Enter BUCKINGHAM, and Old CLIFFORD, with 'Buck. Ay, here they be that dare and will dis- Know, Cade, we come ambassadors from the king throne, *And could command no more content than I? Who loves the king, and will embrace his pardon,* As I do long and wish to be a subject. Fling up his cap, and say-God save his majesty! "Who hateth hini, and honours not his father, 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 needs be hanged with your " pardons about your necks? Hath my sword there'fore 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 freedom: but you are all recreants, and dastards; and delight to live in slavery to the nobility. Let them break your backs with burdens, take your houses over your heads, ravish your wives and ' daughters before your faces; For me, I will 'make shift for one; and so-God's curse 'light upon you all! "All. We'll follow Cade, we'll follow Cade. " Clif. Is Cade the son of Henry the Fifth, That thus you do exclaim-you'll go with him? '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, I see them lording it in London streets, All. A Clifford a Clifford! we'll follow the king, and Clifford. Enter BUCKINGHAM and CLIfford. * Buck. Health, and glad tidings, to your majesty! * Or is he but retir'd to make him strong? with Halters about their Necks. Clif. He's fled, my lord, and all his powers do And humbly thus, with halters on their necks, gates, To entertain my vows of thanks and praise!- Continue still in this so good a mind, *Mess. Please it your grace to be advertised, * His arms are only to remove from thee *I And ask him, what's the reason of these arms, pray thee, Buckingham, go forth and meet him; And, Somerset, we will commit thee thither, * Tell him, I'll send Duke Edmund to the Tower;Until his army be dismiss'd from him. I'll yield myself to prison willingly, *Som. My lord, Or unto death, to do my country good. Cade. Was ever feather so lightly blown to and fro, as this multitude? the name of Henry the "Fifth hales them to a 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 despight of the devils and hell, have through the very midst* of you! and heavens and honour be witness, that no want of resolution in me, but only my follow'ers' base and ignominious treasons, makes me betake me to my heels. [Exit. 'Buck. What, is he fled? go some, and follow him; And he, that brings his head unto the king, 'Shall have a thousand crowns for his reward.[Exeunt some of them. For he is fierce, and cannot brook hard language. *For yet may England curse my wretched reign. SCENE X. Kent. Iden's Garden. Enter CADE *Cade. Fye on ambition! fye on myself; that 1 So all the historians agree; and yet in Part I. Act The second folio printed by mistake claimed; and the iii. Sc. 4, King Henry is made to say : 'I do remember how my father said a plain proof that the whole of that play was not written by the same band as this. 2 The Galloglasse useth a kind of pollax for his weapon. These men are grim of countenance, tall of stature, big of limme, lusty of body, wel and strongly timbered. The kerne is an ordinary foot-soldier, using for apon his sword and target, and sometimes his piece, being commonly good markmen.'-Stanihurst's Descript, of Ireland, c. viii. f. 21. 3 The first folio reads calme; which may be right. third folio calm'd. This reading has been adopted as most perspicuous, and because in Othello we have :must be be-lee'd and calm'a. 4 But is here not adversative. 'It was only just now (says Henry,) that Cade and his followers were routed.' 5A gentleman of Kent, named Alexander Eden, awaited so his time, that he took the said Cade in a gar den in Susser, so that there he was slaine at Hothfield,' &c.-Holinshed, p. 635. This Iden was, in fact, the new sheriff of Kent, who had followea Cade from Rochester.-William of Wyrcerat, p. 472. *have a sword, and yet am ready to famish! These Enter IDEN, with Servants. 'Iden. Lord, who would live turmoiled in the court, Cade. Here's the lord of the soil come to seize me for a stray, for entering his fec-simple without leave. Ah, villain, thou wilt betray me, and get a thousand crowns of the king for carrying my head to him; but I'll make thee eat iron like an ostrich, and swallow my sword like a great pin, 'ere thou and I part. 'Iden. Why, rude companion, whatsoe'er thou be, I know thee not; Why then should I betray thee? 'Is't not enough, to break into my garden, owner, And, like a thief, to come and rob my grounds, Climbing my walls in spite of me the • But thou wilt brave me with these saucy terms? Cade. Brave thee? ay, by the best blood that ever was broached, and beard thee too. me well: I have eat no meat these five days; yet, come thou and thy five men, and if I do not leave you all as dead as a door nail,2 I pray God, I may never eat grass more. Look on ing-place to all that do dwell in this house, because Sword, I will hallow thee for this thy deed, * Iden. How much thou wrong'st me, heaven be my judge. *Die, damned wretch, the curse of her that bare *And as I thrust thy body in with my sword, Iden. Nay, it shall ne'er be said, while England. That Alexander Iden, an esquire of Kent, Oppose thy steadfast-gazing eyes to mine, Thy leg a stick, compared with this truncheon; is digg'd already in the earth. As for words, whose greatness answers words,' [Exit, dragging out the Body. ACT V. SCENE I. The same. Fields between Dartford York. From Ireland thus comes York, to claim his right, And pluck the crown from feeble Henry's head: Enter BUCKINGHAM. Whom have we here? Buckingham, to disturb me? The king hath sent him, sure: I must dissemble. Buck. York, if thou meanest well, I greet thee well. York. Humphrey of Buckingham, I accept thy greeting. Art thou a messenger, or come of pleasure? 'Buck. A messenger from Henry, our dread liege, To know the reason of these arms in peace; Or why, thou-being a subject as I am,Against thy oath and true allegiance sworn, 'Should'st raise so great a power without his leave, 'Or dare to bring thy force so near the court. York. Scarce can I speak, my choler is so great. Carle. By my valour, the most complete cham*pion that ever I heard.-'Steel, if thou turn the edge, or cut not out the burly-boned clown in 'chines of beef ere thou sleep in thy sheath, I beseech God on my knees, thou mayest be turned to hobnails. [They fight; CADE falls.] O, I am slain! famine, and no other, hath slain me: let 'ten thousand devils come against me, and give me but the ten meals I have lost, and I'd defy them all. Wither, garden; and be henceforth a bury-On sheep or oxen could I spend my fury!] 3 Johnson explains this, 'As for words, whose pomp and rumour may answer words, and only words, I shall forbear them, and refer the rest to my sword.' 4 In the folio I beseech Jore' was substituted to avoid the penalty of the statute, 3 Jac. I. c. 2, against profane swearing. Cade was very unlikely to swear by Jove. 5 This sentiment is much more correctly expressed in the quarto: 'O sword, I'll honour thee for this, and in my chamber 'O, I could hew up rocks, and fight with 'I am so angry at these abject terms; Aside. that I am proud of my victory. Iden evidently means 6 Johnson erroneously interprets this, 'In supposing that Cade wrongs him by undervaluing his prowess. wish, with which Iden debases his character, the whole 7 Not to dwell upon the wickedness of this horrid favourable both to Iden's morality and language. This of this speech is wild and confused. The quarto is more faulty amplification was owing to the desire of expandtreated as an interpolation, however we may desire to ing a scanty thought in the old play. It can hardly be think it such. 9 i. e. balance my hand. 9 York means to say, 'If i have a soul, my hand shall not be without a sceptrc. strong Aside. O Buckingham, I pr'ythee, pardon me, 'Buck. That is too much presumption on thy part: powers. • Soldiers, I thank you all disperse yourselves; Meet me to-morrow in Saint George's field, You shall have pay, and every thing you wish. And let my sovereign, virtuous Henry, *Command my eldest son,-nay, all my sons, As pledges of my fealty and love, * Lands, goods, horse, armour, any thing I have *Is his to use, so Somerset may die. 'Buck. York, I commend this kind submission : We twain will go into his highness' tent. Enter KING HENRY, attended. K. Hen. Buckingham, doth York intend no harm to us, That thus he marcheth with thee arm in arm? * York. In all submission and humility, * York doth present himself unto your highness. *K. Hen. Then what intend these forces thou dost bring? *York. To heave the traitor Somerset from hence; And fight against that monstrous rebel, Cade, Who since I heard to be discomfited. Enter IDEN, with CADE's Head. 'Iden. If one so rude, and of so mean condition, May pass into the presence of a king, Lo, I present your grace a traitor's head, The head of Cade, whom I in combat slew. 'K. Hen. The head of Cade ?-Great God, how just art thou! O, let me view his visage being dead, That living wrought me such exceeding trouble. Tell me, my friend, art thou the man that slew him? 'Iden. I was, an't like your majesty. Enter QUELS MARGARET and SOMERSET, 'Q. Mar. For thousand Yorks he shall not hide his head, But boldly stand, and front him to his face. York. How now! Is Somerset at liberty? Then, York, unloose thy long-imprison'd thoughts, And let thy tongue be equal with thy heart. Shall I endure the sight of Somerset ?False king! why hast thou broken faith with me, Knowing how hardly I can brook abuse? King did I call thee? no, thou art not king; 'Not fit to govern and rule multitudes, Which dar'st not, no, nor canst not rule a traitor. "That head of thine doth not become a crown; Thy hand is made to grasp a palmer's staff, And not to grace an awful princely sceptre. 'That gold must round engirt these brows of mine; Whose smile and frown, like to Achilles' spear, Is able with the change to kill and cure.2 'Here is a hand to hold a sceptre up, And with the same to act controlling laws. Give place; by heaven, thou shalt rule no more 'O'er him, whom heaven created for thy ruler. Som. O monstrous traitor!-I arrest thee, York, Of capital treason 'gainst the king and crown: *Obey, audacious traitor; kneel for grace. *York. Would'st have me kneel? first let me ask of these, *If they can brook I bow a knee to man.* Sirrah, call in my sons to be my bail; [Exit an Attendant. *I know, ere they will have me go to ward,3 *They'll pawn their swords for my enfranchisement. Q. Mar. Call hither Clifford; bid him' come amain, *To say, if that the bastard boys of York *Shall be the surety for their traitor father. Outcast of Naples, England's bloody scourge ! * York. O blood-bespotted Neapolitan, The sons of York, thy betters in their birth, Shall be their father's bail: and bane to those That for my surety will refuse the boys. Enter EDWARD and RICHARD PLANTAGENET with Forces, at one side; at the other, with Forces also, Old CLIFFORD and his Son. *See, where they come; I'll warrant they'll make it good. *Q. Mar. And here comes Clifford, to deny their bail. Clif. Health and all happiness to my lord the "York. I thank thee, Clifford: Say, what news Nay, do not fright us with an angry look: K. Hen. How art thou call'd? and what is thy For thy mistaking so, we pardon thee. degree? Iden. Alexander Iden, that's my name; We give thee for reward a thousand marks; Iden. May Iden live to merit such a bounty,' Clif. This is my king, York, I do not mistake; But thou mistak'st me much, to think I do : To Bedlam with him? is the man grown mad? 'K. Hen. Ay, Clifford; a bedlam and ambitious humour Makes him oppose himself against his king. Clif. He is a traitor; let him to the Tower, And chop away that factious pate of his. Q. Mar. He is arrested, but will not obey; he says, shall give their words for him. York Will you not, sons? Edw. Ay, noble father, if our words will serve. 'Rich. And if words will not, then our weapons His sons, shall. 4 This has been thought an anachronism; but Stowe shows that it is not: Next unto the parish of St. But tolph is a fayre inne for receipt of travellers; then an hospitall of S. Mary of Bethlehem, founded by Simon Fitz-Mary, one of the Sheriffes of London, in the yeare 1246. He founded it to have beene a priorie of cannons with brethren and sisters, and King Edward the Thirde granted a protection, which I have seene, for the brethren Milicia beata Maria de Bellem, within the citie of London, the 14th yeare of his raigne. It was an hos pitall for distracted people.'-Survey of London, p. 127, 1893. * Clif. Why, what a brood of traitors have we here! * York. Look in a glass, and call thy image so; *I am thy king, and thou a false-heart traitor.Call hither to the stake my two brave bears,' *That, with the very shaking of their chains, They may astonish these fell lurking curs; Bid Salisbury, and Warwick, come to me. Drums. Enter WARWICK and SALISBURY, with Forces. Clif. Are these thy bears? we'll bait thy bears to death, And manacle the bearward in their chains, If thou dar'st bring them to the baiting-place. * Rich. Oft have I seen a hot o'erweening cur *Run back and bite, because he was withheld; *Who, being suffer'd with the bear's fell paw, *Hath clapp'd his tail between his legs, and cried: *And such a piece of service will you do, * If you oppose yourselves to match Lord Warwick. *Clif. Hence, heap of wrath, foul indigested Jump, * As crooked in thy manners as thy shape! *York. Nay, we shall heat you thoroughly anon. *Clif. Take heed, lest by your heat you burn yourselves. *K. Hen. Why, Warwick, hath thy knee forgot *Old Salisbury,-shame to thy silver hair, *K. Hen. Hast thou not sworn allegiance unto *Sal. I have. Clif. The first I warrant thee, if dreams prove To keep thee from the tempest of the field. crest, The rampant bear chain'd to the ragged staff, Clif. And from thy burgonet I'll rend thy bear, canst tell. 4 'Rich. If not in heaven, you'll surely sup in hell. [Exeunt severally. SCENE II. Saint Albans. Alarums: Excursions. Enter WARWICK. War. Clifford of Cumberland, 'tis Warwick calls' Enter YORK. Enter CLIFFORD. 'War. Of one or both of us the time is come. York. Hold, Warwick, seek thee out some other chase, * K. Hen. Canst thou dispense with heaven for For I myself must hunt this deer to death, such an oath? *Sal. It is great sin, to swear unto a sin; * But greater sin, to keep a sinful oath. * Who can be bound by any solemn vow *To do a murderous deed, to rob a man, *To force a spotless virgin's chastity, To reave the orphan of his patrimony, * To wring the widow from her custom'd right; *Q. Mar. A subtle traitor needs no sophister. himself. ♦ York. Call Buckingham, and all the friends thou hast, I am resolv'd for death or dignity. I The Nevils, earls of Warwick, had a bear and ragged staff for their crest. 2 Bear-baiting was not only a popular but a royal entertainment in the poet's time. See Stowe's account of Queen Elizabeth's amusements of this kind, or Laneham's Letter concerning the entertainments at Kenel worth Castle. Being suffer'd to approach the bear's ⚫ fell paw' may be the meaning; but it is probable that suffer'd is used for made to suffer. 3 A burgonet is a helmet; a Burgundian's steel cap or casque, War. Then, nobly, York; 'tis for a crown thou As I intend, Clifford, to thrive to-day, [Exit WARWICK. 'Clif. What seest thou in me, York? why dost thou pause? "York. With thy brave bearing should I be in love, But that thou art so fast mine enemy. Clif. Nor should thy prowess want praise and But that 'tis shown ignobly, and in treason. Clif. My soul and body on the action both!-"York. A dreadful lay!-address thee instantly. [They fight, and CLIFFORD falls. Clif. La fin couronne les œuvres. [Dies.' 5 In the old play :— "The bonniest gray, that e'er was bred in north.' 6 This passage will remind the classical reader of Achilles' conduct in the twenty-second Iliad, v. 205, where he expresses his determination that Hector should fall by no other hand than his own. 7 A dreadful wager; a tremendous stake. 8 The author, in making Clifford fall by the hand of York, has departed from the truth of history, a practice not uncommon with him when he does his utmost to 4 One on whom nature has set a mark of deformity, make his characters considerable. This circumstance, a stigma. It was originally and properly a person however, serves to prepare the reader or spectator for who had been branded with a hot iron for some crime.the vengeance afterwards taken by Chifford's son on One notably defamed for naughtiness.' See Bullokar's York and Rutland. At the beginning of the third part of this drama the poet has forgot this circumstance, and Expositor, 1616; or Blount's Glossography. 1674 H *K. Hen. Can we outrun the heavens? good Margaret, stay. Q. Mar. What are you made of? you'll not *Nor is it manhood, wisdom, and defence," *Fear frames disorder, and disorder wounds * Hot coals of vengeance! Let no soldier fly: * And the premised' flames of the last day To cease!-Wast thou ordain'd, dear father, * And, in thy reverence, and thy chair-days, thus Shall be to me even as the dew to fire; As wild Medea young Absyrtus did :" * In cruelty will I seek out my fame. As did Eneas old Anchises bear, Rich. So, lie thou there ;For underneath an alehouse' paltry sign, The Castle in Saint Albans, Somerset Hath made the wizard famous in his death."*Sword, hold thy temper; heart, be wrathful still: * Priest's pray for enemies, but princes kill. [Exit. Alarums: Excursions. Enter KING HENRY, QUEEN MARGARET, and others, retreating. Q. Mar. Away, my lord! you are slow; for shame, away!" there represents Clifford's death as it really pened: If you be ta'en, we then should see the bottom *Of all our fortunes: but if we haply scape *(As well we may, if not through your neglect,) *We shall to London get; where you are lov'd; *And where this breach, now in our fortunes made, *May readily be stopp'd. Enter Young CLIFFORD. *Y. Cliff. But that my heart's on future mischief *I would speak blasphemy ere bid you fly; To see their day, and them our fortune give: * York. Of Salisbury, who can report of him; That winter lion, who, in rage forgets Aged contusions and all brush of time;" Rich. But still, where danger was, still there I met him; * But, noble as he is, look where he comes. 'Sal. Now, by my sword, well hast thou fought By to-day; the mass, so did we all.-I thank you, Richard: God knows, how long it is I have to live; And it hath pleas'd him, that three times to-day 'You have defended me from imminent death.*Well, lords, we have not got that which we have;14 "Tis not enough our foes are this time fled, *Being opposites of such repairing nature. York. I know, our safety is to follow them; For, as I hear, the king is fled to London, Chronicles represented as accomplishing them: being hap-delivered in obscure terms, any fortuitous event was the more readily supposed to verify them. 'Lord Clifford, and Lord Stafford, all abreast, 1 Premised is sent before their time. The sense is 8 To achieve is to arrive at, or accomplish. 5 In that period of life which is entitled to command reverence. Reverenda canities. Shakspeare has used the word in the same manner in As You Like It, where Orlando says to his brother (speaking of their father) 'thou art indeed nearer to his reverence.' 6 When Medea fied with Jason from Colchos, she murdered her brother Absyrtus, and cut his body into several pieces, that her father might be prevented for some time from pursuing her. 7 The death of Somerset here accomplishes that equivocal prediction of Jourdain the witch in the first act: Let him shun castles: Safer shall he be upon the sandy plains Buch equivocal predictions were much in vogue in early 8 This line, Steevens observes, may serve to countenance his emendation of a passage at the commence. ment of the third scene, Act iv. of Macbeth, where he proposed to read and wisdom is it to offer,' &c. See note on that passage. 9 This expression, the bottom of all our fortunes, is peculiarly Shakspeare's; he has it in King Henry IV. Part 1.: The very bottom and the soul of hope, 10 Parts may stand for parties; but I cannot help thinking that it is an error for party; by which, as Mr. Tyrwhitt and Steevens observe, the jingle of hearts and parts would be avoided. 11 Warburton would substitute all bruise of time.' But, as Steevens observes, 'the brush of time' is the gradual detrition of time. 12 i. e. the height of youth: the brow of a hill is its summit. 13 That is three times I saw him fallen, and striding over him defended him till he recovered.' 14 i. e. we have not secured that which we have ac quired. 15 i. e. being enemies that are likely so soon to rally and recover themselves from this defeat. To repair, in ancient language, was to renovate, to restore to a former condition. |