Sir John

“ Thus we here have Sir John in the process of complacently feeding his glutton fancies with matter raked from the foulest gutters of baseness. The women, burning with anger and shame, knock their wits together for revenge; and the answer which they, in their shrewdly-concerted plan, return to his advances is to him a pledge of entire success: he is so transported, that he leaps clean out of his senses forthwith, and the giddiness of his newly-fired conceit fairly puts out the eyes of his understanding. ”

“ Sir John had no sympathy with a generation of men and women who would rather be laughed at and despised than unnoticed. He belonged to an age wherein it was held better to be a gentleman than the object of a cheap and evanescent notoriety—and he was at once the despair and the dread of newspaper interviewers, enterprising publishers, and tuft-hunters. ”

“ Sir John held the authority, and the keenness of his interest was in no wise diminished by his age; but he was an old man, nearly seventy-five, and honourably afflicted with the gout. He could only seldom ride on his grey horse from farm to farm, snarling at the bailiff or the stockman, winking at the chicken girl—even to drive out in his heavy Wolsey car gave him chills. ”

“ 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. ”

“ FRIAR. Is this Prince John?
Give me thy hand, thou art a proper man:
And for this morning's work, by saints above,
Be ever sure of Friar Tuck's true love.
JOHN. Be not offended that I touch thy shrine;
Make this hand happy: let it fold in thine.
Enter ROBIN HOOD, FITZWATER, ELY, WARMAN.
ROB. H. What saucy woodman, Marian, stands so near?
JOHN. A woodman, Robin, that would strike your deer
With all his heart. Nay, never look so strange,
You see this fickle world is full of change:
John is a ranger, man, compell'd to range.
FITZ. You are young, wild lord, and well may travel bear. ”

“ 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. ”

“ John, my lord, with all his scattered troops, Flying the fury of your conquering sword, As Pharaoh erst within the bloody sea, So he and his environed with the tide, On Lincoln washes all were overwhelmed, The barons fled, our forces cast away. ”

“ Is this the man that doth contemn the pope? Is this the man that robbed the holy church, And yet will fly unto a friary? Is this the king that aims at abbeys’ lands? Is this the man whom all the world abhors, And yet will fly unto a friary? Accursed be Swinstead Abbey, abbot, friars, Monks, nuns, and clerks, and all that dwells therein, If wicked John escape alive away. Now if that thou wilt look to merit heaven, And be canonized for a holy saint, To please the world with a deserving work, Be thou the man to set thy country free, And murder him that seeks to murder thee. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ At an evening reception in London, Sir John, who was standing a little apart, saw a lady attract another's attention, saying in an earnest whisper, 'You say you have never seen Lord Beaconsfield. There he is,' pointing to Sir John. ”

“ 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 ”

“ And Sir John, when he had riped the turret weel, led my gudesire into the dining-parlour, and took him by the hand, and spoke kindly to him, and said he was sorry he should have doubted his word, and that he would hereafter be a good master to him, to make amends.
“And now, Steenie,” said Sir John, “although this vision of yours tends, on the whole, to my father’s credit as an honest man, that he should, even after his death, desire to see justice done to a poor man like you, yet you are sensible that ill-dispositioned men might make bad constructions upon it concerning his soul’s health. ”

“ 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 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. ”

“ Do you feel your head at all heavy, Sir John—a sensation of weight?”
“Not at all,” replied the other:—“my head is (except my purse) the lightest thing I possess at present.”
The disciple of Galen still supposed Sir John was jesting as to his purse, inasmuch as the plum-coloured vis-a-vis, with arms, crests, and mantlings to match—with groom, geldings, and the baronet’s white Arabian, still remained at the Hotel de Wagram, Rue de la Paix. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Heaven guard my mother's honour and my land! KING JOHN. A good blunt fellow. Why, being younger born, Doth he lay claim to thine inheritance? BASTARD. I know not why, except to get the land. But once he slander'd me with bastardy; But whe'er I be as true begot or no, That still I lay upon my mother's head; But that I am as well begot, my liege- Fair fall the bones that took the pains for me!- Compare our faces and be judge yourself. If old Sir Robert did beget us both And were our father, and this son like him- O old Sir Robert, father, on my knee I give heaven thanks I was not like to thee! ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ An ardent, white-toothed, ready youth, One who for aught he did ne’er mourned. This is the eighth day without John, Heir to M’Leod of bluest eye; Like he is in mien and strength To the great house of liberal heart. Cheerful he is, does nought conceal, Such is the fame of sharp-armed John. In battle’s day he takes the lead, Ever ready fame to win. William’s son, my foster child, Son to Janet, royal her race, Did I but hear thou cam’st from the north, All my gloom would disappear. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Enter King John, Eleanor, Arthur, the Bastard, Hubert and Lords.
KING JOHN.
[To Eleanor] So shall it be; your grace shall stay behind
So strongly guarded.
[To Arthur] Cousin, look not sad.
Thy grandam loves thee, and thy uncle will
As dear be to thee as thy father was.
ARTHUR.
O, this will make my mother die with grief!
KING JOHN.
[To the Bastard] Cousin, away for England! Haste before,
And, ere our coming, see thou shake the bags
Of hoarding abbots; imprison’d angels
Set at liberty. The fat ribs of peace
Must by the hungry now be fed upon. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Faithful John was his best-beloved servant, and was so called because he had served the King faithfully all his life long. When he came near the bed, the King said to him, "Faithful John, I feel my end drawing near, and my only care is for my son; he is yet of tender years, and does not always know how to shape his conduct; and unless you promise me to instruct him in all his actions and be a true foster-father to him, I shall not be able to close my eyes in peace." Then answered Faithful John, "I will never forsake him, and will serve him faithfully, even though it should cost me my life." ”

“ BASTARD. All Kent hath yielded; nothing there holds out But Dover Castle. London hath receiv'd, Like a kind host, the Dauphin and his powers. Your nobles will not hear you, but are gone To offer service to your enemy; And wild amazement hurries up and down The little number of your doubtful friends. KING JOHN. Would not my lords return to me again After they heard young Arthur was alive? BASTARD. They found him dead, and cast into the streets, An empty casket, where the jewel of life By some damn'd hand was robbed and ta'en away. KING JOHN. That villain Hubert told me he did live. ”