But you at your fick service had a prince.
Nay, you may think, my love was crafty love,
And call it, cunning: Do, an if you will:
If heaven be pleas'd that you must use me ill,
Why, then you must.-Will you put out mine eyes?
Thefe eyes, that never did, nor never shall,
So much as frown on you?
I have sworn to do it ;
And with hot irons muft I burn them out.
Arth. Ah, none but in this iron age, would do it!
The iron of itself, though heat red-hot,
Approaching near these eyes, would drink my tears,
And quench his firy indignation,
Even in the matter of mine innocence:
Nay, after that, consume away in rust,
But for containing fire to harm mine eye.
Are you more stubborn-hard than hammer'd iron?
An if an angel should have come to me,
And told me, Hubert should put out mine eyes,
I would not have believ'd no tongue, but Hubert's.
Re-enter Attendants, with cord, irons, &c.
Arth. O, fave me, Hubert, fave me! my eyes are out, Even with the fierce looks of thefe bloody men.
Hub. Give me the iron, I fay, and bind him here.
Arth. Alas, what need you be fo boift'rous rough?
I will not struggle, I will stand stone-still.
For heaven's fake, Hubert, let me not be bound!
Nay, hear me, Hubert! drive these men away,
And I will fit as quiet as a lamb;
I will not stir, nor wince, nor speak a word,
Nor look upon the iron angerly:
Thruft but these men away, and I'll forgive you,
Whatever torment you do put me to.
Hub. Go, ftand within; let me alone with him. ■ Attend. I am best pleas'd to be from fuch a deed. [Exeunt Attendants. Arth. Alas! I then have chid away my friend; He hath a stern look, but a gentle heart :— Let him come back, that his compaffion may
Arth. O heaven -that there were but a mote in yours,
A grain, a dust, a gnat, a wand'ring hair,
Any annoyance in that precious sense !
Then, feeling what small things are boift'rous there,
Your vile intent must needs feem horrible.
Hub. Is this your promise go to, hold your tongue.
Arth. Hubert, the utterance of a brace of tongues.
Muft needs want pleading for a pair of eyes :
Let me not hold my tongue; let me not, Hubert!
Or, Hubert, if you will, cut out my tongue,
So I may keep mine eyes; O, spare mine eyes;
Though to no use, but still to look on you!
Lo, by my troth, the inftrument is cold,
And would not harm me.
Arth. No, in good footh; the fire is dead with grief,
Being create for comfort, to be us'd
In undeserv'd extremes: See elfe yourself;
There is no malice in this burning coal;
The breath of heaven hath blown his spirit out,
And ftrew'd repentant ashes on his head.
Hub. But with my breath I can revive it, boy.
Arth. And if you do, you will but make it blush,
And glow with shame of your proceedings, Hubert:
Nay, it, perchance, will sparkle in your eyes;
And, like a dog that is compell'd to fight,
Snatch at his master that doth tarre him on.
All things, that you should use to do me wrong,
Deny their office: only you do lack
That mercy, which fierce fire, and iron, extends,
Creatures of note for mercy-lacking uses.
Hub. Well, fee to live; I will not touch thine eyes
For all the treasure that thine uncle owes :
Yet am I fworn, and I did purpose, boy,
With this fame very iron to burn them out.
Arth. O, now you look like Hubert! all this while You were disguised.
Hub.
Adieu;
Your uncle must not know but you are dead:
I'll fill thefe dogged fpies with falfe reports.
And, pretty child, fleep doubtless, and secure,
That Hubert, for the wealth of all the world,
Will not offend thee.
Arth.
O heaven;-I thank you, Hubert.
Hub. Silence; no more: Go closely in with me;
Much danger do I undergo for thee.
The fame. A Room of state in the Palace.
Enter King JOHN, crowned; PEMBROKE, SALISBURY, and other Lords. The King takes his ftate.
K. John. Here once again we fit, once again crown'd, And look'd upon, I hope, with cheerful eyes.
Pem. This once again, but that your highness pleas'd,
Was once fuperfluous: you were crown'd before,
And that high royalty was ne'er pluck'd off,
The faiths of men ne'er stained with revolt;
Fresh expectation troubled not the land,
With any long'd-for change, or better state.
Sal. Therefore to be poffefs'd with double pomp,
To guard a title that was rich before,
To gild refined gold, to paint the lily,
To throw a perfume on the violet,
To smooth the ice, or add another hue
Unto the rainbow, or with taper-light
To feek the beauteous eye of heaven to garnish,
Is wasteful, and ridiculous excefs.
Pemb. But that your royal pleasure must be done,
This act is as an ancient tale new told;
And, in the last repeating, troublesome,
Being urged at a time unfeasonable.
Sal. In this, the antique and well-noted face
Of plain old form is much disfigured:
And, like a fhifted wind unto a fail,
It makes the course of thoughts to fetch about;
Startles and frights confideration;
Makes found opinion fick, and truth fufpected,
For putting on fo new a fashion'd robe.
Pemb. When workmen ftrive to do better than well,
They do confound their skill in covetoufness :
And, oftentimes, excufing of a fault,
Doth make the fault the worse by the excufe;
As patches, fet upon a little breach,
Difcredit more in hiding of the fault,
Than did the fault before it was fo patch'd.
Sal. To this effect, before you were new-crown'd, We breath'd our counfel: but it pleas'd your highness To overbear it; and we are all well pleas'd;
Since all and every part of what we would,
Doth make a stand at what your highness will.
K. John. Some reasons of this double coronation
I have poffefs'd you with, and think them strong:.
And more, more strong, (when lesser is my fear,)
I shall indue you with: Mean time, but ask
What you would have reform'd, that is not well;
And well fhall you perceive, how willingly
I will both hear and grant you your requests.
Pemb. Then I, (as one that am the tongue of these,
To found the purposes of all their hearts,)
Both for myself and them, (but, chief of all,
Your fafety, for the which myself and them
Bend their best studies,) heartily request
The enfranchisement of Arthur; whofe restraint
Doth move the murmuring lips of discontent
To break into this dangerous argument,-
If, what in rest you have, in right you hold,
Why then your fears, (which, as they say, attend
The steps of wrong,) should move you to mew up
Your tender kinfman, and to choke his days
With barbarous ignorance, and deny his youth
The rich advantage of good exercise?
That the time's enemies may not have this
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