE TO BERENGARIA.
+
+"Elsiebede to the most honored Queen Berengaria. My noble mistress will
+pardon the wife of Saif Addin if she intrude upon her gracious attention
+the story of the changes that have befallen one whom Allah (blessed be his
+name) hath raised from the low estate of a servant, to the dignity of sole
+wife of the monarch of the East. Though the voice of love charmed my ear,
+and made my heart tremble with sweet delight, yet tears overflowed my eyes
+when it was told me I should look no more upon the face of her whose
+fostering care had sustained my youth, and brought me to the land of my
+kindred. My beloved lady and her valiant lord have departed for their own
+land, but still I hear their names echoed from the base of Carmel, to
+Damascus the garden of delights. The Arab horseman threatens his steed
+with the weight of King Richard's arm, the Saracen mother hushes her babe
+with the fear of the Melech Ric, and blesses her daughter with the
+benison, 'Allah make thee fair as Berengaria.' But 'The strength of the
+mighty and the charm of the lovely availeth naught, since death, the
+terminator of delights, waiteth at the threshhold of every dwelling.'
+Scarce could the vessels that bore the croises have reached the shores of
+Frangistan, when Disease, more potent than even the sword of the
+lion-hearted Plantagenet, laid its hand upon Saladin the Powerful, the
+Illustrious, and his life was consumed beneath its burning touch. Then the
+black banner that awoke thy terrors at the first sight of Palestine, and
+that so often like the wing of Azrael, waved over the fields of the slain,
+by his last command, was rolled in the dust, and the shroud that was to
+wrap his body in the grave, was borne aloft in the sight of his people,
+while the imams and muezzins cried aloud with an exceeding bitter cry,
+'Behold all that remains to the mighty Saladin, the prince of the thousand
+tribes, the vizier of Egypt, the conqueror of Syria, the Emperor of the
+East. Behold oh man, and prepare to die!'
+
+"Until his death the virtuous Soldan had faithfully preserved the peace
+made with the Melech Ric, and it was the wish of his brother, my lord Saif
+Addin, upon whom the emirs and atabeks bestowed the kingdom of Syria,
+still to keep faith and truce with the Christians, but as your holy
+writing saith, 'A man's foes shall be they of his own household,' even so
+hath it happened unto my lord. The undutiful sons of Saladin have seized
+Aleppo, Damascus, and Egypt. They have drawn the sword of battle, and our
+land again groaneth under the miseries of war. From these things it
+chanced that certain timid Christians, fearing again the renewal of all
+those sufferings, from which they had rested during the space of three
+years, called again on their brethren of Europe for aid. And there came a
+great company of crusading Germans, brutal and blood-thirsty, to wrest the
+territory of Palestine from the hands of the sovereign. When the Latins of
+Acre saw what manner of men they were, they represented to them the
+virtues and moderation of the noble Saif Addin, and entreated that the
+Christians of the Holy Land should have space for negotiation and treaty,
+before the commencement of hostilities. But they would not hear; and so
+the cruel war was again begun.
+
+"Then my lord girding himself for the conflict, showed that the spirit of
+Saladin survived in his brother. He advanced to the north to meet his
+foes, and a terrible slaughter took place in the vale of Sidon. The
+followers of the prophet were slain on every side, and the Latins also
+were greatly discomfited, and took refuge in Tyre. A portion of the
+Germans proceeded to Jaffa; thither Saif Addin pursued them, and after a
+continued siege, took the city and put them all to the sword. On the same
+night, Count Henry of Champagne, wearing the title, but not the crown of
+the King of Jerusalem, was killed by a fall, and the Christians being thus
+left without lord or ruler, concluded a peace with the Emperor. Isabella,
+the widow of Count Henry, is again a wife, being taken in marriage by
+Almeric, brother of Guy de Lusignan.
+
+"The prophet saith truly, 'Though the storm rage without, there may be
+peace in the tent,' and I dwell in safety within the sacred walls of
+Jerusalem. Cohr Eddin, my first-born, already assays to bend the bow of
+his father, and his infant brother nestling in my bosom, just lisps the
+name of his warlike sire. Farewell. The blessing of her who was ready to
+perish, rest upon thee and thine, and Allah make thee happy as Ayesha, the
+best beloved wife of the prophet, on whom be peace.
+
+"Written from Jerusalem in the year of the Hegyra 576, according to the
+era of the Franks, 1198."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The _Fourth Crusade_, which the French monarch regarded with indifference,
+and which the King of England despised as being the enterprise of his
+German enemies, ended thus without advantage or glory to Christendom. The
+hostilities which had been engendered in the Holy Land, continued to vex
+and agitate Europe long after the causes had ceased to operate. The
+Emperor Henry VI. died of poison administered by his wife Constance, and
+the pope prohibited his interment until the hundred and fifty thousand
+marks which he had received for Richard's ransom, should be paid over into
+the treasury of the Holy See.
+
+Insignificant wars exciting the baser passions of human nature and
+developing few of its nobler qualities, occupied the remaining years of
+the two great rivals, Richard Plantagenet and Philip Augustus. The
+Princess Alice was at last surrendered to her brother, and at the mature
+age of thirty-five, with a tarnished reputation and a splendid dower, was
+given in marriage to the Count of Aumerle. Richard spent scarce four
+months of his reign in England, and Berengaria never visited the island.
+They resided upon his ducal estates in Normandy, or passed their time in
+Anjou and Aquitaine. It was at the siege of the castle of Chaluz, in the
+latter province, that Richard met his death. A peasant plowing in the
+field, pretended that he had discovered a wondrous cave, in which were
+concealed golden statues, and vases of precious stones, of unrivalled
+beauty and value. "The lively imagination of the king, heated by the
+splendid fictions of Arabian romance," led him at once to credit the
+report, and determined him upon securing the enchanted treasure. He
+immediately summoned the baron to give up to him as feudal lord, a share
+of the rich prize. The Castellan declared that nothing had been found but
+a pot of Roman coins which were at his service. The impetuous monarch
+could not be satisfied with this explanation of the affair, and
+immediately commenced a siege. He was pierced by an arrow from the walls,
+and the wound though not mortal was so inflamed by the unskilfulness of
+the physician, and the king's impatience under treatment, as to cause his
+death. Queen Eleanora was at this time in England; but Berengaria attended
+him in his last moments, and forgetting the years of neglect, and the
+ebullitions of ill temper that had poisoned her domestic happiness,
+watched and wept over him with the tenderest care.
+
+Scarcely had he breathed his last, when Joanna, Countess of Toulouse,
+arrived in Aquitaine. She had come to entreat the assistance of the
+monarch against the haughty barons who had taken up arms against her
+husband. But when she looked upon the kingly form of her beloved brother
+stretched in the stillness of death; when she saw that the dull, cold eye
+kindled not as of yore at the recitative of her wrongs; and when she
+lifted the powerless hand ever ready for her defence, her long-tried
+courage gave way and she sank fainting by his side. The weight of this new
+grief, added to her former afflictions, pressed upon her enfeebled frame,
+and on the third day she expired, entreating Berengaria to bury her with
+her brother Richard. The sorrowing queen conveyed the royal remains of her
+husband and sister for interment to the stately abbey of Fontevraud, and
+laid them in the tomb of their father Henry II., and within a few short
+weeks after paid the last tribute of affection to her sweet sister
+Blanche, wife of Thibaut, Count of Champagne.
+
+The world was now a desert to Berengaria. She retired to her dower estate
+of Orleans, where she founded the noble abbey of L'Espan, and passed the
+remainder of her life in acts of charity and beneficence.
+
+
+
+
+ISABELLA.
+
+
+[Illustration: Isabella of Angoul�me.]
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+  "The lady I love will soon be a bride,
+  With a diadem on her brow;
+  Oh why did she flatter my boyish pride,
+  She's going to leave me now."
+
+It is a marvel to those unacquainted with the philosophy of navigation,
+that ships may sail with equal speed in opposite directions, under the
+impelling force of the same breeze: and it is often an equal paradox with
+casual observers of mental phenomena, that individuals may contribute as
+really to the success of an enterprise by the law of repulsion as by the
+more obvious exercise of voluntary influence. Thus Isabella of Angoul�me,
+who was perhaps as little occupied with plans military or religious, as
+any beauty that counted warriors among her conquests could well be, as
+effectually impelled a noble knight and leader to undertake the Holy War,
+as did Adela, Countess of Blois, whose whole heart was in the work.
+
+Isabella was the only child and heiress of the Count of Angoul�me. Her
+mother was of the family of Courteney, the first lords of Edessa. In very
+early youth Isabella had been betrothed to Hugh X. de Lusignan, the
+Marcher or guardian of the northern border of Aquitaine. The little bride
+dwelt at the castle of her lord, flattered and caressed by every vassal
+who hoped to win the favor of his master, while the gallant Hugh, surnamed
+le Brun, watched over her interests, and directed her education with the
+care of a man anticipating full fruition in the ripened charms and
+unrivalled attractions of one who looked upon him as her future husband.
+
+Count Hugh as a distinguished peer of France, had been summoned to form
+one of the splendid cortege which Philip Augustus despatched into Spain,
+to bring home the fair Blanche of Castile, the bride of his son Prince
+Louis. During his absence the parents of Isabella sent messengers to the
+castle of Valence, to request their daughter's presence on the occasion of
+a high festival in Angoul�me. The beautiful fianc�e of Count Hugh was
+required to recognize King John of England, as the sovereign of Aquitaine,
+and feudal lord of the province of Angoumois.
+
+Dressed in a simple robe of white, with her hair parted _� la vierge_ upon
+the brow, and confined only by the golden coronet designating her rank,
+she advanced with a timid step through the assembly, and kneeling at the
+feet of the king, placed her tiny hands in his, while with a trembling
+voice she pronounced the oath of homage. The first peep which the fair
+child gained of the great world in this brilliant assembly, where she was
+made to act so conspicuous a part, intoxicated her youthful imagination;
+and the effect of her artless simplicity on the heart of the dissolute
+monarch, already sated with the adulation of court beauties, was such as
+one feels in turning from a crowded vase of gaudy exotics, to contemplate
+the sweetness of the native violet. Hence was it that Isabella, though
+scarcely fifteen, entered into all the schemes of her parents, for
+preventing her return to the castle of her betrothed, and without
+opposition, gave her hand to a man who had been for ten years engaged in
+an ineffectual struggle against the canons of the church, for the
+possession of his beautiful cousin, Avisa, whom he had married on the day
+of Richard's coronation. Now smitten with the charms of Isabella, John
+submitted at once to his spiritual fathers, and the archbishop of Bordeaux
+having convoked a synod to consider the matter with the assent of the
+bishops of Poitou, declared that no impediment existed to their marriage.
+The nuptials were, therefore, celebrated at Bordeaux, in August, 1200.
+
+Enraged at the loss of his bride, on his return from Castile, the valiant
+Count Hugh challenged the royal felon to mortal combat; but the worthless
+king despising the resentment of the outraged lover, sailed with Isabella
+in triumph to England, where they passed the winter in a continual round
+of feasting and voluptuousness. Thwarted in the usual method of redress,
+Count Hugh had recourse to the pope, the acknowledged lord of both
+potentate and peer. Innocent III. at once fulminated his thunders against
+the lawless prince; but as the lands, if not the person of the heiress of
+Aquitaine, were the property of King John as her lord paramount, not even
+the Church could unbind the mystic links of feudal tenure that barred the
+rights of Count Lusignan.
+
+Disappointed in his hopes of vengeance in this quarter, the count became
+suddenly impressed with the right of young Arthur of Bretagne, to the
+throne of England, and being joined by the men of Anjou and Maine, he
+suddenly laid siege to the castle of Mirabel, where Queen Eleanor, then
+entering her eightieth year, had taken up her summer residence. The son of
+Geoffrey entered readily into the plot, for he had little cause to love
+the grandmother, who had advocated the setting aside his claims in favor
+of those of his uncle; and it was the intention of Count Hugh to capture
+the aged queen, and exchange her for his lost spouse.
+
+In an age when decent people were expected to break their fast at the
+early hour of five, King John was surprised at his midday breakfast by a
+messenger, summoning him to his mother's rescue. Rising hastily in
+terrible wrath, and swearing a horrid oath, he overset the table with his
+foot, and leaving his bride to console herself as she could, set off
+immediately for Aquitaine. Arrived before the castle of Mirabel, he gave
+fierce battle to his enemies. The contest was very brief, and victory for
+once alighted upon the banners of John. The unfortunate Count Hugh, and
+the still more unfortunate Arthur, with twenty-four barons of Poitou were
+taken prisoners, and chained hand and foot, were placed in tumbril carts
+and drawn after the Conqueror wherever he went. The barons, by the orders
+of King John, were starved to death in the dungeons of Corfe castle. The
+fate of the hapless Arthur was never clearly known. Many circumstances
+make it probable that he died by the hand of his uncle; and the twelve
+peers of France convened to inquire into his fate, branded John as a
+murderer, and declared the fief of Normandy a forfeit to the crown. Thus
+was this important province restored to the dominion of France, after
+having been in the possession of the descendants of Rollo nearly three
+centuries.
+
+The only male heir now remaining to the House of Plantagenet, was the
+recreant John; and Queen Eleanor looking forward with fearful foreboding
+to the destruction of her race, sought an asylum in the convent of
+Fontevraud, where she died the following year.
+
+The unhappy lover of Isabella dragged on a weary existence in the donjon
+of Bristol castle, and the heart of the queen, already wounded by the
+cruelty of John, and touched with pity for the sufferings of Lusignan,
+began to recount in the ear of her imagination the tender devotion of her
+first love, and to contrast her miserable, though splendid destiny with
+the peace and happiness she enjoyed in the castle of Valence.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The controlling spirit of the thirteenth century was Innocent III. "Since
+Gregory the Seventh's time the pope had claimed the empire of the world,
+and taken upon himself the responsibility of its future state. Raised to a
+towering height, he but saw the more clearly the perils by which he was
+environed. He occupied the spire of the prodigious edifice of Christianity
+in the middle age, that cathedral of human kind, and sat soaring in the
+clouds on the apex of the cross, as when from the spire of Strasburg the
+view takes in forty towns and villages on the banks of the Rhine." From
+this eminence Pope Innocent surveyed the politics of Europe, and put forth
+his mandates to bring the power and wealth of the nations into the
+treasury of the church. No measures had ever been adopted which combined
+so effectually to move the passions of an ardent age, in a direction
+indicated by papal authority, as the expeditions to the Holy Land. Louis
+and Philip of France and Henry of England had taxed their subjects for the
+benefit of the crusade. Pope Innocent went a step farther, and gave a new
+character to the sacred wars by imposing a similar tax upon the clergy.
+The eloquent pontiff described the ruin of Jerusalem, the triumphs of the
+Moslems, and the disgrace of Christendom; and, like his predecessors,
+promised redemption from sins and plenary indulgence to all who should
+serve in Palestine.
+
+An ignorant priest, Fulk of Neuilly, took up the word of exhortation, and
+with less piety than Peter the Hermit and greater zeal than St. Bernard,
+itinerated through the cities and villages of France, publishing the
+command of the successor of St. Peter.
+
+The situation of the principal monarchs was unfavorable to the pious
+undertaking. The sovereignty of Germany was disputed by the rival houses
+of Brunswick and Suabia, the memorable factions of the Guelphs and
+Ghibelines. Philip Augustus was engaged in projects to wrest from the King
+of England his transmarine dominions, and John was incapable of any
+project beyond the narrow circle of his personal pleasures and
+preferences.
+
+Notwithstanding, therefore, the power of the pope and the fanaticism of
+Fulk, the whole matter might have fallen through but for the lofty
+enthusiasm of the descendants of Adela Countess of Blois. In every
+expedition to the Holy Land, there had not lacked a representative from
+the house of Champagne; and Thibaut, fourth Count of the name, was the
+first to unfurl the crimson standard in the _Fifth Crusade_. The young
+Thibaut held a grand tournament at Troyes, to which he invited all the
+neighboring princes and knights for a trial in feats of derring-do. The
+festivities of the day were nearly over, and the victors were exchanging
+congratulations and commenting upon the well-won field, when the intrepid
+Fulk appeared in the lists and challenged the warriors to enforce an
+appeal to arms in the cause of Christendom. Geoffrey Villehardouin, the
+marechal of Champagne, who held the post of honor as judge of the combat,
+immediately gave place to the holy man, and the unbonneted chieftains drew
+around and with respectful regard listened while the subtle priest, from
+the temporary throne, descanted upon the sufferings of lost Palestina.
+
+Encouraged by the example of his ancestors, animated by the distinction
+acquired by his elder brother as King of Jerusalem, fired with indignation
+against the Infidel that claimed that brother's crown, and stimulated by a
+holy ambition to inscribe his own name upon the rolls of honored
+pilgrimage, the noble Thibaut came forward, and drawing his sword, laid it
+at the feet of the priest, who blessed and consecrated both it and him to
+the cause of God. His cousin Louis Count of Blois and Chartres,
+immediately advanced to his side and made a similar dedication. Then
+followed his brother-in-law, Baldwin Count of Flanders, Matthew de
+Montmorenci, Simon de Montfort, Geoffrey Villehardouin, and a host of
+others, till the whole assembly becoming infected with the spirit of
+enthusiasm, sprang to their feet, and drawing their swords, held them up
+in the sight of heaven, and with unanimous voice vowed to engage in the
+Holy War. This vow was subsequently repeated in the churches, ratified in
+tournaments, and debated in public assemblies till, among the two thousand
+and two hundred knights that owed homage to the peerage of Champagne,
+scarce a man could be found willing to forfeit his share in the glorious
+enterprise by remaining at home.
+
+As Sancho the Strong had died without children, Navarre acknowledged
+Thibaut, the husband of Blanche, as king; and bands of hardy Gascons from
+both sides of the Pyrenees flocked to his banners. The feudatories of the
+other pilgrim warriors, animated by this glorious example, joined the
+standards of their respective leaders, and crowds of prelates and barons
+waited but the final arrangements for departure. The perils of the land
+route to Jerusalem had been often tried. They were such as to intimidate
+the bravest, and check the impetuosity of the most ardent.
+
+At the extremity of the Adriatic sea, the Venetians had found a shelter,
+during the dark and stormy interval that succeeded the downfall of the
+Roman Empire. There nestling in the sedgy banks of the islands that
+clustered around the Rialto, Commerce, through a long period of
+incubation, had nourished her venturesome brood, and now the white wings
+of her full-fledged progeny, like the albatross, skimmed the surface of
+the seas and found ready entrance to every harbor on the coast of the
+Mediterranean.
+
+The Venetian republic had owed a nominal allegiance to the Greek empire,
+but entering the field as a rival to the Genoese and Pisans for the
+carrying-trade of Europe at the beginning of the crusades, she had
+displayed from her towering masts the banner of the cross, while she
+cultivated a friendly intercourse with the Infidels of every clime. To
+this avaricious but neutral power the sacred militia determined to apply
+for a passage to the Holy Land, and six deputies, at the head of whom was
+Villehardouin, were despatched to the island city to settle the terms of
+transportation.
+
+The ambassadors were received with distinction, and a general assembly was
+convened to listen to their proposals. The stately chapel and place of St.
+Mark was crowded with citizens. The doge and the grand council of ten sat
+in solemn dignity while the marechal of Champagne unfolded thus the
+purposes of the embassy.
+
+"Illustrious Venetians: the most noble and powerful barons of France have
+sent us to you to entreat you in the name of God to have compassion on
+Jerusalem which groans under the tyranny of the Turks, and to aid us on
+this occasion in revenging the injury which has been done to your Lord and
+Saviour. The peers of France have turned their eyes to you as the greatest
+maritime power in Europe. They have commanded us to throw ourselves at
+your feet, and never to change that supplicatory posture till you have
+promised to aid them in recovering the Holy Land." The eloquence of their
+words and tears touched the hearts of the people. Cries of "We grant your
+request," sounded through the hall. The honored Doge Dandolo, though more
+than ninety years of age and nearly blind, consecrated what might remain
+to him of life to the pious work, and multitudes imitated his
+self-devotion. The treaty was concluded, transcribed on parchment,
+attested with oaths and seals, and despatched to Rome for the approbation
+of the pope. Villehardouin repaired to France with the news of the success
+of his embassy. The gallant Thibaut sprang from his bed of sickness,
+called for his war-horse, summoned his vassals, and declared his intention
+to set off immediately upon the pilgrimage. The exertion was too great for
+his feeble frame; he sank fainting in the arms of his attendants, and
+expired in the act of distributing among his feudatories the money he had
+designed for the Holy War. A new leader was then to be chosen, and the lot
+finally fell upon Boniface of Montserrat, younger brother of the
+celebrated Conrad, Marquis of Tyre.
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+  "I'll laugh and I'll sing though my heart may bleed,
+  And join in the festive train,
+  And if I survive it I'll mount my steed
+  And off to the wars again."
+
+In the spring of the year 1202, the crusaders being joined by numbers from
+Italy and Germany, arrived at Venice. "On the Sunday before they were
+ready for embarkation, a great multitude assembled in the place of St.
+Mark. It was a high festival, and there were present the people of the
+land, and most of the barons and pilgrims. Before high mass began, the
+Doge of Venice, who was named Henry Dandolo, mounted the pulpit, and spoke
+to the people, and said to them, 'Signors, there have joined themselves to
+you the best nation in the world, and for the greatest business that ever
+men undertook; and I am an old man and a feeble and should be thinking of
+rest, and am frail and suffering of body. But I see that no one can order
+and marshal you like I who am your lord. If you choose to grant to me to
+take the sign of the cross, that I may guard you and instruct you, and
+that my son may remain in my place to guard the land, I will go live or
+die with you and the pilgrims.' And when they heard him they all cried out
+with one voice, 'We beg you in God's name to grant it, and to do it, and
+to come with us.' Then great pity took possession of the men of the land,
+and of the pilgrims, and they shed many tears to think that this valiant
+man had such great cause to remain, for he was an old man and had
+beautiful eyes in his head, but saw not with them, having lost his sight
+through a wound on the crown; exceeding great of heart was he. So he
+descended from the pulpit and walked straight to the altar, and threw
+himself upon his knees, pitifully weeping; and they sewed the cross on a
+large cape of cotton, because he wished the people to see it. And the
+Venetians began to take the cross in large numbers and in great plenty on
+that day, until which very few had taken the cross. Our pilgrims were
+moved with exceeding joy even to overflowing as regarded this new
+crusader, on account of the sense and the prowess that were his. Thus the
+doge took the cross as you have heard." But by a singular circumstance the
+expedition was diverted from its original design. Isaac Angelus, the
+vicious and tyrannical Emperor of Constantinople, had been deposed by his
+subjects, deprived of his eyesight, and cast into prison. His brother
+Alexius was invested with the purple, and rejecting the name of Angelus,
+assumed the royal appellation of the Comnenian race. Young Alexius, the
+son of Isaac, was at this time twelve years of age. Escaping from the
+guards of his uncle in the disguise of a common sailor, he found a refuge
+in the island of Sicily. Thence he set off for Germany, having accepted an
+invitation to reside with his sister Irene, wife of Philip of Suabia.
+Passing through Italy, he found the flower of western chivalry assembled
+at Venice ready for the crusade, and it immediately occurred to his young
+and ardent mind that their invincible swords might be employed in his
+father's restoration. As he derived his birth in the female line both from
+the house of Aquitaine and the royal race of Hugh Capet, he easily
+interested the sympathy of the Franks, and as the Venetians had a long
+arrear of debt and injury to liquidate with the Byzantine court, they
+listened eagerly to the story of his wrongs, and decided to share the
+honor of restoring the exiled monarch. The place of their destination
+being thus changed, the crusaders with joyful haste embarked.
+
+"A similar armament, for ages, had not rode the Adriatic: it was composed
+of one hundred and twenty flat-bottomed vessels, or _palanders_, for the
+horses; two hundred and forty transports filled with men and arms; seventy
+store-ships laden with provisions; and fifty stout galleys, well prepared
+for the encounter of an enemy. While the wind was favorable, the sky
+serene, and the water smooth, every eye was fixed with wonder and delight
+on the scene of military and naval pomp which overspread the sea. The
+shields of the knights and squires, at once an ornament and a defence,
+were arranged on either side of the ships; the banners of the nations and
+families were displayed from the stern; our modern artillery was supplied
+by three hundred engines for casting stones and darts: the fatigues of the
+way were cheered with the sounds of music; and the spirits of the
+adventurers were raised by the mutual assurance, that forty thousand
+Christian heroes were equal to the conquest of the world." As they
+penetrated through the Hellespont, the magnitude of their navy was
+compressed in a narrow channel, and the face of the waters was darkened
+with innumerable sails. They again expanded in the basin of the Propontis,
+and traversed that placid sea, till they approached the European shore, at
+the abbey of St. Stephen, three leagues to the west of Constantinople. As
+they passed along, they gazed with admiration on the capital of the East,
+or, as it should seem, of the earth; rising from her seven hills, and
+towering over the continents of Europe and Asia. The swelling domes and
+lofty spires of five hundred palaces and churches were gilded by the sun,
+and reflected in the waters; the walls were crowded with soldiers and
+spectators, whose numbers they beheld, of whose temper they were ignorant;
+and each heart was chilled by the reflection, that, since the beginning of
+the world, such an enterprise had never been undertaken by such a handful
+of warriors. But the momentary apprehension was dispelled by hope and
+valor; and "Every man," says the Marechal of Champagne, "glanced his eye
+on the sword or lance which he must speedily use in the glorious
+conflict." The Latins cast anchor before Chalcedon; the mariners only were
+left in the vessels: the soldiers, horses, and arms were safely landed;
+and, in the luxury of an imperial palace, the barons tasted the first
+fruits of their success.
+
+From his dream of power Alexius was awakened by the rapid advance of the
+Latins; and between vain presumption and absolute despondency no effectual
+measures for defence were instituted. At length the strangers were waited
+upon by a splendid embassy. The envoys were instructed to say that the
+sovereign of the Romans, as Alexius pompously styled himself, was much
+surprised at sight of this hostile armament. "If these pilgrims were
+sincere in their vow for the deliverance of Jerusalem, his voice must
+applaud, and his treasures should assist, their pious design; but should
+they dare to invade the sanctuary of empire, their numbers, were they ten
+times more considerable, should not protect them from his just
+resentment." The answer of the doge and barons was simple and magnanimous.
+"In the cause of honor and justice," they said, "we despise the usurper of
+Greece, his threats and his offers. _Our_ friendship and _his_ allegiance
+are due to the lawful heir, to the young prince, who is seated among us,
+and his father, the Emperor Isaac, who has been deprived of his sceptre,
+his freedom, and his eyes, by the crime of an ungrateful brother. Let that
+brother confess his guilt and implore forgiveness, and we ourselves will
+intercede, that he may be permitted to live in affluence and security. But
+let him not insult us by a second message; our reply will be made in arms
+in the palace of Constantinople." Ten days after, the crusaders prepared
+themselves to attack the city. The navy of the Greek Empire consisted of
+only twenty ships. The vessels of the republic sailed without opposition,
+therefore, into the harbor, and the Croises, with cheerful zeal commenced
+the siege of the largest city in the world. The Franks divided their army
+into six battalions: Baldwin of Flanders led the vanguard with his bowmen,
+the second, third, fourth and fifth divisions were commanded by his
+brother Henry, the Counts of St. Paul, Blois, and Montmorenci, and the
+rearguard of Tuscans, Lombards, and Genoese was headed by the Marquis of
+Montserrat. So far from being able to surround the town, they were
+scarcely sufficient to blockade one side; but before their squadrons could
+couch their lances, the seventy thousand Greeks that had prepared for the
+conflict vanished from sight. The Pisans and the Varangian guard, however,
+defended the walls with extraordinary valor, and victory was for a long
+time poised in the scales of doubt.
+
+Meanwhile, on the side of the harbor the attack was successfully conducted
+by the Venetians, who employed every resource known and practised before
+the invention of gunpowder. The soldiers leapt from the vessels, planted
+their scaling-ladders, and ascended the walls, while the large ships
+slowly advancing, threw out grappling-irons and drawbridges, and thus
+opened an airy way from the masts to the ramparts. In the midst of the
+conflict, the venerable doge, clad in complete armor, stood aloft on the
+prow of his galley; the great standard of St. Mark waved above his head,
+while with threats, promises, and exhortations, he urged the rowers to
+force his vessel upon shore. On a sudden, by an invisible hand, the banner
+of the republic was fixed upon the walls. Twenty-five towers were stormed
+and taken. The emperor made a vigorous effort to recover the lost
+bulwarks, but Dandolo, with remorseless resolution, set fire to the
+neighboring buildings, and thus secured the conquest so dearly won. The
+discomfited Alexius, seeing all was lost, collected what treasure he could
+carry, and in the silence of the night, deserting his wife and people,
+sought refuge in Thrace. In the morning the Latin chiefs were surprised by
+a summons to attend the levee of Isaac, who, rescued from his dungeon,
+robed in the long-lost purple, and seated upon the throne in the palace of
+the Blaquernel, waited with impatience to embrace his son and reward his
+generous deliverers.
+
+Four ambassadors, among whom was Villehardouin, the chronicler of these
+events, were chosen to wait upon the rescued emperor. "The gates were
+thrown open on their approach, the streets on both sides were lined with
+the battle-axes of the Danish and English guard; the presence-chamber
+glittered with gold and jewels, the false substitutes of virtue and power;
+by the side of the blind Isaac, his wife was seated, the sister of the
+King of Hungary: and by her appearance, the noble matrons of Greece were
+drawn from their domestic retirement and mingled with the circle of
+senators and soldiers." The ambassadors with courteous respect
+congratulated the monarch upon his restoration, and delicately presented
+the stipulations of the young Alexius. These were, "the submission of the
+Eastern empire to the pope, the succor of the Holy Land, and a present
+contribution of two hundred thousand marks of silver." "These conditions
+are weighty," was the emperor's prudent reply: "they are hard to accept,
+and difficult to perform. But no conditions can exceed the measure of your
+services and deserts."
+
+The ready submission of Isaac and the subjection of the Greek church to
+the Roman pontiff, deeply offended his subtle and revengeful subjects, and
+gave rise to so many plots and conspiracies, that the newly-restored
+emperor prayed the crusaders to delay their departure till order was
+re-established. To this they assented, but the odious taxes for rewarding
+their services were collected with difficulty, and Isaac resorted to the
+violent measure of robbing the churches of their gold and silver.
+Occasions of dissension ripened into causes of hatred. A devastating fire
+was attributed to the Latins, and in consequence desultory encounters
+took place, which resulted in open hostility. The feeble emperor died, it
+is said, of fear; his cousin, a bold, unscrupulous villain, assumed the
+imperial buskins, and seizing the young Alexius, put him to death.
+
+The crusaders at once determined to make war upon the usurper.
+Constantinople, the empress of the East, the city that for nine centuries
+had been deemed impregnable to mortal arm, was taken by storm. The right
+of victory, untrammelled by promise or treaty, confiscated the public and
+private wealth of the Greeks, and the hand of every Frank, according to
+its size and strength, seized and appropriated the rich treasures of
+silks, velvets, furs, gems, spices and movables which were scattered like
+glittering baits through all the dwellings of that proud metropolis. When
+the appetite for plunder was satisfied, order was instituted in the
+distribution of spoils. Three churches were selected for depositories, and
+the magnitude of the prize exceeded all experience or expectation. A sum
+seven times greater than the annual revenue of England, fell to the lot of
+the Franks. In the streets the French and Flemings clothed themselves and
+their horses in painted robes and flowing head-dresses of fine linen. They
+stripped the altars of their ornaments, converted the chalices into
+drinking cups, and laded their beasts with wrought silver and gilt
+carvings, which they tore down from the pulpits. In the cathedral of St.
+Sophia, the veil of the sanctuary was rent in twain for the sake of its
+golden fringe, and the altar, a monument of art and riches, was broken in
+pieces and distributed among the captors.
+
+Having thus taken Constantinople and shared its treasures among
+themselves, the next step was the regulation of their future possessions
+and the election of an Emperor. Twelve deputies were appointed, six to
+represent the interest of the Franks and six that of the Venetians; in the
+name of his colleagues, the bishop of Soissons announced to the barons the
+result of their deliberations in these words. "Ye have sworn to obey the
+prince whom we should choose; by our unanimous suffrage, Baldwin Count of
+Flanders and Hainault, is now your sovereign and the Emperor of the
+East." "Agreeably to the Byzantine custom, the barons and knights
+immediately elevated their future lord upon a buckler and bore him into
+the church of St. Sophia. When the pomp of magnificence and dignity was
+prepared, the coronation took place. The papal legate threw the imperial
+purple over Baldwin; the soldiers joined with the clergy in crying aloud,
+'He is worthy of reigning;' and the splendor of conquest was mocked by the
+Grecian ceremony, of presenting to the new sovereign a tuft of lighted
+wool and a small vase filled with bones and dust, as emblems of the
+perishableness of grandeur, and the brevity of life."
+
+The splendid fiefs which the ambitious Adela had mapped out for the heroes
+of the first crusade, now fell to the lot of her descendants in the
+division of the Greek Empire. One was invested with the duchy of Nice; one
+obtained a fair establishment on the banks of the Hebrus; and one, served
+with the fastidious pomp and splendor of oriental luxury, shared the
+throne of Baldwin, the successor of Constantine the Great.
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+  "But I'll hide in my breast every selfish care,
+      And flush my pale cheek with wine,
+  When smiles await the bridal pair,
+      I'll hasten to give them mine."
+
+While the Eastern Croises were thus engaged in apportioning among
+themselves, the rich domains of the Greek Empire, Simon de Montfort, who
+had abandoned the expedition, when its destination was changed from
+Jerusalem to Constantinople, was not less actively employed in a domestic
+crusade, published by Innocent III., against the heretics of the south of
+France. In the province of Toulouse, certain sects had arisen variously
+known as Believers, Perfects, and Vaudois, but all rejecting some of the
+tenets of Rome, and from the city of Albi, designated by the general name
+Albigeois. In his misguided zeal, Innocent III. despatched three legates
+to constrain these Albigeois to abjure their heresies and return to the
+bosom of the church. He empowered them to employ for this purpose, "the
+sword, water and fire, as these good monks should find it necessary to use
+one or the other, or all three together for the greater glory of God."
+Though the Albigenses, like other Christians, professed the doctrines of
+peace, they were somewhat infected with the warlike spirit of the age;
+consequently becoming exasperated at the executions deemed necessary to
+bring the lambs into the fold, they rose upon the missionaries, and stoned
+one of them to death. The pope retaliated by proclaiming the usual
+indulgence to those who should engage in the holy war, for exterminating
+the heretics. Count Raimond VI., the husband of Joanna, immediately took
+up arms in defence of his subjects, and against him Simon de Montfort
+headed the army of the church. With him came a monk of great austerity,
+afterwards St. Dominic, the founder of the Dominican order of friars, who
+encouraged the soldiers in their work of blood. The city of Beziers long
+held out against them. It was finally taken, the inhabitants given up to
+slaughter, and when a difficulty arose about discriminating between the
+heretics and the catholics, "Slay them all," said Dominic, "the Lord will
+know his own." It is estimated that the number that perished was sixty
+thousand. The war went on, characterized, as such wars always are, by the
+atrocity of private murder, and wholesale butchery, till de Montfort led
+his army to the siege of Toulouse. Count Raimond, beset on every side by
+foes, applied to his brother-in-law, the King of England, to the King of
+Arragon, whose sister he had married after the death of Joanna, and to
+Philip Augustus his liege lord. The first engaged in domestic broils, and
+the last involved in a contest with the pope, concerning the divorce of
+Ingeborge, could render him no assistance, but Don Pedro King of Arragon,
+entered warmly into the contest and fell bravely fighting in the battle of
+Muret.
+
+The count was at last compelled to conclude an ignominious peace with the
+pope; and thus the forces of the church were victorious in the south of
+France, as they were in the Greek Empire.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+To return to Isabella. The troubles with which King John had involved
+himself by the murder of the young Duke of Bretagne, seemed destined never
+to end. All Aquitaine had been in a state of revolt since the decease of
+his mother and the captivity of Count Hugh, and his queen finally
+persuaded him to trust to the magnanimity of her lover, for the peace of
+his dominions in France.
+
+De Lusignan left England in 1206, and by his discretion and valor, soon
+restored the revolted provinces to the sway of the line of Plantagenet.
+The intolerance of the king next aroused the animosity of the English
+barons, and to prevent a popular outbreak, he demanded their sons as
+hostages, under the plausible pretext of requiring the services of the
+youthful lords as pages for his queen, and companions of his infant son,
+Henry.
+
+The Lady de Braose, when her children were demanded, imprudently replied,
+"I will not surrender my boys to a king who murdered his own nephew." The
+unfortunate words were repeated to the malicious monarch, and measures for
+vengeance immediately instituted.
+
+The Lord de Braose, with his wife and five innocent little ones, were
+confined in Windsor castle and starved to death.
+
+While the husband of Isabella was thus alienating from himself the
+affections of his subjects, he had the temerity to dare the colossal power
+of Rome. A dispute arose as in the days of his father, concerning the
+incumbent of the see of Canterbury. The pope had commanded the monks to
+choose Cardinal Langton for their primate, without the ceremony of a writ
+from the king. They complied, and John sent one of his knights to expel
+them from the convent and take possession of their revenues.
+
+The affair went on with admonitions from the spiritual father, and defiant
+retorts from the refractory king, till Innocent III. laid an interdict
+upon the realm. This terrible mandate at once covered the whole nation
+with the garb and the gloom of mourning. The priests with pious reverence
+stripped the altars of their ornaments, collected the crosses and relics,
+took down the images and statues of saints and apostles, and laying them
+upon the ground carefully covered them from the eyes of the profane.
+
+No matin chime awoke the pious to their devotions, no vesper bell summoned
+the youths and maidens to unite in the evening hymn; no joyous peal
+invited the happy throng to the nuptial ceremony, no solemn toll gathered
+the sorrowing multitudes to the burial service. The bridegroom took the
+hand of his bride and whispered his vows with boding fear, standing in the
+churchyard, surrounded by the silent witnesses, whose very presence was a
+terror. The father relinquished the dead body of his child to unhallowed
+hands, that made for it an obscure and unconsecrated grave by the wayside;
+the tender infant was not presented at the font for baptism, but received
+the holy rite in the privacy of the monkish cell, and the dying man
+partook of the last sacrament under circumstances that rendered still more
+terrible the approach of death.
+
+Men neglected their usual avocations, feeling that the curse of God rested
+upon them; children relinquished their amusements, subdued by the
+mysterious fear that pervaded all ranks of society.
+
+But the tyrant John and his thoughtless queen felt no sympathy with the
+afflictions of their people, no reverence for the ordinances of religion.
+They made no concessions, they manifested no signs of repentance. Each was
+engaged in the pursuit of pleasure, without regard to the other's
+feelings, or the laws of God. If the fickle and wounded affections of
+Isabella wandered from her lord to some noble knight, who compassionated
+her wrongs, her crime was made known only by the terrible vengeance which
+her malignant husband inflicted upon her supposed lover; nor was she aware
+that the suspicions of the king had been awakened till retiring to her
+apartment at night, she beheld with horror the dead body of the nobleman,
+suspended above her couch, the bloodshot eyes fixed upon her with a
+ghastly stare, and the pale lips opened as if assaying to whisper in her
+ear the secret of the dark tragedy. From this haunted chamber she was not
+suffered to depart for long weary years. But though John thus manifested
+his righteous horror of his wife's dereliction from the path of rectitude,
+he was himself unscrupulous in the perpetration of any species of
+iniquity. Parsimonious and cruel to his beautiful queen, he lavished upon
+his own person every extravagant indulgence; without honesty or honor. He
+was a bad son, a bad subject, a bad husband, a bad father, and a bad
+sovereign. The record of his thoughts is a disgrace to human nature, the
+record of his deeds, a recapitulation of crimes.
+
+Finding his interdict of no avail, Innocent resorted to his most powerful
+weapon. He excommunicated John, pronounced utter destruction upon his body
+and soul, forbade all true Catholics to associate with him, absolved his
+subjects from their oath of allegiance to him, commanded all orders of
+religion to curse him, and exhorted all christian princes to assist in
+dethroning him.
+
+Philip Augustus found this crusade far more to his taste than the one he
+had before undertaken in the Holy Land, and Simon de Montfort having
+enjoyed a short repose from his work of blood in Languedoc, stood ready to
+enforce the authority of the church. To protect his transmarine dominions
+from these powerful foes, John found it necessary to solicit an alliance
+with his former rival Count Hugh de Lusignan, but the perverse bachelor
+was conciliated only on condition that the queen should be liberated from
+her irksome imprisonment, and that her eldest daughter, the Princess
+Joanna, should be affianced to him as a compensation for the loss of the
+mother. The necessity of the case did not admit of debate or delay, and
+the little princess was forthwith betrothed to her mature lover, and
+consigned to the castle of Valence; where she occupied the apartments and
+sported in the pleasance, that had formerly delighted the childhood of
+Isabella. With his heart thus reassured, Count Hugh repulsed the army of
+the French king, and kept the Poictevin border in peace.
+
+Philip Augustus disappointed in this attempt, prepared for the invasion of
+England; but while his fleet waited in the ports of Normandy, the legate
+Pandulph sought an interview with John, and terrifying him with the
+prospect of certain ruin brought him to submit unconditionally to the
+pope. The pusillanimous monarch was thus induced to pass a charter in
+which he declared he had for his own sins and those of his family,
+resigned England and Ireland to God, to St. Peter, and St. Paul, and to
+Pope Innocent and his successors in the apostolic chair; agreeing to hold
+those dominions as feudatories of the church of Rome by the annual payment
+of a thousand marks. He consented to receive Langton for the primate, laid
+his crown and sceptre at the feet of Pandulph, and kneeling down placed
+his hand in those of that prelate, and swore fealty in the same manner as
+a vassal did homage to his lord. The legate then revoked the sentence of
+excommunication, placed the crown upon the head of John, pocketed the
+first instalment of the tribute money, and returning to France informed
+Philip that England was a part of the patrimony of St. Peter, and it would
+be impious in any Christian prince to attack it.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Isabella was residing with her children at Gloucester, when her inconstant
+husband, smitten with the charms of Matilda the fair daughter of Lord Fitz
+Walter, stormed the castle of her father, banished him from the kingdom,
+and bore away the trembling girl to the fortress of London. There
+confining her in one of the lofty turrets of the White tower he set
+himself to win her affections; but the noble maiden spurned all his
+overtures with virtuous indignation. When the hoary libertine found that
+flattery and coercion were alike vain, his adoration changed to hate, and
+the hapless lady fell a victim to poison. This crowning act of villainy
+completed the exasperation of the English nobles, and a confederacy was
+formed to resist farther aggressions upon their liberties. Cardinal
+Langton, in searching the records of the monasteries, had found a copy of
+the charter executed by Henry Beauclerk upon his marriage with Matilda the
+Good.
+
+From this charter the primate drew up the bill of rights, which has become
+world-renowned as the Magna Charta. At Runnymede between Windsor and
+Staines the mail-clad barons met their guilty sovereign, and
+
+                  "There in happy hour
+  Made the fell tyrant feel his people's power."
+
+The signing of the great charter of English liberty was soon followed by
+the death of King John, and the diplomatic talents of Isabella were called
+into exercise to secure the vacant throne for her son Henry, then a boy of
+only nine years of age. The diadem of his father having been lost in
+Lincoln washes, and that of Edward the Confessor being in London, the
+little prince was crowned with a gold throat collar that she had worn in
+those happy days while the affianced bride of Count Hugh la Marche. Only a
+small part of England at first owned the sway of Prince Henry, but the
+nobles at length rallied around the young Plantagenet, and the valor and
+wisdom of the protector Pembroke soon drove the invading French from the
+island. No share in the government was committed into the hands of the
+dowager queen, and before the first year of her widowhood had expired she
+set out for her native city of Angoul�me.
+
+As she passed through the provinces of France her attention was attracted
+by groups of children, habited as pilgrims with scrip and staff, gathered
+about the doors of churches, repeating pious ascriptions of praise or
+tuning their infant voices to sacred hymns. Her curiosity was strongly
+excited, and she questioned them concerning the motives that influenced
+to so strange a proceeding. "Fair Solyma lies in ruins," replied the
+little fanatics, "and it may please God who out of the mouths of babes and
+sucklings hath ordained strength, to redeem it by our feeble hands." These
+scenes occurred daily upon her route. In vain the queen employed argument
+and entreaty, threats and promises to induce them to return to their
+homes. They followed in the train of a company of monks who, with the
+diabolical design of profiting by a crime then too common, were working
+upon their superstitious hopes and fears to decoy them to the sea-coast,
+where they might be shipped to Egypt and sold as slaves. Thirty thousand
+misguided innocents were thus collected from Italy and Germany, and most
+of them fell a sacrifice to the mercenary motives of those who traded in
+the bodies and souls of men.
+
+When Isabella arrived at Angoul�me, the valiant Lusignan was absent from
+his territories, fighting under the banners of the cross, and her maternal
+heart was allowed the solace of frequent intercourse with Joanna, the
+little bride of her former lover.
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+  "I'll hang my harp on the willow-tree,
+    And off to the wars again;
+  My peaceful home has no charms for me,
+    The battle-field no pain."
+
+Convinced by the crusade of the children that the spirit which had moved
+the former expeditions to the Holy Land was still active in Europe, Pope
+Innocent exclaiming, "While we sleep these children are awake," determined
+once more to arm the Christian world against the Moslem. The commands of
+the Vatican calling upon men to exterminate the Infidel were hurled upon
+every part of Europe. In a circular letter to sovereigns and clergy the
+pope declared that the time had at last arrived when the most happy
+results might be expected from a confederation of the Christian powers.
+
+Count la Marche was among the first to hear and obey the mandate of the
+spiritual head. With the Duke of Nevers he commanded the French croises
+that in 1215 sailed for Egypt, where he was actively engaged in the Holy
+warfare when Isabella visited Valence. The siege of Damietta was carried
+on with the usual atrocities. Tidings of the death of Saphadin weakened
+the forces of the garrison, and Camel, younger son of Elsiebede, lord of
+the fertile country of the Nile, was compelled to seek refuge in Arabia.
+The first success of the crusaders was followed by disaster and discord;
+and when after a siege of seventeen months Damietta was taken, they found
+in pestilence and famine more terrible foes than in the sixty thousand
+Moslems that had perished beneath their swords.
+
+Queen Isabella was seated in her former apartment in the castle of Valence
+describing to her daughter the person of the young King of England and his
+noble brother the Prince Richard, and painting to the imagination of the
+child the charms of the infant Princess Isabella, when the horn of the
+warder rang out shrill and clear on the evening air. The window of the
+turret commanded the view of the drawbridge. From that window where,
+eighteen years before, Isabella had watched with delight for the return of
+her gay knightly lover, she now beheld with palpitating heart the advance
+of a jaded, weary troop, at whose head rode one whose proud crest drooped
+as though the inspiration of hope had ceased to animate the warrior-frame,
+and the heart bereft of the blissful fervor of love no longer anticipated
+the sweet guerdon of his lady's smile. A tide of recollections swept over
+her spirit; dizzy and faint she sank upon a seat in the embrasure of the
+window, and veiled her agitation in the curtaining drapery. She heard his
+tread upon the stair, no longer the elastic step that she had been wont to
+welcome with the sportive gaiety of a heart free from care; the door was
+thrown open, her daughter with bounding footstep so like her own in former
+days, flew to meet him as he entered. She saw the childish fingers unlace
+the helmet, unbind the gorget, unbelt the sword, and lay aside the armor.
+The form of the warrior was slightly bent, there were furrows upon the
+sunburnt cheek, deep lines upon the noble brow, and threads of silver
+among his dark locks. A heavy sigh was the first salutation of his little
+bride. He drew the fair girl to him and pressed his lip upon her cheek,
+but the anxious observer saw that the look and the smile were the
+expression rather of paternal regard than of lover like fondness; they
+were not such as had lighted up his countenance and kindled in his eyes
+when with gleesome alacrity she had rendered him the same gentle service.
+Her agitation subsided, and when the little Joanna took the hand of the
+Count la Marche, and led him forward to present him to her mother, she
+received his embarrassed greeting with the stately courtesy of a queen and
+the dignity of a woman. The marvellous beauty that won for Isabella the
+appellation of the "Helen of the middle ages" soon eclipsed the infant
+graces of the princess, and reinstated her in the heart once all her own.
+We accordingly find in the records of the year 1220, that "Isabella, Queen
+Dowager of England, having before crossed the seas, took to her husband
+her former spouse, the Count of Marche, in France, without leave of the
+king, her son, or his council."
+
+Notwithstanding this romantic change in their relations, Joanna continued
+to reside at the castle of Valence, under the care of the gallant count,
+who remained her steady friend and protector. She was of infinite service
+to her parents and her country. The English were greatly incensed at the
+marriage of Isabella, and the council of the regency withheld her jointure
+as the widow of John, and neither the representations nor threats of her
+valiant husband could induce them to repair the wrong. A war soon after
+occurred between England and Scotland, and Alexander II., the chivalric
+descendant of Maude, declared that he could not trust the strength of a
+political treaty without the bond of a union with the royal family of
+England. King Henry therefore despatched a messenger with an affectionate
+letter to his mother, demanding the restoration of his sister. Count la
+Marche refused to resign the guardianship of his lovely step-daughter
+until the dower of his wife should be restored. The young king had then
+recourse to Pope Honorius III., traducing his mother and her husband in no
+measured terms, and praying him to lay upon them the ban of
+excommunication. By a process almost as tedious as the present "law's
+delays," the pope investigated the affair, till Alexander becoming
+impatient, Henry was glad to accommodate the matter by paying up the
+arrears of his mother's dower. The little princess was then sent to
+England, and married to Alexander II., at York, 1221. She was a child of
+angelic beauty and sweetness, and though only eleven years of age, had
+thus twice stopped a cruel war. The English styled her Joan Makepeace.
+
+The domestic bliss of Count Hugh and Isabella was less exquisite than
+might have been anticipated from the constancy of his love, and the
+romantic revival of her attachment: nor did the birth and education of
+eight beautiful children concentrate their affections or afford sufficient
+scope for their ambitious aspirations. Differences constantly arose
+between the King of France and her son Henry, and it was often the duty of
+her husband to fight in behalf of Louis, his liege lord, against her
+former subjects of Aquitaine. It was her sole study, therefore, to render
+French Poitou independent of the King of France. She "was a queen," she
+said, "and she disdained to be the wife of a man who had to kneel before
+another." Causes of mortification on this point were constantly occurring.
+Count la Marche sought to obviate the difficulty by allying his family
+with the blood royal. He offered his eldest daughter in marriage to the
+brother of the French king, but the prince refused her, and gave his hand
+to Jane of Toulouse. On this occasion the king made his brother Count of
+Poictiers, and thus it became necessary for Count Hugh and his haughty
+wife to fill the r�le of honor, and do homage to the young couple as their
+suzerains. From this time forward the unfortunate count found that the
+only way to secure domestic peace was to make perpetual war upon the
+dominions of his sovereign. As a good soldier and a loyal knight who hangs
+his hopes upon a woman's smile, he perseveringly followed the dangerous
+path till he was utterly dispossessed of castle and patrimony, feudatory
+and vassal. There remained then no resource but to cast themselves upon
+the charity of the good king. The repentant count first despatched his
+eldest son to the camp of Louis, and encouraged by the gracious reception
+of the youth, soon followed with the remainder of his family. The monarch
+compassionated their miserable situation, and granted to his rebellious
+subject three castles on the simple condition of his doing homage for them
+to Alphonso, Count of Poictiers. After this humiliating concession, Count
+Hugh was disposed to dwell in quietness: but the restless spirit of
+Isabella was untamed by disaster. The life of King Louis was twice
+attempted, and the assassins being seized and put to the torture,
+confessed that they had been bribed to the inhuman deed by the dowager
+Queen of England. Alarmed for the consequences, she fled for safety to the
+abbey of Fontevraud, where, says a contemporary chronicler, "She was hid
+in a secret chamber, and lived at her ease, though the Poictevins and
+French considering her as the cause of the disastrous war with their king,
+called her by no other name than Jezebel, instead of her rightful
+appellation of Isabel." Notwithstanding the disgrace and defeat that Count
+Hugh had suffered, no sooner was the fair fame of his wife attacked than
+he once more girded on his sword and appealed to arms to prove the
+falsehood of the accusation upon the body of Prince Alphonso. Little
+inclined to the fray, Alphonso declared contemptuously, that the Count la
+Marche was so "treason-spotted" it would be disgrace to fight with him.
+Young Hugh, the son of Isabella, then threw down the gage in defence of
+his mother's reputation, but the cowardly prince again declined, alleging
+that the infamy of the family rendered the young knight unworthy so
+distinguished an honor.
+
+The last interview between Hugh de Lusignan, Count la Marche, and Isabella
+of Angoul�me, ex-Queen of England, took place in the general reception
+room in the convent of Fontevraud. The dishonored noble sought his wife to
+acquaint her with the ruin of all their worldly prospects and the stain
+upon their knightly escutcheon. The last tones that he heard from those
+lips that once breathed tenderness and love were words of indignant
+upbraiding and heart-broken despair. All his attempts at consolation were
+repulsed with cruel scorn. She tore herself violently from his last fond
+embrace, sought again the secret chamber and assumed the veil, and for
+three years sister Felice, most inaptly so named, was distinguished among
+the nuns by her lengthened penances and multiplied prayers.
+
+The land of his nativity no longer possessed any attractions for the
+bereaved and disappointed count. All the associations of his youth became
+sources of painful reflection, and anxious to escape from the scenes where
+every familiar object was but a monument of a buried hope, he determined
+to share the crusade which St. Louis was preparing against the Infidel. He
+fell, covered with wounds and glory in one of the eastern battles,
+fighting beside his old antagonist Alphonso Count of Poictiers.
+
+
+
+
+VIOLANTE.
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+  "'Twas but for a moment--and yet in that time
+  She crowded the impressions of many an hour:
+  Her eye had a glow, like the sun of her clime,
+  Which waked every feeling at once into flower!"
+
+The fall of Constantinople had not been without its effect upon eastern
+politics. The christian Prince of Antioch acknowledged the feudal
+superiority of Baldwin, the new Emperor, and Saphadin, the Sultan of
+Syria, justly apprehended that an easy and ready communication being thus
+opened with Europe through the Greek Empire, the splendid conquest might
+result in the carrying out of the original plan upon Palestine. To avert
+this danger, he repaired to Antioch to conclude, if possible, a treaty for
+six years' peace with the Christians. The sons of Elsiebede were permitted
+to accompany the army of their father on his most distant expeditions; and
+through the enlightened policy of Saphadin, or Saif Addin, during his
+absence, contrary to the usual Oriental observances, the Moorish European
+filled the office of regent of Jerusalem. Under her benign administration
+the pilgrims had access to the holy places, and protection in the practice
+of all the rites of Christianity. Salaman, whose self-complacency and
+curiosity gave him a benevolent interest in all matters pertaining to
+politics, humanity, or religion, was the usual medium of communication
+between the empress and those who had occasion to solicit favors from her
+hand. He was the Mercury to convey safe conducts, the Apollo to usher
+petitioners into her presence.
+
+The garb of the pilgrim had consequently become to her a familiar sight,
+and it was therefore without surprise that she saw her attendant enter
+with a toil-worn man leaning upon a palmer's staff. Her beneficence to
+the Christians, and her affability towards all her dependents had made her
+a frequent listener to the tales of pilgrims, and intent upon her own
+thoughts she heard with an abstracted air the story of the mendicant, till
+he uttered the name of Richard. Instantly she was all attention.
+
+The old man had been the confessor of Henry II., but won by the cordial
+frankness and generous impulses of Coeur de Lion, he availed himself of
+every opportunity afforded by his intimacy with Henry to forward the
+interests of the young prince. The king had confided to the priest, as his
+spiritual father, his attachment to the fair and frail Alice of France;
+and the monk had betrayed the secret of the confessional to Prince
+Richard. By a law of Henry I., all priests guilty of this crime were
+condemned to perpetual wandering, and Richard, in his first agony and
+remorse, at the death of his father, caused the penalty to be strictly
+enforced. The poor monk, therefore, had for nearly twenty years practised
+a weary pilgrimage from one holy place to another, resting in monasteries,
+walking unshod before shrines of peculiar sanctity, and kneeling or
+watching in every cave or hermitage where the hallowed remains of a saint
+might be supposed to avail for his absolution. Pursued thus by the furies
+of remorse, and the curses of the church, he had visited the shrines of
+St. Wulstan, St. Dunstan, St. Thomas of Canterbury, St. James of
+Compostella, the crucifix of Lucca, the congregated Saints at Rome, the
+cave of St. Cyprian in Africa, and had now come to pray God to release his
+soul at the church of the Holy Sepulchre.
+
+At the mention of St. James of Compostella, Elsiebede seemed agitated, and
+when the monk ceased his story, she anxiously inquired whether in his
+travels through Spain, he had rested in Pampeluna.
+
+"I tarried there some days," returned the pilgrim, "but it is several
+years since, and but for a strange circumstance it might have faded from
+my memory; for he who thinks ever upon his own sins has little leisure to
+study that which pleases or benefits others."
+
+"Relate to me this circumstance," cried Elsiebede, eagerly.
+
+"As I knelt at high mass," resumed the priest, "a noble lady, closely
+veiled, bowed at the altar by my side. When the solemn ceremony was over,
+and she rose to depart, an attendant whispered me to follow. She led the
+way to her oratory in the palace of the king, where she showed me that she
+was the widow of my deceased lord, Richard Coeur de Lion."
+
+"My dear lady Berengaria," exclaimed Elsiebede, the tears falling from her
+eyes like rain.
+
+"It was, indeed, that honored queen," said the pilgrim; "who learning that
+I had loved and served the noblest prince in Christendom, sent for me to
+confess the follies of her past life, and to entreat me to perform for her
+in Palestine certain vows which she had made during the long and painful
+imprisonment of her royal husband. It was her purpose to expiate her own
+sins by a life of voluntary penitence and devotion in the convent of
+L'Espan: but before retiring from the world, she desired to make one more
+effort for the people of God in the Holy Land. She made me acquainted,
+therefore, most noble lady, with thy former estate in her household, and
+how God had exalted thee to be the spouse of a prince and ruler, as he did
+afore-time the royal Esther, who came to be Queen of Persia. She bade me
+remind thee of the kindness that had been shown thee, when thou wert a
+stranger in a strange land, and she commendeth her love to thee by this
+precious jewel, that thou mayest look upon it, and show mercy to those who
+are ready to perish for the faith of our holy church." With a pious
+precision that mocked the impatience of Elsiebede, he drew from his scrip
+a small reliquary which he slowly unclasped, and taking thence the magic
+ring, around which clustered so many associations, presented it to the
+sultana. Salaman, who had lost not a motion nor a word of the pilgrim, at
+sight of the ring, forgot the respectful observance that had been enforced
+since his residence at the eastern court, pressed forward and gazed upon
+the precious talisman. The emotions of Elsiebede precluded utterance, and
+the monk waited her reply in silence, till Salaman comprehending her
+wishes in the matter, accompanied the pilgrim to the house of the
+patriarch, and made the necessary arrangements for the performance of his
+vows.
+
+The gratitude of Elsiebede for the return of her long-loved, long-lost
+treasure, bringing before her as it did, the image of her widowed
+mistress, and the tender sympathy, which years of intimacy had engendered,
+warmed her heart still more to the Christians, and she studied to
+inculcate in the minds of her children, an amicable disposition towards
+the Latin inhabitants of Palestine.
+
+The sister of Sybilla, Isabella, firstly, widow of Conrad, secondly, widow
+of Henry, Count of Champagne, and thirdly, widow of Almeric of Lusignan,
+the twelfth King of Jerusalem, at last died, leaving her proud pretensions
+and her disputed possessions to Mary, her daughter by Conrad. Alice, her
+daughter by Henry, was married to Hugh of Lusignan, the son of her last
+husband, and had been already proclaimed Queen of Cyprus. The claim of
+Mary, therefore, to the throne of Jerusalem was undisputed, and as
+Palestine was at that time without lord or ruler worthy to sway the ideal
+sceptre that cost so much blood and treasure, the Bishop of Acre, and the
+Lord of Cesarea were deputed by the christian knights to wait upon Philip
+Augustus, King of France, and demand of him a husband for the young
+princess.
+
+While the potentates of Palestine and Europe were thus occupied in the
+benevolent enterprise of procuring her a husband, the orphan, Mary, dwelt
+quietly at Acre; and it occurred to the politic Saif-Eddin, that a union
+between the young princess and his eldest son, Cohr-Eddin, might cement a
+peace between Syria and Palestine. The ambitious youth became very much
+interested in the affair, and readily entered into his parent's plan for
+his aggrandizement.
+
+The magnificent embassy despatched by the Emperor of the East, to demand
+the hand of the fair heiress for his son, set out from Damascus loaded
+with most rare and costly gifts. Cohr-Eddin, with the enthusiasm of a
+lover, determined to exercise the liberty of the European princes and gain
+an interview with his intended bride. Before setting out he received from
+his mother a fragment of the true cross, and thus armed with what he
+thought would render him irresistible to the christian maiden, he rode
+gaily along at the head of the splendid cavalcade, beguiling the way in
+converse with a celebrated Howadji, learned in the precepts of the Koran,
+and in the gorgeous and metaphorical fictions of eastern poetry.
+
+In the desert, as in the sea, the eye takes in a vast circle without
+obstruction from forest or dwelling: the scouts on the second day,
+therefore, easily discerned, far in the rear, a solitary horseman upon a
+fleet Arabian barb. He did not, however, join the troop, but passing it to
+the north, disappeared in the distance ere conjecture had settled upon his
+identity, or the cause of his sudden apparition.
+
+When the hour for evening prayers arrived, on the last day of the journey,
+the cort�ge turned aside into a small grove of palms, and sought
+refreshment by a fountain, which threw up its clear waters, and with
+untiring voice, warbled its perpetual hymn. The breath of the evening was
+scented by the odor of the sorrowful nyctanthes, and as they entered, they
+observed that the place had been rendered sacred by the burial of one
+whose marble tomb, destitute of name or inscription, was shaded by the
+tender leaves of the sensitive mimosa.
+
+The repast being over, the story-loving Saracens gathered around the
+Howadji, who continued to unfold the stores of his learning, descanting
+upon the beauties of the place, and the influences of the stars, that,
+like the generations of the earth, follow each other in solemn procession,
+through the heavens; and drawing from his memory gems of poetry
+appropriate to the time and occasion. Thus said he:--
+
+  "Open thine eyes to consider the Narcissus,
+  Thou wouldst say it is the circle of the Pleiades around the sun;
+  Yet since the Rose has removed the veil from before her cheek,
+  The Narcissus has become all eyes to gaze upon her."
+
+  "The Violet has felt humbled and concealed her head under the purple
+      mantle that covers her;
+  One would say that the verdure has formed beneath her feet inviting
+      unto prayer."
+
+  "Yet as the sun among the stars, and the rose among the flowers of the
+      garden,
+  So is the Beloved to the partial eyes of the lover."
+
+A voice singing or chanting in the Persian, seemed to reply from the
+precincts of the tomb:--
+
+  "Child of Adam, heir of worldly glory, let not Hope deceive thee,
+  For I passed an undistinguished grave in the midst of a garden,
+  And the narcissus, and the rose, and the violet clustered round it,
+  And the star-like anemone shed its red light upon it.
+  And I said, whose tomb is this?
+  And the soil answered,
+  Be respectful, for this is the resting-place of a lover."
+
+  "So I said, God keep thee, oh! victim of love,
+  For thou hast fallen beneath the simoom of passion,
+  Or perished with the mildew of disappointment."
+
+The voice ceased--the company waited in silence for the renewal of the
+song: but the nightingale alone took up the strain, and the spreading of
+the tents and the sweet slumber that falls upon the weary, effaced the
+remembrance of the mysterious serenade from the minds of all but
+Cohr-Eddin. A superstitious fear weighed upon the spirit of the lover, and
+haunted his imagination. It was destiny warning him of disappointment, it
+was a rival triumphing in his chagrin; in either case it argued ill for
+the success of his suit, and robbed him of his rest.
+
+When they set forward the following morning, they again caught a glimpse
+of the unknown cavalier, spurring on before them, and a messenger, mounted
+on the fleetest steed of the party, was despatched to overtake the
+stranger, and learn his purpose. The mission was unsuccessful, and the
+affair was passed over in silence.
+
+The embassy was received with great distinction by the christian lords in
+charge of Acre. The advantages of the proposed alliance were such as
+carried conviction to the most obtuse minds. The ardor of the lover,
+enforced by his presence, and by an animation unusual to the formal
+Orientals, gave to the Templars the strongest hopes of being able to make
+their own terms with the Sultan, and they eagerly advocated the propriety
+of a betrothal between the parties, before the messengers could return
+from Europe with the husband provided by the French king.
+
+But as the Princess Mary had been made fully aware of the importance of
+her hand to Christendom, and as her imagination might have been captivated
+by the glowing descriptions of the western knight who should lay his
+honors at her feet, the affair was considered of too delicate a character
+to admit of their interference: they concluded, therefore, to leave the
+lover to plead his own cause with the proud queen.
+
+As Cohr-Eddin was conducted to the hall of audience, he encountered an
+individual, whose person seemed familiar, but whose face was studiously
+concealed, and who evidently sought to escape observation. When he entered
+the royal presence the lady appeared agitated, and despite her efforts at
+self-control tears forced themselves from her eyes, yet the unpropitious
+omen at the same time gave such a subdued and tender expression to her
+lustrous beauty, that the young Moslem acknowledged at once the power of
+her charms. But neither the stately courtesy, nor the florid flatteries of
+eastern compliment, nor the rich presents which he laid at her feet, nor
+the tempting offer of the crown matrimonial of Syria, nor even the piece
+of sacred wood which he brought to back his suit, had power to move the
+heart of the christian maiden. She steadfastly plead her engagement to
+abide by the arrangements of her ambassadors. The penetrating Saracen
+perceived, however, that it was the state of her affections, and not her
+principles that made his case utterly hopeless. He could not escape the
+suspicion that the mysterious horseman was in some way connected with his
+disappointment; but as he could not learn the name or rank of his rival,
+his wounded pride had not the usual alleviation of meditated revenge.
+
+On his return to Damascus, he found that during his absence a division of
+the Empire had been determined upon; that his younger brother had been
+made Sultan of Egypt, while to himself was committed the sovereignty of
+Syria and Palestine.
+
+Affairs were in this posture when Jean de Brienne, the nobleman designated
+by Philip Augustus, with a train of three hundred knights arrived at Acre.
+The next day he received the hand of Mary in marriage, and shortly
+afterwards was crowned King of Jerusalem.
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+  ----"Death grinned horribly
+  A ghastly smile."----
+
+A few years of unsuccessful conflict with the politic and warlike
+Saphadin, sufficed to acquaint the new king with the condition of affairs
+in Palestine. He displayed his valor in many a fierce encounter, and saved
+his states from utter annihilation, but he foresaw the approaching ruin of
+the holy cause, and wrote a letter to the pope, stating that the kingdom
+of Jerusalem consisted only of two or three towns, which by a vigorous
+action on the part of his foes, might be wrested from him at any moment.
+
+Innocent III. answered by a circular letter, calling on all the sovereigns
+and clergy of Christendom, to seek a crown of glory in the sacred wars of
+Palestine; and by an epistle to Saphadin, in which he reminded the
+powerful Infidel, that the Holy Land was in the possession of the
+Mussulmans, not on account of their virtues, but the sins of the
+Christians. The anger of Heaven, however, he said, was tempered with
+mercy, and the time was at hand when that mercy would be shown in an
+especial manner, and he finished by exhorting the Sultan to resign
+peacefully, a country which was a source of more inconvenience than profit
+to the Moslems.
+
+As the dignified Saracen made no overtures of capitulation, the pope found
+it necessary to put this boasted mercy to the proof, and the _Sixth
+Crusade_ was accordingly preached in every church of Europe. A general
+council was held in the palace of the Lateran, A.D. 1215, for the
+important but dissimilar purposes of crowning Frederic II. grandson of
+Frederic Barbarossa, and for chastising vice in its various forms and
+condemning heresy in all its phases, and also for the sake of inducing
+princes and people to join the expedition to the Holy Land.
+
+"There were present the Patriarchs of Constantinople and Jerusalem, the
+ambassador of the Patriarch of Antioch, seventy-four metropolitan
+primates, and three hundred and forty bishops. The abbots and friars
+numbered eight hundred, but the representatives of the higher clergy could
+not be calculated. The Emperor of Constantinople, the Kings of France,
+England, Hungary, Jerusalem, Arragon, and the sovereigns of many other
+countries, were represented in the assembly."
+
+After the general interests of the church had been considered and the
+heretics summarily given over to all the miseries of this life, and the
+pains of that to come, war against the Saracens, was declared to be the
+most sacred duty of the European world. The usual privileges and
+indulgences were accorded to the pilgrims, all tournaments during the
+three years appointed for the crusade, were prohibited, and universal
+peace was decreed, to all christian kingdoms for the same period. Frederic
+II. was crowned on condition of joining the expedition.
+
+The troubadours again took down their harps, and the voice of song echoing
+through castle and hall aroused the enthusiasm of youth, and awoke the
+slumbering energies of age. The pontiff himself declared his intention of
+visiting the Holy Land, and the warriors said one to another, "Let us
+spread our sacred banners and pass the seas; let us impress upon our
+bodies the sign of the cross; let us restore Christ to his inheritance,
+and by our deeds of arms merit the admiration of men, and the approbation
+of Heaven."
+
+This crusade is divided into three parts. The expedition of Andrew II.
+King of Hungary; the war in Egypt, led by the Pope's legate and King Jean;
+and the campaign of the Emperor Frederic II., the first two divisions with
+their multiplied and sanguinary events, shaping the destiny and affecting
+the fortunes of Violante, the infant daughter of John de Brienne and Mary,
+King and Queen of Jerusalem.
+
+Not long after Philip Augustus furnished from his dominions so wise and
+noble a knight to protect the rights of Mary and Jerusalem, he was called
+upon to exercise again his royal prerogative of match-maker and king-maker
+by deputies from Constantinople.
+
+The first Latin sovereign of the Greek Empire, Baldwin of Flanders, left
+his crown to his brother Henry. This prince dying without children, the
+next heir was his sister Yolande, widow of a French noble, and
+mother-in-law to Andrew II. King of Hungary. But the sceptre of empire in
+Constantinople, as well as in Jerusalem, could be swayed only by the firm
+hand of a warrior, and the deputies besought Philip Augustus to provide at
+once a husband for Yolande, and an emperor for the throne of the C�sars.
+The choice fell upon Peter Courtenay, cousin of the French king. The
+bridegroom--monarch elect, was conducted by a noble retinue to the Court
+of Hungary, where the marriage ceremony was performed by the successor of
+Innocent, Pope Honorius III. King Andrew then, in setting off for the
+crusade, accompanied the bridal party, dignified by the presence of the
+sovereign pontiff to the gates of Constantinople, where he witnessed the
+august ceremony of investing the monarch with the imperial purple, and saw
+the pope place the diadem of the East upon the head of his royal
+father-in-law. From Constantinople the Hungarian leader sailed for Cyprus,
+where he was admitted to an audience, with Hugh and Alice, king and queen
+of that island and thence with favorable winds passed over the Levant, and
+landed in safety at Acre.
+
+This city was at that time the metropolis of the Holy Land, and in the
+palace formerly occupied by the queens Berengaria and Joanna, the stern
+western warriors knelt and did homage to Violante, the young Princess of
+Palestine. Saphadin had retired from the constant toils of royalty, and
+blessed with the respect of his people, and the sweet affection of
+Elsiebede, resided in security at Damascus.
+
+Cohr-Eddin, the reigning monarch, unprepared for the sudden invasion of
+his territories, was unable to call together his scattered tribes in
+sufficient force to hazard a general battle with the croises. The King of
+Hungary therefore led his army unmolested across "that ancient river, the
+river Kishon," over the plain of Jezreel, to the valley of the Jordan.
+They bathed in the sacred river; made the pilgrimage of the lake
+Gennesareth; visited the scenes made sacred by the miracles of the
+Saviour, and returned to Acre.
+
+On the mount of Transfiguration the Saracens had built and fortified a
+tower of exceeding strength, and the soldiers, anxious to achieve
+something worthy the expedition, clamored to be led to the siege of this
+fortress; but hordes of armed Mussulmans were every day crowding to the
+vicinity, and the restless Andrew, afraid to undertake anything further,
+resolved on a return to Europe.
+
+Neither the entreaties nor threats of the Latin Christians, who had
+received him with hospitality, and exhausted their supplies in his
+entertainment, could persuade him to venture a blow for Palestine. Taking
+with him most of his soldiers, he returned through the Greek Empire,
+collecting relics from every holy place on his route, having so
+impoverished his kingdom by the expenses of the expedition, that it did
+not for years recover its pristine state. Thus ended the first division of
+the Sixth Crusade.
+
+Still the Latins of Palestine were not left destitute. The Duke of
+Austria remained with a company of German crusaders, and the next year,
+when a reinforcement arrived, King Jean de Brienne with the Templars and
+Hospitallers, decided to transfer the seat of war to the dominions of
+Melech Camel, the youngest son of Saphadin and Elsiebede. Damietta was
+considered the key of Egypt, and thither the crusaders sailed in the month
+of May, A.D. 1216. A gallant band, selected from every nation in the army,
+led the assault against the citadel on St. Bartholomew's day. The garrison
+defended themselves with valor, but finally capitulated, and the rest of
+the city was looked upon as an easy conquest.
+
+It was at this time that the Counts La Marche and Nevers arrived at the
+head of the French division of the crusade, but notwithstanding this new
+importation of knightly valor, the siege of Damietta went on but slowly.
+The legate of the pope advanced a claim to the office of
+commander-in-chief in right of his spiritual superiority; the Syrian
+Christians rallied around their King Jean de Brienne, and the French would
+yield obedience to none but their native leaders. Thus the captured castle
+of Damietta became a very Babel, from the confusion of tongues. Seventeen
+months were passed in furious attacks and idle skirmishes. The Saracens
+fought many well-contested battles with the Christians in their camp, but
+the issue of most of these conflicts was disastrous to the Moslems.
+
+While the valiant Melech Camel was thus engaged in the gallant defence of
+his dominions, the death of Saif-Eddin deprived him of the counsels and
+assistance of the most successful chieftain that ever ruled the East.
+
+When the news of the sad event reached Egypt, the subjects of the Sultan
+withdrew from their allegiance and joined the standard of a young Emir who
+attempted to make the sufferings of his country the means of his own
+aggrandizement. Melech Camel, obliged to escape for safety, fled over to
+Arabia, and thence directed his course toward Syria. Passing through
+El-akof, or territory of the winding sands, he came to the valley of
+Kadesh, where he descried a caravan encamped for the night. In doubt
+whether the convoy was guarded by the tributaries of his brother, or by a
+hostile tribe of Bedouins, he cautiously approached the well around which
+tethered horses and mules were browsing upon the scanty herbage, and
+multitudes of camels were lying in quiet repose. White tents like a
+setting of pearls around a central diamond encircled a silken pavilion of
+unrivalled magnificence, on the top of which gleamed a silver crescent, at
+once the symbol of the Moslem faith, and the reflection of its bright
+archetype in the sky. The watch-fires burned low, and no sounds of life
+broke the profound silence that reigned throughout the extended realm of
+night. Dismounting and throwing the rein of his steed across his arm, to
+be prepared for any emergency, he advanced stealthily to the entrance of
+the circle. As he lifted the awning a small, dark, misshapen figure, like
+the fabled genii that guard the treasures of the East, rose up before him,
+and one glance at the ugly but welcome visage of Salaman assured him that
+he was among friends. The intelligence which he received from the faithful
+black, was even more gratifying than his appearance. The caravan was laden
+with provisions for the suffering soldiers in Egypt. Elsiebede herself
+occupied the royal pavilion, and Cohr Eddin was levying forces to come to
+the rescue of Damietta. Salaman led the way to a tent where, after
+listening to these satisfactory details, the fugitive monarch was left to
+the enjoyment of a repose to which he had long been stranger.
+
+The meeting between Elsiebede and her favorite and unfortunate son, was of
+the most tender character. She acquainted him with the particulars of his
+father's death, and of the affairs that disturbed the peace of the empire.
+When Cohr-Eddin, returning from his unsuccessful suit to the heiress of
+Jerusalem, found that his brother had been sent to Egypt, he was confirmed
+in the suspicion that his rival was no other than Melech Camel. He
+recalled the figure of the solitary horseman, the voice at the tomb, and
+the disguised stranger, and, incensed at the thought that his brother had
+supplanted him in the affections of the princess, he determined to pursue
+him to his new dominions and take summary vengeance upon him. To soothe
+the irritated and jealous feelings of Cohr-Eddin, Elsiebede had been under
+the necessity of revealing the secret which her younger son had confided
+to her on the eve of his departure for Egypt, namely, his early attachment
+for Mary formed during a residence at the Latin court, the hope he had
+cherished of uniting the kingdoms by a union with the object of his
+affections, and the struggle it had cost him to relinquish those
+pretensions. Cohr-Eddin, less noble than his brother, could scarcely be
+brought to credit the assertion that Camel's visit to Acre had originated
+in a desire to leave Mary free to accept his proposals, but as it was then
+the festival of the Ramadan, in which it is not permitted for the faithful
+to make war upon each other, the execution of his revenge was necessarily
+delayed, and before the expiration of the sacred period, his presence was
+required upon the frontiers of his kingdom to repel the irruption of the
+Mongols.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The timely relief afforded by the stores of the caravan, and the warlike
+fame and forces of his brother, soon reinstated Camel in his possessions;
+but their united efforts were insufficient to drive the Christians from
+Egypt. Before leaving Palestine, Cohr-Eddin apprehensive that his own
+territories might be garrisoned against him, destroyed the wall of
+Jerusalem, and broke down its defences with the exception of the tower of
+David, and the temple of the sepulchre; and after many gallant battles,
+deeming it impossible to raise the siege of Damietta, he proposed to the
+Crusaders peace. The Moslems, he said, would give up the piece of the true
+cross, release all the Christian prisoners in Syria and Egypt, rebuild the
+walls of Jerusalem, and relinquish the sacred city to its Latin king, John
+de Brienne.
+
+The French and the Germans hailed with joy the prospect of a speedy
+termination of the war; but the fanatical devotees of the church, the
+Templars, legates, and bishops were deaf to the counsels of moderation,
+and it was decided to pursue the siege with vigor.
+
+Damietta was taken; but with such determined valor had the Moslems
+defended their city, that of the population, which, at the commencement of
+the siege, consisted of seventy thousand souls, scarce three thousand upon
+the day of final attack appeared upon the ramparts. A gate was forced, and
+the warriors of the cross rushed forward to commence the work of plunder.
+They met neither a resistant nor a suppliant enemy. The awful silence
+struck a chill upon their souls. They passed along the deserted streets.
+The waysides were strewn with dead bodies in every state of putrescence.
+They entered the dwellings. In every room ghastly corpses, with visages
+shrunken by famine or bloated by pestilence, glared upon them. Turk and
+Mameluke, Copt and Arab, master and servant, rich and poor, were heaped in
+undistinguished masses, the dying with the dead. Infants appealing in vain
+to the pulseless breasts of famished mothers, lifted their feeble cries
+for sustenance; dogs ran about the streets, and pestilential effluvia rose
+like an exhalation from the vast charnel-house, whose appalling stillness
+the Christians had invaded with songs of triumph and rejoicing. They had
+overcome the Moslems, but they found the conqueror Death seated on the
+throne of dominion. Awe-struck and abashed they fled from before the
+presence of the King of Terrors, gladly granting life and liberty to the
+surviving Moslems, on condition of their performing the horrid and
+melancholy task of cleansing the city from the remains of their relatives
+and friends.
+
+The way into Palestine was now open, and King Jean proposed to the
+victorious Christians to march immediately thither; but the legate of the
+pope insisted that the complete conquest of Egypt should first be
+effected. His arrogance overruled wiser counsels, and it was resolved to
+pursue Melech Camel to Cairo. The croises accordingly advanced on the
+eastern bank of the Nile, till their progress was arrested by the canal
+of Ashmoun, on the south side of which the forces of Islam were stationed.
+Every emir of Syria had sent assistance to Melech, and the Latins were
+prevented from leaving their position, till the period of the annual
+influx of the Nile, when the Mussulmans opened their sluices, inundated
+their enemy's camp, cut off all communication with the sea-coast, and
+enclosed them like fish in a net. The tents and baggage were swept away;
+the provisions spoiled, the terrible scourge that had destroyed the
+inhabitants of Damietta, appeared in the camp, and the humbled Christians
+made overtures of peace, promising to evacuate Egypt, on condition of
+being permitted to return in safety to Acre. The generous Melech Camel
+acceded to this proposal. Hostages were exchanged for the performance of
+the treaty, and the noble King of Jerusalem, together with his wife and
+their daughter, Violante, were among the number.
+
+The Sultan of Egypt received his guests with distinguished honor, and
+provided for their princely entertainment in Cairo. As the sympathetic
+Latin chief took leave of his suffering followers, tears overflowed his
+manly cheeks. "Why do you weep?" exclaimed the compassionate sultan. "I
+have cause to weep," returned the king, "the people whom God has given to
+my charge, are perishing amidst the waters, dying with hunger, or falling
+a prey to the pestilence." "Despair not," replied the noble Melech, "for
+what saith the proverb? 'To everything there is an end,' therefore, mourn
+not, for misfortunes shall find a termination." He turned to his soldiers,
+and gave orders that the granaries of Egypt should be opened for their
+suffering foes.
+
+As the royal hostages approached the palace of the Sultan, they were
+preceded by troops of vassals, called apparitors, who, sword in hand and
+with great clamor, led them through narrow and winding passages, where at
+every gate cohorts of armed Ethiopians, bowed with their faces in the dust
+before the Sultan, and welcomed his triumphant return, with the harsh
+dissonance of the Saracen drum, and the shrill tones of the Syrian pipe.
+They entered next upon a broader space open to the clear light of day,
+where were galleries wainscoted with gold, and ornamented with marble
+pillars and sculptured images of the old Egyptian deities; and paved with
+mosaics of colored stone. There were basins filled with limpid waters,
+which glided in shining streams over rocks arranged to resemble the
+ravines and grottoes of the wilderness. The branches of the olive,
+pomegranate and fig were loaded with fruit, and the place resounded with
+the warbling of birds of varied and gorgeous plumage; while through vistas
+pleasantly opening to them as they passed, the eye caught glimpses of
+artificial forests in which bounded the silver-footed antelope, and the
+bright-eyed gazelle, with multitudes of graceful and beautiful animals,
+"Such as painters imagine in the wantonness of their art, such as poetic
+fancies describe, such as we see in dreams, and such as are found only in
+the lands of the Orient and the South." The open court turned upon a
+corridor, and at the entrance beneath a crystal floor, there rolled a
+clear stream through which the glittering gold fish sported, and the
+mottled trout pursued the shining insects with restless avidity. The
+little Violante unpractised in the deceits of art, lifted her robe and
+stepped daintily upon the glassy surface, as if to lave her tiny feet in
+the translucent waters. Finding that the firm basis yielded not to the
+tread, she passed on with a puzzled look of surprise and pleasure, till
+her attention was attracted by the sound of a multitude of voices, and
+melodious harpings with which the satellites of the ante-chamber greeted
+their approach. Bands of Mamelukes dressed in robes of the greatest
+magnificence, prostrated themselves thrice before their Sultan, and then
+raised their feathery wands to bar the progress of the train to the inner
+court of the harem. The gates rolled back upon their golden hinges, and a
+troop of maidens fair as the houries, approached to receive the christian
+females, while the Sultan with the king and his knights turned away from
+the closing gates, like lost spirits banished from the bowers of Elysium.
+
+Welcomed by the inmates of the seraglio, the royal ladies were conducted
+to baths, where all sense of fatigue was lost in the plastic embrace of
+the fragrant waters; after which reclining upon couches they enjoyed
+delicious repose, while their dark-eyed attendants plaited their hair
+according to the eastern fashion, and apparelled them with the flowing and
+graceful drapery of the Egyptian court. Thence they were ushered into a
+refectory, where seated upon divans, they regaled themselves with a simple
+collation of cakes and fruits, inhaling the balmy air redolent with
+accumulated sweets, gathered from the fragrant gardens that bordered the
+Nile. From the banquet room they passed to an apartment magnificently
+adorned with all the appliances of Oriental luxury. Lofty windows admitted
+the light, which, shaded by curtains of varied colors, was tempered to a
+soft radiance that filled the apartment with an indefinable bloom.
+Suddenly the silken partitions inwoven with pearls and gold in the midst
+of the hall, were drawn aside, and Elsiebede, descending from a canopied
+throne, and resigning the stately dignity of the queen, greeted her
+European guests with the gracious familiarity that she had learned in the
+household of Richard Coeur de Lion. Reclining upon cushions that offered
+rest and inspired a soft languor, they listened to her sweet assurances of
+favor uttered in the welcome language of Frangistan, or watched the airy
+motions of sportive girls, who keeping time to the tinkling ornaments that
+decorated their delicate limbs, sported before them in the joyous
+evolutions of the dance. The unaffected grace of the little Violante, who
+joined the performers, gave infinite delight to the alm� or learned women,
+who accompanied by the Syrian lute, sang verses in compliment to the
+distinguished guests.
+
+Upon the evacuation of Egypt by the Christians, the volunteers returned to
+Europe, and the Barons of Syria and the military orders retired to Acre.
+The hostages being now at liberty, the king set off for Palestine, leaving
+his wife and child to travel by the imperial caravan, under the safe
+conduct of the Sultana. He found his kingdom in a distracted state. The
+Templars were in effect the lords of Palestine, and a cessation of
+hostilities with the Infidels, was but a signal for the breaking out of
+animosities between the rival Christians.
+
+Disheartened with the gloomy aspect of things, the disconsolate king sat
+in his palace at Acre, devising schemes to mend his broken fortunes, each
+one of which, upon mature consideration, he was forced to abandon as
+hopeless and impracticable, when the chamberlain entered and presented a
+letter. The epistle was from Elsiebede, and brought the melancholy
+intelligence of the death of his beloved Mary, whose remains, preserved in
+wax, and attended by her own christian maidens, had been brought to Acre
+under the convoy of the fleet of Melech Camel. With the delicate
+tenderness of one who had tasted grief, the Sultana dwelt upon the virtues
+of the deceased queen, and consoled the bereaved husband with assurances
+that her disease had been treated by the most learned leeches of the royal
+household, and her last hours been blest with the attendance of a
+christian priest, and the performance of the rites enjoined by the
+christian faith. Concerning the orphan, Violante, she continued, "Let the
+damsel, I pray thee, abide with me, that I may show kindness unto her for
+her mother's sake. She shall have the nurture of a princess in the house
+of the Egyptian, for God hath made her unto me as Moses to the daughter of
+Pharaoh. The angel of the storm rideth upon the sea, while the winter
+remaineth, but when the queen of the flowers shall ascend her throne of
+enamelled foliage, thou mayest require her, and she shall come to thee, by
+the blessing of Allah (whose name be exalted), and by the blessing also of
+thy prophet Jesus, in whom thou trustest."
+
+The burial-ground of Acre was crowded with christian graves. The best and
+noblest of the brave sons of the West, champions and martyrs of the cross,
+had there gained worthy sepulture; but it was meet that the Queen of
+_Jerusalem_ should find her last resting-place among the ancient kings of
+that time-honored metropolis. By the favor of Cohr-Eddin permission was
+gained to convey her body thither; mass was said for her soul in the
+church of the Holy Sepulchre; her grave was made in the valley of
+Jehoshaphat; and Christian and Saracen stood together in reverent silence,
+while the Patriarch of Jerusalem committed "Earth to earth, and dust to
+dust," to wait the morning of the resurrection.
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+  "The death of those distinguished by their station,
+  But by their virtue more, awakes the mind
+  To solemn dread, and strikes a saddening awe."
+
+When the loss of Damietta and the evacuation of Egypt was known at Rome,
+Pope Honorius III. reproached the emperor, Frederic II. with being the
+cause of the signal failure of the christian arms in the East, and
+threatened him with excommunication if he did not immediately fulfil his
+vow, by leading his armies against the Infidel. This insolence roused the
+indignation of the prince, and excited him to hostility. He proceeded to
+claim the kingdom of the two Sicilies, in right of his mother, Constance,
+and marching thither, drove out the partisans of the Holy See, established
+bishops of his own choosing in the vacant benefices, and even threatened
+to plunder Rome. Honorius discovering that he had involved himself in
+strife with a powerful enemy, wrote a conciliatory letter to the emperor,
+saying, "I exhort you, my dear son, to recall to your recollection, that
+you are the protector of the Roman Church; do not forget what you owe to
+that good mother, and take pity on her daughter, the church of the East,
+which extends towards you her arms, like an unfortunate, who has no longer
+any hope but in you."
+
+Frederic, too much occupied in his plans for adding Italy to the German
+Empire, to undertake a distant expedition that afforded so little
+prospect of an increase of patrimony or glory, was, notwithstanding,
+willing to avail himself of the popular enthusiasm. He professed his
+intention to obey the mandate of the holy father, and prepared for the
+pious work, by causing his son Henry to be crowned King of the Romans, and
+by adding the imperial to the kingly diadem upon his own head, 1220. It is
+even probable that the subjugation of Italy, and the assertion of the
+rights of the temporal against the spiritual power, might have prevented
+Frederic from ever attempting anything for Palestine, had not the
+sagacious pontiff found an irresistible ally in the beautiful Violante,
+Queen of Jerusalem.
+
+Wearied of endeavoring to convert his marital rights to the sovereignty of
+Jerusalem, into actual and firm dominion, Jean de Brienne listened to the
+suggestions of the Roman legate, that his claims to the nominal crown
+might be transferred with the hand of his daughter to some powerful prince
+of Europe.
+
+Accompanied by the patriarch of Jerusalem, Jean de Brienne sailed for
+Egypt on his route to Italy. Melech Camel received his guests with a
+pompous distinction calculated to impress them with the security and
+prosperity of his government; and Violante, whose sojourn with Elsiebede
+had been protracted to several years, welcomed her father with the timid
+reserve consequent upon the harem-like seclusion in which she had been
+nurtured. Her dress was Oriental, both in richness of material and
+peculiarity of costume. She returned the king's embrace gracefully and
+affectionately, but when the patriarch fixed his admiring eyes upon her,
+she instantly concealed her blushing countenance behind the folds of her
+veil, and the prelate observed that though the prayers she repeated in her
+agitation, were such as the church prescribed, she held in her hand an
+"Implement of praise," or Moslem rosary, of thrice three and thirty
+precious stones, and that she involuntarily mingled with her more orthodox
+devotions, "Ya Alla khalick, ya Alla kareem." He would fain have relieved
+her of the Infidel charm, but the spoiled princess resisted his pious
+endeavor, and sought refuge from his remonstrances in the female
+apartments of the palace.
+
+The stay of Jean de Brienne in Egypt was marked by an event of great
+consequence, both to the Christians and Mussulmans. The health of
+Elsiebede had long been declining; and in the maturity of years, passed in
+benevolent efforts to harmonize the discordant interests of those among
+whom she dwelt a stranger and a sovereign, she sank to her rest. Violante
+wept bitterly at the loss of her patron and friend, but the Moorish
+maidens, to whom she had rendered herself inexpressibly dear, were not
+permitted by their law to indulge in expressions of sorrow, though an
+involuntary tear accompanied the consolatory words with which they
+addressed Melech Camel: "Alla wills it. May the blessing of the
+All-merciful rest upon thee."
+
+Violante had so long dwelt in the house of Elsiebede, that the
+distinctions of faith were forgotten, and she was allowed to mingle with
+the mourning-train that carried the body to the burial: but King Jean de
+Brienne and the patriarch of Jerusalem were prohibited from profaning the
+sacred ceremony by their presence.
+
+The serene dawn of an Eastern morning was gilding the domes and minarets
+of Cairo, as the body of Elsiebede was carried forth to the mosque, to be
+prepared, according to the faith of her fathers, for its final home. As
+the bearers entered the door, the congregation repeated in solemn cadence,
+"Praise be to God, the Lord of the worlds, the most merciful, the king of
+the day of judgment. Thee do we worship, and of thee do we beg assistance.
+Direct us in the right way, in the way of those to whom thou hast been
+gracious; not of those against whom thou art incensed, nor of those who go
+astray."
+
+The imam then stood up and called upon one and another to testify
+concerning the life of the illustrious dead; and each vied with the other
+in recounting her acts of beneficence and piety, till the priest concluded
+with, "She was more glorious than the four perfect women who dwell in the
+bowers of the blest. She was more bountiful than Fatima; she had the
+virtue of Kadijah; she was more constant than Asia; she had the purity of
+Mary."
+
+Wrapped in fine linen impregnated with spices and perfumes, and laid in a
+coffin of cypress, the remains were then carried to the place of
+interment, where a crowd of females who were not permitted to enter the
+mosque, sat closely veiled upon the ground in the utmost abandonment of
+silent sorrow. Others embraced the pillars that ornamented the graves, and
+cried out, "A leaf hath withered on the tree of life, a new guest cometh
+to the City of the Silent."
+
+The body was preceded by a noble Moor, who bore upon his head a box of
+cendal wood inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Arrived at the grave, the bearers
+set down the bier, and the imam called upon all to join him in prayer.
+Scarcely had the air ceased to vibrate with their voices, when the
+muezzins, placing frankincense in golden censers, touched it with burning
+coals, and a fragrant cloud laden with the breath of their petitions,
+seemed to float away towards heaven. The imam standing at the head of the
+grave, opened the cendal box, and taking thence the leaves of the Koran,
+distributed them among the people, and all began to read in a low
+recitative chant, the words of the holy book, "By the brightness of the
+morning; and by the night, when it groweth dark; thy Lord hath not
+forsaken thee, neither doth he hate thee. Verily the life to come shall be
+better for thee than the present life; and thy Lord shall give thee a
+reward wherewith thou shalt be well pleased. Did not he find thee an
+orphan, and hath he not taken care of thee? And did he not find thee
+wandering in error, and hath he not guided thee into the truth? And did he
+not find thee needy, and hath he not enriched thee? Wherefore declare the
+goodness of thy Lord." The coffin was deposited in the ground, and every
+friend and every bystander cast a portion of dust upon it, until the grave
+was filled. The imam then called out to the loved one, "Oh Elsiebede!
+daughter of Eve, say that God is thy God, say that Mohammed is the prophet
+of God." He paused a moment as if listening for her response, and then
+continued, "Certainly thou hast acknowledged God for thy God, Islamism
+for thy religion, Mohammed for thy prophet, the Koran for thy priest, the
+sanctuary of Mecca for thy Kibla, and the faithful for thy brethren." He
+turned to the congregation, and spreading forth his hands repeated the
+benediction, "Oh Lord pour patience on us, and cause us all to die
+Moslems."
+
+Melech Camel, as chief of the household, then approached, and planted a
+sprig of cypress on the right and on the left of the grave, and each
+friend and relative performed the same sad duty, and then all standing
+together with their hands stretched out above the resting-place of the
+beloved Sultana, repeated the portion of the sacred writings appointed for
+the closing service: "By the sun and its rising brightness--by the moon
+when she followeth him--by the day when he showeth his splendor--by the
+night when it covereth him with darkness--by the heaven and him who built
+it--by the earth and him who spread it forth--by the witness and the
+witnessed--by the soul and him who completely formed it, and inspired into
+the same its faculty of distinguishing and power of choosing wickedness
+and piety--now is he who hath possessed the same happy--"
+
+The procession then slowly and sadly departed from the hallowed precincts,
+and none marked the bowed and wasted figure of Salaman leaning upon the
+broken turf that hid from his dimmed and aged eyes the face of his only
+friend. His attachment for Elsiebede had been such as is common to animals
+remarkable for sagacity and fidelity, and the range of his intellect
+introducing him to no personal aspirings, all his thoughts had been
+concentrated in the one idea of serving his mistress. He had shared her
+confidence and favor in weal and in woe, and followed her fortunes with a
+zeal and industry that engrossed all his powers. Now that she was no more,
+there remained for him neither aim nor purpose, neither hope nor desire.
+Without a country, without a religion, he had worshipped Mass with the
+Christians, and repeated the Creed with the Moslems; but since Elsiebede
+had entered upon an untried state, his desire to insure to her every
+possible good, led him, at great personal inconvenience, to procure an
+ebony cross, that if she failed of the Mohammedan paradise, she might,
+through its influence, gain an entrance into the Christian's heaven. With
+a feeble hand that scarce obeyed the promptings of his generous affection,
+the faithful black hollowed a place for the venerated symbol, and with
+great difficulty planted it firmly at the head of the grave. The pious
+task accomplished, he knelt to repeat a christian prayer which they had
+learned together in the household of Berengaria. The familiar words
+overwhelmed him in a tide of long-forgotten reminiscences, and he fell
+prostrate upon the mound.
+
+The following morning Violante obtained permission to accompany the
+maidens to the burial ground, and assist in garlanding the grave of the
+Sultana. At the sight of the silent worshipper they hushed their voices,
+but he heeded not their approach. The princess ventured to lift the hand
+that rested upon the cross. It was stiff and cold. She drew aside her veil
+and gazed upon his face. The faithful Salaman had expired upon the grave
+of Elsiebede.
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+  "Her lot is on you--silent tears to weep,
+  And patient smiles to wear through suffering's hour
+  And sumless riches from Affection's deep,
+  To pour on broken reeds--a wasted shower!
+  And to make idols, and to find them clay,
+  And to bewail that worship--therefore pray!"
+
+Violante, the eastern beauty, whose hand held the keys of all the seaports
+of the Levant--the sceptre of the Latin kingdom of Palestine, and the
+diadem of Jerusalem--and whose voice alone could pronounce the magic
+"Sesame" that should open the gates of commerce, and pour the treasures
+of Sheba, and Dedan, and Ophir into the coffers of the church, created a
+great sensation in Europe.
+
+The titular king, John de Brienne, was ready to resign all the real or
+fancied good that might appertain to his daughter's dominions, in favor of
+any candidate whom the pope should select as her future husband; and the
+presumptive queen, whose eastern preferences led her still to retain the
+timid reserve in which she had been educated, was not supposed to have any
+choice in the matter. The wily pontiff desirous to bind the Ghibelline
+faction like a victim to the horns of the altar, proposed a union between
+the son of the Emperor Frederic, and the daughter of John de Brienne. The
+young prince was delighted with his brilliant prospects, and readily
+assured the legate of the pope, that his sword should be ready at all
+times and in all places to execute the decrees of the church.
+
+Since her arrival at Rome, Violante had lived in almost utter solitude,
+mourning for the girlish sports that had given wings to the flying hours
+in the palace of Cairo, and weeping at the remembrance of the constant
+beneficence and tender counsels of the good Queen Elsiebede. She received
+the advances of the royal heir of Hohenstaufen with an embarrassment that
+might portend either success or failure to his suit. He repeated his
+visits, and at each interview made desperate efforts to impress her with a
+sense of his devotion and to win in return some token of her regard; but
+his self-felicitations reached no farther than a general conviction, that
+she was very beautiful and very bashful. John de Brienne represented to
+his daughter the necessity of fixing the affections of the young king. She
+listened with respectful silence, and interposed no objections to the
+arrangements making for her future happiness. The nuptials were to be
+celebrated on the occasion of a high festival, at Ferentino, and the
+emperor with the chief dignitaries of his court was to grace the splendid
+ceremony. The week before the appointed day, Frederic arrived in Italy,
+and prompted by curiosity, sought an interview with his prospective
+daughter. Violante received the majestic emperor with the same maiden
+coyness that had characterized her interviews with her lover; but
+Frederic, whose ardent fancy was captivated by the fascinating Oriental,
+was not to be baffled by her shyness. After attempting an indifferent
+conversation, in the French language, he changed his tactics, and
+modulating his voice to the low, deep tones of the Arabic, spoke to her of
+her former life, of her mother, of her future home. Suddenly the
+countenance of the delighted girl became radiant with animation, the
+eloquent blood mounted to her cheek, her eyes dilated with joy, and the
+admiring monarch listened in mute surprise, while in the graceful and
+poetical language of the East she narrated the particulars of her sojourn
+at Cairo, and described the games and sports she had enjoyed in the
+company of the Moorish maidens. She showed him her jewel rosary, with its
+pendant charm, the talisman of the Gyptianos, the last gift of Elsiebede;
+but when she essayed to speak of the virtues of the sultana, tender
+recollections crowded so fast upon her, that her lips refused their
+office, and gushing tears alone finished her tale of gratitude and love.
+Her royal auditor soothed her agitation with assurances of sympathy and
+kindness, and on leaving the apartment, was flattered by her urgent
+request, that he would visit her again. Engagements of this sort, the
+amatory monarch seldom failed to fulfil. Each interview increased the
+charm, and deepened her affection; and before the expiration of the week,
+he waited upon the pope to apprize his holiness, that Violante had
+rejected the son, in favor of the father. The pontiff, well pleased with
+the turn affairs had taken, interposed but one condition, and Frederic
+having solemnly promised to undertake the crusade within two years, took
+the place of Henry at the altar, and espoused the heiress of Jerusalem.
+
+Pleased with his lovely acquisition, and occupied with the affairs of his
+realm, Frederic delayed under various pretexts the fulfilment of his vow,
+and neither the expostulations of pope nor peer had any influence upon his
+purposes, till he learned that Honorius had entered into a league with
+his son Henry, the disappointed bridegroom, and instigated the cities of
+Lombardy to revolt. Alarmed at the disaffection of his subjects, Frederic
+renewed his promise, and went so far as to consign his kingdom to the
+protection of the church, during his absence. The death of the pope, in
+1227, afforded him another temporary respite.
+
+He had, however, in this change of pontiffs, as little matter of
+congratulation, as the fox in the fable: Gregory IX. proving a more
+voracious and intolerant scourge, than his predecessor. After making
+arrangements to prosecute the designs of Honorius upon the Albigenses, the
+new pope published the eastern crusade, and called upon Frederic to set
+out without loss of time.
+
+The lovely Violante was drooping in her European home. The harsh and
+guttural language of the Germans, offended her ear, their rude and
+unpolished manners presented an effectual barrier to the light and
+graceful amusements, which she sought to introduce in her court, and her
+delicate frame chilled by the severity of a climate to which she was
+unaccustomed, shrank from every exposure. She pined to revel once more, in
+the bland and balmy airs that sweep the fragrance from Hermon, and to be
+served with the courteous reserve, and graceful observances which she had
+enjoyed in the harem of Cairo. Her only hope of returning to her native
+land, was in the fulfilment of her husband's vow; but finding that her
+mild entreaties served only to irritate his imperious temper, she
+refrained to press the subject, and confined her anxieties to her own
+breast.
+
+While the lovely exotic was thus withering under the blighting influence
+of the uncongenial atmosphere of the north, Jean de Brienne visited the
+German court. Alarmed at his daughter's pale and wasted appearance, he
+regarded her with a tender sympathy, such as he had never before
+manifested towards her; and the heart-broken queen poured out her sorrows
+before him, and entreated him to take her back to Palestine. The sweet
+pensiveness so like the expression of her mother's countenance, and which
+had already become habitual to her youthful features touched a secret
+chord in his heart, and the thought that Frederic had squandered the
+wealth of her affection, and repulsed her winning caresses with coldness
+and contempt, roused his indignation. He expostulated with the monarch in
+no measured terms. The emperor admitted, that he had won the affections of
+Violante, by his apparent interest in the Holy Land, and gained her hand
+by a promise to restore to her, her rightful inheritance; but he
+sneeringly insinuated, that these courteous condescensions, were the
+fanciful gages staked by all lovers, which as husbands they were not bound
+to redeem. He laid down the proposition that oaths in religion, politics,
+and love were but means to an end, only binding, in so far as they
+accorded with the convenience of those who made them. He cited examples of
+the clergy, with the pope at their head, who wedding the church, and
+professing to live alone for her interests, made her the means of their
+own aggrandizement, the pander of their base passions; the policy of
+kings, who, receiving the sceptre of dominion for the ostensible purpose,
+of securing peace and happiness to their subjects, pursued their own
+pleasure, without regard to civil commotion or discord; and he illustrated
+his theory by multiplied instances in the domestic life of the sovereigns
+of Europe, who, for the gratification of personal pique, put away those
+whom they had promised to love and cherish to the end of life. Violante
+listened to this discourse like one who for the first time comprehends the
+solution of a problem, that has long taxed the ingenuity and embarrassed
+the reason. His sentiments explained the mystery in his manner, the
+discrepancy between his professions and performances, and like the spear
+of Ithuriel, dispelled at once the illusion of her fancy, and made him
+assume before her his own proper character. She fixed her large dark eyes
+upon his countenance, as though striving to recall the image she had
+worshipped there. She saw only the arrogant sneer of skepticism, and the
+smile of selfish exultation. Her sensitive heart recoiled with horror at
+the prospect of the cheerless future, which in one fearful moment passed
+like a vision before her, and with a piercing cry she fell fainting to
+the floor. The husband calmly summoned the maids as he left the apartment,
+while the father, with a heart distracted between pity and anger, tenderly
+lifted her lifeless form and conveyed her to a couch.
+
+Robert, the second son of Peter Courtenay and Yoland, succeeded his father
+upon the throne of Constantinople. An inglorious reign of seven years left
+the empire in a distracted state, and an early death transferred the crown
+to his infant son Baldwin. The barons of the Greek Empire felt the
+necessity of placing the sceptre in the hands of a man and a hero; and
+messengers were despatched to the veteran King of Jerusalem, to beg him to
+accept the imperial purple, and become the father of the young prince, by
+bestowing upon him the hand of his second daughter in marriage. The
+position and authority of Jean de Brienne as the Emperor of
+Constantinople, gave him power to punish Frederic's baseness, and he
+speedily signified to the emperor, that the might of his sword, backed by
+the strength of the Greek forces, was now ready to enforce the decrees of
+the pope.
+
+Frederic, finding that he could no longer with any safety defer his
+pilgrimage, ordered a general rendezvous of his troops at Brundusium
+preparatory for departure. Before however the appointed time for sailing
+had arrived, a pestilence broke out in the camp, numbers died and greater
+numbers deserted, and the emperor himself, after having embarked and
+remained at sea three days, returned, declaring that his health would not
+admit of his taking the voyage. Exulting in the fortunate circumstance
+that had released him from the dreaded expedition, he hastened his march
+to Germany.
+
+As he entered his palace, he was struck by the grave and serious manner
+with which his retainers, usually so enthusiastic, received him. An
+ominous gloom reigned in the court, and as with lordly tread he passed
+through the long corridors, he felt that his step was breaking the silence
+of death. In the anteroom of the queen's apartment, he found her maidens
+indulging in the utmost expressions of grief. The feeble wail of an infant
+smote upon his ear, and striding through the hushed and darkened chamber,
+he sought the couch of the neglected Violante. That couch was a bier.
+Those lips, upon whose sportive accents he had hung with exquisite though
+momentary rapture, were forever dumb. Those features, that had kindled
+with a glow of love at his every word of tenderness, were now settled in
+their last calm repose.
+
+Poor Violante! Thy pilgrimage was brief. The first sweet stage of
+childhood scarcely passed, Fancy led thy willing footsteps through the
+Elysian fields of Love, and robed the object of thy young affections with
+a halo of purity and truth.--The life-long experience of woman--the
+indefinable slight and wrong that press home upon her, the bitter sense of
+utter helplessness and dependence, the inexplicable woe of the primeval
+curse,--crowded into the little span of a few short months, brought thee
+early to the sepulchre,--seventeen summers, and a winter whose rigor
+congealed the very fountain of thy life,--to hope, to love, to give thy
+life to another, and die.--Such is thy history, beautiful Violante, Queen
+of Jerusalem, Empress of Germany, Heroine of the Sixth Crusade.
+
+
+
+
+ELEANORA.
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+THE PARENTS OF EDWARD I.
+
+Of all the royal suitors that ever stooped to woo the love of woman, Henry
+III. son of John Lackland and Isabella of Angoul�me, appears to have been
+the most luckless and unfortunate. He first fixed his affections upon the
+Princess of Scotland, who was dissuaded from listening to his suit, by her
+brother's assurance that the king was a squint-eyed fool, deceitful,
+perjured, more faint-hearted than a woman, and utterly unfit for the
+company of any fair and noble lady.
+
+Disappointed in Scotland, the monarch next offered his hand to the heiress
+of Brittany, but the rugged Bretons, too well remembering the cruelty of
+his father, to their beloved Prince Arthur, returned a haughty refusal.
+
+He then proposed to confer the honor of his alliance upon a daughter of
+Austria, but the fair descendant of Leopold inherited all her
+grandfather's enmity to the princely house of Plantagenet, and rejected
+his addresses with disdain.
+
+The Duke of Bohemia, to whom he next applied, civilly answered that his
+child was already plighted to another, and it was not until Henry reached
+the mature age of thirty that he received a favorable response to his
+matrimonial proposal; and when at last the marriage contract was signed
+between himself and Joanna, daughter of Alice of France, the roving
+affections of this royal Coelebs were beguiled from their allegiance by
+the sweet strains of the youthful poetess of Provence.
+
+Eleanor la Belle, second daughter of Count Berenger, perhaps the youngest
+female writer on record, attracted the attention of the fickle King of
+England, by a poem which she composed on the conquest of Ireland.
+
+Dazzled by her genius and personal charms, Henry's vows to Joanna were
+forgotten, and his ambassadors received orders to break off the
+negotiations, while his obliging counsellors recommended a union with the
+very lady he so ardently admired.
+
+His habitual covetousness intruded however into the courtship, and had
+well-nigh subjected him to a sixth disappointment. He intrusted his
+seneschal to demand twenty thousand marks as the dower of Eleanor, but
+privately empowering him to lessen the sum if necessary to fifteen, ten,
+seven, five or three thousand. He quite disgusted the haughty count her
+father, by his sordid bargaining, and at last wrote in great terror, to
+conclude the marriage forthwith, either with money or without, but at all
+events to secure the lady for him and conduct her safely to England
+without delay.
+
+In the splendid festivities with which Henry welcomed his young bride to
+London, and in the preparation of her coronation robes, he displayed a
+taste for lavish expenditure altogether inconsistent with the state of his
+finances, and in ridiculous contrast to his former penuriousness.
+
+Like his father the greatest fop in Europe, but not like him content with
+the adornment of his own person, he issued the most liberal orders for
+apparelling the royal household in satin, velvet, cloth of gold and
+ermine, expending in the queen's jewelry alone a sum not less than one
+hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
+
+About the same time he bestowed his sister Isabella upon the Imperial
+widower Frederic II., and personally designated every article of her
+sumptuous wardrobe.
+
+It was on this occasion that he first learned how imperative a check a
+sturdy British Parliament may be on the lawless extravagance of a king;
+for when he petitioned the Lords for a relief from his pecuniary
+difficulties, they told him they had amply supplied funds both for his
+marriage and that of the empress, and as he had wasted the money he might
+defray the expenses of his wedding as best he could.
+
+It would be difficult to say whether the king, the queen, or the royal
+relations, proved the greatest scourges to Britain during the long and
+impotent reign of Henry III.
+
+One of Eleanor's uncles became prime minister; to another was given the
+rich Earldom of Warrenne, and a third was made Archbishop of Canterbury,
+and numerous young lady friends of the romantic queen were imported from
+Provence and married to the king's wealthy wards.
+
+Henry's mother, not content with sending over all her younger children to
+be provided for by the impoverished monarch, involved him in a war with
+Louis IX., which ended disastrously for the English arms, in the loss of a
+great part of the rich southern fiefs and the military chests and costly
+ornaments of the king's chapel.
+
+Henry's ambition for his children brought still greater difficulties upon
+the realm. His eldest son, Edward, was appointed viceroy of the disputed
+possessions in Aquitaine, and being too young to discharge his important
+trusts with discretion, so mismanaged affairs as greatly to increase the
+discontent of his father's French subjects.
+
+His eldest daughter Margaret, married to her cousin Alexander III., the
+young King of Scotland, was taken prisoner by Sir John Baliol, and
+subjected to the most rigorous confinement, thus making it necessary for
+Henry to undertake a Northern campaign for the rescue of his child.
+
+But his second son, Edmund, proved more expensive to the British nation,
+and innocently did more to project the civil war than any other member of
+the royal family; for the pope, having conferred the crown of Sicily upon
+the young prince, the delighted father eagerly engaged in a prospective
+war, and promised to defray the whole expense of substantiating the claim.
+
+Again the barons resisted the onerous tax which this new attempt at family
+aggrandizement would impose upon them, and the first subsidy was raised
+from the benefices of the church only by the exercise of spiritual
+authority. When the ambitious king had exhausted all his resources, the
+pontiff coolly transferred the coveted crown to Charles d'Anjou, brother
+to the King of France, leaving poor Henry to cancel his debt with the
+lords of exchequer as best he might, getting to himself in the eyes of his
+subjects little glory and great loss.
+
+Such was the character, the political and the social position of the
+parents of Edward I., who commenced about the middle of the thirteenth
+century to take an active part in the affairs of Europe.
+
+A splendid concourse were gathered in the spacious palace of the old
+temple at Paris, A.D. 1254. The royal families of England and France were
+convened on terms of cordiality and kindness, such as they had never
+enjoyed since the day when Normandy was wrested from the descendants of
+Charlemagne. The banquet was given in honor of Edward, the heir-apparent
+of England, and his sweet young bride, Eleanora of Castile. In the place
+of honor sat the good St. Louis King of France, on his right, Henry III.
+of England, and on his left, the King of Navarre, the royal descendant of
+Thibaut of Champagne, and Blanche the sister of Berengaria. At this
+magnificent entertainment, Beatrice the Countess of Provence enjoyed a
+reunion with her beautiful daughters, their noble husbands and blooming
+offspring. The eldest, Margaret, was the wife of Louis IX., Eleanor, of
+Henry III., Beatrice, of Charles d'Anjou, and Sancha, of Richard of
+Cornwall, King of the Romans.
+
+But the queen of this Feast of kings, the fair young Infanta, around whom
+were gathered the nobility of a Continent, though but a child of scarce
+ten years, concentrated in herself more romantic associations and excited
+higher hopes than any of the crowned heads present. Her brother Alphonso
+X., the astronomer, was the most learned prince in Europe, and neither
+priest or peer could boast that devotion to the arts, or that success in
+scientific discoveries that characterized the King of Castile, surnamed
+_Il Sabio_, the wise. Her mother Joanna, had been the affianced bride of
+her royal father-in-law Henry III., had been rejected for the more poetic
+daughter of the Count of Provence; and her grandmother, Alice of France,
+had been refused by the gallant King Richard, in favor of Berengaria of
+Navarre. Her brother Alphonso, and her husband's uncle, Richard of
+Cornwall, were candidates for the crown of the German Empire, in
+opposition to the rights of Conrad, son of Frederic and Violante, and her
+husband, a graceful youth of fifteen, who had received the honors of
+knighthood at his wedding tournament, was heir to the goodly realm of
+England and the beautiful provinces of Southern France.
+
+The tourney, the banquet, and the procession, had marked their progress
+from Burgos, in Spain, to the Parisian court. At Bordeaux, King Henry
+expended 300,000 marks on their marriage feast, a sum, at that time so
+extravagant, that when reproached for it, he exclaimed in a dolorous tone,
+"Oh! pour la t�te de Dieu, say no more of it, lest men should stand amazed
+at the relation thereof." At Chartres, the palace once occupied by Count
+Stephen and Adela, was ornamented with the most brilliant decorations to
+honor their presence. St. Louis advanced to meet, and escort them to
+Paris. The cavalcade consisted of one thousand mounted knights in full
+armor, each with some lady by his side, upon a steed whose broidered
+housings rivalled the richness of the flowing habiliments of the fair
+rider, while a splendid train of carriages, sumpter mules, and grooms, and
+vassals completed the magnificent retinue.
+
+The nuptial festival with its usual accompaniments of hunting, hawking,
+and holiday sports, continued through eight days, and a brilliant cort�ge
+attended the bridal party to the coast of France, on their departure for
+England. The passage was rough and gloomy, and the fleet that conveyed
+Eleanora to her new home encountered a storm upon the Channel, and
+approached the harbor under the cover of a fog so dense, that the white
+cliffs of Dover were entirely veiled from sight.
+
+The child queen, terrified at the profound darkness, strove to silence her
+own agonizing apprehensions, by repeating those words of sacred writ,
+which she supposed exercised some mysterious influence upon the elements.
+Suddenly a terrible crash made the ship groan through all its timbers.
+Piercing shrieks from without told a tale of horrors, and the echoing
+screams within rendered it impossible to ascertain the nature or extent of
+the danger. At length it was found, that the royal vessel had in the
+darkness encountered and sunk a small bark, supposed to be a fishing
+smack, that had been driven out to sea by the wind.
+
+Prince Edward immediately ordered the small boat to be lowered, and
+despite the entreaties of his parents and little bride, sprang into it, in
+hope of rescuing the perishing crew.
+
+Alarmed for his safety, Eleanora added to the anxieties of her parents, by
+hastening to the deck, where leaning from the vessel's side, she scanned
+with intensest gaze the narrow circle of waters illuminated by the lights
+of the ship. A brave sailor, buffeting the waves with powerful arm,
+escaped the eddies made by the sinking craft, and grasping the rope which
+was flung to his assistance, sprang up to the vessel's side. Another
+object soon after appeared rising and sinking upon the crest of the
+billow. Now it seemed but the sparkling foam, and now it lay white and
+motionless in the dark trough of the sea. At length it floated beyond the
+line of light, and seemed lost in the impenetrable gloom, but not till the
+prince had fixed his eye upon it, and ordered his rowers to pull in the
+direction of its disappearance. One moment of agonizing suspense, and the
+heir of England again appeared nearing the vessel, carefully folding a
+motionless form in his arms; the sailors plied the windlass, and the boat
+with its crew was safely received on board.
+
+Scarcely heeding the curious inquiries of those who gathered around him,
+the prince made his way to the cabin and deposited the precious burden
+upon a couch. The dripping coverings were speedily removed, and delight,
+admiration, and pity, were instantly excited in the hearts of the
+spectators, at the sight of a lovely child, apparently less than two
+years of age. Eleanora watched the resuscitation of the little stranger,
+with anxious tenderness. She chafed its dimpled hands in her own, and
+strove to recall animation by soft kisses and gentle caresses. As vital
+warmth gradually returned, and the faint hue of life glowed on the pallid
+cheek, the suffering one opened her blue eyes, and whispering some
+indistinct words, among which they could distinguish only "Eva," sank
+again into unconsciousness.
+
+The clothing of the little foundling was such as indicated rank and
+wealth, and a bracelet of Eastern manufacture, clasped upon her tiny arm,
+excited much wonder and curiosity among the queens and their attendants.
+The prince had found the infant lashed to an oar with a scarf of exquisite
+embroidery. There seemed to be also an armorial design upon it, but the
+green shamrock, with a rose of Sharon, was a device which none present
+could decipher. The rescued sailor stated that the lost ship was a
+coasting vessel, and that, in an Irish harbor, they had taken on board a
+lady and child; but, as he had only seen them at the time of their
+embarkation, he could give no farther account of them.
+
+The partiality which Eleanora manifested to the orphan, thus suddenly
+bereft of every friend, gained for it a home in the bosom of the royal
+family, and at the castle of Guilford, where her father-in-law established
+her with much state, she passed many pleasant hours in the care of her
+tender charge. The little Eva added to her infantile charms a disposition
+of invincible sweetness, relieved by a sportive wilfulness that elicited a
+constant interest, not unmixed with anxiety, lest a heart so warm might
+become a prey to influences against which no caution or admonition could
+shield her. She could give no account of her parentage or home; but
+sometimes spoke of her mamma, and birds and flowers, as though her
+childish memory retained associations that linked her thoughts with
+pleasant walks and tender care. Her perceptions were exceedingly quick,
+but her best resolutions were often evanescent, and she lacked a
+steadiness of purpose in the pursuit of the studies to which Eleanora
+invited her attention. An appeal to her heart never failed to induce
+immediate repentance for any fault, and she was altogether the most
+winning, but vexatious pupil, that ever engaged the affections of a queen.
+But the accomplishments of Eleanora herself were not complete, and in 1256
+she was again conveyed to Bordeaux, for the purpose of receiving
+instruction from masters better qualified to conduct her education. At her
+earnest request, Eva was permitted to accompany her.
+
+Her young husband was meanwhile engaged perfecting himself in every
+knightly accomplishment, "haunting tournaments," and carrying off the
+prizes from all competitors, with a skill and grace that gave him a
+renown, not inferior to that of his great uncle Richard Coeur de Lion. At
+Paris, he formed an intimacy with the Sire de Joinville, companion of St.
+Louis in the seventh crusade, and he listened to the account of affairs in
+the East with an interest that inflamed his young and ardent imagination.
+The Lord de Joinville, high seneschal of Champagne, was one of the most
+erudite and affable nobles of the thirteenth century, and it was an
+agreeable occupation for the experienced soldier, to enlighten the mind of
+the young prince with an account of the customs and manners of the East,
+and the state of the Latin kingdom in Jerusalem, which had so much
+influenced the politics of Europe.
+
+After the return of Frederic, Gregory IX. excommunicated him for declining
+to combat the enemy of God; but so long had been the contest between the
+emperor and the pontiff, and so divided were the minds of men upon the
+rights of the cause, that the clergy published the sentence with many
+explanatory clauses, that greatly modified its effect. A cur� at Paris,
+instead of reading the bull from the pulpit in the usual form, said to his
+parishioners, "You know, my brethren, that I am ordered to fulminate an
+excommunication against Frederic. I know not the motive. All that I know
+is, that there has been a quarrel between that prince and the pope. God
+alone knows who is right. I excommunicate him who has injured the other;
+and I absolve the sufferer."
+
+Frederic, in revenge, employed his Saracen troops, of which he commanded
+not a few, in southern Italy, to ravage the dominions of the church, and
+convinced all his subjects of the wisdom of his former refusals, by taxing
+them heavily for the expenses of the expedition on which he determined to
+embark. Finding that Frederic was thus placing himself in a posture to
+enlist the sympathies of Christendom, the pope prohibited his undertaking
+the Holy War till he should be relieved from ecclesiastical censure. The
+emperor notwithstanding sailed directly for Acre, and was received with
+great joy by the Christians. The next ships from Europe brought letters
+from the pontiff to the patriarch, repeating the sentence of
+excommunication, forbidding the Templars and Hospitallers to fight under
+the banner of the son of perdition.
+
+In this state of embarrassment, Frederic found his military operations
+limited to the suburbs of Acre; and dwelling in the palace, and gazing on
+the scenes which Violante had so often and so eloquently portrayed, his
+mind reverted, with a touch of remorseful tenderness, to the enthusiasm
+with which she had anticipated a return to her eastern home. The rapture
+with which she had dwelt upon the virtues of the Empress Elsiebede, and
+her noble son Melech Camel, inspired him with the thought that he might
+avail himself of the generous friendship entertained for his much injured
+wife, to further his own plans in Palestine. Acting upon this selfish
+policy, he opened negotiations with the Sultan of Egypt, now heir to all
+Saphadin's dominions by the death of Cohr-Eddin. The Saracen emperor lent
+a gracious ear to the overtures of the successor of Jean de Brienne, and a
+truce of ten years was concluded between the belligerent powers.
+
+Jerusalem, Joppa, Bethlehem and Nazareth, with their appendages, were
+restored to the Latins. The Holy Sepulchre was also ceded, and both
+Christians and Mussulmans, were guaranteed the right to worship in the
+sacred edifice, known to the former as the temple of Solomon, and to the
+latter as the mosque of Omar. The Emperor repaired to Jerusalem, but no
+hosannahs welcomed his approach. The patriarch forbade the celebration of
+all religious ceremonies during his stay, and no prelate could be induced
+to place upon his brow accursed, the crown of Godfrey of Boulogne.
+Frederic, notwithstanding, advanced to the church of the Sepulchre, took
+the crown from the altar, placed it upon his own head, and then listened
+with great apparent satisfaction, to a laudatory oration, pronounced by
+one of his German followers. Thus the memory of the gentle and loving
+Violante, more powerful than the heroic frenzy of King Richard, or the
+misguided devotion of the military orders, established the kingdom of
+Palestine, once more upon a firm basis, and gave the sceptre into the
+hands of one able to defend its rights.
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+DE JOINVILLE'S STORY OF THE SEVENTH CRUSADE
+
+These particulars de Joinville faithfully narrated, at various times, to
+Prince Edward, who was an indefatigable listener to whatever pertained to
+feats of chivalry and arms.--But he dwelt with far greater circumlocution
+and precision upon the events of the Seventh Crusade, in which he was
+personally engaged with Louis IX.
+
+"You must know, gracious prince," said the good knight, in the quaint
+language of the times, "that though the Christians in Asia had possession
+of the holy places, by the treaty with Melech Camel, the mildew of discord
+continually blighted all their plans for the improvement of the state, and
+as soon as the truce had expired, the Saracens again fell upon them in
+their weakened condition, and slaughtered great multitudes of pilgrims.
+For this cause it was, that Gregory IX. called again upon the devout
+children of the church, to take arms against the Infidels."
+
+"I remember," replied Edward, "the departure of my uncle Richard of
+Cornwall, and the valiant Longsword, with their knights, and retainers for
+Palestine, and I have heard that his very name was a terror to the
+Saracens, inasmuch as they mistook him for the great Richard Coeur de
+Lion. God willing, Sire de Joinville, the name of Edward shall one day,
+frighten his enemies as well."
+
+To this De Joinville gravely replied, "Thou wouldst do well to remember
+that which the good King Louis said, when, to secure the tranquillity of
+his subjects, he relinquished so great a portion of his territory to thy
+royal sire: I would rather be like our Lord, who giveth freely to all,
+than like the conquerors of the earth who have made to themselves enemies
+in grasping the rights of others!"
+
+"In sooth," replied Edward, "the sentiment savoreth more of the saint than
+of the king," a little piqued that his ambitious tendencies elicited no
+warmer approbation.
+
+"And yet," returned de Joinville, "King Louis is the greatest monarch in
+Europe, and often by his wise counsel accommodates those differences which
+involve other countries in bloodshed. He has, thou knowest well, already
+composed the dissensions between thy father and his haughty
+brother-in-law, Earl Leicester."
+
+"Aye, verily," returned Edward, his eyes flashing with the presentiment of
+vengeance, "this good sword shall one day teach the misproud earl better
+manners.--Had my father, less of those meek virtues which thou prizest so
+highly, he would never have ratified the statutes of Oxford, and made
+England the prey of Simon de Montfort's rapacity."
+
+"The poor inhabitants of Albi and Carcassonne, albeit many of them, I fear
+me, were miserable heretics, teach their children to curse the name even
+more bitterly," answered de Joinville, "than thou dost."
+
+"He who slaughters women and children," answered Edward, with proud
+disdain, "even though it be by the commands of the church, stains his
+fair fame more deeply than his sword. To my poor wit it seems good sire,
+that this crusade against our own vassals in happy France, bears a hue far
+different from the wars in Palestine."
+
+"So thought my good lord," returned de Joinville, "for though his soul
+loveth peace, his conscience was often unquiet with the thought of the
+sufferings of the Christians, who, pressed by the Turks, cried out for
+aid, and yet he knew not how he might leave his people for a foreign war.
+At length his doubts were resolved on this wise.--Being grievously ill at
+Paris, his soul as it were departed from his body. He saw standing before
+him Count Raimond of Toulouse, who, being in the torment of purgatory,
+cried out, 'Oh! that I had employed my people in chasing the children of
+Satan from the Holy Land, then would they not have had leisure to have
+devised those heresies by which they have destroyed both their souls and
+bodies in hell.' When the soul of the king returned, he heard those who
+had nursed him speaking together, and one would have covered his face with
+a cloth, thinking that all was over, but another (so God willed it)
+declared continually that he was alive. Then he opened his eyes and looked
+upon them, and he desired one of them to bring him the crucifix, and he
+swore upon it that if God should please restore him to health, he would,
+in person, undertake the Holy War. In like manner as the king put on the
+cross, so did his three brothers, Robert, Count d'Artois, Alphonzo, Count
+de Poitiers, and Charles, Count d'Anjou, the venerable Hugh le Brun, Count
+le Marche and his sons, with many others of rank and dignity, and many
+lords whom Simon de Montfort had deprived of their patrimony in Languedoc,
+and many others who had fought against the heretics. Thus did the pious
+king make the Holy War the means of expiation and of universal
+reconcilement. But so wise was he withal, and so careful of his people,
+that he thought also to make the expedition the foundation of a great
+colony in Egypt. Thus many of the transports were laden with spades,
+pitch-forks, plows, and other implements for the tilling of the ground,
+together with seeds of various kinds, for the better prospering of the new
+state. You must know, before the king left the realm, he summoned all the
+barons to Paris, and there made them renew their homage and swear loyalty
+to his children, should any unfortunate event happen to himself during
+this expedition.
+
+"Magnificent dresses were on this occasion bestowed upon all the
+courtiers, and the next day the cavaliers were surprised to find, that to
+every cloak a splendid gold cross had been affixed by the art of the
+goldsmith, thereby intimating the king's desire that they should join him
+in the Crusade.
+
+"It was in the month of August that we embarked at the rock Marseilles,
+and the priest and clerks standing round the king, sang the beautiful
+hymn, 'Veni Creator,' from the beginning to the end. While they were
+singing, the mariners set their sails in the name of God, and soon, with a
+favorable wind, the coast disappeared from our view, and we saw nothing
+but the sea and sky. We landed first at Cyprus, where we made a long stay,
+waiting for Count Alphonzo, who headed the reserve. Here ambassadors from
+all nations came to pay their court to the French monarch. The great Chan
+of Tartary paid him many fine compliments, and bade his servants say that
+their master was ready to assist him in delivering Jerusalem from the
+hands of the Saracens. The King of France sent likewise to the Chan a
+tent, in the form of a chapel, of fine scarlet cloth, embroidered on the
+inside with the mysteries of our faith. Two black monks had charge of it,
+and were also instructed to exhort the Tartars, and show them how they
+ought to put their belief in God."
+
+"Are not the Tartars of the same race as the Turks?" inquired Edward, with
+great curiosity.
+
+"I understand not well the genealogy of the people of the East," replied
+de Joinville, "but I consider Tartary as a general name for a vast
+country, whence have issued, at various times, certain tribes called
+Scythians, Hungarians, Turks, and Mongols, which have overrun the fertile
+provinces that skirt the Mediterranean."
+
+The prince, feeling greatly enlightened at this comprehensive answer,
+listened respectfully while de Joinville resumed. "There came also
+ambassadors from the Christians of Constantinople, Armenia and Syria.
+Envoys likewise from the 'Old Man of the Mountain,' of whom there runs so
+many strange stories. King Louis also formed a league with the leader of
+the Mongols against the two great popes of Islamism, the Sultans of Cairo
+and Bagdad. From Cyprus we sailed to Damietta, which King Louis attacked
+sword in hand. The Infidels, by the favor of God, were put to the worse,
+and the city fell into our hands. We found great spoil in Damietta, and
+were comfortably lodged there. But the king's officers, instead of
+well-treating the merchants, who would have supplied the army with
+provisions, hired out to them stalls and workmen, at so dear a rate, that
+they departed from us, which was a great evil and loss. Barons and knights
+began to give sumptuous banquets, one to the other; the commonalty also
+gave themselves up to all kinds of dissipation, which lasted until the day
+we set forward toward Cairo, on the route formerly travelled by Jean de
+Brienne. We were stopped at Mansourah many days by a branch of the Nile,
+where it was necessary to construct a dyke, and there they assailed us
+with the Greek fire, by which we were in great danger of perishing. This
+fire was in appearance like a great tun, and its tail was of the length of
+a long spear, and the noise which it made was like thunder, and it seemed
+a great dragon of fire flying through the air, giving such light by its
+flame, that we saw in our camp as clearly as in broad day; and when it
+fell upon a knight in armor, it penetrated through the scales thereof, and
+burned to the very bone. Thus our army suffered greatly, and were
+prevented from making farther progress.
+
+"The king called his barons to council, and it was concluded to return to
+Damietta. But so many of our army had fallen sick, that it was necessary
+to make preparations to embark upon the Nile. The king himself suffered
+greatly with the pestilence, and our march was stopped by the Saracens,
+who lay in wait for us upon the banks of the river, and as the prince
+would not desert his people, we were all made prisoners together. After we
+had suffered many things, both in body and spirit, the Sultan, who had
+been recently elected by the Mamelukes, agreed to accept as ransom for the
+captives, the city of Damietta and the sum of 500,000 livres. When the
+Sultan found that King Louis complied with the first demand without
+striving to drive a bargain, 'Go and tell him from me,' he said, 'that I
+retract one-fifth of the sum, because I have found him both generous and
+liberal.'
+
+"After the affair was concluded, my royal master empowered me to accompany
+the envoys to Damietta, and to receive from Queen Margaret the money for
+the ransom. When I came to the palace where the queen was lodged, I found
+her apartment guarded by an aged knight, whom, when she heard of her royal
+husband's captivity, she had caused to take oath that, should the Saracens
+enter the town, he would himself put an end to her life before they could
+seize her person. My royal mistress received me graciously, and gave me
+the money which the king had commanded, and she also bade me look upon the
+son she had borne to Louis during his absence, that I might assure him of
+their health and comfort. The misfortunes that had attended our arms
+caused us to quit Egypt; and, sailing at once for Acre, we were received
+with great joy by the Christians of the East. We employed ourselves in
+restoring the fortifications of the principal towns, but the monarch,
+through dejection at the failure of his enterprise, returned to France
+without making a pilgrimage to the holy places."
+
+"By my faith," replied the young prince, "it were a matter of surprise
+that such well-appointed expeditions should suffer such total loss.
+Methinks a good soldier should never sheathe his sword till the hour of
+victory."
+
+De Joinville regarded the inexperienced youth with a benevolent smile,
+remarking only, that caution and prudence are virtues as essential to a
+ruler, as courage and prowess.
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+THE RELICS BROUGHT FROM CONSTANTINOPLE.
+
+The young bride Eleanora, in her residence at Bordeaux, had formed the
+acquaintance of Guy de Lusignan, second son of the ex-queen Isabella and
+Count Hugh le Marche, and through his kindly attentions she had been
+apprized of the events that agitated England. She learned that her royal
+parents had been under the necessity of taking up their residence in the
+Tower of London, almost in the condition of state prisoners, and that her
+gallant husband had exchanged the sports of a knight for "the game of
+kings." Anxious for his safety, and desirous to assist in the release of
+the royal family, or share their captivity, she besought Count Guy to
+conduct her thither. He represented the danger of such a proceeding, and
+strove by every argument to induce her to remain in France, but in vain.
+The traits of character, that subsequently made her the heroine, already
+developed in unchanging affection, and invincible firmness, overbore all
+opposition, and with a retinue scarcely suitable for her rank, and
+insufficient for her protection in case of attack, she set off for
+England.
+
+They reached the island without accident, and had approached in sight of
+London, when the great bell of St. Paul's startled them with its hurried
+peal, and they almost instantly found themselves surrounded by an
+infuriated mob. The simplicity of their attire shielded them from
+observation, and they passed some time unmolested among the crowd, but the
+vindictive shouts of the multitude, crying, "Down with the Jews! down with
+the followers of the virago of Provence!" so alarmed the little Eva, that
+she was unable to keep her seat upon the pillion of the knight who had her
+in charge, and Sir Guy at length obtained for them a shelter in an humble
+tenement upon the banks of the Thames.
+
+From the window of the cottage, they beheld the terrible massacre that
+characterized the first popular outbreak against the government of Henry
+III. The harmless Jews were dragged from their houses and mercilessly
+slaughtered, amidst protestations of innocence, and heart-rending cries
+for pity, while the furniture of their dwellings, and valuables of every
+kind, were hurled into the streets, and distributed among the crowd. A
+venerable man, Ben Abraham, of majestic demeanor, was pursued to the door
+of the house in which the royal fugitives had taken refuge.
+
+Count Guy in his agitation sprang to bar the entrance, but the young queen
+with readier tact removed the bolt, and throwing open an opposite door,
+motioned all the armed retainers to retire. Scarcely had the helpless old
+man crossed the threshold, when the mob with demoniac cries, rushed in
+after him, and the leader seizing him by his long white beard, severed his
+head from his body, and held it up a grim and ghastly spectacle for the
+plaudits of his followers. The terrified Eva, clinging close to Eleanora,
+shrunk behind the open door, and the queen controlling her own agitation,
+placed her hand over the child's mouth to repress her screams, while the
+murderers dragging the bleeding corpse upon the pavement, began to search
+the body for gold. Down the street rolled the tide of blood. Mad yells of
+vengeance and frantic cries of terror mingled on the air, and swept away
+toward the river.
+
+Now the roar seemed advancing and now retreating, when a barge loosing
+from the tower stairs, drew the concourse in that direction. It was the
+Queen of Henry III. with her children, seeking to escape to Windsor
+castle, where Prince Edward was quartered with his troops. Cries of "Drown
+the Witch! Down with the Witch! No favor to foreigners! Death to the
+Italians!" rent the air. The mob tore up the paving stones, stripped the
+tiles from the houses, plundered butchers' shambles, and hucksters' shops,
+and a shower of deadly missiles rained upon the river. The boat approached
+the bridge, at the west end of which thousands of fierce eyes glared for
+its appearance, and thousands of bloody hands were raised for its
+destruction. At this moment the figure of an armed knight, of lofty
+stature, appeared upon the bridge. Forcing his way through the mob, he
+shouted to the sailors as the boat was about to shoot the arch, "Back!
+Bear back!! upon your lives!!! Return to the tower!!!!" The frightened
+boatmen turned at the critical moment, and the knight, by the prowess of
+his single arm, diverted the attack to himself, till the queen was again
+sheltered by the walls of the fortress.
+
+Roar upon roar again swelled through the streets. The crowd hurried on in
+search of prey, swaying to and fro, like trees in a tempest. Again the
+feeble walls that sheltered the fair Castilian, felt the terrible presence
+of demons in human form. The sight of a French attendant again raised the
+cry of "Death to foreigners," and madly they rushed to the onslaught. But
+the strange knight was already at the door, and backed by Guy de Lusignan
+and the retainers, for some hours kept the infuriated multitude at bay,
+but at every moment the crowd became denser, the cries more terrific, and
+Eleanora drawing the little Eva to her bosom, and surrounded by her own
+maidens, and the females of the household, was striving to recall the
+prayers for the dying, when a distant shout of rescue swelled upon the
+breeze. The shrill blast of a trumpet confirmed the uncertain hope, and
+the defiant threats of the multitude began to give place to the howlings
+of baffled rage. On came the tramp of horsemen, the clangor of armor;
+louder roared the din of the fight; not now the sounds of falling
+dwellings, flying missiles, and female shrieks, but the ringing clash of
+Damascus steel, and the regular tramp of mounted horsemen. The warlike
+shout of "Edward to the rescue," "Give way to the prince," drove on the
+motley mass like sands before the desert wind, and scattered them through
+all the lanes and alleys of the vast metropolis. At the sound of her
+husband's name, Eleanora sprang from her knees and rushed to the door-way,
+where she beheld, advancing at the head of the troops, taller than all
+his compeers, more firmly seated upon his noble destriar, and more
+gracefully managing the rein and wielding the sword, her long-absent lord.
+He raised his vizor, as he paused to return the salutation of his uncle,
+De Lusignan, and his fine, manly features, radiant with pleasure, and
+flushed with triumph, his fair hair curling round his helmet, made him
+appear to Eleanora, more brave and beautiful than a hero of romance. But
+the eye that "kindled in war, now melted in love" at the unexpected
+apparition of his bride, who with tearful eyes gazed upon him, uncertain
+whether her presence would more embarrass or pleasure him. It was not,
+however, in the heart of a chivalric prince to frown upon any distressed
+damsel, much less upon the beautiful young being, whose fair face, the
+sensitive index of every emotion, now paled with fear, now flushed with
+joy, seemed each moment changing to a lovelier hue, while she awaited his
+approach in doubt as to the greeting she should receive from her lord. The
+generous prince hastily dismounting, and clasping her in his arms,
+tenderly reassured her with words of affectionate welcome, not however,
+without a gentle upbraiding, that she had not tarried at Dover till he had
+been able, with a retinue befitting her rank, himself to escort her to
+Windsor. The little Eva, meanwhile, had found a safe asylum in the arms of
+the stranger knight, and, through the bars of his vizor, obtained a
+glimpse of eyes, whose color and expression she never forgot, and listened
+to words that made a lasting impression upon her mind.
+
+Prince Edward found it necessary to establish his mother and queen, with
+the ladies and attendants, under a strong guard, at Bristol castle, where
+they remained during a part of that stormy period, consequent upon
+Leicester's rebellion. Restricted to the narrow enjoyments which the
+castle walls afforded, and to the society of the few knights who had them
+in charge, the royal ladies found their chief entertainment in the
+volatile spirits, and restless gaiety of the orphan Eva. No caution nor
+command could prevent her mingling with the dependents, and listening to
+and relating to her mistress every flying report that reached the castle.
+But so gentle was her temper, and so ready her submission, that it was
+impossible to be seriously offended with her, and her light footsteps and
+joyous laugh were equally welcome in the royal apartments, and in the
+servants' kitchen. The maids of honor, who were the most frequent victims
+of her pranks, surnamed her, "Dame Madcap," while her cordial interest in
+inferiors caused the retainers to dub her with the equally appropriate
+soubriquet of "Little Sunbeam."
+
+One day, the Princess Eleanora, passing the hall of audience, was
+surprised by hearing shouts of irrepressible laughter. Suspecting that her
+proteg�e was engaged in some frolic, she cautiously opened the door and
+stood an unobserved spectator. Every piece of furniture capable of being
+moved, had been torn from its mooring, and placed in some fantastic
+position. The arras had been stripped from the walls, and hung in
+grotesque festoons at the farther extremity of the room, above and around
+a throne, ornamented with every article of embroidered velvet and silk
+brocade, that the royal wardrobe afforded, on which was seated her Madcap
+majesty, bedecked and bedizened with all sorts of holiday finery, while
+every maid and retainer, not on duty, was passing before her, and
+repeating the oath of fealty in giggling succession. The fair queen,
+meanwhile, diversified her state duties by lecturing her new subjects upon
+the indecorum of such ill-timed levity. The princess, in doubt what notice
+to take of the affair, prudently withdrew, but not till Eva had caught
+sight of her retreating figure, whereon, she assured her vassals, that
+they had all been guilty of high treason, and that, no doubt, the Don Jon,
+or some other Spanish cavalier would soon have them in close keeping.
+
+When Eva again appeared in the presence of the princess, she fell on her
+knees and begged pardon with an air of mock humility that changed
+Eleanora's frowns to smiles in spite of herself, though she felt it
+necessary to remonstrate with her upon the oft-reiterated subject of her
+undignified familiarity with dependents. "I was but acting the queen,
+your majesty, and would be glad of more exalted subjects," said she,
+archly, in extenuation of her fault. "Royalty is but a pageant, and I
+shall doubtless exercise the prerogative of a sovereign, when it is proved
+that the wicked little Eva de la Mer is heiress of the gallant Strongbow."
+
+"Thou, Queen of Ireland!" exclaimed Eleanora. "Who has put this foolish
+conceit into thy young head? Thou must beware, sweet one, of these odd
+fancies. Rememberest thou not the words of the confessor, that the pomps
+and vanities of the world lead the soul astray?"
+
+Tears filled the blue eyes of Eva, but instantly dashing them away with
+spirit, she exclaimed, "And why not I a queen! 'Tis sure I would be a
+better sovereign than most. They should not say as they do of our liege,
+King Henry, that I robbed my subjects to make presents to my favorites."
+
+"Eva, Eva," gravely rejoined the princess, "the Scripture saith we should
+not speak evil of dignities." But Eva was in the vein, and her volubility
+was not to be silenced.
+
+"I would not be a queen," exclaimed she, "for then I should have none to
+love me or to tell me the truth."
+
+"None to love thee!" replied Eleanora. "Do not the people love her
+gracious majesty, my royal mother?"
+
+"Thou shouldst hear what all men say of her," exclaimed the child, almost
+frightened at her own audacity.
+
+"And what do men say?" inquired Eleanora, her curiosity getting the better
+of her judgment.
+
+"They say," continued Eva, "that all the troubles in England are owing to
+the queen and her relations. That King Henry took the marriage portion of
+his sister Isabella to furnish the decorations for the coronation; and
+thou knowest well, my lady, that she hath nine garlands for her hair,
+besides a great gold crown most glorious with gems."
+
+"In sooth," returned the princess, "thou knowest more than I of the
+queen's wardrobe. But how learnedst thou these things?"
+
+"Her maidens, who love her none too well, tell me everything."
+
+"And dost thou encourage them in evil speaking of their mistress, by
+listening to their idle tales?"
+
+"Nay, I told them they were sinners, and that the father of evil would
+surely get them; but they only laughed, and said, in that case, I should
+certainly bear them company."
+
+Eleanora, looking gravely, said, "I fear my darling is learning sad ways,
+and I must henceforth keep her always by my side."
+
+Eva threw her arms around the princess, and pillowing her fair cheek upon
+her bosom, whispered, "Let not my noble mistress omit this punishment, for
+in her presence 'tis easy to be good." There was a pause of some minutes,
+when the child gently resumed, "My lady will one day be a queen, shall Eva
+then speak only the words of adulation, such as the false dames d'honneur
+employ in the presence of her majesty? I heard them whispering low
+concerning the queen's gold, and the extortions and exactions she had
+brought upon the people, and when she inquired what they whispered, they
+turned it with some fine compliment. I sought to tell her of the
+falsehood, but the ladies would not give me entrance to her apartment. I
+will tell thee, for thou art wise and mayest perchance warn her of her
+false friends. What first caught my ear was the name of my lord, Prince
+Edward. They said that when he was a lad of eight years, his royal father
+brought him forth with his brother Edmund and his sisters Margaret and
+Beatrice, and had them all weighed up like the calves at the butchers, and
+then scattered their weight in coin among the ragged beggar children that
+stood in the court below, laughing at the screams of the royal babies."
+
+"Eva! Eva! How couldst thou listen to such vain parlance?"
+
+"Oh! my lady, this is not the half of the vile things they told. They said
+that when the king had oppressed the people till he could wring no more
+money from them, he broke up his court, and then, to avoid the expense of
+keeping his family, he invited himself with his retinue to the castles of
+the nobles, and after being feasted right royally, he begged gifts at his
+departure, telling them it was a greater charity to bestow alms upon him
+than upon any beggar in the realm."
+
+"Eva! darling! no more of this," said Eleanora, in a decided tone. "I will
+give thee for thy penance three paternosters and a creed. Repair to my
+oriel, and let me hear thee prate no more."
+
+Eva received so much spiritual benefit from her devotions in the oratory,
+that the next day she was permitted to go where she pleased, and her first
+works of supererogation were distributed among those who had participated
+in her offence. Accordingly, the princess found her robed in the
+chaplain's gown, and receiving the confessions of those who had assisted
+at her coronation the previous day, in which capacity she exhibited a
+wonderful facility in prompting treacherous memories and callous
+consciences. In the midst of the scene, a sharp blast from the warder's
+horn startled the merry group. In times of public calamity, every
+unexpected event seems fraught with a fearful interest. Each vassal
+hurried to his post, and the females hastened away, while Eva, dropping
+her sacred character, ran with all speed to reconnoitre from the
+arrow-slit of the turret. The portcullis was raised, the sound of hoofs
+was heard upon the drawbridge, and the next moment a messenger, toil worn
+and travel-stained, dashed into the court. The tidings which he brought
+were of the most important character. King Henry, apparently on the most
+friendly terms with Leicester, was, in reality, a prisoner in his castle,
+and subject to the will of the earl. Prince Edward was rapidly preparing
+for war with the rebel barons, and, deeming the royal ladies unsafe in
+England, had sent to bid them haste with all speed to the court of the
+good King of France. Straining her eyes to command a view beyond the
+castle walls, Eva discerned a band of huntsmen lingering in the skirts of
+an adjoining wood, but in the bustle of departure, she could not find
+opportunity to communicate the suspicious circumstance to any in
+authority.
+
+Apparelled in the utmost haste, the parties set forth, and slacked not
+their riding till they reached the port. There seemed to be a great crowd
+in the vicinity, of sailors, boatmen, clowns, in cartmen's frocks, and
+occasionally a man in armor. Eva fancied that she discerned among them the
+huntsmen of the wood, and her fears were confirmed when a moment after the
+royal train were completely environed by the band. But so adroitly was the
+manoeuvre effected, that the fugitives had scarcely time to feel
+themselves prisoners, when a troop of Leicester's men appeared in the
+distance, and they comprehended that, but for the timely interposition of
+these unknown friends, their retreat would have been cut off. As the
+vessel receded from shore, swords were drawn, and a fierce contest ensued
+between the huntsmen and the soldiers, and Eva recognized in the leader of
+their defenders the figure of the tall knight who had rescued them at
+London bridge.
+
+At the court of Queen Margaret, the exiled princesses received a cordial
+welcome, and the piety of Eleanora was strengthened by intercourse with
+the good St. Louis: while Eva's vivacity soon made her a favorite with the
+ladies of the French court. The unaffected piety of the saintly monarch
+was scarcely a fit subject for the humor which Eva exercised without
+discrimination, upon the grave and gay. But many of the superstitious
+observances of the church, ridiculous in themselves, excited her native
+merriment; nor could all the penances of the confessor restrict the
+playful license of her tongue.
+
+The Latin dynasty of Constantinople was now tottering to its fall. The
+young Greek emperor Baldwin, deprived of the counsels of his
+father-in-law, Jean de Brienne (who had taken the habit of St. Francis,
+and died on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem), was exposed to the attacks of
+every disaffected noble that chose to rebel against him. He had made every
+possible concession to avoid open warfare with his enemies, and had
+suffered every conceivable inconvenience from utter poverty. He had given
+his niece in marriage to a Turkish emir, and ratified a treaty with a
+haughty pagan by tasting his blood. He demolished vacant houses in
+Constantinople for winter fuel, stripped the lead from the churches for
+the daily expense of his family; mortgaged his father's estates in France
+to increase the public revenue; and pawned the heir of the purple at
+Venice, as security for a debt. One only treasure yet remained, the Holy
+Crown of Thorns; but piety forbade him to make merchandise of that which
+all Christendom regarded with such superstitious veneration. It was
+therefore determined to present the precious bauble to the most honorable
+prince in Europe, and rely upon his pious gratitude to make suitable
+return. A wooden box conveyed the inestimable relic to France. It was
+opened in the presence of the nobility, discovering within a silver shrine
+in which was preserved the monument of the Passion, enclosed in a golden
+vase. St. Louis, with all his court, made a pilgrimage to Troyes, to
+receive the precious deposit. And the devout monarch, barefoot, and
+without other clothing than a simple tunic, carried it in triumph through
+the streets of Paris, and placed it in La Sainte Chapelle, which he
+prepared for the purpose. This solemn ceremony roused all the mirthfulness
+of Eva, nor could the habitual reverence of Eleanora so far prevail over
+her good sense, as to prevent some slight misgivings concerning the
+authenticity of the various and multiplied relics that then formed so
+lucrative a branch of commerce.
+
+"I warrant me," said the madcap, Eva, to the maidens, "we shall all of us
+be compelled to kneel upon the cold pavement before that prickly emblem,
+as a punishment for our many transgressions." Shocked at her impiety, yet
+inwardly amused, the merry party mingled their reproaches with encouraging
+peals of laughter.
+
+"No doubt," continued she, "it will cure all diseases, at least it has
+humbled the holy king like St. Paul's thorn in the flesh. For me, though I
+strove to wear a devout face, I could not help laughing at the sight of
+his royal shins." The volatile French ladies, who had experienced very
+much the same sensation, joined in the merriment. "I hear," said Eva, "we
+are to have another procession of the same kind ere long, and mayhaps they
+will require us to transport the holy relic in the same flimsy guise.
+Thou, Felice, who art so jealous of Sir Francis d'Essai's attentions to
+me, shall carry the cross. And the sharp-witted Beatrice shall bear the
+lance. Thou, Caliste, who hearest all and sayest naught, shall wear the
+sponge, and as for me, I shall take the rod of Moses and smite your rocky
+hearts, till the waters of repentance flow forth." "Hush! hush!" exclaimed
+the damsels, "her majesty approaches."
+
+Scarcely were their countenances composed to the approved pattern of court
+propriety, and their eyes fixed upon their embroidery, when Queen Margaret
+entered, and, in her serenely gracious manner, informed them that his
+highness, the Emperor Baldwin, had presented another invaluable gift to
+her royal husband, and she counselled them, by fasting and prayer, to put
+themselves in readiness to join the court in a procession to deposit the
+sacred relic in St. Chapelle. While each maiden dropped her head with
+apparent assent, but in reality to conceal her smiles brought up by the
+prospective realization of Eva's panorama, the facile girl devoutly
+crossed herself, and with a demure look replied, "We have heard of the
+noble Courtenay's munificence, and have endeavored, according to our poor
+ability, to prepare our minds for the solemn duty." No sooner had the
+queen departed, than in a tone of mock gravity, she exhorted them to be
+diligent in their worship, for now she thought of it, she resolved to
+smile upon the young Squire Courtenay, who had besought her to embroider a
+shamrock upon his pennon. Winning him, she should doubtless one day share
+the imperial purple, in which case she should reclaim those sacred
+treasures, and they would then be under the necessity of making a
+pilgrimage to Constantinople, for as Baldwin's last heir was in pawn, the
+crown would doubtless descend to the younger branches of his house.
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+THE ESCAPE.
+
+In the court of France, the royal princesses received constant
+intelligence of the progress of the struggle between the English barons
+and the king, or rather, between Simon de Montfort and Prince Edward, who
+headed the opposite factions. Their hopes were raised by accounts of the
+gallant conduct of the young prince, and by the disaffection that arose
+between the confederate barons, but sudden misery overwhelmed them, when,
+after several years of torturing suspense, Wm. de Valence arrived at
+Paris, bringing news of the death of Guy de Lusignan, in the disastrous
+action at Lewes, and the captivity of King Henry and his gallant son.
+
+Queen Eleanor immediately determined to proceed to England, and her
+daughter-in-law Eleanora insisted upon accompanying her. Young de
+Courtenay, who had recently received the honors of knighthood, from his
+royal master, and Sir Francis, who had enlisted as his rival for the
+smiles of Eva, now a beautiful girl of fifteen, begged permission to join
+the escort, with a band of armed retainers. They landed at Plymouth, and
+lay concealed for some time in the wilds of Devonshire, while the gallant
+knights, Sir Henry and Sir Francis, scoured the country in all directions,
+for information concerning the captive princes. They learned that the
+royal army had retreated to Bristol castle, under the command of seven
+knights, who had reared seven banners on the walls, and with determined
+valor held out against Leicester, and that the princes were confined in
+Kenilworth castle. The difficulty of communicating with the prisoners
+exercised the ingenuity of the little council for many days, but every
+plan involved danger, both to themselves and to the royal cause.
+
+Eleanora, whose clear sense and unwavering reliance on a higher power,
+led her to a practical demonstration of the sentiment, "To hope the best
+is pious, brave, and wise," was the life and soul of every arrangement,
+and the soother of those fainter spirits, who were ready to yield, to
+despair at every sign of failure. Their residence was in a little hamlet
+of the better class of peasants, faithful to the interests of the king. A
+deep forest extended on the west to a great distance, and in those wilds,
+spite of all caution, Eva delighted to ramble. One day she had been so
+long absent that even Eleanora, becoming alarmed, despatched her attendant
+in quest of her, and herself joined the search. As she passed along
+through the glades of the deep wood, her attention was arrested by the
+sight of a pretty boy, lying asleep beneath the shade of a spreading oak,
+whose dress from his embroidered shoes, to the ruby that fastened the
+plume in his velvet cap, was of the most exquisite beauty, and taste. The
+page was clad in a hunting suit of "Lincoln green," slashed with cloth of
+gold, that gleamed from the mossy bank upon which he rested, as though the
+sunshine had fallen and lingered there. A crimson baldric curiously
+wrought with strange devices, lay across his breast, a sword with
+burnished sheath, was suspended from his belt. As Eleanora approached, and
+gazed upon the sleeping boy, she thought she had never beheld so lovely a
+youth, and an instinctive desire rose up in her heart, to enroll him in
+her service.
+
+"Wake, pretty one," said she, softly touching his cheek, "wake, and go
+with me." The youth started and gazed upon her, and a flush of surprise
+and pleasure suffused his countenance. "Whose page art thou?" said
+Eleanora, "and how hast thou wandered into this wild?"
+
+"Noble lady," returned the boy, casting down his eyes with modest
+hesitation, "my hawk hath gone astray, and I sought him till aweary, I
+fell asleep."
+
+"Thy friends have left thee in the greenwood," returned the princess, "and
+thou may'st not find them. Wilt go with me, and I will give thee gold and
+benison, and if thou art loyal, an errand worthy thy knightly ambition."
+
+"Nay, treason may be loyal, or loyalty treason, in these troublous times,"
+said the boy. "One says follow my lord of Leicester, another, draw thy
+sword for the good Prince Edward."
+
+"And if I say, draw thy sword for the good Prince Edward, wilt follow me?"
+
+The youth replied evasively, "I love my lady, and I may not engage in
+other service, till I bring her proud bird back to the perch."
+
+Something in his earnest tone arrested the attention of the princess, and
+scanning the countenance of the youth with more curious scrutiny, she
+marked the rosy hue in his cheek, and the tear trembling in his blue eye,
+and exclaimed,
+
+"Eva! Eva!! How is this?"
+
+"Nay, an thou knowest me, I will e'en venture on thy knightly errand,"
+said the blushing girl, falling on her knees, and repeating the oath of
+fealty, rapidly as possible to hide her emotions.
+
+"Rise," said the princess, with all the sternness she could command, "and
+tell me whence this disguise."
+
+"I know not, lady, more than thou, save this. Scarce a week since, I met
+in this wood the tall knight who hath so nobly defended us, and
+yesternight I braved the fear of thy frown, and came to this
+trysting-place. He hath concerted a plan for the liberation of my royal
+master, and brought me this disguise, which must be sufficient, since it
+so long baffled thy quick discernment. Accident has betrayed me, else it
+had not rested with my lady, whether Eva should trust the stranger, and
+aid in restoring the proud bird of England to his royal perch." Eleanora
+paused one moment, while her mind, ever clearest and most active in
+emergency, poised between the possibility of danger to her favorite, and
+rescue to her lord.
+
+"The knight has twice preserved our lives, he must be bold and true, and
+heaven hath raised him up for our deliverance, since God conceals us from
+our enemies, and reveals our lurking-place to him. It were treason to
+doubt this divine Providence, since it would imply neither trust in man,
+nor faith in God. Go, Eva," said the princess, her eyes filling with
+tears, as she pressed her to her bosom, and imprinted a warm kiss upon her
+cheek. "Heaven will protect and prosper thee, and my noble Edward know how
+to reward thy devotion." She stood gazing fondly on her in silence, while
+Eva's color went and came as though she essayed, what yet she feared, to
+utter. At length she stammered forth, "My lady will send Sir Francis with
+his band to guard the fords of the Exe till my return."
+
+"Sir Francis," reiterated the queen, in a tone of surprise; "methought Sir
+Henry were more agreeable escort."
+
+Eva tried to hide her crimson blushes beneath her delicate fingers, as she
+whispered, "If my mistress please, I would that Sir Henry should be
+ignorant of this unmaidenly disguise."
+
+"Thou lovest Sir Henry, then?" said Eleanora.
+
+"Nay, lady, I know not that," replied Eva; "but there is something in him
+that commands my regard despite my will, and I would not needlessly
+forfeit his esteem."
+
+"I will answer for thee, sweet," replied the princess. "Sir Francis shall
+go according to thy wish. But must I leave thee here alone and
+unprotected?"
+
+"The monarch of the forest spreads his broad arm for my protection, and
+thou shalt envy my repose, in my sylvan eyrie," replied Eva, lightly
+springing into a fantastic seat, formed by the twisted branches of a
+gnarled oak, and completely concealed by the foliage. Firmly ensconced in
+her rustic lodge, she leaned forward and whispered a gentle farewell, as
+the princess, bearing in her mind a vision of a bright face, peeping out
+from among the green leaves, turned and rapidly retraced her steps to the
+hamlet.
+
+That night Sir Francis set out with his train, and as two maidens
+accompanied the band, one wearing the dress of Eva, her absence excited no
+suspicion.
+
+Meanwhile the sprite remained in her place of concealment, till the
+gathering shadows of the trees stretched stealthily across the glade the
+appointed signal for the gathering of the outlawed bands. The tall knight
+soon appeared, and, lifting her gently from the tree, placed her on a
+beautiful Spanish jennet, and smilingly handing her an ivory whistle,
+terminating in a silver cross, bade her summon her satyrs. She placed it
+to her lips, and blew a shrill call, and forthwith from the leafy bosom of
+every bush and shrub there issued a huntsman, clad in forest green, and
+carrying only such weapons as were used in the chase. The knight gave them
+hasty directions for the different points of rendezvous, at which they
+were to watch the safety of the young squire, warned them against those
+places where they would be most likely to encounter the malcontents, and
+then mounting the noble steed that stood pawing the turf in impatience by
+his side, and laying his hand upon the rein, recalled Eva to herself, by
+saying, with emphasis, "Sir Launfal, we must away, or morning will dawn
+ere we cross the fords of Exe."
+
+They rode at a brisk pace for some time in silence, the mind of each being
+too much occupied for words.
+
+The knight at length spoke abruptly. "Thou hast a turn for adventure,
+pretty page, and I'll warrant me, ready tongue, but how dost thou think to
+gain speech with Prince Edward?"
+
+"Nay, that I leave with thee," returned Eva, "since I know neither the
+place to which I am bound, nor the duty I am to perform."
+
+"And that I scarce know myself," replied the knight. "The lady Maud
+Mortimer has the swiftest courser in all England, a coal-black Arabian,
+brought by Richard of Cornwall as a gift to her ladyship, on his return
+from the Holy Land. My Lord Mortimer is a partisan of Leicester, but is
+somewhat cooled in his devotion to the proud earl, from an affront
+received since the battle of Lewes. The lady, therefore, to be revenged,
+has volunteered her steed for the escape of Edward. There riseth, however,
+another difficulty. The prince is constantly surrounded with guards, so
+that no stranger may accost him. My merry men have beset the castle in
+every kind of disguise, but to no purpose. Of late, the prince rides forth
+of a morning, closely attended, and I have brought thee, hoping that thy
+woman's wit may effect more than all our dull brains have yet
+accomplished."
+
+As the captive prince, sick with hope deferred, languidly mounted his
+horse and rode forth upon his monotonous round, he was surprised by the
+appearance of a saucy-looking page, who mingled carelessly among the
+attendants, and challenged the younger squires to test the speed of their
+horses.
+
+"And who art thou, pert boy?" inquired the captain of the guard.
+
+"Who but the squire to my Lord de Mortimer? Thou must be learned in
+heraldry an thou knowest not the device of the noble earl," replied the
+page, with an air of nonchalance that easily satisfied his interrogator,
+and eager of sport the whole party joined in the race. They were thus led
+far beyond their usual limits. But the prince, whose heart was sad,
+evinced little interest in the animated scene till the page, loudly
+entreating him to put his steed to the mettle, found opportunity at
+intervals to whisper, "To-morrow when the horses of the guards are blown,
+seek the copse by the Hazel Glen." As if disgusted with the familiarity of
+the page, the prince slowly turned away, but not till he had exchanged a
+glance of intelligence with his new friend.
+
+The following morning the gallant Sir Launfal stood in the copse holding
+the reins of his own palfrey, and the steed of Lady Mortimer, till he was
+faint and weary. The expected hour for Edward's arrival had long passed,
+and notwithstanding his effort to appear the brave squire he personated,
+it must be confessed he felt very like a timid girl, whose active
+imagination peopled the wood with a thousand unknown dangers. He turned
+the whistle nervously in his fingers, and almost essayed to try its magic
+powers in summoning around him the brave outlaws who waited his bidding,
+when the welcome sound of advancing hoofs reassured him, and a moment
+after the prince dashed into the thicket.
+
+"Keep to the highway till we meet at the cross-roads," said the page,
+resigning the rein into his hand.
+
+The shouts of the pursuers were already on the air, as the prince vaulted
+into the saddle and took the direction indicated. Striking into a bridle
+path, Sir Launfal reached the cross-roads just as the prince appeared, and
+together they rode gaily on towards Bristol. The pursuers soon after
+gained the same point, where they encountered a woodman, jogging on slowly
+after two loaded mules, of whom they inquired concerning the fugitive.
+
+"He be's gone yonder," replied the boor, pointing in the direction
+opposite to the one which the prince had taken, where upon an eminence
+appeared an armed force. The baffled guards, fearing that the conspiracy
+might have been more extensive than they had anticipated, made the best of
+their way back to Kenilworth.
+
+"And who art thou, my pretty page?" inquired Edward, "that hast so
+dexterously redeemed thy prince, and whither dost thou conduct me?"
+
+"I wear the badge of Mortimer," replied Sir Launfal. "The Lady Maude is
+the constant friend of thy royal mother."
+
+"Canst tell me aught of the movements of the rebel barons, or the fate of
+my brave knights?"
+
+"Nay, my giddy brain recks little of politics or war," returned the boy,
+"but there are can give thee tidings."
+
+A moment after they turned an angle in the road, and the boy putting the
+whistle to his mouth sounded a sharp note, and a party of huntsmen,
+apparently in quest of game, darted across the path, while one shouted, as
+if to his companions, "To the right, the game lies by the Hermit's Cross."
+The page immediately turned his palfrey, motioning to silence, and led off
+into the path through the wood, and after several hours' hard riding
+arrived at the appointed place of rendezvous.
+
+At the foot of a large wooden cross, weather-stained and somewhat decayed,
+sat a monk, closely robed in gown and cowl, who rose at their approach,
+saying in a low voice, "The benison of our Lady of Walsingham rest upon
+you;" and with great strides conducted them deeper and deeper into the
+wood, till they came to a hunter's lodge, which, though much in ruins,
+gave signs of having been recently repaired, with some view to the rank
+and comfort of those who were to occupy it.
+
+The prince made light of the trifling inconveniences to which they were
+subjected, remarking, "A soldier has little choice of resting-place." But
+poor Eva, wearied almost to death from the unaccustomed fatigues of the
+day, now that the stimulus of excitement was over, had leisure to think of
+her own situation; and scarcely able to restrain her tears, crept silently
+to her couch of fern, and beneath the russet covering, soon slept from
+very exhaustion. The prince and the monk meanwhile conferred apart in low
+tones, concerting measures for present and future security.
+
+"Gloucester is with us," said the priest, "and Sir Roger de Mortimer has a
+party of picked men on the road to Evesham. My band have charge of every
+ford and pass between this and Hereford. The scouts report that
+Leicester's men are much wasted by their long residence on the Welsh
+frontier, and my jolly fellows are this night engaged in breaking down the
+bridges across the Severn. For we churchmen have a fancy, that baptism is
+necessary to wash away the sins of rebels."
+
+"I fear not all the rites of the Church can absolve the black-hearted
+traitor," returned Edward, with great asperity. "But proceed with thy
+news."
+
+"The country is beset with Leicester's spies," continued the monk, "else
+had I been less guarded in my communications with thee. Bands of men are
+daily mustering in every direction, making the high-roads unsafe for
+honest travellers like myself."
+
+"Thou wilt join our forces with the brethren of thy chapter," suggested
+the prince.
+
+"Our chapter are somewhat too much tinctured with heresy to hail the
+ascendency of the odious De Montforts," replied the monk; "thou mayst,
+therefore, depend upon their most earnest intercessions in thy behalf.
+But for me, I must restore pretty one," nodding his head significantly
+towards the spot where Eva lay asleep, "to his mistress. It is a matter,
+not of selfish interest alone, that the loyal page be restored unharmed."
+
+"Thou art right," returned Edward. "I would not that the charming boy
+should lose one raven curl for me, though he hath risked his freedom and,
+perhaps, his life to save me."
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE DETERMINATION.
+
+After the battle of Evesham, in which Edward entirely overthrew the party
+of the rebel barons, and re-established Henry's throne, Eleanora resided
+alternately in the palace of Savoy and at Windsor castle. The care of her
+three beautiful children occupied much of her attention, and in their
+nurture the streams of her affection deepened and widened, until they
+embraced all who came within the sphere of her influence. The now
+charming, but still volatile, Eva occasioned her infinite anxiety.
+
+Since the day when Sir Francis had received her from the tall knight, at
+the ford of the Exe, he had held her by the two-fold cord of obligation
+and the possession of a secret; and from the first moment he discovered
+that she was sensitive upon the subject, he had not ceased to use his
+power to his own advantage. She was thus obliged to treat him with a favor
+which he ill deserved; yet such was the natural transparency of her
+character, that her real sentiments so often betrayed themselves, as to
+keep him in a constant state of irritation.
+
+Sir Henry de Courtenay, whose sincere and ardent nature gave him little
+taste for mysteries, could not brook the inconsistencies that constantly
+presented themselves in her manner, and determining that his hand should
+never be bestowed where there was not the basis of confidence, withdrew
+himself from the sphere of her attractions. Eva grieved at his departure,
+but it was in vain that the princess represented, that the readiest escape
+from her difficulties was a courageous and candid confession of the truth.
+
+Eva "did not care if he could be piqued by such trifles, as her smiling
+upon Sir Francis, when she heartily wished him among the Turks, he might
+e'en seek his fortune elsewhere. And for the matter of that, who could
+tell that it was desirable for the heiress of Strongbow to marry a simple
+knight." But these heroics usually ended in violent fits of weeping, and
+profound regrets that she had ever forfeited the confidence of De
+Courtenay.
+
+Meanwhile, Edward began to feel the languor of inglorious ease, and as his
+dreams of ambition returned upon him, his thoughts reverted again and
+again to the unsolved problem that had exercised the political
+mathematicians of Europe for nearly two centuries. Could a permanent
+christian kingdom be founded in Palestine? All the blood which the French
+had shed, and all the wise counsel that Louis lavished in the Seventh
+Crusade, had failed to erect the necessary defence, or compose the
+disorders that oppressed the Syrian Christians. Nor were the Mussulman
+lords of Syria in much better condition. The noble dynasty of Saphadin had
+fallen a prey to the ruthless Mamelukes, and a blood-stained revolution in
+Egypt had placed the fierce Almalek Bibers on the throne. An excuse was
+not wanting for the invasion of Palestine, and the holy places were again
+bathed in the blood of their gallant defenders. The military orders were
+nearly annihilated, and the country was ravaged with fire and sword,
+almost to the very walls of Acre.
+
+About this time an event, no ways connected with the East, turned Edward's
+attention to the adoption of the cross. He had challenged Sir Francis to a
+game of chess. In the midst of the play, from an impulse unaccountable to
+himself, he rose and sauntered towards the embroidery frame, to relate to
+Eva his adventure with the page whose ingenuity had once saved his life.
+Sir Francis, curious to enjoy her artful evasions, followed him; and a
+moment after, the centre stone of the groined ceiling fell with a terrible
+crash on the very spot where they had been sitting.
+
+This almost miraculous preservation induced the prince to believe that he
+was destined to perform some great service for God. It recalled to his
+mind the benizon of our Lady at Walsingham, and, accompanied by Eleanora
+and a goodly train, he set off the following day to offer on her shrine at
+Norfolk an altar-cloth of gold brocade, and to crave her protection upon
+the expedition that he now seriously meditated.
+
+"Eva," said the princess, very gravely, when they sat one day alone, "thou
+knowest my lord contemplates a pilgrimage."
+
+"The saints preserve us!" said Eva. "Are there not holy places enough in
+England, but my lord must risk his life upon the sea, and encounter the
+black Infidels whose very presence is a terror?"
+
+"'Tis not alone to visit the holy places," replied Eleanora, "though that
+were a work well worthy knightly daring; but to redeem our christian
+brethren from the power of their foes, and to establish the kingdom of
+Christ, in the land where He died for his people."
+
+"And have not the holiest men and the bravest warriors in Europe, from
+Peter the Hermit to Fulk of Neuilly, and from Godfrey of Boulogne to the
+good St. Louis, all attempted it and failed? My lord, I warrant me, has
+been reading the tales of the romancers, or been deceived by the cunning
+manifestos of the pope," returned Eva.
+
+"Eva, dear one, when shall I teach thee to treat with respect those in
+authority."
+
+"I know that I am wrong," said Eva, "but why does not his Holiness take
+the cross himself, if he considers it such a pious work?"
+
+"And if the Sovereign Pontiff be one of those who say and do not, the
+Scriptures still require us to obey those who sit in Moses' seat," replied
+the queen.
+
+"Thy goodness reproveth me beyond thy words. I would that I could be
+always truthful and pure as thou," said Eva.
+
+"Nay," returned the queen, "I do but repeat that which the confessor this
+morning told me."
+
+"Forgive my irreverent prating," replied the maiden, "but it seemeth
+strange to me that one, who lacks the grace of christian charity himself,
+should dictate the devotions of my lady who is love itself."
+
+"Ah! partial one," returned the princess, "hadst thou lived in Beziers,
+St. Dominick would have had thy head for thy heresy. But seriously, my
+Eva, thy praises humble me, for methinks had my life really exhibited
+those graces for which thy partial fondness gives me credit, I might ere
+this have taught thy restless spirit the composure which trust in God
+always gives."
+
+Alarmed by the grave tone of her mistress, and anxious to conceal the
+emotions that welled up in her heart, Eva replied, with assumed gaiety,
+"Nay, what canst thou expect from a sea-sprite? Surely I must rise and
+fall like my native element."
+
+"Ah! darling, this is that which hath so often forced home upon me the
+thought I would not willingly apply to thee, 'Unstable as water, thou
+shalt not excel.' And this it is makes me solicitous to gain thy candid
+ear while I unfold my husband's plans." Tears rolled over the fair girl's
+cheeks, but she remained perfectly silent. "Sir Warrenne Bassingbourn,
+whose noble heart thou knowest well, hath demanded thee of Edward, being
+pleased to say that thy fair hand would be sufficient guerdon for his
+gallant conduct in the wars. My royal father will give thee fitting dowry,
+and I would see my sweet friend well bestowed with some worthy protector
+before I embark upon that voyage from which I may never return."
+
+"Thou embark for Palestine!" exclaimed Eva, forgetting her own brilliant
+prospects in the contemplation of her lady's purpose. "Bethink thee, my
+most honored mistress, of all the perils that beset thy course."
+
+"I have counted them over, one by one," replied the princess, calmly.
+
+"Thou hast thought of the dangers of the sea, perhaps, but rememberest
+thou the dreadful pestilence?--the horrors that Queen Margaret told?--how
+the leeches cut away the gums and cheeks of the sufferers, that they might
+swallow a drop of water to ease their torments?"
+
+"I remember all--I have considered well," returned the princess. "And this
+also do I know, that nothing ought to part those whom God hath joined; and
+the way to heaven is as near, if not nearer, from Syria as from England,
+or my native Spain."
+
+"Then I go with thee," said Eva, throwing herself at the feet of Eleanora,
+and pressing her lips upon her hand, "for if God hath not joined me to
+thee, he hath left me alone in the world. Thou hast been to me more than
+Naomi, and I shall not fail to thee in the duty of Ruth. Where thou goest
+I will go, where thou diest I will die, and there will I be buried. Thy
+people shall be my people, and thy God my God. The poor, lone Eva, whose
+mother lieth in the deep, deep sea, and whose father is perchance a
+wanderer or an outlaw, shall no more strive to veil the sadness of her
+orphan heart by the false smiles and assumed gaiety that grieve her
+truest, only friend. Henceforth I will learn the lesson thou hast, with
+such gentle patience and sweet example, ever strove to teach me."
+
+Eleanora mingled her tears with those of the impassioned maiden, and,
+anxious to end the painful scene, said, "Thou shalt go with me, love, to
+danger, and perhaps to death, since such is thine election; but what
+answer shall Edward return to Sir Warrenne Bassingbourn?"
+
+"Let my lord assure Sir Warrenne," said she, rising proudly, "that Eva de
+la Mer is not insensible of the honor he intends, but that she will never
+add the shamrock to a knight's escutcheon, till she knows by what title
+she claims the emblem."
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN.
+
+The benevolent Louis could not rest in the palace of Vincennes while the
+Mamelukes were slaughtering the Christians, or destroying their souls by
+forcing them to renounce their faith. In his protracted devotions in the
+Sainte Chapelle, he fancied he heard the groans of the dying in Palestine,
+and his soul was stirred for their relief. He convened the barons in the
+great hall of the Louvre, and entered bearing the holy crown of thorns. He
+took the cross in their presence, and made his sons and brothers take it,
+and after those no one dared refuse. Especially did he exert himself to
+gain the concurrence of the English. Edward joyfully assented to the
+proposal, and Eleanora, with her female train, departed in the spring of
+1270 for Bordeaux, where she superintended the preparations for the
+crusade campaign. Thither Edward followed her when his own arrangements
+were complete. From Bordeaux they sailed for Sicily, where they remained
+the winter, and where they heard the melancholy intelligence of the death
+of King Louis, who had advanced as far as Tunis on his way to Egypt. With
+his last breath, the sainted king whispered the name that was set as a
+seal upon his heart. "Oh! Jerusalem! Jerusalem!" His brother, Charles
+d'Anjou, King of Sicily, attempted to dissuade Edward from prosecuting the
+expedition. But the noble prince, striking his hand upon his breast,
+exclaimed, with energy, "Sangue de Dieu! if all should desert me, I would
+redeem Acre if only attended by my groom."
+
+When Edward turned the prow of his vessel up the Mediterranean, Acre was
+in a state of closer siege than it had formerly been, at the advent of
+Richard Coeur de Lion. But now it was the Mussulmans who lay encamped
+around its walls, and the Christians who feebly defended it from their
+fierce attack. The fate of the principality of Antioch was closely
+connected with that of the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem.
+
+The family of Bohemond, the first sovereign, who married Constantia,
+daughter of Phillip I., King of France, had reigned there in unbroken
+succession nearly to the period of the last Crusade--though the State was
+tributary to Frederic II. and to his son Conrad. The last king was made a
+knight by St. Louis. When the Egyptians commenced their conquests in
+Syria, Antioch surrendered without even the formality of a siege, and thus
+the link between the Greek Empire and Palestine was sundered, and all
+prospect of aid from that quarter entirely cut off.
+
+In Acre were assembled the last remains of all the Christian
+principalities of the East; the descendants of the heroes who, under
+Godfrey of Boulogne, took up their residence there; the remnants of the
+military friars who had so long and so strenuously battled for the
+ascendency of the "Hospital" and the "Temple" no less than for the
+redemption of the Holy Sepulchre; and all the proselytes who, through
+years of missionary efforts, had been gathered from the Pagan world. But
+the defenceless were more numerous than the defenders, and the factions
+which divided their councils would have ripened into treachery and ended
+in ruin, had it not been for the presence of Sir Henry Courtenay. From the
+day of his estrangement from Eva, he had bestowed his devotion upon those
+objects which he thought best calculated to fill the void in his heart. At
+the first news of the disasters in Palestine, he had assembled all the
+partisans and vassals of the noble house of Courtenay, and, furnishing
+them from his own purse, rallied them around the standard _or torteaux_,
+and led them to the rescue of their eastern brethren. He reached the city
+at the critical moment when, wearied with the strife, the Templars had
+begun to negotiate with Melech Bendocar upon the terms of a capitulation.
+His courteous and noble bearing harmonized the jarring spirits, and his
+ardent valor inspired them with new hopes, and enabled them to maintain
+the last stronghold in Palestine, till the arrival of Edward.
+
+The knowledge that a Plantagenet had come to lift the dishonored banner of
+the cross from the dust, spread terror and dismay among the ranks of the
+Moslem, the Sultan of Egypt fled from the city of Acre, all the Latins in
+Palestine crowded round the standard of the English prince, and Edward
+found himself at the head of seven thousand veteran soldiers. With this
+force he made an expedition to Nazareth, which he besieged with the most
+determined valor. In the fight, Edward was unhorsed, and might have
+perished in the m�l�e, had not Henry Courtenay relinquished his own steed
+for his master's use. The gallant youth then took his station by the side
+of a tall knight, whose falchion gleamed in the front of the battle like
+the sword of Azrael. They were the first to mount the scaling-ladders and
+drive the Moslem from the walls. Nazareth was thus, by one decisive blow,
+added to the dominions of Christendom.
+
+But the wing of victory was paralyzed by the scorching sun of Syria.
+Edward was prostrated by the acclimating fever that wasted the energies of
+Richard Coeur de Lion, and in the palace of Acre he longed, in vain, for
+the cooling draughts of iced sherbet, that the courteous Saladin had
+bestowed upon his royal predecessor. Sir Francis d'Essai had followed the
+fortunes of Edward, or rather of Eva, to Palestine, hoping to win the
+favor of his lady's smiles. The sight of de Courtenay roused all his
+former jealousy, and the cordial manner of Eva towards his rival almost
+drove him to desperation. Various circumstances had excited an
+apprehension in Edward's mind, that the count was seeking to make common
+cause with the Arabs, but as no tangible proof of treasonable practices
+appeared, the suspicion passed away.
+
+The illness of the monarch continuing, Eleanora determined to make a
+pilgrimage to the Jordan, to pray at the shrine of St. John for her
+husband's recovery, and, at his own earnest solicitations, Sir Francis was
+permitted to conduct the party. Eleanora afterwards remembered that he
+rode most of the way in close attendance upon Eva, and seemed engaged in
+earnest conversation, though several muttered oaths gave her the
+impression that the colloquy was not so satisfactory as he could have
+wished. They accomplished their pilgrimage safely, and commenced their
+return, when, stopping to refresh themselves in a small grove near Mount
+Tabor, a band of mounted Saracens fell upon them. There was a fierce
+struggle, and, for a few moments, the gleaming of swords and the flash of
+scimeters seemed to menace instant destruction. Both the assailants and
+defenders were scattered through the wood, and a few of the frantic
+females attempted flight. The Moslems at length retreated, but when the
+princess summoned her retainers to set forward, neither Sir Francis nor
+Eva could be found.
+
+Alarmed for the safety of her lovely companion, Eleanora caused the
+vicinity to be searched in every direction. Her palfrey was discovered
+idly cropping the grass, but all trace of its fair rider was lost. With a
+bursting heart the princess gave orders to proceed with all haste to Acre,
+that scouts in greater numbers might be sent in quest of the lost jewel.
+
+The state of Edward's health was such, that it was not deemed advisable to
+acquaint him with the melancholy result of their pious enterprise. But de
+Courtenay at once comprehended the plot. Such a m�l�e, without bloodshed,
+proved no hostile intention on the part of the Arabs, and there could be
+no doubt that Sir Francis was the instigator of the attack, and the
+possession of Eva, its object. His impatience to set off for her rescue
+did not prevent him from taking every precaution, both for the safety of
+Acre, and the success of his expedition. Eleanora, whose characteristic
+self-possession had left her at liberty to observe, described with the
+most scrupulous exactness the circumstances of the fray, and each trifling
+peculiarity in the appearance of the robbers.
+
+Fortified with this intelligence, he set off at once, with a select
+party, and a few hours after leaving Acre, was unexpectedly joined by the
+tall knight, and a reinforcement of converted _Pullani_. From him he
+learned that the Arabs had taken the direction of Mt. Lebanon, and from
+his knowledge of the Assassin band, his heart sunk within him, at the
+thought of what might have been the fate of his lovely Eva. In his anxiety
+for her rescue, all her faults were forgotten, and he only remembered the
+gentle kindness that characterized every action, and the nameless charm,
+that made her friends as numerous as her acquaintances. Prompted by these
+considerations, they spurred forward, stopping only to refresh their
+wearied steeds, till they began to wind among the rocky passes of Mt.
+Lebanon.
+
+The tall knight seemed perfectly familiar with the locality, and guided
+the pursuers directly to the tower, called The Vulture's Nest, which was
+the chief residence of the Old Man of the Mountain. There seemed to be an
+intelligence between the tall knight and all the marabouts who guarded the
+entrance to this "Castle Dangerous." Leaving their followers, the two
+leaders advanced, and the knight presenting a piece of shrivelled
+parchment to an Arab, who filled the office of porter, they were ushered
+into a long hall, at the door of which stood a swarthy Turk, partly
+leaning upon an immense battle-axe, the handle of which was stuck full of
+daggers. The Sheik received them with an obsequiousness scarcely to be
+expected from one of his bloody trade, and in answer to the knight's eager
+inquiries, motioned his attendant, and instantly that which had appeared a
+solid masonry, rolled silently back, as if by magic, revealing an
+apartment fitted up with every appliance of eastern magnificence. Before
+they recovered from their surprise, voices were heard from the farther
+extremity of the room, soft female pleading, and then the loud menacing
+tones of passion.
+
+"Eva, thou shalt be mine! I swear it by all the fiends of hell. Nay, anger
+me not by thy cold repulse. Thou art now beyond the protection of the
+smooth-tongued de Courtenay." He seized her arm as he spoke, and a
+piercing shriek rang through the hall.
+
+"Traitor! viper! release thy hold," exclaimed de Courtenay, springing
+forward and receiving the fainting girl in his arms.
+
+"And who art thou, that darest to cross the purpose of D'Essai? By what
+right dost thou interfere between me and my bride?"
+
+"By the right of a father," said a deep, stern voice at his side, and the
+tall knight advancing, tenderly clasped his unresisting daughter to his
+heart, and stood by like one lost in a tide of long-repressed emotions,
+while the two nobles fiercely drew their swords, and with deadly hatred,
+each sought the life of his foe. But the Sheik interposed, reminding them,
+that his castle walls were sacred, and that if his tributaries chose to
+slay one another, they must seek the open field for the pastime.
+Reluctantly, and with eyes that glared with baffled vengeance, the lords
+sheathed their swords, and the tall knight, laying his daughter gently
+upon a couch, spake a few words apart to the Sheik.
+
+The Old Man made a sign of assent, and instantly two Arabs sprang forward,
+seized D'Essai, bound him with thongs, and conveyed him from the
+apartment. Relieved of her fears, and reassured by the presence of a
+father, for whose affection she had always pined, and a lover, on whom she
+now contrived to smile in a way that completely satisfied his heart, Eva
+declared herself impatient to set off immediately for Acre. The Sheik
+pressed them to partake of some refreshments, and while Eva enjoyed a few
+moments' delicious conversation with her sire, a troop of slaves prepared
+and set before them an entertainment that would have done honor to the
+palace of a king. As the cavalcade set out, the tender heart of Eva was
+pained to see Sir Francis placed upon the back of a mule, blindfolded,
+with his face to the crupper, and his arms firmly pinioned to the body of
+the Arab who had him in charge.
+
+"Thou seemest on excellent terms with the Sheik of the mountain, noble
+Clare," said de Courtenay, as they rode along. "Had I not a guarantee in
+thy kindred," said he glancing at Eva, "I should somewhat challenge the
+familiarity that has given such success to our expedition."
+
+"Nay, and that thou well mightst," returned the Clare, "for the history of
+mankind does not furnish the idea of so daring and desperate a band as
+these assassins of Mt. Lebanon."
+
+"Heaven save us!" exclaimed Eva, her lips white with fear. "From what
+terrible fate have I been delivered! That vile Sir Francis declared that
+he had snatched me from the hostile Arabs, and would bring me safe to
+Acre, and that it was in pity for my fatigue he turned aside to a castle
+of christian natives. It makes me shudder, even now, to think that I have
+been in the presence of the man whose very name hath made me tremble, when
+beyond the sea, in merrie England."
+
+"Nay, love," said her father, tenderly, "the Sheik owed thee no malice,
+and might have rescued thee, had not Sir Francis been his tributary."
+
+"They exact, then, toll and custom?" said Courtenay, inquiringly.
+
+"Thou sayest well _exact_," replied the knight. "Didst not mark the
+battle-axe of the rude seneschal? 'Tis said the Danish weapon once
+belonged to the founder of the band, and each dagger stuck in the oaken
+helve, inscribed with a sentence in a different dialect, is significantly
+pointed against the prince or ruler who shall dare withhold tribute from
+their chief. One of my ancestors, I reck not whom, once resided in the
+vicinity of Croyland, and received from the venerable abbot the parchment
+which thou sawest me use with such marvellous effect. My ancestor fought
+in the first crusade under the Atheling, and, unlike most of his
+companions, returned in safety, whence a tradition arose in the family
+that the scroll was a charm.
+
+"On my setting out for the holy wars, I placed the heirloom in my
+_aumoni�re_, and had nearly forgotten its existence, when a startling
+circumstance recalled it to memory. My plan for the redemption of
+Palestine (for I have not been without ambition) was the organization of
+troops collected from the mixed races which are now an important part of
+the population. I was warned at the outset that tribute would be demanded
+by the chief of the assassins, but I steadily resisted every tax-gatherer
+who presented his claims, till I awoke one morning in my tent, surrounded
+by my faithful guard, and found a dagger stuck in the ground not two
+fingers' breadth from my head. I examined the inscription upon the weapon
+and found it the same with that upon the scroll, and forthwith determined
+to form the acquaintance of this rival chief. He respected my passport and
+showed me the wonders of his habitation, which heaven grant I may never
+see again. So perfect is the discipline of his followers, so invincible
+their faith, that every word of their chief is a law. He led me up a lofty
+tower, at each battlement of which stood two Fedavis. At a sign from him,
+two of these devotees flung themselves from the tower, breaking their
+bones, and scattering their brains upon the rock below. 'If you wish it,'
+said the chief, 'all these men shall do the same.' But I had seen enough,
+and I resolved from that hour never to tempt the enmity of the Old Man of
+the Mountain.
+
+"I have ransomed yon traitor, at heavy cost, for I would that Edward
+should know and punish his baseness. You are now beyond the reach of
+danger. I may not enter Acre--the reasons shall be told ere long.
+Farewell, my daughter, sweet image of thy sainted mother; guard my secret
+safely till we meet again. Adieu."
+
+He dashed the rowels into his steed, and was soon lost among the hills.
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+Meantime the palace of Acre had been witness of a fearful scene. Since the
+fall of Nazareth the Emir of Joppa had opened negotiations with Edward,
+professing a desire to become a christian convert. So eager was the king
+for this happy consummation that he cherished the deceitful hope, held out
+by the Infidel, and granted him every opportunity for gaining information
+concerning the tenets and practices of the church.
+
+Letters and messages frequently passed between them, and so accustomed had
+the English guards become to the brown haick and green turban of the
+swarthy Mohammedan, who carried the despatches, that they gave him free
+ingress to the city and admitted him to the palace, and even ushered him
+into the king's ante-chamber almost without question or suspicion.
+
+The day had been unusually sultry, even for the Syrian climate. The heat
+of the atmosphere somewhat aggravated the symptoms of the disease from
+which Edward was slowly recovering, and Eleanora had passed many weary
+hours in vain endeavors to soothe his restlessness and induce repose.
+
+As the sun declined a cooling breeze sprang up from the sea, seeming to
+the patient wife to bear healing on its wings, and the invalid, stretched
+on his couch before the casement, began at length to yield to the soothing
+influence of slumber, when the chamberlain entered to say that the
+emissary from Joppa waited an audience.
+
+"Now have I no faith in the conversion of this Infidel," said Eleanora,
+with an impatience unusual to her gentle spirit, "since his messenger
+disturbs my lord's repose."
+
+"Verily thou lackest thine accustomed charity," replied Edward. "I had
+thought to hear thee declare the conversion of this Saracen my crowning
+glory in Palestine. But thou art weary, my love. Go to thy rest, thy long
+vigils by my side have already gathered the carnation from thy cheek."
+
+"Yet, my lord--" interposed Eleanora.
+
+"Nay, nay," said Edward, "disturb not thy sweet soul; perchance more than
+my life depends upon the interview. I will straight dismiss the envoy, and
+then thou canst entrust my slumbers to the care of the faithful Eva."
+
+At the mention of Eva a new and not less painful train of associations was
+awakened in the mind of Eleanora, and with a heavy sigh she withdrew as
+the messenger entered.
+
+A moment after there were sounds as of a violent struggle and of the fall
+of a heavy body, and Eleanora, who had lingered in the ante-chamber,
+scarcely knowing why, rushed back into the apartment, followed by the
+chamberlain and guards.
+
+The assassin lay upon the floor in the agonies of death, his head broken
+by the oaken tressel from which she had just risen. Prostrate by his side
+lay the prince, in a state of insensibility, the blood faintly oozing from
+a wound in his arm. The princess comprehended at once the risk her husband
+had incurred, and shuddered with apprehension at the thought of the danger
+that yet might menace him; and while the attendants lifted him from the
+floor, she tenderly raised his arm to her lips, and began to draw the
+venom from the wound. But no sooner did Edward revive from his swoon,
+than, forcibly thrusting her aside, he exclaimed, "Eleanora my life,
+knowest thou not the dagger was poisoned?"
+
+"Even so, my lord," said she, with steadfast composure, still firmly
+persisting in her purpose, notwithstanding his constant remonstrance.
+
+The fearful intelligence of their leader's peril spread with lightning
+speed through the city, and self-sent messengers hurried in every
+direction, and summoned leeches and priests to cure or shrive the dying
+monarch. The Grand Master of the Temple, who was somewhat practised in the
+habits of the assassins, appeared in the midst of the exciting scene, and
+commending the timely application of Eleanora's loving lips, bound up the
+wound with a soft emollient, and prescribed for the princess an antidote
+of sovereign efficacy.
+
+Scarcely had silence resumed her dominion in the palace, when the porter
+was again aroused to admit de Courtenay and his rescued Eva. The traitor
+D'Essai had been lodged in the tower of Maledictum, to wait Edward's
+pleasure concerning him; and Eva, her heart overflowing with rapture in
+the assurance of Sir Henry's restored confidence, and the security of a
+father's love, passed the livelong night with Eleanora, in that free
+communion of soul which generous natures experience when the gushings of a
+common emotion overleap the barriers of conventionalism and formality.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Edward was himself again. The steady ray of reason had subdued the fevered
+gleam of his eye, and the ruddy hue of health replaced the pallor of
+wasting sickness upon his cheek. His athletic frame had wrestled with
+disease, and come off conqueror over weakness and pain; and as he assumed
+his seat of judgment, clad in his warlike panoply, the royal Plantagenet
+"looked every inch a king." The great church of Acre was thrown open, and
+knights in brilliant armor, and Templars and Hospitallers in the
+habiliments of their orders, bishops and priests in their sacred robes,
+and vassals in their holiday array, crowded up the long aisles, and filled
+the spacious choir, as though eager to witness some splendid ceremonial.
+But instead of gorgeous decorations, wainscot and window draped with black
+diffused a funereal gloom, and the solemn reverberation of the tolling
+bell seemed to sound a requiem over the grave of Hope.
+
+Sir Francis d'Essai had been tried in a council of his peers, and found
+guilty of treason to religion and knightly devoir; and this day, the
+anniversary of his admission to the rank of knighthood, his companions in
+arms, the vassals whom he despised, and all those actuated by curiosity or
+enmity, were assembled to witness his _degradation_. Eva shuddered at the
+terrible doom of her former lover, and de Courtenay, with instinctive
+delicacy, had obtained permission to absent himself from the scene on a
+visit to the Holy Sepulchre. As king-of-arms, and first in rank, it was
+the duty of Edward to preside over this fearful ceremony, which, by the
+true and loyal, was regarded as more terrible than death itself.
+
+At the first stroke of the great bell, the pursuivants, having robed Sir
+Francis for the last time in his knightly habiliments, conducted him from
+the _Cursed Tower_ toward the church. As they entered the door, the
+doleful peal sank in silence, and, after one awful moment, his
+fellow-knights, with broken voices, began to chant the burial service.
+
+An elevated stage, hung with black, had been erected in the centre of the
+nave, and upon this the pursuivants, whose business it was to divest him
+of every outward insignia of courage and truth, placed the culprit, in
+full view of all the vast concourse.
+
+When the chanting ceased, Prince Edward spoke in a voice that thrilled to
+every heart, "Sir Francis d'Essai! thou who didst receive the sword of
+knighthood from the hand of the good St. Louis, dost stand before us this
+day attaint of treason to thy God, thy truth, and the lady of thy love.
+Wherefore thy peers have willed that the order of knighthood, by the which
+thou hast received all the honor and worship upon thy body, _be brought to
+nought_, and thy state be undone, and thou be driven forth outcast and
+dishonored according to thy base deserts." Instantly the brazen tongue
+from the belfry ratified the fiat, and announced the hour of doom. At the
+word, the squire with trembling hand removed the helmet, the defence of
+disloyal eyes, revealing the pale and haggard countenance of the recreant
+knight, and the choir resumed the mournful dirge. Then each pursuivant
+advanced in his order to the performance of his unwelcome duty. One by one
+the knightly trappings of D'Essai were torn from his body, and as cuirass,
+greaves, brassarts, and gauntlets rang upon the pavements, the heralds
+exclaimed, "Behold the harness of a miscreant!"
+
+Trembling and bent beneath the weight of shame, the craven stood, while
+they smote the golden spurs from his heels, and brake his dishonored sword
+above his head, and the terrible requiem wailed over the perished emblems
+of his former innocence.
+
+The Grand Master of the Templars then entered upon the stage, bearing a
+silver basin filled with tepid water, and the herald, holding it up,
+exclaimed, "By what name call men the knight before us?"
+
+The pursuivants answered, "The name which was given him in baptism,--the
+name by which his father was known,--the name confirmed to him in chivalry
+is Sir Francis d'Essai."
+
+The heralds again replied, "Falsehood sits upon his tongue and rules in
+his heart; he is miscreant, traitor, and Infidel."
+
+Immediately the Grand Master, in imitation of baptism, dashed the water in
+his face, saying, "Henceforth be thou called by thy right name, Traitor!"
+
+Then the heralds rang out a shrill note upon the trumpets, expressive of
+the demand, "What shall be done with the false-hearted knave?" Prince
+Edward in his majesty arose, and in a voice agitated with a sense of the
+awful penalty, replied, "Let him with dishonor and shame be banished from
+the kingdom of Christ--Let his brethren curse him, and let not the angels
+of God intercede for him."
+
+Immediately each knight drew his sword, and presenting its gleaming point
+against the now defenceless D'Essai, crowded him down the steps to the
+altar, where the pursuivants seized him, and forced him into his coffin,
+and placed him on the bier, and the attendant priests completed the
+burial-service over his polluted name and perjured soul. At a sign from
+the king, the bearers took up the bier, and all the vast congregation
+followed in sad procession, to the city-gates, where they thrust him out,
+a thing accursed, while the great bell from the lofty tower of the
+cathedral told the tale of his infamy in tones of terrible significance,
+"Gone--gone--gone--virtue, faith, and truth; lost--lost--lost--honor,
+fame, and love." From Carmel's hoary height to Tabor's sacred top, each
+hallowed hill and vale reverberated the awful knell, "Gone and lost--lost
+and gone"--and the breeze that swept the plain of Esdraelon caught up the
+dismal echo, and seemed hurrying across the Mediterranean to whisper to
+the chivalry of Europe the dreadful story of his _degradation_.
+
+Stung by the weight of woe that had fallen upon him, the miserable D'Essai
+rose and gazed across the plain. An arid waste spread out before him like
+the prospect of his own dreary future, blackened and desolate by the reign
+of evil passions.
+
+Life, what had it been to him? A feverish dream, a burning thirst, a
+restless, unsatisfied desire! Virtue--honor--truth--idle words, their
+solemn mockery yet rang in his ears. He ran--he flew--anywhere, anywhere
+to flee the haunting thoughts that trooped like fiends upon his track.
+
+He neared the banks of the river, its cooling waters rolling on in their
+eternal channel, promised to allay his fever and bury his dishonored name
+in oblivion. He plunged in--that ancient river swept him away, the river
+Kishon, and as he sank to rise no more, a deep voice exclaimed, "So perish
+thine enemies, O Lord!" It was the voice of Dermot de la Clare, who,
+passing southward at the head of his troop, from the opposite bank became
+an involuntary witness of the frantic suicide.
+
+The week following the ceremony last described, Eva entered the apartment
+of Eleanora, each fair feature radiant with pleasure, bearing in her hand
+a carrier-pigeon, whose fluttering heart betokened the weary length of way
+that had tried the strength of its glossy pinions.
+
+"Whence hast thou the dove, and what is his errand?" exclaimed the
+princess, equally eager for any intelligence that might affect the fate of
+the East.
+
+"A Pullani brought it to the palace," she replied, and hastily cutting the
+silken thread, she detached a letter from beneath the wing of the bird. It
+contained but these words: "The Sultan of Egypt is hard pressed by the
+Moslems. It is a favorable moment to commence negotiations."
+
+The seal of the Shamrock was the only signature, but Eva well understood
+that the Clare had been engaged in devising an honorable scheme to release
+Edward from an expedition which could not result in glory to the christian
+arms.
+
+The prince had now been fourteen months in the Holy Land. His army, never
+sufficient to allow of his undertaking any military enterprise of
+importance, was reduced by sickness, want and desertion, and he therefore
+gladly accepted the hint of his unknown friend, and despatched de
+Courtenay to Egypt with proposals of peace.
+
+It was a glad errand to the knight, though the timid and (she could not
+conceal it) loving Eva warned him most strenuously against the artifices
+of the Sultan, Al Malek al Dhaker Rokneddin Abulfeth Bibers al Alai al
+Bendokdari al Saheli, whose name, at least, she said, was _legion_.
+
+"And were he the prince of darkness himself, the love of my guardian Eva
+would protect me against his wiles," gallantly returned the count.
+
+"Alas!" said Eva, humbly, "thou little knowest the broken reed on which
+thou leanest. My weak will mocks my bravest resolutions, and makes me feel
+the need of a firmer spirit for my guide."
+
+"Heaven grant that I may one day receive the grateful office," returned
+her lover.
+
+"Heaven help me become worthy of thy noble devotion," said Eva,
+remembering with regret the cruel test to which she had subjected his
+generous affection.
+
+De Courtenay found little difficulty in settling the terms of a ten years'
+truce with the formidable Mameluke; for the Sultan had far greater reason
+to fear his Moslem than his Christian foes.
+
+There was no occasion for the farther sojourn of the English in Palestine;
+and Edward, having accomplished nothing more than his great-uncle, and
+leaving a reputation scarcely inferior to Coeur de Lion, departed with
+his retinue for Europe.
+
+Notwithstanding the peaceful termination of the expedition, this crusade,
+the last of the chivalrous offspring of Feudalism and Enthusiasm, like its
+elder brethren, found a premature grave in darkness and gloom.
+
+The son of St. Louis, Philip the Hardy, returning from Tunis, deposited
+five coffins in the crypts of St. Denis. They contained the remains of his
+sainted father, Louis IX., of his brother Tristan, of his brother-in-law,
+Thibaut, descendant of Adela, of his beloved queen and their infant son.
+Weak and dying himself, he was almost the only heir of his royal family.
+The ambitious Charles d'Anjou, the rival and the murderer of Corradino,
+grandson of Frederic and Violante, plundered the stranded vessels of the
+returning crusaders, and thus enriched his kingdom of Sicily, by the great
+shipwreck of the empire and the church.
+
+Death, too, had been busy in the palace of Windsor. The two beautiful
+children of Edward and Eleanora had been laid in the tomb, and their
+grandfather, Henry III., with their aunt Margaret, Queen of Scotland, soon
+followed them to the great charnel-house of England, Westminster Abbey.
+The melancholy tidings of these repeated bereavements met the royal pair
+in Sicily, and cast a pall over the land to which they had anticipated a
+triumphant return.
+
+The great problem of the conquest of Palestine was not yet solved to the
+mind of Edward, but the progress of the age trammelled his powers and
+limited his ambitious aspirations. The orders of knighthood, exhausted by
+the repeated drafts made upon their forces, by these eastern expeditions,
+began to decline in the scale of power; and the lower ranks, finding new
+avenues to wealth in productive labor and commerce, began the great battle
+with military organizations and hereditary aristocracy, which has been
+going on with increased advantage to the working classes from the middle
+ages to the present glorious era.
+
+Gregory X. made some feeble attempts to rouse Europe once more for the
+redemption of the Holy Sepulchre, but his earnest appeal received no
+response from the sovereigns of Christendom, and within three years the
+last strain of the great anthem "Hierosolyma liberati" that began with the
+swelling tones of mustering warriors and sounded on through two centuries
+in the soul-stirring harmonies of jubilante peans, alternating with the
+mournful measures of funeral dirges, ended in a last sad refrain over the
+diminished remnants of the military orders, who, in a vain defence of
+Acre, dyed the sands of Syria with their blood.
+
+From Sicily the royal crusaders proceeded to Rome, where they were
+cordially welcomed and splendidly entertained by Pope Gregory X., who,
+having long filled the office of confessor in their household, had been
+recalled from the Holy Land, to occupy the chair of St. Peter.
+
+In the train of the King of England was his cousin, Henry, son of Richard
+of Cornwall, a gallant young noble who had led the detachment that opposed
+the band of Leicester, and, by his warlike prowess, greatly contributed to
+the successful issue of the sanguinary conflict at Evesham. His zeal and
+loyalty during this doubtful period, commended him to the confidence of
+Edward, and he had still more endeared himself to his royal patron, by his
+ardor in battling against the Infidels, and his brilliant achievements at
+the siege of Nazareth.
+
+The young Henry was the affianced husband of the Princess Mary, in
+consequence of which, Eleanora had admitted him to an intimacy, and
+evinced for him an affection almost equal to that enjoyed by the royal
+children themselves.
+
+During the stay of the king at Rome, the devoted Henry obtained permission
+to make a pilgrimage to a celebrated shrine near Naples, for the
+consecration of sundry relics which he had collected in Palestine. As he
+knelt at the foot of the altar and closed his eyes in prayer, he was not
+aware of the entrance of his mortal enemy, Guy de Montfort, son of the
+Earl of Leicester. With stealthy tread the assassin approached, bent over
+the suppliant youth, and exclaiming, "Die! murderer of my father!" thrust
+his sword into the heart, beating warm with life and hope, and sprinkled
+the holy relics with the blood of another martyr. With a vengeful frown of
+satisfied hate, he wiped the sword, returned it to its scabbard, and
+strode from the church. One of his knights, fit follower of such a master,
+inquired as he rejoined his troop,
+
+"What has my lord Guy de Montfort done?"
+
+"Taken vengeance," was the fiendish reply.
+
+"How so?" rejoined the knight. "Was not your father, the great Leicester,
+dragged a public spectacle, by the hair of the head through the streets of
+Evesham?"
+
+Without a word the demon turned to his yet more malignant triumph, and
+seizing the victim, whose pale lips yet moved with the instinct of prayer,
+dragged him from the attendants, who were vainly striving to staunch the
+life-blood welling from the wound, to the public place, and left him a
+ghastly spectacle to the horror-stricken crowd.
+
+It was now necessary for the murderers to think of self-defence. The
+English retainers of Earl Henry had raised the cry of revenge, and the
+Italian populace excited by the fearful tragedy that had been enacted in
+the very presence of the virgin and child, began to run together and join
+the parties of attack or defence. The train of de Montfort immediately
+raised the shout of, "d'Anjou! Down with the Ghibelines!" and when the
+armed forces of the Duke Charles rode into the midst of the throng to
+investigate the cause of the tumult, Sir Guy joined their ranks, and
+departed for Naples under their escort.
+
+Tidings of this melancholy event were soon carried to Rome, and Edward
+immediately appealed to the pope for justice upon the murderer. Gregory,
+who feared to offend Edward, and who was almost equally alarmed at the
+prospect of a rupture with the tyrant of Sicily, had recourse to various
+ingenious methods of delay. Finding however that the King of England had
+determined to postpone the obsequies of his noble relative, until a curse
+was pronounced upon the assassin, he was forced to the exercise of
+ecclesiastical measures.
+
+Clothed in his pontifical robes, Gregory X. entered the church at
+Orvietto, and proceeding to the high altar, took the bible in his hand,
+and, after setting before the awestruck assembly the guilt of the culprit,
+proceeded thus to fulminate his anathema against the assassin.
+
+"For the murder of Henry of Germany, slain before the shrine of St. Mary,
+in the face of day, we lay upon Guy de Montfort the curse of our Holy
+Church. In virtue of the authority bestowed upon us as the successor of
+St. Peter, we do pronounce him excommunicate, and alien to all the
+privileges and consolations which our blessed religion affords. We permit
+every one to seize him--we order the governors of provinces to arrest
+him--we place under interdict all who shall render him an asylum--we
+prohibit all Christians from lending him aid, and we dispense his vassals
+from all oaths of fidelity they have made to him; may none of the
+blessings of this holy book descend upon him, and may all the curses
+contained therein, cleave unto him;" and he dashed the bible to the
+ground.
+
+Lifting the waxen taper, he continued, "Let the light of life be withdrawn
+from him, and let his soul sink in _eternal night_." With the word he
+threw the candle upon the pavement, and instantly every light in the
+church was extinguished, and amid the gloom, the trembling congregation
+heard the voice of the pontiff, ringing out full and clear, "I curse him
+by book, by candle, and by bell." A solemn toll proclaimed the
+malediction, and amid the darkness and the silence, the multitude crept
+one by one from the church, as though fearful of being implicated in the
+terrible denunciation.
+
+Edward, having thus placed his cousin under the ban of the church,
+disdained to persecute him with farther vengeance, and taking an amicable
+leave of the pontiff continued his route to France. Learning that England
+was quiet under the regency of the queen-mother, he improved the
+opportunity to make the tour of his southern dominions, and, in gallant
+sports and knightly adventures passed several months upon the continent.
+
+Edward and Eleanora arrived in England, August 2d, 1273. The English
+welcomed their return with the greatest exultation. Both houses of
+parliament assembled to do honor to their entrance into London, and the
+streets were hung with garlands of flowers and festoons of silk; while the
+wealthy inhabitants, showered gold and silver on the royal retinue as they
+passed.
+
+Preparations were made for their coronation on a scale of magnificence
+hitherto unrivalled. Fourteen days were spent in erecting booths for the
+accommodation of the populace, and temporary kitchens for the purpose of
+roasting oxen, sheep, and fowls, and preparing cakes and pastry, for the
+expected banquet. Hogsheads of Bordeaux wine, and pipes of good stout
+English ale, were ranged at convenient intervals, and flagon-masters
+appointed to deal them out to the thirsty crowds.
+
+The night before the expected ceremony, the presumptive king and queen
+were indulging in reminiscences of the early days of their married life,
+and comparing those troublous times, with the splendid future that seemed
+to stretch in bright perspective before them.
+
+"Methinks, sweet life," said Edward, tenderly taking her hand, "those days
+when thou dwelt a fugitive in the wilds of Devonshire, and I languished
+within the walls of Kenilworth, gave little promise of our present
+peaceful state."
+
+"True, my lord, yet had I not dwelt in the humble hamlet, I might never
+have known the pure loyalty of English hearts."
+
+"By our Lady, thou hast a better alchemy than thy clerkly brother, the
+Castilian monarch, for his science finds only _gold_ in everything, while
+thy diviner art finds _good_ in all, and loyalty in outlaws."
+
+"I remember me," replied Eleanora, with an arch smile, "there was a
+gallant outlaw, in whom my woman's heart discerned every noble and
+knightly quality. But small credit can I claim for my science, since it
+was the alchemy of love that revealed his virtues."
+
+"No other alchemy hath e'er found good in man, and, sinner as I am, I
+might fear the judgment of thy purity, did not the same sweet charity that
+discovers undeveloped virtues transmute even errors into promises of good.
+To-morrow, God willing, it will be in Edward's power to constitute
+Eleanora the dispenser of bounty. Whom would she first delight to honor?"
+
+"Since the prince of outlaws puts it in my power," said Eleanora, with a
+look of grateful affection, "I would e'en reward those bold foresters who
+delivered my Edward from the enemies that sought his life."
+
+"Thou sayest well, dearest," replied Edward, "and now that thou remindest
+me of my escape from thraldom, I pray our Lady of Walsingham aid me to
+discharge an obligation that hath long laid heavy on my conscience.
+Yesternight, methought I saw, among the yeomen busy in the preparations
+for the approaching pageant, the tall outlaw, who, in his gown and cowl,
+one moment gave me priestly benizon, and the next, advised me of
+Leicester's movements, with the sagacity of a practised warrior. Such
+length of limb and strength of arm, once seen, does not escape my memory;
+and, if my eye deceive me not, 'twas he, with Courtenay, who led the
+assault at Nazareth; and furthermore, it runneth in my mind, that I have
+seen him elsewhere and in other guise."
+
+"Mayhap it was the tall knight who defended Eleanora at the Jews'
+massacre, till thy arrival dispersed the rabble mob," returned the queen.
+
+"By the soul of St. Bartholomew thou divinest well," said the king; "and,
+since thou knowest the monk, perhaps thou canst give me tidings concerning
+the shrewd-witted boy, who managed to gain speech with me, when all my
+partisans had failed. So fair a squire must, ere this, have earned the
+spurs of knighthood; and much would it pleasure me, to lay the accolade
+upon his shoulder, in return for his dextrous plotting. That the lad
+pertained not to the household of Mortimer, I knew right well; but whether
+he were a retainer of the bold outlaw who organized the royal forces, or
+some young noble whose love of adventure set him upon the work, I could
+never yet decide."
+
+"And if he were retainer of the outlaw?" said Eleanora, inquiringly.
+
+"My gratitude should none the less reward the service of one who risked
+his life for mine," replied the king.
+
+A smile of satisfaction beamed on the countenance of Eleanora, and opening
+her gypsire, and taking thence the small ivory whistle, she despatched an
+attendant with the token to Eva.
+
+Shortly after, the conversation was interrupted by the entrance of an
+attendant, who announced that a page from Lady Mortimer craved an audience
+of his majesty.
+
+"Let him be at once admitted," said Edward, casting a significant glance
+at Eleanora.
+
+The door was thrown open, and the beautiful boy, whose image at that
+moment filled the mind of the king, entered with trembling step, and
+proceeding straight to the monarch, knelt at his feet, and with clasped
+hands began to plead earnestly for the pardon of the banished Earl Dermot
+de la Clare.
+
+"How is this?" exclaimed Edward, gazing with astonishment, first upon the
+kneeling page, and then upon his wife. "How is this? by the Holy Rood, my
+heart misgives me, thou art witch as well as alchemist. Here is the
+identical page I have vainly sought for nine long years, conjured up by
+the magic of an ivory whistle."
+
+"Earl Dermot de la Clare!" said he to Eva, lifting the boy tenderly from
+his knees, "why has the banished outlaw sought thy fair lips to plead his
+cause? Let himself present his claims to our clemency, and we will promise
+justice for ourself, and perchance a better guerdon from our loving
+spouse, who would ever have mercy rejoice above judgment.
+
+"And thou, sweet dove," said he, gazing admiringly upon the doubting Eva,
+"'who wearest the badge of Mortimer,' and whose 'giddy brain recks not of
+politics,' demandest manor and lordship for an outlawed man! Didst crave
+it for thyself, not twice the boon could make me say thee nay."
+
+"'Tis for myself I crave the boon, royal liege," said Eva, falling again
+upon her knees. "Dermot de la Clare is the sire of thy poor orphan
+charge."
+
+"Thy sire!" exclaimed the prince, greatly moved. "How knowest thou this?"
+
+"First, by the story of the rescued sailor, who was one of the band with
+which my father thought to regain possession of his fief, when the act of
+attainder had branded him an outlaw. He it was with the cartman's frock,
+who waited our coming at the cross-road on the memorable day of my lord's
+escape. Next, by the shamrock, the ancient cognizance of the house of
+Strongbow, and by the rose of Sharon, which my mother wrought upon the
+scarf in memory of her husband's pilgrimage. But Eva finds the strongest
+proof in the promptings of her heart; for from the day since she rested in
+his arms at London bridge, to the time when he drew her from the Vulture's
+Nest at Mount Lebanon, she hath trusted in his love, and obeyed his
+bidding, with such confidence as none but a father could inspire."
+
+"Thy eloquence hath proved thy cause," said the king, raising her and
+seating her by his side; "and were I a needy knight, requiring royal
+favor, I'd bribe thy pleading eyes to back my suit, and never fear
+denial."
+
+Eva essayed to stammer forth her thanks, but tears choked her utterance,
+and Eleanora, pitying her confusion, reassured her with playful allusions
+to her childish aspirations for the sovereignty of Ireland.
+
+"I fear me," said Edward, gazing upon her varying color with admiration,
+"that to reward all my subjects and vassals, according to their merit,
+will exhaust my exchequer. The audacity of these benefactors exceeds all
+belief! It was but this morning that one more bold than his fellows
+demanded the fairest flower of our court as a recompense for his knightly
+service in the eastern campaign."
+
+The conscious Eva looked imploringly at her mistress, who graciously
+accorded her permission to depart, while Edward continued his raillery.
+
+"I referred the gallant unto thee, love," said he, "for he must be a brave
+man who dares transfer the possessions of his wife."
+
+"To the marriage of de Courtenay with our beautiful ward," returned the
+queen, "there riseth but one objection. From the similarity of her name,
+she ever fancied herself the heiress of the former King of Leinster, and
+hath cultivated a taste for decorations befitting royalty. I fear me that
+Sir Henry, being but the younger branch of his house, will scarce be able
+to maintain a state suited to her desires."
+
+"God grant she have not the ambition of Earl Strigul, else might we find
+it necessary to do battle for our fief of Ireland," said Edward.
+
+"Nay, from the ambition of Eva, thou hast nought to fear; her heart would
+incline her rather to bestow benefices upon her friends, than to hoard
+treasures for herself. Therefore it is that I desire for her worthy
+alliance and princely dower," returned the queen.
+
+"Thou hast it in thy power, best one, to obviate thine own objections and
+to bless the loyal hamlet that protected thy seclusion, by giving them so
+gracious a mistress."
+
+Tears of gratitude filled the eyes of the queen, as looking affectionately
+upon her husband she replied, "How lost were Eleanora to the love of God
+did she not daily thank Him for making her the wife of one who finds his
+own happiness in promoting the welfare of his subjects."
+
+"Not all his subjects regard him with thy partial fondness," said the
+king. "Our brother, Alexander of Scotland, has refused to renew the oath
+of homage, which his ancestor made to Henry II. for his crown, and will
+attend our coronation only as kingly guest; while the bold Llewellyn
+refuses to set foot in London."
+
+"The troublous period through which the realm so lately passed, pleads
+their best excuse for these unjust suspicions," suggested the queen. "When
+the wisdom and magnanimity of my Edward shall become known, they will
+learn to trust their interest in his hands with the confidence of
+vassals."
+
+"Thou would'st fain persuade me," said Edward, laughing, "that I may love
+my enemies."
+
+"I would persuade thee," said Eleanora, with a smile of confident
+affection, "to make thine enemies thy friends. Suspicion ever breeds
+hatred. There be many warm, true hearts in England, at this hour, who,
+having followed the fortunes of Leicester, for what they deemed the public
+good, are withheld by fear, from uttering the shout of loyalty."
+
+"And how would'st thou purpose that I should bind them to their
+allegiance?" said Edward, curiously.
+
+"By the same rule that our blessed Lord restored this fallen world,"
+returned the queen, timidly. "He declareth his love toward us, even while
+we are sinners, and thus we learn to confide in Him."
+
+"Verily, there seems truth in what thou sayest," said the king,
+thoughtfully; "but it were a thing unheard of--for a ruler to illustrate
+the principles of forgiveness, and place his kingdom at the mercy of
+traitors."
+
+"The good St. Louis," urged Eleanora, almost fearful of pressing the
+matter too far, "leaned ever to the side of mercy; and no king of France
+hath enjoyed a more peaceful or glorious reign."
+
+"It shall be as thou sayest," said Edward, after a pause, during which he
+gazed upon her pleading countenance, whose every feature mirrored the
+intense interest of her heart in the welfare of their subjects, and the
+honor of her lord. "It shall be as thou sayest. Heaven cannot suffer me to
+err in this matter, since it hath sent an angel for my counsellor." Then
+resuming his accustomed tone of affectionate pleasantry, he added, "Thou
+think'st it well, dearest, for a warrior like myself to perform some work
+of supererogation, to cancel the sins into which my love of power may yet
+lead me. But small merit may I claim for my clemency, since it were not in
+the nature of man to withstand the sweet earnestness with which thou dost
+enforce thy gentle counsels."
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+THE CORONATION.
+
+Nearly a century had elapsed since an occasion like the present had called
+together the different ranks and orders of the English population. Native
+Britons, Saxons, Danes and Normans, hereditary enemies, had, by years of
+unavoidable intercourse, and by a community of interests, been fused into
+one mass, and now vied with each other in manifesting their loyalty to a
+king in whose veins mingled the several streams of the great Scandinavian
+race. The independent Franklin, the stout yeoman from the country, and the
+rich citizen and industrious artisan, the curious vassal, the stately
+knight, and lordly baron, alike instinct with love for feasting and
+holiday show, hastened to witness the ceremony.
+
+The coronation of John had been unpopular, both from the well known
+malevolence of his disposition and the rival claims of his injured nephew.
+That of Henry III. took place in a remote part of the kingdom, when a
+portion of the island was in the possession of the French, and the minds
+of the people were distracted between a fear of foreigners and a
+detestation of the reigning family. Not a man in the realm, therefore,
+could remember so grand a spectacle as the coronation of Edward and the
+beautiful Eleanora of Castile.
+
+When the crown was placed upon their heads by the Archbishop of
+Canterbury, a murmur of joy arose from the assembled throngs; but when the
+herald stood forth and proclaimed an _indemnity_ to all those who had been
+engaged in the civil commotions of the former reign, and the repeal of the
+cruel statutes, that had made so many worthy citizens outlaws and aliens
+in the sight of their English homes, the enraptured multitude made the
+welkin ring with shouts of--Long live King Edward!--Long live our gracious
+Queen Eleanora!
+
+Tears dimmed the beautiful eyes of the gratified queen, for she read in
+the enthusiastic acclamations with which the act of Indemnity was
+received, an incontrovertible testimony to the wisdom of the course she
+had so warmly advocated, and an earnest of the peace which this display of
+her husband's magnanimity would secure to his realm.
+
+Foremost among those who hailed his accession, Edward discerned the
+commanding figure of the outlaw, who had so long and so successfully
+eluded his search. No sooner was he seated upon his throne, than he
+commissioned the lord-high seneschal to cause the mysterious personage to
+approach. As he came forward, and knelt at the monarch's feet, Eleanora
+recognized the tall knight to whom she owed her own life and her husband's
+liberty, and heard him with more pleasure than surprise announced as
+Dermot de la Clare.
+
+"Rise, noble Clare!" exclaimed Edward, "to thee thy monarch owes his life
+and the security of his realm, and the honors and titles of thy house are
+henceforth restored, to which we add the forfeited manors of Leicester,
+not more a recompense for thy knightly service than a guerdon for the
+sweet affection of thy lovely daughter." Scarcely had Earl Dermot retired
+among the nobles, who crowded around him with words of congratulation,
+when the monarch summoned Henry de Courtenay, and, in consideration of his
+services in the holy wars, created him Earl of Devon--whispering aside to
+the conscious noble, "Our gracious queen, who excelleth in charity, will
+give thee pity and dole of that which she hath in royal keeping, and for
+which thou wilt doubtless be more grateful than for all the lands of which
+we have this day made thee lord."
+
+Other faithful vassals of the crown were rewarded, and then the joyous
+multitude adjourned to the feasting and games, with which the day was
+closed; and the marriage of Eva and Sir Henry, which took place the
+following day, added another f�te to the coronation festivities.
+
+Among the various disorders to which the kingdom had fallen a prey during
+the weak and uncertain rule of Henry III., none excited more universal
+dissatisfaction, than the adulteration of the coin. As the Jews were the
+principal money-lenders in the kingdom all embarrassments of this kind,
+were by common consent attributed to their characteristic avarice.
+
+Edward's crusade to the Holy Land, had not softened his prejudices towards
+this people, who, more than the Infidels poured contempt upon the rites of
+Christianity. In his zeal for the public welfare he proscribed the
+obnoxious race and confiscated their estates to the crown, and banished no
+less than fifteen thousand valuable inhabitants from the kingdom.
+Notwithstanding these rigorous measures he still retained in his employ
+certain of the hated sect to assist in the correction of the currency.
+
+The trivial circumstance of a change in the form of the penny gave rise to
+some of the most important occurrences that transpired during his eventful
+reign.
+
+The Welsh, deriving their ancestry from the early Britons, placed the most
+implicit confidence in the prophecies of Merlin, which in an oracular
+manner set forth the destiny of the nation. One of these half-forgotten
+traditions, asserted that when the English penny should become round, a
+prince, born in Wales, should be the acknowledged king of the whole
+British island. No sooner, therefore, had the new coin begun to circulate
+west of the Menai, than the bards commenced to ring their changes upon the
+mysterious circumstance, and to inflate the minds of their countrymen with
+the hopes of conquest. The successes of Llewellyn, their prince, in
+reconquering all the territory that had been wrested from them by the
+Normans, gave great encouragement to their ambition.
+
+Not availing himself of the act of indemnity the Welsh prince still
+maintained his allegiance to the party of the Montforts, and was plotting
+with the remaining adherents of that powerful faction for assistance from
+France. To intercept these hostile communications, Edward ordered his
+fleet into the channel under the command of Earl Dermot de la Clare, both
+to testify a regard for the Irish noble, and a confidence in his
+abilities. De Courtenay was residing with his bride at Exeter, when he
+received intelligence that the Earl of Clare was on his way to pay them a
+visit, and the following day Eva welcomed her father to her new home. The
+earl was accompanied by a lady whom he intrusted to his daughter's care,
+desiring that she might be kept in safety till Edward's pleasure
+concerning her should be known. At first the fair captive was
+inconsolable, but she at length found some alleviation of her grief in
+recounting her eventful history in the sympathizing ear of Eva, now
+Marchioness of Devon. The Lady Eleanora was the only daughter of Simon de
+Montfort, and inherited the firm and relentless characteristics of her
+house, which the sedulous instructions of her mother Eleanor Plantagenet
+had somewhat softened and subdued. Her brother Guy, having gained
+absolution from the terrible malediction of the church, had sought to
+carry out his plans of vengeance by making an alliance with the Welsh, and
+to cement the treaty, he had consented to bestow his sister upon
+Llewellyn, and the young lady was on her way to meet her bridegroom when
+her vessel was intercepted, and herself made prisoner by Earl Clare. Her
+position as the prospective Queen of Wales more than the enmity of her
+brother, made her fear the severity of her cousin, the King of England,
+but Eva assured her that the sentiments of Edward were characterized by
+the most generous chivalry, and that no feelings of malice or revenge
+could actuate him to any ungallant procedure against her. Notwithstanding
+the confidence with which Eva made this asseveration, the fair bride of
+Llewellyn listened with a faint smile of incredulity, and answered with a
+sigh, "Ah! lady, the poor daughter of de Montfort covets thine ignorance
+of the dark passions that rankle in the human breast!" "Thy fair young
+face gives little evidence of experience in worldly ills," returned Eva,
+with some surprise. "Events, not years, confer experience," replied Elin,
+"and young as I am, I have marked cherished resentment ripen into deadly
+enmity. The unjust aspersion of Henry III. wrought upon the mind of my
+father, till it well nigh ruined the broad realm of England. Thou canst
+never know the bitter sorrow that weighed upon my mother's heart during
+all the cruel strife between her husband and her brother. I well
+remember," said the agitated girl, proceeding impetuously with her sad
+reminiscences, "the fatal day of Evesham--how, chilled with fear at my
+mother's agony, I laid aside my childish sports and crept cowering to a
+corner of her apartment in Kenilworth castle, while she paced the floor
+beseeching heaven alternately to spare her husband and save her brother.
+O! it was terrible," added she, pressing her hands upon her eyes, while
+the tears gushed between her fingers, "when my brother Guy rushed in with
+the tidings of our father's defeat and death, and took his awful oath of
+vengeance." "Speak not of it," exclaimed Eva, shuddering in her turn at
+the recollection of the murder of young Henry, and the subsequent anathema
+pronounced upon Sir Guy. "It is little pleasure to recall these dreadful
+scenes," said Elin, gloomily, "but thou mayst learn from my brief history
+how little hope I have in one who aspires to power or has aught to
+revenge." "But her gracious majesty Queen Eleanora," said Eva, "will
+delight to soothe thy sorrows, and the sweet companionship of her
+daughters will win thee to happier thoughts." "Nay, sweet lady, think me
+not ungrateful that I cannot trust thy kind presages. Whether it be a
+retribution, I know not, but since my grandsire's crusade against the
+Albigeois, evil has been the lot of our house. Hope, that seems ever to
+light the pathway of the young, hath never smiled on me." This despondency
+continued to depress the mind of the captive during all the period of her
+residence at Exeter, nor could Eva's ingenuity in devising schemes for her
+diversion, nor hopeful predictions concerning her future happiness with
+Llewellyn lure her to happier thoughts. But the courteous manner of
+Edward, when he came to receive his cousin and conduct her to Windsor,
+confirmed these promises; and the unaffected kindness of Eleanora, while
+it soothed her afflictions, had the effect to awaken some degree of
+confidence in the mind of the despairing maiden.
+
+The capture of his bride infuriated Llewellyn beyond all bounds, and led
+him to invade England with the fiercest valor. His efforts were repulsed
+by the gallant conduct of the troops under the command of the Earl of
+Devon, and after four years of fruitless endeavor he consented to the
+required homage, and came to Worcester to claim his bride.
+
+The cherishing sympathy of Eleanora had not been lost upon the heart of
+her stricken ward, and these years of tranquillity, the first the orphan
+Elin had enjoyed, so enhanced to her mind the blessings of peaceful
+security that she steadfastly refused to fulfil her engagement with
+Llewellyn, without his solemn pledge of continued amity to the English
+nation. When the bridegroom finding all other expedients in vain consented
+to the required homage, the King of England gave away his fair kinswoman
+with his own hand, and Eleanora supported the bride at the altar and
+presided at the nuptial feast with the affability and grace so peculiarly
+her own. The Prince and Princess of Wales then accompanied their suzerains
+to London and performed the stipulated ceremony, the Snowdon barons
+looking on fiercely the while, with the air of warriors who were resigning
+their ancient rights. This discontent gave rise to various murmurings.
+They disdained the English bread, they were disgusted with the milk of
+stall-fed kine, they detested the acridity of the London porter, and they
+pined for the sparkling mead concocted from the honeyed sweets gathered
+from their own breezy hills. They saw that their national costume and
+dialect conferred an uncomfortable notoriety upon them, and they more than
+suspected that they were the objects of jeering contempt. They therefore
+endured with great impatience the protracted entertainments with which
+Edward honored his guests, and finally left their uncomfortable quarters
+murmuring with stifled imprecations, "We will never more visit Islington
+except as conquerors." The unremitting influence of Elin, notwithstanding,
+counteracted the complaints of the malcontents, and Llewellyn religiously
+maintained friendly relations with England during her brief life. This
+interval of uninterrupted peace was employed by Eleanora in prompting her
+husband to measures for the public good, and England long enjoyed through
+the wise administration of her beneficent sovereign a respite from those
+evils under which the nation had groaned since the Norman conquest. By a
+royal patent Edward erected boroughs within the demesne lands and
+conferred upon them liberty of trade, and profiting by the example of
+Leicester, permitted them to send representatives to parliament, which was
+the true epoch of the House of Commons--the first dawn of popular
+government in England. The lower or more industrious orders of the state
+were thus encouraged and protected, and an interest in the commonwealth
+diffused through all the ranks of society.
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+CONQUEST OF WALES.
+
+The death of Joanna, mother of Eleanora, leaving the domains of Ponthieu
+and Aumerle, made it necessary for the king and queen to visit France, to
+do homage to Philip the Bold for their new possessions. They passed
+several months on the continent ordering the affairs of their
+feudaltories, but their return was hastened by tidings of fresh
+disturbances in Wales.
+
+On her arrival at Windsor her daughter, Joanna of Acre, presented the
+queen with a letter which she said had been brought to the castle by a
+strange-looking priest who refused for some time to give it into any hand
+save that of Eleanora, but who was finally persuaded to intrust the
+precious document to herself on her promise to deliver in person to her
+mother. The letter was from Elin the Princess of Wales. It read as
+follows:--"To my gracious sovereign Lady Eleanora of England the wife of
+Llewellyn sendeth love and greeting.
+
+"I had hoped once more to see the face of my noble mistress, and to visit
+the scenes hallowed by the first happy hours of my sad life. I had thought
+to crave thy blessing on my lovely infant, for my lord had promised that
+on the return of spring we should be conveyed to England, and this hath
+cheered me through the weary hours of sickness and languishing when my
+heart hath pined for the sweet communion which I sometimes enjoyed in the
+castle at Windsor. But the hills are already changing under the softening
+airs of spring, and my step is more feeble and my breath more faint, and I
+no longer indulge the anticipation of thanking thy goodness for the
+pleasant thoughts with which thy holy counsels hath blessed my memory. But
+I am resigned to die! and I know that before the flowers come forth my sad
+heart will find rest in the grave. One anxiety alone disturbs the serenity
+of my few remaining days.
+
+"Already my little Guendoline returns her mother's smile. Who will cherish
+her infant years and guide her youthful footsteps to those fountains of
+peace which the light of thine example hath so lately revealed to my
+erring sight?
+
+"Struggling with weakness and pain, thy dying Elin pens this last earnest
+prayer. Let the damsel abide with thee. Let her be nurtured in the
+practice of those gentle virtues which her obdurate race have abjured.
+
+"Commend me to Edward, our sovereign, and those fair daughters that
+cluster round thy board and gladden thy life with their smiles. Again let
+me beg a place in thy heart for my orphan child, and oh! remember in thy
+prayer the soul of the exile, who from thy lips first learned to hope in
+the mercy of Heaven."
+
+The letter bore the date of March, and it was now early June, and to
+Eleanora's anxious inquiries for further tidings concerning the lady Elin
+and her child no answer could be given. The king however had better
+sources of information. Scarcely was he recovered from the fatigue of
+travel when the lords were summoned in council to deliberate upon the
+petition of David and Rodric, brothers of Llewellyn, who had applied to
+the English court for assistance.
+
+From these barons Edward learned that the Welsh prince had violated the
+promise made to his princess on her death-bed, of conveying their daughter
+to the care of Eleanora, and that stimulated by the songs of the bards and
+the long-smothered anger of the malcontent barons, he had resolved to
+break his oath of allegiance to the King of England, and had dispossessed
+his brothers of their inheritance as a punishment for their loyalty.
+
+The council decided to assist David and Rodric in the recovery of their
+possessions, and Edward not displeased with the occasion of making an
+absolute conquest of the country, advanced with his army into Wales.
+
+The English at first suffered some reverses, but in the great battle of
+Builth, Llewellyn was slain, his forces put to flight, and the gold
+coronet taken from his head was offered by Prince Alphonso at the shrine
+of Edward the Confessor. But the war was not yet ended. Prince David now
+claiming the title of king, as the heir of his brother, assumed the
+command of the Welsh, and it needed the constant presence of Edward to
+keep down the rebellious spirit of the people. The same steadfast
+affection which had supported Eleanora during the tedious hours of her
+anxious sojourn in the wilds of Devon, and that had prompted her to brave
+the varied dangers of the Syrian campaign, led her now to follow her
+lord's fortunes through the rugged defiles and rocky fastnesses of the
+Welsh mountains.
+
+For her security, Edward built and fortified the strong castle of
+Caernarvon, which now, after the lapse of nearly six centuries, presents
+the same external appearance as on the day when Queen Eleanora first
+entered its stupendous gateway in company with her royal lord.
+
+The battlements with which the walls were defended, stand unchanged in
+their hoary strength and grandeur, and the statue of Edward I., carved to
+the life, still protects the entrance of the castle, and with its drawn
+dagger, menaces the intruder who would venture within its guarded
+precincts. The eagle tower yet nestles in the defences of the rocks,
+though the royal fledglings have deserted the comfortless eyrie of
+Snowdon for the softer luxuries of Windsor Castle and Hampton Court, and
+the oaken cradle of the second Edward, suspended by ring and staples from
+carved supporters, yet occupies its little nook in the secluded chamber
+where his infant eyes first opened on the light. Eleanora's experience of
+the conquering power of love, made her solicitous to employ a Welsh
+attendant for her son, but such was the fear which her husband's name had
+inspired among the families of the fierce mountaineers that she was forced
+to abandon the project till accident procured for the amiable queen the
+domestic she needed not only, but threw into her hands the fate of Wales.
+
+From the irregular surface of their territory the Welsh were necessarily a
+pastoral people, and their simple manner of life exposed them to certain
+defeat when the conquest of their country was steadily and prudently
+pursued by the well-trained warriors of England. But like the hardy sons
+of all mountainous districts, the Welsh seemed to inhale the spirit of
+liberty from the free breath of their native hills, and hunted as they
+were from one retreat to another, they still rallied around their ancient
+standard, and listened with rapture to predictions of their future
+greatness. Edward followed them with untiring patience through rugged
+defiles and rocky fastnesses till his heavy armed troops were ready to
+sink with fatigue.
+
+Everywhere they found evidences of the straits to which the miserable
+inhabitants were reduced. Deserted hamlets, abandoned fields, and
+famishing animals, betokened the last extremity of suffering. It was just
+at night-fall when they came suddenly upon a strong body posted within the
+narrow precincts of a valley.
+
+The lowing of the herds that began to suffer from the want of forage, was
+the first sound that attracted the attention of the English scouts, and by
+a circuitous path the whole detachment were conducted to a position
+commanding a full view of the enemy. The bivouac consisted of rude huts or
+booths, constructed for shelter rather than defence, in and around which
+sat barbarians in various attitudes of attention or repose.
+
+The watch-fires gleamed luridly upon the wild figures that circled around
+them, with dark and frowning brows, while from the centre of the
+encampment echoed the sounds of hoarse voices, accompanied by the martial
+strains of music. The barbarous language made the song of the bards
+incomprehensible to the English, but they divined its spirit from the
+effect upon the rude auditors, who, at every pause in the agitating
+refrain, sprang to their feet, struck their spears upon their shields, and
+mingled their shrill voices in a responsive chorus of muttered vengeance.
+
+In the enthusiasm which the patriotic songs awakened, Edward read the
+secret of the protracted resistance, and saw that the destruction of these
+bards would insure his conquest. The trumpets were immediately ordered to
+sound, and his army, wearied as they were, summoned their fainting
+energies and rushed to the conflict.
+
+The Welsh, surprised in the midst of their fancied security, stood to
+their arms, and fought with the courage of desperation, the exhilarating
+strains of the bards rose to a shrill wail of agony, then sank in the
+voiceless silence of death.
+
+This final strain of the national poetry, was the requiem of Welsh
+liberty. King David made his escape through the defile of a mountain
+followed by a few of his nobles, and the Earl of Devon, in attempting to
+cut off his retreat, surprised and captured a company of frightened
+females who had been lodged in the rocky fastness for greater security.
+With knightly courtesy he extended to his helpless captives every delicate
+attention that would soften the rigor of their fate.
+
+His sympathies were especially excited by the distress of a woman of an
+appearance somewhat superior to her companions, who exhibited the greatest
+solicitude for the safety of a child that, all unconscious of the tumult,
+lay quietly sleeping in its cradle of twisted reeds.
+
+De Courtenay approached, anxious to relieve her fears, when the nurse,
+expecting to be torn from her tender charge, exclaimed, in barbarous
+English, "Take not the princess from me! I promised the Lady Elin never to
+resign her save to the hands of the good Queen of England."
+
+"Comfort thee, good woman," said the earl, kindly. "I will myself convey
+thee, with the babe, to Caernarvon, where thou mayest discharge thy trust
+by bestowing the little orphan with the royal friend of her mother."
+Consigning the other captives to the care of his knights, he gave the
+nurse in charge to his groom, and himself carefully lifting the wicker
+cradle with its lovely occupant to the horse before him, led the way
+towards the castle.
+
+Eleanora received the daughter of Elin de Montfort with tears of tender
+welcome, and lavished upon the child the same affection that she bestowed
+upon her own infant Edward. The little cousins were nurtured together, and
+the nurse soon became tenderly attached to both children, and conceived an
+almost reverential devotion to the pious queen; and as Eleanora gave her
+frequent opportunities for communion with the natives of the vicinity, she
+lost no occasion of publishing the virtues of her mistress.
+
+She represented that Eleanora and little Edward were scarce inferior in
+beauty to the Madonna and child, and that they were as good as they were
+beautiful; and, she added, on her own responsibility, that since the queen
+treated Guendoline with as much affection as though she were her own
+daughter, there could be no doubt that she looked upon her as the future
+bride of the young prince.
+
+Meantime, Edward had prospered in his military plans. David could never
+collect an army sufficient to face the English in the field, being chased
+from hill to hill, and hunted from one retreat to another, and was finally
+betrayed to his enemy and sent to England.
+
+The Snowdon barons, deprived of their leader, and aware that their
+princess Guendoline was in possession of the English king, and somewhat
+mollified by the prognostication of her future greatness, at length obeyed
+the summons of Edward to a conference at Caernarvon. The hardy
+mountaineers agreed to tender their final submission to him as lord
+paramount, if he would appoint them a native Welshman for their prince,
+who could speak neither Saxon nor French, for those barbarous languages
+they declared they could never understand.
+
+Edward graciously acceded to the request, and the preliminaries being
+arranged he brought from the eagle tower the little Edward, assuring them
+that he was a native of Wales, could speak neither of the reprobated
+tongues, and, under the tutelage of his lovely instructress Guendoline,
+would doubtless soon become a proficient in Welsh. "The fierce
+mountaineers little expected such a ruler. They had, however, no
+alternative but submission, and with as good grace as they might, kissed
+the tiny hand which was to sway their sceptre, and vowed fealty to the
+babe of the faithful Eleanora."
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+THE ASTRONOMER AND THE JEW.
+
+Peace being thus happily established, King Edward transferred the
+residence of his queen from the rugged strength of Caernarvon to the
+magnificent refinements of Conway castle; where, surrounded by her ladies
+and children, she enjoyed, for a brief period, a repose from anxiety and
+care.
+
+Here seated in a chamber of state, whose windows of stained glass opened
+upon a terrace, commanding a beautiful view of the varied landscape,
+Eleanora passed her mornings, receiving those who were honored by being
+present at her lev�e, while her tire-women combed and braided the long
+silken tresses which shaded and adorned her serene and lovely features.
+
+This condescension of the queen, had a most gracious and softening effect
+upon the rude customs of the Welsh, and the first aspirations of this
+semi-barbarous nation for christian refinement, date from the period in
+which they felt the winning influence of her gentle manners.
+
+But though Eleanora was thus happy in her domestic relations, blessed in
+the love of her subjects, and thrice blessed in the consciousness of
+exercising her power for the happiness of others, she did not forget the
+kindred ties that bound her to her native Spain.
+
+Indeed there seems to be this peculiarity, observable in the influence of
+the gospel on the character, a paradox in philosophy, but a fact in
+christian experience, that while it increases the intensity of the social
+affections, it expands the heart to the remoter relations of life,
+awakening a cordial response to the command, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor
+as thyself."
+
+For Eleanora to know that she could render assistance to another, was
+sufficient motive to arouse her activity; and constant habit made that an
+inspiring impulse, which had commenced in a rigid adherence to the
+requisitions of duty. When she learned, therefore, that her beloved
+brother Alphonso X. had been deposed by his undutiful son, Sancho, she
+besought her heroic husband to undertake the difficult task of his
+restoration.
+
+Edward, whose principles of government were of a very different character
+from those of the royal philosopher, listened somewhat reluctantly to her
+anxious pleadings, but at last consented to accompany her into Castile.
+
+The royal progress was one of the utmost pomp and splendor. Their cousin
+Philip received them in Paris with the greatest distinction. They reposed
+some months among the elegancies of Bordeaux, and thence journeyed across
+the Pyrenees to Burgos.
+
+The brave Sancho welcomed them to his palace with unaffected pleasure, and
+listened with easy good-humor to the questions and remonstrances of the
+queen.
+
+"My father," said he, "is happier in the retirement of his prison, than he
+was ever in the administration of public affairs. In truth, he has for
+these last years been so occupied with the motions of Mars and Jupiter,
+that he has had little leisure to attend to the movements of his subjects,
+and, but for what seemeth my undutiful interposition, our fair Castile
+would have been one scene of anarchy and confusion."
+
+"But if my brother desired the repose of private life, he had surely the
+right to appoint his successor," suggested Eleanora.
+
+"Nay, concerning that, men differ in opinion," replied Sancho. "Our
+ancestors, the Goths, confer the crown upon the second son, in preference
+to the heirs of the elder brother, and by this right I reign."
+
+"But by this right, thou takest from the prince all power," returned the
+queen.
+
+"And wherefore," said Sancho, "should the word of a prince prevail against
+the will of the people, whose interest no king has a right to sacrifice to
+his ambition?"
+
+"Certes, there is great semblance of truth in what thou sayest," added
+Eleanora, thoughtfully; "and much I wonder me that, while some are born to
+such high estate, others in heart possessed of noble feelings are doomed
+to perpetual servitude. My poor brain has been ofttimes sadly puzzled in
+this matter; but when I bethink me of the miseries fair England suffered
+during the rebellion of Leicester, I content myself to believe the holy
+writ, 'The powers that be, are ordained of God.'"
+
+"Thy scripture well establishes my claim," cried Sancho, laughing
+heartily.
+
+Eleanora sighed. "Forgettest thou, brave Sancho," said she, "that the God
+who gave to thee the estate and rule of king, (since thou dost so wrest my
+words to prove thy usurpation,) forgettest thou that _He_ hath also
+ordained, 'Thou shalt honor thy father?'"
+
+"Nay, nay, my most gracious aunt, now thou accusest me beyond my desert.
+The wise Alphonso is not restrained from his clerkly studies, but--"
+
+"He is in prison," interrupted Eleanora.
+
+"It is my care," continued Sancho, "to grant him everything, but freedom
+to disturb my kingdom. Jews and Arabs, his chosen friends, doctors of
+Salerno and Salamanca, friars and priests, (though, sooth to say for them,
+he careth little save as they bring him mouldy manuscripts from the
+monasteries,) jugglers and mummers, a worthy retinue, have free access to
+his presence. To-morrow thou mayest see the philosopher, surrounded by his
+motley courtiers, and methinks thou wilt then pronounce him as do others,
+either fool or madman."
+
+King Edward, who from conversation with the nobles of Castile, no less
+than with Sancho, had arrived at the same conclusion with his royal
+nephew, made no efforts to release Alphonso from his confinement, but
+gladly accepted an invitation to accompany the King of Castile on an
+expedition against the Moors in southern Spain.
+
+During their absence Eleanora remained in Burgos, and devoted herself to
+the care of her brother, for whose sanity she began to entertain serious
+fears. Alphonso's affection for his lovely sister so far prevailed over
+his excitable temperament, that he permitted her to enter his apartments
+at all hours without exhibiting any annoyance, and often turned aside from
+his abstruse studies to indulge in reminiscences of their youthful sports,
+and to satisfy her inquiries concerning his present pursuits.
+
+Eleanora possessed that genial spirit which discovers something of
+interest in every occupation, and that exquisite tact which enabled her to
+insinuate a truth, even while seeming not to contradict an error; and it
+was soon apparent that, though the philosopher still uttered his
+absurdities with great complacency,--his temper became more tranquil, and
+his manners far more affable to all who approached him. The queen listened
+patiently to his tedious explanations of the motions of the planets, and
+exerted her utmost powers of perception to comprehend the diagrams which
+he contended were illustrative of the whole theory of Nature, and the
+great end and purpose of her solemn mysteries inscribed on the scroll of
+the heavens, forming an elder Scripture more authoritative than the
+divine oracles themselves.
+
+"Thou seest, my sister," said the enthusiast, "that our maturity like our
+childhood is amused by fables: hence do the ignorant believe that this
+great array of worlds was formed for the contemptible purpose of revolving
+around our insignificant planet, and all the glittering circle of the
+stars made to serve no better end than to enliven a winter night."
+
+"In truth the doctrine savors much of the arrogance of man," gently
+returned the queen, "and reminds one of the false systems of a monarch who
+considers his subjects but tributaries to his pleasure."
+
+"False systems," returned the astronomer, apparently unheeding the point
+of her remark, "have disgraced the world in every age. Pythagoras
+approached nearest the true idea, and yet was lost in the wilderness of
+error."
+
+"Heaven save us from a fate so evil," solemnly ejaculated the queen.
+
+"The philosopher, who rejecting the dogmas of the church, listens to the
+voice of Nature speaking to the ear of reason, is in no danger of error,"
+said Alphonso pompously. "Thy Mosaic Testament asserts that God created
+the heavens and the earth in six days; but they bear no marks of such
+creation. Their course is eternal. And as for appointing the glorious sun
+with no higher mission than to enlighten the earth, had the Almighty
+called me to his counsel, I would have taught Him a wiser plan of
+compassing day and night."
+
+Shocked at his impiety, Eleanora calmly replied, "The Holy Word which thou
+despisest, directs us to 'prove all things.' How canst thou sustain such
+assertions?"
+
+Alphonso, pleased with what he considered her docility, lifted a small
+globe, and placing it at a convenient distance from the lamp, caused it to
+revolve upon its axis, making her observe that the regular vicissitudes of
+light and darkness were produced without any change in the position of the
+luminary.
+
+"At what infinite expense," said he, "would the lamp revolve around the
+globe to produce only the same effect, and to furnish only one world with
+light; while any number of globes might gyrate about the lamp without
+loss, save an occasional eclipse."
+
+Struck with the simplicity and evident truth of the illustration, Eleanora
+gazed admiringly upon her brother, but scarcely had she essayed to frame
+an answer, when the conversation was interrupted by the entrance of an
+individual--the expression of whose countenance awoke a painful
+association in her mind, although in vain she tasked her memory to decide
+where or when she had before beheld him. His figure, though concealed by a
+Spanish doublet, and slightly bent with age, had evidently been once tall
+and commanding, and his swarthy countenance was illuminated by keen black
+eyes, whose quick penetrating glance, seemed at once to fathom the
+purposes, and divine the thoughts of those about him; and a long flowing
+beard, somewhat inclining to gray, imparted an air of dignity to his whole
+appearance. With a profound, though silent salutation to the royal pair,
+he crossed the apartment, and carefully laying aside his cloak, quietly
+seated himself at a side table covered with manuscripts, and commenced his
+labors; while Alphonso answered the inquiring gaze of Eleanora, by
+remarking, "'Tis our excellent Procida, my trusty Hebrew scribe."
+
+"Hebrew or Arab," said Eleanora, in a low tone, "I have seen that face
+before."
+
+At the sound of her voice the stranger looked up, while Eleanora placed
+her hands before her eyes, as if to shut out some dreadful vision.
+
+"It cannot, cannot be," she exclaimed, "but so looked the Jew, slain at my
+feet on that dreadful day when I first entered London."
+
+"My good Procida," said Alphonso, misinterpreting her emotion, "I fear me
+we must dispense with thy presence, since my sister is too good a
+Christian to look upon a Jew, save with feelings of abhorrence."
+
+The Jew arose. "Nay, my good brother," said the queen, "forgive this
+weakness. I would fain speak with thy friend."
+
+Procida came forward and stood in respectful silence waiting her commands.
+
+"Hast ever been in London?" inquired she, earnestly regarding him.
+
+"My noble queen recalls not then the face of Raymond Lullius, who coined
+_rose nobles_ for her royal lord. She may, perhaps, remember the curiosity
+of the young Prince Alphonso, whose little hand no doubt still bears the
+scar of the melted metal he snatched from the crucible."
+
+At the mention of her son, the mother's tears began to flow. "My sweet
+Alphonso sleeps in the tomb of his ancestors," replied she, when she had
+somewhat recovered her composure; "but I mind me of the accident, though
+surely 'tis another scene that hath impressed thy features on my memory."
+
+"Your majesty refers to the slaughter of the Jews," returned Procida, in a
+sorrowful tone, "and the victim slain at your feet was my aged father
+Ben-Abraham. Of all my family I alone escaped, through the timely
+interposition of the gallant Prince Edward."
+
+"Ah! now I comprehend thy haste to serve my brother," interrupted
+Alphonso. "Thou must know, sweet sister mine," said he, turning to the
+queen, "that the secrets of our art are for the learned alone, but king as
+I am, I found it impossible to prevent my worthy Procida from leaving my
+court to aid the English sovereign in increasing his revenue by
+transmuting mercury into gold."
+
+"It is then true that metals can be thus transmuted," said Eleanora, with
+an incredulous smile.
+
+The alchemists exchanged glances of intelligence, but Alphonso,
+remembering her ready appreciation of his astronomical theory, answered
+Procida's hesitating look, with "Nay, 'tis but for once--our sister is an
+earnest seeker of truth, and if she comprehend will not betray our
+secret." Thus saying, Alphonso threw open a door and conducted the queen,
+followed by Procida, into a small laboratory filled with all the
+mysterious appurtenances of his art. The learned doctor busied himself in
+clearing a space in the centre of the apartment and arranging in a circle
+sundry jars and a brazier, while the philosopher king, opening a cabinet,
+took thence some dried and withered sea-weed, which he threw into the
+brazier and kindled into a flame. The blazing kelp was soon reduced to
+ashes, which Procida carefully gathered into an old empty crucible, and
+set before the queen. Alphonso advancing took up the crucible, saying,
+"What seest thou, my sister?"
+
+"A dull, gray powder," she replied.
+
+He then placed a tube from one of the jars within the crucible, and
+bidding her regard it attentively, submitted it to a chemical process
+which she did not understand, repeating his question.
+
+"I now see," replied Eleanora, with astonishment, "the dull powder
+transformed into little shining globules like silver."
+
+"Thou mayst take them in thine hand," said the philosopher, after a pause;
+"they will not harm thee."
+
+With some timidity the wondering queen received the metallic drops, almost
+fearing that her brother was a necromancer as the priests affirmed.
+
+"Canst judge if it be a metal?" said Alphonso, enjoying her confusion.
+
+"My sight and touch assure me of the fact. Yet whence--"
+
+"Is it not a miracle," interrupted the philosopher, laughing, "more real
+than thy fancied transubstantiation?"
+
+A frown gathered on the serene brow of the lovely queen--but commiserating
+his impiety as sincerely as he pitied her ignorance, with forced gayety
+she replied, "Nay, heaven works not miracles by the hands of such
+unbelievers as thou. I fear me lest evil spirits have aided thee, as they
+did the Egyptians with their enchantments;" and she handed the globules to
+the philosopher.
+
+"Keep them safely until the morrow," said he, "they may form the basis of
+another experiment."
+
+As the Queen of England left the prison, Procida followed her and craved
+an audience.
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+THE JEWESS.
+
+The conference between the queen and Procida was not limited to one
+audience. Day after day he sought her presence, under various
+pretexts--some unimportant business, some message from Alphonso--and each
+time he lingered as if anxious to prolong the interview; till at length
+his strange manner convinced Eleanora that something more momentous than
+philosophical researches detained him in Castile.
+
+When the mind is agitated upon any particular subject, fancy connects
+every mysterious appearance with the prevailing thought; and the lovely
+queen became impressed with the idea that some impending danger threatened
+her royal brother.
+
+She therefore strove to win the confidence of Procida, and encouraged him
+to confide his secret to her keeping.
+
+"Is there aught," said she, "of interest to thyself or others in which I
+can aid thee?" finding that his anxiety and hesitation seemed rather to
+increase than diminish.
+
+"Most gracious sovereign," returned Procida, apologetically, "the despised
+outcasts of Israel have little hope to enlist the sympathies of Christians
+in their behalf."
+
+"Nay," replied the queen, "thou forgettest that our gospel saith, God hath
+made of one blood all the nations of the earth."
+
+"And if _I_ have forgotten it," said Procida bitterly, "it is because the
+practice of the church agreeth not with the precept."
+
+"It is true," returned Eleanora, with a sigh, "that our lives exhibit
+too little the holy influence of the faith we profess: but tell me, how
+can the wife of Edward serve the alchemist?"
+
+"Noble queen," said Procida, speaking earnestly and with great agitation,
+"thou knowest not the peril in which thy generosity may involve thee."
+
+"Speak, and fear not," reiterated she, "Eleanora fears no evil in the
+practice of kindness."
+
+Fixing his keen eyes upon her face, as if to detect every emotion which
+his words might awaken, the Jew replied bitterly, "Procida for his
+attachment to the noble house of Swabia, is proscribed and hunted from
+Sicily, his daughter, a Jewess, can scarce claim the protection of law;
+and concealed as she is in the suburbs of Burgos, her beauty has already
+attracted the curiosity of those from whom her father cannot defend her.
+Did I dare claim so great a boon I would beg a place for her among thy
+maidens."
+
+Eleanora paused. The prejudice against the Jews was so intense as to
+affect even her upright mind; and the scandal it might bring upon the
+royal household to enroll an unbeliever among its inmates, startled her
+apprehensions: but the father stood before her with the air of one who had
+intrusted his last treasure to her keeping, and she could not find it in
+her heart to crush his confidence in her generosity.
+
+"Bring thy daughter hither," added she, thoughtfully, "with me she shall
+be safe."
+
+"The blessing of him that is ready to perish, rest upon thee," said the
+scholar, fervently, as he left her presence.
+
+When the Queen of England next visited the apartments of her brother, she
+was accompanied by a young girl of such surpassing loveliness as to
+attract the attention of the philosopher himself. Her features were of
+that perfect form generally described as Grecian, while her dark hair and
+soft black eyes, suggested the idea of a brunette; but the fairness of her
+complexion and the brilliant color of her cheek, that varied with every
+emotion, gave a character of exquisite delicacy and sensibility to her
+countenance.
+
+"Does thy realm of England abound in such comely damsels?" inquired
+Alphonso, while Agnes blushed at the king's encomium.
+
+"England may rival Spain in the beauty of her daughters," answered
+Eleanora, evasively. "My gentle Agnes is curious like her mistress to
+learn the wonders of thy art: hence do we crave thine indulgence to pass
+some weary hours of my lord's absence among thy folios."
+
+"Thou art ever welcome," returned Alphonso, benignantly, "and this young
+disciple shall receive the benefit of serving so good a mistress."
+
+"I have pondered much," said the queen, who had been for some time
+attentively regarding the care-worn lineaments of his face, "upon thy
+theory of the planets. The globe moved around the lamp because thou didst
+bear it in thine hand. By what power is our Earth carried around the Sun?"
+
+"There is some invisible influence which retains it with its sister-orbs
+in the eternal round, but the subtle essence has thus far eluded my
+investigations," replied Alphonso.
+
+"Thou believest then, my brother," said Eleanora, in her gentlest tone,
+"in a power whose existence thou canst not demonstrate by thy 'Tables' or
+diograms?"
+
+"Verily, such a power is a matter of _necessity_," returned the monarch.
+
+"And thy unlearned sister," replied the queen, hesitating, "finds the same
+_necessity_ to believe in a God, whose existence she can demonstrate only
+by the contemplation of his glorious works."
+
+"It is well for the ignorant to repose in this idea," replied Alphonso,
+"and it may perchance restrain the wicked from his misdeeds, to believe
+that an ever-present Intelligence regards his actions."
+
+"And it may comfort the sorrowing," said Eleanora, "to feel that this
+Infinite Power can satisfy the needs of the human soul."
+
+"Hast thou brought the metal I gave thee?" said Alphonso, abruptly
+changing the conversation.
+
+"I have it in my gypsire," said she, unclasping the bag and unfolding the
+paper--"Lo! my brother, what a transformation is here," exclaimed the
+queen, in amazement. "Thy silver has again become ashes."
+
+"Grieve not," said the alchemist, with an air of superior wisdom, "Science
+will achieve new wonders with these dull atoms."
+
+He now placed the powder in the crucible as before, and taking from a
+shelf what seemed a fragment of rock, pulverized it to a like powder, and
+mingled both in the crucible, which he placed upon the brazier and
+subjected it to a most intense heat.
+
+"What dost thou now observe?" said the alchemist.
+
+"A melted glowing mass of a ruby color," said Eleanora, with great
+interest.
+
+Taking a small rod in his hand he lifted the adhering particles, and drew
+them into thin, fine hair, like threads of a shining whiteness, which he
+presented to Agnes, saying, with a smile, "I will bestow these frail
+crystals upon thee, fair one; perchance thou mayst preserve them in memory
+of the mad philosopher."
+
+Every day the Queen of England became more interested in the society of
+her lovely ward, whose sprightliness was tempered by a sweetness, and a
+delicate discrimination, that never gave offence. It was gratifying to
+observe, in a fancy cultivated by the poetic legends of the South, and
+stored with the splendid fictions of Arabian romance, an ardent love of
+_truth_, and a strict adherence to its dictates; and Eleanora saw with
+pleasure that her most playful and entertaining sallies, though sometimes
+pointed at the peculiarities of those around her, never betrayed
+ill-humor, nor degenerated into sarcasm. Her beauty and gayety forcibly
+recalled the image of Eva; but the reliance which the obedient Jewess
+inspired, was in strong contrast to the anxiety ever awakened by the
+lovely, but volatile daughter of Clare.
+
+The charming Agnes not only amused the queen with her vivacity, but
+afforded her a sense of repose, by her amiable observance of every
+admonition, and her evident desire to regard the wishes no less than the
+positive commands of her royal benefactress, and especially did she win
+the love of the mother by her graceful attentions to the infant Princess
+Beatrice.
+
+While Agnes was actuated by the most dutiful affection to her father, she
+seemed by a happy trustfulness to escape participation in that gloom and
+care which daily deepened upon the clouded brow of the Sicilian.
+
+Desirous to relieve what she deemed his apprehensions for the future
+welfare of his daughter, the queen took occasion, upon one of his visits,
+to assure him of her increasing attachment to her lovely charge.
+
+"Thy generous interest in the despised exile softens my bitter fate," said
+he, "but could the unhappy Procida enlist the influence of England's
+gracious sovereign in the great project that preys upon his being, he
+would feel that he had not lived in vain."
+
+"My lord the king is ever ready to assist the unfortunate," said Eleanora,
+encouragingly, "and is free from those prejudices which embarrass weaker
+minds. If thou deemest it proper to reveal thy secret, his queen will
+herself endeavor to redress thy wrongs."
+
+"Procida seeks not the redress of a personal affront, nor restoration to
+his island home; my project is," said the Sicilian, drawing near the
+queen, and speaking in a low tone of terrible emphasis, "_revenge!_--death
+to the infamous Charles d'Anjou!"
+
+The startled Eleanora essayed no reply, but gazed in mute terror at the
+dark and malignant face of the conspirator.
+
+"Yes," continued he, his tall figure dilating with long repressed and
+cherished passion, "I will rouse all Europe with the wrongs of the noble
+house of Suabia."
+
+"I know," said the queen, the words faintly struggling through her white
+lips, "the woes inflicted upon our cousins of Suabia by the relentless
+fury of the Guelphs, but I dare not assume the office of their judge. It
+is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay it, saith the Lord.'"
+
+"Aye, verily," replied the Jew, fiercely, "but how does the Lord repay
+vengeance? Is it not by the hand of man he brings retribution upon the
+guilty? Did he not commission the sword to cut off the Canaanites, the
+Midianites, the Assyrians, and those who vexed his people in every age?
+Who can say he hath not inspired the heart, and nerved the arm of the
+proscribed and outcast Jew to execute his wrath upon the proud tyrant of
+Sicily?"
+
+"_Thou_," inquired the queen. "By what title claimest _thou_ allegiance to
+that fallen house?"
+
+"I know," said Procida, stung by her remark, "full well I know, that your
+Holy Church denies to the son of Abraham all the tender ties that bind the
+lord to his vassal, or the vassal to his lord. He may have neither house
+nor land, he may not dwell in Jerusalem the city of his fathers, or be
+buried in consecrated ground. His possessions become the spoil of the
+tyrant, his innocent offspring the victims of brutal passion; and yet your
+priests say,--Be meek--Be patient--Obey the precepts of that gospel which
+we trample under foot."
+
+He paused, struck by the compassionate gaze of Eleanora, who, for the
+first time, comprehended the hopeless misery of the hapless race.
+
+"Thy pardon, noble queen," said Procida, softened by her tender pity.
+"Were there more like thee, 'twere easier for the Jew to embrace the faith
+of the Nazarene. Thou didst inquire by what tie I followed the changing
+fortunes of Hohenstaufen." In a gentler tone he continued--
+
+"The Jew loves gold. Loves he aught else? Yea, to the death his friend.
+The Emperor Frederic was free from the chains of superstition. Christian,
+Saracen, or Jew, found equal favor in his eye, and learning and genius not
+less than military prowess were rewarded with titles and lands.
+
+"Know me, then, royal lady, miserable and destitute as I appear, as
+favorite physician of the emperor, created by him Count de Procida, lord
+of the fairest island in the Bay of Naples."
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+THE FATE OF THE HOUSE OF SUABIA.
+
+The soft climate of the south, and the rich and varied scenery upon the
+banks of the Arlanzon, invited Eleanora to long walks in the suburbs of
+Burgos: and she found the greatest delight in watching the changing
+foliage, which announced the approach of the mellow autumn.
+
+Her recent interviews with the philosopher had given a new direction to
+her thoughts. She experienced a pleasure before unknown in studying the
+various aspects of nature, and contemplating the subtle arrangement by
+which all these beautiful phenomena were produced. New proofs of an
+All-creative Intelligence were daily forced upon her with peculiar
+distinctness, and her mind was thus fortified against the cold,
+insinuating doubts, with which her brother continually assailed her faith.
+Often she became so lost in reflection as to be insensible to all external
+circumstances, and her ladies, loosed from the restraints of court
+etiquette, revelled in the unwonted freedom of these rural strolls.
+Eleanora was often lured from her speculative abstraction by the sportive
+gayety of their amusements, and she saw with benevolent pleasure the ready
+tact with which the young Jewess avoided every inquiry that might lead to
+a discovery of her nation or position, without in the least compromising
+her truthfulness or transgressing the rules of courtesy.
+
+During one of these rambles, a mendicant of the order of St. Francis
+approached the queen, and asked an alms. The smoothly-shaven chin of the
+monk, closely clipped hair, and unsandalled feet, at first completely
+imposed upon her credulity, but his voice at once betrayed Procida.
+
+With a troubled look she gave him a few _denier_, as if desirous to escape
+all parley. But the monk lingered; and after a pause, hesitatingly
+remarked in a low tone, "I am about to leave Burgos, and I would fain
+confer with the queen before my departure."
+
+"But wherefore the monkish habit? Has the Jew resolved to do penance for
+his sins?" inquired Eleanora.
+
+"Nay," replied Procida, evasively, "if my gracious mistress will grant me
+an audience, I will unfold to her the purpose that hath moved me to this
+disguise."
+
+"I cannot tell," replied the queen, with a tone of unwonted reproach, "if
+it be desirable to entrust thy plans to my keeping, since I may not
+encourage deceit, and I would not that thy Agnes, so innocent of guile,
+should learn that her father, for some dark purpose, has assumed the garb
+he abhors."
+
+Tears glistened in the eyes of Procida, as he replied, "Thou sayest well
+and wisely. The sweet child knoweth not more of the secret schemes of her
+father, than do the angels of the dark deeds of fiends. But--"
+
+"I hear the voice of my maidens," exclaimed the queen impatiently, "expose
+not thyself to their observation."
+
+"_Benedicite_," murmured the counterfeit priest, turning away to avoid the
+scrutiny of the approaching group.
+
+But Procida was so determined to secure the approbation of the queen, that
+the following day he craved an audience at the palace.
+
+"My royal mistress," said he, "must permit me once more, to plead the
+rights of the illustrious house of Suabia, before I depart on my
+pilgrimage, that if I never return, she may justify my acts in the eyes of
+my daughter."
+
+"Speak," said Eleanora, moved by the sorrowful earnestness of his manner.
+
+"My royal master Frederic," began the Jew, "had little cause to love the
+church. Hated by the pope, for that with a strong arm he claimed his
+hereditary possessions in Italy, he was excommunicated for refusing the
+pilgrimage, and again cursed for fulfilling his vow; and had not the
+honest pagan, Melech Camel, been more his friend than the christian troops
+by whom he was surrounded, he would have perished by treason in the Holy
+City itself.
+
+"Freed from superstition, he looked upon all religions as formed to impose
+upon the vulgar; and it was through his instructions, that I learned the
+policy of conforming to the prejudices of mankind, and now avail myself of
+the privileges of an order, who wander everywhere, and are everywhere well
+received.
+
+"The emperor, like thy brother Alphonso, was a man of science. He opened
+schools in Sicily, and maintained poor scholars from his own purse, and by
+every means promoted the welfare of his subjects; but he could not escape
+the toils spread around him by his great enemy the church."
+
+As he said these words the queen beheld in his eyes the same vengeful fire
+that once had before so startled and shocked her.
+
+"Thy pardon, sovereign lady," said he, recollecting himself, "but the
+wrongs of the master have well-nigh maddened the brain of the servant.
+
+"His own son Henry, wrought upon by the malicious representations of the
+pope, revolted, and his beautiful boy Enzio, pined away his young life in
+the prison of Bologna. The great Frederic died; and his wretched Procida
+vowed to avenge him upon his murderers." He paused a moment overcome by
+his emotions, and then continued, "There yet remained Conrad and Manfred:
+the former, only son of the Queen of Jerusalem, and the latter,
+illegitimate offspring of a Saracen woman. Conrad passed into Italy to
+claim his inheritance, only to be poisoned by the pope; while Manfred,
+calling around him the friends of his mother, battled for his father's
+strongholds and treasures. He was brave, generous and noble. He would have
+made peace even with his enemy, but the tyrant d'Anjou spurned his
+overtures, and insultingly replied to the messenger, 'Go tell the Sultan
+of Nocera, that I desire war only, and this very day I will send him to
+hell, or he shall send me to Paradise.' He prepared for the conflict. As
+he fastened on his helmet it twice slipped from his grasp. 'It is the hand
+of God,' was his exclamation, and with a presentiment of his fall, he
+hurried to the fight. I stood by his side in the bloody battle of
+Benevento, and we made a holocaust of our enemies; but a fatal spear
+pierced his brain! The implacable d'Anjou would have the poor
+excommunicated corpse remain unburied, but the French soldiers, less
+barbarous than their master, brought each a stone, and so reared him a
+tomb."
+
+"Tell me no more horrors," exclaimed the queen, with a look of painful
+emotion.
+
+"Ah! lady," said the artful Procida, sadly, satisfied that his recital had
+so moved his royal auditor, "thou art grieved at the very _hearing_ of
+these atrocities, but bethink thee of the misery of the poor daughter of
+Frederic, wife of the Duke of Saxony. When the family fell, the duke
+repented of his alliance with the house of Suabia. From cold neglect and
+scorn, he proceeded to violence--he brutally struck her. She, unhappy
+woman, thinking he sought her life, endeavored to escape. The castle rose
+upon a rock overhanging the Elbe. A faithful servant kept a boat upon the
+river, and by a rope, she could let herself down the precipitous descent.
+An agonizing thought stayed her footsteps. Her only son lay asleep in the
+cradle. She would once more fold him to her breast. She would imprint her
+last kiss upon his cheek. With a maddening pang she closed her teeth in
+the tender flesh, and fled, pursued by the screams of her wounded child.
+The treacherous rope eluded her grasp, and the frantic mother fell,
+another victim from the doomed race of Hohenstaufen.
+
+"The little Corradino, who should have been King of Jerusalem, had also a
+mother, tender and fond, who would fain have detained him from funereal
+Italy, where all his family had found a sepulchre; but ere he attained the
+age of manhood the Ghibelline cities called to him for aid, and no
+entreaties could withhold the valiant youth. Accompanied by his dearest
+friend, Frederic of Austria, and a band of knights, he passed the Alps to
+claim his inheritance. There was a battle--there was a defeat--there was a
+prisoner--The Vicar of Christ, showed he mercy? He wrote to d'Anjou,
+'Corradino's life is Charles's death.' Judges were named, a strange and
+unheard-of proceeding; but of these some defended Corradino, and the rest
+remained silent. One alone, found him guilty, and began to read his
+sentence upon the scaffold. But outraged nature asserted her rights,
+d'Anjou's own son-in-law leaped upon the scaffold and slew the inhuman
+judge with one stroke of his sword, exclaiming, ''Tis not for a wretch
+like thee to condemn to death so noble and gentle a lord.' But the
+execution proceeded. I stood among the spectators a shaven priest,
+_honoring the decrees of the church_! I heard the piteous exclamation of
+the hapless youth, 'Oh my mother, what sad news will bring thee of thy
+son.' His eye caught mine, he slipped a ring from his finger, and threw it
+into the crowd. I seized the precious jewel, and renewed my vow of
+vengeance. The faithful Frederic of Austria stood by his side, and was the
+first to receive the fatal stroke. Corradino caught the bleeding head, as
+it fell, pressed his own upon the quivering lips, and perished like his
+friend. 'Lovely and pleasant in their lives, in death they were not
+divided.'"
+
+Tears for a moment quenched the fire in the old man's eyes, and Eleanora
+wept in sympathy. "And Enzio--?" she said, mournfully.
+
+"Enzio yet languished in prison, the delicate boy, the idol of his
+imperial father. I found my way to Bologna, gold bribed his guard. An
+empty wine-cask was at hand, I enclosed him therein, and brought him
+safely to the gates. A single lock of hair betrayed my secret. 'Ha!'
+exclaimed the sentinel, ''tis only King Enzio has such beautiful fair
+hair.' I escaped with difficulty, but the boy was slain."
+
+"Lives there not one of all the princely house?" inquired the queen.
+
+"Frederic the Bitten lives, the deadly enemy of his father, and the
+daughter of Manfred is the wife of the Prince of Arragon. To her I carry
+the ring. A Saracen servant of the emperor ascribes to it magic virtues.
+It shall be the talisman to bind Europe in a league against the infamous
+d'Anjou."
+
+"My brother! knows he of thy purpose?" inquired Eleanora, apprehensively.
+
+"I entered Castile to secure his assistance, and devoted myself to the
+practice of alchemy, to gain his confidence; but the philosopher is too
+intent upon the science of dull atoms to mingle in political strife."
+
+"Thank heaven! that his studies keep him innocent of human blood,"
+ejaculated the queen. "Wouldst ought with me?" inquired she, after a
+pause, observing that the Jew remained silent with his eyes fixed upon
+her.
+
+"Let my gracious queen pardon her servant, that he hath so long detained
+her with his tale of horror. Something I would add concerning my sweet
+Agnes. Call her not a Jewess. Her father hath long since abjured the
+burdensome rites of Judaism, and her mother--'tis enough to say that she
+resembled the Queen of England. Though I trust not in the pious fables of
+the priests, they seemed to charm her gentle spirit into peace. Let Agnes,
+therefore, I pray thee, be instructed in her mother's faith."
+
+"Thy wishes shall be strictly regarded," replied Eleanora, "and may the
+same peace thou covetest for thy daughter, yet find its way to thy own
+unquiet breast."
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+TRANSLATION OF THE BIBLE.
+
+Each time the queen visited the laboratory of Alphonso, he made her
+acquainted with some new fact in philosophy, or some new device of
+alchemy, which awakened curiosity and gave rise to inquiry. The Spanish
+king, having made some discoveries in advance of the age, had fallen into
+the popular error of philosophers, that of repudiating all pre-established
+doctrines and maxims. Having laid down the theory that matter was eternal,
+and all external appearances the result of natural change, he was at
+infinite pains to account for all phenomena so as not to conflict with
+this proposition. The unbiased mind of Eleanora often detected in his
+assertions a vagueness of expression which passed for argument, but which
+evidently imposed less upon his auditors than upon himself.
+
+"Nature," said he, "arranges her work in circles: hence is the sky a dome,
+the earth a convex ball, and each minute atom of a globular form. The
+seasons roll their perpetual round, and as a ring hath neither beginning
+nor end, so must the material universe be eternal. The acorn groweth into
+the oak, and the oak again produceth the acorn; all outward manifestations
+are but parts in the great universal machine."
+
+Eleanora, who had been attentively regarding an ingenious invention of the
+king's, interrupted this tirade, by remarking, "A few months before I left
+England, I visited the cell of friar Bacon, in Oxford. But I saw nothing
+in his laboratory so curious and wonderful as this work of my brother's."
+
+The philosopher, flattered with the encomium, turned at once to exhibit
+the design of the machine. She followed his explanation with the greatest
+apparent interest; and when he had finished, replied, "In all these
+curious arrangements, I trace the wisdom of my brother; and it is that
+which gives me the greatest pleasure; and when I see the beneficent
+purposes for which it is designed, I feel a deeper veneration for the mind
+that could plan so skilfully."
+
+She took a bunch of flowers from the hand of Agnes and approached the
+king. "I have been observing," said she, "the curious arrangement of these
+frail leaves, five green supporters, five yellow petals, five slender
+threads, and one central spire. I have gathered thousands of them in my
+rambles, and the same perfect number is found in every one. It has led me
+to inquire if Nature be not like my brother, a mathematician."
+
+The workings of Alphonso's face showed how closely the simple truth of
+this proposition had driven home. "Nature," said he, "is an active
+principle, whose changes neither add to, nor detract from, the original
+matter of the universe. The metals," continued he, seeing she was about to
+respond, "the metals, my philosophical sister, form the basis of
+everything. I have detected iron in human blood, and a lustrous substance
+like that thou sawest in common ashes; hence do the alchemists believe
+that gold, the most precious of all, is scattered through nature, as the
+seeds of vegetation are scattered in earth, requiring only the proper
+gases to develop it and make it abundant as the pebbles on the shore."
+
+"And have these gases been able to effect the desirable changes?" inquired
+the queen.
+
+"There are innumerable obstacles in the way of these momentous inquiries,"
+said the enthusiast. "Nature resists intrusion into her arcana, and I
+grieve to say, that we have not yet been able to bring about a definite
+result. Science has achieved only the procuring of the gases, while there
+remains still the nicer problem--to mix them in their right proportions,
+at their proper temperatures; for the nascent metal is more delicate than
+the embryo plant, and an excess of heat or cold destroys like frost or
+blight."
+
+"Ah, me!" said Eleanora, with a sigh; "before this great end be
+accomplished I fear me my brother will have passed away, and then all this
+toil and research will be lost."
+
+"My sister," said Alphonso, abandoning his labors and seating himself,
+"thou hast unconsciously touched the thorn that rankles deepest in my
+breast. In nature, nothing seems made in vain; even decay produces new
+life, and man alone, the crowning work of all, seems made to no purpose."
+
+"I have sometimes thought," said Eleanora, as if answering her own
+reflections, rather than replying to her brother's remarks, "that man
+might perhaps be made for the pleasure of a higher order of intelligence,
+as the lower orders of creation seem formed for our gratification, and
+that all our miseries spring from an attempt to thwart this plan."
+
+"If thy thought be not the true solution of man's destiny, I know not what
+end he serves in the great scheme of existence," returned Alphonso, sadly;
+"I have passed through various vicissitudes of life, from the greatness of
+earthly state to the poverty of a prison, and I have derived more pleasure
+from the achievements of science than from all my hereditary honors. And
+yet even these do not satisfy the longings of my nature."
+
+"The scripture teaches us, that the superior intelligences find delight in
+benefitting mortals; and acting upon this hint the good have taught us,
+that to be blest ourselves we must seek to bless others," said Eleanora.
+
+"True," replied the philosopher, breaking out once more into his old
+enthusiasm, "I have sometimes found alleviation from the weariness of my
+thoughts in the reflection, that the sciences in which I am engaged will
+one day exercise a wider and more perfect control over the destiny of the
+human race, than all the military orders backed by the sanction of
+ecclesiastical decrees. Science will open the door to Art; and her
+triumphant offspring, in a train of skillful inventions, shall pass on
+through long ages, breaking down the stern barriers of kingdoms, and
+uniting mankind in a common interest; war shall give place to useful
+Labor, and Science abrogating labor in its turn, shall satisfy the wants
+of the human race, accomplishing by a touch that which requires the might
+of thousands. Men shall then have leisure to perform the rites that lift
+the veil of Isis, and perhaps find means to _question_ Nature even in the
+innermost recesses of her temple."
+
+"Oh! life! life!" said the philosopher, in an accent of despair, "why art
+thou so brief? Why must I die without discovering the sublime agencies?"
+
+Eleanora waited in compassionate silence till her brother resumed in a
+calmer tone, "Think me not mad, my sister. If the feeble attempts of an
+imprisoned king, and a cloistered friar, can produce the wondrous results
+of which thou hast been witness, what shall the end be, when men free to
+pursue these investigations shall win the rich guerdon of fame and
+pecuniary reward? Thou hast heard, perchance, of the magician Albertus
+Magnus, who constructed a human figure, which performed the office of a
+servant; and of the stupid priest Thomas Aquinas, who, alarmed by the
+appearance of the automaton which opened the door and ushered him in with
+ceremonious obeisance, destroyed with one blow the work of years."
+
+"I can forgive his terror," said Eleanora, "for I well remember my own
+affright, when the brazen head contrived by Friar Bacon, rolled along on
+the table towards me, and uttered '_pax vobiscum_' with startling
+distinctness."
+
+"Albertus Magnus performed a still more astonishing work," continued
+Alphonso. "At a banquet which he gave in the garden of his cloister, in
+the depth of winter, trees appeared covered with leaves and flowers, which
+vanished as if by enchantment, when the guests rose to depart."
+
+"By what means were these wonderful works produced?" said Eleanora, with
+astonishment.
+
+"With the mode of this operation I am not familiar," returned the
+philosopher. "Doubtless by some of the powerful agents alchemy reveals to
+its votaries."
+
+"And what dost thou consider the chief agent in the universe?" said
+Eleanora, with the air of one inquiring after truth.
+
+"Nature," returned the philosopher, emphatically.
+
+"And will it pain my brother, if his unlearned sister call that great
+agent, who brings the flowers and leaves upon the trees in their season,
+by the name of God?"
+
+"Certainly, the name can affect nothing," replied Alphonso; "and if thy
+priest require it of thee, sin not against him, by a more liberal view."
+
+"And if the ignorant mass, who cannot be enlightened by thy theories, are
+restrained from vice by the thought that an Omniscient Being takes note of
+their actions, would it be well to free them from the necessary monitor?"
+inquired his sister.
+
+"It is doubtless well for man to be deterred from evil by salutary fear,
+till he rises to more exalted capabilities," replied Alphonso.
+
+"And art willing," suggested Eleanora, cautiously, "to administer to this
+wholesome necessity until thy divine philosophy become sufficiently
+perfected to renovate their character."
+
+"What priestly scheme hast thou in hand?" said her brother, regarding her
+with a look of mirthful curiosity.
+
+"Thou knowest how dearly I love the Castilian language," returned the
+queen, "and I would that my brother should perpetuate his fame by that
+which will benefit his subjects. The sight of thy Jewish scribes,
+suggested the thought that it would be easy for thee to procure the
+translation of the Scriptures into our mother tongue."
+
+The philosopher remained silent for a moment, and then answered, "knowest
+thou the effect of the measures thou proposest?"
+
+"I conceive," replied Eleanora, "that it will make thy people more
+virtuous and happy, and," added she, mindful of his foible, "prepare them
+to receive all the additional light to which thy investigations may lead."
+
+"There will be another effect, which, perhaps thou dost not anticipate,"
+replied Alphonso. "It will overthrow the power of the priesthood; for as
+now each man inquires of his confessor concerning his duty, he will, if
+enabled to read the boasted oracles, claim the right to interpret for
+himself. But thy experiment shall be tried, and now I bethink me, those
+learned scribes which _our benevolent son Sancho_ hath permitted us to
+employ in transcribing the laws of Spain into the language of Castile,
+shall be placed under thy direction for this important work."
+
+Thus the object for which Eleanora had so long and so patiently prayed and
+planned, progressed under the auspices of a man who affected to despise
+the truths he yet condescended to propagate; and while the philosopher
+gave critical attention to the correctness of the work, he found leisure
+to complete his Astronomical tables, and to commence the first general
+history of Spain.
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+AN ACCIDENT.
+
+To the monotony of a winter which the absence of the gallant cavaliers had
+rendered doubly tedious to the ladies of the royal household, succeeded a
+balmy spring. The favorite haunt of Eleanora, by the side of a noisy
+stream, which escaping from its icy chain among the hills, hurried away
+through the ravine, leaping up to clasp the overhanging rock in its wild
+embrace, and showering its silver spray upon the weeping boughs that
+fringed its bank, was again carpeted with mossy green, and draped with the
+bright garniture of May.
+
+The view from this romantic spot commanded upon the right the city of
+Burgos, built upon the declivity of a hill, and on the left, a flowery
+path leading along the bank of the stream, which it crossed by a
+foot-bridge, wound up the cliff till it entered upon extensive plains that
+stretched out to the west, and afforded rich pasturage for numerous flocks
+which fed upon the luxuriant herbage.
+
+One sunny afternoon, Eleanora, becoming deeply absorbed in her brother's
+history of the reign of their father, Ferdinand the Holy, allowed the
+maidens, protected by the squires and pages, to climb the prohibited
+cliff, which, ever since it had begun to assume its summer garb, had been
+a strong temptation to their footsteps. Occupied with her manuscript, she
+was unconscious of the lapse of time, but an occasional sound of merry
+voices, mingling harmoniously with the pleasant reflections that filled
+her mind, inspired her with a feeling of security and peace. It was nearly
+sunset when she finished her task, and the chill dews admonished her of
+the lateness of the hour; but when she raised her eyes, not a human being
+was within call. The sentinel page, presuming upon his mistress'
+abstraction, had strolled across the bridge and ascended the hill after
+his companions, and the queen began to be alarmed lest the giddy party
+should defer their return till darkness had increased the danger of the
+mountain path. She gazed in every direction, and listened intently to
+every sound. The breeze rustled the branches, and the river gurgled on its
+way, but all else was still. Suddenly she perceived on the extremity of
+the cliff, the rocks of which sank sheer down to the water's edge, her
+maidens hurrying to the rescue of a lamb, that, having strayed from the
+care of the shepherd, startled the echoes with its piteous cries. Agnes
+was foremost, and as she tripped along unconscious of the abyss which the
+pendant foliage concealed from her sight, and clasped the snowy foundling
+to her lovely breast, her slight figure bathed in the bright gold of the
+western sky seemed the impersonation of the angel of mercy. With a glad
+shout of exultation she turned to exhibit her prize, when the treacherous
+earth gave way beneath her feet, and with her fleecy burden she was
+precipitated into the stream, nearly opposite the spot which the queen,
+breathless with alarm, had just reached. Screams of helpless terror rent
+the air. The squires ran each in a different direction, hoping to find
+some point from which they could descend the cliff, while the poor girl
+floated rapidly down the stream, rising and sinking with the swelling
+waves. Quick as thought, Eleanora caught up a fallen branch that lay upon
+the bank, and extended it for her rescue. The drowning Agnes seized it
+with one hand, and the queen, with great exertion, had drawn her almost to
+the shore, when the frail support gave way, and the mad waters again
+enveloped her form. As she sank, the animal struggled from her grasp and
+gained the bank.
+
+"Save her! Oh God in mercy save her!" exclaimed Eleanora, clasping her
+hands in agony. At this moment a solitary pedestrian turning an angle in
+the path, approached, and attracted by the cry of distress quickened his
+pace. "There! there!" exclaimed the queen, pointing with a frantic gesture
+to the spot where Agnes had disappeared. Without a word, the stranger
+threw his staff and cloak upon the ground, and plunged into the stream.
+But the rapacious tide had borne her beyond his reach. On he swam,
+buffeting the waves with a strong arm, now searching the depths, and now
+scanning the ruffled surface, till finding every effort unavailing, he
+paused amid the whirling eddies, as if irresolute to seek the shore or
+continue the fruitless search. At this moment a small fair hand gleamed in
+the water before him, vainly clasping the idle waves, as if reaching for
+the broken reed that had so deceived its hope. He grasped the tiny hand in
+his own, raised the sinking form, and, renerved by the joy of success, and
+the shouts of those who approached in tumultuous haste, by a few strokes
+of his powerful arm gained the shore. Every hand was extended for his
+assistance; but the stranger heeded not the proffered aid, and kneeling
+upon the velvet turf he pressed the senseless form in his arms, and
+regarded the face that lay so fixed and still upon his breast, with a mute
+anxiety that held his features almost as rigid as those on which he gazed.
+While the balance thus trembles between life and death, every voice is
+dumb and every breath suppressed. The queen hangs motionless over her
+unconscious favorite, and the attendants stand chilled and paralyzed with
+doubt and dread, till a sudden gleam of satisfaction irradiates the
+stranger's face, and a faint sigh heaves the bosom of Agnes. "My God, I
+thank thee!" exclaims Eleanora, fervently, while every frame dilates with
+a full deep inspiration of returning hope. But the stranger, with an
+authoritative wave of his hand, repels all attempts to relieve him of his
+lovely charge. Gently he disengages the long silken locks that cling
+dripping to his arm, tenderly he raises her head to catch the breeze that
+fans her pallid cheek, and 'tis not till returning life quivers in the
+languid eyelids, that pressing his lips upon her snowy hand, he resigns
+her to her royal mistress. At once the maidens crowded around, some
+weeping and some laughing under the excess of the same emotion, eager to
+assist in the resuscitation of their lovely friend; and the squires and
+pages busied themselves in constructing a litter of boughs, upon which
+Agnes was conveyed to the palace.
+
+Meanwhile, the innocent cause of the catastrophe crept shivering to the
+feet of the queen, who compassionately ordered one of the attendants to
+carry it forward; and thus while the shades of evening stretched over the
+landscape, the saddened party re-entered the streets of Burgos. In the
+general confusion the strange deliverer had disappeared, and no one knew
+the direction he had taken; but the ladies had not been so much occupied
+with their anxiety, that they had failed to mark his noble figure and
+princely bearing; and Eleanora remembered that his face was one of
+peculiar beauty, though marked by a scar, conspicuous upon the right
+cheek.
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+FREDERIC THE BITTEN.
+
+The slight illness that followed the accident which had so nearly proved
+fatal to the young Jewess, was attended by no dangerous symptoms, and the
+maidens amused her convalescence with conjectures concerning her
+mysterious deliverer. Their pleasantries acquired new zest, when they
+discovered that a rosy blush, no less than an evasive reply, answered
+their reiterated prediction that the stranger would one day return, no
+longer a simple knight, but a noble lord, or powerful prince, and claim
+the fair hand on which he imprinted his parting kiss. Thus the weeks wore
+away, and the affair at length ceased to be the engrossing topic of
+conversation: the inhabitants of the palace resumed their accustomed
+employments, and indulged in their usual rambles.
+
+Eleanora received frequent despatches of the most satisfactory character
+from her husband. The Christian arms had been everywhere successful
+against the Moors, and the King of Arragon had added to his former
+conquests, Majorca and Valencia, together with numerous castles and
+churches taken from the Infidels. Edward proposed to return by sea to
+Bordeaux, where he appointed his queen to meet him within the following
+month.
+
+But the tidings she received from Procida, through an ambassador that
+craved a private audience, created a more agitating interest than even the
+affairs of their own realm could awaken. At sight of the stranger, she
+recognized the saviour of Agnes, and her first impulse was to thank him
+for his generous exertions in behalf of her fair ward. But the grave
+formality of his manner checked the graceful condescension. He seemed but
+the bearer of a letter, and received her greeting merely as the messenger
+of Procida, and presuming upon his avowed character, she proceeded to
+peruse the despatch in his presence.
+
+The epistle from the Jew commenced abruptly without date. It acquainted
+the queen with the rank and title of the bearer, "Frederic the Bitten,"
+Duke of Saxony, grandson of the illustrious Emperor of Germany, and
+commended him to her courtesy as the suitor of the young Agnes. Procida
+alluded darkly to negotiations and plots, which he trusted would
+accomplish the deliverance of his country, but towards the close of the
+epistle, the _father_ triumphed over the _conspirator_, and the
+expressions of paternal love subdued the tone of vengeance to the accents
+of tenderness and apprehension.
+
+"I was anxious my royal friend," said he, "now that rugged winter has been
+smoothed by a softer breath, I was anxious to write and to address thee
+some grateful strain, as the first-fruits of the spring. But the mournful
+news presages to me new storms; my songs sink into tears. In vain do the
+heavens smile; in vain do the gardens and groves inspire me with
+unseasonable joy, and the returning concert of the birds tempt me to
+resume my own. I cannot behold with dry eyes the approaching desolation of
+my kind nurse Sicily. Which shall I choose for her, the yoke, or honor? I
+see that in the confusion of insurrection numbers of her innocent children
+must perish. Shall I then leave her under the power of the tyrant? Shall
+our beautiful Palermo be defiled by strangers? Shall the powerful and
+noble Messina rest in quiet with the foot of her oppressor on her neck; or
+shall I, while feigning peace, organize a war, rousing Sicily and the
+world to revenge? Revenge! at the word all thoughts of pity and tenderness
+leave me. The concentrated rage of Etna seems warring in my bosom; it
+heaves at sight of the miseries of my unhappy people. The island is full
+of preparations against the Greeks: but, when the sword is drawn, shall it
+not be buried in the breast of him who drains the life blood from his
+helpless subjects?
+
+"But in that hour Procida may perish, and the King of Arragon fail to
+restore the sister of Manfred to her ancient rights. There will then
+remain of the house of Suabia only 'Frederic the Bitten.' If the daughter
+of Procida favor his suit, detain him till the '_Ides of March_' be
+passed, for with Frederic, dies the last hope of the Hohenstaufen."
+
+Eleanora closed the letter and pondered a moment upon its contents. In the
+plan of Procida to detain Frederic from the approaching conflict in
+Sicily, she most readily acquiesced, but the difficulty of managing so
+delicate an affair became instantly apparent to her ready perception.
+When, however, she adroitly endeavored to draw from the young duke his
+knowledge of the purposes of Procida, her apprehension was relieved by
+discovering that the affair had been planned in such a manner as to
+require from her, neither entreaty nor subterfuge, since the wily Jew had
+exacted a promise from the young noble, that he would spend a twelvemonth,
+at the court of his cousin Edward, before he demanded the hand of Agnes in
+marriage. Procida had not indeed, left the duke ignorant of his ultimate
+purpose, but he had led him to look for its accomplishment at a much more
+distant date than that designated in the letter, and Frederic consequently
+feeling no anxiety for an immediate return to Sicily, readily accepted the
+queen's invitation to form part of the royal escort to Bordeaux.
+
+Eleanora in taking leave of her brother, was comforted with the thought,
+that he was occupied with a more healthful and profitable pursuit than
+were the abstruse researches into the mysteries of nature, in which she
+had found him engaged. She had also the satisfaction of knowing that the
+deposed monarch had laid aside all his ambitious projects for empire, and
+now busied his thoughts in calculating the immense advantage and glory
+that would accrue to mankind from the Castilian literature he had in
+preparation. The affectionate farewells were exchanged, and, accompanied
+by her two beautiful children, Beatrice and Berengaria, her maidens and
+the attendant squires, and a small band of Spanish cavaliers, among whom
+rode the Duke of Saxony, she set off to meet her lord in Aquitaine. In the
+genial society of the queen and her maidens, whose spirits were
+exhilarated by the exercise and incidents of the journey, Frederic seemed
+to breathe an atmosphere to which he had been unaccustomed, and which
+served to enliven his habitual gravity, and develop the gentler qualities
+of his naturally generous character. The maidens amused themselves with
+constant allusions to the happy accomplishment of their prediction, and
+the wit of the fair Agnes was sorely tested, in meeting and parrying their
+playful attacks. The courteous attentions of the duke, were so impartially
+distributed among the ladies, that not even jealousy itself could find
+cause for complaint; yet it was only the voice of Agnes that had power to
+rouse him from his frequent reveries, and when he spoke, his eye
+instinctively turned to read in her countenance approbation or dissent.
+Disciplined in the school of adversity, he manifested a strength and
+severity of character, tempered by a pensive tenderness, which showed that
+his mother's wrongs had wrought in his heart a sentiment of sympathy for
+the suffering which made him hesitate to involve his country in the
+exterminating wars, that he foresaw would follow a renewal of the strife
+between the Guelphs and Ghibellines; and though he felt an enthusiastic
+admiration for the ardor and zeal of Procida, yet the unscrupulous Jew,
+who studied the character of all he met with reference to their
+availability in the approaching crisis, too accurately estimated the
+probity and truth of the young noble, to attempt to engage him in the dark
+plot for the overthrow of d'Anjou. Still he loved the duke, as the
+descendant of his great patron, and honored him for those qualities, of
+which he felt himself destitute; and thus it was with a feeling of joyful
+security, rather than of pride at the princely alliance, that he consented
+to bestow his only treasure upon the man, who least of all sympathised in
+the one purpose of his life.
+
+The royal party arrived at Bordeaux a few days in advance of the King of
+England, and during these hours of leisure, Frederic unfolded to the queen
+the mystery of his first appearance in Burgos.
+
+Procida had entrusted him with despatches for the King of Arragon; and to
+execute his commission with the more secresy, and at the same time to
+enjoy the freedom of the mountain solitudes, he travelled without retinue
+or insignia of rank. Thus he was leisurely pursuing his way along the bank
+of the stream, communing pleasantly with his own thoughts, when the cries
+of Eleanora attracted him, just in time to save Agnes from a watery grave.
+Time had so developed her loveliness that at first he failed to recognize
+in the fair being before him, the beautiful child he had been accustomed
+to admire in her father's castle of Prochyta; but when the first flush of
+returning life glowed upon her countenance, his admiration became lost in
+a deeper emotion, and from that hour he determined to lay the ducal
+coronet of Saxony at the feet of the beautiful daughter of Sicily.
+
+The return of the royal family was an era in the annals of English
+prosperity, from the number of valuables imported from Spain. In the
+catalogue of the queen's plate, mention is made of a crystal fork, the
+parting gift of her brother Alphonso, from which the first idea of these
+articles of table luxury was derived: but the lamb, which had so nearly
+cost the life of Agnes, proved a benefit to the nation, whose value can
+never be estimated; and the shepherd of Cotswold to this day, has reason
+to bless the queen, who bestowed the cherished pet in an English fold.
+
+During his southern campaign, King Edward had contracted an alliance
+between his eldest daughter Eleanora, and Alphonso, the young Prince of
+Arragon. The next sister, Joanna of Acre, who most of all resembled her
+mother in beauty and strength of character, was about the same time,
+married to the first peer of the realm, Gilbert the red Earl of
+Gloucester, and the third daughter wedded to John, the Duke of Brabant. At
+these nuptials the queen presented a golden cup of benison to each of the
+brides, inscribed with appropriate passages of Holy Writ; and though, in
+consequence of Frederic's promise to her father, the betrothment between
+himself and Agnes could not then take place, Eleanora bestowed upon her
+lovely ward a similar gift, bearing these words, "Thou hast been unto me
+as a daughter."
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+LETTER FROM PROCIDA TO DON PEDRO, KING OF ARRAGON.
+
+* * * * * * * "Thou didst tell me in Arragon, that to restore Sicily to
+the house of Suabia, was the chimera of a maddened brain; that the strong
+arm of the church would be lifted to crush the Ghibellines in their final
+struggle; that gold was wanting to bribe the soldier to draw his sword in
+behalf of the doomed race, and that the enemies of Charles of Anjou could
+not be brought to act together against their common foe. Recall now the
+cruel words that drove Procida from thy court, a Mendicant, '_Conquer
+these impossibilities, and the fleet of Arragon is ready to substantiate
+the claim of the daughter of Manfred to the throne of Sicily_.' Goaded by
+the mocking promise, the mendicant wanders in Sicily. Now, companion of
+the tax-gatherer, he wrings the last drachm� from the hard hand of toil,
+and now with the agents of tyranny, he hides the skins of stags or deer in
+the huts of the peasant, and then robs the goatherd as a penalty for the
+offence. Thus, he listens and observes. Thus, he tugs at the chain that
+festers in their shrinking flesh, to show his countrymen their thraldom.
+Anon, a _shepherd_ or a _herdsman_, he traverses the valley, or scales the
+rock, joins the youthful throng that stealthily sport beneath the mountain
+chesnut, or mingles with the vexed vassals who wait their sovereigns'
+will, and whispers in the ear of each repining soul, 'The avenger of
+Manfred holds the vigils of Freedom in the cave of the forest of Palermo.'
+At sunset, a _traveller_, he seeks the rendezvous: the husbandman is
+returning to his cottage, his reaping-hook hanging idly from his arm, the
+Frenchman has gathered the grain from his fields. The herdsman drives his
+lowing flocks across the lea--the kine and the goat have been robbed of
+their young, and their fleecy robes been stripped from the bleating
+tenants of the fold. The peasant of Hibla returns mourning the swarm which
+the wind bore beyond his reclaim, but still more the honied stores which
+during his absence the hand of the spoiler ravished from his unprotected
+apiary. There comes no voice from the vineyard--the vintagers have trodden
+the wine-press, but the ruby current flows in the goblets that enliven the
+banquets of their foreign masters. Oh my people, Sicilians! Listen to him
+who whispers in the ear of each, 'Carry thy wrongs to the cave of the
+forest of Palermo.' They come--barbarians, Arabs, Jews, Normans and
+Germans--those who rejoiced in the tolerant reign of the Suabians, those
+who have suffered from the tyrant French--Etna groans with the prescience
+of coming vengeance, and with her thousand tongues of flame, summons the
+guilty oppressor to abide the 'judgment of God' before the altar.
+
+* * * * * * "A vessel sails from Brundusium, the mariners, hardy
+Calabrians, spread their sails and bend to their oars with patient
+purpose; but there is _one_ among them who never leaves his post, in calm
+or in storm--one thought gives strength and vigor to his iron arm; and
+though a scorner of puerile beadsmen, he almost prays the God of the wind
+to speed him on his course. Should the Greek Emperor refuse his aid--_he_
+will tell him that, which will make him tremble for his throne and force
+the gold from the reluctant coffers. The crafty Paleologus hesitates, but
+he stands aghast, when Procida acquaints him that Venice hath lent her
+ships to D'Anjou, and another Dandolo is already embarked to repeat the
+_Fifth Crusade_! The Greek exclaims in despair, 'I know not what to do.'
+'Give me money,' replies the _mariner_, 'and I will find you a defender,
+who has no money, but who has arms.' Michael Paleologus opens his
+treasures and satisfies even a Jew's thirst for gold. Most of all,
+Paleologus desires a complete reconciliation with the pope; most of all
+Procida desires an interview with the sovereign pontiff.
+
+"More swiftly returns the galley; and the ambassador of the Greek stands
+upon the prow, wrapped in courtly vestments; but not the less anxiously
+does he watch the winds and waves that return him to Rome. The feeble
+Nicholas trembles at thought of the vast undertaking, but Procida has
+fathomed the old man's ambition for his house. He reminds him of the reply
+of D'Anjou, when the pope proposed a marriage between his neice and
+Charles' son, 'Does Nicholas fancy because he wears red stockings that the
+blood of Orsini can mingle with the blood of France?' The stinging
+remembrance of the taunt determines the pontiff, and the treaty with
+Paleologus is delivered into the hands of the ambassador. Behold now, King
+of Arragon, '_The impossibilities are conquered_,' and thou art bound by
+the very vow of thine unbelief to '_substantiate the claim of the daughter
+of Manfred to the throne of Sicily_.'"
+
+Before the letter of Procida reached Don Pedro, Pope Nicholas died, and
+Charles had sufficient interest with the college of cardinals to procure
+the election of one of his own creatures to the Holy See.
+
+These events darkened the horizon above the Sicilians: but the dauntless
+spirit of Procida rose superior to this alarming turn of affairs. Though
+aware that Charles had been made acquainted with his designs, he remained
+upon the island, stealthily riveting the links of the conspiracy, and
+binding the discordant interests of the various ranks in an indissoluble
+confederacy, for the overthrow of foreign oppression. The cave of the
+forest of Palermo was piled with bundles of faggots, in which were
+concealed the weapons that the inhabitants had forged in secresy and in
+darkness, for by the prohibition of the French no Sicilian was permitted
+to wear arms. The grand conspirator knew well the Sicilian character,
+ardent, gay, voluptuous,--he chose his time with his wonted sagacity, when
+the beautiful island rejoicing in the fullness of bloom, invites her
+children to banquet upon her charms; when the long abstinence of Lent
+being over, the senses, reanimated by flesh and wine, start from languor
+to revel in the enjoyment of luxury and the exhilaration of passion.
+Easter-Monday, March 30th, 1282, dawns upon Sicily with fair promise for
+the festal day. The citizens of Palermo look one upon another with furtive
+glances of restrained impatience, and prepared for the annual _f�te_ with
+busy alacrity, while the foreigners, made apprehensive by the gathering
+multitudes, come armed to assist in garlanding the very church of God.
+
+At sunset a bride and bridegroom go forth, attended by all the inhabitants
+of the city, both men and women, up the beautiful hill Monr�ale, to
+present their vows at the altar of the blessed Virgin:--a traitor whispers
+the warning, "The Sicilians have arms beneath their robes." The leader of
+the French hurries forward and seizes the weapon of the bridegroom--he
+lays his licentious hand upon the bride. Procida draws his sword, and with
+a cry of "Death to the French!" buries it in the heart of the brutal
+enemy. At the moment the sound of the Vesper bell floats from the temple
+of our lady, on the mount of Monr�ale. It is the appointed signal for
+vengeance, and "Death to the French!" echoes from lip to lip, through all
+the ranks of the Sicilians. Everywhere the tyrants are cut down--the
+houses of the foreigners bear each a fatal mark, and the Destroying Angel
+spares not even women and children, and the night spreads her solemn pall
+over the bodies of slaughtered thousands.
+
+Intelligence of the accomplishment of Procida's purpose soon reached
+Eleanora; but the horrors of the massacre were suppressed, nor did Agnes
+ever know the cruel part her father had played in the grand tragedy of the
+_Sicilian Vespers_. She learned, indeed, that the Queen of Arragon had
+rescued the only son of D'Anjou from his pursuers, and conveyed him away
+in safety from the island; but the insurrection had not reached its final
+triumph, when she left the court of England as the Duchess of Saxony; and
+it was from that time the care of her husband that her gentle spirit
+should not be pained by a knowledge of the sanguinary scenes that resulted
+in the death of D'Anjou, and in the re-establishment of the house of
+Suabia upon the throne of Sicily.
+
+It would have been natural for Edward, in this struggle, to throw the
+weight of his influence on the side of his uncle D'Anjou; but the
+circumstance of his daughter's betrothment to Alphonso of Arragon, held
+him neutral. He, however, negotiated a peace between the pope and
+Alphonso, by which D'Anjou's son, Charles the Lame, was released from his
+captivity in Arragon, and permitted to assume his authority in Naples.
+
+Eleanora's love for her husband, not less than her delicate appreciation
+of excellence, had led her to weigh with wise discrimination the effect of
+political events upon his character; and the truth was reluctantly forced
+upon her, that ambition, nurtured by the uniform success of his
+enterprises, was gradually absorbing the nobler qualities of his nature,
+and steeling his heart against the claims of justice and humanity.
+
+King Alexander III. of Scotland, the last direct heir in the male line
+from Maude, died 1285, and this circumstance was the precursor of that
+period, fatal to Edward's honor, and to the long-established amity between
+the two kingdoms.
+
+To avert the consequences which she foresaw would follow Alexander's
+demise, she had influenced Edward to propose a matrimonial alliance
+between the Prince of Wales and the Maid of Norway, heiress of the
+Scottish crown. The states of Scotland readily assented to the proposition
+of the English, and even consented that their young sovereign should be
+educated at the court of her royal father-in-law. But, while Eleanora was
+anticipating the pleasant task of rearing the future Queen of England, she
+was overwhelmed with sorrow by the intelligence, that the tender frame of
+the priceless child, unable to sustain the rigors of the voyage, had
+fallen a victim to death at the Orkneys, on her way to England. Her loss
+was the greatest calamity that ever befell the Scottish nation, fully
+justifying the touching couplet,
+
+  "The North wind sobs where Margaret sleeps,
+  And still in tears of blood her memory Scotland steeps."
+
+The succession of the Scottish crown became at once a matter of dispute,
+and all the evils which Eleanora had foreseen began to darken the
+political horizon.
+
+The line of Alexander being extinct, the crown devolved on the issue of
+David, Earl of Huntington, who figures as Sir Kenneth, in the "Talisman".
+The earl had three daughters, from one of whom descended John Baliol, from
+another Robert Bruce; and the rival claims of these two competitors having
+for some time agitated the kingdom, it was agreed to submit the
+arbitration of the affair to Edward, in the same manner as Henry III. had
+made Louis IX. umpire of his difficulties upon the continent. But the
+noble virtues of the saintly monarch were poorly represented in the
+English king. Edward at once claimed the crown for himself as lord
+paramount of the country, appointed Baliol as his deputy, and sent six
+regents to take possession of Scotland. The brave men of the north
+resisted this aggression with a spirit that fully proved their
+Scandinavian origin, and Edward hastened to the Scottish border to enforce
+his claims.
+
+Queen Eleanora was absent in Ambresbury, to witness the profession of her
+daughter Mary, who there, with the Welsh Princess Guendoline, was veiled a
+nun under the care of her royal mother-in-law, Eleanora of Provence. But
+no sooner was the ceremony concluded, than she complied with her husband's
+earnest request, that she should follow him to Scotland.
+
+Regardless of fatigue, she hurried forward, though sensible that an
+incipient fever preyed upon her strength. As the dangerous symptoms
+increased, she redoubled her speed, hoping at least to reach Alnwick
+castle, and die in her husband's arms. But at Grantham, in Lincolnshire,
+her strength utterly failed, and in the residence of a private gentleman,
+who had belonged to their household in Palestine, she awaited the coming
+of the King of Terrors. A courier was immediately despatched to Edward,
+with news of her alarming illness. At the gentle call of conjugal love,
+all other considerations gave way in the heart of Edward. He turned
+southward instantly, and by forced stages, hurried towards Grantham. The
+dying Eleanora watched for his coming with an anxiety born of an intense
+devotion to the welfare of her husband and his subjects. She longed to
+repeat with her last breath the tender counsels that had ever influenced
+him to clemency and mercy, and which she had enforced by the strongest of
+all arguments, the daily example of a holy life. But the last sad duty to
+the cold remains of his beloved consort, was the only consolation left to
+the bereaved monarch, when he arrived at Lincolnshire. With a sorrow that
+found relief in every outward testimonial of woe, he followed her corpse
+in person during thirteen days in progress of the funeral to Westminster.
+In every town where the royal bier rested the ecclesiastics assembled, and
+in solemn procession conducted it to the high altar of the principal
+church, and at each resting-place, Edward set up a crucifix in memory of
+"_La chere reine_," as he passionately called his lost Eleanora. Charing
+Cross, erected upon the site now occupied by the statue of Charles I., was
+the London monument of this saintly queen.
+
+An English writer, in a tribute to her memory, thus enumerates her
+virtues, "To our nation she was a loving mother, the column and pillar of
+the whole realm; therefore, to her glory, the king her husband caused all
+those famous trophies to be erected, wherever her noble corpse did rest;
+for he loved her above all earthly creatures. She was a godly, modest and
+merciful princess; the English nation in her time was not harassed by
+foreigners, nor the country people by the purveyors of the crown. The
+sorrow-stricken she consoled, as became her dignity, and she made them
+friends that were at discord."
+
+Her sorrowing lord endowed the Abbey of Winchester with rich donations for
+the perpetual celebration of dirges and masses for her soul, and waxen
+tapers were burned about her tomb, till the light of the Reformation
+outshone the lights of superstition; but her imperishable virtues survive
+every monumental device, illume the annals of history, and illustrate the
+true philosophy of female Heroism.
+
+
+
+
+NOTES.
+
+
+
+
+NOTES.
+
+
+NOTE A.--PAGE 19.
+
+"_The Lady Matilda._"--Hlafdig�, or lady, means the giver of bread. Few of
+the Queens of England can claim a more illustrious descent than this
+princess. Her father, Baldwin V., was surnamed the gentle Earl of
+Flanders: her mother Adelais, was daughter of Robert, King of France, and
+sister to Henry, reigning sovereign of that country, and she was nearly
+related to the Emperor of Germany, and most of the royal houses in
+Europe.--_Queens of England_, p. 24.
+
+
+NOTE B.--PAGE 19.
+
+"_Woden and Thor._"--Two of the most powerful deities in northern
+mythology. The ancient Saxons honored Woden as the God of War, and the
+Germans represented Thor as the God of Thunder.
+
+
+NOTE C.--PAGE 20.
+
+"_The Royal Children._"--The sons of Matilda and William the Conqueror,
+were Robert, afterwards Duke of Normandy, Richard, who died young, William
+and Henry, afterwards kings of England, Cicely, Agatha, Adela, Constance,
+Adeliza and Gundred. No two writers agree as to the order of their ages,
+except that Robert was the eldest and Henry the youngest son, Cicely the
+eldest and Gundred the youngest daughter.--Vide _Queens of England_, p.
+33-82.
+
+
+NOTE D.--PAGE 20.
+
+"_The Mora._"--While the fleet destined to invade the Island waited in the
+port for a favorable wind, William was agreeably surprised by the arrival
+of his duchess at the port, in a splendid vessel of war called the Mora,
+which she had caused to be built, unknown to him, and adorned in the most
+royal style of magnificence for his acceptance. The effigy of their
+youngest son, William, in gilded bronze, most writers say of gold, was
+placed at the prow of this vessel, with his face turned towards England,
+holding a trumpet to his lips with one hand, and bearing in the other a
+bow with the arrow aimed towards England.--_Queens of England_, p. 40.
+
+
+NOTE E.--PAGE 21.
+
+"_William the Conqueror_" was of low origin on the mother's side. He was
+not ashamed of his birth, and drew around him his mother's other sons. At
+first he had much difficulty in bringing his barons, who despised him, to
+their allegiance. He was a large, bald-headed man, very brave, very
+greedy, and very sage, according to the notions of the times, that is very
+treacherous.--_Michelet's History of France_, p. 193.
+
+
+NOTE F.--PAGE 21.
+
+"_Edgar Atheling._"--Edward, the son of Edmund Ironside, being sent to
+Hungary to escape the cruelty of Canute, was there married to Agatha,
+daughter of the Emperor Henry II. She bore him Edgar Atheling, Margaret,
+afterwards Queen of Scotland, and Christina, who afterwards retired to a
+convent.--_Hume_, p. 115.
+
+
+NOTE G.--PAGE 22.
+
+"_The one keeping strict lenten fast._"--By a mixture of vigor and lenity,
+he had so soothed the mind of the English, that he thought he might safely
+revisit his native country, and enjoy the triumph and congratulation of
+his ancient subjects. He left the administration in the hands of his
+uterine brother, Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, and of William Fitz Osberne. That
+their authority might be exposed to less danger, he carried over with him
+all the most considerable nobility of England, who, while they served to
+grace his court by their presence and magnificent retinues, were in
+reality hostages for the fidelity of the nation. Among these, were Edgar
+Atheling, Stigand the primate, the Earls Edwin and Morcar, Waltheof the
+son of the brave Earl Siward, with others eminent for the greatness of
+their fortunes and families, or for their ecclesiastical and civil
+dignities. He was visited at the Abbey of Fescamp, where he resided during
+some time, by Rodulph, uncle to the King of France, and by many powerful
+princes and nobles, who having contributed to his enterprise, were
+desirous of participating in the joy and advantages of its success. His
+English courtiers, willing to ingratiate themselves with their new
+sovereign, outvied each other in equipages and entertainments; and made a
+display of riches which struck the foreigners with astonishment. William
+of Poictiers, a Norman historian, who was present, speaks with admiration
+of the beauty of their persons, the size and workmanship of their silver
+plate, the costliness of their embroideries, an art in which the English
+then excelled, and he expresses himself in such terms as tend much to
+exalt our idea of the opulence and cultivation of the people. But though
+everything bore the face of joy and festivity, and William himself treated
+his new courtiers with great appearance of kindness, it was impossible
+altogether to prevent the insolence of the Normans; and the English nobles
+derived little satisfaction from those entertainments, where they
+considered themselves as led in triumph by their ostentatious
+conqueror.--_Hume_, vol. 1, p. 184.
+
+
+NOTE H.--PAGE 22.
+
+The celebrated Bayeaux tapestry, distinguished by the name of the _Duke of
+Normandy's toilette_, is a piece of canvass about nineteen inches in
+breadth, but upwards of sixty-seven yards in length, on which is
+embroidered the history of the conquest of England by William of Normandy,
+commencing with the visit of Harold to the Norman court, and ending with
+his death at the battle of Hastings, 1066. The leading transactions of
+these eventful years, the death of Edward the Confessor, and the
+coronation of Harold in the chamber of the royal dead, are represented in
+the clearest and most regular order in this piece of needle-work, which
+contains many hundred figures of men, horses, birds, beasts, trees,
+houses, castles, and churches, all executed their proper colors, with
+names and inscriptions over them to elucidate the story. It appears to
+have been designed by Turold, a dwarf artist, who illuminated the canvas
+with the proper outlines and colors.--_Queens of England_, vol. 1, p. 54.
+
+
+NOTE I.--PAGE 23.
+
+"_Cicely, the betrothed of Harold._"--William also complained of the
+affront that had been offered to his daughter by the faithless Saxon, who,
+regardless of his contract to the little Norman princess, just before King
+Edward's death, strengthened his interest with the English nobles by
+marrying Algitha, sister to the powerful Earls Morcar and Edwin, and widow
+to Griffith, Prince of Wales. This circumstance is mentioned with great
+bitterness in all William's proclamations and reproachful messages to
+Harold, and appears to have been considered by the incensed duke to the
+full as great a villany as the assumption of the crown of
+England.--_Queens of England_, vol. 1, p. 35.
+
+
+NOTE J.--PAGE 24.
+
+"_Condemned her former lover._"--Brithric, the son of Algar, a Saxon
+Thane, is stated in Domesday, to have held this manor in the reign of
+Edward the Confessor; but having given offence to Maud, the daughter of
+Baldwin, Count of Flanders, previous to her marriage with William, Duke of
+Normandy, by refusing to marry her himself, his property was seized by
+that monarch on the conquest, and bestowed seemingly in revenge upon the
+queen.--_Ellis's History of Thornbury Castle._
+
+
+NOTE K.--PAGE 25.
+
+"_The terrible Vikings._"--Sea kings among the Danes or Normans; leaders
+of piratical squadrons who passed their lives in roving the seas in search
+of spoil and adventures. The younger sons of the Scandinavian kings and
+jarls, having no inheritance but the ocean, naturally collected around
+their standards the youth of inferior order, who were equally destitute
+with themselves. These were the same who, in England and Scotland, under
+the name of Danes, and on the continent under the name of Normans, at
+first desolated the maritime coasts, and afterwards penetrated into the
+interior of countries, and formed permanent settlements in their
+conquests.--_See Encyclopedia._
+
+
+NOTE L.--PAGE 27.
+
+"_The Danes confided much in the Fylga or Guardian Spirit._"--They have
+certain Priestesses named Morthwyrtha, or worshippers of the dead.
+
+
+NOTE M.--PAGE 29.
+
+Edgar Atheling, dreading the insidious caresses of William, escaped into
+Scotland, and carried thither his two sisters, Margaret and Christina.
+They were well received by Malcolm, who soon after espoused Margaret, the
+elder.--_Hume's History of England_, vol. 1.
+
+
+NOTE N.--PAGE 29.
+
+"_The laying waste of Hampshire._"--There was one pleasure to which
+William, as well as all the Normans and ancient Saxons, were extremely
+addicted, and that was hunting; but this pleasure he indulged more at the
+expense of his unhappy subjects, whose interests he always disregarded,
+than to the loss or diminution of his own revenue. Not content with those
+large forests which former kings possessed in all parts of England, he
+resolved to make a new forest near Winchester, the usual place of his
+residence; and for that purpose he laid waste the country in Hampshire for
+an extent of thirty miles, expelled the inhabitants from their houses,
+seized their property even, demolished churches and convents, and made
+the sufferers no compensation for the injury. At the same time he enacted
+new laws, by which he prohibited all his subjects from hunting in any of
+his forests, and rendered the penalties more severe than ever had been
+inflicted for such offences. The killing of a deer or bear, or even a
+hare, was punished with the loss of a delinquent's eyes; and that, at a
+time, when the killing of a man could be atoned for by paying a moderate
+fine.--_History of England_, vol. 1, p. 214.
+
+
+NOTE O.--PAGE 29.
+
+"_Odious Danegelt, and still more odious Couvrefeu._"--William, to prevent
+the people of the land from confederating together in nocturnal
+assemblies, for the purpose of discussing their grievances, and
+stimulating each other to revolt, compelled them to couvrefeu, or
+extinguish the lights and fires in their dwellings at eight o'clock every
+evening, at the tolling of a bell, called from that circumstance, the
+curfew or couvrefeu.--_Queens of England_, vol. 1, p. 57.
+
+
+NOTE P.--PAGE 30.
+
+"_Lanfranc will absolve thee from thy oath._"--Lanfranc exchanged his
+priory for the Abbey of St. Stephen, at Caen, in Normandy, and when
+William, the sovereign of that duchy, acquired the English throne by
+conquest, the interest of that prince procured his election, in 1070, to
+the Archbishopric of Canterbury, then become vacant by the deposition of
+Stigand.--_See Encyclopedia._
+
+
+NOTE Q.--PAGE 41.
+
+"_Adela stood again in the old Abbey of Fescamp._"--In the year 1075,
+William and Matilda, with their family, kept the festival of Easter with
+great pomp at Fescamp, and attended in person the profession of their
+eldest daughter Cicely, who was there veiled a nun, by the Archbishop
+John.--_Queens of England_, vol. 1, p. 63.
+
+
+NOTE R.--PAGE 36.
+
+"_A maiden's needle wounds less deeply than a warrior's sword._"--It was
+on the field of Archembraye, where Robert, unconscious who the doughty
+champion was, against whom he tilted, ran his father through the arm with
+his lance, and unhorsed him.--_Queens of England_, vol. 1, p. 71.
+
+
+NOTE S.--PAGE 37.
+
+"_Accolade._"--The more distinguished the rank of the aspirant, the more
+distinguished were those who put themselves forward to arm him. The
+romances often state that the shield was given to a knight by the King of
+Spain, the sword by a King of England, the helmet from a French sovereign.
+The word dub is of pure Saxon origin. The French word adouber is similar
+to the Latin adoptare, for knights were not made by adapting the
+habiliments of chivalry to them, but by receiving them, or being adopted
+into the order. Many writers have imagined that the accolade was the last
+blow which the soldier might receive with impunity.--_Mill's History of
+Chivalry_, p. 28.
+
+
+NOTE T.--PAGE 48.
+
+"_The Saxon Secretary Ingulphus._"--In the year 1051, William, Duke of
+Normandy, then a visitor at the court of Edward the Confessor, made
+Ingulphus, then of the age of twenty-one, his secretary. He accompanied
+the duke to Normandy--went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and upon his
+return was created abbot of the rich monastery of Croyland--_See
+Encyclopedia._
+
+
+NOTE U.--PAGE 47.
+
+"_I craved a portion of the Holy dust._"--Even the dust of Palestine was
+adored: it was carefully conveyed to Europe, and the fortunate possessor,
+whether by original acquisition or by purchase, was considered to be safe
+from the malevolence of demons. As a proof that miracles had not ceased in
+his time, St. Augustine relates a story of the cure of a young man who
+had some of the dust of the Holy City suspended in a bag over his
+bed.--_Mill's Crusades_, p. 14.
+
+
+NOTE V.--PAGE 47.
+
+"_Pilgrim, and Palmer._"--On his return, he placed the branch of the
+sacred palm tree, which he had brought from Jerusalem, over the altar of
+his church, in proof of the accomplishment of his vow; religious
+thanksgivings were offered up; rustic festivity saluted and honored him,
+and he was revered for his piety and successful labors.--_Mill's
+Crusades_, p. 14.
+
+
+NOTE W.--PAGE 48.
+
+"_Joined the Archbishop._"--The clergy of Germany had proclaimed their
+intention of visiting Jerusalem; and Ingulphus, a native and historian of
+England, was one of a Norman troop which joined them at Mayence. The total
+number of pilgrims was seven thousand, and among the leaders are the names
+respectable for rank of the Archbishop of Mayence and the Bishops of
+Bamberg, Ratisbon, and Utrecht. Their march down Europe, and through the
+Greek Empire, was peaceable and unmolested; but when they entered the
+territory of the infidels, they fell into the hands of the Arab robbers,
+and it was not without great losses of money and lives that the band
+reached Jerusalem.--_History of Crusades_, p. 17.
+
+
+NOTE X.--PAGE 49.
+
+"_The Gog and Magog of sacred writ._"--Magyar is the national and oriental
+denomination of the Hungarians; but, among the tribes of Scythia, they are
+distinguished by the Greeks under the proper and peculiar name of Turks,
+as the descendants of that mighty people who had conquered and reigned
+from China to the Volga.--_Gibbon's Rome_, vol. 5, p. 411.
+
+
+NOTE Y.--PAGE 50.
+
+"_Battle Abbey._"--William laid the foundation of the Abbey of St.
+Martin, now called Battle Abbey, where perpetual prayers were directed to
+be offered up for the repose of the souls of all who had fallen in that
+sanguinary conflict. The high altar of this magnificent monument of the
+Norman victory was set upon the very spot where Harold's body was found,
+or, according to others, where he first pitched his gonfanon.--_Queens of
+England_, vol. 1, p. 50.
+
+
+NOTE Z.--PAGE 51.
+
+"_Did not that for his own sins._"--It is a maxim of the civil law, that
+whosoever cannot pay with his purse must pay with his body; and the
+practice of flagellation was adopted by the monks, a cheap, though painful
+equivalent. By a fantastic arithmetic, a year of penance was taxed at
+three thousand lashes, and such was the skill and patience of a famous
+hermit, St. Dominic, of the iron cuirass, that in six days he could
+discharge an entire century by a whipping of three hundred thousand
+stripes. His example was followed by many penitents of both sexes; and as
+a vicarious sacrifice was accepted, a sturdy disciplinarian might expiate
+on his own back the sins of his benefactors.--_Gibbon's Rome_, vol. 5, p.
+58.
+
+
+NOTE AA.--PAGE 53.
+
+The story of the noble Magyar is taken from early travels in Palestine.
+
+
+NOTE BB.--PAGE 60.
+
+"_The assassin band of Mount Lebanon._"--Hassan, with his seven
+successors, is known in the East, under the name of the Old Man of the
+Mountain, because his residence was in the mountain fastness in Syria.
+These Ismaelians, therefore, acquired in the West the name of Assassins,
+which thence became in the western languages of Europe a common name for
+murderer.--_See Encyclopedia._
+
+
+NOTE CC.--PAGE 68.
+
+"_Thou shouldst have been King._"--His eldest son, Robert, was absent in
+Germany, at the time of his death. William was on his voyage to England;
+Henry, who had taken charge of his obsequies, suddenly departed on some
+self-interested business, and all the great officers of the court having
+dispersed themselves,--some to offer their homage to Robert, and others to
+William, the inferior servants of the household plundered the house,
+stripped the person of the royal dead, and left his body naked upon the
+floor.--_Queens of England_, vol. 1, p. 85.
+
+
+NOTE DD.--PAGE 69.
+
+"_Our uncle Odo hates Lanfranc._"--The Duke William was brave, open,
+sincere, generous; even his predominate fault, his extreme indolence and
+facility, were not disagreeable to those haughty barons, who affected
+independence, and submitted with reluctance to a vigorous administration
+in their sovereign. Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, and Robert, Earl of Montaigne,
+maternal brothers of the conqueror, envying the great credit of Lanfranc,
+which was increased by his late services, enforced all these motives with
+these partisans, and engaged them in a formal conspiracy to dethrone
+William Rufus.--_Hume's History of England_, vol. 1, p. 221.
+
+
+NOTE EE.--PAGE 71.
+
+"_Siege of St. Michael's Mount._"--Prince Henry, disgusted that so little
+care had been taken of his interests in this accommodation, retired to St.
+Michael's Mount, a strong fortress on the coast of Normandy, and infested
+the neighborhood with his incursions. Robert and William, with their joint
+forces, besieged him in this place, and had nearly reduced him by the
+scarcity of water, when the eldest, hearing of his distress, granted him
+permission to supply himself, and also sent him some pipes of wine for his
+own table. Being reproved by William for his ill-timed generosity, he
+replied, "What, shall I suffer my brother to die of thirst--where shall we
+find another when he is gone?"--_Hume's England_, vol. 1.
+
+
+NOTE FF.--PAGE 73.
+
+"_Crowds followed the steps of the monk._"--The lower order of people
+attached themselves to one Peter the Hermit, a monk of the city of Amiens.
+He had at first led a solitary life under the habit of a monk; but
+afterwards, men saw him traversing the streets, and preaching everywhere.
+The people surrounded him in crowds,--overwhelmed him with presents, and
+proclaimed his sanctity with such great praises, that I do not remember
+like honors having been rendered to any one. In whatever he did or said,
+there seemed to be something divine in him, so that they would even pluck
+the hairs out of his mule, to keep them as relics; which I relate here,
+not as laudable, but for the vulgar, who love all extraordinary things. He
+wore only a woollen tunic, and above it a cloak of coarse dark cloth,
+which hung to his heels. His arms and feet were naked; he ate little or no
+bread; and supported himself on wine and fish.--_Michelet_, p. 209.
+
+
+NOTE GG.--PAGE 78.
+
+"_Deus Vult._"--Urban was about to continue, when he was interrupted by a
+general uproar; the assistants shed tears, struck their breasts, raised
+their eyes and hands to heaven, all exclaiming together, "Let us march,
+God wills it! God wills it!"--_History of the Popes_, p. 384.
+
+
+NOTE HH.--PAGE 79.
+
+"_Stitch the red cross._"--All mounted the red cross on their shoulders.
+Red stuffs and vestments of every kind were torn in pieces; yet were
+insufficient for the purpose. There were those who imprinted the cross
+upon themselves with a red-hot iron.--_Michelet_, p. 210.
+
+
+NOTE II.--PAGE 82.
+
+"_Walter the Penniless._"--Sixty thousand were conducted by the Hermit.
+Walter the Penniless led fifteen thousand footmen, followed by a fanatic
+named Godeschal, whose sermons had swept away twenty thousand peasants
+from the villages of Germany. Their rear was again pressed by a herd of
+two hundred thousand, the most stupid and savage refuse of the people, who
+mingled with their devotion a brutal license of rapine, prostitution, and
+drunkenness. Some counts and gentlemen, at the head of three thousand
+horse, attended the motions of the multitude to partake in the spoil; but
+their genuine leaders (may we credit such folly) were a goose and a goat,
+who were carried in the front, and to whom these worthy Christians
+ascribed an infusion of the divine spirit.--_Gibbon's Rome_, vol. 5, p.
+553.
+
+
+NOTE JJ.--PAGE 84.
+
+"_Inquire if that be Jerusalem._"--In some instances the poor rustic shod
+his oxen like horses, and placed his whole family in a cart, where it was
+amusing to hear the children, on the approach to any large town or castle,
+inquiring if the object before them were Jerusalem.--_Mill's Crusades_, p.
+31.
+
+
+NOTE KK.--PAGE 87.
+
+"_Adela's Letter from Stephen._"--Alexius expressed a wish that one of the
+sons of Stephen might be educated at the Byzantine court, and said a
+thousand other fine things, which Stephen reported to his wife as holy
+truths.--_Mill's Crusades_, p. 49.
+
+
+NOTE LL.--PAGE 105.
+
+"_Of English laws and an English Queen._"--Matilda is the only princess of
+Scotland who ever shared the throne of a king of England. It is, however,
+from her maternal ancestry that she derives her great interest as
+connected with the annals of this country. Her mother, Margaret Atheling,
+was the grandaughter of Edmund Ironside, and the daughter of Edward
+Atheling, surnamed the Outlaw, by Agatha, daughter of the Emperor Henry
+II. of Germany.--_Queens of England_, p. 91.
+
+
+NOTE MM.--PAGE 110.
+
+"_We fought in the Plains of Ramula._"--The small phalanx was overwhelmed
+by the Egyptians! Stephen, Earl of Chartres, was taken prisoner and
+murdered by his enemy; he was the hero who ran away in the Crusade. His
+wife was Adela, a daughter of King William I. of England, and this
+spirited lady vowed she would give her husband no rest till he recovered
+his fame in Palestine. He went thither, and died in the manner above
+related.--_Mill's Crusades_, p. 95.
+
+
+NOTE NN.--PAGE 111.
+
+"_The daughter of Earl Waltheoff, Matilda_," was the wife of David,
+afterwards King of Scotland, and the mother of the first Earl of
+Huntingdon.--_Dr. Lingard._
+
+
+NOTE OO.--PAGE 113.
+
+"_Lucy lies in the sea._"--Besides the heir of England, Prince William,
+there were lost in the White ship, Richard, Earl of Chester, with his
+bride, the young Lady Lucy, of Blois, daughter of Henry's sister Adela,
+and the flower of the juvenile nobility, who are mentioned by the Saxon
+chronicle as a multitude of "incomparable folk."--_Queens of England_, p.
+131.
+
+
+NOTE PP.--PAGE 120.
+
+"_Courts of Love._"--Eleanora was by hereditary right, chief reviewer and
+critic of the poets of Provence. At certain festivals held by her after
+the custom of her ancestors, called Courts of Love, all new _sirventes_
+and _chansons_ were sung or recited before her by the troubadours. She
+then, assisted by a conclave of her ladies, sat in judgment and pronounced
+sentence on their literary merits.--_Queens of England_, p. 188.
+
+
+NOTE QQ.--PAGE 121.
+
+"_Romance Walloon._"--The appellation of Walloon was derived from the word
+Waalchland, the name by which the Germans to this day designate Italy.
+William the Conqueror was so much attached to the Romance Walloon, that he
+encouraged its literature among his subjects, and forced it on the English
+by means of rigorous enactments, in place of the ancient Saxon, which
+closely resembled the Norse of his own ancestors.
+
+Throughout the whole tract of country from Navarre to the dominions of the
+Dauphin of Auvergne, and from sea to sea, the Proven�al language was
+spoken--a language which combined the best points of French and Italian,
+and presented peculiar facilities for poetical composition. It was called
+the langue _d'oc_, the tongue of "yes" and "no;" because, instead of
+"_oui_" and "_non_" of the rest of France, the affirmative and negative
+were "_oc_" and "_no_." The ancestors of Eleanora were called _par
+excellence_--the Lords of "_oc_" and "_no_."--_Queens of England_, pp.
+60-186.
+
+
+NOTE RR.--PAGE 122.
+
+"_In a Province fair._"--This ballad is from the early English Metrical
+Romances.
+
+
+NOTE SS.--PAGE 127.
+
+"_The Lady Petronilla._"--The sister of the queen, the young Petronilla,
+whose beauty equalled that of her sister, and whose levity far surpassed
+it, could find no single man in all France to bewitch with the spell of
+her fascinations, but chose to seduce Rodolph, Count of Vermandois, from
+his wife.--_Queens of England_, p. 189.
+
+
+NOTE TT.--PAGE 130.
+
+"_Abelard._"--Abelard, Peter, originally Abailard, a monk of the order of
+St. Benedict, equally famous for his learning and for his unfortunate love
+for H�loise, was born in 1079, near Nantes, in the little village of
+Palais, which was the property of his father, Berenger.--_Encyclopedia._
+
+
+NOTE UU.--PAGE 132.
+
+"_St. Bernard._"--St. Bernard, born at Fontaines, in Burgundy, 1091, was
+of noble family, and one of the most influential ecclesiastics of the
+middle ages. He was named the _honeyed teacher_, and his writings were
+styled _a stream from Paradise_.
+
+He principally promoted the crusade in 1146, and quieted the fermentation
+caused at that time by a party of monks, against the Jews in
+Germany.--_Encyclopedia._
+
+
+NOTE VV.--PAGE 135.
+
+"_Valley of Laodicea._"--The freaks of Queen Eleanora and her female
+warriors were the cause of all the misfortunes that befel King Louis and
+his army, especially in the defeat at Laodicea. The king had sent forward
+the queen and her ladies, escorted by his choicest troops, under the guard
+of Count Maurienne. He charged them to choose for their camp the arid, but
+commanding ground which gave them a view over the defiles of the valley of
+Laodicea. Queen Eleanora insisted upon halting in a lovely romantic
+valley, full of verdant grass and gushing fountains.--_Queens of England_,
+p. 190.
+
+
+NOTE WW.--PAGE 140.
+
+"_Series of Coquetries._"--Some say that she was smitten with Raymond, of
+Antioch; others with a handsome Saracen slave; and it was, moreover,
+rumored that she received presents from the Sultan.--_Michelet_, p. 233.
+
+
+NOTE XX.--PAGE 141.
+
+"_Twenty days._"--The "Queens of France" record that he learned the
+Proven�al tongue in twenty days.
+
+
+NOTE YY.--PAGE 143.
+
+"_Knights of the Temple._"--A celebrated order of knights, which, like the
+order of St. John and the Teutonic order, had its origin in the crusades.
+It was established in 1119, for the protection of the pilgrims on the
+roads in Palestine. Subsequently, its object became the defence of the
+Christian faith, and of the Holy Sepulchre against the Saracens.
+
+Uniting the privileges of a religious order with great military power, and
+always prepared for service by sea and land, it could use its possessions
+to more advantage than other corporations, and also make conquests on its
+own account; in addition to which it received rich donations and bequests
+from the superstition of the age.
+
+The principal part of the possessions of the order were in France: most of
+the knights were also French, and the grand-master was usually of that
+nation. In 1244, the order possessed nine thousand considerable
+bailiwicks, commanderies, priories and preceptories, independent of the
+jurisdiction of the countries in which they were situated.
+
+The order was destroyed in France by Philip the Fair, about the beginning
+of the fourteenth century.--_Encyclopedia._
+
+
+NOTE ZZ.--PAGE 144.
+
+"_Hospitallers._"--The Knights of St. John, or Hospitallers of St. John,
+afterwards called Knights of Rhodes, and finally Knights of Malta, were a
+celebrated order of military religious, established at the commencement of
+the crusades to the Holy Land. It was the duty of the monks, who were
+called brothers of St. John or hospitallers, to take care of the poor and
+sick, and in general, to assist pilgrims. This order obtained important
+possessions, and maintained itself against the arms of the Turks and
+Saracens by union and courage.
+
+In 1309 the knights established themselves on the island of Rhodes, where
+they remained upwards of two hundred years. In 1530, Charles Fifth granted
+them the island of Malta, on conditions of perpetual war against the
+infidels and pirates. From this period, they were commonly called _Knights
+of Malta_.--_Encyclopedia._
+
+
+NOTE AAA.--PAGE 146.
+
+"_On her way Southward._"--Eleanora stayed some time at Blois, the count
+of which province was Thibaut, elder brother to King Stephen, one of the
+handsomest and bravest men of his time. Thibaut offered his hand to his
+fair guest. He met with a refusal, which by no means turned him from his
+purpose, as he resolved to detain the lady prisoner in his fortress till
+she complied with his proposal. Eleanora suspected his design, and
+departed by night for Tours. Young Geoffrey Plantagenet, the next brother
+to the man she intended to marry, had likewise a great inclination to be
+sovereign of the south. He placed himself in ambush at a part of the Loire
+called the Port of Piles, with the intention of seizing the duchess and
+carrying her off and marrying her. But she, pre-warned by her good angel,
+turned down a branch of the stream toward her own country.--_Queens of
+England_, p. 114.
+
+
+NOTE BBB.--PAGE 151.
+
+"_Becket._"--Thomas Becket, the most celebrated Roman Catholic prelate in
+the English annals, was born in London, 1119. He was the son of Gilbert, a
+London merchant. His mother was a Saracen lady, to whose father Gilbert
+was prisoner, being taken in the first crusade. The lady fell in love with
+the prisoner, and guided by the only English words she
+knew--"Gilbert--London"--followed him to London, where he married her.
+
+He was recommended by Archbishop Theobald, to King Henry II., and in 1158
+he was appointed high chancellor and preceptor to Prince Henry, and at
+this time was a complete courtier, conforming in every respect to the
+humor of the king.
+
+He died in the fifty second year of his age, and was canonized two years
+after. Of the popularity of the pilgrimages to his tomb, the "Canterbury
+Tales" of Chaucer will prove an enduring testimony.--_Encyclopedia._
+
+
+NOTE CCC.--PAGE 155.
+
+"_Regular Drama._"--Besides the mysteries and miracles played by the
+parish clerks and students of divinity, the classic taste of the
+accomplished Eleanor patronized representations nearly allied to the
+regular drama, since we find that Peter of Blois, in his epistles,
+congratulates his brother William, on his tragedy of Flaura and Marcus,
+played before the queen.--_Queens of England_, p. 199.
+
+
+NOTE DDD.--PAGE 165.
+
+"_Adrian IV._"--Adrian IV., an Englishman, originally named _Nicholas_
+Breakspear, rose, by his great talents, from the situation of a poor monk,
+to the rank of cardinal, and legate in the north. He was elected pope in
+1154, and waged an unsuccessful war against William, King of Sicily.
+
+The permission which he gave to Henry II., King of England, to invade
+Ireland, on the condition that every family of that island should pay
+annually a penny to the papal chair, because all islands belong to the
+pope, is worthy of remark. On this grant the subsequent popes founded
+their claims on Ireland.--_Encyclopedia._
+
+
+NOTE EEE.--PAGE 184.
+
+"_The wasted form of Rosamond._"--It is not a very easy task to reduce to
+anything like perspicuity the various traditions which float through the
+chronicles, regarding Queen Eleanor's unfortunate rival, the celebrated
+Rosamond Clifford. No one who studies history ought to despise tradition,
+for we shall find that tradition is generally founded on fact, even when
+defective or regardless of chronology. It appears that the acquaintance
+between Rosamond and Henry commenced in early youth, about the time of his
+knighthood by his uncle, the King of Scotland; that it was renewed at the
+time of his successful invasion of England, when he promised marriage to
+the unsuspecting girl. As Rosamond was retained by him as a prisoner,
+though not an unwilling one, it was easy to conceal from her the facts
+that he had wedded a queen and brought her to England; but his chief
+difficulty was to conceal Rosamond's existence from Eleanor, and yet
+indulge himself with frequent visits to the real object of his love.
+
+Brompton says, "That one day, Queen Eleanor saw the king walking in the
+pleasance of Woodstock, with the end of a ball of floss silk attached to
+his spur, and that, coming near him unperceived, she took up the ball, and
+the king walked on, the silk unwound, and thus the queen traced him to a
+thicket in the labyrinth or maze of the park, where he disappeared. She
+kept the matter secret, often revolving in her own mind in what company he
+could meet with balls of silk.
+
+"Soon after, the king left Woodstock for a distant journey; then Queen
+Eleanor, bearing this discovery in mind, searched the thicket in the park,
+and found a low door cunningly concealed; this door she had forced, and
+found it was the entrance to a winding subterranean path, which led out at
+a distance to a sylvan lodge, in the most retired part of the adjacent
+forest." Here the queen found in a bower a young lady of incomparable
+beauty, busily engaged in embroidery. Queen Eleanor then easily guessed
+how balls of silk attached themselves to King Henry's spurs.
+
+Whatever was the result of the interview between Eleanor and Rosamond, it
+is certain that the queen neither destroyed her rival by sword nor poison,
+though in her rage it is possible that she might threaten both.
+
+The body of Rosamond was buried at Godstow, near Oxford, a little nunnery
+among the rich meadows of Evenlod. King John thought proper to raise a
+tomb to the memory of Rosamond; it was embossed with fair brass, having an
+inscription about its edges, in Latin, to this effect,
+
+  "This tomb doth here enclose
+  The world's most beauteous rose
+  Rose passing sweet erewhile,
+  Now nought but odor vile."
+                                _Queens of England._
+
+
+NOTE FFF.--PAGE 185.
+
+"_Imprisonment of Queen Eleanor._"--Queen Eleanor, whose own frailties had
+not made her indulgent to those of others, offended by the repeated
+infidelities of the king, stirred up her sons, Richard and Geoffrey, to
+make demands similar to that of their brother, and persuaded them, when
+denied, to fly also to the court of France. Eleanor herself absconded; but
+she fell soon after into the hands of her husband, by whom she was kept
+confined for the remainder of his reign.--_Pictorial History of England._
+
+
+NOTE GGG.--PAGE 187.
+
+"_Turning proudly to the rebel lords._"--Hoveden, and some other English
+writers, have recorded a story, that the Count of Tripoli and his friends
+proffered their allegiance to the queen, upon the reasonable condition
+that she should be divorced from Lusignan, and should choose such a person
+for the partner of her throne as would be able to defend the kingdom. She
+complied, and after she had been crowned, she put the diadem on the head
+of Lusignan.--_Mills' Crusades_, p. 137.
+
+
+NOTE HHH.--PAGE 190.
+
+"_Thy brother William and his beautiful bride._"--The Earl of Salisbury
+was the son of King Henry II., by fair Rosamond. His christian name was
+William, and his wearing a longer sword than was usual gave him his
+surname. His half brother, King Richard I., gave him in marriage Ela,
+eldest daughter and coheiress of William de Eureux, Earl of Salisbury and
+Rosemer; and also raised him to the title of earl. Ela was granddaughter
+of Patric Earl of Salisbury, murdered by Guy de Lusignan.--_Mills'
+Crusades_, p. 198.
+
+
+NOTE III.--PAGE 195.
+
+"_The well Zemzem._"--Zemzem is believed by the followers of Mohammed, to
+be the identical spring which gushed forth in the wilderness for the
+relief of Hagar and Ishmael; and marvellous efficacy is ascribed to its
+waters, in giving health to the sick, imparting strength of memory, and
+purifying from the effects of sin.--_Encyclopedia._
+
+
+NOTE JJJ.--PAGE 200.
+
+"_Pampeluna_"--a city of Spain, and capital of Navarre, situated on the
+Arga, in a plain near the Pyrenees, founded by Pompey.--_Encyclopedia._
+
+
+NOTE KKK.--PAGE 220.
+
+"_Blood oozed._"--When Richard entered the abbey he shuddered, and prayed
+some moments before the altar, when the nose and mouth of his father began
+to bleed so profusely, that the monk in attendance kept incessantly wiping
+the blood from his face.--_Queens of England_--_Eleanora of Aquitaine_, p.
+220.
+
+
+NOTE LLL.--PAGE 227.
+
+"_Driven from the harbor._"--Queen Joanna's galley sheltered in the harbor
+of Limoussa, when Isaac, the Lord of Cyprus, sent two boats, and demanded
+if the queen would land. She declined the offer, saying, "all she wanted
+was to know whether the King of England had passed." They replied: "they
+did not know." At that juncture Isaac approached with great power, upon
+which the cavaliers who guarded the royal ladies, got the galley in order
+to be rowed out of the harbor at the first indication of
+hostilities.--_Bernard le Tresorier._
+
+
+NOTE MMM.--PAGE 242.
+
+"_Battle of Tiberias._"--In the plain near Tiberias the two armies met in
+conflict. For a whole day the engagement was in suspense, and at night the
+Latins retired to some rocks, whose desolation and want of water had
+compelled them to try the fortune of a battle. The heat of a Syrian
+summer's night was rendered doubly horrid, because the Saracens set fire
+to some woods which surrounded the Christian camp. In the morning, the two
+armies were for awhile stationary, in seeming consciousness that the fate
+of the Moslem and the Christian worlds was in their hands.
+
+But when the sun arose, the Latins uttered their shout of war, the Turks
+answered by the clangor of their trumpets and atabals, and the sanguinary
+conflict began. The piece of the true cross was placed on a hillock, and
+the broken squadrons continually rallied round it. But the crescent had
+more numerous supporters than the cross, and for that reason
+triumphed.--_Mills' History of the Crusades_, p. 139.
+
+
+NOTE NNN.--PAGE 250.
+
+"_Courtesies of life._"--Through the whole of the war Saladin and Richard
+emulated each other as much in the reciprocation of courtesy, as in
+military exploits. If ever the King of England chanced to be ill, Saladin
+sent him presents of Damascene pears, peaches, and other fruits. The same
+liberal hand gave the luxury of snow, in the hot season.--_Hoveden_, p.
+693.
+
+
+NOTE OOO.--PAGE 254.
+
+"_Union between his brother._"--Political disturbances in England demanded
+the presence of Richard, and he was compelled to yield to his necessities,
+and solicit his generous foe to terminate the war. He proposed a
+consolidation of the Christian and Mohammedan interests, the establishment
+of a government at Jerusalem, partly European and partly Asiatic; and
+these schemes of policy were to be carried into effect by the marriage of
+Saphadin with the widow of William, King of Sicily. The Mussulman princes
+would have acceded to these terms: but the marriage was thought to be so
+scandalous to religion, that the imams and the priests raised a storm of
+clamor, and Richard and Saladin, powerful as they were, submitted to
+popular opinion.--_Mills' Crusades._
+
+
+NOTE PPP.--PAGE 258.
+
+"_This way sire._"--A friend led him to a hill which commanded a view of
+Jerusalem: but, covering his face with a shield, he declared he was not
+worthy to behold a city which he could not conquer.--_Mills' History of
+the Crusades_, p. 164.
+
+
+NOTE QQQ.--PAGE 266.
+
+"_Count Raimond._"--The young count so well acquitted himself of his
+charge, that he won the affection of the fair widow, Queen Joanna, on the
+journey. The attachment of these lovers healed the enmity that had long
+subsisted between the houses of Aquitaine and that of the Counts of
+Toulouse, on account of the superior claims of Queen Eleanora on that
+great fief. When Eleanora found the love that subsisted between her
+youngest child and the heir of Toulouse, she conciliated his father by
+giving up her rights to her daughter, and Berengaria had the satisfaction
+of seeing her two friends united after she arrived at Poitou.--_Berengaria
+of Navarre_, p. 16.
+
+
+NOTE RRR.--PAGE 267.
+
+The song of Richard and Blondell is found in _Burney's History of Music_,
+vol. 2, p. 236.
+
+
+NOTE SSS.--PAGE 271.
+
+"_The black banner._"--Finding his end approaching, Saladin commanded the
+black standard, which had so often led the way to victory, to be taken
+down, and replaced by the shroud which was to wrap his body in the grave.
+This was then borne through the streets, while the cries called all men to
+behold what Saladin, the mighty conqueror, carried away with him of all
+his vast dominion. Saladin died, a monarch in whose character, though the
+good was not unmixed with evil, the great qualities so far preponderated,
+that they overbalanced the effects of a barbarous epoch and a barbarous
+religion, and left in him a splendid exception to most of the vices of his
+age, his country and his creed.--_James' History of Chivalry_, p. 264.
+
+
+NOTE TTT.--PAGE 273.
+
+"_The Fourth Crusade._"--Saphadin marched against them, and the Germans
+did not decline the combat. Victory was on the side of the Christians; but
+it was bought by the death of many brave warriors, particularly of the
+Duke of Saxony, and of the son of the Duke of Austria. But the Germans
+did not profit by this success, for news arrived from Europe, that the
+great support of the crusade, Henry VI., was dead. The Archbishop of
+Mayence, and all those princes who had an interest in the election of a
+German sovereign, deserted the Holy Land.--_Mills' History of the
+Crusades_, p. 172.
+
+
+NOTE UUU.--PAGE 277.
+
+"_Blanche of Castile._"--This queen, so justly celebrated for her talents
+in the administration of government, as well as her lofty character and
+the excellent education her son received under her direction, was
+granddaughter of Eleonor of Guyenne. She was born at Burgos, in Spain, in
+1185, and was the daughter of Alphonso IX., King of Castile, and of
+Eleonor, daughter of Henry II. of England.--_Queens of England_, p. 164.
+
+
+NOTE VVV.--PAGE 284.
+
+"_Suabia._"--In 1030, Frederic of Staufen, Lord of Hohenstaufen, displayed
+so much courage in battle, that the Emperor, Henry IV., bestowed upon him
+the Duchy of Suabia, and his daughter Agnes in marriage. Thus was laid the
+foundation of the future greatness of a house, whose elevation and fall
+are among the most important epochs in the history of the German empire.
+The inextinguishable hatred of the Guelphs, against the house of
+Hohenstaufen (Ghibelines) resulted in a contest which involved Germany and
+Italy in accumulated sufferings for more than three hundred years.--_See
+Encyclopedia._
+
+
+NOTE WWW.--PAGE 288.
+
+"_Submission of the eastern Empire to the Pope._"--If the French would
+place Alexius on the throne, religious schism should be healed; the
+eastern church should be brought into subjection to the church of Rome;
+and Greece should pour forth her population and her treasures for the
+recovery of the Holy Land.--_See Encyclopedia._
+
+
+NOTE XXX.--PAGE 291.
+
+"_St. Dominic._"--The Dominicans originated in 1215, at Toulouse. The
+principal objects of their institution was to preach against heretics.
+This passion for heresy-hunting established the order of the Inquisition.
+The Dominicans were called Jacobins in France, because their first convent
+at Paris, was in the _rue_ St. Jaques. Their order is now flourishing only
+in Spain, Portugal, Sicily and America.--_See Encyclopedia._
+
+
+NOTE YYY.--PAGE 296.
+
+"_Magna Charta._"--The Great Charter of Liberties, extorted from King
+John, in 1215. The barons who composed the army of God and the Holy
+Church, were the whole nobility of England; their followers comprehended
+all the yeomanry and free peasantry with the citizens and burgesses of
+London. John had been obliged to yield to this general union, and, June
+15th, both encamped on the plain called Runneymede, on the banks of the
+Thames, and conferences were opened, which were concluded on the 19th. The
+thirty-ninth article contains the writ of _habeas corpus_, and the trial
+by jury, the most effectual securities against oppression which the wisdom
+of man has ever devised.--_See Encyclopedia._
+
+
+NOTE ZZZ.--PAGE 307.
+
+"_Filled the office of Regent of Jerusalem._"--In the 13th century we find
+woman seated, at least as mother and regent, on many of the western
+thrones. Blanche, of Castile, governed in the name of her infant son, as
+did the Countess of Champagne for the young Thibaut, and the Countess of
+Flanders for her captive husband. Isabella, of Manche, also exercised the
+greatest influence over her son, Henry III., King of England. Jane, of
+Flanders, did not content herself with the power, but desired manly honors
+and ensigns, and claimed at the consecration of St. Louis, the right of
+her husband to bear the naked sword, the sword of France. By a singular
+coincidence, a woman, in the year 1250, succeeded, for the first time, a
+sultan. Before this, a woman's name had never been seen on the coin, or
+mentioned in the public prayers. The Caliph of Bagdad protested against
+the scandal of this innovation.--_Michelet's History of France._
+
+
+NOTE AAAA.--PAGE 308.
+
+"_St. Dunstan._"--Dunstan, Abbot of Glastonbury, in the year 948,
+possessed complete ascendancy over King Edred and the councils of state.
+He lived for some time in a cell so small that he could neither stand nor
+sit in it, and was honored with remarkable dreams, visions, and
+temptations. He it was who introduced the order of Benedictine monks into
+England.--_Parley's History._
+
+
+NOTE BBBB.--PAGE 309.
+
+"_Convent of L'Espan._"--Queen Berengaria fixed her residence at Mans, in
+the Orleannois, where she held a great part of her foreign dower. Here she
+founded the noble Abbey of _L'Espan_.--_Queens of England._
+
+
+NOTE CCCC.--PAGE 314.
+
+"_Sultan of Egypt._"--Saphadin's son, Coradinus, the Prince of Syria and
+Palestine, did not proclaim the death of his father till he had secured
+himself in the possession of the royal coffers. Discord and rebellion were
+universal throughout Egypt when the news arrived of the death of Saphadin,
+and his son Carnel, lord of that country, was compelled to fly into Arabia
+for protection from his mutinous people.--_Mills' Crusades._
+
+
+NOTE DDDD.--PAGE 320.
+
+"_Mongols._"--Genghis Khan, the chief of a mongrel horde, in 1260,
+conceived the bold plan of conquering the whole earth. After the death of
+Genghis Khan, in 1227, his sons pursued his conquests, subjugated all
+China, subverted the Caliphate of Bagdad, and made the Seljook Sultans of
+Iconium tributary.
+
+
+NOTE EEEE.--PAGE 323.
+
+"_Wainscoted with gold._"--This description of the Sultan's palace is
+taken from William of Tyre's glowing account of the "House of Wisdom,"
+found in a note of _Michelet's France_, vol. 1, p. 206.
+
+
+NOTE FFFF.--PAGE 327.
+
+"_Moslem Rosary._"--A rosary of ninety-nine beads, called Tusbah, or
+implement of praise. In dropping the beads through the fingers, they
+repeat the attributes of God, as, O Creator, O merciful, &c., &c. This act
+of devotion is called Taleel. The name Allah is always joined to the
+epithet, as "Ya Allah Kalick, Ya Allah Kerreem," found in note to the
+Bahar Danush.
+
+
+NOTE GGGG.--PAGE 328.
+
+"_Congregation repeated 'Praise be to God.'_"--_See Griffith's description
+of Mahomedan funeral._
+
+
+NOTE HHHH.--PAGE 330.
+
+Kibla, or Cabbala, signifies oral tradition. The term is used by the Jews
+and Mahomedans to denote the traditions of their ancestors, or, most
+commonly, their mystical philosophy.--_Encyclopedia._
+
+
+NOTE IIII.--PAGE 333.
+
+"_Tones of the Arabic._"--Frederic II., the grandson of Barbarossa, was
+successively the pupil, the enemy, and the victim of the church. At the
+age of twenty one years, in obedience to his guardian, Innocent III., he
+assumed the cross; the same promise was repeated at his royal and imperial
+coronations, and his marriage with the heiress of Jerusalem forever bound
+him to defend the kingdom of his son Conrad. For suspending his vow,
+Frederic was excommunicated by Gregory IX.; for presuming the next year,
+to accomplish his vow, he was again excommunicated by the same pope.
+
+He was well formed, of a fair and fine complexion, and a gentle and kind
+expression of the eye and mouth. He was brave, bold, and generous, and
+possessed great talents, highly cultivated. He understood all the
+languages of his subjects--Greek, Latin, Italian, German, French and
+_Arabic_. He was severe and passionate, mild or liberal, as circumstances
+required; gay, cheerful, and lively, as his feelings dictated. He was a
+noted Freethinker, and regarded men of all religions with equal favor.
+
+
+NOTE JJJJ.--PAGE 346.
+
+"_Opened Negotiations with the Sultan of Egypt._"--Frederic signed a
+treaty with Camel, which more effectually promoted the object of the Holy
+Wars than the efforts of any former sovereign. For ten years the
+Christians and Mussulmans were to live upon terms of brotherhood.
+Jerusalem, Jaffa, Bethlehem, Nazareth, and their appendages, and the Holy
+Sepulchre, were restored to the Christians.
+
+
+NOTE KKKK.--PAGE 348.
+
+"_Simon de Montfort._"--The family of Montforts seems to have been
+fiercely ambitious. They trace their origin to "Charlemagne."
+
+Simon de Montfort, the true leader of the war against the Albigeois was a
+veteran of the crusades, hardened in the unsparing battles of the Templars
+and the Assassins. On his return from the Holy Land he engaged in this
+bloody crusade, in the South of France.
+
+His second son seeking in England the fortune which he had missed in
+France, fought on the side of the English commons, and threw open to them
+the doors of Parliament. After having had both king and kingdom in his
+power, he was overcome and slain. His son (grandson of the celebrated
+Montfort, who was the chief in the crusade against the Albigeois) avenged
+him by murdering in Italy, at the foot of the altar, the nephew of the
+king of England, who was returning from the Holy Land. This deed ruined
+the Montforts. Ever after they were looked upon with _horror and
+detestation_.--_Michelet._
+
+
+NOTE LLLL.--PAGE 351.
+
+"_Richard of Cornwall_," in the spring of the year 1240, embarked for the
+crusade. The Christian name of the Earl of Cornwall alarmed the Saracens.
+The very word Richard was dreaded in Syria; so great was the terror which
+Coeur de Lion had spread.
+
+
+NOTE MMMM.--PAGE 351.
+
+"_Greek Fire._"--This was invented in the 7th century. When the Arabs
+besieged Constantinople, a Greek architect deserted from the Caliph to the
+Greeks, and took with him a composition, which by its wonderful effects,
+struck terror into the enemy, and forced them to take flight. Sometimes it
+was wrapped in flax attached to arrows and javelins, and so thrown into
+the fortifications and other buildings of the enemy to set them on fire.
+
+At other times it was used in throwing stone balls from iron or metallic
+tubes against the enemy. The use of this fire continued at least until the
+end of the 13th century, but no contemporary writer has handed down to us
+any accurate account of its composition.
+
+
+NOTE NNNN.--PAGE 351.
+
+"_King Louis._"--The superstition of a French king, and the successes of
+the savage Korasmians, gave birth to the seventh crusade. One night during
+the Christmas festival (A.D. 1245), Louis caused magnificent crosses,
+fabricated by goldsmiths, to be sown on the new dresses, which, as usual
+upon such occasions, had been bestowed upon the courtiers. The next day
+the cavaliers were surprised at the religious ornaments which had been
+affixed to their cloaks; but piety and loyalty combined to prevent them
+from renouncing the honors which had been thrust upon them.
+
+
+NOTE OOOO.--PAGE 351.
+
+"_Statutes of Oxford._"--The English barons assembled at Oxford, on the
+11th of June, 1258, and obliged the king and his eldest son, then eighteen
+years of age, to agree to a treaty by which twenty-four of their own body,
+at the head of whom was De Montfort, had authority given them to reform
+all abuses.--_History of England._
+
+
+NOTE PPPP.--PAGE 355.
+
+"_Mamelukes._"--Slaves from the Caucasian countries, who, from menial
+offices, were advanced to the dignities of state. They did not, however,
+form a separate body; but when Genghis Khan made himself master of the
+greatest part of Asia, in the thirteenth century, and carried vast numbers
+of the inhabitants into slavery, the Sultan of Egypt bought twelve
+thousand of them, and had them instructed in military exercises, and
+formed a regular corps of them. They soon exhibited a spirit of
+insubordination and rebellion, and in 1254 appointed one of their own
+number Sultan of Egypt. Their dominion continued two hundred and
+sixty-three years.--_Encyclopedia._
+
+
+NOTE QQQQ.--PAGE 355.
+
+"_Damascus Steel._"--Damascus was celebrated in the middle ages for the
+manufacture of sabres, of such peculiar quality as to be perfectly elastic
+and very hard.
+
+
+NOTE RRRR.--PAGE 358.
+
+"_Eva Strongbow._"--Dermot, King of Leinster, formed a treaty with
+Pritchard, surnamed Strongbow, earl of Strigul. This nobleman who was of
+the illustrious house of Clare, had impaired his fortune by expensive
+pleasures, and being ready for any desperate undertaking, he promised
+assistance to Dermot on condition that he should espouse Eva, daughter of
+that prince, and be declared heir to all his dominions.--_Hume's History
+of England._
+
+
+NOTE SSSS.--PAGE 362.
+
+"_Queen Gold._"--One great cause of the queen's unpopularity in London
+originated from the unprincipled manner in which she exercised her
+influence to compel all vessels freighted with corn, wool, or any
+peculiarly valuable cargo, to unlade at her hithe, or quay, called
+Queen-hithe, because at that port the dues which formed a part of the
+revenues of the queens-consort of England, and the tolls, were paid
+according to the value of the lading. In order to annoy the citizens of
+London, Henry, during the disputes regarding the queen's gold, revived the
+old Saxon custom of convening folkmotes which was in reality the founding
+the House of Commons.--_Queens of England._
+
+
+NOTE TTTT.--PAGE 365.
+
+"_Holy crown of Thorns._"--This inestimable relic was borne in triumph
+through Paris by Louis himself--barefoot and in his shirt, and a free gift
+of ten thousand marks reconciled the emperor, Baldwin de Courtenay, to his
+loss. The success of this transaction tempted him to send to the king a
+large and authentic portion of the true cross, the baby linen of the Son
+of God, the lance, the sponge, and the chain of his Passion.--_Gibbon_,
+vol. vi. p. 122.
+
+
+NOTE UUUU.--PAGE 367.
+
+"_Lay concealed._"--During the captivity of her husband and son, it is
+asserted that Eleanor, of Provence, made more than one private visit to
+England, but she ostensibly resided in France with her younger children,
+under the kind protection of her sister, Queen Marguerite. Robert, of
+Gloucester said that she was _espy_ in the land for the purpose of
+liberating her brave son.--_Queens of England._
+
+
+NOTE VVVV.--PAGE 373.
+
+"_Shouts of pursuers._"--Lady Maud Mortimer having sent her instructions
+to Prince Edward, he made his escape by riding races with his attendants
+till he had tired their horses, when he rode up to a thicket where dame
+Maud had ambushed a swift steed. Mounting his gallant courser, Edward
+turned to his guard, and bade them "commend him to his sire the king, and
+tell him he would soon be at liberty," and then galloped off; while an
+armed party appeared on the opposite hill, a mile distant, and displayed
+the banner of Mortimer.--_Queens of England._
+
+
+NOTE WWWW.--PAGE 386.
+
+When the Old Man rode forth, he was preceded by a crier who bore a Danish
+axe with a long handle, all covered with silver, and stuck full of
+daggers, who proclaimed, "Turn from before him who bears the death of
+kings in his hands."--_Joinville_, p. 97.
+
+
+NOTE XXXX.--PAGE 387.
+
+"_Fedavis._"--Henri, Count of Champagne, visiting the grand-prior of the
+Assassins, the latter led him up a lofty tower, at each battlement of
+which stood two fedavis (devotees). On a sign from him, two of these
+sentinels flung themselves from the top of the tower. "If you wish it," he
+said to the count, "all these men shall do the same."--_Michelet._
+
+
+NOTE YYYY.--PAGE 390.
+
+"_Loving lips._"--"It is storied," says Fuller, "how Eleanor, his lady,
+sucked all the poison out of his wounds without doing any harm to herself.
+So sovereign a remedy is a woman's tongue, anointed with the virtue of a
+loving affection. Pity it is that so pretty a story should not be true
+(with all the miracles in love's legends); and sure he shall get himself
+no credit, who undertaketh to confute a passage so sounding to the honor
+of the sex."
+
+
+NOTE ZZZZ.--PAGE 406.
+
+"_Earl of Devon._"--The Courtenays derive their ancestry from "Louis the
+Fat." Beside the branch that was established upon the throne of
+Constantinople, a part of the family settled in England, and twelve Earls
+of Devonshire of the name of Courtenay were ranked among the chief barons
+of the realm, for a period of more than two hundred years.
+
+By sea and land they fought under the standard of the Edwards and Henrys.
+Their names are conspicuous in battles, in tournaments, and in the
+original list of the Order of the Garter; three brothers shared the
+Spanish victory of the Black Prince. One, the favorite of Henry the
+Eighth, in the Camp of the Cloth of Gold broke a lance against the French
+monarch. Another lived a prisoner in the Tower, and the secret love of
+Queen Mary, whom he slighted perhaps for the princess Elizabeth, and his
+exile at Padua, has shed a romantic interest on the annals of the
+race.--_Gibbon's Rome._
+
+
+NOTE AAAAA.--PAGE 407.
+
+"_Merlin._"--Merlin Ambrose, a British writer who flourished about the
+latter end of the fifth century. The accounts we have of him are so mixed
+up with fiction, that to disentangle his real life from the mass would be
+impossible. He was the greatest sage and mathematician of his time, the
+counsellor and friend of five English kings, Voltigern, Ambrosius, Uther,
+Pendragon, and Arthur. He uttered many prophecies respecting the future
+state of England.--_Encyclopedia._
+
+
+NOTE BBBBB.--PAGE 408.
+
+"_Unjust Aspersion._"--When Leicester brought his newly-wedded wife, the
+king's sister, to pay his devoir to Eleanor of Provence, he was received
+with a burst of fury by Henry, who called him the seducer of his sister,
+and an excommunicated man, and ordered his attendants to turn him out of
+the palace. Leicester endeavored to remonstrate, but Henry would not hear
+him, and he was expelled, weeping with rage, and vowing vengeance against
+the young queen, to whose influence he attributed this reverse.--_Queens
+of England._
+
+
+NOTE CCCCC.--PAGE 416.
+
+"_Daughter of Elin de Montfort._"--The first mischance that befell the
+Welsh was the capture of the bride of Llewellyn, coming from France.
+
+The young damsel, though the daughter of Simon de Montfort, Edward's
+mortal foe whom he had slain in battle, was at the same time, the child of
+his aunt, Eleanor Plantagenet. He received her with the courtesy of a
+kinsman, and consigned her to the gentle keeping of his queen, with whom
+she resided at Windsor Castle.
+
+The fair bride of Llewellyn died after bringing him a living daughter.
+This daughter whose name was Guendolin, was brought to Edward a captive in
+her cradle; she was reared and professed a nun in the convent with her
+cousin Glades, only daughter of Prince David.--_Queens of England._
+
+
+NOTE DDDDD.--PAGE 421.
+
+"_I would have taught him._"--Alphonso, tenth King of Castile who
+flourished in the 18th century. When contemplating the doctrine of the
+epicycles, exclaimed, "Were the universe thus constructed, if the deity
+had called me to his councils at the creation of the world, I would have
+given him good advice." He did not however mean any impiety or
+irreverence, except what was directed against the system of Ptolemy.
+
+
+NOTE EEEEE.--PAGE 425.
+
+"_Motley courtiers._"--Alphonso was not in good repute with his people,
+either as a Spaniard or a Christian. A great clerk, devoted to the evil
+sciences of Alchemy and Astrology, he was ever closeted with his Jews, to
+make spurious money or spurious laws--adulterating the Gothic laws by a
+mixture of the Roman.--_Michelet's France._
+
+
+NOTE FFFFF.--PAGE 423.
+
+"_Raymond Lullius._"--A story is told of this famous alchemist, that
+during his stay in London, he changed for King Edward I., a mass of 50,000
+pounds of quicksilver into gold, of which the first _rose nobles_ were
+coined.
+
+
+NOTE GGGGG.--PAGE 433.
+
+"_Everywhere well received._"--The Mendicants strayed everywhere--begged,
+lived on little, and were everywhere well received. Subtle, eloquent, and
+able men, they discharged a multiplicity of worldly commissions with
+discretion. Europe was filled with their activity. Messengers, preachers,
+and at times diplomatists, they were then what the post and press now
+are.--_Michelet's France._
+
+
+NOTE HHHHH.--PAGE 435.
+
+"_Slipped a ring._"--Procida offered the ambitious Peter of Arragon, the
+crown of Sicily, which that monarch might justly claim by his marriage
+with the daughter of Mainfroy, and by the dying voice of Conradin, who
+from the scaffold had cast a ring to his heir and avenger.--_Gibbon._
+
+
+NOTE IIIII.--PAGE 437.
+
+"_Friar Bacon._"--Though an extraordinary man, could not entirely free
+himself from the prejudices of his times. He believed in the philosopher's
+stone, and in astrology. There are to be found in his writings new and
+ingenious views on optics, on the refraction of light on the apparent
+magnitudes of objects, on the magnified appearance of the sun and moon
+when in the horizon. He also states that thunder and lightning could be
+imitated by means of saltpetre, sulphur, and charcoal. Hence he had
+already an idea of gunpowder.
+
+
+NOTE JJJJJ.--PAGE 440.
+
+"_Albertus Magnus._"--During the year 1280, died the celebrated Albert the
+Great, of the Order of Preaching Friars, less known as a monk than a
+magician. The prodigious diversity of his learning, and the taste which he
+had for experiments in alchemy, which he himself called magical
+operations, caused a superhuman power to be attributed to him. Besides the
+automaton which St. Thomas de Aquinas, his disciple, broke with a club, it
+is affirmed that Albert entertained William, Count of Holland, at a
+miraculous banquet in the garden of his cloister and that though it was
+in the _depth of winter_, the trees appeared as in spring, covered with
+flowers and leaves, which vanished as if by enchantment, after the
+repast.--_History of the Popes._
+
+
+NOTE KKKKK.--PAGE 446.
+
+"_I was anxious._"--This passage is quoted from Falcando, an Italian
+historian of the twelfth century.
+
+
+NOTE LLLLL.--PAGE 449.
+
+"_Shepherd of Cotswold._"--To Eleanora, is due the credit of introducing
+the Spanish breed of sheep into England.
+
+
+NOTE MMMMM.--PAGE 452.
+
+"_Red stockings._"--According to Michelet, Procida influenced the pope to
+sign the treaty with the Greek Emperor, by repeating the insulting
+allusion of Charles to the purple buskins worn by the pontiff.
+
+
+NOTE NNNNN.--PAGE 453.
+
+"_Easter Monday, 1282._"--The intelligent readers of history will observe
+an anachronism in placing the Sicilian vespers after the Welsh war. They
+will also discover a mistake in representing Alphonse as the rival of
+Conrad, rather than of Rodolph, of Hapsburg, for the crown of the German
+empire.
+
+
+NOTE OOOOO.--PAGE 454.
+
+"_Rescued._"--Constance of Arragon, fortunately arrived in time to prevent
+the Sicilians, from putting Charles the Lame to death. She carried him off
+from Messina in the night and sent him to Spain. When Charles of Arragon
+was informed of the defeat of his troops, and the captivity of his son, he
+fell as though struck down by a thunderbolt, and succeeding attacks of
+epilepsy carried him to the tomb in a few months. Through the mediation of
+Edward, Charles the Lame, surrendered to Alphonse of Arragon, all claims
+to the crown of Sicily, and thus gained his liberty. He reigned over
+Provence in right of his mother, and was the progenitor of Margaret of
+Anjou.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Heroines of the Crusades, by C. A. Bloss
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HEROINES OF THE CRUSADES ***
+
+***** This file should be named 39701-8.txt or 39701-8.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/3/9/7/0/39701/
+
+Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images
+generously made available by The Internet Archive.)
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+http://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+http://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at http://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit http://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations.
+To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     http://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.