AUDIENCE BAGGULEY DRUMMOND ELDERLY_MAN JOHNSTON JOSHUA KNIGHT MARY NELLIE ROBERT SAXTON BAGGULEY who keep the relentless grinding of the wheels of industry turning and spinning, whilst working every hour that is asked of them are being left destitute. With barely the energy to stand on two feet. AUDIENCE Aye. JOHNSTON The annals of history, they show us what a despot was King James the Second. AUDIENCE Aye. JOHNSTON Yet our forefathers were able to affirm their liberties without the loss of a single life. Now, why was this? This was because the people were unanimous and determined to put down tyrannism. BAGGULEY Aye! DRUMMOND Hear, hear! AUDIENCE Hear, hear! JOHNSTON They secured the Bill of Rights of sixteen-eighty-nine. DRUMMOND That Bill of Rights ensured Parliament remains sovereign. But what good is a parliament if it does not represent its people? AUDIENCE Hear, hear! DRUMMOND What right does a king have to a payout from the government of two million pounds per annum? BAGGULEY No right! DRUMMOND A king who has lost his senses, if he ever had any. And what right does our good, gracious, illustrious or should I say, big fat Prince have with one and a half million? ELDERLY MAN He has no right! DRUMMOND What right do these men have with this money, when those they have robbed are starving for want? ELDERLY MAN They have no right. No right at all! BAGGULEY No, sir. They do not have that right. ELDERLY MAN No! BAGGULEY But we have a right. ELDERLY MAN Aye! BAGGULEY We have a right to present a petition to this big, fat prince. And that we propose to do. DRUMMOND This petition will demand at last a fair, proper and full representation for all Englishmen. BAGGULEY Aye! JOHNSTON If if, after forty days and forty nights there is no response from our beloved Prince, we shall take said petition to the King. DRUMMOND And if he ignores us, we have the right, as Englishmen, to imprison him and all his family. BAGGULEY All we demand is that our voices are heard and that our sufferings cease. JOHNSTON We are on the verge of a devastating cataclysm. The time has come to alleviate the sufferings of the people. I call forth a deluge to cleanse this land of its festering corruption. Almighty Father, permit us to be the Noahs, the Deucalions and the Pyrrhas as we start this world anew. SAXTON Mr Knight! BAGGULEY Friends, I should like to invite Mr John Knight to now speak. DRUMMOND Mr Knight. KNIGHT Gentlemen, I should like to thank Mr Bagguley, Mr Drummond and Mr Johnston for their impassioned rhetoric. Although I cannot concur with the notion that the imprisonment of the King would advance the cause. Nevertheless, I congratulate them on their considerable fervour and their zeal. I thank you, gentlemen. BAGGULEY Thank you, Mr Knight. DRUMMOND Thank you, Mr Knight. ROBERT They're going to London. MARY What, Bagguley and that? ROBERT They're going to see the Prince. MARY What? NELLIE They're not! ROBERT They are, Mam. JOSHUA The Prince Regent, it is. ROBERT Oh, aye. They're taking him this er... What is it, Father? JOSHUA Petition. ROBERT Aye, a petition. MARY What will it say, Father? JOSHUA It's a list of demands. NELLIE Oh aye. ROBERT Our rights. MARY Hallelujah! NELLIE Prince thingummy isn't going to give ha'porth for a scrap of paper that's come all t'way from Lancashire. ROBERT Well, if he doesn't, they're going to take it to the King. NELLIE And then what? He's as mad as a March hare. ROBERT And they said if he won't do owt, they'll lock him up. MARY What, the King? ROBERT Aye, the King and all his family. NELLIE Who's going to lock up the King? Them three lads? ROBERT No, the people will. NELLIE And how's the people going to do that? That's just plain daft.