Act IV, Scene 3 Another part of Blackheath.

Alarums to the fight, wherein SIR HUMPHREY and
WILLIAM STAFFORD are slain. Enter CADE and the rest

 

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.
DICK I desire no more.
CADE And, to speak truth, thou deservest no less. This
monument of the victory will I bear;
  [Putting on SIR HUMPHREY'S brigandine]
  and the bodies shall be dragged at my horse' 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]

 

Act, Scene IV London. The palace.

Enter KING HENRY VI with a supplication, and the
QUEEN with SUFFOLK'S head, BUCKINGHAM and Lord SAY

 

QUEEN MARGARET Oft have I heard that grief softens the mind,
And makes it fearful and degenerate;
Think therefore on revenge and cease to weep.
But who can cease to weep and look on this?
Here may his head lie on my throbbing breast:
But where's the body that I should embrace?
BUCKINGHAM What answer makes your grace to the rebels'
supplication?
KING HENRY VI I'll send some holy bishop to entreat;
For God forbid so many simple souls
Should perish by the sword! And I myself,
Rather than bloody war shall cut them short,
Will parley with Jack Cade their general:
But stay, I'll read it over once again.
QUEEN MARGARET Ah, barbarous villains! hath this lovely face
Ruled, like a wandering planet, over me,
And could it not enforce them to relent,
That were unworthy to behold the same?
KING HENRY VI Lord Say, Jack Cade hath sworn to have thy head.
SAY Ay, but I hope your highness shall have his.
KING HENRY VI How now, madam!
Still lamenting and mourning for Suffolk's death?
I fear me, love, if that I had been dead,
Thou wouldst not have mourn'd so much for me.
QUEEN MARGARET No, my love, I should not mourn, but die for thee.
  [Enter a Messenger]
KING HENRY VI How now! what news? why comest thou in such haste?
Messenger The rebels are in Southwark; fly, my lord!
Jack Cade proclaims himself Lord Mortimer,
Descended from the Duke of Clarence' house,
And calls your grace usurper openly
And vows to crown himself in Westminster.
His army is a ragged multitude
Of hinds and peasants, rude and merciless:
Sir Humphrey Stafford and his brother's death
Hath given them heart and courage to proceed:
All scholars, lawyers, courtiers, gentlemen,
They call false caterpillars, and intend their death.
KING HENRY VI O graceless men! they know not what they do.
BUCKINGHAM My gracious lord, return to Killingworth,
Until a power be raised to put them down.
QUEEN MARGARET Ah, were the Duke of Suffolk now alive,
These Kentish rebels would be soon appeased!
KING HENRY VI Lord Say, the traitors hate thee;
Therefore away with us to Killingworth.
SAY So might your grace's person be in danger.
The sight of me is odious in their eyes;
And therefore in this city will I stay
And live alone as secret as I may.
  [Enter another Messenger]
Messenger Jack Cade hath gotten London bridge:
The citizens fly and forsake their houses:
The rascal people, thirsting after prey,
Join with the traitor, and they jointly swear
To spoil the city and your royal court.
BUCKINGHAM Then linger not, my lord, away, take horse.
KING HENRY VI Come, Margaret; God, our hope, will succor us.
QUEEN MARGARET My hope is gone, now Suffolk is deceased.
KING HENRY VI Farewell, my lord: trust not the Kentish rebels.
BUCKINGHAM Trust nobody, for fear you be betray'd.
SAY The trust I have is in mine innocence,
And therefore am I bold and resolute.
  [Exeunt]

 

Act IV, Scene 5 London. The Tower.

Enter SCALES upon the Tower, walking.
Then enter two or three Citizens below

 

SCALES How now! is Jack Cade slain?
First Citizen No, my lord, nor likely to be slain; for they have
won the bridge, killing all those that withstand
them: the lord mayor craves aid of your honour from
the Tower, to defend the city from the rebels.
SCALES Such aid as I can spare you shall command;
But I am troubled here with them myself;
The rebels have assay'd to win the Tower.
But get you to Smithfield, and gather head,
And thither I will send you Matthew Goffe;
Fight for your king, your country and your lives;
And so, farewell, for I must hence again.
  [Exeunt]

 

Act IV, Scene 6 London. Cannon Street.

Enter CADE and the rest, and strikes his staff on
London-stone

 

CADE Now is Mortimer lord of this city. And here, sitting
upon London-stone, I charge and command that, of the
city's cost, the pissing-conduit run nothing but
claret wine this first year of our reign. And now
henceforward it shall be treason for any that calls
me other than Lord Mortimer.
  [Enter a Soldier, running]
Soldier Jack Cade! Jack Cade!
CADE Knock him down there.
  [They kill him]
SMITH If this fellow be wise, he'll never call ye Jack
Cade more: I think he hath a very fair warning.
DICK My lord, there's an army gathered together in
Smithfield.
CADE Come, then, let's go fight with them; but first, go
and set London bridge on fire; and, if you can, burn
down the Tower too. Come, let's away.
  [Exeunt]

 

To see other scenes from the show:

Full Text Act III, Scene 3 A bedchamber.
Act I, Scene 1 London. The palace. Act IV, Scene 1 The coast of Kent.
Act I, Scene 2 GLOUCESTER'S house. Act IV, Scene 2 Blackheath.
Act I, Scene 3 The palace. Act IV, Scene 3 Another part of Blackheath./Act IV, Scene 4 London. The palace. /Act IV, Scene 5 London. The Tower./Act IV, Scene 6 London. Cannon Street. 
Act I, Scene 4 GLOUCESTER's garden. Act IV, Scene 7 London. Smithfield.
Act II, Scene 1 Saint Alban's. Act IV, Scene 8 Southwark.
Act II, Scene 2 London. YORK'S garden. Act IV, Scene 9 Kenilworth Castle./Act IV, Scene 10 Kent. IDEN's garden.
Act II, Scene 3 A hall of justice. Act V, Scene 1 Fields between Dartford and Blackheath.
Act II, Scene 4 A street. Act V, Scene 2 Saint Alban's.
Act III, Scene 1 The Abbey at Bury St. Edmund's. Act V, Scene 3 Fields near St. Alban's.
Act III, Scene 2 Bury St. Edmund's. A room of state.  

 

To view other Henry VI, Part 2 sections:

Main Play Page      Play Text    Scene by Scene Synopsis     Character Directory     Commentary  

 

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All's Well the Ends Well Antony & Cleopatra As You Like It Cardenio Comedy of Errors Coriolanus
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Henry VI, Part 1 Henry VI, Part 2 Henry VI, Part 3 Henry VIII Julius Caesar King John
King Lear Love's Labours Lost Love's Labours Wonne Macbeth Measure for Measure Merchant of Venice
The Merry Wives of Windsor A Mid Summer Night's Dream  Much Ado About Nothing Othello Pericles Richard II
Richard III Romeo & Juliet Sir Thomas More Taming of the Shrew The Tempest Timon of Athens
Titus Andronicus Troilus & Cressida Twelfth Night Two Gentlemen of Verona The Two Noble Kinsman The Winter's Tale

 

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