K. John. Gentle kinsman, go, And thrust thyself into their companies : Bast. I will seek them out. K. John. Nay, but make haste; the better foot O, let me have no subject enemies, [Exit. K. John. Spoke like a spriteful noble gentle man. Go after him; for he, perhaps, shall need And be thou he. Mess. With all my heart, my liege. [Exit. K. John. My mother dead! Re-enter HUBERT. Hub. My lord, they. say, five moons were seen to-night: Four fixed; and the fifth did whirl about The other four, in wondrous motion. K. John. Five moons? Hub. Old men, and beldams, in the streets Do prophesy upon it dangerously: Young Arthur's death is common in their mouths: And when they talk of him, they shake their heads, And whisper one another in the ear; And he, that speaks, doth gripe the hearer's wrist; Whilst he, that hears, makes fearful action, With wrinkled brows, with nods, with rolling eyes 19. Cuts off his tale, and talks of Arthur's death. these fears? Why urgest thou so oft young Arthur's death? Thy hand hath murder'd him: I had a mighty cause To wish him dead, but thou hadst none to kill him. Hub. Had none, my lord! why, did you not provoke me? K. John. It is the curse of kings to be attended To understand a law; to know the meaning 19 This may be compared with a spirited passage in Edward III. Capel's Prolusions, p. 75:: 'Our men, with open mouths and staring eyes, Each other's words, and yet no creature speaks; A tongue-tied fear hath made a midnight hour, And speeches sleep through all the waking region.' 20 This passage, which called forth the antiquarian knowledge of so many learned commentators, is now, from the return of the fashion of right and left shoes, become intelligible without a note. 21 Deliberate consideration. So in Hamlet: There's the respect That makes calamity of so long life.' Hub. Here is your hand and seal for what I did. K. John. O, when the last account 'twixt heaven and earth Is to be made, then shall this hand and seal How oft the sight of means to do ill deeds, K. John. Hadst thou but shook thy head, or made a pause 23, When I spake darkly what I purposed; Or turn'd an eye of doubt upon my face, 22 To quote is to note or mark. See Hamlet, Act ii. Sc. 1:'I am sorry that with better heed and judgment I had not quoted him. 23 There are many touches of nature in this conference of John with Hubert. A man engaged in wickedness would keep the profit to himself, and transfer the guilt to his accomplice. These reproaches vented against Hubert are not the words of art or policy, but the eruptions of a mind swelling with consciousness of a crime, and desirous of discharging its misery on another. This account of the timidity of guilt is drawn, ab ipsis recessibus mentis, from the intimate knowledge of mankind; particularly that line in which he says, that to have bid him tell his tale in express words would have struck him dumb: nothing is more certain than that bad men use all the arts of fallacy upon themselves, palliate their actions to their own minds by gentle terms, and hide themselves from their own detection in ambiguities and subterfuges.-Johnson. And 24 bid me tell my Deep shame had struck me dumb, made me break off, The deed, which both our tongues held vile to name. Out of my sight, and never see me more! This kingdom, this confine of blood and breath, Between my conscience, and my cousin's death. my form; Than to be butcher of an innocent child. K. John. Doth Arthur live? O, haste thee to the peers, Throw this report on their incensed rage, 24 The old copy reads 'As bid me,' &c. Malone made the correction, in which I concur; though as frequently is used for that, which. See Julius Cæsar, Act i. Sc. 2, note 15. And foul imaginary eyes of blood SCENE III. The same. Before the Castle. Enter ARTHUR, on the Walls. Arth. The wall is high; and yet will I leap down1: Good ground, be pitiful, and hurt me not!— If I get down, and do not break my limbs, [Leaps down. O me! my uncle's spirit is in these stonesHeaven take my soul, and England keep my bones! 25 Expeditious. [Dies. 26 The old play of The Troublesome Raigne of King John is divided into two parts; the first of which concludes with the king's despatch of Hubert on this message; the second begins with Enter Arthur, &c. as in the following scene. 1 Shakspeare has followed the old play. In what manner Arthur was deprived of his life is not ascertained. Matthew Paris relating the event uses the word evanuit; and it appears to have been conducted with impenetrable secrecy. The French historians say that John, coming in a boat during the night to the castle of Rouen, where the young prince was confined, stabbed him while supplicating for mercy, fastened a stone to the body, and threw it into the Seine, in order to give some colour to a report, which he caused to be spread, that the prince, attempting to escape out of a window, fell into the river, and was drowned. |