Lord of thy presence, and no land beside ?

Phil. Madam, and if my brother had my shape, And I had his, Sir Robert his, like him; And if my legs were two such riding rods, My arms such eel-skins stuft; my face fo thin, (3) That in mine ear I durft not stick a rose, Left men should say, “ look, where three farthings

goes!

And to his shape were heir to all this land ;
'Would, I might never ftir from off this place,
I'd give it ev'ry foot to have this face:
I would not be Sir Nobbe 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.
Phil. Brother, take you my land, I'll take my

chance ;
Your face hath got five hundred pound a year,
Yet sell your face for hve pence, and 'tis dear.
Madam, I'll follow you unto the death.

Eli. Nay, I would have you go before me thither.
Phil. Our country manners give our betters way,
K. John. What is thy name?
Phil

. Philip, my Liege, fo is my name begun ; Philip, good old Sir Robert's wife's eldest son.

my Face so thin,
That in mine Ear 1 durst not fick a Rose,

Left Men should say, Look, where three-farthings goes:] In this very obscure Passage our Poet is anticipating the Date of another Coin; humouroully to rally a thin Face, eclipsed, as it were, by a full-blown Rose. We must observe, to explain this Allusion, that Queen Elizabeth was the firft, and indeed the only, Prince who coin'd in England three-half-pence, and three-farthing Pieces. She at one and the same time, coin'd Shillings, Six-pences, Groats, Three-pences, Two-pences, Threehalf-pence, Pence, Three-farthings, and Half-pence: And these Pieces all had her Head, and were alternately with the Role behind, and without the Rofe. The Shilling, Groat, Two-pence, Penny, and Half-penny had it not : The other intermediate Coins, viz. the Six-pence, Three-peace, Three-half-pence, and Three-farthings had the Rose,

Kyobr.

K. Jobri From henceforth bear his name, whose form

thou bear'ft: Kneel thou down Philip, but rise up more great ; Arife Sir Richard, and Plantagenet.

Phil. Brother by th' mother's side, give me your

hand;

fire ;

My father gave me honour, yours gave land.
Now blessed be the hour, by night or day,
When I was got, Sir Robert was away!

Eli. The very spirit of Plantagenet !
I am thy grandam; Richard, call me fo.
Phil. Madam, by chance, but not by truth ; what

though? Something about, a little from the right,

In at the window, or else o'er the hatch: Who dares not stir by day, must walk by night,

And have is have, however men do catch ; Near or far off, well won is still well fhot; And I am I, howe'er I was begot.

K. John. Go, Faulconbridge, now hast thou thy deA 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.

Phil. Brother, adieu ; good fortune come to thee, For thou was got i'th' way of honesty.

[Exeunt all but Philip, A foot of honour better than I was, But many a many foot of land the worse ! Well, now can I make any Joan a lady. Good den, Sir Richard, Godamercy, fellow; And if his name be George, I'll call him Peter ; For new-made honour doth forget mens' names : 'Tis too respective and unsociable For your converfing. Now your traveller, He and his tooth pick at my worship’s mefs ; And when my knightly stomach is suffic’d, Why then I suck my teeth, and catechise My picqued man of countries; My dear Sir, (Thus leaning on mine elbow, I begin)

I shall beseech you, that is question now;
And then comes answer like an ABC-book:
O Sir, says answer, at your best command,
At your employment, at your service, Sir :-
No, Sir, says question, I, sweet Sir, at yours,
And so e'er answer knows what question would,
Saving in dialogue of compliment;
And talking of the Alps and Apennines,
The Pyrenean and the river Po;
It draws towards supper in conclusion, so.
But this is worshipful society,
And fits the mounting spirit like myself :
For he is but a bastard to the time,
That doth not smack of observation;
(And so am I, whether I smack or no :)
And not alone in habit and device,
Exterior form, outward accoutrement ;
But from the inward motion to deliver
Sweet, sweet, sweet poison for the age's tooth;
Which tho' I will not practise to deceive,
Yet, to avoid deceit, I mean to learn ;
For it thall strew the footsteps of my rifing.
But who comes in such hafte, in riding robes ?
What woman-post is this ? hath she no husband,
That will take pains to blow a horn before her?
O me! it is my mother ; now, good lady,
What brings you here to court to haftily?

Enter Lady Faulconbridge, and James Gurney. Lady. Where is that slave, thy brother ? where is he, That holds in chase mine honour up and down?

Phil, My brother Robert, öld Sir Robert's son,
Colbrand the giant, that same mighty man,
Is it Sir Robert's son, that you seek fo?

Lady. Sir Robert's fon? ay, thou unrev'rend boy, Sir Robert's fon: why scorn'ít thou at Sir Robert He is Sir Roberi's son ; and so art thou.

Phil. James Gurney, wilt thou give us leave a while ? Gur. Good leave, good Philip.

Phil. Philip! -fpare me, James; (4) There's toys abroad; anon I'll tell thee more.

[Exit James
Madam, I was not old Sir Robert's fon,
Sir Robert might have eat his part in me
Upon Good-Friday, and ne'er broke his fast :
Sir Robert could do well; marry, confess!
Could he get me ? Sir Robert could not do it ;
We knew his handy-work; therefore, good mother,

To whom am I beholden for these limbs?
Sir Robert never holpe to make this leg.

Lady. Haft thou conspir'd with thy brother too,
That, for thine own gain, should'ft defend mine honour?
What means this scorn, thou moft untoward knave ?

Phil. Knight, Knight, good mother Baplisco

like. (5)

What!

Philip, fparrow, James.] Thus the old Copies ; : and Mr. Pope has attempted to gloss this Reading by telling us, that Philip is the common Name for a tame Sparrow. So that then Faulconbridge would say, Call me Philip: You may as well call me Sparrow. -The Allusion is very mean and trifling: and every Body, I believe, will chufe to embrace Mr. Warburton's Emendation, which I have inserted into the Text. Spare me, and Forbear me, it may be observed, are our Author's acecustom'd Phrases; either when any one wants another to leave him, or would be rid of a displeasing Subje&t.

(s) Knight, Knight, -good Mother, Bafilisco like.] Tíus must chis Passage be pointed; and, to come at the Hu:nour of it, I must clear up an old circumstance of stage-History Faulconbridge's Words here carry a conceal'd Piece of Satire on a ftupid Drama of that Age, priored in 1999, and call'd Soliman' and Perseda. In this Piece there is the Character of a bragging cowardly' Knight, call's Basilisco. His Pretention to Valour is fo blown and seen thro', that Piston, a Buffoon-servant in the Play, jumps upon his Back, and will not disengage him, till he makes Bafilisco swear upon his dudgeon Dagger to the Contents, and in the Terms, he dictates to him : as, for instance,

Baf. O, I swear, I swear.
Pift. By the contents of this Bladi,
Baf, By the Contents of this Blade,

What! I am dub'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 :
'I hen, good my mother, let me know my father;
Some proper man, I hope; who was it, mother?

Lady. Hast thou deny'd thy self a Faulconbridge 3
Pil. As faithfully, as I deny the devil.

Lady. King Richard Caur-de-lion was thy father ;
By long, and vehement, suit I was seduc'd
To make room for him in my husband's bed.
Heav'n lay not my tran.gression to my charge!
Thou art the issue of my dear offence,
Which was so strongly urg'd past my defence.

Phil. Now, by this light, were I to get again,
Madam, I would not with a better father.
Some fins 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,
Subjected tribute to commanding love;
Against whose fury, and unmatched force,
The awless lion could not

wage
Nor keep his princely heart from Richard's hands.
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 didft not well When I was got, I'll send his soul to hell.

the fight;

Pift. 1, the aforesaid Bafilisco,
Bar. 1, the aforesaid Bafilifco,

Knight, good fellow, knight, knight,
Pift. Knave, good fellow, knave, knave,

So that'tis clear, our Poet is (neering at this Play; and makes Philip, when his Mother calls him Knave, throw off that Reproach by humouroully laying claim to his new Dignity of Knighthood; as Bafilifco arrogantly inlifts on his Title of Knight in the Passage above quoted. The old Play is an execrable. bad one; and, I suppose, was sufficieatly exploded in the Representation: which might make this Circumftance to well known, as to become the Butt for a Stage-Sarcasm.

Come,