Partake to every one: "I, an old turtle,

Will wing me to fome wither'd bough, and there My mate, that's never to be found again, "Lament till I am loft.

Lec. O peace, Paulina:

Thou shouldst a husband take by my confent,
As I by thine a wife. This is a match,

And made between's by vows. Thou haft found mine;
But how, is to be question'd; for I faw her,

As I thought, dead; and have, in vain, faid many
A prayer upon her grave. I'll not feek far
(For him, I partly know his mind) to find thee
An honourable hufband. Come, Camillo,

And take her by the hand; whose worth and honesty
Is richly noted; and here justified

By us, a pair of Kings. Let's from this place.
What? look upon my brother: both your pardons,
That e'er I put between your holy looks
My ill fufpicion: this your fon-in-law,

[To Her.

And fon unto the King whom heav'ns directing,
Is troth-plight to your daughter. Good Paulina,
Lead us from hence, where we may leifurely
Each one demand, and answer to his part
Perform'd in this wide gap of time, fince first
We were diffever'd. Haftily lead away.

KING JOHN *.

DRAMATIS PERSONE.

The SCENE, fometimes in England, and fometimes in

France.

SCENE I.

The court of England.

Enter King John, Queen Elinor, Pembroke, Effex, and Salisbury, with Chatilion.

OW, fay, Chatilion, what would
France with us?

Chat. Thus, after greeting, fpeaks

the King of France,

In my behaviour, to the Majefty,

*The troublefome reign of King John was written in two parts by W.

Shakefpear and W. Rowley, and printed 1611.

is entirely different, and infinitely fuperior to it.

The borrow'd Majefty of England here.

Eli. A ftrange beginning; borrow'd Majesty !
K. John. Silence, good mother; hear the embaffy.
Chat. Philip of France, in right and true behalf
Of thy deceafed brother Geffrey's fon,

Arthur Plantagenet, lays lawful claim
To this fair island and the territories;

To Ireland, Poitiers, Anjou, Touraine, Maine;
Defiring thee to lay afide the fword,

Which fways ufurpingly these several titles,
And put the fame into young Arthur's hand,
Thy nephew, and right-royal fovereign.

K. John. What follows if we difallow of this? Chat. The proud controul of fierce and bloody war, T'inforce thefe rights fo forcibly with-held.

K. John. Here have we war for war, and blood for blood,

Controulment for controulment; so answer France. Chat. Then take my King's defiance from my mouth, The fartheft limit of my embassy.

K. John. Bear mine to him, and fo depart in peace, Be thou as lightning in the eyes of France; For ere thou canst report, I will be there, The thunder of my cannon fhall be heard. So, hence! be thou the trumpet of our wrath, And fullen prefage of your own decay. An honourable conduct let him have; Pembroke, look to't; farewel Chatilion.

[Exeunt Chat. and Pem.

Eli. What now, my fon, have I not ever faid, How that ambitious Canftance would not cease, Till fhe had kindled France and all the world, Upon the right and party of her fon?

This might have been prevented, and made whole
With very eafy arguments of love;

Which now the manage of two kingdoms must
With fearful bloody iffue arbitrate.

K. John. Our strong poffeffion, and our right for us-
Eli. Your ftrong poffeffion much more than your

right,

Or elfe it must go wrong with you and me;

Sa

0

So much my confcience whispers in your ear,
Which none but heav'n, and you, and I fhall hear.
Effex. My Liege, here is the strangest controversy
Come from the country to be judge'd by you,
That e'er I heard: fhall I produce the men?

K. John. Let them approach.

Our abbies and our priories fhall pay

This expedition's charge.What men are you?

SCENE II.

Enter Robert Faulconbridge, and Philip his brother the
baftard.

Phil. Your faithful fubject, I, a gentleman
Born in Northamptonfhire, and eldest fon,
As I fuppofe, to Robert Faulconbridge,
A foldier, by the honour-giving hand
Of Coeur-de-lion knighted in the field.
K. John. What art thou?

Rob. The fon and heir to that fame Faulconbridge.
K. John. Is that the elder, and art thou the heir?
You came not of one mother, then, it seems.

Phil. Moft certain of one mother, mighty King,
That is well known; and as I think, one father:
But, for the certain knowledge of that truth,
I put you o'er to heav'n, and to my mother ;
Of that I doubt, as all mens' children may.

Eli. Out on thee, rude man! thou dost shame thy
mother,

And wound her honour with this diffidence.

Phil. I, Madam? no, I have no reason for it;
That is my brother's plea, and none of mine ;
The which if he can prove, he pops me out
At least from fair five hundred pound a-year.
Heav'n guard my mother's honour, and my land !
K. John. A good blunt fellow; why, being younger

born,

Doth he lay claim to thine inheritance?

Phil. I know not why, except to get the land;
But once he flander'd me with bastardy :

But whether I be true begot or no,
That fill I lay upon my mother's head;

But

But that I am as well begot, my Liege,

(Fair fall the bones that took the pains for me !), Compare our faces, and be judge yourself.

If old Sir Robert did beget us both,

And were our father, and this fon like him;
O old Sir Robert, father, on my knee

I give heav'n thanks I was not like to thee.

K. John. Why, what a mad-cap hath heav'n lent us here?

Eli. He hath a trick of Coeur-de-lion's face,
The accent of his tongue affecteth him :
Do you not read fome tokens of my fon
In the large compofition of this man?

K. John. Mine eye hath well examined his parts,
And finds them perfect Richard. Sirrah, fpeak,
What doth move you to claim your brother's land?
Phil. Because he hath a half-face like my father,
With that half-face would he have all my land?
A half-face'd groat, five hundred pound a-year!
Rob. My gracious Liege, when that my father liv'd,
Your brother did employ my father much?

Phil. Well, Sir, by this you cannot get my land. Your tale muft be, how he employ'd my mother. Rob. And once dispatch'd him in an embassy To Germany; there with the Emperor To treat of high affairs touching that time : Th' advantage of his abfence took the King, And in the mean time fojourn'd at my father's; Where, how he did prevail, I fhame to speak : But truth is truth; large lengths of feas and fhores Between my father and my mother lay, (As I have heard my father fpeak himself), When this fame lufty gentleman was got. Upon his deathbed he by will bequeath'd His lands to me; and took it on his death, That this, my mother's fon, was none of his; And if he were, he came into the world

Full fourteen weeks before the courfe of time.

Then, good my Liege, let me have what is mine,
My father's land, as was my father's will.

K. John. Sirrah, your brother is legitimate;
Your father's wife did after wedlock bear him:

And