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 that land that’s governed by a child.
SECOND CITIZEN.
In him there is a hope of government,
Which, in his nonage, council under him,
And, in his full and ripened years, himself,
No doubt shall then, and till then, govern well.
FIRST CITIZEN.
So stood the state when Henry the Sixth
Was crowned 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 enriched
With politic grave counsel; then the King
Had virtuous uncles to protect his Grace.
FIRST CITIZEN.
Why, so hath this, both by his father and mother.
THIRD CITIZEN.
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 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 will be well.