No. 79.

Leon. This sessions, to our great grief, we pronounce,

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!

Enter Hermione, guarded; Paulina and Ladies, attending. Leon. Read the indictment.

Offi. Hermione, queen to the worthy Leontes, king of Sicilia, thou art here accused and arraigned of high treason, in committing adultery with Polixenes, king of Bohemia; and conspiring with Camillo, to take away the life of our sovereign lord the king, thy royal husband; the pretence whereof being by circumstances partly laid upon, 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 me
To say, Not guilty: mine integrity,

Being counted falsehood, shall, as I express it,

Be so receiv'd.

The Winter's Tale, Act 3, Scene 2.

Sessions. (See Nos. 78, 280, 283.)

Appear in person. (See No. 127.)

Arraigned. (See Nos. 27, 78, 79, 239, 286.)

The second species of treason is, if a man do

violate the king's companion.

king's companion is meant his wife.

By the
And

this is high treason in both parties, if both be consenting. (4 Bl. Comm. marg. p. 81.)

No. 80.

Now my liege

Tell me what blessings I have here alive,
That I should fear to die? Therefore proceed.
But yet hear this; mistake me not; no life,
I prize it not a straw, but for mine honour
Which I would free, if I shall be condemn'd
Upon surmises, all proofs sleeping else,
But what your jealousies awake, I tell you,
'Tis rigour and not law.

No. 81.

The Winter's Tale Act 3, Scene 3.

He hath ribbons of all the colors i' the rainbow; points more than all the lawyers in Bohemia can learnedly handle.

The Winter's Tale, Act 4, Scene 4.

Points in dress were tagged lace, used to fasten hose to the doublet.

Fal. Their points being broken

Poins. Down fell their hose.

The legal meaning of this word is, of course, known to every one. The play upon the word here. illustrates a habit in Shakespeare of yielding to the suggestiveness of a common word, and turning a

phrase in order to present it again in its legal sig

nification.

No. 82.

Flo.

O, hear me breathe my life

Before this ancient sir, who, it should seem,

Hath sometime lov'd! I take thy hand, this hand,

As soft as dove's down, and as white as it,

Or Ethiopian's tooth, or the fann'd snow,

That's bolted by the northern blasts twice o'er.
Pol. What follows this?

How prettily the young swain seems to wash
The hand, was fair before! I have put you out:
But to your protestation; let me hear

What you profess.

Flo.

Do, and be witness to't.

Pol. And this my neighbor too!
Flo.
And he, and more
Than he, and men, the earth, the heavens, and all:
That, were I crown'd the most imperial monarch,
Thereof most worthy, were 1 the fairest youth

That ever made eye swerve, had force, and knowledge,
More than was ever man's, I would not prize them
Without her love: for her employ them all:

Commend them, and condemn them, to her service,
Or to their own perdition.

So well, nothing so well; no, nor mean better:
By the pattern of mine own thoughts I cut out
The purity of his.

Shep.

Take hands, a bargain;

And, friends unknown, you shall bear witness to't:
I give my daughter to him, and will make

Her portion equal his.

Flo.

O, that must be

I' the virtue of your daughter: one being dead,
I shall have more than you can dream of yet;

Enough then for your wonder: But, come on,
Contract us 'fore these witnesses.

Shep.

And, daughter, yours.

Come, your hand;

The Winter's Tale, Act 4, Scene 4.

I have heard lawyers say a contract in a chamber,
Per verba presenti, is absolute marriage.

(See Nos. 14, 15.)

Duchess of Mal.

No. 83.

No. 84.

we'll bar thee from succession.

The Winter's Tale, Act 4, Scene 3.

With her I liv'd in joy; our wealth increas'd,

By prosperous voyages I often made

To Epidamnum, till my factor's death.

And the great care of goods at random left,
Drew me from kind embracement of my spouse.
The Comedy of Errors, Act 1, Scene 1.

Factor. An agent employed to sell goods consigned or delivered to him. (Bouv. Law Dict.)

There is no inaccuracy here, nor use of any but the exact word. "Agent" would be too general, and the "broker" has no possession of goods. See the use of the word "brokers," in No. 265, as "implorators of unholy suits," etc.

(See No. 171.)

No. 85.

Dro. 8. There's no time for a man to recover his hair, that grows bald by nature.

Ant. S. May he not do it by fine and recovery?

Dro. S. Yes, to pay a fine for a peruke, and recover the lost hair of another man.

The Comedy of Errors, Act 2, Scene 2.

Fine and recovery. (See Nos. 6, 63, 276.) This is a lawyer's pun, and would never have occurred to any one but a lawyer. There is also here a very abstruse quibble in the use of the words "recover the lost hair of another man," for the effect of a fine and recovery was to bar not only the heirs upon whom the lands were entailed, but all the world.

No. 86.

Sec. Mer. Therefore make present satisfaction, or I'll Attach you by this officer.

Ang. Either consent to pay the sum for me,

Or I attach you by this officer.

Here is thy fee; arrest him, officer.

The Comedy of Errors, Act 4, Scene 1.

"Present satisfaction" is demanded, or "attachment by an officer" will follow; the officer is ordered to "arrest him" at "my suit," and the officer's "fee" is tendered.