Britain ... - Blue-Lite

Scene III.] THE VARANGIAN. 345
To wring his treasures from the miser's grasp.
irons heated red
Stripes, fire, and water ;
To blind the eye-sight ; flaying off the skin,
And a salt bath that tickles the raw flesh
Like a green couch of nettles. Ordeals strong,
I own, the truth of those to prove who plead
Guiltless of wealth.
HEREWARD.
Patience be kind, or I
Shall choke with rage. Why, thou abhorred man-stealer !
Thou caitiff hell-dog Jew ! who, if thou hadst
Thy just deservings, wouldst not 'scape unbrained
Another hour to
fright and blast mankind,
Thy portion be with Judas in the land
Of darkness and of wailing, and thy bones
Moulder on some heath-gibbet ! I have heard
Of thy foul fame, and wolf-like dost thou skulk
Here in the fores't ;
but stern vengeance soon
Shall track thy blood-marked footsteps.
BEN-ZADOC.
Gentle Christian,
I thank thee for thy blessings : they proceed
Prom the kind feelings of a Christian heart.
Elisha's curse, which on those children fell
Who mocked his age, betide thee ! Come :
thy gold,
Thy gems ; disclose thy hoards
HEREWARD.
What right hast thou,
Who UVst on sufferance in a Christian land,
To claim redemption for a freeborn Saxon ?
BEN-ZADOC.
The right of retribution, hated fool !
All of thy faith, rejected by our God,