Si quid novifti rectius iftis

Candidus imperti; fi non his utere mecum. Hor.

Having faid thus much, we now proceed to an Account of the Rife and Progrefs of the English Stage, for which the Reader is obliged to the Labours of an Ingenious Writer now living.

It is generally imagined, that the English Stage rofe later than the reft of its Neighbours. Thofe in this Opinion will, perhaps, wonder to be told of Theatrical Entertainments almost as early as the Conqueft; and yet nothing is more certain, if you will believe an honest Monk, one William Stephanides or Fitz-Stephen, in his Defcriptio Nobiliffime Civitatis Londonia, who writes thus; "London, inftead of common Interludes belonging to the Theatre, has Plays of a more holy Subject; Representations of thofe Miracles which the છંદ holy Confeffors wrought, or of the Sufferings wherein "the glorious Conftancy of the Martyrs did appear." This Author was a Monk of Canterbury, who wrote in the Reign of Henry II. and died in that of Richard I. 1191 And as he does not mention these Representations as Novelties to the People, (for he is defcribing all the common Diverfions in ufe at that time) we can hardly fix them lower than the Conqueft. And this, we believe, is an earlier Date than any other Nation of Europe can produce for their Theatrical Representations. About 140 Years after this, in the Reign of Edward III. it was ordained by Act of Parliament, that a Company of Men called Vagrants, who had made Masquerades thro' the whole City, fhould be whipt out of London, because they represented fcandalous Things in the little Alehoufes, and other Places where the Populace affembled. What the Nature of thefe fcandalous Things were, we are not told; whether lewd and obfcene, or impious and profane; but we fhould rather think the former, for the Word Masquerades has an ill Sound, and, we believe, they were no better in their Infancy than at

prefent.

prefent. 'Tis true, the Myfteries of Religion were foon after this Period made very free with all over Europe, being reprefented in so stupid and ridiculous a manner, that the Stories of the New Testament in particular, were thought to encourage Libertinifm and Infidelity. In all Probability therefore the Actors laft mentioned were of that Species called Mummers; these were wont to stroll about the Country dress'd in an antick Manner, dancing, mimicking, and fhewing Poftures. This Cuftom is ftill continued in many Parts of England; but it was formerly fo general, and drew the common People fo much from their Bufinefs, that it was deemed a very pernicious Custom: And as these Mummers always went mafked and disguised, they but too frequently encouraged themselves to commit violent Outrages, and were guilty of many lewd Disorders. However, as bad as they were, they seem to be the true original Comedians of England; and their Excellence altogether confifted, as that of their Succeffors does in part ftill, in Mimickry and Humour.

In an Act of Parliament made the 4th Year of Henry IV. mention is made of certain Waftors, Mafter-Rimours, Minstrels, and other Vagabonds, who infefted the Land of Wales; And it is enacted, that no MafterRimour, Minstrel, or other Vagabond, be in any wife fuftained in the Land of Wales, to make Commoiths or Gatherings upon the People there. What thefe Mafter-Rimours were, which were fo troublesome inWales in particular, we cannot tell; poffibly they might be the degene. rate Defcendants of the antient Bards. It is alfo difficult to determine what is meant by their making Commoiths., The Word fignifies, in Welch, any Diftrict, or Part of a Hundred or Cantred, containing about one Half of it; that is, 50 Villages; and might poffibly be made Use of by these Mafter-Rimours when they had fixed upon a Place to act in, and gave Intimation thereof for ten or twelve Miles round, which is a Circuit that will take in about 50 Villages. And that this was commonly done, appears from Carew's Survey of Cornwall, which was wrote in Queen Elizabeth's time.

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time. Speaking of the Diverfions of the People, "The "Guary Miracle, (fays he) in English a Miracle Play, "is a kind of Interlude compiled in Cornish, out of fome Scripture Hiftory. For reprefenting it they "raise an Amphitheatre in fome open Field, having the Diameter of its inclofed Plain, fome forty or fifty "Foot. The Country People flock from all Sides many Miles off, to fee and hear it; for they have therein Devils and Devices to delight as well the Eye as the Ear." Mr. Carew has not been fo exact, as to give us the 'Time when thefe Guary Miracles were exhibited in Cornwall; but, by the manner of it, the Custom feems to be very antient.

The Year 1378 is the earlieft Date we can find, in which exprefs mention is made of the Reprefentation of Myfteries in England. In this Year the Scholars of Paul's School prefented a Petition to Richard II. praying his Majesty "to prohibit fome unexpert People "from prefenting the Hiftory of the Old Teftament, to "the great Prejudice of the faid Clergy, who have been at great Expence in order to reprefent it publickly at "Chriftmas." About twelve Years afterwards, vix. in 1390, the Parish-Clerks of London are faid to have played Interludes at Skinners Well, July 18, 19, and 20th. And again, in 1409, the tenth Year of Henry IV. they acted at Clerkenwell (which took its Name from this Custom of the Parish Clerks acting Plays there) for eight Days fucceffively, a Play concerning the Creation of the World, at which were prefent moft of the Nobility and Gentry of the Kingdom. These Inftançes are fufficient to prove that we had the Myfteries here very early. How long they continued to be exhibited amongst us, cannot be exactly determined. This Period one might call the dead Sleep of the Mufes. And when this was over, they did not presently awake, but, in a kind of Morning Dream, produced the Moralities that followed. However, these jumbled Ideas had fome Shadow of Meaning. The Mysteries only

repres

reprefented, in a fenfeless manner, fome miraculous History from the Old or New Testament: But in these Moralities fomething of Defign appeared, a Fable and a Moral; fomething alfo of Poetry, the Virtues, Vices, and other Affections of the Mind being frequently perfonified. But the Moralities were also very often concerned wholly in religious Matters. For Religion then was every one's Concern, and it was no Wonder if each Party employed all Arts to promote it. Had they been in Ufe now, they would doubtlefs have turned as much upon Politicks. Thus, the New Custom, was certainly intended to promote the Reformation, when it was revived in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth. And in the more early Days of the Reformation, it was fo common for the Partizans of the old Doctrines, (and perhaps alfo of the new) to defend and illuftrate their Tenets this Way, that in the 24th Year of Henry VIII. in an Act of Parliament made for the promoting true Religion, we find a Claufe reftraining all Rimors or Players from finging in Songs, or playing in Interludes, any thing that fhould contradict the established Doctrines. It was also customary at this time to act these moral and · religious Dramas in private Houses, for the Edification and Improvement, as well as the Diverfion, of welldifpofed Families: And for this Purpofe the Appearance of the Perfons of the Drama were fo difpofed, as that five or fix Actors might reprefent twenty Perfonages.

What has been faid of the Myfteries and Moralities, it is hoped will be sufficient just to shew the Reader what the Nature of them was. We fhould have been glad to be more particular; but where Materials are not to be had, the Building must be deficient. And, to fay the Truth, a more particular Knowledge of thefe Things, any farther than as it serves to fhew the Turn and Ge-nius of our. Ancestors, and the progreffive Refinement of our Language, was fo little worth preferving, that the Lofs of it is fcarce to be regretted. We proceed there fore with our Subject. The Mufe might now be faid

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to:

to be juft awake when she began to trifle in the old Interludes, and aimed at fomething like Wit and Humour. And for thefe John Heywood the Epigrammatift undoubtedly claims the earlieft, if not the foremost Place. He was Jefter to King Henry VIII. but lived till the Beginning of Queen Elizabeth's Reign. Gammer Gur ton's Needle, which is generally called our first Comes dy, and not undefervedly, appeared foon after the In terludes It is indeed altogether of a Comic Caft, and wants not Humour, tho' of a low and fordid kind. And now Dramatic Writers, properly fo called, began to appear, and turn their Talents to the ftage. Henry Parker, Son of Sir William Parker, is faid to have wrote feveral Tragedies and Comedies in the Reign of Henry VIII. and one John Hoker, in 1535, wrote a Comedy called Pifcator, or the Fiber caught. Mr. Richard Edwards, who was born in 1523, and in the Beginning of Queen Elizabeth's Reign was made one of the Gentlemen of her Majefty's Chapel,and Master of the Children there, being both an excellent Musician, and a good Poet, wrote two Comedies, one called Palæmon and Arcite, in which a Cry of Hounds, in hunting was fo well imitated, that the Queen and the Audience were extremely delighted: The other called Damon and Pithias, the two faithfullest Friends in the World. After him

came Thomas Sackville, Lord Buckhurst, and Thamas Norton, the Writers of Gorboduc,the firft Dra. matic Piece of any Confideration in the English. Language. Of thefe and fome others, hear the Judgment of Puttenham, in his Art of Poetry, wrote in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth; "I think, fays he, that "for Tragedy the Lord of Buckhurft, and Maister Ed"ward Ferrys, for fuch doings as I have feen of theirs, "do deferve the highest Price: The Earl of Oxford, «and Maifter Edwards of her Majefty's Chapel, for Comedy and Interlude." And in another Place he fays," But the principal Man in this Profeffion (of Poetry) at the fame time, (viz. Edward VI.) was < Maifter Edward Ferrys, a Man of no lefs Mirth and

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Felicity