king Lear. A TRAGEDY, BY WILLIAM SHAKSPEARE. ACCURATELY PRINTED FROM THE TEXT OP MR. STEEVENS'S LAST EDITION. PERSONS REPRESENTED. Lear, King of Britain. Knights attending on the King, Officers, Messengers, Soldiers, and Attendants. Scene, Britain. KING LE AR. ACT I. SCENE I. A ROOM OF STATE IN KING LEAR'S PALACE. Enter Kent, Glo'ster, and Edmund. Kent. I thought, the king had more affected the duke of Albany, than Cornwall. Glo. It did always seem so to us : but now, in the division of the kingdom, it appears not which of the dukes he values most; for equalities are so weigh’d , that curiosity in neither can make choice of either’s moiety. Kent. Is not this your son, my lord? . His breeding, sir, hath been at my charge: I have so often blush'd to acknowledge him, that now I am brazed to it. Kent. I cannot conceive you. Glo. Sir, this young fellow's mother could : whereupon she grew round-wombed ; and had, indeed, sir, a son for her cradle, ere she had a husband for her bed. Do you smell a fault? Kent. I cannot wish the fault undone, the issue of it being so proper. Glo. But I have, sir, a son by order of law, some year elder than this, who yet is no dearer in my B account: though this knave came somewhat saucily into the world before he was sent for, yet was his mother fair; there was good sport at his making, and the whoreson must be acknowledged.-Do you know this noble gentleman, Edmund ? Edm. No, my lord. Glo. My lord of Kent: remember him hereafter as my honourable friend, Edm. My services to your lordship. Kent. I must love you, and sue to know you better. Edm. Sir, I shall study deserving. Glo. He hath been out nine years, and away he shall again:-The king is coming. [Trumpets sound within. Enter Lear, Cornwall, Albany, Goneril, Regan, Cordelia, and Attendants, Glo'ster. [E.reunt Glo'ster and Edmund. Lear. Mean-time we shall express our darker purpose. Give me the map there. -Know, that we have di vided, Cornwall, |