proportion than
even the men themselves, thronged to witness a sport which one would have
thought too bloody and dangerous to afford their sex much pleasure. The lower
and interior space was soon filled by substantial yeomen and burghers, and such
of the lesser gentry, as, from modesty, poverty, or dubious title, durst not
assume any higher place. It was of course amongst these that the most frequent
disputes for precedence occurred.
    »Dog of an unbeliever,« said an old man, whose threadbare tunic bore witness
to his poverty, as his sword, and dagger, and golden chain intimated his
pretensions to rank, - »whelp of a she-wolf! darest thou press upon a Christian,
and a Norman gentleman of the blood of Montdidier?«
    This rough expostulation was addressed to no other than our acquaintance
Isaac, who, richly, and even magnificently dressed in a gaberdine ornamented
with lace and lined with fur, was endeavouring to make place in the foremost row
beneath the gallery for his daughter, the beautiful Rebecca, who had joined him
at Ashby, and who was now hanging on her father's arm, not a little terrified by
the popular displeasure which seemed generally excited by her father's
presumption. But Isaac, though we have seen him sufficiently timid on other
occasions, knew well that at present he had nothing to fear. It was not in
places of general resort, or where their equals were assembled, that any
avaricious or malevolent noble durst offer him injury. At such meetings the Jews
were under the protection of the general law; and if that proved a weak
assurance, it usually happened that there were among the persons assembled some
barons, who, for their own interested motives, were ready to act as their
protectors. On the present occasion, Isaac felt more than usually confident,
being aware that Prince John was even then in the very act of negotiating a
large loan from the Jews of York, to be secured upon certain jewels and lands.
Isaac's own share in this transaction was considerable, and he well knew that
the Prince's eager desire to bring it to a conclusion would ensure him his
protection in the dilemma in which he stood.
    Emboldened by these considerations, the Jew pursued his point, and jostled
the Norman Christian, without respect either to his descent, quality, or
religion. The complaints of the old man, however, excited the indignation of the
bystanders. One of these, a stout well-set yeoman, arrayed in Lincoln green,
having twelve arrows stuck in his belt, with a baldric and badge of silver