Page:The Library, volume 5, series 3.djvu/190

 178 PROBLEMS OF THE ENGLISH delayed owing to the death of the editor. Deim- ling showed conclusively that H, the youngest manuscript, represents a different recension from the others, and he regarded this recension as superior. The Peniarth ' Antichrist ' was first printed in 1897 by Professor Manly. He was assisted in his difficult task by Furnivall. A few collations from Wright's text were added, and the suggestion hazarded that the new manuscript was most nearly allied to H, but the question of relation was not pursued. It is a remarkable fact that in cases where the modern scribe has wrongly restored the readings of the manuscript, Manly's text some- times follows the restorer's, sometimes the original reading. 1 Deimling's view as to the superiority of H has been challenged by Dr. S. B. Hemingway of Yale, who took D as his text for the two Chester pageants which he included in his collection of ' English Nativity Plays.' He regards this manuscript as the best representative of the better tradition, arguing that those passages in which H has obviously superior readings are in many cases due to editorial emendations by the scribe. 2 The one thing that has clearly emerged from 1 It is only fair to my friend Professor Manly to say that no suspicion whatever attaches to him in connexion with the misuse which the manuscript has undergone. 2 His preference for D appears, however, to be based upon a quite arbitrary judgement as to c superior readings.' Moreover, though he consulted D, and I presume transcribed his plays from it, I gather that his collations of the other manuscripts are taken from Deimling's edition.