_Enter_ LITTLE JOHN, &c.
And sith your yeomen do appear,
I'll give the watchword without fear.
Take it, I pray thee, though it be more worth.
_Rush in_ SIR DONCASTER _with his crew_.
DON. Smite down! lay hold on outlaw'd Huntington!
LIT. JOHN. Soft, hot-spurr'd priest, 'tis not so quickly done.
DON. Now, out alas! the friar and the maid
Have to false thieves Sir Doncaster betray'd.
[_Exeunt omnes_.[211]
ACT IV., SCENE 1.
_Enter_ JOHN _crowned_, QUEEN ELINOR, CHESTER, SALISBURY,
LORD PRIOR. _Sit down all_. WARMAN _stands_.
JOHN. As God's vicegerent, John ascends this throne,
His head impal'd with England's diadem,[212]
And in his hand the awful rod of rule,
Giving the humble place of excellence,
And to the low earth casting down the proud.
QUEEN. Such upright rule is in each realm allow'd.
JOHN. Chester, you once were Ely's open friend,
And yet are doubtful whether he deserve
A public trial for his private wrongs.
CHES. I still am doubtful whether it be fit
To punish private faults with public shame
In such a person as Lord Ely is.
PRIOR. Yes, honourable Chester, more it fits
To make apparent sins of mighty men,
And on their persons sharply to correct
A little fault, a very small defect,
Than on the poor to practise chastisement:
For if a poor man die, or suffer shame,
Only the poor and vile respect the same;
But if the mighty fall, fear then besets
The proud heart of the mighty ones, his mates:
They think the world is garnished with nets,
And traps ordained to entrap their states;
Which fear in them begets a fear of ill,
And makes them good, contrary to their will.
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