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.

Enter GLOSTER, BUCKINGHAM, STANLEY, HASTINGS, RATCLIFfe, and others.

Glo. Sister, have comfort: all of us have cause
To wail the dimming of our shining star;
But none can help our 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 heavy mutual 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 hates,
But lately splinter'd, 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 king be fetched
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,
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 sister, will you go

To give your censures1 in this weighty business?

[Exeunt all but BUCK. 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.

SCENE III.-The same. A Street.

Enter two Citizens, meeting.

[Exeunt.

1 Cit. Good morrow, neighbour: Whither away so fast? 2 Cit. I promise you, I scarcely know myself:

Hear you the news abroad?

1 Cit.

Yes; that the king is 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 politic grave counsel; then the king

Had virtuous uncles to protect his grace.

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

(1) Censures; i. e. opinions, counsels.

3 Cit. 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 Gloster;

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.

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 reason1 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 instinct, men's minds mistrust Ensuing danger; as, by proof, we see

The waters 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.

SCENE IV.-The same. A Room in 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
Has almost overta'en him in his growth.

York. Ay, mother, but I would not have it so.
Duch. Why, my good 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.

(1) Reason is here used for converse, talk.

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 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.
Duch. How, my young York? I prithee 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 prithee, pretty York, who told thee this?
York. Grandam, his nurse.

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 :2 Go to, you are too shrewd.
Arch. Good madam, be not angry with the child.
Q. Eliz. Pitchers have ears.

Arch.

What news?

Enter a Messenger.

Here comes a messenger :

Mess. Such news, my lord, as grieves me to report.
Q. Eliz. How doth the prince?

Mess.

Duch. What is thy news?

Well, madam, and in health.

Mess. Lord Rivers, and lord Grey, are sent to Pomfret, And with them sir Thomas Vaughan, prisoners.

Duch. Who hath committed them?

Mess. The mighty dukes, Gloster, and Buckingham.

Arch. For what offence?

Mess. The sum of all I can I have disclos'd;

Why, or for what, the nobles were committed,
Is all unknown to me, my gracious lord.

Q. Eliz. Ah me, I see the ruin of my house!

The tiger now hath seiz'd the gentle hind;
Insulting tyranny begins to jut

Upon the innocent and awless throne:

(1) If I had been remember'd; i. e. if I had remembered quick enough.

(2) A parlous boy. There is some dispute as to the meaning of parlous; some say it is keen, shrewd; others perilous, dangerous. May it not be talkative, from the French parler?.

Welcome, destruction, blood, and massacre!
I see, as in a map, the end of all.

Duch. Accursed and unquiet wrangling days,
How many of you have mine eyes beheld!
My husband lost his life to get the crown;
And often up and down my sons were toss'd,
For me to joy, and weep, their gain and loss :
And being seated, and domestic broils

Clean over-blown, themselves, the conquerors,
Make war upon themselves; brother to brother,
Blood to blood, self against self: O, preposterous
And frantic outrage, end thy damned spleen:
Or let me die, to look on death no more!

Q. Eliz. Come, come, my boy, we will to sanctuary.1
Madam, farewell.

Duch.

Stay, I will go with you.
Q. Eliz. You have no cause.
Arch.

My gracious lady, go,

And thither bear your treasure and your goods.
For my part, I'll resign unto your grace
The seal I keep: And so betide to me,
As well I tender you, and all of yours!
Go, I'll conduct you to the sanctuary.

[To the QUEEN.

[Exeunt.

ACT III.

SCENE I.-London. A Street.

The trumpets sound. Enter the PRINCE OF WALES, GLOSTER, BUCKINGHAM, CARDINAL BOUCHIER, and others.

Buck. Welcome, sweet prince, to London, to your chamber.2 Glo. Welcome, dear cousin, my thoughts' sovereign :

The weary way hath made you melancholy.

Prince. No, uncle; but our crosses on the way Have made it tedious, wearisome, and heavy :

I want more uncles here to welcome me.

(1) We will to sanctuary. To certain places, commonly within the precincts of some religious house, there were wont to be granted the privileges of sanctuary; that is, persons taking refuge there could not be molested, and those who violated these privileges were deemed sacrilegious. In the present instance, the sanctuary mentioned was that of Westminster Abbey.

(2) To London, to your chamber. Anciently London used to be called " regia," or the "royal chamber."

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