of the dungeon might have appalled a stouter heart than
that of Isaac, who, nevertheless, was more composed under the imminent pressure
of danger, than he had seemed to be while affected by terrors of which the cause
was as yet remote and contingent. The lovers of the chase say that the hare
feels more agony during the pursuit of the greyhounds than when she is
struggling in their fangs.27 And thus it is probable, that the Jews, by the very
frequency of their fear on all occasions, had their minds in some degree
prepared for every effort of tyranny which could be practised upon them; so that
no aggression, when it had taken place, could bring with it that surprise which
is the most disabling quality of terror. Neither was it the first time that
Isaac had been placed in circumstances so dangerous. He had, therefore,
experience to guide him, as well as hope, that he might again, as formerly, be
delivered as a prey from the fowler. Above all, he had upon his side the
unyielding obstinacy of his nation, and that unbending resolution, with which
Israelites have been frequently known to submit to the uttermost evils which
power and violence can inflict upon them, rather than gratify their oppressors
by granting their demands.
    In this humour of passive resistance, and with his garment collected beneath
him to keep his limbs from the wet pavement, Isaac sat in a corner of his
dungeon, where his folded hands, his dishevelled hair and beard, his furred
cloak, and high cap, seen by the wiry and broken light, would have afforded a
study for Rembrandt, had that celebrated painter existed at the period. The Jew
remained without altering his position for nearly three hours, at the expiry of
which steps were heard on the dungeon stair. The bolts screamed as they were
withdrawn - the hinges creaked as the wicket opened, and Reginald
Front-de-Boeuf, followed by the two Saracen slaves of the Templar, entered the
prison.
    Front-de-Boeuf, a tall and strong man, whose life had been spent in public
war or in private feuds and broils, and who had hesitated at no means of
extending his feudal power, had features corresponding to his character, and
which strongly expressed the fiercer and more malignant passions of the mind.
The scars with which his visage was seamed, would, on features of a different
cast, have excited the sympathy and veneration due to the marks of honourable
valour; but, in the peculiar case of Front-de-Boeuf, they only added to the
ferocity of his countenance, and to