Made to run even, upon even ground,
Till this advantage, this vile drawing bias,
This sway of motion, this commodity,
Makes it take head from all indifferency,
From all direction, purpose, course, intent:
And this same 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 resolv'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 salute my palm3;
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 say, there is no sin, but to be rich;
And being rich, my virtue then shall be,
To say, there is no vice but beggary.
Since kings break faith upon commodity,
Gain, be my lord, for I will worship thee?

[Exit.

sense is, that "commodity," i. e. expediency, convenience, or interest, throws the world off its balance, and makes it run unevenly, like a bowl with a bias. See vol. ii. p. 520.

3 Not that I have the power to clutch my hand,

When his fair angels would salute my palm ;] The sense would perhaps

be clearer if we read,

"Not but I have the power to clutch my hand;"

or, with as slight a change,

"Not that I have not power to clutch my hand;"

though the meaning of the poet is sufficiently explained by what follows in the sentence the Bastard says that he has the power to clutch or close his hand, but that he has yet had no temptation to do so.

ACT III. SCENE I.

The Same. The French King's Tent.

Enter CONSTANCE, ARTHUR, and SALISBURY.

Const. Gone to be married? gone to swear a

peace?

False blood to false blood join'd!
Shall Lewis have Blanch, and

vinces ?

Gone to be friends?

Blanch those pro

It is not so; thou hast misspoke, misheard:
Be well advis'd, tell o'er thy tale again:
It cannot be; thou dost but say 'tis so.
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 sick, and capable of fears;

Oppress'd with wrongs, and therefore full of fears;
A widow, husbandless, subject to fears;
A woman, naturally born to fears;

And though thou now confess, thou didst but jest
With my vex'd spirits, I cannot take a truce,
But they will quake and tremble all this day.
What dost thou mean by shaking of thy head?
Why dost thou look so sadly on my son?

4 Act iii. sc. 1.] In the folios the second act ends at the line p. 41, "Here is my throne, bid kings come bow to it ;"

but it is a decided error, set right by Theobald: the two Kings, &c. enter while Constance is seated on the ground, and there is no change of place, and no interruption of the action.

5 A widow,] This was not the fact. "Constance," says Malone, "was at this time married to a third husband, Guido, brother to the Viscount of Touars. She had been divorced from her second husband, Ranulph, Earl of Chester." In the old "King John," Constance speaks of herself as a widow :

"If any power will hear a widow's plaint," &c.

What means that hand upon that breast of thine?
Why holds thine eye that lamentable rheum,
Like a proud river peering o'er his bounds?
Be these sad signs confirmers of thy words?
Then speak again; not all thy former tale,
But this one word, whether thy tale be true.

Sal. As true, as, I believe, you think them false,
That give you cause to prove my saying true.

Const. O! if thou teach me to believe this sorrow, Teach thou this sorrow how to make me die; And let belief and life encounter so,

As doth the fury of two desperate men,

Which in the very meeting fall, and die.—

Lewis marry Blanch! O, boy! then where art thou?
France friend with England! what becomes of me?-
Fellow, be gone; I cannot brook thy sight:
This news hath made thee a most ugly man.

Sal. What other harm have I, good lady, done,
But spoke the harm that is by others done?
Const. Which harm within itself so heinous is,

As it makes harmful all that speak of it.

Arth. I do beseech you, madam, be content.

Const. If thou, that bidd'st me be content, wert grim,

Ugly, and slanderous to thy mother's womb,

Full of unpleasing blots, and sightless stains,
Lame, foolish, crooked, swart, prodigious,
Patch'd with foul moles, and eye-offending marks,
I would not care, I then would be content;
For then I should not love thee; no, nor thou
Become thy great birth, nor deserve a crown.
But thou art fair; and at thy birth, dear boy,
Nature and fortune join'd to make thee great :

6 - swart,] i. e. brown, inclining to black. In "Henry VI." pt. i. Act i. sc. 2, we meet with the word again.

"And whereas I was black and swart before."

In the "Comedy of Errors," vol. ii. p. 144, we have "Swart like my shoe, but her face nothing so clean kept."

Of nature's gifts thou may'st with lilies boast,
And with the half-blown rose. But fortune, O!
She is corrupted, chang'd, and won from thee:
Sh' adulterates hourly with thine uncle John;
And with her golden hand hath pluck'd on France
To tread down fair respect of sovereignty,
And made his majesty the bawd to theirs.
France is a bawd to fortune, and king John;
That strumpet fortune, that usurping John!—
Tell me, thou fellow, is not France forsworn?
Envenom him with words, or get thee gone,
And leave those woes alone, which I alone
Am bound to under-bear.

Sal.

Pardon me, madam,

I may not go without you to the kings.

Const. Thou may'st, thou shalt: I will not go with thee.

I will instruct my sorrows to be proud,

For grief is proud, and makes his owner stoop'.

To me, and to the state of my great grief,

Let kings assemble; for my grief's so great,
That no supporter but the huge firm earth
Can hold it up: here I and sorrows sit;
Here is my throne, bid kings come bow to it.
[She sits on the ground.

Enter King JOHN, King PHILIP, Lewis, Blanch,
ELINOR, Bastard, AUSTRIA, and Attendants.

K. Phi. 'Tis true, fair daughter; and this blessed day,

Ever in France shall be kept festival:

7 For grief is proud, and makes HIS Owner STOOP.] This old and sufficiently intelligible reading has been misunderstood and perverted by most modern editors: Sir Thomas Hanmer, and others after him, substituted stout for "stoop," and Malone, who adheres to "stoop," prints its for "his." The meaning seems to be that grief (which the poet personifies) is proud even while he compels his owner to stoop, as Constance did to the earth, to receive the homage of monarchs.

To solemnize this day, the glorious sun
Stays in his course, and plays the alchymist,
Turning, with splendour of his precious eye,
The meagre cloddy earth to glittering gold:
The yearly course, that brings this day about,
Shall never see it but a holyday.

Const. A wicked day, and not a holy day!

[Rising.
What hath this day deserv'd? what hath it done,
That it in golden letters should be set,
Among the high tides, in the calendar?
Nay, rather, turn this day out of the week;
This day of shame, oppression, perjury:
Or if it must stand still, let wives with child
Pray, that their burdens may not fall this day,
Lest that their hopes prodigiously be cross'd:
But on this day, let seamen fear no wreck;
No bargains break, that are not this day made;
This day all things begun come to ill end;
Yea, faith itself to hollow falsehood change!

K. Phi. By heaven, lady, you shall have no cause
To curse the fair proceedings of this day.
Have I not pawn'd to you my majesty?

Const. You have beguil'd me with a counterfeit,
Resembling majesty, which, being touch'd and tried,
Proves valueless. You are forsworn, forsworn;
You came in arms to spill mine enemies' blood,
But now in arms you strengthen it with yours:
The grappling vigour, and rough frown of war,
Is cold in amity and painted peace,

And our oppression hath made up this league.—
Arm, arm, you heavens, against these perjur'd kings!
A widow cries: be husband to me, heavens!

Let not the hours of this ungodly day

8

- high tides,] i. e. solemn seasons, times to be observed above others. We now say, high days and holy days.

9 BUT on this day, &c.] i. e. Except on this day.