Bast. But, if you be afeard to hear the worst, K. John. Bear with me, cousin; for I was amaz'd Bast. How I have sped among the clergymen, Your highness should deliver up your crown. K. John. Thou idle dreamer, wherefore didst thou so? I shall yield up my crown, let him be hang'd: For I must use thee.-O my gentle cousin, [Exit HUBERT, with PETER. Hear'st thou the news abroad, who are arriv'd? Bast. The French, my lord; men's mouths are full of it : Besides, I met lord Bigot, and lord Salisbury, (With eyes as red as new-enkindled fire,) And thrust thyself into their companies: Bast. I will seek them out. K. John. Nay, but make haste: the better foot before. O, let me have no subject enemies, When adverse foreigners affright my towns Be Mercury, set feathers to thy heels; And fly, like thought, from them to me again. Bast. The spirit of the time shall teach me speed. [Exit. K. John. Spoke like a spriteful noble gentleman. Go after him; for he, perhaps, shall need Some messenger betwixt me and the And be thou he. Mess. peers; With all my heart, my liege. [Exit. K. John. My mother dead! Re-enter HUBERT. Hub. My lord, they say five moons were seen to-night: Four fixed; and the fifth did whirl about The other four, in wondrous motion. K. John. Five moons? Old men, and beldams, in the streets Do prophesy upon it dangerously: Young Arthur's death is common in their mouths: And he that speaks doth gripe the hearer's wrist; & Contrary feet. In 'The Two Gentlemen of Verona' we have given a short note on the right and left shoe. The fashion of Shakspere's time is now well understood through a similar fashion in our own;-but half a century ago this passage was adjudged to be one of the many proofs of Shakspere's ignorance or carelessness. Johnson says, with ludicrous solemnity, "Shakspere seems to have confounded the man's shoes with his gloves. He that is frighted or hurried may put his hand into the wrong glove, but either shoe will equally admit either foot. The author seems to be disturbed by the disorder which he describes." Told of a many thousand warlike French, Cuts off his tale, and talks of Arthur's death. K. John. Why seek'st thou to possess me with these fears? Why urgest thou so oft young Arthur's death? Thy hand hath murther'd him: I had a mighty cause To wish him dead, but thou hadst none to kill him. Hub. None had, my lord! why, did you not provoke me? K. John. It is the curse of kings to be attended By slaves that take their humours for a warrant To break within the bloody house of life; And, on the winking of authority, To understand a law; to know the meaning Of dangerous majesty, when, perchance, it frowns Hub. Here is your hand and seal for what I did. K. John. O, when the last account 'twixt heaven and earth Is to be made, then shall this hand and seal Witness against us to damnation! How oft the sight of means to do ill deeds Makes ill deeds done! Hadst not thou been by, A fellow by the hand of nature mark'd, Quoted, and sign'd, to do a deed of shame, I faintly broke with thee of Arthur's death; Made it no conscience to destroy a prince. Hub. My lord, K. John. Hadst thou but shook thy head, or made a pause, When I spake darkly what I purposed, Or turn'd an eye of doubt upon my face, a None had. The original gives no had. The common reading is had none. b We have ventured upon a transposition. The original is "makes deeds ill done;"—but this might apply to good deeds unskilfully performed. As bida me tell my tale in express words, Deep shame had struck me dumb, made me break off, And didst in signs again parley with sin; The deed, which both our tongues held vile to name. My nobles leave me; and my state is brav'd, This kingdom, this confine of blood and breath, Between my conscience and my cousin's death. Hub. Arm you against your other enemies, The dreadful motion of a murtherous thought; Is yet the cover of a fairer mind Than to be butcher of an innocent child. K. John. Doth Arthur live? O, haste thee to the peers, Throw this report on their incensed rage, And make them tame to their obedience! Forgive the comment that my passion made Upon thy feature; for my rage was blind, And foul imaginary eyes of blood Presented thee more hideous than thou art. O, answer not; but to my closet bring The angry lords, with all expedient haste : I conjure thee but slowly; run more fast. a As bid-elliptically for as to bid. [Exeunt. SCENE III.-The same. Before the Castle. Enter ARTHUR, on the Walls. Arth. The wall is high; and yet will I leap down :— Good ground, be pitiful, and hurt me not! There's few, or none, do know me; if they did, If I get down, and do not break my limbs, As good to die and go, as die and stay. O me! my uncle's spirit is in these stones : [Leaps down. Heaven take my soul, and England keep my bones! [Dies. Enter PEMBROKE, SALISBURY, and BIGOT. Sal. Lords, I will meet him at Saint Edmund's-Bury; It is our safety, and we must embrace This gentle offer of the perilous time. Pem. Who brought that letter from the cardinal? Big. To-morrow morning let us meet him then. Enter the Bastard. Bast. Once more to-day well met, distemper'd lords! We will not line his thin bestained cloak Bast. Whate'er you think, good words, I think, were best. a Or e'er we meet-before we meet. So in Ecclesiastes, "or ever the silver cord be loosed." |