same kind of indelicate drollery in the play of "The Woman taken in Adultery," in this collection. The "Chester Mysteries" are still more sparing of such scenes, but they are printed from manuscripts written after the Reformation, which had, perhaps, gone through the process of expurgation, in which such excrescences had been lopped off. However, in the play of "Noah's Flood," we have the old quarrel between Noah and his wife, which is carried so far that the latter actually beats her husband in the presence of the audience. There is a little drollery in the play of "The Shepherds," a considerable amount of what may be called "Billingsgate" language in the play of the "Slaughter of the Innocents," but less than the usual amount of insolence in the tormentors and demons.[88] It is probable, however, that these droll scenes were not always considered an integral part of the play in which they were introduced, but that they were kept as separate subjects, to be introduced at will, and not always in the same play, and therefore that they were not copied with the play in the manuscripts. [88] The editions of the three principal collections of English mysteries are--1. "The Towneley Mysteries," 8vo., London, 1836, published by the Surtees Society; 2. "Ludus Coventriæ: a Collection of Mysteries, formerly represented at Coventry on the Feast of Corpus Christi," edited by James Orchard Halliwell, Esq., 8vo., London, 1841, published by the Shakespeare Society; 3. "The Chester Plays: a Collection of Mysteries founded upon Scriptural Subjects, and formerly represented by the Trades of Chester at Whitsuntide," edited by Thomas Wright, Esq., 2 vols. 8vo., London, 1843 and 1847, published by the Shakespeare Society.