K. Philip. Women, and fools, break off your]
Conference.-

King John, this is the very sum of all,-
England, and Ireland, Anjou, Touraine, Maine,
In right of Arthur do I claim of thee:

Wilt thou resign them, and lay down thy arms?
K.John. My life as soon:-I do defy thee France.
Arthur of Pretagne, yield thee to my hand:
And, out of my dear love, I'll give thee more
Than e'er the coward hand of France can win:
Submit thee, boy.

Eli. Come to thy grandam, child.

Const. Do, child, go to it' grandam, child:
Give grandam kingdom, and it' grandam will
Give it a plum, a cherry, and a fig:
There's a good grandam,

Arth. Good my mother, peace!

I would, that I were low laid in my grave;
I am not worth this coil that's made for me,
Eli. His mother shames him so, poor boy, he
weeps.

20

Const. Now shame uponyou, whe'r she does,or no!
His grandam's wrongs, and not his mother's shames,
Draw those heaven-moving pearls from his poor
Which heaven shall take in nature of a fee; [eyes, 25
Ay, with these crystal beads heaven shall be brib'd
To do him justice, and revenge on you.
Eli.Thoumonstrousslanderer of heavenand earth!
Const. Thoumonstrous injurerofheavenandearth!
Call not me slanderer; thou, and thine, usurp
The dominations, royalties, and rights,

Of this oppressed boy: This is the eldest son's son,
Infortunate in nothing but in thee;
Thy sins are visited in this poor child;
The canon of the law is laid on him,
Being but the second generation
Removed from thy sin-conceiving womb.
K. John. Beldam, have done.
Const. I have but this to say,-
That he's not only plagued for her sin,
But God hath made her sin and her the plague
On this removed issue, plagu'd for her,
And with her.-Plague her son; his injury,
Her injury, the beadle to her sin,
All punish'd in the person of this child,
And all for her; A plague upon her!

Eli. Thou unadvised scold, I can produce
A will, that bars the title of thy son.

[will; Const. Ay, who doubts that? a will! a wicked A woman's will; a cankred grandam's will!

K. Phil. Peace lady; pause, or be more tempe-
It ill beseems this présence, to cry aim3 [rate:
To these ill-tuned repetitions.--

Some trumpet summon hither to the walls
These men of Angiers; let us hear them speak,

All preparation for a bloody siege,

And merciless proceeding by these French,
Confronts your city's eyes, your winking gates;
And, but for our approach, those sleeping stones,
That as a waist do girdle you about,
By the compulsion of their ordinance
By this time from their fixed beds of lime
Had been dishabited, and wide havock made
For bloody power to rush upon your peace.
But, on the sight of us, your lawful king,-
Who, painfully, with much expedient march,
30 Have brought a countercheck before your gates,
To save unscratch'd your city's threaten'd cheeks,
Behold, the French, amaz'd, vouchsafe a parle;
And now, instead of bullets wrap'd in fire,
To make a shaking fever in your walls,
35 They shoot but calm words, folded up in smoke,
To make a faithless error in your ears:
Which trust accordingly, kind citizens,
And let us in, your king; whose laboured spirits,
Forweary'd in this action of swift speed,

40 Crave harbourage within your city walls.

[both.

K. Phil. When I have said, make answer to us
Lo, in this right hand, whose protection
Is most divinely vow'd upon the right
Of him it holds, stands your Plantagenet;
45 Son to the elder brother of this man,
And king o'er him, and all that he enjoys:
For this down-trodden equity, we tread
In warlike march these greens before your town;
Being no further enemy to you,

50 Than the constraint of ho pitable zeal,
In the relief of this oppressed child,
Religiously provokes. Be pleased then
To pay that duty, which you truly owe,

To him that owes it; namely, this young prince; 55 And then our arms, like to a muzzled bear,

Dr. Johnson thus explains this very obscure passage: "He is not only made miserable by vengeance for her sin or crime; but her sin, her offspring, and she, are made the instruments of that vengeance, ou this descendant; who, though of the second generation, is plagued for her and with her; to whom she is not only the cause but the instrument of evil." The same able and judicious commentator assigns the following meaning to this perplexed sentence: "Instead of inflicting vengeance on this innocent and remote descendant, punish her son, her immediate offspring: then the affliction will fall where it is deserved; his injury will be her injury, and the misery of her sin; her son will be a beadle, or chastiser, to her crimes, which are now all punished in the person of this child." 'i, e. to encourage. See notes, p. 57. i. e. owns it.

[jects;
Cit. In brief, we are the king of England's sub-
For him, and in his right, we hold this town. [in.
K. John. Acknowledge then the king, and let me 20
Cit. That can we not; but he that proves the king,
To him will we prove loyal; 'till that time,
Have we ramm'd up our gates against the world.
K. John. Doth not the crown of England prove
the king?

And, if not that, I bring you witnesses,
Twice fifteen thousand hearts of England's breed,-
Faulc. Bastards, and else.

K. John. To verify our title with their lives.
K. Phil. As many, and as well-born bloods as 30
Faulc. Some bastards too.
[those,

K. Phil.-Stand in his face, to contradict his
claim.

Cit.'Till you compound whose right is worthiest,
We, for the worthiest, hold the right from both. 35
K. John. Then God forgive the sin of all those
That to their everlasting residence,
Before the dew of evening fall, shall fleet,
In dreadful trial of our kingdom's king!
K. Phil. Amen, Amen!-Mount, chevaliers!
[and e'er since
Faulc. Saint George,-that swing'd the dragon,
Sits on his horseback at mine hostess' door,
Teach us some fence!-Sirrah, were I at home,
At your den, sirrah, with your lioness,
I'd set an ox-head to your lion's hide,
And make a monster of you.-

Aust. Peace; no more.
Faule. O, tremble; for you hear the lion roar.
K. John. Up higher to the plain; where we'll 50
In best appointinent, all our regiments. [set forth,
Faulc. Speed then, to take advantage of the field.
K. Phil. It shall be so; and at the other hill
Command the rest to stand.--God, and our right
[Exeunt. 55

SCENE II.
After excursions, enter the Herald of France,

with trumpets, to the gates.

F. Her. You men of Angiers, open wide your 60 And let young Arthur, duke of Bretagne, in; [gates Who, by the hand of France, this day hath made

i. e. the circle. 1i. e. command slaughter to proceed.

K. Phil. Speak, citizens, for England; who's
Cit. The king of England, when we know the

king.

[his right.
K. Phil. Know him in us, that here hold up
K. John. In us, that are our own great deputy,
And bear possession of our person here;
Lord of our presence, Angiers, and of you.

Cit. A greater power, than he, denies all this;
And, 'till it be undoubted, we do lock
Our former scruple in our strong-barr'd gates:
Kings of our fears; until our fears, resolv❜d,
Be by some certain king purg'd and depos'd.

5

10

Cit. Hear us, great kings: vouchsafe a while
to stay,

And I shall shew you peace, and fair-fac'd league;
Win you this city without stroke, or wound;
Rescue those breathing lives to die in beds,
That here come sacrifices for the field:
Persever not, but hear me, mighty kings.
K. John. Speak on, with favour; we are bent
to hear.
[Blanch,
Cit. That daughter there of Spain, the lady
Is near to England: Look upon the years
Of Lewis the Dauphin, and that lovely maid:
If lusty love should go in quest of beauty,
Where should he find it fairer than in Blanch?

Faulc. By heaven, these scroyles' of Angiers 15 If zealous' love should go in search of virtue,

flout you, kings;

And stand securely on their battlements,
As in a theatre, whence they gape and point
At your industrious scenes and acts of death.
Your royal presences be rul'd by me;
Do like the mutinies of Jerusalem,

Be friends a while, and both conjointly bend
Your sharpest deeds of malice on this town:
By east and west let France and England mount
Their battering cannon, charged to the mouths;
"Till their foul-fearing clamours have brawl'd down
The flinty ribs of this contemptuous city:
I'd play incessantly upon these jades,
Even 'till unfenced desolation
Leave them as naked as the vulgar air.
That done, dissever your united strengths,
And part your mingled colours once again;
Turn face to face, and bloody point to point:
Then, in a moment, fortune shall cull forth
Out of one side her happy minion;
To whom in favour she shall give the day,
And kiss him with a glorious victory.
How like you this wild counsel, mighty states?
Smacks it not something of the policy?

K.John. Now, by the sky that hangs above our

heads,

I like it well:-France, shall we knit our powers,
And lay this Angiers even with the ground;
Then, after, fight who shall be king of it?

Faule. An if thou hast the mettle of a king,-
Being wrong'd, as we are, by this peevish town,
Turn thou the mouth of thy artillery,
As we will ours, against these saucy walls:
And when that we have dash'd them to the ground,
Why, then defy each other; and, pell-mell,
Make work upon ourselves, for heaven or hell.
K.Philip. Let it be so: Say, where will you

assault?

K. John. We from the west will send destruction Into the city's bosom.

Aust. I from the north.

K. Philip. Our thunder from the south
Shall rain their drift of bullets on this town.
Faulc. O prudent discipline! From north to
south;

Austria and Francë shoot in each other's mouth:

I'll stir them to it: Come, away! away!

[Aside.

Where should he find it purer than in Blanch!
If love ambitious sought a match of birth,
Whose veins bound richer blood than lady Blanch?
Such as she is in beauty, virtue, birth,
20 Is the young Dauphin every way complete:
If not complete, oh say, he is not she;
And she again wants nothing, to name want,
If want it be not, that she is not he:
He is the half part of a blessed men,
25 Left to be finished by such a she;
And she a fair divided excellence,
Whose fulness of perfection lies in him.
Oh, two such silver currents, when they join,
Do glorify the banks that bound them in:

30 And two such shores to two such streams made one,
Two such controlling bounds shall you be, kings,
To these two princes, if you marry them.
This union shall do more than battery can,
To our fast-closed gates; for, at this match,
35 With swifter spleen* than powder can enforce,
The mouth of passage shall we fling wide ope,
And give you entrance: but, without this match,
The sea enraged is not half so deaf,

40

Lions more confident, mountains and rocks
More free from motion; no, not death himself
In mortal fury half so peremptory,

As we to keep this city.

Faule. Here's a stay,

That shakes the rotten carcase of old death

45 Out of his rags Here's a large mouth, indeed, That spits forth death, and mountains, rocks, and Talks as familiarly of roaring lions,

50

[seas;

As maids of thirteen do of puppy-dogs!
What canoneer begot this lusty blood? [bounce;
He speaks plain cannon, fire, and smoke, and
He gives the bastinado with his tongue;
Our ears are cudgel'd; not a word of his,
But buffets better than a fist of France:
Zounds! I was never so bethumpt with words,
55 Since I first call'd my brother's father, dad.

Eli.Son,list to this conjunction, make this match;
Give with our niece a dowry large enough:
For by this knot thou shalt so surely tie
Thy now unsur'd assurance to the crown,
60 That yon green boy shall have no sun to ripe
The bloom that promiseth a mighty fruit.
I see a yielding in the looks of France;
[souls
Mark, how they whisper: urge them, while their

1i. e. scabby, scrophulous fellows. The Lady Blanch was niece to king John by his sister Eleanor. Our author uses spleen for any violent hurry, or tumultuous speed.

1i. e. pious.

Are

[son, 10

K.Phil. Speak England first, that hath been for
To speak unto this city: What say you? [ward first
K.John. If that the Dauphin there, thy princely
Can in this book of beauty read, I love,
Her dowry shall weigh equal with a queen:
For Anjou, and fairTouraine, Maine, and Poictiers,
And all that we upon this side the sea
(Except this city now by us besieg'd)

Find liable to our crown and dignity,

Shall gild her bridal bed; and make her rich
In titles, honours, and promotions,

As she in beauty, education, blood,

15

Holds hand with any princess of the world. [face.
K.Phil. What say'st thou, boy? look in the lady's 20
Lewis. Ido, my lord; and in her eye find
A wonder, or a wondrous miracle,
The shadow of myself form'd in her eye;
Which, being but the shadow of your son,
Becomes a sun, and makes your son a shadow :
I do protest, I never lov'd myself,
'Till now infixed I beheld myself,
Drawn in the flattering table of her eye.

[Whispers with Blanch.

Command thy son and daughter to join hands.
K. Phil. It likes us well;-Young princes,
close your hands.

Aust. And your lips too; for, I am well assur'd,
That I did so, when I was first assur'd'.

K. Phil. Now, citizens of Angiers, ope your gates,
Let in that amity which you have made:
For at St. Mary's chapel, presently,
The rites of marriage shall be solemniz'd.-
Is not the lady Constance in this troop?-
I know, she is not; for this match, made up,
Her presence would have interrupted inuch:
Where is she and her son; tell me, who knows?
Lewis. She is sad and passionate at your high
[have made,
K. Phil. And, by my faith, this league, that we
Will give her sadness very little cure.-
Brother of England, how may we content
This widow lady? In her right we came;
Which we, God knows, have turn'd another way,
To our own vantage.

ness' tent.

up all:

K. John. We will heal
For we'll create young Arthur duke of Bretagne,
And earl of Richmond; and this rich fair town
25 We make him lord of.--Call the lady Constance;
Some speedy messenger bid her repair
To our solemnity:-I trust we shall,
If not fill up the measure of her will,
Yet in some measure satisfy her so,
That we shall stop her exclamation.
Go we, as well as haste will suffer us,
To this unlook'd for unprepared pomp.

Faulc.Drawn in the flattering table of her eye!-30
Hang'd in the frowning wrinkle of her brow!-
And quarter'd in her heart!-he doth espy
Himself love's traitor: This is pity now,
That hang'd, and drawn, and quarter'd, there
should be,

In such a love, so vile a lout as he.

Blanch. My uncle's will, in this respect, is mine: If he see aught in you, that makes him like, That any thing he sees, which moves his liking, I can with ease translate it to my will; Or, if you will, (to speak more properly) i will enforce it easily to my love. Further I will not flatter you, my lord, That all I see in you is worthy love, Than this, that nothing do I see in you, (Though churlish thoughts themselves should be your judge)

That I can find should merit any hate.

K. John. What say these young ones? What say you, my niece?'

Blanch. That she is bound in honour still to do What you in wisdom still vouchsafe to say. K.John. Speak thea, prince Dauphin; can you love this lady?

[Exeunt all but Faulconbridge Faule. Mad world! mad kings! mad composi 35 John, to stop Arthur's title in the whole, [tion! Hath willingly departed3 with a part: AndFrance,(whose armour conscience buckled on; Whom zeal and charity brought to the field, As God's own soldier) rounded in the ear* 40 With that same purpose-changer, that sly devil; That broker, that still breaks the pate of faith; That daily break-vow; he that wins of all,

Of kings, of beggars, old men, young men, maids, (Who having no external thing to lose 45 But the word maid, cheats the poor maid of that) That smooth-fac'd gentleman, tickling commo Commodity, the bias of the world; The world, who of itself is peised well, Made to run even, upon even ground; 50Till this advantage, this vile drawing bias,

[dity,

This sway of motion, this commodity,
Makes it take head from all indifferency,
From all direction, purpose, course, intent:
And this same bias, this commodity;
This bawd, this broker, this all-changing word,
Clapt on the outward eye of fickle France,
Hath drawn him from his own determin'd'aid,
From a resolv'd and honourable war,
To a most base and vile-concluded peace.-
60 And why rail I on this commodity ?
But for because he hath not woo'd me yet:
*i. e, affiancad, contracted.
Not

Lewis. Nay, ask me if I can refrain from love; 55
For I do love her most unfeignedly. [Maine,
K.John. Then do I give Volquessen', Touraine,
Poictiers, and Anjou, these five provinces,
With her to thee; and this addition more,
Full thirty thousand marks of English coin.
Philip of France, if thou be pleas'd withal,

This is the ancient name for the country now call'd the Vexin.
To part and to depart were formerly synonymous. i. e. whispered in the ear. i. e. interest.

Not that I have the power to clutch my hand',
When his fair angels would salute my palm;
But for my hand, as unattempted yet,
Like a poor beggar, raileth on the rich.
Well, whiles I am a beggar, I will rail,

And say,there is no sin, but to be rich;
And being rich, my virtue then shall be,
To say-there is no vice, but beggary:
Since kings break faith upon commodity,

5 Gain, be my lord; for I will worship thee! [Exit.

SCENE I.

АСТ III.

The French King's pavilion.
Enter Constance, Arthur, and Salisbury.
Con.ONE to be marry'd! gone to swear a peace!
False blood to false blood join'd! Gone
to be friends!

Shall Lewis have Blanch? and Blanch those pro-20
vinces?

It is not so; thou hast mis-spoke, mis-heard;
Be well advis'd, tell o'er thy tale again:
It cannot be; thou dost but say, 'tis so;
I trust, I may not trust thee: for thy word
Is but the vain breath of a common man:
Believe me, I do not believe thee, man;
I have a king's oath to the contrary.
Thou shalt be punish'd for thus frighting me,
For I am sick, and capable of fears;
Oppress'd with wrongs, and therefore full of fears;
A widow, husbandless, subject to fears;
A woman, naturally born to fears:

Full of unpleasing blots, and sightless stains,
Lame, foolish, crooked, swart, prodigious,
15 Patch'd with foul moles, and eye-offending marks,
I would not care, I then would be content;
For then I should not love thee; no, nor thou
Become thy great birth, nor deserve 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'st with lilies boast,
And with the half-blown rose: but fortune, oh!
She is corrupted, chang'd, and won from thee;
She adulterates hourly with thine uncle John,
25 And with her golden hand hath pluck'd on France
To tread down fair respect of sovreignty,
And made his majesty the bawd to theirs.
France is a bawd to fortune, and king John;
That strumpet fortune, that usurping John:-
30 Tell me, thou fellow, is not France forsworn?
Envenom him with words; or get thee gone,
And leave those woes alone, which I alone
Am bound to under-bear.

35

I will instruct my sorrows to be proud; For grief is proud, and makes his owner stout. 40 To me, and to the state of my great grief,

And though thou now confess, thou didst but jest,
With my vext spirits I cannot take a truce,
But they will quake and tremble all this day.
What dost thou mean by shaking of thy head?
Why dost thou look so sadly on my son?
What means that hand upon that breast of thine?
Why holds thine eye that lamentable rheum,
Like a proud river peering o'er his bounds?
Be these sad signs confirmers of thy words?
Then speak again; not all thy former tale,
But this one word, whether thy tale be true.
Sal. As true, as I believe, you think them false, 45
That give you cause to prove my saying true.

Const. Oh,if thou teach me to believe this sorrow,
Teach thou this sorrow how to make me die;
And let belief and life encounter so,
As doth the fury of two desperate men,
Which, in the very meeting, fall and die.-
Lewis marry Blanch! Oh boy, then where art thou?
France friend with England! what becomes of me?-
Fellow, be gone; I cannot brook thy sight;
This news hath made thee a most ugly man.

Sul. What other harm have I, good lady, done,
But spoke the harm that is by others done?
Const. Which harm within itself so heinous is,
As it makes harmful all that speak of it.

Arth. I do beseech you, madam, be content. Const. If thou,that bidst me be content, were grim, Ugly, and sland'rous to thy mother's womb,

Let kings assemble; for my grief's so great,
That no supporter but the huge firm earth
Can hold it up: here I and sorrows sit;
Here is my throne, bid kings come bow to it.
[Throws herself on the ground,
Enter King John, King Philip, Lewis, Blanch,
Elinor, Faulconbridge, and Austria.
K.Phil. 'Tis true, fair daughter; and this blessed
Ever in France shall be kept festival:
50 To solemnize this day, the glorious sun
Stays in his course, and plays the alchymist;
Turning, with splendor of his precious eye,
The meagre cloddy earth to glittering gold;
The yearly course that brings this day about,
55 Shall never see it but a holy-day,

Eday

Const. A wicked day, and not a holy-day!-
[Rising.
What hath this day deserv'd? what hath it done;
That it in golden letters should be set,

60 Among the high tides, in the kalendar?
Nay, rather, turn this day out of the week;
This day of shame, oppression, perjury:
disagreeable to the sight. 1i.e.
'i. e. solma seisons.

Sightless here means

To clutch the hand, is to clasp it close. black, tawny. * i. e. portentous, such as may seem a prodigy.