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y man, who, as such, was accustomed to all sorts of surprises and frays. The bishop, however, experienced no difficulty. On the contrary, he was received with marks of great distinction. Saladin made special arrangements to do him honor. He invited him to his palace, and there treated him with great respect, and held a long conversation with him. In the course of the conversation Saladin desired to know what was commonly said of him in the Christian camp. "What is the common opinion in your army," he asked, "in respect to Richard and to me?" He wished to know which was regarded as the greatest hero. "My king," replied the bishop, "is regarded the first of all men living, both in regard to his valorous deeds and to the generosity of his character. That I can not deny. But your fame also is very exalted among us; and it is the universal opinion in our army that if you were only converted to Christianity, there would not be in the world two such princes as Richard and you." In the course of further conversation Saladin admitted that Richard was a great hero, and said that he had a great admiration for him. "But then," he added, "he does wrong, and acts very unwisely, in exposing himself so recklessly to personal danger, when there is no sufficient end in view to justify it. To act thus evinces rashness and recklessness rather than true courage. For myself, I prefer the reputation of wisdom and prudence rather than that of mere blind and thoughtless daring." The bishop, in his conversation with Saladin, represented to him that it was necessary for the comfort of the pilgrims who should from time to time visit Jerusalem that there should be some public establishment to receive and entertain them, and he asked the sultan's permission to found such institutions. Saladin acceded to this request, and measures were immediately adopted by the bishop to carry the arrangement into effect. Richard himself did not visit Jerusalem. The reason he assigned for this was that he was sick at the time. Perhaps the real reason was that he could not endure the humiliation of paying a visit, by the mere permission of an enemy, to the city which he had so long set his heart upon entering triumphantly as a conqueror. CHAPTER XX. THE DEPARTURE FROM PALESTINE. 1192 Richard's reasons for returning home.--Causes of internal dissension in England and Normandy.--Longchamp's disguise.--His escape from England.--Philip'
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