University of Virginia Library

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 walls, 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 fills the land with liberty and light.