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THE MIDWIVES take their leave, SALOMEE declar

ing that,

In every place I schal telle this,
Of a clene mayde that god is born;

&, in our lyknes, God now clad is,
Mankend to save that was for lorn;

his modyr a mayde, as sche was beforn; Natt fowle polutyd, as other women be, but fayr, & fresch, as rose on thorn, Lely whyte, clene with pur virginyte.

END OF COVENTRY MYSTERIES,

FROM APOCRYPHAL STORY.

Illustrations and Additions.

"Sir,-It is the great excellence of a writer to put into his book as much as his book will hold." Johnson to Boswell.

I.-COUNCIL OF THE TRINITY.

"The common definition of man is false: he is not a reasoning animal. The best you can predicate of him is, that he is an animal capable of reasoning." Warburton.

Speculum Vitae Christi: the boke that is clepid the Mirrour of the blissed lyffe of our lorde J'hu cryste.

A

FOLIO Volume in MS., written on vellum and bearing the above title, is in my possession. It gives an account of a great Council in heaven, which from the ensuing extracts will appear similar to that in Mystery IV.(1) In some instances the language of each is almost literally alike: in others, that of the MS. is more amplified. After various opinions during a long discussion between Mercye, Sothfastnes, Pees, and Rytewisnes, concerning the means of making satisfaction for the sinful fall of man, "Pees," proposed that "for a fynal dome in this matyr, let be made a gode dethe of man, so that one be fo'nden withouten synne, that may & wolle innocently, & for charite, suffre deth for man." To this they all assented, and "thei askeden amonge hemself whether that one myght be founden that schulde fulfille and do this dede of charite." "Than Mercye toke with hur Reson, and sought among alle

(1) Page 38, ante.

the ordres of Aungeles in heuen, to se whether eny of hem wer' able to do this dede; bot there was none. Also Sothfastnes sought fro heuen to the clowdes bynethen, whether ther were eny creatur that myght p'forme it; and thei weren alle vnable. Ryghtwisnes went down to erthe, and sought amonge the hyghe hilles, & into the depe pytte of helle, whether ther weren eny man that myght take this good & innocent dethe; but ther was none fo'nden clene of synne, ne not the childe of one dayes birthe."

Upon this they were greatly grieved:-than seyd pees wot ye not wele that the p'phet that seyde ther' is none foundin that may done gode; afterward he potteth to more, & seith, till it com to one; this on man may be he that gafe the sentence aforsaide of man'es saluacion. Wher'fore prey we hym that he wol help & fulfille it in dede; for to hym speketh the p'phete aftre in the forseyd psalme, saying, Lorde thou schalt saue man, and bestowe aftre thi mykel mercy. Bot than was a question amonge the sustres, commyttid to Reson for to determyn, which p'sone of thre, Fader, & Sonn, & holi goste, one Gode, schulde be com man' & do this m'cyfull dede. Then seyde Reson, that, for als mykell as the p'son of the fader is propurly dredfull & myghty, the p'son of the son alle wyse and witty, ande the p'sone of the holi goste most benygne and godely, the seconde p'son semeth most conuenient.

Ande, whan Reson had seyd this verdyt, the Fader seide it was his wille that it schulde be soe, the Son gaffe gladly his assent therto, ande the holi goste seide he wolde worcke ther to also. And than fallyng downe alle the holi spirits of heuen, and sou❜eynly thonking the Holi Trinite, the four sustres aforsed weren kyssed ande made accorde."

The MS. proceeds to relate "what Seynt Jerome, wrytyng of hir life, seyd" concerning the religious education and exercises of the Virgin Mary in the temple, after she was left there at three years of age by her parents. It then relates that :—

"Whan plente of the tyme of g'ce was com'en, in the whiche the hyghe trinite ordeyned to save manky'de, that was dampned throughe the synne of Adam; for the grete charite that he hadde to man'kynde, stirying hym in his g'te m'cye, & also the prayer, & the

instance of alle the blissed spirits of heuen, aft' that the blissed maiden marie wedded to Joseph, was gone home to Nazareth, the fader of heuen called to hym the Archangele Gabriel, and seyd to hym in this maner ;-goo to our der' dought' marye the spouse of Josep, the which is most cher to vs of alle creatures in erthe, and saye to hir, that my blissed son hathe coueyted hir schappe and hir bewte, & chose hir to his moder, & th'fore praye hir that she resceyue hym gladly; for, by hir, I haue ordeyned the hele & the saluacion of all' man'kynde ;-& I wole forgete & forgyue the wronge that hath be' done to me of hym her' before. ¶ And so, anone, Gabriel rysyng vp gladde & ioycunde, toke his fleyte fro' the hyghe heuen to erthe; ande in a moment he was in mannes licknes byfore the virgyn marie, that was in hir pruye cham'ber that tyme closed, & in hir p'yers or in hir meditacions, p'auentur' redying the p'phecye of ysaye touchyng the Incarnacion. And yit also swyftly as he flowe, his lorde was come before, and he fonde alle the holi trinite comen or his message. For thou schalt vndirstonde that this blissed Incarnation was the highe werke of alle the holi trinite, thoughe it be that only the p'sone of the son was incarnate & bycome man. ¶ Bot now be warr her', that thou erre not in ymagynacion, th'fore take her' a gen'ale doctryne in this meter, now what tyme thou herest, or thinkest, of the trinyte, or of the godhed, or of gostly creatures, as aungels & soules, the which thou maiste not see with thi bodely eyze, and thi proper kynd, ne fele with thi bodely wytte, streyne not to ferre in that mat'er, occupye not thi wytte thererwith, as thou woldest undirstonde it by kyndely resonne, for it wil not be, while we be in this b'ustouse body, liuynge her' in erthe. And, th'fore, whan thou herest eny suche thinge, in by leue that passeth thi kyndely reso'ne, trowe, sothfastly, that is sothe as holi chirche techeth, & go now forth & so thou schalte bylcue."

After the salutation, which is detailed at great length, the angel, requests Mary's consent to become "goddes moder," which she complies with.

"Anone withoute dwellyng goddes son entred into hir wombe, and, throwgh worcking of the holi goste, was made man, in verrey flesch and blode, taken of hir body, ande, not as othe' children,

conceyued & born by kynde bene schapen, membre aft' membre, ande aft' the soule sched into the bodye, bot anon, at the firste inst'nce, he was full schappe in alle membris, and alle hole man in body & soule, but, never the les, ful lytel in quantite; for aft' he waxed more & more kyndely than oth' children done: so that, at the fyrste, he was full perfyte god and man, as wyse ande as mygty as he is nowe. Ande, when this was done, Gabriel, knelynge downe with our ladye, &, sone aft', with hir rysyng up, toke curteysly his leue of hir, with a devoute & a lowe bowyng to the erthe.”

According with the above account of the incarnation is the information in Erasmus's Exposition of the Creed, that "the relygyouse contemplacyon of good and godly men hathe taughte—that the holye ghoste toke one of the moste purest droppes of bloode out of the vergine Maries herte, and layde it downe into her matrice; and that hereof, sodeynly, was made the perfighte body of a man, soo smalle as is a lytle spyder whiche is but euen now cropen forthe from the egee, but yet with all the membres, fulle fynysshed and perfyght; and that, in the same momente, a soule was infused and putte into it, beynge euen verye than, forthewith, perfyghte in all powers and qualytyes, as it is now in heuen." (1)

If this, and the last paragraph extracted from the MS. be compared with the scene in the Mystery," the similitude between the curious narration in each will be apparent, as that between the Council of the Trinity in the Mystery and the same event in the Speculum Vitae Christi.

(1) Erasmus on the Crede, 8vo, 1533, art. the Descent.
(2) Page 44, ante.

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