Original plays Author:W S Gilbert Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHARITY. ACT I. Scene : A pretty boudoir in Mrs. Van Brugh's country-house. Eve discovered with Frederick ; Frederick on chair, Eve on footstool. Fre... more »d. (dictating to Eve, who writes tn a memorandum book at his feet). Let me see. Three hundred oranges, six hundred buns, thirty gallons of tea, twelve large plum cakes. So much for the school-children's bodies. As for their minds — Eve. Oh, we've taken great care of their minds. In the first place, the amateur minstrels from Lo- croft are coming, with some lovely part songs. Fred. Part songs. Come, that's well. Dr. Watts ? Eve. Oh dear, no. Doctors Moore and Burgess ! — Much jollier. (He shakes his head gravely. ) Then we have a magic lantern. Here are the views. (Handing them.) Fred. (examining them). A person on horseback, galloping at full speed. Here he is again. Probably the flight of Xerxes. Eve. No — the flight of John Gilpin. Fred. Very trivial, Eve dear; very trivial. Eve. Oh, but it will amuse them much more than the flight-of Xerxes. Fred. (gravely). My dear Eve, is this giddiness quite consistent with the nature of the good work before us ? Eve. Mayn't one be good and jolly too ? Fred. Scarcely. Grave work should be undertaken gravely, and with a sense of responsibility. Eve. But I don't call a school feast grave work. Fred. All work is grave when one has regard to the issues that may come of it. This school feast, trivial as it may seem to you — this matter of buns and big plum cakes—may be productive, for instance, of much — of much — Eve. Indigestion ? That's grave indeed! (He seems annoyed.) There, I'm very sorry I teased you, dear old boy; but you look at every thing from such a serious point of view. Fred. Am I too serious ? Perhaps I am. And yet in my quiet undem...« less