Most strong and myghty in feld for to fyght,
And to venquyshe my enemyes that ageynst me do;
I am most be dred with my bronde bryght.

My grett goddes I gloryfye with gladnesse,
And to honoure them I knele upon my knee;
For thei have sett me in solas for all sadnesse,
That no conqueroure nor knyght is compared to me;
All the that rebelle ageyns me ther bane I will be,
Or grudge ageyns my godds on hyll or hethe;
All suche rebellers I shall make for to flee,

And with hard punyshements putt them to dethe."

It is worthy of remark, that a sort of fool or buffoon is introduced, under the name of Watkyn, the King's Messenger.

The following is a specimen of the speeches put into the mouth of this personage. He has obtained Herod's permission to accompany the knights appointed to slay the children.

Watkyn. Nay, nay, my lord, we wyll let for no man,
Though ther come a thousand on a rought;

For your knyghts and I, will kylle them all, if we can:
But for the wyves that is all my dought,
And if I see ony walkyng a bought,
I will take good hede tyll the be goon,
And assone as I aspye that she is out,
By my feith, into the hous I will
go anon.

And this I promyse you, that I shall never slepe,

But evermore wayte to fynde the children alone;

And if the moder come in, under the bench I will crepe,

And lye stille ther tyll she be goon,

Than manly I shall come out and hir children sloon,

And whan I have don I shall renne fast away:

If she founde hir child dede, and toke me ther alone,

Be my feith, I am sure we shuld make a fray."

There is more discrimination of character in these two persons than in most of the Mysteries, as will be observed from the contrast between the foregoing extracts.

The Tragydye or Enterlude manyfesting the chefe promyses of God unto man by all ages in the old lawe, from the fall of Adam to the encarnacyon of the Lord Jesus Chreste, by Bishop Bale, was a later production than the foregoing, being printed in 1538. The interlocutors are, Pater cœlestis, justus Noah, Moses sanctus, Esaias propheta, Adam primus homo, Abraham fidelis, David rex pius, and Joannes baptista; and Baleus is the prolocutor. It is divided into seven acts or distinct

Mysteries, each of which is opened by Pater cœlestis, and consists of a dialogue between him and one of the other personages. There are only two speakers in each act, and this famous tragedy might, with more propriety, be termed a series of dialogues. From this brief account it will be seen, that it has far less pretensions to the title of drama, or, as prolocutor Baleus would say, to tragydye, than the very curious old Mystery of Candlemas-Day.

We shall, however, trespass on the reader's attention for a few minutes, by quoting one passage from it. Pater cœlestis threatens destruction to Sodom and Gomor. Abraham fidelis beseeches him not to cast away the good with the ungodly, and suggests, that there might be fifty righteous persons within these cities, whom he could not be so rigorous as to destroy. The dialogue then proceeds as follows:

"Pater cœlestis. At Sodom, if I may fynde just persones fiftye, The place wyll I spare for their sakes verelye.

Abraham fidelis. I take upon me, to speake here in thy presence, More then become me, Lorde pardon my neglygence,

I am but ashes, and were lothe the to offende.

Pater cœlestis. Saye fourth, good Abraham, for yll dost thu non intende.

Abraham fidelis. Happlye there maye be fyve lesse in the same nombre ;

For their sakes 'I trust thu wylt not the rest accombre.

Pater cœlestis. If I amonge them myght fynde but fyve and fortye, Them wolde I not lose for that just cumpanye.

Abraham fidelis. What if the cytie maye fortye ryghteouse make? Pater cœlestis. Then wyll I pardone it for those same fortye's sake. Abraham fidelis. Be not angrye, Lorde, though I speake undyscretely. Pater cælestis. Utter thy whole mynde, and spare me not hardelye. Abraham fidelis. Parauventure there maye be thirty founde amonge them.

Pater cœlestis. Maye I fynde thirty, I wyll nothynge do unto them. Abraham fidelis. I take upon me to moche, Lorde, in thy syght. Pater cœlestis. No, no, good Abraham, for I knowe thy faythe is ryght.

Abraham fidelis. No lesse, I suppose, than twenty can it have. Pater cœlestis. Coulde I fynde twenty, that cytie wolde I save. Abraham fidelis. Ones yet wyll I speake my mynde, and then no

more.

Pater cœlestis. Spare not to utter so moche as thu hast in store. Abraham fidelis. And what if there myght be ten good creatures

founde?

Pater cœlestis. The rest for their sakes myght so be safe and sounde, And not destroyed for their abhomynacyon."

So much for Bishop Bale's tragedy. We now proceed to a few specimens from the Moralities. The very old piece of this class called Hycke-Scorner, was written in the reign of Henry the Eighth. The object of it is, to rescue two dissolute characters, distinguished by the names of Freewyll and Imagynacyon, from a vicious course of life. Hycke-Scorner, who gives the title to the Morality, and who has just returned from his travels, takes a much less considerable part in it than his two companions Freewyll and Imagynacyon. A quarrel having arisen between the two latter, Pytie attempts to make peace between them; an interference which they take so ill, that they put him in the stocks. Perseverance and Contemplation soon release him, and they go in search of Freewyll and Îmagynacyon, whom they succeed in converting to a virtuous life, but what becomes of Hycke-Scorner does not appear. This Morality has no inconsiderable pretensions to liveliness and humour, for although the personages are devoid of any distinctive character, they afford us a very lively picture of the manners of the dissolute youth of the age.

Hycke-Scorner gives the following curious list of a fleet, which he describes as having been lost in the Irish Channel.

"Herken, and I wyll shewe you theyr names eche one:
Fyrst was the Regent, with the Myghell of Brykylse,
The George, with the Grabryell, and the Anne of Foye,
The starre of Salte-Ashe with the Ihesus of Plumoth,
Also the Hermytage, with the Barbara of Dartmouth,
The Nycolas, and the Mary Bellouse of Brystowe,
With the Elyn of London and James also."

Freewyll's account of his escape from prison, is humorous.
"Freewyll. Make you rome for a gentylman, syrs, and pease;
Duegarde, seygnours, tout le preasse,

And of your jangelynge yf ye wyll sease,

I wyll tell you where I have bene:

Syrres, I was at the taverne, and dronke wyne,
Methought, I sawe a pece that was lyke myne,
And, syr, all my fyngers were arayed with lyme,
So I convayed a cuppe manerly:

And yet ywys, I played all the fole,

For there was a scoler of myne owne scole;
And, syr, the horesone aspyed me.

Than was I rested, and brought in pryson;
For woo than I wyste not what to have done,
And all bycause I lacked monaye,

But a frende in courte is worthe a peny in purs:
For Imagynacyon, myne owne felowe, I wys,
He dyde helpe me out full craftely.
Syrres, he walked thrughe Holborne,
Thre houres after the sonne was downe,

And walked up towarde saynte Gyles in the felde:
He hoved styll, and there behelde,

But there he coude not spede of his praye,

And straight to Ludgate he toke the way;
Ye wote well, that potycaryes walke very late,
He came to a dore, and pryvely spake
To a prentes for a peny worth of uforbyum,
And also for a half peny worth of alom plomme;
This good servaunte served hym shortely,

And sayd, is there ought elles that you wolde bye?
Then he asked for a mouthfull of quycke brymstone;
And downe in to the seller whan the servant was gone,
Asyde as he kest his eye,

A grete bagge of monaye dyde he spye,

Therin was an hondred pounde:

He trussed hym to his fete, and yede his waye rounde,

He was lodged at Newgate at the swanne,

And every man toke hym for a gentyll man;

So on the morrowe he delyvered me

Out of Newgate by this polyce:

And now wyll I daunce an make ryall chere."

Pytie describes the vices of the times in a very peculiar sort of measure, which is not without harmony.

Extorsyon is called lawe, so God we spede;

`Worse was hyt never.

Youth walketh by nyght with swerdes and knyves,
And ever amonge true men leseth theyr lyves,
Lyke heretykes we occupy other menne's wyves,
Now a dayes in Englonde :"

The dramatis persona, in this Morality, are designated by portraits, or figures.

Every-Man, of which we have before given a short account, was written in the early part of the reign of Henry the Eighth, in favour of popery. That our readers may see what was said by the advocates of that side of the question, and in favour of the reformation, we shall give an extract from this, and another from the Morality or interlude of Lusty Juventus, which was written in the reign of Edward the Sixth, by R. Wever, in favor of the reformation, and has for its object to reclaim a young man from Abominable Living, who is represented as a female, by the assistance of Good Counsel and God's merciful promises.

Our first quotation is from the former, and is an eulogy on the priesthood in no very moderate strain.

"For preesthode excedeth all other thynge;
To us holy scrypture they do teche,

And converteth man fro synne heven to reche ;
God hath to them more power gyven
Than to ony aungell that is in heven:
With five wordes he may consecrate
Godde's body in flesshe and blode to make,
And handeleth his maker bytwene his handes,
The preest byndeth and unbyndeth all bandes
Bothe in erthe and in heven,-

Thou mynystres all the sacramentes seven,
Though we kysse thy fete thou were worthy,
Thou art surgyon that cureth synne deedly,
No remedy we fynde under God,

But all onely preesthode.

Every-man, God gave preest that dygnyte,
And setteth them in his stede amonge us to be;
Thus be they above aungelles in degree."

What follows is a satire on the catholic superstitions, from Lusty Juventus.

The Devil complains, that in consequence of the progress made by the reformation, he is utterly undone-Hypocrisye, his offspring, denies it, and vindicates her own services in the cause. "I set up great ydolatry

With al kynd of filthy sodometry,

To geve mankynd a fall:

*There is one line, and perhaps only one, which possesses a poetical turn of expression in this play. "I weep for very sweetness of love."