y man, who, as such, was accustomed to all sorts of
surprises and frays.

The bishop, however, experienced no difficulty. On the contrary, he
was received with marks of great distinction. Saladin made special
arrangements to do him honor. He invited him to his palace, and there
treated him with great respect, and held a long conversation with him.
In the course of the conversation Saladin desired to know what was
commonly said of him in the Christian camp.

"What is the common opinion in your army," he asked, "in respect to
Richard and to me?"

He wished to know which was regarded as the greatest hero.

"My king," replied the bishop, "is regarded the first of all men
living, both in regard to his valorous deeds and to the generosity of
his character. That I can not deny. But your fame also is very exalted
among us; and it is the universal opinion in our army that if you were
only converted to Christianity, there would not be in the world two
such princes as Richard and you."

In the course of further conversation Saladin admitted that Richard
was a great hero, and said that he had a great admiration for him.

"But then," he added, "he does wrong, and acts very unwisely, in
exposing himself so recklessly to personal danger, when there is no
sufficient end in view to justify it. To act thus evinces rashness and
recklessness rather than true courage. For myself, I prefer the
reputation of wisdom and prudence rather than that of mere blind and
thoughtless daring."

The bishop, in his conversation with Saladin, represented to him that
it was necessary for the comfort of the pilgrims who should from time
to time visit Jerusalem that there should be some public establishment
to receive and entertain them, and he asked the sultan's permission
to found such institutions. Saladin acceded to this request, and
measures were immediately adopted by the bishop to carry the
arrangement into effect.

Richard himself did not visit Jerusalem. The reason he assigned for
this was that he was sick at the time. Perhaps the real reason was
that he could not endure the humiliation of paying a visit, by the
mere permission of an enemy, to the city which he had so long set his
heart upon entering triumphantly as a conqueror.

CHAPTER XX.

THE DEPARTURE FROM PALESTINE.

1192

Richard's reasons for returning home.--Causes of internal
dissension in England and Normandy.--Longchamp's disguise.--His
escape from England.--Philip'