Clamours of hell,-be measures" to our pomp?
O husband, hear me !-ah, alack, how new

?

Is husband in my mouth!-even for that name.
Which till this time my tongue did ne'er pronounce,
Upon my knee I beg, go not to arms

Against mine uncle.

Const.

O, upon my knee,

Made hard with kneeling, I do pray to thee,
Thou virtuous Dauphin, alter not the doom
Fore-thought by heaven.

Blanch. Now shall I see thy love; What motive may Be stronger with thee than the name of wife?

Const. That which upholdeth him that thee upholds, His honour: O, thine honour, Lewis, thine honour! Lew. I muse,* your majesty doth seem so cold, When such profound respects do pull you on. Pand. I will denounce a curse upon his head.

K. Phi. Thou shalt not need :-England, I'll fall from thee.

Const. O fair return of banish'd majesty!

Eli. O foul revolt of French inconstancy!

K. John. France, thou shalt rue this hour within this

hour.

Bast. Old time the clock-setter, that bald sexton time, Is it as he will? well then, France shall rue.

Blanch. The sun's o'ercast with blood: Fair day, adieu ! Which is the side that I must go withal? I am with both: each army hath a hand; And, in their rage, I having hold of both, They whirl asunder, and dismember me. Husband, I cannot pray that thou may'st win; Uncle, I needs must pray that thou may'st lose; Father, I may not wish the fortune thine; Grandam, I will not wish thy wishes thrive: Whoever wins, on that side shall I lose ;

Assured loss, before the match be play'd.

Lew. Lady, with me; with me thy fortune lies.

be measures- The measures, it has already been more than once observed, were a species of solemn dance in our author's time.-MALONE. * I muse,] i. e. I wonder.

Blanch. There where my fortune lives, there my life

dies.

K. John. Cousin, go draw our puissance together.—

[Exit Bastard.

France, I am burn'd up with inflaming wrath;
A rage, whose heat hath this condition,

Than nothing can allay, nothing but blood,

The blood, and dearest-valu'd blood, of France.

K. Phi. Thy rage shall burn thee up, and thou shalt

turn

To ashes, ere our blood shall quench that fire;

Look to thyself, thou art in jeopardy.

K. John. No more than he that threats.-To arms let's

hie!

[Exeunt,

SCENE II.

The same. Plains near Angiers.

Alarums: Excursions. Enter the Bastard with
AUSTRIA'S Head.

Bast. Now, by my life, this day grows wondrous hot;

Some airy devil' hovers in the sky,

And pours down mischief. Austria's head, lie there;
While Philip breathes.

Enter King JOHN, ARTHUR, and HUBERT.

K. John. Hubert, keep this boy :-Philip, make up: My mother is assailed in our tent,

And ta'en, I fear.

Bast.

My lord, I rescu'd her; Her highness is in safety, fear you not; But on, my liege; for very little pains Will bring this labour to an happy end.

[Exeunt.

y · airy devil—] The Demonologists divide the devils into different tribes and divisions. In Pierce Pennilesse his Supplication, 1592, we read, "the spirits of the airre will mixe themselves with thunder and lightning; and so infect the clyme where they raise any tempest, that sodainely great mortalitie shall ensue to the inhabitants."-HENDERSON.

SCENE III.

The same.

Alarums; Excursions; Retreat. Enter King JOHN, ELI-
NOR, ARTHUR, the Bastard, HUBERT, and Lords.
K. John. So shall it bé; your grace shall stay behind,

[TO ELINOR.

So strongly guarded. - Cousin, look not sad:

Thy grandam loves thee; and thy uncle will
As dear be to thee as thy father was.

[To ARTHUR.

Arth. O, this will make my mother die with grief.
K. John. Cousin, [to the Bastard,] away for England;
haste before:

And, ere our coming, see thou shake the bags
Of hoarding abbots; imprison'd angels2
Set thou at liberty: the fat ribs of peace
Must by the hungry now be fed upon :

Use our commission in his utmost force.

Bast. Bell, book, and candle shall not drive me back, When gold and silver becks me to come on.

I leave your highness :-Grandam, I will pray

(If ever I remember to be holy,)

For your fair safety; so I kiss your hand.

Eli. Farewell, my gentle cousin.

K. John.

Coz, farewell.

[Exit Bastard.

[She takes ARTHUR aside.

Eli. Come hither, little kinsman; hark, a word.

K. John. Come hither, Hubert. O my gentle Hubert, We owe thee much; within this wall of flesh

There is a soul, counts thee her creditor,
And with advantage means to pay thy love:
And, my good friend, thy voluntary oath
Lives in this bosom, dearly cherished.

angels-] Coins, valued at about ten shillings each.

a Bell, book, and candle-] In an account of the Romish curse given by Dr. Grey, it appears that three candles were extinguished, one by one, in different parts of the execration.-JOHNSON.

Give me thy hand. I had a thing to say,-
But I will fit it with some better time.
By heaven, Hubert, I am almost asham'd
To say what good respect I have of thee.

Hub. I am much bounden to your majesty.

K. John. Good friend, thou hast no cause to say so yet; But thou shalt have; and creep time ne'er so slow, Yet it shall come, for me to do thee good.

I had a thing to say,-But let it

go:

The sun is in the heaven, and the proud day,
Attended with the pleasures of the world,
Is all too wanton, and too full of gawds,b
To give me audience :—If the midnight bell
Did, with his iron tongue and brazen mouth,
Sound one unto the drowsy race of night;
If this same were a church-yard where we stand,
And thou possessed with a thousand wrongs;
Or if that surly spirit melancholy,

Had bak'd thy blood, and made it heavy, thick;
(Which, else, runs tickling up and down the veins,
Making that idiot, laughter, keep men's eyes,
And strain their cheeks to idle merriment,
A passion hateful to my purposes;)
Or if thou could'st see me without eyes,
Hear me without thine ears, and make reply
Without a tongue, using conceit alone,
Without eyes, ears, and harmful sound of words
Then, in despite of brooded" watchful day,
I would into thy bosom pour my thoughts:
But ah, I will not :-Yet I love thee well;
And, by my troth, I think, thou lov'st me well.

Hub. So well, that what you bid me undertake,
Though that my death were adjunct to my act,
By heaven, I'd do't.

K. John.

thought.

Do not I know, thou would'st?

gawds]-are any showy ornaments.

conceit-] The word, as in many other places, signifies conception,

d brooded]—for brooding, i. e. day which is as vigilant to mark what is done in its presence as an animal at brood.-Pope proposed to read broadeyed.-MALONE.

Good Hubert, Hubert, Hubert, throw thine eye
On yon young boy: I'll tell thee what, my friend,
He is a very serpent in my way;

And, wheresoe'er this foot of mine doth tread,
He lies before me: Dost thou understand me?

I could be merry now: Hubert, I love thee.
Well, I'll not say what I intend for thee:
Remember.-Madam, fare you well:
I'll send those powers o'er to your majesty.
Eli. My Blessing go with thee!

K. John.

For England, cousin, go:f

Hubert shall be your man, attend on you
With all true duty.-On toward Calais, ho!

SCENE IV.

The same. The French King's Tent.

[Exeunt.

Enter King PHILIP, LEWIS, PANDULPH, and Attendants.

K. Phi. So, by a roaring tempest on the flood,

A whole armado of convicted sails

Is scatter'd and disjoin'd from fellowship.

Pand. Courage and comfort! all shall yet go well. K. Phi. What can go well, when we have run so ill? Are we not beaten? Is not Angiers lost?

eRemember.-] This is one of the scenes to which may be promised a lasting commendation. Art could add little to its perfection; no change in dramatick taste can injure it; and time itself can subtract nothing from its beauties.— STEEVENS.

f For England, cousin, go:] King John, after taking Arthur prisoner, seift him to the town of Falaise in Normandy, under the care of Hubert his chamberlain ; from whence he was afterwards removed to Rouen and delivered to the custody of Robert de Veypont. Here he was secretly put to death.MALONE.

g of convicted] Overpowered, baffled, destroyed.