It draws towards supper in conclusion so.
But this is worshipful society,

And fits the mounting spirit, like myself:
For he is but a bastard to the time,
That doth not smack of observation 26:
(And so am I, whether I smack, or no);
And not alone in habit and device,
Exterior form, outward accoutrement;
But from the inward motion to deliver
Sweet, sweet, sweet poison for the age's tooth:
Which, though I will not practise to deceive,
Yet, to avoid deceit, I mean to learn;
For it shall strew the footsteps of my rising.-
But who comes in such haste, in riding robes?
What woman-post is this? hath she no husband,
That will take pains to blow a horn before her 27?

Enter LADY FAULCONBRIDGE and JAMES
GURNEY.

O me! it is my mother;-How now, good lady?
What brings you here to court so hastily?

Lady F. Where is that slave, thy brother? where is he,

That holds in chase mine honour up and down?

Bast. My brother Robert? old Sir Robert's son? Colbrand the giant, that same mighty man? Is it Sir Robert's son, that you seek so?

Lady F. Sir Robert's son! Ay,thou unreverend boy, Sir Robert's son! Why scorn'st thou at Sir Robert? He is Sir Robert's son; and so art thou.

26 i. e. he is accounted but a mean man, in the present age, who does not show by his dress, deportment, and talk, that he has travelled and made observations in foreign countries.

27 Shakspeare probably meant to insinuate that a woman who travels about like a post was likely to horn her husband.

28 Colbrand was a Danish giant, whom Guy of Warwick discomfited in the presence of King Athelstan. The History of Guy was a popular book in the poet's age. Drayton has described the combat very pompously in his Polyolbion.

Bast. James Gurney, wilt thou give us leave awhile!
Gur. Good leave, good Philip.

Bast.
There's toys abroad 30; anon I'll tell thee more.

Philip?-sparrow 29!-James,

[Exit GURNEY.

Madam, I was not old Sir Robert's son;

Sir Robert might have eat his part in me
Upon Good Friday, and ne'er broke his fast:
Sir Robert could do well; Marry, (to confess!)
Could he get me? Sir Robert could not do it;
We know his handy-work:-Therefore, good mother,
To whom am I beholden for these limbs?

Sir Robert never holp to make this leg.

Lady F. Hast thou conspired with thy brother too, That for thine own gain should'st defend mine honour? What means this scorn, thou most untoward knave? Bast. Knight, knight, good mother,―Basiliscolike 31:

What! I am dubb'd; I have it on my shoulder.
But, mother, I am not Sir Robert's son;
I have disclaim'd Sir Robert, and my

land;

29 The Bastard means 'Philip! Do you take me for a sparrow?” The sparrow was called Philip from its note, which was supposed to have some resemblance to that word, 'phip phip the sparrows as they fly.'-Lyly's Mother Bombie.

30 i. e. rumours, idle reports.

31 This is a piece of satire on the stupid old drama of Soliman and Perseda, printed in 1599, which had probably become the butt for stage sarcasm. In this piece there is a bragging cowardly knight called Basilisco. His pretension to valour is so blown and seen through that Piston, a buffoon servant in the play, jumps upon his back, and will not disengage him till he makes Basilisco swear upon his dagger to the contents, and in the terms he dictates; thus:

Bas. O, I swear, I swear.

Pist. By the contents of this blade,-
Bas. By the contents of this blade,—

Pist. I, the aforesaid Basilico

Bas. I, the aforesaid Basilico,-knight, good fellow, knight. Pist. Knave, good fellow, knave.

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 F. Hast thou denied thyself a Faulconbridge? Bast. As faithfully as I deny the devil.

Lady F. King Richard Coeur-de-lion was thy father;

By long and vehement suit I was seduc'd
To make room for him in my husband's bed :-
Heaven, lay not my transgression to my charge!
Thou art the issue of my dear offence,

Which was so strongly urg'd, past my defence.
Bast. Now, by this light, were I to get again,
Madam, I would not wish a better father.
Some sins do bear their privilege on earth,

And so doth yours; your fault was not your folly.:
Needs must you lay your heart at his dispose,―
Subjected tribute to commanding love,—
Against whose 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 32,
May easily win a woman's. Ay, my mother,
With all my heart I thank thee for
my father!
Who lives and dares but say, thou didst not well
When I was got, I'll send his soul to hell.
Come, lady, I will show thee to my kin;

And they shall say, when Richard me begot,
If thou hadst said him nay, it had been sin:
it was, he lies; I say, 'twas not.

Who says

[Exeunt.

32 Shakspeare alludes to the fabulous history of King Richard I. which says that he derived his appellation of Cœur de Lion from having plucked out a lion's heart, to whose fury he had been exposed by the Duke of Austria for having slain his son with a blow of his fist. The story is related in several of the old chronicles, as well as in the old metrical romance.

ACT II.

SCENE I. France. Before the Walls of Angiers. Enter, on one side, the Archduke of Austria1, and Forces; on the other, PHILIP, King of France, and Forces; LEWIS, CONSTANCE, ARTHUR, and Attendants.

Lew. Before Angiers well met, brave Austria.—
Arthur, that great forerunner 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 posterity,

At our importance, hither is he come,
To spread his colours, boy, in thy behalf;
And to rebuke the usurpation

Of thy unnatural uncle, English John:
Embrace him, love him, give him welcome hither.
Arth. God shall 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 powerless hand,
But with a heart full of unstained love:
Welcome before the gates of Angiers, duke.

Lew. A noble boy! Who would not do thee right?
Aust. Upon thy cheek lay I this zealous kiss,

1 Leopold Duke of Austria, by whom Richard had been thrown into prison in 1193, died in consequence of a fall from his horse, in 1195, some years before the date of the events upon which this play turns. The cause of the enmity between Richard and the Duke of Austria is variously related by the old chroniclers. Shakspeare has been led into this anachronism by the old play of King John.

As seal to this indenture of my love;

That to my home I will no more return,

Till Angiers, and the right thou hast in France,
Together with that pale, that white-fac'd shore,
Whose foot spurns 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, still secure
And confident from foreign purposes,
Even till that utmost corner of the west
Salute thee for her king: till then, fair boy,
Will I not think of home, but follow arms.

Const. O, take his mother's thanks, a widow's thanks,

Till your strong hand shall help to give him strength, To make a more3 requital to your love.

Aust. The peace of heaven is theirs, that lift their swords

In such a just and charitable war.

K. Phi. Well then, to work; our cannon shall be bent

4

Against the brows of this resisting town.-
Call for our chiefest men of discipline,
To cull the plots of best advantages *:-
We'll lay before this town our royal bones,
Wade to the market-place in Frenchmen's blood,
But we will make it subject to this boy.

Const. Stay for an answer to your embassy,
Lest unadvis'd you stain your swords 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 rash haste so indirectly shed.

:-

3 i. e. greater. So in King Henry IV. Part 1. Act iv. Sc. 3:The more and less came in with cap and knee.'

4 To mark the best stations to overawe the town.