THE DRAMA AND DRAMATISTS. 
By E. FLETCHER. 
(Read at Whitehaven. ) 
The subject of the Drama and Dramatists is a vast and 
comprehensive one, embracing as it does the whole of the British 
drama from its earliest stage to the present time. Midst the gloom 
and darkness that prevailed in the earlier centuries of our history, 
little is known concerning those poets who first took pen in hand to 
frame the English drama. 
In England the Miracle Play, or Mystery, acted in churches 
and convents, either by the clergy themselves, or by their direction, 
was the earliest form of the English drama. The only knowledge 
of Bible history possessed by the rude and ignorant masses of the 
people during the latter centuries of the Middle Ages was got from 
q these plays. The subjects chosen were such as the Creation, the 
a Fall, the Deluge, the Crucifixion,—and were dramatized with little 
_ regard to the sacred and awful nature of the themes. Profane 
and terrible were these mistaken teachings. Three platforms, one 
_ above another, formed a triple stage ; the topmost represented the 
_ Heaven of Heavens, and was occupied by a group of actors who 
a personated the Almighty and His angels; below stood those who 
* played the parts of the redeemed ; upon the lowest platform which 
_ imitated the world, the deeds of men were represented, and not far 
