And like thy brother, to enjoy thy land,
Or the reputed son of Coeur-de-Lion,
Lord of thy presence, 15 and no land beside?
Bast. Madam, an' if my brother had my shape,
And I had his, Sir Robert his,16 like him;
And if my legs were two such riding-rods,
My arms such eel-skins stuff'd; my face so thin,
That in mine ear I durst not stick a rose,
Lest men should say, Look, where three-

66

farthings 17 goes!"
And, to his shape, 18 were heir to all this land,-
Would I might never stir from off this place,
I'd give it every foot to have this face ;

I would not be Sir Nob 19 in any case.

Eli. I like thee well: wilt thou forsake thy fortune,

Bequeath thy land to him, and follow me ?
I am a soldier, and now bound to France.

Bast. Brother, take you my land, I'll take my

chance:

Your face hath got five hundred pound a year ;
Yet sell your face for five pence, and 'tis dear.-
Madam, I'll follow you unto the death.

Eli. Nay, I would have you go before me thither. Bast. Our country manners give our betters way.

K. John. What is thy name?

Bast. Philip, my liege,—so is my name begun,— Philip, good old Sir Robert's wife's eldest son. K. John. From henceforth bear his name whose form thou bearest :

Kneel thou down, Philip, but arise more great,— Arise Sir Richard and Plantagenet. 20

15. Lord of thy presence. By this phrase, as employed here, Shakespeare seems to include the combined meanings of " master of that fine manly person inherited from Coeur-de-Lion," and of " master of thine own individuality or identity :" for he uses the phrase again in this play, with the latter signification.

16. Sir Robert his. For Sir Robert's;' an old form of the possessive case, still used in Shakespeare's time.

17. Three-farthings. Little thin silver pieces of this value were coined by Queen Elizabeth, bearing her face and the emblematic rose of England on them; and it was a court fashion for fashionable gallants, as well as ladies, to wear a rose stuck behind the ear.

18. And, to his shape. "To" is here elliptically used for 'in addition to."

19. I would not be Sir Nob. The first Folio prints 'it' instead of "I;" the reading of the second Folio. Besides the word "Nob" standing for a familiar abbreviation of Robert,' like Rob,' or 'Bob,' we think there is a kind of pun intended in reference to "Nob" being used as a cant word for 'head;' in such phrases as "one for his nob," at the game of cribbage, and in modern slang, 'a nobby fellow,' for a tip-top fellow,' 'a head man,' a grand person.' In the Folios, "sir nobbe" is printed thus, without capital letters.

20. Plantagenet. Originally a nickname, given to a grandson of Geffrey, first Earl of Anjou, from his wearing a broom-stalk (planta genista) in his bonnet; and afterwards popularly assigned as a surname to the royal family from Henry II. to Richard II. 21. What though? What then?' See Note 86, Act iii., "As You Like It."

Bast.

Brother, by the mother's side, give me your hand:

My father gave me honour, yours gave land.-
Now blessèd 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 so.
Bast. Madam, by chance, but not by truth:
what though ?l

Something about, a little from the right,

In at the window, or else o'er the hatch;22 Who dares not stir by day must walk by night; And have is have, however men do catch. K. John. Go, Falconbridge: now hast thou ty desire;

A landless knight makes thee a landed squire.Come, madam,-and come, Richard; we must speed

For France, for France; for it is more than need. Bast. Brother, adieu: good fortune come to thee!

For thou wast got i' the way of honesty.23

[Exeunt all except the Bastard.

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: 24—
"Good den,25 Sir Richard:" God-a-mercy, fel-

23. I' the way of honesty. The new Sir Richard wishes his brother " good fortune," because, having had lawful birth, he could not share in the good luck proverbially awarded to those not so privileged in the old adage, "Bastards are born lucky." 24. Now can I make any Joan a lady. Joan" is here, and elsewhere, used by Shakespeare to express one of the common order of women. See Note 44, Act iii., "Love's Labour's Lost." 25. Good den. A corruption of 'good evening;' and sometimes used for 'good day.' See Note 29, Act iii., "Much Ado about Nothing."

26. 'Tis too respective. In Shakespeare's way of making a relatively-used pronoun refer to an implied particular, "it" here relates to that remembrance of men's names which is implied as the contrary to forgetting them: and "respective " means 'regardful,' 'considerate,' 'heedful of due respects.' See Note 37, Act iv., "Two Gentlemen of Verona."

27. For your conversion. "Your" in this line is used in the idiomatic way of expressing an instanced generality, pointed out in Note 96, Act iii., "As You Like It." "Conversion" here means changed condition,' 'altered rank;' the degree of gentleman converted into that of a knight.

28. Traveller,-he and his toothpick at my worship's mess. It was customary to entertain newly-returned travellers at great men's tables, and to make their discourse part of the entertainThe practice of using a "toothpick," as a mark of fantastic elegance, we have before observed (see Note 202, Act iv.,

ment.

And when my knightly stomach is suffic'd, Why then I suck my teeth, and catechise My picked man of countries: 29" My dear sir,' Thus, leaning on mine elbow, I begin, "I shall beseech you"-that is question now; And then comes answer like an Absey-book:30 "Oh, sir," says answer, "at your best command; At your employment; at your service, sir:"

No, sir," says question, "I, sweet sir, at yours:"

And so, ere answer knows what question would,-
Saving in dialogue of compliment,

And talking of the Alps and Apennines,
The Pyrenean and the river Po,-

It draws toward 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,31.
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 32 to deliver
Sweet, sweet, sweet poison for the age's tooth:
Which, though I will not practise to deceive,33
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 ?31
Oh, me! it is my mother.

Enter Lady FALCONBRIDGE and JAmes Gurney. How now, good lady! What brings you here to court so hastily?

"Winter's Tale"); and it was imported by those who affected to follow foreign fashions. In Italy, at the present day, young and old “exquisites" may be observed at the dinner-table, talking to ladies, with a wooden skewer jerking in their mouths. "My worship's mess means that part of the table where I as a knight shall sit. See Note 70, Act i., "Winter's Tale." "Your was the appropriate address to a knight or squire, as your honour" was to a lord.

worship"

"

29 My picked man of countries. My foppish voyager.' Shakespeare uses "picked" for over-nice,' 'over-particular,' fop-like in precision,' 'coxcombical in style. See Note 10,

Act V.,

"Love's Labour's Lost."

30. An Absey-book. Or, A, B, C book; an old name for a catechism.

31. He is but a bastard to the time, that doth not smack of observation. He is esteemed but a sorry fellow, in the present day, who does not seem to possess some small amount of worldly knowledge, and acquaintance with foreign parts.'

32. Inward motion. Intelligential faculty.

33- Which, though I will not, &c. "Which" is introduced into this sentence according to Shakespeare's mode of employing a relatively-used pronoun in reference to an implied particular: the delivery of sweet poison' being this implied particular.

See Note 8, Act v.,

"All's Well."

34 To blow a horn before her. See Note chant of Venice." 35. Colbrand the giant. A Danish man of might, who was

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,35 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.

Bast. James Gurney, wilt thou give us leave awhile?

Gur. Good leave, good Philip.36

Bast.
Philip ?-sparrow 137-James,
There's toys abroad: 39 anon I'll tell thee more.
[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 :
To whom am I beholden for these limbs ?
Sir Robert never holp 39 to make this leg.

Lady F. Hast thou conspired with thy brother too,

That for thine own gain shouldst defend mine honour ?

What means this scorn, thou most untoward knave?

Bast. Knight, knight, good inother,-Basiliscolike: 40

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;
Legitimation, name, and all is gone :
Then, good my mother, let me know my father,

vanquished by Guy, Earl of Warwick, in the presence of King Athelstan. There is a description of this combat in the twelfth song of Drayton's "Polyolbion."

36. Good leave, good Philip. Coleridge, in one of his TableTalks, said, "For an instance of Shakespeare's power in minimis, I generally quote James Gurney's character in King John. How individual and comical he is with the four words allowed to his dramatic life!" They certainly suffice to show us the free-and-easy style of the confidential servitor; one entrusted with the family secrets of this country household; one accustomed to treat the eldest son, but not the heir, with a coolly easy familiarity tolerated by the good-humoured young man, and only lightly waved aside by the new-made knight.

37. Philip?-sparrow! Sir Richard, willing to be addressed by his freshly-acquired title, playfully rebukes the serving-man's familiar "good Philip," by thus reminding him that Philip was a name given to a sparrow; the note of that bird having some similitude to the word. In Lily's "Mother Bombie," we find,

Cry phip, phip, the sparrowes as they fly;" and Skelton has a poem entitled "Phyllyp Sparowe."

38. There's toys abroad. 'There are certain trifling novelties of changed condition have taken place.'

39. Holp. An old form of helped.'

40. Basilisco-like. In this passage there is satirical allusion to an old drama, called " Soliman and Perseda," 1599; where a jester-servant compels a bragging knight, named Basilisco, to confess himself to be a "knave" instead of a "knight."

Some proper man," I hope: who was it, mother ?42 Lady F. Hast thou denied thyself a Falcon

bridge?

Bast. As faithfully as I deny the devil.

father:

By long and vehement suit I was seduc'd:-
Heaven lay not my transgression to my charge!
Thou art the issue 43 of my dear offence,
Which was so strongly urg'd, past my defence.
Bast. Madam, I would not wish a better tather.

The aweless lion could not wage the fight,
Nor keep his princely heart from Richard's hand :44
He that perforce robs lions of their hearts
May easily win a woman's. Ay, my mother,
With all my heart I thank thee for my father!
Come, lady, I will show thee to my kin. [Exeunt.

45

SCENE I.-FRANCE. Before the Walls of

ANGIERS.

Enter, on one side, PHILIP, King of France, and Forces; LEWIS, CONSTANCE, ARTHUR, and Attendants: on the other, the ARCHDUKE OF AUSTRIA and Forces.

K. Phi, 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: 2

66

41. Some proper man. 'Proper" here, as elsewhere, is used for 'fine,' 'handsome,' 'well-proportioned.'

42. Who was it, mother? No one like Shakespeare for setting straight before the imagination the very look, gesture, and tone with which a few simple words should be uttered. By the way in which he has written these two lines, introducing the little sentence at the close, we see the son's hugging arm thrown round her, the close drawing her to him, the manly wooing voice by which he accompanies this coaxing question.

43. Thou art the issue. The Folio prints 'that' here for "thou;" Rowe's correction.

44. Heart from Richard's hand. In allusion to the legend told in the old chronicles and romance ballads of Richard I. having derived his surname, Cœur-de-Lion, from having torn out the heart of a lion, when exposed to its fury by the Duke of Austria, in revenge for having slain his son with a blow of his fist.

45. My kin. The king and the dowager queen; the latter of whom had said, "I am thy grandam, Richard; call me so.

"

1. K. Phi. The Folio prints this prefix Lewis; and in our previous editions we left the speech thus assigned, under the impression that the forward part taken elsewhere by the Dauphin in the French political procedure, warranted the assumption that here he takes the initiative, even in his father's presence. But on more mature consideration of the whole question (besides bearing in mind the frequent errors in prefixes made by the Folio), we think there is little doubt that King Philip is the speaker here. The expression "At our importance hither is he come," which we imagined might be spoken by Lewis in his royal father's name and his own, is, we confess, more consistent

And, for amends to his posterity,
At our importance3 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.
Artb. God shall forgive you Coeur-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 unstainèd love:
Welcome before the gates of Angiers, duke.

with the regal style put by Shakespeare into the mouths of his monarchs moreover, the word "boy," addressed to Arthur, makes for the belief that it is the French king who speaks, and not Lewis; since the latter is himself called by his father "boy" farther on in this same scene, and one so young would probably not use this epithet. The same argument applies to the next speech but one-“A noble boy! Who would not do thee right?" which has also the prefix Lewis in the Folio; but which, from its tone of protection, seems properly to belong to the king.

2. Came early to his grave. For the variation from chronological accuracy in some of the points respecting the Duke of Austria in "King John," the drama from which Shakespeare derived the groundwork of his play is answerable.

3. Importance. Here used for 'importunity.' See Note 5, Act ii., "Much Ado."

4. God shall forgive you. Shakespeare has made Prince Arthur of younger age at this period than historical truth warrants; but he well knew that the truth of tragic story would be more perfectly fulfilled by having a child the subject of injury here. The way in which he has drawn the innocent boy throughout is intensely pathetic-a sweet and gentle nature hurled to and fro like a flower amid tempests; bruised, wounded, and finally crushed by the stormy passions and ruthless ambitions of the merciless natures around him. That the dramatist has nowise violated natural and characteristic truth, by making the little prince speak with a grace and propriety beyond those generally belonging to children of his years, we have confirmatory evidence in a record made by Froissart in his Chronicles, where he describes the conduct of the Princess of France, then " a yonge childe of eyght yere of age."

5. Unstained. Here used for 'spotless,' 'innocent.'

And stir them up against a mightier task.
England, impatient of your just demands,
Hath put himself in arms: the adverse winds,
Whose leisure I have stay'd, have given him time
To land his legions all as soon as I;
His marches are expedient to this town,
His forces strong, his soldiers confident.
With him along is come the mother-queen,
An Até,10 stirring him to blood and strife;
With her her niece, the Lady Blanch of Spain ;
With them a bastard of the king's deceas'd:
And all th' unsettled humours of the land,-
Rash, inconsiderate, fiery voluntaries,
With ladies' faces and fierce dragons' spleens,-
Have sold their fortunes at their native homes,"1
Bearing their birthrights proudly on their backs,
To make a hazard of new fortunes here:
In brief, a braver choice of dauntless spirits,
Than now the English bottoms have waft o'er, 12
Did never float upon the swelling tide,
To do offence and scath 13 in Christendom.

[Drums beard.

The interruption of their churlish drums
Cuts off more circumstance: they are at hand,
To parley or to fight; therefore prepare.

K. Pbi. How much unlook'd for is this expedition!

8. Indirectly. 'Wrongfully,' iniquitously;' 'deviatingly from the rightful course,' 'swervingly from rectitude.'

9. Expedient. Used elsewhere in the sense of expeditious;' and here it means 'expeditiously advancing.'

10. Até. Misprinted in the Folio 'Ace.' Até was the goddess of contention and discord. See Note 145, Act v., "Love's Labour's Lost."

11. Have sold their, &c. Here "have" is used-according to Shakespeare's mode of sometimes having an understood nominative in a sentence-with the word who' understood before it. See Note 126, Act iii., "As You Like It."

12. The English bottoms have waft o'er. "Bottoms" is a nautical term for ships; and "waft" is here used for 'wafted.' 13. Scath. Harm,' 'injury.'

14. Under-wrought. 'Undermined,' 'sinisterly worked against.'

K. Phi. Peace be to England, if that war return From France to England, there to live in peace! England we love; and, for that England's sake, With burden of our armour here we sweat. This toil of ours should be a work of thine; But thou from loving England art so far, That thou hast under-wrought his lawful king, Cut off the sequence of posterity,

Out-faced infant state, 15 and done a rape

Upon the maiden virtue of the crown.

Look here upon thy brother Geffrey's face ;-
These eyes, these brows, were moulded out of his :
This little abstract doth contain that large
Which died in Geffrey; and the hand of time
Shall draw this brief 16 into as huge a volume.
That Geffrey was thy elder brother born,
And this his son; England was Geffrey's right,
And this is Geffrey's: 17 in the name of God,
How comes it, then, that thou art call'd a king,
When living blood doth in these temples beat,
Which owe 18 the crown that thou o'ermasterest?
K. John. From whom hast thou this great com-
mission, France,

To draw my answer from thy articles?

K. Phi. From that supernal Judge, that stirs good thoughts

In any breast of strong authority,

To look into the blots and stains of right.
That Judge hath made me guardian to this boy :

17. And this is Geffrey's. Mason proposed to change "this" to 'his' here: but "this" is used throughout the latter portion of the present speech in reference to Arthur; and the construction of the sentence "this his son" in the previous line, being elliptical for 'this boy is his son,' leads us to believe that “this is Geffrey's," elliptically implies this boy's is Geffrey's '-meaning this boy's right is what was Geffrey's,' or 'to this boy now belongs that which was Geffrey's.' The repetition of a word in a sequence of sentences, like "this" in the present one, is quite accordant with Shakespeare's style; and he has instances of the possessive case understood instead of expressed. See Note 2, Act iii., "All's Well."

18. Owe. Own.'