 They depart Company of Wilmingham, Delaware. Makers of better things for better living through chemistry presents the Cavalcade of America. Tonight's star, Dorothy McGuire. Tonight's story, Thunder of Justice. 15 short years after winning our freedom at Trenton and Saratoga, Valley Forge and Yorktown, we are losing our freedom. Oh! His name is Matt Lyons. That man speaking on the floor of Congress. Matt Lyons was presented with his name. One of the most hated men in Congress. Without freedom of discussion, without the right of examining the methods and objectives of the party in power and criticizing its acts, democracy becomes an empty world. He says what he thinks, Matt does. And what he thinks makes him many enemies. I should know better than anyone because I'm Matt Lyons' wife. You heard his speech today. Yes, father. But you did not hear or see what happened after it. What did happen, father? You lost. Sit down. Yes, dear. You must be very upset. When you stop calling me dimmy, I know something's wrong. I'm kindly replying from speaking to me and that that's a humoring, tolerating matter. Father, I'm not doddering into senility yet. Papa, may I get you some tea? Thank you, no. No tea and no changing the subject if you please. Oh, Papa, don't let's talk about Matt. Well, Matt to himself is up to no choice. I hate it when you talk against him. Behind his back. Criticize. Try to vex me with him. Try to turn me against you. Now, that will do. Oh. I disapprove when you were a kitten and daughter of the governor of Vermont married that wild Irish. He's quite civilized, really. I disapprove, I say. But I do not seek to turn you against him. Too late for that. Well, I want to state to you he's very, very good. What do you want to say, Papa? Binnie, persuade Matthew Lyon to abandon politics. Because he opposes President Adams, the Federalist, and you? Because he caught disgrace and ruined your both for long as he remained in Congress. Papa, you know Matt. Unfortunately. You know if there's a fight, he'll be in it. And this is a fight to repeal the Alien and Sedition Act. Matthew Lyon will never manage that. He'll help manage it. My dear Binnie. You said something happened today after I left. Yes. A gentleman from Connecticut took a cane to your husband. A cane? Matthew came back at him with a pair of pythons. Oh. They fought like two savages. It was one. It was a domino. This happened on the floor of the house in Congress. Do any shame and disgrace yet? Oh, I can't believe Matt went so far. Forget himself. I... He's a victim in his own temper. He must have had a great provocation. He himself spurred the attack. But when will you realize this man is a... He is a dangerous man. He's a man. He is not. You're... Who's his conduct today? I... I must try to understand. Oh. You try an old man's patience. Answer me one question. Will you or will you not persuade your husband to resign his office? No one could do that. I can't even try. Very well. Know this thing. Matt has been made enemies by opposing the Pedrini. Those same enemies were expelling from Congress. He will fight his enemies, child. If he's to kill. But it's too many. Fight them, he may. But he'll lose his fight. You'll see. He'll lose his fight. Matt, don't put me down. My hands beat about your waist. Look at this. Put me down, Mr. Henson. Do you hear? Yes, ma. There. Now, the kid. No. Are you not proud of your husband this great day? No. When he's confounded the Federalist, the Secretary of State, the President himself. Yes. When the motion to expel your husband from Congress has been defeated. And by what vote? 62 in favor of the motion, 44 opposed. They needed two-thirds majority and they did not get. And for that, you want me to be proud. Which is a great victory. It is not a victory, Matt. Oh, don't you see? More than half your colleagues believe you're unfit to citrism. Unfit? Let any man of them say as much as I say. And you will fight him. That? Yes. Oh, Matt. You know, what is this? Oh, dear. I'm sorry. Come on, my darling. It is I whom to call. You let me dry your eye. Oh, I'm... No. Will you tell me what I've done wrong? Oh, Matt, I am proud of you. Well, to be sure I know all that. But tell me what I've done wrong. Made enemies. And who has not? But unnecessary enemies. Many of those who voted against you might be your friends. I don't want them. You must want them. You need friends. Now, Matt, listen to me. If the Alien and Sedition Acts are truly a threat to freedom and liberty... No, if... Those acts make it a crime to speak out against the administration. They mark the right of free speech, free friends... Then they must be repealed. To be sure. Can you do that? Alone. Alone? But... Hardly, but... If you embarrass your party, set your friends against you. Soon you will stand alone. You're telling Matt Lyon not to fight? I'm saying, be right, but by the rules, man. Stop trying to mediate with your fears. You are not. All right, I'll go. Senator Mason. Hello, Matt. Well, come in, sir, come in. Vinnie, you... You know all the senator from Virginia? Mrs. Lyon. Good evening, Senator. What can I offer you, sir? I can stay but a moment. Matt, I heard the result of today's vote. We beat some... This pass. I've been telling my wife as much. She doesn't see it as a victory. I'm worried, Senator. Well, you may be, madam. Mr. Pickering is set upon making an example of your husband. An example? Yes. You defied the administration and gone unpunished. They've only begun to fight you, ma'am. Well, thank heavens. Congress adjourns soon and will be returning to Vermont. You have enemies in Vermont. I have it on good authority that within this hour, the Secretary of State dispatched the messenger to the family of Chitton. Chitton? He is an enemy of his half. That convicted, evil man. I came to warn you. Keep your wits about your Matt. You'll be joining home in a few weeks. Beware it does not become a journey into the... jaws of a trap. Stop him. I don't know of a suspension we don't change forces to run with. Matt, look at that cry. They were right. They planned us. Oh, Courtman, drive on. Do you hear? Drive on. Now, here's one for your mass. Change your forces. Am I right? Are you all right? Yes. Yes. Don't miss me. Drive or hurry. Hurry, Matt. Where's Matt? You're lying now. Chitton, they're driving now. Chitton, they're driving now. Leave it to a housekeeper to know the news before anyone else. Who arrives, Shatty? Mr. and Mrs. Robinson. Oh? I was to say, you didn't know what they were. I didn't understand. So we finally got here. Good. We'll see that this hot-headed Irishman gets a proper welcome. Heh heh heh. A welcome he doesn't expect. That is. I want you to take this message to a dog and immediately. He'll know what to do. Come, buddy. Let's hear about the fire with me. All right. Tyler, put on another lock. Hmm. Good to be home. Safe and sound-headed. Hmm. And if they meant to bully us with hoodlums and ruffians, I failed again. Ah. The comfort of one's own heart. I wouldn't trade them for a kingdom. Matt. Yes, Madam? Why do they hate it so? If your husband they hate. Why? Because he speaks out against politics dictated by blind fear. Others beg out also. But not in the loud of oi. But federalism and power and yet they're afraid. Oh, yes. Of what, Matt? Well, now they'd have us believe we live in a reign of witches beset by French agents and Irish revolutionaries bent on overthrowing the United States. And that is why they passed the Indian Institution Act. Yes. The alien act gives the president authority to deport any aliens he judges dangerous to the safety and peace of the United States. One man alone decides what is dangerous at his own discretion. Oh, my darling, this addition bill is worse. Is that possible? Criticize the administration and you commit a crime as serious as... as treason itself. But if we cannot criticize our own government... We fought the revolution in days. Yes. This is why, Bernie, as long as I have breath left in me... We have callers already? Insistent ones, what a sound of them. All right, patience taken. Yes? Matthew Ryan? I am Matthew... Well, it is Arden. Constable Arden, sir. I have an order for you to arrest. Arden? Why? Why is he being arrested? Treasonable speech, seditious libel, atrocious slander to the government of the United States. You will come with me, sir. The jury, having brought in a verdict of guilty as charged, it is a sentence of this court that the defendant pay a fine of $1,000. $1,000? And serve a term of four months imprisonment. Treason. Oh, Lord. I'm a member of Congress, sir. I will not be treated as a common criminal. It is my request, Mr. Lyon, that the leniency of the sedition act prevents me from inflicting heavier punishment. Elizabeth, fix the prisoners. But I must arrange my affairs for cure my papers. No time for that. You come along. I'm not. Can't look at something. Yes. That's why, darling, I can still fight them from prison to the grave itself. I swear, they've not seen the end of Matt Lyon yet. Dorothy McGuire is starring as Buehler Lyon, wife of the Vermont congressman Matthew Lyon. They put my husband in prison for criticizing his government. This did not happen in George Saird's England or in Robes Saird's France. It happened in the United States to an elected representative of the people in the enlightened year of 1798. While Matthew was locked in a cell, a cell for horse thieves, counterfeiters, and runaway slaves with our fever-deceived tenderness, I went back to the capital to seek help from members of my husband's party. An in-keeper there was expecting me. I was led to an anti-villain. Two men rose when I entered. One was my husband's friend, Senator Mason of Virginia. Mr. Lyon? Senator? You know this gentleman or know of him? The best present of the United States comes Jefferson. Mr. Jefferson? I'm honored, Mrs. Lyon. Sit down, please. Thank you. The jaws of the trap I warned against did close. Yes. Your husband's friends are rallying, Mrs. Lyon, the entire country shall know of his point. I... I see that he had no friends. Only enemies. Madam, I myself am not about the revilings of these same enemies. However, we are not here to talk of me. Mrs. Lyon, how is your husband? I'm great, Mr. Jefferson. Yes, as I can believe that. He ill-fed, alone, in an unheeded cell surrounded by guilt. If he were a criminal, he could be treated no worse. To the federalists, he is a criminal. But that's so unjust. By federalist standards, we're all criminals. But only Matt Lyon is in jail for it. And because he is, he has become a symbol for the rest of us, a rallying point for all Americans who love freedom. But in the meantime, Matt is in jail. And something must be done for him. I've tried everything, but I don't know what else to do. Now, Senator Nason suggested I bring you these articles that Matt has been writing in prison. But is he allowing to write freely there? No, and it evidently hasn't occurred to them yet that he can become a monitor by doing so. Can you help him, Mr. Jefferson? I hope so, my dear. Now, what are these articles you speak of? Well, here's one. I'll read it. In every society, worthy to be called free, there is an untrammeled play of public opinion. Immunity from criticism is the privilege of no government official. The right of arguing about ideas must be cherished and jealously guarded, for it is our heritage as free men. Good. Good. And man is eloquent. Mrs. Lyon, this will reach every newspaper that will print it, and there are still many. Then you can't help him. He must keep on writing. Tell him that. I will be to it that what he writes reaches the people. Now, one more thing. This is election year for Congress. Tell Matt that he must stand for reelection. Even though he's in prison? Especially because he is in prison. But Tom, from the form of his cell, he will appeal to the sense of justice of the American people. Mr. Jefferson, I don't want my husband a great and shining symbol of political thought. I want him to be freed out of that frightful prison. So he shall be, Mrs. Lyon. Senator, tell her your plans. Well, in order to get Matt out of prison, his fine must be paid. We haven't a thousand dollars. It is small fortune. Yes, though it is. And I'm determined to raise. You, sir. By subscription, the people of Virginia, friends of justice in my own state, will raise the funds. Tell Matt Lyon his days in prison are numbered. He has the word of a Virginia gentleman for it. That sounds like my thing. The word of a Virginia gentleman? I'll bless him. Here, give me your hand. Oh, I hate these bars between you. Oh, no. So, Mr. Jefferson wishes me to stand for re-enaction. He urges you to. You will, won't you, Matt? Yes, yes, of course I will. To me. Yes, dear. Your hand is cold. Only my hand. Not my heart. Not when I'm with you. Is it still so? It will always be so. Oh, my God. Well, Vermonters will make a race of it with me. A race of it? Raising money for my time. Do you mean there's a subscription campaign begun here, too? As Mr. Jefferson says, your husband is becoming a rallying point. Apparently, the people of Vermonter is anxious to free me as those in Virginia. And you will keep on riding while you're here. I'll see to it that everything gets to Mr. Jefferson. Oh, Matt, I... Matt. Gosh, my God. There now. We've only started. We've only just started the fight. And he had only saw it. In the months that followed, words poured from Matt's pen. Angry words, very exciting. Honest. His friends saw it, but they were printed. From New England to South Carolina, the name Matthew Lyon became a symbol of oppressed freedom. And in Vermon, our home state, the people read his words and made up their own minds. And when the time came, they went to the polls to take action. Vinnie. Vinnie, it's good to see you. Matt, I have news. Yes, what is it, quickly? You're ahead in the vote for Paul. Oh, not by Matt. But the counting isn't complete. And Matt, I was talking to Benjamin Marshall today. Yes, yes. He's one of the committee here in Vermont. Raising your fine is almost subscribed, Matt. Good. But what about Senator Mason? Have you heard from him? Not since I saw him with Mr. Jefferson in Philadelphia. What's that? Well, whatever it is, it's bound here. The friends with those who've been attacked have been free back to life. The others who've collected the fine. Let's come in here. It's against the law. Law, you say. We've come to free Matt Lyon, man. Matt, I'll shake your hand through these bars, and I'll shake it again when you're free of them. Oh, Mr. Marshall. Comfortable? Let Mr. Lyon out of that stinking cell. Sir, I cannot rule safe. He's served us four months and more. And now we're here to pay his fine. We've got here $1,000 to free Matt Lyon. Well, it's most regular, but it's gone through his money. Oh, Matt, Matt. But I haven't told you the news yet. The results of the election are in. You've been re-elected, Matt, by an overwhelming majority. Really? The people who listened to Jefferson said they would. It's their victory not as much as yours. Ours, my lord, and every one of us overleaves in liberty. Now, let me through, sir. Matthew, to whom do I pay this money in my saddlebags? The people of Virginia are going to set you free. Senator, you haven't collected the fine, too. What do you mean collected it, too? The Committee of Vermonters has raised the money, sir. But I've written all the way from Philadelphia to pay this fine. It's fitting that Vermonters should pay it. Even so, we in Virginia consider this our responsibility. Matt, Lyon is a Vermonter, not a Virginia. Yes, ma'am. Oh, gentlemen, please. A suggestion from my wife. I thought if Vermonters paid half and Virginians paid half. Done, done, Matt, done. Good, good. So, my darling, there's all set. Oh, Matt. Matt, I'm so proud. I'm so proud and happy. Well, Vinnie, the people have spoken for me tonight. They've set the pattern of my course. They've said repeal the Alien and Sedition Acts. And I shall return to Congress dedicated to fight for this repeal until it's won. Matthew made good his vow. The stain of the Alien and Sedition Acts upon the Constitution was erased. They're swept to liberty extinguished. Herein he had his answer from freedom. The raging debate has faded to chrispures that echo faintly down the long corridor of history. Today, in the halls of Congress and a town meeting house, on a village green or a city plaza, wherever three men gather, the shadow of Matthew Lyon is likely to join them. Though his voice is filled, his spirit is not. That spirit that tried freedom so fiercely won must be fiercely cherished. Liberty's so dearly bought must be guarded with vigilance and faith. Dorothy McGuire and the Cavalcade players for tonight's story, Thunder of Justice. Tonight's Coupang Cavalcade, Thunder of Justice, was written by William Kendall Clark and based on the book, Crisis and Freedom, the Alien and Sedition Acts, by John C. Miller, published by Little Brown & Company. The program was directed by John Zoller. Original music was composed by Arden Cornwell conducted by Donald Borey. In tonight's cast with Dorothy McGuire starring as Vinnie, you heard Ian Margin's math. Frederick Warlock is the father. Cameron Pootomis Mason and Wesley Addie is Jefferson. Dorothy McGuire is currently appearing in the Samuel Golden production, I Want You, photographed under font motion picture film by Harry Strattling ASC. This is by Harry Speakey. Tomorrow, more than 2,900,000 members of the Boy Scouts of America are celebrating their 42nd anniversary. Now, more than ever, men are needed to serve as Coupmasters and Explorer Advisors. During this Boy Scouts Week, offer your services to the youth of your community. The Department of Cavalry of America comes to you from the Velasco Theater in New York and is sponsored by the Department Company of Wilmington, Delaware. Make yourself better things for better living through chemistry. Next, it's adventure on Hollywood Theater on NBC.