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Descended from the duke of Clarence' house;
And calls your grace usurper, openly,

And vows to crown himself in Westminster.
His army is a ragged multitude

Of hinds and peasants, rude and merciless :
Sir Humphrey Stafford and his brother's death
Hath given them heart and courage to proceed:
All scholars, lawyers, courtiers, gentlemen,
They call-false caterpillars, and intend their death.
K. Hen. O graceless men! they know not what they do.
Buck. My gracious lord, retire to Kenelworth,
Until a power be raised to put them down.

Q. Mar. Ah! were the duke of Suffolk now alive, These Kentish rebels would be soon appeas'd.

K. Hen. Lord Say, the traitors hate thee, Therefore away with us to Kenelworth.

Say. So might your grace's person be in danger; The sight of me is odious in their eyes:

And therefore in this city will I stay,

And live alone as secret as I may.

Enter another Messenger.

2 Mess. Jack Cade hath gotten London-bridge; the citizens

Fly and forsake their houses:

The rascal people, thirsting after prey,

Join with the traitor; and they jointly swear,

To spoil the city, and your royal court.

Buck. Then linger not, my lord; away, take horse. K. Hen. Come, Margaret; God, our hope, will suc

cour us.

Q. Mar. My hope is gone, now Suffolk is deceas'd.

K. Hen. Farewell, my lord; [To Lord SAY.] trust not the Kentish rebels.

Buck. Trust nobody, for fear you be betray'd.

Say. The trust I have is in mine innocence, And therefore am I bold and resolute.

[Exeunt.

SCENE V.-The same. The Tower.

Enter Lord SCALES, and Others, on the Walls. Then enter certain Citizens, below.

Scales. How now? is Jack Cade slain ?

1 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.

Scales. 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.
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.

SCENE VI.-The same. Cannon Street.

[Exeunt.

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!

[They kill him.

Cade. Knock him down there. Smith. If this fellow be wise, he'll never call you 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.-The same. Smithfield.

Alarum. Enter, on one side, CADE and his Company; on the other, Citizens, and the King's Forces, headed by MATTHEW GOUGH. They fight; the Citizens are routed, and MATTHEW GOUGH is slain.

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. Mass, 'twill be sore law then; for he was thrust in the mouth with a spear, and 'tis not whole yet.

[Aside.

Smith. Nay, John, it will be stinking law; breath stinks with eating toasted cheese.

for his

[Aside.

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.

John. Then we are like to have biting statutes, unless his teeth be pulled out.

[Aside. Cade. And henceforward all things shall be in com

mon.

Enter a Messenger.

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, 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 point-blank of our jurisdiction regal. What canst thou answer to my majesty, for giving up of Normandy unto monsieur 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 fore-fathers 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,

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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 on 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: "Tis 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 Cæsar 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,
Kent to maintain, the king, the realm, and you?
Large gifts have I bestowed on learned clerks,

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