At your employment, at your fervice, Sir:-
No, Sir, fays queftion, I, fweet Sir, at yours,
And fo, e'er anfwer knows what queftion 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 fmack of obfervation;
(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, fweet, fweet poifon for the age's tooth;
Which tho' I will not practife to deceive,
Yet, to avoid deceit, I mean to learn;
For it fhall ftrew the footsteps of my rifing.
But who comes in such hafte, in riding robes

(5) And fo e'er answer knows what queflion 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 must remember the time our Author wrote in; when travellers, by the daily discovery of new worlds, were in the greatest estimation.) Atthe first intimation ofhis defire to hear ftrange ftories, the traveller complies, and the answer comes as easy as an a, b, c, book. Now, Sir, fays the Knight, this is my queftion:-The over-ready traveller will scarce 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 worfhipful fociety? to spend 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 parenthesis; which, we may fuppofe, was firft occafion'd by their blunder in the word, faving, inftead of the true word, ferving. Now my emendation gives, the text this turn; And e'er anfwer knows what the question 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 sense 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 haftily ?

Enter Lady Faulconbridge, and James Gurney. Lady. Where is that flave, thy brother? where is he, That holds in chase 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 seek 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!

fpare 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 faft:
Sir Robert could do well; marry, confefs!

(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 fparrow. 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 inserted into the text. Spare me, and forbear me, it may be observed, are our Au thor's accuftom'd phrafes; 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 the wants to get rid of CLOTEN; I pray you, fpare me; faith,

I fhall unfold equal difcourtesy

To your best 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 Meafure for Meafure, 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 these 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 most untoward knave? Phil. Knight, Knight, good mother-Bafilifco like. (7) What! I am dubb'd; I have it on my fhoulder: 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 must 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 fwear.

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 Philip, when his mother calls him knave, throw off that reproach, by humorously laying claim to his new dignity of knighthood; 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 fo well known, as to become the butt for a stage-farcasm.

Thou

Thou art the iffue of my dear offence,
Which was fo ftrongly urg'd paft 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;
Againft 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 didft 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 hadft faid him nay, it had been fin; Who fays, it was, he lies; I fay, 'twas not. [Exeunt.

SCENE, before the Walls of Angiers in France.

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

LEWIS.

EFORE Angiers well met, brave Auftria.
Arthur! that great fore-runner of thy blood
Richard, that robb'd the lion of his heart,
And fought the holy wars in Palestine,
By this brave Duke came early to his grave:
And for amends to his pofterity,

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

And

And to rebuke the ufurpation

Of thy unnatural uncle, English John.

Embrace him, love him, give him welcome hither.
Arth. God fhall forgive you Coeur-de-lion's death
The rather, that you give his offspring life;
Shadowing their right under your wings of war.
I give you welcome with a pow'rlefs hand,
But with a heart full of unftained love:
Welcome before the gates of Angiers, Duke.

Lewis. A noble boy! who would not do thee right?
Auft. Upon thy cheek lay I this zealous kifs,
As feal to this indenture of my love;
That to my home I will no more return,
Till Angiers and the right thou haft in France,
Together with that pale, that white-fac'd shore,
Whofe foot fpurn's back the ocean's roaring tides,
And coops from other lands her islanders;
Ev'n till that England, hedg'd in with the main,
That water-walled bulwark, ftill fecure
And confident from foreign purposes,

Ev'n 'till that outmoft corner of the Weft,
Salute thee for her King. Till then, fair boy,
Will I not think of home, but follow arms.

Conft. O, take his mother's thanks, a widow's thanks, Till your ftrong hand fhall help to give him ftrength, To make a more requital to your love.

Auft. The peace of heav'n is theirs, who lift their fwords In fuch a juft and charitable war.`

K. Philip. Well then, to work; our engines fhall be bent
Against the brows of this refifting town;
Call for our chiefeft men of discipline,
To cull the plots of beft advantages.
We'll lay before this town our royal bones,
Wade to the market-place in Frenchmen's blood,
But we will make it fubject to this boy.

Conft. Stay for an answer to your embaffy,
Left unadvis'd you ftain your fwords with blood.
My Lord Chatilion may from England bring
That right in peace, which here we urge in war ;.

And