As great Alcides' fhews upon an afs

But, afs, I'll take that burden from your back,
Or lay on that, fhall make your fhoulders crack.

Auft. What cracker is this fame, that deafs our ears
With this abundance of fuperfluous breath?
King Philip, determine what we fhall do ftrait.

K. Philip. Women and fools, break off your conference.

King John, this is the very fum of all.

England, and Ireland, Anjou, Touraine, Maine,
In right of Arthur I do claim of thee.

Wilt thou refign them, and lay down thy arms?
K. John. My life as foon.-I do defy thee, France.
-Arthur of Britain, 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.

Conft. 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 fo, poor boy, he weeps.
Conft. Now fhame upon you, whether fhe does or no!
His grandam's wrong, and not his mother's fhames,
Draws thofe heav'n-moving pearls from his poor eyes,
Which heav'n fhall take in nature of a fee:
Ay, with thefe crystal beads heav'n fhall be brib'd
To do him juftice, and revenge on you.

Eli. Thou monftrous flanderer of heav'n and earth! Conft. Thou monftrous injurer of heav'n and earth! Call me not flanderer; thou, and thine, ufurp The domination, royalties and rights

Of this oppreffed boy. This is thy eldeft fon's fon, Infortunate in nothing but in thee;

Thy

Thy fins are vifited on this poor child;
The canon of the law is laid on him,
Being but the second generation

Removed from thy fin-conceiving womb.
K. John. Bedlam, have done.

Conft. I have but this to fay,
That he's not only plagued for her fin,
But God hath made her fin and her the plague
On this removed iffue, plagu'd for her,
And with her.-Plague her fin; his injury,
Her injury, the beadle to her fin,
All punish'd in the perfon of this child,
And all for her, a plague upon her!
Eli. Thou unadvifed fcold, I can produce
A will, that bars the title of thy fon
Conft. Ay, who doubts that? a will!
will;

• I have but this to fay, That he's not only plagued for her fin,

But, &c. ] This paffage appears to me very obfcure. The chief difficulty arises from this, that Conftance having told Elinor of her fin-conceiving womb, perfues the thought, and ufes fin through the next lines in an ambiguous fenfe, fometimes for crime, and fometimes for offSpring.

He's not only plagued for her fin, &c. He is not only made miferable by vengeance for her fin or crime, but her fin, her offspring, and fhe, are made the inftruments of that vengeance, on this defcendant, who, though of the fecond generation, is plagued for her and with her; to whom he is not only the caufe but the inftrument of evil.

I

-a wicked

point thus:

Plagu'd for ber
-Plague her

And with her.
fin! bis injury
Her injury, the beadle to her
fin.

That is; inftead of inflicting
vengeance on this innocent and
remote defcendant, funifh her fin,
her immediate offspring: then
the affliction will fall where it is
deferved; his injury will be her
injury, and the mifery of her fin;
her fon will be a beadle, or chaf
tifer, to her crimes, which are
now all punished in the person of
this child.
E e 4

The next clause is more per

A

A woman's will, a cankred grandam's will.

K. Phil. Peace, Lady; paufe, or be more tempe

rate :

7 It ill befeems this prefence to cry Aim To thefe ill tuned repetitions.

Some trumpet fummon hither to the walls

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

Trumpets found.

SCENE III.

Enter a Citizen upon the Walls.

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 fubjects

K. Phil. You loving men of Angiers, Arthur's fubjects,

Our trumpet call'd you to this gentle parle

K. John. For our advantage-therefore hear us

first:

Thefe flags of France, that are advanced here
Before the eye and profpect 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:

7 It ill befeems this prefence to cry Aim

To theje ill tuned repetitions,] Dr. Warburton has well observed on one of the former plays, that to cry aim is to encourage. I once thought it was borrowed from archery; and that aim! having been the word of command, as we now fay present!

All preparations for a bloody fiege
And merciless proceeding, by thefe French,
Confront your city's eyes, your winking gates;
And, but for our approach, those sleeping stones,
That as a waste do girdle you about,

By the compulfion 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 fight of us your lawful King,
(Who painfully with much expedient march
Have brought a counter-check before your gates,
To fave unfcratch'd your city's threatned 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,
They shoot but calm words folded up in smoak,
To make a faithlefs error in your ears;
Which trust accordingly, kind citizens ;
And let in us, your King, whofe labour'd spirits,
Fore-weary'd in this action of fwift speed,

Crave harbourage within your city-walls.

K. Philip. When I have faid, make answer to us both.

Lo! in this right hand, whofe protection
Is most divinely vow'd upon the right
Of him it holds, ftands 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 thefe greens before your town:
Being no further enemy to you,

Than the constraint of hofpitable zeal,
In the relief of this oppreffed child,
Religiously provokes. Be pleafed then
To pay that duty, which you truly owe
To him that owns it; namely, this young Prince.
And then our arms, like to a muzzled bear,

Save in aspect, hath all offence feal'd up;
Our cannons' malice vainly fhall be spent
Against the invulnerable clouds of heav'n;
And with a bleffed, and unvext retire,
With unhack'd fwords, and helmets all unbruis'd,
We will bear home that lufty blood again,
Which here we came to fpout against your town;
And leave your children, wives, and you in peace.
But if you fondly pass our proffer'd offer,
'Tis not the rounder of your old-fac'd walls
Can hide you from our meffengers of war;
Tho' all thefe English, and their difcipline,
Were harbour'd in their rude circumference.
Then tell us, fhall your city call us Lord,
In that behalf which we have challeng'd it?
Or fhall we give the fignal to our rage,
And ftalk in blood to our poffeffion?

Cit. In brief, we are the King of England's fubjects; For him, and in his right, we hold this town.

K. John. Acknowledge then the King, and let me in. 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 witneffes,

Twice fifteen thoufand hearts of England's breed-
Faulc. (Baftards, and elfe.)

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

K. Phil. As many, and as well born bloods as thofe

Faul. (Some baftards too.)

K. Phil. Stand in his face to contradict his claim. Cit. Till you compound whofe right is worthieft, We for the worthieft hold the right from both.

K. John. Then God forgive the fin of all thofe fouls,

That