he course of which the
latter tells the former that he knew his Father well by sight! At
last Jesus frees Adam, Eve, the prophets, and others, and ascends,
leaving the devil in the lowest pit, resolving that hell shall
soon be fuller than before; for he will walk east and he will walk
west, and he will seduce thousands from their allegiance. Another
play, similar to the foregoing, but much more extensively known
and acted, was called the "Harrowing of Hell." Christ and Satan
appear on the stage and argue in the most approved scholastic
style for the right of possession in the human race. Satan says,
"Whoever purchases any thing, It belongs to him and to his
children. Adam, hungry, came to me;

42 Sententia, lib. iii. distinctio 19.

43 Hone, Ancient Mysteries.

44 "Resurrexit hodie Rex angelorum Ducitur de tenebris turba
piorum."

I made him do me homage: For an apple, which I gave him, He and
all his race belong to me." But Christ instantly puts a different
aspect on the argument, by replying, "Satan! it was mine, The
apple thou gavest him. The apple and the apple tree Both were made
by me. As he was purchased with my goods, With reason will I have
him." 45

In a religious Mystery exhibited at Lisbon as late as the close of
the eighteenth century, the following scene occurs. Cain kicks his
brother Abel badly and kills him. A figure like a Chinese
mandarin, seated in a chair, condemns Cain and is drawn up into
the clouds. The mouth of hell then appears, like the jaws of a
great dragon: amid smoke and lightning it casts up three devils,
one of them having a wooden leg. These take a dance around Cain,
and are very jocose, one of them inviting him to hell to take a
cup of brimstone coffee, and another asking him to make up a party
at whist. Cain snarls, and they tumble him and themselves headlong
into the squib vomiting mouth.

Various books of accounts kept by the trading companies who
celebrated these Mysteries of the expenses incurred have been
published, and are exceedingly amusing. "Item: payd for kepyng of
fyer at hellmothe, four pence." "For a new hoke to hang Judas, six
pence." "Item: payd for mendyng and payntyng hellmouthe, two
pence." "Girdle for God, nine pence." "Axe for Pilatte's son, one
shilling." "A staff for the demon, one penny." "God's coat of
white leather, three shillings." The stage usually consisted of
three platforms. On the highest sat God, surrounded by his angels.
On the next were t