LADY F. King Richard Coeur-de-lion was thy father ; By long and vehement fuit I was feduc'd 8 Some fins do bear their privilege on earth, 7 Thou art-] Old copy-That art. Corre&ed by Mr. Rowe. Some fins-] There are fins, that whatever be determined of them above, are not much cenfured on earth. JOHNSON. Needs muft you lay your heart at his dispose, Against whofe fury und unmatched force The awless lion could not wage the fight, &c.] Shakspeare here alludes to the old metrical romance of Richard Coeur-de-lion, wherein this once celebrated monarch is related to have acquired his diftinguifing appellation, by having plucked out a lion's heart to whofe fury he was exposed by the Duke of Auftria, for having flain his fon with a blow of his fift. From this ancient romance the ftory has crept into fome of our old chronicles: but the original paffage may be seen at large in the introdu&ion to the third volame of Reliques of ancient English Poetry. PERCY. Come, lady, I will fhow thee to my kin; ACT II. SCENE I.o France. Before the walls of Angiers. [Exeunt. Enter, on one fide, the Archduke of Auftria, and Forces; on the other, PHILIP, King of France, and Forces, LEWIS, CONSTANCE, ARTHUR, and Attendants. 2 LEW. Before Angiers well met, brave Auftria.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: 3 Richard, that robb'd &c.] So, Raftal, in his Chronicle: "It is fayd that a lyon was put to kynge Richard, beynge in prison, to have devoured him, and when the lyon was gapynge he put his arme in his mouth, and pulled the lyon by the harte so hard that he flewe the lyon, and therefore fome fay he is called Rycharde Gure de Lyon; but fome fay he is called Cure de Lyon, because of his boldness and hardy ftomake." GREY. I have an old black-lettered hiftory of lord Fauconbridge, whence Shakspeare might pick up this circumftance. FARMER. In Heywoods Downfall of Robert Earl of Huntington, 1601, there is a long defcription of this fabulous atchievement. The same story is told by Knighton, inter Decem Scriptores, and by Fabian, who calls it a fable. It probably took its rife from Hugh de Neville, one of Richard's followers, having killed a lion, when they were in the Holy Land: a circumftance recorded by Matthew Paris. MALONE. 3 By this brave duke came early to his grave:] The old play led Shakspeare into this error of afcribing to the Duke of Auftria the And, for amends to his pofterity, Of thy unnatural uncle, English John: Embrace him, love him, give him welcome hither. ARTH. God fhall forgive you Coeur-de-lion's death, The rather, that you give his offspring life, Shadowing their right under your wings of war: death of Richard, who loft his life at the fiege of Chaluz, long after he had been ranfomed out of Auftria's power. STEEVENS. The producing Auftria on the fcene is alfo contrary to the truth of history, into which anachronism our author was led by the old play. Leopold Duke of Auftria, by whom Richard I. had been thrown in prifon in 1193, died in confequence of a fall from his horse in 1195, fome years before the commencement of the prefent play. The original caufe of the enmity between Richard the First, and the Duke of Auftria, was, according to Fabian, that Richard "tooke from a knighte of the Duke of Oftriche the faid Duke's banner, and in despite of the said duke, trade it under foote, and did unto it all the fpite he might." Harding fays, in his Chronicle, that the cause of quarrel was Richard's taking down the Duke of Auftria's arms and banner, which he had set up above thofe of the King of France and the King of Jerufalem. The affront was given, when they lay before Acre in Paleftine. This circumftauce is alluded to in the old King John, where the Baftard, after killing Auftria, fays, "And as my father triumph'd in thy fpoils, "And trod thine enfigns underneath his feet," &c. Other hiftorians fay, that the Duke fufpe&ed Richard to have been concerned in the affaffination of his kinfman, the Marquis of Montferrat, who was ftabbed in Tyre, foon after he had been eleaed King of Jerufalem; but this was a calumny, propagated by Richard's enemies for political purposes. MALONE. 4 At our importance-] At our importunity. JOHNSON. "The letter at Sir Toby's great importance." STERVENS. I give you welcome with a powerless hand, AUST. Upon thy cheek lay I this zealous kifs, As feal to this indenture of my love; That to my home I will no more return, Till Angiers, and the right thou haft in France, CONST. O, take his mother's thanks, a widow's thanks, Till your ftrong hand fhall help to give him ftrength, To make a more requital to your love. 6 AUST. The peace of heaven is theirs, that lift their swords In fuch a just and charitable war. K. PHI. Well then, to work; our cannon fhall be bent Against the brows of this refifting town. 5 -that pale, that white-fac'd fhore,] England is fuppofed to be called Albion from the white rocks facing France. JOHNSON. • To make a more requital, &c.] I believe it has been already obferved, that more fignified in our author's time, greater. STEEVENS. To cull the plots of beft advantages:-' CONST. Stay for an answer to your embassy, Left unadvis'd you ftain your fwords with blood: My lord Chatillon may from England bring That right in peace, which here we urge in war; And then we fhall repent each drop of blood, That hot rafh hafte fo indirectly fhed. Enter CHATILLON. 8 K. PHI. A wonder, lady! -lo, upon thy wish, Our meffenger Chatillon is arriv'd. What England fays, fay briefly, gentle lord, 9 7 To cull the plots of best advantages:] i. c. to mark such stations as might moft over-awe the town. HENLEY. 8 A wonder, lady!] The wonder is only that Chatillon happened to arrive at the moment when Conftance mentioned him; which the French king, according to a fuperftition which prevails more or lefs in every mind agitated by great affairs, turns into a miraculous interpofition, or omen of good. Johnson. 9 expedient-] Immediate, expeditious. JOHNSON. So, in K. Henry VI. Part II: "A breach, that craves a quick, expedient Rop." STEEVENS. VOL. XI. Y |