CHAPTER XIV
In rough magnificence array'd, When ancient Chivalry display'd The pomp of her heroic games, And crested chiefs and tissued dames Assembled, at the clarion's call, In some proud castle's high arch'd hall. --Warton
Prince John held his high festival in the Castle of Ashby. This wasnot the same building of which the stately ruins still interest thetraveller, and which was erected at a later period by the Lord Hastings,High Chamberlain of England, one of the first victims of the tyrannyof Richard the Third, and yet better known as one of Shakspeare'scharacters than by his historical fame. The castle and town of Ashby, atthis time, belonged to Roger de Quincy, Earl of Winchester, who, duringthe period of our history, was absent in the Holy Land. Prince John, inthe meanwhile, occupied his castle, and disposed of his domains withoutscruple; and seeking at present to dazzle men's eyes by his hospitalityand magnificence, had given orders for great preparations, in order torender the banquet as splendid as possible.
The purveyors of the Prince, who exercised on this and other occasionsthe full authority of royalty, had swept the country of all that couldbe collected which was esteemed fit for their master's table. Guestsalso were invited in great numbers; and in the necessity in which hethen found himself of courting popularity, Prince John had extended hisinvitation to a few distinguished Saxon and Danish families, as well asto the Norman nobility and gentry of the neighbourhood. Howeverdespised and degraded on ordinary occasions, the great numbers ofthe Anglo-Saxons must necessarily render them formidable in the civilcommotions which seemed approaching, and it was an obvious point ofpolicy to secure popularity with their leaders.
It was accordingly the Prince's intention, which he for some timemaintained, to treat these unwonted guests with a courtesy to which theyhad been little accustomed. But although no man with less scruplemade his ordinary habits and feelings bend to his interest, it wasthe misfortune of this Prince, that his levity and petulance wereperpetually breaking out, and undoing all that had been gained by hisprevious dissimulation.
Of this fickle temper he gave a memorable example in Ireland, when sentthither by his father, Henry the Second, with the purpose of buyinggolden opinions of the inhabitants of that new and important acquisitionto the English crown. Upon this occasion the Irish chieftains contendedwhich should first offer to the young Prince their loyal homage andthe kiss of peace. But, instead of receiving their salutations withcourtesy, John and his petulant attendants could not resist thetemptation of pulling the long beards of the Irish chieftains; aconduct which, as might have been expected, was highly resented by theseinsulted dignitaries, and produced fatal consequences to the Englishdomination in Ireland. It is necessary to keep these inconsistenciesof John's character in view, that the reader may understand his conductduring the present evening.
In execution of the resolution which he had formed during his coolermoments, Prince John received Cedric and Athelstane with distinguishedcourtesy, and expressed his disappointment, without resentment, when theindisposition of Rowena was alleged by the former as a reason for hernot attending upon his gracious summons. Cedric and Athelstane were bothdressed in the ancient Saxon garb, which, although not unhandsome initself, and in the present instance composed of costly materials, wasso remote in shape and appearance from that of the other guests, thatPrince John took great credit to himself with Waldemar Fitzurse forrefraining from laughter at a sight which the fashion of the dayrendered ridiculous. Yet, in the eye of sober judgment, the short closetunic and long mantle of the Saxons was a more graceful, as well as amore convenient dress, than the garb of the Normans, whose under garmentwas a long doublet, so loose as to resemble a shirt or waggoner's frock,covered by a cloak of scanty dimensions, neither fit to defend thewearer from cold or from rain, and the only purpose of which appearedto be to display as much fur, embroidery, and jewellery work, as theingenuity of the tailor could contrive to lay upon it. The EmperorCharlemagne, in whose reign they were first introduced, seems to havebeen very sensible of the inconveniences arising from the fashion ofthis garment. In Heaven's name, said he, to what purpose serve theseabridged cloaks? If we are in bed they are no cover, on horseback theyare no protection from the wind and rain, and when seated, they do notguard our legs from the damp or the frost.
Nevertheless, spite of this imperial objurgation, the short cloakscontinued in fashion down to the time of which we treat, andparticularly among the princes of the House of Anjou. They weretherefore in universal use among Prince John's courtiers; and thelong mantle, which formed the upper garment of the Saxons, was held inproportional derision.
The guests were seated at a table which groaned under the quantity ofgood cheer. The numerous cooks who attended on the Prince's progress,having exerted all their art in varying the forms in which the ordinaryprovisions were served up, had succeeded almost as well as the modernprofessors of the culinary art in rendering them perfectly unlike theirnatural appearance. Besides these dishes of domestic origin, there werevarious delicacies brought from foreign parts, and a quantity of richpastry, as well as of the simnel-bread and wastle cakes, which were onlyused at the tables of the highest nobility. The banquet was crowned withthe richest wines, both foreign and domestic.
But, though luxurious, the Norman nobles were not generally speakingan intemperate race. While indulging themselves in the pleasures ofthe table, they aimed at delicacy, but avoided excess, and were apt toattribute gluttony and drunkenness to the vanquished Saxons, as vicespeculiar to their inferior station. Prince John, indeed, and those whocourted his pleasure by imitating his foibles, were apt to indulge toexcess in the pleasures of the trencher and the goblet; and indeed it iswell known that his death was occasioned by a surfeit upon peaches andnew ale. His conduct, however, was an exception to the general mannersof his countrymen.
With sly gravity, interrupted only by private signs to each other, theNorman knights and nobles beheld the ruder demeanour of Athelstaneand Cedric at a banquet, to the form and fashion of which they wereunaccustomed. And while their manners were thus the subject of sarcasticobservation, the untaught Saxons unwittingly transgressed several of thearbitrary rules established for the regulation of society. Now, it iswell known, that a man may with more impunity be guilty of an actualbreach either of real good breeding or of good morals, than appearignorant of the most minute point of fashionable etiquette. Thus Cedric,who dried his hands with a towel, instead of suffering the moisture toexhale by waving them gracefully in the air, incurred more ridicule thanhis companion Athelstane, when he swallowed to his own single sharethe whole of a large pasty composed of the most exquisite foreigndelicacies, and termed at that time a Karum-Pie. When, however, itwas discovered, by a serious cross-examination, that the Thane ofConingsburgh (or Franklin, as the Normans termed him) had no ideawhat he had been devouring, and that he had taken the contents of theKarum-pie for larks and pigeons, whereas they were in fact beccaficoesand nightingales, his ignorance brought him in for an ample share of theridicule which would have been more justly bestowed on his gluttony.
The long feast had at length its end; and, while the goblet circulatedfreely, men talked of the feats of the preceding tournament,--ofthe unknown victor in the archery games, of the Black Knight, whoseself-denial had induced him to withdraw from the honours he hadwon,--and of the gallant Ivanhoe, who had so dearly bought the honoursof the day. The topics were treated with military frankness, and thejest and laugh went round the hall. The brow of Prince John alone wasoverclouded during these discussions; some overpowering care seemedagitating his mind, and it was only when he received occasional hintsfrom his attendants, that he seemed to take interest in what was passingaround him. On such occasions he would start up, quaff a cup of wineas if to raise his spirits, and then mingle in the conversation by someobservation made abruptly or at random.
We drink this beaker, said he, to the health of Wilfred of Ivanhoe,champion of this Passage of Arms, and grieve that his wound renders himabsent from our board--Let all fill to the pledge, and especially Cedricof Rotherwood, the worthy father of a son so promising.
No, my lord, replied Cedric, standing up, and placing on the table hisuntasted cup, I yield not the name of son to the disobedient youth, whoat once despises my commands, and relinquishes the manners and customsof his fathers.
'Tis impossible, cried Prince John, with well-feigned astonishment,that so gallant a knight should be an unworthy or disobedient son!
Yet, my lord, answered Cedric, so it is with this Wilfred. He left myhomely dwelling to mingle with the gay nobility of your brother's court,where he learned to do those tricks of horsemanship which you prize sohighly. He left it contrary to my wish and command; and in the daysof Alfred that would have been termed disobedience--ay, and a crimeseverely punishable.
Alas! replied Prince John, with a deep sigh of affected sympathy,since your son was a follower of my unhappy brother, it need notbe enquired where or from whom he learned the lesson of filialdisobedience.
Thus spake Prince John, wilfully forgetting, that of all the sons ofHenry the Second, though no one was free from the charge, he himself hadbeen most distinguished for rebellion and ingratitude to his father.
I think, said he, after a moment's pause, that my brother proposed toconfer upon his favourite the rich manor of Ivanhoe.
He did endow him with it, answered Cedric; nor is it my least quarrelwith my son, that he stooped to hold, as a feudal vassal, the verydomains which his fathers possessed in free and independent right.
We shall then have your willing sanction, good Cedric, said PrinceJohn, to confer this fief upon a person whose dignity will notbe diminished by holding land of the British crown.--Sir ReginaldFront-de-Boeuf, he said, turning towards that Baron, I trust you willso keep the goodly Barony of Ivanhoe, that Sir Wilfred shall not incurhis father's farther displeasure by again entering upon that fief.
By St Anthony! answered the black-brow'd giant, I will consent thatyour highness shall hold me a Saxon, if either Cedric or Wilfred, or thebest that ever bore English blood, shall wrench from me the gift withwhich your highness has graced me.
Whoever shall call thee Saxon, Sir Baron, replied Cedric, offendedat a mode of expression by which the Normans frequently expressed theirhabitual contempt of the English, will do thee an honour as great as itis undeserved.
Front-de-Boeuf would have replied, but Prince John's petulance andlevity got the start.
Assuredly, said be, my lords, the noble Cedric speaks truth; andhis race may claim precedence over us as much in the length of theirpedigrees as in the longitude of their cloaks.
They go before us indeed in the field--as deer before dogs, saidMalvoisin.
And with good right may they go before us--forget not, said the PriorAymer, the superior decency and decorum of their manners.
Their singular abstemiousness and temperance, said De Bracy,forgetting the plan which promised him a Saxon bride.
Together with the courage and conduct, said Brian de Bois-Guilbert,by which they distinguished themselves at Hastings and elsewhere.
While, with smooth and smiling cheek, the courtiers, each in turn,followed their Prince's example, and aimed a shaft of ridicule atCedric, the face of the Saxon became inflamed with passion, andhe glanced his eyes fiercely from one to another, as if the quicksuccession of so many injuries had prevented his replying to them inturn; or, like a baited bull, who, surrounded by his tormentors, is ata loss to choose from among them the immediate object of his revenge.At length he spoke, in a voice half choked with passion; and, addressinghimself to Prince John as the head and front of the offence which he hadreceived, Whatever, he said, have been the follies and vices of ourrace, a Saxon would have been held 'nidering', [21] (the most emphaticterm for abject worthlessness,) who should in his own hall, and whilehis own wine-cup passed, have treated, or suffered to be treated, anunoffending guest as your highness has this day beheld me used; andwhatever was the misfortune of our fathers on the field of Hastings,those may at least be silent, here he looked at Front-de-Boeuf and theTemplar, who have within these few hours once and again lost saddle andstirrup before the lance of a Saxon.
By my faith, a biting jest! said Prince John. How like you it,sirs?--Our Saxon subjects rise in spirit and courage; become shrewdin wit, and bold in bearing, in these unsettled times--What say ye,my lords?--By this good light, I hold it best to take our galleys, andreturn to Normandy in time.
For fear of the Saxons? said De Bracy, laughing; we should need noweapon but our hunting spears to bring these boars to bay.
A truce with your raillery, Sir Knights, said Fitzurse;--and itwere well, he added, addressing the Prince, that your highness shouldassure the worthy Cedric there is no insult intended him by jests, whichmust sound but harshly in the ear of a stranger.
Insult? answered Prince John, resuming his courtesy of demeanour; Itrust it will not be thought that I could mean, or permit any, to beoffered in my presence. Here! I fill my cup to Cedric himself, since herefuses to pledge his son's health.
The cup went round amid the well-dissembled applause of the courtiers,which, however, failed to make the impression on the mind of the Saxonthat had been designed. He was not naturally acute of perception,but those too much undervalued his understanding who deemed that thisflattering compliment would obliterate the sense of the prior insult. Hewas silent, however, when the royal pledge again passed round, To SirAthelstane of Coningsburgh.
The knight made his obeisance, and showed his sense of the honour bydraining a huge goblet in answer to it.
And now, sirs, said Prince John, who began to be warmed with the winewhich he had drank, having done justice to our Saxon guests, wewill pray of them some requital to our courtesy.--Worthy Thane, hecontinued, addressing Cedric, may we pray you to name to us some Normanwhose mention may least sully your mouth, and to wash down with a gobletof wine all bitterness which the sound may leave behind it?
Fitzurse arose while Prince John spoke, and gliding behind the seat ofthe Saxon, whispered to him not to omit the opportunity of putting anend to unkindness betwixt the two races, by naming Prince John. TheSaxon replied not to this politic insinuation, but, rising up, andfilling his cup to the brim, he addressed Prince John in these words:Your highness has required that I should name a Norman deserving tobe remembered at our banquet. This, perchance, is a hard task, sinceit calls on the slave to sing the praises of the master--upon thevanquished, while pressed by all the evils of conquest, to sing thepraises of the conqueror. Yet I will name a Norman--the first in armsand in place--the best and the noblest of his race. And the lips thatshall refuse to pledge me to his well-earned fame, I term false anddishonoured, and will so maintain them with my life.--I quaff thisgoblet to the health of Richard the Lion-hearted!
Prince John, who had expected that his own name would have closedthe Saxon's speech, started when that of his injured brother was sounexpectedly introduced. He raised mechanically the wine-cup to hislips, then instantly set it down, to view the demeanour of the companyat this unexpected proposal, which many of them felt it as unsafeto oppose as to comply with. Some of them, ancient and experiencedcourtiers, closely imitated the example of the Prince himself, raisingthe goblet to their lips, and again replacing it before them. Therewere many who, with a more generous feeling, exclaimed, Long live KingRichard! and may he be speedily restored to us! And some few, amongwhom were Front-de-Boeuf and the Templar, in sullen disdain sufferedtheir goblets to stand untasted before them. But no man ventureddirectly to gainsay a pledge filled to the health of the reigningmonarch.
Having enjoyed his triumph for about a minute, Cedric said to hiscompanion, Up, noble Athelstane! we have remained here long enough,since we have requited the hospitable courtesy of Prince John's banquet.Those who wish to know further of our rude Saxon manners must henceforthseek us in the homes of our fathers, since we have seen enough of royalbanquets, and enough of Norman courtesy.
So saying, he arose and left the banqueting room, followed byAthelstane, and by several other guests, who, partaking of the Saxonlineage, held themselves insulted by the sarcasms of Prince John and hiscourtiers.
By the bones of St Thomas, said Prince John, as they retreated, theSaxon churls have borne off the best of the day, and have retreated withtriumph!
'Conclamatum est, poculatum est', said Prior Aymer; we have drunk andwe have shouted,--it were time we left our wine flagons.
The monk hath some fair penitent to shrive to-night, that he is in sucha hurry to depart, said De Bracy.
Not so, Sir Knight, replied the Abbot; but I must move several milesforward this evening upon my homeward journey.
They are breaking up, said the Prince in a whisper to Fitzurse; theirfears anticipate the event, and this coward Prior is the first to shrinkfrom me.
Fear not, my lord, said Waldemar; I will show him such reasons asshall induce him to join us when we hold our meeting at York.--SirPrior, he said, I must speak with you in private, before you mountyour palfrey.
The other guests were now fast dispersing, with the exception of thoseimmediately attached to Prince John's faction, and his retinue.
This, then, is the result of your advice, said the Prince, turningan angry countenance upon Fitzurse; that I should be bearded at myown board by a drunken Saxon churl, and that, on the mere sound of mybrother's name, men should fall off from me as if I had the leprosy?
Have patience, sir, replied his counsellor; I might retort youraccusation, and blame the inconsiderate levity which foiled mydesign, and misled your own better judgment. But this is no time forrecrimination. De Bracy and I will instantly go among these shufflingcowards, and convince them they have gone too far to recede.
It will be in vain, said Prince John, pacing the apartment withdisordered steps, and expressing himself with an agitation to which thewine he had drank partly contributed--It will be in vain--they haveseen the handwriting on the wall--they have marked the paw of thelion in the sand--they have heard his approaching roar shake thewood--nothing will reanimate their courage.
Would to God, said Fitzurse to De Bracy, that aught could reanimatehis own! His brother's very name is an ague to him. Unhappy are thecounsellors of a Prince, who wants fortitude and perseverance alike ingood and in evil!