Then he spoke, chanting in a grave full voice, so that the sound of it reached over the market-place; and these were his words, put into the kind of English we speak to-day. Below on this page you will find them as they were then written. “I am gracious and great, God without beginning; I am maker unmade, all might is in me; I am life and way unto salvation winning; I am foremost and first; as I bid shall it be. My blessing of face shall be blinding, And descending from harm to be hiding, My body in bliss ever abiding, Unending without any ending.” “I am gracyus and grete, God without you begynning; I am maker unmade, all mighte es in me; I am lyfe and way unto welth wynnyng; I am foremaste and fyrste, als I bid sall it be. My blyssing of ble sall be blending, And held and fro harme to be hydande, My body in blys ay abydande, Une dande withouten any endyng.” Then, with other grave words, the Lord began the work of Creation. First He brought into existence the angels, summoning them in nine orders of rank and power, each order greater and more powerful than the last. One after another they appeared from a platform at the back of the stage, wearing coats of gilded skin, over which long robes hung to their feet. Golden wings were fastened to their shoulders, and on their foreheads diadems sparkled. Then, greatest of all, and more beautiful and resplendent than the rest, came Lucifer. On him the Almighty conferred dignity and honour above all the other spirits He had created. He was the Star of the Morning, the great and splendid archangel. But Lucifer, filled with pride, soon began to contend before God. He claimed still higher powers than those which had been granted him, trying to make himself the equal of the Almighty. Then at last God spoke his sentence of banishment, and he and the angels who worshipped him, were cast down from heaven. “_O Lucifer, Star of the Morning, how art thou fallen!_” is a beautiful line in the Bible, which alludes to the disgrace and banishment which the audience now saw acted before their eyes. Shortly after the fall of Lucifer, the curtains of the pageant closed upon the scene of God enthroned, surrounded by the good angels singing their praises to the one and only deity. Margery, who had looked and listened in amazed delight, drew a long breath when this first play was over. Colin, no less excited, began at once to talk and to ask questions. “Look! they are dragging the stage away!” he exclaimed, “There’s the man you called Robin Coke, and there’s Master Smith, pulling with all his might. Where are they going to take it now?” “In front of John Gyseburn’s door; that’s where it’s played next,” said Giles. “That’s his son, Matthew Gyseburn, the lawyer,” he added, pointing out a man who stood at the other window. “See!” called Margery. “Here comes another pageant. What is this, Giles?”