LEON.

2

A grofs hag!

And, lozel, thou art worthy to be hang'd,

That wilt not ftay her tongue.

ΑΝΤ.

That cannot do that feat, you'll leave yourself
Hardly one fubject.

LEON.

Hang all the husbands,

Once more, take her hence.

PAUL. A most unworthy and unnatural lord Can do no more.

LEON.

PAUL.

I'll have thee burn'd.

It is an heretick, that makes the fire,

I care not:

Not fhe, which burns in't. I'll not call you tyrant;
But this most cruel usage of your queen

(Not able to produce more accufation

Than your own weak-hing'd fancy,) fomething

favours

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

LEON.

Out of the chamber with her.

On your allegiance,
Were I a tyrant,

Where were her life? fhe durft not call me fo,
If fhe 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 fend her

2

And, lozel,] "A Lofel is one that hath loft, neglected, or caft off his owne good and welfare, and fo is become lewde and careleffe of credit and honefty. " Verftegan's Reftitution, 1605, p. 335.

REED.

This is a term of contempt, frequently ufed by Spenfer. I likewile meet with it in The Death of Robert Earl of Huntington, 1601: To have the lozel's company."

A lozel is a worthlefs fellow. Again, in The Pinner of Wakefield, 1599:

"Peace, prating lozel," &c. STEEVENS.

A better guiding fpirit!-What need these hands?-
You, that are thus fo tender o'er his follies,
Will never do him good, not one of you.
So, fo:-Farewell; we are gone.

[ Exit.
LEON Thou, traitor, haft set on thy wife to this.—
My child? away with't!-even thou, that haft
A heart fo tender o'er it, take it hence,

And fee it inftantly confum'd with fire;

Even thou, and none but thou. Take it up ftraight:
Within this hour bring me word 'tis done,
(And by good teftimony,) or l'il seize thy life,
With what thou else call'st thine: If thou refufe,
And wilt encounter with my wrath, say fo;
The baftard brains with these my proper hands
Shall I dafh out. Go, take it to the fire;
For thou fett'ft on thy wife.

ANT.

I did not, fir:
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 ferv'd you; and beseech
So to efteem of us: And on our knees we beg,
(As recompence of our dear fervices,

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.

LEON. Iam a feather for each wind that blows:-
Shall I live on, to fee this baftard kneel
And call me father? Better burn it now,

Than curfe it then. But, be it; let it live:

It fhall not neither.-You, fir, 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 baftard,
So fure as this beard's grey,—what will you adven-

ture

To fave this brat's life?

ANT.

Any thing, my lord,
That my ability may undergo,

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

ANT.

I will, my lord. LEON. Mark, and perform it; (seeft thou?) for

the fail

Of any point in't fhall not only be

Death to thyfelf, 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

3 So fure as this beard's grey,] The king muft mean the beard of Antigonus, which perhaps both here and on a former occafion, (see p. 59, n. 6.) it was intended, he fhould lay hold of. Leontes has himself told us that twenty three years ago he was unbreech'd, in his green velvet coat, his dagger muzzled, and of course his age at the opening of this play must be under thirty. He cannot therefore mean his own beard. MALONE.

4

Swear by this fword,] It was anciently the cuftom to fwear by the cross on the handle of a fword. See a note on Hamlet, Aa I. fc. v. STEEVENS.

་

So, in The Penance of Arthur, Sig. S. 2: 66 And therewith King Marke yielded him unto Sir Gatheris, and then he kneeled downe and made his oath upon the croffe of the fword," &c. I remember to have feen the name of Jefus engraved upon the pummel of the Tword of a Crusader in the Church at Winchelsea.

DOUCE.

To fome remote and defert 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,5
Where chance may nurfe, or end it: Take it up.

ANT. I fwear to do this; though a prefent death
Had been more merciful-Come on, poor babe :
Some powerful fpirit inftruct the kites and ravens,
To be thy nurses! Wolves, and bears, they say,
Cafting their favágenefs 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! 7

LEON.

Another's iffue.

1. ATTEND.

[Exit, with the child.

No, I'll not rear

Please, your highness, pofts,

From thofe you fent to the oracle, are come

6

5 commend it ftrangely to fome place, ] Commit it to fome place, as a stranger, without more provifion. JOHNSON.

6

So, in Macbeth:

7

"I with your horfes fwift and fure of foot,
"And fo I do commend you to their backs.'

To commend is to commit. See Minfheu's Di&. in v.

MALONE.

and bleffing, i. e. the favour of heaven MALONE. condemn'd to lofs ! ] i. 'e, to exposure, fimilar to that of a child whom its parents have loft. I once thought that loss was here 'licentiously used for deftruction; but that this was not the primary fenfe here intended, appears from a fubfequent paffage, A& III. fc. iii:

An hour fince: Cleomenes and Dion,

Being well arriv'd from Delphos, are both landed, Hafting to the court.

1. LORD.

So please you, fir, their speed

Hath been beyond account.

LEON.

Twenty-three days

They have been abfent: 'Tis good speed; foretels,
The great Apollo fuddenly will have
The truth of this appear. Prepare you, lords;
Summon a feffion, that we may arraign
Our most difloyal lady: for, as she hath
Been publickly accus'd, fo fhall the have
A just and open trial. While fhe lives,
My heart will be a burden to me.
And think upon my bidding.

Leave me;

[Exeunt.

'Tis good Speed; &c.] Surely we fhould read the paffage thus:

This good fpeed foretels, &c. M. MASON.