ld
wait for him? What was Althing that it should submit to the whim or
the will of any Governor?

Within the Thing House, as well as outside of it, such hot protests
must have had sway, for presently the door of the little place was
thrown open and the six and thirty Thing-men came out.

Then followed the solemn ceremonies that had been observed on the
spot for nigh a thousand years. First walked the Chief Judge,
carrying the sword of justice, and behind him walked his magistrates
and Thing-men. They ascended to the Mount by a flight of steps cut
out of its overhanging walls. At the same moment another procession,
that of the old Bishop and his clergy, came out of the church and
ascended to the Mount by a similar flight of steps cut out of the
opposite side of it. The two companies parted, the Thing-men to the
north and the clergy to the south, leaving the line of this natural
causeway open and free, save for the Judge, who stood at the head of
it, with the Bishop to the right of him and the Governor's empty
place to the left.

And first the Bishop offered prayer for the sitting of Althing that
was then to begin.

"Thou Judge of Israel," he prayed, in the terrible words which had
descended to him through centuries, "Thou that sittest upon the
cherubims, come down and help Thy people. O, most mighty God, who
art more pleased with the sacrifice of thanksgiving than with the
burnt offerings of bullocks and goats, keep now our mouths from guile
and deceit, from slander and from obloquy. O Lord God most holy, O
Lord most mighty, endue Thy ministers with righteousness. Give them
wisdom that they may judge wisely. Give them mercy that they may
judge mercifully. Let them judge this nation as Thou wilt judge Thy
people. Let them remember that he who takes the name of justice for
his own profit or hatred or revenge is worse than the vulture that
watches for the carcase. Let them not forget that howsoever high they
stand or proudly they bear themselves, nothing shall they take from
hence but the oak for their coffin. Let them be sure that when Thou
shalt appear with a consuming fire before Thee and a tempest round
about Thee, calling the heaven and the earth together, no portion can
they have in that day like to the portion of thine inheritance."

The fierce prayer came to an end, and then the Judge, holding his
sword erect, read his charge and repeated his oath, to deal justly
between man and man, even as the sword stood u