o observes (in his work on the Mystery Plays
of Chester, published by the Shakespearean Society) that the "_chief
effect seems to have been caused by the dumb show_."

Before dealing with the Mysteries, and as perhaps a kind of retrospect,
let us have a look what Wharton has to say of the early drama. "Trade,"
he says (in the early centuries) "was carried on by means of fairs, which
lasted several days. Charlemagne established many great marts of this
sort in France, as did William the Conqueror and his Norman successors
in England. The merchants, who frequented these fairs in numerous
caravans and companies, employed every art to draw the people together.
They were, therefore, accompanied by jugglers, minstrels, and buffoons
(_i.e._, Pantomimists), who were no less interested in giving their
attendance and exercising their skill on these occasions. Few large
towns existed, no public spectacles or popular amusements were
established; and as the sedentary pleasures of domestic life and private
society were yet unknown, the fair time was the season for diversion. In
proportion as the shows were attended and encouraged, they began to be
set off with new decorations and improvements; and the arts of
buffoonery being rendered still more attractive by extending their
circle of exhibition, acquired an importance in the eyes of the people.
By degrees the Clergy, observing that the entertainments of dancing,
music, and mimicry exhibited at these annual celebrations made the
people less religious by promoting idleness and a love of festivity,
proscribed these sports and excommunicated the performers."

Mystery plays were afterwards divided into three classes, though the
generic term Mysteries, meaning all three, is generally used. In the
Mysteries, Biblical events were principally used; Miracle plays were
obtained from the legends of the saints; and the last, Moralities,
allegorical stories of a moral character not essentially taken from the
Bible, or from the legends of the saints, comprised the third heading.
The Mysteries were for several centuries known on the Continent before
they were performed in England. The earliest Mystery play known to have
been acted in England was at Dunstable about the year 1110. It was
probably in Latin, and composed by a Norman monk.

It is a peculiarity of the English Mystery plays that they were combined
into a series of plays on the Old and New Testament; and in which the
whole course of Divi