Prince John

“ And none of you will bid the winter come To thrust his icy fingers in my maw, Nor let my kingdom's rivers take their course Through my burn'd bosom, nor entreat the north To make his bleak winds kiss my parched lips And comfort me with cold. I do not ask you much; I beg cold comfort; and you are so strait And so ingrateful you deny me that. PRINCE HENRY. O that there were some virtue in my tears, That might relieve you! KING JOHN. The salt in them is hot. Within me is a hell; and there the poison Is as a fiend confin'd to tyrannize On unreprievable condemned blood. ”

“ 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. ”

“ BLANCH. That she is bound in honour still to do What you in wisdom still vouchsafe to say. KING JOHN. Speak then, Prince Dauphin; can you love this lady? LEWIS. Nay, ask me if I can refrain from love; For I do love her most unfeignedly. KING JOHN. Then do I give Volquessen, Touraine, Maine, Poictiers, and Anjou, these five provinces, With her to thee; and this addition more, Full thirty thousand marks of English coin. Philip of France, if thou be pleas'd withal, Command thy son and daughter to join hands. KING PHILIP. It likes us well; young princes, close your hands. ”

“ As soon as Prince John observed that the destined Queen of the day arrived upon the field, assuming that air of courtesy which sat well upon him when he was pleased to exhibit it, he rode forward to meet her, doffed his bonnet, and, alighting from his horse, assisted the Lady Rowena from her saddle, while his followers uncovered at the same time, and one of the most distinguished dismounted to hold her palfrey.
“It is thus,” said Prince John, “that we set the dutiful example of loyalty to the Queen of Love and Beauty, and are ourselves her guide to the throne which she must this day occupy. ”

“ But, John, a strange thing has befallen. The Prince should now be well upon the road to health. He should be gaining strength every day. There seems no reason otherwise. But such happens not. He lies passive and dazed. He seems not to care whether he lives or dies. He never speaks nor smiles, only looks sometimes at me as if he wanted to ask me something. ”

“ ROB. H. Away with thee? No; get thee far away
From me, foul Marian, fair though thou be nam'd;
For thy bewitching eyes have raised storms,
That have my name and noblesse ever sham'd;
Prince John, my dear friend once, is now for thee
Become an unrelenting enemy.
JOHN. But I'll relent and love thee, if thou leave her.
ROB. H. And Elinor my sovereign, mother-queen, [181]
That yet retains true passion in her breast,
Stands mourning yonder. Hence! I thee detest. ”

“ That deceiv'd Sir Richard Fauconbridge.
He got your sword, Prince John: 'twas he that sav'd
The porter, and beguil'd the pursuivant.
JOHN. A vengeance on him!
GLO. Do not curse, good prince;
He's bad enough, 'twere better pray for him.
JOHN. I'll kill thee, and thou bid us pray for him,
I'll fell [the] woods, and ring thee round with fire,
Make thee an offering unto fierce revenge,
If thou have but a thought to pray for him.
GLO. I am bound to pray for [514] all men, chiefly Christians.
JOHN. Ha, ha, for Christians? think'st thou he is one?
For men? hast thou opinion he is a man? ”

“ The diminished list of competitors for sylvan fame still amounted to eight. Prince John stepped from his royal seat to view the persons of these chosen yeomen. He looked for the object of his resentment, whom he observed standing on the same spot, and with the same composed countenance which he had exhibited upon the preceding day.
"Fellow," said Prince John, "I guessed by thy insolent babble thou wert no true lover of the long-bow, and I see thou darest not adventure thy skill among such merry-men as stand yonder." ”

“ 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. ”

“ My Marian, my fair life, my beauteous love
Is coming, to give comfort to my grief,
And the sly queen, intending to deceive,
Hath taught us how we should her sleights receive. [178]
But who is this? God's pity! here's Prince John.
JOHN. Good even, sir. This clear evening should portend
Some frost, I think: how judge you, honest friend?
ROB. H. I am not weather-wise; but it may be
We shall have hard frost; for true charity,
Good dealing, faithful friendship, honesty,
Are chill-cold, dead with cold.
JOHN. O good sir, stay,
That frost hath lasted many a bitter day. ”

“ Please it your grace, the barons of the land, Which all this while bare arms against the king, Conducted by the legate of the pope, Together with the prince his Highness’ son, Do crave to be admitted to the presence of the king. Bastard
Your son, my lord, young Henry craves to see Your Majesty, and brings with him beside The barons that revolted from your grace. O piercing sight, he fumbleth in the mouth, His speech doth fail; lift up yourself, my lord, And see the prince to comfort you in death. Enter [Cardinal] Pandulph, young Henry, the Barons with daggers in their hands. ”

“ Never, in truth, had that fiery warrior shown more eagerness and determination than in hastening to the conflict which was to decide his fate.
From the hour in which he received intelligence of the prince's incursion, John was all excitement and activity. No sooner did he learn that the heir of England was marching towards Berry, and carrying all before him, than he mustered all his energies to meet the crisis, and to strike a sure and shattering blow at the pride and honour of the nation by whose king the race which he represented had been humbled to the dust. ”

“ That we intend no other than good truth, All that are present of this holy league, For confirmation of our better trust, In presence of his Highness swear with me, The sequel that myself shall utter here. I Thomas Plantagenet, earl of Salisbury, swear upon the altar, and by the holy army of saints, homage and allegiance to the right Christian prince, Lewis of France, as true and rightful king to England, Cornwall and Wales, and to their territories, in the defense whereof I upon the holy altar swear all forwardness. All the English lords swear. ”

“ Every man took off his spurs; every man shortened his lance; and the French were on the point of marching towards the vineyard in which the Prince of Wales was posted, when suddenly, with a splendid train, up to the spot galloped the Cardinal Perigord, who, making a low reverence, intreated John, with uplifted hands and for the love of God, to pause for a moment and hearken. ”

“ But, taking note of thy abhorr'd aspect, Finding thee fit for bloody villainy, Apt, liable to be employ'd in danger, I faintly broke with thee of Arthur's death; And thou, to be endeared to a king, Made it no conscience to destroy a prince. HUBERT. My lord- KING JOHN. Hadst thou but shook thy head or made pause, When I spake darkly what I purposed, Or turn'd an eye of doubt upon my face, As bid me tell my tale in express words, Deep shame had struck me dumb, made me break off, And those thy fears might have wrought fears in me. ”

“ Unfortunately, in such a time the best and bravest men are apt to be among the first to go, while those who stay at home are more likely to be of the less worthy. Prince John, who stayed at home, so proved himself. First, when King Richard was away fighting, and his mother, Queen Eleanor, was regent—that is to say, was ruling the land for him until he returned—John lived in England like a prince, and a very bad prince at that. ”

“ JOHN. This is my cloak, my hat, my rapier;
And either it was Skink or Gloster.
DRA. I know not who 'twas, sir; he said he was Prince John; he took away my apron and a pottle-pot with him, and all-to blooded his head and face.
FAU. We met him, by St Anthony, we met him!
JOHN. The fire of St Anthony confound
This changing counterfeit, whatsoever he be.
RICH. It makes me laugh at envious greediness,
Who feeds upon her own heart's bitterness.
JOHN. Sirrah, you that were born to cry anon,
What other copes-mates have you in the house?
DRA. Sir, my master's gues's [504] be none of my copesmates. ”

“ FAU. Say'st thou me so? we'll find him, by St Mary,
An honest fellow, a good commonwealth's man.
JOHN. There are caves hereabout, good fellow, are there not?
SKINK. Yes, sir; tread the ground, sir, and you shall hear their hollowness; this way, sir, this way.
JOHN. Help, Fauconbridge.
FAU. O, help me, good Prince John.
SKINK. I'll help you both; deliver, sir, deliver! Swounds, linger not. Prince John, put up your purse, or I'll throw poniards down upon your pate. Quickly! when? I am Skink, that 'scap'd ye yesternight, and fled the Fleet in your cloak, carrying me clean out of wind and rain. ”

“ Prince John had now no further excuse for resisting the claim of the Disinherited Knight, whom, therefore, he named the champion of the day.
Through a field slippery with blood and encumbered with broken armor and the bodies of slain [88] and wounded horses, the marshals again conducted the victor to the foot of Prince John’s throne. ”

“ And as Faithful John gave him his hand upon it, the old King became still and silent, laid his head upon the pillow, and died.
When the old King was laid in the grave, Faithful John told the young King what he had promised to his father on his death-bed, and said,
"And I will certainly hold to my promise and be faithful to you, as I was faithful to him, even though it should cost me my life."
When the days of mourning were at an end, Faithful John said to the Prince,
"It is now time that you should see your inheritance; I will show you all the paternal castle." ”

“ The death of the younger king caused a reconciliation between the several members of this dissevered family. Even the Queen Eleanor was once more taken for a while into favour; and in her presence, the Princes Geoffrey and Richard, as well as their younger brother, Prince John, swore to a solemn bond of final peace and concord (1184) . The king, distrusting the untamed disposition of his elder sons, appears to have extended his chief favour and affection towards John. ”

“ John was succeeded in the throne by Charles the dauphin, a prince educated in the school of adversity, and well qualified, by his consummate prudence and experience, to repair all the losses which the kingdom had sustained from the errors of his two predecessors. Contrary to the practice of all the great princes of those times, which held nothing in estimation but military courage, he seems to have fixed it as a maxim never to appear at the head of his armies; and he was the first king in Europe that showed the advantage of policy, foresight, and judgment, above a rash and precipitate valor. ”

“ John’s struggle against the barons and Prince Louis (1216) , afterwards King Louis VIII., was the most creditable episode of his career. But the calamitous situation of England at the moment of his death, on the 19th of October 1216, was in the main his work; and while he lived a national reaction in favour of the dynasty was out of the question.
John’s second wife, Isabella of Angoulême (d. 1246) , who married her former lover, Hugh of Lusignan, after the English king’s death, bore the king two sons, Henry III. and Richard, earl of Cornwall ”

“ What with the animals to play with and John's tumbling, the Prince was continually in gales of laughter, and every day he grew plumper and more rosy. Sometimes it was Brutus who amused him; often the cat and kittens, his first friends. The raven became a great favorite after his introduction to the Prince, which happened in this wise. ”

“ Every preparation having been made, the prince conducted John of Valois and his son to the pavilion; and, having seated them at an elevated table, at which also were placed the Count of Tankerville and the Count of Ponthieu, he caused the French nobles, and knights, and squires who were captives to range themselves at the other tables; and, this done, he himself insisted on serving John with his own hand, and resisted all intreaties to sit down.
"No," said he, in the spirit of that chivalry of which he was the most renowned representative; "I do not deem myself worthy of such an honour ”

“ It is most extraordinary that the open, generous nature of D. John did not lead him to the side of the Duque de Alba, and that, on the contrary, he joined the Prince of Évoli, who rather represented the lawyers and churchmen, but no doubt the explanation must be sought in the cleverness which this party displayed in attracting him, guessing the genuine great qualities of the illustrious youth. ”