SCENE I.England.KING JOHN'S palace
Enter KING JOHN,CARDINAL PANDULPH,and Attendants KING JOHN Thus have I yielded up into your hand The circle of my glory.
Giving the crown CARDINAL PANDULPH Take again From this my hand,as holding of the pope Your sovereign greatness and authority.KING JOHN Now keep your holy word:go meet the French,And from his holiness use all your power To stop their marches 'fore we are inflamed.
Our discontented counties do revolt;
Our people quarrel with obedience,Swearing allegiance and the love of soul To stranger blood,to foreign royalty.
This inundation of mistemper'd humour Rests by you only to be qualified:
Then pause not;for the present time's so sick,That present medicine must be minister'd,Or overthrow incurable ensues.CARDINAL PANDULPH It was my breath that blew this tempest up,Upon your stubborn usage of the pope;But since you are a gentle convertite,My tongue shall hush again this storm of war And make fair weather in your blustering land.
On this Ascension-day,remember well,Upon your oath of service to the pope,Go I to make the French lay down their arms.
Exit KING JOHN Is this Ascension-day?Did not the prophet Say that before Ascension-day at noon My crown I should give off?Even so I have:
I did suppose it should be on constraint:
But,heaven be thank'd,it is but voluntary.
Enter the BASTARD BASTARD All Kent hath yielded;nothing there holds out But Dover castle:London hath received,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 robb'd and ta'en away.KING JOHN That villain Hubert told me he did live.BASTARD So,on my soul,he did,for aught he knew.