A day with Cromwell: a drama of history, in five acts, by Auctor.

  • Benjamin Ward Richardson
Date:
1869
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A day with Cromwell: a drama of history, in five acts, by Auctor. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    Enter Manasseh Ben Israel. [Cromwell uncovers, and does reverence.] Cromwell.—Father of thy people, I pray thy blessing1. Manasseh.—My blessing- on thee and thine house, and thy nation! All Israel blesseth thee in me !. Cromwell.—I would have nothing better. What would’st thou of me ? Manasseh.—One simple good; that we, oppressed and scorned, A hated people in a foreign land, May worship as we hope is best for us, And hold our own protected by the law, The which in turn shall our obedience claim. That we may raise our tabernacle here And lay our silent dead in holy ground Are our first wishes. Cromwell.—I am a man of short and simple speech, I love your race as I love liberty. Go, build another temple if you will, And, in requite, let but your children learn The name of Cromwell from their mother’s lips, As worthy of their lisping guileless speech, And I am paid a thousand times in full. Manasseh.—Father of England ! henceforth shalt thou be Father of Israel too. All peace he with thee. [Exit Manasseh. Cromwell. [Sitting to write. Writes, muses, and speaks aside.] Lambert one, Fleetwood two, Deshorough two, my own flesh and blood ! two, four, six. ’Tis hard \to Smite’em.']— Hold ! see’st thou who cometh here ? Smite'em.—Verily it be-eth Rachel, and the spirit be-eth on her. Cromwell.—Give her way Smite’em, and move her not even with a sigh. Be she spoken with, the spell is gone. Enter Rachel, carrying a coronet of reeds. Rachel.—A voice from the east, a voice from the west, A voice from the north, a voice from the south, A voice from the four corners of the earth, A voice crying woe! woe ! woe !