did not oblige him to forget
the hostilities of the King of France. But to prosecute the war money
was wanting, which new taxes and new devices supplied with difficulty
and with dishonor. All the mean oppressions of a necessitous government
were exercised on this occasion. All the grants which were made on the
king's departure to the Holy Land were revoked, on the weak pretence
that the purchasers had sufficient recompense whilst they held them.
Necessity seemed to justify this, as well as many other measures that
were equally violent. The whole revenue of the crown had been
dissipated; means to support its dignity must be found; and these means
were the least unpopular, as most men saw with pleasure the wants of
government fall upon those who had started into a sudden greatness by
taking advantage of those wants.

Richard renewed the war with Philip, which continued, though frequently
interrupted by truces, for about five years. In this war Richard
signalized himself by that irresistible courage which on all occasions
gave him a superiority over the King of France. But his revenues were
exhausted; a great scarcity reigned both in France and England; and the
irregular manner of carrying on war in those days prevented a clear
decision in favor of either party. Richard had still an eye on the Holy
Land, which he considered as the only province worthy of his arms; and
this continually diverted his thoughts from the steady prosecution of
the war in France. The Crusade, like a superior orb, moved along with
all the particular systems of politics of that time, and suspended,
accelerated, or put back all operations on motives foreign to the things
themselves. In this war it must be remarked, that Richard made a
considerable use of the mercenaries who had been so serviceable to Henry
the Second; and the King of France, perceiving how much his father,
Louis, had suffered by a want of that advantage, kept on foot a standing
army in constant pay, which none of his predecessors had done before
him, and which afterwards for a long time very unaccountably fell into
disuse in both kingdoms.

[Sidenote: A.D. 1199.]

Whilst this war was carried on, by intervals and starts, it came to the
ears of Richard that a nobleman of Limoges had found on his lands a
considerable hidden treasure. The king, necessitous and rapacious to the
last degree, and stimulated by the exaggeration and marvellous
circumstances which always attend the report