How in our voiding lobby hast thou stood,
And duly waited for my coming forth?
This hand of mine hath writ in thy behalf,
And therefore shall it charm thy riotous tongue.
Whit. Speak, captain, shall I stab the forlorn swain ?
Cap. First let my words stab him, as he hath me.
Suf. Base slave! thy words are blunt, and so art thou.
Cap. Convey him hence, and on our long-boat's side
Strike off his head.

Suf. Thou dar'st not for thy own.

Cap. Yes, Poole.

Suf. Poole ?

Cap. Poole? Sir Poole? lord?

Ay, kennel, puddle, sink; whose filth and dirt

Troubles the silver spring where England drinks.
Now will I dam up this thy yawning mouth,

For swallowing the treasure of the realm:

Thy lips, that kiss'd the queen, shall sweep the ground; And thou, that smil'dst at good duke Humphrey's death, Against the senseless winds shall grin in vain,

Who, in contempt, shall hiss at thee again:

And wedded be thou to the hags of hell,

For daring to affy* a mighty lord
Unto the daughter of a worthless king,
Having neither subject, wealth, nor diadem.
By devilish policy art thou grown great,
And, like ambitious Sylla, overgorged
With gobbets of thy mother's bleeding heart.
By thee Anjou and Maine were sold to France:
The false revolting Normans, thorough thee,
Disdain to call us lord; and Picardy

Hath slain our governors, surprised our forts,
And sent the ragged soldiers wounded home.
The princely Warwick, and the Nevils all,—
Whose dreadful swords were never drawn in vain;
As hating thee, are rising up in arms:

And now the house of York-thrust from the crown,
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 Burgulus the strong Illyrian pirate.

*To betroth.

† A ship of small burden.

Drones suck not eagles' blood, but rob beehives.
It is impossible that I should die

By such a lowly vassal as thyself.

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

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:-'Tis thee I fear.
Whit. Thou shalt have cause to fear, before I leave thee.
What, are ye daunted now? Now will ye stoop?

1 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.

[Exit SUF. with WHITMORE and others.
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.

1 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.

[Exit with the Body.

SCENE II. Blackheath.

Enter GEORGE BEVIS and JOHN HOLLAND.

Geo. Come, and get thee a sword, though made of a lath; they have been up these two days.

*Bisognosi, low, needy men.

John. They have the more need to sleep now then.

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

**

John. So he had need, for 'tis threadbare. Well, I say, it was never merry world in England, since gentlemen came up. Geo. O miserable age! Virtue is not regarded in handycrafts

men.

John. The nobility think scorn to go in leather aprons. Geo. Nay more, the king's council are no good workmen. John. 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.

Geo. Thou hast hit it: for there's no better sign of a brave mind, than a hard hand.

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

Geo. He shall have the skins of our enemies, to make dog's leather of.

John. And Dick the butcher,

Geo. Then is sin struck down like an ox, and iniquity's throat cut like a calf.

John. And Smith the weaver :

Geo. Argo, their thread of life is spun.

John. Come, come, let's fall in with them.

Drum—Enter CADE, DICK the Butcher, SMITH the Weaver; and others in great number.

Cade. We John Cade, so term'd of our supposed father,Dick. Or rather, of stealing a cadet of herrings. [Aside. 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. He was an honest man, and a good bricklayer. [Aside. Cade. My mother a Plantagenet,

Dick. I knew her well, she was a midwife.
Cade. My wife descended of the Lacies,

[Aside.

Dick. She was, indeed, a pedlar's daughter, and sold many

laces.

[Aside.

Smith. But, now of late, not able to travel with her furred pack, § she washes bucks here at home.

[Aside.

Cade. Therefore am I of an honourable house.

the cage.

he born, under a hedge; for his father had never a house, but

Cade. Valiant I am.

Smith. A must needs; for beggary is valiant.

Cade. I am able to endure much.

Dick. No question of that; for I have seen him whipp'd three

market days together.

[Aside.

Dick. Ay, by my faith, the field is honourable; and there was

[Aside.

[Aside.

Cade. I fear neither sword nor fire.

Smith. He need not fear the sword, his coat is of proof.*

[Aside.

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

[Aside.

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 three-hoop'd 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 lamb should be made parchment? That parchment, being scribbled o'er, should undo a man? Some say, the bee stings: but I say, 'tis the bee's-wax: for I did but seal once to a thing, and I was never mine own man since. How now? Who's there?

Enter some, bringing in the CLERK of Chatham.

Smith. The clerk of Chatham: he can write and read, and cast accompt.

Cade. O monstrous !

Smith. We took him setting of boys' copies.

Cade. Here's a villain !

Smith. H'as a book in his pocket, with red letters in't.

Cade. Nay, then he is a conjurer.

Dick. Nay, he can make obligations,† and write court-hand. Cade. I am sorry for't: the man is a proper man, on mine honour; unless I find him guilty, he shall not die.-Come hither, sirrah, I must examine thee: What is thy name?

Clerk. Emmanuel.

Dick. They use to write it on the top of letters :-Twill go hard with you.

Cade. Let me alone:-Dost thou use to write thy name? or hast thou a mark to thyself, like a honest plain-dealing man? Clerk. Sir, I thank God, I have been so well brought up, that I can write my name.

All. He hath confess'd: away with him; he's a villain, and a traitor.

Cade. Away with him, I say: hang him with his pen and inkhorn about his neck. [Exeunt some with the CLERK.

Enter MICHAEL.

Mich. Where's our general?

* Proved by long wear.

† Bonds.

I. e. letters missive.

Cade. Here I am, thou particular fellow.

Mich. Fly, fly, fly! Sir Humphrey Stafford and his brother are hard by, with the king's forces.

Cade. Stand, villain, stand, or I'll fell thee 'down: he shall be encounter'd with a man as good as himself: he is but a knight, is 'a ?

Mich. No.

Cade. To equal him, I will make myself a knight presently; rise up Sir John Mortimer. Now have at him.

Enter SIR HUMPHREY STAFFORD, and WILLIAM his Brother, with drum and forces.

Staf. Rebellious hinds, the filth and scum of Kent, Mark'd for the gallows,-lay your weapons down, Home to your cottages, forsake this groom:

The king is merciful if you revolt.

W. Staf. But angry, wrathful, and inclined to blood,

If you go forward: therefore yield, or die.

Cade. As for these silken-coated slaves, I pass not;

It is to you, good people, that I speak,

O'er whom, in time to come, I hope to reign;

For I am rightful heir unto the crown.

Staf. Villain, thy father was a plasterer;

And thou, thyself, a shearman, art thou not?
Cade. And Adam was a gardener.

W. Staf. And what of that?

*

Cade. Marry, this:-Edmund Mortimer, earl of March, Married the duke of Clarence's daughter; did he not? Staf. Ay, Sir.

Cade. By her he had two children at one birth.

W. Staf. That's false.

Cade. Ay, there's the question; but, I say, 'tis true:

The elder of them, being put to nurse,

Was by a beggar-woman stolen away;

And, ignorant of his birth and parentage,

Became a bricklayer, when he came to age:

His son am I; deny it, if you can.

Dick. Nay, 'tis too true; therefore, he shall be king.

Smith. Sir, he made a chimney in my father's house, and the bricks are alive at this day to testify it; therefore, deny it not. Staf. And will you credit this base drudge's words,

That speaks he knows not what?

All. Ay, marry, will we; therefore get ye gone.

W. Staf. Jack Cade, the duke of York hath taught you this. Cade. He lies, for I invented it myself. [Aside.]-Go to, sirrah, tell the king from me, that for his father's sake, Henry the Fifth,-in whose time boys went to span-counter for French crowns,-I am content he shall reign; but I'll be protector over him.

Dick. And, furthermore, we'll have the lord Say's head, for selling the dukedom of Maine.

* I pay them no regard.