England, and Ireland, Anjou, Touraine, Maine,
In right of Arthur, do 1 claim of thee:

Wilt thou resign them, and lay down thyms?

K. John. My life as soon
Arthur of Bretagne, yie'

And, out of my dear love
Than e'er the coward har.
Submit thee, boy.

I do defy thee, France.

to mynd;

thee more

nce can win :

Eli. Come to thy grandam, child.

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

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.
Const. Now shame upon you, whe'r she does, or no!
His grandam's wrongs, and not his mother's shames,
Draw those heaven-moving pearls from his poor eyes,
Which heaven shall take in nature of a fee;
Ay, with these crystal beads heaven shall be brib'd
To do him justice, and revenge on you.

Eli. Thou monstrous slanderer of heaven and earth!
Const. Thou monstrous injurer of heaven and earth!
Call not me slanderer; thou, and thine, usurp
The dominations, royalties, and rights,

Of this oppressed boy: This is thy 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. Bedlam, 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,

[5] Read he'r he does, or no-i. e. whether he weeps, or not. Constance, so far from admitting, expressly denies that she shames him. RITSON.

[6] The key to these words is contained in the last speech of Constance, where she alludes to the denunciation of the second commandment, of "visiting the ini quities of the parents upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation," &e. HENLEY.

And with her plague, her sin; his injury
Her injur-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

Const. Ay, who dous

A woman's will; a car

son.

a will! a wicked will; andam's will!

K. Phil. Peace, laa,; pause, or be more temperate : It ill beseems this presence, to cry aim

To these ill-tuned repetitions.

Some trumpet summon hither to the walls

These men of Angiers; let us hear them speak,
Whose title they admit, Arthur's or John's.

Trumpets sound. Enter Citizens upon the walls. 1 Cit. Who is it, that hath warn'd us to the walls? K. Phil. 'Tis France, for England.

K. John. England, for itself:

You men of Angiers, and my loving subjects,

K. Phil. You loving men of Angiers, Arthur's subjects, Our trumpet call'd you to this gentle parle.

K. John. For our advantage ;-Therefore, hear us first.
-These flags of France, that are advanced here
Before the eye and prospect of your town,.
Have hither march'd to your endamagement:
The cannons have their bowels full of wrath;
And ready mounted are they, to spit forth
Their iron indignation 'gainst your walls:
All preparation for a bloody siege,

And merciless proceeding by these French,
Confront your city's eyes, your winking gates ;7
And, but for our approach, those sleeping stones,
That as a waist do girdle you about,
By the compulsion of their ordnance
By this time from their fixed beds of lime
Had been dishabited, and wide havoc made
For bloody power to rush upon your peace.
But, on the sight of us, your lawful king,-
Who painfully, with much expedient march,
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 :

[7] i. e. gates hastily closed from an apprehension of danger. MALONE. B

VOL. V.

And now, instead of bullets wrapp'd in fire,
To make a shaking fever in your walls,
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 labour'd spirits,
Forwearied in this action of swift speed,
Crave harbourage within your city walls.

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 young Plantagenet;
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,

Than the constraint of hospitable 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 :
And then our arms, like to a muzzled peat,
Save in aspect, have all offence seal'd up;
Our cannons' malice vainly shall be spent
Against th' invulnerable clouds of heaven;
And, with a blessed and unvex'd retire,
With unhack'd swords, and helmets all unbruis'd,
We will bear home that lusty blood again,
Which here we came to spout against your town,
And leave your children, wives, and you, in peace.
But if you fondly pass our proffer'd offer,
'Tis not the roundure of your old-fac'd walls,
Can hide you from our messengers of war;
Though all these English, and their discipline,
Were harbour'd in their rude circumference.
Then, tell us, shall your city call us lord,
In that behalf which we have challeng'd it?
Or shall we give the signal to our rage,

And stalk in blood to our possession?

1 Cit. In brief, we are the king of England's subjects,

[8] i e owns it. See our author and his contemporaries, passim. STEEVENS. [9] Roundure means the same as the Fr. rondeur, i. e. the circle. STEEVENS

For him, and in his right, we hold this town.

K. John. Acknowledge then the king, and let me in. 1 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,—
Bast. Bastards, and else.

K. John. To verify our title with their lives.

K. Phil. As many, and as well-born bloods as those,Bast. Some bastards too.

K. Phil.-Stand in his face, to contradict his claim. 1 Cit. Till you compound whose right is worthiest, We, for the worthiest, hold the right from both.

K. John. Then God forgive the sin of all those souls, 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! to arms! Bast. St. George,-that swing'd the dragon, and e'er since,

Sits on his horseback at mine hostess' door,

Teach us some fence !-Sirrah, were I at home,
At your den, sirrah, [To Aus.] with your lioness,
I'd set an ox-head to your lion's hide,

And make a monster of you.

Aust. Peace; no more.

Bast. O, tremble; for you hear the lion roar.

K. John. Up higher to the plain; where we'll set forth,

In best appointment, all our regiments.

Bast. Speed then, to take advantage of the field.

K. Phil. It shall be so;-[To LEW.] and at the other

hill

Command the rest to stand.-God, and our right!

The same.

SCENE II.

[Exeunt,

Alarums and Excursions: then a retreat. Enter a French Herald, with trumpets, to the gates. F. Her. You men of Angiers, open wide your gates, And let young Arthur, duke of Bretagne, in ; Who, by the hand of France, this day hath made Much work for tears in many an English mother,

Whose sons lie scatter'd on the bleeding ground:
Many a widow's husband grovelling lies,
Coldly embracing the discolour'd earth;
And victory, with little loss, doth play
Upon the dancing banners of the French;
Who are at hand, triumphantly display'd,
To enter conquerors, and to proclaim
Arthur of Bretagne, England's king, and your's.'
Enter an English Herald, with trumpets.

E. Her. Rejoice, you men of Angiers, ring your bells; King John, your king and England's, doth approach, Commander of this hot, malicious day!

Their armours, that march'd hence so silver-bright,
Hither return all gilt with Frenchmen's blood;
There stuck no plume in any English crest,

That is removed by a staff of France;

Our colours do return in those same hands
That did display them when we first march'd forth;
And, like a jolly troop of huntsmen, come
Our lusty English, all with purpled hands,
Dyed in the dying slaughter of their foes:
Open your gates, and give the victors way."

Cit. Heralds, from on our towers we might behold,
From first to last, the onset and retire

Of both your armies; whose equality
By our best eyes cannot be censured:*

;

Blood hath bought blood, and blows have answer'd blows Strength match'd with strength, and power confronted

power:

Both are alike; and both alike we like.

One must prove greatest: while they weigh so even,
We hold our town for neither; yet for both.

Enter, at one side, King JOHN, with his power; ELINOR,
BLANCH, and the Bastard; at the other, King PHILIP,
LEWIS, AUSTRIA, and Forces.

K. John. France, hast thou yet more blood to cast away? Say, shall the current of our right run on

n?

[1] This speech is very poetical and smooth, and except the conceit of the widon's husband embracing the earth, is just and beautiful. JOHNSON.

[2] It was, I think, one of the savage practices of the chase, for all to stain their bands in the blood of the deer, as a trophy. JOHNSON.

[3] The English Herald falls somewhat below his antagonist. Süver armour gült with blood is a poor image. JOHNSON.

[4] i. e. cannot be estimated. MALONE.