'It is religion that doth make vowes kept,
But thou hast sworne against religion:
By what thou swear'st against the thing thou swear'st,
And mak'st an oath the suretie for thy truth,
Against an oath the truth, thou art vnsure
To sweare, sweares onely not be forsworne,
Else what a mockerie should it be to sweare?'
Mr Staunton suggests the following as 'a probable reading of the passage in its original form:'
'It is religion that doth make vows kept,
But thou hast sworn against religion:
By that, thou swear'st against the thing thou swear'st,
And mak'st an oath, the surety for thy truth,
Against an oath, the proof thou art unsure.
Who swears swears only not to be forsworn,
Else what a mockery should it be to swear!'
In line 285 Mr Halliwell appears to adopt swear'st in his note, though he leaves swears in the text.
[Note XIX.]
III. 2. 4. After this line Pope inserts the following from the old play before quoted:
'Thus hath king Richard's son perform'd his vow,
And offer'd Austria's blood for sacrifice
Unto his father's ever-living soul.'
[Note XX.]
III. 4. 41, 42. Mr Lloyd writes to us with reference to the speech of Constance: 'I think the two last lines are a first and second draught, the latter intended to replace the former, and both printed together by mistake.'