Philip of France, if thou be pleas'd withal,
Command thy fon and daughter to join hands.
K. PHI. It likes us well;-Young princes, clofe
your hands."

AUST. And your lips too; for, I am well affur'd, That I did fo, when I was first affur'd.

8

K. PHI. Now, citizens of Angiers, ope your gates, Let in that amity which you have made; For at faint Mary's chapel, presently, The rites of marriage fhall be folemniz'd.Is not the lady Conftance in this troop?I know, fhe is not; for this match, made up, Her prefence would have interrupted much:Where is the and her fon? tell me, who knows. LEW. She is fad and paffionate at your highness'

tent."

K. PHI. And, by my faith, this league, that we have made,

Will give her fadnefs very little cure.-
Brother of England, how may we content

7

Young princes, clofe your hands.] See The Winter's Tale, Vol. VII. p. 17, n. 9. MALONE.

8 I am well affur'd,

That I did fo, when I was firft affur'd.] Affur'd is here used both in its common fenfe, and in an uncommon one, where it fignifies affianced, contracted. So, in The Comedy of Errors: called me Dromio, fwore I was affur'd to her."

STEEVENS.

9 She is fad and paffionate at your highness' tent.] Paffionate, in this inftance, does not fignify difpofed to anger, but a prey to mournful fenfations. So, in Beaumont and Fletcher's Wit without Money: Thou art paffionate,

66

"Haft been brought up with girls." STEEVENS.

Again, in the old play entitled The True Tragedie of Richard duke of Yorke, 1600:

"Tell me, good madam,

Why is your grace fo paffionate of late?" MALONE.

This widow lady? In her right we came;
Which we, God knows, have turn'd another way,
To our own vantage.

We will heal up all :

K. JOHN. For we'll create young Arthur duke of Bretagne, And earl of Richmond; and this rich fair town We make him lord of.-Call the lady Conftance; Some speedy meffenger bid her repair To our folemnity:-I trust we shall, If not fill up the measure of her will, Yet in fome measure fatisfy her fo, That we shall ftop her exclamation. Go we, as well as hafte will suffer us, To this unlook'd for unprepared pomp.

[Exeunt all but the Baftard.-The Citizens retire from the walls.

BAST. Mad world! mad kings! mad compofi-
tion!

John, to ftop Arthur's title in the whole,
Hath willingly departed with a part: 2

And France, (whofe armour confcience buckled on;
Whom zeal and charity brought to the field,
As God's own foldier,) rounded in the ear3

·departed with a part:] To part and to depart were formerly fynonymous. So, in Every Man in his Humour: "Faith, fir, I can hardly depart with ready money." Again, in Every Woman in her Humour, 1609: "She'll ferve under him till death us depart." STEEVENS.

rounded in the ear-] i. e. whifpered in the ear. This phrafe is frequently ufed by Chaucer, as well as later writers. So, in Lingua, or A Combat of the Tongue, &c. 1607: “ I help'd Herodotus to pen fome part of his Mufes; lent Pliny ink to write his history, and rounded Rabelais in the ear when he hiftorified Pantagruel." Again, in The Spanish Tragedy:

"Forthwith Revenge the rounded me i' th' ear."

STEEVENS.

With that fame purpofe-changer, that fly devil;
That broker, that ftill breaks the pate of faith;
That daily break-vow; he that wins of all,
Of kings, of beggars, old men, young men, maids;-
Who having no external thing to lose

But the word maid,-cheats the poor maid of that;" That smooth-faced gentleman, tickling commodity,

Commodity, the bias of the world; '
The world, who of itself is peifed well,
Made to run even, upon even ground;
Till this advantage, this vile drawing bias,

4 Who having no external thing to lofe

But the word maid,-cheats the poor maid of that;] The conAtruction here appears extremely harfh to our ears, yet I do not believe there is any corruption; for I have obferved a fimilar phrafeology in other places in these plays. The construction is,— Commodity, he that wins of all,-be that cheats the poor maid of that only external thing fhe has to lofe, namely the word maid, i. e. her chastity. Who having is ufed as the abfolute cafe, in the fenfe of they having-;" and the words "who having no external thing to lofe but the word maid," are in fome measure parenthetical; yet they cannot with propriety be included in a parenthefis, because then there would remain nothing to which the relative that at the end of the line could be referred. In The Winter's Tale, are the following lines, in which we find a fimilar phrafeology:

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"

This your fon-in-law,

"And fon unto the king (whom heavens directing,)
"Is troth-plight to your daughter."

Here the pronoun whom is ufed for him, as zube, in the paffage before us, is used for they. MALONE.

5 Commodity, the bias of the world;] Commodity is interest. So, in Damon and Pithias, 1582:

Again:

for vertue's fake only,

They would honour friendship, and not for commoditie.”

"I will ufe his friendship to mine own commoditie."

So, in Cupid's Whirligig, 1607:

STEEVENS.

"O the world is like a byas bowle, and it runs all on the rich mens fides."

HENDERSON.

This fway of motion, this commodity,
Makes it take head from all indifferency,
From all direction, purpose, course, intent:
And this fame bias, this commodity,

This bawd, this broker," this all-changing word,
Clapp'd on the outward eye of fickle France,
Hath drawn him from his own determin'd aid,'
From a refolv'd and honourable war,
To a most base and vile-concluded peace.-
And why rail I on this commodity?

But for because he hath not woo'd me yet:
Not that I have the power to clutch my hand,
When his fair angels would falute my palm;
But for my hand, as unattempted yet,
Like a poor beggar, raileth on the rich.
Well, whiles I am a beggar, I will rail,
And fay, there is no fin, but to be rich;
And being rich, my virtue then fhall be,
To fay, there is no vice, but beggary:

6 this broker,] A broker in old language meant a pimp or procurefs. See a note on Hamlet, Act II.

"Do not believe his vows, for they are brokers," &c.

MALONE.

-from his own determin'd aid,] The word eye, in the line preceding, and the word own, which can ill agree with aid, induces me to think that we ought to read his own determined aim," inftead of aid. His own aid is little better than nonfenfe.

M. MASON.

clutch my hand,] To clutch my hand, is to clafp it close. So, in Measure for Measure: "putting the hand into the pocket, and extracting it clutched." Again, in Antonio's Revenge, 1602: "The fift of ftrenuous vengeance is clutch'd."

See also note on Macbeth, A& II. fc. i. STEEVENS.

9 But for, &c.] i. e. becaufe. So, in The Two Gentlemen of Verond: "I curfe myself, for they are fent by me." REED. Again, in Othello:

or for I am declin'd

"Into the vale of years." MALONE.

Since kings break faith upon commodity,

Gain, be my lord; for I will worship thee! [Exit."

ACT III. SCENE I.

The fame. The French King's Tent.

Enter CONSTANCE, ARTHUR, and SALISBURY.

CONST. Gone to be married! gone to fwear a

peace!

Falfe blood to falfe blood join'd! Gone to be friends!

Shall Lewis have Blanch? and Blanch thofe pro

vinces ?

It is not fo; thou haft misfpoke, misheard;
Be well advis'd, tell o'er thy tale again:
It cannot be; thou doft but say, 'tis fo;
I trust, I may not trust thee; for thy word
Is but the vain breath of a common man:
Believe me, I do not believe thee, man;
I have a king's oath to the contrary.
Thou shalt be punish'd for thus frighting me,
For I am fick, and capable of fears; 3

Opprefs'd with wrongs, and therefore full of fears;

2 In the old copy the fecond act extends to the end of the fpeech of Lady Conftance in the next scene, at the conclufion of which the throws herself on the ground. The prefent divifion which was made by Mr. Theobald, and has been adopted by the fubfequent editors, is certainly right. MALONE.

See Mr. Theobald's note, p. 73. STEEVENS.

3 For I am fick, and capable of fears;] i. e. I have a strong fenfibility; I am tremblingly alive to apprehenfion. So, in Hamlet: "His form and caufe conjoin'd, preaching to ftones, "Would make them capable." MALONE.