202 THE CHESTER MYSTERIES. 
Rector, the Rev. Mr. Chafey, by the Passion Play at Ober- 
Ammergau. The interestin the play grew daily. . . .. . 
In style the piece had been made to imitate, as far as possible, 
the Great Passion Play, suitable scenery and gorgeous dresses 
having been obtained at great cost, The peformance consisted 
of a series of tableaux-vivants. representing various events in 
the life of Christ. There were exactly 50 persons taking part 
in the performance, their ages ranging from four years to 
82 years, the Rector taking a leading character from time to 
time. An explanation was given of the successive tableaux, 
and selections of music were played during the performance 
from the Elijah and from the Messiah.” 
But these are exceptions and I do not desire to see such attempts 
become common. What I do regret is the disappearance of 
that which was next, after the Moralities, the earliest successor 
to the religious drama, the old Chronicle Play, wherein the 
events and characters of English history were dealt with in the 
same simple pictorial way as the history of the Bible had been 
in the religious plays; and now the importance of healthful and 
innocent recreation is being realized, as it never was realized 
before, I am not without hope that something of this kind may 
actually be revived before long, and prove a very great success. 
We must remember that it is upon the old Chronicle plays, 
simple and rude as they were, that Shakespeare’s magnificent 
historical dramas are founded. 
I must not, however, pursue this train of thought, for I fear 
I have already trespassed rather longer than I ought to have 
done upon your patience. I can only plead in excuse the 
difficulty I have experienced in selecting from the abundance 
of material at my disposal, and, in conclusion, express a hope 
that I may have succeeded in imparting to my paper at least 
some touches of the interest that I myself feel in the subject 
upon which I have had the honour of addressing you. 
