KNOWLEDGE 



[Aug. 28, 1885. 



A. Now, my dere child, thon may not shon. 



/. The shyDyng of youre bright blayde 



It gars me quake for ferd to dee. 

 A. Therefor groflyngea * thou shalle be layde, 



Then when I stryke thou shalle not se. 

 1. What have I done, fader, what have I saide ? 



A. Truly, no kyns ille to me. 



/. And "thus gyltlea shalle be arayde. 



A. Now, good son, let siche wordes be. 



/. I luf you ay. 



A. So do I thee. 



I. Fader ! 



A. What, Bon ? 



/. Let now be seyn 



For my moder luf. 

 A. Let be, let be ! 



It wille not help that thou wold meyn (com- 

 plain) ; 

 Bot ly stylle tille I com to the, 

 I mys a lytylle thyng I weyn. 

 Thcu making pretence of having lost sometlung as 

 excuse for delay, and to hide his tears, Abraham .says : — 

 He apekee so rufully to me 

 That water shotea in both myn eeyn. 

 I were lever than all warldly wyn 

 That I had for hym onya unkynde ; 

 But no defawt I faund hym in ; 

 I wold be dede for hym or pjrade, 

 To slo hym thus I thynk grete syn. 

 What sbal I to hya moder say ? 

 For wher ia he tyte wille she apyr. 

 In modern English : What water shoots into both 

 mine eyes ! I should have been more glad than of all 

 worldly gain, if I had found him once unkind ; but I 

 never found him in fault. I would willingly die or 

 endure suffering for him : to slay him thus I think a 

 great sin. What can I tell his mother when she quickly 

 asks, where is he ? Then the angel, with the " beest 

 God sendes to thyn offerand," arrests the father's hand, 

 but Abraham will not talk with him till he has unbound 

 and kissed his son. 



The corresponding scene in the York pageant is tJius 

 pourtrayed. When Isaac bids his father take the sword, 

 .since his "flesshe waxis faynte for ferde," Abraham 

 replies : — 



Nay, nay. Bone, nay, I the be-hete. 

 That do I noght, with-outen were. 

 Thy wordis makis me my wangges (cheeks) to wete. 

 And chaunges, childe, ful often my cheere. 

 Ther-fore lye downe, hande and feete, 

 Kowe may thou witte thyn oure ia nere. 

 Isaac. A '. dere fadir, lyff ia full awete. 



The drede of dede dose all mj dere. 

 As I am here youre sone. 

 To god I take "me till, 

 Nowe am I laide here bone, (ready) 

 Do with me what ye will. 

 For fadir, I aake no more respete, 

 Bot here a worde what I wolde mene, 

 I beseke yon or that ye smyte. 

 Lay donne this kyrcheffe on myn eghnc. 

 Than may youre offerand be parfite. 

 If ye wille wirke thus as I wene, 

 And here to god my saule I wite, 

 And all my body to brenne bydcne (burn forth- 

 with). 

 Now fadir be noght myssyng. 

 But emyte fast as ye may. 

 Abraham. Fare-wele, in goddis dere bliasyng. 

 And myn, for euer and ay. 

 That pereles prince I praye 

 Myn offerand here till bane it, 

 My sacryfice this day, 

 I praye the Lorde ressayue it. 

 Angel. Abraham! Abraham! 



Abraham. Lo 1 here I wys. 



Angel. Abraham, abyde, and halde the stille. 



Sla noght thy sone, do hym no mysse, 



* With the face downwards. 



Take here a schepe thy offerand tyll, [a sheep comes in] 



Is sente the fro the Kyng of blisse.* 

 To this pageant there succeeds in varving arrangement 

 i\u' Processus rmi-lnt,, n^ „,. in which Moses recites the 

 commandmeni,-. ^l.i'' I i i^l. Daniel, the Sybil, kc, 

 deliver the ^\' , ; ncies; the Towneley series 



containing an : i i: i : ! ; I . i.ii the like subject, entitled 

 Cwsar Auyustuo. Tin i',..iVuo of the Towneley series, 

 and the Departure of Isrudites in the York series, are 

 nearly identical, and deal with the ten plagues, the 

 deliverance of the Hebrews, and the drowning of the 

 Egyptian pursuers, the last words of Pharaoh being — 



Heyf up youre hertes unto Mahowne, 



Help, the ragged dwylle, we drowne. 

 Now mon we dy for alle oure dede. 

 This pageant is absent both from tlie Coventry and 

 Chester series, the plays based on the Old Testament in 

 the former ending with The Prophets, and in the latter 

 with De Mose et Eege Balaal; et Balaam. 



Of the York plays, 11 out of 48 ; of the Towneley, 8 

 out of 32 ; of the Coventry, 7 out of 42 ; of the Chester, 

 5 out of 25 ; are drawn from Old Testament narra- 

 tives. That the five pageants occupied the first day's 

 exhibition at Chester is shown by the closing lines of 

 the play on Balaam : — 



Nowe, worthy sires, bouLh greate and small. 

 You have we ahewed this stage before ; 

 And yf yt be pleasinge to yon all, 



" nexte you shall have more. 



PLEASANT HOURS WITH THE 

 MICROSCOPE. 



By Henry J. Slack, F.G.S., F.R.M.S. 



IX the second week in August it was noticed that 

 many oak leaves in a clipped hedge were full of 

 yellowish-green spots. The cause of the appearance was 

 seen immediately on looking at their under surface, 

 where a number of minute, yellow, soft-looking objects 

 were discovered. A hand-magnifier showed that they 

 were very small insects in company with eggs arranged 

 in concentric and nearly circular curves. Some of the 

 creatures were completely surrounded with their eggs, 

 which had the aspect of slender ovals of clear glass; 

 others had only deposited a few eggs, and some of these 

 were brought to the house without disturbing their 

 position on the leaf, and placed under the microscope, 

 with a li inch power for a general view, and subse- 

 quently 1 inch, and | inch, and iinch, for observation of 

 mere details. The first appearance of one of the egg- 

 layers was that of a shapeless little mass of yellow 

 jelly, destitute of limbs, and variegated with a few red 

 spots. This state of things lasted for more than 

 an hour, when some jerkish movements began. The 

 antennae, which had been folded close up to the creature, 

 \ made some feeble motions, and some legs were protruded. 

 It was, however, at the tail-end that most energy was 

 displayed, and after a little while the Phylloxera, for 

 such it was, assumed an appearance like Fig. A. The 

 tail-end was employed as a feeler to ascertain the position 

 of the last egg that had been laid. This information 

 determined the creature's selection of the spot on which 

 to deposit her next egg, which was guided to its place by 

 a pair of blunt, pear-shaped ovipositors. 



More eggs were laid in slow succession, and then came 



* York Mystery Plays, pp. Gl, 65. 



