Dost thou hear?
Swear thou wilt do it." "I will not swear," said Ben-Hur, firmly; "neither will I do the deed.

The Law, which is to me most binding, O tribune, would make me answerable for thy life.

Take back the ring"-- he took the seal from his finger--"take it back, and all thy promises of favor in the event of delivery from this peril.

The judgment which sent me to the oar for life made me a slave, yet I am not a slave; no more am I thy freedman.

I am a son of Israel, and this moment, at least, my own master.