"Ha!--ay--Edith Plantagenet.

Did I dream this?
or did some one tell me?
My head is still weak from this fever, and has been agitated.
Was it the Scot, or the Hakim, or yonder holy hermit, that hinted such a wild bargain ?" "The hermit of Engaddi, most likely," said the Archbishop, "for he hath toiled much in this matter; and since the discontent of the princes has became apparent, and a separation of their forces unavoidable, he hath had many consultations, both with Christian and pagan, for arranging such a pacification as may give to Christendom, at least in part, the objects of this holy warfare." "My kinswoman to an infidel--ha!" exclaimed Richard, as his eyes began to sparkle.
The prelate hastened to avert his wrath.
"The Pope's consent must doubtless be first attained, and the holy hermit, who is well known at Rome, will treat with the holy Father." "How ?--without our consent first given ?" said the King.
"Surely no," said the Bishop, in a quieting and insinuating tone of voice--"only with and under your especial sanction." "My sanction to marry my kinswoman to an infidel!" said Richard; yet he spoke rather in a tone of doubt than as distinctly reprobating the measure proposed.

"Could I have dreamed of such a composition when I leaped upon the Syrian shore from the prow of my galley, even as a lion springs on his prey! And now--But proceed--I will hear with patience." Equally delighted and surprised to find his task so much easier than he had apprehended, the Archbishop hastened to pour forth before Richard the instances of such alliances in Spain--not without countenance from the Holy See; the incalculable advantages which all Christendom would derive from the union of Richard and Saladin by a bond so sacred; and, above all, he spoke with great vehemence and unction on the probability that Saladin would, in case of the proposed alliance, exchange his false faith for the true one.
"Hath the Soldan shown any disposition to become Christian ?" said Richard.

"If so, the king lives not on earth to whom I would grant the hand of a kinswoman, ay, or sister, sooner than to my noble Saladin--ay, though the one came to lay crown and sceptre at her feet, and the other had nothing to offer but his good sword and better heart!" "Saladin hath heard our Christian teachers," said the Bishop, somewhat evasively--"my unworthy self, and others--and as he listens with patience, and replies with calmness, it can hardly be but that he be snatched as a brand from the burning.

MAGNA EST VERITAS, ET PREVALEBIT! moreover, the hermit of Engaddi, few of whose words have fallen fruitless to the ground, is possessed fully with the belief that there is a calling of the Saracens and the other heathen approaching, to which this marriage shall be matter of induction.