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Rh ner in our own days, aimed at and succeeded in uniting all the arts within the compass of the drama. The effects of such dramas were, like those of the Oberammergau Passion Play, ravishing, overpowering. Even people ignorant of the Latin tongue were transported by the representations of subjects usually familiar to them, as at present no one travels to the village of Ammergau to be edified by the poetic beauties of the text. And no one can deny that the liturgy of the Catholic Church makes a deep impression, even on the uncultured, although the Latin language is unknown to them. It is in the first place the power of what is seen that affects the mind so forcibly."

The concourse of people was often immense. In 1565 "Judith" was played before the court in Munich, and then repeated before the people on a public square; not only was the whole square densely crowded, but even the surrounding walls and the roofs of the houses were thickly filled with eager spectators. In 1560 the comedy "Euripus" was given in the court-yard of the College of Prague before a crowd of more than 8000 people. The play had to be repeated three times, and when further exhibitions were demanded, the Rector of the college urgently requested the petitioners to desist from such demands, as "after all it was not the task of the Society to exhibit comedies."

Catholic writers of the time speak enthusiastically of the salutary effects of such performances. "They do more good than a sermon", writes the Italian physician Guarinoni, who saw many Jesuit dramas at