hitherto said too little of this delightful personage; who is from the beginning the most angelic character in the story, and ends with engrossing its chief interest. The author, it may be observed, has generally one poetical or impossible character in each of his pieces-somebody too good and enchanting to be believed in-and yet so well humanized and identified with ou lower nature as to pass for a reality;-and Rebecca is the god dess of the work before us. We know so little, indeed, what a Jewish damsel really was in the days of Richard the Ist, that the author may be allowed to have had some scope for his inventions; and certainly a being of more nymph-like form, or goddess-like deport,' never has been represented in the fictions. of painting or poetry. We must pass over some very beautiful and touching scenes of her tendance on the wounded and thankless Wilfrid, when feelings, rather more tender than those of pity, are represented as stealing unconsciously into the pure and pitying heart of the Jewess-and come at once to her agonizing interview with the daring and unprincipled Templar. He approaches her first in that disguise of an outlaw in which he had seized on her party; and when, misled by this garb, she offers him her jewels and wealth for her deliverance, he drops the mask, and says

"I am not an outlaw, then, fair rose of Sharon. And I am one who will be more prompt to hang thy neck and arms with pearls and diamonds, which so well become them, than to deprive thee of these ornaments." "What would'st thou have of me, said Rebecca, "if not my wealth ?-We can have nought in common between us -you are a Christian-I am a Jewess.-Our union were contrary to the laws, alike of the church, and the synagogue. "It were so indeed," replied the Templar, laughing; "wed with a Jewess? Despardieux-not if she were the queen of Sheba. And know,

besides, sweet daughter of Zion, that were the most Christian king to offer me his most Christian daughter with Languedoc for a dowry I could not wed her. It is against my vow to love any maiden, otherwise than par amours, as I will love thee. I am a Templar. Behold the cross of my holy order. "Darest thou appeal to it," said Rebecca, " on an occasion like the present? And if I do so, said the Templar, "it concerns not thee, who art no believer in the blessed sign of our salvation." "I believe as my fathers taught, said Rebecca; and may God forgive my belief if erroneous! you, Sir Knight, what is yours, when you appeal without scruple to that which you deem most holy, even while you are about to transgress the most solemn of your vows as a knight, and as a man of religion?""It is gravely and well preached, O daughter of Sirach" answered the Templar; "but, gentle Ecclesiastica, thy narnow Jewish prejudices make thee blind to our high privilege. Marriage were an enduring crime on the part of a Templar; but what

But

-

lesser folly I may practice, I shall speedily be absolved from at the next Preceptory of our Order. Not the wisest of monarchs, not his father, whose examples you must needs allow are weighty, claimed wider privileges than we poor soldiers of the Temple of Zion have won by our zeal in its defence. The protectors of Solomon's Temple may claim license by the example of Solomon. "If thou readest the Scripture," said the Jewess," and the lives of the saints, only to justify thine own license and profligacy, thy crime is like that of him who extracts poison from the most healthful and necessary herbs. The eyes of the Templar flashed fire at this reproof« Hearken, he said, "Rebecca; I have hitherto spoke mildly to thee, but now my language shall be that of a conqueror. Thou art the captive of my bow and spear-subject to my will by the laws of all nations; nor will I abate an inch of my right, or abstain from taking by violence what thou refusest to entreaty or necessity." "Stand back, said Rebecca" stand back, and hear me ere thou, offerest to commit a sin so deadly! My strength thou may'st indeed overpower, for God made women weak, and trusted their defence to man's generosity. But I will proclaim thy villany, Templar, from one end of Europe to the other. I will owe to the superstition of thy brethren what their compassion might refuse me.--Each Precep-. tory-each Chapter of thy Order, shall learn, that, like a heretic, thou hast sinned with a Jewess. Those who tremble not at thy crime, will hold thee accursed for having so far dishonoured the cross thou wearest, as to follow a daughter of my people.". .. Thou art keen-witted, Jewess," replied the Templar, well aware of the truth of what she spoke, and that the rules of his Order condemned in the most positive manner, and under high penalties, such intrigues as ḥe now prosecuted, and that, in some instances, even degradation had followed upon it-" "thou art sharp-witted," he said, "but loud must be thy voice of complaint, if it is heard beyond the iron walls of this castle; within these, murmurs, laments, appeals to justice, and screams for help, die alike silent away. One thing only can save thee, Rebecca. Submit to thy fate-embrace our religion, and thou shalt go forth in such state, that many a Norman lady shall yield as well in pomp as in beauty to the favourite of the best lance among the defenders of the Temple." "Submit to my fate!" said Rebecca-" and, sacred Heaven! to what fate?-cmbrace thy religion! and what religion can it be that harbours such a villain-thou the best lance of the Templars!-craven Knight!-forsworn Priest! I spit at thee, and I defy thee.--The God of Abraham's promise hath opened an escape to his daughter-even from this abyss of infamy.

As she spoke, she threw open the latticed window which led to the bartizan, and in an instant after, stood on the very verge of the parapet, with not the slightest screen between her and the tremendous depth below. Unprepared for such a desperate effort, for she had hitherto stood perfectly motionless, Bois-Guilbert had

"I swear

neither time to intercept nor to stop her. As he offered to advance, she exclaimed, "Remain where thou art, proud Templar, or at thy choice advance!-one foot nearer, and I plunge myself from the precipice; my body shall be crushed out of the very form of humanity upon the stones of that court-yard, ere it becomes the victim of thy brutality." As she spoke this, she clasped her hands and extended them towards Heaven, as if imploring mercy on her soul before she made the final plunge. The Templar hesitated; and a resolution which had never yielded to pity or distress, gave way to his admiration of her fortitude. "Come down," he said, "rash girl!--I swear by earth, and sea, and sky, I will offer thee no offence. "I will not trust thee, Templar," said Rebecca; "thou hast taught me better how to estimate the virtues of thine Order. The next Preceptory would grant thee absolution for an oath, the keeping of which concerned nought but the honour or the dishonour of a miserable Jewish maiden. "You do me injustice," said the Templar; to you by the name which I bear-by the cross on my bosom-by the sword on my side-by the ancient crest of my fathers do I swear, I will do thee no injury whatsoever. If not for thyself, yet for thy father's sake forbear. I will be his friend, and in this castle he will need a powerful one. "Alas!" said Rebecca, "I know it but too. well-dare I trust thee? "May my arms be reversed, and my name dishonoured," said Brian de Bois-Guilbert, "if thou shalt have reason to complain of me! Many a law, many a commandment have I broken, but my word never. "I will then trust thee," said Rebecca, "thus far; and she descended from the verge of the battle. ment, but remained standing close by one of the embrasures, or machicolles, as they were then called. Here," she said, "I take my stand. Remain where thou art; and if thou shalt attempt to diminish, by one step, the distance now between us, thou shalt see that the Jewish maiden will rather trust her soul with God, than her honour to the Templar.

While Rebecca spoke thus, her high and firm resolve, which corresponded so well with the expressive beauty of her countenance, gave to her looks, air, and manner, a dignity that seemed more than mortal. Her glance quailed not, her cheek blanched not, for the fear of a fate so instant and so horrible; on the contrary, the thought that she had her fate at her command, and could escape at will from infamy to death, gave a yet deeper colour of carnation to her complexion, and a yet more brilliant fire to her eye. Bois-Guilbert, proud himself and high-spirited, thought he had never beheld beauty so animated and so commanding. "Let there be peace between us, Rebecca," he said. "Peace, if thou wilt," answered Rebecca"Peace-but with this space between. "Thou need'st no longer fear me," said Bois-Guilbert. "I fear thee not," replied she; "thanks to him that reared this dizzy tower so high, that nought could fall from it and live-thanks to him, and to the God of Israel! I fear thee not." II. 169-76.

We must stop here, though the rest of the dialogue is sustained in a tone still more impressive: But it is suddenly broken off, along with the different occupations of the various other persons we have mentioned, by the sound of a bugle of defiance, and the mustering of Locksley and his followers before the gates of the castle. After various hopeless attempts at negotiation, it occurs to the besiegers to send Wamba the jester into the place, in the disguise of a friar, come to pray with the unhappy captives whom the Normans had menaced with instant death, if their deliverers did not retire-and the valiant and faithful fool readily takes on him the hazardous office. For the honour of this worshipful person, whom also we have too much neglected, we must give the close of his interview with his master. Cedric is at first imposed on by the ecclesiastical habit, and proposes to go to prayers-when

"Wait yet a moment, good uncle," said the Jester, in his natural tone; "better look long before ye leap in the dark. By my faith," said Cedric, "I should know that voice." "It is that of your trusty slave and jester," answered Wamba, throwing back his cowl. "Had you taken a fool's advice formerly, you would not have been here at all. Take a fool's advice now, and you will not be here long. "How mean'st thou, knave?" answered the Saxon."Even thus," replied Wamba; "take thou this frock and cord, which are all the orders I ever had, and march quietly out of the castle, leaving me your cloak and girdle to take the long leap in thy stead. "Leave thee in my stead!" said Cedric, astonished at the proposal; "why, they would hang thee, my poor knave. "E'en let them do as they are permitted," said Wamba; "I trust -no disparagement to your birth-that the son of Witless may hang in a chain with as much gravity as the chain hung upon his ancestor the alderman. "Well, Wamba, answered Cedric, " for one thing will I grant thy request. And that is, if thou wilt make the exchange of garments with Lord Athelstane instead of me." - "No, by St Dunstan, answered Wamba; "there were little reason in that. Good right there is, that the son of Witless should suffer to save the son of Hereward; but little wisdom there were in his dying for the benefit of one whose fathers were strangers to his."-" Villain, said Cedric," the fathers of Athelstane were monarchs of England. " "They might be whomsoever they pleased, " replied Wamba; " but my neck stands too straight upon my shoulders to have it twisted for their sake. "I am like John-a-Duck's mare, that will let no man mount her but John-a-Duck. I came to save my master, and if he will not consent-basta-I can but go away home again. Kind service cannot be chucked from hand to hand like a shuttlecock or stoolball. I'll hang for no man but my own born-master." — " Go, then, noble Cedric," said Athelstane; "neglect not this opportunity. Your presence without may encourage friends to our rescue-your

99

remaining here would ruin us all.". "And is there any prospect, then, of rescue from without?" said Cedric, looking to the Jester. Prospect, indeed!" echoed Wamba; "let me tell you, when you fill my cloak, you are wrapped in a general's cassock. Five hundred men are there without, and I was this morning one of their chief leaders. My fool's-cap was a casque, and my bauble a truncheon. Well, we shall see what good they shall make by exchanging a fool for a wise man. Truly, I fear they will lose in valour what they may gain in discretion. And so farewell, master, and be kind to poor Gurth and his dog Fangs; and let my cockscomb hang in the hall at Rotherwood, in memory that I flung away my life for my master, like a faithful--fool. The last word came out with a sort of double expression, betwixt jest and earnest. The tears stood in Cedric's eyes. "Thy memory shall be preserved, he said, "while fidelity and affection have honour upon earth. But that I trust I shall find the means of saving Rowena, and thee, Athelstane; and thee also, my poor Wamba, thou shouldst not overbear me in this matter. II. 206-210.

By means of this disguise, Cedric, with some difficulty, finds his way out of the castle, though not till he has had a strange and distressing interview with an antient and unamiable hag, in whom he at last recognises the once fair and virtuous daughter of the last Saxon proprietor, who was supposed to have fallen in the general slaughter of her kindred, which signalized the Norman seizure of the mansion-but appeared to have been reserved for the violence and worse corruptions of the victors. Though debased by her long association with such inmates, and familiar participation in their guilty indulgences, she had still nourished a rooted hatred of her oppressors; and, now that old age had rendered her an object of scorn and avoidance, resolved to take a signal vengeance for her wrongs, and assures the valiant and disgusted Cedric of her effectual cooperation in the enterprise he has in hand.

By the humanity of the domestics, the fair Rebecca is allowed to resume her attendance on the wounded Knight of Ivanhoe, in this moment of preparation and alarm: and while he frets and pants, like the restrained war-horse, at the spirit-stirring sounds which announce the approaching combat, she is induced to climb up to the lofty and iron-bound window of his prison, and to report what she could thence descry of the tumultuous scene before her. We know no passage in Epic or dramatic poetry more full of life, interest and energy, than the magnificent descriptive dialogue which ensues. On her first looking forth, she reports, that

"The skirts of the wood seem lined with archers, although only a few are advanced from its dark shadow."--" Under what