Between the two, and entering with a burst of Scottish song, as symbolising the romance of a period passed away, but which lives eternally in memory, there shall enter the Stuart, Bonnie Prince Charlie, and before him Lucius Carey of the clear conscience and the prophetic heart.
THE PROLOCUTOR.
Pass now in somberer guise the Puritans, they that carry with them the gift of the soul freed. Mark what follows in their wake! Soul of the divine independence, standing as in judgment naked before the Lord. Once more the cleavage of the ways. Mourn not for the Past saith the Lord, but learn of it. Four centuries yet remain, & they bring with them the gift of the soul of man freed and self-depending, and the gift of the power of the seas. What if this little island give of her best over seas! It was the heart of flame within her that equipped the 'Mayflower.'
Strange it is, but the soul of England is as the soul of the Puritan, ever speeding from her anchorage, driven forth over seas; driven by virtue of the heart of flame within her to new creating, to new accomplishment.
What is it think ye, this ceaseless song of the forge and the hammer among the iron ships of Clyde and Belfast, of what is it they sing, these mighty ones, & to whom; if not to the honour of the soul of man driving forth over seas?
Once it was the bark of chivalry & then the Golden Hind, and at a later day the little vessel bound for the west, ever for the west. Yet at a later day again the passing of the Celt who has kindled from the sorrows of the sister island a torch, the light of which shall illumine our misunderstanding, and by the burning of the brand of which shall we see the meaning of the movement of the races and the marriage of the races, & this light carried across from the sister island, she of the sweet song & the tender imagination, shall come back to us from the west, ever from the west.
Like the music of a great master, where the chords and melodies make for one whole in symphony, so has it passed, this time of the unity of the Middle Ages of which now ye have beheld the pageant. Six centuries have passed and they brought with them a complete achievement, a completed England. Shall not their lesson be learned again? Through storm & doubt, through schism and misjudging, has she yet looked out before her with the eye of prophecy, bearing alight within her the heart of flame. Stern pilot of the grey seas, it is the divine light within her that has made her ever see best on a stormy day.
At the passing of Lord Nelson, in whom is thus expressed the consummated England, the triumphant nation state, there shall, while the music is still in full period, enter in the back scene the Nineteenth Century. She shall move as if pointing to an end neither revealed nor understood, and to expres which the better she shall not as yet bring her meinie with her as the others have done, but remain standing raised on an eminence in the inner scene, and as she thus stands, like one whose vision is troubled and not clear, there shall pass in procession before her all the centuries with all their meinies even as they have just been revealed, and so the Nineteenth Century stiff standing in expectation, the scene shall close.
THE CHANT.
To us the Past is still the same,
A living light, a heart of flame.
Kindled of old it never dies,
This inner light of sacrifice;
And in the empire we create
If unto this we consecrate
All that we most would keep alive,
We cheat the negligence of Fate.
If unto this we stand and strive,
This inner light by which we live,
All that doth seem most fugitive
Returns as light in each day's sky,
Giving to us for what we give,
Giving new power to survive,
An England yet without a name,
Newly discerned and yet the same,
An empire with a heart of flame.
THE FIFTH SCENE.
THE DANCE OF THE CITY STATE.
This dance shall be rendered by children, of whom there shall be some thirty or forty. They shall be variously & quaintly, but by no means garishly habited as is the custom on the modern stage, and the dance shall be dainty, stately and decorous.
In its purpose it shall depict the life and custom of the City State of England, its crafts, methods and manners, before the coming of the Industrial Revolution which destroyed it. To this end the dancers shall be presented as follows:
TWO OR THREE CLOTHWORKERS, with the badge of their worshipful company.
TWO OR THREE MASONS, with the symbols of their craft.
TWO OR THREE ARMOURERS, bearing portions of the armour of Henry V. forged for Agincourt.
TWO OR THREE VINTNERS & BREWERS, with the badges and symbols of their worshipful companies.
TWO OR THREE SMITHS, with hammer and anvil, which, like the Cyclops in Etna, they shall now and again strike rhythmically to the music of the dance.
TWO OR THREE CUTLERS, with the badge of their worshipful company.
TWO OR THREE GOLDSMITHS, with cups, flagons and mazers of silver.
TWO OR THREE LEATHERSELLERS, bearing their banner on which is written the old adage, 'There's nothing like leather.'
TWO OR THREE BAKERS, with weights and measures and sheaves of English corn.
TWO PRINTERS, with a small hand-press, and flutter of proof-sheets for distribution.
