THE object of this play is to present
a picture in little of the evil which
lies at the heart of the world-war,
by showing the clash of ideals in the
warring nations. On the one side, a
race which has, for thirty years, been
taught in its schools to set up its
State as an idol to be worshipped,
and now sincerely believes and shame-
lessly declares, that it is justified in
committing any crime that will add
to its power and temporal glory. On
the other side, a group of races which,
incapable of realising the peril of this
moral lunacy, have been struggling to
hold on to their faith in the veracities,
in abstract justice, and in human
brotherhood.
By the same Author
The Woman Thou Gavest Me
The White Prophet
The Prodigal Son
The Eternal City
The Christian
The Manxman
The Scapegoat
The Bondman
The Deemster
The Shadow of a Crime
My Story (Autobiographical)
The Drama of 365 Days
The Prime
Minister
A DRAMA
By HALL CAINE
LONDON: WILLIAM HEINEMANN
COPYRIGHT IN GREAT BRITAIN, UNITED STATES
OF AMERICA ETC.
Acting rights reserved
PRIME MINISTER
"Children of my Guard, you are
now my soldiers—mine, body and
soul! You have sworn to obey all my
commands. From this day on, you
must know but one enemy, and that
enemy is my enemy.
"And if I command you some day to
fire upon your own relatives—your
fathers and mothers, sisters and
brothers perhaps—remember your oath
and obey!"—The Kaiser's speech to
his Potsdam recruits.
"The [Prussian] Officer was one of
those good souls who are by nature
framed to take hearty interest in all
that happens to others, or that others
achieve. His rank, while condemning
him to a hard and insolent calling, and
thus encasing him in a coarse shell,
had made him yet softer within. In a
strict service, where for years everything
had moved in the most rigid order,
where brazen necessity was the only
goddess worshipped, where justice
became harshness and cruelty, and the
conception of man and humanity completely
vanished, his good soul, which
in a free and independent life would
have revealed its beauty and found its
existence, was altogether repressed, his
feelings blunted and almost reduced to
ruin."—Goethe's Wilheim Meister.
"The Prime Minister is to me a great
play. To show that the most violent
enemy may be turned into the most
faithful friend by justice and forgiveness,
was well worth doing, especially in
times like these. It will have a lasting
success, because it reaches the most
noble and divine emotions, and appeals
to all people, everywhere, for all time."
Judge Henry Neil (Chicago).
"It was a joy to see Hall Caine's Prime
Minister. Not only is it gripping in
interest and engrossing in theme, it is a
clarion call to flagging spirits in times
like these, and a solace to suffering
hearts. It offers a vision of the healing
of the world through the only real
forces—love and sacrifice."
Judge Lindsey (American Mission).
ETHEL IRVING
asMARGARET SCHILLERin
THE PRIME MINISTER
"Ethel Irving's acting fairly electrified
the house."—Morning Post.
"Miss Ethel Irving played with startling
effect, and at the fall of the curtain was
again and again recalled."
Daily Chronicle.
"The denunciation of the Kaiser, terminating
with the smashing of his picture
by Miss Irving, brought down the
house."—Observer.
"Her acting had a fine and affecting
passion. A piece of art of rare quality,
of that indefinable spirit which makes
acting more than ephemeral."
Daily Telegraph.
"As fine a thing as she has ever done."
Referee.
"It was like a superfeast."—Sunday Times.
"It adds another to her long list of
triumphs."—Daily Graphic.
"Ethel Irving was superb."
Sunday Herald.