These _entremeses_ are gay interludes, terminating with singing and dancing, and having no connection with the solemn play which follows, unless, as is the case with one of Lope de Vega’s (_Muestra de los Carros_), to ridicule the whole manner of celebrating the festival. With the increase in wealth and cultivation the performance of the _autos_ had lost much of its primitive simplicity, and was attended with lavish magnificence. The proper representation of these truly national works was deemed of such importance that each city had a committee, or _junta del corpus_, consisting of the _corregidor_ and two _regidores_ of the town, and a secretary. This committee in Madrid was presided over by a member of the royal council (_Consejo y Cámera real_) who was successively called the “commissary, protector, and superintendent of the festivals of the Most Holy Sacrament.” The president of the junta was armed with extraordinary powers, frequently exercised against refractory actors. It was his duty to provide everything necessary for the festival: plays, actors, cars, masked figures for the processions, decorations for the streets, etc. As there were at that date no permanent theatrical companies in the cities, it was necessary to engage actors for the _autos_ early in the year, in order that there might be no risk of failure, and to afford the necessary time for rehearsals. The necessary preparations having been made, and an early Mass celebrated, a solemn procession took place, followed by the representation of the _autos_ in the open air. The best descriptions of the manner of representation are found in the travels of two persons who witnessed the performance of the _autos_ in Madrid in 1654 and 1679. The second of the two was the Comtesse d’Aulnoy, whose account of her travels was always a popular book.[9] The writer was a gossipy French lady, who disseminated through Europe many groundless scandals about the Spanish court. Here are her own words about the _autos_: “As soon as the Holy Sacrament is gone back to the church everybody goes home to eat, that they may be at the _autos_, which are certain kinds of tragedies upon religious subjects, and are oddly enough contrived and managed; they are acted either in the court or street of each president of a council, to whom it is due. “The king goes there, and all the persons of quality receive tickets overnight to go there; so that we were invited, and I was amazed to see them light up abundance of flambeaux, whilst the sun beat full upon the comedians’ heads, and melted the wax like butter. They acted the most impertinent piece that I ever saw in my days.… These _autos_ last for a month.…” We shall see why the flippant Parisian was shocked when we consider the subject-matter of these plays. The whole ceremony is much better described by the earlier traveller, Aarseus de Somerdyck, a Dutchman, who was in Madrid in 1654.