The apprentices of London are up in arms against foreigners in the city – who they believe have been accorded preferential treatment – and plan to massacre the 'aliens' on May Day. A Sergeant-at-Arms, the Lord Mayor, and the Earls of Surrey and Shrewsbury have little success in their attempts to calm the mob, but the insurgents are prepared to listen to Sir Thomas More, the Sheriff of London, who appears to have established himself as a popular figure. More's eloquent arguments ultimately succeed in stemming the tide of the insurrection.
