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By shameful murder of a guiltless king
And lofty proud encroaching tyranny,

Burns with revenging fire; whose hopeful colours
Advance our half-faced sun, striving to shine,

Under the which is writ Invitis nubibus.
The commons here in Kent are up in arms:
And, to conclude, reproach and beggary
Is crept into the palace of our king,

And all by thee. Away! convey him hence.

SUF. O that I were a god, to shoot forth thunder Upon these paltry, servile, abject drudges!

Small things make base men proud: this villain here, Being captain of a pinnace, threatens more

Than Bargulus the strong Illyrian pirate.

Drones suck not eagles' blood but rob bee-hives: It is impossible that I should die

By such a lowly vassal as thyself.

Thy words move rage and not remorse in me: of message from the queen to France;

I

go

I charge thee waft me safely cross the Channel.
CAP. Walter,

WHIT. Come, Suffolk, I must waft thee to thy death.

SUF. Gelidus timor occupat artus: it is thee I fear. WHIT. Thou shalt have cause to fear before I leave thee.

What, are ye daunted now? now will ye stoop? FIRST GENT. My gracious lord, entreat him, speak him fair.

SUF. Suffolk's imperial tongue is stern and rough,

Used to command, untaught to plead for favour.
Far be it we should honour such as these

With humble suit: no, rather let my head
Stoop to the block than these knees bow to any
Save to the God of heaven and to my king;
And sooner dance upon a bloody pole
Than stand uncover'd to the vulgar groom.
True nobility is exempt from fear:

More can I bear than you dare execute.

CAP. Hale him away, and let him talk no more.
SUF. Come, soldiers, show what cruelty ye can,
That this my death may never be forgot!
Great men oft die by vile bezonians:

A Roman sworder and banditto slave
Murder'd sweet Tully; Brutus' bastard hand
Stabb'd Julius Cæsar; savage islanders
Pompey the Great; and Suffolk dies by pirates.

[Exeunt WHITMORE and others with SUFFOLK. CAP. And as for these whose ransom we have set, It is our pleasure one of them depart :

Therefore come you with us and let him go.

[Exeunt all but the First Gentleman.

Re-enter WHITMORE with SUFFOLK's body.

WHIT. There let his head and lifeless body lie,

Until the queen his mistress bury it.

[Exit.

FIRST GENT. O barbarous and bloody spectacle!

His body will I bear unto the king:

If he revenge it not, yet will his friends;

So will the queen, that living held him dear.

[Exit with the body.

SCENE II.

Blackheath.

Enter GEORGE BEVIS and JOHN HOLLAND. BEVIS. Come, and get thee a sword, though made of a lath: they have been up these two days.

HOLL. They have the more need to sleep now, then.

BEVIS. I tell thee, Jack Cade the clothier means to dress the commonwealth, and turn it, and set a new nap upon it.

I

HOLL. So he had need, for 'tis threadbare. Well say it was never merry world in England since gentlemen came up.

BEVIS. O miserable age! virtue is not regarded in handicrafts-men.

HOLL. The nobility think scorn to go in leather aprons.

BEVIS. Nay, more, the king's council are no good workmen.

HOLL. True; and yet it is said, labour in thy vocation; which is as much to say as, let the magistrates be labouring men; and therefore should we be magistrates.

BEVIS. Thou hast hit it; for there's no better sign of a brave mind than a hard hand.

HOLL. I see them! I see them! There's Best's son, the tanner of Wingham,

BEVIS. He shall have the skin of our enemies, to make dog's-leather of.

HOLL. And Dick the butcher,—

BEVIS. Then is sin struck down like an ox, and

iniquity's throat cut like a calf.

HOLL. And Smith the weaver,

BEVIS. Argo, their thread of life is spun. HOLL. Come, come, let's fall in with them. Drum. Enter CADE, DICK the Butcher, SMITH the Weaver, and a Sawyer, with infinite numbers. CADE. We John Cade, so termed of our supposed father,

DICK. [Aside] Or rather, of stealing a cade of herrings.

CADE. For our enemies shall fall before us, inspired with the spirit of putting down kings and princes, Command silence.

DICK. Silence!

CADE. My father was a Mortimer,—

DICK. [Aside] He was an honest man, and a good bricklayer.

CADE. My mother a Plantagenet,

DICK. [Aside] I knew her well; she was a midwife.

CADE. My wife descended of the Lacies,—

DICK. [Aside] She was, indeed, a pedler's daughter, and sold many laces.

SMITH. [Aside] But now of late, not able to travel with her furred pack, she washes bucks here at home.

CADE. Therefore am I of an honourable house.

DICK. [Aside] Ay, by my faith, the field is

honourable; and there was he born, under a hedge, for his father had never a house but the cage.

CADE. Valiant I am.

SMITH. [Aside] A' must needs; for beggary is

valiant.

CADE. I am able to endure much.

DICK. [Aside] No question of that; for I have seen him whipped three market-days together. CADE. I fear neither sword nor fire.

SMITH. [Aside] He need not fear the sword; for his coat is of proof.

DICK. [Aside] But methinks he should stand in fear of fire, being burnt i' the hand for stealing of sheep.

CADE. Be brave, then; for your captain is brave, and vows reformation. There shall be in England seven halfpenny loaves sold for a penny: the threehooped pot shall have ten hoops; and I will make it felony to drink small beer: all the realm shall be in common; and in Cheapside shall my palfry go to grass and when I am king, as king I will be,— ALL. God save your majesty !

CADE. I thank you, good people: there shall be no money; all shall eat and drink on my score; and I will apparel them all in one livery, that they may agree like brothers and worship me their lord.

DICK. The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers.

CADE. Nay, that I mean to do. Is not this a lamentable thing, that of the skin of an innocent

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