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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 mother, will you go
To give your censures in this weighty business?
QUEEN ELIZABETH:
With all our harts.
BUCKINGHAM:
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.
GLOUCESTER:
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.
First Citizen:
Neighbour, well met: whither away so fast?
Second Citizen:
I promise you, I scarcely know myself:
Hear you the news abroad?
First Citizen:
Ay, that the king is dead.
Second Citizen:
Bad news, by'r lady; seldom comes the better:
I fear, I fear 'twill prove a troublous world.
Third Citizen:
Neighbours, God speed!
First Citizen:
Give you good morrow, sir.
Third Citizen:
Doth this 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 the land that's govern'd by a child!
Second Citizen:
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 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 the father and mother.
Third Citizen:
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.
First Citizen:
Come, come, we fear the worst; all shall be well.
Third Citizen:
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.