Alarums. Matthew Gough is slain, and all the rest.
Then enter Jack Cade with his company. CADE So, sirs. Now go some and pull down the Savoy;
others to th’ Inns of Court. Down with them all! DICK I have a suit unto your Lordship. CADE Be it a lordship, thou shalt have it for that word. DICK Only that the laws of England may come out of 5
your mouth. HOLLAND, aside Mass, ’twill be sore law, then, for he
was thrust in the mouth with a spear, and ’tis not
whole yet. SMITH, aside Nay, John, it will be stinking law, for 10
his breath stinks with eating toasted cheese. CADE I have thought upon it; it shall be so. Away!
Burn all the records of the realm. My mouth shall
be the Parliament of England. HOLLAND, aside Then we are like to have biting 15
statutes—unless his teeth be pulled out. CADE And henceforward all things shall be in
common. | At the Tower, Cade and his men take over, killing leaders and burning anything in their path. Dick and Smith want to know about the new laws for their new government. Cade declares that everything will be held in common. Translation: there will be no more class distinctions. Everyone will pitch in for the whole community. Cade also decides that all the laws will come out of his mouth; they won't be written down anywhere. Sure, that makes sense. |
Enter a Messenger. MESSENGER My lord, a prize, a prize! Here’s the Lord
Saye, which sold the towns in France, he that 20
made us pay one-and-twenty fifteens, and one
shilling to the pound, the last subsidy. Enter George with the Lord Saye. CADE Well, he shall be beheaded for it ten times.—Ah,
thou say, thou serge, nay, thou buckram lord, now
art thou within point-blank of our jurisdiction 25
regal. What canst thou answer to my Majesty for
giving up of Normandy unto Monsieur Basimecu,
the Dauphin of France? Be it known unto thee by
these presence, even the presence of Lord Mortimer,
that I am the besom that must sweep the 30
court clean of such filth as thou art. Thou hast
most traitorously corrupted the youth of the realm
in erecting a grammar school; and whereas,
before, our forefathers had no other books but the
score and the tally, thou hast caused printing to be 35
used, and, contrary to the King his crown and dignity,
thou hast built a paper mill. It will be proved
to thy face that thou hast men about thee that usually
talk of a noun and a verb and such abominable
words as no Christian ear can endure to hear. 40
Thou hast appointed justices of peace to call poor
men before them about matters they were not able
to answer. Moreover, thou hast put them in prison;
and, because they could not read, thou hast
hanged them, when indeed only for that cause 45
they have been most worthy to live. Thou dost ride
on a footcloth, dost thou not? | A messenger enters to inform us that Saye has been captured. Cade orders him brought him.
When Saye enters, Cade delivers a speech about how Saye 1) lost lands to France; 2) corrupted the English tongue with "abominable words" and grammar schools; and 3) put illiterate men in prison. What does he have to say for himself? |
SAYE What of that? CADE Marry, thou oughtst not to let thy horse wear a
cloak when honester men than thou go in their 50
hose and doublets. DICK And work in their shirt too—as myself, for example,
that am a butcher. SAYE You men of Kent— DICK What say you of Kent? 55 SAYE Nothing but this: ’tis bona terra, mala gens. CADE Away with him, away with him! He speaks
Latin. SAYE
Hear me but speak, and bear me where you will.
Kent, in the commentaries Caesar writ, 60
Is termed the civil’st place of all this isle.
Sweet is the country, because full of riches;
The people liberal, valiant, active, wealthy;
Which makes me hope you are not void of pity.
I sold not Maine; I lost not Normandy; 65
Yet to recover them would lose my life.
Justice with favor have I always done;
Prayers and tears have moved me; gifts could never.
When have I aught exacted at your hands
Kent to maintain, the King, the realm, and you? 70
Large gifts have I bestowed on learnèd clerks,
Because my book preferred me to the King.
And seeing ignorance is the curse of God,
Knowledge the wing wherewith we fly to heaven,
Unless you be possessed with devilish spirits, 75
You cannot but forbear to murder me.
This tongue hath parleyed unto foreign kings
For your behoof— CADE Tut, when struck’st thou one blow in the field? SAYE
Great men have reaching hands. Oft have I struck 80
Those that I never saw, and struck them dead. GEORGE O monstrous coward! What, to come behind
folks? SAYE
These cheeks are pale for watching for your good. CADE Give him a box o’ th’ ear, and that will make ’em 85
red again. SAYE
Long sitting to determine poor men’s causes
Hath made me full of sickness and diseases. CADE You shall have a hempen caudle, then, and
the help of hatchet. 90 DICK Why dost thou quiver, man? SAYE The palsy, and not fear, provokes me. CADE Nay, he nods at us, as who should say “I’ll be
even with you.” I’ll see if his head will stand steadier
on a pole, or no. Take him away, and behead 95
him. | Saye is kind of confused. He tells Cade that he 1) had nothing to do with France; 2) put people in prison according to the law; and 3) thinks knowledge and learning are pretty cool. There's some back and forth between Cade and Saye before Cade orders Saye beheaded. |
SAYE
Tell me, wherein have I offended most?
Have I affected wealth or honor? Speak.
Are my chests filled up with extorted gold?
Is my apparel sumptuous to behold? 100
Whom have I injured, that you seek my death?
These hands are free from guiltless blood-shedding,
This breast from harboring foul deceitful thoughts.
O, let me live! CADE I feel remorse in myself with his words, but I’ll 105
bridle it. He shall die, an it be but for pleading so
well for his life. Away with him! He has a familiar
under his tongue; he speaks not i’ God’s name. Go,
take him away, I say, and strike off his head
presently; and then break into his son-in-law’s 110
house, Sir James Cromer, and strike off his head;
and bring them both upon two poles hither. ALL It shall be done. SAYE
Ah, countrymen, if when you make your prayers,
God should be so obdurate as yourselves, 115
How would it fare with your departed souls?
And therefore yet relent, and save my life. | Now Saye is really confused. He asks Cade whom he's offended and why he has to die; then he begs to live. We can't help but feel sorry for the guy; even Cade feels remorse. Cade stands his ground and repeats his order to have Saye killed, after which his head will be stuck on a pole for all to see. Cade also orders his men to kill Saye's son-in-law, Cromer, while he's at it. Saye asks Cade and company how they live with themselves, and then he is taken away. |
CADE Away with him, and do as I command you. Some exit with Lord Saye. The proudest peer in the realm shall not wear a
head on his shoulders unless he pay me tribute. 120
There shall not a maid be married but she shall
pay to me her maidenhead ere they have it. Men
shall hold of me in capite; and we charge and command
that their wives be as free as heart can wish
or tongue can tell. 125 DICK My lord, when shall we go to Cheapside and take
up commodities upon our bills? CADE Marry, presently. ALL O, brave! Enter one with the heads of Lord Saye and Sir James
Cromer on poles. | Cade declares that all women in the land will be under the men's command. They should be available (for sex) to all men anytime he commands. Later, a soldier enters with the heads of Say and Cromer on pikes. Everyone cheers. |
CADE But is not this braver? Let them kiss one another, 130
for they loved well when they were alive. The
heads are brought together. Now part them again,
lest they consult about the giving up of some more
towns in France. Soldiers, defer the spoil of the
city until night, for, with these borne before us 135
instead of maces, will we ride through the streets
and at every corner have them kiss. Away! He exits with his company | Cade says the heads should kiss one another. Ride through the streets and let everyone see them kiss.
Yeah, okay: that's not creepy at all. |