324 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences , Arts 0 and Letters. 
an improbable assumption when we trace our mummers’ play 
back to a mimetic ceremony. 1 
Finally, we may note that the central theme of the St. 
George plays is similar to the central doctrine of the Christian 
Church. If our reasoning is sound, we cannot suppose that 
this is derived from the Church; moreover, according to the best 
evidence, the incident was present in ceremonies long before the 
appearance of the Christian Church. It was, therefore, an in¬ 
dependent possession, and this consideration might lead to a 
modification of Chambers’ opinion that the folk-drama con¬ 
tributed to the mighty stream of European drama only the 
tiniest rill. 2 Mr. Frazer has given as a reason for the rapid 
spread of Christianity in Western Asia the fact that the 
death and resurrection of a god had been yearly celebrated for 
generations before the crucifixion of Christ. 3 Somewhat the 
same reason may be given for the dramatization of the resur¬ 
rection in the Church liturgy—a question which Mr. Cham¬ 
bers nowhere answers. A remembrance of the fact that the 
people among whom the Church came were familiar with this 
incident, may show us why this part of the church service de¬ 
veloped so rapidly, was the first to become dramatic, and was 
the first to develop the trope and liturgical play. 4 The liturgi¬ 
cal plays did not deal with other events of the life of Christ 
until later. Elven the passion plays were a later develop¬ 
ment. 5 From this standpoint, a study of the whole matter 
would be most useful, as indicating the progress of liturgy 
and early drama, in their inter-connection. 
1 On this whole matter, see Wundt, “Vblkerpsychologie,” vol. 2, chap. 
1, pp. 307-394 (“Das Lied and erzahlende Dichtung”). Wundt makes 
the assumption a most natural one and traces the process of develop¬ 
ment in an admirable, though brief, manner. 
2 “Mediaeval Stage/’ vol. 1, p. 82. He is criticising Grimm’s state¬ 
ment that these ceremonies are the probable source of modern drama. 
(In Grimm’s “Kleinere SChriften,” vol. 5, p. 281.) 
3 L. c., vol. 3, pp. 195 ff. I quote Frazer in this connection in spite 
of Mr. Andrew Lang’s criticism of “The Golden Bough,” in “Magic and 
Religion,” 1901. 
4 L4on Gautier, “Histoire de la Podsie Liturgique au Moyen Age,” 
vol. 1, “Les’ Tropes,” 1886. (The second volume is not yet published.) 
8 Chambers, 1. c., vol. 2, p. 39. 
