Lest men should say, "Look, where three-farthings goes!"
And, to his shape, 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 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.

Faul. Brother, take you my land, I'll take my chance:
Your face hath got five hundred pounds 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.
Faul. Our country manners give our betters way.
K. John. What is thy name?

Faul. 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.

Faul. Brother, by the mother's side, give me your hand: My father gave me honour, your's gave land.—

Eli. The very spirit of Plantagenet!

I am thy grandam, Richard; call me so.

Faul. Madam, by chance, but not by truth.

K. John. Go, Faulconbridge: now hast thou thy 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.
Faul. Bother, adieu: good fortune come to thee!

[Exeunt all except FAULCONBRIDGE.

A foot of honor better than I was;

But many a foot of land the worse.

Well, now can I make any Joan a lady :

"Good den, Sir Richard:"- "God-a-mercy, fellow; ". And if his name be George, I'll call him Peter;

For new-made honor doth forget men's names,→ 'Tis too respective, and too sociable,

For

your conversion.

Yet, to avoid deceit, I mean to learn;

For it shall strew the footsteps of my rising.

[Exit.

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 colors, boy, in thy behalf;
And to rebuke the usurpation

Of thy unnatural uncle, English John:

Embrace him, love him, give him welcome hither.

Arth. Heaven 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 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,
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 spurns back the ocean's roaring tides,
And coops from other lands 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 home, but follow arms.

Const. O, take his mother's thanks, a widow's thanks,
Till your strong hand 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 such 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 cull 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 rash haste so indirectly shed.

Enter CHATILLON.

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

What England says, say briefly, 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.

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,
With her her niece, the lady Blanch of Spain;
And all th' unsettled humors of the land:
Rash, inconsiderate, fiery voluntaries,
With ladies' faces, and fierce dragons' spleens,-
Have sold their fortunes at their native homes,
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,
Did never float upon the swelling tide,

To do offence and scath in Christendom. [Drums heard within. The interruption of their churlish drums

Cuts off more circumstance: they are at hand,

To parley, or to fight; therefore, prepare.

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

Aust. By how much unexpected, by so much

We must awake endeavor for defence;

For courage mounteth with occasion:

Let them be welcome then; we are prepar'd.

Enter KING JOHN, ELINOR, BLANCH, FAULCONBRIDGE, Lords, and

forces.

K. John. Peace be to France, if France in peace permit

Our just and lineal entrance to our own!
If not, bleed France, and peace ascend to heaven!
K. Phi. Peace be to England, if that war return
From France to England, there to live in peace!
Look here upon thy brother Geffrey's face ;-

[Leading ARTHUR to JOHN.
These eyes, these brows, were moulded out of his :
This little abstract doth contain that large,
Which died in Geffrey :

That Geffrey was thy elder brother born,
And this his son; England was Geffrey's right,
And this is Geffrey's: in the name of heaven,
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 commission, 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 :
Under whose warrant I impeach thy wrong;
And by whose help I mean to chastise it.

K. John. Alack, thou dost usurp authority.
K. Phi. Excuse,-it is to beat usurping down.
Eli. Who is it thou dost call usurper, France?
Const. Let me make answer;-thy usurping son.
Aust. Peace!

Faul.

Aust.

Hear the crier.

with you,

What art thou?
Faul. One that will play the mischief, sir,
An 'a may catch your hide and you alone:
You are the hare of whom the proverb goes,
Whose valor plucks dead lions by the beard:
I'll smoke your skin-coat, an I catch you right;
Sirrah, look to't; i' faith, I will, i' faith.

Blanch. O, well did he become that lion's robe,
That did disrobe the lion of that robe!

Faul. It lies as sightly on the back of him,

As great Alcides' shoes upon an ass:

But, ass, I'll take that burden from your back,

Or lay on that shall make your shoulders crack.

Aust. What cracker is this same, that deafs our ears

With this abundance of superfluous breath?

K. Phi. Lewis, determine what we shall do straight. Lew. King John, this is the very sum of all,England and Ireland, Anjou, Touraine, Maine,

In right of Arthur do I claim of thee:

Wilt thou resign them, and lay down thy arms?

K. John. My life as soon:-I do defy thee, France.-
Arthur of Bretagne, yield thee to my hand;
And, out of my dear love, I'll give thee more

Than e'er the coward hand of France can win:
Submit thee, boy.

Eli.

Come to thy grandam, child. Const. Do, child, go to it' grandam, child: Give grandam kingdom, and it' grandam will Give it a plum, a cherry, and a fig:

There's a good grandam.

Arth.
Good my mother, peace!
I would that I were low laid in my grave:
I am not worth this coil that's made for me.

Eli. His mother shames him so, poor boy, he weeps. Const. Now shame upon you, whe'r she does, or no! His grandam's wrongs, and not his mother's shames, Draw those heaven-moving pearls from his poor eyes, Which heaven shall take in nature of a fee;

Ay, with these crystal beads heaven shall be brib'd
To do him justice, and revenge on you.

Eli. Thou monstrous slanderer of heaven and earth! Const. Thou monstrous injurer of heaven and earth! Call not me slanderer; thou and thine usurp

The dominions, royalties, and rights,

Of this oppressed boy.

Eli.

I can produce

A will, that bars the title of thy son.

Const. Ay, who doubts that? a will! a wicked will; A woman's will; a canker'd grandam's will!

K. Phi. Peace, lady! pause, or be more temperate: Some trumpet summon hither to the walls

These men of Angiers: let us hear them speak,
Whose title they admit, Arthur's or John's.

Trumpet sounds. Enter Citizens upon the walls. 1 Cit. Who is it that hath warn'd us to the walls? K. Phi. 'Tis France for England.

K. John.

England for itself:You men of Angiers, and my loving subjects,-

K. Phi. You loving men of Angiers, Arthur's subjects,

Our trumpet call'd you to this gentle parle.

K. John. For our advantage; therefore hear us first. These flags of France that are advanc'd here Before the eye and prospect of your town, Have hither march'd to your endamagement: All preparation for a bloody siege,