If we would have you. 2 Lady. She is fpread of late Into a goodly bulk; (good time encounter her!) Her. What wifdom ftirs amongst you? come, Sir, now I am for you again. Pray you fit by us, And tell's a tale. Mam. Merry, or fad, fhall't be? Mam. A fad tale's best for winter. Come on, fit down. Come on, and do your best Her. Nay, come fit down; then on. Mam. Dwelt by a church-yard;-I will tell it foftly: Yond crickets fhall not hear it. Her. Come on then, and give't me in mine ear. Enter Leontes, Antigonus, and Lords. Leo. Was he met there? his train? Camillo with him? Lord. Behind the tuft of pines I met them; never Saw I men fcowr fo on their way: Iey'd them Even to their fhips. Leo. How bleft am I In my juft cenfure! in my true opinion! Th' abhorr'd ingredient to his eye, make known For For them to play at will: how came the pofterns Lord. By his great authority, Which often hath no lefs prevail'd than fo Leo. I know't too well. Give me the boy; I'm glad, you did not nurfe him: Though he does bear fome figns of me, yet you Have too much blood in him. Her. What is this, fport? Leo. Bear the boy hence, he fhall not come about her; Away with him, and let her fport herself With that she's big with: for 'tis Polixenes Her. But I'd fay, he had not; And, I'll be fworn, you would believe my saying, Leo. You, my Lords, Look on her, mark her well; be but about The juftice of your hearts will thereto add, 'Tis pity, he's not honeft, honourable : Praife her but for this her without-door form, (Which on my faith deserves high speech,) and straight Virtue itself.) Thefe fhrugs, thefe hums, and ha's, Her. Should a villain say so, The most replenish'd villain in the world, Leo. You have mistook, my Lady, Polixenes for Leontes. O thou thing, Which I'll not call a creature of thy place, Should Should a like language ufe to all degrees; A federary with her; and one that knows That vulgars give bold'ft titles; ay, and privy Her. No, by my life, Privy to none of this: how will this grieve you, Leo. No, if I mistake In these foundations which I build upon, A school-boy's top. Away with her to prison: Her. There's fome ill planet reigns; I must be patient, 'till the heavens look With an aspect more favourable. Good my Lords, (8) He, who fhall speak for her, is far off guilty, But that be fpeaks.] This cannot be the Speaker's meaning. Leontes would fay, I fhall hold the perfon in a great measure guilty, who fhall dare to intercede for her: And this, I believe, Shakespeare ventur'd to exprefs thus: He, who fhall Speak for her, is far of guilty, &c. i. e. partakes far, deeply of her guilt. VOL. III. M Leo. Leo. Shall I be heard? Her. Who is't, that goes with me? 'befeech your HighMy women may be with me, for, you fee [nefs, I truft, I hall. My women,-come, you've leave. [Exit Queen, guarded; and Ladies. Lord. 'Befeech your Highness call the Queen again. Ant. Be certain what you do, Sir, left your juftice Prove violence; in the which three great ones fuffer, Yourself, your Queen, your fon. Lord. For her, my Lord, J dare my life lay down, and will do't, Sir, In this which you accuse her.) Ant. If it prove She's otherwife, I'll keep my ftables where I lodge my wife, I'll go in couples with her: Than when I feel, and fee her, no farther trust her; For every inch of woman in the world, Ay, every dram of woman's flesh is false, If she be. Leo. Hold your peaces. Lord. Good my Lord, Ant. It is for you we fpeak, not for ourselves: You are abus'd, and by fome putter on, That will be damn'd for't; 'would, I knew the villain, I would land-damn him: be the honour-flaw'd, I have three daughters; the eldest is eleven; (9) (9) I bave three daughters; the eldeft is eleven; The If this prove true, they'll pay for't.] The 2d folio edition led Mr. Rowe first inadvertently to fix five fons upon Antigonus, more than the Poet ever defign'd him: and Mr. Pope ftumbled implicitly The fecond, and the third, nine, and fome five; If this prove true, they'll pay for't. By mine honour, Leo. Ceafe; no more: You smell this bufinefs with a fenfe as cold Ant. If it be so, We need no grave to bury honesty; Leo. What? lack I credit? Lord. I had rather you did lack than I, my Lord, Upon this ground; and more it would content me To have her honour true, than your fufpicion; Be blam'd for't, how you might. Leo. Why, what need we Commune with you of this? but rather follow Ant. And I wifh, my Liege, into the mistake. But what encreases the jeft, thefe three daughters, and five fons were cobeirs: If this was ever according to the laws of Sicily, 'tis fo peculiar, that Goltzius, Fazellus or Cluverius would have thought it worthy of a fhort notice. But the reading of the 1ft folia edition, which I have reftor'd to the text, makes no mention of any fons, and fo the girls remain properly coheirs; the eldeft, eleven years of age; the second, nine; and the third, fome five. I'll fubjoin two inftances of this manner of expreffion from our Author's King Lear. But I have a fon, Sir, by order of law, fome year elder than this; For that I am feme twelve or fourteen moon fhines lag of a brother? You M 2 |