What fince thou fwor'ft, is fworn against thyself;
And may not be performed by thyfelf;
For that, which thou haft fworn to do amifs,
Is not amifs, when it is truly done:

And being not done, where doing tends to ill,
The truth is then mol done, not doing it.
The better act of purposes miftook

Is to mistake again; tho' indirect,
Yet indirection thereby grows direct,

And falihood falfhood cures; as fire cools fire,
Within the fcorched veins of one new-burn'd.
It is religion that doth make vows kept,
But thou haft fworn against religion:

By what thou fwear'ft, against the thing thou fwear'ft:
And mak'ft an oath the furety for thy, truth,
Against an oath the truth thou art unfure
To fwear, fwear only not to be forsworn;
Elfe what a mockery fhould it be to swear?
But thou dost swear, only to be forsworn,
And moft forfworn, to keep what thou doft fwear.
Therefore thy latter vows, against thy firft,
Is in thyself rebellion to thyself.

And better conqueft never canft thou make,
Than arm thy conftant and thy nobler parts
Against thefe giddy, loose fuggeftions;
Upon which better part, our pray'rs come in,
If thou vouchsafe them. But if not, then know,
The peril of our curfes light on thee

So heavy, as thou shalt not shake them off;
But, in defpair, die under their black weight.
Auft. Rebellion, flat rebellion..

Faulc. Will't not be?

Will not a calve's-skin ftop that mouth of thine?
Lewis. Father, to arms.

Blanch. Upon thy wedding day?

Against the blood that thou haft married?

What, fhall our feaft be kept with flaughter'd men?
Shall braying trumpets, and loud churlish drums,
Clamours of hell, be measures to our pomp?
O husband, hear me; (ah! alack, how new

Is husband in my mouth ?) ev'n for that name,

Which till this time my tongue did ne'er pronounce,
Upon my knee I beg, go not to arms

Against mine uncle.

Conft. O, upon my knee,

Made hard with kneeling, I do pray to thee,
Thou virtuous Dauphin, alter not the doom
Forethought by heav'n.

Blanch. Now fhall I fee thy love; what motive may Be ftronger with thee than the name of wife?

Conft. That which upholdeth him, that thee upholds, His honour. Oh, thine honour, Lewis, thine honour ILewis. I mule, your Majefty doth feem fo cold, When fuch profound refpects do pull you on?

Pand. I will denounce a curfe upon his head. K. Philip. Thou shalt not need. England, I'll fall from thee.

Conft. O fair return of banish'd Majefty!

Eli. O foul revolt of French inconftancy!

K. John. France, thou fhalt rue this hour within this hour.

Faulc. Old time the clock-fetter, that bald fexton

time,

Is it, as he will? well then, France fhall rue.

Blanch. The fun's o'ercaft with blood: fair day, adieu! Which is the fide that I must go withal?

I am with both, each army hath a hand,
And in their rage, I having hold of both,.
They whirl afunder, and difmember me.
Husband, I cannot pray that thou may'ft win:
Uncle, I needs muft pray that thou may't lose:
Father, I may not wish the fortune thine:
Grandam, I will not wish thy wishes thrive:
Whoever wins, on that fide shall I lose :
Affured lofs, before the match be play'd.

Lewis. Lady, with me, with me thy fortune lies.
Blanch. There where my fortune lives, there my life

dies.

K. John. Coufin, go. draw our puiffance together.

[Exit Faulconbridge.

France,

France, I am burn'd up with inflaming wrath,
A rage, whofe heat hath this condition

That nothing can allay, nothing but blood,
The blood, and dearest-valu'd blood of France.

K. Philip. Thy rage fhall burn thee up, and thou

fhalt turn

To afhes, ere our blood fhall quench that fire:

Look to thyfelf, thou art in jeopardy.

K. John. No more, than he that threats. To arms, let's hie.

[Exeunt. SCENE changes to a Field of Battle. Alarms, Excurfions: Enter Faulconbridge, with Austria's

Faulc.

Head.

TOW, by my life, this day grows wond'roushot; (12)

Now

Some fiery devil hovers in the sky,

And pours down mifchief. Auftria's head lie there.
Thus hath King Richard's fon perform'd' his vow,
And offer'd Auftria's blood for facrifice

Unto his father's ever-living foul.

Enter King John, Arthur, and Hubert.

K. John. There, Hubert, keep this boy. Richard, make up:

My mother is affailed in our tent,

And ta'en, I fear.

Faulc. My lord, I refcu'd her:
Her highnefs is in fafety, fear you not..

(12)

-it grows wondrous bot;

Some airy Devil bovers in the Sky.] I have, by Mr. Warburton's Direction, ventur'd to substitute, fiery Devil. It is a very unconclufive Inference, fure, that, because it grew wond'rous hot, foms airy Devil hover'd in the Sky. It is a fort of Reasoning, that carries an Air of Ridicule; unless we could determine, that the Poet meant no more by the Epithet than to exprefs the Sacred Text, in which the. Devil is stiled the Prince of the Air.

But on, my Liege; for very little pains
Will bring this labour to an happy end.

[Exeunt.

Alarms, Excurfions, Retreat. Re-enter King John, Elinor, Arthur, Faulconbridge, Hubert, and Lords.

K. John. So fhall it be; your Grace fhall ftay behind So ftrongly guarded: Coufin, look not fad, [To Arthur. Thy grandam loves thee, and thy uncle will

As dear be to thee, as thy father was.

Arth. O, this will make my mother die with grief.
K. John. Coufin, away for England; hafte before,

(To Faulc
And, ere our coming, fee thou shake the bags
Of hoarding Abbots; their imprifon'd angels
Set thou at liberty: the fat ribs of peace (13)
Muft by the hungry war be fed upon.

Ufe our commiffion in its utmost force.

Faul. Bell, book, and candle fhall not drive me back, When gold and filver beck me to come on.

I leave your highness: grandam, I will pray
(If ever I remember to be holy)

For your fair fafety; fo I kifs your hand.
Eli. Farewel, my gentle cousin.
K. John. Coz, farewel.

Eli. Come hither, little kinfman;

[Exit Faule. -hark, a word. [Taking him to one fide of the flage.

K. John. [to Hubert on the other fide.]
Come hither, Hubert. O my gentle Hubert,
We owe thee much; within this wall of flesh
There is a foul counts thee her creditor,
And with advantage means to pay thy love :

(13)

-the fat Ribs of Peace

Muft by the bungry now be fed upon.] This Word now feems a very idle Term here, and conveys no fatisfactory Idea. An Antithefis, and Opposition of Terms, so perpetual with oug Author, requires ;

Muft by the bungry War be fed upon.

War demanding a large Expence, is very poetically faid to be hungry, and to prey on the Wealth and Fat of Peace.

Mr. Warburton.

And,

And, my good friend, thy voluntary oath
Lives in this bofom, dearly cherished.
Give me thy hand, I had a thing to fay
But I will fit it with fome better time.
By heaven, Hubert, I'm almoft afham'd
To fay what good respect I have of thee.
Hub. I am much bounden to your Majefty.

K. John. Good friend, thou haft no cause to say só yet,

But thou fhalt have-and creep time ne'er fo flow,
Yet it shall come for me to do thee good.

I had a thing to fay-but, let it go:
The fun is in the heav'n, and the proud day,
Attended with the pleasures of the world,
Is all too wanton, and too full of gawds,
To give me audience. If the midnight bell (14)
Did with his iron tongue and brazen mouth
Sound one unto the drowfie race of night;
If this fame were a church-yard where we ftand,
And thou poffeffed with a thoufand wrongs.
Or if that furly spirit Melancholy

Had bak'd thy blood and made it heavy-thick,
Which elfe runs tickling up and down the veins,
Making that idiot laughter keep mens' eyes,
And ftrain their cheeks to idle merriment;
(A paffion hateful to my purpofes)

Or if that thou could'ft fee me without eyes,
Hear me without thine ears, and make reply
Without a tongue, ufing conceit alone,
Without eyes, ears, and harmful found of words;

(14)

-If the midnight Bell

Did with bis iron Tongue, and brazen Mouth,

Sound on into the drowy race of Night;] I do not think, that found on gives here that Idea of Solemnity and Horror, which, 'tis plain, our Poet intended to imprefs by this fine Defcription; and which my Emendation conveys. i. e. If it were the ftill part of the Night, or One of the Clock in the Morning, when the Sound of the Bell ftrikes upon the Ear with most Awe and Terror. And it is very usual with our Shakepears in other. Paffages to exprefs the Horror of a Midnight Bell,

Then,