My plight requires it. Do not weep, good fools; And, I'll be sworn, you would believe my saying, There is no cause: when you shall know, your Howe'er you lean to the nayward.

Or seeming so in skill,) cannot, or will not,
Pelish as truth, like us; inform yourselves,
We need no more of your advice: the matter,
The loss, the gain, the ordering on't, is all
Properly ours.

Ant. And I wish, my liege,

You had only in your silent judgment tried it,
Without more overture.

Leon. How could that be?

Either thou art most ignorant by age,

Or thou wert born a fool.

Added to their familiarity,

Camillo's flight,

(Which was as gross as ever touch'd conjecture,
That lack'd sight only, nought for approbation,
But only seeing, all other circumstances

Made up to the deed,) doth push on this proceed-
Yet, for a greater confirmation,
[ing:
<For, in an act of this importance, 'twere
Most piteous to be wild,) I have despatch'd in post,
To sacred Delphos, to Apollo's temple,
Cleomenes and Dion, whom you know
Of stuff'd sufficiency: now, from the oracle
They will bring all; whose spiritual counsel had,
Shall stop or spur me. Have I done well?
1 Lord. Well done, my lord.

Leon. Though I am satisfied, and need no more
Than what I know, yet shall the oracle
Give rest to the minds of others; such as he,
Whose ignorant credulity will not

Here's such ado to make no stain a stain,
As passes colouring.

Re-enter Keeper, with Emilia.

Dear gentlewoman, how fares our gracious lady?
Emil. As well as one so great, and so furlern,
May hold together: on her frights, and griefs,
(Which never tender lady had borne greater,)
She is, something before her time, deliver'd.
Paul. A boy?

Emil. A daughter, and a goodly babe,
Lusty, and like to live: the queen receives
Much comfort in't: says, My poor prisoner,
I am innocent as you.

Paul. I dare be sworn :

These dangerous unsafe lunes o'the king! bo-
shrew them!

He must be told on't, and he shall: the office
Becomes a woman best; I'll take't upon me:
If I prove honey-mouth'd, let my tongue blister;
And never to my red-look'd anger be
The trumpet any more.-Pray you, Emilia,
Commend my best obedience to the queen ;
If she dares trust me with her little babe,
I'll show't the king, and undertake to be
Her advocate to th' loudest: we do not know
How he may soften at the sight o' the child;
The silence often of pure innocence
Persuades, when speaking fails.
Emil. Most worthy madam,

Come up to the truth: so have we thought it Your honour, and your goodness, is so evident,

good,

From our free person she should be confin'd;
Lest that the treachery of the two, fled hence,
Be left her to perform. Come, follow us:
We are to speak in public: for this business
Will raise us all.

Ant. [aside.] To laughter, as I take it,
If the good truth were known.

[exeunt.

SCENE II. THE OUTER ROOM OF A PRISON.
Enter Paulina and Attendants.

Paul. The keeper of the prison,-call to him;
{exit an Attendant.
Let him have knowledge who I am.-Good lady!
No court in Europe is too good for thee,
What dost thou then in prison?-Now, good sir,
Re-enter Attendant, with the Keeper.

You know me, do you not?
Keep. For a worthy lady,

And one whom I much honour.

Paul. Pray you, then,

Conduct me to the queen.

Keep. I may not, madam; to the contrary I have express commandment.

Paul. Here's ado,

To lock up honesty and honour from

The access of gentle visitors!Is it lawful,
Pray you, to see her women? any of them?
Emilia?

Keep. So please you, madam, to put
Apart these your attendants, I shall bring
Emilia forth.

Paul. I pray now, call her ;

Withdraw yourselves.

Keep. And, madam,

[exeunt Attend.

I must be present at your conference.

Paul Well, be it so, pr'ythee.

That your free undertaking cannot miss

A thriving issue; there is no lady living,

So meet for this great errand.-Please your lady

Keep. Madam, if't please the queen to send the
babe,

I know not what I shall incur, to pass it,
Having no warrant.

Paul. You need not fear it, sir;
The child was prisoner to the womb; and is,
By law and process of great nature, thence
Free'd and enfranchis'd: not a party to
The anger of the king; nor guilty of,
If any be, the trespass of the queen.
Keep. I do believe it.

Paul. Do not you fear: upon

Mine honour, I will stand 'twixt you and danger.

SCENE III. A ROOM IN THE PALACE.

[exeunt.

Enter Leontes, Antigonus, Lords, and other At

tendants.

Leon. Nor night, nor day, no rest: it is but

weakness

[exit Keeper. To bear the matter thus; mere weakness, if

Can do no more.

Leon. I'll have thee burn'd.

Paul. I care not:

It is a heretic that makes the fire,
Not she, which burns in't.

I'll not call thee

But this most cruel usage of your queen [tyrant;
(Not able to produce more accusation
Than your own weak-hing'd fancy,) something
Of tyranny, and will ignoble make you, [savours
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.
Paul. I pray you, do not push me; I'll be gone.
Look to your babe, my lord; 'tis yours: Jove
send her f
24 [hands?

[exit.

A better guiding spirit! What need these
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.
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; [straight:
Even thou, and none but thou. Take it up
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 s0;
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:ma

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

י

1 Lord. We can; my royal liege, He is not guilty of her coming hither. Leon. You are liars all.

[credit:

1 Lord. 'Beseech your highness, give us better 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,

[pose;

Past, and to come,) that you do change this pur-
Which, being so horrible, so bloody, must
Lead on to some foul issue: we all kneel.

Shall I live on, to see this bastard kneel
Aud 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 Ant.

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-
To save this brat's life?
[venture

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.
[for the fail
Leon. Mark, and perform it; (see'st thou?)
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,
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. No, I'll not rear
Another's issue.

[exit, with the Child.

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.

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 publicly accus'd, so shall she have
A just and open trial. While she lives,
Leon. I am a feather for each wind that My heart will be a burden to me.
blows:-
And think upon my bidding.

SCENE I. A STREET IN A TOWN.
Enter Cleomenes and Dion.

ACT III.

Cloo. The climate's delicate; the air most sweet;

Leave me;

[exeunt

And gracious be the issue!

SCENE 11. A COURT OF JUSTICE.

Go,-fresh,

[exeunt.

Leontes, Lords, and Officers, appear properly seated.

Leon. This sessions (to our great grief, we pro-
nounce),

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.-
Produce the prisoner.

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

Hermione brought in, Paulina, &c. attending.
Leon. Read the indictment.

Offi.' Hermione, queen to the worthy Leontes,
king of Sicilia, thou art here accused and arraign-
ed of high treason, in committing adultery with
Polixenes, king of Bohemia; and conspiring
with Camillo to take away the life of our sover-
eign lord the king, thy royal husband; the pre-
tence 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
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,—

[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, 'for
Who please to come and hear. For life, 1 prize it
As I weigh grief, which I would spare: for hon-
'Tis a derivative from me to mine,
Lour,
And only that I stand for. I appeal
To your own conscience, sir, before Polixenes
Came to your court, how I was in your grace,
How merited to be so; since he came,
With what encounter so uncurrent I
Have strain'd, to appear thus: if one jot beyond
The bound of honour; or, in act, or will,
That way inclining; harden'd be the hearts
Of all that hear me, and my near'st of kin
Cry, Fie upon my grave!

Leon. I ne'er heard yet,

That any of these bolder vices wanted
Less impudence to gainsay what they did,
Than to perform it first.

Her. That's true enough;

Though 'tis a saying, sir, not due to me.
Leon. You will not own it.

Her. More than mistress of,

Which comes to me in name of fault, I must not
At all acknowledge. For Polixenes,
(With whom I am accus'd), I do confess,
I lov'd him, as in honour he requir'd;
With such a kind of love, as might become
A lady like me; with a love, even such,
So, and no other, as yourself commanded:
Which not to have done, I think, had been in me
Both disobedience and ingratitude,

To you, and toward your friend; whose love had
spoke,

Even since it could speak, from an infant, freely,
That it was yours. Now, for conspiracy,

I know not how it tastes; though it be dish'd
For me to try how: all I know of it
Is, that Camillo was an honest man;
And, why he left your court, the gods themselves
Wotting no more than I, are ignorant,

Leon. You knew of his departure, as you know
What you have underta'en to do in 's absence.
Her. Sir,

You speak a language that I understand not:
My life stands in the level of your dreams,
Which I'll lay down.

Leon. Your actions are my dreams;
You had a bastard by Polixenes,
And I but dream'd it:-as you were past all shame,
(Those of your fact are so,) so past all truth:
Which to deny, concerns more than avails:
For as

Thy brat hath been cast out, like to itself,
No father owning it, (which is, indeed,
More criminal in thee than it,) so thou
Shalt feel our justice; in whose easiest passage,
Look for no less than death.

Her. Sir, spare your threats:

The bug, which you would fright me with, I seek
To me can life be no commodity:

The crown and comfort of my life, your favour,
I do give lost; for I do feel it gone,

But know not how it went: my second joy.