t 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 amid 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
produced 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 better evidence.
Many of the German barons who had been at the Crusades themselves came
forward to testify to the falsity of these charges, and the fact that
Richard had himself placed Conrad of Montferat upon the throne, and had
no possible interest in his death, was alone more than sufficient to
nullify the vague rumors brought against him. Richard himself in a few a
scornful words disposed of this accusation. The accusation that he,
Richard of England, would stoop to poison a man whom he could have
crushed in an instant was too absurd to be seriously treated.

"I am sure," the king said, "that not one person here believes this idle
tale. That I did not always agree with the other leaders is true; but I
call upon every one here to say whether, had they listened to me and
followed my advice, the Crusade would not have had another ending. Even
after Philip of France had withdrawn; even after I had been deserted by
John of Austria, I led the troops of the Crusaders from every danger and
every difficulty to within sight of the walls of Jerusalem. Had I been
supported with zeal, the holy city would have been ours; but the apathy,
the folly, and the weakness of the leaders brought ruin upon the army.
They thought not of conquering Jerusalem, but of thwarting me; and I
retort upon them the charge of having sacrificed the success of the
Crusade. As to the terms of peace, how were they made? I, with some
fif