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Phil. Brother by th' mother's fide, give me your hand; My father gave me honour, yours gave land. Now bleffed be the hour, by night or day, When I was got, Sir Robert was away. Eli. The very fpirit of Plantagenet!

I am thy grandam; Richard, call me fo.

Phil. Madam, by chance, but not by truth; what tho'? Something about, a little from the right,

In at the window, or elfe o'er the hatch:
Who dares not ftir by day, muft walk by night,
And have is have, however men do catch;
Near or far off, well won is ftill well-fhot;
And I am I, howe'er I was begot.

K.John. Go, Faulconbridge, now haft thou thy defire;
A landless Knight makes thee a landed 'fquire:
Come, Madam; and come, Richard; we muft speed
For France, for France; for it is more than need.

Phil. Brother, adieu; good fortune come to thee, For thou was got i'th' way of honefty. [Exe. all but Phil. A foot of honour better than I was,

But many a many foot of land the worfe!
Well, now can I make any Joan a Lady.
Good-den, Sir Richard, Godamercy, fellow;
And if his name be George, I'll call him Peter;
For new-made honour doth forget men's names:
'Tis too refpective and unfociable

For your converfing. Now your traveller,
He and his tooth-pick at my worship's mefs;
And when my knightly ftomach is fuffic'd,
Why then I fuck my teeth, and catechife
My picqued man of countries ;-My dear Sir, (4).
(Thus leaning on mine elbow, I begin)
I fhall befeech you,- that is queftion now;
And then comes anfwer like an A B C-book:
O Sir, fays answer, at your best command,

(4) My piked man of countries.] Thus Mr. Pope exhibits this paf fage, and interprets the word, formal, bearded. The old copies give it us, picked, by a flight corruption in the fpelling; but the Author certainly defign'd, picqued; (from the French verb, fe piquer) i, e. touchy, tart, apprehenfive, upon his guard.

At

At your employment, at your fervice, Sir:

No, Sir, fays queftion, I, fweet Sir, at yours,
And fo, e'er anfwer knows what question would, (5)
Serving in dialogue of compliment;

And talking of the Alps and Apennines,

The Pyrenean and the river Po;

It draws towards fupper in conclufion, fo.
But this is worshipful fociety,

And fits the mounting fpirit like myself:
For he is but a baftard to the time,
That doth not smack of observation;
(And fo am I, whether I fmack or no :)
And not alone in habit and device,
Exterior form, outward accoutrement;
But from the inward motion to deliver
Sweet, sweet, fweet poifon for the age's tooth;
Which tho' I will not practise to deceive,
Yet, to avoid deceit, I mean to learn ;
For it fhall ftrew the footsteps of my rifing.
But who comes in such haste, in riding robes ?
(5) And fo e'er anfwer knows what question would,

(Saving in dialogue-] In this fine fpeech Faulconbridge would fhew the advantages and prerogatives of men of worship. He particularly obferves, that he has the traveller at command. (And here we muft remember the time our Author wrote in; when travellers, by the daily discovery of new worlds, were in the greatest estimation.) At the first intimation ofhis defire to hear strange ftories, the traveller complies, and the answer comes as easy as an a, b, c, book. Now, Sir, fays the Knight, this is my question:-The over-ready traveller will fcarce give him leave to make it, but, e'er anfwer knows what question would,-What then? Why, according to the ftupidity of the hitherto receiv'd reading, it grows towards fupper-time. And is not this wor-fhipful fociety? to fpend all the time betwixt dinner and fupper, before either of them knows what the other would be at. So abfurdly is the fenfe vitiated, by putting the three lines in a parenthefis; which, we may fuppofe, was firft occafion'd by their blunder in the word, fawing, inftead of the true word, ferving. Now my emendation gives the text this turn; " And e'er answer knows what the queftion would "be at, my traveller ferves in his dialogue of compliment, which is "his ftanding difh at all tables, then he comes to talk of the Alpes "and Apennines, &c. and by the time this difcourfe concludes," it draws towards fupper." All now here is fenfe and humour; and the phrafe of ferving in is a very humorous one, to fignify that this was his worship's fecond courfe. Mr, Warburton.

What

What woman-) poft is this? hath fhe no husband,
That will take pains to blow a horn before her ?
O me! it is my mother; now, good Lady,
What brings you here to court so hastily?

Enter Lady Faulconbridge, and James Gurney. Lady. Where is that flave, thy brother? where is he, That holds in chafe mine honour up and down? Phil. My brother Robert, old Sir Robert's fon, Colbrand the giant, that fame mighty man, Is it Sir Robert's fon, that you feek fo?

Lady. Sir Robert's fon? ay, thou unrev'rend boy, Sir Robert's fon: why fcorn'ft thou at Sir Robert? He is Sir Robert's fon; and fo art thou.

Phil. James Gurney, wilt thou give us leave awhile
Gur. Good leave, good Philip.

Phil. Philip!

Ipare me, James; (6)

There's toys abroad; anon I'll tell thee more. [Ex.Jam.
Madam, I was not old Sir Robert's fon,

Sir Robert might have eat his part in me
Upon Good-Friday, and ne'er broke his fast:
Sir Robert could do well; marry, confess!

(6) Philip, fparrow, James.] Thus the old copies; and Mr. Pope has attempted to glofs this reading by telling us, that Philip is the common name for a tame sparrow. So that then Faulconbridge would fay, Call me Philip? You may as well call me Sparrow.- -The allufion is very mean and trifling: and every body, I believe, will chufe to embrace Mr. Warburton's emendation, which I have inferted into the text. Spare me, and forbear me, it may be observed, are our Au thor's accuftom'd phrases; either when any one wants another to leave him, or would be rid of a difpleafing fubject. So, in the Tempeft, Alonso, when his companions teaze him with unfeasonable difcourfe, fays; I pr'ythee, Spare.

So, Imogen, in Cymbeline, when fhe wants to get rid of CLOTEN; I pray you, fpare me; faith,

I shall unfold equal discourtesy

To your beft kindness.

So in Anthony and Cleopatra, when he difmiffes the messenger, that brings an account of his wife's death:

Forbear me;

There's a great spirit gone!

And, in Measure for Measure, when the Duke would have Mariana leave him;

I fhall crave your forbearance a little; may be, I will call upon you anon.

Could

Could he get me? Sir Robert could not do it;
We know his handy-work; therefore, good mother,
To whom am I beholden for thefe limbs ?

Sir Robert never holpe to make this leg.

Lady. Haft thou confpir'd with thy brother too,
That, for thine own gain, fhould'ft defend mine honour?
What means this fcorn, thou moft untoward knave?
Phil. Knight, Knight, good mother-Bafilifco like. (7)
What! I am dubb'd; I have it on my shoulder:
But, mother, I am not Sir Robert's fon;

I have disclaim'd Sir Robert, and my land;
Legitimation, name, and all is gone:

Then, good my mother, let me know my father ;
Some proper man, I hope; who was it, mother?
Lady. Haft thou deny'd thyfelf a Faulconbridge?
Phil. As faithfully, as I deny the devil.

Lady. King Richard Coeur-de-lion was thy father;
By long, and vehement, fuit I was feduc'd
To make room for him in my husband's bed.
Heav'n lay not my tranfgreffion to my charge!

(7) Knight, Knight,- good mother, Bafilifco like.] Thus muft this paffage be pointed; and, to come at the humour of it, I must clear up an old circumftance of Stage-history. Faulconbridge's words here carry a conceal'd piece of fatire on a ftupid Drama of that age, printed in 1599, and call'd Soliman and Perfeda. In this piece there is the character of a bragging cowardly Knight, call'd Bafilifco. His pretenfion to valour is fo blown and feen thro', that Pifton, a buffoon fervant in the Play, jumps upon his back, and will not difengage him, till he makes Bafilifco fwear upon his dugeon dagger to the contents, and in the terms, he dictates to him: as, for inftance.

Baf. O, I fwear, I swear.

Pift. By the contents of this blade,

Baf. By the contents of this blade,
Pift. I, the aforefaid Bafilifco,

Baf. I, the aforefaid Bafilifco,

Knight, good fellow, knight, knight,

Pift. Knave, good fellow, knave, knave,

So that 'tis clear, our Poet is fneering at this Play; and makes Pbilip, when his mother calls him knave, throw off that reproach, by humorously laying claim to his new dignity of knight bood; as Bafilifce arrogantly infifts on his title of Knight, in the paffage above quoted. This old play is an execrable bad one; and, I fuppofe, was fufficiently exploded in the representation: which might make this circumftance so well known, as to become the butt for a stage-sarcasm.

Thou

Thou art the iffue of my dear offence,
Which was fo ftrongly urg'd past my defence.
Phil. Now, by this light, were I to get again,
Madam, I would not with a better father.
Some fins do bear their privilege on earth,
And fo do yours; your fault was not your folly;
Needs muft you lay your heart at his dispose,
Subjected tribute to commanding love;
Against whofe fury, and unmatched force,
The awless lion could not wage the fight;
Nor keep his princely heart from Richard's hands.
He, that perforce robs lions of their hearts,
May eafily win a woman's. Ay, my mother,
With all my heart I thank thee for my father.
Who lives and dares but fay, thou didst not well
When I was got, I'll fend his foul to hell.
Come, Lady, I will fhew thee to my kin,

And they fhall fay when Richard me begot, If thou hadst faid him nay, it had been fin; Who fays, it was, he lies; I fay, 'twas not. [Exeunt.

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SCENE, before the Walls of Angiers in France.

Enter Philip King of France, Lewis the Dauphin, the Archduke of Auftria, Constance, and Arthur.

LEWIS.

Bartbur that great fore-runner of thy blood
EFORE Angiers well met, brave Auftria.
Arthur!

Richard, that robb'd the lion of his heart,
And fought the holy wars in Paleftine,

By this brave Duke came early to his grave:
And for amends to his pofterity,

At our importance hither is he come,
To spread his colours, boy, in thy behalf;

And

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