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-hinged fancy) something sa

vors

Of tyranny, and will ignoble make you,
Yea, scandalous to the world.

Leon.

On your allegiance, Out of the chamber with her! Were I a tyrant, Where were her life? she durst not call me so, If she did know me one. Away with her!

Pau. 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,

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 consumed 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 seise 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 served 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 gray;-what will you ad-

venture

To save this brat's life?

Ant.

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.

Leon. It shall be possible. Swear by this sword,1 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-tongued 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 favor 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,
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,

1 It was anciently a custom to swear by the cross on the handle of a sword.

2 Commit it to some place, as a stranger, without more provision