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Therefore it is the author seeks and strives

To represent the dead as in their lives;

And lets at times his characters unfold

Their thoughts in their own language; strong and bold;

He only asks of you to do the like;

To hear hint first; and; if you will; then strike。





ACT I。



SCENE I。  Sunday afternoon。  The interior of the Meeting…house。



On the pulpit; an hour…glass; below; a box for contributions。 

JOHN NORTON in the pulpit。  GOVERNOR ENDICOTT in a canopied seat;

attended by four halberdiers。  The congregation singing。



  The Lord descended from above;

    And bowed the heavens high;

  And underneath his feet He cast

    The darkness of the sky。



  On Cherubim and Seraphim

    Right royally He rode;

  And on the wings of mighty winds

    Came flying all abroad。



NORTON (rising and turning the hourglass on the pulpit)。

I heard a great voice from the temple saying

Unto the Seven Angels; Go your ways;

Pour out the vials of the wrath of God

Upon the earth。  And the First Angel went

And poured his vial on the earth; and straight

There fell a noisome and a grievous sore

On them which had the birth…mark of the Beast;

And them which worshipped and adored his image。

On us hath fallen this grievous pestilence。

There is a sense of terror in the air;

And apparitions of things horrible

Are seen by many; from the sky above us

The stars fall; and beneath us the earth quakes!

The sound of drums at midnight from afar;

The sound of horsemen riding to and fro;

As if the gates of the invisible world

Were opened; and the dead came forth to warn us;

All these are omens of some dire disaster

Impending over us; and soon to fall;

Moreover; in the language of the Prophet;

Death is again come up into our windows;

To cut off little children from without;

And young men from the streets。  And in the midst

Of all these supernatural threats and warnings

Doth Heresy uplift its horrid head;

A vision of Sin more awful and appalling

Than any phantasm; ghost; or apparition;

As arguing and portending some enlargement

Of the mysterious Power of Darkness!



EDITH; barefooted; and clad in sackcloth; with her hair hanging 

loose upon her shoulders; walks slowly up the aisle; followed by 

WHARTON and other Quakers。  The congregation starts up in

confusion。



EDITH (to NORTON; raising her hand)。

                              Peace!



NORTON。

Anathema maranatha!  The Lord cometh!



EDITH。

Yea; verily He cometh; and shall judge

The shepherds of Israel who do feed themselves;

And leave their flocks to eat what they have trodden

Beneath their feet。



NORTON。

           Be silent; babbling woman!

St。 Paul commands all women to keep silence

Within the churches。



EDITH。

              Yet the women prayed

And prophesied at Corinth in his day;

And; among those on whom the fiery tongues

Of Pentecost descended; some were women!



NORTON。

The Elders of the Churches; by our law;

Alone have power to open the doors of speech

And silence in the Assembly。  I command you!



EDITH。

The law of God is greater than your laws!

Ye build your church with blood; your town with crime;

The heads thereof give judgment for reward;

The priests thereof teach only for their hire;

Your laws condemn the innocent to death;

And against this I bear my testimony!



NORTON。

What testimony?



EDITH。

             That of the Holy Spirit;

Which; as your Calvin says; surpasseth reason。



NORTON。

The laborer is worthy of his hire。



EDITH。

Yet our great Master did not teach for hire;

And the Apostles without purse or scrip

Went forth to do his work。  Behold this box

Beneath thy pulpit。  Is it for the poor?

Thou canst not answer。  It is for the Priest

And against this I bear my testimony。



NORTON。

Away with all these Heretics and Quakers!

Quakers; forsooth!  Because a quaking fell

On Daniel; at beholding of the Vision;

Must ye needs shake and quake?  Because Isaiah

Went stripped and barefoot; must ye wail and howl?

Must ye go stripped and naked? must ye make

A wailing like the dragons; and a mourning

As of the owls?  Ye verify the adage

That Satan is God's ape!  Away with them!



Tumult。  The Quakers are driven out with violence; EDITH

following slowly。  The congregation retires in confusion。



Thus freely do the Reprobates commit

Such measure of iniquity as fits them

For the intended measure of God's wrath

And even in violating God's commands

Are they fulfilling the divine decree!

The will of man is but an instrument

Disposed and predetermined to its action

According unto the decree of God;

Being as much subordinate thereto

As is the axe unto the hewer's hand!



He descends from the pulpit; and joins GOVERNOR ENDICOTT; who

comes forward to meet him。



The omens and the wonders of the time;

Famine; and fire; and shipwreck; and disease;

The blast of corn; the death of our young men;

Our sufferings in all precious; pleasant things;

Are manifestations of the wrath divine;

Signs of God's controversy with New England。

These emissaries of the Evil One;

These servants and ambassadors of Satan;

Are but commissioned executioners

Of God's vindictive and deserved displeasure。

We must receive them as the Roman Bishop

Once received Attila; saying; I rejoice

You have come safe; whom I esteem to be

The scourge of God; sent to chastise his people。

This very heresy; perchance; may serve

The purposes of God to some good end。

With you I leave it; but do not neglect

The holy tactics of the civil sword。



ENDICOTT。

And what more can be done?



NORTON。

                  The hand that cut

The Red Cross from the colors of the king

Can cut the red heart from this heresy。

Fear not。  All blasphemies immediate

And heresies turbulent must be suppressed

By civil power。



ENDICOTT。

          But in what way suppressed?



NORTON。

The Book of Deuteronomy declares

That if thy son; thy daughter; or thy wife;

Ay; or the friend which is as thine own soul;

Entice thee secretly; and say to thee;

Let us serve other gods; then shalt thine eye

Not pity him; but thou shalt surely kill him;

And thine own hand shall be the first upon him

To slay him。



ENDICOTT。

         Four already have been slain;

And others banished upon pain of death。

But they come back again to meet their doom;

Bringing the linen for their winding…sheets。

We must not go too far。  In truth; I shrink

From shedding of more blood。  The people murmur

At our severity。



NORTON。

                Then let them murmur!

Truth is relentless; justice never wavers;

The greatest firmness is the greatest mercy;

The noble order of the Magistracy

Cometh immediately from God; and yet

This noble order of the Magistracy

Is by these Heretics despised and outraged。



ENDICOTT。

To…night they sleep in prison。  If they die;

They cannot say that we have caused their death。

We do but guard the passage; with the sword

Pointed towards them; if they dash upon it;

Their blood will be on their own heads; not ours。



NORTON。

Enough。  I ask no more。  My predecessor

Coped only with the milder heresies

Of Antinomians and of Anabaptists。

He was not born to wrestle with these fiends。

Chrysostom in his pulpit; Augustine

In disputation; Timothy in his house!

The lantern of St。 Botolph's ceased to burn

When from the portals of that church he came

To be a burning and a shining light

Here in the wilderness。  And; as he lay

On his death…bed; he saw me in a vision

Ride on a snow…white horse into this town。

His vision was prophetic; thus I came;

A terror to the impenitent; and Death

On the pale horse of the Apocalypse

To all the accursed race of Heretics!

                               'Exeunt。





SCENE II。  A street。 On one side; NICHOLAS UPSALL's house; on

the other; WALTER MERRY's; with a flock of pigeons on the roof。 

UPSALL seated in the porch of his house。



UPSALL。

O day of rest!  How beautiful; how fair;

How welcome to the weary and the old!

Day of the Lord! and truce to earthly cares!

Day of the Lord; as all our days should be!

Ah; why will man by his austerities

Shut out the blessed sunshine and the light;

And make of thee a dungeon of despair!



WALTER MERRY (entering and looking round him)。

All silent as a graveyard!  No one stirring;

No footfall in the street; no sound of voices!

By righteous punishment and perseverance;

And perseverance in that punishment;

At last I have brought this contumacious town

To strict observance of the Sabbath day。

Those wanton gospellers; the pigeons yonder;

Are now the only Sabbath…breakers left。

I cannot put them down。  As if to taunt me;

They gather every Sabbath afternoon

In noisy congregation on my roof;

Billing and cooing。  Whir! take that; ye Quakers。



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