If from this presence thou dar'st go with me. War. Away even now, or I will drag thee hence:

Unworthy though thou art, I'll cope with thee, And do some service to duke Humphrey's ghost.

[Exeunt SUFFOLK and WARWICK. K. Hen. What stronger breast-plate than a heart untainted?

Thrice is he arm'd, that hath his quarrel just;
And he but naked, though lock'd up in steel,
Whose conscience with injustice is corrupted.
[A Noise within.

I thank them for their tender loving care:
And had I not been 'cited so by them,
Yet did I purpose as they do entreat;
For sure, my thoughts do hourly prophesy
Mischance unto my state by Suffolk's means.
And therefore, by His majesty I swear,
Whose far unworthy deputy I am,

He shall not breathe infection in this air
But three days longer, on the pain of death.
[Exit SALISBURY.
Q. Mar. O Henry, let me plead for gentle

Suffolk !

Weapons drawn.

Sal. Sirs, stand apart; the king shall know your mind.[Speaking to those within. Dread lord, the commons send you word by me,

Unless false Suffolk straight be done to death, Or banished fair England's territories,

They will by violence tear him from your palace,

And torture him with grievous ling'ring death They say, by him the good duke Humphrey died;

They say, in him they fear your highness' death;
And mere instinct of love and loyalty,
Free from a stubborn opposite intent,
As being thought to contradict your liking,
Makes them thus forward in his banishment.
They say, in care of your most royal person,
That, if your highness should intend to sleep,
And charge-that no man should disturb your

rest,

In pain of your dislike, or pain of death;
Yet notwithstanding such a strait edict,
Were there a serpent seen, with forked tongue,
That slily glided towards your majesty,
It were but necessary you were wak'd;
Lest, being suffer'd in that harmful slumber,
The mortal worm might make the sleep eter.
nal:

And therefore do they cry, though you forbid, That they will guard you, whe'r you will, or no,

From such fel! serpents as false Suffolk is;
With whose envenomed and fatal sting,
Your loving uncle, twenty times his worth,
They say, is shamefully bereft of life.
Commons. Within.] An answer from the
king, my lord of Salisbury.

Suf. 'Tis like, the commons, rude unpolish'd hinds,

Could send such message to their sovereign:
But you, my lord, were glad to be employ'd,
To show how quaint and orator you are:
But all the bonour Salisbury bath won,
Is that he was the lord ambassador,
Sent from a sort of tinkers to the king.
Commons. [Within.] An auswer from the king,
or we'll all break in.

K. Hen. Go, Salisbury, and tell them all from

Q. Mar. Fie, coward woman, and soft-bearted wretch !

Hast thou not spirit to curse thine enemies?
Suf. A plague upon them! wherefore should
I curse them?
Would

curses kill, as doth the mandrake's groan, I would invent as bitter-searching terms, As curst, as harsh, and horrible to hear, Deliver'd strongly through my fixed teeth, With full as many signs of deadly hate, As lean-fac'd Envy in her loathsome cave: My tongue should stumble in mine earnest words;

Mine eyes should sparkle like the beaten fiat;
My hair be fix'd on end, as one distract;
Ay, every joint should seem to curse and ban:
And even now my burden'd heart would break,
Should I not curse them. Poison be their
drink!

Gall, worse than gall, the daintiest that they taste!

Their sweetest shade, a grove of cypress trees! Their chiefest prospect, inurdering basilisks! Their softest touch, as smart as lizards' stings! Their music, frightful as the serpent's biss; And boding screech-owls make the

fuil !

concert

Suf. Obscure and lowly swain, king Heury's blood,

The honourable blood of Lancaster,
Must not be shed by such a jaded groom.
Hast thou not kiss'd thy band, and held my
stirrup ?

Bare-headed plodded by my foot-cloth mule,
And thought thee happy when I shook my head?
How often hast thou waited at my cup,
Fed from my trencher, kneel'd down at the
board,

When I have feasted with queen Margaret ?
Remember it, and let it make thee crest-fallen;
Ay, and allay this thy abortive pride: +
How in our voiding lobby hast thou stood,
And duly waited for my coming forth?
This baud of mine hath writ in thy behalf,
And therefore shall it charm thy riotous tongue.
hit. Speak, captain, shall I stab the forlorn
swain ?

Cap. First let my words stab him, as he hath

Suf. Poole?

Cap. Poole Sir Poole? lord?

Ay, kennel, puddle, sink; whose filth and dirt
Troubles the silver spring where England drinks,
Now will I dam up this thy yawning mouth,
For swallowing the treasure of the realm:
Thy lips that kiss'd the queen, shall sweep the
ground;

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

Against the senseless winds shall grin in vain,
Who, in contempt, shall biss at thee again :
And wedded be thou to the bags of hel,
For daring to affy a mighty lord
Unto the daughter of a worthless king,
Having neither subject, wealth, nor diadem.
By devilish policy art thou grown great,
And, like ambitious Sylla, overgorged
With gobbets of thy mother's bleeding beart.
By thee, Anjou and Maine were sold to France:
The false revolting Normans, thorough thee,
Disdain to call us lord; and Picardy
Hath slain our governors, surprised our forts,
And sent the ragged soldiers wounded home,
The princely Warwick, and the Nevils all,
Whose dreadful swords were never drawn in
vain,

As hating thee, are rising up in arms :
And now the house of York thrust from the
crown,

By shameful murder of a guiltless king,
And lofty proud encroaching tyranny,
Burns with revenging fire? whose hopeful co

lours

Advance our half-faced sun, striving to shine,
Under the which is writ-Invitis nubibus.
The commons here in Kent are up in arms:
And, to conclude, reproach and beggary,
Is crept into the palace of our king,
And all by thee :-Away! Convey him hence.
Suf. O that I were a god, to shoot forth
thunder

Upon these paitry, servile, abject drudges? Small things make base men proud: this villain bere,

Being captain of a pinnace, + threatens more
Than Burgulus the strong Illyrian pirate.
Drones suck not eagles' blood, but rob bee-hives.
It is impossible that I should die

By such a lowly vassal as thyself.

Thy words move rage, and not remose, in me :
I go of message from the queen to France;
1 charge thee, waft me safely cross the channel.
Cap. Walter,-

Whit. Come, Suffolk, I must waft thee to thy

[Aside.

Cade. I fear neither sword nor fire. Smith. He need not fear the sword, his coat is of proof. [Aside. Dick. But, methinks, he should stand in fear of fire, being burnt i'the hand for stealing of sheep. [Aside.

Cade. Be brave then; for your captain is brave, and vows reformation. There shall be, in England, seven halfpenny loaves sold for a penny: the three-hoop'd 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 palfry 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

John. True and yet it is said,-Labour in thy Vocation: which is as much to say, as,-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 ;

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. John. Come, come, let's fall in with them. Drum.-Enter CADE, DICK the Butcher, SMITH the Weaver; and others in great number.

Cade. We John Cade, so term'd of our sup posed father,

rings. t

Dick. Or rather, of stealing a cade of her [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,

Dick. He was an honest man, and a good Bricklayer.

Cade. Nay, that I mean to do. Is not this a lamentable thing, that of the skin of an innocent lamb should be made parchment? That parchment, being scribbled o'er, should undo a inan? Some say, the bee stings: but I say, 'tis the bee's-wax: for I did but seal ouce 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 court-hand.

Cade. I am sorry for't: the man is a proper man, on 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 -Twill go hard with you.

Cade. Let me alone :-Dost thou use to write thy name? or hast thou a mark to thyself, like a 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 confess'd: away with him; he's a villain and a traitor.

Cade. Away with him, I say: hang him with his pen and inkhorn about his neck:

[Exeunt some with the CLERK. Enter MICHAEL.

[Aside.

Cade. My mother a Plantagenet,-
Dick. I knew her well, she was a midwife.

Mich. Where's our general?

[Aside.

Cade. My wife descended of the Lacies,

• Low men.

† A barrel of herrings.

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