Act IV, Scene vii

[Alarums. MATTHEW GOFFE is slain, and all the rest. Then enterJACK 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.

HOLLAND.:

[Aside.] Mass, 't will be sore law, then; for he

was thrust in the mouth with a spear, and 't is not whole yet.

SMITH.:

[Aside.] Nay, John, it will be stinking law, for his

breath stinks with eating toasted cheese.

CADE.:

I have thought upon it, it shall be so. Away, burn

all the records of the realm. My mouth shall be the parliament

of England.

HOLLAND.:

[Aside.] Then we are like to have biting statutes,

unless his teeth be pulled out.

CADE.:

And henceforward all things shall be in common.

[Enter a Messenger.]

MESSENGER.:

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, and one shilling to the pound, the

last subsidy.

[Enter GEOGE 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?

CADE.:

Marry, thou oughtest not to let thy horse wear a cloak

when honester men than thou 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; 't is 'bona terra, mala gens.'

CADE.:

Away with him, away with him! he speaks Latin.

SAY.:

Hear me but speak, and bear me where you will.

Kent, in the Commentaries Caesar writ,

Is term'd the civil'st place of all this isle.

Sweet is the country, because full of riches;

The people liberal, valiant, active, wealthy;

Which makes me hope you are not void of pity.

I sold not Maine, I lost not Normandy,

Yet, to recover them, would lose my life.

Justice with favour have I always done;

Prayers and tears have mov'd me, gifts could never.

When have I aught exacted at your hands

But to maintain the king, the realm, and you?

Large gifts have I bestow'd on learned clerks,

Because my book preferr'd me to the king;

And seeing ignorance is the curse of God,

Knowledge the wing wherewith we fly to heaven,

Unless you be possess'd with devilish spirits,

You cannot but forbear to murther me.

This tongue hath parley'd unto foreign kings

For your behoof,—

CADE.:

Tut, when struck'st thou one blow in the field?

SAY.:

Great men have reaching hands; oft have I struck

Those that I never saw, and struck them dead.

GEORGE.:

O monstrous coward! what, to come behind folks?

SAY.:

These cheeks are pale for watching for your good.

CADE.:

Give him a box o' the ear, and that will make 'em red

again.

SAY.:

Long sitting to determine poor men's 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 me.

CADE.:

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.

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 bloodshedding,

This breast 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?

And therefore yet relent, and save my life.

CADE.:

Away with him! and do as I command ye.—[Exeunt some withLord Say.]The proudest peer in the realm shall not

wear a head on his shoulders unless he pay me tribute; there

shall not a maid be married but she shall pay to me her

maidenhead ere they have it. Men shall hold of me in capite;

and we charge and command that their wives be as free as

heart can wish or tongue can tell.

DICK.:

My lord, when shall we go to Cheapside, and take up

commodities upon our bills?

CADE.:

Marry, presently.

ALL.:

O, brave!

[Re-enter one with the heads.]

CADE.:

But is not this braver? Let them kiss one another,

for they loved well when they were alive. Now part them again,

lest they consult about the giving up of some more towns in

France.—Soldiers, defer the spoil of the city until night; for

with these borne before us, instead of maces will we ride

through the streets, and at every corner have them kiss.—Away!

[Exeunt.]

[Alarum and retreat. Enter CADE and all his rabblement.]

CADE.:

Up Fish Street! down Saint Magnus' Corner! kill

and knock down! Throw them into Thames![Sound a parley.]

What noise is this I hear? Dare any be so bold to sound retreat

or parley when I command them kill?

[Enter BUCKINGHAM and old CLIFFORD, attended.]

BUCKINGHAM.:

Ay, here they be that dare and will disturb thee.

Know, Cade, we come ambassadors from the king

Unto the commons whom thou hast misled,

And here pronounce free pardon to them all

That will forsake thee and go home in peace.

CLIFFORD.:

What say ye, countrymen? will ye relent

And yield to mercy whilst 't is offer'd you,

Or let a rebel lead you to your deaths?

Who loves the king and will embrace his pardon,

Fling up his cap, and say 'God save his Majesty!'

Who hateth him and honours not his father,

Henry the Fifth, that made all France to quake,

Shake he his weapon at us and pass by.

ALL.:

God save the king! God save the king!

CADE.:

What, Buckingham and Clifford, are ye so brave?—

And you, base peasants, do ye believe him? will you needs be

hang'd with your about your necks? Hath my sword therefore

broke through London gates, that you should leave me at the

White Hart in Southwark? I thought ye would never have given

out these arms till you had recovered your ancient freedom;

but you are all recreants and dastards, and delight to live in

slavery to the nobility. Let them break your backs with burthens,

take your houses over your heads, ravish your wives and daughters

before your faces. For me, I will make shift for one; and so,

God's curse light upon you all!

ALL.:

We'll follow Cade, we'll follow Cade!

CLIFFORD.:

Is Cade the son of Henry the Fifth,

That thus you do exclaim you'll go with him?

Will he conduct you through the heart of France,

And make the meanest of you earls and dukes?

Alas, he hath no home, no place to fly to;

Nor knows he how to live but by the spoil,

Unless by robbing of your friends and us.

Were 't not a shame that whilst you live at jar

The fearful French, whom you late vanquished,

Should make a start o'er seas and vanquish you?

Methinks already in this civil broil

I see them lording it in London streets,

Crying 'Villiaco!' unto all they meet.

Better ten thousand base-born Cades miscarry

Than you should stoop unto a Frenchman's mercy.

To France, to France, and get what you have lost;

Spare England, for it is your native coast.

Henry hath money, you are strong and manly;

God on our side, doubt not of victory.

ALL.:

A Clifford! a Clifford! we'll follow the king and

Clifford.

CADE.:

Was ever feather so lightly blown to and fro as this

multitude? The name of Henry the Fifth hales them to an hundred

mischiefs and makes them leave me desolate. I see them lay their

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 middest of you! and heavens and honour be

witness

that no want of resolution in me, but only my followers' base and

ignominious treasons, makes me betake me to my heels.

[Exit.]

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.—

[Exeunt some of them.]

Follow me, soldiers; we'll devise a mean

To reconcile you all unto the king.

[Exeunt.]