That for thipe own gain should'st defend mine ho

pour? What means this scorn, thou most untoward knave? Bast. Knight, knight, good mother, Basilisco.

like: 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; Some proper man, I hope ; Who was it, mother? Lady F. Hast thou denied thyself a Faulcon."

bridge ? Bast. As faithfully as I deny the devil. Lady F. King Richard Caur-de-lion was thy fa.

ther;

By long and vehement suit I was seduc'd
To make room for him in my husband's hed :-
Heaven lay vot my transgression to my charge!
Thou art the issue of my dear offence,
Which was so strongly urg'd, past my defence.

Bast. Now, by this light, were I to get again,
Madam, I would not wish a better father.
Some sins do bear their privilege on earth,
And so doth yours; your fault was not your folly:
Needs must you lay your heart at his dispose,
Subjécted 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 hand.
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! Who lives and dares but say, thou didst not well When I was got, I'll send his soul to hell.

A character in an old drama, called Soliman and Perseda.

Come, lady, I will show thee to my kin;

And they shall say, when Richard me begot, If thou hadst said him nay, it had been sia : Who says it was, he lies; I say, 'twas not.

[Exeunt.

ACT II.

SCENE I. France. Before the walls of Angiers.

Enter, on one side, the Archduke of Austria, and forces ; on the other, Philip, King of France, and forces ; Lewis, Constance, Arthur, and attendants.

Lew. Before Angiers well met, brave Austria.Arthur, that great fore-runner 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: And, for amends to his posterity, At our importance, hither is he come, To spread his colours, boy, in thy behalf; And to rebuke the usurpation Of thy uunatural uncle, Euglish John : Embrace him, love him, give him welcome hither.

Arth. God shall forgive you Cœur-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 beart full of unstained love: Welcome before the gates of Angiers, duke.

Lew. A noble boy! Who would not do thee right? Aust. Upon thy cheek lay I this zealous kiss,

• Importunity.

As seal to this indenture of my love;
That to my home I will no more return,
Till Angiers, and the right thou hast in France,
Together with that pale, that white fac'd shore,
Whose foot sparas back the ocean's roaring tides,
And coops from other lauds her islanders,
Even till that England, hedg'd in with the main,
That water-walled bulwark, still secure
And confident from foreign purposes,
Even till that utmost corner of the west
Salute thee for her king: till then, fair boy,
Will I not think of bome, but follow arms.
Const. 0, lake bis mother's thanks, a widow's

tbanks,
Till your strong band shall help to give him strength,
To make a more requital to your love.
Aust. The peace of heaven is theirs, that lift their

swords In spch a just and charitable war. K. Phi. Well then, to work; our cannon shall be

bent
Against the brows of this resisting town.
Call for our chiefest men of discipline,
To call the plots of best advantages:
We'll lay before this town our royal bones,
Wade to the market-place in Frenchmen's blood,
But we will make it subject to this boy.

Const. Stay for an answer to your embassy,
Lest unadvis'd you stain your swords with blood :
My lord Chatillon may from England bring
That right in peace, which here we urge in war;
And then we shall repent each drop of blood,
That hot rasb haste so indirectly shed.

Enter Chatillon. K. Phi. A wonder, lady!--lo, upon thy wish, Our messenger Chatillon is arriv'd.

• Best stations to over-awe the town.

What England says, say briefy, gentle lord,
We coldly pause for thee; Chatillon, speak.

Chat. Then turn your forces from this paltry siege,
And stir them up against a mightier task.
Englaod, impatient of your just demands,
Hath put himself in arms; the adverse winds,
Whose leisure I have staid, 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 Atét, stirring him to blood and strife;
With her her niece, the lady Blanch of Spain;
With them a bastard of the king deceas'd:
And all the unsettled humours of the land,
Kash, inconsiderate, fiery voluntaries,
With ladies' faces, and fierce dragons' spleens,
Have sold their fortunes at their native homes,
Bearing their birth-rights 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,
Did never float upon the swelling tide,
To do offence and scath † in Christendom.
The interruption of their churlish drums

[Drums beat.
Cuts off more circumstance: they are at hand,
To parley, or to fight; therefore, prepare.
K. Phi. How much unlook'd for is this expedi.

tion!
Aust. By how much unexpected, by so much
We must awake endeavour for defence;
For courage mounteth with occasion:
Let them be welcome then, we are prepar'd.

• Immediate, expeditious.
+ The goddess of revenge.

1 Mischief.

Enter King John, Elinor, Blanch, the Bastard,

Pembroke, and forces. K. John. Peace be to France'; if France in peace

permit Our just and ligeal entrance to our own! If not; bleed France, and peace ascend to heaven! Wbiles we, God's wrathful agent, do correct Their proud contempt that beat his peace to heaven.

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 sequencet of posterity, Outfaced infant state, and done a rape U pop 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 into as huge a volume. That Geffrey was thy elder brother bora, And this his son; England was Geffrey's right, And this is Geffrey's : In the pame of God, How comes it then, that thou art call'd a king, When living blood doth in these temples beat, Which owe 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 6 judge, that stirs

good thoughts In any breast of strong authority,

• Undermined.

A short writing.

+ Succession.
ý Celestial.