Henry VI, Part II by William Shakespeare
Act 4 - Scene 7
London. Smithfield.
Jack Cade : So, sirs: now go some and pull down the Savoy;
[p]others to the inns
of court; down with them all.
Dick the Butcher : I have a suit unto your lordship.
Jack Cade : Be it a lordship, thou shalt have it for that word.
Dick the Butcher : Only that the laws of England may come out of your mouth.
John Holland : [Aside] Mass, 'twill be sore law, then; for he was
[p]thrust in the
mouth with a spear, and 'tis not whole
[p]yet.
Smith the Weaver : [Aside] Nay, John, it will be stinking law for his
[p]breath stinks
with eating toasted cheese.
Jack Cade : I have thought upon it, it shall be so. Away, burn
[p]all the records
of the realm: my mouth shall be
[p]the parliament of England.
John Holland : [Aside] Then we are like to have biting statutes,
[p]unless his teeth
be pulled out.
Jack Cade : And henceforward all things shall be in common.
Messenger : My lord, a prize, a prize! here's the Lord Say,
[p]which sold the
towns in France; he that made us pay
[p]one and twenty fifteens, and
one shilling to the
[p]pound, the last subsidy.
Jack Cade : Well, he shall be beheaded for it ten times. Ah,
[p]thou say, thou
serge, nay, thou buckram lord! now
[p]art thou within point-blank of
our jurisdiction
[p]regal. What canst thou answer to my majesty
for
[p]giving up of Normandy unto Mounsieur Basimecu, the
[p]dauphin
of France? Be it known unto thee by these
[p]presence, even the
presence of Lord Mortimer, that I
[p]am the besom that must sweep the
court clean of such
[p]filth as thou art. Thou hast most
traitorously
[p]corrupted the youth of the realm in erecting
a
[p]grammar school; and whereas, before, our forefathers
[p]had no
other books but the score and the tally, thou
[p]hast caused printing
to be used, and, contrary to
[p]the king, his crown and dignity, thou
hast built a
[p]paper-mill. It will be proved to thy face that
thou
[p]hast men about thee that usually talk of a noun and
[p]a verb,
and such abominable words as no Christian
[p]ear can endure to hear.
Thou hast appointed
[p]justices of peace, to call poor men before
them
[p]about matters they were not able to answer.
[p]Moreover, thou
hast put them in prison; and because
[p]they could not read, thou hast
hanged them; when,
[p]indeed, only for that cause they have been
most
[p]worthy to live. Thou dost ride in a foot-cloth, dost thou
not?
Lord Say : What of that?
Jack Cade : Marry, thou oughtest not to let thy horse wear a
[p]cloak, when
honester men than thou go in their hose
[p]and doublets.
Dick the Butcher : And work in their shirt too; as myself, for example,
[p]that am a
butcher.
Lord Say : You men of Kent,--
Dick the Butcher : What say you of Kent?
Lord Say : Nothing but this; 'tis 'bona terra, mala gens.'
Jack Cade : Away with him, away with him! he speaks Latin.
Lord Say : Hear me but speak, and bear me where you will.
[p]Kent, in the
Commentaries Caesar writ,
[p]Is term'd the civil'st place of this
isle:
[p]Sweet is the country, because full of riches;
[p]The people
liberal, valiant, active, wealthy;
[p]Which makes me hope you are not
void of pity.
[p]I sold not Maine, I lost not Normandy,
[p]Yet, to
recover them, would lose my life.
[p]Justice with favour have I always
done;
[p]Prayers and tears have moved me, gifts could never.
[p]When
have I aught exacted at your hands,
[p]But to maintain the king, the
realm and you?
[p]Large gifts have I bestow'd on learned
clerks,
[p]Because my book preferr'd me to the king,
[p]And seeing
ignorance is the curse of God,
[p]Knowledge the wing wherewith we fly
to heaven,
[p]Unless you be possess'd with devilish spirits,
[p]You
cannot but forbear to murder me:
[p]This tongue hath parley'd unto
foreign kings
[p]For your behoof,--
Jack Cade : Tut, when struck'st thou one blow in the field?
Lord Say : Great men have reaching hands: oft have I struck
[p]Those that I never
saw and struck them dead.
George Bevis : O monstrous coward! what, to come behind folks?
Lord Say : These cheeks are pale for watching for your good.
Jack Cade : Give him a box o' the ear and that will make 'em red again.
Lord Say : Long sitting to determine poor men's causes
[p]Hath made me full of
sickness and diseases.
Jack Cade : Ye shall have a hempen caudle, then, and the help of hatchet.
Dick the Butcher : Why dost thou quiver, man?
Lord Say : The palsy, and not fear, provokes me.
Jack Cade : Nay, he nods at us, as who should say, I'll be even
[p]with you: I'll
see if his head will stand steadier
[p]on a pole, or no. Take him
away, and behead him.
Lord Say : Tell me wherein have I offended most?
[p]Have I affected wealth or
honour? speak.
[p]Are my chests fill'd up with extorted gold?
[p]Is my
apparel sumptuous to behold?
[p]Whom have I injured, that ye seek my
death?
[p]These hands are free from guiltless bloodshedding,
[p]This
breast from harbouring foul deceitful thoughts.
[p]O, let me live!
Jack Cade : [Aside] I feel remorse in myself with his words;
[p]but I'll bridle
it: he shall die, an it be but for
[p]pleading so well for his life.
Away with him! he
[p]has a familiar under his tongue; he speaks not
o'
[p]God's name. Go, take him away, I say, and strike
[p]off his head
presently; and then break into his
[p]son-in-law's house, Sir James
Cromer, and strike off
[p]his head, and bring them both upon two poles
hither.
All : It shall be done.
Lord Say : Ah, countrymen! if when you make your prayers,
[p]God should be so
obdurate as yourselves,
[p]How would it fare with your departed
souls?
[p]And therefore yet relent, and save my life.
Jack Cade : Away with him! and do as I command ye.
[p][Exeunt some with Lord
SAY]
[p]The proudest peer in the realm shall not wear a head
[p]on his
shoulders, unless he pay me tribute; there
[p]shall not a maid be
married, but she shall pay to me
[p]her maidenhead ere they have it:
men shall hold of
[p]me in capite; and we charge and command that
their
[p]wives be as free as heart can wish or tongue can tell.
Dick the Butcher : My lord, when shall we go to Cheapside and take up
[p]commodities upon
our bills?
Jack Cade : Marry, presently.
All : O, brave!
Jack Cade : But is not this braver? Let them kiss one another,
[p]for they loved
well when they were alive. Now part
[p]them again, lest they consult
about the giving up of
[p]some more towns in France. Soldiers, defer
the
[p]spoil of the city until night: for with these borne
[p]before
us, instead of maces, will we ride through
[p]the streets, and at
every corner have them kiss. Away!
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Next: Act 4 - Scene 8
