Chapter VI: Act V: SCENE I. KING JOHN'S palace

_Enter_ KING JOHN, PANDULPH, _and_ Attendants.[557]

_K. John._ Thus have I yielded up into your hand
The circle of my glory. [_Giving the crown._[558]

_Pand._ Take again
From this my hand, as holding of the pope[559]
Your sovereign greatness and authority.

_K. John._ Now keep your holy word: go meet the French, 5
And from his holiness use all your power
To stop their marches 'fore we are inflamed.[560]
Our discontented counties do revolt;
Our people quarrel with obedience,
Swearing allegiance and the love of soul[561] 10
To stranger blood, to foreign royalty.
This inundation of mistemper'd humour[562]
Rests by you only to be qualified:
Then pause not; for the present time's so sick,
That present medicine must be minister'd, 15
Or overthrow incurable ensues.[563]

_Pand._ It was my breath that blew this tempest up.
Upon your stubborn usage of the pope;
But since you are a gentle convertite,
My tongue shall hush again this storm of war 20
And make fair weather in your blustering land.
On this Ascension-day, remember well,
Upon your oath of service to the pope,
Go I to make the French lay down their arms. [_Exit._

_K. John._ Is this Ascension-day? Did not the prophet 25
Say that before Ascension-day at noon
My crown I should give off? Even so I have:
I did suppose it should be on constraint;
But, heaven be thank'd, it is but voluntary.

_Enter the_ BASTARD.

_Bast._ All Kent hath yielded; nothing there holds out 30
But Dover Castle: London hath received,
Like a kind host, the Dauphin and his powers:
Your nobles will not hear you, but are gone
To offer service to your enemy,
And wild amazement hurries up and down[564] 35
The little number of your doubtful friends.[565]

_K. John._ Would not my lords return to me again,
After they heard young Arthur was alive?

_Bast._ They found him dead and cast into the streets.
An empty casket, where the jewel of life[566] 40
By some damn'd hand was robb'd and ta'en away.

_K. John._ That villain Hubert told me he did live.

_Bast._ So, on my soul, he did, for aught he knew.
But wherefore do you droop? why look you sad?
Be great in act, as you have been in thought; 45
Let not the world see fear and sad distrust[567]
Govern the motion of a kingly eye:
Be stirring as the time; be fire with fire;[568]
Threaten the threatener and outface the brow
Of bragging horror: so shall inferior eyes, 50
That borrow their behaviours from the great,
Grow great by your example and put on
The dauntless spirit of resolution.
Away, and glister like the god of war,
When he intendeth to become the field: 55
Show boldness and aspiring confidence.
What, shall they seek the lion in his den,
And fright him there? and make him tremble there?
O, let it not be said: forage, and run[569]
To meet displeasure farther from the doors, 60
And grapple with him ere he comes so nigh.

_K. John._ The legate of the pope hath been with me,
And I have made a happy peace with him;
And he hath promised to dismiss the powers
Led by the Dauphin.

_Bast._ O inglorious league! 65
Shall we, upon the footing of our land,
Send fair-play orders and make compromise,[570]
Insinuation, parley and base truce
To arms invasive? shall a beardless boy,
A cocker'd silken wanton, brave our fields, 70
And flesh his spirit in a warlike soil,
Mocking the air with colours idly spread,[571]
And find no check? Let us, my liege, to arms:
Perchance the cardinal cannot make your peace;[572]
Or if he do, let it at least be said 75
They saw we had a purpose of defence.

_K. John._ Have thou the ordering of this present time.

_Bast._ Away, then, with good courage! yet, I know,
Our party may well meet a prouder foe. [_Exeunt._

SCENE II. _The_ DAUPHIN'S _Camp at St Edmundsbury_.

_Enter, in arms_, LEWIS, SALISBURY, MELUN, PEMBROKE, BIGOT,
_and_ Soldiers.[573]

_Lew._ My Lord Melun, let this be copied out,
And keep it safe for our remembrance:
Return the precedent to these lords again;
That, having our fair order written down,
Both they and we, perusing o'er these notes, 5
May know wherefore we took the sacrament
And keep our faiths firm and inviolable.

_Sal._ Upon our sides it never shall be broken.
And, noble Dauphin, albeit we swear
A voluntary zeal and an unurged faith[574] 10
To your proceedings; yet believe me, prince,
I am not glad that such a sore of time
Should seek a plaster by contemn'd revolt,[575]
And heal the inveterate canker of one wound
By making many. O, it grieves my soul, 15
That I must draw this metal from my side
To be a widow-maker! O, and there
Where honourable rescue and defence
Cries out upon the name of Salisbury![576]
But such is the infection of the time, 20
That, for the health and physic of our right,
We cannot deal but with the very hand
Of stern injustice and confused wrong.
And is't not pity, O my grieved friends,
That we, the sons and children of this isle, 25
Were born to see so sad an hour as this;[577]
Wherein we step after a stranger march[578]
Upon her gentle bosom, and fill up
Her enemies' ranks,--I must withdraw and weep
Upon the spot of this enforced cause,--[579] 30
To grace the gentry of a land remote,
And follow unacquainted colours here?
What, here? O nation, that thou couldst remove!
That Neptune's arms, who clippeth thee about,
Would bear thee from the knowledge of thyself,[580] 35
And grapple thee unto a pagan shore;[581]
Where these two Christian armies might combine
The blood of malice in a vein of league,[582]
And not to spend it so unneighbourly![583]

_Lew._ A noble temper dost thou show in this; 40
And great affections wrestling in thy bosom[584]
Doth make an earthquake of nobility.[585]
O, what a noble combat hast thou fought[586]
Between compulsion and a brave respect![587]
Let me wipe off this honourable dew, 45
That silverly doth progress on thy cheeks:
My heart hath melted at a lady's tears,
Being an ordinary inundation;
But this effusion of such manly drops,
This shower, blown up by tempest of the soul, 50
Startles mine eyes, and makes me more amazed
Than had I seen the vaulty top of heaven
Figured quite o'er with burning meteors.
Lift up thy brow, renowned Salisbury,
And with a great heart heave away this storm: 55
Commend these waters to those baby eyes[588]
That never saw the giant world enraged;
Nor met with fortune other than at feasts,
Full of warm blood, of mirth, of gossiping.[589]
Come, come; for thou shalt thrust thy hand as deep 60
Into the purse of rich prosperity
As Lewis himself: so, nobles, shall you all,
That knit your sinews to the strength of mine.
And even there, methinks, an angel spake:

_Enter_ PANDULPH.[590]

Look, where the holy legate comes apace, 65
To give us warrant from the hand of heaven,
And on our actions set the name of right
With holy breath.

_Pand._ Hail, noble prince of France![591]
The next is this, King John hath reconciled
Himself to Rome; his spirit is come in, 70
That so stood out against the holy church,
The great metropolis and see of Rome:
Therefore thy threatening colours now wind up;
And tame the savage spirit of wild war,
That, like a lion foster'd up at hand, 75
It may lie gently at the foot of peace,
And be no further harmful than in show.

_Lew._ Your grace shall pardon me, I will not back:
I am too high-born to be propertied,
To be a secondary at control, 80
Or useful serving-man and instrument,
To any sovereign state throughout the world.
Your breath first kindled the dead coal of wars[592]
Between this chastised kingdom and myself,
And brought in matter that should feed this fire; 85
And now 'tis far too huge to be blown out
With that same weak wind which enkindled it.
You taught me how to know the face of right,
Acquainted me with interest to this land,[593]
Yea, thrust this enterprise into my heart; 90
And come ye now to tell me John hath made
His peace with Rome? What is that peace to me?
I, by the honour of my marriage-bed,
After young Arthur, claim this land for mine;
And, now it is half-conquer'd, must I back 95
Because that John hath made his peace with Rome?
Am I Rome's slave? What penny hath Rome borne,
What men provided, what munition sent,
To underprop this action? Is't not I
That undergo this charge? who else but I, 100
And such as to my claim are liable,
Sweat in this business and maintain this war?
Have I not heard these islanders shout out
'Vive le roi!' as I have bank'd their towns?
Have I not here the best cards for the game, 105
To win this easy match play'd for a crown?
And shall I now give o'er the yielded set?
No, no, on my soul, it never shall be said.[594]

_Pand._ You look but on the outside of this work.

_Lew._ Outside or inside, I will not return 110
Till my attempt so much be glorified
As to my ample hope was promised
Before I drew this gallant head of war,
And cull'd these fiery spirits from the world,
To outlook conquest and to win renown 115
Even in the jaws of danger and of death. [_Trumpet sounds._[595]
What lusty trumpet thus doth summon us?

_Enter the_ BASTARD, _attended_.[596]

_Bast._ According to the fair play of the world,[597]
Let me have audience; I am sent to speak:[598]
My holy lord of Milan, from the king[598] 120
I come, to learn how you have dealt for him;[598]
And, as you answer, I do know the scope
And warrant limited unto my tongue.

_Pand._ The Dauphin is too wilful-opposite,[599]
And will not temporize with my entreaties;[600] 125
He flatly says he'll not lay down his arms.

_Bast._ By all the blood that ever fury breathed,
The youth says well. Now hear our English king;
For thus his royalty doth speak in me.
He is prepared, and reason too he should:[601] 130
This apish and unmannerly approach,
This harness'd masque and unadvised revel,
This unhair'd sauciness and boyish troops,[602]
The king doth smile at; and is well prepared
To whip this dwarfish war, these pigmy arms,[603] 135
From out the circle of his territories.
That hand which had the strength, even at your door,
To cudgel you and make you take the hatch,
To dive like buckets in concealed wells,
To crouch in litter of your stable planks, 140
To lie like pawns lock'd up in chests and trunks,
To hug with swine, to seek sweet safety out[604]
In vaults and prisons, and to thrill and shake
Even at the crying of your nation's crow,[605]
Thinking his voice an armed Englishman;[606] 145
Shall that victorious hand be feebled here,
That in your chambers gave you chastisement?
No: know the gallant monarch is in arms
And like an eagle o'er his aery towers,[607]
To souse annoyance that comes near his nest. 150
And you degenerate, you ingrate revolts,[608]
You bloody Neroes, ripping up the womb
Of your dear mother England, blush for shame;
For your own ladies and pale-visaged maids
Like Amazons come tripping after drums, 155
Their thimbles into armed gauntlets change,[609]
Their needles to lances, and their gentle hearts[610]
To fierce and bloody inclination.

_Lew._ There end thy brave, and turn thy face in peace;
We grant thou canst outscold us: fare thee well;[611] 160
We hold our time too precious to be spent
With such a brabbler.[612]

_Pand._ Give me leave to speak.

_Bast._ No, I will speak.

_Lew._ We will attend to neither.
Strike up the drums; and let the tongue of war
Plead for our interest and our being here. 165

_Bast._ Indeed, your drums, being beaten, will cry out;
And so shall you, being beaten: do but start
An echo with the clamour of thy drum,
And even at hand a drum is ready braced
That shall reverberate all as loud as thine;[613] 170
Sound but another, and another shall
As loud as thine rattle the welkin's ear
And mock the deep-mouth'd thunder: for at hand,
Not trusting to this halting legate here,
Whom he hath used rather for sport than need, 175
Is warlike John; and in his forehead sits
A bare-ribb'd death, whose office is this day[614]
To feast upon whole thousands of the French.

_Lew._ Strike up our drums, to find this danger out.

_Bast._ And thou shalt find it, Dauphin, do not doubt. 180

[_Exeunt._

SCENE III. _The field of battle._

_Alarums. Enter_ KING JOHN _and_ HUBERT.[615]

_K. John._ How goes the day with us? O, tell me, Hubert.

_Hub._ Badly, I fear. How fares your majesty?

_K. John._ This fever, that hath troubled me so long,
Lies heavy on me; O, my heart is sick!

_Enter a_ Messenger.

_Mess._ My lord, your valiant kinsman, Faulconbridge, 5
Desires your majesty to leave the field
And send him word by me which way you go.

_K. John._ Tell him, toward Swinstead, to the abbey there.[616]

_Mess._ Be of good comfort; for the great supply
That was expected by the Dauphin here, 10
Are wreck'd three nights ago on Goodwin Sands.[617]
This news was brought to Richard but even now:
The French fight coldly, and retire themselves.

_K. John._ Ay me! this tyrant fever burns me up,[618]
And will not let me welcome this good news. 15
Set on toward Swinstead: to my litter straight;[616]
Weakness possesseth me, and I am faint. [_Exeunt._

SCENE IV. _Another part of the field._[619]

_Enter_ SALISBURY, PEMBROKE, _and_ BIGOT.

_Sal._ I did not think the king so stored with friends.

_Pem._ Up once again; put spirit in the French:[620]
If they miscarry, we miscarry too.[620]

_Sal._ That misbegotten devil, Faulconbridge,
In spite of spite, alone upholds the day. 5

_Pem._ They say King John sore sick hath left the field.

_Enter_ MELUN, _wounded_.

_Mel._ Lead me to the revolts of England here.

_Sal._ When we were happy we had other names.

_Pem._ It is the Count Melun.

_Sal._ Wounded to death.

_Mel._ Fly, noble English, you are bought and sold; 10
Unthread the rude eye of rebellion[621]
And welcome home again discarded faith.
Seek out King John and fall before his feet;
For if the French be lords of this loud day,[622]
He means to recompense the pains you take 15
By cutting off your heads: thus hath he sworn
And I with him, and many moe with me,[623]
Upon the altar at Saint Edmundsbury;[624]
Even on that altar where we swore to you
Dear amity and everlasting love. 20

_Sal._ May this be possible? may this be true?

_Mel._ Have I not hideous death within my view,
Retaining but a quantity of life,
Which bleeds away, even as a form of wax
Resolveth from his figure 'gainst the fire?[625] 25
What in the world should make me now deceive,
Since I must lose the use of all deceit?[626]
Why should I then be false, since it is true
That I must die here and live hence by truth?
I say again, if Lewis do win the day,[627] 30
He is forsworn, if e'er those eyes of yours
Behold another day break in the east:
But even this night, whose black contagious breath
Already smokes about the burning crest[628]
Of the old, feeble and day-wearied sun, 35
Even this ill night, your breathing shall expire,
Paying the fine of rated treachery[629]
Even with a treacherous fine of all your lives,
If Lewis by your assistance win the day.
Commend me to one Hubert with your king: 40
The love of him, and this respect besides,
For that my grandsire was an Englishman,[630]
Awakes my conscience to confess all this.
In lieu whereof, I pray you, bear me hence
From forth the noise and rumour of the field, 45
Where I may think the remnant of my thoughts
In peace, and part this body and my soul
With contemplation and devout desires.

_Sal._ We do believe thee: and beshrew my soul
But I do love the favour and the form 50
Of this most fair occasion, by the which
We will untread the steps of damned flight,
And like a bated and retired flood,[631]
Leaving our rankness and irregular course,[632]
Stoop low within those bounds we have o'erlook'd[633] 55
And calmly run on in obedience
Even to our ocean, to our great King John.
My arm shall give thee help to bear thee hence;
For I do see the cruel pangs of death[634]
Right in thine eye. Away, my friends! New flight;[635] 60
And happy newness, that intends old right.[636]

[_Exeunt, leading off Melun._

SCENE V. _The French camp._[637]

_Enter_ LEWIS _and his train_.

_Lew._ The sun of heaven methought was loath to set,
But stay'd, and made the western welkin blush,
When English measure backward their own ground[638]
In faint retire. O, bravely came we off,
When with a volley of our needless shot, 5
After such bloody toil, we bid good night;
And wound our tattering colours clearly up,[639]
Last in the field, and almost lords of it!

_Enter a_ Messenger.

_Mess._ Where is my prince, the Dauphin?[640]

_Lew._ Here: what news?

_Mess._ The Count Melun is slain; the English lords 10
By his persuasion are again fall'n off,[641]
And your supply, which you have wish'd so long,[642]
Are cast away and sunk on Goodwin Sands.

_Lew._ Ah, foul shrewd news! beshrew thy very heart!
I did not think to be so sad to-night[643] 15
As this hath made me. Who was he that said
King John did fly an hour or two before
The stumbling night did part our weary powers?

_Mess._ Whoever spoke it, it is true, my lord.

_Lew._ Well; keep good quarter and good care to-night: 20
The day shall not be up so soon as I,
To try the fair adventure of to-morrow. [_Exeunt._

SCENE VI. _An open place in the neighbourhood of Swinstead Abbey._[644]

_Enter the_ BASTARD _and_ HUBERT, _severally_.

_Hub._ Who's there? speak, ho! speak quickly, or I shoot.

_Bast._ A friend. What art thou?

_Hub._ Of the part of England.

_Bast._ Whither dost thou go?[645][646]

_Hub._ What's that to thee? why may not I demand[646][647]
Of thine affairs, as well as thou of mine?[646][647] 5

_Bast._ Hubert, I think?[646][647]

_Hub._ Thou hast a perfect thought:
I will upon all hazards well believe
Thou art my friend, that know'st my tongue so well.
Who art thou?

_Bast._ Who thou wilt: and if thou please,[648]
Thou mayst befriend me so much as to think 10
I come one way of the Plantagenets.

_Hub._ Unkind remembrance! thou and eyeless night[649]
Have done me shame: brave soldier, pardon me,
That any accent breaking from thy tongue
Should 'scape the true acquaintance of mine ear. 15

_Bast._ Come, come; sans compliment, what news abroad?

_Hub._ Why, here walk I in the black brow of night,
To find you out.

_Bast._ Brief, then; and what's the news?

_Hub._ O, my sweet sir, news fitting to the night,
Black, fearful, comfortless and horrible. 20

_Bast._ Show me the very wound of this ill news:
I am no woman, I'll not swoon at it.[650]

_Hub._ The king, I fear, is poison'd by a monk:
I left him almost speechless; and broke out
To acquaint you with this evil, that you might 25
The better arm you to the sudden time,
Than if you had at leisure known of this.[651]

_Bast._ How did he take it? who did taste to him?

_Hub._ A monk, I tell you; a resolved villain,
Whose bowels suddenly burst out: the king 30
Yet speaks and peradventure may recover.

_Bast._ Who didst thou leave to tend his majesty?[652]

_Hub._ Why, know you not? the lords are all come back,[653]
And brought Prince Henry in their company;
At whose request the king hath pardon'd them, 35
And they are all about his majesty.

_Bast._ Withhold thine indignation, mighty heaven,
And tempt us not to bear above our power!
I'll tell thee, Hubert, half my power this night,[654]
Passing these flats, are taken by the tide; 40
These Lincoln Washes have devoured them;
Myself, well mounted, hardly have escaped.[655]
Away before: conduct me to the king;
I doubt he will be dead or ere I come.[656] [_Exeunt._

SCENE VII. _The orchard in Swinstead Abbey._[657]

_Enter Prince_ HENRY, SALISBURY, _and_ BIGOT.

_P. Hen._ It is too late: the life of all his blood
Is touch'd corruptibly, and his pure brain,[658]
Which some suppose the soul's frail dwelling-house,
Doth by the idle comments that it makes
Foretell the ending of mortality. 5

_Enter_ PEMBROKE.

_Pem._ His highness yet doth speak, and holds belief
That, being brought into the open air,
It would allay the burning quality
Of that fell poison which assaileth him.

_P. Hen._ Let him be brought into the orchard here.[659] 10
Doth he still rage? [_Exit Bigot._

_Pem._ He is more patient
Than when you left him; even now he sung.

_P. Hen._ O vanity of sickness! fierce extremes
In their continuance will not feel themselves.[660]
Death, having prey'd upon the outward parts,[661] 15
Leaves them invisible, and his siege is now[662]
Against the mind, the which he pricks and wounds[663]
With many legions of strange fantasies,
Which, in their throng and press to that last hold,
Confound themselves. 'Tis strange that death should sing. 20
I am the cygnet to this pale faint swan,[664]
Who chants a doleful hymn to his own death,
And from the organ-pipe of frailty sings
His soul and body to their lasting rest.[665]

_Sal._ Be of good comfort, prince; for you are born 25
To set a form upon that indigest
Which he hath left so shapeless and so rude.

_Enter_ Attendants, _and_ BIGOT, _carrying_ KING JOHN _in a
chair_.[666]

_K. John._ Ay, marry, now my soul hath elbow-room;
It would not out at windows nor at doors.
There is so hot a summer in my bosom, 30
That all my bowels crumble up to dust:
I am a scribbled form, drawn with a pen
Upon a parchment, and against this fire[667]
Do I shrink up.[667]

_P. Hen._ How fares your majesty?

_K. John._ Poison'd,--ill fare--dead, forsook, cast off:[668] 35
And none of you will bid the winter come
To thrust his icy fingers in my maw,
Nor let my kingdom's rivers take their course
Through my burn'd bosom, nor entreat the north
To make his bleak winds kiss my parched lips 40
And comfort me with cold. I do not ask you much,[669]
I beg cold comfort; and you are so strait[670]
And so ingrateful, you deny me that.[671]

_P. Hen._ O that there were some virtue in my tears,
That might relieve you!

_K. John._ The salt in them is hot.[672] 45
Within me is a hell; and there the poison
Is as a fiend confined to tyrannize
On unreprieveable condemned blood.[673]

_Enter the_ BASTARD.

_Bast._ O, I am scalded with my violent motion,[674]
And spleen of speed to see your majesty! 50

_K. John._ O cousin, thou art come to set mine eye:
The tackle of my heart is crack'd and burn'd,
And all the shrouds wherewith my life should sail
Are turned to one thread, one little hair:
My heart hath one poor string to stay it by, 55
Which holds but till thy news be uttered;
And then all this thou seest is but a clod
And module of confounded royalty.[675]

_Bast._ The Dauphin is preparing hitherward,
Where heaven He knows how we shall answer him;[676] 60
For in a night the best part of my power,
As I upon advantage did remove,
Were in the Washes all unwarily[677]
Devoured by the unexpected flood. [_The king dies._[678]

_Sal._ You breathe these dead news in as dead an ear. 65
My liege! my lord! but now a king, now thus.

_P. Hen._ Even so must I run on, and even so stop.
What surety of the world, what hope, what stay,[679]
When this was now a king, and now is clay?[679]

_Bast._ Art thou gone so? I do but stay behind 70
To do the office for thee of revenge,
And then my soul shall wait on thee to heaven,
As it on earth hath been thy servant still.
Now, now, you stars that move in your right spheres,[680]
Where be your powers? show now your mended faiths, 75
And instantly return with me again,
To push destruction and perpetual shame
Out of the weak door of our fainting land.
Straight let us seek, or straight we shall be sought;
The Dauphin rages at our very heels. 80

_Sal._ It seems you know not, then, so much as we:
The Cardinal Pandulph is within at rest,
Who half an hour since came from the Dauphin,
And brings from him such offers of our peace[681]
As we with honour and respect may take, 85
With purpose presently to leave this war.

_Bast._ He will the rather do it when he sees
Ourselves well sinewed to our defence.[682]

_Sal._ Nay, it is in a manner done already;[683]
For many carriages he hath dispatch'd 90
To the sea-side, and put his cause and quarrel
To the disposing of the cardinal:
With whom yourself, myself and other lords,
If you think meet, this afternoon will post
To consummate this business happily. 95

_Bast._ Let it be so: and you, my noble prince,
With other princes that may best be spared,[684]
Shall wait upon your father's funeral.

_P. Hen._ At Worcester must his body be interr'd;[685]
For so he will'd it.

_Bast._ Thither shall it then: 100
And happily may your sweet self put on
The lineal state and glory of the land!
To whom, with all submission, on my knee
I do bequeath my faithful services
And true subjection everlastingly. 105

_Sal._ And the like tender of our love we make,
To rest without a spot for evermore.[686]

_P. Hen._ I have a kind soul that would give you thanks[687]
And knows not how to do it but with tears.

_Bast._ O, let us pay the time but needful woe,[688] 110
Since it hath been beforehand with our griefs.
This England never did, nor never shall,[689]
Lie at the proud foot of a conqueror,
But when it first did help to wound itself.
Now these her princes are come home again,[690] 115
Come the three corners of the world in arms,
And we shall shock them. Nought shall make us rue,[691]
If England to itself do rest but true. [_Exeunt._

FOOTNOTES:

[557] ACT V. SCENE I.] Rowe. Actus Quartus, Scæna prima. Ff.]

King John's palace.] The court of England. Pope. The same (i.e. Northampton). A room in the palace. Capell. Bristol. A ... palace. Halliwell.

Pandulph] Pandolph, F₁. Pandulph with the crown. Capell.

[558] [Giving the crown.] Pope. Giving back the Crown. Capell (after _Take again_).

[559] _From this_] _This from_ Heath conj.

[560]: _their_] _the_ Warburton. _marches 'fore_] _marches; for_ Mason conj.

[561]: _the love_] _love_ Hanmer.

[562]: _mistemper'd_] _distemper'd_ Rowe.

[563]: _incurable_] _incurably_ F₄.

[564]: _hurries_] _harries_ Staunton conj.

[565]: _your_] F₁. om. F₂ F₃ F₄.

[566] _where_] _whence_ Keightley conj.

_jewel of life_] _jewel, life_ Pope.

[567] _sad_] _blank_ Collier MS.

[568] _be fire_] _meet fire_ Collier MS.

[569] _forage_] _forrage_ Ff. _forward_ Long MS. _courage_ Collier (Collier MS.).

[570] _orders_] _offers_ Singer (Collier MS.).

_compromise_] Rowe (ed. 2). _comprimise_ Ff.

[571] _idly_] _idlely_ F₁ F₂. _idely_ F₃ F₄.

[572] _cannot_] _can't_ Pope.

[573] SCENE II. The ... Edmundsbury.] Theobald. The ... camp. Pope.

... Lewis ...] ... Dolphin ... Ff.

[574] _and an_] _and_ Pope. _an_ Capell.

[575] _contemn'd_] _condemn'd_ Heath conj.

[576] _Cries_] _Cry_ Hanmer.

[577] _Were_] F₂ F₃ F₄. _Was_ F₁.

[578] _stranger march_] Theobald. _stranger, march_ Ff. _stranger's march_ Long MS.

[579] _spot_] _thought_ Grant White (Collier MS.). _spur_ S. Walker conj. _spite_ Jervis conj.

_spot of_] _spot, for_ Pope.

[580] _thee from the_] _the from thee_ F₄.

[581] _grapple_] Pope. _cripple_ Ff. _gripple_ Steevens conj.

[582] _vein_] F₃ F₄. _veine_ F₂. _vaine_ F₁.

[583] _to spend_] Ff. _mis-spend_ Hanmer. _to-spend_ Steevens (1793).

[584] _affections_] _affection_ Pope. _wrestling_] F₄. _wrastling_ F₁ F₂ F₃.

[585] _Doth_] Ff. _Do_ Hanmer.

[586] _hast thou_] F₄. _hast_ F₁ F₂ F₃.

[587] _compulsion_] _compassion_ Hanmer. _compunction_ Capell conj.

[588] _waters_] F₁. _warres_ F₂. _warrs_ F₃. _wars_ F₄.

[589] _Full of warm_] Edd. (Heath conj.) _Full warm of_ Ff.

[590] SCENE III. Pope. [He sees Pandulph coming at a distance. Hanmer.

_spake:_] Capell. _spake,_ Ff. _spake!_ Theobald. _speeds;_ Hanmer. See note (XXVI).

Enter P.] Enter Pandulpho. Ff (after line 63). Enter P. attended. Capell.

[591] SCENE III. Enter Pandulph. Hanmer.

[592] _coal of wars_] _coal of war_ Pope. _coals of war_ Capell conj.

[593] _interest to_] _my interest in_ Hanmer.

[594] _No, no_] _No_ Pope.

[595] [Trumpet sounds.] Rowe.

[596] Enter ... attended.] Capell. Enter Bastard. Ff.

[597] SCENE IV. Pope.

_fair play_] _fair-play_ F₃ F₄. _faire-play_ F₁ F₂.

[598] _speak: ... king I come_] _speak, ... king: I come_ Theobald.

[599] _wilful-opposite_] Theobald. _wilful opposite_ Ff. (_wilfull_ F₁ F₂).

[600] _entreaties_] _entreates_ S. Walker conj.

[601] _too_] _to_ F₁.

[602] _unhair'd_] Theobald. _vnheard_ F₁. _unheard_ F₂ F₃ F₄. unair'd Steevens conj. (withdrawn), _unbeard_ Keightley conj.

_unhair'd ... and_] _unheard ... of_ Collier MS. _unhair'd ... of_ Collier.

_troops_] _troop_ Capell conj.

[603] _these pigmy_] Rowe. _this pigmy_ Ff.

[604] _hug_] _herd_ Rowe (ed. 2).

[605] _crying of your ... crow_] Ff. _crying of our ... crow_ Rowe (ed. 2). _crying of your ... scare-crow_ Grey conj. _crowing of your ... cock_ Collier (Collier MS.).

[606] _his_] Rowe. _this_ Ff.

[607] _towers_] _tower_ F₄.

[608] _revolts_] _revolters_ Pope.

[609] _change_] _chang'd_ Dyce and Collier (Collier MS.).

[610] _Their needles_] _Needles_ Pope.

_needles_] F₃ F₄. _needl's_ F₁ F₂. _neelds_ Steevens.

[611] _fare_] _far_ F₁.

[612] _brabbler_] _babler_ Rowe.

[613] _all_] _all,_ Ff.

[614] _A bare-ribbed_] _Bare-ribbed_ Anon. conj.

[615] SCENE III.] SCENE V. Pope.

The field ...] Pope.

Alarums.] Ff. Alarms. Rowe. Loud Alarums. Capell.

[616] _Swinstead_] _Swinsted_ Ff. _Swineshead_ Halliwell. See note (XXVII).

[617] _Are_] _Was_ Capell.

[618] _Ay me_] _Aye me_ Ff. _Ah me_ Pope.

[619] SCENE IV.] SCENE VI. Pope.

Another ...] The French Camp. Theobald. The same. Another ... same. Capell.

[620] _French: ... miscarry,_] Rowe. _French, ... miscarry,_ F₃ F₄. _French, ... miscarry;_ F₁ F₂.

[621] _Unthread the rude eye_] _Untread the rude way_ Theobald. _Untread the rude cry_ Jackson conj. _Untread the road way_ Collier (Collier MS.). _Unthread the red way,_ Bubier conj.

[622] _the French be lords_] _that France be lord_ S. Walker conj. _the Prince be lord_ Lloyd and Keightley conj. _the French be lord_ Edd. conj. See note (XXVIII).

[623] _moe_] _more_ F₄.

[624] _Saint_] F₂. _S._ F₁ _St._ F₃ F₄.

[625] _his_] _its_ Pope.

[626] _lose_] _loose_ F₁.

[627] _do_] om. Pope.

[628] _crest_] _cresset_ Anon. conj.

[629] _rated_] _hated_ Johnson conj.

[630] See note (XI).

[631] _retired_] _retiring_ Hanmer.

[632] _rankness_] _bankless_ Capell conj.

[633] _o'erlook'd_] _o'erleap'd_ Anon. conj.

[634] _pangs_] _fangs_ Heath conj.

[635] _Right in thine eye_] Ff. _Right in thine eyes_ Pope. _Pight in thine eyes_ Hanmer. _Pight in thine eye_ Warburton. _Fight in thine eye_ Capell. _Bright in thine eye_ Collier (Collier MS.). _Fright in thine eye_ Anon. apud Collier conj. _Riot in thine eye_ Brae conj.

_New flight;_] _and fly!_ Pope.

[636] _And ... right_] Omitted by Pope.

[637] SCENE V.] SCENE VII. Pope.

The French camp.] Hanmer.

[638] _English measure_] _th' English measure_ Rowe (ed. 2). _th' English measur'd_ Pope.

[639] _tattering_] Malone. _tott'ring_ Ff. _tatter'd_ Pope. _totter'd_ Collier MS.

_clearly_] _chearly_ Capell conj. _closely_ Collier MS. _cleanly_ Edd. conj. See note (XXIX).

[640] _prince_] _lord_ Capell conj.

[641] _again_] F₁. _at length_ F₂ F₃ F₄.

[642] _supply_] _supplies_ Capell.

[643] _so sad_] _sad_ Warburton.

[644] SCENE VI.] SCENE VIII. Pope.

An ... Abbey.] Theobald.

[645] _Whither_] _And whither_ Pope.

[646] Arranged as in Capell. As six lines, ending _go?... thee?... affairs ... mine ... think ... thought:_ in Ff.

[647] _why ... mine?_ Bast. _Hubert_] Bast. _Why ... mine? Hubert_ Ingleby conj.

[648] _and_] _an_ Capell.

[649] _eyeless_] Theobald (Warburton). _endles_ F₁. _endlesse_ F₂ F₃. _endless_ F₄.

[650] _swoon_] F₄. _swound_ F₁ F₂ F₃.

[651] _if you had at_] _had you at less_ Capell conj.

[652] _Who_] _Whom_ Hanmer.

[653] _not?_] Ff. _not,_ Malone conj.

[654] _power_] _pow'rs_ Pope.

[655] _hardly_] F₁. om. F₂ F₃ F₄.

[656] _or ere_] F₁ F₂ F₃. _or e're_ F₄. _or e'er_ Rowe.

[657] SCENE VII.] SCENE IX. Pope.

The ... Abbey.] Theobald.

[658] _corruptibly_] _corruptedly_ Capell. _corruptively_ Rann conj.

_pure_] _poor_ Grant White. See note (XXX).

[659] Exit B.] Capell.

[660] _their_] _thy_ Malone conj.

[661] _prey'd_] F₃ F₄. _praide_ F₁. _prei'd_ F₂.

[662] _Leaves ... siege_] _Leaues them inuisible, and his seige_ F₁. _Leaves them invisible, and hir siege_ F₂ F₃ F₄ (_her_ F₃ F₄). _Leaves them; invisible his siege_ Pope. _Leaves them insensible; his siege_ Hanmer. _Leaves them invincible; and his siege is now_ Steevens conj. _Leaves them, and his invisible siege_ Mitford conj. _Leaves them; and, invisible, his siege_ Jackson conj. _Leaves them unvisited, and his siege_ Collier MS. _Leaves them ill-visited, and his siege_ W. N. L. (Notes and Queries).

[663] _mind_] Rowe (ed. 2). _winde_ F₁. _wind_ F₂ F₃ F₄.

[664] _cygnet_] Rowe (ed. 2). _Symet_ Ff.

[665] _to_] F₁. om. F₂ F₃ F₄.

[666] Enter ... chair.] Capell. John brought in. Ff.

[667] _Upon ... up._] As one line in F₄.

[668] _fare_] _fair_ F₄. _fate_ Pope.

_dead_] _oh! dead_ Hanmer. _indeed_ Anon. conj.

[669] _I do not ask you_] _I ask not_ Pope.

[670] _strait_] _straight_ Ff.

[671] _ingrateful_] _ungrateful_ F₄.

[672] _in them_] F₁. _of them_ F₂ F₃ F₄.

[673] _unreprieveable condemned_] _unreprievable-condemned_ Delius.

[674] SCENE X. Pope.

[675] _module_] _model_ Hanmer.

[676] _heaven_] _God_ S. Walker conj.

[677] _all unwarily_] F₁ F₂ F₃. _all, unwarily_ F₄.

[678] The king dies.] Rowe. om. Ff.

[679] _What surety ... clay?_] Put in the margin, as spurious, by Pope.

[680] _right_] _bright_ Pope.

[681] _our_] _fair_ Roderick conj.

[682] _sinewed to our_] Rowe. _sinew'd to our_ Ff. _sinew'd to our own_ Collier MS.

[683] _it is_] Pope. _'tis_ Ff.

[684] _princes_] See note (XXXI).

[685] _Worcester_] F₃ F₄. _Worster_ F₁ F₂.

[686] [Kneeling too, with the other Lords. Capell.

[687] _kind_] _kindred_ Jackson conj. _give you thanks_] Rowe. _give thanks_ Ff. _fain give thanks_ Edd. conj. _give thanks to you_ Keightley conj.

[688] _time but_] Rowe. _time: but_ Ff.

[689] _This England_] _Thus England_ Hanmer.

_nor_] _and_ Pope.

[690] _Now ... again_] See note (XXXII).

[691] _Nought_] F₁ F₃ F₄. _Naught_ F₁.

NOTES.

NOTE I.

DRAMATIS PERSONÆ. In our enumeration of the Dramatis Personæ we have given no further description of each than might be derived from the Play itself.

In the stage directions of the Folios _Queen Elinor_ is variously indicated as _Elinor, Eli., Ele., Elen., Elea., Queen, Qu., Old Qu.,_ and _Qu. Mo.; Philip Faulconbridge_ as _Philip_ or _Phil._ to I. 1. 132, afterwards _Bast_, except in III. 1. 133, 135, where he is called _Phil.; King Philip_ is termed _King_ or _Kin._, and, in the scenes where King John is also present, _France_ or _Fra.; King John_ is designated as _K. John, John_, and once, III. 1. 324, _Eng.; Lewis_ is called in the 'entrances' _Daulphin_ or _Dolphin_, and in the dialogue _Lewis_, _Dol._, or _Dolph_. As we do not conceive our rule of modernizing the spelling to apply to proper names we have not substituted _Falconbridge_ for _Faulconbridge_, the consistent spelling of the Folio. In the old play it is spelt as consistently _Fauconbridge_.

NOTE II.

SCENE. We have not followed Capell and the more recent editors in attempting to define the precise spot at which each scene took place, where none is mentioned in the body of the play or in the stage directions of the Folio. Nothing is gained by an attempt to harmonize the plot with historical facts gathered from Holinshed and elsewhere, when it is plain that Shakespeare was either ignorant of them or indifferent to minute accuracy. For example, the second scene of Act IV. is supposed to occur at the same place as the first scene of that act, or, at all events, in the immediate neighbourhood (IV. 2. 85), and in England (II. 3. 71 and IV. 2. 110). But Holinshed distinctly states that Arthur was imprisoned first at Falaise and then at Rouen (pp. 554, 555. ed. 1577).

The whole play is divided into Acts and Scenes in the first Folio, but arbitrarily. The second act is made to consist of a single scene of 74 lines, and ends in what Theobald has clearly shewn to be the middle of a scene. He, with 'Gildon and others', once supposed the close of the second act to be lost, but afterwards changed his mind and adopted the arrangement we have followed.

NOTE III.

I. 1. 20. This line must probably be scanned as an Alexandrine, reading the first 'Controlment' in the time of a trisyllable and the second as a quadrisyllable.

NOTE IV.

I. 1. 43. Here Steevens gives the same stage direction as Capell, '_Enter the Sheriff of Northamptonshire and whispers Essex_,' changing merely '_and_' to '_who_,' and, as usual, ignoring Capell, says in a note that he had taken it from the Old Quarto. He convicts himself of plagiarism, for the 'Old Quarto' has '_Enter the Shrive and whispers the Earle of_ Salis. _in the care_.' It was Capell who changed 'Salis.' to '_Essex_.' All the three editions of the Old Quarto agree in this stage direction _literatim_, except that the edition of 1591 has '_Sals._' for 'Salis.' Salisbury introduces the sheriff thus: 'Please it your Majesty, here is the shrive of Northampton-shire, &c.'

NOTE V.

I. 1. 75. 'Whether.' Here the first three Folios read 'Where.' In the _Comedy of Errors_, IV. 1. 60, all the Folios agreed in reading 'whe'r.' In both cases we spell 'whether.' The Folios are not consistent. They have, for instance, 'Whether' in line 134 of the present scene, 'Whether hadst thou rather be a Faulconbridge.' As we do not contract the words 'either,' 'neither,' 'mother,' 'brother,' 'hither,' 'thither,' &c. when pronounced in the time of a monosyllable, so we abstain from contracting 'whether', especially as such contraction might cause ambiguity in the sense.

NOTE VI.

I. 1. 85. In Mr Wilbraham's MS. notes the following occurs:

'Trick' is a term in Heraldry for a 'copy.' In the _Gentleman's Magazine_ for 1803, Supplement, p. 1207, in an account of various memorandums of Receipts and Expenditures, &c., by some one at the latter end of the 17th century, I find the three following ones:

July 21st, 1691. Received of Mr Cole for a _trick_ of Consure's arms.
2_s._ 6_d._

-- 25th -- Mr Martyn, the Paynter, for a _trick_ of the Lady Cath.
Darnley's arms. 2_s._ 6_d._

Dec. 18th -- Received of Mr Gentry for a _trick_ of Wyatt's arms.
2_s._ 6_d._

NOTE VII.

I. 1. 147. This discrepancy between the readings of the first and second Folios had escaped Capell's notice. In _Twelfth Night_, II. 4. 88, all the Folios read 'It' for 'I.'

NOTE VIII.

II. 1. 103. 'Large,' which was doubtless a misprint for 'huge' in Rowe's edition, remained uncorrected by Pope, Theobald, Hanmer, Warburton, and Johnson, though Grey noticed the mistake (_Notes_, 1. p. 230). Capell restored the true reading. How great his services were in the restoration of the text may be estimated by the following instances collected from the present play alone. And the list might have been very much extended if we had included all his minute corrections:

II. 1. 175, 'call not me;' II. 1. 176, 'dominations;' II. 1. 213, 'preparation;' II. 1. 345, 'lay down;' III. 1. 24, 'signs;' III. 4. 35, 'buss;' III. 4. 137, 'whiles;' III. 4. 139, 'one;' III. 4. 169, 'that;' IV. 1. 31, 'I warrant;' IV. 3. 66, 'his;' IV. 3. 112, 'savours;' V. 7. 43, 'ingrateful.' In V. 7. 45, however, he omitted to correct 'of them.'

NOTE IX.

II. 1. 149. This line is printed in the Folios as if it were a part of Austria's speech. The objections are of course, first, that Lewis was not a king, and secondly, that Austria would rather have appealed to Lewis's father. Malone once thought that Austria appealed to both 'King,--Lewis, &c.' The objection to the usual emendation is that throughout the scene King Philip is not designated in the stage directions as _King_, but as _Fran._ or _Fra._

NOTE X.

II. 1. 187. The whole passage from line 185 to 188, inclusive, is thus printed in F₁:

'But God hath made her sinne and her, the plague
On this remoued issue, plagued for her,
And with her plague her sinne: his iniury
Her iniurie the Beadle to her sinne,'

Capell has it as follows:

'But God hath made her sin and her the plague
On this removed issue, plagu'd for her;
And, with her sin, her plague, his injury
Her injury, the beadle to her sin:'

Mr Roby, whose punctuation we have adopted, says, "I suppose the sense to be: 'God hath made her sin and herself to be a plague to this distant child, who is punished for her and with the punishment belonging to her: God has made her sin to be an injury to Arthur, and her injurious deeds to be the executioner to punish her sin; all which (viz. her first sin and her now injurious deeds) are punished in the person of this child.'"

Mr Lloyd, who, with the same punctuation, would read, 'her sin, her injury,' interprets thus: 'Elinor's injuries to Arthur are God's agents to punish him both for the sin of being her grandchild and for the inherited guilt of these very injuries.'

The word 'sin' is twice printed by mistake for 'son' in Johnson's note to this passage, Ed. 1765.

Malone supposed that two half lines had been lost after the words, "And with her."

NOTE XI.

II. 1. 268. This line, with the substitution of 'this' for 'our,' is taken from a prose passage of the old play, _The troublesome Raigne of King John_, Sig. C. 3. recto, ed. 1622. The names of the provinces given in II. 1. 525, 526, came also from the old play (Sig. D. verso). The line, 'For that my grandsire was an Englishman,' V. 4. 42, is found in the old play, Sig. K. 4. recto.

In a few other passages, as for instance in II. 1. 65, there is an almost verbal identity between Shakespeare and his predecessor.

NOTE XII.

II. 1. 289. Capell's copy of the second Folio has _sit's on's_; that which belonged to Dr Long has _it' son's_.

NOTE XIII.

II. 1. 300. The word '_Heere_,' used in the stage direction, seems to indicate that the scene was supposed to continue. No new scene is marked in the Folios. Mr Dyce and Mr Grant White have followed their authority.

NOTE XIV.

II. 1. 325. Mr Knight alone of modern editors retains _Hubert_, supposing this citizen of Angiers to be the same person as Arthur's gaoler. But in the old play the citizen who proposes the league to the two kings is a distinct person from Hubert de Burgh. It is much more probable that the name _Hubert_ has crept in here from the fact that the same actor who was to play Hubert played also the part of 'First citizen.'

NOTE XV.

III. 1. 69. In Boswell's edition (1821) the reading '_its_ owner stoop' is derived from a misprint of Johnson, who quotes it as the reading of the old editions. Mr Collier incorrectly attributes it to Malone.

NOTE XVI.

III. 1. 133. Pope inserts after this line the following passage, adapted from the old play of _The troublesome Raigne of King John_:

'_Aust._ Methinks that Richard's pride and Richard's fall
Should be a precedent to fright you, Sir.

_Bast._ What words are these? how do my sinews shake!
My father's foe clad in my father's spoil!
How doth Alecto whisper in my ears;
Delay not, Richard, kill the villain strait,
Disrobe him of the matchless monument,
Thy father's triumph o'er the savages--
Now by his soul I swear, my father's soul,
Twice will I not review the morning's rise,
Till I have torn that trophy from thy back,
And split thy heart, for wearing it so long.'

NOTE XVII.

III. 1. 260. Mr Staunton says, in his note on this passage, '_Chafed_ was first suggested by Mr Dyce.' It is found first in Theobald, who is followed by Hanmer, Warburton, Johnson, and Capell. Steevens, who mentioned it, returned to the old reading, 'cased.'

NOTE XVIII.

III. 1. 280-286. In the first Folio this passage stands thus:

'It is religion that doth make vowes kept,
But thou hast sworne against religion:
By what thou swear'st against the thing thou swear'st,
And mak'st an oath the suretie for thy truth,
Against an oath the truth, thou art vnsure
To sweare, sweares onely not be forsworne,
Else what a mockerie should it be to sweare?'

Mr Staunton suggests the following as 'a probable reading of the passage in its original form:'

'It is religion that doth make vows kept,
But thou hast sworn against religion:
By that, thou swear'st against the thing thou swear'st,
And mak'st an oath, the surety for thy truth,
Against an oath, the proof thou art unsure.
Who swears swears only not to be forsworn,
Else what a mockery should it be to swear!'

In line 285 Mr Halliwell appears to adopt _swear'st_ in his note, though he leaves _swears_ in the text.

NOTE XIX.

III. 2. 4. After this line Pope inserts the following from the old play before quoted:

'Thus hath king Richard's son perform'd his vow,
And offer'd Austria's blood for sacrifice
Unto his father's ever-living soul.'

NOTE XX.

III. 4. 41, 42. Mr Lloyd writes to us with reference to the speech of Constance: 'I think the two last lines are a first and second draught, the latter intended to replace the former, and both printed together by mistake.'

NOTE XXI.

III. 4. 159. As Pope's correction, however ingenious and plausible, cannot be pronounced certain, we, in accordance with the general rule laid down in the Preface to Vol. I., p. xii, retain the reading of the Folios. 'Scope of Nature' may mean anything which lies within the limits of Nature's power.

NOTE XXII.

IV. 1. 70. Warburton, after quoting Pope's reading, which he adopts, remarks: "Thus Mr Pope found the line in the old editions.... Mr Theobald, by what authority I don't know, reads:

'I would not have believ'd him: no tongue, but Hubert's,'

which is spoiling the measure without much mending the sense." Johnson adds, 'I do not see why the old reading may not stand. Mr Theobald's alteration, as we find, injures the measure, &c.' Neither Warburton nor Johnson could have consulted the Folios on this passage, or they would have seen that Pope's reading is not the reading of the old editions, and that Theobald's 'unauthorized alteration' was merely a return to the original text.

NOTE XXIII.

IV. 2. 50. Sidney Walker (_Criticisms_, I. 279) questions the possibility of Shakespeare having written so ungrammatically. The construction is evidently incorrect, but it may be explained by supposing that the offending word 'them,' following so closely upon 'my self,' was suggested to the writer by the analogous pronoun 'themselves.'

NOTE XXIV.

IV. 2. 117. It is extremely doubtful whether the reading of the first Folio in this passage is 'eare' or 'care'. The first letter of the word is broken, but we are inclined to believe that is a broken 'e' and not a broken 'c', and in this we are supported by the opinion of Sir F. Madden and Mr Hamilton. Mr Staunton informs us that in Lord Ellesmere's Folio, it is more like a defective Italic _e_ than any other letter, but in the two copies of F₁ before us it is certainly Roman, whether 'c' or 'e'. On the other hand, Mr Charles Wright is in favour of an italic _c_. Under these circumstances, we have left 'care' in the text.

NOTE XXV.

IV. 3. 33. Mr Collier mentions that the Duke of Devonshire's copy of the first Folio reads 'man' instead of 'mans,' which is in the ordinary copies. The error was corrected no doubt while the sheet was passing through the press, and after some copies had been struck off, in accordance with the practice which was common in printing-offices at the beginning of the 17th century.

NOTE XXVI.

V. 2. 64. 'And even there, methinks, an angel spake.' None of the interpretations of this line hitherto suggested are at all satisfactory. Surely the close proximity of 'purse,' 'nobles,' and 'angel,' shews that Shakespeare has here yielded to the fascination of a _jeu de mots_, which he was unable to resist, however unsuitable the occasion might be. The Dauphin, we may suppose, speaks 'aside,' with an accent and gesture which mark his contempt for the mercenary allies whom he intends to get rid of as soon as may be. See V. 4. 30-39.

NOTE XXVII.

V. 3. 8, 17. There can be no doubt, as has been pointed out to us by Mr Hopkinson of Stamford, that 'Swinstead' is an error for 'Swineshead,' the place of King John's death. The same fact was communicated to Reed by Mr Dodd, the then vicar of Swineshead. But as the mistake occurs in the old Quarto, which Shakespeare follows, we have not felt justified in removing it from the text.

NOTE XXVIII.

V. 4. 14. Sidney Walker (_Criticisms_, II. 234) suggests as another solution of the difficulty in this passage that a line may have been lost after 'loud day.' Mr Keightley has independently made the same conjecture. In support of the reading which we propose, 'lord' for 'lords,' we would refer to _Hen. V_. IV. 4, where 'the French' is used in the singular; '_the French_ might have a good prey of us if _he_ knew of it.'

NOTE XXIX.

V. 5. 7. In Capell's copy of his own edition 'clearly' is corrected to 'chearly,' in accordance with the conjecture in his notes. In the same way he altered 'compulsion' to 'compunction' in V. 2. 44. 'Cleanly' is equivalent to 'neatly,' and seems to be appropriate as antithetical to 'tottering' or 'tattering.'

NOTE XXX.

V. 7. 2. Mr Grant White says that the Folio reads 'pore' for 'pure,' and this suggests his own reading, 'poor.' In all the copies known to us the reading is 'pure.'

NOTE XXXI.

V. 7. 97. Sidney Walker (_Criticisms_, I. p. 293) is of opinion that the word 'princes' is a corruption, the transcriber's or compositor's eye having been caught by the word 'prince' in the preceding line. Or the error may be in the word 'prince,' for which it would be easier to suggest a substitute than for 'princes.' As an illustration of the facility with which such mistakes may be made we may mention that Sidney Walker himself, quoting _King John_, IV. 3. 44, 45:

'Could thought without this object
Form such another?'

wrote inadvertently 'such object.' In another place, as Mr Lettsom remarks, he wrote '_Swings_ on his horse back' for '_Sits_ ...,' the word 'swinged' of the previous line being in his eye or his mind.

NOTE XXXII.

V. 7. 115. Mr Lloyd suspects that this line is spurious: 'A compliment to Steenie and Baby Charles, who came back from Madrid in the year that the first edition of King John was published, and thrust in by the editors, or perhaps by the actors, in place of a line of similar purport, but less applicable.'

KING RICHARD THE SECOND.

DRAMATIS PERSONÆ[C].

KING RICHARD the Second.
JOHN of GAUNT, Duke of Lancaster, } uncles to the King.
EDMUND of LANGLEY, Duke of York, }
HENRY, surnamed BOLINGBROKE Duke of Hereford, son to John of Gaunt;
afterwards KING HENRY IV.
DUKE of AUMERLE, son to the Duke of York.
THOMAS MOWBRAY, Duke of Norfolk.
DUKE of SURREY.
EARL of SALISBURY.
LORD BERKLEY[D].
BUSHY, }
BAGOT, } servants to King Richard.
GREEN, }
EARL of NORTHUMBERLAND.
HENRY PERCY, surnamed Hotspur, his son.
LORD ROSS.
LORD WILLOUGHBY.
LORD FITZWATER.
Bishop of Carlisle.
Abbot of Westminster.
Lord Marshal[E].
SIR STEPHEN SCROOP.
SIR PIERCE of Exton.
Captain of a band of Welshmen[F].

QUEEN to King Richard.
DUCHESS of YORK.
DUCHESS of GLOUCESTER.
Lady attending on the Queen.

Lords, Heralds, Officers, Soldiers, two Gardeners, Keeper,
Messenger, Groom, and other Attendants[G].

SCENE: _England and Wales_[H].

[C] First given imperfectly by Rowe.

[D] Lord Berkley.] Earl Berkley. Capell. om. Rowe. See note (1).

[E] Lord Marshal] Capell. om. Rowe.

[F] Captain ...] Capell. om. Rowe.

[G] Lords ...] Rowe and Capell.

[H] and Wales] Capell. om. Rowe.

THE TRAGEDY OF

KING RICHARD II.