DODSLEY'S PREFACE.
I have not been able to discover who was the author of this piece. But I think it is one of the most remarkable of our ancient moralities, as it was wrote purposely to vindicate and promote the Reformation. It was printed in 1573, and contrived so that four people might act it; this was frequently done for the convenience of such as were disposed to divert or improve themselves, by representing these kinds of entertainments in their own houses.
[The authorship of "New Custom" remains undiscovered. It is a piece which may have been written a few years before it was printed, and is one of the dramatic efforts in furtherance of the Reformation. At the same time, there is no apparent foundation for the hypothesis that the morality was in existence any great length of time before the date of publication.]
THE PLAYERS' NAMES IN THIS INTERLUDE BE THESE.
- The Prologue.
- Perverse Doctrine, an old Popish Priest.
- Ignorance, another, but elder.
- New Custom, a Minister.
- Light of the Gospel, a Minister.
- Hypocrisy, an old Woman.
- Cruelty, a Ruffler.[1]
- Avarice, a Ruffler.
- Edification, a Sage.
- Assurance, a Virtue.
- God's Felicity, a Sage.