was in
no way abated, and the eyes that had flashed so fearlessly upon the
Saracens looked as sternly down the long lines of the barons of Germany.
Of splendid stature and physique, King Richard was unquestionably the
finest man of his time. He was handsome, with a frank face, but with a
fierce and passionate eye. He wore his moustache with a short beard and
closely-cut whisker. His short curly hair was cropped closely to his
head, upon which he wore a velvet cap with gold coronet, while a scarlet
robe lined with fur fell over his coat of mail, for the emperor had
deemed it imprudent to excite the feeling of the assembly in favour of
the prisoner by depriving him of the symbols of his rank.

King Richard strode to the place prepared for him, and then turning to
the assembly he said, in a voice which rang through the hall,--

"Counts and lords of the Empire of Germany, I, Richard, King of England,
do deny your right to try me. I am a king, and can only be tried by my
peers and by the pope, who is the head of Christendom. I might refuse to
plead, refuse to take any part in this assembly, and appeal to the pope,
who alone has power to punish kings. But I will waive my rights. I rely
upon the honour and probity of the barons of Germany. I have done no man
wrong, and would appear as fearlessly before an assembly of peasants as
before a gathering of barons. Such faults as I may have, and none are
without them, are not such as those with which I am charged. I have slain
many men in anger, but none by treachery. When Richard of England
strikes, he strikes in the light of day. He leaves poison and treachery
to his enemies, and I hurl back with indignation and scorn in the teeth
of him who makes them the charges brought against me."

So saying King Richard took his seat amidst a murmur of applause from the
crowded hall.

The trial then commenced. The accusations against Richard were of many
kinds. Chief among them was the murder of Conrad of Montferat; but there
were charges of having brought the crusade to naught by thwarting the
general plans, by his arrogance in refusing to be bound by the decision
of the other leaders, and by having made a peace contrary to the
interests of the crusaders. The list was a long one; but the evidence
adduced was pitiably weak. Beyond the breath of suspicion, no word of
real evidence connecting him with the murder of Conrad of Montferat was
adduced, and the other charges were supported by no be