]
[88] {208}[For the contention that "the snake was the snake"--no more
(_vide post_, p.
[88] {208}[For the contention that "the snake was the snake"--no more
(_vide post_, p.
Byron
" Byron seems to have had some acquaintance with the
archaeology of the drama, but it is not easy to divine the source or
extent of his knowledge. He may have received and read the Roxburghe
reprint of the _Chester Plays_, published in 1818; but it is most
probable that he had read the pages devoted to mystery plays in
_Warton's History of Poetry_, or that he had met with a version of the
_Ludus Coventriae_ (reprinted by J. O. Halliwell Phillipps, in 1841),
printed in Stevens's continuation of Dugdale's _Monasticon_, 1722, i.
139-153. There is a sixteenth-century edition of _Le Mistere du Viel
Testament_, which was reprinted by the Baron James de Rothschild, in
1878 (see for "De la Mort d'Abel et de la Malediction Cayn," pp.
103-113); but it is improbable that it had come under Byron's notice.
For a quotation from an Italian Mystery Play, _vide post_, p. 264; and
for Spanish "Mystery Plays," see _Teatro Completo de Juan del Encina_,
"Proemio," Madrid, 1893, and _History of Spanish Literature_, by George
Ticknor, 1888, i. 257. For instances of the profanity of Mystery Plays,
see the _Towneley Plays_ ("Mactacio Abel," p. 7), first published by the
Surtees Society in 1836, and republished by the Early English Text
Society, 1897, E. S. No. lxxi.
]
[88] {208}[For the contention that "the snake was the snake"--no more
(_vide post_, p. 211), see _La Bible enfin Expliquee_, etc. ; _OEuvres
Completes de Voltaire_, Paris, 1837, vi. 338, note. "La conversation de
la femme et du serpent n'est point racontee comme une chose surnaturelle
et incroyable, comme un miracle, ou conune une allegorie. " See, too,
Bayle (_Hist. and Crit. Dictionary_, 1735, ii. 851, art. "Eve," note A),
who quotes Josephus, Paracelsus, and "some Rabbins," to the effect that
it was an actual serpent which tempted Eve; and compare _Critical
Remarks on the Hebrew Scriptures_, by the Rev. Alexander Geddes, LL. D. ,
1800, p. 42. ]
[89] [Richard Watson (1737-1816), Bishop of Llandaff, 1782, was
appointed Moderator of the Schools in 1762, and Regius Professor of
Divinity October 31, 1771. According to his own story (_Anecdotes of the
Life of Richard Watson_, 1817, p.
archaeology of the drama, but it is not easy to divine the source or
extent of his knowledge. He may have received and read the Roxburghe
reprint of the _Chester Plays_, published in 1818; but it is most
probable that he had read the pages devoted to mystery plays in
_Warton's History of Poetry_, or that he had met with a version of the
_Ludus Coventriae_ (reprinted by J. O. Halliwell Phillipps, in 1841),
printed in Stevens's continuation of Dugdale's _Monasticon_, 1722, i.
139-153. There is a sixteenth-century edition of _Le Mistere du Viel
Testament_, which was reprinted by the Baron James de Rothschild, in
1878 (see for "De la Mort d'Abel et de la Malediction Cayn," pp.
103-113); but it is improbable that it had come under Byron's notice.
For a quotation from an Italian Mystery Play, _vide post_, p. 264; and
for Spanish "Mystery Plays," see _Teatro Completo de Juan del Encina_,
"Proemio," Madrid, 1893, and _History of Spanish Literature_, by George
Ticknor, 1888, i. 257. For instances of the profanity of Mystery Plays,
see the _Towneley Plays_ ("Mactacio Abel," p. 7), first published by the
Surtees Society in 1836, and republished by the Early English Text
Society, 1897, E. S. No. lxxi.
]
[88] {208}[For the contention that "the snake was the snake"--no more
(_vide post_, p. 211), see _La Bible enfin Expliquee_, etc. ; _OEuvres
Completes de Voltaire_, Paris, 1837, vi. 338, note. "La conversation de
la femme et du serpent n'est point racontee comme une chose surnaturelle
et incroyable, comme un miracle, ou conune une allegorie. " See, too,
Bayle (_Hist. and Crit. Dictionary_, 1735, ii. 851, art. "Eve," note A),
who quotes Josephus, Paracelsus, and "some Rabbins," to the effect that
it was an actual serpent which tempted Eve; and compare _Critical
Remarks on the Hebrew Scriptures_, by the Rev. Alexander Geddes, LL. D. ,
1800, p. 42. ]
[89] [Richard Watson (1737-1816), Bishop of Llandaff, 1782, was
appointed Moderator of the Schools in 1762, and Regius Professor of
Divinity October 31, 1771. According to his own story (_Anecdotes of the
Life of Richard Watson_, 1817, p.
