out mercy. And although none of the Spanish historians whom
I have consulted make mention of Sir Wilfrid as the real author of the
numerous triumphs which now graced the arms of the good cause, this is
not in the least to be wondered at, in a nation that has always been
notorious for bragging, and for the non-payment of their debts of
gratitude as of their other obligations, and that writes histories
of the Peninsular war with the Emperor Napoleon, without making the
slightest mention of his Grace the Duke of Wellington, or of the part
taken by BRITISH VALOR in that transaction. Well, it must be confessed,
on the other hand, that we brag enough of our fathers' feats in those
campaigns: but this is not the subject at present under consideration.

To be brief, Ivanhoe made such short work with the unbelievers, that
the monarch of Aragon, King Don Jayme, saw himself speedily enabled to
besiege the city of Valencia, the last stronghold which the Moors had in
his dominions, and garrisoned by many thousands of those infidels
under the command of their King Aboo Abdallah Mahommed, son of
Yakoobal-Mansoor. The Arabian historian El Makary gives a full account
of the military precautions taken by Aboo Abdallah to defend his city;
but as I do not wish to make a parade of my learning, or to write a
costume novel, I shall pretermit any description of the city under its
Moorish governors.

Besides the Turks who inhabited it, there dwelt within its walls great
store of those of the Hebrew nation, who were always protected by the
Moors during their unbelieving reign in Spain; and who were, as we very
well know, the chief physicians, the chief bankers, the chief statesmen,
the chief artists and musicians, the chief everything, under the Moorish
kings. Thus it is not surprising that the Hebrews, having their money,
their liberty, their teeth, their lives, secure under the Mahometan
domination, should infinitely prefer it to the Christian sway; beneath
which they were liable to be deprived of every one of these benefits.

Among these Hebrews of Valencia, lived a very ancient Israelite--no
other than Isaac of York before mentioned, who came into Spain with
his daughter, soon after Ivanhoe's marriage, in the third volume of the
first part of this history. Isaac was respected by his people for
the money which he possessed, and his daughter for her admirable good
qualities, her beauty, her charities, and her remarkable medical skill.

The