Great men oft die by vile bezonians1: Pompey the great, and Suffolk dies by pirates. [Exit SUF., with WHIT., and others. 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. 1 Gent. O, barbarous and bloody spectacle! [Exit. [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 't is threadbare. Well, I say, it was never merry world in England, since gentlemen came up. Geo. O miserable age! Virtue is not regarded in handicrafts-men. John. The nobility think scorn to go in leather aprons. Geo. Nay more; the king's council are no good work men. John. True; and yet it is said,—labour in thy vocation which is as much as to say,-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. 1 A term of contempt. 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. Cade. We John Cade, so termed of our supposed father, Dick. Or rather, of stealing a cade of herrings. [Aside. 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,— [Noise.3 Dick. He was an honest man and a good bricklayer. [Aside. Cade. My mother a Plantagenet,Dick. I knew her well; she was a midwife. [Aside. Cade. My wife descended of the Lacies,Dick. She was, indeed, a pedlar's daughter, and sold many laces. [Aside. Smith. But, now of late, not able to travel with her furred pack, she washes bucks here at home. [Aside. Cade. Therefore am I of an honourable house. Dick. 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. [Aside. Cade. Valiant I am. Smith. 'A must needs, for beggary is valiant. [Aside. Cade. I am able to endure much. Dick. No question of that, for I have seen him whipped three market days together. [Aside. Cade. I fear neither sword nor fire. Smith. He need not fear the sword, for his coat is of proof. Dick. But, methinks, he should stand in fear of fire, being burnt i' the hand for stealing of sheep. [Aside. 1 with infinite numbers: in folio. 2 Latin, cadus, a cask. in f. e. 3 Not 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 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, 't is 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 accompt. Cade. O monstrous ! Smith. We took him setting of boys' copies. Cade. Here's a villain! Smith. H' as a book in his pocket, with red letters in 't. Cade. Nay then, he is a conjurer. Dick. Nay, he can make obligations, and write courthand. 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.'T will go hard with you. Cade. Let me 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. VOL. V.-13 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, Mark'd for the gallows, lay your weapons down : Home to your cottages, forsake this groom. The king is merciful, if you revolt. W. Staff. But angry, wrathful, and inclin'd to blood, If you go forward: therefore yield, or die. Cade. As for these silken-coated slaves, I pass2 not; It is to you, good people, that I speak, O'er whom in time to come I hope to reign; Staf. Villain! thy father was a plasterer; And thou thyself a shearman, art thou not? W. Staff. And what of that? Cade. Marry, this :-Edmund Mortimer, earl of March, Married the duke of Clarence's daughter, did he not? Cade. By her he had two children at one birth. Cade. Ay, there's the question; but, I say, 't is true. 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. 1 Not in f. e. 2 Care. Dick. Nay, 't is too true; therefore, he shall be king. 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. Staff. Jack Cade, the duke of York hath taught you this. Cade. He lies, for I invented it myself. [Aside.]— 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 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 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? All. No, no; and therefore we 'll have his head. W. Staff. Well, seeing gentle words will not prevail, Assail them with the army of the king. Staf. Herald, away; and, throughout every town, 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.All 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; 't is 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. |