SCENE III.
A street near the court.
Enter two Citizens, meeting.
1 Cit.
Good morrow, neighbour: Whither away so fast?
2 Cit.
I promise you, I hardly know myself:
Hear you the news abroad?
1 Cit.
Yes, that the king is dead.
2 Cit.
I'll news, by'r lady; seldom comes a beter:
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 child6 note
!
2 Cit.
In him there is a hope of government;
7 note
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.
-- 62 --
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:
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:9Q0869
You cannot reason almost with a man
That looks not heavily, and full of dread.
3 Cit.
Before the days of change8 note, still is it so:
By a divine instinct, men's minds mistrust
Ensuing danger; as, by proof, we see
-- 63 --
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.
Samuel Johnson [1778], The plays of William Shakspeare. In ten volumes. With the corrections and illustrations of various commentators; to which are added notes by Samuel Johnson and George Steevens. The second edition, Revised and Augmented (Printed for C. Bathurst [and] W. Strahan [etc.], London) [word count] [S10901].
