I revere your principle, Sir William
Wallace; but it is too sublime to be mine. Nay, nor would it be
politic for one who holds his possessions in England by the right of
conquest to question the virtue of the deed. By the sword my ancestors
gained their estates; and with the sword I have no objection to extend
my territories."
Wallace now saw that De Warenne, though a man of honor, was not one of
virtue. Though his amiable nature made him gracious in the midst of
hostility, and his good dispositions would not allow him to act
disgracefull in any concern, yet duty to God seemed a poet's flight to
him. Educated in the forms of religion, without knowing its spirit, he
despised them; and believing the Deity too wise to be affected by mere
virtuous shows of any kind, his ignorance of the sublime benevolence,
which disdains not to provide food even for the "sparrow ere it falls,"
made him think the Creator of all too great to care about the actions
of men; hence, being without the true principles of good-virtue, as
virtue, was nonsense to Earl de Warenne.
Wallace did not answer his remark, and the conference soon closed.
Chapter XLII.
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