ION-HEART is the name accorded by common consent, to Richard I. of England. His exploits in Palestine, have always been placed among the wonders of history. I select a few passages from the Pictorial History of England, an undoubted authority, in which some of them are

recorded, commencing at the time, when after frequent rencounters with the renowned Saladin, he departed from Acre for Jerusalem.

Thirty thousand men, of all countries, obeyed his orders, marching in five divisions: the Templars led the van; the Knights of St. John brought up the rear. Every night, when the army halted, the heralds of the several camps cried aloud three times, "Save the holy Sepulchre!" and

every soldier bent his knee, and said "Amen!" Saladin, who had been reinforced from all parts, infested their march every day, and encamped near them every night, with an army greatly superior in numbers. On the 7th of September Richard brought him to a general action near Azotus, the Ashdod of the Bible, on the sea shore, and about nine miles from Ascalon; and after a display of valour, which was never surpassed, and of more cool conduct and generalship than might have been expected, he gained a complete victory. Mourning the loss of seven thousand men and thirty-two emirs, Saladin, the victor of many a field, retreated in great disorder, finding time, however, to lay waste the country, and dismantle the towns he could not garrison or defend; and Richard advanced without further opposition to Jaffa, the Joppa of Scripture, of which he took possession.* As the country in advance of that position was still clear of enemies, the Lion-heart would have followed up his advantages, but many of the crusaders, less hardy than himself, were worn out by the heat of the climate and the rapid marches, on which he had already led them; and the French barons urged the necessity of restoring the fortifications of Jaffa before they advanced. No sooner had Richard consented to this arrangement than the crusaders, instead of prosecuting the work with vigour, abandoned themselves to a luxurious ease; and Richard himself gave many of his days to the sports of the field, disregarding the evident fact that Saladin was again making head, and that hordes of Saracens were scouring the country in detached parties. One day he was actually surprised, and would have lost either his life or liberty, had not one of his companions, William de Pratelles, a knight of Provence, cried out, "I am the king," and, by drawing attention upon himself, given Richard the opportunity of escaping. On another occasion this generous daring threw him almost into an equal danger. A company of Templars fell into an ambuscade: he sent the

Jaffa is still a considerable maritime town, distant about thirty miles from Jerusalem.

brave Earl of Leicester to their aid, promising he would follow as soon as he could get on his armour. Before that rather long operation was completed they told him the Templars and the earl were being crushed by the number of the enemy. Without waiting for any one, he leaped on his war-horse, and galloped to the spot, declaring he were unworthy the name of king, if he abandoned those whom he had promised to succour. He spurred into the thickest of the fight, and so laid about him, that the Earl of Leicester and all the Templars who had not fallen previously to his arrival were rescued. On such onslaughts, say the chroniclers, his cry was still "St. George, St. George." Many other adventures equally or more romantic are related of this flower of chivalry-this pearl of crusading princes. His battle-axe seems to have been the weapon most familiar to his stalwart arm. He had caused it to be forged by the best smiths in England before he departed for the East, and twenty pounds of steel were wrought into the head of it, that he might "break therewith the Saracens' bones." Nothing, it was said, could resist this mighty axe, and wherever it fell, horseman and horse went to the ground. It appears, indeed, after making every rational deduction from the exaggeration of minstrels and chroniclers, that it was a fearful weapon, and that Richard's strength and valour were alike prodigious. When the fortifications of Jaffa were restored, the Lion-heart was duped into a further loss of time, by an affected negotiation artfully proposed by Saladin, and skilfully conducted by his brother, Saphadin, who came and went between the two armies, and, spite of his turban, ingratiated himself with Richard. At last, the crusaders set forth from Jaffa; but it was now the month of November, and incessant rains, nearly equal to those in tropical countries, wetted them to the skin, and rusted their arms, spoiled their provisions, and rendered the roads almost impassable. Crossing the plain of Sharon, where "the rose of Sharon and the lily of the valley" no longer bloomed, they pitched their tents at Ra

mula,* only fifteen miles in advance of Jaffa; but the wind tore them up and rent them. They then sought quarters at Bethany, where they were within twelve miles of the holy city; but their condition became daily worse-famine, disease, and desertion thinned their ranks, and Richard was compelled, sore against his will, to turn his back on Jerusalem. He retreated rapidly to Ascalon, followed closely by the loose light cavalry of the Kourds and Turks, who, though they could make no impression on the main body, or even penetrate the rear guard, where the gallant knights of St. John wielded sword and lance, yet did much mischief by cutting off stragglers, and caused great distress by keeping the whole force constantly on the alert by night as well as by day. On the retreat, as during the advance, Richard was greatly indebted to the exertions of the brave Earl of Leicester, who covered one flank of the English army, the other being protected by the sea.

Ramula, Ramla, or Ramah, is the Arimathea of Scripture. A little beyond it begin the almost impracticable mountain defiles of Judæa, which extend to Jerusalem.

HE battle of Jaffa terminated Richard's splendid but unsuccessful career in Palestine. Early in June he encamped in the valley of Hebron, where he received some messengers from England bringing fresh accounts of plots within, and armed confederacies without his dominions. We follow the most consistent, though not the most generally received account, in saying that, on this intelligence, and at the prospect of the increasing power of the Saracens, (who had not only strongly fortified and garrisoned the holy city, but had thrown a tremendous force between it and his advanced post,) and of the increasing weakness and destitution of the Christian forces, to whose wants he could no longer administer, Richard now came to a stand, and turned his hear: to the west. A council, assembled at his suggestion, declared that, under present circumstances, it would be better to march and besiege Cairo, whence Saladin drew his main supplies, than to attack Jerusalem. This decision was perhaps a wise one, but it came too late. Richard, however, pretended that he would follow it, upon which the Duke of Burgundy wrote a song reflecting in severe terms on his vascillation. Richard did not reply by despatching two emissaries of the Old Man of the Mountain, or by adopting any other violent measure: he revenged himself with the same instrument with which the offence had been given, and wrote a satire on the vices and foibles of the Duke of Burgundy. It could not be expected, however, that the Lionheart should renounce his great enterprise without feelings of deep mortification. It is related of him that when a friend