The Chester Musteries, and thetr 
connection with English Literature and 
the English Drama. 
BY MRS. HENRY SANDFORD. 
Read March 10th, 1890. 
T was simply as a student of English literature, and long 
before I had any idea of ever coming to live in Chester, 
that I first became acquainted with that 
‘celebrated collection of mysteries, founded upon Scriptural 
subjects, and formerly represented by the trades of Chester at Whitsun- 
tide,” ; 
which is to be the subject of the present paper. I will, 
therefore, ask leave to begin where I began myself, namely, 
with the connection of the Chester Mysteries, and, of course, 
also and equally, of all the other collections of mysteries and 
miracle plays, that have come down to us from the Middle Ages, 
with English literature and with the English drama. 
No country can ever boast of more than a very few names 
(many countries have not even one), either in art or in literature, 
that so transcend the limitations of time and place, as to stand 
forth pre-eminent in universal recognition, and for uncounted 
generations. There was but ove of his contemporaries of whom 
Ben Jonson cou/d write that ‘‘ he was not for an age, but for all 
time ;’’ and it* was in Shakespeare that—after centuries of 
growth and effort—the English nation first proved the maturity 
of its powers, by bringing forth a mind of this rare degree of 
excellence. What must ever be an interesting question is to 
consider how it came to pass that the genius of Shakespeare— 
that is to say, the genius of the English nation, touching for the 
first time the highest point of literary attainment—manifested 
itself in the particular shape that it actually did assume, namely, 
in those dramatic masterpieces which form so precious a part of 
our national inheritance. 
The simplest answer is, that the English nation, before the 
final triumph of the Puritan movement in the field of social life, 
was, and had been for generations, one of the most dramatic 
nations in Europe. Acting was the common delight of all 
classes, the amusement that naturally suggested itself at any 
