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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 eld'st 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 is not only plagued for her sin,

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But God hath made her sin and her the plague 185

175. not me] Ff 1, 2, 3; me not F 4. 176. dominations] F 1; domination Ff 2, 3, 4. 177. this is thy eld'st] Capell; this is thy eldest Ff.

171. crystal . . . bribed] Mr. Craig suggests that here we have a reflection of the old voyagers' stories of bribing Indians with beads.

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180. The canon on him] The sins of Elinor, Arthur's grandmother, are being visited upon her grandson, according to the canon of the law, even to the third and fourth generation.

183. Bedlam] lunatic. Rann, after a conjecture of Ritson's, reads (quite possibly) "Beldam," but compare King Lear, III. vii. 103: "Let's follow the old earl, and get the bedlam To lead him where he would." Derived from the Bethlehem Hospital for the Insane.

185. But God hath made her sin, etc.] We follow the punctuation suggested by Roby, who explains the

passage as follows: "God hath made her sin and herself to be a plague to this distant child, who is punished for her and with the punishment belonging to her: God has made her sin to be an injury to Arthur, and her injurious deeds to be the executioner to punish her sin: all which (viz. her first sin and her now injurious deeds) are punished in the person of this child." The only difficulty here is the use of " injury" in two ways, the first meaning injury to Arthur, and the second meaning injurious deeds perpetrated by Elinor. The Folios read (line 187) "with her plague her sinne." The passage is difficult and has given rise to all kinds of suggestions. Malone supposed that two half lines had been dropped after "And with her."

On this removed issue, plagued for her
And with her plague; her sin his injury,
Her injury the beadle to her sin,
All punish'd 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 canker'd grandam's will!

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K. Phi. Peace, lady! pause, or be more temperate : 195 It ill beseems this presence to cry aim

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.

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Trumpet sounds. Enter certain Citizens upon the walls. First Cit. Who is it that hath warn'd 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 subjects, Our trumpet call'd you to this gentle parle,— K. John. For our advantage; therefore hear us first.

190. And her] Mr. Craig suggests that Shakespeare wrote "And all for her, for her; a plague upon her!"

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violent proceedings all thy neighbours shall cry aim." Several editors have endeavoured to improve the passage. Jonson suggested that "aim was an abbreviation of "J'aime"!

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198. Some . . . walls] Mr. Craig suggests "Sound trumpet! Summon hither to the walls."

205. parle] parley, conference, or even speech. So constantly in Elizabethan plays.

These flags of France, that are advanced here
Before the eye and prospect of your town,
Have hither march'd 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

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And merciless proceeding by these French
Confronts your city's eyes, your winking gates;
And but for our approach those sleeping stones,
That as a waist doth girdle you about,
By the compulsion of their ordinance
By this time from their fixed beds of lime
Had been dishabited, and wide havoc 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 unscratch'd your city's threatened cheeks, 225
Behold, the French amaz'd vouchsafe a parle;

220

215. Confronts your] Capell; Comfort yours Ff 1, 2; Comfort your Ff 3, 4; Confront your Rowe; Come 'fore your Collier, ed. 2 (Collier MS.).

207. advanced] lifted up (a common Elizabethan meaning). Compare Cotgrave, "Haussé : hoised, raised, advanced, hoven up, set aloft."

215. winking] closed at our approach. "To wink," in the sense of closing both eyes, is common in Elizabethan English. Compare Promos and Cassandra (pt. i.), v. v. : your eyes harde you must close.... Winke harde "; and Lyly, Euphues (ed. Arber, p. 333, line 28): though I wink at a flash of lightning, I dare open my eyes again.'

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And now, instead of bullets wrapp'd 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:

230

Which trust accordingly, kind citizens,

And let us in, your king, whose labour'd spirits
Forwearied in this action of swift speed

Crave harbourage within your city walls.

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K. Phi. When I have said, make answer to us both. 235
Lo, in this right hand, whose protection
Is most divinely vow'd 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,

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245

247, 248. owe . owes] The two meanings of "owe" are used. Compare "owes," which Pope needlessly altered to "owns," with line 109 above.

249. arms] Vaughan suggests "army" as more in keeping with the simile of the bear, and as saving the grammar; but it makes the line too long.

Save in aspect, hath all offence seal'd up;
Our cannons' malice vainly shall be spent
Against the invulnerable clouds of heaven;
And with a blessed and unvex'd retire,

250

With unhack'd 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 proffer'd offer,
'Tis not the roundure of your old-faced walls
Can hide you from our messengers of war,
Though all the English and their discipline
Were harbour'd 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

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And stalk in blood to our possession?

First Cit. In brief, we are the king of England's subjects: For him, and in his right, we hold this town.

K. John. Acknowledge then the king, and let me in. First Cit. That can we not; but he that proves the king, 270

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words in -ure. Compare Sonnet xxi. : .. all things rare That heaven's air in this huge rondure hems"; and cincture, IV. iii. 155 infra.

259. old-faced] Williams' conjecture of "bold-faced" looks very probable. "Old-faced" does not seem particularly apt in the light of the context. The same scholar would alter "rude" in line 262 to “wide.” We might suppose that Philip is belittling the fortifications of Angiers, which would justify reading "old-faced" and "rude."

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