The First Chronicler: Under the stars an end is made,And on the field the Southern bladeLies broken,And, where strife was, shall union be,And, where was bondage, liberty.The word is spoken....Night passes.
The Curtain rises on the same scene, LINCOLNandHAYstill lying asleep. The light of dawn fills the room. TheORDERLYcomes in with two smoking cups of coffee and some biscuits. LINCOLNwakes.
Lincoln: Good-morning.
Orderly: Good-morning, sir.
Lincoln (taking coffee and biscuits): Thank you.
TheORDERLYturns toHAY,who sleeps on, and he hesitates.
Lincoln: Hay.(Shouting.) Hay.
Hay (starting up): Hullo! What the devil is it? I beg your pardon, sir.
Lincoln: Not at all. Take a little coffee.
Hay: Thank you, sir.
He takes coffee and biscuits. TheORDERLYgoes.
Lincoln: Slept well, Hay?
Hay: I feel a little crumpled, sir. I think I fell off once.
Lincoln: What's the time?
Hay (looking at the watch): Six o'clock, sir.
GRANTcomes in.
Grant: Good-morning, sir; good-morning, Hay.
Lincoln: Good-morning, general.
Hay: Good-morning, sir.
Grant: I didn't disturb you last night. A message has just come from Meade. Lee asked for an armistice at four o'clock.
Lincoln (after a silence): For four years life has been but the hope of this moment. It is strange how simple it is when it comes. Grant, you've served the country very truly. And you've made my work possible.
He takes his hand.
Thank you.
Grant: Had I failed, the fault would not have been yours, sir. I succeeded because you believed in me.
Lincoln: Where is Lee?
Grant: He's coming here. Meade should arrive directly.
Lincoln: Where will Lee wait?
Grant: There's a room ready for him. Will you receive him, sir?
Lincoln: No, no, Grant. That's your affair. You are to mention no political matters. Be generous. But I needn't say that.
Grant (taking a paper from his pocket): Those are the terms I suggest.
Lincoln (reading):Yes, yes. They do you honour.
He places the paper on the table. AnORDERLYcomes in.
Orderly: General Meade is here, sir.
Grant: Ask him to come here.
Orderly: Yes, sir.
He goes.
Grant: I learnt a good deal from Robert Lee in early days. He's a better man than most of us. This business will go pretty near the heart, sir.
Lincoln: I'm glad it's to be done by a brave gentleman, Grant.
GENERAL MEADEandCAPTAIN SONE,his aide-de-camp, come in. MEADEsalutes. Lincoln: Congratulations, Meade. You've done well.
Meade: Thank you, sir.
Grant: Was there much more fighting?
Meade: Pretty hot for an hour or two.
Grant: How long will Lee be?
Meade: Only a few minutes, I should say, sir.
Grant: You said nothing about terms?
Meade: No, sir.
Lincoln: Did a boy Scott come to you?
Meade: Yes, sir. He went into action at once. He was killed, wasn't he, Sone?
Sone: Yes, sir.
Lincoln: Killed? It's a queer world, Grant.
Meade: Is there any proclamation to be made, sir, about the rebels?
Grant: I—
Lincoln: No, no. I'll have nothing of hanging or shooting these men, even the worst of them. Frighten them out of the country, open the gates, let down the bars, scare them off. Shoo!
He flings out his arms.
Good-bye, Grant. Report at Washington as soon as you can.
He shakes hands with him.
Good-bye, gentlemen. Come along, Hay.
MEADEsalutes andLINCOLNgoes, followed byHAY.
Grant: Who is with Lee?
Meade: Only one of his staff, sir.
Grant: You might see Malins, will you, Sone, and let us know directly General Lee comes.
Sone: Yes, sir.He goes out.
Grant: Well, Meade, it's been a big job.
Meade: Yes, sir.
Grant: We've had courage and determination. And we've had wits, to beat a great soldier. I'd say that to any man. But it's Abraham Lincoln, Meade, who has kept us a great cause clean to fight for. It does a man's heart good to know he's given victory to such a man to handle. A glass, Meade?(Pouring out whiskey.) No?(Drinking.)
Do you know, Meade, there were fools who wanted me to oppose Lincoln for the next Presidency. I've got my vanities, but I know better than that.
MALINScomes in.
Malins: General Lee is here, sir.
Grant: Meade, will General Lee do me the honour of meeting me here?
MEADEsalutes and goes.
Where the deuce is my hat, Malins? And sword.
Malins: Here, sir.
MALINSgets them for him. MEADEandSONEcome in, and stand by the door at attention. ROBERT LEE,General-in-Chief of the Confederate forces, comes in, followed by one of his staff. The days of critical anxiety through which he has just lived have marked themselves onLEE'Sface, but his groomed and punctilious toilet contrasts pointedly withGRANT'Sunconsidered appearance. The two commanders face each other. GRANTsalutes, andLEEreplies.
Grant: Sir, you have given me occasion to be proud of my opponent.
Lee: I have not spared my strength. I acknowledge its defeat.
Grant: You have come—
Lee: To ask upon what terms you will accept surrender. Yes.
Grant (taking the paper from the table and handing it toLEE): They are simple. I hope you will not find them ungenerous.
Lee (having read the terms): You are magnanimous, sir. May I make one submission?
Grant: It would be a privilege if I could consider it.
Lee: You allow our officers to keep their horses. That is gracious. Our cavalry troopers' horses also are their own.
Grant: I understand. They will be needed on the farms. It shall be done.
Lee: I thank you. It will do much towards conciliating our people. I accept your terms.
LEEunbuckles his sword, and offers it toGRANT.
Grant: No, no. I should have included that. It has but one rightful place. I beg you.
LEEreplaces his sword. GRANToffers his hand andLEEtakes it. They salute, andLEEturns to go.
THE CURTAIN FALLS.
The two Chroniclers: A wind blows in the night,And the pride of the rose is gone.It laboured, and was delight,And rains fell, and shoneSuns of the summer days,And dews washed the bud,And thanksgiving and praiseWas the rose in our blood.And out of the night it came,A wind, and the rose fell,Shattered its heart of flame,And how shall June tellThe glory that went with May?How shall the full year keepThe beauty that ere its dayWas blasted into sleep?Roses. Oh, heart of man:Courage, that in the primeLooked on truth, and beganConspiracies with timeTo flower upon the painOf dark and envious earth....A wind blows, and the brainIs the dust that was its birth.What shall the witness cry,He who has seen aloneWith imagination's eyeThe darkness overthrown?Hark: from the long eclipseThe wise words come—A wind blows, and the lipsOf prophecy are dumb.
SCENE VI.
The evening of April14, 1865.The small lounge of a theatre. On the far side are the doors of three private boxes. There is silence for a few moments. Then the sound of applause comes from the auditorium beyond. The box doors are opened. In the centre box can be seenLINCOLNandSTANTON, MRS. LINCOLN,another lady, and an officer, talking together.
The occupants come out from the other boxes into the lounge, where small knots of people have gathered from different directions, and stand or sit talking busily.
A Lady: Very amusing, don't you think?
Her Companion: Oh, yes. But it's hardly true to life, is it?
Another Lady: Isn't that dark girl clever? What's her name?
A Gentleman (consulting his programme:) Eleanor Crowne.
Another Gentleman: There's a terrible draught, isn't there? I shall have a stiff neck.
His Wife: You should keep your scarf on.
The Gentleman: It looks so odd.
Another Lady: The President looks very happy this evening, doesn't he?
Another: No wonder, is it? He must be a proud man.
A young man, dressed in black, passes among the people, glancing furtively intoLINCOLN'Sbox, and disappears. It isJOHN WILKES BOOTH.
A Lady (greeting another): Ah, Mrs. Bennington. When do you expect your husband back?
They drift away. SUSAN,carrying cloaks and wraps, comes in. She goes to the box, and speaks toMRS. LINCOLN.Then she comes away, and sits down apart from the crowd to wait.
A Young Man: I rather think of going on the stage myself. My friends tell me I'm uncommon good. Only I don't think my health would stand it.
A Girl: Oh, it must be a very easy life. Just acting—that's easy enough.
A cry of"Lincoln"comes through the auditorium. It is taken up, with shouts of"The President," "Speech," "Abraham Lincoln," "Father Abraham,"and so on. The conversation in the lounge stops as the talkers turn to listen. After a few moments, LINCOLNis seen to rise. There is a burst of cheering. The people in the lounge stand round the box door. LINCOLNholds up his hand, and there is a sudden silence.
Lincoln: My friends, I am touched, deeply touched, by this mark of your good-will. After four dark and difficult years, we have achieved the great purpose for which we set out. General Lee's surrender to General Grant leaves but one Confederate force in the field, and the end is immediate and certain.(Cheers.) I have but little to say at this moment. I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me. But as events have come before me, I have seen them always with one faith. We have preserved the American Union, and we have abolished a great wrong.(Cheers.) The task of reconciliation, of setting order where there is now confusion, of bringing about a settlement at once just and merciful, and of directing the life of a reunited country into prosperous channels of good-will and generosity, will demand all our wisdom, all our loyalty. It is the proudest hope of my life that I may be of some service in this work.(Cheers.) Whatever it may be, it can be but little in return for all the kindness and forbearance that I have received. With malice toward none, with charity for all, it is for us to resolve 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.
There is a great sound of cheering. It dies down, and a boy passes through the lounge and calls out"Last act, ladies and gentlemen."The people disperse, and the box doors are closed. SUSANis left alone and there is silence.
After a few moments, BOOTHappears. He watchesSUSANand sees that her gaze is fixed away from him. He creeps along to the centre box and disengages a hand from under his cloak. It holds a revolver. Poising himself, he opens the door with a swift movement, fires, flings the door to again, and rushes away. The door is thrown open again, and theOFFICERfollows in pursuit. Inside the box, MRS. LINCOLNis kneeling by her husband, who is supported bySTANTON. A DOCTORruns across the lounge and goes into the box. There is complete silence in the theatre. The door closes again.
Susan (who has run to the box door, and is kneeling there, sobbing): Master, master! No, no, not my master!
The other box doors have opened, and the occupants with others have collected in little terror-struck groups in the lounge. Then the centre door opens, andSTANTONcomes out, closing it behind him.
Stanton: Now he belongs to the ages.
THE CHRONICLERSspeak.
First Chronicler: Events go by. And upon circumstance Disaster strikes with the blind sweep of chance. And this our mimic action was a theme, Kinsmen, as life is, clouded as a dream.
Second Chronicler: But, as we spoke, presiding everywhere Upon event was one man's character. And that endures; it is the token sent Always to man for man's own government.
THE CURTAIN FALLS.
THE END