Act III: Scene III. — The Prison. Night. Edith Reading the Bible by a Lamp

EDITH."Blessed are ye when men shall persecute you,And shall revile you, and shall say against youAll manner of evil falsely for my sake!Rejoice, and be exceeding glad, for greatIs your reward in heaven. For so the prophets,Which were before you, have been persecuted."

Edith!

EDITH.Who is it that speaketh?

Saul of Tarsus:As thou didst call me once.

EDITH (coming forward).Yea, I remember.Thou art the Governor's son.

I am ashamedThou shouldst remember me.

EDITH.Why comest thouInto this dark guest-chamber in the night?What seekest thou?

Forgiveness!

EDITH.I forgiveAll who have injured me. What hast thou done?

I have betrayed thee, thinking that in thisI did God service. Now, in deep contrition,I come to rescue thee.

EDITH.From what?

From prison.EDITH.I am safe here within these gloomy walls.

From scourging in the streets, and in three towns!

EDITH.Remembering who was scourged for me, I shrink notNor shudder at the forty stripes save one.

Perhaps from death itself!

EDITH.I fear not death,Knowing who died for me.

JOHN ENDICOTT (aside).Surely some divineAmbassador is speaking through those lipsAnd looking through those eyes! I cannot answer!

EDITH.If all these prison doors stood opened wideI would not cross the threshold,--not one step.There are invisible bars I cannot break;There are invisible doors that shut me in,And keep me ever steadfast to my purpose.

Thou hast the patience and the faith of Saints!

EDITH.Thy Priest hath been with me this day to save me,Not only from the death that comes to all,But from the second death!

The Pharisee!My heart revolts against him and his creed!Alas! the coat that was without a seamIs rent asunder by contending sects;Each bears away a portion of the garment,Blindly believing that he has the whole!

EDITH.When Death, the Healer, shall have touched our eyesWith moist clay of the grave, then shall we seeThe truth as we have never yet beheld it.But he that overcometh shall not beHurt of the second death. Has he forgottenThe many mansions in our father's house?

There is no pity in his iron heart!The hands that now bear stamped upon their palmsThe burning sign of Heresy, hereafterShall be uplifted against such accusers,And then the imprinted letter and its meaningWill not be Heresy, but Holiness!

EDITH.Remember, thou condemnest thine own father!

I have no father! He has cast me off.I am as homeless as the wind that moansAnd wanders through the streets. Oh, come with me!Do not delay. Thy God shall be my God,And where thou goest I will go.

EDITH.I cannot.Yet will I not deny it, nor conceal it;From the first moment I beheld thy faceI felt a tenderness in my soul towards thee.My mind has since been inward to the Lord,Waiting his word. It has not yet been spoken.

I cannot wait. Trust me. Oh, come with me!

EDITH.In the next room, my father, an old man,Sitteth imprisoned and condemned to death,Willing to prove his faith by martyrdom;And thinkest thou his daughter would do less?

Oh, life is sweet, and death is terrible!

EDITH.I have too long walked hand in hand with deathTo shudder at that pale familiar face.But leave me now. I wish to be alone.

Not yet. Oh, let me stay.

EDITH.Urge me no more.

Alas! good-night. I will not say good-by!

EDITH.Put this temptation underneath thy feet.To him that overcometh shall be givenThe white stone with the new name written on it,That no man knows save him that doth receive it,And I will give thee a new name, and call theePaul of Damascus, and not Saul of Tarsus.