Flourish. Enter King EDWARD, attended; Lady GREY, as Queen; PEMBROKE, STAFFORD, HASTINGS, and Others."

*GLO. And his well-chofen bride.

*CLAR. I mind to tell him plainly what I think. 'K. EDW. Now, brother of Clarence, how like you our choice,

• That you ftand penfive, as half malcontent? 'CLAR. As well as Lewis of France, or the earl of Warwick;

Which are fo weak of courage, and in judgment, 'That they'll take no offence at our abufe.

'K. EDW. Suppofe, they take offence without a

caufe,

'They are but Lewis and Warwick; I am Edward, 'Your king and Warwick's, and must have will.

my

'GLO. And you fhall have your will, because our king:

'Yet hafty marriage feldom proveth well.

K. EDW. Yea, brother Richard, are you offended . too?i

'GLO. Not I:

'No; God forbid, that I fhould wish them fever'd • Whom God hath join'd together: ay, and 'twere pity,

To funder them that yoke fo well together.

9 The stage direction in the folio, [Four ftand on one fide, and four on the other.] is fufficient proof that the play, as exhibited there, was printed from a stage copy. I fuppofe thefe eight important perfonages were attendants. STEEVENS.

are you offended too ?] So the folio. The quartos: are you against us too?" STEEVENS,

ΚΑ

'K. EDW. Setting your fcorns, and your mislike, afide,

Tell me fome reason, why the lady Grey

Should not become my wife, and England's

queen:

And you too, Somerfet, and Montague,
Speak freely what you think.

CLAR. Then this is my opinion,3-that king
Lewis

'Becomes your enemy, for mocking him
About the marriage of the lady Bona.

GLO. And Warwick, doing what you gave in charge,

Is now dishonoured by this new marriage.

'K. EDW. What, if both Lewis and Warwick be appeas'd,

"By fuch invention as I can devife?

MONT. Yet to have join'd with France in fuch al

liance,

Would more have ftrengthen'd this our commonwealth

'Gainst foreign ftorms, than any home-bred marriage.

'HAST. Why, knows not Montague, that of it

felf

2 And you too, Somerfet, &c.] In the old play Somerset does not appear in this fcene. MALONE.

3 Clar. Then this is my opinion,&c.] Inftead of this and the following speech, the quartos read thus:

Clar. My lord, then this is my opinion;

"That Warwick, being difhonour'd in his embaffage, "Doth feek revenge, to quit his injuries.

"Gio. And Lewis, in regard of his fifter's wrongs, "Doth join with Warwick to fupplant your ftate."

STEEVENS.

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 inferted 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 lapse 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 itfelf." REED.

5 Yes; but the fafer, &c.] Thus the fecond folio. Yes, in the firft, 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 fhall 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 else you would not have beftow'd the heir 8

"Of the lord Bonville on your new wife's fon, And leave your brothers to go speed 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 show'd your

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

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 majesty

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

"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 madness
"You bury brotherhood." STEEVENS.

-you would not have bestow'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 pleafing, * 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 must obey? 'Nay, whom they shall obey, and love thee too, "Unless they feek for hatred at my hands: 'Which if they do, yet will I keep thee safe, ' And they fhall 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 muft obey, nay, fhall obey,

"And if they look for favour at my hands.

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