te timui, et omnes pauperes sine retributione acceptionis (sic) curavi, de vidua et orphano nihil accepi, et inopem vacuum a me ire nunquam dimisi. Et ecce misera facta sum propter incredulitatem meam, quia ausa fui temptare virginem tuam.' 277-308. Pseudo-Matt. 13: Cumque hæc diceret, apparuit iuxta illam iuvenis quidam valde splendidus dicens ei, "Accede ad infantem et adora eum et continge de manu tua, et ipse salvabit te, quia ipse est salvator seculi et omnium sperantium in se." Quæ ad infantem confestim accessit, et adorans eum tetigit fimbrias pannorum, in quibus infans erat involutus, et statim sanata est manus eius. Et exiens foras clamare cœpit et dicere magnalia virtutum quæ viderat et quæ passa fuerat, et quemadmodum curata fuerat, ita ut ad prædicationem eius multi crederent.' COVENTRY SHEPHERDS (V). In the Prologue to the Cycle, Tertius Vexillator says: ffor he shal savyn that was forlorn, This gle in grythe Is mater of myrthe; Bryng us to his blys. Notice the inaccuracy in the first line of this prologue. This may have been written to go with an earlier Shepherds' play in which the birth of Christ did occur, or it may be merely that from its origin in the liturgical drama the Shepherd play stands in general for the Christmas play, and the writer of the Prologue is referring to it, generally, as such. 5-6. A decided digression, another indication of the ecclesiastical origin of this cycle. Peter Lombard (d. 1164) was the first to enumerate and define the seven sacraments (Sententia, Lib. 4). They are: Baptism, Confirmation, The Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Ordination, Matrimony. They were formally recognized by the Church of Rome at the Council of Florence in 1439. 10-12. If this was written after the Mercy and Peace Prologue to C. I, it is strange that, although mention is made of the Redemption and of Peace, we find here no real echoes of the preceding discussion. 26-60. Cf. Y. I, 1–132, and note. This prophetic passage inserted into the Shepherd Play shows a late developement of the Augustinian sermon. It is entirely unlike the Coventry Prophet Play, Daniel being the only prophet that appears in both. This combination of the two chief elements in the development of the Christmas play (see Introduction p. xii) is most interesting. The shepherds also repeat prophecies in T. III, 332-403 (see also note), and T. IV, 674-682. 26-29. See Y. III, 99-105, and note; Y. IV, 14 ff. 32-37. No such Scriptural prophecy. 38-45. See 11. 26-29, and note. 46-49. Referring perhaps to Amos 9. 13; cf. Y. I, 17 ff., and note. Amos follows Moses in the Rouen Liturgical Play, the Festum Asinorum, with the words: 'Ecce dies veniet,' from the same verse. See Y. I, 15, note. 56. This line of the prophecy is perhaps from Daniel 7. 13. The rest seems to be originally conceived. Cf. C. I, 9. 70-77, and stage-direction. Cf. Ch. II, 442-447, and note. After 77. Stella cæli extirpavit. This hymn was apparently very little known. It is mentioned in Chevalier's Repertorium merely as a hymn occurring in some 17th and 18th century French Missals, as a part of the service at the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. MacCracken's Lydgate Canon gives evidence of a certain popularity of the hymn in England, by mentioning a translation of it by Lydgate. He says (p.xxv): "Stella celi extirpauit." Beg. Thow hevenly quene of grace, our lodesterre-4 stanzas of 8 lines. MSS. Harley 2251; Addit. 34360; Harley 2255 [the italics mean that Lydgate is referred to as translator]; Trin Coll. Camb. R. 3. 21; Jesus Coll. Camb. 56. Rawl. C. 48 has an altered version which may be due to Lydgate.' See Introd. p. xxxvii. 80-85. Cf. Ch. II, 358-435, and note. 81 and 85. These lines must be closely related to Ch. II, 382, 384, 388 etc. 99 ff. Taylor (Modern Philology, July 1907, p. 4) says: 'The most highly conventional form of address to Christ [in Middle English poetry] is the Hail Jesus, a prayer in which oftentimes every line begins with this formula.' See note on T. III, 458 ff.; also Ch. II, 552 ff., T. IV, 710 ff. Notice here the abrupt but highly effective salutation, as compared with the gossip in Ch. II, 480 ff. Notice also the absence of presents and requests for favor, which appear in all the other Shepherd Plays. 119-126. This idea of the shepherds preaching comes from Luke 2. 17-18, probably through the medium of the liturgical plays, which always include it. Cf. Ch. II, 651–684. 127 ff. For the vogue of the farewell lyric in Middle English, see Taylor's article, quoted above. The other Shepherd plays close with a single farewell speech. YORK PROPHETS, ETC. (I) 1-144. A marginal note in the MS. at 1. 1 says: 'Doctor, this matter is newly made, wherof we have no coppy.' Miss Smith, the editor of the York Plays, says that this note is in a 16th century hand. 'This matter' was probably introduced as a transition from the Old Testament to the New Testament plays, because the Play of the Prophets, so popular in other cycles, is lacking in Y.; cf. Ch. 5; C. 7; T. 7. Sepet (Bibliothèque de l'École des Chartes, 38. 398) shows, from the Munich liturgical play, that at an early date the liturgical Prophet play became combined with the older Adoration and Magi liturgical plays, forming one long liturgical drama on the Nativity. Plays in the vernacular also show this combination; cf. Mist. d. 1. Nat. The appearance of prophecies in our Shepherd plays (particularly the version in T. III, 332 ff.) is significant, as showing the combination in the oldest type of vernacular mystery play. 1-132. In relation to this long prologue of the prophets we must consider the Plays of the Prophets, upon which it is modeled. Their origin and development have been most comprehensively treated by M. Sepet in five articles in the Bibliothèque de l'École des Chartes, (28. 1, 211; 29. 105, 261; 38. 397). The origin of the plays is a pseudoAugustinian sermon Contra Judæos, Paganos, et Arianos, (Migne, Patr. Lat. 42. 1117). This sermon was read in the churches at Christmas time, and is of such form as to lend itself naturally to dramatic representation. Augustine calls upon the prophets to testify, for the Jews, to the divinity of Christ. One after another is called upon; they reply with their prophecies in the following order: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Moses, David, Habakkuk; then, from the New Testament, Simeon, Zachary, Elizabeth, John the Baptist; and finally, from the heathen, Nebuchadnezzar, Virgil and the Erythræan Sibyl. This sermon appears again and again in almost countless forms. The earliest adaptation seems to be in a rimed Latin dialogue, used at Saint Martial de Limoges. This follows the sermon quite closely, but introduces a new prophet, Israel. Sepet points out, however, that Israel is mentioned in the sermon in Jeremiah's prophecy, dedit enim Jacob puero suo et Israel dilecto suo.' After the introduction of Israel it was natural to include Abraham, Isaac, and soon even Adam and Eve. Thus from the sermon of Augustine developed all our Old Testament dramas. It is not our purpose here to trace the general development of the Prophet play, but merely to show that there is conclusive evidence as to the origin of such passages as this, and to try to show in the succeeding notes the devel opment of the sermon into the form in which we find it here. It must be remembered that the author of this prologue was in all probability following some other late mediæval version, and not the real Scriptural prophecies, nor even the sermon. Moreover, this prologue, having been written in the 16th century, represents a late and complex form of the sermon; this is most clearly shown by the omission of all the chief prophets of the early versions, except Isaiah whose prophecy is quoted in Matthew, and is probably the source of the original sermon. The Prophet plays in the other English cycles are much closer to the sermon. The prophecy of Habakkuk included in the sermon is found in this cycle in the Nativity Play, Y. III, 136 ff. 1-12. This explanation of the cause of the coming of Christ is probably suggested to the 16th-century author by the introductory lines to T. I, which, in turn, may have been suggested by the first part of C. I. 15. Amos first appears in the Rouen Festum Asinorum (see Du Cange, Glossarium), which is really a liturgical drama on the prophets, and derives its name from the presence of Balaam's ass. Amos' prophecy there consists merely of the words, 'Ecce dies veniunt,' taken from Amos 9. 13. His prophecy is second, following that of Moses. See C. V, 46–49, note. Amos also appears, this time as first prophet, in the Mist. d. l. Nat., p. 12. He there says: J'ay en mon cuer jà piecà mis De la ligniée de Jessé Une vierge sy doit issir, Qui le peuple confortera. 17 ff. No such prophecy in Amos. In the Augustinian sermon, Ps. 73. 12 is quoted just before the prophecy of |