You had a motive for't.

Сум.

[To GUIDERIUS and ARVIRAGUS. My tears, that fall,

Prove holy water on thee! Imogen,

Thy mother's dead.

IMO.

I am forry for't, my lord.

Crм. O, fhe was naught; and 'long of her it was, That we meet here fo ftrangely: But her fon

Is gone, we know not how, nor where.

PIS.

My lord, Now fear is from me, I'll speak troth. Lord Cloten, Upon my lady's miffing, came to me

With his fword drawn; foam'd at the mouth, and fwore,

If I difcover'd not which way fhe was gone,
It was my inftant death: By accident,
I had a feigned letter of my mafter's
Then in my pocket; which directed him 3
To feek her on the mountains near to Milford;
Where, in a frenzy, in my mafter's garments,
Which he inforc'd from me, away he pofts
With unchafte purpose, and with oath to violate
My lady's honour: what became of him,
I further know not.

GUI.

I flew him there.

Сум.

Let me end the story :

Marry, the gods forfend!

I would not thy good deeds fhould from my lips Pluck a hard fentence: pr'ythee, valiant youth, Deny't again.

I have spoke it, and I did it.

which directed him-] Which led or induced him.

MALONE.

Crм. He was a prince.

GUI. A most uncivil one: The wrongs he did me Were nothing prince-like; for he did provoke me With language that would make me fpurn the fea, If it could fo roar to me: I cut off's head;

And am right glad, he is not ftanding here
To tell this tale of mine.

CYM.

I am forry for thee :4

By thine own tongue thou art condemn'd, and must Endure our law: Thou art dead.

This man is better than the man he flew,

As well defcended as thyfelf; and hath

More of thee merited, than a band of Clotens
Had ever fcar for.-Let his arms alone;

They were not born for bondage.

Сум.

[To the Guard.

Why, old foldier, Wilt thou undo the worth thou art unpaid for, By tafting of our wrath ?5 How of defcent

As good as we?

ARV.

In that he spake too far.

Crм. And thou fhalt die for't.

I am forry for thee:] The old copy has

I am forrow for thee.

This obvious error of the prefs was corrected in the second folio.

MALONE.

5 By tafting of our wrath ?] The confequence is taken for the whole action; by tafting is by forcing us to make thee to tafte. JOHNSON

BEL.

We will die all three : But I will prove, that two of us are as good As I have given out him.-My fons, I muft, For mine own part, unfold a dangerous fpeech, Though, haply, well for you.

ARV.

Ours.

GUI. And our good his.

BEL.

Your danger is

Have at it then.

By leave;-Thou hadft, great king, a fubject, who

Was call'd Belarius.

First pay me for the nurfing of thy fons;
And let it be confifcate all, fo foon

As I have receiv'd it.

Affum'd this age:] I believe is the fame as reached or attained this age. STEEVENS.

As there is no reason to imagine that Belarius had affumed the appearance of being older than he really was, I fufpect that inftead of age, we should read gage; fo that he may be understood to refer to the engagement, which he had entered into, a few lines before, in thefe words:

"We will die all three :

"But I will prove two of us are as good

"As I have given out him." TYRWHITT.

Affum'd this age, has a reference to the different appearance which Belarius now makes, in comparison with that when Cymbeline last saw him. HENLEY.

CrM.

Nurfing of my fons?

BEL. I am too blunt, and faucy: Here's my

knee;

Ere I arife, I will prefer my fons;

Then, fpare not the old father. Mighty fir,
These two young gentlemen, that call me father,
And think they are my fons, are none of mine;
They are the iffue of your loins, my liege,
And blood of your begetting.

CYM.

How! my iffue?

BEL. So fure as you your father's. I, old Morgan, Am that Belarius whom you fometime banish'd: Your pleasure was my mere offence, my punish

ment

Itself, and all my treafon; that I fuffer'd,
Was all the harm I did. Thefe gentle princes
(For fuch, and fo they are,) these twenty years
Have I train'd up: thofe arts they have, as I
Could put into them; my breeding was, fir, as

7 Your pleasure was my mere offence, &c.] [Modern editors near.] I think this paffage may better be read thus:

Your pleafure was my dear offence, my punishment
Ifelf, was all my treafon; that I fuffer'd,

Was all the harm I did.

The offence which coft me fo dear was only your caprice. My fufferings have been all my crime. JOHNSON.

The reading of the old copies, thongh corrupt, is generally nearer to the truth than that of the later editions, which, for the most part, adopt the orthography of their respective ages. Dr. Johnfon would read-dear offence. In the folio it is neere; which plainly points out to us the true reading—meere, as the word was then fpelt. TYRWHITT.

My crime, my punishment, and all the treafon that I committed, originated in, and were founded on, your caprice only.

MALONE.

I have adopted Mr. Tyrwhitt's very judicious emendation; which is alfo commended by Mr. Malone. STEEVENS.

Your highnefs knows. Their nurfe, Euriphile,
Whom for the theft I wedded, ftole thefe children
Upon my banishment: I mov'd her to't;
Having receiv'd the punishment before,
For that which I did then: Beaten for loyalty
Excited me to treafon : Their dear lofs,

The more of you 'twas felt, the more it fhap'd
Unto my end of ftealing them. But, gracious, fir,
Here are your fons again; and I muft lofe
Two of the fweet'ft companions in the world:-
The benediction of thefe covering heavens
Fall on their heads like dew! for they are worthy
To inlay heaven with stars.8

CrM.

Thou weep'ft, and speak'st. The fervice, that you three have done, is more Unlike than this thou tell'ft: I loft my children; If these be they, I know not how to wish A pair of worthier fons.

BEL.

Be pleas'd a while.This gentleman, whom I call Polydore,

Moft worthy prince, as yours, is true, Guiderius:
This gentleman, my Cadwal, Arvirágus,

Your younger princely fon; he, fir, was lapp'd
In a moft curious mantle, wrought by the hand
Of his queen mother, which, for more probation,

• To inlay heaven with ftars.] So, in Romeo and Juliet: "Take him and cut him into little stars,

"And he will make the face of heaven fo fine," &c. STEEVENS

9 Thou weep ft, and speakft.] "Thy tears give teftimony to the fincerity of thy relation; and I have the lefs reafon to be incredulous, because the actions which you have done within my knowledge are more incredible than the story which you relate.” The King reafons very juftly. JOHNSON.