Q. Eliz. Was never widow had so dear a loss.
Chil. Were never orphans had so dear a loss.
Duch. Was never mother had so dear a loss.
Alas, I am the mother of these moans!
Their woes are parcell'd, mine are general.
She for an Edward weeps, and so do I;
I for a Clarence weep, so, doth not she:
These babes for Clarence weep, and so do I;
I for an Edward weep, so do not they :
Alas, you three, on me, threefold distress'd,
Pour all your tears! I am your sorrow's nurse,
And I will pamper it with lamentations.

80

Dor. Comfort, dear mother: God is much displeased That you take with unthankfulness his doing :

In common worldly things, 'tis call'd ungrateful,
With dull unwillingness to repay a debt
Which with a bounteous hand was kindly lent;
Much more to be thus opposite with heaven,
For it requires the royal debt it lent you.

Riv. Madam, bethink you, like a careful mother,
Of the young prince your son: send straight for him;
Let him be crown'd; in him your comfort lives:
Drown desperate sorrow in dead Edward's grave,
And plant your joys in living Edward's throne.

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100

Enter GLOUCESTER, BUCKINGHAM, DERBY, HASTINGS, and RATCLIFF.

Glou. Madam, 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 mind, Love, charity, obedience, and true duty!

Glou. [Aside] Amen; and make me die a good old man!

That is the butt-end of a mother's blessing:
I marvel why her grace did leave it out.

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 splinter'd, knit, and join'd together, Must gently be preserved, 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.

120

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,
And may direct his course as please himself,
As well the fear of harm, as harm apparent,

In my opinion, ought to be prevented.

Glou. 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 urged:
Therefore I say with noble Buckingham,

That it is meet so few should fetch the prince.

Hast. And so say I.

Glou. 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

To give your censures in this weighty business?

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140

Q. Eliz.
Duch.

}

With all our hearts.

[Exeunt all but Buckingham and Gloucester.

Buck. My Lord, whoever journeys to the prince, For God's sake, let not us two be behind;

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 king. 150 Glou. My other self, my counsel's consistory,

My oracle, my prophet! My dear cousin,

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

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

First Cit.

SCENE III. London. A street.

Enter two Citizens, meeting.

Neighbour, well met: whither away so fast?

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

First Cit.

Ay, that the king is dead.

Sec. Cit. Bad news, by 'r lady; seldom comes the better: I fear, I fear 'twill prove a troublous world.

Enter another Citizen.

Third Cit. Neighbours, God speed!

First Cit.

Give you good morrow, sir.

Third Cit. Doth this news hold of good King Edward's death?

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

ΙΟ

Third Cit. Woe to that land that's govern'd by a child! Sec. 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.

First Cit. So stood the state when Henry the Sixth Was crown'd in Paris but at nine months old.

Third Cit. 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.

20

First Cit. Why, so hath this, both by the father and mother.

Third Cit. Better it were they all came by the father, Or by the 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 Gloucester !

And the queen's sons and brothers haught and proud:
And were they to be ruled, and not to rule,
This sickly land might solace as before.

30

First Cit. Come, come, we fear the worst; all shall be well.

Third Cit. When clouds appear, wise men put on their cloaks;

When great leaves fall, the 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.

Sec. Cit. Truly, the souls of men are full of dread: Ye cannot reason almost with a man

That looks not heavily and full of fear.

Third Cit. Before the times of change, still is it so By a divine instinct men's minds mistrust Ensuing dangers; as, by proof, we see

The waters swell before a boisterous storm.

But leave it all to God. Whither away?

Sec. Cit. Marry, we were sent for to the justices.

40

Third Cit. And so was I: I'll bear you company.

[Exeunt.

SCENE IV. London. The palace.

Enter the ARCHBISHOP OF YORK, the young DUKE OF YORK, QUEEN ELIZABETH, and the DUCHESS of York.

Arch. Last night, I hear, they lay at Northampton ; At Stony-Stratford will they be to-night :

To-morrow, or next day, they will be here.

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 overta'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

II

More than my brother: 'Ay,' quoth my uncle Gloucester,
'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 this rule were true, he should be gracious.
Arch. Why, madam, so, no doubt, he is.
Duch. I hope he is; but yet let mothers doubt.

York. Now, by my troth, if I had been remember'd,

I could have given my uncle's grace a flout,

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

20

Duch. How, my pretty York? I pray thee, let me hear it.

York. Marry, they say my uncle grew so fast

That he could gnaw a crust at two hours old: