Or with this paper fhall I ftop it;

Thou worse than any thing, read thine own evil :
No tearing, lady; I perceive, you know it.

Gon. Say, if I do; the Laws are mine, not thine;
Who can arraign me for't?

Alb. Monster, know'st thou this paper?
Gon. Ask me not, what I know

[Exit Gon. Alb. Go after her, fhe's defperate, govern her.

Edm. What you have charg'd me with, That I have

done,

And more, much more; the time will bring it out.
'Tis paft, and fo am I: but what art thou,

That haft this fortune on me? If thou'rt noble,
I do forgive thee.

Edg. Let's exchange charity:

I am no less in blood than thou art, Edmund;
If more, the more thou'ft wrong'd me.
My name is Edgar, and thy father's fon.
The Gods are juft, and of our pleasant vices
Make inftruments to fcourge us:

The dark and vicious place, where thee he got,
Coft him his eyes.

Edm. Thou'it fpoken right, 'tis true,

The wheel is come full circle; I am here.
Alb. Methought, thy very gate did prophefie
A royal Nobleness: I must embrace thee:

Let Sorrow split my heart, if ever I

Did hate thee, or thy father!

Edg. Worthy Prince, I know't.

Alb. Where have you hid your felf?

How have you known the miseries of your father?
Edg. By nurfing them, my lord. List a brief tale,
And, when 'tis told, O, that my heart would burst!
The bloody Proclamation to escape

That follow'd me fo near, (O our lives' sweetness!
That we the pain of death would hourly bear,
Rather than die at once) taught me to shift
Into a mad-man's rags; t' affume a Semblance,
The very Dogs disdain'd: and in this habit
Met I my father with his bleeding rings,

Their precious gems new loft; became his guide,
Led him, beg'd for him, fav'd him from despair;
Never (O fault!) reveal'd my felf unto him,
Until fome half hour paft, when I was arm'd,
Not fure, though hoping, of this good fuccefs,
I ask'd his bleffing, and from firft to laft
Told him my pilgrimage. But his flaw'd heart,
Alack, too weak the Conflict to fupport,
'Twixt two extreams of paffion, joy and grief,
Burft fmilingly.

Baft. This fpeech of yours hath mov'd me,
And fhall, perchance, do good; but speak you on,
You look, as you had fomething more to fay.

Alb. If there be more, more woful, hold it in,
For I am almoft ready to diffolve,

Hearing of this.

Edg. This would have feem'd a Period,
To fuch as love not Sorrow: but Another,
To amplify too much, would make much more,
And top Extremity!·

Whilft I was big in Clamour, came there a Man,
Who having feen me in my worfer State,

Shun'd my abhorr'd Society; but now finding
Who 'twas, had fo endur'd, with his ftrong Arms
He faften'd on my Neck; and bellow'd out,
As he'd burft Heaven; threw him on my Father;
Told the most piteous Tale of Lear and him,
That ever Ear receiv'd; which in recounting
His Grief grew puiffant, and the Strings of Life
Began to crack. Twice then the Trumpets founded,

And there I left him traunc'd.

Alb. But who was this?

Edg. Kent, Sir; the banish'd Kent, who in difguife Follow'd his enemy King, and did him Service Improper for a Slave.

Enter a Gentleman.

Gent. Help, help!

Edg. What kind of help?

Alb. Speak, man.

E 4

Edg.

Edg. What means this bloody knife?

Gent. 'Tis hot, it fmoaks; it came even from the heart OfO! she's dead.

Alb. Who's dead? speak, man.

Gent. Your lady, Sir, your lady; and her fifter By her is poifon'd; the confeffes it.

Edm. I was contracted to them both; all three

Now marry in an instant.

Edg. Here comes Kent.

Enter Kent.

Alb. Produce the bodies, be they alive or dead. [Gonerill and Regan's Bodies brought out. This Judgment of the heav'ns, that makes us tremble, Touches us not with pity.

O! is this He?

The time will not allow the compliment,

Which very manners urge.

Kent. I am come

To bid my King and Mafter aye good night;
Is he not here?

Alb. Great thing of us forgot!

Speak, Edmund, where's the King? and where's Cordelia? See'ft thou this Object, Kent?

Kent. Alack, why thus ?

Edm. Yet Edmund was belov'd:

The one the other poifon'd for my fake,

And after flew her self.

Alb. Even fo; cover their faces.

Edm. I pant for life; fome Good I mean to do, Defpight of mine own nature. Quickly fend,

(Be brief) into the Castle; for

my Writ

Is on the life of Lear and on Cordelia :

Nay, fend in time.

Alb. Run, run, O run

Edg. To whom, my lord? who has the office? Send

Thy token of reprieve.

Edm. Well thought on, take my fword,

Give it the Captain

Edg. Hafte thee for thy life.

[Exit Meffenger.

Το

Edm. He hath Commiffion from thy wife and me

To hang Cordelia in the prison, and

To lay the blame upon her own despair.

Alb. The Gods defend her! bear him hence a while. [Edmund is borne off

Enter Lear, with Cordelia dead in his arms.

Lear. Howl, howl, howl, howl,

O, you are men

of ftone;

Had I your tongues and eyes, I'd ufe them so,
That heaven's vault should crack: fhe's gone for ever!
I know, when one is dead, and when one lives;
She's dead as earth! lend me a looking-glafs,

If that her Breath will mift or ftain the stone,
Why then she lives.

Kent. Is this the promis'd End?

Lear. This feather ftirs, fhe lives; if it be fo, It is a Chance which do's redeem all forrows, That ever I have felt.

Kent. O my good mafter!

Lear. Pr'ythee, away-
Edg. 'Tis noble Kent, your

friend.

[Kneeling.

Lear. A plague upon you, murth'rous traitors all I I might have fav'd her; now fhe's gone for ever! Cordelia, Cordelia, ftay a little. Ha!

What is't thou fay'ft? her voice was ever soft,
Gentle, and low; an excellent thing in woman.
I kill'd the slave, that was a hanging thee..
Gent. "Tis true, my lords, he did.
Lear. Did I not, fellow ?

I've seen the day, with my good biting faulchion
I would have made them skip :

And these fame croffes fpoil me.

I

am old now, Who are you? Mine eyes are none o'th' best. I'll tell you ftrait. Kent. If fortune brag of two she lov'd and hated,

One of them we behold.

Lear. Are you not Kent?

Kent. The fame; your fervant Kent ;

Where is your fervant Caius ?

Lear. 'Twas a good fellow, I can tell you that, (29) - he's dead and rotten.

He'd ftrike, and quickly too:

Kent. No, my good lord, I am the very man,
Lear. I'll fee that ftrait.

Kent. That, from your first of difference and decay, Have follow'd your fad steps

Lear. You're welcome hither.

Kent. Nor no man elfe; - all's cheerlefs, dark, and dead:

Your eldest daughters have fore-done themselves,
And defp'rately are dead.

Lear. Ay, fo I think.

Alb. He knows not what he fays; and vain is it, That we prefent us to him.

Edg. Very bootlefs.

Enter a Meffenger.

Me. Edmund is dead, my lord.

Alb. That's but a trifle.

You lords and noble friends, know our intent ;
What Comfort to this great Decay may come,
Shall be apply'd. For us, we will refign,
During the life of this old Majesty,

To him our abfolute Power: to you, your Rights,

[To Edgar, With boot, and fuch addition as your honours Have more than merited. All friends fhall tafte The wages of their virtue, and all foes

The cup of their defervings: O see, see

Lear. And my poor Fool is hang'd: no, no, no life. Why fhould a dog, a horse, a rat have life,

And thou no breath at all? thou'lt come no more,
Never, never, never, never, never

(29) He's a good Fellow, I can tell you that,

He'll frike and quickly too: he's dead and rotten.] We have feen Lear mad; but, never, a ftark Fool till this Moment; to tell us, that a dead and rotten Man will ftrike quickly. But it was a Stupidity of the Editors, and not chargeable on the Poet.

Pray