SCENE II.

A Plain near St. Edmund's-bury.

Enter, in arms, LEWIS, SALISBURY, MELUN, PEN-
BROKE, BIGOT, and Soldiers.

Lew. My lord Melun, let this be copied out,
And keep it fafe for our remembrance:
Return the precedent' to these lords again;
That, having our fair order written down,
Both they, and we, perufing o'er thefe notes,
May know wherefore we took the facrament,
And keep our faiths firm and inviolable.

Sal. Upon our fides it never fhall be broken.
And, noble Dauphin, albeit we swear
A voluntary zeal, and an unurg'd faith,
To your proceedings; yet, believe me, prince,
I am not glad that fuch a fore of time
Should feek a plaifter by contemn'd revolt,
And heal the inveterate canker of one wound,
By making many: O, it grieves my foul,
That I must draw this metal from my fide
To be a widow-maker; O, and there,
Where honourable refcue, and defence,
Cries out upon the name of Salisbury:
But fuch is the infection of the time,
That, for the health and phyfick 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 fons and children of this ifle,
Were born to fee fo fad an hour as this;
Wherein we step after a stranger march
Upon her gentle bofom, and fill up

5 the precedent-] i. e. the original treaty between the Dauphin and the English lords. STEEVENS.

6-after a stranger march] Our author often ufes franger as an adjective. See the laft fcene; and Vol. II. p. 450, n. 1. MALONE.

Her

Her enemies' ranks, (I muft withdraw and weep
Upon the spot of this enforced caufe,)
To grace the gentry of a land remote,
And follow unacquainted colours here?

What, here?-O nation, that thou could't remove!
That Neptune's arms, who clippeth thee about,
Would bear thee from the knowledge of thyfelf,
And grapple thee unto a pagan fhore';
Where these two Chriftian armies might combine
The blood of malice in a vein of league,
And not to spend it fo unneighbourly!

Lew. A noble temper doft thou fhew in this;
And great affections, wrestling in thy bosom,
Do make an earthquake of nobility.

O, what a noble combat haft thou fought,
Between compulfion, and a brave respect3!

Let

7 Upon the spot-] Spot is ufed here for ftain. So, in a former paffage :

"To look into the spots and stains of right." MALONE. And grapple thee, &c.] The old copy reads-And cripple thee, &c. Perhaps our author wrote gripple, a word used by Drayton in his Polyelbion, fong 1:

"That thrufts his gripple hand into her golden maw."

STEEVENS.

The emendation was made by Mr. Pope. MALONE. 9 -unto a pagan fhore;] Our author feems to have been thinking on the wars carried on by Chriftian princes in the holy land against the Saracens; where the united armies of France and England might have faid their mutual animofities afide, and fought in the cause of Christ, inftead of fighting against brethren and countrymen, as Salisbury and the other English noblemen who had joined the Dauphin, were about to do. MALONE.

And not to spend it so unneighbourly !] This is one of many passages, in which Shakspeare concludes a fentence without attending to the manner in which the former part of it is conftructed. See Vol. III. P. 356, n. 8. MALONE.

2baft thou fought,] Thou, which appears to have been accidentally omitted by the tranfcriber or compofitor, was inferted by the editor of the fourth folio. MALONE.

3 Between compulfion, and a brave refpect!] This compulfion was the neceffity of a reformation in the state; which, according to Salif

N n 4

bury's

Let me wipe off this honourable dew,
That filverly doth progrefs on thy cheeks:
My heart hath melted at a lady's tears,
Being an ordinary inundation;

But this effufion of fuch manly drops,

This shower, blown up by tempest of the foul*,
Startles mine eyes, and makes me more amaz'd
Than had I seen the vaulty top of heaven
Figur'd quite o'er with burning meteors.
Lift up thy brow, renowned Salisbury,
And with a great heart heave away this storm:
Commend thefe waters to those baby eyes,
That never faw the giant world enrag'd;
Nor met with fortune other than at feafts,
Full warm of blood, of mirth, of goffiping.
Come, come; for thou shalt thrust thy hand as deep
Into the purfe of rich profperity,

As Lewis himself:-fo, nobles, shall you all,
That knit your finews to the ftrength of mine.

Enter PANDULPH, attended.

And even there, methinks, an angel spake":
Look, where the holy legate comes apace,
To give us warrant from the hand of heaven;

bury's opinion (who, in his speech preceding, calls it an enforced caust,) could only be procured by foreign arms; and the brave respect was the love of his country. WARBURTON.

4 This shower, blown up by tempeft of the foul,] So, in our author's Rape of Lucrece :

This windy tempeft, till it blow up raiz,

Held back his forow's tide." MALONE.

5- an angel fpake:] Sir T. Hanmer, and after him Dr. Warbur burton read here an angel speeds. I think unneceffarily. The Dau phin does not yet hear the legate indeed, nor pretend to hear him; but feeing him advance, and concluding that he comes to animate and authorize him with the power of the church, he cries out, at the fight of this boly man, I am encouraged as by the voice of an angel. JOHNSON. Rather, In what I have now faid, an angel fpake; for fee, the holy legate approaches, to give a warrant from beaven, and the name of right to our caufe. MALONE.

And

And on our actions fet the name of right,
With holy breath.

Pand. Hail, noble prince of France!
The next is this,-king John hath reconcil'd
Himself to Rome; his ipirit is come in,
That fo ftood out against the holy church,
The great metropolis and fee of Rome:
Therefore thy threat'ning colours now wind up,
And tame the favage fpirit of wild war;
That, like a lion fofter'd up at hand,

It may lie gently at the foot of peace,

And be no further harmful than in fhew.

Lew. Your grace shall pardon me, I will not back; I am too high-born to be property'd,

To be a fecondary at control,

Or ufeful ferving-man, and inftrument,

To any fovereign ftate throughout the world.
Your breath firit kindled the dead coal of wars
Between this chatis'd kingdom and myself,
And brought in matter that fhould feed this fire;
And now 'tis far too huge to be blown out
With that fame weak wind which enkindled it.
You taught me how to know the face of right,
Acquainted me with intereft to this land,
Yea, thrust this enterprize into my heart;
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,

Because that John hath made his peace with Rome?
Am I Rome's flave? 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,
And fuch as to my claim are liable,

Sweat in this bufinefs, and maintain this war?
Have I not heard these islanders fhout out,

Vive

Vive le roy! as I have bank'd their towns*?
Have I not here the best cards for the game,
To win this eafy match play'd for a crown?
And fhall I now give o'er the yielded fet?
No, no, on my foul, it never shall be said.
Pand. You look but on the outfide of this work.
Lew. Outfide or infide, I will not return
Till my attempt fo much be glorify'd
As to my ample hope was promifed
Before I drew this gallant head of war,
And cull'd thefe firy fpirits from the world,
To out-look conqueft, and to win renown
Even in the jaws of danger-and of death.-

[Trumpet founds,

What lufty trumpet thus doth fummon us?
Enter the BASTARD, attended.

Baft. According to the fair-play of the world,
Let me have audience; I am fent to speak :-
My holy lord of Milan, from the king

I come, to learn how you have dealt for him ;
And, as you answer, I do know the scope
And warrant limited unto my tongue.

Pand. The Dauphin is too wilful-oppofite,
And will not temporize with my entreaties;
He flatly fays, he'll not lay down his arms.

Baft. By all the blood that ever fury breath'd, The youth fays well:-Now hear our English king;

6 -as I bave bank'd their towns?] Bank'd their towns may mean, thrown up entrenchments before their towns.

The old play of King John, however, leaves this interpretation extremely difputable. It appears from thence that these falutations were given to the Dauphin as he failed along the banks of the river, This, I fuppofe, Shakspeare calls banking the towns.

from the hollow holes of Thamefis

"Echo apace replied, Vive le roy!

"From thence along the wanton rolling glide,
"To Troynovant, your fair metropolis."

We ftill fay to coaft and to flank; and to bank has no lefs of propriety, though it is not reconciled to us by modern ufage. STEEVENS.

For