The Drunken Feathers

Scene I

(Shropshire, August 1762. YOUNG MRS. FITZHERBERT, then the six-year-old MARIA SMYTHE, holds the hand of her father, WALTER SMYTHE, as her mother, MRS. SMYTHE with several younger children follows behind in the street. They pass by PAGE #1, who is declaring the news of a royal birth before a crowd of people. MARIA looks at him with curiosity.)kjl;m

PAGE #1

(Reading from a printed proclamation)

His Majesty the king wishes it to be known that Her Majesty Queen Charlotte was safely delivered of her first-born child, a boy, Thursday evening. The prince, who is said to be likely to survive, is to be christened George Augustus Frederick, and in a fortnight shall be made Prince of Wales, as well as Earl of Chester, Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, and Baron of Renfrew...

WALTER SMYTHE

(Under his breath)

What joy, religious persecution shall persevere another generation.

(As the family walks home, they pass by some Anglicans entering a church. Some of them give the family dirty looks, knowing they are dissenters.)

ANGLICANS

Damned papists...cursed dissenters...shameful recusants...etc.

(The SMYTHE family returns to their modest home, where they prepare the altar for prayer.)

MARIA

Papa?

WALTER SMYTHE

Yes, Maria?

MARIA

Why do we pray in our house instead of going to church with the townspeople?

WALTER SMYTHE

Do you really wish to know?

(MARIA SMYTHE nods her head. MRS. SMYTHE listens with caution as she prepares her rosary and prayer book, hoping her husband will not upset their daughter by discussing the religious persecution of their people.)

WALTER SMYTHE

Because the laws of our kingdom prohibit us Roman Catholics from worshipping openly, nor can we keep bishops, churches, or schools. In a year or two, I shall send you to France for a proper Catholic education, never mind the cost. Ever since the reign of old Henry VIII, our people have been relentlessly tortured and vilified...

MRS. SMYTHE

Walter...

WALTER SMYTHE

She might as well know, Mary. She shall never know anything different as long as she lives.

(WALTER SMYTHE takes a book off the shelf and shows MARIA SMYTHE illustrations while describing the history of Catholic persecution. MARIA appears frightened and moved by the violent story and images.)

WALTER SMYTHE

Until about two and a half centuries ago, most everyone in England was Catholic. Lutherans and Presbyterians were the dissenters, not us. Then, old Henry VIII decided to seek a divorce from his wife because she could not bear him a son, and thus England broke from the Catholic church for the first time. The king ordered all the country's monasteries be dissolved, and many were destroyed completely. Their holy books and relics were burnt also, as were the abbots who refused to renounce their faith. Indeed, hundreds of holy men and women were martyred for sheltering priests or refusing to swear allegiance to the Church of England, and thousands more suffered for refusing to conform, as did their descendants.

After Henry VIII, the monarchy changed hands several times between Protestants and Catholics, until finally the last Catholic king, James II, was ousted from power some 80 years ago and replaced by two Protestants, William and Mary. From then on, English Catholics have continued to suffer persecution at the hands of monarchs and their ministers, and it seems it shall always be so. This is the fate of our people, Maria, but better to suffer a few years on this Earth than all eternity in Hell.

(WALTER SMYTHE continues setting up the altar. MARIA SMYTHE, frightened by what her father has told her, runs into the arms of her mother, MRS. SMYTHE.)

MARIA SMYTHE

Will we all be burnt at the stake, Mama?

MRS. SMYTHE

No, Maria. The present king does not seek death for Catholics. But you must remember that no matter how much censure you face for your religion, no matter how much you are persuaded against the contrary, you must keep the faith, always, as the martyrs did. Keep the faith even when you stand alone in it, even if the king or the people turn violently against us. Your immaculate soul, and those of our posterity, depends upon it.

MARIA SMYTHE

I will... I swear upon Holy Mary I will.

WALTER SMYTHE

Come, let us pray.

(MARIA SMYTHE, MRS. SMYTHE, and the younger children all kneel at their altars as WALTER SMYTHE leads them in prayer.)

SMYTHE FAMILY

(Crossing themselves)

In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen. Pater Noster, qui es in caelis, sanctificetur nomen tuum. Adveniat regnum tuum. Fiat voluntas tua, sicut in caelo et in terra...

(As they continue to pray, MARIA SMYTHE looks up at a portrait of the Holy Mary above the fireplace. Cut to title sequence, then Scene II.)