| ACT IV SCENE VIII | Southwark. | |
| [
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 CLIFFORD, attended] |
| BUCKINGHAM | Ay, here they be that dare and will disturb thee: | 5 |
| 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, | 10 |
| And yield to mercy whilst 'tis 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, | 15 |
| 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 | 20 |
| needs be hanged with your pardons 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 | 25 |
| 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 | 30 |
| 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? | 35 |
| 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. | 40 |
| 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, | 45 |
| Crying 'Villiago!' 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; | 50 |
| 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 | 55 |
| 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 | 60 |
| 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 | 65 |
| 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] |
The Rebellion of Jack Cade