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,clofe your hands.. Auft. And your lips too; for, I am well affur'd, That I did fo, when I was firft affur'd.

K. Philip. Now, citizens of Angiers, ope your gates,
Let in that amity which you have made :
For at St. Mary's chapel prefently

The rites of marriage fhall be folemniz'd.
Is not the Lady Conftance in this troop?
I know, she is not; for this match made up
Her prefence would have interrupted much.
Where is the and her fon, tell me, who knows?
Lewis. She's fad and paffionate at your Highness' tent.
K. Philip. And, by my faith, this league, that we have
Will give her fadnefs very little cure.

[made,

Brother of England, how may we content
This widow Lady? in her right we came;
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 Britain,
And Earl of Richmond; and this rich fair town
We make him Lord of.. Call the Lady Conftances,
Some speedy meffenger-bid her repair:
To our folemnity: I truft, we shall,
If not fill up the measure of her will,
Yet in fome measure fatisfy her fo,.
That we shall stop her exclamation.
Go we, as well as hafte will fuffer us,
To this unlook'd-for, unprepared pomp..

[Exeunt all but Faulconbridge..

Faule. Mad world, mad Kings, mad compofition 1: John, to ftop 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 that fame purpofe-changer, that fly devil,,
That broker, that ftill breaks the pate of faith,

Thats

That daily break-vow, he that wins of all,

Of Kings, of beggars, old men, young men, maids, Who having no external thing to lofe

But the word maid, cheats the poor maid of that ;.
That fmooth-faç'd gentleman, tickling commodity,-
Commodity, the biafs of the world,

The world, which of itself is poised well,
Made to run even, upon even ground;
Till this advantage, this vile-drawing biass,.
This fway of motion, this commodity,
Makes it take head from all indifferency,
From all direction, purpofe, courfe, intent.
And this fame biafs, this commodity,.
This bawd, this broker, this all-changing word,.
Clapt on the outward eye of fickle France,
Hath drawn him from his own determin'd aid,
From a refolv'd and honourable war,
To a moft bafe and vile-concluded peace.
And why rail I on this commodity?

But for because he hath not wooed me yet:
Not that I have the power to clutch my hand,
When his fair angels would falute my palm;
But that my hand, as unattempted yet,
Like a poor beggar, raileth on the rich.
Well, while I am a beggar, I will rail;
And fay, there is no fin but to be rich:
And being rich, my virtue then shall be,
To fay, there is no vice, but beggary.
Since Kings break faith upon commodity,
Gain, be my Lord; for I will worthip thee!

ACT

G

A CT III.

SCENE, the French King's Pavilion.

Enter Conftance, Arthur and Salisbury.

CONSTANCE.

ONE to be marry'd gone to fwear a peace!.
Falfe blood to falfe blood join'd! gone to be friends!:
Shall Levis have Blanch, and Blanch thofe provinces ?
It is not fo, thou haft mis-spoke, mif-heard;
Be well advis'd, tell o'er thy tale again,
It cannot be; thou doft but say, 'tis fo..
I trust, I may not truft thee; for thy word
Is but the vain breath of a common man:.
Believe me, I do not believe thee, man;
I have a King's oath to the contrary.
Thou shalt be punish'd for thus frighting me,
For I am fick, and capable of fears;

Oppret with wrongs, and therefore full of fears :
A widow, hufbandlefs, fubject to fears;
A woman, naturally born to fears,

And tho' thou now confefs thou didst but jeft,
With my vext fpirits I cannot take a truce,
But they will quake and tremble all this day.
What doft thou mean by fhaking of thy head?
Why dost thou look fo fadly on my fon?
What means that hand upon that breaft of thine?
Why holds thine eye that lamentable rheum,
Like a proud river peering o'er his bounds?
Be thefe fad figns confirmers of thy words?
Then fpeak again, not all thy former tale,
But this one word, whether thy tale be true.

Sal. As true, as, I believe, you think them false,
That give you caufe to prove my faying true.

Conft. Oh, if thou teach me to believe this for ow,

Teach

Teach thou this forrow how to make me die ;
And let belief and life encounter fo,

As doth the fury of two defp'rate men,
Which, in the very meeting, fall and die..
Lewis wed Blanch! O boy, then where art thou?
France friend with England! what becomes of me?
Fellow, be gone, I cannot brook thy fight:
This news hath made thee a moft ugly man.

Sal. What other harm have I, good Lady, done,
But fpoke the harm that is by others done?
Conft. Which harm within itself so heinous is,
As it makes harmful all that speak of it.

Arth. I do beseech you, mother, be content. Conft. If thou, that bidft me be content, wert grim, Ugly, and fland'rous to thy mother's womb, Full of unpleafing blots, and fightless ftains, Lame, foolish, crooked, fwart, prodigious, Patch'd with foul moles, and eye-offending marks; I would not care, I then would be content: For then I should not love thee: no, nor thou Become thy great birth, nor deserve a crown. But thou art fair, and at thy, birth, dear boy! Nature and Fortune join'd to make thee great. Of Nature's gifts thou may'ft with lillies boaft, And with the half-blown rofe. But Fortune, oh!: She is corrupted, chang'd, and, won from thee, Adulterates hourly with thine uncle John; And with her golden hand hath pluckt on France, To tread down fair refpect of fovereignty, And made his Majefty the bawd to theirs. France is a bawd to Fortune, and to John, That trumpet Fortune, that ufurping John! Tell me, thou fellow, is not France fo.iworn? Envenom him with words; or get thee gone, And leave thefe woes alone, which I alone Am bound to under-bear.

Sal. Pardon me, Madam,

I may not go without you to the Kings.

Conft. Thou may'ft, thou shalt, I will not go with thee. I will inftru&t my forrows to be proud;

For

For Grief is proud, and makes his owner ftoop.
To me, and to the ftate of my great grief,
Let Kings affemble: for my grief's fo great,
That no fupporter but the huge firm earth
Can hold it up: Here I and Sorrow fit:
Here is my throne, bid Kings come bow to it. (13)
[Sits down on the Floor..

(13) bid Kings come bow to it.] I muft here account for the liberty I have taken to make a change in the divifion of the fecond and third acts. In the old editions, the fecond act was made to end here; tho' 'tis evident, Lady Conftance here, in her defpair, feats herfelf on the floor: and the must be fuppofed, as I formerly obferv'd, immediately to rife again, only to go off and end the aft decently; or the flat fcene muft shut her in from the fight of the Audience, an abfurdity I cannot wish to accufe Shakespeare of. Mr. Gildon and fome other criticks fancied, that a confiderable part of the fecond aft was loft; and that the chaẩm began here. I had joined in this fufpicion of a fcene or two being loft; and unwittingly drew Mr. Pope into this, error. "It feems to be fo, fays he, and it were to be wished the restorer. "(meaning me,) could fupply it.' "To deferve this great man's thanks, I'll venture at the task; and hope to convince my readers, that nothing is loft, but that I have fupplied the, fufpected chafm, only by rectifying the divifion of the acts. Upon looking a little more narrowly. into the conflitution of the play, I am satisfied that the third a ought to begin with that fcene, which has hitherto been accounted the laft of the fecond act: and my reafons for it are thefe. The match being concluded, in the fcene before that, betwixt the Dauphin and Blanch, a meffenger is fent for Lady Confiance to King Philip's tent, for her to come to St. Mary's church to the folemnity. The Princes all go out, as to the marriage; and the baftard, ftaying a little behind, to defcant on interest and commodity, very properly ends the act. The next, fcene then, in the French King's tent, brings us Salisbury delivering his meffage to Confiance, who, refufing to go to the folemnity, fots herself down on the floor. The whole train returning from the church to the French King's pavilion, Philip expreffes fuch fatisfaction on occafion of the happy.folemnity of that day, that Conftance rifes from the floor, and joins in the fcene by entering her proteft against their joy, and curfing the bufinefs of the day. Thus, I conceive, the fcenes. are fairly continued; and there is no chafm in the action: but a proper interval made both for Salisbury's coming to Lady Conftance, and for the folemn zation of the marriage. Befides, as Faulconbridge is evidently the Poet's favourite character; 'twas very well judg'd to slose the act with his foliloquy.

Enier