Plays and Poems

First Gent. What is my ransom, master? let me know.

Mast. A thousand crowns, or else lay down your head.

Mate. And so much shall you give, or off goes yours.

Cap. What

think you much to pay two thousand crowns, 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 21 Be counterpois'd with such a petty sum!

First Gent. I'll give it, sir; and therefore spare my life.

Second Gent. And so will I, and write home for it straight.

Whit. I lost mine eye in laying the prize aboard,

TO SUFFOLK. 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 Whit

more.

How now! why start'st thou ? what! doth death affright?

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 :
Yet let not this make thee be bloody-minded;
Thy name is Gaultier, being rightly sounded.

Whit. Gaultier or Walter, which it is, I care not;
Never yet did base dishonour blur our name
But with our sword we wip'd away the blot: 40
Therefore, when merchant-like I sell revenge,
Broke be my sword, my arms torn and defac'd,
And I proclaim'd a coward through the world!
Suf. Stay, Whitmore; for thy prisoner is a
prince,

The Duke of Suffolk, William de la Pole.

Whit. The Duke of Suffolk muffled up in rags! Suf. Ay, but these rags are no part of the duke: Jove sometime went disguis'd, and why not I? Cap. But Jove was never slain, as thou shalt be. Suf. Obscure and lowly swain, King Henry's blood,

The honourable blood of Lancaster,
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 head?
How often hast thou waited at my cup,
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-fall'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 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 longboat's side

Strike off his head.

Suf.

Thou dar'st not for thy cwn,

Cap. Yes, Pole.

Suf.

Pole!

Cap. Pool! Sir Pool! lord! Ay, kennel, puddle, sink; whose filth and dirt `71 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'st at good Duke Humphrey's death,

Against the senseless winds shalt 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,
The false revolting Normans thorough thee
Disdain to call us lord, and Picardy
Hath slain their governors, surpris'd our forts,
And sent the ragged soldiers wounded home. 90
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-fac'd sun, striving to shine,
Under the which is writ Invitis nubibus.
The commons here in Kent are up in arms; 100
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,

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

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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.

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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. Well, I say it was never merry world in England 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,

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 burht 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 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! was never mine own man since. who's there?

How now!

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.

Cude. Here's a villain!

Became a bricklayer when he came to age:

Smith. Has a book in his pocket with red His son am I; deny it if you can. letters in 't.

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Cade. Let me alone. Dost thon nse 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.

Al. 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.

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Exeunt some with the Clerk.

Enter MICHAEL.

Mich. Where's our general?

Cude. 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. 131 Rises.

Rise up Sir John Mortimer.
Now have at him!

Enter Sir HUMPHREY STAFFORD, and WILLIAM his Brother, with drum and Forces.

Stof. 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 inclin'd to blood,

If you go forward: therefore yield, or die.
Cade. As for these silken-coated slaves, I pass

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

king.

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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. 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.

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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 mained, 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 an eunuch; and more than that, he can speak French; and therefore he is a traitor.

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Now show yourselves men; 'tis for liberty.
We will not leave one lord, one gentleman:
Spare none but such as go in clouted shoon, 200
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 behaved'st 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 license 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 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 gaols and let out the prisoners. Cade. Fear not that, I warrant thee. let's march towards London.

Come ;
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, mourn-
ing 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 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.

K. Hen. Lord Say, the traitors hate thee,
Therefore away with us to Killingworth.
The sight of me is odious in their eyes;
Say. So might your grace's person be in danger.
And therefore in this city will I stay,
And live alone as secret as I may.

Enter another Messenger.

Second Mess. Jack Cade hath gotten London-
bridge;

The citizens fly and forsake their houses;
The rascal people, thirsting after prey,
To spoil the city and your royal court.
Join with the traitor; and they jointly swear

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 de-
ceas'd.

K. Hen. Farewell, my lord: 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. Exeunt.

SCENE V.-The Same. The Tower.

Enter Lord SCALES and Others, walking on the
walls. Then enter certain Citizens, below.
Scales. How now! is Jack Cade slain?
First Cit. No, my lord, nor likely to be slain;

Q. Mar. Ah! barbarous villains, hath this for they have won the bridge, killing all those 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

his.

K. Hen. How now! what news? why com'st
thou in such haste?

Mess. 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 rais'd to put them down.

Q. Mar. Ah! were the Duke of Suffolk now alive,

These Kentish rebels would be soon appeas'd.

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;

The rebels have essay'd to win the Tower.
But I am troubled here with them myself;
But get you to Smithfield and gather head,
Fight for your king, your country, and your lives;
And thither I will send you Matthew Goffe;
And so farewell, for I must hence again. Exeunt.

Enter JACK CADE and his Followers.

He strikes

his staff on London-stone. here, sitting upon London-stone, I charge and Cade. Now is Mortimer lord of this city. And command that, of the city's cost, the pissingconduit 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. Sold. Jack Cade! Jack Cade! Cade. Knock him down there. Smith. If this fellow be wise, he 'll never call They kill him. fair warning. you Jack Cade more: I think he hath a very

Enter GEORGE BEVIS, with the Lord SAY.

Cade. Well, he shall be beheaded for it ten times. Ah! 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 Mounsieur Basimecu,the Dauphin of France? Be it known unto thee by these presence, even the presence of Lord Mortimer, that I am 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 in a foot-cloth, dost thou not? Say. What of that?

52 Cade. Marry, thou oughtest not to let thy horse wear a cloak, when honester men than thon 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

yens,

causes,

Hath made me full of sickness and diseases. Cade. Ye shall have a hempen caudle then, and the help of hatchet.

Dick. Why dost thou quiver, man?

Say. The palsy, and not fear, provokes mc. Cude. Nay, he nods at us; as who should say, I'll be even with you: I'll see if his head will stand steadier on a pole or no. Take him away and behead him.

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Say. Tell me wherein have I offended most? Have I affected wealth or honour? speak. Are my chests fill'd up with extorted gold? Is my apparel sumptuous to behold? Whom have I injur'd, that ye seek my death? These hands are free from guiltless blood

shedding,

This breat from harbouring foul deceitful thoughts.

O! let me live.

Cade. Aside. I feel remorse in myself with his words; but I'll bridle it: he shall die, an it be but for pleading so well for his life. Away with him he has a familiar under his tongue; he speaks not o' God's name. Go, take him away, I say, and strike off his head presently; and then break into his son-in-law's house, Sir James Cromer, and strike off his head, and bring them both upon two poles hither.

All. It shall be done.

Say. Ah! countrymen, if when you make your prayers,

God should be so obdurate as yourselves, How would it fare with your departed souls?

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