"Jack Cade." He wished to measure the danger of liberty,
but he did so indirectly, for the play does not abound in long
philosophical flights of definition and warning. He himself confessed
that the subject was defined only once, in these words, spoken by the
hero to the woman he loves, when she is pleading with him to flee from
France. He silences her by saying:

"I must stay to war with beasts who bring disgrace upon our
noble cause. The torch of liberty, which should light mankind
to progress, when left in madmen's hands, kindles that blaze
of anarchy whose only end is ashes."

This indicates very distinctly that Mackaye's stand for the Chicago
anarchists was not due to sympathy with their political monomania, but
rather championed justice which, only when rightly used, will stem
the tide of overwrought minds. With the execution of these men, he
believed the cause of anarchy would be strengthened by the general
impression gained of their martyrdom. His attitude was widely
discussed, and "Paul Kauvar" became a visible demonstration of anarchy
gone mad.

Of the component elements in his play, Mackaye left a full record. It
is worth preserving as indication of his motive. In an interview he
said:

For many years I have devoted myself to the mechanical, as
well as the artistic side of the theatre, in the hope that by
improving stage mechanism I might help to develop the artistic
ensemble essential to high art results in the theatre. To this
end I have made numerous inventions, and designed and
built several theatres. [The Madison Square and the Lyceum
Theatres.]

In this work I have been almost daily in contact with
labourers and mechanics of every kind, and this contact
stirred in me a very deep and sincere sympathy with these
classes of men. I was led to realize the greatness of
obligation under which the whole world is placed by the
industry, ability and devotion to duty which characterizes by
far the larger portion of the working classes.

At the same time, through relations intimate and confidential,
I became conscious that certain foreign ideas--the natural
outgrowth of excessive poverty and despotism in the Old
World--were insinuating themselves into the hearts and minds
of American labourers to an extent perilous to their own
prosperity and to the very life of the republic.

In this country political co