Cade. And good reason; for thereby is England maim'd, and fain to go with a staff, but that my puissance holds it up. Fellow kings, I tell you, that that lord Say hath gelded the commonwealth, and made it a eunuch; and more than that, he can speak French, and therefore he is a traitor.

Staf. O gross and miserable ignorance!

Cade. Nay, answer, if you can: the Frenchmen are our enemies: go to then, I ask but this; can he that speaks with the tongue of an enemy, be a good counsellor, or no?

All. No, no: and therefore, we'll have his head.

W. Staf. Well, seeing gentle words will not prevail,
Assail them with the army of the king.

Staf. Herald, away: and, throughout every town,
Proclaim them traitors that are up with Cade;
That those, which fly before the battle ends,
May, even in their wives' and children's sight,
Be hang'd up for example at their doors:-
And you, that be the king's friends, follow me.

[Exeunt the two STAFFORDS, and forces.

Cade. And you, that love the commons, follow me.-
Now show yourselves men, 'tis for liberty.
We will not leave one lord, one gentleman:
Spare none, but such as go in clouted shoon ;*

For they are thrifty honest men, and such

As would (but that they dare not) take out parts.
Dick. They are all in order, and march towards us.

Cade. But then are we in order, when we are most out of order. Come, march forward.

SCENE III.—Another part of Blackheath.

[Exeunt.

Alarums. The two parties enter, and fight, and both the STAFFORDS are slain.

Cade. Where's Dick, the butcher of Ashford?

Dick. Here, Sir.

Cade. They fell before thee, like sheep and oxen, and thou behavedst thyself as if thou hadst been in thine own slaughterhouse: therefore thus will I reward thee,-The Lent shall be as long again as it is; and thou shalt have a licence to kill for a hundred, lacking one.

Dick. I desire no more.

Cade. And, to speak truth, thou deservest no less. This monument of the victory will I bear; and the bodies shall be dragg'd at my horse' heels, till I do come to London, where we will have the mayor's sword borne before us.

Dick. If we mean to thrive and do good, break open the gaols, and let out the prisoners.

Cade. Fear not that, I warrant thee. Come, let's march towards London. [Exeunt.

* Shoes.

SCENE IV.-London. A Room in the Palace.

Enter KING HENRY, reading a supplication; the Duke of BUCKINGHAM, and LORD SAY with him at a distance, QUEEN MARGARET, mourning over SUFFOLK's head.

Q. Mar. Oft have I heard-that grief softens the mind,
And makes it fearful and degenerate;

Think therefore on revenge, and cease to weep.
But who can cease to weep, and look on this?
Here may his head lie on my throbbing breast:
But where's the body that I should embrace?

Buck. What answer makes your grace to the rebel's supplication?

K. Hen. I'll send some holy bishop to entreat:

For God forbid, so many simple souls
Should perish by the sword! And I myself,
Rather than bloody war shall cut them short,
Will parley with Jack Cade their general.-

But stay, I'll read it over once again.

Q. Mar. Ah, barbarous villains! Hath this lovely face Ruled like a wandering planet over me:*

And could it not enforce them to relent,

That were unworthy to behold the same?

K. Hen. Lord Say, Jack Cade hath sworn to have thy head. Say. Ay, but I hope, your highness shall have his.

K. Hen. How now, madam? Still

Lamenting and mourning for Suffolk's death?

I fear, my love, if that I had been dead,

Thou wouldst not have mourn'd so much for me.

Q. Mar. No, my love, I should not mourn, but die for thee.

Enter a MESSENGER.

K. Hen. How now! What news? Why comest thou in such haste?

Mes. The rebels are in Southwark; Fly, my lord!

Jack Cade proclaims himself lord Mortimer,
Descended from the duke of Clarence' house;
And calls your grace usurper, openly,
And vows to crown himself in Westminster.
His army is a ragged multitude

Of hinds and peasants, rude and merciless :
Sir Humphrey Stafford and his brother's death
Hath given them heart and courage to proceed :
All scholars, lawyers, courtiers, gentlemen,

They call—false caterpillars, and intend their death.

K. Hen. O graceless men!-They know not what they do.
Buck. My gracious lord, retire to Killingworth,

Until a power be raised to put them down.

• Predominated irresistibly over my passions; as the planets over those born under their influence.

Q. Mar. Ah! were the duke of Suffolk now alive, These Kentish rebels would be soon appeased.

K. Hen. Lord Say, the traitors hate thee,

Therefore away with us to Killingworth.

Say. So might your grace's person be in danger :
The sight of me is odious in their eyes:
And therefore in this city will I stay,

And live alone as secret as I may.

Enter another MESSENGER.

2 Mes. Jack Cade hath gotten London-bridge; the citizens Fly and forsake their houses:

The rascal people, thirsting after prey,

Join with the traitor; and they jointly swear,

To spoil the city, and your royal court.

Buck. Then linger not, my lord; away, take horse!

K. Hen. Come, Margaret; God, our hope, will succour us.
Q. Mar. My hope is gone, now Suffolk is deceased.

K. Hen. Farewell, my lord; [To LORD SAY.] trust not the
Kentish rebels.

Buck. Trust nobody, for fear you be betray'd. Say. The trust I have is in mine innocence, And therefore am I bold and resolute.

SCENE V-The same. The Tower.

[Exeunt.

Enter LORD SCALES, and others, on the walls. Then enter certain CITIZENS, below.

Scales. How now? Is Jack Cade slain?

1 Cit. No, my lord, nor likely to be slain; for they have won the bridge, killing all those that withstand them: the lord mayor craves aid of your honour from the Tower, to defend the city from the rebels.

Scales. Such aid as I can spare, you shall command;

But I am troubled here with them myself,

The rebels have assay'd to win the Tower.
But get you to Smithfield, and gather head,

And thither I will send you Matthew Gough:

Fight for your king, your country, and your lives;
And so farewell, for I must hence again.

SCENE VI.-The same. Cannon Street.

[Exeunt.

Enter JACK CADE, and his followers. He strikes his staff on London-stone.

Cade. Now is Mortimer lord of this city. And here, sitting upon London-stone, I charge and command, that of the city's cost, the pissing-conduit run nothing but claret wine this first year of our reign. And now, henceforward, it shall be treason for any that calls me other than-lord Mortimer.

Enter a SOLDIER, running.

[They kill him.

Sold. Jack Cade! Jack Cade! Cade. Knock him down there. Smith. If this fellow be wise, he'll never call you Jack Cade more; I think, he hath a very fair warning.

Dick. My lord, there's an army gather'd together in Smithfield.

Cade. Come them, let's go fight with them: but first, go and set London-bridge on fire; and, if you can, burn down the Tower too. Come, let's away. [Exeunt.

SCENE VII.-The same. Smithfield.

Alarum. Enter, on one side, CADE and his company; on the other, Citizens, and the King's forces, headed by MATTHEW GOUGH. They fight; the Citizens are routed, and MATTHEW GOUGH is slain.

Cade. So, Sirs:-Now go some and pull down the Savoy; others to the inns of court; down with them all.

Dick. I have a suit unto your lordship.

Cade. Be it a lordship, thou shalt have it for that word. Dick. Only, that the laws of England may come out of your mouth.

John. Mass, 'twill be sore law then; for he was thrust in the mouth with a spear, and 'tis not whole yet.

[Aside.

Smith. Nay, John, it will be stinking law; for his breath stinks with eating toasted cheese.

[Aside.

Cade. I have thought upon it, it shall be so. Away, burn all the records of the realm; my mouth shall be the parliament of England.

John. Then we are like to have biting statutes, unless his teeth be pulled out.

Cade. And henceforward all things shall be in common.

Enter a MESSENGER.

[Aside.

Mes. My lord, a prize, a prize! Here's the lord Say, which sold the towns in France; he that made us pay one and twenty fifteens,* and one shilling to the pound, the last subsidy.

Enter GEORGE BEVIS, with the LORD SAY.

Cade. Well, he shall be beheaded for it ten times.-Ay, thou say, thou serge, nay, thou buckram lord! Now art thou within point blank of our jurisdiction regal. What canst thou answer to my majesty, for giving up of Normandy unto monsieur Basimecu, the dauphin of France? Be it known unto thee by these presence, even the presence of lord Mortimer, that I am

* A fifteen was the fifteenth part of all the moveables, or personal property, of each subject.

Say was a kind of serge.

the besom that must sweep the court clean of such filth as thou art. Thou hast most traitorously corrupted the youth of the realm, in erecting a grammar-school: and whereas, before, our forefathers had no other books but the score and the tally, thou hast caused printing to be used; and, contrary to the king, his crown and dignity, thou hast built a paper-mill. It will be proved to thy face, that thou hast men about thee, that usually talk of a noun, and a verb; and such abominable words, as no Christian ear can endure to hear. Thou hast appointed justices of peace, to call poor men before them about matters they were not able to answer. Moreover, thou hast put them in prison; and, because they could not read, thou hast hanged them; when, indeed, only for that cause they have been most worthy to live. Thou dost ride on a foot-cloth,† dost thou not? Say. What of that?

Cade. Marry, thou oughtest not to let thy horse wear a cloak, when honester men than thou go in their hose and doublets. Dick. And work in their shirt too; as myself, for example, that am a butcher.

Say. You men of Kent,

Dick. What say you of Kent?

Say. Nothing but this: "Tis bona terra, mala gens.

Cade. Away with him, away with him! he speaks Latin.
Say. Hear me but speak, and bear me where you will.

Kent, in the commentaries Cæsar writ,

Is term'd the civil'st place of all this isle :

Sweet is the country, because full of riches;
The people liberal, valiant, active, wealthy;

Which makes me hope you are not void of pity.
I sold not Maine, I lost not Normandy;
Yet, to recover them, would lose my life.
Justice with favour have I always done;

Prayers and tears have moved me, gifts could never.
When have I aught exacted at your hands,
Kent to maintain, the king, the realm, and you?
Large gifts have I bestow'd on learned clerks,
Because my book preferr'd me to the king:
And-seeing ignorance is the curse of God,
Knowledge the wing wherewith we fly to heaven,-
Unless you be possess'd with devilish spirits,
You cannot but forbear to murder me.

This tongue hath parley'd unto foreign kings
For your behoof,-

Cade. Tut! When struck'st thou one blow in the field?
Say. Great men have reaching hands: oft have I struck
Those that I never saw, and struck them dead.

Geo. O monstrous coward! what, to come behind folks?
Say. These cheeks are pale for watching for your good.

I. e. they were hanged because they could not claim the benefit of the clergy.

†The housing of a horse.

+ From.