not because they were idolaters and worshippers of idols, "And that
every imagination of the thoughts of his (man's) heart was only evil
continually," as the sixth chapter and fifth verse of Genesis tells us?
This then being so, we know also that in every ancient form of religion
dancing was one of the acts of worship, and if dancing, there must as
previously stated, have also been Pantomime.




CHAPTER II.

Origin of Tragedy and Comedy--Mythology--The meaning of the word
Pantomime--The origin of Harlequin, Columbine, Clown, and
Pantaloon--Grecian Mythology--Transformation Scenes--The rise of Grecian
Tragedy and Comedy--The Satirical Drama.


In the year 2347 B.C., in Chapter 9, verse 20, in Genesis, there occurs:
"And Noah began to be a husbandman, and he planted a vineyard." This is
one of the first acts that Noah did after the Deluge, and it is, as
history tells us, from the rites and ceremonies in celebration of the
cultivation of the vine, that we owe the origin of Tragedy and Comedy.

After the Deluge God placed His bow in the heavens as His covenant with
man that the world should no more be accursed; and in the first ages of
this world's history, Noah and his descendants celebrated their
deliverance from the Ark, the return of the seasons, and the promise of
plenty in their several religious rites and ceremonies. The children of
Shem had in general Asia as their portion; Japhet had Europe; and Ham,