Phil. As faithfully, as I deny the devil.

Lady. King Richard Cour-de-lion was thy father;
By long, and vehement fuit, I was feduc'd
To make room for him in my husband's bed.
Heaven lay not my tranfgreffion to my charge!
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.
7 Some fins do bear their privilege on earth,
And fo doth yours; your fault was not your folly.
Needs muft you lay your heart at his difpofe,
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 hand.
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 did't 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 lyes; I fay, 'twas not.

[Exeunt.

7 Some fins-] There are fins, that whatever be determined of them above, are not much cenfured on earth. JOHNSON.

ACT

ACT II.

SCENE I.

Before the walls of Angiers in France.

Enter Philip king of France, Lewis the dauphin, the archduke of Auftria, Conftance, and Arthur.

LEWIS.

BE

EFORE Angiers well met, brave Austria.— 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 to rebuke the ufurpation Of thy unnatural uncle, English John. Embrace him, love him, give him welcome hither.

Arthur. 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 powerless 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 kiss, A feal to this indenture of my love;

Richard, that robb'd, &c.] So Rastal in his Chronicle. It is fayd that a lyon was put to kynge Richard, beynge in prison, to have devoured him, and when the lyon was gapynge he put his arme in his mouth, and pulled the lyon by the harte fo hard that he flewe the lyon, and therefore fome fay he is called Rycharde Cure de Lyon; but fome fay he is called Cure de Lyon, because of his boldness and hardy ftomake. Dr. GRAY.

1

At my importance-] At my importunity.

JONSON.

B 2

That

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 fhore,
Whofe foot fpurns back the ocean's roaring tides,
And coops
from other lands her islanders;

Even till that England, hedg'd in with the main,
That water-walled bulwark, ftill fecure
And confident from foreign purposes,
Even till that outmost 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 strong hand fhall help to give him strength, To make a more 3 requital to your love.

Auft. The peace of heaven is theirs, who lift their fwords

In fuch a juft and charitable war.

K. Philip. Well then, to work; our cannon shall be
bent

Against the brows of this refifting town.-
Call for our chiefeft men of difcipline,
To cull the plots of beft advantages.—
We'll lay before this town our royal bones,
Wade to the market-place in Frenchmens' blood,
But we will make it subject to this boy.

Cont. Stay for an answer to your embassy,
Left unadvis'd you ftain your fwords with blood.
My lord Chatillion may from England bring
That right in peace, which here we urge in war;
And then we hall repent each drop of blood,
That hot rafh hafte fo indirectly fhed.

2-that pale, that white-fac'd fhore,] England is fuppofed to be called Albion from the white rocks facing France. JOHNSON. 3 To make a more re quital, &c.] I believe it has been already obf.rvcd, that more fignified, in our author's time, greater.

STEEVENS.

Enter

Enter Chatillion.

K. Philip. A wonder, lady!-Lo, upon thy wish Our meffenger Chatillion is arriv'd. -What England fays, fay briefly, gentle lord, We coldly paufe for thee. Chatillion, fpeak.

Chat. Then turn your forces from this paltry fiege, And stir them up against a mightier task. England, impatient of your juft demands, Hath put himself in arms; the adverse winds, Whofe leisure I have staid, have given him time To land his legions all as foon as I. His marches are 5 expedient to this town, His forces ftrong, his foldiers confident. With him along is come the mother-queen, An Até, ftirring him to blood and ftrife. With her, her niece, the lady Blanch of Spain; With them a baftard of the king deceas'd, And all the unfettled humours of the land; Rafh, inconfiderate, fiery voluntaries, With ladies' faces, and fierce dragons' fpleens, Have fold their fortunes at their native homes, ⚫ Bearing their birthrights proudly on their backs, To make a hazard of new fortunes here. In brief, a braver choice of dauntless spirits, Than now the English bottoms have waft o'er, Did never float upon the fwelling tide, To do offence and 7 fcath in Christendom. The interruption of their churlish drums [Drums beat.

A wonder, lady!] The wonder is only that Chatillion happened to arrive at the moment when Conflance mentioned him; which the French king, according to a fuperftition which prevails more or lefs in every mind agitated by great affairs, turns into a miraculous interpofition, or omen of good. JOHNS.

5

- expedient-] Immediate, expeditious. JOHNSON.

6

Bearing their birth-rights, &c.] So Henry VIII.

Many broke their backs with bearing manors on them."

JOHNSON.

7-feathe-] Destruction, wafie. JOHNSON.

B 3

Cuts

Cuts off more circumftance: they are at hand
To parly, or to fight; therefore prepare.

K. Philip. How much unlook'd for is this expedition!

Auft. By how much unexpected, by fo much
We must awake endeavour for defence;
For courage mounteth with occafion :
Let them be welcome then, we are prepar❜d.

Enter king of England, Faulconbridge, Elinor, Blanch, Pembroke, and others.

K. John. Peace be to France; if France in peace permit

Our juft and lineal entrance to our own!

If not, bleed France, and peace ascend to heaven !
Whilft we, God's wrathful agent, do correct
Their proud contempt that beat his peace to heaven.

K. Phil. Peace be to England; if that war return
From France to England, there to live in peace!
England we love; and, for that England's fake,
With burthen of our armour here we fweat:
This toil of ours fhould be a work of thine;
But thou from loving England art fo far,
That thou haft under-wrought its lawful king;
Cut off the fequence of pofterity,
Out-faced infant ftate, and done a rape
Upon the maiden virtue of the crown.
Look here upon thy brother Geffrey's face:—
These eyes, thefe brows, were moulded out of his :
This little abstract doth contain that large,
Which dy'd in Geffrey; and the hand of time
Shall draw this brief into as huge a volume.
That Geffrey was thy elder brother born,
And this his fon; England was Geffrey's right,
And this is Geffrey's: in the name of God,
How comes it then, that thou art call'd a king,
When living blood doth in these temples beat,
Which owe the crown that thou o'er-maftereft?

K. John.