'tis true:

[Cade.] Ay, there's the question; but I say
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 :

His son I am; deny it if you can.

[John.] Ay, ay; he made a chimney in my father's house; and the bricks are alive to this day to testify: therefore deny it not.

[Stafford.] And do you credit this base fellow's words? [Cries of the multitude.] Ay, ay, ay; get you gone! get you gone!

[Cade.] Ay, go, sirrah, and tell the king from me that, for his father's sake, Henry the Fifth, in whose reign boys went to span-counter for French crowns, I am content that he shall reign; but I'll be protector over him : and furthermore, I'll have lord Say's head for selling the dukedom of Maine; for thereby is England maimed and forced to go with a staff: and more than that, he can speak French, and therefore is he a traitor.

[Stafford.] Oh, 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? But come: no more words :-we are ready for you your men are all in order; and so are we: for we are then in order when we are most out of order: march forward!

In the encounter which followed, which really took place near Sevenoaks, in Kent, before Cade reached Blackheath, the two Staffords were slain, and their small force routed. Cade, finding his way free to London, arrives in Cannon Street, where you must imagine him and his followers: he strikes his staff on London stone :

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

One of his men runs in at this moment calling out" Jack Cade, Jack Cade." Smith, at Cade's command, knocks him at head, and, pointing to the breathless body, says, [Smith.] This fellow hath fair warning, I think, for next time; and, being wise, will never say Jack Cade again. But he hath carried his news with him that he came in such haste to tell. Here is one who will let us know the matter. [Messenger.] My lord, a prize! a prize! here's the lord Say taken, he that sold the towns in France, and made us pay one-and-twenty fifteens, and one shilling to the pound the last subsidy. Bring him along, George Bevis here he is, my lord.

[Cade.] He shall be beheaded ten times.-Ah, thou Say, thou serge, thou buckram lord, now art thou within point-blank of our jurisdiction regal. What canst thou answer to my majesty for giving up Normandy to mounsheer the rascally dauphin. 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 than the score and the tally, thou hast caused printing to be used; and contrary to the king, his crown, and dignity, thou hast erected a papermill. 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 the peace to call poor men before them about matters they were not able to answer.

[Lord Say.] You men of Kent,

you will.

Hear me but speak, and bear me where
I sold not Maine, I lost not Normandy,
But to recover them, would lose my life.
Justice, with mercy, have I always done;
Prayers may perhaps have mov'd me-gifts could never.
Large gifts have I bestow'd on learned clerks,
Because my book preferr'd me to the king.
And-seeing igno'rance is the curse of God,
Knowledge the wing wherewith we fly to heaven,—
Unless you be possess'd with devi'lish spirits,
You cannot but forbear to murder me.
Tell me wherein I have offended most:
Have I affected wealth?

Is my apparel sumptuous to behold?

Whom have I injur❜d?

These hands are free from guilty blood-shedding,
This breast from harbou'ring foul deceitful thoughts:
Oh, let me live!

[Cade.] 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 hath a familiar under his tongue. Go, take him away, I say, and strike off his head presently; and break into his sonin-law's house, Sir John Cromer, and strike off his head, and bring them both hither on two poles. The proudest peer in the realm shall not wear a head on his shoulders unless he pay me tribute. And now, some of you, go and set London-bridge on fire and if you can, burn down the Tower too: others to the inns of court; down with them all. Up Fish-street! down Saint Magnus' corner! knock down and kill all who come against you, and throw them into the Thames. What noise is this I hear? Dare any be so bold to sound retreat or parley when I command them kill?

A large force, under the command of Buckingham and old Clifford, is seen by the more distant of Cade's followers, who signify their willingness to listen to any terms of safety. Surrounded by some of these, and by their own

soldiers, Buckingham and Clifford advance to the rest, when Buckingham addresses Cade and his immediate companions:

[the king, [Buckingham.] Know, Cade, we come ambassadors from Unto the commons whom thou hast misled; And here pronounce free pardon to them all That will forsake thee, and go home in peace. What say ye, countrymen? Will ye relent, Yielding to mercy while 'tis offer'd you?

-Who loves the king, and will embrace his pardon;
Who loves the son of Harry Monmouth, he

That led you when you made the Frenchmen quake,
Fling up his cap, and say,-God save his majesty.

[Cries of the multitude.] God save the king! God save the king! God save the king!

[Cade.] What, ye base rogues, do you

believe him? Will ye be hanged with your pardons about your necks? Hath my sword therefore broken through London gates that. you should leave me here? I thought you would never have given up till you had recovered your ancient freedom; but you are all recreants and dastards, and delight to live in slavery to the nobility. The name of Henry the Fifth hales you to a hundred mischiefs. What, you lay your heads together to surprise me? My sword, make way for me; for here is no staying: in despite of the devils and hell, have through the very midst of you: only my followers' base treasons make me betake myself to my heels.

[Buckingham.] What, is he fled? go some, and follow him; And he that brings his head unto the king

Shall have a thousand crowns for his reward:
The rest now follow me ; and I'll devise

A means to reconcile you to the king.

While these transactions are occurring in London, the court has been removed from the scene of immediate danger to Kenilworth. The king, when informed of the

multitudes that follow Cade, and the measures taken to arrest their progress, says:

[K. Henry.] I'll send some holy bishop to entreat them: 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.
You come in haste: what tidings bring you now?

[Messenger.] Jack Cade proclaims himself lord Mortimer, And calls your grace usurper openly:

And scholars, lawyers, courtiers, gentlemen,
They doom as caterpillars all to death.

[K. Henry.] Oh, graceless men! they know not what they
But here, I think, come Buckingham and Clifford. [do.
[a pause.]
Why, Buckingham, is Cade surprised? Ah, no:
More likely he's retir'd to make him strong.

[yield;

[Buckingham.] He's fled, my lord, and all his powers do
And humbly there,-(from this side of the terrace
You may full well behold them,)-humbly there
In multitudes, with halters on their necks,
They do expect your doom of life or death.

[K. Henry.] Then heaven, set ope thy everlasting doors
To entertain my vows of thanks and praise!
To you, my soldiers, next my thanks are due:
Continue still in this so good a course,

And Henry, though he be unfortunate,
Assure yourselves, will never be unkind.

And so with thanks where due, and pardon elsewhere,
I do dismiss you to your several counties.
-Another messenger? what other news?

[Messenger.] Please it your royal grace to be inform'd
The duke of York is newly come from Ireland,
And with a púissant and mighty force,
Is marching hitherward in proud array;