8

The broken rancour of your high-swoln hates,
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 fet9
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.

Rich. 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.10

1

8 So the folio; the quartos, "high-swoln hearts." There is a sort of grammatical paralysis in the passage, but the sense is clear enough.

H.

9 Edward, the young prince, in his father's lifetime, and at his demise, kept his household at Ludlow, as prince of Wales; under the governance of Anthony Woodville, earl of Rivers, his uncle by the mother's side. The intention of his being sent thither was to see justice done in the Marches; and, by the authority of his presence, to restrain the Welchmen, who were wild, dissolute, and ill disposed, from their accustomed murders and outrages.

10 This and the seventeen lines preceding are fourd only in the

folio.

Н.

Rich. 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 weighty business? [Exeunt all but BUCKINGHAM and RICHARD. 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,

12

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

To part the queen's proud kindred from the prince
Rich. 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.

[Exeunt.

SCENE III. The same. A Street.

Enter two Citizens, meeting.

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: 1

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

"That is, your judgments, your opinions. In the line before the quartos have mother instead of sister.

H.

12 The index of a book was formerly set at the beginning; hence, probably, the word came to be used in the sense of opening or introduction. So in Act iv. sc. 4 of this play: "The flatter ing index of a direful pageant." And in Othello, Act ii. sc. 1: "An index and obscure prologue to the history of lust and foul thoughts."-Sort, in the line before, is used for select or pick.

H.

An ancient proverbial saying, noticed in The English Cour

Enter another Citizen.

3 Cit. Neighbours, God speed!

1 Cit.

Give you good morrow, sir 3 Cit. Doth the news hold of good King Ed

ward'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.3 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.

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;

tier and Country Gentlemen: "As the proverbe sayth, seldome come the better. VAL. That proverb indeed is aunchient, and for the most part true."

2 So in Ecclesiastes, x. 16: "Woe to thee, O land! when thy king is a child."

3 We may hope well of his government under all circum stances; we may hope this of his council while he is in his non age, and of himself in his riper years.

And the queen's sons and brothers haught and proud:
And were they to le 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

4

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 water swell before a boisterous 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.

• Reason, verb, was often used for to talk or converse.

H.

The following hints towards this scene are in More's His tory: "Yet began there here and there abouts some maner of muttering among the people, as though all should not long be well, though they neither wist what they feared, nor wherefore: were it, that before such great things mens hearts of a secret instinct of nature misgive them, as the sea without wind swelleth of himselfe sometime before a tempest; or were it, that some one man, hap pilie somewhat perceiving, filled manie men with suspicion, though be shewed few men what he knew."

H.

SCENE IV. The same.

A Room in the Palace.

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

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

And at Northampton they do rest 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.
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 sup-

per,

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

And since, methinks I would not grow so fast,

So the folio: the quartos reverse the order of the places, thus:
"Last night, I hear, they lay at Northampton:
At Stony-Stratford will they be to-night!"

Malone and Steevens had a sharp controversy, which reading ought o be kept. The matter is stated thus in More's History: "Now came there one not long after midnight from the lord chamberlaine to doctor Rotheram the archbishop of Yorke, then chancellor of England; and for that he showed his servants that he had tidings of so great importance, they letted not to wake him, nor he to admit this messenger in to his bed side. Of whom he heard that tn:se dukes were gone backe with the kings grace from Stonie Stratford unto Northampton."

H