And see it instantly consum'd with fire;

Even thou, and none but thou. Take it up straight:
Within this hour bring me word 'tis done,

(And by good testimony,) or I'll seize thy life,
With what thou else call'st thine: If thou refuse,
And wilt encounter with my wrath, say so;
The bastard brains with these my proper hands
Shall I dash out. Go, take it to the fire;
For thou sett'st on thy wife.

Ant.

I did not, sir: These lords, my noble fellows, if they please,

Can clear me in't.

1 Lord.

We can; my royal liege,

He is not guilty of her coming hither.

Leon. You are liars all.

1 Lord. 'Beseech your highness, give us better credit; We have always truly serv'd you; and beseech

So to esteem of us: And on our knees we beg,

(As recompense of our dear services,

Past, and to come,) that you do change this purpose;

Which, being so horrible, so bloody, must

Lead on to some foul issue: We all kneel.

Leon. I am a feather for each wind that blows: Shall I live on, to see this bastard kneel

And call me father?
Than curse it then.
It shall not neither.

Better burn it now,

But, be it; let it live :
You, sir, come you hither;
[To ANTIGONUS.

You, that have been so tenderly officious
With lady Margery, your midwife, there,
To save this bastard's life: for 'tis a bastard,
So sure as this beard's
what will you
To save this brat's life?

Ant.

grey,

Any thing, my lord,

That my ability may undergo,

And nobleness impose: at least, thus much;
I'll pawn the little blood which I have left,
To save the innocent: any thing possible.

adventure

Leon. It shall be possible: Swear by this sword, Thou wilt perform my bidding.

Ant.

I will, my lord.

Leon. Mark, and perform it; (seest thou ?) for the fail Of any point in't shall not only be

Death to thyself, but to thy lew'd-tongu'd wife;
Whom, for this time, we pardon. We enjoin thee,
As thou art liegeman to us, that thou carry
This female bastard hence; and that thou bear it
To some remote and desert place, quite out
Of our dominions; and that there thou leave it,
Without more mercy, to its own protection,
And favour of the climate. As by strange fortune
It came to us, I do in justice charge thee,-
On thy soul's peril, and thy body's torture,-
That thou commend it strangely to some place1,
Where chance may nurse, or end it; Take it up.

Ant. I swear to do this, though a present death
Had been more merciful. - Come on, poor babe:
Some powerful spirit instruct the kites and ravens,
To be thy nurses! Wolves, and bears, they say,
Casting their savageness aside, have done

Like offices of pity. - Sir, be prosperous

In more than this deed doth require! and blessing,
Against this cruelty, fight on thy side,

Poor thing, condemn'd to loss! [Exit with the Child.
No, I'll not rear

Leon.

Another's issue.

1 Atten.

Please your highness, posts,
From those you sent to the oracle, are come
An hour since: Cleomenes and Dion,

Being well arriv'd from Delphos, are both landed,
Hasting to the court.

9

Swear by this sword,] It was anciently the custom to swear

by the cross on the handle of a sword.

1

commend it strangely to some place,] Commit it to some place, as a stranger, without more provision.

1 Lord.

So please you, sir, their speed

Hath been beyond account.

Leon.

Twenty-three days

They have been absent: 'Tis good speed; foretels,
The great Apollo suddenly will have

The truth of this appear. Prepare you, lords;
Summon a session, that we may arraign
Our most disloyal lady: for, as she hath
Been publickly accus'd, so shall she have
A just and open trial.
trial. While she lives,
My heart will be a burden to me.
And think upon my bidding.

Leave me:

[Exeunt.

ACT III.

SCENE I.-The same. A Street in some Town.

Enter CLEOMENES and DION.

Cleo. The climate's delicate; the air most sweet; Fertile the isle; the temple much surpassing

The common praise it bears.

Dion.

I shall report,

For most it caught me, the celestial habits,

(Methinks, I so should term them,) and the reverence Of the grave wearers. O, the sacrifice!

How ceremonious, solemn, and unearthly

It was i'the offering!

Cleo.

But, of all, the burst

And the ear-deafening voice o'the oracle,

Kin to Jove's thunder, so surpriz'd my sense,

That I was nothing.

Dion.

If the event o'the journey

Prove as successful to the queen, - O, be't so!

As it hath been to us, rare, pleasant, speedy,
The time is worth the use on't. 2

Cleo.

Great Apollo,

Turn all to the best! These proclamations,
So forcing faults upon Hermione,

I little like.

Dion.

The violent carriage of it

Will clear, or end, the business: When the oracle, (Thus by Apollo's great divine seal'd up,)

Shall the contents discover, something rare,

Even then will rush to knowledge.

horses;

And gracious be the issue!

Go, - fresh

[Exeunt.

SCENE II.

The same. A Court of Justice.

LEONTES, Lords, and Officers, appear properly seated.

Leon. This sessions (to our great grief, we pronounce,) Even pushes 'gainst our heart: The party tried,

The daughter of a king; our wife; and one
Of us too much belov'd. —Let us be clear'd

Of being tyrannous, since we so openly
Proceed in justice; which shall have due course,
Even to the guilt, or the purgation.3

Produce the prisoner.

Offi. It is his highness' pleasure, that the queen Appear in person here in court. - Silence!

2 The time is worth the use on't.] The time is worth the use on't, means, the time which we have spent in visiting Delos, has recompensed us for the trouble of so spending it.

3 Even to the guilt, or the purgation.] The word even is not to be understood here as an adverb, but as an adjective, signifying equal or indifferent.

HERMIONE is brought in, guarded; PAULINA and Ladies/

attending.

Leon. Read the indictment.

Offi. Hermione, queen to the worthy Leontes, king of Sicilia, thou art here accused and arraigned of high treason, in committing adultery with Polixenes, king of Bohemia; and conspiring with Camillo to take away the life of our sovereign lord the king, thy royal husband: the pretence whereof being by circumstances partly laid open, thou, Hermione, contrary to the faith and allegiance of a true subject, didst counsel and aid them, for their better safety, to fly away by night.

Her. Since what I am to say, must be but that Which contradicts my accusation; and

The testimony on my part, no other

But what comes from myself; it shall scarce boot me
To say, Not guilty; mine integrity,

Being counted falsehood, shall, as I express it,
Be so receiv'd. But thus, If powers divine
Behold our human actions, (as they do,)

I doubt not then, but innocence shall make
False accusation blush, and tyranny

Tremble at patience. -You, my lord, best know,
(Who least will seem to do so,) my past life
Hath been as continent, as chaste, as true,
As I am now unhappy; which is more
Than history can pattern, though devis'd,

And play'd, to take spectators: For behold me, —
A fellow of the royal bed, which owe

A moiety of the throne, a great king's daughter,
The mother to a hopeful prince, here standing,

To prate and talk for life, and honour, 'fore

4

· pretence —] Is, in this place, taken for a scheme laid, a

design formed.

5

mine integrity, &c.] That is, my virtue being accounted, wickedness, my assertion of it will pass but for a lie. Falsehood,, means both treachery and lie. JOHNSON.