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.
Throws a stone at the pigeons.Sees UPSALL.
Ah! Master Nicholas!
UPSALL.
Good afternoon, Dear neighbor Walter.
MERRY.
Master Nicholas, You have to-day withdrawn yourself from meeting.
UPSALL.
Yea, I have chosen rather to worship God Sitting in silence here at my own door.
MERRY.
Worship the Devil! You this day have broken Three of our strictest laws.First, by abstaining From public worship.Secondly, by walking Profanely on the Sabbath.
UPSALL.
Not one step.
I have been sitting still here, seeing the pigeons Feed in the street and fly about the roofs.
MERRY.
You have been in the street with other intent Than going to and from the Meeting-house.
And, thirdly, you are harboring Quakers here.
I am amazed!
UPSALL.
Men sometimes, it is said, Entertain angels unawares.
MERRY.
Nice angels!
Angels in broad-brimmed hats and russet cloaks, The color of the Devil's nutting-bag.They came Into the Meeting-house this afternoon More in the shape of devils than of angels.
The women screamed and fainted; and the boys Made such an uproar in the gallery I could not keep them quiet.
UPSALL.
Neighbor Walter, Your persecution is of no avail.
MERRY.
'T is prosecution, as the Governor says, Not persecution.
UPSALL.
Well, your prosecution;
Your hangings do no good.
MERRY.
The reason is, We do not hang enough.But, mark my words, We'll scour them; yea, I warrant ye, we'll scour them!
And now go in and entertain your angels, And don't be seen here in the street again Till after sundown! There they are again!
Exit UPSALL.MERRY throws another stone at the pigeons, and then goes into his house.
SCENE III.-- A room in UPSALL'S house.Night.EDITH, WHARTON, and other Quakers seated at a table.UPSALL seated near them, Several books on the table.
WHARTON.
William and Marmaduke, our martyred brothers, Sleep in untimely graves, if aught untimely Can find place in the providence of God, Where nothing comes too early or too late.
I saw their noble death.They to the scaffold Walked hand in hand.Two hundred armed men And many horsemen guarded them, for fear Of rescue by the crowd, whose hearts were stirred.
EDITH.
O holy martyrs!
WHARTON.
When they tried to speak, Their voices by the roll of drums were drowned.
When they were dead they still looked fresh and fair, The terror of death was not upon their faces.
Our sister Mary, likewise, the meek woman, Has passed through martyrdom to her reward;Exclaiming, as they led her to her death, "These many days I've been in Paradise."And, when she died, Priest Wilson threw the hangman His handkerchief, to cover the pale face He dared not look upon.
EDITH.
As persecuted, Yet not forsaken; as unknown, yet known;As dying, and behold we are alive;
As sorrowful, and yet rejoicing always;
As having nothing, yet possessing all!
WHARTON.
And Leddra, too, is dead.But from his prison, The day before his death, he sent these words Unto the little flock of Christ: "What ever May come upon the followers of the Light,--Distress, affliction, famine, nakedness, Or perils in the city or the sea, Or persecution, or even death itself,--I am persuaded that God's armor of Light, As it is loved and lived in, will preserve you.