The king doth smile at; and is well prepar'd
To whip this dwarfish war, these pigmy arms,
From out the circle of his territories.

That hand, which had the ftrength, even at your door,

To cudgel you, and make you take the hatch; ^
To dive, like buckets, in concealed wells; '
To crouch in litter of your ftable planks;
in chefts and trunks;

To lie, like

lock'd up pawns,

or meaning here; befides, let us obferve how it is coupled. Faulconbridge is fneering at the Dauphin's invafion, as an unadvised enterprize, favouring of youth and indifcretion; the refult of childishness, and unthinking rafhnefs; and he seems altogether to dwell on this character of it, by calling his preparation boyish troops, dwarfish war, pigmy arms, &c. which, according to my emendation, fort very well with unhair'd, i. e. unbearded faucinefs.

THEOBALD.

Hair was formerly written hear. Hence the mistake might eafily happen. Faulconbridge has already in this act exclaimed,

"Shall a beardless boy,

"A cocker'd filken wanton, brave our fields?"

So, in the fifth act of Macbeth, Lenox tells Cathnefs that the English army is near, in which he says, there are

many unrough youths, that even now

"Proteft their first of manhood.”

Again, in King Henry V:

"For who is he, whofe chin is but enrich'd

"With one appearing hair, that will not follow

"These cull'd and choice-drawn cavaliers to France?"

MALONE.

-take the hatch;] To take the hatch, is to leap the hatch. To take a hedge or a ditch, is the hunter's phrase. STEEVENS. So, in Maffinger's Fatal Dowry, 1632:

"I look about and neigh, take hedge and ditch,

"Feed in my neighbour's paftures.' MALONE.

3 —in concealed wells;] I believe our author, with his accustomed licence, ufed concealed for concealing; wells that afforded concealment and protection to those who took refuge there.

MALONE.

Concealed wells are wells in concealed or obfcure fituations; viz. in places fecured from public notice." STEEVENS.

8

To hug with fwine; to seek sweet safety out
In vaults and prifons; and to thrill, and shake,
Even at the crying of your nation's crow,"
Thinking his voice an armed Englishman ;—
Shall that victorious hand be feebled here,
That in your chambers gave you chastisement?
No: Know, the gallant monarch is in arms;
And like an eagle o'er his aiery towers,
To foufe annoyance that comes near his neft.-
And you degenerate, you ingrate revolts,
You bloody Neroes, ripping up the womb
Of your dear mother England, blush for fhame:
For your own ladies, and pale-vifag'd maids,
Like Amazons, come tripping after drums;
Their thimbles into armed gauntlets change,
Their neelds to lances, and their gentle hearts
To fierce and bloody inclination.

LEW. There end thy brave, and turn thy face in peace;

of your nation's crow,] Mr. Pope, and fome of the fubfequent editors, read our nation's crow; not obferving, that the Baftard is fpeaking of John's atchievements in France. He likewife reads in the next line-his voice; but this voice, the voice or caw of the French crow, is fufficiently clear. MALONE.

-your nation's crow,] i. e. at the crowing of a cock; gallus meaning both a cock and a Frenchman. DOUCE.

8

like an eagle o'er his aiery towers,] An aiery is the neft of an eagle. So, in King Richard III:

"Our aiery buildeth in the cedar's top." STEEVENS, 9 Their neelds to lances,] So, in A Midsummer Night's Dream: "Have with our neelds created both one flower." Fairfax has the fame contraction of the word-needle.

STEEVENS.

In the old copy the word is contractedly written needl's, but it was certainly intended to be pronounced neelds, as it is frequently written in old English books. Many diffyllables are ufed by Shakspeare and other writers as monofyllables, as whether, fpirit, &c. though they generally appear at length in the original editions of these plays. MALONE.

We grant, thou canst outfcold us: fare thee well;
We hold our time too precious to be spent
With fuch a brabbler,

PAND.

Give me leave to speak.

BAST, NO, I will speak.

LEW. We will attend to neither :-Strike up the drums; and let the tongue of war Plead for our interest, and our being here.

BAST. Indeed, your drums, being beaten, will cry out;

And fo fhall you, being beaten: Do but start
An echo with the clamour of thy drum,
And even at hand a drum is ready brac'd,
That shall reverberate all as loud as thine;
Sound but another, and another shall,

As loud as thine, rattle the welkin's ear,
And mock the deep-mouth'd thunder: for at hand
(Not trusting to this halting legate here,
Whom he hath us'd rather for sport than need,)
Is warlike John; and in his forehead fits
A bare-ribb'd death, whofe office is this day
To feast upon whole thousands of the French.

LEW. Strike up our drums, to find this danger

out.

BAST. And thou shalt find it, Dauphin, do not [Exeunt.

doubt.

The fame. A Field of Battle.

Alarums. Enter King JOHN and HUBERT.

K. JOHN. How goes the day with us? O, tell me, Hubert.

HUB. Badly, I fear: How fares your majesty? K. JOHN. This fever, that hath troubled me fo long,

Lies heavy on me; O, my heart is fick!

Enter a Meffenger.

MESS. My lord, your valiant kinsman, Faulconbridge,

Defires your majefty to leave the field;

And fend him word by me, which way you go. K. JOHN. Tell him, toward Swinstead, to the abbey there.

MESS. Be of good comfort; for the great fupply, That was expected by the Dauphin here, Are wreck'd three nights ago on Goodwin fands. This news was brought to Richard' but even now: The French fight coldly, and retire themselves.

2

K. JOHN. Ah me! this tyrant fever burns me up,

-for the great fupply,

Are wreck'd-] Supply is here and in a fubfequent paffage in fcene v. used as a noun of multitude. MALONE.

3 Richard-] Sir Richard Faulconbridge;-and yet the King a little before (Act III. fc. ii.) calls him by his original name of Philip. STEEVENS.

And will not let me welcome this good news.
Set on toward Swinftead: to my litter ftraight;
Weakness poffeffeth me, and I am faint. [Exeunt.

SCENE IV.

The fame. Another part of the fame.

Enter SALISBURY, PEMBROKE, BIGOT, and Others.

SAL. I did not think the king fo ftor'd with

friends.

PEMB. Up once again; put spirit in the French; If they mifcarry, we miscarry too.

SAL. That mifbegotten devil, Faulconbridge, In spite of spite, alone upholds the day.

PEMB. They fay, king John, fore fick, hath left

the field.

Enter MELUN wounded, and led by Soldiers.

MEL. Lead me to the revolts of England here. SAL. When we were happy, we had other names. PEMB. It is the count Melun.

SAL.

Wounded to death. MEL. Fly, noble English, you are bought and fold; 4

Unthread the rude eye of rebellion,'

4 bought and fold;] The fame proverbial phrafe, intimating treachery, is used in K. Richard III. A&t V. fc. iii. in K. Henry VI. P. I. Act IV. fc. iv. and in The Comedy of Errors, Act III. fc. i. STEEVENS.

5 Unthread the rude eye of rebellion,] Though all the copies concur in this reading, how poor is the metaphor of unthreading