Be counterpois'd with fuch a petty fum.

1 Gent. I'll give it, Sir, and therefore fpare my life. 2 Gent. And fo will I, and write home for it straight. Whit. I loft mine eye in laying the prize aboard, And therefore to revenge it fhalt thou die; [To Suffolk. And fo fhould thefe, if I might have my will.

Capt. Be not fo rafh, take ranfom, let him live. Suf. Look on my George, I am a gentleman; Rate me at what thou wilt, thou fhalt be paid.

Whit. And so am. I; my name is Walter Whitmore. How now? why start'ft thou? what, doth death affright? Suf. Thy name affrights me, in whofe found is death. A cunning man did calculate my birth, And told me, that by Water I should die. Yet let not this make thee be bloody minded, Thy name is Gualtier, being rightly founded. Whit. Gualtier or Walter, which it is I care not; Ne'er yet did base dishonour blur our name, But with our fword we wip'd away the blot. Therefore, when merchant-like 1 fell, revenge, Broke be my fword, my arms torn and defac'd. And I proclaim'd a coward through the world! Suf. Stay, Whitmore; for thy prifoner is a prince; The Duke of Suffolk, William de la Pole.

Whit. The Duke of Suffolk muffled up in rags! Suf. Ay, but thefe rags are no part of the Duke. Jove fometimes went difguis'd, and why not I? Capt. But Jove was never flain, as thou shalt be. Suf. Obfcure and lowly fwain, King Henry's blood,. The honourable blood of Lancaster,

Muft not be shed by fuch a jaded groom.

Haft thou not kifs'd thy hand, and held my ftirrup?
Bare-headed, plodded by my foot-cloth mule,
And thought thee happy when I fhook my head?
How often haft thou waited at my cup,

Fed from my trencher, kneel'd down at the board,
When I have feafted with Queen Margaret?
Remember it, and let it make thee creft-fall'n;
Ay, and allay this thy abortive pride.
How in our voiding lobby hast thou stood,
And duly waited for any coming forth ?
This hand of mine hath writ in thy behalf

And therefore fhall it charm thy riotous tongue.

Whit Speak, Captain, fhafl I ftab the forlorn fwain ? Capt. First let my words ftab him, as he hath me. Suf. Bafe flave, thy words are blunt, and fo art thou. Capt. Convey him hence, and on our long-boat's fide Strike off his head.

Suf. Thou dar'ft not for thy own.
Capt. Poole, Sir Poole? Lord?

Ay, kennelpuddle-fink, whofe filth and dirt,
Troubles the filver fpring where England drinks :
Now will I dam up this thy yawning mouth,
For fwallowing up the treafure of the realm;
Thy lips, that kifs'd the Queen, fhall fweep the ground;
And thou that fimil'ft at good Duke Humphry's death,
Against the fenfelefs winds fhall grin in vain,
Who in contempt fhall hifs at thee again.
And wedded be thou to the hags of hell,
For daring to affie a mighty Lord
Unto the daughter of a worthlefs King,
Having nor fubject, wealth, nor diadem!:
By devilish policy art thou grown great,
And, like ambitious Sylla, over gorg'd
With gobbets of thy mother's bleeding heart..
By thee Anjou and Maine were fold to France;
The falfc revolting Normans, thorough thee,
Difdain to call us Lord; and Picardy
Hath flain their governors, furpris'd our forts,
And fent the ragged foldiers wounded home.
The princely Warwick, and the Nevills all,
(Whofe dreadful fwords were never drawn in vain),
As hating thee, are rifing up in arms.

And now the houfe of York (thruft from the crown
By fhameful murther of a guiltle's King,
And lofty proud incroaching tyranny)

Burns with revenging fire; whofe hopeful colours
Advance a half-fac'd fun ftriving to thine;
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 fhoot forth thunder

Upon these paltry, fervile, abject drudges!
Small things make bafe men proud.

This villain here,

Being captain of a pinnace, threatens more
Than Bargulus the frong illyrian pirate.
Drones fuck not eagles' blood, but rob bee-hives.
It is impoffible that I fhould die

By fuch a lowly vaffal as thyfelf.

Thy words move rage, and not remorfe in me:
I go of meffage from the Queen to France;
I charge thee waft me fafely crofs the channel.
Capt. Walter-

Whit. Come, Suffolk, I must waft thee to thy death. Suf. Pana gelidus timor occupat artus: 'tis thee I fear. Whit. Thou fhalt have caufe to fear before I leave thee. What, are ye daunted now? now will ye stoop?

1 Gen. My gracious Lord, intreat him; peak him fair.

Suf. Suffolk's imperial tongue is ftern and rough,
Us'd to command, untaught to plead for favour.
Far be it we fhould honour fuch as thefe

With humble fuit: no; rather let my head
Stoop to the block, than thefe knees bow to any,
Save to the God of heav'n, and to my King;
And fooner dance upon a bloody pole,
Than ftand uncover'd to the vulgar groom.
True Nobility is exempt from fear:

More can I bear than you dare execute.

Capt. Hale him away, and let him talk no more.
Suf. Come, foldiers, fhew what cruelty you can,
That this my death may never be forgot.
Great men oft die by vile Bezonians.

A Roman fworder and Bandetto flave

Murther'd sweet Tully; Brutus' bastard hand
Stabb'd Julius Cæfar; tavage islanders

Pompey the Great; and Suffolk dies by pirates.

[Exit Walter Whitmore with Suffolk. Capt And as for thofe whofe raniom we have fet, It is our pleasure one of them depart;

Therefore come you with us, and let him go.

Cic. de offic. lib. 2. cap. 11,

[Ex. Captain and the rest.

Manet the first Gent. Enter Whitmore with the body

Whit. There let his head and lifeless body lie, Until the Queen his mistress bury it.

[Exit Whit.

1 Gent.barbarous and bloody spectacle!

His body will I bear unto the King:
If he revenge it not, yet will his friends;

So will the Queen, that living held him dear. [Exit.

SCENE

II. Changes to Southwark.

Enter Bevis and John Holland.

Bevis. Come, and get thee a fword though made of a lath; they have been up these two days.

Hol. They have the more need to fleep now then. Bevis. I tell thee, Jack Cade the clothier means to drefs the commonwealth, and turn it, and fet a new nap upon it.

Hol. So he had need, for 'tis thread bare. Well, 1 fay, it was never a merry world in England fince gen. tlemen came up.

Bevis. O miferable age! virtue is not regarded in handycraftsmen.

Hol. The Nobility think scorn to go in leather aprons.

Bevis. Nay more, the King's council are no good workmen.

Hol. True; and yet is faid, Labour in thy vocation; which is as much as to fay, Let the magiftrates be labouring men; and therefore thould we be magiftrates.

Bevis. Thou haft hit it; for there's no better fign of a brave mind than a hard hand,

Hol- I see them, I fee them; there's Belt's fon, the tanner of Wingham.

Bevis. He fhall have the fkins of our enemies to make dog's leather of.

Hol. And Dick the butcher.

Bevis. Then is fin ftruck down like an ox, and iniquity's throat cut like a calf.

Hol And Smith the weaver..

Bevis. Argo, their thread of life is fpun

Hol. Come, come, let's fall in with them.

Drum, Enter Cade, Dick the butcher, Smith the wea ver, and a fawyer, with infinite numbers.

Cade. We John Cade, fo term'd of our fuppofed father

Dick. Or rather of stealing a cade of herrings.

Cade. For our enemies fhall fall before us, infpired with the spirit of putting down kings and princes. Command filence.

Dick. Silence.

Cade. My father was a Mortimer.

Dick. He was an honest man and a good bricklayer.
Cade. My mother a Plantagenet-

Dick. I knew her well, the was a midwife.
Cade. My wife defcended of the Lacies-

Dick. She was indeed a pedlar's daughter, and fold many laces.

Weav. But now of late, not able to travel with her furr'd pack, she washes bucks here at home.

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.

Cade. Valiant I am.

Weav. A' muft needs, for beggary is valiant.
Cade. I am able to endure much.

Dick. No queftion of that; for I have feen him whipp'd three market-days together.

Cade. 1 fear neither sword nor fire.

Weav. He need not fear the fword, for his coat is of proof *.

Dick. But methinks he fhould ftand in fear of fire, being burnt i' th' hand for stealing of sheep.

Cade. Be brave then; for your captain is brave, and Vows reformation. There fhall be in England feven halfpenny loaves fold for a penny; the three-hoop'd pot hall have ten hoops, and I will make it felony to drink fmall bear. All the realm fhall be in common, and in Cheapfide fhall my palfry go to grafs; and when I am King, as King I will be

• A quibble intended between two fenfes of the word; one asbe ing able to refift, the other as being well tried, that is, long worn.