From forth this morfel of dead royalty, And heav'n itfelf doth frown upon the land. [Exeunt. fagacious Editors! The ftupid pointing, which has prevail'd in all the copies, makes ftark nonfenfe of the paffage. My pointing reftores it to its genuine purity. Faulconbridge, feeing Hubert take up the body of the dead Prince, makes two reflections :-How eafily, fays he, doft tbou take up all England in that burden! and then, that the life, right, and truth of the realm was fed to heaven from ort the breathless coarse of that flaughtered royalty, &c. A C TV. SCENE, the Court of England. Enter King John, Pandulph, and Attendants. HUS I have yielded up into your hand TH Pand. Take again [Giving the crown. From this my hand, as holding of the Pope, Your fovereign greatnefs and authority. K.John. Now keep your holy word; go meet the French, And from his Holiness ufe all your power To flop their marches, 'fore we are enflam'd. Our people quarrel with obedience; Swearing allegiance, and the love of foul, Refts by you only to be qualify'd. Then paufe not; for the prefent time's fo fick, Or overthrow incurable enfues. Pand. It was my breath that blew this tempeft up, Upon your ftubborn usage of the Pope: But fince you are a gentle convertite, (24) My (24) But fince you are a gentle convertite.] i. e. a convert, (a penitent) as we now phrafe it: But in our Author's time, convertite was the term in fashion. We find him ufe it again more than once; In As you like it, fententious Jaques fays; -out of these convertites There is much matter to be heard and learn'd. Ja And in his poem, call'd, Tarquin and Lucrece ; And My tongue fall hush again this ftorm of war; Go I to make the French lay down their arms. [Exit❤ My crown I should give off? even fo I have: Enter Faulconbridge. Faule. All Kent hath yielded, nothing there holds out But Dover-Cafle: London hath receiv'd, Like a kind hot, the Dauphin and his powers. And wild amazement hurries up and down K. John. Would not my Lords return to me again, After they heard, young Arthur was alive? Faulc. They found him dead, and caft into the ftreets, An empty casket, where the jewel, life, By fome damn'd hand was robb'd and ta'en away. Be ftirring as the time; be fire with fire; eyes, That borrow their behaviours from the great, And Beaumont and Fletcher in their Noble Gentleman. Your coufin, who is now a convertite; The termination of this word, no doubt, we form'd from the Italian participle, convertito: And the Spaniards likewife call a convert, un. convertido.. S 3 Grow Grow great by your example; and put on ; K. John. The legate of the Pope hath been with me, Faulc. O inglorious league! Shall we, upon the footing of our land, To arms invafive? fhall a beardless boy, Mocking the air with colours idly spread, They faw, we had a purpose of defence. K.John. Have thou the ord'ring of this prefent time. SCENE changes to the Dauphin's Camp, at Enter, in arms, Lewis, Salisbury, Melun, Pembroke, Y Lord Melun, let this be copied out, Leusis. M. And keep it fafe for our remembrance: Return (25) at St Edmondsbury.] I have ventur'd to fix the place of the fcene here, which is specified by none of the Editors, on the following autho Return the prefident to thefe Lords again, Sal. Upon our fides it never fhall be broken. A voluntary zeal and un-urg'd faith To your proceedings; yet believe me, Prince, Upon authorities. In the preceding act, where Salisbury has fix'd to go over to the Dauphin, he says, Lords, I will meet him at St. Edmonsbury. And Count Melun, in this laft act, fays; and many more with me, Upon the altar at St. Edmundbury z Even on that altar, where we fwore to you, And it appears likewife from the troublefone reign of King John, in two parts, (the first rough model of this play) that the interchange of vows betwixt the Dauphin and the English Barons was at St. Edmond's bury. (26) Wherein we step after a stranger, march Upon her gentle bofom,] Thus all the printed copies, have miftakingly pointed this paffage: but, with fubmiflion to the former Editors, |