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Will have fulfill'd their fecret purposes:

For has not the divine Apollo faid,
Is't not the tenour of his oracle,

That king Leontes fhall not have an heir,
'Till his loft child be found? which, that it fhall,
Is all as monftrous to our human reason,
As my Antigonus to break his grave,

And come again to me; who, on my life,

Did perish with the infant. 'Tis your counsel,
My lord fhould to the heavens be contrary,
Oppose against their wills.-Care not för iffue; [To the king.
The crown will find an heir: Great Alexander

Left his to the worthieft; fo his fucceffor

Was like to be the best.

Leo. Good Paulina,

Who haft the memory of Hermione,

I know, in honour,-O, that ever I

Had fquar'd me to thy counfel! then, even now,
I might have look'd upon my queen's full eyes ;
Have taken treasure from her lips,-

Paul. And left them

More rich, for what they yielded.

Leo. Thou fpeak'st truth.

No more fuch wives; therefore, no wife: one worse,
And better us'd, would make her fainted fpirit

Again poffefs her corps; and, on this ftage,

(P-Were we offenders now) appear foul-vext, And begin, why? to me.

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Paul. Had fhe such power,

She had just cause.

• as monstrous to our human reafon,]-as improbable.

P (Were we offenders now)]-Were we to be guilty of fo grofs an

offence.-(Where we offend her now.)

¶ why? to me.]—to call me to account.

Leo.

Leo. She had; and would incense me

To murder her I married.

Paul. I fhould fo:

Were I the ghost that walk'd, I'd bid you mark
Her eye; and tell me, for what dull part in't

You chofe her: then I'd fhriek, that even your ears
Should 'rift to hear me; and the words that follow'd
Should be, Remember mine.

Leo. Stars, stars,

And all eyes else, dead coals !-fear thou no wife,
I'll have no wife, Paulina.

Paul. Will you swear

Never to marry, but by my free leave?

Leo. Never, Paulina; fo be blefs'd my fpirit!
Paul. Then, good my lords, bear witness to his oath.
Cle. You tempt him over-much.

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Yet, if my lord will marry,-if you will, fir;
No remedy, but you will; give me the office
To chufe you a queen: fhe fhall not be fo young
As was your former; but she shall be such,

As, walk'd your firft queen's ghost, it should take joy

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We shall not marry, 'till thou bid'ft us.

Paul. That

Shall be, when your firft queen's again in breath;

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Enter a Gentleman.

Gent. One that gives out himself prince Florizel,
Son of Polixenes, with his princess, (she
The faireft I have yet beheld) defires
Access to your high presence.

Leo. What with him? he comes not
Like to his father's greatness: his approach,
So out of circumstance, and sudden, tell us,
'Tis not a visitation fram'd, but forc'd
By need, and accident, What train ?

Gent. But few,

And those but mean.

Leo. His princefs, fay you, with him?

Gent. Ay; the most peerless piece of earth, I think, That e'er the fun fhone bright on.

Paul. Oh Hermione,

As every present time doth boaft itself

Above a better, gone; fo muft "thy grave

Give way to what's feen now. Sir, you yourself

W

Have faid, and writ fo; but your writing now
Is colder than that theme: She had not been,

Nor was not to be equall'd,-thus your verse
Flow'd with her beauty once; 'tis fhrewdly ebb'd,
To fay, you have seen a better.

Gent. Pardon, madam :

The one I have almost forgot; (your pardon)
The other, when she has obtain'd your eye,
Will have your tongue too. This is a creature
Would the begin a fect, might quench the zeal
Of all profeffors elfe; make profelytes

Of who the but bid follow.

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thy grave]-the beauties therein contained.

* writ fo;]-the following fentence; though your zeal on that sub

ject is now fomewhat abated.

Paul,

Paul. How? not women?

Gent. Women will love her, that she is a woman
More worth than any man; men, that she is
The rareft of all women.

Leo. Go, Cleomenes;

Yourself, affifted with your honour'd friends,

[Exit Cleomenes. Bring them to our embracement.-Still 'tis ftrange, He thus fhould steal upon us.

Paul. Had our prince,

(Jewel of children) feen this hour, he had pair'd Well with this lord; there was not full a month Between their births.

Leo. Pr'ythee, no more; ceafe; thou know'ft,
He dies to me again, when talk'd of: fure,
When I fhall fee this gentleman, thy fpeeches
Will bring me to confider that, which may
Unfurnish me of reafon. They are come.

Enter Florizel, Perdita, Cleomenes, and others.
Your mother was most true to wedlock, prince;
For fhe did print your royal father off,
Conceiving you: Were I but twenty one,
Your father's image is fo hit in you,

His very air, that I should call you brother,
As I did him; and fpeak of fomething, wildly
By us perform❜d before. Moft dearly welcome!
And your fair princefs, goddess !-O, alas!
I loft a couple, that 'twixt heaven and earth
Might thus have stood, begetting wonder, as
You, gracious couple, do! and then I loft
(All mine own folly) the fociety,
Àmity too, of your brave father; whom,
Though bearing mifery, I defire
Once more to look on.

my life

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Flo. Sir, by his command

Have I here touch'd Sicilia; and from him

Give you

all greetings, that a king, at friend, Can fend his brother: and, but infirmity

(Which waits upon worn times) hath something seiz'd His wifh'd ability, he had himself

The lands and waters 'twixt your throne and his
Measur'd, to look upon you; whom he loves
(He bade me fay fo) more than all the scepters,
And thofe that bear them, living.

Leo. Oh, my brother!

(Good gentleman) the wrongs I have done thee, ftir Afresh within me; and these thy offices,

So rarely kind, are as interpreters

Of my behind-hand flackness !-Welcome hither,
As is the fpring to the earth. And hath he too
Expos'd this paragon to the fearful usage
(At least, ungentle) of the dreadful Neptune,
To greet a man, not worth her pains; much less
The adventure of her perfon?

Flo. Good my lord,

She came from Libya.

Leo. Where the warlike Smalus,

That noble honour'd lord, is fear'd, and lov'd?

Flo. Moft royal fir, from thence; from him, whofe

daughter

His tears proclaim'd his, parting with her thence
(A profperous fouth-wind friendly) we have cross'd,
To execute the charge my father gave me,
For vifiting your highness: My best train

I have from your Sicilian fhores dismiss'd;

* at friend,]-upon friendly terms, living at friendship with another. Y proclaim'd his, parting with her :]-to be his indeed, being thed fo abundantly at parting with her.

Who

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