The Prince and the Pauper
by Mark Twain
The Prince and the Pauper
by Mark Twain
Hugh Latimer, Bishop of Worcester, to Lord Cromwell, on the birth
of the Prince of Wales (afterward Edward VI.).
From the National Manuscripts preserved by the British Government.
Ryght honorable, Salutem in Christo Jesu, and Syr here ys no lesse
joynge and rejossynge in thes partees for the byrth of our prynce,
hoom we hungurde for so longe, then ther was (I trow), inter
vicinos att the byrth of S. J. Baptyste, as thys berer, Master
Erance, can telle you. Gode gyffe us alle grace, to yelde dew
thankes to our Lorde Gode, Gode of Inglonde, for verely He hathe
shoyd Hym selff Gode of Inglonde, or rather an Inglyssh Gode, yf
we consydyr and pondyr welle alle Hys procedynges with us from
tyme to tyme. He hath over cumme alle our yllnesse with Hys
excedynge goodnesse, so that we are now moor then compellyd to
serve Hym, seke Hys glory, promott Hys wurde, yf the Devylle of
alle Devylles be natt in us. We have now the stooppe of vayne
trustes ande the stey of vayne expectations; lett us alle pray for
hys preservatione. Ande I for my partt wylle wyssh that hys Grace
allways have, and evyn now from the begynynge, Governares,
Instructores and offyceres of ryght jugmente, ne optimum ingenium
non optima educatione deprevetur.
Butt whatt a grett fowlle am I! So, whatt devotione shoyth many
tymys butt lytelle dyscretione! Ande thus the Gode of Inglonde be
ever with you in alle your procedynges.
The 19 of October.
Youres, H. L. B. of Wurcestere, now att Hartlebury.
Yf you wolde excytt thys berere to be moore hartye ayen the abuse
of ymagry or mor forwarde to promotte the veryte, ytt myght doo
goode. Natt that ytt came of me, butt of your selffe, etc.
(Addressed)
To the Ryght Honorable Loorde P. Sealle hys synguler gode Lorde.
To those good-mannered and agreeable children
Susie and Clara Clemens
this book is affectionately inscribed by their father.
I will set down a tale as it was told to me by one who had it of
his father, which latter had it of HIS father, this last having in
like manner had it of HIS father–and so on, back and still back,
three hundred years and more, the fathers transmitting it to the
sons and so preserving it. It may be history, it may be only a
legend, a tradition. It may have happened, it may not have
happened: but it COULD have happened. It may be that the wise
and the learned believed it in the old days; it may be that only
the unlearned and the simple loved it and credited it.
Contents.
I. The birth of the Prince and the Pauper.
II. Tom’s early life.
III. Tom’s meeting with the Prince.
IV. The Prince’s troubles begin.
V. Tom as a patrician.
VI. Tom receives instructions.
VII. Tom’s first royal dinner.
VIII. The question of the Seal.
IX. The river pageant.
X. The Prince in the toils.
XI. At Guildhall.
XII. The Prince and his deliverer.
XIII. The disappearance of the Prince.
XIV. ‘Le Roi est mort–vive le Roi.’
XV. Tom as King.
XVI. The state dinner.
XVII. Foo-foo the First.
XVIII. The Prince with the tramps.
XIX. The Prince with the peasants.
XX. The Prince and the hermit.
XXI. Hendon to the rescue.
XXII. A victim of treachery.
XXIII. The Prince a prisoner.
XXIV. The escape.
XXV. Hendon Hall.
XXVI. Disowned.
XXVII. In prison.
XXVIII. The sacrifice.
XXIX. To London.
XXX. Tom’s progress.
XXXI. The Recognition procession.
XXXII. Coronation Day.
XXXIII. Edward as King.
Conclusion. Justice and Retribution.
Notes.
‘The quality of mercy . . . is twice bless’d;
It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes;
‘Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes
The thron-ed monarch better than his crown’.
Merchant of Venice.
Chapter I. The birth of the Prince and the Pauper.
In the ancient city of London, on a certain autumn day in the
second quarter of the sixteenth century, a boy was born to a poor
family of the name of Canty, who did not want him. On the same