London. A Street.
 Enter 1st CITIZEN at one door, and 2nd CITIZEN at the other.

1st Citizen	Good morrow, neighbour. Whither away so fast?

2nd Citizen	I promise you, I scarcely know myself.
	Hear you the news abroad?

1st Citizen								Yes, that the king is dead.

2nd Citizen	Ill news, byrlady; seldom comes the better.
	I fear, I fear, 'twill prove a giddy world.

                            Enter 3rd CITIZEN.

3rd Citizen	Neighbours, God speed.

1st Citizen								Give you good morrow, sir.

3rd Citizen	Doth the news hold of good King Edward's death?

2nd Citizen	Ay, sir, it is too true - God help the while!

3rd Citizen	Then, masters, look to see a troublous world.

1st Citizen	No, no; by God's good grace his son shall reign.

3rd Citizen	Woe to that land that's governed by a child.

2nd 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.

1st Citizen	So stood the state when Henry the Sixth
	Was crowned in Paris but at nine months old.

3rd 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.

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

3rd 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.

1st Citizen	Come, come, we fear the worst. All will be well.

3rd Citizen	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 makes men expect a dearth.
	All may be well; but if God sort it so
	'Tis more than we deserve, or I expect.

2nd Citizen	Truly the hearts of men are full of fear.
	You cannot reason almost with a man
	That looks not heavily and full of dread.

3rd Citizen	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 boist'rous storm.
	But leave it all to God. Whither away?

2nd Citizen	Marry, we were sent for to the justices.

3rd Citizen	And so was I; I'll bear you company.
														[Exeunt.
