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Full speech
The Roman are in fight, Drums beat a parley. Insulting Tyrant, stop thy scandalous breath, Thy blood shall find us Kings and Soldiers both: We are a swelling Sea, and our own Barks, Not large enough to bound us, are broke forth Like a resistless Torrent to overwhelm and drown In blood all Nations that withstand us. Thou seest already Germany is ours; so shall fair France be, At least those parts that lie upon the Rhine, and fertile Burgundy Which if thou grant before the Battles join, We will retire, and leag e with thee and Room. New Lords new Laws renew, As you of others, we'll be Lords of you. These Roman fight Like devils. Knit all our Nerves in one; Renowned Huldricke hie to thy Troops, And with thy vali nt Goes assail the Roman In their hindmost Flanks, and break into their main Battalions; While here I stay, and hold the Britons play. Roman it's thee I seek. And thou shalt learn from me the Art of War, And Discipline of Arms the Vandals teach. This Britons are all Devils, And amongst them there's one master Devil, That bears the face of a base Common soldier; Yet on his horns he tosses up our Vandals. Now, what News? Enter a Captain. I out go him in life, he me in fame: In spite weel after him with glorious wings, A bloody field is a brave Tomb for Kings. How then? Your fortune rises sir, and I must bow: I was never i'th Shoemakers stocks till now. What ransom you set down I'll truly pay, And drow my forces back to Germany, There to confine our selves; the Vandals knee Now humbly bows to the Roman Empery.
Plot summary
Plot — A Shoemaker a Gentleman
The Roman Emperors, Diocletian and Maximinus, bring an army to Britain to crush the Christians. Alured, the British King, is killed in battle. His sons, Eldred and Offa, change their identities and get themselves apprenticed to a shoemaker. They see their mother taken to prison after being captured on the battlefield; their sympathy for her plight impresses their new master. Alban is appointed to rule Britain and continue the persecution. Amphiabel comes from Wales and converts him to Christianity. Maximinus arrests Alban, and Amphiabel flees back to Wales, pursued by the Roman army. Meanwhile, the Welsh Queen Winifred, also converted by Amphiabel, asks her suitor Sir Hugh for a moratorium on his wooing efforts; when he completes the agreed period, however, she announces that she has given herself wholly to heaven and cannot marry him. One of the Romans pursuing Amphiabel mocks the power of Winifred’s holy well, and smears the water on his eyes; it blinds him. His sight is restored, but he ascribes the miracle to the pagan gods. Winifred and Amphiabel are both arrested and brought to see the martyrdom of Alban. Leodice, Maximinus’ daughter, becomes enamoured of her new shoemaker, Crispin, who is really Offa; she continually finds reasons to asks for new shoes and new fitting sessions. She offers to show him the image of his future wife in a magic mirror; but in fact it is an ordinary mirror, and he sees her reflection. He confides that he is not really base-born, but a disguised prince, and they are secretly married. The Romans are mustering an army to resist an invasion of the Empire by Goths and Vandals. Eldred volunteers, and the shoemaker employs Sir Hugh to fill his place. Eldred distinguishes himself in battle: he saves Diocletian’s life, takes back the eagle standard after it has been seized by the enemy, and captures the Vandal king Roderick. The barbarians are expelled, and Diocletian knights Eldred. Sir Hugh is arrested after he sees Winifred a prisoner and reviles the Roman gods. Alban and Amphiabel are tortured in an attempt to make them renounce Christianity, but they remain steadfast and are sent for execution; Alban becomes Britain’s first Christian martyr ~ but not the last. Winifred is allowed to choose the manner of her own execution; she opts to bleed to death. Sir Hugh is made to drink her blood, mixed with poison. He bequeaths his bones to the shoemakers who have come to support him, and declares that, since a prince has been a…