[life.

War. So bad a death argues a monstrous K. Hen. Forbear to judge, for we are sinners all,Close up his eyes, and draw the curtain close; And let us all to meditation. [Exeunt.

ACT IV.

SCENE I.-Kent. The Sea-shore near Dover.
Firing heard at Sea. Then enter from a boat,
a Captain, a Master, a Master's-Mate,
Walter Whitmore, and others; with them
Suffolk, and other Gentlemen, prisoners.
Cap. The gaudy, blabbing, and remorseful
Is crept into the bosom of the sea; [day
And now loud-howling wolves arouse the jades
That drag the tragic melancholy night;
Who, with their drowsy, slow, and flagging
wings,
[jaws
Clip dead men's graves, and from their misty
Breathe foul contagious darkness in the air :
Therefore bring forth the soldiers of our prize;
For, whilst our pinnace anchors in the Downs,
Here shall they make their ransom on the sand,
Or with their blood stain this discolour'd
shore.-

Master, this prisoner freely give I thee:-
And thou that art his mate, make boot of
this;---

The other, [Pointing to Suffolk,] Walter Whitmore, is thy share. [know. 1 Gent. What is my ransom, master? let me Mast. A thousand crowns, or else lay down your head.

Mate. And so much shall you give, or off goes yours. [thousand crowns. Cap. What, think you much to pay two And bear the name and port of gentlemen ?Cut both the villains' throats;-for die you shall:

The lives of those which we have lost in fight, Cannot be counterpois'd with such a petty sum. 1 Gent. I'll give it, sir; and therefore spare my life. [straight. 2 Gent. And so will I, and write home for it Whit. [To Suf.] I lost mine eye in laying the prize aboard,

And therefore to revenge it shalt thou die ; And so should these, if I might have my will. Cap. Be not so rash; take ransom; let him live.

Suf. Look on my George, I am a gentleman:
Rate me at what thou wilt, thou shalt be paid.
Whit. And so am I; my name is Walter
Whitmore.
[death affright?
How now! why start'st thou? what, doth
Suf. Thy name affrights me, in whose
sound is death.

A cunning man did calculate my birth,
And told me that by water I should die :

Suf. Obscure and lowly swain, king Henry's The honourable blood of Lancaster, [blood, Must not be shed by such a jaded groom. Hast thou not kiss'd thy hand, and held my stirrup?

Bare-headed plodded by my foot-cloth mule,
And thought thee happy when I shook my
How often hast thou waited at my cup, [head?
Fed from my trencher, kneel'd down at the
board,

When I have feasted with queen Margaret?
Remember it, and let it make thee crest-fail'n ;
Ay, and allay this thy abortive pride :
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 for-

lorn swain?

[me. Cap. First let my words stab him, as he hath Suf. Base slave, thy words are blunt, and so art thou.

Cap. Convey him hence, and on our longStrike off his head. Suf. Cap. Yes, Poole. Сар.

[boat's side Thou dar'st not for thy own.

Suf. Poole!

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;
[phrey's death,
And thou, that smil'dst at good duke Hum-
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, overgorg'd
With gobbets of thy mother's bleeding heart.
By thee Anjou and Maine were sold to France;

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.

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 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. 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 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.

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.

It is impossible that I should die

By such a lowly vassal as thyself.

I

[hives: :

Thy words move rage, and not remorse, in me
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. Penè 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.
[rough,
Suf. Suffolk's imperial tongue is stern and
Us'd 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
[can,

more.

Suf. Come, soldiers, show what cruelty ye 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 Whit. and others.

land since gentlemen came up.

Geo. O miserable age! Virtue is not regarded in handicraftsmen.

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 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 pedlar'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. [house. Cade. Therefore am I of an honourable 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 half-penny loaves sold for a penny the three-hooped 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 palfrey 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 account.

Cade. O monstrous ! Smith. We took him setting of boys' copies. Cade. Here's a villain ! [letters in't. Smith. 'Has a book in his pocket, with red 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, of 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 ine alone.-Dost thou use to write thy name? or hast thou a mark to thyself, like an 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 confessed: away with him! he's a villain, and a traitor.

Cade. Away with him, I say! hang him with his pen and ink-horn about his neck. [Exeunt some with the Clerk. Enter Michael.

Mich. Where's our general?

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 encountered 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. [Kneels.] Rise up Sir John Mortimer. [Rises.] 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, [down ; Mark'd for the gallows, lay your weapons Home to your cottages, forsake this groom: The king is merciful, if you revolt. [to blood,

W. Staf. But angry, wrathful, and inclin'd 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. Viilain, 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,
[he not?
Married the Duke of Clarence' daughter, -did
Staf. Ay, sir.

Cade. By her he had two children at one birth. W. Staf. That's false. ['tis true: Cade. Ay, there's the question; but I say, The elder of them, being put to nurse, Was by a beggar-woman stol'n 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. [be king.

Dick. Nay, 'tis too true; therefore he shall 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 That speaks he knows not what? [words, All. Ay, marry, will we; therefore get ye gone. [taught you this. W. Staf. Jack Cade, the duke of York hath

Cade. [Aside.] He lies, for I invented it myself.-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.

Cade. And good reason; for thereby is England maimed, 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? [head. All. No, no; and therefore we'll have his W. Staf. Well, seeing gentle words will not prevail,

Assail them with the army of the king. [town,
Staf. Herald, away; and throughout every
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 our parts.
Dick. They are all in order, and march
toward us.

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

SCENE III. Another Part of Blackheath. 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 slaughter-house: 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; [Puts on Sir H. Stafford's armour,] and the bodies shall be dragged 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 jails, and let out the prisoners.

I

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

K. Hen. I'll send some holy bishop to enFor God forbid so many simple souls treat; 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

Rul'd, 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 K. Hen. How now, madam ! This. Still lamenting and mourning for Suffolk's death?

I fear me, love, if that I had been dead, [me. Thou wouldest not have mourn'd so much for Q. Mar. No, my love; I should not mourn, but die for thee.

Enter a Messenger.

K. Hen. How now! what news? why com'st thou in such haste? [lord! Mess. The rebels are in Southwark; fly, my 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. [what they do.

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

Until a power be rais'd to put them down.
Q. Mar. Ah, were the duke of Suffolk now
alive,

These Kentish rebels would be soon appeas'd!
K. Hen. Lord Say, the traitors hate thee;
Therefore away with us to Killingworth.
Say. So might your grace's person be in
danger;