sitting in what is called the 'Moot-hall'. Pilate refusing to interfere, Jesus is conveyed to Herod, where he is stripped and beaten 'till he is all bloody'. We then come to the subsequent direction: 'Here enteryth Satan into the place [meaning again the centre surrounded by the stages or scaffolds] in the most orryble wyse, and qwyl that he pleyth they shall don on Jesus clothis'. Satan's speech commences the thirty-first pageant, in which he calls upon hell to make ready, as Christ would soon visit it. A devil, speaking in hell, warns Satan, that if Christ invades his regions there will be an end of his power; and Satan begins to think that he has gone too far, and acted imprudently in promoting the death of Christ he therefore hastens to 'Pilate's wife', 'the corteyn drawing as she lyth in bedde', and is supposed to visit her in a dream; from which she starts, and with her kyrtyl in here hand', 'like a mad woman', she runs to her husband's scaffold, tells him her vision, and thus warns him not to condemn Jesus. 'Pylat, I charge thee that thou take hede, Deme not Jhesu, but be his frend ; Zyf thou jewge hym to be dede, Thou art damnyd withouten ende. 'A fend aperyd me before, As I lay in my bed slepyng fast. 'As wylde fyre and thondyr blast He came crying unto me: He sayd thei that bete Jhesu, or bownd hym fast, "Therfore away herein thou see, And lete Jhesu from the[e] clere pace : The Jewys thei woll begyle thee, And put on thee all the trespace.' Pilate mildly replies, Gramercy, myn wyf, for ever ye be trewe; And all shall be weyl, dame, as ye shall see.' The thirty-second play is occupied with the cruelty and insults of the Jews, and finally with the crucifixion of the Saviour between the two thieves, Pilate, Caiphas, and Annas. 'coming down from their scaffolds' to witness it. CASTING THE DICE. Widkirk In the Widkirk Collection, we now arrive at a play (No. 22) which seems to have been intended only to excite laughter among the spectators, and is in no way a necessary part of the performance, as the event to which it refers has been before disposed of, viz., the drawing lots for Christ's garment. Pilate begins it with some Latin monkish verses: 'Cernite, qui statis, quod miræ sum potestatis: Hoc cognoscatis, vos cedam ni taceatis,' etc. He afterwards gives a specimen of his poetical skill, in lines half English, and half Latin. Stynt, I say; gyf men place, quia sum dominus dominorum: He that agans me says, rapietur lux oculorum : and he adds the etymology of his own name, to show that he was of a royal stock, making the Latin the first part of the line, and the English the last : · Stemate reginæ, Kyng Atus gate me of Pila ;' hence, of course, Pilatus; but he tells us also that nomine vulgari he was 'Pownce Pilate', or Pontius Pilate. Having gone through this fatigue, he lies down to sleep, and the two Tortores, accompanied by a third who calls himself Spillpain, enter for the purpose of procuring the decision of Pilate, as to who is to have Christ's garment. Pilate, awakened by one of his council, tries in various ways to defraud the Tortores of the subject of dispute, and when he proposes that they should 'draw cuts', they suspect that he will overreach them : they produce three dice, thinking that with them they shall be his match, and after much discussion they throw, and Spillpain wins; but Pilate obtains the garment after all, partly by force, and partly by threats. The Tortores then, like unsuccessful gamesters, read a moral lecture on the vice of gambling, of which the following is the sum: Nothing at all resembling this piece is found in either of the other two manuscript collections of plays. DESCENT OF CHRIST INTO HELL.-THE RESURRECTION. The descent of Christ into Hell, founded upon the apocryWidkirk phal gospel of Nicodemus (Ch. xvi, xvii, xviii, and Plays. xix), forms one of every known collection of Miracleplays, and it was no doubt a favourite subject, on account of 2 1 i. e., Goods that you are wanting, or lacking. 2 One of the oldest MSS. of a Miracle-play in English (mentioned in our Introduction) is occupied by this event: it was written as early as the reign of Edward III, and is in the British Museum. (Harl. MS. No. 2253, fol. 55, b.) It is a piece regularly constructed, with a sort of pro the scope it afforded for the display of strong contrasts, and especially for the exhibition of the dismay and discomfiture of Satan and his attendant demons. logue and epilogue. After the prologue, Christ enters, and states his sufferings, and design in descending to hell: Satan hears him, and enquires who it is, lest he should' fonden how we pleyen here'. The Saviour declares himself; and Satan argues with him on the injustice of depriving him, Satan, of what he has acquired, observing, 'Whoso buyth any thing, Hit is hys ant his offspryng.' i. e., 'whosoever buys anything, it belongs to him and his offspring'. Christ contends, on the contrary, that the apple with which Satan bought Adam was his property, and tells the devil that he must submit, as 'Ambes-aas' has fallen to hym; in other words, that Satan has cast the dice, and has thrown both aces. After much discussion, the Saviour arrives at the gates of hell and exclaims, 'Helle gates y come nou to, And y wole that heo' un do. Me thuncketh he is a coward.' The 'gateward', or porter of hell, runs away, saying, 'Ich have herd wordes stronge, Ne dar y her no lengore stonde: Y lete them stonde ant renne away.' The Saviour binds Satan in hell till 'that come domesday', and apparently without any resistance: Christ is then received by Adam, Eve, Abraham, David, St. John the Baptist, and Moses. Adam says, 'Welcome louerd2 god of londe, Godes sone ant godes sonde,3 Each of the other characters makes a speech in turn, and the epilogue warns the audience not to commit any offences that may put them in peril of hell and its pains. 1 They. 2 Lord. * Messenger. In the Widkirk series, Christ descends, in the 23rd pageant, Widkirk stating the object of his visit: Adam sees the 'gleam' Plays. of his coming, and announces it to Eve and the Prophets, who sing for joy-et cantent omnes Salvator mundi. Rybald, one of the demons and porter of hell, is in great alarm, and calls out to Belzebub to prepare for resistance. The terror becomes general; and ‘Astarot, and Anaball, Berith and Belyall', together with 'Sir Satan our sire', are summoned, while 'watches are set on the walls'.-Satan threatens to beat out Belzebub's brains for rousing him. The devils refuse to open the gate, and Christ exclaiming Attollite portas, etc., they burst. Satan from below orders his fiends to 'dyng the dastard downe', and Belzebub replies,' that is soon said. Satan ascends from the pit of hell, and Christ tells him that he is come to fetch his own, and that his Father sent him: Satan answers, that he 'knew his Father well by sight', and reasons with Christ, on the impolicy and injustice of releasing those already damned. Argument failing, he entreats Christ to take him out of hell also, to which the Saviour replies, that although he will not do that, he will leave him some company, Cain, Judas, Achitophel, Cato, and others who had destroyed themselves: he adds that such as obey his laws shall never come to hell, which rejoices Satan, because he congratulates himself that hell will soon be fuller than ever, since he intends to walk east and west, in order to seduce mankind from obedience. Christ replies |