Dictionary; the names of many of our old actors will be sought here in vain, but they are only those which have fallen into oblivion, and to which little or no interest is now attached.

It is said that the actor's genius dies with him and becomes merely a tradition to succeeding generations, and there is too much truth in the saying. Yet it is still possible, from the vivid word-paintings bequeathed to us by contemporaries, to clearly picture many of the famous performances of the past. Such paintings have been assiduously

nlega hefore the reader o

London, 1878.

Part E

BURBADGE AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES.

OUR OLD ACTORS.

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTORY.

The Mystery and Miracle Plays-Moralities and Interludes-Great Increase of Actors-The City and the Players-The Seven Theatres-Size and Prices of Admission-Scenery-Salathiel Pavy-Dick Tarleton-Anecdotes of his Tricks and "Gags."

INGLAND was one of the first countries in which

ENGLAND

the Mystery and Miracle plays of the Middle Ages were performed. The monks introduced them to supersede the profane mummeries, remnants of paganism and of the ancient fairs, and to impart to the ignorant populace such knowledge' of Scripture as they found convenient. Early in the twelfth century the Miracle play of St. Catherine was performed at Dunstable; from 1268 to 1577 there were annual exhibitions of this kind at Chester; and at York from 1408 to 1546. Churches and chapels were the earliest theatres, and monks and parish clerks the first actors. But sometimes, even as early

as the fifteenth century, tradesmen, artificers, and guilds got up performances at their own expense. The Miracle plays were acted upon temporary erections of timber; there were three scaffolds or platforms-the bottom one represented hell, the middle earth, the topmost heaven. The Virgin, the Saints, the Saviour, even the Supreme Being, were the characters; the subjects were selected from striking incidents in the Bible, or in the Lives of the Saints, such as the Fall of Man, the Flood, the Passion of Christ, the Crucifixion. These dramas were destitute of point or plan, and merely represented the stories according to the letter of Scripture or legend.*

In the time of Henry the Sixth a new species of dramatic entertainment was invented, called the Morality, which very soon superseded the older form. In this was contained the first germ of the drama proper. It was more artificial in construction, being usually an allegorical representation of the passions, vices and virtues; there was some attempt at a plot, and even at delineation of character. The favourite personage of these productions was "The Vice," a witty, sarcastic, and mischievous attendant of the devil, who was afterwards developed into the clown

To such an extent was this realism carried, that in an old Mystery play entitled "The Old and New Testaments," Adam and Eve appeared perfectly naked. It would have been considered impious to have represented them otherwise than they are described in Genesis.