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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 & 2 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 pur

pose;

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.

It shall not neither.

hither;

But, be it; let it live.

[To ANT.] You, sir, come you

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 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, Thou wilt perform my bidding.

Ant.

I will, my lord.

Leon. Mark, and perform it, see'st 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 it 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
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!

Leon.

Another's issue.

[Exit, with the babe.

No, I'll not rear

1 Attend. Please your Highness, posts, From those you sent to th' Oracle, are come

An hour since. Cleomenes and Dion,

Being well arriv'd from Delphos, are both landed, Hasting to th' Court.

1 Lord.

So please you, sir, their speed

Hath been beyond accompt.

Leon.

Twenty-three days

They have been absent: 'tis good speed; foretells
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 publicly accus'd, so shall she have
A just and open trial. While she lives,
My heart will be a burthen to me.
And think upon my bidding.

Leave me;

[Exeunt.

ACT III.

SCENE I. Sicilia. A Street.

Enter CLEOMENES and DION.

CLEOMENES.

HE climate's delicate, the air most sweet,

T1

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' th' offering!

Cleo.

But, of all, the burst

And the ear-deaf'ning voice o' th' Oracle,

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

That I was nothing.

Dion.

If th' 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 th' 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. — Go,

horses;

And gracious be the issue!

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 tri'd,
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.

Produce the prisoner.

Officer. It is his Highness' pleasure that the Queen Appear in person here in Court. Silence!

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

Who please to come and hear. For life, I prize it
As I weigh grief, which I would spare: for honour,

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