Bast. How I have sped among the clergy- | And he, that speaks, doth gripe the hearer's

↑ Deliberate consideration.

Nay, in the body of this fleshy land*,
This kingdom, this confine of blood and breath,
Hostility and civil tumult reigns [death.
Between my conscience, and my consin's
Hub. Arm yon against your other enemies,
I'll make a peace between your soul and you.
Young Arthur is alive: This hand of mine
Is yet a maiden and an innocent hand,
Not painted with the crimson spots of blood.
Within this bosom never enter'd yet
The dreadful motion of a murd'rous thought,
And you have slander'd nature in my form;
Which, howsoever rude exteriorly,
Is yet the cover of a fairer mind

Than to be butcher of an innocent child.

K. John. Doth Arthur live? O, haste thee

princely beauty!

The earth had not a hole to hide this deed.

Sal. Murder, as hating what himself hath Doth lay it open, to urge on revenge. [done, Big. Or, when he doom'd this beauty to a

grave,

Found it too precious-princely for a grave.
Sal. Sir Richard, what think you? Have

you beheld,

[think! Or have you read, or heard? or could you Or do you almost think, although you sec, That you do see? could thought, without this object,

Form such another? This is the very top,
The height, the crest, or crest unto the crest,
Of murder's arms: this is the bloodiest shame,
The wildest savag'ry, the vilest stroke,
That ever wall-eyed wrath, or staring rage,
Presented to the tears of soft remorse ||.

Pem, All murders past do stand excused in
And this, so sole, and so unmatchable, [this;
Shall give a holiness, a purity, |
To the yet-unbegotten sin of time;
And prove a deadly bloodshed but a jest,
Exampled by this heinous spectacle.

Good ground, be pitiful, and hurt me not !There's few, or none, do know me: if they did, [quite. This ship-boy's semblance hath disguised me I am afraid; and yet I'll venture it. If I get down, and do not break my limbs, PH find a thousand shifts to get away: As good to die, and go, as die, and stay. [Leaps down. O me! my uncle's spirit is in these stonesHeaven take my soul, and England keep my [Dies. Enter PEMBROKE, SALISBURY, and BIGOT. Sal. Lords, I will meet him at saint Ed-The practice, and the purpose, of the king:—

bones.

mund's-Bury;

It is our safety, and we must embrace
This gentle offer of the perilous time.
Pem. Who brought that letter from the car-
dinal?
[France;
Sal. The count Melun, a noble lord of
Whose private with me, of the dauphin's love
Is much more general than these lines import.
Big. To-morrow morning let us meet him
then.

[be
Sal. Or, rather then set forward for 'twill
Two long days' journey,lords, or e'er we meet.
Enter the Bastard.

Bast. Once more to-day well met, distemper'd & lords! [straight. The king, by me, requests your presence Sal. The king hath dispossess'd himself of us; We will not line his thin bestained cloak

Bast. It is a damned and a bloody work;
The graceless action of a heavy hand,
If that it be the work of any hand.

Sal. If that it be the work of any hand?-
We had a kind of light what would ensue:
It is the shameful work of Hubert's hand;

From whose obedience I forbid my soul,
Kneeling before this ruin of sweet life,
And breathing to his breatheɛs excellence
The incense of a vow, a holy vow;
Never to taste the pleasures of the world,
Never to be infected with delight,
Nor conversant with ease and idleness,
Till I have set a glory to this hand ¶,
By giving it the worship of revenge. [words.
Pem. Big. Our souls religiously confirm thy
Enter HUBERT.
[you:
Hub. Lords, I am hot with haste in seeking
Arthur doth live; the king hath sent for you.
Sal. O, heis bold, and blushes not at death:
Avaunt, thou hateful villain, get thee gone!
Hub. I am no villain.
Sal.

Private account.

Must I rob the law? [Drawing his sword.

6 Out of humour.

* His own body. + Expeditious. Pity. ¶ Hand should be head; a glory is the circle of rays which surrounds the heads

of saints in pictures.

Bast. Your sword is bright, sir; put it up again.

Sal. Not till I sheath it in a murderer's skin.
Hub. Stand back, lord Salisbury, stand
back, I say;
[yours:
By heaven, I think, my sword's as sharp as
I would not have you, lord, forget yourself,
Nor tempt the danger of my true defence;
Lest I, by marking of your rage, forget
Your worth, your greatness, and nobility.
Big. Out, dunghill! dar'st thou brave a no-
bleman?

Hub. Not for my life: but yet I dare de-
My innocent life against an emperor. [fend
Sul. Thou art a murderer.
Do not prove me sot;
Yet, I am none: Whose tongue soe'er speaks
false,

Hub.

Not truly speaks; who speaks not truly, lies.
Pem. Cut him to pieces.
Bast.
Keep the peace, I say.

Beyond the infinite and boundless reach
Of mercy, if thou didst this deed of death,
Art thou damn'd, Hubert.
Hub.
Do but hear me, sir.
Bast. Ha, I'll tell thee what; [black;
Thou art damn'd as black-nay, nothing is so
Thou art more deep damn'd than prince Lu-
There is not yet so ugly a fiend of hell [[cifer:
As thou shalt be, if thou didst kill this child.
Hub. Upon my soul,-

Bast.

If thou didst but consent
To this most cruel act, do but despair,
And, if thou want'st a cord, the smallest thread
That ever spider twisted from her womb
Will serve to strangle thee; a rush will be
A beam to hang thee on; or would'st thou
Put but a little water in a spoon, [drown thyself,
And it shall be as all the ocean,
Enough to stifle such a villain up.→→→
I do suspect thee very grievously.

Hub. If I in act, consent, or sin of thought

Sul. Stand by, or I shail gall you, Faul-Be guilty of the stealing that sweet breath
conbridge?
Which was embounded in this beauteous clay,
Let hell want pains enough to torture me!
I left him well.

[Salisbury:
Bast. Thou wert better gail the devil,
If thou but frown on me, or stir thy foot,
Or teach thy hasty spleen to do me shame,
I'il strike thee dead. Put up thy sword betime;
Or I'll so manl you and your toasting-iron,
That you shall think the devil is come from hell.
Big. What wilt thou do, renowned Faulcon-
Secoud a villain, and a murderer? [bridge?
Hub. Lord Bigo!, I am none.
Big.
Who killed this prince?
Hub. 'Tis not an hour since I left him well:
I honour'd him, I loved him; and will weep
My date of life out, for his sweet life's loss.

Sal. Trust not those cunning waters of his
For villany is not without such rheum ; [eyes,
And he, long traded in it, makes it seem
Like rivers of remorse and innocency.
Away, with me all you whose souls abhor
The uncleanly savoursf a slaughter-house,
For I am stifled with this smell of sin. [there!
Big. Away, toward Bury, to the Dauphin
Pem. There, tell the king, he may inquire
[Exeunt Lords. |
Bast. Here's a good world!-Knew you of
this fair work?

us out.

Bast.
Go bear him in thine arms.-
I am amaz'd, methinks; and lose my way
Among the thorns and dangers of this world.-
How easy dost thou take all England up!
From forth this morsel of dead royalty,
The life, the right, and truth of all this realm
Is fled to heaven; and England now is left
To tug and scamble, and to part by the teeth
The unowed interest of proud-swelling state.
Now, for the bare-pick'd bone of majesty,
Doth dogged war bristle his angry crest,
And snarleth in the gentle eyes of peace:
Now powers from home, and discontents at
home,

Meet in one line; and vast confusion waits
(As doth a raven on a sick-fallen beast,)
The imminent decay of wrested pomp.
Now happy he, whose cloak and cincture** can
Hold out this tempest. Bear away that child,
And follow me with speed: I'll to the king
A thousand businesses are brief in hand,
And heaven itself doth frown upon the land."
[Exeunt.

ACT V.

SCENEI. The same. A Room in the Palace. | Our discontented counties do revolt;

Enter King JOHN, PANDULPH with the
Crown, and Attendants.

K. John. Thus have I yielded up into your
The circle of my glory.
[land
Pund.
Take again.
[Giving JOHN the Crown.
From this my hand, as holding of the pope,
Your sovereign greatness and authority.
K. John. Now keep your holy word: go
meet the French;

And from his holiness use all your power To stop their marches, 'fore we are inflamed.

• Honest.
Confounded.

Swearing allegiance, and the love of soul,
Our people quarrel with obedience;
To stranger blood, to foreign royalty.
This inundation of mistemper'd humour
Rests by you only to be qualified.
Then pause not; for the present time's so sick,
That present medicine must be minister'd,
Or overthrow incurable ensues.

Pand. It was my breath that blew this tem
Upon your stubborn usage of the pope: [pest up,
But since you are a gentle convertite tt,
My tongue shall hush again this storm of war,
And make fair weather in your blustering land.

By compelling me to kill you.
Unowped.

** Girdle.

Moisture.

Pity, tt Convert.

Commend these waters to those baby eyes,
That never saw the giant world enraged;
Nor met with fortune other than at feasts,
Full warm of blood, of mirth, of gossiping.
Come, come; for thou shalt thrust thy hand as
Into the purse of rich prosperity, [deep
As Lewis himself;-so, nobles, shall you all,
That knit your sinews to the strength of mine.
Enter PANDULPH, attended.

And even there, methinks, an angel spake:
Look, where the holy legate comes apace,
To give us warrant from the hand of heaven;
And on our actions set the name of right,
With holy breath.

Pand. Hail, noble prince of France!
The next is this,-king John hath reconciled
Himself to Rome; his spirit is come in,
That so stood out against the holy church,
The great metropolis and see of Rome: [up,
Therefore thy threatening colours now wind
And tame the savage spirit of wild war;
That, like a lion foster'd up at hand,
It may lie gently at the foot of peace,
And be no further harmful than in show.
Lew. Your grace shall pardon me, I will not
I am too high-born to be propertied, [back;
To be a secondary at control,

What lusty trumpet thus doth summon us?
Enter the Bastard, attended.
Bast. According to the fair play of the world,
Let me have audience: I am sent to speak :-
My holy lord of Milan, from the king

I come, to learn how you have dealt for him;
And, as you answer, I do know the scope
And warrant limited unto my tongue.

Pand. The Dauphin is too wilful-opposite,
And will not temporize with my entreaties;
He flatly says, he'll not lay down his arms.

Bast. By allthe blood that ever fury breathed,
The youth says well:-Now hear our English
For thus his royalty doth speak in me. [king;
He is prepared; and reason too, he should:
This apish and unmannerly approach,
This harness'd masque, and unadvised revel,
This unhair'd sanciness, and boyish troops,
The king doth smile at; and is well prepared
To whip this dwarfish war, these pigmy arms,
[door,

From out the circle of his territories.
That hand, which had the strength, even at your
To cudgel you, and make you take the hatch;
To dive, like buckets, in concealed & wells;
To crouch in litter of your stable planks;
To lie, like pawns, lock'd up in chests and
trunks;

Or useful serving-man, and instrument,
To any sovereign state throughout the world.
Your breath first kindled the dead coal of wars,
Between this chástised kingdom and myself
And brought in matter that should feed this
And now 'tis far too huge to be blown out [fire;
With that same weak wind which enkindled it.
You taught me how to know the face of right,
Acquainted me with interest to this land,
Yea, thrust this enterprise into my heart;
And come you now to tell me, John hath made
His peace with Rome? What is that peace to
I, by the honour of my marriage-bed, [me?
After young Arthur, claim this land for mine;
And, now it is half-conquer'd, must I back,
Because that John hath made his peace with
Rome?
[borne,
Am I Rome's slave? What penny hath Rome
What men provided, what munition sent,
To underprop this action? is't not I,
That undergo this charge? Who else but I,
And such as to my claim are liable,
Sweat in this business, and maintain this war?
Have I not heard these islanders shout out,
Vive le roi! as I have bank'd their towns?
Have I not here the best cards for the game,
To win this easy match play'd for a crown?
And shall I now give o'er the yielded set?
No, on my soul, it never shall be said. [work.
Pand. You look but on the outside of this
Lew. Outside or inside, I will not return
Till my attempt so much be glorified
As to my ample hope was promised
Before I drew this gallant head of war,
And cull'd these fiery spirits from the world,
To outlook+ conquest, and to win renown
Even in the jaws of danger and of death.-
[Trumpet sounds.
Leap over the hatch. § Covered.
** Needles.
tt Boast,

To hug with swine; to seek sweet safety out
In vaults and prisons; and to thrill, and shake,
Even at the crying of your nation's crow ||,
Thinking his voice an armed Englishman ;-
Shall that victorious hand be feebled here,
That in your chambers gave you chastisement?
No: Know, the gallant monarch is in arms;
And like an eagle o'er his aiery ¶ towers,
To souse annoyance that comes near his nest.-
And you degenerate, you ingrate revolts,
You bloody Neroes, ripping up the womb
Of your dear mother England, blush for shame:
For your own ladies, and pale-visaged maids,
Like Amazons, come tripping after drums;
Their thimbles into armed gauntlets change,
Their neelds** to lances, and their gentle hearts
To fierce and bloody inclination.

Lew. There end thy bravett, and turn thy
face in peace;
[well;
We grant, thou canst outscold us: fare thee
We hold our time too precious to be spent
With such a brabbler.

* Appropriated.
of a cock.

+ Face down.
¶ Nest,

Pand.

Give me leave to speak,
Bust. No, I will speak.
Lew..

We will attend to neither:
Strike up the drums; and let the tongue of war
Plead for our interest, and our being here.

Bast. Indeed, your drums, being beaten,

will cry out;

And so shall you, being beaten: Do but start
And echo with the clamour of thy drum,
And even at hand a drum is ready braced,
That shall reverberate all as loud as thine;
Sound but another, and another shall,
As loud as thine, rattle the welkin's ‡‡ ear,
And mock the deep-mouth'd thunder: for at

hand

(Not trusting to this halting legate here,

The crowing

#Sky.