And now baits me! This brat is none of mine;

It is the iffue of Polixenes.

Hence with it, and together with the dam,
Commit them to the fire.

Pau. It is yours;

And, might we lay th' old proverb to your charge,
So like you, 'tis the worse. Behold, my lords,
Altho' the print be little, the whole matter
And copy of the father; eye, nofe, lip,

The trick of's frown, his forehead, nay, the valley,
The pretty dimples of his chin, and cheek, his fmiles,
The very mold and frame of hand, nail, finger.
And thou, good Goddess Nature, which haft made it
So like to him that got it, if thou haft

The ordering of the mind too, 'mongst all colours
No yellow in't; left the fufpect, as he does,
Her children not her husband's.

Leo. A grofs hag!

And lozel, thou art worthy to be hang'd,
That wilt not stay her tongue.

Ant. Hang all the husbands,

That cannot do that feat, you'll leave your felf
Hardly one Subject.

Leo. Once more, take her hence.

Pau. A moft unworthy and unnatural lord

Can do no more.

Leo. I'll ha' thee burnt.

Pau. I care not;

It is an heretick that makes the fire,

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Not the which burns in't. I'll not call you Tyrant, But this moft cruel ufage of your Queen

(Not able to produce more accufation

Than your own weak-hing'd fancy) fomething favours Of tyranny; and will ignoble make

Yea, fcandalous to the world.

Leo. On your allegiance,

you,

Out of the chamber with her. Were I a tyrant,
Where were her life? fhe durft not call me fo,
If fhe did know me one. Away with her.
Pau, I pray you, do not push me, I'll be gone.

Look

Look to your babe, my lord, 'tis yours; Jove send her
A better guiding fpirit! What need thefe hands?
You, that are thus fo tender o'er his follies,

Will never do him good, not one of you.
So, fo: farewel, we are gone.

[Exit.

Leo. Thou, traytor, haft fet on thy wife to this. My child? away with't. Even thou, thou that hast A heart fo tender o'er it, take it hence,

And see it inftantly confum'd with fire;

Even thou, and none but thou. Take it up ftraight:
Within this hour bring me word it is done,
And by good teftimony, or I'll feize thy life,
With what thou elfé call'ft thine: if thou refufe,
And wilt encounter with my wrath, fay fo:
The baftard brains with these my proper hands
Shall I dash out: go take it to the fire,
For thou fett'ft on thy wife.

Ant. I did not, Sir:

Thefe lords, my noble fellows, if they please,
Can clear me in't.

Lord. We can; my royal liege,

He is not guilty of her coming hither.
Leo. You're liars all.

Lords. 'Befeech your Highness give us better credit.
We've always truly ferv'd you, and beseech you
So to esteem of us: and on our knees we beg,

(As recompence of our dear services

Paft, and to come) that you do change this purpose, Which being fo horrible, fo bloody, muft

Lead on to fome foul iffue. We all kneel

Leo. I am a feather for each wind that blows:

Shall I live on, to fee this baftard kneel

And call me father?
Than curfe 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 fo tenderly officious
With lady Margery, your midwife there,
To fave this baftard's life; (for 'tis a bastard,

So fure as this beard's grey) what will you adventure
To fave this brat's life?

Ant.

Ant. Any thing, my lord,
That my Ability may undergo,

And Nobleness impofe: at least, thus much;
I'll pawn the little blood which I have left,
To fave the innocent; any thing poffible.
Leo. It fhall be poffible; fwear by this fword,
Thou wilt perform my bidding.

Ant. I will, my lord.

Leo. Mark and perform it; feeft thou? for the fail Of any point in't fhall not only be

Death to thy felf, but to thy lewd-tongu'd wife,
Whom for this time we pardon. We enjoyn thee,
As thou art liege-man to us, that thou carry
This female bastard hence, and that thou bear it
To fome remote and defart 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 ftrange fortune
It came to us, I do in juftice charge thee,
On thy foul's peril and thy body's torture,
That thou commend it ftrangely to fome place,
Where Chance may nurse, or end it. Take it up.
Ant. I fwear to do this: tho' a prefent death
Had been more merciful. Come on, poor Babe;
Some powerful Spirit inftruct the kites and ravens
To be thy nurses! Wolves and bears, they fay,
(Cafting their favageness afide) have done
Like offices of pity. Sir, be profperous

In more than this deed does require; and Bleffing,
Against this Cruelty, fight on thy fide!

Poor thing, condemn'd to lofs. [Exit, with the child.
Leo. No; I'll not rear

Another's iffue.

Enter a Messenger.

Mes. Please your Highness, Pofts,

From those you sent to th' Oracle, are come

An hour fince. Cleomines and Dion,

Being well arriv'd from Delphos, are both landed,

Hafting to th' Court.

VOL. III.

Lord. So please you, Sir, their speed Hath been beyond account.

Leo. Twenty three days

They have been abfent: this good speed foretels,
The great Apollo fuddenly will have

The truth of this appear. Prepare you, lords,
Summon a Seffion, that we may arraign
Our most difloyal lady; for as the hath
Been publickly accus'd, fo fhall the have
A juft and open tryal. While the lives,
My heart will be a burthen to me. Leave me,
And think upon my bidding.

ACT III.

[Exeunt, severally.

SCENE, a Part of Sicily near the Sea-fide.

T

Enter Cleomines and Dion.

CLEOMINES.

HE climate's delicate, the air moft fweet, (12)
Fertile the ifle, the temple much furpaffing
The common praise it bears.

(12) The Climate's delicate, the Air most fweet,

Dion.

Fertile the Ifle -] I muft fubjoin a very reasonable. Con jecture of my Friend upon this Paffage. But the Temple of "Apollo at Delphi was not in an Island, but in Phocis on the Continent. "It's plain, the blundering Tranfcribers had their Heads running on "Delos, an Inland of the Cyclades. So that the true Reading is un"doubtedly;

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The Climate's delicate, the Air moft feet,
Fertile the Soil;-

"Soil might with a very eafy Tranfpofition of the Letters, be corrupted to Ifle. But the true Reading manifefts itself likewife on this Ac count; that, in a Defcription, the Sweetness of Air, and Fertility of Soil, is much more terfe and elegant than Air and Ifle.

Mr. Warburton.

But

Dion. I fhall report, (13)

For moft it caught me, the celestial habits,

(Methinks, I fo should term them,) and the reverence Of the grave wearers. O, the Sacrifice

How ceremonious, folemn, and unearthly

It was i' th' offering!

Cleo. But of all, the Burst

And the ear-deafning voice o' th' Oracle,
Kin to Jove's thunder, fo furpriz'd my Senfe,
That I was nothing.

Dion. If th' event o' th' journey

Prove as fuccessful to the Queen, (O, be't so!)

But to confefs the Truth, I am very fufpicious that our Author, notwithstanding, wrote Ile, and for this Reafon. The Groundwork and Incidents of his Play are taken from an old Story, call'd, The pleasant and delectable Hiftory of Doraftus and Fawnia; written by Mr. Robert Green, a Master of Arts in Cambridge, in the Reign of Q. Elizabeth: and there the Queen begs of her Lord, in the Rage of his Jealousy, That it would please his Majefty to fend fix of his Nobles, whom he best trufted, to the Ile of Delphos, there to enquire of the Oracle of Apollo, &c. Another palpable Abfurdity our Author has copied from the fame Tale, in making Bobemia a maritime Country, which is known to be Inland, and in the Heart of the main Continent.

(13) Dion.

I fhall report,

For moft it caught me, &c.] What will he report? And what means this Reafon of his Report, viz. that the Celestial Habits first caught his Obfervation? I do not know, whether his Declaration of reporting, be more obfcure, or his Reafon for it more ridiculous. The Speaker feems to be under thofe Circumftances, which his Brother Ambaffador in the next Speech talks of,

So furprix'd my Senfe, that I was Nothing.

But if we may fuppofe him recover'd from his Surprize, we may be affur'd He faid;

- It fhames Report.

Foremost it caught me, the Celestial Habits, &c.

Cleomines had faid, The Temple much furpafs'd the common Praise it bore. Dion replies, Yes, it hames Report by fo far exceeding what Report had pretended to fay of it: and then goes on to particularize the Wonders of the Place. The firft Thing, fays he, that ftruck me, was the Priests Habits, &c. And, by the Bye, it is worth obferving, that the Wonders are particulariz'd in their exact Order: first, the Habits of the Priefts, who were ready to meet Enquirers; then, the Priefts Behaviour; then, the Sacrifice; and then, the pronouncing the Oracle. The Reader may fee Van Dale de Oraculis Ethnicorum; and be fatisfied of This.

Mr. Warburton.