Lord of thy prefence, and no land befide? Phil. Madam, and if my brother had my shape, Left men should fay, "look, where three farthings goes! And to his fhape were heir to all this land; I would not be Sir Nobbe in any cafe. Eli. I like thee well; wilt thou forfake thy fortune, Bequeath thy land to him, and follow me ? I am a foldier, and now bound to France. Phil. Brother, take you my land, I'll take my chance; Eli. Nay, I would have you go before me thither. Phil. Philip, my Liege, fo is my name begun; (3) Face fo thin, That in mine Ear 1 durft not stick a Rofe, Left Men fhould fay, Look, where three-farthings goes!") In this very obfcure Paffage our Poet is anticipating the Date of another Coin; humourously to rally a thin Face, eclipsed, as it were, by a full-blown Rose. We must observe, to explain this Allufion, 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 fame 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 Rose 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-pence, Three-half-pence, and Three-farthings had the Rose. K. John. K. John From henceforth bear his name, whose form Kneel thou down Philip, but rife up more great; Phil. Brother by th' mother's fide, give me your My father gave me honour, yours gave land. Phil. Madam, by chance, but not by truth; what Something about, a little from the right, In at the window, or else o'er the hatch: K. John. Go, Faulconbridge, now haft thou thy de- A landless Knight makes thee a landed 'Squire : Come, Madam; and come, Richard; we muft fpeed 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, For your converfing. Now your traveller, I fhall befeech And talking of the Alps and Apennines, It draws towards fupper in conclusion, so. And fits the mounting spirit like myself: Enter Lady Faulconbridge, and James Gurney. Lady. Sir Robert's fon? ay, thou unrev'rend boy, Sir Robert's fon: why fcorn't thou at Sir Robert ? He is Sir Robert's fon; and fo 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, Lady. Haft thou confpir'd with thy brother too, like. (5) Bafilifco What!' (4) Philip, fparrow, James.] Thus the old Copies; and Mr. Pope has attempted to glofs this Reading by telling us, that Philip is the common Name for a tame Sparrow. So that then Faulconbridge would fay, Call me Philip? You may as well call me Sparrow.-The Allufion is very mean and trifling: and every Body, I believe, will chufe to embrace Mr. Warbur ton's Emendation, which I have inferted into the Text. Spare me, and Forbear me, it may be observed, are our Author's ac-cuftom'd Phrases; either when any one wants another to leave him, or would be rid of a displeasing Subject: (s) Knight, Knight, -good Mother, Bafilifco like.] Thus muft this Paffage be pointed; and, to come at the Hu nour of it, I must clear up an old Circumstance of stage-Hiftory. Faulconbridge's Words here carry a conceal'd Piece of Satire on a ftupid Drama of that Age, printed in 1599, and call'd Soliman and Perfeda. In this Piece there is the Character of a bragging cowardly Knight, call'd Bafilifco. His Pretenfion to Valour is fo blown and feen thro', that Pifton, a Buffoon-fervant in the Play, jumps upon his Back, and will not difengage him, till he makes Bafilifco fwear upon his dudgeon Dagger to the Contents, and in the Terms, he dictates to him: as, for Inftance, Baf. 0, I fwear, I swear. Pift. By the Contents of this Blade, What! I am dub'd; I have it on my shoulder: know my father; Lady. King Richard Caur-de-lion was thy father; Which was fo ftrongly urg'd past my defence. Pift. 1, the aforesaid Bafilifco, Knight, good fellow, knight, knight," Pift. Knave, good fellow, knave, knave, So that'tis clear, our Poet is fneering at this Play; and makes Philip, when his Mother calls him Knave, throw off that Reproach by humourously laying claim to his new Dignity of Knighthood; as Bafilifco arrogantly insists on his Title of Knight in the Paffage above quoted. The old Play is an execrable. bad one; and, I fuppofe, was fufficiently exploded in the Reprefentation: which might make this Circumftance fo well known, as to become the Butt for a Stage-Sarcasm. Come, |