“ King John
Lady, stand up, be patient for awhile; And fellow, say, whose bastard is thy brother? Philip
Not for myself, nor for my mother now, But for the honor of so brave a man, Whom he accuseth with adultery, Here I beseech your grace upon my knees, To count him mad, and so dismiss us hence. Robert
Nor mad, nor mazed, but well advised, I Charge thee before this royal presence here To be a bastard to King Richard’s self, Son to your grace, and brother to your Majesty. Thus bluntly, and— Queen Eleanor
Young man, thou need’st not be ashamed of thy kin, Nor of thy sire. ”

“ Thou must surrender to the see of Rome Thy crown and diadem, then shall the pope Defend thee from th’ invasion of thy foes. And where his Holiness hath kindled France, And set thy subjects hearts at war with thee, Then shall he curse thy foes, and beat them down, That seek the discontentment of the king. King John
From bad to worse! Or I must lose my realm, Or give my crown for penance unto Rome! A misery more piercing than the darts That break from burning exhalation’s power. What? Shall I give my crown with this right hand? No! With this hand defend thy crown and thee. ”

“ Thus England’s peace begins in Henry’s reign, And bloody wars are closed with happy league. Let England live but true within itself, And all the world can never wrong her state. Lewis, thou shalt be bravely shipped to France, For never Frenchman got of English ground The twentieth part that thou hast conquered. Dolphin, thy hand; to Worster we will march. Lords all lay hands to bear your sovereign With obsequies of honor to his grave. If England’s peers and people join in one, Nor Pope, nor France, nor Spain can do them wrong. ”

“ My gracious mother queen, and barons all: Though far unworthy of so high a place, As is the throne of mighty England’s king, Yet John your lord, contented uncontent, Will (as he may) sustain the heavy yoke Of pressing cares that hang upon a crown. My Lord of Pembroke, and Lord Salisbury, Admit the Lord Chatillon to our presence, That we may know what Philip king of France (By his ambassadors) requires of us. Queen Eleanor
Dare lay my hand that Eleanor can guess Whereto this weighty embassade doth tend: If of my nephew, Arthur, and his claim, Then say my son I have not missed my aim. ”

“ Please it your Majesty, the prince of France With all the nobles of your grace’s land, Are marching hitherward in good array. Where e’er they set their foot, all places yield; Thy land is theirs, and not a foot holds out But Dover Castle, which is hard besieged. [Cardinal] Pandulph
Fear not, King John, thy kingdom is the pope’s, And they shall know his Holiness hath power To beat them soon from whence he hath to do. Drums and trumpets. Enter Lewis, Meloun, Salisbury, Essex, Pembroke, and all
the nobles from France, and England. ”

“ Philip, a chair, and by and by a grave, My legs disdain the carriage of a king. Bastard
Ah, good my liege, with patience conquer grief, And bear this pain with kingly fortitude. John
Methinks I see a catalogue of sin Wrote by a fiend in marble characters, The least enough to lose my part in heaven. Methinks the devil whispers in mine ears And tells me ‘tis in vain to hope for grace, I must be damned for Arthur’s sudden death. I see—I see a thousand thousand men Come to accuse me for my wrong on earth, And there is none so mercifull a god That will forgive the number of my sins. ”

“ The king comes. John
Come on, Lord Abbot, shall we sit together? Abbot
Pleaseth your grace sit down. John
Take your places, sirs, no pomp in penury, all beggars and friends may come; where necessity keeps the house, courtesy is barred the table. Sit down, Philip. Bastard
My lord, I am loath to allude so much to the proverb, “honors change manners”; a king is a king, though fortune do her worst, and we as dutiful in despite of her frown, as if your highness were now in the highest type of dignity. ”

“ O peers of England, know you what you do? There’s but a hair that sunders you from harm, The hook is baited, and the train is made, And simply you run doting to your deaths. But lest I die, and leave my tale untold, With silence slaughtering so brave a crew, This I aver, if Lewis win the day, There’s not an Englishman that lifts his hand Against King John to plant the heir of France, But is already damned to cruel death. ”

“ The monk, the devil, the poison ‘gins to rage; It will depose myself a king from reign. Bastard
This abbot hath an interest in this act— At all adventures take thou that from me. There lie the abbot, abbey, lubber, devil. March with the monk unto the gates of hell. How fares my lord? John
Philip, some drink! Oh for the frozen Alps To tumble on and cool this inward heat That rageth as the furnace sevenfold hot To burn the holy three in Babylon. Power after power forsake their proper power; Only the heart impugns with faint resist The fierce invade of him that conquers kings. ”

“ So wrong shall be suborned by trust of strength; A tyrant’s practice to invest himself, Where weak resistance giveth wrong the way, To check the which, in holy lawful arms, I in the right of Arthur Geoffrey’s son, Am come before this city of Angiers, To bar all other false supposed claim, From whence or howsoe’er the error springs. And in his quarrel on my princely word, I’ll fight it out unto the latest man. John
Know, king of France, I will not be commanded By any power or prince in Christendom, To yield an instance how I hold mine own, More than to answer, that mine own is mine. ”

“ But I, my lord, can prove, and do aver Both to my mother’s shame and his reproach, He is no heir, nor yet legitimate. Then, gracious lord, let Falconbridge enjoy The living that belongs to Falconbridge, And let not him possess another’s right. King John
Prove this, the land is thine by England’s law. Queen Eleanor
Ungracious youth, to rip thy mother’s shame, The womb from whence thou didst thy being take. All honest ears abhor thy wickedness, But gold I see doth beat down nature’s law. ”

“ He animates the nobles in their wars, He gives away the crown to Philip’s son, And pardons all that seek to murder thee— And thus blind zeal is still predominant. Then John, there is no way to keep thy crown, But finely to dissemble with the pope; That hand that gave the wound must give the salve To cure the hurt, else quite incurable. Thy sins are far too great to be the man T’ abolish pope, and popery from thy realm, But in thy seat, if I may guess at all, A king shall reign that shall suppress them all. Peace John, here comes the legate of the pope ”

“ My soul doth fleet; world’s vanities farewell. Salisbury
Now joy betide thy soul well-meaning man. How now my lords, what cooling card is this? A greater grief grows now than erst hath been. What counsel give you, shall we stay and die? Or shall we home, and kneel unto the king. Pembroke
My heart misgave this sad accursed news: What have we done? Fie lords, what frenzy moved Our hearts to yield unto the pride of France? If we persever, we are sure to die; If we desist, small hope again of life. ”

“ Though John be faulty, yet let subjects bear, He will amend and right the people’s wrongs. A mother though she were unnatural, Is better than the kindest stepdame is: Let never Englishman trust foreign rule. Then, Philip, show thy fealty to thy king, And ‘mongst the nobles plead thou for the king. Bastard
I go my lord. See how he is distraught, This is the cursed priest of Italy Hath heaped these mischiefs on this hapless land. Now Philip, hadst thou Tully’s eloquence, Then might’st thou hope to plead with good success. ”

“ Trust me my lord, right well have you advised, Venom for use, but never for a sport Is to be dallied with, lest it infect. Were you installed, as soon I hope you shall, Be free from traitors, and dispatch them all. Lewis
That so I mean, I swear before you all On this same altar, and by heaven’s power, There’s not an English traitor of them all, John once dispatched, and I fair England’s king, Shall on his shoulders bear his head one day, But I will crop it for their guilt’s desert. Nor shall their heirs enjoy their signories, But perish by their parents’ foul amiss. ”

“ I rather think the menace of the world Sounds in his ears as threats of no esteem, And sooner would he scorn Europae’s power, Than lose the smallest title he enjoys— For questionless he is an Englishman. Lewis
Why are the English peerless in compare? Brave cavaliers as ere that island bred, Have lived and died, and dared and done enough, Yet never graced their country for the cause: England is England, yielding good and bad, And John of England is as other Johns. Trust me, young Arthur, if thou like my reed, Praise thou the French that help thee in this need. ”

“ Success may follow thee; Thus hast thou showed thy kindness to thy king. Sirrah, in haste go greet the cardinal, Pandulph I mean, the legate from the pope. Say that the king desires to speak with him. Now John, bethink thee how thou may’st resolve, And if thou wilt continue England’s king, Then cast about to keep thy diadem, For life and land, and all is leveled at. The pope of Rome, ‘tis he that is the cause, He curseth thee, he sets thy subjects free From due obedience to their sovereign ”

“ Let land and living go, ‘tis honor’s fire That makes me swear King Richard was my sire. Base to a king adds title of more state Than knights begotten, though legitimate. Please it your grace, I am King Richard’s son. Robert
Robert, revive thy heart, let sorrow die, His falt’ring tongue not suffers him to lie. Mother
What head-strong fury doth enchant my son? Philip
Philip cannot repent, for he hath done. John
Then Philip, blame not me; thyself hast lost By willfulness, thy living and thy land. Robert, thou art the heir of Falconbridge; God give thee joy, greater than thy desert. ”

“ Lewis, the Dolphin and the heir of France, A man of noted valor through the world, Is yet unmarried: let him take to wife The beauteous daughter of the King of Spain, Niece to King John, the lovely lady Blanche, Begotten on his sister Eleanor. With her in marriage will her uncle give Castles and towers as fitteth such a match. The kings thus joined in league of perfect love, They may so deal with Arthur, duke of Brittany, Who is but young, and yet unmeet to reign, As he shall stand contented every way. ”

“ Pandulph, as gave his Holiness in charge, So hath the Dolphin mustered up his troops And won the greatest part of all this land. But ill becomes your grace, Lord Cardinal, Thus to converse with John that is accursed. [Cardinal] Pandulph
Lewis of France, victorious conqueror, Whose sword hath made this island quake for fear: Thy forwardness to fight for holy Rome, Shall be remunerated to the full. But know, my lord, King John is now absolved; The pope is pleased, the land is blessed again, And thou hast brought each thing to good effect. ”

“ The peers which were the party on my side Are fled from me; then boots not me to fight, But on conditions, as mine honor wills, I am contented to depart the realm. Henry
On what conditions will your Highness yield? Lewis
That shall we think upon by more advice. Bastard
Then kings and princes, let these broils have end, And at more leisure talk upon the league. Meanwhile to Worster let us bear the king, And there inter his body, as beseems. But first, in sight of Lewis, heir of France, Lords, take the crown and set it on his head, That by succession is our lawful king. They crown young Henry. ”

“ I came not lords to troop as traitors do, Nor will I counsel in so bad a cause. Please you return, we go again as friends, If not, I to my king, and you where traitors please. Exit.
Percy
A hot young man, and so, my lords, proceed, Aye let him go, and better lost than found. Pembroke
What say you lords, will all the rest proceed, Will you all with me swear upon the altar That you will to the death be aid to Lewis and enemy to John? Every man lay his hand by mine, in witness of his heart’s accord. Well then, every man to arms to meet the king Who is already before London. ”

“ Pembroke
Aye, there’s the way, let’s rather kneel to him, Than to the French that would confound us all. Exeunt.
Scene 19 Enter King John carried between 2 lords.
John
Set down, set down the load not worth your pain, For done I am with deadly wounding grief; Sickly and succorless, hopeless of any good, The world hath wearied me, and I have wearied it. It loathes I live, I live and loathe myself. Who pities me? To whom have I been kind? But to a few; a few will pity me. Why die I not? Death scorns so vile a prey. Why live I not? Life hates so sad a prize. ”

“ Therewith receive this favor at my hands, T’encourage thee to follow Richard’s fame. Arthur
Ye citizens of Angiers, are ye mute? Arthur or John, say which shall be your king! Citizen
We care not which, if once we knew the right, But till we know we will not yield our right. Bastard
Might Philip counsel two so mighty kings, As are the kings of England and of France, He would advise your graces to unite And knit your forces ‘gainst these citizens, Pulling their battered walls about their ears. The town once won, then strive about the claim, For they are minded to delude you both. ”

“ We joy to see so sweet a peace begun. Lewis
Lewis with Blanche shall ever live content. But now, King John, what say you to the duke? Father, speak as you may in his behalf. Philip
King John, be good unto thy nephew here, And give him somewhat that shall please thee best. John
Arthur, although thou troublest England’s peace, Yet here I give thee Brittany for thine own, Together with the earldom of Richmond, And this rich city of Angiers withal. ”