There is no malice in this burning coal;
The breath of heaven hath blown his spirit out,
And strew'd repentant ashes on his head.

Hub. But with my breath I can revive it, boy.

Arth. And if you do, you will but make it blush,
And glow with fhame of your proceedings, Hubert:
Nay, it, perchance, will fparkle in your eyes;
And, like a dog, that is compell'd to fight,
Snatch at his master that doth tarre him on.
All things, that you should ufe to do me wrong,
Deny their office: only you do lack

That mercy, which fierce fire, and iron, extends,
Creatures of note for mercy-lacking uses.

Hub. Well, fee to live; I will not touch thine eye For all the treasure that thine uncle owes :

Yet am I fworn, and I did purpofe, boy,

With this fame very iron to burn them out.

Arth. O, now you look like Hubert! all this while You were disguised.

Hub. Peace: no more. Adieu;

Your uncle must not know but you are dead:
I'll fill thefe dogged fpies with falfe reports.
And, pretty child, fleep doubtlefs, and fecure,
That Hubert, for the wealth of all the world,
Will not offend thee.

Arth. O heaven-I thank you, Hubert.

Hub. Silence; no more: Go closely in with me; Much danger do I undergo for thee.

t

[Exeunt.

fee to live-think how to live, and take no more thought about

your eyes; they're fafe enough,

SCENE

SCENE II.

The Court of England.

Enter King John, Pembroke, Salisbury, and other Lords.

K. John. Here once again we fit, once again crown'd, And look'd upon, I hope, with chearful eyes.

Pemb. "This once again, but that your highness pleas'd,
Was once fuperfluous: you were crown'd before,
And that high royalty was ne'er pluck'd off;
The faiths of men ne'er ftained with revolt;
Fresh expectation troubled not the land,
With any long'd-for change, or better state.

Sal. Therefore, to be poffefs'd with double pomp,
To guard a title that was rich before,
To gild refined gold, to paint the lily,
To throw a perfume on the violet,
To smooth the ice, or add another hue
Unto the rainbow, or with taper-light

To feek the beauteous eye of heaven to garnish,
Is wafteful, and ridiculous excess.

Pemb. But that your royal pleasure must be done,
This act is as an ancient tale new told;

And, in the last repeating, troublesome,
Being urged at a time unfeasonable.

Sal. In this, the antique and well-noted face
Of plain old form is much disfigured:

And, like a shifted wind unto a fail,

It makes the course of thoughts to fetch about;
Startles and frights confideration;

Makes found opinion fick, and truth suspected,
For putting on fo new a fashion'd robe.

" This once again,]-This was the fourth time.

"To guard]-Ornament with fringe, lace, or other foppery.

Pemb. When workmen strive to do better than well, They do confound their skill in covetousness:

And, oftentimes, excufing of a fault

Doth make the fault the worse by the excuse;
As patches, fet upon a little breach,
Difcredit more in hiding of the fault,

Than did the fault before it was fo patch'd.

Sal. To this effect, before you were new-crown'd, We breath'd our counsel: but it pleas'd your highness To over-bear it, and we are all well pleas'd; Since all and every part of what we would, Doth make a stand at what your highness will,

K. John. Some reasons of this double coronation I have poffefs'd you with, and think them strong;

And more, more strong (when leffer is my fear)
I fhall endue you with: Mean time, but ask
What you would have reform'd, that is not well;
And well fhall you perceive, how willingly

I will both hear and grant you your requests.

Pemb. Then I, (as one that am the tongue of thefe
To found the purposes of all their hearts)

Both for myself and them (but, chief of all,
Your fafety, for the which myself and them

Bend their best ftudies) heartily requeft

The enfranchisement of Arthur; whofe reftraint
Doth move the murmuring lips of discontent
To break into this dangerous argument,-
If, what in reft you have, in right you hold,

* do confound their skill in covetousness:]-defeat, fruftrate all the ef

forts of their ingenuity thro' their emulation, their eager thirst after unattainable excellence. y fault, blemish-flaw,

poffefs'd]-acquainted.

86

Is he yet possess'd

"How much you would?"

MERCHANT OF VENICE, Vol. II. p. 96. Anth.

To found ]-To declare.

Why

Why should your fears (which, as they fay, attend
The steps of wrong) then move you to mew up
Your tender kinfinan, and to choak his days
With barbarous ignorance, and deny his youth
The rich advantage of good exercise ?
That the time's enemies may not have this
To grace occafions, let it be our fuit
That you have bid us afk, his liberty;
Which for our goods we do no further afk,
Than whereupon our weal, on you depending,
Counts it your weal, he have his liberty.
K. John. Let it be fo; I do commit his youth

Enter Hubert.

To your direction.-Hubert, what news with you ? Pemb. This is the man fhould do the bloody deed; He fhew'd his warrant to a friend of mine:

The image of a wicked heinous fault

Lives in his eye; that clofe afpect of his

Does fhew the mood of a much-troubled breast;
And I do fearfully believe, 'tis done,

What we fo fear'd he had a charge to do.

Sal. The colour of the king doth come and go,
Between his purpose and his confcience,

Like heralds 'twixt two dreadful battles fet:
His paffion is fo ripe, it needs must break.

Pemb. And, when it breaks, I fear, will iffue thence The foul corruption of a sweet child's death.

K. John. We cannot hold mortality's ftrong hand :Good lords, although my will to give is living,

b Between his purpose and bis confcience,]-Between his confcious guilt, and aim to hide it-Between his horrid defign, and the dread of accomplishing it, the king's mind is violently agitated.

The

The suit which you demand is gone and dead;
He tells us, Arthur is deceas'd to-night.

Sal. Indeed, we fear'd, his fickness was paft cure. Pemb. Indeed, we hear'd how near his death he was, Before the child himself felt he was fick :

This must be answer'd, either here, or hence.

K. John. Why do you bend fuch folemn brows on me? Think you, I bear the fhears of deftiny?" Have I commandment on the pulse of life? Sal. It is apparent foul-play; and 'tis fhame, That greatness should fo grofsly offer it :* So thrive it in your game! and fo farewell. Pemb. Stay yet, lord Salisbury; I'll go with thee, And find the inheritance of this poor child,

His little kingdom of a forced grave.

That blood, which ow'd the breadth of all this ifle,
Three foot of it doth hold; Bad world the while!
This must not be thus borne: this will break out
To all our forrows, and ere long, I doubt.

K. John. They burn in indignation; I repent:
There is no fure foundation fet on blood;
No certain life atchiev'd by others' death.

Enter a Messenger.

A fearful eye thou haft; Where is that blood,
That I have seen inhabit in thofe cheeks?

So foul a sky clears not without a storm;

[Exeunt.

Pour down thy weather :-How goes all in France?
Mef. From France to England.-Never fuch a power
For any foreign preparation,

Was levy'd in the body of a land!

So thrive it in your game!]-May your game thrive as it deferves, from your management of the cards; may the iffue anfwer the outset, dow'd]-own'd.

• From France to England. -All goes from France, &c.

The