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K. Phil. England, thou haft not fav'd onc drop of blood,

In this hot trial, more than we of France;

Rather, loft more: And by this hand I fwear,
That fways the earth this climate overlooks,—
Before we will lay by our juft-borne arms,

We'll put thee down, 'gainft whom thefe arms we bear,

Or add a royal number to the dead;

Gracing the fcrowl, that tells of this war's lofs,
With flaughter coupled to the name of kings.

Faule. Ha, majefty! how high thy glory towers,
When the rich blood of kings is fet on fire!
Oh, now doth death line his dead chaps with fteel;
The fwords of foldiers are his teeth, his phangs;
And now he feafts, mouthing the flesh of men,
In undetermin'd differences of kings.-
Why ftand these royal fronts amazed thus ?
Cry, havock', kings! back to the stained field,
You equal potents, fiery-kindled fpirits !
Then let confufion of one part confirm

The other's peace; 'till then, blows, blood, and death! K. John. Whofe party do the townsmen yet admit ?. K, Phil. Speak, citizens, for England; who's your king?

Cit. The king of England, when we know the kings K. Phil. Know him in us, that here hold up his

right.

K. Joba. In us, that are our own great deputy, And bear poffeffion of our perfon here;

-mouthing the flesh of men,] The old copy reads-moufing.

Cry havock, kings!

STERVENS.

That is, command laughter to proceed; fo, in another place: He with Até by his fide, Cries, ha

ock!" JOHNSon.

You equal potents,

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-] Potents for potentates. So, in Ane verie excellent and delectabill Treatife intitulit PHILOTUS, &c. 1603: "Ane of the potentes of the town." STEEVENS."

Lord

Lord of our prefence, Angiers, and of you.
Cit. A greater power, than ye, denies all this;
And, 'till it be undoubted, we do lock

Our former fcruple in our strong-barr'd gates:
Kings of our fears; until our fears, refolv'd,
Be by fome certain king purg'd and depos'd.
Faulc. By heaven, thefe fcroyles of Angiers + flout
you, kings;

And ftand fecurely on their battlements,
As in a theatre, whence they gape and point
At your industrious fcenes and acts of death.
Your royal prefences be rul'd by me;

3 In the old copy:

A greater pow'r, than we, denies all this;

Kings of our fears ;-]

We fhould read, than ye. What power was this? their fears. It is plain therefore we fhould read: Kings are our fears,—i, e, our fears are the kings which at prefent rule us. WARBURTON.

Dr. Warburton faw what was requifite to make this paffage fenfe; and Dr. Johnson, rather too hastily, I think, has received his emendation into the text. He reads:

Kings are our fears,

which he explains to mean,

prefent rule us."

6.6 our fears are the kings which at

As the fame fenfe may be obtained by a much flighter alteration, I am more inclined to read:

King'd of our fears,

King'd is ufed as a participle paffive by Shakespeare more than once, I believe. I remember one inftance in Henry the Fifth, act II. fc. v. The Dauphin fays of England:

66

fhe is fo idly king'd.

It is scarce neceffary to add, that, of, here (as in numberless other places) has the fignification of, by. TYRWHITT,

A greater power than we, may mean the Lord of hofts, who has not yet decided the fuperiority of either army; and 'till it be undoubted, the people of Angiers will not open their gates. Secure and confident as lions, they are not at all afraid, but are kings, i. e. mafters and commanders, of their fears, until their fears or doubts about the rightful king of England, are removed. TOLLET.

4

thefe fcroyles of Angiers-] Efcrouelles, Fr. i. e. fcabby, fcrophulous fellows.

Ben Jonfon uses the word in Every Man in his Humour : "hang them feroyles!" STEEVENS.

Do like the mutines of Jerufalem,

Be friends a while, and both conjointly bend
Your sharpeft deeds of malice on this town:
By caft and weft let France and England mount
Their battering cannon, charged to the mouths;
'Till their foul-fearing clamours have brawl'd down
The flinty ribs of this contemptuous city:
I'd play inceffantly upon thefe jades,

Even 'till unfenced defolation

Leave them as naked as the vulgar air.
That done, diffever your united strengths,.
And part your mingled colours once again;
Turn face to face, and bloody point to point:
Then, in a moment, fortune fhall cull forth
Out of one fide her happy minion;

To whom in favour fhe fhall give the day,
And kifs him with a glorious victory.

How like you this wild counfel, mighty states?
Smacks it not fomething of the policy?

K. John. Now, by the fky that hangs above our

heads,

I like it well:-France, fhall we knit our powers,
And lay this Angiers even with the ground;
Then, after, fight who fhall be king of it?

Faule. An if thou haft the mettle of a king,-
Being wrong'd, as we are, by this peevish town,
Turn thou the mouth of thy artillery,

As we will ours, against thefe faucy walls:
And when that we have dafh'd them to the ground,
Why, then defy each other; and, pell-mell,
Make work upon ourselves, for heaven, or hell.

K. Phil. Let it be fo: Say,, where will you affault? K. John. We from the weft will fend deftruction Into this city's bofom.

Be friends a while, &c.] This advice is given by the Bastard in the old copy of the play, though comprized in fewer and lefs fpirited lines. STEEVENS.

Auf.

Auft. I from the north.

K. Phil. Our thunder from the fouth.

Shall rain their drift of bullets on this town.

Faulc. O prudent difcipline! From north to fouth; Auftria and France fhoot in each other's mouth:

I'll stir them to it: Come, away, away!

[Afide.

Cit. Hear us, great kings: vouchfafe a while to ftay,

And I fhall fhew you peace, and fair-fac'd league;
Win you this city without ftroke, or wound;
Refcue thofe breathing lives to die in beds,
That here come facrifices for the field:
Perfever not, but hear me, mighty kings.

K. John. Speak on, with favour; we are bent to hear.

Cit. That daughter there of Spain, the lady Blanch", Is near to England; Look upon the years Of Lewis the Dauphin, and that lovely maid: If lufty love fhould go in queft of beauty, Where fhould he find it fairer than in Blanch? If zealous love fhould go in fearch of virtue, Where should he find it purer than in Blanch? If love ambitious fought a match of birth, Whofe veins bound richer blood than lady Blanch? Such as fhe is, in beauty, virtue, birth, Is the young Dauphin every way complete : If not complete, oh fay, he is not she; And the again wants nothing, to name want, If want it be not, that the is not he :

• —the lady Blanch,] The lady Blanch was daughter to Alphonfo the Ninth, king of Caftile, and was niece to king John by his fifter Elianor. STEEVENS.

If zealous love &c.] Zealous feems here to fignify pious, or influenced by motives of religion. JOHNSON.

If not complete of, fay, &c.] Sir T, Hanmer reads, O! fay.

JOHNSON.

He

He is the half part of a bleffed man,
Left to be finifhed by fuch a fhe;
And the a fair divided excellence,
Whofe fulness of perfection lies in him.
Oh, two fuch filver currents, when they join,
Do glorify the banks that bound them in:

And two fuch fhores to two fuch streams made one,
Two fuch controlling bounds fhall you be, kings,
To these two princes, if you marry them.
This union fhall do more than battery can,
To our faft-clofed gates; for, at this match',
With fwifter fpleen than powder can enforce,
The mouth of paffage fhall we fling wide ope,
And give you entrance: but, without this match,
The fea enraged is not half fo deaf,

Lions more confident, mountains and rocks
More free from motion; no, not death himself
In mortal fury half fo peremptory,

As we to keep this city.

Faule. Here's a ftay,

That shakes the rotten carcafs of old death

He is the half part of a blessed man,

Left to be finifbed by fuch as the:]

Out

Dr. Thirlby prefcrib'd that reading, which I have here restored to the text. THEOBALD.

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Our author ufes Spleen for any violent hurry, or tumultuous speed. So, in the Midfummer Night's Dream he applies Spleen to the lightning. I am loath to think that Shakespeare meant to play with the double of match for nuptial, and the match of a gun. JOHNSON.

2 Here's a fay,

That Shakes the rotten carcafs of old death

Out of his rags!-]

I cannot but think that every reader wifles for fome other word in the place of fay, which though it may fignify an hindrance, or man that hinders, is yet very improper to introduce the next line. I read:

Here's a flaw,

That Shakes the rotten carcafs of old death.
That is, here is a guft of bravery, a blaft of menace.

This fuits

well

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