Well, now can I make any Joan a lady:

Good den 19, Sir Richard,-God-a-mercy, fellow ;-
And if his name be George, I'll call him Peter:
For new-made honour doth forget men's names;
'Tis too respective 20, and too sociable,

24

For your conversion 21. Now
traveller 22
your
He and his toothpick at my worship's mess 23;
And when my knightly stomach is suffic'd,
Why then I suck my teeth, and catechise
My picked man of countries
My dear sir
(Thus, leaning on my elbow, I begin),
I shall beseech you-That is question now;
And then comes answer like an ABC-book 25
O sir, says answer, at your best command;
At your employment; at your service, sir:
No, sir, says question, I, sweet sir, at yours:
And, so, ere answer knows what question would
(Saving in dialogue of compliment;

And talking of the Alps, and Apennines,
The Pyrenean, and the river Po),

19 Good evening.

:

20 Respective does not here mean respectful, as the commentators have explained it, but considerative, regardful. See Merchant of Venice, Act v. Sc. 1.

21 Change of condition.

22 It is said, in All's Well that Ends Well, that' a traveller is a good thing after dinner.' In that age of newly excited curiosity, one of the entertainments at great tables seems to have been the discourse of a traveller. To use a toothpick seems to have been one of the characteristics of a travelled man who affected foreign fashions.

23 At my worship's mess' means at that part of the table where I, as a knight, shall be placed. See note on All's Well that Ends Well, Act i. Sc. 2.-Your worship' was the regular address to a knight or esquire, in Shakspeare's time, as 'your honour' was to a lord.

24 My picked man of countries may be equivalent to my travelled fop: picked generally signified affected, over nice, or curious in dress. Conquisite is explained in the dictionaries exquisitely, pikedly so that our modern exquisites and dandies are of the

:

same race.

25 An ABC or absey-book, as it was then called, is a catechism.

It draws towards supper in conclusion so.
But this is worshipful society,

And fits the mounting spirit, like myself:
For he is but a bastard to the time,
That doth not smack of observation 26:
(And so am I, whether I smack, or no);
And not alone in habit and device,
Exterior form, outward accoutrement;
But from the inward motion to deliver
Sweet, sweet, sweet poison for the age's tooth:
Which, though I will not practise to deceive,
Yet, to avoid deceit, I mean to learn;

For it shall strew the footsteps of my rising.-
But who comes in such haste, in riding robes?
What woman-post is this? hath she no husband,
That will take pains to blow a horn before her 27?

Enter LADY FAULCONBRIDGE and JAMES
GURNEY.

O me! it is my mother;-How now, good lady?
What brings you here to court so hastily?

Lady F. Where is that slave, thy brother? where is he,

That holds in chase mine honour up and down?
Bast. My brother Robert? old Sir Robert's son?
Colbrand the giant 28, that same mighty man?
Is it Sir Robert's son, that you seek so?

Lady F. Sir Robert's son! Ay,thou unreverend boy, Sir Robert's son! Why scorn'st thou at Sir Robert? He is Sir Robert's son; and so art thou.

26 i. e. he is accounted but a mean man, in the present age, who does not show by his dress, deportment, and talk, that he has travelled and made observations in foreign countries.

27 Shakspeare probably meant to insinuate that a woman who travels about like a post was likely to horn her husband.

28 Colbrand was a Danish giant, whom Guy of Warwick discomfited in the presence of King Athelstan. The History of Guy was a popular book in the poet's age. Drayton has described the combat very pompously in his Polyolbion.

Bast. James Gurney, wilt thou give us leave awhile! Gur. Good leave, good Philip.

Bast.

Philip?-sparrow 29!-James,

There's toys abroad 30; anon I'll tell thee more.

[Exit GURNEY.

Madam, I was not old Sir Robert's son;

Sir Robert might have eat his part in me
Upon Good Friday, and ne'er broke his fast:
Sir Robert could do well; Marry, (to confess!)
Could he get me? Sir Robert could not do it;
We know his handy-work:-Therefore, good mother,
To whom am I beholden for these limbs?

Sir Robert never holp to make this leg.

Lady F. Hast thou conspired with thy brother too, That for thine own gain should'st defend mine honour? What means this scorn, thou most untoward knave? Bast. Knight, knight, good mother,―Basiliscolike 31:

What! I am dubb'd; I have it on my shoulder.
But, mother, I am not Sir Robert's son;

I have disclaim'd Sir Robert, and my land;

29 The Bastard means 'Philip! Do you take me for a sparrow?" The sparrow was called Philip from its note, which was supposed to have some resemblance to that word, 'phip phip the sparrows as they fly.'-Lyly's Mother Bombie.

30 i. e. rumours, idle reports.

31 This is a piece of satire on the stupid old drama of Soliman and Perseda, printed in 1599, which had probably become the butt for stage sarcasm. In this piece there is a bragging cowardly knight called Basilisco. His pretension to valour is so blown and seen through that Piston, a buffoon servant in the play, jumps upon his back, and will not disengage him till he makes Basilisco swear upon his dagger to the contents, and in the terms he dictates; thus:

Bas. O, I swear, I swear.

Pist. By the contents of this blade,-
Bas. By the contents of this blade,-

Pist. I, the aforesaid Basilico

Bas. I, the aforesaid Basilico,-knight, good fellow, knight. Pist. Knave, good fellow, knave.

Legitimation, name, and all is gone:

Then, good my mother, let me know my father; Some proper man, I hope; Who was it, mother? Lady F. Hast thou denied thyself a Faulconbridge? Bast. As faithfully as I deny the devil.

Lady F. King Richard Coeur-de-lion was thy father;

By long and vehement suit I was seduc'd
To make room for him in my husband's bed:
Heaven, lay not my transgression to my charge!
Thou art the issue of my dear offence,

Which was so strongly urg'd, past my defence.
Bast. Now, by this light, were I to get again,
Madam, I would not wish a better father.
Some sins do bear their privilege on earth,
And so doth yours; your fault was not your folly :
Needs must you lay your heart at his dispose,―
Subjected tribute to commanding love,-
Against whose fury and unmatched force
The awless lion could not wage the fight,
Nor keep his princely heart from Richard's hand.
He, that perforce robs lions of their hearts 32,
May easily win a woman's. Ay, my mother,
With all my heart I thank thee for my father!
Who lives and dares but say, thou didst not well
When I was got, I'll send his soul to hell.
Come, lady, I will show thee to my kin;

And they shall say, when Richard me begot,
If thou hadst said him nay, it had been sin:
Who says it was, he lies; I say, 'twas not.
[Exeunt.

32 Shakspeare alludes to the fabulous history of King Richard I. which says that he derived his appellation of Cœur de Lion from having plucked out a lion's heart, to whose fury he had been exposed by the Duke of Austria for having slain his son with a blow of his fist. The story is related in several of the old chronicles, as well as in the old metrical romance.

ACT II.

SCENE I. France. Before the Walls of Angiers. Enter, on one side, the Archduke of Austria1, and Forces; on the other, PHILIP, King of France, and Forces; LEWIS, CONSTANCE, ARTHUR, and Attendants.

Lew. Before Angiers well met, brave Austria.-
Arthur, that great forerunner of thy blood,
Richard, that robb'd the lion of his heart,
And fought the holy wars in Palestine,
By this brave duke came early to his grave:
And, for amends to his posterity,

At our importance2, hither is he come,
To spread his colours, boy, in thy behalf;
And to rebuke the usurpation

Of thy unnatural uncle, English John:
Embrace him, love him, give him welcome hither.
Arth. God shall forgive you Coeur-de-lion's death,
The rather, that you give his offspring life,
Shadowing their right under your wings of war:
I give you welcome with a powerless hand,
But with a heart full of unstained love:
Welcome before the gates of Angiers, duke.

Lew. A noble boy! Who would not do thee right?
Aust. Upon thy cheek lay I this zealous kiss,

1 Leopold Duke of Austria, by whom Richard had been thrown into prison in 1193, died in consequence of a fall from his horse, in 1195, some years before the date of the events upon which this play turns. The cause of the enmity between Richard and the Duke of Austria is variously related by the old chroniclers. Shakspeare has been led into this anachronism by the old play of King John.