Or, if it must stand still, let wives with child
Pray, that their burdens may not fall this day,
Lest that their hopes prodigiously be crost1:
But on this day, let seamen fear no wreck;
No bargains break, that are on this day made:
This day, all things begun come to ill end:
Yea, faith itself to hollow falfhood change!
K. Phil. By heaven, lady, you shall have no caufe
To curfe the fair proceedings of this day:
Have I not pawn'd to you my majesty?
Conft. You have beguil'd me with a counterfeit, Refembling majesty; which, being touch'd, and try'd,
Proves valueless: You are forsworn, forsworn;
You came in arms to fpill mine enemies' blood,
But now in arms you strengthen it with yours:
The grappling vigour and rough frown of war,
Is cold in amity and painted peace,
Keep Stephen Langton, chosen archbishop
Of Canterbury, from that holy fee?
This, in our 'forefaid holy father's name,
Pope Innocent, I do demand of thee.
K. John. What earthly name to interrogatories
Can tafk the free breath of a facred king?
Thou canst not, cardinal, devise a name
So flight, unworthy, and ridiculous,
To charge me to an answer, as the pope.
10 Tell him this tale; and, from the mouth of England,
Add thus much more,-That no Italian priest
Shall tithe or toll in our dominions;
But as we under heaven are fupreme head,
So, under him, that great supremacy,
15 Where we do reign, we will alone uphold,
Without the affiftance of a mortal hand:
So tell the pope; all reverence fet apart,
To him, and his ufurp'd authority.
And our oppreffion hath made up this league :—
Arm,arm, you heavens, against these perjur'd kings! 20
A widow cries; be husband to me, heavens!
Let not the hours of this ungodly day
Wear out the day in peace; but, ere fun-fet,
Set armed difcord 'twixt these perjur'd kings!
Hear me, oh, hear me !
Auft. Lady Constance, peace.
Conft. War! war! no peace! peace is to me a war.
O Lymoges! O Auftria! thou doft shame
That bloody spoil: Thou slave, thou wretch, thou
coward;
Thou little valiant, great in villainy!
K.Phil. Brother of England, you blafpheme in this.
K. Jobn. Though you, and all the kings of
Christendom,
Are led fo grossly by this meddling priest,
Dreading the curfe that money may buy out;
And, by the merit of vile gold, dross, dust,
25 Purchase corrupted pardon of a man,
Who, in that sale, fells pardon from himself:
Though you, and all the rest, so grossly led,
This juggling witchcraft with revenue cherish,
Yet I, alone, alone do me oppose
30 Against the pope, and count his friends my foes.
Pand. Then, by the lawful power that I have,
Thou fhalt ftand curft, and excommunicate:
And bleffed fhall he be, that doth revolt
From his allegiance to an heretic;
35 And meritorious shall that hand be call'd,
Canonized, and worship'd as a faint,
That takes away by any fecret course
Thy hateful life.
Thou ever ftrong upon the stronger fide!
Thou fortune's champion, that doft never fight
But when her humorous ladyship is by
To teach thee fafety! thou art perjur'd too,
And footh'ft up greatness. What a fool art thou,
A ramping fool; to brag, and stamp, and swear,
Upon my party! Thou cold-blooded flave,
Haft thou not spoke like thunder on my fide?
Been fworn my foldier? bidding me depend
Upon thy ftars, thy fortune, and thy strength?
And doft thou now fall over to my foes?
Thou wear a lion's hide! doff it 3 for shame,
And hang a calf's-skin on those recreant limbs 4.
Aufi. O, that a man would speak those words to me! 45
Faulc. And hang a calf's-skin on thofe recreant 5
limbs.
Auft. Thou dar'st not say fo, villain, for thy life.
Faulc. And hang a calf's-íkin on those recreant
limbs.
K. Jobn. We like not this; thou doft forget thyself.
Conft. O, lawful let it be,
40 That I have room with Rome to curfe a while!
Good father cardinal, cry thou, Amen,
To my keen curfes: for, without my wrong,
There is no tongue hath power to curfe him right.
Pand. There's law and warrant, lady, for my curfe.
Conft. And for mine too; when law can do no right,
Let it be lawful, that law bar no wrong:
Law cannot give my child his kingdom here;
For he, that holds his kingdom, holds the law:
Therefore, fince law itself is perfect wrong,
50 How can the law forbid my tongue to curse?
Pand. Philip of France, on peril of a curfe,
Let go the hand of that arch-heretic;
And raise the power of France upon his head,
Unlefs he do fubmit himself to Rome.
K. Pbil. Here comes the holy legate of the pope.
Pand. Hail, you anointed deputies of heaven!-55
To thee, king John, my holy errand is.
I Pandulph, of fair Milan cardinal,
And from pope Innocent the legate here,
Do, in his name, religiously demand,
Why thou against the church, our holy mother,
So wilfully doft fpurn; and force, perforce,
Eli. Look'ft thou pale, France? do not let go thy hand.
Conft. Look to that, devil! left that France repent, And, by disjoining hands, hell lofe a foul.
Auft. King Philip, liften to the cardinal.
60 Faule. And hang a calf's-fkin on his recreant limbs.
1i.e. be disappointed by the production of a prodigy, or monster. 2 But here fignifies except. 3 i. c. put it off. 4 When fools were kept for amusement in great families, they were diftinguished by a calf-fkin coat, which had the buttons down the back. This circumstance will explain the sarcasm of Constance and Faulconbridge, who mean to call Auftria a fool. 5 i. e. cowardly.
Auft. Well, ruffian, I muft pocket up these wrongs,
Becaufe
Faulc. Your breeches best may carry them.
K. Jobn. Philip, what say'st thou to the cardinal?
Conft. What should he say, but as the cardinal?
Leavis. Bethink you, father; for the difference
Is, purchase of a heavy curse from Rome,
Or the light lofs of England for a friend :
Forego the easier.
Blanch. That's the curfe of Rome.
France, thou may'st hold a serpent by the tongue,
A cafed 3 lion by the mortal paw,
A fafting tyger fafer by the tooth,
Than keep in peace that hand which thou doft hold.
K. Phil. I may disjoin my hand, but not my faith.
Pand. So mak'ft thou faith an enemy to faith;
And, like a civil war, fet'st oath to oath,
Thy tongue against thy tongue. O, let thy vow Firft made to heaven, first be to heaven perform'd; [here to That is, to be the champion of our church!
Conft. O Lewis, ftand faft; the devil tempts thee
In likeness of a new untrimmed bride. [faith,
Blanch. The lady Constance speaks not from her
But from her need.
Conft. O, if thou grant my need,
Which only lives but by the death of faith,
That need muft needs infer this principle,-
That faith will live again by death of need:
O, then, tread down my need, and faith mounts up;
Keep my need up, and faith is trodden down. [this. 20
K. John. The king is mov'd, and anfwers not to
Conft. O, be remov'd from him, and answer well.
Auft. Do fo, King Philip; hang no more in doubt.
Faule. Hang nothing but a calf's-skin, moft sweet
lout.
What fince thou fwor'ft, is fworn against thyself,
And may not be performed by thyself:
For that, which thou haft fworn to do amiss,
Is 't not amifs, when it is truly done?
15 And being not done, where doing tends to ill,
The truth is then most done not doing it:
The better act of purposes mistook
Is, to mistake again; though indirect,
Yet indirection thereby grows direct,
And falfhood falfhood cures; as fire cools fire,
Within the fcorched veins of one new burn'd.
It is religion, that doth make vows kept;
But thou haft fworn against religion: [fwear'ft;
By which thou swear'st against the thing thou
And mak'st an oath the furety for thy truth
Against an oath: The truth thou art unfure
To fwear, fwear only not to be forsworn;
Elfe, what a mockery should it be to fwear?
But thou doft fwear only to be forfworn;
And mest forfworn to keep what thou doft swear.
Therefore, thy latter vows, against thy first,
Is in thyfelf rebellion to thyself:
K. Phil. I am perplex'd, and know not what to
Pand. What can'ft thou say, but will perplex
If thou ftand excommunicate, and curft? [yours,
K. Phil. Good reverend father, make my perfon 3
And tell me, how you would bestow yourself.
This royal hand and mine are newly knit;
And the conjunction of our inward fouls
Marry'd in league, coupled and link'd together
With all religious ftrength of facred vows;
The latest breath, that gave the found of words,
Was deep-fworn faith, peace, amity, true love,
Between our kingdoms, and our royal felves;
And even before this truce, but new before,-
No longer than we well could wash our hands,
To clap this royal bargain up of peace,-
Heaven knows,theywere befmear'd and over-ftain'd
With flaughter's pencil; where revenge did paint
The fearful difference of incenfed kings:
And shall these hands, fo lately purg'd of blood,
So newly join'd in love, so strong in both,
Unyoke this feizure, and this kind regreet??
Play faft and loose with faith? 'fo jeft with heaven,|
Make fuch unconftant children of ourselves,
As now again to snatch our palm from palm;
Unfwear faith fworn; and on the marriage bed
Of fmiling peace to march a bloody host,
And make a riot on the gentle brow
Of true fincerity? O holy fir,
My reverend father, let it not be fo:
Out of your grace, devife, ordain, impose
Some gentle order; and then we fhall be bleft
To do your pleasure, and continue friends.
Pand. All form is formless, order orderless,
Save what is oppofite to England's love.
Therefore, to arms! be champion of our church!
Or let the church, our mother, breathe her curfe,
A mother's curfe, on her revolting son.
And better conquest never canst thou make, Than arm thy conftant and thy nobler parts 35 Against these giddy loose suggestions:
Upon which better part our prayers come in,
If thou vouchfafe them: but, if not, then know,
The peril of our curfes light on thee;
So heavy, as thou shalt not shake them off, 40 But, in defpair, die under their black weight. Auft. Rebellion, flat rebellion!
Will not a calf's-skin stop that mouth of thine?
Lewis. Father, to arms!
Blanch. Upon thy wedding-day?
Against the blood that thou haft married?
What, fhall our feaft be kept with slaughter'd men?
Shall braying trumpets, and loud churlish drums,—
Clamours of hell,-be measures to our pomp?
500 husband, hear me !—aye, alack, how new
Blanch. Now fhall I fee thy love; what motive 60 Be ftronger with thee than the name of wife? Conft. That which upholdeth him that thee up[nour! His honour: Oh, thine honour, Lewis, thine ho
2 A regret is an exchange of falutation. 3 Some editions read chased.
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Faulc. Old time the clock-fetter, that bald fex-10
Is it as he will? well then, France shall rue.
Blanch. The fun's o'ercaft with blood: Fair day,
Which is the fide that I must go withal?
I am with both: each army hath a hand:
And, in their rage, I having hold of both,
They whirl afunder, and difmember me.
Husband, I cannot pray that thou may'st win;
Uncle, I needs must pray that thou may'st lose;
Father, I may not with the fortune thine;
Grandam, I will not with thy wishes thrive:
Whoever wins, on that fide fhall I lofe;
Affured lofs, before the match be play`d.
Lewis. Lady, with me; with me thy fortune lies.
Blanch. There where my fortune lives, there my
life dies.
[ther.-25
K. John. Coufin, go draw our puiffance toge-
[Exit Faulconbridge.
France, I am burned up with inflaming wrath;
A rage whofe heat hath this condition,
That nothing can allay, nothing but blood,
The blood, and dearest-valu'd blood, of France.
K. Pbil. Thy rage shall burn thee up, and thou
fhalt turn
To afhes, ere our blood shall quench that fire:
Look to thyself, thou art in jeopardy.
K. Jobn. No more than he that threats.-To
arms, let's hie!
Eli. Come hither, little kinfman; hark, a word.
[Taking him to one side of the stage.
K. Jobn. Come hither, Hubert, O my gentle Hu-
20 We owe thee much; within this wall of flesh [bert,
There is a foul, counts thee her creditor,
And with advantage means to pay thy love:
And, my good friend, thy voluntary oath
Lives in this bofom, dearly cherished.
Give me thy hand. I had a thing to say,-
But I will fit it with some better time.
By heaven, Hubert, I am almost asham'd
To fay what good refpect I have of thee.
Hub. I am much bounden to your majefty. [fo yet:
K. Jobn. Good friend, thou haft no cause to say
But thou shalt have; and creep time ne'er fo flow,
Yet it fhall come for me to do thee good.
I had a thing to fay,-But let it go:
The fun is in the heaven, and the proud day,
35 Attended with the pleasures of the world,
Is all too wanton, and too full of gawds 2,
To give me audience:-If the midnight bell
Did with his iron tongue and brazen mouth,
Sound on 3 unto the drowsy race of night;
Alarums, excurfions: enter Faulconbridge, with Auf-4 If this fame were a church-yard where we ftand,
Faulc. Now, by my life, this day grows wondrous
And thou poffeffed with a thousand wrongs;
Or if that furly fpirit, melancholy,
Enter King John, Arthur, and Hubert.
Had bak'd thy blood, and made it heavy, thick;
(Which, elfe, runs tickling up and down the veins,
Making that ideot, laughter, keep men's eyes,
And strain their cheeks to idle merriment,
A paffion hateful to my purposes)
Or if that thou could'ft fee me without eyes,
Hear me without thine ears, and make reply
50 Without a tongue, ufing conceit alone,
Without eyes, ears, and harmful found of words;
Then, in despight of broad-ey'd watchful day,
I would into thy bofom pour my thoughts:
But, ah, I will not:-Yet I love thee well;
And, by my troth, I think thou lov'ft me well.
Hub. So well, that what you bid me undertake,
Though that my death were adjunct to my act,
By heaven, I would do it.
K. John. Do not I know thou would'st ? [To Arthur. 6c Good Hubert, Hubert, Hubert, throw thine eye On yon young boy: I'll tell thee what, my friend,
Thy grandam loves thee; and thy uncle will
Here the king, who had knighted him by the name of Sir Rickard, calls him by his former name. 2 Gawds are any showy ornaments. 3 Warburton thinks we should read, "found one;" and Mr. Malone obferves, that on and one are perpetually confounded in the old copies of Shakspeare.
He is a very ferpent in my way;
And, wherefoe'er this foot of mine doth tread,
He lies before me: Doft thou understand me?
Thou art his keeper.
Hub. And I'll keep him fo,
That he shall not offend your majesty.
K. Jobn. A grave.
Hub. He fhall not live.
K. Jobn. Enough.
I could be merry now: Hubert, I love thee;
Well, I'll not fay what I intend for thee:
Remember.Madam, fare you well:
I'll fend those powers o'er to your majesty.
Eli. My bleffing go with thee!
K. Jobn. For England, coufin, go:
Hubert shall be your man, attend on you
With all true duty.-On toward Calais, ho!
Come, grin on me; and I will think thou smil'ft,
And bufs thee as thy wife! Mifery's love,
Oh, come to me!
K. Pbil. Oh fair affliction, peace.
Conft. No, no, I will not, having breath to cry:
Oh, that my tongue were in the thunder's mouth!
Then with a paffion would I shake the world;
And roufe from fleep that fell anatomy,
Which cannot hear a lady's feeble voice,
10 Which fcorns a modern 3 invocation.
Pand. Lady, you utter madness, and not forrow.
Conft. Thou art unholy to belie me fo;
I am not mad: this hair I tear, is mine;
My name is Conftance; I was Geffrey's wife;
15 Young Arthur is my son, and he is loft:
I am not mad ;-I would to heaven, I were !
For then, 'tis like I should forget myself:
Oh, if I could, what grief should I forget!-
Preach fome philosophy to make me mad,
[Exeunt. 20 And thou shalt be canoniz'd, cardinal;
For, being not mad, but sensible of grief,
My reasonable part produces reason
How I may be deliver'd of these woes,
And teaches me to kill or hang myself:
Enter King Philip, Lewis, Pandulph, and Attendants.
K. Pbil. So, by a roaring tempeft on the flood, 25 If I were mad, I should forget my fon; A whole armado of collected fail
Is fcatter'd, and disjoin'd from fellowship.
Pand. Courage and comfort! all shall yet go well.
K. Phil. What can go well, when we have
run so ill?
Are we not beaten? Is not Angiers loft?
Arthur ta'en prifoner? divers dear friends flain?
And bloody England into England gone,
O'er-bearing interruption, spite of France >
Or madly think, a babe of clouts were he:
I am not mad; too well, too well I feel
The different plague of each calamity.
K. Pbil. Bind up thofe treffes: Oh, what love I
30 In the fair multitude of those her hairs!
Where but by chance a filver drop hath fallen,
Even to that drop ten thousand wiry friends +
Do glew themselves in fociable grief;
Like true, infeparable, faithful loves,
Lewis. What he hath won, that hath he fortify'd: 35 Sticking together in calamity.
So hot a speed with fuch advice difpos'd,
Such temperate order in so fierce a cause,
Doth want example: Who hath read, or heard
Of any kindred action like to this?
Conft. To England, if you will.
K. Pbil. Bind up your hairs.
Conft. Yes, that I will: And wherefore will I I tore them from their bonds; and cry'd aloud,
K. Pbil. Well could I bear that England had 40" Oh that these hands could fo redeem my son,
So we could find some pattern of our shame.
Look, who comes here! a grave unto a foul;
Holding the eternal spirit, against her will,
In the vile prison of afflicted breath :-
I pr'ythee, lady, go away with me.
Conft. Lo, now! now see the issue of your peace!
K. Phil. Patience, good lady! comfort, gentle
Conft. No, I defy all counfel, all redress,
But that which ends all counfel, true redress,
Death, death:-Oh amiable, lovely death!
Thou odoriferous ftench! found rottennefs!
Arife forth from the couch of lafting night,
Thou hate and terror to profperity,
And I will kifs thy deteftable bones;
And put my eye-balls in thy vaulty brows;
And ring these fingers with thy houfhold worms;
And ftop this gap of breath with fulfome duft,
And be a carrion monfter like thyself:
1 Fierce here means, fudden, bafty. remarked in other plays, trite, common. graceful.
"As they have given these hairs their liberty!"
But now I envy at their liberty,
And will again commit them to their bonds,
Because my poor child is a prisoner.
45 And, father cardinal, I have heard you say,
That we fhall fee and know our friends in heaven:
If that be true, I fhall fee my boy again;
For, fince the birth of Cain, the first male-child,
To him that did but yesterday fufpire 5,
50 There was not fuch a gracious 6 creature born.
But now will canker forrow eat my bud,
And chase the native beauty from his cheek,
And he will look as hollow as a ghost;
As dim and meagre as an ague's fit:
55 And fo he'll die; and, rifing so again,
Conft. Grief fills the room up of my abfent child,
Lies in his bed, walks up and down with me;
Puts on his pretty looks, repeats his words,
Remembers me of all his gracious parts,
Stuffs out his vacant garments with his form;
Then, have I reafon to be fond of grief.
Fare you well: had you fuch a lofs as I,
I could give better comfort than you do.-
I will not keep this form upon my head,
So be it, for it cannot be but fo.
Lewis. But what shall I gain by young Arthur's
Pand. You, in the right of lady Blanch your wife, 5 May then make all the claim that Arthur did. Lewis. And lofe it, life and all, as Arthur did.
Pand. How green you are, and fresh in this old world!
John lays you plots; the times confpire with you: [Tearing off her bead-drefs. 10 For he, that steeps his fafety in true blood ',
When there is fuch diforder in my wit.
O lord! my boy, my Arthur, my fair fon!
My life, my joy, my food, my all the world!
My widow-comfort, and my forrows' cure! [Exit.
K. Phil. I fear fome outrage, and I'll follow her. 15
Lewis. There's nothing in this world can make
Life is as tedious as a twice-told tale, [me joy:
Vexing the dull ear of a drowsy man;
And bitter shame hath spoil'd the sweet world's tafte, 20
That it yields nought, but shame, and bitterness.
Pand. Before the curing of a strong disease,
Even in the inftant of repair and health,
The fit is ftrongeft; evils, that take leave,
On their departure most of all shew evil :
What have you loft by lofing of this day?
Lewis. All days of glory, joy, and happiness.
Pand. If you had won it, certainly, you had.
No, no: when fortune means to men most good,
She looks upon them with a threatening eye.
"Tis ftrange, to think how much king Jolin hath loft
In this which he accounts fo clearly won:
Are not you griev`d, that Arthur is his prifoner?
Lewis. As heartily, as he is glad he hath him.
Shall find but bloody safety, and untrue.
This act, fo evilly born, fhall cool the hearts
Of all his people, and freeze up their zeal;
That none fo fmall advantage shall step forth,
To check his reign, but they will cherish it:
No natural exhalation in the fky,
No fcape of nature 2, no diftemper'd day,
No common wind, no customed event,
But they will pluck away his natural caufe,
And call them meteors, prodigies, and signs,
Abortives, prefages, and tongues of heaven,
Plainly denouncing vengeance upon John.
Lewis. May be, he will not touch young Ar-
thur's life,
But hold himself fafe in his prifonment.
Pand. O, fir, when he shall hear of your approach,
If that young Arthur be not gone already,
Even at that news he dies: and then the hearts
Of all his people fhall revolt from him,
And kifs the lips of unacquainted change;
And pick ftrong matter of revolt, and wrath,
Out of the bloody fingers' ends of John.
Methinks, I fee this hurly all on foot;
And, O, what better matter breeds for you,
Pand. Your mind is all as youthful as your blood. 35 Than I have nam'd!-The baftard Faulconbridge
Now hear me fpeak, with a prophetic spirit;
For even the breath of what I mean to speak
Shall blow each duft, each straw, each little rub,
Out of the path which shall directly lead
Is now in England, ranfacking the church,
Offending charity: If but a dozen French
Were there in arms, they would be as a call
To train ten thousand English to their fide;
Thy foot to England's throne; and, therefore, mark. 40 Or, as a little fnow, tumbled about,
John hath feiz'd Arthur; and it cannot be,
That, whiles warm life plays in that infant's veins,
The mifplac'd John should entertain an hour,
One minute, nay, one quiet breath of rest:
A fceptre, fnatch'd with an unruly hand,
Must be as boisterously maintain'd as gain'd:
And he, that ftands upon a flippery place,
Makes nice of no vile hold to ftay him up:
That John may itand, then Arthur needs muft fall;
Anon becomes a mountain. O noble Dauphin,
Go with me to the king; "Tis wonderful
What may be wrought out of their discontent:
Now that their fouls are top-full of offence,
For England go; I will whet on the king.
Lewis. Strong reasons make strong actions:-
Let us go;
If you fay, ay, the king will not fay, no.
Meaning, the blood of him that has the juft claim.
The author very finely calls a monftrous
birth, an escape of nature; as if it were produced while he was bufy elsewhere, or intent on fome other
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