Page:The Poetical Works of Elijah Fenton (1779).djvu/22

 The character of Sameas, the King's cup-bearer, is one of the most villanous ever shewn upon a stage; and the poet makes Sohemus, in order to give the audience a true idea of him, and to prepare them for those barbarities he is to execute, relate the following instance of his cruelty.

In the 5th act, when Herod is agitated with the rage of jealousy, his brother Pheroras thus addresses him: