MIRACLE CYCLES. 375 heading, ' Introitus Noe,' not at the head of play 4, but at the end of play 3. Play 5, the e Sacrifice of Isaac/ is written continuously with the pre- ceding, but is quite independent in composition. Plays 6 and 7, the ' Giving of the Law ' and the
- Prophets,' are separate both in aftion and writing.
Plays 8 to 13, containing the Birth of Mary, her Presentation in the Temple, her Marriage, the Annunciation, Joseph's trouble, and the Visit to Elizabeth, are written more or less continuously and are woven into a connected group by the appearances of an expositor called Contemplatio. We shall see later on that this group, though well defined, is not, as has sometimes been sup- posed, an original whole, but is of very complex origin. Next we have Play 14, ' Purgation of Mary and Joseph'; 15, 'Nativity'; 16, 'Shepherds'; 18,
- Magi ' ; 19,' Purification ' ; 20, c Massacre of
the Innocents' ; 21, 'Christ and the Doctors '; 22, ' Baptism ' ; 23, c Temptation ' ; 24, c Woman taken in Adultery'; 25, 'Raising of Lazarus.' These are all distindl plays separately written. The next group deals with the events leading up to the Passion. It may be called the Entry group. Opening with a sort of prologue spoken by Luci- fer, it continues through the Council of the Jews, the Entry into Jerusalem, the Last Supper, the Conspiracy, the Agony in the Garden, and the Betrayal. Both adlion and writing are perfectly continuous, the insertion of the numbers 26 to 28 being wholly arbitrary. The" representation was also meant to be continuous, as appears from the
