Scene 4:

The Papal Edict

Back in Europe, the Pope condemns the Rights of Man, the Declaration of which was passed by the National Assembly in 1789, and which has subsequently taken on the aspect of a political manifesto, as a sin. News as well as revolutionary ideas now reach the streets almost at once via the printing press and pamphleteering, and no edict of any kind can hold the latter back. The Priest (from a pulpit), the Troublemaker, and various others vent their anger at the Pope’s attempted intervention, and vow to continue to strive for the universal application of the Rights of Man regardless of this new sanction.

RINGMASTER
Trade winds
Buffeting the sweet molasses smoke of burning cane
Push, swelling East the spreading ripples of unrest
Back to Europe and the rain
The Holy See safe on Tiber’s shore
Surveys the flotsam on the tide
Ignores the cries of drowning men and
Passes on the other side