Drown desperate sorrow in dead Edward's grave,
And plant your joys in living Edward's throne.

Enter GLOSTER, BUCKINGHAM, STANLEY, HASTINGS, RATCLIFF, and Others.

Glo. Sister, have comfort: all of us have cause
To wail the dimming of our shining star;

But none can cure their harms by wailing them.—
Madam, my mother, I do cry you mercy,

I did not see your grace:-Humbly on my knee
I crave your blessing.

Duch. God bless thee: and put meekness in thy breast, Love, charity, obedience, and true duty!

Glo. Amen; and make me die a good old man !That is the butt-end of a mother's blessing;

I marvel that her grace did leave it out.

[Aside +.

Buck. You cloudy princes, and heart-sorrowing peers,

That bear this mutual heavy load of moan,

Now cheer each other in each other's love:
Though we have spent our harvest of this king,
We are to reap the harvest of his son.

The broken rancour of your high swoln hearts,
But lately splinted, knit, and join'd together,
Must gently be preserv'd, cherish'd, and kept:
Me seemeth good, that, with some little train,
Forthwith from Ludlow the young prince be fetch'd
Hither to London, to be crown'd our king.

Riv. Why with some little train, my lord of Buckingham?

Buck. 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,

+ Both Steevens and Malone place Aside at the end of the preceding line, but surely it belongs to the third, if not to the whole speech.

And may direct his course as please himself,
As well the fear of harm as harm apparent,
In my opinion, ought to be prevented.

Glo. I hope, the king made peace with all of us;
And the compact is firm, and true, in me.

Riv. And so in me; and so, I think, in all:
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.
Hast. And so say I.

Glo. Then be it so; and go we to determine
Who they shall be that straight shall post to Ludlow.
Madam, and you my mother, will you go

9

To give your censures in this weighty business?

[Exeunt all but BUCKINGHAM and GLOSTER. Buck. My lord, whoever journeys to the prince, For God's 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.
Glo. My other self, my counsel's consistory,

My oracle, my prophet!-My dear cousin,

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

Towards Ludlow then, for we'll not stay behind.

9

SCENE III.

The same. A Street.

Enter Two Citizens, meeting.

[Exeunt.

1 Cit. Good morrow, neighbour: Whither away so fast?

your censures -] To censure formerly meant to deliver an opinion.

1 As index to the story] i. e. preparatory-by way of pre

lude.

2 Cit. I promise you, I scarcely know myself: Hear you the news abroad?

1 Cit.

Yes; the king's dead +.

2 Cit. Ill news, by'r lady; seldom comes the better: I fear, I fear, 'twill prove a giddy world.

Enter another Citizen.

3 Cit. Neighbours, God speed!

1 Cit.

Give you good morrow, sir.

3 Cit. Doth the news hold of good king Edward's

death?

2 Cit. Ay, sir, it is too true; God help, the while! 3 Cit. Then, masters, look to see a troublous world. 1 Cit. No, no; by God's good grace, his son shall reign.

3 Cit. Woe to that land, that's govern'd by a child! 2 Cit. In him there is a hope of government; That, in his nonage, council under him, And, in his full and ripen'd years, himself, No doubt, shall then, and till then, govern well.

1 Cit. So stood the state, when Henry the sixth

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

3 Cit. Stood the state so? no, no, good friends, God wot;

For then this land was famously enrich'd

With politick grave counsel; then the king

Had virtuous uncles to protect his grace.

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

3 Cit. Better it were, they all came by his father ;

Or, by his father, there were none at all:

For emulation now, who shall be nearest,

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

O, full of danger is the duke of Gloster;

And the queen's sons, and brothers, haught and proud:

† "Yes, that the king is dead.”—Malone.

And were they to be rul'd, and not to rule,
This sickly land might solace as before.

1 Cit. Come, come, we fear the worst; all will be well. 3 Cit. 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.

2 Cit. Truly, the hearts of men are full of fear:
You cannot reason almost' with a man
That looks not heavily, and full of dread.

3 Cit. Before the days of change, still is it so:
By a divine instínct, men's minds mistrust
Ensuing danger; as, by proof, we see
The water swell before a boist'rous storm.
But leave it all to God. Whither away?

2 Cit. Marry, we were sent for to the justices.
3 Cit. And so was I; I'll bear you company. [Exeunt.

Enter the Archbishop of YORK, the young Duke of York, Queen ELIZABETH, and the Duchess of YORK.

Arch. Last night, I heard, they lay at Stony-Strat

ford;

And at Northampton they do rest to-night + :
To-morrow, or next day, they will be here.

2 You cannot reason almost —] To reason is to converse.

t “Last night, I hear, they lay at Northampton;

At Stony-Stratford will they be to-night.”—MALONE. In both readings, historical truth is violated.

Duch. I long with all my heart to see the prince; I hope, he is much grown since last I saw him.

Q. Eliz. But I hear, no; they say, my son of York Hath almost over-ta'en him in his growth.

York. Ay, mother, but I would not have it so. Duch. Why, my young cousin? it is good to grow. York. Grandam, one night, as we did sit at supper, My uncle Rivers talk'd how I did grow

More than my brother; Ay, quoth my uncle Gloster,
Small herbs have grace, great weeds do grow apace:
And since, methinks, I would not grow so fast,
Because sweet flowers are slow, and weeds make haste.
Duch. 'Good faith, 'good faith, the saying did not hold
In him that did object the same to thee:

He was the wretched'st thing, when he was young,
So long a growing, and so leisurely,

That, if his rule were true, he should be gracious.

Arch. And so, no doubt, he is, my gracious madam. Duch. I hope, he is; but yet let mothers doubt. York. Now, by my troth, if I had been remember'd3, I could have given my uncle's grace a flout,

To touch his growth, nearer than he touch'd mine.

Duch. How, my young York? I pr'ythee, let me

hear it.

York. Marry, they say, my uncle grew so fast,

That he could gnaw a crust at two hours old;

'Twas full two years ere I could get a tooth.
Grandam, this would have been a biting jest.
Duch. I pr'ythee, pretty York, who told thee this?
York. Grandam, his nurse.

3

Duch. His nurse! why, she was dead ere thou wast

born.

York. If 'twere not she, I cannot tell who told me. Q. Eliz. A parlous boy: Go to, you are too shrewd.

been remember'd,] To be remember'd is, in Shakspeare, to have one's memory quick, to have one's thoughts about one. ^ A parlous boy :] Parlous is keen, shrewd.