Britain ... - Blue-Lite

228 THE DEVOTED ONE. [Act V.
Enter Rolf Iric, Turkeetul, Ulfmando, Earls,
and the 35
Thinga-manna. ( )
Soldiers and Thanes, in me you now behold
A criminal, who his own laws hath broken ;
For, drunk with passion,
I have rashly stabbed
A brave man and a friend, a warrior who
Had gloried
in my service to have died,
Whose obstinate belief in the strange gods
Of his forefathers was his only fault ;
A venial error, for be well informed
(Too late in my remembrance) that, till taught,
Divinely taught, man must believe those lessons
Which he from education early learns,
However false her creed.-
Now ye, my lords, ascend yon judgment-seat.
Of you, do we our punishment demand ;
And 'tis our will that ye as freely speak,
As if the lowest serf before you stood,
While on the ground in
penitence we kneel,
Hoping for Heaven's forgiveness, but not yours.
ULFMAXDO.
O rise, thou lord of many kingdoms, rise.
ROLF IRIC.
He was thy vassal, and the lives of all
That owe thee homage
CANUTE.
By
And of the sovereign must be sacred held.
Who shall the laws respect, if we that are
Their maker break them ?
In passionate mood
ROLF IRIC.
the laws of God
But if one so great