" This song- King Richard and Blondel had, a long time before, composed together ; and when King Richard heard it, he, knowing it was Blondel that sung it, completed it by singing the other halt!, as follows :— 'No nymph my heart can wound If favour she divide, And smiles on all around, Unwilling to decide ; I'd rather hatred bear Than love with others share,' Thus Blondel won knowledge of the King, his maistcr, and returning home into England, made the barons of the eountrie acquainted where the King was." This sad intelligence overwhelmed the nation with gloom, and almost broke the heart of Richard's aged mother, Queen Eleanora. In her affliction she addressed several earnest epistles to thePope, imploring him to use his all-powerful influence for the release of the renowned leader of the Croises. In one of these letters she styles herself "Eleanora, by the wrath of God, Queen of England." In another, she writes : " Mother of pity ! oh, look on a mother of so many afflictions! The younger King and the Earl of Brittany both sleep in death, whilst I, their wretched mother, still live on, tormented by direful recollections of the dead ! Two other sons remain, and but add to my present misery. King Richard is a fettered captive, whilst his brother, John, depopulates with the sword, and destroys by fire." She then, after indignantly upbraiding the Pope for his not wielding the thunders of the Vatican against the cruel imprisoncr of Richard, continues— " Give hack my son to me, man of God, if thou be indeed a man of God, and not a man of blood; for if thou neglectest his liberation, the Lord G od of Sabaoth will require his blood at thy hands. Alas, alas ! thus the chief Pontiff, the successor of Peter, even Christ the Lord, the God even of Pharaoh, turneth all to g-ain : for behold the arm of the wicked is exalted, and yet the sword of St. Peter sleeps in its scabbard, and the voice of him who sitteth vicar of Jesus the crucified is hushed. Oh, good shepherd, leave not the flock of Christ to be torn by blood-thirsty savages ! Let not the power of the church yield to the eagle of tho Caesars \ and, oh, if indeed a good shepherd thou beest, crush the sword of Constantine by that of St. Peter, and loose the fetters of the greatest warrior that ever fought for the cause of the holy church—my brave, my generous, my high-minded, my all-worthy son, Richard!" These letters at length aroused the tardy Pope, who threatened to lay the empire under interdict if Richard was not immediately released. The princes of the empire also expressed their indignation at his unjust imprisonment and detention, and, before the diet, he defended himself with such brief and biting eloquence, that the Emperor, being alarmed, offered to set him at liberty for one hundred and fifty thousand marks of silver—two-thirds to be paid previous to his release, and sixty-seven hostages to be at the same time delivered, to secure the faithful payment of the remainder. After the required sum had been, by great exertions, raised by taxes and collections in England, Normandy, and Aquitaine, and by a liberal contribution of two thousand marks from Scotland, Queen Eicanora, accompanied by the chief justiciary, set out for Germany in December, 1193. When Eleanora bad paid the ransommoney to the Emperor and the Archduke of Austria, and agreed that the Cypriot princess should be given up to her German relatives, and that her granddaughter, Eleanora, surnamed the Pearl of Brittany, should be given in marriage to the heir of the Archduke Leopold, Richard was set at liberty, and safely escorted, by command of the Emperor, to the gate of Anvers, whence he embarked, accompanied by his royal mother, and, after a pleasant voyage, arrived at Sandwich, where he landed, amidst the hearty greetings of the people, on the twentieth of ]\lareh, 1194, after an abscnee of four years, three months, anil nine days, Philip of France was so alarmed when