, such as no warrior would
have been ashamed to shed. A peace was speedily agreed upon with the king
of Tunis, and the armies of France and Sicily returned to their homes.

[Illustration: SEAL OF EDWARD I.]

So little favour had the Crusade found in England, that even the exertions
of the heir to the throne had only collected a small force of fifteen
hundred men. With these few Prince Edward sailed from Dover to Bourdeaux,
in the expectation that he would find the French king in that city. St.
Louis, however, had left a few weeks previously; upon which Edward
followed him to Sardinia, and afterwards to Tunis. Before his arrival in
Africa, St. Louis was no more, and peace had been concluded between France
and Tunis. He determined, however, not to relinquish the Crusade.
Returning to Sicily, he passed the winter in that country, and endeavoured
to augment his little army. In the spring he set sail for Palestine, and
arrived in safety at Acre. The Christians were torn, as usual, by mutual
jealousies and animosities. The two great military orders were as virulent
and as intractable as ever; opposed to each other, and to all the world.
The arrival of Edward had the effect of causing them to lay aside their
unworthy contention, and of uniting heart to heart in one last effort for
the deliverance of their adopted country. A force of six thousand
effective warriors was soon formed to join those of the English prince,
and preparations were made for the renewal of hostilities. The Sultan
Bibars or Bendocdar,[21] a fierce Mamluke, who had been placed on the
throne by a bloody revolution, was at war with all his neighbours, and
unable, for that reason, to concentrate his whole strength against them.
Edward took advantage of this, and marching boldly forward to Nazareth,
defeated the Turks and gained possession of that city. This was the whole
amount of his successes. The hot weather engendered disease among his
troops, and he himself, the life and soul of the expedition, fell sick
among the first. He had been ill for some time, and was slowly recovering,
when a messenger desired to speak with him on important matters, and to
deliver some despatches into his own hand. While the prince was occupied
in examining them, the traitorous messenger drew a dagger from his belt
and stabbed him in the breast. The wound fortunately was not deep, and
Edward had regained a portion of his strength. He struggled with the
assassin, and put him to de