Wear out the day in peace; but, ere sunset,
Set armed discord 'twixt these perjur'd kings!
Hear me ! O, hear me!

Aust.

Lady Constance, peace!

Const. War! war! no peace! peace is to me a

war.

O, Lymoges! O, Austria! thou dost shame

That bloody spoil thou slave, thou wretch, thou coward;

Thou little valiant, great in villainy!

Thou ever strong upon the stronger side!

Thou fortune's champion, that dost never fight
But when her humorous ladyship is by

To teach thee safety! thou art perjur'd too,
And sooth'st up greatness. What a fool art thou,
A ramping fool, to brag, and stamp, and swear,
Upon my party! Thou cold-blooded slave,
Hast thou not spoke like thunder on my side?
Been sworn my soldier? bidding me depend
Upon thy stars, thy fortune, and thy strength?
And dost thou now fall over to my foes?
Thou wear a lion's hide! doff it for shame,

And hang a calf's-skin on those recreant limbs.

Aust. O, that a man should speak those words to

me!

Bast. And hang a calf's-skin on those recreant

limbs.

Aust. Thou dar'st not say so, villain, for thy life.

Bast. And hang a calf's-skin on those recreant limbs.

K. John. We like not this: thou dost forget thy

self.

10 And sooth'st UP greatness.] So Lodge, in the first Satire of his "Fig for Momus," 1595,

"To wink at follies, and to sooth up sins."

This opportunity may be taken to state, that the re-impression of this very able and interesting work, made at the Auchinleck Press in 1817, is full of misprints, extending even to the omission of entire lines.

Enter PANDulph.

K. Phi. Here comes the holy legate of the pope.

Pand. Hail, you anointed deputies of heaven.

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 dost spurn; and, force perforce,
Keep Stephen Langton, chosen archbishop
Of Canterbury, from that holy see?
This, in our 'foresaid holy father's name,
Pope Innocent, I do demand of thee'.

K. John. What earthy name to interrogatories

Can task the free breath of a sacred king??
Thou canst not, cardinal, devise a name

So slight, unworthy, and ridiculous,

To charge me to an answer, as the pope.

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 supreme head,
So, under him, that great supremacy,

Where we do reign, we will alone uphold,
Without th' assistance of a mortal hand:

1

I do demand of thee.] In the old "King John," this speech thus stands in prose, which Shakespeare has done little more than convert into not very unprosaic verse :—

"I, Pandulph, Cardinal of Milan, and Legate from the see of Rome, demand of thee, in the name of our holy father the Pope, Innocent, why thou dost (contrary to the laws of our holy mother the Church, and our holy father, the Pope) disturb the quiet of the Church, and disannul the election of Stephen Langton, whom his holiness hath elected Archbishop of Canterbury this, in his holyness name, I demand of thee."

2 What EARTHY name to interrogatories

Can TASK the free breath of a sacred king ?] Modern editors, since the time of Pope, have substituted earthly for " earthy," an alteration not required. The change in the next line of tast, as it stands in the old copies, to "task," is necessary, and was an easy misprint.

So tell the pope; all reverence set apart
To him, and his usurp'd authority.

K. Phi. Brother of England, you blaspheme in this. K. John. Though you, and all the kings of Christendom3,

Are led so grossly by this meddling priest,

Dreading the curse that money may buy out,
And, by the merit of vile gold, dross, dust,
Purchase corrupted pardon of a man,
Who, in that sale, sells 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

Against the pope, and count his friends my foes.
Pand. Then, by the lawful power that I have,
Thou shalt stand curs'd, and excommunicate:
And blessed shall he be, that doth revolt
From his allegiance to an heretic;
And meritorious shall that hand be call'd,
Canonized, and worshipp'd as a saint,
That takes away by any secret course
Thy hateful life.

That I have room with Rome to curse awhile.
Good father Cardinal, cry thou amen

To my keen curses; for without my wrong

There is no tongue hath power to curse him right.
Pand. There's law and warrant, lady, for my curse.
Const. 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, since law itself is perfect wrong,

3 Though you, and all the KINGS of Christendom,] This line shows how Shakespeare sometimes altered merely a word in order to render a prose passage verse: in the old “ King John” it stands "Though thou and all the princes of Christendom," &c.

How can the law forbid my tongue to curse?
Pand. Philip of France, on peril of a curse,
Let go the hand of that arch-heretic,

And raise the power of France upon his head,
Unless he do submit himself to Rome.

Eli. Look'st thou pale, France? do not let go thy hand.

Const. Look to that, devil, lest that France repent, And by disjoining hands hell lose a soul.

Aust. King Philip, listen to the cardinal.

Bast. And hang a calf's-skin on his recreant limbs. Aust. Well, ruffian, I must pocket up these wrongs, Because

Bast.
Your breeches best may carry them.
K. John. Philip, what say'st thou to the cardinal?
Const. What should he say, but as the cardinal?
Lew. Bethink you, father; for the difference

Is purchase of a heavy curse from Rome,
Or the light loss of England for a friend:
Forego the casier.

Blanch.

That's the curse of Rome.

Const. O Lewis, stand fast! the devil tempts thee

here,

In likeness of a new untrimmed bride1.

Blanch. The lady Constance speaks not from her faith, But from her need.

Const.

O! if thou grant my need, Which only lives but by the death of faith, That need must needs infer this principle, That faith would 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.

K. John. The king is mov'd, and answers not to this. Const. O be remov'd from him, and answer well. Aust. Do so, king Philip: hang no more in doubt.

In likeness of a new UNTRIMMED bride.] A misprint may be suspected here. Theobald reads, “and trimmed,” in reference to Blanch's adornments.

Bast. Hang nothing but a calf's-skin, most sweet lout.

K. Phi. I am perplex'd, and know not what to say. Pand. What canst thou say, but will perplex thee

more,

If thou stand excommunicate, and curs'd?

K. Phi. Good reverend father, make my person

yours,

And tell me how you would bestow yourself.
This royal hand and mine are newly knit,
And the conjunction of our inward souls
Married in league, coupled and link'd together
With all religious strength of sacred vows;
The latest breath that gave the sound of words,
Was deep-sworn faith, peace, amity, true love,
Between our kingdoms, and our royal selves;
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, they were besmear'd and overstain'd
With slaughter's pencil; where revenge did paint
The fearful difference of incensed kings:
And shall these hands, so lately purg'd of blood,

So newly join'd in love, so strong in both,
Unyoke this seizure, and this kind regreet?
Play fast and loose with faith? so jest with heaven,
Make such unconstant children of ourselves,
As now again to snatch our palm from palm;
Unswear faith sworn; and on the marriage bed
Of smiling peace to march a bloody host,
And make a riot on the gentle brow
Of true sincerity? O! holy sir,
My reverend father, let it not be so :
Out of your grace, devise, ordain, impose

Some gentle order, and then we shall be bless'd
To do your pleasure, and continue friends.

Pand. All form is formless, order orderless,