Britain ... - Blue-Lite

Scene II.] THE DEVOTED ONE. 147
May grow to dangerous height. Edward and Edmund,
Sons of King Ethelred, I have them safe,
And they must be
EDRIC.
Might I advise, my lord,
Those princely youths from England should be sent,
To some far-distant land. It would be lack
Of policy and king-craft now, when all
The Saxons feel inclined to own thy sway
From love, or fear, or interest, by the death
Of these fair JEthelings to estrange their hearts,
And thy strong fabric of dominion, reared
With so much toil, and with the noblest blood
Of Englishmen and Danes cemented, shake
To its
deep-laid foundations. No, my liege,
Hence on a visit send them.
CANUTE.
Ay, from which,
My worthy Edric, they may ne'er return.
It shall be so. I will to Sweden's King
Despatch them straight, with secret charge that he
Rid me for ever of the dangerous brats.
EDRIC.
No fear they will return, to breathe again
The balmy air of England.
CANUTE.
Call the chiefs,
That I may each appoint to his command
O'er the great provinces of my new kingdom.
EDRIC (aside.)
For this my last bold deed, no doubt mankind
Will on me heap all vile opprobrious terms
That baseness ever bore. And what reck I,
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