Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 10.djvu/412

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [io s. x. OCT. 24,

residence, and never again returned to it. Pro- moted to a Prebend of Canterbury Cathedral in 1560, he died in that city in 1563, in the sixty-eighth year of his age.

The whole of Bale's dramatic works now extant are contained in this volume, viz., 'The Three Laws of Nature, Moses, and Christ,' ' The Chief Promises of God unto Man,' ' John the Baptist's Preaching in the Wilderness,' ' The Temptation of our Lord,' arid 'John, King of England.' 'David and Absolom ' is credited by some to Bale, but it is so doubtful an attribution, that the work is ex- cluded from this volume.

Dealing with the plays in the order given, we have the comedy of ' The Three Laws,' in which the laws of God as exhibited in nature are enun- ciated first by Moses, arid afterwards by Christ. In this play the peculiar perverseness of Bale is evident. The dialogue drops in an instant from a degree of lofty dignity to coarse insinuation arid direct accusation concerning the alleged sexual enormities of the Roman Catholic priesthood. Quotation of such passages is impossible. In striking contrast are the utterances placed in the mouth of the Deity, who is introduced as follows :

I am Deus Pater, a substance invisible,

All one with the Son and the Holy Ghost in essence.

To angel and man I am incomprehensible ;

A strength infinite, a righteousness, a prudence,

A mercy, a goodness, a truth, a life, a sapience.

In Heaven and in earth we made all to our glory,

Man ever having in special memory.

Whom most entirely in heart we love and favour ; And teach him to walk according to our mind, In cleanness of life, and in gentle behaviour ; Deeply instruct him our mysteries to savour; By the works of faith all vices to seclude ; And preserve in him our godly similitude.
 * Step forth, ye Three Laws, for guidance of mankind,

' The Chief Promises of God unto Man,' as its title indicates, deals with the blessings vouchsafed to man and his ingratitude to the Divine interest. This play calls for no particular comment.

In ' John the Baptist ' we find much dignified writing. In the Epilogue of the play John is thus described :

John was a preacher note well what he did teach : Not men's traditions, nor his own holy life, But to the people Christ Jesus did he preach, Willing his gospel among them to be rife ; His knowledge heavenly to be had of man and wife.

We have in this play a welcome relief to the -abuse of the Roman Church prevalent in the others. ' The Temptation of our Lord ' shares this distinc- tion, although in a less degree, Bale apparently being unable to resist a certain amotint of sarcasm on the subject, even when the exigencies of the play did not necessitate mention of it. 'The Temptation ' is virtually confined to the struggle between Christ and Satan, and is much to oe .admired (with the exception of the passages indicated) on account of the subtle reasoning exhibited in the dialogue, which at times rises to a high level.

We are inclined to regard 'John, King of England,' as being far beyond the rest of the plays in this volume, both in regard to characterization and general literary excellence ; and we agree with Collier and Mr. Herford that it is the most

original of Bale's works, insomuch as it introduced a kind of dramatic writing hitherto unknown, allegory being partly abandoned in favour of history. Besides the King himself, we have various persons who figured largely in history, including Pope Innocent, Cardinal Pandolphus, and Archbishop Langton. The character of Imperial Majesty is of course meant for Henry VIII. , who is supposed to take over the reins of government after John has been poisoned. England is represented as a widow who applies to the King for relief from the grinding rule of the Papal party. The fact of John being represented as a man of lofty ideals, sincerely anxious for the welfare and prosperity of his people, provides an unpremeditated and humorous element in the play. Whether Bale. really believed what he wrote in relation to that monarch's character, or deliberately perverted history for his own ends, is riot known. In any case his inception of John's character served as a vantage ground from which he issued his indictment against the Roman Church. To consolidate the Reformation was his aim whether by fair or unfair means was apparently beside the mark.

We cannot but feel that the author of these plays allowed his religious prejudices to exaggerate evils, and sectarian rancour could hardly go further than in his pages. They are, however, of value for estimating the feeling of the time, and we con- gratulate Mr. Farmer on his persistence in giving us little-known documents of the sort in print.

JOSEPH MEADOWS COWPER. The Times of the 17th inst. contained the following :

" COWPER. On the loth irist., at Belmont, Har- bledown, Canterbury, JOSEPH MEADOWS COWPER, F. S. A., aged 78. Funeral at 3 o'clock, on October 19, at Harbledown."

MR. COWPER was a considerable contributor to 'N. & Q.' from 3 S. to 9 S. i., chiefly on Kentish matters, a province which he had made peculiarly' his own. He printed nearly all the Canterbury registers, and a number of similar records.

UNDER the title ' Ruined and Deserted Churches,' an interesting work by Mr. L. E. Beedham is an- nounced for immediate publication by Mr. Elliot Stock. The volume will deal with disused places of worship in all parts of England, many of them gems of architecture. To rescue some of these from oblivion is the object of the author. The volume will contain many illustrations from photographs.

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