Which Heaven shall take in nature of a fee;
Ay, with these crystal beads Heaven shall be bribed
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 dominations, royalties, and rights,

Of this oppressed boy. This is thy eldest son's son,
Infortunate in nothing but in thee.

Thy sins are visited in this poor child;
The canon of the law is laid on him,
Being but the second generation
Removed from thy sin-conceiving womb.
K. John. Bedlam, have done.
Const.

I have but this to say,

That he's not only plagued for her sin,
But God hath made her sin and her the plague
On this removed issue, plagued for her,
And with her plague, her sin; his injury
Her injury, the beadle to her sin;1
All punished in the person of this child,
And all for her; a plague upon her!

Eli. Thou unadvised scold, 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 cankered grandam's will!

K. Phi. Peace, lady; pause, or be more temperate. It ill beseems this presence, to cry aim2

1 The key to this obscure passage is contained in the last speech of Constance, where she alludes to the denunciation of the second commandment of “ visiting the iniquities of the parents upon the children unto the third and fourth generation." Young Arthur is here represented as not only suffering from the guilt of his grandmother, but also by her in person, she being made the very instrument of his sufferings. So that he is plagued on her account, and with her plague, which is her sin, i. e. (taking, by a common figure, the cause for the consequence) the penalty entailed upon it. His injury, or the evil he suffers, her sin brings upon him, and her injury, or the evils she inflicts, he suffers from her, as the beadle to her sin, or executioner of the punishment annexed to it.

2 i. e. to encourage. It is a term taken from archery.

To these ill-tuned repetitions.

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.

Trumpets sound. Enter Citizens upon the Walls. 1 Cit. Who is it that hath warned 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 sub

jects,

Our trumpet called you to this gentle parle.1

K. John. For our advantage;-therefore, hear us first.

These flags of France, that are advanced here
Before the eye and prospect of your town,
Have hither marched to your endamagement.
The cannons have their bowels full of wrath ;
And ready mounted are they, to spit forth
Their iron indignation 'gainst your walls.
All preparation for a bloody siege,

And merciless proceeding by these French,
Confront your city's eyes, your winking gates;
And, but for our approach, those sleeping stones,
That as a waist do girdle you about,
By the compulsion of their ordnance
By this time from their fixed beds of lime.
Had been dishabited, and wide havock made
For bloody power to rush upon your peace.
But, on the sight of us, your lawful king,-
Who painfully, with much expedient march,
Have brought a countercheck before your gates,
To save unscratched your city's threatened cheeks,—
Behold, the French, amazed, vouchsafe a parle ;
And now, instead of bullets wrapped in fire,
To make a shaking fever in your walls,
They shoot but calm words, folded up in smoke,
To make a faithless error in your ears;

1 Conference.

Which trust accordingly, kind citizens,

And let us in, your king; whose labored spirits,
Forewearied in this action of swift speed,

1

Crave harborage within your city walls.

K. Phi. When I have said, make answer to us both.

Lo, in this right hand, whose protection
Is most divinely vowed upon the right
Of him it holds, stands young Plantagenet;
Son to the elder brother of this man,

And king o'er him, and all that he enjoys.
For this down-trodden equity, we tread

In warlike march these greens before your town;
Being no further enemy to you,

Than the constraint of hospitable zeal,
In the relief of this oppressed child,
Religiously provokes. Be pleased then
To pay that duty, which you truly owe,

To him that owes it; namely, this young prince;
And then our arms, like to a muzzled bear,
Save in aspéct, have all offence sealed up.
Our cannons' malice vainly shall be spent
Against the invulnerable clouds of heaven;
And, with a blessed and unvexed retire,
With unhacked swords, and helmets all unbruised,
We will bear home that lusty blood again,
Which here we came to spout against your town,
And leave your children, wives, and you, in peace.
But if you fondly pass our proffered offer,
'Tis not the roundure of your old-faced walls
Can hide you from our messengers of war;
Though all these English, and their discipline,
Were harbored in their rude circumference.
Then, tell us, shall your city call us lord,
In that behalf which we have challenged it?
Or shall we give the signal to our rage,.
And stalk in blood to our possession?

1 Cit. In brief, we are the king of England's sub

jects;

For him, and in his right, we hold this town.

K. John. Acknowledge then the king, and let me in. 1 Cit. That can we not: but he that proves the king, To him will we prove loyal; till that time,

Have we rammed up our gates against the world.

K. John. Doth not the crown of England prove the king?

And, if not that, I bring you witnesses,

Twice fifteen thousand hearts of England's breed,Bast. Bastards, and else.

K. John. To verify our title with their lives.

K. Phi. As many, and as well-born bloods as those,

Bast. Some bastards too.

K. Phi. Stand in his face, to contradict his claim. 1 Cit. Till you compound whose right is worthiest, We, for the worthiest, hold the right from both.

K. John. Then God forgive the sin of all those souls,

That to their everlasting residence,

Before the dew of evening fall, shall fleet,

In dreadful trial of our kingdom's king!

K. Phi. Amen, Amen!-mount, chevaliers! to arms!

Bast. St. George,-that swinged the dragon, and e'er since,

Sits on his horseback at mine hostess' door,

Teach us some fence.-Sirrah, were I at home,
At your den, sirrah, [To AUSTRIA.] with your lioness,
I'd set an ox-head to your lion's hide,

And make a monster of you.

Aust.

Peace; no more.

Bast. O, tremble; for you hear the lion roar.

K. John. Up higher to the plain; where we'll set

forth,

In best appointment, all our regiments.

Bast. Speed, then, to take advantage of the field.

K. Phi. It shall be so;-[To LEWIS.] and at the

other hill

Command the rest to stand.-God, and our right!

SCENE II. The same.

[Exeunt.

Alarums and Excursions;

then a Retreat.

Enter a French Herald, with trumpets, to the gates.

F. Her. You men of Angiers, open wide your gates, And let young Arthur, duke of Bretagne, in; Who, by the hand of France, this day hath made Much work for tears in many an English mother, Whose sons lie scattered on the bleeding ground. Many a widow's husband groveling lies, Coldly embracing the discolored earth; And victory, with little loss, doth play Upon the dancing banners of the French; Who are at hand, triumphantly displayed, To enter conquerors, and to proclaim Arthur of Bretagne, England's king, and yours.

Enter an English Herald, with trumpets.

E. Her. Rejoice, you men of Angiers, ring your

bells;

King John, your king and England's, doth approach,
Commander of this hot, malicious day!

Their armors, that marched hence so silver-bright,
Hither return all gilt with Frenchmen's blood.
There stuck no plume in any English crest,

That is removed by a staff of France;

Our colors do return in those same hands

That did display them when we first marched forth; And, like a jolly troop of huntsmen,1 come

Our lusty English, all with purpled hands,

1 It was anciently one of the savage practices of the chase for all to stain their hands in the blood of the deer as a trophy.