The Cabalcade of America, sponsored by DuPont, maker of better things for better living through chemistry, presents Walter Houston in A Mask for Jefferson. Before our play begins, here is a practical suggestion. DuPont's Speed Easy is the wall finish that covers dingy wallpaper and other interiors in one quick coat. Although Speed Easy thins with water, it is a true resin oil paint. Speed Easy dries in an hour, comes in eight cheerful pastel colors. You can make your home livable by redecorating with DuPont's Speed Easy wall finish. And now for our play. What are the thoughts that flash through the mind of a man balanced on the brink of death? What does he think of? What does he remember? Tonight in commemoration of the 201st anniversary of the birth of Thomas Jefferson, our Cabalcade play utilizes two widely spaced events that took place in Jefferson's lifetime. At the venerable age of 82, he sat for his life mask with almost fatal results. What did he think about on that occasion? Using a recorded but little known incident that occurred at the firing of the first shots of the French Revolution, the author of tonight's play, Arthur Arendt, has reconstructed this event in terms of Jefferson's remembrance as he faced death by strangulation. And in this remembrance is a teaching for our day. DuPont presents Walter Houston as Thomas Jefferson in A Mask for Jefferson on the Cabalcade of America. There is today in Cooperstown, New York, a museum, a national shrine. Here are captured forever. In plaster and canvas, the shadows of men who walked through history, who long ago plotted the course steered by our country through its turbulent journeyings into the strange waters of self-government. One of the most prized of these exhibits is a life mask of Thomas Jefferson at the venerable age of four score and two. The gentleman who made it was a certain J. H. Brower Esquire. And the circumstances surrounding its creation were most unusual. The event occurred in the afternoon of October 15th, 1825, at Monticello, Jefferson's home in Virginia. I'm at your service, Mr. Brower, although I must admit to a certain, let us say, reluctance. Now, if Your Excellency would be so good as to lie down. Already? Are we to have no conversation then? No preparation for this flight into the unknown? Oh, I assure Your Excellency. Abide your leave, Mr. Brower. My name is Jefferson. I am nobody's Excellency. You were saying... I was about to assure you that the process is a simple one and quickly over with. Mr. James Maddison... Yes, I know. Maddison sent you. You've made one of your portrait busts of him and Mrs. Maddison. Who else? I have additionally been honored by having sit for me the three captors of Major Andre, the British spy. Brave, incorruptible men. They deserve well of posterity. May I ask the reason for that witch's brew you're stirring in my daughter's second best crock? The grout, sir. It is, if I may say so, a secret mixture of plasters and other ingredients known only to myself and to my son. I don't suppose you're aware, sir, that the art of taking casts is an ancient and honorable one, dating back to the early Greeks? Indeed. Yes. Yes. It was at the time of Alexander, I believe, that the first one was struck off by an Athenian named... Lysistratus? Exactly, sir. It was therefore a lost art until an Italian by the name of... Verrocchio? Quite so. Well, sir, this Verrocchio, who became known as the teacher of Donatello... The pupil of Donatello, I believe. The teacher of Leonardo da Vinci. Whoa. But forgive me, I interrupt your learned discourse. Now, Patsy, come in. This is Mr. Brower, my daughter, Mrs. Randolph. How do you do? Mr. Brower has journeyed from distant places, my dear, to make a warranted facsimile of this unworthy original in plaster. But, Father, you're not well. The doctor warned you to remain in bed. Well, I'll make every effort to be as brief as possible, Madam. Proceed, Mr. Brower. My 82 years are in your hands. Treat them gently and with consideration. They tried. Another pillow for your head, Father? One is enough, my dear. What would posterity think of my requiring two pillows? Proceed, Mr. Brower. Yes. Ah. Comfortable, sir? I can still breathe. No worse than a barber so far. Patsy, go talk to the children or do something. You make me nervous standing there. Well, I'd rather not, Father. And it's, uh, it's time for your tea. I do not wish any thank you. And kindly assure her, Mr. Brower, that you do not intend to assassinate me. The process is entirely painless, Madam. A few more coats of the plaster until a shell is formed. It then comes off as easily as a mold from a cupcake. Very well. I'd like to see it when it's finished. And, Father, please be careful. Uh, your, uh, your plaster is beginning to harden, sir. I feel a decided tension of the skin. All is as it should be, Mr. Jefferson. All fitting and proper. In just a few moments, we'll lift it off and then... And then posterity will be taken care of. Quite so, sir. Oh, oh, Mr. Jefferson. Mr. Jefferson. Mr. Jefferson, are you all right? Is the mask too tight around your neck? Is it choking you? Mr. Jefferson. Mr. Jefferson. Hold on, Mr. Jefferson. Mr. Jefferson. Yes, and then posterity will be taken care of. Yes, Thomas Jefferson. Posterity will be taken care of. Posterity. Do you know I have sometimes asked myself whether my country is a better place for my having lived at all? I do not know that it is. I have been the instrument of doing many things, but they would have been done by others. Some of them perhaps a little better. But they will remember you, Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, President of the United States, Governor of Virginia. I wrote Virginia's law for religious freedom, the first in the colonies. Ay, those are the things they'll remember me by. But there are others, Thomas Jefferson, men you worked with, giants, giants to you here. Washington, old Dr. Franklin, medicine, John Adams, Lafayette. Lafayette. Lafayette, a marquee, and yet a Republican. I remember now. Posterity. Something posterity will never know. An intimate, personal detail. You're remembering now, Thomas Jefferson. You're remembering the moment the Great French Revolution stopped. Stopped for you, Thomas Jefferson, as time itself stood still, to permit you to ride by in your carriage. Yes, I remember now. I remember Paris, 1789. Franklin had been minister to France. I succeeded him. Paris, 1789. Revolution in the air. Revolution. A day in July. Monsieur, the marquee de Lafayette and three gentlemen to see you. My dear Jefferson, how good to see you. It's like old times, eh? In more ways than one. I take it. Mr. Jefferson, may I present Monsieur A, Monsieur B, and Monsieur C. Monsieur, Mr. Thomas Jefferson. Adieu, monsieur. As you suspect, this is not an ordinary visit, Jefferson. To me, your visits are never ordinary, Monsieur Le Marquis. In truth, it is probably the most extraordinary visit you've ever had. Sir, we come for advice on a most delicate matter. If I can be of service, gentlemen, you may rely on my discretion, even to the forgetting of names I have not been told. You have not been told them for good reason, mon ami. As I've said, this is a most delicate matter, but not for us, for you. Indeed. We are a committee, Mr. Jefferson, representative of the people of France, who wish to achieve in our country those certain inalienable rights of which you have written. And realizing your position here as an ambassador accredited to the present government of France, we do not wish to embarrass you. Thank you, Lafayette. I understand. What is it you wish? Above all things, Thomas Jefferson, we wish you were a Frenchman. And that being impossible, we come for the next best thing, advice. You have traveled extensively on our country, monsieur. What if you see this republican form of government you have in America? Will it work? And above all, monsieur, tell us what we must do and how we ought to do it. One moment, gentlemen. One moment, please. Mr. Jefferson, I must warn you again that what you are about to say and do would be considered a violation of protocol, and if discovered, sufficient reason for demanding your recall. Fair statement, Lafayette, and I thank you for it. Gentlemen, draw up your chairs. Wine, Lafayette. Merci. Wine, monsieur. Merci, monsieur. The condition of your country is deplorable. When I succeeded Dr. Franklin as minister, I visited your people in the fields and in their homes. The country was new to me, and I gazed about with interest that rapidly turned into horror at what I saw. Of the 20 millions of souls in the French country, 19 millions were more wretched, more accursed in every circumstance of human existence than the most conspicuously wretched individual in all the United States. I said to myself, how little do my countrymen realize what precious blessings they are in possession of, in which no other people on earth enjoy. I have been shocked to the very marrow by the forlorn villages and the indescribable poverty of the peasants. All go about badly clothed. With certain exceptions, of course. Oui, the king has a number of friends. They all dress well. The people are ground to powder by the vices of your form of government. I say that the mass of mankind was not born with saddles on their backs, nor a favored few booted and spurred, ready to ride them legitimately by the grace of God. Agreed, my friend. And all the streets of Paris are hushed with the calm before the storm. The king walks about the gardens of Versailles chin dangling. Only the queen... never mind, the less said about our charming madame, the better. But the king is willing to compromise. We have it on highest authority. He will accept a constitution. Also, a popular escort headed by a guard's regiment under Lafayette here. He offers to assume the carcade. What else? What else, monsieur? There is something else. There is a republic. The people cry for it, go into their homes like a madman. Go into their homes, listen to them talk. It is as if all their life was squeezed into one single solitary thought. A republic! Gentlemen, this is an historic hour in the circumstance of your country. Out of such circumstances, there shines one brief golden moment which, if unimproved, disappears forever. To what do you refer, monsieur? I refer to that fleeting second when time stands still and the opportunity is presented for revolution by due course of law. Then you would have us accept this compromise. The question, I believe, channels down to this. Is or is not democracy a legitimate commodity of export? To the best of my knowledge and experience, it is. If it isn't, it ought to be. Gentlemen, I urge you to secure what the government is now ready to yield. Trust to future occasions for what might be still wanting. Of the utmost vital importance would be a new constitution. I, uh, I would suggest that you spend the remaining hours in its contemplation. I must insist, however, in view of my official position, that you refrain from consulting me about it, uh, uh, officially. You are listening to Walter Houston as Thomas Jefferson in A Mask for Jefferson. On the cavalcade of America, sponsored by DuPont, maker of better things for the world. On these better things are fabricoid coated fabrics, which are now doing a war job in the form of mountain tents, jungle hammocks, and emergency sails for rubber lifeboats. When peace comes, DuPont fabricoid will again come to you as attractive and serviceable handbags, upholstery, and bookbinding. Thomas Jefferson in his 82nd year has been persuaded to allow a life mask to be taken by a sculptor named Brower. He has been a great artist, and he has been a great artist to allow a life mask to be taken by a sculptor named Brower. The plaster is applied, and in the process of the mask making, Jefferson's breathing is slightly cut off, and he's in danger of strangulation. While efforts are being made to remove the smothering plaster, Jefferson's mind ranges over his past. As our DuPont cavalcade play continues, Jefferson, played by Walter Houston, is remembering an incident which happened to him in Paris in the year 1789. His friend Lafayette and several political acquaintances finished an important meeting. All comes back to me now, clearly, clearly. Through the night we labored mightily, and with the dawn there had emerged a new constitution for the government of France. The following morning, as I was practicing a sonata, Patsy came into the room. You're up early, Father. I'm in, my dear. You needn't look so virtuous. I'm quite certain you never went to bed at all, did you? I thought not. Is that the way to take care of your health? Father. Yes, my dear. Have you eaten any breakfast? No, my dear. The post just arrived. There are two letters from Virginia. Thank you. I'll go and get them. There are two letters from Virginia. Thank you, my dear. Father. Yes, my dear. Aren't you well? I'm very well, Patsy, in a bodily sense. Where are you going? For your breakfast. I often wonder what would happen if you didn't have me around. Wait a moment. Patsy, there are times, as you'll find out one day, when zeal and enthusiasm obscure the dictates of wisdom. It happened to me last night. Last night? I mean, having Monsieur de Lafayette and those others here in our house? Having them here? No. No, Lafayette is one of my oldest friends. Between him and myself, there is the comradeship of those who have emerged from trial by fire. But to have them here for the purpose for which they came, to advise and abet them, that was an error of judgment. Because of your official position, father? Yes. It is possible I have done my country a great disservice. Perhaps I should pay a little visit to the Foreign Office, a little chat with... Come in. A letter for Monsieur Jefferson. It has just arrived by messenger from Monsieur de Montmoren. Thank you, Albert. Do it here, Patsy. Hmm. Look like the thatch in the fire, my dear. Monsieur de Montmoren is the Foreign Minister. He begs that I call on him at once. Better start packing, Patsy. I think they're going to demand that I be recalled. And that, Your Excellency, in all truth and candour is how it happened. It was in my mind to pay you a visit when your message arrived. That it be understood, Monsieur, that I retract nothing and regret nothing as a private individual. As an official of my government, I fear I have been indiscreet. Monsieur Jefferson, it is with much pleasure that I have listened to what you have told me, such of it as you have seen fit to mention. I am an honour bound, Monsieur, not to betray... But of course, you have told me nothing, except that a meeting took place at your home, a somewhat irregular meeting, but I was aware of that, Monsieur, and now permit me to tell you something. The decisions you arrived at, the plans you contrived, the constitution that you helped create will never emerge from the paper they were written on. It is I who am sorry for that. I beg your pardon? Yes, Monsieur Jefferson. We had high hopes of that meeting in your home. Revolution is not an end in itself, but the means to an end. And the more violent the means, the more likely the end is to be obscured. We had hoped, as you did, that the golden moment for revolution by due course of law was at hand. But even as our chosen delegates conferred at your house, it was slipping by, and now it is gone. Look through this window, Monsieur. See the people are milling about in the streets. They have waited too long for their rights, and the time to compromise is past. Any moment now there will be an outbreak of violence. Heads will fall, and some in the excitement by mistake. And so I feel it my duty to advise extreme caution, Monsieur, on your return to your house. It's absurd. You're coming to fetch me this way, Patsy. I'm in no danger. But Father, the mobs are loose all over the street. I've heard there's an angry crowd outside the Bastille. We are Americans, my dear. Nothing can happen to us, and between you and me, our hearts are with those enslaved wretches who ask only for the labor with which to earn their bread. Get up. Where are you going, Coachman? There's a mob at the end of the street, Monsieur. I can see them from here. They don't like people who ride in carriages. Stay to your course. Do you hear? Stay to your course. Father, they're firing on the barrack. See? Do you think it would be better if we... Stay to your course, Coachman. Where are we, Patsy? In the Place de Louis, can, I believe. Look about you, then. This is an historic moment. The opening gun in mankind's struggle for his birthright on the continent of Europe. Drink it in, my dear. Drink deeply. But, Father, these people, some of them must know by now you were against this one. It's dangerous to keep going. Hear that? Hear that, Patsy? Hear that? Six semper tyrannis. Liberty and freedom. They're blocking the road. Father, please tell him to turn now before it's too late. Coachman, stay to your course. Full speed ahead. Father, I'm afraid. They look so angry. Father, they're coming at us. Father, they're... Stop that girl! Who's in there? Come around, show us your face. Well, look who's here. An aristocrat! And his daughter! Out with them! Take them out! Dump the carrot! And hit the horses! Aristocrat! One moment, citizens. You in there. What's your name? My name is Thomas Jefferson. This is my daughter. He said his name's Jefferson! For protection! It's a little late in life for your Christmas. I am the American minister to France. Minister! Silence! In seriousness, monsieur, you are really this great American? This leader of the people? I am Thomas Jefferson. These papers will prove it. All right, silence! Cease firing! Cease firing! Proceed, Thomas Jefferson. For you who have led the way, the people of France stand aside. Citizens, present arms. Mr. Jefferson! Mr. Jefferson, sir! Are you all right? Father! Father, answer me! Breathe deeply, sir. Deeply. There you are. Mr. Brower. And Patsy. Oh, father, I was afraid. I was afraid you... Afraid that I was dead? Not yet, my dear. I insist upon dying of old age, although Mr. Brower seems to have other ideas. What happened, sir? The plaster hardened too quickly in the region of the windpipe. You were almost strangulated, sir. I shudder to think of what posterity would say if we... Posterity, Mr. Brower. Sir, I do here and now bid adieu forever to all busts and portraits. Posterity, eh? Well, there's one for them to remember. What did you say, father? An intimate person to the tail. Could I have averted the French Revolution? Of course not. Now, would I have wanted to when the people wish to speak out, no man's hand can stay them. Still... Father, are you all right? Those Frenchmen who stopped my carriage, had they really ever heard of me, or were they merely being polite to a foreign gentleman and his daughter? Mr. Jefferson, sir, shall I summon a physician? Physician? Certainly not. Mr. Brower, your visit, apart from itself producing a new memoir for posterity, has stimulated my appetite. Will you join me? Betsy, tea. Thank you, Walter Houston. Ladies and gentlemen, our star, Walter Houston, will return in a few moments. In the meantime, here is Gain Whitman, speaking for DuPont to tell you this week's story of chemistry. So many new materials have been created by chemistry in the past few years, that some people think that's all chemistry does, makes new plastics, new textile fibers, and so on. Here is a story of how DuPont chemists made new materials out of old, by improving the old ones. After the war, you may have new furniture, even floors, of beautiful woods that could never be used for furniture or floors before, because they were too soft. DuPont chemists have recently developed a new process that makes wood so hard that it's much more resistant to scratching and denting. In this process, chemicals are forced into the wood. Once inside the wood, they change to resins. They don't merely soak into the wood and fill the cells, they combine with the components of the wood itself. Actually, the product is no longer wood as we know it. It has less tendency to swell and shrink. Water doesn't lift the grain. It is much harder, stiffer, and denser. It can be given a high polish, and its strength is much greater. What this DuPont process means in practice is that a manufacturer will be able to take a wood as soft as poplar, or say pine, and make it as hard as hard oak or maple. Its hardness and resistance are so increased that the treated wood may even be substituted for steel in certain textile machinery parts. That's how hard it is. So there's good reason to believe that after the war, woods like poplar and redwood and cypress, which have beautiful grains but have always been too soft, will be used for tables and chairs, radio cabinets, desks, even floors. For several years now, many articles which formerly were made of wood have been fashioned out of plastics or metals. With this new DuPont process, wood can now be remade, actually made into a new material, eliminating many of its disadvantages and giving it qualities it did not have before. Of course, all of us will go on calling this chemically treated wood, wood, because that is the traditional name under which wood has served us so faithfully for thousands of years. But wood so treated is really a new material, an outstanding example of DuPont's better things for better living through chemistry. Now here is Walter Houston, star of tonight's Cavalcade. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. The achievements of men like Thomas Jefferson are the proud heritage of America. We preserve and cherish the documents that carry this heritage. In this connection, it is important to all of us that Princeton University is at present engaged in the preparation of the definitive edition of Jefferson's writings. Perhaps some of you among Cavalcade's listeners have in your possession or know the whereabouts of letters written by Thomas Jefferson. If so, I would like to urge you to communicate with the editor of the advisory committee on the papers of Thomas Jefferson at Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey. Thank you very much. Music Next week, DuPont presents Thomas Mitchell and George Koloris in the story of Penicillin, a powerful and compelling drama about one of the modern triumphs of science, Penicillin. This penicillin, the dramatic name in medicine, the development of which has meant new hope for countless sufferers everywhere and which holds forth promise in the future for all mankind. Tonight's DuPont Cavalcade music was composed and conducted by Robert Armbruster. This is James Bannon sending best wishes from Cavalcade sponsor, the DuPont Company of Wilmington, Delaware. We invite you to listen during the next hour and a half over most of these stations to three fine programs. The Voice of Firestone, the Bell Telephone Hour, and Information Please. The Cavalcade of America, sponsored by DuPont, came to you from Hollywood. Applause This is the National Broadcasting Company. Music
