KING JOH N.

VOL. IV.

PERSONS REPRESENTED.

King JOHN:

Prince HENRY, his son; afterwards King HENRY III. ARTHUR, Duke of Bretagne, son of GEFFREY, late Duke of Bretagne, the elder brother of King JoнN.

WILLIAM MARESHALL, Earl of Pembroke.

GEFFREY FITZ-PETER, Earl of Essex, Chief Justiciary of England.

WILLIAM LONGSWORD, Earl of Salisbury.

ROBERT BIGOT, Earl of Norfolk.

HUBERT DE BURGH, Chamberlain to the King.

ROBERT FAULCONBRIDGE, Son of Sir ROBERT FAULCON

BRIDGE:

PHILIP FAULCONBRIDGE, his half-brother; bastard son to
K. RICHARD the First.

JAMES GURNEY, servant to Lady FAULCONBRIDGE.
PETER of Pomfret, a Prophet.

PHILIP, King of France,

LEWIS, the Dauphin.

Arch-duke of AUSTRIA.

Cardinal PANDULPHO, the Pope's Legate.

MELUN, a French Lord.

CHATILLON, Ambassador from France to King JOHN.

ELINOR, the widow of King HENRY II. and mother of King Jonn.

CONSTANCE, mother to ARTHUR.

BLANCH, daughter to ALPHONSO King of Castile, and niece to King JOHN.

Lady FAULCONBRIDGE, mother to the Bastard, and ROBERT FAULCONERIDGE.

Lords, Ladies, Citizens of Angiers, Sheriff, Heralds, Officers, Soldiers, Messengers, and other Attendants. SCENE, sometimes in England, and sometimes in France.

KING JOHN.

ACT I.

SCENE I. Northampton. A Room of State in the Palace.

Enter King JOHN, Queen ELINOR, PEMBROKE, ESSEX, SALISBURY, and Others, with CHATILLON. King John.

Now, fay, Chatillon, what would France with

us ?

Chat. Thus, after greeting, fpeaks the king of France,

In my behaviour, to the majesty,

The borrow'd majefty of England here.

Eli. A ftrange beginning;-borrow'd majefty!
K. John. Silence, good mother; hear the embaffy..
Chat. Philip of France, in right and true behalf
Of thy deceased brother Geffrey's fon,
Arthur Plantagenet, lays moft lawful claim
To this fair ifland, and the territories;

To Ireland, Poitiers, Anjou, Touraine, Maine:
Defiring thee to lay afide the fword,

Which fways ufurpingly thefe feveral titles;
And put the fame into young Arthur's hand,
Thy nephew, and right royal fovereign.

K. John. What follows, if we difallow of this?
Chat. The proud control of fierce and bloody war,
To enforce these rights so forcibly withheld.
K. John. Here have we war for war, and blood
for blood,

Controlment for controlment; fo answer France.

Chat. Then take my king's defiance from my

mouth,

The furtheft limit of my embaffy.

K. John. Bear mine to him, and fo depart in peace:

Be thou as lightning in the eyes of France;
For ere thou canst report I will be there,
The thunder of my cannon fhall be heard:
So, hence! Be thou the trumpet of our wrath,
And fullen prefage of your own decay.-
An honourable conduct let him have ;-
Pembroke, look to't: Farewell, Chatillon.

[Exeunt CHATILLON and PEMBROKE. Eli. What now, my fon? have I not ever said, How that ambitious Conftance would not cease, Till she had kindled France, and all the world, Upon the right and party of her fon?

This might have been prevented, and made whole, With very eafy arguments of love;

Which

now the

manage of two kingdoms must With fearful bloody iffue arbitrate,

K. John. Our ftrong poffeffion, and our right, for

us.

Eli. Your ftrong poffeffion, much more than your right;

Or else it must go wrong with

you, and me: So much my confcience whispers in your ear; Which none but heaven, and you, and I, fhall hear.

Enter the Sheriff of Northamptonshire, who
whispers Essex,

Effex. My liege, here is the ftrangest contro

verfy,

Come from the country to be judg'd by you,
That e'er I heard: Shall I produce the men?
K. John. Let them approach. [Exit Sheriff.
Our abbies, and our priories, fhall pay