• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

Me seemeth good that, with some little train,

Forthwith from Ludlow the young prince be fet

Hither to London, to be crown'd our King.

RIVERS.

Why with some little train, my Lord of Buckingham?

BUCKINGHAM.

Marry, my lord, lest by a multitude

The new-heal'd wound of malice should break out,

Which would be so much the more dangerous

By how much the estate is green and yet ungovern'd;

Where every horse bears his commanding rein

And may direct his course as please himself,

As well the fear of harm as harm apparent,

In my opinion, ought to be prevented.

GLOUCESTER.

I hope the King made peace with all of us;

And the compact is firm and true in me.

RIVERS.

And so in me; and so, I think, in an.

Yet, since it is but green, it should be put

To no apparent likelihood of breach,

Which haply by much company might be urg'd;

Therefore I say with noble Buckingham

That it is meet so few should fetch the Prince.

HASTINGS.

And so say I.

GLOUCESTER.

Then be it so; and go we to determine

Who they shall be that straight shall post to Ludlow.

Madam, and you, my sister, will you go

To give your censures in this business?

Exeunt all but BUCKINGHAM and GLOUCESTER

BUCKINGHAM.

My lord, whoever journeys to the Prince,

For God sake, let not us two stay at home;

For by the way I'll sort occasion,

As index to the story we late talk'd of,

To part the Queen's proud kindred from the Prince.

GLOUCESTER.

My other self, my counsel's consistory,

My oracle, my prophet, my dear cousin,

I, as a child, will go by thy direction.

Toward Ludlow then, for we'll not stay behind. Exeunt

SCENE 3.

London. A street

Enter one CITIZEN at one door, and another at the other

FIRST CITIZEN. Good morrow, neighbour. Whither away so fast?

SECOND CITIZEN.

I promise you, I scarcely know myself.

Hear you the news abroad?

FIRST CITIZEN.

Yes, that the King is dead.

SECOND CITIZEN.

Ill news, by'r lady; seldom comes the better.

I fear, I fear 'twill prove a giddy world.

Enter another CITIZEN

THIRD CITIZEN. Neighbours, God speed!

FIRST CITIZEN.

Give you good morrow, sir.

THIRD CITIZEN.

Doth the news hold of good King Edward's death?

SECOND CITIZEN.

Ay, sir, it is too true; God help the while!

THIRD CITIZEN.

Then, masters, look to see a troublous world.

FIRST CITIZEN.

No, no; by God's good grace, his son shall reign.

THIRD CITIZEN.

Woe to that land that's govern'd by a child.

SECOND CITIZEN.

In him there is a hope of government,

Which, in his nonage, council under him,

And, in his full and ripened years, himself,

No doubt, shall then, and till then, govern well.

FIRST CITIZEN.

So stood the state when Henry the Sixth

Was crown'd in Paris but at nine months old.

THIRD CITIZEN.

Stood the state so? No, no, good friends,

God wot;

For then this land was famously enrich'd

With politic grave counsel; then the King

Had virtuous uncles to protect his Grace.

FIRST CITIZEN.

Why, so hath this, both by his father and mother.

THIRD CITIZEN.

Better it were they all came by his father,

Or by his father there were none at all;

For emulation who shall now be nearest

Will touch us all too near, if God prevent not.

O, full of danger is the Duke of Gloucester!

And the Queen's sons and brothers haught and proud;

And were they to be rul'd, and not to rule,

This sickly land might solace as before.

FIRST CITIZEN.

Come, come, we fear the worst; all will be well.

THIRD CITIZEN.

When clouds are seen, wise men put on their cloaks;

When great leaves fall, then winter is at hand;

When the sun sets, who doth not look for night?

Untimely storms make men expect a dearth.

All may be well; but, if God sort it so,

'Tis more than we deserve or I expect.

SECOND CITIZEN.

Truly, the hearts of men are fun of fear.

You cannot reason almost with a man

That looks not heavily and fun of dread.

THIRD CITIZEN.

Before the days of change, still is it so;

By a divine instinct men's minds mistrust

Ensuing danger; as by proof we see

The