K. John. Then God forgive the sin of all those souls, That to their everlasting residence, Before the dew of evening fall, shall fleet, K. Phi. Amen, Amen!--Mount, chevaliers! to arms! Bast. St. George,-that swing'd the dragon, and e'er since, Sits on his horseback at mine hostess' door, And make a monster of you. Aust. Peace; no more. Bast. O, tremble; for you hear the lion roar. K. John. Up higher to the plain; where we'll set forth, In best appointment, all our regiments. Bast. Speed then, to take advantage of the field. K. Phi. It shall be so;-[To LEWIS] and at the other hill Command the rest to stand.-God, and our right! [Exeunt. SCENE II. The same. Alarums and Excursions; then a Retreat. Enter a French Herald, with trumpets, to the gates. F. Her. You men of Angiers, open wide your gates, And let young Arthur, duke of Bretagne, in; Who, by the hand of France, this day hath made Much work for tears in many an English mother, Whose sons lye scatter'd on the bleeding ground: Enter an English Herald, with trumpets. E. Her. Rejoice, you men of Angiers, ring your bells; King John, your king and England's, doth approach, Their armours, that march'd hence so silver-bright, Our colours do return in those same hands Cit. Heralds, from off our towers we might From first to last, the onset and retire Blood hath bought blood, and blows have answer'd blows: Strength match'd with strength, and power confronted power: 2 · cannot be censured:] i. e. cannot be estimated. Our author ought rather to have written-whose superiority, or whose inequality, cannot be censured. Both are alike; and both alike we like. One must prove greatest: while they weigh so even, We hold our town for neither; yet for both. Enter, at one side, King JOHN, with his power; ELINOR, BLANCH, and the Bastard; at the other, King PHILIP, LEWIS, AUSTRIA, and Forces. K. John. France, hast thou yet more blood to cast away? Say, shall the current of our right run on? A peaceful progress to the ocean. K. Phi. England, thou hast not sav'd one drop of blood; In this hot trial, more than we of France; Or add a royal number to the dead; Gracing the scroll, that tells of this war's loss, You equal potents,] Potents for potentates. Then let confusion of one part confirm The other's peace; till then, blows, blood, and death! K. John. Whose party do the townsmen yet ad mit? K. Phi. Speak, citizens, for England; who's your king? 1 Cit. The king of England, when we know the king. K. Phi. Know him in us, that here hold up his right. K. John. In us, that are our own great deputy, And bear possession of our person here; Lord of our presence, Angiers, and of you. 1 Cit. A greater power than we, denies all this; And, till it be undoubted, we do lock Our former scruple in our strong-barr'd gates: And stand securely on their battlements, 6 Be friends a while, and both conjointly bend • King'd of our fears;] i. e. ruled by our fears. 5 these scroyles of Angiers-] Escroulles, Fr. i. e. scabby, scrophulous fellows. "Do like the mutines of Jerusalem,] The mutines are the mutineers, the seditious. 7 Till their soul-fearing clamours-] i. e. soul-appalling. The flinty ribs of this contemptuous city: Leave them as naked as the vulgar air. To whom in favour she shall give the day, How like you this wild counsel, mighty states? K. John. Now, by the sky that hangs above our heads, I like it well;-France, shall we knit our powers, Bast. An if thou hast the mettle of a king,Being wrong'd, as we are, by this peevish town,— Turn thou the mouth of thy artillery, As we will ours, against these saucy walls: And when that we have dash'd them to the ground, Why, then defy each other; and, pell-mell, K. John. We from the west will send destruction Into this city's bosom. Aust. I from the north. K. Phi. Our thunder from the south, Shall rain their drift of bullets on this town. Bast. O prudent discipline! From north to south; Austria and France shoot in each other's mouth: [Aside. |