Page:Hutcheson Macaulay Posnett - Comparative Literature (1886).djvu/381

 classes, from a race under the divine ban." But when it is remembered how the medieval trades tended to adopt a spirit of caste in their guilds, and how the towns had sprung for the most part out of hereditary serfs, this peculiar version of the old clan ethics of inherited sin need not surprise us. Sachs afterwards rearranged this play under the name How God the Lord blesses the Children of Adam and Eve; and here we again meet the doctrine of a divine fate in the social status of men. Eve brings her four favourite children to Adam as the most likely to please the Lord. Adam praises them, but inquires for the rest of his children who ought also to receive God’s blessing. Eve replies that they are too ugly and dirty to be shown; "some are hidden in the hay in the stable, some are asleep behind the fireplace." Adam thinks differently, but agrees to bring forward the four better-looking children, The Lord comes, and at Eve's request blesses these four children. The first shall be a great king, and as such receives the gift of a sceptre; the next shall be a warrior, and is presented with shield and sword; the third shall be a burgomaster with judicial staff, and the fourth a wealthy merchant, whose portion is a set of weights and measures, Every one shall remain in his own station—an idea thoroughly in keeping with the spirit of medieval guilds. The Lord then takes the children for a walk in Paradise. Meanwhile Eve, left to herself, regrets that she had not brought forward the other children also; and, though the sun has almost set, the Lord waits for Eve to present the four boys whom she now takes out of the hay. They, however, have not learned to pray properly; and Eve receives from the Lord a reprimand in consequence. Still the Lord is not unwilling to bless them. The first shall be a shoemaker, and his gift is a