by day, and His truth in their nocturnal vigils; that by their sound the faithful may be invited to prayers, and that the spirit of devotion in them may be increased. The fathers have also maintained that demons affrighted by the sound of bells calling Christians to prayers, would flee away; and when they fled, the persons of the faithful would be secure that the destruction of lightnings and whirlwinds would be averted, and the spirits of the storm defeated."-Edinburgh Encyclopædia, Art. Bells. See also Scheible's Kloster, VI. 776.

It is the malediction of Eve.-PAGE 167.

"Nec esses plus quam femina, quæ nunc etiam viros transcendis, et quæ dictionem Evæ in benedictionem vertisti Mariæ."—Epistola Abelardi Heloissa.

A Friar who is preaching to the crowd.-PAGE 182.

male

In giving this sermon of Friar Cuthbert as a specimen of the Risus Paschales, or street preaching of the monks at Easter, I have exaggerated nothing, I have suppressed in this edition an offensive anecdote from a discourse of Father Barletta, a Dominican friar of the fifteenth century, whose fame as a popular preacher was so great, that it gave rise to the proverb,

"Nescit predicare

Qui nescit Barlettare."

"Among the abuses introduced in this century," says Tiraboschi, "was that of exciting from the pulpit the laughter of the hearers; as if that were the same thing as converting them. We have examples of this, not only in Italy, but also in France, where the sermons of Menot and Maillard, and of others, who would make a better appearance on the stage than in the pulpit, are still celebrated for such follies."

If the reader is curious to see how far the freedom of speech was carried in these popular sermons, he is referred to Scheible's Kloster, Vol. I., where he will find extracts from Abraham a Sancta Clara, Sebastian Frank, and others; and in particular an anonymous discourse called Der Gräuel der Verwüstung (The Abomination of Desolation), preached at Ottakring, a village west of Vienna, November 25, 1782, in which the license of language is carried to its utmost limit.

See also Prédicatoriana, ou Révélations singulières et amusantes sur les Prédica teurs; par G. P. Philomneste. (Menin.) This work contains extracts from the popular sermons of St. Vincent Ferrier, Barletta, Menot, Maillard, Marini, Raulin, Valladier, De Besse, Camus, Père André, Bening, and the most eloquent of all, Jaques Brydaine.

My authority for the spiritual interpretation of bell-ringing, which follows, is Durandus, as cited by Hone in the Addenda to his "Ancient Mysteries Described."

THE NATIVITY, a Miracle-Play.-PAGE 185.

A singular chapter in the history of the Middle Ages, is that which gives account of the early Christian Drama, the Mysteries, Moralities, and Miracle-Plays, which were at first performed in churches; and afterwards in the streets, on fixed or moveable stages. For the most part, the Mysteries were founded on the historic portions of the Old and New Testaments, and the Miracle-Plays on the Lives of Saints; a distinction not always observed, however, for in Mr. Wright's "Early Mysteries and other Latin Poems of the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries," the Resurrection of Lazarus is called a Miracle, and not a Mystery. The Moralities were plays, in which the Virtues and Vices were personified.

The earliest religious play, which has been preserved, is the Christos Paschon of Gregory Nazianzen, written in Greek, in the fourth century. Next to this come the remarkable Latin Plays of Roswitha, the Nun of Gandersheim, in the tenth century, which, though crude and wanting in artistic construction, are marked by a good deal of dramatic power and interest. A handsome edition of these plays, with a French translation, has been lately published, entitled, Théâtre de Rosvitha Religieuse, Allemande du Xe Siècle. Par Charles Magnin. Paris, 1845.

The most important collections of English Mysteries and Miracle-Plays, are those known as the Townley, the Chester, and the Coventry Plays. The first of these collections has been published by the Surtees Society, and the other two by the Shakspeare Society. In his Introduction to the Coventry Mysteries, the editor, Mr. Halliwell, quotes the following passage from Dugdale's Antiquities of War wickshire:PP

"Before the suppression of the monasteries, this city was very famous for the pageants, that were played therein, upon Corpus-Christi day; which, occasioning very great confluence of people thither, from far and near, was of no small benefit thereto; which pageants being acted with mighty state and reverence by the friars of this house, had theaters for the severall scenes, very large and high, placed upon wheels, and drawn to all the eminent parts of the city, for the better advantage of spectators and contain'd the story of the New Testament, composed into Old English Rithme, as appeareth by an ancient MS., intituled Ludus Corporis Christi, or Ludus Conventriæ. I have been told by some old people, who, in their younger years, were eye-witnesses of these pageants so acted, that the yearly confluence of people to see that show was extraordinary great, and yielded no small advantage to this city."

The representation of religious plays has not yet been wholly discontinued by the Roman Church. At Ober-Ammergau, in the Tyrol, a grand spectacle of this kind is exhibited once in ten years. A very graphic description of that which took place in the year 1850 is given by Miss Anna Mary Howitt, in her "Art-Student in Munich," Vol. I. Chap. IV. She says:

"The first view of Ober-Ammergau somewhat disappointed us. It lies in a smiling green valley surrounded by hills rather than mountains, and, excepting for the architecture of the cottages and certain rugged lines of peaks and cliffs telling of Alpine origin, might have passed for a retired Derbyshire dale.

"We had brought from our friend, Professor R., a letter to the peasant, Tobias Flunger, who performed the character of Christ, and this circumstance won for us good respect among our fellow-travellers. The stell-wagen drove up to his house, which is the second in the village, and surrounded by a gay little garden. Tobias Flunger came out to receive us, and you may imagine our surprise, when, instead of a peasant, as we had imagined, we beheld a gentleman to all appearance, in a gray sort of undress coat, and with a scarlet Fez on his head. He was certainly handsome, and welcomed us with a calm yet warm-hearted courtesy. As he removed his Fez we saw his dark glossy hair parted above the centre of his brow, and falling in rich waves upon his shoulders, and that his melancholy dark eyes, his pale brow, his emaciated features, his short, black beard, all bore the most strange and startling resemblance to the heads of the Saviour as represented by the early Italian painters.

"There was something to my mind almost fearful in this resemblance, and Tobias Flunger seemed to act and speak like one filled with a mysterious awe. this be an act of worship in him, this personation of our Lord, what will be its effects upon him in after-life? There was a something so strange, so unspeakably melancholy in his emaciated countenance, that I found my imagination soon busily speculating upon the true reading of its expression.

"At the door we were also met by his wife and little daughter, themselves peasants in appearance, but cheerful and kind in their welcome, as if we had been old friends. The whole cottage was in harmony with its inhabitants; bright, cheerful, and filled with traces of a simple, pious, beautiful existence. We were taken into a little room, half chamber, half study: upon the walls were several well-chosen engravings, after Hess and Overbeck; an old-fashioned cabinet, fronted with glass, contained various quaint drinking-glasses and exquisite specimens of carving in wood, an art greatly practised in the village. On one side of the cabinet hung a violin, and above it in another cabinet were arranged casts of hands and feet. On noticing these things to the wife, she said that her husband was a carver in wood by profession, and had brought these with him from Munich to assist him in his art.

"He is a great carver of crucifixes and Madonnas,' she continued; you must see his works.' He was an artist, then, this Tobias Flunger, with his grave, sad countenance, his air of superiority: yes, much was now explained. And no doubt his artist-feeling had been brought into operation for the benefit of the Miracle-Play, in the same manner that the schoolmaster of Ober-Ammergau had taxed his musical skill for the production of the music.

"It was now seven o'clock, and as it yet wanted an hour till the commencement of the play, our kind artistic host, with that strange, melancholy, awe-inspiring countenance of his, insisted upon accompanying us through the village, and showing us specimens of the wood-carving. 'There was yet plenty of time,' he said, 'for him to prepare for the play.""

577

"At the sound of a small cannon the motley crowd hastened towards the theatre, which was a large, unsightly wooden enclosure, erected on a broad, green meadow, within a stone's throw of the village. A few poplars growing on either side of the enclosure, no doubt mark from one ten years to another the precise spot. The brightly painted pediment of the proscenium rose above the wooden fence; crowds of people already thronged the hastily-erected flights of steps leading to the different entrances. A few moments more, and we were seated in the boxes, precisely opposite the front of the stage.

"With the first feeble notes from the orchestra, and very feeble at first they were, a dead silence sunk down upon the assembled multitude: as people say, 'you might have heard a pin drop.' All was breathless expectation. And soon, beneath the blue dome of heaven, and with God's sunlight showering down upon them, a fantastic vision passed across the stage; their white tunics glanced in the light, their crimson, violet, and azure mantles swept the ground, their plumed head-dresses waved in the breeze;-they looked like some strange flight of fabulous birds. This was the chorus, attired to represent angels. Like the antique chorus, they sung the argument of the play. With waving hands and solemn music their united voices pealed forth words of blessing, of Peace on earth and good will towards men;" they sang of God's infinite love in sending among men His blessed Son; and their voices rose towards heaven, and echoed among the hills. And whilst they thus sung your hearts were strangely touched, and your eyes wandered away from those singular peasant-angels and their peasant audience, up to the deep, cloudless blue sky above their heads; you heard the rustle of green trees around you, and caught glimpses of mountains, and all seemed a strange, fartastical, poetical dream. "But now the chorus retired, and the curtain slowly rose. feet, a hum of voices, a crowd approaches, children shout, wave palm-branches, and There is a tread of scatter flowers. In the centre of the multitude on the stage, riding upon an ass, sits a majestic figure clothed in a long violet-coloured robe, the heavy folds of a crimson mantle falling around him. His hands are laid across his breast; his face

is meekly raised towards heaven with an adoring love. Behind solemnly follows a group of grave men, staves in their hands, ample drapery sweeping the ground; you recognise John in the handsome, almost feminine youth, clothed in the green and scarlet robes, and with flowing locks; and there is Peter with his eager countenance; and that man with the brooding look, and wrapped in a flamecoloured mantle, that must be Judas! The children shout and wave their palmbranches, and the procession moves on-and that fatal, triumphal entry is made into Jerusalem.

"Again appears that tall, majestic figure in his violet robe; his features are lit up with a holy indignation; a scourge is in his hand; he overturns the tables of the money-changers, and drives before him a craven, avaricious crowd! An excited assembly of aged men, with long and venerable beards falling on their breasts, their features inflamed with rage, with gestures of vengeance, horror, and contempt, plot and decide upon his death! He, meantime, sits calmly at Bethany among his friends, and a woman, with beautiful long hair falling around her, kisses his feet, and anoints them with precious ointment from her alabaster vase. sits at a long table, his friends on either hand;-John leans upon his breast; he And now he breaks the bread. Judas, seized by his evil thought, rises from the table, wraps himself closely in his mantle, bows his head, and passes out. changes; it is a garden. That sad, grave man gazes with disappointed love upon Again the scene his sleeping friends; he turns away and prays, bowed in agony. There is a tumult! That figure wrapped in its flame-coloured robe again appears! There is an encounter; a flash of swords! and the majestic, melancholy, violet-robed figure, with meekly bowed head, is borne away! And thus ends the first act of this saddest of all tragedies.

"We had come expecting to feel our souls revolt at so material a representation of Christ, as any representation of Him we naturally imagined must be in a peasant's Miracle-Play. Yet so far, strange to confess, neither horror, disgust, nor contempt was excited in our minds. throughout the whole of the performance, that to me, at least, anything like anger, Such an earnest solemnity and simplicity breathed or a perception of the ludicrous, would have seemed more irreverent on my part than was this simple, child-like rendering of the sublime Christian tragedy. We felt at times, as though the figures of Cimabue, Giotto, and Perugino's pictures had become animated, and were moving before us; there was the same simple arrangement and brilliant colour of drapery-the same earnest, quiet dignity about the heads, whilst the entire absence of all theatrical effect wonderfully increased the

illusion. There were scenes and groups so extraordinarily like the early Italian pictures, that you could have declared they were the works of Giotto, and Perugino, and not living men and women, had not the figures moved and spoken, and the breeze stirred their richly-coloured drapery, and the sun cast long, moving shadows behind them on the stage. These effects of sunshine and shadow, and of drapery fluttered by the wind, were very striking and beautiful: one could imagine how the Greeks must have availed themselves of such striking effects in their theatres open to the sky."

"The performance had commenced at eight o'clock, and now it was one, and a pause therefore ensued,-the first pause of any kind during those five long hours.for tableau, and chorus, and acting had succeeded each other in the most rapid, unwearied, yet wearying routine! One felt perfectly giddy and exhausted by such a ceaseless stream of music, colour, and motion. Yet the actors, as if made of iron. appeared untouched by fatigue, and up to the very end of the second part, which lasted from two to five, played with the same earnest energy, and the chorus sang with the same powerful voice."

"The cannon again sounded, the people again streamed towards the theatre. We were again in our places, and again commenced that long, monotonous exhibition. But the peasant portion of the audience were as unwearying as the actors themselves; to them, indeed, the second part was the most intensely interesting of allEine herzruhrende, angriefende Geschichte-whilst to us it became truly revolting and painful. There was no sparing of agony, and blood, and horror; it was our Lord's Passion stripped of all its spiritual suffering-it was the anguish of the flesh -it was the material side of Catholicism. It was a painful, heart-rending, hurrying to and fro, amid brutal soldiery and an enraged mob, of that pale, emaciated, violetrobed figure: then there was his fainting under the cross; the crowning him with thorns; the scourging, the buffeting, the spitting upon him; and the soldiers laughed and scoffed, and derided with fierce brutality, and the people and the highpriest jeered and shouted; and ever he was meek and gentle. Then came the crucifixion; and as the chorus sang of the great agony, you heard from behind the curtain, the strokes of the hammer as the huge nails were driven into the cross, and, as your imagination believed, through his poor, pale hands and feet, and then, as the curtain slowly rose to the dying tones of the chorus, you beheld him hanging on the cross, between the two crucified thieves. Both myself and my companion turned away from the spectacle sick with horror. They divided his garments at the foot of the cross; they pierced his side; the blood flowed apparently from the wound, and from his martyred hands and feet. The Virgin and Mary Magdalen, and the disciples, lamented around the foot of the cross, in groups and attitudes such as we see in the old pictures. Then came Joseph of Arimathea; the body was taken down and laid upon white linen, and, quietly, solemnly, and mournfully followed by the weeping women, was borne to the grave. Next came the visit of the women to the sepulchre; the vision of the angels; the surprise and joy of the women; and lastly, as the grand finale, the resurrection!

"The Miracle-Play was at an end; and now the peasants began once more to breathe, and to return to common life; and we most heartily rejoiced that this long. long martyrdom was over. A martyrdom in two senses, for a more fatiguing summer day's work than the witnessing of this performance, which, but with an hour's pause, had lasted from eight in the morning till five in the evening, cannot be conceived. How the poor peasants managed to endure the burning rays of a July sun striking upon their heads for eight long hours, to say nothing of the heat and fatigue necessarily caused by the close pressure in the pit, I cannot imagine. In the boxes, where the people were secured from the sun by awnings, many a face had, hours before, begun to assume a pale and jaded look, and many an attitude to betray intense fatigue."

"In our moment of hurried departure, however, behold the sad, pale face of Tobias Flunger, bidding us adieu! He had again assumed his Fez and his gray coat-but the face was yet more gentle and dreamy, as though the shadow of the cross still lay upon it-and your eyes sought with a kind of morbid horror for the trace of the stigmata in those thin, white hands, as they waved a parting signal

It was a relief to see at his side the pleasant, bright, kind faces of his wife and 579 little daughter. There was a wholesome look of happiness and common life about them."

Mr. Bayard Taylor, in his "Eldorado," gives a description of a Mystery he saw performed at San Lionel, in Mexico. See Vol. II. Chap. XI. He says:

"Against the wing-wall of the Hacienda del Mayo, which cecupied one end of the plaza, was raised a platform, on which stood a table covered with scarlet cloth. A rude bower of cane-leaves, on one end of the platform, represented the manger of Bethlehem; while a cord, stretched from its top across the plaza to a hole in the front of the church, bore a large tinsel star, suspended by a hole in its centre. There was quite a crowd in the plaza, and very soon a procession appeared, coming up from the lower part of the village. The three kings took the lead; the Virgin mounted on an ass that gloried in a gilded saddle and rose-besprinkled mane and tail, followed them, led by the angel; and several women, with curious masks of paper, brought up the rear. dog's head on his shoulders and the other a bald-headed friar, with a huge hat Two characters of the harlequin sort-one with a hanging on his back-played all sorts of antics for the diversion of the crowd. After making the circuit of the plaza, the Virgin was taken to the platform, and entered the manger. King Herod took his seat at the scarlet table, with an attendant in blue coat and red sash, whom I took to be his Prime Minister. The three kings remained on their horses in front of the church; but between them and the platform, under the string on which the star was to slide, walked two men in long white robes and blue hoods, with parchment folios in their hands. These were the Wise Men of the East, as one might readily know from their solemn air, and the mysterious glances which they cast towards all quarters of the heavens.

"In a little while, a company of women on the platform, concealed behind a curtain, sang an angelic chorus to the tune of 'O pescator dell'onda.' proper moment, the Magi turned towards the platform, followed by the star, to which a string was conveniently attached, that it might be slid along the line. The At the three kings followed the star till it reached the manger, when they dismounted, and inquired for the sovereign whom it had led them to visit. They were invited upon the platform and introduced to Herod, as the only king; this did not seem to satisfy them, and, after some conversation, they retired. By this time the star had receded to the other end of the line, and commenced moving forward again, they following. The angel called them into the manger, where upon their knees, they were shown a small wooden box, supposed to contain the sacred infant; they then retired, and the star brought them back no more. himself greatly confused by what he had witnessed, and was very much afraid this After this departure, King Herod declared newly-found king would weaken his power. Upon consultation with his Prime Minister, the Massacre of the Innocents was decided upon, as the only means of security.

"The angel, on hearing this, gave warning to the Virgin, who quickly got down from the platform, mounted her bespangled donkey, and hurried off. Prime Minister directed all the children to be handed up for execution. a ragged sarape, was caught and thrust forward; the Minister took him by the heels Herod's in spite of his kicking, and held his head on the table. The little brother and sister of the boy, thinking he was really to be decapitated, yelled at the top of A boy, in their voices, in an agony of terror, which threw the crowd into a roar of laughter. King Herod brought down his sword with a whack on the table, and the Prime Minister, dipping his brush into a pot of white paint which stood before him, made a flaring cross on the boy's face. Several other boys were caught, and served likewise; and, finally, the two harlequins, whose kicks and struggles nearly shook down the platform. whole population of the village. The procession then went off up the hill, followed by the Méson, bonfires and rockets on the plaza, ringing of bells, and high mass in the All the evening there were fandangoes in the church, with the accompaniment of two guitars tinkling to lively polkas."

In 1852 there was a representation of this kind by Germans in Boston: and I have now before me the copy of a play-bill, announcing the performance, on June 10, 1852, in Cincinnati, of the "Great Biblico-Historical Drama, the Life of Jesus Christ."

THE SCRIPTORIUM.-PAGE 199.

A most interesting volume might be written on the Calligraphers and Chrysographers, the transcribers and illuminators of manuscripts in the Middle Ages These men were for the most part monks, who laboured sometimes for pleasure and sometimes for penance, in multiplying copies of the classics and the Scriptures.