Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 6 (1897).djvu/372

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350 THE DECLINE AND FALL minister and historian of Saladin computes, from the report of the enemy, that their numbers, at different periods, amounted to five or six hundred thousand ; that more than one hundred thousand Christians were slain ; that a far greater number was lost by disease or shipwreck ; and that a small portion of this mighty host could return in safety to their native countries."* Richard of Philip Augustus and Richard the First are the only kings of pafesune™ France and England who have fought under the same banners ; A "n iiQi 1192 o o -' but the holy service in which they were enlisted was incessantly disturbed by their national jealousy ; and the two factions which they protected in Palestine were more averse to each other than to the common enemy. In the eyes of the Orientals the French monarch was superior in dignity and power ; and, in the emperor's absence, the Latins revered him as their temporal chief.^^ His exploits were not adequate to his fame. Philip was brave, but the statesman predominated in his character ; he was soon weary of sacrificing his health and interest on a [July, U91] barren coast ; the surrender of Acre became the signal of his departure : nor could he justify this unpopular desertion by leaving the duke of Burgundy, with five hundred knights and ten thousand foot, for the service of the Holy Land. The King of England, though inferior in dignity, surpassed his rival in wealth and military renown ; ^'^ and, if heroism be confined to brutal and ferocious valour, Richard Plantagenet will stand high among the heroes of the age. The memory of Cceur dc Lion, of the lion-hearted prince, was long dear and glorious to his English subjects ; and, at the distance of sixty years, it was celebrated in proverbial sayings by the grandsons of the Turks and Saracens against whom he had fought : his tremendous name was employed by the Syrian mothers to silence their infants ; and, if an horse suddenly started fx'om the way, his rider was wont to exclaim, " Dost thou think King Richard is in that bush . " ^i His cruelty to the Mahometans was the SBohadin, p. 14. He quotes the judgment of Balianus and the prince of Sidon, and adds, Ex illo mundo quasi hominum paucissimi redierunt. Among the Christians who died before St. John d'Acre, I fmd the Enghsh names of De Ferrers, Earl of Derby (Dugdale, Baronage, p. i. p. 260), Mowbray (idem, p. 124), de Mandevil, de Fiennes, St. John, Scrope, Pigot, Talbot, &c. "'^ Magnus hie apud eos, interque reges eorum turn virtute, turn majestate eminens . . . summus rerum arbiter (Bohadin, p. 159). He does not seem to have known the names either of Philip or Richard. 8" Rex Anglia; prajstrenuus . . . rege Gallorum minor apud eos censebatur ratione regni atque dignitatis ; sed turn divitiis tlorentior, turn bcUica virtute multo erat celebnor (Bohadin, p. 161). A stranger might admire those riches; the national historians will tell with what lawless and wasteful oppression they were collected. ^1 Joinville, p. 17. Cuides-tu que ce soil le roi Richart ?