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 boist'rous rough? I will not struggle, I will ftand ftone-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 ftir, nor wince, nor fpeak a word,
Nor look upon the iron angrily:

Thruft but thefe men away, and I'll forgive you,
Whatever torment you do put me to.

Hub. Go, ftand within; let me alone with him.
Exec. I am beft pleas'd to be from fuch a deed.

[Exeunt. Arth. Alas, I then have chid away my friend; He hath a ftern look, but a gentle heart :

in as contradicting Hubert. Mr. Theobald, by what authority I don't know, reads,

I would not have believ'd him: no tongue, but Hubert's. which is fpoiling the measure, without much mending the sense. Shakespeare, I am perfuaded, wrote,

I would not have believ'd a tongue BATE HUBERT; i.. abate, difparage. The blunder feems to have arisen thus, bate fignifies except, faving; fo the tranfcribers, taking it in this fenfe, fubftituted the more ufual word but in its place. My alteration greatly improves the fenfe, as implying a tenderness of affection for Hubert; the common reading, only an opinion of Hubert's veracity; whereas the point here was to win upon Hubert's paffions, which could not be better done than by fhewing affection towards him. WARBURTON.

I do not fee why the old reading may not ftand. Mr. Theobald's alteration, as we find, injures the meafure, and Dr. Warburton's corrupts the language, and neither can be faid much to mend the fenfe. JOHNSON.

Mr. Theobald's reading is the reading of the old copy. I have therefore restored it.

- vixatur de lana fæpe caprina. Shakespeare very probably meant the laft line to have been broken off imperfectly; thus,

I would not have believ'd him; no tongue, but Hubert's— The old reading is, however, fenfe. STEEVENS.

Let

Let him come back, that his compaffion may
Give life to yours.

Hub. Come, boy, prepare yourself.
Arth. Is there no remedy

Hub. None, but to lofe your eyes.

Arth. O heaven! that there were but a moth in

yours,

A grain, a duft, a gnat, a wandring hair,

Any annoyance in that precious fenfe!

Then, feeling what fmall things are boisterous there,

Your vile intent must needs feem horrible.

Hub. Is this your promife? 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! 8 Or, Hubert, if you will, cut out my tongue, So I may keep mine eyes. O fpare mine eyes; Though to no ufe, but ftill to look on you! Lo, by my troth, the inftrument is cold, And would not harm me.

Hub. I can heat it, boy.

Arth. 9 No, in good footh; the fire is dead with grief,

Being create for comfort, to be us❜d

In undefery'd extremes: fee elfe yourself;
There is no malice in this burning coal;

The breath of heaven hath blown its spirit out,
And ftrew'd repentant afhes on its head.

This is according to nature. We imagine no evil so great as that which is near us. JOHNSON.

9 No, in good footh, &c.] The fenfe is: the fire, being created not to hurt but to comfort, is dead with grief for finding itfelf ufed in acts of cruelty, which, being innocent, I have not deferved. JOHNSON.

'There is no malice in this burning coal;] Dr. Gray fays, that no malice in a burning coal is certainly abfurd, and that we should read,

There is no malice burning in this coal." STEEVENS.

Hub.

Hub. But with my breath I can revive it, boy.
Arth. And if you do, you will but make it blush,
And glow with fhame 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 mafter that doth tarre him on.
All things, that you should ufe to do me wrong,
Deny their office: only you do lack

That mercy, which fierce fire, and iron, extend,
Creatures of note for mercy-lacking ufes.

Hub. Well, fee to live; I will not touch thine
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.

eye,

Arth. O, now you look like Hubert! All this while You were disguis'd.

Hub. Peace: no more.

Adieu;

Your uncle muft not know but you are dead.
I'll fill thefe dogged fpies with falfe reports.
And, pretty child, fleep doubtlefs, and fecure,
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 clofely in with me. Much danger do I undergo for thee.

[Exeunt.

Enter king John, Pembroke, Salisbury, and other lords. K. John. Here once again we fit, once again crown'd, And look'd upon, I hope, with chearful eyes.

2

-Pembroke,-] As this and others of the hiftorical plays of Shakespeare take up many years, it fometimes happens that the title toward the end of a play does not belong to the perfon who owned it at the beginning. This earl of Pembroke is William the fon of him who was earl at the opening of the piece.

STEEVENS.

Pemb.

Pemb. 3 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 ftained 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,
4 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 wafteful, 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 strive to do better than well,

5 They do confound their skill in covetoufnefs;

And, oftentimes, excufing of a fault

Doth make the fault the worfe by the excufe:

3 This once again

—was once fuperfluous:] This one time

more was one time more than enough. JOHNSON.

To guard a title that was rich before,] To guard, is to fringe. JOHNSON. They do confound their skill in covetoufnefs:] i. e. Not by their avarice, but in an eager emulation, an intenfe defire of excelling; as in Henry V.

But if it be a fin to covet honour,
I am the moft offending foul alive.

THEOBALD.

As

As patches fet upon a little breach,
Difcredit more in hiding of the fault,

6

Than did the fault before it was fo patch'd.

Sal. To this effect, before you were new-crown'd,,
We breath'd our counsel: but it pleas'd your highness
To over-bear it; and we are all well pleas'd;
Since all and every part of what we would,
Must make a stand at what your highness will.
K.John. 7 Some reasons of this double coronation
I have poffeft you with, and think them strong.
And more, more ftrong (the leffer is my fear)
I fhall endue 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 they
Bend their best studies) heartily request

The enfranchisement of Arthur; whose restraint
Doth move the murmuring lips of discontent
To break into this dangerous argument;
If what in reft you have, in right you hold,
Why then your fears (which, as they fay, attend
The steps of wrong) should move you to mew up
Your tender kinfman, and to choak his days
With barbarous ignorance, and deny his youth

6

in hiding of the FAULT,

Than did the FAULT] We should read FLAW in both places. WARBURTON.

The old reading is the true one. Fault means blemish. STEEV. ? Some reasons of this double coronation

I have poffeft you with, and think them frong.

And more, more ftrong (the leffer is my fear)

I fhall endue you with:- I have told you fome reasons, in my opinion trong, and fhall tell more yet stronger; for the tronger my reafons are, the lefs is my fear of your difapprobation. This feems to be the meaning. JOHNSON.

To found the purposes-] To declare, to publish the defires of all thofe. JOHNSON.

The