The Cairo bulletin., 1912-09-23

mas DeeH Mdieeu N44.asT.SssS-& -
by poets and nov RIG RIA r o ..
eIists for virtues he never dreamed of
possessing. He was King Richard |.
Of ENGLAND, nicknaEled Occur de Lion
(eLon Hearth.
When Richard was only Is Tin 1173)
he ioined a rebellion against his own
father King Henry II. The rebellion
was crushed and Henry freely forgaye
his unnatural son. But zen years later,
Richard was once more up IN arms
against his father; Joining Henrya
bitter enemy, the king Oh France, and
doing all in his power TO iniure not
only Henry, but also the country he
expected one day to rule.
Richard aud the French king at last
conquered Henry and forced him TO
sign peace treaty. The shame OF De-
ing humiliated by his son was too
much for the old monarch. he died
broken hearted two days after the
treaty was signed. Richard was now
king of England. He had spent most
Of his life in France He had not
taken the trouble to learn the English
language He had, apparently, no IN
terest at all either in England nor in
it's neople, save al lie could wiring from
them huge sums of money with which
to indulge his fayorite pastime OF war
fare.
Yet for the moment. he was re-
Sal 10
dead father, and he won much sympa-
thy by weeping in maudlin fashion at
The dead kings tomb Then, less than
two months after ne was crowned, he
left England and joined crusade
which was aimed to win back the Holy
Land from the Saracens.
Richard wanted money for this ven
lure. so he not only oYertaXed his peo-
Pile, but sold back EuGland's rulership
of Scotland, which mis- father had won
by hard fighting. Having done as much
harm to his kingdom in two brief
months az he comfortably could, Rich
| ard set out on the Crusade.
OF all the many crusader chiefs in
all the various crusades. none, per
| haps. has won as much fame as Rich.
| ard-and on so little justification. Be
ynnd the capture of enc Saracen city
Acres surrender were not fulfilled
to his liking, he retalated by massa-
creiug 2,700 helpless Saracen prisoners
whom he had captured.
While certain deeds OF ferocious
| courage in Palestine won for him the
| titls of Lion Heart" yet he did TAR
more harm than good to The cause OF
the Crusade 1t was largely through
| him that the leaders quarreled among
themselves and failed to conquer Jeru.
salem. There were two rival candi-
dates for the title Of King of Jerusa-
lem" (They conferred the title be
| fore taking the trouble to capture the
Holy City) These candidates were
| Conrad of MontfeTrat and Guy de Lu'
signan. Richard favored Guys claims
But he was forced to consent to Con
| RAIDS election. Conrad was at once
murdered, and Richard was charged r.
whether rightly or not--with the
| crime
After twice advancing to within
| sight of Jerusalem, Richard gave ur
| the Crusade in disgust and started
| home. He was shipwrecked on the
way and was imprisoned by Archduke
Leopold of Austria, whom he had once
| insulted and struck in Palestine. Leo
pold turned him over to the German
emperor and Richard lay for months
in prison. Finally, By taxing his peo
pie again and by swearing 10 hold the
English throne as mere servant oi
the emperor he won his freedom.
He hurried back to England, where
| he found his younger brother John and
the king of France had stirred up &
rebellion against him. He put dowr
the revolt, forgave John, and made
war on France, Again he only stayed
two months in Elngland--iust Ions
enough to raise more money. He Wen
to France, where, in 1893. after fiv'
years war, he was killed while attack
ing the castle of nobleman who hac
found some buried treasure Richard
| was greedy to seize.
During his ten years reign Richard
had spent just four months In Eng
land. He had impoverished his coun
try and had done nothing for it in re
turn. So died Richard Lion Heart
bad son. bad husband, bad king, ant
worse man
England has had three kings nam sC
Richard All three were more O
less blackguards and all died violen
deaths.