Teach thou this forrow how to make me die;
And let belief and life encounter fo,

As doth the fury of two defp'rate men,
Which, in the very meeting, fall and die.
Lewis wed Blanch! O boy, then where art thou? :
France friend with England! what becomes of me?
Fellow, be gone, I cannot brook thy fight:
This news hath made thee a moft ugly man.

Sal. What other harm have I, good Lady, done,.
But fpoke the harm that is by others done?
Conft. Which harm within itself to heinous is,
As it makes harmful all that speak of it.

Arth. I do befeech you, mother, be content. Conft. If thou, that bidft me be content, wert grim, Ugly, and fland'rous to thy mother's womb, Full of unpleafing blots, and fightless stains, Lame, foolish, crooked, fwart, prodigious, Patch'd with foul moles, and eye-offending marks;. I would not care, I then would be content: For then I fhould not love thee: no, nor thou, Become thy great birth, nor deferve a crown. But thou art fair, and at thy birth, dear boy.! Nature and Fortune join'd to make thee great. Of Nature's gifts thou may'ft with lillies boaft, And with the half-blown rofe. But Fortune, oh! She is corrupted, chang'd, and, won from thee, Adulterates hourly with thine uncle John; And with her golden hand hath pluckt on France. To tread down fair refpect of fovereignty, And made his Majefty the bawd to theirs. France is a bawd to Fortune, and to John, That ftrumpet Fortune, that ufurping John! Tell me, thou fellow, is not France foilworn ♪ Envenom him with words; thee gone, And leave these woes alone, Am bound to under-bear

Sal. Pardon me, Madam,

or get
which I alone

Imay not go without you to the Kings.

Conft. Thou may'ft, thou shalt, I will not go with thee.

I will inftru&t my forrows to be proud;

For

For Grief is proud, and makes his owner ftoop.
To me, and to the ftate of my great grief,
Let Kings affemble: for my grief's fo great,
That no fupporter but the huge firm earth-
Can hold it up: Here I and Sorrow fit:
Here is my throne, bid Kings come bow to it. (13)
[Sits down on the Floor.

error.

૯૮

(13) bid Kings come bow to it.] I must here account for the liberty I have taken to make a change in the divifion of the second, and third acts. In the old editions, the fecond aft was made to end here; tho' 'tis evident, Lady Confiance here, in her defpair, feats her-. felf on the floor: and he must be fuppofed, as I formerly obferv'd, immediately to rife again, only to go off and end the a decently; or the flat fcene muft fhut her in from the fight of the Audience, an abfurdity I cannot wifh to accufe Shakespeare of. Mr. Gildon and fome other criticks fancied, that a confiderable part of the second act was loft; and that the chaẩm began here. I had joined in this fufpicion of a scene or two being loft; and unwittingly drew Mr. Pope into this "It feems to be fo, fays he, and it were to be wished the restorer (meaning me,) could fupply it." To deferve this great man's thanks, I'll venture at the task; and hope to convince my readers, that nothing is loft, but that I have fupplied the fufpected chafm, only by rectifying the divifion of the ads. Upon locking a little more narrowly. into the conflitution of the play, I am fatisfied that the third at ought to begin with that fcene, which has hitherto been accounted the laft of the fecond a&t: .and my reasons for it are thefe. The match being concluded, in the scene before that, betwixt the Dauphin and Blanch, a meffenger is fent for Lady Confiance to King Philip's tent, for her to come to St. Mary's church to the folemnity. The Princes all go out, as to the marriage; and the baftard, fiaying a little behind, to defcant on intereft and commodity, very properly ends the act. The next. fcene then, in the French King's tent, brings us Salisbury delivering his meflage to Confiance, who, refufing to go to the folemnity, fets. herself down on the floor. The whole train returning from the church to the French King's pavilion, Philip expreffes fuch fatisfaction on oc-. cafion of the happy folemnity of that day; that Conftance rifes from the Aoor, and joins in the fcene by entering her proteft against their joy, and curfing the bufinefs of the day. Thus, I conceive, the fcenes are fairly continued; and there is no chafm in the action: but a proper interval made both for Salisbury's coming to Lady Conftance, and for the folemnization of the marriage. Befides, as Faulconbridge is evidently the Poet's favourite character; 'twas very well judg'd to close the act with his foliloquy.

Enter

.

Enter King John, King Philip, Lewis, Blanch, Elinor, Faulconbridge, and Auftria.

K.Phil. 'Tis true, fair daughter; and this blessed day Ever in France fhall be kept festival :

To folemnize this day, the glorious Sun
Stays in his courfe, and plays the Alchymift;
Turning with fplendour of his precious eye
The meagre cloddy earth to glitt'ring gold.
The yearly course, that brings this day about,
Shall never fee it, but a holy-day.

Conft. A wicked day, and not an holy-day-[Rifing
What hath this day deferv'd? what hath it done,
That it in golden letters fhould be fet
Among the high tides in the kalendar?
Nay, rather turn this day out of the week,.
This day of shame, oppreffion, perjury:
Or, if it muft ftand ftill, let wives with child
Pray, that their burdens may not fall this day,
Left that their hopes prodigiously be croft:
But, on this day, let feamen fear no wreck;
No bargains break, that are not this day made;
This day, all things begun come to ill end,

Yea, faith itself to hollow falfhood change!

K. Philip. By heaven, Lady, you shall have no caufe
To curfe the fair proceedings of this day:
Have I not pawn'd to you my Majesty ?

Conft. You have beguil'd me with a counterfeit
Refembling Majefty, which, touch'd and try'd,
Proves valueless: you are forfworn, forfworn..
You came in arms to fpill my enemies blood,.
But now in arms, you ftrengthen it with yours.
The grapling vigour, and rough frown of war,
Is cold in amity and painted peace,

And our oppreffion hath made up this league:
Arm, arm, ye Heavn's, against thefe perjur'd Kings
A widow cries, be hufband to me, Heav'n!
Let not the hours of this ungodly day
Wear out the day in peace; but ere Sun-fet,

Set

Set armed difcord 'twixt these perjur'd Kings.
Hear me, oh, hear me!

Auft. Lady Conftance, peace.

Conft. War, war, no peace; peace is to me a war: O Lymoges, O Auftria! thou doft shame

That bloody fpoil: thou flave, thou wretch, thou coward,
Thou little valiant, great in villainy!

Thou ever ftrong upon the stronger fide;
Thou Fortune's champion, that doft never fight
But when her humorous Ladyfhip is by
To teach thee fafety! thou art perjur'd too,
And footh'ft up greatnefs. What a fool art thou,
A ramping fool, to brag, to ftamp, and swear,
Upon my party; thou cold-blooded slave,
Haft thou not fpoke like thunder on my fide?
Been fworn my foldier, bidding me depend
Upon thy ftars, thy fortune, and thy ftrength
And doft thou now fall over to my foes?
Thou wear a lion's hide! doff it for shame,
And hang a calve's fkin on thofe recreant limbs.

Auft. O, that a man would speak thofe words to me!
Faule. And hang a calve's skin on thofe recreant

limbs.

Auft. Thou dar'ft not fay fo, villain, for thy life. Faulc. And hang a calve's fkin on thofe recreant

limbs.

Auft. Methinks, that Richard's pride and Richard's

fall (14)

Should be a precedent to fright you, Sir.

Faulc.

(14) Auft. Methinks, that Richard's pride and Richard's fall] Thefe 12 fubfequent lines Mr. Pope first inferted from the old fketch of this play, call'd, The troublesome Reign of King John, in Two Parts. As the Verfes are not bad, I have not cafheer'd them; tho' I do not conceive them fo abfolutely effential to clearing up any circumftance of the action, as Mr. Pepe feems to imagine. What was the ground of this quarrel of the Baftard to Auftria (fays that Gentleman) is no where specified in the prefent play; nor is there in this place, or the fcene where it is firft hinted at, (namely, the 2d of A& 2) the leaf mention of any reafon for it. This is the Editor's affertion; but let us examine, how well it is grounded. In the very

Without th'affiftance of a mortal hand.
So tell the Pope, all rev'rence fet apart
To him and his ufurp'd authority.

K. Philip. Brother of England, you blaspheme in this. K. John. Tho' you, and all the Kings of Christendom Are led fo grofly by this medling priest,

Dreading the curfe, that money may buy out;
And by the merit of vile gold, drofs, duft,
Purchase corrupted pardon of a man,

Who in that fale fells pardon from himself:
Tho' you, and all the reft, fo grofly led,
This jugling witch-craft with revenue cherish;
Yet I alone, alone, do me oppofe
Against the Pope, and count his friends my
foes.
Pand. Then by the lawful power that I have,
Thou shalt ftand curft, and excommunicate;
And bleffed fhall he be, that doth revolt
From his allegiance to an heretick;
And meretorious fhall that hand be call'd,
Canonized, and worship'd as a faint
That takes away by any fecret course
Thy hateful life.

Conft. O, lawful let it be, (15).

That I have room with Rome to curfe a while.
Good father Cardinal, cry thou, Amen,

To my keen curfes; for without my wrong

There is no tongue hath power to curfe him right. Pand. There's law, and warrant, Lady, for my curfe. Conft. And for mine too; when law can do no right, Let it be lawful that law bar no wrong:

(15) 0, lawful let it be,

That I have leave with Rome to curfe a rubile;] Mr. Pope, in the nicety of his ear, has, against the authority of alt the copies, difplaced a jingle here; (which I have made bold to reftore to the text,) tho' it is obvious to every knowing reader, how customary it is with our Poet, in a thousand inftances, to play on words fimilar in found, and differing in fignification. He repeats the very fame conundrum on the two words now before us, in Julius Cæfar.

Now is it Rome indeed; and room enough,
When there is in it but one only man.

Law