Scene 11.

KING JOHN.

Whom he hath used rather for sport than need),
Is warlike John; and in his forehead sits
A bire-ribb'd death, whose office is this day
To feast upon whole thousands of the French.
Lew. Suike up our drums, to find this
danger out.

Bast. And thou shalt find it, Danphin, do
[Exeunt.
not doubt.
SCENE III. The same. A Field of Battle.
Alurums. Enter King JOHN and HUBERT.
K.John. How goes the day with us? O, tell
me, Hubert.

Hub. Badly, I fear: How fares your majesty?
K..ohn. This fever, that hath troubled me
so long,

Les heavy on me; O, my heart is sick!
Enter a Messenger.

Mess. My lord, your valiant kinsman, Faul-
corbridge,
Desires your majesty to leave the field;
And send him word by me, which way yon go.
K. John. Tell him, toward Swinstead, to
[ply,
the abbey there.
Mess. Be of good comfort; for the great sup.
That was expected by the Dauphin here,
Are wreck'd three nights ago on Goodwin
[now:
This news was brought to Richard but even
The French fight coldly, and retire themselves.
K. John, Ah me! this tyrant fever burns me

Even on that altar, where we swore to you
Dear amity and everlasting love.

Sul. May this be possible? inay this be true?
Mel. Have I not hideous death within my
[view,
Retaining but a quantity of life;
Which bleeds away, even as a form of wax
Resolved from his figure 'gainst the firet?
What in the world should make me now de-
Since I must lose the use of all deceit ? [ceive,
Why should I then be false; since it is true
That I must die here, and live hence by truth?
I say again, if Lewis do win the day,
He is forsworn, if e'er those eyes of yours
Behold another day break in the east: [breath
But even this night,-whose black contagious
Already smokes about the burning crest
Of the old, feeble, and day-wearied snn,-
Even thi ill night, your breathing shall expire;
Paying the fine of rated treachery,
Even with a treacherous fine of all your lives,
If Lewis by your assistance win the day,
Commend me to one Ha' ert, with your king;
The love of him,-and this respect besides,
For that my graudsire was an Englishman,-
Awakes my conscience to confess all this.
In lieng whereof, I pray you bear me hence
From forth the noise and rumour of the field;
Where I may think the reninaut of my thoughts
In peace, and part this body and my soul
With contemplation and devout desires.

Sal. We do believe thee,-And beshrew
But I do love the favour and the form [my soul
Of this most fair occasion, by the which
We will ustread the steps of damned flight;
And, like a bated and retired flood,
Leaving our rankness and irregular course,
toop low within those bonnds we have o'er-
[look'd,
And calml, ran on in obedience,
Even to our ocean. to our great king John.
(flight;
My arm shall give thee help to bear thee hence;
For I do see the cruel pangs of death
Right in thine eye.-Away, my friends! New
And happy newness, that intends old right.
[Exeunt, leading of MELUN.
SCENE V. The same. The French Camp.
Enter LEWIS and his Train.
Lew. The sun of heaven, methought, was
[blush,
loath to set;

In faint retire: O, bravely came we off,
When with a volley of our needless shot,
After such bloody toil, we bid good night
And wound our tatter'd colours clearly up,
Last in the treld, and almost lords of it!
Enter a Messenger.
Mess. Where is my prince, the Dauphin?
Here:-What news?
Lw.
Mess. The count Melun is slain; the English

By his persuasion, are again fallen off : (lords,
And your supply, which you have wish'd su
long,

SCENE VI. An open Place in the Neigh-Is touch'd corrup'ibly; and his pure brain

P. Hen. How fares your majesty?
K. John. Poison'd,-ill fare;-dead, for
sook, cast off:

And none of you will bid the winter come
To thrust his icy fingers in my maw
Nor let my kingdom's rivers take their course
Through my burn'd bosom; nor entreat the

Scene VII]

KING JOHN.

To make his bleak winds kiss my parched lips,
And comfort me with cold:-I do not ask
you minch,

I beg cold comfort; and you are so strait,
And so ingrateful, you deny nie that.

P. Hrn. O, that there were some virtue in
[my tears,
That might relieve yon?
The salt in them is hot.-
K. John.
Within me is a hell; and there the poison
Is, as a fiend, contin'd to tyrannize
Un unreprievable condemned blood.

Bast. 0, I am scalded with my violent
motion,

And spleen of speed to see your Majesty.
K. John. ( cousin, thou art come to set
mine eye:

The tackle of my heart is crack'd and burn'd;
And all the shrends, wherewith my life should
Are turned to one threa:1, one little hair: [sail,
My heart hath one poor string to stay it by,
Which holds but till thy news be uttered;
And then all this thon see'st, is but a clod,
And modulet of confounded royalty.
Bust. The Dauphin is preparing hither ward;
Where, heaven he knows, Low

The cardinal Pandolph is within at rest,
Who half an hour since came from the Dauphin;
And brings from him such offers of our peace
As we with honour and respect may take,
With purpose presently to leave this war.

Bast. He wil the rather do it, when he sees
Sal. Nay, it is in a manner done already;
Ourselves well sinewed to our defence.
For many carriages he hath despatch'd
To the disposing of the cardinal:
To the sea-side, and put his cause and quarrel
With whom yourself, my self, and other lords,
If you think meet this afternoon will post,
Bast. Let it be so:- And you, my noble
To consummate this business happily. [prince,
With other princes that may best be spared,
Shall wait upon your father's funeral. [terr'd;
P. Hen. At Worcester must his body be in-
For so he will'd it.

Thither shall it then.
Bast:
And happily may your sweet self put on
The lineal state and glory of the land!
To whom, with all submission, on my knee,
I do bequeath my faithful services
And true subjection everlastingly.

mike, Sal. And the like tender of our love we To rest with ont a spot for evermore.

P. Hen. I have a kind sont, that would give
you thanks,

Bust. 0, let us pay the time but needful woe,
And knows not how to do it, but with tears.
Since it hath been beforehand with our griefs.
This England never did, (nor never shall,)
Lie at the prond foot of a conqueror,
But when it first did help to wound itself.
Come the three corners of the world in arms,
Now these her princes are come I ome again,
[Exeunt.
And we shall shock them: Nonght shall make
If England to itself do rest but true. [us rne,

The tragedy of KING JOHN, though not written with the utmost power of Shakspeare, is varied with a very pleasing interchange of incidents and characters. The lady's grief is very affecting and the charter of the Bastard contains that mixture of greatness and levity which this author delighted to exhibit.-JOHNSON.

Duke of AUMERIE, on to the Duke of York.ir PIERCE of Exton. Sir STEPHEN SCROOP. MOWBRAY, Duke of Norfolk.

Ludy attending on the Queen. Gardeners, Keeper, Messenger, Groom, and other Attendants.

Scene,-dispersedly in England and Wales.

ACT I.

As to be hush'd, and nought at all to say: [me
First, the fair reverence of your highness curts
From giving reius and spurs to my free speech;
Which rise would post, until it had return'd
These terms oftreason doubled down his throat.
Setting aside his high blood's royalty,
And let his be no kinsman to my liege,
I do defy him, and I spit at him;

Call him-a slanderous coward, and a villain:
Which to maintain, I would allow him odds;
And meet him were 1 tied to run a foot
Even to the frozen ridges of the Alps,
Or any other gromna intabitab.e
Where ever Englishman durst set his foot,
Me

time let this defend my loya ty,-
By all my hopes, most falsely doth he lie.
Bolig Pale trembling coward, there
throw my gage,

Were he my brother, nay, my kingdom's heir, (As he is but my father's brother's son,) Now by my se ptre's awe I make a vow, | Such neighbour Hearn ss to our sacred blood Shou'd nothing privilege him, nor partialize The unstooping firmness of my upright soul; He is our subject, Mowbray, so art thon; Free speech, áud fearless, I to thee allow. No. Then, Bolingbroke, as low as to thy heart, [liest! Through the false passage of thy throat, thou 1Three parts of that receipt I had for Catais, Dist-orsed Iduly to his nighness' soldiers: The other part reserved 1 by consent; For that my sovereign liege was in my debt, Upon remainder of a dear account. Since last I went to France to fetch his queen: Now swallow down that lie.--For Gloster's death,

Disclaiming here the kindred of a king;
And lay aside my hig blood's royalty, [cept:
Which fear, not revere ce, makes thee to ex-
If guilty dread hath left thee so much strength,
As to akeup mine honour's pawn, then stoop;
By that, and all the rites of knighthood clse,"
Will I make goon against thee, arni to arin,
What I have spoke, of thon einst worse devise
Nor. I take it up; and, by that sword I swear,
Which gently y'd my knighthod on y
I'll auswer thee in any fair degree, [shoulder,
Or chivalrous design of knightly trial:
And, when I mount, a ive may I not light,
If I be traitor, or unjustly fight!

K. Rich. What doth our cousin lay to
bray's charge?

diers;

I slow him not; but to my own disgrace,
Neglected my sworn dug in that ease.-
For you, my oble lord of Lancaster,
The honourable father to my foe,
Once did I lay in ambush for your life,
A trespass that doth vex my grieved soul:
But, ere I last received the svcrament,
I did confess it; and exactly begged
Mow-Your grace's pardon, and, I hope, I had it.
This is my fault: As for the rest appeal'd ¶,
It is nes from the raucour of a villain,
A recreant and most degenerate traitor:
Which in myself I boldly will defend;
And interchangeably hurl down my gage
Upon this overweening traitor's fort,
To prove my self a loyal gentleman
Even in the best blood chamber'd in his bosom
In haste whereof, most heartily I pray
Your highness to assign our trial day. [by me;

Inobles

It must be great, that can inherit ns
So much as of a thought of id in him.
Boling. Look, what I speak my life shall
prove it true;-
That Mowbray hath received eight thousand
In name of lendings for your highness sol-
[ments,
The which he hath detain'd for lewd; employ.
Like a false traitor, and inju ions villain.
Besides I say, and will in battle prove,-
Or here, or elsewhere, to the furthest verge
That ever was survey'd by English ey2,-
That all the treasons, for these eighteen years
Complotted and contrived in this Land, (spring.
Fetch from false Mowbray their first bei and
Further I say, and further will maintain
Upon his bad life, to make all this good.—
That he did plot the duke of Gloster's death;
Suggest his soon believing adversaries;
And, consequently, like a traitor coward,
Sluiced out his innocent soul through streams
of blood:

Which blood, Ike sacrificing Abel's, cries,
Even from the tongneless caverns of the earth,
To me, for justice, and rough chastisement;
And, by the glorious worth of my descent,
This arm shall do it, or this life be spent.
K. Rich. How high a pitch his resolution

soars!

Thomas of Norfolk, what say'st thon to this?

K. Rich. Wrath-kindled gentlemen, Fernled
Let's purge this choler without letting blood:
This we prescribe thongh no physician;
Deep malice makes too deep incision:
Forget, forgive; concinde, and be agreed;
Our doctors say, this is no time to bleed-

Good uncle, let this end where it begnu; [son.
We'll calm the duke of Norfolk, yon your
Gaunt. To be a make-peace shall become
my age:
[gage.
Throw down, my son, the duke of Norfolk's
K. Rich. And, Norfolk, throw down his.
Gaunt,
When, Harry when?
bedience bids, I should not bid again.
K. Rch. Norfolk, throw down; we bid;
there is no boot ft.
Nor. Myselt I throw, dread sovereign, at thy
My life thou shalt command,but not my shame

[foot

The one my duty owes; but my fair name,

(Despite of death, that lives upon my grave,) To dark dishonour's use thon shait not have.

Nor. O, let my sovereign turn away his face, I am disgraced, impeach'd, and bathed here;

• Uninhabitable.

his ancestry.

+ Possess.
Charged

I Wicked. • Arrogant.

Reproach to § Prompt. No advantage in delay.