to the effects of insanity; and, adhering to his original purpose, began once again to handle his implements. But Isaac soon convinced him of his error. "Child of my sorrow," he said, "well shouldst thou be called Benoni, instead of Rebecca! Why should thy death bring down my gray hairs to the grave?” 66 Brother," said the Rabbi, in great surprise, "I trust that the child of thy house yet liveth?" "She liveth," answered Isaac, "but she is captive unto those men of Belial, and they will wreak their cruelty upon her, sparing her neither for her youth nor her comely favour. Oh, she was as a crown of green palms to my gray locks; and she must wither in a night, like the gourd of Jonah !5 Child of my love! child of my old age!-O Rebecca, daughter of Rachel, the darkness of the shadow of death hath encompassed thee." "Yet read the scroll," said the Rabbi; "peradventure it may be that we may yet find out a way of deliverance." "Do thou read, brother," answered Isaac, "for mine eyes are as fountains of water." The physician read, but in their native language, the following words :: "To ISAAC, the son of Adoni'kam, whom the Gentiles call ISAAC OF YORK, peace and the blessing of the promise be 'multiplied unto thee. 6 'My father, I am as one doomed to die for that which my soul knoweth not even for the crime of witchcraft. My father, if a strong man can be found to do battle for my cause with sword and spear, according to the custom of the Nazarenes, and that within the lists of Tem'plestowe, on the third day from this time, 'peradventure our fathers' God will give him strength to defend the innocent, and her who hath none to help her. But if this may not be, let the virgins of our people mourn for me as for one cast off, and for the hart that is stricken by the hunter, and for the flower which is cut down by the scythe of the mower. Wherefore, look now what thou doest, and whether there be any rescue. "One Nazarene warrior might, indeed, bear arms in my behalf, even Wilfred, son of Ced'ric, whom the Gentiles call I'vanhoe. But he may not yet endure the weight of his armour. Nevertheless, send the tidings unto him, my father; for he hath favour among the strong men of his people, and as he was our companion in the house of bondage, he may find some one to do battle for my sake. And say unto him, even unto him, even unto Wilfred, the son of Cedric, that if Rebecca live, or if Rebecca die, she liveth or dieth wholly free of the guilt she is charged withal. "And if it be the will of God that thou shalt be deprived of thy daughter, do not thou tarry, old man, in this land of bloodshed and cruelty; but betake thyself to Cordo'va,' where thy brother liveth in safety, under the shadow of the throne, even of the throne of Boab'dil the Saracen: for less cruel are the ⚫cruelties of the Moors unto the race of Jacob than the cruelties of the Nazarenes of England." Isaac listened with tolerable composure while Ben Samuel read the letter, and then again resumed the gestures and exclamations of Oriental sorrow, tearing his garments, besprinkling his head with dust, and 'ejaculating, "My daughter! my daughter!" "Yet," said the Rabbi, "take courage, for this grief 'availeth nothing. Seek out this Wilfred, the son of Cedric. It may be he will help thee with counsel or with strength; for the youth hath favour in the eyes of Richard, called of the Nazarenes the Lion-Heart, and the tidings that he hath returned are constant in the land. It may be that he may obtain his letter, and his signet, commanding these men of blood, who take their name from the Temple, to the 'dishonour thereof, that they proceed not in their purposed wickedness." "I will seek him out," said Isaac; "for he is a good youth, and hath compassion for the exile of Jacob. But he cannot bear his armour, and what other Christian shall do battle for the oppressed of Zion?" avail'eth, prof'iteth. bond age, slavery. challenged, claimed. companion, associate. compassion, pity. cru'elties, atroç'ities. deliv'erance, release'. deprived', bereft'. discov'ered, found. dishonʼour, shame. ejaculating, exclaim'ing. insen'sible, unconscious. SIR W. SCOTT. multiplied, increased'. 1 Knights Templars, an order of and profligate men are called " children of knighthood established for the protection of pilgrims to Jerusalem, 1118 A.D. They took their name from the Temple. 2 Preceptory.-Heads of the several colleges of the Order, over whom the Grand Master was supreme, were called Preceptors; and the place where they met was called the Preceptory. 3 Cupping appara'tus, a cup-shaped vessel of glass used for blood-letting. The surgeon draws blood with it by exhausting the air in the cup. Belial." (See Judges, xx. 13.) Belial signifies " worthlessness." 5 Gourd of Jonah.-The gourd which sheltered the prophet Jonah at Nineveh withered in a night. (See Jonah, iv. 6–10.) "Nazarenes, Christians; so called by the Jews because they were followers of Jesus of Nazareth. 7 Cordova, an ancient Moorish town on the Guadalquivir, in Andalusia in Spain, famous for its leather, hence called cordovan and cordwain. A cordwainer is a worker Men of Be'lial.-In the Bible wicked in cordovan a shoemaker. QUESTIONS.-What privilege did Rebecca claim when she had been condemned? Who was named the champion of the Temple? Who at last volunteered to carry her letter? Where did he meet Isaac? What effect had the perusal of Rebecca's letter upon the latter? Who accompanied him? Whose help did Rebecca ask him to obtain ? THE TRIAL BY COMBAT. PART II. OUR scene now returns to the exterior of the Castle, or Precep'tory, of Tem'plestowe, about the hour when the bloody die was to be cast for the life or death of Rebecca. A throne was erected for the Grand Master at the east end of the tilt-yard, surrounded with seats of distinction for the Preceptors and Knights of the Order. At the opposite end of the lists was a pile of fagots, so arranged around a stake, deeply fixed in the ground, as to leave a space for the victim whom they were 'destined to 'consume, to enter within the fatal circle in order to be chained to the stake by the fetters which hung ready for the purpose. The unfortunate Rebecca was conducted to a black chair placed near the pile. On her first glance at the terrible spot where preparations were making for a death alike 'dismaying to the mind and painful to the body, she was observed to shudder and shut her eyes-praying internally, doubtless, for her lips moved though no speech was heard. In the space of a minute she opened her eyes, looked fixedly on the pile, as if to 'familiarize her mind with the object, and then slowly and naturally turned away her head. It was the general belief that no one could or would appear for a Jewess accused of sorcery; and the knights whispered to each other that it was time to declare the pledge of Rebecca 'forfeited. At that instant a knight, urging his horse to speed, appeared on the plain advancing towards the lists. A hundred voices exclaimed, "A champion! a champion!" And despite the prejudices of the multitude, they shouted unanimously as the knight rode into the tilt-yard. The second glance, however, served to destroy the hope that his timely arrival had excited. His horse, urged for many miles to its utmost speed, appeared to reel from fatigue; and the rider, however undauntedly he presented himself in the lists, either from weakness, from weariness, or from both combined, seemed scarce able to support himself in the saddle. To the summons of the herald, who demanded his rank, his name and purpose, the stranger knight answered readily and boldly, “I am a good knight and noble, come hither to uphold with lance and sword the just and lawful quarrel of this damsel, Rebecca, daughter of Isaac of York; to maintain the doom known, my lineage more pure, than thine own. of Ivanhoe." I am Wilfred “I will not fight with thee at present," said the Templar, in a changed and hollow voice. "Get thy wounds healed, 'purvey thee a better horse, and it may be I will hold it worth my while to scourge out of thee this boyish spirit of bravado." "Ha! proud Templar," said Ivanhoe, "hast thou forgotten that twice thou didst fall before this lance? Remember the lists at A'cre-remember the passage of arms at Ash'by-remember thy proud vaunt in the halls of Roth'erwood, and the gage of your gold chain against my reliquary,2 that thou wouldst do battle with Wilfred of Ivanhoe, and recover the honour thou hadst lost! By that reliquary, and the holy relic it contains, I will 'proclaim thee, Templar, a coward in every Court in Europe -unless thou do battle without further delay." Sir Brian turned his countenance 'irresolutely towards Rebecca, and then exclaimed, looking fiercely at Ivanhoe, "Dog of a Saxon! take thy lance, and prepare for the death thou hast drawn upon thee !" "Does the Grand Master allow me the combat?" said Ivanhoe. "I may not deny what thou hast challenged," said the Grand Master, "provided the maiden accept thee as her champion. Yet I would thou wert in better plight to do battle. An enemy of our Order hast thou ever been, yet would I have thee 'honourably met withal." “Thus—thus as I am, and not otherwise," said Ivanhoe; “it is the judgment of God-to his keeping I commend myself.Rebecca," said he, riding up to the fatal chair, "dost thou accept of me for thy champion?" "I do," she said, "I do,"-fluttered by an emotion which the fear of death had been unable to produce-"I do accept thee as the champion whom Heaven hath sent me. Yet, nono; thy wounds are uncured. Meet not that proud man-why shouldst thou perish also?" But Ivanhoe was already at his post; he had closed his visor3 and assumed his lance. Sir Brian did the same; and his esquire remarked, as he clasped his visor, that his face--which had, 'notwithstanding the variety of emotions by which he had been agitated, continued during the whole morning of an ashy paleness-had now become suddenly very much flushed. The Grand Master, who held -in his hand the gage of battle, Rebecca's glove, now threw it into the lists. The trumpets sounded, and the knights charged each other in full career. The |
