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And as I thrust thy body in with my sword,
So wish I, I might thrust thy soul to hell.
Hence will I drag thee headlong by the heels
Unto a dunghill which shall be thy grave,
And there cut off thy most ungracious head; 90
Which I will bear in triumph to the king,
Leaving thy trunk for crows to feed upon.
[Exit.

86. "And as I thrust thy body in with my sword"; Dyce (Lloyd conj.), omits “in.”—I. G.

92. The Poet has here wandered from the line of historical fact, with a view, no doubt, to relieve his scenes of strife and hatred with a passage of rural quiet and unambitious comfort. Iden had in fact just been appointed sheriff of Kent, and was in pursuit of Cade, having left home for that very purpose. The matter, however, is thus given by Holinshed: “A gentleman of Kent, named Alexander Eden, awaited so his time, that he tooke the said Cade in a garden in Sussex; so that there he was slain at Hothfield, and brought to London in a cart, where he was quartered, his head set on London bridge, and his quarters sent to diverse places to be set up in the shire of Kent." Cade's flight was on July 9, 1450, and his death but two days after.-H. N. H.

ACT FIFTH

SCENE I

Fields between Dartford and Blackheath.

Enter York, and his army of Irish, with drum

and colors.

York. From Ireland thus comes York to claim his

right,

And pluck the crown from feeble Henry's head:

Ring, bells, aloud; burn, bonfires, clear and
bright,

To entertain great England's lawful king.
Ah! sancta majestas, who would not buy thee
dear?

Let them obey that know not how to rule;
This hand was made to handle nought but gold.
I cannot give due action to my words,
Except a sword or scepter balance it:
A scepter shall it have, have I a soul,
On which I'll toss the flower-de-luce of France.

Enter Buckingham.

10

Whom have we here? Buckingham, to disturb me?

10. "have I," as I have.-C. H. H.

The king hath sent him, sure: I must dissemble.

Buck. York, if thou meanest well, I greet thee well.

York. Humphrey of Buckingham, I accept thy greeting.

Art thou a messenger, or come of pleasure?
Buck. A messenger from Henry, our dread liege,
To know the reason of these arms in peace;
Or why thou, being a subject as I am,
Against thy oath and true allegiance sworn, 20
Should raise so great a power without his leave,
Or dare to bring thy force so near the court.
York. [Aside] Scarce can I speak, my choler is
so great:

O, I could hew up rocks and fight with flint,
I am so angry at these abject terms;

And now, like Ajax Telamonius,

On sheep or oxen could I spend my fury.
I am far better born than is the king,

30

More like a king, more kingly in my thoughts:
But I must make fair weather yet a while,
Till Henry be more weak and I more strong.-
Buckingham, I prithee, pardon me,

That I have given no answer all this while;
My mind was troubled with deep melancholy.
The cause why I have brought this army hither
Is to remove proud Somerset from the king,
Seditious to his grace and to the state.
Buck. That is too much presumption on thy part:
But if thy arms be to no other end,

The king hath yielded unto thy demand:

40

The Duke of Somerset is in the Tower. York. Upon thine honor, is he prisoner? Buck. Upon mine honor, he is prisoner.

York. Then, Buckingham, I do dismiss my pow

ers.

Soldiers, I thank you all; disperse yourselves;
Meet me to-morrow in Saint George's field,
You shall have pay and everything you wish.
And let my sovereign, virtuous Henry,
Command my eldest son, nay, all my sons,
As pledges of my fealty and love;
I'll send them all as willing as I live:

50

Lands, goods, horse, armor, any thing I have,
Is his to use, so Somerset may die.

Buck. York, I commend this kind submission:
We twain will go into his highness' tent.

Enter King and Attendants.

41. York's arrival from Ireland was in September, a few weeks after Cade's death. Proceeding to London with a retinue of four thousand men, he wrung from the king a promise that he would call a parliament, and then retired to one of his castles. Upon the return of Somerset from France a few days later, the old enmity between them revived with greater fierceness than ever. The next year York withdrew into Wales, and there gathered an army of ten thousand men; and when the king went against him with a much larger force, he turned aside and passed on into Kent, and encamped himself near Dartford. From thence he sent word to the king that his coming was but to remove certain evil counsellors, especially Somerset, and promising to dissolve his army, if that nobleman were committed to prison, and held to answer in open parliament whatever charges might be laid against him. The issue of the negotiation thereupon is thus stated by Holinshed: “After all this adoo, it was agreed upon by advise, for the avoiding of bloudshed, and pacifieng of the duke and his people, that the duke of Summerset was committed to ward, as some say, or else commanded to keepe himselfe privie in his owne house for a time."-H. N. H.

King. Buckingham, doth York intend no harm

to us,

That thus he marcheth with thee arm in arm? York. In all submission and humility

York doth present himself unto your highness. King. Then what intends these forces thou dost bring?

60

York. To heave the traitor Somerset from hence, And fight against that monstrous rebel Cade, Who since I heard to be discomfited.

Enter Iden, with Cade's head.

Iden. If one so rude and of so mean condition
May pass into the presence of a king,
Lo, I present your grace a traitor's head,
The head of Cade, whom I in combat slew.
King. The head of Cade! Great God, how just
art Thou!

O, let me view this visage, being dead,

That living wrought me such exceeding trouble.

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Tell me, my friend, art thou the man that slew him?

Iden. I was, an 't like your majesty.

King. How art thou call'd? and what is thy degree?

Iden. Alexander Iden, that's my name;

A poor esquire of Kent, that loves his king. Buck. So please it you, my lord, 'twere not amiss

74. "Alexander Iden, that's my name"; Capell, "My name is Alexander Iden, sir”; Hanmer, “Ev'n Alexander,” &c.; Edd., “Iden, Alexander Iden," &c.; Keightley, "Alexander Iden, that's my name, my liege," &c.-I. G.

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