The earliest known plays of this description in the English language belong to the class which were called in France moralities. They are three in number, and are preserved in a manuscript in the possession of Mr. Hudson Gurney, which I have not seen, but which is said to be of the reign of our king Henry VI. Several words and allusions in them seem to me to show that they were translated, or adapted, from the French. They contain exactly the same kind of allegorical personages. The allegory itself is a simple one, and easily understood. In the first, which is entitled the "Castle of Perseverance," the hero is _Humanum Genus_ (Mankynd), for the names of the parts are all given in Latin. On the birth of this personage, a good and a bad angel offer themselves as his protectors and guides, and he chooses the latter, who introduces him to _Mundus_ (the World), and to his friends, _Stultitia_ (Folly), and _Voluptas_ (Pleasure). These and some other personages bring him under the influence of the seven deadly sins, and _Humanum Genus_ takes for his bedfellow a lady named _Luxuria_. At length _Confessio_ and _Pœnitentia_ succeed in reclaiming _Humanum Genus_, and they conduct him for security to the Castle of Perseverance, where the seven cardinal virtues attend upon him. He is besieged in this castle by the seven deadly sins, who are led to the attack by Belial, but are defeated. _Humanum Genus_ has now become aged, and is exposed to the attacks of another assailant. This is _Avaritia_, who enters the Castle stealthily by undermining the wall, and artfully persuades _Humanum Genus_ to leave it. He thus comes again under the influence of _Mundus_, until _Mors_ (Death) arrives, and the bad angel carries off the victim to the domains of Satan. This, however, is not the end of the piece. God appears, seated on His throne, and Mercy, Peace, Justice, and Truth appear before Him, the two former pleading for, and the latter against, _Humanum Genus_, who, after some discussion, is saved. This allegorical picture of human life was, in one form or other, a favourite subject of the moralisers. I may quote as examples the interludes of "Lusty Juventus," reprinted in Hawkins's "Origin of the English Drama," and the "Disobedient Child," and "Trial of Treasure," reprinted by the Percy Society. The second of the moralities ascribed to the reign of Henry VI., has for its principal characters Mind, Will, and Understanding. These are assailed by Lucifer, who succeeds in alluring them to vice, and they change their modest raiment for the dress of gay gallants. Various other characters are introduced in a similar strain of allegory, until they are reclaimed by Wisdom. Mankind is again the principal personage of the third of these moralities, and some of the other characters in the play, such as Nought, New-guise, and Now-a-days, remind us of the similar allegorical personages in the French moralities described above.