Oh what is wordly pomp! all men must die!
And woe am I for Beaufort's heavy end.
But why mourn I for him, whilst thou art here?
Sweet Suffolk, hie thee hence to France,
For if the king do come, thou sure must die.

Suf. And if I go I cannot live: but here to die, What were it else,

But like a pleasant slumber in thy lap?
Here could I breathe my soul into the air,

As mild and gentle as the new-born babe,

That dies with mother's dug between his lips.

Where from my (thy) sight I should be raging mad,

And call for thee to close mine eyes,

Or with thy lips to stop my dying soul,
That I might breathe it so into thy body,
And then it liv'd in sweet Elysium.

By thee to die, were but to die in jest ;

From thee to die, were torment more than death: Oh, let me stay, befal what may befal.

Queen. Oh might'st thou stay with safety of thy life,

Then shouldst thou stay; but heavens deny it, And therefore go, but hope ere long to be repeal'd. Suf. I go.

Queen. And take my heart with thee.

[She kisses him. Suf. A jewel lock'd into the woefull'st cask, That ever yet contain'd a thing of worth. Thus, like a splitted bark, so sunder we; This way fall I to death.

Queen. This way for me.

[Exit SUFFOLK.

[Exit QUEEN.

(SCENE III.)

Enter KING and SALISBURY, and then the curtains be drawn, and the CARDINAL is discovered in his bed, raving and staring as if he were mad.

Card. Oh, death! if thou wilt let me live

But one whole year, I'll give thee as much gold
As will purchase such another island.

King. Oh, see, my lord of Salisbury, how he is troubled!

Lord Cardinal, remember, Christ must save thy soul. Card. Why, died he not in his bed?

What would you have me to do then?

Can I make men live, whether they will or no? Sirrah, go fetch me the poison which the 'pothecary

sent me.

Oh, see where duke Humphrey's ghost doth stand, And stares me in the face. Look, look, comb down his hair!

So, now he's gone again: Oh, oh, oh!

Sal. See how the pangs of death do gripe his heart. King. Lord Cardinal, if thou diest assur'd of heavenly bliss,

Hold up thy hand, and make some sign to us.

[CARDINAL dies. Oh, see he dies, and makes no sign at all! Oh, God, forgive his soul!

Sal. So bad an end did never none behold; But as his death, so was his life in all.

King. Forbear to judge, good Salisbury, forbear, For God will judge us all.

Go, take him hence, and see his funerals perform'd. [Exeunt.

(SCENE I.)

Alarums within, and the chambers be discharged, like as it were a fight at sea. And then enter the Captain of the ship, and the Master, and the Master's Mate, and the Duke of SUFFOLK disguised, and others with him, and WALTER WHITMORE.

Cap. Bring forward these prisoners that scorn'd to yield;

Unlade their goods with speed, and sink their ship.
Here, master, this prisoner I give to you;
This other, the master's mate shall have;
And, Walter Whitmore, thou shalt have this man :
And let them pay their ransom ere they pass.
Suf. Water!
[He starteth.
Walter. How now! what, dost fear me?
Thou shalt have better cause anon.

Suf. It is thy name affrights me, not thyself.

I do remember well, a cunning wizard told me

That by Water I should die :

Yet let not that make thee bloody minded;
Thy name, being rightly sounded,

Is Gualtier, not Walter.

Walter. Gualtier or Walter, all's one to me; I am the man must bring thee to thy death. Suf. I am a gentleman; look on my ring; Ransom me at what thou wilt, it shall be paid. Walter. I lost mine eye in boarding of the

ship;

Those lips of thine that so oft have kiss'd the queen Shall sweep the ground,

And thou that smil'dst at good duke Humphrey's death,

Shalt live no longer to infect the earth.

Suf. This villain, being but captain of a pinnace, Threatens more plagues than mighty Abradas, The great Macedonian pirate;

Thy words add fury and not remorse in me.

Cap. Ay, but my deeds shall stay thy fury soon. Suf. Hast not thou waited at my trencher, When we have feasted with queen Margaret? Hast not thou kiss'd thy hand, and held my stirrup? And bare-head plodded by my foot-cloth mule, And thought thee happy when I smil'd on thee? This hand hath writ in thy defence; Then shall I charm thee,-hold thy lavish tongue. Cap. Away with him, Walter, I say, and off with his head.

1 Prison. Good my lord, entreat him mildly for your life.

Suf. First let this neck stoop to the axe's edge,
Before this knee do bow to any,

Save to the God of heaven, and to my king:
Suffolk's imperial tongue cannot plead

To such a jady groom.

Walter. Come, come, why do we let him speak? I long to have his head for ransom of mine eye. Suf. A sworder and banditto slave

Murther'd sweet Tully;

Brutus' bastard hand stabb'd Julius Cæsar;
And Suffolk dies by pirates on the seas.

[Exit SUFFOLK and WALTER.

Cap. Off with his head, and send it to the queen; And ransomless this prisoner shall go free, To see it safe deliver'd unto her.

Come, let's go.

[Exeunt omnes.

(SCENE II.)

Enter two of the Rebels with long staves.

George. Como away, Nick, and put a long staff in thy pike, and provide thyself, for I can tell thee they have been up this two days.

Nick. Then they had more need to go to bed now. But, sirrah George, what's the matter?

George. Why, sirrah, Jack Cade the dyer of Ashford here, he means to turn this land, and set a new nap on 't.

Nick. Ay, marry, he had need so, for 't is grown threadbare.

'T was never merry world with us since these gentle

men came up.

George. I warrant thee thou shalt never see a lord wear a leather apron now a-days.

Nick. But, sirrah, who comes else beside Jack Cade?

George. Why, there's Dick the butcher, and Robin the saddler, and Will that came a wooing to our Nan last Sunday, and Harry, and Tom, and Gregory that should have your Parnil, and a great sort more is come from Rochester, and from Maidstone, and Canterbury, and all the towns hereabouts, and we must be all lords or squires as soon as Jack Cade is king.

Nick. Hark, hark, I hear the drum; they be coming.

Enter JACK CADE, DICK BUTCHER, ROBIN, WILL, TOM, HARRY, and the rest with long staves.

Cude. Proclaim silence.

All. Silence!

Cade. I, John Cade, so named for my valiancy.

Dick. Or rather for stealing of a cade of sprats. Cade. My father was a Mortimer.

Dick. He was an honest man and a good bricklayer.

Cade. My mother was come of the Lacies. Nick. She was a pedlar's daughter indeed, and sold many laces.

Robin. And now, being not able to occupy her furred pack, she washeth bucks up and down the country.

Cade. Therefore I am honourably born.

Harry. Ay, the field is honourable, for he was born under a hedge, because his father had no other house but the cage.

Cade. I am able to endure much.

George. That's true, I know he can endure anything, for I have seen him whipped two market-days together.

Cade. I fear neither sword nor fire.

Will. He need not fear the sword, for his coat is of proof.

Dick. But methinks he should fear the fire, being so often burnt in the hand for stealing of sheep.

Cade. Therefore be brave, for your captain is brave, and vows reformation you shall have seven halfpenny loaves for a penny, and the three-hooped pot shall have ten hoops, and it shall be felony to drink small beer, if I be king, as king I will be.

All. God save your majesty!

Cade. I thank you, good people you shall all eat and drink of my score, and go all in my livery; and we'll have no writing, but the score and the tally, and there shall be no laws but such as come from my mouth.

Dick. We shall have sore laws then, for he was thrust into the mouth the other day.

George. Ay, and stinking law too, for his breath stinks so that one cannot abide it.

Enter WILL with the Clerk of Chatham.

Will. Oh, captain, a prize!

Cade. Who's that, Will?

Will. The clerk of Chatham: he can write and read and cast account. I took him setting of boys' copies; and he has a book in his pocket with red letters.

Cade. Zounds, he's a conjuror! bring him hither. Now, sir, what's your name?

Clerk. Emanuel, sir, an it shall please you. Dick. It will go hard with you, I tell you, for they use to write that o'er the top of letters.

Cade. What, do you use to write your name? Or do you, as ancient forefathers have done, use the score and the tally?

Clerk. Nay, truly, sir, I praise God I have been so well brought up that I can write mine own name. Cade. Oh, he has confessed; go hang him with his pen and ink-horn about his neck.

[Exit One with the Clerk.

Enter Sir HUMPHREY STAFFORD and his brother, with drum and Soldiers.

Cade. As for these silken-coated slaves, I pass not a pin;

'Tis to you, good people, that I speak.

Stof. Why, countrymen, what mean you thus in troops

To follow this rebellious traitor Cade?
Why, his father was a bricklayer.

Cade. Well, and Adam was a gardener, what then?

But I come of the Mortimers.

Staf. Ay, the duke of York hath taught you that. Cade. The duke of York? nay, I learnt it myself. For look you, Roger Mortimer the earl of March, Married the duke of Clarence' daughter.

Staf. Well, that's true: but what then?

Cade. And by her he had two children at a birth. Staf. That's false.

Cade. Ay, but I say 't is true.

All. Why then 't is true.

Cade. And one of them was stolen away by a beggar-woman, and that was my father, and I am his son, deny it an you can.

Nick. Nay, look you, I know 'tis true; for his father built a chimney in my father's house, and the bricks are alive at this day to testify it.

Cade. But dost thou hear, Stafford; tell the king that for his father's sake, in whose time boys played at span-counter with French crowns, I am content that he shall be king as long as he lives: marry, always provided I'll be protector over him.

Staf. O monstrous simplicity!

Cade. And tell him, we'll have the lord Say's head, and the duke of Somerset's, for delivering up the dukedoms of Anjou and Maine, and selling the towns in France: by which means England hath been mained ever since, and gone as it were with a crutch, but that my puissance held it up. And besides, they can speak French, and therefore they are traitors. Staf. As how, I prithee?

Cade. Why, the Frenchmen are our enemies, be they not? and, then, can he that speaks with the tongue of an enemy be a good subject? Answer me to that.

Staf. Well, sirrah, wilt thou yield thyself unto the king's mercy, and he will pardon thee and these their outrages and rebellious deeds?

Cade. Nay, bid the king come to me an he will, and then I'll pardon him, or otherwise I'll have his crown, tell him, ere it be long.

Staf. Go, herald, proclaim in all the king's towns, That those that will forsake the rebel Cade Shall have free pardon from his majesty. [Exeunt STAFFORD and his men. Cade. Come, sirs, Saint George for us and Kent. [Exeunt omnes.

And the rebels march amain to London.

Go back to them, and tell them thus from me,
I'll come and parley with their general.
Yet stay, I'll read the letter once again;
Lord Say, Jack Cade hath solemnly vow'd to have
thy head.

Say. Ay, but I hope your highness shall have his.
King. How now, madam! still
Lamenting and mourning for Suffolk's death?

I fear, my love, if I had been dead,

Thou wouldst not have mourn'd so much for me. Queen. No, my love, I should not mourn, but die for thee.

Enter a Messenger.

Mess. Oh, fly, my lord! the rebels are entered
Southwark,

And have almost won the bridge,
Calling your grace an usurper:

And that monstrous rebel, Cade, hath sworn
To crown himself king in Westminster.
Therefore fly, my lord, and post to Killingworth.
King. Go bid Buckingham and Clifford gather
An army up, and meet with the rebels.
Come, madam, let us haste to Killingworth.
Come on, lord Say, go thou along with us,
For fear the rebel Cade do find thee out.
Say. My innocence, my lord, shall plead for me,
And therefore, with your highness' leave, I'll stay
behind.

King. Even as thou wilt, my lord Say:
Come, madam, let us go.

(SCENE V.)

[Exeunt omnes.

(SCENE III.)

Alarums to the battle, where Sir HUMPHREY STAFFORD and his brother are both slain. Then enter JACK CADE again, and the rest.

Cade. Sir Dick Butcher, thou hast fought to-day most valiantly, and knocked them down as if thou hadst been in thy slaughter-house, and thus I will reward thee: the Lent shall be as long again as it was, and thou shalt have licence to kill for fourscore and one a-week. Drum, strike up, for now we'll march to London, and to-morrow I mean to sit in the king's seat at Westminster. [Exeunt omnes.

(SCENE VI.)

Enter JACK CADE, and the rest, and strikes his sword upon London stone.

Cade. Now is Mortimer lord of this city, and now, sitting upon London stone, we command that, the first year of our reign, the pissing conduit run nothing but red wine. And now henceforward it shall be treason for any that calls me any otherwise than lord Mortimer.

Enter a Soldier. Sol. Jack Cade, Jack Cade! Cade. Zounds, knock him down! [They kill him.

Cade. So, sirs: now go 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, Dick, and thou shalt have it for that word.

Dick. That we may go burn all the records, and that all writing may be put down, and nothing used but the score and tally.

Cade. Dick, it shall be so, and henceforward all things shall be in common, and in Cheapside shall my palfrey go to grass. Why is't not a miserable thing, that of the skin of an innocent lamb parchment shonld be made, and then with a little blotting over with ink a man should undo himself? Some say 't is the bees that sting, but I say 't is their wax, for I am sure I never sealed to anything but once, and I was never mine own man since.

Nick. But when shall we take up those commodities which you told us of?

Cade. Marry, he that will lustily stand to it, shall take up these commodities following: Item, a gown, a kirtle, a petticoat, and a smock.

Enter GEORGE.

George. My lord, a prize, a prize! here's the lord Say, which sold the towns in France.

Cade. Come hither, thou Say, thou George, (serge), thou buckram lord! what answer canst thou make unto my mightiness, for delivering up the towns in France to monsieur Bus-mine-cue, the dolphin of France? And more than so, thou hast most traitorously erected a grammar-school, to infect the youth of the realm; and against the king's crown and dignity thou hast built up a paper-mill; nay, it will be said to thy face, that thou keep'st men in thy house that daily read of books with red letters, and talk of a noun and verb, and such abominable words as no Christian ear is able to endure it. And besides all this, thou hast appointed certain justices of the peace, in every shire, to hang honest men that steal for their living; and because they could not read, thou hast hung them up; only for which cause they were most worthy to live.

Say. Yes, what of that?

Cade. Marry, I say, thou oughtost not to let thy horse wear a cloak, when an honester man than thyself goes in his hose and doublet.

Say. You men of Kent!

All. Kent, what of Kent?

Say. Nothing, but bona terra.

Cade. Bonum terum, zounds, what's that? Dick. He speaks French.

Will. No 'tis Dutch.

Nick. No 'tis Outalian, I know it well enough. Say. Kent (in the Commentaries Caesar wrote) Term'd is the civilest place of all this land: Then, noble countrymen, hear me but speak; I sold not France, nor lost I Normandy.

Cade. But wherefore dost thou shake thy head so?

Say. It is the palsy, and not fear that makes me. Cade. Nay, thou nodd'st thy head at us, as who wouldst say, thou wilt be even with me if thou gett'st away but I'll make thee sure enough now I have thee. Go, take him to the standard in Cheapside, and chop off his head; and then go to Mile-end green to Sir James Cromer, his son-in-law, and cut off his head too, and bring them to me upon two poles presently. Away with him.

[Exit One or Two with the Lord SAY. There shall not a nobleman wear a head on his shoulders but he shall pay me tribute for it. Nor there shall not a maid be married, but he shall fee to me for her maidenhead; or else I'll have it myself: Marry, I will that married men shall hold of me in capite, and that their wives shall be as free as heart can think, or tongue can tell.

Enter ROBIN.

Rob. O, captain, London-bridge is a fire. Cade. Run to Billingsgate, and fetch pitch and flax, and quench it.

Enter DICK and a Sergeant.

Serg. Justice, justice, I pray you, sir, let me have justice of this fellow here.

Cade. Why, what has he done?

Serg. Alas, sir, he has ravish'd my wife.

Dick. Why, my lord, he would have 'rested me, and I went and entered my action in his wife's paperhouse.

Cade. Dick, follow thy suit in her common place. You whoreson villain, you are a sergeant, you'll take any man by the throat for twelve pence: and 'rest a man when he is at dinner, and have him to prison ere the meat be out on's mouth. Go, Dick, take him hence, and cut out his tongue for cogging; hough him for running; and to conclude, brain him with his own mace. [Exit with the Sergeant.

Enter Two with the Lord SAY's head, and Sir JAMES CROMER'S, upon two poles.

So, come carry them before me, and at every lane's end let them kiss together.

(SCENE VIII.)

Enter the Duke of BUCKINGHAM, and Lord CLIFFORD, the Earl of CUMBERLAND.

Clif. Why, countrymen, and warlike friends of
Kent,

What mean these mutinous rebellions,
That you in troops do muster thus yourselves,
Under the conduct of this traitor Čade?
To rise against your sovereign lord and king,
Who mildly hath his pardon sent to you,
If you forsake this monstrous rebel here?
If honour be the mark whereat you aim,
Then haste to France that our forefathers won,
And win again that thing which now is lost,
And leave to seek your country's overthrow.
All. A Clifford a Clifford I

[They forsake CADE. Cade. Why, how now, will you forsake your

general,

And ancient freedom which you have possess'd,

To bend your necks under their servile yokes,
Who, if you stir, will straightway hang you up?
But follow me, and you shall pull them down,
And make them yield their livings to your hands.

All. A Cade! a Cade! [They run to CADE again.
Clif. Brave warlike friends, hear me but speak.
Refuse not good whilst it is offer'd you:
The king is merciful, then yield to him,
And I myself will go along with you

To Windsor castle, whereas the king abides,
And on mine honour you shall have no hurt.

All. A Clifford a Clifford ! God save the king! Cade. How like a feather is this rascal company Blown every way?

But that they may see there wants no valiancy in me,

My staff shall make way through the midst of you, And so a pox take you all!

[He runs through them with his staff, and then flies away. Buck. Go, some, and make after him, and proclaim that those that can bring the head of Cade shall have a thousand crowns for his labour. Come, march away. [Exeunt omnes.

(SCENE IX.)

Enter KING HENRY, and the QUEEN, and SOMERSET.

King. Lord Somerset, what news hear you of the rebel Cade?

Som. This, my gracious lord, that the lord Say is done to death, and the city is almost sacked.

King. God's will be done, for as he hath decreed so must it be and be as he please, to stop the pride of those rebellious men.

Queen. Had the noble duke of Suffolk been alive, The rebel Cade had been suppress'd ere this, And all the rest that do take part with him.

Enter the Duke of BUCKINGHAM and CLIFFORD, with the Rebels, with halters about their necks.

Clif. Long live king Henry, England's lawful king!

Lo, here, my lord, these rebels are subdued,
And offer their lives before your highness' feet.

King. But tell me, Clifford, is their captain here? Clif. No, my gracious lord, he is fled away, but proclamations are sent forth that he that can but bring his head shall have a thousand crowns. But may it please your majesty to pardon these their faults, that by that traitor's means were thus misled.

King. Stand up, you simple men, and give God praise,

For you did take in hand you know not what :
And go in peace obedient to your king,
And live as subjects, and you shall not want,
Whilst Henry lives, and wears the English crown.
All. God save the king! God save the king!

Enter JACK CADE at one door, and at the other, Mas-
ter ALEXANDER IDEN and his men, and JACK CADE
lies down, picking of herbs and eating them.
Iden. Good Lord, how pleasant is this country life!
This little land my father left me here,
With my contented mind, serves me as well
As all the pleasures in the court can yield,
Nor would I change this pleasure for the court.

Cade. Zounds! here's the lord of the soil: stand, villain thou wilt betray me to the king, and get a thousand crowns for my head: but ere thou goest I'll make thee eat iron like an ostrich, and swallow my sword like a great pin.

Iden. Why, saucy companion, why should I betray thee?

Is 't not enough that thou hast broke my hedges, And enter'd into my ground, without the leave of me, the owner,

But thou wilt brave me too?

Cade. Brave thee and beard thee, too, by the best blood of the realm. Look on me well: I have eat no meat this five days; yet if I do not leave thee and thy five men as dead as a door-nail, I pray God 1 may never eat grass more.

Iden. Nay, it shall never be said, whilst the world stands,

That Alexander Iden, an esquire of Kent,
Took odds to combat with a famish'd' man.
Look on me, my limbs are equal unto thine,
And every way as big: then hand to hand
I'll combat with thee. Sirrah, fetch me weapons,
And stand you all aside.

Cade. Now, sword, if thou dost not hew this burly. boned churl into chines of beef, I would thou migh'st fall into some smith's hands and be turn'd to hob-nails.

Iden. Come on thy way.

[They fight, and CADE falls down. Cade. Oh, villain, thou hast slain the flower of Kent for chivalry; but it is famine and not thee that has done it. For come ten thousand devils, and give me but the ten meals that I wanted this five days, and I'll fight with you all. And so a pox rot thee, for Jack Cade must die. [He dies.

Iden. Jack Cade and was this that monstrous rebel which I have slain? Oh, sword, I'll honour thee for this, and in my chamber

Shalt thou hang as a monument to after-age,
For this great service thou has done to me.
I'll drag him hence, and with my sword
Cut off his head, and bear it to the king.

[Exit.

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HISTORIES.-VOL. II.

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