АСТ III.

SCENE I.

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 Lewis have Blanch, and Blanch thofe provinces?
It is not fo, thou haft mif-fpoke, mif-heard;
Be well advis'd, tello'er thy tale again,
It cannot be; thou doft but fay, 'tis fo.
I trust, I may not trust 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 punifh'd for thus frighting me,
For I am fick, and capable of fears;

Oppreft 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 yext 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 fighs confirmers of thy words?
Then speak again, not all thy former tale,
But this is one word, whether thy tale be true.
Sal. As true, as, I believe, you think them false,

That

That give you caufe to prove my saying true.

Conft. Oh, if thou teach me to believe this forrow,
Teach thou this forrow how to make me die;
And let belief and life encounter so,

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 spoke the harm that is by others done?
Conft. Which harm within itfelf fo heinous is,
As it makes harmful all that speak of it.

2

Arth. I do befeech 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 3, Patch'd with foul moles and eye-offending marks; I would not care, I then would be content: For then I fhould not love thee: no, nor thou Become thy great birth, nor deferve 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 lilies boast, 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 ftrumpet fortune, that ufurping John!

2

fightlefs] The poet ules fightless for that which we now exprefs by unsightly, difagreeable to the eyes.

3 Prodigious; that is, portentous, fo deformed as to be taken for a foretoken of evil,

Ff4

Tell

Tell me, thou fellow, is not France forfworn? thee gone,

Envenom him with words; or get

And leave thefe woes alone, which I alone
Am bound to under-bear.

I

Sal. Pardon me, Madam,

may not go without you to the Kings.

Conft. Thou may'ft, thou fhalt, I will not go with thee.

I will inftruct my forrows to be proud;

For Grief is proud, and makes his owner ftout.
To me, and to the State of my great Grief',
Let Kings affemble: for my Grief's so great,
That no Supporter but the huge firm earth
Can hold it up: Here I and Sorrow fit:
Here is my Throne, bid Kings come bow to it".
[Sits down on the Floor,

·make his orner flout.] The old editions have, makes its owner ftoop; the emendation is Hanmer's,

5 To me, and to the State of my

great Grief,

Let Kings affemble:] In Much ado about nothing, the father of Hero, deprefied by her difgrace, declares himself fo fubdued by grief that a thread may lead him. How is it that grief in Leonato and lady Conftance, produces effects directly oppofite, and yet both agreeable to nature. Sorrow foftens the mind while it is yet warmed by hope, but hardens it when it is congealed by defpair. Diftrefs, while there remains any profpect of relief, is weak and flexible, but when no fuccour remains, is fearless and ftubborn; angry alike at thofe that injure, and at thofe that do not help; carelefs to pleafe where

SCENE

nothing can be gained, and fearlefs to offend when there is nothing further to be dreaded. Such was this writer's knowledge of the paffions.

bid Kings come bow

to it.] I must here account for the Liberty I have taken to make a Change in the Divifion of the 2d and 3d A&ts. In the old Editions, the 2d A was made to end here; though 'tis evident, Lady Conftance here, in her Defpair, feats herself on the Floor: and the must be fuppofed, as I formerly obferved, immediately to rife again, only to go off and end the Aa decently; or that flat Scene muft fhut her in from the Sight of the Audience, an Abfurdity I cannot with to accufe Shakespeare of. Mr. Gildon and fome other Criticks fancied, that a confiderable Part of the 2d A was loft; and that the

Chafm

Enter King John, King Philip, Lewis, Blanch, Elinor, Faulconbridge, and Auftria.

K. Philip. 'Tis true, fair daughter; and this bleffed

Ever in France fhall be kept feftival:
To folemnize this day, the glorious fun 7
Stays in his courfe, and plays the alchymift;
Turning with fplendor of his precious eye

Chaẩm began here. I had joined
in this Sufpicion of a Scene or
two being loft; and unwittingly
drew Mr. Pope into this Error.
"It fecms to be fo, fays he, and
"it were to be wifh'd the Re-
"florer (meaning Me,) could fup-

The meagre cloddy earth to glitt'ring gold.
The yearly courfe, that brings this day about,
Shall never fee it, but a holy-day.

Conft. A wicked day, and not an holy-day.

[Rifing. What hath this day deferv'd? what hath it done, That it in golden letter fhould be fet Among the high tides in the kalendar? Nay, rather turn this day out of the week, This day of fhame, oppreflion, perjury: Or, if it must ftand ftill, let wives with child Pray, that their burthens may not fall this day, Left that their hopes prodigiously be croft: But on this day, let feamen fear no wreck; No bargains break, that are not this day made; This day, all things begun come to ill end, Yea, faith itfelf to hollow falfhood change!

K. Philip. By heaven, lady you fhall have no caufe To curfe the fair proceedings of this day: Have I not pawn'd to you my majefty?

Conft. You have beguil'd me with a counterfeit
Refembling Majefty, which, touch'd and try'd,
Proves valueless: you are forfworn, forsworn,
You came in arms to fpill my enemies blood,
But now in arms, you ftrengthen it with yours.
The grappling vigour, and rough frown of war,
Is cold in amity and painted peace,

And our oppreffion hath made up this league:
Arm, arm, ye heav'ns, against thefe perjur'd Kings;
A widow cries, be hufband to me, heav'n!
Let not the hours of this ungodly day

Wear out the day in peace; but ere fun-fet,

-] That

& But on this day, is, except on this day. 9 You came in arms to spill my enemies' blood, But now in arms, you strengthen

it with yours.] I am afraid here is a clinch intended; You came in war to deftroy my enemies, but now you frengthen them in embraces.

Set