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K. PHI. Thy rage fhall burn thee up, and thou

fhalt turn

To afhes, ere our blood fhall quench that fire:
Look to thyself, thou art in jeopardy.

K. JOHN. No more than he that threats.-To arms let's hie!

SCENE II.

The fame. Plains near Angiers.

Alarums, Excurfions.

[Exeunt.

Enter the Bastard, with

AUSTRIA's head.

BAST. NOW, by my life, this day grows wondrous

hot;

Some airy devil hovers in the sky,

Some airy devil-] Shakspeare here probably alludes to the diftinctions and divifions of fome of the demonologifts, fo much regarded in his time. They diftributed the devils into different tribes and claffes, each of which had its peculiar qualities, attributes, &c.

Thefe are defcribed at length in Burton's Anatomie of Melancholy, Part I. fect. ii. p. 45, 1632:

"Of thefe fublunary devils-Pfellus makes fix kinds; fiery, aeriall, terreftriall, watery, and fubterranean devils, befides thofe faieries, fatyres, nymphes," &c.

"Fiery fpirits or divells are fuch as commonly worke by blazing ftarres, fire-drakes, and counterfeit funnes and moones, and fit on fhips' mafts," &c. Sc.

"Aeriall fpirits or divells are fuch as keep quarter moft part in the aire, caufe many tempefts, thunder and lightnings, teare oakes, fire fteeples, houfes, ftrike men and beafts, make it raine ftones," &c. PERCY.

-the

There is a minute defcription of different devils or fpirits, and their different functions, in Pierce Pennilefje his Supplication, 1592: With refpect to the paffage in queftion, take the following: fpirits of the aire will mixe themselves with thunder and lightning, and fo infect the clyme where they raife any tempeft, that fodainely great mortalitie fhall enfue to the inhabitants. The fpirits of fire have their mansions under the regions of the moone." HENDERSON.

And pours down mifchief. Auftria's head lie there; While Philip breathes."

Enter King JOHN, ARTHUR, and HUBERT.

K. JOHN. Hubert, keep this boy :—Philip,3 make

up:

My mother is affailed in our tent,"

And ta'en, I fear.

BAST.

My lord, I refcu'd her; Her highness is in fafety, fear you not: But on, my liege; for very little pains

Will bring this labour to an happy end. [Exeunt.

6 Here Mr. Pope, without authority, adds from the old play already mentioned:

"Thus hath king Richard's fon perform'd his vow,
"And offer'd Auftria's blood for facrifice

"Unto his father's ever-living foul." STEEVENS.

↑ Hubert, keep this boy:] Thus the old copies. Mr. Tyrwhitt would read:

Hubert, keep thou this boy :— STEEVENS.

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Philip,] Here the King, who had knighted him by the name of Sir Richard, calls him by his former name. STEEVENS. 9 My mother is assailed in our tent,] The author has not attended clofely to the hiftory. The Queen-mother, whom King John had made Regent in Anjou, was in poffeffion of the town of Mirabeau in that province. On the approach of the French army with Arthur at their head, the fent letters to King John to come to her relief; which he did immediately. As he advanced to the town, he encountered the army that lay before it, routed them, and took Arthur prifoner. The Queen in the mean while remained in perfect fecurity in the caftle of Mirabeau.

Such is the beft authenticated account. Other hiftorians however fay that Arthur took Elinor prifoner. The author of the old play has followed them. In that piece Elinor is taken by Arthur, and rescued by her fon. MALONE.

SCENE III.

The fame.

Alarums; Excurfions; Retreat. Enter King JOHN,
ELINOR, ARTHUR, the Bastard, HUBERT, and Lords.

K. JOHN. So fhall it be; your grace shall stay be

hind,

[To ELINOR. So ftrongly guarded.-Coufin, look not fad:

[To ARTHUR.

Thy grandam loves thee; and thy uncle will
As dear be to thee as thy father was.

ARTH. O, this will make my mother die with
grief.

K. JOHN. Coufin, [To the Bastard.] away for England; hafte before:

And, ere our coming, fee thou shake the bags

Of hoarding abbots; fed angels imprisoned

Set thou at liberty: the fat ribs of peace

Muft by the hungry now be fed upon :'

Use our commiffion in his utmost force.

3 Set thou at liberty:] The word thou (which is wanting in the old copy) was judiciously added, for the fake of metre, by Sir T. Hanmer. STEEVENS.

the fat ribs of peace

Muft by the hungry now be fed upon:] This word now seems a very idle term here, and conveys no fatisfactory idea. An antithefis, and oppofition of terms, fo perpetual with our author, requires :

Muft by the hungry war be fed upon. War, demanding a large expence, is very poetically faid to be bungry, and to prey on the wealth and fat of peace.

WARBURTON.

This emendation is better than the former word, but yet not neceffary. Sir T. Hanmer reads-hungry maw, with lefs deviation from the common reading, but with not so much force or elegance as war. JOHNSON.

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BAST. Bell, book, and candle' fhall not drive

me back,

When gold and filver becks me to come on.
I leave your highness :-Grandam, I will pray

Either emendation may be unneceffary. Perhaps, the hungry now is this hungry inftant. Shakspeare ufes the word now as a fubftantive, in Measure for Measure:

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till this very now,

"When men were fond, I fmil'd and wonder'd how."

STEEVENS.

The meaning, I think, is, "the fat ribs of peace must now be fed upon by the hungry troops," to whom fome share of this ecclefiaftical fpoil would naturally fall. The expreffion, like many other of our author's, is taken from the facred writings: "And there he maketh the hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a city for habitation." 107th Pfalm.-Again: "He hath filled the hungry with good things," &c. St. Luke, i. 53.

This interpretation is fupported by the paffage in the old play. which is here imitated ::

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Philip, I make thee chief in this affair;

"Ranfack their abbeys, cloyfters, priories,

"Convert their coin unto my foldiers' use."

When I read this paffage in the old play, the firft idea that fuggefted itself was, that a word had dropped out at the prefs, in the line before us, and that our author wrote:

Muft by the hungry foldiers now be fed on.

But the interpretation above given renders any alteration unneceffary. MALONE.

3 Bell, book, and candle-] In an account of the Romish curfe given by Dr. Grey, it appears that three candles were extinguished, one by one, in different parts of the execration. JOHNSON.

I meet with the fame expreffion in Ram-Alley, or Merry Tricks,

1611:

"I'll have a prieft fhall mumble up a marriage
"Without bell, book, or candle." STEEVENS.

In Archbishop Winchelfea's fentences of excommunication, anno 1298, (fee Johnfon's Ecclefiaftical Laws, Vol. II.) it is directed that the fentence against infringers of certain articles fhould be"--throughout explained in order in English, with bells tolling, and candles lighted, that it may cause the greater dread; for laymen have greater regard to this folemnity, than to the effect of fuch fentences.' See Dodfley's Old Plays, Vol. XII. p. 397, edit. 1780.

REED.

(If ever I remember to be holy,) For your

fair fafety; fo I kifs your hand. ELI. Farewell, my gentle cousin.

K. JOHN.

Coz, farewell.

Exit Baftard.

ELI. Come hither, little kinfman; hark, a word.
[She takes ARTHUR afide.
K. JOHN. Come hither, Hubert. O my gentle
Hubert,

We owe thee much; within this wall of flesh
There is a foul, counts thee her creditor,
And with advantage means to pay thy love:
And, my good friend, thy voluntary oath
Lives in this bofom, dearly cherished.

Give me thy hand. I had a thing to fay,-
But I will fit it with fome better time.*
By heaven, Hubert, I am almost asham'd
To fay what good refpect I have of thee.

HUB. I am much bounden to your majesty.

K. JOHN. Good friend, thou haft no cause to say

fo yet;

But thou shalt have; and creep time ne'er fo

flow,

Yet it fhall come, for me to do thee good.
I had a thing to fay,-But let it go:

The fun is in the heaven; and the proud day,
Attended with the pleasures of the world,

-with fome better time.] The old copy reads-tune. Corrected by Mr. Pope. The fame miftake has happened in Twelfth Night. See that play, Vol. IV. p. 63, n. 8. In Macbeth, Act IV. fc. ult. we have "This time goes manly," instead of " This tune goes manly." MALONE.

In the handwriting of Shakspeare's age, the words time and tune are scarcely to be diftinguished from each other. STEEVENS.

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