To do offence and scath in Christendom. The interruption of their churlish drums

[Drums beat. Cuts off more circumstance: they are at hand, To parley or to fight; therefore, prepare. K. Phi. How much unlook'd for is this expedition!

Aust. By how much unexpected, by so much We must awake endeavour for defence; For courage mounteth with occasion: Let them be welcome, then; we are prepar'd. Enter KING JOHN, ELINOR, BLANCH, the Bastard, PEMBROKE, and Forces.

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

Our just and lineal entrance to our own! [ven! If not; bleed France, and peace ascend to heaWhiles we, God's wrathful agent, do correct Their proud contempt that beat his peace to hea

ven.

K. Phi. 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 sake, With burden of our armour here we sweat : This toil of ours should be a work of thine; But thou from loving England art so far, That thou hast under-wrought his lawful king, Cut off the sequence of posterity, Outfaced infant state, and done a rape Upon the maiden virtue of the crown. Look here upon thy brother Geffrey's face ;These eyes, these brows, were moulded out of his. This little abstract doth contain that large, Which died 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 son; 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'ermasterest? K. John. From whom hast thou this great commission, France,

To draw my answer from thy articles?

K. Phi. From that supernal Judge, that stirs good thoughts

In any breast of strong authority,

To look into the blots and stains of right.
That Judge hath made me guardian to this boy:
Under whose warrant I impeach thy wrong;
And, by whose help, I mean to chastise it.

K. John. Alack, thou dost usurp authority.
K. Phi. Excuse; it is to beat usurping down.
Eli. Who is it thou dost call usurper, France?
Const. Let me make answer; thy usurping

son.

Eli. Out, insolent! thy bastard shall be king; That thou may'st be a queen, and check the world!

Const. My bed was ever to thy son as true As thine was to thy husband: and this boy Liker in feature to his father Geffrey, Than thou and John in manners; and I think, His father never was so true begot; It cannot be, an if thou wert his mother.

Eli. There's a good mother, boy, that blots thy father. [blot thee.

Const. There's a good grandam, boy, that would Aust, Peace!

Bast. One that will play the devil, sir, with An 'a may catch your hide and you alone. [you, You are the hare of whom the proverb goes, Whose valour plucks dead lions by the beard; I'll smoke your skin-coat, an I catch you right; Sirrah, look to 't; i' faith, I will, i' faith.

Blanch. O, well did he become that lion's robe, That did disrobe the lion of that robe!

Bast. It lies as sightly on the back of him, As great Alcides' shoes upon an ass: But, ass, I'll take that burden from your back; Or lay on that shall make your shoulders crack. Aust. What cracker is this same, that deafs

Come to thy grandam, child. Const. 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 so, poor boy, he weeps. [or no. Const. Now shame upon you, whe'r she does His grandam's wrongs, and not his mother's shames, [eyes, Draw those heaven-moving pearls from his poor Which heaven shall take in nature of a fee; Ay, with these crystal beads heaven shall be To do him justice, and revenge on you. [brib'd Eli. Thou monstrous slanderer of heaven and

earth!

[earth!

Const. Thou monstrous injurer of heaven and Call not me slanderer; thou, and thine, usurp The dominations, royalties, and rights, [son, Of this oppressed boy: This is thy eldest son's Infortunate in nothing but in thee; Thy sins are visited in this poor child. Eli. Thou unadvised scold, I can produce A will that bars the title of thy son. Const. Ay, who doubts that? a will! a wicked A woman's will; a canker'd grandam's will!

[will;

K. Phi. Peace, lady; pause, or be more tempeIt ill beseems this presence to cry aim [rate: To these ill-tuned repetitions.

Some trumpet summon hither to the walls These men of Angiers; let us hear them speak, Whose title they admit, Arthur's or John's.

Trumpets sound. Enter Citizens upon the walls.

1 Cit. Who is it that hath warn'd us to the K. Phi. "Tis France, for England. [walls?

K. John.

England for itself: You men of Angiers, and my loving subjects,K. Phi. You loving men of Angiers, Arthur's subjects,

Our trumpet call'd you to this gentie parle. T K. John. For our advantage;-Therefore, hear us first.

These flags of France, that are advanced here

Before the eye and prospect 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:
All preparation for a bloody siege,

And merciless proceeding by these French,
Confront your city's eyes, your winking gates;
And, but for our approach, those sleeping stones
That as a waist to girdle you about,
By the compulsion of their ordnance
By this time from their fixed beds of lime
Had been dishabited, and wide havoc made
For bloody power to rush upon your peace.
But, on the sight of us, your lawful king,-
Who painfully, with much expedient march,
Have brought a countercheck before your gates,
To save unscratch'd your city's threaten'd
cheeks,-

Behold, the French, amaz'd, vouchsafe a parle :
And now, instead of bullets wrapp'd in fire,
To make a shaking fever in your walls,
They shoot but calm words, folded up in smoke,
To make a faithless error in your ears:
Which trust accordingly, kind citizens,
And let us in, your king; whose labour'd spirits,
Forwearied in this action of swift speed,
Crave harbourage within your city walls. [both.
K. Phi. When I have said, make answer to us
Lo, in this right hand, whose protection
1s most divinely vow'd upon the right
Of him it holds, stands 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 these greens before your town,
Being no further enemy to you,
Than the constraint of hospitable zeal,
In the relief of this oppress'd child,
Religiously provokes. Be pleased then
Το pay that duty, which you truly owe,

To him that owes it; namely, this young prince:
And then our arms, like to a muzzled bear,
Save in aspéct, have all offence seal'd up;
Our cannons' malice vainly shall be spent
Against the invulnerable clouds of heaven;
And, with a blessed and unvex'd retire,
With unhack'd swords, and helmets all unbruis'd,
We will bear home that lusty blood again,
Which here we came to spout against your town,
And leave your children, wives, and you, in peace.
But if you fondly pass our proffer'd offer,
'Tis not the roundure of your old-fac'd walls
Can hide you from our messengers of war;
Though all these English, and their discipline,
Were harbour'd in their rude circumference.
Then, tell us, shall your city call us lord,
In that behalf which we have challeng'd it?
Or shall we give the signal to our rage,
And stalk in blood to our possession? [subjects;
1 Cit. In brief, we are the King of England's
For him, and in his right, we hold this town.
K. John. Acknowledge then the king, and let
me in.
[the king,
1 Cit. That can we not: but he that proves
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 witnesses, [breed,
Twice fifteen thousand hearts of England's
Bast. Bastards, and else.

K. John. To verify our title with their lives. Worn out. + Owns. + Circle. Judged, determined.

K. Phi. As many, and as well-born bloods as those,

Bast. Some bastards too.

[claim.

K. Phi. Stand in his face, to contradict his 1 Cit. Till you compound whose right is worthiest,

We, for the worthiest, hold the right from both.
K. John. Then God forgive the sin of all those
That to their everlasting residence, [souls,
Before the dew of evening fall, shall fleet,
In dreadful trial of our kingdom's king! [arms!
K. Phi. Amen, amen :-Mount, chevaliers! to
Bast. St. George,-that swing'd the dragon,
and e'er since,

Sits on his horseback at mine hostess' door,
Teach us some fence!

K. John. Up higher to the plain; where we'll set forth,

In best appointment, all our regiments.
Bast. Speed then, to take advantage of the field.
K. Phi. It shall be so;-[To LEW.] and at the
other hill

Command the rest to stand.-God, and our right! [Exeunt.

SCENE II.-The same.

Alarums and Excursions; then a Retreat. Enter a French Herald, with trumpets, to the gates.

F. Her. You men of Angiers, open wide your

gates,

And let young Arthur, Duke of Bretagne, in;
Who, by the hand of France, this day hath made
Much work for tears in many an English mother,
Whose sons lie scatter'd on the bleeding ground:
Many a widow's husband grovelling lies,
Coldly embracing the discolour'd earth;
And victory, with little loss, doth play
Upon the dancing banners of the French;
Who are at hand, triumphantly display'd,
To enter conquerors, and to proclaim
Arthur of Bretagne, England's king and yours.
Enter an English Herald, with trumpets.
E. Her. Rejoice, you men of Angiers, ring
your bells;
[proach,
King John, your king and England's, doth ap-
Commander of this hot malicious day!
Their armours, that march'd hence so silver-
bright,

Hither return all gilt with Frenchmen's blood;
There stuck no plume in any English crest,
That is removéd by a staff of France;

Our colours do return in those same hands
That did display them when we first march'd
And, like a jolly troop of huntsmen, come [forth;
Our lusty English, all with purpled hands,
Dyed in the dying slaughter of their foes:
Open your gates, and give the victors way.

Cit. Heralds, from off our towers we might
From first to last, the onset and retire [behold,
Of both your armies; whose equality
By our best eyes cannot be censured:
Blood hath bought blood, and blows have
answer'd blows;

Strength match'd with strength, and power confronted power:

Both are alike; and both alike we like. [even, One must prove greatest: while they weigh so We hold our town for neither; yet for both. Enter, at one side, KING JOHN, with his power; ELINOR, BLANCH, and the Bastard; at the other, KING PHILIP, LEWIS, AUSTRIA, and Forces, K. John. France, hast thou yet more blood to cast away?

Say, shall the current of our right run on?
Whose passage, vex'd with thy impediment,
Shall leave his native channel, and o'er-swell
With course disturb'd even thy confining shores;
Unless thou let his silver water keep
A peaceful progress to the ocean.

[of blood, K. Phi. England, thou hast not sav'd one drop In this hot trial, more than we of France; Rather, lost more; And by this hand I swear, That sways the earth this climate overlooks,Before we will lay down our just-borne arms, We'll put thee down, 'gainst whom these arms Or add a royal number to the dead; [we bear, Gracing the scroll, that tells of this war's loss, With slaughter coupled to the name of kings.

Bast. Ha, majesty! how high thy glory towers, When the rich blood of kings is set on fire! O, now doth death line his dead chaps with steel; The swords of soldiers are his teeth, his fangs; And now he feasts, mouthing the flesh of men, In undetermin'd differences of kings.Why stand these royal fronts amazed thus? Cry, havoc, kings! back to the stained field, You equal potents, fiery-kindled spirits! Then let confusion of one part confirm The other's peace; till then, blows, blood, and death! [admit ? K. John. Whose party do the townsmen yet K. Phi. Speak, citizens, for England; who's your king? [the king. 1 Cit. The King of England, when we know K. Phi. Know him in us, that here hold up his right.

K. John. In us, that are our own great deputy, And bear possession of our person here; Lord of our presence, Angiers, and of you.

1 Cit. A greater power than we denies all this: And, till it be undoubted, we do lock Our former scruple in our strong-barr'd gates; King'd of our fears; until our fears, resolv'd, Be by some certain king purg'd and depos'd. Bast. By heaven, these scroylest of Angiers flout you, kings;

And stand securely on their battlements,
As in a theatre, whence they gape and point
At your industrious scenes and acts of death.
Your royal presences be rul'd by me;
Do like the mutines of Jerusalem,

Be friends a while, and both conjointly bend
Your sharpest deeds of malice on this town:
By east and west let France and England mount
Their battering cannon, charged to the mouths;
Till their soul-fearing clamours have brawl'd
The flinty ribs of this contemptuous city: [down
I'd play incessantly upon these jades,
Even till unfenced desolation
Leave them as naked as the vulgar air.
That done, dissever your united strengths,
And part your mingled colours once again;
Turn face to face, and bloody point to point:
Then, in a moment, fortune shall cull forth
Out of one side her happy minion;

To whom in favour she shall give the day,
And kiss him with a glorious victory.
How like you this wild counsel, mighty states?
Smacks it not something of the policy?

K. John. Now, by the sky that hangs above our heads, [powers, I like it well;-France, shall we knit our And lay this Angiers even with the ground? Then, after, fight who shall be king of it?

Bust. An if thou hast the mettle of a king,Being wrong'd, as we are, by this peevish town,— + Scabby fellows.

Potentates.

+ Mutineers. ? Pious.

li Speed.

south,

Austria and France shoot in each other's mouth: [Aside,

I'll stir them to it :-Come, away, away!
1 Cit. Hear us, great kings: vouchsafe a
while to stay,
[league;
And I shall show you peace, and fair-faced
Win you this city without stroke or wound;
Rescue those breathing lives to die in beds,
That here come sacrifices for the field:
Perséver not, but hear me, mighty kings.
K. John. Speak on, with favour; we are bent
to hear.
[Blanch,
1 Cit. That daughter there of Spain, the lady
Is near to England; Look upon the years
Of Lewis the Dauphin, and that lovely maid:
If youthful love should go in quest of beauty,
Where should he find it fairer than in Blanch?
If zealous? love should go in search of virtue,
Where should he find it purer than in Blanch?
If love ambitious sought a match of birth,
Whose veins bound richer blood than Lady
Such as she is, in beauty, virtue, birth, [Blanch?
Is the young Dauphin every way complete;
If not complete, O say, he is not she,
And she again wants nothing, to name want,
If want it be not, that she is not he :
He is the half part of a blessed man,
Left to be finished by such a she;
And she a fair divided excellence,
Whose fulness of perfection lies in him.
O, two such silver currents, when they join,
Do glorify the banks that bound them in: [one,
And two such shores to two such streams made
Two such controlling bounds shall you be, kings,
To these two princes, if you marry them.
This union shall do more than battery can
To our fast-closed gates; for, at this match,
With swifter spleen than powder can enforce,
The mouth of passage shall we fling wide ope,
And give you entrance; but, without this match,
The sea enraged is not half so deaf,

Lions more confident, mountains and rocks
More free from motion; no, not death himself
In mortal fury half so peremptory,
As we to keep this city.

Bast.

Here's a stay,

That shakes the rotten carcase of old death
Out of his rags! Here's a large mouth, indeed,
That spits forth death, and mountains, rocks, and
And talks familiarly of roaring lions; [seas;

He speaks plain cannon, fire, and smoke, and bounce;

He gives the bastinado with his tongue;
Our ears are cudgel'd; not a word of his,
But buffets better than a fist of France:
Why! I was never so bethump'd with words
Since I first call'd my brother's father dad.

Eli. Son, list to this conjunction, make this

match;

Give with our niece a dowry large enough: For by this knot thou shalt so surely tie

Thy now unsur'd assurance to the crown,
That yon green boy shall have no sun to ripe
The bloom that promiseth a mighty fruit.
I see a yielding in the looks of France; [souls
Mark, how they whisper: urge them, while their
Are capable of this ambition:

Lest zeal, now melted, by the windy breath
Of soft petitions, pity, and remorse,
Cool and congeal again to what it was.

1 Cit. Why answer not the double majesties This friendly treaty of our threaten'd town?

K. Phi. Speak England first, that hath been forward first

To speak unto this city: What say you?

K. Phi. Now, citizens of Angiers, ope your gates,

Let in that amity which you have made;
For at Saint Mary's chapel, presently,
The rites of marriage shall be solemniz'd.-
Is not the lady Constance in this troop?-
I know she is not; for this match, made up,
Her presence would have interrupted much :-
Where is she and her son? tell me, who knows.
Lew. She is sad and passionate + at your high-
[have made,

ness' tent.

princely son,

Can in this book of beauty read, I love,
Her dowry shall weigh equal with a queen:
For Anjou, and fair Touraine, Maine, Poictiers,
And all that we upon this side the sea
(Except this city now by us besieg'd)
Find liable to our crown and dignity,
Shall gild her bridal bed; and make her rich
In titles, honours, and promotions,
As she in beauty, education, blood,

Holds hand with any princess of the world. [face.
K. Phi. What say'st thou, boy? look in the lady's
Lew. I do, my lord, and in her eye I find
A wonder, or a wondrous miracle,

The shadow of myself form'd in her eye;
Which, being but the shadow of your son,
Becomes a sun, and makes your son a shadow:
I do protest, I never lov'd myself,
Till now infixed I beheld myself
Drawn in the flattering table of her eye.
[Whispers with BLANCH.
Bast. Drawn in the flattering table of her
eye!-
[brow!

Hang'd in the frowning wrinkle of her And quarter'd in her heart!-he doth espy

Himself love's traitor: This is pity now, That hang'd, and drawn, and quarter'd, there In such a love, so vile a lout as he. [should be, Blanch. My uncle's will in this respect is mine: If he see aught in you that makes him like, That any thing he sees, which moves his liking, I can with ease translate it to my will; Or, if you will, (to speak more properly,) I will enforce it easily to my love. Further I will not flatter you, my lord, That all I see in you is worthy love, Than this, that nothing do I see in you, (Though churlish thoughts themselves should be your judge,)

That I can find should merit any hate.

K. John. What say these young ones? What say you, my niece?

[do Blanch. That she is bound in honour still to What you in wisdom shall vouchsafe to say. K. John. Speak then, Prince Dauphin; can you love this lady?

Lew. Nay, ask me if I can refrain from love; For I do love her most unfeignedly.

[Maine,

K. John. Then I do give Volquessen, Touraine, Poictiers, and Anjou, these five provinces, With her to thee; and this addition more, Full thirty thousand marks of English coin.Philip of France, if thou be pleas'd withal, Command thy son and daughter to join hands. K. Phi. It likes us well;-Young princes, close your hands.

[sur'd,

Aust. And your lips too; for, I am well asThat I did so when I was first assur'd.*

Which we, God knows, have turn'd another way,
To our own vantage.
K. John.

We will heal up all,

For we 'll create young Arthur Duke of Bretagne,
And Earl of Richmond; and this rich fair town
We make him lord of.-Call the lady Constance;
Some speedy messenger bid her repair
To our solemnity :-I trust we shall,
If not fill up the measure of her will,
Yet in some measure satisfy her so,
That we shall stop her exclamation.
Go we, as well as haste will suffer us,
To this unlook'd-for unprepared pomp.

[Exeunt all but the Bast.-The Citizens
retire from the walls.

[on;

Bast. Mad world! mad kings! mad composition! John, to stop Arthur's title in the whole, Hath willingly departed with a part: And France, (whose armour conscience buckled Whom zeal and charity brought to the field, As God's own soldier,) rounded ‡ in the ear With that same purpose-changer, that sly devil; That broker, that still breaks the pate of faith; That daily break-vow; he that wins of all, Of kings, of beggars, old men, young men, Commodity, the bias of the world; [maids;The world, who of itself is peised well, Made to run even, upon even ground; Till this advantage, this vile drawing bias, This sway of motion, this commodity, Makes it take head from all indifferency, From all direction, purpose, course, intent: And this same bias, this commodity, Clapp'd on the outward eye of fickle France, Hath drawn him from his own determin'd aid, From a resolv'd and honourable war, To a most base and vile-concluded peace.And why rail I on this commodity? But for because he hath not woo'd me yet: Not that I have the power to clutch ny hand, When his fair angels ¶ would salute my palm: But for my hand, as unattempted yet, Like a poor beggar, raileth on the rich. Well, whiles I am a beggar, I will rail, And say, there is no sin but to be rich; And being rich, my virtue then shall be, To say, there is no vice but beggary: Since kings break faith upon commodity, Gain, be my lord! for I will worship thee!

Act Third.

[Exit.

SCENE I.-The French King's Tent. Enter CONSTANCE, ARTHUR, and SALISBURY. Const. GONE to be married! gone to swear a peace! [friends! False blood to false blood join'd! Gone to be Shall Lewis have Blanch? and Blanch those provinces ?