By
this spirit of devotion no less than by his equitable and politic
administration, he gained, in a good measure, the affections of his
subjects.
Canute, the greatest and most powerful monarch of his time, sovereign
of Denmark and Norway, as well as of England, could not fail of meeting
with adulation from his courtiers; a tribute which is liberally paid
even to the meanest and weakest princes. Some of his flatterers breaking
out one day in admiration of his grandeur, exclaimed that every thing
was possible for him; upon which the monarch, it is said, ordered his
chair to be set on the sea-shore, while the tide was rising; and as the
waters approached, he commanded them to retire, and to obey the voice
of him who was lord of the ocean. He feigned to sit some time in
expectation of their submission; but when the sea still advanced towards
him, and began to wash him with its billows, he turned to his courtiers,
and remarked to them, that every creature in the universe was feeble and
impotent, and that power resided with one being alone, in whose hands
were all the elements of nature; who could say to the ocean, "Thus far
shalt thou go, and no farther;" and who could level with his nod the
most towering piles of human pride and ambition.
Pages:
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262