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. [Exit some with the Clerk.

Enter MICHAEL.

Mich. Where's our general?

Cade. Here I am, thou particular fellow. 119 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 encounter'd 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 STAFFORD, with drum and forces.

Staf. Rebellious hinds, the filth and scum of Kent,

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Mark'd for the gallows, lay your weapons down; [Home to your cottages, forsake this groom: The king is merciful, if you revolt.1

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 not:2

It is to you, good people, that I speak,
Over whom, in time to come, I hope to reign;
For I am rightful heir unto the crown.

Staf. Villain, thy father was a plasterer; 140
And thou thyself a shearman,3 art thou not?
Cade. And Adam was a gardener.
W. Staf. And what of that?

Cade. Marry, this: Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March,

Married the Duke of Clarence' daughter, did he not?

Staf. Ay, sir.

Cade. By her he had two children at one birth.

1 Revolt, used in its literal sense, "turn back."

2 Pass not, do not care.

3 Shearman, cutter of cloth; one who uses the tailor's shears.

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 main'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 an 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 French-2 men 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.

4 Span-counter, a game played by boys. (See note 256.) 5 Main'd, a provincialism for lamed.

Cade. And, to speak truth, thou deserv'st no less. This monument of the victory will I bear [putting on part of Sir Humphrey's armour]; 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.] 20

1 Clouted shoon, hobnailed shoes.

Enter KING HENRY reading a supplication; the DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM and LORD SAY with him: at some distance, QUEEN MARGARET, mourning over SUFFOLK's head. [Queen. [Speaking to herself] 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?

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King. 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.

[Queen. [As before] Ah, barbarous villains!

[SCENE V. London. The Tower.

Enter LORD SCALES, and others, 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; 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.

Seales. 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.

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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.

[Exeunt.

SCENE VI. London. Cannon Street.

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.

Sold. Jack Cade! Jack Cade!
Cade. Knock him down there.

[They kill him. Smith. If this fellow be wise, he'll never call ye Jack Cade more: I think he hath a very fair warning.

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

Cade. Come, then, 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. London. Smithfield.

Alarums. Enter, on one side, CADE and his followers; on the other, Citizens and the King's forces, headed by MATTHEW Gough. The Citizens are routed, and MATTHEW GOUGH is slain. Then enter JACK CADE, with his company.

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. [Aside] Mass, 't will be sore law, then; for he was thrust in the mouth with a spear, and 't is not whole yet.

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Mess. 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,1 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.-Ah, thou say, thou serge, nay, thou buckram lord! now art thou within pointblank 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

1 Fifteens, i.e. fifteenths.

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2 Say, a kind of satin.

3 Basimecu, the corrupted form of a vulgar term of abuse applied to Frenchmen.

By these presence, i.e. by these present; the mistakeis intended.

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 us'd; 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 hang'd 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?

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Favour, lenity.

blood.

4 Prayers, to be pronounced as a dissyllable.