So like to him that got it, if thou hast

The ordering of the mind too, 'mongst all colours No yellow" in't; lest she suspect, as he does,

Her children not her husband's!

Leon.
And, lozel, thou art worthy to be hang'd,

8

That wilt not stay her tongue.

Ant.'

A gross hag!

Hang all the husbands,

Once more, take her hence.

That cannot do that feat, you'll leave yourself

Hardly one subject.

Leon.

Paul. A most unworthy and unnatural lord

Can do no more.

Leon.

Paul.

I'll have thee burn'd.

It is an heretick, that makes the fire,

I care not:

Not she, which burns in't. I'll not call you tyrant; But this most cruel usage of your queen

(Not able to produce more accusation

Than your own weak-hing'd fancy,) something

savours

Of tyranny, and will ignoble make you,

Yea, scandalous to the world.

Leon.

Out of the chamber with her.

On your allegiance,

Were I a tyrant, Where were her life? she durst not call me so, If she did know me one. Away with her.

Paul. I pray you, do not push me; I'll be gone. Look to your babe, my lord; 'tis yours: Jove send her A better guiding spirit!-What need these hands? You, that are thus so tender o'er his follies,

7 The colour of jealousy.

• Worthless fellow.

Will never do him good, not one of you.

So, so-Farewell; we are gone.

[Exit.

Leon. Thou, traitor, hast set on thy wife to this.

My child? away with't!-even thou, that hast

A heart so tender o'er it, take it hence,

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? Better burn it now,

Than curse it then. But, be it; let it live:

It shall not neither.-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 grey,-what will you

ture

To save this brat's life?

Ant.

Any thing, my lord,

That my ability may undergo,

I'll

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

pawn

adven

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 lewd-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 place,'

9 It was anciently a practice to swear by the cross at the hilt of a sword.

1 i. e. Commit it to some place as a stranger.

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!

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.

1 Lord.

So please you, sir, their speed

Twenty-three days

Hath been beyond account.

Leon.

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.

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 re

verence

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."

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,

i. e. Our journey has recompensed us the time we spent in it.