England is fafe, if true within itself ?4

* MONT. Yes; but the fafer, when 'tis back'd with France.5

*HAST. 'Tis better ufing France, than trusting France:

* Let us be back'd with God, and with the feas," * Which he hath given for fence impregnable, * And with their helps only defend ourselves; *In them, and in ourselves, our fafety lies.

CLAR. For this one fpeech, lord Haftings well deferves

To have the heir of the lord Hungerford.

'K. Edw. Ay, what of that? it was my will, and grant;

4 Why, knows not Montague, that of itself

England is fafe, if true within itself?] In the old play these

lines ftand thus:

"Let England be true within itself,

"We need not France nor any alliance with them."

It is obfervable that the firft of these lines occurs in the old play of King John, 1591, from which our author borrowed it, and inserted it with a flight change in his own play with the fame title. MALONE.

The original of this fentiment is probably to be found in DR. ANDREW BORDE's Fyrft Boke of the Introduction of Knowledge, bl. 1. printed for Copland, Sign. A 4.

See Vol. X. p. 535. Neither the lapfe of two centuries, nor any circumftance which has occurred during that eventful period, has in any degree fhook the credit of this obfervation, or impaired the confidence of the publick in the truth of it. " England is and will be still safe, if true within itself." REED.

5 Yes; but the fafer, &c.] Thus the fecond folio. Yes, in the first, is omitted. STEEVENS.

6

- with the feas,] This has been the advice of every man who in any age understood and favoured the intereft of England.

JOHNSON.

* And, for this once, my will shall stand for law.
'GLO. And yet, methinks," your grace hath not
done well,

To give the heir and daughter of lord Scales
Unto the brother of your loving bride;

She better would have fitted me, or Clarence: 'But in your bride you bury brotherhood.

CLAR. Or elfe you would not have bestow'd the
heir &

• Of the lord Bonville on your new wife's fon,
• And leave your brothers to go fpeed elsewhere.

K. EDW. Alas, poor Clarence! is it for a wife, 'That thou art malcontent? I will provide thee. "CLAR, In choofing for yourself, you fhow'd

judgment;

Which being fhallow, you fhall give me leave
To play the broker in mine own behalf;

your

And, to that end, I fhortly mind to leave you.

'K. EDW. Leave me, or tarry, Edward will be king,

And not be tied unto his brother's will.

Q. ELIZ. My lords, before it pleas'd his majefty

7 And yet, methinks, &c.] The quartos vary from the folio, as follows:

8

"Cla. Ay, and for fuch a thing too, the lord Scales "Did well deferve at your hands, to have the Daughter of the lord Bonfield, and left your "Brothers to go feek elsewhere; but in your madnefs "You bury brotherhood." STEEVENS.

•you would not have beftow'd the heir] It must be remembered, that till the Reftoration, the heireffes of great eftates were in the wardship of the King, who in their minority gave them up to plunder, and afterwards matched them to his favourites. I know not when liberty gained more than by the abolition of the court of wards. JOHNSON.

To raise my state to title of a queen, * Do me but right, and you must all confefs That I was not ignoble of defcent,9

* And meaner than myself have had like fortune. * But as this title honours me and mine,

*So your diflikes, to whom I would be pleasing,
* Do cloud my joys with danger and with forrow.
'K. EDW. My love, forbear to fawn upon their
frowns:1

'What danger, or what forrow can befall thee,
So long as Edward is thy conftant friend,
And their true fovereign, whom they muft obey?
Nay, whom they fhall obey, and love thee too,
Unless they feek for hatred at my hands:

* Which if they do, yet will I keep thee fafe,
' And they shall feel the vengeance of my wrath.
* GLO. I hear, yet fay not much, but think the
[Afide.

more.

Enter a Meffenger.

'K. EDW. Now, meffenger, what letters, or what

news,

From France ?

9 I was not ignoble of defcent,] Her father was Sir Richard Widville, Knight, afterwards Earl of Rivers; her mother, Jaqueline, Duchefs Dowager of Bedford, who was daughter to Peter of Luxemburgh, Earl of Saint Paul, and widow of John Duke of Bedford, brother to King Henry V. MALONE.

I

My love, forbear &c.] Inftead of this and the following fpeech, the old play has only these lines:

"Edw. Forbear, my love, to fawne upon their frowns, "For thee they must obey, nay, shall obey,

"And if they look for favour at my hands.

"Mont. My lord, here is the messenger return'd from Fraunce." MALONE.

'MESS. My fovereign liege, no letters; and few words,

But fuch as I, without your fpecial pardon, Dare not relate.

'K. EDW. Go to, we pardon thee: therefore, in brief,

Tell me their words as near as thou canft guefs them.

• What answer makes king Lewis unto our letters?
MESS. At my depart, these were his very words;
Go tell falfe Edward, thy fuppofed king,-
That Lewis of France is fending over maskers,
To revel it with him and his new bride.

K. EDW. Is. Lewis fo brave? belike, he thinks me Henry.

'But what faid lady Bona to my marriage ?2

MESS. These were her words, utter'd with mild difdain;

Tell him, in hope he'll prove a widower fhortly,
I'll wear the willow garland for his fake.

K. EDW. I blame not her, fhe could fay little

lefs;

'She had the wrong. But what faid Henry's queen? 'For I have heard, that she was there in place.3 MESS. Tell him, quoth fhe, my mourning weeds are done,4

And I am ready to put armour on

2

3

-She was there in place.] This expreffion, fignifying, she was there prefent, occurs frequently in old English writers.

En place, a Gallicifm. STEEVENs.

MALONE.

- are done,] i. e. are confumed, thrown off. The word

'K. Edw. Belike, fhe minds to play the Amazon. But what faid Warwick to these injuries?

• MESS. He, more incens'd against your majesty < Than all the reft, discharg'd me with these words; Tell him from me, that he hath done me wrong, And therefore I'll uncrown him, ere't be long.

<

K. EDW. Ha! durft the traitor breathe out fo proud words?

'Well, I will arm me, being thus forewarn'd : They shall have wars, and pay for their prefump

tion.

But fay, is Warwick friends with Margaret?

MESS. Ay, gracious fovereign; they are so link'd in friendship,

That young prince Edward marries Warwick's daughter.

CLAR. Belike, the elder; Clarence will have the younger.5

* Now, brother king, farewell, and fit you fast, * For I will hence to Warwick's other daughter; *That, though I want a kingdom, yet in marriage

is often used in this fenfe by the writers of our author's age. So, in his Rape of Lucrece:

"And if poffefs'd, as foon decay'd and done

"As is the morning's filver-melting dew." MALONE. 5 Belike, the elder; Clarence will have the younger.] I have ventured to make elder and younger change places in this line against the authority of all the printed copies. The reafon of it will be obvious. THEOBALD..

Clarence having in fact married Ifabella, the elder daughter of Warwick, Mr. Theobald made elder and younger change places in this line; in which he has been followed, I think, improperly, by the fubfequent editors: The author of the old play, where this line is found, might from ignorance or intentionally have deviated from hiftory, in his account of the person whom Clarence married. See a former note, p. 131, n. 4. MALONE.