Stu._ (_raising their glasses_). The Freedom of the
Press!
[_They all drink._
_Em. of the Emp._ (_apart_). This is too much! (_He rises, and
approaches the Students_.) Your pardon, Gentlemen! But do you really
believe in the toasts you have just drunk?
_Chorus of Stu._ Why, certainly!
_Em. of the Emp._ What, in the Liberty of the Fatherland?
_Chorus of Stu._ To be sure--why not?
_Em. of the Emp._ And the Prosperity of the People--mind you, only the
People?
_Chorus of Stu._ Exactly--don't you?
_Em. of the Emp._ And further. You wish well to the Freedom of the
Press?
_Chorus of Stu._ That was our toast! What next?
_Em. of the Emp._ (_producing staff of authority_). That, in the name
of His Majesty, I arrest you!
_Chorus of Stu._ (_astounded_). Arrest us! Why?
_Em. of the Emp._ Because, if you believe in the Liberty of the
Fatherland, ask for the Prosperity of the People, and admire the
Freedom of the Press, you must be drunk!--very drunk! In virtue of the
new law (which punishes the crime of intoxication), away with them!
[_The_ Students _are loaded with chains, and imprisoned,
for an indefinite period, in the lowest dungeon beneath the
castle's moat. Curtain._
* * * * *
OUR HUMOROUS COMPOSER.--What Sir ARTHUR SULLIVAN said or sung before
deciding on taking a Villa at Turbie, on the Riviera,--"Turbie, or not
Turbie, that is the question.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25