many passages of spirit, force, and harmony. We quote the following description of the fight between Eteocles and Polynices (Act V.):

'Oh blind unbridled search of sovereignty,
Oh tickle train of evil attained state!

Oh fond desire of princely dignity!
Who climbs too soon, he oft repents too late.
The golden mean the happy doth suffice;
They lead the poasting day in rare delight,
They fill (not feed) their uncontented eyes,
They reap such rest as doth beguile the

night;

They not envy the pomp of haughty train,
Nor dread the dint of proud usurping swords;
But plast alow more sugred joys attain,
Than sway of lofty sceptre can afford.
Cease to aspire, then; cease to soar so high,
And shun the plague that pierceth noble

breasts.

To glittering courts what fondness is to fly
When better state in baser towers rests!'

We cannot afford to notice more in detail the productions which appeared previous to the time when the 'great race' of Elizabethan dramatists, commencing with Lilly, began to pour forth their unequalled productions; indeed there are few pieces extant, produced during that time, of any great merit in themselves, and we have noticed those above mentioned chiefly to show the reader when and how the regular drama came into being. Enough has been said to prove that shortly after 1560 it was fairly afloat on the sea of literature; and as a proof that the morality was being rapidly superseded by its more vigorous and life-like successor, as well as of the immense productiveness of the period between 1560 and 1580, we may mention that while, during that time, only six moralities were represented at court, there were enacted forty-six regular tragedies and comedies, none of which are now extant.

As we are mainly concerned here with the drama as a form of literature, we have not thought it necessary, and, indeed, we have not space, to give any details concerning it in its theatrical aspect. With regard to theatres, it must suffice to say that long after the commencement of the regular drama, moralities and even regular plays were played in public on stages erected in the open air, very often in inn yards. The Belle Savage in London was a favourite locality for such performances. It would appear, however, that latterly it was customary to represent plays in private in such places as the Inns of Court, and the residences of the sovereign and the nobility. The first regularly licensed theatre was opened at Blackfriars in 1576; and in a very short time it had about half a dozen rivals, as The Theatre in Shoreditch, The Curtain near Belle Savage, Paris Garden, Whitefriars, and others. The Globe theatre, with which Shakespeare was connected, was erected on the Bankside in Southwark about 1593, where also were erected The Rose, The Hope, and The Swan theatres. In the time of Shakespeare there would appear to have been at least a dozen of these buildings. The theatres were constructed of wood, of a circular form, open to the weather, excepting over the stage, which was covered with a thatched roof. Outside, on the roof, a flag was hoisted during the time of the performance, which commenced at three o'clock, at the sounding or flourish of trumpets. The cavaliers and fair dames of the court of Elizabeth sat in boxes below the gallery, or were accommodated with stools on the stage, where some of the young gallants also threw themselves at length on the rush-strewn floors, while their pages handed them pipes and tobacco, then a fashionable and highly-prized luxury. The middle classes were crowded in the pit or yard, which was not furnished with seats. Moveable scenery was first introduced by Davenant after the Restoration, but rude imitations of towers, woods, animals, or furniture, served to illustrate the scene. To point out the place of action, a board containing the name, painted or written in large letters, was hung out during the performance.' Actresses were not seen on the stage till after the Restoration, the female parts being taken by boys or effeminate-looking young men. It was customary for the king or queen and some of the nobles to retain companies of actors in their service for their own entertainment, although they were also allowed to act in public; hence the phrases attached to the titles of many old plays, 'Acted by the Queen's Majesty's Servants,' 'the Earl of Leicester's Servants,' etc. As will be seen in the following pages, many of the dramatists were actors as well.

SPECIMENS OF EARLY ENGLISH DRAMAS.

In order to illustrate the preceding remarks, and enable the reader to judge for himself of the nature and progress of the early English drama, we shall here give specimens of a miracle play, and of an early comedy and tragedy. We have not space to introduce a morality; but as, with the exception of the characters, it differed but little from a miracle play, an example of a morality can be dispensed with, especially as we have given an abstract of one or two in the Introduction, which we have also done in the case of one of the best Interludes.

The miracle play we have selected is the one entitled Noah's Flood, from the Chester series; it was played by the 'Water Leaders and the Drawers of the Dee.' The whole series appears to have been played at one time, and to have occupied a number of days. Previous to the commencement of their exhibition, were read the Banes or proclamation, which gives an account of the supposed origin of the plays, and assigns to each of the trade-companies the part it is to take in the performance. Noah's Flood was the third in the order of performance, being preceded by The Fall of Lucifer, and The Creation and the

Fall.

The first speaker is God, who laments the universal wickedness of the world, declaring his determination to exterminate 'man, beast, worm, and fowl.' He then gives Noah the details of the construction of the ark, and the play proceeds as follows:

JAPHETH'S WIFE.

And I will gather chips here
To make a fire for you in fere, 1
And for to dight your dinner,

Against your coming in.

Then Noah beginneth to build the ark, and speaketh Noah:

NOAH.

Now in the name of God, I begin
To make the ship that we shall in,
That we may be ready for to swim
At the coming of the flood:
These boards here I pin together,
To bear us safe from the weather,
That we may row hither and thither,
And safe be from the flood.

Of this tree will I make the mast,
Tied with cables that will last,
With a sail yard for each blast,
And each thing in their kind:
With topcastle and bowsprit,
Both cords and ropes I have all mette,
To sail forth at the next wet,

This ship is at an end.

God then gives Noah a list of all the animals he is to take with him into the ark, concluding by declaring that he shall cause rain to fall for forty days and nights in order that men may be destroyed for their 'unrights.'

We shall next present to the reader so much of the earliest extant English comedy (Ralph Roister Doister) as will enable him to form a notion of its merits

MATTHEW MERRYGREEKE (enteręth singing).

As long liveth the merry man (they say),

As doth the sorry man, and longer by a day.

After a few more lines in this strain, he says:

1 But-without, unless.

3 wood-mad.

2 note-(?) head or nose. She evidently makes him feel the weight of her fist.

mone-may.

5 meanye-menage, household.

• Warray-war with, curse.

M. Merry. Ah, this foolish love! wil't ne'er And ye will not believe what they say in the let us alone?