Enter PANDUlph. K. Phil. 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, Why thou against the church, our holy mother, K. John. What earthly name to interrogatories, Can task the free breath of a sacred king ?* So slight, unworthy, and ridiculous, To charge me to an answer, as the pope. Tell him this tale; and from the mouth of England, But as we under heaven are supreme head, K. Phil. Brother of England, you blaspheme in this. K. John. Tho' you, and all the kings of Christendom, Are led so grossly by this meddling priest, Dreading the curse that money may buy out; My father's foe clad in my father's spoil! Till I have torn that trophy from thy back, And split thy heart for wearing it so long." STEEVENS. [4] This must have been, at the time when it was written, in our struggles with popery, a very captivating scene. So many passages remain in which Shakespeare evidently takes his advantage of the facts then recent, and of the passions then in motion, that I cannot but suspect that time has obscured much of his art, and that many allusions yet remain undiscovered, which perhaps may be gradually retrieved by succeeding commentators. JOHNSON. Purchase corrupted pardon of a man, Who, in that sale, sells pardon from himself: Against the pope, and count his friends my foes. That takes away by any secret course Const. O, lawful let it be, 1 That I have room with Rome to curse a while! To my keen curses; for, without my wrong, 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 ? Or we may [5] This may allude to the bull published against Queen Elizabeth. suppose, since we have no proof that this play appeared in its present state before the reign of King James, that it was exhibited soon after the popish plot. I have seen a Spanish book in which Garnet, Faux and their accomplices, are registered as saints. JOHNSON. Lew. Bethink you, father; for the difference Blanch. That's the curse of Rome. Const. O Lewis, stand fast; the devil tempts thee here, In likeness of a new untrimmed bride. 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, K. John. The king is mov'd, and answers not to this. K. Phil. 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, [6] It is a political maxim, that kingdoms are never married. Lewis, upon the wedding is for making war upon his new relations. JOHNSON. Make such unconstant children of ourselves, My reverend father, let it not be so : Pand. All form is formless, order orderless, France, thou may'st hold a serpent by the tongue, A fasting tyger safer by the tooth, Than keep in peace that hand which thou dost hold. Thy tongue against thy tongue. O, let thy vow For that, which thou hast sworn to do amiss, And being not done, where doing tends to ill, Is, to mistake again; though indirect, Yet indirection thereby grows direct, 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 most forsworn, to keep what thou dost swear. 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's-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 slaughter'd men ? O husband, hear me !-ah, alack, how new Is husband in my mouth!—even for that name, Against mine uncle. 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 whicn upholdeth him that thee upholds, His honour: O, thine honour, Lewis, thine honour! Lew. I muse, your majesty doth seem so cold, When such profound respects do pull you on. Pand. I will denounce a curse upon his head. K. Phil. Thou shalt not need :-England, I'll fall from thee. Const. O fair return of banish'd majesty ! Eli. O foul revolt of French inconstancy! 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. |