K. Phil. Speak, England, firft, that hath been forward firft To speak unto this city: what fay you? K. John. If that the dauphin there, thy princely fon, Can in this book of beauty read, I love; Her dowry fhall weigh equal with a queen : For, Anjou, and fair Touraine, Maine, Poitiers 2, And all that we upon this fide the fea, (Except this city now by us befieg'd) Find liable to our crown and dignity, Shall gild her bridal bed; and make her rich In titles, honours, and promotions, As fhe in beauty, education, blood, Holds hand with any princefs of the world. K. Phil. What fay'it thou, boy? look in the lady's face. Lewis. I do, my lord; and in her eye I find A wonder, or a wondrous miracle; The fhadow of myfelf form'd in her eye; Till now, infixed, I beheld myfelf, Drawn in the flattering table of her eye! [Whispering with Blanch. Faulc. Drawn in the flattering table of her eye! Hang'd in the frowning wrinkle of her brow! 2 In old editions, For ANGIFRS and fair Touraine, Maine, Poitiers, Except this city now by us befieg'd, Find liable, &c. -] What was the city befieged, but Angers King John agrees to give up all he held in France, except the city of Angiers, which he now befieged and laid claim to. But could he give up all except Angiers, and give up that too? Anjou was one of the provinces which the English held in France. THEOBALD, Mr. Theobald found, or might have found, the reading, which he would introduce as an emendation of his own, in the old quarto. STEEVENS. And And quarter'd in her heart! he doth espy That hang'd, and drawn, and quarter'd, there fhould be, In fuch a love, fo vile a lout as he. Blanch. My uncle's will, in this refpect, is mine. Or, if you will, to fpeak more properly, judge) That I can find fhould merit any hate. your K. John. What say these young ones? What fay you, my niece? Blanch. That fhe is bound in honour ftill to do What you in wisdom still vouchsafe to say. K. John. Speak then, prince dauphin; can you love this lady? Lewis. Nay, afk me, if I can refrain from love; For I do love her moft unfeignedly. K. John. Then do I give Volqueffen, Touraine, Poitiers, and Anjou, thefe five provinces, Auft. And your lips too; for, I am well affur'd, That I did fo, what I was first assur❜d. K. Phil. Now, citizens of Angiers, ope your gates, Let in that amity which you have made; For at St. Mary's chapel, prefently Is not the lady Conftance in this troop?- Will give her sadness very little cure.— K. John. We will heal up all, For we'll create young Arthur duke of Bretagne, [Exeunt all but Faulconbridge. Faul. Mad world! mad kings! mad compofition! John, to stop Arthur's title in the whole, Hath willingly departed with a part: And France (whofe armour confcience buckled on, Whom zeal and charity brought to the field, As God's own foldier) rounded in the ear With departed with a part:] To part and to depart were formerly fynonimous. So in Ben Jonfon's Every Man out of his Humour, "I have departed it 'mong my poor neighbours." STEEVENS. -rounded in the car] i. e. whispered in the car. The word With that fame purpofe-changer, that fly devil, But the word maid, cheats the poor maid of that) The world, which of itself is peised well, This bawd, this broker, this all-changing word, [Exit. is frequently used by Chaucer, as well as later writers. So in Lingua, or A Combat of the Tongue, &c. 1607, 46 "I help'd Herodotus to pen fome part of his Muses; lent "Pliny ink to write his hiftory, and rounded Rabelais in the car "when he hiftorified Pantagruel." So in The Spanish Tragedy, 1705, "Forthwith Revenge, fhe rounded me i'th'ear." STEEVENS. ACT ACT III. SCENE I. G The French king's pavilion. Enter Conftance, Arthur, and Salisbury. CONSTANCE. ONE to be marry'd! gone to fwear a peace! Shall Lewis have Blanch, and Blanch thofe provinces? Oppreft with wrongs, and therefore full of fears: A woman, naturally born to fears: And, tho' thou now confefs thou didst but jest, Conft. |