Kentish Commons; and Cade, assuming
the name of Mortimer, lent himself heartily
to the project. The fires of discontent
smouldered all over England, and in Kent
needed but a strong breath, to blow them
into a blaze. Such a breath was found in
the person and the pretensions of Cade.

On Whit-Sunday, the 24th of May, all
measures for an outbreak having been
previously taken by the adherents of the
Duke of York and the personal friends of
Cade, the Commons of Kent in large
numbers flocked to Ashford, where Cade
resided, well armed, and ready to serve
under his banner. Day by day their
numbers increased, and by the Saturday
following he found himself at the head of a
host so numerous as to encourage him in
marching upon London. On Sunday, the
31st of May, he encamped upon Blackheath,
his army amounting, in the computation
of the time, which was, probably,
much exaggerated, to one hundred
thousand men. He took the title of Captain of
Kent, and aspired to talk with the king, as
potentate with potentate.

The city of London sympathised with
his cause. The rising spread from Kent
to Essex, Sussex, and Surrey; and in a
short time, Cade had force at his command
sufficient, if judiciously handled, to
revolutionise the kingdom, and seat the Duke of
York upon the throne. His first proceedings
were eminently cautious, prudent, and
statesmanlike. His great error was that
he did not boldly march into London when
the time was ripe and the Londoners
favourable, but established his head-quarters
in Southwark. His misfortunes were that
he was unable to control his followers,
and prevent them from pillaging the
merchants; and that he was not supported in
proper time by the Duke of York. For a
month he lay encamped on Blackheath, to
the great consternation of the king and his
court, and levied contributions on the
country round, granting free passes to all
who were well affected to his cause,
promising future payment for all goods and
provisions supplied for the use of his army,
forbidding pillage and robbery under the
penalty of death, which he more than once
inflicted upon a disobedient follower, and
acting in all respects as if he were a
legally-appointed general, waging a legitimate
war. Towards the king's person he
expressed the utmost devotion, and
declared that his sole purpose in taking arms
was the removal of evil counsellors from
the royal presence, and the peaceable
redress of the grievances of the people. His
Complaint of the Commons of Kent and
Cause of the great Assembly on
Blackheath, as textually set forth in Stow's
Annals, are ranged under seventeen
distinct heads. This document asserted that
the Commons of Kent were not guilty of
the murder of the Duke of Suffolk, and
protested against the threat of converting
the county into a "wilde foreste," in
punishment thereof. It furthermore alleged
that the king wasted the revenues of the
crown upon his favourites, and laid taxes
upon the people to supply the deficiency
thus created; that the lords of the blood
royal (i.e. of the house of York) were put
out of the royal presence, and mean
persons of lower nature exalted and made of
his privy council; that the people of the
realm were not paid for the stuff and
purveyance taken for the use of the king's
household; and that the king's retainers
and favourites made a practice of accusing
innocent persons of treason and other crimes,
in order to gain possession of their
confiscated estates. One chief cause of the
disaffection was the harsh and unjust
collection of a tax called the "fifteen penny,"
amounting to the fifteenth of every person's
annual income. Another was the illegal
interference of the court in the free election
of knights of the shire; and another the
gross venality and corruption of the
officials in every department of the state.
This "Complaint," whether drawn up by
Cade himself or inspired by him, was
highly creditable to his ability. It was
accompanied by another paper, entitled The
Requests of the Captain of the Great
Assembly in Kent. This document
consisted of five terse and significant
paragraphs. The first set forth the Captain's
loyalty to his sovereign lord the king, and
all his true lords, spiritual and temporal,
and his design that he should reign like a
"king royal" and a true christian king
anointed; the second expressed the
captain's desire that the king should avoid all
the false progenie and affinity of the Duke
of Suffolk, and take to his person the true
lords of the realm, notably the high and
mighty prince the Duke of York; the
third, his desire that immediate punishment
should be inflicted upon the
murderers of the excellent Duke of Gloucester
(Duke Humphrey); fourth, an accusation
of treason against, and demand of punishment
on all who were concerned in the
loss or alienation of Anjou and Maine, and
the other possessions of the English crown
in France. The fifth—a comprehensive
article—denounced the extortion daily used