306 Elbert N. S. Thompson 
tenth century, used without scruple the artifice. of dialogue for the 
very framework of their most important sermons.* 
The Blickling homilist, in his sermon on The Story of Peter and 
Paul, retained the abundance of dialogue that he found in his apo- 
cryphal source, giving it, however, a prominence that determined 
the nature of the whole discourse.? After a short introduction, he 
states the theme of his drama—the contention of the two Apostles 
with Simon Magus when they were brought before Nero to face 
the sorcerer’s accusations. The preliminary situation is then ex- 
plained by the author. But immediately, as the accused are 
brought before the emperor, Simon in person prefers his charges. 
“Hear me, worshipful emperor; I am the Son of God, who came 
down from heaven, but I have up to this time suffered great injury 
from Peter.” Thereafter the story is carried on largely by the 
characters themselves. Nero asks for explanations; the accused and 
the accuser recite facts and submit charges; the tests that are to 
establish the false pretensions of one party or the other are pro- 
posed and carried through, till finally Peter’s prayer dashes the 
presumptuous magician to death. Some of the speeches are long 
and devoid of action; but there is a good deal, also, of brisk, 
natural conversation. “Then said Simon the sorcerer, ‘These are 
the disciples of the Nazarene Saviour.’... Nero said, ‘Who is the 
Nazarene ?’ Simon replied, ‘There is a city in the land of Judea, 
called Nazareth, from whence came their teacher.’ Then said Nero, 
‘God instructeth and loveth every man; why persecutest thou these 
men?’ Simon said, ‘These are the persons who frustrate all my 
works, so that folk should not believe in me.’ Then said Nero, 
‘Why were ye two or your kin so faithless?’ Then said Peter to 
the sorcerer, ‘Thou wast able to teach thy false crafts to all other 
persons; but God through me convicted them of falsehood... thou 
couldest not overcome me.’?” The sermon, as one sees, is virtually 
a dramatic narrative. 
Equally notable for its dramatic form and spirit is the sermon on 
the Assumption of the Virgin in these same tenth-century homilies.‘ 
Here the progress of the dialogue is just as effective, and the sug- 
gestion of action even more clear and dramatic. The angel brings 
Mary a palm sprig; Mary dresses herself in preparation for the end; 
the Apostles are conveyed miraculously to the scene; the procession 

1 Bourgain, 211-12, regards the practice as peculiar to the twelfth 
century. 
2 Apocryphal Gospels, Acts, and Revelations, 256—78. 
3 174, 4 136-59. 
