Oh, no, no! never would
I survive the thought that my frailties and infirmities had been
the means to sever this goodly fellowship of assembled princes.
I would cut off my left hand with my right, could my doing so
attest my sincerity. I will yield up, voluntarily, all right to
command in the host--even mine own liege subjects. They shall be
led by such sovereigns as you may nominate; and their King, ever
but too apt to exchange the leader's baton for the adventurer's
lance, will serve under the banner of Beau-Seant among the
Templars--ay, or under that of Austria, if Austria will name a
brave man to lead his forces. Or if ye are yourselves a-weary of
this war, and feel your armour chafe your tender bodies, leave
but with Richard some ten or fifteen thousand of your soldiers to
work out the accomplishment of your vow; and when Zion is won,"
he exclaimed, waving his hand aloft, as if displaying the
standard of the Cross over Jerusalem--"when Zion is won, we will
write upon her gates, NOT the name of Richard Plantagenet, but of
those generous princes who entrusted him with the means of
conquest!"
The rough eloquence and determined expression of the military
monarch at once roused the drooping spirits of the Crusaders,
reanimated their devotion, and, fixing their attention on the
principal object of the expedition, made most of them who were
present blush for having been moved by such petty subjects of
complaint as had before engrossed them.
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