Attended by this gallant equipage, himself well mounted, and splendidly

dressed in crimson and in gold, bearing upon his hand a falcon, and

having his head covered by a rich fur bonnet, adorned with a circle of

precious stones, from which his long curled hair escaped and overspread

his shoulders, Prince John, upon a grey and high-mettled palfrey,

caracoled within the lists at the head of his jovial party, laughing

loud with his train, and eyeing with all the boldness of royal criticism

the beauties who adorned the lofty galleries.

Those who remarked in the physiognomy of the Prince a dissolute

audacity, mingled with extreme haughtiness and indifference to the

feelings of others could not yet deny to his countenance that sort of

comeliness which belongs to an open set of features, well formed by

nature, modelled by art to the usual rules of courtesy, yet so far

frank and honest, that they seemed as if they disclaimed to conceal the

natural workings of the soul. Such an expression is often mistaken for

manly frankness, when in truth it arises from the reckless indifference

of a libertine disposition, conscious of superiority of birth, of

wealth, or of some other adventitious advantage, totally unconnected

with personal merit. To those who did not think so deeply, and they were

the greater number by a hundred to one, the splendour of Prince John's

"rheno", (i.e. fur tippet,) the richness of his cloak, lined with the

most costly sables, his maroquin boots and golden spurs, together with

the grace with which he managed his palfrey, were sufficient to merit

clamorous applause.

In his joyous caracole round the lists, the attention of the Prince

was called by the commotion, not yet subsided, which had attended the

ambitious movement of Isaac towards the higher places of the assembly.

The quick eye of Prince John instantly recognised the Jew, but was

much more agreeably attracted by the beautiful daughter of Zion, who,

terrified by the tumult, clung close to the arm of her aged father.

The figure of Rebecca might indeed have compared with the proudest

beauties of England, even though it had been judged by as shrewd a

connoisseur as Prince John. Her form was exquisitely symmetrical,

and was shown to advantage by a sort of Eastern dress, which she wore

according to the fashion of the females of her nation. Her turban

of yellow silk suited well with the darkness of her complexion. The

brilliancy of her eyes, the superb arch of her eyebrows, her well-formed

aquiline nose, her teeth as white as pearl, and the profusion of her

sable tresses, which, each arranged in its own little spiral of twisted

curls, fell down upon as much of a lovely neck and bosom as a simarre

of the richest Persian silk, exhibiting flowers in their natural colours

embossed upon a purple ground, permitted to be visible--all these

constituted a combination of loveliness, which yielded not to the most

beautiful of the maidens who surrounded her. It is true, that of the

golden and pearl-studded clasps, which closed her vest from the throat

to the waist, the three uppermost were left unfastened on account of

the heat, which something enlarged the prospect to which we allude. A

diamond necklace, with pendants of inestimable value, were by this means

also made more conspicuous. The feather of an ostrich, fastened in her

turban by an agraffe set with brilliants, was another distinction of

the beautiful Jewess, scoffed and sneered at by the proud dames who sat

above her, but secretly envied by those who affected to deride them.




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