heir successful
stand obtained the upper hand, and it was by intrigue only that he could
hinder the collection.

In the meantime, popular opinion throughout Europe was strong upon the
side of King Richard. The pope himself wrote to the emperor on his
behalf. The barons of the empire were indignant at the shame placed upon
their country; and the emperor, although he would fain have thrown
further delays in the way, was obliged at last to order the first step
to be taken.

A solemn diet was ordered to assemble at Worms. Here were collected all
the nobles of the empire, and before them King Richard was brought. It
was a grand assembly. Upon a raised throne on the dais sat the emperor
himself, and beside him and near him were the great feudatories of the
empire, and along the sides of the walls were ranged in long rows the
lesser barons. When the doors were opened and King Richard entered, the
whole assembly, save the emperor, rose in respect to the captive
monarch. Although pale from his long confinement, the proud air of
Richard 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 mustache
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 favor 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 honor 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 withou