New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-08-01
THE RELIGIOUS DRAMA.


THE RELIGIOUS DRAMA.
MIRACLE FLAWS AND SACRED DRAMAS: A HIS
TORIcN SURVEY. BY Dr. KARL HAsE. Trans,
ise i by the Rev WV! " J.rsox
College, oxford. Boston Houghton, Mihn Co..
The editor of this work observes in his preface
that 1t NAV be divided into two portions. The
first half" he says, sketches the rise and decline
of the Mysteries and Miracle Plays C., of the re-
ligious drama properly called; the second half
traces the effect the religious play on later dra-
| matte literature III France, Germany and Spain, and
concludes with general criticism of the relations
between the Church and the Stage" There is no
special reference to England and the English Stage
This Deficiency if IT may be so regarded. Is rene
died BY several valuable notes supplied By the Eng
| lish editor.
| The early Church. the Church of tie Martyrs, re-
gar,led the theatre. with its aurIng portraiturc
of the whole sensuous life of the Old World, az
place consecraed to the service of the evil one"
Tertullian asks those who Will not renounce plays
whether the God Of truth. who hates all talseh00d,
can be Wiling TO receive into His kingdom those whose
features and hair whose age and sex, whose sighs
and laughter are all fcigncd'; and lie promises
them n tragedy OF their own, when, in the day OF
iulQnent they shall be consigned to everlasting
suffering" For long time the Church threatened
ia cxuel any of her members who would not
admit actors except on condition of renouncng
their profession. And yet even the actors found
patron SAINT in s.. Genesius. In ridicule of the
Christian baptism he had been baptized on the
STAGE The solemnlty of the act so impressed him
that he considered himself really baptized, and he
became a martyr during the Diocetlan persecution.
Dr. Hase traces the gradual establishment of the
| Christian after the disappearance of the classical
| drama. He SAYS
| From the time Of Gregory the Great the mass it.
| self became an almost dramatic celebration OF the
| world tragedy of G0lgOtha 1t embraced thCwhOlc
scale of gIous emotion. from the mouInful cry OF
the MSererc " To ia" iu!nicc of the Gloria al eN-
cclsiS" II was for this reason that 1t aiterwlrd 50
readily served as textbook fer majestic SYM
| phGnlcS.
prevailed i'll old Roman churches, Is sui retained III
the Chapel of the Vatican After the Old Testament
| psalms and prophecies, on the morning OF food
| FRIDAY the Passion from ST. John is sung with
voices arranged in an Oratollo: thliSt is tenor,
Plate bass there are chouseS OF ne priests OF inc
soldiers, of the people, intcisperSTd WIN me evan
! pehcal narrative in rCcltatiVc. Thus tine Passion
music of Sebastian Bach. which is usually esteemed
n fruit of the religious worship OF l'rctFStant Ger
many, belongs III some SENSE 10 the carry ohurcI,.
! At any rate, IT is IN unconscious agreement WIN
| her practice of which 1t Is merely grand ITO
tcstant development
In the professions which were held by the towns,
according TO ifnmcnoral Gust ON, either en- the day
of the death of their patron SAINT when WAS re-
gaIled the day of his birth to everlasting HE or
| i'm comulemoratOn Of some great dchverance-a!s0
| later i'm the pageantrcs OF Corpus Christi Day-the
| priests and frars in their picturesque costumes.
| and the guilds and corporations III their festival
robes with their taperS and banners formed spec
table in themselves. In addition. we find all kinds
| of pious mummrrieS Adam and Eve carrying he
| tween them the Tree of knowledge; It. JOhn the
l}aptist as herald. with the banner of Christ and
| lamb: Judas bearing bag OF money, followed by
| the Devil with the gallows; ST. George on his war
! horse training after him the slain dragon; with
other saints. represented according to Their varied
individuality In the yearly procession at NlesSna,
| rather to its skin. in which are stuck two lusty
youths. The legend relates that once during
famine the Madonna sent a camel laden WIN corn
yeTsary of ITS deliveTance the Tnmphal procession
was headc Ivy lad i'll the Lnightly armor of the
Maid. At Qucdlinburg It was not considered that
honor when lie rode into the town as the represen,
| tative of the Saviour, while priests, people, ana
| children cried HOsanna, and stlewcd the ground
| before him. net perhaps with palm branches but
| with willow boughs and branches of fir
The Miracle Plays were developed from the Easter
and Christmas plays. They arose in France but
were soon adopted by all German and Latin nations
| They were warmly relished by the common people
who generally knew their tenor, as they were taken
from the Bible or from popular legends. There was
much pantomime with an occasional lapse into the
vulgar tongue. Aiterward, when the people instead
of the priests became the actors the transition to
| the vernacuar became absolute. Often the repre-
seutation of these plays was made matter of public
| concern:
| If n whole town undertook n play solemn
| trumpet call (ie cri du jeul summoned all who
wished to Join in the representation Tor the honor
| of Christ or the good of their souls. Such persons
had &c place in the hands of officer OF Justice a
| signed paper. in which they swore on PAIN OF death
or the forfeiture of their goods, that they would
carefully study the role they undertook, and that
| they would appear the day liked for the per-
| Torrance. AS the common people found many suit
able pars-fOr instance those Of the lsraelites in
the Wilderness or the Jewish spectators at the
| entry into Jerusalem, at the JUDGMENT seat and
| during the crucifixiOn-great numbers 1ocked to
| Offer their cooperation. Sometimes nearly half a
| town acted while the other half looked on in com
| pany with the people from the surrounding dis
trictS.
| As the action of the Miracle Play extended be-
yond this world into the upper and lower worlds as
| we'll" the stage was arranged to accommodate it.
self 10 representation. In France there was stage
| of three stores, which is thus described:
| The topnost represented Paradise and in II were
| the Trinity the saints, and angels. IL was care
fully adorned with tapestry, ana shaded by trees.
OF which 1t Is incidentally remarked that they were
| green and that they appeared 10 blossom and emit
| sweet odors il also contained an organ. In the
| middle WAS the earthly stage, which was made as
large as possible Below was He'll sometimes rep
| resented as the Jaws of Hell by the opening and
| shutting of the mouth of an enormous dragon. The
| poets words were then literally true
"Within the stages narrow bound,
The whole creation circles round a
Each soul, with measured haste. ID driven
Through this wide earth to hell or heaven"
Brnnellesc who could arch the great cupola of the
Florentine cathedral did not consider the erection
of the stage for festival play degradation OF
his art
The unity of place was thus preserved amid all