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Wear out the day in peace; but, ere sunset,
Set armed discord 'twixt these perjur'd kings!
Hear me, O, hear me !

Aust. Lady Constance, peace.

Const. War! war! no peace! peace is to me a war. Ó Lymoges! O Austria! thou dost shame

That bloody spoil: Thou slave, thou wretch, thou coward;

Thou little valiant, great in villany!

Thou ever strong upon the stronger side!
Thou fortune's champion, that dost never fight
But when her humourous ladyship is by
To teach thee safety! thou art perjur'd too,
And sooth'st up greatness. What a fool art thou,
A ramping fool; to brag, and stamp, and swear,
Upon my party! Thou cold-blooded slave,
Hast thou not spoke like thunder on my side?
Been sworn my soldier? bidding me depend
Upon thy stars, thy fortune, and thy strength?
And dost thou now fall over to my foes?
Thou wear a lion's hide! doff it for shame,
And hang a calf's-skin on those recreant limbs.
Aust. O, that a man should speak those words to me!
Bast. And hang a calf's-skin on those recreant limbs.
Aust. Thou dar'st not say so, villain, for thy life.
Bast. And hang a calf's-skin on those recreant limbs.'
K. John. We like not this; thou dost forget thyself.

[1] O Lymoges! O Austria!] The propriety or impropriety of these titles, which every editor has suffered to pass unnoted, deserves a little consideration. Shakespeare has, on this occasion, followed the old play, which at once furnished him with the character of Faulconbridge, and ascribed the death of Richard I. to the duke of Austria. In the person of Austria, he has conjoined the two wellknown enemies of Coeur-de-lion. Leopold, duke of Austria, threw him into prison, in a former expedition; (in 1193) but the castle of Chaluz, before which he fell (1199) belonged to Vidomar, viscount of Limoges; and the archer who pierced his shoulder with an arrow (of which wound he died) was Bertrand de Gourdon. The editors seem hitherto to have understood Lymoges as being an appendage to the title of Austria, and therefore inquired no further about it. STEEVENS.

[2] When fools were kept for diversion in great families, they were distinguished by a calf's-skin-coat, which had the buttons down the back; and this they wore that they might be known for fools, and escape the resentment of those whom they provoked with their waggeries. This fact will explain the sarcasm of Constance and Faulconbridge, who mean to call Austria a fool.

SIR J. HAWKINS.

[3] Here Mr. Pope inserts the following speeches from the old play of King John, printed 1591, before Shakespeare appears to have commenced a writer:

"Aust. Methinks, that Richard's pride, and Richard's fall, Should be a precedent to fright you all.

Faule. What words are these? how do my sinews shake!

Enter PANDUlph.

K. Phil. Here comes the holy legate of the pope.
Pand. Hail, you anointed deputies of heaven!-
To thee, king John, my holy errand is.

I Pandulph, of fair Milan cardinal,
And from pope Innocent the legate here,
Do, in his name, religiously demand,

Why thou against the church, our holy mother,
So wilfully dost spurn; and, force perforce,
Keep Stephen Langton, chosen archbishop
Of Canterbury, from that holy see ?
This, in our 'foresaid holy father's name,
Pope Innocent, I do demand of thee.

K. John. What earthly name to interrogatories,

Can task the free breath of a sacred king?
Thou canst not, cardinal, devise a name
So slight, unworthy, and ridiculous,

To charge me to an answer, as the pope.

Tell him this tale; and from the mouth of England,
Add thus much more,-That no Italian priest

Shall tithe or toll in our dominions;

But as we under heaven are supreme head,
So, under him, that great supremacy,
Where we do reign, we will alone uphold,
Without th' assistance of a mortal hand :
So tell the pope; all reverence set apart,
To him, and his usurp'd authority.

K. Phil. Brother of England, you blaspheme in this. K. John. Tho' you, and all the kings of Christendom, Are led so grossly by this meddling priest,

Dreading the curse that money may buy out;
And, by the merit of vile gold, dross, dust,

My father's foe clad in my father's spoil!
How doth Alecto whisper in my ears,
Delay not. Richard, kill the villain straight;
Disrobe him of the matchless monument,
Thy father's triumph o'er the savages !-
Now by his soul I swear, my father's soul,
Twice will I not review the morning's rise,

Till I have torn that trophy from thy back,

And split thy heart for wearing it so long." STEEVENS.

[4] This must have been, at the time when it was written, in our struggles with popery, a very captivating scene.

So many passages remain in which Shakespeare evidently takes his advantage of the facts then recent, and of the passions then in motion, that I cannot but suspect that time has obscured much of his art, and that many allusions yet remain undiscovered, which perhaps may be gradually retrieved by succeeding commentators. JOHNSON.

Purchase corrupted pardon of a man,

Who, in that sale, sells pardon from himself:
Though you, and all the rest, so grossly led,
This juggling witchcraft with revenue cherish;
Yet I, alone, alone do me oppose

Against the pope, and count his friends my foes.
Pand. Then, by the lawful power that I have,
Thou shalt stand curs'd, and excommunicate :
And blessed shall he be, that doth revolt
From his allegiance to an heretic ;
And meritorious shall that hand be call'd,
Canonized, and worship'd as a saint,
That takes away by any secret course
Thy hateful life."

Const. O, lawful let it be,

That I have room with Rome to curse a while!
Good father cardinal, cry thou, amen,

To my

keen curses; for, without my wrong,
There is no tongue hath power to curse him right.
Pand. There's law and warrant, lady, for my curse.
Const. And for mine too; when law can do no right,
Let it be lawful, that law bar no wrong:
Law cannot give my child his kingdom here;
For he, that holds his kingdom, holds the law :
Therefore, since law itself is perfect wrong,
How can the law forbid my tongue to curse?
Pand. Philip of France, on peril of a curse,
Let go the hand of that arch-heretic ;

And raise the power of France upon his head,
Unless he do submit himself to Rome.

Eli. Look'st thou pale, France ? do not let go thy hand.
Const. Look to that, devil! lest that France repent,

And, by disjoining hands, hell lose a soul.

Aust. King Philip, listen to the cardinal.

Bast. And hang a calf's-skin on his recreant limbs. Aust. Well, ruffian, I must pocket up these wrongs, Because

Bast. Your breeches best may carry them.

K. John. Philip, what say'st thou to the cardinal?
Const. What should he say, but as the cardinal ?

[5] This may allude to the bull published against Queen Elizabeth. Or we may suppose, since we have no proof that this play appeared in its present state before the reign of King James, that it was exhibited soon after the popish plot. I have seen a Spanish book in which Garnet, Faux and their accomplices, are registered as saints. JOHNSON.

Lew. Bethink you, father; for the difference
Is, purchase of a heavy curse from Rome,"
Or the light loss of England for a friend :
Forgo the easier.

Blanch. That's the curse of Rome.

Const. O Lewis, stand fast; the devil tempts thee here,

In likeness of a new untrimmed bride.

Blanch. The lady Constance speaks not from her faith, But from her need.

Const. O, if thou grant my need,

Which only lives but by the death of faith,
That need must needs infer this principle,-
That faith would live again by death of need;

O, then, tread down my need, and faith mounts up;
Keep my need up, and faith is trodden down.

K. John. The king is mov'd, and answers not to this.
Const. O, be remov'd from him, and answer well.
Aust. Do so, king Philip; hang no more in doubt.
Bast. Hang nothing but a calf's-skin, most sweet lout.
K. Phil. I am perplex'd, and know not what to say.
Pand. What can'st thou say, but will perplex thee more,
If thou stand excommunicate, and curs'd?

K. Phil. Good reverend father, make my person yours, And tell me, how you would bestow yourself. This royal hand and mine are newly knit ; And the conjunction of our inward souls Married in league, coupled and link'd together With all religious strength of sacred vows; · The latest breath that gave the sound of words, Was deep-sworn faith, peace, amity, true love, Between our kingdoms, and our royal selves; And even before this truce, but new before,― No longer than we well could wash our hands, To clap this royal bargain up of peace,Heaven knows, they were besmear'd and overstain'd With slaughter's pencil; where revenge did paint The fearful difference of incensed kings : And shall these hands, so lately purg'd of blood, So newly join'd in love, so strong in both,

Unyoke this seizure, and this kind regreet?

Play fast and loose with faith? so jest with heaven,

[6] It is a political maxim, that kingdoms are never married. Lewis, upon the

wedding is for making war upon his new relations. JOHNSON.

Make such unconstant children of ourselves,
As now again to snatch our palm from palm;
Unswear faith sworn; and on the marriage bed
Of smiling peace to march a bloody host,
And make a riot on the gentle brow
Of true sincerity? O holy sir,

My reverend father, let it not be so :
Out of your grace, devise, ordain, impose
Some gentle order; and then we shall be bless'd
To do your pleasure, and continue friends.

Pand. All form is formless, order orderless,
Save what is opposite to England's love.
Therefore, to arms! be champion of our church!
Or let the church, our mother, breathe her curse,
A mother's curse, on her revolting son.

France, thou may'st hold a serpent by the tongue,
A cased lion by the mortal paw,

A fasting tyger safer by the tooth,

Than keep in peace that hand which thou dost hold.
K. Phil. I may disjoin my hand, but not my faith.
Pand. So mak'st thou faith an enemy to faith;
And, like a civil war, set'st oath to oath,

Thy tongue against thy tongue. O, let thy vow
First made to heaven, first be to heaven perform'd;
That is, to be the champion of our church!
What since thou swor'st, is sworn against thyself,
And may not be performed by thyself:

For that, which thou hast sworn to do amiss,

Is not amiss when it is truly done;

And being not done, where doing tends to ill,
The truth is then most done not doing it :
The better act of purposes mistook
Is, to mistake again; though indirect,

Yet indirection thereby grows direct,

And falsehood falsehood cures; as fire cools fire,
Within the scorched veins of one new burn'd.

It is religion, that doth make vows kept;

But thou hast sworn against religion;

By what thou swear'st, against the thing thou swear'st;
And mak'st an oath the surety for thy truth
Against an oath the truth thou art unsure
To swear, swear only not to be forsworn ;
Else, what a mockery should it be to swear?
But thou dost swear only to be forsworn ;

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