Sidney Coe Howard

“ Who would be otherwise is otherwise.
Ever man is himself man’s enemy;
Ever man’s fear to be himself shall be
Between man and man’s liberty.
[A murmur goes up from the people. She looks sorrowfully and majestically over them.]
Soldiers of Freedom!
Comrades of Freedom!
Brothers of Freedom!
Children of Freedom!
Not slaves, but men!
Not sheep, but men!
Not masses, but men!
I cannot set you free who were born free. [80]
Nor strike your shackles off who were born slaves.
Be to yourselves yourselves, the rest is glory.
[A louder murmur and many of the crowd lift their hands to her.] ”

“ Freedom [81] is seen to pause and wave the crowd on and a great cone of humanity moves up the stair. Then the music stops upon a tremendous major resolution and Freedom is standing at the top of the stair at last and all the people, their arms reached upwards to her, are spread out below and the light is blinding. The music gives way to a rolling of drums and from the hills come crazy voices invoked by the wild cries and the wilder arms of Freedom most transfigured, most blazing of all.] ”

“ 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. ”

“ At the final shout of the Choir, the western light turns suddenly bloody and the procession hurries off into murk and portent. At the same time a new light breaks over the forestage upon a sinister line of men which has come in between the thrones of the two Spokesmen.
These men are negroes, naked, save for loin cloths and girdles, twenty-one in number, and all singers. The hands of each one are chained to the girdle of the one behind and they move up the slope toward Freedom in a slow, melancholy “V.”
As they move, they sing. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Freedom
This is the warning word.
Washington
The power and right to establish government presuppose the duty to obey government. Providence connects the permanent felicity of a nation with its virtue. Avoid the necessity of overgrown military establishments! Be warned against the baneful effects of the spirit of party! Promote institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge. Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all. It is folly for one nation to look for disinterested favors from another. ”

“ Freedom turns at the shout and the music begins a soft, wild march theme. Suddenly possessed again, Freedom evokes the Western migration. As she begins to speak the first of it begins: a few timorous stragglers who appear from the trees at the left of the stage and peer up at her. ”

“ The great government we loved has too often been made use of for private and selfish purposes and those who used it had forgotten the people.
[Through all this the music has progressed sometimes tempestuously, sometimes lyrically. Now it becomes swiftly and terribly sinister and, behind Freedom, where she sits immobile upon her throne, flashes of light, bloody and flaming, run along the balustrade of the uppermost level and the eyes of the people are turned fearfully upwards. Freedom does not move.] ”

“ And the men who made up three cones and the fan surge over the stair and drag Freedom down so that she is lost in the whirling mob. And the light, broken and colorful, dies to gloom and the movement is a movement of patterns and the music drowns all, singing and [79] instrumental. Then, just at the front of the stage, just above the throne of the Chronicler, a single ray of white light breaks upon Freedom again and, along the upper level, the light once more lifts, and as Freedom begins to speak, it seems to be daybreak.] ”

“ 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! ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The Chronicler rises.]
The Chronicler
The eight years of administration pass. The faith of the people again grows cold. New voices speak flattery and falsehood and sow the seed of disaster to come. But the leaders are steadfast, always, and, even in farewell, the end of their leadership is wisdom.
[The only light, now, shines upon the group of Freedom, Washington and Hamilton. The people stand, in the shadow, absolutely still and unresponsive.] ”

“ It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion; that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of Freedom; and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.
[The darkness is now complete. The Chronicler has closed his book. In the hills, a bugle blows taps. The play is finished.] ”

“ 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 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 citizens of Lexington, the Birthplace of American Liberty, realizing they are custodians of America’s greatest shrine, extend a welcome to EVERYONE, not only on the 19th of April and Pageant Week, June 15th to 20th, 1925, BUT EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR, to visit our battlefield, the historic buildings, and at all times to feel at home. This historic spot belongs to the Nation, and we want all Americans to feel they are part owners so that on leaving the town they may have a better realization of the struggles made by our forefathers and become better and more patriotic citizens. ”

“ She plunges up the slope toward the light, her own refulgence illuminating those who come immediately after her. The music reaches its wildest and highest point as the crowds falling in widely behind her, begins to ascend the slope. ”

“ 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:] ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Washington
My station is new. I walk on untrodden ground. With God’s help, I readily engage with you in the task of making a nation happy.
The People
God save our Washington! Long live our beloved President!
[The celebration of Washington’s inauguration is then enacted with a torchlight procession, lanterns and transparencies and the frantic joy of the crowd and much singing of “Yankee Doodle.”
[52]
The scene darkens with the dying of the jubilation. ”

“ All that it was possible for men to do in battle they have done. Let us hope for perpetual peace and harmony with that enemy whose manhood, however mistaken the cause, drew forth such Herculean deeds of valor.
[The bloody light fades and the two armies spread out into the crowds which now slowly close in.] ”

“ 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.) ”

“ Music bursts forth, a crashing theme which can be divided by the demands of the subsequent dialogue and by rolling of the kettledrums.
[29]
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! ”

“ Whereupon, the music going mad again, the people begin all to move and shift about in little, futile designs and, at the same time, on Freedom’s left, a cone of men shoot acrobatically up. There are not more than a dozen figures in it. ”

“ Reward us, Freedom!
[With one accord the whole crowd turns and lifts its hands to Freedom. A sudden hush comes and the light on the crowd begins to pale.]
Four Voices
We found our own, O my Soul, in the calm and cool of the daybreak.
The Chronicler
The word is Roosevelt’s.
[The crowd turns towards the audience and listens as the Spokesmen speak words of Roosevelt’s.]
[74]
The First Spokesman
No nation great as ours can escape the penalty of greatness. Ours is a government of liberty by, through and under the law.
The Second Spokesman
No man is above it and no man is below it. ”

“ 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 [41] 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. ”