Phil. Brother by th’mother's fide, give me your hand;
My father gave me honour, yours gave land.
Now blessed be the hour, by night or day,
When I was got, Sir Robert was away.

Eli. The very spirit of Plantagenet ?
I am thy grandam ; Richard, call me fo.

Phil. Madam, by chance, but not by truth; what tho'? Something about, a little from the right,

In at the window, or else o'er the hatch: Who dares not ftir by day, must walk by night,

And have is have, however men do catch; Near or far off, well won is still well-fhot ; And I am I, howe'er I was begot.

K.John. Go, Faulconbridge, now hast thou thy defire; A landless Knight makes thee a landed 'quire: Come, Madam; and come, Richard; we must speed For France, for France ; for it is more than need.

Phil. Brother, adieu ; good fortune come to thee, For thou was got i'th’ way of honesty. [Exe. all but Phil. A foot of honour better than I was, But many a many foot of land the worse! Well, now can I make any Joan a Lady. Good-den, Sir Richard, -Godamercy, fellow; And if his name be George, I'll call him Peter ; For new-made honour doth forget men's names: *Tis too respective and unsociable For your converfing. Now your traveller, He and his tooth-pick at my worship’s mefs ; And when my knightly stomach is suffic'd, Why then I suck my teeth, and catechife My picqued man of countries ;-My dear Sir, (4) (Thus leaning on mine elbow, I begin) I shall beseech you, that is question now; And then comes answer like an ABC-book: o Sir, says answer, at your best command,

(4) My piked man of countries.] Thus Mr. Pope exhibits this par fage, and interprets the word, formal, bearded. The old copies give it us, picked, by a Night corruption in the spelling; but the Author certainly design'd, picqued; (from the French verb, je piquer) i, e. touchy, tart, apprehensive, upon his guard.

At

At your employment, at your service, Sir :-
No, Sir, says question, I, sweet Sir, at yours,
And so, e'er answer knows what question would, (5)
Serving in dialogue of compliment;
And talking of the Alps and Apennines,
The Pyrenean and the river Po;
It draws towards fapper in conclufion, fo.
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 ;
(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 tho’ 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 hafte, in riding robes ?

(5) And so e'er answer knows wbat question would,

(Saving in dialogue-] In this fine speech Faulconbridge would few the advantages and prerogatives of men of worship. He particu. larly observes, that he has the traveller at command." (And here we must remember the time our Author wrote in; when travellers, by the daily discovery of new worlds, were in the greatest estimation.) At the first intimation ofhis desire to hear strange stories, the traveller complies, and the answer comes as easy as an a, b, c, book. Now, Sir, says the Knight, this is my question : -The over-ready traveller will scarce give him leave to make it, but, e'er answer knows what question would, What then? Why, according to the Atupidity of the hitherto receiv'd reading, it grows towards fupper-time. And is not this wor-shipful society? to spend all the time betwixt dinner and supper, before either of them knows what the other would be at. So absurdly is the sense vitiated, by putting the three lines in a parenthesis; which, we may suppose, was first occafiond by their blunder in the word, saving, intead of the true word, serving. Now my emendation gives the text this turn; “ And e'er answer knows what the question would “ be at, my traveller ferves in his dialogue of compliment, which is “ his standing dish at all tables, then he comes to talk of the Alpes “ and Apennines, &c. and by the time this discourse concludes, it * draws towards supper. All now here is sense and humour; and the phrase of serving in is a very humorous one, to fignify that this was his woship's second courses

Mr, Warburton.

Whas

What woman-post is this ? hath lhe no husband,
That will take pains to blow a horn before her?
O me! it is my mother; now, good Lady,
What brings you here to court so hastily?

Enter Lady Faulconbridge, and James Gurney. Lady. Where is that flave, thy brother? where is he, That holds in chase mine honour up and down?

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

Lady. Sir Robert's fon? ay, thou unrev'rend boy,
Sir Robert's son: why scorn'st thou at Sir Robert ?
He is Sir Robert's fon; and so art thou.

Phil. James Gurney, wilt thou give us leave awhile?
Gur. Good leave, good Philip.

Pbil. Philip! spare me, James; (6)
There's toys abroad; anon I'll tell thee more. (Ex.Jam.
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 faft:
Sir Robert could do well; marry, confess!
(6)

Philip, sparrow, James.] Thus the old copies; and Mr. Pope has attempted to glofs this reading by telling us, that Philip is the common name for a tame sparrow. So that then Faulconbridge would say, Call me Philip? You may as well call me Sparrow. The allusion is very mean and trifling: and every body, I believe, will chuse to embrace Mr. Warburton's emendation, which I have inserted into the text. Spare me, and forbear me, it may be observed, are our Au. thor's accustom'd phrases; either when any one wants another to leave him, or would be rid of a displeafing subject. So, in the Tempeft, Alonso, when his companions teaze him with up seasonable discourse, says;

I pr’ythee, Spare. So, Imogen, in Cymbeline, when she wants to get rid of CLOTEN;

pray you, spare me; faith, I shall unfold equal discourtesy

To your best kindness. So in Anthony and Cleopatra, when he dismisses the messenger, that brings an account of his wife's death:

There's a great spirit gone! And, in Meafure for Measure, when the Duke would have Mariana Jeave him;

Í shall crave your forbearance a little; may be, I will call upon you anon..

Could

I

Forbear me;

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 holpe to make this leg.

Lady. Hast thou conspir'd with thy brother too,
That, for thine own gain, should'f defend mine honour?
What means this scorn, thou most untoward knave?

Phil. Knight, Knight, good mother-Bafilifco like. (7)
What! I am dubb'd; I have it on my houlder :
But, mother, I am not Sir Robert's fon;
I have disclaim'd Sir 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 ?
Pbil. As faithfully, as I deny the devil.

Lady. King Richard Cæur-de-lion was thy father ;
By long, and vehement, suit I was seduc'd
To make room for him in my husband's bed.
Heav'n lay not my transgression to my charge!

(7) Knight, Knight, - good mother, Bafilisco like.] Thus must this paffage be pointed; and, to come at the humour of it, I must clear up an old circumstance of Stage-history. Faulconbridge's words here carry a conceal'd piece of satire on a stupid Drama of that age, printed io 1599, and callid Soliman and Perseda. In this piece there is the character of a bragging cowardly Knight, call’d Bafilisco. His pretenfion to valour is so blown and seen thro', that Pifon, a buffoon-servant in the Play, jumps upon his back, and will not disengage him, till he makes Bafilisco swear upon his dugeon dagger to the contents, and is the terms, he dictates to him: as, for instance.

Baf. O, I swear, I swear.
Pist. By the contents of this blade,
Baf. By the contents of this blade,
Pif. I, the aforesaid Bafilifco,
Baf, I, the aforesaid Bafilisco,

Knigbt, good fellow, knight, knight,
Pist. Knave, good fellow, knave, knave,-
So that 'tis clear, our Poet is (neering at this Play; and makes Pbi-
lip, when his mother calls him knave, throw off that reproach, by hu-
morously laying claim to his new dignity of knightbood; as Bafilisco
arrogantly in its on his title of Knigbt, in the passage above

quoted. This old play is an execrable bad one; and, I suppose, was fufficiently exploded in the representation : which might make this circumftance 10 well known, as to become the butt for a stage-Sarcasm,

Thou

Thou art the issue of my dear offence,
Which was so strongly urg'd past my defence.

Phil. Now, by this light, were I to get again,
Madam, I would not with a better father.
Some fins do bear their privilege on earth,
And so do 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 hands.
He, that perforce robs lions of their hearts,
May eafily 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 shew thee to my kin,

And they shall say when Richard me begot,
If thou hadft said him nay, it had been fin;

Who says, it was, he lies; I say, 'twas not. [Exeunti

А ст ІІ. SCENE, before the Walls of Angiers in France. Enter Philip King of France, Lewis the Dauphin, the

Archduke of Austria, Constance, and Arthur.

L E w is.
EFORE Angiers well met, brave Auftria.

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 ho come,
To spread his colours, boy, in thy behalf,

And