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But with the blood of this ancient royal race, many of their infirmities
had descended to Athelstane. He was comely in countenance, bulky
and strong in person, and in the flower of his age--yet inanimate in
expression, dull-eyed, heavy-browed, inactive and sluggish in all his
motions, and so slow in resolution, that the soubriquet of one of his
ancestors was conferred upon him, and he was very generally called
Athelstane the Unready. His friends, and he had many, who, as well as
Cedric, were passionately attached to him, contended that this sluggish
temper arose not from want of courage, but from mere want of decision;
others alleged that his hereditary vice of drunkenness had obscured his
faculties, never of a very acute order, and that the passive courage
and meek good-nature which remained behind, were merely the dregs of a
character that might have been deserving of praise, but of which all the
valuable parts had flown off in the progress of a long course of brutal
debauchery.

It was to this person, such as we have described him, that the Prince
addressed his imperious command to make place for Isaac and Rebecca.
Athelstane, utterly confounded at an order which the manners and
feelings of the times rendered so injuriously insulting, unwilling to
obey, yet undetermined how to resist, opposed only the "vis inertiae" to
the will of John; and, without stirring or making any motion whatever of
obedience, opened his large grey eyes, and stared at the Prince with
an astonishment which had in it something extremely ludicrous. But the
impatient John regarded it in no such light.

"The Saxon porker," he said, "is either asleep or minds me not--Prick
him with your lance, De Bracy," speaking to a knight who rode near him,
the leader of a band of Free Companions, or Condottieri; that is, of
mercenaries belonging to no particular nation, but attached for the time
to any prince by whom they were paid. There was a murmur even among the
attendants of Prince John; but De Bracy, whose profession freed him from
all scruples, extended his long lance over the space which separated
the gallery from the lists, and would have executed the commands of
the Prince before Athelstane the Unready had recovered presence of mind
sufficient even to draw back his person from the weapon, had not Cedric,
as prompt as his companion was tardy, unsheathed, with the speed of
lightning, the short sword which he wore, and at a single blow severed
the point of the lance from the handle. The blood rushed into the
countenance of Prince John. He swore one of his deepest oaths, and
was about to utter some threat corresponding in violence, when he was
diverted from his purpose, partly by his own attendants, who gathered
around him conjuring him to be patient, partly by a general exclamation
of the crowd, uttered in loud applause of the spirited conduct of
Cedric. The Prince rolled his eyes in indignation, as if to collect some
safe and easy victim; and chancing to encounter the firm glance of the
same archer whom we have already noticed, and who seemed to persist
in his gesture of applause, in spite of the frowning aspect which the
Prince bent upon him, he demanded his reason for clamouring thus.

"I always add my hollo," said the yeoman, "when I see a good shot, or a
gallant blow."

"Sayst thou?" answered the Prince; "then thou canst hit the white
thyself, I'll warrant."

"A woodsman's mark, and at woodsman's distance, I can hit," answered the
yeoman.

"And Wat Tyrrel's mark, at a hundred yards," said a voice from behind,
but by whom uttered could not be discerned.

This allusion to the fate of William Rufus, his Relative, at once
incensed and alarmed Prince John. He satisfied himself, however, with
commanding the men-at-arms, who surrounded the lists, to keep an eye on
the braggart, pointing to the yeoman.

"By St Grizzel," he added, "we will try his own skill, who is so ready
to give his voice to the feats of others!"

"I shall not fly the trial," said the yeoman, with the composure which
marked his whole deportment.

"Meanwhile, stand up, ye Saxon churls," said the fiery Prince; "for, by
the light of Heaven, since I have said it, the Jew shall have his seat
amongst ye!"

"By no means, an it please your Grace!--it is not fit for such as we
to sit with the rulers of the land," said the Jew; whose ambition for
precedence though it had led him to dispute Place with the extenuated
and impoverished descendant of the line of Montdidier, by no means
stimulated him to an intrusion upon the privileges of the wealthy
Saxons.

"Up, infidel dog when I command you," said Prince John, "or I will have
thy swarthy hide stript off, and tanned for horse-furniture."

Thus urged, the Jew began to ascend the steep and narrow steps which led
up to the gallery.

"Let me see," said the Prince, "who dare stop him," fixing his eye on
Cedric, whose attitude intimated his intention to hurl the Jew down
headlong.

The catastrophe was prevented by the clown Wamba, who, springing
betwixt his master and Isaac, and exclaiming, in answer to the Prince's
defiance, "Marry, that will I!" opposed to the beard of the Jew a shield
of brawn, which he plucked from beneath his cloak, and with which,
doubtless, he had furnished himself, lest the tournament should have
proved longer than his appetite could endure abstinence. Finding the

But with the blood of this ancient royal race, many of their infirmities

had descended to Athelstane. He was comely in countenance, bulky

and strong in person, and in the flower of his age--yet inanimate in

expression, dull-eyed, heavy-browed, inactive and sluggish in all his

motions, and so slow in resolution, that the soubriquet of one of his

ancestors was conferred upon him, and he was very generally called

Athelstane the Unready. His friends, and he had many, who, as well as

Cedric, were passionately attached to him, contended that this sluggish

temper arose not from want of courage, but from mere want of decision;

others alleged that his hereditary vice of drunkenness had obscured his

faculties, never of a very acute order, and that the passive courage

and meek good-nature which remained behind, were merely the dregs of a

character that might have been deserving of praise, but of which all the

valuable parts had flown off in the progress of a long course of brutal

debauchery.

It was to this person, such as we have described him, that the Prince

addressed his imperious command to make place for Isaac and Rebecca.

Athelstane, utterly confounded at an order which the manners and

feelings of the times rendered so injuriously insulting, unwilling to

obey, yet undetermined how to resist, opposed only the "vis inertiae" to

the will of John; and, without stirring or making any motion whatever of

obedience, opened his large grey eyes, and stared at the Prince with

an astonishment which had in it something extremely ludicrous. But the

impatient John regarded it in no such light.

"The Saxon porker," he said, "is either asleep or minds me not--Prick

him with your lance, De Bracy," speaking to a knight who rode near him,

the leader of a band of Free Companions, or Condottieri; that is, of

mercenaries belonging to no particular nation, but attached for the time

to any prince by whom they were paid. There was a murmur even among the

attendants of Prince John; but De Bracy, whose profession freed him from

all scruples, extended his long lance over the space which separated

the gallery from the lists, and would have executed the commands of

the Prince before Athelstane the Unready had recovered presence of mind

sufficient even to draw back his person from the weapon, had not Cedric,

as prompt as his companion was tardy, unsheathed, with the speed of

lightning, the short sword which he wore, and at a single blow severed

the point of the lance from the handle. The blood rushed into the

countenance of Prince John. He swore one of his deepest oaths, and

was about to utter some threat corresponding in violence, when he was

diverted from his purpose, partly by his own attendants, who gathered

around him conjuring him to be patient, partly by a general exclamation

of the crowd, uttered in loud applause of the spirited conduct of

Cedric. The Prince rolled his eyes in indignation, as if to collect some

safe and easy victim; and chancing to encounter the firm glance of the

same archer whom we have already noticed, and who seemed to persist

in his gesture of applause, in spite of the frowning aspect which the

Prince bent upon him, he demanded his reason for clamouring thus.

"I always add my hollo," said the yeoman, "when I see a good shot, or a

gallant blow."

"Sayst thou?" answered the Prince; "then thou canst hit the white

thyself, I'll warrant."

"A woodsman's mark, and at woodsman's distance, I can hit," answered the

yeoman.

"And Wat Tyrrel's mark, at a hundred yards," said a voice from behind,

but by whom uttered could not be discerned.

This allusion to the fate of William Rufus, his Relative, at once

incensed and alarmed Prince John. He satisfied himself, however, with

commanding the men-at-arms, who surrounded the lists, to keep an eye on

the braggart, pointing to the yeoman.

"By St Grizzel," he added, "we will try his own skill, who is so ready

to give his voice to the feats of others!"

"I shall not fly the trial," said the yeoman, with the composure which

marked his whole deportment.

"Meanwhile, stand up, ye Saxon churls," said the fiery Prince; "for, by

the light of Heaven, since I have said it, the Jew shall have his seat

amongst ye!"

"By no means, an it please your Grace!--it is not fit for such as we

to sit with the rulers of the land," said the Jew; whose ambition for

precedence though it had led him to dispute Place with the extenuated

and impoverished descendant of the line of Montdidier, by no means

stimulated him to an intrusion upon the privileges of the wealthy

Saxons.

"Up, infidel dog when I command you," said Prince John, "or I will have

thy swarthy hide stript off, and tanned for horse-furniture."

Thus urged, the Jew began to ascend the steep and narrow steps which led

up to the gallery.

"Let me see," said the Prince, "who dare stop him," fixing his eye on

Cedric, whose attitude intimated his intention to hurl the Jew down

headlong.

The catastrophe was prevented by the clown Wamba, who, springing

betwixt his master and Isaac, and exclaiming, in answer to the Prince's

defiance, "Marry, that will I!" opposed to the beard of the Jew a shield

of brawn, which he plucked from beneath his cloak, and with which,

doubtless, he had furnished himself, lest the tournament should have

proved longer than his appetite could endure abstinence. Finding the