MAR. To be a queen in bondage, is more vile, Than is a flave in bafe fervility;

For princes fhould be free.

SUF.

And fo fhall you,

If happy England's royal king be free.

MAR. Why, what concerns his freedom unto me? SUF. I'll undertake to make thee Henry's queen; To put a golden fcepter in thy hand,

And fet a precious crown upon thy head,
If thou wilt condefcend to be my-?
MAR.

SUF. His love.

What?

MAR. I am unworthy to be Henry's wife. SUF. No, gentle madam; I unworthy am To woo fo fair a dame to be his wife, And have no portion in the choice myself. How fay you, madam; are you to content? MAR. An if my father pleafe, I am content. SUF. Then call our captains, and our colours,

forth:

And, madam, at your father's caftle walls.

We'll crave a parley, to confer with him.

A parley founded.

[Troops come forward.

Enter REIGNIER, on the walls.

2

SUF. See, Reignier, fee, thy daughter prifoner.

REIG. To whom?

If thou wilt condefcend to be my. the words be my, are an interpolation, nally food thus:

If thou wilt condefcend to

I have little doubt that and that the paffage origi

What?

His love.

Both fenfe and measure are then complete. STEEVENS.

Suffolk, what remedy?

I am a foldier; and unapt to weep,

Or to exclaim on fortune's fickleness.

SUF. Yes, there is remedy enough, my lord: Confent, (and, for thy honour, give confent,) Thy daughter fhall be wedded to my king; Whom I with pain have woo'd and won thereto; And this her eafy-held imprisonment

Hath gain'd thy daughter princely liberty.
REIG. Speaks Suffolk as he thinks?

Fair Magaret knows,

SUF.
That Suffolk doth not flatter, face, or feign. 3

REIG. Upon thy princely warrant, I descend,
To give thee answer of thy juft demand.

[Exit, from the walls. Sur. And here I will expect thy coming.

Trumpets founded. Enter REIGNIER, below.

REIG. Welcome, brave earl, into our territories; Command in Anjou what your honour pleases. SUF. Thanks, Reignier, happy for fo fweet a child, Fit to be made companion with a king: What anfwer makes your grace unto my fuit? KEIG. Since thou doft deign to woo her little worth, 4

3

face, or feign,]"To face (fays Dr. Johnfon) is to carry Hence the name of MALONE.

a falfe appearance; to play the hypocrite." one of the characters in Ben Jonson's Alchymift. So, in The Taming of a Shrew:

"Yet I have fac'd it with a card of ten."

STEEvens.

Since thou dost deign to woo her little worth, &c.] To woo her.

To be the princely bride of fuch a lord;
Upon condition I may quietly

Enjoy mine own, the county Maine, and Anjou,
Free from oppreffion, or the firoke of war,
My daughter fhall be Henry's, if he please.
SUF. That is her ransom, I deliver her;
And those two counties, I will undertake,
Your grace fhall well and quietly enjoy.
REIG. And I again,-in Henry's royal name,
As deputy unto that gracious king,—

[Afide.

Give thee her hand, for fign of plighted faith.
SUF. Reignier of France, I give thec kingly thanks,
Because this is in traffick of a king:
And yet, methinks, I could be well content
To be mine own attorney in this cafe.
I'll over then to England with this news,
And make this marriage to be folemniz'd:
So, farewell, Reignier! Set this diamond fafe
In golden palaces, as it becomes.

REIG. I do embrace thee, as I would embrace The Chriftian prince, king Henry, were he here. MAR. Farewell, my lord! Good wishes, praise, and prayers,

Shall Suffolk ever have of Margaret.

[Going. SUF. Farewell, fweet madam! But hark you,

Margaret;

No princely commendations to my king?

little worth may mean to court her small share of merit. But perhaps the paffage fhould be pointed thus:

Since thou doft deign to woo her, little worth

To be the princely bride of fuch a lord;

i. e. little deferving to be the wife of fuch a prince.

5

MALONE.

the county Maine, ] Maine is called a county both by Hall

and Holinthed. The old copy erroneously reads-country.

MALONE.

MAR. Such commendations as become a maid, A virgin, and his fervant, fay to him.

SUF. Words fweetly plac'd, and modeftly directed.

But, madam, I muft trouble you again,-
No loving token to his majefty?

MAR. Yes, my good lord; a pure unfpotted

-heart,

Never yet taint with love, I fend the king.

SUF. And this withal.

[Kiffes her. MAR. That for thyfelf;-I will not fo prefume, To fend fuch peevish tokens' to a king.

[Exeunt REIGNIER and MARGARET. SUF. O, wert thou for myself! But, Suffolk, ftay; Thou may'ft not wander in that labyrinth; There Minotaurs, and ugly treasons, lurk. Solicit Henry with her wond'rous praise : Bethink thee on her virtues that furmount; Mad, natural graces that extinguish art;

8

6 modeftly. ] Old copy-modefty. Corre&ed by the editor

of the fecond folio. MALONE.

? To fend fuch peevish tokens] Peevish, for childish.

See a note on Cymbeline, A& I. fc. vii: peevish."

WARBURTON.

"He's ftrange and

The modern editors
By the word mad,

8 Mad, natural graces-] So the old copy. have been content to read her natural graces. however, I believe the poet only meant wild or uncultivated. In the former of these fignifications he appears to have used it in Othello:

he fhe lov'd prov'd mad."

which Dr. Johnfon has properly interpreted. We call a wild girl, to this day, a mad cap.

Mad, in some of the ancient books of gårdening, is used as an epithet to plants which grow rampant and wild. STEEVENS. Pope had, perhaps, this line in his thoughts, when he wroteAnd catch a grace beyond the reach of art."

Repeat their femblance often on the feas,

That, when thou com'ft to kneel at Henry's feet,

Thou may'ft bereave him of his wits with wonder.

[ Exit.

SCENE IV.

Camp of the Duke of York, in Anjou.

Enter YORK, WARWICK, and Others.

YORK. Bring forth that forcerefs, condemn'd to burn.

Enter LA PUCELLE, guarded, and a Shepherd.
SHEF. Ah, Joan! this kills thy father's heart
outright!

Have I fought every country far and near,
And, now it is my chance to find thee out,

In The Two Noble Kinsmen, 1634, mad is ufed in the fame manner

as in the text:

"Is it not mad lodging in thefe wild woods here?" Again,

in Nafhe's Have with you to Saffron Walden, 1596: with manie more madde tricks of youth never plaid before.” MALONE.

It is poffible that Steevens may be right in afferting that the word mad, may have been used to exprefs wild; but I believe it was never used as defcriptive of excellence, or as applicable to grace. The paffage is in truth erroneous, as is alfo the amendment of former editors. That which I fhould propofe is, to read and, inftead of mad, words that might eafily have been miftaken for each other;

Bethink thee of her virtues that furmount,

And natural graces, that extinguish art.

That is, think of her virtues that furmount art, and of her natural graces that extinguish it. M. MASON.

8 kills thy father's heart] This phrafe occurs like wife in King Henry V. and the Winter's Tale. STEEvens.