Where,1 from thy sight, I shou.d be raging mad, Q. Mar. Away! though parting be a fretful 'It is applied to a deathful wound. 'To France, sweet Suffolk: Let me hear from thee; For wheresoe'er thou art in this world's globe, I'll have an Iris' that shall find thee out. *Car. Bring me unto my trial when you will. 'Died he not in his bed? where should he die? Can I make men live whe'r they will or no?" * O! torture me no more, I will confess.'Alive again? then show me where he is ; to I'll give a thousand pounds to look upon him.- 'Like lime-twigs set to catch my winged soul!- 1 Where for whereas; as in other places. See my lips tremble, and my eyeballs roll, Suck my last breath, and catch my flying soul.' 3 Corrosive was generally pronounced and most frequently written corsive in Shakspeare's time. See Mr. Nares's Glossary in voce. The accent, as Mr. Todd observes, being then on the first syllable, the word was easily thus abbreviated. 4 Íris was the messenger of Juno. 5 The quarto offers this stage-direction :-'Enter the King and Salisbury, and then the curtaines be drawne, aud the Cardinal is discovered in his bed, raving and staring as if he were mad. This description did not escape Shakspeare, for he has availed himself of it in a preceding speech by Vaux. 6 A passage in Hall's Chronicle, Henry VI. fol. 70, b. suggested the corresponding lines in the old play. We cannot hold mortality's strong hand :— Thou hast no speculation in those eyes Cap. The gaudy, blabbing, and remorseful12 day *Is crept into the bosom of the sea ; * And now loud howling wolves arouse the jades *That drag the tragic melancholy night; * Who with their drowsy, slow, and flagging wings 13 *Clip dead men's graves, and from their misty jaws * Breathe foul contagious darkness in the air. *Therefore, bring forth the soldiers of our prize'; *For, whilst our pinnace anchors in the Downs, *Here shall they make their ransom on the sand, * Or with their blood stain this discolour'd shore.'Master, this prisoner freely give I thee :— And thou that art his mate, make boot of this 'The other, [pointing to SUFFOLK,] Walter Whitmore, is thy share. '1 Gent. What is my ransom, master? let me know. 'Mast. A thousand crowns, or else lay down your head. 'Mate. And so much shall you give, or off goe? This is one of the scenes which have been applauded by the critics, and which will continue to be admired when prejudices shall cease, and bigotry give way to impartial examination. These are beauties that rise out of nature and of truth; the superficial reader cannot miss them, the profound can image nothing beyond them.'-Johnson. 11 There is a curious circumstantial account of the event on which this scene is founded in the Paston Letters, published by Sir John Fenn, vol. i. p. 33, Letter x The scene is founded on the narration of Hall, which is copied by Holinshed 12 The epithet blabbing, applied to the day by a man about to commit murder, is exquisitely beautiful. Guilt, if afraid of light, considers darkness as a natural shelter, and makes night the confidant of those actions which cannot be trusted to the tell-tale day.-Johnson Spenser and Milton make use of the erithet :For Venus hated his all-blabbing light.' Britain's Ida, c. il 'Ere the blabbing eastern scout.'- Comus, v. 139 Remorseful is pitiful." 13 The chariot of the night is supposed by Shakspeare to be drawn by dragons. Vide Cymbeline, Act ii. Sc. 2. 14 The word cannot, which is necessary to complete the sense of the passage, is not in the old copy: it was supplied by Malone. The difference between the captain's present and succeeding sentiments may be thus accounted for. Here he is only striving to intimidate his prisoners into a ready payment of their ransom Aut sumus, aut fuimus, vel possumus esse, quod aic Afterwards his natural disposition inclines him to mer "Then, good my lord, if you forgive them all, Lift up your hand, in token you forgive.' 10 Peccantes culpare cave, nam labimur omnes est.' cy, till he is provoked by the upbraidings of Suffolk more. How now? why start'st thou? what, doth death affright? Suff. Thy name affrights me,' in whose sound is death. A cunning man did calculate my birth, Suff. Poole ? 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 'Against the senseless winds shalt grin in vain, Unto the daughter of a worthless king, * Having neither subject, wealth, nor diadem * ' And told me that by Water I should die : 2 Yet let not this make thee be bloody-minded: Thy name is-Gaultier, being rightly sounded. 'Whit. Gaultier, or Walter, which it is, I care not; Ne'er yet did base dishonour blur our name, But with our sword we wip'd away the blot; Therefore, when merchant-like I sell revenge, Broke be my sword, my arms torn and defac'd,3 With goblets of thy mother's bleeding heart. And I proclaim'd a coward through the world! * By thee, Anjou and Maine were sold to France · [Lays hold on SUFFOLK. The false revolting Normans, thorough thee, Suff. Stay, Whitmore; for thy prisoner is a Disdain to call us lord; and Picardy * Hath slain their governors, surpris'd 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: prince, The duke of Suffolk, William de la Poole. The honourable blood of Lancaster, * * How in our voiding lobby hast thou stood, * And duly waited for my coming forth? This hand of mine hath writ in thy behalf, 6 ' And therefore shall it charm thy riotous tongue. * Whit. Speak, captain, shall I stab the forlorn swain? * Cap. First let my words stab him, as he hath me. 1 Suffolk had heard his name before without being startled by it. In the old play, as soon as ever the captain has consigned him to Walter Whickmore,' he immediately exclaims, 'Walter !' Whickmore asks him why he fears him; and Suffolk replies, "It is thy name affrights me.' The poet here, as in other instances, has fallen into an impropriety by sometimes following and sometimes deserting his original. 2 Thus Drayton, in Queen Margaret's Epistle to this Juke of Suffolk : 'I pray thee, Poole, have care how thou dost pass; * * Burns with revenging fire: whose hopeful colours * And all by thee-Away! convey him hence. * Small things make base men proud: this villain here, 9 'Being captain of a pinnace, threatens more Than Bargulus the strong Illyrian pirate.10 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 remorse, in me: 6 By this expression, 'charm thy riotous tongue,' the poet meant Suffolk to say that it should be as potent as a charm in stopping his licentious talk. The same expression occurs in Othello, Act iv. Sc. 1. 7 To betroth in marriage. This enumeration of Suffolk's crimes seems to have been suggested by the Mirror for Magistrates. See the Legend of William de la Poole. The rest of this speech is entirely Shakspeare's; there is no trace of it in the original play. 8 Edward III. bore for his device the rays of the sun dispersing themselves out of a cloud.-Camden's Re maines. A note on these lines says, 'The witch of Eye received 9 A pinnace then signified a ship of small burthen, answer from the spirit, that the duke of Suffolk should built for speed. Vide note on The Merry Wives o. take heed of water.? See the fourth Scene of the first Windsor, Act i. Sc. 3. Act of this play. The prophecy is differently stated by 10 Bargulus, Illyrius Latro, de quo est apud Theo a contemporary in the Paston Letters, vol. i. p. 40:- pompum, magnas opes habuit.'-Cicero de Officiis, lib. 'Also he asked the name of the ship; and when he knew it, he remembered Stacy that said, if he might escape the dangers of the Tower he should be safe, and then his heart failed him.” 3 The new image which Shakspeare has introduced into this speech-'my arms torn and defaced' is also found in King Richard III. Act iii. Sc. 2. See note on that passage. ii. c. 11. Shakspeare, as Dr. Farmer has shown, might have met with this pirate in some of the translations of his time: he points out two in which he is mentioned. In the old play it is, 'Abradas the great Macedonian pirate.' 11 This line in the original play is properly given to the captain. What remorse (i. e, pity) could Suffolk be called upon to show to his assailant? Whereas the 4 Ajaded groom is a low fellow. Suffolk's boast of captain might with propriety say to his captive, Thy his own blood was hardly warranted by his origin. His haughty language exasperates me, instead of exciting great grandfather had been a merchant at Hull. If Shak-my compassion. Mr. Boswell is, I believe, mistaken in speare had known his pedigree he would not have failed to make some of his adversaries reproach him with it. Pride that has had birth too soor. asserting that remorse was used in the modern sense. At least I find no instance where it is so used by Shak. speare. I go of message from the queen to France Whit. Come, Suffolk, I must waft thee to thy *Suff. Gelidus timor occupat artus ;1-'tis thee I fear. Wit. Thou shalt have cause to fear, before I leave thee. What, are ye daunted now? now will ye stoop? 1 Gent. My gracious lord, entreat him, speak him fair. 'Suff. Suffolk's imperial tongue is stern and rough, Us'd to command, untaught to plead for favour. Far be it, we should honour such as these 'With humble suit; no, rather let my head 'Stoop to the block, than these knees bow to any, 'Save to the God of heaven, and to my king; ' And sooner dance upon a bloody pole, •Than stand uncover'd to the vulgar groom. * True nobility is exempt from fear :'More can I bear, than you dare execute.2 'Cap. Hale him away, and let him talk no more. Suff Come, soldiers, show what cruelty ye can,3 'That this my death may never be forgot!-'Great men oft die by vile bezonians:4 'A Roman sworder and banditto slave, 'Murder'd sweet Tully; Brutus' bastard hand 'Stabb'd Julius Cæsar; savage islanders, 'Pompey the Great: and Suffolk dies by pirates. [Exit SUFF. with WHIT. and others. Cap. And as for these whose ransom we have set, It is our pleasure, one of them depart: Therefore come you with us, and let him go. [Exeunt all but the first Gentleman. Re-enter WHITMORE, with SUFFOLK's Body. 'Whit. There let his head and lifeless body lie, • Until the queen his mistress bury it. Exit. 6 '1 Gent. O 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, with the Body. Enter GEORGE BEVIS and JOHN HOLLAND. 'Geo. Come, and get thee a sword, though made of a lath; they have been up these two days. John. They have the more need to sleep now SCENE II. Blackheath. • then. 1 The source from whence this line has been extracted has not yet been discovered. The following lines are the nearest which have been found in the Classic Poets: • Subitus tremor occupat artus.' Virg. En. v. 446. 2' I am able now, methinks Again in Othello :-- Thou hast not half the power to do me harm, As I have to be hurt.' 3 According to the Letter in the Paston Collection, already cited, the cutting off of Suffolk's head was very barbarously performed. One of the lewdest of the ship bade him lay down his head, and he should be fairly ferd [dea] with, and dye on a sword; and took a rusty sword and smote off his head within half a dozen strokes.' 4 A bezonian is a mean low person. 5 Pompey was killed by Achillas and Septimius at the moment that the Egyptian fishing boat in which they 49 * Geu. O miserable age! Virtue is not regarded * in handycrafts-men. 'John. The nobility think scorn to go in leather aprons. *Geo. Nay more, the king's council are no good workmen. *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 * John. I see them! I see them! There's Best's * 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 termed of our sup'posed father, Dick. Or rather, of stealing a cade of herrings," [Aside • Cade. for our enemies shall fall before us, inspired with the spirit of putting down kings and princes. Command silence. Dick. Silence! [Aside. 'Cade. My wife descended of the Lacies,Dick. She was, indeed, a pedler's daughter, and sold many laces. [Aside. 'Smith. But, now of late, not able to travel with 'her furred pack, she washes bucks here at home. [Aside. 'Cade. Therefore am I of an honourable house. Dick. Ay, by my faith, the field is honourable; and there was he born, under a bedge; for his father had never a house, but the cage. [Aside * Cade. Valiant I am. * Smith. 'A must needs; for beggary is va..ant [Aside Cude. I am able to endure much. Dick. No question of that; for I have seen him whipped three market days together. [Aside. were, reached the coast, his head being thrown into the sea, a circumstance sufficiently resembling Suffolk's death to bring it to the poet's memory; though his mention of it is not quite accurate. In the old play Pompey is not named. 6 They laid his body on the sands of Dover, and some say that his head was set on a pole by it.'-Paston's Letters, vol. i. p. 41. 7 The same phrase was used by the duke of Suffolk to Wolsey and Campeggio in the reign of Henry VIII. "With that stepped forth the duke of Suffolk from the king, and by his commandment spake these words, with a stout and hault countenance-"It was never merry England (quoth he) whilst we had cardinals among us."-Cavendish's Life of Wolsey, p. 167, ed. 1925. 8 Tom Nashe speaks of having weighed one of Gabriel Harvey's books against a cade of herrings, and ludicrously says, 'That the rebel Jack Cade was the first that devised to put red herrings in cades, and from him they have their name.'-Lenten Stuffe, 1599.Cade, however, is derived from cadus, Lat. a cask. We may add, from the accounts of the Celeress of the Abbey of Barking in the Monasticon Anglicanum, ‘a barrel of herryng shold contain a thousand herryngs, and a cade of herryng six hundred, six score to the hundred. Cade, with more learning than should na. turally fall to his character, alludes to his name from cado, to fall. Cude. I fear neither sword nor fire. Smith. He need not fear the sword, for his coat is of proof.1 [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 half-penny loaves sold for a penny; the threehooped pot shall have ten hoops;2 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 lawyers. 'Mich. Fly, fly, fly! Sir Humphrey Stafford and his brother are hard by, with the king's foes. 'Cade. Stand, villain, stand, or I'll fell thee down: He shall be encountered with a man as "good as himself: He is but a knight, is 'a? Mich. No. 'Cade. To equal him, I will make myself ↑ knight presently: Rise up Sir John Mortimer Now have at him.” Enter SIR HUMPHREY STAFFORD, and WILLIAM his Brother, with Drum and Forces. * Staf. Rebellious hinds, and filth and scum of Kent, * Mark'd for the gallows,-lay your weapons down, Home to your cottages, forsake this groom;The king is merciful, if you revolt. * *W. Staf. But angry, wrathful, and inclin❜d to *If you go forward: therefore yield, or die. It is to you, good people, that I speak, Cade. Nay, that I mean to do.4 Is not this a lamentable thing, that of the skin of an innocent* O'er whom, in time to come, I hope to reign; lamb should be made parchment? that parchment,* being scribbled o'er, should undo a man? Some say, the bee stings: but I say, 'tis the bee's wax; for I did but seal once 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. 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. For I am rightful heir unto the crown. Cade. Marry, this :-Edmund Mortimer, earl of Married the duke of Clarence' daughter; Did he 'Staf. Ay, sir. Cade. By her, he had two children at one birth Cade. Ay, there's the question; but, I say, true : 'tis • The elder of them, being put to nurse, you can. Dick. They use to write it on the top of letters; house, and the bricks are alive at this day to testify Twill hard with you. go • Cade. Let me alone:-Dost thou use to write thy name? or hast thou a mark to thyself, like an ⚫ 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 confessed: 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. 'Mich. Where's our general? 1 A quibble is most probably intended between two senses of the word; one as being able to resist, the other as being well tried, that is, long worn. 2 These drinking vessels of our ancestors were of wood. Nash, in his Pierce Pennilesse, 1595, says, 'I believe hoopes in quart pots were invented to that end, that every man should take his hoope, and no more.' 3 To mend the world by banishing money is an old contrivance of those who did not consider that the quarrels and mischiefs which arise from money, as the signs or tickets of riches, must, if riches were to cease, arise from riches themselves, and could never be at an end till every man was contented with his own share of the goods of life.'-Johnson. 4 This speech was transposed by Shakspeare from a subsequent scene in the old play. 5 i. e. bonds. 6 That is on the top of Letters Missive and such like public acts. See Mabillon's Diplomata. 7 After this speech, in the old play, are the following words: Is there any more of them that be knights? it; therefore, deny it not. *Staf. And will you credit this base drudge's words, *That speaks he knows not what? *All. Ay, marry, will we; therefore get ye gone W. Staf. Jack Cade, the duke of York hath taught you this. * Cade. He lies, for I invented it myself. [Aside.] Go to, sirrah. Tell the king from me, that-for his father's sake, Henry the Fifth, in whose time boys went to span counter for French crowns,-I am content he shall reign; but I'll be protector over him. 'Dick. And, furthermore, we'll have the Lord Say's head, for selling the dukedom of Maine. 'Čade. And good reason; for thereby is England maimed, and fain to go with a staff, but that my 'puissance holds it up. Fellow kings, I tell you, 'that that Lord Say hath gelded1o the common 9 Tom. Yea, his brother. Cade. Then kneel down, Dick Butcher; rise up Sir Dick Butcher. Sound up the drum.' 8 I care not, I pay them no regard. 'Transform me to what shape you can, Ipass not what it be.' Drayton's Quest of Cynthia. 9 The same play upon words is in Daniel's Civil Wars, 1595: 'Anjou and Maine, the main that foul appears." 10 Steevens observes that 'Shakspeare has here transgressed a rule laid down by Tully, De Oratore: 'Nolo morte dici Africani castratam esse rempublicam.' The character of the speaker may countenance such indelicacy here, but in other places our author talks of 'gelding purses, patrimonies, and continents.' I must again remark that in the former instances the phrase was only metaphorically used for diminishing or cur • wealth, and made it an eunuch: and more than that, he can speak French, and therefore he is a 'traitor. 'Staf. O gross and miserable ignorance! Cade. Nay, answer, if you can: The Frenchmen are our enemies: go to, then, I ask but this; Can he, that speaks with the tongue of an enemy, be a good counsellor, or no? * All. No, no; and therefore we'll have his head. *W. Staf. Wel, seeing gentle words will not prevail, * Assail them with the army of the king. Staf. Herald, away: and, throughout every town, • Prociaim them traitors that are up with Cade; That those, which fly before the battle ends, May, even in their wives' and children's sight, 'Be hang'd up for example at their doors :'And you, that be the king's friends, follow me. [Exeunt the Two STAFFORDS, and Forces. * Cade. And you, that love the commons, follow me.- * Now show yourselves men, 'tis for liberty. rums. [Exeunt. SCENE III. Another part of Blackheath. AlaThe two Parties enter and fight, and both the STAFFORDS are slain. 'Cade. Where's Dick, the butcher of Ashford? 'Dick. Here, sir. Cade. They fell before thee like sheep and oxen, * and thou behavedst thyself as if thou hadst been ⚫ in thine own slaughter-house: therefore thus will 'I reward thee,-The Lent shall be as long again as it is ; and thou shalt have a licence to kill for a ' hundred lacking one, a week. 'Dick. I desire no more. *Cade. And, to speak truth, thou deservest no * less. This monument of the victory will I bear;3 * and the bodies shall be dragged at my horse's *heels, till I do come to London, where we will *have the mayor's sword borne before us. * * Dick. If we mean to thrive and do good, break open the gaols, and let out the prisoners. *Cade. Fear not that, I warrant thee. Come, * let's march towards London. [Exeunt. SCENE IV. London. A Room in the Palace. Enter KING HENRY, reading a Supplication; the DUKE of BUCKINGHAM, and LORD SAY with him; at a distance, QUEEN MARGARET, mourning over SUFFOLK's Head. * Q. Mar. Oft have I heard-that grief softens * And makes it fearful and degenerate; 1 Shoes. * Here may his head lie cn my throbbing breast *K. Hen. I'll send some holy bishop1 to entreat: 5 Rul'd, like a wandering planet, over me; * And could it not enforce them to relent, * That were unworthy to behold the same? 'K. Hen. Lord Say, Jack Cade hath sworn tʊ have thy head. Say. Ay, but I hope, your highness shall have his. K. Hen. How now, madam? Still Enter a Messenger. *K. Hen. How now! what news? why com'st thou in such haste? • Mes. The rebels are in Southwark; Fly, my Jack Cade proclaims himself Lord Mortimer, Of hinds and peasants, rude and merciless; ' They call-false caterpillars, and intend their * K. Hen. O graceless men! they know not what they do.6 'Buck. My gracious lord, retire to Kenelworth, Until a power be rais'd 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 dan- The sight of me is odious in their eyes: Enter another Messenger. * 2 Mess. Jack Cade hath gotten London Bridge; * Fly and forsake their houses: * Buck. Then linger not, my lord; away, take phrey's brigandine, set full of gilt nails, and so in glory returned again toward London. Sir Humphrey Staf ford was, in fact, killed at Sevenoaks, and is buried at Bromsgrove, in Staffordshire. old play. He afterwards forgets this holy bishop: and in scene the eighth we find only Buckingham and Clifford were sent, conformably to the old play. Holinshed mentions that the archbishop of Canterbury and the duke of Buckingham were sent. 2 The last two words, a week, were added by Malone from the old play. It is necessary to render the passage intelligible. In the reign of Elizabeth, butchers were strictly enjoined not to sell flesh meat in Lent, not with 4 Shakspeare has here fallen into another inconsista religious view, but for the double purpose of dimin-ency, by sometimes following Holinshed instead of the ishing the consumption of flesh meat during that period, and so making it more plentiful during the rest of the year, and of encouraging the fisheries and augmenting the number of seamen. Butchers, who had interest at court, frequently obtained a dispensation to kill a certain number of beasts a week during Lent; of which indul- 5 Predominated irresistibly over my passions, as the gence, the wants of invalids who could not subsist with-planets over those born under their influence. The old out animal food, was made the pretence. There are play led Shakspeare into this strange exhibition; a several proclamations on the subject in the library of queen with the head of her murdered paramour on her the Society of Antiquaries. bosom, in presence of her husband! 3 Here Cade must be supposed to take off Stafford's armour. So Holinshed:Jack Cade, upon his victory against the Staffords, apparelled himself in Sir Hum 6 Instead of this line the old copy has:- |