"Hos Pater adversis solos decernere jussit CHAPTER XXIV. English Drama. "Hard is his lot that here by fortune placed, Or the origin of the drama among the Greeks and Romans we have already spoken in our fourth chapter, where we have shown that it had its source in the public games and religious festivals, at which it was customary to celebrate the life and exploits of the deity or hero in whose honour they were instituted. It is not our purpose to enter into the much-agitated controversy concerning the origin of the modern drama in Europe; for whether it arose in France or Italy, among the troubadours of Provence or the shepherds in Calabria, it will be sufficient for our purpose to contend that it was a distinct species of itself, and not a revival of the ancient drama; that it was of Gothic rather than of classic birth; and that it ought not, therefore, to be bound by the rules or compared with the merits of its Grecian predecessor. Had Shakspeare been circumscribed by the ancient dramatic laws, of which he was probably ignorant, and which he certainly did not mean to follow, we should have had cold and tame imitation, instead of the fiery flights of original genius; and the dramatic glory of England would have suffered a lamentable eclipse. Nothing, indeed, is more superfluous than our inquiries into the origin of great and useful inventions; nothing more vain than the keen contests among rival nations for the honour of their first discovery: for the principles of human nature being the same in all parts of the world, there may be often coincident productions at the two extremities of the globe, absolutely identical in their general nature, and yet both fully entitled to the merit of being original. Imitation is not less inherent in our nature than the passions; and if these were the sources of poetry in general, the former must in all ages have given rise to dramatic representations. It is natural for indolent persons, who have no resources in their arts or learning against the tediousness of life, to delight in assuming fictitious characters, as we see children at school fond of acting kings and heroes, and of rudely dramatising the stories which have made the most vivid impressions upon their fancy. What thus began in amusement was soon found to be susceptible of a much higher and nobler application. As example is the strongest and most effectual manner of enforcing the precepts of wisdom, it became manifest that a just theatrical representation might be rendered a humanizing and instructive academy; with this special advantage, that the young spectator might contemplate a picture of human nature, and learn the manners of the world without encountering its perils. "Even some of the inspired writings have been considered dramatical by very pious persons. The illustrious Bossuet divides the Song of Solomon into various scenes: the Book of Job, equally valuable for its great antiquity and for the noble strain of moral poetry in which it is composed, has been esteemed a regular drama; and Milton tells us that a learned critic distributed the Apocalypse into several acts, distinguished by a chorus of angels. Gregory A a of Nazianzen, a poet and a father of the church, persuaded the people of Byzantium to represent on their theatre some chosen stories of the Old and New Testament, and to banish from their stage the profane compositions of Sophocles and Euripides. The Jews themselves had the stories of the Old Testament exhibited in the dramatic form; part of a Jewish piece on the subject of Exodus is preserved in Greek iambics, written by one Ezekiel, who styles himself the poet of the Hebrews."* A custom of representing at every solemn festival some event recorded in Scripture, became almost general nearly at the same period, in the south, the west, and even in the north of Europe; in the two latter of which divisions the poems of Gregory and the language of the Greeks were wholly unknown; so that neither can have borrowed their mysteries from Constantinople. In both these instances they probably originated in the pious desire of disseminating a knowledge of the Bible, at a time when the mass of the people were unable to read, and when even those who possessed that rare qualification, could not betake themselves to the Scriptures, since they were mostly restricted to the Latin language. Although the clergy in many instances opposed themselves to any version of the sacred writings in the vulgar tongue, they do not seem to have objected to the translating into action, or dramatising such portions of them as were most susceptible of being thus illustrated. Of these pious, or as we should now rather say profane, performances, the church was the theatre; the ecclesiasties themselves or their scholars were the performers; and it appears that they were not altogether disinterested teachers, nor content with such scriptural knowledge or moral instruction as could be thus conveyed, since they derived a pecuniary profit from their exhibitions. These were termed mysteries and miracles, because they inculcated the profound doctrines of Christianity, and represented the miracles wrought by the great founders of the faith and their successors, as well as the sufferings of the martyrs. *The principal characters of this drama are Moses, Sepphora, and 8 Ocos and Bars, "God speaking from the bush." Moses delivers the prologue in a speech of sixty lines, and his rod is changed into a serpent upon the stage.-See The Origin of the English Drama, by Thomas Hawkins, p. 5. No other species of drama was known at Rome and Florence in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The passion of our Saviour was performed in the Coliseum; and if their music at that period had been as perfect as it is now, if the poetry of so awful a piece had been composed by a Metastasio, and the choral part by a Pergolesi, the effect upon a devout people, who are at the same time passionate admirers of music, would have been profoundly impressive; while the stupendous extent of the building must have presented a still grander and more august spectacle than our commemoration of Handel. It is generally imagined that the English stage rose later than the rest of its neighbours; and yet nothing is more certain than that we had theatrical entertainments almost as early as the Conquest, if we may believe Fitz Stephen, who, in his Descriptio nobilissima Civitatis Londoniæ, says, “London, instead of common interludes belonging to the theatres, has plays of a more holy subject; representations of those miracles which the holy confessors wrought, or of the sufferings wherein the glorious constancy of the martyrs did appear." This author was a monk of Canterbury, who wrote in the time of Henry II.; and as he does not mention these representations as novelties, for he is describing all the common diversions of the time, we can hardly fix them later than the Conquest, which we believe is an earlier date than can be claimed for such entertainments by any of our continental neighbours. The first play of this kind specified by name is understood to have been called St. Catherine, and, according to Matthew Paris, was written by Geofrey, a Norman, about the year 1110, and performed in the abbey at Dunstable. In Chaucer's time the miracleplays were exhibited during the season of Lent, when a sequel of Scripture-histories was sometimes carried on for several days. At Skinner's Well, near Smithfield, in the reign of Henry IV., we read of a drama which lasted eight days, beginning with the creation of the world, and containing the greater part of the history of the Old and New Testament. This must have borne a close analogy to the well-known mystery entitled Corpus Christi, or Ludus Coventria, the Coventry play, transcripts of which, nearly if * * Quendam ludum de Sancta Katerina (quem miracula vulgariter appellamus), fecit,-Vitæ Abbat. p. 35, as cited by Strutt, not altogether coeval with the time of its representation, are yet in existence. Three persons, speaking alternately, delivered the prologue to this curious play, which began with the creation of the universe, and ended with the last judgment. Sometimes, however, the mysteries consisted of single subjects, and made but one performance. Strutt mentions two of these mystery-plays, which he discovered in the Bodleian library at Oxford; one on the conversion of St. Paul, the other the casting out of the devils from Mary Magdalene. Notwithstanding the seriousness of the subjects selected for these performances, and the sacred character of the building in which they were usually displayed, it seems clear that they were not exhibited without a portion of pantomimical fun, to make them palatable to the vulgar taste; and, indeed, the length and dulness of the speeches required some such assistance to enliven them, though they were in general much shorter than the modern plays. Beelzebub was the principal comic actor, assisted by his merry troop of under-devils, who with a variety of voices, strange gestures, and contortions of the body, excited the laughter of the populace. "It was a pretty part in the old churchplays," says Harsenet in his Declaration of Popish Impostures, 1603," When the nimble Vice would skip up like a jackanapes into the Devil's neck, and ride the Devil a course; and belabour him with his wooden dagger till he made him roar; whereat the people would laugh to see the Devil so vice-haunted." Nor can there be any doubt that these profane mummeries were presented under the express direction of the clergy; for in the year 1378, the masters and scholars of Paul's school presented a petition to Richard II., praying him "to prohibit some unexpert people from presenting the history of the Old Testament, to the great prejudice of the said clergy, who have been at great expense in order to represent it publicly at Christmas." How long these mysteries continued to be exhibited cannot be exactly determined; but the whole period of their continuance may be termed the dead sleep of the muses, both here and abroad. In Italy they prevailed long after the revival of literature; for the classic models were known to the learned only, and it was necessary to gratify the people with subjects adapted to their capacity. One would scarcely have believed that |