Chapter I: Part 1

BIRTHPLACE OF AMERICAN LIBERTY]

SECOND PRESENTATION
_of the_
HISTORICAL PAGEANT DRAMA
“_Lexington_”
COMMEMORATING THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY
_of the_
BATTLE OF LEXINGTON

ENACTED EVERY TEN YEARS
_by the_
CITIZENS OF LEXINGTON
MASSACHUSETTS

_AMPHITHEATRE_
EVERY EVENING, WEEK OF JUNE 15TH
1925

Copyright, 1924
The Lexington Historical Society
All rights reserved

Printed in U. S. A.

_The production staged
and under the personal
direction of_

SAMUEL J. HUME

_Special Nights_

JUNE 15--PRESIDENT’S NIGHT
In Honor of the President of the United States.

JUNE 16--GOVERNORS’ NIGHT
In Honor of the Governors of the Thirteen Original States.

JUNE 17--BUNKER HILL NIGHT
In Memory of the Patriots who fought at Bunker Hill.

JUNE 18--COLLEGE NIGHT
In Honor of the visiting Alumni of the New England Colleges.

JUNE 19--HISTORICAL NIGHT
In Honor of the Historical Societies of America.

JUNE 20--MILITARY NIGHT
In Memory of the sons of Lexington who have fallen in the
service of their country.

1775 “_Pageant of Lexington_” 1925 INC.

EDWARD C. STONE, _President_
WALDO F. GLIDDEN, _Vice-President_
EDWARD W. KIMBALL, _Vice-President_
EDWIN B. WORTHEN, _Treasurer_
DANIEL B. LEWIS, _Auditor_

FLETCHER W. TAFT
_Director of Publicity_

WILLARD D. BROWN
_Chairman of Construction_

SHELDON A. ROBINSON
_Chairman, Grounds Committee_

DAVID HENNESSY
_Superintendent Amphitheatre_

“_Lexington_”

_Citizens’ Committee of One Hundred_

EDWIN B. WORTHEN, _Chairman_
HARRY M. ALDRICH
WILLIAM H. BALLARD
S. LEWIS BARBOUR
DR. WILLIAM L. BARNES
EDWIN A. BAYLEY
HALLIE C. BLAKE
ARTHUR L. BLODGETT
GEORGE E. BRIGGS
FRED K. BROWN
LEROY S. BROWN
WILLARD D. BROWN
ALBERT H. BURNHAM
JOHN CALDER
LYON CARTER
WILLIAM E. CHAMBERLAIN
CALVIN W. CHILDS
EDMUND S. CHILDS
ROBERT P. CLAPP
JOSEPH H. CODY
THEODORE A. CUSTANCE
FRANCIS S. DANE
CHARLES B. DAVIS
FREDERICK L. EMERY
RICHARD ENGSTROM
ROBERT J. FAWCETT
HARRY F. FAY
ROBERT W. FERNALD
EDWIN F. FOBES
FREDERICK R. GALLOUPE
GEORGE H. GIBSON
GEORGE L. GILMORE
WALDO F. GLIDDEN
C. EDWARD GLYNN
WM. ROGER GREELEY
CHARLES ELLIOTT HADLEY
GEORGE D. HARRINGTON
ALTON H. HATHAWAY
J. WILLARD HAYDEN, JR.
DAVID HENNESSY
WILLARD C. HILL
CHARLES E. HOLT
ROBERT H. HOLT
RANDALL B. HOUGHTON
WILLIAM HUNT
J. CHESTER HUTCHINSON
EDWARD W. KIMBALL
HAROLD B. LAMONT
DANIEL B. LEWIS
HARRY W. LITCHFIELD
ARTHUR N. MADDISON
EDWARD H. MARA
HUGH D. MCLELLAN
EDWARD P. MERRIAM
CHARLES H. MILES
FRED W. MILLER
FRED H. MOULTON
JOHN E. A. MULLIKEN
HERMANN DUDLEY MURPHY
GEORGE W. NORTON
CHARLES P. NUNN
TIMOTHY H. O’CONNOR
ALFRED PIERCE
FRANK D. PIERCE
DR. FRED S. PIPER
ELWYN G. PRESTON
WILLIAM W. REED
WALTER W. ROWSE
ROBERT L. RYDER
EDWARD H. SARGENT
EDWARD D. SAWYER
O. GILBERT SEELEY
JULIUS SELTZER
CLARENCE SHANNON
FRANK R. SHEPARD
WILLIAM H. SHURTLEFF
FRANKLIN P. SIMONDS
CLARENCE E. SPRAGUE
LESTER E. SMITH
JAMES STUART SMITH
JAMES W. SMITH
WILLIAM L. SMITH
EDWIN C. STEVENS
EDWARD C. STONE
ALBERT B. TENNEY
ROCKWELL C. TENNEY
DR. J. ODIN TILTON
JOHN F. TURNER
DR. WINSOR M. TYLER
DR. HENRY C. VALENTINE
HENRY L. WADSWORTH
JAMES J. WALSH
HOLLIS WEBSTER
HERBERT L. WELLINGTON
HARRY A. WHEELER
HARVEY C. WHEELER
HARVEY F. WINLOCK
EDWARD WOOD
FREDERICK O. WOODRUFF
SYDNEY R. WRIGHTINGTON

_Executive Committee_

ROBERT P. CLAPP, _Chairman_
J. WILLARD HAYDEN, JR., _Executive Director_

HALLIE C. BLAKE
GEORGE E. BRIGGS
EDWARD P. MERRIAM
CHARLES W. RYDER
SYDNEY R. WRIGHTINGTON

_Finance Committee_

EDWARD P. MERRIAM, _Chairman_

LYON CARTER
RICHARD ENGSTROM
GEORGE L. GILMORE
ALTON H. HATHAWAY
J. CHESTER HUTCHINSON
H. B. LAMONT
ARTHUR N. MADDISON
FRED H. MOULTON
ELWYN G. PRESTON
F. R. SHEPARD
JAMES STUART SMITH

_Advisory Committee_

HALLIE C. BLAKE, _Chairman_

THEODORE A. CUSTANCE
FREDERICK L. EMERY
W. ROGER GREELEY
WILLARD C. HILL
ROBERT H. HOLT
CHARLES H. MILES
EDWARD H. SARGENT
WILLIAM L. SMITH
EDWIN C. STEVENS
HARRY A. WHEELER

_Committee on Book_

JAMES P. MUNROE, _Chairman_

MISS MAUD E. ADLINGTON
MISS MARIAN P. KIRKLAND
DR. FRED S. PIPER
HOLLIS WEBSTER

_Committee on Production_

WALDO F. GLIDDEN, _Chairman_

AMERICAN LEGION--STANLEY HILL POST NO. 38
Eugene J. Viano Charles M. Blake

AMERICAN LEGION--AUXILIARY NO. 38
Mrs. Clayton G. Locke Miss Lillian Viano

BOARD OF TRADE
C. E. Hadley W. E. Mulliken

BUCKMAN TAVERN COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION
Mrs. S. Randolph Kelley Mrs. E. W. Kimball

CATHOLIC CLUB (Ladies’)
Mrs. Nancy M. Sealey Miss Julia O’Leary

CATHOLIC CLUB (Men’s)
Geo. H. Gibson John J. Garrity

CATHOLIC DAUGHTERS OF AMERICA
Mrs. Helen R. Fitzgerald Mrs. Mary F. Buckley

DAUGHTERS OF AMERICAN REVOLUTION--LEXINGTON CHAPTER
Miss Amy E. Taylor Mrs. Edward L. Child Mrs. Alice Fay Stickel

EAST LEXINGTON CIVIC ASSOCIATION
Edgar Harrod Albert Ross

FIRST PARISH MEN’S CLUB (Unitarian)
Louis L. Crone Ralph H. Elvedt

FOLLEN CHURCH MEN’S CLUB--EAST LEXINGTON
Jos. W. Cotton James M. Nickerson

GIRL SCOUTS DRUM CORPS
Miss Hazel Whiting Mrs. Dorothy G. Hall

GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC--GEO. G. MEADE POST NO. 119
John N. Morse Everett S. Locke

HANCOCK CHURCH MEN’S CLUB
Henry L. Wadsworth William H. Shurtleff

HANCOCK SCHOOL
Miss Harriet S. French Miss Margaret Noyes

KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS--LEXINGTON COUNCIL NO. 94
James J. McKearney John J. McCormack

LAFAYETTE CLUB
Miss Mary Manley Miss Anne Moakley

LEND-A-HAND (Senior)
Mrs. A. B. Tenney Mrs. Clarence E. Sprague

LEXINGTON BOY SCOUTS
Philip E. Perry Peter Robertson

LEXINGTON COUNCIL OF GIRL SCOUTS
Mrs. Everett S. Emery Mrs. J. Chester Hutchinson

LEXINGTON DRUM CORPS
Chester Doe Dana Greeley

LEXINGTON GOLF CLUB
Edmund S. Childs Robert Whitney

LEXINGTON GRANGE NO. 233
Lawrence G. Mitchell Matthew Stevenson

LEXINGTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Mrs. William Hunt Mrs. Hermann Dudley Murphy

LEXINGTON HOME AND SCHOOL ASSOCIATION
Mrs. Walter C. Ballard Miss Grace P. French

LEXINGTON MINUTE MEN
Ezra F. Breed Bion C. Merry

LEXINGTON PUBLIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION
Miss Ellen Tower S. Lewis Barbour

LEXINGTON TEACHERS’ CLUB
Miss Anne L. Forsyth Miss Bertha V. Hayward

LIBERTY HEIGHTS IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION
G. W. Nary James Guthrie

LIEUT. COL. JOHN W. HUDSON AUXILIARY NO. 11
Mrs. E. Esther Burnham Miss Ethel L. Burk

MEN’S CLUB--CHURCH OF OUR REDEEMER
J. Fox Capt. Wm. Young

OLD BELFRY CLUB
Jasper A. Lane Mrs. Harold B. Lamont

ORDER OF EASTERN STAR
Mrs. Guyetta G. Broderic Mrs. Helen H. Smith

OUTLOOK CLUB
Miss Marguerite Nichols Miss Clara Wadleigh

PARKER SCHOOL
Miss Sadie I. Burgess Miss Ruth Morrison

SCHOOL DEPARTMENT--LEXINGTON
Miss Mary C. Lusk Miss Anne L. Forsyth

SIMON W. ROBINSON LODGE, A. F. & A. M.
George E. Smith Robert M. Stone

SONS OF VETERANS--LIEUT. COL. JOHN W. HUDSON CAMP NO. 105
Geo. E. Foster Alfred Haynes

UNITY LEND-A-HAND
Mrs. Lyon Carter Mrs. Robert W. Fernald

UNITARIAN LAYMEN’S LEAGUE
Arthur B. Howe Robert S. Sturtevant

WOMEN’S RELIEF CORPS NO. 97
Mrs. Edward L. Child Mrs. Robert W. Britton

“_Lexington_”

A PAGEANT DRAMA _of the_ AMERICAN FREEDOM

_Founded upon Great Sayings
To be Acted in Dumb Show_

COMPILED AND, IN PART, WRITTEN BY
SIDNEY HOWARD

_For the Celebration of the
One Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary
of the Battle of Lexington
April 19th, 1775_

_Stage Manager_
WALDO F. GLIDDEN

_Musical Director_
CHARLES REPPER

_Director of Chorus_
CLARENCE E. BRIGGS

_To My Wife_

“_The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but
it can never forget what they did here_--”

A. LINCOLN

_Foreword_

The aim of this play is to represent the impulse and the progress of civil liberty in this country since the commencement of the War for Independence. The intention is never literal. In spite of a certain actuality in the presentation of the incidents of “The Glorious Morning” at Lexington, the play must always be considered and produced as an abstraction of the events with which it is concerned.

The events themselves are marked by the great sayings of our prophets of liberty and of sundry other minds of genius, all quite arbitrarily selected. Great sayings, through their immense significance to the popular imagination, become symbols of the periods which occasioned them. Great activities may, in the same sense, be looked upon as abstractions of the periods and movements which required them and made them possible.

The great activities of the story of American civil liberty are here treated in a kind of processional dumb show which amplifies the quotations placed in the mouths of the two Spokesmen, the Choir of speakers and the characters in the play. When the dumb show is not executed in procession, it devolves upon groups which act collectively as a single individual and, on certain occasions, speak in unison.

Comment upon the action is supplied by a few lines which have been written for the roles of the Chronicler and Freedom and for the Chorus of singers.

The play demands an almost continual musical accompaniment. This should be composed upon the foundation of period songs, particularly those which are indicated in the text. Also, the various speeches of the Spokesmen will be enhanced if the composer musically emphasizes their rhythms with some sort of accompaniment. In the opinion of the author, the score will be most effectively scored for brass and wind instruments. The chorus must be a male chorus. The play will suffer, always, for the introduction of any woman’s voice except as indicated in the text.

The action is continuous; its changes of locale and atmosphere being indicated only by shifting emphases in the lighting.

The acting presents no difficulty beyond that of securing actors with good voices who have troubled to learn how to speak the English language.

_Characters in the Play_

THE CHRONICLER.
THE TWO SPOKESMEN.
FREEDOM.

PARSON CLARK OF LEXINGTON.
CAPTAIN JOHN PARKER OF THE LEXINGTON COMPANY.
SERGEANT MUNROE OF THE LEXINGTON COMPANY.
WILLIAM DIAMOND OF THE LEXINGTON COMPANY (drummer).
JONATHAN HARRINGTON OF THE LEXINGTON COMPANY (fifer).
MAJOR PITCAIRN.
TWO BRITISH LIEUTENANTS.
JOHN MUNROE OF THE LEXINGTON COMPANY.
EBENEZER MUNROE OF THE LEXINGTON COMPANY.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.
EDMUND PENDLETON.
PATRICK HENRY.
THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

GENERAL HOWE.
MAJOR ANDRE.

ALEXANDER HAMILTON.

JOHN BROWN.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
GENERAL GRANT.
GENERAL LEE.

_Groups in the Play_

THE CITIZENS OF LEXINGTON. (Men, women and children.)
THE LEXINGTON COMPANY. (Men.)
TWO REGIMENTS OF BRITISH INFANTRY. (Men.)
THE CONTINENTAL ARMY. (Men.)
THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES. (Men, women and children.)
THE CITIZENS OF PHILADELPHIA. (Men and women.)
THE PIONEERS. (Men, women and children.)
THE SLAVES. (Men.)
THE EXECUTIONERS OF JOHN BROWN. (Men.)
THE ARMY OF THE UNION. (Men.)
THE ARMY OF THE CONFEDERACY. (Men.)
THE RAILROAD BUILDERS. (Men.)
THE STEEL WORKERS. (Men.)
THE COAL MINERS. (Men.)
THE FARMERS. (Men.)
THE BUILDERS. (Men.)
THE FACTORY HANDS. (Women and children.)
THE MEEK MEN. (Men.)
WEALTH. (Men.)
LABOR. (Men.)
GOVERNMENT. (Men.)
UNREST. (Men.)
THE PAST. (Men.)

A CHOIR OF SPEAKERS.
A CHORUS OF SINGERS.
BUGLERS AND DRUMMERS.

“_Lexington_”

_Think of the place in which the play is to be produced, just as it has been adapted from the natural forest. Think of the curving sleeve of water which lies along the lowermost edge of the scene, of the rising slopes and levels which surmount one another so spaciously, of the trees which close in back and sides._

_Then, into the face of the slope immediately above the water’s edge and directly in the center, set a simple low throne and put a conventional lectern before it. Flank this with two lower seats, even more simple. Build this whole group as gracefully and as lightly as the best taste of the best Georgian period dictates and paint it the purest white._

_This done, go to the extreme limits of the front of the scene and, just at the edge of the trees, erect two pedestals. These, in height, must a little more than top a man’s stature. In style and decoration they are as chaste as the central group. Probably they are finished with an exquisite cornice and adorned with garlands in low relief, just brushed with gold. Upon each one of them set a solid, simple throne, quite like the one you have already put in the center._

_The Chronicler sits on the central throne. He is already in his place when the doors of the auditorium are opened to admit the first spectator. So are the two Drummers who occupy the low seats on either side of him. So are the two Spokesmen who sit atop the two pedestals._

_For the Chronicler’s role an actor of fine Anglo-Saxon type must be engaged, one able to speak English with beautiful and natural precision. The same is true of the roles of the two Spokesmen._

_The Chronicler wears buff breeches, a white shirt and a blue coat which hangs nobly from his shoulders and spreads over the arms of his seat. His hair, of a natural brown, is pulled back from his brow and tied with a black velvet ribbon. The lectern before him supports a great book. At the commencement of the play he opens this book and, at the end, he closes it. From time to time, during the action, he writes in it, using a large and snowy-white quill pen._

_The Drummers who sit on either side of him are dressed in scarlet and as alike as two peas, in costume, make up and cut of hair. Neither one of them has ever any occasion to speak. Each one of them must devote his attention wholly to playing upon a great kettledrum which will be provided for this purpose. The two drums are tuned a diminished third apart._

_The two Spokesmen will wear the scarlet robes and white wigs of British justices. They never move during the entire play._

_All of these five persons, it must be repeated, will be in their places when the auditorium opens. None of them can be allowed to move until the auditorium has emptied. They must think of themselves as parts of the fixed scene._

_Behind them, the slope flattens slightly and this area will, hereinafter, be described as the “Forestage.” Behind that, again, comes a second, slighter rise and that is succeeded by a much more considerable level place. This second level will hereinafter be spoken of as the “Stage.”_

_The stage is set to represent the Common of Lexington in the year 1775. The road from Cambridge and Boston enters at the back center and divides, passing the Meeting House on either side. The Meeting House is erected, full size, just at the back of the stage and directly in the center, thus masking this road. A little down on the right (in these stage directions right and left refer to the hands of the audience) stands the Old Belfry. Further over to the right, half buried in the trees, are the old horse sheds. Further down stage on the right stands the Marrett-Munroe House, also half buried in foliage, and the Concord Road leaves the Common as far down stage on the right as the planting permits. On the left, just a little below the position occupied on the right by the horse sheds, stands the Buckman Tavern. Then, all the way down stage left stands the Parsonage of the Rev. Jonas Clark. This should be set a little apart from the Common to suggest its remoteness. A road leads past this in the direction of Bedford._

_These entrances will hereinafter be referred to as the Boston, Concord and Bedford Roads respectively. Other village paths may be supposed to lead on to the Common at any convenient points._

_When the first member of the audience enters, it is twilight. He finds the life of the village going on with full realism of detail except that it is in no wise audible. He is looking at a soundless vision of the eighteenth day of April, one hundred and fifty years ago. Villagers are chatting about the doorway of the Buckman Tavern. They come in and go out. They wear long coats and smoke long pipes and drink long drinks. Some of them discuss a newspaper excitedly. What they are saying cannot be heard, for they play entirely in dumb show. A century and a half is too great a time to be bridged easily by sound._

_Silent as the rest a boy guards a flock of a few sheep in the center of the Common. Young girls, going about pleasure or business and quite free from any preoccupation with the serious matters which engross the tavern’s patrons, stop to chat with him._

_Presently a young farmer drives his cows in from pasture. Presently other farmers return from the fields, carrying the crude agricultural implements of their day. Presently another farmer drives his emptied truck wagon home from market._

_Presently a traveler on a jaded mare comes up the Boston Road and halts by the Buckman Tavern. The citizens gather about him greedily. Greedy, it would seem, for news. And he gives them news before he has finished his ale and ridden on down the Bedford Road._

_As the play’s commencement draws near, an old man comes out of the Meeting House. The children, playing about the Belfry, run into him and he admonishes them. Then he rings the bell. At first one cannot be quite sure of the bell. Then the spell becomes stronger and it does clang dimly through._

_Part One_

“_The Glorious Morning_”

[_The Chronicler opens his book and begins to write._

_In the far distance, a bugler blows “Assembly.”_

_For the first time, the Chronicler lifts his head and looks at the
audience._

_Just a little nearer than the bugle some horns play “Yankee Doodle.”_

_In the darkling tavern faint voices of men take up the chorus._

_A very little light shines upon the Chronicler’s figure. He rises
and lifts his right hand._

_The Drummers play a long roll._

_Then the Chronicler speaks._]

THE CHRONICLER

(_Directly into the audience._)

In the Book of American Freedom it has been written that the Town of Lexington, in the County of Middlesex, in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, shall be designated as “The Birthplace of American Liberty.” This, says the book, is a fitting designation because the events which had their scene in Lexington on the glorious morning of the nineteenth of April one hundred and fifty years ago this year did forever mark and set aside the town to be a symbol of liberty to all free nations and all free peoples.

[_The Drummers play another roll on their drums and the Chronicler
sits._

_Off stage, to a noble tune which gradually increases in volume, the
Chorus sings two verses from Drayton’s “To the Virginian Voyage.”_]

THE CHORUS

You brave, heroic minds,
Worthy your country’s name,
That honor still pursue;
Go and subdue!
Whilst loitering hinds
Lurk here at home with shame.

And in regions far,
Such heroes bring ye forth
As those from whom we came;
And plant our name
Under that star
Not known unto our north.

[_As the singing diminishes, the light grows upon the thrones of
the two Spokesmen and they begin. They speak eagerly, almost in a
monotone, following no rhythm but the inevitable throb of Carlyle’s
prose. The bell, too, follows this throb, sounding ever louder and
more insistently through their words._]

THE FIRST SPOKESMAN

The world is all so changed; so much that seemed vigorous has sunk decrepit, so much that was not is beginning to be!

THE SECOND SPOKESMAN

(_Swinging antiphonally into tone and tempo._)

Borne over the Atlantic what sounds are these; muffled-ominous, new in our centuries?

THE FIRST SPOKESMAN

Boston Harbor is black with unexpected Tea!

THE SECOND SPOKESMAN

Behold a Pennsylvanian Congress gather!

THE FIRST SPOKESMAN

And ere long, on Bunker Hill....

THE SECOND SPOKESMAN

DEMOCRACY....

THE FIRST SPOKESMAN

Announcing in rifle-volleys, death winged....

THE SECOND SPOKESMAN

Under her Star Banner....

THE FIRST SPOKESMAN

To the tune of Yankee-Doodle-Doo....

THE SECOND SPOKESMAN

That she is _born_....

THE FIRST SPOKESMAN

And whirlwind-like....

THE SECOND SPOKESMAN

Will envelope the whole world!

[_The drums roll out. The lights die down on the Spokesmen. In the
meanwhile, answering the summons of the bell ringer, the people of
Lexington have come out of street and tavern in the twilight and
gathered about the Meeting House steps._

_Jonas Clark has gone to them to stand upon the steps facing them. He
is now in his forty-fifth year, a vigorous, lean, eager man with a
spirit of gripping and convincing sincerity._

_At the conclusion of the words of the Spokesmen, all of the
villagers are gathered together about their pastor, save one girl.
She is distinguished from her sisters of the village, less by her
dress (which is commonplace enough) than by a strange and wild
loveliness and by a deep absorption in her own thoughts. She is tall
and very beautiful and a prophetic intensity possesses her._

_Led by their pastor, the people about the Meeting House lift their
voices in the fifty-ninth Psalm._]

PARSON CLARK

Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God: set me on high from those that rise up against me. Deliver me from the workers of iniquity, and save me from the blood-thirsty men.

THE PEOPLE

For, lo, they lie in wait for my soul; the mighty gather themselves together against me: not for my transgression, nor for my sin, O Lord; they run and prepare themselves without my fault.

PARSON CLARK

For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips, let them even be taken in their pride, and for cursing and lying which they speak.

THE PEOPLE

Yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning, for thou hast been my high tower, and a refuge in the day of my distress.

PARSON CLARK

Unto thee, O my Strength, will I sing praises, for God is my high tower, the God of my mercy.

[_Then the people fall silent and do not move. But the great words
that they have spoken together have very deeply stirred this single
girl who has stood apart and listened. With the last word of the
Psalm, she seems of a sudden to grow taller. A smile like light
itself spreads over her face. Light seems to grow out of her. She
lifts her two arms in a wild abandonment to exaltation and cries
out._]

THE GIRL

Ah!

[_The Chronicler looks up in amazement at this sudden shout._

_The girl takes a few tense steps down toward him and the light about
her grows ever in whiteness._]

THE GIRL

Write more, write more, you Chronicler!
Write how the roots
Stir in the ground!
Write how the sap
Stirs in the trees!
Write how the thaw
Gives breath of life!
And write how God
Peers through the firmament
Upon the continents; for this day is glory!

THE CHRONICLER

Who are you, Girl?

THE GIRL

Men call me different names. God calls me Freedom!

[_Upon this, a gigantic roll of the drums. The girl, Freedom, turns
her back slowly upon the audience as Parson Clark begins to address
his congregation. She goes up, tensely and superbly, face to face
with him._]

PARSON CLARK

It has come now to our turn, Americans, to see what we can do. The indignant spirit of self-government which inspired our ancestors is now pronounced by the Lords and Commons of England to be a spirit of rebellion. The colonies hesitate not a moment, but unite and greatly dare to be free. God who sitteth upon the throne of his holiness, the governor among nations, will know our cause and uphold our right to freedom. Let us pray.

[_The people kneel. Only the girl, Freedom, stands upright. The
Parson prays, the people repeating his prayer with him in unison. She
walks rigidly up the slope to the edge of the crowd to the Parson’s
side. At the end of the prayer she is standing beside him. This is
the prayer_:]

OMNES

O Lord, when dangers surround us and oppressors threaten our rights and enemies invade our homes, we, thy people, look to thee, O Lord, for our refuge and, committing our cause to thy wisdom and justice, we do humbly expect, O Lord, that light will arise in darkness, that the power of the oppressor may be broken, that our enemies will not prevail against us, that our God will maintain our right. Amen.

[_As Freedom entered the crowd, the light about her seemed to invest
it with a very wonderful splendor. During the prayer, however, and at
the end, only Freedom and the Parson are visible. Then the light goes
entirely, the hymn dies out and the crowd disperses in the darkness._

_Then the light glows upon the two Spokesmen and they begin to speak
again. This time dim music accompanies their words ... spoken once to
the House of Commons by Edmund Burke._]

THE FIRST SPOKESMAN

A government against which a claim of freedom is tantamount to high treason is a government to which submission is equivalent to slavery.

THE SECOND SPOKESMAN

The people of the colonies are the descendants of Englishmen and therefore love liberty according to English ideas and on English principles.

THE FIRST SPOKESMAN

Men may be as sorely touched and as deeply grieved in their privileges as in their purses; men may lose little in property by the act which takes away all their freedom.

THE SECOND SPOKESMAN

To prove that Americans ought not to be free we are obliged to depreciate the value of freedom itself.

THE FIRST SPOKESMAN

“An Englishman is the unfittest person on earth to argue another Englishman into slavery.”

THE SECOND SPOKESMAN

“A great empire and little minds go ill together.”

THE FIRST SPOKESMAN

“We stand where we have an immense view of what is and what is past.”

THE SECOND SPOKESMAN

“Clouds, indeed, and darkness rest upon the future.”

[_The music ends in another roll of drums. The Chronicler rises._]

THE CHRONICLER

The alarm is toward. The night of watching commences.

[_He sits again. The Belfry tolls midnight. Through the darkness
a voice is heard calling the roll of the Lexington Company. It is
Sergeant William Munroe._]

MUNROE

(_Each man answering “Here!” as his name is pronounced._) Isaac Blodgett ... Ebenezer Bowman ... Francis Bowman ... John Bridge ... Joseph Bridge ... James Brown ... John Brown ... Solomon Brown ... John Buckman ... Eli Burdoo ...

[_The light of very early morning shows the Company drawn up
diagonally across the scene in attitudes of attention. Captain John
Parker stands in thought a little apart. Parson Clark looks down upon
the people from the Meeting House. The men and women of the town
hover on the outskirts of the scene._

_The kettledrums drown the Sergeant’s voice. Music bursts forth, a
crashing theme which can be divided by the demands of the subsequent
dialogue and by rolling of the kettledrums._

_The greatest possible amount of light blazes upon the Meeting House
door. Thence, like a comet, Freedom comes. She is robed now in a
cloak of flame and a scarlet cap of liberty crowns her. Perhaps the
drums continue, perhaps the theme of triumph modulates softly beneath
her shouted words._]

FREEDOM

Huzza!

THE MINUTE MEN

(_Statues, all._)

Huzza!

FREEDOM

Answer, Mankind!

A VAST SHOUT OUT OF THE DEPTHS OF THE HILLS

Huzza!

FREEDOM

Soldiers of Liberty,
Make your arms strong!
Make your hearts stout!
Make your souls great!

THE MINUTE MEN

(_As before._)

Huzza!

THE SHOUT FROM THE HILLS

(_As before._)

Huzza!

FREEDOM

Soldiers of Liberty,
I am your dream,
I am your cause,
I am your destiny!

THE MINUTE MEN

(_As before._)

Huzza!

THE SHOUT FROM THE HILLS

(_As before._)

Huzza!

FREEDOM

Breathe with my breath!
Strike with my sword!
Bleed with my blood!
Be life!
Be love!
Be sacrifice!
Be death!

THE MINUTE MEN

(_As before._)

Huzza!

THE SHOUT FROM THE HILLS

(_As before._)

Huzza!

FREEDOM

I bid you stand!
I bid you strike!
I bid you die!
Take me!
Believe me!
Obey me!
Adore me!
I am come to lead you,
Soldiers of Liberty!
I am come to lead you forever.

[_A tremendous huzza and the music blares forth and there is darkness
again save for the lights in the houses, and upon the Chronicler. The
music subsides to hesitant themes and into a lyric eloquence of dawn
and cool breezes and the early light which presently steals across
the tree tops. The Chronicler rises._]

THE CHRONICLER

You will see now, in one incalculable and everlasting instant, the nativity of a nation. The night of watching passes and the day dawns that is glory.

[_He sits. The light spreads over the scene and shows the people and
the Company. Freedom has vanished._

_Captain Parker arouses himself at once._]

PARKER

Those of you who are equipped, stand fast. Those of you who lack equipment, go into the Meeting House and supply yourselves. Then come back to your places.

[_There is some business of inspecting equipments. Each man looks
into his powder horn and some of them try the triggers of their
muskets._

_The light increases a little. The music becomes more excited._]

PARKER

William Diamond, let me hear your drum. Jonathan Harrington, where is your fife?

[_Drum and fife break loose._]

A MINUTE MAN

This is folly and we so few!

PARKER

Folly or sense, I will shoot the first man who runs.

MUNROE

Fall in!

[_The Company comes to attention in absolute silence. The line
extends almost across the stage. The backs of the Minute Men cut the
scene diagonally. Parker stands down stage at the lower or right
end of the line. Parker and the Parson are always visible to the
audience. A silence is broken only by drum taps; and by the footfalls
(off stage) of marching men._

_Clark lifts his hands to heaven a moment in silent prayer._]

PARKER

(_To the Minute Men in a voice of thunder._)

Stand your ground. Don’t fire unless you’re fired upon. But if they mean to have a war, let it begin here!

[_The rising sun blazes upon the British redcoats as they appear on
both sides of the Meeting House. First the scarlet figure of Major
Pitcairn, riding his horse, then the British column, four abreast,
with the lieutenant of each platoon marching in his place._

_Pitcairn sees the unwavering line of Minute Men and pulls his horse
up sharp._]

PITCAIRN

Halt!

[_The Britishers halt, the order being repeated down the column.
For an instant there is no motion of any kind. No sound except an
occasional throb of a kettledrum, defying rhythm now as the shots
will do in a moment._

_Pitcairn comes a few steps forward. He looks at the colonists. He
laughs bitterly._]

PITCAIRN

Throw down your arms, you damned rebels!

[_No one moves._]

D’ye hear me?

[_Slowly Parker turns and looks upon his little, feeble line of men.
Then he looks again at the Britishers. Then we see him realize the
futility of his attempt._

_Very reluctantly the line of Minute Men sways and loosens. It does
not quite break. Its manœuver is rather that of retiring. Then a few
draw angrily back and a few more stand defiantly. Jonas Parker throws
his hat at his feet._]

JONAS PARKER

Here I stand, so help me God!

[_An angry murmur of resentment rises from the Minute Men. Parker is
spellbound. Pitcairn turns to his first platoon lieutenant._]

PITCAIRN

Surround and disarm these rebels.

[_The lieutenant gives the proper commands to bring the first British
platoon down stage and into line. The second, under command of its
own lieutenant, follows and the British Company stands, so, drawn up
in company front facing the retreating Minute Men._]

THE FIRST LIEUTENANT

Damn ’em, Major, we’ll get at ’em....

[_He gives the order by which the first platoon should deploy as
skirmishers for the business of disarming the colonists. The platoon
breaks with another cheer, but before its men have taken two steps,
one of the Minute Men, a figure lost in the shadow and the crowd, has
fired his musket at Major Pitcairn._

_The British stop in amazement._

_Immediately John and Ebenezer Munroe lift their muskets._]

JOHN MUNROE

I’ll give ’em the guts of my gun!

[_They fire almost together, wounding the Major’s horse._

_Seeing the Major’s horse plunge, the first lieutenant cries_:]

THE FIRST LIEUTENANT

The Major’s hit.... Fire, damn you, fire!

[_The first platoon fires--too high, it would seem, for no Minute Men
fall. But the Minute Men fire back, Lieutenant Tidd, Ebenezer Locke,
Nathan Munroe, Jonas Parker and Benjamin Sampson._

_Parker stands frozen._

_Pitcairn tries to control his horse._]

THE SECOND LIEUTENANT

Fire, by God, fire!

[_The second platoon fires._

_Then everything happens at once. The music crashes out a theme which
terminates in a high tremolo. Pitcairn is seen to signal cease firing
with his sword. The Minute Men break, all but Jonathan Parker who has
been wounded by the volley of the second platoon and sinks to his
knees trying to reload his gun. Jonathan Harrington, wounded, runs
down stage left where his wife is cowering in the corner and there
dies in her arms. Two of the Minute Men overpower Parker and drag him
off. Robert Munroe, wounded, falls and dies beside the horse sheds.
Solomon Brown, firing from the Buckman Tavern, is silenced by a
volley fired toward the tavern and continues shooting from the trees.
The three escape fighting from the Meeting House. The British clear
the Common, bayonetting Jonas Parker as they go._

_Then it is over._]

PITCAIRN

We shall have further to go than Concord before this morning’s work is finished. Fall in!

[_The music strikes into a dissonant march as the Britishers fall in._

_Pitcairn rides up the Concord Road. The lieutenants lead the
platoon after him. The march comes to its end as the last Britisher
disappears. The scene is left to a dying away of the march in the
minor resolution and to Parson Clark and the seven dead._

_Parson Clark comes two or three paces forward._]

CLARK

“Then Samuel took a stone and set it between Mispeh and Shen, where the battle was fought, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying: ‘Hitherto hath the Lord helped us!’”

[_In frightened little groups, the people come back and gather about
their dead._]

Lexington has been allotted by providence to meet the first blow, to offer the first sacrifice. Thus far hath the Lord helped us.

[_Parker comes forward quickly, but Clark stops him, lifting his
hands to the heavens and crying out_:]

“Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory!”

[_Parker bows his head._]

As to what is still before us, we do not anxiously inquire nor proudly prophesy. Our cause is just.

PARKER

They must come back from Concord.

CLARK

That is true. Carry the dead into God’s house. Blessed be the name of the Lord!

[_He has shouted this last. The people begin to pick up the dead and
to carry them toward the Meeting House whither Parker and Clark walk
together. The music strikes into a march, as solemn and grand as any
march can be and the Chorus sings_:]

THE CHORUS

O Lord, who wert our free-born fathers’ Guide,
Judge us for our unalterable intent;
Govern us, God, with Thy still government,
Telling our fathers how their sons have died.

[_Before the singing is done, all of the people have vanished within
the Meeting House. When the stage is emptied, the Chronicler rises._]

THE CHRONICLER

The instant is delivered into time.

[_He sits and Minute Men come up the Bedford Road. They are armed.
They cross the stage in groups of three to twelve and go out by the
Concord Road. The music quickens once more. The light is the most
brilliant of full afternoon._

_People come out of the houses and the paths and peer excitedly up
the Concord Road. Scattered shots begin to be audible from that
direction. The knots of people point in triumphant excitement up
the road. Suddenly they withdraw, scattering in excited confusion.
Shouts and shots sound nearer and closer together. Then the British,
routed and retreating from Concord, surge through the Common and out
behind the Meeting House and there are shots, too, from there. The
huzzas of the colonists all but drown the shouts and musketry. About
the Meeting House a cloud rises that may be dust but is presently
seen to be steam. The stage darkens. Only the wild music and the
shoutings continue and, in the midst of the steam curtain, Freedom,
more gorgeous than ever, shouts louder than the rest, her arms madly
lifted to heaven. The steam is many colored, then it dies to the
single figure. Then it is darkness and the music falls with it. Then
the steam is gone and the Meeting House with it and the Buckman
Tavern and all other evidences of Lexington Common are gone and in
their place is a new scene altogether._]

_Part Two_

“_Political Freedom_”

[_It is a long garden stair which we are shown, a stair suggested
by some of the planting we have already seen but which begins its
Georgian graciousness just where the Meeting House stood a moment
since. It rises in shallow steps broken by broad levels, three of
them, if possible, and on each of the levels, a bench, very simple
and dignified. These levels will hereinafter be referred to as the
first, second and third landings. The third is a long terrace,
lined, in its central portion, by a chaste and lovely balustrade
which extends to a planting of delicately trimmed shrubbery. The
whole scene has the look of some exquisite New England garden of the
eighteenth century._

_The musical accompaniment of this revelation is serenity itself.
Freedom stands on the lowermost step of the stair. She wears more
than ever gorgeous raiment. She stands there as though she paused
in her ascent to look back into the audience. On either side of the
stair, the Choir of speakers is banked, thirty-two in all, dressed
pictorially, yet not so brightly as to distract the eye from the
action of the play._]

FREEDOM

Revolt is the way of Freedom,
And the progress of Freedom is Change.

(_Then a wild cry._)

Bloodily! Bloodily!
Revolt! Revolt! Revolt!

(_Then more calmly._)

Look that you curb us not,
My men and I;
For present liberties enslave tomorrow,
And present triumphs shackle future years.
We see no limit set upon our purpose
Short of the Godhead ... so, restrain us not.
Be it here sworn:
These dead of Lexington
Have not vainly died,
These living
Have not vainly dreamed.

[_She goes on up the stair._]

THE CHOIR

(_Almost a whisper._)

These dead....

THE CHORUS

(_Off stage, an echo of the burial song._)

God, tell our fathers how their sons have died!

THE CHRONICLER

The story of the American Freedom is begun.

[_The singing subsides and Freedom turns again, lifting her right
arm in a supreme gesture of command. Thereupon light blazes over the
first Spokesman and the clarion words of Patrick Henry break from his
lips._]

THE FIRST SPOKESMAN

Appeal to arms and to the God of Hosts! There is no peace! Our brethren are already in the field!

[_Another gesture from Freedom and the second Spokesman is
illuminated to shout, as his antiphonal response, the words of Tom
Paine._]

THE SECOND SPOKESMAN

Oh, ye that love mankind, stand forth! Oh, ye that dare oppose the tyranny and the tyrant, stand forth!

THE FIRST SPOKESMAN

Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God!

THE SECOND SPOKESMAN

Freedom hath been hunted round the globe. England hath given her warning to depart. Oh, receive the fugitive and prepare, in time, an asylum for mankind!

[_Freedom’s two arms go wildly up._]

A GREAT SHOUT FROM THE HILLS

Give me liberty or give me death!

FREEDOM

Who shall be master of this high event,
And take revolt beneath his government?

THE CHOIR

Washington! Washington! Washington!

FREEDOM

An hour, a destiny,
And the need of man
For leadership, these three
God answers perfectly;
And, in the tumult and the darkness, lo,
A hero comes
So solemnly,
And the shoutings die and the drums
Are still and the van
Of battle takes its leader so,
And the race, its guardian,
And none has been more greatly strong than he
In resolution and humility.

THE CHOIR

(_Almost in a whisper._)

Washington!

[_Three men have ridden into the scene. They are Patrick Henry,
Edmund Pendleton and George Washington. There to meet them come
the President of the Continental Congress and Members of Congress.
Washington dismounts and advances until the President and he stand
face to face._]

THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS

(_Very solemnly._)

We, reposing special trust and confidence in your patriotism, valor, conduct and fidelity, do, by these presents, constitute and appoint you to be general and commander-in-chief of the army of the United Colonies and of all the forces now raised or to be raised by them for the defense of American Liberty.

[_He presents the sword of office to Washington who stands looking
very seriously at it._]

WASHINGTON

I beg it may be remembered that I this day declare with utmost sincerity I do not think myself equal to the command I am honored with. But, as it has been a kind of destiny that has thrown me upon this service, I shall hope that my undertaking it is designed to answer some good purpose.

[_He accepts the sword. A great sigh comes like a hope from all
around._

_A roll of snare drums far away and the groupings shift so that
Washington and Freedom stand alone together and the others draw
aside. Drum rhythms succeed one another until they resolve into two
themes. The one, played by the kettledrums, follows the syncopation
of the Spokesmen’s words. The other, played by the snare drums,
marks the time of a march. To this accompaniment, the Continental
Army comes upon the scene. First, the farmers who have left their
ploughs to join Warren for Bunker Hill. Then the tatterdemalion army
of which Washington took command for the siege of Boston. Then the
mob takes on form and appearance and order such as it must have had
to accomplish Burgoyne’s defeat, and the retreat through Jersey.
At the same time the Choir has begun to intone the Declaration of
Independence. The two Spokesmen listen and take up their shouted
responses. And the intoning runs rhythmically, following the accents
of the kettledrums which, in their turn, follow the accents of
Jefferson’s prose._]

FOUR VOICES FROM THE CHOIR

When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another....

EIGHT VOICES FROM THE CHOIR

(_Upon a higher note._)

And to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them....

FOUR VOICES FROM THE CHOIR

(_Upon the same note as before._)

They should declare the causes which impel them to the separation....

THE FIRST SPOKESMAN

We hold these truths to be self-evident....

FREEDOM

All men are created free and equal....

THE SECOND SPOKESMAN

Endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights....

FREEDOM WITH FOUR VOICES

Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness....

THE FIRST SPOKESMAN

To secure these rights governments are instituted among men....

THE SECOND SPOKESMAN

Deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed....

FOUR VOICES FROM THE CHOIR

Whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends....

EIGHT VOICES FROM THE CHOIR

(_Upon a higher note._)

It is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it....

TWELVE VOICES FROM THE CHOIR

(_Upon a still higher note._)

And to institute new government to provide new guards for their future security.

THE FIRST SPOKESMAN AND FOUR VOICES

We, therefore....

THE SECOND SPOKESMAN AND FOUR VOICES

The representatives of the United States of America....

THE FIRST SPOKESMAN AND FOUR VOICES

(_Upon a higher note._)

In general congress assembled....

THE SECOND SPOKESMAN AND FOUR VOICES

(_Upon the same note._)

Appealing to the supreme judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions....

FREEDOM AND FOUR VOICES

Do, in the name and authority of the good people of these colonies....

(_Four more Voices._)

Solemnly publish and declare....

(_Full Choir crescendo._)

That these United States are and of right ought to be free and independent states....

[_The army is assembled and cheers its chief with three mighty huzzas
which are part of a triumphant burst of melody. Washington stands
immobile and Freedom, likewise, above and behind him. The music dies
into mourning. The light dies except upon Washington and the central
and most ragged group which, in varied attitudes of weariness, sinks
to the ground about him. The light is dismal._]

THE CHRONICLER

(_Rising and speaking to the audience._)

The soul of an event is the vision which God sets before its hero; its life hangs upon the faith men bring to it. The heroes of God’s choosing make Him manifest to man; but the faith of man is a wretched thing. Now this event fares mournfully, for the army of revolt is more cruelly driven by the doubts and jealousies of man than by the winds and snows of winter, and the meaning of Freedom is forgotten in the fact of hardship. Within himself and his great enterprise the chieftain stands steadfast, concerned only with the omen and the pity of the time.

[_Men’s voices sing again, weakly. The song is the hymn of
Washington’s soldiers which they sang about the campfires of Valley
Forge. The soldiers move about, warming their bodies wretchedly at
imaginary campfires._]

CHORUS

Lessons of war from him we take
And manly weapons learn to wield;
Strong bows of steel with ease we break,
Forced by our stronger arms to yield.
’Tis God that still supports our right,
His just revenge our foes pursues;
’Tis He, that, with resistless might,
Fierce nations to His power subdues.

[_Washington, as the chorus dies, moves at last and begins to speak,
and his men crouch about his feet as in the dim light of campfires._]

WASHINGTON

What is to become of the army this winter? We are barefoot and naked. Soldiers are not made of sticks and stones to occupy a cold, bleak hill and sleep under frost and snow without clothes or blankets. Unless some great and capital change takes place, this army must inevitably starve, dissolve or disperse. From my soul I pity these miseries which it is not in my power to relieve or prevent.

[_The light fades except upon Washington and Freedom._]

FREEDOM

I have cried out your name to the broad heavens,
I have given your courage to the stars to shout.
Be of good cheer, my leader,
The strong and the young have heard and will give answer,
The day is not yet lost.

[_Washington looks hopefully into her beautiful, pitiful face as she
bends over him. The light leaves them and the Chronicler rises._]

THE CHRONICLER

How differently fare the enemies of Freedom! In Philadelphia where the British are, is a time of plenty and of high festival.

[_There is music, suddenly and very bright and as the light floods
the scene, two British soldiers have run in with regimental colors
which conceal Freedom and Washington and the stair from our view.
Then a gay crowd troops on to the stage and a double column of
grenadiers in scarlet coats. The soldiers quickly form the three
sides of a rectangle and General Howe and Major Andre ride into their
midst. Ladies are there, richly clad and elaborately coiffured.
Musicians are there with huge bass viols and sundry eccentric
instruments of the period. When all the crowd are assembled, General
Howe and Major Andre ride down to the water’s edge to welcome two
barges. In one of them is the English Queen of Beauty and, in the
other, the American Queen of Beauty. Each of the queens is attended
by a bevy of damsels in Turkish costumes. General Howe leads the
English Queen to her throne. Major Andre performs the same function
for the American Queen. The damsels follow them and the barges are
pulled away out of sight._

_Immediately the two queens have been enthroned, twelve knights ride
into the scene, dressed in eighteenth century adaptations of the
habiliments of chivalry. They divide into two parties, the Knights of
the Blended Rose and the Knights of the Burning Mountain. Each party
salutes its queen and the mock tournament is played out, terminating
in an exchange of pistol fire without casualties. Then the horses
are led off and the knights and the ladies all join in a brilliant,
stately dance which ends in a picture centering in the two queens,
each one of whom has removed a slipper from which her particular
knight is drinking wine._

_Then the rout is scattered by the sound of cannon and all the gay
folk run screaming and darkness gathers except for a single ray of
light which strikes across the stage. Into this a horseman gallops
frantically._]

THE HORSEMAN

(_Shouting._)

Yorktown! Yorktown is taken!

[_At the same time, Freedom and Washington and his army have been
revealed. Cannon boom and flash over their joyous faces and the army
breaks into frenzied cheering. The Chronicler leaps to his feet._]

THE CHRONICLER

Yorktown! The first goal is won!

[_Light spreads once more over the scene and, to the old English
tune of “The World is Upside Down,” Cornwallis’ army marches out of
Yorktown and surrenders. Freedom dominates the whole scene in her
exultation. “The World is Upside Down” becomes a triumphal march
and all the multitude of the people prance into the scene. Then
dissonance creeps into the music and discord into the movement of the
crowd. The Chronicler rises._]

THE CHRONICLER

Chaos succeeds revolt and triumph gives way to greed and hatred and what was harmony in war becomes jealousy and faction, for the faith of the people is dead and the united colonies break asunder, each one for itself.

[_Loyalists are singled out, perhaps, and stoned and jostled from
the scene. Cheers become snarls. The multitude separates into small
units, thirteen of them. These seem to wrangle among themselves,
then, like so many socks, to turn inside out so that each menaces the
other. The light over the multitude is murky. The music subsides to a
low, ominous sound._

_All this time Washington has stood imperturbably upon the stair,
looking grimly down with the eloquence and understanding of a great
fatalism. Freedom, however, is amazed. She wrings her hands in
despair. She cries out in anguish._]

FREEDOM

Sowing salvation, do I reap
Havoc for harvest?

THE CHRONICLER

Upon the human tempest descends, once more, the calm of leadership. A marvelous boy emerges. The word is Hamilton’s.

FREEDOM

Ah!

[_She watches anxiously as Hamilton steps out of the gloom and
comes up into the light about herself and Washington. Hope revives
in her. She reaches her arms out toward him. Light shines upon the
Spokesmen._]

HAMILTON

The business of America’s happiness is yet to be done.

(_The crowd snarls more loudly than ever._)

There is something noble and magnificent in the perspective of a great Federal Republic.... There is something proportionally diminutive and contemptible in the prospect of petty states with the appearance only of union.

THE FIRST SPOKESMAN

(_To Freedom, speaking Hamilton’s words._)

Happy America, if those to whom thou hast entrusted the guardianship of thy infancy know how to provide for thy future repose!

[_From the people, a mocking laugh._]

THE SECOND SPOKESMAN

(_Also speaking Hamilton’s words._)

Miserable and undone if their negligence or ignorance permits the spirit of discord to erect her banner on the ruins of your tranquillity!

[_Again the laughter of the people._

_Washington looks toward Hamilton who comes up nearer his chief.
Freedom blesses him. The crowd shake their fists at him and turn away
their faces. The laughter develops into a horrible jeer. Then Freedom
speaks and the groups gather more closely together. But from each one
of them, during her words, certain individuals detach themselves and
move hesitantly until they stand about Hamilton’s feet._]

FREEDOM

Will you hear me, People?
I understand you, People, as none other can,
I serve you, People, as none other can;
I tell you, here is your proving time.
I bid you cast envy out from your hearts.
For none will work you injustice, now, save only yourselves,
And no folly will lead you astray now, but your own folly,
Therefore, bestir you, People!
You may not deny your leaders or your cause or me!
You cannot, People, for we are your life!

HAMILTON

(_To Freedom._)

Tell them this Convention shall never rise until the Constitution is adopted!

FREEDOM

Marvelous Boy,
Do you speak, now.

HAMILTON

(_Swinging to the people._)

Here, my countrymen, let us make a firm stand for our safety, our tranquillity, our dignity, our reputation. It belongs to us to vindicate the honor of the human race. Union will enable us to do it.... The necessity of a constitution is imminent. A nation without a national government is an awful spectacle. Why, then, do you hesitate? The fabric of American empire ought to rest on the solid basis of the consent of the people. The stream of national power ought to flow immediately from that pure original fountain of all legitimate authority. Let the thirteen states, bound together in an indissoluble union, concur in erecting one great American system, consecrated to the steady administration of the laws, dedicated to the protection of liberty against the enterprises and assaults of ambition, of faction, of anarchy, able to dictate the terms of connection between the old world and the new!

[_Gradually as he spoke, the groups have merged, slowly and
diffidently, but surely. At the end they stand all together about his
feet, looking up into his face. And the music crashes superbly out
and light blazes upon the Spokesmen. And, as they begin to speak, the
crowd joins hands and lifts linked arms high, as if to take an oath._]

THE FIRST SPOKESMAN AND FOUR VOICES

We, the people of the United States....

THE SECOND SPOKESMAN AND EIGHT VOICES

In order to form a more perfect union...

THE FIRST SPOKESMAN AND TWELVE VOICES

Establish justice...