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prince insulted, and, it is supposed, even struck the judge. The chief justice with great dignity kept his seat upon the bench, and in the authoritative tone of a man, to whom the execution of the laws is intrusted, rebuked the prince, and ordered him to be taken into custody. To this the prince, recollecting his duty, becomingly submitted."

It is related by an old historian that Prince Henry, being ordered to prison, "doing reverence" to the judge, departed, and went to the King's Bench, as he was commanded. One of his attendants, displeased at this indignity, (as he deemed it,) offered to the prince, and thinking to incense the King against the chief justice, repaired to his majesty with the whole affair. The King, on hearing the circumstance, paused for a moment, and then, lifting his eyes and clasped hands to Heaven, exclaimed, "O merciful God! how much, above all other men, am I indebted to thine infinite goodness; especially that thou hast given me a judge who feareth not to minister justice, and also a son who can suffer worthily and obey justice."

"After the death of his father, when Henry became king, the nation expected he would give himself up to amusement and intemperance; but on the contrary, he immediately assumed the deportment and conduct of a wise monarch, and, dismissing from his presence his former companions, instead of disgracing the chief justice who had committed him, he thanked him for the firmness and dignity with which he had executed the laws, and conferred great favours upon him."

KING HENRY, the Princes his brothers, and the CHIEF JUSTICE.

Ch. Just. Good morrow; and heaven save your majesty!

King. This new and gorgeous garment, majesty,
Sits not so easy on me as you think.-

Brothers, you mix your sadness with some fear;
This is the English, not the Turkish court.

good brothers-be assured,

I'll be your father and your brother too;

Let me but bear your love, I'll bear

your cares.

P. John, and the others. We hope no other from your

majesty.

King. You all look strangely on me :—and you most; You are, I think, assur'd I love you not.

Ch. Just. I am assur'd, if I be measur'd rightly,
Your majesty hath no just cause to hate me.
King. No!

How might a prince of my great hopes forget
So great indignities you laid upon

me!

What! rate, rebuke, and roughly send to prison
Th' immediate heir of England? Was this easy?
May this be wash'd in Lethe, and forgotten?
Ch. Just. I then did use the person of your father:
The image of his power lay then in me:
And, in th' administration of his law,
Whiles I was busy for the commonwealth,
Your highness pleased to forget my place,
The majesty and power of law and justice,
The image of the king whom I presented,
And struck me in my very seat of judgment:
Whereon, as an offender to your father,
I gave bold way to my authority,

And did commit you. If the deed were ill,
Be you contented, wearing now the garland,
To have a son set your decrees at nought;
To pluck down justice from your awful bench;
To trip the course of law, and blunt the sword
That guards the peace and safety of your person;
Nay, more; to spurn at your most royal image,
And mock your workings in a second body.
Question your royal thoughts, make the case yours;
Be now the father, and propose a son:
Hear your own dignity so much profan'd,
See your most dreadful laws so loosely slighted,
Behold yourself so by a son disdain'd ;
And then imagine me taking your part,

S

And, in your power, soft silencing your son:
After this cold considerance, sentence me;
And, as you are a king, speak in your state,—
What I have done, that misbecame my place,
My person, or my liege's sovereignty.

King. You are right, justice, and you weigh this well;
Therefore, still bear the balance, and the sword:
And I do wish your honours may increase,

Till you do live to see a son of mine
Offend you, and obey you, as I did.
So shall I live to speak my father's words ;-
Happy am I, that have a man so bold,
That dares do justice on my proper son:
And not less happy, having such a son,
That would deliver up his greatness so
Into the hands of justice.-You did commit me;
For which, I do commit into your hand

Th' unstain'd sword that you have us'd to bear;
With this remembrance,-That you use the same
With the like bold, just, and impartial spirit,
That you have done 'gainst me.

you ;

There is my hand;
You shall be as a father to my youth:
My voice shall sound as you do prompt mine ear;
And I will stoop and humble my intents
To your well-practis'd, wise directions.-
And, princes all, believe me, I beseech
My father's gone into his grave, and in
His tomb lie all my wild affections;
And with his spirit sadly I survive,
To mock the expectation of the world;
To frustrate prophecies; and to raze out
Rotten opinion, who hath writ me down
After my seeming. The tide of blood in me
Hath proudly flow'd in vanity, till now:
Now doth it turn, and ebb back to the sea;
Where it shall mingle with the state of floods,
And flow henceforth in formal majesty.
Now call we our high court of parliament:
And let us choose such limbs of noble counsel,

L

That the great body of our state may go
In equal rank with the best govern'd nation;
That war, or peace, or both at once, may be
As things acquainted and familiar to us ;—
In which you, father, shall have foremost hand.

[To the Lord Chief Justice.

This is the English, not the Turkish court.-Brothers, why should you fear me?—You are not in the despotic country of Turkey, where a monarch, through fear that his brothers should kill him, in order that one of them may usurp the throne, to secure his own life takes theirs. You are in Britain, where our knowledge and laws make me your protector; and the institutions we live under induce me to trust as well as to defend you.

Mr. Edgeworth, in Poetry Explained, has rendered the reply to the King into the following prose:- -When the King asks, Was this easy? Can it be easily forgotten? the judge's remonstrance signifies, "I then represented the person of your father (who is supposed to be present in this court of justice ;) his power was then in me, and whilst I was administering the laws, and busy for the common-weal (for the common good,) your highness forgot my office--forgot the power and majesty of the laws and of justice-you forgot your father, whom I represented, and struck me on the bench of justice; whereupon I boldly exerted my authority, and sent you to a prison.

"If you think this wrong, you must be contented when, now you wear the garland, (the crown,) to have your son set your decrees at nought, to have him pull down the authority of your judgment-seat, to trip and stop the current course of law, and to take off the edge and power of the sword of justice, which guards the peace and safety of your person; nay more, you must submit to have your son affront your own royal image, represented and acting in the person of your judge, whom you substitute in your place,

"Question your royal thoughts; make the case your own; suppose yourself a father, and that you had a son ; suppose you heard your dignity scorned, and that you saw your laws disdained; then imagine me taking your part, and by your power, inherent in me, silencing your son. After having brought these images before your mind, and after cool consideration, pass sentence upon me and as you are a king, speak not as a private person, but in the dignity of your public capacity, and declare what I have done unbecoming of my office, my person, or your sovereignty."

Your highness.--Highness is now a title of honour or respect, addressed in England to the sons and daughters of the king; formerly it was also used in addressing the king or queen."

"The garland.-Shakspeare, in two or three places, calls the crown the garland."

"Liege's sovereignty.-Liege properly means a person to whom a certain duty or obedience is owing. Formerly, after the conquest of England by William the Conqueror, when the land of the kingdom was divided amongst his followers, or vassals, in the same manner that lands were usually divided upon the continent, every man, instead of paying rent in money for the land which he held, was bound to supply the person from whom he held it, with a certain number of armed men, on horseback, or on foot. The person to whom he owed this service, was called his liege lord. Persons who were themselves princes, frequently had liege lords over them; in particular, the emperor of Germany had a great number of princes and dukes for his vassals, who were all bound to him as their liege lord."

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'Therefore still bear the balance and the sword.-The chief justice of the king's bench has neither a balance (a pair of scales,) nor a sword, carried before him; but the allegorical figure of Justice is represented in painting and statuary by a female figure blindfold, to show that Justice should not respect the persons of people; with a

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