e Adoration of the Magi, to be
exhibited before the Altar, just as the Mysteries of the Passion were
introduced during Lent. The Passion Play at Oberammergau and the
Creche, representing the Manger at Bethlehem, as seen in Catholic
Churches at Christmas, are the sole survivals of these ancient
Mysteries.

The second dramatic period in Spain was pastoral and satirical. Nothing
worthy of note adorns this period in the fifteenth century. In the
sixteenth century de Rueda and Lope de Vega founded the true national
drama of Spain. It was unlike anything of an earlier period, and yet,
resting faithfully on tradition, it gave a vivid picture of the
National Spanish life in all classes of society. From the gallantries
of the "dramas of the Cloak and Sword," to the historical plays in
which Dings and Princes figure; down to the manners and incidents of
common life, all is essentially Spanish. A fourth class still
represented Scriptural and sacred scenes. Calderon wrote at the height
of the Spanish drama during the reign of Philip II; and after his time
the drama in Spain declined until, in the eighteen century, it was at
its lowest ebb. At this time plays were still held in open courtyards,
and in the daytime, as in the earlier ages. Efforts were made to
subject it to French and Italian rule, but this had only a limited
success; stiff, cold translation from the French could not please a
people who always found in the Spanish drama an essentially popular
entertainment.

In Germany traces of the drama first appeared in the thirteenth
century, when rude attempts to imitate the Mystery plays were conducted
in churches by the priests. But when the populace tried to introduce
the Burlesque, the performances were banished to the open fields.
Students in the universities took part in them, and they continued
until after the Reformation. Brought into Europe from Constantinople by
the Crusaders and pilgrims, the Mystery plays became the chief
amusement of an illiterate age. Christianity was first thoroughly
impressed on the mind of Northern Europe by means of them; and the
first missionaries familiarized the rude Goths and Huns with Biblical
incidents at a time when reading was unknown outside of the Cloister.
No change in German drama occurred until the seventeenth century, when
operas after the Italian superseded the Mysteries and Moralities. The
production of this age, however, were characterized by bad taste and
pedantry; and it wa