e of men," the same
author declares, "who made it a profession to be without money. They
walked barefoot, carried no arms, and even preceded the beasts of burden
in their march, living upon roots and herbs, and presenting a spectacle
both disgusting and pitiable.

"A Norman, who, according to all accounts, was of noble birth, but who,
having lost his horse, continued to follow as a foot soldier, took
the strange resolution of putting himself at the head of this race
of vagabonds, who willingly received him as their king. Amongst the
Saracens these men became well known under the name of THAFURS (which
Guibert translates TRUDENTES), and were beheld with great horror
from the general persuasion that they fed on the dead bodies of their
enemies; a report which was occasionally justified, and which the king
of the Thafurs took care to encourage. This respectable monarch was
frequently in the habit of stopping his followers, one by one, in a
narrow defile, and of causing them to be searched carefully, lest the
possession of the least sum of money should render them unworthy of the
name of his subjects. If even two sous were found upon any one, he
was instantly expelled the society of his tribe, the king bidding him
contemptuously buy arms and fight.

"This troop, so far from being cumbersome to the army, was infinitely
serviceable, carrying burdens, bringing in forage, provisions, and
tribute; working the machines in the sieges; and, above all, spreading
consternation among the Turks, who feared death from the lances of the
knights less than that further consummation they heard of under the
teeth of the Thafurs." [James's "History of Chivalry."]

It is easy to conceive that an ignorant minstrel, finding the taste and
ferocity of the Thafurs commemorated in the historical accounts of the
Holy Wars, has ascribed their practices and propensities to the Monarch
of England, whose ferocity was considered as an object of exaggeration
as legitimate as his valour.

ABBOTSFORD, 1st July, 1832.

TALES OF THE CRUSADERS. TALE II.--THE TALISMAN.

CHAPTER I.

They, too, retired
To the wilderness, but 'twas with arms.
PARADISE REGAINED.

The burning sun of Syria had not yet attained its highest point in
the horizon, when a knight of the Red Cross, who had left his distant
northern home and joined the host of the Crusaders in Palestine, was
pacing slowly along the sandy deserts which lie in the vic