By slaves that take their humours for a warrant
To break into the bloody house of life,
And, on the winking of authority,
To understand a law: to know the meaning
Of dangerous majesty, when perchance it frowns
More upon humour than advised respect."—King John, Act IV. Sc. 2.
"O curse of kings!
Infusing a dread life into their words,
And linking to the sudden transient thought
The unchangeable, irrevocable deed!"—Coleridge, Death of Wallenstein, v. 9.