Phil. Knight, knight, good mother,-Bafilifco like:
What! I am dub'd; I have it on my fhoulder.
But, mother, I am not fir Robert's fon;
I have difclaim'd fir 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 Cœur-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, past my defence.
Phil. Now, by this light, were I to get again,
Madam, I would not wish a better father.
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 dispose,-
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 easily 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.

Knight, knight, good mother, Bafilifco like:]-Call me not knave, but knight, as fays Bafilifco, in the play of Soliman and Perseda.

"knight, good fellow, knight, knight.”

their privilege]-exemption from cenfure,

Come,

Come, lady, I will fhew thee to my kin;

And they shall fay, when Richard me begot, If thou hadst said him nay, it had been fin:

Who fays, it was, he lyes; I fay, 'twas not. [Exeunt.

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. Before 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 spread 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.
Arth. God fhall forgive you Cœur-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 powerlefs hand,
But with a heart full of unftained love:
Welcome before the gates of Angiers, duke,

Richard, that robb'd the lion of his beart,]—Richard is faid literally

to have done fo, fighting with one in prifon.

By this brave duke came early to bis grave:]—Richard was once indeed made his prifoner, but fell long after at the fiege of Chalux. * importance]-importunity.

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,

f

'Till Angiers, and the right thou haft in France,
Together with that pale, that white-fac'd fhore,
Whose 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 utmost corner of the weft, i
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 shall help to give him strength, To make a more requital to your love.

Auft. The peace of heaven is theirs, that lift their fwords In fuch a juft and charitable war.

K. Philip. Well then, to work; our cannon fhall 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 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 Chatillon may from England bring
That right in peace, which here we urge in war;
And then we shall repent each drop of blood,
That hot rafh hafte fo indirectly fhed.

that pale, that white-faced shore,]-Albion, fo called from the white Tocks facing France. Ba more] a better, more fuitable.

K. Philip.

h

Enter Chatillon.

K. Philip. A wonder, lady!-lo, upon thy wish, Our messenger Chatillon is arriv'd.

What England fays, fay briefly, gentle lord,

We coldly paufe for thee; Chatillon, speak.

Chat. Then turn your forces from this paltry fiege,
And ftir them up against a mightier task.
England, impatient of your juft demands,
Hath put himself in arms; the adverse winds,
Whose leisure I have staid, have given him time
To land his legions all as foon as I:

i

His marches are 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,-
Rash, 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.

ות

In brief, a braver choice of dauntless fpirits,
Than now the English bottoms have 'waft o'er,
Did never float upon the fwelling tide,
To do offence and m fcath in Chriftendom.
The interruption of their churlish drums
Cuts off more circumftance: they are at hand,
To parly, or to fight; therefore, prepare.

A wonder,]-A lucky omen.
An Ate,]-A goddefs of difcord.
feath]-mifchief.

i

[Drums beat.

expedient-quick, expeditious. waft]-wafted.

K. Philip.

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 then be welcome then, we are prepar'd,

Enter King John, 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 afcend to heaven!
Whiles we, God's wrathful agent, do correct
Their proud contempt that beat his peace to heaven.
K. Philip. 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 so 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, these brows, were moulded out of his :
This little abftract 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 his is Geffrey's: In the name of God,

under-wrought its lawful king, cut off the fequence of pofterity,]-un

dermined, and deprived him of his right and fucceffion.

bis is Geffrey's:]-what was Geffrey's, is now Arthur's-this is.

How