The Magistrates, To appease the people and prevent a tumult, Have put up these placards throughout the town, Declaring that the jailer shall be dealt with Impartially and sternly by the Court.
NORTON (tearing down the placard).
Down with this weak and cowardly concession, This flag of truce with Satan and with Sin!
I fling it in his face! I trample it Under my feet! It is his cunning craft, The masterpiece of his diplomacy, To cry and plead for boundless toleration.
But toleration is the first-born child Of all abominations and deceits.
There is no room in Christ's triumphant army For tolerationists.And if an Angel Preach any other gospel unto you Than that ye have received, God's malediction Descend upon him! Let him be accursed!
[Exit.
UPSALL.
Now, go thy ways, John Norton, go thy ways, Thou Orthodox Evangelist, as men call thee!
But even now there cometh out of England, Like an o'ertaking and accusing conscience, An outraged man, to call thee to account For the unrighteous murder of his son!
[Exit.
SCENE V.-- The Wilderness.Enter EDITH.
EDITH.
How beautiful are these autumnal woods!
The wilderness doth blossom like the rose, And change into a garden of the Lord!
How silent everywhere! Alone and lost Here in the forest, there comes over me An inward awfulness.I recall the words Of the Apostle Paul: "In journeyings often, Often in perils in the wilderness, In weariness, in painfulness, in watchings, In hunger and thirst, in cold and nakedness;"And I forget my weariness and pain, My watchings, and my hunger and my thirst.
The Lord hath said that He will seek his flock In cloudy and dark days, and they shall dwell Securely in the wilderness, and sleep Safe in the woods! Whichever way I turn, I come back with my face towards the town.
Dimly I see it, and the sea beyond it.
O cruel town! I know what waits me there, And yet I must go back; for ever louder I hear the inward calling of the Spirit, And must obey the voice.O woods that wear Your golden crown of martyrdom, blood-stained, From you I learn a lesson of submission, And am obedient even unto death, If God so wills it.[Exit.
JOHN ENDICOTT (within).
Edith! Edith! Edith!
He enters.
It is in vain! I call, she answers not;
I follow, but I find no trace of her!
Blood! blood! The leaves above me and around me Are red with blood! The pathways of the forest, The clouds that canopy the setting sun And even the little river in the meadows Are stained with it! Where'er I look, I see it!
Away, thou horrible vision! Leave me! leave me!
Alas! you winding stream, that gropes its way Through mist and shadow, doubling on itself, At length will find, by the unerring law Of nature, what it seeks.O soul of man, Groping through mist and shadow, and recoiling Back on thyself, are, too, thy devious ways Subject to law? and when thou seemest to wander The farthest from thy goal, art thou still drawing Nearer and nearer to it, till at length Thou findest, like the river, what thou seekest?
[Exit.
ACT V.
SCENE I.-- Daybreak.Street in front of UPSALL's house.A light in the window.Enter JOHN ENDICOTT.
JOHN ENDICOTT.
O silent, sombre, and deserted streets, To me ye 're peopled with a sad procession, And echo only to the voice of sorrow!
O houses full of peacefulness and sleep, Far better were it to awake no more Than wake to look upon such scenes again!
There is a light in Master Upsall's window.
The good man is already risen, for sleep Deserts the couches of the old.
Knocks at UPSALL's door.
UPSALL (at the window).
Who's there?
JOHN ENDICOTT.
Am I so changed you do not know my voice?
UPSALL.
I know you.Have you heard what things have happened?
JOHN ENDICOTT.
I have heard nothing.
UPSALL.
Stay; I will come down.
JOHN ENDICOTT.
I am afraid some dreadful news awaits me!
I do not dare to ask, yet am impatient To know the worst.Oh, I am very weary With waiting and with watching and pursuing!
Enter UPSALL.
UPSALL.
Thank God, you have come back! I've much to tell you.
Where have you been?
JOHN ENDICOTT.
You know that I was seized, Fined, and released again.You know that Edith, After her scourging in three towns, was banished Into the wilderness, into the land That is not sown; and there I followed her, But found her not.Where is she?
UPSALL.
She is here.
JOHN ENDICOTT.
Oh, do not speak that word, for it means death!
UPSALL.
No, it means life.She sleeps in yonder chamber.
Listen to me.When news of Leddra's death Reached England, Edward Burroughs, having boldly Got access to the presence of the King, Told him there was a vein of innocent blood Opened in his dominions here, which threatened To overrun them all.The King replied.
"But I will stop that vein!" and he forthwith Sent his Mandamus to our Magistrates, That they proceed no further in this business.
So all are pardoned, and all set at large.
JOHN ENDICOTT.
Thank God! This is a victory for truth!
Our thoughts are free.They cannot be shut up In prison wall, nor put to death on scaffolds!
UPSALL.
Come in; the morning air blows sharp and cold Through the damp streets.
JOHN ENDICOTT.
It is the dawn of day That chases the old darkness from our sky, And tills the land with liberty and light.
[Exeunt.
SCENE II.-- The parlor of the Three Mariners.Enter KEMPTHORN.
KEMPTHORN.
A dull life this,--a dull life anyway!
Ready for sea; the cargo all aboard, Cleared for Barbadoes, and a fair wind blowing From nor'-nor'-west; and I, an idle lubber, Laid neck and heels by that confounded bond!
I said to Ralph, says I, "What's to be done?"Says he: "Just slip your hawser in the night;Sheer off, and pay it with the topsail, Simon."But that won't do; because, you see, the owners Somehow or other are mixed up with it.
Here are King Charles's Twelve Good Rules, that Cole Thinks as important as the Rule of Three.
Reads.
"Make no comparisons; make no long meals."Those are good rules and golden for a landlord To hang in his best parlor, framed and glazed!
"Maintain no ill opinions; urge no healths."I drink to the King's, whatever he may say And, as to ill opinions, that depends.