K.Phil. England, thou hast not fav’d onc drop of blood, bear, Faul. Ha, majesty! how high thy glory towers, king? Cit. 'The king of England, when we know the king: K. Phil. Know him in us, that here hold up his right. K. Foha. In us, that are our own great deputy', And bear poffefsion of our person here ; 1 -mouthing the faills of men,] The old copy reads--moufinga STEEVENS. Cry havock, kings ! ] That is, command Naughter to pron cerd; fo, in another place : “ He with Até by his tide, Cries, han vork!” JOHNSON. Pou equal potents, -] Potents for potentates. So, in Ane Nerie excellent and deletabill Treatise intitulit PH11OTUS, &c. 1603: “ Ane of the potentes of the town.” STEEVENS." Lord Lord of our presence, Angiers, and of you. Cit. ? A greater power, than ye, denies all this; And, 'till it be undoubted, we do lock Our former fcruple in our strong-barr'd gates : Kings of our fears ; until our fears, resolv'd, Be by some certain king purg'd and depos’d. Faul. By heaven, thele scroyles of Angiers + flout you, kings; And stand securely on their battlements, As in a theatre, whence they gape and point At your industrious scenes and acts of death. Your royal presences be rul'd by me; 3 In the old copy : A greater pow'r, than we, denies all this ; Kings of our fears ; -] We should read, than ye. What power was this? their fears. It is plain therefore we should read : Kings are our fears, -i. e. our fears are the kings which at present rule us. WARBURTON. Dr. Warburton faw what was requisite to make this passage {ense; and Dr. Johnson, rather too haitily, I think, has received his emendation into the text. He reads : Kings are our fears, which he explains to mean, our fears are the kings which at present rule us." As the same sense may be obtained by a much slighter alteration, I am more inclined to read : King'd of our fears,King'd is used as a participle paffive by Shakespeare more than once, I believe. I remember one instance in Henry the Fifth, act 11. sc. v. The Dauphin says of England : the is so idly king'a. It is scarce necessary to add, that, of, here (as in numberless other places) has the signification of, by. TYRWHITT, A greater porver than we, may mean the Lord of hosts, who has not yet decided the superiority of either army; and 'till it be undoubted, the people of Angiers will not open their gates. Secure and confident as lions, they are not at all afraid, but are kings, i. e. masters and commanders, of their fears, until their fears or doubts about the rightful king of England, are removed. Tollet. + — these scroyles of Angiers-) Escroyelles, Fr. i. e. scabby, fcrophulous fellows. Ben Jonson uses the word in Every Man in his Humour : - hang them firoyles!" STEEVENS. Do like the mutines of Jerusalem, heads, Fauli. An if thou hast the mettle of a king,– Being wrong'd, as we are, by this peevish town, Turn thou the mouth of thy artillery, As we will ours, against these saucy walls: And when that we have dash'd them to the ground, Why, then defy each other; and, pell-inell, Make work upon ourselves, for heaven, or hell. K. Phil. Let it be so: Say, where will you assault? K. John. We from the west will send destruction Into this city's bofom. s Be friends a while, &c.] This advice is given by the Bastard in the old copy of the play, though comprized in fewer and less spirited lines." STEEVENS. Auto Auft. I from the north. K. Phil. Our thunder from the south. Faulo. O prudent discipline! From north to south Austria and France shoot in each other's mouth : [ Afide. I'll stir them to it: Come, away, away! Cit. Hear us, great kings : vouchsafe a while to stay, And I shall shew you peace, and fair-fac'd league ; Win you this city without stroke, or wound; Rescue those breathing lives to die in beds, That here come facrifices for the field : Persever not, but hear me, mighty kings. K. John. Speak on, with favour; we are bent to hear. Cit. That daughter there of Spain, the lady Blanch“, Is near to England ; Look upon the years Of Lewis the Dauphin, and that lovely maid : If lufty love should go in quest of beauty, Where should he find it fairer than in Blanch? If ? zealous love should go in search of virtue, Where should he find it purer than in Blanch? If love ambitious fought a match of birth, Whose veins bound richer blood than lady Blanch? Such as she is, in beauty, virtue, birth, Is the young Dauphin every way complete : If not complete, oh say, he is not the; And she again wants nothing, to name want, If want it be not, that she is not he: 6- the lady Blanch,] The lady Blanch was daughter to Alphonso the Ninth, king of Castile, and was niece to king John by his fifter Elianor. STEEVENS. ? If zealous love &c.] Zealous seems here to fignify pious, or influenced by motives of religion. Johnson. • If not complete of, say, &c.] Sir T, Hanmer reads, O! say. JOHNSON He . He is the half part of a blessed man', To our fast-closed gates; for, at this match', Faul. Here's a stay, Out 9 He is the half part of a blessed man, Left to be finished li fuch as fhe:] Dr. Thirlby prescrib'd that reading, which I have here restored to the text. THEOEAID). at this match, With swifter spłcen &c.] Our author uses spleen for any violent hurry, or tumultuous speed. So, in the Midsummer Night's Dream he applies spleen to the lightning. I am loath to think that Shakespeare meant to play with the double of match for nuptial, and the match of a gun. Johnson. 2 Here's a stay, That Shakes the rotten carcass of old death Out of his rags!) I cannot but think that every reader wishes for some other word in the place of fay, which though it may signify an hindrance, or man that hinders, is yet very improper to introduce the next liné. I read : Here's a flaw, That Makes the rot!en carcass of old death. well 1 |