278 Charles Davidson — English Mystery Plays. 



A. The introduction consists of six stanzas by 'Pilatus' in the 

 late style/ The verses of the first stanzaic section might easily be 

 read with five or six stresses.'* The rime is very striking, a a a a 

 b c c c b. 



This same stanza, with more or less irregularity of structure, is 

 found in nine plays : 'Processus Noe;' 'Prima Pastorum;' 'Secunda 

 Pastorum;' ' IMagnus Herodes;' ' Conspiracio et Captio,' first six 

 stanzas; ' Colaphizacio ;' 'Flagellacio,' from 'Primus Tortor' to 

 'Johannes Apostolus;' 'Processus Talentorum,' 23erhap8, though the 

 confusion is extreme ; the devil play in ' Juditium,' which is the 

 development of a minor motive in the York 'The Judgment Day.' 



These plays are notable in that they contain the first attempts in 

 English literature at the construction of a comedy of manners. In 

 other mystery plays we find shrewd references to existing customs, 

 comic episodes for the diversion of the audience ; thus in Ch, ' Mulier ' 

 in ' The Harrowing of Hell,' Josej^h's part in 'The Weavers' Pageant,' 

 and elsewhere, but here only does the comedy seek its own ends with 

 dramatic movement. 



There is an evident attempt at faithful presentation of the life of 

 the day. The detail of the meal in 'Prima Pastorum;' the farce, the 

 complaints about landlords and taxation, against the weather, the 

 remarks about the burden of many children in poor families, the 

 fondness for proverbs, and the comments upon wedlock — all of 

 which occur in 'Secunda Pastorum' — mark this writer as the herald 

 of a new era, the pioneer of an advance in English literature. 



The later satire of manners is fitly introduced by him. Tutivillus 

 in ' Juditium' is a precursor of the Vice, far more trenchant and dra- 

 matic than many a later Vice, whose remarks lay bare the follies, 

 extortion, and oppression of the day. How far this writer had 

 advanced beyond his fellows in dramatic power is revealed by a 

 comparison of Joseph's attempts at home thrusts in ' The Weavers' 

 Pageant" with the action in 'Processus Noe' and the 'Secunda Pas- 

 torum.' In the first the phrasing is awkward, retards the action in 

 many cases ; in the second the thought comes sharp, quick, and the 

 action knows no halt. 



This author neglects no opportunity of exposing the iniquities of 

 his day ; even in the six introductory stanzas of the ' Conspiracio et 

 Captio,' Pilate rej^resents a later generation of politician : 



1 See p. 251. 2 Schipper, vol. 1 , p. 391. 



3 The Presentation in the Temple : A Pageant as originallj' represented by the Corpo- 

 ration of the Weavers of Coventry : Edinburgh, Printed by the Abbotsford Club. 



