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Thou art the wall-door; through thee the Omnipotent,
The Ruler, once proceeded to this earth;
And as He, Christ Almighty, found thee then
Adorned with all thy virtues, pure and choice,
So He, the Prince of Angels, Lord of life,
Closed thee, immaculate e'en as of yore,
After Him again, as with a wondrous key.
Show us now the grace that God's own messenger,
The angel Gabriel, brought unto thee!
Forsooth we dwellers in earth's cities pray,
That thou reveal their comfort unto men,
Thy very Son. Hereafter we may all,
With one accord, look forward hopefully,
If now we see the Child upon thy breast,
Plead thou our cause for us with earnest words,
That He may suffer us no longer here
To list to Error in this vale of death,
But that He lead us to the Father's realm,
Where sorrowless we may forever more
Abide in glory with the Lord of Hosts.31

Caedmon and Cynewulf sang their praise of the Blessed Virgin because their hearts were filled with devotion. That their song was a welcome one to the faith of their countrymen is evident in the frequent mention of the Blessed Virgin in the monuments of the period. We read in the "Historia Nennii" that King Arthur triumphed over the Saxons by the favor of the Blessed Virgin. He carried her image upon his shoulders, and upon that day the pagans were put to flight. 32

The monastic chronicles, although written later, bear abundant testimony to the widespread devotion given to Mary in England. It cannot be fairly maintained that the numerous references to the honor paid the Virgin Mary are interpolations. Such a supposition impeaches the good faith of men who in all probability had at their own disposal the cherished historical data of ages.

This is pointed out and made much of by Mr. Stevenson in the preface to his "Chronicon Monasterii de Abingdon." He says: “As there existed no antecedent inducement to deal unfairly with the truth, so there is no internal evidence that the truth has been unfairly dealt withal. The compilers of this narrative, whoever they may have been, executed their labor with commendable singleness of purpose. Their intention was to record the history of their own monastery, and to that object they have religiously confined themselves. Guiltless of any attempt to produce effect and devoid of all artistic skill, they have told what they had to tell like unpracticed writers, but like honest men, dully but truthfully."33

Sufficient has now been said to indicate in a general way the vantage ground one should occupy before attempting to single out a particular feature of the mediæval drama for special study. With the charge of immoral stage representation disproved, the one-sided view of Protestant writers regarding questions of ecclesiastical history indicated, and a brief survey of England's early devotion to the Mother of God concluded, a further and more particular inquiry may now be entered upon.

The Blessed Virgin in the York cycle of miracle plays is introduced in the fourfold character of maiden, mother, wife and advocate. With her Divine Son, she receives the most reverential treatment. The primary object of her presentation is a religious

one.

As the lowly handmaid of the redemption, she is the model of Christian humility and obedience; as the Mother of God, she is raised in dignity above men and angels; as the wife of St. Joseph, she is the embodiment of all the virtues of the home; as an advocate, she is the kind-hearted friend of the fallen. The history of her life followed step by step from Nazareth to the quiet home of the Beloved Disciple, where she joyfully waited for death and the assumption of her body into heaven, is lacking in nothing which dramatic art demands. With what success the writers of the York cycle employed this richness of material will appear as their plays unfold the story of her joys, her sorrows and her glories.

While the plays were made sufficiently entertaining to attract and hold the attention of the people, they had as a main purpose the teaching of religious truths and the inculcation of sound moral principles. This may be seen in the following proclamation of the York City Council relative to the annual presentation of the cycle:

"In the name of God, Amen. Whereas for a long course of time the artificers and tradesmen of the city of York have, at their own expense, acted plays, and particularly a certain sumptuous play, exhibited in several pageants, wherein the history of the old and new testament in divers places of the said city, in the feast of Corpus Christi by a solemn procession, is represented in reverence to the sacrament of the body of Christ. Beginning first at the great gates of the priory of the holy Trinity in York, and so going in procession to and into the cathedral church of the same, and afterwards to the hospital of St. Leonard in York, leaving the aforesaid sacrament in that place. Preceded by a vast number of lighted torches and a great multitude of priests in their proper habits, and followed by the mayor and citizens, with a prodigious crowd of the populace attending. And whereas, upon this a certain very religious father, William Melton, of the order of the friars minor, professor of holy pageantry and a most famous preacher of the word of God, coming to this city, in several sermons recommended the aforesaid play to the people, affirming that it was good in itself and very commendable so to do. Yet also said that the citizens of the said city and other

foreigners coming to the said feast had greatly disgraced the play by revellings, drunkenness, shouts, songs and other insolencies, little regarding the divine office of the said day. And what is to be lamented, they lose for that reason the indulgences by the Holy Father Pope Urban IV., in this part gratuitously conceded. Those, viz., faithful in Christ, who attended at morning service at the said feast in the church where it was celebrated, an hundred days; those at Mass the same; those also who came to the first vespers of the said feast, the like an hundred days; the same in the second; to those also who even at the first, third, sixth and ninth completory offices, for every hour of those forty days; to those also who attended service on the octave of the said feast at matins or vespers, Mass or the aforesaid hours, an hundred days for every day of the said octave; as in the holy canons, for this end made, is more fully contained; and therefore, as it seemed most wholesome to the said father William, the people of the city were inclined that the play should be played on one day and the procession on another, so that the people might attend divine service at the churches on the said feast for the indulgences aforesaid.

"34

It is worthy of notice that special commendation is accorded the Franciscan friar, William Melton. Modern scholars have pointed out that Drake's "professor of holy pageantry" is a mistranslation of the original title, Professor Paginae Sacrae. However, Dr. Gayley retains Drake's translation. Referring to a critic of his who had said: "The York friar, William Melton, still passes as a 'professor of holy pageantry,' although the sacra pagina of which he was professor cannot possibly be anything but 'Holy Writ,' "35 Dr. Gayley refuses to retract, and recommits himself to the surmise that Father Melton was a playwright, at least by avocation. Miss Lucy Toulmin Smith says that his desire to have all attend Mass on the feast of Corpus Christi was probably inspired by the hope of selling indulgences. The charge is a gratuitous one and wholly unsupported by evidence either direct or indirect. Mr. Arthur F. Leach might have made the statement by the force of hypothesis, since in his eyes to search for virtue among friars is a hopeless task.37

36

TA

Legate's report was communicated. Cardinal Caprara was, therefore, ordered to leave Paris and return to Rome in case the Emperor were to proceed to carry out his threats, or, if unable to do so, to cease from exercising his functions as Legate.

The Emperor's absence from Paris for the campaign against Prussia suspended the discussion of the question for some time, but when, after the victories of Auerstadt and Jena, he had entered Berlin (28th October, 1806), he sent for Mgr. Arezzo, who had been Papal Nuncio at St. Petersburg and was then living in Dresden. He repeated to him on November 12, 1806, for the purpose of being communicated to the Holy Father, the same demands and the same threats which had been already addressed to Cardinal Caprara. He informed him, moreover, that Italy belonged to him by right of conquest, and that he had inherited the rights of Charlemagne. He then boasted of the services he had rendered to religion, and denied that he wished to introduce the Code Napoléon into Rome. He assured him that he reduced all his demands to the single condition of closing the ports to the English, and he asked that a negotiator should be sent to Paris provided with full powers to bring about a settlement of the question. If it were refused, he would take away the temporal power of the Holy See, place a King or a Senator in Rome, divide the Papal States into a number of duchies and give the Pope a pension which should enable him to maintain his position with dignity.

Mgr. Arezzo's mission did not achieve more success than Napoleon's previous attempts to render the Holy Father the instrument of his ambition. Pius VII. could only express his surprise that, when he had on so many occasions given the reasons which forbade him to yield to the Emperor's demands, he should now be expected to return a different answer. The duties appertaining to his office and his character of Father and Pastor did not allow him to join any federation or to take part in hostilities against any nation which included Catholics. As to the fatal consequences and the loss of his States which might be the result of his refusal, he regretted that such considerations should have been thought capable of turning him aside from his duties. He had placed his cause in the hands of God, and trusting in the Divine protection, he would await with calm and resignation whatever might be written in the decrees of Providence. There was also another reason why he should not enter into further negotiations. When the Emperor met Mgr. Arezzo at Berlin he had asked that an envoy should be sent to Paris