356 Elbert N. S. Thompson 
authority of God. Peace pleads for a reconciliation. Then the 
judge renders his decision, writing on the ground, “Haec dicit, 
‘Perii, si Adam non moriatur’; et haec dicit, ‘ Perii nisi misericordiam 
consequatur.’ Fiat mors bona et habet utraque quod petit.” The 
supporters of both policies are surprised; how can the sinner die 
and at the same time enjoy mercy? The judge accordingly explains 
that it can come about only by the voluntary death of some inno- 
cent man. But Truth among all the mortals on earth can find no 
innccent person, while Mercy in heaven can find no one with enough 
love for man to make the sacrifice. Peace then declares that only 
God himself can do it, and the plan of redemption is decreed. 
It would be beyond the scope of this book to trace the progress 
of Bernard’s dramatic sermon through medieval religious literature. 
Bonaventura in the Weditationes, Robert Grosseteste in the Chasteau 
ad’ Amour, the author of the Cursor Mundi, and many other churchmen 
in homily, treatise, and poem, copied it either at first hand or in- 
directly. It descended, therefore, as a heritage to the sacred drama.! 
Of the ten French plays which contain the dispute, the most 
complete is Arnould Gréban’s Mystere de la Passion. After a 
preface narrating the creation, the fall of Lucifer, and the sin of 
Adam, the long play opens with a scene in Limbo, where Adam 
and Eve in company with the prophets wait with lamentation and 
entreaty for the coming of the Son of God. Then the scene 
changes to Paradise, where Mercy, Truth, Justice, and Peace are 
met to determine the fate of man. Their argument hinges mainly 
on the relative degrees of culpability of Lucifer and of Adam. All 
agree that Lucifer’s crime is unpardonable; but Mercy shows that 
man sinned not through lust of power, as did Satan, but in ignorant 
craving for knowledge. Justice, however, declares that both Adam 
and Lucifer rebelled against God’s power. In this opinion Truth, 
‘a woman very wise and prudent,” concurs. But Mercy, encouraged 
by God's reminder of his grace, insists that man’s inherent nobility, 
and his condition of ignorance and weakness at the time of the 
fall, entitle him to a lenity that Lucifer can not claim. The six 
grounds on which she bases the distinction convince Justice and 
Truth that man’s punishment should not be eternal; but what 
should it be? On this point Mercy defers to the deeper wisdom 

1 In her full history of the allegory, Miss Traver discusses ten French 
plays: Mercadé’s, Adystére de la Passion, Gréban’s Passion, Viel Testament, 
Le Mistére de la Conception, the Valenciennes Passion, La Rouen Jncar- 
nation, La Vengeance Nostre Seigneur, L’ Amour Divin, La Moralité de Na- 
ture, and Le Laz d’Amour Divin. See Traver, 70—124. 
