Act II: Scene II. — Dock Square. On One Side, the Tavern of the Three, Mariners. In the Background, a Quaint Building with Gables; And,, Beyond It, Wharves and Shipping. Captain Kempthorn and Others, Seated at a Table Before the Door. Samuel Cole Standing Near, Them

KEMPTHORN.Come, drink about! Remember Parson Melham,And bless the man who first invented flip!

COLE.Pray, Master Kempthorn, where were you last night?

KEMPTHORN.On board the Swallow, Simon Kempthorn, master,Up for Barbadoes, and the Windward Islands.

COLE.The town was in a tumult.

KEMPTHORN.And for what?

COLE.Your Quakers were arrested.

KEMPTHORN.How my Quakers?

COLE.These you brought in your vessel from Barbadoes.They made an uproar in the Meeting-houseYesterday, and they're now in prison for it.I owe you little thanks for bringing themTo the Three Mariners.

KEMPTHORN.They have not harmed you.I tell you, Goodman Cole, that Quaker girlIs precious as a sea-bream's eye. I tell youIt was a lucky day when first she setHer little foot upon the Swallow's deck,Bringing good luck, fair winds, and pleasant weather.

COLE.I am a law-abiding citizen;I have a seat in the new Meeting-house,A cow-right on the Common; and, besides,Am corporal in the Great Artillery.I rid me of the vagabonds at once.

KEMPTHORN.Why should you not have Quakers at your tavernIf you have fiddlers?

COLE.Never! never! never!If you want fiddling you must go elsewhere,To the Green Dragon and the Admiral Vernon,And other such disreputable places.But the Three Mariners is an orderly house,Most orderly, quiet, and respectable.Lord Leigh said he could be as quiet hereAs at the Governor's. And have I notKing Charles's Twelve Good Rules, all framed and glazed,Hanging in my best parlor?

KEMPTHORN.Here's a healthTo good King Charles. Will you not drink the King?Then drink confusion to old Parson Palmer.

COLE.And who is Parson Palmer? I don't know him.

KEMPTHORN.He had his cellar underneath his pulpit,And so preached o'er his liquor, just as you do.

COLE.Here comes the Marshal.

MERRY (within).Make room for the Marshal.

KEMPTHORN.How pompous and imposing he appears!His great buff doublet bellying like a mainsail,And all his streamers fluttering in the wind.What holds he in his hand?

COLE.A proclamation.

MERRY.Silence, the drum! Good citizens, attendTo the new laws enacted by the Court.

MARSHAL (reads)."Whereas a cursed sect of HereticsHas lately risen, commonly called Quakers,Who take upon themselves to be commissionedImmediately of God, and furthermoreInfallibly assisted by the SpiritTo write and utter blasphemous opinions,Despising Government and the order of GodIn Church and Commonwealth, and speaking evilOf Dignities, reproaching and revilingThe Magistrates and Ministers, and seekingTo turn the people from their faith, and thusGain proselytes to their pernicious ways;--This Court, considering the premises,And to prevent like mischief as is wroughtBy their means in our land, doth hereby order,That whatsoever master or commanderOf any ship, bark, pink, or catch shall bringTo any roadstead, harbor, creek, or coveWithin this Jurisdiction any Quakers,Or other blasphemous Heretics, shall payUnto the Treasurer of the CommonwealthOne hundred pounds, and for default thereofBe put in prison, and continue thereTill the said sum be satisfied and paid."

COLE.Now, Simon Kempthorn, what say you to that?

KEMPTHORN.I pray you, Cole, lend me a hundred pounds!

MARSHAL (reads)."If any one within this JurisdictionShall henceforth entertain, or shall concealQuakers or other blasphemous Heretics,Knowing them so to be, every such personShall forfeit to the country forty shillingsFor each hour's entertainment or concealment,And shall be sent to prison, as aforesaid,Until the forfeiture be wholly paid!"

KEMPTHORN.Now, Goodman Cole, I think your turn has come!

COLE.Knowing them so to be!

KEMPTHORN.At forty shillingsThe hour, your fine will be some forty pounds!

COLE.Knowing them so to be! That is the law.

MARSHAL (reads)."And it is further ordered and enacted,If any Quaker or Quakers shall presumeTo come henceforth into this Jurisdiction,Every male Quaker for the first offenceShall have one ear cut off; and shall be keptAt labor in the Workhouse, till such timeAs he be sent away at his own charge.And for the repetition of the offenceShall have his other ear cut off, and thenBe branded in the palm of his right hand.And every woman Quaker shall be whiptSeverely in three towns; and every Quaker,Or he or she, that shall for a third timeHerein again offend, shall have their tonguesBored through with a hot iron, and shall beSentenced to Banishment on pain of Death."

O patience of the Lord! How long, how long,Ere thou avenge the blood of Thine Elect?

MERRY.Silence, there, silence! Do not break the peace!

MARSHAL (reads)."Every inhabitant of this JurisdictionWho shall defend the horrible opinionsOf Quakers, by denying due respectTo equals and superiors, and withdrawingFrom Church Assemblies, and thereby approvingThe abusive and destructive practicesOf this accursed sect, in oppositionTo all the orthodox received opinionsOf godly men shall be forthwith commit tedUnto close prison for one month; and thenRefusing to retract and to reformThe opinions as aforesaid, he shall beSentenced to Banishment on pain of Death.By the Court. Edward Rawson, Secretary."Now, hangman, do your duty. Burn those books.

UPSALL.I testify against these cruel laws!Forerunners are they of some judgment on us;And, in the love and tenderness I bearUnto this town and people, I beseech you,O Magistrates, take heed, lest ye be foundAs fighters against God!

JOHN ENDICOTT (taking UPSALL'S hand).Upsall, I thank youFor speaking words such as some younger man,I, or another, should have said before you.Such laws as these are cruel and oppressive;A blot on this fair town, and a disgraceTo any Christian people.

MERRY (aside, listening behind them).Here's sedition!I never thought that any good would comeOf this young popinjay, with his long hairAnd his great boots, fit only for the RussiansOr barbarous Indians, as his father says!

THE VOICE.Woe to the bloody town! And rightfullyMen call it the Lost Town! The blood of AbelCries from the ground, and at the final judgmentThe Lord will say, "Cain, Cain! Where is thy brother?"

MERRY.Silence there in the crowd!

UPSALL (aside).'T is Christison!

THE VOICE.O foolish people, ye that think to burnAnd to consume the truth of God, I tell youThat every flame is a loud tongue of fireTo publish it abroad to all the worldLouder than tongues of men!

KEMPTHORN (springing to his feet).Well said, my hearty!There's a brave fellow! There's a man of pluck!A man who's not afraid to say his say,Though a whole town's against him. Rain, rain, rain,Bones of St. Botolph, and put out this fire!

MERRY.And now that matter's ended, Goodman Cole,Fetch me a mug of ale, your strongest ale.

KEMPTHORN (sitting down).And me another mug of flip; and putTwo gills of brandy in it.

MERRY.No; no more.Not a drop more, I say. You've had enough.

KEMPTHORN.And who are you, sir?

MERRY.I'm a Tithing-man,And Merry is my name.

KEMPTHORN.A merry name!I like it; and I'll drink your merry healthTill all is blue.

MERRY.And then you will be clappedInto the stocks, with the red letter DHung round about your neck for drunkenness.You're a free-drinker,--yes, and a free-thinker!

KEMPTHORN.And you are Andrew Merry, or Merry Andrew.

MERRY.My name is Walter Merry, and not Andrew.

KEMPTHORN.Andrew or Walter, you're a merry fellow;I'll swear to that.

MERRY.No swearing, let me tell you.The other day one Shorthose had his tonguePut into a cleft stick for profane swearing.

KEMPTHORN.Well, where's my flip? As sure as my name's Kempthorn--

MERRY.Is your name Kempthorn?

KEMPTHORN.That's the name I go by.

MERRY.What, Captain Simon Kempthorn of the Swallow?

KEMPTHORN.No other.

MERRY (touching him on the shoulder).Then you're wanted. I arrest youIn the King's name.

KEMPTHORN.And where's your warrant?

MERRY (unfolding a paper, and reading).Here.Listen to me. "Hereby you are required,In the King's name, to apprehend the bodyOf Simon Kempthorn, mariner, and himSafely to bring before me, there to answerAll such objections as are laid to him,Touching the Quakers." Signed, John Endicott.

KEMPTHORN.Has it the Governor's seal?

MERRY.Ay, here it is.

KEMPTHORN.Death's head and cross-bones. That's a pirate's flag!

MERRY.Beware how you revile the Magistrates;You may be whipped for that.

KEMPTHORN.Then mum's the word.

COLE.There's mischief brewing! Sure, there's mischief brewing.I feel like Master Josselyn when he foundThe hornet's nest, and thought it some strange fruit,Until the seeds came out, and then he dropped it.