shamed of this deed, Richard gloried in it. He
considered it a wonderful proof of his zeal for the cause of Christ.
The writers of the time praised it. The Saracens, they maintained,
were the enemies of God, and whoever slew them did God service. One of
the historians of the time says that angels from heaven appeared to
Richard at the time, and urged him to persevere to the end, crying
aloud to him while the massacre was going on, "Kill! kill! Spare them
not!"

It seems to us at the present day most amazing that the minds of men
could possibly be so perverted as to think that in performing such
deeds as this they were sustaining the cause of the meek and gentle
Jesus of Nazareth, and were the objects of approval and favor with
God, the common father of us all, who has declared that he has made of
one blood all the nations of the earth, to live together in peace and
unity.

CHAPTER XV.

PROGRESS OF THE CRUSADE.

1191

Richard leaving Acre.--Modern warfare.--Contrast between modern
and ancient weapons.--Purifying the places of pagan
worship.--Revelings of the soldiery.--The object of the Crusades
was the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre.--Order of the march from
Acre.--Jaffa.--Trumpeters.--The evening proclamation in
camp.--The slow march.--Saladin's harassing movements.--The plain
of Azotus.--The order of battle.--The charge of Richard's
troops.--To retreat is to be defeated.--Saladin, defeated,
retires.--Richard at Jaffa again.--Sickness in the army.--Excuses
for delaying the march.--Lingering at Jaffa.--The judgment of
historians.--Richard's incursions from Jaffa.--Reconnoitring and
foraging.--Richard's predatory excursions.--Sir William's
stratagem.--Sir William's ransom.--Incident of the Knights
Templars.--Richard's feats of prowess among the Saracens.--The
Troubadours.--Negotiations for peace.--Saphadin.--A marriage
proposed.--King Richard offered his sister in marriage to
Saphadin.

The first thing which Richard had now to do, before commencing a march
into the interior of the country, was to set every thing in order at
Acre, and to put the place in a good condition of defense, in case it
should be attacked while he was gone. The walls in many places were to
be repaired, particularly where they had been undermined by Richard's
sappers, and in many places, too, they had been broken down or greatly
damaged by the action of the battering-rams and other engines. In the
case of sieges prosecuted by mean