Unyoke this seizure, and this kind regreet?1 Play fast and loose with faith? so jest with Heaven, As now again to snatch our palm from palm, My reverend father, let it not be so. Pand. All form is formless, order orderless, France, thou mayst hold a serpent by the tongue, A fasting tiger safer by the tooth, Than keep in peace that hand which thou dost hold. For that which thou hast sworn to do amiss, Is not amiss when it is truly done;3 And being not done, where doing tends to ill, 1 A regreet is an exchange of salutation. 2 A cased lion is a lion irritated by confinement. 3 "Where doing tends to ill," where an intended act is criminal, the truth is most done by not doing the act. The criminal act, therefore, which thou hast sworn to do, is not amiss, will not be imputed to you as a crime, if it be done truly, in the sense I have now affixed to truth; that is, if you do not do it. Is, to mistake again; though indirect, And falsehood falsehood cures; as fire cools fire, It is religion, that doth make vows kept; By what thou swear'st, against the thing thou swear❜st; And better conquest never canst thou make, So heavy, as thou shalt not shake them off, Bast. Will't not be? Will not a calf-skin stop that mouth of thine? Blanch. Upon thy wedding day? Against the blood that thou hast married? What, shall our feast be kept with slaughtered men? O, husband, hear me !-Ah, alack! how new Against mine uncle. 1 By what thou swear'st, &c. "In swearing by religion against religion, thou hast sworn by what thou swear'st; i. e. in that which thou hast sworn, against the thing thou swearest by; i. e. religion." Const. O, upon my knee, Made hard with kneeling, I do pray to thee, Blanch. Now shall I see thy love. What motive may Be stronger with thee than the name of wife? Const. That which upholdeth him that thee upholds, Const. O fair return of banished majesty! K. John. France, thou shalt rue this hour within this hour. Bast. Old time, the clock-setter, that bald sexton time, Is it as he will? Well, then, France shall rue. Blanch. The sun's o'ercast with blood. Fair day, adieu! Which is the side that I must go withal? Lew. Lady, with me; with me thy fortune lies. Blanch. There where my fortune lives, there my life dies. K. John. Cousin, go draw our puissance together.[Exit Bastard. France, I am burned up with inflaming wrath; A rage, whose heat hath this condition, That nothing can allay, nothing but blood, The blood, and dearest valued blood, of France. K. Phi. Thy rage shall burn thee up, and thou shalt turn To ashes, ere our blood shall quench that fire. Look to thyself; thou art in jeopardy. K. John. No more than he that threats.-To arms let's hie! [Exeunt. SCENE II. The same. Plains near Angiers. Alarums; Excursions. Enter the Bastard, with AUSTRIA's head. Bast. Now, by my life, this day grows wondrous hot; Some airy devil hovers in the sky, And pours down mischief. Austria's head, lie there, While Philip breathes. Enter KING JOHN, ARTHUR, and HUBERT. K. John. Hubert, keep this boy.-Philip,' make up ; My mother is assailed in our tent, And ta'en, I fear. [Exeunt. 1 Here the king, who had knighted him by the name of sir Richard, calls him by his former name. Shakspeare has followed the old plays, and the best authenticated history. The queen mother, whom king John had made regent in Anjou, was in possession of the town of Mirabeau, in that province. On the approach of the French army, with Arthur at their head, she sent letters to king John to come to her relief, which he immediately did. As he advanced to the town, he encountered the army that lay before it, routed them, and took Arthur prisoner. The queen, in the mean while, remained in perfect security in the castle of Mirabeau. SCENE III. The same. Alarums; Excursions; Retreat. Enter KING JOHN, ELINOR, ARTHUR, the Bastard, HUBERT, and Lords. K. John. So shall it be; your grace shall stay be hind, [TO ELINOR. So strongly guarded.-Cousin, look not sad; [To ARTHUR. Thy grandam loves thee, and thy uncle will Arth. O, this will make my mother die with grief. K. John. Cousin, [To the Bastard.] away for England. Haste before; And, ere our coming, see thou shake the bags Bast. Bell, book, and candle, shall not drive me back, When gold and silver becks me to come on. For your fair safety; so I kiss your hand. K. John. Coz, farewell. [Exit Bastard. Eli. Come hither, little kinsman; hark, a word. [She takes ARTHUR aside. K. John. Come hither, Hubert. O my gentle Hubert, We owe thee much; within this wall of flesh 1 Gold coin of that name. 2 It appears from Johnson's Ecclesiastical Laws, that sentence of ex communication was to be "explained in order in English, with bells tolling and candles lighted, that it may cause the greater dread; for laymen have greater regard to this solemnity than to the effect of such sentences." |