[14] That the translation of the "Chester Plays" was made from the _French_, and not from the _Latin_, as Warton supposed, is ingeniously elucidated by Mr. Collier. In the English translation, some of the original French passages have been preserved.--"Annals of the Stage," ii. 129. When Warton found that these plays were translated into English, he concluded that they were from the Latin. He totally forgot that the French was long the prevalent language of England. And this important circumstance, too often overlooked by preceding inquirers, has thrown much confusion in our literary history. The best account we have of Ralph Higden may be found in the _first_ volume of Lardner's Cyclopædia on "The Early History of the English Stage," a work of some original research, at page 193. [15] The earliest and rudest known miracle-play in English has been published by Mr. Halliwell--_The Harrowing of Hell_. It was written in the reign of Edward the Second, and is a curious instance of the childhood of the drama. [16] The reign of Henry the Sixth may he fixed upon as the epoch of a new species of dramatic representation, known by the name of a moral.--_Collier_, i. 23. [17] The reader may gratify his curiosity, and derive considerable amusement, from the skilful analysis of primitive dramas, both manuscript and printed, which Mr. COLLIER has drawn up with true dramatic taste. There are also copious specimens in a curious article on Heywood in the volume on "The English Drama" of Lardner's Cyclopædia,--the labour of a learned antiquary. [One of Heywood's Interludes was printed by the Percy Society from his MS. in the British Museum, under the editorial care of Mr. Fairholt; who prefixed an analysis with copious extracts from his other Interludes.] The progress of the drama was similar both in France and England, yet our vivacious neighbours seem to have invented a peculiar burlesque piece of their own, under the title of _Sotties_, and whose chief personage takes the quality of _Prince des Sots_; and _La Mère Sotte_, who is represented with her infant _Sots_. These pieces still retained their devout character, with an intermixture of profane and burlesque scenes, highly relished by the populace. "Ils le nommèrent par un quolibet vulgaire, _Jeux de Pois pilez_, et ce fut selon toutes les apparences à cause de mélange du sacré et du profane qui régnait dans ces sortes de jeux." The cant phrase which the people coined for this odd mixture of sacred and farcical subjects, of _Mashed Peas_, may lose its humour with us, but we find by Bayle, art. "D'Assoucy," that they were collected and printed under this title, and fetched high prices among collectors. These _Sotties_ were acted by a brotherhood calling themselves _Enfans sans Soucy_.--Parfait, "Hist. du Théâtre Français," i. 52.