an ordinance of both hovses of parliament for the suppressing of publike stage-playes throughout the kingdome, during these calamitous times. england and wales. parliament. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription b03016 of text r175142 in the english short title catalog (wing e1794aa). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 2 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 1 1-bit group-iv tiff page image. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 b03016 wing e1794aa estc r175142 51784538 ocm 51784538 174947 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. b03016) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 174947) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 2706:24) an ordinance of both hovses of parliament for the suppressing of publike stage-playes throughout the kingdome, during these calamitous times. england and wales. parliament. 1 sheet ([1] p.) printed for iohn wright, london 1642. caption title. initial letter. reproduction of original in: universität göttingen bibliothek. eng theater -great britain -17th century -law and legislation -sources. great britain -history -civil war, 1642-1649 -early works to 1800. broadsides -england -london -17th century b03016 r175142 (wing e1794aa). civilwar no an ordinance of both houses of parliament, for the suppressing of publike stage-playes throughout the kingdome, during these calamitous time england and wales. parliament 1642 278 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 a this text has no known defects that were recorded as gap elements at the time of transcription. 2008-07 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2008-07 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-08 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2008-08 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion an ordinance of both hovses of parliament , for the suppressing of publike stage-playes throughout the kingdome , during these calamitous times . whereas the distressed estate of ireland , steeped in her own blood , and the distracted estate of england , threatned with a cloud of blood , by a civill warre ; call for all possible meanes to appease and avert the wrath of god appearing in these iudgements : amongst which , fasting and prayer having bin often tryed to be very effectuall , have bin lately , and are still enjoyned : and whereas publike sports doe not well agree with publike calamities , nor publike stage-playes with the seasons of humiliation , this being an exercise of sad and pious solemnity , and the other being spectacles of pleasure , too commonly expressing lacivious mirth and levitie : it is therfore thought fit , and ordeined by the lords and commons in this parliament assembled , that while these sad causes and set times of humiliation doe continue , publike stage-playes shall cease , and bee forborne . instead of which , are recommended to the people of this land , the profitable and seasonable considerations of repentance , reconciliation , and peace with god , which probably may produce outward peace and prosperity , and bring againe times of joy and gladnesse to these nations . die veneris , septemb. the 2. 1642. ordered by the lords and commons assembled in parliament , that this ordinance concerning stage-playes be forthwith printed and published . john browne cler. parliament . septemb. 3. london printed for iohn wright . 1642 , whereas complaint hath often been made to us that divers persons do rudely press and with evil language and blows force their way into our theatres ... at the time of their public representations and actings, without paying the price established ... england and wales. sovereign (1660-1685 : charles ii) 1673 approx. 3 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 1 1-bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2009-10 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a32678 wing c3628 estc r37631 16992742 ocm 16992742 105645 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a32678) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 105645) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1611:53) whereas complaint hath often been made to us that divers persons do rudely press and with evil language and blows force their way into our theatres ... at the time of their public representations and actings, without paying the price established ... england and wales. sovereign (1660-1685 : charles ii) charles ii, king of england, 1630-1685. 1 broadside. printed by the assigns of john bill and christopher barker ..., london : 1673. at head of page: charles r. "given at our court at whitehall the second day of february in the twenty sixth year of our reign." reproduction of original in the cambridge university library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng theater audiences -england. great britain -history -charles ii, 1660-1685. 2008-07 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2008-08 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-10 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2008-10 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2009-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion c 2 r diev et mon droit honi soit qvi mal y pense royal blazon or coat of arms charles r. whereas complaint hath often been made unto vs , that divers persons do rudely press , and with evil language and blows force their way into our theatres , ( called the theatre royal in bridges-street , and the dukes theatre in dorset-garden ) at the time of their publick representations and actings , without paying the price established at both the said theatres , to the great disturbance of our servants , licenced by our authority , as well as others , and to the danger of the publick peace : our will and pleasure therefore is , and we do hereby straightly charge and command , that no person of what quality soever , do presume to come into either of the said theatres before and during the time of acting , and until the plays are quite finished , without paying the price established for the respective places . and our further command is , that the money which shall be so paid by any persons for their respective places , shall not be return'd again , after it is once paid , notwithstanding that such persons shall go out at any time before or during the play ; and ( to avoid future fraud ) that none hereafter shall enter the pit , first , or upper gallery , without delivering to the respective door-keeper the ticket or tickets which they received for their money paid at the first door . and forasmuch as 't is impossible to command those vast engines ( which move the scenes and machines ) and to order such a number of persons as must be employed in works of that nature , if any but such as belong thereunto , be suffer'd to press in amongst them ; our will and command is , that no person of what quality soever , presume to stand or sit on the stage , or to come within any part of the scenes , before the play begins , while 't is acting , or after 't is ended ; and we strictly hereby command our officers and guard of souldiers which attend the respective theatres , to see this order exactly observ'd . and if any person whatsoever shall disobey this our known pleasure and command , we shall proceed against them as contemners of our royal authority , and disturbers of the publick peace . given at our court at whitehall the second day of february in the twenty sixth year of our reign . london , printed by the assigns of john bill and christopher barker , printers to the kings most excellent majesty . 1673. a letter to a.h. esq., concerning the stage 1698 approx. 32 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 13 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-10 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a50839 wing m2033 estc r16571 13033208 ocm 13033208 96795 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a50839) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 96795) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 745:10) a letter to a.h. esq., concerning the stage hopkins, charles, 1664?-1700? hammond, anthony, 1668-1738. [2], 22 p. printed for a. baldwin ..., london : 1698. a defense of the stage, in answer to jeremy collier's short view of the immorality and profaneness of the english stage. "the initials in the title [i.e. a.h.] have been identified as those of anthony hammond. charles hopkins has been suggested as the probable author." cf. nuc pre-1956. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng collier, jeremy, 1650-1726. -short view of the immorality and profaneness of the english stage. theater -religious aspects. theater -moral and ethical aspects. 2003-04 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-05 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-03 jonathan blaney sampled and proofread 2005-03 jonathan blaney text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a letter to a. h. esq concerning the stage . london , printed for a. baldwin , near the oxford-arms in warwick-lane , 1698. to a. h. esq &c. sir , forgive me if i think it ill-nature in you to leave the town , at a time when it wants your company , and seems to beg your assistance : how can you propose to live at ease in the country , when so many of your friends , the wits , are engag'd here in open war ? let mr. collier say what he pleases of mr. dryden , i begin to think 't was his prophetick genius mov'd him to declaim against priests ; and there is great reason to complain of their being the incendiaries of the people , when they set the world on fire by preaching , which they were only sent to warm . but what can mr. collier mean by exposing the stage so ? he wou'd not surely have it silenc'd : that wou'd be a little too barbarous , and too much like cant to be entertain'd by men of thought or ingenuity . i wou'd rather suppose he design'd a reformation ; and that is so reasonable , i wonder any man should put his face in disorder , or study a revenge for the attempt . but it may be ask'd , cou'd he not have done that without exposing so many great genius's ? had it not been better to have let mr. durfey alone ? tho' even this method wou'd not have pleas'd every body ; for whate'er effect it has had on mr. vanbroug and congreve ; motteux and guildon resent it to the last degree . is their nothing in their works illustrious , or that cou'd merit censure ? indeed some people are not to be reclaim'd by ridicule ; and mr. collier knowing their vertues , with how much compos'dness and resignation they can bear a hiss , out of compassion , took example by the town and neglected both . it is the observation of some , that where-ever the state flourishes , the theatre has never fail'd of encouragement ; and that 't is hardly possible the state shou'd suffer without the others sinking in its reputation . it is pity that england shou'd be the only exception , and since we have some of our nobility , who have a taste of eloquence , and all those vertues which adorn the stage , that it shou'd want their assistance by whom it was at first rais'd , and since maintain'd : if it has fallen from its purity , or never arriv'd to what they fully lik'd , let it not want their countenance , without whom 't is impossible to be any thing at all , and by whom it may become all that we can wish . they alone can free it from contempt and censure , by maintaining such an awe , that the least glymps of profaneness and immorality shou'd not dare to appear on the stage ; and this may be done by encouraging none but those who write well : for when a good poet takes on him to instruct , we need fear no immodesty ; for 't is impossible in a regular play , he shou'd find room for an indecency . i know you 'll ask , why shou'd i appear so zealous in desiring the favour of the nobility for what is deny'd to be lawful ; and that i ought not to wish an encouragement of the stage , when 't is affirm'd that from thence we derive our corruption of manners . mr. collier has endeavour'd to prove this from the looseness of some of our plays , and then has brought the opinion of the fathers to condemn the theatre in general . as to the first objection , that the debauchery of the town is to be attributed to the looseness of our plays and stage . if this were true , it is an objection only against the present corruption of the theatre ; and is of no force against a regulated stage ; for that admits of nothing immodest or immoral . as to the second objection brought from councils and fathers , if what is quoted were really design'd by them against the theatre in general , yet it can have but little effect with the people , i mean the men of probity and learning ; for they are not to be mov'd by the opinions of others no longer than those opinions are agreeable to reason : no man ought to pay such a respect either to councils or fathers , as to submit his judgment contrary to his reason . their saying so in this case ought to have no more effect with us than if they had at the same time given us their opinion of the truth of transubstantiation . i think the matter ought to be disputed by it self ; for the opinion of the fathers cannot alter the nature of the thing . sir , give me leave to make this digression : 't is my opinion , even in matters of religion , the preaching up the fathers so much has been of fatal consequence . if we run out of our selves to search for truth , we are expos'd to be deceiv'd ; and relying too much upon another's judgment , may be the occasion of an errour in our own . a false quotation or interpretation by a man of some figure , to an easie credulous bigot , has been the conversion of a great many , and of excellent service in the church of rome : they cannot attack any without a father or council , and that to a person who knows nothing of the matter , is as good as a demonstration . the fathers were but men , and as capable to be deceiv'd as others : and i do not know why the bishop of worcester may not deserve an equal esteem ; he understands the languages , and has as much sincerity as any of them ; and why then shou'd he not be able to give the sense of the scripture as well . i have a veneration for them as good men , and where their opinion is a consequent of true reason , it ought to be embraced ; but where 't is not , i need not say it ought to be rejected ; and i think any man may be allowed to dispute whether it be so or no. the bishop of worcester cannot publish a book , but you 'll have an answer to it . it would indeed be of reputation to the councils and fathers , some of them at least , if what were objected against them were of no more force . his philosophy is too rational to be weak'ned by sophistry ; his divinity too solid to be shook by heresie : he seems to have been predestinated to glory , and the appointed instrument to deliver us from popery , atheism , deism , and socinianism , with all those spurious sectaries which have been spawned into the world : what can resist the power of his arguments ? and who is able to abide his force . but to return , i think the controversie , in short , is this : whether the allowance of a theatre in a christian country , is consisting with the christian religion . the answer to this question may be this : that whatever is approved by lawful authority , and is not against any positive revealed law of god , is consisting with the christian religion . now it lies upon the adversaries of the stage to prove , that the theatre is against law or scripture . 't is unfair to take the advantage of the present corruptions , and cry down the stage , because men make an ill use of it . the priests won't allow this argument in another case ; and i think an ill poet is no more an objection against the stage , than a clergyman's being a blockhead , is to the pulpit . 't is our misfortune to have too many in both vocations ; tho' , as bad as the stage is , i don't doubt but the world has receiv'd a great many advantages from it . i shall name you some , and the first may be the reclaiming the manners of the clergy . 't is certain , since the stage has used the gown freely , and the laity have not been afraid to look into their faults , that they are more humble , and less publickly vicious : they know if tom d'urfey can light upon a frail priest , he won't scruple to expose his infirmities , tho' he is not the only whipping tom of the stage ; if they had not others to fear , they wou'd soon grow too many for him . i believe they wou'd be angry , if they thought the people gave the honour of their reformation to the stage ; tho' you can't believe otherwise , if you consider the difference of the former and present clergy , what a strange alteration there is where the knowledge of plays have come ( i wou'd be understood only of those who needed a reformation ) there are now , and have always been , men among them able and sit to give laws , and from whom the world was glad to receive them , who appear'd as burning and shining lights in their generation ; and it was from them we learnt the difference ; it was their light which expos'd the other , and the stage only took their evil deeds , to shew them truly the evils of them . but besides their reforming of manners , the stage has taught them to speak english , and preach more like ambassadors of their great master . it has taught them to argue rationally , and at once mended their stile , and form of their sermons . how did religion labour under heavy language , and how many people rather absented the church , than come to hear the word of god burlesqu'd ? in what a ridiculous dress did religion appear ? when to spin out the time in old proverbs , and wretched puns , a fellow wou'd run it up to six and thirtiethly , before he came to his use and applications . in short , the drunkenness , whoring , insolence , and dulness that has appear'd under a black coat on the stage , have made the men of the same colour of it keep within bounds : and that a man might not teize them with the representation , they have endeavour'd to appear in as differing a form as possible . if what mr. collier says was true , that when a clergyman is brought on the stage , it is with a design to ridicule the function , it wou'd be abominable , and as bad as the town is , wou'd be hiss'd off the stage . i dare say , whatever the intention of the poet is , 't is not receiv'd so by the audience . for at this rate , every foolish peer who is brought on the stage , must be suppos'd to intend a reflection on all the men of condition ; and an alderman , who is a cuckold , must be look'd on as the representative of his brethren . 't is absurd to make no distinction ; as if a particular vice in a particular man , cou'd not be expos'd without a design'd reflection on all who belong to him . it ought to touch no body but whom it concerns ; and it has its end , if it reclaims where it was design'd , and prevents others , by shewing the danger : and this is the design of comedy . but the question is , whether our poets have managed it as they ought ? whether they have not pick'd out a particular person , and expos'd the character in general , under the notion of one man ? i answer to this , that whatever the design of the poet has been , it has not had the effect with the people : for who disbelieves the authority of their function , or thinks the worse of good , learned , and ingenious men among them ? are not the religious very much reverenc'd ? has any body thought the worse of stillingfleet , tillotson , and burnet , upon this account ? who can believe , that when mr. vanbroug disguises a parson , that he thought of these men , or any who lives soberly , and makes religion their business , and at the same time , don't make it inconsistent with good manners ? the good among them know the people love them , and that nothing but their own mis-behaviour draws them into contempt . any minister , tho' he was but of mean understanding , yet if he had other good qualities , if he liv'd soberly , and did his duty religiously , that ever such a man was pickt out to be the scandal of his neighbours , or a ridicule of the stage . whence is it then , that the clergy are so angry ? if you hook but one of them , all the rest are upon your back , and you can't expose his vices without being an enemy to the church : and in this , priests of all religions are the same . but after all , why shou'd mr. collier blame mr. dryden for making dorax exclaim against the mahometan priest ? or how can that be a prejudice to the character of the christian clergy ? is it not natural for such a one as dorax to say as much , and especially against such a one as the mufti in the play ? and does mr. collier blame mr. dryden for writing naturally ? i think it is a fault throughout mr. collier's book , that in his criticisms of the plays , he never considers the person who speaks ; that is , whether 't is not natural for a man of such a character , to say such a thing ? it wou'd have been of more service to have proved , that no person is to be brought on the stage to say an ill thing , and then he had thrown away all the profaneness , which is so much an offence , at once . but if such persons are to be represented , there is not so much reason against any of our present plays , as is urg'd by mr. callier ; for you must allow a coquett to talk like her self , a lover to vent his passion in raptures , and a rake to speak the language of the town . i have already told you , that i am far from vindicating the present stage . i don't know a regular play , or that ought to be represented on a regular stage ; yet i know a great many plays that i would not loose for want of that regularity . who wou'd not have sir g. etheridge , mr. wicherly , and even some of mr. dryden's plays ? who would reject the orphan , because mr. collier objects against a loose speech in it . but mr. collier has laid other things to the poet's charge besides the abuse of the clergy ; and that the profane characters in the play , has had an ill effect on the age , by promoting of immorality and vice. this i very much question ; for i can't apprehend so much danger even in the present stage as mr. collier wou'd suggest . the greatest faults of our plays are their being generally , in one part or other , unnatural : that which is regular in any of them can never be an offence ; and where that monster appears , it rather frightens than allures ; so that we are not in so much danger , even from our very bad plays : for the more monstrous , the less power it has to please ; and whatever looses the power , can never do much damage . so that if mr. collier should make a collection of d'urfey's works , who is there that wou'd become a convert ? and who wou'd turn parson to be drunk and beat the watch ? or who wou'd be proud of an imitation of any of his heroes ? has any body brought themselves under his character , in hopes to recommend them to the world ? it would be happy if the world had learnt no more irreligion from the pulpit than it has from the stage ; at least , the consequence of the first has been more fatal . what dismal effect has the holy cant had upon the multitude : what rebellion , blood-shed and mischief have been encourag'd under the name of sanctity , religion , and the good old cause . whoever learnt to cut a king's throat by seeing of plays ? but by going to church , the people were instructed to bind the king in chains , and his nobles in fetters of iron , that the kingdom ought to be taken away , and given to the saints ; and who wou'd not be a saint for such an inheritance ? who cou'd refuse resisting of authority , when instead of damnation , it was coming forth to the help of the lord against the mighty ? but this is but one mischief of the pulpit ; this is only putting a kingdom in civil broils , intestine wars , and unnatural murthers . but when men of debauch'd principles shall become the teachers of the nation , what may we not expect from their industry and sedition . after all , my lord foppington was never design'd to teach people to speak or act like him ; nor was it intended that the ladies shou'd be byass'd by the example of berinthia to turn coquetts . these and the like characters in other plays , are not propos'd as a direction for the gallant man , or the vertuous lady ; but that seeing how such persons behave themselves on the stage , that they may not make the like figure in the world : but if any body shou'd rather be in love than terrified by these examples , 't is their fault , and not the poets , since the best things are liable to corruptions . but it may be objected , that our poets don't make persons speak like themselves . that indeed is a fault , and i can't say any thing to excuse it but this ; that they who have the judgment to know when a poet speaks improperly , ought to have so much judgment , as not to be by assed by his irregularities : the people who don 't understand it , generally suppose , that what is vertuous is to be imitated , and what is vicious is to be avoided . that this is the general observation of those who frequent plays , may justly be inferr'd from the practice of the town : for i challenge any man to prove , that any one vice , now in being , took its rise from the stage . the stage takes examples from the town . the scene must be really acted in the world before it comes to be expos'd : so that whatever appears vicious or ridiculous , is owing to the wickedness of the times , and not to the theatre . it may be objected , that what is generally acted on the stage , if it was done before , yet it was done in private ; but the stage publishes it . to this i answer , that it does not intend to license it , only to set it in a true light , that it may be expos'd and shunn'd . as to those objections , that the actors are generally debauch'd , and of leud conversation ; and that no person who is a known adulterer , or profane , ought to be encouraged : that the play-house is a resort of vicious persons , and gives opportunity to such who have wicked inclinations . all these wou'd fall upon the advancement of a regular stage ; but as 't is , the objections are not levell'd right ; for the state is chargeable with the immoralities . there are laws for the punishment of vice ; and if the magistrate neglect his duty , he must answer for it . i don't know that any body is oblig'd to a conversation with the players ; and their lives can influence only their associates ; and such they wou'd find , whether they are players or not . when they are on the stage they are confin'd to the poets language : and if we shou'd see mr. powel acting a brave , generous and honest part ; or mrs. knight , a very modest and chaste one , it ought not to give us offence ; because we are not to consider what they are off the stage , but whom they represent : we are to do by them as in religion we do by the priest , mind what they say , and not what they do . tho' the stage is not so abandon'd but that there are some honest and vertuous , for any thing the town can say to the contrary . and i wou'd leave it to themselves , whether they don't find their account in it ; whether the town is not more favourable on any occasion ; so that it ought to be an encouragement to persist in their vertue . the objection against the play-house it self , because it gives opportunities for wickedness , is so trifling , it is hardly worth answering ; for they who are viciously inclin'd will find an opportunity ; and as long as the toleration-act is in force , there is never a meeting in town but will afford extraordinary hints of that kind ; the morning and evening lectures are precious seasons ; mr. doelittle may thresh his heart out , there will be tares among the wheat ; and those houses are haunted with a sort of spirits that are not to be cast out with prayer and fasting . i think from the little i have said , it is certain the town has not been debauch'd by the stage , and that 't is much easier to demonstrate the good , than prove the evil effect even of our bad plays . i have shew'd that there has been a vertue in them ; and we might very well pardon them if it were only for that one benefit , of being so serviceable to the reclaiming of the clergy . if they can give me an instance of any play whose vices have had so ill effect with the people as to counter-balance the good it has wrought in them , i shou'd set my self against the stage too ; but then as to other advantages which we have receiv'd from the plays of the first rank , we are certainly very much in debt to them . the refinement of our tongue is principally owing to them ; good manners and good conversation is owing to our comedy ; and i don't doubt but some of our tragedies have fired some with a greatness of spirit , and taught to act the hero with prudence , vertue and courage . i shall conclude this part of my letter with this observation , that if the present stage has not been so terrible an enemy to christianity , but on the contrary , has afforded a great deal of good to the world ; that a regulated stage wou'd be of infinite service to the nation . i have proposed it as an argument in defence of a regular stage , that it lies on its adversaries to prove it against law or scripture , and so might leave it justify'd till some person or other make the discovery to the world : but because 't is my opinion 't is utterly impossible , i shall give you some reasons why i think it not only lawful in it self , but very necessary in this populous city . and , first , if we consider the matter that ought to be represented , whether it be tragedy or comedy ; there is nothing in either that can offend religion or good manners . tragedy is a representation of an action by some great man , teaching us to regulate our passions with exactness , and by shewing the strange and differing accidents of life , to which the most important persons are subject ; proving to us that vice never goes unpunished ; and that true happiness does not chiefly consist in the enjoyment of this world. comedy is a representation of common conversation ; and its design is to represent things natural ; to shew the faults of particular men in order to correct the faults of the publick , and to amend the people thro' a fear of being expos'd , with this observation , that the ridiculous of the stage is to be only a copy of the ridiculous found in nature . in short , 't is the property both of tragedy and comedy to instruct : the characters in both are to be natural ; and the persons concern'd in the whole action , are to be such whose vertues ought to provoke us to an emulation , or whose vices ought to deter us from imitating their example . the language and sentiments are to be suitable to each character : a wise , good , and great man is to say nothing but what is natural for such a one to say : the gallant man is to appear with all the qualities of a man of honour : and the fool in his proper colour'd coat . the vices of the wicked are not to be represented so nicely , as punish'd severely ; that is , a vicious person is not to be allow'd to plead in favour of his vices , or to represent his villany so calmly as to tempt any man to try practices in another place . vice is only to be brought there to be condemn'd ; and the reason of this is , that our terrour may be excited , and all our passions vent themselves with strength and reason . our pity is not to be extended in a wrong place . in short , the disposition of the play is to be such that all the characters have a proper effect with us . our fear , love , and anger are to be exerted with justice ; and we are to learn from a just fable how to behave our selves in earnest . thus may we exercise our souls by examining our reasonable faculties , and try how we can love to extremity , and yet without a fault ; to be angry and sin not ; to be just without partiality , and rejoyce with them that rejoyce . we are there instructed to love , hate , and fear within measure , how we may be men without dedebasing our souls ; and all this by moving examples , which in spite of stubbornness , will force its impressions ; and 't is our own fault if they are not lasting . this certainly must recommend the stage to the vertuous ; and piety can't be offended at the decent reproving of vice , and the insinuating recommendation of vertue . here we find morality urg'd by precept and example , and the stage reprehending those follies which the pulpit wou'd blush to correct ; for tho' the church is the place to declaim against sin , yet there are some sorts of wickedness which can't be so decently reprov'd there ; so that the stage is serviceable on this account , to supply the defects of the pulpit . in short , whatever may be objected against the present management of the stage , is of no force against such proceedings as these . religion and morality can receive no damage here ; for as long as these rules are observ'd , they strictly include both . it was the opinion of a great master of reason , that tragedy conduces more to the instruction of manking , than even philosophy it self , because it teaches the mind by sense , and rectifies the passions by the passions themselves . and there is this further advantage , that we have always the example of great men before us , and are generally inclinable to take our manners from them . there has indeed authorities been produc'd against the stage , tho' there don't want as ancient advocates for it ; and some of the fathers themselves writ plays , however mr. collier came to forget it . if the theatre is capable to give us such advantage , it will easily be prov'd of what necessity there is for its encouragement in this populous city : if there were no politick reasons , yet the good to religion that may be done by it , is a convincing argument at once for its lawfulness and use. i know the gravity of some can't dispense with so much time to be spent in diversion ; tho' i can't think this a reasonable objection where so much profit may attend our delight . if it be lawful to recreate our selves at all , it can never be amiss to frequent such a diversion , that only takes up our time to make us wiser . i wou'd to god all of them were directed to the same end. no man is to employ himself so as to exclude the duties of religion ; and there is as much danger in minding too much the business of the world , as the pleasures of it ; both of them are to be kept within bounds , and both subservient to religion . the passions of men are active and restless ; and 't is the prudence of every state to encourage some publick exercise to keep them at quiet . if the theatre was down , the churches wou'd not be the fuller for 't . or if they shou'd , religion is not always the design of them who come there ; so that i cannot see that any thing can be allow'd for the publick diversion with so much innocence and so much advantage . i 'm only afraid that such a regularity wou'd be too vertuous for the age ; and i don't doubt but the beaux and poetasters wou'd be full of exclamation : for it wou'd be a dreadful time if the ladies should regard the play more than their beaux airs ; and how wou'd vanbroug be able to pass a comedy on them , if they shou'd once be so nice in their taste as to disgust obscenity ; this indeed wou'd be a vexation , and such a delicacy which mr. congreve cou'd not be pleased with : and if the town shou'd be so refin'd to admit of nothing but what is natural , we can't expect that ever he will gratifie us with another tragedy . durfey and motteux wou'd write no more farces ; guildon and tom. brown , &c. wou'd be the saints with wry mouthes and scrue'd faces : mr. guildon indeed has philosophy enough to support himself under such a calamity , and knows a method to prevent starving ; for who can think that he who writ blunt's life can be at a loss for a decent dispatch of his own ? 't is a deplorable case , indeed , and i pity a man who cannot get bread by writing , and yet must beg or starve without it . the prince of conti believ'd the french stage wou'd not have been so bad if the priests had begun sooner to declaim against it : it is possible that some of our defects may be owing to such a negligence . however 't is never too late to mend ; and since mr. collier has took up the cudgels , i wish the rest of the same coat wou'd so far as is just and reasonable , stand his second : he has his faults , but they are such as i wou'd not have lost his book for . i know there are some violent wits , who will not allow him either wit or style , but , in plain terms , to be a fool. i hope none of them will go about to prove it . i confess he has kept ill company of late ; but surely they don't ground a conjecture upon that , especially when a man only converses to convince . the naming mr. durfey , or examining his works , is not so contagious as to stain a man's reputation . we are indeed to answer for evil communication ; and tho' i cannot justifie a man who wou'd read mr. durfey with too much delight , because we must not set our affection on things below , yet i wou'd pardon any who wou'd read him only to forewarm others of the danger . 't is a misfortune to have good poets stand in need of assistance ; but 't is very much aggravated when they are deny'd it . a man who is oblig'd to write for his bread , is forc'd to be very hasty to prevent starving ; and every man's genius is not so sharp as his appetite . this may be one reason we have so many things appear abortive . some poets have not so much as to save their longing ; and if their muse miscarry , or come with an ugly mark into the world , are rather to be pity'd than condemn'd . in what pangs have i seen some poor creatures to be deliver'd , when at the same time they have fear'd the poverty of their brats , and that the world wou'd discover they were very sick in the breeding . a good poet ought never to want a worthy patron ; and our nobility and gentry ought to be industrious in the advancement of letters . they might do it with great ease and little expence ; for the number is not so great who deserve their countenance . in vain we complain of the irregularity of the stage , if they who cou'd support its honour , want support themselves : so that one great step to advance the theatre , is to take care , that they who write for the stage , do not want for encouragement . you see , sir , i have given my thoughts freely : i wish they may receive your approbation ; because i wou'd never think but to please you . i dare not now think of excusing any thing i have writ ; for i was resolv'd to tie my self to no method , but to think as much as i cou'd for the advantage of the stage , which i must believe very lawful , for any thing i have yet met to the contrary . nor can i be perswaded , that our plays have had so ill effect as some wou'd imagine . the best of our plays have nothing in them that is so scandalous ; and for the worst , i wou'd not allow them the credit , nor the authors the vanity to think they could influence any one man. the evil conversation of some of them wou'd frighten a man from being vicious ; so that they are serviceable against their wills , and do the world a kindness through mistake . i dare not stay any longer with you , tho' i have a great inclination to beg you 'd exeuse the roughness of my stile : but you know i have been busie in virgil ; and that they say , at will 's , is enough to spoil it : but if i had begg'd a more important thing , and ask'd you to forgive the length of my letter , i might assure my felf you wou'd oblige , your humble servant . finis . a farther defence of dramatick poetry being the second part of the review of mr. collier's view of the immorality and profaneness of the stage / done by the same hand. settle, elkanah, 1648-1724. 1698 approx. 99 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 41 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-07 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a41299 wing f906 estc r202014 12651475 ocm 12651475 65285 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a41299) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 65285) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 67:19) a farther defence of dramatick poetry being the second part of the review of mr. collier's view of the immorality and profaneness of the stage / done by the same hand. settle, elkanah, 1648-1724. settle, elkanah, 1648-1724. defence of dramatick poetry. filmer, edward, b. ca. 1657. rymer, thomas, 1641-1713. [8], 72 p. printed for eliz. whitlock ..., london : 1698. part 1 of this is entitled: a defence of dramatick poetry. written by e. settle. cf. wing; ncbel. also attributed to e. filmer by nuc pre-1956 imprints and t. rymer by bm. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng collier, jeremy, 1650-1726. -short view of the immorality and profaneness of the english stage. theater -moral and ethical aspects. theater -england. 2002-12 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-02 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2003-05 john latta sampled and proofread 2003-05 john latta text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-06 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a farther review of mr. collier . the second part , &c. a farther defence of dramatick poetry : being the second part of the review of mr. collier's view of the immorality and profaneness of the stage . done by the same hand . london : printed for eliz. whitlock , near stationer's hall. 1698. preface . i must beg my reader 's pardon , that my bookseller's over-hasty publication of my former discourse in defence of dramatick poetry , has forced me to give him my full review of mr. collier , thus in fragments . however , i am in hopes that his favourable reception of that first part will pave my way for the last ; and then i have my wishes . and here in my full survey of the merits of mr. collier ' s view of the stage , and the success of it together ; i cannot but think how little honesty , truth or conscience , are required , to make a popular piece upon a religious subject . i confess this looks like a paradox , and perhaps an uncharitable one : but i am sorry i must say , 't is too true for a iest. i am sure the many strain'd constructions of profanation and blasphemy , and the other ill-grounded arguments , the many falsities among the few truths in that treatise , sufficiently prove my assertion . and the unhappy reason of the too epidemical popular deception from subjects of that kind , is this , that the honest features of the face conceal the fucus of it ; and the well-meaning of the cause covers a great many of the false reasonings that champion for it . and here i may say , 't is almost a whole national misfortune , that sentence in these cases , is given with hearing but one side . the indictment's laid full , and the accusation charged home ; but the poor criminal at the bar shall never speak for himself , produce one witness in his cause , or move for an arrest of iudgment . 't is thus mr. collier carries the victory , and gains all the trumpets that eccho his triumph . all this is a little hard : but here lies the misery . there 's no restraint upon the quill that runs gall upon pious themes . in any misrepresentation of humane affairs , untruth and fiction are under some lash of the law. the broachers of falsity stand in awe of authority , and their fear of the punishment restrains the offence . whilst on the contrary , such is the impunity of these religious misrepresentations , that there seems to be no truly general privilege of lying , but in god's name . this i will farther positively aver , that when a single private hand sets up for a publick reformation , especially in a cause where all tongues are silent but his own , we have all the reason in the world ( if we 'd give our selves leisure but to think ) to suspect either the enthusiast or the hypocrite , viz. that either the mad zeal or the pretended one sets pen to paper . i shall begin this second review of the ingenious mr. collier , in his remarks upon the relapse : and here i must prepare my reader for a new entertainment . for hitherto , in our first part , we have only discoursed him in his diviner qualification , as the church-man and philosopher , viz. in his moral and religious objections against the stage . but here we find him , in the humane capacity , carrying on his attack , not only as a church-champion , but that humbler stage-combatant , a critick . but no doubt , he 's a man of universal learning , and therefore to do himself justice , as well as the stage , there 's no reason that this shining talent should lie any more hid than the other . i confess , he has singled out a very sturdy play to grapple with , and if he has prowess enough for a compleat conquest here , he may hope to drive the whole stage before him . the remarks on the relapse examined . engaging this play immediately after some small triumph over mr. durfey's don quixot , he gives this reason why this author should next enter the list , viz. the relapse should follow don quixot , upon the account of some alliance between ' em . now , which way the kindred enters betwen these two plays , i am afraid mr. collier's whole false heraldry will hardly be able to make out . for 't is the opinion of the whole town , the vox populi on my side , that neither those two authors nor their works , especially the quixot labours , have any such great affinity . i durst venture to say , the relapse and the quixot are no more of kin , then the cavalier to the church-man ; not so much as mr. collier's modern beau wigg , crevate and sword , to his old cast gown , cassock and scarf . nor is there half so much reason why the relapse should follow the don quixot , as why mr. collier the sword-man should follow doctor collier the gown-man . the resignation of his quondam divinity , and his whole spirituality for his present temporal and carnal assumption , no more the church-militant , but the lay-militant hero , is all but a natural consequence , a product we see every day . this very master of arts himself , when but a iunior soph , could have produced a very substantial maxim in natural philosophy to justifie this transformation , viz. corruptio optimi , &c. i shall spend a few more thoughts [ more words he means ] then ordinary upon this play , and examine it briefly [ in twelve leaves of paper ] in the fable , the moral , the characters , &c. the fable i take to be as follows . fashion , a lewd prodigal younger brother is reduced to extremity ; upon his arrival from his travels , he meets with coupler an old sharping match-maker . this man puts him upon a project of cheating his elder brother lord foppington of a rich fortune . young fashion being refused a sum of money by his brother , goes into coupler's plot , bubbles sir tunbelly of his daughter , and makes himself master of a fair estate . from the form and constitution of the fable , i observe , first , there is a misnommer in the title . the play should not have been here call'd , the relapse ; or , virtue in danger . lovelace and amanda , from whose characters these names are drawn , are persons of inferior consideration , &c. the intrigue and the discovery , the great revolution and success turns upon young fashion . he , without competition , is the principal person in the comedy , and therefore the younger brother , or the fortunate cheat , had been much a more proper name . now when a poet can't rig out a title page , 't is but a bad sign of his holding out to the epilogue . here i am afraid this gentleman that has so curiously examined through the whole play , has unfortunately read but half the title page . for is not the play call'd , the relapse ; or , virtue in danger , being the sequel of the fool in fashion ? and did not all the play-house bills call it the second part of the fool in fashion ? and consequently is not here lovelace , amanda , lord foppington , all the whole walks of the play , &c. the full contents of the fabrick express'd in the frontispiece ? and why , the younger cheating brother is a greater person in the play than the elder cheated brother , when the younger is only concerned in the walk of sir tunbelly , and the elder through the whole play with amanda , lovelace , &c. is that unaccountable riddle , that nothing but such an oedipus as mr. collier can solve ? now if his twelve leaves of remarks upon that play , end no better then they begin , 't is shrewdly to be suspected that the remarker has more bad signs of not holding out , than the relapser . 2dly , i observe the moral is vicious . it points the wrong way , and puts the prize into the wrong hand . it seems to make lewdness the reason of desert , and gives young fashion a second fortune , only for debauching away his first . a short view of his character will make good this reflection . to begin with him , he confesses himself a rake , swears and blasphemes , curses and challenges his elder brother , cheats him of his mistress , and gets him lay'd by the heels in a dog-kennel . and what was the ground of all this unnatural quarrelling and outrage ? why the main of it was only because lord foppington refus'd to supply his luxury and make good his extravagance . this young fashion after all is the poets man of merit . he provides a plot and a fortune on purpose for him . to speak freely , a lewd character seldom wants good luck in a comedy : so that when ever you see a thorough libertine , you may almost swear he is in a rising way , and that the poet intends to make him a great man. in short , this play perverts the end of comedy , &c. for the relapsers moral holds forth this notable instruction . first that all younger brothers should be careful to run out their circumstances as fast , and as ill as they can ; and when they have put their affairs into this posture they may conclude themselves in the high road to wealth and success . for as fashion blasphemously applys it , providence takes care of men of merit . 2dly . that when a man is prest , his business is not to be govern'd by srcuples , or to formalize upon conscience and honesty . the quickest expedients are the best for in such cases the occasion justifies the means , and a knight of the post is as good as one of the garter . in this view of young fashion , i wonder by what unintelligible light of discovery this characterizer finds him that blasphemer , lewd debauchee , or thorough libertine , as he 's here set out . 't is true his man lory in a piece of rally , puts the iacobite upon him . but that i suppose is none of the blots in young fashion's scutcheon ; at least of mr. colliers discovery . but to draw this libertine to the full length . he is a young fellow , brother to a baronet , ( now a lord ) guilty of no vice but extravagance ; this extravagance too , amounts to no more , then that he has spent 500 l. anticipated upon his annuity of 200 l. per annum ; not in whoredome , dice , ryot , nor any other brutal prodigality , but only in three years travel beyond sea , travel that has been accounted the most honourable improvement of a gentleman ; a great part of this extravagance occasion'd possibly to bear up the port of his birth , and the honour of his family ; a sin not altogether so capital ; nor his circumstances so very ill run out , as this remarker endeavours to perswade us . this is the whole character of young fashion , excepting what relates afterwards to his cheating his brother ; and what ground he stands upon there , how far the debauch , the libertine , or the knight of the post , we shall examine . this young extravagant , 't is true , at his return to london , resents his unhappy circumstances , the low ebb of his pocket , with a little too free air of a gentleman ; does not fall upon his knees like the prodigal at the swine trough , a fault perhaps scarce pardonable with the divine mr. collier . however in this distress he applyes himself to his brother , not an addressor to his periwig , his crevate , his feather or his snush-box , as lory advises : for he absolutely declares against so low-spirited and servile a baseness as flattery . his brother , whom he finds newly lordified , is so taken up with his looking glass and dressing-box , and his whole wardrobe retinue , that he scarce speaks to him , takes less notice of him , gives him that cold welcome , though after three years absence , and uses him with all that scorn and contempt , as justly provokes our young spark to no little indignation against him . here coupler enters , caresses young fashion , tells him what match he had made for his brother with sir tunbelly's daughter , in consideration of a bond of a 1000 l. for helping him to this fortune ; and for 5000 l. from young fashion , agrees to cheat the lord , and so manage the game as to carry the prize for the squire . in the raptures of which fair hopes , fashion tells lory , providence thou seest takes care of men of merit , we are in a fair way of being great people . now this is the whole sum total of young fashion's blasphemy . had he said fortune , fate , destiny , or the kind stars had took such care of merit , it had been much at one ; so little is the divinity pointed at , or touch'd in this expression . but notwithstanding this fair occasion offer'd , not only to revenge all the indignity receiv'd from his brother , but to enrich himself with a fortune of 1500 l. per annum ; yet all this temptation will not carry the point , provided his brother will but supply him with poor 500 l. to redeem his annuity . accordingly , he says , i 'll try my brother to the bottom , i 'll speak to him with the temper of a philosopher , my reasons , ( though they press him home ) shall be cloathed with so much modesty , not one of all the truths they urge shall be so naked to offend his sight ; if he has yet so much humanity as to assist me , ( though with a moderate aid ) i 'll drop my project at his feet , and shew him i can do for him , much more then i ask he 'd do for me , &c. relapse . page 20. this very address he makes to his brother in all the terms of modesty , and finds him so wholly inveterate , so deaf to all arguments of reason , justice or pity , though to save him from starving or hanging ; that upon this only repulse , he enters into couplers plot , and puts on the iacob's false hands for the blessing ; resolving to cheat the lord and carry the lady . now how much this play perverts the end of comedy , which as monsieur rapin ( he tells us ) observes , ought to regard reformation and improvement , will soon be examin'd . as the lord foppington's is the character of the play , justly design'd to be most exposed ; accordingly by the rules of comedy , his pride , his vanity , his unnatural inhumanity to his own brother , and all the other vices of his character , ought to be punish'd , with all the insults , defeats , disappointments and shame , that the dramatick justice can heap upon him , through the whole play. but as no over-reach or defeat in comedy can well be performed , but by some fraud or cheat or other ; and consequently he that carries on the cheat , cannot reach to the full heights of a perfect character , viz. wholly unblemish'd ; however 't is the work of the poet in that case to raise those just provocations for every such insult , and lay that reasonable ground for every such cheat , especially in the prosperous characters of the comedy ; that their successes , in the catastrophe of the play , may seem the reward of some virtue and iustice even in the cheat himself , comparative to the vice and injustice they punish . this ingenious conduct of comedy is highly justified in the authors admirable fabrick in this part of his relapse : for here 's a younger brother under no better paternal provision then 200 a year annuity , which at seven years , the lifes purchase , is worth little more then a 1000 l. whilst the elder brother runs away with 5000 l. per annum inheritance , to the value of a 100000. l. yet this younger brother , that in all equity might expect some reasonable favour and succour from his elder brother , if for no other consideration than the unequal division of the estate between 'em , has those innate principles of honour and virtue , as to sit down contented with the honest reparation of his morgaged annuity , at the poor price of 500 l. rather then embrace the temptation of a fair lady , and 1500 l. per annum thrown into his arms by any irregular or fraudulent means . but when this unmerciful brother thus shamefully denys him so inconsiderable a trifle , and all to the reparing the breaches of so innocent an extravagance in his honourable travels : thus the inevitable prospect of starving on one side , and the just resentments of a brothers unnatural barbarity on the other , carry that face of justification along with the cheat ; that among all the thousand patrons of that darling play , i fancy this strait-lac'd high moralist mr. collier , is the only repiner at young fashion's felicity in the arms of miss hoyden ; and if the author be never duell'd but upon that quarrel , undoubtedly he may die in his bed. nay , besides young fashion's supplanting his brothers pretensions , here 's another piece of poetick justice in carrying off the young heiress : for when the young hoyden is thus snared into wedlock , not by any ignoble rascally impostor , but a young gentleman , at least of equal birth and quality with her ; the other part of the delusion , viz. his being a younger brother , and a man of no estate , seems but an honest dramatick over-reach , impos'd upon so fordid and avaricious a character , so over-cautious a coxcomb as her father sir tunbelly : nor is the young lady her self , under the meaness of her rustick education , so exalted a character ; but that young fashion may fairly and innocently carry the prize , without one murmuring word , or envying eye from the severest critick in the whole audience . in the next place , mr. collier is pleased to look a little into the plot of the relapse . here the poet ( he tells you ) ought to play the politician , if ever ; this part should have some strokes of conduct , &c. there should be something that is admirable , and unexpected to surprize the audience . and all this fineness must work by gentle degrees , by a due preparation of incidents , and by instruments which are probable [ and all the reason in the world. ] 't is mr. rapin's remark , that without probability every thing is lame and faulty . [ he 's much in the right : ] where there is no pretence to miracle or machine , matters must not exceed the force of relief . to produce effects without proportion , and likelihood in the cause is farce and magick , and looks more like conjuring than conduct . [ 't is all granted . ] let us examine the relapser by these rules . [ ay , and welcome . ] to discover his plot , we must lay open somewhat more of the fable . lord foppington , a town beau , had agreed to marry the daughter of sir tunbelly clumsey , who lived fifty miles from london . notwithstanding this small distance , the lord had never seen his mistress , nor the knight his son-in-law . and where lies the wonder on either side ? is not sir tunbelly that avaritious miser , that interest is all the concern in his daughters disposal ; and consequently as long as a lordship and five thousand a year are full smithfield weight in his scales ; the lord himself may be the plain-dealer's leaden-shilling , for any curiosity he has to be acquainted either with his personal or any other accomplishments ? and for the same indifference on my lord foppington's side ; the striking of this blind bargain for miss hoyden , is possibly one of the greatest master-strokes in the character . is not this fop , a true narcissus all along , through both the plays , in love with nothing but himself ? has his match with miss hoyden any other temptation than the gratifying his pride in marrying so rich an heiress ; and heightening his pomp , luxury and vanity , by that considerable addition of her fortunes ? so that here 's no occasion either of disordering himself or his coach-horses to run backwards and forwards a fifty mile stage , only to show his own , or see his mistresses sweet face . both parties , out of their great wisdom , leave the treating the match to coupler , &c. here we may observe the lord foppington has an unlucky disagreement in his character . this misfortune is hard upon the credibility of the design . 't is true , he was formal and fantastick , smitten with dress and equipage , &c. but his behaviour is far from that of an ideot . this being granted , 't is very unlikely this lord should leave the choice of his mistress to coupler , and take her person and fortune upon content : to court thus blindfold , and by proxy , does not agree with the method of an estate , nor the niceness of a beau , &c. and for sir tunbelly , here we have that prudence and wariness ( in his character ) to the excess of fable and phrensie . and yet this mighty man of suspicion trusts coupler with the disposal of his only daughter , and his estate into the bargain . and what was this coupler ? why , a sharper by character , and little better by possession . here our authors criticismes , like bay's plot , begin to thicken upon us . this notorious misconduct of the relapser will not give him a foyl , but a fair fall , if he has not a care : but to recover his hold , and save him from tumbling ; i remember before the lord foppington was invited down to sir tunbelly , the poet tells us , that the marriage-settlement was prepared for signing and sealing . and now though the relapser makes coupler a match-maker , i cannot see where he makes him a iointure-maker . whatever other faculties he may be master of , ne sutor ultra crepidam , i cannot find him either a coke or a littleton , or any of those long robe gentlemen , a law head-piece for drawing of settlements ; and consequently we may very reasonably suppose , both on sir tunbelly and lord foppington's side , here were the learned in the law called to the consult , a preliminary inspection into records , the terra firma foundation examined , and all the precautionary articles of treaty adjusted , for so important a cause , before matters went so far as to send down for the son-in-law elect. so that here 's poor coupler so far from having the disposal of sir tunbelly's daughter and estate , that our diminitive love-broker has no more hand in the affair , then meer starting the game ; 't is the strength of the fortune-hunter must catch it . and therefore i may presume to say , neither the lord nor the knight have hitherto made one false step in their conduct , to deserve the hard names of cuddens and ideots , mr. collier has unkindly thrown upon them ; but may venture to vie wit even with mr. collier himself ; this i am sure , his critismes savour a great deal more of the ideotism , then their politicks , at least in this part of their prudential faculties . to proceed with the criticiser . as for young fashion , excepting coupler's letter , he has all imaginable marks of imposture upon him . he comes before his time , and without the retinue expected , and has nothing of the air of lord foppington's conversation . when sir tunbelly ask'd him , pray where are your coaches and servants , my lord ? he makes a trifling excuse . sir , that i might give you and your daughter a proof how impatient i am to be nearer a kin to you , i left my equipage to follow me , and came away post with only one servant . to be in such a hurry of inclination for a person he never saw is somewhat strange ! besides , 't is very unlikely lord foppington should hazard his complexion on horseback , out-ride his figure , and appear a bridegroom in deshabille , &c. as pomp and curiosity were this lords inclination , why then should he mortifie without necessity , make his first approaches thus out of form , and present himself to his mrs. at such disadvantage ? as this is the character of lord foppington , so 't is reasonable to suppose sir tunbelly acquainted with it . an inquiry into the humour and management of a son-in-law is very natural and customary : so that we can't without violence to sense , suppose sir tunbelly a stranger to lord foppington's singularities . these reasons were enough in all conscience to make sir tunbelly suspect a juggle , and that fashion was no better then a counterfeit , &c. why then was the credential swallow'd without chewing , &c. more wary steps might have been expected from sir tunbelly : to run from one extream of caution to another of credulity is highly improbable . this misconduct looks almost as formidable as the last . for this critick never flaggs . young fashion comes before his time , &c. that is , sir tunbelly had sent a letter to invite the lord foppington down to marry his daughter , all the main wedlock preliminaries , viz. joynture , settlements , all but consummation already adjusted , &c. and therefore young fashion , the supposed lord foppington , comes down before his time , because he comes when he is invited ; and has all the marks of a counterfeit son-in-law , for obeying his father-in-laws summons . 't is true , he makes a little too much speed ; posts down in one day , when the true lord makes a two days stage of it ; and because this activity of riding post does not look like the flower movement of a travelling beau ; for this single gigantick objection to the lord foppington's veracity , both the credential of coupler's letter , and the very obedience of sir tunbelly's own command , shall signifie nothing ; here may be a snake in the grass ; the sir politick tunbelly has all the reason to look about him . for did this iustice never hear of such a thing as knavery ? [ nor this critick of such a thing as foolery ? ] however , sir tunbelly could be no stranger to the lord foppington ' s singularities ? why , truly not over-well acquainted with them at fifty miles distance . for if we could suppose sir tunbelly so over inquisitive , in so needless a curiosity , about his son-in-law ; yet i cannot well apprehend how all the particular nicer singularities of a london beau , should enter the understanding of a country clodpate justice upon a bare description only ; but rather that this very riding down post , with his equipage following behind him , might look like as natural a singularity , of so fantastick a character , as any other of his fantasticks , and rather confirm sir tunbelly's faith then shake it . and why should sir tunbelly's intellects suspect an impostor in his beau son-in-law , for appearing before his mrs. in his half glory the first day , viz. in deshabille , to dazle her in his full glory the next ? or rather is not this critick a little too hard upon that whole prevailing party the beaux , when he will not allow one cavalier amongst 'em all , that dares trust his complexion but to one days journey on horseback ? but now for the true lord's misconduct . his going down to sir tunbelly , was as extraordinary as his courtship . he had never seen this gentleman . he must know him to be beyond measure suspicious , and that there was no admittance without coupler's letter . this letter was the key to the castle : he forgot to take it with him , and tells you , 't was stol'n by his brother tam. and for his part he neither had the discretion to get another , nor yet to produce that written by him to sir tunbelly . [ that written to him by sir tunbelly , i suppose he means ] had common sense been consulted upon this occasion , the plot had been at an end , and the play had sunk in the fourth act. but to consult common sense in this case , possibly a little farther then this critick himself has done ; first then , let us inquire into the strength of this castle key , viz. without which there was no admittance . this we have in the fifth act , after young fashion's return to town , by a letter of the lord 's to coupler from the country , viz. dear coupler , i have only time to tell thee in three lines , or thereabouts , that here has been the devil , that rascal tam , having stole the letter thou hadst formerly writ for me to bring sr. tunbelly , form'd a damnable design upon my mrs , &c. whatever introductory power , this letter formerly written by coupler , ( possibly more a flourish upon the merits of the noble peer the bearer , than any considerable key to his admission ) might be supposed to carry ; yet upon the receipt of sr. tunbelly's particular invitation , this coupler's letter , ( however serviceable to the smaller figure of the false lord , young fashion , and necessary to his plot ) was so little wanted to the true lords approaches ; that what could he expect less than that the gates were all ready to fly open at his appearance ? could the lord foppington's vanity and pride , with an equipage of twenty liverys and two coaches and six , and so solemnly invited , think so little of himself , as to want any old or new pasport from coupler , when such mutual satisfaction on both sides had paved his way , and so much grandeur carried its own credentials ; so that the preservation either of one letter or the other , upon so poor a score as a testimonial of his veracity , was rather below the thoughts of a lord foppington ; and all this more an essential to his character then a disagreement or blemish in it . this dead doing critick thus flush'd with all this success against the relapser , is resolved to make through work with his slaughtering hand , and consequently the characters in the play , shall be as monstrous as the conduct . let us see how sr. tunbelly hangs together . this gentleman , the poet , makes a justice of peace , and a deputy lieutenant , and seats him fifty miles from london ; but by his character you would take him for one of hercules's monsters , or some gyant in guy of warwick . his behaviour is altogether romance , and has nothing agreeable to time or country , &c. the stage paintings of dramatick poetry have always been allow'd to take the features a little larger than the life . and generally there 's a very strong reason for it . for 't is not one fool that sits for the picture ; but the imagery in one single character sometimes may include a whole sect of fools or knaves . how many excellent dramatick pieces would otherwise be lost , such as a morose in the silent woman , sir nicolas jimcrack , in the virtuoso , and indeed most of the characters of fools or humorists , if their authors had no poetical grains of allowance for a little stretch in the pencil work ? and for the romantick sir tunbelly ; in my weak eye-sight , he looks no more like one of hercules's monsters in his over-cautious guardianship of his rich heiress ; then mr. collier , like an herculean champion , in his batteling the stage : nay , i am rather afraid mr. collier instead of doing the work of a hercules , has found work for one ; whilst he has heap'd dirt enough , ( not of the stages , but of his own ) for an augaeas's stable . next let us see how he makes miss hoyden hang together . here is a compound of ill manners and contradiction . is this a good resemblance of quality , a description of a great heiress , and the effect of a cautious education ? by her coursness you would think her bred upon a common . to present her thus unhewn , he should have suited her condition and name a little better . if he had resolved to have shewn her thus unpolished , he should have made her keep sheep , or brought her up at the wash-bowle . if descent and education can perform such wonders ; yet as high veins as this young lady can boast of , and though an heiress to 1500 l. per annum , methinks she has no great hereditary claim to those extraordinary good manners and refin'd conversation as mr. collier expects from her , when she derives from a sir tunbelly to her father : nay nor any such over-promising hopes , such very great effects from her cautious education neither , when she liv'd in the country , fifty miles off , with her honoured parents , in a lone house , which no body comes near , she never goes abroad , nor sees company at home ; to prevent all misfortunes , she has her breeding within doors : the parson of the parish teaches her to play on the base-viol , the clerk to sing , her nurse to dress , and her father to dance . relapse , page 18. now considering both her genealogy , and her nursery , methinks the relapser's miss hoyden , though a little of the coursest , is not that unnatural flower , when rear'd from such a root , and in such a garden . but if this peevish unsatisfied naturalist , will expect such miracles of perfection , wit , manners , politeness , and all from so uncultivated a piece of quality ; methinks this critick would make a rare courtier to king pharoah , for he 's most divinely qualify'd for an egyptian task-master . he has much the same quarrel against the lord foppington . vanity and formalizing is his part . to let him speak without aukwardness and affectation , is to put him out of his element . there must be gum and stifning in his discourse to make it natural . however the relapser has taken a fancy to his person , and given him some of the most gentile raillery in the whole play. to give an instance or two , this lord in discourse with fashion forgets his name , flies out into sense and smooth expression , out-talks his brother , and abating the starch'd similitude of a watch , discovers nothing of affectation , for almost a page together . he relapses into the same intemperance of good sense , in another dialogue between him and his brother . this fault mr. collier has here found in the lord foppington , he resolves shall outdo his own perfections . 't is true this critick flies out generally into smooth expression , but not into overmuch sense ; but however he has given you a very stanch reason why good sense in this case , should be the least of his care. for being a virtuous , modest and sober gentleman , possibly he thinks it a piece of his christian duty to guard himself safe from lapsing into intemperance . but methinks this gentleman might have read in an old greek authority , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . a fool may sometimes throw in a word to the purpose . besides this critick strangely forgets himself . for 't was but four pages before that he himself was clearing lord foppington's character , bating his vanity , formality and fantastickness , from any thing that looks like fool or idiot . and why he quarrels a man that 's no fool , for speaking a little sense , is somewhat unaccountable . but if the plain truth were known , he is not so pettish at the lord foppington's speaking sense , as the relapser's writing it . ay! there 's the heart burning ! this unhappy author , whether because he 's none of his own royalists , or has not made his parson bull one of them , or lies unabsolved for some other heinous transgression ; one way or other , he languishes under the utter displeasure of the angry and irreconcileable mr. collier . the next critick work he takes in hand are the three unities of time , place and action ; and to shew us how far the relapse breaks those rules . the design of these rules is to conceal the fiction of the stage , to make the play appear more natural , and to give it an air of reality and conversation . the largest compass for the first unity is twenty four hours ; but a less proportion is more regular , &c. the whole business of the play should not be much longer then the time it takes up in playing . to observe the second unity , the scene must not wander from one town or country to another . it must continue in the same city , where it was first laid , &c. the third unity , viz. of action , consists in contriving the chief business of the play single , &c. all the forces of the stage must as it were serve under one general , &c. to represent two considerable actions independant of each other destroys the beauty of subordination , weakens the contrivance , and dilutes the pleasure . it splits the play , and makes the poem double . he that would see more upon this subject may consult corneille . these unities are no new stage-doctrin , but what , by some of the greatest modern brothers of the english quill has been very often , most learnedly , and i much fear , as impertinently handled . for the strict observation of these corneillean rules , are as dissonant to the english constitution of the stage , as the french slavery to our english liberty . 't is true , that strictness may be much more practicable in the french model of plays ; and for this amazing reason , viz. that the french who are the sprightliest conversation of all people in the world , can nevertheless be the dullest of mankind at their play-houses ; can be contented to hear a play made up of a short-winded plot , and a few long-winded speeches , much about enough for the argument of one of our acts , and go home as much regaled as from a misers feast : and the devils in 't if their dramatick authors cannot furnish out so scanty a banquet , with all the foremention'd unities ; and pride in it accordingly . i shall expatiate a little more then ordinary upon this argument , not only to answer mr. collier , but also some modern woudbe-criticks , that are wonderfully tickl'd with their own nicer stage performances , under this strict cornelian model of unities . first then i shall so far joyn with mr. collier , that concealing the fiction of the stage ; and making the play appear with the more air of reality , is a great work of the poet. for indeed dramatick poetry , is supported chiefly by theft and delusion . the images we steal or borrow , whether historical or fictitious , must be set out with all that liveliest art , that like zeuxes his grapes or apelles his curtain , the picture may best deceive . for poetry , especially the dramatick , is but painting ; only this picture finds a tongue ; and is a speaking painting . i had occasion in a late copy of verses to give a little description of painting , which upon my second review looks so very applicable to poetry , that not to treat my reader with all downright reasoning , i 'll give him a few taggs of rhime too , and venture for once to repeat them . if heav'n-stol'n fires could animate the clay ; what nobler theft the daring pencils play ? so much the bolder painter does out-fly the old promethean petty larceny ; not a poor spark snatch'd from his chariot wheels ; not steals from jove , but jove himself he steals . him not the skies imperial rover scapes ; he hunts him through the gold , swan , bull , all shapes , the very god expos'd in all his amorous rapes . nay the still more audacious rifler pryes into the inmost chambers of the skies . he steals his very juno from his arms ; and with a sacrilege ev'n yet more bold , unveils to humane eyes the naked goddess charms ; and gives the trojan boy once more the ball of gold. illustrious art , whom ministring nature , all thy hand-maid , waits on thy commanding call ! like the great fiat , thou both day and night call'st forth , and deck'st in their own shades and light. ev'n heavn's whole hierarchy , the lords above , by thee their whole triumphant chariots move , from th'harnest dragon to the bridled dove . mercurial art , who captiv'd eyes to take , thou do'st a virtue of delusion make ; thou only honest cozener , fair deceit , who can'st ev'n consecrate both theft and cheat. but , ( returning to our argument ) notwithstanding all this analogy between the pencil draughts and the poet 's ; yet there 's one infinite distinction between the air of reality on the one side and the other . for in a draught of pencil painting , that air is the whole perfection of the piece . a single rose , a half face , the least piece of life , nay an aesop or a cripple , even deformity it self , well perform'd , shall carry an excellence ; and consequently this air of reality give , the whole delight . but in the dramatick painting , that air is only the handmaid to our delight , only the light to set off the picture . 't is the charms and beauties of the object painted , not the painting it self that gives the compleat satisfaction and pleasure . here therefore mr. collier has layd a little too much stress upon his air of reality ( the foundation of his unity rules ; ) as if the entertainment of the stage lay only in the well performance in that point , when in has a prospect infinitely beyond it . now therefore , as the painter is not so much to please himself , but him that buys the picture ; so ( to leave the allegory and come closer to the point , ) we must examine what sort of dramatick entertainment will please an english audience , and that will shew us how far his unity rules will bear in england , and consequently settle the whole controversie between us . here the shortest way to tell you what will please an english audience , i think , is to look back and see what has pleased them . and here let us first take a view of our best english tragedies , as our hamlet , mackbeth , iulius caesar , oedipus , alexander , timon of athens , moor of venice , and all the rest of our most shining pieces . all these , and the rest of their honourable brethren , are so far from pent up in corneilles narrower unity rules , viz. the business of the play confined to no longer time then it takes up in the playing ; or his largest compass of 24 hours ; that nothing is so ridiculous as to pretend to it . — the subjects of our english tragedies are generally the whole revolutions of governments , states or families , or those great transactions ; that our genius of stage-poetry can no more reach the heights that can please our audience , under his unity shackles , then an eagle can soar in a hen-coop . if the french can content themselves with the sweets of a single rose-bed ; and nothing less then the whole garden , and the field round it , will satisfie the english ; every man as he likes : corneille may reign master of his own revels ; but he is neither a rule-maker nor a play-maker for our stage . and the reason is plain : for as delight is the great end of playing , and those narrow stage-restrictions of corneille destroy that delight , by curtailing that variety that should give it us ; every such rule therefore is nonsense and contradiction in its very foundation . even an establish'd law , when it destroys its own preamble , and the benefits design'd by it , becomes void and null in it self . 't is true , i allow thus far , that it ought to be the chief care of the poet , to confine himself into as narrow a compass as he can , without any particular stint , in the two first unities of time and place ; for which end he must observe two things . first upon occasion ( suppose in such a subject as mackbeth ) he ought to falsifie even history it self . for the foundation of that play in the chronicles , was the action of 25 years : but in the play we may suppose it begun and finish'd in one third of so many months . young malcom and donalbain , the sons of duncomb , are but children at the murder of their father , and such they return with the forces from england to revenge his death : whereas in the true historick length they must have set out children and return'd men. secondly , the length of time , and distance of place required in the action , ought to be never pointed at , nor hinted in the play. for example , neither malcomb nor donalbain must tell us , how long they have been in england to raise those forces , nor how long those forces have been marching into scotland ; nor mackbeth how far schone and dunsinane lay asunder , &c. by this means the audience , who come both willing and prepar'd to be deceiv'd , ( populus vult decipi , &c. ) and indulge their own delusion , can pass over a considerable distance both of time and place unheeded and unminded , if they are not purposely thrown too openly in their way , to stumble at . thus hamlet , iulius caesar and those historick plays shall pass glibly ; when the audience shall be almost quite shockt at such a play as henry the 8th . or the dutchess of malfey . and why , because here 's a marriage and the birth of a child , possibly in two acts ; which points so directly to ten months length of time , that the play has very little air of reality , and appears too much unnatural . in this case therefore 't is the art of the poet to shew all the peacocks train , but as little as possible of her foot. and as to the second unity of place . here our audience expect a little variety , viz. some change of scene . to continue it all on one spot of ground , in one chamber or room , would rather disgust then please : and an author that toyls for any such difficiles nugae , such an over-curious unity , only labours to be dull ; and deserves a success accordingly . now for these two unities in our comedies . though that inferior walk of fable may come into a little narrower enclosure of time and place then tragedy ; however we rarely meet with a good comedy-plot all fairly lodged under one single roof , and dancing within the circle of twenty four hours ; much less in the acting time of the play. 't is true we have an adventure of five hours in some quondam repu scribble of small reputation , that possibly have crampt themselves into much the same circumference ; and the authors perhaps not a little vain in the wrong place ; and challenging a merit for e'en just nothing . however the general cast of all our best comedies take a great deal larger liberty then these precise limitations , and lose little or no air of their reality by that freedom . however our audience have naturally such a dispensing goodness , in relation to these tyrannick rules , that they are never for tying up good wit and good plot to so short a teddar , as to pinch and starve them . and thus in the case of the relapse , our audience are so far from angry at lord foppingtons or young fashion's travels to sir tunbelly's , that they rather wish 'em a good journey , and find the whole entertainment there worth fifty miles ramble for ; and their own diversion not at all too dear bought , for being so far fetch'd . to come to our last unity of action . here both corneille and his voucher , are both as down-right dull , and as seriously impertinent , ( as to our stage regulation ) as their worst enemies cou'd wish ' em . the contriving the chief business of our plays single , is so nauseous to an english audience , that they have almost peuk'd at a very good dish for no other fault . for example mr. gildon's phaeton , that almost sunk under that only disrelish . on the contrary here must be under-plots , and considerable ones too , possibly big enough to justle the upper-plot , to support a good english play ; nay though the under-plots do not much fight under the great general , and consequently the play splits and the poem is double , as mr. collier calls it ; yet this instead of weakening the contrivance or diluting our pleasure , shall rather strengthen the one , and double the other . for instance in such a play as the spanish fryer . here 's gomez , elvira and father dominick , &c. so far from marching under the bannors of torrismond or leonora , that 't is enough they are subjects of the same government , and denizens within the same city walls , to recommend them to so considerable an underwalk in the same play. and though as mr. collier very fancifully observes . this strangeness of persons , distinct company , and inconnexion of affairs , destroys the unity of the poem . and that therefore the contrivance is just as wise as it would be to cut a diamond into two . increasing the number , abates the value , and by making it more , you make it less . yet suppose the audience in the same play of the spanish fryer , instead of fancying mr. dryden has cut one diamond into two , should be rather of the opinion , that he has joyn'd two diamonds together , and so gives us a locket , instead of a single jewel ; and consequently both the luster and value increased ; how will this diamond-splitter get himself off ? and will not the world be apt to think him as indifferent a lapidary as he 's a critick ? now , reader , as i have here stated the whole prowess of mr. collier , and muster'd all his forces against the relapse ( his batteries of immorality and profaness against it only excepted ; and upon that subject the ingenious author has taken up a much abler pen of his own : ) so i hope i have done him all this publick right , as to inform the world , that he never deviates from himself . his divinity lectures and his critic ones , are spoken with the same oraculous eloquence : he keeps up to his principles , and lapses into no more intemperance of reason in the one then the other . but some untoward reflections i cannot forbear , viz. upon mr. collier's so extraordinary dudgeon against that play. has the author sinn'd more then any of his other prosane brothers of the quill , that the divine spirit of mr. collier , tantae animis coelestibus irae , swells so very high against him ? or has this singular critick , in all this direct contradiction to the whole opinion of the town , concerning the relapse , either the same value of his own judgment , as the philosopher at his morality lecture had of plato's , viz. plato est mihi pro omnibus : and consequently his own single dissenting authority out-weighs all their whole united favour to that play ? or rather ( now i fancy i have hit it ) as he has all along endeavour'd through his learned view , &c. to prove the whole audience wanted their christian senses about them , when they can relish the present profaness and debauchery of the stage ; so he 's resolved to deny 'em their common senses too , when they can hug so monstrous a darling as the relapse . having in my first part of my review , already discharg'd a great load of some of the most capital blasphemies from king arthur , amphytrion , &c. i should proceed in clearing some more of the inferiour rubbish of that kind from the stage . but as a great part of that work has been done to my hands , by the ingenious author of the relapse ; i shall rather only make some general observations of that part of mr. colliers remarks . — here i must acknowledge there 's some looser expressions of that kind that may admit of censure and correction ; yet mr. collier's charge against them is too vehemently aggravated with too remote and uncharitable misrepresentations . besides all those too loose or libertine expressions are charged as the private sense of the author , when a great many of them are only the language of the libertine characters that speak them . for instance the lord foppington says , sunday is a vile day , i must confess ; a man must have little to do at church that can give an account of the sermon . is this any laughing at the publick solemnities of religion , as if 't was a ridiculous piece of ignorance to pretend to the worship of god ? does this expression of lord foppington amount to any more , then that he has no kindness for sundays , because they baulk his course of pleasures ; and that if he goes to church 't is not to mind the sermon , but to ogle the ladies ? and is this answer to amanda any thing but what the audience would expect from a fop of his vanity ? and what the author therefore has but honestly put into his mouth ? and is it for that reason the sense of the author himself ? the fool in the psalmist , says in his heart , there is no god ; but i hope mr. collier will not tell us the psalmist himself says so . if the poet was accountable for every excursion , levity , loosness or atheism it self from every character in his play , the author of the libertine destroy'd , if he were alive , would have a long black scroll to answer for ; in his don john and his two wicked companions : at least if mr. collier had the handling of him . but granting the poets have launch'd a little too boldly , and have put the libertine language in the wrong mouths ; yet still mr. collier has made but a very lame collection of them ; when the greater part of his quotations have so little shadow of offence , that nothing but mr. colliers magnifying-glass can discover them . for instance , sir sampson , in love for love says , nature has been provident only to bears and spiders . this ( says mr. collier ) is the authors paraphrase on the 139th psalm . and thus he gives god thanks for the advantage of his being . the play advances from one wickedness to another , &c. could any interpreter but himself have made this gloss upon that poor text ? or who but the bold mr. collier durst have brought god himself upon the stage , from so innocent an expression ? but mr. collier's readers are desired not to be over-surpriz'd at so many visionary profanations and blasphemies as hee 'll meet with through that learned author . for to tell you the truth , the arguing part is not so much his business , as the conjuring . his work is not so much to find the devils upon the stage , as to raise 'em there . in the fourth act of don sebastian , mustapha dates his exaltation to tumult from the second night of the month abib . thus you have the holy text abused by capt. tom , and the bible torn by the rabble . the design of this liberty i can't understand , unless it be to make mustapha as considerable as moses , and the prevalence of a tumult as much a miracle , as the deliverance out of egypt . here mustapha , a moor of barbary , for nothing but speaking a word in his own language , and calling the month abib in its proper name , because forsooth that month is mention'd in scripture , is therefore tearing of bibles , setting up new prophets equaling moses , and bantering of miracles . risum teneatis amici ! if every word in the bible , upon its admission into holy writ , is so exalted and incorporated into the divinity , that it must never descend into the world again , nor enter profane lips or humane conversation , under the premunire of irreligion or blasphemy ; at this rate a man must have a care how he sends for his cloak , or a scholar for his books , especially upon a stage , for fear of burlesquing of scripture , bantering of apostles , and even profaning the very gospel it self ; and why ? does not st. paul in his divine writ , desire timothy to bring him his cloak his books and his parchments ? well , to shew my reader that mr. collier is not the only muster-master general of the black list of the stage blasphemies . i durst lay him a wager , that i 'll cull him a whole set of them , out of the poor innocent sir martin marral , as topping ones as the very biggest in his whole collection , and all founded upon as natural a construction , &c. and possibly in so doing , i may give my reader a little clearer light into the strength and dint of mr. collier's eloquent reasoning upon that subject . to begin therefore at the lower form , and so rise gradatim . warner says of sir martin . his follies are like a sore in a surfeited horse : cure it in one place , and it will break out in another . is not this plain burlesque upon holy scripture , and a profane ralley upon the divine solomon himself ? for does not he tell us , bray a fool in a morter , yet his foolishness will not depart from him . and tho' mr. dryden , for his incurable fool , does not borrow the words , he borrows the plain sense from solomon ; and his disguising the language , ( to speak like mr. collier ) is too thin a screen to cover the profanation . sir martin . i am resolved to kill my self . warner . you are master of your own body . sir martin . will you let me damn my soul ? warner . at your pleasure , as the devil and you can agree about it . what , does this author make a jest of damnation ? the most serious consideration of death and eternity thus trifled with ? is there no diversion without insulting the god that made us , the goodness that would save us , and the power that can damn us ? page 95. i can't forbear expressing my self with some warmth under these provocations ; what christian can be unconcern'd at such intollerable abuses ? page 80. lord dartmouth to mrs. christian. pretty innocence ! let me sit nearer to you , you don't understand what love i bear you ; i vow it is so pure , my soul 's not sullied with one spot of sin. were you a daughter or a sister to me , with a more holy flame i could not burn. how now ! what is this hypocrite libertine , in seducing his young mrs. courting her in the very language of divine inspiration ? for who can burn with holy flames , but saints , confessors and martyrs ? nay does not the divine spouse , the very type of our saviour , in the canticles , all along burn with holy flames ? what a spight have these men to the god that made them , and the saviour that redeemed them ? how do they rebell upon his bounty , and attack him with his own reason ? these gyants in wickedness , how would they ravage with a stature proportionable ? they that can swagger in impotence , and blaspheme upon a mole-hill ! what would they do , if they had strength to their good will ? sir martin to warner . well well , i am a fool ! but what am i the nearer for being one ? warner . oh , yes ; a great deal the nearer : for now fortune is bound to provide for you , as hospitals are built for lame people that can't help themselves . what does this author mean by fortune ? is not this spoken by the principal character , the only man of sense in the play ? and coming from the mouth of a christian ; consequently , here are no pagan divinities in the scheme ( page 83 ) fortune is no goddess in the christian theology , 't is the divine providence alone , is the dispenser of our humane blessings . so that all the atheistick raillery must point upon the true god. here profaness is shut out from defence , and lies open without colour or evasion : for is not here under the notion or name of fortune , even divine providence , and what 's that but g — himself , ( oh the very essence and spirit of blasphemy ! ) brought in upon the most ridiculous occasion ? viz. to provide for a fool ? nay , he 's bound , tyed , obliged ; 't is no less then his very duty to provide for him . oh execrable , execrable ! t is too hideous to lye upon paper . nay the latter half of the diabolical sentence savours almost as rank of the cloven-foot , as the beginning . for is not here a sarcastical squint upon hospitals ? and pray what are hospitals , but the most religious foundations of charity ; and possibly the most shining structures of christianity ! let your light so shine , that men may see your good works , and glorifie your father which is in heaven . besides are not those hospitals generally of royal foundation ? and therefore does not this scurrilous scribler rally even upon crown'd-heads themselves ? nay does not one of those hospitals stand upon a protestant foundation , rais'd by the pious young edward ? and dare this impudent banterer pass his scoffing jests upon the very reformation ? in short , he begins his most audacious profaness upon the majesty of heaven , and ends it upon the majesty of kings . warner tells sir martin , that his mistress is to be married in private , to save the effusion of christian money . what! is the title of christian , the very badg of our faith , and seal of our baptism , given to that filthy idol money ? are we setting up the old golden calf , and displaying the very bannor of our salvation before him ? the design of this liberty i cannot understand , unless it be the making a god of mammon , the chests of old moody the shrine of the deity , and the squandering the least relique from so sacred a divinity , as much as the effusion of the whole blood of the martyrs . and all this in a christian country , in a reform'd church ; and in the face of authority ? well i perceive the devil was a saint in his oracles , to what he is in his plays . his blasphemies are as much improv'd as his style ; and one would think the muse were legion . lady dupe ( speaking of mrs. christian , whom my lord dartmouth had debauch'd ) did your lordship win her soon ? lord. no madam , but with great difficulty . lady dupe . i am glad on 't . it shews the girl had some religion in her . religion ! what in playing the whore ! is not religion the whole duty of man , the whole basis of christianity , and the very key to heaven ? and is this author therefore making a saint of a dalilah , turning wantonness into piety , lewdness into devotion , &c. this is plain blasphemy within the law , comes as it were from the pandaemonium , and almost smells of fire and brimstone . this is an eruption of hell with a witness ; i almost wonder the sun , and turn'd the air to plague and poison ! these are outrageous provocations , enough to arm all nature in revenge ; to exhaust the judgments of heaven , and sink the island in the sea ! i could run on with this spiritual cant , ( for that 's the honestest name i can here give it ) and collect you a whole volume of this kind of jargon ; but this sample will suffice , to shew you how easy 't is to extract blasphemy from mr. collier's limbeck . and here i 'le positively ( all jesting laid aside ) justify , that these quotations from honest sir martin , have as solid a foundation for all the foregoing blasphemous constructions ; and every inference i have here made is as genuine , as above two thirds of mr. collier's whole collection upon that topick . now , if this be really the whole dint of his constructive reasoning , and consequenrly there 's nothing here quoted , or harangued , but what mr. collier might honestly father ; i would ask any rational man , where lies the blasphemy in the text , or the comment ; and , who 's the blasphemer , the poet , or the collier ? and thus , as mr. collier's top-eloquence and , reasoning , stands upon this crazed basis , is it not time to wish him clean straw , a dark room , and good nursery , for his recovery ? but to make a littler farther answer to the unreasonable offence mr. collier has taken against the stage upon the profane account ; we shall give one remarkable evidence , that profaness , irreligion , or irreverence to god , or his divine word , or any expressions tending to blasphemy , ( however several may be misrepresented such , more than really so ) are not willfully the stages fault . for it has been a customary practice , more especially of late , and which has gain'd the very force of a law , upon the english stage ; not only to avoid the irreverent , or idle using of the name of god , but even not to use it at all . for instance , in all our plays that are founded upon a chistian story ; in all the deepest distresses of tragedy , where 't is highly natural , and even as reasonable , ( and therefore more pardonable ) for the suffering characters to start into any invocation , or other mention , of heav'n ; the language of that kind , speaks always in the heathen dialect : for either fate , stars , destiny ; or otherwise , gods , powers , deityes , immortalls , all in the plural number , and consequently heaven and providence upon the same heathen basis , are promiscuously used upon all occasions . and thus we break the very unity of the stage , in bringing the old heathen theology , to speak english in our own modern subjects , on purpose to give no shadow of offence to the christian religion , nor to use that great name upon a fictitious occasion . 't is true the name of god may sometimes but rarely be used , as for instance by cardinal woolsey after his disgrace , in the play of henry the eighth . had i but served my god with half that zeal i serv'd my king , he would not in my age have left me naked to my enemies . but here , both the solemness of the occasion , and these the express words of woolsey , taken from the chronicle , excuse this liberty . but otherwise even in our comedies , we write and speak all upon the heathen scheme of divinity ; as philocles in the mayden queen . so when it thunders , men reverently quit the open ayr , because the angry gods are then abroad . to answer a little farther to the dangerous impressions upon the affections , that both the primitive fathers , and mr. collier seem to fear from the stage , i have this to urge . — if it be lawful to read a profane history either true or romantick ; 't is equally , if not more lawful , to hear that truth or romance digested into a drama , and personally represented on the stage : and for these reasons . but before i proceed , i fancy mr. collier will assent with me ; that both history and romance are lawful to be read ; i am sure he seems to be strongly of that opinion in his introduction to his remarks upon don quixot , where he tells us , this poet , ( meaning mr. durfey ) writes from the romance of an ingenious author : by this means his sence and characters are cut out to his hand . he has wisely planted himself upon the shoulders of a gyant ; but whether his discoveries answer the advantages of his standing , the reader must judge . this high encomium upon the author of the romance of don quixot , seems in some measure to applaud , or at least justifie the composure it self : and if fiction , even in its lowest class , viz. in that mock romance , may bear so fair character from mr. collier's own acknowledgment ; sure we may conclude , that history , and the higher rank of fiction , may come within the pale of licenceable and lawful . to proceed then with my argument . what is history or romance , but the relation of human actions , passions , and conversation ? and that relation narratively , or dramatically set forth , differs only in the modus and form , not substance : thus , whether i read or hear a history or romance read to me , and consequently what is spoken or delivered to me in the single narration one way , from one mouth ; or in the theatrick representation another way , from twenty mouths ; still the difference lies only in the form and manner of the conveyance of that truth or fiction to my ear , apprehension and affections , and not in the truth or fiction it self : so that if the stage be any ways dangerous or offensive , that offence and danger lies not in the play or subject of it , but the bare playing of it , as it is set forth upon our stages . what then , so extraordinary does the playing it self perform ? does it imprint the subject of the history , or fiction , too lively in the fancy , more than the bare reading it can do ; and consequently leaves too passionate a fondness behind it , for any of the characters represented in the play ? no , quite contrary . for he that reads a history , or romance , if a sensible reader , raises in his own fancy some idea of this or that hero or heroine , or perhaps libertine or lover , which he shapes to himself more or less lovely ; chiefly from the personal description of the character , the bravery , the adventures , and distresses , &c. which he reads in the history ; and partly from his own humour or inclinations which possibly may recommend one particular character , more to his favour then another . the personal idea of this historical or romantick favourite , he carries with him from his closet to his bed , and can rise with it to morrow : for as 't is a form of his own creation , his scene of fancy gives it an air of truth and life . but when you see the hero or heroine , or any other darling in a play , 't is in the person of the actour or actress . and tho' this actour or actress possibly by their meins , their gectures and actions , for the time they are playing , may transport you into as many raptures of tenderness , admiration , or what not , as the darling in the history or romance ; yet here when the play 's done , the charm is ended . no sooner is the curtain faln , but both the hero and the heroine are no more to you , than the betterton and barry . you carry away the pleasure indeed of knowing you have been wittily cheated for two hours and a half . but all your whole concern for 'em , even those most lasting impressions , viz. of pity and compassion , are now all over : for you are cheated no longer . and all for this plain reason , viz. you want that darling personal idea , which the reading only can give you , not the playing . 't is true , you 'l say , the seeing a play may raise an affection in us for the virtues , honour or bravery , or possibly for some worse qualification in some darling character in a play , abstracted from the person in the play , viz. the comedian that presents it : however the history or romance does all this , rather more then the drama ; for much the same reason , as precept alone is not so prevalent as precept and example together , viz. here 's nothing but the charms of the argument in the play can leave an impression ; but in the history or romance , here is not only that charm , but the personal charms too in the forementioned idea that make the impression , and thereby strengthen and heighten the forces of reading , by a more lasting image of reality above those of actions , nay , reading it self gives us a kind of theatrical representation of the whole subject we read . the reader can no sooner en●er into a great or passionate story , but he builds a stage in his fancy ; he follows , in his eye of imagination , both the hero to the field , and the lover to the bour , the grott or the closet ; and has not only the aforesaid personal ideas , but also all the whole scene of action painted in his fancy . and a too dangerous impression ( if such can be received from either of them ) may as easily be taken from a favourite character upon this stage , as the play-house one . so that if reading of books , as 't is plain , be equally , or rather more dangerous , than acting of plays ; when mr. collier shuts up the play-houses , and denies the ladies and gentlemen their diversions on the stage , he must dismantle their closets too ; nay , he must carry his slaughtring hand too , from drury lane and little lincolns-inn-fields , to paul's church-yard and little britain ; and make a more general conflagration amongst them , than that in st. faith's church under pauls after the fire of london . amongst the many scandals and offences this author meets with from the stage ; that of swearing and cursing upon it , is a very crying one . 't is true he does not descend to particulars , and tell us which and what are those oaths , so frequently used in the stage . however he quotes a statute of the 3d of iac. chap. 21. against swearing in the play-house . for the preventing , and avoiding of the great abuse of the holy name of god in stage plays , and interludes , &c. be it enacted , &c. that if at any time , after the end of this present session , &c. any person , or persons do , or shall , in any stage-plays , enterlude , shew , &c. iestingly or profanely speak , or use the holy name of god or of christ iesus , or of the holy ghost , or of the trinity , which are not to be spoken , but with fear and reverence , shall forfeit for every such offence , &c. ten pounds . by this act not only direct swearing , but all invocation of the name of god is forbidden . 't is true , here is swearing by any or all of the three persons in the godhead , or speaking , or using their holy names , viz. iestingly or profanely , ( so that cardinal woolsey's naming of god , as mentioned before , falls not under this premunire ) is expressly fordidden by this act. but all this while , cursing on the stage is not at all forbid : nor the general rate of swearing upon the stage ; such as by this hand . by my hopes . by this good light. by iove . by heaven's ; and a hundred more of them ; which though of a minor class are all swearing . now as the whole wisdom of the nation in parliament assembled , at the making this act of iac. were here sate in consult for the honour of god , and his great name ; and consequently had profaness , cursing , and swearing immediately under their pious consideration ; and the play-house in parlicular , in examination before them : would not one reasonably imagine , that this great council of the nation , would have made more thorough-work of the reformation , that lay then upon their hands ; and consequently , have lay'd some mulct , or punishment , though possibly but of ten groats , instead of ten pounds , upon these inferiour profanesses of the stage , viz. if they had thought these swearings , or the cursings , upon the stage , had been offensive to god , good manners or religion ? all this , i say , might very reasonably be supposed . but on the contrary , their universal silence in that point looks like a tacit confession , that , here were both king , lords , ( spiritual and temporal ) and commons , a whole nation , all possess'd with a much more favourable opinion of the stage , than mr. collier ; and not such over-violent censors of the faults of it . at this rate a timons of athens , with repeated curses against all mankind ; nay , a raving oedipus , confounding the whole world , jumbling earth and heaven together ; blotting out sun , moon and stars , and leaving the very gods to iustle in the dark ; would have found more mercy at the tribunal of a whole kingdom , then from one judge collier upon the bench against them . another objection he makes against swearing in the play-house , is this : besides that 't is an ungentlemanly , as well as unchristian practise , the ladies make a considerable part of the audience . and swearing before women is reckon'd a breach of good behaviour ; and therefore a civil atheist will forbear it . besides , oaths are a boisterous and tempestuous sort of a conversation , &c. a woman will start at a soldier 's oath , almost as much as at the report of his pistol , &c. i doubt not but a soldierly oath may be a little terrible to the fair sex : but a lover's oath , i fancy , is not altogether so dreadful to 'em : and 't is that sort of swearing reigns most upon the stage . by those fair eyes ; and , by those sweet charms , and twenty others of the same kind , are oaths that carry not altogether so much thunder in 'em , as a volly from the black-guard : and , possibly , the discharge of one of those oaths would scarce fright the ladies , in their night-gowns , and their bed-chambers . nay , if the feminine courage dares not stand a greater shock than this , they must have a care how they open their dear cowley , for fear of being frighted there too . by heavens ! i 'll boldly tell her , that 't is she : for , why should she asham'd , or angry be , to be belov'd by me ? another great , or rather greatest transgression of the stage , is , the abuse of the clergy : hinc illoe lachrimoe . ay , 't is this mortal crime that pulls down all the vengeance ; and , possibly , 't is from hence the mourning stage lies under the heaviest weight of this canonical author's displeasure . all the rest of the arbitrary licentiousness of the stage , perhaps had never provoked all this spiritual indignation , had it not touch'd that maudlin . this author , in his voluminous chapter upon that head , gives us a long and laborious declamation upon the honour of the priestood . he sets out their whole untainted heraldry at full view ; and bids the in have a care how they dare presume to find a blot in so fair a scutcheon . here mr. collier lays a very loud charge against the stage , for this particular profanation : but , methinks , he 's hard put to 't for evidence and proof to support the indictment , when the first witness he brings in is father dominick , in the spanish friar . this dominick is made ( he tells you ) a pimp for lorenzo : he is call'd a parcel of holy guts and garbage ; and said to have room in his belly for his church-steeple . methinks , i say , it looks a little odly , that mr. collier , to prove these stage-abuses of the clergy upon us , should be forc'd to run to rome for the scandal ; viz. in the character of a father dominick . but , perhaps , his own particular tenderness for the ecclesiasticks of that cloth , may make him resent a dramatical stain in a hood and a cowle , as a more capital abuse of the clergy , than one in a scarf and cassock . but if our english stage has now and then a little exposed some of the tatter'd and daggl'd gowns , &c. methinks , the author of the persuasive to consideration , that falls himself so heavy , both upon the head and body of the church , should not be so severe upon the stage , for only rallying some part of the tail of it . nay , 't is yet a little more strange , that this author should quarrel with the stage for this boldness with the clergy , when he himself has furnish'd it with one of the most divertive characters for a comedy ; and one that would bear as just and as honest a satyr , as any that ever appear'd upon it : for his very remarks upon the relapse , as he has manag'd them , abstracted from the rest of mr. collier's singularities , would supply a subject even for a whole farce ; and carry as fair a title , call'd , the parson turn'd critick , as ever grac'd a playhouse-bill . but , to shew this divine author , that the stage-spirit of scandal is not so very rampant against the clergy , i am commission'd to tell him , that notwithstanding he has furnish'd them with so copious , and so pregnant a subject ; yet still his gown , even his quondam gown , shall protect him : nay , the play-houses are resolv'd to bear all the false and malicious insults and barbarities he has heap'd upon them , with that return of meekness and forgiveness ; that mr. collier himself ( if not past it ) the very divine , may go to school to the theatre , to learn even christianity from a play-house example , whilst the stage shall preach to the parson . next , for the immoralities and licentiousness of the stage . here i am sorry mr. collier has any occasion to find offence ; and more sorry that the age has corrupted the stage ; whilst the effeminacy of the two last reigns has both furnish'd the stage with so many libertine pictures , and indulg'd their reception . i shall join farther with mr. collier , and heartily wish , that both the levity of expression , and the too frequent choice of debauch'd characters , in our comedies , were retrench'd , and mended : that also the prize in the comedy might be always given to some deserving vertue that wins it ; and consequently , our comedies , even fiction it self , might be made more instructive , by a poetick justice , in rewarding and crowning the vertuous characters with the success in the drama . i 'll join with him farther , and acknowledge that he has given us one very true reason , why our comedies are not so well furnish'd with that better choice of vertuous characters , as 't is to be wish'd they were ; and that is , from the laziness of the authors . to fetch diversion ( as he says ) from innocence , is no such easie matter ; there 's no succeeding in it , it may be , in this method , without sweat and drudging : clean wit , inoffensive homour , and handsom contrivance require time and thought : and who would be at this expence , when the purchase is so cheap another way . this more innocent model of plays , i confess , would give both that greater lustre to the stage , and that fairer reputation to the authors , as were truly worth the poet 's sweating and drudging for , as he calls it . but , all this while , i hope mr. collier does not expect that all the characters in the comedy should be virtuous : a composition of that kind cannot well be made ; nor would such a composition truly reach the whole instructive ends of the drama . contraria juxta se posita magis elucescunt , is a very great maxim , the foyl sets off the diamond . and that foyl , i may venture to say , is wanted in the comedy , to make the virtue shine the brighter . for instance , in the relapse ; there seems to be a necessity of a treacherous berinthia , ( even with her loosest arguments ) to ensnare , and a libertine worthy to attack a virtuous amanda . virtue cannot very well be wrought up to any dramatick perfection , nor sparkle with any considerable brightness and beauties , unless it stands a temptation , and surmounts it . we have a proverbial saying , that will hardly allow that woman to be truly chaste , that has never been try'd . this i am sure , the noblest triumphs of virtue are made by the assaults it can resist and conquer . thus the relapser's amanda crowns her character even with a double laurel ; not only by illustrating and ( i may , not improperly , say ) aggrandizing her own invincible virtue in the assault she has repulsed ; but likewise , in the conversion of her assailing libertine . 't is not supposed therefore that the dramatick poet must be oblig'd to borrow his characters of virtue from lazy cells , and melancholy cloysters ; a copy from a hermit , or an anchoret . no ; his characters of virtue must come forth into the gay world , with levity , vanity , nay , temptation it self , all round them . they must go to the court , the ball , the masque , the musick-houses , the dancing-schools , nay , to the very prophane play-houses themselves ; ( to speak in mr. collier's dialect ; ) and yet come off unconquer'd . these are the virtues that , to be instructive to an audience , are what should tread the stage . and consequently , if our poets will set forth such virtue , they must find her all this worldly conversation , and furnish the drama accordingly . but now to come to a conclusion , and summ the whole merits of his view of the stage , &c. considering the weakness and falsity of his greatest and most important arguments in that piece . i may say , he 's the counsel at the bar , not the judge upon the bench. all that bawling eloquence pleads not for truth , but conquest ; and with the very same triumph , both the gown and the long robe , pride themselves in their success . 't is he gains the reputation and applause of being the ablest lawyer , that can carry the weakest cause . oh truth ! divine truth ! how beautiful wouldst thou appear in thy native glory , naked ! but when thy orators have rigg'd thee out with all their false rhetorick , and a whole superfaetation of stretcht sense , rack'd argument , extorted suggestions , and so much additional fictions and forgeries to fill up thy spurious train ; what with the paint , patch , plume , and all the false drapery about thee , they bring thee forth in all that pomp and magnificence , when thou art least thy self . and thus if all this fucus , and all these gawdy trappings unhappily mislead the weak , the easy , and the ignorant , the fond eyes , and captivated hearts before thee ; 't is not thy own , but thy iezabel charms , that conquer them ! here i must beg my reader 's pardon for speaking too much in the stile of mr. collier , and running a little into rapture upon this occasion . but to bring the plain matter home to his own door , i do declare in all the triumphs he has gain'd by his view of the stage , amongst all the captives his eloquence has made him ; the great proselites to his cause are not gain'd by the truth , but by the falsehood , in that treatise . for instance , 't is not the setting out of the libertine , or jilt , in our comedies with a little too much free air ; or the larding our modern plays with sometimes too much of the smut , and double entendres , &c. and for the profane part , 't is not mr. durfey ' s furniture of lucifer ' s kitchen ; his garbidge of souls , nor rashers of fools , &c. nor his profaning of balaam ' s ass in his epilogue , p. 199. nor lady froth ' s making jehu a hackney coachman , p. 64. nor sharper's making himself a god-father to vain love , vowing and promising in his name , &c. p. 63. nor angelica's telling sir sampson , that the strongest of his name pull'd an old house over his head ; nor sancho's sending the iew , his father , to abraham ' s bosom , p. 72. nor cynthia for saying marriage makes a man and wife one flesh , but leaves 'em two fools , p. 82. nor fashion for kicking his conscience down stairs , p. 79 , &c. nor scandal , for saying , that solomon was a wise man , for his great iudgment in astrology . 't is not these , nor all the rest of those minor brethren in iniquity ; no , not with all mr. collier's perverse discant upon them , that run down the stage : but the more blasphemous execrations in king arthur , and absolon and achitophel ; and that more prodigious mass of blasphemy , mr. dryden's whole play of amphitryon ( as we have set forth in our first part ) and to all these , the fulminations of the primitive fathers , with their seat of infection , their chair of pestilence , &c. ( how foreign to his cause , and how feeble their authority , we have already discoursed , ) 't is upon this last babel work , a pile that almost reaches heaven , that mr. collier gives the stage the most mortal blow , and consequently gains all the aforesaid proselites . but the reader is not to wonder that falsehood is the great charmer in that treatise ; for , to tell you the truth , 't was both founded in falsehood , and stands supported by it . for though religion and reformation was the pretence ; instead of a cole from the altar to inspire the zeal , here was a warmer dulcis odor , fifty guinea's copy-money that animated the cause . and though , god forbid , i should infer , that the labours either of learning piety should go unrewarded ; yet , to confirm my assertion , that interest was here the governing ascendant : piety never falsifies , nor prevaricates : he had never built so malicious , and sophistical a fabrick , upon so holy a ground , had conscience laid the corner stone . but as that inferior first mover set him at work , so he managed with tools accordingly . like the lawyer at the bar , as i said before , the fee was large , and pleadings must deserve it . and therefore as nothing but a total overthrow of the stage could make it so selling a copy , and consequently afford the author that encouragement ; for gaining that point , he lay under the necessity not only of sophistry , misconstruction , &c. stretching every least peccadilio more unmercifully , than a dwarf in a procrustes bed , but even of dragging in the primtive fathers ; nay , the apostles , and gospel it self rightor wrong , to do the last execution . 't was thus this dagon rose , and thus it gain'd the popular knees that bend before it ; and indeed 't is much such another spirit of falsehood , that gives it fame and reputation : for it goes for current authority round the whole town , that mr. dryden himself had publickly declar'd it unanswerable ; and thank'd mr. collier for the just correction he had given him ; and that mr. congreve , and some other great authors , had made much the same declaration ; which is all so notoriously false , so egregious a lye , that mr. dryden particularly always look'd upon it as a pile of malice , illnature and uncharitableness , and all drawn upon the utmost rack of wit and invention . thus falsehood employ'd the workman . falsehood found the materials . falsehood rais'd the structure , and falsehood upholds it . to give my reader a particular instance , how far the temptation of a selling copy , even upon the most sacred and religious subject , will prevail . some years since was publish'd a small treatise , with the imprimatur of authority , called , the second spira , being the relation of a young gentleman , the son of a person of quality , who died in despair , december the 8th . 1692. containing the conferences of several orthodox divines , at several times , with the particulars of their spiritual arguments , reasonings , admonitions , together with all the young gentleman's replies , his execrations , impenitence , apostacy , and the whole narrative of his blasphemies to his last gasp. this piece was compiled by an author as ingenious as mr. collier , and that values himself as much upon his morals and religion ; the bookseller as eminent , as wealthy , and as zealous a professor of christianity , as most of the trade . of this book several impressions , near 20 thousand were sold. several prefatory advertisements were printed , to support its authority , and long and repeated insinuations were almost daily made by the publisher for the same assertion . and yet all this while , there was not so much as one syllable , tittle , or jota of fact or truth in the whole history , but all pure invention . now tho' i dare not say with mr. dryden , that priests of all religion are the same , yet i may venture to say , that pious craft in all relgions is much the same ; and legends will creep into all churchs . i do not urge this as a parallel to mr. collier's view of the stage . his labours upon that subject , i confess , are not all legend ; i acknowledge his view has some matter of truth in it ; but at the same time its veracity a little agrees with the description of dr. oates his plot , in absolom and achitophel . some truth there was , but brew'd and dasht with lies , to please the fools , and puzle all the wise. and here i must give mr. collier the honour of leading a small squadron of truths to attack the stage ; but like dr. oats too , with a whole legion of pilgrims and black bills to back them . and here again i must make one serious reflection , to think how truth is the best mistress , but worst served . for that learning and ingenuity like mr. colliers , that is most able to do her the best and honourablest service , makes her the worst and ignoblest servant . and thus i may join with lactantius ( only changing one word , ) the rule is , the more rhetorick , the more mischief , and the best pen-men are the worst commonwealthsmen . for the harmony and ornament serves only to recommend the argument , and fortify the charm. finis . an apology for actors containing three briefe treatises. 1 their antiquity. 2 their ancient dignity. 3 the true vse of their quality. written by thomas heywood. heywood, thomas, d. 1641. 1612 approx. 118 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 33 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-05 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a03185 stc 13309 estc s106113 99841838 99841838 6452 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a03185) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 6452) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1475-1640 ; 890:05) an apology for actors containing three briefe treatises. 1 their antiquity. 2 their ancient dignity. 3 the true vse of their quality. written by thomas heywood. heywood, thomas, d. 1641. [64] p. printed by nicholas okes, london : 1612. signatures: a⁴ a⁴ b-g⁴. reproduction of the original in the folger shakespeare library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng actors -early works to 1800. theater -moral and ethical aspects -early works to 1800. 2002-05 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2002-06 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2002-07 olivia bottum sampled and proofread 2002-10 aptara rekeyed and resubmitted 2002-11 jennifer kietzman sampled and proofread 2003-02 aptara rekeyed and resubmitted 2003-03 olivia bottum sampled and proofread 2003-03 olivia bottum text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion an apology for actors . containing three briefe treatises . 1 their antiquity . 2 their ancient dignity . 3 the true vse of their quality . written by thomas heywood . et prodesse solent & delectare — london , printed by nicholas okes. 1612. to the right honovrable , edward , earle of worcester , lord of chep●toll , ragland , and gower , knight of the most noble order of the garter , maister of the horse , and one of the kings most honourable privy covncel . knowing all the vertues and endowments of nobility , which flo●isht in their height of eminence in your ancestors , now , as by a diuine legacy , and lineall inheritance , to suruiue in you ; and so consequently from you , to your truly ennobled issue . ( right honourable ) i presumed to publish this vnworthy worke vnder your gracious patronage : first , as an acknowledgement of that duty i am bound to you in , as a seruant . next , assured that your most iudiciall cen●●re is as able to approue what therein is authentike and good , as your noble and accustomed modesty will charitably conniue : if there be any thing therein vnworthy your learned approbation . i haue striu'd ( my lord ) to make good a subiect , which many through enuy , but most through ignorance , haue sought violently , ( and beyond merit ) to oppugne : in which , if they haue either wandred through spleene , or erred by non-knowledge , i haue ( to my power ) plainly and freely illustrated , propounding a true , direct , and faithfull discourse , touching the antiquity , the ancient dignity , and the true vse of act●●● , and their quality . if my industry herein be by the common aduersary harshly receiued , but by your honour charitably censured , i haue from the iniuditious ( whom i esteeme not ) but what i expect : but from your lordship ( whom i euer reuerence ) more then i can merit . your honours humbly deuoted , thomas heywood . to my good friends and fellowes , the citty-actors . ovt of my busiest houres , i haue spared my selfe so much time as to touch some particulars concerning vs , to approue our antiquity , ancient dignity , and the true vse of our quality . that it hath beene ancient , we haue deriued it from more then two thousand yeeres agoe , successiuely to this age . that it hath beene esteemed by the best and greatest : to omit all the noble patrons of the former world , i need alledge no more then the royall and princely seruices , in which we now liue . that the vse thereof is authentique , i haue done my endeauour to instance by history , and approue by authority . to excuse my ignorance in affecting no florish of eloquence , to set a glosse vpon my treatise , i haue nothing to say for my selfe but this : a good face needs no painting , & a good cause no abetting . some ouer-curious haue too liberally taxed vs ▪ and hee ( in my thoughts ) is held worthy reproofe , whose ignorance cannot answere for it selfe : i hold it more honest for the guiltlesse to excuse , then the enuious to exclaime . and we may as freely ( out of our plainnesse ) answere , as they ( out of their peruersnesse obiect ) instancing my selfe by famous scalliger , learned doctor gager , doctor gentiles , and others , whose opinions and appr●ued arguments on our part , i haue in my briefe discourse altogether omitted ; because i am loath to bee taxed in borrowing from others : and besides , their workes being extant to the world , offer themselues freely to euery mans perusall . i am profest aduersary to none , i rather couet reconcilement , then opposition , nor proceedes this my labour from any enuy in me , but rather to shew them wherein they erre . so wishing you iudiciall audiences , honest poets , and true gatherers , i commit you all to the fulnesse of your best wishes . yours euer , t. h. to the ivdiciall reader . i haue vndertooke a subiect ( curteous reader ) not of sufficient countenance to bolster it selfe by his owne strength ; and therefore haue charitably reached it my hand to ●upport it against any succeeding aduersary . i could willingly haue committed this worke to some more able then my selfe : for the weaker the combatant , hee needeth the stronger armes . but in extremities , i hold it better to weare rusty armour , then to goe naked ; yet if these weake habilliments of war●e , can but buckler it from part of the rude buffets of our aduersaries , i shall hold my paines sufficiently guerdoned . my pen hath seldome appeared in presse till now , i haue beene euer too iealous of mine owne weaknesse , willingly to thrust into the presse : nor had i at this time , but that a kinde of necessity enioyned me to so sudden a businesse . i will neither shew my selfe ouer-presumtuous , in skorning thy fauour , nor too importunate a beggar , by too seruilly intreating it . what thou art content to bestow vpon my pains , i am content to accept : if good thoughts , they are all i desire : if good words , they are more then i deserue : if bad opinion , i am sorry i haue incur'd it : if euil language , i know not how i haue merited it : if any thing , i am pleased : if nothing , i am satisfied , contenting my selfe with this : i haue done no more then ( had i beene called to account ) shewed what i could say in the defence of my owne quality . thine t. heyvvood . firm● valent perse , nullumque mach●●na querunt . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in laudem , nec operis , nec authoris . fallor ? en h●c solis non solùm grata theatris ? ( esseputes solis quanquam diclata theatris ) magna sed à sacro veniet tibi gratia templo , parue liber ; proles baut infitianda parenti . plurimus hunc nactus libr●m de-plebe-sacerdos ( copia verborum cni sit , non copia rerum ) materiae tantum petet hinc ; quantum nec invn● promere mense potest : nec in vno forsitan anno. da quemuis textum ; balbâ de narelocutus , protinùs exclamat ( nefanda piacula ! ) in vrbe ( proh dolor ! ) impietas nudat â fronte vagatur ! eccelibrum ( fratres ) damnando authore poëtâ : pejorem , nec sol vidit , nec v●rstius ipse haeresiarcha valet componere : quippe theatri mentitas loquitur laudes ( ô temporal laudet idem si potis est , monachum , monachi●e cucullum . sacro quis laudes vnquam nomèn-ve theatri repperit in canone ? haud vllus ▪ stolidissime , dogma non canonem sapit hoc igitur , sed apocryphon . inde ( lymphatum attonito pectus tundent● popello , et vacuum quassante caput moestumque t●enti ) sic multo r●●cùm crocitans sud●r● perorat ; quod non dant proceres dedit histrio : nempe benignam materiam declamandi , pleb●mque , docendi . quis tamen hic mystes tragico qui fulmina abore torquet ? num doctus ? c●rtè . nam metra catonis quattuor edidicit , totidem quoque commata tull● . ieiunámque catechesin pistoribus aequè fartoribusque pijs scripsit . liber vtilis his , qui baptistam simulant vultu , floralia viu●nt : queisque supercilio breuior coma . sed venerandos graios hic l●tiosque patres exosus ad vnum est ; et canones damnans fit apocryphus . vritur intùs . laudibus actoris multùm mordetur . ab illo laude suâ fraudatur enim . quis nescit ? iniquum'st praeter se scripto laudetur a hypocrita quisquam . fallor ? an h●ec solis ●on solùm grata theatris ? anonymus . siue pessimus omnium po●ta . to them that are opposite to this worke . cease your detracting tongues contest no more , leaue off for shame to wound the actors fame , seeke rather their wrong'd credit to restore , your enuy and detractions , quite disclaime : you that haue term'd their sports lasciuious , vile , wishing good princes would them all exile ; see here this question to the full disputed : heywood , hath you , and all your proofes confuted . wouldst see an emperour and his counsell graue , a noble souldier acted to the life , a romane tyrant how he doth behaue himselfe : at home , abroad , in peace , in strife ? wouldst see what 's loue , what 's hate , what 's foule ex-cesse , or wouldst a traytor in his kind expresse ▪ our stagerites can ( by the poets pen ) appeare to you to bee the selfe same men . what though a sort for spight , or want of wit , hate what the best allow , the most forbeare , what exercise can you desire more fit , then stately stratagemes to see and heare . what profit many may attaine by playes , to the most critticke eye this booke displaies , braue men , braue acts , being brauely acted too , makes , as men see things done , desire to do . and did it nothing but in pleasing sort , keepe gallants from mispending of their time , it might suffice : yet here is nobler sport , acts well contriu'd , good prose , and stately rime . to call to church , campanus bels did make , playes , dice , and drinke inuite men to forsake : their vse being good then vse the actors well , since ours all other nations farre excell . ar : hopton . to his beloued friend maister thomas heyvvod . sume superbiam quaesitam meritis . i cannot , though you write in your owne cause , say you deale partially ; but must confesse , ( what most men wil ) you merit due applause ; so worthily your worke becomes the presse ▪ and well our actors , may approue your paines , for you giue them authority to play ; euen whilst the hottest plague of enuy raignes , nor for this warrant shall they dearly pay . what a full state of poets , haue you cited , to iudge your cause ? and to our equall veiw faire monumentall theaters recited : whose ruines had bene ruin'd but for you . such men who can in tune , both raile and sing ▪ shall veiwing this , either confesse 't is good , or let their ignorance condemne the spring , because 't is merry and renewes our bloud . be therefore your owne iudgement your defence , which shall approue you better then my praise , whilst i in right of sacred innocence , durst ore each guilded tombe this knowne truth raise . " who dead would not be acted by their will , " it seemes such men haue acted their liues ill . by your friend iohn webster . to my louing friend and fellow , thomas heyvvood . thou that do'st raile at me for seeing a play , how wouldst thou haue me spend my idle houres ? wouldst haue me in a tauerne drinke all day ? melt in the sunnes heate ? or walke out in showers ? gape at the lottery from morne till euen , to heare whose mottoes blankes haue , and who prises ? to hazzard all at dice ( chance six or seuen ? ) to card ? or bowle ? my humour this dispises . but thou wilt answer : none of these i need , yet my tir'd spirits must haue recreation . what shall i doe that may retirement breed ? or how refresh my selfe ? and in what fashion ? to drabbe , to game , to drinke , all these i hate : many enormous things depend on these , my faculties truely to recreate with modest mirth , and my selfe best to please giue me a play ; that no distaste can breed , proue thou a spider , and from flowers sucke gall , i l'e like a bee , take hony from a weed : for i was neuer puritannicall . i loue no publicke soothers , priuate scorners , that raile 'gainst letchery , yet loue a harlot . when i drinke , 't is in sight , and not in corners : i am no open saint , and secret varlet . still when i come to playes , i loue to sit , that all may see me in a publike place : euen in the stages front , and not to git into a nooke , and hood-winke there my face . " this is the d●fference , such would haue men deeme , " them what they are not : i am what i seeme . rich. perkins . to my good friend and fellow , thomas heyvvood . let others taske things honest : and to please some that pretend more strictnesse then the rest , exclaime on playes : know i am none of these that in-ly loue what out-ly i detest . of all the modest pastimes i can finde , to content me , of playes i make best vse , as most agreeing with a generous minde . there see i vertues crowne , and sinnes abuse . two houres well spent , and all their pastimes done , what 's good i follow , and what 's bad i shun . christopher ▪ beeston . to my good friend and fellow , thomas heyvvood . haue i not knowne a man that to be hyr'd , would not for any treasure see a play , reele from a tauerne ? shall this be admir'd ? when as another but the tother day , that held to weare a surplesse most vnmeet , yet after stood at pauls-crosse in a sheet . robert pallant . to my approued good friend m. thomas heyvvood . of thee , and thy apology for playes , i will not much speake in contempt or praise : yet in these following lines i l'e shew my minde , of playes , and such as haue 'gainst playes repin'd . a play 's a briefe epitome of time , where man my see his vertue or his crime layd open , either to their vices shame , or to their vertues memorable fame . a play 's a true transparant christall mirror , to shew good minds their mirth , the bad their terror : where stabbing , drabbing , dicing , drinking , swearing are all proclaim'd vnto the sight and hearing , in vgly shapes of heauen-abhorrid sinne , where men may see the mire they wallow in . and well i know it makes the diuell rage , to see his seruants flouted on a stage . a whore , a thiefe , a pander , or a bawd , a broker , or a slaue that liues by fraud : an vsurer , whose soule is in his chest , vntill in hell it comes to restlesse rest . a fly-blowne gull , that faine would be a gallant , a raggamuffin that hath spent his tallant : a selfe-wise foole , that sees his wits out-stript , or any vice that feeles it selfe but nipt , either in tragedy , or comedy , in morall , pastorall , or history : but straight the poyson of their enuious tongues , breakes out in vollyes of calumnious wronges . and then a tinker , or a dray-man sweares , i would the house were fir'd about their eares . thus when a play nips sathan by the nose , streight all his vassails are the actors foes . but feare not man , let enuy swell and burst , proceed , and bid the diuell do his worst . for playes are good or bad , as they are vs'd , and best inuentions often are abus'd . yours euer , iohn taylor . the author to his booke . the world 's a theater , the earth a stage , which god , and nature doth with actors fill , kings haue their entrance in due equipage , and some there parts play well and others ill . the best no better are ( in this theater , ) where euery humor 's fitted in his kinde , this a true subiects acts , and that a traytor , the first applauded , and the last confin'd this plaies an honest man , and that a knaue a gentle person this , and he a clowne one man is ragged , and another braue . all men haue parts , and each man acts his owne . she a chaste lady acteth all her life , a wanton curtezan another playes . this , couets marriage loue , that , nuptial strife , both in continuall action spend their dayes . some citizens , some soldiers , borne to aduenter , sheepheards and sea-men ; then our play 's begun , when we are borne , and to the world first enter , and all finde exits when their parts are done . if then the world a theater present , as by the roundnesse it appeares most fit , built with starre-galleries of hye ascent , in which ieho●e doth as spectator sit . and chiefe determiner to applaud the best , and their indeuours crowne with more then merit . but by their euill actions doomes the rest , to end disgrac't whilst others praise inherit . he that denyes then theaters should be , he may as well deny a world to me . thomas heywood . an apology for actors , and first touching their antiquity mooved by the sundry exclamations of many seditious sectists in this age , who in the fatnes and ranknes of a peac●able common-wealth , grow vp like vnsauery tufts of grasse , which though outwardly greene and fresh to the eye , yet are they both vnpleasant & vnprofitable , beeing too sower for food , and too ranke for fodder : these men like the antient germans , affecting no fashion but their owne , would draw other nations to bee slouens like them-selues , and vndertaking to puri●ie and reforme the sacred bodies of the church and common-weale ( in the trew vse of both which they are altogether ignorāt , ) would but like artlesse phisitions , for experiment sake , rather minister pils to poyson the whole body then cordials to preserue any or the least part . amongst many other thinges tollerated in this peaceable and florishing state , it hath pleased the high and mighty princes of this land to limit the vse of certaine publicke theaters , which since many of these ouer-curious heads haue lauishly 〈◊〉 violently slandered , i hold it not a misse to lay open some few antiquities to approue the true vse of them , with arguments ( not of the least moment ) which according to the weaknes of my spirit and infancy of my iudgment i will ( by gods grace ) commit to the eyes of all fauorable and iudiciall readers , as well to satisfie the requests of some of our well qualified fauorers , as to stop the enuious acclamations of those who chalenge to them-selues a priuiledge inuectiue , and against all free estates a railing liberty : loath am i ( i protest ) being the youngest and weakest of the nest wherin i was hatcht , to soare this pitch before others of the same brood more fledge , and of better winge then my selfe : but though they whome more especially this taske concernes , both for their ability in writing and sufficiency in iudgement ( as their workes generally witnesse to the world : ) are content to ouer-slip so necessary a subiect , and haue left it as to mee the most vnworthy : i thought it better to stammer out my mind , then not to speake at all ; to scrible downe a marke in the stead of writing a name , and to stumble on the way , rather then to stand still and not to proceede on so necessary a iourney . nox erat , & somnus lassos submisit ocellos . it was about that time of the night when darknes had already ouerspread the world , and a husht and generall sylence possest the face of the earth , and mens bodyes tyred with the businesse of the day , betaking themselues to their best repose , their neuer-sleeping soules labored in vncoth dreames and visions , when suddenly appeared to me the tragicke muse melpomene — animosa tragedia . — & mouit pictis imixa cothurnis densum cesarie , terque quaterque caput : her heyre rudely disheueled , her chaplet withered , her visage with teares stayned , her brow furrowed , her eyes deiected , nay her whole complexion quite faded and altered : and perusing her habit , i might behold the colour of her fresh roabe all crimson , breathed , and with the inuenomed iuice of some prophane spilt inke in euery place stained : nay more , her busken of all the wonted iewels and ornaments , vtterly despoyled ; about which in manner of a garter i might behold these letters written in a playne and large character . behold my tragicke buskin rent and torne , which kings and emperors in their tymes haue worne . this i no sooner had perus'd , but suddenly i might perceaue the inraged muse , cast vp her skornfull head : her eye-bals sparklefire , & a suddain flash of disdaine , intermixt with rage , purple her cheeke . when pacing with a maiesticke gate & rowsing vp her fresh spirits with a liuely and queint action , shee began in these or the like words . grande sonant tragici , tragicos decet ira cothurnos . am i melpomene the buskend muse , that held in awe the tyrants of the world , and playde their liues in publicke theaters , making them feare to sinne , since fearelesse i prepar'd to wryte their liues in crimson inke , and act their shames in eye of all the world ? haue not i whipt vice with a scourge of steele , vnmaskt sterne murther ; sham'd lasciuious lust. pluct off the visar from grimme treasons face , and made the sunne point at their vgly sinnes ? hath not this powerfull hand tam'd fiery rage , kild poysonous enuy with her owne keene darts , choak't vp the couetous mouth with moulten gold , burst the vast wombe of eating gluttony , and drownd the drunkards gall in iuice of grapes ? i haue showed pryde his picture on a stage , layde ope the vgly shapes his steele-glasse hid , and made him passe thence meekely : in those daies when emperours with their presence grac't my sceanes , and thought none worthy to present themselues saue emperours : to delight embassadours . then did this garland florish , then my roabe was of the deepest crimson , the best dye : cura ducum fuerant olim regumque poetae . premiaque antiqui magna tulere chori who lodge then in the bosome of great kings . saue he that had a graue cothurnate muse. a stately verse in an ●ambick stile became a kes●rs mouth . oh these were times fit for you bards to vent your golden rymes . then did i tread on arras , cloth of tissue , hung round the fore-front of my stage : the pillers that did support the roofe of my large frame double apparrel● in pure ophir gold ▪ whilst the round circle of my spacious orbe was throng'd with princes , dukes and senators . nunc hederae sine honore iacent . but now 's the iron age , and black-mouth'd curres , barke at the vertues of the former world . such with their breath haue blasted my fresh roabe , pluckt at my flowry chaplet , towsd my tresses . nay some whom for their basenesse hist and skorn'd the stage , as loathsome , hath long-since spued●ut , haue watcht their time to cast inuenom'd ●nke to stayne my garments with . oh seneca thou tragicke poet , hadst thou liu'd to see this outrage done to sad melpo●ene , with such sharpe lynes thou wouldst reuenge my blot . as armed o●●d against ibis wrot . with that in rage shee left the place , and i my dreame , for at the instant i awaked , when hauing perused this vision ouer and ouer againe in my remembrance , i suddenly bethought mee , how many antient poets , tragicke and comicke , dying many ages agoe liue still amongst vs in their works , as amongst the greekes , euripide● : m●nand●r ▪ sophocles , eupolis , eschilus , aristophanes , app●llodorus , a●axandrides , nichomachus , alexis , tereus and others , so among the latins : attilius , actius , melithus , pla●tus , terens , & others whome fore breuity sake i omit . hos ediscit & hos arcto stipata theatro spectat roma potens habet hos , numer atque poetas . these potent rome acquires and holdeth deare . and in their round theaters flocks to heare : these or any of these had they liued in the afternoone of the world , as they dyed euen in the morning , i assure my selfe wold haue left more memorable tropheys of that learned muse , whome in their golden numbers they so richly adorned . and amongst our moderne poets ▪ who haue bene industrious in many an elaborate and ingenious poem , euen they whose pennes haue had the greatest traffi●ke with the stage , haue bene in the excuse of these muses most forgetfull but leauing these , lest i make too large a head to a small body ▪ and so mishape my subiect , i will begin with the antiquity of acting comedies , tragedies , and hystories . and first in the golden world . in the first of the olimpiads , amongst many other actiue exercises in which hercules euer trimph●d as victor , there was in his nonage presented vnto him by his tu●or in the fashion of a history , acted by the choyse of the nobility of greece , the worthy and memorable acts of his father iupiter . which being personated with liuely and well-spirited action , wrought such impression in his noble thoughts , that in meere emulation of his fathers valor ( not at the behest of his stepdame iuno ) he perform'd his twelue labours : him valiant theseus followed , and achilles , theseus . which bred in them such hawty and magnanimous attempts , that euery succeeding age hath recorded their worths , vnto fresh admiration . aristotle that prince of philosophers , whose bookes carry such credit , euen in these our vniuers●●ies , that to say ipse dixit is a sufficient axioma , hee hauing the tuition of young alexander , caused the destruction of troy to be acted before his pupill , in which the valor of achilles was so naturally exprest , that it imprest the hart of alexander , in so much that all his succeeding actions were meerly shaped after that patterne , and it may be imagined had achilles neuer liued , alexander had neuer conquered the whole world . the like assertion may be made of that euer-renowned roman iulius caesar. who after the like representation of alexander in the temple of hercules standing in gades was neuer in any peace of thoughts , till by his memorable exployts , hee had purchas'd to himselfe the name of alexander : as alexander till hee thought himselfe of desert to be called achilles : achilles theseus , theseus till he had sufficiently imitated the acts of hercules , and hercules till hee held himselfe worthy to bee called the son of iupiter . why should not the liues of these worthyes , presented in these our dayes , effect the like wonders in the princes of our times , which can no way bee so exquisitly demonstrated , nor so liuely portrayed as by action : oratory is a kind of a speaking picture , therefore may some say , is it not sufficient to discourse to the eares of princes the fame of these conquerors : painting likewise , is a dumbe oratory , therefore may we not as well by some curious pigmalion , drawe their conquests to worke the like loue in princes towards these worthyes by shewing them their pictures drawne to the life , as it wrought on the poore painter to bee inamored of his owne shadow ▪ i answer this . non ●agis expressi vultus per ahenia signa quam per vatis opus , mores animique virorum clarorum apparent . — the visage is no better cut in brasse , nor can the caruer so expresse the face as doth the poets penne whose arts surpasse , to giue mens liues and vertues their due grace . a description is only a shadow receiued by the eare but not perceiued by the eye : so liuely portrature is meerely a forme seene by the eye , but can neither shew action , passion , motion , or any other gesture , to mooue the spirits of the beholder to admiration : but to see a souldier shap'd like a souldier , walke , speake , act like a souldier : to see a hector all besmered in blood , trampling vpon the bulkes of kinges . a troylus returning from the field in the sight of his father priam as if man and horse euen from the steeds rough fetlockes to the plume in the champions helmet had bene together plunged into a purple ocean : to see a pompey ride in triumph , then a caesar conquer that pompey : labouring hanniball aliue , hewing his passage through the alpes . to see as i haue seene , hercules in his owne shape hunting the boare , knocking downe the bull , taming the hart , fighting with hydra , murdering gerion , slaughtring diomed , wounding the stimphalides , killing the centaurs , pashing the lion , squeezing the dragon , dragging cerberus in chaynes , and lastly , on his high pyramides writing nilvltra , oh these were sights to make an alexander . to turne to our domesticke hystories , what english blood seeing the person of any bold english man presented and doth not hugge his fame , and hunnye at his valor , pursuing him in his enterprise with his best wishes , and as beeing wrapt in contemplation , offers to him in his hart all prosperous performance , as if the personater were the man personated , so bewitching a thing is liuely and well spirited action , that it hath power to new mold the harts of the spectators and fashion them to the shape of any noble and notable attempt . what coward to see his contryman valiant would not bee ashamed of his owne cowardise ? what english prince should hee behold the true portrature of that amous king edward the third , foraging france , taking so great a king captiue in his owne country , qua●tering the english lyons with the french flower-delyce , and would not bee suddenly inflam'd with so royall a spectacle , being made apt and fit for the like atchieuement . so of henry the fift : but not to be tedious in any thing . ouid in one of his poems holds this opinion , that romulus was the first that broght plaies into italy , which he thus sets downe ▪ primus sollicitos fecisti romule ludos . cum iurit viduos rapta sabina viros tunc neque marmoreo pendebant vela theatro , &c. which wee english thus . thou noble romulus first playes contriues , to get thy widdowed souldiers sabine wyues . in those dayes from the marble house did wau● no saile , no silken flagge , or ensigne braue . then was the tragicke stage not painted red , or any mixed staines on pillers spred . then did the sceane want art , th'vnready stage was made of grasse and earth in that rude age : about the which were thicke-leau'd branches placed , nor did the audients hold themselues disgraced of turfe and heathy sods to make their seates , fr●m'd in degrees of earth , and mossy peates . thus plac'd in order , euery roman pry'd into her face that sate next by his side ; and closing with her , seuerally gan moue , the innocent sab●ne women to their loue : and whil'st the piper thuscus rudely plaid , and by thrice stamping with his foote had made a signe vnto the rest , there was a shout , whose shrill report pierst all the aire about . n●w at a signe of rape giuen from the king , round through the hou●e the lusty romans fling , leauing no corner of the same vnsought , till euery one a frighted virgin caught . looke as the trembling doue the eagle flyes , or a yong lambe when he the woolfe espyes ; soran the poore girles , filling th' aire with skreekes . emptying of all the colour their pale cheekes . one feare possest them all , but not one looke , this teares her haire , she ; hath her wits forsooke . some sadly sit , some on their mothers call , som● cha●e , some flye , some stay , but frighted all . th●● were the ra●●sh'd sabi●es blushing led ( be●omming shame ) vnto each romans bed . if any striu'd against it , streight her man would ●ak● her on 〈◊〉 knee ( whom feare made w●n ) and ●ay ; why weep'st thou sweet ? what ailes my deere ? d●y vp these drops , these clowds of sorrow cleere . i l'e be to thee , if thou thy griefe wilt smother , such as thy father was vnto thy mother . full well could romulus his souldiers please , to giue them such faire mistresses as these . if such rich wages thou wilt giue to me , great romulus , thy souldier i will ●e . romulus hauing erected the walles of rome , and leading vnder him a warlike nation , being in continuall warre with the sabines , after the choyce selecting of a place , fit 〈◊〉 so famous a citty , and not knowing how to people the same , his traine wholly consisting of souldiers , who without the company of women ( they not hauing any in their army ) could not multiply ; but so were likely that their immortall fames should dye issulesse with their mortall bodies . thus therefore romulus deuised ; after a parle and attonement made with the neighbour nations , hee built a theater , plaine , according to the time ; yet large , fit for the entertainement of so great an assembly , and these were they whose famous issue peopled the cittie of rome , which in after ages grew to such height , that not troy , founded by dardanus , carthage layed by dido , tyru● built by agenor , memphis made by ogdous , thebes seated by cadmus , nor babylon reared by semiramis , were any way equall to this situation grounded by romulus : to which all the discouered kingdomes of the earth after became tributaries . and in the noone-tide of their glory , and height of all their honor , they edified theaters , and amphi-theaters : for in their flourishing common-weale , their publike comedians and tragedians most florished , insomuch that the tragicke and comicke poets , were all generally admired of the people , and particularly euery man of his priuate mec●nas . in the reigne of augustus christ was borne , and as well in his dayes as before his birth , these solemnities were held in the greatest estimation . in iulius caesars time , predecessor to august●● , the fam●us hony-tong'd orator cicero florished ; who , amongst many other his eloquent oratio●s , writ certaine yet extant , for the com●dian ros●ius ( pro roscio comaedo ) of whom we shall speake more large hereafter . these continued in their honour till the reigne of tiberius caesar , and vnder tiberius christ was crucified . to this end do i vse this assertion , because in the full and perfect time our sauiour soiurned on the earth , euen in those happy and peacefull dayes the spacious theaters were in the greatest opinion amongst the romans ; yet , neither christ himselfe , nor any of his san●●ified apostles , in any of their sermons , acts , or documents , so much as named them , or vpon any abusiue occasion , touched them . therefore hence ( me thinkes ) a very probable and important argument may be grounded , that since they , in their diuine wisdomes , knew all the sinnes abounding in the world before that time , taxt and reproued all the abuses reigning in that time , and foresaw all the actions and inconueniences ( to the church preiudiciall ) in the time to come ; since they ( i say ) in all their holy doctrines , bookes , and principles of diuinity , were content to passe them ouer , as things tollerated , and indifferent , why should any nice and ouer-scrupulous heads , since they cannot ground their curiousnesse either vpon the old or new testament , take vpon them to correct , controule , and carpe at that , against which they cannot finde any text in the sacred scriptures ? in the time of nero caesar , the apostle paul was persecuted and suffered , nero was then emperour , paul writ his epistle to the romans , and at the same time did the theaters most florish amongst the romans ; yet where can we quote any place in his epistles , which forbids the church of god , then resident in rome , to absent themselues from any such assemblies . to speake my opinion with all indifferency , god hath not enioyned vs to weare all our apparrell solely to defend the cold ▪ some garments we weare for warmth , others for ornament . so did the children of israel hang eare-rings in their eares , not was it by the law forbidden them . that purity is not look't for at our hands , being mortall and humane , that is required of the angels , being celestiall and diuine . god made vs of earth , men ; knowes our natures , dispositions and imperfections , and therefore hath limited vs a time to reioyce , as hee hath enioyned vs a time to mourne for our transgressiōs . and i hold them more scrupulous than well aduised , that goe about to take from vs the vse of all moderate recreations . why hath god ordained for man , va●●●tie of meates , dainties and delicates , if not to taste thereon ? why doth the world yeeld choyce of honest pastimes , if not decently to vse them ? was not the hare made to be hunted ? the stagge to be chaced ; and so of all other beasts of game in their seuerall kindes ? since god hath prouided vs of these pastimes , why may wee not vse them to his glory ? now if you aske me why were not the theaters as gorgeously built in all other cities of italy as rome ? and why are not play-houses maintained as well in other cities of england , as london ? my answere is : it is not meet euery meane esquire should carry the part belonging to one of the nobility , or for a noble-man to vsurpe the estate of a prince . rome was a metropolis , a place whither all the nations knowne vnder the sunne , resorted : so is london , and being to receiue all estates , all princes , all nations , therefore to affoord them all choyce of pastimes , sports , and recreations : yet were there theaters in all the greatest cities of the world , as we will more largely particularize hereafter . i neuer yet could read any history of any common-weale , which did not thriue & prosper whilst these publike solemnities were held in adoration . oh but ( say some ) marcus aurelius banisht all such triuiall exercises beyond the confines of italy . indeed this emperour was a philosopher of the sect of diogenes , a cini●ke , and whether the hand of diogenes would become a scepter , or a root better , i leaue to your iudgments . this aur●lius was a great & sharpe reprouer , who because the matrons and ladies of rome , in scorne of his person made a play of him ; in his time , interdicted the vse of their theaters . so , because his wife fausti●e plaid false with him , he generally exclaimed against all women : because hims●l●e could not touch an instrument , he banisht all the musitians in rome , and being a meere coward , put all the gladiators and sword-players into exile . and lest his owne suspected life should be againe acted by the comedians , as it before had beene by the noble matrons , he profest himselfe aduersary to all of that quality , so seuere a reformation of the weale publike hee vsed , restraining the citizens of their free liberties , which till his daies was not seene in rome ; but what profited this the weale publicke ? do but peruse the ancient roman chronicles , & you shall vndoubtedly finde , that from the time of this precise emperour , that stately city , whose lofty buildings crowned seuen high hils at once , and ouer-peered them all , streight way began to hang the head , by degrees the forreigne kingdomes reuolted , and the homage done them by strange nations , was in a little space quite abrogated : for they gouerned all the world , some vnder consuls , some vnder p●o-consuls , presidents and pretors , they diuided their dominions and countryes into principalities , some into prouinces , some into toparchyes ▪ some into tetrarchyes , some into tribes , others into ethnarchyes : but now their homage ceast , marc●s aurelius ended their mirth , which presaged that shortly after should begin their sorrow , he banisht their liberty ▪ & immediatly followed their bondage . for rome , which till then kept all the nations of the world in subiectiue awe , was in a little space awd euen by the basest nations of the world . to leaue italy , and looke backe into gr●●ce , the sages and princes of grecia , who for the refinednesse of their language were in such reputation through the world , that all other tongues were esteemed barbarous ; these that were the first vnderstanders , trained vp their youthfull nobility to bee actors , debarring the base mechanickes so worthy imployment : for none but the yong heroes were admitted that practise , so to embolden them in the deliuery of any forraine embassy . these wise men of greece ( o called by the oracle ) could by their industry , finde out no neerer or directer course to plant humanity and manners in the hearts of the multitude then to instruct them by moralized mysteries , what vices to auoyd , what vertues to embrace ; what enorm●tyes to abandon , what ordinances to ob●●●ue : whose liues ( being for s●●e speciall endowments in former times honoured ) they should admire and follow : whose vicious actions ( personated in some licentious liuer ) they should despise & shunne : which borne out as well by the wisedome of the poet , as supported by the worth of the actors , wrought such impression in the hearts of the plebe , that in short space they excelled in ciuility and gouernement , insomuch that from them all the neighbour nations drew their patternes of humanity , as well in the establishing of their lawes , as the reformation of their manners . these magi and gymnosophistae , that liu'd ( as i may say ) in the childhood and infancy of the world , before it knew how to speake perfectly , thought euen in those dayes , that action was the neerest way to plant vnderstanding in the hearts of the ignorant . yea ( but say some ) you ought not to confound the habits of either sex , as to let your boyes weare the attires of virgins , &c. to which i answere : the scriptures are not alwayes to be expounded meerely ▪ according to the letter : ( for in such esta●e stands our may●e sacramentall controuersie ) but they ought exactly to bee conferred with the purpose they handle . to do as the sodomites did , vse preposterous lusts in preposterous habits , is in that text flatly and seuerely forbidden : nor can i imagine any man , that hath in him any taste of relish of christianity , to be guilty of so abhorred a sinne . besides , it is not probable , that playes were meant in that text , because we read not of any playes knowne in that time that deutero●●●ie was writ , among the children of israel , nor do i hold it lawfull to beguile the eyes of the world in confounding the shapes of either sex , as to keepe any youth in the habit of a virgin , or any virgin in the shape of a lad , to shroud them from the eyes of their fathers , tutors , or protectors , or to any other sinister intent whatsoeuer . but to see our youths attired in the habit of women , who knowes not what their intents be ? who cannot distinguish them by their names , assuredly knowing , they are but to represent such a lady , at such a time appoynted ? do not the vniuersities , the fountaines and well● springs of all good arts , learning and documents , admit the like in their colledges ? and they ( i assure my selfe ) are not ignorant of their true vse . in the time of my residence in cambridge , i haue seene tragedyes , comedyes , historyes , pastorals and shewes , publickly acted , in which graduates of good place and reputation , haue bene specially parted : this is held necessary for the emboldening of their iunior schollers , to arme them with audacity , against they come to bee imployed in any publicke exercise , as in the reading of the dialecticke , rhetoricke , ethicke , mathematicke , the physicke , or metaphysicke lectures , it teacheth audacity to the bashfull grammarian , beeing newly admitted into the priuate colledge , and after matriculated and entred as a member of the vniuersity , and makes him a bold sophister , to argue pro et contra , to compose his sillogismes , cathegoricke , or hypotheticke ( simple or compound ) to reason and frame a sufficient argument to proue his questions , or to defend any axioma , to distinguish of any dilemma , & be able to moderate in any argumentation whatsoeuer . to come to rhetoricke , it not onely emboldens a scholler to speake , but instructs him to speake well , and with iudgement , to obserue his comma's , colons , & full poynts , his parentheses , his breathing spaces , and distinctions , to keepe a decorum in his countenance , neither to frown● when he should smile , nor to make vnseemely and disguised faces in the deliuery of his words , not to stare with his eies , draw awry his mouth , confoūd his voice in the hollow of his throat , or teare his words hastily betwixt his teeth , neither to buffet his deske like a mad-man , nor stand in his place like a liuelesse image , demurely plodding , & without any smooth & ●ormal motiō . it instructs him to fit his phrases to his action , and his action to his phrase , and his pronuntiation to them both . tully in his booke ad caium herennium , requires fiue things in an orator , inuention , disposition , eloquuti●n memory , and pronuntiation , yet all are imperfect without the sixt , which is action : for be his inuen●ion neuer so fluent and exquisite , his disposition and order neuer so composed and formall , his eloquence , and elaborate phrases neuer so materiall and pithy , his memory neuer so firme & retentiue , his pronuntiation neuer so musicall and plausiue , yet without a comely and elegant gesture , a gratious and a bewitching kinde of action , a naturall and a familiar motion of the head , the hand , the body , and a moderate and fit countenance sutable to all the rest , i hold all the rest as nothing . a deliuery & sweet actiō is the glosse & beauty of any discourse that belongs to a scholler . and this is the action behoouefull in any that professe this quality , not to vse any impudent or forced motion in any part of the body , no rough , or other violent gesture , nor on the contrary , to stand like a stiffe starcht man , but to qualifie euery thing according to the nature of the person personated : for in ouer-acting trickes , and toyling too much in the anticke habit of humors , men of the ripest desert , greatest opinions , and best reputations , may breake into the most violent absurdities . i take not vpon me to teach , but to aduise : for it becomes my iuniority rather to be pupild my selfe , then to instruct others . to proceed , and to looke into those men that professe themselues aduersaries to this quality , they are none of the grauest , and most ancient doctors of the academy , but onely a sort of finde-faults , such as interest their prodigall tongues in all mens affaires without respect . these i haue heard as liberally in their superficiall censures , taxe the exercises performed in their colledges , as these acted on our publicke stages , not looking into the true & direct vse of either , but ambitiously preferring their owne presumptuous humors , before the profound and authenticall iudgements of all the learned doctors of the vniuersitie . thus you see , that touching the antiquity of actors and acting , they haue not beene new lately begot by any vpstart inuention , but i haue deriued them from the first olimpiads , and i shall continue the vse of ●hem euen till this present age . and so much touching their antiquity . pars superest coepti : pars est exhausta laboris . the end of the first booke . of actors , and their ancient dignitie . the second booke . ivlivs caesar , the famous conquerour , discoursing with marcus cicero , the as famous orator , amongst many other matters debated , it pleased the emperour to aske his opinion of the histriones , the players of rome , pretending some cauell against them , as men whose imployment in the common-weale was vnnecessary : to whom cicero answered thus : content thee caesar , there bee many heads busied & bewitched with these pastimes now in rome , which otherwise would be inquisitiue after thee and thy greatnesse . which answere , how sufficiently the emperour approued , may bee coniectured by the many guifts bestowed , and priuiledges and charters after granted to men of that quality . such was likewise the opinion of a great statesman of this la●d , about the time that certaine bookes were called in question . doubtlesse there be many men of that temper , who were they not carried away , and weaned from their owne corrupt and bad disposition , and by accidentall meanes remoued and altered from their dangerous and sullen intendments , would be found apt and prone to many notorious and trayterous practises . kings & monarches are by god placed and inthroaned supra nos , aboue vs , & we are to regard them as the sun from whom we receiue the light to liue vnder , whose beauty & brightnesse we may onely admire , not meddle with : ne ludamus cum dijs , they that shoot at the st●●res ouer their heads , their arrowes ●all directly downe and wound themselues . but this allusion may bee better referred to the vse of action promised i● ou● third treatise . then to their dignity , which next and immediatly ( by gods grace ) our purpose is to handle . the word tragedy , is deriued from the greeke word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , caper a goat , because the goat being a beast most iniuri●us to ●he vines , was sacrificed to bacchus : heer upon 〈◊〉 writes , that tragedies had their first names from the oblations due to bacchus ; or else of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , a kinde of painting , which the tragedians of the old time vsed to stayne their faces with . by the censure of horace , thespis was the first tragicke writer . ignotum tragic● genus invenisse camenae dicitur , & plaustris vexisse po●mata thespis . the vnknowne t●agicke muse thespis fi●st sought , and her high po●ms in her chariot brought . this thespis was an athenian poet , borne in thespina , a free towne in boetia by helicon , of him the nine muses were called thespiades . but by the censure of quintilian , aeschiles was before him , but after them sophocles and eurip●des clothed their tragedies in better ornament . liuius andronicus was the first that writ any roman tragedy , in which kinde of poësie a●cius , pacuvius , seneca , and ouidius excelled . sceptra tamen sumpsi curáque tragedia nostra , creuit , at huic operi quamlibet aptus eram . the sceptred tragedy then proou'd our wit , and to that worke we found vs apt and fit . againe , in his fift booke de tristibus eleg. 8. carmen quod vestro saltarinostra theatro versibus & plaudiscribis ( amice ) meis . deere friend thou writ'st our muse is 'mongst you song , and in your theaters with plaudits r●ng . likewise in his epistle to augustus , writ from the ponticke island , whither he was banisht . et ded●mus tragicis scriptum regale cothurnis , quaeque grauis debet verba cothurnus habet . with royall stile speakes our cothurnate muse , a buskind phrase in buskin'd playes we vse . the word comedy is deriued from the greeke word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a street , and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , cantus , a song , a street song , as signifying there was euer mirth in those streets where comedies most florisht . haec paces habuere bonae ventique secundi . in this kinde aristophanes , e●p●lis , cratinus were famous● after them menander and philemon : succeeding them cicilius , neuius , plautus and terentius . musaque turani tragicis in●ixa cothurnis et tua cum socco , musa , melisse leuis . turanus tragicke buskin grac'd the play , melissa'es comicke shooe made lighter way . the ancient histriographers write , that among the greekes there were diuers places of exercises , appointed for poets , some at the graue of theseus , others at helicon , where they in comedies and tragedies contended for seueral prises , where s●p●ocles was aiudged victor ouer aeschilus : there were others in the citty of elis , where menander was foyled by philomene . in the same kinde hesiod is sayd to haue triumpht ouer homer . so corinna for her excellencies in these inuentions , ( called muscalyrica ) excelled pindarus the theban poet , for which she was fiue times crowned with garlands . the first publicke theater was by dionysius built in athens , it was fashioned in the manner of a semi-circle , or halfe-moone , whose galleries & degrees were reared from the ground , their staires high , in the midst of which did arise the stage , beside , such a conuenient distance from the earth , that the audience assembled might easily behold the whole proiect without impediment . from this the romanes had their first patterne , which at the first not being roof't , but lying open to all weathers , quintus catulus was the first that caused the out-side to bee couered with linnen cloth , and the in-side to bee hung round with curtens of silke . but when marcus scaurus was a●dilis , hee repaired it , and supported it round with pillers of marble . caius curio , at the solemne obsequies of his father , erected a famous theater of timber , in so strange a forme , that on two seuerall stages , two sundry playes might bee acted at once , and yet the one bee no hinderance or impediment to the other ; and when hee so pleased the whole frame was artificially composed to meet in the middest , which made an amphi-theater . pompey the great , after his victories against methridates , king of pontus , saw in the citty mitelene a theater of another forme , and after his triumphes and returne to rome , he raised one after the same patterne , of free stone , of that vastnesse and receit , that within his spaciousnesse it was able at once to receiue fourescore thousand people , euery one to sit , see and heare . in emulation of this sumptuous and gorgious building iulius caesar , successor to pompeyes greatnesse , exceeded him in his famous architecture , hee raised an amphitheater , campo martio , in the field of mars , which as farre excelled pompeyes , as pompeyes did exceed caius curioes , curioes that of marcus scaurus , scaurus that of quintus catulus , or catulus that which was first made in athens by dionysius : for the basses , columnes , pillars , and pyramides were all of hewed marble , the couerings of the stage , which wee call the heauens ( where vpon any occasion their gods descended ) were geometrically supported by a giant-like atlas , whom the poëts for his astrology , feigne to beare heauen on his shoulders , in which an artificiall sunne and moone of extraordinary aspect and brightnesse had their diurnall , and nocturnall motions ; so had the starres their true and coelestiall course ; so had the spheares , which in their continuall motion made a most sweet and rauishing harmony : here were the elements and planets in their degrees , the sky of the moone , the sky of mercury , venus , sol , mars , iupiter and saturne ; the starres , both fixed and wandering : and aboue all these , the first mouer , or primum mobile , there were the 12 signes ; the lines equinoctiall and zodiacal , the meridian circle , or zenith , the orizon circle , or emisphere , the zones torrid & frozen , the poles articke & antarticke , with all other tropickes , orbs , lines , circles , the solstitium & all other motions of the stars , signes , & planets . in briefe , in that little compasse were comprehended the perfect modell of the firmament , the whole frame of the heauens , with all grounds of astronomicall coniecture . from the roofe grew a loouer , or turret , of an exceedding altitude , from which an ensigne of silke waued continually , pendebant vela theatro . but lest i waste too much of that compendiousnesse i haue promised in my discourse , in idle descriptions , i leaue you to iudge the proportion of the body by the making of this one limbe , euery piller , seat , foot-post , staire , gallery , & whatsoeuer else belongs to the furnishing of such a place , being in cost , substance , forme , and artificiall workmanship , most sutable . the floore , stage , roofe , out-side , & in-side , as costly as the pantheon or ●apitols . in the principall galleries were special remote , selected & chosen seats for the emperour , patres conscripti , dictators , consuls , pretors , tribunes , triumviri , decemviri , ediles , curules , and other noble officers among the senators : all other roomes were free for the plebe , or multitude . to this purpose i introduce these famous edifices , as wondring at their cost & state , thus intimating , that if the quality of acting , were ( as some propose ) altogether vnworthy , why for the speciall practise , and memorable imployment of the same , were founded so many rare and admirable monuments : and by whom were they erected ? but by the greatest princes of their times , and the most famous and worthiest of them all , builded by him that was the greatest prince of the world , iulius caesar , at what time in his hand he grip't the vniuersal empire of the earth . so of augustus caesar. inspice ludorum sumptus auguste tuorum empta tibi magno — behold augustus the great pompe and state of these thy playes payd deere for , at hye rate . 〈◊〉 tu sp●ctasti spectandaque sepe d●disti . and could any inferiour quality bee more worthily esteemed or noblier graced , then to haue princes of such magnificence and state to bestow on them places of such port and countenance , had they been neuer well regarded , they had been neuer so sufficiently prouided for , nor would such worthy princes haue striued who should ( by their greatest expence and prouision ) haue done them the amplest dignity , had they not with incredible fauour regarded the quality . i will not trauerse this too farre , least i incurre some suspition of selfe-loue , i rather leaue it to the fauourable consideration of the wise , though to the peruersnesse of the ignorant , who had they any taste either of poe●ie , phylosophy , or historicall antiquity , would rather stand mated at their owne impudent ignorance , then against such noble , and notable examples stand in publicke defiance . i read of a theater built in the midst of the riuer tyber , standing on pillers and arches , the foundation wrought vnder water like london-bridge , the nobles and ladyes in their barges and gondelayes , landed at the very stayres of the galleryes . after these they composed others , but differing in forme from the theater , or amphi-theater , and euery such was called circus , the frame globe-like , & merely round . circus in ha●c exit ●lamataque palma theatris . and the yeare from the first building of rome , fiue hundred threescore and seuen , what time spurius posthumus albinus , and quintus martius philippus , were consuls , nero made one , and the noble flaminius another ; but the greatest was founded by tarquinius priscus , and was called circus maximus : in this the gladiators practised , the widenesse and spaciousnesse was such , that in it they fought at barriers , and many times ran at tilt . dion records eighteene elephants slaine at once in one theater . more particularly to suruey the rarer monuments of rome , neere to the pantheon ( the temple of the roman gods ) at the discent from the hil capitolinus , lies the great forum , by which is scituate the great amphi-theater of tytus , first erected by vespatian , but after ( almost ruined by fire ) by the roman tytus rarely reëdified . it is called colliseus , also a cauea , which signifies a scaffold , also arena ▪ a place of combate , by siluianus and prudentius , which name tertullian , pliny , ouid , firmicus , and apuleins likewise giue it . it had the title of circus , caula and stadium , by suetonius , c●pitolinus and arcadius . cassianus affirmes these theaters consecrated to diana taurica , tertullian , to mars and diana , martiall to iupiter latiaris , and to stigian pluto , whose opinion minutius , & prudentius approue . the first structures were by the tribune curio , which dio , lib. 37. affirmes . vitruvius lib. 5. saith , multa theatra , rome structa quotannis . of iulius caesars amphi-theater camp● martio , dio cassius records , which augustus after patronizied , as vi●tor remembers of them , whose charge sta●ilius taurus assisted , of whom dio speaketh thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 &c. anno vrbis , dccxxv . pub. victor forgets not circus flaminij , and suetonius remembers one builded by caligul● , at septa , whose building claudius at first interdicted . nero erected a magnificent theater in the field of mars . suetonius lib. ner. 12. publius victor speakes further of a castrense theatrum , a theater belōging to the campe in the coūtry of the aesquiles , built by tiberius caesar , and of pompies theater pliny witnesseth . the great theater of statilius being in greatest vse , was burnt in the time of nero , which xiphilinus thus speakes of , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . this was built in the middest of the old citty , and after the combustion repaired by vespatian , consulatu suo 8. whose coyne of one side , beares the expresse figure of his theater , yet was it onely begun by him , but perfected by his sonne tytus : eutropius and cassiodorus , attribute this place soly to titus , but aurelius victor giues him onely the honour of the perfecting a place so exquisitely begun : this after was repaired by marcus anthonius pius , by whose cost sayth capitolinus , the temple of hadri●nus was repaired , and the great the●●er reëdified , which heliogabalus , by the testimony of lampridius , patronized , and after the senate of rome , tooke to their protection , vnder the gordians . touching theaters without rome , lypsius records theatra circa romani , extructa passim , euen in ierusalem , herodes magnifi●us & illustris rex non vno loco iudeae amphi-theatra aedificauit , extruxit in ips● vrbe sacra , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ( as iosephus saith ) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . herod a magnificent and illustrious king , not in one place of iudea , erected amphitheaters , but euen in the holy citty hee built one of greatest receit . also in greece , asia , affricke , spaine , france : nor is there any prouince in which their ancient structures do not yet remaine , or their perishing ruines are not still remembred . in italy , ad lyrim campaniae fluvium iuxta minturnas , remaines part of an ample amphi-theater . at puteolis , a city by the sea-side in campania , 8 miles from naples , one . at capua , a magnificent one of sollid marble . at alba in italy , one . at o●riculum in vmbria one . at verona , one most beautifull . at florens , one whose compasse yet remaines . at athens in greece , one of marble . at pola in istria , by the h●driaticke sea , one described by sebastian serlius . at hyspalis in spaine , one built without the walles of the in 〈◊〉 at 〈◊〉 one of squared stone , the length 3● . perches , or poles , the bredth 2● . at arelate one . at burdegall one . at nemaus one , remembred by euseb. in ecclesias●ica historia . at lygeris one . another among the heluetians . the ver●ne●se theatrum marmoreum , erected before the time of augustus , as torellus se●ayna in his descriptio● of ver●na , records : but cyrnicus an●onitanus reports it built in the nine and thirtieth yeare of octauian . carolus sigonius re●erres it to the reigne of maximinian , who saith , maximinian built theaters in medi●lanum aquilea , and brixium . the like cornelius tacitus 2. hist. remembers in placentia , but the descriptiō of the verona theater leuinus kersmakerus sets downe . this the great king francis anno 1539 gaue to certaine actors , who thirty dayes space together , represented in the same the acts of the apostles , nor was i● lawfull by the edi●t of the king for any man to remoue any stone within thirty poles of his scituation , lest they should endanger the foundation of the theater . the like haue been in venice , millan , padua . in paris ther● are diuers now in vse by the french kings comedians , as the burgonian , and others . others in massilia , in treuers , in magontia , in agripina , and infinite cities of greece , thebes , carthage , delphos , creet , paph●s , epyrus , also in the citie tydena , so at ciuil in spaine , and at madrill , with others . at the entertainement of the cardinall alphonsus , and the infant of spaine into the low-countryes , they were presented at antwerpe , with sundry pageants and playes : the king of denmark● , father to him that now reigneth , entertained into his seruice , a company of english comedians , commended vnto him by the honourable the earle of lei●ester : the duke of brounswicke , and the landsgraue of hesse● retaine in their courts certaine of ours , of the same quality . but among the romans they were in highest reputation : for in comparison of their playes , they neuer regarded any of their solemnities , there ludifunebres , there floralia , cerealia , fugalia , bachinalia ▪ or lup●rcalia . and amongst vs , one of our best english chroniclers records , that when edward the fourth would shew himselfe in publicke state to the view of the people , hee repaired to his palace at s. iohnes , where he accustomed to see the citty actors . and since then , that house by the princes free gift , hath belong●d to the office of the reuels , where our court playes haue beene in late daies yearely rehersed , perfected , and corrected before they come to the publike view of the prince and the nobility . ouid speaking of the tragicke muse , thus writes . venit & ingenti violenta tragedia passu , fronte com● tor●a palla iacebat humi laeua manus sceptrum late regale tenebat , lydius apta pedum vin●ta cothurnus habet . then came the tragicke muse with a proud pace , measuring her ●low strides with maiesticke grace . her long traine sweepes the earth , and she doth stand , with b●skin'd legge , rough brow , and sceptred hand . well knew the poet what estimation she was in with augustus , whē he describes her holding in her left hand a scepter . now to recite some famous actors that liued in the preceding ages : the first comediās were cincius & falis●us , the first tragedians were minutius , & prothonius . elius donatus in his preface to terence his andrea , saith that in that comedy lucius attilius , latinus prenestinus , and lucius ambiuius turpi● were actors : this comedy was dedicated to cibil , & such were called ludi megalenses , acted in the yeare that m. fuluius was edilis , & quintus minutius valerius , & m. glabrio were curules , which were coūsellers & chiefe officers in rom● , so called because they customably sate in chayres of iuory . the songs that were sung in this comedy were set by fl●ccus , the sonne of clodius . terence his eunuchus or second comedy was acted in the yeare l. posthumus , and l. cornelius were edil . curules , marcus valerius , & caius fannius consuls . the yeare from the building of rome 291. in his adelphi one protinus acted , & was highly applauded , in his h●●yra iulius seruius . cicero commends one rupilius a rare tragedian : i read of another called arossus , another called theocrines , who purchased him a great applause in the playes called terentini . there were other playes in rome , called actia and pythia , made in the honour of apollo , for killing the dragon python . in those one aesopus bare the praise , a man generally esteemed , who left behind him much substance , which clodius his sonne after possest . quae grauis aesopus , quae doctus rossius egit . labericus was an excellent poet , and a rare actor , who writ a booke of the gesture & action to be vsed by the tragedians and comedians in performance of euery part in his natiue humor . plautus himselfe was so inamored of the actors in his dayes , that hee published many excellent and exquisite comedies , yet extant . aristotle commends one theodoretes to be the best tragedian in his time . this in the presence of alexander personated achilles , which so delighted the emperour , that hee bestowed on him a pension of quinque mille drachmae , fiue thousand drachmaes , and euery thousand drachmaes are twenty nine pounds , three shillings , foure pence sterling . rossius , whom the eloquent orator , & excellent statesman of rome , marcus cicero , for his elegant pronuntiatiō & formall gesture called his iewell , had from the common tresury of the roman exchequer , a daily pention allowed him of so many sestertij as in our coine amount to 16 pound & a marke , or thereabouts , which yearely did arise to any noble mans reuenues . so great was the fame of this roscius , and so good his estimation , that learned cato made a question whether cicero could write better then roscius could speake and act , or rosoius speake and act better then cicero write . many times when they had any important orations , to be with an audible and loud voyce deliuered to the people , they imployed the tongue and memory of this excellent actor , to whom for his worth , the senate granted such large exhibition . — quae peruincere voces , eualuere sonum referunt quem nostra theatra , gorganum mugire putes n●mus aut mare thuscum , tanto cum strepitu ludi spect●atur & artes . what voyce can be compared with the sound , our theaters from their deepe concaues send , for their reuerberate murmures seeme to drownd the gorgan wood when the proud windes contend . or when rough stormes the thuscan billowes raise , with such loud ●oy they ring our arts and playes . to omit all the doctors , zawnyes , pantaloones , harlakeenes , in which the french , but especially the italians , haue beene excellent , and according to the occasion offered to do some right to our english actors , as knell , bently , mils , wilson , crosse , lanam , and others : these , since i neuer saw them , as being before my time , i cannot ( as an eye-witnesse of their desert ) giue them that applause , which no doubt , they worthily merit , yet by the report of many iuditial auditors , their performance of many parts haue been so absolute , that it were a kinde of sinne to drowne their worths in lethe , and not commit their ( almost forgotten ) names to eternity . heere i must needs remember tarleton , in his time gratious with the queene his soueraigne , and in the peoples generall applause , whom succeeded vvil. kemp , as wel in the fauour of her maiesty , as in the opinion & good thoughts of the generall audience . gabriel , singer , pope , phillips , sly , all the right i can do them , is but this , that though they be dead , their deserts yet liue in the remembrance of many . among so many dead let me not forget one yet aliue in his time the most worthy famous , maist●r edward allen. to omit these , as also such as for diuers imperfections , may be thought insufficient for the quality . actors should be men pick'd out personable , according to the parts they present , they should be rather schollers , that though they cānot speake well , know how to speake , or else to haue that volubility ▪ that they can speake well , though they vnderstand not what , & so both imperfections may by instructiōs be helped & amended : but where a good tongue & a good conceit both faile , there can neuer be good actor . i also could wish , that such as are cōdemned for their licentioufnesse , might by a generall consent bee quite excluded our society : for as we are men that stand in the broad eye of the world , so should our manners , gestures , and behauiours , sauour of such gouernment and modesty , to deserue the good thoughts and reports of all men , and to abide the sharpest censures euen of those that are the greatest opposites to the quality . many amongst vs , i know , to be of substance , of gouernment , of sober liues , and temperate carriages , house-keepers , and contributary to all duties enioyned them , equally with them that are rank't with the most bountifull ; and if amongst so many of sort , there be any few degenerate from the rest in that good demeanor , which is both requisite & expected at their hands , let me entreat you not to censure hardly of all for the misdeeds of some , but rather to excuse vs , as ouid doth the generality of women . parcite paucarum diffundere crimen in omnes , spectetur meritis quaeque puella suis. for some offenders ( that perhaps are few ) spare in your thoughts to censure all the crew , since euery breast containes a sundry spirit , let euery one be censur'd as they merit . others there are of whom should you aske my opinion , i must refer you to this , consule theatrum . here i might take fit opportunity to reckon vp all our english writers , & compare them with the greeke , french , italian , & latine poets , not only in their pastorall , historicall , elegeicall , & heroical● po●ms , but in their tragicall , & comical subiects , but it was my chance to happen on the like learnedly done by an approued good scholler , in a booke called wits comon-wealth , to which treatise i wholy referre you , returning to our present subiect . iulius caesar himselfe for his pleasure became an actor , being in shape , state , voyce , iudgement , and all other occurrents , exterior and interior excellent . amongst many other parts acted by him in person , it is recorded of him , that with generall applause in his owne theater he played hercules fure●s , and amongst many other arguments of his compleatnesse , excellence , and extraordinary care in his action , it is thus reported of him : being in the depth of a passion , one of his seruants ( as his part then fell out ) presenting lychas , who before had from deianeira brought him the poysoned shirt , dipt in the bloud of the centaure nessus : he in the middest of his torture and fury , finding this lychas hid in a remote corner ( appoynted him to creep into of purpose ) although he was , as our tragedians vse , but seemingly to kill him by some false imagined wound , yet was caesar so extremely carryed away with the violence of his practised fury , and by the perfect shape of the madnesse of hercules , to which he had fashioned all his actiue spirits , that he slew him dead at his foot , & after swoong him terque quaterque ( as the poet sayes ) about his head . it was the manner of their emperours , in those dayes , in their publicke tragedies to choose out the fittest amongst such , as for capital offences were condemned to dye , and imploy them in such parts as were to be kil'd in the tragedy , wh●● of themselues would make suit rather so to dye with resolution , and by the hands of such princely actors , then otherwise to suffer a shamefull & most detestable end . and these were tragedies naturally performed . and such caius caligula , claudius nero , vitellius , domitianus , cōmodus , & other emperours of rome , vpon their festiuals and holy daies of greatest consecration , vsed to act . therefore m. kid in the spanish tragedy , vpon occasion presenting it selfe , thus writes . why nero thought it no disparagement , and kings and emperours haue tane delight , to make experience of their wits in playes . these exercises , as traditions ▪ haue beene since ( though in better manner ) continued through all ages , amongst all the noblest nations of the earth . but i haue promised to be altogether compendious , presuming that what before is discourst , may for the practise of playes , their antiquity , and dignity be altogether sufficient . i omit the shewes and ceremonies euen in these times generally vsed amongst the catholikes , in which by the churchmen & 〈◊〉 religious , diuers pageants , as of the natiuity , passion , and ascention , with other historicall places of the bible , are at diuers times & seasons of the yeare vsually celebrated ; sed haec pre●er me . in the yeare of the world 4207. of christ 246. origin writ certaine godly epistles to philip ▪ then emperour of rome , who was the first christian emperour , and in his life i reade , that in the fourth yeare of his reigne , which was the 1000. yeare after the building of rome , he solemnized that yeare , as a iubilee with sumptuous pageants and playes . homer , the most excellent of all poets , composed his illiads in the shape of a tragedy , his odisseas like a comedy . virgil in the first of his aeneiads , in his description of didoes carthage . — hic alta theatris fundamenta locant alij immanesque columnas , rup●bus excidunt scenis decora alta futuris . which proues , that in those dayes immediatly after the ruine of troy , when carthage had her first foundation , they built theaters with stately columnes of stone , as in his description may appeare . i haue sufficiently discourst of the first theaters , and in whose times they were erected , euen till the reigne of iulius caesar , the first emperour , and how they continued in their glory from him till the reigne of marcus aurelius the 23 emperour , and from him euen to these times . now to proue they were in as high estimation at la●edemo● , and athens two the most famous citties of greece . cicero in his booke cato maior , seu de 〈◊〉 . cum athenis ludis quidam grandis natu in theat●●m venisset , &c. an ancient citizen comming into one of the athenian theaters to see the pastimes there solemnized ( which shewes that the most antient and graue frequented them ) by reason of the throng , no man gaue him place or reuerence : but the same citizen being implyo'd in an embassy to lacedemon , and coming like a priuate man into the theater , the generall multitude arose at once , and with great ceremonious reuerence gaue his age place . this cicero alledges to proue the reuerence due to age , and this i may ●itly introduce to the approbation of my present subiect . moreouer , this great statesman of rome , at whose exile twenty thousand of the chiefest roman citizens wore mourning apparrel , oftentimes commends plautus , calling him plautus noster , and atticorum antiqua comedia , where he proceeds further to extoll . aesopus , for personating aiax , and the famous actor rupilius , in epigonus , med●a , menalip , clytemnestra and a●tiopa , proceeding in the same place with this worthy & graue sentence , ergo histrio hoc videbi● in scena , quod non videbit sapiens in vita ? shall a tragedian see that in his scen● which a wise man cannot see in the course of his life ? so in another of his workes , amongst many instructions to his sonne marcus , he applauds turpio ambinius for his action , statius , neuius , and plautus for their writing . ouid in augustum . luminibusque tuis totus quibus vtitur orbis , scenica vidisti lusus adulteria . those eyes with which you all the world suruay , see in your theaters our actors play . augustus caesar , because he would haue some memory of his loue to those places of pastime , reared in rome two stately obelisci , or pyramides , one in iulius caesars temple in the field of mars , another in the great theater , called c●●cus maximus , built by flaminius : these were in height an hundred cubits a peece , in bredth foure cubits , they were first raised by king pheron in the temple of the sunne , and after remoued to rome by augustus : the occasion of their first composu●e was this : pheron for some great crime , committed by him in his youth against the gods , was by them strooke blinde , and so continued the space of ten yeares : but after by a reuelation in the citty bucis , it was told , that if he washt his eyes in the water of a woman that was chaste , and neuer adulterately touch't with any saue her husband , he should againe recouer his sight : the king first tride his wife , then many other of the most graue and best reputed matrons , but continued still in despaire , till at length hee met with one vertuous lady , by whose chastity his ●ight was restored ; whom ( hauing first commanded his queene and the rest to be consumed with fire ) he after married . pheron in memory of this , builded his two pyramides , after remoued to rome by avgvstvs . sanctaque maiestas & erat venerabile nomen ▪ vatibus — the end of the second booke . of actors , and the true vse of their quality . the third booke . tragedies and comedies , saith donatus , ●ad their beginning à rebus diuinis , from diuine sacrifices , they differ thus : in comedies , turbulenta prima , tranquilla vltima , in tragedyes , tranquilla prima , turbulenta vltima , comedies begin in trouble , and end in peace ; tragedies begin in calmes , and ●nd in tempest . of comedies there be three kindes , mouing comedies , called mot●riae , standing comedies , called statariae , or mixt betwixt both , called mistae : they are distributed into foure parts , the prologue , that is , the preface ; the protasis , that is , the proposition , which includes the first act , and presents the actors ; the epitasis , which is the businesse and body of the comedy ; the last the catastrophe , and conclusion : the deffinition of the comedy , according to the latins : a dicourse consisting of diuers institutions , comprehending ciuill and domesticke things , in which is taught , what in our liues and manners is to be followed , what to bee auoyded , the greekes define it thus : 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . cicer● saith , a comedy is the imitation of life , the glasse of custome , and the image of truth , in athens they had their first originall . the ancient comedians vsed to attire their actors thus : the old men in white , as the most ancient of all , the yong men in party-coloured garments , to note their diuersity of thoughts , their slaues and seruants in thin and bare vesture , either to note their pouerty , or that they might run the more lighter about their affaires : their parrasites wore robes that were turned in , and intricately wrapped about them ; the fortunate in white , the discontented in decayed vesture , or garments , growne out of fashion ; the rich in purple , the poore in crimson , souldiers wore purple iackets , hand-maids the habits of strange virgins , bawds , pide coates , and curtezans , garments of the colour of mud , to denote their couetousnesse : the stages were hung with rich arras , which was first brought from king attalus into rome : his state-hangings were so costly , that from him all tapestries , and rich arras were called attalia . this being a thing ancient as i haue proued it , next of dignity , as many arguments haue confirmed it , and now euen in these dayes by the best , without exception , fauourably tollerated , why should i yeeld my censure , grounded on such firme and establisht sufficiency , to any tower , founded on sand , any castle built in the aire , or any triuiall vpstart , and meere imaginary opinion . oderunt hilarem tristes tristemque iocosi . i hope there is no man of so vnsensible a spirit , that can inueigh against the true and direct vse of this quality : oh but say they , the romanes in their time , and some in these dayes haue abused it , and therefore we volly out our exclamations against the vse . oh shallow ! because such a man had his house burnt , we shall quite condemne the vse of fire , because one man quaft poyson , we must so ▪ beare to drinke , because some haue beene shipwrak't , no man shall hereafter trafficke by sea . then i may as well argue thus : he cut his finger , therefore must i weare no knife , vond man fell from his horse , therefore must i trauell a foot ; that man surfeited , therfore dare not i eate . what can appeare more absurd then such a grosse and sencelesse assertion ? i could turne this vnpoynted weapon against his breast that aimes it at mine , and reason thus : roscius had a large pension allowed him by the ●enate of rome , why should not an actor of the like desert , haue the like allowance now ? or this , the most famous city and nation in the world h●ld playes in great admiration : ergo , but it is a rule in logicke , exparticu●aribus nih●l fit . these are not the basses we must build vpon , nor the columnes that must support our architecture . et l●tro , & cautus , precingitur ense viator . ille sed insid● 〈◊〉 , ●ic ●ibi portat opem . both theeues and true-men , weapons weare alike ▪ th' one to defend , the other comes to strike . let vs vse fire to warme vs , not to scortch vs , to make ready our necessaries , not to burne our houses : let vs drinke to quench our thirst , not to surfet ; and eate to satisfie nature , not to gormondize . — comediarecta si mente legatur , constabit null● posse nocere — playes are in vse as they are vnderstood , spectators eyes may make them bad or good . shall we condemne a generallity for any one particular misconstruction ? giue me then leaue to argue thus : amongst kings haue there not beene some tyrants ? yet the office of a king is the image of the maiesty of god. amongst true subiects haue there not crept in some false traitors ? euen amongst the twelue there was one ●udas , but shall we for his fault , censure worse of the eleuen ? god forbid : art thou prince or peasant ? art thou of the nobility , or commonalty ? art thou merchant or souldier ? of the citty or country ? art thou preacher or auditor ? art thou tutor or pupill ? there haue beene of thy function bad and good , prophane and holy . i induce these instances to confirme this common argument , that the vse of any generall thing is not for any one particular abuse to be condemned : for if that assertion stood firme , wee should run into many notable inconueniences . qui locus est templi● angustior hau● quoque vitet , in culpam si qua est ingeniosa sua● . to proceed to the matter : first , playing is an ornament to the citty , which strangers of all nations , repairing hither , report of in their countries , beholding them here with some admiration : for what variety of entertainment can there be in any citty of christendome , more then in london ? but some will say , this dish might be very well spared out of the banquet : to him i answere , diogenes ▪ that vsed too seede on rootes , cannot relish a march-pane . secondly , our english tongue , which hath ben the most harsh , vneuen , and broken language of the world , part dutch , part irish , saxon , scotch , welsh , and indeed a gallimaffry of many , but perfect in none , is now by this secondary meanes of playing , continually refined , euery writer striuing in himselfe to adde a new florish vnto it ; so that in processe , from the most rude and vnpolisht tongue , it is growne to a most perfect and composed language , and many excellent workers , and elaborate poems writ in the same , that many nations grow inamored of our tongue ( before despised . ) neither saphicke , ionicke , iambicke , phaleuticke , adonicke , gliconicke , hexamiter , t●tramitrer , pentamiter , asclepediacke , choriambicke , nor any other measured verse vsed amongst the greekes , latins , italians ▪ french , dutch , or spanish writers , but may be exprest in english , be it in blanke verse , or meeter , in distichon , or hexastichon , or in what forme or feet , or what number you can desire . thus you see to what excellency our refined english is brought , that in these daies we are ashamed of that euphony & eloquence which within these 60 yeares , the best tongues in the land were proud to pronounce . thirdly , playes haue made the ignorant more apprehensiue , taught the vnlearned the knowledge of many famous histories , instructed such as cānot reade in the discouery of all our english chronicles : & what man haue you now of that weake capacity , that cannot discourse of any notable thing recorded euen from william the conquerour , nay from the landing of brute , vntill this day , beeing possest of their true vse , for , or because playes are writ with this ayme , and carryed with this methode , to teach the subiects obedience to their king , to shew the people the vntimely ends of such as haue moued tumults , commotions , and insurrections , to present thē with the flourishing estate of such as liue in obedience , exhorting them to allegeance , dehorting them from all trayterous and fellonious stratagems . omne genus scripti grauitate tragedia vin●it . if we present a tragedy , we include the fatall and abortiue ends of such as commit notorious murders , which is aggrauated and acted with all the art that may be , to terrifie men from the like abhorred practises . if wee present a forreigne history , the subiect is so intended , that in the liues of romans , grecians , or others , either the vertues of our country-men are extolled , or their vices reproued , as thus , by the example of caesar to stir souldiers to valour , & magnanimity : by the fall of pompey , that no man trust in his owne strength : we present alexander , killing his friend in his rage , to reproue rashnesse : mydas , choked with his gold , to taxe couetousnesse : nero against tyranny : sardanapalus , against luxury : nynus , against ambition , with infinite others , by sundry instances , either animating men to noble attempts , or attaching the consciences of the spectators , finding themselues toucht in presenting the vices of others . if a morall , it is to perswade men to humanity and good life , to instruct them in ciuility and good manners , shewing them the fruits of honesty , and the end of villany . versibus exponi tragicis res comica non vult . againe , horace , arte poëtica . et nostri proavi plautinos & numeros et laudavere sales — if a comedy , it is pleasantly contriued with merry accidents , and intermixt with apt and witty iests , to present before the prince at certain times of solemnity , or else merily fitted to the stage . and what is then the subiect of this harmelesse mirth ? either in the shape of a clowne , to shew others their slouenly and vnhansome behauiour , that they may reforme that simplicity in themselues , which others make their sport , lest they happen to become the like subiect of generall scorne to an auditory , else it intreates of loue , deriding foolish inamorates , who spend their ages , their spirits , nay themselues , in the seruile and ridiculous imployments of their mistresses : and these are mingled with sportfull accidents , to recreate such as of themselues are wholly deuoted to melancholly , which corrupts the bloud : or to refresh such weary spirits as are tired with labour , or study , to moderate the cares and heauinesse of the minde , that they may returne to their trades and faculties with more zeale and earnestnesse , after some small soft and pleasant retirement . sometimes they discourse of pantaloones , vsurers that haue vnthrifty sonnes , which both the fathers and sonnes may behold to their instructions : sometimes of curtesans , to diuulge their subtelties and snares , in which yong men may be intangled , shewing them the meanes to auoyd them . if we present a pastorall , we shew the harmelesse loue of sheepheards diuersly moralized , distinguishing betwixt the craft of the citty , and the innocency of the sheep-coat . briefly , there is neither tragedy , history , comedy , morral or pastorall , from which an infinite vse cannot be gathered . i speake not in the defence of any lasciuious shewes , scurrelous ieasts , or scandalous inuectiues : if there be any such , i banish them quite from my patronage ; yet horace , sermon 1. satyr 4. thus writes . eupolis atque cratinus aristophanesque poetae , atque alij quorum comaedia prisca virorum est : si quis erat dignus describi , quod malus , aut fur , quod maechus foret , aut sicarius , aut alioqui , famosus , multa cum libertate notabunt . eupolis , cratinus , aristophanes , and other comike poets in ●he time of horace , with large scope , and vnbridled liberty boldly and plainly scourged all such abuses as in their ages were generally practised , to the staining and blemishing of a faire and beautifull common-weale . likewise , a learned gentleman in his apology for poetry , speakes thus : tragedies well handled be a most w●rthy kinde of poesie . comedies make men see and shame at their faults , and proceeding further amongst other vniuersity-playes , he remembers the tragedy of richard the third , acted in saint iohns in cambridge , so essentially , that had the tyrant phaleris●eheld ●eheld his bloudy proceedings , it had mollified his heart , and made him relent at sight of his inhumane massacres . further , he commends of comedies , the cambridge pedantius , and the oxford bellum grammaticale ; and leauing them passes on to our publicke playes , speaking liberally in their praise , and what commendable vse may bee gathered of them . if you peruse margarita poëtica , you may see what excellent vses and sentences he hath gathered out of t●rence his andrea , euenuchus , and the rest . likewise out of pl●utus his amphi●rio , asinaria , and moreouer , ex comaedijs philodoxis , caroli acret●ni : defalsa hip●●rita , & tristi mer●urij , ronsij versellensis : ex comaedia philanira vgolini parmensis , all reuerend schollers , and comicke poets , reade el●e the 4 tragedies , philunica , petrus , aman , katherina , cla●dij r●iletti beluensis : but i should tire my selfe to reckon the names of all french , roman , german , spanish , italian , and english poets , being in number infinite , and their labours extant to approue their worthinesse . is thy minde noble ? and wouldst thou be further stir'd vp to magnanimity ? behold , vpon the stage thou maist see hercules , achilles , alexander , caesar , alcib●ades , lys●nder , sertorius , haniball , antigonus , phillip of ma●ed 〈◊〉 , methridates of pontus , pyrrhus of epir● , age●laus among the lacedemonians , epaminond●s , amongst the th●hans : sceuola alone entring the armed tents of porsenna : horatius cho●●es alone withstanding the whole army of the he●rurian ▪ leonides of sparta , choosing a lyon to leade a band of dee●● , rather then one deere to conduct an army of lyons , with infinite others in their owne persons qualities , & shapes , animating thee with courage , deterring thee frō cowardise . hast thou of thy country well deserued ? and art thou of thy labour euill requited ? to associate thee thou mayest see the valiant roman marcellus pursue hannibal at nola , conquering syracusa , vanquishing the gauls , all padua , and presently ( for his reward ) banisht his country into greece . there thou mayest see scipio affricanus , now triumphing for the conquest of all affrica , and immediatly exil'd the confines of romania . art thou inclined to lust ? behold the falles of the tarquins , in the rape of lucrece : the guerdon of luxury in the death of sardanapalus : appius destroyed in the rauishing of virginia , and the destruction of troy in the lust of helena . art thou proud ? our scene presents thee with the fall of phaeton , narcissus pining in the loue of his shadow , ambitious hamon , now calling himselfe a god , and by and by thrust headlong among the diuels . we present men with the vglinesse of their vices , to make them the more to abhorre them , as the persians vse , who aboue all sinnes , loathing drunkennesse , accustomed in their solemne feasts , to make their seruants and captiues extremely ouercome with wine , and then call their children to view their nasty and lothsome behauiour , making them hate that sin in themselues , which shewed so grosse and abhominable in others . the like vse may be gathered of the drunkards so naturally imitated in our playes , to the applause of the actor , content of the auditory , and reprouing of the vice . art thou couetous ? go no further then plautus his comedy called euclio . dum fallax servus , durus pater , improba lena vixerit , & meretrixblanda , menandros erit . while ther 's false seruant , or obdurate sire , sly baud , smooth whore , menandros wee 'l admire . to end in a word . art thou addicted to prodigallity ? enuy ? cruelty ? periury ? flattery ? or rage ? our scenes affoord thee store of men to shape your liues by , who be frugall , louing , gentle , trusty , without soothing , and in all things temperate . wouldst thou be honourable ? iust , friendly , moderate , deuout , mercifull , and louing concord ? thou mayest see many of their fates and ruines , who haue beene dishonourable , iniust , ●alse , gluttenous , sacrilegious , bloudy-minded , and brochers of dissention . women likewise that are chaste , are by vs extolled , and encouraged in their vertues , being instanced by diana , belphebe , matilda , lucrece and the countesse of salisbury . the vnchaste are by vs shewed their errors , in the persons of phrin● , lais , ●hais , flora : and amongst vs , rosamond , and mistresse shore . what can sooner print modesty in the soules of the wanton , then by discouering vnto them the monstrousnesse of their sin ? it followes that we proue these exercises to haue bee●e the discouerers of many notorious murders , long concealed from the eyes of the world . to omit all farre-fetcht instances , we wil proue it by a domestike , and home-borne truth , which within these few yeares happened . at lin in norfolke , the then earle of sussex players acting the old history of fryer francis , & presenting a woman , who insatiately doting on a yong gentleman , had ( the more securely to enioy his affection ) mischieuously and seceretly murdered her husband , whose ghost haunted her , and at diuers times in her most solitary and priuate contemplations , in most horrid and fearefull shapes , appeared , and stood before her . as this was acted , a townes-woman ( till then of good estimation and report ) finding her conscience ( at this presenment ) extremely troubled , suddenly skritched and cryd out oh my husband , my husband ! i see the ghost of my husband fiercely threatning and menacing me . at which shrill and vexpected out-cry , the people about her , moou'd to a strange amazement , inquired the reason of her clamour , when presently vn-urged , she told them , that seuen yeares ago , she , to be possest of such a gentleman ( meaning him ) had poysoned her husband , whose fearefull image personated it selfe in the shape of that ghost : whereupon the murdresse was apprehended , before the iustices further examined , & by her voluntary confession after condemned . that this is true , as well by the report of the actors as the records of the towne , there are many eye-witnesses of this accident yet liuing , vocally to confirme it . as strange an accident happened to a company of the same quality some 12 yeares ago ▪ or not so much , who playing late in the night at a place called perin in cornwall , certaine spaniards were landed the same night vnsuspected , and vndiscouered , with intent to take in the towne , spoyle and burne it , when suddenly , euen vpon their entrance , the players ( ignorant as the townes-men of any such attempt ) presenting a battle on the stage with their drum and trumpets strooke vp a lowd alarme : which the enemy hearing , and fearing they were discouered , amazedly retired , made some few idle shot in a brauado , and so in a hurly-burly fled disorderly to their boats . at the report of this tumult , the townes-men were immediatly armed , and pursued them to the sea , praysing god for their happy deliuerance from so great a danger , who by his prouidence made these strangers the instrument and secondary meanes of their escape from such imminent mischife , and the tyranny of so remorcelesse an enemy . another of the like wonder happened at amsterdam in holland , a company of our english comedians ( well knowne ) trauelling those countryes , as they were before the burgers and other the chiefe inhabitants , acting the last part of the 4 sons of aymon , towards the last act of the history , where penitent r●naldo ▪ like a common labourer , liued in disguise , vowing as his last pennance , to labour & carry burdens to the structure of a goodly church there to be erected : whose diligence the labourers enuying , since by-reason of his stature and strength , hee did vsually perfect more worke in a day , then a dozen of the best , ( hee working for his conscience , they for their lucres . ) whereupon by reason his industry had so much disparaged their liuing , conspired amongst themselues to kill him , waiting some opportunity to finde him asleepe , which they might easily doe , since the forest labourers are the soundest sleepers , and industry is the best preparatiue to rest . hauing spy'd their opportunity , they draue a naile into his temples , of which wou●d immediatly he dyed . as the actors handled this , the audience might on a sodaine vnderstand an out-cry , and loud shrike in a remote gallery , and pressing about the place , they might perceiue a woman of great grauity , strangely amazed , who with a distracted & troubled braine oft sighed out these words : oh my husband , my husband ! the play , without further interruption , proceeded ; the woman was to her owne house conducted , without any apparant suspition , euery one coniecturing as their fancies led them . in this agony she some few dayes languished , and on a time , as certaine of her well disposed neighbours came to comfort her , one amongst the rest being church-warden , to him the sexton posts , to tell him of a strange thing happening him in the ripping vp of a graue : see here ( quoth he ) what i haue found , and shewes them a faire skull , with a great nayle pierst quite through the braine-pan , but we cannot coniecture to whom it should belong , nor how long it hath laine in the earth , the graue being confused , and the flesh consumed . at the report of this accident , the woman , out of the trouble of her afflicted conscience , discouered a former murder . for 12 yeares ago , by driuing that nayle into that skull , being the head of her husband , she had trecherously slaine him . this being publickly confest , she was arraigned , condemned , adiudged , and burned . but i draw my subiect to greater length then i purposed : these therefore out of other infinites , i haue collected , both for their familiarnesse and latenesse of memory . thus our antiquity we haue brought from the gr●cian● in the time of hercules : from the maced●nians in the age of alexand●r : from the romans long before iulius caesar , and since him , through the reigns of 23 emperours succeeding , euen to marcus aurelius : after him they were supported by the mantuans , venetians , val●ncians , neopolitans , the florentines , and others : since , by the german princes , the palsgraue , the landsgraue , the dukes of saxony , of brounswicke , &c. the cardinall at bruxels , hath at this time in pay , a company of our english comedians . the french king allowes certaine companies in paris , orleans , besides other cities : so doth the king of spaine , in ciuill , madrill , and other prouinces . but in no country they are of that eminence that ours are : so our most royall , and euer renouned soueraigne , hath licenced vs in london : so did his predecessor , the thrice vertuous virgin , queene elizabeth , and before her , her sister , queene mary , edward the sixth , and their father , henry the eighth : and before these in the tenth yeare of the reigne of edward the fourth , anno 1490. iohn stowe , an ancient and graue chronicler , records ( amongst other varieties tending to the like effect ) that a play was acted at a place called skinners well , fast by clerken-well , which continued eight dayes , and was of matter from adam and eue , ( the first creation of the world . ) the spectators were no worse then the royalty of england . and amongst other commendable exercises in this place , the company of the skinners of london held c●●taine yearely solemne playes . in place wherof , now in these latter daies , the wrastling , and such other pastimes haue been kept , and is still held about bartholmew-tide . also in the yeare 1390. the 14 yeare of the reigne of richard the second , the 18. of iuly , were the like enterludes recorded of at the same place , which continued 3 dayes together , the king and queene , and nobility being there present . moreouer , to this day , in diuers places of england , there be townes that hold the priuiledge of their faires , and other charters by yearely stage-playes , as at manni●gtree in suffolke , kendall in the north , & others . to let these passe , as things familiarly knowne to all men . now to speake of some abuse lately crept into the quality , as an inueighing against the state , the court , the law , the citty , and their gouernements , with the particularizing of priuate mens humors ( yet aliue ) noble-men , & others . i know it distastes many ; neither do i any way approue it , nor dare i by any meanes excuse it . the liberty which some arrogate to themselues , committing their bitternesse , and liberall inuectiues against all estates , to the mouthes of children , supposing their iuniority to be a priuiledge for any rayling , be it neuer so violent , i could aduise all such , to curbe and limit this presumed liberty within the bands of discretion and gouernment . but wise and iuditial censurers , before whom such complaints shall at any time hereafter come , wil not ( i hope ) impute these abuses to any transgression in vs , who haue euer been carefull and prouident to shun the like . i surcease to prosecute this any further , lest my good meaning be ( by some ) misconstrued : and fearing likewise , lest with tediousnesse i tire the patience of the fauourable reader , heere ( though abruptly ) i conclude my third and last treatise . 〈…〉 to my approued good friend , mr. nicholas okes. the infinite faults escaped in my booke of britaines troy , by the negligence of the printer , as the misquotations , mistaking of sillables , misplacing halfe lines , coining of strāge and neuer heard of words . these being without number , when i would haue taken a particular account of the errata , the printer answered me , hee would not publish his owne disworkemanship , but rather let his owne fault lye vpon the necke of the author : and being fearefull that others of his quality , had beene of the same nature , and condition , and finding you on the contrary , so carefull , and industrious , so serious and laborious to doe the author all the rights of the presse , i could not choose but gratulate your honest indeauours with this short remembrance . here likewise , i must necessarily insert a manifest iniury done me in that worke , by taking the two epistles of paris to helen , and helen to paris , and printing them in a lesse volume , vnder the name of another , which may put the world in opinion i might steale them from him ; and hee to doe himselfe right , hath since published them in his owne name : but as i must acknowledge my lines not worthy his patronage , vnder whom he hath publisht them , so the author i know much offended with m. iaggard ( that altogether vnknowne to him ) presumed to make so bold with his name . these , and the like dishonesties i know you to bee cleere of ; and i could wish but to bee the happy author of so worthy a worke as i could willingly commit to your care and workmanship . yours euer thomas heyvvood . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a03185-e570 a hypocrita propriè personatum histrionem denotat . notes for div a03185-e1020 vid. page ● notes for div a03185-e2820 so compared by the fathers . no theater , ●o world . notes for div a03185-e3200 de arte amandi . 1. imperante augusto , natus est christus . imperante tiberio crucifixus . notes for div a03185-e5780 〈…〉 poltd . virgil. 〈…〉 alex. metapol . theaters . ammianus , lib. 29. pliny . lib. 36. dio cassius lib. 43. dio. lib. 51 su●tonius cap 21. ta●itus lib. 13. a mal●um . pliny , lib. 36. cap. 15. sicon . 〈◊〉 . hist. occide● . archduke alphonsus . stowe . cincius , faliscus , minutius . prothonius . l. attilius . latinus . prenestinu● . lucius . ambiuius turpi● . flaccus . protinus . l. seruius . offic. 1. rupilius . arossus . theocrines . aesopus . labericus . theodorete● . notes for div a03185-e11210 vse of tragedies . vse of historicall playes . vse of morals . vse of comedyes . vse of pastorals . a strange accident happening at a play . a strange accident happening at a play . a strange accident happening at a play . cardinall al●onsus . times kept tide . a defence of dramatick poetry being a review of mr. collier's view of the immorality and profaneness of the stage. 1698 approx. 154 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 64 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-05 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a41298 wing f905 estc r16098 11851092 ocm 11851092 49930 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a41298) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 49930) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 29:3) a defence of dramatick poetry being a review of mr. collier's view of the immorality and profaneness of the stage. filmer, edward, b. ca. 1657. settle, elkanah, 1648-1724. rymer, thomas, 1641-1713. vanbrugh, john, sir, 1664-1726. [8], 118 p. printed for eliz. whitlock ..., london : 1698. half title: a review of mr. collier. variously ascribed to edward filmer, elkanah settle, thomas rymer, and sir john vanbrugh. reproduction of original in bodleian library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng collier, jeremy, 1650-1726. -short view of the immorality and profaneness of the english stage. theater -moral and ethical aspects. theater -england. 2002-12 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-01 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2003-02 rina kor sampled and proofread 2003-02 rina kor text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a defence of dramatick poetry : being a review of mr. collier's view of the immorality and profaneness of the stage . london : printed for eliz. whitlock , near stationer's hall. 1698. preface . the popular reception of mr. collier's celebrated piece , has built him no small reputation : but it had been an infinite higher glory , both to the book and the author , had the argument been taken up in his pulpit-reign . then he would have convinced the world that he put pen to paper in the spirit of zeal and piety , and not left himself open to that untoward suspicion , viz. that all this labour'd pile of stage-reformation is only the product of idleness and abdication . he takes up the whip for the play-house , as dionysius the tyrant did the school-birch , when be had lost the scepter . 't is true , wit and learning ( to do him all just right ) shine through the whole piece ; but when the poorest ingenii largitor gives birth to the minerva , she looks not quite so lovely , as when she has a more honourable parent . besides , there 's another very strong reason why an invective against the stage , was no earlier ofspring of this ingenious author . alas , 't was no subject for mr. collier's smiling days . the theatre was then too much the minion of his old great master and mistress ; and mr. collier , we all very well know , was more the courtier , under the blessings of that warm sun , then to rally either this or any other darling of power . but as much ingenuity as this treatise may boast , it has as much of the gall too : but where the satyr falls heaviest , will be no improper inquiry . ' i is true , the lash seems wholly designed against the theatres : but if the sufferance be so fatally destructive to morality , virtue , nay religion it self , as that treatise endeavours to render it , mr. collier has more satyriz'd the pulpit than the stage : for whilst 't is undeniably true , that mr. collier's is the first , either pulpit or press-sermon , upon that text ; this universal silence of the whole clergy , must conclude either their ignorance of such a fatality , when mr. collier is the first discoverer , or what 's worse , their neglect of their christian duty , when mr. collier is the first corrector , &c. but if none of all this capital guilt-shall be proved upon the play-house ; and the influences of the stage shall have no such mortal malignity , as this author threatens from it ; then the satyr lies nearer home , and only lashes himself . from lincolns-inn , may 26 , 1698. the ingenious mr. collier in calling his learned treatise , a short view of the immorality and profaneness of the english stage , &c. has not given it a title that fully reaches the subject , and the great design of that laborious piece of oratory : for in his whole discourse , which he divides into six chapters ; in the first he confronts the present stage , by setting forth the general innocence and modesty of the ancient greek and latin dramatick poetry ; and in the four next chapters de descends to a view of the english theatres , where he seats himself down , and very magisterially sits censor and judge upon several particular dramatick offenders and offences , in some , and only some , of our late plays . hitherto , the title page seems to carry the contents of the book , as if his present work in hand were only a christian correction of abuses and corruption , viz. profaneness and immorality crept into the stage . but in his last chapter , he plainly tells us , his design is not reformation , but eradication : for here he throws by the pruning hook , and takes up the axe . in due prevention therefore against so dangerous a weapon , in so angry a hand , we 'll endeavour first to guard the root ; and afterwards we 'll joyn with him , and give him free leave to lop off as many of the luxurious branches , as shall not be found worth saving . to begin therefore with some examination of that last chapter , which he entitles , the opinion of paganism , of the church , and state , concerning the stage , here likewise we 'll set out first from home , viz. in the opinion of the english state , &c. here , says our author , i shall come down to our own constitution , and i find by 39th of eliz. chap. 4. and 1 iac. chap. 7th . that all common players of interludes , counterfeit egyptians , &c. shall be taken adjudged and deem'd rogues , uagabonds , and sturdy beggars , and shall sustain all pains and punishments , as by this act is in that behalf appointed . the penalties are infamous to the last degree , and capital too , unless they give over . 't is true , the first act , viz. 39th of eliz. excepts those players which belong to a baron or other person of higher degree , and are authorized to play under the hand and seal of arms of such baron or personage . but in the latter statute this privilege of licensing is taken away , and all of them are expresly brought under the penalty without distinction . 't is true in this last act , as he says , the barons privilege of licensing players was taken away ; but this author , that reads no farther than what wright or wrong serves his own turn , and quotes authority but by halves , forgets that that act of the ist. of iac. was but a temporary act , to hold in force but that sessions of parliament . but this small trip we 'll forgive him . but for a little more light into this 39th . of eliz. by way of context to explain the cause . the clause against players begins thus . be it enacted that all persons calling themselves scholars , going about begging ; all seafaring men , pretending losses of their ships or goods on the sea , going about the country begging ; all idle persons going about in any country , either begging or using any subtle craft , or unlawful games or plays , or feigning themselves to have knowledge in physiognomy , palmistry , or other like crafty science , or such like fantastical imaginations : all persons that be , or utter themselves to be proctors , procurors , patent-gatherers , collectors for goals , prisons or hospitals , &c. this law , 't is plain , is particularly level'd against a sort of people that have no settled habitation , rovers up and down the country , and therefore called vagabonds . but what 's all this to the establishment of our publick theatres ? besides , why are all offenders in this act thus stigmatiz'd and punish'd as rouges , but for the practising frauds and cheats upon the people ? nay , this act chiefly strikes not at the professions of the offenders here mention'd , but the abuse or corruption of them , as in the scholar , seaman , proctor , procuror , patent-gatherer or collector , as well those as are really so , as those that utter themselves such . the mendicant scholar , for instance , as a scandal to learning , the universities , nay , perhaps the church it self ; the seaman as an impostor , viz. with his pretended losses ; the proctor as a fomentor of litigious suits among the people , &c. the patent-gatherer under the mask of publick charity , collecting the mony into his own pocket , not only to the abuse of the country , but to the very scandal of the government , when the most pious royal acts of grace shall be thus fraudulently perverted , to the carrying on so notorious a cheat : and therefore the patent-gatherer or collector unlicens'd was thus branded , &c. and undobtedly 't was much upon the same scandalous account , that the unlicens'd players of interludes are here herded among all those rascally companions : for why should not the government , with all reason , surmize an equal danger to the publick , from such unqualify'd players , and accordingly provide against them , as being persons who under no warrant of authority , nor honourable patron to vouch for their integrity , might be as justly suspected of roguery , cheating or pilfering , as any other of their brethren in iniquity , mention'd in the act ? nor can this particular brand upon the offenders , here mentioned , bear any shadow of construction to asperse , taint or scandalize , the profession of playing it self , and the publick theatres supported by royal patents , &c. any more than the same brand upon the scholar , the proctor , the collector , &c. under the formentioned corruption , should be interpreted a reflection upon religion , law , learning or charity . nor are his majesty's servants , the present authorized actors , any more concerned at the common mistaken cry of fools from starting this statute against them ; than any honest reader of the ingenious mr. collier , with a talent of common sense , ought to be convinced , that this opinion of the state concerning the stage , here quoted , makes any thing for his cause . about the year 1580. there was a petition made to queen elizabeth for suppressing of play-houses . 't is somewhat remarkable , and therfore i shall describe some part of the relation . many godly citizens , and other well disposed gentlemen of london , considering that play-houses , and dicing-houses , were traps for young gentlemen and others , and perceiving the many inconveniencies and great damage that would ensue upon the long-suffering of the same , not only to particular persons , but to the whole city ; and that it would be a great disparagement to the governours , and a dishonour to the government of this honourable city , if they should any longer continue , acquainted some pious magistrates therewith , desiring them to take some course for the suppression of common play-houses , dicing-houses , &c. within the city of london and liberties thereof , who thereupon made humble suit to queen elizabeth , and her privy-council , and obtain'd leave of her majesty to thrust the players out of the city , and to pull down all play-houses and dicing-houses within their liberties ; which accordingly was effected . and the play-houses in grace-church-street , &c. were quite put down and suppress'd . rawlidge his monster lately found out , &c. p. 2 , 3 , 4. the name of this author that mr. collier has here quoted , being utterly a stranger to all the great scholars in title-page learning through st. paul's church-yard or little britain , i am sorry i am so much in the dark , that neither stow , baker , cambden , nor holinshed , make any mention of this revolution in or about the year 1580 , viz. this abdication of the publick play-houses by queen elizbeth ; however not to dispute the veracity of an affirmative in verbo sacerdotis , but take it as an orthodox record , i cannot but stand a little amaz'd to think what wondrous state-opinion he has here discover'd . first , 't is here observable that the foremention'd grievances alleged against play-houses , were so far from a publick censur of the state , that they were only a private complaint of some godly citizens , &c. who therewith acquainted some magistrates , ( the magistrates themselves were not the first complainants . ) the foundation of , and arguments against this grievance , was only on the score of inconvenience and damage , that their continuance and sufferance on that account would be a dishonour to the government of the city , not of the state nor church : for her were no suggestions either of immorality , lewdness , corruption of manners or vanity , or any religious charge against them , as godly men as the complainants are here presented ; whilst on the contrary the whole accusation against them , and the whole godly fear was founded expresly on no other danger , then the entrapping the youth of the city , whether gentle or simple , whether gentlemens sons or citizens pretences or servants , undoubtedly to the squandering away their parents or masters money ; and therefore , if too long suffer'd , a publick inconvenience or damage would ensue to the whole city . hereupon these complainants petition'd the magistracy , and the magistracy the queen ; and her gracious royal grant was this , that that eye-sore , a play-house in grace-church-street , in the heart of the metropolis , should be supprest , and the players thrust out of the city of london , and possibly banish'd as far as to westminster . and what makes the whole grievance ( without ralleay ) very remarkable , here are play-houses and dicing-houses , both joyn'd in one sentence of city excommunication , the dicing-houses of the two , so much the more dangerous inhabitants within the walls , that the youth of the city , viz. sons , servants , prentices or cash-keepers , from so fatal a temptation and snare , might be truly trapt into the loss of those extravagant sums , perhaps purloin'd or embezell'd from parents or masters , to a very dangerous consequene to the whole city indeed ; whilst on the other side , the small figure , the low-priz'd play-houses made in those days , rendred them so little threatners of any such capital danger ; that both dice-house and play-house are here sentenced to banishment together , the one for suspicion of robbery , and the other of petty larceny . now these two authorities being all he says upon that head , viz. the opinion of the state concerning the stage , i have quoted them verbatim at full length , that the reader may guess the strength of this learned argumentator , by this first sample we have given of him . ex pede herculem . but to match him with an opinion of the state concerning the stage , out of stow's chronicle , anno 1583. not above three years after the said abidication . stow 23d eliz. comedians and stage-players of former time , were very poor and ignorant in respect of these in this time ; but being now grown very skilful and exquisite actors for all matters , they were entertain'd into the service of divers great lords , out of which companies there were twelve of the best chosen , at the request of sir francis walsingham , they were sworn the queens servants , and were allow'd wages , and livery 's , as grooms of the chamber , and until that year 1583 , the queen had no players . amongst those twelve players were two rare men , viz. thomas wilson for a quick , delicate , refin'd extemporal wit , and richard tareletion , for a wonderous plentiful , pleasant , extemporal wit. he was the wonder of his time. he lyeth buried in shoreditch . now from this authority of mr. stow , which we may venture to call authentick , it looks a little odly , that this chronicle should take such particular notice of the exalted court favours , that smiled upon these darling of the stage , and be so silent upon the calamity of the other excluded city members of the same fraternity . methinks the pulling down of houses , and banishing the whole publick city-diversion , but just three years before , shou'd have made as loud an alarum at this court preserment to their younger brothers , and certainly deserved as large a page in this history , at least for the queen's honour : for it looks like a little piece of injustice to that glorious memory , to let any part of publick reformation , such as the suppression of vice , as dice-houses and play-houses , ( and such our author here designs it ) perform'd by that illustrious princess , lye untransmitted to posterity . but when play-houses and dice-houses are so suspiciously joyn'd together by this unknown author , what if these play-houses should prove but gaming-houses at last ? is looks very shrewdly that way , all circumstances consider'd . but this i only surmize ; besides , it looks like misdoubting the ingenious mr. collier's testimony , and so i 'll rather give him his point . however , as i am ready to do him justice as to his quotations , i hope he will do the like by mine , and allow me at least this triumph to the stage , that the pious queen had a better opinion of players than mr. collier's godly citizens , when she did them the honour of entertaining them as her menials in her livery , and under her own roof . but perhaps that princess design'd to make a reformation in the stage , as well as the church ; and therefore was resolv'd to redeem the stage-players from their original state of infamy and slavery , quoted pag. 241. where he tells you , that the romans refused the jus civitatis to players , seiz'd their freedom , and made them perfectly foreign to the govenment , which st. augustine was pleas'd to commend 'em for . and afterwards page 256. the whole tribe of them was thrown out of all honour and privilege . they were neither suffer'd to be lords nor gentlemen . now notwithstanding not only all these pagan blots in their scutcheon , but even the very theodostan code , that page 241. calls them personae inhonestae ; belike this gracious queen was pleased to give them that gentler treatment , under her english , them they had found either from the civil or heathen laws ; and at least advanc'd them to tread very near the heels of gentlemen , under such royal smiles , and the kind court reception she gave them . but methinks this ingenious quoter of history need not have look'd so far back as to 1580. or queen elizabeths 39. or iac. 1st . for a national opinion of the stage : here was a modern one of much fresher memory , and more pat to his purpose , when the stage-plays lay under a more universal abdication , viz. in the reign of those later powers at the helm , who with no little activity leap'd over the block , and the whole white-hall stage it stood upon , and yet stumbled at the straw . &c. a profane comedy or tragedy , were all heathen and antichristian , but pious regicide and rebellion , were religion and sanctity with them . the camel would go down , but the gnat stuck in their throats . now this learned gentleman ought by all means to have quoted this national opinion of the stage , as not only an argument much more to his cause , but a relation that in pure gratitude to the patrons of his book , ought not to have been omitted . for as this author's view of the stage is that more than ordinary darling to the gentlemen of that kidney , he cou'd in honour and justice do no less than tickle 'em with their own memoirs . nay as the whole society of the gentlemen of the calves-head feast , have made this book their particular bosom favourite , it would be prudent in the author , ( and perhaps the book was compos'd and calculated for that purpose ) to harangue so considerable a party ; for 't is a hard world we live in , and the gaining of good friends may be serviceable . from these , next let us see how the stage stands discouraged by the laws of other countries , as he has alrady shew'd you how it stands in our own . to begin with the athenians . these people plutarch tells you , thought a comedy so unreputable a performance , that they made a law , that no iudge of the areopagus should write one . this learned gentleman is resolved to make his foreign state-authority against the stage and his english one all of a piece . for methinks this athenian law , that only prohibited the gravity of a judge from writing a comedy , recorded by mr. collier in monumental black and white , as the athenian state-opinion against plays , is certainly that most charming argument , enough to set heraclitus himself a smiling . the lacedemonians , who were remarkable for the wisdom of their laws , &c. their government would not endure the stage under any regulation . well , here 's one positive bill of exclusion . to pass on to the romans . tully informs us , that their predecessors counted all stage-plays uncreditable and scandalous . insomuch that any roman who turned actor , was not only to be degraded , but likewise as it were disincorporated , and unnaturaliz'd by the order of the censors . this roman state-opinion is almost as doughty a quotation as his athenian one . for here the predecessors of the romans counted plays uncreditable , &c. but their kinder successors , belike were of a contrary state-opinion . their fore-fathers only past it as a temporary act , like the first of iac. for the uncreditable player was afterwards set rectus in curia . and how did those opinionated predecessors ( pray mark it ) handle the roman offender that turn'd author ? why truly , as cicero cited by st. augustine tells us , they disincorporated and unnaturaliz'd him . and how did they do all this ? why truly , as it were . their censors of the stage did put their order in execution but very gently . well , to do this author as much justice , as he has done the roman censors , i must own to the world , that he argues ( as it were ) most judiciously , and , as it were , to the purpose . we read in livy , that the young people kept their fabulae attellanae to themselves . they would not suffer this diversion to be blemish'd by the stage . for this reason , as the historian observes the actors or the fabulae attellanae were neither expell'd their tribe , nor refused to serve in arms , both which penalties it appears the common players lay under . here livy gives us another roman state-account in relation to the stage , viz. that some of their dramatick entertainments were thought worthy to be the particular performance of gentlemen , who belike were either so pleas'd with it , or so proud of it , as to monopolize the diversion to themselves , and all without the least stain to their gentility . that lash of the roman censors was only , as it appears , or , as it were , for the poorer hirelings players ; and for this very good reason , et quod turpe est cerdoni volesos brutosque decebit . playing in it self belike was no fault , taking money for it was all . his last state opinion is , that in the theodosian code players are called personae dishonestae , &c. that is ( to translate it softly ) persons maimd , and blemish'd in their reputation . their pictures might be seen at the play-house , but were not permitted to hang in any creditable place of the town , the function of the players being scandalous by the civil law. as scandalous as the civil law had render'd players , however these scandalous fellows were handled as softly as mr. collier translates ; their scandal was so little a publick nuisance , that the christian government , even in its primitive lustre , always suffer'd them amongst them ; and as gondibert says , — is not powers permission a consent , which is in kings the same as to ordain ; and ills ordain'd are free from punishment ? but of this subject , i shall have occasion to be more at large . these few state memoris against the stage , that stage that flourish'd in the greek and roman empires , above a thousand years together ; in the histories of so many ages , and through two such spacious empires , are all he can find us ; i dare not say , will not ; for he 's never sparing of scandal if he knew where to get it . to all these state authorities , he finishes that head of his discourse with a long pastoral letter of the lord bishop of arras in flanders , publish'd about two years ago against plays ; too long here to repeat . but here i am afraid our author mistakes himself . for one single flandrian doctor , as i take it , is not a whole national opinion ; and therefore this pastoral letter is but a very indifferent authority upon that head. now for another head , which he calls the testimony of the most celebrated heathen philosophers , orators and historians , concerning the stage . to begin with plato , this philosopher tells us , that plays raise the passions , and pervert the use of them , and by consequence are dangerous to morality . for this reason he banishes these diversions his common-wealth . aristotle lays it down for a rule , that the law ought to forbid young people the seeing of comedies , such permissions not being safe till age and discipline had confirmed them in sobriety , fortified their virtue , and made 'em as it were proof against debauchery . that the force of musick and action is very affecting , it commands the audience , and changes the passions to a resemblance of the matter before them . here the charge of plato and aristotle against plays somewhat agrees , viz. in raising the passions , which aristotle expounds the changing the passions of the audience to a resemblance of , or sympathy with , the matter before them ; only plato sat a little the severer judge upon them ; for he banisht them his common-wealth : but aristotle carries not matters so high as to a total exclusion , but allows them as an innocent diversion to persons of mature age and discretion . but methinks mr. collier gives but a lame account of plato's reason for banishing plays from out his common-wealth . for i can hardly believe that that learned philosopher , whatever motives he had for excluding plays from his government , would have talk'd so far out of his own natural philosophy , as to tell us that raising a passion perverts the use of it . for if , as aristotle explains the case , the raising the passion is here meant , that the passion represented on the stage imprints the same passion into the audience ( a point which we shall hardly grant him , and which we shall have occasion to speak of hereafter : ) yet all this while , if the worst passion or representation on the stage should have this wondrous operation upon the frail audience ; for instance , if a man should see a hercules furens , and grow as mad , and pull up oaks as fast as he ; or a lustful tarquin , and presently fall a ravishing : or a young lady should see a lewd thais , and immediately take taint , and play the wanton like her ; however here 's no perverting the use of the worst of all these passions . 't is true , all these foremention'd passions are none of the best : but the worst passion in producing its own natural bad effects , plato would hardly have call'd it , perverting the use of the passion . but mr. collier in verbo sacerdotis assures us , he translates faithfully , and therefore as wise a man as plato was , we are bound to give it against him . tully cries out upon licentious plays and poems , as the bane of sobriety and wife thinking . that comedy subsists upon lewdness , and that pleasure is the root of all evil. plutarch , he tells us , was of the opinion that plays were dangerous to corrupt young people : ( and here he joyns with aristotle . ) and therefore stage-poetry , when it grows too hardy and licentious , ought to be checkt . here plutarch concurs with tully , viz. that plays are to be checkt only when too licentious , as the bane of sobriety , and an excitation to lewdness . livy reports the original of plays among the romans , viz. that they were brought in upon the score of religion , to pacifie the gods , and remove a mortality . but then he adds , that the motives are sometimes good , when the means are stark naught ; that the remedy in this case was worse than the disease , and the atonement more infectious than the plague . livy is an author , that mr. collier has all the reason in the world to set a value upon ; for he 's a man of his own gall. he owns that plays were originally an institution founded upon religion , that by their divine power and influence they pacified the anger of the gods , and removed a pestilence , or some other general mortality . ( for he plainly confesses they did the work , not the cure design'd , but perform'd . ) yet with all these sovereign and pacifick virtues , and the whole glory of a national deliverance wrought by them , the remedy was a worse plague than that it had cured . could mr. collier himself have declaim'd more pathetically ! valerius maximus , livy's cotemporary , gives much the same account of the rise of theatres at rome . 't was devotion that built them . and for the performance of those places , which mr. dryden calls the ornaments ; this author censures as the blemishes of peace : and which is more , he affirms , they were the occasions of civil distractions , and that the state first blush'd , and then bled for the entertainment . he concludes , , the consequences of plays were intollerable . and very well he might conclude so , if he was of his own cotemporaries opinion , viz. that they were a worse plague than what they cured . but methinks these two roman authors between them have given plays an unaccountable power ; for belike they could make peace in heaven , and raise wars on earth ; they pacified the gods , but set the world at dissention . and indeed had either the spirit of a livy or collier reign'd amongst them , those civil distractions had been not at all to be wonder'd at : for such angry gentlemen would have found matter of quarrel with plays , though for their atoning of heaven , and averting of judgements . seneca , the philosopher , he tells us , was very angry at the play-house , and for this reason , that scarce any body would apply themselves to the study of nature and morality , unless when the play-house was shut , and the weather foul . that there was no body to teach philosophy , because there was no body to learn it . but that the stage had nurseries and company enough . this quarrel of seneca against the stage , i confess was highly reasonable ; for undoubtedly that angry gentleman of learning was sensibly touch'd in the most tender part , viz. honour and interest . perhaps the auditory had found as much good instruction to be glean'd up at a play-house lecture , as at a philosophy one ; and so because the play-house-school got ground of the philosophers , 't was high time , to cry out , great was his own diana of ephesus . tacitus relating how nero hired decay'd gentlemen , for the stage , complains of the mismanagement ; and lets us know , 't was the part of a prince , to relieve their necessity , and not to tempt it , &c. and that his bounty should rather have set them above an ill practice , then put them upon it . though nero's conduct , was not always to be vindicated , however , begging both tacitus and mr. collier's pardon , i must give it on his side in this case ; and say , he was here very much in the right . for if that prince thought it no degradation to his own imperial dignity , personally to act in plays himself , i know no reason he had to think it either a shame or a condescension in a private gentleman , and a decay'd one too , to come upon the stage . if the sovereign could play the histrio , sure the subject was not above it . plays , in the opinion of the judicious plutarch , are dangerous to corrupt young people ; and therefore stage-poetry , when it grows too hardy and licentious , ought to be check'd . here plutarch's charge against the play-house , is not over severe ; the dangers from the stage only threaten'd the younger sort of people . wisdom and gravity , nay , possibly mr. collier himself , might enter a play-house walls , and come off unhurt . nay , as dangerous as it might be even to youth it self ; the danger belike lay not either in the play-house or the play ; but the abuses and corruptions that crept into the representations there : for he condemns the stage-poetry , but only when it grows too hardy and too licentious . plutarch's check does not reach mr. collier's , he brings only the pruning hook. i have here recited every individual authority quoted by mr. collier , of his heathen philosophers , historians , and orators ; i think they are somewhat short of half a score . and how far their several authorities reach , i hope i have indifferently well explain'd . well , to sum up this heathenish evidence . this learned scholiast has made hard shift to muster up a little above half a dozen philosophers , orators and historians , that have either enter'd their pagan protests , or prefer'd some arraignment against plays . now the particular opinions of not half a score of these dissenting ethnick doctors , out of at least half as many hundred of that fraternity , especially too at their rate of talking , or mr. collier for 'em , is no more a conclusive argument , in my simple judgment , against the stage ; then a diogenes in his tub and his rags ; or an epimantus at his roots and his water , should perswade any rational man from a clean shirt upon his back , and a good house o're his head ; or a good dish of meat and a bottle of wine for his dinner , viz. if he is able to purchase it . and now as doughtily as these orators have supported his cause , upon this diminitive foundation , what a colossus has he rais'd . for he concludes upon this head , with telling us , this was the opinion of those celebrated authors , with respect to theatres . they charge 'em with the corruption of principles and manners , and lay in all imaginable caution against them . and yet these men had seldom any thing but this world in their scheme ; and form'd their judgment only upon natural light , and common experience . we see then to what sort of conduct we are obliged . the case is plain : unless we are little enough to renounce our reason , and fall short of philosophy , and live under the pitch of heathenism . here i must confess this insinuation is very artful . but all this while these philosophers that charge the stage with this corruption of principle and manners , give us but their bare word for it . was it enough for the great plato and aristotle , the very doctors of the chair in the old heathen divinity , ( for religion was then but philosophies pupil ) ; was it enough , i say , for those zealots in morality , to see that stage that had stood hundreds of years , and to look upon it , as such a nursery of corruption , and say no more against it ? does it look like the man that the world received him , for plato , to tell us in a line and a half , that plays raise the passions , and pervert the use of them , and by consequence are dangerous to morality ; only to start such an unintelligible fragment , and not make a little sermon-work upon that text ? perhaps indeed , sic volo , sic iubeo , might be enough to banish plays from his own common-wealth ; and even that short sentence might be supererrogation . however , he owed that justice both to the world around him , and posterity after him , to read a little longer esculapian lecture upon so epidemick a disease . undoubtedly had either plato or aristotle but half mr. collier's pique against the play-houses , they would have spared their ink as little as he has done ; and consequently have supplied him with more copious satyr , and more sensible arguments upon that subject . but for once i 'll joyn issue with him , and to throw some weight more into his scale , i 'll suppose these half a dozen philosophical doctors with their natural light , and as many doctor collier's with their divine light , had all past their negative vote against the stage ; however they would hardly carry the cause . for truly i know no reason why the stage should be obliged to stand upon a stronger basis then the very sanction of our laws themselves . and i doubt not but a foundation may be very honest and innocent , though not establish'd by a nemine contradicente . to these testimonies of the philosophers , &c. he tells you , he 'll add a couple of poets , who both seem to be good judges of the affair in hand . the first is ovid , who in his book , de arte amandi , gives his reader to understand that the play-house was the most likely place to forage in . here would be choice , nothing being more common than to see beauty surprized , women debauch'd , and wenches pick'd up at those diversions . ovid. lib. 1. sed tu praecipue curvis venare theatris , haec loca sunt voto fertiliora tuo . — ruit ad celebres cultissiama foemina ludos ; copia judicium saepe mor at a meum est . spectatum veniunt , veniunt spectentur ut ipsae , iile locus casti damna pudor is habet . in this authority of ovid , our learned observator , quite forgets himself , and runs off from his theme . for ovid has nothing to say against the stage , or any reflection , or objection against the dramatick presentations there . his present business , to speak in the modern dialect , is only with the pit , box and galleries . this quotation therefore is but very indifferently rank'd under that head , viz. the opinion of paganism concerning the stage . he tells us indeed , the young and the fair are to be seen at the theatres ; that beauty and high toppings , faemina cultissima , and undoubtedly beauty and high virtue too , faemina castissima may be seen in a play-house ; nay , and come thither too , to see and be seen , without any offence to modesty . and hither 't is that ovid invites his young pupils in the art of love , to forage in ( as he calls it . ) and here i 'll give mr. collier the point , viz. that a debauchee may pick up a wench at those diversions . nor is it any great wonder in so universal a concourse of the young and the fair , to find some smutty corn in so large a field . society and crowds , upon a more sacred ground than a play-house , are not wholly composed of honour and innocence , but that a carrion crow may be catch'd even in a flock of doves . and truly had not mr. collier been wilfully over-sighted , he would have inform'd us , that ovid was of the same opinion . for in the very immediate foregoing verses to this quotation , he advises his young libertine to forage the temples of the gods ; for he may find the same game to fly at there too . and here i am sorry i must joyn with ovid ; when much diviner altars are subject to the same profanation . 't is not all religion and piety that enters a church door : hypocrisie and wantonness are too often too bold intruders : and not only to see and to be seen , is the height of the devotion , but possibly the lecture and the sermon may be sometimes made the screen to the rover and the wanton . but mr. collier , i hope , will not infer from hence , that the church doors should be shut up , or devotion barr'd entrance , for fear of prophanation or hypocrisie herding in along with them . 't is true , there may be a case , and a weighty one , for keeping us out from church , prayers , sacraments , and what not ; as we find it recorded in a learned discourse publish'd by this orthodox school-man , called , a perswasive to consideration , tender'd to the royalists , particularly those of the church of england , printed in the year , 1695. being a discourse upon this text — in the day of adversity consider — where page 35 we read , as follows . however , i am loth to leave my church ! ( the auditor thus expostulating with him ) you say well . but can you expect to find the church , where it 's peculiar doctrines are disowned ; where it 's authority is opposed , and betrayed to the secular power ? does the being of a church consist in brick and stone ? what would you do if jupiter was worshipped there ? i hope the chiming of the bells would not draw you to the service of the idol . if it is urged , that we may be so planted as to want the advantage of an orthodox pastor ; what is to be done in such circumstances ? must we pray alone , without the assistance of priest or congregation ? to this question , after what has been said , i think the proverb a sufficient return ; better be alone than in ill company . if 't is farther objected , that by this principle we lose the benefit of the blessed sacrament . to this i answer , 1. that this objection is oftentimes no more than pretence : for if people would take that pains which the regard to the institution requires , it seldom happens but they might receive it from proper hands . but 2. i answer , that breaking the unity of the church by schismatical communion , and making our selves partakers of other men's sins , ( 1 tim. 5. 22. ) is a bad preparation for the sacrament . to break a moral law for a positive ordinance , though never so valuable , looks like robbing in order to sacrifice . and therefore when the case is truly put ; a pious desire of receiving will be equivalent to the thing . this being an allowed rule in instances of necessity . so that we cannot be said to lose the benefit of the blessed sacrament , though we are not so happy as to partake in the administration . now by the same strength of reason he has here carry'd the cause against the whole church of england , and excluded his royalists from all publick devotion ; undoubtedly he may shut up the play-house doors , and exclude 'em from all publick diversion too . the other poet he joyns with ovid , is the author of the plain-dealer . this poet , in his dedication to lady b. some eminent procuress , pleads the merits of his function , and insists upon being billeted upon free quarter . madam , says he , i think a poet ought to be as free of your houses as of the play-houses , since he contributes to the support of both , and is as necessary to such as you , as the ballad-singer to the pick-purse , in convening the cullies at the theatres to be pick'd up and carried to a supper , and bed , at your houses . this is frank evidence , and ne're the less true for the air of a jest. as frank as this plain-dealer's evidence is , here 's nothing but what , with a very grave face of truth , and in as earnest a jest , might have been said upon any other publick places of meeting , viz. the dancing-schools , the mall , the parks , the gardens ; and where not ? and unless this man of morals , would have a law made to suppress all places of general resort , and confine mankind to cells and caves , i know not well how he will prevent all these enormities that the plain-dealer has here rallied upon . nay , this i will positively averr , that both the plain-dealer and mr. collier's argument on this side , lies much stronger against any other publick place of resort than the play-house . for if wantonness and lewdness will creep into all publick societies , though of never so innocent a foundation , the theatres lie least obnoxious to that danger . for in all the other forementioned places of resort , we make our own diversion , have no entertainment but what we give our selves ; and consequently , as idleness is the mother of lust , and when we have least to do , the devil has most ; we lie more open to temptation and irregular desires , than we can do in a play-house , where the diversion is all found to our hands , and the auditor has both his eyes and his ears so employ'd , and is so much taken up with either the pity and concern for the distresses of tragedy , or a mirth and delight from the pleasantry of comedy , that he has hardly the leisure to rove after any imaginations of his own . and therefore if our platonick author is for banishing of plays , for this only grievance within the walls of a play-house , he may as justly vote for the rooting up a garden , for fear the spider should suck poyson from the flowers . next , to proceed to his testimony of the fathers , he begins with theophilus bishop of antioch , who lived in the second century . 't is not lawful ( says this father ) for us to be present at the prizes of the gladiators , least by this means we should be accessary to the murders there committed . neither dare we presume upon the liberties of your other shows , least our senses should be tinctur'd and disobliged with indecency and prophaneness . the tragical distractions of tereus and thyestes are nonsense to us . we are for seeing no representations of lewdness . the stage adulteries of the gods and hero's are unwarrantble entertainments ; and so much the worse because the mercinary players set them off with all the charms and advantages of speaking . god forbid that christians , who are remarkable for modesty and reservedness , who are obliged to discipline , and train'd up to virtue ; god forbid , i say , that we should dishonour our thoughts , much less our practice , with such wickedness as this . tertullian , who lived in the latter end of this century , thus addresses the heathens upon this subject . we keep off from your publick shews , because we cannot understand the warrant of their original . there 's superstition and idolatry in the case ; and we dislike the entertainment , because we dislike the reason of its institution , &c. his book , de spectaculis , was wrote on purpose to diswade the christians from the publick diversions of the heathens , of which the play-house was one , &c. the arguments of tertullian which are too long here to recite , were chiefly upon these two heads , viz. that pleasure was a bewitching thing , and the levity of the theatres for that cause was not consistent with the severer principles of christianity . his second argument was the low character of players , from the magistracy it self , who , though they abetted the stage , discountenanced the players , and crampt their freedoms , &c. to conclude , he insinuates the great danger of being present at those entertainments ; and tells us one sad example of a demoniack possession . a certain woman went to the play-house , and brought the devil home with her . and when the unclean spirit was prest in the exorcism , and ask'd how he durst attack a christian ? i have done nothing ( says he ) but what i can justifie ; for i seiz'd her upon my own ground . before i enter upon any other argument , i shall make some few remarks upon this possession . i shall not dispute tertullian's veracity in this relation ; yet methinks , upon a thorough examination , neither tertullian nor mr. collier have over-well proved the play-house to be the devils own ground , when the title 's supported by no more authority than a bare single affirmative , and that from no other mouth than the father of lies , the devil himself . if the play-house were really a chattellany of lucifer , a fief of the infernal empire , some doctors are of opinion , the devil would be the last would tell us so : for as the subtilty of that cunning seducer strows all his pit-falls with flowers , he has neither that charity for mankind , nor owes that service to god , to play thus booty against himself in so frank a declaration . however , if that restless sworn enemy of man , had any such generous principle in him , the dives in flames had had no occasion of supplicating a monitory messenger , to send to his worldly friends , from abraham : but might e'ne have begg'd the civil favour of that kind errand from one of his own tormentors . this i must say , that this foolish devils imprudent discovery was so capital a piece of treason against the interest of his own infernal kingdom , that really i am of opinion , to set him rectus in curia diabolica , he wants absolution . well , but perhaps you 'll say , this discovery was no blunder in his politicks , but extorted by the divine force of the exorcism . really sir , that may be . however to give this devil and his vouchers their due , all this confession carries a very rank face of a sham still . for if it were substantial verity , that the play-house was truly and firmly the devils own ground , and every christian rambler catch'd upon it his own lawful , and , to use his own words , justifiable seizure ; at this rate , the devil must be soften'd into a spirit of that unaccountable mercy , so very unlike the bible picture we have of him , when among so many thousands and ten thousands , nay millions and millions of christians , that since that day have been caught in a play-house walls , so pat for his clutches ; nevertheless this only single seizure of that kind is all that 's recorded against him . i have several times heard this demoniack story warmly play'd , as not a little formidable battery against the theatres , by some passionate zealots , no very good friends either to our church or our stage ; and to confirm this diabolical authority , those enthusiasts without question had read , that 't was no new thing for the cloven-foot to deliver oracles , and therefore doubt not but this may be one . but in all these declamations of the fathers against stage-plays , st. cyprian , tertullian , and st. augustine , and all of 'em confess 't was the general opinion of the christians that plays were a lawful diversion ; and therefore the whole business of those declamations , is the opening the christians eyes , and refuting that too epidemical erroneous opinion ; and what occasion'd that spreading error amongst them was , that the appearance of that general innocence in those entertainments gave them that reception amongst the christians , that they could not believe them criminal without some express divine precept against them ; and accordingly st. cyprian , the author de spectaculis , argues against those , who thought the play-house no unlawful diversion because 't was not condemned by express scripture . so tertullian reproves the christians , that their faith is either too full of scruples , or too barren of sense . nothing ( he says ) will serve to settle them but a plain text of scripture . they hover in uncertainty , because 't is not said as expresly , [ thou shalt not go to the play-house , ] as 't is [ thou shalt not kill , &c. ] and here , with all due reverence to these christian fathers , the scriptural silence in that case well furnish some more curious speculations than they have been pleas'd to make ; and which i hope will be no unpardonable inquiry to prosecute a little farther then they have done . first then , as our blessed saviour was born in the days of augustus , 't is known , by all historians , that the shutting up of ianus's temple doors in his reign , universally open'd those of the play-houses . theatrick representations in all the provinces of the spacious roman empire , were the then common publick diversion and entertainment , and such they continued many reigns after him . now it may raise a little wonder why the apostles , that went forth by a special command of the almighty to convert all nations , preaching repentance , and the kingdom of heaven ; they that so exactly perform'd that great commission , as to arraign or censure vice and impiety from the highest to the lowest , in all its several branches ; not only pronounced their lowder anathemas against the more crying sins , but read divinity-lectures even upon the wardrobe and dressing-box , correcting the very indecencies of the hair , the apparel , and each uncomely gesture , &c. that these missioners of salvation should travel through so many heathen nations ( the gentiles they were sent to call ) and meet at every turn the theatre and the stage-players staring them in the very face , and not make one reprimand against them , is a matter of very serious reflection . had the play-house been , as st. cyprian calls it , the seat of infection ; or as clemens alexandrinus much to the same sense calls it , the chair of pestilence ; and ( to join the authority of the unclean spirit along with them , ) the devils own ground ; i am of opinion in this case , that those divine monitors , the apostles , that sets bars to the eye , the ear , the tongue , to every smallest avenue that might let in the tempter ; would hardly have left the broad gates to the play-house so open , without one warning to the unwary christian in so direct a road to perdition . such a discovery i believe would have been rather the earlier cautionary favour of some of our kind evangelical guardians , then the extorted confession of our greatest infernal enemy two hundred years after . 't is true , st. cyprian gives a reason for this apostolical silence , viz. that some things are more strongly forbidden because unmention'd . the divine wisdom would have had a low opinion of christians , had it descended to particulars in this case . silence is sometimes the best method for authority . to forbid , often puts people in mind of what they should not do ; and thus the force of the precept is lost by naming the crime , &c. here the world must pardon me , if i presume to say , that st. cyprian plays more the orator than the church-man . i hardly believe that there has been that crime too black to lie upon scripture paper , when the very sin that drew down fire upon sodom and gomorrah has been recorded there : nor can i grant him his consequence , viz. that such black sins are the more strongly forbidden because unmention'd . this i am certain , that the many , the loud , and the repeated fulminations of vengeance from the mouths of the patriarchs , the prophets , and the apostles , denounced against the most tremendous iniquities and abominations , does not very well prove the scriptural silence in such cases . besides , st. cyprian here , under the notion of a reason for such silence , either flies wide from the matter , or else contradicts himself . the charge he all along lays against plays , is the levities and impertinences of the comedies , the ranting distractions of tragedies , that plays were originally the institution of heathen idolatry . that as they are lewd representations , they are of this dangerous consequence , viz. that by using to see such things we shall learn to do them , &c. and that therefore we must draw off our inclinations from these vanities , &c. all this is so far from a blackness too deep for paper , or a monster too hideous for the modesty of divine revelation to expose to light , that nothing can be less . but granting this christian father the liberty of being sometimes cooler , and sometimes warmer upon that subject , and allowing these levities and vanities to be so many gorgons and medusa's ; granting the play-house to be that rock , that quick-sand , or any other more devouring gulph ; however , the divine wisdom in that case , instead of having a low opinion of christians , had it descended to a particular caution against it ; especially when the hidden rock or quicksand lay so unseen by the general eye of christians , that both by tertullian and st. cyprian's confession , the danger appear'd so little , that 't was the publick christian opinion , the play-house was a lawful diversion ; on the contrary , the divine wisdom , i say , had as much occasion of some seasonable admonition , to hang out as a watch-light or sea-mark , against those hidden rocks , as ever aaron had to warn the children of israel from the tents of coran , dathan and abiram , before the earth opened to swallow them : and undoubtedly had there been any such true danger in a play-house , the divine wisdom , without either a low opinion of itself in descending to give such a particular caution , or the weak-sighted christian to want it ; amongst its other many thousand particualar monitory favours and mercies , wou'd have added this one more to that infinite number . i wish this divine author has not himself a much lower opinion of christians , when to crutch his argument against the play-house , he would insinuate , that even a gospel-precept may be sometimes ensnaring , and the very commands of god himself against a sin , a temptation to draw us into it ; and consequently that in some cases it is much safer , and more divine prudence , to leave the sinner to grope out his way to salvation , than to give him a light to guide him thither . besides , these fathers , instead of defending the spiritual silence against plays ( the main argument they drive at , ) the gospel-light being no ways wanted to guard against them , but that even the very light of nature was sufficient in that case ; on the contrary , as they have managed their indictment against the stage , have put it so far out of the power of nature , that they seem to enforce the absolute necessity of a particular revelation pilot even to 〈…〉 danger that lay there . for instance , tertullian . will you not avoid this seat of infection ? the very air suffers by their impurities , and they almost pronounce the plague ! what tho' the performance may be in some measure pretty and entertaining ? what , tho' innocence , yes , and virtue too , shines through some part of it ? 't is not the custom to prepare poison unpalatable , nor make up rats-bane with rhubarb and sena . no , to have the mischief speed , they must oblige the sense , and make the dose pleasant . thus the devil throws in a cordial drop to make the draught go down ; and steals some few ingredients from the dispensatory of heaven . in short , look upon all the engaging sentences of the stage : their flights of fortitude and philosophy , the loftiness of their stile , the musick of the cadence , and the fineness of their conduct ; look upon it only , i say , as honey dropping from the bowels of a toad , or the bag of a spider . let your health over-rule your pleasure , and don't die of a little liquorishness . now if the visible beauties of the stage were made up of all those attracting charms and graces , viz. engaging sentences , morality , philosophy , virtue and innocence , and all so shining ; could nature in this case , as st. cyprian says , so govern , where revelation does not reach , as to discover the latent poison in the pill , and all mix'd up with so many ingredients of heaven , and under so many leaves of gold ? could meer natural light supply the holy text , to warn us against so lovely and fair a face , set forth by tertullian with all these ensnaring enchantments , without any want of a spiritual illumination , to tell us , 't is the syren that wears it ? tertullian however endeavours to palliate this scriptural silence , and tells us , though plays are not expresly forbidden in scripture , we have the meaning of the prohibition , though not the sound , in the first psalm , blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly , nor stands in the way of sinners , nor sits in the seat of the scornful . i hope no man will interpret my amazement at the application of this text to the condemnation of play-houses , to any want of veneration to so celebrated a pillar of the church as tertullian ; nay , and all this the substantial meaning , only the empty sound wanting ! — and here i must declare , had the demoniack woman had no plainer christian light to lead her to heaven , than this to shew her the snares of a play-house , i am very much afraid she had continued under possession still , and never got loose from the infernal talons that seiz'd her there . and here again i must once more beg my reader not to charge me with the ridiculing of divine writ , when i declare from my soul i should as soon quote , and with as reasonable a construction , that verse in the psalm , why does the heathen rage , and the people imagine a vain thing ? for a two-edg'd sword against seneca and terence , the ranting of tragedy , and the fiction of comedy ; and that hercules furens , and the comical davus , were both hewed down together . but to return to the fathers . if the heathen dramatick poetry , in the plays of their times , were so scandalous , so lewd , and infamous a representation , that the very mention of them in divine precept , though to set the mark of cain upon them , [ thou shalt not see a play ] by the venerable tertullian being even rank'd with [ thou shalt not kill ] , were too black a record to foul the very paper with : i am here very much afraid , that this learn'd histriomastix , our author , has thrown away a great deal of oyl and labour in washing the ethiop ; when in his first chapter of the immodesty of the stage , in his comparing the ancient and modern play-wrights , he clears almost the whole body of the greek and latin dramatick poets from every thing so much as tending to lewdness or smut , or even a double entendre that way . in short , what with the native morals and virtues of the poets themselves , and the superiour care of the publick inspectors and censors of the theatre , he sets forth , at large , that modesty and innocence of the heathen stage , so far from encouraging lewdness and debaucheries , corrupting of manners , &c. or any of those hideous phaenomena's through that long and learned harangue of the fathers against them ; that hardly any thing , scarce north and south , can be more opposite , than the sentiments of these doctors of the primitive church in his last chapter , and of this sometimes minister of the english church in the first chapter . for instance , he begins with plautus , an author that , he tells us , has left us 20 intire comedies ; out of which volume of antiquity , he quotes but five censurable passages , and those but moderate ones , viz. lena and bacchis the strumpet are airy and somewhat over-merry , but not obscene . chalinus , in womans cloths , is the most remarkable . pasicompa charinus his wench , talks too freely to lysimachus , and so does sophroclidisca , slave to lemnoselene ; and lastly , phronesiam , a woman of the town , uses a double entendre to stratophanes . this poet , he farther informs us , confesses smut a scandalous entertainment ; that such liberties ought to fall under neglect , to lie unmentioned , and be blotted out of memory . and that this was not a copy of his countenance , we may learn from his compositions . nay , this very plautus , who wrote in an age not perfectly refin'd , has regard to the retirements of modesty , and the dignity of humane nature ; and though he often seems to design his plays for a vulgar capacity , he does not make lewdness his business . of terence , who appear'd when breeding was more exact , and the town better polish'd , he says , that he managed accordingly , and has but one faulty bordering expression , which is that of chremes to clitopho . this single sentence apart , the rest of his book is unfullied , and fit for the nicest conversation . nay , his very strumpets are modest , and converse not unbecoming their sex. then for seneca , he assures us , he is clean throughout the whole piece ; and stands generally off from the point of love. in fine , to dispatch the latins together , he tells you , they had nothing smutty so much as in a song , and kept their language under discipline . to do the same right to the greek poets he tells us , how the stage had both its beginning and highest improvement at athens . — aeschylus was the first who appear'd with any reputation : his genius seems noble , and his mind generous , willing to transfuse it self into the audience , and inspire them with a spirit of bravery . his materials were shining and solid , &c. this tragedian had always a nice regard to good manners , &c. and so govern'd his expressions of love , that they carried a face of virtue along with them . to sophocles , that next succeeded him on the stage , he gives this character , that he was in earnest an extraordinary person ; and among his many eminent and all virtuous qualifications , when he concerns himself with amours , nothing can be more temperate or decent , &c. his descriptions of love are within the terms of honour ; the tendernesses are solemn as well as soft ; they move to pity and concern , and go no farther . in fine , like his predecessor , he lightly touches upon an amorous theam ; and , to use our author 's ingenious allusion , he glides along like a swallow upon the water , and skims the surface , without dipping a feather . next for euripides , his character agrees too with his elder brothers , even to priding himself in virtue and modesty , delivering great thoughts in common language , and being drest more like a gentleman than a player . his distinction lies in the perspicuity of his stile ; in maxims and moral reflection ; in his peculiar happiness for touching the passions , especially that of pity ; and lastly , in exhausting the cause , and arguing pro and con upon the stretch of reason . and for modesty he is intirely in the authors favour , &c. he calls whoring stupidness and playing the fool ; and to be chast and regular is with him , as well as with aeschylus , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . as much as to say , 't is the consequence of sense and right thinking , &c. 't is true , he singles out one frail brother of the quill , aristophanes , and finds a very foul blot in his scutcheon , viz. atheism ; and hereupon very passionately declaims upon that topick , viz. upon his ridiculing the gods , and breaking in upon religion , &c. for several whole pages . but as heavy as the atheist lies upon him , still he wipes off the imputation of debauchery , assuring us , that as to the business of love , aristophanes always declin'd it . he never patches up a play with courtship and whining , tho' he wrote nothing but comedy , &c. 't is true , as to the atheism of aristophanes , tho' it may appear somewhat a sin against the athenian light of theology : it happen'd to be a fault on the better side , ( at least in the christian scale ) when only against the libertine houshold of heathen gods , where neither infidelity nor apostacy were altogether so capital . now , as such were the characters of the ancient poets , and those the very founders of the feast in the theatrical entertainments in st. cyprian and tertullian's days , and some ages after them , i cannot but once more repeat my amazement at their over-passionate exclamations against the stage , especially upon the mistaken topick of lewdness and debauchery . after all this honest and faithful review of the ancient stage , taken even by our kind author himself , i fancy he has given us some more substantial reasons for the scriptural silence against plays , than all these fathers have done . for if such , by his own generous acknowledgment , was the stage primitive state of innocence ; ( a confession which we highly stand obliged to him for , though like one of sir martin marral's discoveries , considering how little it makes for his cause , ) i fear we shall thank him for a favour he never intended us . if therefore , as i was saying , or rather our author has said for me , such was not only the innocence of the heathen stage , under all the restrictions of chastity , modesty and decency , not only from the native principles of the authors , but also from the regulation of publick authority ; but even such was the merit ( so i may call it ) of those theatrick representations so little tending to the corruption of manners , that several of them were written with a genius , to speak in his own language , enough to transfuse and inspire a spirit of bravery , so far from a check , as to be rather an excitation to virtue . here , upon all these concessions even from our author himself , ( provided still that as stage-plays are only humane institutions , and worldly diversions , and that that objection shall be found no bar to this plea of innocence , as that i hope we shall make out ; ) this then being the stage , and these the plays that faced the whole travels of the apostles ; here 's a very substantial argument for the evangelical silence , in not one word against them ; for the mouths of those divine oracles open'd only to the correction of vice. nor will it raise any part of an objection against this argument for their silence , &c. that the original innocent constitution of plays was sometimes corrupted , their modesty debauch'd , and abuses crept in amongst them , as this author often observes against them ; for as the very heathens themselves had their censors and inspectors appointed to correct and punish those abuses , and to keep the stage in the bounds of modesty , i hope the christians needed no particular scriptural precept in that case : the divine wisdom must then have most truly had a low opinion of christians , to think they wanted any particular evangelical light to follow , even where the ignorant heathen had led before them . and as to the more horrid representations of the amphitheater , so frequent in the neronian reign , in which st. paul died ; here indeed there wanted no evangelick command , to warn the christian from those execrable bloody walls , where murder upon murder even in cold blooded sport was made a publick entertainment ; the divine wisdom , as st. cyprian says , had had a low opinion indeed to think the christian could want a heavenly caution of entring those shambles of humane butchery . besides , to shew how little the dramatick poetry lay under the gospel censure , our author , ( tho' upon another occasion , ) is pleas'd to quote that text of st. paul , evil communications corrupt good manners , as the expression first of the comick poet menander , 290 years before christ , and afterwards of st. paul the apostle . here i would ask whether st. paul the most learned of the apostles , in delivering the divine oracles of god , would have incorporated the saying of a heathen poet , that possibly had been spoke a hundred times over on the publick stage , by a hireling player , into the gospel of truth , notwithstanding the morality and innocence of the expression it self ; had stage-plays in themselves , and that in their worst capacity of comedies , justly lain under st. cyprian's character of them , viz. that were they not otherwise highly criminal , the foolery of them is egregious and unbecoming the gravity of believers ? for some other instances of st. paul's respect for the poets . in acts 17. 28. in him we live and move and have our being ; as certain of your own poets have said , for we are also his ofspring . in his epistle to titus , chap. 1. ver . 14 , 15. speaking of the people of crete , he says in the words of epimenides the poet. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . one of themselves , even a prophet of their own , said , the cretians are always liars , evil beasts , slow bellies : this witness is true , &c. here the apostle has not disdain'd to quote a heathen poet , nay , and honour him with the title of prophet . now therefore as the spirit of god spoke by the inspired apostles , we may venture to boast , it gives some reputation to the poet , and sure a little vindication of the innocence of the profession , that the holy ghost himself has spoke in the words of a menander , and an epimenides . but to make a little farther examination into the reason of this over-violent zeal and vehemence of the primitive fathers against the stage . we are to consider the forementioned authority , viz. theophilus , tertullian , clemens alexandrinus , minutius foelix , and st. cyprian , so faithfully translated by mr. collier , lived all in the second or third century , in the mourning minority of the church of god , under the heathen persecutions . for constantine , the first christian emperor , began his reign but in the beginning of the fourth century . had not then those primitive fathers , with stakes , gibbets , cauldrons , gridirons , racks , &c. all before their eyes , a just cause of complaint against the christian inclination for plays , delight and pleasure at that time of day ? does the son from his fathers death-bed go to the musick-house ? or the widow from her husbands funeral to the dancing-school ? was the play-house a seasonable christian diversion , possibly to come from a laurences gridiron to a thyestes feast ? i may here joyn with tertullian . in earnest , christian , our time for entertainment is not yet ; ye are too craving and ill manag'd , if you are so violent for delight , page 258. besides , was it not a yet greater aggravation to the ill timed christian fondness for plays , to herd , consort and mix with their tyrants , persecutors and murderers the heathens , in their entertainments and diversions ? and therefore is it to be doubted , but that this unseasonable inclination of the christians for plays went a great way in the fathers passionate declamations against them ; and undoubtedly to check the christian fondness in that case , push'd 'em upon the necessity of enlarging upon that stronger argument , viz. the unlawfulness of plays , where the weaker one , the indecency of seeing them , would not prevail ? nay , as clemens alexandrinus joyns the circus and the theatre together , when he says , they may not improperly be called the chair of pestilence . does not therefore the bloody gladiator , the profession of the murder at the prize , as minutius foelix calls it , the secular games , and the pantomimi , and all the rest of the more licentious and barbarous heathen entertainments , go a great way in the condemnation of the more innocent plays , whilst the stage suffers with the ill company it keeps ; all those horrid diversions , being at the same time supported by the tyrant pagan emperors ? nay , does not the very christian horror of those heathen tyrants , the patrons of those plays , go a great way with these fathers to the condemnation of the feast for the founders sake ? and therefore is all this vehemence , though to a stretch of argument , and the racking of reasons against them , any thing to be wonder'd at ? suppose we could parallel the same modern case ; were there , for instance , any such diversion as plays amongst the turks , would not the grecian patriarchs be as tender of the christians mixing in that diversion , more especially if our mahometans were like their heathens , a spirit of persecution ? why then are all these primitive champions brought down to battle our theatres , when their whole ground of quarrel and foundation of complaint , is so foreign to the present state of the english stage ? next , we 'll examine the short account he pretends to give us of the councils of the primitive church concerning the stage . the council of illiberis or collioure , decreed , that it shall not be lawful for any woman , who is either in full communion , or a probationer for baptism , to marry or entertain any comedians or actors ; who takes this liberty shall be excommunicated , anno 305. can. 67. the first council of arles , excommunicates players as long as they continue to act , anno 314. can. 5. the second council of arles made their 20th canon to the same purpose , and almost in the same words , anno 452. the third council of carthage , of which st. augustine was a member , ordains , that the sons of bishops or other clergy-men should not be permitted to furnish out publick shews , or plays , or be present at them . such sort of pagan entertainments being forbidden the laity , it being always unlawful for all christians to come among blasphemers . by the 35th canon of this council 't is decreed , that actors or others belonging to the stage , who are either converts or penitents , &c. shall not be denied admission in the church , which our author remarks , was a proof that players as long as they kept to their employment were barr'd communion . another african council declares , that the testimony of people of ill reputation , of players , and others of such scandalous employments , shall not be admitted against any person . anno 424. can. 96. the second council of chaalon sets forth , that clergy-men ought to abstain from all over-engaging entertainments in musick , or show ( oculorum auriumque illecebris ) ; and as for the smutty and licentious insolence of players , and buffoons , let 'em not only decline the hearing it themselves , but likewise conclude the laity obliged to the same conduct . anno 813. can. 9. i have here recited his authority of the councils of the church at this full length , as affording matter for several serious reflections and weighty considerations . first , then it appears by the express words of the council of carthage , that the comedies then acted , were pagan entertainments , and generally perform'd by pagans , viz. blasphemers , and for certain were the composition of the heathen poets ; for we have no record or mention of any christian poet that compiled or wrote any theatrical representations ; for had there been any such christian author , his name at least , if not some of his works would in all likelihood have been transmitted to posterity , as well as so many of the dramatick labours of the heathen poets : besides , had there been any such dramatick christian writers , undoubtedly the several councils that prohibited the performance of plays , and expresly forbid the furnishing or dressing out of shews or plays , would have much more particularly reprimanded the more capital offender , viz. the compiler and composer of such entertainments , it being their equal duty and caution to crush the egg as the cocatrice . nevertheless , though playing then stood upon that heathenish bottom , however the christians were apt not only to entertain comedians and actors , but personally themselves to be actors , nay , and in those very heathen compositions . now here was occasion of just complaint in those divine assemblies , the councils of the church , against this practice of the christians , were the matter of playing it self never so innocent . for much the same reproach ( though not the same apology ) lay against them , as the jews threw upon our saviour , viz. for consorting with publicans and sinners . christianity in those days was in its morning : the sun of righteousness had not fully dispelled the heathen darkness and ignorance . the christians had the unconverted heathen every where round them . and as the great work of calling in the fulness of the gentiles was not yet perfected ; it might reasonably give offence to the fathers of the church , and raise some shadow of fear , that the christian condescension to intermix in the pagan diversions and vanities , viz. their plays , and those originally too of an idolatrous foundation , might give that reputation or at least that countenance to infidelity , as possibly might in some measure retard the great work of universal conversion . now as all these councils commenced from the beginning of the fourth century , at , or after the administration of the roman empire was lodged in the hands of christian princes , those primitive royal sons of the church , those champions of the faith that would never be wanting in their utmost zeal and industry to propagate the gospel of truth : here , i say , it will afford a matter of the nicest speculation , viz. how players and playing should lie under this publick censure of the church , and yet acting it self continued unsilenced and unsuppressed by so many successive christian emperors . that it kept all this while so unsuppress'd , is plain and evident ; otherwise , why so many repeated decrees of councils against them , if the occasion of offence , viz. playing it self , had not continued ? nor can it be supposed , had playing been very much offensive , or had but half the black colours mr. collier has laid upon it , but that some ghostly counsellors would have advised those emperors to such a suppression of the stage ; and undoubtedly they had listen'd to such advice . their power of putting such advice in execution was indisputable , and had the argument been powerful enough to perswade 'em , without question the will would not have been wanting ; and consequently the christian roman empire would never have faln short of the heathen plato in his common-wealth , in banishing the play-house , upon a full conviction of their christian duty to oblige them to such a reformation : at least , had the lenity of those christian emperors , who propagated the faith , not by rods of iron , but beams of mercy , indulged their pagan subjects to continue their heathen plays and vanities ; nevertheless , 't is highly to be supposed , they had either used their own imperial , or commission'd their ecclesiastical authority to forbid that liberty to their christian subjects . but as nothing of all this was done , but the open and publick stage continued unshaken , in defiance of all this holy breath against it ; what can we in all reason conclude , but that these christian princes lookt back to the fore-mention'd father louder thunder against the stage , as only a temporary blast ; the greatest cloud that rais'd all that storm , the main ecclesiastical matter of complaint , was dispell'd ; for the late mourning , now smiling church , had thrown off her cypress , her wounds were all heal'd , and her tears wiped away ; and thus that great stage-stumbling-block , viz. the unseasonableness of mirth and diversion , was removed . the christians too now joining in the heathen diversion , met their friends , not their persecutors there . and for the bloodier gladiators , and all the other lewder and more barbarous theatrick entertainments , they fell in course with the tyrants that supported them . thus all these highest provocations of the primitive christian quarrel against the theatres composed and ended , and nothing but the innocent dramatick stage left standing ; and that to liable to all the inspection and regulation of censors and supervisors , upon any abuse or corruption : how then must these christian emperors look upon these decrees of the councils , but as an over-warmth of zeal , a sort of a iury-presentation , past at their vacat exiguis , not weighty enough to found a state indictment upon ? nay , their sentence perhaps not worthy the execution , as pronounc'd by not altogether the proper judges of the fact : a true inquisition into the stage being more the states , than the churches province . those reverend divine doctors of their councils , pass their judgment at too far distance ; their gravities come least , or perhaps never into a play-house walls ; and therefore the full cognizance of the matter , and the true merits of the cause , lay not so much in their reach . for these therefore , and whatever other reasons the primitive christian government was induced to continue the stage ; is not here one of the most convincing arguments for the present establishment of the theatres , especially comparing the different circumstances between them ? our plays are no heathen compositions ; our authors and auditors profess one faith ; our stage lies under no ecclesiastical reprimand from the fathers of our church : in short , we have so many more favourable aspects , and all that weight on our side , in ballance between 'em , enough to silence even calumny it self . and thus , as our stage has so leading an example as the primitive christian indulgence to warrant its foundation ; as it has received the protection of crown'd heads , it has sometimes had the honour of their royal presence at its diversions too ; and what 's yet greater , even princes of the most exalted piety have been the royal guests within those publick walls . in a sermon upon the death of the late queen , preach'd by william payne , d. d. rector of st. mary whitechappel , chaplain to his majesty , page 19 and 20. dilating upon that copious theme , the shining piety of that truly christian princess , we read as follows : she gave patterns of virtue not uncouth or fantastick , affected or unnatural , such as we meet in the legends , but what are agreeable to civil life , and to all the stations of this world , what christianity and the plain law of god require of us ; and those things which they had not forbidden , she did not think necessary to forbid her self . the undue rigours and severities of some indiscreet persons have done great harm to religion and virtue , by condemning those things as absolutely sinful , which are so only by accident , but in themselves innocent ; such as dancing , playing at cards , going to plays , and the like . our admirable queen could distinguish here between duty and prudence , between unlawful and inexpedient . she would not refuse those common diversions , nor use them too much : she would not wholly keep from seeing of plays , as if they were utterly unlawful , &c. here are two christian authorities , one from the theatre and the other the pulpit , of a contrary opinion to mr. collier , viz. that plays in themselves are an innocent diversion . and here i must look back to one argument of the fathers against the theatres . st. chrysostome , to oppose the worldly diversion of the stage , tells us how st. paul exhorts us to rejoyce in the lord. he said , in the lord , not in the devil . and st. ierome on the same subject says , some are delighted with the satisfactions of this world , some with the circus , and some with the theatre . but the psalmist commands every good man to delight himself in the lord. these precepts of the psalmist , and the apostle , are indeed the highest duty of christianity . but as we are but men , 't is a duty too weighty to lye upon humane weakness , without any intervals of some lighter alleviations of the cares and labours of life . were life to be intirely divided between the prayer-book , the psalter and the plough , rejoycing in god is that exercise of piety , requiring so intent and exalted a meditation , that the weakness of humane nature would hardly be able to keep up the soul on so sublime a flight , without flagging her wing , and devotion so severely tyed to the altar , i fear , would make but a very lean sacrifice . but both the psalmist and the apostle did not extend this command to rejoyce only in the lord ; no , their commission reach'd not so far , they neither did , nor could deliver such a precept , because their lord and master , our blessed saviour himself , would have refuted them . for to give us an instance , that temporal and worldly mirth and rejoycing has received a warrant of authority even from christ himself ; we need but read how christ and his mother were called to the marriage in cana of galiiee , where his beginning of miracles was turning water into wine . here we may innocently and modestly presume to suppose , at this marriage festival , when their wine , as the text expresses , was drank out , that cheerefulness and mirth went round with the glass , not spiritual mirth , for that wants not the juice of the grape . and here undoubtedly our saviour would neither have been himself a guest at the feast , or heightned the mirth at the price of a miracle , had either a cheerful glass , a sociable rejoycing , or the innocent delights of life been sinful and unlawful . nor can the end of this miracle , exprest in the text , viz. the manifesting forth his glory , and making his disciples believe on him , be any argument to weaken my assertion . for 't were even impiety to suggest , that our saviour could want occasion or opportunities of exerting the god , to need a poor choice for the ground of a miracle . next , let us examine one of the most capital offences of dramatick poetry arraign'd both by the philosophers , fathers of the church , and the son of the church , mr. collier , viz. the raising the passions , &c. here we 'll begin with tragedy . tragedy indeed does raise the passions ; and its chief work is to raise compassion : for the great entertainment of tragedy , is the moving that tenderest and noblest humane passion , pity . and what is it we pity there , but the distresses , calamities and ruins of honour , loyalty , fidelity or love , &c. represented in some true or fictitious , historick or romantick subject of the play ? thus virtue , like religion by its martyrdom , is rendred more shining by its sufferings , and the impression we receive from tragedy , is only making us in love with virtue , ( for pity is a little kin to love ) and out of love with vice ; for at the same time we pity the suffering virtue , it raises our aversions and hate to the treachery or tyranny in the tragedy , from whence and by whom that virtue suffers . how often is the good actor ( as for instance , the iago in the moor of venice , or the countess of notingham in the earl of essex ) little less than curst for acting an ill part ? such a natural affection and commiseration of innocence does tragedy raise , and such an abhorrence of villany . and that this is truly the entertainment of tragedy , we come on purpose to see virtue made lovely , and vice made odious . that expectation brings us to the play ; and if we find not that very expectation answer'd , instead of any satisfactory delight we receive , or any applause we return , we explode and hiss our entertainment ; the play sinks , and the performance is lost , and we come away with this disrelish as to think both our money and time ill spent . 't is true a character that has not all the perfections of true honour or innocence , nay a vicious one sometimes may move compassion . but then 't is not the vice or blemishes in the character that moves that pity . for instance in the orphan , we pity the vicious and libertine polydore that lyes with his brother's wife . but when do we pity him ? when he 's touch'd with that sense and horror of his guilt , that he gives up his life , ( pick 's a feign'd quarrel with the injur'd castalio , and runs upon his sword ) to expiate . 't is not the criminal but the penitent , the virtue not vice in the character moves the compassion . thus we pity timon of athens , not as the libertine nor prodigal , but the misanthropos : when his manly and generous indignation against the universal ingratitude of manking makes him leave the world and fly the society of man ; when his open'd eyes and recollected virtue can stand the temptation of a treasure he found in the woods , enough to purchase his own estate again : when all this glittering mine of of gold has not charm to bribe him back into a hated world , to the society of villains , hypocrites and flatterers . we pity the evandra too , his mistress , not for the vice and frailty in her character , but for that generous gratitude to the founder of her fortunes , that she sells all she has in the world , and brings it all in jewels to relieve the distresses of timon ; and what heightens our pity , is , that she follows him , not for a criminal or wanton conversation with him : nay , what 's yet greater , she can quit all the vanities and temptations of life , and with an equal contempt of jewels and gold , can embrace his voluntary poverty , eat roots , drink water , and dye with him . however , if the pitying part is not the main offence , there 's another more dreadful danger from tragedy . for as his minutius foelix , upon that subject , tells us , sometimes a luscious actor shall whine you into love , and give the disease that he counterfeits . mr. collier himself is more at large upon this play-house danger : for he concludes his book with this last argument to prove the unlawfulness of plays , viz. were the stage in a condition to wipe off all her other imputations , there are two things behind which would stick upon them , and have an ill effect upon the audience . the first is their dilating so much upon the argument of love. the subject is treated home , and in the most tender and passionate manner imaginable &c. these love representations , oftentimes call up the spirits and set them at work. the play is acted over again in the sense of fancy , and the first imitation becomes a model . love has generally a party within ; and when the wax is prepar'd the impression is easily made . thus the disease of the stage grows catching . it throws its amours among the company ; and forms these passions , when it does not find them , &c. i don't say the stage fells all before them , and disables the whole audience : 't is a hard battle where none escapes . however their triumphs and their trophies are unspeakable . neither need we much wonder at the matter . they are dangerously prepar'd for conquest , and empire . there 's nature , and passion , and life , in all the circumstances of their action . their declamation , their mein , their gestures and their equipage , are moving and significant . now when the subject is agreeable , a lively representation , and a passionate way of expression , make wild work , and have a strong force upon the blood and temper . i cannot well understand what mr. collier means ( and i-fear , he don't over-well understand himself , ) in all this last paragraph . but perhaps he design'd it more for rapsody than reason ; and so 't is no great matter whether it be intelligible or not . for all this nature , passion , life and action ; declamation , mien , gesture , and equipage are purely the actors , and by making such wild work in the blood and temper , and felling so many of the audience before them , plainly tells us , that these unspeakable triumphs and trophies , conquest and empire are all the actors and actresses and the cupids darts come all from their own eyes and charms , and consequently the audiences captivated hearts are all their own ; the enamour'd gentlemen in the pit , and the gay ladies in the boxes , are these victorious players most passionate humble servants . this unspeakable play-house victory , i am afraid is a piece of news that wants confirmation . for as to the men-players , i dare swear for 'em , that all the feminine trophies our triumphant young fellows of both play-houses can boast , is not enough to buy them sword-knots and crevatestrings . and for the ladies of the stage , with all the advantage of paint , plume , and candle-light ; i do not hear they are so very over-stockt with idolaters , or make any such general slaughter-work amongst the audience before them . but for once , we 'll wave this interpretation of mr. collier , and screw his foremention'd rapsody to the sense of his minutius , viz. that the charms of the counterfeit whining love , separate from the charms of the whining lover , shall infuse a true love-sick disease into the audience . now 't is worth one's pains to inquire by what wonderful operation , and by what unaccountable conveyance , this counterfeit disease must infuse the true disease into the audience . first , here 's pygmalion's fable infinitely out-done ; for the pygmalion here does not animate the image , but the image the pygmalion . but let that pass . how then must this love-disease be contracted ! why , thus . here 's a young beautiful actress on the stage , we 'll suppose , by virtue of the attracting graces of carriage , movement , address , tenderness , languishment , and what not , shall make a man fall in love. in love ! with whom ? not the mistress of all these attracting graces ; no , that 's the natural way of falling in love , and that 's none of the operation here . those graces that in any other woman but an actress shall win hearts for her self , shall here have a quite contrary effect . you shall go off as cold as a chaste ioseph to all these visible charms and charmer that gave you the fire , and be all in a flame for some body else . these are indeed unspeakable stage-triumphs and trophies ! thus the charms of one woman wins a heart for another . i have heard indeed of celadon's kissing his mistress upon another woman's lips , but that was nothing to this ; he kiss'd his mistress only in imagination , but here the lover is captivated in true earnest . really the ladies in our boxes stand highly obliged to the women in the play-house , and are in all honour bound to support the stage . for instead of exercising any dint of charms of their own to get lovers , they keep their deputies on the stage to do the drudgery of conquest , and carry off the prize themselves . one thing i would willingly advise mr. collier , viz. to sit chair-man himself at a natural philosophy lecture , and read a little learnedly upon this unspeakable way of catching the disease of love : otherwise i am afraid 't is such a weak-faith'd age we live in , that all his metaphysical divinity will hardly convince 'em of this superlative operation of love. besides , if his minutius , and all the other primitive doctors much of the same opinion , could plead infallibility , and their argument were unquestionable : nevertheless they would hardly carry mr. collier's cause . for if whining love is this unspeakable conqueror , and love never whines but in our tragedies , where the virtuous distress'd love is the darling in the play ; consequently if a man should catch the disease from a iaffeir and belvidira , or a marius and lavinia , or any such character , such an infection would rather recommend then condemn the stage , not corrupt but reform the audience , by refining that noble passion , so depraved in this age , from coldness and libertinism , to fidelity and virtue . well , if the infection from tragedy strikes not altogether so mortal , let us examine the more pestilential air of comedy , and search if possible , which way the more fatal poison enters there . first , then for the subject of comedy , 't is the representation of humane life in a lower class of conversation ; we visit the palace for tragedy , and range the town for comedy , viz. for the follies , the vices , the vanities and the passions of mankind , which we meet with every day . in short , the comedian , may join with the satyrist , quicquid agunt homines , votum , timor , ira , voluptas , gaudia , discursus , nostri est farrago libelli . but to confine our selves into as narrow a compass as we can , under these three heads , viz. folly , knavery , and love , we may not improperly rank the whole characters in comedy . the fools we may divide into three classes , viz. the cudden , the cully and the fop. the cudden a fool of god almighties making ; the cully , of man's making ; and the fop , of his own making . for the first of these fools the cudden , the sr. martin marral , or the sr. arthur addle , &c. i hope the audience is in no danger of taking taint from these characters in comedy ; the made fool may be a catching disease , but not the born one . for the second , one of the made fools , the cully . here 's the least danger of a contagion that way ; for that disease is rather cured than catch'd from the stage . the country ' squire or the knight , the prodigal or the bubble , &c. either cozen'd by sharpers , spungers , dicers and bullies ; or jilted by jades , or snared into any other ruinous folly of this kind ; in exposing these characters , the stage does the work of a philosophy school , it carries the whole force of precept and instruction to warn unwary youth from the snares and quick-sands of debauchery . it points him out the several harpies that devour him , and instead of taking taint from the stage , the very sight of the plague-spots not gives , but expels the contagion . for the third fool , the fop ; this indeed of all fools is the most incorrigible . for the cudden wants no good will to be wiser , and would learn wit if he were capable of it . the cully indeed is capable of being taught wit , but seldom learns it , till he has too well paid for his learning ; sometimes perhaps at no less price than his ruin , when he buys the knowledge of finding himself a chouse , by the same experimental wisdom as sir philip sydney's painter learnt to draw battle-work from musidorus , viz. when his hands were cut off . but of all fools the fop is the blindest ; his faults are his perfections , whilst he looks upon himself as the compleatest of courtiers and gentlemen ; and by that means perhaps , tho' never to be cured of the fondness he has for his own tawdry picture ; however , in all places in the world he will never play the narcissus at the theatres , nor fall much in love with his own painted face , in a sir courtly's or a lord foppington's looking-glass . this i will positively say , he that does not bring the fop to the play-house , shall never carry it from thence . and in all the stage fop-pictures , the play-house bids so fair for mending that fool too , that if the good will fails , the fault 's not in the mirror , the hand that holds it , or the light 't is sets at , but the perverse and deprav'd opticks that cannot see themselves there . as to the second class , &c. the villain , the vsurer , the cheat , the pandar , the bully , the flatterer , and all the rest of their brethren in iniquity ; there 's so little danger from all their stage-pictures , that there 's here no fear of playing the narcissus in the glass ; and therefore we 'll pass to the lewd love-distempers in comedy ; and see what mortality the more dangerous contagion and malignity from these counterfeit diseases may produce . first then , to shew how very little influence the stage-characters and representations of whoredom and debauchery carry to the temptation of the audience , or the corruption of manners ; or to make lewdness look lovely even to the very practisers of it : let us consider , that , he that loves whoredom , loves the harlot purely as the harlot , the sin when it comes singly , in puris naturalibus , with as little a train at the heels of it as possible . for no man loves the levity and fickleness of the harlot , the falseness of her oaths and tears , the profusness of her vanity , the insults of her pride , or the mercynariness of her lust. every man , nay , the greatest libertine himself would have a mistress , ( if such a creature of that kind can be found in the world ) that brings love for love. the man that loves the wanton , loves not the traitress nor the hypocrite ; the syren may be lovely , and her musick pleasing ; but we are not over-fond of her enchantments , her rocks nor her quicksands . the same argument holds on the other side : the dalilah her self loves a character of honour and fidelity in her paramour , not the looseness of the rover and the libertine : the finest gentlemen , one of them in all our comedies ; a dorimant himself is no very tempting character for a young lady to fall in love with . the veriest wanton of that sex is as much for monopoly as the other ; they care not for half hearts , a gallant divided between a lovet , a bellinda , and a harriot . 't is true , we may see a mad florimel upon a stage in love with a wild celadon , for wildness sake ; but that rara avis in terris , is hardly to be found off of the stage . now as the lovers , i mean the vicious characters of love , in our comedies are generally ( i might venture to say , all of 'em ) set forth with some of these foremention'd corruptions , viz. levity , hypocrisie , infidelity , &c. we meet the jilt , the rover , the libertine , false vows , false oaths , love for money , treason for love , or some other ther accumulated sin , more than the bare wanton , in all of them : all these therefore are so far from ensnaring or seducing the unwary auditor , those inviting charmers off of the stage by what he sees presented upon it ; that they are rather the objects of his aversion . the objects of his aversion ! have a care what you say : no , no , says dr. collier at my elbow , don't mistake your self lactantius his testimony in his divine institutions , dedicated to constantine the great , shall confute that argument . the debauching of virgins , and the amours of strumpets are the subject of comedy . and here the rule is , the more . rhetorick the more mischief , and the best poets are the worst common-wealths-men . for the harmony and ornament of the composition , serves only to recommend the argument , to fortifie the charme , and engage the memory . let us avoid therefore these diversions least somewhat of the malignity seize us . well , to answer both the primitive dr. and the modern one together , i fancy some very good and substantial reasons , and proof may be produc'd , that the ornament and composition , the poet and rhetorick may make these amours of strumpets , debauchery , &c. a delectable entertainment to the auditor that hears them upon the stage ; and yet neither recommend the argument , nor leave any charm to corrupt him , or malignity to seize him ; but rather the quite contrary . first then , why is the jilt , the strumpet , or the adultress , an entertaining character in comedy ? why ! because those very characters afford the most ample matter in the conduct of the play , to gain one of the great ends of comedy , and that which chiefly attracts the audience thither , viz. mirth . it gives occasion , matter , and subject to create the laughter of the audience . the jilt for instance , with her windings and turnings , her wheedles to draw in her cully , and her artifices to secure and manage him ; the false wife with her faunings and flattery , to lull the husbands jealousie . her starts and her fears at every danger and alarme , her whole arts to cover the hypocrite ; and her surprize and confusion at her detection and discovery ( for comedy it self does that dramatick justice to bring her to shame , if no other punishment ) as they afford plot design , and contrivance , &c. are the highest jest of comedy . and 't is for that , and that only charme that these characters find so general a reception on the stage . and that this is truly the only charme , is manifest from the success of those comedies . 't is not the lewdness it self in a vicious character , that recommends it to the audience , but the witty turnes , adventures and surprizes in those characters that give it reception . for without this , the play drops and dies . and to shew you , that a vicious character , quatenus as vicious , is no darling of the audience ; but that the mirth only that it raises , is the delight of comedy ; let an ingenious author raise the same mirth upon a virtuous foundation , and that comedy shall be as hug'd a favourite as the other . for instance in a sr. solmon single and several other comedies , where the love is all virtuous . in fine , 't is the wit of the composure , not the vice in the composure , gives life to the comedy . a dull representation of vice or virtue , shall be equally hist off the stage . and tho' even vice and debauchery in a theatrick representation may find applause , 't is never the more a closet darling for being a stage one . nay rather one the contrary , much less the darling of the closet . for the publick exposure of debauchery , with all her treacheries , wills , delusions , impostures and snares , has more of the antidote than the poyson . there 's a great deal of difference betwixt likeing the picture and the substance . a man may be very well pleas'd with a forest work piece of tapestry , with the lyons , the bears , and the wolves , &c. but not over fond of their company in flesh and blood ; and confequently the very worst jilt may be the minion upon the stage , and , as i said before , our aversion off it . nay , i dare be so bold , as to tell this angry gentleman , as highly as he resents the cuckolding of aldermen and quality in our comedies , that i could find him matter of very good instruction , from a character of this kind , in a very ingenious author , though not much in mr. colliers favour . for example , if the reverend gentlemen of the fur would be but half as kind to a play-house as a pin-makers-hall , and step for edification , but so far towards westminster , as to see the old batchelor ; i doubt not but an isaac fondlewife would be a very seasonable monitor to reverend city sixty , to warn against the marrying to sixteen . nor can i think it such a scandalous part of the dramatick poet ; but rather a true poetick justice , to expose the unreasonableness of such superannuated dotage , that can blindly think or hope , that a bare chain of gold has magick enough in the circle to bind the fidelity of so unequal a match , a match so contrary to the holy ordinance of matrimony ; and an itch at those years that deserves the severest lash of the stage . and if an author would pick out such a character for a little stage satyr , where can he meet with it but amongst the city or court quality ? such inequality of marriages are rarely to be found , but under the roofs of honour ; for so antiquated a lover , ( the least he can do ) must bring a coach and six , to carry off such a young bride . one thing mightily offends this divine author , viz. that our modern plays make our libertines of both sexes , persons of figure and quality , fine gentlemen and ladies of fashion , a fault utterly unpractis'd by the ancient poets : for terence and plautus his strumpets are little people . now this is so far from a fault in our comedies , that there 's a necessity of those characters , and a vertue in that choice . for as the greatest and best part of our audience are quality , if we would make our comedies instructive in the exposing of vice , we must not lash the vices at wapping to mend the faults at westminster . and as the instructive design of the play must look as well to the cautioning of virtue from the ensnaring conversation of vice , as the lashing of vice it self . thus the court libertine must be a person of wit and honour , and have all the accomplishments of a fine gentleman . ( the court ladies receive no visits from ruffians . ) besides there needs no cautioning against a don iohn ; every fool would run from a devil with a visible cloven-foot . that devil therefore must have all the face and charms of honour , when it would seduce honour ; and therefore 't is those very pictures the stage must present . the plain-dealer speaks very significantly to this purpose , and very much justifies this choice of characters for plays . who betrays you , over-reaches or cheats you , but your friend ? your enemy is not trusted with your affairs . who violates the honour of your wife , but your friend ? your enemy is not admitted into your family . who therefore are those dangerous friends of quality , but their bosome conversation ? and who that conversation but their equality ; and therefore for an instructive draught for comedy , who so proper to sit to her pencil as quality ? besides , comedy opens a wrong door to let in a taint of lust. lust is the product thought and meditation ; not the child of laughter . the auditor must have a much more serious face than he wears at a light comedy , to take so deep and so fatal an impression . nay , if we could suppose that the jest of a comedy shall open his laughing mouth so wide as to let down a lust like a witches ball of pinns ; or rather that a speaking image in a comedy shall have the same conceptionary force upon us , as the european picture at the mauritanean princesses beds-feet , that made her bring forth a white child ; yet still the picture in comedy , like that in the ladies bed-chamber , does not hang long enough for any such conceptionary impression : for besides twenty other equally diverting objects in the same comical lantscape ; here 's the whole stage new furnish'd every day ; and a new collection of painting for the next entertainment . the venus yesterday is the diana to day , the iuno to morrow , all a quite contrary set of imagery . and if the movement , the gesture , the equipage , have any such dangerous force , here 's not one movement one day but what 's quite alter'd the next ; and so change upon change , &c. so that in the infinite variety of the stage , here 's no dwelling upon one darling object to run any such danger of infection : for the whole stage-mercury is too volatile to fix . but if the stage had any such magical power , ( for no natural one will reach it ) over poor weak mortality to enchant , corrupt , confound , or what else mr. collier pleases ; we 'll try the experiment but in one play : for instance , we 'll take one of the loosest , and to answer the temptation , one of the loveliest of those libertine pictures , mr. dorimant , we named before ; and granting the ladies love proof against such a libertine character ; we 'll suppose some young mad spark as much charm'd with this lovely dorimant , as this divine speculator can fancy him , and consequently shall catch the true disease from this amiable counterfeit ; pray which of all the ignes fatui , in mr. dorimant's character shall be the misleading fire ? for here in one play , in the presentation of poor three hours , we have , first , mr. dorimant's cooling intriegu , all his retreating steps from the tiresome embraces of an old mistress , madam lovet ; next his start of love , an amour , en passant , into the arms of belinda ; and to conclude the character , his last honourable passion for the virtuous mistress harriot . now i say , to which of all these three , shall this mad sparks tarantula dance ? ( for to all three together is a little too mad a gallop : ) if to the first : and consequently ( to copy from the original ) he goes home weaned from an old darling sin , and turns off some bosom dalilah ; if our spark catches fire from this part of the wild dorimant , i hope , our ecclesiastical censor will sind no sin in so harmless an infection . if to the second : if he takes fire from dotrimant's frailty with belinda ; there indeed he may want some church-buckets to quench him ; 't is high time for all hands for his conversion . but if he sums up the character , and copies the whole reforming rover , quits , like dorimant , his old sour grapes and forbidden fruit , for the charming sweets of a chaste harriot , and finishes the picture in the comedy , in an honourable wedlock passion ; then i hope this reverend corrigidore of unruly love , will remit the lash , and hold his whip hand . thus you see what boutefeu does mr. collier make of a poor player , that with the intoxication of a three hours tale of love , shall put a man not only into a whole nights pain of it , but possibly to a total corruption of his whole mass of blood , and the very enflaming of an unquencheable feavor . what quixot wind-mills can an enthusiast raise , and then battle the gyant of his own creation ! the second of the two things he has to object against the stage , is , their encouraging revenge . what is more common then duells and quarrelling in their characters of figure ? those practices which are infamous in reason , capital in law , and damnable in religion , are the credit of the stage , &c. but this subject he tells you he had discours'd of before , — viz. p. 67. our saviour ( he says ) tells us we must forgive until seventy times seven . that is , we must never be tired out of clemency and good nature . he has taught us to pray for the forgiveness of our own sins , only upon the condition of forgiving others : here is no exception upon the repetition of the fault or the quality of the provocation . i shall not dispute upon our saviours precepts of forgiveness , but acknowledge it possibly , the highest characteristick of christianity , and a perfection that comes nearest to the great original of mercy , that deliver'd it . but to let my reader see upon what stress , mr. collier enforces his scriptural arguments , we 'll examine , what consequence must follow the universal stretch of a divine precept . by these divine commands of our saviour to the literal extent of the precept : in the first place i must neither sue in law nor equity for the recovery of a just right , or the reparation of any wrong whatever . for the prosecution of law is directly opposite to this forgiving doctrine . so here 's westminster-hall shut up immediately . nay , if the precept of god obliges me to the same resignation of my coat to the thief that has rob'd me of my cloak , i am so far from licens'd or authoriz'd to take that christian revenge against the offender , viz. the prosecution of publick justice upon him ; that the very christian judge , instead of arraigning the robber , the cheat or the felon at the bar , for the breach of our humane law ; should rather stand obliged to arraign the prosecutor for the breach of a divine one . so here 's the old-bayly shut up too . nay here 's the very law it self arraign'd , as little less then antichristian for punishing that injury , which the express law of god , even seventy seven times over , obliges us to forgive . i believe this author as bold a sermonist , and as hardy a hero of the rockost , as his perswasive to consideration has prov'd him ; nevertheless has hardly courage enough to preach this doctrine to the gentlemen of st. stephens chappel . nay , by this forgiving unrevenging doctrine push'd home , here 's passive obedience and non-resistance set up with a vengeance , not only in submission to soveraign tyranny to lord it over us , but even to every little diminitive arbitrary thief and ruffain , the lord and master of my purse , my house , my coat , &c. for at this rate of forgiveness , here 's a general goal-delivery , newgate doors set open , oppression , injustice , theft , rapine and villany let loose , and the homo homini lupus at free discretion to spoil , ravage , and over-run the whole world , whilst the meek , humble , resigning , forgiving christian is the tame bleating sheep before him . the gentleman thief at this rate will be as great as an almanzor himself , and may plume in his vanity . i am as free as nature first made man , before the servitude of laws began ; when wild in woods the noble savage ran . in short , how can any man of sense extort such rigorous constructions of the divine commands ; as if the god of concord and peace could set up a doctrine of christianity utterly destructive , not only to all civil government , but even to human society it self . mr. collier is almost as angry at the vanity , as at the greater sins of the stage ; and passes his vote for their exclusion , even for that offence alone . but if he 'll make a fair distributive justice to all other vanities , i am afraid he 'll set up another doctrine almost as pernicious to government as the first . for if the vanity-shop the play-house must go down ; pray let the vanityshops the embroiderer , the laceman , the featherman , the ribband-weaver , cum multis aliis come in for a snack ; for there 's not one of all those professions but is utterly useless to the real wants of life , and perhaps deals in the more dangerous vanities ; for the stage vanities may only raise an innocent tear or a laugh or so ; but these other ther vanities are very often the unhappy nurses of pride , a more capital fault . i confess , a good stretch of this argument for the general retrenchment of vanities would make a terrible city slaughter , and almost as many beggers as the stretch of the other would thieves : however , 't is but dr. collier's preaching them another healing text , being a second perswasive , to poverty , like his first , to consideration , to alleviate their sorrows , and soften their losses , by assuring them , that the poor shall inherit the kingdom of heaven . the remarks upon king arthur and amphitryon examined . to come now to his particular remarks upon the modern plays , i shall begin by seniority , viz. with mr. dryden , and examine his offences in that most capital sin of profaneness and blasphemy . he tells you in king arthur , mr. dryden makes a strange jumble and hodg podg of matters , angels , cupids , syrens , and devils , &c. the hell of heathenism , and the hell of revelation , &c. and why are truth and fiction , heathenism and christianity , the most serious and the most trifling things blended together , and thrown into one form of diversion ? why is all this done unless it be to ridicule the whole , and make one as incredible as the other ? not at all ; learned sir but because his betters have done it before him ; and mr. dryden thinks it no scorn to follow his elder brother gamaliel mr. milton in his paradise lost. four infernal rivers that disgorge into the burning lake their baleful streams ; abhorred styx , the flood of deadly hate , sad acheron , of sorrow black and deep ; cocytus named of lamentation loud , hear'd in the woful stream , fierce phlegeton , whose waves of torrent fire enflame the rage , &c. parad. lost , b. 2. is not here the fictitious rivers of acheron , cocytus , styx , and phlelgeton , running as directly into the revelation lake of brimstone , as mr. collier is running out of sense , reason , and good nature , to charge such an innocent poetica licentia with so barbarous a design , as to ridicule the revelation , and render christianity , and all that 's serious and sacred , incredible . but to proceed with our remarker , mr. dryden's airy and earthy spirits discourse of the first state of devils , of the chief of their revolt , their punishment and impostures . this , mr. dryden , ( he says ) very religiously calls a fairy way of writing , which depends wholly on the force of imagination . epist. ded. what then , is the fall of angels a romance ? has it no basis of truth , nothing to support it but strength of fancy , and poetick invention ! after he had mentioned hell , devils , &c. and given us a sort of bible description of those formidable things , &c. i am surprized to hear him call it a fairy kind of writing . is the history of tophet no better proved than that of styx ; is the lake of brimstone , and that of phlegeton alike dreadful ; and have we as much reason to believe the torments of titius and prometheus , as those of the devils and damn'd ? these are lamentable consequences ! and yet i cannot see how the poet can avoid them . [ not see ? no , 't is impossible he should , who so blind as — ] but setting aside the dedication , the representation it self is scandalously irreligious , &c. to see hell thus play'd with is a mighty refreshment to a lewd conscience , and a byassed understanding ; it heartens the young libertine , and confirms the well-wishers to atheism , and makes vice bold and enterprizing ; such diversions serve to dispel the gloom , and gild the horrors of the shades below , and are a sort of ensurance against damnation . one would think these poets went upon a certainty , and could demonstrate a scheme of infidelity . thus he runs on for almost forty lines more , all upon this head. i would not have made so long a quotation , only to shew my reader what a iehu champion of religion he is , and how fast and how far he can drive at a breath . to give him his due , he has a mighty copiousness of words ; and to do him right , in the use he makes of 'em , he 's always as liberal as he is rich . i remember an author that tells us , words are the wise man's counters , and the fool 's ready money . now , if this learned master of arts and language , shall be mistaken in his charge against mr. dryden's epistle dedicatory , and mr. dryden's fairy writing , upon full examination , instead of so frightful a goblin , should prove but an innocent harmless spright , and consequently all this effusion of rhetorick should be prodigally thrown away in waste ; however , this plain dealing author gives him that comfort , viz. that his silver eloquence is all current sterling , and not gilt brass . well then , to give mr. dryden's fairys a little examination . because mr. dryden allusively , and very emphatically so , calls his description of hell , and discourse of devils , &c. a fairy way of writing , and as such , it depends upon the force of imagination , that therefore he says , ( or means it ) that the subject is fairy land he writes upon ; that hell is but phantom ; the fall of angels , romance ; and damnation but chimera ; for a fairy way of writing , our author tells you , can be nothing but a history of fiction , a subject of imaginary beings , such as never had any existence in time or nature . good heaven ! how perversly does this angry gentleman scribble ! if the infernal powers are invisible , the devils incorporeal spirits , nay , the very locality of hell it self , and the materiality of the avenging flames , are things disputable amongst the most learned theologists . and if a discourse of hell or devils , with this gentleman's leave , is a subject that a poet may presume to handle , ( his leave , indeed , we ought to beg in this case ; for if treating a mahomet or mufti too boldly , by this author's innuendo's is a profanation of the true divinity , who knows but an intrusion into the affairs of hell , by the same rate of presumption , may be peeping into a sanctum sanctorum ) his leave therefore first beg'd , if mr. dryden may presume to speak a word or two of hell , &c. ( as there 's scarce a poet , either divine or profane that has not presumed upon the same subject ; ) pray let me ask this theological critick , if a poetical draught or imagery of hell and devils , though drawn as near the life as the whole bible light can set them , and done by the ablest master skill of man , can be any thing but a piece of fairy pencil work , all the colours , the features , all by the force of imagination . for how can incorporeal and immaterial beings be set forth to the eye of human apprehension without an array of form and shape ; the ghost must walk with a body , the fiend with a cloven foot , or something of that kind ; or the apparition's lost : and what 's all these but a fairy creation of fancy in the very propperest name he could give it ? nay , in much the same kind of language does not the scripture it self all along speak of almighty god ? what is the eye , the ear , the hand , or the face of god , the common scripture-phrase , any thing more than mere notion ; that infinity and omnipotence whom the skys cannot contain , thus humbly drawn into that human like figure in miniature , purposely adapted to those short-sighted opticks , the narrow capacity of man. but to return to our king arthur , after above 20 lines of the serious consideration of eternal punishment , and the frightful state of the damn'd , &c. let us see , says he , how mr. dryden represents those unhappy spirits , and their place of abode ! why very entertainingly ! those that have a true tast for atheism were never better regaled . one would think by this play , that the devils were mere mormoes and bugbears , fit only to fright children and fools . they rally upon hell and damnation , with a great deal of air and pleasantry ; and appear like robin good-fellow , only to make the company laugh . philidel . is called a puling sprite , and why so ? for this pious reason , because , he trembles at the yawning gulf of hell , nor dares approach the flames , least he should singe his gaudy silken wings . he sighs when he should plunge a soul in sulphur , as with compassion toucht of foolish man. the answer is , what a half devil 's he ? you see how admirably it runs all upon the christian scheme ? sometimes they are half devils , and sometimes hopeful devils , and what you please to make sport with . grimbald is afraid of being whoop'd through hell at his return , for miscarrying in his business . it seems there is great leasure for diversion ! there 's whooping in hell , instead of weeping and wailing . our author , you may observe , almost every where , lashes the poets with a twig of their own birch ; his arguments are every where all high flights of rapture , only his poetical field of fancy is a little too much over-run with the savine and worm-wood ; the rankness of the soil is most fruitful in those bitterer sort of vegetives . but in his last remark , his divine pegasus , as high as he generally flyes , is a little jaded . and perhaps his railery in this place has more of the robin goodfellow then mr. dryden's ; and i am certain has more reason to set us a laughing . for i dare to swear , he is that particular dissenter from the general opinion of every reasonable judge , upon this quotation from mr. dryden ; that neither the character of philidel , though but mr. dryden's own fairy creation , or those pious reasons , as he calls 'em , the before quoted lines , have any thing of that extraordinary air of pleasantry , to set either the atheist agog , or the company a tittering . and here i must desire him once again to read milton , and tell us if his paradise lost has not character'd the whole body of the apostate angels , animating each other into an obstinacy and emulation in wickedness , glorying in the very cause of their fall , their rebellion against god , though in the midst of their torments they suffer for 't better to rule in hell than serve in heaven . reproaching every infernal faintness , daring each other in every new and hardier insult against god , and priding and pluming in every success in their machinations against hated man. nay , does not cowley , in his divine poem of davideis make his infernal envy ( a copy from the original ) speak in the same dialect . — dares none attempt what becomes furies : are ye grown benum'd with fear or virtues sprightless cold , you who were once , i 'm sure so brave and bold ! oh my ill chang'd condition , oh my fate ! did i lose heaven for this ! at thy dread anger the fixt world shall shake , and frighted nature her own laws forsake . do thou but threat , loud storms shall make reply , and thunder eccho't to the trembling sky . heaven's gilded troops shall flutter here and there , leaving their boasted songs tuned to a sphear ; nay , their god too — for fear he did , when we took noble arms against his tyranny ; so noble arms , and in a cause so great , that triumphs we deserve for our defeat . there was a day , oh might i see 't again , thô he had fiercer flames to thrust us in . now with what egregious partiality does he tell us , that what has stood the test of an age in both these shining authors , has met an universal reception and applause , even in divine poetry , yet should now start up for such an impardonable impiety , such a titillation to atheism , and what not . nobis non licet esse tam disertis . dramatick poetry must not dare to handle so dangerous a noli me tangere . hitherto mr. collier has only picqueer'd , skirmisht with a few stragling blasphemies , but he makes a pitcht battle against the whole play of amphitryon . and what does he infer from all this ; but that mr. dryden is blaspheming , even god himself . to what purpose does iupiter appear , but in the shape of iehovah ! why are the incomnunicable attributes burlesqued , and omnipotence applyed to acts of infamy ! to what end can such horrible stuff as this serve , unless to expose the notion , and extinguish the belief of a deity . the perfections of god are himself ; to ridicule his attributes and being , are but two words for the same thing . these attributes are bestow'd upon iupiter with great prodigality , and afterwards execrably outraged . the case being thus , the cover of an idol is too thin a pretence to screen the blasphemy . now to wash off this stain , for 't is a a black one , however 't is but laid in water colours , mr. collier falsly charges mr. dryden with dressing his iuipiter in the shape of iehovah , for he gives him not one trapping , plume , or feather , that the heathens had not given him before . but to call over his whole black list of blasphemy and debauchery together , through that whole play , iupiter says in one place , fate is , what i by virtue of omnipotence have made it : and power omnipotent can do no wrong . i swear , that were i jupiter this night , i would renounce my heaven to be amphitryon . i would not lose this night to be master of the universe , a whole eternity were well emploid to love thy each perfection as i ought . i would owe nothing to a name so dull , as husband is , but to a lover all . that name of wife and marriage is poison , to the dearest ioys of love. whom more then heav'n and all the world i love . mercury , he calls him — king of the gods. in what form will your almighty-ship be pleased to transform your self to night . you have need of all your omnipotence , and all your godship . the devil take jupiter for inventing that hard hearted merciless knobbby wood , a crab-tree-cudgel . here indeed , mr. dryden has furnisht him ( out of his own old heathen heraldry ) with omnipotence and arbiter of fate . but as to the creator of nature , all the functions of providence in his hand , and his being described with the majesty of the true god , i can find nothing of that ; but no great matter , mr. collier draws up his plea like a bill in chancery , 't is not given upon oath nor honour , and half truth , half falsehood , is secundum artem . now any man that reads this almighty-ship and godship , that mr. dryden from the mouth of his familiar mercury gives this iupiter , would swear that the majesty of the true god , was the least thought of in this amphytrion , a god-ship that his own pimp can wish at the devil . nay , though an omnipotent power has been ascribed to iupiter by the heathen theology , yet mr. dryden is so tender of offending any over curious christian , that he purposely burlesqnes his titular attribute to this almightyship , to take off all shaddow of such offence . besides , does not the scripture over and over give the stile of gods to all the heathen idols , though but stocks and stones ; not that the divine inspiration in so expressing it in holy writ , could be supposed to give it as their due , any more then mr. dryden can be supposed to give iupiter his god-ship as his due . and if from mr. colliers own authority , the perfections of god are himself , the same liberty that may give him his titular god-head , may give him his titular perfections too . however , as mr. collier sets up for a play-house scavinger , he 's resolved to sweep cleanest where there 's least dirt. the reader is to understand , that mr. collier is not so much angry at mr. dryden's choice of his subject , as his mismanagement of it : and upon that quarrel , he spends his artillery against him in four long pages together ; and to mend all mr. dryden's capital faults in his iupiter . he tells us , that plautus was the only bold heathen that brought iupiter upon the stage , he wrote upon the same unaccountable design ( his adultery with alcmena ; ) but plautus his methods of persuite are very different ; his iupiter does not solicit in scandalous language , nor flourish upon his lewdness , nor endeavours to set it up for the fashion . plautus had some regard to the height of iupiter's character , and the opinion of his country , and the restraints of modesty , &c. as for the greek tragediens , they mention iupiter in terms of magnificence and repect , and make his actions and his nature all of a piece , &c. virgil's iupiter is always great and solemn , and keeps up the port of the deity . 't is true , homer does not guard the idea with that exactness , but with all , never sinks the character into obscenity . well , and for not following these elder sons of apollo , in his treatment of iupiter , mr. dryden stands irreparably condemned : and to have fenced against all vengeances hanging over his head , he should have modelled his play by mr. collier's plan , viz. he should have had plautus his regard to the height of jupiter's character , that is to say , given him every individual attribute , and twice as many more as he has given him already ; according to the opinion of plautus his country , viz. with all the adoration of the heathens that worshipped him for their true supreme god. in all the terms of magnificence and respect , with a homage as great as if we were the true god of heav'n in earnest , keeping up his whole port of a deity , &c. pluming him with every feather of his whole god-head . this iupiter thus glorified , should set out to court amphytrion's wise , viz. for a nights lodging , in no scandalous language , in all the softest modestest divine courtship , no sinking his character into obscenity , all wrapt up so clean , his actions and his nature , the adulterer and the god , all of a piece . good gracious heaven , has not this enthusiast the whole zeal of an oliver's porter , and bids as fair to succeed him in his moor-field pallace ? this is the innocent , and mr. drydens the blasphemous amphytrion . how ingeniously mr. collier can out-blow the satyr in the fable ! mr. dryden's amphytrion is all a piece of blasphemy for giving too much of the god to iupiter , and has no way to mend that fault but by giving him more of it . this blasphemy of amphytrion , nothing but mr. dryden's absolon and achitophel can out-doe , &c. here we have blasphemy on the top of the letter without any trouble of inference or construction . this poem runs upon all scripture names , upon suppositions of the true religion , and object of worship . here are no pagan divinities in the scheme ; so that all the athestick rallery must point upon the true god. absalom was david's natural son ; so that there 's a blot in his scutcheon , and a blemish upon his birth . the poet will make admirable use of this remark presently . this absalom , it seems , was very extraordinary in his person and performances ; mr. dryden does not certainly know how this came about , and therefore inquires of himself in the first place . whither inspired by a divinier lust , his father got him with a greater gust . this is down-right defiance of the living god! here you have the very essence and spirit of blasphemy , and the holy ghost brought in upon the most hideous occasion . i question whether the torments and despair of the damn'd dare venture at such flights as these ; they are bejond description . i pray god they may not be bejond pardon too . now are here only two unhappy words , that blow the bellows to all this fire , viz. [ inspir'd ] and [ diviner . ] inspire , especially in the verb , is so far from being only appropriated to god , that scarce that human passion , love , joy , or what not , nay , a meer start of fancy , a sudden lucky thought , but shall be said to inspire a man. is this gentleman , as sworn an enemy to all poetry , as to the dramatick , that he willfully forgets , how the poets upon all occasions invoked their muses to inspire them . nay , to go a little further , what if the devil himself has had his inspirations too , for as i take it , the old heathen oracles were of his inspiring . the spirit of false-shood , as well as truth , has had the inspiring power , without intrenching upon the prerogative of god. and though [ diviner ] is here made the epithite to lust , it makes not all to his purpose ; 't is true the expression favours a little too much of the libertine ; yet i defie all the sophistry of malice it self to mount it up to blasphemy , or to make it bear any tendency to that tremendous signification he has given it . for does not this man of letters know , that [ diviner , ] though in the comparative degree , is here infinitely less then the positive [ diviner ] only comparatively to the common raptures of lust. had it been written [ inspired with a divine lust ] it might have given an overcurious cynick some umbrage for so profane a construction , and yet even then too it would not have fully reacht the point , unless [ a divine ] had been changed to the more emphatick [ the divine . ] but here as mr. dryden has worded it , and upon the subject he speaks it , if any thing of a deity was either meant or thought of in this inspiration , 't was that of venus : and indeed , what can the genuine sense of this poor couplet honestly and fairly construed mean , than that his father inspired , or animated with a diviner or sublimer lust , got him with that more then ordinary pleasure and transports , that possibly ( for 't is not affirmatively said ) to that sprightlier vivacity to the generation of his absalom , that young heir ( to continue his supposition ) might owe all those personal graces and beauties , and all that innate bravery , and the rest of the uncommon accomplishments the poet has occasion afterwards to give him . here i must beg my reader 's pardon , that my honest defense of truth has forced me upon this unseemly explanation ; i confess again , this distick carries but a lew'd idea along with it , but so far from a blasphemy against the great god , and so unpardonable , as he fancies it , that i doubt not but a profane oath in his name , is , of the two , the greater crimen laesae majestatis dei , and that upon a fair tryal in a court of justice , the mulct of two good shillings , or as many hours in the stocks would be as much as our law could well give against him . well , this authot has the least reason of quarrelling with mr. dryden's fairy way of writing ; his way of commenting is so far beyond it , that all his own fairys are gyants , whilst mr. dryden in this very distict , is no less then leading up the old host of lucifer , and charging at the throne of god himself . at this rate of remarking , i dare not say , whither this author be inspired by a puny or a full grown sprite ; but this i must say , to come up to all the heights of that christian champion , he professes himself , undoubtedly he must have a double portion of faith and hope , to make up for his diminitive talent of charity . finis . the usefulness of the stage, to the happiness of mankind, to government, and to religion occasioned by a late book written by jeremy collier, m.a. / by mr. dennis. dennis, john, 1657-1734. 1698 approx. 160 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 77 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a35682 wing d1046 estc r12743 12277991 ocm 12277991 58549 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a35682) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 58549) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 140:11) the usefulness of the stage, to the happiness of mankind, to government, and to religion occasioned by a late book written by jeremy collier, m.a. / by mr. dennis. dennis, john, 1657-1734. collier, jeremy, 1650-1726. short view of the immorality and profaneness of the english stage. [8], 143, [1] p. printed for rich. parker ..., london : 1698. reproduction of original in british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng theater -england. theater -moral and ethical aspects. 2003-05 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-05 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2003-10 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2003-10 emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-12 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the usefulness of the stage , to the happiness of mankind . to government , and to religion . occasioned by a late book , written by ieremy collier , m. a. by mr. dennis . london , printed for rich. parker at the unicorn under the piazza of the royal exchange . 1698. introduction . the best things here below are liable to be corrupted , and the better things are in their own natures , the more mischievous are they if corrupted . for that which is super latively good in it self can be corrupted by nothing but extraordinary malice . since then the stage is acknowledg'd by its greatest adversaries to be in itself good , and instrumental to the instruction of mankind , nothing can be more unreasonable than to exhort people to ruin it instead of reforming it , since at that rate we must think of abolishing much more important establishments . yet that is apparently the design of mr collier's book , tho his malice infinitely surpassing his ability , as it certainly does , whatever some people may think of him , his performance is some what awkward . for in the introduction to his book he gives you reasons why the stage in general ought to be commended ; in the first chapters of his book he pretends to shew cause why the english stage ought to be reform'd , and in the sixth and last chapter he pretends to prove by authority that no stage ought to be allow'd . in the beginning of his book he produces his own reasons why the stage reform'd ought to be encourag'd , and in the end of the same book he brings other mens opinions to ●●ew that every stage ought to be abolish'd ; and so endeavours to ruine his own reasons by a long scroll of other peoples authorities , which is c●rtainly a pleasant condescension ; but such is the fantastick humility of pedantick pride . and yet mr collier is very right and very sincere in his reasons , and very wrong and very corrupt in his authorities . as if he were so great an enemy to the truth , that he would suborn the very dead to destroy the f●rce of what he himself had asserted . if mr collier had only attack'd the corruptions of the stage , for my own part i should have been so far from blaming him , that i should have publickly return'd him my thanks : for the ●ouses are so great , that there is a necessity for the reforming them ; not that i think that with all its corruptions the stage has debauch'd the people : i am fully convinc'd it has not , and i believe i have said enough in the following treatise to convince the reader of it . but this is certain , that the corruptions of the stage hinder its efficacy in the reformation of manners . for , besides that vice is contrary to virtue , it renders the stage little and contemptible ; for nothing but virtue can make any thing awful and truly great , and nothing but what is awful and truly great can be universally respected , and by that means in a condition to influence the minds of the people . for this reason , as i said above , if mr collier had only attack'd the licentiousness of the stage , in so fair a manner as he ought to have done it , i had return'd him my thanks , but when i found by his last chapter , that his design was against the stage itself i thought i could not spend a month more usefully ; than in the vindication of it . my business therefore is a vindication of the stage , and not of the corruptions or the abuses of it . and therefore i have no further meddled with m● collier's book , than as i have had occasion to shew , that he has endeavour'd to make some things pass for abuses , either of the stage in general , or of the english stage particularly , which are so far from being abuses , that they may be accounted excellences . this little treatise was conceiv'd , dispos'd , transcrib'd and printed in a month ; a●d tho on that very account it may not be wholly free from error , yet this i can assure the reader , that i have industriously endeavour'd not to err , tho i verily believe that mr collier industriously endeavour'd to err , as far as he thought it might be consistent with the deceiving of others . the method that i have u●ed has been this : i have endeavoured to shew that the stage in general is useful to the happiness of mankind , to the welfare of government , and the advancement of religion : and under the head of government i have endeavour'd to prove , that the stage does not encourage revenge , as mr collier asserts in his last chapter ; and that by encouraging pride , which is another thing that he charges upon it , it provides for the happiness of particular men , and the publick . i have endeavour'd to shew too , in defence of the english stage , that it is to be commended for its impartiality , and in exempting no degree or order of men from censure . i saw very well that there was no proceeding any farther in the vindication of it : for no man can make any reasonable defence , either for the immorality or the immodesty , or the unnecessary wanton prophaneness , which are too justly charg'd upon it . but for the particular gentlemen which mr collier has attack'd in some particular passages , which he has industriously cull'd from their writings , i could make a very good defence for several of em , if i were not satisfied that they were abler to defend themselves . he has treated them indeed with the last disdain , and the last contempt , not considering , that by doing it , he has treated all at the same rate , who profess an esteem for them , that is , all the town . he has given them some language which must be resented by all who profess humanity . for , mr collier is so far from having shown in his book , either the meekness of a true christian , or the humility of an exemplary pastor , that he has neither the reasoning of a man of sense in it , nor the style of a polite man , nor the sincerity of an honest man , nor the humanity of a gentleman , or a man of letters . the usefulness of the stage . chap. i. that the stage is instrumental to the happiness of mankind . nothing can more strongly recommend any thing to us , than the assuring us , that it will improve our happiness . for the chief end and design of man is to make himself happy . t is what he constantly has in his eye , and in order to which , he takes every step that he makes : in whatever he does or he does not , he designs to improve or maintain his happiness . and 't is by this universal principle , that god maintains the harmony , and order , and quiet of the reasonable world. it had indeed been an inconsistency in providence , to have made a thinking and reasoning creature , that had been indifferent as to misery and happiness ; for god had made such a one only to disturb the rest , and consequently had acted against his own design . if then i can say enough to convince the reader , that the stage is instrumental to the happiness of mankind , and to his own by consequence , it is evident that i need say no more to make him espouse its interest . i shall proceed then to the proving these two things . first , that the stage is instrumental to the happiness of mankind in general . secondly , that it is more particularly instrumental to the happiness of english●men . the stage is instrumental to the happiness of mankind in general . and here it will be necessary to declare what is meant by happiness , and to proceed upon that . by happiness then , i never could understand any thing else but pleasure ; for i never could have any notion of happiness , that did not agree with pleasure , or any notion of pleasure , that did not agree with happiness . i could never possibly conceive how any one can be happy without being pleas'd , or pleas'd without being happy . 't is universally acknowledg'd by mankind , that happiness consists in pleasure , which is evident from this , that whatever a man does , whether in spiritual or temporal affairs , whether in matters of profit or diversion , pleasure is at least the chief and the final motive to it , if it is not the immediate one . and providence seems to have sufficiently declar'd , that pleasure was intended for our spring and fountain of action , when it made it the incentive to those very acts , by which we propagate our kind and preserve our selves . as if self-love without pleasure were insufficient for either ; for as i my self have know several , who have chosen rather to dye , than to go through tedious courses of physick ; so i make no doubt , but several would have taken the same resolution , rather than have supported life by a perpetual course of eating , which had differ'd in nothing from a course of physick , if eating and pleasure had not been things inseparable . now as 't is pleasure that obliges man to perserve himself , it is the very same that has sometimes the force to prevail upon him to his own destruction . for as monsieur pascal observes , the very men who hang , and who drown themselves are instigated by the secret pleasure , which they have from the thought that they shall be freed from pain . since therefore man , in every thing that he does proposes pleasure to himself , it follows , that in pleasure consists his happiness . but tho he always proposes it , he very often falls short of it , for pleasure is not in his own power , since if it were , it would follow from thence , that happiness were in his power . the want of which has been always the complaint of men , both sacred and secular , in all ages in all countries , and in all conditions . man that is born of woman is but of few days , and full of trouble , says iob chap. 14. verse 1. of the same nature are the two complaints of horace , which are so fine , and so poetical , and so becoming of the best antiquity . scandit aeratas vitiosa waves curae , nec turmas equitum & relinquit ocior cervis , & agente nimbos ocyor euro . and that other , in the first ode of the third book . timor & minae scandunt eodem quo dominus , neque . decedit aerata triremi , & post equitem sedit atra cura . in short , they who have made the most reflections on it , have been the most satisfy'd of it , and above all philosophers ; who , by the voluminous instructions , by the laborious directions which they have left to posterity , have declar'd themselves sensible , that to be happy is a very difficult thing . and the reason why they of all men have always found it so difficult is , because they always propounded to owe their happiness to reason , tho one would think , that experience might have convinc'd them of the folly of such a design , because they had seen that the most thinking and the most reasonable , had always most complain'd . for reason may often afflict us , and make us miserable , by setting our impotence or our guilt before us ; but that which it generally does , is the maintaining us in a languishing state of indifference , which perhaps is more remov'd from pleasure , than that is from affliction , and which may be said to be the ordinary state of men . it is plain then , that reason by maintaining us in that state , is an impediment to our pleasure , which is our happiness . for to be pleas'd a man must come out of his ordinary state ; now nothing in this life can bring him out of it but passion alone , which reason pretends to combat . nothing but passion in effect can please us , which every one may know by experience : for when any man is pleas'd , he may find by reflection that at the same time he is mov'd . the pleasure that any man meets with oftenest is the pleasure of sence . let any one examine himself in that , and he will find that the pleasure is owing to passion ; for the pleasure vanishes with the desire , and is succeeded by loathing , which is a sort of grief . since nothing but pleasure can make us happy , it follows that to be very happy , we must be much pleas'd ; and since nothing but passion can please us , it follows that to be very much pleas'd we must be very much mov'd ; this needs no proof , or if it did , experience would be a very convincing one ; since any one may find when he has a great deal of pleasure that he is extremely mov'd . and that very height and fulness of pleasure which we are promis'd in another life , must , we are told , proceed from passion , or something which resembles passion . at least no man has so much as pretended that it will be the result of reason . for we shall then be deliver'd from these mortal organs , and reason shall then be no more . we shall then no more have occasion from premisses to draw conclusions , and a long train of consequences ; for , becoming all spirit and all knowledge , we shall see things as they are : we shall lead the glorious life of angels , a life exalted above all reason , a life consisting of extasie and intelligence . thus is it plain that the happiness both of this life and the other is owing to passion , and not to reason . but tho we can never be happy by the force of reason , yet while we are in this life we cannot possibly be happy without it , or against it . for since man is by his nature a reasonable creature , to suppose man happy against reason , is to suppose him happy against nature , which is absurd and monstrous . we have shewn , that a man must be pleas'd to be happy , and must be mov'd to be pleas'd ; and that to please him to a height , you must move him in proportion : but then the passions must be rais'd after such a manner as to take reason along with them . if reason is quite overcome , the pleasure is neither long , nor sincere , nor safe . for how many that have been transported beyound their reason , have never more recover'd it . if reason resists , a mans breast becomes the seat of civil war , and the combat makes him miserable . for these passions , which are in their natures so very troublesome , are only so because their motions are always contrary to the motion of the will ; as grief , sorrow , shame and jealousie . and that which makes som● passions in their natures pleasant , is because they move with the will , as love , joy , pity , hope , terror , and sometimes anger . but this is certain , that no passion can move in those a full consent with the will , unless at the same time ●t be approv'd of by the understanding . and no passion can be allow'd of b● the understanding , that is not rais'd by its true springs , and augmented by its just degrees . now in the world it is so very rare to have our passions thus rais'd , and so improv'd , that that is the reason why we are so seldom throughly and sincerely pleas'd . but in the drama the passions are false and abominable , unless they are mov'd by their true springs , and rais'd by their just degrees . thus are they mov'd , thus are they rais'd in every well writ tragedy , till they come to as great a height as reason can very well bear . besides , the very motion has a tendency to the subjecting them to reason , and the very raising purges and moderates them . so that the passions are seldom any where so pleasing , and no where so safe as they are in tragedy . thus have i shown , that to be happy is to be pleas'd , and that to be pleas'd is to be mov'd in such a manner as is allow'd of by reason ; i have shown too that tragedy moves us thus , and consequently pleases us , and conseqeuntly makes us happy . which was the thing to he prov'd . chap. ii. that the stage is more particularly instrumental to the happiness of english men . we have shown in the former chapter , that all happiness consists in pleasure , and that all pleasure proceeds from passion ; but that passion to produce pleasure , must be rais'd after such a manner , as to move in consent with the will , and consequently to be allowd of by the understanding , upon which we took an occasion to shew , that thinking and reasoning people as philosophers , and the like , have made most complaints of the misery of humane life , because they have endeavour'd to deduce their happiness from reason , and not from passion . but another reason may be given , and that is , that such people , by reason of the exactness or moroseness of their judgments , are too scrupulous in the allowance of the passions , from wh●nce it proceeds , that things very rarely happen in life , to raise their passions in such a manner , as to approve them to their understandings , and consequently to make them move in consent with their wills . from whence it proceeds , that splenatick persons are so very unhappy , and so much harder to be pleas'd than others , which is every day confirm'd by experience . indeed 't is observ'd every day in splenatick people , that their passions move for the most part , with a contrary motion to that of their wills , and so afflict them them instead of delighting them , now there is no nation in europe , as has been observ'd above a thousand times , that is so generally addicted to the spleen as the english. and which is apparent to any observer , from the reigning distemper of the clime , which is inseparable from the spleen ; from that gloomy and sullen temper , which is generally spread through the nation : from that natural discontentedness which makes us fo uneasie to one another , because we are so uneasie to our selves ; and lastly , from our jealousies and suspicions , which makes us so uneasie to our selves , and to one another , and have so often made us dangerous to the government , and by consequence to our selves . now the english being more splenatick than other people , and consequently more thoughtful and more reflecting , and therefore more scrupulous in allowing their passions , and consequently things ●eldom hapning in life to move their passions so agreeably to their reasons , as to entertain and please them ; and there being no true and sincere pleasure unless these passions are thus mov'd , nor any happiness without pleasure , it follows ; that the english to be happy , have more need than other people of something that will raise their passions in such a manner , as shall be agreeable to their reasons , and that by consequence they have more need of the d●ama . chap. iii. the objections from reason answer'd . but now we proceed to answer objections , and to shew that we design to use mr collier with all the fairness imaginable ; i shall not only endeavour to answer all that may be objected from mr. collier's book ; against what i have said in the foregoing chapters in the behalf of the stage ; i say , i shall not only endeavour to answer this , after i have propounded it in the most foreible manner in which it can be urg'd , but i shall make it my business to reply to all that has been objected by other adversaries , or that i can foresee may be hereafter objected . the objections then against what i have said in defence of the stage in the foregoing chapters , are or may be of three sorts . first , objections from reason . secondly , from authority , and thirdly , from religion . first then , i shall endeavour to answer what may be objected from reason , viz. that tho it should be granted that the theatre makes people happy for the present , yet it afterwards infallibly makes them miserable : first , by nourishing and fomenting their passions ; and secondly , by indulging their vices , and making them libertines : and that 't is neither the part of a prudent man , nor a good christian , to make choice of such a momentary delight , as will be follow'd by so much affliction . and first , say the adver●aries of the stage , the drama tends to the making of people unhappy , because it nourishes and foments those passions , that occa●●on the follies and imprudencies from whence come all their misfortunes : ●nd first , it indulges terror and pity , ●nd the rest of the passions . secondly , it not only indulges love where it is , but creates it where it is not . first then , say they , it indulges terror , pity , and the rest of the passions . for , says a certain french gentleman , who is famous for criticism , that purgation which aristo●le mentions is meerly chimerical ; the more the passions in any one are mov'd , the more obnoxious they are to be mov'd , and the more unruly they grow . but , by monsieur de st. evremont's favour , this is not only to contradict aristotle , but every mans daily experience . for every man finds , and every man of sense particularly , that the longer he frequents plays the harder he is to be pleas'd , that is , the harder he is to be mov'd ; and when any man of judgment , who has a long time frequented plays , happens to be very much touch'd by a scene , we may conclude that that scene is very well writ , both for nature and art . and indeed , if people who have a long time frequented plays are so hard to be mov'd , to compassion , that a poet is oblig'd so to contrive his incidents and his characters , that the last shall be most deplorable , and the first most proper to move compassion ; may it not be very well suppos'd , that such a one will not be over obnoxious to feel too much compassion upon the view of calamities , which happen every day in the world , when they and the persons to whom they happen , may not so much as once in an age , have all the qualifications that are requir'd extreamly to touch him . but , secondly , whereas it is urg'd , that the drama and particularly tragedy , manifestly indulges love where it is , and creates it where it is not . to this i answer . that the love which is shewn in a tragedy is lawful and regular , or it is not . if it is not , why then in a play , which is writ as it should be ( for i pretend not to defend the errours or corruptions of the stage ) it is shewn unfortunate in the catastrophe , which is sufficient to make an audience averse from engaging in the excesses of that passion . but if the love that is shewn is lawful and regular , nothing makes a man happier than that passion . i speak ev'n of that i●mediate pleasure which attends the passion itself . and as it certainly makes him happy for the present , so there is no passion which puts a man upon things that make him happier for the future . for as people have for the most part a very high opinion of the belov'd object , it makes them endeavour to become worthy of it , and to encrease in knowledge and virtue ; and not only frequently reclaims them from some grosser pleasures , of which they were fond before , but breeds in them an utter detestation of some unnatural vices , which have been so much in use in eng●and , for these last thirty years . but now we come to the second pretended reason , why the drama tends to the making of men unhappy , and that is , say the adversaries of the stage , because it encourages and indulges their vices . to which we answer ; that the drama ; and particulary tragedy , in its purity , is so far from having that effect , that it must of necessity make men virtuous ; first , because it moderates the passions , whose excesses cause their vices ; secondly , because it instructs them in their duties , both by its fable and by its sentences . but here they start an objection , which some imagin a strong one , which is , that the nation has been more corrupted since the establishment of the drama , upon the restoration , than ever it was before . to which i answer . first , that that corruption of manners , tho it should be granted to proceed from the stage , can yet only proceed from the licentious abuses of it , which no man pretends to defend . but , secondly , we affirm that this corruption of manners , cannot be reasonably said to proceed , no not even from those pa●pable abuses of the stage , which we will not pretend to vindicate . first , for if the corruption of manners proceeded from the abuses of the stage , how comes it to pass that we never heard any complaint of the like corruption of manners before the restoration of charles the second , since it is plain from mr collier's book , that the drama flourish'd in the reign of king iames i. and flourish'd with the like licentiousness . but , secondly , if this general corruption of manners is to be attributed to the abuses of the stage , from hence it will follow , that there should be the greatest corruption of manners where the theatres are most frequented , or most licentious , which is not true : for in france the theatres are less licentious than ours , and yet the corruption of manners is there as great , if you only except our drinking , which , as i shall prove anon , can never proceed from any encouragement of the stage . in germany and in italy the theatres are less frequented : for in italy they seldom have plays unless in the carnival , and in most of the little german soveraignties , they have not constant theatres . and yet in germany they drink more , and in italy they are more intemperate in the use of women and unnatural vices . but thirdly , the corruption of manners upon the restoration , appear'd with all the fury of libertinism , even before the play house was re-establisht and long ●efore it could have any influence on manners , so that another cause of that corruption is to be enquir'd after , than the re-establishment of the drama , and that can be nothing but that beastly reformation , which in the time of the late civil wars , was begun at the tail instead of the head and the heart ; and which opprest and persecuted mens inclinations , instead of correcting and converting them , which afterwards broke out with the same violence , that a raging fire does upon its first getting vent . and that which gave it so licentious a vent was , not only the permission , but the example of the court , which for the most part was just arriv'd from abroad with the king , where it had endeavour'd by foreign corruption to sweeten , or at least to soften adversity , and having sojourn'd for a considerable time , both at paris and in the low countries , united the spirit of the french w●oring , to the fury of the dutch drinking . so that the poets who writ immediately after the restoration , were obliged to humour the deprav'd tastes of their audience . for as an impenitent sinner that should be immediately transported to heaven , would be incapable of partaking of the happiness of the place , because his inclinations and affections would not be prepar'd for it , so if the poets of these times had writ in a manner purely instructive , without any mixture of lewdness , the appetites of the audience were so far debauch'd , that they would have judg'd the entertainment insipid , so that the spirit of libertinism which came in with the court , and for which the people were so well prepar'd by the sham-reformation of manners , caus'd the lewdness of their plays , and not the lewdness of plays the spirit of libertinism . for t is ridiculous to assign a cause of so long a standing to so new , so sudden , and so extraordinary an effect , when we may assign a cause so new , so probable , and unheard of before , as the inclinations of the people , returning with violence to their natural bent , upon the encouragement and example of a court , that was come home with all the corruptions of a foreign luxury ; so that the sham-reformation being in a great measure the cause of that spirit of libertinism , which with so much fury came in with king charles the second , and the putting down the play house being part of that reformation , 't is evident that the corruption of the nation is so far from proceeding from the play-house , that it partly proceeds from having no plays at all . fourthly , that the corruption of manners is not to be attributed to the licentiousness of the drama , may appear from the consideration of the reigning vices , i mean those moral vices which have more immediate influence upon mens conduct , and consequently upon their happiness . and those are chiefly four . 1. the love of women . 2. drinking . 3. gaming . 4. unnatural sins . for drinking and gaming , their excesses cannot be reasonably charg'd upon the stage , for the following reasons . first , because it cannot possibly be conceiv'd , that so reasonable a diversion as the drama , can encourage or incline men to so unreasonable a one as gaming , or so brutal a one as drunkenness . secondly , because these two vices have been made odious and ridiculous by our plays , instead of being shewn agreeable . as for dunkenness , to shew the sinner is sufficient to discredit the vice ; for a drunkard of necessity always appears either odious or ridiculous . and for a gamester , i never knew any one shewn in a play , but either as a f●ol or a rascal . thirdly , because those two vices flourish in places that are too remote , and in persons that are too abject to be encourag'd or influenc'd by the stage . there is drinking and gaming in the furthest north and the furthest west , among peasants , as well as among dukes and peers . but here perhaps some visionary zealot will urge , that these two vices , even these remote places , and these abject persons proceed from the influence of that irreligion , which is caus'd by the corruptions of the stage , and will with as much reason and as much modesty deduce the lewdness which is transacted in the tin mines , in cornwal , and in the coal-pits of newcastle , from the daily abominations of the pits of the two play-houses , as he would derive the brutality of the high dutch drinking , from the prophaneness of our english drama . but what will he say then to those gentlemen , who neither are suppos'd to go to our theatres , nor to converse much with those who do , nor to be liable to be corrupted by them ; what will they say to these gentlemen , if they can be prov'd to have a considerable share of the two fore-mention'd vices ? what can they answer ? for it would be ridiculously absurd to reply , that the clergy are corrupted by the laity , whom it is their business to convert . but here i think my self oblig'd to declare , that i by no means design this as a reflection upon the church of england , who i am satisfy'd may morejustly boast of its clergy , than any other church whatsoever ; a clergy that are equally illustrious for their piety and for their learning , yet may i venture to affirm , that there are some among them , who can never be suppos'd to have been corrupted by play-houses , who yet turn up a bottle oftner than they do an hour-glass , who box about a pair of tables with more servour than they do their cushions , contemplate a pair of dice more frequently than the fathers or councels , and meditate and depend upon hazard , more than they do upon providence . and as for that unnatural sin , which is another growing vice of the age , it would be monstrous to urge that it is in the least encourag'd by the stage , for it is either never mention'd there , or mention'd with the last detestation . and now lastly , for the love of women , fomented by the corruption , and not by the genuine art of the stage ; tho the augmenting and nourishing it cannot be defended , yet it may be in some measure excus'd . 1. because it has more of nature , and consequently more temptation , and consequently less malice , than the preceding three , which the drama does not encourage . 2. because it has a check upòn the other vices , and peculiarly upon that unnatural sin , in the restraining of which the happiness of mankind is in so evident a manner concern'd . so that of the four moral reigning vices , the stage encourages but one , which , as it has been prov'd to be the least of them all , so is it the least contageous , and the least universal . for in the country , fornication and adultery are seldom heard of , whereas drunkenness rages in almost every house there : from all which it appears , how very unreasonable it is , to charge the lewdness of the times upon the stage , when it is evident , that of the four reigning moral vices , the stage encourages but one , and that the least of the ●our , and the least universal , and a vice which has a check upon the other three , and particularl● upon that amongst them , which is most opposite and most destructive to the happiness of mankind . chap. iv. the objections from authority answer'd . in the next place we come to answer the objections which mr collier has brought from authority . the authorities which he has produc'd are indeed very numerous , yet only four of them can be reduc'd under this head , without running into confusion , two poets and two philosophers . the poets are ovid and mr. wycherley ; the philosophers , plutarch and seneca . the first of them is ovid , in his book de arte amandi , and in his book de remedio amoris . we have already answer'd the last in the preceding chapter , and shall now say something to the first . the passage is this : sed tu praecipue curvis venare theatris haec loca sunt votis fertiliora tuis . illic invenies quod ames , quod ludere possis quodque semel tangas quodque tenere velis . from whence mr collier makes this shrewd remark , that the theatre is the properest place in the world to meet , or to find a mistress , and that several people go thither on purpose . in answer to this , i desire the reader to peruse the verses which precede . nec fuge niliginae memphitica templa iuvenc● multas illa facit quod fuit illa iovi . and have we not here a merry person ? who brings an authority against going to theatres , which is as direct against going to church ? nay , and upon the very same account too . but the poet speaks here of a heathen temple , says mr collier . well , and so he does of a heathen theatre . but what he says of the roman theatre is exactly applicable to ours . and what reply can be made to that , says mr collier ? what ? why i wish to god that no reply could be made to it . but besides , if several people go to our theatres purposely to meet , or to find out a mistress , i think it is plain that if there were no theatres , they wou'd go to other places : especially since , as we hinted above , when the theatres are shut , they frequent other assemblies upon the same designs . but tho some people go to the theatre to meet their mistresses , yet it is evident that most go to see the play , who , if they could not have that diversion , would not improbably go to other places with far worse intentions . the next who i● produc●d against the stage is mr wycherley , much , i dare say , against the assent either of his will or his understanding . but only for a jest in that admirable epistle , which is prefix'd to the plain dealer . however ; even that jest , let it be never so much o●re-strain'd , can never be brought to convince us of any thing but the abuses of the theatre , which i do not pretend to defend ; and i thought mr wycherley had more than made amends for it , by exposing adu●tery , and making it the immediate cause of olivia's misfortune , in that excellent play , which is a most instructive and a most noble satyr , upon the hyprocrisie and villany of mankind . mr wycherley being indeed almost the only man alive , who has made comedy instructive in its fable ; almost all the rest being contented to instruct by their characters . but what mr collier has said of mr wycherley is sufficient to shew us what candour , nay , and what justice we are to expect from this censurer of the stage . for in giving mr. wycherley's character , he has shewn himself invidious and detracting even in his commendation . for the best thing that he can afford to say of the greatest of our comick wits , is , that he is a man of good sense . which puts me in mind of a father in france over-hearing his son saying of the mareschal de turenne ma foy , ie trouve monsieur de t●renne an ioly homme : et vous mo●●its , replys the father , je vous trouve un joly sot de parler ainsi , du plus grand homme que la france a porte . how unworthy was it to commend mr wycherley for a thing , which , tho certainly he has in a very great degree , yet is common to him with a thousand more ; and to take no notice of those extraordinary qualities which are peculiar to him alone , his wit , his penetration , his satyr , his art , his characters , and above all , that incomparable vivacity , by which he has happily equall'd the ancients , and surpass'd the moderns ? but now let us pass to the philosophers , i mean the philosophers who were not poets ; for no man can be a good poet who is not a philosopher . he has cited plutarch in four several places in his symposiaecum ; his book de audiendis poetis ; his treatise de glori● atheniensium ; and his laconick institutions : for the two last we shall say nothing to them , till we come to speak of government . in the two first mr collier makes plutarch say , that plays are dangerous to corrupt young peop●e , and therefore stage-poetry , when it grows too hardy , and licentious , ought to be check'd . but i make no doubt but to make it appear , that mr collier has been guilty of three things in this very action , which are unworthy the candour of a gentleman , or of a man of letters . first , he has brought an authority , which can only convince us that this philosopher did not approve of the licentiousness of the stage , which licentiousness we by no means design to defend : such an authority , i say , he has brought in a chapter , design'd to shew that the ancients disapprov'd of plays , and the stage in general . secondly , he has made use of the authority of plutarch against the stage , whereas that philosopher has said infinitely more in its behalf , than he has against it . thirdly , he has from two tracts of plutarch slurr'd one citation upon us , in the way of an argument , which is very unlike the reasoning of that philosopher . for in the first part of the enthyme , he makes plutarch damn the stage , and the drama in general ; and in the second conclude against them in particular . for plays , says he , that is , all plays , are dangerous to corrupt young people , and therefore some plays ought to be check'd . and why does mr collier make the philosopher argue after this jesuitical manner , when it is plain to any reader , that has but common apprehension , that since in the second part of the euthymene , plutarch condemn'd only some particular plays ; he only said in the first part of it , that some particular play were dangerous . but let us proceed to seneca . and since it highly concerns us to give a full and satisfactory account of what is objected from him , let us cite him at length , a● mr collier translates him . seneca complains heartily of the extravagance and debauchery of the age : and how forward people were to improve in that which was naught . that scarce any body would apply themselves to the study of nature and morality , unless when the play-house was shut , or the weather foul . that there was no body to teach philosophy , because there was no body to learn it . but that the stage had nurseries , and company enough . this misapplication of time and fancy , made knowledge in so ill a condition . this was the cause the hints of antiquity were no better pursued ; that some inventions were sunk , and that some inventions grew downwards , rather than otherwise . to which i answer , first , that it is not likely that seneca should condemn the drama and the stage in general , since it is so notoriously known that he writ plays himself . secondly , that by what he says it is evident that he declaims only against the abuses of the theatre ; and those such abuses as have no relation to ours ; as for example , the passing whole days together in the theatre , which the romans oftentimes did . thirdly , that if mr collier would infer from hence , that our theatres are hindrances to the advancement of learning , we have nothing to do but affirm what all the world must consent to , that learning is now at a greater height than ever it was known in england . what we have said is sufficient to confound mr collier , but we will not be contented with that ; for here we triumph , here we insult , here we have a just occasion to shew the admirable advantage of the stage to letters , and the incomparable excellency of the drama , and in a more peculiar manner of tragedy , which seems purposely form'd and design'd for raising the mind , and firing it to that noble emulation , which is so absolutely necessary for the improvement of arts. this is a truth which is confirm'd by the experience of all nations , of all ages . for whether we look upon the ancients or moderns , whether we consider the athenians or romans , or the french or our selves , we shall find that arts and sciences have for the most part begun , but all of them at least begun to prosper with the stage , and that as they have flourish'd , they have at last declin'd with it . and this we may affirm , not only of the the more human arts , poetry , history , eloquence , of which the theatre is certainly the best school in the world ; the school that form'd in a great measure those prodigious disciples , cicero and demosthenos , but we may truly assert it of all other sorts of learning . for before thespis appear'd in attica , and reduc'd the drama to some sort of form , which had nothing but confusion before him , they had neither author nor knowledge amongst them , that could be esteem'd by posterity : that little knowledge which they had of nature is to us ridiculous . for moral philosophy , they had no such thing , nor orator nor historian ▪ but as soon as after thespis their theatre began to flourish , all their extraordinary men , in all these sorts , appear'd almost together . not only those who adorn'd the stage , as aeschylus , euripides , and the divine sophocles ; but those orators , philosophers and historians , who have since been the wonders of all posterity , socrates , plato , xenophon , aristotle , pericles , thucydides , demosthenes , aeschines ; and of all their famous authors who have descended to us , there was not one that i can think of , but who was alive between the first appearing of thespis , and the death of sophocles . and be it said in a more particular manner for the honour of the stage , that they had no such thing as moral philosophy before the drama flourish'd . socrates was the first , who out of their theatre began to form their manners . and be it said , to the immortal honour of tragedy , that the first and greatest of all the moral philosophers , not only frequented their theatres , but was employ'd in writing tragedies . and as among the athenians , eloquence , history , and philosophy , i speak of the moral , which is the only solid certain philosophy , appear'd and flourish'd upon the flourishing of the stage , so with the stage they at last declin'd , for not one of their famous writers has descended to us , who liv'd after the drama was come to perfection , that is , after the full establishment of the new comedy . as dramatick poetry was the first kind of writing that appear'd among the athenians , so i defy the most skilful man in antiquity , to name so much as one author among the romans till dramatick poetry appear'd at rome , introduc'd by livius andronicus , above five hundred years after the building of the city . but when their stage began to be cultivated , immediately a hundred writers arose , in poetry , eloquence , history , and philosophy , whose fame took an equal flight with that of the roman eagles , and who , transmitting their immortal works to posterity , continue the living glories of that republick , and the only solid remains of the roman greatness . as with the roman stage the rest of their arts were cultivated , and improv'd ▪ proportionably ; as with that in the age of augustus caesar , about two hundred years from the time of livius andronicus , they reach'd their utmost height , so with that they declin'd in the reigns of succeeding emperors . for the french , 't is yet scarce a hundred years since hardy first appear'd among them : and hardy was the first who began to reform their stage , and to recover it from the confusion in which it lay before him . and tho i cannot say , that before that time the french had no good writers , yet i may safely affirm , that they had but one , who was generally esteem●d throughout the rest of europe : but to re●kon all who have since been excellent in poetry , eloquence , history and philosophy , would certainly make a v●ry long and a very illustrious roll. 't is time to come at last to our selves : it was first in the reign of king henry the eighth that the drama grew into form with us : it was establish'd in the reign of queen elizabeth , and flourish'd in that of king iames the first . and tho i will not presume to affirm , that before the reign of king henry the eighth we had no good writers , yet i will confidently assert , that , excepting chaucer , no not in any sort of writing whatever , we had not a first rate writer . but immediately upon the establishment of the drama , three prodigies of wit appear'd all at once , as it were so many suns to amaze the learned world . the reader will immediately comprehend that i speak of spencer , bacon and raleigh ; three mighty geniuses , so extraordinary in their different ways , that not only england had never seen the like before , but they almost continue to this very day , in spight of emulation , in spight of time , the greatest of our poets , philosophers and historians . from the time of king iames the first the drama flourish'd , and the arts were cultivated , till the beginning of our intestine broil● , in the reign of king charles the ●irst ; when the dramatick muse was banish'd , and all the arts degraded . for what other sort of poets flourish'd in those days ? who were the inspir●d , the celebrated men ? why withers , pryn , vickars , fellows whose verses were laborious libels upon the art and themselves . these were the first rate poets , and under them flourish'd a herd of scribblers of obscurer infamy : wretches , who had not desert enough to merit even contempt ; whose works , like abortions , never beheld the light , stifled in the dark by their own friends , as so many scandals upon humane nature , and lamentable effects of that universal conspiracy of fools against right reason . and if any one pretends that sir iohn denham , sir william davenant , mr. waller and mr. cowley writ many of their verses in the time of the late civil wars ; to him i answer , that what mr. waller writ was but very little , and the other three are notoriously known to have writ in a country , where the stage and learning flourish'd . so that nothing among us that was considerable was produc'd in poetry in the times of the late civil wars , if you except but the first part of that admirable satyr against the muses mortal foe hypocrisie , which yet neither did nor durst appear till the restoration of the drama . we have seen what the poets were that flourish'd in those dismal times , let us now see what were the orators ? who were the cry'd up preachers ? why calamy , case , hugh peters , manton , sibbs . but what was produc'd in the other sciences , that was worthy of posterity ? what in philosophy ? what in history ? what in mathematicks ? what could be expected when only hypocritical fools were encourag'd , whose abominable canting was christn'd gift , and their dulness grace . but what sort of persons have flourish'd among us since the restoration of the drama ? who have been they who have signaliz'd themselves in the other kinds of poetry ? so great is the number of those who have writ politely , that it is comprehensive of all conditions of men . how many have been justly renown'd for eloquence . so many extraordinary men have distinguish'd themselves by preaching , that to ennumerate them would be an endless thing . i shall content my self with mentioning the late archbishop and the present bishop of rochester , so illustrious for their different talents , the one for his extream politeness , for his grace and his delicacy , the other for his nervous force , and both for their masculine purity . who among us are fam'd for history ? not only the last of those great prelates , but the present bishop of salisbury , whose history of the reformation is so deservedly celebrated by the learned world , where-ever english or french is known . what proficients have we in philosophy ? what in mathematicks ? let all europe reply , who has read , and reading admir'd them . i shall content my self with mentioning two of the living glories of england , mr newton and mr lock , the one of which has not his equal in europe , and neither of them has his superiour . thus have i shown you , how poetry , eloquence , history , and philosophy , have appear'd , advanc'd , declin'd , and vanish'd with the drama , not only in greece and ancient italy , but in modern france and england . so true it is , what was formerly so well said , that all those arts which respect humanity , have a certain alliance , and a mutual dependance , and are defended and supported by their common confederacy . thus while i am pleading in defence of the stage , i am defending and supporting poetry , the best and the noblest kind of writing . for all other writers are 〈◊〉 made by precept , and are form'd by art ; but a poet prevails by the force of nature , is excited by all that 's powerful in humanity , and is sometimes by a spirit not his own exalted to divinity . for if poetry in other countries has flourish'd with the stage , and been with that neglected , what must become of it here in england if the stage is ruin'd ; for foreign poets have found their publick and their private patrons . they who excell'd in greece were encourag'd by the athenian stage , nay and , by all greece assembled at their olympian , istmean , nemean , pythian games . rome had its scipios , its caesars , and its mecenas , france had its magnanimous richlieu , and its greater lewis , but the protection that poetry has found in england , has been from the stage alone . some few indeed of our private men have had souls that have been large enough , and wanted only power . but of our princes , how few have had any taste of arts ; nay , and of them who had some , have had their heads too full , and some their souls too narrow . as then in maintaining the cause of the stage , i am defending poetry in general ; so in defending that i am pleading for eloquence , for history and philosophy . i am pleading for the reasonable pleasures of mankind , the only harmless , the only cheap , the only universal pleasures ; the nourishments of youth , and the delights of age , the ornaments of prosperity , and the surest sanctuaries of adversity , now insolently attempted by furious zeal too wretchedly blind to see their beauties , or discern their innocence . for unless the stage be encouraged in england , poetry cannot subsist ; for never was any man a great poet , who did not make it his business as well as pleasure and solely abandon himself to that . and as poetry wou●d be crush'd by the ruines of the stage ; so eloquence would be miserably maim'd by them ; for which , if action be confess'd the life of it , the theatre is certainly the best of schools , and if action be not the life of it , demosthenes was much mistaken . in eloquence i humbly conceive that the pulpit is somthing concern'd , and by consequence in the stage ; and need not be asham'd to learn from that place which instructed cicero , and which form'd demosthenes . for i cannot forbear declaring , notwithstanding the extream veneration which i have for the church of england , that if in some of our pulpits , we had but persons that had half the excellence of demosthenes , that had but half the force of his words , and the resistless strength of his reasoning , and but half his vehement action , we should see quite another effect of their sermons . those divine orators fulminating with their sacred thunder , would infix terrible plagues in the souls of sinners , and rouze and awake to a new life even those who are dead in sin . i now come to answer what is objected from religion ; and that is , that tho it should be granted that some little happiness may be deriv'd from the stage , yet that there is a much better and surer way to be happy : for the only way to be solidly and lastingly happy even in this life , is to be truly religious , the best christian being always the happiest man. to which i answer , that as the christian religion contains the best , nay , the only means to bring men to eternal happiness , so for the making men happy ev'n in this life , it surpasses all philosophy ; but yet i confidently assert , that if the stage were arriv'd to that degree of purity , to which in the space of some little time it may easily be brought , the frequenting our theatres would advance religion , and consequently the happiness of mankind , and so become a part of the christian duty , which i shall demonstrate when i come to speak of religion . the end of the first part. the usefulness of the stage . part ii. chap. i. that the stage is useful to government . since in the first part of this treatise , we have plainly demonstrated that the stage is instrumental to the happiness of mankind , and of englishmen more particularly ; and since it is self-evident , that the happiness of those who are govern'd , is the very end and design of all regular government , it evidently follows , that the stage which contributes to the happiness of particular men , is conducive to the good of the state. however , i shal descend to shew more particularly , that the stage is instrumental to the welfare , first , of government in general . secondly , of the english government more particularly . thirdly , especially of the present government . first , the stage is instrumental to the welfare of government in general ; which i shall prove , 1. by reason : and , 2. by experience . and first i shall prove by reason , that the stage is instrumental to the welfare of government , and that whether you consider those who govern , or secondly , those who are governed . first , if you consider those who govern . and here it is self-evident , that no man who governs , can govern amiss , as long as he follows the dictates of common reason . that requires that all who govern , shou'd consult the interest of those who are govern'd , which is inclusive of their own . and those rulers have always been upon a wrong foundation , who have had an interest distinct from that of their people . male-administration has always its source from the passions or vices of those who govern . the passions which cause it , are for the most part ambition , or the immoderate love of pleasure . now as tragedy checks the first , by shewing the great ones or the earth humbled , so it corrects the last by firing the mind and raising it to something nobler . the vices which cause the male-administration of governours , are either vices of weakness or of malice , the first of which cause governours to neglect , and the last , to oppress their people . the vices of weakness are inconsiderateness , and effeminacy , inconstancy , and irresoluti●n . now nothing can be a better remedy than tragedy for inconsiderateness , which reminds men of their duty , and perpetually instructs them , either by its fable or by its sentences , and shews them the ill and the fatal consequences of irregular administration ; and nothing is more capable of raising the soul , and giving it that greatness , that courage , that force , and that constancy which are the qualifications that make men deserve to command others ; which is evident from experience . for they who in all countries and in all ages have appear'd most to feel the power of tragedy , have been the most deserving and the greatest of men aeschylus among the athenians was a great captain , as well as a tragick poet ; and sophocles was both an able statesman and a victorious general . if we look among ●he romans , the very greatest among them , were particularly they who appear'd so far touch'd by the drama , as either to write their plays themselves , or to build their theatre . witness scipio , and lelius , and lucullus , and the great pompey , and mecenas , and iulius and augustus caesar. no man among the french has shewn so much capacity or so much greatness of mind as richlieu ; and no man among them has express'd so much passion for the drama , which was so great , that he writ several plays himself , with that very hand , which at the same time was laying the plan of the french universal monarchy among us the drama began to flourish in the reign of queen elizabeth , and i have been told , that that great princess appear'd to be so far charm●d with it , as to translate with her own hand a tragedy from euripide● . that vice of malice which for the most part causes the male-administration of governours is cruelty , which nothing is more capable of correcting than tragedy , which by diving into the hidden springs of nature , and making use ▪ of all that is powerful in her , in order to the moving compassion , 〈◊〉 been always found sufficient to soften the most obdurate heart . numerous examples might be brought of this , but i shall content my self with that of alexander the thessalian tyrant , as the story is related by dacier , in the preface to his admirable comment on the poetick of aristotle . this barbarous man , says dacier , cau●●ng the hecuba of euripides to be play'd before him , found himself so touch'd that he went out before the end of the first act , seeing it would be a shame for him to be seen to shed tears for the miseries of hecuba , or the calamities of polyxena , for him who every day embrued this hands in the innocent blood of his subjects . the truth of it was , that he had some apprehension , lest he should be so far melted , that he-should be forsaken by that spirit of tyranny , which had so long possess'd him , and should go a private person out of that theatre , into the which he had entered a soveraign . nay , he had like to have caus'd the actor who had mov'd him thus , to be executed ; but the criminal was secur'd by the very remains of that compassion , which was his only crime . that which follows is remarkable , and which dacier ci●es from an ancient historian . a very grave writer , says dacier , makes a reflection which is very much to my purpose , and which seems of importance to government . speaking of the inhabitants of arcadia , he says , that their humanity , and the sweetness of their tempers , and the respect which they had for the gods ; and in a word , the purity of their manners , and all their virtues proceeded principally from the love which they had for musick , which by its sweetness corrected those ill impressions , which a raw and unwholesom air , together with the hardship which they endured by their laborious way of life , made on their bodies and on their minds . and he says on the contrary , that those of cynethus were carried to all sorts of profligate crimes , because that they , renouncing the wise institutions of their ancestors , ●ad neg●ected an art which was therefore the more necessary for them , because they inhabited tha● part of arcadia , which was the coldest , and where the climate was most unequal . indeed , there was no town in all greece , says dacier , that had given such frequent examples of enormous crimes . and if polybius , says he , speaks this in the behalf of musick , and accuses ephorus for having advanc'd a thing that was very unworthy of him , in asserting that musick was invented on purpose for the deceiving of mankind , what may we not justly affirm of tragedy , of which musick is but a little ornament ; and which as far transcends it , as the reasoning speech of a man excels the brutes inarticulate voice , which never has any meaning . but now we come in the second place , to shew that the stage is useful to government , with respect to those who are governed , and that whether you consider them in relation to those who govern them , or to one another , or to the common enemy . if you consider them in relation to those who govern them , you will find that tragedy is very proper to check the motions , that they may at any time feel to rebellion or disobedience , by stopping the very sources of them ; for tragedy naturally checks their ambition , by shewing them the great ones of the earth humbled , by setting before their eyes , to make use of mr colliers words , the uncertainty of human greatness , the sudden turns of state , and the unhappy conclusion of violence and injustice . tragedy too , diverts their apprehension of grievances , by the delight which it gives them , discovers the designs of their factious guides , by opening their eyes , and instructing them in their duty by the like examples ; and lastly , it dispels their unreasonable jealousies , for people who are melted or terrified with the sufferings of the great , which are set before thei● eyes , are rather apt to feel a secret pleasure , from the sense that they have , that they are free from the like calamities , than to torment themselves with the vain and uncertain apprehensions of futurity . but the stage is useful to government in those who are govern'd , if they are con●●der'd with relation to one another ▪ for tragedy diverts them from th●●● unjust designs , by the pleasure which it gives them ; since no man as long 〈◊〉 he is easie himself , is in a humour to disturb others , and by purging th●se passions , whose excesses cause their injustice , by instructing them in their duty by its fable and by its sentences● by raising their minds , and setting them above injustice , by touching them with compassion , and making them good upon a principle of self-love ; and lastly , by terrifying them with setting before their eyes , the unhappy conclusion , to use mt collier's words , of violence and injustice . thirdly , the stage is useful to government , by having an influence over those who are govern'd , in relation to the common enemy . for nothing more raises and exalts their minds , and fires them with a noble emulation , who shall best perform their duty : which brings me to the second head , the shewing the usefulness of the stage to government in general , from ii. experience , and that of 1. the athenian . 2. the roman . 3. the french , and 4. the english government . 1. for the athenians , their drama first appear'd in form with thespis , was cultivated by aeschylus , and perfected by sophocles . now this is extreamly remarkable , that that people , which from theseus to thespis , that is , for the space of about seven hundred years , continued a poor and ignorant , and comparatively a contemptible people ; in the space of a hundred years more , in which time their tragedy was form'd by thespis , cultivated by aeschylus , and perfected by sophocles ; i say , it is extreamly remarkable , that in that space of time , this people , which before were so inconsiderable , became illustrious for arts and arms , renown'd for eloquence , for philosophy famous , and for empire formidable , the masters of greece , the scourges of asia , and the terror of the great king. in that space of time flourish'd most of their mighty conquerors , cimon , aristides , pericles , themistocles and miltiades . their tragick poets were the persons who animated their armies , and fir'd the souls of those brave men , who conquer'd at once and dy'd for their country , in the bay of salamis , and in the plains of marathon ; at which place a handful of men , as it were , of the disciples of thespis and the succeeding poets , vanquish'd the numberless forces of the east , laid the foundation of the grecian empire , and of the fortune of the great alexander . the athenians were highly sensible of the advantage which the state receiv'd from the theatre , which they maintain'd at a publick prodigious expence , and a revenue appropriated to that peculiar use ; and establish'd a law , which made the least attempt to alienate the fund capital . so that when the common exchequer was exhausted , demosthenes was oblig'd to use the utmost address to induce them to touch and divert this separate fund . but 't is time to come to the romans . livius andronicus , who was their first dramatick poet , appear'd in the five hundred and fourteenth year after the building of the city . and till his time they had been struggling as it were for life with their neighbours , and had been torn by perpetual convulsions within themselves ; whereas after the first representation of the plays which were written by him , they were not only quiet within themselves for above a hundred years af●er , but in a hundred more beca●e the masters of the universe . and who were the persons among them that advanced their conquests , and extended their empire ? why the very men who buil● their theatres and who writ their plays . scipio , conquer'd spain and africa , pompey and lucullus asia , and caesar england , flanders , france , and germany . 't is not above a hundred years ago , since dramatick poetry begun to flourish in france , since which time the french have not only been remarkably united , but have advanced their conquests so fast , that they have almost doubled their empire . cardinal richelieu was the person who at the same time laid the foundation of the greatness of their theatre and their empire : and 't is a surprizing thing to consider , that the spirit of dramatick poetry leaving them just before the beginning of the last war , by moliere and corneille's death , and by racine's age , they have since that time lost almost half their conquests . to come home to our selves , dramatick poetry began to be brought into form with us , in the time of henry the eighth , and tho since that time we cannot boast of such glorious successes , as we had in the times of our fifth henry and of our third edward , when the conquering genius of england in triumph seem'd to bestride the ocean , and to fix an imperial foot on the continent ; yet this may be said to the advantage of the drama , that since it first began to be cultivated , we have had our eyes more open , have found that our constitution is but ill design'd for conquest ; that by being very fortunate we should run the risk of becoming very unhappy , and endanger our liberties , by extending our empire . chap. ii. that the stage is particularly useful to the english , and especially the present government . we have shewn in the foregoing chapter , that the drama , and particularly tragedy , is among other reasons useful to government , because it is proper to restrain a people from rebellion and disobedience , and to keep them in good correspondence among themselves : for this reason the drama may be said to be instrumental in a peculiar manner to the welfare of the english government ; because there is no people on the face of the earth so prone to rebellion as the english , or so apt to quarrel among themselves . and this seems very remarkable , that since the drama began first to flourish among us , we have been longer at quiet than ever we were before since the conquest ; and the only civil war which has been amongst us since that time , is notoriously known to have been began and carry'd on by those who had an utter aversion to the stage ; as on the other side , he who now discovers so great an aversion to the stage , has notoriously done all that lay in his little power to plunge us in another civil war. but the stage is more particularly instrumental to the welfare of our present english government , as the government is depending upon two things , 1. the reformation , and 2. the revolution . i shall speak of the reformation when i come to treat of religion . i shall shew at present that the stage is advantageous to the government , as it stands since the revolution ; and that will appear , if we consider what people they are who frequent our theatres . and they are either friends to the government , or enemies , or indifferent persons . they who are friends to it ▪ are for the most part so , because it defends and maintains the liberties of the people . but liberty is a jest i● you take away reasonable pleasure ; for what would signifie liberty , if it did not make me happier than him who is not free ? machiavel says , in the 19th chapter of his prince , that nothing renders a prince so odious , as the ta●ing possession of the wives and estates of his people , that is , nothing renders him so odious as the depriving his subjects of their lawful and reasonable pleasures ; for no mans wife or estate is dear to him any further than as they contribute to his pleasure and to his happiness . now that the drama is of the number of lawful and reasonable pleasures , has been , and shall be prov'd ; and has been all along implied , not by the connivance , but by the authority and the command of so many of our monarchs , the protection of so many illustrious princes , and the support and encouragement of so many extraordinary men , who have compos'd for so long together the great council ▪ of the nation , whose united judgments ought● certainly to be preferr'd before the pretended opinions of two or three unknown bigots , who , under the austerity of their affected grimaces , are carrying forward their dark designs , and could never do a thing upon which they would esteem themselves more , than upon depriving the government of any of its faithful friends . and it is more than probable , that some of its friends would prove averse to it , if the stage were either suppress'd or very much discourag'd . but in the next place , the stage is of use to the government , if you consider its enemies ; for it gives the enemies of the state a considerable diversion . people will not so furiously desire a change , as long as they live agreeably . men must be uneasie some way or other in their manner of living , before they come to private cabals and plotting . they who are happy appear averse to them , and to frequenting jacobite conventicles , and to contributing to our non●swearing parsons . hinc illae lachrymae ; from hence comes the impotent rage of our foes , from hence their dissembled zeal ; for as long as the enemies of the state are diverted by publick spectacles , their seditious preachers must be in a wretched condition . but farther , the stage is beneficial to the present government , if you consider a third sort of people who daily frequent it , and they are such who are always indifferent what government they live under , so they can live but agreeably . now these are of all others the most addicted to their pleasures , and would take it most heinously to be depriv'd of them . thus is the stage beneficial to the present government , if you consider those who are friends to it , or enemies , or indifferent . and the same may appear , from considering them all together . for nothing tends to the uniting men more , than the bringing them frequently together , and the pleasing them when they are assembled . thus have we shewn , that the stage is beneficial to the english government , and more particularly to the present government ; and that from the nature of the people , and the consideration of those who frequent our theatres ; we come now to answer what has been , or what may be objected from reason , from authority , and from religion . chap. iii. the objections from authority answer'd . we will begin with the objections which are brought from authority ; the authorities are numerous which mr collier has produced in the last chapter of his book ; which chapter is levell'd against the stage and dramatick poetry in general , as any one may see by perusing the first paragraph . now i would fain ask mr collier one question , whether the business of plays is not to recommend virtue and discountenance vice , and to bring every thing that is ill under infamy and neg●●ct ; whether the poets , if they pleas●d , might not be serviceable to this purpose ? and the stage be very significant ? what will he say to this ? will he deny it ? why then did he affirm it in these very words in his introduction to his book ? well , will he confess it ? then why this pedantick scrowl of authorities , to oppose the truth ? or of what significancy is human authority against human reason ? but yet , to shew the ungenerous temper of this adversary to dramatick poetry , and consequently to human learning , i shall make it appear , that of all the authorities which he has produc'd , several make in defence of the stage , and not one of them makes against it . the objections are of two sorts . those opinions of particular statesmen , and the sentiments of states in general . we shall answer the authorities which are brought from both , in the same order as they are cited by mr. collier . the two first which he brings are plato and xenophon , in the 234th page , plato , says mr collier , has banish'd plays from his commonwealth : but what can be concluded from thence ? that they ought to be expell'd from the english government ? when every body knows that the commonwealth of plato is a meer romantick notion , with which human nature , and human life , and by consequence dramatick poetry , cannot possibly agree . machiavil may give a solid answer to this in the fifteenth chapter of his prince . some men , says he , have form●d ●word and soveraignties in their own fancies , such as never were , and as never will be . but the distance is so very great between what men are , and between what they ought to be , that the statesman who leaves that which is , to follow that which ought to be , seeks his own destruction rather than his preservation . and by consequence , he who makes profession of being perf●ctly good , among too many others who are not perfectly so , sooner or later must certainly perish . but what has thus exasperated plato against the drama ? why it raises the passions , says he , and is by consequence an enemy to morality . but aristotle who , as mr collier in this very page unhappily owns , saw as far into human nature as any man ; aristotle has declar'd , that tragedy , by exciting the passions purges them , and reduces them to a just mediocrity , and is by consequence a promoter of virtue . as plato has laid the plan of a notional commonwealth , xenophon has given an account in his cyropedia of a romantick monarchy ; in which he says , that the persians would not suffer their youth to hear any thing that was amorous or tawdry . but what can this man mean by bringing this as an authority against the stage , and the drama in general : for can any one be so absurd as to imagin , that this was intended by xenophon to condemn the gravity , and seve●ity , and majesty of euripides's plays ? those plays which are said to be in part the productions of the wisest and most virtuous of all the philosophers , of xenophon's honourd incomparable master , socrates . the next , whose authority is produc'd , is aristotle ; produc'd ? for what ? why to overthrow the authority of that very sort of writing , which is establish'd upon his own rules . well! and what says aristotle ! why in his politicks he lays it down for a rule , that the law ought to forbid young people the seeing of comedies such permissions not being safe , till age and discipline had form'd them in sobriety , fortify'd their virtue , and made it as it were proof against debauchery . and what are these words of aristotle cited to shew ? why that plays in general are the nurseries of vice , the corruption of youth , and the grievance of the country , where they are suffer'd ; for that was the thing which in the first paragraph of this sixth chapter , mr collier propounded to shew . now can any thing in nature be more unreasonable than this ? for in the first place it can never be , no , not so much as pretended , that aristotle in this place requires the forbidding any thing but only comedy , which is but one sort of dramatick poetry ; nor can it be so much as pretended , that he requires , that this should be forbidden to any but boys , nor , secondly , is it probable that aristotle meant this of any thing but only that sort of ancient comedy , which has no resemblance with ours . for i have two reasons to perswade me , that aristotle meant this of only the old and the middle comedy . the first reason is , that in all likelihood aristotle writ his politicks while he was governour to alexander , which was before the establishment of the new comedy . for aristotle in his morals commends the reservedness of the new comedy , which may appear from mr collier's citation in the 160th page of this very book . the second reason is , that i can hardly believe that aristotle would have left rules for the writing of comedy , if he had believ'd that comedy in general is a corrupter of youth . what then aristotle in all probability meant only of the horrible licence of the old and middle comedy , which yet he requires to be forbidden only ▪ to boys , is here inplied to be levelled against dramatick poetry in general ; when this very philosopher has declared , that nothing is more proper than tragedy for the entertainment even of youth , pronouncing it more grave and more moral than history , and more instructive than philosophy . the next who enters the lists is cicero , who , as mr collier assures us , crys out upon licentious plays and poems , as the bane of sobriety and wise thinking , and says , that comedy subsists upon lewdness . to which i answer . first , that cicero in this place speaks only against the corruptions of the stage , which corruptions we do not pretend to defend . secondly , that cicero in his fourth book of the tusculan questions , speaks only against comedy , which is but one sort of dramatick poetry , whereas in the very same place he implicitely commends tragedy . thirdly , that even in condemning of comedy he is inconsistent with himself : and that if the opinion of cicero is of any validity , it is as valuable pro as con . cicero in his treatise de amicitia and de senectute , implicitely commends comedy . for lelius , whom cicero by the mouth of fan●ius , extol● above all the celebrated seven whom greece renown'd for wisdom ; leliu● ▪ who had the universal reputation of the greatest statesman , of the best man , and the truest friend of his time , : this lelius in the treatise which bears his name , is not only found to cite a verse with approbation from terence , but to mention his acquaintance and intimacy with that comick poet. now i leave it to any one to judge , whether cicero had not been very absurd , if he had introduc'd a person whom he so much extols as lelius , a person of that gravity , and that capacity , and one who had so considerable a share in the government of the roman state : had not cicero , i say , been very absurd , if he had introduc'd a person whom he so much extols as lelius , openly acknowledging a familiarity with a profest corrupter of the people ? but f●rther , c●to in that treatise of cicero which bears his name , that cato whom cicero by the mouth of this very lelius , prefers for wisdom to socrates himself , the awful , the grave , the severe cato , and the austerest of the roman censors ; this very cato is introduced in the fore-mention●d treatise , making honourable mention of pla●tus and livi●s and●oni●us . livy and valerius maximus follow . livy , he says , reports the original of plays . he tells us , they were brought in upon the score of religion , to pacisie the gods , and remove a mortality . but then he adds , that the motives are good , when the means are stark naught : that the remedy is worse than the disease , and the atonement more infectious than the plague . in answer to which , i desire leave to observe : first , that livy in this place of the original of plays , speaks neither of tragedy nor of comedy , nor of the satyri ; which were the third species of the roman dramatick poetry ; but only of the rudeness of the ludi fescennini . secondly , that livy commends the innocence of plays , in the purity of their first institution . thirdly , that he attributes by manifest inference the guilt and corruptions of the roman stage , to things which can have no relation to our english theatres . which is apparent from his own words . inter aliarum parva principia verum , ludorum quoque prima origo ponenda est , ut appareret quam ab sano initio res in hanc vix opulent is regnis tolerabilem insani●m venerit . among the small beginnings of other things , we are obliged to give some account of the original of theatrical representations , that it may appear how a thing that was innocent in its institution , grew up to so much licentious fury , as to render them intolerable even to the most flourishing states . from whence it is evident , that livy in this place condemns the corruption neither of comedy nor tragedy , but either the licentiousness of liberius his farces , or the barbarity of the fights of the gladiators , or the lewdness of the pantomimes motions , or all of them put together . for it is manifest to any one , who has the least tincture of the roman learning , that of the comedies and tragedies which were extant in livy's time , those were the purest ▪ which had been writ latest . fourthly , i desire leave to observe here , that the latter half of wha● mr collier has father'd upon livy , viz. that the motives were sometimes good , when the means were stark naught . that the remedy in this case was worse than the disease ; and the atonement more infectious than the plague ; has no manner of foundation in that historian . from all which the reader may discover the uncommon sincerity and intergrity of this censurer of the stage . indeed , without giving my self all this trouble for the clearing of the business , i might have left it to any one to judge , whether one of livy's extraordinary sense , who courted reputation and the favour of the publick , could have so little prudence , or so little good manners , as to use those expressions which mr collier puts in his mouth of the drama itself , at the time that it was cherish'd by the people , supported by the magistrates , and esteem'd a considerable part of their religious worship . now it is impossible that any thing could shew less judgment than the following citation from tacitus , who blames nero , says mr collier , for hiring decay'd gentlemen for the stage ; for what does mr collier conclude from hence ? that tacitus condemn'd the diversions of the stage ? all that can be reasonably concluded from it is this , that tacitus was of opinion that nero debas'd the dignity of the roman nobility , by enrolling some of their rank among an order of men , which among the romans was reputed infamous . tacitus was too much a statesman to say any thing against the stage , especially in the condition in which we are at present . he approves the conduct of augustus in the first of his annals , who after he had got possession of the government , honour'd the roman theatre with his presence , not only out of his own inclination and complaisance to mecenas ; but because he believ'd that reason of state requir'd , that he should sometimes partake of the pleasures of the people . tiberius , says tacitus , was quite of another humour . however , he had too much policy , and too much good sense , to use his new subjects severaly at first , after they had for so long together liv'd a gentle , voluptuous life . thus far goes tacitus in the first of his annals , and monsieur amelot has made this remark upon the place : a prince in the beginning of his reign ought not to alter any of the establish'd customs , because the people are very unwilling to part with them . to what tacitus says of the german women , that they ow'd their chastity to their ignorance of these diversions , this may be answer'd , that first , supposing tacitus in the right , that can have no reflection on our modern theatres . for the roman ladies may very well have been corrupted by the intolerable lewdness of the pantomimes , which lewdness has no relation to us . secondly , it has been observd of tacitus , that he is for referring all things to politicks , even things that ought to be referr'd to nature , and is for that reason sometimes out ; as it is manifest from experience he is in this case . for the germans are now as much us'd to plays as the spaniards or the italians . and yet their women are much chaster than the women of those two nations . from whence it is evident , that the german women owe their chastity to the rudeness of their manners , and to their want of attraction , and to the coldness of their constitution . in the hurry of my dispatch , i had almost forgot to return to valerius maximus ; who , says mr collier , being contemporary with livy , gives much the same account of the rise of theatres at rome . 't was devotion which built them . and as for the performances of those places which mr dryden calls the ornaments , this author censures as the blemishes of ●eace . and which is more , he affirms , that they were the occasions of civil distractions , and that the state first blush'd , and then bled for the entertainment . he concludes , the consequences of plays intollerable , and that the massilienses did well in clearing the country of them . now here in one citation , mr collier has made no less than four or five mistakes , whether through malice or ignorance , i must leave the reader to judge . for in the first place , valerius maximus censures neither comedies nor . tragedies as the blemishes of peace , and if mr collier by theatre does not mean them , he means nothing that concerns us . in the next place he does not affirm , that either they or any of the publick spectacles were the occasions of civil distractions . in the third place , he does not affirm that the state either blush'd or bled for the representation of plays . in the fourth place , the refusal of the massilienses to admit of dramatical representations can never argue any thing , not only because the consent of nations is against that little state , but because we cannot conclude from their refusal , that they did not approve of them . that all this may appear , i am oblig'd to transcribe what he says . proximus militaribus institutis ad urbana castra , id est theatra gradus faciendus est , quoniam haec quoque sepenumero animosas acies instruxerunt , excogitataque cultus deorum & hominum delectationis causa , non sine aliquo pacis rubore voluptatem & religionem civili sanguine senicorum protentorum gratiae , macularunt from military institutions let us proceed to our city camps , that is to theatres . for these too have often shewn mighty armies drawn up , and being first design'd for the worship of the gods , and for the delights of men , defil'd our pleasure and our religion with the blood of the people . where we may take notice of three things . 1. that valerius maximus implicitely commends the original institution of theatres . 2. that he charges that which was blameable in them upon the combats of the gladiators . thirdly , the representation of plays was so far from causing civil distractions , that upon the first representation of the ludi pescennini , 390 years after the building of the city , the patr●cians and plebians were quiet for above eight years , which was more than they had been for above a hundred years before . and after the first representation of comedies and tragedies , which was in the five hundred and fourteenth year of the city , there was never any civil dissention , or at least never but once , till the sedition of tiberius gra●chus , which was above an hundred years after . mr collier translates civili sanguine macularunt , caus'd civil distractions , as if plays were the principal cause of the dissentions between the commons and the patricians ; whereas those dissentions were natural to the constitution of the roman state , meer necessary consequences of enlarging their empire , and by that means encreasing the number and force of the commons , as machiavel has declared in the sixth chapter of the first book of his discourses . as for the massilians , they will be better included under the authorities which mr collier has brought in the second place from states . in examining the authorities which mr collier has brought from states , it will be convenient to say a word to the proceeding of the massilians , as it is cited from valerius maximus ; who commends them for refusing to admit of plays among them . but first , the refusal of this petty state can be of very small significancy against the consent of nations . secondly , this refusal is no sign of their disesteem of the drama , but only of the prudence of their conduct . for expence , and any thing which looks like magnificence , are destructive to little states , which can never subsist without extream frugality but the athenians , says mr collier , for which he ci●es plutarch , thought comedy so unreputable a performance , that they made a law that no iudge of the areopagus should make one . to which we reply , that this citation of plutarch is absolutely false ; and that if it were true , it could not be so much as pretended that it concluded against any thing but comedy , which is but one species of dramatick poetry ; and that in reality it would be of no force against that . what plutarch says , is not that the athenians made a law , that none of the areopagi should make a comedy ; for one might as well suppose that it should be enacted by an english parliament , that none of the twelve judges should write a farce . that which plutarch says is this , that the council of a●eopagus establish'd a law , that no man whatever should make any comedies . from whence it is manifest , that this law was made in the time of the old comedy , and long before that came to any perfection , for comedy , as is apparent from aristotle's treatise of poetry , was very much discourag'd at first : indeed at first they were so intolerably scandalous , that they were thought to be prejudicial to the state. and it was a long time before the magistrates could be prevail'd upon to be at the expence of the chorus . but after the magistrates were at the expence of the chorus , 't is absurd to imagine that a law should be preferr'd against the writing that sort of poem which was represented at the publick expence . so that a citation which mr collier has brought against the stage in general , is of no force we see against tragedy , nor against the new comedy , no , nor so much as against the old one , as it stood in the time of eupolis and aristophanes . mr collier brings the words of his authors , but leaves us to look for their sense , and yet he would take it very ill to have that return'd upon him , which he has said of mr durfey , that he is at least in his citations , vox & praeterea nihil . but he proceeds to the lacedaemonians , and says , that they who were remarkable for the wisdom of their laws , the sobriety of their manners , and their breeding of brave men , would not endure the stage in any form , nor under any regulation . this citation too is from plutarch , and just of as much validity against the stage as the other . for what can mr collier conclude from hence , that the spartans disapprovd of the drama ? why then did they frequent the theatre while they so journ'd at athens ? as it is plain that they did , both from the cato major of cicero , and from valerius maximus , chap. 5. lib. 4. all that can be concluded , from what plutarch says of the lacedaemonians is , that the drama was not so agreeable to the nature of the spartan government , it being incompatible with rigid poverty , and with fewness of subjects , which as machiavel observes , in the sixth chapter of the first book of his discourses , were the two fundamentals of their constitution . but then mr collier may be pleased to observe , that no sort of poetry flourish'd in that government , nor history , nor eloquence , nor written philosophy . for as we observed above , the arts never flourish'd in any country where the drama was decay'd or discouraged , and in those places where they have flourish'd , as they have risen they have sunk with the stage . but tho the drama was inconsistent with the nature of the spartan government , it is so remarkably agreeable to ours , that the stage with us was never attempted till the late civil wars , and then too by those who had first broke in upon our constitution and as it rose again with the hierarchy and with the monarchy , we have seen it now attempted a second time , by those , who by their writings and by their examples , have strenuously endeavour'd to ruin both church and state. the next authority is brought from the romans . tully informs us , says mr collier , that their predecessors counted all stage-plays uncreditable and scandalous . insomuch that any roman who turn'd actor was not only to be degraded , but likewise as it were disincorporated , and unnatur aliz'd , by the order of the censors . this , mr collier tells us , that st. austin cites from tully in the fourth book de repub. ; to which i could easily answer , that the same st austin , as he is cited by mr collier in the 274th page of his book , having apparently done tully wrong in his citation of one of his orations which is extant ; the passage which he cites from the fourth book de republica , which is not come down to us , may be very justly suspected . this , i say , i could easily answer ; and to convince the reader that i have very good grounds for it , i think my felf oblig'd to make it appear , that st austin , as mr collier has cited him in the 274th page of his book has done cicero a great deal of wrong . the passage is this . their own tully 's commendation of the actor roscius is remarkable . he was so much a master , says he , that none but himself was worthy to tread the stage ; and on the other hand , so good a man , that he was the most unfit person of the gang to come there . now what will the reader say , when i make it appear that tully never said any such thing ? in order to which , i am oblig'd to transcribe the passage . roscius socium fraudavit ? potest hoc homini huic haerere peccatum ? qui medius ●idius ( audacter dico ) plus fidei quam artis : plus veritatis quam disciplinae possidet in se : quem populus romanus meliorem virum quam histrionem esse arbitratur , qui it a dignissimus est scena● propter artificium ut dignissimus sit curia propter abstinentiam . has roscius defrauded his friend ? can he possibly be guilty of this ? who , by heavens , ( i boldly speak it ) has more sincerity , than he has art , more integrity than he has discipline , who , by the judgment of the roman people , is a better man than he is a player , the worthiest of all men to tread the stage , by reason of his excellent action , and the worthiest to partake of the magistracy by reason of his singular moderation . now i appeal to the reader , if this has so much as the least affinity with mr collier's meaning ? i have all this while done my utmost to keep my temper . but i cannot forbear informing mr collier , that nature did not make the ferment and rising of the blood for atheism , as he fondly imagins in the 80th page of his book . for an atheist is a wretched unthinking creature , who deserves compassion . no , nature made the ferment of the blood to rise against those , who are base enough to defame the dead by suborning them to witness what they never knew nor thought . from all which it plainly appears , that i may deny very justly to answer to what is cited here from cicero , since part of it carries in itself such a manifestation of falsehood ; for how could plays be accounted scandalous by the predecessors of cicero , when before the end of the first punick war , which was about two hundred years before cicero's time , the romans knew nothing of the true drama ; for the plays which were represented in the 391 st year of the city , were the ludi fescennini . now it was not quite a hundred years after the appearance of livius andronicus , who writ the first plays , that scipio and lelius , the two greatest men of the state , whether you consider their virtue , their courage , or their capacity , encourag'd and assisted terence in the writing of his comedies , and were his friends by publick profession , which they would certainly never have been , if at that time the romans had lookt upon plays as scandalous . 't is indeed very true , that the profession of actor was not very creditable at rome , but it does not follow from thence , that plays were at all scandalous . your common fidlers are scandalous here , though musick is very honourable . the ancient romans could not esteem any thing that was religious scandalous . their plays were a part of their religious worship , represented at the publick expence , and by the care of the aediles curules , the magistrate ▪ who had the care of the publick worship . i must confess i have a hundred times wondered , why players that were so much esteem'd at athens , should have so little credit at rome , when the plays had so much , when not only both tragedies and comedies were a part of their religious worship , represented at the expence of the publick , and by the care of the publick magistrates , but when the very persons who writ'em were carest by their greatest statesmen , nay , and when some of the poems were written by their greatest statesmen themselves . but livy , whom mr collier cites once again , shall immediately clear my doubt , for the young romans , says he , according to mr collier's citation , kept the fabulae atellanae to themselves . they would not suffer this diversion to be blemish'd by the stage . for this reason , says mr collier , as the historian observes , the actors of the fabulae atellanae , were neither expell'd their tribe , nor refus'd to serve in arms. both which penalties it appears the common players lay under . here mr collier seems to me , to have made a very gross mistake . for he has interpreted ab histrionibus pollui to be blemish'd by the stage , according to the noble latitude which he gives himself in translating . whereas it is very plain from horace's art of poetry , that the fabulae atellanae were acted on the publick theatre immediately after the tragedies . verum ita risores , ita commendere dicaces conveniet satyros , ita vertere seria ludo ; ne quicunque deus , quicunque adhibebitur heros regali conspectus in auro nuper & ostro , migret in obscuras humili sermone tabernas . dacier is of opinion too in his comment on the 227th verse of horace's art of poetry , that the fabulae atellanae were not only acted on the publick stage , but acted by the same players that the tragedies were , in which he is apparently mistaken ; for in the first place this opinion makes him inconsistent with himself ; as any one may see , who consults what he says , upon the 231st verse , where he affirms , that the actors of the fabulae atellanae , had priviledges beyond what the common players had . in the second place , the passage which he brings to prove his opinion , proves nothing at all . the passage is , regali conspectus in auro nuper & ostro , &c. which dacier takes to be spoken of the players , whereas it is manifestly spoken of the persona drammatis , that is , of the god or the heroe . from what i have said , we may observe three things . first , that the fabulae atellanae were acted on the publick theatre . secondly , that they were not acted by the tragedeans nor the comedians , tho they were writ by the tragick and comick poets . thirdly , that the actors of the fabulae atellanae were not better treated than common actors , because they did not act on the publick theatre . valerius maximus gives us the reason why they were better treated in the fourth chapter of his second book . atellani autem ab oscis acciti sunt : quod genus detectationis italica severitate temperatum ideoque vacuum nota est , nam neque tribu movetur , neque a militaribus stipendis repellitur . from whence it is apparent , that it was from the severity of that sort of poem , that the actors of the fabulae atellanae were treated more kindly , than the common actors . but now how came the actors of the fabulae atellanae to be treated with so much humanity , on the account of the severity of those poems , when the tragedians incurr'd the censorian note ? for tragedy has infinitely more severity than the fabulae atellanae could ever have . for the fabulae atellanae were partly satyrical , and had as great a mixture of raillery as have our tragi comedies ; whereas tragedy as all the world knows is grave and severe throughout . that which follows seems to me to be the reason of this , and to be the true cause why at rome the common actors were so hardly us'd , when plays were so much esteem'd by the romans . the first plays that were represented by the romans were the ludi fescennini , which were licencious and scurrilous even at first , and full of particular scandalous reflections , but in a little time they grew bloody and barbarous ; and that cruelty of defamation to which they arriv'd , was in all probability the cause why those who acted in them were so severely treated by the state. and what inclines me to this opinion the more , is the following passage of horace . fescennina per hunc inventa licentia morem , versibus alternis approbria rustica fudit , libertasque recurrentes accepta per annos lusit amabiliter : donec jam servus apertam in rabiem verti caepit iocus ; & per honestas ire domos impune minax : doluere cruento dente lacessiti : fuit intactis quoque cura conditione super communi : quis etiam lex paenaque lata . not long after these appear'd the fabulae atellanae ; and because their satyr was free from particular reflection , and their raillery innocent , and because there was something which was severe and noble in them ; this might prevail upon the following censors to exempt the actors of the fabulae atellanae from the censorian note ; and might occasion a law to be made , that these actors should be capable of bearing arms. it was a considerable time after this before tragedies and comedies were substituted in the room of the ludi fescennini . comedy at first was cultivated most , as dacier somewhere observes , and it was late before tragedy arriv●d to its height , tho at the last it fell infinitely short of the divine sublimity of the sophoclean tragedy . now tho the romans were charm'd with tragedy when it was come to its height , and consequently with those who writ it , and tho they found it to be without comparison more grave , more noble , and more instructive than the fabulae atellanae were , yet they might probably think it below the majesty of the roman people to abolish an ancient custom , and an establish'd law of the state , in favour of the common players . yet this can be of no prejudice to our modern players ; because all states have had unreasonable customs , and this of the romans may be concluded to be such ; being directly opposite to that of the grecians , and the athenians particularly , from whom the romans had their laws of the twelve tables , which were the most venerable of all their laws . what i have already said answers the theodosian code , and so i come to that which he calls our own constitution , from that which breaks our constitution . neither of the two statu●es , which he mentions page 242 , can reach the king and the queens servants , they being by no means in the rank of common players . the theatre flourish'd under the princes in whose reigns those statutes were made , especially in the reign of the latter , which may serve for a proof that the severity of that statute extended only to strowlers . all that can be concluded from the petition to queen elizabeth , which is mentioned in the same page , is that the queen thought fit to suppress the play-houses that were set up in the city , tho she allow'd them in other places . and this was not without a great deal of reason : for since the interest of england is supported by trade , and the chief trade of england is carry'd on by the citizens of london , it was not convenient that the young citizens should have a temptation so near them , that might be an avocation to them from their affairs . and since it is apparent from mr collier's citation , that the queen , upon the city's remonstrance , supprest the play-houses which were set up in the city , but suffer'd them in other places ; this very citation is a manifest proof of that queens approbation of theatres and dramatick poems . that reader who can expect that i should make any serious answer to the following citations from the bishop of arras's decree and the dutch gazette , deserves to be laught at rather than satisfy'd . and i cannot imagine why these gazettes should be cited in the same row with so many philosophers , councils and fathers , unless mr collier would slily insinuate that they are of equal authority . but 't is high time to proceed to the objections which may be brought from reason and religion . chap. iv. the objections from reason and religion answer'd . i now come to answer what may be objected from reason and from religion . the objections against the stage , from reason are chiefly four . 1. that it encourages pride . 2. that it encourages revenge . 3. that it exposes quality ; and by doing so , brings a considerable part of the government into contempt . 4. that it exposes the clergy , and by endangering religion endangers government . the two first are general , and the two last particular objections . i shall speak to them all succinctly . first , the stage encourages pride ; a quality that indisposes men for obedience , and for the living peaceably . to which i answer , that if ambition is meant by pride , the stage is so far from encouraging that , that it is the business of tragedy to deter men from it , by shewing the great ones of the earth humbled . on the other side , if pride be made to signifie vanity , and affectation , the child of vanity , 't is the business of comedy to expose those ; which is sufficiently acknowledg'd by mr collier in the introduction to his book . but if by pride is meant pride well regulated , which philosophers call greatness of mind , and which men of the world call honour , then i must confess that the stage above all things encourages that , and by encouraging it provides for the happiness of particular men , and for the publick prosperity . i must confess , if all men were perfect christ●ans , there would be no occasion for this philosophical virtue . but since that neither is , nor , if we credit the scriptures , will be , and since this very pride is the virtue of those who are not virtuous , and the religion of those who are not religious , i appeal to any sensible reader , if it is not to this that he owes in some measure his life , his fortune , and all his happiness . for it is this , which in a great measure makes his servant just to him , his friend faithful , and his wife chaste . 't is this too from whence for the most part comes the security and ornament of states . the love of glory goads on the conquering souldier to his duty , excites the philosopher , animates the historian , and inflames the poet. so that , in short , from this very quality , the encouraging which mr collier's undistinguishing pen condemns , proceed almost all the advantages that make private men happy , and states prosperous . but secondly , the stage encourages revenge , which is so destructive to the happiness of particular men , and to the publick peace . to which i answer , first , that the stage keeps a man from revenging little injuries , by raising his mind above them . secondly , that if it does sometimes show its characters revenging intolerable injuries , and consequently punishing enormous crimes , yet by doing that it deters men from committing such crimes , and consequently from giving the occasions of such revenge : so that we may set the one against the other . thirdly , that perhaps it equally concerns the peace of mankind , that men should decline the revenging little injuries which happen every day , and should sometimes revenge intolerable ones , which very seldom happen . cicero affirms in his oration for milo , that milo had done a service to the commonwealth by removing of cloudius . from whence it appears , that that great statesman thought that sometimes private revenges might be necessary for the publick safety . servilius ahala did service to the state by removing of spurius melius ; and scipio nasica sav●d it from utter ruin by the death of tiberius gracchus . fourthly , that sort of tragedy , in which the characters are the best form'd and the incidents the best contriv'd to move compassion and terror , has either no revenge , or by no menas that sort of revenge which can encourage the crime in others . if mr collier had known any thing of a play , he would have been sensible of this . if any reader wants to be convinc'd of it , i refer him to what i have cited from aristotle's poetick in the last chapter of the remarks on prince arthur . but , thirdly , the stage exposes the nobility , and so brings a part of the government into contempt . this objection seems to mr collier , peculiar to the english stage . for as for moliere , says he , he pretends to fly his satyr no higher than a marquis . good god! as if a marquis were not above any condition of men that have been expos'd on the english stage . this trick that our poets have got of exposing quality , is a liberty , says mr collier , unpractis●d by the latin comedians : where , by comedians , i suppose , he means comick poets . but it was very common with the greeks , aristophanes , cratinus , eupolis , and all writers of the old comedy , not only expos●d the chief of the athenian nobility , but mention'd their very names , and produc'd their very persons by the resemblance of the vizors . in imitation of these , lucilius the inventor of satyr , as horace tells us , spar'd none of the roman nobility , if they deserv'd the lash , no , not even persons of consular dignity . and yet as boileau observes in his discourse upon satyr , scipio , and lelius , did not think this man unworthy of their friendship , because he had expos'd some of the scandals to quality , and did not imagin that they in the least endanger'd their own reputation , by abandoning all the coxcombs of the commonwealth to him . from whence 't is apparent , that if the roman comick poets did not bring the nobility of rome upon the stage , it was for want of opportunity and not of good will. for how should they bring the roman quality upon the stage , when it is plain that they never laid their scene in rome , nor so much as in italy . the latin comick poets translated the greeks ; now the old and the middle comedy they could not translate , because the old comedy describing particular persons , and the middle one particular adventures , those comedies must have lost most of their graces upon the theatre of another sta●e . the latins then translated the new comedy , in which indeed the athenian nobility was never expos'd , because it was impracticable in that way of writing . for the athenians had no titles among them ; because those people who were truly great knew that real greatness consisted in merit and virtue ; but when that real greatness forsook the world , a titular greatness , the shadow of the other , was introduced to supply it ; a meer invention to cajole people , and perswade them that they might be noble without virtue . now the athenians having no titles , i cannot conceive how the athenian nobility could be possibly expos'd by menander , or any of the writers of the new comedy . for , to set the mark of quality on any one of their characters , there was either a necessity of mentioning his name , or describing his person , or his particular employment in the state ; the doing which would have thrown them back upon the old or middle comedy , which were both forbid by the law. from all which it appears , that the romans in this case are not against us , and the french are clearly on our sides . but to come to the reason of the thing , if a lord may not be shewn a ●ool upon the stage , i would fain ask mr collier what fools a comick poet may lawfully show there , and at what condition of men he ▪ is oblig'd to stop . i would fain know whether a poet may be allow'd to dub his dramatical coxcombs ? may he show a fool a knight baronet , or a knight batchelour , or are they too included in quality ? must he be oblig'd to go no further than squire , and must fool and squire continue to be terms synonimous ? if any of mr collier's acquaintance will give himself the diversion of asking him these questions , i dare engage that he will find him embarass'd sufficiently . but methinks neither the lords nor we are oblig'd to mr collier for his extraordinary civility . for if a lord is capable of committing extravagancies as well as another man , why should mr collier endeavour to perswade him that he is above it ? or why should he hinder him from being reclaim'd ? unless he would imply that a commoner may be corrected when he grows extravagant , but that when a lord grows fantastick he is altogether incorrigible . nor are we oblig'd to mr collier any more than the peers are ? for since the bare advantage of their conditions makes some of them already grow almost insupportable , why should any one endeavour to add to their vanity , by exempting them from common censure ? besides , since follies ought to be expos'd , the follies of the great are the fittest , as being most conspicuous and most contageous . the follies of the meaner sort are often the effects of ignorance , and merit compassion rather than contempt . affected follies are the most despicable ; now affectation is the child of vanity , and vanity of condition . but why should a lord be free from dramatical censure , when he can be corrected no where but upon the stage ? a commoner may be corrected in company , but such friendly admonition to a lord may be interpreted scandal . for our comick poets , i dare engage that no men respect our nobility more than they do : they know very well that their titles illustrate their merit , and adorn their virtue ; but that those whom they expose , are such whose follies and whose vices render their titles ridiculous . and yet that they expose them no more than the rest of the kings subjects : for folly as well as vice is personal , and the satyr of comedy falls not upon the order of men , out of which the ridiculous characters are taken , but upon the persons of all orders who are affected with the like follies . for they know further what mr collier apparently never knew , that a lord in effect in a comedy signifies any man. for the characters of comedy are always at bottom universal and allegorical : and the making lords of their comick fools , can signifie no more than to admonish our men of quality that they are concern'd in the instruction as well as others . the fourth objection from reason is , that the stage exposes the clergy , and so by endangering religion endangers government . but of this i shall speak in the following part of this book , where i design to treat of religion . we now come to answer what is objected from religion , which is , that there is no need of the stage to make people good subjects ; for that the pulpit teaches men their duty to their prince , better than all the philosophy and all the poetry in the world . 't is indeed undeniable . but the validity of this objection depends upon two suppositions ; which are , that all the subjects of the state go to church , and that all attend when they are there . whereas it is manifest that our atheists and deists seldom go thither ; and that our doubting , cold , and lukewarm christians seldom attend when they are there . but that the stage , reduc'd to its primitive purity , would be a means to send them thither , and the best of all human preparatives for the divine instruction which they would find there , is designed to be shown in the remaining part of this treatise . the end of the second part . the usefulness of the stage . part iii. chap. i. that the stage is useful to the advancement of religion . i now come to shew that the stage is useful to the advancement of religion . and , first , of the christian religion in general . secondly , of the christian religion particularly , and more especially of the reform'd religion . religion in general , or natural religion , may be consider'd as consisting of two parts ; the things to be believed , and the things to be done . first , the things to be believed , are 1. the being of a god. 2. providence . 3. immortality of the soul. 4. future rewards and punishments . the poet , and particularly the tragick poet , asserts all these , and these are the very foundations of his art ; for in the first place the machines are the very life and soul of poetry ; now the machines would be absurd and ridiculous without the belief of a god , and a particular providence . in the second place , let any man shew me where terror is mov'd to a heighth , and i will shew him that that place requires the belief of a god and particular providence . in the third place , poetick iustice would be a j●st if it were not an image of the divine , and if it did not consequently suppose the being of a god and providence . it supposes too the immortality of the soul , and future rewards and punishments . for the things which in perfect tragedy bring men into fatal calamities are involuntary faults ; that is , faults occasion'd by great passions . now this upon a supposition of a future state , is very just and reasonable . for since passions in their excesses , are the causes of most of the disturbances that happen in the world , upon a supposition of a future state , nothing can be more just , than that the power which governs the world , should make sometimes very severe examples of those who indulge their passions ; providence seems to require this . but then to make involuntary faults capital , and to punish them with the last punishment , would not be so consistent with the goodness of god , unless there were a compensation hereafter . for such a punishment would not only be too rigorous , but cruel and extravagant . the second part of natural religion contains the things which are to be done ; which include , 1. our duty to god. 2. our duty to our neighbour . 3. our duty to our selves . and all these it is the business of tragedy to ●each ; witness the practice of the ancient chorus , as it is comprehended in the following verses of horace ▪ ille bonis favetque & concilietur amicis et regatirato , & amet peccare timentes : ille● dapes laudet mensae brevis ille salubrem iustitiam , legesque & apertis otia portis : ille tegat commissa deosque precetur & oret vt redeat miseris , abeat fortuna superbis . from which it appears , that it was the business of tragedy to exhort men to piety and the worship of the gods ; to perswade them to justice , to humility , and to fidelity , and to incline them to moderation and temperance . and 't is for the omission of one of these duties that the persons of the modern tragedy are shewn unfortunate in their catastrophes . thus don iohn is destroy'd for his libertinism and his impiety ; timon for his profusion and his intemperance ; macbeth for his lawless ambition and cruelty ; castalio for his falshood to his brother and friend ; iaffeir for his clandestine marriage with the daughter of his benefactor ; and belvidera for her disobedience . thus we have shewn , by reason and by matter of fact , that it is the business of the stage to advance religion , and it is plain from history and from experience , that religion ha flourish'd with the stage ; and that the athenians and romans who most encourag'd it , were the most religious people in the world . and , perhaps , if we would come down to our selves , it would be no difficult matter to shew , that they who frequent our theatres , have a great deal more of natural religion in them , than it s declared inveterate enemies , who are principally fanaticks and jesuits : for the vices which are charg'd upon the friends of the stage , are for the most part the effects of frailty , and meer human vices ; whereas the faults of its inveterate enemies , are known to be diabolical crimes , destructive of society , of peace , and of human happiness ; such as falshood , slander , injustice , back-biting , perfidiousness , and irreconcileable hatred . i now come to shew in the second place that the stage is useful for the advancing the christian , and particularly the reformed religion . the christian religion has two parts , the moral and the mysterious . the moral consists of human and christian virtues : the human virtues are a part of natural religion , which , since the stage advances , as we have shewn above , it follows that it partly advances christianity . the stage too in some measure may be made to recommend humility , patience and meekness to us , which are true christian virtues : and tho a dramatick poet neither can nor ought to teach the mysteries of the christian religion , yet by recommending the human and the christian virtues to the practice of our audience , he admirably prepares men for the belief of the mysteries . for this is undeniable , that it is not reason , but passion and vice that keeps any man from being a christian. that therefore that moderates our passions , and instructs us in our duty , must consequently advance our faith. so that the stage is not only absolutely necessary for the instructing and humanizing those who are not christians , but the best of all human things to prepare them for the sublimer doctrines of the church . now that which inclines us to the christian religion will incline us to the purer sort of it , and that which has the least affinity with idolatry , which is the reform'd religion . that which opens men's eyes as the stage does , by purging our passions and instructing us in our duty ; and that which raises their minds , will make them naturally averse from superstitious foppery , and from being slaves to priestcraft , and that which exposes hypocrisy , as the stage does , must naturally make ●en averse from fanaticism and the affected austerity of bigots . and therefore the jesuits on one hand , and the fanaticks on the other , have always been inve●erate enemies to plays . this is remarkable ▪ that the church and the hierarchy , ever since the reformation , have flourish'd with the stage , were depos'd with it , and restor'd with it . thus have i shewn that the stage advances religion , and more particularly the christian reform'd religion . i come now to answer what may be objected from reason and from authority . chap. ii. the objections from reason answer'd . the objections from reason are chiefly three . that the stage makes its characters sometimes talk prophanel ; that it encourages pride , that it exposes religion in the priesthood . these are so easily answer'd , that i shall dispatch them in a few words , and come to the objections from authority . first , the stage sometimes makes its characters talk prophanely . to which i answer ; that if the character which speaks is well mark'd and the prophaneness be necessary for the fable and for the action , then the prophaness is not unjustifiable : for to assert the contrary , would be to affirm , that is is unlawful for a dramatick poet to write against prophaneness , which is ridiculous . a poet has no other way in the drama of giving an audience an aversion for any vice , than by exposing or punishing it in the persons of the drama . and here i think my self obliged to reply to something that mr colller has asserted , in his remarks upon mr dryden's king arthur , which is , that they who bring devils on the stage , can hardly believe them any whereelse . but why for godsake ? for a man of sense always reasons , but the pedant asserts dogmatically . did aeschilus in bringing the furies upon the stage of athens , shew that he thought they were nothing but a poetical sham ? why should it be more irrelig●on in us to bring devils on the stage , that it was to bring furies in him ? can any thing be more terrible , than the shewing of devils , if they are shewn solemnly ? and can any thing that moves terror , do a disservice to religion ? but , secondly , the stage encourages pride . indeed , i must confess , that even the best sort of pride , which some call honour , and others greatness of mind , is not so very consistent with some of the christian virtues . but then i do not affirm that the stage can be at all useful for the instruction of those who are arrived at any more perfect state of religion ; but for those who are not , that is , for the generality of mankind , greatness of mind may be very serviceable , for the assisting them to command their passions , and the restraining them from committing enormous crimes . but , thirdly , the stage exposes religion by exposing the priesthood . to which i answer , that to talk of exposing religion is cant ; for to expose religion is to expose truth , which is absurd ; because nothing can be expos'd but that which is false . if the stage really ridicul'd religion , instead of ridiculing hypocrisie , some people , whose religion lies in their muscles , would be more easily reconciled to it . for how many books have been printed in english that have been levell'd directly against religion itself ? for what reason then have none of those zealots , who have declaim'd with so much fury against the stage , writ any thing to dissuade people from reading those deisti●al and atheistical treatises ? for what reason have they omitted this , unless because those books only attack religion , about which they never much trouble their heads ; but the poets attack them . the bringing a vicious or a ridiculous priest upon the stage then cannot be interpreted the exposing religion , but the ridiculing hypocrisie . however , this is very certain , that no poet ought to shew a priest in such a manner as to shew any disesteem of the character . but i cannot for my life conceive why the bringing a foolish or a vicious priest upon the stage should be such an abominable thing . for , since persons of all degrees , from monarch to peasant , are daily brought upon the stage , why should the clergy be exempted ? the clergy have been treated by our comick poets with a great deal more respect than the laity : because they have hardly spar'd any condition of the laity , but none of the superiour clergy have been ever expos'd in our comedies ; which is one sign of the good intention of the poets , and that they only show the follies and vices of some , while they reverence the piety and learning of others , and the order in general . and whereas mr collier affirms , that foreign states suffer no priests to be expos'd on the comick stage . to that we answer , that in countries where the church of rome is establish'd they have some reason to use this niceness : for prudence requires that the magistrate should always take care of the established religion , and the established religion in those countries being almost all priestcraft , to expose the priests is there to expose religion . besides , in those places priestcraft and secular policy have a nearer alliance , and a closer dependance on each other by much , than they have here : for the priests are considerably assistant to the magistrates in the enslaving the people , besides , in italy and spain the inquisition rages , and priests will be sure to take care of themselves . as for france , tho they never had a priest upon the stage , yet they have a poem which was writ on purpose to ridicule even the superiour clergy . and by whom was it writ ? by monsieur boileau , the most sober and most religious of all their poets ▪ who advis'd it ? who commanded it ? monsieur de lamoignon , illustrious for his profound capacity , renown'd for his learning , and fam'd for his piety ; who believ'd that the exposing that litigious humour that was crept into the regular clergy , might do important service to the gallican church . and why should our magistrates make any exception against the exposing the faults of the clergy here , where the religion is so pure , that to touch a priest is by no means to hurt the religion . and whereas mr collier says , that to affront a priest is to affront the deity ; so it is to a affront a peasant who is a good christian ; besides , affronts are always personal , but a priest in a play is a general character ; and the bringing an ill or a ridiculous one upon the stage , rather proceeds from our veneration for religion , than from any contempt of it . and whereas mr collier takes a great deal of pains to prove that a priest ought not to be contemn'd because he is a degree above a gentleman ; that defence methinks is not altogether so pertinent . for it is evident , that persons of degrees superiour to gentlemen are every day expos'd on the stage . and besides , the way for a clergyman to secure himself from contempt , is not to boast of secular advantages which in him is truly ridiculous , but to shew his meekness and his humility , which are true christian virtues . besides , the characters in every comedy are always at the bottom universal and allegorical , or else the instruction could not be universal . a ridiculous or vicious priest in a comedy , signifies any man who has such follies or vices , and the cassock is produc'd on purpose to signify to the clergy , that they are partly concern'd in the instruction , and have sometimes their vices and follies as well as the laity . the exposing upon the stage a priest , who is an ill , or a ridiculous person , can never make the order contemptible , for nothing can make the priesthood contemptible but priests . he among them who writ the grounds of the coutempt of the clergy , says nothing that i remember of the stage ; but he says a great deal of their own follies , and something too of their vices ; now the exposing these follies and vices , would be a way to reclaim them , and so to preservè the esteem that they have in the world . this is plain from experience : for the inferiour clergy is much more respected in england , than the regular clergy is either in france or italy , where they are never expos'd on the stage . and their lives are here less scandalous than they are abroad . they who have been at marseilles , may inform mr collier , that it is there a very common thing to see priests , both secular and regular , who are slaves in the galleys for the most detestable crimes it appears to be full as necessary , to expose a priest , who is an ill man , as one of the laity , because his example is more contageous , and the salvation of so many souls depend on it : whereas a layman influences fewer . besides , a layman often offends thro want of consideration , because he does not reflect , his worldly avocations diverting his thoughts from religion ; so that such a one may have returns of conscience . but an ill clergyman cannot pretend inconsiderateness , for it is his daily business to reflect on his duty ; and consequently such a one must be a downright atheist ; and an atheist sinning on this side the law , has nothing to restrain him but the apprehension of infamy , and the fear of becoming contemptible . besides , a layman who transgresses , has his rector or his curate to remind him of his duty . shall a clergyman who is an ill liver go on without admonition . is that for his advantage , or the benefit of his flock , or the good of the publick . we own indeed that it is our duty to be instructed by them , yet ought they sometimes to take their turn , and be subject to our remonstrances : as the roman consuls , if we may have leave to make such a comparison , were accountable to the tribunes of the people , by the policy of that constitution . thus i have answer'd what may be objected from reason against the stage in general , and what mr collier has objected against the english stage in particular , i mean as much as was fit to be answer'd . for there is no defending the immodesty , or immorality of , or unnecessary prophaneness of some of our plays . let us now come to the objections which mr collier has brought from authority . chap. iii. the objections from authority answer'd . the objections from authority are of two sorts , councils and fathers . but now let me ask mr collier this question , were these persons inspir'd or no ? that is , did the spirit of god dictate whatever they writ to em ? if he says it did , i have nothing to say to such a man , but abandon him to ecclesiastical censure ▪ if he says it did not , why then i must tell him , that we live in an age in which there are persons that are too judicious , and too generous to forego their reasons for meer human authority . an age in which we account it not only an absurdity , but a sin to believe in any thing under heaven ; as well knowing that reason is the top of all human things ; and tho not so sacred as revelation , is in some measure divine . for reason is given us by god for our guide , where we have no revelation to contradict it . and both human authority and revelation hold and depend on reason . we always assent to revelations divine authority , because reason assures us , that we always ought to assent to it : and we sometimes refuse to acknowledge human authority , because we are convinc'd by reason that we ought not to submit to it . for the councils he has cited , i must tell him , that we are not oblig'd to acknowledge any of those councils infallible ; but refuse to be determin'd by their decrees , unless they are confirm'd by reason or revelation . now i desire to know of mr collier whether he himself pays the last deference to those councils or no ? if he answers , that he owns their authority , how durst he appear to have read so many plays as he has cited thro out this book , when the decrees of these councils even in this very case appear from his own citations so much stronger against the clergy than they do against the laity ? but if he answers , that he disowns their authority , with what prodigious assurance can he offer to impose it on us that while he takes his own satisfaction he may laugh àt our credulity ? but to come to the fathers , they had their reasons for crying out against the stage , which cannot so much as be pretended to be reason ▪ to us . they had chiefly five , and those five reasons will serve to answer whatever has been cited by mr collier in his long ecclesiastical scrowl . first , plays in their time were a part of the pagan worship ; and that in the beginning of christianity was alone a sufficient motive to oblige the fathers to forbid those diversions to the new christians , several of which may be very well suppos'd to be not yet confirm'd in the faith. the second reason why the fathers forbad the first christians plays , was because the combats of the gladiators were mingled with those diversions , and something which was full as barbarous . media inter carmina pof●unt aut ursum aut pugiles . hor ep . 1. l. 1. the third was the gesticulations of the pantomimes , which indeed were unsufferably lewd , and unfit to be seen not only by christians , but by any civil people . let any one but consult what mr collier has cited from the fathers , and he will find that these were three of the main reasons which prevail'd upon the fathers to forbid the christians the diversions of the theatre . 't is not lawful ( says theophilus , whom he cites first ) for us to be present at the prizes of your gladiators , lest by this means we should be accessary to the murthers there committed . neither dare we presume upon the liberties of your other shews , lest our sences should be touched and disobliged with indecency and prophaneness . and tertullian , whom he cites next , says in his apologetick , we keep off from your publick shews , becáuse we can't understand the warrant of their original . but there are two reasons behind ; the first of which was drawn from the purity of the primitive times . which makes tertullian , as mr collier has cited him , cry out , page 354. but if you can't wait for delight , if you must be put into present possession , &c. by which tertullian seems to allow , that diversions indeed are necessary , but that christians will find abundant entertainment in the very exercise of their religion . this , i must confess , was very well directed by tertullian . but if cato was formerly laugh'd at , for speaking in the senate as if he had liv'd in plato's republick , whereas he was really in the very dregs of that of romulus , how shall this upstart reformer escape contempt , who has apply'd to this profligate age , what tertullian directed to those fervent christians , whose souls were flaming with divine love in the purity of happier times . thus have i examin'd four of the five reasons , not one of which can be a reason to us . for , neither is our drama a part of idolatrous worship , nor have we either gladiators or pantomimes ; nor the people of this age be satisfy'd to be always entertain'd with the scripture , but require other diversions . but the fifth reason is yet to come ; by which it will appear , that these venerable gentlemen are by no means qualified to judge of a cause , of which it appears even from mr collier's citations , that they have not the least knowledge . for , says the bishop of antioch , whom he cites first . the tragical distractions of tereus and thyestes are nonsense to us . now could any man possibly talk thus , who had the least knowledge of the nature of tragedy , and particularly of that tragedy ? it was below that prelate to consider horace , for he would have told him , irae thyesten exitio gravi stravere , & eltis urbibus ultimae stetere causae , cur perirent funditus , imprimeritque muris hostile aratrum exercitus insolens . compesce mentem . is the moral which the poet draws from this fable nonsense to us ? is it impertinence in a poet to tell us , that we ought to restrain our anger , because the indulging it has often brought men into fatal calamities ? for had this prelate understood this affair , what could he have possibly dislik'd here ? the moral or the fable ? the moral ? that methinks should be hardly becoming of a professor of that religion , which is therefore extoll'd above all others , because it is more moral . was it the fable then which offended him , or the manner of conveying the instruction ? methinks it is something odd in a christian prelate to condemn that method of teaching which was chiefly practis'd by his great master , whom he professes to imitate . but now to come to the author de spectacul is : what need i mention , says he , the levities and impertinence in comedies , or the ranting distractions of tragedy ? were th●se things unconcern'd with idolatry , christians ought not to be at them . for , w●re they not highly criminal , the foolery of them is egregious , and unbecoming the gravity of believers . now let me ask mr collier , whether it be lawful for christians to read history ? it would certainly be the absurdest thing in the world to deny it . now aristotle has declar'd very formally that tragedy is more grave and more instructive than history . and tho when the question is concerning grace , i will believe the least of the fathers before aristotle , and all his interpreters the schoolmen together ; yet where the dispute is concerning the nature of writing , and the colours of speech , i will believe aristotle's single testimony , before all the fathers and councils joyn'd in a body . tho plays are forbidden by the fathers and councils , yet the fathers own , and mr collier owns , that they are not forbidden by scripture : nor are they forbidden by reason . for who are they who frequent them ? who are they that approve of them ? who are they that have not the least scruple about them ? not a parcel of fools that are carry'd away by meer imagination , and are only fit for bedlam ; but the best and most reasonable part of the nation , and particularly a thousand whom i could name that are considerable for their extraordinary qualities . now i cannot for my life apprehend upon what account any thing that is not forbidden by god ; that is neither prohibited by reason nor revelation , should be forbidden by men . we know what our saviour has said in st matthew of those who teach for doctrines the commandments of men , c. 15. v. 9. that it renders all their zeal ineffectual . but then , says tertullian , as he is cited by mr collier , p. 245. the play-house is implicitly , tho not expressly forbid by the scripture , in the first verse of the first psalm : blessed is the man who walketh not in the counsel of the ingodly , nor stands in the way of sinners , nor sits in the seat of the scorner . but then say we , that nothing can be forbid by this , but what the scripture or reason have declar'd to be the counsel of the ungodly , and the way of sinners . now , as we have manifestly shown above , neither reason nor revelation says that of the theatre . and as for the seat of the scorner , that part of the text can only be applicable to comedy , and is full as applicable to the press , and sometimes to the pulpit itself . in the next place , says the author de spectaculis , as he is cited by mr collier , p. ●62 . some have thought the play-house no unlawful diversion , because it was not condemn'd by express scripture . let meer modesty , says he , supply the holy text , and let nature govern , where revelation does not reach . some things are too black to lye upon paper , and are more strongly forbidden because unmentioned . the divine wisdom must have had a low opinion of christians , if it had descended to particulars in this case . silence is sometimes the best method of authority . to forbid often puts people in mind of what they should not do . thus , say tertullian , says mr collier . but for my part , i both hope and believe that he wrongs him . for it is incredible to me , that a father of the church should reason , in so absurd a manner . for the chief reason why tertullian affirms that the frequenting of plays is not forbid by scripture , is because the crime is too black to be particularly insisted on . as if st paul in the first chapter of the romans had not descended to particular crimes of a blacker nature than this . can we suppose that scripture , which is a revelation of the will of god , and a supplement to the law of nature , should descend to condemn things which reason had before condemn'd as abominable , and utterly against nature● and shall it take no notice of things which are allow●d by reason , and the law of nature ( as we have shewn that the theatre is ) and which consequently cannot be discover'd to be sins but by the light of revelations ? could st paul in the 5th chap. to the i ep. to the co● rinthians be so particular as to descend to a crime , which , when the apostle writ the epistle , concern'd but only one , who had married his father's wife , and which could never be suppos'd to concern very many , because the crime was against the custom and consent of nations : could the apostle of the gentiles i say descend to this , and think it too particular to mention a sin which concern'd the salvation of so many thousands who were then alive , and of so many millions who were to succeed them ? nay , could st paul , in the 7th of the 1st ep. to the cor. descend so particularly , as to give his advice against marriage , which was neither forbid by revelation nor reason , but was highly warranted by both , as absolutely necessary for the propagation of christianity , and the accomplishment of the promises ? could the apostle , i say , descend to this , and take no notice of a sin of so black and damnable a nature as frequenting the theatres is by mr collier pretended to be ? a sin too which endanger'd the salvation not only of the christians to whom he writ , but those who were to succeed them in all posterity ? but , says tertullian , the apostle had no occasion expressly to condemn what is condemn'd by reason . but that which was a reason in tertullian's time does not subsist in ours , as we have plainly shewn above . but if any one at last shall urge , that the acting of plays was condemn'd by express scripture , because it was a part of the pagan worship , and idolatry was expressly condemn'd ; to this i answer , that nothing can make more for my cause than this : for since the spirit of god condemn'd the representation of plays only as they were included under idolatry , you must either shew that the spirit of god did not foresee that in process of time they would cease to be idolatrous , which to affirm is horrible blasphemy ; or you must acknowledge , that by condemning them only under the general term of idolatry , he approv'd them , and allow'd of them , as soon as they should be no longer idolatrous ; or else you must be forc'd to acknowledge that the word of god is defective , and does not contain all things which are necessary to the salvation of his people . besides , it may be manifestly prov'd from st paul , that the idolatry of them extended no farther than to the representation of them , which representation was render'd idolatrous , only by the direction and intention of the magistrates and publick , at whose expence they were represented ; for st paul has sufficiently warranted the writing them , and consequently the reading of them , by citing a verse of a comick poet in the first epistle to the corinthians ch . 15. v. 33. for if those writings had been in themselves idolatrous , st paul durst neither have read them while a jew , nor cited them while a christian , idolatry both to jew and christian being alike abominable . but it is evident that he has cited them ; for it is known to all the world , that evil communication corrupts good manners , is a verse of menander , and the corinthians particularly could not be ignorant of it . since then the spirit of god thought fit to put the verse of a comick poet into the mouth of his greatest apostle , as very fit for the instruction of his people , and the reformation of mankind ; and since the same spirit has said not a syllable to condemn either plays or theatres , any farther than as they are included under idolatry , it seems to be very plain to me , that he has not only approved , but recommended plays to his people , when they are not corrupt and idolatrous . for the corinthians saw plainly that st paul had read menander , they were convinc'd that he had cited him for their instruction , and consequently that he approv'd of him : since then they were satisfied that the apostle read him , why might not they do the like , when st paul had not said so much as a word to discourage ' em . now if the reading him could be allowable , why should not the seeing him be equally lawful , when the representation should cease to be corrupt and idolatrous ? and therefore st thomas , and the rest of the school-men , who liv'd when dramatical representations were no longer idolatrous , have loudly declared them lawful ; and they are at this very day encouraged in countries , where they are mortally severe against any thing that offends religion , and where the cruelty of the inquisition is most outrageous . thus have i endeavour'd to shew , that plays are instrumental to human happiness , to the welfare of government , and the advancement of piety ; that arts and empire have flourish'd with the stage , which has been always encouraged by the best of men , and by the bravest nations . after which i hope the enemies of plays will be reconciled to our theatres , and not by persisting in their aversion , affect to seem more wise than the athenians , more austere than the romans , more nice than the school-men , more cruel than inquisitors , and more zealous than the apostle of the gentiles . finis . errata . page 6. for that is r. it is , p. 9. f. these passions r. the passions , ib. f. in these a full r. in a full , p. 24. f. eve● these r. even in these , p. 32. f. action r. citation , p. 38. f. who liv'd r. who was born p. 44. f. stager . state , p. 54. f. seeing r. saying , p. 65. f. not by r. not only by , p. 70. f. these opinions r. the opinions , p. 77. f. verum r. rerum , p. 78. f. them r. it , p. 80. after especially r. treaties of a state. notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a35682-e350 hor. ode lib. 2. theatrum redivivum, or, the theatre vindicated by sir richard baker, in answer to mr. pryn's histrio-mastix ... theatrum redivivum baker, richard, sir, 1568-1645. 1662 approx. 172 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 75 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-01 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a29842 wing b513 estc r16868 12010486 ocm 12010486 52391 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a29842) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 52391) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 81:4) theatrum redivivum, or, the theatre vindicated by sir richard baker, in answer to mr. pryn's histrio-mastix ... theatrum redivivum baker, richard, sir, 1568-1645. [8], 141 p. printed by t.r. for francis eglesfield ..., london : 1662. reissued in 1670, with title: theatrum triumphans, or, a discourse of plays. reproduction of original in british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng prynne, william, 1600-1669. -histrio-mastix. theater -moral and ethical aspects. 2002-04 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2002-05 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2002-06 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2002-06 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-07 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion theatrum redivivum , or the theatre vindicated by sir richard baker in answer to mr. pryn's histrio-mastix : wherein his groundless assertions against stage-plays are discovered , his miss-taken allegations of the fathers manifested , as also what he calls his reasons , to be nothing but his passions . comici finis est humanos mores nôsse , atque describere , hierom. ad furiam . london , printed by t. r. for francis eglesfield at the marigold in st. paul's churchyard . 166● . to the reader . courteous reader , at length thou art presented with a small piece , which for many years hath been bu●ied with its renowned authour . it appeared not till now , knowing very well , that this late world hath been fitter for bedlam , then for sober , and rational discourses . the authour wants not evidence for what he speaks , ( though speak what he would ; if he named a stage play , he was sure to meet with a momus in every corner ) but some things have the ill luck to be condemned , before they are heard . well ( reader ) seeing we are ( by the providence of heaven ) so happy , as to be allowed the use of our own eyes , and reason again ; be as thou oughtest to be , a reader , before a judge . for to condemn the innocent , is equally to be condemned , with acquitting the guilty . the noble authour of this book seems fairly to design nothing more , then truth , and especially in clearing the sense of those two great luminaries of the church , saint cyprian , and tertullian , his master , in his book de spectaculis , wherein his principal drift onely is , to cry out against , and sever●●y to condemn the mixtures of idolatry with their publick shews : some intentions there were of annexing the treaties of tertullian , and saint cyprian , both to this discourse ; that every man might see , what the authour of this book saw in them : but , for some reasons , that labour is respited . it is very well known what satyrical inv●ctives are thundred out against the ●heatre , but their just reasons are not yet produced ; it may be , they are reserved for the second volume of hi●trio mastix : ind●ed some may be s●en against the abuses of it , from which to reason against the thing it self would ingender a consequence of such large extent , that we must eat our words , or be weary of our ●ives . for if we sit down by such a conclusion , that things are unlawfull in their use , because unlawfully abused , we must neither eat , nor drink , nor sleep , nor wear cloaths , becau●● in all these , and many more , the bad●ness of mankinde is such , that it prompt them to unexcusable exorbitancies , an● deba●cheries . good men have found●ed much of their rhetorick , and th●●● loudest declamations against stage● plays , upon what others had formerl● said against them , rather out of a sequa●tious credulity corresponding with wha● others have magisterially determined● then a due attendency either to the pr●n●ciples of reason● or scrip●u●● authority , which ought to cast t●● scales , and put greater obligements upon the consciences of reasonable cr●atures , then the conj●ctures o● opinions of the gravest mortals . but ● must not forget my self , and enter up●on apologies for this learned au●●hours undertaking ( who hath sober●y , and judiciously acquitted hims●lf ) i ●ave taken upon me , onely to speak the ●rologue , and to tell you upon what ●cene he lays his discourse : he needs ●o epilogue to plead excuse for the ●cting of his part : and i make ●o doubt , reader , if thou wilt but vouchsafe him a patient perusal , but he shall a●so have thy plaudite . the theatre vindicated , or an answer to mr. prins histrio-mastix . who hath not heard of sr. francis walsingham , an eminent councellour in queen elizabeth's time , famous for his wisdom in matters of state ; and more for his piety in advancing the gospel ? yet this was the man , that procured the queen to entertain players for her servants ; and t● give them wages , as in a just vocati●on . and would he ever have don● this , being so religious a man , if he ha● thought plays to be prophane ; being s● great a states-man , if inconvenient to th● state ? and now , me thinks , i hav● said enough in defence of plays . but because not onely the wisest me● are sometimes mistaken , and the truth may be found amongst the meanest ( saepe etiam est olitor valde opportuna loquutus ) it will be fit to lay aside all consideration of the persons , that speak ; and onely to take into consideration , and weigh the reasons , that are delivered . it is true , mr. prin is plaintiff ; and it is a great advantage , that an accuser hath over a defender : not onely in that , he speaks first , which gets a possession , as it were , of the hearer's hearts ; but because he hath commonly the pretense of some notorious crime for his foundation , upon which every man naturally is apt to cast a stone : where the defender must himself alone not onely pull down the building , and rase the foundation ; but vindicate also both the natural , and the acquired inclination , and prejudice of the hearers . and especially , the accuser hath this advantage , when he meets with a common place of some vice to run upon : for then he goes away amain with it ; and bears down all before him , with o tempora ! o mores ! but most especially , if the pretended vice may seem to trench upon religion : for then the defender is scarce heard speak for the multitude of voices , that are crying out even in heathenish devotions ; great is diana of the ephesians : that whatsoever can be alledged , in defence , out of reason , is presently beaten back without reason . but , leaving these disadvantages to take their fortunes , and having a clear conscience , that i no way encroach upon the bounds of true religion , i am the bolder to enter the lists : yet not so m●ch taking upon me to be a champion of the cause ; as onely undertaking to be a wrestler with the writer . and this i willingly profess , that i wrestle not with him , as he is in his own person , for i know him not ; and he may be better , then he seems to me : but i wrestle with him , onely as he appears in his book ; which cannot be fuller of words , and emptier of reason , then it is . and i think it fit to tell , how far his book hath wrough● upon me ; that where , before the reading it , i took plays onely de bene esse , as being in use ; after the reading it , i found plays bene esse , and fit to be in use . for his arguments being taken all up upon trust ; and not so much as weighed , when he took them ; now that he comes to put them off again , are found not onely not to be weight , but not to be silver ; and so , where he intended , by his book , to bring into detestation the seeing of plays : he hath rather brought into estimation the acting of them . for when a man takes upon him to prove a matter ; and then eithe● cannot , or doth not prove it sufficiently it leaves not onely a vehement suspicion ; but a strong conceit in the hearers minds , that his cause is not good . and as the onely itch of vain-glory made many in old time go out of the church , and become hereticks in divinity : so the like itch of vain-glory makes other men go out of humane society , and become hereticks in morality . like erostratus , who burnt the temple of diana at ephesus , for no other cause , but to be talked-of in the world. his very beginning is very suspicious . for he begins not à iove ( as yet poets , whom he taxeth so much , use to do ) but à diabolo . he takes his first reason from the devil : ( fol. 9. ) he therefore thinks plays unlawfull ; because they were invented by the devil : wherein he shews himself to be better acquainted with the devil , then we are● for we know nothing of it , whether they were of his inventing , or no : and we may marvel how he comes to know it , unless the devil himself have told him so ; and then it is the more unlikely to be so , seeing the devil is a liar , and the father of lies . he will say , perhaps , he had it from tertullian ; who tells also , tha● the angels were cast out of heaven for inventing astrologie : as true in the one as in the other . it seems , tertullian had no true inventory of the devil's inventions : yet this man would make us as very fools , as himself , to take all for current , that he hears him say . but what , if we should say , that many things have been discovered , and made known to men , even by the devil ; which yet are profitable to be known , and lawful to be used ? doth not lodovicus vives affirm , that the devil invented logick ? yet will any man , that hath reason , affirm logick to be unlawful ? the devil confessed christ to be the son of god ; when the iews knew it not , or would not know it : and is this man so very a iew , to think it therefore unlawful to confess christ ? and why is it any better argum●nt to say , the devil invented it ; therefore it is impious : then to say , god invented it ; therefore it is pious ? and yet who knows not of things invented by god , which , for their abuse , have been rejected ? which he cannot be so forgetful , as to deny , if he do but remember the brazen serpent . if then a thing invented , and instituted by god , might , being abused , be rejected ; why may not a thing invented , and instituted by the devil , the evil being removed , be retained ? for it is not the inventour , that makes a thing to be good , or evil ; but it is the conformity , or opposition to the rule , and will of god. indeed by the paw of this first argument we may see what a kind of lyon we are like to finde in the sequel of his discourse . for where tertullian , and other fathers , prove the plays of the heathen to be all naught , and execrable ; because idolatrous , and full of superstition : and thereupon infers , that they were inventa diabolorum , invention of devils , as from whom all evil originally doth flow : this man , like a crab , goes backward with their reason , and saith , plays were invented by the devil ; therefore are execrable , and unlawful : so making that the medius terminus , or proof of his argument , which the spake onely by way of exaggeration and making that his foundation , whic● they laid on as onely a superstructur● and even for the guiltiness of this , yo● shall see in his next argument , with wha● a trick he seeks to put it off again ; an● yet is willing to hold it still . for [ fol. 16. ] though he cannot per●haps punctually say , that plays were imm●●diately invented by the devil ; yet he ma● truly say , they were invented by idolatrou● heathen people , as the devil●s instrument● which comes much to one. but see th● judgment of this man ; that sees no● what a fall he hath taken by raising th● argument ; to fall from the devil to hea●then people : but well , quod dat accipimu● we take what he lays down . plays wer● not invented by the devil , but by hea●then people : so his first argument is cas● out of doors by himself ; and will hi● second be served with any better sawce● for can nothing be lawfully used , tha● hath been invented by people● let him look in polydore virgil , and see ●ow many things of our daily use have ●een invented by them ; even the let●ers he writes his book withall . then ●e were best go quickly , and blot out all his book ; lest being written with letters , invented by the heathen , the devil should come , and challenge it to be of his inventing . here he thinks to mend the matter with saying ; that [ fol. 18. ] good things , invented by the heathen , may lawfully be used , but not bad things , as plays are : but must he not first prove plays to be bad , before this reason will do him any good ? and if he can prove them to be bad ; they shall then be unlawful as bad , but not as invented by the heathen : and so this reason would do him no good , though he could make it good . but though he can fetch no argument against plays from the devil●s ●s invention ; yet he hath an invention to fetch an argument from him ; and this it is : [ fol. 28. ] plays were at first ordained , and destinated to the immediate worship , and gratification of devil-gods : therefore unlawful ; but he hath no sooner made this argument , but he finds fault with it himself ; for [ fol. 37. ] so were many of our churches , which now are converted to christian uses . upon this he replyes , and then again rejoyns , and plays at fast and loose , goes in and out so often in it , that it were but to run a wilde-goose chase , to offer to follow him . yet i cannot let pass one subtile part , he plays at parting ; where he saith , [ fol. 40 ] that he for his part thinks it impossible , that ever plays should be r●formed ; for who should do it ? good men will not ; they rather wish their ruine , then their useless welfare : bad men will not , because they delight in their pleasing corruptions . and so he concludes them to be desperate , and past all hope of reformation . but may we not better apply his argument to himself ; and say , we , for our parts , think it impossible , that this man's malice should ever be reformed ; for who should do it ? god's holy spirit will not , so long as he is resolved to ●ontinue in his malice ; the devil will not , who would have him be more malicious then ●e is , if possibly it might be effected by ●im : and so conclude his case to be ●esperate , and that he must be fain to ●o on in the rage of his malice still , ●or want of one to mend him . but his fourth reason comes in most ●tately : where he makes [ fol. 42. ] plays the pomps of the devil , and vanities of this wicked world ; which every chri●tian man hath renounced in his baptism . but this reason comes not more vaunt●ngly in , then we shall see it go sneakingly out ; as having no credit for want of being known . for who ever took the pomps of the devil to be meant of plays , and not rather of pride , vain-glory , luxury , idolatry especially , and such like ? for , if one man go to a play , and another , in the mean time , be luxurious , arrogant , and proud ; in which of these two shall the devil be said to be in his pomps ? certainly , not in him , that is at a play ; for he may be there , and ( the rather perhaps for being there ) have thoughts , and meditations full of humility ; whilest in t●● other , wheresoever he be found , we a●●sure , there cannot be found an humb●● or a sober thought : and where humili●● and sobriety are wanting , there is t●● devil properly in his pomps , and iolli●● this argument indeed is used by te●●tullian , and some of the fathers ; wh●● speaking of the plays of the heathen , 〈◊〉 them the pomps of the devil , by reaso● of their idolatries , and superstition● which justly get the name of pom●● of the devil from all other vices ; as b● which the devil is most of all magnified and exalted . and , it seems , this ma● coming to spy it in their books , takes th● argument as he finds it ; and , withou● ever examining the matter , claps it 〈◊〉 here , as fitly as the painter in the poet who put a horse's neek to a man head ; humano capiti cervicem pictor equinam . for what is this to our plays ? not unlike what cicero spake of piso ; ( who , ou● of opinion of his ancestour's virtues , was by the people of rome made edile : ) ●●so was made edile ; not this piso : ●uid enim simile habet , praeter nomen ? for ●hat likeness , but in the name ? so ●e may say ; ( though in a contrary ●ay ) plays are the pomps of the devil ; ●ot our plays : quid ●nim simile habent , ●●aeter nomen ? and one would think , ●ertullian had taught him plainly e●ough , that the pomps of the devil are ●herefore onely affirmed of plays , be●ause of their idolatries ; where he saith : si igitur ex idololatria universam specta●ulorum paraturam constare constiterit ; ind●bitatè praejudicatum erit , etiam ad spe●tacula pertinere renuntiationis nostrae testimenium in lavacro quae diabolo , & pompae , & angelis ejus sunt mancipata , scilicet per idololatriam : ●i quid aut●m ex his non ad idolum pertinuerit ; id neque ad idololatriam , neque ad nostram ejerationem pertinebit . thus in english. if therefore it shall be made manifest , that all the materials , and furniture of plays be meerly idolatrous : it will be an undoubted prejudice , that the renouncing we make in baptism belongs , and reacheth unto plays ; which are dedicated to the devil , his pomp● and angels , by re●son of their idolatries but , if there be any thing in a play , tha● belongs not to an idol ; neither shall 〈◊〉 belong to idolatry , nor yet reach to th● renouncing we make in baptism . wha● could have been spoken more plainly● to have made him understand , if hi● zeal had not blinded his vnderstanding ? or to have made him go right , if he had not been wilfully bent to go astray ? if he would now at last but take this distinction along with him , in surveying his book once again ; and apply it where there is occasion : it might do him no small ease in disburthening the body of his book of many peccant , and gross humours , which make it swell into this huge bulk . it seems he can do no good against plays with his arguments from the devil ; and therefore now he means to give the devil over : and it is time ; for we may marvel , what pleasure he could take , to keep him company so long . yet he cannot leave the devil so quite , but he must have a trick from him still , ●nd be tearing mens cloaths from off ●ir backs ; as the devil did , luke viii . ●7 . for his dislike of plays now ( though ●ith interposition of some extravagant ●onceits , which he calls reasons ; and will ●●tter take their places afterward ) is because of their cloaths ( fol. 179. ) he thinks it not lawfull for men to wear womens cloaths , or for women to wear mens ; and , b●cause this is often done in plays , and masques , he utterly condemns them . yet this is well ; there is some moderation in this : for this reason puts not plays to death ; but onely confines them . for , notwithstanding this reason , they may be lawfull enough amongst the indians , who go naked ; and , not to go so far , they may be lawfull enough too amongst the irish , where one kinde of garment serves men , and women . but , though we can be content to cross the water to the bank's side ; yet we should be loth to cross the irish-seas to see a play : and can we not see one here , because of their cloaths ? indeed , he cites a text of scripture for 〈◊〉 deut. xxii . 5. the woman shall not we●● that , which pertaineth to the man ; neithe● shall a man put on womens rayment . ● pregnant place indeed : but where finde he this precept ? even in the same place where he findes also , that we must no● wear cloaths of linsey-woolsey : and see●ing we lawfully now wear cloaths of l●●●s●y-woolsey ; why may it not be as lawfu●● for men to put on womens garments● but , if he will have this precept to stan● in force , though it be no part of th● moral law , yet because it may have 〈◊〉 moral construction ; how will he then de●●fend his own eating of black-puddin● against the precept for blood● for this precept against eating of bloo● hath a stronger tie , then that for wearin● of garments . for that , as given onel● by moses , may , with just probability , b● thought to end with moses : but this against eating of blood is continued afte● moses time by the apostles themselves● and why then should it trouble mr. prin's conscience to see a boy wear womens garments , against the precept of moses ; ●hen it troubles not his conscience to ●●t black-puddings against the precept 〈◊〉 the apostles ? but , howsoever it ●●ouble his conscience , it need not trou●●e any bodies else ; seeing his reason●●oves ●●oves it no more unlawfull to see a play , ●●en to eat a pudding , and so , upon the ●atter , is not worth a pudding . but , if 〈◊〉 be so great a sin for men to put on wo●ens garments ; what is it for men to put ●n womens conditions ? which is perhaps ●●deed the very moral of this precept : as clemens alexandrinus , and st. cyril , of old , and of late , amongst others , macchabaeus alpinas ( a vvriter , whom melancthon exceedingly commends ) ex●ound it . and if it be so , then is this man the true breaker of the precept ; and ●ot players : at least , if we may call it womens conditions , to do nothing else , but scould , and rail : for what is all his book , but a bundle of scoulding invectives , and railing , instead of reasoning ? but , to give a full answer to this argument , do but hear what eminent divines conceive of this precept . and , th●● i may not do , as this man useth to do 〈◊〉 shew a bee , bring in the whole swarm● will name you one of many , yet 〈◊〉 unum è multis , martin luther : who●● words upon this place are these ; 〈◊〉 non prohibetur , quin ad vitandum peri●●● lum , aut ludendum joco , vel ad sallend●● hostes , mu●ier possit gerere arma viri , 〈◊〉 vir uti veste muliebri : sed ut seriò , & usit●● habitu talia non fiant ; ut decora utriq●● sexui servetur dignitas . it is not ( saith he● man's apparel , and a man a woman●● but that it be not done in earnest , and as th●●● usual habit ; that so a decent comelin●●● in both sexes may be observed . and wh● knows not , that luther , when time wa●● did greater matters in the world , the●● making good the exposition of a sing●●●● text. but , lest you should think it 〈◊〉 lutheran opinion , or that luther herei● were singular by himself , i will joy● one with him , that had as lieve die , as b●● ●●yned with him , if he could otherwise ●●oose , the learned iesuite , lorinuse ; who , ●eciting great variety of interpretations●pon ●pon this text , makes choice of this , as ●he soundest ; that man's woman's . thus these men allow that in plays , for which this man allows not plays . and is it not strange , that mr. prin , with all his great reading , should never meet with any of these ? for [ folio 199. ] he professeth , he never met with any , that was of this opinion : that either his knowledge must be very little , if not knowing it ; or his profession very naught , if , knowing it , he dissemble it . but , that this precept is not intended literally , as any part of the moral law , is not onely the opinion of most writers ; but appeareth also by the thirteenth canon of the councel at gang●● ( which this man cites to the contrary● for , upon that canon , the old interpret●● balsamon delivers it , not onely as toler●●ble , but , in some cases , as very com●mendable , for women to go in mens ap●parel ; as st. melane , and st. eugenia and other holy women , are there said to have done . there is here offered us a●● answer ; that , though it may be tolerate● being done to honest intents : yet it cann●● be tolerated , being done to lewd purposes as players do it . but this answer , lik● mephibosheth , is feet● for neither do players use it to le●● purposes ; neither , if it were a branch o● the moral law , ought it to be done for any purpose . but ( fol. 156 ) hypocrisie is a notoriou● s●n ; and players are in this notorious hypocrites ; and ther●fore the greeks have but one word for an hypocrite , and a player ; as if they took them both for one . a very goodly argument ! as though , because the latines have but one word for an host , and a guest : ( non hospes ab hospite tutus ) therefore an host , and a ●uest should be all one : which if he ●●ould go about to prove , i doubt he ●ould be found to reckon without his host. howsoever , by this reason , we may claim as much difference between an hypocrite , and a player ; as is between an host , and a guest : and tha●'s difference enough . but what is it , wherein players are such hypocrites ? forsooth ! because men wear womens apparel , and counterfeit the gestures , and behaviours of women ; and so appear to be women , when they are men : and to appear other then they are , is plain hypocrisie . it is plain hypocrisie , no doubt ; but it is not plain , that it is unlawfull hypocrisie . is it not said , that some zeal is not good , if it be without knowledg ? and may we not as truly say ; that some hypocrisie is no evil , if it be without deceit ? for the evil of hypocrisie is not in the act , but in the end : and though players may be guilty of the act ; yet certainly of the end they are not . for , seeing that , which they do , is not done to circumvent , but to represent ; not to deceive others , bu● to make others conceive : though it may without question be called hypocrisie , ye● it is not hypocrisie , that can be called in question . it is not hypocrisie in malam partem . was it hypocrisie in the thre● angels , that appeared to abraham ? ye● they appeared other , then they were● they seemed men ; they were angels● they put on bodies ; they were but spirits . and is there not as much hypocrisie in putting on other's bodies , as in putting on others garments ? did no● the angel raphael , when he conducte● young tobias in his iourney , both take upon him the name , and person , and counterfeit the speech , and behaviour of azarias ? and will he say , that this also was no hypocrisie ? if then angels might be such hypocrites , and yet not sin ; why may not players be such hypocrites , yet come to be as angels ? i had thought i should have gotten them leave to play , if they would but go handsomely , and wear good cloaths : but this makes worse for them then before . for ( fol. 216. ) he dislikes plays now , ●ecause players wear such costly cloaths : and represent kings , and queens in such sumptuous ●obes . he thinks , perhaps , that kings , and queens should wear no cloaths , but made of leather ; because it was of that stuff , that god made cloaths for adam , and eve ; who being the greatest princes , that ever were in the world , it were presumption for any to wear better cloaths , then they did . but i think it best to let alone the answering of this argument untill we meet a● amsterdam : onely i may have leave to say this ; that he should do players as great wrong , to hinder them from wearing of rich cloaths , as he should do a goldsmith , to restrain him from selling of rich plate : for what do players , but sell their cloaths , as often as they shew them ? all , that hitherto hath been said , hath been but accidental , and i may say his outside arguments : he never came to the substance till now ; but now he comes , and therefore now we may look for very substantial matter ; and thu● he begins . ( fol. 63. ) the subject , ma●●ter , and style of plays is lascivious , sc●●●rilous , and filthy : therefore plays are u●●lawfull . but not so unlawfull as this argument : for mark the faults of it . if he mean it thus ; the subject , matter , an● stile of some plays is scurrilous , and filthy ; therefore all plays are unlawfull● who sees not the unlawfulness of thi● kinde of reasoning , from a particular to conclude a general ? but , if he mean i● thus ; the subject , matter , and style of all plays is scurrilous , and filthy : this is more unlawfull , then the other ; seeing it is directly false : for who knows not , that tragedies are not capable of scurrility ? although therefore tragedies cannot get his leave ; yet , it seems , they have his argument's leave , to hold up their heads , and live . but how then will the title of his book hold up his head , to be called histrio-mastix ? have a general name , if it be not general ? will he say , that tragedi be not histriones ; actours of tragedies no players ? he should , if he were ●ell served , be made eith●r to abridge●is ●is title , or to enlarge his argument . but perhaps , because tragedies are the gentry , i may say , of plays , he is so ge●erous as to spare them for their gen●ry's sake ; but then comedies , which are ●ut the commonalty of plays , ar● like to pay for it . but i doubt , he hath not so much generosity in him , but rather , that for tragedies he hath o●her tragical arguments in store , oth●r rods in piss for them ; and that this argument is wholly imployed upon the defeat of comedies : and therefo●e onely upon them it beats . but is th●re no means to save them from beating ? are there not wards to keep of his blow even from these also ? may we not , first , flatly deny it , and say , that in plays no such scurrility can be found ? or , may we not , next , divert it , and say ; that , if any such scurrility be , it is the poet's fault , and not the players ? or , may we not , thirdly , excuse it , and say ; if any such be , it is an abuse , at least done in such mannerly manner , that it is not offensive to modest ears ? or , may we not , lastly , justifie it , and say ; that some scurrility ma● be , and sometimes must be in plays , yet serving always to pious vses ? i● any of these sayings he hath his answer● and may take home his argument with him again , to teach it manners● then to slander plays . but let us examine these wards , to see if we can make them good , that we take no● more upon us , then we are able to perform . for this argument , though he make it but one , yet is , in truth , his flood-gate , which lets in th● most , or the most substantial of all his arguments : that , if this be once well stop'd , he will not have ● drop of water , either of the spring-wate● of reasons , or of the pond-water of authorities , to turn his mill. but in doing this there is no necessity of using method ; for why should i be tied to keep order in answering , when he tak●● a liberty to keep none in objecting ? he is none of the methodicals himself , and therefore cannot look , that others should be . to speak then , prou● 〈◊〉 buccam venerit , as matters come to hand : is there in plays such scurrility , and obscenity , as he pretends ? let him then blame the poets , whose fault it is ; for players do but act that , which poets in●ent ? and what is he the nearer now for condemning of plays ? is it not a proper argument to say ; choerilus makes naughty verses : therefore there must no more verses be made ? poets make scurrilous plays ; therefore tolli tota theatra jube , throw down all theatres . if all things must be cast away , that may be , and oftentimes are abused , why doth not this man pull out his eyes with democritus ? or geld hims●lf with origen ? or wish with nero , vtinam nescirem literas ! would i had been an ignoramus ! but this sophistry , ab abusu ad usum , is so well known now , even lippis , & tonsoribus , to the meanest sort ; that one would wonder , how he could stumble upon it , but much more , how he could stumble at it . but we are , perhaps , more provident , then we need : we blame poets , when , perhaps , there is no cause . for can he charge plays directly wi●● any such obscenity ? he urgeth indeed cer●tain general invectives , and dolus versat●● in generalibus , deceit lies in generals , but h● instanceth in none : and we doubt not● but , if he could , he would ; but , since h● does not , we believe he cannot . th● stoicks , a sect of philosophers , the nearest of any to christianity , were yet o● this opinion ; that nothing is unhonest , o● obscene to be spoken , which is honest , o● lawfull to be done ; and therefore they called all parts of the body , and all actions of life ( which modesty in us suppresseth ) in their common talk , by the proper names , in the broadest terms ; that we may truly say of stoicks , non● were more severe in the rules of virtuous life , yet none more obscene in the usage of filthy talk. if then obscenity of speech was no disparagement in a stoick to the reputation of his virtue ; why should it be accompted so great a disparagement to the reputation of a player ? and yet i will allow him this : if any such stoical obscenity can be found in plays ; ●●t him speak as bitterly against them , as ●e can , i will never call it rayling ; but ●ill take his part my self : and such , it ●●ems , was the obscenity of plays in old ●●me , as appears by salvianus , tanta ●●cum , ac verborum obscoenitates , ut vel re●●tionem sui interdicant ; that is , so obscene ●ere their words , and speeches , as not to ●e named . and this is the obscenity , ●hich the antient fathers so much cry ●ut against in plays , as pudicis auribus ●on ferenda , not to be heard by modest ears , ●hich i would have this man to note , ●hat he may be brought to lay the saddle ●n the right horse : for in the plays of our ●imes he shall never be able to shew any ●uch obscenity . there are sometimes perhaps , when necessity compells it , for representing of some scurrilous person , some secret strains , in ambiguous terms , like the voices of oracles , as it were an obscenity under covert : ( the obscenity , to make appear the condition of the person ; the covert , to express the modesty of the player ) and this is so far from offending the ears , that it is not sensible , till it have passed the sence , as not unde● stood , till examined by the understan●●ing : and being once there , it com● to be but obscenity in abstracto , whic● was in the world before ever plays wer● and would be still , though plays shoul● be no more . and in this they do b●● imitate nature her self , quae partes e● quae aspectum essent deformem habiturae , co● texit , & abdidit : who covers the part● which would have no pleasing aspect ; no● took them clean away , ( as this m●● would have it ) but placed them so , th●● as they offend not , being seen , th● eyes ; no more do these speeches , bein● heard , the ears : and would he ha●● more modesty in players , then there ●● in nature ? to expect therefore , tha● plays should be altogether withou● obscene passages , were it not to expect that nature should make bodies altogether without privy parts ? and the hearing of those ought no more to offend the ears of any , then the seeing of these offended the eys of adam , and eve : of which , though naked , they were not a whit ashamed . obscene sights did never ●rouble them , till they had made them selves obscene hearts . for as long as all is clean , that should be clean , the foulness of that , which should be foul , will never offend . have not the neatest cities their sinks , and chanels ? yet who takes offence to look upon them ? they are necessary for our use , but not necessary for us to use . they are therefore made foul , that we may walk clean . indeed , it is not so much the player , that makes the obscenity , as the spectatour himself : as it is not so much the juyce of the herb , that makes the honey , or poyson , as the bee , or spider , that sucks the juyce . let this man therefore bring a modest heart to a play , and he shall never take hurt by immodest speeches : but , if he come as a spider to it , what marvel , if he suck poyson , though the herbs be never so sovereign . how many questions of aristotle's problemes ? how many chapters in books of physick may be found more guilty of such obscenity , then any plays ? and if such passages in the books be still suffered , and not to● out ; why may not the like passages b● suffered in plays , and yet be born ou● for as there is good use of such treat●●ses in the schole of nature , so there 〈◊〉 good use of such speeches in the schol● of manners : and as in those it is th● reader 's fault , and not the writer's ; 〈◊〉 in these it is the spectatour's fault , an● not the player's , if any evil , or corrupt●●on be contracted by them . and he that should forbear to go see a play ; be●cause , perchance , he might hear som● scurrilous speeches , may he not perhap● tarry away , and hear worse at home● for indeed this whole world is a● a common stage , where men an● beasts do play their parts , and where men many times play the parts of beasts and i would know of this man , wha● day he ever lived , that he did not both hear , and see as great enormities really committed upon this great stage , as are heard , or seen , but feignedly represented , on these lesser stages ? and 〈◊〉 there not as great danger in seeing ●●ces really acted , as in seeing them onely ●●ignedly represented ? in seeing them done 〈◊〉 ●arnest , as in seeing them but done in ●●●●st ? when vices are really acted , they 〈◊〉 and as copi●s , and examples , which men ●●e apt to follow ; but when they are on●● feigned on a stage , they stand as rocks , ●ewed onely to be shunned . when sins ●re actually committed , they are as pitch●hich ●hich toucheth us , and must needs de●le us ; but when they are onely repre●ented , they are but as pitch seen in a ●lass , which cannot defile us , because ●ot touch us . where vices are really ●cted , there men may be said to stand in ●he way of sinners ; but where they are onely feignedly shewed , there , men may be rather said , to sit , and hear their arraignment , and condemnation . but ( fol. 48. and 948. ) he would make us believe ; that all the attractive power in plays , to draw beholders , is meerly from scurrility : as if it were no play ; at least no pleasing pla● , without it . wherein , besides his prejudice , he may be made to confess his ignorance : for l●● him try it when he will , and com him●self upon the stage , with all the scurrili●● of the wife of bath , with all the ribald●● of poggius , or boccace , yet i dare affirm● he shall never give that contentment t● beholders , as honest tarlton did , thoug● he said never a word . and what scurrility was ever heard to come from the mouths of the best actours of our time● allen , and bourbidge ? yet , what plays were ever so pleasing , as where their parts had the greatest part ? for , it is not the scurrility , and ribaldry , that gives the contentmunt , as he foolishly imagines , and falsly suggests ; but it is the ingeniousness of the speech , when it is fitted to the person ; and the gracefulness of the action , when it is fitted to the speech ; and therefore , a ●lay read , hath not half the pleasure of a play acted : for though it have the pleasure of ingenious speeches ; yet it wants the pleasure of action● and we may well acknowledg● that gracefulness of action , is the greatest pleasure of a play , s●eing it ●s the greatest pleasure of ( the art of pleasure ) rhetorick : in which we may ●e bold to say ; there never had been so good oratours , if there had not first been players : seeing the best oratours that ever were , account it no shame , to have learned the gracefulness of their action , even from players : demosthenes from satyrus ; and cicero from roscius . let him therefore keep his scurrility to himself , and send his proselytes to sit with his hostess at oxford ; whose apophthegm was , no mirth without bawdrie : as for us , we are contented , to see plays in their best garments , and not in their foul cloaths , in their graces , and not in their faults . but who are they in plays , that use such scurrilous , and obscene speeches ? hath not a poet said well ; tristia maestum vultum verba decent , iratū plena minarum , ludentem , lasciva ; feverum , seria dictu . indeed , if they were put into the mouths of princes , or persons of gravity , there were just cause of dislike● but to be put into the mouths of scurrilous , and base persons , what hurt ca● they do ? none to the actours ; fo● the decorum takes away their fault , and makes that faultless , which is decen● , and less to the spectatours : for how can 〈◊〉 infect them , to imitate the scurrility , whe●● they see it , comely for none , but scurrilous persons ? it rather teacheth the● to avoid and loath such speeches , seeing they cannot but loath to be such persons . for doth this man think , tha● goers to plays are such simple ideots● that when they see a beastly , or prophane part acted before them , they take it to be done for imitation ? the● were the lacedaemonians very fools ; who to make their children abhor drunkenness , would make their slaves drunk of purpose ; and act the vice before them ; that seeing in others a deformity so hatefull , they might learn , in themselves to hate the deformity . sic teneros animos aliena opprobria saepe absterrent vitiis : the man had an itch to be writing a book ; and because he had not matter to make it good , he was desirous at least to make it great ; he would have a great club , ●hough never so hollow . greatness , he knew makes a shew , and shews carry all in the eye of the world ; substance is but seldom understood , and therefore not often much stood upon . and it may be some pleasure , to observe , with what winds he blows up the bladder of his book ; and what pretty tricks he useth , to furnish his table of vain-glory with variety of dishes . he hath one trick , which he useth in his text ; and seems to have learned it from egge-saturday in oxford , to make diversity of meats , with diversity of dressing : as for example ; take the word effeminate , this one word shall furnish him with four , or five severall dishes of arguments against plays : as first , ( fol. 546. ) plays effeminate mens minds and bodies , therefore plays are unlawfull . this is one of his dishes . ( fol. 167. ) the very action of plays is effeminate ; therefore plays are unlawfull . this you must take for another dish● ( fol. 220. ) plays are ever attended with effeminate , and amorous dancing ; therefore plays are unlawfull . this is another ; and i should cloy your stomacks too much , if i should serve in all his dishes of this kinde . he hath another trick , which he useth in his citing of authours ; and seems to have learned it from ●●atho in terrence , where he counselleth , vbi nominabit phaedriam , tu continuo pamphilam ; for where his argument calls for ludos in theatro ; he thereupon brings in , ludos in circo ; l●dos in foro , ludos in septis , where the matter requires testimonies , against tragedies , and comedies , he presently brings in places of fathers , and others , against spectacles of fencing , against bear-baiting , against horse-races , and such other games ; as like to plays , as chalk is to cheese ; and by these , and such like means , he hath made a great bellied book , as if there were some goodly childe within it ; when being ript up , and look'd into , there is nothing to be ●ound , but a very timpany of wind , and ●ater . for , after all his bustling , and ●tir ; after all the crambees of his ( fol. ●65 . ) four and fourty tautological ar●uments , it comes all but to this ; that ●n plays are often used speeches , and other circumstances , effeminate , idle , scur●ilous , obscene , prophane , and heathenish ; ●nd therefore ( fol. 447. ) corrupt mens manners , infect their affections , debauch ●heir dispositions ; and ( fol. 321. ) generally indispose them to all goodness ; which is all nothing , but either his miss-taking through ignorance , or his enforcing through malice ; for though such speeches are sometimes , perhaps used ; yet the decorum in the speaker , the intent of the speech , the nature of the example , make them all warrantable ; and are so far from working the effects he speaks of , that they rather rectifie the iudgment , qualifie the affections , moderate the passions , and generally dispose them to all virtue : that where we meant but onely to defend plays , he hath brought us now , that we are forced to praise them ; and where we thought but one●ly to keep them from taking wrongfu● disgrace ; we cannot keep our selve● now , from giving them deserved com●mendations . for , what can be mo●● worthy our embracing , then that , whic● both intends our good , and worketh ●● us , the good it intends ? and what d● players intend , by bringing in a tyran● with words of death , and hands imbrue in blood , but to shew the deformity o● tyranny , to make us detest it ? and d● they intend this good to us ; and d● they not as well work it in us ? certain●ly , even this as forcibly , as that , apparently ; for seeing there are two principall motives to virtue , praise , and r●●ward ; and two things likewise that deterr from vice , shame , and punishment● what can be more forcible , either to draw us to goodness , or to withdraw us from vitiousness , then where the examples of all these are most lively shewed , and represented to us ? certainly , unless men be stark fools ; rather wilfully to run into pudles , and quagmires , then 〈◊〉 take a fair way when it is shewed ●●em ; they cannot choose by such ex●mples , but be drawn to walk in the ●●aths of virtue . and let him not say , as ●ome have said ; that scurrilous● and pro●hane speeches are very dangerous for ●●fecting the hearers ; because assuescen●o audire , discunt facere , by en●ring them●elves , they learn to practise ; for this were ●ikely to be true , if they onely heard ●uch speeches , and ended there , which ●s the fashion indeed of the common ●ctions in our life ; but here , where we no sooner hear the words spoken , but presently withall , we see the shame , and punishment that attends them ; certainly , it would be very strange , that by often hearing such speeches , we should get a custom of following them ; and not rather , by often seeing their disgraces , get a custom of avoiding them . and to this purpose , there is in seneca , a pretty tale of the poet euripides , who , in one of his plays , having made a speech of a high strain , in magnifying of riches , the people grew so tumultuously angrie at it , ( fearing least suc● speeches , should make men in love wit● riches , and prone to covetousness ) that that they were ready to run upon th● stage , and tear the actour in pieces● that had spoken it ; till euripides was faine himself , to come out amongst them , and intreat them , to have patience , and see the end : for they should presently see , the riches he so exacted , to have such a down-fall in the miseries of his rich man bel●erophon ; that it should leave but little list in any man , ever after to desire their company . for the speech ( saith he ) was but to shew the spectatours their own errour ; but the event in fact , was to shew them , the truth it self . when an actour presents himself upon the stage , untill he speak , he is but a picture , and when he speaks , he is but a storie ; ( and therefore perhaps a player is called histrio , quasi historio ) for as one sayd well , that a judg is lex loquens , a speaking law : so we may say as truly , that a player , is a speaking picture : or ● historie in person ; and seeing we ●ow no hurt , by a picture ; and cannot 〈◊〉 commend historie : why should plays 〈◊〉 condemned , which are but a compo●●on made of these two ? a historie is ●t condemned , if recording the life of ●●lian ; it set down , his cruelty against ●●ristians , and his blasphemies against ●●rist . and if an historian may law●●lly write it , may not we as lawfully ●●d it ? and if we may lawfully read it ; ●ay not a player as lawfully pronounce 〈◊〉 and what doth a player else , but ●●ely say that without book , which we ●ay read within book ? a player acts ●●e part of solomon ; but is never the ●iser for acting his part : why should he ●e thought the wickeder for acting the ●art of nero , or the more blasphemous ●or acting the part of porphyrie ? can ●here be a greater blasphemy , then to ●urse god ? yet iobe's wife perswaded ●im to do so ; and this is written , where ●t may be read : shall we therefore think ●t unlawfull , to read the story of iob ? can there be a more blasphemous speech , then that which the iews spa●● of christ ; that he had a devil , 〈◊〉 wrought his miracles , by belzebub pri●●● of the devils ? yet the holy evangel●●● have recorded this speech : shall 〈◊〉 therefore think it unlawfull , to re●●● their gospells ? can there be a mo●● prophane speech , then that of the po●● ede , lude , bibe : post mortem nulla v●●●●ptas ? yet solomon in his ecclesias●●● hath some such speeches ; shall 〈◊〉 therefore think it unlawfull , to read 〈◊〉 book of the preacher ? and w●●● then ( if we may parvis componere mag●●● shall players be thought , either bla●●phemous , or prophane : if sometime● they utter such speeches under the pe●●son of another ? and indeed to spea● it plainly , they cannot avoid the using and uttering such speeches , if they wi●● be players● for as he , who would live●● pourtray a devil , or a deformed monster must needs draw some gastly lines , and us● some sordid colours ; so he , who will deliniate to the life , the notorious lewdness of people in the world , is necessarily enforce● 〈◊〉 s●ch immodest phrases , as may present it ●●●ts native uglyness ; else he should but con●●●le , or masque their horrid wickedness , that ●●●e may behold it : not rip it open , that all ●●y abhor it : and this is the onely reason , of ●●●se more uncivil , or seemingly immodest ●●ssages , that are here , and there , scattered 〈◊〉 this discourse . but in what discourse ●●ink ye ? even in this very discourse 〈◊〉 histrio-mastix . for these last eight 〈◊〉 nine lines , are his own very words , 〈◊〉 his preface to the reader ; to justify ●●e obscenity , of his own very speech●● , which he useth in his book . but 〈◊〉 this possible ? hath he then , a mono●olie of obscene phrases ; and immo●est speeches , that none may lawfully ●se any , but only himself ? may not ●layers claime the priviledg of subjects , ●o the english tongue , and use them ●pon occasion , as well as he ? no , he ●seth them onely upon necessity , to ex●ress the obscenity of players , and do ●ot players use them onely upon neces●ity , to express the obscenity of people ? but what necessity have players to meddle with the obscenity of people ? t●● same necessity which he hath , to med●●● with the obscenity of players . but 〈◊〉 could not otherwise diswade men , fro● seeing s●ch obscene plays ; and pla●●ers cannot otherwise disswade me● from being such obs●ene persons . 〈◊〉 may thus go on , as far as he will , 〈◊〉 when all is said ; it will ever be foun● either a voluntary obscenity in hi● self , or a necessary in players : th● every schole-boy , that hath but learne● his cato , will be upon his jacket wi●● this . turpe est doctori quum culpa redarg●● ipsu●● but ( fol. 100. ) he seemes here , t● please himself with a reason ; that i● plays were good scholes of virtue , ho● should it happen , that ( fol. 102. ) players● and the ( fol. 143. ) frequenters of plays● are commonly the worst , and most vitious men ? as though there were not many as honest , and wise as himself , that go to see plays ? i may justly say as honest , seeing no dishonestie is greater , the● ●o condemne men , whom he doth not ●now ; and i may as justly say as wise , ●eeing no follie , is greater , then to be ●o busie , where he hath nothing to do ; ●nd to be so censorious , where he hath ●o authority . but is he so foolish as ●e makes himself , to think that good ●choles must always produce good ●cholers ? were there ever better ●chole-masters in humane scholes , ●hen those which the emperour nero , ●nd commodus had ? yet they both pro●ed monsters of men , the one in lasci●iousness and cruelty : the other in cruel●y , and lasciviousness . were there ●ver better schole-masters in divine ●choles , then those which gebezi , and ●udas had ? yet they both proved no●orious examples to all posterity ; the one of incredulous bribery , the other of bribing incredulity . but though we keep no register , of such men , as have profited in virtue by this schole of plays : yet we are not altogether destitute of examples . for hath not lucian recorded one lesbonax , an honest man of mytilene , who being a gre●● frequenter of plays , was wont to say 〈◊〉 himself ; that he never saw a play , but 〈◊〉 returned home , a better man then he 〈◊〉 out ? and what hath cicero recorded 〈◊〉 roscius ; who was a famous play● himself ; and yet no less a famous h●●nest man ; vt cum dignissimus esset sc●● propter artificium ; ●tiam dignissimus e●●●● curia propter abstinentiam . that his ●●●ry adversary durst not speak of him● the barr , without this addition , qu● honoris causa nomino . and lest 〈◊〉 should say , that the schole of play● degenerated , and grown worse , sin●● that time ; have we not seen in our o●● time , a famous scholer come out of th● schole : edward allen a player himsel● famous as well for his honesty , as for 〈◊〉 acting : and who hath left behind hi● a worthy testimony of his christian ch●●rity , to all posterity ? and who doubt● but amongst the spectatours of play● we may finde many , like to lesbonax● and amongst players themselves , some like to ros●ius ? and even to go no fur●●●er then his own authours , whom he ●rings in for witnesses against going to ●ays ; ( and we doubt not but he takes ●●em for honest men ; as cicero , seneca , ●linie , and a number of such besides ) ●et were they all frequenters of plays , 〈◊〉 their own confession in their wri●ings : and how then , is he not ashamed ●o say , that none but infamous , vnchast , ●rophane , and graceless persons are fre●uenters of plays : when all his worthy ●rite●s , who he cites for his witnesses , ●ere themselves frequenters of them ? ●f their honesties were sufficient , to make them sufficient witnesses , against ●he lawfullness of going to plays ; why are not their honesties as sufficient , to make their examples sufficient warrants for going to plays ? and so , i may say in their defence , as cicero said in defence of roscius ; nisi ●osdem , & adversarios , & testes habeant , nolo vincant : that there never was poor book made ●he instrument of so impudenta●ly ; so n●torious a scandal , as this histrio-●astix . but ( fol. 142. ) will you know , how it happens , that man's 〈◊〉 count , ●re most excessively vitious , un●ha●● prophane , and dissolute men ? marry , ●●●cause most of them ( as he is credibly infor●●ed ) are professed papists . a very necessa●● consequence : as though to be a profess●● papi●t , were to be a professed atheist for what but atheism could bring for●● all such excessively vitious men as 〈◊〉 would make them ? yet this makes we● for plays , though it makes ill for player● for players , though the most excessive●ly vitious men , yet are not so , becaus● players , but because papists . let hi● take heed , he pull not an old house upon his head ; for though papists diffe● from protestants , in some points of moral , and theological doctrine , yet they differ not from them in the necessity of moral , and theological virtues . although therefore we do not question his credible information , yet we justly question his incredible consequence : as being indeed a very inconsequent incredibility . if he had onely said , some papists are excessively vitious men ; though ●●is had been a busie impertinent asser●●●● y●t i presume , no papists them●●●v●s ●●uld much have gain-said it : for 〈◊〉 religion was ever known , that had 〈◊〉 some professors of it excessively vi●ous ? but , when he saith , players must ●eeds be excessively vitious , because ●●ey are papists , this lays a taint upon 〈◊〉 generality ; and makes a papist , and 〈◊〉 honest man , to be disparata , and in●●●●●●ible ; as never possible to meet to●●●her in one person . in which opini●n ( what puritans may do , i know not , ●ut ) i verily think , scarce one protestant●ill ●ill ●e found to take his part . but we may leave papists to defend their ho●●sties , as they can themselves : and ●his man , as he can , to oppugn it ; we meddle no further with them , on either side ; but , ipsi viderint , ips● viderit . sufficient hath been spoken in behalf of players obscene speeches ; but these are scarce one half of their obscenity : for besides these , ( fol. 374. ) there are in plays wanton gestures , amorous kisses , and 〈◊〉 ; and these are the obscene sights , and the great provocations to lust , for whi●● he specially condemns plays . grave crime● caie caesar : kisses , and amorous kisse● very obscene sights , and great provoc●●tions to lust : but why more being do●● upon the stage , then done in his ow● house ? why more done in fiction , the● in reality ? why more used in iests , the● used in earnest ? why more seen seldom● then seen continually ? for who sees no● every stranger that comes to his hous● to kiss both his own , and other me●● wives before their faces ? yet all don● with vestal modesty ; and no man eve● heard to complain , but onely this man● as born , it should seem , under some very lustfull , and jealous constellation . and will not even nature her self , by this reason , be found guilty of immodesty ? for making pigeons to bill openly , and cocks to tread their hens before mens faces ? a sight , it seems , a brother cannot see , but it presently sets his teeth a water , to be doing the like . but must we not think his inclination then a very dry tinder , and very apt to take fire ; ●●at can be enflamed to lust with so cold ●●rovocations ? however it be , this equi●● cannot justly be denied to players ; ●●at , either this man may not be allowed 〈◊〉 kiss , and use amorous complements , ●hen he goes a wooing ; or they may ●e allowed to do as much , when they ●epresent him a wooing . but there is yet in plays a worse mat●er then all these ; for , ( fol. 390 ) they ●re the very places of meetings , where lasci●ious matches are oftentimes made , and ●●metimes acted . but should not lascivi●us persons have very ill harbours , if ●hey had not better ports to arrive ●t , then to meet at a play-house ? and why plays more then fairs , and markets ? why plays , more then confluence at marriages , and other festivals ? why plays more , then frequenting of one another's houses ? and what saith a poët ; why pla●s more , then even goings to church it self ? q●i● locus est templis augustior ? hoec quoque vitet , in culpam si qua est ingeniosa suam . and , it seems indeed , where play-houses were so bad , that temples wer● no better ; as minutius felix saith : v●●magìs à sacerdotibus , quàm inter aras , 〈◊〉 del●bra , condicuntur stupra ? tractantur 〈◊〉 nocinia ? adulteria meditantur ? frequ●●●tiùs denique in aedituorum cellulis , quàm i● ipsis lupanaribus , flagrans libido defung●●tur . and what marvel , if the heath●● used in plays such obscenities , who accounted such obscenities to be but plays● as little caring in such things to see● honest , as to be ; but this is not the case of christians , who , though never so irregular , will yet observe this rule ; si 〈◊〉 castè , tamen cautè , if not chastly , yet charily . and what caution were in this , to offer lascivious speeches , where all mens ears ; or lascivious acts , where all mens eyes are continually upon them ? as if a thief should steal in the open street , where all men see him ? ( fol. 387. ) he tells of heliogabalus , that he commanded stage-players , to commit adulteries , really , and openly upon the stage : he tells of tiberius , that he caused others to defile themselves before his face . and 〈◊〉 tells ●e these filthy tales , but onely 〈◊〉 the pleasure he takes in telling them ? or else , how far are they from the mat●er , in speaking of our plays ? when he ●ees any such acts committed upon our ●tages , let him not spare to tell us of it : ●ill then , he may leave his gabling of heli●gabalus , and keep his filthy stories ●n store for the private delight of his own meditation . he hath hitherto maintai●ed himself with the obscenity of plays ; but now , that the patrimony of that argument is spent , and gone , you shall presently see how bare , and beggarly he will grow , and for very necessity fall a pilfering . for , his very next argument is directly stolen , where he makes ( fol. 72. ) plays unlawfull , because they are bloody , and ty●●n●ical , breathing nothing but malice , anger , and revenge ; for this belongs properly to the spectacles of gladiato●s , and fencers , and not to plays ; unless perhaps , to heathen plays , where men , and sometimes christian men , were cast in amongst wilde beasts to be devoured ; but , what is this to our play● where never any wilde beast was see● upon the stage , unless perhaps suc● wilde beasts as david speaks of , wh●● are like to horse , and mule , that hav● no vnderstanding . he hath another very thrifty reason ; by which he would make us think him a good husband for us ; ( fol. 30● . and 310. ) where he condemns plays , because they make their spectatours spend s● much money , and time in seeing them . but what will french-men say in defence of their recreation ? who spend more mony , and time in one day at tennis ; then these spectatours do in many weeks at plays ? and how comes it , that seeing he aimes onely at cheap recreations , he forgets the emperour domitian's recreations ; who made it his sport , to spend an hour in the afternoon , in catching of flies ? for as for those , which he allowes of , fishing , and fowling ; hunting , and hawking : the very fable of actaeon would make him see his errour , if he had the will 〈◊〉 understand the moral . but how ●an we think him a good husband for ●s : who is so bad a husband for him●elf ? for what a deal of mony , and ●ime hath he spent in transcribing of authours , and printing his book : which , if ● man should say , had been better spent ●t plays , though he perhaps would be ●ngry : yet as wise men as himself , i verily think , would be of that opinion . he hath another argument , which he seems to have borrowed from the heathens bacchanalia : where ( fol. 508. ) he makes plays unlawfull ; because they are an immediate oc●asion of drunkenness , and excess . it was indeed usual at those feasts , to surfet , and be drunk ; or rather surfeting , and drunkenness were the feast it self : but who ever saw a man surfet , or be drunk at a play ? and how can that be an occasion of drunkenness , which neither ministers example , nor means of drinking ? no example ; unless perhaps in fiction : and then not so much , to represent men drunk with wine , as this man with errour . he hath an other argument , which he seems to have been looking in a glas● when he made it : it reflects so directly upon himself : ( fol. 501 : ) where h● makes plays vnlawfull : because they ar● the constant cause of much sloth , and idl●ness . for what greater idleness , then to sit all day , transcribing of authours ; which is but actum agere ? but should he not by this argument have concluded rather the gowt to be unlawfull ? of which● when one was asked , what idleness was the wor●t , he answered : podagrici pedes , the gout in the feet ? indeed to see a play as he ( it seems , reads books , to look onely in their tables ) it might not be much better ; but to see a play , with that due observation , which the true use of plays requires , he will finde it , as farr from idleness to be at a play , as to be at schole : and scholers would take it in great dudgeon , if he should say , they were idle , when they are at their books . but what saith attilius in pliny : praestat otiosum esse quàm nihil agere : as much as to say , it were ●●tt●r to be 〈◊〉 a play , and be idle : then to sit ●cribling out of authours , and do nothing . he hath another argument , with ●hich , it seems , he seeks to cheat us ; ●here ( fol. 515. ) he makes plays unlaw●ull ; because play-houses are the scholes , ●nd plays the lectures , to teach men , how to ●heat , and steal . for , who knows not , ●hat theevs , and cheatours , can have their scholing for nothing ; and need not to pay for it , by going to plays ! indeed , ● farr cunninger schole-master they have to teach them the craft , then players ; one that is in earnest ; and would take it ill at their hands , that they should take any ill in hand , which they had not from him . but doth not this reason , through the sides of plays , give greater wounds , to assizes , and sessions ? for there indeed , the plots , and practizes of theevery , the tricks , and conveyances of cheatours , are openly laid open , and publikly made known : that if he call it a schole , certainly they are free-scholes : or rather academies in comparison of plays , but who knows not , that both plays , and sessions , disco●ver thefts , and cheatings indeed , bu● not as this man would cheat us ; and make us think , to the end , they may be used , but as logick teaches fallacies , to the end to avoid them . we may justly therefore for this reason , binde him over to the sessions , both for the implicite aspersion he lays upon them , and for the explicite cheating , he seeks to put upon us . he hath another argument , which we may call his rain-bow , seeing there are as many vices in it , as there are colours in the rain-bow ; ( fol. 551. ) where he makes plays unlawfull ; because they occasion an apparent breach of all the ten commandments , of which we may say , decem mundi facti sunt ; sed ubi sunt illi novem ? for some sins are incompatible ; that where one is familiar , the other will always be a stranger , unless he mean it as st. iames speaks ; that he which is guilty of one sin , is guilty of all : and in that sense , we may say as much of him , when he doth but onely tell a lie. this man , with a little help , would bring it about , ●hat the very sin of our first parent eve●as ●as nothing else , but her being a player , where she and the serpent were the actours , and adam the spectatour ; and not onely that all players are damned , ●ut that none else are damned but they . for , if players break all god's commandments , then he , who is no player , breaks none of the commandments : as when aesop's fellow , being asked what he co●ld do , answered , he could do all things ; then faith aesop , if he can do all things , there is nothing left for me to do . you will say , this is not to answer , but to trifle ; and hath not solomon advised us , answer not a fool in his folly , lest thou be like unto him ? yet , seeing we have● answered his arguments before , where he charged plays with the vices in particular , it may well enough serve for an answer to this argument , where he chargeth them in general : and so we observe also the other precept of solomon , ( fellow to the former ) answer a fool in his folly , lest he be wise in his own con●●i● you have heard many grave argument●● you shall hear one now , to make you laugh , ( fol. 291. ) where he makes plays unlawfull , because they provoke oftentimes profuse laughter , as though he knew not , that to be risible is onely proper to men● and no excess in this can tain● them with aspersion of any beastlike quality , or make them , as all vices do , and this should , if it were a vice , to be like a beast . and especially he is not well advised in this , in his own behalf ; for if it were not for this risible , we should hardly , perhaps , finde any thing in himself , to know him to be a man. but why should he blame plays for provoking of laughter , when he makes an argument here himself , that provokes more laughter then ever any play did ? that we may truly say , omnes qui audiunt risi● emori . for what was ever heard more ridiculous , then to make it an argument against plays , ( f. 714. ) because noah , melchisedech , abraham , and the patriarchs are never read in scripture , to hav● approved plays ? or , as his elegancy ●●p●esseth it , t● have been experimentally ●equai●ted with them ? as absurdly , as if ●ne would prove , that guns are no good weapons in the wars , because ioshua , gi●eon , david , and the antient warriours are never read in scripture , to have used guns , or to have been experimentally acquainted with them ; much like the ●oolishness , which livie notes in a roman tribune , who threatned the people , he would hinder their levying of souldiers , when there was no war toward ; and , is there not in this , as just cause to set m●rous crassus a laughing , as when he saw an asseat thistles ? he hath another reason , as vain , and ridiculous as this ; ( fol. 127. ) where he makes it a reason to condemn plays , because they are at the best , but vain , and ridiculous . as though any thing of this world , even the best things that are , when they are at the best , were any other , then vain , and ridiculous ; and let him not distinguish of things , and say , that some are s●rious ; for the more serious , the more ri●i●●lous : for what is this , but the very argument , at which democritus could no● forbear laughing , all his life time . but these are but the small fry of h●● great pool ; he hath three reason● which , like the great pikes , may be sai● to contain in their bellies all his othe● gudgin-reasons : and in the taking o● them consists , in effect , the taking awa● of all the other . and may we not ad●mit them all to be true , and yet , as o●● case is , take no disparagement , by ad●mitting them ? seeing , as he urge●● them against plays : so we may urg●● them as well against no worse a thin● then riches . for his first reason ma● be this ; ( fol. 327. ) that plays are a pr●vocation unto lust : and is it not said 〈◊〉 riches , that they are irritamenta mal●●rum ? his second : that plays ( fol. 521. ● indispose men to all religious duties : and is it not said of riches ; that we cann●● serve god , and mammon ? his third : tha● ( fol. 565. ) they bring damnation , upo● mens souls , and bodies ; and , is it not said of a rich man , that he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven ? and why ●●en should he think to fright us with ●●s thundring phrases , from seeing of ●lays , and is not himself frighted with ●●em , from seeking of riches ? cer●●inly , seeing all his reasons are as ●●rong against riches , as against plays , ●nd yet riches we doubt not , may be ●ad , and held by good men ; why may ●ot plays also be acted , and be beheld ●y good men , notwithstanding his reasons ? for , as there may be bonus usus divitiarum , which makes void all the reasons against riches ; so there may be bonus usus ludorum , which may avoid all his reasons against plays : that unless he can prove it is not lawful to be rich , we shall never admit his proofs , that it is not lawfull to see a play ; let him therefore , either allow men to see a play , as well ●s to be rich : or , if he will perswade men not to see plays ; let him then write another book , and perswade all men to be beggars . plutarch writ a ●ook de vtilitate ab inimicis capienda , and if this man had the good meaning of plutarch , and had written his book , de vtilitate à spectac●●lis capienda ; we might then perhap● have thought him , as charitable , as no● we think him malicious . but if he be not a manichee , he is , at least , very like one ; who seems he could finde in his heart , to blame god for creating of vipers , and such other venemous beasts ; because his gross head is not able to conceive , how the soveraign antidote of treacle should be extracted from them . and now , to make a recapitulation of his arguments , to see , how he hath laboured all this while , de lana caprina ; about a matter of nothing , and how easily his main blows may be avoided with one ward , he saith , plays are bloody and tyrannical . it may be true of heathen plays , it is false of ours : he saith they are a provocation to lust ; it may be true of heathen plays , it is false of ours : he saith they are ordained , and dedicated to the worship of devil-gods ; it is true of heathen plays , it is false of ours . he saith , they are the pomps of the devil , renounced by christians in their baptism : it may be true of heathen plays , it is false of ours . he saith , they are fraught with bitter scoffings at religion , and religious men ; it may be true of heathen plays , it is false of ours . he saith , they cause a prodigal expence of time , and mony ; it may be true of heathen plays ( which lasted many times , many daies together , and were set forth at infinite charges ) it is false of ours . he saith , they are an immediate occasion of much actual adultery ; it may be true of heathen plays , it is false of ours . he saith , they occasion much drunkenness , and excess ; it may be true of heathen plays , it is fal●● of ours . and thus , to his diversis nodis , vnus cune●s , many arguments , as he calls them , one answer , as a wedg , may serve sufficiently , to cleave them all asunder . yet he hath one passage , that stands barking in a corner , but dares not come out in the likeness of an argument , where he calls ( fol. 329. ) playhouses , the seminaries of vices ; the temples of venery ; the scholes of bawdery ; the dens of lewdness ; and all the vile names he could get together , by raking hel , and billings-gate . but will it not be a sop to stop cerberus his mouth : if we do but examine the common-wealths , in which plays have been most usual ; whether , after plays admitted , they have grown in their manners , either not worse , or perhaps better ; for so it may appear , that plays have been no such corruptions , no such corrupters of the times , as he would make them . examine the roman state ; and , not to wander about , take the times under the emperour augustus , in which , plays where in their heighth : he reigned six and fifty years ; a reasonable time to make a tryal : and were not his times , more quiet , more civil , and more virtuous , then ever they had been before ? so quiet , that all the world was quiet , and the temple of ianus shut up twice in his time ? so civil , and virtuous , that as himself was call augustus ; so his times were called augustum saeculum . come to our own co●ntry , which is better known to us ; take the time from the beginning of our late famous queen elizabeth , to the present , almost fourscore years , a large time likewise for probation ; and were ever any times known in this state more civil , or more virtuous ? so civil , that no civil arms ; so virtuous , that iustice , never more duly administred ; se●mons never more preached , more frequented ; virtues in princes never more transcendent , loyaltie , and love in subjects never more eminent ; that if virgil might say it of augustus times ; certainly , we much more justly may say it of these of ours ; iam redit , & virgo ; redeunt saturnia regna , as if the golden-age , of which the poets talk such wonders , were come into the world again . and how then are plays such seminaries of vices , as he talks of ? he must find better seminaries then plays , or he is like to have but a slender crop . that we may know these phrases of his , to be nothing but the fictions of the devil's poetry , or the flowers of his rhetorick . he will say , they are the very words of tertullian , and other of the fathers ; but will he never learn this one lesson so often taught him ; they may be true of heathen plays , they are false of ours . he will lastly say , that we have spoken indeed of general , and publike virtues , but they are the vices of private men , that he complains of ; as though the publick were any thing , but the uniting of the private ; or the generall any thing , but the meeting of particulars : and who doubts , but there will be a cham in the ark ; though noah the preacher of righteousness be continually in presence ? there will be a iudas amongst the apostles , though christ himself be doing his miracles continually before them ? but should not this man consider rather , from whence these men took their infection ( which from plays , we are sure they did not ) then to stand baiting at plays , which is at most , but cum capiti medendum est , reduviam curare ; for , to think to mend ●ens vices by taking away plays , is as ●dle , as that one should think to mend 〈◊〉 faces , by taking away glasses . he hath yet one argument behinde ; ●hich is , i may say , his palmarium ; and ●hich he hath kept for a final argu●ent , because it must serve to give a final ●low to beat down plays : namely , ● fol. 552. ) the fearfull judgments of god , ●hich have been shewed upon them . a final argument indeed , able to beat down , not onely plays , but all mens hearts from seeing of plays . but where is his commission , to make the application ? it is , no doubt , good counsel , when any extraordinary fearfull accident happens , to call our selves to account , and to enter into a due consideration of all our miss-doings ; acknowledging , that such things are oftentimes sent of god , as gracious warnings to draw us to repentance ; but yet , when such things happen , to censure them presently , as judgments of god upon any particular sin● and to determine upon what particular sin , or sinner they are sent ; this is more then this man hath warrant for , either from scripture , or fathers , or from discretion● when god reveals the reason of his doing , we may safely then take notice of it , and rest our selves upon it ; as when the earth opened , and swallowed up korah , and dathan ; there was manifestly known , both the particular sin , and the particular sinners : likewise when fire fell down from heaven upon s●dom , and gomorrha . but when the tower of shilo fell , and with the fall , slew eighteen men , who could make the application ? seeing christ saith● they were not the worst men , upon whom the tower of shilo fell . when a childe was born dumb , and blinde , this man would presently , it seems , have censured it , as a judgment of god , upon the childe , or parent ; yet christ told his disciples , it neither came for any sin of the childe , nor of the parents . for the iudgments of god , are as secret , as fearfull ; they are an abyss , till he give them a bottom ; and where god keeps silence , ther● men ●an have no science . for , what man is he , ●hat can know the counsel of god ; or , who can think what his will is ? he ●ells us of play-houses , both publick , and private ; some suddenly fallen down , some burnt up with fire , without any apparent cause preceding ? and what great wonder is this ; if in so many hundred years , in so many thousand places , some few such accidents have sometimes happened ? have not the like happened even to churches , and chappels ; and private places of religious meetings ? will he therefore say , they were iudgments of god against the use of churches , and chappels ? he tells us of some players , and some spectatours of plays , that have died at the very play , both suddenly , and strangely ; and what great wonder is this , if in so many hundred years , in so many thousand places , amongst so many millions of people , some few such chances have sometimes fallen out ? have not the like happened to some preachers in the pulpit ; and to some devout persons , even at their prayers ? will he therefore say , they were judgments of god , against the use of preaching , and praying ? how much better , is that censure in minutius foelix : fulmina passim cadunt ; sine delectu tangunt loca sacra , & prophana : homines noxios feriunt , saepe & religiosos : thunder-bolts fall down indifferently ; they light upon places prophane , and sacred , without any choice ; they strike good men , and bad , both alike . his inference therefore of these iudgments , shews he hath no iudgment , being as idle as busie , and proceeding rather , from a malice to the cause , then from any understanding of these effects , and as little from any charitie at all to the reader . thus this final argument , which should h●ve made a final end of plays , hath made a final end of all his reasons , and of all his reason : and yet he hath one argument more , though not one reason more , but a kind of prognostication rather , for he tells , before hand , ( fol. 565. ) what entertainment , both players , and spectatours of plays , are like to finde in another world , even without repentance , eternal damnation . and this 〈◊〉 calls an argument , with a witness : and 〈◊〉 is so indeed , for it is a witness to us 〈◊〉 his rashness , and irreligion . for , he ●efies being a papist , and he denies ●eing a puritan ; and now this argu●ent , is a witness against him , that he 〈◊〉 no protestant . for by aggravating ●e sin ( as he accompts it ) of seeing a ●lay , being not repented , with eternal ●amnation : he shews himself to think , ●●at every sin not repented , deserves ●ot so much : for if he thought eternal ●amnation , the common punishment , ●f every sin , why should he lay it , as an ●ggravating punishment upon this ●n ? and if he think , some sin not re●ented , not to be mortal , we think him , ●or so thinking , not to be a protestant . ●f then , neither protestant , nor puritan , ●or papist : what religion should he be of , ●hat we may not justly leave the damna●ion of this argument , upon himself ? and thus it befalls men , transported with malice , that whilest they make , their own threatning , the measure of others suffering ; they fall them selves to ●●●fer that , which they threatned to oth●●● thus you have seen his fore-pa●● which are his reasons ; you may now 〈◊〉 pleased to see his back-parts , which 〈◊〉 his testimonies , and authorities ; and y●● shall finde him no better to follow th●● he was to meet ; yet it makes a bett●● shew ; for he began his reasons fro● the devil , but he begins his authorit●●● from god : for ( fol. 545 ) he begi● with the scriptures , the word of god : 〈◊〉 doubt , a most powerfull evidence , not 〈◊〉 be spoken of without honour ; not 〈◊〉 be thought of , without reverence : an● indeed , if he could alledg but onely th● name of plays , or players , as spoken o● in the scriptures , we should have a wonderfull respect , and be wouderfull ci●cumspect how we medled with them● but seeing he cannot do this , we ma● justy suspect him to be no better a ma● in his authorities , then he was in his reasons , great pretences , but no proofs , fair colours , but no substance ; all he can say , is but onely to say , he hath nothing bu● ●ords , and words are but winde , and ●ay well enough be blown over . for , 〈◊〉 for his inferences , and collections , and ●eductions , we may demur upon them at ●asure , and take time to consider . but ●●st any man should think we waved his ●estimonies of scripture , as being con●●ncing , and such as cannot be answer●d ; let us , for the reverence we bear ●●em , hear him at large , and see what he ●ath to say out of these sacred records . ●nd he seems to bewray the weakness ●f his cause at the very first : for , ( fol. ●45 . ) he grants that scripture speaks no●hing against plays in precise terms ; and ●hy then will he condemn them in pre●ise terms , if the scripture do not ? is ●ot this to incur the reprehension of s●●omon , noli esse nimium justus ? be not ●oo precise ; for to condemn a thing ●n precise terms , which the scriptures do not , what is this , but to be nimium justus ; more precise then needs ? but if the scriptures condemn them not in precise terms , in what terms then ? indeed onely in hilary t●rm ; for it would make a man merrie ; or rather it woul● make a h●rse break his halter to see th● strange antick faces of applications h● makes , to wring out a condemnatio● of plays from places of scripture ; an● when he hath all done , we might mak● as good an argument and say ; this ma● speaks scarce a wise word in all his book ; therefore plays are unlawfull : for wheresoever he findes any place against idolatry , and altars , against adultery , or murther , aganst wantonness , or prophanene●● , he presently applies them as spoken against plays , & never considers how idle , and simple he is , to stand picking , and culling out some certain texts of scripture ; when if these applications , would serve , he might have said it in a word , that all the whole scripture is nothing else , but a very arraignment , & condemnation of plays . but thus he fetches it abou● ; he confesseth that no scripture condemns plays , in precise terms ; but that ( fol. 546. ) they positively prohibit , and censure them , under the names of idolatry , of things consecrated to idols , of the c●p , and table of devils ; of the customs , rites , and delights of idolaters ; of the way and fashi●n of the heathen ; of the will of the gen●iles , and such like ; under which , plays are ●s really , and absolutely comprised , as any ●art is under the whole , or any species under its proper genus . a very fine device , ●o make quidlibet , ex quolibet . he seems one of that mans scholers , who deduceth , and findes comprised , all natural , and moral philosophie in the first chapter of genesis ; but will any man be●ieve him ? the fathers said this of hea●hen plays , and he , good man , thinks he may say it of ours ; will not therefore his device suit better with himself , and give us leave to say ; no scripture indeed condemns this man in precise terms ; but they condemn , and censure him under the names of a false prophet , of a perverter of scriptures ; of one , zealous without knowledge ; of a syco●hant , a busie-body , a slanderer , and such like ; under which names , this man is as really and absolutely comprised , as any part is under the whole , or any individuum under its proper species . and whe● we say this , can any man say , but tha● our application of these to him , is fa● more just , then his to plays ? certainly the heathen , have more colour of reason , to worship the sun , out of the te●●● et domino soli servies ; then this man hath to condemne plays , out of any text , against the idolatrie of the h●●then . for they at least , have the ambiguity of the word soli , to stand upon ; but this man hath nothing intus or 〈◊〉 cute , neither ambiguitie nor perspicuity of word , neither letter nor tittle of letter , to countenance his exposition . there are indeed some rules , by which , one vice may be comprised under the name of another ; as when lesser vices are forbidden , it shews the greater are forbidden also : so incest , and sodomitry under the name of adultery , so atheism , under the name of heathenism : or whe● a general vice is prohibited , it shews the particular kinds are prohibited also so poisoning under the name of murther● so bribery , and fraud , under the name 〈◊〉 stealing ; but can he shew , that plays 〈◊〉 by any such rules comprised under ●●e names of the vices he alledgeth ? no●●ing less : if he had done , or could do ●●is , he had spoken to some purpose , ●●d with some reason ; but since he ●ath not , nor cannot do this , what can ●e say of him , but that he hath shewed ●ore malice then wit , more zeal then knowledg , more boldness , or imprudence , ●hen either iudgment , or vnderstanding . ●e had read perhaps in some authours ●ome strange applications of places of ●cripture ; and he , like a true pythagore●n , takes all upon the credit of ipse ●ixit : and thereupon grows confi●ent at last to be a coyner of applica●ions himself : he thinks he hath as much zeal as they ; and knows , he ●ath less knowledg : and these two joyned together , much zeal , and little know●edg , are the true parents of all these false ●himerical applications . would any man ●hink , that these words of david ; blessed is the man , that hath not walked in the council of the ungodly : and hath not stood in the way of sinners : and hath not sate in the chair of sc●n●ers , were spoken by him , as against goin● to plays ? yet tertullian fetcheth it abou● and takes advantages of some circumst●●●ces , to make it seem probable . but ma● not tertullian be as well mistaken in ap●plying places of scripture against plays as he was in applying them to maintain th● errour of the millenaries : or the corporeit● of the soul ? although for this place perhaps we may excuse him ; seeing he seem● to apply it , by way of allusion , and exageration onely , and not by way of argumentation : in which sence , while this man mistakes it ; it is one of the seeds he takes to set in the wilderness of his brains : and from this , and such other mistaken seeds is grown at last this huge forest of confusion , which he presents you with in this his voluminous rhapsodie : voluminous indeed , if you look on the bulk ; but a very pamphlet , if on the substance . but is it not strange to see , how confidently he goes to moses to fetch texts , as it were warrants against plays ; as i● ●e were sure , that plays were then in use , ●n mos●s his time ? for if they were not , ●e would make moses a very hastie iudg , to condemn them before they were born . and indeed unless where ●e learned , that the devil invented them , ●e can learn also , at what time he invent●d them ; i will never believe , but ●e is much mistaken in the time of their nativity . especially seeing his rabbi tertullian fetcheth the greatest antiquity of plays but from the coming of tyr●henus , and the lydians , into italie : ( for when they were called ludi ● lydis ) and tyrrhenus came into italie some distance of time , after the trojane war ; and the trojane war was four hundred years , and more , after moses death . now , seeing the places , which this man citeth out of moses , were exhortations to the people , to avoid the idolatries , and customes of the heathen , that were at that time ; how can they be taken as intended against plays , which had no being in the world till many hundred years after ? but this may pass among , his venial faults : he thinks , perhaps , that god will never charge him with errours in chr●nologie ; so they exceed not a thousand years : because a thousand years with him are but as one day . yet it were not enough neither to say , that plays were then in use ; but he must prove also , they were then in use , in such manner as now they are ; for , if since that time they have mended their manners , it were no reason , that , having lived so long , they should now be put to death in their age for faults committed so long since in their infancie . but if they be of so great antiquity , it is very probable they are of as great innocency ; for having had many accusations , they have pass'd many trials : and though often arraigned , yet never convicted : and they should have very hard fortune , if , having stood the blows of so many axes , they should now be felled with the cut of a pen-knife . but , seeing he will needs be going to moses for proofs , let him go , and let us see what he can make of them ; and that every reader may be a iudge , i will cite you some of his places , which he takes to be positively spoken of plays ; and i will cite them , as he quotes them , lest you should think i take advantage ; the rest i will quote onely , that you may read them at leisure ; and laugh , if you can , for anger , or be angry , if you can , for laughing . ( fol 545. ) levit. xviii . 30 . therefore ye shall keep mine ordinances ( namely , against incests , and sodomitries ) that ye do not any of the abominable customs , which have been done before you , and that ye defile not your selves therein . this is the first of his places , which he alledgeth as positively condemning plays . would any man think he were in earnest ? but hear another , deut. vii . 2 . and the lord thy god shall give the nations before thee , then thou shalt smite them ; thou shalt make no covenant with them , nor take compassion on them . this is another of his places , that positively condemns plays . and about some ten ( deut. xii . 3 . & xx . 16 . iosh. vii . 12 . & xi . 12 . iudg. ii . 2 . numbers xxxii . 52 . psal. xvi . 4 . ierem. x. 2 . ) more he hath of like scantling ; and come no n●arer to touch plays , o● players , then these do . but these are out of the old testament : no doubt , he hath better out of the new● hear therefore some of them too . acts xvi . 20 . but that we write unto them , that they abstain from filthiness of idols , and fornication , and from things strangled , and from blood . and i● not this still worse , and worse ? yet hear another , rom. xii . 2 . and fashion not your selves like unto the world ; but be ye changed by the renewing of your mindes , that ye may prove what is the good will of god : and about some twenty places more of like pregnancie against plays . would any man think he were well in his wits , to alledge these places as spoken against plays ? but what should he do ? he must either take these , or none ; that we may justly say , the devil certainly owed him a shame , that put into his head , to take upon him the handling of this argument ; and it is indeed , as a most learn'd man , and most reverend divine of our time writes , that this man , and such ●s ●e , make the scripture speak what ●hey please ; deriving strange positions , ●nd p●radoxes thence ; when they , and th●ir bibles are alone in corners . but it is ●lain enough to see his crafty dealing ; ●or he quotes indeed these places , but ●e cites not one of them : for he well knew , if he had brought them to the bar as witnsses against plays , they must have stood mute ; for not one of them could have spoken a word in disparagement of plays . but you may hear him crying out , that he alledgeth these places , but as others have alledged them before ; and have we not heard cicero long since crying out , that no opinion is so absurd , which hath ●n some philosopher for a patron ? but he hath consent , as though there were not as well fratres in errore , as fratres in mal● . but he hath consent of times , as though the stream of invectives set once a running , upon just cause , may not continue running a long time after the cause removed ? and that which reacheth to them all , as though places o● scripture may not by way of allusion , and exaggeration , be applied to many purposes ; to which yet , by way of direct argumentation , they cannot be applied ? well , he hath now done with scripture , but he had done better , if he had never begun : for is it not a shame , he should make them a stale , and bring them in for witnesses , when they have nothing to say ; or rather indeed should suborn them to become false witnesses ; and make them say that they never intended ? but though you take his bible from him , yet he hath other very strong records , that are able of themselves to carry it . ( fol. 570. ) he hath fifty four councels , whereof every one hath divers canons , all to be discharged in the very faces of plays , and cannot choose , but shiver them all in pieces . no doubt , the engines are strong ; but doth he not miss-take the mark ? for , if we mark it , we shall finde them not levelled at our kinde of plays , but at pagan idolatrous plays , ( wherein , as balsamon saith , ●here were maledicta , & blasphemiae , be●ides many superstitions ) and addressed chiefly to restraint of : them upon sundays , for the time ; ( so the sixty fourth canon of the council of carthage ) in churches , for the place ; ( so concilium trecense ) to church-men , for the persons ; ( so the five and twentieth canon of the apostles ) but here he would take upon him to be an interpreter by himself ; and ( fol. 647. ) make us believe ; that , though the canon speak onely of church-men ; yet the equity of the canon reacheth to all other men . but what saith the old interpreter balsamon ? by forbiding them to church-men , it shews , they allowed them to lay-men . by forbidding them in churches , it shews , they allowed them in convenient places . by forbidding them on sundaies , it shews , they allowed them on working-daies : and so he hath made a fair hand with himself : charged canons , to be all discharged , and shot in his own face but is this a wise , or a wise man's argument ? plays were forbidden by councils heretofore ; ther●●fore they ought to be forbidden by the church now ? for how many things have been decreed by councils , which now are clean left off , and abrogated ? did not the council of antisiodore decree it unlawfull to give new-years gifts at christmas ? yet who sees it not now an a●nual custome ; and without offence ? did not the same council decree it unlawfull to deck houses with lawrel , or green boughs ? yet who sees it not now an usual fashion , and counted a decency ? did not the synod in trullo decree it unlawfull for gossips at a christening to marry together ever after ? yet what marriages now more lawfull , more frequent ? did not the same council in trullo decree all eating of blood to be unlawfull , and subject to excommunication ? yet who eats it not now familiarly , and without scandal ? infinite the like . for indeed the constitutions of the church have ever had regard to the time : and the time to the circumstances of occasion ; which not being ●nown , no man can judg of the great ●●tness of decrees , as they might be ●●en ; and yet of the great unfitness of ●he same decrees , if they should be ●ow . and therefore , though this man ●eem to produce councels , yet , in truth , ●e produceth them not , he delivers the ●ords as a parrat , that pronounceth the ●yllables , but not as a man , that under●tands the meaning ; and not to deliver ●hem in their full sense , is in true sense , ●ot to deliver them at all ; as cicero saith , the● shall a man be said to say the same ●hing , when he saith it in the same sens● , and with the same intent . but how can this man do this , when he knows not the intent , nor the circumstances of it ? or , if he do , yet he dissembles it , and will not know it , which is a worse ignorance , then the other . and if we should allow him the levelling of his canons , as he pretends , though we are not willing to lay any taint upon such reverend assemblies , yet this we may be bold to say , that oftentimes major pars meliorem vicit ; and that sometimes one paph●ntius hath been more worth , then all th● council besides . and ( fol. 668. ) as for his squadro● of seventy one fathers , and his one hundred and fifty other writers , whom he brags to have gotten on his side , though it make a great shew , yet it is no great matter , if we consider he hath been fifteen hundred years in getting them ; and especially , if we consider , that all those , whom he cannot get on his side , we may justly challenge to be on our side , and will make a greater troop , then his can make an army . but , lest it should be thought that all these trumpets , which he pretends to be for him , be so for him , that they be against us , let us a little hearken to their sounding , whether it hath been always upon a true alarm , or no ; for if it have not , we may justly except against them , and bar their voices from our scrutiny . some therefore of his trumpets , and those of the best , and ancientest , are such as sound onely at pagan plays , whereas our plays are no more like ●hem , then helene the mother of con●●antine was like helene the wife of ●enelaus ; and are as different from ●hem , as we our selves are differing from ●agans : and of this , both tertullian , and ●t . cyprian , ( the two most earnest of all ●he fathers against plays ) may be wit●esses ; and indeed witnesses instar omni●m : and whereupon do they ground ●heir condemnation of plays ? do they not both onely upon idolatry ? hear tertullian first , if there be no idol in the play , that idolatrie be not committed in it , ●hen i charge it not with any renouncing , which we have made in baptism . next ●ear st. cyprian , quod spectaculum sine ido●o ? quis ludus sine sacrificio ? if there●ore this man can finde in our plays , ei●her idols , or sacrifice , he may justly require our voices in crying down of plays ; but , if they be as clean from ●eprosies , as naaman was from his , having washed in iordan , then hath this man need to be down on his knees , and to ask these fathers , and us forgiveness , them for miss-reporting , and miss-enforcing them ; us , for miss-enforming and miss-perswading su . because miri●● was excluded from the camp , when sh● was leprous ; shall we therefore not admit her into the camp , when she i● cleansed ? indeed , when this man before brought poor , and simple reason● to prove his cause , we could not much blame him , ( for you can have no more of a man then his talent ) but now , that he wrests scriptures , traduceth councils , falsifieth fathers , miss-interprets all ; this most needs have some thing voluntary in it , and hath therefore no mean in the evil , because a meaning to be evil . the onely excuse is to say ; that he seems onely s●pere ex indice , to have all his learning from the tables of books : for they be these indeed , that make so many mountebanks of scholars , as swarm in the world . for , when a theme is propounded , they run presenty to the tables , and pick authours pockets of what serves their turns , but never once offer to look the authours in the face● and so , not knowing the antecedents , and su●seq●●●ts , they neither understand what they read , nor this man , what he writes . and that you may know him to be such an one , you shall find it by this one cast of his scholar-ship , ( fol. 546. ) where he saith , that cyprian was seconded by tertullian , in his opinion against plays : as though tertullian had lived after cyprian : for that a man , who goes before , and begins an opinion , may be seconded by him that follows , there is reason ; but to say , that a man , which follows , and continues an opinion , is seconded by him that went before , and began it , was never heard of , till he hath brought it into being . and may we not here say , that this one answer alone , is it self a full discharge to his whole book , without any more ado ; seeing all the arguments he brings in his book , either drawn from reason , or from authorities , either of councels , or fathers , or other writers ; they are true enough against the plays of the heathen ; but , as plays are now in use amongst christians , not a true word in any of them ; and therefore where he hath entituled his book , a tragedie of actours ; he should , if he had done right , have entituled it , a comedie of errours . it is true indeed , tertullian condemneth plays by places of scripture , not onely against idolatry , and superstition , but against sensuality also , and concupiscence ; but doth he not by the same places condemn also second marriages ; when either a man marrieth a second wife , or a woman a second husband ? yet he is condemned for applying the places against these ; and why not then as well , for applying them against plays ? for who doubts , but there is more concupiscence , and sensuality in marrying a second wife , or husband , then in seeing a play ? there is yet another sense , in which these holy fathers do sometimes speak of plays , though neither idolatrous , nor superstitious , as things unworthy of a christian man : but is it not in the sense , that christ spake of the providence for earthly things , of caring for food , and ●●yment ; after all which , saith he , the ●●ntil●s s●ek ? and doth not saint paul 〈◊〉 the same sense , though in another ●egree , vi●ifie also the best works , that ●e can do , even the good works ●f the law ; accounting them to be ●o better then very dung : then which ●e could not have used a more con●emptible , and disgracefull term. but who knows not , that these things are ●poken by way of comparison ? if there●ore that , which is comparatively spoken , ● man shall take as spoken positively , shall ●e not shew himself a superlative false expositour ? for , setting aside idolatry , and open obscenity , which our plays de●est as much as this man , neither ter●ullian , nor any of the fathers , did ever any otherwise condemn plays , but as they condemned all artificial delights of the world , aspiring onely to that perfection , of which st. iohn speaks ; love not the world , neither the things of the world : ●f any man love the world , the love of god is not in him . i speak this the rather for pr●vention ; lest the man , vouchsafing perhaps to read this discourse , shoul● think he had found here a just ground for a reply , and vex us again with transscribing of authours , and heaping up mountains of authorities , like pelion upon ossa , to this purpose : which now , he may hereby know , will serve him to no purpose ; for we seek to justifie plays , as fit recreations for an honest natural , or moral man , but no ways to be matched with the high mysterious contemplations of a christian in divinity . and , i doubt not , but all the sentences of the fathers , spoken against plays in this kinde , will take this for an answer ; and this may be sufficient to shew , that these mens sounding is insufficient , & nihil ad rhombum . others there are , of whom we may be bold to say , seeing the proverb saith it , that the greatest clerks are not always the wisest men . bring them to a matter , that is not meerly logical , and you shall finde them oftentimes to be meerly irrational . plays therefore being practical , and their chief use consisting in action ; these mens soundings will prove no other , then as the barking of dogs at mo●nshine in the water . others there are , that sound out of zeal , but their zeal being without knowledge , though we may commend their zeal , yet we cannot commend their ignorance ; and we may truly apply another proverb to these , that with too much haste they outrun the constable : for though they had the alarm in their ears , yet they have lost it by the way ; and have so fast fixed their eyes upon the abuse of plays , that they never cast a look upon the right use , but are like one gobryas , whom plutarch speaks of , who fallen down , and strugling with magus , bid darius thrust his sword though through them both . but these are no fit men to make iudges of , who ought rather to spare the guilty , then to condemn the innocent ; and rather to venture a doubtfull danger , then to destroy a manifest benefit : for the hurt of plays , though seen , may be avoided ; the benefit of plays , if not seen , cannot be obtained . and thus , by that time these mens soundings are all supprest , there will be as few left to sound their trumpets against plays , as were left to cast stones at the adulteress in the gospel . and lastly , when the fathers , and other devout writers , inveigh so bitterly against plays , and apply to them such heavie styles , may they not be understood to do it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , by way of exaggeration , in majorem cautelam : that there be not so much as the appearance of evil amongst christians , as st. paul acknowledgeth ? and when players use speeches sometimes , and actions , a little swerving from the strict rules of puritie , may they not be understood to do it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , by way of illustration , in majorem suadelam ; as a player in terence professeth his intent to be , vt , cùm cognûrint , perpetuò oderint ? although therefore there may seem to be between them a diametrical opposition ; yet , seeing they agree in the principal intent , that is , in moral erudition , why may they not be brought to some indifferent reconcilement , and not continue in the deadly fewd , which this man professeth : if a spirit of charity , which covereth faults , and not a spirit of malice , which maketh faults where none is , were the vmpire between them , and had the hearing , and handling of the matter ? after his canons of fifty four councils , and his seventy one pieces of ordinance of the fathers , and his hundred and fifty musket-shot of other writers , he comes at last ( fol. 702. ) with his squibs of fourty heathen writers , and philosophers ; but hath he not utterly disgraced his whole army , by having such scare-crows to march in the rear ? hath he not extremely overshot himself , to bring his cause before heathenish moral writers ? whilest he kept himself in foro divino , and foro ecclesiastico , though he had not much to say against plays , yet plays had not much to say for themselves ; ( for we must not look , that the scriptures will perswade us to go to plays , no more then they perswade us to seek to be rich ) if he had kept himself within his compass , and gone no further then his name professeth , to be onely histri●m●stix , which is , in his own interpretation , a beadle of beggars , he might with some indifferency have been tolerated ; but , having once gotten the whip into his hand , he lays about him like a bedlam-man , and strikes at every man he meets , not onely his professed duellists , the players , that act the plays , but the poets , that make them , the spectatours , that see them , the magistrates , that allow them , the musick , that abets them , the dancing , that graces them ; nay , he spares not sovereign majesty , even kings , and princes : that we must needs now take his whip from him , and if he shew not himself more reasonable with his tongue , then he hath done with his pen , even send him to b●dlam for a mad man. but for musick , and dancing , we will talk with him hereafter : now we will onely question him about the other , and begin with poets , because they are the beginners of plays● and what can he say , why he should offer to whip ●hem ? were they not highly esteemed , when they lived ? are they not highly valued● now they are dead ? is there any library , where their books are wanting ? is there any learned man , that cites not their sentences ? nay● so much did plato esteem of sophron's books , who was , as quintilian saith , but mimorum s●riptor , as it were a writer of ballads , that he was found to have them under his pillow when he died . if then he cannot for very shame condemn poets , how can he with any face condemn players ? as if he should allow a song to be set in musick , and not allow it to be sung ? or an oration to be penned , and not to be pronounced ? but which are the players he would whip ? if onely the bad actours , we are contented ; let him not spare them : for to be a bad actour is no more the part of a player , then his book is the work of a scholar . but will ●e therefore whip roscius too ? he were best take heed what he does : for , if roscius bring him once upon the stage , he will make him more ridiculous by playing the beadle , then once he made chaerea , ( whom cicero speaks of ) by playing the bawd. brutus , that glorious tyrannicide , was not only a great favourer , and furtherer of plays , but he writ to cicero , that he should not intermit to see them , even presently after caesar's death ; and will he whip cicero too , if he take him at a play ? he were best take heed what he doeth ; for cicero can write orationes prinnianas , as well as philippicas , that will live to his disgrace , as long as letters shall live in grace● pompey the great built a theatre on purpose for seeing of plays ; and will he whip brutus , and pompey too , for dissolute magistrates in allowing of plays ? he were best take heed what he doeth ; for brutus hath a penknife died in blood , and pompey can lead him as a slave in his triumphs : and it is not for a simple gown-man to meddle with them , who were the princes of the gens togata . augustus caesar thought so modestly of plays , that he allowed vestal virgins to go unto them , assigning them a place in the theatre , where they should sit , and see them ; and will he whip vestal virgins too , if he catch them at a play ? he were best take heed what he doeth ; for they sit there by the emperour's allowance ; and non est tutam in eum scribere , qui potest proscribere , it is not safe writing against him , who hath power to banish you . if plays then have roscius for an actour , cicero for a spectatour , brutus for an abettour , pompey for a benefactour , and augustus for a patron , where is he , that scandals plays , as if they durst not shew their faces in any good company ? let him bring me five such men in foro morali , in disgrace of plays , as i have brought him five here in their commendation , and i will confess the game lost ; if he cannot , let him then leave his facing , and his bragging , which do but set him aloft , to make him a spectacle ; and though with the credulous they get him credit , yet with the iudicious they shew he hath no iudgment . but where are ( fol. 702. ) his fourty heathenish moral writers , and philosophers all this while ? socrates , plato , aristotle , cicero , seneca , tacitus , pliny , maerobius , marcus aurelius , and the rest ? indeed he hath made them his executours , but they refuse to administer ; and we may say of them , as augustus said of his ajax , ( a tragedie he had written ) in spongiam incubuit , they are shrunk in the wetting . and he makes me think of a mad man of athens , who , in all other points a sensible man , onely in this one point distracted , that , standing by the sea-side , what ships soever he saw pass by , he presently thought them to be his own , and would exceedingly rejoyce , as if they were his ships , newly come home with rich prizes : so this man , in other matters , for any thing i know , well enough in his wits , seems yet to have one corner of his brains possessed with this madness ; that standing in his library amongst his books , what good authours soever he sees there , he presently thinks them to be of his opinion , against plays , when , good man● there is no more to ●e found of his opinion in any of their ●ooks , then was found of this mad athe●ian's , goods in any of the ships . it were ●edious to examine them all ; if i shew ●ou his faults in some , you may believe ●e in the rest : but what need i require ●ou to believe me , when you may turn ●o the places , and take him tripping ●our selves . for in the places he cites ●ither ye shall finde nothing at all of that ●e spe●ks , or nothing at all to the purpose he speaks of . try him in seneca , because he is likeliest to be next at hand . he cites his one hundred and twenty second , and one hundred and twenty third epistles : but in these two long epistles there is not a word to be found concerning plays . he cites his seventh epistle , and there indeed he speaks of spectacula ; but what ? not plays , but earnest ; of which he saith , manè , leonibus , & vrsis homines ; meridie , spectatoribus suis objiciuntur . he cites his proeme to his controversies : there he hath a line , or two , of the effeminateness of young men in his time ; but concerning plays nè verbum quidem . he cites his twelfth chapter de brevitate vitae , a place ra●ther against himself ; for seneca , having there spoken of the luxury of his tim● , concludeth thu● ; i nunc , & mimes mult● mentiri ad exprobrandam luxuriam put● : plura mehercule praetereunt , quàm fingunt . he cites the one and thirtieth , and two and thirtieth chapters of the seventh book of his natural questions , wherein is not a word , that makes against plays , onely he complains , that plays were then in more request , then the study of philosophy . he cites the twelfth , thirteenth , and fourteenth chapters de vita beata , but in all them , of plays , altum silentium . and is not this man now the very mad man of athens ? i might say here , et crimine ab uno disce omnes . but try another ; take macrobius . he cites his first , and seventh chapters of his saturnalia : but in the first not a word of plays ; in the other he shews how wonderfully augustus caesar graced certain players of his time , laberius , and publius , pylades , and hylas , as if he should quote us a place on purpose , to give himself the ●ie . he cites valerius maximus , who tells ●ndeed of sempronius sophus , that he put ●way his wife for going to plays with●ut his privitie : but this was not for ●oing to plays , but for going without ●is privitie , and is thus far rather for the ●eputation of plays , that it was not un●ommendable for women to go to plays , so they went with their husbands , or in other good company , with their ●rivitie . and is not this man still the mad man of athens ? he cites the two and twentieth epistle of the fourth book of plinie , but there a judgment only ●s passed against an agon gymnicus , an exercise of naked wrestlers , and what is this to plays ? he cites socrates , and thinks he hath wisdome on his side , because he was judged the wisest man by the delphian oracle : but was socrates a fit man to condemn plays for obscenity ; who ( as salvianus relates ) would have no man to have any wife of his own , but all women to be in common : and what were this , but to betray the city , whilst he defends the suburbs ? for , where this opinion is held lawfull● what obscenity can be held unlawfull● he must therefore either renounce salvianus his testimony ; and so he shall lose the blessing of one of his fathers , or else renounce socrates his iudgment , and so he shall lose the ring-leader of one of his squadrons . he cites plato , but he is taken from him by one , that will hold him in spight of his great words , the thrice● worthy sidney , who proves plainly , that plato banish'd not players out of his common-wealth for any of the reasons by this man alledged ; but because the poet● of his time filled the world with a wrong opinion of the gods , and he would not have the youth depraved with such opinions , whereof now , without further law , christianity hath taken away all the hurtfull belief . and so he can have no help from any of these , but he must be the mad man of athens still . and as for cicero , and the learned emperour , marcus aurelius , you shall hea● them presently speak so much to hi● face ; that , if none else would prove him to be the mad man of athens , yet they themselves will be the men shall do it . but these are but single , and private men , ( fol. 713. ) he can shew whole cities , and nations , that banished players . and did they not physicians also , and philosophers , and mathematicians ? yet in many cities they were kindly entertained ; they were civitate donati , enfranchised , and made free citizens : and some of them grew to that wealth , that is incredible ; as it is recorded of one aesop , an actour of tragedies , that he left his son so rich , that he fed upon pearl , and was served at his table in silver dishes . but mark how this man can play the ambidexter . at first , it was a good argument against plays , because they were the customs , and delights of heathen people : now it must serve for an argument against them , because they were rejected , and banished by heathen people , that we need not wonder , how his book comes to be so vast , and voluminous , seeing with the same breath he can bo●h kindle , and blow out the fire ; the same thing , both affimed , and denied , he can equally make to serve his turn . and where he tells us of great princes , and mighty emperours , both heathen , and christian , that are on his side ; what should we speak of any heathen emperours after him , who had none before him , the great augustus , as worthy to shut up the leaves of this contentious discourse , as he was to shut up the doors of the temple of peace . and him we have already shewed , by places of the man 's own directing , to be directly against him : but , to leave no place of doubt , how firmly augustus is on our side , hear what suetonius tranquillus saith of him , spectaculorum & assiduit●te , & varietate , & magnificentiâ omnes antecessit ; in the daily frequenting , and in the variety , and magnificence of setting forth plays , he exceeded all men . indeed the man ( fol. 459. ) labours much to get augustus from us , and we cannot blame him : yet in this we blame him , that he seeks to get him from us by a trick ; he would make us believe , that augustus ●id not favour plays , or players , because ●e punished two excellent players , hylas , ●nd pilades , the one with whipping , the ●ther with banishment . as though any man thought augustus so far to favour plays , as to grant players an immunity of committing faults without controllment ? for he punished them not meer●y for playing , but for playing the knaves , and for their misdemeanours . and now , that i may coronidem imponere , conclude all with one , that wore a christian crown , and wore it so worthily , that he was called pater patriae ; did not lewis the twelfth , king of france , command plays to be used , and to be used after the old maner , with liberty to tax mens vices , and not to spare even scoffing at himself , if he deserved it ? and how can we forget a queen of our own , ( of late famous memory ) whose virtues we shall remember longer , then our own names : who would never have given allowance to plays , all the time of her reign , and been her self oftentimes a spectatrix of them● if she had either been informed by her confessours , or had conceived in her own excellent judgment , that they could be any either scandal to religion , or disparagement to modestie . and it may be a president of no small moment for the countenancing of plays , that a great prelate of our time , eminent as well for his piety , as his learning , yet seldome passed a christmass , that he had not plays acted at his house before him . but what cares this man for either princes , or prelates ? for what ( fol. 734. ) saith he : too many great ones ( he knows not out of what respects ) have vouchsafed to honour plays , ( or rather dishonour themselves ) with their presence : and ( fol. 735. ) were degenerating princes : this is , that he stands ( fol. 719. ) upon , and will maintain , that not one , either heathen , or christian writer of any note , can be alledged in defence of plays . a bold challenge , but , if there be no fallacie in his writers of note , a challenge , that is presently like to fall to the ground● for what thinks he of marcus tullius cicero ? was not he a writer of note ? who , though he have not written a book on purpose , yet hath inserted in his books many notable sentences in behalf of plays ; which if we should collect , would make a just volum . but what need we , when he hath one sentence , that seems as a verdict on their side , where he saith , comoedia est imitatio vitae ; speculum consu●tudinis , & imago veritatis : ( a short , but a full description of the nature of plays : ) a comedy is the resemblance of life , the mirrour of custome , the image of truth : in which not a word , that speaks not , if not in their praise , at least in their commendation . and not to stand piling up of authours ; what thinks he of one , that may be instar multorum , the emperour , and philosopher , marcus aurelius ? was not he a writer of note ? who in his excellent book of morality ( for which we are beholding to our engraffed country-man , a learned issue of a most learned parent ) hath so briefly , and yet so fully expressed the profit of plays , that you must not think it tedious , if i set down his own words . tragedies ( saith he ) were at first brought in , and instituted , to put men in minde of worldly chances , and casualties , that these things in the ordinary course of nature did so happen , that men , that were much pleased , and delighted by such accidents upon this stage , would not by the same things , in a greater stage , be grieved , and afflicted . after the tragedie , the comoedia vetus , or antient comedie was brought in ; which had the liberty to inveigh against personal vices ; being therefore , through this their freedom , and liberty of speech , of very good use , and effect , to restrain men from pride , and arrogancie . after these , what were either the media , or nova comaedia admitted for , but meerly , or for the most part , for the delight , and pleasure of curious , and excellent imitation ? thus writes marcus aurelius : and what could he have spoken in so few words to a greater praise of plays ? and this he writes in his book , i may say , of mortified moralitie ; that one may be sure , he speaks as he thinks : and cannot be suspected to flatter sensuality . and what will the man say now to heathen writers ? what ? but that , which we may say for him ; that sure their books had no tables , and so he could not come to see what they said of plays . or perhaps for all his saying , he cares not much whether heathen writers be of his side , or no : but for christian writers , he is sure enough of them , to make his challenge good . but is not this impudence past all patience , when ( fol. 763. ) he hath named himself two writers of note , molanus , and lindanus ; the one a professour● the other a reverend bishop , who have both of them written in ●ustification of plays ? but you must allow him to except these , he meant so when he made his challenge . well , be it so : what thinks he then of the glory of our nation , the incomparable sir philip sidney ? was not he a christian , and a writer of note ? who in his general defence of poetry hath inserted also a particular defence of plays , and you may well hear his words without altering , because they are not capaable of bettering . comedie ( saith he ) is an imitation of the common errours of our life , which the comedian representeth in the most ridiculous , and scornfull sort , that may be , so as it is impossible , that any beholder can be content to be such an one . now , as , in geometrie , the oblique must be known as well as the right ; and , in arithmetick , the odd as well as the even : so , in the actions of our life , who seeth not the filthyness of evil wanteth a great foil to perceive the beauty of virtue . this doth the comedie handle so , in our private , and domestical matters , that with hearing it we get as it were an experience : what is to be looked for of a niggardly demea , of a crafty davus , of a flattering gnatho , of a vain-glorious thraso , and not onely to know what effects are to be expected , but to know , who be such , by the signifying badg given them by the comedian . and little reason hath any man to say , that men learn the evil , by seeing it so set out ; since ( as i said before ) there is no man living , but by the force truth hath in nature no sooner seeth these men play their parts , but he wisheth them in pistrinum . although perchance , the sack of his own faults lie so behinde his back , that he seeth not himself to dance the same measure : whereto nothing ●an more open his eies , then to see his own actions contemptibly set forth . so that , the right use of comedie will , i think , by no body be blamed : and much less of the high , and excellent tragedie , that openeth the greatest wounds , and sheweth forth the vlcers , that are covered with tissue ; that maketh kings fear to be tyrants , and tyrants to manifest their tyrannical humours ; that , with stirring the effects of admiration , and commiseration , teacheth the uncertainty of this world , and upon how weak foundations gilden roofs are builded . it were therefore too absurd to cast out so excellent a representation of whatsoever is worthy to be learned . thus the excellent sidney : and what more could he have said , if he would have sought to flatter plays ? yet there is an exception against him to , because ( fol. 913. ) he hath written an arcadia , one of the books in this man's index expurgatorius . but perhaps he will admit of no english testimonies : take one then in france , and what thinks he of the ing●nious , and learned michael de montaigne ; was not he a christian , and a writer of note ? and hear what he writes in the five and twentieth chapter of his first book of essaies : i have ever ( saith he ) accused them of impertinencie , that condemn , and disallow such kinde of recreation , and blamed those of in-justice , that refuse good , and honest comedians , or ( as we call them ) players , to enter our good towns , and grudg the common people such publique sports , politick , and well-ordered common wealths endeavour rather carefully to unite , and assemble their citizens together , as in serious offices of devotion ; so in honest exercises of recreation . common society , and loving friend-ship is thereby cherished , and encreased : and besides , they cannot have more formal , and regular pastimes allowed them , then such , as are acted , and represented in open view of all , and in the presence of the magistrates themselves . and , if i might 〈◊〉 sway , i would think it reasonable , that in populous cities there should be theatres appointed for such spectacles . thus montaigne : and where is the man's challenge now , as though there were none , that either did , or durst oppose him ? certainly we may truly say ; the saying is verified of him , scientia non habet inimicum praeter ignorant●m : verecundia non habet inimicum praeter impudentem . but when all is said , that can be : this is his murus aheneus , that he saith no more , then what tertullian , and saint cyprian , and many other most zealous , and learned men , have said before . it is true indeed , tertullian , and saint cyprian , two shining ligh●s in the church of god , have both of them written treatises de spectaculis , concerning shews , and plays ; and i could wish they were in english , that the world might see a strange thing to wonder at : which is , that this man saith almost nothing material of plays , which he hath not from them , and yet , where they write most learnedly , he saith the same thing , and yet writes most ignorantly : where they write exceeding devoutly , he saith the same thing , and yet writes exceeding malitiously : where they shew in their writing great judgment , and discretion● he saith the same thing , and yet shews nothing but vanity , and gross simplicity . one would wonder how this should happen , but this is the matter : circumstances in matters moral enter common often times with the substance it self , or rather indeed become very parts of the substance ; which these fathers have most duly observed : but this man goes away with the substance , as sampson with the gates of azzah , and leaves the circumstances all behinde him : and so , whilst he thinks he hath the substance of the matter ; he hath not indeed the matter of the substance . a few words will make it plain . tertullian lived in the time of septimius severus emperour of rome : under whom was the fifth , or sixth persecution against christians : in the twelfth year of his empire were proclaimed secular plays ( so called , because they were solemnized but semel in saeculo , once in an hundred years ) and were dedicated to the honour of some of their heathen gods. tertullian ( conceiving it might breed great scandal to the christian religion , if christians should resort unto them : and the heathen being apt to insult , as though christians had no pleasures in their own religion , but were fain to come for pleasures to them ) writes a treatise , exhorting all christians to forbear these plays ; and useth indeed many excellent , and weighty reasons , that these plays were full of idolatrie , and superstition , and therefore they could not go to see them , but they must become as accessaries , and partakers with them in their idolatrie : that they were full of licentious beastliness , as wherein men , and women were brought in , naked upon the stage , using many libidinous , and immodest gestures ; that themselves were now in persecution , fitter to mourn , then to be merry , fitter to wring their hands with compunction , then to clap their hands at a plaudite ; that they might bethink themselves of greater pleasures in their own religion , their reconcilemeut with god , their redemption by christ , their hope of heaven , and such like . now , what man of our ministers , if he had been in tertullian's place would not have written of these plays , as tertullian did : yet what man of our ministers , as our plays are now , would once have offered to open his mouth against them ? they were idolatrous ; ours , meerly moral : they , dedicated to heathen gods ; ours , dedicated only to honest recreation : they , full of impious , and prophane obscenity ; ours , full only of civil mirth : they , full of cruelty , and blood ; ours , friendly , and quiet , lovingly maintaining mutual society : they , in time of persecution ; ours , in time ( for which we have cause to praise god ) of peace , and iubile : they , acted by heathen , and amongst heathen ; ours , acted by christians , and amongst christians . and now , let the world judg , whether there be no just cause to commend this father for wri●ing as he did , and yet to condemn this man for writing as he doth ? for he duly observed all due circumstances , but this man observes none ; but is meerly a confused lump , as if he were a man made out of the first chaos , and were never descended from adam , made of the earth , when it was a distinct element . although therefore he could say , that he saith nothing , but what others have said before , yet would this be no apologie for him ; s●eing he saith it not in the same times , nor amongst the same persons , nor upon the same occasions , nor with regard of any due circumstance . and yet , this is not all ; for is not his book full of severe censurings ? of uncharitable invectives ? of far-fetch'd applications ? of opprobrious language ? of blemishing imputations ? but , suppose it were not , is it nothing to gather the errours of former times , and to cast them upon the reformation of the present time ? is it nothing to suck the vlcers of diseased persons , and then spit them all in the face of his countrey ? is it nothing to obtrude his own mistakings for truths ; and that to the scandal of the whole nation ? is it nothing to perswade the world , that ( fol. 1 , & 568. ) we profess to be christians , but are none , as maintaining heathenish , and idolatrous customes ? is it nothing ( fol. 149. ) to sow seeds of suspicion , and iealousies in the peoples hearts , as if all were out of order , both in church , and common-wealth ? is it nothing for a private man , to take upon him to be censor morum , in matters both civil , and ecclesiastical ? if these things should be suffered , every korah , and dathan would be controlling of moses , and aaron ; every iack straw would be giving ●aws to his prince ; every dreamer would be an enthusiast , as if another montanus were come amongst us : but i forbear to aggravate faults already censured , quas meruit poenas , jam dedit illud opus . onely add this as a corollary to all , that hath been said , if plays be neither guilty of idolatry , nor obscenity , then is his book guilty both of malice , and slander ; but they are neither idolatrous in any sort , as all men will acknowledge , nor obscene in the sort he would make them , as no man can deny ; and therefore what is his book but a very unmannerly surmise for the maner , and a very filthy impostume for the matter . and now , that you have heard this negative argument to absolve plays ; you may be pleased to hear one affirmative argument , to make them absolute , and it shall be cut after his own fashion , if that will please him . that exercise is most worthy to be frequented , in which both profit , and pleasure may be had together : but such are plays , therefore most worthy to be frequented . the major is proved thus , omne tulit punctum , qui miscuit ●tile dulci. the minor thus , et prodesse volunt , & delectare poëtae . there remains onely a short paraphrase upon this argument , and then dixi. for should we not wrong plays , if we did onely defend them , and did not commend them ? to leave them non laudatos , were to leave them illaudatos : and they deserve not onely an apologie , but an encomium . as therefore it is said of images , that they are the books of such as cannot read ; so we may say of plays , that they are the scholes of such as cannot studie , and teach that with ease and delight , which in other courses cannot be attained without much pain , and labour . and let not the name abuse you , as if you were at play , when you are at a play ; for though the name be but a iest , yet is there in good earnest much earnest good to be learned from thence by due observation . certainly , the very scope of plays in christian times , hath ever been addressed to the magnifying of virtue ; or to make notorious the foulness , and deformity of vice ; wherein indeed they have an ability , then any other course far more enforcing . for whereas the common man is drawn to love virtue , not so much by the love of virtue , as by the love of happiness , which grows out of virtue ; and to hate vice , not so much for the hate of vice , as for the hate of miseries , that flow out of vice : it must necessarily follow , that what doth most manifest such happiness , or such miseries , must needs , to virtue , or from vice , be most enforcing ; but this effect is far better wrought by plays , the representation of life , then by the life it self : seeing life , being casual , and tedious , doth neither always answer to desert ; nor yet is ea●ie to be observed , where the play no sooner shews you the vice , but it inflicts the punishment ; no sooner the virtue , but it bestoweth the reward . besides , where laws suppress faults , by making the faulty , punishable : plays reclaim the faulty , by making the faults , if small , ridiculous● if great , odious . indeed , the passages of the world are excellent glasses , if they be had within reasonable distance , which , as it is the purpose of histories to do by relation ; so it is the purpose of plays to do it by representation , as cicero saith , haec consicta arbitror à poetis esse , ut effictos mores nostros , expressámque imaginem nostrae quotidianae vitae videamus : plays , i conceive , were devised by poets for this purpose ; that in them , as in a glass , we might see the maners , and very image of our daily life . plays indeed are glasses of the passages , and actions of the world : and it is unhappy for glasses , when they fall into the hands of ill-favoured faces ; for they may chance to lay the ill favouredness of their faces upon the glasses : and just so it is with this man ; for he lays all the blame of the world 's bad actions upon plays , where he ought rather to lay all the blame of plays bad actions upon the world : for , if the world were good , plays would be good ; but , if the world be bad , plays are but the glasses , they do but their kinde to represent it as it is ; and therefore no fault of theirs , if they be bad too . but he cannot abide to hear talk of representations , he finds no difference between real committing a sin , and representing it . but have we not even in scripture some examples , ( which we may apply with reverence ) that things which cannot without indecency be done , may yet without indecency be represented ? can there be a more beastly , a more shamefull act , then to shew one's self stark naked before all people ? yet the prophet esay did so ; and did so three years together : and though in it self it were a shamefull act● yet in him it was not so ; because he did it for representation . can there be a more foul , or foolish act , then for a man purposely to marry a whoor , and to have children of fornications ? yet the prophet hosea did so : and , though in it self it were a most foolish act ; yet in him it was not so , because he did it for representation . and may we not then draw from hence not only an apologie for plays , by reason of their lawfulness , but an encomium also , by reason of their forcibleness ? and for this cause the great schole-man , thomas aquinas , saith , and saith it in this very case . poeticae fabulae idcirco inventae sunt , ut mortales adducerent ad virtutis adeptionem , ac vitii fugam , ad quoe simplices homines meliùs repraesentationibus , quàm rationibus inducuntur . plays were invented to this purpose , that men might the better be drawn to embrace virtue , and to flie vice ; to which they are much better drawn by representations , then by reasons . but he would be thought very devout ; he stands upon it , that we have other , far better , more crystalline glasses then plays , even scriptures , the word of god , and preachers , the ministers of the word of god , &c. as though , because the sun is a glorious light of god's making , we might not use a torch of our own making , when the sun is down ? the scriptures indeed are divine rules , god's word is a lanth●rn to our feet , and a light to our paths , and preachers are sublime schole-masters , who sit in moses chair to instruct us ; and i could wish with this man , that prayers , & sermons were more frequented , and plays less ; but yet not with this man's minde , as though every one , that goes to a play , were damned : but because plays are but of humane invention , and may miscarry in that they intend ; sermons are of divine institution , and have a promise of grace annexed ; and of which it is said , that faith comes by hearing . we see plays but to refresh our spirits ; but we hear sermons to sanctifie our spirits : we see plays but as a bodily recreation ; but we hear sermons as a spiritual edification ; which yet i speak not to make comparison , but to shew there is no comparison to be made . they are non eod●m nominanda die . but yet they are no ●lasses ; he can never make a glass of a pulpit , as we may do of a stage ; that may teach us to know our selves , but it cannot shew us to see our selves : this is onely done by representation , which is the proper office , and work of plays . if therefore we could make true use of plays , as plays do their parts to offer it unto us , we should not onely in them see our faults , but by them learn to amend our faults ; and though we attribute not unto them a power of working spiritual grace , which is proper to the pulpit ; yet we may attribute to them a means of working moral virtue , which may be common to the stage . here he falls to exclaiming , ( for he is excellent at loud exclamations ) [ fol. 733. ] oh , let it never be heard of in gath , nor published in askelon ; [ fol. 101. ] for who can be so ●rossly stupid , to think to learn any grace , or virtue from a play-house ? who ever sought for pearls in dirt ; or for a crystal spring in filthy mire ? with many such , no less impertinent , then pathetical interrogatories ; which he would use , if he were but speaking of a goose's going bare-foot . indeed he bears himself very h●gh ; as if he were the onely atlas to bear up the firmament of virtue ; and that we are all children of the giants , that fight against god , and all goodness : but we let him know , ( if at least he will learn ) that we honour virtue as much sincerely , as he would seem to do , and we seek to advance virtue by more ways , then he directs how to do . we acknowledge prayer the most sovereign means ; then reading of scriptures ; then hearing of sermons ; then conferring with learned ministers ; then conversing with religious persons : but yet we exclude not inferiour helps ; for seeing all the means we can use is little enough , why should we neglect any means , though never so mean ? and indeed , as seneca said of epicurus , malè audit , infamis est , sed immeritó : he hath an ill report , and is infamous , yet undeservedly : ( for though he made pleasure the summum bonum , yet he meant a pleasure flowing out of virtue ) so we may say of plays ; malè audiunt , infames sunt , sed immeritó : they have an ill name , and are infamous , but undeservedly : for though they be in shew but pleasures , yet they bring a profit with them , and conduce to virtue . and seeing heathen men might have , and oftentimes had in great eminency moral virtues , to what may we impute it more , then to their seeing of plays ? for , though philosophy gave them the rules , and histories told them the tales , yet plays onely shewed them the examples , which gave the life to both the other . for rules of philosophy are but dead lessons , and tales of histories make but light impression ; the viva vox , and action of the player , is as a les●on in musick , played unto us by the master ; and as a seal upon both sense , and understanding , the print whereof is reciprocally carried from one to the other with infinite repercussions . rules of philosophy , though they be good directions , yet they want one to lead us by the hand ; they bring us onely to video meliora , probóque , and then leave us to deteriora sequor : where plays do not onely shew us the right , but lead us in it ; not onely tell us the way , but tread it out before us . reading of histories , though it be pleasing to the understanding , yet it is wearisome to the sense ; neither is the understanding it self so much wrought upon by that we read , as by what we hear , and see ; and this makes plays to be of far more use , and profit then histories ; because in them we have absolutely the help of one sense more , and the help of the other sense with far more force , and greater contentment . and as for the understanding , it is not onely sooner , and better informed , but is dilated also , and made both more capable , and more capacious , by seeing of plays , then by reading of histories : seeing in these the phantasie , receiving it onely from the dead book , and doing it all , it self alone , can be but faint in delivering it to the understanding : where , in plays , the seeing prompts the hearing , and the hearing prompts the seeing , and they both joyn together , to present it to the fantasie , which , receiving it with vigour , with vigour transmits it to the understanding . i might quickly here grow tedious , if i should follow the matter , and not observe form , but seeing too long walk● , though never so pleasant , may be wearisome , i will make a stand here ; onely shewing , what an hill is behinde to be ascended , if , after private profi●s , i should proceed to speak of publick benefits : proving how necessary it is , that the multitude , who live by their labours should have recreations allowed them to sweeten their pains : and that of all recreations , hitherto invented , there is not any , for many considerations , so worthy the embracing , as this of plays : it is a general delight , general to sex , to age , to quality ; it is an innocent delight , innocent in deed , and in occasion ; it is a cheap delight , it ventures nothing , and spends but little ; it is a sociable delight , many do at once enjoy it , and all equally ; it is a ready delight , without wast of time , or trouble of waiting ; it is a refreshing delight , it becalms the spirits , where most other delights make the pulses beat ; it is a delight both to sense , and reason : and , of the senses , more then one more then one way do at once partake it : and as for the reasons , we may truly say of plays , that they enlarge it by discourses , quicken it by conceits , and direct it by examples . these are some reasons of many , to shew there is just cause , why plays should , and may delight us : but to shew , that they do indeed delight us , what can be alledged better then that , which cicero saith , quid ego dicam populum , ac vulgus imperitorum ludis magnoper● delectari ? quanquam id huic causae satis est ; sunt enim populi , ac multitudinis comitia : what should i speak of the delight , which common people take in plays ? of which we need seek no further reason then this , that they are the marts of the people . and lest you should think it a base delight , as delighting onely the base multitude : hear what he saith further , and saith it not onely as a witness , but as a party , making it a delight even of states-men : et nosmetipsi , qui ab delectatione omni negotiis impedimur ; & in ipsa occupatione delectationes alias multas habere possumus , ludis tamen oblectamur , & ducimur : even we our selves , who by reason of imployments are hindred from taking of any delight , and in the imployments themselves may have many other delights ; yet are we also affected , and taken with the delight of plays . and what will you say , if this man himself , who hath spoken so reproachfully all this while of plays , and would make us believe ( fol. 724. ) that none but lewd people are delighted with them , even he also can be proved to delight in plays ? you would think it strange : yet hear what cicero saith to this point too , and that upon his credit : delectant homines , mihi crede , ludi , non eos solùm , qui fatentur , sed illos etiam , qui dissimulant : plays , believe me , delight all ; not them onely that confess it , but even them that would deny it , and do dissemble it . and who doubts , but that we shall finde this man amongst the oratour's dissemblers ? but to make an end with him , that never makes an end ; seeing scriptures in no kinde , antient fathers , and councils , not in our kinde , have ever condemned plays ; seeing no reasons of any force can be brought against them , and many may be alledged for them ; seeing they rather deserve commendation , then need defence , i hope to finde none either in iudgment so weak , or so strong in passion , as to set his hand ●o this man's pen , or to lend his voyce ●o this man's throat , in making outcrys against plays ; but that he will be con●ent , as to see the wide world drawn ●n a map , and a large history in an abridgment ; so to see , and favour plays , which are nothing , but epitomes of the world's behaviour . finis . a defence of the short view of the profaneness and immorality of the english stage, &c. being a reply to mr. congreve's amendments, &c. and to the vindication of the author of the relapse / by jeremy collier ... collier, jeremy, 1650-1726. 1699 approx. 219 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 73 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-11 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a33903 wing c5248 estc r20799 12117566 ocm 12117566 54373 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a33903) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 54373) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 88:4) a defence of the short view of the profaneness and immorality of the english stage, &c. being a reply to mr. congreve's amendments, &c. and to the vindication of the author of the relapse / by jeremy collier ... collier, jeremy, 1650-1726. [5], 139, [1] p. printed for s. keble ... r. sare ... and h. hindmarsh ..., london : 1699. errata: p. [5] reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng collier, jeremy, 1650-1726. -short view of the immorality and profaneness of the english stage. congreve, william, 1670-1729. -amendments of mr. collier's false and imperfect citations. vanbrugh, john, -sir, 1664-1726. -short vindication of the relapse and the provoked wife, from immorality and prophaneness. theater -england -early works to 1800. theater -moral and ethical aspects -early works to 1800. 2003-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-07 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2003-08 mona logarbo sampled and proofread 2003-08 mona logarbo text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a defence of the short view of the profaneness and immorality of the english stage , &c. being a reply to mr. congreve's amendments , &c. and to the vindication of the author of the relapse . by ieremy collier , m. a. fortem animum praestant rebus quas turpiter audent juven . sat. 6. london : printed for s. keble at the turks-head in fleetstreet , r. sare at grays-inn-gate , and h. hindmarsh against the exchange in cornhil , 1699. to the reader . since the publishing my late view , &c. i have been plentifully rail'd on in print : this gives me some reason to suspect the answerers and the cause , are not altogether unlike . had there been nothing but plain argument to encounter , i think i might have ventured my book with them : but being charged with mis-citations and unfair dealing , 't was requisite to say something : for honesty is a tender point , and ought not to be neglected . mr. congreve and the author of the relapse , being the most eager complainants , and principals in the dispute , i have made it my choice to satisfie them . as for the volunteers , they will find themselves affected with the fortune of their friends ; and besides , i may probably have an opportunity of speaking farther with them hereafter . notwithstanding the singular management of the poets and play-house , i have had the satisfaction to perceive , the interest of virtue is not altogether sunk , but that conscience and modesty have still some footing among us . this consideration makes me hope a little farther discovery of the stage may not be unacceptable . the reader then may please to take notice , that the plot and no plot swears at length , and is scandalously smutty and profane . the fool in fashion for the first four acts is liable to the same imputation : something in swearing abated , caesar borgia , and love in a nunnery , are no better complexion'd than the former . and lastly , limberham , and the soldier 's fortune , are meer prodigies of lewdness and irreligion . if this general accusation appears too hard , i am ready to make it good . 't were easy to proceed to many other plays , but possibly this place may not be so proper to enlarge upon the subject . some of the stage-advocates pretend my remarks on their poetry are forreign to the business . on the contrary , i conceive it very defensible to disarm an adversary , if it may be , and disable him from doing mischief . to expose that which would expose religion , is a warrantable way of reprizals . those who paint for debauchery , should have the fucus pull'd off , and the coarseness underneath discover'd . the poets are the aggressors , let them lay down their arms first . we have suffer'd under silence a great while ; if we are in any fault , 't is because we began with them no sooner errata . page 7 l. 15. after represented add , excepting plautius's amphitryon , which he calls a tragecomedy , p. 19. l. 4. r. summ'd up , p. 25. l. 28. r. animos ▪ p. 28. l. 24. after this dele the comma , p. ●1 . l. 20. after indecencies add a semicolon , l 21. after dealing add a comma , p. 49. l. 21. r. in , p. 59. l. 10. r. mr. congreve p. 64. l. 29. r. stile , p. 106. l. 14. for between god and the devil , r. between his respects to god and the devil , p. 114. l. 26. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . an answer to mr. congreve's amendments , &c. mr. congreve being a person of no great ceremony , i shan't salute him with any introduction ; but fall to the business without more ado. this gentleman pretends to turn some of my expressions upon me . if these passages , says he , produced by mr. collier are obscene and profane , why are they raked in and disturb'd , unless it be to conjure up vice , and revive impurities , &c. i can't think mr. congreve so injudicious as to believe this citation a jot to his purpose . but i plainly perceive he presumes all along upon the weakness , or partiality of his reader : which by the way , is no great compliment . however , to say something directly . had these obnoxious passages lain hid in a learned language , and been lock'd up in latin , like iuvenal , i would no more have let them loose in a translation , than unchain'd the tyger at bartholomew fair : but since the mischief works in english , ' t●s time to think of an english remedy . b●●●des , as to the smut , i have endeavour'd not to disoblige the paper with any of it . but to show the accusation just , i made a general reference to play , and character : and sometimes upon a special occasion ; have mark'd the page . indeed to have transcrib'd it at length , would not only have been an improper , but a tedious employment . i was sensible the poets would try to make their advantage , of this necessary reserv'dness , that they would deny the fact , because the proof was not particular , and spoken out . but since the reader is directed to the evidence , he may disappoint them in this evasion , if he pleases . the profane part , tho' bolder , and more black , will bear the light better , and therefore when 't was clear of obscenity , i have set it to the bar. upon the whole ; i was willing to guard the virtue , and awaken the caution of the reader : and by the safest methods i could think of , to give check to the complicated infection . he affirms i call the stage-poets , buffoons and slaves ; for this he quotes 81 , 63 , and 175 pages of the view , &c. let us examine his proof : the place in the 63 page is a censure of a profane and smutty passage in the old batchelour : in which i have said that fondlewife's making sport with adultery , in the manner describ'd , was a fit of buffoonry and profaneness . now to say this of a character in the play , is i suppose pretty different from calling the poet buffoon . in the 81 page , after i had produced a large roll of blasphemy , and scripture-abuse against the stage ; i thought i had reason to be somewhat concern'd ; to see the christian religion thus horribly outraged , made the diversion of the town , and the scorn of buffoons : i 'm mistaken if this occasion would not justify a little severity of language : and till mr. congreve can disprove the charge , he had much better repent , than complain : however there 's no necessity he should take that word to himself , unless he thinks he deserves it ▪ for it may be applied to the actors , or some few libertines in the audience , and then his objection is spoil'd . his 3 d. instance stands in page 175 th of the view , &c. here upon their unpresidented familiarity with the lords ; i desired to know whether our stage had a particular privilege ? was their charter enlarg'd ; and were they on the same foot of freedom with the slaves in the saturnalia ? here mr. congreve is positive i call the poets slaves : 't is well when his hand was in ; he did not charge me with calling them saturnalia : but which way do i call them slaves ? why because i said , they were very free. is liberty then always fasten'd to a chain ; and familiarity a proof of servitude ? the resemblance in the question respects behaviour more than condition , and implies nothing farther than general inequality . now i hope 't is no affront to the stage , to suppose them inferior to the house of lords . his remaining instance from my preface , is much like this ; and requires no farther answer . thus mr. congreve may perceive i have call'd him no names hitherto ; but now he may be assured i should have distinguish'd his character a little , and paid him some proper acknowledgments , but that i have no inclination for his way of disputing : railing is a mean , and unchristian talent , and oftentimes a sign of a desperate cause , and a desperate conscience . as to the bad imputations these stage-advocates would throw upon me , i am not in the least disturb'd at them. i thank god , they are not only without truth , but without colour . could they have made the slander passable , we should have heard farther from them . this is an admirable way of answering books ! all that i shall say to 't is , that i pity the men , and despite the malice . to proceed . mr. congreve is now making out-works to fortify the garison . he lays down four rules as the test of criticism and comedy . these he calls postulata , as if they were principles of science , and carried the evidence of an axiom . and after he has spent some pages in setting down these demonstrative things , he frankly tells us , they seem at first sight to comprehend a latitude . do they so ? then they are not self-evident ; they are unqualifyed for the post he has put them in ; and prove nothing but sophistry and legerdemain . well! what tho' these rul●s are false in themselves , mr. congreve promises to make them true before he has done with them . for they shall be so limited , and restrain'd , and used with such discretion ; that the reader shall be perfectly indemnifyed . however , i can't help suspecting these fair words : for if he intends to deal clearly , why does he make the touchstone faulty , and the standard uncertain ? for these reasons , i must examine for my self ; and since he owns his propositions not evidently true , i 'll try if i can't prove the greatest part of them evidently false . to begin with him . his latitude of comedy upon aristotle's definition ; as he explains it , wont pass without limitation . for 1 st . his construction of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is very questionable . these words may as properly be translated the common , as the worst sort of people . and thus hesychius interprets 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 2 ly . comedy is distinguish'd from tragedy by the quality of the persons , as well as by other circumstances . aristotle informs us that the appearance , characters , or persons are greater in tragedy , than in comedy . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . and to this sense petitus interprets the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , affirming they ought to relate to quality , as well as manners . now as the business of tragedy is to repre●ent princes and persons of quality ; so by the laws of distinction , comedy ought to be confin'd to the ordinary . rank of mankind . and that aristotle ought to be thus interpreted appears from the form of new comedy , set up in the time of this philosopher . and tho' we have none of these comedies extant , 't is agreed by the criticks that they did not meddle with government and great people ; the old comedy being put down upon this score . and tho' menander and the rest of that set are lost , we may guess at their conduct from the plays of plautus ●nd terence , in all which there is not so much as one person of quality represented . farther , mr. congreve's reason why aristotle should be interpreted by manners , and not quality is inconclusive . his remark on 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 will serve as well the other way . le ts try it a little : aristotle shall say then that comedy is an imitation of the ordinary , and middle sort of people , but not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , in every branch and aggravation of vice ; for as mr. congreve observes , there are crimes too daring and too horrid for comedy . now i desire to know , if this sense is not clear and unembarrass'd , if it does not distinguish comedy from tragedy , and bring down the definition to matter of fact ? but granting mr. congreve his definition ; all blemishes and instances of scandal are not fit to make sport with . covetousness , and profusion ; cowardize , spleen , and singularity , well managed , might possibly do . but some vices mr. congreve confesses are too daring for comedy . yes and for tragedy too . and among these i 'll venture to say profaneness is one . this liberty even aristotle durst not allow : he knew the government of athens would not endure it . and that some of the poets had been call'd to account upon this score . 2 ly . immodesty and lewd talking , is another part of vice which ought not to appear in comedy . aristotle blames the old comedians for this sort of mismanagement ; and adds , that intemperate rallying ought to lie under publick restraint . and therefore mr. congreve is mistaken in his consequence if he makes it general . for the looser sort of livers , as to the foulness of conversation , are no proper subject of comedy . but supposing aristotle more liberal to mr. congreve , what service would it do him ? does not christianity refine the pleasures , and abridge the liberties of heathenism ? st. paul bids us put away all filthyness and foolish talking , and that such things ought not so much as to be named amongst christians . and when revelation says one thing , and paganism another , how are we to determine ? is not an apostle's testimony more cogent than that of a philosopher , and the new testament above all the rules of aristotle and horace ? thus we see his first postulatum is far from being true in the generality stated by him . before i part with him on this head , i can't but take notice of his saying , that the business of comedy is to delight , as well as instruct : if he means as much , by as well , he is mistaken . for delight is but the secondary end of comedy , as i have prov'd at large . and to satisfy him farther , i 'll give him one testimony more of mr. dryden's . 't is in his preface to fresnoy's art of painting . here he informs us that as to delight the parallel of the ( two ) arts holds true ; with this difference ; that the principal end of painting is to please , and the chief design of poetry is to instruct . thus mr. congreve's first rule signifies little ; and therefore his second being , but a consequence of it , must fall of course . pleasure , especially the pleasure of libertines , is not the supreme law of comedy . vice must be under discipline and discountenance , and folly shown with great caution and reserve . lussious descriptions , and common places of lewdness are unpardonable . they affront the virtuous , and debauch the unwary , and are a scandal to the country where they are suffer'd . the pretence of nature , and imitation , is a lamentable plea. without doubt there 's a great deal of nature in the most brutal practices . the infamous stews 't is likely talk in their own way , and keep up to their character . but what person of probity would visit them for their propriety , or take poyson because 't is true in its kind ? all characters of immodesty ( if there must be any such ) should only be hinted in remote language , and thrown off in generals . if there must be strumpets , let bridewell be the scene . let them come not to prate , but to be punish'd . to give success , and reputation to a stage libertine , is a sign either of ignorance , of lewdness , or atheism , or altogether . even those instances which will bear the relating ought to be punish'd . but as for smut and profaneness , 't is every way criminal and infectious , and no discipline can atone for the representation : when a poet will venture on these liberties , his perswasion must suffer , and his private sentiments fall under censure . for as mr. dryden rightly observes , vita proba est , is no excuse : for 't will scarcely be admitted that either a poet or a painter can be chast , who give us the contrary examples in their writings , and their pictures . i agree with mr. congreve it would be very hard a painter should be believ'd to resemble all the ugly faces he draws . but if he suffers his pencil to grow licentious , if he gives us obscenities , the merits of raphael won't excuse him : no , to do an ill thing well , doubles the fault . the mischief rises with the art , and the man ought to smart in proportion to his excellency : 't is one of the rules in painting according to mr. dryden and fresnoy ; to avoid every thing that 's immoral and filthy , unseemly , impudent , and obscene . and mr. dryden continues , that a poet is bound up to the same restraint , and ought neither to design , or colour an offensive piece . mr. congreve's 4 th proposition relates to the holy scriptures ; and here he endeavours to fence against the censure of profaneness . he desires the following distinction may be admitted , viz. when words are applied to sacred things , they ought to be understood accordingly : but when they are otherwise applied , the diversity of the subject gives a diversity of signification : by his favour this distinction is loose , and nothing to the purpose . the inspired text is appropriated to sacred things , and never to be used but upon serious occasions . the weight of the matter , and the dignity of the author , challenge our utmost regard . 't is only for the service of the sanctuary , and privileged from common use. but mr. congreve says when they ( the words of scripture ) are otherwise applied , the diversity of the subject gives a diversity of signification . this is strange stuff ! has application so transforming a quality , and does bare use enter so far into the nature of things ? if a man applies his money to an ill purpose , does this transmute the metal , and make it none of the kings coin ? to wrest an author , and turn his words into jest , is it seems to have nothing to do with him . the meer ridicule destroys the quotation ; and makes it belong to another person . thus 't is impossible to traverstie a book , and virgil was never burlesqu'd by ausonius or mr. cotton ! not at all ! they only made use of the 24 letters , and happen'd to chop exactly upon virgil's subject , his words and versification . but 't is plain they never intended to quote him : for virgil is always grave , and serious , but these gentlemen apply , or translate the words in the most different manner imaginable : and run always upon buffoonry and drolling . this is mr. congreve's logick , and to abuse an author is to have nothing to do with him . the injury it seems destroys the relation , and makes the action perfectly foreign . and by this reasoning one would think my book had never been cited by mr. congreve . to illustrate the matter a little farther . suppose the most solemn acts of government play'd the fool with at bartholomew fair ; the judges charge made up into a farce , and the poppets repeating an act of parliament : would it be a good excuse to alledge they meant nothing but a little laughing . that the bench and the bear-garden , punchinello and the 2 houses , had the same alphabet in common ? that they ought to have the privilege of speech , and put their words together as they had a mind to : would not the reason , and the hardiness of such a plea , be very extraordinary ? the case before us is much the same , only a great deal worse . for what can be more outrageously wicked , than to expose religion to the scorn of atheism , to give up the bible to rakes and strumpets , and to make impudence and inspiration speak the same language ? thus the wisdom of god is burlesqu'd , his omnipotence play'd with , and heaven 's the diversion of hell. to reply , that tho' the words are scripture , the subject and application are different , is to confess the indictment , and give up the cause . for pray what is it to burlesque a grave author ? is it not to wrest his meaning , and alter his matter ; to turn him into jest and levity , and put him under circumstances of contempt ? thus we see his 4 th proposition is all sophistry , and false reasoning : i shall now go back to his 3 d , which i think would have stood as well in the last place . he desires the impartial reader , not to consider any expression or passage , cited from any play , as it appears in my book ; nor to pass any sentence upon it out of its proper scene , &c. for it must not be medled with when 't is alienated from its character . well! let the reader compare his plays with the view , &c. as much as he pleases . however , there 's no necessity of passing through all his forms , and methods of prescribing . for if the passage be truly cited , if the sentence be full , and determin'd , why mayn't we understand it where'ere 't is met with ? why must we read a page for a period ? can't a plant be known without the history of the garden ? besides , he may remember i have frequently hinted his characters , touched upon their quality and fortune , and made them an aggravation of his fault . but to silence this plea , i had told him before that no pretence of character , or punishment , could justify profaneness on the stage . i gave him my reasons for 't too , which he is not pleas'd to take notice of . to enlarge on them a little : and here i desire to know what service does blasphemy , and profaneness upon the stage ? is it to please , or to improve the audience ? surely not the first : for what pleasure can it be to see the greatest being contemn'd , the best friend ill treated , and the strongest enemy provok'd ? the iews used to rend their cloaths at the hearing of blasphemy , and is it now become the entertainment of christians ? to see men defy the almighty , and play with thunder , one would think should be far from diversion . are the charms of profaneness so strangely inviting , is there such musick in an oath , and are the damn'd to be courted for their company ? the stage is oftentimes a lively emblem of hell ; there 's the language , and the lewdness ; there are the devils too , and almost every thing but the darkness and despair . these hideous characters are generally persons of figure , often rewarded , seldom punish'd , and when they are , the correction is strangely gentle and disproportion'd . 't is just as if a man should be set in the stocks for murther , and shamed a little for firing a town . to say a man has been profane in general , and then to punish him is somewhat intelligible ; to make him an example without instance , and particularity , is a safe way of dramatick justice : but when he is suffer'd to act his distraction , and practise before the company , the punishment comes too late . such malefactors are infectious , and kill at their very execution . 't is much safer not to hear them talk , than to see them suffer . a bad age is too apt to learn ; and the punishment in jest , brings on the crime in earnest . some vices wont bear the naming : they are acted in some measure when they are spoken , and approv'd when they are hearkn'd to . thus the play-house often spreads those vices it represents , and the humour of the town is learn'd by shewing it . so that if instruction is intended , nothing can be more ignorant , if diversion nothing more wi●●e●● . to proceed . profaneness by b●ing o●ten heard , is less abhorr'd . the av●rsion cools upon custom , and the frightfulness of the idea is abated . famil●arity reconc●les us to ill sigh●s , and wea●s off the deformity of a monster . t●us by cursing and swearing , the abuse of scripture and profane jests , which are so frequent on the stage , the bold●ess of the crime grows less remarkable , and the terrors of conscience are laid asleep : and if there happens to be wit in the ca●e , 't is a vehicle to the poyson , and m●kes it go down with pleasure . thus young people are furnished with profane jests , and atheism is kept in countenance ▪ the majesty of religion is weaken'd , and the passions of humane nature misplaced : people laugh when they should tremble , and despise what they ought to adore . had we a due regard for the honour of god , and were death and judgment laid before us , that is , were we christians in good earnest ; these wretched liberties would be all pain , and pennance to us : they'd wound the sense , and chill the blood , and make us sweat with antipathy a●d disgust : we should be seiz'd with a ●i● of horror , and almost frighten'd into agony and convulsion . from what i have said 't will follow , that provided mr. congreve is fairly cited for smut , or profaneness , sentence may be passed without having recourse to scene , or character . i say it may be passed so far as to condemn him of a fault ; tho' i confess the degrees , and aggravation of it , will in some measure depend on the characters , and the fortune of them . i have done with mr. congreve's preliminaries , and shown the unreasonableness of them . if he demands them as a right , his title is defeated , if he begs them as a favour , he should have petition'd in another form. he should not have been so short with the reader as to desire him to proceed no farther , but return to my view , &c. if he thought in his conscience his few things too much to be granted . but why should this gentleman put this hardship upon people , which he does not allow of himself ? i suppose mr. congreve's conscience may be large enough for any reader , why then does he require any more ? the author thinks his few things , too much to be granted , and yet the courteous reader must think otherwise ! i say mr. congreve thinks them too much , why else does he engage to use them with such caution , to muzzle , and bind them up to their good behaviour ? mr. congreve proceeds to acquaint us how careful the stage is for the instruction of the audience . that the moral of the whole is generally summ'd in the concluding lines of the poem , and put into rhyme that it may be easy and engaging to the memory . to this i answer , 1 st . that this expedient is not always made use of . and not to trouble the reader with many instances , we have nothing of it in love in a nunnery , and the relapse , both which plays are in my opinion not a little dangerous . 2 ly . sometimes these comprehensive lines do more harm than good : they do so in the souldiers fortune : they do so likewise in the old batchelour ; which instructs us to admirable purpose in these words ; but oh — what rugged ways attend the noon of life ? ( our sun declines ) and with what anxious strife , what pain we tug that galling load a wife ? this moral is uncourtly , and vitious , it encourages lewdness , and agrees extreamly well with the fable . love for love may have somewhat a better farewel , but would do a man little service should he remember it to his dying day . here angelica after a fit of profane vanity in prose , takes her leave as follows ; the miracle to day is that we find a lover true : not that a woman's kind . this last word is somewhat ambiguous , and with a little help may strike off into a light sense . but take it at the best , 't is not overloaden with weight and apothegme . a ballad is every jot as sententious . 3 dly . supposing the moral grave , and unexceptionable , it amounts to little in the present case . alas ! the doctor comes too late for the disease , and the antidote is much too weak for the poyson . when a poet has flourished on an ill subject for some hours : when he has larded his scenes with smut , and play'd his jests on religion ; and exhausted himself upon vice ; what can a dry line or two of good counsel signify ? the tincture is taken , the fancy is preingaged , and the man is gone off into another interest . profane wit , luscious expressions , and the handsome appearance of a libertine ▪ solicit strongly for debauchery . these things are mighty recruits to folly , and make the will too hard for the understanding . a taste of philosophy has a very flat relish , after so full an entertainment . an agreeable impression is not easily defaced by a single stroak , especially when 't is worn deep by force , and repetition . and as the aud●ence are not secur'd , so neither are the poets this way . a moral sentence at the close of a lewd play , is much like a pious expression in the mouth of a dying man , who has been wicked all his life time . this some ignorant people call making a good end , as if one wise word would attone for an age of folly. to return to the stage . i suppose other parts of a discourse besides the conclusion , ought to be free from infection . if a man was sound only at his fingers ends , he would have little comfort in his constitution . bonum fi● ex integra causa ; a good action must have nothing bad . the quality must be uniform , and reach to every circumstance . in short . this expedient of mr. congrev●'s as 't is insignificant to the purpose 't is brought , so it looks very like a piece of formal hypocricy : and seems to be made use of to conceal the immorality of the play , and cover the poet from censure . mr. congreve in the double dealer makes three of his ladies strumpets ; this , i thought an odd compliment to quality . but my reflection it seems is over severe . however , by his favour , the characters in a play ought to be drawn by nature : to write otherwise is to make a farce . the stage therefore must be suppos'd an image of the world , and quality in fiction resemble quality in life . this resemblance should likewise hold in number , as well as in other respects , tho' not to a mathematical strictness . thus in plautus and terence , the slaves are generally represented false , and the old men easy and over credulous . now if the majority in these divisions should not answer to the world ; if the drama should cross upon conversation , the poets would be to blame , as i believe they are in the later instance . thus when the greatest part of quality are debauched on the stage , 't is a broad innuendo they are no better in the boxes . this argument he pretends proves too much , and would make us believe that by this way of reasoning , if four women were shewn upon the stage , and three of them were vitious , it is as much as to say that three parts in four of the whole sex are stark naught . i answer , the case is not parallel . the representation in his play turns more upon condition than sex. 't is the quality which makes the appearance , marks the character , and points out to the comparison abroad . his precedents from virgil are unserviceable upon two accounts . 1 st . the fact is misreported . the catalogue of ill women in that poem , is not so numerous as is pretended . mr. congreve exempts four of them from this charge , and i 'll help him to four more . for creusa and lavinia are perfectly passive ; and over-ruled . then as for camilla , why is she thrown into the black list , and ranged with alecto and the harpyes ? what decrees of the gods does she despise ? she stood by latinus 't is true , neither does the poet oblige her to quit his interest . so that for any thing that appears , the lady was a good woman in her way . to these if we add anna , dido's sister , a very innocent princess , i beleive we may venture to poll with iuno , and all her party . 2 ly . his matter of fact as stated by himself , makes against him . for if virgil did well in making most of his female characters faulty and exceptionable , because as aristotle has ventur'd to affirm , there are more bad than good women in the world , then there ought to be a proportion between life and poetick imitation ; a proportion even to computation ▪ tho' not just to equality and telling of nos●● . and thus his illustration destroys his argument , even by the authority of aristotle and bossu ; and which is worst of all , by his own , who cites them with approbation . there 's one unlucky thing behind : and that is his concurring with aristotle in a very unceremonious paradox . this philosopher has ventur'd to affirm that there are more bad ▪ than good women in the world. very likely ? if he had said there are more bad men than good ones , the discovery might have been altogether as considerable . but we are not yet at the end of the indictment . for as he goes on , the women ( take them altogether ) do more harm than good . well . aristotle was a bold man : however , this is to be said for him ; he was no stage poet. had his concerns been with the pit or boxes , 't is likely you had seen him better polish'd . but that mr. congreve should countenance an author in his misbehaviour , and make his court thus awkardly to the ladies , is somewhat surprizing . is this the way to oblige the women , to tell them they do more harm than good in the world ; that their sex is a publick nusance , and an errour in creation ? i had charg'd our modern dramatists , and particularly mr. congreve with being too free in exposing the nobility under characters of lewdness and contempt . this i observ'd was no custom of the roman stage ; and that plautus and terence , were much more courtly and reserv'd . this remark he endeavours to disprove from persius and iuvenal . as how ? did these authors write either comedy or tragedy , or have their citations any reference to the drama ? not at all : why then are they alledg'd ? to what end is a foreign character and business haled in to determine upon the stage ? well . but these poets were satyrists , and play'd their invectives upon quality , and is not this somewhat to the purpose ? but very little . for , 1 st . the satyr of a comedian and an other poet , have a different effect upon reputation . a character of disadvantage upon the stage , makes a stronger impression than elsewhere . reading is but hearing at the second hand : now hearing at the best , is a more languid conveyance than sight . for as horace observes , segnius irritant animios demissa per aurem , quam quae sunt oculis subjecta fidelibus . — the eye is much more affecting , and strikes deeper into the memory than the ear. besides , upon the stage both the senses are in conjunction . the life of the action fortifies the object , and awakens the mind to take hold of it . thus a dramatick abuse is rivetted in the audience , a jest is improv'd into an argument , and rallying grows up into reason : thus a character of scandal becomes almost indelible , a man goes for a blockhead upon content ; and he that 's made a fool in a play , is often made one for his life-time . 't is true he passes for such only amongst the prejudiced and unthinking ; but these are no inconsiderable division of mankind . for these reasons , i humbly conceive the stage stands in need of a great deal of discipline and restraint : to give them an unlimited range , is in effect to make them masters of all moral distinctions , and to lay honour and religion at their mercy . to shew greatness ridiculous , is the way to lose the use , and abate the value of the quality . things made little in jest , will soon be so in earnest : for laughing and esteem , are seldom bestow'd on the same object . 2 ly . the censures of iuvenal and persius , are very moderate , and remote in mr. congreve's citations . iuvenal comes somewhat the closest . he rallies the flattery and partiality of the times ; and tells us that gaming & debauchery were scandalous to little people ; but when these vices dwelt in great houses , they chang'd complexion , and grew modish and gentile . thus we see the poet keeps within the terms of respect , slides over the quality , and points rather upon the fortune of the libertine . now had iuvenal written a comedy , laid the scene in his own country , created a lord a coxcomb , and shewn him such for three hours together , his case had been somewhat hard . but this branch of satyr was left for mr. congreve's refining ; who to do him right , has treated the character with much delicacy of fine raillery , and excellency of good manners , as he phra●es it . his testimony from rapin does not come up to his point . for as i observ'd , moliere ridicules no quality higher than a marquis : now , notwithstanding mr. dennis's exclamation , a marquis in france is much less than a marquis in england , or a baron either . this i take it is pretty plain from moliere himself , for in his play called , l'impromtu de versailles , brecourt one of the minor nobless , treats a marquis with great familiarity . he calls him mon puavre marquis , and ie te promet marquis ; now this way of speaking is not manners , unless to equals , or inferiors . and in another play , the chevalier d●rante converses with a marquis upon terms of equality , and climene a lady , salutes him only by the title of monsieur , whereas monseigneur belongs to the quality of an english lord. the ord●rs of the bishop of arras run in this stile ; and so likewise does the address of two french letters to the present ld. bishop of london , printed at the end of a book called the vnreason●bleness of separation . farther , rapin seems to cite l' impromptu above-mentioned . here m●li●r● informs us , that whereas comedy formerly plaid the fool with none but slaves and ●erving-men , now the case was alter'd , and there was no sport without a ridiculous marquis . but as for making bold with people of quality and the court , this is all added by rapin. however , granting this , the meaning and practice of moliere , 't is easily reconciled with the sense i am contending for . for a person of quality does not sound so high in french as in english ; the lower nobless being often comprehended in this distinction . thus moliere's brecourt is called a man of quality in the list of the characters , but in the play he is only chevalier , or a knight , at the best . and in his play , called , l' bourgeois gentil-homme , a person of quality often means no more than a gentleman . and to proceed , thus we may fairly understand the remainder of rapin in mr. congreve's citation . he tells us the other po●ts play'd only upon common and country conversation , in their comedies , et moliere a joue tout paris et la cour. la cour , yes ; but not toute la cour. here rapin opposes , la vie bourgeoise , country conversation , to the court. now un bourgeoise signifies a person of the third est●te , as distinguished from the nobless , or gentry . so that the meaning of the passage seems to be no more , than that moliere took some of his fools from the gentry , which was more than the stage had done before . but after all , if rapin has mis-reported moliere , and given him more liberty than he took , it makes nothing to mr. congreve's purpose ; for the force of the testimony does not lye in what rapin has said , but in what moliere has written . mr. congreve is so hardy as to affirm that i am in plain terms for having complements pass'd on persons of quality , and neither will allow their follies , nor their vices to be exposed . this i confess is to be over-ceremonious . but the best on 't is , there 's nothing like it in the whole book . the very place quoted by mr. congrieve is a proof of the calumny : the passage stands in the form of a question thus . and can't they lash the vice , without pointing upon the quality ? which way of speaking , supposes it a very practicable business ; unless this gentleman will affirm that folly , and peerage , are inseparable . i would gladly know what over-straining of ceremony , what flatery is there in all this ? i confess , i am of opinion that all satyr ought to have regard to quality and condition , and that decency and reproof should go together . i can't think it any excellence of good manners , to expose the nobility in their robes , to put contempt among their titles , and to represent them in such a manner , as if the lord and the fool , like horse and man , in a centaur , grew naturally together . mr. congreve proceeds in his defence , and endeavors to wipe off the imputation of smut and pedantry from ld. touchwood ; but here he cites more than is necessary : i had nothing to do with his verses , as the reader may easily imagine . 't was the prose part of ld. touchwood to which i objected . and that i say still is foul in the image , embarrass'd with trifling epithites , and ill suited to the character . but thus by producing the innocent with the guilty , he hoped to make the charge appear unreasonable . we are now come to the mourning-bride , and mr. congreve seems so well assur'd of the decency of this play , that he casts the whole cause upon it . if there be immodesty in this tragedy ( says he ) i must confess my self incapa●le of ever writing any thing with modesty . it may be so : an ill custom is very hard to conquer , with some people . but setting this matter aside ; i still charge mr. congreve with immodesty ; 't is in osmin's last speech in the page above-mentioned . indeed i did not cite the words because i am not willing to furnish the reader with a collection of indecencies , to shew i design nothing but fair dealing : i always refer to the play , and generally to the character , and page , where such entertainment is to be met with . this is pressing the charge as far as the case will bear ; but because the passages are unfit to be shown , mr. congreve and his brethren deny the fact : a great instance of their modesty in another sense . is it innocence then to be guilty of things too bad to be nam'd ? what sort of faults must those be , which won't endure the light , tho only to punish them . this gentleman quarrels with me because i would have had almeria and osmin parted civilly ; as if it was not proper for lovers to do so : but civility , ●nd incivility have nothing to do with passion ▪ i deny that , incivility and passion , ar● often concern'd together ; and i suppose his amendments may make an instance ▪ by civilly , i mean● only decently , as any one might easily imagine . and as for tenderness , when it grows rank , and nauseous , 't is rudeness , i take it . mr. congreve would excuse osm●n's rant , by saying , that most of the incidents of the poem of this scene and the former , were laid to prepare for the violence of these expressions . if it be so , i think the play was not worth the candle . 't is much as wife as it would be for a man to make a long preparation to get out of his wits , and quali●ie himself for bedl●● . for nothing can be more distracted than osmin . he is for riving his clotted hair , smearing the walls with his blood , and dashing his disfigured face against something . and a great deal more such stuff , as a man may go to all the mad-houses in town , and scarcely hear of . was it worth osmin's while to be thus crazy , and are all lovers to take a pattern from this hero ? i am sorry mr. congreve was at all this trouble for a prophane allusion ; but he is positive there 's nothing either of prophaneness or immodesty in the expression . with immodesty i did not charge it : but is there nothing of profaneness in bringing the most solemn things in religion upon the stage ; in making a mad-man rave about heaven , and in comparing the disappointments of love , with damnation ? the lines shall appear once again . o my almeria ; what do the damn'd endure but to despair ; but knowing heaven to know it lost for ever ! mr. congreve does not know how these verses are a similitude drawn from the creed ▪ i can't help it . i thought the eternal punishment of the damned had been part of of the creed . i shan't untie such knots as these are for the future . he tells me i had but an ill hold of profaneness in his play , and was reduced to catch at the poetry ; and then makes a miserable jest about corruption and generation . i had but ill hold of profaneness ! as ill as 't was , he has not yet wrested it from me . 't was in my power besides to have taken better , and since he complains of gentle usage , i shall do it . in the first place , here 's frequent swearing by heaven ; i suppose the poets think this nothing , their plays are so much landed with it . but our saviour has given us an other notion of this liberty ; he charges us not to swear at all . and tells us expressly , that he that swears by heaven , swears by the throne of god , and by him that sits thereon . to go on to another branch of his irreligion . the scene of this play lies in christendom , as is evident from the history , or fable ; and to mention nothing more from osmin's rant : let us see then how osmin accosts almeria , when he found her safe on shore : truly i think their meeting is as extravagant , as their parting , tho mr. congreve won't allow it should be so . the ceremony runs thus . thou excellence , thou ioy , thou heaven of love. thus the little successes of a pair of lovers , are equall'd with the glories of heaven ; and a paultry passion strain'd up to the beatisick vision . i say paltry , for so 't is upon the comparison . to go on . almeria having somewhat of the play-house breeding , is resolved not to be wanting in the return of these civilities . she therefore makes him a glorified saint for the first piece of gratitude , and then gives him a sort of power paramount to omnipotence , and tells him that god almighty could not make her happy without him . i pray'd to thee as to a saint . and thou hast heard my prayer , for thou art come to my distress , to my despair ; which heaven without thee could not cure. almeria has another flight , and shews the rankness of her wing every jot as much as in the former . 't is more than recompence to see thy face , if heaven is greater ioy , it is no happiness . this is mrs. brides complement , which both for the religion and decency is somewhat extraordinary . manuel , a christian prince , upon the news of a rival , swaggers at a most impious rate , paganism was never bolder with idols , nor iupiter more brav'd by the gyants . it runs thus . better for him to tempt the rage of heaven , and wrench the bolt red hissing from the hand of him that thunders , than but think such insolence , 't is daring for a god. and to make the matter worse , mr. congreve does not seem to think this atheistical sally a fault in manuel . he lets us know he has punish'd him for his tyranny , but not a word of his profaneness . once more and i have done . osmin's caresses of almeria are an original in their kind . my all of bliss , my everlasting life , soul of my soul , and end of all my wishes . here 's ceremony to adoration ; he makes her his supreme happiness , and gives her sovereign worship : in short , this respect is the prerogative of heaven . 't is flaming wickedness to speak it to any thing less than god almighty : and to set the profaneness in the better light , it runs all in devout language , and christian transport . i come now to the vindication of his poetry : where in the first place , he complains extreamly ; because i misquoted wasting air , for wasting air. now to my mind , the restoring of the text is a very poor relief . for this later epithete is perfectly expletive and foreign to the matter in hand ; there 's neither antithesis nor perspicuity in 't . it neither clears the sense , nor gives spirit to the expression : besides , the word is almost worn out of use , and were it otherwise , 't would rather belong to the water ; for to waft a fleet of merchants is to convoy them , but not , i suppose , through the air : so that the poet at best , seems to have mistaken his element . however , i ask his pardon for transcribing an s , for and f , and expect he should ask mine ; for putting superstition upon me , and commenting upon his own blunder , when 't was printed supposition in all the three editions of my book . mr. congreve is now cruizing for reprisals , and bears down boldly upon a whole period . this litter of epithets , &c. he says this comparison of mine is handsome . why , so it may be for all his disproof : unless the standing of it in his book is enough to make it ridiculous . i confess there may be something in that , for bad company is often a disadvantage ; besides , i was illustrating his fine sentences , and showing his buckram to the reader : upon this occasion a little singularity in the expression was not unseasonable : however i was sensible of it , and introduced it with qualifying , and caution . mr. congreve in defence of some lines of his cited by me , answers , that the diction of poetry consists of figures , and the frequent use of epithets . i agree with him , but then the figures should be unforc'd , drawn with proportion , and allyed to the matter in hand . the epithets likewise must be smooth , natural and significant . but when they are lean , and remote from the business , when they look hard and stiff , when they clog and incumber the sense , they are no great ornaments . whether mr. congreve's are of this later kind , or not , i shall leave it to the reader to determine ! after a hideous collection of profaneness , i expressed my self with somewhat more than ordinary concern , as was both very natural and proper ; amongst other expressions , i said , nature made the firment and rising of the blood for such occasions . by nature i grant him , i meant nothing less than god almighty . that our mechanism was contrived so as to make our passions serviceable ; our constitution adjusted to our mind , and our blood so disposed as to reinforce the operations of our reason . and pray what is there exceptionable in all this ? and where lies the mistake , in religion , or natural philosophy ? i can hardly forgive my self the taking notice of such objections as these . but mr. congreve was resolved to make his logick and drollery of a peice , and i must be produced in ferment and figure , as he calls it . but this expression i shall leave with the reader , and give him some time to make sense on 't . he wonders after all , why i should use so much vehemence ? vehemence against what ? against profaneness and blasphemy . are these then such harmle●s practices , that they must be gently treated ? is the honour of god , the interest of religion , and the welfare of humane society so very insignificant ? are these things beneath our passions , and not worth the contending for ? and won't they justifie a little warmth and expostulation in their behalf ? christianity is mild , 't is true , but not in such cases as this . the cretians did not droll upon their bible like the modern poets , and yet st. paul bids titus rebuke them sharply . st. peter likewise and st. iude lash the lewdness of the gnosticks with great severity of language . but he asks me why all this vehemence in a written argument ? as if paper would bear sense , no more than 't will ink sometimes , or that people were obliged to write with greater negligence than they talk . this was a shrewd question ! but questions are easily started . mr. congreve is now come forward to the vindication of his comedys . he complains that in my chapter of profaneness , i have represented him falsly , or by halves . that i have quoted him falsly i deny ; neither has he been able to prove it in the least instance : that he is sometimes represented imperfectly i grant . his immodesty forced me upon this method . he is often too offensive to appear . to have shewn him to the reader in this condition , had neither been civil , nor safe . why then does he find fault with this reservedness ? is he sorry his indecencies are conceal'd , and grown proud of his misbehaviour ? we are now with the old batchelour , and mr. congreve pretends i 'm unfair in not citing bellmour more at length . he says i conclude with a dash , as if both the sense and the words of the whole sentence were at an end . just the contrary . i made a dash — to shew there was something more spoken : but though the sentence was not at an end , the sense was ; as appears from the words , the pointing , and the capital letter which follows . let 's see a little farther , if this gentleman has received any harm . bellmour is now talking to vainlove . bell. couldst thou be content to marry araminta ? vainlove replies in a very pious question : vain . could you be content to go to heaven ? bell. hum , not immediately in my conscience , not heartily : — i 'd do a little more good in my generation first in order to deserve it . he would do a little more good first , i. e. he would gladly be a libertine somewhat longer , and merit heaven by a more finish'd course of debauchery . thus we are taught to interpret bellmour by the old batchelour and the amendments , &c. he is very lewd in the progress of the play , and mr. congreve grants , he represents the character of a wild debauchee of the town ; and that the expression is light , and suited accordingly . this is a good hearty confession , and a sufficient proof , that if i had quoted more words , i had quoted more profaneness ; and therefore mr. congreve has reason to thank me for being brief . mr. congreve drops the defence of fondlewife , and makes merry with the entertainment . his excuse is , he was very much a boy when this comedy was written . not unlikely . he and his muse might probably be minors ; but the libertines there are full grown . but why should the man laugh at the mischief of the boy , why should he publish the disorders of his nonage ? and make them his own by an after approbation ? he wrote it , it seems , to amuse himself in a slow recovery from a fit of sickness . what his disease was i am not to enquire ; but it must be a very ill one , to be worse than the remedy . the writing of that play is a very dangerous amusement either for sickness , or health , or i 'm much mistaken . he pleads guilty to the next article of impeachment ; but then he is somewhat profane in his very acknowledgment , and can't find in his heart to give up an old fault , without making a new one . his next attempt is to bring off bellmour , who kisses the strumpet laetitia , and tells her , eternity was in that moment . mr. congreve's answer is very surprising he tells us , to say eternity is in a moment , is neither good nor bad , for 't is stark nonsense . by his favour , the matter is quite otherwise . if mr. congreve will have patience , he shall speak nonsense by and by ; and to make it the less a fault , he shall do it unwillingly . whether this gentleman borrow'd this sentence , or made it , i can't tell ; but there 's just such another in love triumphant ; where upon such an occasion , alphonso tells victoria : that moment were eternity in little . now if mr. congreve has not a mind to speak sense , i hope mr. dryden may have leave to do so . however , we 'll prove our right , and not stand to his courtesie . now to say of an advantage that eternity was in that moment , is by common interpretation meant , the pleasure of eternity . the satisfaction is suppos'd to be so great , that what is lost in the duration , is made up in the quality . this in the present application is hideously profane ; but the sense and spirit of the fxpression is intelligible enough . mr. congreve in the close of this paragragh is somewhat extraordinary . he pronounces the citation stark nonsense , and frankly declares , he had not cared though i had discover'd it . i think i have discover'd it somewhat worse . however , i wonder at his being so resign'd . what not care to have stark nonsense found upon him ; not in a printed play , and in the mouth of the fine gentleman ! this is strange indeed , and i could hardly believe it at first sight : but the more i read of his amendments , &c. the better i am assur'd of the sincerity of his confession . laetitia has another lewd and very profane sentence given her , which i had taken notice of . to this mr. congreve answers , 't is the expression of a wanton and vicious character , and that she is discover'd in her lewdness . i reply in the first place , that my disproof of his second postulate , or proposition , cuts off his retreat to this excuse . secondly . she is not discover'd in her lewdness , nor makes a dishonourable exit ; and mr. congreve contradicts his own play by affirming the contrary . for there 's a colour found out which passes upon the credulity of fondlewife , who declares himself satisfied with her innocence . upon which bellmour concludes the fourth act thus : no husband by his wife can be deceiv'd , she still is virtuous , if she 's so believ'd . sharper says to vainlove , i have been a kind of godfather to you yonder , i have promis'd and vow'd some things in your name , which i think you are bound to perform . mr. congreve's answer is . that he meant no ill by this allegory , nor perceives any in 't now . no ill in 't , that 's strange ! not in applying the solemn engagements of baptism to a ridiculous subject , not in burlesquing the church catechism ? if these are no ill things , there 's no harm in profaneness ; and then i confess he has justified himself to purpose . before we part with the old batchelour , i 'll give mr. congreve another citation unmention'd before . heartwell speaking of marriage , cries out , o cursed state ! how wide we err when apprehensive of the load of life — we hope to find that help which nature meant in womankind it seems then nature was as much mistaken in the provision , as men are in the experiment . yes , for as the poet goes on : and adam sure wou'd with more ease abide the bone when broken , than when made a bride . this is an admirable comment on the old and new testament , and the office of matrimony in the common prayer . the thought looks like an improvem●nt of a line in absalom and achitophel : where the subject of the poem is dated from the times of polygamy , e're one to one was cursedly confined . the provoked wife has a sentence not much short of this . sure ( says sir iohn brute ) if woman had been ready created , the devil instead of being kicked down into hell , had been married . we are now with the double dealer ; where , as i remark'd , lady plyant cries out iesu , and talks smut in the same sentence . here again he pleads guilty : he had condemn'd it long since , and resolved to strike it out in the next impression . well! repentance is a very commendable thing , and i heartily wish mr. congreve may go through with it . but i 'm afraid this good resolution of his went off in a little time : my reason is , because the double dealer was publish'd in 1694. and stands still in the first edition ; but the old batchelour has been reprinted long since , the sixth impression of this play bearing date 1697. and yet here in this last edition we have the exclamation iesu , used in a jesting way , by the fulsome belinda . if mr. congreve was displeas'd with the profaneness in his double dealer , why did he not expunge it in his old batchelour ? he can't deny but that opportunity presented fair a great while together . but here instead of asking pardon of god and the world , and shewing himself concern'd for so scandalous an expression , he tells you a pleasant story ( as he fancies ) of a letter of advice from an old gentlewoman , and a widow , who as she said , was very well to pass . i suppose she subscrib'd her self old gentlewoman , as widows generally do , otherwise , as far as appears , he had been at a loss for her age. but to return . either this story is pretended or real . if 't is a feigned case , 't is nothing to his point . if 't is matter of fact , it makes against him ▪ for then he makes a jest of his own reformation , drolls upon good counsel , and returns the gentlewoman an affront in publick , for her charitable admonitions in private . as for the smut , he tells me , if there is any , i may e'en take it for my pains . very generously argued ! since he is thus noble , i 'le omit the scrutiny , and only refer to the page . and here the reader may please to take notice , that the word iesu is thrice made bold with , in despight of religion and the statute 3 iac. 1. cap. 21. sir paul plyant among the rest of his follies , is mighty fond of the word providence , and repeats it on several occasions . from hence i drew this natural , or rather necessary inference ; that the meaning was to shew , that sense and religion agreed ill together , and that none but fools were fit to talk piously . mr. congreve instead of defending himself , endeavours to make me speak nonsense , but that lies all in his own misquotation ; as i have shewn already . he pretends there 's no profane allusion in his little drollery about iehu's being a hackney coachman ; and seems confident no other text can be burlesqu'd excepting lady froth's poem . he says lady froth calls the coachman our jehu , and why might he not have that as well as any iewish or christian name ? i 'le tell him for once . 't was never the custom of jews or christians to take any scripture names from exceptionable persons . neither ieroboam nor iehu , nor many others , were religious enough for this purpose . no man i believe ever heard of more than two iehu's , one in the kings , and the other in the double dealer . that prince in the kings is said to drive his chariot furiously . from hence the coachman's character was equip'd . both the name and the office , have a plain reference to the holy text. farther , lady froth does not call her coachman by any name in her poem ; by consequence the asterism for direction , can never lead us to the meaning of her verses . for if iehu is unmention'd in the poetick text , how can the lady be explain'd by his standing in the margin ? in short , the worthy mystery can't be clear'd up without recourse to the scriptures ; and therefore without doubt we are much obliged to the poet for this necessity . thus 't is plain the bible is made bold with , and the turn of his expression seems to reach the commentators too . however , if his meaning is over-strain'd on this later particular , it will do him very little service ; and i ask his excuse . i 'm sorry to spend so many words about such stuff as this is ; but mr. congreve must have justice done him . sir paul plyant will afford us something worse than the former ; this wittoll of the poet 's making , tells his lady he finds passion coming upon him by inspiration . this i had reason to charge upon mr. congreve as a very profane expression : in answer to this , he first rails a sentence or two in his little way , and then very magisterially tells us , that the word inspiration , when it has divine prefix'd to it , bears a particular and known signification : but otherwise to inspire is no more than to breath into ; and a trumpet , &c. may be said without profaneness to deliver a musical sound by the help of inspiration . by his favour , all people that talk english know , that inspiration , when it stands without epithets and addition , is always taken in a religious signification . inspiration , and to be inspired , have a solemn and august meaning in christianity . these words imply divine impulse , and supernatural assistance , and are oppos'd to suggestion of fancy , and humane reasoning . to speak by inspiration is to speak by the holy ghost , as every body can tell him : to be saved and salvation , signified at first no more than safety , and escape : but if a man should say , as he hop'd to saved , and explain himself , that he intended no more , then that he hoped to get cover before a shower reach'd him ; would he not be look'd upon as impertinently profane ? if he call'd a lucky leap of a ditch salvation , and pretended to justifie himself , that the word originally imports no more than common deliverance , what place would he be thought fit for ? thus when words are made inclosure , when they are restrain'd by common usage , and tyed up to a particular sense : in this case , to run up to etymology , and construe them by dictionary and praeposition , is wretchedly ridiculous and pedantick . horace can tell him , that custom over-rules syllables , and gives law to language . quem penes arbitrium est , & jus & norma loquendi . mr. congreve perceiving himself press'd retires with all speed to his fourth proposition . but that i have disabled already . if he is poison'd with his profaneness , and finds himself sick , he must take what follows ; for his antidote is gone . to return to sir paul. i find passion ( says he ) coming upon me by inspiration , and i cannot submit as formerly . you see what an admirable reason he urges in defence of his folly , from the extraordinary circumstances of it ! no prophet could have justified his resentments from a higher pretence . the fine lady cynthia out of her pious education acquaints us , that though marriage makes man and wife one flesh , it leaves them still two fools . but the little word still is left out in the quotation ; which like the fly on the coach-wheel , raises a mighty dust. i grant i have by chance omitted the word still ; and if he had done so too , the sense had been perfectly the same , only better expressed . for still is plainly useless , and comprehended in the verb leaves . for if marriage leaves 'em two fools , they are fools after marriage , and then they are fools still , i think ; nothing can be clearer than this . but besides , cynthia her self won't allow of mr. congreve's excuse . for after she has deliver'd that remarkable sentence of leaving 'em two fools , &c. mellifont answers , that 's only when two fools meet , which is exactly mr. congreve in his amendments . this cynthia denies to be her meaning . cynth. nay ( says she ) i have known two wits meet , and by the opposition of their wits render themselves as ridiculous as fools . and therefore after she has given matrimony an odd name , she advises him to court no farther , to draw stakes , and give over in time . so that besides burlesquing the bible , the satyr is pointed against marriage . and the folly is made to lye in the state , as well as in the persons . upon the whole , we see the double dealer , and the amendments can't agree ; and thus two blemishes , as well as two beauties , are sometimes unlike to each other . mr. congreve says , ben. iohnson is much bolder in the first scene of his bartholomew fair. suppose all that . is it an excuse to follow an ill example , and continue an atheistical practice ? i thought mr. congreve in his penetration might have seen through this question . ben. iohnson ( as he goes on ) makes littlewit say , man and wife make one fool. i h●ve said nothing comparable to that . nothing comparable ! truly in the usual sense of that phrase , mr. congreve , 't is possible , has said nothing comparable to ben. iohnson , nor it may be never will : but in his new propriety he has said something more than comparable , that is a great deal worse . for though littlewit's allusion is profane , the words of the bible are spared . he does not droll directly upon genesis , or st. matthew ; upon god the son , or god the holy ghost : whereas mr. congreve has done that which amounts to both . and since he endeavours to excuse himself upon the authority of ben. iohnson , i shall just mention what thoughts this poet had of his profane liberties , at a time when we have reason to believe him most in earnest . now mr. wood reports from the testimony of a great prelate then present . that when ben. iohnson was in his last sickness , he was often heard to repent of his profaning the scriptures in his plays , and that with horrour . now as far as i can perceive , the smut and profaneness of mr. congreve's four plays out-swell the bulk of ben. iohnson's folio . i heartily wish this relation may be serviceable to mr. congreve , and that as his faults are greater , his repentance may come sooner . quem secutus es peccantem , sequere poenitentem . the double dealer is now done with , and mr. congreve concludes his vindication in his usual strain of triumph and assurance . love for love comes at last upon the board . in this play i blamed him for making a martyr of a whoremaster : upon this , he flies immediately for succour to scapula , and the greek grammar . he very learnedly tells us , that martyr is a greek word , and signifies in plain english no more than a witness . right ! these two words are the same ; and when a cause comes on in westminster-hall , the martyrs are call'd immediately ! but martyr is but bare witness in the greek . not always : christian writers often use it in a sense appropriated . and were it otherwise , there 's no arguing from one language to another . tyrant was once an honourable name in greek , but always a reproach in english. but to dilate upon these cavils , is throwing away time . if the reader desires more , he may please to look back on my answer to his objection about inspiration . this poet's way of understanding english , puts me in mind of a late misfortune which happen'd to a country apothecary . the dr. had prescrib'd a lady physick to be taken in something liquid , which the bill according to custom call'd a vehicle . the apothecary being at a stand about the word , applies , as mr. congreve might have done , to littleton's dictionary . and there he finds vehiculum signified several considerable things . he makes up the bill , and away he goes to the lady , where upon the question , how the physick was to be taken ? he answers very innocently ; madam , says he , you may take it in a cart , or a waggon , but not to give your ladyship too much trouble , i think a wheelbarrow may do ; for the word vehicle in the bill , will carry that sense . in short , this direction was comply'd with , and the footman drove the wheelbarrow about the chamber . to return to mr. congreve . i had said that this libertine application of his , was dignifying adultery with the stile of martyrdom ; as if ( says mr. congreve ) any word could dignifie vice. and pray why not ? does not the varnish hide the coarseness underneath , and the pill go down the better for the guilding ? whether he knows it or not , there 's a great deal of charm and imposture in words ; and an ill practice is often comply'd with upon the strength of a fashionable name . he asks , who told me ieremy fetch was bred at the vniversity ? why ieremy says so himself pretty plainly , and tattle says so , and i suppose mr. congreve says as much as that comes to in his reflection immediately following . but this notable question was put to introduce another business of greater consequence . for upon this occasion , out of his excellence of good manners , he is pleased to observe , that i should not have been suspected of an vniversity education any more than his ieremy in the play , if i had not printed m. a. on the title page . here the poor man has shewn his will , and his weakness sufficiently ! i 'm almost sorry 't is so low with him . when a poet is so extreamly well inclin'd to be witty , 't is pity he has no more in his power . mr. congreve goes on manfully in his defence and says , for the word whoreson , i had it from shakespear and johnson . not unlikely . people are apt to learn what they should not . mr. congreve's memory , or his invention , is very considerable this way . indeed one would almost think by his writings , that he had digested ill language into a common place . but it was not only whoreson , but ieremy's saying he was born with whoreson appetites , which i complain'd of ; and which i take to be blaspheming the creation . he pretends i have vvrong'd him strangely in a rant of sir sampson's : and would make the reader believe i charge him literally with paraphrasing the 139 th psalm . i 'm sorry i 'm forced to explain my self in so clear a case . we may observe then , that the psalmist in contemplation of the astonishing beauty and serviceableness of humane bodies , breaks out in a rapture of gratitude , i will give thanks unto thee , for i am fearfully and wonderfully made , marvellous are thy works , and that my soul knows right well . let us now hear sir sampson . this gentleman after having railed a lecture over ieremy's body , for being born with necessities too big for his condition ; he crys , these things are unacountable , and unreasonable ; why was not i a bear ? — nature has been provident only to bears and spiders : thus we see what a harmony of thought there is between david and our author . the one adores while the other reproaches . the one admires , the other burlesques the wonders of providence . and this was all the paraphrasing i meant , as any one might easily imagine . the dialogue of scandal and foresight lies next in our way , i shall once more transcribe it from love for love. fore . alas mr. scandal , humanum est errare . scand . you say true , man will err ; meer man will err — but you are something more — there have been wise men , but they were such as you — men who consulted the stars , and were observers of omens — solomon was wise , but ho● ? by his iudgment in astrology , — so says pineda in his third book and eighth chap. but ( says mr. congreve ) the quotation of the authority is omitted by mr. collier , either because he would represent it as my own observation to ridicule the wisdom of solomon or else because he was indeed ignorant that it belong'd to any body else . to this i answer , 1. that mr. congreve yields solomon's wisdom ridiculed by this observation , therefore by his own confession , if 't is none of his authors , he must answer for 't himself . now pineda gives us a quite different account of the cause of solomon's wisdom , and which is perfectly inconsistent with congreve's banter . pineda affirms that solomon's wisdom was given him by god in a supernatural dream , mentioned in scripture . and that after the dream , he found an unsual light in his understanding ; his ideas were brighten'd , and the extent of his knowledge strangly enlarged . 't is true , pineda believed that solomon understood astronomy in perfection , and that he had skill in prognosticks which he calls astronomia judiciaria . he continues , that he could in a great measure reach the inclinations and reasonings of men , where they did not depend purely upon choice , and the turn of the will. but then he does not say that solomon's skill in prognosticks was that which made him wise . no : this tallent was only a branch , but not the cause of his wisdom . for as pineda speaks elsewhere , solomon had a universal knowledge of nature , but then this excellency was no result of natural parts , or humane industry ; 't was an immediate bounty from heaven ; and both the thing , and the conveyance , were extraordinary . mr. congreve agrees with pineda at least in a jesting way , solomon was wise , but how ? by his iudgment in astrology . that is , his distinguishing attainments were gained this way . there was nothing in the case , but that he had looked into a star somewhat farther than other people : he learned his wisdom it seems from the caldeans , or aegyptians , or from some such book as lillies almanack . this is scandal's solution of the mystery ; and the best that i can make on it . for t' is one thing to say that a man is wise by astrology , and another that astrology or astronomy was only a part of his wisdom . the one implies the cause , and the other but a branch of the effect . the one excludes the miracle , and the other affirms it . upon the whole matter , mr. congreve , and pineda , are not to be reconciled , so that by his own confession he has ridiculed the wisdom of solomon , and falsifyed his author into the bargain . 2 ly . supposing pineda had been fairly reported by mr. congreve , the poet had been much to blame ; for then the case had stood thus ; pineda as mr. congreve observes had ridiculed solomon , and himself had done no less , by citing him without censure , and upon a drolling occasion . for this reason i waved the consulting of pineda , as well knowing that should the testimony have been right , the play was certainly in the wrong . besides , 't is somewhat to be suspected mr. congreve never saw pineda ; my reason is , because he falls twice into the same mistake , he quotes the eighteenth chapter for the eighth , and to make it appear the more gross , 't is done in words of length , and not in figures . i hope for the future mr. congreve wont bring in solomon to divert the play-house , nor compare him with fools and fortunetellers . scandal's telling foresight he was more than meer man , and secure from mistake upon that score , is likewise a profane expression . to affirm this of any person , is as much as to say , he is either our saviour , or a prophet , or under some miraculous influence . scandal goes on with foresight , and sayes the wise men of the east ow'd their instruction to a star , which is rightly observed by gregory the great in favour of astrology . mr. congreve vindicates this passage by saying , that scandal banters foresight , but not the audience . not banter the audience ! he affronts the audience i 'm sure , if they have any christianity in them , by drolling upon a miracle at our saviour's birth : he banters st. matthew too , who has recorded the miracle , and gregory the great , who discourses upon it . mr. congreve is pleased to say that i am very angry that sir sampson has not another name , because sampson is a name in the old testament . this is false in every sylable , as the reader may see by consulting my book . but this i say , that mr. congreve has burlesqu'd the history of sampson , and wrested the scripture into smut . there are two other profane passages censur'd by me in the same page : these he leaves as it were to shift for themselves , and has not as yet , made them worse by defending them : excepting that he comes up with his old cavil about the word martyr , which i have answer'd already . the next place mr. congreve leads us to is bedlam : and here he gives us three reasons for valentine's pretended madness . the two later are somewhat extraordinary . he makes him mad it seems for a variation of the character . a shrewd contrivance , to put a man out of his wits for the sake of variety ? for without doubt , raving and incoherence are wonderfully taking . i suppose mr. congreve made bellmour talk nonsense for this wise reason . for 't is a dull thing for a man to be always tyed up to sense , and confin'd to his understanding . his third reason for taking away reason , is because madness gives a liberty to satyr , and authorises a bluntness , &c. which would otherwise have been a breach of manners in the character . that is , it gives valentine a commission to talk smut , and abuse his father . but mr. congreve needed not to have given himself this trouble about valentine ; for valentine when he was in his wits , and under the character of a fine gentleman , had breeding enough to be smutty , and undutiful . mr. congreve would perswade the reader that i interpret him with too much rigour , for making valentine in his lunacy say , i am truth , &c. if this point needs any farther disputing , we may take notice that our blessed saviour mentions the word truth in a solemn and peculiar manner . he sometimes applies it to himself , sometimes to the holy ghost , and sometimes to the revelation of the gospel . in short , 't is as it were appropriated to the greatest persons , and things , mark'd as the prerogative of god ; and used in a sense of emphasis and distinction . let us compare st. iohn , and mr. congreve a little , and then we may easily judge where the fault lies . st. thomas answers our blessed saviour , lord we know now not whither thou goest , and how can we know the way ? iesus saith unto him , i am the way , and the truth , and the life . sir sampson is at a loss , swears , and cries out , i know not which way to go . valentine enquires , who 's that , that 's out of his way ? i am truth , and can set him right . our saviour assures his disciples , that he will send them the comforter . and that when he the spirit of truth is come , he will guide you into all truth , and he will shew you things to come . the execrable valentine says , interrupt me not — i 'll whisper prediction to thee , and thou shalt prophesie . i am truth , and can teach thy tongue a new trick : i am truth , and come to give the world the lie. and is not this horrible stuff ? what can be more intolerable boldness , than thus to usurp the regal sitile , to prostitute the language of heaven , and apply it to drollery and distraction ? mr. congreve is advanced to my 3 d chapter , concerning the abuse of the clergy . as for the dissenting ministers , he says i charge him with nothing more than setter's , procuring their habit for bellmour . under favour , this is a great mistake . the pimp reads a lecture of abuse upon the habit , exposes spintext from head to foot , makes him both a knave and a libertine , and his wife a whore into the bargain . the view , &c. has remark'd , that barnaby calls another of that character mr. prig. he does so . and fondlewife represents him lewd in a luscious description . mr. congreve replies , what if his name were mr. prig , or what if it were not ? now 't is possible he 'll not like it , if i don't consider these weighty questions . i say then , if his name was so , he has misbehaved himself by putting him in his play. if 't were not so , he has used the dissenting ministers ill , by representing one of their order in a contemptuous manner . for as he himself confesses , a mr. prig , and a mr. smirk , are names implying characters worthy of aversion and contempt . now for a man not to understand his own ill language , and contradict himself in a few pages , is , in his own decent expression , furiously simple . mr. congreve pretends that a reflection on a lord's chaplain is no reflection on a parson of the church of england . that 's somewhat strange . the roman catholick lords have no chaplains ; the law does not allow it . and as for the dissenters , there are very few lords of their perswasion . i desire therefore to know upon what party the abuse must stick ? in earnest , i 'm almost tired with answering these things . to strike the air , does but make a man's arm ake . there is a pretty long instance produced from the double dealer , to shew the misbehaviour of the stage towards the clergy ; these passages he leaves to take their fortune ; for they have nothing in them it seems , which needs a defence . this is a discreet way of answering ; and i think , if he had made more use on 't , it might have done as well . to shew the unreasonableness of the stage in representing the clergy under characters of disadvantage and contempt , i endeavour'd to vindicate the reputation of that order from three topicks . 1 st . from their relation to the deity . 2 ly . from the importance of their office. 3 ly . because they had general custom , and prescription for their privilege . under the first head , i had said that the credit of the service always rises in proportion to the quality and greatness of the master . this position , he says , is sophistical ; and yet he is so civil as to grant it in the next line but one . however , he makes a stand at the inference , and asserts , that though the credit of the service rises in proportion to the quality of the master , yet the credit of the servant , does not rise in proportion to the credit of the service . not rise in proportion to the credit of the service ; that 's strange ! i thought office and authority had been a just ground for regard ; and that honourable charges had made honourable men. and if so , i suppose the esteem of the person must improve with the credit of the employment . i would gladly know in what circumstance the dignity of an ambassador consists ? does it not lye in his commission and credentials , in the advantage and significancy of his character ? what makes such a person treated with greater regard , than a factor , or private agent ? is it not the honour of the representation , and the weight of the business ? now he that executes for another , or represents him by way of authority , is without doubt in his service : from whence it follows , that if the credit of the servant rises by the quality of the business , and authority , it must by consequence rise in proportion to the credit of the service ; for these are only different words to signify the same thing : mr. congreve's saying , that an ill servant both discredits his service , and is discredited by it ; is partly foreign , and partly false . to say he is discredited by it , is untrue . for 't is the misbehaviour , not the office , which gives the discredit . and then to say that an ill servant discredits his service , is nothing to his point . for the purpose . suppose the ministers of state or iustice , in any government , should fail in their conduct : are they presently to be insulted by the common people , exposed in the badges of their character , and made the diversion of the town ? what if a man is an ill servant , his commission ought to be his protection from private indignities . as for his mismanaging , he must account to his master ; equals or inferiours , have nothing to do to punish . mr. congreve adds , that if a servant is punish'd by the law , the honour of the service is not by that means violated . as much law as he pleases ; let justice have its course , and i 'm contented . but what 's this to the stage ? have they a patent of jurisdiction over the clergy ? are they authorised to pronounce upon their faults , and their punishment ? to give them little behaviour , and contemptuous usage ; to make them fools , and then treat them as such ? but now 't is mr. congreve's turn to ask questions : he would know of me , whether a man after he has received holy orders , is become incapable of either playing the knave or the fool ? why truly , considering he has the same humane nature with a poet , i can't think him utterly incapable of either . and now i may have answer'd his question as civilly as he ask'd it . but if a clergy-man plays the fool , he is equally with a lay-fool , the subject of laughter and contempt . not in the same way neither . circumstances alter any case . different things require different considerations . there are laws , discipline , and ordinaries , to take care of greater miscarriages in the church . and as for lesser misfortunes , they should rather be lamented , than expos'd . the clergy are a sort of spiritual parents . st. paul's reasoning supposes it : and the church catechism gives them an inference of privilege from the fifth commandment . to banter a relation of this kind , has neither decency , nor religion in 't . and we know ham got no blessing by his discovery . to stigmatize a solemn character , to play the buffoon in a gown and cassock , and shew the church for a monster , is , one would think , an odd diversion in christendom . the heathens treated the primitive christians much at this rate : they wrapt them in bear-skins , and then set the dogs on them . but mr. congreve urges , that by improper behaviour the man becomes alienated from the priest , and so the folly is exposed , not the function . for example , if the man be knock'd on the head , the priest is not a jot the worse for 't . this is much like the old distinction of politick , and personal capacity , applied to another case . to give this gentleman an answer more at large , he may please to take notice : 1 st . though the function and the person are separable in notion , they are joyn'd in life and business . 't is true , the office and the person are two things ; but yet 't is the person which executes the office : this makes them share a disadvantage in common ; and a censure frequently slides from the one to the other . if you make the man a knave , the priest must suffer under the imputation : and a fool in his person , will never be thought discreet in his function . upon this account persons in authority , whether spiritual or civil , ought to be privileg'd from abuse . to make the ministers of church or state , the subject of laughter and contempt , disables their authority , and renders their commission insignificant . the heathen dramatists seem sensible of this reasoning , and practice accordingly . 2 ly . if the poets design was no more than to expose and reprehend folly and vice in general , why are not the failings of the clergy represented in a lay-appearance ? why must the satyr be pointed at the coat , and run out into reference and distinction ? why must the profession be dressed up , and the folly keep all within the function ? is not this plainly to confound the order and the miscarriage , to go off from the man to the priest , and render them both ridiculous ? 3 ly . employments are oftentimes a shelter to persons ; and characters a protection from insult : publick reason will not endure authority to be expos'd , or the magistrates to be made a may-game . to talk in mr. congreve's language , a lay-fool is not always to be saluted by his folly. this would be great rudeness in conversation ; and the government might suffer by it . condition is a cover for failings . and authority must not be a jest. in this case a man should be view'd on the side of advantage , and treated by his best distinction . now if we consider the author , and the ends of church authority , we shall find it deserves a guard , no less than that of the state. the church-article quoted by mr. congreve , does him no service . if it has any reference to the matter in hand , it makes against him . the article affirms , that evil ministers act by christ's authority and commission ; that the word and sacraments are significant and effectual in their hands ; and that the indisposition of the agent , does not weaken the institution . now since even a vicious priest represents our saviour , since he is god's ambassadour , and is a conveyance of the blessings of heaven : these credentials , these benefits , one would think , might guard him from contempt , and make his character inviolable . 't is true , the article says , they may be accus'd , and being found guilty , by just iudgment depos'd . but what of all this ? are the poets their judges ? and is the stage grown doctors commons , or westminster-hall ? well : but the article supposes a distinction between the man , and the priest. yes : and it supposes too , that the man ought to fare the better for this double capacity . mr. congreve in citing this quotation , has mistaken the chronology , and confounded the articles and canons , but this i shall pass over . but mr. congreve falls into a worse mistake than the former . he makes st. cyprian affirm that the validity of the sacraments depends on the probity of the priest , and that the article was partly established to take off the authority of this father . now to say this , is to misreport st. cyprian . 't is true , this worthy prelate believed that a priests authority was suspended by heresy and schism ; but that bare immorality could recall his commission , he does no where suppose . the case of basilides and martialis , if mr. congreve had produced it , would not come up to the point : for this instance concerns sacrificing to idols ; which is an act of apostacy : it implies a renouncing of christianity . from whence it will follow , that those who are not so much as members of the church , cannot have the power of church-governours . mr. congreve seems displeas'd with that little justice i endeavoured to do the clergy ; and calls the testimonies of the best poets , orators , historians , &c. vain stuff . i take it ( says mr. congreve ) he would give us to understand , that in all ages the function of a priest was held to be a very honourable function ; did mr. collier ever meet with any body fool enough to engage him to assert that ? many a one , i can assure you , that have been either fool or knave enough , i can't tell which . if the post is honourable , the persons should be considered accordingly : they should not be exposed in a wretched appearance ; and have neither sense nor spirit , nor fair usage allowed them . the heathen poets , as i prov'd at large , never serv'd their priests so . mr. congreve urges , that kings have been in all ages exposed and punish'd on the stage , yet never any king complained of the theater or the poets . from hence he argues , that if kings may be exposed on the stage ; why not priests ? to this i answer , 1 st . mr. congreve's argument supposes that poets have the leave of princes for this freedom . kings it seems are willing to be brought , and disciplined on the stage . very well . but does the hierarchy desire to be represented ? does the church give the play-house this permission ? by no means . she complains of the practice , and would have it otherwise . now what consequence is there from permission to remonstrance , and from pleasure to aversion ? the church does not desire to be so publick . why should she be hal'd in , against her inclination , and gaz'd on like a malefactor ? 2 ly . stage princes are used agreeably to their station : the honour of their function shines out in their appearance . their very misfortunes are majestick , and their ruin glorious . they are never represented insignificant , treated with contempt , and play'd the fool with in comedy . if they were thus used , i question not but that the poets and players would quickly hear on 't . 3 ly . if princes were used as ill as priests upon the stage , they would not suffer so much by it . princes are well guarded against dramatick out-rage . they have power to punish and to oblige . the magnificence of their courts , the pomp and parade of their figure , brighten their authority , and preserve a regard . these circumstances glitter upon the sense , and strike an awe upon the spirits of the people . they refresh their character , and make them understood . they prevent the spreading of fiction into life , and keep a play-house-abuse from being acted in the streets . in fine ; wealth and power tho much short of princes , breaks the force of insolence , and is a sovereign remedy against neglect . but the clergy have no great share of these advantages ; i mean generally speaking , and with us especially . their provision is often slender , their censures relate to another world , and they have nothing of lustre to affect the imagination . a condition thus unfortified , thus unornamented , lies open to ill usage . the greater part of the clergy are not so well provided to disprove an unfair representation . they can't so easily confute a calumny by their equipage , nor make their fortune put a lye out of countenance . to be taken notice of , things must shine as well as be solid ; a coarse out-side keeps the richness within from being regarded . spiritual privilege , and invisible advantage signifie little with ignorance , or atheism . when a man can scarce hold his head above water , there needs no great weight to sink him . misfortune in such an age as this , is almost a jest of it self . a little buffooning is sufficient to make indigence look ridiculous ; for when a man's coat is thread-bare , 't is an easy matter to pick a hole in 't . 4 ly his pretence of matter of fact is not true. princes have complained of the theater . the great scipio pull'd it down ; trajan & antoninus philosophus discouraged plays , and tiberius banished the stage . to come nearer home , lewis the godly would not endure a play-house , and queen elizabeth often check't this sort of diversion . now these were most of them great princes , and which is more to the purpose , most of them good ones too . mr. congreve seems now fallen into a fit of levelling . quality and secular advantage , are grown bells and baubles . in his logick , honour and estate , are inconsistent with humility and other christian virtues . such temporal pride he pretends agrees very ill with the person and character of a truly pious and exemplary divine . had this gentleman the direction of affairs , 't is likely the world would be well mended , the church reformed into apostolical poverty , and all these antichristian things of fortune and convenience , taken from the exemplary divines , and given to the exemplary poets . mr. congreve comes on again reinforced with mr. hales , who proves from scripture that all claim to superiority by title of christianity is most certainly cut off . with submission to mr. hales , this is not universally true for the church being a society , must by consequence have governours , and these by the same necessity , must in that respect be superiour to the governed . for this reason , the apostle , speaking to private christians , enjoyns them in these words , obey them that have the rule over you , and and submit your selves ; for they watch for your souls , &c. this text we see plainly contains a branch of duty to ecclesiastical governours . now those who have the rule over others , are certainly so far their superiors ; and those who are to submit themselves , are bound to acknowledge them as such . to go on with mr. congreve's citation . nature and religion agree in this , that neither of them has a hand in this heraldry of secundum sub & supra ; all this comes from composition and agreement of men among themselves . here mr. hales is mistaken again ; for parents have by nature a right of superiority over their children . i grant mr. hales's principle holds true in the main ; but nothing can be more extravagant than mr. congreve's inference . does this gentleman mean that there 's no such thing as superiority amongst christians ? is subordination destroyed by baptism ? does christianity confound all degrees , and melt down all distinction in the state ; this doctrine is calculated for the meridian of munster , for the boars of germany , for iohn of leyden and knipper-dolling : iack straw and wat tyler , cade and ket would have been wonderfully obliged at such a discovery as this . but if civil privileges are consistent with christianity , i hope the clergy may plead their right in common , and take the advantage of the constitution like other people . i had said , the addition of clerk is at least equal to that of gentleman ; were it otherwise , the profession would in many cases be a kind of punishment . i say so still . for if a gentleman was made less , and degraded by going into orders , would it not be a kind of punishment ? can any thing be plainer than this ? i can't imagine how mr. congreve could misinterpret this period . but since he has done it , he would do well to call in his exclamation , and wonder at his own ignorance or insincerity . i observ'd , that monsieur racine , contrary to the practice of foreign countries , represented priests in his athalia . i observ'd farther , that this play was a very religious poem . and if it were not design'd for the theater , i have nothing to object . my meaning is , if it were design'd for the theater , i thought the form and argument too solemn for the place . but that it was design'd for the theater , is more than i know ; and i rather believe it was not . it being not uncommon in france and elsewhere , to act serious and inoffensive plays in religious houses . had mr. congreve understood this , or indeed the plain english of the words , all his cavilling and awkard jests had been at an end . the short view , &c. takes notice that shakespear , though to blame , was a genteeler enemy than the relapser ; why so ? because he gives sir iohn , parson of wrotham , some advantage in his character , he represents him lewd , but not little. here mr. congreve is extreamly diverting . the but ( says he ) is coming again . i had a glimpse of him just now . best of all ; 't is more than he has of himself , sometimes . lewd but not little , there 's a paradox for ye ! well , i grant some people are both . however , there 's room enough between these qualities for a distinction . for i suppose a man may be lewd in his practice , without being little in his figure and behaviour . does every libertine wear a livery , or is lewdness a forfeiture of condition ? in a sense of philosophy and religion , there 's nothing meaner than vice : but then the advantage of appearance is some cover for the deformity , and gives it another air to common view . mr. congreve allows , that when men neither sneak , nor do any thing unbecoming their office in the world , they ought not to be represented otherwise on the stage . were the heathen priests then so absolutely unexceptionable ? were there no prevarications amongst them ? and did they never live out of their character ? mr. congreve can't think this : and yet as i observ'd , they were always well treated by the heathen poets . but besides , what occurs in this answer , i have given him my reasons elsewhere , why the clergy ought in no case to come upon the stage . mr. congreve is so kind as to inform me , that i talk in the pedantical cant of fable , intreague , discovery , of vnities of time , &c. he means the pedantical cant of aristotle and horace , of bossu and corneille , of rapin , and mr. dryden ; that is of the best criticks , both antient and modern , upon the subject . this is somewhat strange ! but i perceive the man is wildred in his spleen : he lost himself in a mist of his own making , and when people can't see , they are apt to fall foul upon their friends . he finds fault with some more expressions of mine , how reasonably , i shall consider by and by . mr. congreve having spent some pages in trifling and scurrility , advances to my 4 th . chapter . this chapter charges the stage with immorality for rewarding their loose characters , and giving their libertines such advantage in figure , sense and success . mr. congreve knew the old batchelour and double dealer concern'd under this head , but takes no notice of it . 't is true , he makes an attempt to disengage valentine in love for love. he would gladly blanch this foul character ; but alas , 't is to no purpose to wash and rub : the spots are not dirt but complexion . he says valentine had honesty enough to close with a bad bargain , rather then not pay his debts . thus mr. congreve . but if we will take valentine's word for't , we shall find the matter otherwise . 't was his necessity , his disrelish of confinement , his passion for angelica , which put him upon this complyance . let him speak for himself . val. this condition was once proposed before and i refused it , but the present impatience of my creditors for their money , and my own impatience of confinement , and absence from angelica , force me to consent . so much for his honesty . and that he is debauch'd , profane and smutty , unnatural to his son , and undutiful to his father , i still affirm and appeal for evidence to the pages of the citation . mr. congreve endeavours to justifie bellmour and sharper , in the old batchelour , against my exceptions . but here according to his usual fair dealing he misreports the case . he tells the reader i produc'd these passages to prove him guilty of encouraging immorality . but this is quite mistaking the matter . these passages among others were produced to show how roughly the women were treated by the stage : that their fine characters were unceremonious , and fail'd in the decencies , of a cavalier . he is glad i can prevail with my self to write the hellish syllable [ pox ] at length ; i could not do so in page 82 of my book . right . and i had some reason for my scruple . for i conceive , there is some difference between the naming a blasphemous curse , and the foul disease . the word was used the former way when i declin'd to transcribe it . i have assaulted the town , it seems , in the seat of their principal and most reasonable pleasure . i am sorry to hear the encouraging of vice , the liberties of smut , and profaneness , the exposing of holy things and persons , are such lively satisfactions . the palate must be strangely vitiated to relish such entertainment as this . i would gladly believe the stage has not yet subdued the understandings of the audience , nor debauched their reason to this degree . i hope the town is misreported in some measure , and that as to the choise and value of pleasure , the psamist's authority may be better than mr. congreves , blessed is the man that stands not in the way of sinners , nor sits in the seat of the scornful . but his delight is in the law of the lord. mr. congreve pretends the invectives of the fathers were levell'd at the cruelty of the gladiators , and the obscenity of the pantomimes . if some of them , continues he , have confounded the drama with such spectacles , it was an oversight of zeal very alowable in those days ; and in the infancy of christianity , when the religion of the heathens was intermingled with their poetry and theatral representations . the fathers censure of the stage , of which i gave many instances , was an oversight of zeal ! their heat ran away with their judgment , and to make them s●fe , we must read them with mr congreve's comment . and yet this oversight of zeal is forgotten , and their conduct justified by our author immediately after . for as the case then stood , he says the best of the heathen plays might very well be forbidden . but these restraints , it seems were put upon the infancy of christianity . under favour , christianity was no gradual religion . 't was like adam at its full growth at first . if weakness , if obstinacy , and perverseness , are signs of infancy , we are much more in the state of the cradle now . as for the concern of the heathen religion , that was not the only objection the fathers had to the stage . they likewise declaim'd against the lewdness and immorality of those diversions . this i have shewn sufficiently in the testimonies cited from them : and likewise prov'd the censure of the fathers applicable to the english theater . mr. congreve would gladly throw his own talent of unfair citing and misapplying upon me . but has not been able to prove it in one instance , excepting that mistake of wasting for wafting mentioned before . his story out of polybius will do him no kindness ; for , as i have observed already , there is no arguing from heathenism to christianity . ignorance when not affected , goes a great way in an excuse . polybius was a wise man , but he was a pagan , and lived too early to know any thing of our religion . in short , either the theatral performances of the cynethians were innocent , or they were not . if they were not , to what purpose are they mention'd : if they were , our stage is no parallel to them . there being very few modern plays in which there is not something exceptionable : either cursing or swearing , vain invocation of the name of god , ribaldry , or profaneness ; or else some foolish and destructive passion made creditable and charming . and as for the bulk of his author polybius , i suppose scipio nasica , scaevola , and st. augustin , were all of them as great men as he. i shall give him counter-evidence from them . this father informs us , that scaevola vvho vvas pontifex maximus , and one of the senate , disswaded that noble assembly from going on with the building of a theater . he told them in a set speech , that this diversion would bring in foreign vice ; and the debaucheries of greece among them . that the old roman virtue would be lost , and the spirits of the people emasculated . this harangue govern'd the senate , and stopt the progress of the stage for that time . this testimony st. augustin mentions vvith approbation . and in the next chapter but one , he calls these theatral performances , animorum labem & pestem , probitatis & honestatis eversionem , i. e. the blemishes of humane nature , the plague of reason , and the ruine of virtue : and adds , that scipio foreseeing these mortal consequences , hindred the building of play-houses . he did not think the government could subsist upon the strength of brick and stone . but that discipline and good manners were to be taken care of no less than the fortification of the city . to the authority of this father i shall subjoyn that of horace , vvho in his book de arte poetica , mentioning the roman theater before his ovvn time , has these vvords . quo sane populus numerabilis ut pote parvus . et frugi , castusque verecundusque coibat . 't is very remarkable says monsieur dacier , that horace should commend the old romans for not frequenting the theater . he gives four reasons for the little inclination they had for these diversions . they vvere not very numerous ; they vvere wise ; they vvere religious ; and they vvere modest. the three last reasons are strongly to our point , and the stronger for coming from a poet. this vvas so plain , and so considerable an acknovvledgment , that mr. dacier makes the follovving marginal note upon it . the theater condemned as inconsistent with prudence and religion . as for innocent diversions , i have nothing to say against them . but i think people should take care not to relieve their spirits at the expence of their virtue , not to cure melancholy with madness , and shake off their spleen , and their reason together . mr. gosson a stage poet in queen elizabeth's time says much the same thing , only the expression is somewhat stronger . in his address to the gentlewomen of london , he has these words : being pensive at home , if you go to the theaters to drive away fancies , it is as good physick , as for the ache of your head , to knock out your brains ; or when you are stung with a wasp , to rub the sore with a nettle . the same author is so frank as to declare , that ease and idleness bring destruction ; and that pleasure and sport are the devil's baits : that honest recreation quickens the spirits , but plays are venemous arrows to the mind . when comedy comes upon the stage , cupid sets up a springe for woodcocks , which are entangled e're they discern the line , and caught before they mistrust the snare . and a little before , we call that a slaughter house where brute beasts are kill'd , and hold that a pastime which is the very butchery of christian souls . mr. congreve argues at last from the disadvantage of the globe , and the uncertainty of our climate . now i 'm afraid these geographical reasons are no better than the rest . i doubt this expedient of a play-house won't make the latitude one jot the better . 't will ne're fix the floating of our humours , nor bring us to the steddiness of the continent . to speak softly : what is there more likely to awaken our passions than these diversions , and to fill us with freaks and fancies , and extravagant amusement ? now when passions runs high , disappointment rises with them , and good humour grows more precarious . for the more we are disappointed , the more dark , and saturnine , and melancholick we shall certainly be . the resignation of christians , and the pleasures of reason , and the satisfaction of living to some purpose , are by much , the best remedies against melancholy . but are not we of all people the most unfit to be alone ? the french proverb shall answer this : better be alone , than in ill company . mr. congreve goes on in his panegyrick upon his country : are there not more self-murtherers , and melancholick lunaticks in england , heard of in one year , than in a great part of europe besides . tho' i somewhat question the truth , as well as the civility of this reflection ; but if 't is true , 't is probable the play-house may in some measure account for the fact. if there are more self-murthers and lunacies in england than elsewhere , 't is probably , because there are more bad plays in england than in a great part of europe besides : i believe i may say , than in all europe besides . when passions are rais'd , and principles destroy'd , some people can neither keep their wits , nor their lives long together . they grow impatient of this world , and foolish enough to rush blindly upon the other . loue and pride are observ'd to stock bedlam . now these two passions are work'd up to the highest excess in plays . a spark is scarce thought civil to his mistriss , unless he 's ready to run mad for her . and as for pride , 't is no less strongly recommended under the notion of glory , greatness , and revenge . indeed the play-house is a sort of nursery to a mad house : 't is not long since one of them was sent thither ; and i rather wonder they are not oftner transplanted . i am sorry for any man's misfortune ; and 't is only mr. congreve's argument which draws the instance from me . he is now come to his last questions . from whence are all our sects , schisms , and innumerable subdivisions in religion ? let them come from whence they will , we had better have them than some peoples remedies . 't is much safer to be of different opinions , than agree in believing nothing . atheism is an ill cure of heresy and schism : i admire uniformity in doctrine extreamly ; but still i must crave leave to believe , that a mistaken conscience is more serviceable , than no conscience at all . mr. congreve concludes his book with an unfair quotation about musick . he understands the art of misrepresenting , and leaves out a significant word , very handsomly for that purpose . but i shall pass it over ; and come to his criticisms upon some of my expressions . the ladies fancy slip-stocking high , with which he quarrels , is an allusion to a known story , in a book very well known . to deal freely , i made bold with it to prevent its falling into the enemies hand . a whole kennel of beaus after a woman , is no language of mine : 't is a quotation from the relapse ; as mr. congreve might easily have seen . running riot upon smut , is misquoted . my words are these : the double dealer runs riot upon such an occasion as this , and gives lord touchwood a mixture of smut , &c. the upper end of the government , is a defensible expression ; and his exception to the litter of epithets , &c. i have answer'd already . his objections at big-allyances , is somewhat unfairly transcrib'd , and the page mismark'd . the passage is this : iehoida was thought an allyance big enough for the royal family . he cavils at two other little words , which i think may pass : but i shall say nothing in their behalf . to defend such trifles , would be almost as idle , as to object against them . now though i have examined mr. congreve's writings but loosely upon this head , yet in return to his civilities , i shall present the reader with some proprieties of his in phraseology and sense . in his amendments we have , to savour of vtterance , &c. and in the mourning bride , we have all the delicacies of language and rhetorick , and the very spring it self upon paper . here 's respiring lips , ample roof , and ample knowledge , the noon of night , fear'd , for frighted , the pageantry of souls , eyes rain blood , and what not . to go on a little with the mourning bride , with reference to sense and character . king manuell asks his daughter almeria , why she wears mourning at his triumph . she tells him , she mourns for her deliverance from a wreck . this was a wise answer , and a very natural way of expressing her gratitude for coming safe on shore . gonsalez relates manuall's victorious entry after his success against the moors . the cavalcade is wonderfully splendid and pompous : but the story goes off somewhat unluckily . the swarming populace spread every wall , and cling as if with claws they did enforce their hold through clifted stones stretching and staring . here he struts to purpose in sophocles's buskins ! cling and claws are extreamly magnificent in solemn description , and strangely proper for tragedy and triumph . to give him his due , i think these two lines are the best image of a parcel of cats running up a wall , that i have met with . that which follows is worth the remembring . as they were all of eyes , and every limb , would feed his faculty of admiration . a limb of an eye , i confess , is a great curiosity ; and one would think if the poet had any of these limbs in his head , he might have discover'd it . we must not forget osmin's talent in arithmetick , who let us understand that heaven can continue to bestow , when scanty numbers shall be spent in telling . as scanty as they are , i fancy telling will be spent much sooner than numbers : but sense in a tragedy is cold and unaffecting . to go on . zarah makes osmin a high compliment upon his air and complexion : she tells him when she first saw him , pale and expiring , drenched in briny waves , that he was god-like even then . death and paleness are strong resemblances of a deity ! but i perceive , to some people , a seraphim , and a drown'd rat , are just alike . king manuell is giving sentence upon the rebels : let us see how he supports his character : bear to the dungeon those rebellious slaves , the ignoble curs that yelp to fill the cry , and spend their mouths in barking tyranny . and a little after , he calls the noble osmin , that foreign dog. here 's majestick passion , royal vengeance , and magnificent railing for ye ! a common hunt could not have done it better ! this , as mr. congreve has it , is dog-language with a witness ; and never made for a monarch's mouth . zara has another flight very remarkable , and with that i shall conclude . this princess , we must know , was strangely smitten with osmin , and finding her amour cross'd , was resolv'd , out of stark love and kindness , to poison him : 't is true , she intended to be so just , as to dispose of her self the same way . now coming to the prison she spies a body without a head , and imagining it osmin's , grows distracted upon 't . and why so ? was it because she was prevented , and had not the satisfaction of dispatching her spark her self ? or was it because she had a mind to convince osmin of the strength of her affection by murthering him ? that 's somewhat odd . was it then to shew how willing she was to dye with him ? she says so ; but presently rejects this reason as frivolous and unnecessary . for if you 'll believe her , osmin was capable of knowing her passion , without so barbarous an expedient . his soul still sees , and knows each purpose , and fixt event of my persisting faith. well , let the reason of her disorder be what it will , for we can't agree about it , she falls into a most terrible fit of fustian , upon the sight of the body . ha! prostrate ! bloody ! headless ! o , — start eyes ▪ split heart , burst every vein at this dire object ; at once dissolve and flow ; meet blood with blood , dash your encountring streams with mutual violence , till surges roll , and foaming billows rise , and curle their crimson heads to kiss the clouds ! one would think by this rant , that zara had bloud enough in her veins to fill the bay of biscay , or the gulph of lions . at this rate a man may let the thames out of his little finger ! this is monstrous impropriety of thought ! never were things and words , joyn'd more unluckily . call you this poetry ! the figures and flights of poetry are bold ; but then the fancy should be natural , the figures just , and the effects holds some proportion with the ca●se . zara rises in her rumbling , if 't is possible , rails bitterly on the king , in astronomy ; and , as far as i can discover , she goes somewhat upon the system of copernicus . rain , rain , ye stars spout from your burning orbs , precipitated fires , and pour in sheets , the blazing torrent on the tyrant's head. well . tho this lady has not much wit in her anger , she has a great deal of learning : i must own , this is a very scholar-like piece of distraction . if mr. congreve replies , the occasion was extraordinary ; and that the sight of osmin's murther must mightily affect her . granting all this , the old saying will hold good against him : curae leves loquntur , ingentes stupent : here almeria's fit of fainting , and a good swoon at the end on 't , would have look'd like business , and been very natural upon the occasion . i could have been somewhat larger upon the mourning bride , but this may suffice at present . i charged mr. congreve with two very lewd and scandalous songs ; but these he passes over unmention'd . this is somewhat unfortunate : one would have thought , if he had neither modesty to make them , nor reason to defend them , he might , at least , have had a little conscience to have given them up . a reply to the short vindication of the relapse and the provok'd-wife . this author pretends i had little to charge him with upon the subject of immodesty , that i come to no particulars , but only mention miss hoyden with others for an immodest character . by his favour , i am particular in the matter objected , and since he calls for it , i shall direct the reader to some more decencies of this young lady . to deny matter of fact in the beginning of a vindication is a little unlucky ! this gentleman is at a loss what i mean by immodesty , he knows of no smut talked by miss hoyden ; and makes the fault mine to understand him in that sense . here 's a flight of innocence for ye ! one would think his capacity was bound up to virtue in an extraordinary manner ; and that the bare notion of ill could not get into his head. by the way , i am sorry to find him thus undistinguishing . this ignorance in a stage-poet does not look well . customary swearing takes away the sense of doing it , and i am afraid it may be applicable to other matters . the vindicator and his brethren have an admirable way of defending themselves from indecencies . if you detect them , they tell you 't is your own construction , and you may take it for your pains . as if the knowledge of good and evil , was criminal ; and to show one fault , was to make another . it seems then the deformity of matters lies in the organ , not in the object , in the idea not in the thing . a man had much better go into a puddle than discover it . he that sees an ulcer , or perceives an offensive smell , is extreamly to blame in his senses ! the vindicator imposes on the reader by affirming himself concern'd only in one quotation more in my chapter of immodesty . for 1. the general reference may imply more . and besides , if it did not , i have given more instances in loveless and berinthia , on the same head , tho not in the same chapter . there are likewise more lewd passages in his two plaeys heighten'd with irreligion ; but these shall be postpon'd a little . i shall now examine his defence of a quotation from the provok'd-wife . the dialogue lies between lady brute and belinda . belinda says , why dont some reformer or other beat the poet for smuttiness ? l. brute , because he is not so sure of our private approbation ; as of our publick thanks . well ; sure there is not upon earth , so impertinent a thing as womens modesty . belind. yes , mens fantasque that obliges us to it . if we quit our modesty , they say we lose our charms . ( there 's his defence . ) and yet they know that very modesty is affectation , and rail at our hypocrisy . here 's admirable encouragement for virtue ! the ladies make a grievance of modesty , and declare it the most impertinent thing in nature . ay , but what do the men say ? why they say 't is all affectation and hypocrisie . and are not these charming qualities upon the discovery ? a pretence seen through is wonderfully engaging ! the vindicator confesses as much . he says the men rail at the women for their modesty . i can't see how they should do otherwise , if they believe it nothing but grimace . here 's a handsome complement upon the women . they are brought in guilty by both sexes , they can't be sincere it seems without appearing vitious , nor deal clearly without impudence , nor be honest without playing the whore ! but over and above the poets courtship ; these are powerful motives to modesty ! what woman would not be in love with it upon this description ? the credit of affectation is strangely transporting , who would not take pains to be counted a hypocrite ? there 's nothing of complexion in modesty : 't is only a little paint laid on with a trowel . it neither sits easie , nor looks natural : 't is foolish to themselves , and formal to other people : and now what woman would not strive hard for such an accomplishment as this ? but on the other side , this is a comfortable scheme for the town sparks ▪ to speak in our author 's military way . what libertine would not press the siege , and be at the trouble of a little storming , when he has intelligence of a party within ; when he believes the bloody-colours false , and that there 's friendship in the very defiance ? now had i not upon this occasion some reason to observe that m●desty was out of fashion with our stage , and the b●nk much sunk since the time of euripides , i say since the time of euripides ; for his ladies always converse with all the decency and reservedness imaginable . they declare against intemperate talk , and love virtue both in the thing and in the appearance . i had ranged the profaneness of the stage under two heads . 1. their cursing and swearing . 2. their abuse of religion and holy scriptures . upon the head of swearing , i observ'd the relapse and the provok'd-wife , were particularly rampant and scandalous . this , the vindicator says , was done with a great deal of honesty and charity . so ' t was . to report fairly , and tell people of their faults , is very consistent with both those qualities . he goes on , and jests a little about bullys and hackney-co●eh-men , and by the gayety of his humour , you would think him extreamly innocent . but after all this unconcernedness , 〈◊〉 his crime should not be little , i am afraid his conscience will appear so . however he complains he is mightily overcharg'd ; and that all the stretch of the prophaneness lies in ld. foppington 's gad , and miss hoyden's i-cod . now hoyden's expression i take to be rank swearing , neither does he deny it . and as for ld. foppington , he adds by , to gad ; which in his particular way of pronouncing o , like a , is broad and downright . this gentleman would excuse himself by the liberties of conversation , and gives several instances of disguised oaths . what means he by insisting so much upon precedent ? does custom justifie a fault ? is sin improv'd into privelege ? and can a man swear by common-law ? besides all the instances mention'd excepting par die , are less criminal than his own . and were it otherwise , no sort of profaneness is fit for representation ; as i have prov'd sufficiently already . this author complains , my accusations against him almost always run in general terms , &c. well . if a list of particulars will oblige him , he shall have it . i did not take this method for want of evidence , i can assure him . the petty oaths and curses ( as i suppose the poets think them ) together with the vain invocation of the name of god , i shall omit ; to transcribe or point to them , would be tedious . but as for those of a blacker complexion , tho they must not be produced , the reader may see them if he pleases : and then he may judge if i have done the vindicator any wrong by pronouncing them rampant and scandalous . in the relapse this horrible rhetorick is spoken by ld. foppington , young fashion , seringe , coupler , and miss hoyden . to these we must add iustice tunbelly , who to make himself the better magistrate , swears like a bully with open mouth . the provok'd-wife is little better . sir iohn and the colonel swear with a great deal of relish and noise ; and constant is not over stanch . some of these pages have double charges , and so have some in the relapse . cursing and fiends language , is likewise very frequent in the provok'd-wife . now , tho oaths are not , curses may be blasphemy , fashion's is so in a horrible manner . this fine gentleman does not stick to curse the author of his being , for making him younger than his brother . but this is not all the blasphemy the relapser has to account for . and now at the close of the article i must own my self surpriz'd at the courage of the vindicator . that a man thus ill prepar'd , should cast the cause upon so bold an issue , press for a second hearing , and call for a charge in particulars ! the second branch of the stage's profaneness , is the abuse of religion and holy scripture . how does the vindicator excuse himself here ? he says , before he fell upon me for an abuser of holy scripture , he should first clearly have prov'd , that no story , phrase or expression whatsoever in the scripture , should be either repeated , or so much as alluded to upon the stage . in return to this , i must say , i have hinted this pretty strongly already , and proved it by plain implication . to argue the point more at length , i did not then think necessary . for what can be more evidently impious than to throw the most solemn and the most trifling things into the same composition ; to make religion part of our sport , and the bible furnish out the stage ? i thought no person professing christianity , could have wanted information in this case . but since i find the poets disposed to cavil , i have satisfied this objection more at large in my reply to mr. congreve . the vindicator's next attempt is very remarkable . the scripture , says he , is made up of history , prophecy , and precept ; which are things in their own nature capable of no other burlesque than what calls in question either their reality , or their sense . to this i answer , 1 st . that the vindicator is out in his notion of burlesque . to burlesque a book , is to turn it into ridicule . now this may be done without questioning the history , or mistaking the text. to apply the case : to doubt the meaning of some part of the bible may be done without a fault . i confess , to question any facts in scripture would be to renounce christianity . but then to make diversion with them is still worse ; and adds contempt , to infidelity . indeed , to take these freedoms with religion is a sign of a slender belief . we don't see comedy garnished with parliament-house-speeches . no. where people are sure to be punished , they are careful not to provoke . 2 ly . to believe the scripture god's word , and to play with it , heightens the presumption . 't is a horrid reflection on the divine wisdom ; it supposes the concerns of the other world over flourish'd , that a pompo●s out-side is given to things insignificant , and that the weight of the cause holds no proportion with the solemnity of the court. now that this gentleman has several times brought the bible to jest for him , is clear beyond all contradiction . 3 ly . the vindicator is cast upon his own state of the case . for his play not only questions the truth of the scripture , but denies it ; and gives an instance to prove the assertion ; and to give the more credit to 't , it comes from the best character in the poem . 't is done in a soliloquy too , where according to our author , the person who speaks is always supposed to deliver his real thoughts to the audience . amanda is the person ; le ts hear her . what slippery stuff are men composed of ? sure the account of their creation's false , and 't was the womans rib that they were form'd of . this lady it seems spoke this for the good of the publick ; her business , like worthy's , was to instruct the audience . yes , the design of a soliloquy , is to prevent misconstruction , to direct the understanding , and secure the interest of virtue . 't is possible the account of man's creation might have been thought true , and the meaning of the relapse misunderstood , if amanda had not been drawn out single for this service . well . but the gentleman who writ this speech is gone to muscovy . i hope not to tell them the history of the creation is false ; well let him go , i think this town may spare him . but tho the man is gone to muscovy , the play is here , and so is the author too , who took the pious muse into his protection and made her free of his poem . suppose this new lawre●● should write a treasonable copy of verses upon the czar , and sheer off from mosco when he had done . suppose a brother poet of the place should borrow them for his proper use , and act and publish them for his own . would it be a sufficient excuse for the latter to alledge that they were only borrowed , that his friend was gone into a remote country ; but that to his knowledge he had too much veneration for the government to question its authority , or sink its credit ? i am afraid such a speech as this , would do but little service at mosco . it may not be amiss for the vindicator to consider the application , and the next time he has any exercise made for him , to look a little better into the contents . we are now drawing towards particulars . the history of adam's fall is wretchedly made use of in the provok'd-wife . how the scripture is affronted by this , the vindicator can't tell ; here 's nothing that reflects upon the truth of the story . no. is the ridiculous r●sor no disadvantage to the story ? does it not suffer by being mix'd up with smut and ●anter , and applied to a scandalous purpose . if these liberties don't reflect upon the truth of the story , i am sure they reflect upon the significancy on 't , and by consequence upon the honour of the author . but by the vindicator's favour , i doubt it does reflect upon the truth of the story . for who that look'd on this account as deliver'd by the holy ghost would treat it thus disrespectfully ? who that believed himself akin to adam would use his memory thus coursely , ridicule his folly upon the stage , and make a jest of his misfortunes ? the vindicator concludes the page with a memorable sentence , and gives us to understand , that he shall always make a very great distinction between his respects to god and the devil . his respects to god , is somewhat familiar . but he mends the matter . he makes a very great distinction between god and the devil ! then it seems he has some regard for both of them , some respects for the devil . truly one would almost think so , by his way of writing , and if we may argue from the interest he promotes , i am afraid the bulk of the distinction will lie the wrong way . the vindicator takes it ill of me for censuring the liberties given to ld. foppington . and here ( he says ) i'm as angry with him for being for religion , as before for being against it . not altogether . however here 's a frank confession , that he was against religion before . now by his managing , one would guess he had not changed his side . for whatever his meaning might be , his method is somewhat untoward . for does not ld. foppington droll upon the prayers , upon sundays , and sermons ? does he not do it in earnest ? the vindicator grants all this . is he check't then by the ladies , or expos'd upon the account ? very slenderly , if at all . berinthia rather prompts him , and amanda only asks him if there was good preaching at st. james's ; and that she was the worst company in the world at church , being apt to mind the prayers and sermon . this is a poor rebuke for such rampant profaneness . and as the world goes , may easily be interpreted to singularity , and female superstition . ay , but foppington's manner of speaking ; together with the character he represents plainly instructs the audience , that what he says of his church behaviour is design'd for their contempt and not for their imitation . 't is designed for their diversion , if he pleases , which i 'm mistaken if the subject will allow of . let ld. foppington speak . ld. fop. madam , sunday is a vile day , i must confess ; i intend to move for leave to bring in a bill that the players may work upon it . — a man must have little to do there , that can give an account of the sermon . — but if i can't give an account of the ladies , i deserve to be excommunicated . — there 's my lady tattle , &c. are the prettiest company in the world. — one is strangely apt at church to mind what one should not do , meaning the prayers and the sermon . now who can miscarry under such instruction as this ? a man must be of a very low form in his understanding , not to see the drift of the author . this is seraphick satyr , all light and heat . virtue must needs be refresh'd , and conscience alarm'd strongly , by such admonitions ! instead of giving a frightful idea of profaneness , the matter is all turn'd into a jest ; and the audience desired to laugh at those practices , which will damn them . these are admirable sentences to rally religion with , to furnish a young libertine , and keep atheism in countenance ! so much for the manner of speaking . and as for lord foppington's character , that won't excuse him . as the poet has manag'd the business , this lord is not so contemptible . for some of the best raillery in the play falls to his share , as i have shewn already . and were it otherwise , no pretence of character can justifi● such profane sallies . but these poets , if they can get a fool , a bully , or a libertine , to fly out into smut , or irreligion , they are safe enough . thus they can please and fence , at the same time ; and the character , as they fancy , is a cover for the trick . but there is much more of art than fair-dealing , in this expedient . i wish they would consider , 't is the poet that speaks in the persons of the stage ; and that he who makes a man mad , must answer for his distraction . the vindicator can find no reason for my quarr●l to young fashion , unless 't was because i took him for his friend . then i was much to blame . but the worst is , this gentleman contradicts himself in the next sentence ; and says , i accus'd his younger brother , for kicking his conscience down stairs . well . that 's something ; but not all the quarrel . i complain'd of him likewise for a finish'd debauchee ; and exhibited a long bill against him . this the vindicator is pleas'd to slide over : and instead of defending his libertine , finds fault with my calling him his favourite . and why so ? has he not provided him a plot , a fortune , and a creditable figure ? and are not all these signs of good will and inclination ? well ; but his wife is likely to make his heart ake . indeed so says the vindicator . but young fashion tells another story . he is in no fright about the matter . upon observing some signs of extravagance in hoyden , he says to himself , ( and then you may be sure he delivers his real thoughts to the audience ) 't is no matter . she brings an estate will aefford me a separate maintenance . we see here 's no danger of mortification . this soliloquy is extreamly moral ! it teaches the art of marrying the estate without the woman , and makes a noble settlement upon lewdness . the vindicator complains because i wont take his word in the business of pimping . under favour , he does me wrong ; i never questioned his experience in these matters . since he puts me upon 't , i am willing to believe him a good authority in the case : and that he is well qualified to pronounce upon the growth and improvement of this mystery . what if the profession soars somewhat higher than formerly , i hope 't is not grown creditable ? if 't is infamous in a peasant , 't is more so in a person of figure ? why then is it not lash'd and stigmatiz'd ? why han't we some of plautus's and terence's discipline upon 't ? why is the poet 's fine gentleman put upon this drudgery ? to use the profession thus gently , and pay it so fair a respect , is the way to make it soar still higher , and bring it more into fashion . but the vindicator's civilities to pimping were not the only thing which i objected : i observ'd that worthy and berinthia made it an act of christian charity , and rallied profanely upon the office. but 't is not this gentleman's method , to spea● to the difficulty . he tells me 't is a dull thing , to expect any thing not dull from a nurse . and why so ? as slender people are entertaining sometimes . why mayn't the woman be a little witty if she was born so , especially when she is to divert the company ? all nurses are not fools , any more than all poets are wits . besides , i did not expect any great matters from her in this kind . but though she has not wit , she ought to have humour ? so that when she is out of character in her profaneness , and speaks contrary to custom and probability , when the race and spirit of her discourse , lies only in the abuse of two or three solemn expressions of scripture , i say when this happens , 't is pretty plain the poet's design , is to treat the audience at the expence of religion . the vindicator sets down some more of nurses fine speech which i had omitted . she calls bull priest of baal , and tells him , her conscience flies in her face for taking his advice ; and that his ahsolution is not worth an old cassock . now all these fine sentences are only for diversion . 't is nothing but cracking a iest upon a chaplain ; and he should be very sorry to see the day when such a liberty where it has no allusion to religion ) should be brought within the verge of profaneness . and how does he prove a jest on a chaplain such a warrantable piece of raillery ? has not a chaplain the same commission and business with another clergyman ? and if so , why should his treatment be more course ? if there 's no distinction in the office , why should there be any in the usage ? but it may be the vindicator may think his authority sunk upon the score of obligation : and that eating and drinking , are better than prayers and sacraments . but this passage of nurses has no allusion to religion . that 's strange ! is sporting in scripture-phrase , so foreign to that subject ? has the drolling on the priests blessing , upon the power of the keys , and the institution of our saviour , no allusion to religion ? if this gentleman had the stating of profaneness , 't would shrink into a narrow compass . it would be no easy matter to talk amiss ; and the laity would have as little sin left them , as the clergy would have fair quarter . worthy's address to the fine procuress berinthia , must now be enquir'd into . upon her promise of a lewd assistance , his gratitude is wonderfully rais'd , and devout . thou angel of light , let me fall down and adore thee . he says , if i had quoted her answer , i had given a better character of him ; and he thinks , of my self . truly , i would gladly oblige both of us , but i 'm afraid ' twon't do this time : however , let 's hear berinthia's answer . ber. thou minister of darkness get up again ; for i hate to see the devil at his devotions . this is to make amends for t'other . i can't perceive how . one man injures his neighbour , and another blames him for 't ; does this cancel the guilt , & make the fact nothing . one man speaks blasphemy , & another reproves him ; does this justifie the boldness , or make the words unspoken ? but by this answer the audience are put in mind , she is ●ot supposed to deserve that compliment . i can't 〈◊〉 that neither . berinthia's answer looks 〈◊〉 like a design of carrying on the profan●ne●s , and continuing the religious banter . ●●r character is loose throughout the play , and she never says ought that 's good , unless ●o abuse it . the poet might easily see , that i●struction in her mouth was most likely to be misunderstood and miscarry . there 's no occasion for much quoting , the next lines will shew us how significant her advice must needs be . well , ( says worthy ) my inc●mparable berinthia , how shall i requite you ? ber. o ne'er trouble your self about that : virtue ( alias pimping ) is its own reward . there 's a pleasure in doing good , which sufficiently pays it self . here 's a lecture of philosophy well apply'd ! this is an admirable lady to correct ill sentences , and give aim to the audience ! and yet the jest on 't is , the man 's not pleas'd because i did not commend him for his care. truly he must excuse me , i am not so full of panegyrick as this comes to . i cited l. brute for saying the part of a downright wife is to cuckold her husband . the addition of setting it down as a precept , is all his own , and so consequently is the foul play too , as will appear by the ladies words . belinda — i could almost resolve to play the downright wife , and cuckold him . is not to play the knave , and to play the part of a knave the same thing ? this , tho it does not imply duty and precept , it supposes general practice , truth in notion , and propriety of character : and as a man cannot be said to be a knave , without playing knavish tricks ; so by the poets reasoning , a woman can't be said to play the downright wife , unless she injures her husband . this is a great compliment to the ladies ! and whether the vindicator has reason to ask their pardons for lying , in jest or in earnest , the reader must judge . he owns lady brute in her next reply , says , that which at first view seems much more lyable to exception . this confessiion is more than ordinary ; let the lady speak . l. brute , why , after all there 's more to be said for 't ( for adultery ) than you 'd imagine child . i know according to the strict statute law of religion , i should do wrong ; but if there were a court of chancery in heaven , i should be sure to cast him . belind. if there were a house of lords you might . l. brute , in either i should infallibly carry my cause . why he is the first aggressor . ( it had been worse if he had been the second . ) not i. belind. ay , but you know , we must return good for evil . l. brute , that may be a mistake in the translation . thus the justice of god , the court of heaven , and the precepts of our saviour are ridiculed ! and what can make satisfaction for these horrible outrages ? not all the blood in a man's veins . the mercy that pardons such boldness , had need be infinite ! but th● vindicator has taken care that her raillery should not be mistaken for her serious opinion . she tells belinda , i shall play the fool , and je●● 〈◊〉 till i make you begin to think , i am in earnest . this is an admirable defence ! the woman blasphemes in jest , and diverts the company with the bible , and therefore all 's well ; and the poet must be commended for his caution ! i perceive god and religion are very significant things with some people ! to disengage young fashion from his very profane application of providence . he says , every body knows the word providence in common discourse goes for fortune . a man that 's sinking will catch at a weed . i am sorry i must spend my time about words , especially in so plain a signification . but since the business must be undertaken , i shall endeavour at a brief satisfaction . we may observe then that tully in his philosophical tracts distinguishes providence from the epicurean system of chance and fortune . providence and divine administration , are with him the same thing . the emperour marcus antonius philosophus has this religious expostolation . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who would live in a world uninhabited by the gods , and providence ? now for a little english authority ' sir roger l' estrange in his aesop's fables , uses the word providence frequently for the government of the world by the deity ; but no otherwise that i remember . and more particularly in the 187 , and 211. pages , he makes the notion of fortune and providence distinct , and opposes the one to the other . this gentleman is well known to be a master of stile , and therefore i chuse to instance in him . mr. dryden another good judge in language , uses , providence in the same sense tho not upon so good an occasion . to conclude . the relapser himself shall come in evidence , and attack the vindicator for once . enter bull. bull , what providence orders , i submit to . nurse , and so do i , with all humility . coupler , why that now was spoke like good people . thus we see from bull 's religious character , from nurses solemn acquiescence , and from coupler's reflection , the relapser takes providence for divine appointment , and the pleasure of the first being . berinthia comes again ; and here the relapser has shown us what speed we may expect from him when he strikes out . this lady was worthy's procuress . to succeed in her business she tells amanda , he ( mr. worthy ) used you like a text , he took you all to pieces , but spoke so learnedly — one might see the spirit of the church was in him . now why does the vindicator deny his own words , and affirm the woman is not liken'd to a text in general ; or any other way ? he had much better drop the cause , than plead it thus untowardly . to return to the relapse . berinthia goes on in pulpit-phrase , and pursues her employment very intelligibly . at last she mentions . vse and application , and brings them up to the point of debauchery . by her talking you would think there was little difference between lewdness and religion . and that whoring and preaching , a church and a bawdy-house might be treated alike . this fine discourse the vindicator , out of his great modesty , calls an inoffensive simile , and says it abuses no body . berinthia concludes in blasphemy , and joyns the atheist and the procuress together . now consider ( says she ) what has been said , and heaven give you grace to put it in practise ; that is to take berinthias lewd counsel , to prostitute her virtue , and turn whore. these words would be always profane upon the stage , but the application of them here , is flamingly blasphemous . the vindicator's defence is remarkable . he grants these words are often used at the close of a sermon , and therefore perhaps might as well have been let alone . it seems the case is somewhat doubtful , he is not sure but that a man may as well blaspheme as let it alone ! one had need of patience to read this ▪ but st. michael did not rail upon the devil , and therefore i shall pass it over . his lame excuse from the character , and manner , i have disprov'd already . this berinthia has a very scandalous soliloquy ; she thanks heaven for her impudence , and is nauseously bold , and profane : which , besides the irreligion , is an odd way of treating her sex , and figure . we are now come to the abuse of the clergy . and here the vind●cato●'s method of purging himself is extraordinary . he runs a great length of satyr upon the rights and privileges of the clergy . i perceive the little justice i endeavoured to do that order , won't down with him . by his reasoning one would think the world strangely priest ridden , and all ages , countrys , and religions , extreamly to blame ! if you 'll take his word for 't , riches , plenty and power , are very improper things for a church-man . and yet this gentleman owns the institution of the clergy to be the most effectual means of promoting our happiness in thi● world , and the other . say you so ? then sure they ought to have a share in the common advantages . acknowledgment should always bear some proportion to obligation . where 's the gratitude , or even the justice of acting otherwise ? if riches and power are things desirable , why should not the clergy come in with the rest ; if they are not , why are they grudged them ? to put the priesthood under a disadvantage in the state , only for having god's commission , is an odd way of shewing our religion . 't is somewhat hard a man should be barr'd the conveniencies of this life , for helping his neighbours to a better . to proceed . are not the clergy of the same humane nature with other people ? have they not the same necessities for this world , and the same conscience and discretion to use it ? generally speaking , poverty does as ill with a priest , as with a poet. t is apt to sink the spirits , to make the mind grow anxious , and feeble in the discharge of function . if riches are so invincibly dangerous , why don 't the christian laity part with them , and like crates , throw their gold into the sea ? but does not this plea for the churches temporals , reflect on the author of christianity ; or as the vindicator too lightly expresses it , do●s it not suppose that christ and his apostles ▪ took the thing by the wrong handle ? by no means ▪ the case is not the same . the apostles had a power of working miracles , to hold up their character , and make way for their doctrine . they could cure diseases , and inflict them ▪ kill and make alive , punish and oblige in the highest manner . they had nature at their beck , and omnipotence about them . such credentials needed no other recommendation . such illustrious poverty out-shines imperial grandeur , and makes a cottage look nobler than a court. but this glorious assistance was le●● but for a few ages . when christianity was once established , and princes converted to the faith , the end of miracles went off , and the power was recalled . from this time the church was left in some measure to humane prudence , and civil policy . when the heavens were thus shut in ; and the other world withdrew , there was more occasion of recourse to this. now , temporal advantage , and secular support , grew much more seasonable , and the church was obliged to preserve her authority by some of the methods of civil governours . but the vindicator says , religion is not a cheat , and therefore has no need of trappings . a judge is no cheat neither . 't is well known he has a good commission . to what purpose then are all these formalities of the cour● ; all this expence in solemnity and retinue ? can't the old gentleman come like an vtopian syphogranta , with a wisp of grass upon a pole. away , crys the vindicator , with all this unnecessary state. why must the charge be given in furs and scarlet , when the law will operate every jot as well in leat●●● ? however , this gentleman will have it that an ambassador who comes with advantageous proposals , stands in no need of equipage to procure him respect . this project would save a great deal of money ? but there are few princes of his mind . what does the vindicator mean by all this good husbandry ? would he have an ambassador travel like a carrier with a port-mant●au behind him ? such equipage would represent strongly , and give a noble idea of his business . in short , as things stand , government of all kinds , requires somewhat of figure . appearance goes a great way in the expediting of affairs . naked reason won't always do . the generality must have their senses struck , and their imagination affected . thus authority is best refresh'd , and the ends of the institution secured . for this purpose miracles were wrought ; and when they cease , 't is proper to apply to the usual expedients . and now i shall venture to confront the first a●rticle of his heresy , as he calls it , with this truth , viz. that the shepherd who has least meat at home in his house , has most business : for indigence has a very working head ; and a man is always most full of care , when he does not know how to live : and for the same reason , he that has the best fortune , may be most at leisure , because he has others to manage his affairs . the vindicator in his 2 d. article discourses of sauce and sops , &c. but he has cook'd the allegory so oddly , that i know not well what to make on 't . if he reasons from the kitchin upon these subjects , he must talk by himself . his 3 d. article i have spoken to already , and am now to consider it farther . for the vindicator pretends , that piety , learning , charity and humility , would secure the clergy from neglect , much better than power , and revenue . upon a view of the whole , one and t'other will be found to do very well together . for 1 st . if piety and power are not to be reconcil'd , and a man must either throw up his fortune or his creed , the laity will be oblig'd to the same resignation . the inclosures of property and privilege must be broken down , and all things laid in common . but if 't is possible for a man to be pious with a penny in his pocket , the clergy i suppose may be so , with as little difficulty as their neighbours . then as for learning , poverty , and this advantage are inconsistent . as the world goes , there 's little knowledge to be had without money . a man may get honesty for nothing ; but if he will have any sense to 't more than ordinary , he must pay for 't . there are some few exceptions to this rule , but generally speaking , it holds true . to go on . charity is much better exercised with revenue , than without it . 't is true , a beggar may have as large a soul as a prince . but will without power , is neither so clear nor so serviceable . he that can go no farther than a good wish , is oftentimes only kind in his conscience , and a benefactor to himself . for where the heart is invisible , the obligation must be so too . but power brings secret goodness into light , and makes it appear unquestionable . and to come closer to the subject , i believe if the preacher could dine all the poor of the parish every sunday , his sermon would be more significant . his table would assist his pulpit , and his charity reinforce his reasoning . they 'd first come to him for the loaves , and then for the doctrine . and lastly , as for humility , i agree with the vindicator ; i think it most necessary ; and that no man can be a christian without it . but whether i have the same notion of this virtue with our author or not , i can't tell . to be humble , a man is bound not to be full of himself , or grow stiff upon any advantage , but give all the glory to god. he must be fair in conversation , not despise the least mortal , but rather stoop to oblige those upon lower ground . thus far without doubt all clergymen , and all christians are concern'd to be humble . but to be servile and sheepish to humour pride , and blow up conceit , this is quite another thing . there 's neither humility , discretion , nor so much as honesty , in such management . 't is little knavery , and parasitical meanness ; and church men , of all people , should stand clear of so uncreditable an imputation . now 't is this sort of humility the stage would put upon them . the vindicator and mr. congreve , are wonderfully for an humble clergy : and so are some of the proudest men i ever met with . if 't is said the clergy are bound to be exemplary , i willingly grant it . but example supposes other persons concern'd besides those who set it . if the clergy are to be examples , 't is because the ●●ity are bound to follow them : and in humility too , as well as in other duties . for if the teachers are bound to be humble , the he●●er● without question are under the same obligation . the argument might be press'd farther , but i rather chuse to leave it with the reader . and since we are on the subject of humility , the vindicator and mr. congreve would do well to think on 't . if as this gentleman observes , he who teaches piety and morality to the world , is a great benefactor to mankind : then by the rule of contraries , he who teaches immorality , must be as great a nusance . he who makes it his business to exterminate vertue , and conscience , and debauch both practice and principle , must needs be a misfortune to the age. unless they can clear themselves of this imputation , they ought to be wonderfully modest and unpretending . to be the author of irreparable mischief ▪ to destroy the innocence of life , the securities of government , and the expectations of the world to come , are powerful reasons for humility . those who in any measure lye under this charge , can hardly bend too low , or think themselves lesser than really they are . the vindicator would make us believe , that sir iohn brute's debauching in a gown , was no abuse of the clergy . that 's strange ! i take it the company were merry with the disguise . 't was the habit and function which made the scene diverting . the oaths and lewdness would not have made half the musick in a lay-character : and the constable's je●●s would have been but heavy upon another occasion . besides . sir iohn is made to abuse his pretended brethren , and the justice falls in general upon the order . and is it no disservice to be thus executed in effigie , and made a mad man by representation ? if a lewd person could steal his neighbour's shape , and then play all his pranks in 't , i suppose he would have no thanks for his pains . when the badge of a man's office which should give him credit , is shewn ridiculous , i fancy , he has reason to complain . if the vindicator is of another mind , let him practise the same liberty upon a iudge , or a lord mayor , and see how the jest will take . i observ'd upon the relapse , that bull the chaplain , wish'd the married couple joy , in language horribly smutty and profane . i confess , i could not go on with it . and what says the vindicator to this ? why he plucks up his spirits , and lays it all upon the board ; no body could have transcrib'd a foul passage more honestly . and now who would suspect the man to be otherwise than innocent ? thus some people when they are going to put a trick upon you , strip their arm bare , and pretend strongly to fair dealing . but here the matter was too gross for a cleanly conveyance . to argue this point any farther , would be an ill compliment to the reader , and therefore i shall pass it over . i charg'd the relapse , preface and play , with a great deal more scandalous abuse of the clergy ; but this the vindicator is pleas'd to overlook . and as to the irreligious part , he only says , 't is just as profane as the rest ; which though it may not come up to the merits of some passages , is character bad enough in all conscience . we are now advanc'd to a new chapter . and here the vindicator would fain know which way i make it appear , that constant is his model for a fine gentleman ; and that he is brought upon the stage for imitation . this demand is easily satisfyed . that he stands for a fine gentleman , is evident from his sense , his breeding , and his figure ? now these circumstances , with the fair treatment he meets with , make him a model for imitation . this consequence follows naturally from the advantage of his character . for most young people of any pretences , love to be counted fine gentlemen . and when vice has credit , as well as pleasure annext , the temptation is dangerously fortified . the vindicator tells the reader , that this honest dr. does not understand the nature of comedy , tho he made it his study so long . for the business of comedy is to shew people what they should do , by representing them doing what they should not do . nor is there any necessity to explain the moral to the audience . for all this liveliness , i 'm afraid this honest poet , neither understands comedy , nor himself , and that 's somewhat worse . not himself , because he contradicts what he wrote before . for in the beginning of his v●ndication he acquaints us how careful he was to explain the moral , for fear of misconstruction . yes ; for fear the boxes and pit should misinterpret him . but now the tale is quite turn'd , and there 's no need of a philosopher to unriddle the mystery . 2 ly . he mistakes the nature of comedy . this we may learn from ben. iohnson , who acquaints the vniversity , that he has imitated the conduct of the antients : in whose comedies the bawds , &c. yea and oft-times the masters too , are multed , and that fitly , it being the office of a comick poet to imitate iustice , and instruct to life . is it the office of a comick poet to imitate iustice , &c. then certainly rewards and punishments ought to be rightly apply'd : then a libertine ought to have some mark of disfavour set upon him , and be brought under discipline and disgrace . to say the business of comedy is to shew people what they should do , by representing them doing what they should not , is a pleasant way of arguing ! what is the stage to be read backwards , and construed by contradiction ? when they talk smut must we understand them in a sense of modesty ; and take all their profaneness for pious expression ? then by the same rule , when they say any thing that 's good , we must conclude they have a lewd meaning . this is an admirable compass to sail by ; such piloting must needs discover all the rocks and quick-sands in the voyage ! this undistinguishing method at the best , would be like pulling up the buoys , quitting the helm , and leaving the passengers to steer at their discretion . but as the poets manage the matter , 't is still more dangerous . for to shew a religious person ridiculous ; to give figure and success to an ill character , and make lewdness modi●● and entertaining , is the way to mi●mark the nature of good and evil , and confound the understandings of the audience ▪ 't is the way to hide the flaws in behaviour , to varnish the deformity , and make the blemishes look shining . the vindicator insists , that constant says nothing to justifie the life he leads , except , &c. what needs he ? he is sufficiently justified in his character and usage , and in not being punish'd . let 's have the rest . he does not justifie the life he leads , except where he 's pleading with lady brute to debauch her , and s●re no body will suppose him there to be speaking much of his mind . why not ? does a man who argues against conscience , and talks like an athe●st , never speak his mind ? if a libertine pleads in his own defence , why must he not be suppos'd to be in earnest ? besides , how could constant expect to carry the cause , unless the colours look'd fair , and the reasoning probable ? to give this spark his due , he makes the most of his matters . he endeavours to inform the lady , that virtue consists in goodness and p●●y , not in snarling straitlaced chastity . that honour is a phantome , and that the importance of ●t lies in the custom of the country , not in the nat●●e of the thing ; and pretends precedents for a contrary practice . in short , hobs and spinos● could scarcely have said more for him . this is admirable instruction ! and lady brut● for all the shrewdness of her answers , confesses her self puzzl'd , and suffers the intrigue to go on . in a word , if the young ladies ( the vindicator takes such care of ) have nothing but this d●●logue for their security , i should think them in a dangerous condition . and here i can't but take notice how the vindicator contradicts himself again . he makes the lady turn p●ilosopher , and gives an interpreter to the poppet-show . i tax'd his bellinda for confessing her inclination to a gallant . for this he calls me an unfair adversary , as if i had misreported him , adding withall , that bellinda only says , if her pride should make her marry a man she hated , her virtue would be in danger from the man she lov'd . his play will soon decide this controversy , and shew on which side the unfairness lies . bellinda's words are these : bellind . to lady brute . o' my conscience were it not for your affair in the ballance , i should go n●ar to pick up some odious man of quality yet , and only take poor heartfree for a gallant . this very bellinda a little before advises lady brute to surrender her virtue to constant. the lady requites her in a suitable encouragement . lady br. if you did commit fornication child , 't wou'd be but a good friendly part , if 't were only to keep me in countenance whilst i commit — so it seems , she must turn whore out of good breeding . these two ladies , in a private dialogue , where we must suppose their hearts are open , are extreamly instructive and civil to their sex ! lady brute informs her neece , that the men are most of them atheists , and believe the women to be no better ; that by a woman of reputation , is meant no more than a woman of discretion . to this accusation the lady pleads guilty , and confesses , that want o● inclination seldom protects any of her sex. and as for fear , 't is too weak a restraint to hold them long . and were it not for their cowardise , they would likewise venture upon all the masculine vices of fighting , swearing , blaspheming , &c. here you have the secrets of the cabinet , and truth and ceremony in abundance . this author in his vindication courts the sex in his own person . with all due respects ( says he ) to the ladies , a bishoprick may prove as weighty a reward , as a wife , or a mistress either . it seems then in the scale of this civil gradation , a mistress , that is a strumpet , is a weightier reward than a wife . truly i think the vindicator pays his respects to the ladies in this place , almost as untowardly as he did to the devil before . to conclude with the provok'd wife . the men of figure in this play , ( excepting the justice , who makes but a short enter ) are profess'd libertines , and pass off without censure or disappointment . i grant sir iohn's character has some strokes of discouragement , but he 's made pretty easy at last , and brought to no pennance . the women have some of the same inclinations ; and the same good luck with them . 't is true lady fancifull miscarries in her design ; has her disguise pull'd off , and falls under some confusion . but then we are to take notice , that this lady was the most modest of the company . what e're her thoughts were , she has the discretion to keep them in reserve . this squeamishn●ss , 't is possible , drew down the severity of the poet. had she been as bad as the rest , she might have fared better . but it seems , a pretence to virtue is an unsufferable boldness ; and she must be punish'd in terrorem to her sex. this sort of management puts me in mind of mr. dennis's ingenuity . he frankly confesses lewdness promoted by the stage . this is clear dealing : and i suppose , the main reason of his saying that the play-house contributes so much to the happiness of the nation . we are now come forward to the remarks upon the relapse . and here the vindicator does as good as confess he has made many foolish mistakes in his play. and by a peculiar happiness in his understanding , seems both sensible , and satisfied with it . the vindicator pretends much to morals and instruction about loveless and amanda ; but can't forbear running upon the old haunt . for after having made himself merry with a venison pasty and a tankerd of ale ; he falls a quoting the lords-prayer about his play , and in different characters , to make us sensible of his devotion . he goes on in the relation of his fable , quotes lead us not into temptation once again ; and says , loveless had no farther occasion for that petition . i wish the poet is not of loveless's opinion . his making bold with so solemn a sentence upon so light a subject , is somewhat to be suspected . he informs us that loveless and amanda's virtue was built upon a rock , and raised upon the utmost strength of foundation , and had religion , &c. to defend it . and yet this pious couple are for mahomets paradise , and wish for immortal sensualities . he would make loveless and amanda the chief characters by the importance of the design . the importance of his play is diversion ; and to gain this he has broke through the rules of the drama . but let his private design be what it will , i still say , young fashion , lord foppington , and their party , make the principal figure in the play : the plot , the fortune , and the conclusion , the greatest part of the play , and of the persons too is on their side . as for poor loveless he sinks in the middle of the fourth act , and you may go look him . here the vindicat●r could not find in his heart to quote fair ; however , he makes a shift to say that if the play had sunk in the fourth act too , it had been better than 't is by just twenty per cent. if he does not mean pounds , i agree with him , so far as to own that if it had sunk in the third act it had been more valuable . for some entertainments like dirty way , are always the better for being short . however , does not this confession prove the truth of my remarks , and that loveless was a character of inferiour consideration ? does the main concern use to die so long before the epilogue , and the cheif person go off when about a third of the play is remaining ? the vindicator gives a home thrust at parting , but his weapon like scaramouchy's is made of a rush. he complains mightily of unfair dealing , and pretends i have ridiculed the morality of the scene between worthy and amanda . thus he endeavours to cast a mist before the reader , but a man must have bad eyes not to see through it : for in this reflection upon worthy , i was not examining the moral , but the dramatick virtues of his play. this was so plain that 't was impossible for the vindicator to overlook it . i say my remarks in this place were only upon the manners in a poetick sense . my business here was to shew the inconsistency of worthy's character , and the unlikelyhood of his reformation , indeed what can be more improbable than so suddain a change in behaviour ? this spark immediately before his lecture of philosophy had told amanda that sin no more was a task too hard for mortals . this by the way , is a bold contradiction of our saviour , 't is impious in the assertion , and lewd in the appliplication ; so few words can hardly be charged with more profaneness . here the relapser calls the sense of the scripture in question , charges the text with untruth , and does that which by his own confession amounts to burlesque . to return to worthy , what can be more improbable than that so profane and finished a debauchee , so weak in principle , and so violent in passion , should run from one extream to another ? should break through custom , and metamorphose desire at so short a warning ? to solicit to rudeness , and talk sentences and morality , to be pious and profane in the same breath must be very extraordinary . to be all pleasure and mortification so just together , a mad-man one minute and a hermit the next , is one would think somewhat forced , and unnatural : it looks at best but like the grimace of a disappointment , the foxes virtue when the grapes were above his reach . to make a libertine talk like plato , or socrates , is philosophy misplac'd , 't is good advice , but out of character ; the soil and the plant , the man and the morals won't agree . thus it appears the blot he makes so much a noise with , lies in his own tables ; whether i have hit it , or not , the reader must judge . i am glad to hear him talk of his grave : 't was a seasonable thought , and i heartily wish it its due improvement ; such a consequence wou'd be of great service , both to himself and the publick . for then , i am well assured , he would neither write plays , nor defend them , at the rate he has done . i have nothing farther with the vindicator ; but before i conclude , i shall speak to one objection proposed by the defender of dramatick poetry , and mr. dennis . these authors endeavour to justifie the theater from the silence of the scriptures . the word of god ( say they ) has no where condemned plays , the apostles who were particular in other cases , have given the stage no reprimand , nor christians any warning against it : and which is more , st. paul makes no difficulty in citing menander a comick poet , which he would not have done unless he had approved both the author and his business too . this is the sum of what they offer . now the plea of st. paul's citing menander , is extreamly slender . every foreign sentence in scripture is not commended by the bare mention . the devil's maxim of skin for skin , &c. is set down , but not for our imitation . i grant this verse of menander is moral , and sententious ; and without doubt st. paul cited it to put the christians upon their guard , and that they might be asham'd to fall short of the instructions of the heathens . but to infer that st. paul approved all that menander had written , and that the apostle recommended plays to the corinthians : to conclude all this from one single line of quotation , is prodigious consequence . this latitude would justifie the stage to purpose , and make the lewdest authors pass muster . there being few books so entirely vitious as not to afford an inoffensive and significant period . i don't speak this with application to menander , for as plutrarch observes , he was with respect to aristophanes , a very modest poet. besides this very quotation that evil communication corrupts good manners , disserves the purpose 't was brought for . 't is a sharp rebuke of the licentiousness of our stage , and a plain discountenance of so scandalous a diversion . to proceed with the objection . i affirm that plays are plainly condemned in scripture upon two accounts . i say they are clearly condemned , tho not by express prohibition ; yet by principle and consequence , which is the same thing . 1. they are condemned upon the score of idolatry ; they were parts of pagan worship , and under that notion unlawful to christians . but this reason expiring in a great measure with the heathen religion , i shall insist on it no farther . however it proves thus much , that the unlawfulness of every liberty is not particularly mark'd in scripture . for in the apostles time , mr. dennis allows plays were idolatrous and unlawful ; and yet we see the holy text does not declare against the theater by name . 2. the stage , ( particularly the english one ) is condemned in scripture upon the score of smut and profaneness ; upon the account of the danger and indecency of such liberties . we are strictly commanded in scripture not to swear at all , to put away all blasphemy and filthy communication out of our mouth ; to serve god with reverence , to be sober and vigilant . to pass the time of our sojourning here in fear , and abstain from all appearance of evil. and in a word , to have no pleasure in scandalous practices , no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness , but rather reprove them . here 's evidence enough in all reason , these admonitions are full against our stage . not one play in forty can stand the test of so much as one single text. bring the theater but to the bible , and the idol is presently discovered , and falls like dagon before the ark. this argument from the silence of our saviour and his apostles is answered at large by the bishop of meaux in his late book against the stage . which being so much to the purpose , i shall translate it for the reader . those ( says he ) who would draw any advantage from this silence may by the same reason defend the barbarities of the gladiators , and other abominable spectacles , which are all unmentioned in scripture , no less than plays . the holy fathers who have dealt with this objection , will furnish us with matter for a reply , we say then , that all engaging representations which excite , and fortifie unlawful desires , are condemned in scripture , together with the vices they tend to . for the purpose , lewd pictures are censured by all those passages which declare in general against immodesty ; and the same may be said of dramatick representations . st. iohn has comprehended the whole of this subject in the following injunction . love not the world , neither the things that are in the world : if any man love the world , the love of the father is not in him . for all that is in the world , is the lust of the flesh , and the lust of the eyes , and the pride of life , which lust or concupiscence , is not of the father , but of the world. now if these things , and inclinations , are not of god , the moving representations , and charming images of them ▪ are not of him neither , but of the world ; and by consequence christians have nothing to do with them . st. paul likewise has summ'd up the argument in these words . finally my brethren , whatsoever things are true , whatsoever things are honest , whatsoever things are just , whatsoever things are pure , ( or according to the greek whatsoever things are chast ) whatsoever things are lovely , whatsoever things are of good report ; if there be any virtue , or if there be any praise , think on these things . as if he had said , whatever hinders you from thinking on these things , and possesses you with contrary amusements , ought not to be entertained as a pleasure , but suspected as dangerous . in this beautiful collection of thoughts which st. paul recommends to a christian , there 's no finding a place for the modern theaater , how much soever it may be in the favour of some secular people . farther , the silence of our saviour upon the argument of plays , puts me in mind that he had no occasion to mention them to the house of israel , to which he was sent , these diversions being never admitted in that nation . the iews had no shews to entertain them but their feasts , their sacrifices , and their holy ceremonies . they were form'd by their constitution to a plain and natural way of living ; they knew nothing of these fancies and inventions of greece : so that to the praises which balaam gives them , that there is no ench●ntment in iacob , nor divination in israel ; we may likewise add , there was no theater among them ; nothing of these dangerous amusements to be met with . this innocent undeba●ch'd people , took their recreations at home , and made their children their diversion . thus after their labours in the fields , and the fatigues of their domestick affairs ; they reliev'd their spirits , as their patriarchs had done before them . indeed if we consider the matter rightly , there 's no need of making a business of pleasure : nature is easily refresh'd without this expence and curiosity . the apostle's saying nothing expresly on this subject may possibly be resolv'd into the reason abovemention'd . these holy men being bred to the plain gust of their forefathers , might not think themselves concern'd to write directly against those practices with which their nation was unacquainted : 't was sufficient for them to lay down principles by which such liberties were discountenanced : the christians were well satisfied their religion was founded on the jewish , and that the church never allow'd of those diversions which were banish'd the synagogue . but let the matter be how it will , this precedent of the jews reaches home to the professors of christianity . it being a shame that the spiritual israel should indulge their senses in those pleasures , which the carnal people knew nothing of . before i dismiss the reader , i 'le just give him a taste of mr. dennis's skill and modesty in answering a testimony . i cited plutarch to shew the opinion of the athenians concerning plays : this people ( says he ) thought comedy so unreputable a performance , that they made a law that no judge of the areopagus should make one . here mr. dennis replies very roundly , this citation is absolutely false . right ! 't is false in the latin , but 't is true in the greek . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . de glor. athen. p. 348. besides , the latin makes more against him . for by that the law says , that no man whatsoever should write any comedys ; which is a higher censure than the other . i hope , for the future mr. dennis won't confide so much in a translation ; especially when it sits harder than the original . his remark from aristotle's treatise of poetry is another mistake ; and i think not at all to his advantage : but to set him in his way , this philosopher does not say that comedy was very much discourag'd at first , nor very little neither . this point was not argued : he only affirms , that it was a great while before the chorus was furnish'd out by the government . i should now go on with mr. dennis , and ●●ew his attempt on my other authorities as unsuccessful as this upon plutarch ; but having some business at present , i shall wave it till a farther opportunity . one word with the vindicator of the stage , and i have done . this gentleman appear'd early in the cause , and has given me very little trouble , and therefore 't would hardly be civil not to dispatch him at the first hearing . he pretends i mistake in translating saecularia spectacula , stage plays . to this i answer , first , that i only affirm'd the stage was manifestly comprehended under saecularia spectacula : and that it is so , will follow from his own assertion . for if the ludi saeculares , and saecularia spectacula were the same , 't is well known that stage plays were part of the ludi saeculares ; all the theaters being frequented at those publick solemnities . secondly , the third council of carthage by me cited , can't possibly mean the secular plays by saecularia spectacula : for this council was held anno 397. fourscore years and better after the conversion of constantine . now these ludi saeculares were idolatrous , both in the practice and institution , and never celebrated after the empire became christian : the last time we hear of them was in the reign of the emperor philip , anno 248. which was 149 years before the convening of this council . thirdly , saeculum and saecularis , in the language of the fathers , relates to the unconverted world , in contradistinction to the church . thus typhus saecularis in the life of arnobius , signifies heathen pride ▪ 〈…〉 council interprets it self by calling these saec●laria spectacula , pagan entertainments . i almost wonder the stage-vindicator could cite the words and mistake the sense . what this author may have farther , requiring consideration , he may find in my reply to mr. congr●ve , and the relapser , and thither i refer him . finis . a short view of the profaneness and immorality of the english stage , &c. essays upon several moral subj●●●●● both by mr. celller . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a33903-e570 amend . p. 5. amend . p. 6. p. 7. p. 12. ibid. ibid. p. 7. lib. de poet. cap. 4. in not . ad lib. arist. de poet. cap. ● . scali● poet. lib. 1. c. 6. amend . p. 8. vit. eurip. ed. cant. see view , &c. p. 159.160 . amend . p. 8. ephes. 5.3 , 4. colos. 3.8 . p. 8. view , &c. cap. 4. p. xx. amend . p. 11. pref. to ●resnoy . p. xxi . pref. p. xx. book . p. 56. ibid. p. xxi . amend . p. 11. old batch . p. 39.49 . love for love. p. 59.61 . double dealer . p. 18 , &c. p. 9.10 . view . p. 96. amend . ● 7. p. 12. p. 12 , 13. p. 16. congr . p. 17 ibid. ibid. view . p. 12 , 175 amend . p. 19. de. art. poet. ● . ●● . double dealer . amend . p. 27. view , & ● . p. 175. p. 22.29 . critique de escole des femmes . p. 286 , 287. view , &c. p. 245. l'impromptu . &c. p. 15.31 . & alib . furetiere . view , &c. p. 175. double dealer p. 79. amend . p. 22. amend . p. 23. m. bride , p. 36. amend . p. 24. ibid. m. bride p. 36. amend . p. 25. p. 26. athan●s . creed . ibid. m. bride p. 8 , 9 , 29 , 41 , 48. st. mat. 5.34 . xxiii . 22. p. 36. amend . p. 24. mourn . b. p 19. p. 20. mourn . b. p. 26. amend . p. 30. p. 35. amend . p. 27. amend . p. 44. view , & p. 34. amend . 29. view , &c. p. 33 , 34. amend . p. 30 , 31. aristotle's rhet. l. 3. c. 2. amend . p. 34. 〈◊〉 1. pet. 2.2 . ibid. amend . p. 36. amend . p. 38. ibid. p. 39. ibid. p. 40. p. 40 , 41. p. 34. p. 41. o. batch . p. 39. view , &c. p. 63. amend . p. 41. o. batch . p. 39 , 40. old batch . p. 49. amend . p. 42. o. batch . p. 48. ib. p. 48. absal . & achit . p. 1. p. 27. view , &c. p. 64. amend . p. 42. old batch . p. 48. amend . p. 43. double d. p. 34 d. dealer . p. 7 , 16 , 78. amend . p. 44 , 45. 2 kings 9.20 . amend . p. 45. de art. poet. d. d●aler p. 19. p. 47. d. dealer . p. 18. amend . p. 47. athen oxoniens . vol. 1. p. 519. s. ambro. ibid. p. 49. love for l. p. 75. amend . p. 50. amend . p. 50. amend . p. 51. psal. 139. v. 13. love for l. p. 25. p. 44. amend . p. 52. 1. kings 3. 5 , 12. pined . lib. 3. cap. 8. p. 142 , 147. ed. mogunt . lib. 3. c. 18. ibid. lib. 3 c. 10. lov. for l. p. 44. amend . p. 52. lov for l. p 44. amend . 54. judges 16.30 . love for love , p. 74. ed. 3 d. amend . p. 55. amend . p. 41. amend . p. 56. love for love , p. 57 , 58 , 63. love for l. p ▪ 7.23 , 24 , 83. ed. 3d. ioh. 4.6 , 17 , viii . 32 xvii . 17 , 18 xviii . 18 , 31. joh. 14.6 . love for l p. 57. ed. 3 joh. 16.13 p. 62.55 . l. for lo. 2d . & 3d. amend . p. 57. view , &c. p. 102. old batch . p. 19 , 20. view &c. p. 102. amend . p. 58. amend . p. 76. p ▪ 59. view ▪ &c. p. 127. amend . p. 61. ibid. amend . p. 61. amend . p. 62. amend . p. 63. ibid. ibid. see view , p. 122. amend . p. 67. amend . p. 64. ib. p 66. p. 71. ibid. see view , &c. ch. 3. amend . p. 71.72 . vid. st. august . de. civ . dei. plin. pan dio. jul. capitol . hist. august . p. 27. tacit . annal. vid. serres hist. gosson . p. 73. ibid. amend . p. 74. heb. 13.17 . ibid. sleidan . comment . view ▪ &c. p. 13● . p. 75. view , &c. p. 124. p. 125. amend . p. 74. p. 77. view , &c. p. 122. view , &c. p ▪ 82. p. 84. view , &c. p. 142. amend ▪ p. 88. lo. for lo. p. 8.16 . view , &c. p. 142. p. 41 , 35. amend . p. 90 , 92. p. 92. see view , &c. p. 1●5 , 170 , 171 , 172. amend . p. 91. p. 103. psal. 1.1 , 2. p. 105. ibid. view , &c. p. 276. d●inc . amend . p. 105. p. 106 , 1●7 st. aug. de civ . dei. lib. 1. cap. 31. cap ▪ 33. dacier remarq . sur l' art poetique vol. 10. p. 238. ibid. vo● . ●0 . p. 37. see goss.'s school of abuse . apol. of the school of abuse , p. 88 , 89. p 108. p. 10● . ibid. p. 109. ibid. p. 84. echard's reasons of the con. of the clergy . ibid. see view , &c p. 225. relapse , p. 64. view , &c. p. 27. view , &c. p. 130. p. 11. p. 3.79 . m. bride , p. 24 , 64 , 61 , 57 , 14. p. 8. p. 7. ibid. p. 21. p. 23 , 24. p. 4● . amend . p. 28. p. 63. p. 62. p. 62. p. 37. view , &c. p. 24 , 25. l. for l. lov. triumph . p. 73. notes for div a33903-e19450 vindic. p. 7. view , &c. p. 221. relapse p. 60 , 62 , 63 ▪ ibid. view , &c. p. 219 , 220. relapse , p. 47 , 51 , 73 , 74. p. 41. vind. p. 11 vind. p. 11 view , &c. p. 96. an. cong . vid. 3d. post. p. 10. relapse p. 7 , 9 , 11 , 13 , 28 , 32 , 33 , 43 , 44 , 55 , 61 , 62 , 65 , 66 , 74 , 75 , 77 , 78 , 81 , 87 , 101 , 102 , 103 , 105. pro. wife . p. 20 , 27 , 36 , 37 , 39 , 76. relapse p. 44. p. 13. view , &c. ch. 2. see 4th . postul . p. 14. vind. p. 76 relapse p. 97. p. 21. p. 77. view , &c. p. 77. p. 14 , 15 vind. p. 15 ibid. p. 16. relapse . p. 32 , 33. view , &c. p. 78. p. 16 , 17. relapse p. 32 , 33. view , &c. p. 223. view p. 96 answ. to congoeve . p. 17. view , &c. p. 210 , 211. p. 18. ibid. relapse , p. 64. p. 18 , 19. see pref. relapse . view , &c. p. 79 , 219. p. 19. relapse , p. 96. p. 20. ibid. ibid. vind. p 22 view , &c. p. 80. p. 23. relapse , p. 91. vind. p. 23 relapse . ibid. pro. -wife p. 3. view , &c. p. 83. vind. p. 23 p. 24. pro. wife . p. 4. view , &c. p. 83. s. mat. 5. ibid. pro. wife . p. 4. ibid. relapse p. 1● . view , &c. p. 84. cic. de. nat. deor. lib. 1. p. 4670 , 4671 lib. 2. p. 4732 , 4764. ed. du. pays . p. 68 , 78. & alib . don seba. p. 51. mock ast. p. 36. relapse p. 97. vind. p. 26 relapse p. 69. vind. p. 26 relapse ibid. view , &c. p. 84. p. 27. st. jude . relapse p. 49. p. 30. ibid. vind. p. 30 , 31. acts 3.8 . & 5.5 , 10. & 28.8 . 1 cor. 5 ▪ 5. p 39. moor's utop . ibid. vind. p. 31 p. 32. p. 38 , 39. congr . amend . prov. wif. p. 45 , 46 , 51 , 52. view , &c. 180. pro. wife , 45 , 51. view , &c. 109. relap . 74. page 35. view , &c. 109 , 110 , 232. page 35. page 44. page 45. vind. p. 9. page 45. fox ep. ded. see view , &c. 151 , 153 , 164. vind. p. 46 page 47. pro. wife , page 34. ibid. pro. wife , 35. vind. p. 47 vind. p. 45 47. view , &c. 146. page 47. vind. p. 48 prov. wif. q. 64. prov. wif. p. 45. ibid. prov. wif. p. 65. vind. p. 44 45. prov. wif. p. 76 , 77. vind. p. 56 57. p. 61. p. 65. p. 65 , 69. rel●pse p. 2 , 3. p. 71. vind. p. 60 p. 72. p. 73 , 74. view &c p. 2●8 , 226 , 2●7 . relapse p. 100. joh. 8.11 . vind. p. 14 p. 73 , 74. p. 78. defence of dramat . poetry p. 40 , 43 , 55 , 56. the usefulness of the stage , p. 138 , 139. &c. job 2.4 . p. 140 , 142. st. mat. 5. james 5. ephes. 5. collos. 3. heb. 12. 1 pet. 1. 1 pet. 5. 1 thes. 5. rom. 1.32 eph. 5.11 . 1 sam. 5.3 . maximes & reflections sur la comedie p. 71 , &c. 1 jo. 2.15 . phil. 4.8 . numb . xxiii . 23. plut. de glo. atheniens . view , &c. p. 240. dennis , p. 85. dennis , p. 86. arist. lib. de poet. cap. 5. vindic. p. 22 , 23. view , &c. p. 250. rosin . schott . p. 757. enseb. in chron. view , p. 250. maxims and reflections upon plays (in answer to a discourse, of the lawfullness and vnlawfullness of plays. printed before a late play entituled, beauty in distress.) written in french by the bp. of meaux. and now made english. the preface by another hand. maximes et réflexions sur la comédie. english. bossuet, jacques bénigne, 1627-1704. 1699 approx. 221 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 79 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-09 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a28844 wing b3786 estc r202902 99825198 99825198 29575 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a28844) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 29575) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 2144:5) maxims and reflections upon plays (in answer to a discourse, of the lawfullness and vnlawfullness of plays. printed before a late play entituled, beauty in distress.) written in french by the bp. of meaux. and now made english. the preface by another hand. maximes et réflexions sur la comédie. english. bossuet, jacques bénigne, 1627-1704. collier, jeremy, 1650-1726. [16], 127, 112-118, [2] p. printed for r. sare, at grays-inn gate, in holborne, london : 1699. text and register are continuous despite pagination. a translation of: bossuet, jacques bénigne. maximes et réflexions sur la comédie. occasioned by lettre d'un théologien consulté par l'auteur pour savoir si la comédie puet être permise, which has been attributed to francesco caffaro. with a table of contents and a final advertisement leaf. reproduction of the original in the british library. augustan reprint society: preface only. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng caffaro, francesco, ca. 1650-1720. -lettre d'un théologien consulté par l'auteur pour savoir si la comédie puet être permise. theater -religious aspects -early works to 1800. theator -moral and ethical aspects -early works to 1800. theater -france -history -17th century -early works to 1800. 2003-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-06 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2003-07 rina kor sampled and proofread 2003-07 rina kor text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-08 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion maxims and reflections upon plays . ( in answer to a discourse , of the lawfullness and unlawfullness of plays . printed before a late play entituled , beauty in distress . ) written in french by the bp. of meaux . and now made english . the preface by another hand . london , printed for r. sare , at grays-inn gate , in holborne . 1699. the preface the charge drawn up by mr. collier , against the english stage hath obliged the persons concerned in it , to use all possible methods for their own vindication . but their endeavours of this kind have been such as seem to have done no great service to their cause . the natural reflection , arising upon the present state of the controversy , is , that , when persons so nearly concerned and so well qualified , to say all that the case will bear , have yet been able to say so little to the main points of the accusation brought . against them , the only effectual reply would be either to write no more for the stage , or to write for it after quite another manner , than of late hath been done . they that have attempted to answer the view are in good hands already . but sin●…e other succours are called in from abroad , 't is fit the world should know , that this reserve too hath been already defeated in it's own countrey . and that we ought not to be imposed upon here in england , with an adversary , whose arguments have been not only confuted and scorned by others , but also retracted by him●…elf , at home . that moroseness of humour , which some in great good manners have of late been pleased to fix upon the english as their peculiar character , might possiby be thought to dispose us to a blameable extreme of rigor in these matters . and therefore a forreign authority was artificially enough brought in , to reproach our pretended niceness and austerity . but when the arguments of this reply are observed to carry the point as high , as even the so much upbraided view it self ; all but the willfully blind must see , that even the gayeties of france could not endure the corruptions of the modern theatres . and that the complaints against such detestable abuses are not due to any quality of the climate , or particular turn o●… temper ; but to the common and uniform principles of christianity and virtue , which are the same in every nation , professing to be governed by them . to give that discourse a better face , it is introduced by way of letter from a worthy divine ▪ of the church of england ; and published before a late play called beauty in distress . t is said to be approved , and recommended by that reverend person , for the satisfying some scruples , whether a man may lawfully write for the stage . for a full resolution whereof the doubting poet is referred to this discourse , as that which is presumed to come fully up to his purpose . but we are not told , whether the divine or the poet , or who else was the translator of this discourse : or whether that worthy friend perused it in french , or in english only . which yet in the present case are material circumstances , and such as ought not to have been concealed , for two reasons particularly , which i hold my self obliged to give the reader intimation of . the first is , that the following reply produces and answers some passages of the french discourse , not to be found in the english. and these not only expressions or single sentences , but entire arguments . such is that of plays being a diversion suitable to the design of instituting the sabbath . such again that which justufies the acting them the whole lent throughout . now this manner of dealing is not exactly agreable with that impartiality and freedom promised in the beginning of the worthy divines letter . and therefore i can very hardly be perswaded , that one of that character and function , had the forming of the discourse , in the manner it now appears before mr. m`s . play. the other reason , why i suspect the discourse not to be translated , or indeed so throughly approved , by a divine of the church of england , is , that , even in what does appear there , he speaks very favourably of acting plays upon sundays . now admitting , that all the profession are not such sowr criticks as mr. collier , yet this is a liberty , which i do not remember to have heard , that any modern divines of that church allow . and whatever the poet's friend may be in his esteem , i shrewdly suspect , that ▪ he would hardly pass for a very worthy divine , who should so far countenance these diversions , as to let them into a share of that holyday , dedicated to the worship and more immediate service of almighty god. one would not hastily question testimonies in matters of fact , where there appears any probable arguments to support them . and therefore i am far from objecting against the knowledge and integrity of the booksellers called in to vouch for that letter , but withall i must beg leave to think it strange , that a person of learning and character should so incautiously espouse a discourse , and recommend it for the direction of a gentleman's conscience , who consulted him for advice ; the reasoning whereof is not only so weak and superficiall , but grounded upon misconstruction in some , and misrepresentation in other authorities cited by it . methinks these ought to have been well examined , before a man had so perfectly gone in to the consequences drawn from them : such of them at least as are exceeding obvious , and might have been detected by recurring to books , which almost every divine hath ready at hand . in this translated reply the reader will not have cause to complain of such neglect . the passages out of thom : aquinas , st. jerom , and some others , have been diligently compared , and the originals faithfully inserted in most material points . and i cannot but wish , that this book , extant at paris ever since 1694 , had fallen into the hands of this doubting gentleman , instead of that discourse , which it was intended to confute : that neither the translator , nor his friend the worthy divine , might have given themselves the trouble of a vindication of plays ; so reproachfully treated , and so substantially answered , that one would wonder it should have the confidence to appear in english afterwards , to tempt the same scorn here , when followed cross the seas by the bishop of meaux . by some expressions , i confess one might be apt to think , that the author of the discourse was not perfecty known . but of that no reasonable doubt can remain , when we find the replyer to bave retracted : and submitted to the censure of the church , why the author expresses himself in terms so soft and general i undertake not to determine . he might in tenderness forbear his adversarys name ; he might be content to look upon him as an unwary publisher , rather than the writer ; and , after submission made , might charitably desire , as far as might be , to cover his reproach . it suffices , that the opinions in the book be confuted , and exposed to shame ; and when this is done in the punishment of the reputed author , the matter is not great , if the name from thenceforth be forgotten . if mons'r . caffaro had the hardiness to assert a tract so unworthy his character , his answerer would not add perhaps to the scandall , when that shame had been taken to himself , with a remorse becoming the fact. but be this how it will , censures , we know , are not inslicted upon indefinite some-bodies ; that such were inflicted , and a retractation made , the very first period is peremptory : and i hope the bp. of meaux , and his manner of writing , are at least as credible an evidence of this , as the booksellers can be allowed to be , of that letter being genuine , which refers mr. m's conscience to the discourse for satisfaction . i am heartily glad , if the plays written by that ingenious gentleman are so chast and inoffensive , as he declares them to be . the rather , because the success he mentions overthrows that frivolous pretence , of the poets lying under a necessity of writing lewdly in order to please the town . and if this gentleman do yet retain the same tenderness of doing nothing for gain or glory , which does not strictly become him : if he be still as desirous to be satisfied what does , or does not , become him to do , with regard to the matter in hand , as i ought to presume he was , when he consulted his friend , i would make it my request , that this reply may be seriously and impartially considered . and i cannot but hope , that it may disabuse him of the errours the discourse might lead him into , and i am much mistaken , if , upon these terms , he ever writes for the stage any more . prejudice and passion , vain glory and profit , not reason , and virtue , and the common good , seem but too plainly to support this practice , and the defence of it , as the matter is at present managed among us . and a person of mr. m's parts and attainments cannot be at a loss , for much nobler subjects to employ them upon . a popular one perhaps it may be , but sure a wilder suggestion , never was offered to men of common sense , than , that if the stage be damned , the art used by moses , and david , and solomon , must be no more . are we fallen into an age so incapable of distinguishing , that there should be no visible difference left between the excellencies and the abuse of any art ? no. mr : ●…ryden himself hath taught us better . we will have all due regard for the author of absalom and achitophel , and several other pieces of just renown , and should admire him for a rich vein of poetry , though he had never written a play in his whole life . nor shall we think our selves obliged to burn the translation of virgil by vertue of that sentence , which seems here to be pronounced upon that of the fourth book of lucretius the world , i suppose , are not all agreed , that there is but one sort of poetry ; and as far from allowing , that the dramatick , is that one. they who write after those divine , patterns of moses &c : will be no whit the less poets , though there were not a theatre left upon the face of the earth ; their honours will be more deserved , their laurells more verdant and lasting , when blemished . with none of those reproaches from others , or their own breasts , which are due to the corrupters of mankind , and such are all they , who soften men's abhorrence of vice , and cherish their dangerous passions . to tell us then , that all , even divine , poetry must be silenced and for ever lost , when the play-houses are once shut up , is to impose too grossely upon our understandings . and their sophistry bears hard , methinks , upon profaneness , which insinuates the hymns dictated by the holy spirit , of god , to be so nearly related to the modern compositions for the stage , that both must of necessity stand and fall together . if poetry have of late sunk in its credit , that misfortune is owing to the degenerate and mercenary pens , of some who have set up for the great masters of it . no man i presume , is for exterminating that noble art , no not even in the dramatick part ; provided it can be effectually reformed . but if the reformation of the stage be no longer practicable , reason good that the incurable evil should be cut off : if it be practicable , let the persons concerned give evidence of it to the world , by tempering their wit so , as to render it serviceable to virtuous purposes , without giving just offence to wise , and good men . for it is not the pretence of a good design which can free the undertakers from blame , unless the goodness of the end and intention be seconded with a ●…rudent management of the means . and if matters once should come to that extremity , better and much more becoming of the two , no doubt it were , that our maker's praises should be sunk into prose ( as this ingenious person phrases it ) than that in the midst of a christian city , that maker should be six days in seven publickly insulted and blasphemed in poetry . a table of the chapters . chap. i. the occasion and design of this little tract ; written in reference to a discourse , concerning the lawfullness and unlawfullness of plays . .1 chap. ii. the true state of this question what . 3. chap. iii. whether our modern plays be really so blameless , as the author of the discourse would make us believe . 4. chap. iv. whether it be true , that the representation of the pleasing passions excite the like in us , no otherwise than by accident only . 8. chap. v. whether the modern plays purify sen suall love , by making it at last conclude in , and tend to marriage , 17. chap. vi. what we ought to think of those play-house marriages . 24. chap. vii . the authors own words cited , and the advantage he makes of confessions . 26. chap. viii . the publick and private faults in plays . dangerous and imperceptible dispositions to vice. ; concupiscence cherished and diffused through all the senses . 27. chap. ix . that those who frequent plays ought to be afraid not only of the evil they do themselve , but the scandal which they give to others by this means . 37. chap. x. a difference to be made between the dangers we seek and run into and those which we cannot avoid . 39. chap. xi . whether the laws which tolerate plays are a good argument to be brought in vindication of them . 41. chap. xii . concerning the authority of the fathers . 44. chap. xiii . whether the laity can be excused in frequenting plays , upon this pretence , that the canons which prohibit it make mention of the clergy only . a memorable canon of the third council of tours . 52. chap. xiv . an answer to that objection , that some diversions are necessary for mankind . that such diversions , as proceed from a representation of the agreable passions , are disallowed by the philosophers themselves . the noble principles of plato . 53. chap. xv. the tragedy of the antients , though much more grave and serious than ours , condemned by the principles of that philosopher . 56. chap. xvi . comicall and ridiculing compositions disallowed by the principles of the same plato . 59. chap. xvii . that women were not suffered to appear upon the stage of the antients . 60. chap. xviii . aristotles opinion in this matter . 61. chap. xix . another principle of plato upon the same subject . 63. chap. xx. the scriptures silent in the matter of publick shews , and why , no such in use among the iews . 66. how they are condemned in the holy scripture . two passages of st. john and st. paul. chap. xxi . a reflexion upon the book of canticles and musick in churches . 71. chap. xxii . st. thomas aquinas his doctrine upon this occasion examined and explained . 72. chap. xxiii . the first and second reflection upon st. thomas his doctrine . 75. chap. xxiv . the third reflection upon st. thomas his doctrine . some passages out of this holy and eminent casuist concerning buffoonery . 77. chap. xxv . the fourth and fifth and sixth reflections . an express passage out of st. thomas in another part of his works ; and his opinions here reconciled with that formerly cited . 79. chap. xxvi . the opinion of st. antonine arch : bp. of florence examined . 85. chap. xxvii . the profanation of festivals and fasts , introduced by the author of the discourse , and his own words upon fastingdays produced against him . 88. chap. xxviii . the doctrin of the scriptures , and of the church , upon the subject of fasting . 89. chap. xxix . a fresh abuse of st. thomas his doctrine . 92 : chap. xxx . the profanation of the lords day . a strange explication of the precept for sanctifying days set apart for divine worship . 99. chap. xxxi . reflections upon that virtue , which aristotle and after him st. thomas , have termed eutrapelia , aristotle opposed by st. chrysostome , in a passage of his commentaries upon st. paul. 105. chap. xxxii . some passages taken from s. ambrose and st. jerom , upon discourses which provoke laughter . 110. chap. xxxiii . some passages of st , basil , upon the seriousness required in a christians conversation . 116. chap. xxxiv . the consequence of the foregoing doctrin . 120. chap. xxxv . the conclusion of this whole treatise . 122. maxims and reflections upon plays . i. that father , who is supposed to be the author of a late letter , or discourse in defence of plays , hath given publick satisfaction to the world ; by a recantation , as submissive as it was solemn . the authority of the church hath exerted it self upon this occasion . and , by her pious care , truth hath had right done it , sound doctrine is asserted and preserved ; and all that now remains necessary to be done , is to disabuse and inform the world , upon a subject which great pains have been taken to darken and perplex . the arguments made use of to this purpose are indeed in their own nature but weak and frivolous ; such as would deserve only to be despised ; if we might be allowed to despise any thing , which brings unwary and injudicious souls into hazard ; and such are these , because in their consequences apt to confound men of worldly minds , who are always disposed to be led easily into errour , by any thing that cherishes and flatters their inclinations . the authority of the holy fathers is here very laboriously eluded , and that of the schoolmen and casuists set up in opposition against it : and some crafty accommodations have been found out to bring these two seemingly contending parties upon amicable terms with one another ; as if plays in process of time were become more innocent , pure and inoffensive in our days , in comparison of what they were in theirs , who inveighed against them with such holy vehemence heretofore . the sacred names of st. thomas and other eminent lights in the church are produced in their vindication ; and even the confessions of penitents made to give testimony to the lawfullness and harmless effects of these diversions . the person concerned in this apology is a priest and a confessor , and he gives us his solemn word , that he is utterly ignorant of all those vices and evil consequences , which are charged upon plays , by some over-rigorous and morose divines . the force of publick censures , and the authority of rituals , are weakned and disparaged : and no artifice in short is omitted in this little tract , which so narrow a compass could be capable of . for as it's brevity would render it more generally read , so the composition is of that contrivance , which will qualify it admirably for imposing upon the reader , by putting a good face upon a bad cause . nothing farther could be requisite , to abuse the weak and ignorant ; and to give countenance to that infirmity of humane nature , which , without such advocates , is but too prone to indulge it self . upon these accounts some persons eminent for their piety and learning , and their station in the church , who are throughly acquainted with the dispositions of mankind , and well aware of the mischiefs , which may grow from thus patronizing them , have thought it may be a usefull and seasonable prevention , to return an answer to this discourse , by some short reflections , which besides the same advantage of brevity to recommend them to the readers perusall , may in all points be agreable to the great principles of religion . by the advice of these persons it is , that i suffer this little tract to come abroad , and make a small addition to the several discourses already published upon this subject . ii. the true stat of the question . to remove those powerfull prepoffessions , which so considerable an authority as that of thomas aquinas might infect mens minds withal , it may possibly be thought the properest course to begin this tract with discussing the severall passages produced in favour of plays from so eminent a casuist . but i rather choose to lead my reader to the truth by a shorter cut ; and , before i engage him in this examination , to lay down some plain principles , which will require neither niceness of judgment , nor laborious reading . for thus much is agreed on all hands , and no man indeed can pretend to deny it , that if st. thomas , and other holy persons have tolerated or allowed plays , it was no part of their intention , that such among these as are destructive of good manners should lay claime to any privilege or benefit , by such toleration , or be thought in any degree to be approved or protected by them . this is the point , to which we must keep our adversaries close , and i desire no fairer advantage to joyn issue upon , not doubting but upon this single concession i shall be able to overthrow all the pretensions of this apology . iii. now the first thing , which i find fault with upon this occasion , is , that one who calls himself a priest should have the confidence to affirm , that plays , such as are now acted , are such as he can see no fault in , nay that * they are at present so pure upon the french threatre , that there is nothing in them which can offend the chastest far. it seems then at this rate , that either all those impious and scandalous passages , in which the compositions of moliere abound , must be allowed for innocent and unblameable ; or else that these plays are not to be reckoned among the modern compositions . and all this , though he were an author , that dyed in a manner but the other day in publick view ; and who still continues to fill the stage , with the grossest and most nausious double-entendres that ever in any age poysoned the ears of christians . but by your leave , sir , priest or monk , or christian at least if you be , you cannot certainly be ignorant , that such infamous expressions as his , are included among those filthy things , which ought not so much as to be once named among the saints . and therefore you must not oblige me to repeat such passages , as cannot be spoken or heard without a breach of modesty . consider therefore , if you dare presume openly to avow , and espouse the cause of such compositions , as make it their constant practice and business to expose virtue and religion to scorn and contempt ; to excuse debauchery and make it pass for gallantry and humour ; where modesty is eternally o●… ended , and chastity in danger of being violated , by the boldest and most shame less attempts upon it . for what other construction can i reasonably put upon those impudent expressions , over which a vail perhaps is drawn , but such as is much too thin to cover their nakedness ? think again if you can reconcile it with the character of a priest , or in truth of any common christian , to vindicate and approve that vice and dissolutness , which the operas of quinault do even teach by rule , and advance as doctrine , by all those false softnesses and treacherous invitations to make use of time and youth , of which his poems are full . for my own part i must tell you , that i my self have seen that author very seriously lament those extravagances a hundred times . but now we are come to that pass , as even to countenance and defend what he thought just cause of repentance and deep remorse , when he came to a better sense of things , and began to think of his salvation in good earnest . and if the french theatre be so little liable to censure , as this discourse would perswade us , we must go farther yet , and think it allowable , that those sentiments which the corruption of our nature finds , so manifest and great danger from being flattered and upheld in , should receive yet more advantage of impressing themselves upon our souls , by that life and moving efficacy conveyed into them , from the musical airs and measures , which inspire nothing but effeminacy . if lully was a master in his art , he must have shewed it , as indeed he hath , by suting the airs and voices of his men and women singers to the words and genius of the poems they recite . and his compositions so much esteemed and sung in the world serve only to insinuate the most deceitfull passions , and render them as pleasing and as lively , as it is possible for all the witchcraft of musick to do . and these things , it is plain , would not enter so easily , nor stick so fast upon the memory , had they not first gained the outworks , and by taking possession of the ear made their way into the heart . it is to little or no purpose to reply upon this occasion , that the minds of the spectators are wholly intent upon the song and the show , without entring so far as the sense of the words , or being affected with the passions expressed by them . for this is the very point in which the danger lyes , that while men are charmed by the sweetness of the musick , or confounded by the surprising gayety of the scenes and action , these sentiments get within us before we are aware , and force a delight upon us , which we are not provided to withstand . now there is no need , god knows , of arming those inclinations with musick and voices , which by their own proper strength are but too well qualified , to make a conquest of our vertue . and if you will maintain , that the bare representation of the most agreable passions in the tragedies written by a corneille and a racine , brings modesty into no hazard ; i must be bold to say , that in so doing you take upon you to give the latter of these authors the lye. who now having betaken himself to noble studies and subjects more worthy his character , does not stick to renounce his berenice . and i have no other reason for mentioning this rather than the rest of his plays , but that it offered it self first to my thoughts . but while the poet is content to blush for his performances , and think them liable to censure ; you , sir , who pretend to the character of a priest , are labouring his relapse , and would fain reconcile him to his former errours . iv. whether the repre●…ntation of the passions move ●…em only by accident . you tell us farther that such representations of the passions that are agreable to us , and the words by which those passions are expressed in plays , do not excite them in us , except only by an indirect and very remote operation , casually and by accident ( as you are pleased to phrase it ) and not in reality and in the nature of the thing . but the matter is quite otherwise . for certainly nothing can be more direct , nothing is more essential , more natural to these composititions , than that which is the very end , and express design of the composers , the actors , and the audience . what , i beseech you , was the intention of corneille in his cid but to make the whole house in love with his chimene , that every man there should joyn with roderique in the adoration he pays her , that they should tremble , and sympathise with him when in fear of losing her ; and look upon themselves as happy as he did , when in hopes of enjoying his mistriss ? the very first and fundamentall principle of the drama , whether for tragedy or comedy , is to infuse into the audience the present dispositions of the stage ; to make each spectator a party in what is doing . and if either the poet or the player have not the skill to move and transport us with the passion he is labouring to express pray what becomes of him ? does he not presently grow flat and cold upon your hands , tedious and ridiculous ? this i am sure is the judgment of the great masters in this art ; so says horace . si. curat cor spectantis tetigisse querela , — — aut dormit abo aut ridebo , art poet. he that would have spectatators share his grief , must write not only well but movingly , and raise men's passions to what height he will , he only makes me sad who shows the way and first is sad himself : then ( telephus , ) i feel the weight of your calamities , and fancy all your miseries my own ; but if you act them ill , i sleep or laugh . ld. roscom . this and a great deal more you will find there to the same purpose . it is plain therefore , that , if the poet does not do this , he does nothing . that all his contrivance tends this way , and the very form and design of his great pains is , that we should be fashioned upon the modell he sets us in his hero ; that , like him , we should be smitten and charmed with beautifull faces , and adore them as if they were divinities upon earth ; in a word , that we should even be proud to sacrifice every thing to their pleasure and service , every thing except glory and fame , which hath sometimes the privilege of being reserved . but even this honour , as they have managed the matter , is at least as dangerous an object of our love , as even beauty it self . to talk then at the rate of this author , and pretend , with his discourse , that the stage excites those passions indirectly , and by accident only , which it is it 's main end and proper business to raise ; and in the succesfull moving whereof all the commendation of the poets and players skill consists , is to overthrow the first principles of the drama and to contradict all the rules of this art , and the unanimous voice of those masters , that have pretended to excell or give directions in it . it is yet farther all edged , and our author makes use of the same objection , in this matter , that even history it self , which is so grave and serious a method of instruction , makes use of such words , as express the passions ( even the bible it self not excepted ; ) and that this labours to represent things in its way , as lively and movingly as plays do , and endeavours that the reader should be affected , and think himself concerned in the good and evil actions described there : but what a gross mistake ( if not what perversness and sophistry rather ) is this , to set these two upon the same foot ; to make no difference between the art of representing ill actions so as to fill men with just horror and detestation of them ; and that of giving us such images of the agreable passions , as may recommend them to our tast and create a sensible delight in , and liking for them ? and , if even among histories , any of them have so far degenerated from the dignity of their character , as to pursue the same vile design with plays , in moving the dangerous and deceitfull passions ; who is so blind , or so partiall , as not to see and own , that these ought to be degraded from the title of histories , and reckoned among romances and such other trompery , as have been the great corruptors of mens morals and conversation ? if the thing plays aim at be not to cherish those , which men are pleased to call the soft and delicate passions , though the bottom of them be exceeding gross and foul ; i would be glad to know , what is the reason , that men find in themselves a greater disposition to be moved , and a more sensible pleasure from such expressions of them , at that age , when these passions naturally ride highest . for whence springs this delight if it be not ( as st. augustine observes ) from hence , that then , and there you see you even feel the exact resemblance , the incentives , the growth of your own passions , the matter they feed upon , and all the secret springs by which they are moved ? and what is all this , says the same good man , but a most deplorable disease of the mind , and an evidence how wretchedly our affections are depraved ? the actors , who appears to us transported upon such occasion are a glass in which we see our own faces ; each spectator presently turns an actor in the tragedy , and plays over his own passions , though insensible , and unseen : t is manifest he does , from hence ; because all the fiction and perso nating upon the stage is of it self cold and insipid , and never entertains us delightfully , till it have found within our selves some reality , which answers to that outward resemblance . this is the true account , why these pleasures are more languid and feeble as men grow farther into years , and betake themselves to a life of gravity and serious thoughts . we do not then receive the same impressions , except we take pains to transport our selves into these passions , by awakening remembrances of what we were in youth : that season of life , which is the most addicted to sense . and therefore , when old men are thus affected , it is because they industriously blow up the dormant sparks of that fire , which is very much abated and damped by time , though it be not quite gone out . if immodest paintings do naturally convey into the mind the filthy ideas of what they express , and for that reason are condemned , because no beholder can relish all that a masterly hand designed to express , without sharing in the temper and disposition of the painter , and imagining himself ( as it were ) in the postures he sees so drawn ; how much more vigorous must those impressions be , which the stage makes upon us , where every thing hath reall life and action ; where we have not to do with a dead pencill and dry colours , but with living persons , with reall eyes burning with love , or soft glances sunk and overwhelmed with passions ; with real tears in the actors which likewise draw tears from the spectators . in short , with such true motions and gestures , as kindle and scatter the same sentiments all around , and set the pit and boxes on fire . and yet after all this you have the confidence to tell us , that the theatre , which dayly produces such effects , does not move the passions naturally and industriously , but indirecty only and by chance . why do you not proceed farther yet ? for by the same reason you may pretend , that all those discourses , which have a direct tendency to kindle these flames ; that stir up young people to love , ( as if that age were not of it self sufficiently disposed to folly ) that make them envy the condition of birds and beasts , which have nothing to check or interrupt them in the pursuit and indulgence of their passions ; and bewail very sadly the importunate and troublesome restaints , which reason and shame put upon these gratifications of the sensual appetite ; why do you not i say , pretend that these and a hundred other things of the like nature , with which the stage rings loudly every day , excite the passions , by accident only ? when yet there is the most evident demonstration . that these things are purposely contrived and managed to move them ; that if they be defeated and miss of this end , the rules of art are broken and disappointed ; and both poet and the player have lost their labour . what , i beseech you , does an actor in effect , when he takes pains to play a passion naturally , but use his utmost endeavours to revive and reinforce those sentiments which he hath formerly felt , and from his own experience , found to be naturall ; such as , if he were truly a christian , he would long since have drowned in the tears of repentance , past the power of ever rising any more : or if they made any fresh attempt , they should not be remembred , but with horrour ? whereas now in order to the giving them a lively representation , , he must of necessity receive them with all their treacherous graces , and envenomed charms , and with great diligence work them up to such a pitch , as may scatter their poyson , and render them contagious to all the company . but to this it is answered , that though all this be allowed to appear upon the stage , yet it is all represented as a weakness . i allow the plea ; but desire him that urges it to answer me again , what sort of weakness it is there represented to be . is it not a weakness , which the theatres labour to dignify and recommend as something great and noble ? is it not such , as makes a part of their character of heroes and heroines ? is it not a weakness so nicely wrought , as even to be transformed into a virtue , such as is admired , and applauded ; such as is esteemed so essentiall to giving the world diversion , that no publick entertainment will go down without it ? but why do i say without it , when mens palates are so vitiated , as to tast nothing , not only where this is wanting , but where it does not govern in chief , and animate the whole action ? you may proceed in your own method , and tell us if you please , that all this pomp and preparation does not directly and in it's own nature feed the flames of sensuall desires ; or , that lust is not evil , and all that industry to cherish and inflame it hath nothing repugnant to decency and morality ; or , that the fire warms us indirectly and by chance only ; that while the softest and most moving expressions are nicely chosen , to represent the passions of a furious lover , all the warmth conveyed into the audience by his wicked desires is purely casuall ; you may tell us , that the modesty of a young virgin is offended and violated by accident ; by all those passages , wherein one of her own sex speaks of the conflicts she hath with inclination , where she confesses her virtue vanquished , and owns her defeat to the lover , whom she submits to as her conquerour . that which no where appears in common conversation , that which even those , who yield in reality to this weakness , take all imaginable pains to conceal , a young lady , shall even learn , and be taught to glory in , in plays . she shall see it practis'd , not only in persons to whom the world make allowances , and expect no better from , but in persons of topping character ; in those who are represented modest , and chast , and virtuous , in heroines , who are proposed for patterns to others ; and those confessions of frailty , which people blush at in private , are thought fit to be proclaimed to all the world ; and , as if they were some surprising excellence , carry the general applause of the theatre before them . v. whether the modern plays have refined sensual love , by making it end in marriage ▪ i may reasonably presume ▪ , that what went before hath sufficiently demonstrated that natural tendency to vices , which the representation of the agreeable passions hath in it ; though nothing more were contained in this argument , than only a proof , that this cherishes and feeds , and designes and contrives with premeditated industry to strengthen and countenance , that concupiscence , which is the principle and cause of vice in us . to all this it is reply'd , that in order to prevent this affection from becoming sinful , the theatre purifies and refines the passion of love. that , as the stage is now-a-days reform'd , it hath consulted the rules of decency , and taken off all the gross , and filthy , and unlawful part of this passion ; and that it goes no farther , than an innocent liking and inclination to beauty , which concludes at last in honourable marriage . thus much then is granted us however ; that , upon these terms , all those infamous prostitutions of women , so frequent even in the modern italian comedies , ought to be utterly banish'd from among christians ; and all those rank unlawful amours in the compositions of moliere , will fall under the same condemnation . they who argue thus , will find themselves obliged , by their own principles , to disallow all those discourses , in which this rigorous censurer of the great canons , this grave reformer of the airs and expressions of our ●…elles , does yet openly avow the principles of a scandalous toleration in the easie husbands , and sollicites the wives to take a shameful revenge upon their jealous husbands . he hath let the world see , what benefit they are to expect from the morals of the stage , who only falls foul upon the follies , and exposes the ridiculous fopperies of mankind , and suffers in the mean while all their vice and debaucheries to pass without any contempt or reproach . posterity , 't is probable , will hear what end this comick poet made , who was seiz'd with his last fit of sickness , as he was acting his own malade imaginaire , or medecin malgre luy , and died in the space of few hours after . thus this unhappy man passed from the diversions and bufsooneries of a theatre , where he drew almost his last breath ; to the dreadful judgment seat , of him who hath pronounced , wo unto you that laugh now , for ye shall mourn and weep . they that have left the noblest monuments of wit behind them , shall not be able to escape or shelter themselves from the justice of god : neither the most ingenious poems , nor the most charming musick will be regarded by him ; nor will he spare such , as have , by these or any other methods , promoted sensuality and vice. nor will it be a sufficient plea in bar to his righteous judgment , for you , sir , whoever you be , who undertake to vindicate plays upon so frivolous a pretence as this , that they commonly end in marriage . for however you may , in outward appearance , take off that filthy and unlawful part , which would provoke shame in the representations of prophane love ; yet is it not possible really to be separated from it upon the stage . manage it never so dextrously gild it over as artificially as can be , and call it by what name you please , still at the bottom 't is neither better nor worse , than that lust of the flesh ; which , when st. iohn forbids men to love , he does , by parity of reason , forbid men to recommend it studiously to the love of others . that gross part which you boast of removing , we are not at all beholding to you for ; it is what would provoke abhorrence , if you suffer'd it to appear ; and therefore , even the cunning of keeping it out of sight is but the more mischievous still : the covering you put upon it does but engage mens wills with greater address ; and the more refined the passion is , the more dangerous and subtle is the infection . you do not , i am confident , believe in good earnest , that the contagion of a mortal disease cannot be spread without a gross object ; or that the secret flames of a heart , too much dispos'd to love in any way , or upon any provocation whatsoever , are at all corrected or abated by the idea of such marriages as you present us with , in the persons of your amorous fine gentlemen and ladies . if this be your opinion , you are extreamly mistaken . you should not indeed , upon this occasion , bring me under an unavoidable necessity of enlarging in the explanation of such things , as it were much better never to have thrown away one single thought upon ; and well for the world if they never entred into mens heads at all . but , since you fancy , that all is made up by this decency of marriage at last , i must be free to tell you , that this stratagem does you little or no service in the present case . passion can fix upon none but it 's proper object ; and therefore when amours are represented , the provoking of sensuality must needs be the result of them . marriage admits of many things in private , without the least reproach , which nothing but the most hardned impudence would bear to have made publick . and if that sacred name had been sufficient to protect all the instances even of conjugal affection , isaac and r●…becca needed not have taken such pains to conceal their innocent pleasures , and the mutual testimonies of their chast and virtuous fondness . my meaning is , that even things , which in themselves are lawful , are yet sometimes so far from preventing their contrary , as even to excite and produce it . in a word , whatever comes by reflection does not extinguish that which proceeds from instinct ; and a man may venture to affirm , that some secret attempts are ●…ade upon modesty and chastity by all ●…ose passages , which move our sensual affections , even in those plays which are least liable to reproach . it matters not whether this attack be made in close fight , or at a distance ; whether the place be bomb'd , or the walls scal'd ; the taking of the town is the end of both . that natural byass , which draws mens hearts to corruption , begins presently to surrender to the first impressions of sensual love ; the remedy , which reflection or marriage administer , comes too late : the breach is made , and the feeble side of the heart assaulted , if not already absolutely vanquish'd : and that tying the marriage-knot , 't is plain , is a matter too grave and serious , to work an audience up into any delightful passion . people come thither for pleasure , and , since the poet cannot propose to give it them by so solemn a matter as this , 't is plain , that marriage is brought into plays , not as any part of the main design of writing or acting them , but purely for form and fashion's sake , and to give their amours a little better colour to the world. i will go farther yet ; and venture to say , that when moving the passions is the thing aimed at , that which is lawful is ●…at and distastful , and the unlawful only hath charms , and a grateful relis●… if te●…ence's eunuchus had begun with a fai●… and regular demand of pamphila ( or whatsoever else the idol of his affections had been ) for his wife ; would the house , think you , have been transported to that degree , the author intended and labour'd that they should ? by no means . the share of that young man's happiness , which fell to the spectators , would have been much less , if it had not been unexpected , surprising , nay forbidden , and carried by force . and , if the modern comedies do not introduce such rapes as that was , yet they raise imagination of other things no less dangerous in their consequences . and these are the violences they commit upon the heart , when they endeavour to draw it over , and get it into their power , without considering , whether they have any right to dispose of it , or whether the desire thus excited be not carried beyond their just bounds . so that , upon the whole matter , the spectator cannot be entertained to his mind , who comes thither merely for pleasure and delight , unless in some part or other of the representation , the true rules and measures of virtue be despised and set aside . that which is lawfull and regular , without a mixture of something else , would pall his appetite , and prove insipid . in short , the main design of all plays , according to the modell of the present age , is to inspire the pleasure of love. you look upon the characters ▪ not as persons that marry , but as persons courting , and addressing , and fond of one another ; and the quality the spectators covet to be in , is not that of husband or wife , but that of lover or mistress , and , without considering what becomes of them in the conclusion , they attend only to the raptures and pleasing passions they see them in at present . vi. what the marriages of the stage re●…ly are . but i have yet in reserve another reason , more weighty and more peculiarly christian , why the passion of love ought not to be thus exposed to publick view , and set off with all its allurements , no not even then , when it hath no prospect or relation to any end , but such as is lawfull . and that ( as a modern author in his treatise upon plays , hath ingeniously observed ) is this , that all mariage presupposes concupiscence , and such inclinations , as according to the precepts of the gospell it is our duty to resist , and , by consequence , such as we should use our best endeavours to arm every christian against . this is an evil , which ( according to st. augustin ) vice and debauchery make an ill use of , marriage converts to a good use , and a state of virginity and continence excell in forbearing to use at all . now he , that publickly exposes and recommends that sensible impression of beauty which compells and provokes men to love , though this be done in order to marriage , yet , at the same time that he labours to render such impression agreable , he does also render concupiscence agreable , and supports sense in its rebellion against reason and religion . for what can be a more evident instance of this , than to take away both the power and the disposition to oppose that ascendent of the affection , to which plays constantly enslave even the greatest and most noble minds ? these soft and invincible byasses of the inclination , as they are represented upon the stage , are the very things , which the poets labour to make men sensible and fond of . which is , in plain terms , to make them in love with a slavery , that both is the effect of sin , and leads directly to sin ; and thus they cherish and strengthen a passion , which can never be subdued but by painfull conflicts ; which costs good men many a bitter sigh and tear , even in the midst of all those remedies they are furnished with , and carefully employ , against it . let us not then expatiate upon this subject , the consequences of it are full of horrour : i shall only add , that those marriages , which are either broken or made up in plays , are very distant things from that of tobias and sarah , we are the children of the saints , and ought not to come together like the heathen . and now i take not this my sister for lust , but uprightly . how cold and dull would such a marriage as this , where sense does not govern , appear upon the stage ! how entirely sensuall are all the matches made up there ! how scandalous to true and sober christians ! the evil and unclean part is what they drive at , what they call noble passions are the reproach of our reasonable nature . the absolute sovereignty of a false and frail beauty , that usurpation and tyranny , which they set off and trick up in it's best colours , flatters the vanity of one sex , disparages and degrades the dignity of the other , and brings both into subjection to the dominion of appetite and sense . vii . the authors words , and the advantage he makes of confessions . but the most dangerous passage in this discourse is that , where the author endeavours to prove the harmlessness of the stage by arguments drawn from experience . there are , ( he tells us ) three very easy ways , of knowing what is done at the theatres , and i ( says he ) acknowledge , that i have made use of all three . the first is , to inform ones self of it by men of parts and probity , who out of that horrour they have to sin , would not allow themselves to be present at those sort of shows , if sinfull . the next is , to judge , by the confessions of those who go thither , of ▪ the evil effects which plays produce upon their minds . and this is a surer method than the former , becouse there could be no greater accusation of them , than that which comes out of the mouth of persons guilty and selfcondemned . the third is the reading of the plays , which is not forbidden , as the representation of them may have been . and i protest ( proceeds he ) that i have not , by any of these ways , been able to discover the least appearance of the excesses , which the fathers with so much iustice condemned in plays . here you have a man urging matter of fact , and appealing , not to his own experience alone , but to that of the most and best men , nay to almost all mankind . a world of people , he tells us , of eminent virtue and of a very nice , not to say scrupulous , conscience , have been forced to own , that plays on the french theatre are at present so pure , that there is nothing in them , which can offend the chastest ear. viii . the open and secret faults in plays . dangerous and unseen dispositions . concupisc●…nce s●…attered through all the senses . at this rate , if we may credit this author , even confession , which discloses all sins , can discover no fault in the playhouse , and he assures us , with a confidence and solemnity that would even make a good man tremble , that he hath never been able to discern any footsteps of that pretended malignity , nor of those vices which are charged upon plays , as their proper source and cause . it seems those of the female singers and actors , and their keepers and gallants did not at present recur to his thoughts : and he quite forgot that precept left us by solomon , to avoid those women , who wear the attire of harlots , and are subtle in heart , who lye in wait to destroy souls , who cause men to yield with much fair speech , and force them with the flattering of their lips , such as their discourses , their songs , their rehearsals . so that men throw themselves into their snares , as a bird hasteth to the net. and is there no fault in arming women that profess christianity , against feeble and unwary souls ? to put into their hands those darts , which strike through the heart ? to devote and sacrifice them to publick lewdness , after a more dangerous manner , than is done even in those places , which decency will not suffer us to mention ? what mother , ( i do not say who hath a due regard to chrstianity , but ) who is not utterly lost to all sense of decency and reputation , would not rather choose to see a daughter in her grave , than upon the stage ? what! hath she been at the expence of so much trouble and tenderness in her education , to see her , after all that care , engage in a livelihood of so much scandal ? hath she kept her night and day under her wings , as it were , to shelter her from temptation , and is the fruit of all her pains come to this at last , to have her made common , and set up for a snare to youth ? who does not look upon these wretched christians , ( if they may be allowed that title still , who live in such barefaced contradiction to their baptismall vows ) who i say looks upon them under any other character than that of slaves , and prostitutes , and such as have utterly extinguished all remains of modesty and shame ? for such we must esteem them , though they were guilty of nothing else but industriously drawing so many eyes upon them . for even this is monstrous and unnaturall , in persons , whose very sex had consecrated them to modesty and reserve ; and whose naturall weakness requires the safe retreat of a well ordered family . and yet even these expose themselves in a full play-house with all the pomp of vanity ; like those sirens , which isaiah says , take , up their dwelling in the temples of pleasure ; whose looks are armed with death , and who take back again the poyson scattered by their ▪ voices , returned in the applauses which the company give their performances . and is there no blame due , no concern requisite to the spectators ; who reward these wretches luxury , and make it a gain to them ; who support them in their corruption of manners ; who expose their own hearts as a prey to them ; and go to be taught by such precious instructors , things which they ought to continue for ever ignorant of ? if there be nothing in all this , which breaks in upon the measures of decency , and good report ; if nothing which is fit to be brought with men to confession , i cannot but lament , that such stupidity and blindness should prevail among christians : but especially , what an amazement is it , that a man should use the title of priest , that he might with the more authority , and certain effect , deliver christians from those poor remains of remorse , which the world hath not yet utterly lost for such extravagancies ? you tell us , you do not find by confession , that the rich who frequent the theatres are the greatest sinners , and that the guilt of their lives is pretty equal with the poor who never saw a play. why do you not compleat the argument , by adding farther , that luxury , and esseminacy , and idleness , and the excess and exquisite delicacy of high feeding , and the anxious pursuit of pleasures in every thing they do , are not at all injurious to the rich , because the poor , whose condition sets them at a distance from these temptations , are equally depraved with love of pleasures ? are not you sensible , sir. that there are some things , which , thought they do not visibly produce the ill effects mentioned here , do yet infuse some secret dispositions of very mischievous consequence , though these dispositions do not always break out into act , nor betray all their malignity presently ? whatever feeds and inflames the passions is of this kind . and a man , who made due enquiry into the state of his soul , and examined all the lurking causes of evil there , would find abundant matter for confession , in things of this nature , he that can find , what that is in man , that gives birth to sensual pleasure , and that restless and wandering disposition , which is more easily felt than described , which flyes at every thing and fixes no where , would discover there the secret source of the greatest sins . this st. augustin was sensible of in the beginning of his youthfull passions , when he said of himself , i was not yet in love , but i was inclined , and thought it a fine thing , to be so . he sought out , as he goes on , some snare , in which he might both take , and be taken ! he found that sort of life , where there were none of these snares , troublesom and insupportable to him . now every thing in this world is thick set with these nets ; he was caught according to his hearts desire : and then it was , that he felt himself intoxicated with the pleasure of plays , because in them he found the representation of his own misery , and fresh fewell for his flames . his example and doctrine instructs us , what ends plays are serviceable to ; how natural a tendency there is in them to cherish these secret dispositions in mens minds : whether this brat of sensuall love be already brought to maturity , or whether it be in embryo only , and not yet come to the birth . st. iames hath explained to us these two different conditions of our hearts , in those very remarkable and significant words . ch : 1. 14 , 15. every man is tempted , when he is drawn away of his own lust , and enticed . then , when lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin , and sin , when it is is finished , bringeth forth death . thus the apostle hath been carefull to distinguish , between the conceiving of sin and the bringing it forth . he makes a difference between the disposition to sin , and the compleat formation of it by a full consent of the will. when it arrives to this last estate , then according to st iames his notion , it bringeth forth death , and becomes perfectly mortall . but the consequence of this distinction is by no means , that even the first beginnings of sin are innocent ; from the instant that a man adheres never so little to the first complacencies of sensuall motions , he begins to open his heart and engage his affections , to the creature ; when once those motions are indulged and cherished by agreable representations , there is a helping hand lent to bring this unlawful issue forward to the birth ; and a prudent confessor , who hath the skill to make a christian sensible of the first wounds given to his conscience , and of the wretched consequences of a danger which he is fond of , would by such timely care and wise conduct prevent a world of sin and misery . according to st. augustine's sense of the matter , this fatal concupiscence spreads it self over the whole man. it runs , if i may so say , through every vein , and sinks in as deep as the marrow in his bones . it is a poysonous root , which stretches it self to every organ of sense , his ears , his eyes , his every part that is capable of letting in pleasure , feels the effect of it . his senses upon this occasion lend a mutual assistance ; the delight of the one draws on and cherishes that of the other ; and this union , or conspiracy rather , makes up a chain , that draws him down into the bottomless pit of sin. we must , as this good man directs , take good heed in considering the operation of our senses , to distinguish between the necessity , the usefulness , the quickness and lively impression of the sensation , and the engaging our affections in the pleasures of sense . of these four qualities observable in the senses , the three former are the work of god that made us . the necessity of sensation proves it self by external objects striking upon our senses every moment . the usefulness of them ( continues the same father ) we feel particularly in the taste , which is serviceable to us in the choice of food , and makes provision for our digesting it . the lively impression , or quickness of our senses consists in their readiness to act , or be acted upon , and in the subtle contexture of their proper organs . these three qualities we owe to god , as their true and only cause . but it is in the midst of this divine frame , that the forcible inclination to pleasures of sense , and it 's unruly byass , ( that is that evil concupiscence brought upon us by sin ) erects it's throne . and this it is , ( says st. augustin ) which is an enemy to wisdom , the source and spring of corruption and vice , and the bane of our virtues . the five senses are five avenues , by which it goes out and ranges over their several objects ; and through which it receives impressions from without . but this father hath shewed , that it is the same throughout , because in every organ , there is the same bewitching charm of pleasure , the same intractableness of the senses , the same captivity of the heart , the same fondness for sensible objects . so that at what part soever the impression is made , the effect is communicated to the whole frame . shews sieze the eyes ; soft moving language , and passionate airs of musick pierce the heart through the ears : sometimes the corruption flows in like a full tide , and at other times it instills it self gently , and by drops ; but either way the man is effectually drowned at last . the disease is in the blood , and lurks within in the bowels , before it flames out , and betrays any symptoms of a fever outwardly . by losing strength gradually , a man is in danger of falling , before he is actually down ; and this weakening of the parts that should enable him to stand , is in effect the beginning of his fall. he is but a very indifferent physician , who knows no indispositions in men , but such as are actually felt , and plainly discover themselves . the case of our souls is thus far the same with our bodies ; there are many distempers , which we are not presently sensible of , because they are not grown to such a heighth as to discover themselves : and others there are , of which we are never sensible at all ; because length of time and custom have made them habitual to us ; or else they are grown to such an extremity , as even stupifies us ; and is the beginning of death , which destroys all sensation in us . and this detects the fallacy of that argument so usual in behalf of plays . when we blame these as dangerous , the men of the world presently take sanctuary ( with the author of the discourse ) in solemn protestations , that they have never found any danger in them . urge them a little farther , and they will not scruple to say as much of nudities , and that , not only in pictures , but even in living men and women . they fall foul upon those divines , who preach against these things , and reprove women for them . they pretend these zealots have a stronger genius this way than their neighbours ; and that , by this extraordinary niceness , they betray either too great weakness , or too quick a sense of such matters . for their own parts , they profess that they have no such idea's , nor feel any indecent impressions . and to avoid wrangling , i am content for once to take their word . but how comes all this to pass ? even from hence , that they are not careful to observe , or are gone so far as not to be sensible of , their ruine . 't is like a drowning man under water , who feels ●…o weight in the water any longer when once he is out of his depth . and to continue this meraphor , and apply it to beginners ; 't is certain , that men do not perceive the strength of the stream , but when they strive against it . if they suffer themselves to drive down with the current , they feel nothing but a smooth pleasing motion perhaps at first , which carries them easily along ; but the danger and mischief is concealed , till within a little while after , they sink and perish . let us not then be govern'd in these cases by the opinions of such men , by taking things thus upon trust ; nor measure evils and dangers by their sense of them : since there are many and fatal mischiefs , which long custom , and a corrupt conversation , and the error of a sick imagination , and partiality to themselves and their pleasures , keep them ignorant and insensible of . ix . that they who go to plays ought to apprehend not only the danger , but the scandal of it . as to those persons of parts and probity , who ( the author of this discourse assures us ) do , without the least scruple , frequent plays ; i vehemently suspect , that their probity is of no better a stamp , than that of the wise men of this world , who scarce know , and do not much trouble themselves to consider , whether they be christians in good earnest or no ; such as think they have discharged their duty in every point , when they live like what they call men of honour ; when they wrong and cheat no body else , though at the same time they most grosly injure and deceive themselves , by giving a loose to their passions and their pleasures . these are of the same kind with those wise and prudent , from whom our blessed saviour declares , that the mysteries of his kingdom were hid , when they were revealed only to the humble and babes , such as tremble and start at the least passages , which tend to kindle or to feed impure desires . yet these , the author passes his word , are persons of eminent virtue ; and he counts them by hundreds and thousands . how happy a man is he , to have had so many excellent people come under his care , and to find the strait way so mightily thronged ! a world of people ( he affirms ) of eminent virtue , and of a very nice , not to say scrupulous , conscience , approve our plays , and frequent them without any trouble or check . these are , it seems , invulnerable souls , that can spend whole days in the midst of moving songs and poetry ; and hear a thousand tender and passionate things , without being in the least affected with them : but the persons of so eminent virtue , do not hear , or do not regard , that advice of st. paul , let him that thinketh he standeth , take heed lest he fall . they do not know , it seems , that allowing their strength to be so great , as to make them proof against any danger , which might happen to themselves , yet they may , and ought to , be exceedingly afraid for the scandal they give to others . for this is another very grave and solemn expostulation of the same apostle ; wherefore dost thou set at nought , and offend thy weak brother ? destroy not him by thy example for whom christ dyed . they do not observe what the same st. paul hath declared , that the guilt of them who take pleasure in , and consent to wicked things , is equal with theirs who do them . these so exceeding nice and scrupulous persons , do not find themselves at all concerned in these rules of conscience . which , to confess a truth , increases my suspicion , that they are such sort of scrupulous consciences , as those , who strained hard at a gnat , and swallowed a camel. or else , that our author hath made up a new fashioned convenient sort of virtues ; and cut these eminent persons after some pattern of his own contriving , such as think matters may be accommodated between the world and jesus christ , and that they may very well serve and belong to both at the same time . x. the dangers men court distinguished from those they cannot avoid . the dangers men run themselves into by frequenting plays , he compares to such , as * we must even fly to desarts to avoid , ( he proceeds ) for we cannot walk a step , read a book , enter a church , or live in the world , without meeting with a thousand things capable of exciting the passions . the consequence of this argument is admirable . every place is full of unavoidable dangers , therefore we shall do well to add to the number . there is not any creature but is a snare and temptation to man ; therefore he is allowed to employ his wit and pains to invent new temptations , and set new traps to catch souls . s. paul hath told us there are some vices and dangers in conversation , which , wholly to keep ourselves from associating with , a man must abandon all company , and even go out of the world ; consequently there is no sin in chusing , and industriously seeking out such companions : and this apostle was mistaken , or put us into a very groundless fear , when he told us , that evil communications corrupt good manners . this is the natural , the notable conclusion from our worthy author's premises . all objects whatsoever , which present themselves to our sight , have a power of exciting the passions , therefore we should add our indeavours to put our ruine past a doubt , by making this power effectual , and strengthening it's operation : we should set our wits on work to provide objects more exquisitely fitted for this purpose than nature hath done ; and disguise our passions to excite them the more vehemently , and render them more taking : and plays , which abound with more and greater dangers , in proportion as they are more artificially composed and acted , ought by no means to be reckoned among those evil communications which corrupt good manners . methinks you should rather infer the contrary way ; and any man of common ingenuity , would argue thus . there are many dangers in the world , which even by our utmost care and caution we cannot avoid , therefore we should keep the stricter guard upon our selves ; we should avoid as many of them as possibly we can , and by no means create new dangers , nor perish by those of our own seeking . god will give us his assistance in all those difficulties and hazards , which necessity brings upon us ; but those who chuse and court them , he easily forsakes , and abandons them to their own perverse choice . he that loveth danger , says the wise son of sirach , he does not say , he that falls into it , and cannot help it , but he that loves , and casts himself voluntarily into it , shall perish therein . xi . whether the laws ought to be alledged in favour of plays . this author , that he might leave no stone unturn'd , alledges also the * laws in favour of his argument , and pretends , that plays , if they were evil , would not be suffer'd to be acted ; nor would men , who have any regard or conscience for the laws , frequent them . but here again he forgets , that the great † casuist , whose authority he hath abused , hath delivered his judgment , that humane laws are not obliged to suppress all sorts of evils , but such only as tend directly to the detriment of humane society . nay , even the church it self , saint augustine * acquaints us , exercises the severity of her censures , not upon all sinners , but only ▪ upon a few , whose offences are the most enormous and scandalous : upon this very account she condemns them who act plays , and in so doing , thinks the plays acted by them sufficiently condemned . this point is positively determined in * the rituals , and the practice of it is constantly observed . those that make playing their business , are debarred the sacraments , and not admitted to communicate , either in their life-time , or at the point of death , except they solemnly renounce and forsake their trade . we pass them by at the holy table , and look upon them as men in a state of notorious and mortal sin. we exclude them from holy orders , as infamous persons ; and , by necessary consequence , deny them the offices of the church , and christian burial when they dye . as for those , who frequent plays , in regard their guilt admits of different degrees , and some among them are more innocent than others ; ( many perhaps being such as rather need bett●…r instruction than deserve censure and reproof ) they do not come up to the same pitch of wickedness , and consequently ought not all to be treated with the same severity . but it does not by any means follow from hence , that publick dangers ought to be countenanced and authorized . if men are not duly sensible how dangerous these things are , it is the priest's duty to inform them better , but not to cherish and support them in their ignorance , and insensibility . the vindicators of shews , as long since as st. chrysostoms time , have made a mighty clamour , as if the putting these things down , were in effect to overthrow the laws : but for all that , this holy father peremptorily declared , that the spirit and temper of the law was perfectly opposite to that of the theatres . but we , in our days have a great deal more to urge against them : since there are so many publick decrees against plays , which others have made particular mention of in their writings upon this subject . if custom bear those laws down , and the abuse prevail still , notwithstanding such care taken to correct and suppress it , the only inference arising from hence is , that plays ought to be reckoned amongst those obstinate evils , which , a famous historian observes , are always prohibited , and yet always practised . but after all , suppose that the civil constitution did countenance , and even authorise plays ; allowing , that , instead of casting a blemish , and setting a mark of reproach upon players , which yet hath been ever done , they were favourable to them ; yet sure the whole order of the priesthood should think it becoming every one of them , to imitate the example of the chrysostoms , and the augustines . the laws of civil sanction have not been able to root out utterly the sin and mischief of usury and divorce , and yet those great men constantly and boldly maintained , that , what allowance soever the world gave to these crimes , they ought nevertheless to be avoided , and were condemned by another superiour law , even that of the gospel , which no countenance of the civil power to the contrary could dispense with . they declared , that even that usury , which was esteemed lawful , because authorised by the roman laws , was yet unlawful because not agreeable to the laws of jesus christ : and , that the constitution of the holy city , and that of the world and secular power , were very different things . xii . of the authority of the fathers . i have no design here to enter particularly into the several passages of the fathers upon this occasion , nor lengthen out my discourse beyond it's intended compass , by enlarging upon so copious a subject . i shall only say , that it argues that man to have read them very negligently and fuperficially , whoever he be , that shall ( with this * author ) take upon him to affirm , that the only thing they find fault with , in the shews and publick entertainments of their times , is the idolatry and scandalous impurities of them . a man must have stopped his ears very hard against the voice of truth , not to be convinced , that their arguments reach a great way farther . they are levelled against the unprofitableness of sports and play-houses , they blame them for the prodigious extravagance , the hurry , the commotion , and unsettled state of mind they create , so very disagreeable to the character of a christian , whose calm breast ought to be the very seat and sanctuary of peace it self . they reprove the vehement raising of the passions , the vanity , the dressing , the garish ornaments , which they reckon among the pomps abjured in baptism : they condemn that desire of seeing and being seen , which draws both sexes thither ; the unhappy meeting of those eyes which look out for one another ; the too great thought and time thrown away upon trifle and vanity ; the loud peals of laughter , and disorderly mirth , which make men forget the presence of god , the dreadful account to be given even for one's least , and seemingly insignificant , words and actions ; and in short , that all the gravity and composedness requisite in the life of a christian , is ruffled and scattered by such entertainments . proceed sir , as you have begun , and tell us , that the fathers do not condemn all these things , nor all that vile collection of evils and temptations , which all meet together in the theatres , as their common rendesvouz . perswade us , that they do not pass any censure even on things blameless in their own nature , when they have evil couched under them , and serve to introduce it . affirm with your wonted grace , that st. augustine hath not lamented that revelling of the passions , and that contagious manner of expressing the diseases of the soul , those tears which so lively a representation drawes from our eyes , those corruptions in us , and all that other delusion in plays , which he stigmatizes with the name of miserable folly. and now i would be glad to know , who is able to lift up his heart to god , in the midst of all that hurry and discomposure of the affections , in which the pleasure of plays intirely consists ? who can have the forehead to say , that he comes thither for god's sake , or to do him service ? who would not be afraid , in the midst of so many foolish joys and griefs , to lose and stifle quite the spirit of prayer ; and indispose one's mind by such dangerous interruptions for that exercise , which jesus christ hath told us ought to be our continual employment ? for when he says , we should pray always , * he certainly means thus much at least , that we preserve a constant disposition for it , and have our hearts duly prepared , and do that in desire and habitual inclination , which we cannot do in outward act. all these reasons , and a great many more which i forbear to mention , my reader may be assured are to be found in the fathers . and if we would follow them farther , and search into the principles and ground of their moral exhortations , what condemnation can be so severe , which we do not there find passed upon that spirit and temper of mind , which disposes men to publick shews ? since ( not to instance at present in all the other mischiefs they are attended with ) miserable men repair hither , for no other purpose so much , as to stupify their consciences , to cease from serious thinking , and to forget themselves ; to break loose from , or to quiet the persecution of that inexorable uneasiness of heart , which lyes at the bottom of all they do and feel , and imbitters their lives , from the time that they have once lost all true relish for , and delight in , god. the being present at publick shews , and processions , musical entertainments and other rejoycings is frequently forbidden to the clergy ; and the regulations in this point are infinite , such as we need not trouble ourselves , or the reader , with a collection of . but if we would make a right judgment , whether the mischiefs and dangers which the laws take notice of , be such as extend only to church-men , or whether all the people in general are not equally concerned to beware of them ; we shall do well closely to consider those reasons , upon which such prohibitions to the clergy proceed . let us , for example , observe that canon of the council of tours , from whence it hath been transferred into the capitularies of our kings . ab omnibus quaecunque ad aurium et oculorum pertinent illecebras , unde vigor animi emolliri posse credatur quod de aliquibus generibus musicorum , alijsque nonnullis rebus sentiri potest , dei sacerdotes abstinere debent . quia per aurium oculorumque illecebras turba vitiorum ad animum ingredi solet . that is ; the ministers of god ought to abstain from all those things , which are contrived to charm the ears and eyes by such allurements to pleasure , as may reasonably be supposed apt to soften and break the vigour of the mind . ( which is manifestly the effect of some sorts of musical compositions , and several other things made for diversion and delight ) because through these allurements of the ears and eyes a multitude of vices are wont to make their way into the soul. this canon does not suppose any such thing as obscene talk , wanton behaviour , or notorious incontinence , or licentiousness in the shews it blames ; but thinks it sufficient to fix upon the evil consequence , and the natural effect , of such delightful entertainments , whereby the eyes and ears are charmed . and this it says , in loose musick , is a certain softness and effeminacy , and in the objects of sight , something for which i want a name ; by means whereof , the masculine vigour of the soul is insensibly blunted and enervated . and the ill effect of indulging these gayeties could not have been better expressed , than by saying , that they open a passage for , and let in a numerous rabble of vices . here are no particulars specified , and perhaps it would not be easy sometimes to instance upon what determinate thing , or part of such entertainments the evil is chargeable . it is enough , that the whole taken together , and in general , is full of danger ; that a man may find from these things , weak and vicious thoughts insinuated into his mind by subtle and imperceptible ways ; that these feed , and feast , and strengthen that inward disposition , which emasculates the soul , and opens the heart to all sensible objects . a man in such cases does not very well know what he would be at , but he knows thus much , that he could be glad always to live a life of sense , and to pass his time in entertainments , whither people come purely for pleasure ; where the actor's business is to give , and the spectator's to receive , all the delight they can . and if this be the condition of other publick shews , what shall we think , what censure ought we to pass upon those , where long conversations are made up of all the tender , engaging expressions , set off with verse and numbers , voices and gestures , melting airs , and in a word , all that can be capable of inflaming the passions , and enf●…eble the powers of the reasonable mind ? this disposition is evil in any sort of men whatsoever ; and therefore the care to sence against , and keep one's self clear of it , does not concern church-men only ; but the church , in mentioning these particularly , intends by them to teach all christians in general their duty , and to warn them of a danger common to all mankind . i expect it will be objected , that this is carrying matters to an unreasonable height , and , that in consequence of such principles , a very great part of those publick and private diversions both , which are commonly called innocent , ought to be suppressed . i shall not engage in any disquisitions of this kind , which cannot be satisfied without considering a great number of circumstances peculiar to each case . it is sufficient to have taken notice , what a particular malignity there is in such publick meetings , where the great design of them , whose work it is to entertain the company , is to give them satisfaction by any manner of means they can ; and , in pursuance of this design , they constantly aim at flattering and soothing up their sensual inclinations in some respect or other . and whither , on the other hand , men resort in expectation of being thus received . the whole house claps loudly , when they find this done ; they look upon it as a mark of good sense and breeding , to shew themselves very sensible , and very discerning , in these matters : it is a point of honour to exercise their passion and pleasure at every thing designed to affect and debauch them ; and a man , who refuses to shew himself as mad , and as much bewitched , as the rest of the company , is lookt upon as morose and ill-humoured . thus , besides the other inconveniences of these publick meetings for pleasure ; the persons present spur up , and as it were , warrant and give credit to one another's extravagancies , by joining in full consort with the general applauses and acclamations ; and even the air it self is tainted with this universal infection . i need not , after this , trouble my self to disprove those consequences , which are drawn in favour of the people , from these prohibitions in certaiu cases , wherein the clergy only are mentioned . this is a fallacy like that of certain doctors , who put such a construction upon the canons which forbid usury to all church-men , as if this particular exception implyed the thing to be allowable in all other christians , who are not churchmen . now , to overthrow this error , we need only consider the just importance of those arguments , upon which these prohibitions to clergy-men in particular are founded . you will find , for instance , in the canons of * nice , in the decretals of l●…o , and other decrees of the church , that the passages of scripture , upon which the forbidding of usury to persons in holy orders is grounded , are such as equally concern and oblige all christians of what quality soever . and the natural and necessary consequence arising from hence is , that what the general precepts of the gospel had before ordained for all , the church by her subsequent orders intended to enforce , and bind yet more , upon the clergy in particular . and the true way of arguing the like case will be , to make the fame inference from these canons , which forbid all ecclesiastical persons to be present at publick shews . this is the true state of the question now before us , and that canon of the council of tours transcribed into this paragraph , may prove a very safe and excellent guide to our reasonings in such matters . xiv . an answer to that 〈◊〉 , tak●… from the necess●… o●… divers●… we are told indeed , * that it is necessary to find out some diversion for the minds of men , and some thing which may be an amusement to courts and common people . but to this st. chrysostom replyes , that there is no need of flocking to theatres , for we may find abundance of entertainment elsewhere . all nature is richly furnished with delightful spectacles , and not only so , but the exercises of religion , and our own private affairs , are capable of furnishing us with such variety of imployment , in which the mind may recreate it self , that a man need be at no trouble to seek out more : in short , that a christian hath no such urgent occasions for pleasure , as should oblige him to procure it , by such frequent repetitions , and such solemn and industrious pains to render it agreeable . but if our vitiated palat can no longer take up with such delights as are plain , and natural , and wholsome ; and diseased minds must be awakened and quickened up to pleasure , by motions that are extraordinary and irregular ; ( leaving to others the determining of particular cases , which does not fall within the compass of my present design ) i shall make no difficulty to declare in general , that the most modest and moderate refreshments ought to be applyed , and such diversions as are least apt to stir our passions , and discompose the settled sedate temper of our minds . and what those are , i shall not need to take the judgment of the fathers , since even the philosophers themselves have left us sufficient information . we do not ( says plato ) admit either comedies or tragedies into our city . that very art , which qualifies a player to act so many several parts , and put on such different disguises , was thought by plato to taint humane conversation with a character of levity , unsuitable to the dignity of a man , and directly opposite to that sincerity required in all our manners and behaviour . when he proceeded farther to consider , that the characters represented upon the stage , were for the most part , either mean and low , or vicious and debauched ; he saw that there was a great deal of mischief and danger in this practice , which threatned the players themselves ; and found cause to fear , lest they , by degrees , should be brought to be really , and in good earnest , the very thing they used to personate . this argument undermines the very foundations of the theatre , and does not only leave no reason for idle spectators , but leaves none for the very actors , to support themselves with . the argument of this philosopher hath it's peculiar force upon that observation , that imitation by degrees turns into nature , and by counterfeiting other men's qualities and vices , men at last come to make them their own . they degenerate into the spirit and temper they put on , become slaves by affecting to appear such , and vicious by committing vice in effigie ; but especially , when the vehemence of any passion is to be represented , there is a necessity of forming and blowing up those passions in their own minds , which must be expressed and conveyed to the audience by outward gestures . the spectator likewise , who is pleased with this , must partake of the same temper ; he commends and admires the player , because he raised these emotions in him ; and all this , as he goes on there , is just the watering and cherishing those ill weeds , which ought by all means to have their growth checked , and be suffered to wither away , and dye in us . thus all the pomp and preparation of plays tends only to make men passionate ; to strengthen that brutal and unreasonable part of our souls , which is the spring of all our weakness and folly. and from hence he determined utterly to reject and exclude from his constitution , that voluptuous and sensual kind of poetry ; which ( he says ) is so dangerous a temptation , that this alone is capable of corrupting the most , and the best of men . xv. the tragedy of the antients , tho more grave than that of the moderns , con●…ned by 〈◊〉 principles of 〈◊〉 philosopher by this means he pushes his argument on to the very first principles , and carries it so high as to strip plays of all that is pleasurable and entertaining in them ; which is , the diversion they give by representing and exciting the passions . the invectives of the fathers are partly levelled at the too large freedoms , and the indecencies , of the theatres of the antients , which yet were intended against all scenical 〈◊〉 and representations in general . it is the greatest mistake in the world , to think that their tragedy was the only thing blamed ; for whatever pieces of this kind are transmitted to us from the old pagans , ( i blush to think what a reproach this observation is to christians ) do so very far excel ours in gravity , and wisdom ; that the modern theatres will not bear the same seriousness and natural simplicity . our poets do so far exceed all measures in this point , that even the english , i hear , insult over some of them for their intemperate itch of gallantry ; and making their heroes carry their soft passions to the utmost heighth , in season and out of season . the antients were very far from this indecency , and prudently confined that passion to comedy , which had not the spirit and sublime air fit for the grandeur proper to tragedy . and yet even this most exalted and serious part , which is truly tragical , could not obtain the approbation of their philosophers . plato would not endure the solemn i amentations of the theatre ; because , as he said , ●…y gave too much countenance to that weakness of m●…d and querulous temper , which utters it ●…elf 〈◊〉 sighs , and tears , and dol●…ful compla●…s . and the argument he brings against 〈◊〉 , is very substantial ; viz. that no ●…tunes , which happen to men in this 〈◊〉 , are worth so deep resentment , and so many tears . nor is he less displeased with the cherishing those other furious transports of the soul , where indignation and anger are the governing passions ; for these betray too violent disorders upon too slight provocations . so that even tragedy it self is highly to blame , and sets the world a very ill example , when it introduces , not only common men , but even the bravest heroes , disturbed with grief or anger , for good or evil accidents , which are in truth of so mean consideration , as all the events of this life are , when duly weighed . for these , ( as he goes on ) have nothing in them , which ought tenderly to affect an immortal soul. nothing is of consequence great enough to justify that concern , which does not extend to all the conditions in which this soul subsists ; that is , which does not regard it 's future state. such were the noble sentiments of this great man , who yet had never been instructed in the promises of another life ; and knew no more of eternal happiness , than what some confused ideas and dark conjectures led him to . and yet he thought it a disparagement to humane nature , that men should be represented as happy , or miserable , upon the account of any present or sensible good or evil , which could possibly befall them here . all this he says , is no better than a corruption of our minds . and if plato could think and argue at this rate , shall not christians be able to comprehend , how contrary to virtue these emotions are ? xvi . comecal and ridiculous characters condemned by the same principles ▪ nor does comedy escape better with plato than tragedy . if this philosopher accuse the lamentations and discontents , which tragedy inspires , of so much weakness ; he is not more favourably disposed towards that blind and impetuous inclination to laughter and mirth , which comedy aims at raising in the spectators . so that comedy and tragedy both , the gayety of the one , and the gravity of the other , are equally banished his common-wealth , because both are capable of upholding and strengthening those aflections of our soul , which are sensual and irrational . but , beside this , there lyes another objection against comedy , peculiar to it self ; which is , that , being taken up in the representation of youthful passions and follies , it is apt to engage men in mean and vulgar love : that is , ( as he explains himself ) in a fondness for people's persons and bodily excellencies , which he constantly sets in opposition to the love of truth and virtue . in a word , no sort of theatrical representations would go down with this philosopher , because there was not any of them clear of this common vice , that it excited love , or anger , or some other sort of passion , which it is the design and business of virtue to master and compose . xvii . women not allowed upon the theatres of the ancients . farther yet . those dramatick representations of the antients , which the vindicators of modern plays take such pains to make us believe were far more licentious than ours ; and which indeed in the comical part were extravagant to the last degree ; must however be acquitted of one great indecency now in use ; which is , the admitting female players upon the publick stage . the very heathens saw the absurdity of exposing thus , and giving up to common use , a sex , which nature seems to have devoted to modesty and strict reserve ; and look'd upon this as a sort of prostitution . and from hence also plato fetched another argument for condemning the theatre in general . because custom and the rules then in force , not allowing women to play upon the stage , there was a necessity of having their parts acted by men. and consequently men were obliged , not only to appear in female habit and form , but to counterfeit their tears , and shrieks ; the impotence and fury of their passions , and to put on all the weakness of their sex. all which , in the judgment of this philosopher , was so much beneath their character , so extreamly unsuitable and absurd ; that this single reason , had there been no other , had been sufficient to give him an irreconcileable prejudice against plays in general . xviii . aristotle's opinion in this matter poet. 7. now though his scholar aristotle affected to contradict him , and his more complying and debonnair philosophy thought fit to attribute to tragedy a certain manner , ( which yet he hath left us in the dark about , and would not , or knew not how to explain ) of purifying and improving the passions it excites , ( at least in the case of fear and compassion ) yet did he nevertheless discover and acknowledge something so dangerous in the stage , that he does not find it convenient to admit young people to see either comedies , or so much as tragedies ; though in that age so very grave and serious as i have already observed . for which he assigns this excellent reason ▪ that we ought to be very jealous and fearful of the first impressions made upon young and tender minds ; which the fable and management of tragedies would be apt to move too strongly . not that the passions of young people were then represented so exorbitant , as now men suffer and even require them to be ; it hath been already observed what measures they were then confined to : but because ( generally speaking ) those artful compositions struck the passions too sensibly . they represented murder and revenge , treachery , conspiracies , and other black and horrid crimes , such as this philosopher thought it safer and more adviseable for men in heat of youth , not so much as to hear once mentioned . so far was he from permitting such persons to see them represented with all the life and force , which the stage gives ; when it labours to possess the audience by all possible industry and artifice , that the thing then in agitation is no longer fiction and fable , but the very substance and reality of what it so exquisitely personates . i confess , i do not understand , why aristotle , after advancing thus far , should not have extended this pre-caution somewhat farther . not only youth , but even childhood , is of very long continuance among men ; or , to speak more properly , the generality of people never entirely cease to be children . and after all , what account can a man promise himself from those dispositions to fear or compassion , which he finds the stage inspire for the sufferings and disasters of heroes , except that of making the heart more tender , and more sensibly affected with the objects of these passions ? but let us , if you please , leave aristotle to that mysterious manner of purifying them , which neither himself , nor his interpreters have been able as yet to give either any intelligible account of , or any substantial reasons for : thus much at least he hath taught us most expresly , that it is a very dangerous attempt to raise the passions that te●…d to pleasures . for indeed to this very matter we may very truly apply that maxim of the philosopher , which he hath delivered upon a different occasion ; that the doing of the thing follows the discourse of it close a●… the h●…ls , and a man suffers himself without any 〈◊〉 to be brought over to the practice of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he loves , and takes delight to hea●… 〈◊〉 of . a maxim this is of very gre●…●…icance and use in matters relating to ●…ane conversation ; and such as , once allowed , will leave no room for those agreeable and insnaring sentiments , which are now the ground-work , and darling subject , of all our modern compositions for the stage . xix . another prin ciple of plato upon this matter plato , by a principle still more general , was convinced , that those arts and trades , which minister only to pleasure , and have this for their object , are all of them dangerous to morality and humane life . because they make it their business to pick it up any where from good or bad causes ; even at the expence of all that is truly valuable . nay , they sacrifice even virtue and conscience , and decency , and every thing ; so little are they given to proceed with any distinction , whose end it is to furnish pleasure , if the most scandalous means happen at any time to be necessary for compassing that end . and hence this philosopher fetches a fresh argument , for banishing utterly out of his re-publick , not only comick , and tragick , but even epick poets too . nor could he be prevailed upon to extend his mercy to the divine homer himself , as he was then styled , though his writings in those days were thought the effect of inspiration . but all this notwithstanding , the inexorable plato sent them all packing together , because , all agreeing in the same common design of pleasure , they do all put true or false , good or bad instructions upon the world ; and without any regard to the simplicity and unity of truth , and that it ought always to be the same , they vary and shift as occasion serves ; and aim at nothing but pleasing the palates , and cherishing the passions , of men. which being the most complicated and changeable things in nature , they must shuffle and change accordingly . this he tells us is the very reason , why there is an old antipathy between the philosophers and the poets . the former conforming themselves to reason , the latter accomodating their studies to pleasure . he therefore frames such laws , as dismiss these latter with an appearance of respect , and crown them with a sort of imaginary lawrel ; but at the same time with an inflexible severity , accosting them thus ; we cannot away with the exclamations of your theatres , nor bear that any body in our cities should speak louder , or be more heard than ourselves . and if these civil institutions were so rigorous , shall the christian suffer any to drown the voice of the gospel among us ? shall men most zealously applaud , and labour with all their might to recommend to the world , ambition , and fame , and revenge , and those fantastical notions of honour , which jesus christ hath banished from among them , whom he hath commanded to renounce the world ? shall we support and cherish those passions which he hath directed us to subdue and stifile ? st , iohn calls loudly to all believers , and all ages and conditions of men : i have written unto you fathers ; i have written unto you old men ; i have written unto you young men ; i have written unto you children : that is , to all you that are christians of what quality soever : love not the world , neither the things that are in the world , for all that is in the world , is the lust of the elesh , the lust of the eyes , and the pride of 〈◊〉 . in these words , both the world it self , and the stage , which is the image and picture of it , are equally reproved . for it is the world with it's pomps , and vanities , and wicked charms , which our plays represent and recommend to us . as therefore in the world , which is the original , all things are full of sensuality , and curiosity , ostentation , and vanity and pride ; so in the stage , which is the copy , these things abound and reign . and the effect of the theatre must needs be to make us fond of these things , because the only end it pursues is to promote pleasure , and render the representation of these things entertaining and delightful to us . xx. the scriptures silent upon this ●…sion . and why . but after all , if plays be so very dangerous , we are urged to give an account , how it comes to pass , that jesus christ and his apostles have never given us warning of so exceeding perillous a diversion ; nay , that they have not expresly forbidden so great an evil. this remark hath likewise been thought worthy a place in the discourse . if you read the scriptures over and over , you will never meet ( says he ) with any express , and particular precept against plays . now the writers that pretend to argue at this rate , and would draw any advantageous inferences from this silence of scripture , may proceed , and would do like themselves , by parity of reason , to justify the gladiators , and all the horror and brutality of the heathen spectacles : since the scriptures , it must be confess'd , have no more express precepts against these , than they have against plays . that is , in truth , they never so much as mention either . but the holy fathers , who were pressed with the like difficulties by the apologists for those spectacles heretofore , have led us the way in this argument . and from them we may learn , that the true and solid answer to such objections is this ; that the scriptures , which forbid and banish vicious inclinations , as unlawful ; do by necessary consequence , forbid all such representations , which , by delighting the senses , do naturally and industriously intangle and uphold men in those vicious inclinations . thus immodest pictures are condemned in all those passages of holy writ , where all immodest and uncomely things are forbidden in general terms . and the case is exactly the same in the representations upon the stage . st. iohn hath included all , and nothing can be more full than that of his first epistle love not the world , neither the things that are in the world ; if any man love the world , the love of the father is not in him . for all that is in the world , the lust of the flesh , the lust of the eyes , and the pride ●… life , is not of the father , but is of the world. now if this lust be not of god , that delightful representation , which tricks it up , and sets it off in all its alluring charms , is not of him neither ; and if this be of the world as well as the other , then christians are as much forbidden to love , or partake in this , as the other . st. paul hath likewise comprehended all such matters in that solemn and very remarkable precept . finally , brethren , whatsoever things are true , whatsoever things are honest ; whatsoever things are just , whatsoever things are pure , ( or chast ) whatsoever things are of good report , if there be any virtue , and if there be any praise , think on these things . consequently , whatever takes our thoughts and affections off from these things , and inspires thoughts and affections of a contrary quality , ought by no means to delight us , nay , ought by all means to be suspected and shunned by us . in this collection of objects for our thoughts , which st. paul here propounds to every christian , let our vindicators try , if they can find any place for our modern plays , how loudly and boldly soever the men of this world ma●… boast of , or undertake to defend , then . but farther yet . it is no hard matter to assign a sufficient reason for the profound silence of our lord jesus christ , and the holy scriptures upon this subject of plays ; which is , that there was no occasion to make any mention of them to those iews , to whom they principally addressed themselves ▪ because these sorts of diversion had never been received , or in common practice among them . they had no spectacles to make a part of their solemn rejoyings . their festivals , their sacrifices , and their religious ceremonies , supplyed this office abundantly . they were by their primitive institution , a plain and natural sort of livers . they had none of the gayeties and corrupt inventions of greece ; and after that encomium of balaam there is no idol * in iacob , neither is there any divination in israel , a man might add , there are no theatres , neither are there any corrupt and dangerous representations among them . this innocent people found pleasure and entertainment enough in their own families , and with their own children : here they chose to recreate their minds after the example set them by their ancestors , the patriarchs , when they had laboured and satigued themselves in cultivating their ground , or attending their flocks , and those other domestick cares , which succeeded into the place of these employments . and indeed we much mistake the matter , if , as we find they had not , so we vainly suppose that any other men have , need of so profuse expence so much contrivance and such exquisite vanity , to divert and refresh themselves . such is the character of those iews ; and this in all probability was one main reason , why the apostles were silent in this matter . they who had all along been accustomed to that simplicity of behaviour in use among that race , and in that countrey , were not concerned to reprove , or take notice in their writings of such practices , as the nation , with whom they conversed , and to whom they wrote , were perfectly strangers to . it was sufficient for their purpose to lay down such general principles of virtue , as would be sure to create a dislike of these things , if ever they should be afterwards introduced . the christians knew well enough , that their religion was a superstructure upon the iewish ; and that the church ought not to admit what the synagogue had banished before . but however that be , the iews reserve and strictness in this matter is a great example to christians . and a horrible reproach it is to a spiritual people , to indulge the sensual appetites and affections , by those delights , which a carnal people never knew any thing of . xxi . reflections upon the book of canticles and church-musick . there was but one dramatick poem ever among the iews , and that is the book of canticles . but this breathes only heavenly and divine love : and yet , because this refined and exalted affection is represented in characters of human love , young people were forbidden to read that book . whereas now no scruple is made of inviting men to see lovers sighing and dying , only for the meer pleasure of loving , and to give the spectators a relish for the amorous * folly . st. augustin makes some question , whether musick and singing should be allowed in churches , and if the severe discipline of st. athanasius and the church of alexandria should not rather be stuck to , which was so grave and rigorous , as scarcely to allow the gentlest turns of the voice in singing , or rather in repeating , the psalms . so very jealous were some good men in the church , that the sweetness of singing might make the mind too light and airy . i do not instance in this example , with any design of censuring the contrary methods since in use ; by which , though somewhat late , grave and solemn musick was introduced into divine worship , to raise the minds of men when they sink and flag ; and sensibly to express the magnificence of this worship , when their cold and languid devotions stand in need of these helps . i would not therefore be thought to condemn this practice , either by the simplicity of the ancient , or the gravity of the modern , singing . i only complain , that the scrupulous nicety of those holy fathers is so far forgotten , that instead of being tender and jealous of admitting the delights of musick to set off the songs of sion , the world takes pains to apply them to vice and ribaldry , and such as profane atheistcal babylon would inspire her abominations with . the same st. augustine reproves those writers , who made an ostentation of their wit , in giving pretty turns to matters of no great moment ; and begs them , that they would not take pains to make that pleasing , which is not profitable . ne faciant delectabilia quae sunt inutilia . but now men labour to make that please , which is sure to hurt them whom it pleases . and no less pernicious a design than this hath gained the author of the discourse a great many friends and favourites in the world . xxii . st. thomas aquinas his doctrine upon this occasion explained . it is now a proper time to divest this discourse of the authority and warrant , which plays are here intitled to , from the great names of st. thomas , and other holy and learned casuists . as to st. thomas , two articles are alledged out of him , part of the question concerning modesty in outward actions and bodily gestures . and nothing , we are told , can be more particular , more full to the purpose , than what he delivers there is , in vindication of plays . now first of all i must observe to my reader , that the business of plays is not the main subject , which he there designed to treat of , but that it comes in occasionally only . the question propounded in that second article , is , whether there be such things as we call ●…udicrous and diverting , which may be allowed of in human conversation , as well in actions , as in words ; dictis seu factis . in plain terms , whether there be such things as sports , and diversions , and innocent recreations , which may come under the head of bodily gestures . and he affirms that such there are ; and that the using them well and p●…dently is not only allowable , but even a virtue ; which is not by any means the matter now in dispute . throughout this whole article he says not one word of plays : but he speaks in general terms concerning diversions necessary for unbending and refreshing the mind , which he reduces to that virtue styled by aristotle , eutrapelia , as their proper topick in morality . a term , which i shall have occasion to explain by and by . from hence he proceeds to the third article , and here the point to be discussed is , vvhether men may be guilty of any vitious excess in such merriments and diversions : and he shews evidently , that they may . but still not a syllable concerning plays in the main substance , or body of the article . so that thus far we are under no difficulty at all in the matter . that then , from whence this difficulty grows , is this . that st. thomas in the same article forms to himself an objection , ( which is the third there ) to this purpose . he instances in the trade of mimicks , buffoons , stage-players , ( histriones ) the histrionick art. i term it so , because it is not certain , that our modern players are only , or properly , meant by it . but however that be , the force of the objection lyes here . in this art , whatever it be , the professors of it are guilty of excesses in play or diversion , for they pass their whole time in it , and make it their livelihood ; and yet this profession is not censured as vitious ; therefore there is no such thing as a vitious excess in these matters . to this he replies , that the trade indeed is not to be condemned , provided they , who exercise it , do diligently and duly observe the rules and measures , which he prescribes them there . which are , that , for the sake of entertainment and diversion , they neither speak nor do any thing unlawful , tbat they do not prejudice weightier business , nor act at unseasonable times . and this is all the inference , that can fairly be drawn from this eminent casuist in favour of plays . xxiii . the first and second reflections upon aquinas his doctrine . but that the conclusion from hence may be sound and good , we must in the first place be well assured , that st. thomas under the title of histriones meant such players as ours . and this is so far from being certain , that it is absolutely false . for under this title he manifestly comprehends a certain player , ioculator , which paphnutius was told by revelation was equal to himself in virtue . and this was evidently no such person as we commonly understand by the name of a player , but an honest piper that got his living by his flute in a neighbouring village ; and thus much is plain from that passage , which st. thomas cites out of the life of paphnutius . consequently then , no advantage can be made of this in favour of modern players . but on the contrary we are to observe , that god designing to shew an eminent saint , that he knew how to train up very obscure people to admirable piety and virtue , even in the meanest and most despised imployments , did not instance in players , who were at that time very numerous , but he chose to make use of another kind of example : a poor man , who got an honest livelihood , by playing upon an innocent sort of musick ; one who excelled in the virtue of humility , and esteemed himself the chief of sinners , because from the conversation of thieves and robbers , he had betaken himself to this despicable and ignominious way of living , faedum artificium as he terms it ; not that there was any thing strictly vicious in this trade , but because the pipe among the ancients was an instrument very much despised . to which we must add further , that he quitted this infamous profession , as soon as he was better taught by paphnutius . and this is the very point , upon which that determination , and the whole argument turns , which our author pretends to draw from the doctrin of aquinus , in behalf of plays . secondly , when he mentions upon this occasion the delightful entertainment , which these histriones gave to the people by their words and actions , he confines himself to the notion of facetious discourse , attended and set off with pleasant gestures . which is likewise an idea very distant from that of plays . there were indeed but few entertainments of this kind , if any at all to be met with , in the age when this casuist lived . in his book upon the ●… sentences , he speaks of plays in theatres , as things which had been in request formerly : ludi qui in theatris agebantur . and neither in this place before us , nor in any other passage where he treats of the diversions in use in his time , is there the least mention made of theatres . nor do i find them once named in st. bonaventure , who was his cotemporary . the many peremptory decrees of the church , and the common cry of the fathers , who had inveighed so sharply against them , had brought them into general disrepute , and probably into a total disuse , before that time . they did indeed get up again some time after , but then they appeared in a form very different , from that which we are at present treating of them under . but in regard we see , that st. thomas takes no notice of them ; we have reason to believe , that they did not prevail to any great degree in his time . for then we meet with little else , but rediculous relations of some pious stories ; or the legerdemain of iugglers , ioculatores ; who amused the common people with their tricks and little tales . and whom st. lewis is said at last to have put down quite ; finding the difficulty , that there always is , to contain such sort of fellows within the bounds of decency . xxiv . the third reflection and a passage of st. thomas against buffoonery . but be that as it will , yet i observe in the third place , that st. thomas cannot in any reason be supposed to approve of buffoonery in the mouths of christians ; since among the several conditions and limitations , which he makes diversions subject to , he requires among the rest , that the grave and serious temper of the mind be not wholly broken and dissolved , ne gravitas animae totaliter resolvatur . from whence it is plain , that he who pretends to bring in this casuist for an advocate on his side , ought first to prove , that this condition , so peremptorily required by him , is agreeable to the extravagances of our modern theatres ; and to shew us some remains at least of gravity preserved in the midst of those excessive buffooneries now in use among us . but aquinas is very far from any such absurd doctrin as he is produced for . for , quite contrary , in his commentary upon those words of st. paul to the ephesians , * neither filthiness , nor foolish talking , nor jesting , which are not convenient . ( scurrility ) he explains these three words after the following manner . the apostle , ( says he ) does here exclude three vices from a christian's conversation ; filthiness , which consists in unclean touches , unlawful embraces , and lascivious kisses . foolish talking , that is , vvords that provoke to sin ; and inconvenient iesting ; ribaldry , and terms of merriment , by which men make it their business to set people a laughing . and against these , he alledges that solemn warning of our saviour christ in st. mathew , that men shall give an account for every idle word in the day of iudgment , and these idle words , he tells us , are such , as propose no good to themselves , nor are spoken for any other end , but only to jest for the diversion of other people . verbum ioculatorium per quod volunt inde placere alijs . 't is manifest therefore , that he ranks these three things under the head of vices : and acknowledges a particular malignity in those words , which have regard only to the mirth of others , and the making them laugh , distinct from that , which attends such words , as provoke men to sin. and this plainly banishes buffoonery , or to speak more positively , ridiculing , and jesting from among christians : as an action light , indecent , and , in his opinion , within the compass of those idle words mentioned by christ ; not only unprofitable , nay sometimes very mischievous , but unsuitable to the gravity required in the temper and carriage of christians . xxv . the fourth fifth and sixth reflection st. thomas reconciled with himself . in the fourth place , admitting it were true , which yet it is not , that the passage produced out of aquinas his summe were intended of plays ; or that these were , or were not , in use and request at the time when he lived ; yet even thus it is manifest , that the diversion he approves of , must have three qualifications to bear it out . the first and chief is , that it do not aim at giving delight by any actions or vvords that are indecent or hurtful . quód delectatio non quaeratur in aliquibus operationibus vel verbis turpibus aut nocivis . the second is , that the seriousness of the mind be not wholly relaxed and lost ; while we profess to unbend it a little by recreations . ne gravitas animae totaliter resolvatur . the third , that it be suitable to the person , the time , the place , and , in all other circumstances , so regulated , as to be free from indecency . ut congruat personae , et tempori , et loco ; et secundum alias circumstantias debité ordinetur . now to give any force to the argument taken from this authority , and to do right to the first of these conditions , our author will be obliged in the first place , to demonstrate , that there is no hurt in exciting the most dangerous passions ; which is manifestly absurd ; or else , that such passions are not excited by those delightful representations , which plays give us of them ; which is manifestly repugnant both to common experience and to the very end and design of those representations , as i have already shewed at large : or lastly , that this famous casuist was yet so weak a man , and so unskilled in humane nature , as not to be sensible , that there is nothing which conveys a quicker infection , and blows up those passions more violently , than passionate discourses , particularly soft and tender things , and long dialogues and descriptions of love. and this would be the very extremity of all absurdity , and such as , would the thing admit of the least doubt , were most easily confuted , from the words of this very casuist himself . thus much , i think , is sufficient with regard to the first qualification . the second hath been already spoken to , for that is plainly violated by buffoonery , and scurrility , and farce . and the third will come under our consideration , when we speak to the circumstances of time and seasons , particularly with relation to holidays and lent. upon these things thus premised , i proceed to make a fifth reflection upon those words of st. thomas in the third objection of the third article . if these histriones ( says he ) carried their diversions up to excess , they then would all live in a state of sin ; and not they only , but all such as make use of them , and encourage their sin , and give them pay and profit for it , would likewise be guilty of sin . si qui autem sustentant illos histriones qui illicitis ludis utuntur , peccant ; quasi eos in pecca●…o foventes . st. thomas lays down these propositions , which in are truth not to be contested , and he does not excuse these histriones , what sort of people soever that name may belong to , any farther than by supposing , and allowing , that their action have nothing in it that is evil or criminal , either in it self , secundum se , or in its excess beyond the rules of modesty . but be this profession what it will , yet though never so innocent in it self , if experience plainly demonstrate , that , as now exercised among us , it be attended with very dangerous and hurtful circumstances : in such a case this very divine hath left us a rule to guide our judgments by ; which is , that even the spectators , ( what vain boasts soever they may make of not feeling their passions kindled , and perhaps indeed they may not be so far inflamed as to be sensible of it themselves ) do yet partake in the guilt of all the wickedness and destruction wrought there ; since it is manifest they contribute to these people's profit , and encourage and support them in their sinful and mischievous practices . sixthly and lastly . allowing that st. thomas , when speaking of this art of players , or mimicks , ( or whatsoever you will call the histriones ) speculatively considered , and in general , do reckon it among the allowable and innocent professions ; yet in another place , where he regards the ordinary use of it , and speaks of it , practically considered , he ranks it with the infamous ways of living , and accounts the gains arising from it , to be scandalous and unlawful . for such , says he , is the profit brought in by persons prostituting their bodies , and the histrionick trade , and some others of the like sort . quaedam dicuntur male ●…quisita , quia acquiruntur ex turpi causa , s●… de meretricio , et histrionatu , et alijs hujusmodi . he does not here interpose any limitation to moderate the severity of his expression , or abate of the horrour and odium which we draw upon this scandalous trade . you see what company he places it in , and to what filthy abominable practices he compares it here , notwithstanding any favour or excuse for it , which he is pretended to have exprest for it elsewhere . the only way to reconcile which passages , and make this great divine consistent with himself , is this . to conclude , that when he excuses or ( if they will have it so ) approves this profession , and the encouragement of those that exercise it , by frequenting those diversions , and paying them for their pains ▪ he looks upon this art in its most generall , abstracted , and metaphysical sense ; what it is in its own self , stripped of all those circumstances , that may vitiate and alter the nature of it ; but when he considers it as it really is in common use , and attended with all those circumstances in which we see it upon the stage ; then there is no censure , no infamous terms , that he thinks too bad for it . and thus you see at last what a zealous and mighty patronizer of plays st. thomas is . the two passages in his snmme , which those ●…o vindicate plays thought themselves so strongly entrenched in , are beaten down about their own ears ; since first , it hath not been clearly made out , that he speaks of plays and players ( as we now take the terms ) in that passage ; nay , secondly , sufficient testimony hath been produced that he never intended such sort of people there : and thirdly , it is even demonstrated , that whatever allowance he might be content to give to plays ( in themselves ) considered by way of speculation , in their general and abstracted sense , such as it is barely possible they may be , yet our plays in particular , considered practically , and as they really are , he does not only utterly exclude , according to his principles laid down in that very passage ; but in another part of his book expresses the greatest detestation , and passes a peremptory sentence against them . and now after ▪ this let ignorant and superficial writers oppose , if they think fit , st. thomas his authority against us , and bring him upon their stage as a favourer and champion of plays . xxvi . st. antonin's opinion examined . next after st. thomas , the other great champion produced in their defence ▪ is st. antoninus , arch-bishop of florence . but the worst of it is , that they begin this argument with a false citation , and make him speak these words in his second part . comedy is a mixture of pleasant speeches and actions , for the diversion of a man's self , or for that of another . now , in this quotation , there is a small liberty taken of accomodating the testimony of this great man to their present occasion . the reader will judge of the ingenuity of it , when i have told him , that this author hath only added the word comedy , of which there is no footstep in the text. st. antonin , in the place referred to , speaks in general of diverting words and actions , such as are used for mirth and refreshment . these are the things he treats of , which by no means include any idea of plays , but only that of pleasant conversation , or however , of innocent sports , such as he instances in particularly , as tops for children , playing at ball and quoits , and racing for young people ; and chess for grown men ; and so of the rest , without one single word of comedy . it is confessed , in this place of his second part , after a long discourse , in which he severely condemns playing at dice , he descends to other matters , and instances in several professions , and at last in that of the historiones ; which he approves in the same sense , and with the same limitations that st. thomas had done ; whose authority he alledges without declaring himself more particularly in the case : so that there is no other reply needful to this testimony , than only that , which hath been made to that of st. thomas already . in his third part indeed , he speaks expresly of the representations in vogue in his time . representationes quae fiunt hodie . which addition is a sufficient hint , that they were of no long standing then ; and yet this was about a hundred and fifty years after aquinas . these he declares unlawful and forbidden in some cases , and under certain circumstances taken notice of there ; one of which is , if they represent things immoral and indecent , turpia . and all that certainly ought to fall under this condemnation , which flatters and promotes carnal concupiscence . and if st. antoninus did not provide against the condition of our modern plays , nor the sentiments of that impious love , which is the constant ground-work of such entertainments ; the reason undoubtedly is , that he had his eye upon the representations then in use ; which , as the compositions of that age still remaining do evidently demonstrate , were of a nature very different from ours . the spirit and judgment of this great man , with regard to these dangerous tendernesses of the present stage is however sufficiently discovered , by his reducing musick to the singing forth the praises of god , singing the stories of knights errant , and other inoffensive things in due time and place . so holy a person would never have called our amorous songs inoffensive , since his niceness ran so high , as to forbid men the liberty of hearing women sing ; because it is a freedom of dangerous consequence , and as he terms it , an incentive to lasciviousness . incitati●…um ad lasciviam . by this it is easy to know , what judgment he would have passed upon our opera , and whether he would have thought it less hazardous to see our women play their love parts with so much moving art and passion , and all the advantages of temptation , which their sex can possibly furnish them with . and , if to these declarations of antoninus his opinion , we add those conditions , which he requires in all sorts of diversions such as that they be utterly laid aside in lent and other penitential seasons , and that they do not occasion the worship of god to be neglected ; and ( which is more strict , and considerable still ) that the returns of them be so seldom , as , in the affairs of human life and conversation , to bear proportion to the quantity of salt which men use in their ordinary food ; i think upon these terms the discourser will not only find no support from hence to the argument he maintains , but will be expresly condemned in every branch of it , even by the judgment of this pretended friend to his cause . xxvii . the author 's encouraging the profanation of feasts and fasts , censured . i will here observe two very considerable points , in which this discourse commits an open outrage upon the holy usages of the church . the first is that passage , where the author declares himself very well pleased , that plays should divide god's own day with him ; and , though sunday be set apart for religious duties , yet plays may come in for a share too , provided they content themselves with that modesty of not beginning till divine service is over and sermon ended , when the church doors are shut , and people have had time enough for devotion . the other is that , wherein he gives up the season of lent to this sort of divertisement ; and that too , notwithstanding it be , ( as he expresses himself farther ) a time consecrated to repentance and humiliation for sin ; ●… time of tears and bitter sorrow to serious and devout christians ; a time , in which ( as the scripture observes , ) musick should be a torment , and sights and plays may seem improper , and perhaps some may think it were more convenient to have them then absolutely forbidden . and yet , in despight of all these reasons , which he seems to have produced for no other end , than only to let the world see , how little scruple he would make of setting them aside ; in defiance of that text of scripture urged in confirmation of them ; he stands up in vindication of that horrible abuse , of acting plays , even in this season of mortification and devotion . xxviii . the doctrine of the scripture and the church concerning fasting . now this is in effect to confound and utterly overthrow all those ideas of fasting , which scripture and tradition both have given us in this matter . the days set apart for this purpose are so properly and naturally times of sorrow and affliction , that the scripture frequently makes use of no other term to express and explain them by : you shall afflict your souls , that is , ye shall keep a fast. and indeed the withdrawing and abstaining from the ordinary supports and refreshments of nature is designed for that very purpose , that this painfull denyall of our selves may dispose us the better for a sorrowfull temper of mind . while men were eager and allowed themselves a free use of necessaries , they were not mighty cautious of sliding into superfluities ▪ but upon pretence of necessity fell in to excess . and therefore it was thought fit in the chastising and humbling of our selves to take the contrary method ▪ to cut off first the common supplyes , and not only so ; but to this abstinence to joyn every thing that could be mortifying and afflicting , sackcloth upon the body , ashes upon the head , tears and groans and lamentations . and all this , because this was a day of atonement , a time to propitiate and seek pardon for their sins ; and therefore they were to feel , and to bear all the marks of deep sorrow and affliction , and to find no rest , no comfort to their souls . fasting hath yet one character more , peculiar to it under the new testament , as it is an expression of that grief the church lyes under , during the time of her spouse's absence . and this agrees with that saying of christ himself : can the children of the bridechamber mourn , as long as the bridegroom is with them ? but the days will come , when the bridegroom shall be taken from them ; and then shall they fast . here you see mourning and fasting put together again , and both the one and the other are , in our saviours judgment , the distinguishing marks of that time , when the church laments the death and absence of jesus christ. the holy fathers in like manner tell us , that upon this very account , the most solemn fast of all , which is the season of lent , is celebrated upon the approuch of , and as a proper preparation for , that of our lord's passion . during this time so devoted to repentance , and mortification , and the remembrance of our blessed redeemer's death , all publick rejoycings and diversions are forbidden . in this whole intervall of sorrow the canons of the church order men to abstain from the celebration of marriage ; and they , who are at all versed in the discipline and usages of the church , cannot but understand the reasons for it . it cannot then seem strange , that shews , and publick entertainments , have been in a particular manner forbidden during this season . for , allowing them to be altogether innocent , yet it is obvious they are indecent ; as a testimony of gayety and joy , which is by no means suitable to the then sorrowful state of the church in general . but if even innocent diversions are not then allowed , much less are the infamous and the prosane . the church forbears even holy rejoycings , and the very festivals of the saints were not suffered to be kept , because these could not be solemnized without some demonstration 〈◊〉 ●…blick joy. this temper and spirit is still preserved in the church , as they , who are learned in the rites of it , know and teach . it is upon the same principle , that no fasts were kept on sundays , nor between easter and whitsuntide ; because these are times set apart for holy rejoycing ; when we sing hallelujah's and hymns of praise , the figure of that song of the lamb , and never ceasing joy , in the next world . now , if fasting be inconsistent with a season dedicated to holy joy , ought common mirth and profane revellings to be mingled with it ? ought even those publick diversions which at other times are not allowable ? is this a time to hear the jests of buffoons , whose whole discourse utterly stifles the spirit of compunction ? are plays then proper , which , taken in the most favourable character their champions contend for , will at least fill your heads with vain and idle thoughts , with sensitive and worldly , admitting them to be innocent and otherwise unblameable , pleasures ? xxix . a fresh abuse of st. thomas aquin. his 〈◊〉 . in despight of these holy traditions , and in direct contradiction to that passage of the wise * man produced by our author , against the use of musick in time of mourning , he still persists in allowing plays to be acted the whole season of lent throughout . he would not indeed de●…e from us the meer favour of giving him the hearing upon this occasion , were it not for the respect due to a greater authority than his own , which he hath the hardiness once more to summon in , as a voucher for his errors . for , after propounding all the objections he knew against acting plays in lent , he adds , to all this i answer in st. thomas his own words ; and then he cites an article of this holy doctor upon the sentences , which is the very same , that we had occasion to produce and examine already upon another occasion . now first of all , it is most certain , that the casuist hath nothing to do with lent in that place , nor does he say one single syllable concerning it . but though a man would , ( as i cannot but acknowledge he might reasonably enough ) apply in some degree to the season of lent , the rules and measures , which this great oracle lays down with regard to the state of penitents in general ; yet even thus there is not any thing there , which will not make against the pretension of our author . st. thomas does in that place take three questions into consideration , the two former whereof relate to sports or diversions ; in the first he speaks of these in general ; in the second he descends to shews in particular . while he is treating of diversions in general , and before he comes to instance in or consider shews or publick sights , he forbids penitents the indulging , though never so privately , such diversions , as are apt to rejoyce and very agreeably entertain the mind ; which prohibition he grounds upon this , that a state of penitence requires tears and not mirth , and therefore the utmost he allows them is , with great moderation to use some certain recreations , so far as may refresh themselves , and keep up good society with the persons they dwell and converse among . and all this , it is plain , is nothing to the point before us , for such permissions will not reach very many cases . but now , under the second question , where he comes to consider shews in particular , there he positively determines the point against penitents , and declares such are bound to avoid them , spectacula vitanda penitenti . nay that they are bound , not only to decline such as are evil in their own nature , from which , says he , these persons lye under a stronger obligation to abstain , than common men ; but , even from such diversions as are useful and necessary to mankind , among which he instances particularly in hunting . how strict the discipline of the antient church was upon this occasion , as it is pretty well known , so it deserves to be constantly remembred . by this , all sorts of exercises were interdicted to penitents , which unsettle the mind , and dispose to levity . and this rule was so well fixed , that you see there was no relaxation of it , granted by st. thomas , who lived in the thirteenth century . we find among the sermons printed in st. ambrose , one of st , coesarius archbishop of arles , where he tells us three or four times over ; that , whoever hunts any part of lent , ( horum quadraginta dierum curriculo ) does not really fast ; no ( says he ) not though he abstain from food longer than ordinary and do not eat till the evening , ( which was the constant usage of that age ) it is true , he does not refresh himself at common hours , but , notwithstanding that , he hath not fasted unto the lord , for fasting implyes a great deal more then eating later than is usuall potes videri tardius te refecisse , non tamen domino jejunasse . this author lived about the end of the sixth century . in the ninth age , pope nicolas , imposes the same observance upon the bulgarians , who consulted him for direction , and grounds it upon the tradition of the former ages of the church . this severity was derived from the primitive discipline in the case of penitents ; and what was then thought expedient for particular persons and cases , was afterwards judged a proper course for the observance of lent ; this being a season , when the whole church , and every member of it , put themselves into the condition of penitents . and , lest any should imagine , that this discipline of penitents was unreasonable and beyond all measure rigorous , st. thomas justifies it with this argument , that such publick shews and exercises , take off from the seriousness of the mind , and are a great hindrance to recollection ; that the state of penitents is a state of uneasiness and trouble and therefore the church hath a right , and does well in such circumstances to use her right , of debarring such from the use and enjoyment of such things , which though usefull in their own nature , are yet by no means proper for these persons present condition . and , that nothing less than a case of necessity , is a good exception to this rule , ubi necessitas exposcit ; as for instance , if a man had no other way of getting his living but by hunting . all which is agreeable to the canons , to the doctrine of the saints , and to the master of the sentences . and , having by all these authorities moderated the diversions , which a private penitent may allow himself in , for the refreshment of his own mind , and the keeping up a good correspondence with his neighbours and acquantance ; he forbids such , the use of all publick shews , and all those exercises , which discompose the mind , and render it unfit for serious thought . notwithstanding all which , the discourser , in the passage now before us , hath declared it allowable to see and hear plays , all lent long , ( for these are his very words ) he discovers in this no manner of inconsistence with that spirit of mortification and deep sorrow , which the church at that time makes publick profession of ; and he hath the confidence to call this answering all objections to the contrary , in th. aquinas his own words . the same author declares himself yet farther upon this subject , in that question already quoted out of his summes where in the fourth article , he inquires , whether there can be any sin in the defect , or too rigid forbearance of diversion . that is , in refusing and denying a mans self every thing , that may contribute to the recreating his mind . for that is the meaning of lud●…s or play mentioned there . and the first objection he raises is this , that in all appedrance , there can be no sin in the defect of these diversions , because no sin is prescribed to penitents , and yet all diversions are prohibited so such . for this agrees with a passage in a book attributed to st. augustin , where he says , that if a penitent desire to obtain the grace of a full and perfect pardon , it is necessary for him to forbear diversions , and the shews of the world , during his state of humiliation for his sins . this passage was in the text of the master of the sentences , and the doctrine contained in it received as uncontestable , because agreeing exactly with all the ancient canons . st. thomas likewise replyes , that lamentation and grief for sin are commanded the penitents , and therefore diversion is not allowed to such ; because reason requires the abatement of such things to persons under circumstances of sorrow . paenitentibus luctus indicitur pro peccatis , ideo inter dicitur eis ludus . nec hoc pertinet ad vitium defectus quia hoc ipsum est secundum rationem , quod in eis ludus diminuatur . this is the only restriction produced there , which yet does not in any degree affect the publick diversions because it does not take off the prohibition of shews : but it leaves that in full force , as we find it expressly laid in all those canons that concern a penitentiall state. and this the same author himself acknowledges , in the passage lately cited out of his book upon the sentences . let not men therefore injure the doctrine , and misrepresent the judgment , of so pious and great a man , by pretending his authority for so manifest a relaxation of ecclesiasticall discipline . it is enough , and too much , to introduce him as a vindicator of plays , which yet he never intended . but , it is too great , too shameless an abuse , to make him justify acting in lent , though he have not in the whole compass of his works , one single passage , which , either directly , or by remote consequence can bear this construction nay , when on the contrary , he hath so expresly declared , that the publick shews are so perfectly inconsistent with that spirit of mortification and repen tance , which the church , at the season of lent particularly , labours so earnestly to revive and cherish in the mind of every christian. xxx . the profanation of the lord●… day . the command of keeping festivals holy explained . as to the lord's day , and the observation of it , our author begins with this remark , * that the holy-days are given us , not only to sanctify them , and that we may have then more leisure then at other times we have , for attending the service of god ; but also , that we may rest after the example of god himself . and from hence he infers , that since pleasure is the proper rest of man , according to st. thomas , he may even upon sundays allow himself the pleasure of plays , provided this be not done , till the publick offices of the day be over . and here again he endeavours to draw st. thomas over to his party . who yet first of all , says not one word of what he makes him say ; and secondly though he had said what he is produced for , yet no conclusion can be drawn from thence , in favour of plays , which are the subject of the present discourse . i should be much to blame , to spend time in a formall confutation of one , who does not understand what he reads . but yet his profanations of scripture , and the rest of almighty god , are the less to be endured , because of their direct tendency to overthrow the command of keeping holy the sabbath-day . now it is tru●… , that in exodus we find that command delivered and enforced after the following manner . six days thou shalt do thy work , and on the seventh day thou shalt rest , that thine oxe and thine ass , and all whom those beasts represent , all whose life is imployed continually in labour , may rest , and the son of thy handmaid , and the stranger may be refreshed . now upon this occasion we may justly make st. pauls reflection , doth god take care for oxen ? no! without all controversy his concern that they might rest was not so great , as to produce an express command for that purpose . but that fatherly care and compassion , which , as david observes , hath a tender regard to the safety both of man and beast , provided for the refreshment even of brutes themselves , that men might learn , by this example , not to harass and oppress those that are like themselves , with never ceasing drudgery and toil. or else the reason of that command may be , to show that the goodness of god extends to the preservation of our bodies , and would have some convenient intermission for their comfort , from that labour and fatigue , which is common to us with creatures of an inferiour degree . so that this rest of mankind is a second and less principall motive for the institution of the sabbath . but to infer from thence , that sports , nay even that publick sports were allowed to that ancient and peculiar people of god , betrays so gross ignorance of their constitution and customes , as deserves no other answer than disdain , and contempt of the wretched consequences deduced from this law. the rest of the jewish nation consisted in an intermission of bodily labour , by which they might have leisure to employ their thoughts in meditations upon god , and his law , and to dedicate that time to his more immediate service . but to seek their own pleasure , and especially so unthinking a pleasure as that of plays , ( supposing that age to have been addicted to such sort of diversions ) had doubtless been a manifest profanation and crying abuse of that holy day . isaiah is express in this matter . for there god rebukes the iews severely and upbraids them over and over for doing their own will , and seeking their own pleasure , upon the day he had sanctisied , and set apart to his own use : for looking upon the sabbath as a day of delight , or as a day of ostentation and vainglory ! he shews them what sort of pleasure it was intended they should persue upon this day , thou shalt delight thy self in the lord , says he . some luterpreters indeed put another sense upon these passages , but it is such as comes all to one at the last , since all agree , that the proper delight and pleasure of the sabbath , is to take pleasure in god , and good things . and yet now men go so far , as to propose the pleasure of plays , which is a delight so immediately and entirely sensuall , for an imitation of god's spiritual and divine rest , and a part of that refreshment which he hath directed and ordained for mankind . but let us leave these reasonings to their authour , which indeed are so extravagant and odd , that it is hard to say , whether they be more despicable for the weakness , or detestable for the profaneness of them . he that shall undertake to defend acting plays upon sundays , either upon the principles of this discourse , or upon any others of his own , would do well in the first place , to make out the priviledge this trade can pretend to above all the rest : that this should lay claim to the day which is god's peculiar , and presume to appropriate any part of it to it self . is the profession of a player more liberal , more to be respected and encouraged , than that of painting and sculpture , not to mention any of those arts which are usefull for the necessary supplyes of humane life ? do not players subsist upon this odious art ? and can we with any colour of reason excuse those , who oblige them to the exercise of their usual labours , by paying them for working upon a day , when others are forbidden to exercise more honest callings ? this certainly is carrying licentiousness to much too high a pitch . the commands of god , and that in particular which regards the sanctification of holy days , will be too much disrespected and forgotten ; and upon these terms god's own day will in a little time be less his , than any of the other six . such wicked and forced expositions do men study to find out , to abandon this day to vanity , and pleasure . after this i should scarce think that frivolous excuse for plays upon festivalls and holydays worth an answer ; which grounds it self upon a pretence , that the theatres are not opened , till the publick worship is ended , and the church doors are shut . for why should not all other labours and trades be indulged by the same reason , most of which without dispute are much more profitable and necessary , and have a better title to be allowed ? who is it i beseech you , that first reserved this day , and cut it off from common use ; and why should not he have the whole , as well as any part of it ? what reason can be alledged why all the four and twenty hours of this day should not be his , as entirely as those of all the rest of the days are ours ? i own there are some diversions , which the church it self does not absolutely prohibit out of the time of divine service ; but plays were never any of that number . the discipline of the church hath ever been uniform and consistent with it self in this point . and the council of reims , toward the close of the last age , in the title of feastdays , after having in the third chapter instanced in some sports , which ought not to be permitted , or at least not till service was over ; does afterwards in the sixth chapter , put in a rank by themselves , the diversions of the theatres as things that cast a blemish upon morality and decency , and the holiness of the church , and therefore absolutely forbidden upon holydays . st. charles had made the same declaration against them : and all the ancient and modern canons speak the same language , without any limitation or reserve in their favour . st. thomas , whom they so confidently and groundlesly top upon us at every turn , for a warranter of licentiousness , does , among other necessary conditions for , even innocent , diversions , require this as an indispensable one , that they be indulged only at convenient seasons , and what is the meaning of this precaution , but to inform us , that there are some among them , which , however allowable they be at other times , yet ought not by any means to be suffered upon holy days ; but indeed it is not reasonable to require from us particular passages out of this , or any other divines , condemning this abominable division men are now content to make of times set apart for religion , between that and the world , ( not to say the devil ) they were not concerned to reprove an abuse as yet unheard of , when they lived and wrote . they could not foresee a profanation of the lord's day , which our immediate ancestors saw the first breaking out of . to what purpose is it then to alledge a vicious practice , against which all the canons cry out so loudly : and to urge corruption in bar to law ? we must not imagine all to be lawfull , which , through the wickedness of the times , and the hardness of our hearts , we are under an unhappy necessity of tolerating : or that every thing which the civil government cannot effectually redress or punish , will escape the judgment of god , as easily as it does that of man. and after all , what ▪ does it signify to the players or to the spectators , that these entertainments do not interrupt the publick worship , but leave the time appointed for that , entirely free to be better employed ? do these men attend upon that worship ever the more for not being just then in the play house ? do the generality of those persons that frequent the playhouse ever trouble themselves with considering whether there be any publick worship or not ? do they understand the nature of it duly , who zealously attend upon the sermon and parochiall service , and immediately upon hearing these , go streight to the play , and there , in a loose of worldly delight , lose all that spirit of seriousness , and recollection , and contrition for their sins , which the word of god , and his praises had excited in their hearts ? so that , upon the whole matter , we must of necessity confess , that plays are by no means made or fitted to the temper of those persons , who know how to celebrate festivals with a true becoming frame of mind ; those that are christians in disposition and in very deed , and attend the offices of the church , with that gravity and considerate attention , which these duties suppose and require . xxxi . reflections upon the virtue ●…alled by aristotle 〈◊〉 . a●…nas eutrapelia . after having cleared st. thomas from those aspersions cast upon his doctrin , which charge it with all those vicious and extravag●…t practices already mentioned ; i think my self obliged , with all the respect due ●…o so great a man , to confess ingenuously , that he seems to have swerved a little , if not from the judgment and real opinion , yet at least from the manner , in which the antient fathers used to express themselves , upon this subject of diversions . and the entring into this disquisition will be of some service to us , because it will furnish us with rules and principles , whereby to pass a right judgment upon comical compositions , and , in general , of all sorts of conversation and discourse , which provoke laughter . now in the first place i must be bold to affirm , that i do not know any one of the antients , but who is so far from esteeming drollery in conversation an excellence , or ●…anging it under any species of virtue , as even to look upon it as a species of vice rather , though not in all cases actually and directly sinful , nor such a crime as renders the person using it liable to damnation . the least accusation they bring against it , is it's unprofitableness ; which in their opinion lays it within the compass of those idle words , which , our blessed saviour hath declared , must be accounted for in the day of iudgment . now how severe soever the doctors and casuists may appear , yet all their censures fall short of christ's , who hath made , not only evil , but even useless and idle words , subject to so rigorous a scrutiny in the great day of account . and therefore we cannot wonder much , if the fathers , who understood that text in so strict a sense , agree unanimously in their condemnation of this sort of conversation . as for that virtue termed eutrapelia , which st. thomas took his notion of from aristotle , they must be acknowledged not to have been acquainted with it . the translators have rendred the greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , by urbanity , politeness , good breeding ; a man would come nearer aristotle's sense , who should term it raillery , facetiousness . or , to take in the whole notion of it , an agreeable way of wit , gayety of humour , and sprightlyness in conversation , attended with pleasant discourse . which , i think , answers the character intended for it by the philosopher . this being the very best , that can possibly be said of such talk as makes the company laugh . and to this purpose he explains himself , when treating of that virtue in his ethicks . but this is so nice and airy a virtue , that the very same term is applyed by st. paul to a vice , which we render iesting but the vulgar s●…urrility ; though indeed it do not include abusive language as scurrility does , but may , according to the fathers , be rendred in a more general term , such as tartness of wit , the art of moving laughter , or , if you please , buffoonery . st. paul calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and places it in very bad company , such as filthiness and foolish talking . so that , in the judgment of this apostle , the three blameable qualities of discourse are the being indecent or filthy , the being light , inconsiderate , or foolish ; or the being smart , ridiculing , or iesting , or ( if you allow that rendring ) savouring of buffoonery ; for all these words have significations , which it is very difficult to express in strict propriety of terms . now i desire it may be observed , that st. paul gives this sort of talk the very best and most creditable name , that is ever pretended to belong to it ; for he might , one would have thought , have called it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which is that scandalous title fixed by the greeks upon the vice in this kind on the exceeding side ; and that which aristotle hath distinguished the impertinence and ill manners of prating buffoons by . and yet st. paul , after having taken this merry and jocular way of conversation , under the best figure it is capable of making , and given it it 's most favourable name , does not scruple to rank it among the vices . not that we are from hence to conclude our selves absolutely forbidden to be sometimes pleasant and diverting in company , but because to be always upon the merry pin , and make it one 's constant business and trade , as it were , to promote laughing , is exceeding faulty and altogether unsuitable to the dignity of men or christians . st. thomas , who attended but little to the propriety of the greek text , could not make this reflection upon st. paul's manner of expressing himself . but it did not escape st. chrysostome , who had the skill to observe , that the word eutrapelos , does properly signify a man of art and address , one who can with great ease turn himself into different forms and humours , ( which agrees with aristotles account and etymology of the word ) only the father and the philosopher differ in this , that aristotle takes it in a good sense , as it implyes agreeableness of conversation , readiness of wit , and gayety of humour , and is opposed to the blunt rudeness and ribaldry of fools and clowns ; whereas st. chrysostome keeps his eye chiefly upon that part of the signification , which implyes the levity and inconstancy of the person , the meanness of turning mimick , and affecting to make the company laugh . all which he looks upon , as qualities much too trifling and airy for the gravity of a christian , who hath such important concerns upon his hands ; and beneath whose character it is to descend to such little and despicable artifices and designs . this is what he very frequently inculcates , and urges in proof of it those words of st. paul immediately following , that these things are not convenient . for , whereas the vulgar hath translated it , scurrilitas quae ad rem non pertinet : so referring this last clause to iesting only : the greek plainly intimates , that all those things mentioned before by the apostle are not convenient . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . and thus the vulgar likewise heretofore understood the passage , as may be gathered from st. ierome , who reads it non pertinent . but , whatever become of these criticisms and various readings , st. chrysostome is express and positive , that these three sorts of discourse , the filthy , the foolish , and the iesting or ridiculing , are not convenient for a christian. and he explains that term convenient , by saying , they do not belong to us , we have nothing to do with them . that is , they do not suit our condition , nor are of a piece with our christian calling and duty . under these sorts of discourse thus unbecoming and unworthy of christians , he comprehends even those , which the greek and latin writers stiled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , urbana , by which they meant the most witty and inoffensive sort of railery , such as spoke a man ingenious and well bred , as well as facetious and good humoured . of what use , says he , are even these railleries ? they only serve to make you laugh . and a little after . all these things which turn to no profit , and such as we have nothing to do with , are no part of our christian profession , ( which consists of and recommends such methods and practices only , as are profitable and pertinent to it 's main design . ) therefore let there be no idle word among you , plainly alluding to that sentence of our blessed saviour , where he forbids and threatens such words with a severe reckoning to be required for them . this father proceeds to represent the mischievous consequences of such light and frothy wit , and at every turn puts us in mind again , that such discourses as aim at provoking laughter , however they may be lookt upon as marks of parts , and polished conversation , are yet unworthy of a christian ; and he at once laments and professes himself amazed , that any such wretched thing as a knack of this kind should pass upon the world for an accomplishment , and be ranked under any head of virtue . this , it is evident , was intended for a gird at aristotle , who is the only person , with whom this passes for a virtue , which st. chrysostome can by no means admit to be such . i have already shewed , that he took his notion and etymology of eutrapelia from aristotle . thus it is obvious to discern he treats of it , throughout that so often cited homily ; and those readers , who are at all acquainted with the spirit and manner of st. chrysostome , whose discourses are full of learned and secret allusions to the doctrin of the old philosophers , which it is his way frequently to reprove , without any express mention of the authors who maintained it , will make no doubt , that my present observation is just . and thus you have st. chrysostome's opinion of that pretended virtue stiled eutrapelia , which the primitive and purer christians knew little of . theophylact , and oecumenius , do here , as is usual with them in other places ; they are only an abridgment of what st. chrysostome had delivered more at large ; and do not go about at all to mollify the seeming austere principles of their master . xxxii . some passages out of st. ambrose and st. jerom upon the same subject . nor are the latin fathers less severe upon this occasion . st. thomas quotes a passage out of st. ambrose , which he finds himself hard put to it to reconcile with aristotle . it is taken out of his book of offices , wherein that father handles much the same subjects , which cicero had done in that tract we have of his under the same title . and here , after having taken notice of the rules given by that orator , and some other philosophers , who were the wise men of this world , seculares viri , upon the matter of iesting and raillery , ioca , he begins with this remark , that he for his part hath nothing to say upon this branch of the precepts and doctrin of the moral philosophers , de jocandè disciplina , this , says he , is a topick fit for us to pass over in silence , nobis proetereunda ; such as christians are not concerned in ; because , as he goes on there , although there be some railleries in conversation , which are sometimes agreeable and decent , licet interdum ioca honesta sint ac suavia , yet are they contrary to the rules and discipline of the church , ab ecclefiasticâ abhorrent regulà , for , says he , we cannot prescribe the practice of those things which the scriptures have not thought fit to give any directions for . quae in scripturis sanctis non reperimus ea quemadmodum usurpare possumus ? and this is most manifest , that in those holy books we no where meet with any approbation or warrant for such sort of talk as aims and labours to make men laugh , so far from that , that st. ambrose , after having instanced in those words of our blessed saviour , wo unto you that laugh now , expresses his astonishment , that christians should so industrously seek occasions , and contrive matter for laughter ; et nos rid●…ndi materiam quaerimus ut hîc ridentes illîc fleamus ? where we shall do well to observe , that he rather forbids seeking these occasions industriously , than suffering our selves to be diverted with them , when they offer of their own accord , and fall in without our seeking . but this distinction notwithstanding , he infers , that we ought to decline , not only studied and excessive raillery , but indeed all sorts of it , non solum profusos sed omnes etiam jocos declinandos arbitror . and this explains what went before , by giving us to understand , that the decency , there mentioned and allowed , was such only , as regards the sense of the world , and the measures of common conversation ; not that it hath any express allowance or approbation from scripture ; or is not , if nicely considered , an offence against the rule of a christian temper and behaviour and the discipline of the church . aquinas , that he might mollify this passage , so irreconcileable with aristotle's virtue of eutrapelia , tells us , that st. ambrose did not design utterly to banish iesting out of common conversation , but only to shew that it was not allowable in the christian doctrin , non excludit universaliter jocum a conversatione humana , sed a doctrina sacra . now by doctrina sacra , he constantly means , either the scriptures , or preaching and practical precepts , or the science of theology . as if st. ambrose meant no more , than that iesting was forbidden , when men were engaged in the most sacred and important matters , and that divines should not use it , when they expound the word of god , and are teaching the people their duty . but it is obvious to every reader , that this is not the case st. ambrose is upon ; but altogether forreign to the design of that place . and besides , it is evident from some other reasons , which are no diminution to the acute parts and profound learning of this eminent casuist , that we are not always to expect from him an exact interpretation of the fathers ; especially , when he thinks himself concerned to reconcile them with aristotle , whose notions , it is past all dispute , they did in many cases take the liberty of differing from ; and were by no means governed by . there is somewhat more of colour for that other solution of this difficulty , which proceeds upon a conjecture , that st. ambrose in the passage now before us , address'd to such persons only , as were in holy orders . and this conjecture is strengthened by that title to his book , with which the benedictins edition hath published and restored it to us , de officijs ministrorum . but yet the terms in which he expresses himself are too general to admit of this restriction . the arguments he brings for his opinion are such as reach persons of all capacities equally ; and the method and intention of that treatise is to explain the duties of all christians in common . 't is true indeed , now and then , and upon two or three occasions , he observes , that priests stand in a more strict and peculiar manner obliged to the practice of those virtues , which he proposes and recommends to the generality of men. but this is so far from releasing other christians , that it rather binds them the faster , by making such virtues a pattern of perfection . and it is plain , as well from st. ambrose his own words , as from the analogy and general agreement of the doctrin of the fathers , that they disallow the ridiculing way of wit in conversation , without any exception or reserve . if these passages of the fathers seem too much ●…lining to the extream of rigour and morosness , st. ierom hath given them their due temperament , in his comment upon the epistle to the ephesians ; where , explaining the two faults censured by st. paul under the terms of foolish talking and iesting , he tells us , that the former , foolish talking is a sort of rash senseless unthinking discourse , which hath nothing in it worthy a man of parts and understanding . but iesting is the effect of premeditation and design , which affects to divert the hearers , and make them laugh , by saying smart and witty , or blunt and course , or unbecoming , or pleasant things , which is what we commonly call jocular entertainment . and this he tells us should by no means be admitted into the conversation of saints , that is , of christians , because it becomes such much rather to weep than to laugh . inter stultiloquium autem et scurrilitatem hoc interest , quod stultiloquium nihil in se sapiens , et eorde dignum hominis habet . scurrilitas vero de prudenti mente descendit , et consultó appetit quaedam , vel urbana verba , vel rustica , vel turpia , vel faceta ; quam nos iocularitatem alio verbo possumus appellare : ut risum moveat audientibus . verùm et haec à sanctis viris penitus propellenda ; quibus magis convenit flere atque lugere . but yet in the process of his discourse he forms this objection to himself . that this opinion may possibly be thought not only severe but cruel , in making no allowance for human frailty , and damning men for words spoken in iest only , videretur sententia esse crudelis , non ignoscere imbecillitati fragilitatis humanae ; cum etiam per jocum dicta nos damnarent . to which he returns this answer , that , supposing men not to go to hell for such liberties , yet they will have a less glorious place in heaven . neque vero locum stultiloquio et scurrilitati damus , dum non excluduntur a regno ; sed quomodo apud patrem diversae sunt mansiones , et stella a stellâ differt in gloriâ , si●… et resurrectio mortuorum . quamvis aliquis a fornicatione immundiciâ et lascivi alienus sit , tamen si stultiloquus et scurra fueri , non tenebit eum locum , quem possessurus erat , si haec vitia non haberet . it seems then , upon this most favourable concession , that these are vices , and at least venial sins still . so far are they from deserving to be reckoned among virtues , or capable of that honour aristotle hath done them . for he accounts the not knowing how to make the company laugh , or blaming those who have this knack , among the vices , and attributes this to a certain ferity , and rustick roughness of temper . plato quite contrary laid it down for a maxim , that a wise man would blush and be ashamed to make people laugh . but aristotle , who all along pretends to refine upon his master , labours to accommodate virtues to the humour of the world , and bend them to common opinion and custome : as if it were the business of philosophers not so much to regard what is strictly true , as what is practicable and modish . notwithstanding the fathers did not approve this industrious promoting of laughter , yet did they readily admit of such an agreeable sweetness in conversation , as should render it entertaining and graceful : and a certain salt of wisdom , such as st. paul recommends for the seasoning of our speech , and giving it a grateful relish with those that hear us . and even st. thomas , though in deference to his great master , ( whose authority was in that age so sacred , that scarce any person then living had the hardiness to depart from aristotle's sense of the matter ) he seems to have ca●…ried this liberty of iesting too far , where he treats of these matters in his summe ; yet even there he reduces these delights to a very scanty proportion . he requires , that the returns of diversion should be but seldom , and that such pleasure should be to common conversation the same that salt is to our common food ; not that a meal should be made of it , but that , by a very sparing mixture , other discourse may be quickned and made palatable by it . he absolutely forbids all those measures , which quite let loose the mind , and , instead of refreshing , destroy its grave and serious composure , and render it regardless of , or unfit for , more important business . this i have already shown to be his sense , both in his summe , and his commentary upon st. paul ; for there he comes a great deal closer up to the expressions and judgment of the fathers , and does , in agreement with them , reckon iesting among the vices reproved by this apostle . xxxiii . st. basils remarks upon the gravity of a christian conversation . it was a very common thing with the fathers to understand that passage of our blessed lord , wo unto you that laugh now , for ye shall mourn and weep , in the utmost rigour , and literal sense . st. basil , who from thence inferred , that it was not lawful to laugh at all , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; though it were merely upon the account of the mighty number of those wicked and profane wretches , who openly affront god and treat his laws with despight and contempt , ( this single consideration being sad enough to damp and quash all disposition to mirth in a zealous and good man ) moderates the severity of this sentence , by that in ecclesiasticus . a fool lifteth up his voice with laughter , but a wise man doth scarce smile a little : i. e. he seems to check himself for it , when he does it . agreeably to this sentence , he allows us with the preacher , to sweeten our countenance now and then with a modest smile : but as for those loud peals of noisey mirth , those rattlings and shakings of the lungs and sides , which are rather violent convulsions than any real delight , these , according to him , are by no means the practice of a man of virtue , and one who is a master of himself ; and this extravagance of mirth is what he often inveighs against , and presses the preventing and suppressing it , as duties to which the christian religion obliges all that profess it . now , whether the maxims and precepts here mentioned ought to be carried to the utmost point of rigour , and held for obligatory in all cases ; or , whether there may not in some instances be some abatements allowed ; and what again that equitable relaxation is , or where to take place , are questions , which no man should undertake to determine , and every wise and good man would be very tender of determining , by the judgment of his own private spirit ; but especially where himself is a party . things may seem very hard and impracticable to us , which yet almighty god both sees highly reasonable , and knows very possible to be performed . god , i say , who perfectly understands the nature and excellence of that happiness and reward promised to our obedience , and the power of that assistance he affords us in the discharge of it , knows how much these advantages ought in equity to cost us . and though the infirmities of humane nature may seem to require these diversions , and render our condition pityable ; yet no tenderness for our own frailty should make us partial interpreters of gods laws : nor prevail with us to depart from the grave and serious deportment befitting the virtue and quality of christians . these things , however severe , must not either fright , or blind us in the search after truth ; but we must take the whole scheme of it together as it lyes ; that , by contemplating it's perfection , we may be made duly sensible , both how deeply we ought to humble our souls before god , for a conversation so very defective and short of its just perfection ; and likewise how high a pitch it is , that we are bound to aim at . the engagements of a christian in the point before us cannot be extended further , than st. basil hath set them , upon that saying of our blessed lord , for every idle word men shall give an account in the day of iudgment . where to that enquiry , what that word is , which , the son of god hath declared , men shall be called to so severe a reckoning for , he returns this answer , it is every word , which hath no regard to , nor does contribute or aim at , that usefulness , and benefit , which our lord and his religion have enjoyned us to seek and follow after . and the danger , adds he , of speaking these words is so great , that a discourse , otherwise and in its own nature good , if it have no manner of reference to edification , promoting faith and virtue , is not free from this danger , upon pretence of the good it contains . but having no tendency to edify our neighbour , it afflicts and grieves the holy spirit . this he afterwards illustrates by a passage in the epistle to the ephesians ; and then at last concludes , and what need is there for me to say , how wicked and dangerous a thing it is to grieve the holy spirit ? the same doctrin is likewise to be met with , and many arguments brought in confirmation of it , in several other parts of his works . and we must not think to evade the severity of these rules , by a fond imagination , that they were intended only for a monastick life . for , quite contrary , his expressions , the reasons by which he supports them , and the whole strain and temper of his discourse manifestly prove , that he makes it his business to lay down the obligations , which christianity hath laid upon all in common ; though he do indeed urge them upon the monks , as persons under peculiar and stricter engagements to observe them . in regard a monk pretends to be nothing else , but a christian , who hath withdrawn from the world , that he may more vigorously and without interruption fulfill the duties of the christian religion : which though others have the same engagements , yet have they not the same opportunities , to perform . and if it be farther pleaded , in mitigation of this rigour , that the failings st. basil reprehends , are however but venial sins , and for that reason reputed and called small : that father , i must tell you , will not endure , that any christians should argue at this rate . there is no such thing , says he , as a small sin. that which we commit is always the great sin , because it is so great as to overcome us , and that is the little sin , which , when we are tempted to , we refuse and overcome . and , though it be true , that , in a comparative sense , some sins be small ; yet a christian can never be able to make a certain judgment , how very highly some such sins are aggravated , by the violent inclination of the heart that yields it self up to them . and every christian hath cause enough and too much to tremble at that warning given him by the wise man , he that contemneth small things shall fall by little and little . xxxiv . the consequence of the foregoing doctrine . and now there is no occasion for undertaking so difficult and laborious a task , as the determining precisely , what degrees of wickedness and mischief plays may be justly charged with . this were a nice enquiry , and must depend upon the careful consideration of a great many particular cases and circumstances . it is sufficient for my present purpose , that , by the principles and concurrent testimony of the fathers , they undoubtedly deserve to be reckoned among the most dangerous diversions in the world. and thus much at least my reader is by this time qualified to judge , whether the fathers , and holy doctors , who followed after them , and particularly , whether st. thomas among the rest , who have all expressed themselves so severely , and left such strict rules of behaviour behind them , would ever have endured the buffooneries of the modern theatres , or allowed a christian in personating the many vile ridiculous characters , which the stage presents us with every day . and much less yet can we believe , that any wise and good man should be found , who does not readily agree , that the making buffoonery a constant practice , and trade , can never consist with the character of a grave and serious person , such as every disciple of iesus christ , it is evident , is supposed and required to be . but when once i have brought you thus far , st. chrysostom then will fall upon you might and main . he will tell you , that it is upon your account that a christian makes himself a publick iest , that you are answerable for his betraying the dignity of , and becoming a scandal to , the glorious name he bears . for do but you says he , take care there shall be no audience , and the actors will cease of course . and if it be such a commendable , such a fine thing , to turn mimick and break jests upon a stage , why do you not enter men of birth and quality in this noble profession ? to men of sense and honour we may alledge , what beauty , what commendation can there be in an art which no man can excell in , without shame and scandal ? and a great deal more to the same purpose . st. themas , as i have shewn at large , treads in his steps . and , if he have a little deviated into the notions , or rather into the language and expressions , of aristotle , yet when nicely examined we find him stanch at the bottom ; and not at all differing from the strictness and regularity of the fathers who led the way before him . xxxv . the conclusion of this whole discourse . and now , after what hath been already said , it will be of very little consequence to enquire into the opinions of other divines about this matter . i shall make no difficulty to own , that after having set themselves for a long while against all publick shews , and in a particular manner against those of the theatre , there was a certain period in the church , when men began to entertain some hopes , that the stage might be reduced to such measures , as , if observed , would render it harmless and decent , or at least not altogether insupportable ; this put them upon regulations , and remedies , for preventing the mischiefs , which must necessarily grow from the people's furious and unconquerable inclination to those dangerous amusements . but experience quickly convinced them that humorsom drollery and studied diversion bear too hard upon licentiousness , ever to be entirely separated from it . not that these things , when considered abstractedly and in there own nature , have any such necessary connexion and mutuall dependence , as should render such a separation absolutely impossible ; or , as the schools speak , that it implyes any contradiction . so far from that , that i will veuture to say , the thing is not utterly impracticable ; for there have been in fact some innocent representations of this kind . it were an unreasonable stretch of rigour to condemn some of those used in colleges ; which the masters impose upon the youth under their charge , as exercises which contribute to the forming their style , their gestures , their elocution , their behaviour , o●… however for a refreshment and harmless diversion to them at the close of the year , when they have gone through the painfull course of their studies . and yet those rules are worth our observation , which a very learned society have made upon this accasion , who with extraordinary zeal and marvellous success have devoted themselves to the instructing of young persons . they order , that the tragedies and comedies should never be allowed in any language but latin ; that they should be acted but very seldom ; that the subject of such plays should not be grave only , but holy and pious ; that the interlndes between the acts should likewise be all in latin , and contain nothing , which in the least breaks in upon the rules of decency ; and that no female character , nor so much as the habit of that sex , should be admitted to appear upon the stage . a man in his reading may discover infinite touches of this wisdom , in the regulations of this venerable institution : and particularly we find , that with regard to plays , notwithstanding all their precautions to preserve those collegiate recreations , from all the abuses with which other representation of this kind are tainted , the best course they can take is , after all , to be sure , that the returns of them be but very seldom . and if it be so exceeding difficult to bring the theatre to any tolerable decorum , under the jealous observation and severe discipline of prudent and pious masters , what a wretched thing is it like to be , when left to the mercy of dissolute and impudent players ; men that have no principle which they go upon , nor any other end to serve , but the bringing in as much profit to themselves , and the giving the spectators as much pleasure , as possibly they can . the female characters , which those regulators refuse upon any terms to admit upon the stage , for several very good reasons , and particularly to decline those disguises , which even the philosophers highly condemned , these , if thrown out would reduce plays to so little choice of subjects , and those too so infinitely distant from the spirit and temper of modern plays , that to confine them within this compass were in effect to make them fall of themselves . how manifest is it then to every one , who will but take the pains to consider it , that plays cannot be supported without we allow them to mingle evil with good ? nay not only so , but the alloy of evil must be in much the greater quantity , to enable the play-house to stand ; because they live and thrive by recommending themselves to the tast and humour of the people , and this tast to be sure is vitiated , and thinks it self best regaled with the worst objects . upon this account also it is that among all the solemn and bitter invectives against the theatre , to be met with in the fathers , we never find them laying any project , or making any attempts to reform it . they were very senfible , how vain and fruitless all such expedients must needs prove , when brought to tryall . they saw these mens business was to please , and that whoever makes that his end , will stick at no means of compassing it . virtue and conscience are then set aside , and pleased the audience must be at any rate . of the two kinds of dramatick poetry , the one is grave and serious but full of passion ; the other more resembling common conversation , but all upon the repartie , and the iest , and the buffoonery ; so that they could not , in either kind , find any thing fit for christians ; and therefore they thought the safest , as well as shortest , way would be utterly to discard all . for why should they give themselves the endless trouble of reducing them to the rules of virtue , since this was in effect fighting against the nature of the thing ? for plays must cease to be what they are , and proceed upon quite different views and ends , before they can ever be brought within the compass of severe morallity . the very genius of comedy consists in furnishing subjects for laughter . caesar himself was of opinion that terence was defective in this point . people naturally covet to have the ridiculous part carried to a greater height ; and the good acceptance , which aristophanes and plautus found in the world , is an evident proof to what an excess of licentiousness mirth and jesting naturally degnerate , when men give a loose to them . terence , who , in imitation of menander , checkt himself in the ridiculeing part of comedy , yet is not one whit the chaster for all that . and we shall ever find it an incredible difficulty to keep the pleasant part uninfected with the unlawfull and lientious . upon this account you so often find in the canons these four words put together , ludicra , iocularia , turpia , obscaena , diverting , iocular , scandalous , and obscen●… . not that these things always go together , but because they border so near , and slide into one another so naturally ; that it is past any man's skill to keep them asunder , by indulging one sort , and not being insensibly overtaken by some of the rest . this cuts off all reasonable hopes of makeing plays truly regular , because the very design and foundation is naught and rotten . for tragedy , which undertakes to represent the great and potent passions , labours to move those that are most dangerous to be stirred , because the affecting of these is likewise most agreable ; and comedy , whose design is to divert and make you laugh , ( which one would think upon this account might be so managed , as to be the less vicious and dangerous of the two ) besides the indecency of that character in a christian , does too easily and naturally engage men in licentiousness . and thus it must do , to recommend it self to the world . for however moderate and reserved the men of the world may pretend to be , yet , generally speaking , they are much better pleased , that vice should be covered up , and veiled over a little , than that it should be entirely suppressed , and not suffered to come abroad at all . our own experience hath taught us , what all the reformation of plays is come to , which hath been so zealously endeavoured in the present age. our farces are still full of gross , and nauseous , and barefaced filthiness . and even the comedies , which pretend to a higher character and more correct strain , are abominably sullied with it too . the deepest and gravest tragedies will not take without a world of love and tender passion . and all the effect , which hath followed upon the caution of a great minister of france , for purging the stage is come at last to this : that men are a little more modest and artfull in their expressions ; the same things are still said in somewhat cleaner , but not less moving language ; and the same baits are laid for weak and unwary souls , which are but the more dangerous and more likely to take their prey , for being laid more out of sight . these things duly considered will make our wonder cease , that the church should declare her dislike of , and censure all these sorts of pleasure in generall . for , although she commonly restrain the canonicall punishments designed to suppress them , to some particular persons , as for instance the clergy ; and to some certain places , as the churches for example ; and to some certain times as holy-days ; because in the usuall methods of process , her goodness and prudence does ( as we observed before ) think fit to spare the generality of people in the publick censures ; yet , among these prohibitions , thus expressly limited , there are many severe girds scattered against all sorts of such publick entertainments , and many arguments aimed at disswading christians from encourageing and frequenting them . st. charles , whose authority is produced as one of those , who in charitable condescension did for some time submit to attempt the regulation of plays , soon found himself beaten off from all hope of succeeding in that design . and in the kind care he took to cover the corruption of the theatre , in lent and upon holidays at least , he does not forbear to imspire an universall dislike of them . he calls plays a rag or rem nant of paganisme , not that there were really any remains of paganisme in the publick representations of his time ; but because those passions , which formed the heathen gods , reign in plays still , and are respected and adored by christians . somtimes , after the pattern of the antient canons , the spirit of which he hath entirely transfused into his writings , he contents himself with calling them trifling and unprofitable diversions , ludicra et inania spectacula . accounting , that christians , who have such important affairs upon their hands , and must be shortly judged before so terrible a tribunall for their management of them , could not find vacant space enough in life , for amusements , so vain , and which take up so many of their pretious hours . this appeared , in his esteem , objection sufficient against them , though they had been liable to no other . though they had not been so full of temptations , whether such as are gross and open , and upon that account more detestable ; or whether such as are nicely wrought , and upon that account more dangerous . nor does he think it reconcileable with a christians character , to receive such tender and violent impressions , or be so eagerly concerned for matters of little or no consequence . upon the whole matter he brands these unhappy diversions with the infamous title , of allurements and nurseries of vice. illecebras et seminaria vitiorum . and , though he do not formally thunder out the censures of the church , against all who frequent and delight in them , yet he delivers such up to the zeal and reproofs of the preachers ; whom he solemnly enjoyns to spare no pains , that may work men up to an abhorrence of these destructive diversions . he tells them , they ought to detest them as the source o●… common calamities and things that provoke the iudgments and vengeance of almighty god. he admonishes princes and magistrates to expell and utterly root out all players , strowlers , actors of farces , and other common pests ; as abandoned wretches , and corrupters of good manners , and to punish those that entertain and lodge them in publick-houses . there would be no end of instancing in the severall reproachfull titles , with which he exposes them . and these are the sentiments and maximes of the christian religion against plays , which i have represented with all the care and faithfulness i am able . those who flattered themselves with a vain hope of obtaining an approbation for plays may now be convinced by the generall outcry against this late discourse in their favour , and by the publick censures it hath drawn upon some who have owned their being seduced by the dangerous opinions propagated and maintained by it , how averse the church is from affording them any countenance or support . and this is yet a farther argument against that scandalous discourse , that , notwithstanding the reputed anthor be a divine , yet the world cannot accuse divines with being favourers and approvers of it . for few or none have appeared to be such , except the comick poets and players , whose interest , disposes them , to uphold a tract as infamous and pernicious , as those very plays it defends . but enough hath been said upon this subject , and the only thing now remaining is to shew unto men a more excellent way . in order therefore to extirpate utterly all relish for plays , we should recommend that better delight men may find from reading the gospel and attending diligently upon prayer . let us therefore , with st. paul , set our selves seriously to consider the blessed iesus , the author and finisher of our faith , that very iesus , who , when he condescended to take upon him all our naturall infirmities , that so he might be like unto his brethren in every thing , sin only excepted , was content to submit to our tears , and our sorrows , to accept out pains , nay our terrours and agonies of spirit , yet we do not sind that he took our diversions , our mirth , and our laughter . he did not think fit , that those lips , which were full of grace , should ever once dilate themselves by any motion , attended with indecent gayety , or unworthy the character of god made man. i do not wonder at this difference . for our pains and griefs are reall and substantiall , because these are just punishments and naturall effects of our sins ; from the time that sin entred into the world we have not any solid and sufficient foundation for mirth and joy. this made the wise-man cry out , i looked upon laughter to be madness , and i said unto mirth , why dost thou cheat me ? or , as the originall imports , i said unto laughter thou art a fool , and unto mirth , what dost thou here ? wherefore dost thou transport me , like an extravagant unthinking man ; and endeavour to perswade me that i have any just cause of rejoycing , when i am so thick beset with evils on every side ? thus the word made flesh , the eternall truth manifested in our nature , might without any diminution to his wisdom and honour , take upon him our sufferings , which are reall ; but he would not stoop so low as to take our joys and our mirth , which are only fantasticall and imaginary ; and imply great mistake , or great inconsideration , when we indulge them freely . and our blessed saviour was not without agreeable qualities and conversation to recommend him notwithstanding . all men , we are told , were astonished and wondred at the gracious words , that proceeded out of his mouth . and not only his apostles said , master , to whom shall we go ? thou hast the words of eternall life ; but even the officers , sent to apprehend his person , brought back word to those pharisees , by whose commission they acted , never man spoke like this man. and yet , as charming as his words were then , he speaks with quite another sort of sweetness , with a more sensible , more ravishing delight , when he makes himself heard and understood in the hearts of good men , and kindles that pure celestiall fire , with which david felt himself enflamed , when he burst out into that expression of his zeal , the fire kindled , and at the last i spake with any tongue . then , then it is , that , by the consolation of the holy spirit , there springs up and overflows such a plentifull effusion of divine joy in pious and devout souls ! a joy too sublime for the world to have any true sense or just notion of ; a joy , which teaches us to contemn that which courts and caresses our senses , and grows more exquisite by such contempt . a lasting and unchangeable peace of mind , a sweet and reviving hope of enjoying god , the chief , the only good. no rehearsall , no musick , no harmonious voice , is necessary , or comparable to this pleasure . and therefore if we require shews and representations , to move our affections with an agreable vehemence , if we would have shedding of blood , and images of love and tenderness set before our eyes ; let us fix our sight and thoughts upon the same blessed iesus . for what can we possibly look upon , so beautifull and charming to behold , so tender and affecting , as the bloody death of iesus and his martyrs ? what battels bravely fought , what crowns won , can in any degree compare with his glorious conquest over all the world , and the throne and kingdom of his truth set up in the minds of men ? what darts are so piercing , as those with which he wounds the hearts of his servants ? what sighs so pure and chast , as those which his church is continually breathing forth , and the souls that are ravished with his love , and run and pant after his sweet perfumes ? were men once brought to such a temper , as to tast and delight in these heavenly sweetnesses , to feed and feast upon this hidden manna , the play-house doors would quickly be shut up ; and every truly christian soul would take up david's meditation , the sinners , and such as are fond of this world and it's sensuall delights , have contrived lyes and seduced me with ficto●…s and fables , the fond conceits and inventions of their own brain , or ( according to the septuagint ) they talk to me of false and deceitfull pleasures but my delight hath been in thy law. nothing but this fills mens hearts with true joy , and such , is having a firm foundation , stands fast , and endures for evermore . as for those , who are in good earnest desirous to make a thorough reformation in plays , that so , like the heathens of old , we might contrive to insinuate morality and wisdome by the most entertaining methods ; and at once consult the pleasure and profit of so mixt an audience , by introducing proper examples and serious instructions for princes and common people ; i cannot find any fault with the honest intention of these well-meaning men. but then i must beg leave to put them in mind , how improper an expedient they have pitched upon for their purpose . and this they will soon be sensible of , if they reflect , that charming the senses is but a very aukward and unlikely way of reforming the mind , and introducing the sentiments and love of severe virtue . the theatre indeed might possibly do some service to heathens , whose virtue was imperfect , and gross , worldly and superficiall only ; but alas ! christians cannot expect the same benefit from it . for it hath not the authority , nor the dignity , nor the efficacy , requisite for inspiring the refined and exalted vertues , suitable to the state and covenant of the gospel . as for kings , god hath provided them a better teacher , he sends them to his law , to learn their duty there . he orders that they should read this diligently all the days of their life ; that they should , with david meditate and exercise themselves in it day and night , and with solomon , that they should be led by religious wisdom when they go , that they should be kept by it , when they sleep , that they talk and converse familiarly with it , when they awake . but as for the instructions dropt from the stage , their touch is too soft and gentle to make any deep or powerfull impression . there is really nothing of weight , and seriousness , and true force at the bottom . and that little they pretend to lyes too far out of sight , and is so disguised , that but few discover , and fewer yet attend to it . in short , it is the fondest imagination in the world to hope for any mighty reformation , or true improvement , from a method , where matters are managed so , as to make a mans vices a jest , and his virtue an amusement . the end . errata . page 6. l. 23. aft . finds . d. , . p. 9. 18. aft . express . r. i pray . p. 11. 6. r. alledged . in marg . for 74. 47. p. 12. 25. r. appear . l. 30. r. insensibly . p. 15. 5. r. the poet. p. 17. 22. r. vice. p. 18. in marg . r. precieuses . p. 24. in marg . r. 1. 7. 11. 21. cant-iul . p. 30. 29. r. though . p. 31. in marg . r. conf. 111. 1. p. 33. in marg . r. cont. iul. iv. 14. p. 39. 17. r. virtue . p 48. marg . r. conc. turon . can. 8. capitul . bal. t. 2. ad . 3. c. 71. p. 90. marg . r. isai. lviii . p. 93. marg . for cap. r. in corp . p. 96. marg . r. lib. 4. dist . 16. p. 99. marg . r. exod. xxxi . 12. p. 107. 13. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . p. 115. 16. r. lascivia . 17. fuerit . p. 123. 4. r. occasion . l. 23. r. representations . marg . r. : stud : tit . reg . p. 127. marg . r. inst . praed . edit . for p. 3. 112. r. 128. in the preface . p. 3. l. 11. r. justifies . p. 6. ●…3 . r. write : p. 86. r. that . p. 8. 29. for the. r. fit . books printed for richard sare : the fables of esop , with morals and reflextions , folio . erasmus's colloquies in english , 8. quevedo's visions , 8. these 3. by sir , roger l'estrange . the genuine epistles of st. barnabas , st. ignatius , st. clements , st. polycarp , the shepherd of hermas , &c. translated and published in english , 8. a practical discourse concerning swearing , 8. the authority of christian princes , over ecclestical synods , in answer to a letter to a convocation man , 8. sermons , on several occasions , 4. † these by dr. wake . epictetus's morals , with simplicius's coment , 8. a sermon preached upon the death of the queen . both by dr george stanhope . the doctrine of a god and providence vindicated and assuerted , 8. discourses on several divine subjects , 8. these two mr. by thomas gregory , lecturer of fulham . dr. gregory's divine antidote , in answer to an heretical pamphlet , entituled an end to the socinian controversy , 8. essays , upon several moral subjects , in two parts , a short view of the profaneness and immorality of the english stage &c. a defence of the said view . these three by mr. collier . compleat sets , consisting of 8 volumes of letters writ by a turkish spy who lived 45. years at paris undiscovered , giving an account of the principal affairs of europe , 12. humane prudence , or the art by which a man may raise himself and fortune to grandure , 12. moral maxims and reflections , written in french by the duke of rochfoucault , now englished , 12. of the art both of writing and judging of history , with reflections upon ancient as well as modern historians . by father le moyne . 12. an essay upon reason , by sir george mackenzie , 12. death made comfortable , or the way to dye well . by iohn kettlewel . 12 the parson's counsellor , or the law of tythes . by sir simon degg , 8. the unlawfulness of bonds of resignation , 8. price 6. d. an answer to all the excuses and pretences which men ordinarily make for their not coming to the holy sacrament , 8. price 3. d. by a divine of the church of england . remarks on a book entituled , prince arthur an heroick poem , by mr. dennis , 8. finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a28844-e230 p. ix . x. xxvi . p. ix . see mr. d's . verses before beauty , in distress . notes for div a28844-e1870 this treatise occasioned by a new discourse in f●…oour of plays . whether the modern plays be so free from blame , as this authour would represent them . * p. xxi . ●…r . 38. 40. ephes. v. 3. p. xxiii . xxi●… . fr. ●… . 47. pag. xxiv . fr. 74. conf. 3. 2. see moliere's preciensis ridicules , vol ●… . luke 6. 1 joh. 2. 15. 16. ●…e nup●… . ●… co●… . i. vii . ●… . xxi ont . ●…l . iii. 21. tob. viii . 7. pag. xx. xxii fr. 38. prv. vii . 10. 21 p. xxii . fr. 40. conf. iii. 〈…〉 . cont. tul. 11. 14. conf. 10. 31. et seq . p. xxi . ●…r . 〈◊〉 . matth. 11 25. 1 cor. 1●… . 1●… . rom 10 14 rom. 1. 32. matth. 23. * pag. 24. fr. 46. 1 cor. 5. 10. 1 cor. 15. 33. eccles. 3. 26. * p. xxiii fr. ●…9 . † th. aqu. 1. 2. q. 39. 3 ad . 3. q. 96. 2. c. * ep. ad aur 22. n. 5. ol. 64. * † rit . de paris . p. 108. 114. hom. 38. in matth. * pag. 1●… . &c. * luke 18. * 〈◊〉 . 18. 〈◊〉 . ep. 〈◊〉 camp. ●…ap . ●… . * &c. p. 〈◊〉 ●…om . 〈◊〉 in 〈◊〉 de rep. lib. 2. 3. ibid ▪ de rep 3. 10. de rep. lib. 10. de rep. 10. de 〈◊〉 gib . 7. d●… rep. 1●… de rep. lib. 3. poet 7. 17. polit. 8. 4. de rep. lib. 2. 3. 10 ▪ ●…e leg . 2. 7. d●… rep. 10. s●…u ▪ de rep. 3. de leg . 7 ▪ 1 i●…h . 〈◊〉 . 12. disc. p. 10 fr. 3. 1 iohn 11 ▪ 15. phil. 15. 8. * num. 2●… ▪ 21. 23. * conf. 10. 33. discourse pag. 10. 〈◊〉 . ●… ▪ &c. 2da 2dae qu. 168. art. 2. c. 3. vit. patrum rufsin . paph●… . cap. 16. hist. laus c. 63. in 4. di●… ▪ 16. qu ▪ 4. art 2. ●… . * ephes. 5. 4. com. in ep. ad eph. cap. 3. lect . 2. 2. 2. qu. 168. art. 2. ●… . 22. qu. 87 ▪ art. 2. ad ▪ 2. * fr. 23. disc. p. 16. 17. st. anton . 2. p. 〈◊〉 . 1. cap. 23. 1. 3. ●… . tit . 8. cap. 4. s. 12. ibid , et 2. p. tit . 1. cap. 23. s. 14. dis●… . ●…g . 〈◊〉 . p. 5●… . of the ●…rench , left out in the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ▪ prov. 25. 20. e●…clus . 22. 6. levit. 16. 29 , &c. 23. 29. numb . 29. 7. 30. 14. ●…sas . lviii . matth. ix . 15. conc. laod : can 52. can. 51. * ecclus. ●…2 . 6. fr. p. 54. in 4 dist. 16. qu. 4. art . 2. cap. see n. 23. p. 75. above . ibid. ad . qu. 1. c. ad. 2. qu. ead . serm. 〈◊〉 . ad ●…ons . bulg . cap. 44. ibid. ad . 2. meg. 4. disi . 16. ●…r . p. ●…4 . 2. 2. 〈◊〉 168. 〈◊〉 lib. 4. dist . 16. * fr. p●… 55. left out in the english. 1. cor. ix . 9. isai. 58. 13. 14. dise . xxv . 〈◊〉 5●… . 56. 2. 2. q●… . 168. ar●… 2. matth. 12. 36. lib. 5. 6. 8. hom. 17. ad . ephes. 〈◊〉 . 5. 4. hom. in eph. 〈◊〉 2. 2. qu. 168. art . 2. ad . 1. hieron lib. 3. in ephes. cap. 5. eph. 4. reg. brev . in t . 31. reg. sus . in t . 17. ecclus. 21. 20. math. 12. 36. reg. brev . ●…t . 23. ecclus. 19. 1. chrys. hom. 6. in matth. and hom. 17. ad . ephes. rat. stud reg . rect. art . 13. act. p 4. inst . prad . bit. 1599. p. 485. ibed . p. 6. ibid. p. 40. conc. prov. i. pag. 86. con. iii. p. 316. con. vi. &c. hebr xii . 2. ibid. iv. 15. psal. xlv . eccles. ii. 2. luke iv. 22. iohn vi 69. iohn vii . 46. psal. xxxix . 4. psal. cxix . deut. xvii . 19. psal. i. 2. cxix . 55. 93. 95. 96. prov. vi. 22. a second defence of the short view of the prophaneness and immorality of the english stage, &c. being a reply to a book, entituled, the ancient and modern stages surveyed, &c. / by jeremy collier ... short view of the immorality and profaneness of the english stage collier, jeremy, 1650-1726. 1700 approx. 242 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 73 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-09 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a33918 wing c5262 estc r20776 12117559 ocm 12117559 54372 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a33918) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 54372) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 88:5) a second defence of the short view of the prophaneness and immorality of the english stage, &c. being a reply to a book, entituled, the ancient and modern stages surveyed, &c. / by jeremy collier ... short view of the immorality and profaneness of the english stage collier, jeremy, 1650-1726. [5], 142 p. printed for s. keble ... r. sare ... and g. strahan ..., london : 1700. errata: p. [3]. advertisements on p. [1]. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng drake, james, 1667-1707. -ancient and modern stages survey'd. theater -moral and ethical aspects. theater -great britain. 2003-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-06 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2003-07 rina kor sampled and proofread 2003-07 rina kor text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-08 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion books printed for richard sare , at grays-inn-gate in holborn . a short view of the profaneness and immorality of the english stage , a second defence of the short view , &c. being a reply to a book , entituled , the ancient and modern stages surve●ed , &c. essays upon several moral subjects . the emperour marcus antonius his conversation with himself . together with the preliminary discourse of the learned gataker . as also , the emperor's life , written by monsieur d'acier , and supported the authorities collected by dr. stanhope . to which is added the mythological picture of cebes the theban . translated into english from the respective originals , all four by mr. collier . a second defence of the short view of the prophaneness and immorality of the english stage , &c. being a reply to a book , entituled , the ancient and modern stages surveyed , &c. by ieremy collier , m. a. london : printed for s. keble at the turk's-head in fleetstreet , r. sare at gray's-inn-gate in holborn , and g. strahan against the exchange in cornhill . 1700. errata . page 20. ●ine 5. for of them read of the poem , p. 21. margin , for ●sset r. esset , p. 28. l. 30. margin , for nempit r. erupit . p. 29. l. 19. margin , for immodestiae r. immodestia , p. 50. l. 18. for discourr'd r. discours'd , p. 51. l. 24. for , r. : p. 53. l. 13. for epithe r. epithet , p. 71. l. ● . for this r. his , p. 72. l. 24. for poet r. poet's , ibid. l. 30. for promotheus r. prometheus , p. 73. l. 1. for promotheus r. prometheus , ibid. for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , p. 78. l. 33. for under character r. under characters , p. 88. l. 3. for sx r. six , p. 97. l. 33. dele as i remember , p. 101. l. 23. for selecism r. solecisme , p. 105. l. 29. for charges r. charge , p. 120. l. 5. for dramatists r. dramatist , p. 127. l. 5. for l●w r. laws , p. 128. l. 19. for belongs r. belong , p. 134. l. 16. for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . to the reader . when my adversary first appear'd , i was engaged in business for the press , which i could not well dismiss , till 't was brought somewhat forward . besides , i was sometime at a stand whether to answer , or not , and , i think , had left my book to take its fate , had it not been for the charge of false quotation . as to the author of the survey , &c. his manner is all over extraordinary , but in what relates to my authorities , i think altogether unpresidented ; such a size of assurance , so unsupported by proof and colour , is rarely to be met with . if he continues to cast the cause thus entirely upon his courage , he must dispute by himself . his eagerness to defend the stage , has sometimes transported him into plain rudeness : to this i shall only observe , that railing is a scandalous talent , and an argument of an ill vndertaking . when a man throws dirt , 't is a sign he has no other weapon . these are vnchristian and vngentlemanly sallies , and not so much as allow'd to provocation . having therefore neither liberty , nor fancy for this way , i shall , for the most part , overlook his misbehaviour . as for the stage , i almost despair of doing them any service : they are more enclin'd , i perceive , to repeat their faults then amend them : they make no scruple of coming over again with their ill plays ; as if immodesty and prophaneness were the more valuable for being discover'd . but thus to bear up against evidence , and go on in defiance of religion , is an odd instance of resolution . and besides the ill colour of the quality , 't will fail us at the long run : courage without conscience starts at the other world , and leaves a man dispirited when he has most need of support . to consider that we have done our vtmost to debauch mankind , will be no pleasure at such a iuncture as this. vnless therefore we could demonstrate the grounds of atheism , common sense , if minded , will put us upon a provision beyond the grave . novemb. 26. 1699 ▪ an answer to a book , entituled , the ancient and modern stages surveyed , &c. before i proceed farther with my adversary , it may not be amiss to observe , that his scheme is defective , and the compass of his defence much short of the charge . for he does not apply his answer to any particulars , nor so much as vindicate one passage accused of indecency and irreligion . so that were his whole book true , the imputation of prophaneness and immorality , would still lie heavy upon the stage . this author , to give him some part of his character , seems to rely more upon stratagem and surprize , than plain force , and open attack . his business is all along to perplex the cause and amuse the reader , and to reason , and represent amiss . in the first place he tells us a story , which mr. rymer had told before , about the original of plays ; and charges all the immorality , and disorders of the stage , upon the head of idolatry , and the practice of the mimes and pantomimes . and when he has thus entangled the dispute , and like the scuttle-fish mudded the water , he thinks himself out of reach ; but i shall endeavour to dive after him , and drag him to the surface . in his history of heathenism and the stage , he lays down several unlucky assertions , and ruines himself in his very defence . he lets us know , that paganism was invented to oblige and captivate the people , and gain'd its authority among them by indulging their sensuality , and gratifying their lusts : that the games and shewes were the most engaging parts of their religion , and that the devotional and pompous part of their worship , was ungrateful to the spectators , who impatiently expected the shew . he informs us farther , that the fathers thought it not safe to trust their converts to the temptations of so jolly a religion , that the portion of those that embraced christianity was mortification , that their reward was in reversion , and that present enjoyment is apt to prevail against a remote hope . now if stage-plays were such licentious diversions , if they indulged sensuality and lust , seised so powerfully upon people's inclinations , and made them forget the interests of futurity ; if the case stood thus , ( as the surveyor confesses ) then there were other heavy articles against the stage besides idolatry ; then the bold liberties and luscious pleasures of the place , were sufficient reasons why the fathers declaimed against it ; and by consequence their censures come strong upon the english theatre . the infancy of christianity and the frequency of persecutions , don't alter the measures of behaviour , nor make so great a difference between the primitive and modern christians , as our author would suppose . if 't is possible , we have more reason to be cautious and self-denying , than those who lived in the first ages of our religion . for then the history of our faith was fresh , and the proofs lay nearer to the sense . then miracles were frequent to refresh their memory , and quicken their zeal . besides their very sufferings were awakening circumstances , and a guard upon their virtue . their being so ill used in this world , was naturally apt to make them take the more care about the other . having none of these advantages , we have more need of discipline and recollect on ; and should stand as much aloof from temptation as ever . and therefore whatever debauches our appetites , over-heats our affections , and , as our author phrases it , relaxes the nerves of our zeal , ought by all means to be avoided . the surveyor is now going to take off the censure of the fathers from the stage . and here he begins with st. augustine , who ( says he ) absolves their comedies and tragedies from any fault in the expression , and accuses only the subject matter . to this i answer ; first , that st. augustine's charge against the play-houses runs very high ; he look'd upon them as no better than the nurseries of lewdness and irreligion , and comprehended comedy amongst the rest of their performances ; as appears by his instance in roscius ; but these testimonies were too troublesome for the surveyor to take notice of . secondly , st. augustine , even in this place , blames comedies and tragedies for being very foul and faulty in their fable and matter , * and by consequence could not think them proper for christian diversion . thirdly , st. augustine does not say that comedies , &c. were always clean in the expression . he throws in a sentence which qualifies the proposition , and makes it affirm no farther , than that they were not so smutty as many other things . 't is probable he might mean they were not so rank as the bacchanal and floral solemnities . but these words , sicut alia multa , which change the sence , and make clearly against him , he is pleased to omit in the english , tho they stand staring in the margin , and are part of his own quotation . to falsifie thus in the face of conviction , is like stealing before the bench : but thus he is pleased to detect himself , and to give us a noble discovery of his honesty and cunning , at his first setting out . however he would do well not to rely too much upon an english reader for the future . this gentleman advances to the testimonies cited by the view , &c. and here he is pleased to skip quite over the councils , and takes no notice of above half the fathers , and those he has the courage to undertake , he does but touch at . and thus he confutes a book at the rate that mice do , only by nibbling a little at a few of the leaves . however i must attend him in his method . let us therefore consider that little he can afford us from clemens alexandrinus ; where this father affirms , that the circus and theatre may not improperly be called the chair of pestilence . here the surveyor would know , whence it appears that the dramatick exercises are here aimed at ? were the mimi and pantomimi less concerned with the stage ? &c. in answer to these questions the reader may please to understand , that the surveyor makes great use of the distinction between the drama , ( as he calls it ) and the mimi ; by this means he hopes to perplex the controversy , and divert the censure of the fathers , as if in their opinion comedy and tragedy were inoffensive diversions ; but i shall endeavour to make this evasion unserviceable to him , by shewing , first , that several of the fathers , as appears by the view , &c. censure tragedy and comedy by name . nay , thus much the surveyor himself confesses , that tragedy and comedy is sometimes condemned for company . now if comedy is jointly condemned with the other shews of the theatre , why does he endeavour to make the fathers justifie or overlook it ? why so much pains to take off their censure , and point the satyr another way ? what needs all this rattling with mimes , pantomimes , and drama , as if there was some charm and mystick power in the words ? if the fathers condemn comedy , &c. expresly , 't is to no purpose to contest their sence , and pretend their opinion undeclared . he must own therefore the ancients are full against him in the point . and since comedy and tragedy is thus expresly condemned by the fathers , we have reason to believe it always comprehended under their general censure of the stage . which will appear farther if we consider . secondly , that comedy and tragedy were the principal and most frequent diversions on the stage . that they were the principal , i suppose the surveyor will allow , upon the account of the fable , and the advantage of the plot and characters : the mimi being form'd upon little subjects , and vulgar persons * . that comedy , &c. were the most frequent diversions of the stage , i prove thus ; first , because the mimi , dancing on the stage , &c. were originally part of comedy , as we may learn from suetonius ; and so in all likelihood they continued a great while . secondly , the poets who wrote the mimi or farces were very few , scarcely one to ten of the other dramatists , as appears from athenaeus , and lilius gyraldus . now , why were the comick and tragick poets thus over-proportioned to the mimographi , but because their entertainments were much more frequented and esteemed than the other ? thirdly , it does not appear that the mimi were always more scandalous compositions than comedy . 't is true we have little of this kind of writing remaining ; but by those fragments preserv'd by macrobius , and cited by lilius gyraldus , they seem to have been modest and sententious . and plinius iunior mentioning vergilius romanus , another mimiiambick poet , commends him for his probity and his wit , but does not in the least tax him with any indecency . besides , scaliger in his chapter de saltatione , informs us , that the dances proper to the mimi were apish and fantastical ; but that several belonging to comedy had a wanton and licentious movement . so that of the two , one would think these farces were sometimes the more inoffensive performances . fourthly , 't is certain that the mimes and pantomimes represented comedy and tragedy in their gestures , and dances , as well as they did the mimi or farces properly so call'd . that the pantomimes were concern'd in the drama , is plain from cassiodorus , &c. who tells us , that they could form their gestures into such a significancy , that with the same limbs and features they could act either hercules , or venus ; and make the passions and character of of a king , or a common soldier , visible in their postures , and motions . now kings and heroes , we know , were only counted proper for tragedy . indeed these sort of actors were nothing but mimicks , ( tho much farther improv'd than the moderns ) and therefore as proper to appear in the drama as in any other stage-performance . from whence it will follow , that if these pantomimi's were foul in their gestures , the drama must answer to the indictment ; it being oftentimes only the business of these mimicks to supply the place of the dialogue , and express the passions of the poem . and thus i have plainly prov'd , that when the fathers pass sentence against the stage , the whole mystery and fraternity is included , so that his distinction between the drama , and the mimi and pantomimi , will do him no service . and this may serve to make good not only the testimony of clemens alexandrinus , but of the rest of the fathers , all his objections against the strength of their evidence turning mostly upon this supposition . but because he ventures to attack but two citations more , a little farther consideration of him will be no great matter . i observ'd from theophilus antiochenus , that the christians durst not see the heathen shews upon the account of their indecency and profaneness , and particularly that the stage-adulteries of the gods and hero's were unwarrantable entertainments , &c. here he is positive that the translator very well knew , that tragedy & comedy were unconcern'd and nothing but the mimi aim'd at . say you so ? is not the drama concern'd in such representations as these ? what do you make of plautus's amphytrio , and terence's eunuchus , of euripides's and seneca's thyestes , not to mention any more ? here the adulteries of the gods and hero's are describ'd and acted , and in some of them make part of the main argument : and besides all this , the expression throws it upon the drama . his next complaint against me is for translating theatrum a play-house : this he very shrewdly calls my old way of legerdemain ; for by all means it should have been rendred theatre . i have a fine time on 't to write against a man that does not know what is latin for a play-house ! truly this is a great point ! but i hope horace's authority may satisfie him , that his drama's were acted in the theatre . now this poet addressing to pollio , desires him to stop his tragick muse till the common-wealth was better settled : paulum severae musa tragediae desit theatris . the surveyor goes on with his grievances , and pretends that i wrest tertullian's words , and force him to call pompey ' s theatre a dramatick bawdy-house . and here he has very honestly again put the latin in the margin to confute the english : thither i appeal , and doubt not but the reader will find the original every jot as severe as the translation . but he complains the state of the case is chang'd , the drama wrongfully accus'd , and that tertullian inveigh'd only against the shews of the mimi . that 's strange ! were not comedies and tragedies acted in the theaters ? not in pompey's theatre , the most magnificent in rome ? were farces so much preferr'd to the drama , and the noblest buildings contriv'd only for drolls , and strollers ? tertullian , in this very paragraph , observes , that the theatre was dedicated to bacchus ; and this idol , the surveyor himself informs us , was the patron of the drama , and had his altar on the right-side of the stage . besides , 't is further evident that tertullian levell'd his censure against the drama ( for so i must call it ) by the caution he gives ; he warns the christians not to be surpriz'd by some of the best-complexion'd entertainments . look , says he , upon all the engaging sentences of the stage , their flights of fortitude and philosophy , the loftiness of the stile , and the fineness of the conduct , &c. look upon it only as honey dropping from the bowels of a toad , or the bag of a spider . now i suppose the surveyor is not so hardy as to affirm , that heroick fortitude , lofty expression , and moral sentences , is any way suitable to his description of the mimi . 't is plain therefore , that comedy and tragedy must be struck at in the testimony above mention'd . i must not forget the surveyor's suggestion , that the idolatry of the stage was the principal quarrel the fathers had against it . 't was for this reason that they declaim'd against it with all their nerves and vehemence , as our author words it . the reader may please to take notice , that the fathers had other reasons for their aversion to the stage , besides the charge of idolatry : however , upon this occasion i shall pursue the argument a little farther , and answer , first , that the fathers were no less enemies to immorality than to false worship . indeed , one great reason why paganism was so very criminal , was , because 't was not only an erroneous , but a scandalous belief : 't was because the holy solemnities were lewd , and not only mis-led men's understandings , but debauch'd their practice . now nothing in nature is so counter to christianity as wickedness . idolatry may sometimes be an effect of ignorance ; but immorality lies always open to conscience and inward reproof . so that where vice is cherish'd , and licentiousness is made creditable , there the worst part of heathenism is kept up . the devil is no less really worshipp'd in lewdness and obscenity than he was in venus and iupiter . and yet the surveyor has the courage to affirm , that idolatry is more abhorr'd and expos'd on the english stage than any where else . idolatry expos'd ! what , by burlesking the bible , by smut and swearing , and by hooting , as much as in them lies , all religion out of the universe ? a most admirable expedient ! thus error is cur'd by atheism ▪ and false religion destroy'd , by leaving no truth to counterfeit ! the surveyor observes , that the fathers were alarm'd at the heathen stage as at the approach of an enemy ; they were afraid the indulging these liberties would hazard the interest and belief of christianity : they justly apprehended , that from a liking of the entertainments , they might proceed to approve the occasion of them . now those who frequent the theatres , would do well to consider this caution : for from liking the plays , they may come to like the practice , and slide insensibly from the diversion to the vice and profaneness . i wish this reasoning were not too well grounded upon experiment ; but nothing is more natural than the transition from pleasure to imitation . and thus the fathers restraint holds strong against the english theatre . for lewdness is more catching than heathenism ; and people are much sooner surpriz'd by their appetites , than by their ignorance . 't was this indulgence to sensuality which captivated the world , and gain'd credit and authority to paganism . thus vice gives the main force to the temptation , makes way for error , and by corrupting the will betrays the understanding . and this may serve to satisfie the reader , that his topick of idolatry is nothing to the purpose . upon the whole ; let us suppose , which is not true , that the fathers left comedy and tragedy uncensur'd , and planted their rhetorick against nothing but the shews of the mimi ; let us resign our advantage , and set part of our evidence aside ; what would the surveyor gain by it ? alas ! unless he can clear the innocence , and take off the imputations upon the english stage ; which he never so much as attempts : unless this can be done , his cavils and his confidence , and all his other pretences signifie nothing . for , can we imagine the fathers would ever have endur'd the disorders of the modern stage ? would these holy men have allow'd them their common places of smut , and their sallies of profaneness ? would they have seen lewdness a profession , and religion made sport with , and said nothing against it ? no : such flaming provocations as these would have kindled their spirits , and pressed them to the encounter : their satyr would have thundred , and their discipline been play'd against the enemy ; and the warnings of the pulpit would have sounded as loud as the blasphemies of the play-house : where the honour of god and the interests of eternity suffered so much , they would have shewn a proportionable concern . for like the hero's in aeschylus , upon such an occasion , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 brave in their zeal , and fir'd with resolution , they look'd like lions roaring to the combat ! the surveyor is ●ired with church-antiquity , for it seems all my translations of the fathers are of the same stamp with those he has examined : why , so they are ; but not a jot to his purpose . for notwithstanding , all his clamour about my corrupt version , managing of evidence , and what not ; he has not been able to shew that i have either mistaken the sence , or misapplied the meaning in the least instance ; so that if my main strength , as he is pleased to say , lay in these worthies , the forces are still entire , there is not so much as a vein scratch'd , or a drop of blood lost in the encounter . but i can't forget his character and commendations of the fathers . what would you think st. cyprian , st. chrysostome , st. augustine , and the rest of them were like ? why it seems they are like whelps newly enter'd , they run riot , have much better mouths than noses ; make up a great part of the cry , but are of no service in the chase. nay , then he may well go on with t'other compliment , and tell us , their writings are but the rub●ish of antiquity . bless us ! what strains of contempt and distraction are here ! is this all that 's due to the memory of these venerable men ? and must dignity and merit be thus coarsly treated ? must dogs and martyrs be coupled , and patriarchs describ'd by similitudes from the kennel ? these great defenders of the faith were never saluted in this manner before : jews and heathens , tho they might have had no less malice , had ( as far as it appears ) more modesty than this comes to . one would think he learned this language at the olympicks ( as he calls them ) of moor-fields , or rather at the great house that fronts them . if the fathers are thus despicable , why does he sollicit for their votes , and strive to bring them over to his party ? if he takes them for his friends , he uses them very severely ; but i suppose he despairs of their favour , and would therefore disable their credit . well ; since the fathers are thus unmanageable , and won't be tamper'd with , 't is time to leave them : if the christians won't do , we must try if the heathens will prove any kinder . the surveyor therefore applying to the philosophers , endeavours to bribe them into silence , and bring them to a state of neutrality . but here he is much as untoward in his objections as formerly . he pretends plato does not appear in his own person : granting that , eusebius is a good voucher for his opinion . but after all , plato does appear in his own person , and stands fairly quoted in the margin . truly i think i 'm somewhat to blame for troubling my self with an author so very defective either in eyes or honesty . but it seems the testimony is not full to the purpose . why so ? let 's hear it . plays ( says plato ) raise the passions , and pervert the vse of them , and by consequence are dangerous to morality . this i take it is to the point ; the impeachment runs high , and the articles are plainly mention'd . so that to evade the force of the authority , by saying the nature or measure of the danger is not specified , is not to argue , but trifle , and is in effect to make blots instead of letters with a man's ink. my business in the view , &c. was to sum up the evidence in few words , and not to tire the reader with unnecessary lengths of quotation : however , since he calls for 't , i 'll give it him somewhat more particularly . 't is plato's opinion then , that the diversions of the stage are dangerous to temper and sobriety ; they swell anger and desire too much . tragedy is apt to make men boisterous , and comedy buffoons . thus those passions are cherish'd which ought to be check'd , virtue loses ground , and reason grows precarious . from plato we must go to xenophon : and here his exception is , that the drama is not mention'd . i grant it : but does not this author commend the persians for not suffering their youth to hear any thing amorous or tawdry ? and does he not shew the danger of such a permission ? and is this nothing to the english stage , where love and indecencies are most of the entertainment ? this remark not only reaches the modern , but likewise the ancient dramatists , as far as their compositions were any way licentious . at last the surveyor owns , that bawdry was indeed forbidden to be talk'd to young people in persia , because of the heat of the climate . meaning , that in the latitude of london the case is otherwise : the elevation of the pole has taken off the restraint , and made modesty unnecessary : for in these northern regions , and especially in a hard winter , smut is a very harmless diversion , and a man may talk as brutishly as he pleases ! he is now advanced to aristotle , whose authority , he says , will do me as great service as the two former . now tho' this jest is a good answer to all that he offers in earnest , yet possibly he may take it ill , if his story is not heard out . he objects then , that the passage cited by the view from aristotle , amounts to no more than a general caution against trusting youth in promiscuous company ! to this it may be answered , first , aristotle plainly forbids young people the sight of comedy , as appears even by the latin translation cited by the surveyor : comaediarum spectatores esse lex prohibeat . this is something more than a general caution against promiscuous company : for let the reason of the prohibition be what it will , the drama is particularly struck at , and made counterband goods to one part of human life at least . however , i did ill to palm the general term of debauchery , for the particular one of drunkenness , which it seems was only instanc'd in by the philosopher . here the translation comes hard upon him again ; for not only drunkenness is mention'd , but all the disorders consequent upon it . and is not lewdness oftentimes the effect of intemperance , especially in young people ? secendly , the greek is still more unkind to the surveyor , and shews that he has quite mistaken aristotle's sence ; which in a literal version runs thus : the government should not permit youth to see comedies , till discipline has secured them from the impressions and mischief of such diversions , and they are advanc'd to the age of being admitted to feasts and publick entertainment . this translation is warranted by the original● and by heinsius's paraphrase , and justifies the view to the full . and now his other objection about my misrepresenting aristotle , being founded upon his former mistake , must fall together with it . but the surveyor and mr. dennis think it strange , that aristotle should pronounce thus unkindly upon comedy , and yet leave rules for the writing this kind of poem . why this , if we consider it , is no great mystery : plays are one thing in the abstracted idea , and another in fact and practice : he might dislike the common liberties of the poets , without absolutely condemning the form of them . but that aristotle did not allow of licentious comedy , is plain by the instance before us , by what i cited elsewhere in the view , and by his advice to governours , to banish smut and indecency from the common-wealth . tully's testimony comes next to be examined , who , as i observed , cries out upon licentious plays and poems , as the bane of sobriety and wise thinking : that comedy subsists upon lewdness , and that pleasure is the root of all evil. this one would imagine were pretty home : what does the surveyor say to it ? is the testimony miscited ? not at all . what then ? why these sentences are ends and scraps of authors , and as little to the purpose as if he had cited so many propositions out of euclid ▪ which tho' true , are of no use in this place . no! is tully's censure of licentious plays , affirming that comedy subsists upon lewdness , and that pleasure is the root of all evil ; is all this nothing to the purpose ? this is raging impertinence ; i almost sweat to take notice of such stuff as this is . as for his calling what i produc'd scraps , i must 〈◊〉 him , 't was not for want of plenty that 〈◊〉 him no more ; however , till he can 〈…〉 off his stomach , he has no reason to 〈…〉 of scarcity . the reader , if he please , may see a whole page of declamation to the same purpose ; at the latter end of which he has these words : * these poets are great assistances to virtue , and we have reason to expect most admirable cures from the stage ! yes ! manners must be mightily reformed by those people who make love and lewdness a deity , and teach men to worship their own folly and distraction ! i speak ( says he ) of comedy , which were it not for such licentious management could go on no longer . this passage is quoted by the surveyor , according to his customary policy : he is resolv'd i perceive to make sure work on 't , and to confute himself , for fear it should be done by some body else . but if the case stands thus , the surveyor is positive , that either tully or mr. collier are extreamly mistaken . this is manfully put , i confess ; but i 'm afraid ' twon't do : for if tully should be mistaken , which is very unlikely , it would signifie little ; for 't is not the reasoning , but the authority of tully which is now in question . then as for my self , i can't be mistaken , unless the citation is false , which he does not so much as offer to disprove . he objects farther , that pla●tus and terence are the only comedians remaining , from whom we can form any iudgment of the roman comedy , before or about cicero ' s time ; but these mr. collier assures us are modest to a scruple , especially terence . to this i answer , first , that what i affirm'd of the modesty of terence , was in reference to his language , not to his matter or argument , which is sometimes exceptionable enough to draw the censure of tully upon him . then as to plautus , i introduc'd him with a mark of dislike , and only commended him upon the parallel with the english stage . now where 's the contradiction of all this ? may not men be very much to blame , without being the worst of their kind ? here 's room enough then for cicero's reprimand of plautus and terence , without doing the view the least disservice . but , secondly , plautus and terence are not the only poets from whom we can take any measure of the roman comedy about cicero ' s time : for in this very place tully cites several verses from trabea and caecilius ; and blames these comick poets for magnifying love-adventures , making cupid a god , and flourishing too much upon the satisfactions of sense ; tho' nothing of this was done with the modern grosness . this passage being in the same place with that quoted by the surveyor , he must needs see it : from whence the reader may observe how nicely he keeps up to his usual exactness . farther , tully does not only complain of comedy , but of tragedies too . he blames them for representing their hero's impatient under misfortune ; such instances of weakness and discomposure were , in his opinion , of dangerous example : so that let but the stage ( says he ) strike in with the prejudices of education , and this is enough to baffle the force of virtue , and cut the very sinews of fortitude . the surveyor , at the head of his remarks upon this testimony , brightens his air , and would seem to look kindly upon modesty : but this smile , tho' unusual , appears angry and disturb'd . he supposes no one will defend licentious plays ; but if some warm-headed enthusiastick zealot pretends to find some passages really guilty , they are willing to give them up . this is the only passage in his book , as i remember , in which he drops the least word against lewdness : but then he touches the point very tenderly , clogs the censure with a great many kind proviso's , * and is strangely out of humour with those enthusiastick zealots that make any discovery . and to make all sure , he lays in for countenance and encouragement to the prevailing merit of the main part of the performance . for example , if an apothecary mixes up poison with a receipt , yet if it does not weigh as much in the scale as the rest of the ingredients , all is well enough , and the prevailing merit of the dose , tho' it murthers the patient , ought to be encourag'd . livy's authority comes after tully , and must be considered . this evidence , says the surveyor , comes not near our case , were the credit on 't unexceptionable . his reason is because livy speaks of stage representations●●● general , but the drama was not known amongst the romans at this time when the ludi scenici were invented . i 'le try to make an argument like this . for instance : the city built upon seven hills , and upon the tyber , was by no means rome in the time of tarquinius priscus ; why so ? why , because tho it stood upon the same ground , it was not near so big as 't was afterwards in the reign of augustus . but for all this fine reasoning , esse and bene esse are notions of the same subject . 't is true , things are not always perfected at their first invention ; but i thought the finishing and improvement they might afterwards receive , would not alter them in their name and nature . and as to the business in hand , i have already shewn , that comedy and dancing , and all the diversions of the stage , were perform'd together at first : and that the drama and the ludi scenici were the same , i shall take for granted at present , and afterwards prove it by the surveyor's authority , and by st. augustine's too , who mentioning the original of plays , explains himself expresly in comedy , and tragedy . de civit. dei lib. 2. cap. 8. his next undertaking is to quarrel with the translation : to clear this the historian must be cited . now livy giving an account of the original of plays , assigns this reason for the relation ; vt appareat quam ab sano initio res in hanc vix opulentis regnis toler abilem insaniam venerit . he affirms the original of plays were commendable , because they were brought in upon the score of religion ; and to remove a mortality . this being thus reported by livy , i translated the passage above-mentioned as follows ; that the motives are sometimes good , when the means are stark naught . and where 's the mistake of this rendring ? don't the words of the author , and the consequence of the practice , plainly justifie the construction ? nay , his own interpretation makes his objection unreasonable . for he translates vix tolerabilem insaniam , &c. an excessive extravagance which scarce the we 〈◊〉 nation can bear . now if the profusion at these shews were ready to break the back of the roman empire , had not i reason for saying in the version , that the means were stank naught , and the remedy worse than the disease ? but this puts me in mind of another difference to be adjusted . the surveyor contends , that livy in this place does not condemn the immorality , but the luxury , and profu●sion at these shews . the luxury of these diversions , if it must be call'd so , i suppose consists in over-pleasing a vitious palate ; but let that pass . the surveyor supports his conjecture from the citations adding , that this iusania , or disorder , was greater than the we 〈◊〉 nations * could well bear . now says the surveyor , wealthy people have as much need of m●●al●●y as the poor . no doubt on 't ; and are in more danger too of miscarrying in that matter . for , as my adversary has observed , a nation is too apt to grow wealthy , and wanton together : this made sal●st complain , that the riches of the roman empire occasioned the decay of discipline , and the dissolution of manners . without care , people's virtue , i mean their sobriety , is apt to sink with the rise of their fortunes ; their appetites for liberty are more awaken'd by opportunity and temptation : they have more money to purchase their pleasures , and more leisure to enjoy them . and besides , such circumstances are farther within the danger of flattery , and ill example ; 't is no wonder therefore to hear livy affirm , that a government almost overgrown with wealth and power , should be in greater danger of play-house infection , then when they were poor , and more slenderly establish'd : for then their necessities were some security ; they could not go to the expence of vice , nor had so much time to be debauch'd . secondly , that livy by this distraction , * meant licentiousness , will appear by his censure of the stage in another place , which we shall come to by and by . the surveyor rages mightily about my mistranslating the following part of the testimony , which runs thus : the remedy in this case is worse than the disease , and the atonement more infectious than the plague . here i confess my edition mislead me , which , ( as i remember , for i have lost the book ) has inficerent , instead of afficerent , tho i must own this latter reading appears the best . but notwithstanding this accident the surveyor shall be no loser , for livy shall make it up to him another way . and not to defer his satisfaction , this historian informs us , that when a theatre was building by the censors direction , scipio nasica spoke against it in the house , as a vseless and debauching experiment , and got an act for the pulling it down . here livy not only pulls down the play-house , but gives such a reason for the doing it , that one would think should have kept it in rubbish ever after . and if he questions the authority of livy's epitome , sigomus , not to mention vossius , may satisfie him ; who delivers his opinion in these words ; nam sive a livio , sive a floro , sive ab alio quo scriptae sunt , ( haec enim omnia traduntur ) ad roman●s certe res illustrandas accommodatissimae sunt , praesertim vero ubi liviana historia excidit . qua in parte livianam apud quemque obtinere debent auctoritatem . sigon . schol. p. 6. we must now proceed to the testimony of valerius maximus ; and here the surveyor will make sufficient amends for being somewhat in the right before . this testimony he affirms relates to the arena , and concerns none but the gladiators and caestiarii : and then very liberally again quotes his own confutation in the margin ; * in earnest does this critick not understand the difference between theatres , and amphitheatres , and that the first were for plays , and the latter for prizes ? a little school-learning would have set him right in this matter , and likewise prevented the misfortune of making scenica portenta signifie gladiators ; which i think has more of prodigy in the translation , than in the etymology and story . and now i suppose it may be pretty plain , that either the surveyor does not understand latin , or is not fit to be trusted with it . farther , the surveyor's mistakes are the more unpardonable , because valerius maximus spends almost this whole chapter in describing the rise and progress of plays , the buildings and decorations of the theatre , together with the checks they received from the government . he tells us in the very second paragraph , that these play-houses were begun by messalla , but stop'd by scipio nasica , who sold all their materials by the common cryer . and that the senate made a law , that there should be no seats or benches for the audience to see plays at within a mile of the town . this passage is expresly cited by st. augustine , and hinted by tertullian , to shew how much the play-house was discouraged by the roman magistracy . as to the animofae acies which he would fain wrest to the prizes in spight both of the latin and history of his author , they are to be understood of the quarrels and bloodshed which were not very uncommon at the play-house , as tacitus informs us . for at one riot , which was not the first , there were several burghers , soldiers , a captain , and a colonel of the guards killed in the fray. now , i hope , this company may have more rom●● blood * in their veins , and may better stand for the state in the translation , than his rabble of gladiators , who were generally slaves and malefactors . to return to tacitus , this tumult , as he goes on , was brought before the senate , where the actors had like to have come under a very ignominious discipline : in short , the playhouse had some regulations put upon it , and the disorders of the audience were punished with no less than banishment . this happened in the reign of tiberius ; now the theatre continuing still out of order , and some of the magistracy having often complained of it to no purpose , at last the emperor himself moved in the house , that the lewdness and riots of these diversions might be effectually suppressed : vpon which the players were banished out of italy . there is part of valerius maximus his testimony behind , in which , as i observed in the view , he concludes the consequences of plays intolerable , and that the massilienses did well in clearing the country of them . here the surveyor flies to his old distinction between the mimi and the drama , which having disabled already , i might reasonably call a new cause ; but to give him farther satisfaction , i shall prove , that the stage is here meant in all its latitude and variety of diversion . 1. then valetius maximus in the beginning of the paragraph , commends the republick of marseilles for the sobriety of their discipline , and keeping up to their ancient customs . * now we are to observe , that the massilienses were a colony of the phocenses in ionia , who not being willing to submit to the persian government , quitted that country , and settled in gaul . now this removal was in the reign of cyrus , in the very infancy of the stage , when there was nothing but some rude beginnings of tragedy at athens ; besides , the massilienses came from phocis , where neither aristotle or lilius gyraldus mention any thing of the settling or invention of the drama : by consequence , if the massilienses were so tenacious of their original customs , they could have no such thing as tragedy and comedy among them ; these entertainments being , as far as it appears , posterior to the forming of their common-wealth . this will appear farther , if we consider , that , as suetonius observes , the business of the mimicks was originally part of comedy * ; so that let us suppose , which we can't grant , that the drama was as ancient as the government of the massilienses , and in use among them , yet we can't with any colour suppose , that the mimi were distinct from comedy at that time of day ; so that if the massilienses were such admirers of the first plan of their government , and stood off so nicely from all innovation , they must exclude the drama as well as the mimi , otherwise the form of their stage would be changed , and their customs receive an alteration . 2. the reason valerius maximus gives , why the inhabitants of marseilles refused to admit this entertainment , * agrees very well with the drama , it was because the subject and gross of these diversions was mostly intrigne and debauchery : these circumstances the government were afraid might grow infectious , and spread from fiction into practice . now this is exactly the description which tully gives of comedy , which ( says he ) were it not for amours and lewdness , would have no matter to proceed upon * . 3. the introductive clause which leads to this discountenance , points it clearly on the drama . the massilienses ( says the author ) were extreamly strict and severe in their government and administration * . now by the surveyor's account of the mimes and pantomimes , this could never be meant of them . for they , says he , danced naked , and were in their gestures foul to the last degree of scandal . i would gladly know , what instance of severity it could be to deny admission to such monsters as these ? is it indeed an argument of extraordinary rigour not to allow the grossest liberties , and which had often been marked and punished at rome ? a government can't be said to be remarkably rigid , unless they tie up their subjects to particular restraints , and bar them the freedoms commonly practised elsewhere . the massilienses therefore having this character of severity , it must be because they would not admit of the more inoffensive performances of the stage ; because they refused the diversions of comedy and tragedy , which were then generally permitted in the roman empire . 4. mimus , the word which the surveyor cavils upon , is by other good authors taken for a play , in the sence of the drama , as this gentleman loves to speak . thus the learned thysius upon the place understands it . the massilienses , ( says he ) cleared their country of comedy , and all sorts of stage-plays . this they did because they looked upon them as the nurseries of lewdness . and suetonius tells us , that augustus being at the point of death , ask'd some of his friends , ecquid iis videretur mimum vitae commode transegisse . now i would ask the surveyor what he thinks of this matter ? did the emperor enquire whether he had been a good pantomime in his life ? whether he had acted like a finish'd debauchee , and been lewd without shame or measure ? did augustus affect such a character as this , or think his memory would be obliged by it ? such a supposition would be a libel upon nero , who when he came to dye had the justice to be displeased with his own lewdness . the meaning therefore of this question of augustus must be , whether he had behaved himself well in his station , and acted his part handsomly , as a good player does upon the stage ; from whence it will follow , that mimus must be taken for a play in its usual signification . but 't is time to dismiss valerius maximus , and pass on to seneca , who it seems has but little to say to the matter . he should have said , he has but little to say to seneca : however , let the view , &c. decide that question . well! if seneca says but little , he is resolved to fortifie his testimony , and help him out . for he frankly confesses , that the roman youth were generally corrupted by the countenance which nero gave to the stage , and to all those arts which gratified and indulged the senses , and that this philosopher's complaint was not unreasonable . truly i think so too , or else i had never cited him . in this place the surveyor is somewhat kinder than ordinary , for here he not only quotes , * . but argues for me too , and gives me both text and margin to make my best of . this knack of writing and recanting at the same time , is a good subtle expedient : for if ever he should be questioned for publishing a book to debauch the nation , he can make substantial proof he has confuted himself , and that it 's to be hoped may stop the prosecution . i must confess i like an author that knocks his own mischief on the head , and like the scorpion is both poyson and antidote . but the surveyor objects , that seneca's charge against the shews * is general . why then they are all comprehended : then he may be sure the most remarkable shews , such as the stage , are concerned in the caution ; especially since the author has elsewhere expressly declaim'd against 〈◊〉 . well i perceive all this skirmishing has nothing but feint and false alarm , but now he is resolved to come to the assault in good earnest , and enter upon the breach of the quotation , for there , if you will believe him , i have made a shift to steal in two falsifications . now to try this cause , and discover the foul play , we must read the deed in the court. the original runs thus . tunc enim per voluptatem vitia facilius surrepunt . the translation thus : for there vice makes an insensible approach , and steals upon us in the disguise of pleasure . * and where is the harm of all this ? harm ! why i have corrupted one of the eight parts of speech , and suborn'd the adverb tunc to give in false evidence , by translating it there , instead of then. nay ▪ that 's intolerable ! for seneca , you must observe , had nothing to say against the shews , and the play-house , the diversion or the company ! the then , the circumstance of time was the bugbear ; all the infection lay in the clock , or the sun-dial : for people may see what shews , and go to what place they please , and be safe enough , provided they do it at no time ; this is exactly the surveyor's reasoning ; and thus he proves the indictment . the next falsification is my rendring the words , per voluptatem , in the disguise of pleasure ; for all that , if he renders them otherwise , i 'm satisfied he 'l do it worse . indeed i think these objections are not made in the disguise of sence . to conclude , if i was so unfair as to steal in two falsifications , i had , it seems the discretion to steal them out again ; for 't is plain , there 's none of them to be found at present . tacitus and plutarch appear next , and are given up by him . but then he is never at a loss , for when he can't reason he can rail , and so the book goes on as well as ever . i produced ovid and mr. wycherley to shew that the audience at the play-house was dangerous , as well as the entertainment : against this the surveyor insinuates , that if nothing but solitude and retirement will secure us , we must not go to church ; for there is mixt company , and bad designs too sometimes . under favour , this does not follow . to go to church is our duty : now a man's business , and especially when religious , is his guard : and god will let no body miscarry for their obedience . besides , the quality of the employment , the solemnity of the place , and the majesty of the presence , is apt to furnish good thoughts , and check those which are otherwise . but at the play-house the case is quite different : this is a place where thinking is out of doors , and seriousness impertinent , here our reason is apt to be surpriz'd , and our caution disarm'd ; here vice stands upon prescription , and lewdness claims privilege to solicit . nay , the very parade , the gaiety , and pleasure of the company , is not without its danger : these circumstances heightned with luscious dialogue , lively action , and airy musick , are very likely to make an unserviceable impression . and thus we see our standing is but slippery , and the tide runs high against flesh and blood : and as for the protection of heaven to bring us off , 't is presumption to expect it . if we will sit in the seat of the scornfull , and make wickedness our diversion , providence we may be sure w●ll withdraw , and leave us to the government of another influence . to do the surveyer right , he is somewhat of my opinion in this matter . he won't deny but a promiscuous conflux of people of all ages , sexes , and conditions , will make the business of intrigue go forward , and facilitate enterprizes of this nature . but he is afraid , if a restraint were laid upon people , and they were kept out of harms way , it would be worse with them : and for the truth of this conjecture , he appeals to the experiment of italy , and spain ; where he observes there is a great deal of care , and yet a great deal of miscarriage . it may be so ; but if they are bad under caution , 't is to be feared liberty would never mend them . his reasoning about the imagination being vitiated ( p. 56. ) for want of freedom is very slender , for opportunity makes a thief ; the temptation rises upon sight , for sence is stronger than memory , and life , than painting . if the strength of the stream forces the bank to give way , the making the breach wider , is not , i suppose , the proper method to stop the torrent . he had best perswade the dutch to pull up their dikes and their dams ; because in several countreys where the sea is left to its course , it does no manner of damage . i confess i never heard that the spaniards and italians were all fools till now : but it seems so 'tis with them : for they are still perfect strangers to themselves , and know nothing of the temper of their people , after so many ages for information . but of all men , the surveyor should not have been severe upon the reservedness of the spaniards , because he had allowed it in the persians before : his reason was , because the heat of the climate , and the warmth of their constitutions , hurried them very precipitiously ( as he phrases it ) into irregularities . now spain is as hot as persia ; why then all this partiality ? that that 's sawce for a goose is sawce for a gander . why must the poor spaniard be maul'd for his caution , and for preventing his family from being hurried very precipitiously into irregularities ? but after all , the caffres and soldanians , the monsters of africk both in figure and folly , and which , ( as to some of them ) whether men or munkeys , has been disputed . these aequinoctial sages are much wiser , it seems , in the guard of virtue , than the spaniards and italians ! for in many places under the line , where the people go constantly naked , the familiarity of the objects takes away all wantonness of imagination , which the artificial difficulties of some countreys promote . say you so , must spain and italy be reformed by africk , and brought up to the standard of the line ? must people go naked to secure their modesty ? these are wonderful discoveries , and one would almost conclude by the drift of them , that the man had a fancy to turn either adamite or pantomime . these artificial difficulties of cloaths spoil all : they disserve the interest of virtue , and are an impolitick contrivance . this fine phrase puts me in mind of his quareling a sentence of mine for want , as he pretends , of syntax and grammer : and therefore upon this occasion i must tell him , that if the charge was true , sence without grammar , is somewhat better then grammer without sence . ovid , by the surveyor's confession , pleads guilty , and owns not only the opportunity , but the business of the place promotes lewdness . but then he fences against the testimony with his usual evasion , and turns it all upon the representation of the mimi : but the next verse to that , in his margin , will be sufficient to beat him off his guard. vt tamen hoc fatear , ludiquoque semina prebent nequitiae tolli tota theatra jube . thus ovid we see is for quite levelling the enemies works : he is for pulling down all the play-houses , and not leaving so much as a corner of them standing for comedy and tragedy . this line of the poet had too much light to be look'd on , and therefore the surveyor was resolved to wink hard , and get over it . there is another verse likewise in the citation ; which one would have thought might have put him beside the fancy of his mimi ; and 't is this , quid caveat actor , quid juvet arte docet . this pentameter refers much more to dialogue than dancing , to the methods of courtship , and the mysteries of intrigue , which are generally the subject of comedy . and now the surveyor thinks fit to make a halt , and seems extreamly satisfied with his performance : i have , says he , at length run through all his private authorities against the stage . run through them ! yes , like a bowl that gets nothing ; or if you please , like a souldier that runs the gauntlet . indeed this author's method is so very peculiar , he does so often fall foul upon his own book , quote away his argument , and mortifie himself , that one would almost fancy he wrote for a pennance . we are now coming up to the censures of the state ; upon this head i began with the athenians , and observ'd , that this republick made a law , that no iudge of the areopagus should write a comedy . here the surveyor is surpriz'd to find the athenians produced against the drama , of which they were the greatest encouragers . as great encouragers as they were , their forbidding the judges writing comedy , proves they look'd upon 't as the most unreputable part of poetry . now this was enough for my purpose . nay , after a little struggling the surveyor comes forward to a compliance . he grants writing comedy was likely to engage the author in quarrels and partialities , and was also an indignity to the office of a iudge . and is not all this a sign , that there was something untoward and unreputable in the performance ? his objecting , that aristophanes had the better of socrates , is no argument of the standing interest of comedy : for 't is pretty plain socrates was oppress'd by a faction , and executed in a hurry : for soon after , the government repented , his memory was honour'd , and his prosecutor melitus ston'd to death . but after all , the surveyor's being surpriz'd , 't is no such news to find the drama discountenanc'd at athens : for he frankly affirms , there was once a total suppression of it , an abdication , as he calls it , of tragedy and comedy : however i 'm willing to grant him the athenians were none of the worst friends to the stage ; i told him as much : but alass , they paid for their fancy at last ; for the expence of this diversion , their sa●ntring at the playhouse , and minding poets more than field officers , was , as justin observes , the ruine of their government : this pr●digality and sloth made way for slavery : and philip of macedon , a little obscure prince , grew master of the liberties of greece . from athens we must travel to sparta , where i observed the stage was not allow'd under any form or r●gidation . here the surveyor grows angry , because ▪ i gave the lacedemonians a good word , and after having said they were somewhat of my kidney , falls a railing unmercifully upon them , and calls them cynical , proud , and what not . well! these cyni●ks , and he together , put me in mind of old diogenes , who trampled on plato's pride with a greater of his own . i confess the surveyor's ▪ saty● has so much of the rust and roughness he declaims against , that , i 'm afraid , he 'l appear much more unlick'd ( as he has it ) than the lacedemonian laws . but , by this gentleman's favour , i was far from over-flourishing upon the spartan's character , as appears sufficiently from plutarch , to mention no other author . this great man commends them for their courage , their discipline , and their sence ; declares , that he could not perceive any sign of injustice in their constitution : he calls them a nation of philosophers , and takes notice that the neighbouring states and colonies of greece look'd on the city of sparta as a perfect model of good manners , and wise government . to go on ; the surveyor finds fault because i did not assign the reason of the spartans aversion to the stage . to this i must answer , i had no mind to tire the reader with unnecessary talk. who would imagine , but that so wise a government as the spartans , had a good reason for their dislike ? however he must garnish his margin , and have the reason out , tho it makes against him . here 't is then : the lacedemonians allowed neither tragedy nor comedy , that they might not hear any thing contradictory to their laws . no : they had no palate for the rapes and adulteries , and buffoning liberties of the stage . they would not suffer the sobriety of their discipline , and the gravity of their constitution , to be affronted so much as in jest . yes , the surveyor grants they were afraid the luxury of the drama , as 't was practised at athens , might soften their youth , and enervate their minds : and now had not i great reason to be afraid of inserting the citation at length ? but the lacedemonians were only concern'd to preserve the martial spirit of their people . how does that appear ? were the lacedemonians only for one good quality ? had they no concern for the vertues of peace , and the securities of good correspondence among themselves ? that 's strange ! plutarch calls them a nation of philosophers , and makes them strict observers of regularity in general . but for the surveyor's sake , let us suppose them ambitious only of military glory : even this point could not be gained without sobriety of manners . for , if we observe , we shall find the persians , greeks , and romans , &c. were always best soldiers , when they were best men. indeed they held their empire , as it were of virtue and moral philosophy . for when they came to debauch , they grew quickly good for nothing ; and dwindled by degrees from cowardise to servitude . insignificancy , to speak softly , is the natural consequence of lewdness . dissolution destroys both the will and the power to be serviceable . it makes men impatient of discipline , quarrelsom and mutinous , and unable to bear the fatigues of war. a lewd soldier often fails in point of corporal force , is deserted even by his limbs , and has no constitution to be brave , tho never so willing : i mean as to campaigning , and a course of war. thus when the stage is suffered to debauch a nation , and bring vice into credit , people will be in danger of having more confidence than courage . this is the way to soften a martial spirit , and destroy the principles of honour . and thus military glory , and civil vertue , and every thing else that 's worth the owning , must take their leave in a short time . this consequence was wisely foreseen by the lacedemonians , and guarded against accordingly . the surveyor rallies once more , and tells us , that plutarch says indeed , that the spartans did not admit comedy nor tragedy , but says not a syllable of forms , and regulations . this is wonderful civil ! if he grows thus good natured , i must dispute with him no longer . i beseech him , what does he think i argued against in the view , was it not against the liberties of tragedy and comedy ? if he fancies i wrote against punchianello , or the water-works , he is much mistaken . if the lacedemonians refused to admit tragedy , or comedy upon any condition , they refused to admit them under any form. to go farther with him , his old starting hole is stopt , for he can't so much as pretend , that the mimi would pass the test , where the drama was thus discouraged . but i am almost to blame for taking notice of these objections . we must now take a turn in italy . from hence i brought a famous instance , how severely the roman government treated the stage under all its latitude and distinctions . the authority is no less than tully's , in his tract de republica , cited by st. augustine with approbation . * to this testimony the surveyor returns a surprizing answer . since tully does not appear in his own person , we shall not ( says he ) spend any time or ammunition upon him . * well! tho his resolution is right , his reason is wrong . for , what tho tully's books de republica , are lost , they were extant in the time of st. augustine ? is this father's credit so low , that he can't be trusted for a citation ? this treatise of tully was too well known at that time a day to be counterfeited ; so that if st. augustine was unfair in the citation , he wanted both common honesty , and common sence . and after all , i can't perceive that tully has here deposed more against the play-house , than livy did after him , who comes next to be examined . this author , to make short work of the quotation , informs us , that the common players were expelled their tribe , and refused to serve in arms. here the surveyor makes a miserable pother ; reasons backwards and forwards , and makes might and main for the old cover of the pantomimes : and thus by his running upon the file , and doubling , we may perceive he is almost spent . in answer to what he offers , i shall first take notice of his concessions : he grants , in the first place , that the romans went on the same grounds with the lacedaemonians in discouraging the stage . they were afraid their military virtue might suffer by it : now of this supposition i have made my advantage already . secondly , he affirms , that the practice of the stage among the romans fell into the hands of slaves : from whence one would imagine 't was pretty plain that the romans thought this business was too coarse for persons of higher condition . indeed his reason for this custom is very pleasant : he says this profession was thrown up to the slaves , upon the account of its being a polite exercise , and too refin'd a diversion for the rest of the roman youth . now i would gladly know how it comes about , that slaves are so much better bred than their masters , and mob than persons of quality ? upon the surveyor's state of the chronology , this was extreamly unlikely : for if this hapned before the settlement of the drama , the time lies against him ; for then the romans had not conquer'd the polite countries , nor made any inroads upon asia or greece . but let acting be as polite as the surveyor pleases , 't is plain the romans look'd upon it as unreputable , otherwise they would never have left it wholly in the hands of slaves and mercenary foreigners . these concessions one would think were frank enough ; but we shall have more of his liberality by and by ; and in the mean time i shall consider his evasions . in the first place he endeavours to avoid the blow , by fencing with the distinction between the ludi senici and the drama : but this is meer supposition and chimerical fancy , and directly overthrown by a quotation of his own from st. augustine : et haec sunt scenicorum tolerabiliora ludorum , comaediae scilicet & tragediae , &c. the surveyor should take care to keep his margin a little in order ; a bad memory , and a bad cause , do very ill together . secondly , he argues , that this mark of infamy set upon the histriones , can't properly stick upon the actors of tragedy and comedy as such , that law having been made long before the drama was brought to rome . first , with his favour , this mark of disadvantage must evidently stick upon the actors of tragedy , &c. and that by his own argument : for they , and only they , as himself informs us , were call'd histriones . he is now got off the pin of demonstration , and falls down to conjectures , and argues like any almanack : he fansies therefore the mime's and pantomime's were aim'd at in this law. to this i answer , that having prov'd the business of the mime's , &c. to be originally part of the drama , by consequence if the mime's were struck at by this law , the drama will be concern'd in the correction : for the mime's being , as suetonius tells us , originally part of comedy , and comedy , as scaliger observes , being prior to the mime's , this law being an early provision , as the surveyor confesses , could not be made before the mime's and the drama were parted ; from whence it will follow , that the drama must be affected with the censure . and as this law was an early , so 't was a lasting check upon the stage , being in force when livy wrote , as appears by the words of the citation : * and here the historian speaks in comprehensive phrase , and excepting the fabulae atellanae , takes in the play-house , with all its appurtenances ; as appears not only from the term histriones , but from the other expression of ars ludicra , which , by the authority of the civil law , quoted by the surveyor , includes all the denominations and distinctions of the stage . and now having evidently proved the dramatick astors under the discouragement of the roman constitution , we need not stand to the courtesie of his supposition , for to that , after a little struggling , he is willing to come . nay , at last he yields up the supposition for matter of fact , and cites a praetorian edict , hinted by the view , in proof of it ; and because i suppose he wont quarrel at his own translation , it shall serve instead of the latin : whoever ( as the edict runs ) appears on the stage to speak or act , is declar'd infamous . here the surveyor can't deny but comedians and tragedians are included . but then he alledges , that their profession was not branded on the score of immorality , but because they exercis'd it for hire . this being his last refuge , i shall endeavour to drive him out on 't , and prove in contradiction to his assertion , that the play-house was censur'd by the romans upon the charge of immorality , and because of the scandal of their performances ; and that 't was the nature of their profession , and not the mercenary condition of exercising it , which drew the censure upon them . first then , we may learn from tully , as st. augustine cites him , that the romans look'd upon the business of players as ignominious in all the parts of it ; and as gothofred expresses it , 't was counted turpe munus , a scandalous profession . this mark of disadvantage we see comes full upon the function ; there 's no conditions of favour or exceptions for acting grat●s . this state of ignominy was not the punishment of meer hire : the romans were not expell'd their tribe , and thrown out of common privilege only for taking money for their labour : no ; they fought for pay , and pleaded for fees , and traded for gain too , without any such disadvantage to their condition . why then should mettals transmute backwards in the play-house , and money look so dull and scandalous in the actors pockets ? why should the consideration of gain blast their character , forfeit their right , and extinguish the privileges they were born to ? why , i say , should the roman players have such ill luck with their money more than other people , unless because they were thought not to come handsomly by it ? this extraordinary usage plainly affects the matter , and proves the mystery unreputable : and therefore the latter law cited by the surveyor , does nothing of his business . however , it shall be transcrib'd . those that appear upon the stage for gain , are infamous , says pegasus and nerva the son. now by what i have already discourr'd , 't is plain that these words were design'd to check the avarice of the romans , and to keep them from enriching themselves by a 〈◊〉 profession ; and that if they were resolv'd to live upon the practice , they should pay for 't in their character and credit . in short , the intention of this law was to hinder them from dangerous business , and to make them more in love with probity than money . secondly , that the play-house at rome was censur'd for immorality , may be farther undeniably prov'd from valerius maximus , who mentioning the rise of plays much after the same manner with livy , gives the reason why the actors of the fabulae attellanae had better quarter than the rest of the players : and this was , because this diversion was clean and inoffensive , and made agreeable to the sobriety of the roman discipline . t was form'd , as casaubon observes , upon the modesty of the old satyr , and was much more merry than mad. ` this staunchness , as maximus goes on , screen'd the actors from disgrace , and purchas'd their patent of indemnity : so that they were neither ( like the rest of the stage ) expell'd their tribe , nor refus'd to serve in the field . the surveyor proceeds to acquaint us , that tully , tho' a man of great ' vanity and caution , contracted an intimate friendship with roscius an actor , therefore the business of the stage was not unreputable . what tully's opinion was of the stàge , has been sufficiently shewn already : as to this objection , 't is so fully obviated in the view , &c. by tully himself , that i can't imagine why the surveyor mention'd it , unless to fill up the page . but tully made an acquaintance with roscius : most certainly , roscius was considerable in his way , and it seems one of the most moral in his profession : and besides , 't is likely tully might learn something of gesture and pronunciation of him . in short , tully lik'd the man , but not his business . for all that , he defended his cause . that 's true ; he defended him in an action of debt : but what 's that to his profession ? can't a lawyer plead for his client , without justifying his practise , and answering for his trade ? but i 'm afraid i have consider'd this sort of reasoning too much , and therefore shall proceed . the surveyor urges , that scipio africanus and laelius were publickly suspected to have assisted terence in the composition of his plays . suspected ! then it seems 't was no very creditable business . this is an odd way of arguing , if positive evidence from unexceptionable history and law , may be set aside by remote conjectures , which would signifie nothing , if prov'd ; i say , if the best evidence may be thus over-rul'd , we must never prove any thing . this objection was made by mr. dennis , and is sufficiently answer'd in my defence , by the counter-evidence of scipio nasica and horace . but let us suppose , if you please , which the instance is far from proving , that africanus and laelius believ'd the stage not discourag'd on the score of immorality ; the consequence will only be this , that these two persons were of one opinion , and the government of another ; and thus their authority is destroy'd by running counter to the law. this answer will affect his objections from the two caesars and seneca ; which being weaker than the rest , i shall consider them no farther . my instance in the theodosian code , mr. dennis gives up for an unreasonable custom ; but the surveyor , who loves neither yielding nor proving , encounters the authority with a banter . he finds fault indeed with the translation ; but disproves it in no particular : but fails in his own version by his own rule ; for he renders histrio by droll-actor , whereas he has already told us , that this word is peculiar to the top function of the stage , and signifies the players in their best capacity . farther , by his citing the law at length , it appears , that histrio , or an actor in the drama , has as little a character as a pantomime : nay , the language falls rather harder upon the first ; for the pantomime does not suffer so much in the addition , nor has that epithe of disadvantage which describes the other . and thus by his criticisms and exactness , he has made the translation worse , and the case worse . i have now gone through his charge against the testimonies in the last chapter of the view , &c. and i hope fully shewn that my authors have been farily translated and rightly applied . the objections against the pagan part of the authorities , were most of them made by mr. dennis before the surveyor : the answers to the one therefore will hold against the other . but mr. dennis has one exception about st. augustine particular to himself ; 't is this : he says st. augustine , as i have cited him , * has done cicero a great deal of wrong , in the character of roscius . in the first place , my citation of st. augustine is right to a tittle ; and therefore i can have nothing to answer for . and that st. augustine was the least to blame , we have no just reason to suspect . for , first , we are to observe , that tully's oration , pro roscio , cited by mr. dennis , is a great part of it lost , we have neither beginning nor end of it . but in st. augustine's time tully's works were entire . now because a passage is not in part of an argument , to conclude it was not there at all , is an odd way of reasoning . and if 't was not in this oration , there was room enough for it in the rest of tully's works , which are now lost . secondly , the words and sence of this quotation , and that cited by mr. dennis , are so very different , that 't is next to impossible , that st. augustine , if he quoted from memory , should mistake the one for the other : and yet he quotes it roundly , and reasons positively upon it . from whence ( says this father ) tully was most clearly of opinion , that the better a man was , the less fit he was to make a player . and can we imagine a person of s. augustin's character , could mistake so mark'd and memorable a sentence ? he that was so well acquainted with the heathen learning , and particularly with tully , having publickly taught rhetorick in his younger time ? to change the words of an author to so strange a degree , to so very foreign a signification , could be nothing but design . now can we imagine that st. augustine's conscience could digest such a practice as this ? would he who had wrote a whole books against falshood and lying , be guilty of so notorious an instance himself ? what , in an author so well known as tully , in a sentence so very remarkable , and in a treatise written for the satisfaction of the heathens ? for now we are to observe , that st. augustine was encountring some pagan objections about the gospels , and proving the consistency of the evangelists with each other . besides , there was no necessity for so wretched and ridiculous an expedient : the controversie did not languish for this citation ; for as pertinent as it was , st. augustine could easily have gone on without it . but possibly the reader may think i have taken too much notice of a calumny so much without colour : to return therefore to the surveyor . and here once for all , i can't but wonder at his captiousness and noise against the method of my quotations : the authors , says he , were not cited at length , and in their own language , which it seems could be nothing but design . that my meaning was fair , i have made good already ; and that my method was defensible , is no less plain , for i always took care to cite book , chapter , or page , and sometimes edition too . now how could imposition and foul play lie hid under such a punctuality ? when this was done , what need was there of stuff●ing the margin with greek and latin ? why should i give my self a needless fatigue , and trouble the english reader with a foreign language to no purpose ? all unnecessary quoting is either pedantry or ostentation . the surveyor has neither reason nor custom for his demands . what then would the man be at ? i hope he did not expect i should get a certificate , or make affidavit in proof of my authorities ? 't is true , his making a squabble about the testimonies has now somewhat alter'd the case ; insomuch that i am sometimes forced to bring him to the test of the original , to discover his honesty . and now having set the testimonies right , the rest of the surveyor's book will go off apace . the surveyor complains of my censuring the musick and gestures of the playhouse only upon report , having never heard of one , nor seen t'other . as to the playhouse musick , he has given me no occasion to resume that argument , neither did i meddle with their dancing . but here he runs too fast . i only told him , i was no frequenter of the playhouse . i must tell him , i have been there , tho not always for diversion . i am not so much a stranger to that place , as not to have seen the behaviour of their women bold , and the gestures lewd sometimes , witness the hostess in bartholomew fair ! his appeal to the ladies in this case is strangely out of the way . he has reproach'd them too much in the dedication , either to expect their favour , or depend on their decision . the outrage is very gross and comprehensive , as will appear at the first sight . women , says the surveyor to the earl of dorset , and weak men , whose fears are stronger than their iudgments , will be awed into a perswasion before they are convinced of the truth of it . for such people , in most cases , measure the certainty of assertions by the confidence of him that pronounces them . here 's a flourish for ye upon the whole sex ! here 's decency of application , and strains of breeding and conduct ! and does the surveyor call in the ladies to vouch for him after this usage ? after he has disabled their character , and thrown them out of sence and capacity ? his modesty and judgment , i perceive , are much of a size : these complaints , i suppose , were calculated for russia , or rather for constantinople , where the women are said to have no souls . i asserted in the view , &c. with reference to the english stage , that if they have any advantage in their instrumental musick , they lose it in their vocal : their songs being often rampantly l●wd , and irreligious to a flaming excess : now the ancients , as we have seen already , were inoffensive in this respect . here the surveyor falls a railing very liberally , and if his logick would but answer his language , there was no enduring him : but the best on 't is , his reasoning usually makes amends for his railing : and so it happens at present , for at the first opening of the cause , he does no less than give it up . he grants the chorus of the ancients was harmless enough . but then the reason he proves it by is somewhat untoward . this musick , says he , consisted of hymns and praises of their gods , and therefore lewdness would have been impertinent . on the contrary , the pagan idols were lewd , and their worship was lewd , and if the hymns had been so too , they had been all of a piece . where then was the impropriety ? but then this , as st. paul observes , was for the most part done in secret : for nature was not wholly subdued by idolatry . 't was therefore the force of modesty , and the regards of virtue , which made the chorus inoffensive , and not compliance with religion , as the surveyor suggests . and is not the ancient stage much better than the modern upon this account ? for they declin'd smutt , tho their religion allow'd it . but these are resolv'd to charge through their creed , and to have it at any purchase of infamy and danger . to return to the chorus , if that was inoffensive , as the surveyor truly affirms , then the vocal stage musick of the ancients was inoffensive , for they had no songs but in the chorus ; i challenge the surveyor to produce one elsewhere in all the old tragedy and comedy extant : and does it not follow from hence , that the old drama was inoffensive , not only upon the comparison , but even without it ? his running off to the gross liberties of the mimi is a poor relief : for , first , by thus retreating from the subject , he quits the field , and leaves the antient drama in possession of the advantage contested . secondly , in all his ramble and aggravation about the mimi , he neither offers to prove his point by argument or testimony : he neither gives any instance , nor cites any author ; so that the whole of his cause lies only in affirmation and assurance . his saying , that all who are acquainted with the roman stage , know his charge against the mimi to be true , is like the rest . i must tell him , he does not know it to be true , and therefore should not object it . nay , as far as it appears 't is untrue ; for the lewdness of the mimi consisted more in gesture , than expression . i charged the stage with encouraging revenge , and mistaking the notion of honour : this he denies , and would make us believe , that a vindictive humour is almost always made the mark of a tyrant or a villain in tragedy . but by his instance in don manuel he mistakes the point : the disorders of princes was not the dispute in that place : 't was private revenge which was principally aimed at , as appears by the mention of duelling . and is not this humour incouraged by the stage ? don't their characters of figure quarrel in comedy , and murther in tragedy ? is it not honourable to do it , and infamous to refuse it ? and thus , by these maxims , a man is bound to be damn'd in defence of his honour , and can't be a christian without being reckon'd a poltron . to say this , frensy is countenanced in life , and that a poet is obliged to draw according to nature is a lamentable plea. at this rate rapes and adulteries must be acted , and all sort of blasphemy repeated , that nature may be shewn in her colours : but this i have answered already . and therefore his saying , that there can be no breach of morality , without offending against the laws of the drama ; his saying this , is in effect , to make the poets soveraign judges of good and evil ; to give the stage a power paramount to gospel and law , and to make vice the standart of virtue . by this doctrine they may bring all the stench of the stews upon the board , and poyson cum privilegio . for , what is all this , but a close imitation of life ? now if any man dislikes these figures , let him do it at his peril , says the surveyor , for then he finds fault with nature , not with the poet. nay , if those pictures be drawn according to the life , he might as well snarl at the wise providence which governs the world , because he meets more ugly faces then handsom ones , more knaves and fools than honest men , &c. this is admirable reasoning ! for , in the first place , to suppose ugliness so very common , is a satyr upon mankind , and is remote both from truth , and decency : but to make knavery the effect of providence , as this author does by the drift of his reasoning , and the force of his comparison , is next to blasphemy . to proceed from his supposition to his inference : does the surveyor think there 's no difference between natural defects and moral turpitude , and are ugly faces as catching as ugly practices ? certainly , no. the deformities of behaviour are much more dangerous than those of person and understanding . lewdness and atheism are infectious , but folly is a disadvantage to none but him that has it . now , if we are obliged to guard our virtue , and avoid ill discourse , why not in the play-house , as well as in other places ? unless we 'l say , that the wit and figure , and success of a libertine mortifies his example , and makes him less dangerous : and then by the same rule we may conclude , that the malignity of a distemper is a good symptom of health , and that people are likely to do least mischief , when they are best prepared for 't . i must now attend the surveyor in his examination of the greek and roman tragedy , in which he pretends the ancients were defective in the morality of their fable . and upon the comparison of some few instances , endeavours to throw the preference upon the moderns . in this enquiry he spends a great part of his book , which were it never so lucky , would be but little to his purpose . for , to say no more at present , this justification would reach no farther than tragedy , comedy does not enter the dispute upon this head , and therefore must be left defenceless . he throws away abundance of ammunition upon this place , which if he could carry it , would not be worth the storming : this will appear upon the progress of the contest ; and in the mean time i shall endeavour to repel the attack , and disappoint him in the little advantage . in pursuing this point , the surveyor falls into a mighty vein of telling stories , which by the length and manner of them , one would fancy were told more for his own diversion , than the readers . here we must take him by tale , and not by weight ; measure his arguments by the page ; and if a man could be confuted by the yard , he might possibly have done my business . he begins with the fable of sophocles his oedipus , and censures it for being very deficient in the moral . and yet in the next words he owns it may serve to put us in mind of the lubricity of fortune , and the instability of humane greatness . call you this moral very deficient ! does it not hold forth a lesson of justice and moderation to great men ? does it not teach the proper use of prosperity , and prepare us for the turns of adversity ? this moral is so far from being deficient in a play , that it would make a good sermon . but the ground of the quarrel is , this moral is too good for such a heathen as sophocles , and therefore he must not have it . not have it ! what , tho the poem uses it expresly as such ? that 's confessed : for all that the surveyor not only finds fault with mr. dryden , but wont give sophocles leave to understand the moral of his own fable . this is very hard . but since he is resolv'd to refine upon sophocles and mr. dryden , let 's see what he 'l make on 't . now this gentleman tells us , that the genuine moral of the fable ought to have been shewn in setting forth oedipus's ; misfortunes , as a result of his impiety , in advancing his own iudgment above that of his gods ; and thinking by his own wisdom to reverse the immutable decrees of destiny , and upon this account his vanity deserv'd the heaviest chastisement . to this i answer , first , that if this were the moral , it would not be without instruction : it might shew the vanity of contesting with omnipotence , and teach submission to the decrees of heaven , that people should conclude the punishment just by the hand that sent it , and not repine at the mysteries of providence . but secondly , that this sence is not the genuine moral , appears by the surveyor's objection , in which he grants , that predestination was not so universal among the antient heathens , but many held the contrary . and if oedipus was one of this number , he grants his moral falls to the ground . now , that oedipus was no predestinarian , i think is pretty clear from his management : for if he believed a fatality , he must believe his misfortunes irretrievable , and why then was he so weak as to attempt the preventing it ? why then did he quit his fortune and his friends , throw up the expectations of a crown , and run rambling after a known impossibility ? such a piece of pilgrimage is fitter for a goose then a hero , especially one who could look through mysteries , untie riddles , and had a reach of understanding above the rest of mankind . 't is plain therefore , oedipus did not imagine himself under a necessity of of murthering his father . he thought the oracle pronounced no more then a conditional truth ; he took it for a fair warning , but believed the event might be secur'd by care , and caution . farther , by this scheme of fatality the reason of punishment is destroyed , and by consequence the moral sinks with it . for , why should oedipus be punished for attempting to reverse destiny , when all his actions were pre-ordain'd , and he had not so much as his own will in his power ? where there is no choice , there can be no fault : alass ! upon this supposition his vanity was unavoidable , and he could no more help the contesting with fate , than he could over-rule it . for as the surveyor has it from seneca , quicquid patimur mortale genus , quicquid facimus venit ab alto . to make oedipus smart for questioning the oracle in this case , is against all reason and justice : and the poet might as well have brought him to execution , because he could not fly . and thus we see the poet will shift much better by himself than with the surveyor's assistance . the moral of the rest of sophocles's plays is either good , or not bad , by his own confession , and therefore that dispute is at an end : 't is true he excepts a little against hyllus's expostulation with the gods. but this objection was started , and consider'd in the view , &c. orestes's killing his mother , tho not censur'd by the surveyor , lies harder upon sophocles than the other . but when we consider , that he was put upon this practice by the oracle , to revenge his father's murther , and the abuse of his bed ; this consideration , i say , upon the heathen theology , seems to excuse the fact. we are now to proceed to euripides , who is blam'd by the surveyor for not contriving his fable to the advantage of his moral . to this it may be return'd , that his instances of mismanagement in this poet are but few : and even all of those few * won't hold ; and where they do , the plays are defensible upon another head. and because he makes orestes , and the other produced by him , a sample of the rest , it may not be amiss to shew the reader in a word or two , how unfairly euripides is represented by the surveyor . to begin , hecuba his first play , has a moral sufficiently instructive . for , here polydorus comes from the other world to discover treachery and murther . and polymnestor , king of thrace , being the guilty person , is punish'd with the loss of his eyes : this piece of revenge is executed by hecuba , mother to the murther'd person , and being question'd for the fact , she is acquitted by agamemnon ; as indeed she well might , having done nothing unjustifiable by the principles of paganism . the phaenissae is full of moral sentences , and as to the fable , the misfortune of laius and his posterity is declared to proceed from his disobedience to the oracle : which holds forth this lesson , that 't is dangerous to go counter to the instructions of heaven ; and that our duty should always over-rule our desires . hippolitus coronatus is taxed by the surveyor with a defective moral , because an inoffensive young prince of that name miscarries in 't . but this fable , if we look farther , has a great deal of good meaning in 't . for hippolitus is visited in his misfortunes by a goddess who clears his innocence , undertakes his quarrel , and promises to immortalize his memory . the surveyor grants alcestis a moral play , and the same may be said of andromache : for here hermione , who injur'd the royal captive andromache , grows almost distracted with her guilt , and is hardly prevented from dispatching her self . menelaus likewise designing to murther andromache and her son molossus , is disappointed in his barbarity by peleus , who comes in the nick of time to the rescue of the innocent . and at the end of the play , andromache is left in possession of the country , married to helenus , hector's brother , and the crown settled upon her son molossus : and to enrich the moral farther , the generous and compassionate peleus is deifyed by thetis , and transported to the fortunate islands . the moral of the supplices is not amiss . the case stood thus . creon king of thebes refusing burial to the chiefs slain before that town , adrastus , the only surviving confederate , applies to theseus king of athens , for assistance , desiring to be put into a condition to take care of the funerals of his friends . for to have these solemnities unperform'd , was a sad misfortune among the heathens , who believed the ghosts of the deceased had no rest , till their bodies were burnt , and their bones buried , according to that of virgil. nec ripas datur horrendas & rauca fluenta transportare , prius quam sedibus-ossa quierunt . the request being thus reasonable , theseus complies with it , and having demanded justice of creon by an embassy to no purpose , he goes against him in person , defeats his forces in the field , and recovers the dead bodies of the generals . this expedition was a generous instance of humanity to the dead , and living , and in the next play euristheus smarts for persecuting the heraclidae . these injur'd persons are assisted by the athenians , defeat the usurper , and recover their right . to say no more , this play threatens pride with divine vengeance , and pleads strongly for justice and religion . the tragedy of helena gives countenance to probity : for , by the structure of the fable , helena is a lady of virtue , undebauch'd by paris , and never at troy : she is detain'd prisoner in egypt , and proves constant to her husband menelaus , tho courted by theoclymenus king of that country . in short , she conceals menelaus upon his arrival , makes the king believe he was wreck'd , and desiring leave to solemnize his funeral on the shoar , gets an opportunity to escape the tyrant , and set sail . theoclymenus finding himself betray'd , and suspecting his sister theonoe in the plot , resolves to murther her ; but is perswaded to desist , and brought to temper by the machine of castor and pollux . here the moral lies upon the surface , is apparently virtuous , and therefore i shall say no more about it . to conclude , euripides's electra stands upon the same foot of excuse with that of sophocles , and therefore i shall pass it over . from this short survey the reader may perceive , that much the major part of euripides's plays are unexceptionable in their moral ; and that poetick justice was generally the poet's care : which appears farther by his apology for his ixion . for , some of the audience censuring the conduct of this play , for suffering ixion to flourish , and thrive upon this wickedness ; the poet desires them to have patience , for , says he , i broke him upon the wheel at last , and then he paid for all . the surveyor therefore is much mistaken in making the ancients so negligent in their fable : as if a good moral from them was rather the effect of casualty than choice . there are four tragedies of euripides still unmention'd ; that is , his orestes , medea , hercules furens , and ion : here i confess the byass of the fable is not so well contriv'd , as in the rest . but then he may be in a great measure excused upon these two following considerations : first , because euripides takes care to correct the malignity of his fable by moral sentences , and philosophical advice , of which , as the surveyor ●onfesses , he is very liberal . yes : the anciens , says he , deliver'd their instructions in wise sayings scatter'd in the dialogue , or at the close ; now these sentences were possibly more intelligible to a common understanding , than the mystery of plots , and the revolution of fables : and therefore when the rest of the play was not stuffed with lewdness , might govern in the minds of an audience , and make a significant impression : but , secondly , that which goes farthest in the justification of euripides is , that the disposition of the fable was seldom in his power : the subject was generally history , or received tradition ; from which 't was unsafe to vary . for , to cross upon common belief , and give matter of fact the lye , was the way to spoil the probability and relish of the poem . the antients therefore , as the surveyor remarks from aristotle , being forc'd to take the fable as they found it , the fault lay in the history , which made the poet more excusable . and this may serve to shew , that euripides is much better complexion'd than the surveyor was pleas'd to draw him . he is mistaken likewise in affirming , that euripides does not touch the passions like sophocles : for , no less a judge than quintilian gives him the preference : he had , says he , an admirable stroak at the pathos in general ; and for raising compassion , was clearly superior to sophocles . and if quintilian's authority stood in need of being confirm'd , the poet hippolitus coronatus , to say nothing farther , might vouch for him . from euripides the surveyor goes backward to aeschylus , but this poet will quickly be disengag'd , for the whole attack is made only upon a sentence or two in his promotheus vinctus . but here he is out again in his impeachment , and misrepresents the reason of promotheus's punishment . for 't was not meer good nature that made promotheus miscarry . 't was because he made bold with iupiter's prerogative , broke into his administration , and dispos'd of his bounty against his will. — 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 — and in the next page : 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . promotheus pretended it seems to understand what was fit for the world better than iupiter , and to love mankind more than he that made them . now to do this , is arrogance , and imputation with a witness . besides , as appears in the latter part of the play , he scorn'd a release from his torments , menaced his pretended supream , and rattled his chains against his judge . but 't is high time for the surveyor to quit the coast of greece , having met with no prize after all his cruising . he is now sailing homewards , and trying to mend his voyage , by touching at rome . and , to conclude the allegory , seneca is the man , to make his fortunes . and here he would perswade the reader , that i took all seneca ' s plays for the work of one man. his reason is , i suppose , because i call'd them seneca's tragedies : because i did not distinguish between the plays written by marcus , and those by lucius annaeus seneca ; and run out into pedantry and foreign observation . but enough of this . the surveyor remarks , that all seneca's tragedies are of greek extraction : ( for the octavia is not worth the naming . ) they are so . and so much the better , for then , where they need it , what i have offer'd for the greeks , may serve for their apology . then the plan of the fable takes it's refuge in history ; and comes down with excuse to the poet. besides , the surve●or takes notice , that seneca refines upon the justice of euripides in his hippolytus , and mends his moral . why , this is just as one would wish . but then the man grows angry , because i did not distinguish the plays of seneca the philosopher from the rest , and exempt him from censure . why , truly i had no leisure for trifling in criticisms : and moreover , i could not wholly excuse him ; for his rants ( if they belong to him ) are sometimes as extravagant as may be * . his parallel of ajax oileus with a late misfortune won't hold . for ajax was sunk in his blasphemy , and had his breath stop'd with a thunderbolt : he is no person of the drama ; but what then ? this instance is sufficient to shew the poet's justice , and make an example of the crime . his pretended division of tragedy from aristotle into moral and pathetick , is strangely misrepresented . by this distinction he would make us believe , that according to aristotle , the pathetick tragedy had no regard to morality , and poetick justice . but this is not only contrary to matter of fact , but to the authority of the citation . for , aristotle makes four branches of his division of tragedy , and not two only , as this author quotes him . these four kinds of tragedy the philosopher forms upon the four principal excellencies relating to this art. the first sort he calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or that which turns chiefly upon intrigue , and discovery ; the second is the pathetick , the beauty of which consists in the skill of touching the passions , and awakening terror and pity to an unusual degree . now if the fable was well cast , and poetick justice observed , as i have prov'd it often happen'd ; in this case i say , this sort of tragedy , is every jot as instructive , or in other words as moral , as any other . the 3d sort was distinguish'd by a plain and pompous narration without surprize of incidents or revolution of affairs . here the gods made a great part of the dialogue , and the peculiarity of it lay in the majesty of the presence , of the subject and expression . the fourth is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or moral , so called because , as appears by the instances , and the learned paraphrast goulston , it dealt chiefly in virtuous examples , and characters of justice and piety . in a word , the distinction goes more upon person , character , and discourse , than upon fable and event . and thus 't is plain , that aristotle was far from having any of the surveyor's fancie 's in his head : for all these kinds of tragedy notwithstanding their difference , were equally capable of a good moral , and of adjusting rewards and punishments , and therefore this philosopher was no such inexhaustible spring of corruption , no such everlasting source of infection , as this gentleman and his terrible rhetorick would make him . having now disabled his instances of exception , and vindicated the antients ; the design of his attack is defeated . and his long declamation , into which he has ramm'd so many hard words , will recoil upon himself ; and discharge nothing but smoke and noise , paper and powder . for by this time i suppose 't is pretty clear that my satyr ( as he calls it ) does not come near so full upon the antients , as upon the moderns . for first , as we have seen the old tragedians were generally unexceptionable in their fable ; and when they were not , t is because they were tied down to the models of history and religion , upon which account both aristotle and the surveyor are willing to make them an allowance . secondly , the antient tragick poets were clean in their expression . and thirdly , they are not near so full of profaneness and atheistical rants . the surveyor is resolv'd notwithstanding to produce some modern tragedies , which tho they have little to say , are to look boldly upon the court , and pass their resolution for their innocence ; and here shakespear's hamlet is brought first , and a great many words spent to prove the regularity and instructiveness of the fable . but , what 's all this to the controversy ? my exceptions to hamlet related only to his indecencies of language ; and how handsomly the surveyor justifies that , we shall see afterwards . however here the surveyor was resolv'd to set up a king of clouts of his own making ; and then to fall on and conquer him with great bravery : or , perhaps his heart being better than his sight , he might mistake the wind-mill for the gyant . his next instance is in the orphan , against the fable of which tho i did not except , yet 't is by no means so staunch as he would make it . for here 's no just distinction of fate upon the merit of the persons ; but the good and bad , the innocent and guilty , fall under a common misfortune . cleomenes comes next under the surveyor's examination : this play he taxes extreamly with the want of a moral . and does this prove , that the fable of the moderns is preferable to the antients ? what makes him argue on my side ? how some people's vanity rides their judgment ! he must be throwing his criticisms about , tho he falls upon his friends , and weakens his argument by his discovery . the two remaining tragedies are don sebastian and the mourning bride . now he knows i have made several material objections against these plays , which he does not attempt to remove . i must tell him therefore once for all , that the justification of the fable is no answer : for i did not charge the moderns with being being infection all over : no , they may do execution enough without that . besides , the fable by his own reasoning works least sensibly , it sleeps as it were in the veins , and is slow in the operation . but foul images , and profane discourse , are of a quicker dispatch , and like the plague sudden , and sure . and then the decency , moral sentences , and gravity of the antients were a sort of counterpoyson to the fable : for , as the surveyor observes , the discourse of the antient tragedy was frequently moral , when the fable was not . to which i must add , that when the moderns are staunch in their main fable , their episodes and under-character are much out of order , and encourage vice by giving it success . he would gladly put in still for some advantages to the moderns , with respect to the moral ; but the claim sticks cruelly in the making out . he mentions three particulars , the two first of which are no more than one , and that is , that the moderns are never at the expence of a miracle to bring about a wicked design , as the antients have notoriously done . to this i answer , first , that he has over-charged the antients , and multiplied his instances beyond matter of fact ; as appears by what i have proved already . secondly , in those few plays where the allegation is true , they represented the history of their theology , they had common belief for their excuse , so that it seems rather the fault of the religion , than the poet. and as for the moderns , their standing off from this conduct seems to proceed more from management than scruple ; by the liberties they take in other cases , we have no reason to believe they declined this ill use of machine out of conscience : but because they know this expedient won't take : the method looks unnatural , and the credulity of the audience is not high enough to make it go down . his second advantage for the moderns is , that their malefactors are generally punish'd . the antients did the same , as i have prov'd from the three greek tragedians . but after all , the moderns are far from being so careful in the execution of justice as he pretends . for i 'm mistaken if libertines that expose vertue , and droll upon religion , are not great malefactors . to steal property , is not so bad as to steal principle ; for this latter practice extinguishes the notion of right , and makes thieving universal . he that destroys the distinction of good and evil , is the worst tyrant ; for he encourages all men to be like himself . now these sort of malefactors are cherished and rewarded by the modern stage . the surveyor proceeding in defence of the moderns , affirms , that the fable of every play is undoubtedly the author 's own , whencesoever he takes the story , and he may model it as he pleases ; the characters are not so , for these the poet is oblig'd to take from nature . to this i answer , first , in contradiction to his assertion , that when the poet writes from history , he is in a great measure confin'd to matter of fact , so that the fable is not in his own power to model as he pleases . this , besides the reason of the thing , is already granted by the surveyor , who brought aristotle's authority for the case . to which i shall add that of horace , which may be applied both to fable and characters . aut famam sequere , aut convenientia finge , scriptor . now 't is both aristotle's and horace's judgment , that a tragick poet should rather go upon fact , and known tradition , than pure invention in the choice of his subject . rectius iliacum carmen deducis in actus , quam si proferres ignota , indictaque primus . secondly , 't is very possible to keep an irregular character under discipline ; for terrence's strumpets don't talk smut , and the same conduct will hold in other cases . in a word , we must not stretch propriety to the prejudice of virtue , nor make nature a plea for debauchery . but this pretence i have fully satisfied elsewhere . his last effort upon the fable of the antients is , that neither aristotle nor horace , amongst all their excellent rules for dramatick writing , have taken the least notice of poetick iustice. but that neither of these great men were so regardless of the fable , as the surveyor would make them , will appear from what follows : for , first , aristole affirms , that to represent a person of probity * unhappy , would not only be unpoetical , but * scandalous , and detestable : and on the other hand , to make a very wicked man successful , is the most improper conduct imaginable , and has not so much as a jot of the due requisites of tragedy in 't . the first reason he gives for this censure is , because such preposterous management fails in a proper regard to mankind * . now , if an unrighteous treatment of virtue and vice , and male-administration upon merit , is in the opinion of aristotle , a neglect of humane nature , a scandalous practice , and a breach of dramatick law , then certainly this philosopher did not over-look the respects of justice in his preceps for tragedy . this , if need be , will appear farther from the qualifications he requires in his hero , who is to suffer at the latter end of the play. this chief person he would have of a middling size for his morals , neither remarkable one way nor t'other : he would not have him flamingly wicked , for then no body would be concern'd for his misfortune , compassion would sleep , and tragedy flag . but then he must fall into some great indiscretion , and be guilty of considerable mismanagement ; he must be punish'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , for some notorious failure in his conduct ; for some fault which he might have prevented ; otherwise you bring him under the character of those virtuous persons , * whom aristotle says 't is scandalous to make unhappy . thus we see he suffers for his faults , he is made a malefactor , tho not to the degree of falling unpitied . and thus the example works the right way , and the audience is alarm'd into caution . thus they are held to their good behaviour , and the passion of terror is purg'd ; which advantages could never follow if the hero had no faults to justifie his misfortune . for to see a good man punish'd for that he can't help , is the way to make the passions of the tragedy run riot , and grow mutinous against providence ; and is rather an argument for despair than circumspection . and this may serve to shew , that aristotle was not regardless of poetick justice . and that horace , who goes upon the plan of the antients , was of the same mind , is evident from his advice to the chorus , to appear for virtue , and perform the offices of friendship ; to recommend justice , and pray the gods that fortune might follow desert ●* . now the chorus , we know , was to unite with the subject , to support the design of the play , and represent the sence of the poet. if therefore horace would have the chorus solicit thus strongly for justice ; he expected , no doubt , the catastrophe should be govern'd by the same instructions . and thus i have endeavour'd to detect his calumnies upon the antients , to vindicate their fable , and to disappoint him in his project upon the comparison . and alass ! if the moderns could have carried this part of the preference , it would have done them but little service . a formal piece of justice at the end of a lewd play , is nothing but a piece of grimace , and a politick hypocrisy . 't is much such a strain of conduct , as it would be to let a mad dog loose among the crowd , and then knock him on the head when he has bitten a great part of them . and yet this poor excuse has no pretence in modern comedy , where libertinism comes generally off with victory and flying colours . and to this performance of the stage the surveyor now leads me , and begins with the definition of comedy : but against the latitude and construction of his interpretation , i have argued in my defence , of which , according to his method , he takes no notice . and by his description of the business of comedy , we have no reason to expect any good from it . he says the design of comedy is rather civil prudence than morality , and as he is pleas'd to go on , we are not to expect it should confer grace , or mend principles . then as for the characters , tho he would not have them all vitious , he means not just to qualifie them for newgate , or tyburn ; but then especial care must be taken , that there is no person of sobriety amongst them : no , they must be all men of pleasure ; for if they are tainted with too much honesty , they will disagree with the company , and spoil the projects of the stage . well! i perceive the surveyor is resolv'd , notwithstanding his pretences to the contrary , to make the modern writers of comedy more licentious than the antient ; for doemones in plautus informs us , that the comick poets in his time us'd to pretend to discipline , and throw in lectures of morality . and tho the surveyor takes care to get all his characters of figure debauch'd , and won't suffer any thing of conscience or regularity to tread the stage , for fear the audience might suffer by the example : yet plautus was of another mind , for in his captivi all the characters are sober , and well in order , and particularly tyndarus and philochares , two young gentlemen , are men of vertue ; and so is lusiteles , another of the same quality and age , in his trinummus . and then as to persons farther advanced in years , there are several instances both in plautus and terence , of behaviour not exceptionable . but our stage has refined upon the old model : their characters must be all libertines , their diversion smut , and their lectures , swearing and profaneness . their business is not to teach morality , but lewdness , not to confer grace , but to debauch nature , not to mend principles , but to destroy them . indeed , how can the consequence of such entertainments be otherwise ? where the persons are all libertines , where they run such lengths of excess , and balk nothing that makes a jest. where profaneness is sometimes season'd with wit , and lewdness polish'd with turns of fancy . where the infection is made palatable , the mischief fortified , and their weapons pointed , to pass the better through a man's body . now , who would learn civil prudence and management from such instructions as these ? where a man will be in danger to bring away much more vice than discretion . is it worth one's while to get caution with the loss of conscience ? or , have his pocket pick'd only for the sake of wit and dexterity ? who would choose bedlam for his seat of diversion : or , see posture clark do his tricks , and act his metamorphoses , with the plague about him ? 't is true , the surveyor is contented , that not only a gentleman of wit , but of honour too , should be introduced into comedy ; but then he guards again in limitation , for he must be a man of wild unreclaim'd honour : a man of wild honour ! truly , i think , no man's honour can be wilder then his notion : honour without probity is next to a contradiction in terms , and besides , 't is good for very little . for , to speak plainly , 't is nothing more than pride and fashion , and civility to a man's self . i don't say but persons of figure may be sometimes out of order in comedy , and he misreports me in affirming the contrary * : but then this should not be done without restrictions , and guard of behaviour . * and besides they should be disciplin'd accordingly . when dramatick gentlemen of sence are knaves , or debauchees , the poet should take care to make them losers by their liberty : they should mortifie them for their misbehaviour , treat them with disappointment , and put them out of countenance . and here the misfortune ought to rise in proportion to the quality , for fear the figure should otherwise recommend the lewdness . and to do the surveyor right , he is himself sensible of the necessity of this conduct , at least in some measure . for he grants by implication , that the poet is obliged to bring his libertine to a sence of his extravagance , and a resolution of amendment . but that even this is not done appears sufficiently in my view , and may be made good much farther from the plays cited in the preface of my defence . but before i pass on , i am oblig'd to take notice of his saying , that fools of what quality soever , are the proper goods and chattels of the stage , which the poets may dispose of as they think fit . by his favour , to make weakness of understanding the subject of comick mirth , has neither religion nor good nature in 't : to expose a man for being born without sence , is a satyr upon the creation ; 't is just as reasonable as it would be to beat a dwarf for being under s●x foot high . thus to make sport with the misfortunes of nature , and insult unavoidable infirmities , is down-right barbarity . beside , such sort of ridicule can cure no distemper , nor recover any body ; not the patient , for he is uncapable of remedy ; and as for other people , they are out of danger of the disease , and therefore need no preservative . to proceed : the surveyor finding the arguments of the view somewhat troublesome , would gladly throw them off upon the score of declamation : as if they were only a few noisy glittering sentences , put together to no purpose . now , tho i am no pretender to the talent of haranguing , yet suppose the allegation was true , 't would do him no service . for oratory is by no means inconsistent with logick . no , perspicuity of proof , is , as as longinus observes , one part of the sublime . indeed rhetorick is nothing but reason well dress'd , and arguments put into order . to affirm , that sence won't agree with proper and moving expressions , is a strange conclusion . 't is as much as to say , that a good suit of cloaths is a very naughty thing : for let it sit never so easie , yet if it happens to look handsomly , 't will be sure to weaken a man's body , and take away the use of his limbs . but i must follow him . ben iohnson , i took notice , never scrupled to confess , that 't was the office of a comick poet to imitate justice , and instruct to life . and mr. dryden at last came up to the same opinion . this rule the surveyor was sensible agreed very ill with the english stage . and thus finding himself streighten'd moves for new liberty , and tho he stands by himself , had much rather bend the rule , then reform the practise . if you 'l believe him , this sort of discipline is impracticable : for the licentiousness of men of fortune , unless it be such as brings their vnderstandings into question , must never be censur'd or exposed in comedy . that is , if a libertine ben't a fool , he may be as lewd and profane as he pleases , and yet have fair quarter , and make a good hand on 't . yes ; for , as the surveyor continues , how immoral and offensive this misbehaviour may be to sober people , the man must escape the censure of comedy , because he can't be tried in her way . that 's hard ! why , then , if she must make malefactors , and won't punish them , let her court be put down . if sence is a protection to debauchery , and the most offensive immoralities must not be touched ; if vice must appear only for favour and forage , for parade and diversion ; if all this liberty is presumed on by the the laws of comedy , and the privilege of the poem ? then , i say , the very definition condemns it . 't is a nusance in its nature , and poyson in its constitution . i urged there was no arguing from some instances of favour to vitious young people in plautus and terence ; that the consequence would not hold from rome to london , because those pagan poets had a greater compass of liberty in their religion . to this his answer , to make it short , is , that these poets , especially terence , were too great masters of their own art to take an improper liberty , only because 't was not dangerous . who told him , it was an improper liberty ? the measures of practice are form'd upon rules of notion , and schemes of belief : now the directions for life and manners , are strangely different in the divisions of heathenism and christianity ; and therefore those liberties might be proper enough in the first , which are intolerable in the latter . but this objection will be rallied afterwards , and therefore i shall now pursue it no farther . but the surveyor has a small reserve : the laws of rome , says he , were very severe , and required regularity of life ; the magistrates likewise , and censors of manners , would never have suffer'd examples of such ill consequence to have been produced openly . from whence he would have it follow , that if plautus and terence had suspected the indulgences above-mention'd , had tended any ways to the debauching of their youth , they durst not have ventur'd them into publick view . to this i answer in a word ; that the roman magistrates notwithstanding the severity of their government , suffered the excesses of the pantomines , and therefore might well allow of much lesser degrees of liberty in their comick poets : i say , they suffered the pantomimes , against whom the surveyor declaims so heartily , and charges so very high with scandal and brutality . and if these gross entertainments would go down , why should they take check at the more inoffensive sallies of gallantry ? as the case stood , t is no wonder if a lucky libertine should sometimes pass muster . but plautus and terence coppied faithfully from nature and depicted humane life in its true and just proportion : let them depict what they please , they did not study the worst likeness ; tho their pencil was sometimes bold , they shaded many blemishes , and aimed at the fairest resemblance . the surveyor rises in his resolution ; and and sticks not to affirm , that if the images , answer life , the foulness of them can never be a fault . so far from that , the crime lies quite on the other side . for to be displeas'd with a true representation tho' never so hideous , is no better than to quarrel with providence whose creature mankind is ; say you so , does providence make monsters in vice , as well as in figure ? can't a scandalous play be disliked without arraigning of providence ? i thought wickedness had not been the work of creation , but misbehaviour ; and that god had made the man , but not the sinner . what wretched shifts these men are put to , to make lewdness passable ! however , the surveyor is resolved not to quit his hold : he will have it that when nature is not wrong'd these liberties of making vice successful , and what you please besides , are an unalienable right : it seems they are entayl'd upon the poets , and descend by course of law , from the roman to the english stage : yes , say's the surveyor they have a right to all the priviledges of their predecessors . that is a christian has a clear title to imitate all the wickedness his heathen predecessors have practised before him . in the course of the argument , i prefer'd the precepts of horace , to the example of plautus and terence , and cited him for the contrary opinion . how can that be replies the surveyor , since horace draws youth with the same features and complexion that those comick poets had done before ? and in proof of his assertion , he produces the picture . cereus in vitium flecti monitoribus asper , &c. this description , continues he , is not a bare character , of the humours of young people , but a rule to draw them by . i agree with him : but then , as they have a byass to the character , they ought to have the consequences too : the poet should make them smart for the prodigality of their humour , for their ungovernable heats , and the folly of their appetites . and that this was horace's opinion appears from the rest of his advice * . but the surveyor can't find the obscenities of plautus condemn'd by horace ; and yet he is lucky enough to cite the place , so that it might have been his own discovery as well as mine . at nostri proavi plautinos & numeros , & landavere sales ; nimium patienter utrumque , ( nedicam stulte ) mirati * si modo ego , & vos scimus inurbanum , † * lepido seponere dicto , legitimumque sonum digitis callemus , & arte . here the surveyor was pretty near horace's meaning , for he grants plautus's raillery was censur'd because his iests were clownish : and why were they clownish ? because they were too often foul , and smutty ; they were carried too far , and push'd to indecency . * and that horace was not for this broad liberty , appears farther from his disswasive : aut immunda crepent , ignominiosaque dicta , offenduntur enim , quibus est equus , & pater , & res . but these verses belong to the satyrae , and therefore 't is legerdemain to apply them to the drama . not at all : 't is plain , horace condemns obscenity , and that the roman gentry had no relish for smutty entertainments . and if they would not allow it in their rustick satyrae , where there was some pretence of character to cover it ; 't would have gone down much worse , in the more polite diversions of comedy . i gave a short character from horace of the serviceableness of the antient poets , to government and private life , and that by consequence they aim'd more at improvement then pleasure . this , the surveyor answers , was but a compliment to poetry in general , and that comedy was not invented in the time of orpheus . granting all that ; if the compliment was to poetry in general , one would think it should reach to all the parts of it . and tho orpheus might live before comedy , horace was long enough after it . and this is he who informs us , that the usefulness of the antient poets , and the sobriety of their conduct , gain'd them their reputation . sic honor & nomen , divinis vatibus , atque carminibus venit . as much as to say , that the reward was fasten'd to the merit : and that if later poets would purchase their fame , they must follow their pattern . from the directions of horace to the chorus , i infer'd , that this poet would allow no countenance or good fortune to an immoral character . and foreseeing it might be replied , that tragedy was only concern'd , i endeavour'd to remove the objection . to this the surveyor opposes the authority of horace , as if the chorus was put down with old comedy . for , lex est accepta chorusque tupiter obticuit sublata jure nocendi . the case was thus ; the old comedy in the chorus had taken too much liberty with the government , and outrag'd persons of condition by name . upon this alcibiades had eupolis thrown over-board for his baptae , and got a bill passed , that the stage should at their peril name no body in their satyr . this is the law which horace refers to ; and therefore his testimony proves no more , than that the liberty of the chorus was silenc'd , which restraint was consistent enough with the use of it . and to prove the chorus did not expire with old comedy , i produced for evidence aristophanes's , plutus . but against this instance the surveyor starts two objections , for he 'l neither admit the plutus for new comedy ; nor so much as allow it as chorus . i must try if i can perswade him out of his rigour . in the first place then , why must not the plutus pass for new comedy ? t is plainly not old comedy . right , the surveyor grants as much ; the deviations , says he , in it from the former practice , make it lead up the van of the middle comedy . now the difference between middle and new comedy seem'd so insignificant to the learn'd turnebus , that he branches the greek comedy into no more than two divisions , old and new. to which i may add , that the scholiast upon aristophanes calls the plutus , a sort of new comedy . devit . & script . aristoph . ed. amstel . his next objection is that the plutus has no true chorus : * just now it had none at all : but i find he flags in his prosecution . but why is it no true chorus ? aristophanes who wrote the play , i suppose liked it well enough , and calls it a chorus ; and t is somewhat hard his word cannot be taken ; if he did not make it as he should do , he must answer for it not i. dacier likewise affirms the chorus was continued in the middle comedy . nay the surveyor's scaliger confesses the chorus was taken out ; and if so , one would think t was in before . but the chorus seems to be in a condition to defend it self , and to have all reasonable requisites , and capacities ; for it consists of a plurality of persons , acts in the dialogue , and offers to sing in the parabases . but after all , the surveyor won't allow it to be a legitimate chorus : no! not when aristophanes was the father on 't , and owns the issue ! well , i can't produce the mother , and therefore if one side of the genealogy won't satisfie , i must leave him . but i 'm to blame for talking of these matters , for it seems i read no more of the plutus than the list of the persons of the drama ; why then , i had a notable guess with me , for i have abstracted the dialogue for some pages together , as the reader may perceive if he pleases : i think a little more modesty would do this author no harm . my inference from aristotle ( as oblique as it is ) for the continuance of the chorus , i shall venture with his exceptions , only observing that where he says the magistrates giving the chorus , means nothing but paying the actors : he should have said the actors in the chorus ; for so aristotle is interpreted by petitus and goulston . and whereas he affirms 't is certain , menander had no chorus ; he should have given us something better than his bare word for 't , considering menander is lost , and there 's no appealing to the author . if he argues , that menander had no chorus because his imitator terence has none , the consequence is not good . for tho a chorus is not to be found in the remains of plautus and terence , yet dacier is positive , that the romans made use of it in comedy , and mentions the fabulae attellanae for an instance . he can't deny but that moliere has reviv'd the chorus in comedy : but then he pretends the poet was in his second infancy , and us'd this expedient only as crutches to support the infirmity of his age. but this exception goes upon a mistake , both in the reason , and the history . first , moliere was no such decrepit person , for he acted in his malade imaginaire not many hours before his death : and , as i remember , the writer of his life reports him not to have outlived his four and fiftieth year . and then , secondly , that the chorus is no sign of a languid , declining muse is clear from quintilian , who prefers the spirit , vigour , and elocution of the old comedy to that of the new. now , the chorus the surveyor grants had always a part in the old comedy . he would gladly know to what end i would have a chorus in the english comedy : to this i can only answer , that i am surpriz'd at his question , having given him no manner of occasion for 't . he goes on in his defence of the modern comedy , and alledges , that the success of libertines is not given to the licentiousness , but to the wit and sence , &c. which are predominant in the character . to this i answer , first , that to make lewdness fortunate and fashionable , is a dangerous representation : for it takes off the restraints of shame , gives a varnish to the vice , and heightens the temptation . secondly , treating loose characters with sence and respect , provokes to imitation , and makes the infection catching . many people are more inclinable to talk wittily , than to act wisely . now the wit is generally not to be come at without the libertinism ; for the matter is so contriv'd , that the sugar and the ratsbane must go together . the wit , i say , lies generally in luscious indecencies , and outrages of virtue and religion : 't is brisk only because 't is bold , and rather spits than sparkles : its spirits are but lees a little alembick'd , and like some wood it shines only in its rotteness . thirdly , as to his forgers and pick-pockets he talks of , his conveyance , i take it , is not very clean . if he must make use of these gentlemen , let his pickpocket be seated on the bench , let him appear with figure and equipage , swagger in the court , ridicule the judges , and banter the laws ; and always have a pack'd jury to bring him honourably off . let but this be done , and then we need not question but the mystery of cutting a purse would soon drop its ill character , improve into a creditable profession ; and it may be , as much studied as coke upon littleton . i urged in the view , &c. that horace having expresly mention'd the progress of comedy , advised the poet to form his work upon the precepts of socrates and plato , and the models of moral philosophy ; and from hence i infer'd , that by horace's rule the poet was oblig'd to sobriety of conduct , &c. to this the surveyor replies , that the list of qualifications mention'd by horace , seem prepar'd only for tragick and epick poetry . his reason is , because the business seems too publick , and too much rais'd for comedy . but under favour , there 's no need of buskins : for the description descends to private affairs , to the regards of blood , and the laws of friendship : now these duties , in the judgment of quintilian , were taught no where better than in the comedies of menander ; where all the offices of life were run through , and every relation adjusted . to this i may add the authority of the learn'd dacier , who understands these instructions of horace , to relate to comedy . ( tom. 10. p. 57. ) the surveyor makes another little stand , and fences with the distinction between moral , and poetical manners ; affirming , that horace is to be understood of manners only in the latter sence . but by this gentleman's favour , 't is pretty plain , that horace must mean both ; to what purpose else should he recommend the rules , and writings of plato , and socrates ? these great men gave no instructions about poetry , unless to stand clear on 't ; nor treated manners in any other signification than that of philosophy . the surveyor , who is extreamly eager to find faults , and apt to make them , charges my account of poetical manners as deficient . it may be so : however , 't was sufficient for purpose and occasion . and besides , this place gave him notice of another , where there is a description much as full , tho not so tedious as his own . i complain'd , as i had great reason , that the stage made women , single women , and women of quality talk smuttily : here the surveyor cries , i run upon the wrong scent , argue too fast from the premisses , and because modesty is the character of women , misinfer , that no woman must be shewn without it . yes , i stand by the conclusion , that no woman ought to be shewn without modesty , unless she appears for censure and infamy , or , as mr. rymer speaks , to be kick'd in comedy . and even then , there ought to be a regard to the audience ; and tho the character is foul , the language should be clean . but to bring single women , and quality fo that sex , under these disorders , is still more unaccountable . 't is a direct crossing upon nature and custom , and a breach of manners , both ceremonious and poetick . for , do virgins and bawds . discourse in the same dialect ? is there no difference between ladies and little prostitutes ? or , is rampancy and lewdness the character of breeding ? if not , why is nature thus disguis'd , and quality mismark'd , and all to the disadvantage of sobriety ? but the surveyor objects , that tho courage is the characteristick of the other sex , yet 't is neither solecism nor general affront , to represent a man a coward . to this i answer , first , that courage is not reckon'd a quality so essential to a man , as modesty to a woman ; the expectation of it is not so general , nor the failure so monstrous ; and therefore his instance is not parallel . secondly , there are some circumstances and conditions of life , which tie this qualification faster , and as it were incorporate it to the sex ▪ and that is breeding , quality , &c. and to argue upon his own similitude ; tho to represent men sometimes as cowards , may be no solecism , yet to represent hercules or hector , such , would be great impropriety . now , decency of language is as much the character of gentlewomen , as bravery is of heroes ; so that to give a lady the nauseous liberties of a procuress , degrades her in her quality , and is both affronting and improper . thirdly , this practice , as i have prov'd it , being frequent , and without censure upon our stage , is still more unpardonable . fourthly , i observ'd , that this freedom was a breach of good behaviour to the audience , of which he is pleas'd not to take any notice . the surveyor urges farther , that the vices of particular women , are no affront to the sex in general ; but this excuse , were it true , without limitation , would not serve his turn . for i have prov'd , that the english stage have given the women a coarse character in general , and play'd their satyr upon the whole sex. but before i proceed , i must not forget how the surveyor takes occasion to tell us , that in plays the characters are neither vniversal nor general : his first reason is , because marks so comprehensive are the impressions and signatures of nature , which are not to be corrected or improv'd by us . now one would have thought the characters would have been the better for answering the truest proportion ; and coming up to the standard . this appears to have been horace's opinion , who recommends it as a rule to his stage poet. respicere exemplar vitae morumque jubebo doctum imitatorem , & ver as hinc ducere voces . that is , as dacier interprets him , nature is the right plan for life and manners . and therefore a good poet , who has a mind to bring a covetous , or ambitious person upon the stage , will choose to form the image more upon idea , than example ; and paint him rather from general notion , than particular life , et ver as hinc ducere voces . for this is consulting the original , and the way to give truth , and strength to the resemblance . whereas to draw from particulars in the world , is , as plato speaks , no more than a second-hand likeness , and but copying at the best . in individuals a quality is often cramp'd and disguis'd by other passions , and does not strike out to its full extent : but an idea considers the progress of inclination , makes way for fancy and freedom , and gives a character its just compass and distinction . and therefore those images which are fit for sight , should be taken from thence . the surveyor objects in the next place , that such comprehensive marks give us no idea of the person characteriz'd , but what is common to the rest of the species , and don't sufficiently distinguish him . but the reason of this objection stands upon nice ground , and will be apt to run off into unwarrantable practice : to keep the character within the crowd , is the most inoffensive method . indeed the distinction ought not to turn upon persons , but things , the quality should be mark'd , but not the man ; and the vice expos'd , without pointing at the vitious . for to descend to particulars , and fall to characterizing , is no better than libel , and personal abuse . in short , the poet should endeavour to abstract the fault from the subject , to hover in generals , and fly at the whole covey : for if he once comes to single out his quarry , he discovers himself a bird of prey . his saying the impresses , and signatures of nature , are not to be corrected or improv'd , and therefore not to be meddled with , is a great mistake . for if these impresses and signatures , are any better than iargon , he must mean the good and bad qualities incident to humane nature . now take them either way , and his proposition is not true . for , first , people's miscarriages are by no means inevitable . the blemishes in conduct , and character , are the consequences of choice . the faults of nature in this sence , are none of her necessities , and therefore very capable of correction . and then , as for the virtues , and noble qualities , if they are sometimes heighten'd above practice , where is the harm on●t ? example does not reach up to the utmost extent of power . and therefore if nature was shewn to the best advantage , and stretch'd to the length of her capacity , the pattern might be serviceable , and awaken to industry , and imitation . we are now coming to the parallel of the expressions , and here the surveyor gives in a collection of smut and prophaneness , in which he pretends the poets of greece and rome , are more licentious than ours . he acquaints us besides , according to his customary flourishes , that he has some hundreds of instances in reserve . and yet after all , he desires the reader to take notice , that he does not charge these passages as faults , or immoralities upon the antients , &c. how careful he is not to fall foul on debauchery ? he seems afraid left the reader should mistake him for a person that lay under some faint prepossessions of modesty . yes : the pedantry of virtue , and the pretences to religion , are uncreditable qualities , and a man must clear his reputation of them as well as he can ! he charges the licentiousness of the antients with immorality ! by no means ! that would be soure and cynical indeed ! he understands himself better than to range smut , and profaneness , under immorality ! such a censure would recoyl upon himself . if these practices are faults , then his whole book is little better than a defence of lewdness , and a plea for irreligion . the truth of this imputation , tho a severe one , is very evident : for having brought several gross instances of indecency out of plautus he justifies the imitation of them ; and roundly affirms , that since antient , and modern poets , ought to be govern'd by the same laws , 't is but reason , that one as well as 'tother , should be allow'd the benefit of them : that is , the benefit of smut and lewdness . thus the english dramatists are brought off without the least blemish or blot in their scutcheon . but here 's more comfort for them behind : for he is pleas'd to affirm , that if the passages of the antient poets were compar'd with those produced by me out of the moderns , the comparative rudeness , and profaneness of the latter would vanish . and yet he takes particular care to inform the reader , that he does not charge the antients with any faults , or immoralities upon this score : adding withall , that the moderns ought to have the benefit of the same liberty . from whence 't is plain to a demonstration , that this author has given the stage a greater latitude , and prompted them to an improvement in distraction . they may , it seems , lard their plays thicker with obscenities , discharge their oaths faster , and double their blasphemies . well! i perceive wickedness would have a glorious time on 't under this surveyor ! but is he sure after all , that the antient and modern poets , as poets , are to be govern'd by the same laws . is there no difference between the doctrines of heathenism and christianity ? are the objects of worship the same in both ? and are knowledge and ignorance to be treated with the same allowance ? i thought the modern poets , as well as other people , had been under the jurisdiction of god almighty , and tied up to the laws of the gospel . but it seems the stage is all franchises , and privileg'd ground : the muses have a particular exemption , and the christian is dispenc'd with by the poet. this is the surveyor's reasoning . however , to give him his due , he has formerly been not altogether of this opinion . for elsewhere he tells us , that the main business of a chorus is cut off by our religion , which is the reason we have no hymns nor anthems sung upon the stage , but make use of smutty songs in stead of them . i find then by his own confession , that the change of religion has some influence upon the stage : this was his former judgment , but he improves by writing , and his last will must stand . the surveyor in his parallel , blackens the antients most unmercifully , and swells their charge beyond all truth and proportion . this is done to make the moderns look the more tolerable , and keep them the better in countenance . but a little pains will serve to wipe off most of the spots , and restore them to their complexion . and here i can't help observing , that let the antients be as faulty as may be , the surveyor should by no means pretend to discover it : for he has already fully acquitted the greek and roman dramatists of all imputations of indecency , and roundly pronounced , that tho the mimi were scandalously lewd , the drama was not at all . but to return : before he draws out upon the old poets , he endeavours to defend his ophelia . and here he tells us a long story , how warrantable her love was , how artfully manur'd , and strongly forc'd up ; and by his description , one would think he was raising a muskmelon . but then , as ill luck , and the poet would have it , her humble servant hamlet killing her father by mistake , and counterfeiting madness , ruined all . this misfortune must needs make horrible convulsions in a mind so tender , and , as the surveyor compliments the ladies , in a sex so weak . well : her father was kill'd , &c. but , what then ? must she needs lament in smut , and pay her respects in distraction ? are luscious expressions the natural effect of deep sorrow , and can't she appear tender , without being rotten ? however , to do the surveyor right , he has produced the exceptionable lines , for 't was the song which i complain'd of . and this , if you 'l believe him , is so innocent , that there 's no fear of offending the modesty of the most chast ear. i 'm sorry he seems to have lost the very notion of deceny . he 's more to blame for transcribing , then ophelia was for singing this ditty , because he wants her madness for his excuse . now 't is but an untoward business , when a man is the worse for being in his wits . but now the surveyor is come to his dissection of the old poets : and here his reading upon the body is admirable ; and to magnifie his skill , he spies out more diseases then e're the patient died of . he often arraigns an innocent expression , and when 't is not so , his paraphrase is much grosser than the text. for 't is generally his way when he lights upon a sore place , to make it much worse for the dressing . however , he seems to have gotten a very agreeable subject : for his ink flows amain , and his invention grows very copious : he seems to swim at his ease , and his fancy plays down the stream , and tumbles in the mud , with great satisfaction . he begins with sophocles's antigone : this lady he pretends makes some intemperate discoveries , and does not keep up to the decencies of sex , and condition . to understand something of the fable , this antigone was by king creon her uncle , sentenc'd to be shut up in a cave , and starv'd to death , only for burying her brother polynices contrary to the king's order : she was likewise contracted to his son haemon . now , tho she had stood firm against the menaces of creon , and shewn her self brave and good natur'd to an extraordinary pitch ; yet when she comes to be led to execution , her fortitude gives way a little to the tenderness of her sex ; she breaks out into some natural starts of concern , and according to the custom of that age , and the eastern countreys , * laments her dying young and single . but she makes a shift to govern her language , and keeps her passion from boiling over . i shall transcribe his most serviceable line , in which she complains of the disappointment of her fortune , and that she must go off . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is , that she must die single , and be cross'd in her love with haemon : upon whom , tho the surveyor overlook'd it , 't is plain she had settled her affection . for when creon threatned to break the contract , she discovers her regards to haemon in a very intelligible , tho decent expression . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . his next instance is electra , who goes a little upon the complaint of antigone . — 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this lady , we must understand , had seen her father murther'd , by her mother and aegisthus ; she was likewise ill treated in the family , and had no body to take care of her interest , and make good the expectations of her birth : she had none but her brother orestes to depend on , and his long absence made her afraid she was forgotten . in short , she was impatient for his return , and seems rather to wish for protection and revenge , than a settlement . and were it otherwise , the expression is perfectly inoffensive . and thus sophocles stands disengaged without difficulty ; and had the english stage been thus reserv'd , they had sav'd me the trouble of a whole chapter . as for aeschylus the surveyor does not so much as offer at him ; so that there 's two of the three greek tragedians secur'd . but euripides is now set to the bar , and terribly handled for giving this line to polyxena when she was going to be sacrificed . — 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . that is , she was going to die unmarried , and without being dispos'd of according to the privilege of her condition . this complaint is in the surveyor's aggravation very unreasonable . he grows very tragical upon the occasion , taxes the princess with incontinence , meanness of spirit , and an inte●●●rate desire of engaging with the conquerour of her country , tho at the disadvantage of being his slave . but this lady is wrong'd by the surveyor , the case is misreported , and , as it sometimes happens , the indictment is set forth with a great deal more noise than law. let the lady speak for her self . now in this very scene , she laments the misfortunes of her family ; and lets us understand , that her birth gave her just pretences to be dispos'd of to a monarch : but now the ruine of her country had chang'd the prospect , and made marriage her aversion : she could now expect nothing but that some little slave should be forc'd upon her . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . and therefore she goes boldly to the altar , congratulates her murther , and is pleas'd with the rescue of death : she is glad not to survive her greatness any longer ; and says , life is over-purchas'd upon the terms of ignominy . in a word , she is so far from deserving the surveyor's censure , that when she comes to the block , she makes decency her last care , and expires in the character of her condition . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . the surveyor is now for persecuting her sister cassandra , and one would almost think , that he had , like iuno , a spite to the whole family . this lady he blames for being too forward in discovering her satisfaction at the news of her match with agamemnon ; but , first , here is not so much as the least exceptionable expression ; but the language is inoffensive to the most exact niceness : and therefore he has blackn'd the page with greek to no purpose . secondly , cassandra's forwardness to comply proceeded purely from her revenge . being in a prophetick fit , she foresaw this match would prove fatal to agamemnon and his whole family . and tho she knew her self was shortly to be murther'd , yet the prospect of revenging her country , and destroying her greatest enemies , made her run into transport , and desire her mother to congratulate her happiness . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . and after having enlarg'd upon the misfortunes of the greeks , and shewn how gloriously the trojans died in the defence of their country , she perswades hecuba not to afflict her self ; for now , says she , i am going to make the general a full return , and to finish his ruine . — 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . but cassandra , in the surveyor's opinion , should not have been so forward to rush upon her own dishonour . to clear this , we must understand , that cassandra was under extraordinary circumstances : she was possess'd both by apollo , and a very governing passion besides : now 't is no wonder if the transports of prophecy and revenge , should make her a little overlook other considerations . but this reason apart , it does not appear that cassandra was forc'd upon any dishonourable engagement ; for the favour of a prince was not , as talthybius tells her mother , unreputable at that time of day . polygamy was then the practice of several countreys , and particularly the custom of her own , as appears from the discourse between hermione , and andromache * . as for old hecuba , i confess euripedes has given her a luscious expression to make her interest with agamemnon . but then it does not come up to the pitch of scandal of many passages of the english stage : 't is meer bashfulness to some of their songs , and courtship : and thus out of nineteen plays in euripides , the surveyor has made a shift to furnish one passage out of order . but instead of producing one out of nineteen , i could return him nineteen out of one , from th● moderns , were it convenient . but as the surveyor reports the case , euripides has somewhat farther to answer for . ●tis true his tenderness is such that he refuses to give in particulars ; but the reader is referred in general to the exceptionable plays . well : dolus latet in generalibus is a true saying . the surveyor has hid himself in a folio , and now is safe enough : he loves like caeus to make a smother in his cave , to conceal his foul play. indeed i think the smoke is his best defence , and the finding him out the hardest part of the enterprize . to come up with him . his instance in hermione and andromache , is altogether short . they chide , 't is true , a little too warmly for their quality , if we breed them by our own times ; but nothing foul or disorderly passes between them : and as for creusa , his quarrel with her is nothing but ill-will : for she does not in the least run her self a ground in her story , but relates her misfortune with great reservedness . neither does her son ion put any uncivil question to her . his modesty is very defensible , if not his manners : tho' even in this latter respect the young people upon the stage are now more free with their parents than this comes to . and lastly , electra is innocent of the accusation he brings against her . 't is true , she encourages orestes to kill his mother , but then she stands clear of indecency , and says nothing in that respect , misbecoming her character : so far from that , that she won't so much as mention the debaucheries of aegystus ; no not when she was recounting his other villanies , and triumphing in his being dispatch'd . she runs over his guilt in murther and injustice , but when she came to his lewdness , she cuts off her story , and declares it , no fit subject for a single lady . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . the greeks being now dismiss'd , seneca comes on for another hearing . and phaedra in hippolitus is pitch'd upon for a character of misbehaviour : but the surveyor knows i excepted against her management my self ; and censured the freedom of her discovery , only with this abatement , that her language was under discipline : and that the latter part of my assertion was no less true than the former , will easily be understood by any one that reads the poet in himself , and not in the surveyor's paraphrase . but it seems the nurse runs over in her expression , and does not suit her language to her advice ; and here the force of the charge lies all in one word , ( for the rest is only for show ; ) in an answer to which , we may observe that words don't always keep close to their first signification ; but grow sometimes the worse for the wearing : and that the old romans had an idea different from the surveyor's , in the expression under debate , appears sufficiently from st. hieroms epistles , who uses it without scruple . i observ'd that we had no courting in seneca , except in the hercules furens , where the tyrant lycus addresses megara very briefly , and in modest remote language . this the surveyor does not deny ; but then he pretends to give an instance of ly●us's misbehaviour to amphitrio , i shall transcribe his quotation for the reader . iovi dedisti conjugem regi dabis . et te magistro non novum hoc discet nurus , etiam viro probante meliorem sequi ; sin copulari pertinax taedis negat , vel ex coact a nobilem partum feram . now am i at a loss to what purpose these fine verses were cited . it must be for the learning in the language . yes : he may possibly , like some patients , fancy the physick works much the better , for the latin in the bill . but he goes on with wonderful courage , as if he was resolv'd to swagger the reader out of some part of his sences : if these allowances , says he , may be made , ( meaning for the last citation ) i 'le engage to prove , there never was an immodest thing said upon the english stage . certainly this author has a tast peculiar to himself ! one would think he should be better read in smut , by his talent in writing it . i 'm afraid this ignorance is all affected : and that he has gotten the trick of shrinking up his understanding , as they say some beggars do their arms upon occasion . he tells me , i forgot the shameful solicitations which phraedra us'd to corrupt hippolytus . he knows i took notice of phraedra's irregular freedoms , but then , tho her solicitations are shameful , they are not smutty . he would perswade the reader , that seneca's agamemnon is stock'd with curiosities of this kind . and yet there is but one line which looks the least that way : and that is clytemnestra's reproach to aegystus , in which she tells him , that his lewdness was the only proof of his manhood . quem venere tantum scimus illicita virum . now this rebuke is so comparatively civil , that were it in some of our plays , the modesty of it would almost put it out of countenance , and kill the expression . the surveyor has hitherto found but small returns from his enquiry . he has rang'd over a great deal of ground , and quarter'd the fields of greece and italy . but all this questing has sprung but very little game . however , he seems extreamly busie , and by his motion would make you believe every butterfly was worth the setting . whoever , says he , consults the passages amiss in sophocles or euripides , or censures with the allowances made to seneca , will find the most exceptionable passages in our poets , whether comick or tragick , very excusable upon a fair construction . the moderns compar'd with the greek tragedians and seneca , in point of decency , and sobriety of language ! he may almost as well compare aristophanes with terenco , and the sixth aeneid of virgil , with the sixth satyr of iuvenal . the moderns ! who not only glance , but dwell upon an ill subject , bandy it between the two sexes , and keep it up to shew their skill in the exercise . yes : they love to flourish upon lewdness , to refresh it with repetition ; and beat it out into length and circumstances . sometimes to distinguish a foul thought , they deliver it in scripture phrase , and set it in gold to make it sparkle the better . in short , they omit nothing to explain the mystery , and cultivate the interest of debauchery : nothing that may fortifie the poison , and make it more poinant and palatable . to lay their disorders before the reader , were the sight proper , would swell into a book , and be a tedious undertaking . 't would be infamy of bulk , and voluminous distraction ; not to be scan'd by the line , but weigh'd by the pound . such plays are much more fit for the solemnities of flora and ceres , than the entertainments of those who are baptiz'd . 't is almost pity they han't a set of pantomimes to do justice to the subject , and dance up to the spirit of the dialogue . the surveyor pleads for a distinction between the private sentiments of the man , and the publick ones of the poet , and that the liberties of a character ought not to be laid to the charge of the dramatists that represents them . this author must think this pleasure , but quintilian was of another mind ; who lets us know , that afranius , a vitious comick poet , discover'd his practice in his plays . * indeed nothing is more natural than for a man's fancy to flow into his ink , and when he can , to make his business his diversion . father : a poet that writes loosely can never be excus'd , for this is done either out of inclination , or interest : if the first , he 's a person of no sobriety , if the second , of no conscience : as for the plea from the nature and propriety of characters , 't is answer'd already in my defence , but the surveyor was resolv'd to jog on , and overlook it . the surveyor in his examination of plautus , says , i may blush for my defence of this poet , for affirming his censurable passages are very moderate , as the world goes , and that several of our single plays shall far out do all this put together . now tho this may be true in the compass he has given it , yet 't is much more than i affirm'd . but this author , according to his custom , has extended my assertion to the whole works of plautus , which relates only to the misbehaviour of women . and in this sence of the comparison , i still defend plautus , and in proof of the point appeal to the old batchelour , the soldier 's fortune , and several other english plays . the surveyor opens the case farther against plautus , and presses the particulars of the charge . and first his amphitruo is loaded with a heavy accusation . but the best on 't is , here 's a mistake of the person , which is enough in all conscience to quash the indictment . that rankness of language which the surveyor charges upon plautus , is all interpolation , and belongs to another author . now as the poet has no reason to answer for what does not belong to him , so these ungenuine additions were particularly excepted by me . my adversary , if he writes awake , must needs know these decent quotations were nothing to his purpose . but possibly the nosegay was made up , for a curiosity to the reader , and to oblige his own smelling : and to make plautus amends for giving him more then his due , he 's resolv'd to take something from him : for at the latter end of amphytrio , he slides away the word facere , * which quite alters the sence , and makes compliance sound up to obscenity . but this is no wonder , for i observe the surveyor is mightily light-finger'd this way , and generally steals off the modesty of an author . and to aggravate the theft , the motive is more malice , than necessity : for he does not filch , to make use of his neighbours goods , but to destroy them . his objection against the morality of the dialogue between demaenetus and argyrippus in the asinaria , is out of the question : i warranted no farther than the expression , nor that neither , but with reference to the moderns . his next instance is in the curculio , where phaedromus and planesium salute each other too eagerly : it may be so ; but then we may observe , they had not seen one another for some time , and the visit was made with difficulty : and under such circumstances , had they been both of the same sex , they might have discover'd some affection extraordinary . however he can't say the expression is foul , and if it was , 't is a slave that speaks it , * and so nothing to his purpose . to shew the comparative modesty of plautus , i took notice , that the slaves and pandars who had the greatest liberty , seldom play'd their gambols before women ; that there are , as i remember , but four instances to the contrary ; and that even there , the women these men discourse with , are two of them slaves , and the third a wench . here he is sorry for my want of memory , but i have much more reason to condole with him for the loss of his own . for olympio , upon whom he would make his advantage , will do him no service , the liberties of this slave in the casina are expresly barred both by name and play , and stand first in the list of the exception . i grant cleostrata urges olympio to tell the story , but then tho the drift of her fancy may be amiss , the complexion of her language is bright , unless in one line , which , if not interpreted to her ignorance , is no more then a double entendre . artemona's allegory in the asinaria is somewhat less offensive than this , tho none of the most reserv'd . thus he has made a shift to muster up two exceptionable sentences of women of some consideration in plautus . but alass ! what are these to the repeated and luscious freedoms of elvira , of the ladies in the country wife , of belinda , and lady plyant , of narcissa , and lady dunce . not to mention a great many others . here the weeds are extreamly rank , and thick set : and were they worth the gathering , the reader might be plentifully furnish'd for a little pains . the surveyor has something farther with artemona , and pretends her frankness gave her slave parasitus the boldness to put a very untoward question to her . 't is this , possis si forte accubantem tuum virum conspexeris , cum coronae amplexum amicam si vide as cognoscere ? of these lines he gives a foul and mistaken translation , and which is clearly confuted both by the text and notes . every body knows beds and garlards were for eating and publick entertainment . and then gremio jacuit nova nupta mariti was usual enough : this was somewhat of the case of the husband demenetus , who was discover'd at supper with his son , and his wench . and that the appearance was fair , is evident from the slaves advices to his mistress : he desires her to stay a little for information about their behaviour : paras : hem tibi hominem : art. perii ! par. paulisper mane . aucupemus ex insidiis clanculum quam rem gerunt . and upon the immediate progress of the story , the old man , the young one , and the woman , drink , and discourse all together . i observ'd farther to the advantage of plautus , that his men who talk intemperately are generally slaves , adding , that i thought dordalus the pander , and lusiteles a young gentleman , were the only exception : and this latter was only guilty of one over airy expression . but it seems the surveyor is somewhat sharper at these enquiries , and after his rummaging over 20 comedies has catched periplectimines tripping in one word ; and that too used by way of reproof . now , that the expression , tho out of order , is not so gross as he would represent it , appears from lambin's note upon the epilogue to the captivi : and from chremes's reprimand of clitipho in terence . * to conclude this matter , what periplectimenes speaks , the hostess in bartholomew fair acts , and that , i take it , is somewhat more foul , and expressive . once more and plautus is dismiss'd . i affirm'd , that this poets prologues and epilogues were inoffensive . this the surveyor confesses is a great point , but seems to think it cann't be carried . but here the reader may please to observe , that the dispute turns only upon indecency of language , for i never intended to vouch the doctrine , and morals of plautus : and thus the epilogue in the asinaria is nothing to the surveyor's purpose , being perfectly clean in the expression . as for the epilogue of the captivi 't is all in defence of virtue , as well as the play ; and the actors urge their modesty , as an argument for favour to the audience . 't is true they plead their merit in one ungovern'd expression ; to which , in the case of periplectimenes , i have spoken already . his remaining objection is against the epilogue in the casina . and here i grant the principle is ill enough , but that is foreign to the question . but for any other objection , i can't perceive the strength of it . for , as to the last line , upon which i suppose he founds himself , this sentence seems rather to contain an ill wish , and a menace of disappointment , than any thing else . * besides ; as to debauch't principle , the prologue to the plot and no plot , is as bad as 't is possible , and over and above much more scandalous in language , than the epilogue to plautus's casina ; in which the disadvantage is shaded , and the expression made more remote . and can the surveyor now find in his heart to compare the prologues and epilogues of plautus with those of the moderns ? * is the decency and complexion the same in both ? a man must have a great command of his blood , to affirm this without blushing ; and be almost as much a master of his face , as he is of his conscience . as for terence , he is so staunch and regular , that there 's no medling with him : no , the surveyor does not think fit to attack this poet ; but leaves him as a standing reproach upon the english stage . i must now follow him in his remarks upon the chapter of the abuse of the clergy . and here his spleen against the church disorders him extreamly , and indeed almost throws him into fits. he would gladly say something to purpose against the clergy , but the subject fails him . this makes him rail most unmercifully ; for spight and impotence together are generally very clamorous and impertinent . to shew the unreasonableness of the stage-scurrilities upon the clergy , i endeavour'd to make out the right this order had to regard , and fair usage . first , because of their relation to the deity , where i observ'd that christian priests are the principal ministers of god's kingdom : they represent his person , publish his law , pass his pardons , and preside in his worship . i thought these things had been so plain that they needed no confirmation , but since the surveyor contests the point , i shall briefly make it good . now , i desire to know of the surveyor , what it is to represent another ? is it not to be his agent , and to manage his affairs by vertue of his authority ? and does not the priest seal covenants in god's name ? does he not baptize by commission , and exercise part of that power which our saviour had upon earth ? the surveyor's objection upon this head is amazingly ridieulous : for by his reasoning no man can represent the person of god , without being possessed of the divine attributes , and able to sustain the figure of omnipotence . as much as to say , that a prince can't send another as his ambassadour , unless his person , prerogative and appearance , is equal to his own . and therefore if the ambassadour falls short of his master in the advantages of body , or mind , in the extent of his dominions , or the magnificence of his retinue ; if any thing of this happens , let the credentials be what they will , the characters it seems sinks , and the representation becomes impossible . this is strong reasoning , i confess , for it almost argues the world in pieces . at this rate princes must travel to keep the peace , and transact all their matters by interview , and personal visit : for a plenipotentiary is a dangerous thing : they can't prefer a subject to an embassy , without communicating their royalty , and making an equal to themselves . and thus the surveyor has gone a great way towards breaking the correspondence of christendom . farther , i thought the surveyor would have allow'd angels , at least , for their name sake , to have represented god almighty : but by this reasoning michael himself is struck out of capacity , and the highest order of spirits unqualified for the office : for no created being has any of the divine attributes , nor which is more , can have them . he says the regards that i insist on for the priesthood , belongs to the governours of the church . now , tho he mayn't know it , priests are governours , within their precinct ; they have regimen animarum , the guidance of souls , and the concerns of eternity in their care , and that one would think were none of the least interest of the parish . i grant theatrum is a hard word to construe , but i fancied the surveyor might have known the english of rector well enough . by this time , i hope , the representation may be allow'd . but then as to the authority of publishing the laws of god , passing his pardons , and presiding in his worship , these privileges , he says , were peculiar to the apostles . but his affirmation apart , the holy scriptures teach us , that the people are to seek the law at the priest's mouth , for he is the messenger of the lord of hosts . and the church of england in her form of ordination gives the priest authority to preach the word of god , and to minister the holy sacraments ; and which in her articles she denies to belong to the supream civil power : and as for the power of passing pardons , and giving absolution , 't is founded upon that solemn commission given by our saviour . as my father hath sent me , even so send i you , whosesoever sins ye remit , they are remitted unto them , and whosesoever sins ye retain , they are retain'd . and can any one imagine that words so plain in the expression , and so solemn in the occasion , are void of weight and signification ? not to mention the right they imply of admitting into the church , and excluding from it ; not to mention this , they must amount to this meaning at the lowest , that those who neglect this ordinance of god , and refuse to apply for absolution to persons thus authoriz'd , shan't have their sins forgiven , tho otherwise not unqualified . and thus , to put a resembling case , a malefactor can't have the benefit of the prince's pardon unless it passes the seals , and runs through the forms of law. and that this power was not peculiar to the apostles , but design'd for a standing advantage , and settled upon the successions of the hierarchy ; is plain by the doctrine , and practice of our own church : for at the ordination of priests the authority of remitting and retaining sin , is confer'd in the same words , whosesoever sins ye remit , &c. and in the office for the visitation for the sick , the priest making express mention of his authority from our saviour , absolves the penitent from all his sins , in the name of the father , the son , and the holy ghost . and as this authority of the priest is thus fully maintain'd by the church , so 't is no less acknowledg'd by the state : for the book of common prayer , with the form of ordination , &c. stands upon a bottom of law , and has two acts of parliament to defend it . for tho the spiritual privileges of the priesthood are independent of the civil magistrate , yet the statutes above-mention'd imply an assent to the charter deliver'd by our saviour , and are a fair acknowledgment of the power . and thus , the surveyor , to make a blow at the clergy , has charg'd through gospel and law , contradicted the bible and the statute-book , and fallen foul upon the highest authority both in church and state. but still he questions , whether the commission of every christian priest be of equal extent and validity with that of the apostles . i grant the first part of his proposition : that the apostles had peculiar advantages in their authority , and that their jurisdiction was larger than that of succeeding priests , or bishops either , is not denied . but tho their commission was larger , 't was not more valid than that of the present priesthood . for this stands upon the authority of the new testament , upon the credit of undoubted succession , and the known practice of christendom for almost seventeen hundred years together . what , tho they are not call'd immediately by god himself , nor endued with supernatural and miraculous faculties , does this affect the credibility of their credentials ? i suppose princes are the ministers of god , and deputed to govern under him ; and must the proof of their commission depend upon miracles and immediate designation ? must they be proclaim'd from the clouds , and anointed by an angel from heaven ? and are not their subjects to own them till they can make out their title by supernatural evidence ; by the gift of tongues , and raising the dead ? the absurdity of these consequences may inform the surveyor , that there 's no need of a miraculous credential to prove a delegation from heaven . the surveyor in stating the difference between the ordinary priests , and the apostles , makes several mistakes : and were he in the right , the dispute is foreign to the controversy . he affirms the apostles doctrine had no other evidence than their own affirmation and the works that they did : yes : they had moreover the completion of prophecies , and the agreement of the old testament ; and these corroborating circumstances , were extreamly considerable . he goes on , and alledges in abatement of the present priesthood , that persons of this order have no natural gifts above other men , to warrant a pretence to an extraordinary mission . is the bounty of god then confin'd to privilege● of nature ? or , is he not at liberty to chuse what officers he pleases ? i conceive the surveyor won't deny this . had the apostles then any of these advantages above others ? so far from that , that they seem rather to fall short of the common standard . their apprehensions at first were very heavy , and their reason check'd by a low education . and which is more , they were rather chosen for these disadvantages : for this made their doctrine the more unquestionable , and the evidence of their inspiration the greater . to see such unpromising persons so wise in their discourse , so wonderful in their actions , and so unusual in their success , must needs convince the world that god was with them . and thus the surveyor's assertion is false both in fact , and reasoning . his saying , that this commission of the apostles and their successors , expir'd upon the conversion of princes to christianity , is a great mistake : the church is still independent , her authority unalterable , neither is she in things purely spiritual , subordinate to the civil power . this truth i have elsewhere proved at large , and thither i refer the reader . the surveyor in speaking to the importance of the priests office , would not allow him to preside any more in gods worship , than a clerk in parliament presides over the house , because be reads the bills , and petitions to them . it seems then the relation of the priest , and the congregation , is the same with that of the clerk to the parliament . what would this author be at ? does he mean , that when the priest reads the bible , the people may debate whether it shall pass or not , and divide into yeas and noes , about saying amen to the lord's prayer . one would think by his worthy similitude , that the people went to church to be worship'd , and that the liturgie was only a parcel of humble petitions put up to the parish . the surveyor is extreamly desirous to have a religious character expos'd on the stage ; but against this liberty , i have given my reasons at large ; which when the surveyor has replied to , he may possibly hear farther from me . my adversary is now upon arguing against the plea of prescription , and would gladly make out , that the heathen stage has treated the priests as coarsly as the christian. and here aeschylus is as surly as before , and won't so much as appear in the cause . however , sophocles lay in his way , and in he must come ; but then this poet by his air and heaviness , looks more like a prisoner than a witness ; well! we must hear his depositions in his ajax flagellifer , what then is to be done here ? does the poet bait a priest like the relapse ? by no means . does he represent a priest in his play ? not that neither . then i suppose he spoke ill of him behind his back ? i confess that was not as it should be . the best on 't is , the mischief lies in a little compass : 't is all in a line or two at the end of the play : here the chorus , in regard of the surprizing events they had observ'd , are pleas'd to say , that seeing , was believing , and that ne're a diviner could tell before-hand , how matters would go . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 now if this instance must have an answer , i reply ; that prophets or diviners held a very small proportion to the rest of the priests , so that the censure , tho gentle , falls only on the skirts of the profession . but then to go even thus far , looks like straining upon sophocles . for the natural meaning of the moral seems to be thus ; that humane foresight is short , and the future impenetrable ; and therefore people ought to guard accordingly upon the present . but i 'm afraid i have been too long upon this matter , and so have used the reader a great deal worse , than sophocles did the prophet . his next instance in iocasta , is obviated , and answer'd ; and so is that following in creon ; who is declar'd by the chorus to be punish'd for his haughtiness and impiety . however , for once , let 's see what the surveyor will make out of creon . now this prince being dissatisfied with tiresias's discovery in divination , makes this angry reflection ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is , your augurs are all a covetous sort of people . now , tho the regard which creon shew'd tiresias in the preceding line , * calls for a soft construction , yet the surveyor gives the text a mobbish turn , and foists in some of his own ill language besides : in his version it stands thus . they were all a pack of mercenary corrupt fellows . this , it seems , is the english of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . at this rate , if he were to turn st. paul's citation from aratus , the translation of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , would run thus : mankind are a pack of fellows of heavenly extraction . we see what lean evidence sophoeles proves , tho under the surveyor's management : i hope i have made him speak a little fuller on the other side ; his first testimony from euripides is levelled only against soothsaying and divination . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . and yet even here he over-translat●s the original * , spoils the breeding of the character , and makes generals rail like carmen . and in the same play he translates 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fellow , and makes the best word in the greek ▪ the worst in the english. farther , we may take notice , that these warm expressions were spoken against calchas the augur : and tho one of them was deliver'd by achilles , who was all passion and violence , yet 't was in the absence of the person censur'd . and as for calchas , his interest is great , and his figure creditable in the play * . his instance in pentheus , and likewise what he offers from seneca , is answer'd in the view , where the reader may see an over-ballance of evidence for the other side . but we must leave the priests , and go on to the gods their masters : now these the surveyor pretends were used with great freedom by the antients . he begins with sophocles , and objects the rants of ajax , creon , and philoctetes , but here his charge is somewhat inhumane . these characters have smarted severely for their impiety : now persons that have suffer'd the law , should not be reproach'd with their crimes : and therefore in scotland they say when a man is hanged , he 's justified . but the surveyor wants time for a collection out of this poet : not unlikely : people that have nothing to pay , are generally in haste . euripides is once more summon'd : now this poet , i granted , had some profane passages uncorrected : and 't is well my concession was thus frank , for i perceive the surveyor can hardly prove it : however his performance must be examin'd . his first citation from the hecuba is the best . but here he loses more in his skill , than he gains in his luck . for he quite mistakes the meaning of part of talthybiu●'s expostulation ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which he thus translates . o iupiter ! what shall i say ? should mankind address themselves to you ? &c. whereas it should have been rendred thus . o iupiter ! i 'm at a stand whether humane affairs are part of your administration , or not , &c. but i shall pursue the advantage no farther . this might be a piece of honest ignorance for ought i know : and no man can play more then he sees . but then he should be a little cautious not to venture out of his depth , till he can swim better . polymnestor in this tragedy is another instance how far the surveyor is to be trusted . the words must be transcrib'd ; in which this prince complains of the uncertainty of prosperity , and the suddain turns of fate ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . let 's now see what english the surveyor can afford us to this greek . oh , what a stippery thing is humane grandeur , which is never secure ? thus far all 's well . but then the remainder is wretchedly wrested into atheism and misconstruction : — the gods ( says he ) perplex and harrass mankind , that our ignorance may support their altars , and worship . but the poet's meaning stands thus . the gods make humane affairs floating , and uncertain ; that so our ignorance of future events , may prevent the fancy of independence , and make us apply to heaven for a better protection . now this is a sence of piety , instead of prophaneness . and to justifie the translation , i appeal not only to the text , and latin version , but to the greek scholiast , who is expressly for it . farther : if there had been any thing of prophaneness in this reflection , polymnestor paid dearly for 't . for soon after his eyes are pluck'd out , and his children murther'd before him * to proceed . electra's expostulation is horribly misrepresented . this lady seeing helena upon her return from troy , and that she brought back her beauty with her infamy , makes this remark upon 't . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . that is , advantages of person are a misfortune to some people ; but extreamly serviceable to such as make a right use of them . here the surveyor bestirs him notably . he keeps the last line to himself , maims the period , and then rigs out this pious translation ; o nature , what a curse art thou upon mortals ! as much as to say , he has found a heathen president for the blasphemy of the moderns : whereas 't is notoriously evident , that here is not the least glance against providence ; and that only the endowments and advantages of nature are meant by the expression . orestes is no more the surveyor's friend than electra his sister . for when menelaus question'd him about the murther of his mother , he pleads the oracle in his excuse . and when the other was surpriz'd at the singularity of the order , he replies , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . that is , we are not to dispute the gods commands , but obey them , for the divine nature is too big for humane understandings . and if the surveyor thinks this too much a paraphrase , orestes shall speak in his own translation . 't is thus : we serve the gods whatever they be . why then , it seems , he did not question their being , but thought religion very well worth the minding . yes : his piety appears farther in his next answer , for when menelaus seem'd to wonder why apollo did not rescue him from his misfortune ; he tells him , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . that is , as the scholiast interprets , the gods are not suddain in their administrations ; but take time in rewards , and punishments , to try the good , and recover the evil. his objection from the cyclops is fully prevented in the view . however the poet must be cited , and the gyant brought in , for the sake of the civil translation . besides , a little greek , tho nothing to the purpose , has a face of learning , and looks big upon the english reader . in the ion , by translating 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rascal , and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whoremaster , he makes creusa , and her servant much coarser than they are in euripides . 't is true the servant being moved with the suppos'd ill usage of his mistress , propos'd the firing of apollo's temple ; but immediately he recollects himself , and advises her to another revenge , more in her power . to conclude with euripides , hecuba , says the surveyor , thinks the gods 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , bad friends ; he should have said sluggish , and then he had been right . as for seneca he stands barr'd : why then is his atheistical chorus produced , and why in the version of the earl of rochester ? was this transition made for the benefit of the publick , or in honour of the deceas'd ? not the latter , for that noble lord , abhor'd such prophane liberties at his death . thus , to refresh the blemishes of his life , is the greatest outrage to his memory : 't is almost enough to raise him upon the surveyor , to make his ghost resent the usage , and flash correction in his face ; but after all , 't is highly improbable that the chorus spoke the poet's opinion , if , as heinsius , scaliger , and others believe , 't was written by seneca the philosopher : for every body knows he was far enough from being an atheist . and now we have done with authorities ; and here , tho the surveyor has but very bad luck with his poets , yet he has taken great care to conceal the misfortune ; for in his citations he mentions neither act , nor page , but refers to the plays at large . this , i confess , is the right way to discourage the reader 's enquiry , and make him rather believe , than go look . and now i may safely affirm , that several single plays of the moderns , * have not only more , but some bolder passages of prophaneness , than all he has cited from the antients put together . and which is harder still , i have made but a slender discovery of the english stage . thus some people refine upon heathenism ; thus they improve upon their creed , and make amends in their lives , for the odds of their understanding ! in the close of all , the surveyor offers hypothetically , as he calls it , that is faintly , to justifie the stage-freedoms with the nobility . but , by his favour , this ridiculous character must either be drawn for single persons , or quality in general : now either way his satyr falls under his own lash ; for from hence it must follow , that he who makes a lord of a fool , makes a fool of a lord , which he grants is no compliment . but the surveyor having not reply'd to my reasons against this liberty , i need say nothing more upon the argument . i have now done with the surveyor , and heartily wish him a better subject : for a bad cause , besides its own evil , is apt to produce a resembling defence : it often runs an author upon calumny , coarse expedients , and little management : which , as they are no sure methods to raise a character ; so , at one time or other , they 'l certainly displease a man's self . the end . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a33918-e1150 the ancient and modern stages surv●yed , &c. p. 7 , 8 9. p. 13 , 23. the ancient and modern stages surveyed , &c. p. 10. p. 12 , 13. p. 14 , 15. p. 18. p. 22. view , &c. p. 273 , 274 , 275. defe●ce , &c. p. 85 , 86. * multa rerum turpitudine . n●lla , saltem sicut alia multa , verborum obscenitate compos●●ae . de ●ivit . dei lib. 2 cap. 8. p. 24. 〈◊〉 * lilius gyraldus de poet. hist. dial. 6. diomedes libr. 3. in fragm . sueton. primis temporibus ut asserit tranquillus , omnia quaein scenaversentur in c●media ag●bantur ; nam & pantomimus & choraules in comaedia canebant . macrob. lib. 2 ▪ saturn . cap. 7. gyrald de po●● . hist. d●●al . 8. p. 918. s●alig . poet. lib. 1. cap. 18. p. 61 , 64. macrob. saturn . lib. 2. cap. 10. gyraldus , p. 690. de dial. 6. p. 28. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . nihil nobis cum impudicitia theatri , &c. tertul. apol. cap , 38. ancient and modern stage survey'd , p 30. horat. carm. lib. 2. od. 1. p. 30. itaque pempe●us magnus , solo theatro suo minor , cum illam arcem omnium turpitudinum extruxisset , &c. tertul. de spectac . cap. 10. p. 9. omnia illic se●● fortia , seu honesta , seu sonora , seu subtilia proinde ha●e ac si stillicidia mellis de libacunculo venenato , &c. de spectac . cap. 27. p. 13. see view , &c. chap. 6. defence , &c. p. 84. p. 18. p. 10. aeschyl . septem contr . theb●s . p. 32. p. 28. 33● p. 32. ibid. p. 34. view , p. 354. surv. p. 35. plat. de 〈◊〉 . lib. 10. p. 756. ed. franc. surv. p. 35. view , &c. p. 234. survey●r , p ▪ 36. view , p. 234. survey●r , p. 37. p. 37. vel ebrictatis , vel aliarum inde nascentiunt rerum incommodis disciplina liberos efficiat . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . arist. polit. lib. 7. cap. 17. ed. lugd. batav . surveyor , p. 36. dennis , p. 74. v●ew , &c. p. 160. p●lit . lib. 7. cap 17. view , p. 235 , survey●r , p. 42. * o praeclaram emendatricem vitae poeticam , quae amorem flagitii , & levitatis auctorem , in concilio deorum collocondum putet● de comedia loquor quae si haec flagitia non prob●remus nulla ssset omnino . tusc. quest. lib. 4. surv. p. 40. ibid. tusc. quaest. lib. 4. tusc. quaest. lib. 2. surv. p. 39. * ibid. ibid. survey , p. 44. dec. 1. lib. 7. view , p. 235. survey , p. 45 , 46. * v 〈…〉 survey , p. 12. * insania . cum piaculorum magis conquisitio animos , quam corpora morbi inficerent . quum locatum à censoribus theatrum extrueretur , p. cornelio nasica auctore tanquam inutile , & nociturum publicis moribus , ex senatus consulto destructum est . liv. lib. 48. in epit. * ad theatra gradus faciendus est : — religionem civili sanguin● scenico●um portentorum gratia macularunt . valer. max. lib. 2. cap. 4. survey . p. 47. quaest. 〈…〉 august . de 〈…〉 lib. 1. cap. 33. tertull. de spect. cap. 10. at th●atnali licentia proximo pri●ne anno caepta , gravius tum nempit . occisis non modo a plebe , &c. tacit. annal. lib. . 1. cap. 77. * 〈…〉 surveyor , p. . 48. 〈…〉 annal. lib. 4. cap. 14. view , p. 236. * prisci moris , observatia . val. max. l. 2. cap. 6. lilius gyraeld . de poet . hist. dial. 6. * vid. supra . * nullum aditum in scenam mimis dando , &c. quorum argument a majore ex parte stuprorum continent actus , ne talia spectandi consuetudo , etiam imitandi licentiam sumat . l. 2. cap. 6. * tusc. quest. lib. 4. vid. supra . * ea civitas severitatis custos accerrim● est . ibid. surveyor , p. 24. it 〈…〉 comedi●n omnesque adeo scenicos ludos republica sua ejecerunt ; vid●bant enim eam esse lasciviae matrem nequitiae magistram , &c. thysius in loc. su●to● . in august . surveyor , p. 50. view , &c. p. 236. surveyor , p. 50 , 51. * nihil vero tam damnosa●a bonis moribus quam in aliquo spectaculo desidere , tunc emm per voluptatem vitia facilius surrepunt . senec. epist. 7. survey , p. 51. * spectaculum , p. 52. view , p. 236. * view , p. 236. surveyor , p. 53. surv. p. 55. survey , p. 55 , 56. ibid. surveyor , p. 35. surveyor , p. 56. survey , p. 57. ibid. de t●ist . lib. 2. view , 239. view , p. 239. ov . remed . amor. p. 57. view , p. 240. survey , p. 58 , 59. survey , p. 61. 〈…〉 survey , p. 61. view , p. 240. iustin , lib. 6. sub . fe●● . view , p. 240. survey , p. 64. pl●t . in lyeurg . l●con . institut . survey , p. 65. ut neque joconeque serio cos q●i legibus contradicerent audirent . lacon . instit. survey , p. 65. survey , p. 67 , 68. survey , p. 67. ibid. survey , p. 66. * romani , sicut apud ciceronem idem scipio loquitur , cum artem ludicr am scenamque totam probr● ducerent , genus id hominum non modo honore c●vium reliquorum carere , s●d etiam tribu moveri not at one censori● voluerunt . * survey , p. 69. st. august de civ . dei lib. 2. cap. 13. view , p. 240. liv. dec. 1. l. 7. view , p. 241 , surv. p. 70 , 71. surv. p. 71 , 74. ibid. ibid. surv. p. 73. p. 74. surv. p. 72 , 76. surv. p. ● 22. de civ . dei , lib. 2. surv. p. 73. surv. p. 76. surv. p. 74. v. d. supr● . se●l . poet , lib. 1. c. 10. eò institutum manet , &c. ab histri●nibus pollu● . expertes artis ludicrae . surv. p. 77. surv. p. 77 , 78. ibid. p. 80. surv. p. 80. artem ludicram scenamq● to●am probro discer●nt , de civ . d● . lib. 2. c. 13. view , p. 241. omnes propter praemium in scenam prodeuntes , &c. surv. p. 80. quod genus delectationis italica 〈◊〉 temperatum , ideoque vacuum nota est : nam neque tribu movetur , neque a militaribus stipendiis repellitur , valer. max. lib. 2. c. 4. casaub. in loc. surv. p. 82. view , p. 274● . 275. view , ibid. surv. p. 82. surv. p. 80. usefulness of the stage , p. 92. defence , &c. p. 85. 86. 〈…〉 surv. p. 76. pantomimum veste humili , aut vil●m offerat histrionein &c. usefulness of the stage , p. 90. * nonne cicero corum cum ro●cium quend●● laudare● 〈…〉 solus esset dignus qui in scenam deberet intrare : ita virum bonum ●t solus esset dignus qui eo non deberet accedere : quid aliud apertissimè ostendens nisi illam sccnam esse tam turpem , ut tan to minus ibi ess● homo debeat , q●●nto magis fuerit vir bon●● . a●g . de consensu evangelist , lib. 1. view , &c. p. 274. surveyor , p. 99. view , p. 278. epist. ded. view , p. 280. survey , p. 103. p. 101. view , p. 283. survey , p. 108. view , p. 35 , 383. defence , p. 10 , 15 , &c. surv. p. 119. ibid. survey , p. 126. survey , p. 131. survey , p. 131. p. 133. survey , p. 133. 145. ibid. survey . p. 150 , to 165. soph. t●achin . view , p. 91. sophoc . electr● act 1. survey , p. 164 ▪ 178. * ibid. eurip. phaeniss . p. 112. ed. cantabr . hipp●l . p. 262 , &c. androm . p. 319 , 320. androm . p. 329 , 330. androm . p. 329 , 330. vit. eurip. ed. cant●br . survey , p. 194. survey , p. 164. p. 191. surv. p. 187 , 188. survey , p. 164 in affectibus vero cum omnibus mirus , tum in ●is qui mis●ratione constant , facile praecipuus . quintil. instit. lib. 10. cap. 1. survey , p. 180 prom. vinct . p. 6 , 8. ed. stanl . view , p. 87. survey . p. 183. p. 182. survey . p. 189. survey . p. 184. * senec. troad . act. 3. survey . p. 187. survey . p. 226. aristot. de poet. cap. 18. survey . p. 195. survey , p. 196. 197 , & deinc . survey . p. 201. survey p. 187 , 188. survey . p. 201 , to 206. survey . p. 212. see view and defence . survey . p. 222. survey p. 225. view , 142 , 146 , & alib . survey . p. 218. survey . ibid. view , &c. p. 142 , 146 , & alib . survey p. 219. survey . p. 187 , 188. h●rat de art . poet . arist. de poet . cap. 9. horat. de art. poet . view , p. 34 , 35 , 204 , 205. defence , p. 20 , 21 , & alib . survey , p. 226. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . de poet . cap. 13. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . ibid. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . arist. de poet . cap. 6. ut redeat miseris , abeat fortunae super bis . horat. de art. poet . defence , p. 6 , 7 , 8. survey , p. 232. p. 234. rudens . act. 4. sc. 7. survey , p. 336. * surv. p. 238. * defence , p. 8 , 10. survey , p. 237. view , p. 242 , 246 , & alib . survey , p. 235. survey , p. 239 , 105 , & alib . view , p. 159. 164. survey . p. 241. surv. p. 242. view , p. 149. surv. p. 242. surv. p. 24● , 243. surv. p. 24 , 28 , & alib . survey . p. 243. surv. p. 244. ibid. view , p. 149. surv. p. 244. surv. p. 245. * 〈…〉 surv. p. 246. * quia versus plauti non satis numerose scripti , & saepe obscaeni sunt . † minell . in loe. * i●civile & scurrile dictum . id. * il a des plaisanteries souvent outrées ▪ dacier in l●c. horat. de art. poet. view , p. 23. surv. p. 47 , 49. view , p. 149. surv. p. 249. de art. poet. de art. poet. lil. gyrald . de poet. hist. dial. 6. p. 765 , 766. view , p. 150. surv. p. 153. surv. p. 254 , 258. duplex est apud graecos comaedia antiqua & nova . turneb in lib. 10. instit. quintil. cap. 1. surv. p. 259. * surv. p. 253. scalig. poet. lib. 1. cap. 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . chor. in plut. act. 5. sc. 3. surv. p. 262. view , p. 39. survey . p. 263. p. 265. p. 267. remarques sur l' art poetique d' horace tom. 10. p. 298. survey . ibid. & p. 268. instit. or. lib. 10. cap. 1. survey . p. 268. p. 271. p. 272. view , p. 151. survey , p. 275. institut . lib. 10. cap. 1. omnibus r●bus , personis , affectibus , accommodatus . survey . p. 277. p. 278. view , p. 218 , 219. surv. p. 286 , 287. see defence , p. 10 , 11 , 16 , &c. survey . p. ●8● . survey , p. 290. view , p. 171 , 172 , 173. survey . p. 288. de art. poet. ibid. survey , p. 292. survey . p. 293. p. 367. survey . p. 268 , 269. survey . p. 23 , 24. survey . p. 293 , 294 p. 294 p. 296. p. 295. * iudg. 11. v. 37. survey , p. 300. survey . p. 301. sophoc . ●lect . act. 2. & alib . survey . p. 301. survey . p. 302. eurip. hec. act. 2. eurip. p. 13 , 14. ed. cantab. ibid. p. 20. surv. p. 305 , 6 , 7. troad . p. 145. ibid. 146. survey p. 306. 308. troad . p. 143. * androm . p. 301 , 302. virg. aeneid . 8. surv. p. 312. androm . p. 301 , 302 , 303. ion. p. 317 , 333 , 334. p. 351. electr. p. 427 , 428. surv. p. 314. view , p. 25. survey . p. 317. epist. advers . helvid . & alib . view , p. 25. herc. fur. surv. p. 319. survey , p. 319. ibid. agam. act. 2. survery , p. 313 , 319. survey , p. 327 , 328. * mores suos fassus . instit. orat. lib. 10. cap. 1. defence , p. 10 , 11 , &c. surv. p. 328. view , p. 16. surv. p. 329 , 330. view , p. 18. * me● vi subacta est facere . amph. act. 5. sc. 2. * 〈◊〉 , p. 16. view , p. 17. s●●v . p. 334. view , p. 17. survey , p 337. spanish-friar . old batch . double-dealer . fool in fashion . soldiers fortune . asimar . act. 5. sc. 2. view , p. 16. mrl. glor. act. 5. * heauton . act. 3. s. 3. ed. in usum delphin . view , p. 17. surv. p. 340. survey . p. 342. p. 343. surv. p. 341. * vid. donat. in loc. * see view , p. 13. survey , p. 344. view , p. 127. st. math. 28. 19. st. ioh. 20. 21. survey . p. 346 , 347. survey , p. 347 , 348. survey , p. 348. malach. 2. 72 art. 37. st. joh. 20. 21 , 23. 1 eliz. 14 car. 2. survey . p. 348. ibid. survey , p. 349. p. 349 , 350. moral essays , office chap. survey . p. 352. survey . p. 356. defence , from p. 66 , to p. 8● . view , &c. ajax . flag . survey . p. 358. view , p. 89 , 90. sophoc . antig. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . act. 17. 28. ●view , p. 120. iphig . in aulid . * a vain-glorious rascally race , surv. p. 359. — iracundus , inexorabilis acer , jura negat sibi nata , nihil non arroget armis . horat. de art. poet. * eurip. iphig . in aulid . p. 44. & alib . view , p. 120 , 121. survey , p. 360. view , p. 88 , 89 , 93. surv. p. 360 , 361. view , p. 94. hec. p. 17. surv. p. 361. survey . p. 361 ▪ * eurip. hec. p. 36 , 40. eurip. orist . p. 51. surv. 362. orest. p. 51. survey . p. 362. view , p. 94. survey , p. 362. ion. p. 333 , 334. ion. p. 335. survey . p. 362. troad . 118. see vir● , p. 94. surv. p. 363. * see view , and defence , ref . survey . p. 367. survey . p. 365. view , p. 175. defence . p. 25. to p. 31. a short view of the immorality, and profaneness of the english stage together with the sense of antiquity upon this argument / by jeremy collier ... short view of the immorality and profaneness of the english stage collier, jeremy, 1650-1726. 1698 approx. 414 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 155 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-01 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a33919 wing c5263 estc r19806 12221856 ocm 12221856 56421 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a33919) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 56421) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 136:1) a short view of the immorality, and profaneness of the english stage together with the sense of antiquity upon this argument / by jeremy collier ... short view of the immorality and profaneness of the english stage collier, jeremy, 1650-1726. [16], 288 p. printed for s. keble ... r. sare ... and h. hindmarsh ..., london : 1698. errata: p. [16]. reproduction of original in harvard university libraries. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng theater -moral and ethical aspects. theater -great britain. 2002-03 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2002-03 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2002-04 tcp staff (michigan) sampled and proofread 2002-04 olivia bottum text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-05 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a short view of the immorality , and profaneness of the english stage , together with the sense of antiquity upon this argument , by jeremy collier , m. a. london , printed for s. keble at the turk's-head in fleetstreet , r. sare at gray's-inn-gate , and h. hindmarsh against the exchange in cornhil . 1698. the preface . being convinc'd that nothing has gone farther in debauching the age than the stage poets , and play-house , i thought i could not employ my time better than in writing against them . these men sure , take vertue and regularity , for great enemies , why else is their disaffection so very remarkable ? it must be said , they have made their attack with great courage , and gain'd no inconsiderable advantage . but it seems lewdness without atheism , is but half their business . conscience might possibly recover , and revenge be thought on ; and therefore like foot-pads , they must not only rob , but murther . to do them right their measures are politickly taken : to make sure work on 't , there 's nothing like destroying of principles ; practise must follow of course . for to have no good principles , is to have no reason to be good. now 't is not to be expected that people should check their appetites , and balk their satisfactions , they don't know why . if virtue has no prospect , 't is not worth the owning . who would be troubled with conscience if'tis only a bugbear , and has nothing in 't but vision , and the spleen ? my collection from the english stage , is much short of what they are able to furnish . an inventory of their ware-house would have been a large work : but being afraid of over charging the reader , i thought a pattern might do . in translating the fathers , i have endeavour'd to keep close to their meaning : however , in some few places , i have taken the liberty of throwing in a word or two ; to clear the sensé , to preserve the spirit of the original , and keep the english upon its legs . there 's one thing more to acquaint the reader with ; 't is that i have ventured to change the terms of mistress and lover , for others somewhat more plain , but much more proper . i don't look upon this as any failure in civility . as good and evil are different in themselves , so they ought to be differently mark'd . to confound them in speech , is the way to confound them in practise . ill qualities ought to bave ill names , to prevent their being catching . indeed things are in a great measure govern'd by words : to guild over a foul character , serves only to perplex the idea , to encourage the bad , and mislead the unwary . to treat honour , and infamy alike , is an injury to virtue , and a sort of levelling in morality . i confess , i have no ceremony for debauchery . for to compliment vice , is but one remove from worshipping the devil . march 5th . 1697 / 8. the contents . chap. i. the introduction . page 1 the immodesty of the stage . p. 3 the ill consequences of this liberty . p. 5 immodesty a breach of good behaviour . p. 6 the stage faulty in this respect to a very scandalous degree . p. 8 modesty the character of women . p. 9 the natural serviceableness of this quality . p. 11 immodesty much more insufferable , under the christian , than under the heathen religion . p. 14 the roman , and greek theatres more inoffensive than the english. p. 15 this proved from plautus . ibid from terence . p. 20 from seneca 's tragedies . p. 25 the comparison carried on to the theatre at athens . ibid. a short character of aeschylus . p. 26 the cleaness of his expression . p. 27 the genius and conduct of sophocles . p. 28 the sobriety of his plays . p. 29 euripides 's character distinguished from the two former . p. 30 the reserv'dness of his stile . p. 31 all humours not fit for representation . p. 35 a censure of aristophanes . p. 36 aristophanes his testimony against himself . p. 48 the authorities of ben. johnson . p. 51 beaumont & fletcher . p. 52 and corneille . against the present stage . p. 53 chap. ii. the prophaneness of the stage . this charge prov'd upon them , i. by their cursing and swearing . p. 57 the english stage formerly less hardy in this respect . ibid the provokingness of this sin. p. 58. this offence punishable by law , and how far . p. 59 swearing in the play house an un-gentlemanly , as well as an un-christian practise . a second branch of the profaness of the stage , consisting in their abuse of religion , and the holy scriptures . p. 60 instances of this liberty in the mock astrologer . ib. in the orphan . p. 62 in the old batchelour , and double dealer . p. 63 , 64 in don sebastian . p. 65 breif remarks upon a passage or two in the dedications of aurenge zebe , and the translation of juvenal . p. 66 , 69 farther instances of profaneness in love triumphant . p. 72 in love for love. p. 74 in the provok'd wife . p. 77 and in the relapse . p. 78 the horrid impiety of this liberty . p. 80 the stage guilty of down right blasphemy . this charge made good from several of the plays above mention'd . p. 82 the comparative regularity of the heathen stage , exemplyfied in terence , and plautus . p. 86 and in the greek tragedians . p. 87 seneca more exceptionable than the greeks , but not so faulty as the modern stage . p. 94 this outraging of religion intolerable . p. 95 chap. iii. the clergy abused by the stage . p. 98 this usage both unpresidented . p. 112 and unreasonable . p . 127 the misbehaviour of the stage upon this account . p. 138 chap. iv. immorality encouraged by the stage . p. 140 the stage poets make libertines their top-characters , and give them success in their debauchery . p. 142 a character of their fine gentleman . p. 143 their fine ladies accomplish'd much after the same manner . p. 146 the young people of figure in plautus and terence , have a greater regard to morality . ibid the defence in the preface to the mock-astrologer , not sufficient . p. 148 the christian religion makes a great difference in the case . p. 149 horace of a contrary opinion to the mock-astrologer . p. 150 the mock-astrologer's instances from ben johnson unserviceable . p. 151 the authority of shakespear against the mock-astrologer . p. 154 his maxim founded on the difference between tragedy , and comedy , a mistake . p. 155 delight not the chief-end of comedy p. 157 this assertion prov'd against the mock-astrologer from the testimonies of rapin. ibid and ben johnson . p. 158 aristotle , and quintilian , cited to the same purpose p. 159 , 161 to make delight the main business in comedy , dangerous , and unreasonable . p. 162 the improper conduct of the stage with respect to poetry , and ceremony . p. 165 extravagant rants . p. 167 gingles in the spanish fryar , king arthur , and love triumphant . p. 169 women roughly treated by the stage . p. 171 their coarse usage of the nobility . p. 173 these freedoms peculiar to the english stage . p. 175 chap. v. sect . i. remarks upon amphytrion . p. 177 the machines prophane , smutty , and out of character . p. 178 the singularity of the poet in this point . p. 180 blasphemy in absalom and achitophel . p. 184 a poem upon the fall of the angels , call'd a fairy way of writing . p. 189 the punishment of the damned ridiculed . p. 192 sect . ii. remarks on the comical history of don quixot . p. 196 the poets horrible prophaneness . p. 197 his want of modesty , and regard to the audience . p. 202 all imitations of nature not proper for the stage . p. 204 the poets talent in raillery , and dedication . p. 205 sect . iii. remarks on the relapse . p. 209 a misnommer in the title of the play. p. 210 the moral vitious . p. 211 the plot ill contriv'd . p. 212 the manners or characters out of order . p. 218 the three dramatick unities broken . p. 228 chap. vi. the opinion of the heathen philosophers , orators , and historians , concerning the stage . p. 233 the stage censured by the state. this proved from the constitutions of athens , sparta , and rome . p. 240 farther instances of this publick discountenance in the theodosian code . p. 241 in our own statute book . p. 242 and in the late order of the french king. p. 243 an order of the bishop of arras against plays . p. 245 the stage condemn'd by the primitive church . p. 250 the councils of illiberis , arles , &c. cited . ibid the testimony 's of the fathers against the stage , particularly , of theophilus antiochenus . p. 252 of tertullian . p. 253 of clemens alexandrinus . p. 260 of minutius foelix . p. 261. of st. cyprian . ibid. lactantius . p. 265 st. chrisostom . p. 267 st. hierom. p. 272 and st. augustine cited to the same purpose . p. 273 the censure of the fathers , and councils &c. applicable to the english stage . p. 276 the conclusion . p. 280 errata . page 31 margin for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . p. 37. l. 1. for by his , r. his . l. 2. for other , r his other . l. 25. for praeetr , r. praeter . p. 39. l. 18. for poets , knaves , r. poets knaves . p. 44. l. 14. for concianotores , r. concionatores . p. 45. l. 25. for debaush , r. debauchee . p. 46. l. 9. for enterprizes , r. enterprize . p. 47. l. 9. for ridicules , r. ridiculous . p. 52. l. 1. for justifying , r. and justifie . p. 60. l. 2. for tempestinous , r. tempestuous . l. 31. for pray , r. should pray . p. 80. for executed , r. exerted . p. 108. l. 4. for antarkick . r. antartick . p. 117. l. 12. for angitia . r. angitiae . p. 121. l. 24. for auger , r. augur . p. 135. margin , for heglins cogmog , r. heylins cosmog . p. 154. l. 22. dele up . p. 163. l. 28. for then , r. therefore . p. 183. l. 6. for to , r. too . p. 186. l. 6. dele and. p. 191. l. 18. for circumstance , r. circumstances . p. 222. l. 9. for cup , r. a cup. p. 237. l. 2. for apon't , r. upon 't . 245. l. 25. for le , r. les. p. 257. l. 28. for correspondence r. this correspondence . p. 272. l. 9. for himself . r. themselves . the litteral mistakes the reader is desired to correct . essays upon several moral subjects in two parts the second edition corrected and enlarged by jeremy collier , m. a. human prudence , or the art by which a man may raise himself and his fortune to grandure , the seventh edition . an answer to all the excuses and pretences that men usually make for their not coming to the holy communion , by a divine of the church of england : fitted for the meanest capacity , and proper to be given away by such persons as are charitably inclin'd . price 3 pence . the introduction . the business of plays is to recomend virtue , and discountenance vice ; to shew the uncertainty of humane greatness , the suddain turns of fate , and the unhappy conclusions of violence and injustice : 't is to expose the singularities of pride and fancy , to make folly and falsehood contemptible , and to bring every thing that is ill under infamy , and neglect . this design has been oddly pursued by the english stage . our poets write with a different view , and are gone into an other interest . 't is true , were their intentions fair , they might be serviceable to this purpose . they have in a great measure the springs of thought and inclination in their power . show , musick , action , and rhetorick , are moving entertainments ; and rightly employ'd would be very significant . but force and motion are things indifferent , and the use lies chiefly in the application . these advantages are now , in the enemies hand , and under a very dangerous management . like cannon seized they are pointed the wrong way , and by the strength of the defence the mischief is made the greater . that this complaint is not unreasonable i shall endeavour to prove by shewing the misbehaviour of the stage with respect to morality , and religion . their liberties in the following particulars are intolerable . viz. their smuttiness of expression ; their swearing , profainness , and lewd application of scripture ; their abuse of the clergy ; their making their top characters libertines , and giving them success in their debauchery . this charge , with some other irregularities , i shall make good against the stage , and shew both the novelty and scandal of the practise . and first , i shall begin with the rankness , and indecency of their language . chap. 1. the immodesty of the stage . in treating this head , i hope the reader does not expect that i should set down chapter and page , and give him the citations at length . to do this would be a very unacceptable and foreign employment . indeed the passages , many of them , are in no condition to be handled : he that is desirous to see these flowers let him do it in their own soil : 't is my business rather to kill the root than transplant it . but that the poets may not complain of injustice ; i shall point to the infection at a distance , and refer in general to play and person . now among the curiosities of this kind we may reckon mrs. pinchwife , horner , and lady fidget in the country wife ; widdow blackacre and olivia in the plain dealer . these , tho' not all the exceptionable characters , are the most remarkable . i 'm sorry the author should stoop his wit thus low , and use his understanding so unkindly . some people appear coarse , and slovenly out of poverty : they can't well go to the charge of sense . they are offensive like beggars for want of necessaries . but this is none of the plain dealer's case ; he can afford his muse a better dress when he pleases . but then the rule is ; where the motive is the less , the fault is the greater . to proceed . jacinta , elvira , dalinda , and lady plyant , in the mock astrologer , spanish friar , love triumphant and double dealer , forget themselves extreamly : and almost all the characters in the old batchelour , are foul and nauseous . love for love , and the relapse , strike sometimes upon this sand , and so likewise does don sebastian . i don't pretend to have read the stage through , neither am i particular to my utmost . here is quoting enough unless 't were better : besides , i may have occasion to mention somewhat of this kind afterwards . but from what has been hinted already , the reader may be over furnish'd . here is a large collection of debauchery ; such pieces are rarely to be met with : 't is sometimes painted at length too , and appears in great variety of progress and practise . it wears almost all sorts of dresses to engage the fancy , and fasten upon the memory , and keep up the charm from languishing . sometimes you have it in image and description ; sometimes by way of allusion ; sometimes in disguise ; and sometimes without it . and what can be the meaning of such a representation , unless it be to tincture the audience , to extinguish shame , and make lewdness a diversion ? this is the natural consequence , and therefore one would think 't was the intention too . such licentious discourse tends to no point but to stain the imagination , to awaken folly , and to weaken the defences of virtue : it was upon the account of these disorders that plato banish'd poets his common wealth : and one of the fathers calls poetry , vinum daemonum an intoxicating draught , made up by the devils dispensatory . i grant the abuse of a thing is no argument against the use of it . however young people particularly , should not entertain themselves with a lewd picture ; especially when 't is drawn by a masterly hand . for such a liberty may probably raise those passions which can neither be discharged without trouble , nor satisfyed without a crime : 't is not safe for a man to trust his virtue too far , for fear it should give him the slip ! but the danger of such an entertainment is but part of the objection : 't is all scandal and meanness into the bargain : it does in effect degrade human nature , sinks reason into appetite , and breaks down the distinctions between man and beast . goats and monkeys if they could speak , would express their brutality in such language as this. to argue the matter more at large . smuttiness is a fault in behaviour as well as in religion . 't is a very coarse diversion , the entertainment of those who are generally least both in sense , and station . the looser part of the mob , have no true relish of decency and honour , and want education , and thought , to furnish out a gentile conversation . barrenness of fancy makes them often take up with those scandalous liberties . a vitious imagination may blot a great deal of paper at this rate with ease enough : and 't is possible convenience may sometimes invite to the expedient . the modern poets seem to use smut as the old ones did machines , to relieve a fainting invention . when pegasus is jaded , and would stand still , he is apt like other tits , to run into every puddle . obscenity in any company is a rustick uncreditable talent ; but among women 't is particularly rude . such talk would be very affrontive in conversation , and not endur'd by any lady of reputation . whence then comes it to pass that those liberties which disoblige so much in conversation , should entertain upon the stage . do the women leave all the regards to decency and conscience behind them when they come to the play-house ? or does the place transform their inclinations , and turn their former aversions into pleasure ? or were their pretences to sobriety elsewhere nothing but hypocrisy and grimace ? such suppositions as these are all satyr and invective : they are rude imputations upon the whole sex. to treat the ladys with such stuff is no better than taking their money to abuse them . it supposes their imagination vitious , and their memories ill furnish'd : that they are practised in the language of the stews , and pleas'd with the scenes of brutishness . when at the same time the customs of education , and the laws of decency , are so very cautious , and reserv'd in regard to women : i say so very reserv'd , that 't is almost a fault for them to understand they are ill used . they can't discover their disgust without disadvantage , nor blush without disservice to their modesty . to appear with any skill in such cant , looks as if they had fallen upon ill conversation ; or managed their curiosity amiss . in a word , he that treats the ladys with such discourse , must conclude either that they like it , or they do not . to suppose the first , is a gross reflection upon their virtue . and as for the latter case , it entertains them with their own aversion ; which is ill nature , and ill manners enough in all conscience . and in this particular , custom and conscience , the forms of breeding , and the maxims of religion are on the same side . in other instances vice is often too fashionable ; but here a man can't be a sinner , without being a clown . in this respect the stage is faulty to a scandalous degree of nauseousness and aggravation . for 1 st . the poets make women speak smuttily . of this the places before mention'd are sufficient evidence : and if there was occasion they might be multiplyed to a much greater number : indeed the comedies are seldom clear of these blemishes : and sometimes you have them in tragedy . for instance . the orphans monimia makes a very improper description ; and the royal leonora in the spanish friar , runs a strange length in the history of love p. 50. and do princesses use to make their reports with such fulsom freedoms ? certainly this leonora was the first queen of her family . such raptures are too lascivious for joan of naples . are these the tender things mr. dryden says the ladys call on him for ? i suppose he means the ladys that are too modest to show their faces in the pit. this entertainment can be fairly design'd for none but such . indeed it hits their palate exactly . it regales their lewdness , graces their character , and keeps up their spirits for their vocation : now to bring women under such misbehaviour is violence to their native modesty , and a mispresentation of their sex. for modesty as mr. rapin observes , is the character of women . to represent them without this quality , is to make monsters of them , and throw them out of their kind . euripides , who was no negligent observer of humane nature , is always careful of this decorum . thus phaedra when possess'd with an infamous passion , takes all imaginable pains to conceal it . she is as regular and reserv'd in her language as the most virtuous matron . 't is true , the force of shame and desire ; the scandal of satisfying , and the difficulty of parting with her inclinations , disorder her to distraction . however , her frensy is not lewd ; she keeps her modesty even after she has lost her wits . had shakespear secur'd this point for his young virgin ophelia , the play had been better contriv'd . since he was resolv'd to drown the lady like a kitten , he should have set her a swimming a little sooner . to keep her alive only to sully her reputation , and discover the rankness of her breath , was very cruel . but it may be said the freedoms of distraction go for nothing , a feavour has no faults , and a man non compos , may kill without murther . it may be so : but then such people ought to be kept in dark rooms and without company . to shew them , or let them loose , is somewhat unreasonable . but after all , the modern stage seems to depend upon this expedient . women are sometimes represented silly , and sometimes mad , to enlarge their liberty , and screen their impudence from censure : this tolitick contrivance we have in marcella , hoyden , and miss prue . however it amounts to this confession ; that women when they have their understandings about them ought to converse otherwise . in fine ; modesty is the distinguishing vertue of that sex , and serves both for ornament and defence : modesty was design'd by providence as a guard to virtue ; and that it might be always at hand , 't is wrought into the mechanism of the body . 't is likewise proportion'd to the occasions of life , and strongest in youth when passion is so too . 't is a quality as true to innocence , as the sences are to health ; whatever is ungrateful to the first , is prejudicial to the latter . the enemy no sooner approaches , but the blood rises in opposition , and looks defyance to an indecency . it supplys the room of reasoning , and collection : intuitive knowledge can scarcely make a quicker impression ; and what then can be a surer guide to the unexperienced ? it teaches by suddain instinct and aversion ; this is both a ready and a powerful method of instruction . the tumult of the blood and spirits , and the uneasiness of the sensation , are of singular use. they serve to awaken reason , and prevent surprize . thus the distinctions of good and evil are refresh'd , and the temptation kept at proper distance . 2 ly . they represent their single ladys , and persons of condition , under these disorders of liberty , this makes the irregularity still more monstrous and a greater contradiction to nature , and probability : but rather than not be vitious , they will venture to spoil a character . this mismanagement we have partly seen already . jacinta , and belinda are farther proof . and the double dealer is particularly remarkable . there are but four ladys in this play , and three of the biggest of them are whores . a great compliment to quality to tell them there is not above a quarter of them honest ! this was not the roman breeding , terence and plautus his strumpets were little people ; but of this more hereafter . 3 dly . they have oftentimes not so much as the poor refuge of a double meaning to fly to . so that you are under a necessity either of taking ribaldry or nonsence . and when the sentence has two handles , the worst is generally turn'd to the audience . the matter is so contrived that the smut and scum of the thought rises uppermost ; and like a picture drawn to sight , looks always upon the company . 4 ly . and which is still more extraordinary : the prologues , and epilogues are sometimes scandalous to the last degree . i shall discover them for once , and let them stand like rocks in the margin . now here properly speaking the actors quit the stage , and remove from fiction into life . here they converse with the boxes , and pit , and address directly to the audience . these preliminaries and concluding parts , are design'd to justify the conduct of the play , and bespeak the favour of the company . upon such occasions one would imagine if ever , the ladys should be used with respect , and the measures of decency observ'd , but here we have lewdness without shame or example : here the poet exceeds himself . here are such strains as would turn the stomach of an ordinary debauchee , and be almost nauseous in the stews . and to make it the more agreeable , women are commonly pick'd out for this service . thus the poet courts the good opinion of the audience . this is the desert he regales the ladys with at the close of the entertainment : it seems he thinks they have admirable palats ! nothing can be a greater breach of manners then such liberties as these . if a man would study to outrage quality and , vertue , he could not do it more effectually . but 5 thly . smut is still more insufferable with respect to religion . the heathen religion was in a great measure a mystery of iniquity . lewdness was consecrated in the temples , as well as practised in the stews . their deitys were great examples of vice , and worship'd with their own inclination . 't is no wonder therefore their poetry should be tinctured with their belief , and that the stage should borrow some of the liberties of their theology . this made mercurys procuring , and jupiters adultery the more passable in amphitrion : upon this score gymnasium is less monstrous in praying the gods to send her store of gallants . and thus chaeraea defends his adventure by the precedent of jupiter and danae . but the christian religion is quite of an other complexion . both its precepts , and authorities , are the highest discouragement to licentiousness . it forbids the remotest tendencies to evil , banishes the follies of conversation , and obliges up to sobriety of thought . that which might pass for raillery , and entertainment in heathenism , is detestable in christianity . the restraint of the precept , and the quality of the deity , and the expectations of futurity quite alter the case . but notwithstanding the latitudes of paganism , the roman and greek theatres were much more inoffensive than ours . to begin with plautus . this comedian , tho' the most exceptionable , is modest upon the comparison . for 1 st . he rarely gives any of the above mention'd liberties to women ; and when these are any instances of the contrary , 't is only in prostituted and vulgar people ; and even these , don't comè up to the grossness of the modern stage : for the purpose . cleaereta the procuris borders a little upon rudeness : lena and bacchis the strumpet are airy and somewhat over-merry , but not a l'anglois obscene . chalinus in womans cloaths is the most remarkable . pasicompa charinus his wench talks too freely to lysimachus ; and so does sophroclidisca slave to lamnoselene . and lastly : phronesiam a woman of the town uses a double entendre to stratophanes . these are the most censurable passages , and i think all of them with relation to women ; which considering how the world goes is very moderate . several of our single plays shall far out-do all this put together . and yet plautus has upon the matter left us 20 entire comedies . so that in short , these roman lasses are meer vestal virgins , comparatively speaking . 2 ly . the men who talk intemperately are generally slaves ; i believe dordalus the pandar , and lusiteles will be found the only exception : and this latter young gentleman ; drops but one over airy expression : and for this freedom , the poet seems to make him give satisfaction in the rest of his character . he disputes very handsomly by himself against irregular love ; the discourse between him and philto is instructive and well managed . and afterwards he gives lesbonicus a great deal of sober advice , and declaims heartily against luxury and lewdness ! now by confining his rudeness to little people , the fault is much extenuated . for first , the representation is more naturally this way ; and which is still better , 't is not so likely to pass into imitation : slaves and clowns are not big enough to spread infection ; and set up an ill fashion . 't is possible the poet might contrive these pesants offensive to discountenance the practise . thus the heilots in sparta were made drunk to keep intemperance out of credit . i don't mention this as if i approv'd the expedient , but only to show it a circumstance of mitigation and excuse . farther , these slaves and pandars , seldom run over , and play their gambols before women . there are but four instances of this kind as i remember , olympio , palaestrio , dordalus , and stratilax are the persons . and the women they discourse with , are two of them slaves , and the third a wench . but with our dramatists , the case is otherwise . with us smuttiness is absolute and unconfin'd . 't is under no restraint , of company , nor has any regard to quality or sex. gentlemen talk it to ladies , and ladies to gentlemen with all the freedom , and frequency imaginable . this is in earnest to be very hearty in the cause ! to give title and figure to ill manners is the utmost that can be done . if lewdness will not thrive under such encouragement it must e'en miscarry ! 4 ly . plautus his prologues and epilogues are inoffensive . 't is true , lambinus pretends to fetch a double entendre out of that to poenulus , but i think there is a strain in the construction . his prologue to the captivi is worth the observing . fabulae huic operam date . pray mind the play. the next words give the reason why it deserves regarding . non enim pertractate facta est neque spurcidici insunt versus immemorabiles . we see here the poet confesses smut a scandalous entertainment . that such liberties ought to fall under neglect , to lie unmention'd , and be blotted out of memory . and that this was not a copy of his countenance we may learn from his compositions . his best plays are almost alwaies modest and clean complexion'd . his amphitrio excepting the ungenuine addition is such . his epidicus the master-piece of his whole collection is inoffensive throughout : and so are his menechmi , rudens , and trinummus , which may be reckon'd amongst some of his next best . his truculentus another fine play ( tho' not entire ) with a heathen allowance , is pretty passable . to be short : where he is most a poet , he is generally least a buffoon . and where the entertainment is smut , there is rarely any other dish well dress'd : the contrivance is commonly wretched , the sence lean and full of quibbles . so that his understanding seems to have left him when he began to abuse it . to conclude , plautus does not dilate upon the progress , successes , and disappointments of love , in the modern way . this is nice ground , and therefore he either stands off , or walks gravely over it , he has some regard to the retirements of modesty , and the dignity of humane nature , and does not seem to make lewdness his business . to give an instance . silenium is much gone in love , but modest withall , tho' formerly debauch'd . she is sorry her spark was forced from her , and in danger of being lost . but then she keeps within compass and never flies out into indecency . alcesimarchus is strangely smitten with this silenium , and almost distracted to recover her . he is uneasy and blusters , and threatens , but his passion goes off in generals . he paints no images of his extravagance , nor descends to any nauseous particulars . and yet after all , plautus wrote in an age not perfectly refin'd , and often seems to design his plays for a vulgar capacity . 't was upon this view i suppose his characters exceed nature , and his ill features are drawn too large : his old men over credulous , his misers romantick , and his coxcombs improbably singular . and 't is likely for this reason his slaves might have too much liberty . terence appear'd when breeding was more exact , and the town better polish'd ; and he manages accordingly : he has but one faulty bordering expression , which is that of chremes to clitipho . this single sentence apart , the rest of his book is ( i think ) unsullied and fit for the nicest conversation . i mean only in referrence to the argument in hand , for there are things in him , which i have no intention to warrant . he is extreamly careful in the behaviour of his women . neither glycerium in andria , pamphila in eunuchus , or pamphila in adelphi , phanium in phormio , or philumena in hecyra , have any share of conversation upon the stage . such freedom was then thought too much for the reservedness of a maiden-character . 't is true in heautontimoroumenos the poets plot obliged antiphila to go under the disguise of bacchis her maid . upon this occasion they hold a little discourse together . but then bacchis tho' she was a woman of the town , behaves her self with all the decency imaginable . she does not talk in the language of her profession . but commends antiphila for her virtue : antiphila only says how constant she has been to chinia , seems surprised at his arrival , and salutes him civilly upon 't , and we hear no more from her . mr. dryden seems to refer to this conduct in his dramatick poesie . he censures the romans for making mutes of their single women . this he calls the breeding of the old elizabeth way , which was for maids to be seen and not to be heard . under favour the old discipline would be very serviceable upon the stage . as matters go , the mutes are much to few . for certainly 't is better to say nothing , than talk out of character , and to ill purpose . to return . the virgin injured by chaerea does nothing but weep , and won't so much as speak her misfortune to the women . but comedy is strangly improved since that time ; for dalinda has a great deal more courage , tho' the loss of her virtue was her own fault . but terence has that regard for women , that he won't so much as touch upon an ill subject before them . thus chremes was ashamed to mention any thing about his sons lewdness when his wife was present . pudet dicere hac praesente verbum turpe . the slaves in this comedian are kept in order and civilly bred . they guard and fence when occasion requires , and step handsomly over a dirty place . the poet did not think littleness and low education a good excuse for ribaldry . he knew infection at the weakest , might seize on some constitutions : besides , the audience was a superior presence , and ought to be considered . for how negligent soever people may'be at home , yet when they come before their betters 't is manners to look wholsom . now tho' plautus might have the richer invention ; terence was always thought the more judicious comedian . his raillery is not only finer , and his stile better polish'd ; but his characters are more just , and he seems to have reach'd farther into life than the other . to take leave of this author , even his serumpets are better behaved than our honest women , than our women of quality of the english stage . bacchis in heautontimoroumenos , and bacchis in hocyra , may serve for example . they are both modest , and converse not unbecoming their sex. thais the most accomplish'd in her way , has a great deal of spirit and wheadling in her character , but talks no smut . thus we see with what caution and sobriety of language terence manages . 't is possible this conduct might be his own modesty , and result from judgment and inclination . but however his fancy stood , he was sensible the coarse way would not do . the stage was then under discipline , the publick censors formidable , and the office of the choragus was originally to prevent the excesses of liberty . to this we may add that nobless had no relish for obscenity ; 't was the ready way to disoblige them . and therefore 't is horaces rule . nec immunda crepent ignominiosaque dicta . ossenduntur enim quibus est equus & pater , & res . the old romans were particularly carefull their women might not be affronted in conversation : for this reason the unmarried kept off from entertainments for fear of learning new language . and in greece no woman above the degree of a slave , was treated abroad by any but relations . 't is probable the old comedy was silenced at athens upon this score , as well as for defamation . for as aristotle observes the new set of comedians were much more modest than the former . in this celebrated republick , if the poets wrote any thing against religion or good manners , they were tryed for their misbehaviour , and lyable to the highest forfeitures . it may not be amiss to observe that there are no instances of debauching married women , in plautus , nor terence , no nor yet in aristophanes . but on our stage how common is it to make a lord , a knight , or an alderman a cuckold ? the schemes of success are beaten out with great variety , and almost drawn up into a science . how many snares are laid for the undermining of virtue , and with what triumph is the victory proclaim'd ? the finess of the plot , and the life of the entertainment often lies in these contrivances . but the romans had a different sence of these matters , and saw thro' the consequences of them . the government was awake upon the theatre , and would not suffer the abuses of honour , and family , to pass into diversion . and before we part with these comedians we may take notice that there are no smutty songs in their plays ; in which the english are extreamly scandalous . now to work up their lewdness with verse , and musick , doubles the force of the mischief . it makes it more portable and at hand , and drives it stronger upon fancy and practice . to dispatch the latins all together . seneca is clean throughout the piece , and stands generally off from the point of love. he has no courting unless in his hercules furens : and here the tyrant lycus addresses megara very briefly , and in modest and remote language . in his thebais , oedipus's incest is reported at large , but without any choaking description . 't is granted phaedra speaks her passion plainly out , and owns the strength of the impression , and is far less prudent than in euripides . but tho' her thoughts appear too freely , her language is under discipline . let us now travel from italy into greece , and take a view of the theatre at athens . in this city the stage had both its beginning and highest improvement . aeschylus was the first who appear'd with any reputation . his genius seems noble , and his mind generous , willing to transfuse it self into the audience , and inspire them with a spirit of bravery . to this purpose his stile is pompous , martial , and enterprizing . there is drum and trumpet in his verse . 't is apt to excite an heroick ardour , to awaken , warm , and push forward to action . but his mettal is not always under management . his inclination for the sublime ; carrys him too far : he is sometimes embarrass'd with epithites . his metaphors are too stiff , and far fetch'd ; and he rises rather in sound , than in sence . however generally speaking , his materials are both shining and solid , and his thoughts lofty , and uncommon . this tragedian had always a nice regard to good manners . he knew corrupting the people was the greatest disservice to the commonwealth ; and that publick ruine was the effect of general debauchery . for this reason he declines the business of amours , and declares expresly against it . now here we can't expect any length of testimony . his aversion to the subject makes him touch very sparingly upon it . but in this case there is no need of much citation . his very omissions are arguments , and his evidence is the stronger for being short . that 〈◊〉 i meet with shall be produced . 1 st . orestes was obliged by the oracle to revenge his fathers death in the murther of his mother . when he was going to kill her , he mentions her cruelty , but waves her adultery . euripides approv'd this reservedness and makes his electra practise it upon the same occasion aeschylus in his next play complements his country with a great deal of address in the persons of the eumenides . they are very gentile and poetical in their civilities : among other things they wish the virgins may all marry and make the country populous : here the poet do's but just glance upon the subject of love ; and yet he governs the expression with such care , that the wishes contain a hint to sobriety , and carry a face of virtue along with them . the double dealer runs riot upon such an occasion as this ; and gives lord touchwood a mixture of smut and pedantry to conclude with , and yet this lord was one of his best characters : but poets are now grown absolute within themselves , and may put sence and quality upon what drudgeries they please . to return . danaus cautions his daughters very handsomly in point of behaviour . they were in a strange country , and had poverty and dependance to struggle with : these were circumstances of danger , and might make him the more pressing . he leaves therefore a solemn charge with them for their security , bids them never to subsist upon infamy , but to prefer their virtue to their life . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . our poets i suppose would call this preaching , and think it a dull business . however i can't forbear saying an honest heathen is none of the worst men : a very indifferent religion well believed , will go a great way . to proceed . sophocles appear'd next upon the stage , and was in earnest an extraordinary person . his conduct is more artificial , and his stile more just , than that of aeschylus . his characters are well drawn , and uniform with themselves : his incidents , are often surprising , and his plots unprecipitated . there is nothing but what is great , and solemn throughout . the reasoning is well coloured . the figures are sometimes bold , but not extravagant . there are no flights of bombast , no towring above nature and possibility : in short , nothing like don sebastians reigning in his atomes . this tragedian like aeschylus does not often concern himself with amours , and when he does , nothing can be more temperate , and decent . for example where the incest of oedipus is described , the offensiveness of the idea is screen'd off and broken by metaphorical and distant expressions . in another play creon resolves to put antigone to death for presuming to bury polynices . this lady and haemon creons son were very far engaged ; haemon endeavours to disswade his father from antigones execution : he tells him the burying her brother tho' against his order , was a popular action . and that the people would resent her being punish'd : but never so much as mentions his own concern unless in one line ; which was so obscure that creon misunderstood him . antigone amongst her other misfortunes laments her dying young and single , but says not one word about haemon . the poet takes care not to bring these two lovers upon the stage together , for fear they might prove unmanagable ? had they been with us , they had met with kinder treatment . they might have had interviews and time and freedom enough . enough to mud their fancy , to tarnish their quality , and make their passion scandalous . in the relation of haemons death , his love is related too , and that with all the life and pathos imaginable . but the description is within the terms of honour : the tendernesses are solemn , as well as soft : they move to pity and concern , and go no farther . in his trachiniae the chorus owns the force of love next to irresistable ; gently hints the intrigues of the gods , and then passes on to a handsome image of the combat between achelous and hercules . we see how lightly the poet touches upon an amorous theme : he glides along like a swallow upon the water , and skims the surface , without dipping a feather . sophocles will afford us no more , let us therefore take a view of euripides . 't is the method of this author to decline the singularities of the stage , and to appear with an air of conversation . he delivers great thoughts in common language , and is dress'd more like a gentleman than a player . his distinction lies in the perspicuity of his stile ; in maxim , and moral reflection ; in his peculiar happiness for touching the passions , especially that of pity : and lastly , in exhausting the cause , and arguing pro and con , upon the streach of reason . so much by way of character . and as for the matter before us he is entirely ours . we have had an instance or two already in electra and phaedra : to go on to the rest . in his hippolitus he calls whoring , stupidness and playing the fool. and to be chast and regular , is with him , as well as with aeschylus , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . as muchas to say 't is the consequence of sence , and right thinking . phaedra when her thoughts were embarrass'd with hippolitus , endeavours to disentangle her self by argument . she declaims with a great deal of satyr against intemperate women ; she concluded rather to die then dishonour her husband and stain her family . the blemishes of parents , as she goes on , often stuck upon their children , and made them appear with disadvantage . upon this , the chorus is transported with the virtue of her resolution and crys out 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . how becoming a quality is modesty in all places . how strangly does it burnish a character , and oblige ones reputation ? the scholiast upon these verses of hippolitus . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , &c. makes this paraphrase . th●… mind should be clean and unsulli●… that the muses being virgins their performances should agree with their condition . to proceed . hermione complains against andromache because she was entertain'd by her husband : for this andromache tells her she talk'd too much for a young woman , and discover'd her opinion too far . achilles at the first sight of clytemnestra , le ts her understand he was as much taken with the sobriety of her air , as with the rest of her fine face and person . she receives the complement kindly , and commends hint for commending modesty . menelaus and helen after a long absence manage the surprize of their good fortune handsomly . the most tender expressions stands clear of ill meaning . had osmin parted with almeria as civilly as these two met , it had been much better . that rant of smut and profainness might have been spared . the reader shall have some of it . o my almeria ; what do the damn'd endure but to despair , but knowing heaven , to know it lost for ever . were it not for the creed , these poets would be crampt in their courtship , and mightily at a loss for a simile ! but osmin is in a wonderful passion . and truly i think his wits , are in some danger , as well as his patience . you shall hear . what are all wracks , and whips , and wheels to this ; are they not soothing softness , sinking ease , and wasting air to this ? sinking ease , and wasting air , i confess are strange comforts ; this comparison is somewhat oddly equip'd , but lovers like sick people may say what they please ! almeria takes this speech for a pattern , and suits it exactly in her return . o i am struck , thy words are bolts of ice ? which shot into my breast now melt and chill me . bolts of ice ? yes most certainly ! for the cold is struck up into her head , as you may perceive by what follows . i chatter , shake , and faint with thrilling fears . by the way 't is a mighty wonder to hear a woman chatter ! but there is no jesting , for the lady is very bad . she won't be held up by any means , but crys out : — lower yet , down down ; one would think she was learning a spanel to sett . but there 's something behind . — no more we 'll lift our eyes , but prone and dumb , rot the firm face of earth , with rivers of incessant scalding rain . these figures are some of them as stiff as statues , and put me in mind of sylvesters dubartas . now when the winters keener breath began to crystallize , the baltick ocean , to glaze the lakes , to bridle up the floods , and periwig with snow the bald pate woods . i take it , the other verses are somewhat of kin to these , and shall leave them to mr. dryden's reflection . but then as for soothing softness , sinking ease , wasting air , thrilling fears , and incessant scalding rain ; it puts me to another stand . for to talk a little in the way of the stage . this litter of epithetes makes the poem look like a bitch overstock'd with puppies , and sucks the sence almost to skin and bone. but all this may pass in a play-house : false rhetorick and false jewells , do well together . to return to euripides . cassandra in reporting the misfortunes of the greeks stops at the adulteries of clytemnestra and aegiala and gives this handsome reason for making a halt . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . foul things are best unsaid , i am for no muse , that loves to flourish on debauchery . some things are dangerous in report , as well as practise , and many times a disease in the description . this euripides was aware of and manag'd accordingly , and was remarkably regular both in stile , and manners . how wretchedly do we fall short of the decencies of heathenism ! there 's nothing more ridiculous than modesty on our stage . 't is counted an ill bred quality , and almost sham'd out of use. one would think mankind were not the same , that reason was to be read backward , and vertue and vice had changed place . what then ? must life be huddled over , nature left imperfect , and the humour of the town not shown ? and pray where lies the grievance of all this ? must we relate whatever is done , and is every thing fit for representation ? is a man that has the plague proper to make a sight of ? and must he needs come abroad when he breaths infection , and leaves the tokens upon the company ? what then must we know nothing ? look you ! all experiments are not worth the making . 't is much better to be ignorant of a disease then to catch it . who would wound himself for information about pain , or smell a stench for the sake of the discovery ? but i shall have occasion to encounter this objection afterwards , * and therefore shall dismiss it at present . the play-house at athens has been hitherto in order , but are there no instances to the contrary ? do's not aristophanes take great liberties and make women speak extraordinary sentences ? he do's so . but his precedent fignifies nothing in the case . for 1 st . we have both the reason of the thing , and all the advantage of authority on the other side . we have the practise and opinion of men of much greater sence , and learning then himself . the best philosophers and poets , criticks and orators , both greek and latin , both antient and modern , give the cause against him . but aristophanes his own plays are sufficient to ruin his authority . for 1 st , he discovers himself a downright atheist . this charge will be easily made good against him by his comparing his nubes with other plays . the design of his nubes was to expose socrates , and make a town jest of him . now this philosopher was not only a person of great sence and probity , but was likewise suppos'd to refine upon the heathen theology , to throw off the fabulous part of it , and to endeavour to bring it back to the standard of natural religion . and therefore justin martyr and some others of the fathers , look'd on him as a person of no pagan belief , and thought he suffer'd for the unity of the god-head . this man aristophanes makes fine sport with as he fancies : he puts him in a fools coat , and then points at him . he makes socrates instruct his disciple strepsiades in a new religion , and tell him that he did not own the gods in the vulgar notion . he brings him in elswhere affirming that the clouds are the only deities . which is the same lash which juvenal gives the jews , because they worship'd but one single soveraign being . nil praeetr nubes & coeli numen adorant . socrates goes on with his lecture of divinity and declares very roundly that there is no such thing as jupiter . afterwards he advances farther , and endeavours to get strepsiades under articles to acknowledge no other gods , but chaos , the clouds , and the tongue . at last the poet brings the philosopher to publick pennance for his singularities . he sets fire to his school for teaching young people ( as he pretends ) to dispute against law and justice ; for advancing atheistick notions , and burlesquing the religion of the country . that socrates was no atheist is clear from instances enough . to mention but one . the confidence he had in his daemon , or genius by which he governed his affairs puts it beyond all dispute . however 't is plain aristophanes was not of his religion . the comedian was by no means for correcting the common perswasion . so that he must either be an orthodox heathen or nothing at all . let us see then with what respect he treats the receiv'd divinities . this play , where one would not expect it , discovers somewhat of his devotion . in the beginning of it phidippides , who was a sort of new-market spark , swears by jocky neptune , that he had a strange kindness for his father strepsiades . upon this the old man replies ; no jocky , if you love me ; that deity has almost undone me . this was making somewhat bold with neptune who was jupiters brother , soveraign of a whole element , and had no less than the third share of the universe ! certainly aristophanes had no venture at sea , or else must think the trident signified but very little . but this is meer ceremony to what follows . in his first play plutus pretends he had a mind to oblige only men of probity , but jupiter had made him blind on purpose that he might not distinguish honest men from knaves : for to be plain jupiter had a pique against good people . towards the end of this comedy mercury is abused by cario , and acts a ridiculous , and lessening part himself . afterwards he complains heavily that since plutus was cured of his blindness , the business of sacrifing fell off , and the gods were ready to starve . this mercury has the same ill usage with the poets , knaves , informers , and lewd women ; from all this stuff put together , his meaning is pretty plain , viz. that religion was no better than an imposture supported by art , and ignorance : and that when men's understandings were awake , and their eyes a little open , they would have more discretion than to be at any expence about the gods. this i take to be part of the moral of his fable . if we look farther into him we shall see more of his mind . his ranae makes merry with theheathen scheme of heaven and hell. here charon and the stygian frogs are brought in comically enough . and that you may understand his opinion more perfectly we are told , that he that bilks his catamite after a sodomitical abuse , is thrown into the common shore of hades . and what company do you think he is lodg'd with ? why with those who perjure themselves , with those who kick their fathers and mothers ? it seems in the poets justice a man might as good be false to his oath , as to his lewdness . to disappoint the stews , is every jot as great a crime ; as to fly in the face of nature , and outrage our parents . his quartering his malefactors thus critically , was without question on purpose to banter the perswasion of future punishment . in the same play xanthias bids aeacus answer him by jove , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . this little scoundrel of a slave has the manners to make jupiters quality no better than his own . to go on with him : in his aves he speaks out to purpose . here pisthetaerus tells epops that if the birds would build a castle in the air , they might intercept the fumes of the sacrifices , and starve the gods unless they would come too , and be tributary . it seems the birds had very good pretences to execute this project ; for they were ancienter than jupiter and saturn , and govern'd before the gods. and to speak truth were more capable of the function . their adviser goes on to inform them , that after they had built their pensile city , and fortifyed the air , their next business was to demand their ancient soveragnity : if jupiter refused to quit , they were to declare a holy war against him , and the rest of the confederate gods , and to cut off the communication between heaven and earth . pisthaeterus grows very warm in his new interest , and swears by jove that men ought to sacrifice to the birds , and not to jupiter . and if things came to a rupture , and jupiter grew troublesome , he undertakes to send a detachement of eagles against him ; with orders to storm his palace with flambeaux , and fire it about his ears . at last to prevent the calamities of a war , hercules proposes an accomodation , and is willing jupiter should resign . neptune calls him a block-head for his pains , because he was heir at law , and after jupiters decease was of course to succeed in his dominions : once more , and i have done : in eirene , trygaeus speaks in a menacing way . that unless jupiter gave him satisfaction in his business , he would inform against him as a disaffected person , and a betrayer of the liberties of greece . i might add many other instances , and some more scandalous than any i have mentioned ; but these are sufficient to shew the authors sentiment : and is it any wonder an atheist should misbehave himself in point of modesty ? what can we expect less from those who laugh at the being of a god , at the doctrines of providence , and the distinctions of good and evil ? a sceptick has no notion of conscience ; no relish for virtue , nor is under any moral restraints from hope or fear . such a one has nothing to do but to consult his ease , and gratifie his vanity , and fill his pocket . but how these ends are compassed , he has no squeamishness , or scruples about it . 't is true when the methods of lewdness will take , they are generally most agreeable . this way suits their talent , and screens their practise , and obliges their malice . for nothing is a greater eye-sore to these men , then virtue and regularity . what a pleasure is it then to be admired for mischeif , to be reveng'd on religion , and to see vice prosper and improve under our hands ! to return : beside aristophanes ; atheisme , i have a second objection to his authority , and that is want of judgment . if we examine his plays we shall find his characters improper , or ununiform ; either wrong at first , or unsteady in the right . for the purpose . in his nubes . a. 3. s. 3. p. 146. 150. he puts dirty expressions in the mouth of his man of probity , makes him declaim vitiously against vice , and corrects scurrility with impudence ; now what can be more idle and senceless , than such conduct as this ? epecially when this justus as he calls him had told them in the beginning of his speech , that people used to be well slash'd for such fooling , when government and discipline were in their due force . the chorus of his ranae slides into the same inconsistency of precept , and practise . farther , in the progress of this play ; aeschylus falls a rallying contrary to his humour , and jests away his own arguments at a very unseasonable juncture , when he was disputing for no less prize than the laureatship . this tragedian after he had play'd a little with the story of bellerophon , goes on in the same strain ; and charges euripides that he had furnish'd all sorts of people with saweiness and prattle . the schools and academies were spoil'd by this means ; so that the boys were often whip'd , aud the boatswains drubb'd , for their chattering . these comical levities come with an ill grace from aeschylus . his character was quite different both in reality , and in the play before us . he is all along represented as a person of a serious temper , of a reserv'd loftiness , cholerick , and tender of his honour to an excess , and almost in a rage at the affront of a rival , and being forc'd to enter the lists with euripides . the case standing thus , neither the man , nor the business , would admit of drolling . another instance of his want of conduct we have in his concianotores . here blepyrus and some others of his legislative assembly , talk at a very dirty insipid rate . the lowest of the mob , can hardly jest with less wit , and more lewdness . and to make their discourse more remarkable ; these douty members were just going to the house , and had their heads full of the good of the nation , when they entertain'd themselves thus decently . and are these little buffoons fit to consult de arduis régni , &c. to give authority to law , and rules for publick life ? do's ribaldry and nonsence become the dignity of their station , and the solemnity of their office ? to make his parliament-men play the fool thus egregiously , must needs have a great deal of decorum , and state-policy in the contrivance ; and is just as wise as if a painter should have drawn them in the habit of jack-puddings , and merry-andrews . but aristophanes has still higher flights of absurdity . he won't so much as spare the gods but makes them act these little parts of clownishness and infamy . bacchus and hercules in his ranae are forced to talk smut and rally like link-boys , and do almost all the tricks of bartholomew-fair . to mention something that will bear the quoting . bacchus enquires of hercules the readiest way to hades , or the other world. he bids him either hang , or poyson himself , and he can't miss the road. this is hercules's humour to a tittle ! and represents him as much to the life , as an ape would do the grand signior at a publick audience ! this with a short sentence or two of lewdness , is the hardest of hercules his usage : and 't is well he escaped so ; for bacchus is treated much worse . he appears under the disadvantages of a clownish debaush , and a coward . and is terribly afraid of a spectre . when he comes before aeacus , this judge is very rough with him ; and tries his pretences to a deity by bastinado : bacchus howls in the drubbing and had almost spoil'd all . now do's this paultry behaviour agree with the heathen theology , with the common opinion concerning bacchus and hercules ? do's a blew-cap and a ladle , become the sons of jupiter and the objects of religious worship ? those who at the lowest , were counted the conquerors of the world , and more than men both by birth and enterprizes ? sophocles and euripides make these two persons manage at a quite different rate of decency . 't is no defence to say aristophanes wrot comedy , and so was obliged to make his scenes more diverting . this excuse i say is defective ; for a comedian ought to imitate life and probability , no less than a tragedian . to metomorphose characters , and present contradictions to common belief , is to write , farce instead of plays . such comedians like thespis ought to have a travelling stage , and take the air with porcupines and dromedaryes . if 't is said that gravity and greatness do's not suit the complection and entertainment of comedy . to this i answer , that therefore the persons should be chosen accordingly . they should have nothing in their known humour , and condition too noble , and solemn for trifling . 't is horaces advice . aut famam sequere , aut convenientia finge scriptor . de. art. poet. let us remember that operations always resemble the nature from whence they flow . great persons should therefore have a correspondent behaviour assign'd them . to make beings much superior to the biggest of mankind , talk below the least , is absurd and ridicules . this aristophanes seems sensible of in his defence of aeschylus . here euripides objects to aeschylus , that he was too rumbling , noisy , and bombastick , over affecting that which horace calls ampullas , & sesquipedalia verba . to this aeschylus answers , that the thoughts , and designs of heroes must be deliver'd in expressions proportioned to their greatness . it being likely that the demi-gods spoke up to their dignity and stature : and as they were distinguish'd by the richness of their habit , so they had a more magnificent language than other mortals . to this euripides replys nothing ; from whence you may conclude the poet thought the apology not unreasonable . in short aristophanes had sense but he does not always use it . he is not equal , and uniforme . sometimes you have him flat and foolish a good while together . and where he has spirit , 't is oftentimes lavished away to little purpose . his buffoonery is commonly too strong for his judgment . this makes him let sly his jests without regard to person or occasion : and thus by springing the game too soon , the diversion is lost . i could make several other material objections against the conduct of his plays ; but this being not necessary i shall observe in the 3 d. place . that notwithstanding the scandalous liberty for which aristophanes is so remarkable ; yet in his lucid intervalls , when sence and sobriety return upon him , he pronounces against his own practise . in the contest between aeschylus and euripides , bacchus is made the umpire of the controversie . aeschylus begins with a question , and asks euripides what 't is which makes a poet admired ? he answers . 't is for the address of his conduct , and the handsome turns of morality in his poems . 't is because his performance has a tendency to form the audience to virtue , and improvement . aeschylus demands of him farther ; but suppose you debauched the age , and made an honest and a brave people lewd , and good for nothing , what do you deserve then ? here bacchus interposes , and crys out , what does he deserve ? a halter ! pray don't ask so plain a question . and afterwards we are told , that poets are valuable only for describing things useful , in life and religion , for polishing inventions , and setting off great examples with lustre , and advantage . in the progress of the dispute , aeschylus taxes euripides with being too uncautious in his representations ; and tells him that poets ought to conceal that which is vicious in story ; and entertain with nothing but virtue , and sobriety : he goes on reprimanding euripides for his dramatick incests , strumpets , and amours : and as for himself , to his best remembrance , he never brought any love-intrigues upon the stage . this is very significant expostulation : and contains very good rules for the trial of the muses : but if the english stage , should be obliged to this test ; aristophanes must set fire to it , and that with much more reason than to socrates his school . now that aeschylus spoke aristophanes's sense is pretty plain : for first ; as to the business of love , aristophanes always declines it ; he never patches up a play with courtship , and whining , tho' he wrote nothing but comedy . in the next place the chorus which is usually the poets interpreter , speaks honourably of aeschylus even to a preference ; and at last judge bacchus gives sentence for him . thus we see aristophanes confutes his own lewdness , and comes in evidence against himself . this with the other two exceptions i have made good against him , are sufficient to take off the force of the precedent , and make him an insignificant authority . to what i have observ'd from the stage of the antients , i could add the authorities of aristotle , and quintilian , both extraordinary persons , but i shall reserve their testimony till afterwards . to come home , and near our own times : the english theatre from queen elizabeth to king charles ii. will afford us something not inconsiderable to our purpose . as for shakespear , he is too guilty to make an evidence : but i think he gains not much by his misbehaviour ; he has commonly plautus's fate , where there is most smut , there is least sense . ben. johnson is much more reserv'd in his plays , and declares plainly for modesty in his discoveries , some of his words are these . a just writer whom he calls a true artificer , will avoid obscene and effeminate phrase . where manners and fashions are corrupted , language is so too . the excess of feasts and apparel , are the notes of a sick state , and the wantonness of language of a sick mind . a little after he returns to the argument , and applies his reasoning more particularly to the stage . poetry , ( says he ) and picture , both behold pleasure , and profit , as their common object , but should abstain from all base pleasures , least they should wholly err from their end ; and while they seek to better men's minds , destroy their manners , insolent and obscene speeches , and jests upon the best men , are most likely to excite laughter . but this is truly leaping from the stage to the tumbrill again , reducing all wit to the original dung-cart . more might be cited to this purpose , but that may serve for an other occasion : in the mean time i shall go on to beaumont and fletcher . fletchers faithfull shepheardess is remarkably moral , and a sort of exhortation to chastity . this play met with ill judges , 't was hiss'd before half acted , and seems to have suffer'd on the account of its innocence . soon after ben. johnson and beaumont appear justifying the author in a copy of verses . and as beaumont commends modesty in fletcher , so he is commended himself by mr. earl for the same quality . such passions , such expressions meet my eye , such wit untainted with obscenity . and as i remember jasper main has some stroaks to the same purpose . fletcher is still more full for the cause . indeed nothing can be more express . he delivers himself by way of prologue ; where the poet speaks in his own person . the prologue to the woman-hater , very frankly lets the audience know what they are to expect . if there be any amongst you , ( says he ) that come to hear lascivious scenes , let them depart ; for i do pronounce this , to the utter discomfort of all two-penny gallery men , you shall no bawdry in it . we find in those days smut was the expectation of a coarse palate , and relish'd by none but two-penny customers . in the knight of the burning pestle , part of the prologue runs thus . they were banish'd the theatre at athens , and from rome hiss'd , that brought parasites on the stage with apish actions , or fools with uncivil habits , or courtezans with immodest words . afterwards prologue , who represents a person , gives us more to the same purpose . — — fly far from hence all private taxes , immodest phrases , whatever may but look like vitious . for wicked mirth , never true pleasure brings ; for honest minds , are pleas'd with honest things . i have quoted nothing but comedy in this author . the coronation is another . and the prologue tells you there is no undermirth such as does lard the scene , for coarse delight , the language here is clean , and confident our poet bad me say , he 'll bate you but the folly of a play. for which altho' dull souls his pen despise ; who think it yet too early to be wise . the nobles yet will thank his muse , at least excuse him , cause his thought aim'd at the best . thus these poets are in their judgments clearly ours . 't is true their hand was not always steady . but thus much may be aver'd , that fletcher's later plays are the most inoffensive . this is either a sign of the poets reformation ; or that the exceptionable passages belong'd to beaumont , who dyed first . to these authorities of our own nation , i shall add a considerable testimony out of mr. corneille . this author was sensible that tho' the expression of his theodore was altogether unsmutty , yet the bare idea of prostitution uneffected , shock'd the audience , and made the play miscarry . the poet protests he took great care to alter the natural complexion of the image , and to convey it decently to the fancy ; and deliver'd only some part of the history as inoffensively as possible . and after all his screening and conduct , the modesty of the audience would not endure that little , the subject forced him upon . he is positive ' the comedies st. augustine declaim'd against , were not such as the french. for theirs are not spectacles of turpitude , as that father justly calls those of his time. the french generally speaking , containing nothing but examples of innocence , piety and vertue . in this citation we have the opinion of the poet , the practise of the french theatre , and the sense of that nation , and all very full to our purpose . to conclude this chapter . by what has been offer'd , it appears that the present english stage is superlatively scandalous . it exceeds the liberties of all times and countries : it has not so much as the poor plea of a precedent , to which most other ill things may claim a pretence . 't is mostly meer discovery and invention : a new world of vice found out , and planted with all the industry imaginable . aristophanes himself , how bad soever in other respects , does not amplyfie , and flourish , and run through all the topicks of lewdness like these men. the miscellany poems are likewise horribly licentious . they are sometimes collections from antiquity , and osten , the worst parts of the worst poets . and to mend the matter , the christian translation , is more nauseous than the pagan original . such stuff i believe was never seen , and suffer'd before . in a word , if poverty and diseases , the dishonour of families , and the debauching of kingdoms , are such valuable advantages , then i confess these books deserve encouragement . but if the case is otherwise , i humbly conceive the proceeding should be so too . chap. ii. the profaness of the stage . an other instance of the disorders of the stage is their profaness : this charge may come under these two particulars . 1st . their cursing and swearing . 2dly . their abuse of religion and holy scripture . 1st their cursing and swearing . what is more frequent then their wishes of hell , and confusion , devils and diseases , all the plagues of this world , and the next , to each other ? and as for swearing ; 't is used by all persons , and upon all occasions : by heroes , and paltroons ; by gentlemen , and clowns : love , and quarrels , success , and disappointment , temper , and passion , must be varnish'd , and set off with oaths . at some times , and with some poets swearing is no ordinary relief . it stands up in the room of sense , gives spirit to a flat expression , and makes a period musical and round . in short , 't is almost all the rhetorick , and reason some people are masters of : the manner of performance is different . some times they mince the matter ; change the letter , and keep the sense , as if they had a mind to steal a swearing , and break the commandement without sin. at another time the oaths are clipt , but not so much within the ring , but that the image and superscription are visible . these expedients , i conceive are more for variety , then conscience : for when the fit comes on them , they make no difficulty of swearing at length . instances of all these kinds may be met with in the old batchelour , double dealer , and love for love. and to mention no more , don quixot , the provok'd wife , and the relapse , are particularly rampant and scandalous . the english stage exceed their predecessors in this , as well as other branches of immorality . shakespear is comparatively sober , ben jonson is still more regular ; and as for beaument and fletcher , in their plays they are commonly profligate persons that swear , and even those are reprov'd for 't . besides , the oaths are not so full of hell and defiance , as in the moderns . so much for matter of fact : and as for point of law , i hope there needs not many words to prove swearing a sin : for what is more provoking than contempt , and what sin more contemptuous than common swearing ? what can be more insolent and irreligious , than to bring in god to attest our trifles , to give security for our follies , and to make part of our diversion ? to play with majesty and omnipotence in this manner , is to render it cheap and despicable . how can such customes as these consist with the belief of providence or revelation ? the poets are of all people most to blame . they want even the plea of bullies and sharpers . there 's no rencounters , no starts of passion , no suddain accidents to discompose them . they swear in solitude and cool blood , under thought and deliberation , for business , and for exercise : this is a terrible circumstance ; it makes all malice prepence , and enflames the guilt , and the reckoning . and if religion signifies nothing , ( as i am afraid it does with some people ) there is law , as well as gospel against swearing . 3 d , jac. 1. cap. 21. is expresly against the playhouse . it runs thus . for the preventing and avoiding of the great abuse of the holy name of god , in stage plays , enterludes &c. be it enacted by out vereign lord &c. that if at any time , or times , after the end of this present session of parliament ; any person or persons do , or shall , in any stage play , enterlude , shew &c. ieastingly or profanly , speak or use the holy name of god , or of christ jesus , or of the holy ghost , or of the trinity , which are not to be spoken , but with fear and reverence ; shall forfeit for every such offence , by him or them committed , ten pounds : the one mosty thereof to the king's majesty , his heirs ; and successors , the other mosty thereof to him , or them , that will sue for the same in any court of record at westminster , wherein no essoin , protection , or wager of law shall be allow'd . by this act not only direct swearing , but all vain invocation of the name of god is forbidden . this statute well executed would mend the poets , or sweep the box : and the stage must either reform , or not thrive upon profaness . 3 dly swearing in the playhouse is an ungentlemanly , as well as an unchristian practice . the ladies make a considerable part of the audience . now swearing before women is reckon'd a breach of good behaviour , and therefore a civil atheist will forbear it . the custom seems to go upon this presumption ; that the impressions of religion are strongest in women , and more generally spread . and that it must be very disagreeable to them , to hear the majesty of god treated with so little respect . besides : oaths are a boistrous and tempestiuous sort of conversation ; generally the effects of passion , and spoken with noise , and heat . swearing looks like the beginning of a quarrel , to which women have an aversion : as being neither armed by nature , nor disciplin'd by custome for such rough disputes . a woman will start at a soldiers oath , almost as much as at the report of his pistol : and therefore a well bred man will no more swear , than fight in the company of ladies . a second branch of the profaness of the stage is their abuse of religion , and holy scripture . and here sometimes they don't stop short of blasphemy . to cite all that might be collected of this kind would be tedious . i shall give the reader enough to justifie the charge , and i hope to abhor the practice . to begin with the mock-astrologer . in the first act the scene is a chappel ; and that the use of such consecrated places may be the better understood , the time is taken up in courtship , raillery , and ridiculing devotion . jacinta takes her turn among the rest . she interrupts theodosia , and cries out : why sister , sister — will you pray ? what injury have i ever done you that you pray in my company ? wildblood swears by mahomet , rallies smuttily upon the other world , and gives the preference to the turkish paradise ! this gentleman to incourage jacinta to a complyance in debauchery , tells her heaven is all eyes and no tongue . that is , it sees wickedness but conceals it . he courts much at the same rate a little before . when a man comes to a great lady , he is fain to approach her with fear , and reverence , methinks there 's something of godliness in 't . here you have the scripture burlesqu'd , and the pulpit admonition apply'd to whoring . afterwards jacinta out of her great breeding and christianity , swears by alla , and mahomet , and makes a jest upon hell. wildblood tells his man that such undesigning rogues as he , make a drudge of poor providence . and maskall to show his proficiency under his masters , replies to bellamy , who would have had him told a lie. sir upon the faith of a sinner you have had my last lie already . i have not one more to do me credit , as i hope to be saved sir. in the close of the play , they make sport with apparitions and fiends . one of the devils sneezes , upon this they give him the blessing of the occasion , and conclude he has got cold by being too long out of the fire . the orphan lays the scene in christendom , and takes the same care of religion . castalio complements his mistress to adoration . no tongue my pleasure and my pain can tell : 't is heaven to have thee , and without thee hell. polydor when upon the attempt to debauch monimia puts up this ejaculation . blessed heaven assist me but in this dear hour : thus the stage worships the true god in blasphemy , as the lindians did hercules by cursing and throwing stones . this polydor has another flight of profaness , but that has got a certain protection , and therefore must not be disturb'd . in the old batchelour , vain-love asks belmour , could you be content to go to heaven ? bell. hum , not immediatly in my conscence , not heartily . — this is playing i take it with edge-tools . to go to heaven in jeast , is the way to go to hell in earnest . in the fourth act , lewdness is represented with that gaity , as if the crime was purely imaginary , and lay only in ignorance and preciseness . have you throughly consider'd ( says fondlewife ) how detestable , how heinous , and how crying a sin the sin of adultery is ? have you weighed i say ? for it is a very weighty sin : and altho' it may lie — yet thy husband must also bear his part ; for thy iniquity will fall on his head. i suppose this fit of buffoonry and profaness , was to settle the conscience of young beginners , and to make the terrors of religion insignificant . bellmour desires laetitia to give him leave to swear by her eyes and her lips : he kisses the strumpet , and tells her , eternity was in that moment . laetitia is horibly profane in her apology to her husband ; but having the stage-protection of smut for her guard , we must let her alone . fondlewife stalks under the same shelter , and abuses a plain text of scripture to an impudent meaning . a little before , laetitia when her intrigue with bellmour was almost discover'd , supports her self with this consideration . all my comfort lies in his impudence , and heaven be prais'd , he has a considerable portion . this is the play-house grace , and thus lewdness is made a part of devotion ! ther 's another instance still behind : 't is that of sharper to vain-love , and lies thus . i have been a kind of god father to you , yonder : i have promis'd and vow'd something in your name , which i think you are bound to perform . for christians to droll upon their baptism is somewhat extraordinary ; but since the bible can't escape , 't is the less wonder to make bold with the catechisme . in the double dealer , lady plyant cries out jesu and talks smut in the same sentence . sr. paul plyant whom the poet dub'd a fool when he made him a knight , talks very piously ! blessed be providence , a poor unworthy sinner , i am mightily beholden to providence : and the same word is thrice repeated upon an odd occasion . the meaning must be that providence is a ridiculous supposition , and that none but blockheads pretend to religion . but the poet can discover himself farther if need be . lady froth is pleas'd to call jehu a hackney coachman . upon this , brisk replies , if jehu was a hackney coachman , i am answer'd — you may put that into the marginal notes tho' , to prevent criticisms — only mark it with a small asterisme and say , — jehu was formerly a hackney coachman . this for a heavy piece of prosaness , is no doubt thought a lucky one , because it burlesques the text , and the comment , all under one . i could go on with the double dealer but he 'll come in my way afterwards , and so i shall part with him at present . let us now take a veiw of don sebastian . and here the reader can't be long unfurnish'd . dorax shall speak first . shall i trust heaven with my revenge ? then where 's my satisfaction ? no , it must be my own , i scorn a proxy . but dorax was a renegado , what then ? he had renounc'd christianity , but not providence . besides ; such hideous sentences ought not to be put in the mouth of the devil . for that which is not fit to be heard , is not fit to be spoken . but to some peoplean atheistical rant is as good as a flourish of trumpets . to proceed . antonio tho' a profess'd christian , mends the matter very little . he is looking on a lot which he had drawn for his life : this proving unlucky , after the preamble of a curse or two , he calls it , as black as hell , an other lucky saying ! i think the devils in me : — good again , i cannot speak one syllable but tends to death or to damnation . thus the poet prepares his bullies for the other world ! hell and damnation are strange entertaining words upon the stage ! were it otherwise , the sense in these lines , would be almost as bad as the conscience . the poem warms and rises in the working : and the next flight is extreamly remarkable : not the last sounding could surprize me more , that summons drowsy mortals to their doom , when call'd in hast they fumble for their limbs : very solemnly and religiously express'd ! lucian and celsus could not have ridiculed the resurrection better ! certainly the poet never expects to be there . such a light turn would have agreed much better to a man who was in the dark , and was feeling for his stockings . but let those who talk of fumbling for their limbs , take care they don't find them too fast . in the fourth act mustapha dates his exaltation to tumult , from the second night of the month abib . thus you have the holy text abused by captain tom ; and the bible torn by the rabble ! the design of this liberty i can't understand , unless it be to make mustapha as considerable as moses ; and the prevalence of a tumult , as much a miracle as the deliverance out of aegypt . we have heard this author hitherto in his characters , let us hear him now in his own person . in his dedication of aurenge zebe he is so hardy as to affirm that he who is too lightly reconciled after high provocation , may recommend himself to the world for a christian , but i should hardly trust him for a friend . and why is a christian not fit to make a friend of ? are the principles of christianity defective , and the laws of it ill contriv'd ? are the interests and capacities of mankind overlook'd ? did our great master bind us to disadvantage , and make our duty our misfortune ? and did he grudge us all the pleasures and securities of friendship ? are not all these horrid suppositions ? are they not a flat contradiction to the bible , and a satyr on the attributes of the deity ? our saviour tells us we must forgive until seventy times seven ; that is , we must never be tired out of clemency and good nature . he has taught us to pray for the forgiveness of our own sins , only upon the condition of forgiving others . here is no exception upon the repetition of the fault , or the quality of the provocation . mr. dryden to do him right , do's not dispute the precept . he confesses this is the way to be a christian : but for all that he should hardly trust him for a friend . and why so ? because the italian proverb says , he that forgives the second time is a fool. this lewd proverb comes in for authority , and is a piece of very pertinent blasphemy ! thus in some peoples logick one proof from atheisin , is worth ten from the new testament . but here the poet argues no better than he believes . for most certainly , a christian of all others is best qualifyed for friendship . for he that loves his neighbour as himself , and carries benevolence and good nature beyond the heights of philosophy : he that is not govern'd by vanity , or design ; he that prefers his conscience to his life , and has courage to maintain his reason ; he that is thus qualified must be a good friend ; and he that falls short , is no good christian . and since the poet is pleas'd to find fault with christianity , let us examine his own scheme . our minds ( says he ) are perpetually wrought on by the temperament of our bodies , which makes me suspect they are nearer allyed than either our philosophers , or school divines will allow them to be . the meaning is , he suspects our souls are nothing but organiz'd matter . or in plain english , our souls are nothing but our bodies . and then when the body dies you may guess what becomes of them ! thus the authorities of religion are weaken'd , and the prospect of the other world almost shut up . and is this a likely supposition for sincerity and good nature ? do's honour use to rise upon the ruines of conscience ? and are people the best friends where they have the least reason to be so ? but not only the inclinations to friendship must languish upon this scheme , but the very powers of it are as it were destroy'd . by this systeme no man can say his soul is his own . he can't be assured the same colours of reason and desire will last . any little accident from without may metamorphose his fancy , and push him upon a new set of thoughts . matter and motion are the most humorsom capricious things in nature ; and withall , the most arbitrary and uncontroll'd . and can constancy proceed from chance , choice from fate , and virtue from necessity ? in short a man at this rate must be a friend or an enemy in spite of his teeth , and just as long as the atoms please and no longer . every change in figure and impulse , must alter the idea , and wear off the former impression . so that by these principles , friendship will depend on the seasons , and we must look in the weather glass for our inclinations . but this 't is to refine upon revelation , and grow wiser than wisdom ! the same author in his dedication of juvenal and persius , has these words : my lord , i am come to the last petition of abraham ; if there be ten righteous lines in this vast preface , spare it for their sake ; and also spare the next city because it is but a little one . here the poet stands for abraham ; and the patron for god almighty : and where lies the wit of all this ? in the decency of the comparison ? i doubt not . and for the next city he would have spared , he is out in the allusion . 't is no zoar , but much rather sodom and gomorrah , let them take care the fire and brimstone does not follow : and that those who are so bold with abraham's petition , are not forced to that of dives . to beg protection for a lewd book in scripture phrase , is very extraordinary ! 't is in effect to prostitute the holy rhetorick , and send the bible to the brothell ! i can hardly imagin why these tombs of antiquity were raked in , and disturb'd ? unless it were to conjure up a departed vice , and revive the pagan impurities : unless it were to raise the stench of the vault , and poyson the living with the dead . indeed juvenal has a very untoward way with him in some of his satyrs . his pen has such a libertine stroak that 't is a question whether the practise , or the reproof , the age , or the author , were the more licentious . he teaches those vices he would correct , and writes more like a pimp , than a poet. and truly i think there is but little of lewdness lost in the translation . the sixth and eleventh satyrs are particularly remarkable . such nauseous stuff is almost enough to debauch the alphabet , and make the language scandalous . one would almost be sorry for the privilege of speech , and the invention of letters , to see them thus wretchedly abused . and since the business must be undertaken , why was not the thought blanched , the expression made remote , and the ill features cast into shadows ? i 'm mistaken if we have not lewdness enough of our own growth , without importing from our neighbours . no. this can't be . an author must have right done him and be shown in his own shape , and complexion . yes by all means ! vice must be disrobed , and people poyson'd , and all for the sake of justice ! to do right to such an author is to burn him . i hope modesty is much better than resemblance . the imitation of an ill thing is the worse for being exact : and sometimes to report a fault is to repeat it . to return to his plays . in love triumphant , garcia makes veramond this compliment : may heaven and your brave son , and above all , your own prevailing genius guard your age. what is meant by his genius , in this place , is not easy to discover , only that 't is something which is a better guard than heaven . but 't is no matter for the sense , as long as the profaness is clear . in this act , colonel sancho lets carlos know the old jew is dead , which he calls good news . carl. what jew ? sanch. why the rich jew my father , he is gone to the bosom , of abraham his father , and i his christian son am left sole heir . a very mannerly story ! but why does the poet acquaint us with sanchos religion ? the case is pretty plain : 't is to give a lustre to his profaness , and make him burlesque st. luke with the better grace . alphonso complains to victoria that nature doats with age. his reason is , because brother and sister can't marry as they did at first : 't is very well ! we know what nature means in the language of christianity , and especially under the notion of a law-giver . alphonso goes on , and compares the possession of incestuous love to heaven . yes , 't is eternity in little. it seems lovers must be distracted or there 's no diversion . a flight of madness like a faulcons lessening , makes them the more gaz'd at ! i am now coming to some of the poets divinity . and here vengeance is said to be so sweet a morsel , that heaven reserves it for its proper tast. this belike is the meaning of those texts , that god is good and gracious , and slow to anger , and does not willingly afflict the children of men ! from expounding the bible he goes to the common prayer . and as carlos interprets the office of matrimony , for better ; for worse , is for virgin for whore ; and that the reference might not be mistaken , the poet is careful to put the words in italick , and great letters . and by the way , he falls under the penalty of the statute for depraving the common prayer . sancho upon reading a letter which he did not like , cries damn it , it must be all orthodox . damn and orthodox clapt together , make a lively rant , because it looks like cursing the creed . the most extraordinary passage is behind ; sancho was unhappily married : carlos tells him , for your comfort , marriage they say is holy. sancho replies : ay , and so is martyrdom as they say , but both of them are good for just nothing , but to make an end of a mans life . i shall make no reflections upon this : there needs no reading upon a monster : 't is shown enough by its own deformity . love for love has a strain like this , and therefore i shall put them together : scandal solicits mrs. foresight ; she threatens to tell her husband . he replys , he will die a martyr rather then disclaim his passion . here we have adultery dignified with the stile of martyrdom : as if 't was as honourable to perish in defence of whoring , as to dye for the faith of christianity . but these martyrs will be a great while in burning , and therefore let no body strive to grace the adventure , or encrease the number . and now i am in this play the reader shall have more . jeremy who was bred at the university , calls the natural inclinations to eating and drinking , whoreson appetites . this is strange language ! the manicheans who made creation the work of the devil , could scarcely have been thus coarse . but the poet was jeremy's tutor , and so that mystery is at an end . sr. samson carries on the expostulation , rails at the structure of human bodies , and says , nature has been provident only to bears , and spiders ; this is the authors paraphrase on the 139 psalm ; and thus he gives god thanks for the advantage of his being ! the play advances from one wickedness to another , from the works of god , to the abuse of his word . foresight confesses 't is natural for men to mistake . scandal replies , you say true , man will err , meer man will err — but you are something more — there have been wise men ; but they were such as you — men who consulted the stars , and were observers of omens — solomon was wise but how ? — by his judgment in astrology . 't is very well ! solomon and foresight had their understandings qualified alike . and pray what was foresight ? why an illiterate fellow . a pretender to dreams , astrology , palmistry &c. this is the poets account of solomon's supernatural knowledge ! thus the wisest prince is dwindled into a gypsie ! and the glorious miracle resolved into dotage , and figure-flinging ! scandal continues his banter , and says , the wise men of the east owed their instruction to a star ; which is rightly observ'd by gregory the great in favour of astrology . this was the star which shone at our saviour's birth . now who could imagine by the levity of the occasion , that the author thought it any better than an ignis fatuus , or sydrophel's kite in hudibras ? sr. sampson and the fine angelica , after some lewd raillery continue the allegory , and drive it up into profaness . for this reason the citation must be imperfect . sr. samps . sampson 's a very good name for — your sampsons were strong dogs from the beginning . angel. have a care — if you remember the strongest sampson of your name , pull'd an old house over his head at last . here you have the sacred history burlesqu'd , and sampson once more brought into the house of dagon , to make sport for the philistines ! to draw towards an end of this play. tattle would have carried off valentine's mistress . this later , expresses his resentment in a most divine manner ! tattle i thank you , you would have interposed between me and heaven , but providence has laid purgatory in your way . thus heaven is debas'd into an amour , and providence brought in to direct the paultry concerns of the stage ! angelica concludes much in the same strain . men are generally hypocrites and infidels , they pretend to worship , but have neither zeal , nor faith ; how few like valentine would persevere unto martyrdom ? &c. here you have the language of the scriptures , and the most solemn instances of religion , prostituted to courtship and romance ! here you have a mistress made god almighty , ador'd with zeal and faith , and worship'd up to martyrdom ! this if 't were only for the modesty , is strange stuff for a lady to say of her self . and had it not been for the profane allusion , would have been cold enough in all conscience . the provok'd wife furnishes the audience with a drunken atheistical catch : 't is true this song is afterwards said to be full of sin and impudence . but why then was it made ? this confession is a miserable salvo ; and the antidote is much weaker than the poyson : 't is just as if a man should set a house in a flame , and think to make amends by crying fire in the streets . in the last act rasor makes his discovery of the plot against belinda in scripture phrase . i 'le give it the reader in the authors dialogue . belind. i must know who put you upon all this mischief . rasor . sathan and his equipage . woman tempted me , lust weaken'd , — and so the devil overcame me : as fell adam so fell i. belind. then pray mr. adam will you make us acquainted with your eve ? rasor unmasks madamoselle and says , this is the woman that tempted me : but this is the serpent ( meaning lady fanciful ) that tempted the woman ; and if my prayers might be heard , her punishment for so doing should be like the serpents of old , &c. this rasor in what we hear of him before , is all roguery , and debauch : but now he enters in sackcloth , and talks like tribulation in the alchemist . his character is chang'd to make him the more profane ; and his habit , as well as discourse , is a jest upon religion . i am forced to omit one line of his confession . the design of it is to make the bible deliver an obscene thought : and because the text would not bend into a lewd application ; he alters the words for his purpose , but passes it for scripture still . this sort of entertainment is frequent in the relapse . lord foplington laughs at the publick solemnities of religion , as if 't was a ridiculous piece of ignorance , to pretend to the worship of a god. he discourses with berinthia and amanda in this manner : why faith madam , — sunday is a vile day , i must confess . a man must have very little to do at church that can give an account of the sermon . and a little after : to mind the prayers or the sermon , is to mind what one should not do . lory tells young fashion , i have been in a lamentable fright ever since that conscience had the impudence to intrude into your company . his master makes him this comfortable answer . be at peace , it will come no more : — i have kick'd it down stairs . a little before he breaks out into this rapture . now conscience i defie thee ! by the way we may observe , that this young fashion is the poets favorite . berinthia and worthy , two characters of figure , determine the point thus in defence of pimping . berinth . well , i would be glad to have no bodies sins to answer for but my own . but where there is a necessity — worth. right as you say , where there is a necessity ; a christian is bound to help his neighbour . nurse , after a great deal of profanestuff concludes her expostulation in these words : but his worship ( young fashion ) over-flows with his mercy and his bounty ; he is not only pleas'd to forgive us our sins — but which is more than all , has prevail'd with me to become the wife of thy bosom : this is very heavy , and ill dress'd . and an atheist must be sharp set to relish it . the vertuous amanda makes no scruple to charge the bible with untruths . — what slippery stuff are men compos'd of ? sure the account of their creation's false , . and 't was the womans rib that they were form'd of . thus this lady abuses her self , together with the scripture , and shews her sense , and her religion , to be much of a size . berinthia , after she has given in a scheme for the debauching amanda , is thus accosted by worthy : thou angel of light , let me fall down and adore thee ! a most seraphick compliment to a procuress ! and 't is possible some angel or other , may thank him for 't in due time . i am quite tired with these wretched sentences . the sight indeed is horrible , and i am almost unwilling to shew it . however they shall be produced like malefactors , not for pomp , but execution . snakes and vipers , must sometimes be look'd on , to destroy them . i can't forbear expressing my self with some warmth under these provocations . what christian can be unconcern'd at such intolerable abuses ? what can be a juster reason for indignation than insolence and atheism ? resentment can never be better shown , nor aversion more seasonably executed ! nature made the ferment and rising of the blood , for such occasions as this. on what unhappy times are we fallen ! the oracles of truth , the laws of omnipotence , and the fate of eternity are laught at and despis'd ! that the poets should be suffer'd to play upon the bible , and christianity be hooted off the stage ! christianity that from such feeble beginings made so stupendious a progress ! that over-bore all the oppositions of power , and learning ; and with twelve poor men , outstretch'd the roman empire . that this glorious religion so reasonable in its doctrine , so well attested by miracles , by martyrs , by all the evidence that fact is capable of , should become the diversion of the town , and the scorn of buffoons ! and where , and by whom is all this out-rage committed ? why not by julian , or porphirie , not among turks or heathens , but in a christian country , in a reform'd church , and in the face of authority ! well! i perceive the devil was a saint in his oracles , to what he is in his plays . his blasphemies are as much improv'd as his stile , and one would think the muse was legion ! i suppose the reader may be satisfied already : but if he desires farther proof , there 's something more flamingly impious behind . the christian almeida when sebastian was in danger , raves and foames like one possess'd , but is there heaven , for i begin to doubt ? now take your swing ye impious sin unpunish'd , eternal providence seems over watch'd , and with a slumbring nod assents to murther in the next page , she bellows again much after the same manner . the double dealer to say the least of him , follows his master in this road , passibus aequis . sr. paul plyant one would think had done his part : but the ridiculing providence won't satisfie all people : and therefore the next attempt is somewhat bolder . sr. paul. hold your self contented my lady plyant , — i find passion coming upon me by inspiration . in love triumphant , carlos is by the constitution of the play a christian ; and therefore must be construed in the sense of his religion . this man blunders out this horrible expression . nature has given me my portion in sense with a p — — to her . &c. the reader may see the hellish syllable at length if he pleases . this curse is borrow'd for young fashion in the relapse . the double dealer is not yet exhausted . cynthia the top lady grows thoughtful . upon the question she relates her contemplation . cynth. i am thinking ( says she ) that tho' marriage makes man and wife one flesh , it leaves them two fools . this jest is made upon a text in genesis , and afterwards applyed by our saviour to the case of divorse . love for love will give us a farther account of this authors proficiency in the scriptures . our blessed saviour affirms himself to be the way , the truth , and the light , that he came to bear witness to the truth , and that his word is truth . these expressions were remembred to good purpose . for valentine in his pretended madness tells buckram the lawyer ; i am truth , — i am truth . — who 's that , that 's out of his way , i am truth , and can set him right . now a poet that had not been smitten with the pleasure of blasphemy , would never have furnish'd frensy with inspiration ; nor put our saviours words in the mouth of a mad-man . lady brute , after some struggle between conscience and lewdness , declares in favour of the later . she says the part of a downright wife is to cuckold her husband . and tho' this is against the strict statute law of religion , yet if there was a court of chancery in heaven , she should be sure to cast him . this brass is double guilt . first , it supposes no equity in heaven . and secondly , if there was , adultery would not be punish'd ! the poet afterwards acquaints us by this lady , that blasphemy is no womans sin. why then does she fall into it ? why in the mid'st of temper and reasoning ? what makes him break in upon his own rules ? is blasphemy never unseasonable upon the stage , and does it always bring its excuse along with it ? the relapse goes on in the same strain . when young fashion had a prospect of cheating his elder brother , he tells lory , providence thou see'st at last takes care of men of merit . berinthia who has engag'd to corrupt amanda for worthy ; attacks her with this speech , mr. worthy used you like a text , he took you all to peices , and it seems was particular in her commendation , thus she runs on for several lines , in a lewd , and profane allegory . in the application she speaks out the design , and concludes with this pious exhortation ! now consider what has been said , and heaven give you grace to put it in practise ; that is to play the whore. there are few of these last quotations , but what are plain blasphemy , and within the law. they look reeking as it were from pandaemonium , and almost smell of fire and brimstone . this is an eruption of hell with a witness ! i almost wonder the smoak of it has not darken'd the sun , and turn'd the air to plague and poyson ! these are outrageous provocations ; enough to arm all nature in revenge ; to exhaust the judgments , of heaven , and sink the island in the sea ! what a spite have these men to the god that made them . how do they rebell upon his bounty , and attack him with his own reason ? these giants in wickedness , how would they ravage with a stature proportionable ? they that can swagger in impotence , and blaspheme upon a mole-hill , what would they do if they had strength to their good-will ? and what can be the ground of this confidence , and the reason of such horrid presumption ? why the scripture will best satisfie the question . because sentence against an evil work is not excuted speedily , therefore the heart of the sons of men , is fully set in them to do evil. clemency is weakness with some people ; and the goodness of god which should lead them to repentance , does but harden them the more . they conclude he wants power to punish , because he has patience to forbear . because there is a space between blasphemy and vengeance ; and they don't perish in the act of defiance ; because they are not blasted with lightning , transfixt with thunder , and guarded off with devils , they think there 's no such matter as a day of reckoning . but let no man be deceiv'd , god is not mock'd ; not without danger they may be assur'd . let them retreat in time , before the floods run over them : before they come to that place , where madness will have no musick , nor blasphemy any diversion . and here it may not be amiss to look a little into the behaviour of the heathens . now 't is no wonder to find them run riot upon this subject . the characters of their gods were not unblemish'd . their prospect of the other world , was but dim ; neither were they under the terrors of revelation . however , they are few of them so bad as the moderns . terence does not run often upon this rock . 't is true chaerea falls into an ill rapture after his success . chremes bids his wife not tire the gods with thanks : and aeschinus is quite sick of the religious part of the weding . these instances ; excepting his swearing , are the most , ( and i think near all the ) exceptionable passages of this author . plautus is much more bold . but then his sally's are generally made by slaves and pandars . this makes the example less dangerous , and is some sort of extenuation . i grant this imperfect excuse wont serve him always . there are some instances where his persons of better figure are are guilty of lewd defences , profane flights , and sawcy expostulation . but the roman deities were beings of ill fame , 't is the less wonder therefore if the poets were familiar with them . however , plautus has something good in him , and enough to condemn the practise . pleusides would gladly have had the gods changed the method of things , in some particulars . he would have had frank good humour'd people long live'd , and close-fisted knaves die young. to this periplectimenes gravely answers , that 't is great ignorance , and misbehaviour to censure the conduct of the gods , or speak dishonorably of them . in his pseudolus the procurer ballio talks profanely . upon which pseudolus makes this reflection . this fellow makes nothing of religion , how can we trust him in other matters ? for the gods whom all people have the greatest reason to fear , are most slighted by him . the greek tragedians are more staunch , and write nearer the scheme of natural religion . 't is true , they have somebold expressions : but then they generally reprove the liberty , and punish the men. prometheus in aeschylus blusters with a great deal of noise , and stubborness . he is not for changing conditions with mercury : and chuses rather to be miserable , than to submit even to jupiter himself . the chorus rebuke him for his pride , and threaten him with greater punishment . and the poet to make all sure brings him to execution before the end of the play. he discharges thunder and lightning at his head ; shakes his rock with an earthquake , turns the air into whirl-wind , and draws up all the terrors of nature to make him an example . in his expedition against thebes , eteocles expects capaneus would be destroy'd for his blasphemies . which happen'd accordingly . on the other hand ; amphiaraus being a person of virtue , and piety , they are afraid least he should succeed . for a religious enemy is almost invincible . darius's ghost lays xerxes's ruin upon the excess of his ambition . 't was , because he made a bridge over the hellespont , used neptune contumeliously , and thought himself superiour to heaven . this ghost tells the chorus that the persian army miscarried for the out-rages they did to religion , for breaking down the altars , and plundering the gods. ajax's distraction is represented as judicial in sophocles . 't was inflicted for his pride and atheism . when his father bid him be brave but religious withall , he haughtily replyed that 't was for cowards to beg the assistance of the gods ; as for his part , he hoped to conquer without them . and when minerva encouraged him to charge the enemy . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , he made her this lewd and insufferable answer . pray withdraw , and give your countenance elswhere , i want no goddesses to help me do my business . this insolence made minerva hate him ; and was the cause of his madness and self murther . to proceed . the chorus condemns the liberty of jocasta , who obliquely charged a practise upon the oracle : tho' after all , she did not tax apollo , but his ministers . the same chorus recommends piety , and relyance upon the gods , and threatens pride and irreligion with destruction . in antigone , tiresias advises creon to wave the rigour of his edict , and not let the body of polynices lie unburied , and expos'd . he tells him the altars were already polluted with humane flesh. this had made the language of the birds unintelligible , and confounded the marks of augury . creon replies in a rage , and says he would not consent to the burial of polynices : no , tho' 't were to prevent the eagle's throwing part of the carkass in jove's chair of state. this was a bold flight ; but 't is not long before he pays for 't . soon after , his son , and queen , kill themselves . and in the close the poet who speaks in the chorus , explains the misfortune , and points upon the cause , and affirms that creon was punish'd for his haughtiness and impiety . to go on to his trachiniae . hercules in all the extremity of his torture does not fall foul upon religion . 't is true , he shows as much impatience as 't is possible . his person , his pain , and the occasion of it , were very extraordinary . these circumstances make it somewhat natural for him to complain above the common rate . the greatness of his spirit , the feavour of his blood , and the rage of his passion , could hardly fail of putting force , and and vehemence into his expressions . tho' to deal clearly he seems better furnish'd with rhetorick , than true fortitude . but after all , his disorders are not altogether ungovern'd . he is uneasy , but not impious , and profane . i grant hercules oeteus in seneca , swaggers at a strange rhodomontading rate . but the conduct of this author is very indifferent . he makes a meer salamander of his hero , and lets him declaim with too much of length , curiosity and affectation , for one in his condition : he harangues it with great plenty of points , and sentences in the fire , and lies frying , and philosophizing for near a hundred lines together . in fine , this play is so injudiciously manag'd , that heinsius is confident 't was written by neither of the seneca's , but by some later author of a lower class . to return to sophocle's trachiniae . hyllus reproaches the gods with neglect , because they gave hercules no assistance , and glances upon jupiter himself . this sally is not so throughly corrected as formerly . 't is true the chorus make some little satisfaction immediately after . they resolve all surprizes of misfortune , all revolutions of states or families , into the will and permission of jupitur . this by implication , they make an argument for acquiescence . besides , the poet had laid in a sort of caution against misconstruction before . for the messenger tells dejaneira that we ought not to murmur at the conduct of jupiter . — 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . this for a heathen is something tho' not enough , cleomenes's rant seems an imitation of hyllus , only 't is bolder , and has nothing of the rashness of youth to excuse it . besides sophocles throws in somewhat by way of preservative . whereas in cleomenes the boy cleonidas has the better on the wrong side , and seems to carry the cause of atheism against his father . this scene of a famine mr. dryden calls a beauty ; and yet methinks cleora is not very charming ! her part is to tell you the child suck'd to no purpose . it pull'd and pull'd but now but nothing came , at last it drew so hard that the blood follow'd . and that red milk i found upon its lips , which made me swoon for fear . there 's a description of sucking for you ! and truly one would think the muse on 't were scarsely wean'd . this lady's fancy is just slip-stocking-high ; and she seems to want sense , more than her breakfast . if this passage would not shine , the poet should have let it alone . 't is horace's advice . — et quae desperes tractata nitescere posse relinquas . the greatest part of the life of this scene is spent in impious rants , and atheistical disputes . to do the author right , his characters never want spirits for such service , either full or fasting . some people love to say the worst things in the best manner ; to perfume their poysons , and give an air to deformity . there is one ill sentence in sophocles behind . philoctetes calls the gods 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and libells their administration . this officer we must understand was left upon a solitary island , ill used by his friends , and harrass'd with poverty and ulcers , for ten years together . these , under the ignorance of paganism , were trying circumstances , and take off somewhat of the malignity of the complaint . afterwards he seems to repent , and declares his assurance that the gods will do justice , and prays frequently to them . the conclusion of this play is remarkably moral . here hercules appears in machine ; aquaints philoctetes with his own glorious condition ; that his happiness was the reward of virtue , and the purchase of merit . he charges him to pay a due regard to religion ; for piety would recommend him to jupiter more than any other qualification . it went into the other world with people and they found their account in 't both living and dead . upon the whole ; the plays of aeschylus and sophocles are formed upon models of virtue : they joyn innocence with pleasure , and design the improvement , of the audience . in euripides's bacchae , pentheus is pull'd in pieces for using bacchus with disrespect . and the chorus observes that god never fails to punish impiety , and contempt of religion . polyphemus blusters atheistically , and pretends to be as great as jupiter : but then his eye is burnt out in the fifth act. and the chorus in heraclidae affirm it next to madness not to worship the gods. i grant he has some profane passages stand uncorrected , and what wonder is it to see a pagan miscarry ? seneca , as he was inferiour in judgment to the greeks , so he is more frequent , and uncautious , in his flights of extravagance . his hero's and heroines , are excessively bold with the superior beings . they rave to distraction , and he does not often call them to an account for 't . 't is true ajax oileus is made an example for blaspheming in a storm . he is first struck with thunder , and then carried to the bottom : the modern poets , proceed upon the liberties of seneca , their mad-men are very seldom reckon'd wirh . they are profane without censure , and defie the living god with success . nay , in some respect they exceed even seneca himself . he slies out only under impatience ; and never falls into these fits without torture , and hard usage . but the english stage are unprovok'd in their irreligion , and blaspheme for their pleasure . but supposing the theatres of rome , and athens as bad as possible , what defence is all this ? can we argue from heathenism to christianity ? how can the practise be the same , where the rule is so very different ? have we not a clearer light to direct us , and greater punishments to make us afraid . is there no distinction between truth and fiction , between majesty and a pageant ? must god be treated like an idol , and the scriptures banter'd like homers elysium , and hesiods theogonia ? are these the returns we make him for his supernatural assistance ? for the more perfect discovery of himself , the stooping of his greatness , and the wonders of his love. can't we refuse the happiness without affronting the offer ? must we add contempt to disobedience , and out-rage to ingratitude ? is there no diversion without insulting the god that made us , the goodness that would save us , and the power that can damn us ? let us not flatter our selves , words won't go for nothing . profaness is a most provoking contempt , and a crime of the deepest dye . to break through the laws of a kingdom is bad enough ; but to make ballads upon the statute-book , and a jest of authority , is much worse . atheists may fancy what they please , but god will arise and maintain his own cause , and vindicate his honour in due time . to conclude . profaness tho' never so well corrected is not to be endured . it ought to be banish'd without proviso , or limitation . no pretence of character or punishment , can excuse it ; or any stage-discipline make it tolerable . 't is grating to christian ears , dishonourable to the majesty of god , and dangerous in the example . and in a word , it tends to no point , unless it be to wear off the horrour of the practise , to weaken the force of conscience , and teach the language of the damn'd . chap. iii. the clergy abused by the stage . the satyr of the stage upon the clergy is extreamly particular . in other cases , they level at a single mark , and confine themselves to persons . but here their buffoonry takes an unusual compass ; they shoot chain'd-shot , and strike at universals . they play upon the character , and endeavour to expose not only the men , but the business . 't is true , the clergy are no small rub in the poets way . 't is by their ministrations that religion is perpetuated , the other world refresh'd , and the interest of virtue kept up . vice will never have an unlimited range , nor conscience be totally subdued , as long as people are so easy as to be priest-ridden ! as long as these men are look'd on as the messengers of heaven , and the supports of government , and enjoy their old pretentions in credit and authority ; as long as this grievance continues , the stage must decline of course , and atheism give ground , and lewdness lie under censure , and discouragment . therefore that liberty may not be embarrass'd , nor principles make head against pleasure , the clergy must be attack'd , and rendred ridiculous . to represent a person fairly and without disservice to his reputation , two things are to be observ'd . first he must not be ill used by others : nor secondly be made to play the fool himself . this latter way of abuse is rather the worst , because here a man is a sort of felo de se ; and appears ridiculous by his own fault . the contradiction of both these methods is practised by the stage . to make sure work on 't , they leave no stone unturn'd , the whole common place of rudeness is run through . they strain their invention and their malice : and overlook nothing in ill nature , or ill manners , to gain their point . to give some instances of their civility ! in the spanish fryer , dominick is made a pimp for lorenzo ; he is call'd a parcel of holy guts and garbage , and said to have room in his belly for his church steeple . dominick has a great many of these compliments bestow'd upon him . and to make the railing more effectual , you have a general stroke or two upon the profession . would you know what are the infiallible church remedies . why 't is to lie impudently , and swear devoutly . a little before this dominick counterfits himself sick , retires , and leaves lorenzo and elvira together ; and then the remark upon the intrigue follows . you see madam ( says lorenzo ) 't is interest governs all the world. he preaches against sin , why ? because he gets by 't : he holds his tongue ; why ? because so much more is bidden for his silence . 't is but giving a man his price , and principles of church are bought off as easily as they are in state : no man will be a rogue for nothing ; but compensation must be made , so much gold for so much honesty ; and then a church-man will break the rules of chess . for the black bishop , will skip into the white , and the white into the black , without considering whether the remove be lawful . at last dominick is discover'd to the company , makes a dishonourable exit , and is push'd off the stage by the rabble . this is great justice ! the poet takes care to make him first a knave , and then an example : but his hand is not even . for lewd lorenzo comes off with flying colours . 't is not the fault which is corrected but the priest. the authors discipline is seldom without a biass . he commonly gives the laity the pleasure of an ill action , and the clergy the punishment . to proceed . horner in his general remarks upon men , delivers it as a sort of maxim , that your church-man is the greatest atheist . in this play harcourt puts on the habit of a divine . alithea does not think him what he appears ; but sparkish who could not see so far , endeavours to divert her suspicion . i tell you ( says he ) this is ned harcourt of cambridge , you see he has a sneaking colledge look . afterwards his character is sufficiently abused by sparkish and lucy ; but not so much as by himself . he tells you in an aside he must suit his stile to his coat . upon this wise recollection , he talks like a servile , impertinent fop , in the orphan , the young soldier chamont calls the chaplain sr. gravity , and treats him with the language of thee , and thou . the chaplain instead of returning the contempt ; flatters chamont in his folly , and pays a respect to his pride . the cavalier encouraged i suppose by this sneaking , proceeds to all the excesses of rudeness , — is there not one of all thy tribe that 's honest in your school ? the pride of your superiours makes ye slaves : ye all live loathsome , sneaking , servile lives : not free enough to practise generous truth , ' tho ye pretend to teach it to the world. after a little pause for breath , the railing improves . if thou wouldst have me not contemn thy office , and character , think all thy brethren knaves , thy trade a cheat , and thou its worst professour , inform me ; for i tell thee priest i 'le know . the bottom of the page is down-right porters rhetorick . art thou then so far concern'd in 't ? — curse on that formal steady villains face ! just so do all bawds look ; nay bawds they say ; can pray upon occasion ; talk of heaven ; turn up their gogling eye-balls , rail at vice ; dissemble , lye , and preach like any priest , art thou a bawd ? the old batchelour has a throw at the dissenting ministers . the pimp setter provides their habit for bellmour to debauch laetitia . the dialogue runs thus . bell. and hast thou provided necessaries ? setter . all , all sir , the large sanctified hat , and the little precise band , with a swingeing long spiritual cloak , to cover carnal knavery , — not forgetting the black patch which tribulation spintext wears as i 'm inform'd upon one eye , as a penal mourning for the — offences of his youth &c. barnaby calls another of that character mr. prig , and fondlewife carrys on the humour lewdly in play-house cant ; and to hook the church of england into the abuse , he tacks a chaplain to the end of the description . lucy gives an other proof of the poets good will , but all little scurilities are not worth repeating . in the double dealer the discourse between maskwell and saygrace is very notable . maskwell had a design to cheat mellifont of his mistress , and engages the chaplain in the intrigue : there must be a levite in the case ; for without one of them have a singer in 't , no plot publick , or private , can expect to prosper . to go on in the order of the play. maskwell calls out at sagraces door , mr. saygrace mr. saygrace . the other answers , sweet sir i will but pen the last line of an acrostick , and be with you in the twingling of an ejaculation , in the pronouncing of an amen . &c. mask . nay good mr. saygrace do not prolong the time , &c. saygrace . you shall prevail , i would break off in the middle of a sermon to do you pleasure . mask . you could not do me a greater — except — the business inhand — have you provided a habit for mellifont ? saygr . i have , &c. mask . have you stich'd the gownsleeve , that he may be puzled and wast time in putting it on ? saygr . i have ; the gown will not be indued without perplexity . there is a little more profane , and abusive stuff behind , but let that pass . the author of don sebastian strikes at the bishops through the sides of the mufti , and borrows the name of the turk , to make the christian ridiculous . he knows the transition from one religion to the other is natural , the application easy , and the audience but too well prepar'd . and should they be at a loss he has elsewhere given them a key to understand him . for priests of all religions are the same . however that the sense may be perfectly intelligible , he makes the invective general , changes the language , and rails in the stile of christendom . benducar speaks , — churchmen tho' they itch to govern all , are silly , woful , awkard polititians , they make lame mischief tho' they mean it well . so much the better , for 't is a sign they are not beaten to the trade . the next lines are an illustration taken from a taylor . their intrest is not finely drawn and hid , but seams are coarsly bungled up and seen . this benducar was a rare spokesman for a first minister ; and would have fitted john of leyden most exactly ! in the fourth act the mufti is depos'd and captain tom reads him a shrewd lecture at parting . but let that pass . to go on , mustapha threatens his great patriark to put him to the rack . now you shall hear what an answer of fortitude and discretion is made for the mufti . mufti . i hope you will not be so barbarous to torture me . we may preach suffering to others , but alass holy flesh is too well pamper'd to endure martyrdom . by the way , if flinching from suffering is a proof of holy flesh , the poet is much a saint in his constitution , witness his dedication of king arthun . in cleomenes , cassandra rails against religion at the altar , and in the midst of a publick solemnity . accurs'd be thou grass-eating fodderd god! accurs'd thy temple ! more accurs'd thy priests ! she goes on in a mighty huff , and charges the gods and priesthood with confederacy , and imposture . this rant is very unlikely at alexandria . no people are more bigotted in their superstition than the aegyptians ; nor any more resenting of such an affront . this satyr then must be strangely out of fashion , and probability . no matter for that ; it may work by way of inference , and be serviceable at home . and 't is a handsom compliment to libertines and atheists . we have much such another swaggering against priests in oedipus . why seek i truth from thee ? the smiles of courtiers and the harlots tears , the tradesmens oaths , and mourning of an heir , are truths to what priests tell . o why has priesthood privilege to lie , and yet to be believ'd ! and since they are thus lively , i have one word or two to say to the play. when aegeon brought the news of king polybus's death , oedipus was wonderfully surpriz'd at the relation . o all ye powers is 't possible ? what , dead ! and why not ? was the man invulnerable or immortal ? nothing of that : he was only fourscore and ten years old , that was his main security . and if you will believe the poet he fell like autumn fruit that mellow'd long , ev'n wondred at because he dropt no sooner . and which is more , oedipus must be acquainted with his age , having spent the greatest part of his time with him at corinth . so that in short , the pith of the story lies in this circumstance . a prince of ninety years was dead , and one who was wondred at for dying no sooner . and now why so much exclamation upon this occasion ? why must all the powers in being be summon'd in to make the news credible ? this posse of interjections would have been more seasonably raised if the man had been alive ; for that by the poets confession had been much the stranger thing . however oedipus is almost out of his wits about the matter , and is urgent for an account of particulars . that so the tempest of my joys may rise by just degrees , and hit at last the stars . this is an empty ill proportion'd rant , and without warrant in nature or antiquity . sophocles does not represent oedipus in such raptures of extravagant surprize . in the next page there 's another flight about polybus his death somewhat like this. it begins with a noverint universi . you would think oedipus was going to make a bond. know , be it known to the limits of the world ; this is scarce sence , be it known . yet farther , let it pass yon dazling roof the mansion of the gods , and strike them deaf with everlasting peals of thundring joy . this fustian puts me in mind of a couplet of taylors the water poet , which for the beauty of the thought are not very unlike . what if a humble bee should chance to strike , with the but-end of an antarkick pole. i grant mr. dryden clears himself of this act in his vindication of the duke of guise . but then why did he let these crude fancies pass uncorrected in his friend ? such fluttering ungovern'd transports , are fitter for a boys declamation then a tragedy . but i shall trouble my self no farther with this play. to return therefore to the argument in hand . in the provok'd wife sir john brute puts on the habit of a clergyman , counterfeits himself drunk ; quarrels with the constable , and is knock'd down and seiz'd . he rails , swears , curses , is lewd and profane , to all the heights of madness and debauchery : the officers and justice break jests upon him , and make him a sort of representative of his order . this is rare protestant diversion , and very much for the credit of the reformation ! the church of england , i mean the men of her , is the only communion in the world , that will endure such insolences as these : the relapse is if possible more singularly abusive . bull the chaplain wishes the married couple joy , in language horribly smutty and profane . to transcribe it would blot the paper to much . in the next page young fashion desires bull to make hast to sr. tun-belly . he answers very decently , i fly my good lord. at the end of this act bull speaks to the case of bigamy , and determines it thus . i do confess to take two husbands for the satisfaction of — is to commit the sin of exorbitancy , but to do it for the peace of the spirit , is no more then to be drunk by way of physick ; besides to prevent a parents wrath is to avoid the sin of disobedience , for when the parent is angry , the child is froward : the conclusion is insolently profane , and let it lie : the spirit of this thought is borrow'd from ben johnsons bartholomew-fair , only the profaness is mightily improved , and the abuse thrown off the meeting house , upon the church . the wit of the parents being angry , and the child froward , is all his own . bull has more of this heavy stuff upon his hands . he tells young fashion your worships goodness is unspeakable , yet there is one thing seems a point of conscience ; and conscience is a tender babe . &c. these poets i observe when they grow lazy , and are inclined to nonsence , they commonly get a clergy-man to speak it . thus they pass their own dulness for humour , and gratifie their ease , and their malice at once . coupler instructs young fashion which way bull was to be managed . he tells him as chaplains go now , he must be brib'd high , he wants money , preferment , wine , and a whore. let this be procured for him , and i 'll warrant thee he speaks truth like an oracle . a few lines forward , the rudeness is still more gross , and dash'd with smut , the common play-house ingredient . 't is not long before coupler falls into his old civilities . he tells young fashion , last night the devil run away with the parson of fatgoose living . afterwards bull is plentifully rail'd on in down right billings-gate : made to appear silly , servile , and profane ; and treated both in posture and language , with the utmost contempt . i could cite more plays to this purpose ; but these are sufficient to show the temper of the stage , thus we see how hearty these people are in their ill will ! how they attack religion under every form , and pursue the priesthood through all the subdivisions of opinion . neither jews nor heathens , turks nor christians , rome nor geneva , church nor conventicle , can escape them . they are afraid least virtue should have any quarters undisturbed , conscience any corner to retire to , or god be worship'd in any place . 't is true their force seldom carries up to their malice : they are too eager in the combat to be happy in the execution . the abuse is often both gross and clumsey , and the wit as wretched as the manners . nay talking won't always satisfy them . they must ridicule the habit as well as the function , of the clergy . 't is not enough for them to play the fool unless they do it in pontificalibus . the farce must be play'd in a religious figure , and under the distinctions of their office ! thus the abuse strikes stronger upon the sense ; the contempt is better spread , and the little idea is apt to return upon the same appearance . and now does this rudeness go upon any authorities ? was the priesthood alwaies thought thus insignificant , and do the antient poets palt it in this manner ? this point shall be tried , i shall run through the most considerable authors that the reader may see how they treat the argument . homer stands highest upon the roll , and is the first poet both in time , and quality ; i shall therefore begin with him . t is true he wrote no plays ; but for decency , practise , and general opinion , his judgment may well be taken , let us see then how the priests are treated in his poem , and what sort of rank they hold . chryses apollo's priest appears at a council of war with his crown and guilt scepter . he offers a valuable ransom for his daughter ; and presses his relation to apollo . all the army excepting agamemnon are willing to consider his character , and comply with his proposals . but this general refuses to part with the lady , and sends away her father with disrespect . apollo thought himself affronted with this usage , and revenges the indignity in a plague . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . adrastus and amphius the sons of merops a prophet , commanded a considerable extent of country in troas , and brought a body of men to king priam's assistance . and ennomus the augur commanded the troops of mysia for the besieged . phegeus and idaeus were the sons of dares the priest of vulcan . they appear in an equipage of quality , and charge diomedes the third hero in the grecian army . idaeus after the misfortune of the combat , is brought off by vulcan . dolopion was priest to scamander , and regarded like the god he belong'd to , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . ulisses in his return from troy , took ismarus by storm , and makes prize of the whole town , excepting maron , and his family . this maron was apollo's priest , and preserv'd out of respect to his function : he presents ulisses nobly in gold , plate , and wine ; and this hero makes an honourable mention of him , both as to his quality , and way of living . these are all the priests i find mentioned in homer ; and we see how fairly the poet treats them , and what sort of figure they made in the world. to the testimony of homer , i shall joyn that of virgil , who tho' he follows at a great distance of time , was an author of the first rank , and wrote the same kind of poetry with the other . now virgil tho' he is very extraordinary in his genius , in the compass of his learning , in the musick and majesty of his stile ; yet the exactness of his judgment seems to be his peculiar , and most distinguishing talent . he had the truest relish imaginable , and always described things according to nature , custom , and decency . he wrote with the greatest command of temper , and superiority of good sense . he is never lost in smoak and rapture , nor overborn with poetick fury ; but keeps his fancy warm and his reason cool at the same time . now this great master of propriety never mentions any priests without some marks of advantage . to give some instances as they lie in order . when the trojans were consulting what was to be done with the wooden-horse , and some were for lodging it within the walls ; laocoon appears against this opinion at the head of a numerous party , harangues with a great deal of sense , and resolution , and examines the machine with his lance. in fine , he advised so well , and went so far in the discovery of the stratagem ; that if the trojans had not been ungovernable , and as it were stupified by fate and folly , he had saved the town . trojaque nunc stares priamique arx alta maneres . this laocoon was neptunes priest , and either son to priam , or brother to anchises , who was of the royal family . the next we meet with is pantheus apollo's priest. he is call'd pantheus otriades , which is an argument his father was well known . his acquaintance with aeneas to whose house he was carrying his little grandson , argues him to be a person of condition . pantheus after a short relation of the posture of affairs , joyns aeneas's little handful of men , charges in with him when the town was seiz'd , and fired , and at last dies handsomly in the action . the next is anius king of delos , prince and priest in one person . rex anius , rex idem hominum phaebique sacerdos . when aeneas was outed at troy , and in quest of a new country , he came to an anchor at delos ; anius meets him in a religious habit , receives him civilly , and obliges him with his oracle . in the book now mention'd we have another of apollo's priests , his name is helenus , son of priam and king of chaonia . he entertains aeneas with a great deal of friendship , and magnificence , gives him many material directions , and makes him a rich present at parting . to this prince if you please we may joyn a princess of the same profession ; and that is rhea silvia daughter to numitor king of alba , and mother to romulus , and remus . this lady virgil calls — regina sacerdos a royal priestess . farther . when aeneas made a visit upon business to the shades below , he had for his guide , the famous sibylla cumaea , who belong'd to apollo . when he came thither amongst the rest of his acquantance he saw polybaetes a priest of ceres . this polybaetes is mention'd with the three sons of antenor , with glaucus , and thersilochus , who commanded in cheif in the trojan auxiliaries : so that you may know his quality by his company . when aeneas had passed on farther , he saw orpheus in elysium : the poet calls him the thracian priest. there needs not be much said of orpheus ; he is famous for his skill in musick , poetry , and religious ceremonies , he was one of the hero's of antiquity , and a principal adventurer in the expedition for the golden-fleece . in the seventh aeneid the poet gives in a list of the princes , and general officers who came into the assistance of turnus ; amongst the rest he tells you , quin & marrubia venit de gente sacerdos , archippi regis missu fortissimus umbro . this priest he commends both for his courage and his skill in physick , natural magick , and phlosophy . he understood the virtue of plants , and could lay passions and poysons asleep . his death was extreamly regretted by his country , who made a pompous aud solemn mourning for him . te nemus angitia vitrea te fucinus unda te liquidi flevere lacus . the potitij , and the pinarij mention'd aeneid 8. were as livy observes , chosen out of the first quality of the country , and had the priesthood hereditary to their family . to go on , aemonides , and chloreus make a glistering figure in the feild , and are very remarkable for the curiosity of their armour , and habit. aemonides's finery is passed over in general . totus collucens veste atque insignibus armis . but the equipage of chloreus is flourish'd out at length , and as i remember admired by macrobius as one of the master peices of virgil in description . in short ; he is all gold , purple , scarlet , and embroydery ; and as rich as nature , art , and rhetorick can make him . to these i might add rhamnes , asylas , and tolumnius , who were all persons of condition , and had considerable posts in the army . it may be these last were not strictly priests . their function was rather prophetick . they interpreted the resolutions of the gods , by the voice of birds , the inspection of sacrifices , and their observations of thunder . this made their character counted sacred , and their relation to the deity particular . and therefore the romans ranged them in the order of the priests . thus we see the admired homer , and virgil , always treat the priests fairly , and describe them in circumstances of credit : if 't is said that the instances i have given are mostly in names of fiction , and in persons who had no being , unless in the poets fancy . i answer , i am not concern'd in the history of the relation . whether the muster is true or false , 't is all one to my purpose . this is certain , had the priests been people of such slender consideration as our stage poets endeavour to make them ; they must have appear'd in a different figure ; or rather have been left out as too little for that sort of poem . but homer and virgil , had other sentiments of matters : they were govern'd by the reason of things , and the common usage of the world. they knew the priesthood a very reputable employment , and always esteem'd as such . to have used the priests ill , they must have call'd their own discretion in question : they must have run into impropriety , and fallen soul upon custom , manners , and religion . now 't was not their way to play the knave and the fool together : they had more sense than to do a silly thing , only for the satisfaction of doing an ill one . i shall now go on to enquire what the greek tragedians will afford us upon the present subject . there are but two plays in aeschylus where the ministers of the gods are represented . the one is in his eumenides , and here apollo's priestess only opens the play , and appears no more . the other is in his seige of thebes . in this tragedy the prophet amphiaraus is one of the seven commanders against the town . he has the character of a modest , brave officer , and of one who rather affected to be great in action , than noise . in sophocle's oedipus tyrannus . jupiter's priest has a short part . he appears at the head of an address , and delivers the harangue by the king's order . oedipus in his passion treats tiresias ruggedly ; tiresias replies with spirit and freedom , and plainly tell him he was none of his servant but apollo's . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . and here we may observe that all oedipus his reproaches relate to tiresias's person , there is no such thing as a general imputation upon his function : but the english oedipus makes the priesthood an imposturous profession ; and rails at the whole order . in the next tragedy , creon charges tiresias with subornation ; and that he intended to make a penny of his prince . the priest holds up his character , speaks to the ill usage with an air of gravity , calls the king son , and foretells him his misfortune . to go on to euripides , for sophocles has nothing more . this poet in his phaenissae brings in tiresias with a very unacceptable report from the oracle . he tells creon that either his son must die , or the city be lost . creon keeps himself within temper , and gives no ill language . and even when moenecius had kill'd himself , he neither complains of the gods , nor reproaches the prophet . in his bacchae , tiresias is honourably used by cadmus ; and pentheus who threatned him , is afterwards punish'd for his impiety . in another play apollo's priestess comes in upon a creditable account , and is respectfully treated . iphigenia agamemnon's daughter is made priestess to diana ; and her father thought himself happy in her employment . these are all the priests i remember represented in euripides . to conclude the antient tragedians together : seneca seems to follow the conduct of euripides , and secures tiresias from being outraged . oedipus carries it smoothly with him and only desires him to out with the oracle , and declare the guilty person . this tiresias excuses , and afterwards the heat of the expostulation falls upon creon . calchas if not strictly a priest , was an auger , and had a religious relation . upon this account agamemnon calls him interpres deorum ; the reporter of fate , and the god's nuntio ; and gives him an honourable character . this author is done ; i shall therefore pass on to the comedians . and here , aristophanes is so declared an atheist , that i think him not worth the citing . besides , he has but little upon the argument : and where he does engage it , the priests have every jot as good quarter as the gods. as for terence , he neither represents any priests , nor so much as mentions them . chrysalus in plautus describes theotimus diana's priest , as a person of quality , and figure . in his rudens we have a priestess upon the stage , which is the only instance in this poet. she entertains the two women who were wrecked , and is commended for her hospitable temper . the procurer labrax swaggers that he will force the temple , and begins the attack . demades a gentleman , is surprized at his insolence , and threatens him with revenge . the report of so bold an attempt made him cry out . quis homo est tanta confidentia ; qui sacerdotem audeat violare ? it seems in those days 't was very infamous to affront a holy character , and break in upon the guards of religion ! thus we see how the antient poets behaved themselves in the argument . priests seldom appear in their plays . and when they come 't is business of credit that brings them . they are treated like persons of condition . they act up to their relation ; neither sneak , nor prevaricate , nor do any thing unbecoming their office. and now a word or two of the moderns . the famous corneille and moliere , bring no priests of any kind upon the stage . the former leaves out tiresias in his oedipus : tho' this omission balks his thought , and maims the fable . what therefore but the regard to religion could keep him from the use of this liberty ? as i am inform'd the same reservedness is practis'd in spain , and italy : and that there is no theatre in europe excepting the english , that entertains the audience with priests . this is certainly the right method , and best secures the outworks of piety . the holy function is much too solemn to be play'd with . christianity is for no fooling , neither the place , the occasion nor the actors are fit for such a representation . to bring the church into the playhouse , is the way to bring the playhouse into the church . 't is apt to turn religion into romance ; and make unthinking people conclude that all serious matters are nothing but farce , fiction , and design . 't is true the tragedies at athens were a sort of homilies , and design'd for the instruction of the people . to this purpose they are all clean , solemn , and sententious . plautus likewise informs us that the comedians used to teach the people morality . the case standing thus 't is less suprizing to find the priests sometimes appear . the play had grave argument , and pagan indulgence , to plead in its behalf . but our poets steer by an other compass . their aim is to destroy religion , their preaching is against sermons ; and their business , but diversion at the best . in short , let the character be never so well managed no christian priest ( especially , ) ought to come upon the stage . for where the business is an abuse , and the place a profanation ; the demureness of the manner , is but a poor excuse . monsieur racine is an exception to what i have observ'd in france . in his athalia , joida the high-priest has a large part . but then the poet does him justice in his station ; he makes him honest and brave , and gives him a shining character throughout . mathan is another priest in the same tragedy . he turns renegado , and revolts from god to baal . he is a very ill man but makes a considerable appearance , and is one of the top of athaliahs faction . and as for the blemishes of his life , they all stick upon his own honour , and reach no farther than his person : in fine the play is a very religious poem ; 't is upon the matter all sermon and anthem . and if it were not designed for the theatre , i have nothing to object . let us now just look over our own country-men till king charles the second . shakespear takes the freedom to represent the clergy in several of his plays : but for the most part he holds up the function , and makes them neither act , nor suffer any thing unhandsom . in one play or two he is much bolder with the order . * sr. hugh evans a priest is too comical and secular in his humour . however he understands his post , and converses with the freedom of a gentleman . i grant in loves labour lost the curate plays the fool egregiously ; and so does the poet too , for the whole play is a very silly one . in the history of sr. john old-castle , sr. john , parson of wrotham swears , games , wenches , pads , tilts , and drinks : this is extreamly bad , and like the author of the relapse &c. only with this difference ; shakespears sr. john has some advantage in his character . he appears loyal , and stout ; he brings in sr. john acton , and other rebels prisoners . he is rewarded by the king , and the judge uses him civilly and with respect . in short he is represented lewd , but not little ; and the disgrace falls rather on the person , then the office. but the relapsers business , is to sink the notion , and murther the character , and make the function despicable : so that upon the whole , shakespear is by much the gentiler enemy . towards the end of the silent woman , ben johnson brings in a clergy-man , and a civilian in their habits . but then he premises a handsom excuse , acquaints the audience , that the persons are but borrow'd , and throws in a salvo for the honour of either profession . in the third act , we have another clergy-man ; he is abused by cutberd , and a little by morose . but his lady checks him for the ill breeding of the usage . in his magnetick lady , tale of a tub , and sad sheapherd , there are priests which manage but untowardly . but these plays were his last works , which mr. dryden calls his dotages . this author has no more priests , and therefore we 'll take leave . beaumont and fletcher in the faithful shepheardess , the false one , a wife for a month , and the knight of malta , give , us both priests and bishops , part heathen and part christian : but all of them save their reputation and make a creditable appearance . the priests in the scornful lady , and spanish curate are ill used . the first is made a fool , and the other a knave . indeed they seem to be brought in on purpose to make sport , and disserve religion . and so much for beaumont and fletcher . thus we see the english stage has always been out of order , but never to the degree 't is at present . i shall now take leave of the poets , and touch a little upon history and argument . and here i shall briefly shew the right the clergy have to regard , and fair usage , upon these three following accounts . i. because of their relation to the deity . ii. because of the importance of their office . iii. they have prescription for their privilege . their function has been in possession of esteem in all ages , and countries . i. vpon the account of their relation to the deity . the holy order is appropriated to the divine worship : and a priest has the peculiar honour to belong to nothing less then god almighty . now the credit of the service always rises in proportion to the quality and greatness of the master . and for this reason 't is more honourable to serve a prince , than a private person . to apply this . christian priests are the principal ministers of gods kingdom . they represent his person , publish his laws , pass his pardons , and preside in his worship . to expose a priest much more to burlesque his function , is an affront to the diety . all indignities done to ambassadors , are interpreted upon their masters , and reveng'd as such . to outrage the ministers of religion , is in effect to deny the being , or providence of god ; and to treat the bible like a romance . as much as to say the stories of an other world are nothing but a little priest-craft , and therefore i am resolv'd to lash the profession . but to droll upon the institutions of god ; to make his ministers cheap , and his authority contemptible ; to do this is little less than open defyance . t is a sort of challenge to awaken his vengeance , to exert his omnipotence ; and do right to his honour . if the profession of a courtier was unfashionable , a princes commission thought a scandal , and the magistracy laught at for their business ; the monarch had need look to himself in time ; he may conclude his person is despis'd , his authority but a jest , and the people ready either to change their master , or set up for themselves . government and religion , no less than trade subsist upon reputation . 't is true god can't be deposed , neither does his happiness depend upon homage . but since he does not govern by omnipotence , since he leaves men to their liberty , acknowledgment must sink , and obedience decline , in proportion to the lessenings of authority . how provoking an indignity of this kind must be , is easy to imagine . ii. the functions and authorities of religion have a great influence on society . the interest of this life lies very much in the belief of another . so that if our hopes were bounded with sight , and sense , if eternity was out of the case , general advantage , and publick reason , and secular policy , would oblige us to be just to the priesthood . for priests , and religion always stand and fall together ; now religion is the basis of government , and man is a wretched companion without it . when conscience takes its leave , good faith , and good nature goes with it . atheism is all self , mean and mercenary . the atheist has no hereafter , and therefore will be sure to make the most of this world. interest , and pleasure , are the gods he worships , and to these he 'll sacrifice every thing else . iii. the priest-hood ought to be fairly treated , because it has prescription for this privilege . this is so evident a truth , that there is hardly any age or country , but affords sufficient proof . a just discourse upon this subject would be a large book , but i shall just skim it over and pass on . and i st . for the jews . josephus tells us the line of aaron made some of the best pedigrees , and that the priests were reckon'd among the principal nobility . by the old testament we are inform'd that the high-priest was the second person in the kingdom . the body of that order had civil jurisdiction . and the priests continued part of the magistracy in the time of our saviour . jehoiada the high-priest was thought an alliance big enough for the royal family . he married the kings daughter ; his interest and authority was so great that he broke the usurpation under athalia ; and was at the head of the restauration . and lastly the assamonean race were both kings and priests . to proceed . the aegyptian monarchy was one of the most antient and best polish'd upon record . here arts and sciences , the improvment of reason , and the splendor of life had its first rise . hither 't was that plato and most of the celebrated philosophers travel'd for their learning . now in this kingdom the priests made no vulgar figure . these with the military men were the body of the nobility , and gentry . besides the business of religion , the priests were the publick annalists and kept the records of history , and government . they were many of them bred in courts , formed the education of their princes , and assisted at their councils . when joseph was viceroy of aegypt , and in all the height of his pomp , and power , the king married him to the daughter of potipherah priest of on. the text says pharaoh gave him her to wife . this shows the match was deliberate choice , and royal favour , no stooping of quality , or condescensions of love , on joseph's side . to pass on . the persian magi , and the druids , of gaul were of a religious profession , and consign'd to the service of the gods. now all these were at the upper end of the government , and had a great share of regard and authority . the body of the indians as diodorus siculus reports is divided into seven parts . the first is the clan of the bramines , the priests , and philosophers of that country . this division is the least in number , but the first in degree . their privileges are extraordinary . they are exempted from taxes , and live independent of authority . they are called to the sacrifices , and take care of funerals ; they are look'd on as the favourites of the gods , and thought skillful in the doctrins of an other life : and upon these accounts are largely consider'd in presents , and acknowledgment . the priestesses of argos were so considerable , that time is dated from them , and they stand for a reign in chronology . the brave romans are commended by polybius for their devotion to the gods ; indeed they gave great proof of their being in earnest ; for when their cheif magistrates , their consuls themselves , met any of the vestals , they held down their fasces , and stoop'd their sword and mace to religion . the priest-hood was for sometime confin'd to the patrician order , that is to the upper nobility . and afterwards the emperours were generally high-priests themselves . the romans in distress endeavour'd to make friends with coriolanus whom they had banish'd before . to this purpose they furnish'd out several solemn embasayes . now the regulation of the ceremony , and the remarks of the historian ; plainly discover that the body of the priests were thought not inferior to any other . one testimony from tully and i have done . 't is in his harangue to the college of the priests . cum multa divinitus , pontifices , a majoribus nostris inventa atque instituta sunt ; tum nihil preclarius qaum quòd vos eosdem et religionibus deorum immortalium , & summe rei publicae praeesse voluerunt . &c. i. e. amongst the many laudable instances of our ancestors prudence , and capacity , i know nothing better contrived then their placing your order at the helm , and setting the same persons at the head both of religion , and government . thus we see what rank the priest-hood held among the jews , and how nature taught the heathen to regard it . and is it not now possess'd of as fair pretences as formerly ? is christianity any disadvantage to the holy office. and does the dignity of a religion lessen the publick administrations in 't ? the priests of the most high god and of idolatry , can't be compared without injury . to argue for the preference is a reflection upon the creed . 't is true the jewish priest-hood was instituted by god : but every thing divine is not of equal consideration . realities are more valuable than types ; and as the apostle argues , the order of melchizedeck is greater than that of aaron . the author , ( i mean the immediate one , ) the authorities , the business , and the end , of the christian priest-hood , are more noble than those of the jewish . for is not christ greater than moses , heaven better than the land of canaan , and the eucharist to be prefer'd to all the sacrifices , and expiations of the law ? thus the right , and the reason of things stands . and as for fact , the christian world have not been backward in their acknowledgments . ever since the first conversion of princes , the priest-hood has had no small share of temporal advantage . the codes , novels , and church history , are sufficient evidence what sense constantine and his successors had of these matters . but i shall not detain the reader in remote instances . to proceed then to times and countries more generally known . the people of france are branched into three divisions , of these the clergy , are the first . and in consequence of this privilege , at the assembly of the states , they are first admitted to harangue before the king. in hungary the bishops are very considerable , and some of them great officers of state. in poland they are senators that is part of the upper nobless . in muscovy the bishops have an honourable station : and the present czar is descended from the patriarchal line . i suppose i need say nothing of italy . in spain the sees generally are better endow'd than elswhere , and wealth alwaies draws consideration . the bishops hold their lands by a military noble tenure , and are excused from personal attendance . and to come toward an end ; they are earls and dukes in france , and soveraign princes , in germany . in england the bishops are lords of parliament : and the law in plain words distinguishes the upper house into the spiritual and temporal nobility . and several statutes call the bishops nobles by direct implication . to mention nothing more , their heraldry is regulated by garter , and blazon'd by stones , which none under the nobility can pretend to . in this country of ours , persons of the first quality have been in orders : to give an instance of some few . odo brother to william the conquerour was bishop of baieux , and earl of kent . king stephens brother was bishop of winchester . nevill arch-bishop of york was brother to the great earl of warwick , and cardinal pool was of the royal family . to come a little lower , and to our own times . and here we may reckon not a few persons of noble descent in holy orders . witness the berklyes , comptons , montagues , crews , and norths ; the annesleys , finches , grayhams &c. and as for the gentry , there are not many good familes in england , but either have , or have had a clergy-man in them , in short ; the priest-hood is the profession of a gentleman . a parson notwithstanding the ignorant pride of some people , is a name of credit , and authority , both in religion , and law. the addition of clerk is at least equal to that of gentleman . were it otherwise the profession would in many cases be a kind of punishment . but the law is far from being so singular as to make orders a disadvantage to degree . no , the honour of the family continues , and the her aldry is every jot as safe in the church , as 't was in the state. and yet when the laity are taken leave of , not gentleman but clerk is usually written . this custom is an argument the change is not made for the worse , that the spiritual distinction is as valuable as the other ; and to speak modestly , that the first addition is not lost , but cover'd . did the subject require it , this point might be farther made good . for the stile of a higher secular honour is continued as well with priest-hood as without it . a church-man who is either baronet , or baron , writes himself so , notwithstanding his clerkship . indeed we can't well imagine the clergy degraded from paternal honour without a strange reflection on the country ; without supposing julian at the helm , the laws antichristian , and infidelity in the very constitution . to make the ministers of religion less upon the score of their function , would be a penalty on the gospel , and a contempt of the god of christianity . 't is our saviours reasoning ; he that despises you , despises me , and he that despises me , despises him that sent me . i hope what i have offer'd on this subject will not be misunderstood . there is no vanity in necessary defence . to wipe off aspersions , and rescue things from mistake , is but bare justice : besides , where the honour of god , and the publick interest are concern'd , a man is bound to speak . to argue from a resembling instance . he that has the kings commission ought to maintain it . to let it suffer under rudeness is to betray it . to be tame and silent in such cases , is not modesty but meanness , humility obliges no man to desert his trust ; to throw up his privilege , and prove false to his character . and is our saviours authority inferiour to that of princes ? are the kingdoms of this world more glorious than that of the next ? and can the concerns of time be greater than those of eternity ? if not , the reasoning above mention'd must hold in the application . and now by this time i conceive the ill manners of the stage may be in some measure apparent ; and that the clergy deserve none of that coarse usage which it puts upon them . i confess i know no profession that has made a more creditable figure , that has better customs for their privileges , and better reasons to maintain them . and here setting aside the point of conscience , where lies the decency of falling foul upon this order ? what propriety is there in misrepresentation ? in confounding respects , disguising features , and painting things out of all colour and complexion ? this crossing upon nature and reason , is great ignorance , and out of rule . and now what pleasure is there in misbehaviour and abuse ? is it such an entertainment to see religion worryed by atheism , and things the most solemn and significant tumbled and tost by buffoons ? a man may laugh at a puppy's tearing a wardrobe , but i think 't were altogether as discrect to beat him off . well! but the clergy mismanage sometimes , and they must be told of their faults . what then ? are the poets their ordinaries ? is the pulpit under the discipline of the stage ? and are those fit to correct the church , that are not fit to come into it ? besides , what makes them fly out upon the function ; and rail by wholesale ? is the priesthood a crime , and the service of god a disadvantage ? i grant persons and things are not always suited . a good post may be ill kept , but then the censure should keep close to the fault , and the office not suffer for the manager . the clergy may have their failings sometimes like others , but what then ? the character is still untarnish'd . the men may be little , but the priests are not so . and therefore like other people , they ought to be treated by their best distinction . if 't is objected that the clergy in plays are commonly chaplains , and that these belonging to persons of quality they were obliged to represent them servile and submissive . to this i answer 1 st . in my former remark , that the stage often outrages the whole order , without regard to any particular office. but were it not so in the 2 d. place , they quite overlook the character , and mistake the business of chaplains . they are no servants , neither do they belong to any body , but god almighty . this point i have fully proved in another , treatise , and thither . i refer the reader chap. iv. the stage-poets make their principal persons vitious , and reward them at the end of the play. the lines of virtue and vice are struck out by nature in very legible distinctions ; they tend to a different point , and in the greater instances the space between them is easily perceiv'd . nothing can be more unlike than the original forms of these qualities : the first has all the sweetness , charms , and graces imaginable ; the other has the air of a post ill carved into a monster , and looks both foolish and frightful together . these are the native appearances of good and evil : and they that endeavour to blot the distinctions , to rub out the colours , or change the marks , are extreamly to blame . 't is confessed as long as the mind is awake , and conscience goes true , there 's no fear of being imposed on . but when vice is varnish'd over with pleasure , and comes in the shape of convenience , the case grows somewhat dangerous ; for then the fancy may be gain'd , and the guards corrupted , and reason suborn'd against it self . and thus a disguise often passes when the person would otherwise be stopt . to put lewdness into a thriving condition , to give it an equipage of quality , and to treat it with ceremony and respect , is the way to confound the understanding , to fortifie the charm , and to make the mischief invincible . innocence is often owing to fear , and appetite is kept under by shame ; but when these restraints are once taken off , when profit and liberty lie on the same side , and a man can debauch himself into credit , what can be expected in such a case , but that pleasure should grow absolute , and madness carry all before it ? the stage seem eager to bring matters to this issue ; they have made a considerable progress , and are still pushing their point with all the vigour imaginable . if this be not their aim why is lewdness so much consider'd in character and success ? why are their favourites atheistical , and their fine gentleman debauched ? to what purpose is vice thus prefer'd , thus ornamented , and caress'd , unless for imitation ? that matter of fact stands thus , i shall make good by several instances : to begin then with their men of breeding and figure . wild-blood sets up for debauchery , ridicules marriage , and swears by mahomet . bellamy makes sport with the devil , and lorenzo is vitious and calls his father bawdy magistrate . horner is horridly smutty , and harcourt false to his friend who used him kindly . in the plain dealer freeman talks coarsely , cheats the widdow , debauches her son , and makes him undutiful . bellmour is lewd and profane , and mellefont puts careless in the best way he can to debauch lady plyant . these sparks generally marry up the top ladys , and those that do not , are brought to no pennance , but go off with the character of fine gentlemen : in don-sebastian , antonio an atheistical bully is rewarded with the lady moraima , and half the muffty's estate . valentine in love for love is ( if i may so call him ) the hero of the play ; this spark the poet would pass for a person of virtue , but he speaks to late . 't is true , he was hearty in his affection to angelica . now without question , to be in love with a fine lady of 30000 pounds is a great virtue ! but then abating this single commendation , valentine is altogether compounded of vice. he is a prodigal debauchee , unnatural , and profane , obscene , sawcy , and undutiful , and yet this libertine is crown'd for the man of merit , has his wishes thrown into his lap , and makes the happy exit . i perceive we should have a rare set of virtues if these poets had the making of them ! how they hug a vitious character , and how profuse are they in their liberalities to lewdness ? in the provok'd wife , constant swears at length , solicits lady brute , confesses himself lewd , and prefers debauchery to marriage . he handles the last sybject very notably and worth the hearing . there is ( says he ) a poor sordid slavery in marriage , that turns the flowing tide of honour , and sinks it to the lowest ebb of infamy . 't is a corrupted soil , ill nature , avarice , sloth , cowardize , and dirt , are all its product . — but then constancy ( alias whoring ) is a brave , free , haughty , generous , agent . this is admirable stuff both for the rhetorick and the reason ! the character of young fashion in the relapse is of the same staunchness , but this the reader may have in another place . to sum up the evidence . a fine gentleman , is a fine whoring , swearing , smutty , atheistical man. these qualifications it seems compleat the idea of honour . they are the top-improvements of fortune , and the distinguishing glories of birth and breeding ! this is the stage-test for quality , and those that can't stand it , ought to be disclaim'd . the restraints of conscience and the pedantry of virtue , are unbecoming a cavalier : future securities , and reaching beyond life , are vulgar provisions : if he falls a thinking at this rate , he forfeits his honour ; for his head was only made to run against a post ! here you have a man of breeding and figure that burlesques the bible , swears , and talks smut to ladies , speaks ill of his friend behind his back , and betraies his interest . a fine gentleman that has neither honesty , nor honour , conscience , nor manners , good nature , nor civil hypocricy . fine , only in the insignificancy of life , the abuse of religion and the scandals of conversation . these worshipful things are the poets favourites : they appear at the head of the fashion ; and shine in character , and equipage . if there is any sense stirring , they must have it , tho' the rest of the stage suffer never so much by the partiality . and what can be the meaning of this wretched distribution of honour ? is it not to give credit and countenance to vice , and to shame young people out of all pretences to conscience , and regularity ? they seem forc'd to turn lewd in their own defence : they can't otherwise justifie themselves to the fashion , nor keep up the character of gentlemen : thus people not well furnish'd with thought , and experience , are debauch'd both in practise and principle . and thus religion grows uncreditable , and passes for ill education . the stage seldom gives quarter to any thing that 's serviceable or significant , but persecutes worth , and goodness under every appearance . he that would be safe from their satir must take care to disguise himself in vice , and hang out the colours of debauchery . how often is learning , industry , and frugality , ridiculed in comedy ? the rich citizens are often misers , and cuckolds , and the universities , schools of pedantry upon this score . in short ; libertinism and profaness , dressing , idleness , and gallantry , are the only valuable qualities . as if people were not apt enough of themselves to be lazy , lewd , and extravagant , unless they were prick'd forward , and provok'd by glory , and reputation . thus the marks of honour , and infamy are misapplyed , and the idea's of virtue and vice confounded . thus monstrousness goes for proportion , and the blemishes of human nature , make up the beauties of it . the fine ladies are of the same cut with the gentlemen ; moraima is scandalously rude to her father , helps him to a beating , and runs away with antonio . angelica talks sawcily to her uncle , and belinda confesses her inclination for a gallant . and as i have observ'd already , the toping ladies in the mock astrologer , spanish fryar , country wife , old batchelour , orphan , double dealer , and love triumphant , are smutty , and sometimes profane . and was licentiousness and irreligion , alwaies a mark of honour ? no ; i don't perceive but that the old poets had an other notion of accomplishment , and bred their people of condition a different way . philolaches in plautus laments his being debauch'd ; and dilates upon the advantages of virtue , and regularity . lusiteles another young gentleman disputes handsomly by himself against lewdness . and the discourse between him and philto is moral , and well managed . and afterwards he lashes luxury and debauching with a great deal of warmth , and satir. chremes in terence is a modest young gentleman , he is afraid of being surpriz'd by thais , and seems careful not to sully his reputation . and pamphilus in hecyra resolves rather to be govern'd by duty , than inclination . plautus's pinacium tells her friend panegyric that they ought to acquit themselves fairly to their husbands , tho' these should fail in their regards towards them . for all good people will do justice tho' they don't receive it . lady brute in the provok'd wife is govern'd by different maxims . she is debauch'd with ill usage , says virtue is an ass , and a gallant 's worth forty on 't . pinacium goes on to another head of duty , and declares that a daughter can never respect her father too much , and that disobedience has a great deal of scandal , and lewdness in 't . the lady jacinta as i remember does not treat her father at this rate of decency . let us hear a little of her behaviour . the mock astrologer makes the men draw , and frights the ladys with the apprehension of a quarrel . upon this ; theodosia crys what will become of us ! jacinta answers , we 'll die for company : nothing vexes me but that i am not a man , to have one thrust at that malicious old father of mine , before i go . afterwards the old gentleman alonzo threatens his daughters with a nunnery . jacinta spars again and says , i would have thee to know thou graceless old man , that i defy a nunnery : name a nunnery once more and i disown thee for my father . i could carry on the comparison between the old and modern poets somewhat farther . but this may suffice . thus we see what a fine time lewd people have on the english stage . no censure , no mark of insamy , no mortification must touch them . they keep their honour untarnish'd , and carry off the advantage of their character . they are set up for the standard of behaviour , and the masters of ceremony and sense . and at last that the example may work the better , they generally make them rich , and happy , and reward them with their own desires . mr. dryden in the preface to his mock-astrologer , confesses himself blamed for this practise . for making debauch'd persons his protagonists , or chief persons of the drama ; and for making them happy in the conclusion of the play , against the law of comedy , which is to reward virtue , and punish vice. to this objection he makes a lame defence . and answers 1st . that he knows no such law constantly observ'd in comedy by the antient or modern poets . what then ? poets are not always exactly in rule . it may be a good law tho' 't is not constantly observ'd , some laws are constantly broken , and yet ne're the worse for all that . he goes on , and pleads the authorities of plautus , and terence . i grant there are instances of favour to vitious young people in those authors , but to this i reply 1st . that those poets had a greater compass of liberty in their religion . debauchery did not lie under those discouragements of scandal , and penalty , with them as it does with us . unless therefore he can prove heathenism , and christianity the same , his precedents will do him little service . 2ly . horace who was as good a judge of the stage , as either of those comedians , seems to be of another opinion . he condemns the obscenities of plautus , and tells you men of fortune and quality in his time ; would not endure immodest satir. he continues , that poets were formerly admired for the great services they did . for teaching matters relating to religion , and government ; for refining the manners , tempering the passions , and improving the understandings of mankind : for making them more useful in domestick relations , and the publick capacities of life . this is a demonstration that vice was not the inclination of the muses in those days ; and that horace beleiv'd the chief business of a poem was , to instruct the audience . he adds farther that the chorus ought to turn upon the argument of the drama , and support the design of the acts. that they ought to speak in defence of virtue , and frugality , and show a regard to religion . now from the rule of the chorus , we may conclude his judgment for the play. for as he observes , there must be a uniformity between the chorus and the acts : they must have the same view , and be all of a piece . from hence 't is plain that horace would have no immoral character have either countenance or good fortune , upon the stage . if 't is said the very mention of the chorus shews the directions were intended for tragedy . to this i answer , that the consequence is not good . for the use of a chorus is not inconsistent with comedy . the antient comedians had it . aristophanes is an instance . i know 't is said the chorus was left out in that they call the new comedy . but i can't see the conclusiveness of this assertion . for aristophanes his plutus is new comedy with a chorus in 't . and aristotle who lived after this revolution of the stage , mentions nothing of the omission of the chorus . he rather supposes its continuance by saying the chorus was added by the government long after the invention of comedy . 't is true plautus and terence have none , but those before them probably might . moliere has now reviv'd them ; and horace might be of his opinion , for ought wee know to the contrary . lastly . horace having expresly mentioned the beginning and progress of comedy , discovers himself more fully : he advises a poet to form his work upon the precepts of socrates and plato , and the models of moral philosophy . this was the way to preserve decency , and to assign a proper fate and behaviour to every character . now if horace would have his poet govern'd by the maxims of morality , he must oblige him to sobriety of conduct , and a just distribution of rewards , and punishments . mr. dryden makes homewards , and endeavours to fortifie himself in modern authority . he lets us know that ben johnson after whom he may be proud to err , gives him more than one example of this conduct ; that in the alchemist is notorius , where neither face nor his master are corrected according to their demerits . but how proud soever mr. dryden may be of an errour , he has not so much of ben jonson's company as he pretends . his instance of face &c. in the alchemist is rather notorious against his purpose then for it . for face did not council his master lovewit to debauch the widdow ; neither is it clear that the matter went thus far . he might gain her consent upon terms of honour for ought appears to the contrary . 't is true face who was one of the principal cheats is pardon'd and consider'd . but then his master confesses himself kind to a fault . he owns this indulgence was a breach of justice , and unbecoming the gravity of an old man. and then desires the audience to excuse him upon the score of the temptation . but face continued in the cousenage till the last without repentance . under favour i conceive this is a mistake . for does not face make an apology before he leaves the stage ? does he not set himself at the bar , arraign his own practise , and cast the cause upon the clemency of the company ? and are not all these signs of the dislike of what he had done ? thus careful the poet is to prevent the ill impressions of his play ! he brings both man and master to confession . he dismisses them like malefactours ; and moves for their pardon before he gives them their discharge . but the mock-astrologer has a gentler hand : wild-blood and jacinta are more generously used : there is no acknowledgment exacted ; no hardship put upon them : they are permitted to talk on in their libertine way to the last : and take leave without the least appearance of reformation . the mock-astrologer urges ben johnson's silent woman as an other precedent to his purpose . for there dauphine confesses himself in love with all the collegiate lady's . and yet this naughty dauphine is crowned in the end with the possession of his uncles estate , and with the hopes of all his mistresses . this charge , as i take it , is somewhat too severe . i grant dauphine professes himself in love with the collegiate ladies at first . but when they invited him to a private visit , he makes them no promise ; but rather appears tired , and willing to disengage . dauphine therefore is not altogether so naughty as this author represents him . ben johnson's fox is clearly against mr. dryden . and here i have his own confession for proof . he declares the poets end in this play was the punishment of vice , and the reward of virtue . ben was forced to strain for this piece of justice , and break through the unity of design . this mr. dryden remarks upon him : how ever he is pleased to commend the performance , and calls it an excellent fifth act. ben johnson shall speak for himself afterwards in the character of a critick ; in the mean time i shall take a testimony or two from shakespear . and here we may observe the admir'd falstaffe goes off in disappointment . he is thrown out of favour as being a rake , and dies like a rat behind the hangings . the pleasure he had given , would not excuse him . the poet was not so partial , as to let his humour compound for his lewdness . if 't is objected that this remark is wide of the point , because falstaffe is represented in tragedy , where the laws of justice are more strickly observ'd to this i answer , that you may call henry the fourth and fifth , tragedies if you please . but for all that , falstaffe wears no buskins , his character is perfectly comical from end to end . the next instance shall be in flowerdale the prodigal . this spark notwithstanding his extravagance , makes a lucky hand on 't at last , and marries up a rich lady . but then the poet qualifies him for his good fortune , and mends his manners with his circumstances . he makes him repent , and leave off his intemperance , swearing &c. and when his father warn'd him against a relapse , he answers very soberly , heaven helping me i 'le hate the course of hell. i could give some instances of this kind out of beaumount and fletcher , but there 's no need of any farther quotation ; for mr. dryden is not satisfied with his apology from authority : he does as good as own that this may be construed no better than defending one ill practise by another . to prevent this very reasonable objection he endeavours to vindicate his precedents from the reason of the thing . to this purpose he makes a wide difference between the rules of tragedy and comedy . that vice must be impartially prosecuted in the first , because the persons are great &c. it seems then executions are only for greatness , and quality . justice is not to strike much lower than a prince . private people may do what they please . they are too few for mischief , and too little for punishment ! this would be admirable doctrine for newgate , and give us a general goal-delivery without more ado . but in tragedy ( says the mock astrologer . ) the crimes are likewise horrid , so that there is a necessity for severity and example . and how stands the matter in comedy ? quite otherwise . there the faults are but the sallies of youth , and the frailties of human nature . for instance . there is nothing but a little whoring , pimping . gaming , profaness &c , and who could be so hard hearted to give a man any trouble for this ? such rigours would be strangely inhumane ! a poet is a better natur'd thing i can assure you . these little miscarrages move pity and commiseration , and are not such as must of necessity be punish'd . this is comfortable casuistry ! but to be serious . is dissolution of manners such a peccadillo ? does a profligate conscience deserve nothing but commiseration ? and are people damn'd only for humane frailties ? i perceive the laws of religion and those of the stage differ extreamly ! the strength of his defence lies in this choice maxim , that the cheif end of comedy is delight . he questions whether instruction has any thing to do in comedy ; if it has , he is sure 't is no more then its secondary end : for the business of the poet is to make you laugh . granting the truth of this principle , i somewhat question the serviceableness of it . for is there no diversion to be had unless vice appears prosperous , and rides at the head of success . one would think such a preposterous , distribution of rewards , should rather shock the reason , and raise the indignation of the audience . to laugh without reason is the pleasure of fools , and against it , of something worse . the exposing of knavery , and making lewdness ridiculous , is a much better occasion for laughter . and this with submission i take to be the end of comedy . and therefore it does not differ from tragedy in the end , but in the means . instruction is the principal design of both . the one works by terror , the other by insamy . 't is true , they don't move in the same line , but they meet in the same point at last . for this opinion i have good authority , besides what has been cited already . 1st . monsieur rapin affirms that delight is the end that poetry aims at , but not the principal one . for poetry being an art , ought to be profitable by the quality of it's own nature , and by the essential subordination that all arts should have to polity , whose end in general is the publick good. this is the judgment of aristotle and of horace his chief interpreter . ben johnson in his dedicatory epistle of his fox has somewhat considerable upon this argument ; and declaims with a great deal of zeal , spirit , and good sense , against the licentiousness of the stage . he lays it down for a principle , that 't is impossible to be a good poet without being a good man. that he ( a good poet ) is said to be able to inform young men to all good discipline , and enflame grown men to all great virtues &c. — that the general complaint was that the writers of those days had nothing remaining in them of the dignity of a poet , but the abused name . that now , especially in stage poetry , nothing but ribaldry , profanation , blasphemy , all licence of offence to god and man , is practised . he confesses a great part of this charge is over-true , and is sorry he dares not deny it . but then he hopes all are not embark'd in this bold adventure for hell. for my part ( says he ) i can , and from a most clear conscience affirm ; that i have ever trembled to think towards the least profaness , and loath'd the use of such foul , and unwash'd bawdry , as is now made the food of the scene . — the encrease of which lust in liberty , what learned or liberal soul does not abhor ? in whole enterludes nothing but the filth of the time is utter'd — with brothelry able to violate the ear of a pagan , and blasphemy , to turn the blood of a christian to water . he continues , that the insolence of these men had brought the muses into disgrace , and made poetry the lowest scorn of the age. he appeals to his patrons the universities , that his labour has been heretofore , and mostly in this his latest work , to reduce not only the antient forms , but manners of the scene , the innocence and the doctrine , which is the principal end of poesy , to inform men in the best reason of living . lastly he adds , that ' he has imitated the conduct of the antients in this play , the goings out ( or conclusions ) of whose comedies , were not always joyful but oft-times the bawds , the slaves , the rivals , ye and the masters are multed , and fitly , it being the office of a comick poet ( mark that ! ) to imitate justice , and instruct to life &c. say you so ! why then if ben johnson knew any thing of the matter , divertisment and laughing is not as mr. dryden affirms , the chief end of comedy . this testimony is so very full and clear , that it needs no explaining , nor any enforcement from reasoning , and consequence : and because laughing and pleasure has such an unlimited prerogative upon the stage , i shall add a citation or two from aristotle concerning this matter . now this great man calls those buffoons , and impertinents , who rally without any regard to persons or things , to decency , or good manners . that there is a great difference between ribaldry , and handsom rallying . he that would perform exactly , must keep within the character of virtue , and breeding . he goes on , and tells us that the old comedians entertain'd the audience with smut , but the modern ones avoided that liberty , and grew more reserv'd . this latter way he says was much more proper and gentile then the other . that in his opinion rallying , no less than railing , ought to be under the discipline of law ; that he who is ridden by his jests , and minds nothing but the business of laughing , is himself ridiculous . and that a man of education and sense , is so far from going these lengths that he wont so much as endure the hearing some sort of buffoonry . and as to the point of delight in general , the same author affirms , that scandalous satisfactions are not properly pleasures . 't is only distemper , and false appetite which makes them palatable . and a man that is sick , seldom has his tast true . besides , supposing we throw capacity out of the question , and make experiment and sensation the judge ; granting this , we ought not to chop at every bait , nor fly out at every thing that strikes the fancy . the meer agreableness must not overbear us , without distinguishing upon the quality , and the means . pleasure how charming soever , must not be fetched out of vice. an estate is a pretty thing , but if we purchase by falshood , and knavery , knavery , we pay too much for 't . some pleasures , are childish and others abominable ; and upon the whole , pleasure , absolutely speaking , is no good thing . and so much for the philosopher . and because ribaldry is used for sport , a passage or two from quintilian , may not be unseasonable . this orator does not only condemn the grosser instances , but cuts off all the double-entendre's at a blow . he comes up to the regularity of thought , and tells us that the meaning , as well as the words of discourse must be unsullied . and in the same chapter he adds that a man of probity has always a reserve in his freedoms , and converses within the rules of modesty , and character . and that mirth at the expence of virtue , is an over-purchase , nimium enim risus pretium est si probitatis impendio constat . thus we see how these great masters qualify diversion , and tie it up to provisoes , and conditions . indeed to make delight the main business of comedy is an unreasonable and dangerous principle . it opens the way to all licentiousness , and confounds the distinction between mirth , and madness . for if diversion is the chief end , it must be had at any price , no serviceable expedient must be refused , tho' never so scandalous . and thus the worst things are said , and the best abus'd ; religion is insulted , and the most serious matters turn'd into ridicule ! as if the blindside of an audience ought to be caress'd , and their folly and atheism entertain'd in the first place . yes , if the palate is pleas'd , no matter tho' the body is poyson'd ! for can one die of an easier disease than diversion ? but raillery apart , certainly mirth and laughing , without respect to the cause , are not such supreme satisfactions ! a man has sometimes pleasure in losing his wits . frensy , and possession , will shake the lungs , and brighten the face ; and yet i suppose they are not much to be coveted . however , now we know the reason of the profaness , and obscenity of the stage , of their hellish cursing , and swearing , and in short of their great industry to make god , and goodness contemptible : 't is all to satisfie the company , and make people laugh ! a most admirable justification ! what can be more engaging to an audience , then to see a poet thus atheistically brave ? to see him charge up to the canons mouth , and defy the vengeance of heaven to serve them ? besides , there may be somewhat of convenience in the case . to fetch diversion out of innocence is no such easy matter . there 's no succeeding it may be in this method , without sweat , and drudging . clean wit , inoffensive humour , and handsom contrivance , require time , and thought . and who would be at this expence , when the purchase is so cheap another way ? 't is possible a poet may not alwaies have sense enough by him for such an occasion . and since we are upon supposals , it may be the audience is not to be gain'd without straining a point , and giving a loose to conscience : and when people are sick , are they not to be humour'd ? in fine , we must make them laugh , right or wrong , for delight is the cheif end of comedy . delight ! he should have said debauchery : that 's the english of the word , and the consequence of the practise . but the original design of comedy was otherwise : and granting 't was not so , what then ? if the ends of things are naught , they must be mended . mischief is the chief end of malice , would it be then a blemish in ill nature to change temper , and relent into goodness ? the chief end of a madman it may be is to fire a house , must we not then bind him in his bed ? to conclude . if delight without restraint , or distinction , without conscience or shame , is the supream law of comedy , 't were well if we had less on 't . arbitrary pleasure , is more dangerous than arbitrary power . nothing is more brutal than to be abandon'd to appetite ; and nothing more wretched than to serve in such a design . the mock-astrologer to clear himself of this imputation , is glad to give up his principle at last . least any man should think ( says he ) that i write this to make libertinism amiable , or that i cared not to debase the end , and institution of comedy . ( it seems then delight is not the chief end . ) i must farther declare that we make not vitious persons happy , but only as heaven makes sinners so . &c. if this will hold , all 's well . but heaven does not forgive without repentance . let us see then what satisfaction he requires from his wild-blood , and what discipline he puts him under . why , he helps him to his mistress , he marries him to a lady of birth and fortune . and now do you think he has not made him an example , and punish'd him to some purpose ! these are frightful severities ! who would be vitious when such terrors hang over his head ? and does heaven make sinners happy upon these conditions ? sure some people have a good opinion of vice , or a very ill one of marriage , otherwise they would have charged the penance a little more . but i have nothing farther with the mock-astrologer . and now for the conclusion of a chapter , i shall give some instances of the manners of the stage , and that with respect to poetry , and ceremony . manners in the language of poetry , is a propriety of actions , and persons . to succeed in this business , there must always be a regard had to age , sex , and condition : and nothing put into the mouths of persons which disagrees with any of these circumstances . 't is not enough to say a witty thing , unless it be spoken by a likely person , and upon a proper occasion . but my design will lead me to this subject afterwards , and therefore i shall say no more of it at present , but proceed to apply the remark . one instance of impropriety in manners both poetical and moral , is their making women , and women of quality talk smuttily . this i have proved upon them already , and could cite many more places to the same purpose were it necessary . but i shall go on , and give the reader some other examples of decency , judgment , and probability . don-sebastian will help us in some measure . here the mufti makes a foolish speech to the rabble , and jests upon his own religion . he tells them , tho' your tyrant is a lawful emperour , yet your lawful emperour is but a tyrant , — that your emperour is a tyrant is most manifest , for you were born to be turks , out he has play'd the turk with you . and now is not this man sit to manage the alcoran , and to be set up for on oracle of state ? captain tom should have had this speech by right : but the poet had a farther design , and any thing is good enough for a mufti . sebastian after all the violence of his repentance , his grasping at self murther , and resolutions for the cell , is strangely pleased with the remembrance of his incest , and wishes the repetition of it : and almeida out of her princely modesty , and singular compunction , is of the same mind . this is somewhat surprising ! oedipus and jocasta in sophocles don't repent at this rate . no : the horror of the first discovery continues upon their spirits : they never relapse into any fits of intemperance , nor entertain themselves with a lewd memory . this sort of behaviour is not only more instructive but more natural too . it being very unlikely one should wish the repeating a crime , when he was almost distracted at the thoughts on 't , at the thoughts on 't , tho' 't was comitted under all the circumstances of excuse . now when ignorance and meer mistake are so very disquieting , 't is very strange if a man should plague his mind with the aggravations of knowledge ; to carry aversion , and desire , in their full strength upon the same object ; to fly and pursue with so much eagerness , is somewhat unusual . if we step to the spanish fryar he will afford us a flight worth the observing . 't is part of the addresses of torrismond to leonora . you are so beautiful so wondrous fair , you justifie rebellion ; as if that faultless face could make no sin , but heaven by looking on it must forgive . these are strange compliments ! torrismond calls his queen rebel to her head , when he was both her general and her lover . this is powerful rhetorick to court a queen with ! enough one would think to have made the affair desperate . but he has a remedy at hand . the poets nostrum of profaness cures all . he does as good as tell her , she may sin as much as she has a mind to . her face is a protection to her conscience . for heaven is under a necessity to forgive a handsom woman . to say all this ought to be pass'd over in torrismond on the score of his passion , is to make the excuse more scandalous than the fault , if possible . such raptures are fit only for bedlam , or a place which i shan't name . love triumphant will furnish another rant not altogether inconsiderable . here celadea a maiden lady when she was afraid her spark would be married to another , calls out presently for a chaos . she is for pulling the world about her ears , tumbling all the elements together , and expostulates with heaven for making humane nature otherwise than it should have been . great nature break thy chain that links together the fabrick of this globe , and make a chaos , like that within my soul. — now to my fancy , if she had call'd for a chair instead of a chaos , trip'd off , and kept her folly to her self , the woman had been much wiser . and since we have shown our skill in vaulting on the high ropes , a little tumbling on the stage , may not do amiss for variety . now then for a jest or two . don gomez shall begin : and here he 'le give us a gingle upon the double meaning of a word . i think , says dominick the fryar , it was my good angel that sent me hither so opportunely . gomez suspects him brib'd for no creditable business and answers . gom. ay , whose good angels sent you hither , that you know best father . these spaniards will entertain us with more of this fine raillery . colonel sancho in love triumphant has a great stroak at it . he says his bride dalinda is no more dalinda , but dalilah the philistine . this colonel as great a soldier as he is , is quite puzzled at a herald . he thinks they call him herod , or some such jewish name . here you have a good officer spoil'd for a miserable jest . and yet after all , this sancho tho' he can't pronounce herald , knows what 't is to be laconick , which is somewhat more out of his way . thraso in terence was a man of the same size in sense , but for all that he does not quibble . albanact captain of the guards , is much about as witty as sancho . it seems emmeline heiress to the duke of cornwal was blind . albanact takes the rise of his thought from hence ; and observes that as blind as she is , coswald would have no blind bargain of her . carlos tells sancho he is sure of his mistress , and has no more to do but to take out a license . sancho replies , indeed i have her license for it . carlos is somewhat angry at this gingle , and cries , what quibling too in your prosperity ? adversity it seems is the only time for punning . truly i think so too . for 't is a sign a man is much distress'd when he flies to such an expedient . however , carlos needed not to have been so touchy : for he can stoop as low himself upon occasion . we must know then that sancho had made himself a hunch'd back , to counterfeit the conde alonzo . the two colonels being in the same disguise , were just upon the edg of a quarrel . after some preliminaries in railing , sancho cries , don't provoke me ; i am mischeivously bent . carlos replies , nay , you are bent enough in conscience , but i have a bent fist for boxing . here you have a brace of quibbles started in a line and a half . and which is worst of all , they come from carlos , from a character of sense ; and therefore the poet , not the soldier , must answer for them . i shall now give the reader a few instances of the gourtship of the stage , and how decently they treat the women , and quality of both sexes . the women who are secured from affronts by custom , and have a privilege for respect , are sometimes but roughly saluted by these men of address . and to bar the defence , this coarseness does not alwaies come from clowns , and women-haters ; but from persons of figure , neither singular , nor ill bred. and which is still worse , the satir falls on blindly without distinction , and strikes at the whole sex. enter raymond a noble-man in the spanish fryar . o vertue ! vertue ! what art thou become ? that men should leave thee for that toy a woman , made from the dross and refuse of a man ; heaven took him sleeping when he made her too , had man been waking he had nee'r consented . i did not know before that a man's dross lay in his ribs ; i believe sometimes it lies higher . but the philosophy , the religion , and the ceremony of these lines , are too tender to be touched . creon a prince in oedipus , railes in general at the sex , and at the same time is violently in love with euridice . this upon the matter , is just as natural , as 't is civil . if any one would understand what the curse of all tender hearted women is , belmour will inform him . what is it then ? 't is the pox. if this be true , the women had need lay in a stock of ill nature betimes . it seems 't is their only preservative . it guards their virtue , and their health , and is all they have to trust to . sharper another man of sense in this play , talks much at the same rate . belinda would know of him where he got that excellent talent of railing ? sharp . madam the talent was born with me . — i confess i have taken care to improve it , to qualisie me for the society of ladies . horner , a topping character in the country wife , is advised to avoid women , and hate them as they do him . he answers . because i do hate them , and would hate them yet more , i 'll frequent e'm ; you may see by marriage , nothing makes a man hate a woman more than her constant conversation . there is still something more coarse upon the sex spoken by dorax but it is a privileged expression , and as such i must leave it . the relapse mends the contrivance of the satir , refines upon the manner , and to make the discourse the more probable , obliges the ladies to abuse themselves . and because i should be loath to tire the reader , berinthia shall close the argument . this lady having undertook the employment of a procuress , makes this remark upon it to her self . berinth . so here is fine work ! but there was no avoiding it . — besides , i begin to fancy there may be as much pleasure in carrying on another bodies intrigue , as ones own . this is at least certain , it exercises almost all the entertaining faculties of a woman . for there is employment for hypocrisie , invention , deceit , flattery , mischief , and lying . let us now see what quarter the stage gives to quality . and here we shall find them extreamly free , and familiar . they dress up the lords in nick names , and expose them in characters of contempt . lord froth is explain'd a solemn coxcomb ; and lord rake , and lord foplington give you their talent in their title . lord plausible in the plain dealer acts a ridiculous part , but is with all very civil . he tells manly he never attempted to abuse any person , the other answers ; what ? you were afraid ? manly goes on and declares he would call a rascal by no other title , tho' his father had left him a dukes . that is , he would call a duke a rascal . this i confess is very much plain dealing . such freedoms would appear but odly in life , especially without provocation . i must own the poet to be an author of good sense ; but under favour , these jests , if we may call them so , are somewhat high season'd , the humour seems over-strain'd , and the character push'd too far . to proceed . mustapha was selling don alvarez for a slave . the merchant asks what virtues he has . mustapha replies . virtues quoth ah ! he is of a great family and rich , what other virtues would'st thou have in a nobleman ? don carlos in love triumphant stands for a gentleman , and a man of sense , and out-throws mustapha a bars length . he tells us nature has given sancho an empty noddle , but fortune in revenge has fill'd his pockets : just a lords estate in land and wit. this is a handsom compliment to the nobility ! and my lord salisbury had no doubt of it a good bargain of the dedication . teresa's general description of a countess is considerable in its kind : but only 't is in no condition to appear . in the relapse , sir tunbelly who had mistaken young fashion for lord foplington , was afterwards undeceiv'd ; and before the surprize was quite over , puts the question , is it then possible that this should be the true lord foplington at last ? the nobleman removes the scruple with great civility and discretion ! lord fopl. why what do you see in his face to make you doubt of it ? sir without presuming to have an extraordinary opinion of my figure , give me leave to tell you , if you had seen as many lords as i have done , you would not think it impossible a person of a worse taille then mine might be a modern man of quality . i 'm sorry to hear modern quality degenerates so much . but by the way , these liberties are altogether new . they are unpractised by the latin comedians , and by the english too till very lately , as the plain dealer observes . and as for moliere in france , he pretends to fly his satir no higher than a marquis . and has our stage a particular privilege ? is their charter inlarg'd , and are they on the same foot of freedom with the slaves in the saturnalia ? must all men be handled alike ? must their roughness be needs play'd upon title ? and can't they lash the vice without pointing upon the quality ? if as mr. dryden rightly defines it , a play ought to be a just image of humane nature ; why are not the decencies of life , and the respects of conversation observ'd ? why must the customes of countries be cross'd upon , and the regards of honour overlook'd ? what necessity is there to kick the coronets about the stage , and to make a man a lord , only in order to make him a coxcomb . i hope the poets don't intend to revive the old project of levelling , and vote down the house of peers . in earnest , the play-house is an admirable school of behaviour ! this is their way of managing ceremony , distinguishing degree , and entertaining the boxes ! but i shall leave them at present to the enjoyment of their talent , and proceed to another argument . chap. v. remarks upon amphytrion , king arthur , don quixote , and the relapse . section i. the following plays , excepting the last , will fall under the same heads of commendation with the former . however , since the poets have here been prodigal in their expence , and dress'd themselves with more curiosity then ordinary , they deserve a proportionable regard . so much finery must not be crowded . i shall therefore make elbow-room for their figure , and allow them the compass of a distinct chapter . to begin with amphytrion . in this play mr. dryden represents jupiter with the attributes of the supream being : he furnishes him with omnipotence , makes him the creator of nature , and the arbiter of fate , puts all the functions of providence in his hand , and describes him with the majesty of the true god. and when he has put him in this glorious equipage , he brings him out for diversion . he makes him express himself in the most intemperate raptures : he is willing to renounce his heaven for his brutality , and employ a whole eternity in lewdness . he draws his debauch at its full length , with all the art , and heightings , and foulness of idea immaginable . this jupiter is not contented with his success against amphitrion , unless he brings alcmena into the confederacy , and makes her a party ex post facto . he would not have her think of her husband , but her lover , that is , her whoremaster . 't is not the success , but the manner of gaining it which is all in all . 't is the vice which is the charming circumstance . innocence and regularity , are dangerous companions ; they spoil satisfaction , and make every thing insipid ! unless people take care to discharge their virtue , and clear off their conscience , their senses will vanish immediately ! for jupiter , says he , would owe nothing to a name so dull as husband . and in the next page . that very name of wife and marriage , is poyson to the dearest sweets of love. i would give the reader some more of these fine sentences , but that they are too much out of order to appear . the truth is , our stage-poets seem to fence against censure by the excess of lewdness ; and to make the overgrown size of a crime , a ground for impunity . as if a malefactor should project his escape by appearing too scandalous for publick tryal . however , this is their armour of proof , this is the strength they retreat to . they are fortified in smut , and almost impregnable in stench , so that where they deserve most , there 's no coming at them . to proceed . i desire to know what authority mr. dryden has for this extraordinary representation ? his original plautus , is no president . indeed plautus is the only bold heathen that ever made jupiter tread the stage . but then he stops far short of the liberties of the english amphitrion . jupiter at rome , and london , have the same unaccountable design ; but the methods of pursuit are very different . the first , does not solicit in scandalous language , nor flourish upon his lewdness , nor endeavours to set it up for the fashion . plautus had some regard to the height of the character , and the opinion of his country , and the restraints of modesty . the sallies of aristophanes do not come up to the case ; and if they did , i have cut off the succours from that quarter already . terence's chaerea is the next bold man : however , here the fable of jupiter and danae are just glanced at , and the expression is clean ; and he that tells the story , a young libertine . these are all circumstances of extenuation , and give quite another complexion to the thing . as for the greek tragedians and seneca , there 's no prescription can be drawn from them . they mention jupiter in terms of magnificence and respect , and make his actions , and his nature of a piece . but it may be the celebrated homer , and virgil may give mr. dryden some countenance . not at all . virgil's jupiter is alwaies great , and solemn , and keeps up the port of a deity . 't is true , homer does not guard the idea with that exactness , but then he never sinks the character into obscenity . the most exceptionable passage is that where jupiter relates his love adventures to juno . here this pretended deity is charm'd with venus's girdle , is in the height of his courtship , and under the ascendant of his passion . this 't is confess'd was a slippery place , and yet the poet makes a shift to keep his feet . his jupiter is little , but not nauseous ; the story , tho' improper , will bear the telling , and look conversation in the face . however ; these freedoms of homer were counted intolerable : i shall not insist on the censures of justin martyr , or clemens alexandrinus : even the heathen could not endure them . the poets are lashed by plato upon this score ; for planting vice in heaven , and making their gods infectious ; if mr. dryden answers that jupiter can do us no harm . he is known to be an idol of lewd memory , and therefore his example can have no force : under favour this is a mistake : for won't pitch daub when a dirty hand throws it ; or can't a toad spit poyson because she 's ugly ? ribaldry is dangerous under any circumstances of representation . and as menander and st. paul express it , evil communications corrupt good manners . i mention them both , because if the apostle should be dislik'd , the comedian may pass . but after all , mr. dryden has not so much as a heathen president for his singularities . what then made him fall into them ? was it the decency of the thing , and the propriety of character , and behaviour ? by no means . for as i have observ'd before , nature and operations , ought to be proportion'd , and behaviour suited to the dignity of being . to draw a monkey in royal robes , and a prince in antick , would be farce upon colours , entertain like a monster , and please only upon the score of deformity . why then does mr. dryden cross upon nature and authority , and go off as he confesses , from the plan of plautus , and moliere ? tho' by the way , the english amphitryon has borrow'd most of the libertine thoughts of moliere , and improv'd them . but to the former question . why must the beaten road be left ? he tells us , that the difference of our stage from the roman and the french did so require it . that is , our stage must be much more licentious . for you are to observe that mr. dryden , and his fraternity , have help'd to debauch the town , and poyson their pleasures to an unusal degree : and therefore the diet must be dress'd to the palate of the company . and since they are made scepticks , they must be entertain'd as such . that the english amphitryon was contriv'd with this view is too plain to be better interpreted . to what purpose else does jupiter appear in the shape of jehovah ? why are the incommunicable attributes burlesqu'd , and omnipotence applyed to acts of infamy ? to what end can such horrible stuff as this serve , unless to expose the notion , and extinguish the belief of a deity ? the perfections of god , are himself . to ridicule his attributes and his being , are but two words for the same thing . these attributes are bestow'd on jupiter with great prodigality , and afterwards execrably outrag'd . the case being thus , the cover of an idol , is to thin a pretence to screen the blasphemy . nothing but mr. dryden's absolom and achitophel can out-do this. here i confess the motion of his pen is bolder , and the strokes more black'd . here we have blasphemy on the top of the letter , without any trouble of inference , or construction . this poem runs all upon scripture names , upon suppositions of the true religion , and the right object of worship . here profaness is shut out from defence , and lies open without colour or evasion . here are no pagan divinities in the scheme , so that all the atheistick raillery must point upon the true god. in the beginning we are told that absalom was david's natural son : so then there 's a blot in his scutchcon , and a blemish upon his birth . the poet will make admirable use of this remark presently ! this absalom it seems was very extraordinary in his person and performances . mr. dryden does not certainly know how this came about , and therefore enquires of himself in the first place , whether inspired with a diviner lust , his father got him — this is down right defiance of the living god! here you have the very essence and spirit of blasphemy , and the holy ghost brought in upon the most hideous occasion . i question whether the torments and despair of the damn'd , dare venture at such flights as these . they are beyond description , i pray god they may not be beyond pardon too . i can't forbear saying , that the next bad thing to the writing these impieties , is to suffer them . to return to amphitryon . phaebus and mercury have manners assign'd very disagreeable to their condition . the later abating propriety of language , talks more like a water-man than a deity . they rail against the gods , and call mars and vulcan the two fools of heaven . mercury is pert upon his father jupiter , makes jests upon his pleasures , and his greatness , and is horribly smutty and profane . and all this misbehaviour comes from him in his own shape , and in the sublimity of his character . had he run riot in the disguise of sosia , the discourse and the person had been better adjusted , and the extravagance more pardonable . but here the decorum is quite lost . to see the immortals play such gambols , and the biggest beings do the least actions , is strangely unnatural . an emperour in the grimaces of an ape , or the diversions of a kitten , would not be half so ridiculous . now as monsieur rapin observes , without decorum there can be no probability , nor without probability any true beauty . nature must be minded , otherwise things will look forced , tawdry , and chimerical . mr. dryden discourses very handsomly on this occasion in his preface to albion and albanius . he informs us , that wit has been truly defin'd a propriety of words and thoughts . — that propriety of thought is that fancy which arises naturally from the subject . why then without doubt , the quality , of characters should be taken care of , and great persons appear like themselves . yes , yes , all this is granted by implication , and mr. dryden comes still nearer to the present case . he tells us , that propriety is to be observed , even in machines ; and that the gods are all to manage their peculiar provinces . he instances in some of their respective employments ; but i don't find that any of them were to talk lewdly . no. he plainly supposes the contrary . for as he goes on , if they were to speak upon the stage it would follow of necessity , that the expressions should be lofty , figurative , and majestical . it seems then their behaviour should be agreeable to their greatness . why then are not these rules observ'd , in the machines of amphitrion ? and as i take it , obscenity has not the air of majesty , nor any alliance with the sublime . and as for the figurative part , 't is generally of the same cut with the lofty : the smut shines clear , and strong , through the metaphor , and is no better screen'd than the sun by a glass window . to use mercury thus ill , and make the god of eloquence speak so unlike himself , is somewhat strange ! but tho' the antients knew nothing of it , there are considerations above those of decency . and when this happens , a rule must rather be trespass'd on , than a beauty left out . 't is mr. dryden's opinion in his cleomenes , where he breaks the unity of time , to describe the beauty of a famine . now beauty is an arbitrary advantage , and depends upon custom and fancy . with some people the blackest complexions are the handsomest . 't is to these african criticks that mr. dryden seems to make his appeal . and without doubt he bespeaks their favour , and strikes their imagination luckily enough . for to lodge divinity and scandal together ; to make the gods throw stars , like snow-balls at one another , but especially to court in smut , and rally in blasphemy , is most admirably entertaining ! this is much better than all the niceties of decorum . 't is handsomly contriv'd to slur the notion of a superiour nature , to disarm the terrors of religion , and make the court above as romantick as that of the fairies . a libertine when his conscience is thus reliev'd , and atheism sits easie upon his spirits , can't help being grateful upon the occasion . meer interest will oblige him to cry up the performance , and solicit for the poets reputation ! before i take leave of these machines , it may not be amiss to enquire why the gods are brought into the spiritual court. now i suppose the creditableness of the business , and the poets kindness to those places , are the principal reasons of their coming . however , he might have a farther design in his head , and that is , to bring thebes to london , and to show the antiquity of doctors commons . for if you will believe mercury , this conference between him and phaebus was held three thousand years ago . thus shakespear makes hector talk about aristotles philosophy , and calls sr. john old castle , protestant . i had not mention'd this discovery in chronology , but that mr. dryden falls upon ben johnson , for making cataline give fire at the face of a cloud , before guns were invented . by the pattern of these pretended deities , we may guess what sort of mortals we are likely to meet with . neither are we mistaken . for phaedra is bad enough in all conscience , but bromia is a meer original . indeed when mr. dryden makes jupiter , and jupiter makes the women , little less can be expected . so much for amphitrion . i shall pass on to king arthur for a word or two . now here is a strange jumble and hotch potch of matters , if you mind it . here we have genii , and angels , cupids , syrens , and devils ; venus and st. george , pan and the parson , the hell of heathenism , and the hell of revelation ; a fit of smut , and then a jest about original sin. and why are truth and fiction , heathenism and christianity , the most serious and the most trifling things blended together , and thrown into one form of diversion ? why is all this done unless it be to ridicule the whole , and make one as incredible as the other ? his airy and earthy spirits discourse of the first state of devils , of their chief of their revolt , their punishment , and impostures . this mr. dryden very religiously calls a fairy way of writing , which depends only on the force of imagination . what then is the fall of the angels a romance ? has it no basis of truth , nothing to support it , but strength of fancy , and poetick invention ? after he had mention'd hell , devils , &c. and given us a sort of bible description of these formidable things ; i say after he had formed his poem in this manner , i am surprized to hear him call it a fairy kind of writing . is the history of tophet no better prov'd than that of styx ? is the lake of brimstone and that of phlegeton alike dreadful ? and have we as much reason to believe the torments of titius and prometheus , as those of the devils and damn'd ? these are lamentable consequences ! and yet i can't well see how the poet can avoid them . but setting aside this miserable gloss in the dedication , the representation it self is scandalously irreligious . to droll upon the vengeance of heaven , and the miseries of the damn'd , is a sad instance of christianity ! those that bring devils upon the stage , can hardly believe them any where else . besides , the effects of such an entertainment must needs be admirable ! to see hell thus play'd with is a mighty refreshment to a lewd conscience , and a byass'd understanding . it ' heartens the young libertine , and confirms the well-wishers to atheism , and makes vice bold , and enterprizing . such diversions serve to dispel the gloom , and guild the horrors of the shades below , and are a sort of ensurance against damnation . one would think these poets went upon absolute certainty , and could demonstrate a scheme of infidelity . if they could , they had much better keep the secret. the divulging it tends only to debauch mankind , and shake the securities of civil life . however , if they have been in the other world and find it empty , and uninhabited , and are acquainted with all the powers , and places , in being ; if they can show the impostures of religion , and the contradictions of common belief , they have something to say for themselves . have they then infallible proof and mathematick evidence for these discoveries ? no man had ever the confidence to say this : and if he should , he would be but laughed at for his folly. no conclusions can exceed the evidence of their principles ; you may as well build a castle in the air , as raise a demonstration upon a bottom of uncertainty . and is any man so vain as to pretend to know the extent of nature , and the stretch of possibility , and the force of the powers invisible ? so that notwithstanding the boldness of this opera , there may be such a place as hell ; and if so , a discourse about devils , will be no fairy way of writing . for a fairy way of writing , is nothing but a history of fiction ; a subject of imaginary beings ; such as never had any existence in time , or nature . and if as monsieur rapin observes , poetry requires a mixture of truth and fable ; mr. dryden may make his advantage , for his play is much better founded on reality than he was aware of . it may not be improper to consider in a word or two , what a frightfull idea the holy scriptures give us of hell. 't is describ'd by all the circumstance of terror , by every thing dreadful to sense , and amazing to thought . the place , the company , the duration , are all considerations of astonishment . and why has god given us this solemn warning ? is it not to awaken our fears , and guard our happiness ; to restrain the disorders of appetite , and to keep us within reason , and duty ? and as for the apostate angels , the scriptures inform us of their lost condition , of their malice and power , of their active industry and experience ; and all these qualities correspondent to the bulk of their nature , the antiquity of their being , and the misery of their state. in short , they are painted in all the formidable appearances imaginable , to alarm our caution , and put us upon the utmost defence . let us see now how mr. dryden represents these unhappy spirits , and their place of abode . why very entertainingly ! those that have a true tast for atheism were never better regaled . one would think by this play the devils were meer mormo's and bugbears , fit only to fright children and fools . they rally upon hell and damnation , with a great deal of air and pleasantry ; and appear like robin good-fellow , only to make the company laugh . philidel : is call'd a puling sprite . and why so ? for this pious reason , because he trembles at the yawning gulph of hell , nor dares approach the flames least he should singe his gaudy silken wings . he sighs when he should plunge a soul in sulphur , as with compassion touch'd of foolish man. the answer is , what a half devil 's he . you see how admirably it runs all upon the christian scheme ! sometimes they are half-devils , and sometimes hopeful-devils , and what you please to make sport with . grimbald is afraid of being whooped through hell at his return , for miscarrying in his business . it seems there is great leisure for diversion ! there 's whooping in hell , instead of weeping and wailing ! one would fancy mr. dryden had day-light and company , when these lines were written . i know his courage is extraordinary ; but sure such thoughts could never bear up against solitude and a candle ! and now since he has diverted himself with the terrors of christianity , i dont wonder he should treat those that preach them with so much civility ! enter poet in the habit of a peasant . we ha' cheated the parson we'el cheat him again , for why should a blockhead have one in ten ? for prating so long like a booklearned sot , till pudding , and dumpling burn to pot . these are fine comprehensive stroaks ! here you have the iliads in a nutshell ! two or three courtly words take in the whole clergy : and what is wanting in wit , is made up in abuse , and that 's as well . this is an admirable harvest catch , and the poor tith-stealers stand highly indebted . they might have been tired with cheating in prose , had not they not been thus seasonably releiv'd in doggrell ! but now there is musick in playing the knave . a countryman now may fill his barn , and humour his ill manners , and sing his conscience asleep , and all under one . i dont question but these four lines steal many a pound in the year . whether the muse stands indictable or not , the law must determine : but after all , i must say the design is notably laid . for place and person , for relish and convenience , nothing could have been better . the method is very short , clear , and practicable . 't is a fine portable infection , and costs no more carriage than the plague . well! the clergy must be contented : it might possibly have been worse for them if they had been in his favour : for he has sometimes a very unlucky way of showing his kindness . he commends the earl of leicester for considering the friend , more than the cause ; that is , for his partiality ; the marquess of halifax for quitting the helm , at the approach of a storm ; as if pilots were made only for fair weather . 't is presum'd these noble persons are unconcern'd in this character . however the poet has shown his skill in panegyrick , and 't is only for that i mention it . he commends atticus for his trimming , and tully for his cowardize , and speaks meanly of the bravery of cato . afterwards he professes his zeal for the publick welfare , and is pleas'd to see the nation so well secur'd from foreign attempts &c. however he is in some pain about the coming of the gauls ; 't is possible for fear they should invade the muses , and carry the opera's into captivity , and deprive us of the ornaments of peace . and now he has serv'd his friends , he comes in the last place like a modest man , to commend himself . he tells us there were a great many beauties in the original draught of this play. but it seems time has since tarnish'd their complexion . and he gives heroick reasons for their not appearing . to speak truth , ( all politicks apart , ) there are strange flights of honour , and consistencies of pretention in this dedication ! but i shall forbear the blazon of the atcheivment , for fear i should commend as unluckily as himself . sect . ii. remarks upon don quixot , &c. mr. durfey being somewhat particular in his genius and civilities , i shall consider him in a word or two by himself . this poet writes from the romance of an ingenious author : by this means his sense , and characters are cut out to his hand . he has wisely planted himself upon the shoulders of a giant ; but whether his discoveries answer the advantage of his standing , the reader must judge . what i have to object against mr. durfey shall most of it be ranged under these three heads . i. his profaness with respect to religion and the holy scriptures . ii. his abuse of the clergy . iii. his want of modesty and regard to the audience . i. his profaness , &c. and here my first instance shall be in a bold song against providence . providence that formed the fair in such a charming skin , their outside made his only care , and never look'd within . here the poet tells you providence makes mankind by halves , huddles up the soul , and takes the least care of the better moyety . this is direct blaspheming the creation , and a satir upon god almighty . his next advance is to droll upon the resurrection . sleep and indulge thy self with rest , nor dream thou e're shalt rise again . his third song makes a jest of the fall , rails upon adam and eve , and burlesques the conduct of god almighty for not making mankind over again . when the world first knew creation , a rogue was a top-profession , when there was no more in all nature but four , there were two of them in transgression . he that first to mend the matter , made laws to bind our nature , should have found a way , to make wills obey , and have modell'd new the creature : in this and the following page , the redemption of the world is treated with the same respect with the creation . the word redeemer , which among christians is appropriated to our blessed saviour , and like the jewish tetragrammaton peculiarly reserv'd to the deity ; this adorable name ( redeemer and dear redeemer , ) is applyed to the ridiculous don quixote . these insolencies are too big for the correction of a pen , and therefore i shall leave them . after this horrible abuse of the works , and attributes of god , he goes on to make sport with his vengeance . he makes the torments of hell a very comical entertainment : as if they were only flames in painting , and terrors in romance . the stygian frogs in aristophanes are not represented with more levity , and drolling . that the reader may see i do him no wrong , i shall quote the places which is the main reason why i have transcrib'd the rest of his profaness . appear ye fat feinds that in limbo do groan , that were when in flesh the same souls with his own : you that always in lucifers kitchin reside , 'mongst sea-coal and kettles , and grease newly try'd : that pamper'd each day with a garbidge of souls , broil rashers of fools for a breakfast on coals . in the epilogue you have the history of balaam's ass exposed , and the beast brought upon the stage to laugh at the miracle the better ; and as 't is said a parlous ass once spoke , when crab-tree cudgel did his rage provoke . so if you are not civil , — i fear he'el speak again . — in the second part the devil is brought upon the stage . he cries as he hopes to be saved . and sancho warrants him a good christian. truly i think he may have more of christianity in him than the poet. for he trembles at that god , with whom the other makes diversion . i shall omit the mention of several outrages of this kind , besides his deep mouth'd swearing , which is frequent , and pass on to the second head , which is his abuse of the clergy . and since reveal'd religion has been thus horribly treated , 't is no wonder if the ministers of it have the same usage . and here we are likely to meet with some passages extraordinary enough . for to give mr. durfey his due , when he meddles with church men he lays about him like a knight errant : here his wit and his malice , are generally in extreams , tho' not of the same kind . to begin . he makes the curate perez assist at the ridiculous ceremony of don quixots knighting . afterwards squire sancho confessing his mistake to quixote , tells him , ah consider dear sir no man is born wise . and what if he was born wise ? he may be bred a fool , if he has not a care . but how does he prove this memorable sentence ? because a bishop is no more than another man without grace und good breeding . i must needs say if the poet had any share of either of these qualities , he would be less bold with his superiors ; and not give his clowns the liberty to droll thus heavily upon a solemn character . this sancho mr. durfey takes care to inform us is a dry shrewd country fellow , the reason of this character is for the strength of it somewhat surprising . 't is because he blunders out proverbs upon all occasions , tho' never so far from the purpose . now if blundring and talking nothing to the purpose , is an argument of shrewdness ; some peoples plays are very shrewd performances . to proceed . sancho complains of his being married , because it hindred him from better offers . perez the curate is sorry for this misfortune . for as i remember says he 't was my luck to give teresa and you the blessing . to this sancho replies . a plague on your blessing ! i perceive i shall have reason to wish you hang'd for your blessing — good finisher of fornication , good conjunction copulative . for this irreverence and profaness perez threatens him with excommunication . sancho tells him , i care not , i shall lose nothing by it but a nap in the afternoon . in his second part , jodolet a priest is call'd a holy cormorant , and made to dispatch half a turkey , and a bottle of malaga for his breakfast . here one country girl chides another for her sawcyness . d' ee ( says she ) make a pimp of a priest ? sancho interposes with his usual shrewdness : a pimp of a priest , why is that such a miracle ? in the second scene the poet provides himself another priest to abuse . mannel the steward calls bernardo the chaplain mr. cuff-cushion , and tells him a whore is a pulpit he loves . — in settling the characters mannel is given out for a witty pleasant fellow . and now you see he comes up to expectation . to the blind all colours are alike , and rudeness , and raillery are the same thing ! afterwards , bernardo says grace upon the stage ; and i suppose prays to god to bless the entertainment of the devil . before they rise from table , the poet contrives a quarrel between don quixot and bernardo . the priest railes on the knight , and calls him don coxcomb &c. by this time you may imagine the knight heartily provok'd , ready to buckle on his bason , and draw out for the combat , let us hear his resentment . don quix. oh thou old black fox with a fire brand in thy tail , thou very priest : thou kindler of all mischeifs in all nations . de' e hear homily : did not the reverence i bear these nobles — i would so thrum your cassock you church vermin . at last he bids bernardo adieu in language too profane and scandalous to relate . in the fourth act his song calls the clergy black cattle , and says no body now minds what they say . i could alledge more of his courtship to the order , but the reader might possibly be tired , and therefore i shall proceed in the third , place to his want of modesty , and regard to the audience . as for smut sancho and teresa talk it broad , and single sens'd , for almost a page together . mary the buxsom has likewise her share of this accomplishment . the first epilogue is garnish'd with a couplet of it ; marcella the maiden shepherdess raves in raptures of indecency ; and sometimes you have it mixt up with profaness , to make the composition the stronger . but this entertainment being no novelty , i shall pass it over ; and the rather because there are some other rarities which are not to be met with else where . here he diverts the ladies with the charming rhetorick of snotty-nose , filthy vermin in the beard , nitty jerkin , and louse snapper , with the letter in the chamber-pot , and natural evacuation ; with an abusive description of a countess , and a rude story of a certain lady , and with some other varieties of this kind , too coarse to be named . this is rare stuff for ladies , and quality ! there is more of physick , than comedy in such sentences as these . crocus metallorum will scarse turn the stomack more effectually . 't is possible mr. durfey might design it for a receipt . and being conscious the play was too dear , threw a vomit into the bargain . i wonder mr. durfey should have no more regard to the boxes and pitt ! that a man who has studied the scenes of decency and good manners with so much zeal , should practise with so little address ! certainly indefatigable diligence , care and pains , was never more unfortunate ! in his third part , buxsome swears faster , and is more scandalous , and impertinent , than in the other two . at these liberties , and some in sancho , the ladies took check . this censure mr. durfey seems heartily sorry for . he is extreamly concern'd that the ladies , that essential part of the audience , should think his performance nauseous and undecent . that is , he is very sorry they brought their wits , or their modesty along with them . however mr. durfey is not so ceremonious as to submit : he is resolved to keep the field against the ladies ; and endeavours to defend himself by saying , i know no other way in nature to do the characters right , but to make a romp , speak like a romp , and a clownish boor blunder &c. by his favour , all imitations tho' never so well counterfeited are not proper for the stage . to present nature under every appearance would be an odd undertaking . a midnight cart , or a dunghil would be no ornamental scene . nastyness , and dirty conversation are of the same kind . for words are a picture to the ear , as colours and surface are to the eye . such discourses are like dilating upon ulcers , and leprosies : the more natural , the worse ; for the disgust always rises with the life of the description . offensive language like offensive smells , does but make a man's senses a burthen , and affords him nothing but loathing and aversion . beastliness in behaviour , gives a disparaging idea of humane nature , and almost makes us sorry we are of the same kind . for these reasons 't is a maxime in good breeding never to shock the senses , or imagination . this rule holds strongest before women , and especially when they come to be entertain'd . the diversion ought to be suited to the audience ; for nothing pleases which is disproportion'd to capacity , and gust . the rudenesses and broad jests of beggars , are just as acceptable to ladies as their rags , and cleanliness . to treat persons of condition like the mob , is to degrade their birth , and affront their breeding . it levells them with the lowest education . for the size of a man's sense , and improvement , is discovered by his pleasures , as much as by any thing else . but to remove from scenes of decency , to scenes of wit. and here mannel and sancho , two pleasant sharp fellows , will divert us extreamly . mannel in the disguise of a lady addresses the dutchess in this manner . illustrious beauty — i must desire to know whether the most purifidiferous don quixote of the manchissima , and his squireiferous panca , be in this company or no. this is the ladies speech ! now comes sancho . why look you forsooth , without any more flourishes , the governour panca is here , and don quixotissimo too ; therefore most afflictedissimous . matronissima , speak what you willissimus , for we are all ready to be your servilorissimus . i dare not go on , for fear of overlaying the reader . he may cloy himself at his leisure . the scene between the taylor and gardiner , lies much in the same latitude of understanding . the third part presents a set of poppets , which is a thought good enough ; for this play is only fit to move upon wires . 't is pity these little machines appear'd no sooner , for then the sense , and the actors had been well adjusted . in explaining the persons , he acquaints us that carasco is a witty man. i can't tell what the gentleman might be in other places , but i 'm satisfied he is a fool in his play. but some poets are as great judges of wit , as they are an instance ; and have the theory and the practise just alike . mr. durfeys epistles dedicatory are to the sull as diverting as his comedies . a little of them may not be amiss . in his first , he thus addresses the dutches of ormond . 't is madam from your graces prosperous influence that i date my good fortune . to date from time and place , is vulgar and ordinary , and many a letter has miscarried with it : but to do it from an influence , is astrological , and surprizing , and agrees extreamly with the hemisphere of the play-house . these flights one would easily imagine were the poor off-spring of mr. durfey's brain , as he very judiciously phrases it . one paragraph in his dedication to mr. montague is perfect quixotism ; one would almost think him enchanted . i 'll give the reader a tast. had your eyes shot the haughty austerity upon me of a right courtier , — your valued minutes had never been disturb'd with dilatory tristes of this nature , but my heart on dull consideration of your merit , had supinely wish'd you prosperity at a distance . i 'm afraid the poet was under some apprehensions of the temper he complains of . for to my thinking , there is a great deal of supiness , and dull consideration in these periods . he tells his patron his smiles have embolden'd him . i confess i can't see how he could forbear smiling at such entertainment . however mr. durfey takes things by the best handle , and is resolv'd to be happy in his interpretation . but to be serious . were i the author , i would discharge my muse unless she prov'd kinder . his way is rather to cultivate his lungs , and sing to other peoples sense ; for to finish him in a word , he is vox , & praeterea nihil . i speak this only on supposition that the rest of his performances are like these . which because i have not perused i can judge of no farther than by the rule of ex pede herculem . i shall conclude with monsieur boileau's art of poetry . this citation may possibly be of some service to mr. durfey ; for if not concern'd in the application , he may at least be precaution'd by the advice . the translation runs thus . i like an author that reforms the age ; and keeps the right decorum of the stage : that always pleases by just reasons rule : but for a tedious droll a quibbling fool , who with low nauseous baudry fills his plays ; let him be gone and on two tressells raise some smithfield stage , where he may act his pranks , and make jack-puddings speak to mountebanks . sect . iii. remarks upon the relapse . the relapse shall follow don quixot , upon the account of some alliance between them . and because this author swaggers so much in his preface , and seems to look big upon his performance , i shall spend a few more thoughts than ordinary upon his play , and examine it briefly in the fable , the moral , the characters , &c. the fable i take to be as follows . fashion a lewd , prodigal , younger brother , is reduced to extremity : upon his arrival from his travels , he meets with coupler , an old sharping match-maker ; this man puts him upon a project of cheating his elder brother lord foplington , of a rich fortune . young fashion being refused a summ of money by his brother , goes into couplers plot , bubbles sir tunbelly of his daughter , and makes himself master of a fair estate . from the form and constitution of the fable , i observe 1 st . that there is a misnommer in the title . the play should not have been call'd the relapse , or virtue in danger : lovelace , and amanda , from whose characters these names are drawn , are persons of inferiour consideration . lovelace sinks in the middle of the fourth act , and we hear no more of him till towards the end of the fifth , where he enters once more , but then 't is as cato did the senate house , only to go out again . and as for amanda she has nothing to do but to stand a shock of courtship , and carry off her virtue . this i confess is a great task in the play-house , but no main matter in the play. the intrigue , and the discovery , the great revolution and success , turns upon young fashion . he without competition , is the principal person in the comedy . and therefore the younger brother , or the fortunate cheat , had been much a more proper name . now when a poet can't rig out a title page , 't is but a bad sign of his holding out to the epilogue . 2 ly . i observe the moral is vitious : it points the wrong way , and puts the prize into the wrong hand . it seems to make lewdness the reason of desert , and gives young fashion a second fortune , only for debauching away his first . a short view of his character , will make good this reflection . to begin with him : he confesses himself a rake , swears , and blasphemes , curses , and challenges his elder brother , cheats him of his mistress , and gets him laid by the heels in a dog-kennel . and what was the ground of all this unnatural quarrelling and outrage ? why the main of it was only because lord foplington refused to supply his luxury , and make good his extravagance . this young fashion after all , is the poets man of merit . he provides , a plot and a fortune , on purpose for him . to speak freely , a lewd character seldom wants good luck in comedy . so that when ever you see a thorough libertine , you may almost swear he is in a rising way , and that the poet intends to make him a great man. in short ; this play perverts the end of comedy : which as monsieur rapin observes ought to regard reformation , and publick improvement . but the relapser had a more fashionable fancy in his head. his moral holds forth this notable instruction . 1 st . that all younger brothers should be careful to run out their circumstances as fast , and as ill as they can . and when they have put their affairs in this posture of advantage , they may conclude themselves in the high road to wealth , and success . for as fashion blasphemously applies it , providence takes care of men of merit . 2 ly . that when a man is press'd , his business is not to be govern'd by scruples , or formalize upon conscience and honesty . the quickest expedients are the best ; for in such cases the occasion justifies the means , and a knight of the post , is as good as one of the garter . in the 3 d. place it may not be improper to look a little into the plot. here the poet ought to play the politician if ever . this part should have some stroaks , of conduct , and strains of invention more then ordinary . there should be something that is admirable , and unexpected to surprize the audience . and all this finess must work by gentle degrees , by a due preparation of incidents , and by instruments which are probable . 't is mr. rapins remark , that without probability every thing is lame and faulty . where there is no pretence to miracle and machine , matters must not exceed the force of beleif . to produce effects without proportion ; and likelyhood in the cause , is farce , and magick , and looks more like conjuring than conduct . let us examine the relapser by these rules . to discover his plot , we must lay open somewhat more of the fable . lord foplington a town beau , had agreed to marry the daughter of sir. tun-belly clumsey a country gentleman , who lived fifty miles from london . notwithstanding this small distance , the lord had never seen his mistress , nor the knight his son in law. both parties out of their great wisdom , leave the treating the match to coupler . when all the preliminaries of settlement were adjusted , and lord foplington expected by sir tun-belly in a few days , coupler betrays his trust to young fashion . he advises him to go down before his brother : to counterfeit his person , and pretend that the strength of his inclinations brought him thither before his time , and without his retinue . and to make him pass upon sir tun-belly , coupler gives him his letter , which was to be lord foplingtons credential . young fashion thus provided , posts down to sir tunbelly , is received for lord foplington , and by the help of a little folly and knavery in the family , marries the young lady without her fathers knowledge , and a week before the appointment . this is the main of the contrivance . the counterturn in lord foplingtons appearing afterwards , and the support of the main plot , by bulls , and nurses attesting the marriage , contain's little of moment . and here we may observe that lord foplington has an unlucky disagreement in his character ; this misfortune sits hard upon the credibility of the design . 't is true he was formal and fantastick , smitten with dress , and equipage , and it may be vapour'd by his perfumes ; but his behaviour is far from that of an ideot . this being granted , 't is very unlikely this lord with his five thousand pounds per annum , should leave the choise of his mistress to coupler , and take her person and fortune upon content . to court thus blindfold , and by proxy , does not agree with the method of an estate , nor the niceness of a beau. however the poet makes him engage hand over head , without so much as the sight of her picture . his going down to sir tunbelly was as extraordinary as his courtship . he had never seen this gentleman . he must know him to be beyond measure suspicious , and that there was no admittance without couplers letter . this letter which was , the key to the castle , he forgot to take with him , and tells you 't was stolen by his brother tam. and for his part he neither had the discretion to get another , nor yet to produce that written by him to sir tun-belly . had common sense been consulted upon this occasion , the plot had been at an end , and the play had sunk in the fourth act. the remainder subsists purely upon the strength of folly , and of folly altogether improbable , and out of character . the salvo of sir john friendly's appearing at last , and vouching for lord foplington , won't mend the matter . for as the story informs us , lord foplington never depended on this reserve : he knew nothing of this gentleman being in the country , nor where he lived . the truth is , sir john was left in town , and the lord had neither concerted his journey with him , nor engaged his assistance . let us now see how sir. tun-belly hangs together . this gentleman the poet makes a justice of peace , and a deputy lieutenant , and seats him fifty miles from london : but by his character you would take him for one of hercules's monsters , or some gyant in guy of warwick . his behaviour is altogether romance , and has nothing agreeable to time , or country . when fashion , and lory , went down , they find the bridge drawn up , the gates barr'd , and the blunderbuss cock'd at the first civil question . and when sir tun-belly had notice of this formidable appearance , he sallies out with the posse of the family , and marches against a couple of strangers with a life gaurd of halberds , sythes , and pitchforks . and to make sure work , young hoyden is lock'd up at the first approach of the enemy . here you have prudence and wariness to the excess of fable , and frensy . and yet this mighty man of suspition , trusts coupler with the disposal of his only daughter , and his estate into the bargain . and what was this coupler ? why , a sharper by character , and little better by profession . farther . lord foplington and the knight , are but a days journey asunder , and yet by their treating by proxy , and commission , one would fancy a dozen degrees of latitude betwixt them . and as for young fashion , excepting couplers letter , he has all imaginable marks of imposture upon him . he comes before his time , and without the retinue expected , and has nothing of the air of lord foplington's conversation . when sir tun-belly ask'd him , pray where are your coaches and servants my lord ? he makes a trifling excuse . sir , that i might give you and your fair daughter a proof how impatient i am to be nearer akin to you , i left my equipage to follow me , and came away post , with only one servant . to be in such a hurry of inclination for a person he never saw , is somewhat strange ! besides , 't is very unlikely lord foplington should hazard his complexion on horseback , out ride his figure , and appear a bridegroom in deshabille . you may as soon perswade a peacock out of his train , as a beau out of his equipage ; especially upon such an occasion . lord foplington would scarsely speak to his brother just come a shore , till the grand committee of taylors , seamtresses , &c. was dispatch'd . pomp , and curiosity were this lords inclination ; why then should he mortifie without necessity , make his first approaches thus out of form , and present himself to his mistress at such disadvantage ? and as this is the character of lord foplington , so 't is reasonable to suppose sir tunbelly acquainted with it . an enquiry into the humour and management of a son in law , is very natural and customary . so that we can't without violence to sense , suppose sir tunbelly a stranger to lord foplington's singularities . these reasons were enough in all conscience to make sir tunbelly suspect a juggle , and that fashion was no better then a counterfeit . why then was the credential swallow'd without chewing , why was not hoyden lock'd up , and a pause made for farther enquiry ? did this justice never hear of such a thing as knavery , or had he ever greater reason to guard against it ? more wary steps might well have been expected from sir tunbelly . to run from one extream of caution , to another of credulity , is highly improbable . in short , either lord foplington and sir tunbelly are fools , or they are not . if they are , where lies the cunning in over-reaching them ? what conquest can there be without opposition ? if they are not fools , why does the poet make them so ? why is their conduct so gross , so particolour'd , and inconsistent ? take them either way , and the plot miscarries . the first supposition makes it dull , and the later , incredible . so much for the plot. i shall now in the 4 th . place touch briefly upon the manners . the manners in the language of the stage have a signification somewhat particular . aristotle and rapin call them the causes and principles of action . they are formed upon the diversities of age , and sex , of fortune , capacity , and education . the propriety of manners consists in a conformity of practise , and principle ; of nature , and behaviour . for the purpose . an old man must not appear with the profuseness and levity of youth ; a gentleman must not talk like a clown , nor a country girl like a town jilt . and when the characters are feign'd 't is horace's rule to keep them uniform , and consistent , and agreeable to their first setting out . the poet must be careful to hold his persons tight to their calling and pretentions . he must not shift , and shuffle their understandings ; let them skip from wits to blockheads , nor from courtiers to pedants . on the other hand . if their business is playing the fool , keep them strictly to their duty , and never indulge them in fine sentences . to manage otherwise , is to desert nature , and makes the play appear monstrous , and chimerical . so that instead of an image of life , 't is rather an image of impossibility . to apply some of these remarks to the relapser . the fine berinthia , one of the top-characters , is impudent and profane . lovelace would engage her secrecy , and bids her swear . she answers i do . lov. by what ? berinth . by woman . lov. that 's swearing by my deity , do it by your own , or i shan't believe you . berinth . by man then . this lady promises worthy her endeavours to corrupt amanda ; and then they make a profane jest upon the office. in the progress of the play after a great deal of lewd discourse with lovelace , berinthia is carried off into a closet , and lodged in a scene of debauch . here is decency , and reservedness , to a great exactness ! monsieur rapin blames ariosto , and tasso , for representing two of their women over free , and airy . these poets says he , rob women of their character , which is modesty . mr. rymer is of the same opinion : his words are these . nature knows nothing in the manners which so properly , and particularly distinguish a woman , as her modesty . — an impudent woman is fit only to be kicked , and expos'd in comedy . now berinthia appears in comedy 't is true ; but neither to be kick'd , nor expos'd . she makes a considerable figure , has good usage , keeps the best company , and goes off without censure , or disadvantage . let us now take a turn or two with sir tun-belly's heiress of 1500 pounds a year . this young lady swears , talks smut , and is upon the matter just as ragmanner'd as mary the buxsome . 't is plain the relapser copyed mr. durfey's original , which is a sign he was somewhat pinch'd . now this character was no great beauty in buxsome ; but it becomes the knights daughter much worse . buxsome was a poor pesant , which made her rudeness more natural , and expected . but deputy lieutenants children don't use to appear with the behaviour of beggars . to breed all people alike , and make no distinction between a seat , and a cottage , is not over artful , nor very ceremonious to the country gentlemen . the relapser gives miss a pretty soliloquy , i 'll transcribe it for the reader . she swears by her maker , 't is well i have a husband a coming , or i 'de marry the baker i would so . no body can knock at the gate , but presently i must be lock'd up , and here 's the young gray-hound — can run loose about the hoase all day long , she can , 't is very well ! afterwards her language is too lewd to be quoted . here is a compound of ill manners , and contradiction ! is this a good resemblance of quality , a description of a great heiress , and the effect of a cautious education ? by her coarsness you would think her bred upon a common , and by her confidence , in the nursery of the play-house . i suppose the relapser fancies the calling her miss hoyden is enough to justifie her ill manners . by his favour , this is a mistake . to represent her thus unhewn , he should have suited her condition to her name , a little better . for there is no charm in words as to matters of breeding , an unfashionable name won't make a man a clown . education is not form'd upon sounds , and syllables , but upon circumstances , and quality . so that if he was resolv'd to have shown her thus unpolish'd , he should have made her keep sheep , or brought her up at the wash-boul . sir tun-belly accosts young fashion much at the same rate of accomplishment . my lord , — i humbly crave leave to bid you welcome in cup of sack-wine . one would imagine the poet was overdozed before he gave the justice a glass . for sack-wine is too low for a petty constable . this peasantly expression agrees neither with the gentlemans figure , nor with the rest of his behaviour . i find we should have a creditable magistracy , if the relapser had the making them . here the characters are pinch'd in sense , and stinted to short allowance . at an other time they are over-indulged , and treated above expectation . for the purpose . vanity and formalizing is lord foplingtons part . to let him speak without aukwardness , and affectation , is to put him out of his element . there must be gumm and stiffening in his discourse to make it natural . however , the relapser has taken a fancy to his person , and given him some of the most gentile raillery in the whole play. to give an instance or two . this lord in discourse with fashion forgets his name , flies out into sense , and smooth expression , out talks his brother , and abating the starch'd similitude of a watch , discovers nothing of affectation , for almost a page together . he relapses into the same intemperance of good sense , in an other dialogue between him and his brother . i shall cite a little of it . y. fash. unless you are so kind to assist me in redeeming my annuity , i know no remedy , but to go take a purse . l. fopl. why faith tam — to give you my sense of the thing , i do think taking a purse the best remedy in the world , for if you succeed , you are releiv'd that way , if you are taken — you are reliev'd to'ther . fashion being disappointed of a supply quarrels his elder brother , and calls him the prince of coxcombs . l. fopl. sir i am proud of being at the head of so prevailing a party . y. fash. will nothing then provoke thee ? draw coward . l. fopl. look you tam , your poverty makes your life so burdensome to you , you would provoke me to a quarrel , in hopes either to slip through my lungs into my estate , or else to get your self run through the guts , to put an end to your pain . but i shall disappoint you in both . &c. this drolling has too much spirit , the air of it is too free , and too handsomly turn'd for lord foplingtons character . i' grant the relapser could not aford to lose these sentences . the scene would have suffer'd by the omission . but then he should have contriv'd the matter so , as that they might , have been spoken by young fashion in asides , or by some other more proper person . to go on . miss hoyden sparkles too much in conversation . the poet must needs give her a shining line or two , which serves only to make the rest of her dullness the more remarkable . sir. tun-belly falls into the same misfortune of a wit , and rallies above the force of his capacity . but the place having a mixture of profaness , i shall forbear to cite it . now to what purpose should a fools coat be embroider'd ? finery in the wrong place is but expensive ridiculousness . besides , i don't perceive the relapser was in any condition to be thus liberal . and when a poet is not overstock'd , to squander away his wit among his block-heads , is meer distraction . his men of sense will smart for this prodigality . lovelace in his discourse of friendship , shall be the first instance . friendship ( says he ) is said to be a plant of tedious growth , its root composed of tender fibers , nice in their tast , &c. by this description the palate of a fiber , should be somewhat more nice and distinguishing , then the poets judgment . let us examin some more of his witty people . young fashion fancies by misses forward behaviour , she would have a whole kennel of beaux after her at london . and then hey to the park , and the play , and the church , and the devil . here i conceive the ranging of the period is amiss . for if he had put the play , and the devil together , the order of nature , and the air of probability had been much better observ'd . afterwards coupler being out of breath in coming up stairs to fashion , asks him why the — canst thou not lodge upon the ground-floor ? y. fash. because i love to lye as near heaven as i can . one would think a spark just come off his travels , and had made the tour of italy and france , might have rallied with a better grace ! however if he lodg'd in a garret , 't is a good local jest . i had almost forgot one pretty remarkable sentence of fashion to lory . i shall shew thee ( says he ) the excess of my passion by being very calm . now since this gentleman was in a vein of talking philosophy to his man , i 'm sorry he broke of so quickly . had he gone on and shown him the excess of a storm and no wind stirring , the topick had been spent , and the thought improv'd to the utmost . let us now pass on to worthy , the relapsers fine gentleman . this spark sets up for sense , and address , and is to have nothing of affectation or conscience to spoil his character . however to say no more of him , he grows foppish in the last scene , and courts amanda in fustian , and pedantry . first , he gives his periods a turn of versification , and talks prose to her in meeter . now this is just as agreeable as it would be to ride with one leg , and walk with the other . but let him speak for himself . his first business is to bring amanda to an aversion for her husband ; and therefore he perswades her to rouse up that spirit women ought to bear ; and slight your god if he neglects his angel. he goes on with his orisons . with arms of ice receive his cold embraces and keep your fire for those that come in flames . fire and flames , is mettal upon mettal ; 't is false heraldry . extend the arms of mercy to his aid . his zeal may give him title to your pity , altho' his merit cannot claim your love. here you have arms brought in again by head and shoulders . i suppose the design was to keep up the situation of the allegory . but the latter part of the speech is very pithy . he would have her resign her vertue out of civility , and abuse her husband on principles of good nature . worthy pursues his point , and rises in his address . he falls into a fit of dissection , and hopes to gain his mistress by cutting his throat . he is for ripping up his faithful breast , to prove the reality of his passion . now when a man courts with his heart in his hand , it must be great cruelty to refuse him ! no butcher could have thought of a more moving expedient ! however , amanda continues obstinate , and is not in the usual humour of the stage . upon this , like a well bred lover he seizes her by force , and threatens to kill her . nay struggle not for all 's in vain , or death , or victory , i am determin'd . in this rencounter the lady proves too nimble , and slips through his fingers . upon this disappointment , he cries , there 's divinity about her , and she has dispenc'd some portion on 't to me . his passion is metamorphos'd in the turn of a band : he is refin'd into a platonick admirer , and goes off as like a town spark as you would wish . and so much for the poets fine gentleman . i should now examine the relapser's thoughts and expressions , which are two other things of consideration in a play the thoughts or sentiments are the expressions of the manners , as words are of the thoughts . but the view of the characters has in some measure prevented this enquiry . leaving this argument therefore , i shall consider his play with respect to the three unities of time , place , and action . and here the reader may please to take notice , that the design of these rules , is to conceal the fiction of the stage , to make the play appear natural , and to give it an air of reality , and conversation . the largest compass for the first unity is twenty four hours : but a lesser proportion is more regular . to be exact , the time of the history , or fable , should not exceed that of the representation : or in other words , the whole business of the play , should not be much longer than the time it takes up in playing . the second unity is that of place . to observe it , the scene must not wander from one town , or country to another . it must continue in the same house , street , or at farthest in the same city , where it was first laid . the reason of this rule depends upon the first . now the compass of time being strait , that of space must bear a correspondent proportion . long journeys in plays are impracticable . the distances of place must be suited to leisure , and possibility , otherwise the supposition will appear unnatural and absurd . the third unity is that of action ; it consists in contriving the chief business of the play single , and making the concerns of one person distinguishably great above the rest . all the forces of the stage must as it were serve under one general : and the lesser intrigues or underplots , have some relation to the main . the very oppositions must be useful , and appear only to be conquer'd , and countermin'd . to represent two considerable actions independent of each other , destroys the beauty of subordination , weakens the contrivance , and dilutes the pleasure . it splits the play , and makes the poem double . he that would see more upon this subject may consult corneille . to bring these remarks to the case in hand . and here we may observe how the relapser fails in all the rules above mention'd . 1 st . his play by modest computation takes up a weeks work , but five days you must allow it at the lowest . one day must be spent in the first , second , and part of the third act , before lord foplington sets forward to sir tun-belly . now the length of the distance , the pomp of the retinue , and the niceness of the person being consider'd ; the journey down , and up again , cannot be laid under four days . to put this out of doubt , lord , foplington is particularly careful to tell coupler , how concern'd he was not to overdrive , for fear of disordering his coach-horses . the laws of place , are no better observ'd than those of time. in the third act the play is in town , in the fourth act 't is stroll'd fifty miles off , and in the fifth act in london again . here pegasus stretches it to purpose ! this poet is fit to ride a match with witches . juliana cox never switched a broom stock with more expedition ! this is exactly titus at walton town , and titus at islington . one would think by the probability of matters , the plot had been stolen from dr. o — s. the poet's success in the last vnity of action is much the same with the former . lovelace , amanda , and berinthia , have no share in the main business . these second rate characters are a detatched body : their interest is perfectly foreign , and they are neither friends , nor enemies to the plot. young fashion does not so much as see them till the close of the fifth act , and then they meet only to fill the stage : and yet these persons are in the poets account very considerable ; insomuch that he has misnamed his play from the figure of two of them . this strangness of persons , distinct company , and inconnexion of affairs , destroys the unity of the poem . the contrivance is just as wise as it would be to cut a diamond in two . there is a loss of lustre in the division . increasing the number , abates the value , and by making it more , you make it less . thus far i have examin'd the dramatick merits of the play. and upon enquiry , it appears a heap of irregularities . there is neither propriety in the name , nor contrivance in the plot , nor decorum in the characters . 't is a thorough contradition to nature , and impossible in time , and place . it s shining graces as the author calls them , are blasphemy and baudy , together with a mixture of oaths , and cursing . upon the whole ; the relapser's judgment , and his morals , are pretty well adjusted . the poet , is not much better than ' the man. as for the profane part , 't is hideous and superlative . but this i have consider'd elsewhere . all that i shall observe here is , that the author was sensible of this objection . his defence in his preface is most wretched : he pretends to know nothing of the matter , and that 't is all printed ; which only proves his confidence equal to the rest of his virtues . to out-face evidence in this manner , is next to the affirming there 's no such sin as blasphemy , which is the greatest blasphemy of all . his apology consists in railing at the clergy ; a certain sign of ill principles , and ill manners . this he does at an unusual rate of rudeness and spite . he calls them the saints with screw'd faces , and wry mouths . and after a great deal of scurrilous abuse too gross to be mention'd , he adds ; if any man happens to be offended at a story of a cock and a bull , and a priest and a bull-dog , i beg his pardon , &c. this is brave bear-garden language ! the relapser would do well to transport his muse to samourgan * there 't is likely he might find leisure to lick his abortive brat into shape ; and meet with proper business for his temper , and encouragement for his talent . chap. vi. the opinion of paganism , of the church , and state , concerning the stage . having in the foregoing chapters discover'd some part of the disorders of the english stage ; i shall in this last , present the reader with a short view of the sense of antiquity , to which i shall add some modern authorities ; from all which it will appear that plays have generally been look'd on as the nurseries of vice , the corrupters of youth , and the grievance of the country where they are suffer'd . this proof from testimony shall be ranged under these three heads . under the first , i shall cite some of the most celebrated heathen philosophers , orators , and historians ; men of the biggest consideration , for sense , learning , and figure . the second , shall consist of the laws and constitutions of princes , &c. the third , will be drawn from church records , from fathers , and councils of unexceptionable authority , both as to persons , and time. i st . i shall produce some of the most celebrated heathen philosophers &c. to begin with plato . this philosopher tells us that plays raise the passions , and pervert the use of them , and by consequence are dangerous to morality . for this reason he banishes these diversions his common-wealth . xenophon who was both a man of letters and a great general , commends the persians for the discipline of their education . they won't ( says he ) so much as suffer their youth to hear any thing that 's amorous or tawdry . they were afraid want of ballast might make them miscarry , and that 't was dangerous to add weight to the byass of nature . aristotle lays it down for a rule that the law ought to forbid young people the seeing of comedies . such permissions not being safe till age and discipline had confirm'd them in sobriety , fortified their virtue , and made them as it were proof against debauchery . this philosopher who had look'd as far into humane nature as any man , observes farther . that the force of musick and action is very affecting . it commands the audience and changes the passions to a resemblance of the matter before them . so that where the representation is foul , the thoughts of the company must suffer . tully crys out upon licentious plays and poems , as the bane of sobriety , and wise thinking : that comedy subsists upon lewdness , and that pleasure is the root of all evil. livy , reports the original of plays among the romans . he tells us they were brought in upon the score of religion , to pacifie the gods , and remove a mortality . but then he adds that the motives are sometimes good , when the means are stark naught : that the remedy in this case was worse than the disease , and the atonement more infectious then the plague . valerius maximus , contemporary with livy , gives much the same account of the rise of theatres at rome . 't was devotion which built them . and as for the performances of those places , which mr. dryden calls the ornaments , this author censures as the blemishes of peace . and which is more , he affirms they were the occasions of civil distractions ; and that the state first blush'd , and then bled , for the entertainment . he concludes the consequences of plays intolerable ; and that the massilienses did well in clearing the country of them . seneca complains heartily of the extravagance and debauchery of the age : and how forward people were to improve in that which was naught . that scarce any body would apply themselves to the study of nature and morality , unless when the play-house was shut , or the weather foul . that there was no body to teach philosophy , because there was no body to learn it : but that the stage had nurseries , and company enough . this misapplication of time and fancy , made knowledge in so ill a condition . this was the cause the hints of antiquity were no better pursued ; that some inventions were sunk , and that humane reason grew downwards rather than otherwise . and elswhere he avers that there is nothing more destructive to good manners then to run idling to see sights . for there vice makes an insensible approach , and steals upon us in the disguise of pleasure . tacitus relating how nero hired decay'd gentlemen for the stage , complains of the mismanagement ; and lets us know 't was the part of a prince to releive their necessity , and not to tempt it . and that his bounty should rather have set them above an ill practise , than driven them apon't . and in another place , he informs us that the german women were guarded against danger , and kept their honour out of harms way , by having no play-houses amongst them . plays , in the opinion of the judicious plutark are dangerous to corrupt young people ; and therefore stage poetry when it grows too hardy , and licentious , ought to be checkt . this was the opinion of these celebrated authors with respect to theatres : they charge them with the corruption of principles , and manners , and lay in all imaginable caution against them . and yet these men had seldom any thing but this world in their scheme ; and form'd their judgments only upon natural light , and common experience . we see then to what sort of conduct we are oblig'd . the case is plain ; unless we are little enough to renounce our reason , and fall short of philosophy , and live under the pitch of heathenism . to these testimonies i shall add a couple of poets , who both seem good judges of the affair in hand . the first is ovid , who in his book de arte amandi , gives his reader to understand that the play-house was the most likely place for him to forage in : here would be choice of all sorts : nothing being more common than to see beauty surpriz'd , women debauch'd , and wenches pick'd up at these diversions . sed tu praecique curvis venare theatris , haec loca sunt voto fertiliora tuo . — ruit ad celebres cultissima faemina ludos ; copia judicium soepe morata meum est . spectatum veniunt , veniunt spectentur ut ipsae ; ille locus casti damna pudoris habet . and afterwards relating the imperfect beginning of plays at the rape of the sabine virgins , he adds , silicit exillo solennia more theatra nunc quoque formosis insidiosa manent . this author sometime after wrote the remedy of love. here he pretends to prescribe for prudence , if not for sobriety . and to this purpose , he forbids the seeing of plays , and the reading of poets , especially some of them . such recreations being apt to seed the distemper , and make the patient relapse . at tanti tibi sit non indulgere theatris dum bene de vacuo pectore cedat amor . enervant animos citharoe , cantusque , lyr aque et vox , & numeris brachia mota suis. illic assidue ficti saltantur amantes , quid caveas , actor , quid juvet , arte docet . in his de tristibus , he endeavours to make some amends for his scandalous poems , and gives augustus a sort of plan for a publick reformation . amongst other things , he advises the suppressing of plays , as being the promoters of lewdness , and dissolution of manners . vt tamen hoc fatear ludi quoque semina praebent nequitiae , tolli tota theatra jube . to the testimony of ovid , i could add plautus , propertius , and juvenal , but being not willing to overburthen the reader , i shall content my self with the plain-dealer as one better known at home . this poet in his dedication to lady b , some emiment procuress , pleads the merits of his function , and insists on being billeted upon free quarter . madam ( says he ) i think a poet ought to be as free of your 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 play-houses : since he contributes to the support of both , and is as necessary to such as you , as the ballad-singer to the pick-purse , in convening the cullies at the theatres to be pick'd up , and carried to a supper , and bed , at your houses . this is franck evidence , and ne're the less true , for the air of a jest. i shall now in the second place proceed to the censures of the state ; and show in a few words how much the stage stands discouraged by the laws of other countrys and our own . to begin with the athenians . this people tho' none of the worst friends to the play-house thought a comedy so unreputable a performance , that they made a law that no judge of the ariopagus should make one . the lacedemonians , who were remarkable for the wisdom of their laws , the sobriety of their manners , and their breeding of brave men. this government would not endure the stage in any form , nor under any regulation . to pass on to the romans . tully informs us that their predecessours counted all stage-plays uncreditable and scandalous . in so much that any roman who turn'd actor was not only to be degraded , but likewise as it were disincorporated , and unnaturalized by the order of the censors . st. augustine in the same book , commends the romans for refusing the jus civitatis to players , for seizing their freedoms , and making them perfectly foreign to their government . we read in livy that the young people in rome kept the fabulae attellanae to themselves . they would not suffer this diversion to be blemish'd by the stage . for this reason , as the historian observes , the actors of the fabulae atellanae were neither expell'd their tribe , nor refused to serve in arms ; both which penalties it appears the common players lay under . in the theodosian code , players are call'd personae inhonestae ; that is , to translate it softly , persons maim'd , and blemish'd in their reputation . their pictures might be seen at the play-house , but were not permitted to hang in any creditable place of the town , upon this text gothofred tells us the function of players was counted scandalous * by the civil law. l. 4. and that those who came upon the stage to divert the people , had a mark of infamy set upon them . famosi sunt ex edicto . i shall now come down to our own constitution . and i find by 39. eliz. cap. 4. 1. jae . cap. 7. that all bearwards , common players of enterludes , counterfeit egyptians &c. shall be taken , adjudged and deem'd rogues , uagabonds , and slurdy beggars , and shall sustain all pain and punishment , as by this act is in that behalf appointed . the penalties are infamous to the last degree , and capital too , unless they give over . 't is true , the first act excepts those players which belong to a baron or other personage of higher degree , and are authorized to play under the hand and seal of aimes of such baron , or personage . but by the later statute this privilege of licensing is taken away : and all of them are expresly brought under the penalty without distinction . about the year 1580 , there was a petition made to queen elizabeth for suppressing of play-houses . 't is somewhat remarkable , and therefore i shall transcribe some part of the relation . many godly citizens , and other well disposed gentlemen of london , considering that play-houses and dicing-houses , were traps for young gentlemen and others , and perceiving the many inconveniencies and great damage that would ensue upon the long suffering of the same , not only to particular persons but to the whole city ; and that it would also be a great disparagement to the governours , and a dishonour to the government of this honourable city , if they should any longer continue , acquainted some pious magistrates therewith , desiring them to take some course for the suppression of common play-houses , &c. within the city of london and liberties thereof ; who thereupon made humble suit to queen elizabeth and her privy council , and obtain'd leave of her majesty to thrust the players out of the city , and to pull down all play-houses , and dicing-houses within their liberties , which accordingly was effected . and the play-houses in grace-church-street &c. were quite put down and suppress'd . i shall give a modern instance or two from france , and so conclude these authorities . in the year 1696. we are inform'd by a dutch print , m. l' archevéque appuyé &c. that the lord arch-bishop support'd by the interest of some religious persons at court , has done his utmost to suppress the publick theatres by degrees ; or at least to clear them of profaness . and last summer the gazetts in the paris article affirm . that the king has order'd the italian players to retire out of france because they did not observe his majesties orders , but represented immodest pieces , and did not correct their obscenities , and indecent gestures . the same intelligence the next week after , acquaints us that some persons of the first quality at court , who were the protectors of these comedians , had solicited the french king to recal his order against them , but their request had no success . and here to put an end to the modern authorities , i shall subjoyn a sort of pastoral letter publish'd about two years since by the bishop of arras in flanders . the reader shall have as much of it as concerns him in both languages . mandement de monseigneur l' illustrissime et reverendissime eve que d' arras contre la comedie . guy de seve de roche chouart par la grace de dieu & du saint siége apostolique evéque d' arras , a tous fideles dela ville d' arras salut & benediction . il faut ignorer sa religion pour ne pas connoître l'horreur qu'elle a marquée dans tous les temps des spectacles , & de la comedie en particulier . les saints peres la condamnent dans leurs écrits ; ils la regardent comme un reste du paganisme , & comme une école d' impureté . l' eglise l' a toûjours regardée avec abomination , & si elle n'a pas absolument rejetté de son sein ceux qui exercent ce mêtier infame & seandaleux , elle les prive publiquement des sacremens , & n' oublie rien pour marquer en toutes rencountres son aversion pour cet ètat & pour l' inspirer a ses enfans . des rituels de dioceses tres reglés les mettent au nombre des personnes que les curés sont obligés de traiter comme excommunies ; celui de paris les joint aux sorciers , & aux magiciens , & les regarde comme manifestement infames ; le eveques les plus saints leur font refuser publiquement , les sacremens ; nous avons veu un des premiers eveques de france ne vouloir pas par cette raison recevoir au mariage un homme de cet état ; un autre ne vouloir pas leur accorder la terre sainte ; et dans les statuts d' un prelat bien plus illustre per son merite , par sa piete , & par l' austeritē de sa vié que par la pourpre dont il est revestu , on les trouve avec les concubinaires , les usuriers , les blasphemateürs , les femmes debauchées , les excommuniés denoncés , les infames , les simoniaque's , & autres personnes scandaleuses mis au nombre de ceux a qui on doit resuser publiquement la communion . il est donc impossible de justifyer la comedie sans vouloir condamner l' eglise , les saints peres , les plus saint prelats , mais il ne l' est pas moins de justifiër ceux qui par leur assistance a ces spectacles non seulement prennent part au mal qui s'y fait , mais contribuent en même temps á retenir ces malheureux ministres de satan dans une profession , qui les separant des sâcremens de l' eglise les met dans un état perpetuel de peché & hors de salut s'ils ne l' abandonnent . — et á egard des comediens & commediennes , nous defendons trés expressement à nos pasteurs & á nos confesseurs des les recevoir aux sacremens si cé n'est qu' ils aient fait penitence de leur peché , donné des preuves d'amendment , renoncé á leur etat , & repare pat une satisfaction publique telle que nous jugerons à propos de leur ordonner , le scandale public qu'ils om donné . fait & ordonné á arras le quatriéme jour de decembre mil six cent quatre-vingt quinze . guy evéque d' arras et plus bas par monseigneur caron . in english thus , an order of the most illustrious and most reverend lord bishop of arras against plays . guy de seve de roche chouart by the grace of god , &c. bishop of arras . to all the faithful in the town of arras health and benediction . a man must be very ignorant of his religion , not to know the great disgust it has always declar'd , for publick sights , and for plays in particular . the holy fathers condemn them in their writings ; they look upon them as reliques of heathenism , and schools of debauchery . they have been always abominated by the church ; and notwithstanding those who are concern'd in this scandalous profession ; are not absolutely expell'd by a formal excommunication , yet she publickly refuses them the sacraments , and omits nothing upon all occasions , to show her aversion for this employment , and to transfuse the same sentiments into her children . the rituals of the best govern'd dioceses , have ranged the players among those whom the parish priests are oblig'd to treat as excommunicated persons . the ritual of paris joyns them with sorcerers , and magicians , and looks upon them as notoriously infamous ; the most eminent bishops for piety , have publickly denied them the sacraments : for this reason , we our selves have known one of the most considerable bishops in france ; turn back a player that came to be married ; and an other of the same order , refused to bury them in consecrated ground : and by the orders of a bishop , who is much more illustrious for his worth , for his piety , and the strictness of his life , than for the purple in his habit ; they are thrown amongst fornicators , usurers , blasphemers , lewd women , and declar'd excommunicates , amongst the infamous , and simoniacal , and other scandalous persons who are in the list of those who ought publickly to be barr'd communion . unless therfore we have a mind to condemn the church , the holy fathers , and the most holy bishops , 't is impossible to justifie plays ; neither is the defence of those less impracticable , who by their countenance of these diversions , not only have their share of the mischief there done , but contribute at the same time to fix these unhappy ministers of satan in a profession , which by depriving them of the sacraments of the church , leaves them under a constant necessity of sinning , and out of all hopes of being saved , unless they give it over . — from the general unlawfulness of plays , the bishop proceeds to argue more strongly against seeing them at times which are more particularly devoted to piety , and humiliation : and therefore he strickly forbids his diocess the play-house in advent , lent , or under any publick calamity . and at last concludes in this manner . as for the case of players both men , and women , we expresly forbid all our rectors , pastors , and confessours , to admit them to the sacraments , unless they shall repent them of their crime , make proof of their reformation , renounce their business , and retrieve the scandal they have given , by such publick satisfaction as we shall think proper to injoyn them . made and decreed at arras the fourth day of december 1695. guy bishop of arras . &c. i shall now in the third place , give a short account of the sense of the primitive church concerning the stage : and first i shall instance in her councils . the council of illiberis , or collioure in spain , decrees , that it shall not be lawful for any woman who is either in full communion or a probationer for baptism , to marry , or entertain any comedians or actors ; whoever takes this liberty shall be excommunicated . the first council of arles , runs thus , concerning players , we have thought fit to excommunicate them as long as they continue to act. the second council of arles made their 20 th canon to the same purpose , and almost in the same words . the third council of carthage , of which st. augustine was a member , ordains , that the sons of bishops , or other clergy-men should not be permitted to furnish out publick shews , or plays * or be prelent at them : such sort of pagan entertainments being forbidden all the laity . it being always unlawful for all christians to come amongst blasphemers . this last branch shews the canon was principally levell'd against the play-house : and the reason of the prohibition , holds every jot as strong against the english , as against the roman stage . by the 35th canon of this council 't is decreed , that actors or others belonging to the stage , who are either converts , or penitents upon a relapse , shall not be denied admission into the church . this is farther proof , that players as long as they kept to their employment were bar'd communion . another african council declares , that the testimony of people of ill reputation , of players , and others of such scandalous employments , shall not be admitted against any person . the second council of chaalon sets forth , that clergy men ought to abstain from all over-engaging entertainments in musick or show . ( oculorum auriumque illecebris . ) and as for the smutty , and licentious insolence of players , and buffoons , let them not only decline the hearing it themselves , but likewise conclude the laity oblig'd to the same conduct . i could cite many more authorities of this kind , but being conscious of the niceness of the age , i shall forbear , and proceed to the testimony of the fathers . to begin with theophilus bishop of antioch , who lived in the second century . t is not lawful ( says he ) for us to be present at the prizes of your gladiators least by this means we should be accessaries to the murthers there committed . neither dare we presume upon the liberty of your other shews , * least our senses should be tinctur'd , and disoblig'd , with indecency , and profaness . the tragical distractions of tereus and thyestes , are nonsense to us . we are for seeing no representations of lewdness . the stage-adulteries of the gods , and hero's , are unwarrantable entertainments : and so much the worse , because the mercenary players set them off with all the charms and advantages of speaking . god forbid that christians who are remarkable for modesty , and reserv'dness ; who are obliged to discipline , and train'd up in virtue , god forbid i say , that we should dishonour our thoughts , much less our practise , with such wickedness as this ! tertullian who liv'd at the latter end of this century is copious upon this subject ; i shall translate but some part of it . in his apologetick . he thus addresses the heathens . we keep off from your publick shews , because we can't understand the warrant of their original . there 's superstition and idolatry in the case : and we dislike the entertainment because we dislike the reason of its institution . besides , we have nothing to do with the frensies of the race-ground , the lewdness of the play-house , or the barbarities of the bear-garden . the epicureans had the liberty to state the notion , and determine the object of pleasure . why can't we have the same privilege ? what offence is it then if we differ from you in the idea of satisfaction ? if we won't understand to brighten our humour , and live pleasantly , where 's the harm ? if any body has the worst on 't , 't is only our selves . his book de spectaculis was wrote on purpose to diswade the christians , from the publick diversions of the heathens , of which the play-house was one . in his first chapter he gives them to understand , that the tenour of their faith , the reason of principle , and the order of discipline , had bar'd them the entertainments of the town . and therefore he exhorts them to refresh their memories , to run up to their baptism , and recollect their first engagements . for without care , pleasure is a strange bewitching thing . when it gets the ascendant , 't will keep on ignorance for an excuse of liberty , make a man's conscience wink , and suborn his reason against himself . but as he goes on , some peoples faith is either too full of scruples , or too barren of sense . nothing will serve to settle them but a plain text of scripture , they hover in uncertainty because 't is not said as expresly thou shalt not go to the play-house , as 't is thou shalt not kill . but this looks more like fencing than argument . for we have the meaning of the prohibition tho' not the sound , in the first psalm . blessed is the man that walks not in the council of the ungodly , nor stands in the way of sinners , nor sits in the seat of the scornful . the censors whose business 't was to take care of regularity and manners , look'd on these play-houses as no other than batteries upon virtue and sobriety , and for this reason often pull'd them down before they were well built so that here we can argue from the precedents of meer nature , and plead the heathens against themselves . upon this view pompey the great , when he built his dramatick bawdy-house , clapp'd a chappel a top on 't . he would not let it go under the name of a play-house , but conven'd the people to a solemn dedication , and called it venus's temple ; giving them to understand at the same time that there were benches under it for diversion . he was afraid if he had not gone this way to work , the censors might afterwards have razed the monument , and branded his memory . thus a scandalous pile of building was protected : the temple , cover'd the play-house , and discipline was baffled by superstition . but the design is notably suited to the patronage of bacchus * and venus . these two confederate devils of lust and intemperance , do well together . the very functions of the players resemble their protectors , and are instances of service and acknowledgment . their motion is effeminate , and their gestures vitious and significant : and thus they worship the luxury of one idoll , and the lewdness of the other . and granting the regards of quality , the advantages of age , or temper , may fortifie some people ; granting modesty secur'd , and the diversion as it were refin'd by this means : yet a man must not expect to stand by perfectly unmoved , and impregnable . no body can be pleas'd without sensible impressions . nor can such perceptions be received without a train of passions attending them . these consequences will be sure to work back upon their causes , solicite the fancy , and heighten the original pleasure . but if a man pretends to be a stoick at plays , he falls under another imputation . for where there is no impression , there can be no pleasure : and then the spectator is very much impertinent , in going where he gets nothing for his pains . and if this were all ; i suppose christians have something else to do than to ramble about to no purpose . even those very magistrates who abet the stage , discountenance the players . they stigmatize their character , and cramp their freedoms . the whole tribe of them is thrown out of all honour and privilege . they are neither suffer'd to be lords , nor gentlemen : to come within the senate , or harangue the people , or so much as to be members of a common-council . now what caprice and inconsistency is this ! to love what we punish , and lessen those whom we admire ! to cry up the mystery , and censure the practise ; for a man to be as it were eclips'd upon the score of merit is certainly an odd sort of justice ! true. but the inference lies stronger another way . what a confession then is this of an ill business ; when the very excellency of it is not without infamy ? since therefore humane prudence has thought fit to degrade the stage , notwithstanding the divertingness of it . since pleasure can't make them an interest here , nor shelter them from censure . how will they be able to stand the shock of divine justice , and what reckoning have they reason to expect hereafter ? all things consider'd 't is no wonder such people should fall under possession . god knows we have had a sad example of this already . a certain woman went to the play-house , and brought the devil home with her. and when the unclean spirit was press'd in the exorcism and ask'd how he durst attack a christian . i have done nothing ( says he ) but what i can justify . for i seiz'd her upon my own ground . indeed , how many instances have we of others who have apostatiz'd from god , by correspondence with the devil ? what communion has light with darkness ? no man can serve two masters , nor have life and death in him at the same time . will you not then avoid this seat of infection ? the very air suffers by their impurities ; and they almost pronounce the plague . what tho' the performance may be in some measure pretty and entertaining ? what tho' innocence , yes and virtue too , shines through some part of it ? 't is not the custom to prepare poyson unpalatable , nor make up ratzbane with rhubarb and sena . no. to have the mischief speed , they must oblige the sense , and make the dose pleasant . thus the devil throws in a cordial drop to make the draught go down ; and steals some few ingredients from the dispensatory of heaven . in short , look upon all the engaging sentences of the stage ; their flights of fortitude , and philosophy , the loftiness of their stile , the musick of the cadence , and the finess of the conduct ; look upon it only i say as honey dropping from the bowels of a toad , or the bag of a spider : let your health over-rule your pleasure , and don 't die of a little liquorishness . in earnest christian , our time for entertainment is not yet : you are two craving and ill managed if you are so violent for delight . and let me tell you , no wiser than you should be , if you count such things satisfaction . some philosophers placed their happiness in bare tranquillity . easiness of thought , and absence of pain , was all they aim'd at . but this it seems won't satisfie thee . thou liest sighing and hankering after the play-house . prethee recollect thy self : thou knowest death ought to be our pleasure , and therefore i hope life may be a little without it . are not our desires the same with the apostles , to be dissolv'd and to be with christ. let us act up to our pretentions , and let pleasure be true to inclination . but if you can't wait for delight ; if you must be put into present possession , wee 'l cast the cause upon that issue . now were you not unreasonable , you would perceive the liberalities of providence , and find your self almost in the midst of satisfaction . for what can be more transporting than the friendship of heaven , and the discovery of truth , than the sense of our mistakes , and the pardon of our sins ? what greater pleasure can there be , than to scorn being pleas'd ? to contemn the world ? and to be a slave to nothing ? 't is a mighty satisfaction i take it , to have a clear conscience ; to make life no burthen , nor death any terror ! to trample upon the pagan deities ; to batter principalities and powers , and force the devils to resign ! * these are the delights , these are the noble entertainments of christians : and besides the advantage of the quality , they are always at hand , and cost us nothing . clemens alexandrinus affirms that the circus and theatre may not improperly be call'd the chair of pestilence . — away then with these lewd , ungodly diversions , and which are but impertinence at the best . what part of impudence either in words or practise , is omitted by the stage ? don't the buffoons take almost all manner of liberties , and plunge through thick and thin , to make a jest ? now those who are affected with a vitious satisfaction , will be haunted with the idea , and spread the infection . but if a man is not entertain'd to what purpose should he go thither ? why should he be fond where he finds nothing , and court that which sleeps upon the sense ? if 't is said these diversions are taken only to unbend the mind , and refresh nature a little . to this i answer . that the spaces between business should not be fill'd up with such rubbish . a wise man has a guard upon his recreations , and always prefers , the profitable to the pleasant . minutius felix delivers his sense in these words : as for us , who rate our degree by our virtue , and value our selves more upon our lives , than our fortunes ; we decline your pompous shews , and publick entertainments . and good reason we have for our aversion . these things have their rise from idols , and are the train of a false religion . the pleasure is ill descended , and likewise vitious and ensnaring . for who can do less than abominate , the clamorous disorders of the race-ground , and the profession of murther at the prize . and for the stage , there you have more lewdness , tho' not a jot less of distraction . sometimes your mimicks , are so scandalous and expressing , that 't is almost hard to distinguish between the fact and the representation . sometimes a luscious actor shall whine you into love , and give the disease that he counterfeits . st. cyprian or the author de spectaculis , will furnish us farther . here this father argues against those who thought the play-house no unlawful diversion , because 't was not condemn'd by express scripture . let meer modesty ( says he ) supply the holy text : and let nature govern where revelation does not reach . some things are too black to lie upon paper , and are more strongly forbidden , because unmention'd . the divine wisdom must have had a low opinion of christians , had it descended to particulars in this case . silence is sometimes the best method for authority . to forbid often puts people in mind of what they should not do ; and thus the force of the precept is lost by naming the crime . besides , what need we any farther instruction ? discipline and general restraint makes up the meaning of the law ; and common reason will tell you what the scripture has left unsaid . i would have every one examine his own thoughts , and inquire at home into the duties of his profession . this is a good way to secure him from indecency . for those rules which a man has work'd out for himself , he commonly makes most use of . — and after having describ'd the infamous diversions of the play-house ; he expostulates in this manner . what business has a christian at such places as these ? a christian who has not the liberty so much as to think of an ill thing . why does he entertain himself with lewd representations ? has he a mind to discharge his modesty , and be flesh'd for the practise ? yes . this is the consequence . by using to see these things , hee 'l learn to do them . — what need i mention the levities , and impertinence in comedies , or the ranting distractions of tragedy ? were these things unconcern'd with idolatry , christians ought not to be at them . for were they not highly criminal , the foolery of them is egregious , and unbecoming the gravity of beleivers . — as i have often said these foppish , these pernicious diversions , must be avoided . we must set a guard upon our senses , and keep the sentinal always upon duty . to make vice familiar to the ear , is the way to recommend it . and since the mind of man has a natural bent to extravagance ; how is it likely to hold out under example , and invitation ? if you push that which totters already , whether will it tumble ? in earnest , we must draw off our inclinations from these vanities . a christian has much better sights than these to look at . he has solid satisfactions in his power , which will please , and improve him at the same time . would a christian be agreeably refresh'd ? let him read the scriptures : here the entertainment will suit his character , and be big enough for his quality . — beloved , how noble , how moving how profitable a pleasure is it to be thus employed ? to have our expectations always in prospect , and be intent on the glories of heaven ? he has a great deal more upon this subject in his epistles to donatus and eucratius , which are undoubtedly genuine . the later being somewhat remarkable , i shall translate part of it for the reader . dear brother , your usual kindness , together with your desire of releiving your own modesty and mine , has put you upon asking my thoughts concerning a certain player in your neighbourhood ; whether such a person ought to be allow'd the privilege of communion . this man it seems continues in his scandalous profession , and keeps a nursery under him . he teaches that which 't was a crime in him to learn , sets up for a master of debauch , and propagates the lewd mystery . the case standing thus , 't is my opinion that the admission of such a member would be a breach of the discipline of the gospel , and a presumption upon the divine majesty : neither do i think it fit the honour of the church should suffer by so infamous a correspondence . lactantius's testimony shall come next . this author in his divine institutions , which he dedicates to constantine the great , cautions the christians against the play-house , from the disorder , and danger of those places . for as he observes . the debauching of virgins , and the amours of strumpets , are the subject of comedy . and here the rule is , the more rhetorick the more mischeif , and the best poets are the worst common-wealths-men . for the harmony and ornament of the composition serves only to recommend the argument , to fortifie the charm , and engage the memory . at last he concludes with this advice . let us avoid therefore these diversions , least somewhat of the malignity should seize us . our minds should be quiet and compos'd , and not over-run with amusements . besides a habit of pleasure is an ensnaring circumstance . 't is apt to make us forget god , and grow cool in the offices of virtue . should a man have a stage at home , would not his reputation suffer extreamly , and all people count him a notorious libertine ? most undoubtedly . now the place does not alter the property . the practise at the play-house is the same thing , only there he has more company to keep him in countenance . a well work'd poem is a powerful piece of imposture : it masters the fancy , and hurries it no body knows whither . — if therefore we would be govern'd by reason let us stand off from the temptation , such pleasures can have no good meaning . like delicious morsels they subdue the palate , and flatter us only to cut our throats . let us prefer reality to appearance , service , to show ; and eternity to time. as god makes virtue the condition of glory , and trains men up to happiness by hardship and industry . so the devils road to destruction lies through sensuality and epicurism . and as pretended evils lead us on to uncounterfeited bliss ; so visionary satisfactions are the causes of real misery . in short , these inviting things are all stratagem . let us , take care the softness and importunity of the pleasure does not surprise us , nor the bait bring us within the snare . the senses are more than out-works , and should be defended accordingly . i shall pass over st. ambrose , and go on to st. chrisostome . this father is copious upon the subject , i could translate some sheets from him were it necessary . but length being not my business , a few lines may serve to discover his opinion . his 15 homily ad populum antiochenum , runs thus . most people fancy the unlawfulness of going to plays is not clear . but by their favour , a world of disorders are the consequences of such a liberty . for frequenting the play-house has brought whoring and ribaldry into vogue , and finish'd all the parts of debauchery . afterwards he seems to make the supposition better than the fact , and argues upon a feign'd case . let us not only avoid downright sinning , but the tendencies to it . some indifferent things are fatal in the consequence , and strike us at the rebound . now who would chuse his standing within an inch of a fall ; or swim upon the verge of a whirlpool ? he that walks upon a precipice , shakes tho'he does not tumble . and commonly his concern brings him to the bottom . the case is much the same in reference to conscience , and morality . he that won't keep his distance from the gulph , is oftentimes suck'd in by the eddy ; and the least oversight is enough to undo him. in his 37 homily upon the eleventh chapter of st. matthew he declaims more at large against the stage . smutty songs ( says he ) are much more abominable than stench and ordure . and which is most to be lamented , you are not at all uneasy at such licentiousness . you laugh when you should frown ; and commend what you ought to abhor . — heark you , you can keep the language of your own house in order : if your servants or your childrens tongues run riot , they presently smart for 't . and yet at the play-house you are quite another thing . these little buffoons have a strange ascendant ! a luscious sentence is hugely welcome from their mouth : and instead of censure , they have thanks and encouragement for their pains . now if a man would be so just as to wonder at himself , here 's madness , and contradiction in abundance . but i know you 'l say what 's this to me , i neither sing nor pronounce , any of this lewd stuff ? granting your plea , what do you get by 't ? if you don't repeat these scurrilities , you are very willing to hear them . now whether the ear , or the tongue is mismanaged , comes much to the same reckoning . the difference of the organ , does not alter the action so mightily , as you may imagine . but pray how do you prove you don 't repeat them ? they may be your discourse , or the entertainments of your closet for ought we know to the contrary . this is certain ; you hear them with pleasure in your face , and make it your business to run after them : and to my mind , these are strong arguments of your approbation . i desire to ask you a question . suppose you hear any wretches blaspheme , are you in any rapture about it ? and do your gestures appear airy , and obliged ? far from it . i doubt not but your blood grows chill , and your ears are stopt at the presumption . and what 's the reason of this aversion in your behaviour ? why 't is because you don't use to blaspheme , your self . pray clear your self the same way from the charge of obscenity . wee 'l then believe you don 't talk smut , when we percieve you careful not to hear it . lewd sonnets , and serenades are quite different from the prescriptions of virtue . this is strange nourishment for a christian to take in ! i don't wonder you should lose your health , when you feed thus foul. it may be chastity is no such easy task ! innocence moves upon an ascent , at least for sometime . now those who are always laughing can never strain up hill. if the best preparations of care will just do , what must become of those that are dissolv'd in pleasure , and lie under the instructions of debauchery ? — have you not heard how that st. paul exhorts us to rejoyce in the lord ? he said in the lord ; not in the devil . but alas ! what leisure have you to mind st. paul ? how should you be sensible of your faults , when your head is always kept hot , and as it were intoxicated with buffooning ? — he goes on , and lashes the impudence of the stage with a great deal of satir and severity ; and at last proposes this objection . you 'l say , i can give you many instances where the play-house has done no harm . don't mistake . throwing away of time and ill example , has a great deal of harm in 't ; and thus far you are guilty at the best . for granting your own virtue impenetrable , and out of reach , granting the protection of your temper has brought you off unhurt , are all . people thus fortified ? by no means . however , many a weak brother has ventur'd after you , and miscarried upon your precedent . and since you make others thus faulty , how can you be innocent your self ? all the people undone there , will lay their ruine at your door . the company are all accessary to the mischeif of the place . for were there no audience , we should have no acting . and therefore those who joyn in the crime , will ne're be parted in the punishment . granting your modesty has secur'd you , which by the way i believe nothing of ; yet since many have been debauch'd by the play-house , you must expect a severe reckning for giving them encouragement . tho' after all , as virtuous as you are , i doubt not , you wou'd have been much better , had you kept away . in fine , let us not dispute to no purpose ; the practise won't bear a defence ! where the cause is naught 't is in vain to rack our reason , and strain for pretences . the best excuse for what is past , is to stand clear from the danger , and do so no more . one citation more from st. chrysostom , and i take leave . in the preface of his commentary upon st. john's gospel speaking of plays and other publick shews , he has these words . but what need i branch out the lewdness of those spectacles , and be particular in description ? for what 's there to be met with but lewd laughing , but smut , railing , and buffoonry ? in a word . 't is all scandal and confusion . observe me , i speak to you all ; let none who partake of this holy-table , unqualifie himself with such mortal diversions . st. hierom on the 1 st . verse 32 psal. makes this exposition upon the text. some are delighted with the satisfactions of this world , some with the circus , and some with the theatre : but the psalmist commands every good man to delight himself in the lord. — for as isaiah speaks , woe to them that put bitter for sweet , and sweet for bitter . and in his epistles he cautions the ladies against having any thing to do with the play-house , against lewd songs , and ill conversation . because they set ill humours at work , caress the fancy , and make pleasure a conveyance for destruction . in the 6 th . book of his comentary on ezechiel he lets us understand ; that when we depart out of aegypt we must refine our inclinations , and change our delights into aversion . and after some other instances , he tells us we must decline the theatres , and all other dangerous diversions , which stain the innocence of the soul , and slip into the will through the senses . st. augustine in his 5 th . epistle to marcellinus will afford us something upon the same argument . the prosperity of sinners is their greatest unhappiness . if one may say so , they are most punish'd when they are overlook'd . by this means their bad temper is encourag'd , and they are more inclin'd to be false to themselves ; and we know an enemy within , is more dangerous than one without . but the perverse reasonings of the generality , make different conclusions . they fancy the world goes wonderfully well when people make a figure . when a man is a prince in his fortune , but a begger in his vertue ; has a great many fine things about him , but not so much as one good quality to deserve them . when the play-houses go up , and religion go's down . when prodigality is admir'd , and charity laugh'd at . when the players can revel with the rich man's purse , and the poor have scarse enough to keep life and soul together . — when god suffers these things to flourish , we may be fure he is most angry . present impunity , is the deepest revenge . but when he cuts off the supplies of luxury , and disables the powers of extravagance , then as one may say , he is mercifully severe . in his 1 st . book de consensu evangelistarum , he answers an objection of the heathens , and comes up to the case in hand . their complaint as if the times were less happy since the appearance of christianity is very unreasonable . let them read their own philosophers : there they 'l find those very things censured , which they now are so uneasy to part with ; this remark must shut up their mouths , and convince them of the excellency of our religion . for pray what satisfactions have they lost ? nonethat i know of , excepting some licentious ones , which they abused to the dishonour of their creatour . but it may be the times are bad because the theatres are tumbling almost every where . the theaters those cages of uncleaness , and publick schools of debauchery . — and what 's the reason of their running to ruine ? why 't is the reformation of the age : 't is because those lewd practises are out of fashion , which first built and kept them in countenance . their own tully's commendation of the actor roscius is remarkable . he was so much a master ( says he ) that none but himself was worthy to tread the stage . and on the other hand , so good a man , that he was the most unfit person of the gang to come there . and is not this a plain confession of the lewdness of the play-house ; and that the better a man was , the more he was obliged to forbear it ? i could go on , much farther with st. augustine , but i love to be as brief as may be . i could likewise run through the succeeding centuries , and collect evidence all along . but i conceive the best ages , and the biggest authorities , may be sufficient : and these the reader has had already . however , one instance more from the moderns may not be amiss . didacus de tapia an eminent spaniard , shall close the evidence . this author in debating the question whether players might be admitted to the sacrament , amongst other things encounters an objection . some people it seems pretended there was some good to be learn'd at the play-house . to these , he makes this reply . granting your supposition , ( says he ) your inference is naught . do people use to send their daughters to the stews for discipline ? and yet it may be , they might meet some there lamenting their own debauchery . no man will breed his son upon the high-way , to harden his courage ; neither will any one go on board a leaky vessel , to learn the art of shifting in a wreck the better . my conclusion is , let no body go to the infamous play-house . a place of such staring contradiction to the strictness and sobriety of religion : a place hated by god , and haunted by the devil . let no man i say learn to relish any thing that 's said there ; for 't is all but poyson handsomly prepared . thus i have presented the reader with a short view of the sense of christianity . this was the opinion of the church for the first 500 years . and thus she has censured the stage both in councils , and single authorities . and since the satir of the fathers comes full upon the modern poets , their caution must be applicable . the parity of the case makes their reasons take place , and their authority revive upon us . if we are christians , the canons of councils , and the sense of the primitive church must have a weight . the very time is a good argument of it self . then the apostolical traditions were fresh , and undisputed ; and the church much better agreed than she has been since . then , discipline was in force , and virtue flourish'd , and people lived up to their profession . and as for the persons , they are beyond all exception . their station , their learning , and sufficiency was very considerable ; their piety and resolution , extraordinary . they acted generously , and wrote freely , and were always above the little regards of interest or danger . to be short ; they were , as we may say the worthies of christendom , the flower of humane nature , and the top of their species . nothing can be better establish'd than the credit of these fathers : their affirmation goes a great way in a proof ; and we might argue upon the strength of their character . but supposing them contented to wave their privilege , and dispute upon the level . granting this , the stage would be undone by them . the force of their reasoning , and the bare intrinsick of the argument , would be abundantly sufficient to carry the cause . but it may be objected , is the resemblance exact between old rome and london , will the paralel hold out , and has the english stage any thing so bad as the dancing of the pantomimi ? i don't say that : the modern gestures tho' bold , and lewd too sometimes , are not altogether so scandalous as the roman . here then we can make them some little abatement . and to go as far in their excuse as we can , 't is probable their musick may not be altogether so exceptionable as that of the antients . i don't say this part of the entertainment is directly vitious , because i am not willing to censure at uncertainties . those who frequent the play-house are the most competent judges : but this i must say , the performances of this kind are much too fine for the place . 't were to be wish'd that either the plays were better , or the musick worse . i 'm sorry to see art so meanly prostituted : atheism ought to have nothing charming in its retinue . 't is great pity debauchery should have the assistance of a fine hand , to whet the appetite , and play it down . now granting the play-house-musick not vitious in the composition , yet the design of it is to refresh the idea's of the action , to keep time with the poem , and be true to the subject . for this reason among others the tunes are generally airy and gailsiardizing : they are contriv'd on purpose to excite a sportive humour , and spread a gaity upon the spirits . to banish all gravity and scruple , and lay thinking and reflection a sleep . this sort of musick warms the passions , and unlocks the fancy , and makes it open to pleasure like a flower to the sun. it helps a luscious sentence to slide , drowns the discords of atheisni , and keeps off the aversions of conscience . it throws a man off his guard , makes way for an ill impression , and is most commodiously planted to do mischief . a lewd play with good musick is like a loadstone arm'd , it draws much stronger than before . now why should it be in the power of a few mercenary hands to play people out of their senses , to run away with their understandings , and wind their passions about their fingers as they list ? musick is almost as dangerous as gunpowder ; and it may be requires looking after no less than the press , or the mint . 't is possible a publick regulation might not be amiss . no less a philosopher than plato seems to be of this opinion . he is clearly for keeping up the old grave , and solemn way of playing . he lays a mighty stress upon this observation : he does not stick to affirm , that to extend the science , and alter the notes , is the way to have the laws repeal'd and to unsettle the constitution . i suppose he imagined that if the power of sounds , the temper of constitutions , and the diversities of age , were well studied ; if this were done , and some general permissions formed upon the enquiry , the commonwealth might find their account in 't . tully does not carry the speculation thus high : however , he owns it has a weight in 't , and should not be overlook'd . he denies not but that when the musick is soft , exquisite , and airy , 't is dangerous and ensnaring . he commends the discipline of the antient greeks , for sencing against this inconvenience . he tells us the lacedemonians fixt the number of strings for the harp , by express law. and afterwards silenc'd timotheus , and seiz'd his harp , for having one string above publick allowance . to return . if the english stage is more reserv'd than the roman in the case above mention'd : if they have any advantage in their instrumental musick , they loose it in their vocal . their songs are often rampantly lewd , and irreligious to a flaming excess . here you have the very spirit and essence of vice drawn off strong scented , and thrown into a little compass . now the antients as we have seen already were inoffensive in this respect . to go on . as to rankness of language we have seen how deeply the moderns stand charged upon the comparison . and as for their caressing of libertines , their ridiculing of vertue , their horrible prosaness , and blasphemies , there 's nothing in antiquity can reach them . now were the stage in a condition to wipe off any of these imputations , which 〈◊〉 are not , there are two things be●●●● 〈◊〉 which would stick upon them , and 〈◊〉 an ill effect upon the audience . the first is their dilating so much upon the argument of love. this subject is generally treated home , and in the most tender and passionate manner imaginable . t is often the governing concern : the incidents make way , and the plot turns upon 't . as matters go , the company expect it : and it may be the poets can neither write , nor live without it . this is a cunning way enough of stealing upon the blind side , and practising upon the weakness of humane nature . people love to see their passions painted no less than their persons : and like narcissus are apt to dote on their own image . this bent of self admiration recommends the business of amours , and engages the inclination . and which is more , these love-representations oftentimes call up the spirits , and set them on work . the play is acted over again in the scene of fancy , and the first imitation becomes a model . love has generally a party within ; and when the wax is prepared , the impression is easily made . thus the disease of the stage grows catching : it throws its own amours among the company , and forms these passions when it does not find them . and when they are born before , they thrive extreamly in this nursery . here they seldom fail either of grouth , or complexion . they grow strong , and they grow charming too . this is the best place to recover a languishing amour , to rowse it from sleep , and retrieve it from indifference . and thus desire becomes absolute , and forces the oppositions of decency and shame . and if the misfortune does not go thus far , the consequences are none of the best . the passions are up in arms , and there 's a mighty contest between duty , and inclination . the mind is over-run with amusements , and commonly good for nothing sometime after . i don't say the stage fells all before them , and disables the whole audience : 't is a hard battle where none escapes . however , their triumphs and their tropheys are unspeakable . neither need we much wonder at the matter . they are dangerously prepar'd for conquest , and empire . there 's nature , and passion , and life , in all the circumstances of their action . their declamation , their mein their gestures , and their equipage , are very moving and significant . now when the subject is agreeable , a lively representation , and a passionate way of expression , make wild work , and have a strange force upon the blood , and temper . and then as for the general strains of courtship , there can be nothing more profane and extravagant . the hero's mistress is no less than his deity . she disposes of his reason , prescribes his motions , and commands his interest . what soveraign respect , what religious address , what idolizing raptures are we pester'd with ? shrines and offerings , and adorations , are nothing upon such solemn occasions . thus love and devotion , ceremony and worship are confounded ; and god , and his creatures treated both alike ! these shreds of distraction are often brought from the play-house into conversation : and thus the sparks are taught to court their mistresses , in the same language they say their prayers . a second thing which i have to object against the stage is their encouraging revenge . what is more common than duels and quarrelling in their characters of figure ? those practises which are infamous in reason , capital in law , and damnable in religion , are the credit of the stage . thus rage and resentment , blood and barbarity , are almost deified : pride goes for greatness , and fiends and hero's are made of the same mettal . to give instances were needless , nothing is more frequent . and in this respect the french dramatists have been to blame no less than the english. and thus the notion of honour is mistated , the maxims of christianity despised , and the peace of the world disturb'd . i grant this desperate custom is no original of the stage . but then why was not the growth of it check'd ? i thought the poets business had not been to back false reasoning and ill practise ; and to fix us in frensy and mistake ! yes . they have done their endeavour to cherish the malignity , and keep the disorder in countenance . they have made it both the mark , and the merit of a man of honour ; and set it off with quality , and commendation . but i have discours'd on this subject elswhere , and therefore shall pursue it no farther . to draw towards an end. and here i must observe that these two later exceptions are but petty mismanagements with respect to the former . and when the best are thus bad , what are the worst ? what must we say of the more soul representations , of all the impudence in language and gesture ? can this stuff be the inclination of ladies ? is a reading upon vice so entertaining , and do they love to see the stews dissected before them ? one would think the dishonour of their own sex , the discovery of so much lewdness , and the treating human nature so very coarsly , could have little satisfaction in 't . let us set conscience aside , and throw the other world out of the question : these interests are far the greatest , but not all . the ladies have other motives to confine them . the restraints of decency , and the considerations of honour , are sufficient to keep them at home . but hoping they will be just to themselves i shall wave this unacceptable argument . i shall only add , that a surprize ought not to be censured . accidents are no faults . the strictest virtue may sometimes stumble upon an ill sight . but choise , and frequency , and ill ground , conclude strongly for inclination . to be assured of the inoffensiveness of the play is no more than a necessary precaution . indeed the players should be generally discouraged . they have no relish of modesty , nor any scruples upon the quality of the treat . the grossest dish when 't will down is as ready as the best . to say money is their business and they must live , is the plea of pick pockets , and high way men . these later may as well pretend their vocation for a lewd practise as the other . but to give the charge its due compass : to comprehend the whole audience , and take in the motives of religon . and here i can't imagine how we can reconcile such liberties with our profession . these entertainments are as it were litterally renounc'd in baptism . they are the vanities of the wicked world , and the works of the devil , in the most open , and emphatical signification . what communion has light with darkness , and what concord has christ with belial . call you this diversion ? can profaness be such an irresistable delight ? does the crime of the performance make the spirit of the satisfaction , and is the scorn of christianity the entertainment of christians ? is it such a pleasure to hear the scriptures burlesqu'd ? is ribaldry so very obliging , and atheism so charming a quality ? are we indeed willing to quit the privilege of our nature ; to surrender our charter of immortality , and throw up the pretences to another life ? it may be so ! but then we should do well to remember that nothing is not in our power . our desires did not make us , neither can they unmake us . but i hope our wishes are not so mean , and that we have a better sense of the dignity of our being . and if so , how can we be pleas'd with those things which would degrade us into brutes , which ridicule our creed , and turn all our expectations into romance . and after all , the jest on 't is , these men would make us believe their design is virtue and reformation . in good time ! they are likely to combat vice with success , who destroy the principles of good and evil ! take them at the best , and they do no more than expose a little humour , and formality . but then , as the matter is manag'd , the correction is much worse than the fault . they laugh at pedantry , and teach atheism , cure a pimple , and give the plague . i heartily wish they would have let us alone . to exchange virtue for behaviour is a hard bargain . is not plain honesty much better than hypocrisy well dress'd ? what 's sight good for without substance ? what is a well bred libertine but a well bred knave ? one that can't prefer conscience to pleasure , without calling himself fool : and will sell his friend , or his father , if need be , for his convenience . in short : nothing can be more disserviceable to probity and religion , than the management of the stage . it cherishes those passions , and rewards those vices , which 't is the business of reason to discountenance . it strikes at the root of principle , draws off the inclinations from virtue , and spoils good education : 't is the most effectual means to baffle the force of discipline , to emasculate peoples spirits , and debauch their manners . how many of the unwary have these syrens devour'd ? and how often has the best blood been tainted , with this infection ? what disappointment of parents , what confusion in families , and what beggery in estates have been hence occasion'd ? and which is still worse , the mischief spreads dayly , and the malignity grows more envenom'd . the feavour works up towards madness , and will scarcely endure to be touch'd . and what hope is there of health when the patient strikes in with the disease , and flies in the face of the remedy ? can religion retrive us ? yes , when we don't despise it . but while our notions are naught , our lives will hardly be otherwise . what can the assistance of the church signify to those who are more ready to rally the preacher , than practise the sermon ? to those who are overgrown with pleasure , and hardned in ill custom ? who have neither patience to hear , nor conscience to take hold of ? you may almost as well feed a man without a mouth , as give advice where there 's no disposition to receive it . 't is true ; as long as there is life there 's hope . sometimes the force of argument , and the grace of god , and the anguish of affliction , may strike through the prejudice , and make their way into the soul. but these circumstances don 't always meet , and then the case is extreamly dangerous . for this miserable temper , we may thank the stage in a great measure : and therefore , if i mistake not , they have the least pretence to favour , and the most need of repentance , of all men living . the end . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a33919-e5730 reflect upon aristot. &c. eurip. hippolit . hamlet . don quixot . relapse love for love. mock astrologer . old batchelour . mock astrologer . country wife . cleomenes . old batchelour . plant. cistellar . terent. eunuch . asinar . cistellar . bacchid . casin . mercat . act. 3. persa . trucul . persa . trinum . act. 2. 1. act. 2. 2. casin mil. glor. pers. trucul . cistellar . a. 1. ibid. a. 2. heauton eunuch . love triump . heauton . a. 5. 4. eunuch a. 5. 4. 5. adelph . a. 2. 3. eunuch . casaub. annot , in curcul plauti . de a te poet. var. apud . nonium . corn. nep. arist. lib. 4. de mor. cap. 14. vit. eurip . ed cantab. 1694. love for love. love triump . &c. p. 14. ed scriv. hippol. a●●●●oph . ran. xonpop . 263. ed. steph. orest. 48. ed cantab . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 305. p. 79. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 340. don sebast. p. 12. oedip. tyran . ed steph. antig 242. 244. ibdi . 264 , teach , 348. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . ed cant. 241 : 250. 252. ibid. 232. 233. androm . p. 303. jphig in aulid . p. 51. helen . 277 , 278. mourning . bride . p. 36. spanish fiyar . ep. ded. troad . p. 146. plain dealer . p. 21. provok'd wife . p. 41. * remarks upon quixot . nub. act. 1. sc. 3. p. 104. ed. amstel . sat. 14. p. 106. nub. p. 110. act. 5. p. 176. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . nub. p. 86 plut. a. 1. sc. 2. ram. p. 188. 536. 538. 546. 542. 582. ibid. 602. eiren. 616. p. 142. p. 200. 242. p. 244. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ranae p. 186. p. 182. p. 192. 194 , 196. act 2. sc. 6. ranae p. 242. ranae a 1. sc. 1. concionat . ranae p. 238. p. 240. p. 242. 244. 255. 267. discov . p. 700. p. 701. p. 706. 717. beauments , &c. works . ibid. ibid. theodore . ed. roven . ep. ded. notes for div a33919-e14270 gad for god. p. 31. p. 37. p. 24. hebr. 12. 34. 36. 55. 59. orph. p. 20. p. 31. lactan. p. 19. p. 28. p. 31. 38. p. 39. p. 39. id. 49. double dealer . 34. 36. 55. p. 40. sebast. p. 9. id. p. 10. p. 47. id. p. 83. exod , 12 , 13. ibid. ibid. ded. p. 51. love triumph . p. 3. id. p. 11. id p. 11. p. 34. 58. p 62. ist. eliz. cap. 2. p. 63. p. 72. love for love. p. 4● . 26. p. 27. p. 47. vid. person . dram. p. 80. p. 91. p. 92. prov. wife p. 38. id. p. 77. relapse . p. 32 , 33. p. 44 , 45. vid. i fra . p. 51. p. 96 , 97. ibid. p. 91. don. sebastian . p. 31. double dealer . p. 19. p. 17. p. 44. double dealer . p. 18. gen. 2. st. math. 9. love , &c. p. 59. 61. provok'd wife . p. 3. p. 4. p. 65. relapse . p. 19. p. 96. eccles. 8. 11. gal. 6. eunuch . heautell . a. 5. 1. adelp . a. 5. 7. lyconides . aulu●●● . a. 2. 4. palaestra . rud. a. 1. 3. 〈◊〉 . obus . trucul . a. 2. 4. mil. glor. pseud. a. 1. 3. prom. vinct . 57. p. 92. p. 101. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 161. 164. ajax . plagell . oedip. tyran . p. 187. p. 188. antig. p. 256. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . trach. p. 375. trach. p. 340. cleom. p. 54. id. p. 55. p. 54. de. act. poet. philoet . 402. 419. p. 431. act. 2. p. 295. agam. act. 3. notes for div a33919-e21550 〈◊〉 20. p. 37. p. 23. country wife p. 6. p. 35. ibid. p. 25. p. 26. ibid. old batch . p. 19. 20. p. 27. p. 41. p. 71. absal . and achi. p. 24. p. 96. p. 32. oedip. p. 38. p. 48. ibid. ibid. provok'd wife . p. 45 , 46 , 51 , 52. relapse . p. 74. p. 75. p. 86. p. 97. 89. p. 94. p. 95 , 97. 105. hom. il. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . p. 3. & dein . ed. screvel . il. b. p. 91. ibid. p. 92. il. e p. 154. 155. il. e. p. 154 , 155. ibid. p. 158. odyss . i p. 174. 181. aenid . 2. ruaus . in loc. aeneid 2. ibid. aeneid . 3. ibid. aenead . 1st . aen. 6. ibid. aeneid . 7. lib. 1. aeneid . 10. aeneid . 11. aeneid . 9. 10. 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . oedip. tyr. p. 148. ibid. 169. p. 38. ant●● . p. 250 , 258 , eurip. phaeniss . p. 158 , 159. bacch . act. 1. act. 4. jon. act 5. iphig . in aulid . & in taur . oedip. troad . a. 2. p. 193. plut. ran. aves . baccl id . act. 2. 53. rud. a. 1. 5. a. 2. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 2. 5. rud. a. 4. s. 7. measure for measure . much a do about nothing . twelf-night . henry 4th pt . 1 st hen , 6 , pt . 3 d. romeo and juliet . * merry wives of windfor . essay of dramat . &c. de bell. judaic . deut 17. 9. 10. 2 chron. 19. 8. math. 27. act. 4. vid seldon de synedr . 2. cbron. 22. 23. joseph . diod. sici gen. 41. porph. de abstin . lib. 4. caesar de bell. gall. lib. 6 lib. 6. sen , in controv. ●● prodom ad pontif. hebr. 7. davila filmers freeholders grand irq. miraeus de statu 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fletchers embassy . puffenderf introduction . à l' histoire . heglint cogmogk . 2 , hen. 8. cap. 22. 26 , hen. 8 cap. 2. 1. edw. 6. cap. 12 , &c. preamb. s. luke . 10. moral essays . notes for div a33919-e31410 moch astrol . p. 3. &c. mock astrol . p. 57 , 59. spanish fryar . p. 61. country wife . p. 25. old batch . double dealer . p. 34. love for love. p. 90. love for love. p. 6 , 7. 25. 61. 89. 91. p. 35. don sebist . love for love. p. 20 provok'd wife . p. 64. chap. 1. & 2. mostel . a. 1. 2. trinum . a. 2. 1. a. 2. 2. 〈◊〉 . a. 3. 3. hecyr. a. 3. 4. stich. a. 1. 1. p. 3. stich. a. 1. 2. p. 60. ibid. de art. poet. ibid. 〈◊〉 . schol. libr. de poet. cap. 5. 〈◊〉 . ibid. fref mock-astrol . ibid. ibid. essay of dramatick poetry . p. 28. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . ibid. ibid. ibid. rapin reflect . &c. p. 10. libr. 4. de . morib . cap. 14. de mor. lib. 10. cap. 2. institut ; lib. 6. c. 3. p. 85 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . p. 32. p 52. spanish fryar . p. 36. p 70. p 61. enuch . king arth. p. 2. love trium . p. 26. p. 47. oedip. p. 3. old batch . p. 41. p. 35. p. 22. don sebast. p 5. double dealer . person . dram. relapse . provok'd wife . p. 4. p. 2. don sebast. p. 16. p. 17. don quix. part . 2. p. 37. relapse . p. 84. p. 24. l' ombre de moliere essaydram poet . p. 5. notes for div a33919-e37260 amphit . p. 1 , 2 , 3 , 8 , 9. p. 8. 17. p. 18. 19. eunuch . euseb. praepar . evarg . ep. ded p. 1. p. 3. 16. &c. p. 1. pref. p. 1. 19. troil. and cressid . the hist. of sr. john old castle . king arthur . ep. ded. p. 6. ep. ded. 〈◊〉 ded. king arthur . sebast. k. arth. ibid. part 1 st . p. 20. 20. p. 37. p. 13. part. 1. p. 13. person . dram. p. 51. p. 3. p. 7. p. 10. p. 41. p. 47. part . 1● . p. 7 , 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . p. 57. pt . 2d . p. 60. pt . 1st . p. 38. pt . 2d . p. 14. pt . 1st . p. 7 , 8. pt . 2d . p. 52. pt . 2d . p. 36. 49. pt . 2d . p. 37. 44. pref. pt . 3d. ibid. pref. ibid. person . dram pt . 2d . p. 31. p. 51. pref. pt . 1st . ibid. pt . 3d. p. 53. reflect , &c. p. 131. relapse . p. 19. reflect . p. 133. p. 27. p. 79. ibid. p. 81. p. 83. p. 59. p. 11. p. 47. p. 51. p. 74. reflect . p. 40. tragedies of the last age consider'd , &c. p. 113 , 114. p. 59. p. 61. p. 42. p. 43. p. 44. p. 64. at top . p. 85. p. 64. p. 94. p. 15. p. 99. ibid. p. 100. rapin reflect , &c. discourse des trois unitez . pt . 3d. p. 88. pref. see chap. 2d . pref. * an academy in lithuania , for the education of bears . pere auvill vorage en divers e'tats , &c. p , 240. notes for div a33919-e48030 plat. de repub. lib. 10. euseb. praepar . evarg . cyropaed . p. 34. polit. lib. 7. cap. 1● polit. lib. 8. tusc. quest. lib. 4. de leg. lib. 1. dec. 1. lib. 7. lib. 2 : cap. 4. cap. 6. natural quest. lib. 7. cap. 32. epist. 7. a●●al . lib. 14. cap. 14. de mor. german ! cap. 19. symposiac . lib. 7. de audiend poet. p. 15. ed. par . lib. 1. remed . amor. lib. 2. ep. ded. plut. de glor. atheniens . plut. lacon institut . cic. de repub . lib. 4. cited by , st. augustine . libr. 2. de . ci● . dei . cap. 13. l● 2. cap. 29. dec. 1. libr. 7. ab ilistrionibus pollui . xv. cod. theod. tit. vii . p. 375. * in loco honesto . turpe munus . l. 1. §. 6. de his qui notantur infamia . gothofred . ibid. p. 376. rawlidge his monster , lately found out , &c. p. 2 , 3 , 4. gazett roterdam : dec. 20. paris . french amsterdam harlem gazetts . paris , may. 17. 1697. notes for div a33919-e51080 trois lettres pasterales de monseigneur l' eveque d' arras &c. a delf . 1697. notes for div a33919-e51280 ann. 305. can. 67. ann. 314. can. 5. ann. 452. ann. 397. can. 11. * secularia spectacula , which manifestly comprehends the stage . ann. 424. can. 96. concil . cabilon . ann. 813. can. 9. libr. 3. ad autol. * spectacula . chap. 38. chap. 3. ibid. cap. 10. * the play-houses were dedicated to baccbus . ibid. cap. 15. ibid. cap. 22. ibid. cap. 23. ibid. cap. 26. ibid. cap. 27. ibid. cap. 28. ibid. cap. 29. * by exorcisms lib. 3. paedag. ann. 204. cap. 11. ann. 206. ad euvcrat . lib. 6. cap. 20. ibid. cap. 21. ibid. cap. 22. in psal. 119. ep. 9. 12. advers . jovinian . lib. 2. cap , 7. chap. 20. cap. 33. didac , &c. in d. thom. p. 546. de repub. l. 4. cic. de leg. l. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . ibid. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vid. corneille cid . cinna & pompee . moral essays . 2 cor. 6. 14. the stage condemn'd, and the encouragement given to the immoralities and profaneness of the theatre, by the english schools, universities and pulpits, censur'd king charles i sundays mask and declaration for sports and pastimes on the sabbath, largely related and animadverted upon : the arguments of all the authors that have writ in defence of the stage against mr. collier, consider'd, and the sense of the fathers, councils, antient philosophers and poets, and of the greek and roman states, and of the first christian emperours concerning drama, faithfully deliver'd : together with the censure of the english state and of the several antient and modern divines of the church of england upon the stage, and remarks on diverse late plays : as also on those presented by the two universities to king charles i. ridpath, george, d. 1726. 1698 approx. 404 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 113 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-05 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a57291 wing r1468 estc r17141 13153915 ocm 13153915 98165 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a57291) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 98165) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 777:1) the stage condemn'd, and the encouragement given to the immoralities and profaneness of the theatre, by the english schools, universities and pulpits, censur'd king charles i sundays mask and declaration for sports and pastimes on the sabbath, largely related and animadverted upon : the arguments of all the authors that have writ in defence of the stage against mr. collier, consider'd, and the sense of the fathers, councils, antient philosophers and poets, and of the greek and roman states, and of the first christian emperours concerning drama, faithfully deliver'd : together with the censure of the english state and of the several antient and modern divines of the church of england upon the stage, and remarks on diverse late plays : as also on those presented by the two universities to king charles i. ridpath, george, d. 1726. [8], 216 p. printed for john salusbury ..., london : 1698. errata: prelim. p. [7]. advertisement: prelim. p. [8]. attributed to george ridpath by wing, halkett & laing (2d ed.), dnb. "... in support of jeremy collier's 'short view of the immorality and profaneness of the englsh stage'." cf. dnb xvi 1179. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng collier, jeremy, 1650-1726. -short view of the immorality and profaneness of the english stage. theater -religious aspects. theater -moral and ethical aspects. 2002-12 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-01 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2003-02 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2003-02 emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the stage condemn'd , and the encouragement given to the immoralities and profaneness of the theatre , by the english schools , universities and pulpits , censur'd . king charles i. sundays mask and declaration for sports and pastimes on the sabbath , largely related and animadverted upon . the arguments of all the authors that have writ in defence of the stage against mr. collier , consider'd . and the sense of the fathers , councils , antient philosophers and poets , and of the greek and roman states , and of the first christian emperours concerning the drama , faithfully deliver'd . together with the censure of the english state and of several antient and modern divines of the church of england upon the stage . and remarks on diverse late plays , as also on those presented by the two universities to king charles i. london : printed for iohn salusbury , at the angel in st. paul's church-yard . 1698. to the right honourable the lords and commons of england , in parliament assembled . the corruption of our stage , most noble senators , is so very palpable and notorious , that the authors themselves who live by it , and have lately writ in defence of it , are forc'd to acknowledge it wants a reformation . * but when they come to particulars , every one stand● upon his own defence , and refuses to acknowledge , that the plays of his writing contain any thing culpable or blame●worthy . all of them write in defence of the stage , and some of them plead , the usefulness and absolute necessity of it , at the expence of the honour and credit of the nation , whom they charge as the most splenetick and rebellious people in europe † ; and that they stand in need of the drama , as a sovereign preservative against the mischievous effects of that distemper . at your feet therefore , most noble senators , the following sheets are humbly laid , as containing , ( amongst other things ) a vindication of the brave and generous people whom you represent , from that foul slander : and charging the guilt upon the true criminals , who endeavour'd to tear our constitution in pieces , by setting our kings and parliaments at variance , and endeavouring to have liberty and property swallowed up by prerogative , to which wicked design , the stage hath not a little contributed . the bleeding morals of this gallant nation , are past the cure of all quack-pretenders ; it is his majesty and your honours alone , who are capable of applying the sovereign remedy , by obliging magistrates and ministers to perform their duty , or enabling them to do it by new laws , if those we have already be not sufficient . our gracious sovereign hath not only rescued us from popery and tyranny , but out of his fatherly care , to prevent our future danger , hath again and again recommended it to his people to take effectual methods for the suppressing of prophaneness and immorality , which the enemies of our religion and liberty made use of , as the most successful engines to ruine both . the author of this treatise has endeavour'd to prove , that the corruption of the stage is in a great measure owing to the method of educating our youth in schools ; from whence the infection spreads into the universities and pulpits : and having been encouraged by the late reigns and part of the clergy , hath at last prov'd so fatal to the manners of 〈◊〉 ●●●ople , that the stage is become a general 〈◊〉 , and hath been complained of as such , 〈◊〉 by puritans and those who oppos'd king charles i. as the advocates of the theatre do falsly pretend , but by antient and modern church of england divines , and hath been sometimes restrained , and at other times entirely banished , by the states of england in parliament assembled . whether the merits of the present stage , be such as may deserve a more favourable censure at your hands , is submitted ( as is fit it should ) to your great wisdom . in the following treatise , there 's the opinion of the jewish and christian church , of the greatest of the heathen philosophers and poets , of the heathen , greek and roman state , of the first christian emperours , &c. and of our english state , against the theatre fairly exhibited : but seeing the defenders of the play-house argue the usefulness of it to the english nation in general , and to the present govenment in particular , it is reasonable the appeal should be to our honourable representatives , and that the arguments pro and con should be laid before them , not doubting ( if they think fit at all to take it into consideration ) but they will give a true and righteous judgment in the matter . it is not in england alone , where the lawfulness or unlawfulness of the stage , and the immorality and profaneness of it , is the present subject of controversie . but in france and italy , nay at rome it self , where as well as at paris , the stage has of late , as all the publick intelligences inform us , receiv'd a check , tho' the prefa●●r to the play call'd , beauty in distress , says , the french stage is so reform'd as not to fall under the censure of the antient fathers . the honour of our nation and religion would therefore seem to require , that our theatres should come under examination , as well as theirs ; but the time whe● , and the method how , must be left to the wisdom of the king and parliament to determine . in the mean time it were to be wished that our english ladies and gentlewomen , whose encouragement and presence is the most powerful argument ( after all ) for the defence of the stage ( and by whose absenting themselves it must fall in course without law or statute ) would be pleased to consider , that the wise roman senate approv'd the divorce which sempronius sophus gave to his wife for no other reason , but that she resorted to the cirques and play-houses without his consent ; the very sight of which might make her an adultress , and cause her to defile his bed * . and the christian emperor justinian made the following constitution , that a man might lawfully put away his wife , if she resort to cirques , to play-houses or stage-plays without his privity and consent , because her chastity might thereby be endangered † . if our stage then be so much corrupted as its advocates themselves are forc'd to confess , its influence upon the morals of the audience must needs be dangerous , and therefore it s hop'd our english senators will be as careful of the chastity of the english ladies , as the antient roman senators were of theirs , and that our english women , whose beauty is every where admir'd , will readily consent to any thing that may preserve their modesty too from being so much as questioned . advertisement to the reader . the heads treated on in this book don't follow in the same order as they are set down in the title page , because the author was oblig'd to take them as they occur'd in the books , that he answers ; but all of them may easily be found out by the running titles . the reader is also desir'd to take notice , that the author designed at first , only to have writ against teaching the heathen poets in schools , without e●punging those passages that have a tendency to promote uncleanness , and that is the reason why nothing but the schools is mentioned in the introduction . errata . page 3. line 22. dele the ( . ) and put , after versails , p. 35. l. 13 , dele the ( , ) after journey . p. 40. l. 10. r. ●●vitus . p. 128. l. 25. r. epimantus . p. 140. l. 5. r. adjur'd instead of abjur'd . p. 162. l. 13. genselarics . p. 172. l. 20. r. personae instead of personal . p. 194. l. 34. r. were instead of there . p. 198. l. 34. r. moses instead of samuel . some may perhaps object against what is said p. 200 ▪ that oliver made richlieu to tremble , whereas richlieu died soon after 〈◊〉 began to appear , the author owns that this slipt his observation till the sheet was printed off , but the argument holds good as to the french nation , and his successor mazarin . books printed for j. salusbury , at the angel in st. paul's church-yard . 1698. a compleat french master for ladies and gentlemen , or a most exact new grammar , to learn with ease and delight the french tongue , as it is now spoken in the court of france ; wherein is to be seen an extraordinary and methodical order for the acquisition of that tongue . inriched with new words , and the most modish pronounciation , and all the advantages and improvements of that famous language . written for the use of his highness the duke of glocester . price 2 s. a most compleat compen●um of geography , general and special , describing all the empires , kingdoms and dominions in the whole world , shewing their bounds , scituation , dimensions , history , government , religions , languages , commodities , cities , rivers , mountains , lakes , archbishopricks , bishopricks , and universities , in a most plain and easie method , &c. the fourth edition , corrected and much improved . by laurence echard , m. a. of christ's college in cambridge . price 1 s. 6 d. eachard's gazetteer , or newsman's interpreter : being a geographical index , of all cities , towns , &c. in europe ; with their distances from each other , and to what prince they are now subject ; very necessary for the right understanding of all foreign and domestick news-letters , and gazettes , 12● . price 2 s. the changeableness of this world ; with respect to nations , families , and particular persons ; with a practical application thereof , to the various conditions of this mortal life . by t. rogers , m. a. p. 1 s. mr. oughtred's key of the mathematicks newly translated , with notes , rendring it easie and intelligible ▪ absolutely necessary for all gagers , surveyors , gunners , military officers , and mariners , &c. recommended by mr. e. halley , fellow of the royal society . the happiness of a quiet mind , both in youth and old age ; with the way to attain it . in a discourse occasioned by the death of mrs. martha hasselbor● . by t. rogers . pr. 1 s. a dialogue between two young ladies lately maried , concerning the management of husbands ; shewing how to make that honourable state more easie and comfortable . the third edition , revised and co●rected , by the said young ladies . price 6 d. where the second part may be had . price 6 d. finis . introduction . we have had lately a curious and learned survey of the immorality and profaness of the stage ; but , tho' that author hath done excellently well , there may still be some gleanings left for another . mr. collier strikes directly at the miscarriages of the stage , because they were most obvious and nearest to view ; but this ought not supersede the endeavours of others , nor to put a stop to their inquiry into the root of the mischief . if the foundation be sapp'd , the superstructures must ●umble of course ; and it signifies little to patch the roof , or to tell us that it rains in at the sky-lights , when an inundation comes in at doors and windows . there 's none can be fit to write for the stage , that hath not first been at school ; and if we be instructed there in plays and romances , it s but natural we should think our selves good proficients , and that we have in a great measure answered the end of our education , when we can oblige the world with those of our own composure . — if the amorous passages of ovid , terence , plautus , &c. be thought commendable patterns , fit to be put into the hands of youth , and by them imbib'd as proper nourishment , why should not the harvest answer the seed-time ▪ or why should the scholar be blam'd to vi● with his masters copy ? or when time and opportunity serves , to sett up for a master himself ? cap. i. the stage encouraged by the clergy . if our shepherds have no better morals than to feed their lambs with the milk of goats , why should they not expect that their flocks in time should come to smell p●nk , and where 's the justice to bait and worry them when they do so ? if the pulpits be so grosly negligent , as not to tell us with tertullian † , that stage-plays are the chief of those pomps that we abjure at baptism ; or if they will needs canonize one as a martyr and saint , who by royal authority introduc'd the use of masks and plays into his court and dominions on sundays , and never testified his repentance for it to the world ; why should not they who write and frequent plays think they are in the path road to heaven as well as he ? and why may not they who distinguish themselves from others by such like performances , hope some time or other to bear him company in the calendar ? if the head and fathers of the church did prosecute mr. prin for his histriomastrix , and condemn those for schismaticks who would not comply with laud's book of sports and pastimes on sundays , whereof masks and opera's at court led the van , why should not the writing and haunting of plays be reckon'd genuine marks of a true son of the church , and the contrary the badge of one that is no true church-man ? as a certain clergy-man thought fit to express it in relation to k. william because of his not frequenting the play-house . let the clergy , if they seriously design a reform in this particular , strike st. ch — s out of their calender , or declare their opposition to st. chrysostom * , tertullian † , and many others that might be named , who thought the writing and frequenting of plays to be damnable without repentance , and much more the commanding and patron●●ing them . it cannot be denied but mr. collier has writ ingeniously , and has taken a great deal of pains to hew and lop off the branches ; and considering how much the play-house was favoured in the reign of charles i. by some of the highest dignity in the church , we have more reason to wonder that he hath said so much , than that he hath said any thing too little , because that part of the sense of antiquity , which he hath repeated to us in this matter , does obliquely condemn that prince whom so many ecclesiasticks of great note , have always accounted a martyr : besides , his writing against plays at present , and some of the principal authors of them , is not like to be accounted an extraordinary piece of service to the courts of st. germains and versails . if we consider that the restoring and incouraging of play-houses , was one of the chief expedients of those who were resolved to put cardinal mazarins advice in execution , which was to debauch the nation , in order to the better introducing of po●ory and slavery ; and therefore those who reflect upon mr. collier * for his nonjurancy , for his book , called , a perswasive to consideration : and for his absolving sir william perkins and sir iohn friend at tyburn , ought not to be angry with him for writing against the stage . if all our church-men had done their duty as well as mr. collier has done his , in this matter , stage-plays had never b●en suffered in the nation , nor had there been the least pretence for their usefulness : but in k. charles i. time , they were necessary to ridicule the puritans , and run down the patrons of liberty and property . and in k. char. ii. reign , they were no less wanted to lash the dissenters and whiggs that oppos'd tyranny , and needful to promote the glorious design of debauching the nation , and to baffle the evidence of the popish plots . and now , by the just judgment of god , the clergy , who did but too much countenance the proceedings of those reigns , are lash'd and expos'd in the play-houses themselves , which mr. collier complains of ▪ this it 's hop'd will cure their itch of adorning or rather disguising the doctrines of the gospel , with the phrase of the stage , and their fondness of reading plays for refining their stile . no clergy-man can propose to himself any justifiable end in reading plays , but that which mr. collier has excellently perform'd , to wit , the exposing their immorality and profaneness , and to discover their failure in their pretended designs . it is altogether unsufferable to hear a sort of young divines , regale our ears from the pulpit , with the rhetorick of a play , while at the same time they treat the phrase of the scripture , and the language of antient and learned divines as unintelligible cant ; and yet that this hath been , and is still too common amongst some of our clergy-men , cannot be denied : so long as those writings of parkers and others , which call the new birth a fantastical iargon , or those sermons which treat the doctrine of st. austin , calvin and beza , nay , and of the articles of the church of england too , as stuff and cant , have an existence . mr. collier and others may write volumes against the stage as long as they please , but they will find it to little purpose , whilst the plays are so much read and incourag'd by the clergy , and by 'em retail'd again to the people . if the language of the play-house be thought fit to be made use of , as an ornament to a sermon , the hearers will be apt to conclude that the stage is not so criminal a thing as some men would have it accounted . and seeing mr. collier has been so much approv'd for lashing the poets and the stage , there 's no reason to think that it should be taken amiss in another , to censure the vanity of such of the clergy as write plays or preach in that dialect , and have neglected to inform their people of the danger of the play-house . had they taken due care to instruct their auditors in this matter at church , the audiences would never have been so numerous at the stage : for why should i think there 's any hurt in the theatre , when i see that its ordinary for our gallants on a saturday to prepare themselves by a play for hea●ing a sermon on sunday : nay , sometimes it may be for the sacrament . and yet the parson hath not the courage or honesty to reprove it ; but perhaps chuses it as the most proper way to recommend himself to the applause of his hearers , to deliver his preachment in the stile of a comedy . our wits indeed , when passing their judgment on a sermon , think they give the preacher a large encomium , when they say he has read abundance of play-books . which let our youngsters in divinity value as they please , i should think it the most picquant satyr that could be put upon me , were i worthy of bearing the indelible character . but that those flanting preachers may have no occasion to say that i am alone in this matter , i shall pray them to consider the following authorities . prosper says to such † , whilst they would seem nice and elegant , they grow perfectly mad with fulsom expressions . st. ierom writing to nepotianus , advises him when he is preaching in the church , to labour for the groans and not for the applause of his hearers . — not to behave himself like a declaimer of feigned orations , or a pretended advocate , and to talk without measure . the sermon of a minister ought to be seasoned with quotations from scripture * . prosper aquitanicus says , that a preacher ought not to value himself upon the accuracy of his stile , except he have more mind to shew his own learning , than to edifie the church of god. that his sermon ought to be so plain , that the most ignorant persons may understand it ; the business of declaimers or makers of orations being one thing , and that of preachers another : the former endeavour to set off the ●omp of an elaborate speech , with the utmost strength of their eloquence : the latter seek after the glory of god , in a sober and plain discourse † . of the same opinion are st. ●erom , ambrose , theodoret , theophylact , and others ; as appears by their commentaries on 1 cor. 2. 1. &c. isidorus pelusiot a taxes some monks of his time for their affected stile in preaching . who can abstain from satyrs against you ( says he ) when they hear your sermons cram'd with heathen historians and poets ? pray what is there in them preferable to our religion ? — therefore either let your sermons be grave , and prefer a modest stile to big swelling words and pompous rhetorick , or give me leave to say , that you are fitter for the stage than the pulpit † . the bishop of chemnis in his onus ecclesiae * , has very remarkable sa●ings to this purpose ; and amongst others those that follow . in these last days — the doctrine of the holy scriptures is utterly lost ; the preachers being puffed up with knowledge , teach their own notions . they extol the learning of the heathen philosophers , and thereby darken the sun-shine of christian wisdom : and now most of the schools , where divinity was formerly taught , are filled with poetical ●ictions , empty trifles and monstrous fables . the preachers hunt after their own applause , and study to gratifie the ears of their auditors with ornat and polite discourses ; but true sermons are better than those that are elegant . and let those eloquent doctors know , that our saviour says of them , in vain do ye worship me , teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. to conclude this point with the authority of the apostle st. paul † ; he commends his own sermons because his speech and his preaching was not with enticing words of mans wisdom , but in demonstration of the spirit and of power ; yet this great apostle of the gentiles was brought up at the feet of gamaliel , and had more humane learning than 20 of our fluttering doctors . it is not my design to cry down eloquence in a preacher , nor to commend a rough way of expression from the pulpit . eloquence is the gift of god , and commended in the preacher apollos ; but at the same time we are told , that he was mighty in the scriptures and taught diligently the things of the lord † . it 's reckoned highly prophane ( and mr. collier has smartly reproved it ) for poets to apply the phrase of the scripture to the use of the stage ; and i see no reason why vice versa , it should not be liable to that same censure , to adopt the phrase of the stage , for the language of the pulpit , not that it 's absolutely unlawful for a preache● to quote an apposite sentence or verse , either from greek , latine or other poets . the apostle himself hath taught us the contrary by his own example , when he tells the cretians that one of their own poets says , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 * . but it is an intolerable affectation of novelty , when a new word or a quaint phrase is no sooner published in a play or gazzette , but we shall the next sunday after hear it out of the pulpit . this is so far from holding fast the form of sound words , as st. paul enjoyned timothy * , that it is rather the prophane and vain babbling , he commanded him to avoid ; and which † calvin upon the place , says is , inanis tinnitus & profanus — simulatque doctores it a inflant suas tibias ad suam eloquentiam venditandam : a prophane and empty jingle which the doctors make use of to set off their eloquence . it were an easie matter to quote as many sermons , guilty of these vanities , as mr. collier has quoted plays guilty of abusing scripture ; but for obvious reasons i forbear it . the only cause why i mention it , is to shew that it is not the poets alone , that support the credit of the stage , and that what is criminal in a poet , is ten times worse in a priest ; and therefore they ought not to pass without a reproof . it 's known , there are many godly persons amongst our clergy , who bewail those things , and oppose them as much as they can ; but there is a mighty neglect somewhere , and the world will hardly be perswaded that our church of england is unanimous in this matter , else it were easie for them , who shook king james out of his throne , to overturn the stage . it is not to be supposed that the king and parliament would deny the clergy such a request , if it were duly presented ; and considering how much the nation hath ▪ suffered in its morals and religion , by the licentiousness of the stage , it 's high time that some effectual course should be taken to suppress it . but there 's reason to fear that the faction begun by arch-bishop laud , has still too great an interest amongst our clergy ; for scarcely can any other reason be imagined , why , after so many years experience of the mischief of the stage , the church should be so silent in this matter . that there is something in this , i am very apt to think , because of the deference many of the clergy men pay to the memory of that prelate , and of his master king charles i. whom he help'd to mislead . in those times , as mr. prin acquaints us in his histriomastix , none were accounted enemies to the play-house but puritans and precisians , and in opposition to them it probably was that laud and his clergy became its patrons ; and it is not unlike that many of the less-thinking church-men continue still to favour it on that account , as being unwilling to condemn that , for which king charles i. and arch-bishop laud testified so much passion ; but these gentlemen would do well to remember , that the defence of the stage was never so much the characteristick of their church , as was the doctrine of passive obedience ; and seeing the majority of them have relinquished that , they are infinitely the more to blame for still adhering to this . if a petition of the londoners had so much influence on queen elizabeth , as to get the play-houses suppress'd , and if the stage was expresly condemned by a statute of king iames i. we have no reason to despair of obtaining the same now upon the like application . and methinks the clergy are more concerned to stir in it than ever , seeing it would appear by mr. collier's third chapter , of the clergy abused by the stage , that the theatre is now become a nusano● to themselves . it is apparent enough from what has been said already , that the clergy are chargeable with the mischief of the stage , by the omitting of what their character obliges them to do against it , and that many of them are also culpable by seeming to hallow its phrase in the pulpit ; but this is not all , as will appear by what follows . we have heard that the stage was condemned by act of parliament in king iames i. time , but reviv'd again in the reign of k. charles , contrary to law ; and that operas were practised in his own court , by his royal authority on sundays . now considering how much that prince was devoted to the interest of the clergy , it 's highly improbable that he would have atttempted any such thing , had the then governing part of the church given him faithful warning against it , but laud and the other topping church-men of that time , were so far from opposing it , that they concur'd with him , & imposed a book of sports and pastimes , upon all their clergy , to be read to the people on sundays , which was a fair step towards converting all the churches of the nation into play-houses . this great example did so much incourage the stage , that mr. prin tells us in his book before-mentioned , in two years time there were above 40000 play-books printed : they became more vendible than the choicest sermons : grew up from quarto's to folio's ; were printed on far better paper than most of the octavo or quarto bibles , and were more saleable than they . and shackspeers plays in particular were printed in the best● paper . — the two old play-houses were rebuilt and enlarged , and a new theatre erected ; so that there were then six play-houses in london , twice the number of those in rome in nero's time , which though a much more spacious city , seneca complains of as being too many . that faction of the clergy became at last so enamour'd of the stage , that the same author informs us * , he had heard some preachers call their text a land-skip or picture , and others a play or spectacle , dividing their texts into actors , spectators , scenes , &c. as if they had been acting a play. upon which he complains of their using play-house phrases , clinches and strong lines , as they called them ; and that it was to to frequent to have sermons in respect of their divisions , language , action , stile and subject matter , fitter for the stage from whence they were borrowed , than for the pulpit . he tells us † further , that one atkinson a minister in bedford , did the christtide before , act a private interlude in the commissaries house there , where he made a prayer on the stage ; chose the words , acts 10. 14. i have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean , for his text ; preached prophanely upon it , and jested to the shame and grief of most that heard him . in that same place he complains that in private as well as in popular stage-plays , they represented ministers preaching and praying , and brought the sacred bible and the stories of it on the stage , contrary to the statute of 3. iac. cap. 21. the same author tells us likewise * , that one giles widdowes in a sermon at carfolkes in oxford , on psalm 68. verse 25. did avowedly justifie the lawfulness of mix'd dancing at church-ales and maypoles upon the lords day , and confirm'd his doctrine by his own practise . and page 700. he informs us of three doctors of divinity , viz. dr. gager , dr. gentiles and dr. case , who writ in defence of stage-plays . and page 979. he insinuates , that diverse of the clergy had acted and danced on publick and private stages . the theatre having thus made so large a conquest , as to get the court and the governing part of the church on its side , grew rampant , and as if it disdained to have any less adversary than god himself , did boldly usurp on the sabbath afternoons . and thus in the year 1637. masks were set up at court on sundays , by his majesties authority , while at the same time laud and his faction forbad preaching any oftner than once a day , and that the common people who could not bear the expence , nor have the opportunities of stage-plays , might not want one however to prophane the sabbath , the book of sports and pastimes was enjoyned by the bishops to be read in the churches by their inferior clergy on pain of deprivation . cap. ii. the stage encouraged by king charles i. sundays masks . that the world may see what a noble exchange we had for our afternoon sermons and evening lectures , i shall here give an account of the mask that was presented by the kings majesty at whitehall , in 1637. on the sunday after twelfth-night , entituled , britannia triumphans , by inigo iones surveyer of his majesties works , and william davenant her majesties servant . we are told in the introduction , that for these three years their majecties had intermitted those masques and shews , because the room where they were formerly presented , having the seeling richly adorn'd since , with painting of great value , figuring the acts of k. iames of blessed memory , they were afraid it might suffer by the smoke of the lights , but his majesty having now ordered a new room to be made on purpose , which was performed in two months , the scenes for this mask were prepared . now who can say but these were reasons becoming a martyr ? and that this was a frugal way of spending his treasure , when at the same time he extorted money from his subjects in a tyrannical manner by ship-money , loans , &c. we come now to the subject of the mask . britanocles , the glory of the western world , hath by his wisdom , valour and piety , not only vindicated his own , but far distant seas infested with pyrates , and reduc'd the land by his example to a real knowledge of all good arts and sciences . these eminent acts bellerophon in a wise pity , willingly would preserve from devouring time , and therefore to make them last to our posterity , gives a command to fame , who hath already spread them abroad ) that she should now at home ( if there can be any maliciously insensible ) awake them from theif pretended sleep , that even they , with the large , yet still increasing number of the good and loyal , may mutually admire and rejoyce in our happiness . this makes it evident enough , that the subject was k. charles himself , who had gained some advantage against the pirates of barbary , the praise of which there was none would have envied him ▪ but this was a new way of singing te deum ; no great argument of religion , and far less any presage that he should become a martyr for it , to order a masque for his own praise , upon that day , which by divine institution was set apart for the praise of our redeemer . the next thing we have an account of is , that the queen being sat under the state , and the room fill'd with spectators of quality , a stage was raised at the lower end with an oval stair down into the room . the first thing which presented it self to the eye , was the ornament that inclosed the scene . in the under part of which were two pedestals of a solid order , whereon the captives lay bound ; above sat two figures in neeches ; on the right hand a woman in a watchet drapery , heightened with silver ; on her head a corona rostrata , with one hand holding the rudder of a ship , and in the other a little winged figure , with a branch of palm and a garland . this woman was to represent naval victory . in the other neech on the left , sat the figure of a man , bearing a scepter , with a hand and an eye in the palm , and in the other hand a book ; on his head a garland of amaranthus his curace was of gold with a palludamentum of blue , and ▪ antick bases of crimson ; his foot treading on the head of a serpent . this figure was to represent right government : above these were ornaments cut out like cloath of silver , tied up in knots , with scarsings all touch'd with gold. ; these pillasters bore up a large freese , with a sea-triumph of naked children riding on sea-horses , and fishes , and young trito●● with writhen trumpets , and other maritime fancies . in the midst was placed a great compartiment of gold , with branches of palm coming out of the scrols ; and within that a lesser of silver , with this inscription , virtutis opus , proper to the subject of this mask , and alluding to that of virgil , sed famam extendere fuctis from this came a drapery of crimson , which being tied up with great knots in the corners , hung down in foulds on the sides of the pillasters . ; a curtain flying up discovered the first scene , wherein were english houses of the old and newer forms , intermixt with trees , and a far off , a prospect of london and the river of thames . so much for the pomp of this sunday's theatre . and let any man who has the least sense of religion judge , whether it does not smell strong of that pomp and vanity of the world , which christians abjure at baptism , and was by consequence the most unbecoming exercise for a sabbath that could be invented , as having an unavoidable tendency to take up the thoughts of the actors and spectators throughout the whole day , and to wear off the impressions of any sermons , they might have heard in the former part of it . but we come now to the opera it self . from different parts of the scene came action and imposture . action a young man in a rich habit down to his knees , with a large guard of purple about the skirt , wherein was written with silver letters medio tutissima on his head a garland of lawrel , and in one hand a branch of willow . imposture came in a coat of hanging-sleeves and great skirts , little breeches , an high crown'd hat one side pin'd up , ● little ruff , and a formal beard ; an angling-ro● in his hand , with a fish at the hook , and a bag and horn at his girdle . ; it is easie to discern , that the design of this was to represent the graver sort of people in those times , as impostors and cheats , and that they only pretended to gravity and religion the better to hide their covetousness and other lusts ; but methinks the high-crown'd hat turn'd up on one side , the little ruff and the formal beard , might have been forborn out of respect to the king and his father ; the latter in most of his pictures is represented to us in such a hat and ruff , and a beard formal to the utmost ; and the son is always drawn with his collar-band , and a beard so formal , that were it not for his armour and battoon of command , we should take him sooner for a bishop than a king. but we must remember it was a mask ! the court made haste enough to pull off the vizard afterwards . action enters first , and i suppose this name was given him , because he must be thought to practise what the other only pretended to . he rants at imposture , not with an oath ! that was not king charles's crime ; for to give him his due , they say he abhor'd swearing ; and therefore action , like one that would keep the middle , betwixt the dammee ruffian , and the precise puritan , falls upon imposture , with an adjuration ; as follows , my variable sir ; i th' name of heav'n what makes your falshood here where fame intends her triumphs all of truth ? — — thou art so useless to the world that thou art impudent when thou dost share what is most cheap , and common unto all the air , and light ; i do beseech thee my fine , false artificer , hide both thy faces ( for thou art double every where ) steal hence and i 'll take care , thou shalt no more be miss'd than shadows are at night . considering how our poets dress'd . imposture , as before observ'd , the scope of this is plain enough , to perswade the spectators of quality , that such persons as blamed and opposed those sund●y-revels ( and that was the best of the bishops , benefie'd clergy , and people , as well as the professed dissenters , who were then but few ) did not deserve to live in the nation ; and that those who would not comply with the book of sports , and other innovations then on foot , were justly prosecuted as hypocrites and impostors . imposture answers at first , with disdain and contempt of this rant ; — and then says , — i hide my self ? the reason shall be strong that must perswade me under ground : the badger loves his hole , yet is not so bashful , but dares look out and shew himself , when there is prey abroad . i smile at thee ( the graver way of scorn ) fo● should i laugh , i fear 't wold make thee think thy impudence had somewhat in 't of wit. then a little lower , wisely the jealous scepticks did suspect reality in every thing , for every thing but seems and borrows the existence it appears to have : imposture governs all , even from the guilded ethnick mitre , to the painted staff : o th' christian constable , all but pretend th' resemblance of that power , which inwardly they but deride , and whisper merry questions to themselves which way it comes . and after . that universally shall take which most doth please — . — is it not fit and almost safest to cousen all , when all delight still to be cousen'd . here the poet explains whom he meant by imposture , when he brings him in attacking the episcopal dignity , and would persuade the audience , that he was for anarchy too ; so that the constable shall not escape his lash , though he moves in the very lowest orb of civil authority . this was calculated for the then meridian of lambeth , to represent those that were against arch-bishop laud's prid● and innovations in the church , as enemies likewise to the state. but , by the poets leave , he makes his imposture speak quite out of character , when he brings him to an open profession of his design to cheat mankind . impostors are more cunning than to do so ; they put on sheeps cloathing , though they be inwardly ravening wolves : so that he should rather have called him a professed atheist , than an imposter , when he appears thus in his proper colours , and that to his professed enemy too . action replys , these lectures would subdue a numerous sect , wert thou to preach to young soft courtisans , unpractis'd heirs of over-practis'd usurers — but fate takes not so little care of those for whom it doth preserve the elements : that what is chief within us should be quite deprav'd , as if we were only born to aim at trifles here , like children in their first estate of using legs , to run at sight of bubbles , and to leap at noise of bells . here 's a jerk at the citizens whom the court characterized thus in those times , and a flout at original sin , denying our depravation by nature ; a practise very becoming the head of the church , to run down her doctrine : but more of this anon. imposture answers , even to believ 't , and in their chiefest growth they follow but my grandsire mahomets divinity , who doth allow the good a handsom girl or earth , the valiant two in paradise . here again imposture talks out of character , when he owns his lascivious principles , but a little amour must be pull'd in by head and shoulders , the better to edifie the young gallants after sermon . action upbraids imposture in his reply , thus , thou art so read in humane appetites , that were the devil licenc'd to assume a body , thou might'st be his cook , yet know — there are some few amongst men that as our making is erect , look up to face the stars , and fancy nobler hopes than you allow , not down-ward hang their heads like beasts to meditate on earth , on abject things beneath their feet . here action becomes a stout champion for vertue to insinuate to the spectators , that it was lodg'd at court , and not amongst its opposers . imposture answers , with a severe scoff upon the clergy . 't is a thin number sure and much dispers'd , for they will hardly meet in councils and in synods to enact their doctrine by consent ; that the next age may say rhey parted friends . to which action answers . 't is possible less you steal in amongst them to disturb their peace , disguis'd in a canonick weed , nor are these such , that by their reasons strict and rigid discipline , must fright nice court philosophers from their belief , such as impute a tyrannous intent to heav'nly powers and that their tyranny alone did point at men , as if the faun and kid were made to frisk and caper out their time , and it were sin in us to dance , the nightingale to sing her tragick tales of love , and we to rec●eate our selves with groans , as if all persumes for the tyger were ordain'd cause he excels in scent : colours and gawdy tinctures for the eastern birds , whilst all our ornament are russet robes , like melancholy monks . now action has got his rant out ; here 's whole peals of ordnance and chain-shot , against those that adher'd to the doctrine of the church of england , against laud's arminianism : the charge is no less , than that they are enemies to the church , and accuse god of tyranny towards men. whilst birds and beasts frisk and flutter about in their gawdy furs and feathers , we poor mortals are called to mourning , repentance and humiliation ; a sort of doctrine the stage will have nothing to do with , except it be to ridicule it . but here 's not one word all this while , that man hath sinn'd , and therefore must sorrow before he can lay any solid claim to be a sharer in joy. that was none of the poets business ; he was to preach up mirth and jollity , and to perswade to it by an unanswerable argument . the beas●s and birds are so , and therefore we should be so too . then at the conclusion , comes the old false charge against seriousness in religion . it deprives us of all the comforts of life ; and condemns us to rags and melancholy ; enough to make the gallants of the audience out of love with it for all their days , and to ridicule clergy-men of all sorts ; a proper work for the evening of the sabbath . the next entertainment is merlin the prophetick magician , brought upon the stage by impostures means , to conjure up from hell the great seducers of the nation , and upon merlins striking the air with his rod. the whole scene , says our poet , was transformed into an horrid hell , from the suburbs of which , enter the several antimasks . i. entry . of mock-musick of 5 persons . one with a viol , the rest with taber and pipe , knackers and bells , tongs and key , gridiron and shooing-horn . ii. entry . a ballad-singer his companion with their auditory . a porter laden a vintner's boy a kitchin-maid with a hand-basket a saylor . iii. entry . a crier of mouse-traps a seller of tinder-boxes bearing the engines belonging to their trades . a master of two baboons and an ape . iv. entry . a mountebank in the habit of a grave doctor a zany a harlequin their men an old lame chair-woman two pale wenches presenting their urinals , and he distributing his printed receipts out of a budget . v. entry . four old fashion'd parasitical courtiers . vi. entry . of rebellious leaders in war cade kett jack straw and their soldiers . one can hardly imagine what was the design of this piece of foolery , except it were to turn hell into ridicule , by such a representation of its inhabitants , or to be a pattern for the sports and pastimes that were enjoyn'd upon the country for sundays , by his majesties declaration : but let any man judge , whether such a paltry opera as this , was becoming the majesty of a court on any day , or let king charles i. his admirers , give us an instance if they can , that ever any martyr imployed themselves thus before on a sunday . after this , hell ( says our poet ) suddenly vanishes , and there appears a vast forrest , in which stood part of an old castle , kept by a giant : who by his character , one of those in guild-hall , was not big enough to be his page . he is described thus , this day ( a day as fair as heart could wish ) this giant stood on shore of sea to fish ; for angling-rod he took a sturdy oak , for line a cable that in storm ne're broke . his hook was such as heads the end of pole to pluck down house ere fire consumes it whole his hook was baited with a dragons tail , and then on rock he stood to bob for whale : which straight he caught and nimbly home did pack with ten cart-load of dinner on his back . had i been worthy to have advised the poet , he should have sav'd himself the labour of this witty composure . the story of gara gantua or don quixot , would have been as diverting sure as this , and equally fit for a digestion after sermon on sunday . the rest i 'll venture briefly to tell in prose , for the verse is not ( in my opinion ) very charming . — the giant in his way home spied a knight and a lady under a hedge , within his purlieus , and laying down his whale goes toward them in great fury spurning up trees by the roots as he went ; asks the knight how he and his damsel durst com● thither ? demands the lady to be his cook to dress his whale , and threatens to beat out the knights brains with an oaken tree , if he refused her . the lady made an apology , that they came thither only to gather sloes and bullies — . the knight takes him up sharply for offering such a disgrace to his lady ; and at last by merlin's art , the scuffle was turned into fantastick musick , and a dance . i pass over the rest of this impertinent stuff , and leave merlin to retire to his stygian shade a while ; tho' i think he could scarcely be entertained there with greater works of darkness , than those that were then acted at whitehall . [ merlin and imposture being gone of ] in the further part of the scene , the earth open'd , and there rose up a richly adorned pallace ; seeming all of goldsmiths-work , with portic●s vaulted , on pillasters of rustick work ; their bases and capitels of gold , in the midst was the principal entrance , and a gate ; the doors leaves with figures of basse releeve , with jambs and frontispiece all of gold ; above these ran an architrave freese , and coronis of the sarne ; the freese enrich'd with jewels : this bore up a ballestrata , in the midst of which , upon an high tower with many windows , stood fame , in a carnation-garment trim'd with gold , with white wings and flaxen hair ; in one hand a golden trumpet , and in the other an olive garland . in the lower part , leaning on the rail of the ballasters were two persons ; that on the right hand personating arms with a curace and plum'd helm , and a broken lance in his hand . on the left hand a woman in a watchet robe trim'd with silver , on her head a bend , with little wings like those of mercury , and a scroul of parchment in her hand , representing science . when this pallace was arriv'd to the hight , the whole scene was chang'd into a peristilium of two orders , dorick and ionick , with their several ornaments seeming of white marble , the bases and capitels of gold. this joining with the former , having so many returns , openings and windows , might well be known for the glorious pallace of fame . a very odd medley to assign one part of the lord's day to his own worship , and another for the representation of an heathen goddess ! this was not the practise of the primitive martyrs . but now we come to the chief design of thi● mask ; which was to celebrate the praises 〈◊〉 k. charles i. britanocles , as bell●rophon expresses it this happy hour is call'd to celebrate britanocles , and those that in this isle the old with modern vertues reconcile . the chorus of poets , entred in rich habi●● of several colours , with lawrels on thei● heads gilt . fame sings . i. break forth thou treasure of our sight , that art the hopeful morn of every day ▪ whose fair example makes the light , by which heroick vertue finds her way . ii. o thou our chearful morning rise , and strait those misty clouds of error clear , which long have overcast our eyes ; and else will darken all this hemisphere . iii. what to thy power is hard or strange , since not alone confin'd unto the land , thy scepter to a trident change ; and strait unruly seas thou canst command ! iv. how hath thy wisdom rais'd this isle , or thee by what new title shall we call since it were lessning of thy stile ; if we should name thee natures admiral . v. thou universal wonder , know we all in darkness mourn till thou appear , and by thy absence dull'd may grow ; to make a doubt if day were ever here . was not this religiously done to convert any part of t●e sabbath , wherein we ought to cele●rate the praises of our great redeemer , to be ●mispent in such fulsom praises of any mortal man ? and was it not just from god ( whatever may be said as to the instruments ) that he whose power they so blasphemously extol over sea and land , should afterwards find himself too weak for a party of his own subjects , that he should receive his first discomsiture from them on the sabbath , which he had so horribly profan'd , and be brought to his fatal exit , in that very pallace where he suffered god to be so much dishonoured . fame having ended her song : the masquers came forth of the peristilium , and stood on each side , and at that instant the gate of the pallace opened , and britanocles appeared . the habit of the masquers was close bodies of carnation , embroidered with silver , their arming sleeves of the same , about their waste two rows of several fashioned leaves , and under this their bases of white reaching to the middle of their thigh ; on this was an under basis , with labels of carnation embroidered with silver , and betwixt every pain were pufts of silver fastned in knots to the labels : the trimming of the shoulders was as that of the basis ; their long stockings set up , were carnation , with white shoes , and roses ; their bands and cuffs made of purles of cu●-work , upon the heads little carnation caps embroidered as t●● rest , with a slit turn'd up before , out of t●● midst came several falls of white feathers dim●nishing upwards in a pyramidical form. th●● habit they chose as beautiful , rich , and light 〈◊〉 dancing , and proper for the subject of this mas● the pallace being sunk , fame remained h●vering in the air , rose on her wings singing a●● was hidden in the clouds ; then the chor●● sung another song in praise of britanocles . — after which the masquers descended into th● room and danced ; which being ended a ne● chorus of modern poets raised by merlin 〈◊〉 rich habits make their address to the queen thus , i. our eyes ( long since dissolv'd to air , ) to thee for day must now repair ; though rais'd to life by merlin's might thy stock of beauty will supply enough of sun from either eye , to fill the organs of our sight . ii. yet first thy pitty should have drawn , a cloud of cipress or of laune ; to come between thy radiant beams , our eyes ( long darkned in a shade ) when first they so much light invade ; must ake and sicken with extreams . iii. yet wiser reason hath prevail'd , to wish thy beauties still unvail'd ; 't is better that it blind should make us , than we should want such heavenly fire that is so useful to inspire , those raptures which would else forsake us . if modesty would not blush at such entertainment on any day , yet certainly religion would have abhor'd it on a sunday ; and though the church of rome would admit of it , it ill became the head of the church of england to approve it . after this the scene was changed , and in the farthest part the sea was seen terminating the sight with the horizon ; on the one side was a haven with a cittadel , and on the other broken ground and rocks , from whence the sea nymph galatea came waving forth , riding on the back of a dolphin , in a loose snow-white garment ; above her neck chains of pearl , and her arms adorn'd with bracelets of the same ; her fair hair disheveled and mix'd with silver , and in some part covered with a veil , which she with one hand graciously held up , being arriv'd to the midst of the sea , the dolphin staid , and she sung with a chorus of musick . galatea's song . i. so well britanocles o're seas doth reign , reducing what was wild before , that fairest sea nymphs leave the troubled main ; and haste to visit him on shore . ii. what are they less than nymphs , since each make shew of wondrous immortality , and each those sparkling treasures wears that grew where breathless divers cannot pry , &c. the valediction or farewell was as follows . i. wise nature that the dew of sleep prepares , to intermit our joys and ease our cares , invites you from these triumphs to your rest , may every whisper that is made be chaste , each lady slowly yield , yet yield at last , her heart a prisoner to her lovers breast ! ii. to wish unto our royal lover more , of youthful blessings than he had before , were but to tempt old nature 'bove her might since all the odor , musick beauteous fire we in the spring , the spheres , the stars admire , is his renew'd , and better'd every night ! iii. to bed to bed may every lady dream , from that chief beauty she hath stoln a beam , which will amaze her lovers eyes ! each lawful lover to advance his youth , dream he hath stoln , his vigor love , and trut● then all will haste to bed , but none to rise ▪ thus i have brought this mask to a conclusion . if the reader think i have inserted too much of it , he may be pleased to consider that it is very rare and sarcely to be had , and being extraordinary , because of its having been acted on a sabbath day , i thought it the more necessary to give a large account of it ; that he might see what sort of religion or evening sermons , it was that the court and laud's faction of the church then aimed at . let any man that has but the least impression of religion upon his mind , consider the valediction , and declare his opinion , whether it answer that character of piety and chastity which some men will have k. charles the first to have been endowed with . there 's no man can deny but it has an amorous ▪ tendency , and must of necessity leave quite another impression upon the minds of the hearers , than the blessing which they heard pronounced at church after sermon ought to have done , and that the whole interlude could serve for nothing else but to divert their meditations from whatever was serious ; and therefore the setting up of masks , and sports and pastimes upon sundays and holydays , was one of the most effectual methods that the enemies of piety could have invented , to hinder the effect of those ordinances , which the church of england looks upon as necessary to promote the salvation of her people . cap. iii. the s●age encouraged by the king , and arch-bishop laud's book of sports . yet this was not all that the then head of the church , king charles the first , and laud , the metropolitan of all england , did to run down the practice of piety and religion . they were not satisfied to corrupt the people only by bad example , but enjoin'd also the book of sports and pastimes to be read by the bishops and their clergy , and took off the restraint that was laid upon the people from following such practices by the laws then in being ▪ particularly the 1st of car. cap. 1. and 3d car. cap. 2. forbiding all sports or pastimes whatsoever on the lord's day : in the first it is complained of ▪ that the holy keeping of the lord's day , in very many places of this realm , hath been and now 〈◊〉 prosaned and neglected by a disorderly sort of people , in exercising and frequenting bearbaiting , bullbaiting , interludes , common-plays , and other unlawful exercises and pastimes . yet the king contrary to his own law , sets up interludes and masks in his pallace on sundays ; and by his declaration for sports and pastimes on sundays , does perfectly dispense with the said law , and reflects severely upon those that would hinder the people in the exercise of such sports and pastimes as puritans and precisians ; and arch-bishop laud , and the governing part of the church join'd with him in prosecuting mr. prin for his histriomastix , wherein he writ against those plays and interludes , ( especially such as were acted on sundays ) and were so embittered against him that on feb. 1. 1632. laud procured him to be sent close prisoner to the tower , where he lay till the 21st of iune , 1633. when an information without mentioning any particular passages in his book , was exhibited against him in the star-chamber , for publishing a book concerning interludes , entituled , histriomastix , which was licensed by a chaplain of dr. abbots , arch-bishop of canterbury . notwithstanding which license he had this heavy sentence pass'd upon him , viz. to be imprisoned during life , pay 5000 l. fine , be expell'd lincolns-inn , disabled to exercise the profession of a barrister , degraded by the university of oxford of his degrees taken there ; and that done to be set in the pillory at westminster , and have one of his ears cut off ; and at another time to be se● in the pillory in cheapside , and there to have his other ear cut off , which was accordingly executed on the 7th and 10th of may ; and he remained s●ndry years in the tower upon this censure , though the queen is said to have interceded earnestly for the remission of this sentence , which was tyrannical to the highest degree , considering ●he laws before-mentioned against stage-plays , declaring the actors to be rogues , &c. as is evident from the 39th of eliz. and the 7th of king iames the first . having been so successful against mr. prin ▪ laud and his faction took courage and prevailed with his majesty to publish his declaration concerning recreations on the lord's day after evening prayer , dated octob. 18. in the ninth year of his reign , which was 1634. it is observable , that he founds this declaration on one of his father king iames , in anno 1618. wherein it is said , that when that prince returned from scotland he found his subjects , but chiefly those in lancashire , debarred from lawful recreations on sundays after evening prayer , for which he rebuked the puritans , and published his declaration , that none should thereafter prohibit his good subjects from using their lawful recreations on that day . — he adds in another part of it , that his county of lancashire to his great regret , had more popish recusants than any other county in england but being informed by his judges and the bishop of the diocess , that they were beginning to amend , he was very sorry to hear the general complaint of his people , that they were debarr'd from all lawful recreations and exercises on sunday , after the ending of all divine service : which could not but produce two evils , viz. the hindering the conversion of many , whom their priests will persuade , that there is no honest mirth or recreation allowed in our religion , and the setting up of filthy tippling and drinking and breeds a number of idle and discontented speeches on those days . his express pleasure therefore was , that no lawfull recreation should be barr'd to his good people , and that the bishops should take strict order with all puritans and precisians , and either constrain 'em to conform themselves or to leave the country . — and that his pleasure was , that his good people should not be hindered after the end of divine service on sundays , from their lawful recreations , such as dancing either men or women , archery , leaping , vaulting , nor from having of maygames , whitson-ales , morrice-dances , and setting up of maypoles , or other sports therewith used , and he barr'd from those sports , all recusants that abstain'd from coming to church and divine service , and those that , though they conformed in religion did not come to church . ; were the place proper for it , this declaration affords a large field for reflections . here 's the platonick king ! [ the head of the church ! ] the ●irst ( as some say ) to whom they gave the title of most sacred majesty ! who , to convert the papists , as he pretends , orders the lord's day to be profaned with such sports and pasti●es as tended to debauch the morals of the people , and yet will not shew the least favour to the stricter sort of protestants , but brands them with the nick-names of puritans and precisians , and orders his bishops to bring them to conformity , or to expel them the country . but the pleasantest jest is this , that he invites them to come to churh , by the tempting reward of having liberty to profane the sabbath , which they perfectly abhorr'd . his son king charles i. corroborates this declaration by his of the 18th of oct. 1634. which he begins thus , now out of the like pious care for the service of god , and suppressing any humours that oppose truth , and for the ease , comfort and recreation of our well-deserving people , we do ratifie and publish this our blessed fathers declaration . this declaration did but too much verifie what an old reverend divine of the church of scotland said to king iames i. when he asked his blessing on his journey , to take upon him the crown of england , viz. pray god bless you sir , and make you a good man , but he has ill stuff to make it of . the declaration adds , — we command that no man do trouble or molest any of our loyal people , in or ●rom their lawful recreations ▪ and we further will , that publication of this our command , be made by order of the bishops through all the parish-churches of their several diocesses respectively . here was a great difference betwixt the exercise of the episcopal function in the reigns of the father and the son : or by this declaration ch. i. made the bishops trumpeters to the stage , and king iames ii , said , that in his time they were trumpeters of rebellion , because they petitioned against reading the declaration for liberty of conscience . this declaration for sports was read by most of them ; and such of the ministers as would not conform , were turned out till the controversies betwixt the king and parliament , and the civil war that ensued put a stop to it . thus i have made it plain , that the governing part of the church patroniz'd the stage in the reign of charles i. and by the book call'd centuries of scandalous ministers , we find , that many of them were turned out for frequenting the stage in the parliament times , and the theatre being then overturned , there was so great a reform of manners , that notwithstanding the libertinism which usually accompanies war , one might have walk'd through the city and suburbs without hearing an oath ; but when king charles ii. was restored , the play-houses were speedily re-opened , and without any publick check or control from the church , went on to that height of immorality , which mr. c. complains of . nay , they were thought very subservient to support the church by jerking at the whigs and dissenters in their prologues and plays , and to infuse ●rightful ideas of them into the heads of the spectators , whilst at the same time they run down the belief of the popish plot , vindicated the traitors that had been executed for it , and dress'd the true patriots of our religion and liberty in the skins of beasts of prey , that they might be devoured with the better appetite . it were easie to cram a volume with instances of this sort , but they are so well known , that 't is needless . there being no body who ●requented the play-house or read the plays in the two last reigns , but know , that the stage was attempered to the lascivious and arbitrary ●umoe●s of those princes , and to blacken all those that opposed their tyrannical designs . having thus made it appear that the church hath ●avoured the stage , by their not warning the people against it , by seeming to hallow the phrase of it in their pulpits , by approving or at least conniving at the practise of it on the sabbath in king charles i. by prosecuting those who writ against it , writing plays themselves , by some of them practising it in their own persons , and writing in defence of it , by enjoining the book of sports ▪ by not opposing it in the reigns of charles ii. and iames ii. and ( to which i shall add ) by their not opposing it in this reign , when they might have hopes of better success , seeing both king and parliament have declared themselves so highly against immorality and profaneness : i come now in the next place to see how far the schools are chargeable with the same crime . cap. iv. the stage encouraged by the schools . this subject hath not been so much ●reated on as the former , and by consequence is a sign that the danger of it , hath not ●een so much perceived , yet it hath not been altogether over-look'd , for authors both antient and modern have taken notice of it : a clemens romanus , b nazianzen , c tertullian , d ambrose , e ierom , f lactantius , g augustine , and others of the antients : the 4th council of carthage h and divers other councils . bishop babington , bishop hooper , perkins , do●nham , williams , and all other commentators on the 7th commandment have condemned and forbid the writing , printing , selling or teaching any amorous wanton play-books , histories or heathen authors , especially ovids wanton epistles and books of love , catullus , tib●●lus , propertius , martial , plautus , and teren●● as may be seen in the places quoted in the ma●●gin . the reasons why they should not be read 〈◊〉 youth are giv'n us by osorius , * ) thus : 〈◊〉 poets are obscene , petulant , effeminate , and 〈◊〉 their lascivious and impure verses , divert th● mind from shamfastness and industry to lust an● sloth ; and so much the smoother they are , 〈◊〉 much the more noxious , and like so man● syrens ruine all those that give ear to them the more ingeniously any of them write 〈◊〉 amorous subjects , they are so much the mo●● criminal ; for we willingly read and easil● learn by heart a fine and elegant poem ; an● therefore the poison of lascivious verse mak●● a quick and speedy impression upon the mind and by the smoothness and elegancy of th● language kills , before an antidote can be a●●plied . therefore all such poets ought not only 〈◊〉 be banished the c●urt but also the country . nay , aeneas silvius , afterwards pope pius 〈◊〉 in his treatise of education , dedicated to ladisl●●● king of hungary and bohemia , discoursing wh●● authors and poets are to be read to children , r●solves it thus : ovid writes many times in a melancholl● strain , and as often sweetly ; but is in mo●● places too lascivious , horace , though an a●thor of admirable eloquence , yet has man● things i would neither have read nor expou●●ded to you , martial is a pernicious , tho' flori● and ornat poet , but so full of prickles , that hi● roses are not to be gathered without dange● ▪ those who write elegies are altogether to 〈◊〉 kept up from the boys ; for they are too sof● and effeminate , tibullus , propertius , catulli●● and sappho , which we have now translated , abound with amorous subjects , and are full of complaints of unfortunate amours . your preceptor ought to take special care , that whilst he reads the comical and tragical poets to you , he does not seem to instruct you in something that 's vitious . it is still more remarkeable , that ignatius loyola , the founder of the order of the jesuites , who are as little recommendable to the world for their chastity , as for their other vertues , forbad the reading of terence in schools to children and youth , before his obscenities were expunged , lest he should more corrupt their manners by his wantonness , than help their wits by his * latin. the jews , a people noted enough for their uncleanness , yet did not permit their children and youth , in antient times , to read the canticles , till they arrived at 30 years of age , for fear they should draw those spiritual passages of the love betwixt christ and his church , to a carnal sence , and make them instruments of inflaming their own lusts : and upon the same account origen advi●eth such as are of an amorous temper , to forbear reading it † . how much more reason is there to forbid the reading of the lascivious heathen poets , and plays , seeing it is found to be true by experience , as agrippa in his discourse of uncleanness , hath excellently expressed it , that there is no more powerful engine to attaque and vanquish the chastity of any matron , girl or widow , or of any male or female whatever , than the reading of lascivious stories or poems . there 's none of them , let their disposition be never so good , but are in danger of being corrupted by this method , and i should look on it as next akin to a miracle , if there were any virgin or matron so religiously chast , as not to have their lusts inflamed almost to madness by reading such kind of books and poems . * in this case even the heathen lecher ovid , who is much more ingenuous than our pretended christian poets , gives judgment against his own amorous poems , and those of tibullus , &c. eloquar in vitus , teneros ne tange poetas , summon●o dot●s impias esse meas , callimachum ●ugito , non est inimicus amori et cum callimacho tu quoque coe noces . carmina quis potuit tuto legisse tibulli , vel tita cujus opus cynthea sola suit , quis potuit lecto durus discedere gallo et mea nescio quid carmina tale sonant . de remedio amoris . lib. 3. p. 230. it will appear plain from the very nature and design of christian schools , that such things ought not to be taught in them . the end of all such schools is to teach wisdom and vertue , that we may know god and our selves ; and how to worship god aright ; whereas the quite contrary is taught by those authors . homer , hesiod , pindar , aristophanes , virgil , horace , and the rest of those heathen authors , arriv'd to that height of impiety and madness , that they feign'd such lewd things to be acted by their gods , as a modest man cannot but be ashamed to reh●arse before youth ; for they represent their gods and goddesses to be such , as no honest or well-governed common-wealth , would have admitted them for citizens , so that palingenius writes truly of them . in c●elo est meretrix , in coelo est turpis adulter . lib. i. there 's no doubt but the heathen poets were influenced by satan , to feign such monstrous and horrid things concerning their deities , that they might thereby promote and authorize whoredom and uncleanness among men , and add fewel to the flames of corrupt nature . certainly those fables in ovid's metamorphosis , concerning the amous , nay , rapes of the gods and others , cannot leave any chast impressions upon the minds of youth . what a fulsom expression is that of virgil , aneid . 7. mista deo mulier . the danger of teaching such things to youth was seen by the very heathen philosophers : and therefore plato says , that those fabulous stories of the poets , were not to be receiv'd into a city , as if the gods wag'd war , and form'd ambushes against one another , &c. whether they be taken in an allegorical sense or not ; for children ( says he ) cannot distinguish betwixt what is spoke figuratively or otherwise , and such opinions as they drink in when they are young , they can hardly ever lay aside . to feign that god , who is altogether good , is the cause of evil , is an error that ought to be refuted ; and therefore the poets should be compelled to write and speak things that are honest * . tha● same author says in theage , i know not what any man in his right wits , ought to be more solicitous about , than how to have his son made as good as possible ; and therefore he advises , that care be taken that nurses don't entertain them with old wives fables , lest they be corrupted with madness and folly from their very infancy . seeing those poor heathens who had nothin● but the light of nature to direct them , coul● give such excellent precepts , what a shame 〈◊〉 it for christian schoolmasters to spend more tim● in teaching their youth who iupiter , vulca● ▪ neptune and saturn were , than who iesus chris● is , and to teach them those lascivious heathe● po●ts in direct opposition to the seventh co●●mand . st. augustine in his book of con●ession * , 〈◊〉 out , oh that when i was a young man , i ha●● been instructed in profitable books ! whilst i w●● a youth at school i heard them talk of iupit●● darting thunder and committing adultery at t●● same time . the jews were commanded to teach the la●● of god to their children diligently , to talk 〈◊〉 them when they sat in their houses , when th●● walked by the way , when they lay down an● when they rose up , to write them upon the pos● of their houses and on their gates , deut. 6. 6 , 7 ▪ ● the roy●l prophet david taught them , th● young men were to purifie their way , by takin● heed thereunto according to the word of go● psal. 119. 9. and the wise king solomon co●●manded children to be trained up in the way t●● they should go , and when they were old they wo●● not depart from it , prov. 22. 6. the apostle 〈◊〉 joyns , that our children should be brought up 〈◊〉 the nurture and admonition of the lord , eph. 6 ▪ and commands timothy to avoid profane and 〈◊〉 wives fables , 1 tim. 4. 7. the only objection of any weight that can 〈◊〉 raised against this , is , that in those heathen poe● there are abundance of excellent moral sentenc● and that youth learn the purity of the lati●● tongue from them . to which it may be answer● that put them all together , they come infinite● short of those moral instructions that are to be found in the proverbs of solomon , and the ecclesiastes , that its evident what moral sayings of worth , any of those heathen authors have , they borrow'd them from moses and others of the divinely inspired writers , and we may with more safety and purity drink from the same founta●ns , than from their polluted streams ; and as for the purity of the latine tongue , it may as well be learnt from others , as from the poets . the roman histories are excellent for that end ; and if their poets were purg'd from their obscenities , &c. and so put into the hands of youth , there could be nothing to object against ' em . nor are there wanting excellent latine poems by christian authors , which might be equally serviceable for instructing our youth in the purity of the latine tongue , and inspring them also with true christian sentiments , such as the famous antient poems of tertullian , arator , apollinaris , nazianzen , prudentius , prosper and other christian worthies , and the later ones of du bartas , beza , scaliger , buchanan , heinsius , &c. that a reform of the schools in this point hath been so long neglected , reflects shame upon the church who ought to have chiefly concerned themselves in it , and is one main reason why so many persons of good parts have applied themselves to write for the stage , and that too with more wantonness and latitude than most of the hea●hen poets ever dar'd to allow themselves : and the corruption hath spread so far as to in●ect our universities , who tho' formerly they condemned the stage , are now become its admirers , and to the scandal of the nation , obscene poems are writ at their publick acts. cap. v. an answer to m. motteuxes defence of the stage . i come next to consider what is offer'd in defence of the stage , by a divine of the church of england , from the authority of a divine of the church of rome , viz. by father ca●●aro , divinity professor at paris , as i find it annex'd to mr. motteuxes play call'd , beauty in distress . before i come directly to the point , it may not be improper to observe , that considering the palpable influence , which the stage hath had upon the corruption of manners , so much complained of . it seems no very suitable imployment for one divine of the church of england to espouse the defence of the stage against another . nor is it very much for the defendants honour to make use of arrows from a popish quiver ; for we have no reason to think that a popish divine will be a cordial enemy to the stage ; when the worship of ▪ their church does so much resemble the pomp of the theatre . the doctors first argument is , that the scripture has no express and particular precept against plays , [ page 10. ] which admitted to be true , is an argument of no weight ; for consequences naturally deduc'd from scripture , have the same authority with the text , otherwise it could never be a rule of faith and manners , there being many thousands of things for which it serves as a rule , that it doth not particularly express : so that the doctors argument would be equally servic●able to the great turk : there 's no express nor particular precept against receiving mohome● , as a prophet ergo . but it is naturally and plainly infer'd from the scriptures , that because we are not to receive any other doctrine than is there taught us , therefore we are not to receive mahomet as a prophet . by consequences of like force , and every whit as plain , we shall find stage-plays condemned in scripture ; i mean not only those that are guilty of immorality , profaneness , blasphemy , &c. which the greatest patrons of the stage , will not offer to defend , but even stage-plays in general , whose business they will have it to be , to recommend vertue and discountenance vice , which i think will be very plain by the following argument . that which god hath appointed sufficient means to accomplish : it is unlawful for men to appoint other means to accomplish : but go● hath appointed sufficient means for recommending vertue , and discountenancing vice without the stage : ergo , it is unlawful for men to appoint the stage for recommending vertue and discountenancing vice. all t●e controversie will lie about the first proposition ; but i think there 's no man who has a serious impression of the infinite wisdom , power and goodness of god upon his mind , that will call it in question , seeing he must necessarily by so doing , cast a reflection upon all those attributes , and prefer the wisdom , power and goodness of man , to the wisdom , power and goodness of god. the second proposition is clear from express texts of scripture . the apostle tells us , that magistracy is the ordinance of god : that rulers are ordained by him to be a terror to evil works , and to praise those that do good : and that they are the ministers of god , continually attending upon this very thing , rom. 13. 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5. whence it is evident , that the original end and design of magistracy , is to encourage vertue and to punish vice. and hence it is equally clear , that seeing commending is a species of reward , and lashing and exposing a sort of punishment , the pretended service of the stage , for those ends is wholly needless ; god having sufficiently provided for that , by appointing magistrates . this being so , the patrons of the stage have no other pretences left them , but such as mr. collier enumerates briefly in his introduction , viz. that the stage is useful to shew the uncertainty of humane greatness ; the sudden turns of fate , and the unhappy conclusions of violence and injustice ; to expose the singularities of pride and fancy ; to make folly and falshhood contemptible ; and to bring every thing that is ill , under infamy and neglect . but we are infinitely better provided for those ends , by the word of god , and the ordinance of the ministry . we are taught , that the former is able to make us wise unto salvation : i● given us by inspiration of god , for doctrine , reproof , correction and instruction in righteousness ; that we may be perfect , and throughly furnished unto all good works , 2 timoth. 2. so that we have no need of the instruction of the stage , for any of the ends above● mentioned . are any of our authors for the theatre , able to give such a description of the uncertainty of humane greatness and the vanity of all sublunary things , as solomon hath given in his ecclesiastes ? can any of them give us more surprizing instances of the sudden turns of fate and revolutions of providence , than the destruction of sodom and gomorrah , of pharaoh and his host , sennacherib and his army , and many others related in the scriptures , with reference not only to the publick , but to particular persons ? nay , are we not i●finitely better accommodated with real instance● of that nature , ev'n from profane history , than we possibly can be from their forged ones on the stage ? can our poets shew us more unhappy conclusions of violence and injustice , than those that attended pharaoh and the other tyrants that persecuted the people of god ? are they able to give us instances of the singularity of pride and tyranny , equal to those of that same pharaoh , who said , who is the lord that i should obey him ? of nebuchad●nezzer , who ●or his pride was turn'd a grazing with the beasts of the field ? or of herod , who for his fantastical apparel and pride was eat up of worms ? are they able to expose folly and falshhood to more contempt , than the sacred scripture does , which tells us , that a poor and a wise child , is better than an old and a foolish king , eccl. 4. 13. and that tho' the bread of deceit and falshood be sweet to a man , yet afterward his mouth shall be fill'd with gravel , prov. 20. 17. hath not god appointed the ministry , to teach all nations to observe whatsoever he hath command●d , matth. 28. 19. to distinguish betwixt the precious and the vile , jer. 15. 19. to use sharpness according to the power that god hath given them , 2 corinth . 13. 8 , 9 , 10. to be instant in season and out of season ; to reprove , reb●ke , exhort ; to teach us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts ; and to live soberly , righteously and godly in this present evil world , tit. 2. 12. thus the second proposition is plainly proved , that god hath provided sufficient means for recommending vertue and discountenancing vice without the stage : ergo it is unlawful to appoint the stage for recommending vertue and discountenancing vice. it may perhaps be objected , that by this argument the exhortations and reproofs of parents , masters and neighbours , are also prov'd to be needless : to which the answer is ready , that those duties are enjoyn'd by the scriptures on parents , masters and neighbours ; therefore 't is the ministers duty to urge them , and the magistrates duty to see them perform'd ; but no such thing can be said of the stage . it may perhaps be further objected , that the magistrate being left at liberty , as to the means of recommending virtue and discountenancing vice , he may appoint the stage for that end. to which i answer ; the magistrate is infinitely better provided of means already : he hath the ministers to preach the gospel from the pulpit ; and judges to explain his laws from the bench ▪ and is provided with a sword to protect vertue and punish vice. and therefore to spend time and money in that which is needless , would be not only contrary to scripture rule , but to common-sense . nor can the patrons of the stage , give us an instance , that ever any magistrate appointed the stage for those ends they mention . we are told in the introduction to britania triumphens , acted on a sunday at whitehall in 1637. as before●mentioned , that princes of sweet and humane natures have ever , both amo●gst the antients and moderns in the best times presented spectacles and personal representation to recreate their spirits , wasted in grave affairs of state , and for the entertainment of their nobility , ladies and courts . that was the only end , according to the then poets ▪ that the stage pretended to ; but now it seems that they would usurp , both upon the bench and the pulpit . cap. vi. the fathers against the stage ; and mistaker● by aquinas . the next argument is * from thomas a. quinas , who in his question of sports and diversions says , that 't is the part of a wise man sometimes to unbend his mind by diverting words or actions : whence the dr. concludes , that st. thomas approv'd the drama . this man may perhaps be a professor of divinity , but it would seem he was never a professor of logick , else he would not put more into the conclusion than is found in the premises , as here he has done , except he can prove that there are no diverting words or actions but in plays ; and the straining of this conclusion is so much the more needless , that he brings in aquinas afterwards , expresly giving his opinion for plays , provided the players and spectators he not guilty of excess , or speak and act nothing that is unlawful , &c. ( pag. 12. ) but as the dr. brings in aquinas to reconcile the fathers with the school-men in this point ; or indeed rather to contradict the fathers by the school-men ; what if we bring in aquinas contradicting the dr. himself . if either the paris doctor , or the doctor of the church of england , who applauds his performance , please to look into aquinas his secunda , secund● quaest. 168. art. 3. ad 3m . it will appear , that they make the angelical dr. speak otherwise than he really does : aquinas 's words are , si qui autem super●luē sua in tales consumunt veletiam sustentant illos histriones qui illicitis ludis utuntur , peccant , quali ●os in peccato foventes , unde augustinus dicit super iohannem , quod donare res suas histrionibus , vitium est immane , non virtus , nisi forte aliquis histrio esset in extrema necessitate , in qua esset ei subveniendum , dicit enim ambrosius in libro de o●●iciis , pasce same morientem . quisquis enim pascendo hominem servare poteris si non paveris occidi●ti . it 's plain , that the paris dr. or his translator make aquinas say what he never intended . the angelical dr. says , it is a crime to give super●luously ●r lavishly to stage players . but it seems nothing is criminal with the parisian dr. or his englisher , except they give them their whole estates . besides , they injure st. austin mightily . they would make the world believe , that the african father was only against giving whole estates to players too ; when the honest man says expresly , that to give any thing to a stage-player except at the point of starving , is a monstrous crime or first●rate sin , immane vitium , and the reason of the exception he brings from st. ambrose , that whosoever is in a condition to give a man bread , and yet lets him starve , kills him . and how well aquinas reconciles the school-men with the fathers , in this point of the stage , may be seen by the very following article , where he quote● st. augustine in his book of true and false repentance ; charging those that would obtain forgiveness , to abstain from the plays and shows of the age ; which being compared with his former advice , not to give any thing to the stage-player , except he were at the point of starving , shews plainly for all the angelical doctors nice distinction ( of st. augustine's only forbidding plays to men under pennance ) that he wrests his words . the truth of which will be prov'd by st. austin himself , who says , that had there been none but honest men in rome , they would never have admitted stage●plays † . and elsewhere he says , the roman vertue knew nothing of those theatrical acts for almost 400 years ; and when they were introduc'd for the recreation of sensualists , and admitted by the dissolute morals of the time , the heathen idols de●ued they might be dedicated to them * . he likewise takes notice , that being brought into rome to asswage the plague which afflicted thei● bodies ; the crafty devils who knew that the disease would in its proper time come to a period , did thence take occasion to infect their morals , with a far greater contagion . and adds , that their pontif scip● dreaded that plague and infection upon their minds , when he forbad the building of theatres , well knowing that the re-publick could not be preserved by the standing of their walls , if their ●orals failed ; but they were more prevailed on by the allurements of impious devils , than by the precautions of provident statemen * . nor is there any of the fathers more pathetical and pressing in their exhortations to christians to avoid the stage , than this excellent person , as may be seen in his homilies , and other writings . then as to the whim of the revelation to paphnutius , that a certain player should be his partner in glory , by which aquinas would prove that players are not in a state of sin. however it may relish with the paris doctor , it sounds but ill to be quoted by a divine of the church of england ; but admitting the revelation to be true , it will not prove what they would have it , for the player mentioned , might have abandoned the stage , and become a true penitent ; otherwise by this way of arguing , thieves may conclude , that they are not in a state of sin , because our saviour said to one on the cross , this day shalt thou be with me in paradise . besides , aquinas's words are , quod quidam iocu●ator ●uturus erat sibi consors in vita fu●ura . now the doctor knows , that ioculator and histrio , are not convertible terms . there are many jocose men , that would think the stage below them ; or if ioculator must needs be a stage-player , let it be translated the merry andrew , or fool in the play ; there 's no reason why such should be denied the benefit of pap●●utius's evidence for heaven , it being but seldom , that their part of the play is the most criminal . in the next place , it ought to be observed what sort of plays they are , which st. thomas approves ; he says , o●●icium histrionum quod ordinatur ad solatium hominibus exhibendum non est secundum se illicitum . ibid. ad 3m . i. e. that stage-plays which are directed to recreat or solace men , are not unlawful in themselves . this is quite another work than our stage now assumes to it self , as mr. collier mentions in his introduction ; and had the stage held there , and been regular and moderate in its practice , it would not have been so culpable as now it is , but all this is meerly a covering its nakedness with fig-leaves : that was not the original design of the stage . it was invented by the devil , if we may believe tertullian * , and therefore hath all along been true to its founder in pursuing its primary design of debauching instead of diverting mankind . before i go further , i must observe two things ; the first is , that st. thomas however , condemns the present practice of the english stage , in jesting with scripture , using obscene words or actions , and men and womens putting on apparel of the contrary sex † . and the next is , that it looks somewhat odd that a dr. of the church of rome , and a divine of th● church of england , should offer to shake the authority of the fathers for the sake of the play-house , seeing they are the principal quivers , whence the former draws her arrows against the protestants , and whence the latter pulls darts to hurl against the pu●itaus . in the next place they bring us st. thomas's answer to chrysostom , which they will have to be sufficient to all the passages of the fathers , viz. that they declaim only against the excess in plays * ; because the excess of the drama in their time , was criminal and immoderate . to this let st. chrysostom answer for himself ; and we shall soon see whether he had any reason ●o peep down from heaven , and tell aquinas , ben● scripsisti de me thoma , as they foolishly tell us our saviour did to that same agelical doctor . st. chrysostom against the stage . he calls stage-plays , the devils solemnities or pomps ; satanical fables , diabolical mysteries , the impure food of devils , hellish conventicles * . and tells his hearers , that if they continue to go to plays , he will never give over , but use a sharper stile , and wound them deeper , till he had pull'd in pieces the devilish theatre , that the assemblies of the church might be puri●ied and cleansed . in another place he says , every thing acted on the stage is most filthy and obscene , the words , the apparel , the tonsure , the gestures , the musick , the glancings of the eyes , nay , the very subject of the plays † . whence they infuse so much lascivousness into the minds of the audience , as if ▪ they conspired together to root all modesty out of their hearts , and to drench them in pernicious sensuality . in his homily of saul and david , he writes thus , that it is dangerous to go to stage-plays , because it makes them compleat adulterers ; wishes he knew who they were that left the church yesterday , and went to those spectacles of iniquity , that he might excommunicate them , they having impudently defil'd themselves with adultery . and if so be ( says he ) you desire to know the kind of adultery , i will not rehearse my own words , but the words of him who is to be our judge * : that man ( saith he ) who looks upon a woman to lust after her , hath committed adultery in his heart . if then a woman accidentally passing the street , and but carelessly dress'd doth frequently insnare a man , with one single look , with what confidence can those that purposely run to the play-house , and sit there a whole day together , with their eyes fix'd on the faces of women , say they have not looked upon them , so as to lust after them ? where there are the enticements of lafcivious words , whorish songs , painted faces , and enticing dresses to allure the beholders . — if here where there are psalms and the preaching of god's word , concupiscence doth frequently creep in like a crafty thief , how can those who sit idle in play-houses , where they neither see nor hear any thing that is good , and where their eyes and ears are beset on every side , overcome their lus● ? and if they cannot conquer it , how can they be acquitted from the charge of adultery ? — then how can those who are chargeable with this crime , come to these sacred assemblies , without repenrance . — if a servant should put his nas●y and lousy apparel , amongst his masters rich and costly robes , would you bear with it patiently ? if he should throw dung into a vessel of gold wher● your precious ointments are kept , would you not cudgel him for it ? shall we then be so careful of our cloaths and our vessels , and put so low a value upon our souls : tell me , how you thi●k god can endure this , when there is not so much difference between ointment and dirt , nor the cloaths of master and servant , as betwixt the grace of the spirit and this perverse action ? dost thou not tremble whilst thou beholdest this holy table , where dreadful mysteries are administred , with the self same eyes that thou didst behold the bed on the stage ; where the detestable fables of adultery are acted , whilst with the same ears thou hearest an adulterer speaking obscenely , and a prophet and an apostle leading thee into the mysteries of the scripture , whilst with the same heart thou receivedst deadly poison , and this holy and blessed sacrament ? are not these plays the subversion of life , the corruption of manners , the destruction of marriage , the cause of wars , of fightings and brawls in houses ? when thou returnest from the stage more dissolute , wanton and effeminate , the sight of thy wife will be less pleasing to thee , let her be what she will. what do i speak of a wife or family , when as afterward thou wilt be less willing to come to church , and wilt hear a sermon of modesty and chas●ity with irksomness . wherefore i intreat you all to avoid the wicked remembrances in stage-plays , and to draw back others from them , who have been led unto them ; for whatever is there done , is not delight or recreation , but destruction . in his first homily on psalm 50. speaking of david , he saw bathsheba ( saith he ) was wounded in his eye , and struck with a dart. let them take notice of this who are mad upon stage-plays , where they may contemplate the beauties . let them observe this , who say they can look upon them without hurt . david was wounded , and are you like to escape ? he was overcome , and can i trust to your strength ? he that had so much grace was struck through , and dost thou deny that thou are wounded ? in his seventeenth homily on matthew 5. if thy right eye offend thee ; he writes thus , let them take notice of this , who frequent the playhouse so much , and de●ile themselves almost daily with adultery : how can they be defended who by their stay at playhouses , contract acquaintance with lewd persons , that they knew not before ? upon psalm 119. v. 151. he says , we cannot serve two masters , but he serves two , who goes to church one day , and to stage-plays another . on psalm 4. 2. why do you love vanity in stage-plays , and seek after leasing in stage-players ? on psalm 66. 1. nothing brings the oracles of god into so great contempt , as those stage-plays and the spectacles there shewed ; wherefore i have often exhorted you , that none of those who enjoy the divine doctrine , and partake of the dreadful sacrament , go to those stage-plays . yet some are become so mad , that though they profess religion , and are grown white with old-age , they run to them notwithstanding ; and say , they reap much profit from 'em , by seeing examples of the victory and crowns which shall be in the world to come . but this is a rotten and deceitful saying : whence canst thou reap profit there , from contentions , from rash oaths , from the abuses , reviling and scoffs which the spectators throw upon one another ? in his sixth homily on matthew , he says , god never taught men to play , but the devil ; who hath formed jests and plays into an art ; that by these he might draw the souldiers of christ to himself : he hath erected theatres in cities ; and proposed those incentives of laughter and filthy pleasure . it is not the part of those who are called to an everlasting kingdom , to effeminate themselves with delight , and let loose the r●ins to loud laughter and derision , for those who applaud the writers of blasphemous and filthy things , perswade them to act them ; he that personates those things , doth not s●n so much as thou that commandest them to be done . but thou sayest , this is only feigning not committing a crime , but certainly those men deserve a thousand deaths , who are not afraid to imitate that which all laws do most strictly for●bid . if adultery be evil in it self , the imitation of it must certainly be unlawful . i say nothing how many adulterers they may make , who personate adulteries upon the stage nor how they render spectators impudent ; fo● there is nothing more filthy nor lascivious , than that eye that can patiently behold such things . in his thirty eighth homily on matthew , he answers the question : what then shall we shut up the playhouse ? thus , yea verily : these stage-plays being overturned , you shall not overthrow the law ; but iniquity , and extinguish all the plagues and mischiefs of the city ? t●ou wilt say , shall we then pull down the playhouses ? would to god they were pulled down ; yet i command you not to pull them down ; the magnifccence of the houses may stand , and the plays and dancing cease . take at least example from the barbarians , who have none of those stage-plays . what excuse can you bring for your selves , who are registred in heaven , to be the companions and co-heirs with angels if you be found worse than the barbarians in this , especially when thou mayst procure to thy self better comfort elsewhere ? for when thou wouldst refresh thy mind , thou mayest go into gardens , behold runing rivers , contemplate great lakes , look upon pleasant places , &c. thou hast a wife and children , thou aboundest in friends , all which may afford thee honest delight and profit . the barbarians themselves when they heard of these stage-plays , uttered expressions worthy of the greatest philosophers ; what say they , have the romans no wives nor children ? but thou wilt say , these playhouses do no hurt . yes , verily they do , in that thou spendest thy time there idlely and to no purpose , and givest cause of scandal to others . for though thou by fortitude and sublimeness of mind hast escaped the infection , yet by giving example to others who are weaker , thou hast occasioned their committing of evil. in his seventy fourth homily on matthew , he says , many come to church to behold the beauties of men and women ; do ye not therefore wonder , that thunderbolts are not darted forth on every side ? but these things ye have learned from the unchast theatre , that most contagious plague , that unavoidable snare of idle persons . such is the accursed fruits of stage-plays , not only to make the playhouse , but the very church of god a brothel . in his sixty ninth homily on that same evange●ist , he expresses himself thus , where are those who sit daily in the playhouse to hear pernicious songs , and to see the dances of the devil . i must say unto you as st. paul said , as you have hitherto given up your members to serve uncleanness , even so now give up your members as servants of rightcousness unto holiness . let 's compa●e the lives of the harlo●s , and corrupt young men who sit together in the pits and boxes , with t●e life of those blessed ones , even as to the point of pleasure . we shall find the difference to be as great betwixt the one and the other , ●s betwixt the songs of angels and the grunting of swine wallowing in the mire . christ speaks out of the one , but the devil speaks out of the other . from the songs of harlots , a flame of lust doth presently set the hearers on fire ; and as if the sight and face of a woman were not sufficient to inflame the mind , they have found out the plague of voice too ; but by the divine prai●es of holy m●● if any such disease doth vex the mind , it soon extinguished . in his 17th homily to the people of anti●● where the emperor theodosius had shut up 〈◊〉 play-house , he says , would to god it may ne● be opened again ! hence the works of d●●ness flow'd out into the city ! hence came th● who were criminal in their manners ! but n●● our city looks like a beautiful , fair and m●●dest woman . let us not then lament with 〈◊〉 feminate sorrow , as i have heard many do . 〈◊〉 unto thee antioch ! what hath befallen thee● and how art thou depriv'd of honour ? 〈◊〉 when thou shalt see dancers , players , drinke● blasphemers , swearers , liars , then make 〈◊〉 of those expressions , wo unto thee , o antioc● in his 62d homily to that people , he sa●● prisons are better than play-houses ; because 〈◊〉 the former there is sorrow , fear , humility , & ● but in the latter , there is laughter , wantonne●● diabolical pride , prodigality , expence of tim● the plotting of adultery , the school of fo●● cation , the examples of lewdness , &c. there are abundance of other excellent thin● to this purpose , in this eloquent fathers homil●● directly against the stage in general ; but this 〈◊〉 enough and more than enough to convict 〈◊〉 parisian doctor , and church of england divi●● of misrepresenting st. chrysostom , when they sa● he is only against the [ excess ] of the stage ▪ and i have been the larger upon him , not only 〈◊〉 confute that groundless assertion , but because 〈◊〉 declamations against the stage in those days , loo● as if they were adapted to the stage in ours . 〈◊〉 shall only add one observation , that he no whe● speaks of [ resorming ] the stage , but of 〈◊〉 down and over-turning it , as the inventio● of the devil , whice he would never have done , had he only thought the excess of it culpable . tertullian against the stage . the parisian doctor will likewise have it , that tertullian is only against the [ excess ] of plays * , but how truly will quickly be seen f●om the following quotations of that father . in his book of spectacles † , he tells us , that stage-plays are the pomps of the devil , which we renounce at baptism , because their original and the materials of which they are composed , is wholly patch'd up of idolatry . he calls play-houses , the devils church and temple * , and says † , we are commanded to put far from us all manner of uncleanness or wantonness ; and by consequence are forbid the theatre , which is a private conventicle of lewdness , where nothing is approv'd , but what is disapproved every where else , whose chief beauty or grace consists for the most part in obscenity , which the stage-player acts , and is represented by females ▪ who have abandoned the modesty of their sex. nay , the very stews themselves the sacrifices of publick lust , are brought forth on the s●age , and that which is yet worse , in the presence of women , and persons of all ages and degrees , where the place , the hire , and the incentives to them are represented to those that have no need of such tentations . let the senate be ashamed ! let all ranks of people blush at this ! — if all uncleanness ought to be held in execration by us , can it be lawful for us to hear those things , which it is unlawful to speak , and seeing we know that all scurrilous language and vain words , are condemned by god , how can it be lawful ●or us to hear thos● things , which it is unlawful to act ? thos● things which pollute a man when uttered by his mouth , must they not pollute him , whe● they enter into his soul , with his own consent by his eyes and ears ? thou art therefore commanded to abstain from the stage when tho● art forbid to be unclean . this passage is so full , and contains suc● weighty arguments against the theatre , deduc'd from scripture consequences , that we may justly wonder at the height of those clergy-mens assurance , who assert that this father is only agains● the excess of the stage , and that it is not for● bidden by scripture because not expressed by name . in another place , he says , that tragedies and comedies are the augmenters of villany and lust , bloody , lascivious , impious and wasteful * , they de●ile the eye and ear with uncleanness † , and blow up the sparkles of lust ‖ : upon which account he calls playhouses , the chappels of venus ; the houses of leachery , and conven●icles of incontinence * , and informs us , that all the christians in the primitive church had utterly le●t off frequenting the theatre † . he tells us likewise * , that stage-plays make the souls of the spectators to appear polluted in the sight of god , that none of those things deputed unto stage-plays , are pleasing unto god , or becoming the servants of god ; because they were all instituted for the devil , and furnished out of his treasury , for every thing that is not of god , or displeasing unto him , is of th● devil . — stage-plays are the pomp of the devil , against which we have protested at baptism . that therefore which we renounce , we ought not to partake of neither in deed , word nor sight ; and do we not then renounce and tear off the seal of baptism , when we cut off the attestation of it ? shall we ask the very heathens themselves , whether it be lawful for christians to frequent stage-plays ? they will tell you , that they chiefly know a man to be a christian , by his renouncing the stage . he therefore manifestly denies himself to be a christian , who throws off the badge by which he should be known . what hope then is there of such a man ? there 's no man runs over to the enemies camp , but he first throws away his arms , forsakes his colours , and the allegiance of his prince , and resolves to run the same fate with his enemies . will he think earnestly of god there , where there is nothing at all of god to be heard ? will ●e thoroughly learn chastity who admires the stage-players ? will he remember the exhortations of the prophets , amidst the exclamations of the tragedians ? will he think upon psalms in the middlle of effeminate songs ? — can he be of a compassionate nature , who delights in the baiting of bears ? d●st thou doubt but at that very moment when thou art in the church of the devil , all the angels look down from heaven , and take special notice of every one there present , observing who he is that speaks blasphemy , who it is that hears it , and who they are that lend their ears and tongues to the devil ? wilt thou not therefore flie those seats of the enemies of christ , that pestilential chair ; nay and the very air over the place , which is defiled with filthy speeches . * . he tells us yet more expresly , that the scripture hath forbidden all plays and interlude● , under the prohibition of lewdness and lasciviousness ; and that those texts which condemn worldy concupiscence , idle words , foolish , filthy talking and jesting , all standing in t●● way of sinners , and sitting in the seat of t●● scornful , together with hypocrisy and diss●●●●mulation , and the putting on of womens apparel by men , do expresly condemn both plays themselves , resort to playhouses , and the acting and beholding all theatrical interludes . † . this i hope is sufficient to demonstrate to the reader , that tertullian was against all stage-plays and interludes , not only upon the account of the excess or abuse of them , but also because he looked upon them to be the inventions of the devil , and contrary to scripture● so falsly have the p●●isian and english doctors represented him , in their preface to beauty in distress . st. cyprian against the stage . the next that they quote ; is st. cyprian , who they say doth not absolutely condemn opera's and comedies ; but only those shows , that represent fables ; after the manner of the greeks . * . how truly this is asserted by the popish and protestant doctors ; let st. cyprian inform you himself . that father in his epistles † , writes thus concerning the stage : the stage-player who still goes on amongst you in his disgraceful art , is not an instructor but destroyer of youth ; that which he hath wickedly learned himself he teaches others ; and therefore he writes to eucratius , that he ought not to be received into communion ; saying , that it was neither consistent with the majesty of god , nor the dis●ipline of the gospel , that the chastity and honour of the church should be defiled with such an infamous and filthy contagion . had st. cyprian approved the stage as lawful , he would have advised the reforming of it , and not to excom●nunicate a man because he was a stage-player . in another place he tells us , that theatres are the seats of uncleanness , the mastership of obscenity ; which teach those sins in publick , that men may more easily commit them in private : what then hath a christian to do there ? says he , to whom it is not so much as lawful to think upon any vice , should he delight himself in those representations of lust , that laying a●ide his modesty , he may be the more bold to commit the crimes themselves : he learns to act those crimes , who accustoms himself to see them . those common strumpets , whose misfortunes have prostituted them to the slavery of the publick stews , conceal the place ; and comfort themselves with this , that their disgrace is acted in private , and those who have exposed their chastity to sale , are ashamed to be seen in publick ; but thisopen wickedness of the stage , is acted in the view of all men , where the impudence of common prostitutes is surpassed . therefore it is utterly unlawful for good christians to be present at those plays , because we s●on accustom our selves to the practice of that wickedness which we hear and see : for since the minds of men are easily induc'd to those vices of their own accord : what will they not do , when they have unchast examples both of body and nature ? then as to tragedy . he tell us , that it is a tragedians part to relate to us in verse , the wickedness of the antients : the horror of antient parricides and incests are by them represented to the life , lest those wickednesses that were committed in former age● , should grow obsolet in the pr●sent times , fo● by this the present age is admonished , that whatever villany was committed in former times , may be committed still . thus is adultery learned whilst it is beheld ; and she who at first came perchance a chast matron to the play , returns unchast from the playhouse : what a foul corruption of manners , what a nourishment is it to reproachful actions ? and what ● fuel of vice is it , to be polluted with histrionical gestures , and to see filthy incest elaborately acted , against the very law and right of nature ? † . that same author in another of his works , says , that many virgins by frequenting play-houses blas●ed the flower of their virginity , made shipwrack of their chastity , and degenerated into common strumpets ; being widows before they were wives , and mothers before they had husbands ; whose miserable falls the church did much lament . * . he tells us further , that the scripture hath forbid , that to be beheld , which it hath forbid to be acted , and hath condemned all those ki●ds of spectacles ; when it condemneth idolatry the mother of all plays , and which gave birth to those monsters of lightness and vanity ; and that it might allure christians to be idolaters , flatters them with the pleasures of the eyes and ears . romulus at first did consecrate stage-plays to consus , as the god of counsel , for the sabine women that were to be ravished ; and whatever else there is in stage-plays , which either affects the eyes or pleases the ears ; if its original be enquired into , hath either an idol or a devil for its founder . * . thus we see that cyprian agrees with tertul●●● , that stage-plays were invented by the devil , and are forbid by the scriptures . lactantius against the stage . our doctors in the next place quote lactantius and salvian , as being of opinion , that 't was only the excess and abuse of the stage that was criminal . * . but with how little reason , we shall see immediately . lact●ntius falls upon stage-players in general , without exception ; and accuses them of teaching and provoking lust , by their unchast gestures and actions , and that they resemble unchast women by enervating their bodies , and in their effemina●e pace and habit. † . they teach adulteries whilst they feign them , and by counterfeit representations instruct men how to commit real uncleanness . what is it that young-men and virgins may not be tempted to do ? when they see those things acted without a blush , and willingly beheld by all sorts of people ? they are thereby taught what they may do themselves , and have their lusts inflam'd ; which are ●●ost readily set on fire by beholding such things : they approve them whilst they laugh at them , and return more corrupt to their chambers by those vices , which adhere to them . therefore all shows and stage-plays are wholly to be avoided , lest vice should take possession of our hearts , which ought to be calm and quiet , and ●est our accustoming our selves to pleasures should render us effeminate , and turn us away from god and good works . those enterludes and plays , because they are the greatest provocatives to vice , and have a mighty influence to debauch the minds of men , ought to be abolished , seeing they are not only useless towards the happiness of life , but likewise do a world of mischief . the same authors says elsewhere , what is the playhouse ? † is it any thing holier than those sword-plays ; when a comedy treats of rapes and amours , and tragedy of incests and murders — . is not then a player the corruption of discipline , should those youngmen see those things , whose slippery youth , which ought to be restrained and govern'd , is instructed to commit sin and wickedness by those representations — . therefore we ought to fly from all plays , that we may enjoy serenity of mind : those destructive pleasures ought to be renounced , lest being delighted with their pestilential sweetness , we should thereby fall into the snares of death . salvian against the stage . then as to salvian bishop of marcelles , his opinion of plays is thus delivered by himself † . in stage-plays there 's a certain apostacy from the faith ; for at baptism we renounce the devil , his pomps , his spectacles and works — . how is it then o christian ! that thou dost follow stage-plays after baptism ? thou hast once renounced the devil , and by this thou must needs know , that thou dost return to the devil , when thou returnest to the stage . he tells us in another place , * . such things are acted at plays and theatres , as cannot be thought of , and much less uttered without defilement : for other vices challenge their several parts in us , as filthy thoughts seize the mind , unchast sights posses the eyes , and wicked speeches lay hold on the ear , so that when one of those doth offend , the other may be without blame : but at the stage they all become guilty , for the mind is polluted with lust , the ●●ars with hearing , and the eyes with seeing . who without breaking the rules of modesty , can utter those imitations of lewd things , those obs●●ne motions and lustful gestures that are there used , the extraordinary sinfulness of which , may be inferr'd from this , that they cannot lawfully be named — . all other crimes pollute the doers only , and not the spectators and hea●ers : for a man may hear a blasphemer , and not partake of his sacriledge , because he dissents in his mind : a man may see a robbery and not be guilty , because he abhors the fact : but the pollution of the theatre and stage-plays are such , as make the actors and spectators equally guilty ; for whilst they willingly look on , and by that means approve them , they become actors themselves by sight and assent , so that this saying of the apostle , may be properly applied to them , that not only thos● who commit such things are worthy of death , but they also that take pleasure in those that do them . he further tells the antient romans , that stage-plays polluted their souls , depraved their manners , provoked god and offended their saviour , dishonoured their christian profession , and drew down gods judgments on their state , then miserably wasted by the goths and vandals ; therefore he advises them eternally to abandon theatres , which would bring their souls , their bodies , their church & their state to utter ruine . this is so full a proof of his being against stag●-plays in general , and those too not polluted with heathen idolatries , but when church and state were both christian ; that certainly our doctors can never quote salvian any more for their purpose . i pass over their other popish saints and schoolmen , that they quote for their opinion , which i suppose will have as little weight with any true protestant , as if they had quoted st. garnet or st. coleman , but shall take notice of an argument ( page xxi . ) that the canons of counc●ls brought against the stage , relate only to scandalous plays or immodest actors ; — and here also the councils shall speak fo● themselves . cap. vii . councils against the stage . the council of eliberis in spain , held anno dom. 305. ordered those who lent their garments to adorn plays , to be excommunicated for three years 1 . that no stage-player should be received into the church , unless they renounce their art ; and if they returned to it again , they should be cast out 2 . that no believer should marry a stage-player , on pain of excommunication 3 . the council of arles , held at narbon in france , about the year of our lord 314. in the time of constantine the great , ordered , that all stage-players should be excommunicated , so long as they continued to act 4 . the council of arles in that same kingdom , held anno 326. enacted the like 5 . the council of laodicea in phrygia pacatiania , held about 364. where most of the bis●ops of asia were present , enacted , that no clergy-man should be present at any stage-play 6 . the council of hippo 7 , held an. 393. and the council of carthage in africa , held an. 399. whereof st. ●ustin was a member , forbad the clergy and laity the use of stage-plays ; but ordered them to be re-admit●ed into the church upon repentance 8 . the council of carthage , held an. 401. enacted , that those who were newly baptized or converted , should abstain from stage-plays , and that those who upon any solemn festival omitted the ass●mbly of the church , and resorted to stage plays should be excommunicated 9 . the council of africa held an. 408. decreed , that reconciliation with the church , should not be denied to stage-players and common-actors , in case of repentance , and abandoning their professions 1 . that stage-plays are against the comm●ndments of god 2 . and that stage-players should not be admitted as evidences against any person , but in their proper causes 3 . the council of carthage , held an. 419. declared all stage-players to be infamous persons , and uncapable of bearing evidence 4 . the council of constantinople , held an. 680. and reputed both by protestants and papists to ●e o●cumenical , ordered clergymen that frequented stage-plays , to be depriv'd , and laymen to be excommunicated 5 . the ●d council of nice , held about 787. and commonly reputed the 7th oecumenical council , forbids stage-plays , as being accursed by the prophet isaiah 6 , cap. 5. v. 11 , 12. and forbid by the apostle , 1 cor. 10. 31. the synod of tours , held in the time of char●emain , an. 813. forbad to frequent stage-plays , and ordered them to teach others to avoid them 7 . the second synod of cabilon , held in the sa●● year , forbad them in like manner . the council of mentz and rheimns , held under that same emperor , did in the same manner fo●bid stage-plays to the clergy . the council of cologn , held an. 1549. forbids comedies to be acted in nunneries , for though they consisted of sacred and pious subjects , they can notwithstanding leave little good , but much hurt in the minds of holy virgins , who behold and admire the external gestures , therefore they forbad the acting of comedies in monastries , or that virgins should be spectators of them . the council of milan held , an. 1560. in the chapter concerning the stage and the dice , admonishes princes , to banish out of their teritories all stage-players , tumblers , jugglers and jesters , and to punish such publick houses as entertain them . thus we find synods , antient and modern , and some of them , during the very darkness of popery , expresly condemning the stage , and that of the council of cologn is very remarkable , which forbids virgins the seeing of comedies , tho' the subject be sacred and pious , because of the bad impressions which the external gesture might leave upon their minds . nay , the very council of trent declared so far against stage-plays , as to forbid them to the clergy * . then what a shame is it that the church of england , should not only be so remiss in declaring against the stage , but that any of her clergy should appear to defend it , as that dr. does , who sent the letter to m. motteux , to prefix to his beauty in distress . and much more that any of them should be authors to write plays for the stage , as iasper main , and others of a latter date , as the author of the innocent impostors , &c. whom out of respect i forbear to name . to these antient and modern councils , i shall add , that of the protestant church of france , held at rochel , an. 1571. where this canon was unanimously agreed upon , viz. all congregations shall be admonished by their ministers seriously to reprehend and suppress all dances , mummeries and enterludes ; and it shall not be lawful for any christians to act or be present at any comedies , tragedies , plays , enterludes , or any other such sports , either in publick or private ; considering that they have always been opposed , condemned and suppresse● in and by the church , as bringing along with them the corruption of good manners . this methinks ought to have more weight with m. motteu● , and his church of england divine ; than the letter of a popish doctor of paris . i shall insist no further on the defence of the stage , by the prefacer to beauty in distress ; those i have already touch'd being his principal arguments . as for his hints of other things , being condemned by those fathers and councils , which are now generally held to be innocent , they are me●r trifles : no protestant ever held , that either men or councils were infallible : but the arguments here adduced , by those fathers and councils against the stage , being founded upon general scripture rules , ought to direct us in our faith and practice , as to this matter yet seeing our parisian doctor thinks it a mighty argument for the stage , that bishops , cardinals and nuncios make no scruple to be present at plays * , though the same hath been forbid by so many councils . mr. motteux or his church of england divine , may acquaint him if they please ; that the council of lateran , held by the authority of pope innocent the third , in the year 1215. consisting of two patriarchs , seventy arch-bishops , four hundred twelve bishops , and eight hundred abbots and priors , did forbid clergymen to be present at stage-plays , or to encourage tumblers or jesters . † so that if neither the authority of councils alone , nor that of ● pope and council together , be sufficient to 〈◊〉 the paris doctor of the unlawfulness of clergymens frequenting the stage ; then i mus● make bold to tell him , that he has made a sacrifice of the infallibility of the church of rome , to the chapel of the devil , the playhouse ; * as mr. mot●●ux ●as sacrificed the authority of the protestant church of france , to the pleasure and profit he reaps from the theatre and drama . what a horrid shame is it , that iuli●n the apostate , should have had more regard to the honour of his pagan priests , than our present patrons of the stage , have either to the credit of popish or protestant divines ; when as zozamen tell us , he ordered the priests to be exhorted , not to be seen in the theatre on pain of disgrace . an answer to the defence of dramatick poetry . cap. viii . church of england divines against the stage . i come next to consider the arguments of that book , call'd , a defence of dramatick poetry : or , review of mr. collier ; and must in the threshold declare my agreement with the ingenious author , in his preface , that if the sufferance of the theatre , be so fatally destructive to morality , vertue and religion as mr. collier has endeavoured to render it , he has more satyriz'd the pulpit than the stage ; and that this universal silence of the whole clergy must conclude their neglect of their christian duty : but i 〈◊〉 beg leave to inform him , that he is mistaken 〈◊〉 he says , mr. collier is the first pulpit or 〈◊〉 sermon upon that text : for tho' it be true , 〈◊〉 the church of england clergy in general , 〈◊〉 been guilty of a culpable silence , as to 〈◊〉 head , since the restoration of king charl●● yet others have not . nor is mr. collier the 〈◊〉 church of england divine , who since that 〈◊〉 hath attack'd the stage from the pulpit . 〈◊〉 wesley in a reformation-sermon , preached in 〈◊〉 iames's church westminster , feb. 13. and 〈◊〉 wards at st. brides , must be allowed to have 〈◊〉 the start of him . wherein he expresses himsel●● [ page 20 , &c. ] thus : our infamous cheatres seem to have do● more mischief than hobbs himself , or our 〈◊〉 atheistical clubs , to the faith and morals 〈◊〉 the nation . moral representations are own●● to be in their own nature , not only innocent but ev'n useful as well as pleasant ; but what 〈◊〉 this to those which have no morals or morali●● at all in them , and which are the most immora● things in the world , which the more any good man is acquainted with them , the less he mus● still like them , and at which modest heathen● would blush to be present . if we ever hope for an entire reformation of manners , even our iails and our theatres must have their shares with as much reason may we exclaim against our modern plays and interludes , as did the ol● zealous fathers against the pagan spectacles , and as justly rank these , as they did the others among those pomps and vanities of this wicked world , which our baptism obliges us to ●●nounce and to abhor . what communion hath the temple of god with idols , with those abominable mysteries of iniquity , which out do the old fescennina of the heathens , the lewd 〈◊〉 of baccus , and the impious feasts of 〈◊〉 and priapus ? i know not how any persons can profitably or indeed decently present themselves here before god's holy oracle , who are ●●equently present at those schools of vice , and nurseries of profaneness and lewdness , to unlearn there , what they are here taught out of god's holy word . — would you suffer your friend or your child to resort every day to a pesthous , or a place infected with any contagious or deadly disease , whence you had seen many persons carried out dead before you . if 〈◊〉 would do this , who pretended to be in his right senses . what excuse can be made for those who do worse , and are themselves frequently present , as well as suffer others to be so , at that place which is so nearly allied to hers , which solomon describes , whose house is the way to hell , and her gates lead down to the chambers of death ? — how can such persons pray every day , lead us not into temptation , when they themselves wilfully rush into the very mouth of it ? 't is true the stage pretends to reform manners , but let them tell us how many converts they can name by their means to vertue and religion , during these last thirty or forty years , and we can give numerous and sad instances to the contrary , even of a brave and virtuous nation too generally deprav'd and corrupted , to which there cannot perhaps be any one thing assigned , which has more highly contributed than these unsufferable and abominable representations , the authors of which , though the publick should continue to take notice of them , would either be forc'd so far to alter them ▪ that they would hardly be known , or else they would fall of themselves . if men would but withdraw their company from the●● as their presence there does actually encoura●● and support them . to close the head whereo●●am sorry there 's so much cause of insisting , 〈◊〉 there are too many of whom we may witho●● breach of charity , believe that they 'd rath●● forsake the church than the theatre , by 〈◊〉 being so much more frequently and delightfull● present at the latter , than they are at the fo● mer. if oaths , if blasphemy , if perpetual profa● tion of the glorious name of god and our blesed redeemer , if making a scoff and a laught●● at his holy word and institutions , and i know not why i should not add , his ministers too which is the very salt and almost imprimatur to most of the comedies of the present age. if filthiness and foolish talking , and profan● or immodest iesting , and insulting over the miseries , and excusing , and representing , and reco●mending the vices of mankind , either by not p●nishing them at all , or slightly punishing them , or even making them prosperous and happy , and teaching others , first how to be wicked , and then to defend or hide their wickedness , or at least to think vertue ridiculous and unfashionable , and religion and piety sit for none but old people ▪ fools and lunaticks . if contempt of superiors , if false notions of honour , if height of lewdness and pride , and revenge , and even murder , be those lessons which are daily taught at these publick playhouses , to the disgrace of our age , corruption of our m●rals , and scandal and odium of our nation ; for the truth of which , we may appeal to all the unprejudic'd , and virtuous part of mankind ▪ then we may further ask , whether these are ●it place ▪ for the education of youth ? the diversion of those of riper-age , or indeed so much as ●●llerabl● , as they now are ; and without a great and unexpected reformation under any christian government . if they are so , they may then continue in their present state , and we may still frequent them ; but in the mean time , how can we presume to come hither unto gods house , and his holy table ? unless we could answer that pathetick expostulation of god to his own people , who liv'd not answerable to their profession . what hast thou to do to tread in my courts , or take my name into thy lips ; seeing thou hatest to be reformed , and hast cast my words behind thy back , and wer't partaker with the a●ulterer ? thus mr. wesley , who our author knows is none of the most contemptible of our poets himself , and is no enemy to the stage , but only aims at its reformation . yet its plain , his charge is as heavy against the english stage , as that of mr. collier ; though he is for making use of the pruning-hook and not of the ax. dr. horneck against the stage . dr. horneck , whose remembrance is still savory , because of his eminent piety , did several years before mr. wesley , in his book , entituled the sirenes : or delight and iudgment . edit . 2. printed in 1690. bring as heavy a charge against the stage , as can well be drawn up : which is so much the more remarkable ; that he does not cry down all representations of history , or of mens actions in the world as unlawful ; but would seem to allow of such at are restrain'd altogether to vertue and goodness , and such accomplishments of the soul , which the wisest and holiest men in all ages , have been desirous and ambitious of — . and say● though vertue cannot be well either disco●sed of , or represented without its opposite vice , yet such is the nature of vice , such the unhappy consequencies of it ; that if either the pleasure , or ease , or prosperity and success of it be shewn and acted , though but for a few minutes , whatever fate it ends in , it s so agreeable to the corrupted tempers of men , that it leaves a pleasing impression behind it , nor is the after clap or doleful exit of it , strong enough to prevent ● liking or satisfaction , especially in the younger sort , who are generally more taken with its present content and titillations , than frighted with its dull and muddy conclusion : for while its present success and sweetness is acting , the c●pid strikes the heart , and lays such a foundation there , as mocks all the death and ruine , it after some time doth end in . therefore he says a little lower , nothing of the present amiableness of vice ought to be mingled with the scenes ; for though vice must almost necessarily be named in these living landskips ; yet it should be only named , and never named but with horror , and the generosity and grandure of vertue acted to the life . vice should never appear but in its ugly shape , for if you dress it in its shining robes , though it be but for a quarter of an hour , such is the venom of this basilisk , it breaths a poisonous vapor both on the actor and spectator . this is the scheme of the reformation dr. horneck proposes for the drama , which if it took effect , the playhouses would be little esteemed by those who now frequent them most , for according to this proposal , the plays would be perfect historical lectures upon the virtues and vices of mankind , without any thing of those amorous representations and intreagues , which 〈◊〉 recommend them so much to our gallants . but to come to the doctors opinion of the modern plays , we find it thus , that they are sitted for vani●y and luxury ; for though they represent the punishment of vice , and the reward of ver●● to the life , yet it is done rather with advantage to the former , than to raise the credit of the latter ; and the effect shews it , viz. the corruption and debauchery of youth , and persons of all sorts and sizes . they are suited says he , to the loose humour of the age , which seems to hate all things that are ser●ous , as much as ratshane , and delights in nothing so much as in jests and fooleries , and seeing the most venerable things turn'd into ridicule . here no play relishes but what is stuff'd with love tricks , and that which makes people laugh most , is the best written comedy . wantonness is set out in its glittering garb , and the melting expressions that drop from its lips , are so charming to a carnal appetite , that the young lad wishes himself almost in the same passion and intreague of love , he sees acted on the stage ; it looks so pleasant and ravishing . here religion is too often traduc'd , and thorough the sides of men that differ from our church , the very foundation of christianity is shaken and undermin'd — . here few sacred things are spared , if they serve to make up the decorum of the act. here the supreme creator is too often revil'd , thro' the ill language giv'n to the heathen numens , and things that savor of real piety rendred flat , insipid and impertiment , here all that may ●aise the flesh into action and desire is advanced . — here all those wanton looks and ●estures , and postures that be in the mode are practis'd according to art , and you may remember you have seen people when 〈◊〉 from a play , strive to get that grace and 〈◊〉 they saw in the mimiek on the stage . here men swear and curse ; and actually imprecate themselves ; and though they do it under the name of the person they act , yet then own tongue speaks their sin , and their body is the agent that commits it ; and thus they dam● themselves for a man in imagination . and are these things fit for a christian to be hold ? is this a sight agreeable to the strait-way , and the narrow gate which leads to life ? 〈◊〉 there any thing in the gospel more plainly forbid , than conforming to the world , and what 〈◊〉 that prohibition import , if conformity to the world in beholding those dangerous sights , 〈◊〉 not in a great measure meant by it . we ma● put forc'd glosses upon the words , but doth no● this look like the natural sense of them . holiness , for without it no man shall see 〈◊〉 lord , is the very character of men who name the name of christ , if they bear not that nam● in vain ; and will any man of sense be so bo●● as to say , that shows which have so much 〈◊〉 in them , are suitable to that holiness . we know who said , turn away mine eyes from beholdi●● vanity , and who sees not that he who delights 〈◊〉 such shews , neither dares pray that prayer , no● can have any desire to imitate david in his holiness , for he is pleased with vanity , fixes his eye upon it , makes it the pleasing object of his sig● and consequently instead of turning his eyes aw●● from it , turns them to it . if thy right eye offend thee pluck it out , and 〈◊〉 it from thee , &c. said our saviour . * if there any sense in this passage , the meaning must 〈◊〉 cessarily be , that if the eye or beholding an 〈◊〉 prove an occasion of evil ; the eye must be so carefully and so totally withdrawn from the object as if it were actually pluck'd out , or were of no use in the body . what an occasion of evil the beholding of such scurrilous shews is , none can judge so well as he who takes notice , ●ow by these sights the horror which attended some sius is taken off , and men are tempted to entertain a more favourable opinion of them , how apt upon these occasions they are to laugh at those s●ns , which require rivers of tears , and to smile at the jest they hear , which deserves their most rigid censures . god would not suffer the israelites to take the name of the heathen gods in their mouth † for fear their frequ●nt naming of them should lessen their awful apprehensions of the supream deity , or be tempted through that familiarity to think there was no great harm in worshipping of them . the substance of this precept is moral and consequently cannot be supposed to be abolished by the dea●h of christ , and since god would not permit i● to the jews , how should he be supposed ●o give leave to christians , of whom he requires greater strictness . — how in our modern plays in most addresses , wishes and imprecations , the heathen deities are brought in , i need not tell you . the actors swear by god in the singular number , but in their entire harangues or witty sentences , which they intend shall move most , the gods are call'd in , and that 's the grace of their part . — the truth is , such men seek to turn religion again into paganism , and the s●ile they use in their respective speeches about things a●ove , is fitted for that purpose . flatter not your self sir , with a fancy that 〈◊〉 plays are no where forbid in the bible , and 〈◊〉 therefore it may be lawful to see them , for the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , revelling , to which the apostle threatens exclusion out of the kingdom of he●●ven , gal. 5. 21. and from which the word comedy is in all probability deriv'd ; though i know others fetch it from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , a village : because in antient times they did sing songs about country towns : i say this word includes all such vain , lascivious , ludicrous and jocular representations , not only dancing and luxurious feasting , but wanton , light and amorous interludes . * the word is very comprehensive , and be●●● so , one would think should fright every serio●● person , from coming within the guilt of that which hath so fevere a threatning annex'd there● let us but consider the nature , scope 〈◊〉 drift of our religion ; it commands us de●● cy , modesty , sobriety , vigilancy or watch●●ness over our thoughts , and words and acti●● simplicity in the inward and outward man , 〈◊〉 deeming the time , employing the hours 〈◊〉 hath lent us , in profitable discourses , and thi●● useful and tending to edification . it hids us ● stain from fleshly lusts , which war against 〈◊〉 soul , it condemns all rioting , chambering , w● tonness , and making provision for the flesh , fulfil the lusts thereof . it commands us to 〈◊〉 after the spirit , to be heavenly minded , to 〈◊〉 the same mind and temper in us , which w●● so in christ jesus , to grow in grace , to adv●● in goodness , to grow strong in the lord , and the power of his might . it bids us to stand for the glory of our god , and to be conc●● when his name or religion , or things sacred abused . it bids us avoid scandal , and take we do not by our example , either draw p● into errors , or confirm them in their sins bids us take heed of discouraging our neigh● from goodness , and of laying a stumbling● in the way of weaker christians . it bids us exhort one another daily , and beware lest any of us be ha●dened through the deceitfulness of sin. these are some of the principal rules , — but how they can be observed , by persons that delight in those shews , i cannot apprehend . is it modesty to hear that ribaldry and filthy communication , which some plays are stuffed with , or to be a spectator of so many undecent and wanton gestures , postures and actions , which in some comedies make up the greatest part of the shew ? is this sobriety to stand by and hear men curse and swear , and talk of things which should not be so much as named , among christians ? is this decency to afford your presence in a place , where the most debauched perso●s assemble them●elves , for ill ends and purposes ? is this your fear of god , to go and hear the most solemn ordinances of god railled and undervalu'd ; such as marriage and living up to the strict rules of reason and conscience ? is this your watchfulness over your thoughts , and words and actions , to go and expose your selves to temptation , to run into the devils arms , and give him an opportunity to incline your heart , to sinful delights , and being pleased with things that god abhors ? is this that godly simplicity ? the gospel presses , to pay , for your being affected with the vain shews of this sinful world , and to take liberty , to hear and see what men of little o● no religion , shall think fit to represent unto you ? is this redeeming of your time , to throw away so many hours upon fooling , and seeing men● ridiculous postures , gestures and behaviours ? is this the way to grow in grace , and to advance in goodness , and to abound more and more in the love of god , which your christianity obliges you to ? is not this to clog your soul & throw impediments in her way to felicity ? is not this the way to make her enamour'd with the world ; from which a christian is to run away , as much as he can ? by your saviours rule , tho' you are in the world , yetyou are not to be of the world. these shews alienate other mens affections from the best of objects , and what security have you , that they will not alienate yours . — as you are a christian , you are to bring your flesh into subjection , and to keep under your body ; and do not these shews signally help towards is power , and dominion over the nobler part . — who sees not that those sights are meer incentives to lust , and fewel to feed the impurer fire in our breasts ? and is this to walk after the spirit ? if they that walk after the flesh cannot please god , how can you hope to please him , while you allow yourself in this work of the flesh ? is the stage likely to produce vigorous apprehensions of gods grace and favour ; you know it damps and obscures them ? is this to have the same mind in you , which was also in christ jesus : can you imagine that in frequenting the stage , you imitate his example , did he ever incourage such empty things ? is there any thing in all the history of his life , that may be said to countenance such doings , could he applaud those follies , do you think , whose life was a perfect pattern of holiness , nay are not all his precepts levell'd against these scurrilities . he who preach'd up the doctrine of the cross , could he have any liking to to that which is directly contrary to that doctrine ? would any man that looks upon the jolly assembly in a play-house , think that these are disciples of the crucified god ? do they not look liker mahomets votaries , or epicurus his followers . would not one think that they are ●ather disciples of some heathen iupiter , or venus or flora , or some such wanton minion ; than of the grave , the austere , and the serious jesus , for such he would have his followers to be ; these he would have known by actions and a behaviour like his own ; and is a play likely to plant this noble temper in you . as a christian you are to shun the very appearances of evil , and is this your obedience , to del●ght in that which is evil , to applaud it with your smiles , to commend it with your tongue , and to encourage it by your presence . as a christian you are the salt of the earth * and consequently are to preserve your neighbour from corruption , and is this the way to preserve him from infection , by your presence in such places , and being as vain as he , to incourage not only the actors in their unlawful professio● , but the spectators too in their disobedience to the gospel . wo to that man by whom the offence cometh , it had been better for him that a mill-stone were hanged about his neck , and he drowned in the midst of the sea , † saith our great master , what is your going to a play-house , but giving offence ? what is it but hardning other men in their sins ? is not this tempting young people , to those extravagancies they should detest ? is not this justifying the players profession , and to make them think , that you approve of t●eir ludicrous vocations . did christ come down from heaven and die , and spill his blood for you , that you might securely indulge your carnal genius ? did he sacrifice himself for you , that you might please your self with such fooleries . — to delight in such vanities is a disparagement to his love , a blemish to his charity , a disgrace to his condescension , and an undervaluing of so great a mercy . have you not observ'd it , have you not taken notice , how men and women , who have had some zeal for religion , and very pious inclinations ; how that zeal hath decreased upon their frequenting those houses , how their goodness hath decayed , how flat they are grown in devotion , how weak in their holy performances . — may be they have kept up some outward shews , some external formality , some earnestness for the fringes of religion , or for the ceremonial part of christianity : but have you not seen , how they are become strangers to that life which must adorn it . with what face dare you approach the table of your lord , who have been a spectator of such shews but a little before ? if you come to the lords table one day , and run to a play-house another , do not you destroy all you built the day before . in this sacrament you profess to imitate your lord in despising the world , and is this imitation to go one day into the house of the lord , and the next into a den of thieves ? for so the stage may justly be called , where men are robb'd of their relish of spiritual objects . whence hath come that atheism , that loosness , that indifferency in things divine , that low esteem of the tremendous mysteries of christianity , which of late like a land-flood , hath overcome us ? have they not deriv'd their boldness from these places , have not the vices represented there in jest , been practis'd by the forward youth at home in good earnest ? and can a christian have a good opinion of those houses , where so many have lost their vertue ? can any man of reason think that after all this mischief , they may be safely hugg'd and applauded . those many notorious fornications and adulteries , we have heard and know of , those barefac'd cheats , mens boasting of their sins , and glorying in their shame , their impudence , their courage to do evil , their daring to do things which sober heathens have detested ; whence have they come in a great measure , but from those poisoned fountains ? if wanton , lustful and obscene jests , are expressly forbid by the great apostle , eph. 5. 4. nay , are not so much as to be nam'd among christians , how can a man that makes profession of that religion hear them , or be taken with them when god's name is profan'd in such houses , when religion is mock'd , when vertue is rendred odious . do but take a view of the writings of the primit●ve fathers , and you 'll find them unanimous in this assertion , that in our baptism when we renounce the devil and his works , and the pomp and glory of the world , we do particularly renounce stage-plays , and such ludicrous representations . they that liv'd nearest to the apostolical times , in all probability knew what was meant by this renunciation ; and this they profess to be the sense of it ; this they assure us is meant by those pomps and glories : and why should we presume to put a new sense upon that vow ? they receiv'd this interpretation from the apostles , and propagated it to posterity ; and in this sense we make the abjurations . of the same opinion is dr. bray , in his discourse on the baptismal covenant , [ printed in 1697. and dedicated to his highness the d. of glocester ; ] where he comments thus on the pomps abjur'd in baptism * . thereby were antiently meant those pompo●s spectacles , plays and scenical representations exhibited in the roman theatres ; which because they were so lewd , cruel and impious , the primitive churches strictly enjoyn'd all christians at their baptism , not to frequent , or so much as to be once present , or ever-seen at them . — and answerable to those , are our modern plays acted in the play-houses , which are no thing inferior to the antient ones , in impiety and lewdness , and having such a malignant influence upon faith and manners , as is own'd by almost all persons , and is generally complained that they have , they ought never to be frequented by christians , and it may very well be look'd upon as a breach of your baptismal vow and covenant , for any of you to be hereafter present at them . nor is it unworthy our observation that those commendable religions societies of youngmen and others of the communion of the church so much countenaced by the late queen mary of blessed memory , and the best of the bishops , have laid it down as part of their ninth order that all of their societies should wholly avoid le●d play-houses * . sir richard blackmore against the stage . another late author i shall produce against them is sir richard blackmore , in his preface to his excellent poem , call'd prince arthur ; whose testimony is so much the less to be excepted against , because he seems to be for a reformation , and not for the abolition of the stage : his words are as followeth , ou● poets ( saith he ) seem ingag'd in a geneneral confederacy to ruine the end of their own art , to expose religion and vertue , and bring vice and corruption of manners into esteem and reputation . the poets that write for the stage ( at least a great part of them ) seem deeply concerned in this conspiracy . these are the champions that charge religion with such desperate resolution , and have given it so many deep and ghastly wounds . the stage was an out-work or fort rais'd for the protection and security of the temple , but the poets that kept it , have revolted and basely betray'd it ; ●nd what is worse , have turn'd all their force and discharg'd all their artillery against the place their duty was to defend . if any man thinks this an unjust charge , i desire him to read any of our modern comedies , and i believe he will soon be convinced of the truth of what i have said . the man of sense , and the ●ine gentleman in the comedy , who as the chiefest person propos'd to the esteem and imitation of the audience , is enrich'd with all the sense and wit the poet can bestow . this extraordinary person you will find to be a derider of religion , a grea● admirer of lucretius , not so much for his le●●ning as irreligion ; a person wholly idle , dissolv'd in luxury , abandon'd to his pleasure , ● great debaucher of women , profuse and extravagant in his expences . and in short , this furnished gentleman will appear a finished libertine . the young lady that must support the character of a vertuous well-manner'd sensible woman , the most perfect creature that can be , and the very flower of her sex , this accomplish'd person entertains the audience with confident discourses immodest repartees , and prophane railery . she is throughly instructed in intreagues and assignations , a great scoffe● at the prudent reservedness and modesty of the best of her sex , she despises the wise instructions of her parents or guardians , is disobedient to their authority , and at last without their knowledge or consent , marries her self to the gentleman above ment●oned : and can any one imagine , but that our young ladies and gentlewomen , are admirably instructed by such patterns of sense and virtue . if a clergyman be introduc'd , as he often is , t is seldom for any other purpose , but to abuse him , to expose his very character and profession ; he must needs be a pimp , a blockhead , a hypocrite , some wretched figure he must make , and almost ever , be so manag'd as to bring his order into contempt . this indeed is a very common , but yet so gross an abuse of wit , as was never endured on a pagan theatre , at least in the antient primitive times of poetry , before its purity and simplicity became corrupted , with the inventions of after ages . poets then taught men to reverence their gods , and those who ●erv'd them , none had so little regard for his religion as to expose it publickly , or if any had , their governments were too wise to suffer the wors●ip of their gods , to be treated on the stage with contempt . in our comedies , the wives of our citizens are highly encouraged , to despise their husbands , and to make great friendship with some such virtuous gentleman , and man of sense , above described : this is their way of recommending chastity and fidelity ; and that diligence and frugality may be sufficiently expos'd , though the two virtues , that chiefly support the being of any state ; to deter men from being industrious , and wealthy , the diligent and thriving citizen is made the most wretched , contemptible thing in ●he world : and as the alderman that makes the best figure in the city , makes the worst on the stage ; so under the character of a justice of peace , you have all the prudence and virtues of the country , most unmercifully insulted over . and as these characters are set up on purpose to ruin all opinion and esteem of virtue ; so the conduct throughout , the language , the fable and contrivance seem evidently design'd for the same noble end . there are few fine conceits few strains of wit , or extraordinary pieces of railery ; but are either immodest or irreligious and very few scenes but have some spiteful and envious stroke at sobriety and good manners . whence the youth of the nation , have apparently received very bad impressions . the universal corruption of manners and irreligious disposition of mind that infects the kingdom , seems to have been in a great measure , deriv'd from the stage , or has at least been highly promoted by it ; and 't is great pitty that those 〈◊〉 whose power it is , have not restrained the 〈◊〉 centiousness of it , and obliged the writers to observe more decorum . it were to be wished that poets , as preachers are in some countries , were paid and licensed by the state , and that none were suffered to write in prejudice of religion and the government ; but that all such offenders , as publick enemies of mankind should be silenc'd and duly punished . sure some effectual care should be taken that these men might not be suffered by debauching our youth , to help on the destruction of a brave nation . but seeing the author of the defence , says without any limitation , that mr. collier is the first who appear'd from the pulpit or press upon this subject . i must put him in mind of others that have writ and preached against the stage long before those i have already mentioned : and i think mr. prin , author of the histriomastix , deserves the honour of being nam'd with the first . his treatise being perhaps the largest , learnedst and most elaborate of any that ever was writ upon the subject , and to which mr. collier has been very much oblig'd for many things in his ingenious book , as i own here once for all , i am highly oblig'd my self for not a few , though i have made use of them in a different method . i have already agreed with the author of the defence , that the general silence of the clergy of late against the stage , is a neglect of their christian duty ; but shall now make it appear , that it has not always been thus with the clergy , which will be a further confutation of our authors proposition , that mr. collier is the first that broke silence in this matter , and serve as a reproof to the generality of the church of england divines of the present times , that they come so much short of those of the former , in their zeal against the stage . antient church of england divines against the stage . it may perhaps be reckon'd needless to go so far back as the famous bradwardin , arch-bishop of canterbury , who wrote against the * stage in 1345. or wickliff the morning-star of our reformation , who wrote against † plays in 1380. and therefore we shall descend to those times , when the reformation was arriv'd to a good hight : and thus we find in 1572. dr. matthew parker , arch-bishop of canterbury , in his book de antiquitate ecclesiae britannicae , [ page 445. ] asserts . that stage-plays are not to be suffer'd in any christian or well govern'd commonwealth . dr. george alley bishop of exeter , and divinity lecturer at st. pauls in 1571. the second year of queen elizabeth , declaims against , play-books and stage-plays , as the fomenters and fewel ef lust , the occasion of adultery and other intollerable evils . † and in that same book , * which its sit to observe by the way , was printed by her majesties authority , he inveighs against wanton and impure books , as being then too frequent , and wishes the authors of of them the same punishment , that the emper or severus inflicted upon vetromus turinus his fa●iliar , viz. that they might perish by smoak who liv'd by it . a little further he says , that many of these who profess christianity , are in respect of reading lascivious books , worse by far than the heathens : the people called massilienses , before they knew christ , were of such pure and uncorrupt morals , that their manners were accout the best ; and amongst other good laws in their city this was one ; that there should be no comedy acted there , because their arguments were for the most part of wanton and dissolute love , but alas , all places in our days are fill'd with juglers ; scoffers , jesters , players , who may s●● and do what they list , be it never so fleshly and filthy , and yet are applauded with laughing and clapping of hands . epicharmus was punished by hiero of syracuse , for rehearsing some wanton verses in the presence of his wife : sophocles rebuk'd pericles for launching out in the commendation of the beauty of a boy that passed by him ; and was told , that not only the hand of a pretor ought to be free from bribes , but their eyes clear from wanton looks ; that the athenians would suffer none of their judges to write any comedy or play : but i speak it with sorrow , our vicious balladmakers , and composers of lewd songs and plays , go not only unpunished but are largely rewarded . there was no adulterer in sparta , because the citizens were not suffered to be present at any comedy or other play , lest they should hear and see those things that were contrary to their laws . the next we shall mention , is bishop bahingto● , who in his exposition on the seventh commandment says , those prophane , wanton stage plays and enterludes ; what an occasion th●● are of adultery and uncleanness , by gesture , speech , conveyance , and devices to attain ungodly desires , the world knoweth by long experience , vanities they are if we make the best of them ' and the prophet prayeth to have his eyes turn'd away from beholding vanity , evil communication corrupts good manners , and they abound with it . they are always full of dangerous sights , and we must abstain from all appearance of evil : they corrupt the eyes with alluring gestures , the eyes corrupt the heart , and the heart corrupts the body till all be horrible before the lord : all things are polluted by histrionical gestures , saith chrysostome : and plays says he , are the feasts of satan , the inventions of the devil . councils have decreed very sharply against them , those who have been desil'd by them , have on their death beds confessed the danger of them , and warned others for ever to avoid them . — the bishop adds , that play haunters , carry away with them the ideas and similitudes of the lewd representations they behold in stage-plays , which sink deep into their minds ; that they suck in the poison of stage-plays with great delight , and practise the speeches and conveyances of love , which there they see a●d learn , and having once polluted their speech with the language of the theatre ( for i will never call it polishing ) they are never well but when they have company , to whom they may impart the stories and salutations , they have learned at the stage . bishop andrews in his exposition of the seventh commandment . bishop baily in his preface to the practise of piety , and bishop hall in in his epistles , agree with the former in condemning stage-plays : of the same mind is doctor reynolds in his overthrow of stage-plays , doctor griffit● , doctor williams , doctor el●on and mr. dod on the seventh commandment . doctor sparks in his rehearsal sermon , at paul's cross , april 29. 1579. doctor whites sermon there , march 24. 1615. dr. bond of the sab●ath in 1595. and as many more doctors , as would serve to make up a convocation ; whence it is evident , that the divines of the church in those days , were far from being silent against the stage nay we are told , in the preface to the second and third blast of retreat , from plays and theatres , printed in 1580. that many godly ministers did from day to day , in all places of greatest resort , denounce the vengeance of god against all such be they high or low , that favoured players , theatres , or plays . mr. northbrook a learned divine , in his treatise against vain plays and enterludes : printed by authority in 1579. says , that to speak his mind and conscience plainly , and in the fear of god ; players and plays are not tollerable , not to be suffered in any commonwealth ; because they are the occasion of much sin and wickedness , corrupting both the minds and the manners of the spectators . there 's one book more , writ in those times against the stage , that i cannot omit , because of the singularity of its title , viz. the church of evil men and women , whereof lucifer is the head , and players and play-haunters , the members . and in 1625. a treatise against stage . plays was dedicated to the parliament , from all which it will appear , that the author of the defence of dramatick poetry , spoke without book ▪ when he said , mr. collier , was the first that appeared from the press or the pulpit , against ou● stage , and that the present divines of the church , who have betraid the cause by their silence , or encouraged the stage by their pens and practice , come not only short of their ancestors , but are directly opposite to them . nor was it the divines alone , who in those days attack'd the theatre : but poets of their own , who being touch'd with remorse for writing to the stage , turn'd their pens against it , and made such discoveries of its lewdness , as no other persons were able to do . cap. ix . the stage condemned and anatomized by play-poets . the first we shall name is mr. stephen gosson , formerly a stage-poet , for which he says himself , in the epistle to his school of abuse : printed by authority , and dedicated to sir philip sidney , in 1578. that his eyes had shed many tears of sorrow , and his heart had sweat many drops of blood , when he remembred stage-plays , to which he was once so much addicted . this penitent stage-poet in the book just now men●ioned , and in another called , his plays confuted : printed in 1581. and dedicated to sir francis walsingham , writes to this effect ; i will shew you says he what i saw , and inform you what i read of plays . ovid said , that romulus built his theatre as a horse-fair for whores , made triumphs , and set up plays to gather fair women together , that every one of his souldiers might take where he lik'd , a snatch for his share . it would seem that the abuse of such pl●ces was so great , that for any chast liver to haunt them was a black swan , and a white crow . dion so straitly forbideth the antient families of rome , and gentlewomen that tender their name and honour to come to theatres , and rebukes them so sharply when he takes them napping , that if they be but once seen there , he judgeth it sufficient cause to speak ill of them , and to think worse . the shadow of a knave hurts an honest man , the scent of a stews an honest matron , and the shew of theatres a meer spectator . cooks don't shew more art in their junkets to vanquish the taste , nor painters in shaddow to allare the eye , than poets in theatres to wound the conscience ? there set they abroach strange consorts of melody to tickle the ear ; costly apparel to flatter the sight , effeminate gestures to ravish the sense , and wanton speech to whet inordinate lust ; these by the privy entries of the ear slip down into the heart , and with gunshot of affection gall the mind . domitian suffered playing and dancing so long in theatres , that paris debauched his domitia , and menster did the like by messalina . ovid in his arte amandi , chargeth his pilgrims to keep close to the saints whom they serve , and to shew their double diligence , to list the gentlewomens robes from the ground , to prevent their soyling in the dust , to sweep moats from their ki●tles , to keep their fingers in ure , to lay their hands at their backs for an easie stay , to praise that which they commend , to present them pomegranates to pick as they sit , and when all is over to wait on them mannerly to their houses . in our playhouses at london , you shall see such heaving and shoving , such itching and shouldring to sit by women , such care for their garments , that they be not trod on , such eying their laps that no chipslight in them , such pillows to their backs that they take no hurt , such whispering in their ears , i don't know what , such giving them pippins to pass the time , such playing at foot-saunt without cards , such ticking , such toying , such smiling , such winking , and such manning them home when the sports are ended , that it is a perfect comedy to mark their behaviour , and is as good as a course at the game it self to dogg them a little , or to follow aloof by the print of their feet , and so discover by slot where the deer taketh soil . if this were as well noted as it is ill seen , or as openly punished as secretly practised , i have no doubt but the cause would be seared to drie up the effect , and those pretty rabbets ferreted from their burrows . for they that lack customers all the w●● either because their haunt is unknown , or the co●stables and officers watch them so narrowly , that they dare not queatch , to celebrate the sabbath , ●lock to theatres and there keep a general market of baudry . not that any ●ilthiness indeed is committed within the compass of that ground , as was done in rome ; but that every wanton and his paramour , every man & his mistriss , every iack and his ioan , every knave and his quean , are there first acquainted , and cheapen the merchandise in that place , which they pay for elsewhere , as they can agree . i design not to shew you all that i saw , nor half that i have heard of those abuses , lest you should judge me more willing to teach than to forbid them . the next is the author of , the third blast of retreat from plays and theatres , who had formerly been a stage-poet , but tells us he renounc'd that wicked profession , as being incompatible with the christian religion , or his own salvation . he gives his opinion of plays thus * , that they are not to be suffered in a christian common-wealth , because they are enemies to nature and religion , allurements unto sin , corrupters of good manners , the cause of security and carelesness in religion , and meer brothel-houses of bawdry : they bring a scandal upon the gospel , the sabbath into contempt , mens souls into danger , and the whole commonwealth into disorder . — these are bitter and hainous expressions you will say , no doubt ; yet they are nothing so bitter as the cause requireth . it were ill to paint the devil like an angel , he must be drawn as he is , that he may be the better known — therefore that others should not be deceived with that wherewith i have been deceived my self , i thought it my duty to expose the abuse of the plays and actors both , that every man might refrain from their wickedness , and that the magistrate being informed of it , might take effectual methods utterly to suppress them ; for if they still be permitted to make sale of sin , we shall pull the vengeance of god upon our heads , and bring the nation to confusion . — what i speak of plays from my own knowledge , may be affirmed by hundreds more , who know those matters as well as my self . — some citizens wives , upon whom god hath laid his hand for an example to others , have confessed on their death-bed with tears , that at those spectacles they have receiv'd such infection , as of honest women made them light huswifes : by them they have dishonoured the vessels of holiness , brought their husbands into contempt , their children in question , their bodies into sickness , and their souls into danger . it must be own'd , that this is an heavy charge upon the stage , nor can the truth of it be questioned , seeing it comes from the hand of a penitent stage-poet , who delivers it as his own certain knowledge , but if his testimony and that of mr. gosson before exhibited be not enough ; the patrons of the stage may be pleased to consider , that their evidence is confirmed by bishop babington on the vii . commandment and dr. layton , in his speculum belli sacri . but to return to our author , he goes on thus , the repair of such as are honest to those places of evil resort , makes their own good life to be called in question ; for that place bree●s suspicion as well of the good as the bad ; for who can see a man or a woman resort to an house that is notoriously wicked , but will judge them to be of the crew of the ungodly . the honestest woman is the soonest assaulted , and hath such snares laid to entrap her , as if god assist her not , she must needs be taken . when i gave my self first to observe the abuse of common-plays , i found my heart sore smitten with sorrow ; sin did there so much abound , and was so openly committed , that i looked when god in his justice and wrath would have presently confounded the beholders . the theatre i found to be an appointed place of baudry : mine own ears have heard honest women allur'd with abominable speeches . sometimes i have seen two knaves at once importuning one light huswife , whence a quarrel hath ensued to the disquieting of many . there are intrigues carried on to debauch married women from their husbands , and places appointed for meeting and conference . when i took notice of those abuses , and saw that the theatre was become satan's council-house , i resolved never to imploy my pen to so vile a purpose , nor to be an instrument of gathering the wicked together . — it may perhaps be said , i am too lavish of my discourse , and that what i have now said might have been forborn ; but he that dissembles ungodliness is a traitor to god , and as guilty of the offence as the offenders themselves . since therefore the cause is gods , i dare put my self forth to be an advocate against satan to the rooting out of sin. are not our eyes at plays carried away with pride and vanity , our ears abus'd with amorous and filthy discourse , our tongues imployed in blaspheming god or commending that which is wicked ? are not our hearts through the pleasure of the flesh , the delight of the eye , and the fond motions of the mind , withdrawn from the service of god , and the meditation of his goodness . — there 's no zealous heart but must needs bleed to see how many christian souls are there swallow'd up in the whirlpool of devilish impudence . whosoever shall visit the chappel of satan [ i mean the theatre ] shall find there no want of young russians , nor lack of harlots , utterly void of shame ; who by their wanton gestures and shameless behaviour discover what they are , — let magistrates assure themselves that without speedy redress all things will grow so much out of order that they will be past remedy . our young men are thereby made shameless , stubborn and impudent . tell them of scripture , they will turn it into ridicule : rebuke them for breaking the sabbath , they will call you a precisian . — he that is virtuously disposed , shall find lewd persons enough in the play-house to withdraw him from vertue by promises of pleasure and pastime . the play-house is the school of satan , the chapple of ill council , where he shall see so much of iniquity and loosness ; so great outrage and scope of sin , that it is a wonder if he return not either wounded in conscience or changed in life . i would wish therefore all masters to withdraw themselves and their servants from such assemblies . youth needs not seek after schoolmasters , they can learn evil too fast of themselves . many young men of honest natures and tractable dispositions , have been chang'd by those shews and spectacles , and become monsters . it is wonderful to consider , of what force the gestures of a player ( which tully calls the eloquence of the body ) are to move and prepare a man for that which is evil . — nothing entre●h more effectually into the memory than that which cometh by seeing ; things heard do lightly pass away , but the ideas of what we have seen , says petrarch , stick fast in us whether we will or not . those enchantments have vanquish'd the chastity of many women , some by taking pity of the deceitful tears of the lover on the stage , have been mov'd by their complaint , to compassionate their secret friends , whom they thought to have felt the like torment . some having observ'd the examples , how young women being restrain'd from the marriage of those their friends have mislik'd , have there learn'd the art to steal them away ; others observing by the example of the stage , how another mans wife hath been assaulted and overcome , have not failed to practise those tricks in earrest , that were shewn before them in jest : yet the cunning craft of the stage , is surpassed by that of the scaffolds without , for they which are evil disposed , no sooner hear any thing spoken that may serve their turns , but they apply it : alas ! say they to the gentlewomen by them , is it not pity this passionate lover should be so martyr'd ? and if they find them inclin'd to foolish pi●y , then they apply the matter to themselves , and pray that they would extend the same compassion towards them , as they seemed to shew to the afflicted lover on the stage . those running headed lovers , are grown such perfect scholars , by long continuance at this school , that there is not almost one word spoken , but they can make use of it to serve their own turn . believe me , there can be no stronger engine found , to batter the honesty of married and unmarried women ; than the hearing of common plays . there wanton fables , and pastoral songs of love , which they use in their comical discourses , and are all taken out of the secret armory of venus , overturn chastity , and corrupt the manners of youth , insomuch , that it is a miracle if there be found any woman or maid , which with those spectacles of strange lust , is not frequently inflam'd to down right fury . don't we use in those discourses to counterfeit witchcraft , charming draughts and amorous potions , to stir up men to lust , by which examples the ignorant multitude are provoked to seek after the unlawful love of others . the device of carrying letters by laundresses , and practising with pedlars to carry their tokens under colour of selling their merchandise , and other kinds of intreagues to bereave fathers of their children , husbands of their wives , guardians of their wards , and mistresses of their servants , are aptly taught in those schools of abuse [ ●he stage ] therefore i am sorry they are not plucked down , and the school masters banished the city . thus much i will tell them , if they suffer those brothel-houses to continue : the lord will say unto them , as the psalmist saith , if thou sa●vest a thief thou consentedst with him , and hast been partaker with adulterers . * this i hope is more than enough to convince the author of the defence of dramatick poe●ry , that mr. collier ' s was neither the first pulpit nor press-sermon against the stage ; and tha● though the silence of the clergy against the play-house , has been but too universal of late ; it hath not been always so from the beginning . by this that author may likewise perceive , that men of a different kidney and principle from those of the calves-head-feasts , or that acted the tragedy at whitehall , and accounted regicide and rebellion , religion and sanc●ity * , strain as much at the gnat of the stage as others . i would also desire him to consider , whether the opinion of those reverend bishops and divines i have quoted at large , and the evidence of two repenting stage-poets , as to the danger of the stage , be not more than enough to outweigh his banter and flouts , in denying that the passions represented on the stage imprints the same passion into the audience , because a man when he sees a hercules furens , d●es not grow so mad and pull up'oaks as fast as he ; that our gallants don 't presently fall a ravishing like a lustful tarq●in , upon the representation of that lascivious prince ; and that our ladies don't immediately take taint and play the wanton upon the sight of lewd thais . * the instances of the play-poet , just now quoted , fall but little short of this ; and mr. gosson● paris and domitia , and menster and messalin formerly mentioned * , are enough to confirm i● but , because i hate to be nigardly , he sha●● have another from xenophon * . that author gives us an account of the acting of bacchus 〈◊〉 ariadne by a syracusian boy and a girls , thus , the syracusian entred like bacchus , with pipe before him , playing a rioting tune . the● entred ariadne gorgeously apparrel'd like a brid● and sat down before the company ; she 〈◊〉 not go to meet bacchus as a dancing , nor ro●● from her seat , but made such signs as discover'd he might have an easie conquest . whe● bacchus beheld her , he expressed his passion as much as possible in his dance , and drawing near her fell down on his knees , embraced an● kissed her ; she tho' with some faint resemblance of coyness and modesty embraced him again . at this the spectators gave shouts of applause . then bacchus rose up , and taking ariadne with him , there was nothing to be seen but hugging and kissing . the spectators perceiving that both of them were handsom , and that they kissed and embraced in good earnest , they be held them with great attention ; and hearing bacchus ask her , if she lov'd him ; and she affirming with an oath that she did ; the whole audience swore , that the boy and the girl lov'd one another in reality ; for they did not act like those who had been taught only to persona●● those gestures , but like such as had a mind to perform that which they had of a long time earnestly desir'd . at last when the company perceived that they were clasped in one anothers arms. those that had no wives swore they would marry , and those that were married , took horse and went home to their wives immediately . cap. x. the english state against the stage . the author of the defence of dramamatick poetry , endeavours in the next place to ward of the blow given to the stage by english statutes ; and alledges that the 〈◊〉 of ia●● was but a temporary act to hold in ●orce but that sessions of parliament * which by 〈◊〉 leave is a mistake , the words being , that it ●●ould continue to the end of the next parliament . and it was afterwards continued again by the 3d of car. cap. 4. to the end of the 1st session of the ●ext parliament . and i must also here take leave to tell him , that mr. prin , who it 's suppos'd understood the ●aw as well as he , was of opinion that the stage-players might have been punished in the year 1633. by vertue of that act , which was many years after the 1st of iames. but be that how it will , thus much we have ●●n'd at least ; that stage-players were declared , ●o be rogues and vagabonds , by the three estates of england met in parliament ; and ordered to be ●ent to the house of correction , to be imprisoned , 〈◊〉 on the stocks and whip'd , and if they continued 〈◊〉 play notwithstanding , that they should be burnt 〈◊〉 an hot iron , of the breadth of an english s●●lling , with a great roman r in the le●t shoul●er , which should there remain as a perpetual mark of a rogue : if they still continued obstinate , they were to be banished , and if they return'd ag●● and continued incorrigible , they were to be exe●●ted as felons . this is the more remarkable , that by this act the licenses allowed to be giv'n by peers , 〈◊〉 players of interludes by the 39th of eliz. were taken away , and no reserve made for any play●●● whatever , and the occasion of the making this act was , the doubts that arose upon the 39th . 〈◊〉 eliz. and that former statutes were not so e●●●●tual for suppressing those plays and interludes , ●s was expected . our author in the next place , seems to call 〈◊〉 question the truth , of that petition of the lo●doners to q. elizabeth , about 1580 for suppressing the playhouses . makes some raileries upo● mr. collier , for rawlidge his author , because 〈◊〉 known to the booksellers in st. paul's church yard , or little-brittain ; makes himself spo●● with the godly citizens that were the petitioners quotes stow , to prove that queen elizabeth , e●couraged the darlings of the stage , allowed the● liveries and wages , as grooms of the chamber and insinuates , that the playhouses mentioned i● the petition , were only gaming-houses * . i answer , that mr. prin , from whom i suppose mr. collier had the account of this petition quotes as his author , mr. richard rawlidge , 〈◊〉 monster lately found out : printed in london 1628. p. 2 , 3 , 4. * which , though it may perhaps 〈◊〉 hard to be met with ; it does not therefore arg●● that there never was any such author , — an● because mr. collier has been somewhat desecti●● in his quotation here ; our author may be ple●sed to know , that rawlidge says in the same place , that all the play-houses within the city we●e pull'd down , by order of her majesty and co●●cil upon this petition , viz. one in grace-churc● street , one in bishops-gate-street , one near pauls , one on ludgate-hill , and one in white-friers . as to the favour shew'd afterwards to some of the stage players by queen elizabeth , it argues only a change at court , but says nothing for the lawful●ess of the stage . k. charles ● . who there 's no doubt , our author reckons nothing inferiour to queen elizabeth in piety , made a law in the first year of his reign , condemning stage-plays , and yet afte●wards set up enterludes at whitehall , on the sabbath day , which i suppose there 's very few will commend him for . if queen elizabeth design'd to reform the stage as she had done the church , as our author would seem to insinuate p. 11. the event hath prov'd , that the success was not alike . there 's few that read plays or frequent the play-house , but must own if they will speak truth , that the reformation there goes retrograde , which verifies an observation of them that i have heard often ; that when you have reformed the stage all you can , it will be good for nothing : but as one says of cucumbers , after you have added oil , vinegar and pepper , they are fitter to be thrown to the dunghill , than taken into the body . upon the whole , however our author may please himself with his raileries , this will appear uncontrovertibly true ; that the laws of england have many times restrained , and some times totally discharged the stage , whereas he cannot bring one statute that ever commanded or commended it . by the 4th of hen. 4. cap. 27. — all players , minstrels and vagabonds , were banished out of wales , because they had occasioned mischiefs there ; they were forbid by the 12th of richard 2. c. 6 , 11. by the 17th of edward 4. c. 3. by the 11th and 19th of hen 7. cap. 12. and by the 33d . of hen. 8. c. 9. together with dicing houses , and other unlawful games , hecause of seditions , conspiracies , robberies and other misdemeanours that had ensued upon them . by the 3d of henry 8. c. 9. all mummers , or persons disguising themselves with visors or otherwise , should be seiz'd and punished as vagabonds , upon which polydor virgil , who wrote about 10 years after , says , that the english who in this are wiser than other nations , have made it capital for any person to put on a visor , or a players habit. it is evident likewise , that the stage was restrained by the 14th and 39th of eliz. that it was more severely restricted , if not totally discharged by the first and third of iames , and first of charles . — and that the stage was culpable in those times , as well as now : for jesting with scripture , and prophanely using the name of god and the trinity : from all which it will appear to any unprejudic'd person , that whatever opinion might have been sometimes entertained of it by the court , the opinion of the english state , which includes the court and parliament too , hath not at any time been very favourable to it . cap. xi . sediti●ns and tumults occasioned by the●● stage . our author [ page 13. ] upbraids mr. collier , for not quoting a more modern national opinion against the stage , when it lay under a more universal abdication , viz. in the reign of those later powers at the helm ; who with no little activity leaped over the block , and the whole whitehall-stage it stood upon , and yet stumbled at the straw , &c. a prosane comedy and tragedy , were all heathen and antichristian ; but pious regicide and rebellion were religion and sanctity with them . the camel would go down , but the gnat stuck in their throats . — he ought by all means to have quoted this national opinion of the stage in pure gratitude to the patrons of his book , the gentlemen of the calves-head-feast , who have made it their particular bosom favorite , &c. here 's a great deal more of ill nature than wit , whether we take it with respect to the nation , to mr. collier , or to the particular party he reflects upon . it 's a malicious , false and unmannerly reflection upon the nation , to insinuate that king charles i. was cut off by their authority , when the world knows , that it was the act of a prevailing head-strong faction , contrary to the sense of the nation , and of that very parliamen● , who began the opposition to king charles for his tyranny and oppression : if levying of money without consent of parliament , and forcing the citizens of london , and others , that would not lend him the summs he demanded , to serve as soldiers in his fleet and army , and a hundred other such things may be call'd by that name . it is malicious upon mr. collier to the highest degree , who is known to the world to be for passive obedience , the opposite extreme : it is as full of spite , against those who are enemies to the stage , many of whom abhor the memory of that fact , and are zealous sons of the church of england ; though at the same time they detest tyranny be it in prince or prelate . but to repay our author in his own coin , we have had a later instance of friends to the stage , as goodman and others engaged in a design of as black a nature ; if the assassination of the bravest prince in the universe may be so accounted . but lest they object , that this is but one instance we shall bring antiquity in for further evidence ; and in the first place st. chrysostom , who * tells us , that the players and play haunte●s of his time were most notorious adulterers , the authors of many tumults and seditions , setting people together by the ears with idle rumors , filling cities with commotions , and were more savage than the most cruel beasts . tertullian * , cyprian † , and clemens alexanandrinus ‖ , declaim against tragedies and comedies , as bloody , impious and prodigal pastimes , which occasion tumults and seditions . gregory nazianzen informes us , that plays and interludes disturbed cities , raised sedition among the people , taught men how to quarrel , sharpned ill tongues , destroyed the mutual love of citizens , and set families at variance * cornelius tacitus acquaints us in his annals , that the stage-players in rome grew so seditious that after many renew'd complaints against them by the pretors , tiberius and the senate ba●ished them out of italy * . marcus aurelius testifies , that because of the adulteries , rapes , murthers , tumults , and other outrages , occasion'd and committed by stage-players , he was forc'd to banish them out of italy into hellespont , where he commanded lambert his deputy to keep them hard at work * . suetonius tells us † that in nero's time there were so many seditions , quarrels , com. motions and misdemeanours in the roman theatre , that nero himself , though he took great delight in them , suppressed all plays by a solenan edict . caesar bulengerus informs us , that under hypatius and belisarius there were at least 35000 men slain in a commotion and tumult raised at a cirque play * . in the time of theodorick king of italy we are im●ormed by cassiodorus † , that there were so many tumults , quarrels and commotions raised at stage . plays , that he was forced upon the complaint of the people to write to the senate to punish the mutineers and suppress their insolencies : but there being no reforming of them , he gave orders wholly to suppress them . we have heard already that the statute of the 4th of henry 4. cap. 27. restrained them in wales , because of the commotions , murthers , and rebellions they occasioned there . the statute of the 3d of henry 8. cap. 9. against mummers proceeded from the like cause . — and we are informed , that kets rebellion in the 3d of edward vi. was concerted at , and partly occasioned by a meeting at a stage-play at wimonham to which the country people resorting , were by the instigation of one iohn flowerdew , first incouraged to pull down the inclosures , and then to rebel * . nay i refer our author to his own stow in his survey of london † , where he shall find an account of diverse tumults and riots occasion'd by stage-plays . those tumults , seditions and rebellions being by the fore-mentioned authors charged upon the stage , let the defender of dramatick poetry wipe off the imputation if he can , or give us as good authorities to prove that enmity to the stage did ever produce such effects . cap. xii . the grecian and roman state , against the stage . the defender [ page 14. ] triumphs over mr. collier for telling us , that the athenians thought comedy so unreputable a performance , that they made a law , that no judge of the areopagus should write one , beca●se that only prohibited a judge from writing a co●●edy , an argument ( says our author ) enough to set heraclitus himself a smiling . but i would pray the reviewer not to insult , lest the athenians themselves should give him a rebuke , and speak their mind more freely than mr. collier has done for them : for if we may believe plutarch * ; though the athenians put great honout upon actors and play-poets at first , yet growing wiser by dear bought experience at last , when they found that the stage had effeminated their spirits , exhausted their treasures , and brought sundry mischiefs upon them ; they abandoned the same , and enacted a publick law against it , that no man should thenceforth presume to pen or act a comedy , and declared all common actors infamous from that time forward . the defender owns † , that the lacedemonians passed a positive bill of exclusion against the stage , and i shall make hold to add their reasons from plutarch * , which mr. collier and he have both omitted , viz. lest their youth should be corrupted , and their laws derided , and brought into contempt . in the next page he ●louts at mr. collier , for relating from tully , that the antient romans counted stage-plays uncreditable and scandalous ; insomuch that any roman who turn'd actor was not only degraded , but likewise as it were disincorporated and unnaturaliz'd , by the order of the censors . — this says he , is almost as doughty a quotation , as his athenians are ; and adds , that their kinder successors were of a contrary opinion ; for the uncreditable player was afterwards set rectus in curia . if our author will be pleased to look a little back , add consider the instances there giv'n him , of the stages being banished from rome , by tiberius , nero , and marcus aurelius ; he will find that the stage-player was not then very rectus in curia ; but in the hight of disgrace , for reasons of the greatest weight . but to let him see , that there may be more state memoirs furnish'd against the stage , than mr. collier has done , though our author seems to question the possibility of it * . he may consult livy , who will tell him that scipio nasica , that great roman general , did by a publick decree of the senate , demolish the roman theatres , and forbid their stage-plays ; as the bane of their morals and valour , the seminaries of lewdness , effeminacy , idleness , vice and wickedness , and inconsistent with the welfare of the common-wealth ; for which he is very much applauded by livy , tully , st. augustine , and others * . the emperor augustus , though once very much delighted with plays himself , banished all the players and jesters out of rome , for those intollerable mischiefs they did occasion † . it is also very remarkable , that this great emperor , ordered stephanio an eminent player , to be thrice whipt for coming to his pallace on a holy day , in hopes of a great reward ; first in the attire of a page , and next in that of a roman matron , and personated both of them with so much art , that he seemed to ●e the very person he represented . the actor complaining , that he order'd him to be whipt three times , whereas he commanded vagabonds to be whiped but once ; he replied , thou shalt be whipt the first time , for the injury done to the roman matron , whom thou didst represent . the second time , for thy presumption in doing it in my presence , and the third time , for the loss of times which thou hast occasioned , to those that heard and saw thee † . the saying of this mighty prince is yet more remarkable : when great intercession was made , for pilas or pilades the player , whom he had ordered ●irst to be whip'd , and then banish'd out of the country , viz. that rome had been powerful enough to make her enemies stoop , and now she is not able to banish jesters and fools , and that which is worst of all , they have the presumption to vey us , and yet we have not the courage to reprove 〈◊〉 . the emperor trajan , when intreated by his courtiers to hear a noted player , replied thus , it did not become the majesty of a prince , that any such vain thing should be acted in his pre●ence , — that those who move princes to behold such enterludes , deserve as great punishment as those that act them ; seeing none ought to present before princes , such things as may move them to vice , b●t rather those that may influence them to amendment . and afterwards this worthy emperor , partly out of his own disposition and partly at the peoples desire , abolish'd stage-plays , as effeminate arts and exercises , which dishonoured and corrupted the roman state , for which , pliny the second commends him highly , in his panygerick † . we are likewise informed by tacitus * , that when pompey erected his theatre at rome , he was blamed for it by the senators ; because it would be a means to make the people spend their time in beholding plays , and utterly overthrow their hereditary manners and discipline , by new acquired lasciviousness . this i hope is enough to satisfy our author , as to the opinion of the roman state concerning the stage ; but if he still object , that it was at other times set rectum in curia . i shall answer him in the words of guevara , that such roman princes as were good , did always overturn the stage ; but those that were otherwise maintained it ; so that one of the ways , to know which of those princes were vertuous or vicious , was to observe whether they maintained players , jesters and jugglers among the people , or not † . cap. xiii . christian roman emperors against the stage . the author of the defence says further , † , that as scandalous as the civil law had rendred players , their scandal was so little a publick nusance , that the christian government even in its primitive lustre , always suffered them amongst them . this is so far from being true , that constanline the great , who is own'd by all , to have been the first christian emperor withdrew himself from the stage plays , made in the third year of his consulship , to drive away the pestilence and other diseases , and contemn'd and rejected those enterludes , which grieved the pagans exceedingly — and when he was established in the empire , he abolish'd the plays and enterludes , as intollerable and pernicious * . theodosius the great , banished all players by a publick edict , as the plagues of those places where they were permitted , and shut up the cirques and theatres at antioch as the fountains of all . wickedness , and the nurseries of all mischief † . the emperors valentinian and gratian , and valens , enacted ; that stage-players should be debarr'd from the sacrament , as long as they continued their playing , and that it should not be administred unto them in their extremity ; when on their death-beds , though they desir'd it , unless they first renounced their lew'd profession , and protested solemnly , that they would not return to it again in case of recovery * . iustinian the emperor published an edict , † that all christians should retrain from acting and beholding of stage-plays , because they were not the least of those pomps of the devil , which christians solemnly renounce at baptism . cap. xiv . the antient philosophers against the stage . the author of the defence goes on to ridicule mr. collier for his quotations , from aristotle , plato , plutarch livy , valerius maximus , seneca and tacitus * . aristotle ( he says ) did not carry matters so high as to a total exculsion , but allows them as an innocent diversion to persons of mature age and discretion . in answer to which i shall , ( as i have already in other cases ) supply the defect of mr. collier's quotations , and bring aristotle to answer for himself , who in his rhetorick * speaks of comedians thus , viz. that their whole employment is to survey and deride the vices of other men , which they proclaim upon the stage , and therefore they are to be numbred amongst traducers and evil-speakers . in his politicks he says , that those who behold the g●stures and actions of stage-players , tho' they be neither accompanied with . musick nor poems , are notwithstanding moved and affected according to the nature of the things they see acted ; and though he allows those of riper years to be admitted to offer sacrifice at such plays , where lasciviousness was allowed to the gods by the laws ; yet he says , magistrates must take care that nothing filthy or obscene be allowed either in shows or pictures * ; and excludes those stage-plays out of his republick , as being apt to debauch the minds and manners of youth , with their scurrility and lasciviousness . the reviewer * is angry with plato , as quoted by mr. collier , for telling us in a line and an half , that plays raise the passions and pervert the use of them , and by consequence are dangerous to morality : he thinks that plato ow'd that justice to the world a●round him and posterity after him to read a little longer esculapian lecture upon so epidemick a disease * . to gr●tifie our author , and again to supply mr. collier's defect , i 'll make bold to acquaint him with some of plato's sermon● work upon that text , as he is pleased to call it in the page before quoted . this great philosopher in his book de republica , says , that comical and tragical poets and poems . render men effeminate , corrupt their judgments , treat of leacherous subjects , noutish those lusts that ought to be dried up , and give them a commanding-power over men , wherea● they ought to be kept in subjection ; and for those reasons , and because he knew they would corrupt mens manners , and bring the gods into contempt , he banished them out of his commonwealth . i am mistaken if our author don't think this sermon sharp enough , though it be but short ; and whereas he objects , that we have only the bare word of those philosophers , for the heavy charge they bring against the stage ; the reply is easy , that their charge is verified by the concurring testimonies , and experience of all ages , and i wish in my heart , that we could give them the lie from our own . then as to tully and plutarch : the desender will have ' ●m to ●e only for checking of stage-plays , when too licentious ; as the bane of sobri●ty , and an excitation to lewdness * . but if tully and plutarch may be heard speak for themselves , it will appear otherwise : the former de officiis * , calls them prodigals , who lay out their money upon the stage ; in other pla●●s , he condemnes all amorous plays and poets , as infecting mens minds and manners ; and therefore adviseth the romans to abandon ( not to reform ) them , lest they should effeminate and corrup : them , as they had done the grecians , and so subvert the empire † . and in his oration for quintius * , speaking of the skill of roscius the actor , he says , that he was only fit to appear on the stage ; but when he considered his other qualities ; he says , it was pity he should ever come there : which , as st austin descants on it , was a plain declaration , that a good man ought not to come to the stage ▪ and that stage-players were accounted infamous amongst the very pagans † : and with him tertullian agrees , in his book , de corona militis * . as to plutarch , that famous moralist and historian , he disapproves all stage-plays , not only as lascivious vanities , occasioning much prodigal and fruitless expence , to the great damage of the commonwealth , but as contagious mischiefs which blast the vertues , mar the i●genious education , and corrupt the lives and manners of all those that frequent them † . this champion of the drama , makes himself merry in the next place , with mr. collier's quotations , from livy and valerius maximus † . but whether he mistake mr. collier or not , i am sure he mistakes his authors : for livy says in express terms , that the plays though instituted to appease the gods , did neither deliver the peoples minds from their superstitious fears , nor their bodies from their infectious diseases ; but on th● contrary , the tiber overflowed the cirque in the midst of their sport ; whence the people concluded , that the gods were displeased with the attonement † ; so that our author has lost all his sine raillery , on his taking it for granted , that the plays made peace in heaven , though valerius maximus says , they raised wars on earth . the next scost is on s●n●ca , for quarrelling with the stage , because it gain'd ground on the philosophy school , and berest him of his scholars * . but the gentleman might have seen from mr. colliers quotation , that seneca had other causes of quarrel , viz. that the stage occasion'd a mispending of time , the decrease of knowledge , the sinking of reason , and the destruction of good manners ; because there vice made a sensible approach , and stole upon the audience in the disguise of a pleasure , or words to that effect * . but if we will hear seneca speak for himself , he is yet more plain , and tells us expresly , that when men and women have tipp'd their foreheads with brass by long ●requenting the stage ; the next news we hear of them is , that they take up their lodging in a bawdy-house ; or ( because i would do him no wrong ) take it in his own words . in hoc mares , in hoc feminae tripudiant , deinde sub persona cum diu trita ●rons est , transitur ad ganeam * . and th●refore he advises lucilliu●s to avoid the play-house , and the company that haunted it , because they were able to corrupt a socrates , a cato , or a laelius . he adds , there is nothing so destructive to good manners , as to sit idling in the play-house ; and hence takes occasion to bewail the great concourse of the roman youth to the theatre , as a fatal symptom of a declining state † . the defender of the drama , would vindicate nero against tacitus * , for hiring decay'd gentlemen to play on the stage , because he thought it no degradation to his imperial dignity , personally to ac● : plays himself ; and seems to think it a mighty honour to the stage , that nero was pleased to be an actor in person : but takes no notice , of what tacitus tells us , that flavius and other noble romans , conspired the death of that monster , and effected it too for that very reason , lest the commonwealth should be utterly ruin'd , by the peoples addicting themselves any longer to the theatre † . to these i shall add the testimony of some other antient philosophers , because our author upbraids mr. collier with the smallness of the number he has quoted , and the first shall be solon . who being accounted the wisest of the antient greek legislators , his opinion must reasonably be accounted valuable ; and what that was we are informed by plutarch , viz. that he rejected stage-plays as lying and deceitful fictions , which would quickly teach the people , to cheat and to steal , to play the hypocrite and dissemble , to circumvent men in their dealings , to the prejudice of the publick , therefore were not to be tolerated in a commonwealth * . his dialogue with thespis the tragedian is remarkable , when solon blam'd him ( after having seen him act his tragedy ) for lying and cheating so egregiously before a multitude . thespis thought it a good excuse when he told him it was but a play : at which the philosopher struck his staff upon the ground with great indignation , and replied to him smartly , if we approve this play of yours , we shall quickly find the effects of it in our bargains : and therefore forbad him to act any further ; telling him his tragedies were a parcel of unprofitable lies . the next is lycurgus the famous spartan law-giver , who ( we are informed by the same author ) excluded all stage-plays out of the commonwealth , lest they should corrupt their youth and bring their laws into contempt — the answer of a lacedemonian to the ambassador of rhodes , who ask'd the occasion of this severe law ? is no less observable , viz. that lycurgus foresaw the great damage that players and jesters might do in a common-wealth : but however that was , this i know , ( says he ) that it is better for us greeks to weep with our philosophers , than for the romans to laugh with their fools * . to these we may add the opinion of socrates , so famous for his wisdom among the greeks , who ( by the express resolution of the oracle of delphos , ) condemned all comedies , as pernicious , lascivious , scurrillous and unseemly diversions ; and of the great orator isocrates , who declaims against all plays and actors , as hurtful , scurrilous , fabulous , ridiculous , invective and expensive pastimes , and therefore not ●it to be tolerated in a city * . these being men of the greatest repute for wisdom , learning and moral instructions in all the heathen antiquity . it must needs be allowed , that tho' they be few in number , yet their opinion in this matter is of more weight , because agreeable to the dictates of resin'd reason than those of 100 others that approve the stage , and other licentious practices , which always issue in the ruine of their followers . the reasons they have exhib●ted for their aversion to the stage are not to be answer'd by our authors scoff* , that the particular opinions of not half a score of these dissenting ethnick doctors , out of at least half as many hundred of that fraternity , especially too at their rate of talking , or mr. collier for them , is no more a conclusive argument , in my simple judgment , against the stage , than a diogenes in his tub and his rags , or an epimantus at his roots and his water , should perswade any rational man from a clean shirt upon his back and a good house over his head , or a good dish of meat and a bottle of wine for his dinner , viz. if he be able to purchase it . if our author can produce for his opinion , but an equal number of ethnick doctors of the like authority with those we have quoted against it , he will oblige the learned world , more than any man has hitherto been able to pretend to ; but much more if he can bring us half a score hundreds , i must also desire him to consider , that most of the authors here mentioned , bear a gre●ter character than that of particular persons , plato , aristotle and seneca , were the great lights of the gentile world in thier time , and their moral dictates were received as laws . lycurgus and solon were legislators , and their doctrine embraced as the laws of famous commonwealths : add to these , the laws of the roman emperors and senators , and of the several republicks of greece against the stage ; and we shall find , that the theatre was not condemned by a few dissenting ethnick doctors : but by the greatest men of the world , in their time , and the w●sest and most polite nations upon the face of the earth . as to diogenes's rags and tub , and epiamantus's roots and water ; our author very well knows , they cannot infer the prohibition of a moderate use of houses and raiment , or of good meat and drink ; because those things are allowed by the laws of god , nature and nations ; which cannot be said of the stage , though at the same time , i must crave leave to tell him , that the mortified lives of such heathen philosophers , will rise up in judgment against the debauches and riots , of most of those who frequent and patronize the play-house . cap. xv. the antient poets against the stage . our author falls next on mr. collier's quotations from the poets , and in the first place charges him with quoting ovid's following lines impertinently , sed tu praecipue curvis venare theatris haec loca sunt votis fertiliora tuis ; — ruit ad celebres cultissima femina ludos : copia iudicium saepe morata meum est ; spect●tum veniunt , veniunt spectenter ut ipsae ille locus casti damna pudoris habet . ovid. de arte amandi . lib. 1. the reviewer is in the right , that ovid does not here design to reflect upon the stage , because then it was his darling recreation , but he must at the same time own its a fair confession that the play-house was the properest place for a lecher to forage in , which fully answers mr. collier's design , and had our author but turn'd his eye to the very next page , he might have found a quotation from ovid for pulling down the theatre , as a nursery of villany . ut t●men hoc fatear : ludi quoque semina praebent nequitie , tolli tota theatra jube , peccand● ca●sam quam multis saepe dederunt : marria cum durum sternit arena solum ? tollatur circus non tua licentia circi est hic sedet ignoto jun●ta puella viro cum quaedam spatientur in hac ut amator eodem conveniat : quare 〈◊〉 ulla patet ? trist. lib. 2. such was the difference betwixt ovid when he was carried head-long by the impetuous 〈◊〉 of his lust , and when he was an exile and 〈◊〉 time to reflect upon his former lewd way of living . being willing to attone for the mischief 〈◊〉 had done by his lascivious poem [ de 〈◊〉 amandi ] he composed another [ de remedi● amoris ] wherein as one of the chief receipts , he prescribes abstinence from the stage , and from reading the amorous versos writ by himself and others , thus , at tanti tibi sit non indulgere theatris , dum bene de vacuo pectore ●●dat amor : enervant animos cytharae cantusque lyr 〈◊〉 et vox & numer is brachia mota suis illic assidue ●icti saltantur amantes quid cavens , actor , quid iuvet arte docet . eloquar invitus teneros ne tange po●tas summoneo dotes impias csse me as , &c. nor is ovid the only roman poet that hath thus censur'd the frequenters of the theatre . any man that peruses iuvenal and horace , will find they had no honourable opinion of it neither . the former gives an elegant description how the prodigal dames in his time consumed their husbands estates , by frequenting the play-house , as followeth , ut 〈◊〉 ludos conducit ogulnia vestem conduc● comites cellam , cervical amicas , nutricem & flavam cui det mandata puellam haec ta●ten argenti superest quodcunque paterni : levibu● athletis ac vasa novissima donat , &c. prodiga non sentit pereuntem faemina censum , &c. non unquam reputant quantum sibi gaudiae constant . satyr vi. nor had he any better opinion of the chas●●ty than of the good huswifry of those play-haunting ladies , as appears by the following lines , — cuneis an habent spectacula totis quod securus ames , quodque inde expetere possis , &c. where he describes their lewdness in such a manner as would offend chast ears to hear it . horace expresses himself much at the same rate , as to the practice of the stage , and its frequenters . ut quondam marsaeus amator origenis illi qui patriam mimae donat fundumque laremque nil ●uit mi inquit cum uxoribus unquam alienis verum est cum mimis & cum meretricibus unde fama malum gravius , &c. sermo . lib. i. sat. ii. so that both of them put the haunters of the theatre , and of the bawdy-house in the same category . the reviewer's reflection , that lewd persons do also frequent the church * , is no apology for the stage . we have a positive command to meet for the worship of god , but none to frequent the play-house : and if a carrion-crow may be catch'd in a flock of doves , as he is pleased to express it , it will not thence follow that the ●geons must flock to the rendevouze of the crows , but the quite contrary , and i must take leave to tell him , that so long as our stage is kept up , it will be impossible to keep our publick assemblies pure . they learn such lewd practices , and wanton behaviour at the play-house , that they smell strong of the infection , when they come to church . this was the complaint of eloquent chrysostom , against those that frequented the play-house in his time * . and we find ovid of the same mind , that there 's no reforming the uncleanness of the town , so long as the theatres are suffered to stand : quid faciet custos ? cum 〈◊〉 tot in urbe theatra , cum spectet junctos illa libenter equos . de arte amandi . lib. 3. if our author object , that this satyr is not directed against the stage , but level'd at the pits , the boxes and galleries . i reply , that the company discovers the entertainment , the carrio● crows will scarcely resort to a banquet of sweet-meats , but the scent of a dead carcase will tempt them hugely . the poets already quoted , say nothing in vindication of the theatre , and ovid in express terms enjoyns the pulling it down . the reviewer it seems , has a great mind to fasten all the guilt upon the audience ; and therefore it must be allowed as a just reprisal , to charge the poets and actors with their sha●e of the crimes . we have already heard the opinion of the fathers and councils , of the grecian , roman and english states , and of the chief of the heathen philosophers and poets , by which it is evident . that they charge the guilt upon the theatre it self , as well as on the actors and spectators ; and i have likewise brought in the evidence of foreign and domestick historians , to prove that those concerned in the stage , have frequently broke the peace , by tumults , seditions , and other villanous disorders ; by all which it appears , that the play-house ever since its first institution , has been a common nusance , and shall now take the liberty , to give a brief character of their writers and actors , from authors of unquestionable credit , and the two repenting poets , that have already oblig'd us with an anatomy of the stage . cap. xv. the character of the stage-poets and players . the antient romans held players in somuch disgrace and contempt , because of their vicious and dissolute lives , that they dis-franchis'd and removed them from their tribes , as being a dishonour to the roman blood , and the noble parentage from whence they derived their original , and totally banish'd them at last * . the grecians drove them out of their country , upon the same account , as we have already heard from plutarch and others . the primitive church threw them out of her communion , and the first christian emperors threw them out of the commonwealth , as has been proved before . gregory nazianzen said of the players in his time , that they were ashamed of nothing but honesty and modesty ; promoted lewdness , and boasted of their skill to act and suffer , all manner of brutal villanies , even in the face of the sun * . st. chrysostome says , they are infamous pe●sons and deserve a thousand deaths , because they personate those villanies which the laws of all nations command men to avoid † , — cyprian calls them , masters of wickedness , wishes that eucratius could see their secrets , and their chamber doors open : he accuses them of sodomy , and all manner of villanies , and of condemning that abroad , which they commit at home * . st. augustine calls them , most villanous fellows , and commends the prudence of the romans , for dis-franchising them † . — nicolaus cabasila says , there can be nothing more wicked or villanous than a stage-player * . — bodin writes , that their profession is nothing else but an apprentiship of sin , and a trade of wickedness , which leads to hell † . ludovicus vives says , that the roman stage-players must needs have been dissolute villains , given up to all manner of wickedness , when they could not be suffered to live in that city , where there were so many thousands of profligate citizens * . the author of the third blast of retre●t , 〈◊〉 of our penit●nt poets , characterizes the stage-players thus ; that their conversation is like their profession ; they are as skilful in the practise of uncleanness , as in acting it ; that their talk on the stage , declares the inward disposition of their minds , and that every one of them chuses that part , which is most agreeable to his own inclination ; that he could not but lament to see them bring up youth in filthy discourses , unnatural and unseemly gestures , and in ba●dry and idleness ; that he wondered how any father could delight , to see his son hereft of modesty and train'd up in impudence . — he calls the actors , the school-masters of sin in the school of abuse . — they are ●otoriously known to be the same in their life , as they are on the stage , that is roisters , brawlers , ill-dealers , boasters , stallions , ruffians , &c. and love nothing that is vertuous . mr. gosson , the other repenting stage prodigal , gives the players the character following † , viz. that they are uncircumcifed philistines , who nourish a canker in their own souls ; ungodly masters , whose example doth rather poison than instruct , and therefore advises people , if not for religion , yet for shame , lest the gentiles should judge them at the last ; to withdraw from the theatres with noble marius to appoint a punishment for players , with the roman censors , and to shew themselves to be christians , not to be drawn by wicked spectators , from vertue to vice , from god to mammon ; and that so they should fill up the gulph , that the devil by plays had digged to swallow them up . ; this i think is sufficient evidence to prove , that the crime is not altogether chargeable on the pits , galleries and boxes , but that the poets and actors , have the principal share of the wickedness ; and i hope the frequenters of the play-house , will take notice of this gentlemans ingratitude , and avoid frequenting the stage , seeing the very patrons of the theatre , charge the wickedness of it upon them . cap. xvi . the fathers defended , against the defender of the drama . he falls next upon mr. collier's quotations from the fathers , the defects of which i shall not now offer to supply , having quoted the fathers , whose meaning the advocates of the stage would pervert , at large already ; i shall only therefore take notice of the reviewers assertion ; that tertullians arguments are chiefly upon these two heads , viz , that pleasure was a bewitching thing , and that the magistrates discountenanced the players , and crampt their freedoms . the falshood of this assertion will be obvious to every one , that reads what i have quoted from tertullian , under the head , of the fathers against the stage ; but as a further answer , i shall give him dr. hornecks excellent abridgment of tertullians arguments , † in his book of delight and judgment , as follows . i know what is commonly objected , that the reasons why the fathers , are so much against the christians seeing of a play , was because the heathenish idolatries were acted to the life , upon the stage , and that proselites might not be in danger of being entic'd to idolatry , was a great motive why they inveighed so much against sights of that nature : but those that use this plea , must certainly not have read the fathers , or if they have read them , have not considered all their arguments ; for to go no farther than tertullian ; after he had condemned those sights , for the idolatries committed on the stage ; he produces other reasons , for which they are utterly unlawful † . as , i. because the spirit of the gospel is a spirit of gentleness ; but the actors are forc'd to put themselves into a posture of wrath , and anger , and fury , and the spectators themselves cannot behold them , without being put into a passion . ii. because vanity , which is proper to the stage , is altogether forreign to christianity . iii. because we are not to consent to peoples sins . * iv. because men are abus'd in these places , and neither princes nor people spared , and this bieng unlawful else where , must be unlawful too upon the stage . † v. because all immodesty and scurrillity is forbid , by the law of the gospel , and not only acting it , but seeing and hearing it acted . vi. because all players are hypocrites † , seem to be what they are not , and all hypocrisy is condemned by the gospel . vii . because the actors very often belie their sex , and put on womens apparel ; which is forbid by the law of god. viii . because these plays dull and damp devotion and seriousness , which is and ought to be the indelible character of christians * . ix . because it is a disparagement to god , to lift up those hands to applaud a player , which we use to lift up to the throne of grace . x. because experience shews , how the devil hath sometimes possessed christians in a play-house , and being afterwards cast out , confessed that he had reason to enter into them , because he found them in his own place † . xi . because no man can serve two masters , god and the world , as those christians pretend to do , that frequent both the church and stage . xii . because though some speeches in a play are witty and ingenious , yet there is poison at the bottom , and vice is only coloured and gilded with fine language and curious emblems ; that it may go down more glib , and ruine the soul more artificially . the reviewer comes next † to play all the artillery of his wit and banter against ●ertullian's instance of the devil 's having given it as a reason of his possessing a christian woman , that he found her on his own ground , [ viz. the play-house ] — such a discovery , he thinks the devil would be the last that would make . but had he considered those several passages of the gospel , where the devil was forc'd to own our saviour to be the son of god ; tho' he came into the world to destroy his kingdom , and to subvert his tyrannical empire over the children of men , this confession of satan would have been no such matter of wonder to him . i hope our author is not a manichee , to believe that the devil has an infinite power , or derives his existence from himself . if scripture authority have any weight with him , there he may find it reveal'd , that the devil can neither do all the mischief he would , nor yet resist the commission of the almighty , tho' rebellion be the very essence of the diabolical nature . he could not so much as destroy one of iob's cows or sheep without a permission , tho' he would willingly have ruined that holy person , and all that belong'd to him * . nor could he forbear to destroy ahab by his lies when the almighty commanded it * , tho' it had been more his interest to have had that monster of wickedness continued on the throne , and therefore i must take the liberty t● acquaint the reviewer , that his banter is propnane , and occa●ioned meerly by want of thought , when he says , that if the sworn enemy of man , have any such generous principle in him ; dives had no occasion to supplicate abraham to send a messenger to caution his friends on earth , but might e'ne have beg'd the civil favour of that kind errant , from one of his own tormentors † . the almighty never commissioned the devil , nor yet his chaplains of the stage to preach , repentance unto the world , that work he reserved for more hallowed instruments . — i shall hasten to absolve this point , when i have told our author , that it ill becomes any man who calls himself a christian , to question tertullian's veracity in a matter of fact like this , that the enemies of our holy religion could 〈◊〉 have disprov'd , had it been false , and that the credit of that learned father , for the great service he did to the christian cause , has set him above the snarls and banter of the play-house , or its advocates : as for his scost that this is the only instance of seizure of that kind , amongst all the millions of christians , who since that day have frequented the play-house ; it s of a piece with the rest . i have prov'd that the devil , though he be the god of this world , is far from being absolute , his reign is consm'd to the children of disobedience , and those he leads captive a● his own will ; so that his seizures of this kind , consists of infinite numbers , though his seizures of the other sort be restrain'd to a few : and by the concurring testimonies of the fathers , councils , and best of christians in all ages , as has been already made out : he triumphs no where more visibly , than upon the stage ; this i have prov'd by the confession of the two penitent play-poets above mentioned , but that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every thing may be establish'd : i shall add that of an actor , who dying at the bath about 1630. sent for his son , whom he had bred up to that same way of living . and abjured him with his last breath , and floods of tears , that as he tendred the eternal happiness of his soul , he should abjure and for sake 〈◊〉 ungodly profession , which would enthral him to the devils vassalage for the present , and plunge hi● for ever into hell at last * . if our author consider it , he will soon be convinced , that the seizure of the soul is incomparably more dreadful , than that of the body ; and of this , i shall put him in mind of one instance that was frightful enough , as it is recorded by mr. braithwait , who was present and saw it † . an english gentlewoman of good note , who daily spent the best of her time upon the stage , falling into a dangerous sickness , her friends sent for a minister to prepare her for her end ; but whilst he exhorted her to repent , and to call upon god for mercy , instead of listning to his wholsome instructions , she redoubled her cries , to let her see hieronimo acted , and as she had liv'd so she died . now i would refer it to our authors own conscience , whether he would be willing to make such an exit . and if this was not a more dreadful possession , than those mentioned in the gospel , when the devil threw the bodies of those he had made a scizure of , into the fire or water . but to conclude this point , i must crave leave to inform him , that the devil hath renewed his claim to the stage , oftner than once since the days of tertullian , and particularly in queen elizabeths reign ; when he visibly appeared on it , in the bell-savage play-house , as they were prophanely acting , the story of faustus , to the terror and amazement of all the spectators , and the seizing of some of them with a distraction † . the reviewer's argument * , that 't was the general opinion of christians that plays were a lawful diversion , because st. cyprian , tertullian , st. augustine , &c. made it their business to refute that opinion , is just as consequential as if he should say , that 't is the general opinion of the people of england , that immorality and profanness is lawful , because their preachers labour to prove the contrary , as to every individual species of it in all their sermons and books on that subject : — and no less false is his assertion , that the appearance of that general innocence in those entertainments , gave them that reception among christians that they could not believe them criminal without some express divine precept against them ; for nothing could be more odious than those practices , and postures , &c. which the fathers every where charge upon the stage , as i have already prov'd ; and herein also the reviewer contradicts m. motteux , and his parisian and church of england divine , who tell us the father ; were against the stage , because of the idolatry , blasphemy , and other infamous practices there * , which were very far from innocence . — thus these champions of a bad cause , like troops in disorder , fall foul upon one another . cap. xvii . the scripture not silent against the stage . i come next to the mighty counter-b●●● , which the reviewer has rais'd for the defence of the stage , and that is his more ●●rious speculations ( as he calls them ) upon the scriptural silence in that case , than any that the fathers have been pleased to make * . first then ( says he ) as our blessed sav●our was born in the days of augustus , 't is known by all historians , that the shutting up of ia●● temple doors in his reign , universally opened those of the play-houses ; — and so they continued throughout the empire many reigns after him . if any man should say , that when our saviour was born , the devil and the world kept holy day for joy , he would be foully mistaken , and yet according to this author , it would seem they did so ; for at our saviours birth ( says he ) play-houses were open'd throughout the whole empire . but what if i should tell him , that the devil , finding himself disarm'd by our saviours birth , and bereft of the sword which he had influenced men to sheath in one anothers bowels for a long time , betook himself to another weapon , and that was the lusts of the flesh , to make war upon their souls . this speculation may not perhaps be so curlous as that of our author ; but i am of opinion it may be every whit as solid ; seeing not only the antient fathers , but even the heathen roman historians , charge the play-houses with all manner of lewdness , and augustus himself ( as i have already said ) banished the stage-players out of rome because of the mischiefs they occasioned . the reviewor must not pretend that the opening of the theatre was an effect of our saviour's birth , or a suitable way of rojoycing for it ; his foretur●ner iohn the baptist , taught a contrary doctrine , and prepared the jews to receive him by repentance and mortification . when our saviour came himself at the fulness of time the way of his entrance into the world , was the severest reproof that ever was giv'n to the p●mps and vanities of it . his childhood and youth , were wholly estrang'd from all those ●●othy diversions , and when he entred on the ministry , he taught a subli●e and refined purity , that was absolutely inconsistent with the practice of the stage . he instructed his followers in the full extent of the law , that it did not so much as allow a wanton glance or a lewd thought , than which there cannot be a more effectual condemnation of the theatre , which by the testimony of all historians and ages , has ever been a nursery of impurity , and chiefly supported by persons of a dissolute life . but to return to our author . now it may raise a little wonder ( says he ) why the apostles that went forth by a special command of the almighty , to convertall nations , preaching repentance and the kingdom of heaven , they that so exactly performed that great commission as to arraign and censure vice and impiety from the highest to the lowest , in all its several branches , not only pronounced their louder anathema's against the more crying sins , but read divinity lectures ev'n upon the wardrobe and dressing box , correcting the very indecencies of the hair , the apparel , and each uncomly gesture , that these missioners of salvation should travel through so many heathen nations ( the gentiles they were sent to call ) and meet at every turn the theatre , and the stage . players staring them in the very face , and not make one reprimand against them , is a ma●● of very serious reflection . had the play-house been as st. cyprian calls it , the seat of infection ; or as clemens alexandrinus , much to the same sense calls it , the chair of pestilence ; and to join the authority of the unclean spirit along with them , the devil 's own ground : i am of opinion in this case , that those divine monitors the apostles that set bars to the eye , the ear , the tongue , to every smallest avenue that might let in the tempter , would hardly have left the broad gates to the play-house so open , without one warning to the unwary christian in so direct a road to perdition . such a discovery i believe would have been rather the earlier cautionary favour of some of our kind evangelical guardians , than the extorted confession of our greatest infernal enemy 200 years after . to answer the reviever in his own way of argument . had the stage been so useful to the happiness of mankind , to government and to religion , as mr. dennis pretends to prove it in his late book , or had it been such an excellent mean for recommending vertue and discountenancing vice , as others of its advocates would ●●ve it to be , then certainly it may raise a little wonder , that those kind evangelical guardians should not have somewhere or other dropp'd one expression at least in its favour , as well as they 〈◊〉 made use of the pertinent expressions of ●me of the poets ; and therefore their profound evangelical silence upon this head , gives us just cause to suspect that they had a far other opinion of the design and nature of the theatre . but to come closer to our author ; had he but seriously reflected upon his own matter of serious reflection , it would soon have abated the height of his wonder ; for if the apostles preached re●●ntance , censur'd vice and impiety from the highest to the lowest , read divinity lectures upon the ward-robe and dressing-box , corrected the indecencies of the hair and apparel , and each uncomly gesture , they must by necessary consequence have preached against the stage , which is charg'd with the height of impiety and vice , ●uperfluous prodigality of apparel , unlawful disguising of the sex , and obscene and uncomly postures , not only by the fathers of the church , but even by ovid , iuvenal , horace , and other heathen poets and historians of those times , as i have proved before ; so that our reviewers battery is fairly dismounted , and his cannon pointed against himself : for by a conclusion lawfully deduced from his own premises , it infallibly appears that the apostles did not only give one , but many reprimands to the theatre , tho' they did not express it by name . and i will make bold to tell him further , that the apostles in those very injunctions by which they set bars to the eye , the ear , and the tongue , did as infallibly shut up all the avenues of the theatre , as they barricado'd those that might let in the tempter , if beholding vanity , hearing blasphemy , and speaking lies in hypocrisie come within the reach of their inspir'd prohibitions . and therefore well might st. cyprian say , that the divine wisdom would have had a low opinion of christians , had it descended to be more particular in this case ; when the stage was known to abound with idolatry , profanity , cruelty , blasphemy , sodomy , and such other impur●ties , as were not so much as once to be named amongst christians . i pass over his remarks on the inconsistency betwixt mr. colliers defence of the modesty and chastity of the antient heathen poets and stage , and his quotations of the fathers that imply the contrary . mr. collier is able to defend himself , and an over-match for him on this subject . there 's no doubt , but the stage at its first institution , was chaster than ours , and if we may give credit to livy ; the plays at first , were plain country-dances , where the youth jok'd upon one another in artless verse , and their gestures were as plain and simple as the rest of the performance . the poets that mr. collier quoted are modester than ours , and yet it will not follow that the horrid impieties charg'd upon the stage by the christian fathers and roman historians , is all slander ; or that the innocence of the primitive stage was the cause of the scriptural silence against plays . the theatre was opposed by the jews before the coming of christ ; tho' no where condemned by name in the old testament : yet that people to whom the oracles of god were committed , understood it to be contrary to the law of moses , and the discipline of their nation ; and therefore they conspir'd to cut off herod the great in the theatre which he had built at ierusalem , whilst he was beholding his stage-plays * , which they had certainly effected , had not the plot been discovered , whereof herod taking the advantage he brought in his theatrical enterludes , which at first were pleasing to none but the heathens that sojourned there , and were at last attended with an apostacy from the laws of their ancesto●s , a corruption of discipline , and dissolution of manners . and a remarkable judgment followed on herod agrippa , who appearing on the stage in a silver robe of admirable workmanship , and being receiv'd by the acclamations of the people as a god , because of the beams which darted from his apparel by the reflexion of the sun , was immediately smitten with a grievous disease by something that appeared in the shape of an owl hovering over his head ; and being tormented for five days with an intollerable pain in his bowels , was at last miserably devoured by worms . from this opposition of the jews to the stage , we may reasonably infer , that 〈◊〉 such method of pastime or diversion , or of recommending virtue , and discouraging vice , was allowed by the church of god under the old testament , and that therefore there 's much less reason to think that any such thing was allowed or approved by the christian church under the new testament , whose worship has less of external pomp , but much more of the spirit and truth than that of the jews had . from hence likewise we gain another argument , that if the jews thought the stage discharg'd under the general prohibition , to take the names of the heathen gods in their mouths , and the article of their law which forbad men and women the promiscuous use of one anothers apparel , the primitive church had much greater reason to conclude that the theatre was forbid to them under the general terms of idolatry , sacrifices of idols , vanities of the gentiles , rudiments and customs of the world , corrupt communication , bitterness and evil speaking , keeping company with fornicators , fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness , filthiness , foolish talking and iesting which was not convenient , being partakers with the children of disobedience , rioting , chambering and wantonness , &c. all which the stage was infected with , as hath been prov'd already . so that the advocates of the play-house may with as much reason infer , that apostacy , atheism , incest and other crimes are not forbidden by the scriptures , because not expresly nam'd there , as argue that the play-house is not discharg'd because it is not particularly mention'd in sacred writ . if it be objected , that all those arguments are against the corruption of the stage , but not against the original innocent constitution of plays * . i answer , that there never was a time , when the stage was free from all or part of those corruptions , that it was of an heathenish and diabolical institution , as has been already proved — that at the very first , if we may credit livy in the place before quoted , the diversion of the stage consisted in revelling , dancing and foolish jesting , and gradually grew worse and worse , and tho' the romans had censors to restrain its abuses , and the greeks admired and promoted it at first , yet both those wise nations found themselves under a necessity of overturning it at last : and i have already shew'd that the ends for which the best of its patrons pretend it was erected , are better provided for by the almighty ; and therefore we cannot pretend any necessity for it , except we reflect on his wisdom and power . the reviewer comes next to argue , that the dram● was not censur'd by the gospel , because st. paul quotes a saying of the comick poet menander , viz. evil communication corrupts good manners , and likewise those of other poets , in the acts of the apostle , and epistle to titus , viz. in him we live , and move , and have our being , as certain of your own poets have said , for we are also his off-spring . — and ev'n a prophet of their own , said the cretians , are always liars , evil beasts , slow bellies , &c. † but i must beg leave to tell him , that the premises will not bear his conclusion , and that he might with as much strength of reason argue , that the apostle did not censure the idolatry of the ephesians , because he quoted the inscription on one of their altars to the unknown god , and thence took occasion to instruct them in the knowledge of the true god , who alone was incomprehensible . can any man , tho' but of a 5t● rate sense , allow this to be a good argument , the apostle from their own poets convicts them of their epidemical wickedness , the mischief of bad company , and that they owe their being and preservation to the almighty : — therefore he did not censure the s●age . certainly such a logician would be hissed out of the schools . our author by the same sort of argument may prove , that i approve his book , because i have quoted his arguments , and turn'd them against himself , as the apostle turn'd the conces●ions of the heathen poets , against those that follow'd and admir'd them . of the same nature is his inference , that because the holy ghost himself has spoke in the words of a menander and epimenides : it 's surely a little vindication of the innocence of the pro●ession † . if he mean the art of poesie , there 's no man of sense disputes its being innocent and useful ; but if he means a stage-poet , it 's just such another argument as this , maro pick'd gold out of ennius 's dunghill , therefore ennius 's dunghill was an excellent gold●mine . — does not our author know , that it is the light of the holy ghost , which enlighteneth every man that cometh into the world * , and that gifts as well as graces proceed from him ? must the holy ghost therefore , because he again makes use of some of those divine beams , which he had graciously darted into the minds of the heathen philosophers and poets , give his imprimatur to their pagan fancies and lewd theology ? out author's argument will conclude as strongly for this , as for the defence of the stage . he comes next to enquire into the reason of this over-violent zeal of the primitive fathers against the stage , which he finds to be the unseasonableness of it , because it was then a time of persecution , and that by frequenting the stage , they herded with their persecutors and murderers † . the falshood of this will appear from the quotations of the fathers themselves under that head : these are some of their reasons , but not all , they laid the stage under a perpetual interdict by arguments naturally deduc'd from the scriptures . the christian councils condemn'd them for the same cause , and the first christian emperors condemn'd them by their imperial laws , upon that same account , as has been already said ; so that our author discovers his want of reading or something that 's better , when he asserts the contrary * . i shall conclude this head with the opinion of the reverend , learned and pious mr. richard baxter , as to the stage and reading of plays and romances , as i find it in his christian directory : thus , i think i never knew or heard of a lawful-stage play , comedy or tragedy in the age that i have liv'd in , and that those now commonly used are not only sins , but heinous aggravated sins ; for these reasons , i. they personate odious vices commonly vitiously , that is , 1. without need reciting sinful words , and representing sinful actions , which as they were evil in the first committing , so they are in the needless repetition , eph. 5. 3 , 12. but fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness ( or lust ) let it not be once named among you , as becometh saints ; neither filthiness nor foolish talking nor iesting , which are not convenient , but rather giving of thanks . — for it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. 2. because they are spoken and acted commonly without that shame , and hatred , and grief which should rightly affect the hearers with an abhorrence of them , and therefore tend to reco●cile men to sin , and to tempt them to take it but for a matter of sport. ii. there are usually so many words materially false ( tho' not proper lies ) used in such actings of good and evil , as is unsavoury , and tendeth to tempt men to fiction and false speaking . iii. there are ▪ usually such multitudes of vain words pour'd out on the circumstantials as are a sin themselves , and tempt the hearers to the like . iv. they usually mix such amorous or other such ensnaring expressions or actions as are fitted to kindle men's sinful lusts , and to be temptations to the evils which they pretend to cure . v. a great deal of precious time is wasted in them , which might have been much better spent , to all the lawful ends which they can intend . vi. it is the preferring of an unmeet and dangerous recreation , before many fitter ; god having allowed us so great a choice of better , it cannot be lawful to choose a worse . the body which most needeth exercise with most of the spectators , hath no exercise at all , and the mind might be much more fruitfully recreated many ways by variety of books or converse , by contemplating god and his works , by the fore-thoughts of the heavenly glory , &c. so that it is unlawful as unfitted to its pretended ends. vii . it 's usually best suited with the most carnal minds and more corrupteth the affections and passions , as full experience proveth . those that most love and use them , are not reformed by them ; but commonly are the most loose , ungodly , sensual people . viii . the best and wisest persons least relish them , and are commonly most against them ; and they are best able to make experiment , what doth most help or hurt the soul. therefore when the sensual say , we profit by them as much as by sermons , they do but speak according to their sense and lust : as one that hath the green-sickness may say coals , and clay , and ashes do me more good than meat , because they are not so sit to judge as those that have a healthful state and appetite . and it seldom ple●sed the conscience of a dying man , to remember the time he had spent at stage-plays . ix . usually there is much cost bestowed on them , which might be better employed , and therefore is unlawful . x. god hath appointed a stated means of instructing souls by parents , ministers , &c. which is much more fit and powerful . therefore that time were better spent ; and it is doubtful whether play-houses be not a stated means of man's institution ▪ set up to the same pretended use as the church and ministry of christ , and so be not agains● the second commandment . for my part i cannot defend them , if any shall say that the devil hath apishly made these his churches in competition with the churches of christ. xi . it seemeth to me a heinous sin for players to live upon this as a trade and function , and to be educated for it , and maintained in it ; that which might be used as a recreation , may not always be made a trade of . xii . there is no mention that ever such plays were used in scripture-times , by any godly persons . xiii . the primitive christians and churches were commonly against them : many canons are yet to be seen by which they did condemn them . [ read but dr. io. reinolds against albericus gentilis , and you shall see unanswerable testimonies from councils , fathers , emperors , kings and all sober antiquity against them . xiv . thousands of young people in our time have been undone . by them ; some at the gallows , and many servants ▪ who run out in their accounts , neglect their masters business and turn to drunkenness and ●hordom and debauchery , do confess that stage-plays were not the last or least of the temptations , which did over-throw them . xv. the best that can be said of these plays is , that they are controverted and of doubtful lawfulness ; but there are other means enough of undoubtful and uncontroverted lawfulness , for the same honest ends ; and therefore it is a sin to do that which is doubtful without need . upon all these reasons , i advise all that love their time , their souls , their god and happiness , ●o turn away from these nurseries of vice , and to delight themselves in the law and ordinances of their saviour , ps. 1. 2 , 3. as for play-books , and romances , and idle tales , i have already shewed in my book of self-denial , how pernicious they are , especially to youth , and to frothy empty idle wits , that know not what a man is , not what he hath to do in the world ; they are powerful baits of the devil , to keep more necessary things out of their minds , and better books out of their hands , and to poison the mind so much the more dangerously , as they are read with more delight and pleasure , and to fill the minds of sensual people with such idle fumes and intoxicating fancies , as may divert them from the serious thoughts of their salvation , and ( which is no small loss ) to rob them of abundance of that precious time which was given them for more important business , and which they will wish and wish again at last , that they had spent more wisely . i know the fantastick will say , that these things are innocent , and may teach men much good ( like him that must go to a whore-house to learn to hate uncleanness , and him that would go out with robbers to learn to hate thievery . ) but i shall now only ask them , as in the presence of god , 1. whether they could spend that time no better ? 2. whether better books and practices would not edisie them more ? 3. whether the greatest lovers of romances and plays he the greatest lovers of the book of god , and of a holy life ? 4. whether they feel in themselves that the love of these vanities doth increase their love to the word of god , and kill their sin , and prepare them for the life to come , or clean contrary ? and i would desire men not to prate against their own experience and reason , nor to dispute themselves into damnable impe●tinency , nor to befool their souls by a few silly words , which any but a sensualist may perceive to be meer dece●t and falshood : if this will not serve , they shall be shortly convinced and answered in another manner . cap. xviii . reflections on some late plays . first on beauty in distress . i come next to make some remarks on m. motteux's play call'd , beauty in distress , which it seems he and his friend mr. dryden , propose as a pattern of reformation . it were e●sie in the first place to observe from mr. dryden's poetical epistle to the author , that it contains an unmannerly and malicious reflection upon the clergy in general . rebellion worse than witch●raft they pursu'd the pulpit preach'd the crime , the people ru'd the stage was silenc'd , for the saints would see in fields perform'd their plotted tragedy . mr. dryden's wit and extraordinary talent of poetry are uncontrovertible ; but his turning renegado from the protestant religion , which abhors the doctrine of killing kings , and running over to the church of rome , which hath advanc'd that practice to the dignity of merit , render● him as unfit as any man alive to charge his neighbours with rebellion , and is no convincing proof of his extraordinary judgment , either as to divinity or politicks . if his charge had been levell'd against sibthorp and manwaring , and their disciples on the one side , or against hugh peters and the tub●preachers of those times on the other side , there 's few men of sense would have thought themselves concern'd in the reflection ; but as it is levell'd against all the clergy without distinction , he must give me leave to tell him that it may easily be prov'd , that sibthorp , and manwaring , and the rest of their passive obedience-doctors , who taught , that the king was above law , and might dispose of our estates lives and liberties , without consent of parliament , were the chief fire-brands of the rebellion , and set the two constituent parts of our government [ the king and parliament ] together by the ears : and were by consequence chargeable with the reveries of hugh peters and the rest of the enthusiastical tribe , who carried things to the other extream , when the people were render'd mad by oppression . but as for the body of the english clergy , either episcopal or presbyterian , the charge is malicious and injurious . the best of the church of england clergy opposed the stage in those times , as well as the presbyterians , yet it 's known that both of them oppos'd the carrying on of things to that height which they afterwards came to . and i must beg leave to tell him that his brethren of the stage by usurping upon the sabbath , and ridiculing the pretensions of the people to their liberty and property had no small share in bringing on the calamities he speaks of . or if he be for a later instance , i can oblige him with one that is still fresh in memory , viz. that the nonjurant clergy in this reign , the pupils or followers of sibthorp and manwaring in that of king charles , were so zealous for the lately intended french invasion , that no less than a troop of them did offer their service to hallow the rebellion , and some of them did so little abhor the assassinating of crown'd-heads , that they absolv'd the assassiens at tyburn , without any declaration of their repentance for that horrid crime . but to come to the play it self . i leave it to the consideration of the author , whether the following lines of the prologue , don't co●e under the apostolical prohibition of f●● thy talking and foolish jesting , which is not convenient : — 't was studied to be paid in lent , a time when some of you so nice were grown ●'u abst●in'd from every kind of flesh but one . and a little lower . you know a reformation's coming on , then bear these moral scenes with resignation , t●inure you to be wean'd from darling fornication . the wisest of princes and men hath branded them with the character of fools , that make a mock at sin * , and whether these lines be adapted for any thing else , but to make the audience laugh instead of being sorrowful for sin , let any man judge . nor is the jerk at the reformation very becoming , especially considering how much it has been recommended of late both by king a●d parliament . then as to the epilogue spoken by mrs. bracegirdle . poys'ning and stabbing you have seen me'scape and ▪ what you think no mighty thing , a rape : but can poor poet scape — — what shall he do ? h 'as sent me a petition here for you , that 's it — cry mercy ! that 's a bille● 〈◊〉 before i go any further , i must beg leave to make some remarks . here 's one great difference , i perceive betwixt the church of christ and the play-house , which tertullian and others 〈◊〉 the church of the devil . in the former women are by apostolical prohibition forbid to speak , and commanded to lea● in silence † but in the latter their discourses songs and parts are the principal entertainm●● which is certainly inconsistent with the natural modesty of the sex , especially when they are not asham'd to speak openly of those things which the apostle says , it is a shame even to mention † let any modest person judge if this look like a scheme of a reformed play , to bring a woma● upon the stage to charge the audience with accounting a rape but a small thing , which th● law of nations makes capital , and then impudently to produce a billet doux , or in plain english , an appointment to meet some cullie . then he goes on with the petition thus . to you great wits , dread criticks , nicest beaux , gay sparks with borrow'd wit , and masks with ( borrow'd clothes , you who to chat or ogle fill yond benches , or tempt with love our modest orange wenches ▪ rakes , cuckolds , citts , squires , cullies great & smal ▪ i think sirs this petition 's to you all . it cannot be denied but here 's a great deal of truth spoken in jest , and that this is a just enough description of most of those that constantly haunt the stage , and of their end of coming thither , a plain confession , that most of them are carrion crows , as the reviewer words it , and frequent the theatre , as the ordinary where they can best ●nit their appetite , but it must at the same time be own'd that this sort of reproof is more accommodated to inflame than to quench their lusts , which is demonstrable by this , that if the crows did not find carrion there , they would soon grow weary of the haunt . i pass over the other scoff at the reformation , and come to her description of the devotion of the poet. but ' twe●e in vain to mention every head ; i guess a poet's prayers are quickly said ; he seldom prays but to avoid his curse ; ●n empty play house , and an empty purse . a great deal of truth again , and a confirmation of the character given of the stage-authors , by mr. goss●n , and the other repenting poets for●erly mentioned . but is this horrid neglect of devotion , and especially making sport with it , suitable ●o the character of one who pretends by his poems to reform others ? and does it look any thing like deference to that apostolical command of praying without ceasing ? which imports at least a constant aptitude , for that necessary duty , and a co●scienceious frequency in it . and does not the experience of all ages testifie that the stage is so far from being a proper motive to that or any other christian duty , that it does rather make its frequenters negligent in all duties . but now to come to the play it self . it may , if compared with many others , deserv● to be call'd chast and modest ; yet i do not see what edification could redound to the audience from the pattern set them by the fond laura , who courts don richardo with so much importunity , that it must needs make the females blush , and the young widdows , if there were any there , asham'd of their representative , and serve as a lesson to teach the young necessitous sparks of the town to entrap rich widdows in the like manner . her expression to richardo , that they would live like gods , smells too rank of the libertine , and can leave but a sorry impression upon the audience . richardo's cunning , dissembling expressions and tricks in his courtship , are no very proper lessons to be taught our young men , who are but too much deprav'd already ; nor has the last line of his dialogue with laura , when the monks diverted them , so much of a chast tendency as becomes a play that 's propos'd as a pattern of reformation . then as to the maiden ladies , morella and melinda , in the second act , their conference about fabiano and placentia , savours not of so much innocence as becomes persons of their character , but is plainly accommodated to please the amorous gusto of those that frequent the stage . neither does placentia behave her self with such extraordinary modesty as to deserve the name , of a pattern of virtue or prudence . nor does her lover fabiano act the part of an obedient and prudent son ; such examples cannot be very edify●ng to the spectators , but on the contrary , teach young gentlemen the way how to gratifie their passions , to the ruine of themselves , and the grief of their parents . richardo's attempt to ravish placentia in the fifth act , with so many circumstances , sometimes ●ving mad with anger , and at other times burnt up with raging lust , which flames out into bru●●sh expressions and actions , is so very gross , that such a representation cannot be defended , but must expresly fall under the condemnation of ●●thy talking , the appearance of evil and corrupt communication , which could have no tendency to the edification of the hearers , but rather to inflame inordinate lust. if there be such things done in secrer , whereof it is a shame for christians to speak , certainly a rape with its odious circumstances must be of the number . the very name of such kinds of vice is infectious to corrupt nature , but much more must such a representation of it be i know our author will have recourse to the common apology , that he brings the vicious person ●o a tragical exit , and displays his crime only to expose it ; but that is a poor pretence ; we must not do evil that good may come of it , especially when the fatal experience of our own and former ages is enough to convince us that those theatrical representations nourish vice instead of curbing it . the holy ghost , who knows the ●●ailty of humane nature , hath forbid that for●ication or uncleanness should be nam'd amongst saints , without abhorrence , and much more such representations of it as may any way tend to corrupt the mind . many other remarks might be made upon this tragedy , but these are enough to shew , that whatsoever our author may pretend , his reformation comes short of the scripture rule , and is liable to the exceptions of those very fathers whom he and his church of england divine would reconcile to the stage , and particularly st. chysostom , who as i have mentioned already , says , that stage-players deserve a thousand deaths , because they personate those villanies , obscenities and adulteries which the laws of all nations command men to avoid . remarks on the rape , or innocent impostors . in the next place i shall take notice of a play , intituled , the rape , or innocent impostor , printed in 1692. and whereof i understand the author is a clergy-man , of good reputation , and therefore am bound in charity to think that he designed to correct , and not to incourage vice by his play ; but as the pulpit , and not the stage was his business , he was out of his road when he meddled with plays ; and tho' it be more modest and chast than that call'd beauty in distress , yet i dare refer it to his own serious thoughts , whether genselarius premediated rape upon eurione , his glorying in it after the commission of the foul crime , and insisting so much upon the satisfaction he had in it , even to the last moment when he was to die for it , be agreeable to the strict rules of modesty ; or whether it has not rather a tendency to incourage lustful youth to dangerous attempts . nor is euriones practice , who kill'd her self after the rape , to be propos'd as a pattern in such cases . our author knows that the fathers disallowed of all such representations , that they looked upon them to be contrary to the scriptures , which methinks should have hindred him from employing himself that way , and so much the more , that he knows the mischief that hath been done to our morals and religion by the theatre , and that others might be influenc'd to take a greater liberty by his example . we need go no further for an instance than mr. durfey , in his comedy call'd , the campaigners , who values himself so much upon his conversation with several eminent men of the church , and the assurance of their good word to prove his good behaviour , that he thinks it sufficient to ward off the heavy charge mr. collier has brought against his comical history of don quixo● † nay , a page or two further , he triumphs , and thinks he has sufficiently answer'd mr. collier , when he tells him , that mr. thomas randolph , a gown-man of wit and learning , makes it his whole moral , in his piece call'd , the muses looking-glass , to vindicate the stage * . of such mischievous consequences is it for clergy-men to give countenance to the play-house either by writing for the stage themselves , keeping company with play-poets , or defending the drama . i shall not any further urge the sense of antiquity against their practice in that matter , but would humbly propose to their consideration , whether it be suitable to their character thus to countenance such men as have by our statute-law been declar'd rogues ; whose profession the best of the church of england divines since the reformation have writ agains● as unlawful , and which repenting , nay heathen po●ts themselves have condemn'd and abhor'd , as has heen already prov'd . though they may please themselves with the lashes which that sort of men have given to dissenters , from the stage , which mr. dur●●y argues as a piece of merit in his collins's walk thro' london and westminster * , and by which he confirms my conjecture , as to the reason of the general silence of the clergy against the theatre ; yet they will find at last , that they themselves shall not escape , but must partake of the chastisement , thro' the backs and sides of clergy-men of other denominations . — the opprobrious terms of say grace , cuff●cushion , &c. in the play call'd , the relapse , are as applicable to those of the church of england as to others , and can serve to no other end , but to render the ministry ridiculous ; and therefore it 's but just that such of the clergy as have been pleased with injurious reflections upon their brethren [ the dissenters ] should come in their turn to feel the lash . it is not to be denied but the clergy have their faults as well as others ; and so had the blessed apostles , who own that the treasure of the gospel is committed to earthen vessels † . and that they had their humane frailties like other men ; but it would scarcely be allowed in any christian state , that the theatre should make sport with peter's swearing and denying his master , paul ' s thorn in the flesh , or barnabas ' s dissention . nor by parity of reason ought it to be allow'd , that the ministers of the gospel , should be so treated now , for tho' they have not the same power with the apostles , nor their pretensions to infallibility in doctrine , yet their ofsice is stamped with the same authority ; and they are commissioned by one and the same master . reflections on the campaigners . i come next to view the campaigners , a comedy writ by mr. dursey , who , it would seem , thinks himself above reformation . i am no way concern'd to take notice of his preface upon mr. collier , because i find nothing of argument in it , but meerly recrimination , which is nothing at all to the purpose . but this i am sure of , that mr. dursey's comedy could have as little good influence upon the morals of his audience , as mr. collier's books can have upon the principles of his readers . but to come to his play. the dialogue betwixt van scopen and mas●arillo in his first act , can have no other tendency , but to harden such fellows in their impiety and to teach them the art of drunkenness , filching and playing the pimp . his conference betwixt dorange and kinglove is adapted to nothing else but to nourish vice , and to teach the method of debauching ladies ; and how they on the other hand , may carry on their intreagues with their gallants . there 's no doubt but mr. durfey blesses himself for the happiness of his invention in making kinglove say , that an hundred pistols was enough for an hundred princesses , a price sit for none but a goddess ; and that jove himself who was the first whoremaster we read of , that ever gave money , gave his mistress danne not a farthing more . this is enough to confirm what i have said before , that the amorous poems of ovid , and other heathen authors , are no● sit to be put into the hands of youth , till they be reformed and purg'd from their lascivious impurities ; for till that be done , we can expect no other improvement of them , than such a profane one as mr. durfey has here presented us with . in the mean time here 's very civil treatment for princesses and ladies of quality , that p●stoles a-piece is purchase enough for their honours . his letter too , is a noble exemplar for his ladies to copy ; when they have a mind to treat with a cully , and his delicate oaths of gad and i gad , gadzooks and gadzoons , and swearing by heaven , are mighty ornaments for the discourse of his gallants ; so that they may save themselves the trouble of learning any other rhetorick . his banter upon the french marquis's broken english is a copy for the gallican stage to bring in english gentlemen speaking barbarous french , with your heumble servityour monseer . his dutch burgomaster and english merchant are admirably fitted to make trade and commerce ridiculous ; though england and holland have by that means risen to their present grandure . his dialogue betwixt those merchants representing the souldiery , as rogues with long chines , full calves , varlets , poltroons , cuckold-making rascals that huff and strut about with our money , that they should all be hang'd when the wars are done , is very civil to the gentlemen of the sword , and calculated no doubt to give them a good impression of our merchants and tradesmen , and to create a good understanding betwixt them . his ragg-carrier of a regiment is an honourable title for ensigns and cornets ; robbing of hen-roosts is as noble an employment he has found out for the soldiers , and his jerk at the government for letting their pay fall into arrears , considering the difficulties the nation hath labour'd under for want of money , is of admirable use too . i come now to his second act. where we have miin heer tomas and aniky his wife exposed to our view , as a choice instance no doubt of the happiness of a married state. this must needs have been very charming to the ladies , especially such of them as are inclinable to be fat , to hear this modest reflection upon aniky , that she importuned her husband so much for his benevolence , yet so fat was she , and so incapable of childing , that an irishman may assoon get a bantling out of a bagg . but by mr. durfey's leave , harlem meer , or the marishes about dort , had been nearer at hand for a dutchman ; tho' by the way i must tell him , that all national reflections are unmanly , as well as unmar●nerly , and were never attended with good consequences . annikys accusing her husband of frigidity , and swearing as she was a calvinist , if she lived a month longer she would have one to connive with her too , is mr. durfey's civility to the ladies of the audience , and a genteel complement to the reformation beyond sea. miin heer thomas's reply , that as the government gave toleration of conscience for their souls , he would give her one for her body too , is a handsom allusion , a neat raillery on the liberty granted to the dissenters here in england , and an admirable pattern of a good natur'd wittal . well , let 's go on to the conclusion of thomas's supersine answer gadsbores ( says he ) i fancy we lie always like two udders in a dish without ere a tongue . this is an admirable proof of the modesty of the english stage ; and enough to choak mr. collier with a lie for accusing it of immorality and profaness . aniky replies ; queazy fellows that have no appetites , can't relish the finest haunch of verison , when a strong healthy stomach would feed heartily and be glad of it . and thomas answers ; but if he were to feed upon 't ten and twenty years , as 't is the case of us miserable husbands , he would be glad to change it for the haunch of a horse . this is admirable encouragement for married persons to frequent the theatre , where they may have such excellent lessons of conjugal affection and chastity . these are the curious representations that edifie our beaus more than the best sermons , and contribute so much to the happiness of mankind . but to conclude this noble lecture of chastity , thomas tells her , that she 's a gross barren hen , that is so rank fed , she 's uncapable of breed , and yet so greedy on 't , that she 's eternally cackling , that he would lock her up over the stable , where she should have heirs , and the great gib catt there should father them ; and she tells him , that she roosts among cravens that have got the pip : if cocks were good , hens would have chickens . now i leave it to the reader that has any sense of religion to judge , whether the evil spirit of uncleanness himself could express things in a more fulsom and undecent manner ; yet these are the men , and those are their methods that are to recommend virtue and discourage vice. i am come next to his nurses song , scene ii , which with his scotch song , and his reformation song , will help to compose a psalter for the devil's church , as the fathers call the play-house . the first song is an admirable lesson of chastity , fit to be sung to mr. durfy's lyre , and may vye for modesty with any that's to be found in ovid or martial . it 's a delicate sonnet for nurses to sing to their young ones , that they may suck in virtue like mother's milk , and must needs tend highly to the edification of the sisters and brothers in their teens , when they take a step into the nursery to see and divert themselves with their infant brothers or sisters . it must needs leave a chast impression upon them to hear nurse tune out these modest lines . and when in due season my billy shall wed , and lead a young lady from church to her bed ; ah! welfare the losing of her — when billy comes near her to kiss , kiss , kiss . they that would have their nurses taught to sing vertuous songs , had best send them to mr. durfey , who can furnish them with admirable samplars . but to proceed ; that our author may make his comedy all of a piece . his fable of doranges getting into angelica's bed in a woman's dress , includes a very good lesson for instructing a wild extravagant beau , how to debauch and steal a fortune . such a representation as this cannot fail of raising very chast passions among the audience ; and the other part of the fable endeavouring to match her with bondevelt under the notion of a pure virgin , contains an excellent pattern of moral honesty , and teaches an intrigue of special use for imitation . then again in the third scene we have a commendable character of the english gentry , that their right business is nothing but pleasure , and that i suppose is frequenting the stage ; for there , says mr. dennis , is the greatest pleasure . but if this be the true character of the english gentry , how comes it to pass , that so many of them have rais'd vast fortunes by application to law , physick , divinity and merchandice ? i shall meddle no further with this lewd comedy , nor can what i have done already , be justified by any other argument ; but that it 's sit the world should see what an useful thing the stage is for reformation of manners . cap. xix . answer to mr. dennis's usefulness of the stage . i come next to consider mr. dennis's arguments in his book entituled , the usefulness of the stage to the happiness of mankind , to government and to religion . the title is sufficient to discover , that i am to combate a man of assurance , who like another goliah bids defiance to the armies of fathers , councils , scriptures , &c. & all that have bra●ndished their swords against the theatre . his first argument is , that the stage is instrumental to the happiness of mankind in general , because it pleases them , and happiness consists in pleasure * . the gentleman not having oblig'd us so far , as to draw his argument into form , he must pardon my presumption if i do it for him , and then i think it will stand thus , whatsoever pleases men makes them happy ; but the stage pleases men , ergo. the falshood of the first proposition is so manifest from the experience of all men , that i cannot but wonder at our author's confidence to advance it . the libertine is pleased with his paramour , and yet is so far from being happy in his pleasure that it wastes his conscience , consumes his body and ruines his estate . the drunkard is pleased with his bottle , yet is so far from being happy in it , that it has the same dismal effects upon him , as uncleaness has upon the wanton . — the glutton is pleased with his costly cates and riotous banquets , but is so far from being happy in his pleasure , that he entails diseases upon himself and diggs his grave with his own teeth . — the miser is pleased with his baggs , yet is so far from being happy in them , that he is eat up with carking cares how to preserve them , or to lay them out to the best advantage . to prove this argument mr. dennis says , that by happiness he could never understand any thing but pleasure , and that he could never possibly conceive how any one can be happy without being pleased , or pleased without being happy . let him but take a turn to bedlam , and there he may have convincing instances of poor wretches being extreamly pleased with their foolish conceits , that are far from being happy ; or let him visit some of his friends in a raging feaver , and perhaps he may hear them express a great deal of pleasure and delight in many things , and yet poor creatures fall much short of being hapy . his own assertion [ p. 8. ] that a man cannot be happy without or against reason , perfectly destroys his proposition , for in all the cases above-mentioned , those persons are pleased both without and against reason , which plainly proves that it is not pleasure , but a rational pleasure or none at all that makes a man happy , otherwise the brute-beasts , are more happy than the happiest of men. so that if this be granted , which no reasonable man or good christian can deny , that our pleasures ought to be ruled by reason , his argument will prove but a feeble support to the stage it being highly unreasonable to take pleasure in that which is not only needless , to the ends for which it is pretended , there being other meansap pointed for that , as i have prov'd already , but comes so far short of them , that by the concurring testimony of all ages , it is condemned for producing the contrary effects . to set this matter in a clearer light , let us take a view of those pleasures which are to b● reap'd from the stage ; spiritual pleasures they are not , for divinity and religion are seldom or never mentioned there , but in order to be ridicul'd : rational pleasures they cannot be , seeing it is contrary to reason for mankind to please themselves with the representations of rapes , murders , and all manner of villanies , which is the principal part of the entertainment ; the punishments allotted them take up the least part of the time , for most of that is spent in representing the intrigues that the personal dramatis carry on for obtaining their lwed ends , and the pleasure they take in the enjoyment of their desires , and the impression of the tragical catastrophe is generally defac'd by some comical conclusion at last . so that upon the whole the pleasures that are reap'd from the stage must needs be sensual ; and if wallowing in them conduce any thing to the happiness of mankind , then reason and religion too have put a horrid cheat upon us , ought to be banished out of the world , and the only deity we are to invoke is some circe or other to transform us into dogs and swine , that we may be compleatly happy . for mr. dennis says ( page 6 and 7. ) the philosophers were fools to ascribe their happiness to reason , for that may often afflict us , & make us miserable , is an impediment to our pleasure , and nothing but passion can please us . the natural consequence of which must be that none but beasts , fools and mad-men are happy in this world. he tell us , page 8. that it 's plain that the happiness both of this life and the other , is owing to passion , and not to reason ; so that he must be the only happy man here that wallows in his pleasures , and indulges his passions . and in the other world he informs us , we shall be delivered from those mortal organs , and reason shall then be no more : we shall lead the glorious life of angels , a life exalted above all reason , a life consisting of extasie and intelligence . if this be not a rhapsody of downright contradictions , there can be no such thing as a contradictions , there can be no such thing as a contradiction in nature ; a rational soul without reason ; understanding without reason ; and reason dying with mortal organs . nay , there 's another position in the bottom of the 7th page as extraordinary as any of those , and that is , that the very height and fulness of pleasure which we are promised in another life , must , we are told , proceed from passion , or somthing that resembles passion ; at least no man 〈◊〉 so much as pretended that it will be the result of reason . who it is that has told our author thus , he would do well to inform us ; for i believe this revelation is peculiar to himself . the scriptures do indeed say , that in the presence of the lord there is fulness of ioy , and at his right hand there are pleasures for evermore † ; but are so far from hinting at any thing like joy without reason , that the works of creation , redemption and providence and the beatifical vision of god in his perfections , seem to be plainly reveal'd , to be the reason of all the hallelujahs and raptures of praise and joy which the saints shall eccho forth in heaven to all eternity . abr●●ham is represented to us in heaven with the use of his reason , and arguing with dives . we are told that there is joy in heaven , by reason of the conversion of sinners ; there 's no doubt that those extasies of joy are above what our reason is now able to comprehend , but that reason and reflexion should there cease , there 's not the least ground to imagine . our author owns , that we shall lead the glorious life of angels , as to whom it is plain from the scriptures , that they are reasonable beings , they make use of their reason to pry into the mystery of redemption , and sung songs of praise at our saviour's birth ; for this very reason , that god had manifested peace upon the earth and good-will towards men ; from all which it 's plain , that our happiness in heaven will not proceed from passion , but from our uninterrupted enjoyment of god , the reflection upon which with our reason will occasion eternal and unspeakable joy . this i conceive will appear yet more plain from the following consideration , viz. that a man cannot be happy except he know himself to be so , and if we have not the use of our reason and reflection , we can never know that we are happy , nor be sensible of the dangers we have escaped ; so that for mr. dennis's heaven we had as good be reduced to our first nothing as to enjoy it , seeing , according to his notion , we must there be depriv'd of the faculty of reflecting upon our past dangers and present enjoyments , which cannot afford a rational soul so much delight , as it may have in a pleasant dream . i shall only add , that to conceive a humane soul without reason after death , is to suppose the very essence of it annihilated , which is a fair step towards denying the resurrection and the eternity of punishment and reward ; a doctrine fitted to the pallate of the libertines of the age , the principal rule of whose faith and manners is , ede , bibe , dormi , post mortem nulla volupta● ; or as the scripture expresses it , let us eat and drink , for to morrow we must die * . if we have not the exercise of reason in heaven we cannot act faith upon the promise of god for the eternity of our happiness there , which our reason will tell us we may ●●st assur'd of , because he is the god of truth that cannot lie , and with whom there is no variableness nor shaddow of turning . nor can our service , which is songs of praise and everlasting delight in the enjoyment of his presence be reasonable there , which will make i● less perfect than the service that we are called to here on earth , which the apostle tells us is a reasonable service * , nor without it can we contemplate god the author and fountain of our happiness with delight ; for according to mr. dennis's notion , there can be no dif●erence betwixt those unconceiveable transports of joy which the blessed have in heaven , and the raptures of a mad-man , who can give no reason for what he does or what he says ; and how this can be acceptable service to god , let any man , that has but the least impression of religion judge . — our saviour tells us , that mary lov'd much because much was forgiven her ; is it then consistent with reason , that we shall be fill'd with raptures of love and joy in heaven , and not know the reason of it there , as well as we know the reason of our love to the almighty here on earth ; which is his pardoning grace , thro' our blessed redeemer , but to return to mr. d's argument , that 't is pleasure only that makes a man happy : he is guilty of a great omission in not explaining his terms , and telling us what sort of pleasure he means ; tho' to do him justice there seems to be no great need of it , when we consider that the stage is the subject he treats of , whence those pleasures are to be reap'd ; so that we cannot expect to reap any other pleasures but those of sin from such an unhallowed soil . but allowing him , that a moderate pleasure in our lawful enjoyments here is a happiness , and a gracious gift of god , as without doubt it is , that will not prove that we ought to create our selves feigned objects of pleasure , as all those theatrical representations are , seeing god allows us those that are real . much less will it prove that we ought to hunt after pleasure , by having our passions rai'd ; when there 's no occasion o● proper object for them , for that in plain terms is a perverting the use of 'em , and forcing them beyond the intent of nature . god has endowed us with love , and hatred , and inspired reasonable creatures with a desire to propagate their own kind in pursuance of that primitive command , that they should increase and multiply ; but at the same time he has confin'd that desire to certain limits , that every man should have his own wife , and every woman her own husband ; whence 't is evident , that it 's unlawful for us to frequent the stage to have that passion rais'd toward we know not who , or to endanger its being diverted from the right object . and as for young persons who are unmarried , the theatre is the most improper place in the world to seek a suitable match in , and i believe seldom frequented on that account . i am afraid iuvenal's observation holds too true of the modern theatre . — cuneis an habent spectacula totis ; quod securus ames quodque inde expetere possis . and if they frequent them upon any other a●count , the raising of their passions endangers their chastity . the like may be said of the other passions , to have our anger and indignation excited against we know not who in a tragedy , is far from the divine precept , of being angry and sin not . it was never the end for which god endowed us with that passion , to be angry at wickedness in shew , but at wickedness in reality . the same rule serves for pity and compassion ; we are to extend that towards men in real distress , and not to have our compassion excited towards a chimerical object in a theatre that needs it not . it will hold the same as to mirth and delight ; we are not to make sport , or to take pleasure either in the sin or misery of others ; from all which it is apparent , that we ought not to frequent the stage for ●●citing our passions : but admitting that the raising of the passions makes a man happy ; by mr. dennis's own concession , p. 16. the frequenting of the stage is a very improper mean for it , for there he owns , that the longer any man frequents plays , the harder he is to be mov'd ; and therefore we may very well conclude from his own premises , that the seeing of so many unchast and bloody representations , is the ready way to take off and dull that horror which all men ought to ●ntertain against the real practice of uncleanness , cruelty , and the other vices there represeated . this may be likewise prov'd by a very familiar instance : butchers , tho' but accustomed to the killing of beasts , have less horror generally for murder than other men ; and soldiers , who are accustomed to behold slaughter and blood-shed , are not generally so compassionate and tender-hearted as those who never were in a field . i must observe one thing by the way before i go any further , viz. that mr. dennis and the author of the review contradict one another in this matter . the reviewer maintains against mr. collier , that the representations of the stage , don't impress the same passions upon the audience † , whereas mr. dennis asserts it , and thinks it the glory of the theatre that it does so , seeing raising the passions is the only way to make a man happy . i must declare my agreement with mr. dennis as to the influence of those representations upon the spectators , but at the same time must tell him , that the iniquites there represented , especially irregular amours , have so strong a party in every man's corrupt nature , that those lascivious representations , intrigues of courtship , and amorous speeches , have ten to one odds against our virtue , which taking in religion to its assistance , is often found too weak , and many times foil'd by corrupt nature , as appears by the instances of david and solomon , the holiest and wisest of men , and therefore it is that the reproofs and punishments allotted to vice by the stage , have never been able to obtain those ends which its patrons pretend to , viz. the incouragement of virtue , and discountenancing of vice , but hath always produc'd the contrary effect . but to take a further view of mr. dennis's notion , that we are made happy by pleasures , let 's examine it a little by sacred writ . there we find solomon , who had made the largest experiment of it , declaring , that all the pleasures this world can afford ( even those refined ones of wisdom and knowledge not excepted ) to be nothing but vanity and vexation of spirit * . if we take in the suffrage of the new testament , there we find our saviour and his apostles , condemning this passion for worldly pleasures , as the lust of the eye , the lust of the flesh and the pride of life 1 , they expresly forbid us to make any provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof 2 , command us to set our assections on things above , and not on things below , and to mortifi● inordinate affections 3 , tells us , that those that are christs crucifie the flesh with its lusts and affections 4 , condemn those that are lovers of pleasure● , more than lovers of god 5 , number those who serve their lusts and pleasures among fools and rebels to heaven 6 , tell us , that our prayers are denied because we ask things to consume upon our lusts , or pleasures , as it 's read in the margin ▪ 7 , and inform us , that the word of god is choa●ed by the pleasures of the world 8 . so much as to pleasure in general ; and then if we come to particulars , — inordinate pleasure in riches or covetousness , is condem● . as iaolatry 1 , a lustful look after a woman is censur'd as adultery 2 . if we consider our apparel , there we are commanded to be modest 3 . if we look to our dyet , the scripture informs us , that a glatton shall come to poverty 4 , and strictly forbids us , rioting and drunkenness 5 . if we consider our discourse , there 's no corrupt communication to proo●●d out of our mouth 6 , but our speech ought always to be with grace , and s●asoned with salt 7 , foolish iesting and filthy talking is also discharged 8 . and in the whole , the apostle tells us expresly , that those who live in pleas●res , are dead while they live 9 : ( which tho' spoken particularly of widows , does by parity of reason extend to all christians . ) we are commanded to rejoyce , as if we rejoyced not , to use this world , as not abusing it * , to behave our selves as strangers and pilgrims in the world † , and to avoid all bitterness , malice and evil-speaking . * then seeing it is so , how can any christian indulge themselves in passion , or transports of pleasure in any sublunary thing ? how can they allow themselves in those foolish jests , filthy discourses , and immoderate laughters that are occasioned by comedies ; or in that wrath , clamour , malice and revenge which breath forth every where in tragedies ? how can they that are call'● to mourn over their own sins , and those of others , laugh at the follies and lewdness of whoremongers represented on the stage , or how can they in conscience take pleasure in the representations of those things to the eye in publick , that they ought to be ashamed to hear spoken of , as committed in secret ? how dare they that are commanded to work out their salvation with fear and trembling , delight in such wantonness , jollity and revelling ? with what conscience can they that are commanded to redeem their time , mispend it so unconscionably in the lew'd theatre , or with what peace of conscience can they lavish out money in such needless pleasures , when so many of the poor saints and servants of god are starving for want of necessaries . mr. dennis in the latter part of his first chapter seems to recant his epicurean lecture in the rest of it , and tells us † , the passions must be rais'd in such manner as to take reason along with them , which how he will reconcile to his former positions , that reason often afflicts and makes us miserable , hinders our pleasures , and combates our passions † , and that nothing but passion in effect can please us , and nothing but pleasure can make us happy † . let him see to it . perhaps he was exalted to his own heaven , and wrote those contradictions when he was deliver'd from his mortal organs , and his reason had left him † . and if it was so , he had as good have conceal'd his ex●atical raptures , for any great feats , they are like to do in the world , they may perhaps make quakers ; but sure i am they can never make christians : aud thus i leave it to the judicious reader to consider , whether he hath prov'd that the stage is useful to the happiness of mankind . in his second chapter he attempts to prove , that the stage is more particularly instrumental to the happiness of englishmen , — and the argument he makes use of is , that the english are the most splenetick people in europe , of a gloomy sullen temper , uneasie to themselves and dangerous to the government . this is enough in all conscience to give them a fit of the spleen , were they never so good natur'd ; but to alleviate our anger , he tells us , it 's the fault of heaven , the reigning distemper of our clime ; and to oblige us further , he directs us to the drama , as our remedy . i am afraid our author is neither a traveller , historian nor polititian , else he would scarcely have v●ntur'd on such a reflection : let him but waft himself over for a month into spain , and take a ●urn through france into the empire of germany , don't let him forget to take holland in his way home ; and then let him spend some weeks in turning over the histories of those several countries , and i am much mistaken if he don't find himself convinc'd by experience and authority , that our neighbours are as sullen and morose as we , have been as uneasie to one another , and endanger'd their governments as oft●● , and yet all of them have had the enjoyment of the drama . i must likewise beg leave to tell him , that the good nature of englishmen has been for a long time taken notice of , and that i have read it as an observation from as good an author as himself , that there 's no other language has a word to express it . i must likewise desire him to give a reason , why the splenetick temper of the nation should not make the government as dangerous to the people , as it renders the people dangerous to the government , seeing the administration must always be in the hands of englishmen ; and i would pray him if he can to give me an instance where he has read of a better understanding betwixt prince and people than there was betwixt queen elizabeth and her english subjects ; or if he can parallel the instance of the present government , that any monarch did ever venture to leave his dominions so frequently , and with ●o much confidence and security , as his present majesty has done , notwithstanding the faction of a dethron'd prince in the midst of us , and a powerful enemy at war with us abroad , at all times ready to encourage them to rebel : and then ● shall yield him the point , that the english are more splenetick than their neighbours . but now as to his remedy [ the drama . ] he tells us , that the passions are seldom any where so pleasing , and no where so safe as in tragedy * . but seeing the representations there are generally contriv'd to represent the sudden t●rns of fate , the unhappy result of violence & injustice , and 〈◊〉 intrigues carried on for the suppressing of tyrants , i am afraid it will scarce be proper for a splenetick people : and thus we see how well he has prov'd , that the stage is more particularly instrumental to the happiness of english-men . in his third chapter he pretends to answer the objections from reason , and denies that the more the passions in any man are mov'd , the more obnoxious they are to be mov'd , and the more unruly they grow † . this he says is contrary to common experience , because-the more any person frequents plays , the harder he is to be pleas'd and mov'd . but by mr. dennis's favour , his answer is nothing to the purpose , or just no more than this , that the longer a man eats beef , the less he cares for it : he knows the old saying , iucundissima voluptas quam rarior usus commendat , a man may be cloy'd with the greatest dainties . but can he deny that the more a cholerick man's passion is mov'd , the more peevish and outragious he grows ; and the more the letcher's passion is mov'd , the more lustful and brutish he grows , so long as nature will keep pace ; or the more the miser's avarice is mov'd , the more covetous he grows , till his mouth is fill'd with dust . if he can deny this , he is fit for his own heaven , where his reason shall be no more † . in the next place he denies that corruption of manners proceeded from the establishment of the drama upon the restoration of k. charles the 2d . ●st . says he , because we never heard any complaint of the like corruption of manners before the restoration of k. charles the ii. tho' the drama flourish'd in the reign of k. james i. as mr. collier tells us , with the like licentiousness † . by mr. dennis's leave here 's a contradiction in terms , a stage as licentious as ours at present , whose abuses he owns in the same page to be palpable , and yet no complaint of corruption of manners . but because i will give him a better authority than his own , let him read mr. prin's histriomastix , and there he will find complaint enough before the restoration of k. charles ii. and sufficient cause for it too . the ●d argument , that the corruption of manners is greater in france , tho' their theatres are less licentious than ours , will stand him in little stead ; for supposing it true that the manners of the french are more corrupted than ours , which i am afraid will scarcely be granted : tho' their theatres be less licentious , their religion is more , which allows them to be as wicked as the devil can make them , provided they have but money enough to pay for a pardon , or fury enough to persecute the protestants . that the germans are greater drinkers , and the italians more inclinable to unnatural lust , tho' they have less of the drama than we : perhaps they will charge the cause upon heaven as he does , and impute it to their clime ; but can he say that if they had more of the drama , they would not be more addicted to those crimes than at present they are . if he will give himself the trouble of reading the authorities i have formerly quoted , he will find both those crimes , and particularly the latter charg'd upon the stage : nor can mr. dennis assign any reason why going from the theatre to the tavern with a miss , or other lewd company , as is but too too common , should not occasion drunkenness and sodomy both . his 3d argument is † , that the corruption of manners upon the restoration appeared with all the fury of libertinism before the play-house was re-established . and that the cause of that corruption could be nothing but that beastly reformation , which in the time of the late civil wars , begun at the tail instead of the head and heart , and which oppressed and persecuted men's inclinations , instead of correcting and converting them , which afterwards broke out with the same violence that a raging fire does upon its first getting vent : and that which gave it so liscentious a vent , was not only the permission but the example of the court. which having sojourn'd for a considerable time both at paris and in the low-countries , united the spirit of the french whoring to the fury of the dutch drinking . here 's civil treatment to the parliament of england , a parcel of beastly reforming fellows , aad a reforming tail too . but by mr. dennis's leave , whoever's the head , the parliament is the brains ; they have all the trouble of contriving , and one half , nay some say two thirds of the authority of enacting laws , and no small share in putting them in execution ; so that for them to attempt a reformation when the court would not , proves them to have been the men , and some body else the beast . but to pass that , i must intreat mr. dennis to be merciful to his own arguments , and not always to cut their throats with his own hands . for first , he tells us , that the cause of that libertinism , was nothing but that beastly reformation . and then he informs us , that it was permitted & encouraged by the example of the court , who had united the spirit of the french whoring to the fury of the dutch drinking ; so that he is resolv'd the court and parliament shall have it betwixt them , and not a farthing matter which , so the stage be but clear on 't . and he hath also oblig'd the world with a very important discovery , that persecuting and oppressing of libertinism , was the cause of corruption of manners . but alas ! the poor man in one of his heavenly extasies , when he was delivered from the mortal organs of his reason , turns cat in pan , plays sir martin marr-all , and falls foul upon his friends of the stage ; for in the very next words he tells us , that the poets who writ imm●diately after the restoration , were obliged to humour the deprav'd tastes of their audience . for if the poets of those times had writ without any mixture of lewdness , the appeties of the audience were so debauch'd , that they would have judged the entertainment insipid . so that here 's a fair confession , that the stage promoted and encourag'd the corruption of manners . but then being sorry that he has done his friends this diskindness , he makes them amends , and concludes this paragraph thus , that 't is evident that the corruption of the nation is so far from proceeding from the play-house , that it partly proceeds from having no plays at all . — risum teneatis amici . his fourth argument is , ●that the stage cannot possibly encourage or encline men to drunkenness , gaming and unnatural sins , and that the love of women is fomented by the corruption , and not by the genuine art of the stage † . to prove this argument , he alledges , that drunkards are always rendred odious and ridiculous by the stage , gamsters are never shewn there , but either as fools or rascals , and that of those four reigning vices , the stage only encourages love to women , which is the least , th● least contagious , and least universal , and is a check upon the other three ; and particularly upon unnatural lust , which is the most destructive to the happiness of mankind * . i answer in the first place , that mr. dennis's argument and his topicks to prove it , are founded meerly on his own authority : and in the next place , that here , as elsewhere he is guilty of contradictions . — the stage ( he says ) does not incourage the corruption of manners ; and yet owns 〈◊〉 incourages the love of women . — then again , ●hat the love of women is least contagious ; — and yet owns [ pag. 26. ] that it has more of nature , and consequently more tentation . — so that his arguments like cadmus's earthborn-men [ in ovid ] fall foul upon and destroy one another . but for a further answer , i must tell him , that those sins have generally a dependance , and are mutually productive of one another ; and the theatre being the common rendevouz of lew'd company , the contagion spreads , and they are frequently infected with one anothers crimes . our author hath own'd that the theatre incourages the love of women ; and ovid who was a very good judge in the matter , tells us , that venus inclines men to idleness , gaming and quaffing , or at least that those vices are usually compa●ions . quam platanus rivo gaudet , quam populus unda , er quam limosa canna palustris humo tam venus otia amat , qui finem quaeris amoris , c●dat amor rebus , res age tutus eris , languor & immodici sub nullo vindice somni , aleaque & multo tempora quassa mero eripiant omnes animo sine vulnere vires , a●●luit incautis desidiosus amor. de remedio amoris . lib. i. if we may believe historians , stage-plays were first devised by a parcel of drunken grecians in honour of bacchus * , to whom they were consecrated † , and hence tertullian calls the theatre , the temple of bacchus * . salvian joyns the roman stage , their epicurism and their drunkenness together , as mutually producing one another † . — the roman emperors , caligula , heliogabalus , nero , commodus , galienus , and others who delighted most in the stage , were the most debauch'd , luxurious and drunken of all others , as may be seen in suetonius . it was usual for the heathen greeks and romans to have stage-plays at all their drunken riotous feasts , on purpose to draw men on to more intemperance and drunkenness * . thus we see that drunkenness was both the parent and off-spring of the antient stage ; nor can our author give us an instance , that our modern theatres have reformed those that frequent them , from gaming and drunkenness . the author of the third blast of retreat from plays , complains , that in his time , the actors and play-haunters were the greatest frequenters of taverns , ale-houses , brandy-shops , &c. and mighty quaffers , health-drinkers and epicurers , that 't was their usual practice to haunt the play-house , the bawdy-house and publick-houses by turns , and to go from the one to the other , and that the play-house was the common place where their riotous meetings at taverns were appointed , and the reason he gives of it is this , because drunkenness , epicurism , luxury and profuseness were rhetorically applauded on the stage , and set off with the highest encomiums ; and those who spent their estates this way , were dignified by the poets , with the title of brave , generous , liberal and jovial sparks ; as iuvenal expresses it : — haec tamen illi omnia cum faciant hilares nitidique vocantur . satyr ii. as to mr. dennis's seeming to think uncleanness a less sin than gaming , and that the love of w●men encouraged by the stage is a good preservative against sodomy , it 's ridiculous . to allow one sin to prevent another , is play-house divinity , and to advance that the inflaming of lust is a proper way to prevent it's exerting it self upon unnatural objects is an odd kind of philosophy . if the play-house have this effect now , it s more than it had formerly , when we find that the profligate custom of men , and womens putting one anothers apparel promiscuously on the stage , was a mighty incentive to that sort of villany . sophocles the famous greek tragedian , whom mr. dennis calls divine , is accused by athaeneus † ; plutarch * and many other authors for this impiety . st. cyprian charges the same upon the pantomimes and players of his time in his 3d epistle to donatus , where he expresses it thus , libidinibus insanis in viros , viri prorunt , &c. st. chrysostom brings the same accusation against the stage in his time in his 12th homily on the ●st epistle to the corinthians , where he says , the theatres gather together troops of harlots , and boys turn'd ganymeds , who offer violence to nature it self . and that our english stage has not been free of this horrid crime , we are inform'd by mr. stubbs , in his anatomy of abuses , where he affirms , that players , and those that frequented the stage , play'd the sodomite in their secret conclaves . mr. dennis in his 4th chapter pretends to answer mr. collier's objections from authority . his exceptions as to most of 'em i have already take● notice of in my answer to the reviewer , and therefore shall only answer what mr. dennis has advanc'd that is new ; and the first is , that the stage is of admirable advantage to learning , and that the theatre is certainly the best school in the world for history , poetry and eloquence † . enough has been said already to prove that it can be of no solid advantage to learning ; for when mens minds are infected with vice , they are not fit for any profitable or generous study , as appears by seneca's complaint , that the stage diverted the people from attending on his philosophical lectures . as to history , the falshood of the assertion is plain ; for we may learn more of that by reading the greek , roman , and other historians , than by all the plays that have ever been writ , which for a mangled scrap now and then of true history , have ten times more of fable . then as to the point of eloquence : we have quintilian the famous orator against him , who in his directions , how an orator should frame his speech , voice and gesture , enjoins frequent declaiming , and the often repeating of eloquent orations , but expresly forbids him , to imitate players or the custom of the stage , or 〈◊〉 express or act the slaves , the drunkards , lovers or any such play-house part , because they were no ways necessary for an orator , but would rather corrupt his mind and manners than any way help his elocution or action * . and i would very fain know of mr. dennis , which of all the admirers of the stage can be compar'd for eloquence to st. chrysostom , tertullian , st. ierom , and the rest of the fathers that never frequented the stage but wrote against it . but granting it to be true , that the theatre promoted eloquence , we may very well say with st. ierom , melius est aliquid nescire , quam cum periculo discere * . better never learn it , than run such a risk for it . besides , an orator ought to be grave and serious , whereas the stage is light , wanton and lewd . if cicero that great master of eloquence had thought the stage necessary for promoting that desirable attainment , or had he ow'd his formation to it , in so great a measure , as mr. dennis says he did * , certainly he would never have been so much an enemy to eloq●ence or so ungrateful to the school , whence he learn'd it himself , as to advise the romans to abandon it , lest it should render them effeminate and corrupt , and so overturn their empire , as it had done that of the greeks * , he would rather have advis'd the reforming of it , as mr. dennis does , but that he saw 't was impracticable , and would turn to as little account as plowing the sand : nor can he ever prove , that demoshenes acquir'd his oratry by frequenting the stage . plutarch tells us he repeated his speeches before a large looking●glass to regulate his gestures . but admitting once for all , that there 's a great deal of eloquence , wit , invention , history and other parts of learning in stage-plays , there 's so much obscenity , scurrility and lewdness mix'd with it , that it only serves as a tincture of sugar or a glass of cordial to convey a venemous potion , and the stronger the wine , or the better the conserves that are temper'd with the poison , the more ▪ effectually and indiscernibly it kills . — for ( as tertullian says on this very subject , ) no man mixes poison with gall and hellebore , but with the sweetest , most savory and best relishing ingredients . — therefore ( says he ) look upon those strong lines , those moral sentenc●s those pompous expressions , and witty sayings as honey distilling from a poisnous limb●ck , and don't let the pleasure of your palate betray you to the endangering your lives † . i shall conclude this point with the pertinent expression of salvian on the same subject . — stage-poets ( says he ) have rather damned than illustrated their wits and parts . mr. dennis alledges [ pag. 36. ] that before thespis appeared in attica , and reduc'd the drama to some sort of form , they had neither author nor knowledge among them that could be esteemed by posterity , which is notoriously false ; for thales who is reckond the first of the 7 wisemen of greece was before him ; and solon another of them , who is justly accounted the wisest of the antient greek legislators , after having seen one of his tragedies , oppos'd him to his face , forbad him acting any more , upbraided him for the lies utter'd in his play ; and told him if his drama were approv'd , they should quickly find lying and cheating in their contracts and bargains , as has been noted already ; so that her● the stage was nipp'd in the bud , and yet i must tell our author , that it was not then manag'd in so lew'd a manner as it is now ( tho' bad enough it seems to be censur'd by solon ) for diogenes laertius informs us , that tragedy was then carried on by a set of musicians , who sung hymns in the praise of bacchus ( which confirms what i have already said , that the stage had a drunken original ) and then betwixt those hymns thespis introduc'd an actor , who repeated some discourse on a tragical subject , and afterwards brought in satyrs in open charets , having their faces daub'd with the dreggs of wine to resemble the high colour'd visage of the satyrs . mr. dennis had as good have forborn mentioning those philosopers and historians socrates , plato , xe●ophon , aristotle , &c. whom he calls the wonders of all posterity , for it will appear from what ●as been said of them already under the head of philosophers against the stage that most of them disproved it , ev'n socrates himself who he says , first began to form their manners out of the theatre . as to his objection of some of them having writ tragedies , it s nothing to his purpose ; it 's very well known , that tragedies were then repeated for the instruction of the audience , but not acted with profane and villanous gestures to corrupt the morals of the spectators ; and thus the comedies and tragedies of the antients , such as soph●●les , euripides , ●eschylus , menander , seneca , and others were read by the poets themselves , or some that they appointed , it being accounted a disgrace for the authors to have them acted in stage plays , as appears plainly by that of horac● , — an tua demens vilibus in ludis dictari carmina malis ? serm. l. i. § 10. d●odorus siculus * , quintillian † , and others testifie the same , which is quite another thing than acting of plays , there being no body against writing a poem in nature of a tragedy or poetical dialogue , with several acts and parts to add life and lustre to it . — thus apolinaris the elder , when he was forbid preaching by iulian the apostate , or to educate chrisitian youth in learning and poetry , compos'd diverse tragedies in imitation of euripides , and comedies in imitatio● of menander and pindarus , consis●ing only of divine arguments and scripture stories , by which he instructed those to whom he could not have liberty to preach . — thus about the time of the reformation here in england several good christians , propagated the protestant doctrine under the veil of dialogues by way of comedy and tragedy , insomuch that the popish clergy got them forbidden by the 34 and 35 of henry 8. c. i. the famous du plessis mornay , writ a tragedy of ieptha's daughter : the great poet buchanan did the like ; he wrote also another call'd baptistes , and translated into latin the medea and alcestis of euripides , but it will not therefore follow that those great men approv'd the stage . buchanan in his dedication of alcestis to margaret of france sister of henry ii. recommends that tragedy to her , because there is no mention in it of parricid , witchraft or other crimes with which tragedians , commonly abound ; so that by this he rather censures than approves the theatre . our author's assertion , that the stage was established in queen elizabeths time , and flourished in that of k. iames , upon which spencer , bacon and raleigh , three prodigies of wit , appear'd all at once , and that we had no first-rate writer till henry viii . is like the rest of his learning and confidence . it was so far from being established in queen elizabeths time , tho' it had then but too much incouragement , that all the play-houses in london were suppressed upon a petition to that queen in 1580. — the stage was restrained by the 14th and 39th of her reign , and books against it , there dedicated to her secretary walsingham , and it was so far from flourishing in king iames i. time , that in the 1st year of his reign , stage-players were by act of parliament declared rogues and vagabonds , &c. as has been already said under the head of the english state against the stage . as to the learning of bacon and raleigh , it surpasses mr. dennis's skill to prove that it was any way owing to the stage , and indeed according to his solid way of writing , he owns as much himself , when he says , immediately upon the establishment of the drama , those three prodigies of wit appear'd . and i must likewise observe , that bacon and raleigh ( as he calls them ) employed themselves in more generous and manly studies , than any the stage can boast of , as appears by the learned works they have left behind them . as to the other part of his assertion , that we had no first-rate writer on any subject before henry viii . it 's an injury to the nation , and a proof of his own assurance and ignorance . to name but a few . what does he say to rog. bacon who liv'd in the 13th centry , and for his skill in the mathematicks , was esteemed a conjurer , and summoned to appear at rome on that account , where he cleared himself and was sent back again . to go a little higher . what does he think of the venerable bede , who liv'd in the beginning of the 8th century , from the birth of christ , to whose time bale reckons but 79 british writers ? did he never hear of sir thomas littleton , the oracle of the law , who liv'd in the reign of henry vi. of bracton or fortescue ? but because i will trouble my reader with no more , i would advise mr. dennis to turn over bale's centuries of english writers , and there he will find his bold assertion to be shamefully false : for in the 8th century ; that author reckons 18 more writers besides bede , 7 in the 9th , 14 in the 10th , 18 in the 11th , 87 in the 12th , amongst whom were 6 of the decem. angliae scriptores ; 123 in the 13th , 244 in the 14th , 137 in the 15th ; and from thence to the year 1557. but 137 more . not that these were all first rate writers , but it is sufficient to shew , that the state of learning was not so low in england as mr. dennis would represent it to have been : and that the increase and decrease of learning , has no dependency on the stage ; all that our plays can pretend to teach , being only some scraps of rheto●ick and history , which may be much better learn'd elsewhere . the reflections which he casts on the parliament times when the stage was abolish'd , are full of malice and ignorance . no man can expect that learning should flourish during an intestine war , yet those times were not without eminent scholars in all faculties ; and upon enquiry it will be found , that most of the great men england can boast of , laid the foundation of their studies , and formed their thoughts before the stage was restored by king charles ii. the world cannot deny , but selden and milton were famous for learning , tho' they were of the parliaments side , & ow'd nothing of their education to the stage . nor can our author pretend , that the lord chief justice halcs , or the beginners of the royal society , the doctors , ward , wilkins , wallis , &c. or the famous mr. boyle , were any thing indebted to the theatre for their great learning . the slovenly reflection he casts on the divines of those times , sufficiently discovers , that he 's but sorrily read in divinity . the doctors , calamy , case and manton ( whom he mentions with so much contempt , ) are approv'd by better judges than any that writes for the theatre , the good acceptance which the latter's volumes of sermons have met with from the publick , have sufficiently proclaimed their value ; and if our author had a little bethought himself , — the great archbishop usher flourished in those times , who was no friend to the stage ; the most learned bishop of worcester , whom he forgets to mention , was well advanc'd in his studies , and had given sufficient proof of his extraordinary abilities , before the revival of the stage ; and i dare boldly aver , that the theatre afforded him none of those learned arguments , by which of late he hath baffled the deist● and socinians . the bishop of salisbury , whose learning has made him famous , owes his education to a country where the stage never took root . — the late arch-bishop tillotson ow'd nothing of his great endowments to the theatre : and i question whether mr. lock and mr. newton , whose learning he mentions wi●h deserved applause , will give it under their hands , that they have had any benefit by it . — this venemous reflection , that none were encourag'd in the parliament times , but hypocritical fools , whose abominable canting was christned gift , and their dulness grace * , is no scandal from the pen of an ignorant libertine . it 's very well known , that some of them that are yet alive , such as dr. bates , mr. how , mr. also● , &c. are in general esteem by the learned men of all sides ; the two former were particularly resp●cted by the late arch-bishop tillotson for their great learning and worth ; and the latter is sufficiently known to the world for the accuteness of his pen , his admirable talent of preaching and universal learning . it 's need●ess to mention dr. owen , mr. baxter , mr. c●arnock and mr. pool deceased ; and i had almost forgot to mention the poly-glot , a laborious and learned work , the birth of which is owing to those times . in a word : the reflection is so malicious and ill grounded , that nothing can justifie my insisting so much upon it , but that it was necessary to answer a fool according to his folly , lest he should be wise in his own conceit . i come now to his second part. where in the first chapter he asserts with his usual confidence , that the stage is useful to the government ; which if true , the antient greeks and romans , who understood government the best of any people in the gentile world , were very much in the wrong when they banished the stage by the decree of the state ( as has been already mentioned ) and the government of england were mightily out in their measures in the time of king iames and charles i. when by act of parliament stage●players were declared rogues and vagabonds . if the stage be such a sovereign remedy against ambition and the immoderate love of pleasure , as mr. dennis would have it † , what unlucky stars were they that marr'd its influence , and prevented its curing of iulius caesar , nero and others of old , and three of our own successive kings of late ; who encouraged and frequented it more than any of their predecessors ? how came the jews to be so foully mistaken , as to think that the stage would over-turn their constitution , as i have already prov'd from iosephus , or did old samuel's spirit of prophecy forsake him when he recommended the perusal of the law of god to the kings of israel , as the properest method to keep them steady in their administration † : had there been such poets amongst them in those days , who ( as mr. dennis has it ) are sometimes by a spirit , not their own , exalted to divinity * . they would have prescribed tragedy , as the best remedy against their inconsiderate ambition and immoderate love of pleasure † . nothing , says mr. dennis , is more capable than tragedy , of raising the soul , and giving it that greatness , that courage , that force , and that constancy , which are the qualifications that make men deserve to command others ; which is evident from experience . for they who in all countries , and in all ages , have appeared most to feel the power of tragedy , have been the most deserving , and the greatest of men. aeschylus among the athenians was a great captain and tragick poet. sophocles an able states . man , and a victorious general . the very greatest among the romans were so far touch'd with the drama , as either to write their plays themselves , or to build their theatres ; witness scipio , lelius , lucullus , mecenas , iulius and augustus . none among the french has shew'd so much greatness of mind as richlieu ; and none so much passion for the drama , which was so great , that he writ several plays with that very hand which at the same time was laying the plan of the french universal monarchy . this is one of mr. dennis's raptures , when exalted to divinity , which inspir'd his pen with irresistible arguments : but i am afraid his divinity is not of the right stamp ; for had he look'd into the divine records , he would have found that moses , ioshua , iepthah , samson , david and others have far out-done all that he has nam'd , for greatness of courage , and qualifications for government , and yet never one of them saw a tragedy . hunniades , scanderbeg , tamerlan , zisca , gustavus adolphus , were equal for valour to any of his great samplars , and yet not one of 'em were inspir'd by the stage . then for the mighty richlieu , he was so far over-match'd by his own contemporary , oliver the stage-hater , that for all the courage of his tragical pen , he could not save himself nor his country from trembling , when the usurper roar'd . nor was the theatre able to cure his own ambition : but notwithstanding mr. dennis's probatum est , with the same hand that he wrote his plays , he laid the foundation of the hatefullest tyranny that europe hath known for several ages . i must also make bold to tell mr. dennis , that the countenance given to the stage by iulius caesar , pompey , and other aspiring romans , seems rather to have been the effect of their ambition , than propos'd as a cure for it , that by immersing the people in debanchery and pleasures , they should be render'd the less careful of their expiring liberties , which the senate being aware of , thought fit whilst they had any power left them , to cashier the stage ; and this being the opinion of the state , is more to be regarded than that of any particular person how great soever . it 's likewise worthy of our observation , that augustus himself , and severall other emperours who favour'd the stage , were sore'd to discharge it at last as a nursery of lewdness and villany . scipio nascica a great general , who by vote of the senate was declar'd the best man of the common-wealth , because of his extraordinary valour , prudence and morality , suppress'd the stage as destructive to the morals of the people . trajan , who if pliny may be credited , was one of the best roman emperours , did the like : and the emperour alexander severus , who was none of the worlt of them , withdrew the pensions of the players ; so that all that were great among the romans , were far from favouring the stage . the influence which mr. dennis ascribes to the stage , in preventing rebellions amongst the people † , is equally ridiculous with his other propositions . it 's but a few of the people at best , who have either time , opportunity or money to frequent the theatre ; so that by necessary consequence its influence can never be universal ; but besides , he is contradicted by matter of fact , the incouragement given to the stage here in england , could neither prevent the opposition made by the parliament and people to charles the i st , nor the plots of the papists against charles the iid . nor the revolt of the nation from the last k. iames. the stage in france could not prevent the rebellion against lewis xiv during his minority ; and it 's remarkable , that the protestants of that kingdom , who have declar'd against the theatre in a national council , as before mentioned , were his firmest friends . it 's pleasant to read how this stage panegyrist will in spite of history and common sense ascribe all the great things done by the greeks and romans to the influence of the stage † , when the states of both condemned them , as occasioning a dissolution of manners , which render'd them unfit either to defend themselves , or to conquer others . and themistocles in particular , who is one of the generals he mentions , had so low an opinion of the theatre , that he made a law against magistrates frequenting it , lest the common wealth should seem to play and loiter in the stage † . pericles , another of them , who was joint pretor with sophocles , rebuk'd his companion for beholding and commending a beautiful boy , telling him that wanton looks did not become a pretor * ; what would he have said then of the modern stage ? our author has forgot to mention alexander the great , the discipline and apparel , of whose army smelt nothing at all of the gawdy and lascivious theatre , and yet his conquests exceeded all those of the other greek captains he hath nam'd . then as to his roman instances , scipio africanus was so far from approving the follies of the stage , that he pitied the common-wealth , as drawing near its ruine , when he saw the children of the nobility bred up to dancing , and singing to the praise of stage-players , which their ancestors reckon'd disgraceful † ; and therefore his building , or rather advising a sort of reform as to the seats of the theatre , to distinguish the senators from the people , seems rather to have proceeded from a compliance with custom , and a design to humour the times , than from his approbation of stage-plays . besides , there 's no man acquainted with roman history , but must needs know that their theatres were applied to other uses , as publick orations , and the execution of malefactors ; so that the erecting of a theatre , will not always infer the approbation of the drama . pompey indeed built a theatre of stone after the former had been destroyed by scipio nasica , and to prevent its being demolish'd by the censors in time to come , erected a temple of venus on the top of it , which was no great proof that it was designed for a reformation of manners ; and this the senate was so sensible of , that they blam'd pompey for building his theatre , as i have said already . mr. dennis in the same ridiculous manner ascribes the union of the french , and their conquests to the influence of the drama , and the loss of their conquests to the ceasing of the spirit of dramatick poetry among 'em before the beginning of the last war † . but if he would be pleased to look back to the time of charlemaigne , who was a mortal enemy to the stage , he will find that france extended her conquests a great deal further then , under his conduct , than she has done by the influence of the drama under lewis xiv . and kept them longer too : and i would pray him to observe , that our own glorious sovereign king william , who hath oblig'd the french to resign their conquests , is no great admirer of the stage ; so that it 's something else than the drama that hath given him the ascendant over france . and the world must own that his courage and conduct , and qualifications for government are equal to any of those whom mr. dennis has mentioned , as the great patrons of the theatre . in his second chapter * , he would perswade the world , that the stage is particularly useful to the english and especially the present government , because the english are more prone to rebellion than any people upon the face of the earth ; and that we have been longer at quiet since the flourishing of the drama , than at any time before since the conquest ; and that the civil war was begun by those that were enemies to the stage . — so much for its usefulness to the english in general . then he proves its usefulness to this government in particular , because some of its friends would prove averse to it , if the stage were either suppress'd or very much discouraged , and that it diverts the enemies of the government , hinders their plotting , and frequenting iacobite conventicles . here 's another piece of civility to the nation again ; they are the greatest rebels on earth according to him ; but this i have answer'd already . that we have had more peace since the flourishing of the drama , than at any time since the conquest is false . it cannot be said to have flourished but since the restoration of charles ii. for it was restrained in queen elizabeths time , by act of parliament , and banished the city of london , ( as has been already said ) yet her 's was a long and a peaceable reign . stage-players were condemned as rogues in that of king iames , yet we had peace all his time . — but the unanswerable argument is this , those that rebell'd against charles i. were enemies to the stage : but if mr. dennis will be pleased to look back , he will find i have proved , that the incendiaries and fomenters of the civil war , were the friends of the stage , who taught rebellion against our constitution , set the king above all laws , and would have trod parliaments under foot , who are two thirds of our government , if the two states of lords and commons may be allowed that name . but if this will not do , what will mr. dennis reply , if i tell him , that those very men who were enemies to the stage , or at least their successors in principle and practice , who abhor the tyranny of 41 , as much as mr. dennis abhors the rebellion on 't , are the firmest friends this government has : and here i 'll venture to say once for all , that it 's very dangerous to our present establishment to have the theatre manag'd by such kind of persons as our author and others , who exclaim with so much malice and ignora●●● against those very maxims , which contrib●●● 〈◊〉 the happy revolution ; for if resisting or dethroning a prince be in no case lawful , which is the common theme and known principle of most of the libellers against 41 , it will by necessary consequence , condemn the revolution of 1688. so very useful are some of the late advocates and authors for the stage to the present government ( i will not say all that have writ plays ) for i know that mr. tate , and some others , whose parts deserve a better imployment , are persons of generous english principles . our authors insinuation , that the suppression or discouraging of the stage , would create an aversion in any of the friends of the government to the present constitution , is so very silly , that certainly he must be ashamed of it himself upon second thoughts . — does he think that a prince of such courage and bravery as ours , puts any value upon the friendship or enmity of a parcel of men , who have been declared rogues and vagabonds by the statute , or that the nation would any way resent the overturning of the stage , which never had any continued footing nor settled incouragement among us , but under the reign of a luxurious prince , especially considering how instrumental it has been to the debauching of our youth ? does he think that the people , who have look'd on with satisfaction to see several of those non-jurant bishops turn'd out of their sees , though once they ador'd them , when petitioners against king iames's declaration , would bestow one sigh on the lew'd stage , though it were first pull'd down , and then built up again , to make its own funeral pile . the contrary would be so true that thousands of husbands , parents and masters , who have had their wives , children and servants debauched by it , would gladly throw up their hatts at such a bonfire , and lay such a curse upon those that should ever attempt to erect another stage , as ioshua laid upon the re-builder of iericho . the nation is brought to a delicate pass indeed , when we must not talk of overturning the stage , but a parcel of debauched wits will threaten the government . if the thing were worthy of his majesties notice , he might well answer in the words of augustus , formerly mentioned in the like case , that he had been powerful enough to make his enemies stoop , and is he not able now to banish iesters and fools . his next insinuation , that it diverts the iacobites , and prevents their plots and conventicles , is equally absur'd : let him but cast an eye up to westminster-hall , or the city gates , and there the heads and limbs of charnock , perkins and friend , &c. will tell him to his face that he 's mistaken . his answers to the objections from authority , in the third chapter , i shall pass over , as having said enough on that head already , in answer to others . and as for his pretence in the rest of his book , to shew the usefulness of the stage to the advancement of religion , it 's only a further proof of his vanity and intollerable confidence , seeing fathers , councils , and the best of divines in all ages have demonstrated the contrary ; to their arguments that i have quoted already , i refer him , and so bid him farewel . if he think that i have not used him with that smoothness that he might have expected , let him remember how he treated the whole nation as splenetick rebels , the parliament of england in 1641. as traitors , and all the divines of those times as blockheads and hypocrites . cap. xx. the stage encouraged by the universities . i come next to consider the encouragement given to the stage by our universities ; which may also bear date from the reign of king charles i. for before that time , i find both of them had declared themselves against the theatre . dr. reynolds , in his book entituled , the overthrow of stage-plays † affirms , that the best and gravest divines in the university of oxford , condemned stage-plays by an express statute in a full convocation of the whole university in 1584. whereby the use of all common-plays was expresly prohibited in the university , lest the younger sort who are prone to imitate all kinds of vice , being spectators of so many lewd and evil sports , as in them are practised , should be corrupted by them . and mr. prin informs us , † that the university of cambridge , enacted the like , that no common actors should be suffered to play within the jurisdiction of the university , for fear they should deprave the manners of the scholars . and whereas it was objected , that the universities approved of private stage-plays acted by scholars in private colledges ; dr. reynolds answe●s in the book above-mentioned , that tho' they conniv'd at them , yet they gave no publick approbation to them , that they were not receiv'd into all colledges , but only practised in some private houses ( perchance once in three or four years ) and that by the particular statutes of those houses made in times of popery , which require some latin comedies for learning sake , only to be acted now and then ; and those plays too were for t●e most part compos'd by idle persons , who d●● not affect better studies ; and they were acted 〈◊〉 such as preferr'd vain-glory , ostentation , and strutting on the stage before learning ; ● by such who were sent to the university , not so much to obtain knowledge , as to keep t●●m from the common riotous way of living ; ●s parents send little children to school to kee● them out of harms way ; and their spectators ● the most part were of the same sort , but the raver , better and more studious persons , especially divines , condemn'd them , censur'd them , and came not at them . thus we see that our universities formerly condemn'd the stage , and that they came afterwards to countenance them , must without doubt be ascribed to the influence of k. charles , i. and a. bishop laud ; for i find on aug. the 30th . 1636. the students of christ-church in oxford presented a tragi-comedy call'd , the royal slave , to the k. and queen , which was afterwards presented again to their majesties at hampton-court ; and the 2d . edition printed at oxford , by william turner in 1640. the gentlemen of trinity-colledge in cambridge did before that , viz. in 1634. present a comedy to the king , call'd albumazar , printed at london by nicholas okes ; upon both which i shall make some remarks ; and first upon albumazar . remarks upon the universities plays before king charles i. the poet values himself in the prologue upon the dignity of his audience , but chiefly addresses himself to the ladies , whose beauties , he says , made the whole assembly glad . whether the play was altogether so pure and chast as became his majesties presence , the gravity of the university , and the modesty of the ladies we shall see afterwards ; but this very hint of the beauty of the ladies cheering the hearts of the assembly , will fall under our saviours reproof , of not looking upon a woman to lust after her , and is the very thing for which st. chrysostom declaims against plays , as we have heard already . nor can it be reconcileable to the purity of the christian religion , which hath set a bar upon our very looks , for men and women to haunt play-houses in order to ogle one another , as the stage-poets themselves now express it . then for the play it self . the dialogue betwixt albumazar , harpax and ronca where they applaud theft and robbery , as that which made the spartans valiant and arabia happy , and charge it on all trades and callings , tho' guilt with the smooth title of merchant , lawyer or the like , could have no natural tendency to teach moral honesty . whether it might have any design to justifie the after practices of levying money without consent of parliament , ex●orting loan money from merchants and tradesmen , as being only a better sort of thieves ; or to justifie plundering the country , as the histories of those times say was very usual amongst the king's soldiers afterwards , i know not , but the fable seems to carry some such moral , and the authority of an university would go a great way among libertines ; so that it could but be collected by the least innuendo , tho' never so much wrested . albumazar's insisting upon great necessity , as the cardinal virtue , and it being printed too in italick , would seem to strengthen the conjecture , especially seeing he goes on to represent all mankind as thieves ; and that the very members of man's body are fram'd by nature , so as to steal from one another , which is good enough authority for the head to steal from all the rest . the 2d scene , containing a discourse betwixt pandolfo , an old fellow of 60 , in love with flavia , a girl of 16 , and cricca his servant , is far from being chast. — i cannot imagine what edification it could afford to the audience to hear an old man insist upon his vigor and fitness for a young girl , and his servant on the other hand telling him , that one nights lodging would so much enfeeble him , as flavia would make him a cuckold . this seems more adapted to expose to laughter the dotage that old age is now and then subject to , and to justifie the disloyalty of a young wife so wedded , than to bewail or reprove such folly on both sides . it had been more becoming a supream magistrate to provide against such unsuitable matches by wholsom laws , than to have had them represented as the subject of mirth on a stage ; as it would have been more decent for an university to have given him such counsel , than to divert him with such ridiculous entertainment . the dialogue betwixt albumazar , pandolfo and cricca , [ about astrology ] is a meer rhapsody of studied nonsence , which looks very unlike the practice of christians , whose great law-giver tells them , they must be accountable for every idle word . the courtship betwixt trincalo a farmer , and armellina , pandolfo's maid ; — wherein trincalo compares himself to a lusty strong ass , and her to a wanton young filly , and that they should have a race of mules if she were willing ; is so very coarse and throws so much contempt upon the country farmers , who are so useful to the nation , that it can neither be reconciled to the maxims of christianity nor common policy . in short , the whole comedy is far from having any thing of a tendency to vertue in it , except reflections upon the city , as not affording a dozen of chast virgins , and the like on sheriffs and justices of peace as cheating and hectoring their neighbours , and representing country gentlemen , as minding nothing but wenching and drinking , and young gentlewomen talking smuttily of their amours , be vert●ous representations . if it be said as usual , that those vices are represented in order to make them be abhorr'd , and the guilty persons ashamed of them , it is easie to answer , that a supream magistrate is authoriz'd by god and the laws of his country , to punish those vices by the sword of justice , which will be ten times more effectual , than making them the subject of diversion on a stage . i come next to the royal slave , a tragi comedy , presented to the king and queen by the students of christ-church in oxford . the prologue to the king and queen is on the representation of one of the person magi , discovered in a temple worshipping the sun , and at the sight of a new majesty , he leaves the altar and addresseth himself to the throne . what moral this can include , is hard to determine , except it were that they had a mind to insinuate that it was no crime to sacrifice religion to the court , as too many of them attempted to do in reality , when they embrac'd doctrines , contrary to those of the church of england , for which some of them ( as laud , montague and others ) were censur'd by the parliament afterwards . in the prologue to the university , there 's a jerk at some that they call late damned books , and wich they hoped would inspire none of the university with a harsh opinion of the play , which they alledge was so innocent , that the ●ittle ruff or careless might be present at it , without fear , and they valued themselves highly upon the presence of their majesties , as giving life to the performance , and the king's servants spoke much in the same manner , when they presented it before them at hampton court. the first act represents a parcel of drunken ephesian captives , revelling in their chains , and calling for vvhere 's , but bidding their goaler and his wife be sure that they did not suffer any of the young students of the law to forestal the market . the goaler too has a jerk at the custom of singing psalms at the gallows . all which i humbly conceive was an entertainment no way suited to the royal majesty of a king , nor to the modesty of a queen : nor was it any thing for the credit of the nation , that the reins of publick discipline should be so far let loose as to suffer such practices amongst the young students of the law , if that was the moral of the fable . the rape attempted afterwards upon the persian queen and her ladies by those ephesian captives , and their lewd discourses from time to time , was no very good lesson , nor meet entertainment for a queen . and their bringing in the persian courtiers , yielding compleat obedience to cratander , a mock-king for three days , because arsamnes their prince commanded it , and at the same time divested himself of his authority for that space , seems to teach the slavish doctrine● so much then contended for by the court , that i● was unlawful to resist the king or any , having his commission under any pretence whatsoever , tho' he should ev'n overturn the foundations of their constitution , as here their counterfeit arsamnes did by making a captive king of persia. nay , and this play too which they pretend was so fram'd as it could give no offence to the gravity of the university or clergy , represents atossa the queen a little inclining to the taint of an unlawful amour with cratander the three-days●king , and him entertaining it also , tho' at the same time he is their chief pattern of vertue . indeed there 's praxaspis's saying in the second scene , that seemed to be a sa●yrical hint , ( tho' i cannot think , co●sidering the temper of the stage , that 't was so design'd ) viz. that when one of the ladies wondred that they had not chosen cratander a queen for company , to impe his reign . praxaspis answer'd , that the female sex was too imperious to rule , and would do as much harm in a kingdom , as a monkey in a glass-shop , move and remove till they had broken all . had her then majesty taken the hint and forborn medling with affairs of state , it 's probable that matters had not come to that fatal exit they did , which is one instance more to convince our advocates of the st●ge , that those who frequent and admire it most , are never reform'd by it . i shall forbear any further remarks upon those plays , these being enough to make good the charge , that our universities have encouraged the stage , which is so much the more criminal in ●hem , because they ought to instruct the nation by their example as well as their learning methinks the reverence they ow'd to the antient philosophers , fathers and councils , besides what our first reformers , the acts of parliament and those of their own convocations requir'd from them , should have restrained them . — but to the great misfortune of the nation , neither th●se nor any consideration whatever , were able to prevail with them ; so that the universities became infected with the contagion of the stage , and they being the nurseries of officers for the church and state it was no wonder , if the infection spread from them , all over the kingdom , especially being patroniz'd by the court and a. b. laud , and his faction of the church . this encourag'd particular students afterwards , such a ; barton holyd●y and gaspar main ( both of christ-church , oxford ) to write plays : the latter in his comedy , call'd , the amorous vvar , is so very foul and smutty that it may well deserve the name of down-right lewdness ; but it 's supposed he thought it attonement sufficient to jerk at the city and parliament , which he does there with abundance of more malice than wit. neither time nor room will now allow me to enquire into later instances of the theatres being encou●ag'd by the universities , but 't is to be fear'd there 's no great reform amongst them , as to this matter , which i am the more inclin'd to believe by the following prologue , which was spoke at a musick-act in the university of cambridge , about two years ago . prologue . the doctors being always much inclin'd to favor and instruct the female kind , out of their wonted goodness thought it meet , the ladies we in mother-tongue shou'd greet : for surely cambridge wou'd be much to blame , to let 'em go no wiser than they came : whom nature in so fine a mould hath wrought , so pliant and so yielding to be taught ; that in one minute any man may show , and teach 'em all their aged mothers know . yet do whate'er you can , they 'll have an itching for further knowledge , and some deeper teaching : pity such pregnant parts were not remov'd to colleges , and by some helps improv'd . bless us ! the age would be extream discerning , if all the females too were big with learning . i 'm sure our cambridge ladies know the art , can all the learned mystery impart ; when an old book-learn'd sybil , dry and lean , with hollow eyes , long phiz , and wither'd skin ; whose every tooth , but that of colt , is gone , can be caress'd by vig'rous twenty one ; and joy to her blest consort , married be , anno aetatis suae 63. and then — w'have a new trim'd lady posted down , to front the country , and oblige the town , who , tho' a love to learning she pretends , yet i susupect , since here i lately saw some of her well-dress'd am'rous temple-friends , she follows not the gospel but the law. bless'd cambridge ! where 't is hard to find a maid , except in some old reveren'd doctors bed ; for they , good men , to study much inclin'd , among the stars their nightily-pleasures find , whilst they on virgo all their hours bestow , the wife continues virgin still b — w. yet our professors — ( what pity 't is such follies shou'd miscarry ? wou'd got an act of parliament to marry . how wou'd you like a lover , who shou'd speak , and kiss , and sigh and compliment in greek ? from whose strong loins shou'd spring great tau's ( and sigma's , black princes , and a noble race of pigmies . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a57291-e170 * pref. to beauty in distress . defence of dramatick poetry . usefulness of the stage , &c. † mr. dennis in his usefulness of the stage . * valer. max. l. 6. c. 3. § 12. † iustin. cod. l. 5. tit. 17. de repud . & novella . 22. & 117. notes for div a57291-e2210 † de spe●lac . c. 24. * hom. 6. in matt. † tertul. de spectaculis * defence of dramatick poetry . p. 30 , 37. † de vita contemp. lib. 3. cap. 6. fol. 105. * epist. 22. c. 15. † de vita contemp. lib. 1. c. 23 , 24 , 25. † epist. l. 1. epist. 62 , 63 * cap. 16. † 1 cor. 2. 4. † acts 18. 24 , 25. * tit. 1. 12. * 2 tim. 1. 13. † 1 tim. 6. 20. * pag. 935. † pag. 929. * pag. 241. notes for div a57291-e8710 a cons●itu . apost . l. 1. c. 8. b de recta edu . ad selucum . p. 1063. c de i●ololat . c. 1● . d in luc. lib. 1. v. 1. e epist. 22. cap. 13. and epist. 146. ad da●as . f de falsa relig. c. 12. 15. g de civit. dei. l. 2. c , 1. 8. h can. 16. * de regum institut . l. 4. p. 120. * mas●aus in vit. ignat. l. 4. ● . 8. † homil in ●ant . proem in ezech. * de vanit . scienti . cap. 64. * lib. de re●pub . 2. * cap. 15. notes for div a57291-e10580 * page 11. † de civi● . dei. l. 4. c. 1. * ib. l. 2. c. 13. * ibid. l. 1. c. 32 , 33 * d● spe●●ac . cap. 24. to 28. † ib. art. 2. ad ●● ▪ art 3 resp. prim● secundae , q. 102. art . 6. ad sextum secunda secundae , q. 162. art . 2 , 3 * beauty in distress , page 4. * hom. de david & saul . tom. 1. col. 511. de verbis isaiae , vidi d●m . h●m . 1. col. 1283 orat. 6. tom. 5. col. 1471. † hom. 38. in matth. tom. 2. col. 298. * m●tth . 5. 28. * beauty in distress , p. xv. † cap. 4 , 5 , 6. and 24. * cap. 7. 25 † cap. 17. * de spec●ac . c. 18. † ib. cap. 17. ‖ ibid. cap. 25. * ibid. cap. 10. † apol. adv . gent. c. 38. * de spect . c. 17. & 24. * ib. cap. 25 , 26 , 27. † ib. c. 17. * beauty in distress . pag. xvi . † epist. l. 1. epist. 10. eucratio . † lib. de spectac . ep. l. 2. ep. 2. donato . * de habitu virgin. pag. 242. * de spect . p. 243 , 244 * beauty in distress p. 14. † de ver● cultu . cap. 20. lib. 6. † div●n●rum instit. epitome , cap. 6. † de gubernati●ne dei , lib. 6. p. 193 , 194. * ib. p. 185 , 186. notes for div a57291-e13360 1 can. 57. 2 can. 62. 3 can. 67. 4 can. 5. 5 can. 5. 6 can. 20. 7 can. 13 , and 35. 8 can. 11 , and 35. 9 can. 68 , and 88. 1 can. 12. 2 can. 28. 3 can. 96. 4 can. 2. 5 can. 8. 6 can. 22. 7 can. 7. * sess. 24. surius tom. 4. p. 979. * beauty in distress pag. 21. † can. 15. 16. surius , tom. 3. p. 734. * tertulli●n de spectaculis . eccles. hi●● l. 5. c. 17. notes for div a57291-e14480 * mat. 5. 29. † exodus 23. 13. * vid. gerh. ioh. voss. de idol . l. 2. c. 8. * mat. 5. 13. † matthew 18. 6. * page 11. * rise and progress of religious societies . p. 125. * de causa dei l. 1. c. 1. coroll . 20. † dialog . l. 3. cap. 1. † poor mans library part 1. fol. 13 , 39. * part 1. miscel. 6. prelect . 2. fol. 46 , &c. notes for div a57291-e17230 * p. 43 , 44 ▪ * psalm 50 , 18. * page 13. defence of dramatick poetry . * page 19. * school of abuse . * convivium apud xenophon . oper. graec. lat. francofurti p. 893 , &c. notes for div a57291-e18180 * pag. 3. * defence of dramatick poetry pag. 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11. * hist. mastix . p. 492. notes for div a57291-e18870 * hom. 38. in mat. tom. 2. * de spect. ● 17 , 18. † de spect. l. 2. ep. 2. ‖ paedagogi . l. 3. c. 11. * de rect● educatione ad seleucum p. 1063. * annal. lib. 4. c. 3. * marcus aurelius . lib. 1. cap. 14. and lib 2. ●p . 12 ●d lamber● † sueton in vit . nero. sect. 16 , 26. * de circo . romano . c. 47. † variarum l. 1. epist. 20 , 30. l. 3. ep. 51. and lib. 7. epist. 10. * holinshead . p. 1028. n● . 20 , & . ●0 . nevils hist. of ket's stirs . † cap. 16. notes for div a57291-e19790 * de gloria atheniensium . † pag. 14. * lacon . institut . * pag. 17. * liv. l. 48. aug. de civit . dei l. 1 c. 31 , &c. and lib. 2. c. 12 , & c.. † marcus aur. c. 14. † dien . cas●●● rom. 〈◊〉 . l , 5● . † dia in vit . traja●● . * a●nal . li● 14. c. 3. † guevara his dial of princes . notes for div a57291-e20530 † pag. 17. * zos●n . l. 2 baron . spondan . a●no 303. §. 3. euseb. de vit . constan. lib. 3. cap. 52 , 56. † eutrop. rer. rom. hist. l. 13. page 173. baron . spondan . an 385. sect. 9. chrysost. hom. 17. ad pop . antioch . * codex theodos●i . lib. 15. tit. 5. 〈◊〉 spect . lex . 2 , 4. tit. 7. de scenici . lex . 1. spondan . epit. baron . an. 371. sect. 10. † iustin. cod. l. 1. tit. 6. de episc. lex . 17 , 18. notes for div a57291-e20780 * p. 18 , &c. * lib. 2. c. 6. * polit. lib. 8. c. 5. n● . 21. and 78. lib. 7. c. 17. * page 26. * dial●g . ● , 10. * page 20. * lib. 2. about the middle . † tusculan . quest. lib 4 near the end . de leg. lib. 1. the like . * pag. 225. † de consensu evangelistar . c. 2. * cap. 5. p. 75. † plutarchi solon . lacon ins●ituta . † page 21. † liv. dec . 1. l. 7. § 3. * p. 22 , 23. * short view . p. 236. * natural quest. l. 7. † epist. 7. * pag. 23. † annal. lib. 15. § 9 , 10. * plutarchi solon . pag. 31. * pluta●ohl apotheg . * plato , socrates , apolog . page 12. and diog. laert. l. 2. notes for div a57291-e22390 * pag. 29● * 74. hom. on mat. notes for div a57291-e23220 * valerius maximus lib. 2. c. 4. §. 4. suet. in triberius * ad seleuc. de recta educatione . † hom. in matth. 6. * epist. l. 2 epist. 2. donato . † de civit. dei l. 2. c. 4 * de vit . in christol . 2. † de repub lib. 6. c. 1. * notae in aug. de civ . dei , l. 2. c. 13 † plays confuted , and school of abuse . notes for div a57291-e23650 † pag. 227. † tertul. de spec. c. 15. * ●ap . 16. † cap. 17. † cap. 23. * cap. 25. † cap. 27. † pag. 36. * iob c. 1. 2. * 1 k. 22. † page 37. * hi●●r . mastix 910 † his eng. gentlewoman printed in 1631 p. 53 , &c. † pag. 38. * histr . mastix pag. 556. * preface to beauty in distress p. 14 , 15 , &c. notes for div a57291-e24460 * pag. 39. * iosephus antiq. iud lib. 15. c. 11. * defence of dramatick poetry . p. 54. † pag. 55 , 56. † pag. 57. * iohn 1. ●9 . † p. 57 , 58. * from page 59 , to 67. notes for div a57291-e25450 * prov. 14. ver . 9. † 1 tim. 2. ver . 11 , 12. † eph. 5. 12. 1 thes. 5. 17. † preface to campaigners , p. 3. * ibid. p. 7. * ibid. p. 3. † 2 cor. 4. ver . 7. notes for div a57291-e27840 * pag. 1 , 2. † psa. 16. 1● . * 1 cor. 15. 32. * rom. 12. 1. † p. 19. 67 , &c. * ecclesiastes ●hroughout 1 joh. 2. 16. 2 ro. 13. 14. 3 col. 3. 2 , ● 4 gal. 5. 24. 5 2 tim. 3. 4 6 tit. 3. 3. 7 jam. 4. 3. 8 luk. 8. 14. 1 col. 3. ● . 2 mat. 5. 28. 3 1 tim. 2. 9. 4 pro. 23. 1. 5 ro. 13. 13. 6 col. 3. 8. 7 col. 4. 6. 8 eph. 5. 4. 9 1 tim. 5. 6. * 1 cor. 7. 30 , 31. † heb. 11. verse 13. eph. 4. 31. † page 8. † page 6. † page 7. † page 8. * page 10. † p. 16. † p. 8. † page 19. † p. 20. † p. 25 , 26. * page 25 , 26 , 27. * athenaeus , dipnosoph . lib. 2. c. 1. † plutarch . roman . quaest. quest. 107. * de spectae . † hon. 62. ad pop. antioche●um . * plutarch . de gloria ●theniensium & sympos . 〈◊〉 . 7. † athaeneus dipnos . l. 13. * plutarch . amar. pag. 105. † p. 35 , 36. * instit. orat. ● . 1. c. 18 , 19 * epist. 2● . c. 13. * page 36. * tusculan quaest. l. 4. † despectac c. 27. * bib. hist. l. 14. § 11● . † de orator . dia. 1 , 6 , 〈◊〉 . * page 42. † page 51. † deu. 17. 18. * pag. 44. † * pag. 52. † page 56. † p. 59 , &c. † plutarch in vita themist . * io. sarisb . nug. cunal . lib. 1. cap. 8. † salust . saturnal . lib. 3. † p. 61. * from p. 63 to 68. notes for div a57291-e33400 † p. 151 , &c. † hist. mast. pag. 490. luke 18. 36. the antient and modern stages survey'd, or, mr. collier's view of the immorality and profaness of the english stage set in a true light wherein some of mr. collier's mistakes are rectified, and the comparative morality of the english stage is asserted upon the parallel. drake, james, 1667-1707. 1699 approx. 520 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 203 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2007-10 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a36512 wing d2123 estc r22914 12125740 ocm 12125740 54591 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a36512) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 54591) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 92:12) the antient and modern stages survey'd, or, mr. collier's view of the immorality and profaness of the english stage set in a true light wherein some of mr. collier's mistakes are rectified, and the comparative morality of the english stage is asserted upon the parallel. drake, james, 1667-1707. [33], 367 p. printed for abel roper ..., london : 1699. written by j. drake. cf. halkett & laing (2nd ed.). errata: p. [33]. reproduction of original in union theological seminary library, new york. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng collier, jeremy, 1650-1726. -short view of the immorality and profaneness of the english stage. theater -moral and ethical aspects. theater -england. 2006-10 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-10 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2006-11 jonathan blaney sampled and proofread 2006-11 jonathan blaney text and markup reviewed and edited 2007-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the antient and modern stages survey'd . or , mr collier's view of the immorality and profaness of the english stage set in a true light . wherein some of mr collier's mistakes are rectified , and the comparative morality of the english stage is asserted upon the parallel . rode caper vitem , tamen hinc cum stabis ad aram , in tua quod fundi cornua possit , erit . ov. london , printed for abel roper , at the black boy over against st. dunstans church in fleetstreet . 1699. to the right honourable charles earl of dorset , and middlesex , baron buckhurst , one of the lords of his majesty's most honourable privy council , lord lieutenant of the county of sussex , and knight of the most noble order of the garter , &c. my lord , in addressing to your lordship , tho i betray my ambition , i shall strengthen the opinion of my integrity . for by appealing to so great , and so impartial a judge , i give the world sufficient demonstration , that i trust more to the merit of my cause , than of my performance , and depend rather upon the matter , than the manner of what i deliver , for my justification . the tyde of prejudice runs high for my adversary , and the less discerning part of the town are so prepossess'd with the specious title , and the plausible pretence of mr collier's book , that they think the whole interest of virtue and religion embark'd on that bottom . immorality and prophaness are things so justly abhorrd , that whoever enters the lists against 'em , has all good men for his seconds . and their zeal for the cause so far blinds many of 'em , that they neither see , nor suspect any defect or treachery in their champion . for men are very unwilling to hear truth , against prejudice , and suffer reason to triumph over inclination . the town is divided in its judgment of the piece , and the whole contest lies betwixt those that are judges , and those that are not , as cardinal richlieu said upon another occasion . the latter are of the opposite faction , and are as much more numerous than the former ; as vanity and presumption are more universal , than understanding . this makes the prefixing your lordships name , by your own permission , whose judgment is as little to be byass'd , as 't is to be question'd , not only matter of honour to me , but of necessary defence . not that i expect any protection for those errors which i may have committed . they must be left to the mercy of readers of far less judgment and candour , than your honour . to be tried by such a grand jury , is a happiness i am so far from expecting , that i know it impossible . but the deference due to so great a name may procure me a fair hearing amongst some , upon whom a bare regard to justice wou'd hardly prevail so far . did mr collier contend only for the better establishment of virtue , and reformation of manners , i shou'd be asham'd to appear against him . but there is a snake in the grass . mr collier undertakes the patronage of virtue , as cunning men do the guardianship of rich orphans , only to make his markets of it . that this is his case , the following sheets will , i hope , sufficiently demonstrate . his vehemence gives us just ground to suspect his integrity , and to believe that he has some conceal'd interest , or pique at the bottom . the disinterested enquiry after truth is always accompany'd with candour ; where that is wanting , there is just reason to suspect some further design . in mr collier's management , the heat and smoke are too great and apparent for the fire to be long conceal'd . his design is manifestly not to argue the poets out of their faults , but to bully his readers out of their understandings , and by violence to alter the impressions already receiv'd of those matters ▪ which he treats of . his style is adapted to his purpose , fierce and bold , full of vehement exaggerations , and haughty menaces , he racks sentences , and tortures expressions , to extort a confession from 'em of things to which they are absolute strangers . the consequence of this way of writing is , that women , and weak men , whose fears are stronger than their judgments , will be aw'd into a perswasion before they are convinc'd of the truth of it . for such people in most cases measure the certainty of assertions by the confidence of him that pronounces 'em , and the importance by the false weight that is laid upon ' em . 't was this consideration , not any extraordinary affection for the stage , that engag'd me in this argument . i look upon it as an attempt towards usurping the soveraignty of men's understandings , and restoring the tyranny of bigottry , whose yoak we have scarce yet sufficiently shaken off . my reason is the dearest , and freest part of me , or at least it ought to be so , and he that puts the dice upon that , affronts me in the most sensible manner . i had rather be bubbled of my money than my intellects , and shou'd chuse rather to be thought his cully , than his fool. 't is true , these tricks are not to be put upon a man that is aware of 'em , and consequently i might have secur'd my self without making a publick discovery . but i think it a cowardly piece of caution , a sort of criminal misprision to connive at the cheating of others ; and while i am able to inform 'em , the clamour of knaves or fools shall never awe me to silence . that this is no extravagant surmise , no hypochondriacal fancy , is evident from the tenour of the whole book , especially the third chapter . every thing is deliver'd with an air so haughty , so magisterial , so decisive , that he seems rather to serve us with an injunction to believe him , than an argument . that this imposition may be the more tamely submitted to , he palms the authority of the church upon us , and pretends her commission to make fools of the laity . the church is by no means oblig'd to him , for endeavouring to cast the odium of his own arrogance and ambition upon her . how great soever his zeal for her service may be , his indiscretion in it does not come a whit behind it . for to extend the power and authority of the priest , he curtails the articles of the church , and denies the king's supremacy , which she has already oblig'd him to swear to the belief of . i shall not trespass so far upon your honour's patience , as to recapitulate the several invidious things , which he fathers upon the church . i will hope well of his design , tho i fear the effects of his performance will not turn to her service . and i cou'd wish his motives were better , or not so apparent . if demetrius was a stickler for the honour of diana , 't was because he made shrines for her , the interest of his trade engag'd him in her party . mr collier's case is not much different . the poets had sometimes made bold to display a vicious , or a foolish priest , and those that were knaves in the world , and drolls in the pulpit , had been made cheats and buffoons upon the stage . the mask of formality and sanctity was pull'd off , and the block-head and the hypocrite shewn bare-fac'd . thus the profane vulgar were suffer'd to peep , and pry into mysteries . this mr collier resents as if he were personally concern'd , and wou'd perswade the world , that to expose hypocrisie is to affront the church , than which her enemies cou'd not have suggested any thing more malicious . however , this mistaken injury has rais'd a flame , which will cost the effusion of abundance of ink before it is extinguish'd . manet alta mente repostum , and is never to be forgiven while mr collier can wag a goose-quill . our clergy deservedly have both at home and abroad the reputation of the most learned clergy in the world , and i shall venture to affirm , that they are the best in the world. their candour towards those that differ from 'em in opinion , their modesty in asserting their own , and their sober conduct in the discharge of their own consciences , and not assuming the dominion of those of other men , will prove what i say to to be no paradox . and therefore mr collier , in making so large a demand in their names , has obliquely traduc'd 'em , by giving occasion to those that don't sufficiently know 'em , to suspect that he acts by their approbation and authority . but i forget , that while i talk to your lordship , i wrong the publick , which claims so great a share in your thoughts and time . i shall not attempt the character of your lordship : for , to write of you , as i ought , to do you justice , i must write like you , which i hope i shall never have the vanity to pretend to . but the name of my lord dorset alone carries more panegyrick than the fruitfullest invention can furnish . those adventurous gentlemen , that have already tried their strength at it , have by their foils taught me caution . their performances fall so extreamly short of the merit of their subject , that when they have exhausted their fancies , their whole stock of rhetorick looks like an ostentation of beggery . this consideration alone is sufficient to deter me from presuming further upon your lordship's goodness , except to ask pardon for my ambition of taking this publick occasion to declare with what profound respect i am my lord , your honour 's most humble and devoted servant . the table . introduction . p. 1 the quarrel to the modern stage first formally commenc'd in spain . 5 shows among the heathens of religious parentage . 6 the drama of the same extraction . 7 tragedy and comedy originally one thing 8 when first distinguisht . 9 the stage under the patronage of bacchus . ibid paganism a religion contrived for popularity . 10 heathen religion all ceremony . 12 idolatry of the stage , the principal argument of the fathers against it . 13 heathen plays dangerous temptations to the new christian converts . 17 zeal of the fathers against them not unnecessary . 18 disingenuity of mr collier . 20 idolatry the main objection of the fathers to the antient drama . 21 mimi c shews among the romans scandalously lewd , the drama not at all . 23 clemens alexandrinus falsly cited against the drama . 24 the fathers sometimes over rigorous . 25 the authority of the fathers short of the case . 33 caution of mr c — ii — r. ibid. plato's authority considered . 34 xenophon ' s. 35 aristotle ' s. 36 plays forbidden to young people upon the score of the temptations from the company . 36 licentiousness not defended . 39 mr collier's character of terence and plautus . 40 this character insidious . 41 his citations patched up of incohe rent fragments . 42 the invention of the roman comic poets barren . 43 poetic justice neglected by them . 44 livie's authority abused . ibid. the luxury and expensiveness of these shews , not their immorality condemned by livy . 46 valerius maximus misquoted . 47 falseness and absurdity of mr collier's paraphrase . 48 his conclusion not to be found in valerius 49 stage allow'd at marseilles . 50 seneca's authority nothing to the purpose ibid yet perverted 52 tacitus , &c. impertinently cited . 54 ovid and mr wycherley say nothing against the stage , but the audience . 55 too great severity of no service to morality . 56 mr collier's licentious method of misquoting unsufferable . 57 the athenians the greatest friends in the world to the stage . 58 the law against judges making of comedies a direct argument against mr collier . 59 the old comedy of the greeks exceeding licentious . 60 comedy , why no proper exercise for a judge . 61 opinion of the spartans . 62 theft tolerated at lacedaemon . 63 character of the spartans . 64 plutarch's authority falsified by mr collier . 65 politeness the objection of the spartans to the drama . 66 all sorts of plays not prohibited at lacedaemon . ibid. morality not the reason of rejecting the stage . 67 adultery tollerated at lacedaemon . ibid. livy's authority considered . 69 antient romans an unrefined people . 70 acting of plays first left off by the roman youth , because of the difficulty . 71 histriones , who so called ibid. conjectural reasons why players were noted with infamy . 73 two first most probable . 75 drama at first necessitated to use the actors of the ludi scenici . 76 the actors of tragedy and comedy therefore only call'd histriones . ibid. the praetorian edict against them . 77 labeos exposition shews the intent of that edict . 78 mr collier's disingenuity in this point . ibid the roman censure extended only to the mercenary actors as such . 79 scipio and laelius writers to the stage , or assisting to it . 80 julius and augustus caesar and seneca did the same . 81 law of the theodosian code considered . 83 meaning of the theodosian law. 84 parallel instance 85 authority from the councils already answered . 87 quarrel to the stage unjust . 88 antient stage infinitely more scandalous and lewd than the modern . 89 stage dancing , as now practised , inoffensive to modesty . 90 mr collier's notion of the extravagant power of music ridiculous . 91 power of music owing to contingent circumstances . 94 influence of sounds indeterminate . 95 mr collier a platonist . 97 not acqnainted with the subject he treats of . 98 his charge rash . 99 comparative morality of the vocal music of the ancient and modern stages . 100 antient vocal music . 101 chorus , its office 102 their mimi . 103 mr ▪ collier's objections from the topic of love a declamatory rant . 105 meer frenzy . 106 revenge not encouraged by the stage . 108 instance in the mourning bride . ibid. passion not proper in comedy . 109 love , jealouly , &c. how to be used in comedy . 111 exposition of an observation of horace . 112 horace's instance from terence examined . 113 tragedy , what in the iudgment of aristotle . 114 duelling and rencounters against the nature and laws of comedy . 115 duell in love in a tub against the rules of comedy . 116 comic poet obliged to draw according to nature . 117 no breach of morality without offending against the laws of the stage . 118 mr collier right in his end of stage poetry . 120 mistaken in his method of prosecuting that end . ibid morals of a play wherein shewn . 121 folly and knavery the subjects of comedy 122 mr colller's character of the antient poets invidious . 124 fable the principal part of a play. 125 fable of the oedipus of sophocles . 126 piety of oedipus . 129 oedipus ' s proclamation . 130 moral of the fable defective . 131 moral of the english oedipus the same . 132 meerly speculative . ibid. not very natural . 133 moral of seneca . 137 seneca the philosopher supposed the author . ibid. his moral neglected by the author of the english oedipus . ibid. summ of seneca's moral 140 oedipus's justification of himself . 141 harmony of the greek , roman , and english authors . 142 levity of fortune not the occasion of the fall of oedipus . 143 opposition of providence . ibid. presumption of laius . 144 another moral . ibid. presumption of oedipus . 145 oedipus in sophocles and the rest of the tragedians , a predestinarian . ibid. french moral . 146 necromancy and all sorts of divination allowed by the heathens . ibid. conjecture of the reasons that induced the authors of the english oedipus to prefer the greek moral to the latin. 147 seneca's moral not proper for the english stage . 148 greek and roman moral unserviceable to virtue . 149 oedipus , why so minutely examined . 150 fable of ajax flagellifer . ibid. the moral somewhat obscure ; two may be guessed at . 152 the first not arising naturally from the action . 153 the second moral not very natural . 154 fable of the electra . 155 the moral of it . 156 fable of antigone . ibid. the moral of it . 157 oedipus coloneus . ibid. the fable of it . 159. no moral . ibid. trachiniae , its fable . ibid moral of sophocles . 160 philoctetes , the fable 161 no moral . 162 speech of hercules not pertinent to the action . ibid. character of the plays of euripides in general . 164 fable of the orestes . 165 the characters all vitious . 167 not of a piece all through . ibid. the moral of it . 168 the medea , &c. of euripides . 170 fable of the hippolitus . ibid. ion usurp'd by mr dacier , a moral tragedy . 172 fable of ion precedent to the action . 173 fable commencing with the action . ibid. main condition of moral tragedy neglected in this . 174 creusa's a wicked character . 175 ion's character indifferent . ibid. of no service to morality . 177 hercules furens compared with the trachiniae of sophocles . ibid. character of aeschylus . 178 his prometheus immoral . 180 jupiter abused by the poet under the persons of power and force . ibid. the abuse backed by ▪ vulcan . 181. deficiency of the greek tragedy . 182 tragedy at rome borrowed from the greeks . ibid. seneca the philosopher , supposed the author of some of those plays that go under his name . 184 seneca unjustly aspersed by mr collier . ibid. seneca careless of poetick justice . 186 ajax oileus an improper instance of it . 187 seneca limited by precedent . ibid. hippolytus of seneca examined . 188 more artificial than the hyppolytus of euripides . 189 the rest close copies from the greek . 190 octavia ill-contrived and insipid . ibid. general reflections on the antient tragedy . 191 aristotle's division of tragedy . 192 moral plays not much encouraged at athens . ibid. alcestis of euripides a moral tragedy . 193 antients careless of the general moral of the plays . 164 consequence of mr collier's loose way of writing . ibid. turned upon the antients . 196 socrates by this means condemned . 198 aeschylus arraigned by mr collier's precedent . ibid. and sophocles . 199 extravagance of this way of declaiming . 200 shakespear prefixed to all the rest of the english dramatics . 201 censure of hamlet unjust . 202 fable of hamlet before the commencement of the action . ibid. fable after the action commences . 203 poetic justice exactly observed in this play. 204 moral of hamlet . 205 tragedies of this author generally moral . 206 the orphan . 207 the moral good . ibid. mr collier's zeal for the pagan priesthood in jurious to christian ministry . 208 don sebastian a religious play. 210 reasons of mr collier's quarrel to the cleomenes . 211 moral wanting to the cleomenes . 212 moral inference . 213 the poet too faithful to the history . ibid mourning bride . 214 fable very just and regular . 215 moral excellent . 216 advantages of the moderns over the antients in the morals of their fables . 218 providence not employed to promote villany . ibid. nor to oppress virtue . ibid nor to protect malefactors . ibid modern poets more religious than the antients . 219 the fable of the poets disposal , characters and expressions not so . the fable , if any , the evidence of the poets opinion . 220 mr collier's a false and perverse measure . 221 the fable the engine of the greatest and most secret execution upon the audience . 222 not abused to any ill end by our poets . 223 apology for the antients . 224 moral plays not esteemed at athens . 225 moral and pathetick reconciled , and united by the moderns . ibid. poetick justice neglected by the antients in general 226 monsieur dacier's exception to monsieur corneille answered . 228 poetical justice a modern invention . 229 the modern stage on this account preferable to the antient. 230 fable of comedy considered . 231 in comedy the action and persons low 232 the correction of folly the proper business of comedy . perfect virtue excluded the comic stage . 233 some infirmity required to qualify a character for comedy . 234 no gentlemen , but men of pleasure fit for comedy . ibid. comic poetry , and droll painting compared . 235 such characters real and common . 236 mr collier's mistake concerning the nature of comedy . 237 heads of mr collier's charge against english comedy . 238 his first article examined . 240 this rule repugnant to the nature of comedy ▪ 241 reason why . ibid. indulgence of plautus and terence to vicious young people misplaced by mr. collier . 242 plautus and terence faithful copyers from nature 243 opinion of horace enquired into 244 this not a bare character , but a rule . 245 sense of horace in this place mistaken or prevented by mr. collier 246 parity of reasoning betwixt mr. prynn and mr collier 247 another outrage to horace ibid use of a chorus according to horace 248 mr collier's answer to an objection ibid. a reply to mr collier's answer . ibid. chorus in old comedy 251 double mistake of mr collier about the plutus of aristophanes . 252 tripartite division of the greek comedy . 253 by this the plutus old comedy . ibid. fable of old comedy of what kind . 254 characters of cratinus , eupolis , and aristophanes how differenced . 255 new comedy how differing from the old. ibid. plutus not new comedy . 256 satire of the old comedy particular of the general . 257 aristophanes the beginner of the middle comedy . 258 no chorus in the plutus . 259 office of the chorus in comedy . ibid. the parts essential to a chorus omitted in the plutus . 260 inconclusive inference from aristotle . 263 silence of aristotle no argument in this case . ibid reason of aristotle's silence in this point . 264 his account of the rise of the drama . ibid. progress of comedy obscure . ibid. brevity of aristotle . 265. a particular treatise of comedy written by aristotle , but lost . 266 chorus not used in the new comedy . 267 chorus altogether improper for the comic stage in england . 268 used at puppet shews . ibid. function assigned the chorus by mr collier . 269 original errour of mr collier . 270 loose characters in comedy no encouragement to debauchery . ibid. ridiculous fear of mr collier . 271 theatres wrongfully accused by him . 272 sense of horace again perverted . 273 horace's advice political , not moral . 275 manners here fignify'd poetical not moral . 277 mr collier ' s description of poetical manners . ibid. defective and equivocal . 279 aristotle ' s description . 279 propriety of manners required . 289 wherein it consists . 281 similitude of manners what . ibid. equality of manners what . 283 faults of characters what . 284 faults of expression manifold . ibid. some heads of mr colliers charge . 285 mistaken in his first point . 286 faults of particulars no reflection upon the sex in general . 287 universals and individuals improper characters . 288 what characters proper . 289 two sorts of resemblances in poetry . 290 quality no just reason for exemption . 291 mr collier's collection from the antients very loosely made . 292 objection to ophelia . 293 character of ophelia . ibid. objection groundless and frivolous . 295 mad song . 296 foolish but inoffensive . ibid. antients more faulty than this . 297 instance in the antigone os sophocles . ibid , &c. instance in electra of the same author . 301 antigone in sophocles not so nice . 304 cassandra not so nice as mr collier pretends . 305 extravagance of cassandra . 306 indecency against character . 307 misbehaviour of hecuba . 310 love and tenderness used by the moderns . lust and violence by the antients . 311 numerous instances of this kind to be found 〈◊〉 euripides . 312 some referred to . ibid. seneca examined upon this article . 313 miscarriage of phaedra . 314 modesty of lycus considered . 318 reference to other instances . 319 these faults less pardonable in tragedy then in comedy . 320 slaves the top characters of the roman comedy . 321 very little variety in their plots . 322 greater liberty taken by aristophanes . 323 aristophanes whether an atheist or not , nothing to the purpose . 324 mr collier's argument in defence ef socrates considered . 325 rigour of the athenians to socrates a sort of acquitment to aristophanes . ibid. mr collier's instances no proof of his assertion . 327 the opinion of the man not measured by the expressions of the poet at athens . ibid. liberties of plautus greater than those of the english stage . 328 instances from the amphitryo . 329 remarkable circumstances of a passage in amphitryo . 330 the disguise under which mercury appears no excuse for his misbebaviour . ibid. jupiter not more modest . 331 instance from the asinaria . ibid. instance of singular morality . 332 plautus's lovers more active than talkative . ibid. instanced from the curculio . 333 comparative modesty of the virgins of the antient stage hence to be observed . 334 mr collier's own exceptions taken notice of . ibid. his instances in olympio grosly mistaken or misrepresented . ibid. another instance from the asinaria . 338 slaves not the only offenders of this kind in plautus . 339 plautus's prologues and epilogues not always inoffensive . 340 this proved from the epilogue to the casina . 341 epilogue to the asinaria an encouragement to lewdness . 342 the epilogue to the captivi somewhat smutty . 343 complaint of the abuse of the clergy not well grounded . 344 their relation to the deity considered . 346 personal representation of the deity considered . 346 the power of the church not lodged with the priest . 347 mission of st paul and the apostles what and how circumstantiated . 348 difference betwixt their commission , and that of the present ministry . 349 importance of their office no exemption . 352 some faults not cognizable by the ordinary . 353 priests not misrepresented , unless faultless . 355 mr collier's plea from prescription examined . 357 instance to the contrary from sophocles . ibid euripides not more tender of priests . 359 seneca meddles little with them . 360 euripides and seneca full of profane expressions . 361 rude treatment of the nobility a false charge . 365 errata . page 28. l. 7. r. 'em off : p. 52. l. ult . add in : p. 68. l. 22. r. mulciber : p. 73. l. 5. dele not : p. 74. l. 5. r. infancy : p. 76. l. 11. r. of : p. 86. l. 8. r. for : p. 101. l. ult . r. possibly : p. 132. l. 5 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ● . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 : p. 173. l. 25. r. proud : p. 190. l. 11. r. disengage : p. 235. l. 25. dele not : p. 255. l. 23. r. waving particular : p. 302. l. 2. r. shewn . she was : p. 306. l. 17. r. push her : p. 306. l. 19. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 : ibid. l. 20. for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 308 l. 2. r indignation : 3p . 11. l. 7. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 : p. 313. l. 2. add made : p. 315. l. 18. for guge r. jugi : p. 339. l. 1. r. conspexeris : p. 341. l. 19. r. dare . errata in the margine . p. 23. for se de r. sed & : p. 29. for verundia r. verecundia . p. 57. for ictaeo r. dictoeo : p. 69. r. ac : for relicta r. relicto : for tribi r. tribu : p. 71. for victus r. victis : p. 113. for dio r. dii : p. 169. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 : p. 126. dele and : p. 192. dele the moral : p. 226. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 317. r. mr collier's instances . mr. collier's view of the english stage , &c. set in a true light . the aim of all writers is , or ought to be , to maintain or propagate truth , to inform the judgment , improve the vnderstanding , and rectifie the mistakes of others . where this is the real end and design of a writer , no itch of popularity , or awe of faction ought to bear him from his byass , or make him give an inch to his hopes , or fears ; and the more universal and important the truths are , which he discovers , or defends , the greater in proportion ought to be the zeal and application . were these rules constantly , and prudently pursued , we might hope for an honester , as well as wiser world , than it has been my fortune yet to find any memoirs of , since the multiplication of mankind . for tho the declaimers of all ages have inveighed with great bitterness against their own times , and extoll'd the antecedent ; yet even hence we are furnish'd with an argument , that all have been equally culpable , since those times , which we , to humble our own , affect so zealously to commend , our fore-fathers did as vehemently condemn ; and if we do not find the topicks of satyr to be in every age the same ; we can only from thence conclude , that the mode , and not the measure of iniquity is alter'd . but whether the rules be strictly observable , or not , may be matter of doubt . for , besides that grand seducer interest , which few withstand , passion , prejudice , and inclination , have an almost irresistible influence over us ; and even in the coolest , and severest of our deliberations , we are apt to give too much to prejudice , and to humour appetite and passion beyond reason . that this is no uncommon case , most of the present paper-combats demonstrate , in which the war on both sides is carry'd on with an obstinacy and fury , very disproportionate to the trifles generally contended for . the combatants enter the lists against chimerical gyants of their own raising , and lay about 'em like ajax , or cervantes's hero , amongst the sheep , gyants , or windmills , 't is all one , if they stand in their way they must be encounter'd . the most formidable of these , is the author of the short view of the immorality and profaneness of the english stage . this gentleman , some time or other , between sleeping and waking , had happen'd to hear some of mr durfy's rattles , and perhaps some saucy jack or other of the stage discharge an oath or two , and presently mistaking 'em for a noise of drums , and volley of shot , falls to dreaming of invasions and revolutions , that the church artillery was seiz'd , and turn'd upon it ; of a terrible stage plot , and a huge army in ambuscade behind the play-house scenes ; and therefore he cries out to have the beacons lighted , and the bells rung backward in every parish , to raise the posse of fathers , councils , synods , school-men , and the rest of the church militia , and cast up retrenchments , for the vanguard of parnassus are upon ' em . then he calls for his durindana of a goose-quill , and thunders out anathema's as thick as hail shot . thus instructed and appointed , he draws out his forces , and charges with such violence and fury upon the forlorn-hope of the stage , that it had been impossible for 'em to have sustain'd the shock , if pegasus had not been train'd of old to the service , and very well acquainted with the temper of the enemies fire . this anti-poetick war has been carry'd on with abundance of heat at divers times and in divers countries ; it broke out first in spain , about the close of the last century , under mariana a jesuit , who published a book contra spectacula ; and after that another , by the special approbation of the visitor , and the provincial of the jesuits of the province of toledo ; from thence it travell'd into italy , where it was fomented by francisco maria , a sicilian monk , and p. ottonelli , a jesuit ; and was thence translated into england , about sixty years ago , by dr reynolds and mr prynne ; to france , about thirty years ago , by the prince of conti , the sieur de voisin , &c. and tho bury'd for some years in its embers , broke out again there not many years ago into a flame ; at which mr collier took fire , and reviv'd the quarrel in england . all these disputes have been manag'd with great vehemence and fierceness on the agressor's parts , and had the success been answerable to their resolution , the scatter'd rout of parnassus had been never able to have rally'd , or made head again ; but their onset was like that of the turks and tartars , the noise was much greater than the execution . i cou'd never find that the muses were famous for martial exploits , or that their votaries e're signaliz'd themselves by any extraordinary atchievements in the polemicks . how comes it then , that such impetuous assailants have gain'd no more upon ' em ? for as yet the very outworks of parnassus seem to be in no danger . is it the natural strength of the place , or resolution of the defendants that protects ' em ? before i give a direct answer to these questions , it will be necessary to premise a short account of the occasion , state , and progress of the controversie , in , and from the time of the primitive fathers down to our own times ; by which we may be enabled to make a right judgment , how far the present stage is affected by the authorities , and arguments urg'd from ' em . it is on all hands agreed , that the ludi and spectacula of the greeks and romans , were a great part of the solemn and publick worship of their gods , instituted on purpose to commemorate , or expiate some signal benefit , 〈◊〉 calamity , of which those gods were the supposed authors , or instruments : these plays or shows were usually preceeded by a solemn procession of the gods to whom they were dedicated , and the priests and sacrificers in their formalities , with the victim in all its religious pomp , ( much after the manner of the solemn processions in use amongst the roman catholicks to this day ) this was succeeded by vows made , and sacrifice perform'd upon the spot , whether it were theatre , circus , or any other place of publick shows , or games . after all these were perform'd , or finish'd , the play or show was order'd to begin , which was also a principal part of the religious worship ▪ and concluded the solemnity of the day . the dramatick representations spring both from one original , and were instituted for the same general end and purpose with the rest of the heathen games , that is , for religious worship . these ( if i may be allow'd to use the plural number , for that which in the original , was but one thing ) were invented in honour to bacchus , and consisted of songs in his praise , musick , and dancing about a sacrific'd goat , intermixt with rustick raillery , suitable to the genius and temper of the boors , and villagers , that were the performers . tragedy and comedy were not yet become separate provinces in poetry , but either name indifferently signify'd the same thing , the first being taken from the sacrifice , which was a goat , the other from the performers , which were the peasants , or villagers , or from the nature of the entertainment itself , which was compos'd of rural musick , songs , and dances . by what steps and gradations the improvements were made , how the decorations of the stage were introduc'd , and when the drama first branch'd into tragedy and comedy , as distinct members , are pretty speculations , and afford an occasion , which one , that . like mr. collier , affected to shew much reading to little purpose , wou'd not let slip ; but not being to my purpose , i shall not prosecute 'em any farther . 't is probable the partition of tragedy and comedy was first made , when the poets , quitting the dithyrambi , or hymns to bacchus , betook themselves to the representation of stories or fables of their own invention ; the nature of the subjects then becoming different , according to the poets choice , the names were divided betwixt 'em or perhaps , that part which we now in a restrain'd sense call tragedy , being first refin'd and improv'd , and becoming the study and diversion of more polite men , the other continuing longer in the possession of the villagers , retain'd the name of comedy for distinction sake , even after its utmost improvements . but when , or howsoever this was , tho the sacrifice of the goat at plays was left off , the satyri in praise of bacchus discontinued , and the plays appointed indifferently in honour of any of the gods , as occasion directed , that they were , as the auditors rightly observed , nihil ad bacchum , yet the stage remain'd sacred to and under the protection of its old patron , who had amongst the romans his altar on the right hand of the stage , and the particular god to whom the play was for that time directed , on the left. this was the posture and condition of the stage in the time of the fathers . this being the case , a christian cou'd not be present , or assist at these representations , without openly countenancing or conforming to the idolatrous worship of the heathens ; which the fathers , as became careful and pious pastors , were extremely solicitous to prevent . they were sensible of the difficulties they had to encounter , and the obstacles they had to surmount . the christian religion was yet but newly planted , and therefore till it had taken sufficient root was carefully to be cover'd and defended from the injuries of rude blasts , and the contagion of those rank superstitious weeds that grew about it , by which the root might be kill'd , or the soil infected , and the sap withdrawn . paganism was a religion , invented at first to oblige and captivate the people , and gain'd its credit and authority among 'em by indulging their sensuality , and even gratifying their lusts ; it was augmented by degrees , by ambitious , cunning men , who , to render themselves more popular , and gain an interest among the multitude , recommended to 'em , under the notion of religion , what they found most acceptable to the humour and palate of the populace . by this means , the various processions , games , and shows were introduc'd , and became the most formal part of their solemnities , men being easily perswaded to like what was so conformable to their inclinations , that in the exercise and discharge of their duties , their senses were entertain'd , and their appetites flatter'd . against a superstition thus fram'd for luxury , and contriv'd to cajole the sences , christianity was to make its way , and to drive out those rites , and destroy a title founded upon the prescription of many ages , supported by the authority of the civil government , and fortify'd in its possession by prejudice , inclination and interest ; and all this to be done with the assistance only of truth , and simplicity of doctrine and manners ; the pomp , and magnificence of their solemn worship was absolutely to be taken away , and their licentious practices to be restrain'd , and reform'd ; and instead of 'em severe principles , and an austere course of life were to be establish'd , in an age , and amongst a people , whom the submission and tribute of all the world for some ages , had made wealthy , proud and wanton . it is not therefore to be wonder'd , if those early champions of the gospel proportion'd their zeal and vigilance to the pressingness of the occasion , and the strength of the opposition . the games and shows of the antient heathens were the parts of their religion the most generally engaging , that attracted most , and kept the multitude firmest to ' em . the rest of their religion sat but loosely about 'em , they had no fixt , or necessary faith , aud their devotion consisted only in a frigid compliance with those forms and ceremonies , which were purely matters of worship ; their zeal appear'd for nothing so much as their games and shows . for as varro * and seneca † informs us , the preparatory solemnities were ungrateful to the spectators , who impatiently expected the show . the fathers , who knew where their strength lay , have employ'd all their artillery against these shows , their batteries have play'd incessantly upon 'em , as the only forts that were capable of making resistance , and stopping their progress . tho the antient fathers bent their rhetorick , with all its force , and in all its forms and figures , against the heathen shows ; tho they declaim'd with all their nerves , and vehemence , and display'd all their arguments with the utmost strength of colour and proportion , yet there was nothing in which they so much confided , in which they so unanimously agreed , as the objection drawn from the idolatrous institution and end of ' em . they were unwarrantable , because idolatrous . it was ( in their opinion ) impossible for a christian , how well principled , or dispos'd however , to partake of the entertainment , without sharing the pollution , or to abstract the diversion from the guilt . they thought it dangerous to trust their converts , however fortify'd , to the temptations of so jolly a religion , which was so far from curbing the appetites , and laying any restraint upon the desires of its proselytes , that many of its duties were but pimps to their lusts , and almost all its acts of devotion but so many entertainments of their sences . they knew the frailty of humane nature right well , and were aware , that tho faith might in some be so strong as to triumph over all temptation , yet that multitudes wou'd fall before it , if they were permitted to run the risque . the portion of those that embrac'd christianity was mortification , and suffering , perpetual discouragement , and frequent persecutions ( till the time of constantine ) their reward was in reversion ; their expectation indeed was large , but the prospect was distant . now present ease and enjoyment are very apt to prevail against a remote hope . in our common affairs of the world , futurity maintains itself but ill against the present , and neither the greatness , nor the certainty of the reversion , make good head against immediate possession . this was the case of christianity in its infancy . the heathen priesthood was contented with the countenance and encouragement of the state , and submitted to the directions and appointment of it , even in matters relating to their own mysteries ; they assum'd no dominion , or jurisdiction over private consciences , either in point of principle or practice ; but left those matters wholly to the civil government , which made laws for the regulation , and appointed magistrates for the inspection of men's manners ; in which regard was had chiefly , if not only , to the publick quiet and security , to the preservation and augmentation of the state. if a scrutiny was made into the conduct and behaviour of particular persons , 't was as they were subordinate to the publick , and might be instrumental or prejudicial to the common welfare , either immediately , by their practices , in wronging the state , or those under the protection of it ; or by withdrawing themselves from , or incapacitating themselves for its service ; or consequently by debauching , and corrupting others by their examples . in all these matters the priest had no concern ; and therefore 't was no wonder , if the people receiv'd so easily , and liv'd so contentedly under a religion , which , tho false , gave 'em so little disturbance , and so much satisfaction . for , as for the multitude , their theology was like their worship , suited and adapted to their capacities , the one consisting of surprizing fables , the other of delightful solemnities . those that were wiser among 'em , and saw thro their mysteries , ( who were not a few ) were many of 'em sacris initiati , and engaged in their support ; the rest having no higher warrant than their own reason , and nothing more certain to substitute in the room of 'em , were perhaps unwilling to unsettle matters , and paying a languid complacence , suffer'd things to run on in the old channel ; whose banks shou'd they break down , they knew not what course the stream wou'd take , nor how far the confusion might spread . but the gospel had none of these advantages , it was not contriv'd and modell●d for popularity , it did not humour the inclinations , and indulge the appetites of the people . to the purity of its doctrine , a conformity of life , and manners were requir'd , the passions were to be curb'd , and the desires moderated ; instead of pomp and ceremony , simplicity and sobriety were to be their entertainments : their rampant gods , whose fabulous histories gave countenance to men's lusts , and encouragement to their debaucheries , were to be cashier'd , and the knowledge and worship of the true one to be introduc'd , whose majesty was as awful , as the other was represented frolicksome . these were the conditions of conversion from heathenism , and the change must needs appear disadvantageous to meer flesh and blood the fathers therefore , who knew how hard it was to keep the appetites in entire subjection , took care to fortifie as strongly as possible those parts , in which they expected the rebellion shou●d first break out . the plays , of all the heathen solemnities , were those that gave the strongest temptation to the new converts ; they had so little of the air of religion , that they thought if they did not approve of the end and design of 'em , they might , without imputation , partake of the diversion , in which they met with frequent . examples of innocence and virtue . this alarm'd the fathers , who knew that the transition from one religion to another ( as mr collier observes ) was natural ; and justly apprehended , that from a liking of the entertainments themselves , they might proceed to approve the occasion of 'em ; that the seeming innocence and virtue of 'em might reconcile 'em to a superstition which recommended those excellent gifts after so easie and agreeable a manner , or that perhaps the delights of those places might soften the temper of their mind , and relax the nerves of their zeal , and so unqualifie and indispose 'em for those austerities , which the posture and circumstances of the christian religion at that time requir'd . to obviate these dangers , they summon'd all their prudence , and all their art ; they omitted no topick which rhetorick or satyr cou'd supply , to fright or perswade men from those diversions . nor was all their zeal and caution any more than was necessary , the danger was great , and so was the temptation ; the fort was to be maintain'd not only against an enemy without , but a strong faction within ; the sences , appetites , and passions were already gain'd to the enemy's party , nothing remain'd but religion and reason , to make good the defence ; those generals therefore that wou'd hold out , when the garrison was inclin'd to surrender , must not only display their courage and conduct , but exert their authority likewise to the utmost this the antient fathers did , whose examples have been follow'd by divers in our age , tho without the same reason , authority or success . having thus open●d the case , as it stood in the time of the primitive christians , we shall proceed to examine , whether there be any manner of analogy between the roman theatre ( as to the particulars whereof they are arraign'd by the fathers ) and ours ? whether the satyr of the fathers comes full upon the modern poets ? whether the parity of the case makes their reasons take place , and their authority revive upon us ? thus backt , as he supposes by the worthies of christendom , the flower ef human nature , and the top of their species , mr collier bids defiance to all the stage poets in general : he declares 'em to be gone over into another interest , deserters to the devil , that aim to destroy religion , and whose business is an ana of lewdness and atheism . for he has a huge mind to try his strength with 'em , but he dares not enter the theatres , they are the devils own ground ; but he challenges 'em to a tryal of skill at the laudable exercises of the christian olympicks of moorfields ; which , if they be so hardy as to accept , he 'll call a ring , and for a broken head , or limb , he and his fathers defy both north and west . but hold , mr vinegar ! have you any commission from the fathers to give this challenge in their names ? does it appear , that they have any ground , or reason of quarrel to the present stage ? i believe not ; but as things may be packt together , and translated , an able interpreter may make 'em speak as he pleases . if they don't speak to his mind he knows how to correct 'em , 't is but throwing in a word or two ( as he phrases it ) to clear the sense , to preserve the spirit of the original , and keep the english upon its legs . 't is well he has the knack of scowring the fathers , otherwise their testimonies wou'd look but rustily upon the present occasion . but he can wash as well as scowr , and underprop a failing evidence upon occasion . 't is pity mr collier was not bred to the bar , this extraordinary quality had been of admirable service there , to help a bad memory , and prompt a bashful witness . the fathers , good men , cou'd say but little to the cause , but dexterity and management may do much , and an able sollicitor ( like mr collier ) will make out notable proofs from very slender evidence . the fathers , as they had reason , prohibited christians all resort to the roman games in general , and without distinction upon the account of the idolatry there practised : but what 's that to our theatres , which have no such stain upon ' em ? if the heathen gods appear upon our stage , 't is neither for their own , nor their worshipers honour . idolatry is as much abhorr●d , and more expos'd there , than any where else . why then is the satyr reviv'd upon it ? is there any danger that the spectators should turn idolaters , from our representations ? that which scandaliz'd the fathers most in the dramatick representations of antiquity was , that their gods were represented lewd , and unjust , adulterers , pimps , &c. * st augustine absolves their comedies and tragedies from any fault in the expression , and accuses only the subject matter . the same indictment he prefers against homer , ( viz. ) that he corrupted mens morals by drawing such vicious pictures of his deities . * terence falls under his displeasure likewise , for introducing his young libertine animating himself to , and vindicating himself after a rape , by the example of jupiter , whose intrigue with danae , represented in a picture , afforded him both matter of encouragement and excuse . notwithstanding which objections , this * father confesses himself to have profited by the reading of 'em , tho he thinks the same use might have been made of more pious books , which are fitter for the use of children . thus by the acknowledgment of this father the plays were not so bad . as mr collier wou'd infer from him . the quarrel of the rest of the fathers to the drama , was upon the same account , tho mr surveyor has given a wrong prospect of it . i hope there 's no reason to apprehend , that jupiter or mercury shou'd be drawn into precedent at this time of day , or that any person of quality shou'd turn whore-master , or pimp out of emulation . 't is true , the fathers frequently exclaim against the lewdness of the roman theatres , which mr collier all along endeavours , both by the turn and application , to discharge upon the dramatick representations , in which i admire his dexterity more than his ingenuity . for i can't suppose mr collier to be ignorant , that there were divers sorts of ludi scenici , which were all perform'd at the theatre , of which several were scandalously lewd ; but these he knows were no part of the dramatick entertainment . but he finds comedy and tragedy sometimes condemn'd for company among the other shows of the theatre , and therefore he is resolved , out of his singular regard to justice and ingenuity , that whatsoever is pronounc'd against the theatres in general , shall light upon the drama in particular , which by the unanimous confession of 'em all was the least offensive , and consequently the least deserv'd it . to what purpose else is clemens alexandrinus cited ? he affirms , that the circus and theatre may not improperly be call'd the chair of pestilence . whence does it appear , that the dramatick exercises are here aim'd at ? were the mimi , pantomimi , and archimimi , less concern'd with the stage , or more reserv'd and modest in their practices upon it ? were dancing naked , and expressing lewd postures less criminal , or offensive to modesty ? no , he won't say that ; altho the comparison were made with the english stage , which is , ( according to him ) much more licentious than the roman , yet that by his own confession has nothing so bad . but supposing the father to take his aim from mr collier's direction , and prophetically to have levell'd at our times , what is the wondrous guilt , that provokes this severe judgment ? noscitur ex socio , why 't is e'en as bad as horse-racing ; a very lewd diversion truly . woe be to you inhabitants of new market , that live in the very seat of infection . but the fathers were men , meer men , as well as mr collier , and subject as well as he to be misled by passion , and overacted by zeal , in the transports of which they were apt sometimes to extend their rigour too far , and would upon any terms have ( as a certain learned recorder has it ) enough for a decent execution . thus tertullian , none of the least considerable among the fathers , either for his learning or zeal , in this case especially , tho he had already convinc'd the ancient tragedy of idolatry , a crime sufficient in a christian court of judicature to be capital , yet must needs ex abundanti bring a fresh indictment of blasphemy . the devil , says he , mounted the tragedians upon buskins , because he would make our saviour a liar , who says , that no man can add a cubit to his stature . look to it all ye tiptoe beau's . here the devil shew'd himself an engineer , to lay a trap so long before hand , to contrive and invent these buskins only to falsify in appearance , what was said a thousand years after ; and the father himself was a very matchiavel to detect , and counterplot him at last . i have read of a famous scotch divine , that signaliz'd himself once upon occasion , by much such another discovery , when he found out , that at the dismission of all creatures out of noah's ark , the reason why the hawks were so merciful to the doves , as to let 'em escape unhurt was , that the prophesie of isaiah , the lamb should lye down with the lyon , might be fulfilled . this is the nearest parallel that occurs to me from all my reading , in which the scotch father comes pretty near t'other for a strange reach of apprehension , tho 't is his misfortune to fall short in the importance of the discovery . but to wave all further instances of this kind from the fathers , which are to be found in great plenty among 'em , i leave 'em to be gather'd by those that take more delight in such flowers ; and shall confine my self to those which mr. collier has pickt out for a nosegay for himself . to begin therefore with theophilus antiochenus ; he tells us , that the christians durst not see the prizes of the gladiators , for fear of becoming accessary to the murthers there committed , nor their other shows , upon the account of their indency and prophaneness . here mr collier , as an earnest of his future fair dealing uses the word shows , and because perhaps 't is the only instance to be met with through all his quotations , he is resolv'd not to lose the benefit of it , and therefore for fear it should slip by unheeded , he gives it in a different character , and an asterism along with it , and claps in the margin spectacula . by this sample of his fidelity to his author , he thinks his performance warranted to his readers , of whom he knows the greatest part can't nor the rest he hopes won't , be at the trouble to confront his translation with the text ; and therefore before the end of this very paragraph , he throws off all obligation to truth and just●ce and falls to managing and instructing his evidence * the stage adulteries of the gods and heroes are unwarrantable entertainments . and so much the worse , because the mercenary players set off 'em with all the charms and advantages of speaking . the translator very well knew , that the shews here aim'd at , were not the tragedies and commedies of antiquity , but the shews of the mimi , wherein the amours of the gods or heroes were not related only , but sung to musick in luscious fulsome verse , mimickt in lewd dances with obscene gestures and naked postures , and even the very adulteries and rapes themselves express'd by scandalous actions , for which purpose the very stews were rak'd for publick prostitutes for the service . these were the shews , that provok'd the just resentments of the fathers , which had nothing in common with the dramatick representations , but the place , and the end of their representation , which were the publick theatres , and worship . but of all the publick diversions of the heathens , the drama only remaining to us , to keep the authority upon its legs , it was necessary to give it a new direction , and turn in the version , and therefore the word players was thrust in , to fix the scandal in the wrong place . that these were the indecencies , and lewdness of the theatre , so bitterly inveigh'd against by these pious men , i cou'd bring testimonies innumerable ; but to avoid being tedious in a plain case , i shall single out st cyprian , who being one of the worthies of christendome , and the top of his species , i hope mr collier will not except against his evidence . * the theatres ( says he ) are yet more lewd . there they strip themselves of their modesty , as well as clothes , and the honour as well as screen of their bodies is laid aside , and virginity expos'd to the affronts both of view , and touch. which mr collier knows was not practis'd in the drama . but our histrio-mastix was aware , that there was nothing to be got by square play , therefore he has recourse to slight of hand , and palms false dice upon us . in the very next paragraph we find him prompting tertullian to rail at the play-house , and the bear-garden * . which latter , i suppose , was brought in for the grace and dignity of the conjunction . here the play-house , by his old way of legerdemain , is substituted for the theatre ; and the most innocent of the roman diversions charg'd with the guilt and pollutions of all the rest , with which , by his own confession , it was not so much as soil'd . but the shifting of names levell'd the scandal right for his purpose , and the unlearned reader might perhaps be induc'd to believe , that the father's quarrel lay against lincolns-inn-fields , and covent-garden ; and therefore he was resolv'd not to lose the benefit of so advantageous a cheat , for so small a condescension as falsifying a text. with the same honest view and intention , he forces tertullian to call pompey's theatre * , a dramatick bawdy-house . here , to conceal the fathers age , he shaves off his beard , and dresses him after his own fashion , in a steenkirk and a long wig , that he may look like an acq●aintance of our stage , and keep his evidence in countenance . a just translation wou'd not answer his purpose , and therefore he has taken the usual liberty of adding or altering , and has clapt in the dramatick bawdy-house , to clear , that is , pervert the sense . it is no justification , to say that he has not chang'd the scene , that the place is the same , tho he has made bold to change the terms ; in changing the terms he has chang'd the state of the case , and made the author accuse the drama of those enormities , which were peculiar to the shews of the mimi , and inveigh'd against only by him . thus he uses his father like an irish evidence , and makes him depose with as much latitude , as in a court of record , wou'd even in these corrupt times , cost a man his ears . to trace him through all his quotations from the fathers , were a task much more tedious , than difficult . it may suffice to take notice , that he keeps to his principle , and never quotes any thing right , which he thinks may be made more serviceable by being perverted . to prevent this artifice from being seen through , he endeavours , like a fish in the water , to conceal the bottom by muddying the stream . st. cyprian , lactantius , chrysostome and augustine are all manag'd at the same rate ; mr collier , like a stanch beagle , makes the hits , whilst his fathers , that like whelps newly enter'd , are running riot , have much better mouths than noses , and make up a great part of the cry , but are of no service in the chase . those that have a mind to tumble and sift over mr collier's rubbish of antiquity , may find all his quotations in prynne's histrio-mastix , honestly transcrib'd , and more faithfully translated . to which , or to the fathers themselves , i refer ' em . his translations are all of a stamp , to repeat more of 'em wou'd be tautology ; how different soever the originals might be , the copies have all the same features and complexions ; both draught and colouring agree so well , that a very indifferent judge might infallibly discover 'em all to be copies by one hand , by the harmony of the faults . but to dismiss the fathers , who have been oblig'd to an unnecessary attendance , thro the disingenuity of their translator , i shall once for all observe , first , that the authority of the fathers ought to affect us no farther than their reasonings will come up to our case : secondly , that their arguments drawn from the idolatry , lewd representations , and cruelty practis'd upon the roman stage , and at their shows , do not reach our stage , where those practices are had in abhorrence . thirdly , that as they are cited by mr collier , both their authority and arguments are subverted by the corrupt version . if these three things be fairly made out , as ( i hope ) they already are , we need not be any longer alarm'd at this unseasonable clamour from the fathers . but tho the main strength of this attila of the stage lies in these worthies of christendom , yet , like a cautious commander , lest they shou'd be surpriz'd , or unable to sustain the shock of the stage militia alone , he has provided an auxiliary body of heathen philosophers , historians , orators and poets , to guard the passes , and check the fury of the first onset . here again he shews his care by his choice , he lists the bottom by muddying the stream . st. cyprian , lactantius , chrysostome and augustine are all manag'd at the same rate ; mr collier , like a stanch beagle , makes the hits , whilst his fathers , that like whelps newly enter'd , are running riot , have much better mouths than noses , and make up a great part of the cry , but are of no service in the chase . those that have a mind to tumble and sift over mr collier's rubbish of antiquity , may find all his quotations in prynne's histrio-mastix , honestly transcrib'd , and more faithfully translated . to which , or to the fathers themselves , i refer ' em . his translations are all of a stamp , to repeat more of 'em wou'd be tautology ; how different soever the originals might be , the copies have all the same features and complexions ; both draught and colouring agree so well , that a very indifferent judge might infallibly discover 'em all to be copies by one hand , by the harmony of the faults . but to dismiss the fathers , who have been oblig'd to an unnecessary attendance , thro the disingenuity of their translator , i shall once for all observe , first , that the authority of the fathers ought to affect us no farther than their reasonings will come up to our case : secondly , that their arguments drawn from the idolatry , lewd representations , and cruelty practis'd upon the roman stage , and at their shows , do not reach our stage , where those practices are had in abhorrence . thirdly , that as they are cited by mr collier , both their authority and arguments are subverted by the corrupt version . if these three things be fairly made out , as ( i hope ) they already are , we need not be any longer alarm'd at this unseasonable clamour from the fathers . but tho the main strength of this attila of the stage lies in these worthies of christendom , yet , like a cautious commander , lest they shou'd be surpriz'd , or unable to sustain the shock of the stage militia alone , he has provided an auxiliary body of heathen philosophers , historians , orators and poets , to guard the passes , and check the fury of the first onset . here again he shews his care by his choice , he lists none but men of the first magnitude , he 's so severe that a volunteer under six foot can't pass muster . but after all , the service of these gigantick men does not answer the terror of their bulk and figure ; they are prest men , that enter the service against their wills , and are plac'd in the front , like a swiss painted upon a door , for shew , not action . 't is true , they are forc'd to appear with their fire-locks , and give one charge , but 't is , like a moorfields volley , without ball , or bloodshed . the leaders of these are a triumvirate of antient greek philosophers , plato , xenophon , and aristotle . the first of these appears not in person , nor has his proxy much to say for him , that i can find . yet as little as 't is , he ought to have produc'd his credentials , or his voice may fairly be protested against . for a hear-say evidence ought at least to be as well attested , as a nuncupative will to make it authentick . but , after all , what is it that he says , or rather that eusebius says for him ? why , that plays raise the passions , and pervert the use of 'em , and by consequence are dangerous ●o morality . but since he has not thought fit to specify either the nature or measure of the danger , thus consequentially portended to morality , we need not amuse our selves any longer about it . much such another doughty authority is that of xenophon . * the persians ( he says ) won't suffer their youth to hear any thing , that 's amorous or bawdy . they were afraid want of ballast might make 'em miscarry , and that it was dangerous to add weight to the byass of nature . this quotation is strangely drawn in ; it does not so much as squin● towards his purpose . here 's no mention of any thing relating to the drama . bawdry indeed was forbidden to be talk'd to those , whose reason was not yet grown sturdy enough to curb the looseness of their appetites in those countries , where the heat of the climate , and the warmth of their constitutions inclin'd 'em very early , and hurried 'em very precipitously to irregularities of that nature . but if this passage wou'd not serve his cause , it wou'd his vanity and ostentatation of reading , and therefore was not to be slighted . of as great service is the authority of aristotle , one single doubtful expression of whose , he would wrest to the overthrow of one of the most elaborate and judicious of all that great philosophers works ; i mean his art of poetry ; in which he has taken the pains to prescribe rules for the more easie and regular composition of dramatick poems ; which certainly had been in him as well a scandalous , as a ridiculous labour , if he had not thought the practice of 'em allowable . but he 's so far from any such indifference , that he frequently , both in that piece , and other parts of his works , commends the writing of dramatick poetry , as the noblest exercise of the mind . nor do we find any where in the works of that philosopher , who ( by this author 's own confession ) had look'd as far into humane nature as any man , a greater profusion of rhetorick than in the praise 〈◊〉 of tragedy , which he takes to be the highest exaltation of humane wit. as for this passage , which mr collier has pickt out , and levell'd at the comedy of our age , it amounts to no more than a general * caution against trusting youth into promiscuo●s company , such as resorted to publick places , till they were sufficiently fortify'd against the danger of corruption , to which they might thereby be expos'd . drunkenness was the vice , which the philosopher particularly instanc'd in , by which he plainly shews himself apprehensive of the company , not of the play ; and therefore he would not have young people trusted with the liberty , and opportunity of contracting an acquaintance , before they were arriv'd at some tolerable maturity of judgment . but mr collier with a dexterity peculiar to himself , palms the general term of debauchery , for the particular one of drunkenness upon us , that the suspicion might thereby be shifted from the audience to the peformance . to back this , and cover the conveyance , he brings another authority as little to the purpose , concerning the force and power of musick , from whence he concludes , that where the representation is foul , the thoughts of the audience must suffer . what must they suffer ? wou'd the musick , ( as powerful as he supposes it ) make the audience drunk , or in love with drunkenness ? no , that was no vice of the stage , whatever it might be of the spectators , yet even by them the scene was not laid at the theatres , tho the plot might , and the company perhaps be pickt up there . i suppose this informer , as inveterate as his malice is against play-houses , will scarce charge 'em as schools of intemperance of that kind , 't is not the practice of the stage , not so much as behind the scenes ; and i believe he will acquit pit , box , and gallery of it . for whatever some may bring in their heads , he will find but few with bottles in their hands there . this made him wave instancing in the particular of aristotle ; the retail scandal wou'd not fit our theatres , and therefore he lumps it among 'em by the general name of debauchery , and tacks this citation concerning musick to it , which he hopes will give the reader an idea more serviceable to his cause , than aristotle intended , and make a suitable impression upon him . this philosopher forbad the resort to comedies , only to those whose virtues he durst not trust ; not to hinder their diversion from the stage , but to prevent their corruption from the pit , as king charles the 2d suppress'd conventicles , for the sake of those , whose principles he suspected ; not to disturb the devotion of a few mistaken well-meaning men , but to prevent the practices of many crafty ill designing ones . tully cries out upon licentious plays and poems , as the bane of sobriety , and wise thinking : that comedy subsists upon lewdness , and that pleasure is the root of all evil . no one , i suppose , will defend plays , that are really licentious , or if they seem to patronize any , wherein some warm-headed enthusiastick zealots pretend to find or make some passages exceptionable , they are willing to leave those passages , if really guilty , to the mercy of mr collier's inquisition , and yet not deny their countenance , and encouragement to the prevailing merit of the main part of the performance . but here i must needs take notice , that either mr collier or tully , are extremely mistaken , or , which is all one to our purpose , that this quotation does not speak the sense of tully . plautus and terence are the only comedians of his acquaintance , whose works have been preserv'd to our times ; and consequently are the only standards , by which we can form any judgment , or take any measure of the roman comedy before , or about cicero's time . these mr collier assures us are modest to a scruple , especially terence , who has but one faulty bordering expression . plautus , who is of all antiquity the most exceptionable ▪ rarely gives any smutty liberties to women , and when he does , 't is to vulgar and prostituted persons . the men who talk intemperately are generally slaves . the slaves and pandars seldom run over , and play their gambols before women . plautus does not dilate upon the progress , successes , and disappointments of love in the modern way . this is nice ground , and therefore he either stands off , or walks gravely over it . he has some regard to the retirements of modesty , and the dignity of humane nature , and does not seem to make lewdness his business . this is a very fair character from an adversary , a friend could scarce have given a more ample recommendation upon this head . here seems to be a run of candour and ingenuity , for at least a dozen pages together ; the ancient dramatick writers are treated with so much civility , 't is all such halcyon weather , so fair a sky , and so smooth a sea , would tempt the cautiousest pilot from his anchor ; he would have no apprehensions of a storm , while all was so serene above , and so quiet and calm beneath him . but this is all out of character , the author forces his temper to serve his design , and caresses the ancients in pure spight to the moderns , as cunning statesmen sometimes court and cajole a party they hate , only to make 'em their tools against another they fear , and so make 'em ruine each other , and save themselves both the trouble , and the odium . this honest policy mr collier has made use of ; for , having routed ( in his own vain conceit ) by the help of these ancients , the present stage poets , he makes head upon his confederates , and those , that in the entrance of his book deserv●d no censure , in the conclusion of it are allow'd no quarter . the more plausibly and securely to put this srratagem in execution , he takes care to destroy his own authority in their favour , by that of much better men against 'em , or that are ( as he manages the matter ) at least in appearance against ' em . this author is a sort of a long-lane writer , a piece-broker in learning , one that tacks ends and scraps of authors together to patch up a slight authority , that hangs so weakly together , that it won't bear the fitting . thus he has linkt together two or three ill sorted sentences out of tully , that make as little to his purpose , as if he had quoted so many propositions out of euclid ; the truth of which , tho every body might acknowledge , yet no body can find the use of in this place . but he found the name of comedy joyn'd with an invective , and therefore he was resolv'd , if he did not find it so , to make it of his party , before he took his leave of it . * tully complains , that the poets gave love , the author of so many follies and disorders , a place among the deities , the irregularities of which were the constant subject matter of the comedies of his time . the severities of a harsh old father , the amours of the rake his son , and the intrigues of the knave his servant , or the wiles of a mercenary prostitute , generally made up the business of those comedies . hereupon cicero cries out , that if 't were not for these love extravagances , the comick poets would be destitute of a plot. in which he seems rather to tax 'em with barrenness of invention , than immorality . 't is true , the moral of such designs cou'd not be very extraordinary , nor cou'd any very edifying doctrine of application be rais'd from the usual catastrophe of these plays . for the poet generally took care , after he had embroil'd matters beyond all seeming possibility of a reconciliation , to disentangle all by some providential ( if mr collier won't quarrel at the expression ) incident , and crown the young libertine with his wishes , reconciling the father to the son , and the master to the servant . by this means poetical justice was eluded , and that which shou'd have been the ground and occasion of moral instruction lost . the antient comedy was not therefore so innocent as his character , nor so lewd and impure as his corrupted quotations wou'd make it . his next authority is from livy , whose evidence , even tho it were faithfully reported by mr collier , comes not near our case . for livy speaks here of the stage representations in general ; but the drama , properly so call'd , was not known amongst the romans at the time of the pestilence , when the ludi scenici were invented . but this is not all , he is not contented to make a false witness only of this historian , but he must add forgery to subornation , and put his hand to what was not his act and deed . the motives are sometimes good , when the means are stark naught : that the remedy in this case was worse than the disease , and the attonement more infectious than the plague . these words livy utterly disowns ; * he says , that the ludi scenici introduc'd upon this occasion , consisted of certain dances , or decent movements to musick , perform'd by artists fetch'd out of tuscany , after the manner of their country . where lay the force of the contagion in this ? what danger of infection from a modest dance ? after this livy proceeds to shew what were the first steps that were made towards the improvement of these ludi scenici , and concludes his short account of their earliest gradations with this reflection . * amongst other things that have risen from small beginnings , i thought fit to take notice of plays , that i might shew from how sober an original this excessive extravagance , which scarce the wealthiest nations can bear , is deriv'd . this mr collier translates , the motives are sometimes good , when the means are stark naught . 't is pretty plain , that 't is not the immorality , but the excess of luxury and profusion at these shews , that livy condemns , by his adding that 't was greater than the wealthiest nations cou'd well bear . for 't is to be suppos'd , that wealthy people have as much need of morality as the poor , tho they are not oblig'd to the same measures of thrift , and good husbandry . whether mr collier's construction and application of this passage be the effect of his malice or ignorance , i leave the world to judge . the following is yet a more perverse misconstruction , to which both malice and ignorance have clubb'd their utmost , even to emulation , so that 't is hard to distinguish which has the better title to it . livy tells us * , that the romans were so solicitous about methods of appeasing the gods , that the anxiety of it was a greater affliction to their minds , than the disease to their bodies . this our remarker , who out of his superabundant understanding , knew better than the author himself what ought to have been said , thinks fit to render thus , the remedy in this case is worse than the disease , and the atonement more infectious than the plague . of the same stamp is the citation from valerius maximus , whom he has quoted , whither with less faith or uuderstanding , is matter of doubt , for he has given great cause to suspect both . this author , speaking of the prizes of their gladiators , expresses his resentments of that barbarouscustom , ( in which citizens of rome were often butcher'd ) after this manner . * these things which were at first invented for the worship of the gods , and delight of men , were converted totheir destruction , staining both their religion and diversions , with the blood of citizens , to the scandal of peace . 't is plain , that by the animosae acies this author meant nothing but the nurseries of caestiarii , and gladiators , and that by the civilis sanguis he intended no more of it , than was spilt in arena at those prizes in quality of gladiators or gaestiarii , in which the spectators had no concern further than in the barbarity of countenancing , and encouraging so cruel a practice . this , tho bloody and abominable enough to give an abhorrence to honest considerate heathens , won't suffice mr collier , he despises single sacrifices , and calls for hecatombs ; he 's for breathing the veins of the state , and slucing the vitals of the whole commonweath at once . they were the occasion of civil distractions ; and that the state first blush'd , then bled for the entertainmeut . this is rare paraphrasing , mr. collier allows himself a very christian latitude in his interpretations . but less wou'd not serve his turn , the drama and arena lay at some distance in old rome , and therefore this gentleman was resolv'd to correct the map , and bring 'em together . but what occasion for bloodshed at a comedy ? why mr. paraphraser wou'd insinuate , that the spectators and the actors , like don quixot and the puppets , fell together by the ears , and so embroiling the state , engaged the whole commonwealth in a civil war. if i could be perswaded of this , i should allow this divrsion to be altogether as antichristian , as bear-baitings or ridings , and could be content , that mr collier , like hudibrass shou'd reduce both actors and spectators by force of arms ; the prowess of the champions seems so so exactly equal , that i see no cause to doubt , their atchievements and success proving parallel . he concludes ( says our paraphraser ) the consequence of plays intolerable ; and that the massilienses did well in clearing the country of ' em . where he finds this conclusion i can't tell , i am sure not in either of the chapters cited by him , nor i doubt through the whole book . but he 's a discoverer , and has good eyes , that will shew him at a vast distance what others can't see with the help of the best telescopes . what he says of the massilienses ( as he calls 'em ) is no more to his purpose , than the former evidence against the gladiatorial shews . valerius maximus in his sixth chapter says * , that the marseillians were a very severe people , that wou●d not suffer the mimicks to appear upon their stage , whose business generally it was to present the action of rapes to publick view , lest the sight of such licentious practices , shou'd debauch the spectators to the imitation of ' em . 't were needless to insist long upon this passage , having already shewn the vast difference between the mimick and dramatick representations . i shall only observe , that this author , by saying that the people of marseilles deny'd the mimi the liberty of their stage , intimates that they allow'd the stage there , tho under severer restrictions than at rome . now if they permitted it amongst 'em at all , there is no doubt but tragedy and comedy ( which by the unanimous confession even of their adversaries , were the most innocent , and instructive of all the ludi scenici ) took their turns upon it . s●neca , who is next produc'd , has but little to say to the matter : he is a little angry that the romans were so fond of their diversion , as to bestow their whole time upon it , and neglect the study of philosophy , and the improvement of their reason . nor was his complaint unreasonable ; for the romans , who were never much addicted to philosophy , or any kind of speculative learning , were yet more averse to 'em than ever under the reign of nero , when all sorts of arts and literature , those excepted which contributed to the prince's pleasures , lay under publick discouragement ; on the other hand , the stage , and all those arts that gratify'd and indulg'd the sences , had not only the countenance , but the practice and example of the emperor himself to encourage 'em , and to excel in any of 'em was the high road to his favour , and to preferment● it is not therefore to be wonder'd , if the roman youth under that general corruption slighted those studies , the severity of which made 'em as well unpallatable as unregarded . nor are we to be surpriz'd , if seneca declaim'd against these entertainments , which drew away , and alienated the minds of the people from those studies , upon the merit of which he peculiarly picqu'd himself . the summ of this philosopher's evidence amounts to no more than * that he thought idleness a great corrupter of manners , and that the shows in use among the romans , contributed to the making the people idle , and tainting 'em with luxury , and thereby rendring 'em more dispos'd to vice. his charge against the shows is in this place general , and respects indifferently any of 'em , many of which were in their own natures innocent , and void of offence , yet were equally submitted to censure in this passage with the most scandalous seneca was not so mean a judge of men , or things , as to think all their shows equally reprehensible , but he found all liable to the same abuse , that is , detaining the people from their business , and giving them too great an itch after diversions . but this had not been worth our notice , were 't not to shew , that our modern reformer , tho he has been us'd to greater stakes , can play at small game rather than stand out . for in the latter part of this short citation he has made a shift to steal in two falfications * . for there vice makes an insensible approach , and steals upon us the disguise of pleasure . here he wou'd insinuate that the vice , of which the philosopher seems so apprehensive , was of the growth of the place , to which purpose he translates the words . tunc enim , for there , by which he endeavours to make the infection local , and renders the words , per voluptatem , in the disguise of pleasure , that it may seem to come artificially , and industriously recommended . whereas , all that he says imports no more , than that , when men's minds , by the flattery of those diversions , were disarm'd of that severity , that the stoicks ( of which sect he was ) think requisite to the guard of virtue , they were more easily prevail'd upon , and led away by vitious inclinations . there are yet behind in the train , tacitus , plutarch , ovid , and mr. wycherley , whom ( whether to shew his judgment or his manners i know not ) he has rankt amongst , and under the head of pagan authorities ; and truly i think he may as well make a pagan of him , as an evidence in this case . but that ingenious gentleman ought not to take it amiss ; for since all those great men of antiquity , nay , even the fathers themselves , the worthies of christendom , the flower of human nature , and the top of their species , are obliged every one of 'em to wear a fool 's coat , he has the less reason to repine at the livery . these are all summon'd to make up the parade of learning , and have no more business than an ambassador's coach of state at his publick entry . tacitus tells us , that nero did ill to make the necessities of decay'd gentlemen pimp to the betraying of their honour and dignity . and that the germans did well to keep their wives out of harms way . the complaint of tacitus is nothing to us ; his caution indeed may be of service , as matter of instruction to mr collier , and his proselytes , if he has any , who i hope will reap the benefit of the german example . plutarch thinks , that licentious poets ought to be checkt : ay , and licentious criticks too , and corrected into the bargain : tho sancha pancha and his critick were both submitted to the lash , till one learnt wit , and t'other manners , and both modesty . for saw●y reformers , as well as lewd poets , require abundance of discipline to keep 'em within bounds . ovid , and mr wycherley , as poets , and men of wit , may be joyn'd , tho not as heathens ; and their evidence , being exactly of a piece , is the more properly consider'd together . this amounts to a proof , that at the theatres , as well as at all other places , where there is a promiscuous resort of company of both sexes , the business of intrigue will go forward . it were much to be wish'd , that no body came to the play-house for a less innocent diversion , than that of the stage ; to churches and conventicles with a less pious intention , than that of devotion ; to the park for a less wholesome refreshment than that of air , &c. but 't is as much to be fear'd , that this universal reformation will never be brought about , till the accomplishment of the prophesie ( if i may call it so , without offending mr collier ) of one of our poets till women cease to charm , and youth to love. so long as there are appetites , there will be means found to gratify ' em . i won't deny , but that the promiscuous conflux of people of all ages , sexes , and conditions , facilitates enterprizes of this nature . but i question whether an absolute restraint wou'd not more inflame the desire , than it cou'd prevent the practice ; and whither the morals of the public wou'd not suffer more by vitiating the imaginations of the people in general this way , than they cou'd gain by the severest methods of prohibition the other . spain and italy are countries as jealous and vigilant in this point , as any in the world , and yet the people so generally lascivious , that there is no place where virtue has less interest in the chastity of either sex. whereas on the contrary , in many places under the line , where the people go constantly naked , the familiarity of the objects takes away all wantonness of imagination , which the artificial difficulties of some countries promote . but ovid , it seems , does in some measure plead guilty , and owns , that not only the opportunity * , but the business of the place sometimes promotes lewdness . nor is it to be wonder'd at , since some of the representations there were so scandalously lewd , as to give offence to the loosest of their poets . * martial tells us ● , that he saw the story of pasiphae acted upon their stage . but these were the representations of their mimi , the scandal of which reflects no way upon the drama , either antient or modern , and will therefore give us no occasion to dilate upon 'em here . i have at length run thro all his private authorities against the stage , wherein i can't find so much as one , which is not either impertinently , or falsely cited , as i doubt not , but will upon collation appear . for which reason i have all along put the words of the original , or of the most approv'd version in the margin , that they might without trouble be collated , and my charge justified . he owns , that he has taken the liberty of throwing in a word or two , ( in translating the fathers ) to clear the sense , to preserve the spirit of the original , and keep the english upon its legs . i hope by this it appears , that he has confounded the sense , corrupted the spirit , and set the english upon stilts . his modesty's too plain a counterfeit , to cheat those that are not wilfully blind , 't is so slightly wash'd over , that the brass appears at first view ; so that whatever denomination he may give it , like an irish half crown , 't will soon fall to its intrinsick value . after all , his pains in citations are as unluckily bestow'd , as the malefactors fee , who , after he has brib'd the ordinary , is call'd to read over again to the court , and suffers at last for his ignorance . to close all , and crown his victory , mr collier gives us some state censures ( as he calls 'em ) to shew how much the stage stands discourag'd by the laws of other countries , and our own . to begin with the athenians . this people , tho none of the worst friends to the play-house , thought a comedy so unreputable a performance , that they made a law that no judge of the areopagus shou'd make one . 't is something surprizing to find the authority of the athenian state produc'd against the drama , of which they of all the people of the world were the greatest encouragers . and this very law , which is urg'd against comedy in particular , is an argument of the general esteem it was at that time possest of . for , had the writing of comedy been so unreputable a performance , as mr collier from this passage of plutarch wou'd insinuate , there had been no reason to suspect , that any of the judges of the areopagus wou'd have been so madly indiscreet , as to have forfeited his character and reputation , by so open and publick a scandal ; and consequently a provision by law against a folly of that nature , must have been as senseless a caution there , as an act here wou'd be , to forbid any of the twelve judges dancing upon the ropes , or tumbling thro a hoop in publick . but this law makes directly against the purpose it was quoted for , and seems plainly to argue , that comedy was in so great reputation amongst em , that persons of the highest condition sought the applause of , and made their court to the people by performances of that nature . for which reason they found it necessary to restrain their judges by a law , from running into those popular amusements . that these performances were not in fact dishonourable amongst the athenians , might be made appear from a million of instances , were it necessary . but the credit that aristophanes had among the athenians , which was powerful enough to ruine socrates , is singly sure sufficient to destroy an assertion so weakly founded . so far were they from having comedy in disgrace , that they encourag'd , and maintain'd it at vast expence to the publick , and thought it so proper an instrument of reformation * , that they gave it free liberty of speech , and priviledg'd it to say any thing , and of any body by name ; and this not by connivance , but by law ; there lay no action of scandal either against poet or actors . this probably gave occasion to the excessive liberties of the old comedy , which at length grew so offensive , as to make way for a reformation , and the introduction of the new comedy upon the athenian stage . and here the reason why the areopagites were not allow'd to meddle or engage in comedy , appears pretty plain ; for the liberties , allow'd to the old comedy , naturally engag'd 'em in parties , factions , and personal quarrels , which a judge ought , to the utmost of his power , to keep himself clear of . beside , the ancient dramatick writers were generally actors in their own plays , which by no means befitted the gravity of a judge . these reasons ( since plutarch is silent ) may suffice to shew , that the athenians might have a very great honour for their comick writers and yet forbid their judges to be of the number . the avocation from their proper studies , the laws of the republic , the quarrels , and consequently the partialities they were by the exercise of that sort of poetry liable to be engag'd in , and the indignity to their office , are sufficient to justify such a prohibition , even amongst a people , that had the highest respect for all other persons that excell'd in this kind . nor was their kindness extended only to the drama ; for the bacchanalian games , even after the abdication of tragedy and comedy , tho they held not an equal rank with the other , yet had some share of their favour ; and aeschines , who , according to the testimony of * demosthenes , and † plutarch , was but a third rate actor * , yet was so well consider'd by the state , as to be sent on several embassies , and particularly to conclude a peace with philip of macedon , than which the state cou'd not have given him a more honourable employment . this , i suppose , may almost amount to a demonstration , that the athenians had no such scandalous opinion of the stage , as mr collier wou'd insinuate , making even plutarch himself judge in the case . it wou'd be impertinent after this to insist upon the great employments , with which sophocles , and some other of their poets were honour'd ; since the already mention'd honours and privileges are a sufficient evidence of the publick esteem . his next state opinion is that of the lacedemonians ; and here after a flourish of his own , he appeals to plutarch again . the lacedemonians , who were remarkable for the wisdom of their laws , and sobriety of their manners , and their breeding of brave men : this government wou'd not endure the stage in any form , nor under any regulation . i find , if this author can but make his reading appear , 't is no matter whether his sense does or not . here is a period of five lines and a half , without any principal verb. but the author is got into his rhetorical strain , and 't is no matter for grammar . for when his fury's up , priscian had best stand out of his way ; or take a broken head quietly , or woe be to his bones . but who told him , that the lacedemonians were so remarkable for the wisdom of their laws ? they were indeed notorious for the unreasonable severity and singularity of ' em . but i beg mr collier's pardon , if ill nature and singularity ben't arguments of wisdom , a certain sowre , singular remark●r may have written a book to call his own understanding in question . the gentleman , i suppose , had heard of a famous law-giver call'd lycurgus , who was a lacedemonian , and left his country several wholesome laws , the just commendation of which particular ordinances he was resolv'd to transfer to the whole body , or system of their laws , in which violence , rapine , and theft were not only tolerated , but recommended to practice and imitation ; but all ingenious arts , lay together with the stage , under discouragement . the spartans were a people something of mr collier's kidney , cynicks in their temper , morose , proud , and ill natur'd , that hated mortally , as well the improvements , as the persons of their polite neighbours the athenians , were fond of their primitive rust , and barbarity , had an aversion to elegance , or neatness of any kind ; their principal virtues were a senseless inflexible obstinacy , whether in the right or wrong , and a sullen sufferance under adversity . they were in short incorrigible humorists , a people that would neither lead nor drive , men that were as hard to be perswaded to reform an old abuse , as the irish formerly to leave off drawing by their horses tails , or a spaniard would be to part with his mustachio's , or mr collier to retract an error . this frame and constitution of mind , might perhaps recommend and endear 'em , as it seems to ally 'em to a person of the authors complexion . but why did this scourge of the stage suppress the reason of this aversion of the spartans to the drama ? was it not for his purpose ? well , if he●s resolv'd not to to tell us , plutarch is better natur'd , and will. he says , * that the lacedemonians allow'd neither tragedy nor comedy , that they might not hear any thing contradictory to their laws . here was an authority in appearance as serviceable to his purpose , as the old broad money was to the clippers , but he , like some of those unconscionable artists , that when they had clipt a six-pence , woud clap a nine-penny stamp upon it , cou'd not be contented with the advantage of diminution , but he by covetously endeavouring to raise the value , spoiled the currency of his authority . this government ( says he ) wou'd not endure the stage in any form , nor under any regulation . what warrant has he from plutarch for this assertion ? plutarch tells us , that they did not admit comedy nor tragedy , but he says not a syllable of forms or regulations . the lacedemonians were a rough unpolish'd people , that were afraid , if the study of politeness ( the inseparable companion of the drama ) were introduc'd , their laws , which were as clownish , and unlickt as themselves , shou'd be affronted , and therefore kept tragedy and comedy , like enemies , at a distance . but what does he mean here by the stage ? wou'd he insinuate , that all sorts of shews and games were prohibited ? if so , his position is absolutely false ; for all the rough bear garden play ( if i may call it so ) was not only tolerated , but very much encouraged by the state. their women too had their religious plays , a memorable stoy of which pausanias * tells . and 't is probable , that the plays in use over all the rest of greece , were permitted there too in their primitive rudeness and simplicity , conformable to the humour of the people , and the drift of their policy . in the exclusion of the drama , they aim'd only to preserve that martial spirit , which by the whole course and method of their education and exercises , they endeavour'd to infuse into , and nurse up in their youth , which they were afraid the delicacy and luxury of the drama , as 't was practic'd at athens , might soften , and that the elegancy and pleasure of those diversions wou'd breed a niceness , which wou'd insensibly create a disgust in their youth to the manners and customs of their country , and consequently make 'em think their laws harsh and unpolish'd . it was not therefore the virtue of the spartans , nor their care of morality , that made 'em reject the drama , but an austerity of temper , which render'd 'em ambitious only of military glory . in which , notwithstanding their neighbours and rivals the athenians , with all their delicacy and luxury , were their equals , if not superiours . what infection of manners from the stage , cou'd that state fear , which tolerated theft and adultery ? t is plain , their fear was , lest the natural asperity of their humours , which they industriously cultivated , should be softned , and their minds enervated . for the same reason all sorts of learning lay under neglect and discouragement . whatever were the reasons that induc'd 'em to banish the drama , if virtue was not , 't is nothing to mr collier's purpose . as for their breeding brave men , i believe they may be match'd from the opposite state of athens , both for number and quality . but if the athenians rivall'd 'em in military glory , they infinitely excell'd 'em in all other valuable qualities , and had as much more manners , as they had wit or wealth . so that if mr collier will needs have them for his champions , i must oppose their old antagonists to 'em , and leave them to decide the fate of greece . for i think the opposition as unequal , as that of ovid , mulieber in trojam , pro trojâ stabat apollo . the next step he takes is into italy , and there indeed he endeavours to draw a mighty republick into a league offensive and defensive . and here , by the means of st austin , he draws tully in ; but since tully does not appear in propriâ personâ we shall not spend time and ammunition upon him , but pass on to livy : who , making his personal appearance , is more formidable . we read in livy , that the young people in rome kept the fabulae atellanae to themselves . they wou'd not suffer this diversion to be blemish'd by the stage . for this reason , as the historian observes , the actors of the fabulae atellanae were neither expell'd their tribe , nor refus'd to serve in arms. both which penalties , it appears , the common players lay under . here mr collier has us'd a piece of ingenuity uncommon with him , and put the words , ab histrionibus pollui in the margin to justifie his translation . this is a strain of fair play , that he has not been persuaded to come up to , since his first quotation from theophilus antiochenus . not but that he was satisfy'd of the reasonableness of the conduct , ( as appears by his using it , when 't is for his turn ) but because he had cause to fear the service of it . in this translation is another of his elegancies of speech : were neither expell●d their tribe , nor refused to serve in arms. he means , i suppose , prohibited , or denied the liberty of serving in arms : for refus'd to serve in arms is not english . to understand this passage of livy rightly , we must consider that the romans in the infancy of their state were a severe sort of people , not much unlike in that particular to the lacedemonians , ambitious only of empire , and sollicitous for nothing so much as the glory of their arms : this humour lasted some ages , and grew and encreas'd with their acquisitions ; every augmentation of their state animated 'em to new conquests , and their ambition rising with their hopes , success made 'em fierce and haughty . 't was the universality of this spirit , ( which wou'd be dangerous to any other than a popular government ) that laid the foundation , and was the instrument of their future greatness . to support , and keep up this spirit , all manner of arts here , as at lacedemon , lay under neglect and contempt , except such as contributed to the forming of their youth to hardiness , and military virtue * . so that when there seem'd to be a necessity of instituting expiatory plays , the romans were such absolute strangers to things of that nature , that they were forc'd to fetch artists out of tuscany . it is no wonder if the romans , who * were a people very proud , and conceited of their own performances , treated all those arts , and artists , which were not adapted to their proper genius with contempt , especially after they had receiv'd those improvements , which render'd 'em more artificial , and consequently more difficult . by which means the roman youth , who at first began to imitate the tuscan players , were forc●d to throw up those refin'd diversions to their † slaves , and stick themselves to the old , rude , simple way of mixing indigested verses , and crude extempore raillery . thus the ludi scenici being refin'd , fell wholly into the hands of mercenary players , who were upon this occasion distinguish'd by the name of * histriones , the roman youth retaining to themselves only the fabulae atellanae , which , ●ecause of their rudeness and simplicity , requir'd no great skill or application , as the other did ; which , for that reason , perhaps they were either too saturnine , or too proud to learn of those , whom they esteem'd as vassals , or slaves . that this was the reason of their giving over the acting their other plays , and not any turpitude , or dishonesty in the things themselves , livy himself declares , by saying * , that after the introduction of the fable , they became too artificial for the practice of their youth , and therefore reserving to themselves the atellanae only , they left the rest of the shews to those that made it their sole business . 't is observable , that the historian in this account of plays includes not the drama at all ; for he speaks here only of the fables , which , after the satyrae , were introduc'd by one livius , and were repeated in verse with action and gestures to musick . tragedy and comedy were not known to the romans till some ages after , the progress of their arms had not made them acquainted with the learning of greece , and the wealth and luxury of asia . this mark therefore of infamy , which was set upon the histriones ( from which ( as mr collier observes ) the actors of the fabulae atellanae were exempt , can't properly stick upon the actors of tragedy , and comedy as such , that law having been made long before the drama was brought to rome from greece but it was the misfortune of the drama to make its publick entry into rome , not only long after this voluntary , and unanimous secession , or separation of the youth of rome from the mercenary players , but even after the law had branded these latter with infamy and disgrace , by excluding 'em from their tribes , and denying 'em the liberty of bearing arms. whether , because making a business , and profession of diversion only , the roman state , which encourag'd those exercises only that tended towards hard'ning their youth , for labour and military action , as partly thro inclination , so also out of necessity and state interest , being in its infamy surrounded by neighbours more potent than themselves , and oblig'd to subsist almost altogether upon the purchase of their swords , thought fit , by a publick discouragement , to deter their youth from giving themselves up to an employment , that so little suited the posture , and condition of their affairs at first , and the vastness of their ambition afterwards . or , that after the first separation , occasion'd ( as livy hints ) rather by the incapacity and unfitness of the romans for elegancy , and polite exercise , the practice of the stage , fell wholly into the hands of slaves , and mercenary foreigners , to joyn with whom , the magistrates and people , who were extremely proud , and jealous of the honour , and dignity of their citizens as such , thought it so great an indignity and debasement that they made provision by this law against it . or , lastly , that their mimes & pantomimes were already , before the making of this law , arriv'd at that lewd heighth of impudence , that we have already taken notice of , which obliged the government to take this method to fright their citizens from mixing in the proctice of such impurities . of these reasons the two first seem joyntly to have contributed to the production of this law : and livy , tho he does not formally assign any reason for this severe usage of the players , yet seems implicitely to intimate 'em to us in the notice that he has taken of 'em , tho not as causes , yet as circumstances considerable at that time . the silence of livy concerning any such licentiousness in their shews at that time , is a sufficient argument against the last cause . for that historian , who upon all occasions shews abundance of zeal for the honour of his country , would not have fail'd to have done 'em justice upon this occasion , had this rigour been the product of their morals , and regard to virtue . it is apparent therefore , that this discouragement of the shews , or rather this restraint of the action to servants and strangers , was the result of their policy , not manners , and is therefore an impertinent instance to mr collier's purpose , who i suppose writes for the reformation of men's morals , not politicks . 't is probable , that when tragedy and comedy came upon the roman stage , being destitute of able actors of a higher character , they were necessitated to make use of the actors of the scenic shews , who , tho us'd to representations differing very much both in their manner and end , yet by their practice and pronunciation and gestures , had both voice and motion under great command ; which made the exercise of the tragick or comick stage , tho new and unknown to 'em before , not difficult . by this means the actors of tragedy and comedy , who cou'd not be aim'd at by a law made long before any such were in being , might yet be brought under the censure of it in quality of histriones , or scene players before noted . thus these different characters meeting constantly in the persons of the same men amongst the undistinguishing crowd , the infamy of one might affect the other . but granting the meaning and intention of that law to reach the dramatick actors , and that using a craft , which submits 'em to those compliances , for which the other are censur'd ; they also are offenders against the design of it , and consequently are comprehended within the intent of it , and liable to the penalty . yet even thus this instance , giving it all the scope that may be in the utmostlatitude of construction , is no way serviceable to this reformer's purpose . this would have appear'd very plain , had the law itself , instead of the instance from livy , been produc'd . * † the pretorian edict runs thus whoever appears upon the stage to speak , or act , is declar'd infamous . which labeo expounds thus . the stage is any place fitted up for the use of plays , where any one is to appear , and by his motion make himself a publick spectacle . this law being conceiv'd in general terms against all that speak or act , upon the stage for the diversion of the people , seems indeed naturally to include comedians , and tragedians , who do both speak , and act upon the stage , and make a show of themselves to the people too . yet it does not serve our adversaries cause at all , who must shew , that their profession was branded for the immorality of it , or he talks nothing to the purpose . this exposition of labeo's upon this law , like the preamble to one of our acts of parliament , may let us into the meaning of the letter , and the motives that induc'd 'em to make it . what this learned roman lawyer here observes as matter of offence , is only , that they did , spectaculum sui praebere , make a shew of themselves for hire ; which the pride of the romans might very naturally make 'em think to be a prostitution of the dignity and character of a citizen of rome , which deserv'd to be punish'd with the privation of that which they had dishonour'd . to secure this point , the words , ab histrionibus pollui , which he renders to be blemish'd by the stage , are ( as has already been observ'd ) put into the margin , by which he hopes to cast that blemish upon the morality of the performance , which in strictness regarded only the persons , and dignity of the actors , and that not upon any moral , but a political consideration . by these instances it may appear , what violence of construction is used to rack and torture these antient authors to confess , and depose against their consciences . stretching the text is nothing with him , to serve his purpose it must be dismember'd , that he may have the cementing the fragments as he pleases ; by which means he has shewn 'em in more unnatural figures , than even posture clark knew ; heads and tails are so promiscuously jumbled together , that the most familiar posture you find 'em in , is that of a dog couchant , with their noses in their a — s. but if after all , this censure shou'd reach the mercenary or hireling actors only , and meerly upon that account , i think 't will be pretty evident , that 't was not the exercise of their mystery that made 'em scandalous , but the motives that induc'd 'em to it . to clear this point , let us look a little forward , and to the former law , we shall find the following subjoyn'd . * those that enter the lists for the sake of gain , or appear upon the stage for reward , are infamous , says pegasus , and nerva the son. here 't is plain that 't was not the nature of their profession that drew the censure upon 'em , but the condition of their exercising it , which was for hire , whereby they became mercenaries . this disgrace , affecting only the mercenary actors , reflects no way upon the poets of the drama , and their performances . for had they been scandalous , 't is not to be imagin'd , that so many of the greatest men that ever rome bred , and the tenderest of their honour , wou'd have amus'd themselves about works , in which they must have employ'd abundance of time , learning , and judgment , to forfeit their reputation and dignity . scipio africanus and laelius were publickly suspected to have assisted terence in the composition of his plays ; and the poet , when tax'd with it , is so far from vindicating his great patrons , ( which had it been matter of reproach and diminution of honour to those noble persons , he certainly would have done ) that he does in a manner confess the charge to be true , and with a dexterity , in which he was singularly happy , converts what was intended as an imputation , to a complement upon himself , and values himself more upon the condescension , and friendship of men of their high character and station , than upon the merit of his performance ; which , this objection was rais'd to lessen , by dividing the honour . julius and augustus caesar , are both said to have busied themselves at vacant hours in tragedy ; and even seneca the philosopher . however , mr collier ▪ has lately seduc'd him over to his party , and made a malecontent of him , was once very well contented , and easy at a play , and that too , not a sober tragedy or comedy , * but one of their noonday drolls , a kind of their ludi senici , more wretched and contemptible , than our smithfield farces , and less modest . yet his gravity was it seems refresh'd by it , tho he 's grown so very squeamish , since his acquaintance with mr collier that it would be a h●rd matter to reconcile 〈◊〉 to a grave tragedy , tho of his own wri●ing ( before his rigid new friend , mr collier ) some of which are suppos'd to be yet extant amongst his name sake●s collection of tragedies . brutus , who left behind him ( notwithstanding his fatal engagement in the assassination of caesar , ) as high an idea of his virtue , and as a perfect character of an excellent moral m●n , as even ca●o himself , was as great an admirer and encourager of the drama , as any roman of 'em all . and tully himself , who had as much vanity and pride as any man breathing , thought it no diminution of his dignity and character , to contract an intimate friendship with roscius an actor , and publickly to espouse his interest , and defend his cause , which a man of his vanity and caution would not have done , had the censure of that law upon his profession , any way affected in the publick esteem the reputation of those among 'em , that had any personal merit , as roscius , aesopus , and some others . but tho these , and many others of the most eminent among the romans , were avow'd patrons , and the suppos'd at least , if not the real author of many of their dramatick pieces , yet our remarker finds , that in the time of theodosius all sorts of players did not come up to the reputation of those great men , and make the top figures of their time , and therefore he claws 'em away with another swinging authority . in the theodosian code , players are call'd personae inhonestae , that is , to translate it softly , persons maim'd and blemish'd in their reputations . their pictures might be seen at the playhouse , but were not permitted to hang in any creditable * place of the town . so says mr collier , but the emperors theodosius , arcadius , and honorius , by the authority of whom this law was enacted and continued in force , were somewhat less severe , and something more particular , and this gentleman●s version of that law , however soft he may pretend it to be , is no very fair one . faithfully render'd it runs thus . if , * in the publick porches , or other places of the city where statues use to be dedicated to us , the picture of any mean habited pantomime and charioteer with his ruffled garment , or base droll actor be put up , let it be immediately pull●d down : nor shall it be lawful for the future to represent persons of such despicable characters in places of honour . but in the entrance of the circus , or before the stage of the theatres they may be allow'd . this , when produc'd faithfully , and at length , is a worshipful authority for mr collier●s purpose , and the strowlers all over the kingdom must needs be extreamly mortified , when they reflect upon this article , and find , that they are not yet so proper companions for the king , as to be hail fellow , well met with him at a publick entry , or audience . these emperours , it seems , thought it a sort of indignity to have every scoundrel hackney coachman , antick tumbler , or droll actor set up in effigie by their own statues , which in the times of paganism were the objects of solemn worship , and afterwards of the highest veneration imaginable below it . they thought it a derogation to majesty ( as well they might ) to have objects of ridiculous mirth and scorn plac'd so near 'em , and that the tickling to laughter , which these produc●d in the people , wou'd lessen the awful respect and reverence expected to be paid to the other . but not to carry matters so high ; if any one shou●d take a fancy to set tom dogget's effigies in his sailors dress , familiarly cheek by jole in the same , or the next niche to the king upon the exchange ( tho that ben●t so solemn a place of honour to our kings , as the roman porticus to their emperors ) i suppose it wou●d be resented as an affront , and be by order pull'd down . but if any man should take a fancy to the sign of the king●s head , and his next neighbour to mr be●terton's , i hardly think there would come any order from whitchall to demolish or lamb-black the sign . and tho perhaps the two first may actually be found at murray●s or some other eminent limners in the same room yet i fancy the painter will hardly incur the penalty of crimen laesae majestatis , tho he should happen to have drawn 'em both with the same pencil too . princes , tho very zealous and tender of their honour , ( as they have reason to be ) yet are not half so nice and scrupulous as mr collier . these instances are exactly parallel to , and shew the difference between the drift of the theodosian code , and of his extravagant paraphrase , which having already given the words of , i leave the reader to judge of the intention . his instances from our english statutes and the petition of his godly citizens , i shall take no notice of , both because i find it sufficiently done already to my hands , and because i think em nothing to his purpose , as i think indeed of the greatest part of what i have already examined ; but hitherto they seem'd to carry a face of learning and authority , which might mislead the unlearnd , or surprize the unwary , if they were not warn'd in time of his disingenuity in quotation . his authorities drawn from the several canons of some councils , are liable to the same reprehension with the rest of his citations . but i am willing to compound with my reader for my past prolixity , and to dismiss 'em without any further trouble , or examination ; especially since the formal reasons of em are contain●d in the objections from the fathers , and already answerd there . since therefore the idolatry , lewdness , and cruelty of the roman shews , ( which provok●d the indignation of the fathers , and the censure of those councils ) are banisht our stage , i see no reason , why the batteries , that were rais'd only to demolish them , shou'd be continu'd against it . but mr collier , and the bishop of arras are gotten into confederacy , and are resolv'd , that tho the theatres have long since perform●d their articles on their parts , not to allow 'em the benefit of the capitulation , and surprizing 'em , lull'd into security by a long cessation of arms , to raze 'em utterly to the ground . delenda est carthago , was the word , the ruin of the stage was agreed upon between 'em , but they wanted a fair pretence of quarrel ; and therefore general collier publishes a tedious manifesto , fill'd with specious pretexts , to give a colour to his proceedings , and at the same time makes his invasion . his quarrel to the stage is like that of the wolf to the lamb , when the prey was ready , the varnish of justice was but a formality , that serv'd like a hypocrite's grace , to make his meal the more decent ; when the personal accusation proves too light , the family differences are thrown into the scale , and he runs 1500 years backward to make weight . thus he makes a true italian grudge of it , no change of air , or soil can can make it degenerate , but it remains entail'd upon the posterity , aud successors of those , between whom it first began , tho the true reason why it ever began , were long since ceas'd , and perhaps forgotten . but after he has , like a hot mettled car , with a bad nose , over-run the scent , and cry'd it false thro all the ●ields of antiquity , he begins to be afraid of being whipt home , and therefore begins to draw towards it of himself . he 's sensible , that the comparison betwixt the roman and english stages will not hold water , and to answer the leaks , he begins to ply the pump , in order to keep it afloat , but it works as hard , and refunds as little as a usurers conscience . but it may be objected , is the resemblance exact between old rome and london ? will the parallel hold out , and has the english stage any thing so bad as the dancing of the pantomimi ? i don't say that . the modern gestures , tho bold , and lewd too sometimes , are not altogether so scandalous as the roman . here then we can make 'em some little abatement . ay! is that your conscience ? can you make but little abatemant ? i find you 've a stomach like a horse , nothing rises upon it , let it be never so provoking either , for quantity or quality . dancing naked with gestures , expressive of lewdness between both sexes at a time , and publick and open prostitutions in the representations of the rapes and adulteries of their gods , were frequently the diversions of the roman theatres . all these provoke no qualms in him ; he can scarce make any abatement . what wou'd a queasie stomach'd atheist give for his digestion . but where 's the boldness , and lewdness of the modern gestures ; which mr collier makes bold to charge 'em with ? i dare answer for the audience , that cou'd they find any such thing in our dancing , they wou'd be so much more reasonable than he , that they wou'd part with all that part of the entertainment . but perhaps he suspects some intentional lewdness , which is not expressed any way , and thinks that monsieur l'abbe is fallen into sir fopling flutter's stratagem , and is sparing of his vigour in private , only to be lavish of it in publick , and thinks no one woman worth the loss of a cut in a caper , which is designed to make his court to the whole sex. this indeed is a dangerous design , and the discovery is worth mr collier's time and pains , t is a plot upon the virtue of the whole sex ; therefore if he has any such thing in the wind , e●en let him follow his nose , and cry it away as loud as he pleases . well , but he begins to relent again already , these wamblings are a certain sign of breeding , he 's in a longing condition , that 's plain . come t'other strain sir , and up with 't . so now it 's out . and to go as far in their excuse as we can , 't is probable their musick may not be altogether so exceptionable as that of the antients . really sir this is very kind , and condescending . but do you truly , and from your heart think , that our theatre musick is not altogether so pernicious , as the musick of the antients ? now were i as cross , and captious as a stage reformer , and as full of mr. collier's own devil of opposition , as himself , i cou'd raise his , and divert the spleen of other people . but foolery apart , i desire to know wherein consists this imaginary force of musick , that charms , and transports , rufflles , and becalms , and governs , with such an arbitrary authority , that can make drunken fellows , as soler , and shame-faced , as one wou●d wish . if he can tell me this , erit mihi magnus apoll , or , what 's but one remove from him , first knight of his own order of the welch harp. our fiddlers find to their cost sometimes the want of this coercive power , but perhaps they can't play a dorion , and for that piece of ignorance deserve the fate they sometimes meet with , when they unluckily fall into the company of these drunken fellows , and get their heads broke with their own fiddles , in return for their musick . yet to do the gentleman all the justice , ay and the favour too , that we can , in return for his late civility , i must own , that i have seen at a country wake , or so , one of these harm onious knights of the scrubbado , or a melodious rubber of hair and catgut , lug a whole parish of as arrant logs , as those that danced after orpheus , by the ears after him , to the next empty barn , frisking , and curvetting at such a frolicksom rate , that they could scarce keep their legs together ; nay , such was the power of the melody , that even the solitary deserted gingerbread stalls wagged after ; and all this without the help of one illegal string , and but four very untunable ones . what cou'd timotheus , or even orpheus himself do more . however i wou'd not have the gentleman swell too much in the pride of his victory , i wou'd not have him insult too soon . for , tho possibly these knights of the harp and catgut might know , how to arm a sound , and put force and conquests in it , yet had there not been a favourable conjuncture of circumstances , the harmony , as charming as it was , had not succeeced so miraculously , nor produc'd such extatick raptures . for example , had this descendant from orpheus surpriz'd 'em at a time , when the holyday clothes were laid up in lavender , when the hay , or harvest was abroad , or the snow upon the ground , and the cattle wanted foddering , when the calf was to be suckled , and the cheese to be set , he might have thrummed his harp out , and cou'd no more have stirred those very clods , that leapt as mechanically before at the first twang , as if they had been meer machines ( instruments strung , and tuned to an unisone ) then he cou'd have raised the turf , they trod upon , by vertue of ela , and f-ffaut . the critical juncture mist , roger had not jogged a foot out of his way , nor madge out of her dairy , they had been as regardless of his harmony , as a london milk maid , after the first week in may ; 〈◊〉 ●ntient britto●● 〈◊〉 as easily have been charmed from his scrubbing post . there are indeed certain opportunities to be found by those that skilfully watch 'em , wherein mens souls are to be taken by surprize , wherein they give themselves up wholly to the direction of their senses , when reason tired with perpetual mounting the guard , quits her post , and leaves 'em to be drawn away by every delightful object , every pleasing amusement . at these times sound , colour , taste , and smell have all an unusual influence ; a face , a voice , or any thing else , that gives us pleasure for the time , commands us , and we are hurried , like men in dreams , we know not how , nor whither . yet this is easily accounted for , without recourse to natural magick , or any suitable power in those agents , that work upon us . our souls are at these times , like vessels adrift , at the mercy of waves and winds , from what corner soever they blow ; our senses are the compass they sail by , from whence those blasts of passion come , that drive us so uncertainly about , but 't is without any peculiar inherent force of direction more in one point than another . thus far musick , as well as other things that gives us delight , and flatter the senses , may influence us . it may when we are under a lazy disposition of mind , produce a degree of satisfaction something above indolence , but the motions of it are languid and indeterminate , that incline us only to an unactive easiness of mind , a barren pleasure , that dies without issue , with the sounds that begat it ; so little danger is there that it shou'd be in the power of a few mercenary hands , to play the people out of their sences , to run away with their understanding , and wind their passions about their fingers , as they list . i suppose few will take it upon this gentlemans word , that musick is almost as dangerous , as gunpowder ; and requires no less looking after , than the press or the mint . this gentleman sure has a noise of musick in his head , that has put the stumm in his brain into a ferment , and caused it to work over into all this windy fancy and froth . he has been a tale-gathering among the antients , and wou●d put his romantick rhapsody upon us for authentick . but what is yet more unreasonable is , that without offering one argument to prove either the reasonableness of his opinion , or the reality of his instances , he dogmatically asserts things monstrously , exceeding the stretch of the most capacious faith , and yet expects that , which alone is sufficient to destroy the credit of things infinitely more probable , the vast distance of time shou'd warrant the truth of them . as if he believed all mankind to be proselyted to the paradox of a certain father certum est quia impossibile . but if the power of the antient music was so great , as he would perswade us , certainly timotheus was a fool for suffering his harp to be seized for having one string above publick allowance . for if altering the notes , were the way to have the laws repealed , and to unsettle the constitution , he might with a twang , instead of taking a string from his harp , have put one about the magistrates neck , and for a song have set himself at the head of commonwealth . but this author , who is all along a platonist in his philosophy , is in this point an arrant bigot . the whole scheme and strain of the platonick philosophy , is very romantick and whimsical , and like our author's works , savours in every particular more strongly of fancy than judgment , yet in nothing more , than in the imaginary power of harmony , to which he ascrib●d the regulation , and government of the universe , and other powers more fantastical and extravagant , than that of the pythagorean numbers . now were i in as cross a mood , and as much at leisure to be impertinent as this admirer of the antient musick , who has ventur'd to affirm it as certain , that our improvements of this kind , are little better than ale-house crowds , with respect to theirs . i cou'd with a cërtainty of evidence , next to demonstration , maintain just the reverse of his assertion , and prove that the musick of the antients fell infinitely short of the modern in point of perfection , as well in theory as practice , and that , waving the fabulous accounts , ( which none but an enthusiastick bigot can seriously insist upon ) all our memoirs from antiquity will scarce make the harps of orpheus and arion , &c. to triumph over a jew's harp , or rival a scotch bagpipe . but after all , it seems that he has been raving all this while in pedantick bombast , at he knows not what . he confesses that he is not acquainted with the play-house musick , and that he is no competent judge . i don't say this part of the entertainment is directly vitious , because i am not willing to censure at vncertainties . how long , i wonder , has he been thus modest ? had he been thus tender all along , he had suppress'd his whole book , and the truth had suffer'd nothing by the loss of it . but in earnest , is he deaf ? or does he wax up his ears when he goes to a play , as ( he says ) vlysses did , when he sail'd by the syrens ? no , neither ; but , if we may believe him , he never comes there . those that frequent the play-house are the most competent judges . why that 's honestly said , they are so ; keep but to this , and there 's some hope of an accommodation . but alas ! tho his zeal is a little aguish now , the hot ●it comes on apace , and then right or wrong , he must say , that the performances of this kind are much too fine for the place . tho he has never heard of one , nor seen t'other , yet he cries hang scruples , the musick must be bawdy , atheistical musick , and the dancing bold and lewd too sometimes . now whether he means that the fiddler himself is an infidel of a fiddler , or that he has an unbelieving crowd , he is desir'd to explain ; for they are both left to be catechiz'd by him . but as for the sounds produc'd betwixt them , care has been already taken to clear 'em , not only from guilt , but from all manner of meaning whatsoever . as for the dancing , which he calls bold , it may in one sense be allow'd him ; for it must be granted , that he that ventures his neck to dance upon the top of a ladder , is a very bold fellow . if this concession be of any use to him , 't is at his service , whether the fraternity of rope-dancers take it well at my hands or not . but for the lewdness , i must remind him of his appeal to those who frequent the play-houses , ( whom he allows to be ) the most competent judges . but as their judgment in these matters appears to be indisputable , so the modesty of the better part of 'em at least , ( i mean the ladies ) who are the particular favourers of this part of the entertainment , is unquestionable . their countenance therefore in so plain a matter , which being a question of fact , admits of no other decision , ought to be lookt upon as a definitive judgment against him , and a sufficient vindication of our stage-dancing . i should here dismiss this point without further debate , if i did not find him closing it on his side with a notorious false assertion concerning the comparative morality of the vocal musick of the ancient and modern stages , which , not designing to resume this branch of the controversie any more , i am bound here to take notice of , and rectifie . if the english stage is more reserv'd than the roman in the case above-mentioned . if they have any advantage in their instrumental musick , they lose it in their vocal . their songs are often rampantly lewd , and irreligious to a flaming excess . here you have the spirit , and essence of vice drawn off strong scented , and thrown into a little compass . now the antients , as we have seen already , were inoffensive in this respect . here again i am at a loss to know whether this is a fault of ignorance or design . but be it whether he pleases , the falseness of his assertion is unpardonably scandalous ; for whether he has ventur'd to affirm beyond , or contrary to his knowledge , 't is manifest he did it with an intention to impose upon his readers , by asserting that which he could not know to be true , if he did not certainly know it to be false . the vocal musick of the antient stage was of two sorts , one whereof was interspers'd among their dramatick writings , and consisted of hymns , and praises of their gods , which were sung and danced by the chorus to certain grave aires and measures . here indeed the poets must have been more impertinently and perversely lewd , than mr collier ●s own corrupt imagination can positively make the moderns to be , if they cou'd have found room for any thing very indecent ; tho an ill natur'd critick , with much less gall or straining , than mr collier has made use of , might shew , that they were not so absolutely inoffensive , as he affirms . the chorus represented the spectators , and their business was to make occasional reflections upon the several incidents and turn of the fable , which was the artificial instrument , the antient poets us'd to convey the moral into the audience , and teach 'em what to think upon such occasions , and how to behave themselves in reference to their gods and religion , and were therefore suppos'd to speak the sense of the poet , or what at least he desir'd should be taken for such . now i dare answer for the meanest of those poets , upon whom this author has made his reflections , that taking our estimate of their understandings by his own diminutive survey of 'em , there is not amongst 'em one so arrant a blockhead , as under the circumstances of the antients to have taken more liberty , than they did . but if their chorus was modest and harmless enough ; the other part of their stage vocal musick will make ample amends , and make the lewdness of our poets appear , as demure as a quaker at a silent meeting . the antients had lustier appetites , and stronger digestions , than the moderns , and their poets cookt thei● messes accordingly , they did not stand to make minc'd meat , or artificially to steal in their ribaldry , and disguise it in nice ragou's after the modern way ; they were for whole services , substantial treats of bawdy . nor do i find , that it recoil'd upon the stomachs of the generality of their guests for many ages together . the reader i suppose will immediately guess that i mean the ludi scenici , which made the amours of their gods , and heroes their subject , in which the lewdest actions were represented in the lewdest manner , and sung in the most fulsome luscious verse . upon our stage no such practices are allow●d , if a light wanton thought happens to creep into a song , 't is not suffer'd to shew its face bare , but is presently maskt , and cloathed decently in metaphor , that many wou'd not suspect the modesty of it , and even the most squeamish can't take offence without offering violence ; for it comes into your company like a bashful young sinner , she 's civil company amongst sober people . the antients , 't is plain , were not by abundance so scrupulous ; if they had , those lewd drolls had never been compos'd , much less represented . but they were for all naked , without the vail of figure or dress , they requir●d nudities in speech , as well as action , the audience went away with satisfaction , and the poet with applause . by this we may see , that our stage upon the comparison is not so rampantly lewd , as mr. collier represents it , nor the ancient so inoffensive . to dilate upon this head , would be both improper and impertinent ; but these few hints , which , all that are acquainted with the practice of the roman stage , know to be true , whether mr collier does or not , may suffice to shew what an unfair adversary the stage has met with ; and to prove that he is not an upright , or not a competent judge of these matters , in which he unauthoriz'd undertakes to determine , and arrogantly obtrudes his false judgment upon us . another of his objections to the stage in general , is their dilating so much upon the argument of love. upon this article he is very lavish of his rhetorick , and lays about him in tropes and figures , he is got into his old road of declamation , and posts whip and spur thro his common place upon the subject . his fancy , like a runaway-horse , has got the bit between her teeth , and ramps over hedge and ditch , to the great danger of his judgment ; no bars or fences of sense or reason can stop her cariere , till jaded and out of wind she flags of her self . here then , let us come up with him . i don't say the stage fells all before 'em , and disables the whole audience : 't is a hard battle , where none escape . however , their triumphs and their trophies are unspeakable . neither need we much wonder at the matter . they are dangerously prepar'd for conquest and empire . there 's nature , and passion , and life in all the circumstances of their action . their declamation , their mein , their gestures , and their equipage , are very moving and significant . now when the subject is agreeable , a lively representation , and a passionate way of expression , make wild work , and have a strange force upon the blood and temper . what means all this unseasonable cry fire , fire , where there is not so much as a spark ? if the audience were meer tinder , they were out of danger . sure the author had wildfire in his brains , that the thoughts of the players could put him into such an uproar . 't is granted the actresses may appear to advantage upon the stage , and yet their triumphs and trophies not be so unutterable neither . for as dangerously as they are prepar'd for conquest and empire , the highest of their acquests , that i could ever hear of , was a good keeping , which has fallen to the share of but a few of 'em ; when multitudes of their sex have arriv'd at greater matters without any such formidable preparations . however , here 's mein , and equipage , and the author seems afraid , lest the raw squires of the pit should take em for quality in earnest , and be dazled with the lustre of the inestimable treasure of glass , and tinsel , and so catch the real itch of love from their counterfeit scrubbado . and truly there 's as much reason to fear , they shou'd be pursu'd for their fortunes , as their love off the stage . to answer this rant of whimsie and extravagance seriously , were as ridiculous an undertaking as hudibras's dispute with the managers of his west country ovation , and by the sample we have of our antagonist , the issue wou●d probably be as cleanly . but if any one thinks an answer to this charge necessary , he may see as much as it will bear , and more than it deserves , in a late piece entitled , a review of mr. collier ' s view , &c. he has yet another charge upon the stage left , and that is their encouraging of revenge . what is more common than duels and quarrelling , in their characters of figure ? those practices , which are infamous in reason , capital in ●aw , and damnable in religion , are the credit of the stage . thus rage and resentment , blood and barbarity are almost deified ; pride goes for greatness , and fiends and heroes are made of the same metal . and thus the notion of honour is mis-stated , the maxims of christianity despised , and the peace of the world disturb'd one would think he had found out another passage in valerius maximus , and that the civilis sangu●s was abroach again . but rome contented him then , now nothing less than the peace of the whole world must be disturb'd about a bawble . sure he thinks all the world of the country-wife's opinion , that the player men are the finest folks in it . but so far is revenge from being encourag'd , or countenanc'd by the stage , that to desire and prosecute it , is almost always the mark of a tyrant , or a villain , in tragedy , and poetick justice is done upon 'em for it ; it is generally turn'd upon their own heads , becomes the snare in which they are taken , and the immediate instrument of their miserable catastrophe . thus in the mourning bride , don manuel , to glut his lust of revenge , puts himself into the place and habit of his unhappy prisoner , in order to surprize , betray , and insult his own pious , afflicted daughter , over the suppos'd body of her murther'd husband . in this posture poetick justice overtakes him , and he is himself surpriz'd , mistaken for him whom he represented , and stabb'd by a creature of his own , the villanous minister of his tyranny , and his chief favourite . nothing is more common than this sort of justice in tragedy , than which nothing can be more diametrically opposite , or a greater discouragement to such barbarous practices . comedy indeed does not afford us many instances of this kind ; rage and barbarity are crimes not cognizable by her ; they are of too deep a dye , and the indictment against 'em must be preferr'd at another bar. if she admits of any thoughts of revenge , they must be such as spring from the lowest class of resentments ; that flow rather from a weakness of judgment , or a perverseness of temper in the parties that conceive 'em , than from the justice of the cause , or the greatness of the provocation . accordingly they ought to have no great malignity in 'em , they ought to spend themselves in little machinations , that aim no farther than the crossing of an intrigue , the breaking of a match , &c. and never to break out into open violence , or ravage in mischief . the passions have little to do in comedy , every one there according to his capacity acts by design , or carelessly gives himself up to his humour , and indulges his pleasure and inclinations . this equality of temper of mind , with the diversity of humours , is what makes the business of comedy . for while this general calm lasts , all busily pursue their several inclinations ; and by various ways practise upon one another . and the man of pleasure follows his design upon the rich knave 's wife , or daughter , while the other is working into his estate . the cully is the sharper's exchequer , and the fop the parasite's , or jilt's , &c. which , were the passions too much agitated , and the storm rais'd high , wou'd become impracticable ; the commerce wou'd be broken off , and the plot wholly frustrated . besides that both the thoughts and actions of men , very much disorder'd by passion , or fill'd with too deep resentments , are naturally violent and outrageous , and absolutely repugnant to the genius , and destructive of the end of comedy . i grant that some passions , such as love , jealousie , anger , are frequently , and sometimes justly employ'd in comedy ; but then they are to be kept under , and must not be suffer'd to get the ascendant , and domineer over reason ; if they do , they are no longer comick passions . love must not carry 'em beyond gallantry , and gaiety of spirit in the pride of success , nor further than a light disquiet , such as may excite their industry , and whet their invention under disappointments . jealousie must not hurry 'em beyond their cunning , or make their impatience betray their plot. nor must their anger break out into flames , and push 'em upon rash unadvis'd actions . such revenges therefore , as are the result of passions so moderated , and circumstantiated , are allowable in comedy ; which can never produce any such terrible effects , as to deserve all these furious claps of thunder , which mr collier has discharg'd upon ' em . horace indeed tells us , that comedy will raise its voice sometimes , and scold , and swagger violently . interdum tamen & vocem comoedia tollit , iratusque chremes tumido delitigat ore . but this very instance shews , that the passion of comedy shou'd proceed no farther than scolding , or menaces . nor do these fit every one's mouth , a father , a husband , or a master , when they conceive their authorities to be outrag'd , may be allow'd to vent their indignation , to unload their stomachs , and in the discharge of their choler to break out into expressions of threatning , or reproach . but this is not to be allow'd upon slight provocations , or to every person in comedy , who by their place and character can pretend to no such power , or authority . these rants of passion are not to be indulg'd amongst equals in comedy , much less to inferiours ; because such provocations naturally produce effects too great , and too like tragedy . chremes , in the heautontimorumenos of terence , who is produc'd by horace as an example of the heighth of comick passion , was a husband , a father , and a master , injur'd ( at least in his own opinion ) and abus'd in all these capacities by his wife , his son , and his slave ; his authority slighted , and what was worse , his understanding , ( of which he was not a little conceited ) affronted , and he practic'd upon , and made a cully of by his son , and his slave , even in the exaltation of his wit , and cunning , by his own plot and management . these were provocations as high as comedy could well admit , and consequently the rage , which they must naturally produce in a man of his temper , and opinion of his own prudence , must be in proportion . yet , what follows ? chremes does not lose his reason in his anger , * his son ( he tells you ) shall be reduc'd by words to reason : but as for syrus , that rogue , that had made him his sport and his laughing-stock , he would take such care of him , and put him in such a trim , he should not dare to put his tricks upon a widow hereafter , as he had done upon him . what is there in all this , that mr collier with all his scruples about him can quarrel with ? 't is true , a scene or two after he falls upon his son , in very opprobrious terms , and calls him drunkard , blockhead , spendthrift , rake-hell , &c. but his fury spends itself in a few words , and he comes immediately to composition with his son , and is easily wrought to forgive even syrus too , so that all his fury is spent , not to revenge the affront receiv'd , but to reclaim his son. but mr collier's resentments are of another nature ; rage , bloud and barbarity are the ingredients of 'em , and consequently they 're no composition for the ingredients of comedy ; and tragedy , as we have already shewn , is no encourager of 'em , but just the contrary . i can't see how he can make 'em to be of the proper growth of the stage . for tragedy , by giving 'em so odious a dress and air , and so calamitous a catastrophe , as it always does , takes the most effectual course absolutely to eradicate 'em , and to purge the minds of the audience of those turbulent guests . upon this prospect it was , that aristotle pronounc'd so largely in favour of tragedy , that it made terror and compassion the instruments , by which it purified and refined those very passions in us , and all of the like nature . but , if tragedy be no encourager of such disorders , much less can comedy , which meddles not at all with 'em , be with any colour of justice accus'd . comedy has nothing to do with either fiends , or heroes , whatever stuff , or metal they may be made of . 't is indeed a fault to bring duels and rencounters upon the comick stage , from which some of our poets can't excuse themselves . but 't is a fault rather against the rules of poetry , and true dramatick writing , than those of morality . for , in poetry as well as painting , we are oblig'd to draw after the life , and consequently to copy as well the blemishes as the beauties of the original ; otherwise the finest colours we can bestow , are no better than gay dawbing . the fault therefore of the poet lies not in shewing the imperfections of any of his persons , but in shewing them improperly , and in the wrong place , which is an error of his judgment , not his morals , and wou'd be as great if he shou'd untowardly produce in comedy the highest examples of heroick virtue and fortitude . an instance of this kind we have in the comical revenge , or love in a tub , of sir george etherege , in which the duel , and the action of bruce after it are of a strain above comedy . those niceties of honour , and extravagancies of jealousie and despair are unnatural on the comick stage ; and the rescue from the ruffians , for which bruce in the same scene is oblig'd to his rival , however brave and generous an action it may appear , consider'd simply in it self , is a trespass against justice and propriety of manners in that place . indeed that whole walk of the play , and the set of characters peculiarly belonging to it , are more nearly related to the buskin , than the sock , and render the play one of those which we improperly call tragicomedies . the other walk , as 't is one of the most diverting , so 't is one of the most natural , and best contriv'd that ever came upon the stage . this may suffice to shew that a comick poet can't trespass against the laws of morality in this nature , without offending against the laws of his own art ; and consequently that such a fault ought rather to be lookt upon as an error of his judgment than of his will , which may deserve the correction of a critick , but not of a moralist . but supposing that a writer of comedy shou'd ( as many of 'em have done ) either thro want of skill or caution in the conduct and management of his plot , so embroil his gentleman as to reduce him to the hard choice either of accepting or refusing a challenge , the question is , whether the poet ought to allow him to accept , or answer it , like ( what the world calls ) a man of honour , or to introduce him and his friend playing the casuists like philotimus and philalethes , and argue him out of his resentments . in this case the poets business is to draw his picture , not to inform his conscience ; which wou'd be as ridiculous in him , as for sir godfrey kneller to set up for taking confessions , and enquire into the principles of any man , in order 〈◊〉 true draught of his face . the poet , as well as the painter is to follow , not to pretend to lead nature : and if custom and common practice have already determin'd the point , whether , according to equity , or not , the poet exceeds his commission , if he presumes to run counter to ' em . so that if a comick poet be so far overseen , as to bring his gentlemen into the field , or but so far towards it as a challenge , there is no taking up the matter without action , or ( which is all one to mr collier's objection ) shewing a readiness , and disposition for it on both sides . and the poet stands in need of all his skill , and address to save their honour , and reconcile 'em without engagement . since therefore both by the nature of his subject , and the rules of his art , a dramatick poet is limited , and oblig'd , he can't reasonably be charg'd with any thing , as a trespass against morality , in which he does not offend likewise against them . for dramatick poetry , like a glass , ought neither to flatter , nor to abuse in the image which it reflects , but to give them their true colour and proportion , and is only valuable for being exact . if therefore any man dislikes the figures , which he sees in it , he finds fault with nature , not the poet , if those pictures be drawn according to the life ; and he might as justly snarl at the wise providence which governs the world , because he meets more ugly faces than handsome ones , more knaves and fools than honest and wise men in it , and those too , generally more prosperous and fortunate . but because some of those gentlemen , that have taken pains to proclaim war against the present stage , and have publish'd their censures of it , seem to have no true idea of the business of a dramatick poet , and have arraign'd some of the present writers for the stage , either through malice or misunderstanding , of high crimes and misdemeanours , in many particulars for doing those things which the duty of a poet oblig'd 'em to ; it may not be amiss , for the information of mr collier more especially , and those whom his furious misgrounded invectives may have mis-led , to enquire into the nature and laws of stage poetry , and the practice of it , both among the antients and moderns , as far as concerns morality , and the depending controversie only , and no farther . and here we may joyn issue with mr collier , and allow , that the business of plays is to recommend virtue , and discountenance vice ; to shew the vncertainty of humane greatness , the sudden turns of fate , and the unhappy conclusions of violence and injustice . 't is to expose the singularities of pride and fancy , to make folly and falshood contemptible , and to bring every thing that is ill under infamy and neglect . thus we set out together , and are agreed upon the end of our journey , but we differ about the road to it . here therefore we part , and whether we shall meet again is the question . mr collier , by the tenour of his discourse thro the whole book , seems to think , that there is no other way of encouraging virtue , and suppressing vice , open to the poets , but declaiming for or against 'em , and wou'd therefore have plays to be nothing but meer moral dialogues , wherein five or six persons shou'd meet , and with abundance of zeal and rhetorick preach up virtue , and decry vice. hereupon he falls upon the poets with all the rage and fury imaginable , for introducing in their plays vicious characters , such as in tragedy , tyrants , treacherous statesmen , crafty priests , rebellious subjects , &c. in comedy , libertines , whores , sharpers , cullies , fops , pimps , parasites , and the like . now , whether this conduct of the poets , or his censure of it be more justifiable , is the subject of our enquiry . to facilitate which , it will be proper to establish some certain standard , by which we may measure the morality or immorality of a dramatick poem , and try thereby some of the most celebrated pieces , as well of the antients as moderns ; that their beauties and deformities of this kind , either absolute or respective , may appear either severally , or upon collation , and the poet be accordingly justified or condemn'd . the parts therefore of a play , in which the morals of the play appear , are the fable , the characters , and the discourse . of these the fable ( in tragedy especially ) is the most considerable , being ( according to aristotle ) the primum mobile by which all the other parts are acted and govern'd , and the principal instrument by which the passions are weeded and purg'd , by laying before the eyes of the spectators examples of the miserable catastrophe of tyranny , usurpation , pride , cruelty , and ambition , &c. and to crown suffering virtue with success and reward , or to punish the unjust oppressors of it with ruine and destruction . in comedy , as it acts in a lower sphere , so the persons are less considerable . knaves , misers , sots , coquets , fops , jilts and cullies , all which comedy corrects by rendring 'em unsuccessful , and submitting them in her fable , to the practices and stratagems of others , after such a manner , as to expose both knavery , vanity , and affectation , in the conclusion , or winding up , to the scorn and derision of the spectators . and thus by making folly and knavery ridiculous to the view , comedy gains her end , stops the contagion , and prevents the imitation more effectually than even philosophy herself , who deals only in precept can do , as horace , and before him aristotle have observ'd , by presenting that lively to the sight , which the other can only inculcate in words . segnius irritant animos demissa per aures , quam quae sunt oculis subjecta fidelibus . thus while in the large forest of humane affections , tragedy labours to fell those sturdy overgrown plants the passions , comedy employs itself in grubbing up the underwood of vice , folly and affectation ; and if its operations are of less importance than those of the former , they make ample amends by their more extended , and almost universal influence . but this it seems is not the design of the modern stage poets ; virtue and regularity are their great enemies ; and to promote lewdness and atheism , and to destroy principles is their business , if we may believe mr collier , who has taken abundance of malicious pains to incense the world against 'em ; and like an experienc'd incendiary , not only gives the fire , and blows the coals , but furnishes fuel of his own too , to encrease the flame . to inflame the reckoning of the modern poets , especially the english , by the comparison , he enlarges very much upon the great modesty and regard which the antients had to vertue , and decorum , falsly insinuating thereby as great neglect and violation of 'em among the moderns . what he has said in commendation of the antients , simply and abstractedly taken , without any application of comparison , or relation to those that have exercis'd themselves the same way in this age , and in our country , may be allow'd as their due ; and mr collier's deference to the just merits of those great genius's of antiquity wou'd turn to his own praise , if it were paid only as a debt to justice . but proceeding from a disingenuous design , invidiously to depreciate the worth , and blacken the reputation of others , the justice is sunk in the malice of it , and the venom couch'd under it gives an ill complexion to the fairest part of his productions . that this was the motive that induc'd mr collier to speak honourably of the stage poets , is apparent from his perpetual grumbling , and snarling at 'em , ●ven in the midst of his most favourable account of ' em . for tho upon many occasions he declares very largely in their favour , yet 't is only to balance and sway the competition betwixt them and the moderns on their side , and by raising the value of their characters , to depress the others in the esteem of the world. this partiality will plainly appear upon the examination of some of those pieces of antiquity , which mr collier so justly commends , with some of those of later production , which he so unjustly decries . mr collier is not content to charge the english poets with faults of negligence , or even of licentious wantonness ; but he treats 'em with the utmost despight , and brands 'em with the infamy of a profess'd hatred to virtue , a studied lewdness , and of subverting the end and use of their art. if this were really their aim , unquestionably the fable , which is the principal part , and of greatest influence and operation , is contriv'd and modell'd so as to be serviceable to their grand design . that this may more certainly appear , we shall take the pains to analize some of those plays , at which mr collier takes greatest offence , together with some of the most celebrated of antiquity . the oedipus tyrannus of sophocles has by the universal consent of the learned of all ages , the greatest reputation of the dramatick performances of antiquity , i shall therefore begin with that , and shew that the fable of that deservedly admir'd piece is by no means so noble , instructive , and serviceable to virtue , by its main or general moral , as many of those plays , against which and their authors mr collier inveighs with so much bitterness . the fable of the oedipus is this ; laius , the father of oedipus , and king of thebes , was inform'd by an oracle , that it was his fate to be slain by his own son , who should be born of his wife jocasta . to elude the threats of the oracle , laius , as soon as the child was born , delivers him to one of his servants to be murder'd . this man , mov'd to compassion by the innocence of the babe , instead of taking away his life , perforating both his feet , and passing a bend thro 'em , hang'd him up by the heels , and left him to the disposal of providence . in this posture he was found by a domestick of polybus king of corinth , who , taking him down , carried him to his master , who being childless , receiv'd , educated , and own'd him as his own . oedipus being at length grown up , and being in a contest of words with a corinthian , he reproach'd with his unknown birth , and being a foundling , of which till that moment he had by the express order of polybus , been kept in ignorance , resolves to consult the oracle at delphi about his parentage , and is order'd by the oracle to seek no further , for that it was his destiny to kill his father , and beget children upon his mother . upon this answer , he resolves for ever to abandon corinth , his suppos'd country , and in order thereto , takes his way towards thebes , and on the road meets laius , and a quarrel arising between 'em , he kills him , and all his followers , one excepted , to whom upon his supplication he gives quarter . arriving at thebes , he finds that city in great confusion , both for the loss of their king , whom he knew not to be the person slain by him upon the road , and for the prodigious ravage and waste committed by the monster sphinx , who distress'd 'em so , that they durst scarce stir out of their walls . to rid themselves of the terrour of this monster , the thebans offer their queen and crown to any man that could resolve the riddle propounded by the sphinx , upon the resolution of which only they were to be quit of her . this oedipus , notwithstanding the miscarriage of divers before him , who failing in their attempt were destroy'd by her , undertakes , and succeeding in it , the monster breaks her own neck , and he in reward , receives the crown , and queen to wife . for some time oedipus governs with great prudence , and has several children by jocasta . at length a furious plague arising , and making great havock in the city , oedipus deputes creon to the oracle , to consult about the causes of , and means to be deliver'd from the pestilence . thus far the history of oedipus proceeds before the action of the play commences ; and tho the whole action of the play naturally arises from this antecedent part , yet sophocles had very artificially reserv'd it to be deliver'd by way of narration at the unravelling of the plot , which is the most natural and beautiful of all antiquity . but what is only considerable to our purpose is , that hitherto oedipus bears the character of a just and a wise man ; and if he be involv'd in any thing that bears an appearance of guilt , invincible ignorance ( which the schoolmen hold to be a good plea ) is his excuse . but if he is hitherto innocent of any intentional guilt , he is thro the whole course of the action exemplarily pious . at his first appearance upon the stage , he shews an extraordinary concern for the calamities of his country , and an anxious solicitude for a remedy . jupiter's priest addresses to him , as if he were their tutelar deity , and tells him , that 't was this miserable experiment of his being unable to relieve 'em , that had convinc'd him , and those with him , that he was not equal to the gods , and had made 'em have recourse to their altars . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . this was a bold complement from a priest , and the priest of jupiter too , the soveraign of the gods. but not to insist too much upon this passage , creon enters , and breaks off the parley betwixt 'em ; he brings word from the oracle , that the murtherer of laius must be expell'd the territories of thebes . who was this murtherer was yet a secret , the oracle not making that discovery . oedipus hereupon summons a meeting of the people , and makes proclamation , that if any one privy to the fact wou'd come in , and make a discovery , he shou'd , if concern'd therein , be indemnified in his person , and be oblig'd only to leave thebes . but that if he cou'd inform of any other person therein concern'd , he shou'd be liberally rewarded , and purchase his favour by such discovery . and if any one , conscious of this matter , did out of fear for himself or his friend , obstinately refuse to break silence , he requir'd all his subjects not to give him harbour or sustenance , or to hold any manner of commerce or correspondence with him . after this he proceeds to imprecate the actor or actors of this regicide , and extends the curse to his own house , if with his privity he was protected there . but this method failing to produce the desir'd effect , he consults tiresias the prophet , by whom oedipus himself is accus'd of killing his father , and committing incest with his mother ; which accusation being afterwards confirm'd by the concurring report of the old servant of laius , by whom he was expos'd in his infancy , and of the domestick of polybus , despairing in the horrour of these involuntary crimes , he tears out his own eyes ; and jocasta , who equally ignorant was involv'd in the guilt of incest , hangs herself . this plot , however noble and beautiful to admiration , for the structure and contrivance of it , is yet very deficient in the moral , which has nothing great or serviceable to virtue in it . it may indeed serve to put us in mind of the lubricity of fortune , and the instability of human greatness . and this use sophocles himself makes of it ; for the chorus closes the tragedy with this remark , by way of advice of the audience , that they should not rashly measure any man's felicity by his present fortune , but wait his extremest moments , to make a true estimate of his happiness . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . mr dryden , who has borrow'd this story from sophocles , has summ'd up his moral in the two concluding lines of his play , in which not only the application seems to be the same , but the lines themselves are a contracted paraphrase of sophocles own conclusion . let none , tho ne're so virtuous , great , and high , be judg'd entirely blest before they dye . this moral , as it carries nothing in it but a lazy , unactive speculation , can be no great incentive to virtue ; so on the other hand , as it lays before us the miseries and calamitous exit of a person of so heroick virtue , it seems to carry matter of discouragement along with it ; since the most consummate virtue meets with so disproportionate a return . but with reverence to the ashes of sophocles , and submission to the better judgment of mr dryden , this does not seem to be the true and genuine moral of this fable . for according to this moral , the misfortune of oedipus ought to have been the result of a kind of negligent oscitation in the gods , and a loose administration of providence . whereas on the contrary it appears , that all the actions of oedipus , as well those that were pious , wise , and brave , as those that were criminal , or rather unfortunate , were the necessary and unavoidable consequences of a fixt decree of fate , backt by several oracles , carried on , and brought about by variety of miraculous or providential incidents . this tiresias seems to hint plainly to oedipus , when he tells him . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . fortune herself , ( or fate ) destroys and oedipus himself , finding by the relation of jocasta , that the circumstances of the death of laius , agreed with those of the persons slain by him on the road , and beginning to be convinc'd of his own guilt , ushers in his account of that action , with the fatal necessity that oblig'd him to leave his own country ; and relates his piety , as 't were by way of alleviation for what follows . he pleads , that being inform'd by the oracle , that he should kill his father , and commit incest with his mother , he had quitted the expectation of a crown , and made himself a voluntary , and perpetual exile from corinth , to avoid the crimes he was threatned with . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . the english oedipus is more plain , and expresses himself more clearly in defence of his innocence , ev'n while he suspects himself to have been an actor in the tragedy of laius . to you good gods , i make my last appeal , or clear my virtues , or my crime reveal : if wandring in the maze of fate i run , and backward trod the paths i thought to shun , impute my errours to your own decree ; my hands are guilty , but my heart is free . here oedipus seems to suspect the truth of the matter , and alledges his own ignorance , and the decree of the gods in his justification ; but the ghost of laius clears the point of fatality , and makes a better apology for oedipus , than 't was possible for him to do for himself . but he who holds my crown , oh must i speak ? was doom'd to do what nature most abhors ; the gods , foresaw it , and forbad his being , before he yet was born . i broke their laws . and cloath'd with flesh , the pre-existing soul. some kinder power , too weak for destiny , took pity , and indu'd his new form'd mass with temperance , justice , prudence , fortitude , and every kingly virtue ; but in vain . for fate , that sent him hoodwinkt to the world , perform'd its work by his mistaken hands . these instances consider'd , together with the order , contrivance and nature of the fable , as well of the greek , as the english poem , will readily point out to us a greater moral , and more naturally arising from the subject , than that which the two poets have assign'd . for it seems plainly to hold forth to us , the irresistable power of fate , and the vanity of human wisdom , when oppos'd to the immutable decrees of providence , which converts to its own purposes , all our endeavours to defeat 'em , and makes our very opposition subservient to its own designs . seneca , who has taken this fable from sophocles , with very little alteration , has however given this turn to the application , in conformity to the doctrine of the stoicks , who were the predestinarians of antiquity , and held as ours do , a fatality , that directed and controul'd all human actions , that all things came to pass by pre-ordination and invincible necessity , and that there was no such thing as a free agent in the world. some learned men are of opinion , that this tragedy was written by seneca the philosopher , and this change of the sophoclean moral , in favour of his principles , seems to be no despicable argument on their side . but whether they be in the right or wrong , i can't but wonder that mr dryden should overlook this alteration , or rather amendment to sophocles's moral , it being the principal part of the play , and the mark at which all is levell'd . but perhaps mr dryden being justly prepossessed for the performance of sophocles in preference to seneca's , his aim was not so much to enquire after any improvements , as additions to sophocles's design , and by that means let slip this , which was not to his purpose , which was to fit it up to the english stage ; for the use of which it needed not correction , so much as enlargement ; the simplicity of the original fable and the chasms , which the omission of the chorus must necessarily make , requiring to be fill'd up , and supply'd with an vnderplot and proper episodes . and indeed he seems to confess as much , when he says , that seneca supply'd 'em with no new hint but only a relation , which he makes of his tyresias raising the ghost of laius . but having declar'd for the moral of seneca , as more natural than that of sophocles , considering the disproportion both of reputation and merit of these two authors in the dramatick way , i must expect the censure of those criticks , that judge by wholesale , or hear-say , that will admit of no errour in any author , that themselves , or those , in whom they have an implicit faith , admire ; nor allow any graces to him , that has not the good fortune to be their favourite . i shall therefore produce seneca's application at large in his own words , as i have already done sophocles's , and then back my opinion with an observation or two , drawn from the state of the fable , as it lies in these authors , and leave 'em to the courtesie of the reader . the last song of the chorus in seneca , which is what the poet delivers by way of instruction , or application to the audience , runs thus . cho. fatis agimur : cedite fatis . non solicitae possunt curae mutare rati stamina fusi . quicquid patimur mortale genus , quicquid facimus , venit ex alto : servatque sua decreta colus lachesis , dura revoluta manu omnia certo tramite vadunt ; primusque dies dedit extremum , non illa deo vertisse licet , quae nexa suis currunt causis . it cuique ratus , prece non ulla mobilis , ordo . multis ipsum timuisse nocet . multi ad fatum venere suum , dum fata timent . the summ of this is ; that there is ( according to the doctrine of the stoicks ) an over-ruling providence , or fate , that disposes and governs all things ; that the sources of mens fortunes , and the springs of their actions are plac'd out of their reach , inaccessible to human prudence , and inflexible to entreaties ; that they move in a constant course , inviolable even to the gods themselves ; that causes and their effects are inseparably linkt , the first day ( of life ) determining the last ; that the caution of many has been destructive to 'em , and that in shunning their fate , they have run upon it . that this is the most natural application , the very contrivance of the fable in all these three plays , will sufficiently make out . seneca , and the english authors have , in imitation of sophocles , made the parricide and incest of oedipus the proper act , and deed of fate , of which he was only the unhappy and unwilling instrument . both his father and himself had been forewarn'd , and had us'd their utmost endeavours to evade the calamities that threatned ' em . but those very efforts , however seemingly prudent , became the snare in which they were taken , and the means of verifying the prediction of the oracle . for the exposing oedipus in his infancy , was the occasion of his ignorance of his true parents , and that ignorance of all his ensuing miseries . all these authors give us a high idea of his virtue and prudence ; and seneca as well as the aforecited authors , makes him sacrifice his expectations of a crown , and become a voluntary exile out of an abhorrence of those crimes , which were predicted of him . hic me paternis expulit regnis timor . this fear has banish'd me my fathers realm . and when he had been accus'd of the murder of laius , upon the information of the gods , he appeals to his own conscience for his innocence . obiisse nostro laium scelere autumant superi inferique sed animus contra innocens . sibique melius quam deis notus , negat . the gods accuse me ; but my guiltless mind the better judge acquits me . and in the next scene upon the news of polybus's death , he cries out , genitor sine ulla caede defunctus jacet , testor , licet jam tollere ad caelum pie puras nec ulla scelere metuentes manus . extinct my father by a bloudless death ! now i may stretch to heaven my guiltless hands fearless of any stain . thus they all agree to make him just and virtuous in his intentions to an heroick pitch , yet they involve him in a fatal necessity even before his birth , of acting those things , to which in his nature he had the greatest abhorrence , and make his piety and aversion to wickedness , the very means to entrap and entangle him in that guilt , which he so industriously fled from , and which occasioned the calamities , that afterwards befel both himself and family . the structure and disposition of this fable , afford no occasion of complaint , or reflection upon the levity of fortune , or the instability of human affairs . for nothing is more evident , than the steady and regular administration of providence thro the whole course of the misfortunes of oedipus , and his family . nothing befel them , which was not predicted long before hand , and of which they had not a terrible apprehension , as well as a certain expectation . and when they bent their endeavours to defeat the decrees of fate , such a manifest series of providential incidents attends their management , as suffices not only to baffle their cunning and devices , but likewise to shew the uncontrolableness and superiority of that power , which influenced their counsels , and serv'd itself of their presumption , as the immediate instrument to accomplish , and effect its purposes , and at the same time to demonstrate the vanity of humane opposition to the will of destiny . had laius submitted himself to the pleasure of providence , and not presum'd to have thwarted the divine appointment , and triumphed over his destiny , his son had not been ignorant of his true parentage ; and being a person of inclinations so extraordinary virtuous , 't is morally impossible he should willingly have incurr'd the guilt of two crimes of so monstrous a size as parricide and incest . or had oedipus submissively resigned himself to the conduct and direction of fate ; whatever his regret and abhorrence of his predicted fortune had been , he had return'd to corinth , and his patience , and resignation had avoided that misery , which his mistaken piety and opposition brought afterwards upon his head . this consideration may supply us with another moral to this fable , different from any ( that i know of ) hitherto rais'd upon it by any poet , either antient or modern . it may instruct us , that the will of heaven is not to be disputed by mortals , how severe soever , even to injustice , the conditions of it may seem to us ; and that whoever sets up his own wisdom in opposition to it , shall in that presumption meet both his crime and his punishment . nothing , if we consider it simply in itself , could be more heroically pious than the resolution of oedipus to abandon a crown , his parents and country , rather than suffer those pollutions with which he was threatned . but if we consider the impiety of advancing his own judgment in his conceit above that of his gods , and thinking by his own wisdom , to reverse the immutable decrees of destiny , his vanity deserv'd the heaviest chastisement . the same may be said of his father . it may be objected , that this irresistible predestination was not so universally receiv'd an opinion among the antient heathens , but that many held the contrary ; and that consequently 't is but supposing oedipus one of the number , and my moral falls to the ground . i grant it does so , if he were , but the contrary appears from the story itself . for if oedipus did not believe such a fatality , why did he upon the credit of an oracle , which must signifie no more to him than one of partridge , or gadbury's astrological banters , leave his friends , and his great expectations ? but this supposes him a rank fool , to abdicate for a tale of a tub , a story that he did not believe ▪ if he did believe , he ought not to escape the censure and punishment of a rash presumptuous man , for suffering his vanity to triumph over his faith , and daring upon an insolent opinion of his own ability to insult his religion , and hope ●o prevail against , and defeat the purpose of fate . some french criticks , that seem sensible of the defect of the moral in sophocles , have endeavoured to supply that want , by starting an imaginary guilty , and impute as a crime to oedipus , his curiosity to know his fate . i call it an imaginary guilt , because i think it is urg'd against him without foundation . for certainly it could never be a sin in him , when his parentage was become doubtful to him , to have recourse to such means , as his religion allow'd , to clear up his doubts , and take off the reproach that was thrown upon him . divination was so far from being a criminal art among the ancient heathens , that it was practic'd with great reputation in all its several kinds , and the professors of any part of it , were esteemed as prophets , and held in great veneration . it could not therefore be scandalous to consult 'em upon any occasion , much less the oracle of apollo ; to repair to which , was thought an act of high devotion , and was the constant practice of all the cities and states of greece , upon all great and sudden emergencies . but their mistake lies in raising a christian moral upon a pagan bottom ; to fill up , they have grafted a doctrine many ages younger upon the old stock , and piec'd out a defect with an absurdity . i am apt to think upon consideration , that the authors of the english oedipus , in adhering to the simple old greek moral , acted rather by judgment and choice , than oversight . for the moral of seneca , tho more naturally deducible from the story , is yet less serviceable , or ( to speak more properly ) more destructive to practical morality , as preaching up the doctrine of absolute and universal predestination , by which men are denied the liberty of so much as a thought , as free agents , and are suppos'd to be acted , and workt like machines by an invisible , irresistible agent , which winds 'em up like watches , and orders their several movements . this doctrine , as it destroys all title to merit from the best , so it takes off all fear of guilt from the most villanous actions , and must necessarily ( if heartily believ'd ) discourage men from the severer and more troublesome duties of religion , and morality at least , and dispose them to resign themselves loosely up to the government of their appetites , and indulge their sensual inclinations ; to gratify which could be no sin , to oppose 'em no virtue , and deserve neither blame nor thanks , according to this principle . besides the unserviceableness of this moral to the general end of dramatick poetry , it was upon that score disabled for the particular service of the english stage , where it could not hope for a favourable reception ; and might therefore be by these authors judiciously rejected . for tho this musty rag of heathen stoicism be still worn by a party amongst us , that affect to distinguish themselves by opposition , and contradiction , tho to their own principles , and that pretend to act contrary to the natural result of their opinion , and profess a severer morality than their neighbours ; yet by the more polite and civilized part of the nation , who are the chief frequenters , and support of the dramatick performances , it has been long left off , as a principle destructive to humanity , virtue , and all good manners ; and consequently would have been exploded upon the stage , and hazarded the success of the whole piece . but whether this moral were neglected by 'em out of design or oversight , is not much to our purpose . 't is evident , that neither the greek nor latin moral , have any tendency to the promotion of virtue , and the reformation of manners , but rather to the contrary . so that if mr collier has any thing of this nature to object against any of the present stage poets , they may defend , or at least excuse such a slip by this precedent , which being the master-piece not only of sophocles , but of all antiquity ; for that reason , i hope mr collier ( who has already declard , that this author has nothing but what is great and solemn throughout ) will not charge him with any ●ill design , or acting upon malice prepense against virtue . but if he should , he has already taken his tryal before aristotle , a more competent and more upright judge , and stands acquitted on record , and must be allow'd to be rectus in curia . i have been the more particular in examining the general moral of this play , and have consider'd not only what has been made of it , but what might have been drawn from it , that i might for the remainder be excusd from the trouble of descending to minute circumstances , and for the future be allow'd to summ up what i have to say to any other plays of antiquity upon this general head of the fable , and so proceed to our poets , with whom also i shall be as brief as the matter will allow me . the rest of sophocles's plays , being much less considerable for their success in the world , i shall dispatch the consideration of 'em in as few words as possible . his ajax flagellifer stands first in order , and affords us no great matter to reflect upon . ajax , disappointed and disgrac'd in his suit for the arms of achilles , resents extreamly the injury and indignity , and resolves to be reveng'd upon the whole grecian army . in order thereto he makes a sally from his quarter by night , in order to kill all the principal officers . minerva , to divert the mischief intended , infatuates him , and turns him loose upon some herds of cattle , amongst whom , mistaking 'em for greeks , he makes most terrible havock ; and returning to his tent and sences in the morning , he perceives his errour , thro the confusion , shame , and vexation of which , he grows desperate , falls upon his sword , and dies . this is the whole of the fable . for the contest that follows between teucer , menelaus , and agamemnon , is an episode detach'd from , and has nothing to do with , and scarce any dependance upon the main action . here we see a man of impetuous , ungovernable passion , and of a nice , capricious honour , that conceives himself injur'd in the most sensible part , his honour , and meditates a revenge proportioned to the fierceness of his temper , and the imagin'd greatness of the affront . minerva interposes , and turns his rage , and fury , first to his further disgrace , and then to his destruction . the moral of this play is not very obvious , and sophocles himself does not hint it at or near the conclusion of the play , but leaves it to be pickt out by the audience , or readers ; which may be done two ways . first , by considering the quality of the instrument of engine of ajax's ruine , which was a goddess ; and the manner of bringing it about , which was by making him ridiculous thro a deceptio visus , or an illusion of the sight ; and then the moral will be , quos deus vult perdere , prius dementat . when the gods resolve upon a mans ruin , they make away his wits . or 2dly , we may consider the character of the person , a man of undaunted boldness , and turbulent head-strong passions , and the nature of his attempt , which was to kill all the grecian chiefs ; and then the moral may be — qui non moderabitur irae infectum volet esse dolor quod suaserit . — he that suffers himself to be precipitated into action by his rage , will have cause to rue the effects of it . the first of these is the most genuine , and natural . for the misfortune of ajax seems not to arise so much from a repentance of his undertaking , as from indignation , and a bitter sense of the scorn and contempt he had drawn upon himself by so ridiculous a miscarriage , and the trick put upon him by minerva . this is all that naturally arises from the action ; and the author , who seems sensible of the barenness of his plot , forages without his lines to subsist his moral . by this means he has provided himself of a noble moral , which he intimates in the close of the first scene , betwixt minerva and vlysses , where the goddess , after having inform'd vlysses how she had besotted ajax , advises him to take warning , and not to be so far transported upon any good fortune , or presume so far upon his own prowess as to provoke the gods by insolent language ; who lov'd modesty , and hated arrogance . and about the middle of the play , a messenger relates to the chorus , what pass'd between chalcas and teucer about the quarrel , and hatred of minerva to ajax , which was for presuming upon the sufficience of his own strength and courage , and refusing her protection and assistance , which she offer'd him against the trojans . but this is wholly without the action ( which cannot properly suggest any such thing ) and is introduc'd by way of narration , only to justifie the proceeding of minerva against ajax , and is no longer insisted on after the death of ajax . the other moral , as it does not seem to flow so naturally from the fable , as the first , so it seems never to have been in sophocles's thoughts . for the last disgrace , and the desperate action that follow'd it , are the effect of a supernatural agent , ( viz. ) minerva , and produc'd by a sudden infatuation after a supernatural manner ; and therefore the poet cou'd have no just occasion to reflect upon the natural ill consequences of passion , how outrageous or ungovernable soever . for this reason i shall pursue the consideration of it no farther . the next in order is the electra , in which there is scarce the shadow of a plot , nor much more of a moral . orestes ( who after the murther of his father agamemnon , had by the care of his sister electra escap'd the fury of his mother clytemnestra and her paramour aegisthus , ) comes to argos with his tutor , whom he sends to deceive his mother with a sham story of his death , and in the mean time discovers himself to his sister , with whom he consults about means to revenge the death of his father ; is introduc'd to his mother as a stranger , kills her , and afterwards aegisthus . thro the whole play the poet does not so much as squint toward a moral , he lets nothing fall by which the audience may so much as guess what he drives at . but by the contrivance of the fable , wherein a wife , that had embrued her hands in her husbands blood , after having abus'd his bed , is , together with her adulterer and fellow murtherer , after a succession of some years of prosperous villany , overtaken by vengeance from the hands of the son , and slain ; we may conclude with horace , raro antecedentem scelestum deseruit pede paena claudo . that divine vengeance seldom fails to overtake great villanies . this is all the moral that i can find in this play , nor do i perceive that sophocles himself took care by any overt expression to intimate it to the audience . the antigone is something better contriv'd . antigone , contrary to creon's order , buries her brother polynices . creon orders her to be shut up in a cave alive , and commands , that no body shou'd relieve her . haemon his son pleads for her , and unable to prevail , goes to the cave , and finds that antigone his mistress had hang'd herself . in the interim tyresias comes to creon , and tells him , that he did amiss , and that he ought with all expedition to repair his fault . creon continues obstinate , and reviles the prophet , who returns the complement , and threatens creon with the calamities that shou'd come immediately upon his family for his impiety and obstinacy , and so leaves him . creon after his departure relents , and makes haste to save antigone , but comes too late , and finds his son raving for the loss of his mistress , and hardly escapes being killed by him . haemon kills himself , and his mother upon the news herself . here sophocles speaks out for himself , and tell his audience what judgment they are to make of these surprizing events , which had in a moment overturned a flourishing family . the chorus in the conclusion says 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . — wisdom is the first step to happiness . the gods must not be irreverently treated . for the great punishments , that attended the profane liberties of speech of insolent men , were lessons of humility at last . the oedipus coloneus is a play , that we are told was very much admir'd at athens ; and it is no great wonder . for it was written on purpose to flatter , and do honour to the athenians , and therefore cou'd scarce fail of a good reception . this policy of sophocles will furnish us with both a plot , and a moral , which 't will otherwise be hard to find in this play. the poet was now in his old age , and had long out-lived mr dryden's fumbling age of poetry , and perhaps began to be sensible of some decay , and therefore to support the weight of that reputation , which he had acquired in the vigour of his poetry , he pieces out the lyons skin with the foxes tail , and suspecting his own power to move their passions as formerly , makes use of their vanity to scrue them up to the desired pitch of admiration and satisfaction . this , if the reader pleases , may serve instead of a plot , and the success of it may afford us this moral ; that no people is so strongly fortified against flattery , but that , if their vanity be skilfully tickled , it will be rous'd , and exert itself in favour of the flatterer . this is , indeed , beside the action , and in probability was not the moral , which sophocles intended for the publick ; but 't is plain , that 't was the secret motive upon which he acted , and the genuine moral of his conduct . the fable of oedipus coloneus , such as it is in this . oedipus , under the conduct of his daughter antigone , arrives at a grove near athens consecrated to the furies , whither he had been directed by the oracle to go . creon , endeavours to fetch him away by force ; theseus intervenes , and rescues him . oedipus dies at last in the place appointed by fate and the oracle . this is a plain story , without either turn or consequence , upon which there is no possibility of raising a moral . sophocles seems to have endeavoured at something like one in the conclusion . for when the daughters of oedipus lamented immoderately his death , the chorus tells 'em , that they ought not to bewail any longer one that was come to his desir'd end . the trachiniae seems almost as little contriv'd for edification as the foregoing . dejanira being inform'd that hercules grew amorous of his captive jole , to retrieve and ensure his affection to her , sends by lichas an envenom'd shirt , which she suppos'd to have been dipt in a philtre . this unhappy present being upon his back , immediately corroded the flesh in such manner , that in a rage he dash'd out lichas the bearers brains . dejanira hearing the fatal effects of her errour , kills herself . hercules having charged his son hyllus to marry his concubine jole , burns himself . the reflection that sophocles makes upon all this , is , that , 't is all jupiter ' s doing . hyllus , in the close , boldly accuses the gods of * injustice , for deserting their own off-spring . he adds , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . these things are a heavy affliction to us , but a scandal to them . the chorus seconds his complaint , and says , that all their calamities are of jupiter ' s sending . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . this fable and application afford very little matter of moral instruction ; and the use that the poet himself makes of it , is rather a discouragement to virtue , since neither the heroick qualities , nor actions of hercules , nor the relation to jupiter , could exempt himself or family from such lamentable disasters . however , the misfortune of dejanira may serve as a caution against jealousie and adultery , which two failings in conjunction , occasion'd her ruin . and hercules himself may be an instance of the dangerous consequenees of a licentious ungovern'd flame , which at last was the destruction of him , who had withstood , and baffled the utmost malice and invention of juno . the fable of the philoctetes is this . philoctetes having an incurable ulcer in his foot , from the bite of a serpent in his voyage to troy , was deserted , and left by the greeks alone upon the desart shore of lemnos . but his presence being declar'd absolutely necessary to the taking of troy , vlysses and pyrrhus are sent to fetch him . he refuses obstinately to go along with 'em , but hercules appearing , and perswading him , he complies . this likewise is a barren story , of which sophocles himself has made no moral use , and has scarce given occasion for any one else to do it . philoctetes had been barbarously expos'd by his confederates the greeks , for which he was irreconcilably angry with 'em , especially vlysses , who had been the executioner of their resolutions in relation to him . he therefore refuses obstinately to go with , or to those that had serv'd him so basely ; but hercules appearing , and telling him , that upon those terms , and no other , he must expect his cure , and prosperity , the man had so much wit in his anger , as to prefer health and fame before sullen revenge , which must be his own as well as their disappointment . mr collier wou'd pass the speech of hercules upon us for a moral . but by his leave , how remarkably moral soever the conclusion of this play may be , the morality of it no way depends upon the action foregoing . hercules prevails with philoctetes to go with vlysses , and pyrrhus promises him health , honour , and riches , and recommends the care of religion to him . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . which , says he , jupiter regards above all things . this was indeed good advice , and matter of instruction to the audience , as well as philoctetes ; but not arising any way from the main action , it might as properly have been said at any other time , and upon any other occasion , as this ; and if it must serve for a moral , might as justly have been the moral of any other play. thus i have run through sophocles , whose plays ( by mr collier ' s own confession ) are form'd upon models of virtue , joyn innocence with pleasure , and design the improvement of the audience . upon this account , and the great reputation of this author , i have been more particular with him upon this head , than i design to be with any of the rest of the antient tragedians . i have set before the reader the several models of all his remaining plays , and have enquir'd into the disposition of the fable in relation to the service of morality , that upon collation we may with more certainty measure the comparative morality of his and the modern plays on this article . euripides , who came nearest him both in time and reputation , is yet more defective in this point . aristotle has tax'd him with want of conduct in the oeconomy of his fable ; but this censure being levell'd rather at the want of artifice , than of moral in the plays of euripides , i shall make no further use of it here . the character of this author's works wou'd make us naturally expect , that he shou'd be more careful of this article , than either aeschylus , or sophocles , who aim'd more at the pathetick . the plays of euripides betray all along an affected ostentation of learning , and as great an ambition to be thought a philosopher , as a poet. for this reason he abounds more in points , and sentences of morality , florid harangues , and subtle speculations , than sophocles ; but he does not touch the passions , or raise the concern of an audience like him . and therefore whatever we may think of his dialogues consider'd separately , and independant of one another , his plays in the aggregate are far inferiour to those of sophocles . euripides has yet remaining nineteen tragedies , to examin all which , as we have done those of sophocles , wou'd be an impertinent , as well as a tedious labour , both to the reader and my self . i shall therefore content my self to instance in a few of 'em , and refer those that have the curiosity and patience , to proceed further to the author himself . the orestes challenges the first place upon the score of its reputation , and the great success it had on the revival of it , five hundred years after the death of the author . this play commences , where the electra of sophocles and his own conclude . orestes , by the help of his sister electra , having slain his mother , is very much troubled in mind , and haunted by furies , and desponds upon the account of his guilt . tyndarus , his mother's father , endeavours to revenge her death , and excites the people against him , who vote him to be ston'd to death with his sister . menelaus , with his wife helena , and daughter hermione , arrives in the mean time and offers his assistance to his nephew in this exigence , but is over-aw'd by tyndarus , and deserts his party . pylades comes opportunely , and perswades orestes to appear , and make his defence in person , which he does , but without success , yet upon his promise that his sister and himself shall be their own executioners , he is let go by the mob upon parole . being return'd to his sister , they consult about means of safety . electra advises him and pylades to seize upon helen and hermione , to kill helen , and to article with menelaus for their own safety , with a sword at hermione's throat ; and if her father wou'd not comply with their demands , first to dispatch her , then themselves . this project is put in execution , and the ladies are surpriz'd , apollo rescues helen , and appearing , reconciles menelaus and orestes , and makes a match betwixt him and hermione , and betwixt pylades and electra , and promising happiness to 'em all , tells 'em , that helen is made a goddess , and so concludes the play. in this play most of the characters are wicked , orestes and electra are parricides ; tyndarus is ( in his heart at least ) the murtherer of his grand-children ; menelaus , the betrayer of his nephew , and niece , whom he ought to have protected ; helen , an infamous woman , and the accidental cause at least of the miseries of a great part of asia and europe , yet clear of any intentional guilt in this case ; pylades is engaged with his friend in an unjust attempt to murther helen and her daughter ; hermione , who is next to a mute in the play , is the only unexceptionable character . this play begins well , the agonies of a guilty conscience , the despair , and the horrors of orestes promise a good moral : but the hopes of that soon vanish ; for the first word of comfort from menelaus dispels all his anxiety for his crime , and converts it to a solicitude for his safety . in order to this , he enters upon a piece of villany , more execrable than that for which he was then prosecuted , because 't was without provocation : a feint of that kind had been an allowable stratagem to have brought menelaus to articles ; but to project it in earnest was an unparallell'd piece of barbarity . but what after all is more surprizing and unnatural is , that the catastrophe is happy , and the parricides rewarded , and all this seems to be the result of electra's latter contrivance , which however wicked was successful and prosperous . the moral ( if i may call it so ) of this story is properly this , that there is no dabbling in villany , but that those that are once enter'd , must wade thro , if they will be safe , and justify one crime by another . but that which makes the winding up of this play more notorious , is , that the gods are made the arbiters of all ; apollo appears in person , and justifies orestes , and promises him his protection , and ensures the happiness of pylades and electra , who had been the sole incendiary and contriver of all this mischief ; which is adding impiety to the want of poetick justice , and making providence accessary to parricide , and the gods abbetors of violence and injustice , not to take notice of the deifying of helena , who , tho jove's daughter , is a woman of a very infamous character all through the play. i suppose the moral of this play will hardly rise in judgment against the moderns . nor has the electra of of the same author any more reason , it being liable to the same exceptions with the former , only in this the murther is perpetrated , in that but designed ; in short , this play is the ground work of the former , and the action of this gives the reason , and occasion of all that happens in t'other . here likewise the gods are impertinently brought in to finish that , which wou'd of it self have closed very naturally without ' em . for after the death of aegisthus and clytemnestra there was nothing more to be done . but this poet , who is very fond of machines , tho● unnecessary , after all 's over brings down castor and pollux to condemn the fact , acquit the murtherers of their sister , and transfer the guilt to apollo , whom they accuse of * uttering a foolish oracle . however the fable of this play being the same with that of the electra of sophocles , we may do it the same grace , and allow it the benefit of any moral that may be raised out of it , tho not without some violence , as this author has managed it . what that is i have already observed in the foregoing remarks upon the electra of sophocles . the medea , hippolytus , ion , hercules distracted , and several other are likewise built upon various models . in these , as in most of euripides's plays , the gods are always at one end or t'other of the business , they are either the promoters of the crime , or the protectors of the criminals . all is acted by machine , the action is frequently forced , and the catastrophe generally unnatural . yet notwithstanding this extraordinary licence , which this poet assumes in almost all his plays , but very few of 'em are so modell'd as to be serviceable to virtue upon that score . medea , after a course of murthers , having slain her own brother , and children with her own hands , and pelias , creon , and creusa by her charms , is taken particular care of by phaebus , and provided of a flying chariot to make her escape from justice in . hippolitus has the character of a just , and a pious person , and his conduct all thro the play , both in relation to his mother in law phaedra , and his father , by whose curse he is devoted , and brought to ruine , justifies this character , and he in the agonies of death expresses a greater concern for , and a more sensible impression of his fathers misfortunes and afflictions , than his own . a disposition so extraordinarily pious , one wou'd think , shou'd , if it might not exempt him from those disasters that attend the infirmity of humane nature , and the malignity of his fellow mortals , at least protect him from any supernatural calamities , and ensure the favour of heaven to him . but he was a votary to diana , and his vow of chastity gave such offence to venus , who thought herself slighted , that she resolves his ruine , and declares her resolution , and the methods she intends to take to effect it , in the prologue which she speaks . and she lays her plot so , that by means of an antecedent promise to theseus she engages neptune in the destruction of an innocent young man , whose only crime is an obstinate , inviolate chastity ; and phaedra , who is her instrument , is involv'd in the guilt of a heinous , but involuntary crime . the consideration of the several fables of these plays cou'd furnish the audience with no venerable ideas of their gods , who cou'd be the promoters , or protectors of such horrid actions ; nor cou'd any encouragement to justice and morality be drawn from 'em , which afforded such examples of partiality , and prejudice among their deities , that the blackest crimes cou'd not forfeit their favour , nor the most exemplary virtue ensure it . the ion is reckoned by the learned monsieur dacier among that kind of tragedies , which aristotle calls moral , and which this judicious commentator defines thus ; the moral tragedy is a sort of tragedy contriv'd purely for the formation of mens manners , whose catastrophe is always happy . and in the page immediately foregoing , the moral tragedy ( says he ) treats neither of death , torments , nor wounds , but of the happiness of some persons recommendable for their virtue . here therefore one might reasonably expect a perfect model of virtue , and a exact scheme of manners ; for which reason it may seem justly to challenge our consideration . ion , a slip of creusa by apollo , is privately born , and expos'd by his mother , is taken up by mercury and conveyed to delphi , where he is found by the priestess , and brought up in the temple of his father , of which he is at length made the treasurer , or keeper of the rich moveables , in which office he discharges his trust faithfully . thus far the prologue spoken by mercury informs the audience of the history of ion before the play commences . creusa his mother , having no issue by her husband xuthus , repairs with him to the oracle at delphi , to petition for an heir . the husband puts up his request according to form , and is answered , that the first man he shou'd meet in his return from the altar , was his son ; this happens to be ion , who is upon the faith of the oracle received by him as his son. ion , who being a foundling , was ignorant of his parentage , in return joyfully acknowledges him to be his father , and is proved of so honourable an extraction . this enrages creusa , who not suspecting the relation of ion to herself , supposes him to be some by-blow of her husbands , as xuthus himself does , but begotten before his marriage to creusa . in this rage she resolves and attempts to poyson ion , which is discovered , and ion in revenge pursues her life . she takes refuge at the altar , from whence while ion is endeavouring to force him , the prophetess interposes , and produces the swathing bands , and other things in which ion was wrapt when found . these creusa knows , and discovers him to be her own son by apollo ; minerva appears , and confirms her story , and advises 'em both to conceal this circumstance from xuthus , and concludes with a sort of epilogue , predicting the happiness of ion , and other children , which creusa was to have by her husband . if this was designed for a moral tragedy , as monsieur dacier thinks , and as the contrivance of the fable , as well as the catastrophe seems to argue , it must be confessed that euripides has forgot the main circumstance . for the good fortune of those persons , whom he makes happy in the conclusion is not owing to their virtue or prudence , but to the favour of phaebus , who had too great a personal interest in 'em , to suffer 'em to miscarry . creusa's character is vitious all along , she was with child by apollo , and privately delivered , and to conceal her shame , she exposes the infant as a prey to the wild beasts , as she herself confesses to her old servant , and confident , the contriver and instrument of her intended villany afterwards . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . he died a prey to the wild beasts . here she confesses herself guilty of a crime , that is capital in our law , and is so far from repenting , that she engages immediately in the design of another of a dye something deeper , because treachery and violence enter the composition ; in this she is active in the murther , in the former she was only passive . this character can hold forth nothing of instruction , except it teach women , that have given up their honours , to secure their reputations by murthering their bastards ; and furious , jealous wives to destroy their husbands children and heirs by other women . the character of ion is indeed not so criminal ; his highest commendation is , that he had not imbezzled the stores of apollo committed to his keeping . now , tho faithfulness be very commendable in a servant , yet his was never exercis'd in so superlative a way , or endur'd any such severe tryal , as might upon that score entitle him to the great fortune and preferment which befel him afterwards . his highest merit was bare honesty , enough to have procur'd him a certificate now adays upon change of service ; not to challenge any considerable reward . he laid claim to no active virtues , his innocence was his strongest plea , and that too seems to be a little sullied at last by his too eager prosecution of revenge upon creusa . a generous heathen ( without reaching the pitch of christian morality ) wou'd have forgiven , or slighted the feeble malice of a woman , especially at that critical juncture , when he ought to have shewn himself worthy of his sudden exaltation by some extraordinary act of generosity . but his collusion at last with his mother to cheat xuthus is a piece of condescension so base , as forfeits all pretence to common merit or honesty . for he that is content to hold his good forrune by trick and imposture , don't deserve it . thus we see in this moral play , of the two fortunate persons , one is wicked , and ought not to be drawn into precedent , much less to be propos'd for an example ; t'others virtue is of so dwarfish a size , and so weakly a constitution , that 't is not very likely to propagate , and by no means a proper standard to measure full grown worth by . and therefore this play ( tho we shou'd , with monsieur dacier , allow it to be of the moral kind ) is like to do no great service to morality by the design and management of its fable . because i have mention'd the hercules furens , i will not pass it absolutely over in silence , tho it affords no great matter of reflection ; having had occasion to take notice of the character and sufferings of hercules in the trachiniae of sophocles . there is indeed this considerable difference to the disadvantage of this play , in regard to the moral , art , and beauty of it , that here the misfortunes of hercules are wrought altogether by machine : juno , iris , and lyssa or madness ( which is here supposed a daemon ) are all , and only concern'd in the contrivance ; whereas in sophocles things are naturally brought about , and made the result of jealousie and credulity . what therefore in that is but obliquely charg'd upon the gods , is here directly laid upon ' em . so that , what from the last speech of hyllus , and the chorus is there urg'd against the moral of that play , holds more strongly against this . besides the atrocity of the fact , which extending here to the lives of his wife and children , aggravates the guilt of iuno , who cou'd not limit her malice to his person , without comprehending those innocents , who by no crime of their own cou'd have incurr'd her displeasure . these few instances may suffice to give us a true estimate of the care of euripides , in the formation of his fables in general , in relation to the grand or general moral . aeschylus shou'd follow , who , tho first in order of time , comes naturally last into consideration , as affording very little upon this topick . this author seems scarce to have design'd any moral to his fables , or at least to have regarded it very little . his aim was wholly at the pathetick , and he deals almost altogether in objects of terror ; accordingly his flights are frequently lofty , but generally irregular , and his verse rumbles , and thunders almost perpetually , but it usually spends itself , like a wind-gun , in noise and blast only . he sets out gloriously , launches boldly , blown up with a tympany of windy hyperboles , and buckram metaphors ; but he carries more sail than ballast , and his course is accordingly uneven ; he is sometimes in the clouds , and sometimes upon the sands . in short , aeschylus's sole care and ambition seems to have been ( as mr bays has it ) to elevate and surprize ; in the eager pursuit of which , he has miss'd many things , which are the lasting graces of his more temperate successors . the ground work of his plays are plain simple stories , without either plot or moral , told only in the most pompous formidable manner the poet cou'd invent , to strike a pannick terror into the audience ; and consequently they afford no great matter of reflection here . i shall therefore dismiss this poet without any formal examination to this article , and only present the reader with one instance of his neglect of moral , which stares me in the face in the very first page of his prometheus . power and force , two poetical persons , are sent by jupiter to assist vulcan in the chaining prometheus to a rock . they begin the prologue , and declare his crime , which was communicating the celestial fire to mortals ; and the reason of his punishment , which was that he might learn to acquiesce in the administration of jove , and shake off his tenderness for mankind . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . this reason is pretty singular and extravagant , that a brother immortal shou'd be treated so inhumanely by jupiter , and his fellow gods , only for his philanthropy , or love to mankind ; and must needs have a very serviceable effect upon mortals . for no doubt but jupiter's altars must smoak very plentifully , when men were inform'd , that so well he stood affected towards 'em , that 't was capital in any of his under-gods to bear 'em any good will. this must needs impress upon 'em a great veneration for his person , and zeal for his service ; their gratitude must needs work over abundantly for so signal a grace . that this was all prometheus's offence vulcan assures us in his reply . seems to have some bowels of commiseration for this poor devil of a god , and in a compas●sionate sort of remonstrance tells him , that this comes of his fondness of mankind , and thereby provoking jupiter , who was fierce , and implacable , as all new governours are . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , this account of iupiter seems to countenance a harsher translation , than i have given of the fore-going words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and to expound 'em in the scandalous sense of tyranny , rather than of a just and equal administration of affairs . after this prologue i suppose no good moral will be expected from this fable ; the rest of aeschylus's fables are manag'd after a manner little more serviceable , for which reason i shall not tire the reader with the examination of ' em . after the decease of this triumvirate of poets , the tragedy of athens disappears . not but they had many tragedians after 'em , but neither did they rise to a heighth of reputation equal to these , nor did their works very long survive 'em that i know of . here therefore we lose the view of the ancient tragedy , for above five hundred years together . the next sight we have of it is at rome , where we find in all but ten tragedies , which are all collected under the name of seneca's , tho belonging ( as many learned men think ) to several authors . of these nine are of greek extraction , all but one taken from plays yet remaining to us . the medea , hippolytus , troas , and hercules furens are taken from plays all bearing the same names in euripides , except the troas , which , tho it bears the same name , yet is not upon the same argument with the troades of euripides , but is taken from the hecuba , another play of the same poet. the oedipus , and hercules oetaeus , are descended immediately from the oedipus tyrannus , and trachiniae of sophocles . and 't is very probable the thyestes is owing to the same author , tho the greek original be now lost . for 't is not only certain that sophocles wrote three plays which bore that name , but the model seems to bear more resemblance to the manner of sophocles , than either of the other tragedians . the agamemnon plainly belongs to aeschylus , as does likewise the thebais , in right of his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , tho the thebais of seneca being imperfect , it does not so plainly appear whether he copy'd it immediately from thence , or at second hand from the phaenissae of euripides . the octavia only is of roman original , its author is uncertain . for 't is justly suspected to belong to neither of the seneca's . this author , ( for mr collier seems to take all these plays to be the work of one man ) is censur'd and stands in some measure condemn'd , by mr collier , and therefore i should wave any other scrutiny into his conduct , if i did not find him in some measure justified , and in a manner absolv'd upon the comparison with the moderns . but , if we believe with those prodigies of letters , lipsius , joseph scaliger , and heinsius , and divers others very eminent for their learning , that we are beholding to the famous seneca the philosopher , for three at least of these plays , the medea , hippolytus , and troas , to which farnaby adds the oedipus , we shall be oblig'd to pay more deference or respect to 'em , and not to pass a rash and unmannerly censure upon any of the remains of so illustrious an author . but seneca is not at present in mr collier's favour , he is declar'd an injudicious , licentious poet , upon whose liberties the modern poets proceed ; and therefore he is not to be receiv'd into grace , till he has had the penning of a recantation for him if mr collier did believe that seneca the philosopher was the author of any of those plays , he ought upon the merit of his other works , ( by which he may at least pretend to vie with mr collier both zeal and service in the cause of virtue ) to have treated so excellent a person with more respect and honour , than to have rank'd him with , and made him the ringleader of those , whom he reckons atheists and buffoons . if he did not , he cou'd in justice have done no less than set him clear of the imputation , which by so rude and indiscreet a charge he has brought him under . for he cou'd not but know , that the learned persons before-mentioned , whose authority is of great weight amongst men of letters , had deliver'd their opinions , that he was the author of some of those plays , especially the judicious heinsius , whom he cites , and i shou'd suppose he is well acquainted with , unless he does ( which i suspect ) like some persons , that boast of their familiarity with great men , whom they have not the honour to know . had he known their opinions in this matter , it had but been a becoming piece of modesty to have laid his reasons for his dissent from 'em before his reader ; and not haughtily to have slighted their authorities as not worth his notice . or at least he ought not in good manners to have treated the memory of that philosopher at so scoundrel a rate . i suppose he will hardly justifie this indignity from the misrepresentations that have been given of him . for , not to enter improperly into a dispute about the validity of those reports here , whatever his private infirmities might be , we are sure from his works , that he bent his studies and endeavours to the service of morality as heartily and successfully , as some christians who with greater helps and stronger invitations , seem to value their services much higher , with less reason . however seneca , tho he cannot without extream injury be accus'd of writing for the encouragement of debauchery , has been very careless of poetick justice in winding up his fables . phaedra in the hippolytus , and lycus in the hercules furens are only the malefactors that are brought to condign punishment . for , as for oedipus , we have had occasion already to clear him from the aspersion of guilt , tho his misfortunes are the most notorious , and his calamities the most deplorable of any upon the antient stage . ajax oileus , whom mr. collier produces as the only instance of this kind , is indeed none . for he is no person of the drama , nor has his fate any influence upon the success of the action either way . he is only mention'd by eurybates , in the relation which he makes of the voyage of the greeks from troy , to encrease the horror of that storm , of which he was then giving a description ; which is no more to the business of the play , than 't wou'd have been , if mr congreve in his mourning bride shou'd have taken occasion from the wreck of his hero on the same seas , to have brought in the storm that cast away the turkey fleet , and describ'd the manner of sir francis wheeler's wreck . but if seneca has been remiss upon this article he sins at least by precedent , and may plead in his justification , that he leaves the story generally no worse than he found it . he built , as we have already observ'd , upon other mens bottoms , and cou'd not make any great alterations in the foundations they had laid , without endangering the superstructure . aristotle observes , in favour of the poets of , or near his time , that taking the fables of their plays from stories vulgarly known either from history , or the works of some precedent poet , they had not the liberty of receding so far from the receiv'd tradition in the contrivance , and disposition of their fables , as was frequently requir'd to the forming a just and truly artificial model . this may be urg'd with more justice in defence of seneca , who , taking his . models from authors of great reputation , wou'd have been thought guilty of a high piece of presumption , if he had varied too much from originals so well known and received . besides , had he chang'd the fortune of his principal persons he had effac'd the images of 'em , which had been impress'd upon the audience , who wou'd not have own'd , or acknowledg'd 'em for the persons they pretended to represent , who were best , or perhaps only by those marks to be distinguish'd . however , it must be granted , that in his hippolytus , wherein he has ventur'd to deviate a little from the original , he has done it very judiciously , and very much to the advantage of the moral ; the application of which he has thereby render'd not only more easie and natural , but it self likewise more useful , and instructive . in euripides the gods do all . his persons move like puppets by wires ; venus contrives and acts all . phedra's a meer machine , a passive vehicle , that serves purely for the more cleanly conveyance of the goddesses malice . the unraveling likewise is perform'd by machine , pallas descends to clear the innocence of hippolytus , and accuses venus . in short , the action is all forc'd and unnatural , and of consequence , the moral , if any , must be strain'd . seneca has artfully avoided these inconveniences , by making the incestuous love of phaedra spring from her own infirmity , and the death of hippolytus , the effect of her revenge of his scornfully rejecting her passion , and her fear of his making a discovery of her infamy to his father . her punishment by this means becomes just , which was not so in the greek , and her rage , despair , confession and death , are the natural result of her guilt and folly. from the unhappy catastrophe of this lady , , matter of fair instruction may be drawn to check such licentious flames in their first birth , which if indulg'd draw after 'em such fatal consequences . and from the rash misplac'd imprecation of theseus , parents may be caution'd against too easie a credulity in such extraordinary cases , and to guard against such violences of passion , as may extort curses from 'em , that may return upon their own heads , and involve themselves in the conclusion . this plot , as it stands in seneca , is one of the neatest of antiquity , and had the author taken care to disencourage himself as happily from neptune , as he has from venus and minerva , i see nothing inartificial in the disposition of it . but neptune performing his part extra scenam , this fault is the more pardonable , especially since 't is originally the oversight of euripides . the rest of this author's plays varying little or nothing in the fable from the greek originals , ( those i mean , that we know , for the thyestes of sophocles is lost ) whatever the faults of 'em may be in that respect , the latin author is not so properly accountable for ' em . the octavia , being the only tragedy of roman stock that remains to us , seems to challenge upon that score some regard , whosoever was the author of it . but being rather a relation by way of dialogue between the several parties concerned of an unjust tyrannick action , in which there is neither plot , turn , moral , nor consequence , it wou'd be time lost to bestow an examination upon it here . having thus run through the tragedies of antiquity , perhaps something more minutely , than may be thought requisite upon this article , i shall not make many reflections upon the whole , but leave 'em to the further consideration of the reader , after a remark or two , concerning the practice of the ancients in general , in this respect . it is observable , that the ancients in the disposition of their fables , seem to have had such very little regard to the moral of 'em , they contented themselves with delivering their instructions in wise sayings , scatter'd here and there up and down the dialogue , or at the close of all ; and only sought in their fables matter and occasion of moving the passions , which was generally done by way of narration ; to which end they furnish'd out their dialogue with all the force , pomp , and terrour of expression they could , in which how well they have succceded , is not to the present purpose to take notice . aristotle had , no doubt , this practice of theirs in view , when he divided tragedy into moral and pathetick . by this division of tragedy ( ratione subjecti ) aristotle plainly indicates , not only that the subjects of the ancient tragedy were not all moral , but likewise that it was not necessary , that they should be so . he instances in the phthiotides , and peleus , two tragedies that are lost , as examples of the moral kind ; and besides this mention of 'em , i do not remember any notice that he has taken of this sort of tragedy . for all his rules seem to be calculated for the service of the pathetick and implex kinds . from this silence of aristotle , and the scarcity of 'em amongst the remains of the greek tragedy , we may reasonably collect , that this sort of tragedy was not much in use amongst the ancients themselves . for of all the pieces of antiquity the alcestis of euripides alone in my opinion deserves the name of a moral tragedy . in this play both admetus , and his wife alcestis are persons of strict probity , and great piety . alcestis out of a singular piety , offers her self to death a voluntary sacrifice , in lieu of her husband . in the depth of admetus's grief while his wife was yet in the house , and the rites of funeral unperform'd , comes hercules , who observing the family to be in mourning , desires to be excus'd from troubling his house at so unseasonable a time . admetus , unwilling to turn away such a guest , dissembles the real cause of his grief , and receives him nobly , but hercules enquiring , and being inform'd of the truth of admetus's loss , combats death , recovers alcestis , and restores her to her husband . the fable of this play is truly moral . alcestis first by her piety redeems her husband from death ; and admetus afterwards by his generosity and hospitality , by means of hercules , rescues her from the grave . thus they reciprocally owe their lives to each others virtue . but if this play be remarkably moral , it is on the other hand monstrously unnatural , and consequently on that account is incapable of affording any extraordinary pleasure , or improvement . this probably might be the reason , why this sort of tragedy was so little in request . from the whole it appears , that the antients were not so careful of their models , as mr collier pretends ; but were on the contrary extremely negligent of the moral in the fables of their tragedies . so that if one or two do afford a tolerable one , we may conclude by the slight notice they take of it , that they did not see it , or but casually found it there , rather than industriously sought it ; and that we are more beholding to their luck , than judgment or good intentions for ' em . i grant this way of arguing not to be demonstrative , but it is not therefore unconclusive . for since the sense of the antients , is not any where ( that i know of ) delivered in express terms concerning this matter , i take their practice , backt by the authority of aristotle , to be a sufficient warrant for any conclusions , that shall be drawn naturally from ' em . but if i wou'd indulge my self in the liberties of mr. collier , and charge the antiens at that loose rate , that he does the english dramatick poets , i might not only tax 'em with negligence of their morals , but with maliciously discouraging vertue , and industriously promoting villany , and impiety . nor wou'd the poets suffer alone , all the great men of antiquity , that have commended their works , must share both the guilt , and the sentence ; and aristotle above the rest wou'd be even capitally criminal , his art of poetry is an inexhaustible spring of corruption , an everlasting source of infection , that has diffus'd its venome over the whole world , and poison'd mankind almost universally with villany , impiety , lewdness , and debauchery , of all kinds , for above sixteen hundred years together . this wou'd be high treason among the admirers of the antients , yet 't is nothing to one of mr collier's declamatory rants , when he is in one of his rhetorical fits , and about to dress up a character for aristophanes , or any of the english poets . after this disingenuous rate 't were easie to turn the satyr upon ages long since past , and railly in his own words , those whom he himself recommends to the imitation of our present writers . an instance of this kind mayn't be amiss to shew how easie 't is to misrepresent the fairest intentions , and to improve peccadillo's into crimes of the blackest dye , to make a hellish plot of an oversight , and plunge men over head and ears in brimstone , for humane infirmities . 't is a jest , that the antients wou'd make us believe , that their design was virtue and reformation . in good time ! they are likely to combat vice with success , who destroy the principles of good and evil. wou'd euripides perswade us that his aim is virtuous , and his design moral ? why then does he make choice of means so disproportionate to the end he pretends to drive at ? why is vice represented successful , and villany triumphant , but to encourage men to the practice of it ? why is medea , the betrayer of her father , and country , a poysoner , a sorceress , and a murtherer , one that had run thro the whole compass , and measur'd all the paces of villany , suffer'd to make her escape ? or if she must not be punish'd , why are the gods engaged in the matter , and she taken into the care of providence , and furnished with means of escape at the expence of a miracle ? why are orestes and electra , parricides , taken immediately into the protection of heaven , under despondency , and the lashes of a guilty conscience ? why are they encourag'd to bear up against the convictions of their own minds , and promis●d prosperity from heaven ? why is hippolytus maliciously persecuted , and no less then two deities employ'd in his ruine , only for being chaste by vow ? unless it be to shew us , that the world has been mistaken in its notions of providence , that wickedness is meritorious , and innocence a crime , that virtue , and vice , of which the philosophers prate so much , are but the whimseys of hypocondriacks , the dreams of speculative enthusiasts . are these the socratick dialogues , and this the result of the philosophers lectures ? is this the admirer of socrates , that was reciprocally so admir'd by him , that he cou'd sit whole days with patience at the recital of his plays ? if we may judge of one by the other , the scholar was an atheist , and his master little better . why else did he not reprove him for his blasphemous fictions , and making the gods the actors , and patrons of villany , and reprehend him for mistaking the notions of providence , confounding the ideas of virtue and vice , and subverting the maxims of morality ? thus we see at this rate of declaiming not only euripides , who affected philosophy a little too much in his poems , but even socrates himself , the boast of antiquity , and the glory of the heathen world stands condemn'd , as an abettour of murther , incest , and blasphemy . let us see whether aeschylus or sophocles can acquit themselves any better . if aeschylus had taken due care of his designs , and built only upon models of virtue , we had never heard of his prometheus . this poet strikes at the root of all moral virtue . he scorns to trifle , and pluck it down piece-meal , but blows it up all together . philanthropy , or charity is the ground and foundation of all morality . this in the prometheus is made a crime , and a god sentenc'd to perpetual punishment for his love to mankind , which is all that is objected to him . this must needs create in mankind a great veneration , and impress a suitable reverence for the gods , who are so very tender of 'em , in return for their oblations , that 't is high treason to bear 'em any good will. no doubt . but religion must shoot , and flourish mightily under such a hopeful prospect of reward . sophocles has been altogether as careful of religion in his philoctetes . that spark , with his carcass rotten , and full of aches and ulcers , hectors the gods at a strange rate , and they think it worth their while to cajole him into their service . hercules is sent to make him a fine speech , and large promises to invite him to obedience , and allure him over to their party . oedipus is made virtuous , just , and wise , but unhappy thro a fatality , against which his virtue is no security ; justice requires that he shou'd be rewarded and encouraged , but providence will have him afflicted , and punisht with extremity of rigour . can any thing be more disserviceable to probity and religion , than these examples of injustice , oppression , and cowardice in their gods ? they cherish those passions , and reward those vices , which 't is the business of reason to discountenance . they strike at the root of principle , and draw off the inclinations from virtue , and spoil good education : they are the most effectual means to baffle discipline , to emasculate people's sprits , and debauch their manners . how many of the unwary have these syrens devoured ? and how often has the best blood been tainted with this infection ? what disappointments of parents , what confusion in families , and what beggary in estates have been hence occasioned : and which is still worse , the mischief spreads , and the malignity grows more envenom'd . the fever works up towards madness , and will scarce endure to be touch'd . i doubt not but the sober admirers of the greek tragedy will think that the fumes of mr collier's stumm'd rant are got into my head , and work me out of my wits . and had he so far debauch'd my judgment , as to make this my serious opinion , i wou'd grant , that he and i were only fit to lead a collony to settle at * anticyra , and dyet upon hellebore . but tho i have no such lewd thoughts of the great men of antiquity , yet so far i shall presume to venture , ( without trespassing against modesty , or breaking rudely in upon the harmonious judgment of the learned for a long succession of ages ) as to say , that mr collier's unreasonable satyr comes as full upon the antients whom he admires and commends , as upon the moderns , whom he vilifies and condemns . the modern tragedy is a feild large enough for us to lose our selves in , and therefore i shall not take the liberty of ranging thro 'em at large , but for the most part confine my self to such as mr collier has already attackt . upon presumption therefore that these are the weakest , if these can be defended , the rest i suppose may hold out of themselves . i shall begin with shakespear , whom notwithstanding the severity of mr rhimer , and the hard usage of mr collier , i must still think the proto-dramatist of england , tho he fell short of the art of johnson , and the conversation of beaumont and fletcher . upon that account he wants many of their graces , yet his beauties make large amends for his defects , and nature has richly provided him with the materials , tho his unkind fortune denied him the art of managing them to the best advantage . his hamlet , a play of the first rate , has the misfortune to fall under mr collier's displeasure ; and ophelia who has had the luck hitherto to keep her reputation , is at last censur'd for lightness in her frenzy ; nay , mr collier is so familiar with her , as to make an unkind discovery of the unsavouriness of her breath , which no body suspected before . but it may be this is a groundless surmise , and mr collier is deceived by a bad nose , or a rotten tooth of his own ; and then he is obliged to beg the poets and the ladies pardon for the wrong he has done 'em ; but that will fall more naturally under our consideration in another place . hamlet king of denmark was privately murther'd by his brother , who immediately thereupon marry'd the dowager , and supplanted his nephew in the succession to the crown . thus far before the proper action of the play. the late kings ghost appears to his son young hamlet , and declares how and by whom he was murther'd , and engages him to revenge it . hamlet hereupon grows very much discontented , and the king very jealous of him . hereupon he is dispatched with ambassadors to england , then supposed tributary to denmark , whither a secret commission to put him to death , is sent by 'em : which hamlet discovering writes a new commission , in which he inserts the names of the ambassadors instead of his own . after this a pirate engaging their vessel , and hamlet too eagerly boarding her is carried off , and set ashore in denmark again . the ambassadors not suspecting hamlet's trick , pursue their voyage , and are caught in their own trap. polonius , a councellour to the king , conveying himself as a spy behind the hangings , at an enterview between hamlei and his mother , is mistaken for the king , and killed by him . laertes his son , together with the king contrive the death of hamlet by a sham match at foyls , wherein laertes uses a poyson'd unrebated weapon . the king , not trusting to this single treachery , prepares a poysoned bowl for hamlet , which the queen ignorantly drinks . hamlet is too hard for laertes , and closes with him , and recovers the envenom'd weapon from him , but in so doing , he is hurt by , and hurts him with it . laertes perceiving himself wounded , and knowing it to be mortal , confesses that it was a train laid by the king for hamlet's life , and that the foul practice is justly turn'd upon himself . the queen at the same times cries out , that she is poysoned , whereupon hamlet wounds the king with the envenom'd weapon . they all die . whatever defects the criticks may find in this fable , the moral of it is excellent . here was a murther privately committed , strangely discover'd , and wonderfully punish'd . nothing in antiquity can rival this plot for the admirable distribution of poetick justice . the criminals are not only brought to execution , but they are taken in their own toyls , their own stratagems recoyl upon 'em , and they are involv'd themselves in that mischief and ruine , which they had projected for hamlet . polonius by playing the spy meets a fate , which was neither expected by , nor intended for him . guildenstern and rosencraus , the kings decoys , are counterplotted , and sent to meet that fate , to which they were trepanning the prince . the tyrant himself falls by his own plot , and by the hand of the son of that brother , whom he had murther'd . laertes suffers by his own treachery , and dies by a weapon of his own preparing . thus every one's crime naturally produces his punishment , and every one ( the tyrant excepted ) commences a wretch almost as soon as a villain . the moral of all this is very obvious , it shews us , that the greatness of the offender does not qualifie the offence , and that no humane power , or policy are a sufficent guard against the impartial hand , and eye of providence , which defeats their wicked purposes , and turns their dangerous machinations upon their own heads . this moral hamlet himself insinuates to us , when he tells horatio , that he ow'd the discovery of the design against his life in england , to a rash indiscreet curiosity , and thence makes this inference . our indiscretion sometimes serves as well , when our dear plots do fail , and that shou'd teach us . there 's a divinity , that shapes our ends , rough hew 'em how we will. the tragedies of this author in general are moral and instructive , and many of 'em such , as the best of antiquity can't equal in that respect . his king lear , timon of athens , macbeth , and some others are so remarkable upon that score , that 't wou'd be impertinent to trouble the reader with a minute examination of plays so generally known and approved . the other tragedies upon which mr collier lets his indignation fall so heavy , are so recent , and so common in the hands of every play reader , that 't is almost an affront to their memories to trouble 'em with too particular a recapitulation . but since we have oblig'd our selves to make good the comparative innocence of the moderns by instances upon the parallel , mr collier can never desire fairer play , than for us to undertake the defence of those very plays , which he himself has markt out , and assigned us ; of which the next in order is the orphan , against which he enters the lists as the chaplains champion , in whose quarrel and upon whose account he is most implacably enraged . the model of this play is something like that of oedipus , except that in this the crime of polydore , being voluntary , his guilt is real , and by consequence poetick justice is observ'd in his punishment , which is just . in this tragedy likewise acasto , castalio , and monimia are innocent , virtuous characters , and their misfortunes undeserv'd , which made 'em naturally objects of pity and commiseration . the fatal consequences of polydore's intemperate lust , and base rash action , afford matter of terrour and example . this play is exactly constituted according to aristotle , who requires only that tragedy shou'd move terrour and compassion , which are the proper springs , by which it works upon the audience . in this it excells the fable of the oedipus , that it bears naturally a good moral , and in the wretched catastrophe of polydore , and the miseries which his incontinence brought upon his family , preaches chastity to the audience after the most effectual manner . but mr collier's in the humour now , and he scorns to circumscribe his kindness to the limits of the christian priesthood , whether orthodox , or heterodox . for even the mufti is allowed the benefit of his clergy , and shares his patronage . he is furiously provok'd at mr dryden for saying that priests of all religions are the same , when he himself at the same time makes no distinction , but treats the priests of god almighty , mahomet and anubis with the same respect . he is for strengthening his party , and contracting an alliance with all faiths and complexions ; he ransacks europe , asia , and africa , and enters into a religious league offensive and defensive with sun-burnt africans , and monsters of the nile . to this end , he labours hard to find out some relation between the mufti and the bishops , and very dutifully strains to extend the scandal from africk to england , that what is said of their arch-priest may reflect upon our prelates . the most bigotted mussulman of 'em all cou'd not have acted more for the service of their priests , than to have shifted the reproach from them to ours . but i hope there is no such sympathy between 'em ( as mr collier injuriously fancies ) and that to break the mufti 's wou'd not make our bishops heads ach , or his black and blue be seen in their faces . those worthy great men , who are the honour of both our church and nation , have little reason to thank him for endeavouring to ally 'em to those , that must of necessity , putting the mildest construction upon their actions , be either gross fools or rank knaves ; fools if they believe , and knaves if they help on the cheat and imposture of mahomet without believing . thus mr collier puts a grosser affront upon our religion and clergy , than any mr dryden has done , and his reproof deserves a severer correction , than t'others fault . this perhaps is a liberty too great to be indulg'd in any one but mr collier's dear self , and therefore to chastize mr dryden's presumption and insolence for but seeming to invade his fancied property , he falls most outrageously upon his don sebastian . the subject of this play bears a very religious moral , and consonant to the tenour of the 2d commandment shews , that the punishment of mens crimes , shall extend not only to their own persons , but if unrepented shall reach their posterity likewise . in this fable muley moloch , a tyrant and an usurper , benducar a crafty villain and a traytor , the mufti a rascally hypocrite and a traytor . these three therefore are justly rewarded for their own proper demerits . the tyrant falls by treachery , the treacherous minister by publick justice , and the hypocrite is unmaskt , depos'd , and his estate confiscated . sebastian and almeyda are characters of extraordinary virtue , sebastian appears just and brave , and almeyda chaste and constant to an heroick pitch . their offence was involuntary , and a sin of ignorance , the unhappy consequence of the transgression of their parents , and their punishment is proportion'd very well to the nature of their trespass . for tho incest be a sin of a very black dye , yet their ignorance of the nearness of their blood washes away their guilt , and makes it their misfortune , not their crime . in this case a bare separation wou'd be a sufficient justification of their innocence . but a judgment hanging over their heads for the sin of their parents , to divert that something more mortifying was necessary , and therefore a voluntary abdication , exile , and a recluse religious life are thrown in by way of pennance to make weight , and give the attonement its due complement . but lest the true moral shou'd escape the audience , the poet has taken care to fix , and summ it up in the four concluding lines let sebastian and almeyda's fate this dreadful sentence to the world relate , that unrepented crimes of parents dead , are justly punish'd on their childrens heads . this moral needs no defence , and wou'd plead successfully for its author , and excuse many little slips before any judge less partially severe than mr collier . the cleomenes of the same author stands indicted upon the same score , that is , for being to free with the priests of apis. for tho that been't the only allegation against this play , 't is apparently the sole ground . thus mr collier as well as mr dryden , sets priests of all religions upon the same foot. so they be but priests , 't is no matter to whom , he expects they shou'd be respected and reverenc'd ; the compliment must be paid to their livery , whether it be christs or the devils . else why are the mufti , and the priests of apis so much his concern ? why all this heat in the cause of infidels and idolaters , and those none of the simple deluded rout , but the arch jugglers , and managers of the cheat. in this play he has forgot , or overlook'd his greatest advantage , which is the want of moral . his passion had got the upperhand of his judgement , and push'd him headlong on to the attack , no matter where . in this play poetick justice is altogether neglected , virtue is every where deprested , and calamitous , and falls at last unreveng'd in the ruine of cleomenes , pantheus , cleanthes , cleonidas , cratisiclea , and cleora . vice revels all along , and triumps at length in the persons of ptolomy , casandra , and sosybins . the fidelity of cleomenes to his nuptial vows is the destruction of himself and all his friends , while the luxury of ptolomy , the wantonness and infidelity of casandra , and the treachery of sosybius , insult in security unfortunate virtue . 't is true , sosybius in the close seems to become a convert , and pretends to pay extraordinary honours to the body of the dead hero. from whence we may draw this inference , that virtue has its altars tho neglected , even in the most profligate breasts , and that the most inveterate of its enemies will confess its charms , when they no longer dread its power . mr dryden has confin'd himself a little too near the story , had he ass●rted his right , and taken the liberty of a poet , he might have improv'd the moral very much by sending sosybius , casandra , and ptolomy to attend cleomenes to the other world. for ( with submission to mr dryden's better judgment ) i see no necessity for letting the curtain fall so immediately upon the death of cleomenes . the fall of his hero ought to have drawn after it a train of consequence fatal to the contrivers of it ; the ruines of a hero of his size and weight ought to have crush'd those feeble aegyptians . had the rage and despair , that might naturally be supposed in a woman of cassandra's furious temper , upon the disappointment of her licentious ungovernable flame , been wrought up to the destruction of sosybius and herself , magas might have made his appearance in person , to have finish'd the business , and dispatch'd ptolomy . all this might have been done without unnaturally stretching , or making the action double . by this means treachery , lust , infidelity , luxury , cowardice , and cruelty , had all met their due reward . but the poet by tracking too closely the steps of the historian has lost the moral , which , had he been guided by , and depended absolutely upon his own judgment , we had no doubt been indebted to him for . the next and last tragedy i shall instance in is the mourning bride . i have had occasion already to say something of the observation of poetick justice in this play , but this being the proper place , i shall take it a little more particularly into consideration . the fable of this play is one of the most just , and regular that the stage , either antient or modern , can boast of . i mean , for the distribution of rewards , and punishments . for no virtuous person misses his recompence , and no vitious one escapes vengeance . manuel in the prosecution and exercise of his cruelty and tyranny , is taken in a trap of his own laying , and falls himself a sacrifice in the room of him , whom he in his rage had devoted . gonsalez villanous cunning returns upon his own head , and makes him by mistake kill the king his master , and in that cut off , not only all his hopes , but his only prop and support , and make sure of his own destruction . alonzo , his creature and instrument , acts by his instructions , and shares his fate . zara's furious temper and impetuous ungovernable passion , urge her to frequent violences , and conclude at last in a fatal mistake . thus every one 's own wickedness or miscarriage determines his fate , without shedding any malignity upon the persons and fortunes of others . alphonso in reward of his virtue receives the crowns of valentia and granada , and is happy in his love ; all which he acknowledges to be the gift of providence , which protects the innocent , and rewards the virtuous . almeria , whose virtues are much of the same kind , and who sympathiz'd with him in his afflictions , becomes a joynt partner of his happiness . and garcia , tho a servant of the tyrant , and son of the treacherous , ambitious statesman , yet executing only his soveraigns lawful commands , and being untainted with his fathers guilt , and his principles undebauch'd , is receiv'd into alphonso's favour . all this as well as the moral is summ'd up so fully , and so concisely in alphonso's last speech , that 't were injustice not to give it in the poets own words . ( to alm. ) thy father fell , where he design'd my death . gonsalez and alonzo , both of wounds expiring , have with their last breath confest the just decrees of heaven , in turning on themselves their own most bloody purposes , to garcia — o garcia seest thou , how just the hand of heaven has been ? let us , that thro our innocence survive , still in the paths of honour persevere , and not for past , or present ills despair : for blessings ever wait on virtuous deeds ; and tho a late , a sure reward succeeds . these i think are all the english tragedies , which mr collier has by name excepted against . taking therefore our view of the modern tragedy from that quarter , which he has alotted to draw a prospect of it in , i shall leave it to the reader to judge , whether have raised the more beautiful structures . but if we can with these forces , which our enemies have raised for us , make head , and maintain our ground against the united strength of all antiquity , what might have been done , had we had the lasting , and sizing 'em our selves . i shall only take notice of two or three things which are apparently the indisputable advantage of the moderns over the antients , in respect of the general moral of their fables . 1st , that they never are at the expence of a machine to bring about a wicked design , and by consequence don't interest providence in promoting villany ; as the antients have notoriously done in many of their plays ; of which number are the electra of sophocles ; the electra , orestes , hippolytus , ion , and others of euripides , and the thyestes of seneca . 2dly , that they never engage providence to afflict and oppress virtue , by distressing it by supernatural means , as the antients have manifestly done , by making their gods the immediate actors in or directors of the misfortunes of virtuous persons , as in the prometheus in chains of aeschylus , the oedipus of sophocles , the hippolytus and hercules furens of euripides , the oedipus and hercules furens of seneca , and divers others of antiquity . 3dly , that their malefactors are generally punished , which those of the antients seldom were ; but if they escape the moderns don 't provide 'em with a miraculous delivery , or have recourse to such extraordinary methods as exceed the reach of humane force or cunning , so as to entitle providence to the protection of 'em , which was the frequent practice of the antients ; as in the electra of sophocles ; the medea , the orestes , the electra , and others of euripides ; the medea of seneca , &c. from this short review of the different conduct of the antient and modern tragedians , we may see with how much more respect to providence , and the divine administration , our poets have behaved themselves , than they ; and how far the ballance of religion inclines to our side . i suppose no one can be so silly , as to think , that i argue here for the truth of their faith , but the measure of it in their respective perswasions , in which the advantage is infinitely on the side of the english stage . the fable of every play is undoubtedly the authors own , whencesoever he takes the story , and he may model it as he pleases . the characters are not so ; the poet is obliged to take 'em from nature , and to copy as close after her , as he is able . the 〈…〉 be said for the thoughts and expressions , they must be suited to the mouth and character of the person that speaks 'em , not the poet 's . it is not what is right or wrong in the poet's judgment , but what is natural , or unnatural for a person of such a character upon such an occasion to say , which he is to consider , and for which he is accountable only , as well by the rules of moral as poetical justice . when therefore we find any thing in plays that sounds amiss , we must examine whether it be proper to the character or not , before we condemn the poet , whom we may otherwise arraign as mal a propos , as a judge wou'd the kings evidence , if he shou'd prefer an indictment against 'em for speaking treason in their depositions . the fable therefore being the main spring of the machine in tragedy , and the poet 's own proper workmanship● 't is by the temper and disposition of that , that we are to feel the poets pulse , and find out his secret affections . not but that we may err sometimes in our judgments of the poet's morals o● other hand . for 't is possible , that the poet's morals may be very good , yet the man's stark naught , that is , that a man may be a good moral poet , yet a bad man. so on the other hand we may falsly measure his manners by his management , and impute to malice and design those faults , which flow from want of judgment or indiscretion . this is hard measure , but such as mr collier has been very liberal of to the poets . it wou'd be a very uncharitable error , shou'd we at any time hear the sacred mysteries of our faith poorly explained , or weakly defended out of the pulpit , if we shou'd conclude , that the preacher played booty and betrayed the cause he pretended to plead for : and i doubt it wou'd fall heavy upon many , that now pass for honest and good christians , i hope with justice , if their faith were to be measured by their performance , and their integrity by their parts . but it wou'd be much more unjust to rate all the rest of their order by the deficient standard of a few . yet thus mr collier proceeds against those , to whom he thinks fit to oppose himself . and yet even thus they wou'd not have much occasion to fear his malice , if he wou'd proceed against 'em the proper way , and not charge as their private and real sense , the sentiments , which they are obliged sometimes to furnish villains and extravagants with in conformity to their characters , while he denies 'em the benefit of those many excellent and pious reflections abounding in their works . certainly had our poets any such lewd design of confounding the distinctions between truth and fiction , between majesty and a pageant ; of treating god like an idol , and bantering , the scriptures like homer's elysium and hesiod's theogonia , it wou'd appear in the fable , which is the part , as we have observ'd , that discovers most of the poets proper opinion , and gives him the fairest opportunity of stealing it artificially in , and poys'ning the audience most effectually with least suspicion . for tho the fable , if skilfully contriv'd , be the part which operates most powerfully , yet it works after a manner least sensible . we feel the effects without suspecting the cause , and are prejudiced without looking after a reason . if the poets have any such villanous plot against virtue and religion , they are certainly the most negligent fellows , or the most unexperienced in the world to overlook the only place of advantage upon the whole stage for their mischievous purpose , where they might work their mines unmolested , and spring 'em undiscover'd to most , and do the greatest execution with the least alarm to the enemy . but they make war like dutchmen , and sell their enemies ammunition to spend upon themselves . for all their fables are contriv'd and modell'd for the service of virtue and religion , and levell'd against themselves , if they be such great enemies , and so remarkably disaffected , as mr collier says they are . but perhaps he may , either thro mistake or malice , misrepresent the matter ; and what was scoffingly said by the turks to the poles , may be seriously applied to the case before us by both parties , that they did not know of any war betwixt ' em . from the management of the fables of our poets , which , being the principal , and most efficacious part of their plays , undoubtedly employ'd most their care , 't is plain that mr collier has given the world a false alarm , and endeavours to set 'em upon those as subverters of religion and morality , that have with abundance of art and pains labour'd in their service , and rack'd their inventions to weave 'em into the most popular diversions , and make even luxury and pleasure subservient and instrumental to the establishment of moral principles , and the confirmation of virtuous resolutions . before i take leave of tragedy upon this head , i must take notice to the reader , that in this parallel betwixt the antient and modern tragedy , i have not wrested any thing to the unjust prejudice of one , or favour of t'other . nor , tho i find most of the antient fables defective in the general moral , do i charge 'em with any design of under●ining the interest , or lessening the credit and esteem of virtue . the moral and the pathetic were in their days distinct branches of tragedy ( as we have already observ'd from aristotle ) of which their poets in all probability made choice , according to the encouragement they observ'd 'em to meet with . if therefore we find few moral plays amongst the remains of those extraordinary persons the greek tragedians , we may fairly presume , that they did not take at athens , otherwise they wou'd have been more cultivated . for this reason probably it was , that aristotle took so slender notice of moral tragedy , as not thinking it worth while to lay down rules for the practice of that , which was no longer in use , or esteem amongst his countrymen in his time. nor did this dis-esteem of moral plays proceed from any propensity to , or habit of vice peculiar to that age , which might give 'em a disrelish for virtuous entertainments . the contrary of this is evident from several of those tragedies , which succeeded at athens , the discourse in which is frequently moral and instructive , tho the fable it self be not . but moral tragedy not admitting such incidents as were proper to move terrour or compassion , the springs of passion were wanting , and consequently the audience were but weakly affected with such sort of representations . the moderns , who were sensible of the use of one , and the power of t'other sort of tragedy , have taken a happy liberty of compounding 'em , and throwing the simple tragedy quite aside , stick altogether to an implex kind , which is at once both moral and pathetick . wherein they must to their honour be acknowledg'd , to have made a considerable improvement of tragedy , and to have had a singular regard to probity and virtue ; which ( without injustice to antiquity , i may venture to affirm ) had very little interest in the fable before . nor can the most partial admirer of the antients , with any colour of justice deny this advantage to the moderns ; since neither aristotle , nor horace , amongst all their excellent rules , and observations for dramatick writing , have taken the least notice of poetick justice , which is now become the principal article of the drama ; which questionless they wou'd never have forgotten , had the practice of the stage in their own , or preceeding ages , or even their own thoughts suggested the necessity of it . nay so far is aristotle from thinking it a requisite condition , that he recommends * the misfortunes of a person unhappy thro his mistake , not his fault , as the most proper subject for tragedy ; which is directly opposite to this rule , which requires , that the fortune of every one shou'd be adjusted to his merit , whether good or bad . 't is true , aristotle thinks , that 't is inconsistent with the regard that is due to mankind , to represent such revolutions in the fortunes of men , as shall make persons eminently virtuous unhappy , or notoriously wicked successful and prosperous . but i don't find that he made their proper demerits the standard , or immediate rule for squaring their future fortune . and if we consider the examples he produces to his own rule , we shall perhaps be induc'd to believe , that he did not insist upon a very rigorous observation of it . for of his two instances , oedipus was ( as we have already observ'd ) a very virtuous person , and thyestes , according to the traditions remaining concerning him , a very wicked one. so that even while he is laying down his rule , he seems to indulge a latitude in the observance , and to justifie any liberties , that may be taken with it , by the precedent of the best play , not only of sophocles , but of all antiquity . monsieur dacier ( who , according the humour of most commentators , will allow no slips in his author ) strains hard to reconcile the examples to the rule . he charges monsieur corneille with making an unjust exception , for want of understanding rightly , the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . i shall not undertake to arbitrate the point of monsieur corneille's learning , but i think his observation just , and yet in full force , and monsieur dacier's answer , however learned , no better than an evasion . in ennumerating the good qualities , and summing up the character of oedipus , mr dacier omits his piety towards his country , and places the service of destroying the sphinx to the account of his ambition , and the reward of the crown tacked to it . his piety i have already taken sufficient notice of elsewhere , and for his ambition let sophocles answer , who tells us otherwise in the concluding lines ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . who affected not base popularity , nor courted fortune . this may suffice to clear him from the imputation of vanity and ambition , with which monsieur dacier loads his character , and added to the rest , prove him an excellent person ; one that , according to aristotle , was too good to suffer in so extraordinary a manner . to digress no farther , i think we are obliged to the modern tragick poets for the introduction of poetick justice upon the stage , and must own , that they were the first that made it their constant aim to instruct , as well as please by the fable . the antients brought indifferently all sorts of subjects upon the stage , which they took from history or tradition , and were therefore more solicitous to make their stories conform to the relation , or to the publick opinion , than to poetick justice , or the propriety of tragick action . by this means all hopes of a moral was cut off , or if by chance the story afforded any , we are more obliged to the poets luck for it , than to his skill or care. thus the moral , the highest , and most serviceable improvement that ever was , or ever can be made of the drama , is of modern extraction , and may very well be pleaded in bar to all claim laid in behalf of the antients , to preference in point of morality , and service to virtue , as likewise in answer to all objections made to the manners and conduct of the modern stage in general . thus the modern stage , against which mr collier maliciously declaims with so much bitterness , is upon this account infinitely preferable to the athenians , which he commends and admires , and that which he rails at as the bane of sobriety , and the pest of good manners , is prov'd the most commodious instrument to propagate morality , and the easiest , and most palatable vehicle to make instruction go down with effect . but the violence and partiality of some observe no bounds of justice , and admit of no check from modesty or reason . but i shall take leave here , and pass on to the fable of comedy , against which mr collier's spight is more particularly levelled . the fable of comedy will give us very little trouble , if we consider rightly the nature and business of this part of the drama . comedy deals altogether in ridicule , and its subject consequently must be such as affords matter of ridiculous mirth . all its machinations tend to the exciting that ill natur'd titillation , which carries scorn and contempt along with it . it s business is to correct , and hinder the spreading of folly and knavery , by making 'em ridiculous , and to reform rascals and coxcombs by exposing ' em . aristotle therefore has has very judiciously defined comedy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . the imitation of the baser sort of people , not in all kinds of villany , but in the ridiculous part , which is one sort of turpitude . the action of comedy must be suited to the actors , who are the baser sort of people , and consequently can't be of any great importance either in its nature or effects , and therefore can afford no extraordinary moral . by the baser sort of people , persons of low extraction or fortune are not heremeant , but persons who by their practices and conduct have expos'd themselves to scandal and contempt . from the nature therefore , and quality of the actors nothing great or generous can be expected from comedy . the duping of an old knave , the cullying of a coxcomb , the stealing of an heiress from a mercenary guardian , are the usual exploits of comedy ; wherein tho gentlemen are sometimes concerned , yet they are , or ought always to be such , as have some blemish , or other upon 'em , otherwise they are not fit for the business they are engag'd in . comedy seems to be designed to teach men civil prudence , and a convenient management in respect of one another , rather than any thing of morality ; and their private duty . there their misfortunes and disgraces are all the immediate result of their own folly and mismanagement , and may therefore very well cause men to reflect upon that want of wit and caution , which caused themselves or others to miscarry , and teach 'em to be more wary for the future ; but it wou'd hardly confer any grace , or mend their principles . the business of comedy being ridicule , those vices only fall under its correction , that are capable of being made ridiculous , and those only after such a manner as may raise scorn and contempt . for this reason comedy seems to be more naturally disposed for the cure of mens follies , than their vices , those running more naturally into ridicule than these , which are more apt to raise indignation and aversion , and are the proper instruments of tragedy . not but that vice too may sometimes be seasonably corrected in comedy , but then it must be join'd with , and wear the livery of folly , to help to make it ridiculous , and the object of scorn , rather than indignation . hence it will appear , what sort of persons are most proper to be employed in comedy , which dealing altogether in stratagem and intrigue , requires persons of trick and cunning on one hand , and easie credulous folks on the other , otherwise the plot will but go heavily forward . by this means all characters absolutely perfect are excluded the comick stage . for what has a man of pure integrity to do with intrigues of any kind ? he can't assist in the execution of any design of circumvention without forfeiting his character ; and to bring such a character upon the stage to be practic'd upon , is such an outrage to virtue , that the most licentious of our poets have not dar'd to venture upon it . i grant that 't is neither necessary , nor convenient , that all the characters in comedy shou'd be vicious , that were to abuse mankind , with a scandalous representation . but i maintain , that they ought all to have some failing or infirmity , to qualifie 'em for the business of the place . men of honour may be made use of to punish knaves , as knaves to cure fools , but their honour ought not to be too strait-laced , too squeamish and scrupulous . they must be persons of some liberty , that out of an over-niceness will not balk a well laid design , and spoil a project with too much honesty . men of hononr may be men of pleasure ; nay , and must be so too , or we do 'em wrong to make 'em appear in such company , as comedy must bring 'em into . what other natural occasion can be assigned for embroiling a gentleman of quality , with usurers , pimps , sharpers , jilts and bullies , but the extravagance of his pleasures ? which they may all serve in their several capacities . the usurer with his wife , his daughter , or his money ; the pimp in his intrigues ; the jilt , the sharper , and the bully in their respective offices may assist his revenges , and be useful engines in those designs , where 't is not proper for himself to appear . that no gentlemen but of this sort shou'd be brought upon the comick stage , i think , is so plain , as well from aristotle's definition , as from the nature and business of the place ; that he that disputes it forfeits all pretence to judgment in these matters . i mean no gentlemen of wit and sense , but such as these . for fools of what quality soever are the proper goods and chattels of the stage ; they are the wrecks of understanding , which poets , as lords of the mannor of wit from immemorial prescription , have an uncontested title to , and may dispose of , as they see fit . a true comick poet like a good droll painter , ought not to make his whole piece ridiculous , and consequently ought not to draw any face that is so regular , as not to have something amiss either in feature or complextion . to put a gentleman of sound sense and perfect morals into comedy , wou'd be as unnatural , as to draw cato dancing amongst the boors at a dutch wedding . it does not therefore follow , that none but rakes and scoundrels must pass for gentlemen in comedy . a gentleman of wit and honour may be judiciously introduced into it , but he must be a man of wild unreclaim'd honour , whose appetites are strong and irregular enough , to hurry him beyond his discretion , and make him act against the conviction of his judgment on the return of his reason . such a character as this no more is unnatural , than to see a drunken gentleman frolicking with the mob , or kissing a link-boy . nothing is more frequent than to meet in our common conversation , and affairs of life , with gentlemen of this sort , who , tho they may be men of excellent parts , temper , and principles , yet in the heat of their blood , and pride of their fortunes , are apt to be byassed a little towards extravagance , and not to consult the severity of reason , or the exactness of justice on many occasions especially in matters relating to their pleasures . what therefore is so common and obvious in the world , can't be unnatural upon the stage , but by using it improperly . to put a gentleman upon the office of a villain or a scoundrel , or to make a man of sense a bubble or a cully in the conclusion , is an abuse to the character , and a trespass against the laws of the drama . if therefore the poet employs any of this character , he is obliged to give him success , notwithstanding the blemishes of his character . for , with all his faults , he is the best , as well as the most considerable person , that 't is lawful for him to make bold with . and if he is at last brought to a sense of his extravagance and errours , and a resolution of amendment , the poet has exerted his authority to the utmost extent of his commission ; and the laws of comedy exact no more . had mr collier known and consider'd sufficiently the nature of comedy , i am apt to think , that we had never seen his whole fourth chapter , which runs altogether upon this mistake , that no liberties are to be indulg'd in comedy , and that the principal characters ought to be in all respects exemplary , and without blemish . that this a mistake i hope is very plain from what has been already said . but because mr collier has taken the pains to back , and assert this erroneous opinion with a tedious harangue , and some seemingly plausible arguments , it may not be amiss to abstract one from t'other , and consider the latter distinctly , without amusing our selves about his pompous expressions , and formal rhetorick . the whole summ of mr collier's long extravagant charge against the english poets , especially the present comick poets , against whom this chapter seems to be particularly levelled , may be reduced to these two heads . 1st . that by making their protagonists , or chief persons licentious or debauched they encourage vice , and irreligion , and discourage virtue . 2dly . that the rich citizens are often represented as misers and cuckolds ; and the universities as schools of pedantry ; and thereby learning , industry and frugality ridiculed . mr collier , whose business all thro his book is invective , not argument , lays himself forth with all the pomp of formal eloquence , and vehemence of expression , that he is able , to aggravate the crime , and amplifie the guilt of the poets not to prove it . he is more sollicitous to possess his reader , than convince him , and for that reason le ts slip the circumstance of proof as not very material , because he found it wou'd tye him up to strict argument , and close reasoinng , which is not for his purpose , and insists upon the general charge of debauchery and impiety ; which allowing him all the liberties of declamation and harangue , give him ample field-room to publish , and display his parts , and his malice together ; which he does most egregigiously , and flourishes most triumphantly . never did learned recorder insult poor culprit in more formidable oratory , than he does the poets . 't is true , he offers several instances in confirmation of his assertion , which he draws from divers of our english comedies , which , with the untoward gloss he puts upon 'em , seem to favour his malicious purpose . these i shall consider in their proper places , as far as is absolutely requisite to our purpose , and leave the farther justification of 'em to the gentlemen more immediately concerned , who i suppose will not be wanting to their own necessary defence . we shall therefore proceed to the examination of the main branch of his accusation , contained in the first article , which is the neglect of poetick iustice , the encouraging of vice with success , and the discouraging of virtue . the whole weight of this objection turns upon this hinge , that the protagonists , or chief persons in comedy are generally vicious and successful , which he pretends to be against the law of comedy , which is to reward virtue and punish vice. this objection , as he observes , was started by mr dryden against himself in his preface to his mock-astrologer . but he objects against the answer , which mr dryden there makes to it . that he knows no such law constantly observed in comedy , either by the antients or moderns . this mr collier calls a lame defence , and i agree with him , tho we go upon different grounds . for i think mr dryden has clogg'd his answer with an unnecessary restriction , and by the over modesty of it weakned the sufficiency of it . i grant , that the neglect , or contempt of a law , does by no means destroy the authority of it . but i shall carry it something farther , and say that no such law ever was at all observ'd , or so much as prescrib'd to comedy . nor do i herein trust to the strength of my own memory , or presume upon the extraordinary reach and extent of my enquiries . but i draw this conclusion from the nature of comedy itself , which will admit of no such rule in the latitude mr dryden proposes , and mr collier maintains it . comedy , which deals altogether in ridicule , can take no cognizance of , and give no correction to those vices and immoralities which it cannot expose on that side . for this reason , the sallies of youth , and the licentiousness of men of sense and fortune , uniess they be such as bring their understandings into question , and make 'em ridiculous , how ever unjustifiable , immortal , and offensive they may be to sober people , escape the censure of comedy , because they can't be tried in her way . this consideration it was , that induc'd terence and plautus to indulge their young men so far as they did , and afford so many instance of favour to vicious young people , as mr collier allows they did . he is mistaken , when he fancies , that because those poets had a greater compass of liberty in their religion , and that debauchery did not lie under those discouragements of penalty and scandal with them , as it does with us ; therefore their poets indulg'd themselves in those liberties , which otherwise they durst not have taken . plautus and terence , especially the latter , were nice observers of mankind , and greater masters of their own art , than to take an improper liberty , only because 't was not dangerous . but their religion , false as it was , and the laws of their country , which were very severe at rome in this case , requir'd strict morality , and regularity of life . if therefore they had suspected , that these indulgences had tended any ways to the debauching of their youth , and the corrupting of their manners , they durst not have ventur'd 'em into publick view . nor wou'd their magistrates , to whose censure they were particularly submitted , have suffer'd examples of such ill consequence to have been produc'd openly . besides , cato , whose virtue was as sowre and austere , and perhaps as great as mr collier's , was a great encourager of 'em , which 't is non probahe wou'd have been , had he smelt any such dangerous plot in ' em . so that the authority of these precedents may stand , and be of service , notwithstanding the wide difference betwixt heathenism , and christianity , and mr collier's opinion to the contrary . but plautus and terence have taken no such unjustifiable liberties , as he imagines . they have copyed faithfully from nature , and their draughts come incomparably near the life . no outrage is done to the original , by enlarging or contracting the features , in order to entertain the audience with monsters of dwarfs , but humane life is depicted in its true and just proportion . if therefore the images , which their plays reflect , displease any froward cynic , the fault is in the face , not the glass which gives a true representation ; and he quarrels with providence , whose creature mankind is , if he dislikes the fight . any liberties therefore , which these poets have taken , wherein nature is not wrong'd , descend undoubtedly to all those that succeed 'em upon the comick stage , who have a right to all the priviledges of their predecessors upon the same terms . but plautus and terence made their young fellows , as nature frequently does , wild and extravagant ; at which mr collier is scandaliz'd , and appeals from their judgment to horace , who ( he says ) was as good a judge of the stage , as either of those comedians , yet seems to be of another opinion . let us see how far the precept of horace for the drawing of youth in general differs from the practice of those comedians . horace tells us , that the young squire , as soon as he has shaken off the yoak of a tutor , is for dogs and horses , ( and whores too , as appears by the sequel of his character ) that he is cereus in vitium flecti , monitoribus asper vtilium tardus provisor , prodigus aeris , sublimis , cupidusque , & amata relinquere pernix . prone to vice , impatient of reproof , careless of things necessary , prodigal , proud , eager , and inconstant in his desires . this is not a bare character , a simple description of the humours of young people ; but 't is a precept , a rule for artists to draw 'em by . and therefore ought to include nothing contingent , or unnecessary ; but every thing contain'd in it ought to be the inseparable adjunct of the species , such as a true idea of the generality cannot be given without , tho perhaps some individuals may be met with , that want it . upon this rule let mr collier arraign these authors if he can . for tho they wrote before horace , and consequently can't plead his precept in their defence , yet the observation of nature was common to them with him , and the reason of the rule as well known to ' em . i suppose therefore , if horace be made their judge in this case , they must be acquitted , otherwise he will condemn himself . but mr collier tells you , that horace condemns the obscenities of plautus , and tells you that men of fortune and quality , in his time , wou'd not endure immodest satire . this i believe is a discovery of mr collier ' s own , for i don't find any such accusation in horace ; he tells us , that he did by no means admire the versification and raillery of plautus , as their ancestors had injudiciously done , that his numbers were not true , nor his wit gentile . an nostri proavi plautinos , & numeros , & laudavere sales ; nimium patienter utrumque , ( ne dicam stultè ) mirati : si modo ego , & vos scimus inurbanum , lepido seponere dicto , legitimumque sonum digitis callemus , & arte . here he excepts against the numbers , and raillery of plautus , and arraigns the taste , and judgment of their ancestors , that approved ' em . but i don't find that he lays immodesty , or obscenity to his charge . but this seems to be a strain in emulation of his famous predecessor mr prynne , whose arguments and way of reasoning mr collier inherits as well as quarrel , with a double portion of his spirit . mr prynne was offended at the appearance of actresses upon the stage , and in the fervour of his zeal finds it forbidden in scripture ; because , says he , st paul expressly prohibits women from speaking publickly in the church . mr collier in a fit of criticism something like this , takes occasion from this passage of horace , to shew how apt a scholar he is ; and not to be behind hand with mr prynne , for a reason , has recourse to his usual method of construction , ( in which we have already seen he has a singular dexterity ) and converts horace's charge of inharmonious verse and clownish jests , to obscenity and immodest satyr . to cover this piece of legerdemain , he confounds this passage with another as little to his purpose . horace from talking of tragedy proceeds to lay down some maxims for the better regulation of the satyrae , then in use upon the roman stage . these satyrae were a sort of interludes introduced betwixt the acts in tragedy to refresh , and divert the audience . the persons represented were the satyri or fauni , or train of bacchus or pan ; persons supposed to be of very loose and virulent tongues , and rustick behaviour . and accordingly the matter of these poems was generally scandal , and clownish raillery , in which to gain the applause of the mob , they often took such sawcy liberties in point of scandal and undecency , that they people of better quality were offended at ' em . and horace assures us , that the quality and mob cou'd never agree in their verdict about ' em . sylvis deducti caveant ( me judice ) fauni , ne , velut innati triviis , ac pene forenses , aut nimium teneris juvenenter versibus unquam , aut immunda crepent , ignominiosaque dicta offenduntur enim , quibus est equus , & pater , & res : nec , siquid fricti ciceris probat , & nucis emptor , aequis accipiunt animis , donantve corona . but what 's all this to plautus and comedy , who never had any dealings with these satyrae . after this notable exploit , he launches out into the wide sea of poetry , and flourishes with the character that horace gives of the first poets , orpheus , amphion , &c , whom he celebrates as the civilizers of mankind ; but as that affords little matter either of honour or reproach to these , that came so long after them , when the muses , tho they might have kept their virtue , yet had lost very much of their power , and instead of commanding the passions of their auditors , were forced on many occasions to comply with and submit to their whimsies , and humour their capri●ious appetites : it will be impertinent ( whatever licence mr collier may assume ) to insist any longer upon a case no way paralell . for this character , which horace bestows upon those poets , was intended as a complement of poetry in general , but not to reflect any honour upon the drama in particular , ( much less comedy , the more recent branch of it ) which was not invented till long after the time of orpheus and amphion . his next use that he makes of the authority of horace , he draws from his instructions about the office of the chorus . the chorus ( horace tells us after aristotle ) ought to bear the part of an actor , and take care to say nothing incoherent , or incongruous to the main design , but to make his song of a piece with the whole . from hence ( mr collier infers that ) 't is plain , that horace wou'd have no immoral character have either countenance or good fortune upon the stage . but here he foresees an objection , that the chorus was left off in comedy before horace's time , and that these directions must needs therefore be intended for tragedy . to which he answers , that the consequence is not good . for the use of the chorus is not inconsistent with comedy . the antient comedians had it . aristophanes is an instance . i know 't is said the chorus was left out , in that which they call new comedy . had mr collier consider'd who 't was that said this , he ought to have acquiesc'd in his authority ; but since he is so unwilling to confess , he must be convicted , and therefore we shall endeavour to prove the validity of the consequence upon him . i shall trouble the reader with the depositions of but one evidence , but he shall be , like conscience in this case , mille testes . horace tells us , that the old comedy grew so intolerably abusive and scandalous , that a law was made to curb it , and that from that time the chorus was silenc'd . successit vetus his comaedia , nonsine multâ laude , sed in vitium libertas excidit , & vim dignam lege regi . lex est accepta , chorusque turpiter obticuit , sublato jure nocendi . this testimony of horace is full against mr collier , and a plain argument that he never intended his directions for a chorus for the use of comedy . the chorus in the old comedy had the greatest freedom of speech , and took the boldest liberties of any part of the play , and consequently gave the greatest offence , and stood most in need of correction . and horace seems to insinuate , that the chorus was not only scandalously offensive , but that it was expressly filenc'd by law , when he says , — lex est accepta , chorusque turpiter obticuit , sublato jure nocendi . as if the whole business of the chorus in comedy had been scandal , and the law levell'd against the chorus only . the event justifies this exposition ; for after the publication of the laws against the liberty of scandal , which was grown so rampant in the old comedy , the chorus vanish'd and appear'd no more upon the athenian stage in comedy , that we know of . this mr collier denies , and fortifies himself and his assertion with matter of fact. for aristophanes his plutus is new comedy with a chorus in 't . in this assertion there are two mistakes , which being critical ones , i don't much wonder at , because they contribute towards making the book uniform , and preserve the integrity of the piece . yet he building with so much assurance upon 'em , 't will be but charity to let him see , that his foundation is too weak to support the weight of the superstructure he has laid upon it . the first of these is , that the plutus of aristphanes is not new comedy . 2dly . that in the plutus , there is no chorus . the learned ( whom i suppose mr collier means by they ) divided the greek comedy into the three classes , the old , the middle , and the new ; not to mention that the old comedy it self is subdivided into two ages ; the latter of which commences with cratinus , who first distinguisht the parts , disposed the acts , and fixt the number of actors ; and comprehends eupolis , aristophaenes , and the rest of the comick poets till the conclusion of the popular authority , and the beginning of the oligarehy , from which time to the time of alexander , that which is now called the middle comedy flourished , till menander , and the poets of his time , philemon , diphilus , apollodorus , and others , quite altered the face of the comick stage , and introduc'd that which is now call'd the new comedy . by this divifion , which is both just , and accurate , the plutus falls to the share of the old comedy ; to which , notwithstanding the deviations therein from the former practice of aristophanes , it does most properly belong . but if mr collier will have the plutus of aristophanes to be the first step towards the reformation of comedy at athens , i shall not much dispute the matter with him . because he has in that abridged himself of much of that liberty , which he has used in his former plays . but granting even this , aristophanes can at most but lead up the van of the middle comedy ; and is very far distanc'd by the new. for tho aristophanes has in some measure altered his conduct in his plutus , yet he retains absolutely the form and stamp of the old comedy , and retrenches only some offensive liberties . the fable of the old comedy was altogether chimerical , and the characters romantick and whimsical , neither of 'em drawn from the observation of nature , or the business of humane life , but pumpt out of the extravagance of the poets brain . the spirit of these entertainments consisted in the piquancy of the raillery and jests , and the boldness of the scandal , in which they took excessive liberties with particular persons , especially the chorus , and to which the success of 'em was wholy owing . cratinus is said to have been very bold , and to have taxed people freely by their names , without miucing the matter , ( i had almost said without fear or wit ) and charged them with all sorts of crimes , without respect to persons . eupolis was somewhat more discreet , couching real crimes and persons under sham names , and lashing his fellow citizens on the backs of feigned offenders . aristophanes was frequently no less plain than cratinus in respect to names , but his wit was of another sort , less sullen and chagrine . he turned all into jest , and bantered those things , which the others reprehended after a manner more serious and severe . menander and the new comedians formed their models after a very different manner . for having particularly scandal , which had given so much offence in the old comedy , they began to furnish themselves from observation and experience , rather than invention , and to employ their judgments more than their fancies . they raised the structure of their plays upon the foundations of nature , and made the intrigues of the world , and the common affairs of life the subjects of 'em , and the different orders of mankind . a hard father , a difficult master , a wild son , a crafty servant , an impudent pandar , a mercenary courtezan , and a captive virgin , were the most usual characters ; which being opposite to , and concerned with one another , set the plot naturally to work , and give occasion to set all the wheels of the machine a going . this may suffice to give us an idea of the difference between the old comedy and the new , and to convince us that the plutus of aristophanes , which deals altogether in unaccountable designs and surprizing events , and works by unnatural machines to a chimerical , romantick end , is not new comedy ; tho the poet contrary to his custom makes use of feigned names , and lays aside the chorus . for tho these innovations be here made in comedy , yet both the matter and the form ( wherein consisted the main difference between the old comedy and the new ) remaining still the same with the rest of his plays , it can by no means be admitted into the new , both matter and form of which were different , if not directly opposite to the former . for in the old comedy they proceeded from generals that were chimerical and false , to argue particulars that were real and true . in the new from particulars that were imaginary and false , they reprehended generals that were real . the old comick poets generally devised some extravagant and unnatural , or at least improbable tale , into which they took occasion to thrust particular facts and persons that were real , and well known . the new made use of such intrigues and persons as were frequent and familiar amongst mankind , and thereby corrected the common faults , such as avarice , fraud , &c. but copyed neither the actions , nor manners of individuals ; and so reflected not particularly upon any one. the first resembled a limner , that cou'd copy the features of a face , but cou'd only draw individuals like , ye cou'd not design ; the latter a true historical painter , that aim'd rather at expressing the manners , and passions of mankind than the countenances . in whose pieces you shou'd not amongst a thousand meet one face , that you distinctly knew , yet none but what were natural and significant , and such as you must acknowledge you saw every day . the difference therefore betwixt the old comedy and the new is as great and evident , as betwixt the paintings of raphael vrbin , or michael angelo , and those of sir anthony vandike , or sir peter lely . i shall not therefore insist upon those lesser differences of phrase and metre , those already given , being sufficient to inform a very indifferent judge . however , as aristophanes has in this play varied his conduct in some things from the practice of the rest of the old comedians , and of himself in his former pieces , he seems to challenge the first place in the middle comedy , which the learned have found it necessary to distinguish both from the old and the new. because several alterations were made in comedy , of which perhaps the omission of the chorus was none of the least considerable , yet neither the model or design were totally changed till the time of menander , and his cotemporaries . mr collier's second mistake in relation to the plutus of aristophanes is , that it has a chorus in 't . if he means that there is a part in this play , which is sustained by a person or persons under the name of chorus , matter of fact is directly for him : but if he thinks that there is any such thing as a true chorus in it , it is as plain against him . this matter will easily be decided , if we consider the nature , and office of a chorus in the old comedy . the chorus in comedy , was a person consisting of divers , either men or women , or both , and assisted in two capacities . one as an actor , or party concern'd to promote and carry on the main design , and help forward the action of the play , which is common to the chorus with the other actors , and does not distinguish it from ' em . the other , as the poet 's representative , to make the parabases , or transitions from the actors , ( with whom only as an actor the chorus is concern'd ) to the gods , or to the audience . to the gods , to invoke their aid , or celebrate their praises , as the occasion suggested . to the audience , to inform 'em of what was suppos'd to pass extra scenam behind the scenes , to make the action of the play entire , or to make reflections on what pass'd upon the stage for the instruction of the audience , and to tax the evil practices of such citizens , as were obnoxious to the poet , and the publick . this was the part by which it at least gave offence , by the disorderly liberties which it took ; and sometimes to acquaint the audience with the poet's hopes and fears , his acknowledgments and complaints , which last part of the business of the chorus is answer'd by the prologue among the romans . i shall not trouble the reader with the grammatical division of the parts of the chorus , ( viz. ) ode , antode , strophe , and antistrophe , &c. which signify nothing to the point before us . but i shall desire the reader to take notice that in the plutus of aristophanes , this part which alone constitutes the office , and business of a chorus , and which only distinguishes it from a common actor is entirely omitted . the chorus in this play appears but as an ordinary actor , and addresses itself to the other actors only , comes on , and goes off without once singing or speaking apart from the rest . the chorus therefore , as it is called , in this play might more properly have been personated by a single man , and called by any other name , since it performs nothing of the office . the observation of this defect of the essential part of the chorus , made the learned * julius scaliger think , that this play had been castrated , and that the chorus ( which he confesses to be wanting ) was not omitted , but taken away since the writing of it . but whether it were , as scaliger suspects , taken out after it was finish'd , or omitted in the writing , is not very material ; 't is plain we have it not , and 't is very probable that 't was the author's own fear of offending , that depriv'd us of it ; the want of which caution in his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cost cratinus his life . for had the chorus of the plutus ever been made publick , i see no reason why that , as well as the rest of his chori , should not have been transmitted to us . i would advise mr collier in the next greek play he cites , to read farther than the list of the persons of the drama . for 't is apparently negligence , that has led him into this errour , and made him think , that because he found a chorus there , it must needs be in the play , which he would not have allow'd to be a legitimate chorus , had he read the play , and known the business of a chorus . 't is yet in his election which excuse shall stand for him . mr collier's instances therefore signifies nothing to his argument , because it does not prove a chorus consistent with the new comedy . 1st , because the plutus in which he instances is not new comedy . 2dly , because ( tho it were new comedy ) it has no chorus . so that , i suppose , we may lay the authority of aristophanes aside in this case . we shall not trouble the reader with a particular of the fables of aristophanes , which are so extravagantly romantick , that 't is impossible they should be edifying . and therefore i suppose mr collier will not play the morality of the greek comedy upon us from that quarter . but he proceeds to prove the continuance of the chorus in comedy by an oblique inference from aristotle , who lived after this revolution of the stage , ( yet ) mentions nothing of the omission of the chorus . but in mr collier ' s opinion , rather supposes the continuance of it , by saying the chorus was added by the government long after the invention of comedy . here the silence of aristotle concerning the omission of the chorus in comedy , is made an argument of the continuance of it ; and by an odd sort of sophistry , he concludes , that because he has taken notice of the first institution of it , he must needs do the same for the disuse of it , had he been acquainted with it . by the same way of arguing he might have prov'd , that aristophanes was the the last of the comic poets before aristotle , because he has made no mention of any that succeeded him ; and yet we are sufficiently inform'd , that there were divers between aristotle and aristophanes . but if at this distance we must needs be conjecturing at reasons , for that which pass'd so long ago , a much more natural account may be given of this silence , than that which mr collier strains so hard for . aristotle was a man of extraordinary capacity and judgment , and did not talk so impertinently as mr collier supposes he would have done , if he had had opportunity . aristotle , in this treatise of tragedy , gives a very brief account of the rise and progress of the drama , and as his subject obliged him , tells us , that the two branches , tragedy and comedy , arose both from the same spring , viz. the hymns to bacchus , the former from the dithyrambi , which contain'd his praises and exploits , the latter from the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , * a sort of obscene songs compos'd of the same deity , which in conformity to the law were still continued his time in the villages . in the next chapter he proceeds to the definition of comedy , in order to illustrate the difference betwixt that and tragedy ; and then informs us , that the first steps towards the reducing comedy to form and order , were made in the dark , and the marks of 'em too far obliterated to be trac'd backwards , through publick neglect , that 't was long e're it came to be acted at the expence of the publick . for that 's the meaning in this place , of the magistrates giving the chorus , that is paying the actors . for he immediately subjoyns , that all before that time were volunteers in this service , that is , acted gratis . in this account of the growth of comedy , aristotle according to his usual method , is very concise , and does not make one step out of his way to gratifie any curiosity , which he foresaw that some of his readers might have . but mr collier , who reasons after a manner very different from the philosopher , wou'd lead him a wild goose chase quite out of his road , to tell when the chorus in comedy was silenc'd , tho 't was nothing to his purpose , and a long way from his text ; or force him to confess against his conscience that he knows nothing of the matter . but aristotle , who was a better judge than mr collier of what was proper and necessary to his subject , reserves this point to another occasion , and in the preceding chapter reprimands the unseasonable curiosity and impatience of those , that require decisions out of time and order . which had mr collier carefully read , this argument probably had been suppress'd . however , to oblige him with a little scratching where it itches , i must desire him to take notice , that at that time aristotle had actually written , or design'd at least to write another book concerning comedy in particular , and therefore prudently forbore to use those materials here , which he knew wou'd be more serviceable in another place . this book has been long lost , and therefore there lies no appeal to it on this occasion . yet because he has such a mind to make aristophanes the father of the new comedy , we 'll stretch a point farther than we are bound by the laws of polemicks ; and to shew that we are fair adversaries , point him out a play , that may perhaps serve his turn somewhat better than the plutus . the cocalus , one of the last plays of aristophanes , which is lost , is said by some learned men to have been the model , which menander copyed exactly , and took his design of the new comedy from . if this be true , aristophanes may in some sense claim the new comedy as his issue . but then mr collier must not say a word more of the chorus . for 't is certain that menander used none , and very probable , that the cocalus had none neither , if that were his model . by this it may appear , that whether a chorus be consistent with new comedy or not , it was not used in it by the antients . nor was it indeed fit to be used according to the liberties of aristophanes . and we may conclude from the practice of all ages and nations ever since , that they thought those freedoms essential to the chorus of comedy , when they chose rather to lay it wholly aside than to reform it . if moliere has , after two thousand years discontinuance , ventur'd to bring a chorus again upon the comick stage , i don't find that his performances of that kind have any extraordinary effect , or that they stir up many imitators to follow his example . moliere was arrived at the second infancy of his poetry , and might want these helps to keep his plays upon their legs , which by the first comick poets were made use of to teach theirs to go upright . his more vigorous productions scorn'd those crutches , which the issue of his old age , that brings the infirmities of its parent along with it into the world , is forc'd to have recourse to for its support . but to what end wou'd mr collier introduce the chorus into the english comedy ? we have no hymns , no anthems to be sung upon the stage ; nor no music , or dancing , but what it as well or better perform'd by the ordinary method now in use , than it could be by a chorus . the main business of a chorus is cut off by our religion , and the rest render'd useless and unnecessary , by the method and disposition of our comedies . something like it we have still in use , tho not in our theatres , yet at our puppet shews ; where chorus stands before the scenes , and explains to the spectators what they see , and informs 'em what shall happen afterwards , makes his wise reflections on what is past , and sometimes enters into dialogue with his little actors , as a party concern'd , and talks to the purpose like one of them . this is exactly the office of a chorus , and therefore i don't see why the fellow that discharges it mayn't wear the title ; except it be , that the authors of that sort of drama , are generally too illiterate to know from whence they originally fetcht their precedent . here is nothing of the duty of a chorus omitted , except the singing , dancing , and idolatrous part , which , as we have already observ'd , are all either better supply'd otherwise , or absolutely inconsistent with our religion and stage . mr collier indeed seems to assign the chorus another office. he wou'd have it to be a sort of monitor , or chaplain to the play , to preach to the audience , and correct the disorders of the stage . this is a new function , for which i doubt he can produce no warrant from aristophanes , or precedent from moliere . 't is an office of his own creating , and therefore he wou'd do well to execute it a while himself , to instruct the players , and teach 'em the knack of preaching , in which they are yet unexercis'd . but all this torrent of misreasoning and false rhetorick flows from one spring , one original error has branch'd itself out thus amply . mr collier knows , that the business of comedy is to instruct by example ; and he mistakenly imagines , that these ought to be examples for imitation . whereas , if he considers the nature of comedy , he will find just the reverse of this fancy to be true . for , as we have already taken notice , it can employ no perfectly upright characters , and consequently can afford no examples , but for caution . nor is comedy therefore to be thought imperfect , any more than the law , which makes no other provision for the encouragement of virtue and good actions , than by punishing vice and villany . what mr collier objects in this case is groundless , that the poets , by dressing up an imperfect , or debauch'd character , with the embellishments of wit and sense , and other good qualities , and crowning it with success at last , pave the way to licentiousness and debauchery . for , whether the poet brings such a character to a sol●mn resolution of reforming at last , or not , which yet they generally do , 't is evident , that the success which attends it , is not given to the licentiousness , but to the wit and sense , or other good qualities , which are predominant in the character . he therefore that can take success so bestow'd , and circumstantiated as it is usually in comedy , for an encouragement to debauchery must have a very deprav'd apprehension . but mr collier is implacably enrag'd at the poets , for mixing such beauties and such blemishes in one piece ; and is in a pannick fear , lest the beauty of the whole shou'd tempt folks to ape the deformities of it . this is as ridiculous an apprehension , as if any awkard fellow shou'd see a beau in all his glory with dirty shoes , and shou'd fancy that he made that splendid figure purely by virtue of the dirt upon his shoes , and resolve never to have his own clean'd again . a fine face , with a cast of the eyes , may move the beau's and the ladies to wish for such features , and such a complexion , yet it wou'd scarce win 'em to endeavour to squint like it . whatever mr collier may think , the understanding of our youth is not so very depress'd and low , but they can very readily distinguish between the obvious beauties , and defects of a character , and are not to be fool'd like dottrels into a vicious imitation . if a man shou'd know a pick-pocket that was an excellent accountant , or a forger of false notes that was an incomparable writing-master , it were very easie , and very commendable , for any one to imitate their good qualities , without receiving any taint or impression from their rogueries . however , mr collier observes abundance of licentiousness and impurity in the world , and is resolv'd to lay it all at the doors of the theatres . he sees up and down a great number of figures like those that are expos'd upon the stage , and he wisely concludes , that the models must needs be taken from thence , and that these men are but the players apes , which is directly contrary to the truth . for these are the originals , of which those upon the stage are but the copies , the images , which that , like a glass , reflects back upon 'em chorus , or non chorus , mr collier pushes still forward upon the mistaken , authority of horace ; and maintains that horace having expressly mentioned the beginning and progress of comedy , discovers himself more fully . he advises a poet to form his work upon the precepts of socrates and plato , and the models of moral philosophy . this was the way to preserve decency , and to assign a proper fate and behaviour to every character . now if horace wou'd have his poet govern'd by the maxims of morality , he must oblige him to sobriety of conduct , and a just destribution of rewards and punishments . to try the validity of this argument , we must have recourse to the original , which will shew us some misapplication , and some mistake of horace's meaning in this short paragraph . mr collier links this advice of horace immediately to his account of the rise and progress of comedy ; and that he may appropriate it solely to comedy , skips over a transition of twenty lines , by which the poet artificially passes from the particular of comedy to poetry in general ; and takes occasion to say , that a good poet ought to be a wise man , and acquainted with the writings of the philosophers . for socrates appears in this place as the representative of the whole body of moral philosophers , and not for himself and plato only , as mr collier imagines . scribendi recte sapere est principium & ●ons . rem tibi socraticae poterunt ostendere chartae . the reason of this he immediately subjoyns , which will also make the application for us . for , says he , the man that knows what is due to his country , and his friends , his obligations to parents and kindred , the laws of hospitality , and the duty of a senator , a judge , and a general , knows enough to enable him to do justice to every character . qui didicit patriae quid debeat , & quid amicis : quo sit amore parens , quo frater amandus & hospes , quod sit conscripti , quod iudicis officium , quae partes in bellum missi ducis : ille profecto reddere personae scit convenientia cuique . this list of qualifications seems prepar'd only for tragick and epick poetry . comedy , which concerns none but the lesser intrigues of mankind , and the private affairs of particular families , or persons , has no dealings with the publick , or its magistrates ; and therefore does not seem to be comprehended in the aim of these directions . yet , if mr collier will have it included , he ought to have shewn how far it was affected in particular upon a fair exposition . but that method wou'd not serve his turn . for horace in this passage , does not advise the study of morality , but politicks , which could best satisfy demands of this nature . he did not expect that the poets shou'd tye their characters up to severe duty , and make every one act up to the strict rules of morality , and be guided by the dictates of right reason and justice , or otherwise to punish 'em always in proportion to the deviations they made from 'em , as mr collier insinuates . all that he requir'd was , that a poet shou'd know how it became the several orders of men to behave themselves in civil societies , according to their respective ranks , degrees , and qualities ; that they might thereby be qualify'd to give distinct images of every kind , whether good or bad , without mixing of characters , or confounding ideas . rectum est index sui , & obliqui , was his rule in this case , and 't is a true one , a right notion of things will certainly discover a false one . for this he advis'd his poet , to consult the philosophers , and to dive into the political reasons of these matters , without which their view of 'em wou'd be but superficial and confus'd . yet after all he gave him very large priviledges , and extended his charter , as far as the observation of humane nature , he allow'd him the liberty of saying any thing that providence laid before him , provided he kept close to the original . to this end he bids him look upon the examples that men set him in their lives and manners , and thence learn to draw true pictures of mankind . respicere exemplar vitae , morumque jubebo . doctum imitatorem , & veras hinc ducere voces . the mores , or manners here mentioned by horace , are the poetical , not moral , the distinction betwixt which mr collier very well knows , as appears by his making use of it , when 't is for his turn , tho he wilfully over-looks it in many other places , where the notice of it would be more natural , but less for his malicious purpose . however , since he has given a sort of definition , tho an imperfect one , of poetical manners , i shall give it the reader in his own words . and because 't is the only statute law of parnassus , by which the poets can fairly be tried for any misdemeanour , either of character or expression , i shall supply the defects or mr collier's report of it from aristotle , who is more full and clear . manners , in the language of poetry , is a propriety of actions and persons . to succeed in this business there must be a regard had to age , sex , and condition : and nothing put into the mouths of persons , which disagrees with any of these circumstances . 't is not enough to say a witty thing , unless it be spoken by a likely person , and upon a proper occasion . in this account i observe many things deficient , something equivocal , which i shall first take notice of , and then proceed to supply the defects . the three things , mr collier recommends to a poet 's , or reader 's careful observation , and regard , are age , sex , and condition . of these , the first and the last , age and condition , are equivocal terms . the author has not taken care to explain , whether he means by age , the age of a person , or the age of the world , which he is suppos'd to live in . for to both these great regard is to be had , because they difference the characters equally . a noble roman of four and twenty in the first ages of the commonwealth , was no more like one of the same age under the emperors , in humour and inclinations , than either of 'em was like his grandfather of fourscore . as great , or greater is the ambiguity of the word condition , whereby he has not signify'd whether he means condition , as to estate , quality , vnderstanding , or circumstances , as to the action of the play , at the juncture when the person does or says any thing . yet these have all an equal share in the propriety both of words and actions , and ought to be consider'd , otherwise the manners can never be preserv'd in their propriety and integrity . but by supplying the defects of this account , we shall remedy the danger of mistakes from the equivocal expressions contained in it . aristotle requires four conditions to the perfection of poetick manners . 1st , that they be good . by the goodness of manners the philosopher does not here understand any moral goodness ; for he declares in this very article , that he means only * that they should be expressive of the character , and carry both in words and actions , the distinguishing marks of the humour and inclinations of the person , whether they be morally good or bad. so that if the humour or natural inclinations of the persons be sufficiently markt in the words and actions , the manners are good , according to aristotle , let 'em be never so vicious . horace understands manners the same way , when he tells us , that sometimes plays of little elegance , without ornament , or art , yet wherein the manners were well express'd , took better than others , wherein they were neglected for tinsel and bombast . interdum speciosa locis , morataque recte fabula , nullius veneris sine pondere & arte valdius oblectat populum , meliusque moratur , quam versus inopes rerum , nugaeque canorae . 2 dly , * that they be proper . wherein this propriety consists aristotle has not told us , except in one negative instance , that courage is a quality improper , or unbecoming a woman . mr collier's account of poetical manners above-cited , relates to this particular condition only , yet is both defective and equivocal in that . horace has been very full upon this , and takes care to describe at large the different humours of man in the several stages of his life . the same he does to the several orders and degrees of men , according to their respective capacities , either natural or political , and gives the poets a great charge not to confound ' em . to repeat his words upon this occasion wou'd be tedious , upon the score of length . however , i shall endeavour to give the reader as good an idea of this poetical propriety , as the narrow compass i am oblig'd to will permit . the propriety of manners consists in an exact conformity both of words and actions to the supposed age both of the person and the world , to the humour , fortune , quality , understanding , and present condition , as to the business of the play , of the person acting or speaking . horace as well as aristotle , has express'd all this in one word , convenientia , both which i have render'd proper . this place does not afford me room for instances for each particular , and therefore i shall desire the reader 's patience , till the subject calls for 'em in their proper places . 3 dly , that they be like . this condition relates only to characters taken from histories , or poetical traditions very well known . when the poet makes use of names , or stories with which the audience is well acquainted , he must be sure to make 'em conform to the receiv'd opinion . otherwise the audience , who will not endure to have their own notions contradicted , will never acknowledge 'em to be the persons they wou'd be taken for . for this reason horace bids his poet , follow common fame , famam sequere . and if he meddled with known names , to keep to the known characters , and accounts of ' em . — honoratum si forte reponis achillem : impiger , iracundus , inexorabilis , acer : iura neget sibi nata , nihil non arroget armis . sit medea ferox , invictaque flebilis ino , perfidus ixion , io vaga , tristis orestes . the likeness here design'd , is not a natural , but a historical likeness . however monstrous a character were , if it was form'd upon , and adjusted to common fame , the poet was justify'd . 4 thly , that they should be equal . here likewise aristotle puts in his caveat , lest any one by equality of manners shou'd understand such a steadiness of temper and resolution , as would exclude from the stage the uncertainty of fickle humours , which he very well knew to be the case of a very great part of mankind . all that he requir'd was , that they should be all of a piece , that there might be no dismembring of characters , no repugnancy to themselves in any part of ' em . horace , his best interpreter , says , let the character be maintain'd , and let the person appear the same at his exit , that he did at his entrance , and be consistent with himself . — servetur ad imum qualis ab incepto processerit , & sibi cons●et . the philosopher did by no means intend to cut off so considerable a branch from the revenue of comedy as levity ; than which nothing deserves her correction more , nothing fits her purpose better . but he cautions the poets , whenever they make use of any of these unequal , or uncertain tempers , to represent 'em * equally , or alike unequal thro the whole piece ; and not to make 'em fickle and inconstant in one act , and resolv'd and steady in another . upon these rules we may proceed to try the characters , and expressions of our poets , either in conjunction with the antients , or separately by themselves . the characters and expressions have such a natural dependance upon one another , that they can't be examin'd apart , each being justifiable or condemnable upon the evidence of the other only . the character may offend two ways ; first , by being unnatural , and consequently monstrous ; 2 dly , by being inconsistent with itself , and not all of a piece . these faults , when committed , are likewise two ways discoverable , by the actions , and by the expressions , when any thing is done , or said unnatural , or improper , a fault is committed against character , which is thereby broken , and becomes double . the faults of expression are as various as the circumstances against which it may offend , which are already summ'd up under the head of propriety , which may again be every one subdivided into so many branches , that it would be endless to particularize the several ways of trespassing in this kind . i shall therefore content my self to take notice of 'em severally , as occasion shall present it self , and wave ▪ any further notice of those which shall not be found to my present purpose . mr collier might unquestionably have found our poets remiss enough in the observation of these rules , and consequently guilty of faults deserving his or any one's correction . but he chose rather to brand 'em with crimes of a blacker dye , tho with less justice and truth , and like an irish . evidence , by his forwardness to charge , and the monstrousness of his allegations , destroys the credit of his depositions . his charge against our stage for the mismanagement of their characters consists of three general heads . 1. misrepresentation of women . 2. abuse of the clergy . 3. rude treatment of the nobility . to all these i shall say something general , with regard to the argument , without entring into a discussion of the merits of those particular instances which he brings to back his assertions . not but i think many of 'em easily to be apologiz'd for , or rather to be justify'd ; but because it would spin out this discourse to an unreasonable length , and likewise because there are those whose abilities in this dispute are as much greater than mine , as their interest in it , to whom i leave it . the poets ( says mr collier ) make women speak smuttily . they bring 'em under such misbehaviour , as is violence to their native modesty , and a misrepresention of their sex. for modesty , as mr rapin observes , is the character of women . they represent their single ladies , and persons of condition , under these disorders of liberty . this makes the irregularity still more monstrous , and a greater contradiction to nature and probability . here again , according to his usual method , mr collier mistakes his point , and runs away with a wrong scent ; however he opens , and cries it lustily away , that the musick may atone for the mistake , and draw all those that are not stanch in partners to his error . mr rapin observes that the character of women is modesty , and therefore mr collier thinks , that no woman must be shewn without it . aristotle has given courage or valour as the characteristick or mark of distinction proper to the other sex , which was a notion so antient , and so universally receiv'd , that most nations have given it a denomination from the sex , as if peculiar to it . the greeks call'd it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , we manhood . yet 't is no solecism in poetical manners to represent men sometimes upon the stage as cowards ; nor did any man ever think the whole sex affronted by it ; how near soever it might touch some individuals . if the poets set up these women of liberty for the representatives of their whole sex , or pretended to make them the standards to measure all the rest by , the sex wou'd have just reason to complain of so abusive a misrepresentation . but 't is just the contrary , the sex has no interest in the virtues or vices of any individual , either on the stage , or off of it ; they reflect no honour or disgrace on the collective body , any more than the neatness and good breeding of the court affect the nastiness and ill manners of billingsgate , or are affected by ' em . in plays the characters are neither vniversal nor general . marks so comprehensive are the impresses and signatures of nature , which are not to be corrected , or improv'd by us , and therefore not to be meddled with . besides , they give us no idea of the person characteriz'd , but what is common to the rest of the species , and do not sufficiently distinguish him . neither are they so singular , as to extend no farther than single individuals . characters of so narrow a compass wou'd be of very little use , or diversion . because they wou'd not appear natural , the originals being probably unknown to the greatest part , if not the whole audience ; nor cou'd any of the audience sind any thing to correct in themselves by seeing the infirmity peculiar to a particular man expos'd . this was indeed the method of the old greek comedy ; but then they pick'd out publick persons , whom they dress'd in fools coats and expos'd upon the stage , not in their own own shapes , but those of the poet's fancy ; an insolence , that never would ▪ have been endur'd in any , but a popular government , where the best of men are sometimes sacrificed to the humours and caprices of a giddy multitude . yet even by them it was at last suppressed . the characters therefore must neither be too general , nor too singular , one loses the distinction , the other makes it monstrous , we are too familiar with that to take notice of it , and too unacquainted with this to acknowledge it to be real . but betwixt these there is an almost ▪ infinite variety ; some natural and approaching to generals , as the several ages of the world , and of life , sexes and tempers ; some artificial , and more particular , as the vast varieties and shapes of villany , knavery , folly , affectation and humour , &c. all these are within the poet's royalty ▪ and he may summon 'em to attend him , whenever he has occasion for their service . yet tho these make up perhaps the greatest part of mankind , he is not fondly to imagine , that he has any authority over the whole , or to expect homage from any of 'em , as the publick representatives of their sex. yet even granting to the poets such an unlimited authority ( which i shall not do ) mr collier's argument falls to the ground nevertheless . for as in painting , so in poetry , 't is a maxim as true as common , that there are two sorts of resemblances , one handsome , t'other homely . now comedy , whose duty 't is not to flatter , like droll painting . gives the features true , tho the air be ridiculous . the sex has its characteristick blemishes as well as ornaments ; and those are to be copied , when a defective character is intended , as the others are for a perfect one . and yet , for the reasons already given , when the virtues or vices of any particular women are represented , the sex in general have no share either in the complimeut or the affront . because any particular instances to the contrary notwithstanding , the sex may be in the main either good or bad . so that mr collier's charge of misrepresenting the sex in general is groundless . but he pursues his argument to particulars , and takes notice , that even quality it self is not excepted from these mismanagements . if dignities conferr'd true merit , and titles took away all blemishes , the poets were certainly very much in the wrong to represent any person of quality with failings about her . but if birth or preferment be no sufficient guard to a weakly virtue or understanding . if title be no security against the usual humane infirmities ; i see no reason , why they mayn't as well appear together upon the lesser stage of the theatre , as upon the grand one of the world. but this will be more properly consider'd in another place . from these more general exceptions , he descends to particular expressions . which , that he may render the more inexcusable , he flies out into extravagant commendations of the antients upon the score of their modesty , and the cleanness of their expressions . in this employment he bestirs himself notably , and pretends not to leave one exceptionable passage unremarked . but either he has had a prodigious crop , or is a very ill husband ; for he leaves very large gleanings behind him . we shall make bold to walk over the same ground , and pick up some of his leavings , ( for all wou'd be too bulky to find room in this place ) and restore 'em to their owners , whether left by him out of negligence or design . one thing i must desire the reader to take notice of , which is , that i don't charge these passages as faults , or immoralities upon the antients , but only instance in 'em , to shew the partiality of mr collier , who violently wrests the words and sense of the moderns , only to make that monstrous and unsufferable in them , which he either excuses or defends in the others . nor do i here pretend to present the reader with a compleat collection of the kind . i assure him , that i shall leave untouch'd some hundreds of those instances which i have actually observ'd amongst the greek and latin dramatists , and only give him so many , as are indispensably necessary to shew how unjustly mr collier has drawn his parallel . for since both antients and moderns , as poets are submitted to , and ought to be govern'd by the same laws , 't is but reason , that one as well as t'other , shou'd be allow'd the benefit of ' em . shakespear's ophelia comes first under his lash , for not keeping her mouth clean under her distraction . he is so very nice , that her breath , which for so many years has stood the test of the most critical noses , smells rank to him . it may therefore be worth while to enquire , whether the fault lies in her mouth , or his nose . ophelia was a modest young virgin , beloved by humlet , and in love with him . her passion was approv'd , and directed by her father , and her pretensions to a match with hamlet , the heir apparent to the crown of denmark , encouraged , and supported by the countenance and assistance of the king and queen . a warrantable love , so naturally planted in so tender a breast , so carefully nursed , so artfully manured , and so strongly forced up , must needs take very deep root , and bear a very great head. love , even in the most difficult circumstances , is the passion naturally most predominant in young breasts but when it is encouraged and cherish'd by those of whom they stand in awe , it grows masterly and tyrannical , and will admit of no check . this was poor ophelia's case . hamlet had sworn , her father had approved , the king and queen consented to , nay , desired the consummation of her wishes . her hopes were full blown , when they were miserably blasted . hamlet by mistake kills her father , and runs mad ; or , which is all one to her , counterfeits madness so well , that she is cheated into a belief of the reality of it . here piety and love concur to make her affliction piercing , and to impress her sorrow more deep and lasting . to tear up two such passions violently by the roots , must needs make horrible convulsions in a mind so tender , and a sex so weak . these calamities distract her , and she talks incoherently ; at which mr collier is amaz'd , he is downright stupified , and thinks the woman's mad to run out of her wits . but tho she talks a little light-headed ▪ and seems to want sleep , i don't find she needed any cashew in her mouth to correct her breath . that 's a discovery of mr collier's , ( like some other of his ) who perhaps is of opinion , that the breath and the understanding have the same lodging , and must needs be vitiated together . however , shakespear has drown'd her at last , and mr collier is angry that he did it no sooner . he is for having execution done upon her seriously , and in sober sadness , without the excuse of madness for self-murther . to kill her is not sufficient with him , unless she be damn'd into the bargain . allowing the cause of her madness to be partie per pale , the death of her father , and the loss of her love , which is the utmost we can give to the latter , yet her passion is as innocent , and inoffensive in her distraction as before , tho not so reasonable and well govern'd . mr collier has not told us , what he grounds his hard censure upon , but we may guess , that if he be really so angry as he pretends , 't is at the mad song , which ophelia sings to the queen , which i shall venture to transcribe without fear of offending the modesty of the most chaste ear. to morrow is st valentine's day , all in the morn betimes , and i a maid at your window to be your valentine . then up he , he arose , and don'd his cloaths , and dupt the chamber door , let in a maid that out a maid never departed more . by gis , and by st charity : alack , and fie for shame ! young men will do 't , if they come to 't , by cock they are to blame . quoth she , before you tumbled me , you promis'd me to wed : so had i done , by yonder sun , and thou hadst not come to bed . 't is strange this stuff shou'd wamble so in mr collier's stomach , and put him into such an uproar . 't is silly indeed , but very harmless and inoffensive ; and 't is no great miracle , that a woman out of her wits shou'd talk nonsense , who at the soundest of her intellects had no extraordinary talent at speech-making . sure mr collier's concoctive faculty's extreamly deprav'd , that meer water-pap turns to such virulent corruption with him . but children and mad folks tell truth , they say , and he seems to discover thro her frenzy what she wou'd be at . she was troubled for the loss of a sweet-heart , and the breaking off her match , poor soul. not unlikely . yet this was no novelty in the days of our fore-fathers ; if he pleases to consult the records , he will find even in the days of sophocles , maids had an itching the same way , and longed to know , what was what , before they died . antigone , whom he has produc'd as an instance of the temperance , and decency of the ancients in this respect , may upon the parallel serve us as an example of the contrary . the distinguishing parts of this ladies character , are piety and resolution , and she makes both sufficiently appear , she buries her brother , tho she knew she must die for it . and when she receives her sentence from creon , which was immediately to be put in execution , she makes light of death , and insults the tyrant . but as she is led to execution , she is unexpectedly concerned about the toy her maidenhead ; 't is her great affliction , that she must go out of the world with that great burthen about her . upon this occasion she is very clamorous , and that it may be taken notice of as her main grievance , she repeats it divers times over , and chews the cud upon it liberally . — 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 — poor girl , she does not relish her sentence half so well as an epithalamium . she thinks a soft bed , and a warm bed-fellow more comfortable by abundance , than a cold grave . and who can blame her ? but matrimony runs strangely in her head . for a little after she 's at it again , complaining of her want of a husband , and is very sorry that she must cross the styx , and visit her parents with her maiden-head about her . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . and immediately after she 's at it again . — 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vnmarried is still the burthen of the song . nay , she is so full of it , that she can't forbear talking of a second husband , in case she were a widow . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . this thought of a second husband is such a refreshment to her , that she can't forbear dilating upon it . one wou'd think by the odd frolicksomeness of her complaints , and the whimsical comforts she finds out , that she was only going to dance bare-foot at a sisters vvedding . but within a few lines , she relapses again into her agonies of despair , and is more afraid of leading apes in hell , than e're a hopeless antiquated damsel within our bills of mortality . she is not so much concern'd at dying , but to go out of the world , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . and not to have one honey moon , not so much as a merey bout before she went , was a hardship she cou'd not bear with any temper . vve may find by this lady's complaint , that she was very desirous to dispose of her maiden-head ; but for any thing that appears from her complaint or behaviour , she was very indifferent to whom . 't was a burthen she long'd to be rid of , and seem'd not to care who eas'd her ; for she does not mention her contract with haemon , which she decently might , but laments her want of a husband in general terms , without giving the least hint of an honourable love for any particular person . these are extraordinary speculations for a dying person . however , mr collier admires the poets conduct in this case , and were he ordinary no doubt but we shou'd have these flowers transplanted in great plenty to the last speeches of his dying females . he thinks 't is out of pure regard to modesty and decency , that antigone takes no notice of haemon in her complaints . i shall not dispute , whether 't were the fashion in the days of sophocles or not ; but i am sure 't is accounted but an ill symptome of modesty in our age , when a young lady shews an impatience to be married , before she has made a settlement of her affection upon any individual man. however , antigone's carriage is not singular ; electra , another lady of much the same quality and character , ( tho not under those immediate apprehensions of death ) declares her self of the same opinion . she 's in great distress too for want of a husband , and complains very heavily upon that score . — 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . nor is euripides a whit more tender in this point . the royal polyxena , just before she was to be led away as a victim to the manes of achilles , harps upon the same string . it lies very heavy upon her spirits , that she must go out of the world in ignorance . — 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . this princess's complaint is yet more unreasonable than either of the former , and more unbecoming the modesty of her sex , and the greatness of her birth and courage , as 't is both before and afterwards shew . shewn as a captive , a part of the plunder of the sack'd city , one that besides her own unhappy destiny , which hung immediately over her head , had the ruin and miseries of her country and family fresh in view , to put all wanton thoughts out of her head . besides , she cou'd not expect to ascend the insolent conquerors bed any otherwise than as his vassal , the slave of his lust and pleasure , which , as it was below her to comply with , but upon force , so it must be a slavish baseness , as well as wantonness and incontinence , to desire it under her circumstances . it were easy to bring many instances more of this kind , but i think . it wou'd be tedious and unnecessary to multiply instances in a plain case . i think it likewise a labour altogether as superfluous to spend more words to shew the vast disproportion between the innocent extravagance of ophelia's frenzy , and the sober rants of antigone , electra , and polyxena . to suppose the reader cou'd over-look that , were to affront his understanding . but before i part with antigone , i shall beg leave to make one observation more . mr collier takes notice , that cassandra , in reporting the misfortunes of the greeks , stops at the adulteries of clytemnestra and aegiale . and gives this handsome reason for making a halt . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . foul things are best unsaid . from whence he observes , that some things are dangerous in report , as well as practice , and many times a disease in the description . this euripides was aware of , and manag'd accordingly , and was remarkably regular both in stile and manners . this was indeed an extraordinary piece of niceness in euripides , more i think by a great deal , than he was oblig'd to , and i am sure more than he has shewn upon other occasions . cassandra might have foretold the discovery of the adulteries of clytemnestra and aegiale , without any indecencies of language , or shocking the most tender ear , had the poet so pleas'd . sophoclcs , who was as good a judge and as careful an observer of decency as euripides , gives his antigone more liberty ; tho had he thought it indecent , he might with better reason have excus'd her . 1st , because what antigone says is no way necessary , being neither provok'd by any thing that preceeded , nor of use to the promoting of the action , or the information of the audience . 2dly , because she thereby revives the infamy of her parents , and refreshes the scandalous impressions , which her own incestuous birth must needs have made upon the audience to her disadvantage . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . if antigone might be thus free with her own family without breach of modesty , i can't see why cassandra shou'd be so tender of an enemy , whom she was just going to supplant in her bed ; and in the divulging of whose faults , as well as misfortunes , she might be allow'd to take some pleasure , as a sort of anticipation of the satisfaction , which she took in the revenge of the destruction of her family , which she foresaw was to come . but casandra lov'd doing better than talking . for in the speech foregoing to this , which mr collier commends so much for the modesty of it , casandra runs almost mad for joy , that agamemnon wou'd take her to his bed , and calls in an enthusiastick manner upon hymen , upon hecate , and apollo to grace the ceremony . she desires her mother , and the miserable phrygians about her to adorn themselves , be merry , and dance , and sing , as if her father were in the heighth of his prosperity . the chorus hereupon desires hecuba to curb her , and keep her from running voluntarily to the grecian camp. her mother accordingly reprimands her , and tells her she thought their calamities might have made her more modest , that tears better became their fortune , than nuptial songs or torches . — 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . this reproof has a strange operation upon casandra . for instead of reclaiming and reducing her to reason , it makes her ten times madder . she falls to cross purposes with her mother , and as if she had been pandress in the case , calls upon her to crown her victorious head , and wish her joy of her royal match . she bids her lead her , and if she does not make hast enough , she wou'd have her push violently on . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . is this the modest , the bashful casandra , so demure , that she can't name adultery , tho in an enemy , and yet so forward to act it , that no restraints of shame or misery can keep her within bounds . it may perhaps be objected in defence of casandra , that her joy and transport springs not from any pleasure or satisfaction , that she shou'd take in this match , but from the prospect she had of revenging the quarrel of her family , and the ruine and destruction which she foresaw shou'd thence come upon the house of atreus her mortal enemies . admit this to be true . yet casandra pushes her resentments too far , when she sacrifices her virtue and modesty to her revenge . had casandra been represented as a woman of a furious vindicative spirit , she might in a sudden fit of rage have rashly sacrificed all considerations to the violence of her present fury . but then if the character be virtuous in the main , such outrages are not offered to modesty , till after prodigious struggles , and racking convulsions of mind . passion must not triumph over reason and honour , but with vast labour and difficulty , and in those breasts only , where it is the ruling , uncontrollable power , and where the prospect of its success is great , and immediate , and is in women provoked as well by appetite as inclination . but this is none of casandra's case . she shared indeed amongst the rest the common fate , and became a slave , and a prey to the victors lust and avarice . this might naturally make her wish the utter confusion of the destroyers of her country and family ; but not at the expence of her fame and virtue . 't was all she had left to comfort her ; and as andromache in the same play cou'd inform her , of infinitely more worth , than the wretched remainder of a servile life . this therefore shou'd not have been parted with at any rate , much less upon a slender consideration . had she submitted to necessity only , and comply'd as a slave with reluctance to the desires of agamemnon , as andromache does to pyrrhus , she had saved hes modesty , and secured her revenge ev'ry whit as well . the disasters of agamemnon and his house , interpreted as a punishment of her's , and her family's wrongs , tho they were only prophetically fore-known by her , had given a sullen s●rt of comfort , and afforded a reason for her resignation of her self to the conquerors pleasure . but if the poet designed her for so implacable a character , as to take such great satisfaction in , and purchase at so dear a rate a prospect only of revenge at such a distance , by which she herself must be crushed , and all her friends either dead , or so dispersed as to have no interest in the accomplishment of it : he ought to have prepar'd the audience for so unaccountable an extravagance , by some notice of the violence of her temper , either by something from her own mouth or conduct previous to this , or from the mouth of some friend of her's , that might have abated the surprize of such a resolution . especially since he was resolved she shou'd appear no more by her future modest behaviour to qualify the scandal of this misdemeanour . this lady being set up by mr collier as the standard of modesty , i have examined her conduct the more at large ; and am very willing to leave it to the decision of the reader , whether casandra or ophelia wou'd best become the cloyster , or most needs the discipline of the nunnery in moorfields . we have seen how this lady can behave her self upon occasion . let us examine her mother , that corrected her wantonness so seasonably upon this occasion . she as older shou'd have more wit , and yet she forgets herself extreamly too sometimes . in the play that bears her name , hecuba comes to agamemnon , complains of the murther of her son polydorus by polymestor , and to move him to compassion begins a wanton discourse of the pleasures of love to him , tho she thinks at the same time , that 't is impertinent , yet she 's resolv'd it shall out . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . as an old woman she had the priviledge of tattling . but as a prudent woman , she ought to have handled her daughters disgrace a little more tenderly . the good old lady ne'r minces the matter , but outs with all roundly , and is concerned , that any thing shou'd abate of the satisfaction casandra might have in so good a bedfellow . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . this is plain dealing , but something below the dignity of the queen of asia , at the lowest ebb of her fortune . what follows is fit only for the mouth of a drunken midwife at a christening in wapping . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . after these remarkable instances of the regularity of euripides , both in stile and manners , i suppose our poets may venture to shew their faces in his company , without danger of putting him to the blush with their want of modesty . but the antients , it seems , had very little love or courtship in their plays . perhaps so . but they had lust and violence , which mr collier thinks more eligible . the fault of the modern lovers , it seems , is too much tenderness and fooling away their time in idle talk. the vigorous antients went more roundly to work , their's were like spanish intrigues , two words struck the bargain betwixt ' em . 't were easie to multiply instances of this nature from euripides , were that my design . but i love not to rake into the ashes of the dead for that which isn't worth finding . yet that the reader , if he has the curiosity , may have the satisfaction , i shall refer him to the places where they are to be found ; where he that has a mind to a more ample collection , may be abundantly furnished . hermione rails at andromache in terms very misbecoming her sex , quality , and years . andromache reproves her for it in terms yet less beseeming a sober matron , and casts a scandalous aspersion upon her whole sex. creusa makes a foul relation of her rape by apollo , and descends nauseously to particulars with her servant . ion her son civilly questions his mother , whether she had not play'd the whore with some base groom , and to cover her disgrace laid her bastard ( himself ) falsly to apollo's charge . electra's manners are much of the same size and complexion ; when she is urging her brother orestes to the murther of aegisthus ; she bids him ring in his ears the whoring of her mother , and tell him , that since he had a whore of her he must expect sharers in her , and be the cuckold of other men , as her father had been his . that he was notorious for her cully all the town over . this sort of stuff she lets run over without regard to decency , and rambles as wantonly thro the infamy of her family , as is if 't were only scandal pickt up at a gossipping , in which they had no particular concern . whoever consults these and divers passages , as well in sophocles as euripides , will find the most exceptionable passages in our poets , whether comick or tragick very excusable , upon a fair construction , let it be never so severe within the bounds of justice . seneca has received absolution , and is pronounced clear of the sin of uncleanness . yet with mr collier's leave , since he is introduced to vilify and depreciate the moderns , he is bound to confront 'em , and answer for his own conduct , before he takes upon him magisterially to censure and correct others . but since 't is not so much his act as mr collier's , who has ventured to be his godfather , and answer for him , a slight inquisition shall excuse him . we shall not require so severe a proof of his chastity as the ordeal tryal . it shall be sufficient for him to enter his protestation against what has been done in his name . in his hippolytus , phaedra is possessed with a scandalous , incestuous passion , and she indulges it at as loose , a scandalous rate . she enters first with her resolution , as strong as her desires . she is not concerned at the nature or consequences of so vile a passion , but at the difficulty of satisfying it . she appears at first sight full grown and confirm'd in wickedness , and instead of condemning and endeavouring to stifle so lewd , a licentious flame , she animates her self to the accomplishment of her design by a recrimination upon her husband , and rips up , amongst others , even those of his faults , to which herself had been accessary , and the sole occasion of his guilt . but what is more strange and unnatural , she draws matter of comfort and encouragement from the monstrous lewdness of her mother , and the infamy of her house . but what 's most wonderful of all , she 's come to this heighth of impudence , before she well knows what ails her ; she is but just arrived at the discovery of her malady . she can neither eat , sleep , work , nor pray ; but she burns , and boils inwardly like aetna it self , and is all agog on the sudden for hunting and handling the boarspear : she knows not why , till at length she finds , that she 's her mother 's own daughter , and so the mystery comes out . quo tendis anime ? quid furens saltus amas ? fatale miserae matris agnosco malum , peccare noster novit in sylvis amor . genetrix , tui me miseret , infando malo correpta pecoris efferi saevum ducem audax amasti . torvus impatiens guge adulter ille , ductor indomiti gregis . sed amabat aliquid : quis meas miserae deus , aut quis juvare daedalus flammas queat ? non si ille remee● arte mopsopia potens , qui nostra caeca monstra concluset domo , promittat ullam casibus nostris opem . — nulla minois levi defuncta amore est : jungitur semper nefas . 't was the fate of her family , it seems , and she was by no means for contending with her destiny , and therefore surrenders upon the first summons of her passion . her mother , she thinks , was much oblig'd to daedalus , whose ingenuity brought her and her horned lover together . but alas ! poor soul , she 's hard put to 't . her mother's bull was a gentle tender-hearted gallant , to her savage obdurate son-in-law ; and she , good woman , had no such necessary helps for her consolation . what must she do ? he nurse advises her to strangle this incestuous brat , her passion , in the birth . but she bravely resolves to push on , whatever comes on 't . quemcunque dederit exitum casus , feram . is this the modest phaedra , whose language is under such discipline ? can she be so free with the infamy of her house , make such fulsome descriptions , and envy her mother the caresses of a bull ? but the nurse mends the matter , and reproves her severely . here therefore we may expect a sample of strict and exemplary modesty , and chaste expression . sed ut secundus numinum abscondat favor coitus nefandos — and immediately after — metue concubitus novos . miscere thalamos patris , & nati apparas , vteroque prolem capere confusam impio . is this the disciplin'd language mr collier boasts of ? such we have indeed sometimes under the discipline of bridewel and bedlam , but seldom elsewhere . the most accomplish'd disciple that ever came out of the late famous academy of the virtuous mrs meggs of notable memory , cou'd not have been more free in her language , as well as thoughts . the antients , good men , did not puzzle their heads about double entendre's to screen a foul thought , or labour for allegories and allusions , but honestly called a spade , a spade , whenever they had occasion . i believe these ladies wou'd be better company for joan of naples , than mr dryden's leonora , if fulsome descriptions be so toothsome to her . but mr collier is mightily pleased , that there is no courting , except in the hercules furens , where the tyrant lycus addresses megara very briefly , and in modest remote language . here he has pointed us a specimen of what he calls modest and remote . the tyrant had courted megara , the wife of hercules , to no purpose , she obstinately repulsed him ; and therefore he turns him about , and modestly ( as mr collier thinks ) thus addresses himself to amphitruo . you have pimpt for jupiter to your wife , and shall do as much for me to your daughter-in-law , having so expert a master it can be no novelty either to her , or her husband , to be civil to their betters . but if she obstinately refuses to comply , i 'll force her , and beget a generous race . jovi dedisti conjugem , regi dabis . et te magistro non novum hoc discet nurus , etiam viro probante , meliorem sequi , sin copulari pertinax taedis negat , vel ex coacta nobilem partum feram . this , according to mr collier , is distance and modesty , old stile . if he will make these allowances to our poets , i 'll engage to prove there never was an immodest thing said upon the english stage ; a task i shou'd be loth to undertake upon any other terms , as much as i am perswaded of their comparative innocence . but 't is not in his judgment only , that mr collier can be partial ; his memory can be favourable too upon occasion . for tho he does non omnibus dormire , yet he can wink at the faults of his old friends , while he sees ev'ry slip of the moderns double . he says , that seneca has no courting but this of lycus ; but i suppose , he wilfully forgets the shameful solicitations which phaedra uses to corrupt her son-in-law hippolitus , against the charter of her sex , and the rules of decency . they , whose curiosity invites 'em to a further enquiry , may find matter in abundance for their speculations , in the agamemnon , particularly in the scenes between clytemnestra and her nurse , aegisthus and clytemnestra , electra and clytemnestra ; and in divers others places of the rest of the plays of that collection . if we should examine the ancient comedy with the severity that mr collier uses to the moderns , we should let in such a torrent of citations , as wou'd almost over-whelm us . but for the reasons already given , there are grains of allowance to be made to comedy , to which tragedy can lay no claim . tragedy deals with persons of the highest condition , by and before whom the strictest severity of manners and decorum is to be observ'd . the business is of great importance , and requires serious consideration , and gives no opportunity for wantonness , or light indecencies . whenever therefore the poet suffers snch persons to talk such fooleries themselves , or others to talk 'em to 'em , he stoops 'em below their characters and business . but in comedy the case is quite different , both the persons and business are little , and exact neither state nor ceremony . most of the persons are such , as either don't ●now , or don't regard forms and punctilio's of good breeding . this we have a plain proof of in all the comedies of antiquity , whether of the old or new cut. the slaves ate so familiar with their masters , that by the freedoms they take , 't is hard to distinguish one from t'other , except that the slave bears the character of advantage , and appears generally to have more wit than his master , whom he is to assist if he be young , and cheat if he be old . accordingly we find 'em almost always bantering , quibbling , drolling , and jesting upon their masters , when they are together . their employment is usually to purchase their young master a mistress , with the hunks their old masters money . by this means the slaves become the principal character in the antient comedy , and are the main spring , by which the whole machine of the fable is set a going . the rest , which are usually in the new comedy , a covetous old fellow , an extravagant young one , a bawd , a whore , a stolen virgin , are but the under wheels , whose motions are regulated altogether by those of the slave , who is the man of intrigue , and carries all the brains the poet can spare about him . the old man is froward , suspicious , severe , and close-fisted ; and sometimes he is represented easy and indulgent , but has a scolding , turbulent , griping wife , a churlish , parsimonious brother , or relation , or conceited wise friend , that takes upon himself to correct and govern him . the young fellow is in love , extravagant , and in want of money . the bawd , whether male , or female , is faithless , imposing , and acted only by present profit . the whore , if an experienc'd one , is altogether mercenary , if raw in her trade , she is dotingly fond and loving , but under the care of the bawd. the stoln virgin is always next to a mute . their plots are confined to as narrow a compass , as their characters . the young man is in love with a slave , and wants money to purchase her of the bawd , who is about to sell , or prostitute her to another . the young man in this exigent has recourse to a crafty servant , who helps by some stratagem to squeeze the money out of the old spunge his father , or to cheat some other body . a discovery at length is made to his father , who is vehemently provoked at his sons folly and extravagance , and threatens to difinherit him . young master and man are at their wits end , to reconcile themselves to the old man , and no fetch , no contrivance left to bring themselves off , when in comes some merchant or stranger , who discovers that this maiden is a citizen , and well born ; which pacifies the old fellow , the young man thrives in his amours , a match is struck up by consent of all parties , and all 's well again . 't is true , aristophanes took a much greater compass , and brought not only mankind , but gods , brute animals , and even inanimate bodies within the pale of the stage . this , as it inlarg'd his walk , encreas'd his liberty , which he sometimes abuses at a scandalous unjustifyable rate . mr collier , to obviate all objections that might be rais'd from the practice of aristophanes , whose comedies are the only pieces of that kind remaining of the greek stage , by way of prevention excepts against his credit , and endeavours to invalidate his evidence by accusing him of atheism . but tho i think mr collier's arguments to prove him an atheist to be of no validity , as i could easily shew , were it not an impertinent digression in this place ; yet i shall wave the particular refutation of 'em , because i think it not material to the point in hand , whether he were so or not . for tho we should grant , that the poet himself was an athiest , yet mr collier himself will not pretend that his audience , the people of athens were so too . on the contrary it appears that they were as arrant bigots , as mr collier himself could wish to trade with . they put socrates to death , only because he would not be cullied out of his reason , and be the priest's fool , to countenance and encourage a senseless extravagant superstition . this made some christian fathers reckon him among the martyrs for the unity of the deity . but mr collier , who has a much better hand at supposing than proving , takes a very odd method to clear the reputation of that great man from the suggestions of aristophanes , and the censure of his country , by whom he was condemn'd for atheism . that socrates was no atheist is clear from instances enow . to mention but one . the confidence he had in his daemon or genius , by which he govern'd his affairs , puts it beyond dispute . that socrates held , and believ'd the existence of daemons or genii , may be an argument , that he was no atheist . but that he pretended to have any familiarity , or hold any correspondence with such a daemon or genius , gives me but a very indifferent notion of his faith and integrity . it smells rank of imposture , and must needs make but a bad impression upon men of integrity , and understanding of those principles , which want the support of such dishonest shifts . but this was plato's report of him , and perhaps was neither the real practice nor opinion of socrates , whom therefore we shall dismiss , as having been brought in only to shew how unluckily mr collier is gifted for argument . but if the athenians could proceed with such rigou●● against a man so much rever'd for his virtue and wisdom , and supported by the favour of their best and greatest men only , for holding opinions contrary to their notions of religion , 't is not to be imagin'd , that they who were so very tender in this case , so extreamly sensible of any affront to the common faith , would with so little concern , or rather so much satisfaction , have heard it publickly insulted by aristophanes . they shew'd in the case of socrates , that their blood could rise and ferment upon such occasions as high as any people's . how comes it then , that they who were so outrageous and impatient with socrates , are so tame , and passive as to bear much greater provocations of the same nature from aristophanes without the least sign of resentment ? was the interest of the poet so much superiour to the philosophers , that what was capital in one shou'd deserve no manner of correction , or notice in t'other ? no such matter , for he was call'd in question , and took his tryal for a thing of much less moment , viz. for assuming the liberties of a citizen of athens being a foreigner . now there is 〈◊〉 doubt , but his enemies who had the malice and the power to get him thus arraign'd , would have strengthen'd their charge , with an article so considerable as atheism , and blasphemy against their gods , before such superstious bigotted judges as the athenians , had there been any ground or colour of suspicion . the power and malice of cleon wou'd have reach'd , him , had there been any plausible pretence , to have fixt the guilt of a crime so unpopular upon him . mr collier pretends to maintain his assertion by divers instances of irreverent passages in relation to their gods , to be found in the plays of aristophanes . i grant there are such passages , even more than mr collier has cited , tho many of those which he has selected to prove his allegation by , will by no means bear the weight of such a charge . but the people of athens , who were in these matters much more delicate , than mr collier seems to be , had the niceness to distinguish justly between the private sentiments of the man , and the publick one's of the poet. in this latter capacity almost all sorts of characters belong ' 〈◊〉 to him , and he must of consequence be frequently necessitated to make use of thoughts and expressions very contrary to his own proper opinion . the athenians therefore did not lay these liberties of the stage , which they knew the nature of those characters which he represented must of course oblige him to , as blemishes either in his faith or morals , to his charge . had mr collier been master of as much understanding and justice , as these heathens , not only aristophanes , but our english poets too had met with a fairer adversary , and found civiller and honester treatment . 't were easie to enlarge in the justification of aristophanes ; but mr collier gives him up , and therefore we need no parallel between him , and the english comick poets , to prove the comparative modesty of the latter ; for which reason we shall proceed directly to plautus whom he justifies upon the comparison . plautus , by reason of the narrow circle that he moves in , affords no great variety , yet there is plenty enough in him , to make mr collier blush for his defence , if it were all produc'd at large . for what he calls very moderate , and says , that our single plays shall far out-do all this put together , wou'd in his microscopical way of observing appear monstrous , and infinitely exceed the most malicious collection he can make out of the english poets . but he presumes upon the ignorance of his readers , and imposes arbitrarily and magisterially what sense he pleases upon every thing , and despotically coins citations , which he forces upon 'em for genuine , upon no better warrant than his own will and pleasure . but to proceed to instance . in the amphitruo , mercury , after a long scene of gross drollery upon amphitruo , bids him be gone , and not disturb his master's pleasure with his wife . abscede moneo , molestus ne sies , dum amphitruo , cum uxore modo ex hostibus adveniens , voluptatem capit . upon this amphitruo asks , what wife ? and is answer'd alcumena . this does not satisfy his curiosity , but he must know whether he lies with her or not ; and is not contented till he has doubl'd the question , and must be inform'd , whether they lie in the same room both or not . hereupon mercury , to cut the debate short , gives him this plain answer . corpore corpus incubat . upon this amphitruo bewails his misery , and mercury in mockery says , lucri'st , quod hic miseriam deputat . nam uxorem usurariam perinde est praebere , ac si agrum sterilem fodiendum loces . the man 's a gainer by what he calls his misery . for 't is as profitable to have ones wife , as ones field till'd by another . at this rate mercury drolls on ; wherein there is this remarkable , besides the quality of the persons , one a god , t'other a heroe , that the words last cited are suppos'd to be spoken aside out of the hearing of amphitruo ; and consequently are immediately address'd and peculiarly recommended to the audience , as containing something very edifying or very entertaining . i defy mr collier to prove any such licentious freedoms upon the english amphitruo , as angry as he is with it . but perhaps mr collier thinks the disguise of sosia , may excuse the ribaldry of mercury . but this excuse won't serve his turn . for mercury is under no disguise to the audience , to whom this last speech is particularly address'd . but lest he should think mercury a mad god , and allow him the liberty of ribaldry , let us hear how cleanly iupiter will express himself . it the last scene this soveraign of the gods appears in state , owns his quality and intrigue , and bids amphitruo receive his wife . for , says he , mea vi subacta'st . mr collier knows the meaning of the word subigo in this case , and must strain as hard in this place , as he thinks lambin has done in another , if he will defend it . the asinaria , the next play in order , affords besides the scene betwixt cleareta the bawd , and argyrippus , ( which mr collier confesses to border upon rudeness , and i think down-right bawdy in several places ) two more , one betwixt argyrippus , philenium , leonida , and libanus , which is very loose , and another , which is singularly instructive , between argyrippus and demaenetus his father . the old man , like a good father , purchases a whore for his son , upon condition that himself may come in for snacks , and withal tells him , that it becomes a young man to be modest , and let his betters go before him , that he had provided a mistress for him to solace himself with all the year , if he could but be content , to let his father be his taster . this is wholesom doctrine , and season'd with such grave morality , no doubt very edifying . this mr collier finds no fault with , and therefore we may very well pass it by ; since , if it will bear the test of his hypothesis , it will unquestionably of ours . tho , had this been of english growth , it had found no favour , but had smarted unmercifully under his discipline . one thing 't is necessary to take notice of before we go any further , and that is , that whether plautus's lovers talk love , or not , they act it very plainly and vigorously before folks , where-ever they come together . an instance of this kind we have in the curculio at the meeting of phaedromus , and planesium , ( who by the by is suppos'd to be a modest virgin ) . at their purchas'd opportunity of coming together , they are so active and boisterous , that palinurus the slave stands amaz'd , and cries out , — uterque insaniunt . viden ' ut misere moliuntur , nequen nt complecti satis . these words are more expressive of action than passion , though indeed they imply both . planesium , to mend the matter , expresses her discontent , that the servant did not withdraw , but staid to be a check upon ' em . iam huic voluptati hoc adjunctum odium est . the servant replies with indignation , and reprimands his master for behaving himself so immodestly , — ut immodestis hic te moderere moribus i mention this only to shew how much even the modest virgins of the antient stage valued an opportunity . this , according to mr collier's hypothesis , would have been a capital misdemeanour upon the english stage , whatever it was upon the roman . many more instances of this kind , and more plain ones might be produc'd , but i have not room for 'em here . however , this may serve to shew what sort of nun's flesh mr collier wou'd be at , when he makes vestals of such lasses as this . mr collier is so very fond of the sobriety of plautus's plays , that he defends even then conduct of the pandars and slaves , and maintains , that they don't misbehave themselves before women . he is sure at least , that there are but four instances to the contrary , as he remembers , olympio , palaestrio , stratilax and dordalus are the persons . and the women they discourse with , are two of them slaves , and the third a wench . i 'm sorry mr collier's memory is so bad , when he has so much occasion for a better . he takes notice of but three women thus freely dealt with , two whereof , as he tells us by way of mitigation of damages , were slaves , and the third a wench . from whence he seems to infer , that before women of modesty and condition , these slaves and pandars were more cautious and reserv'd in their language . but olympio , whom he has subpaena'd as an evidence for himself , will tell him otherwise . the persons he plays his gambols before , are cleostrata and murrhina , two principal citizens wives , matrons of as great quality and virtue as any , that e're trod the roman stage in comedy ; alcumena excepted . these matrons had shamm'd him with a man in woman's cloaths for a bride , and big with the expectation of the issue of their jest , fell to catechizing him about the business . the clown , without regard to their quality , which was the more considerable in cleostrata , because she was his proper mistress , and might severely chastise any rudeness , yet the clown , i say , makes a very rank description , and what 's worse , the women were pleased with it , and urge and prompt him forward . ol. — illa haud verbum facit , & sepit veste , id qui estis , ubi illum saltum video obseptum , rogo , ut altero sinat adire . enim jam magis jam appropero , magis jam lubet in casinam irruere . — this , instead of rebating the edge of his mistresses appetite , inflames her curiosity yet more ; she 's impatient till he proceeds . cl. perdis , quin pergis . cl. — continuo stricto gladio : atat babae papae . cl. quid papae . ol. — gladium ne haberet metui , id quaerere occaepi dum gladium ne habeat quaero , arripio capulum , sed quem cogito non habuit gladium , nam id esset frigidius . here the booby began to mince the matter ; and his mistress , that lov'd plain-dealing , corrects him for it , and bids him speak out , but he is asham'd , he says , cl. eloquere . ol. at pudet . the slave however has some grace . his mistress can't be satisfy'd so , she 's for every thing in as proper terms , as if he was giving evidence in a court of record . but not prevailing that way , she prompts and pumps him with interrogatories as loosely as a waggish councel at a bawdy tryal . cl. nam radix fuit ? num cucumis ? the woman , 't is plain , had a true apprehension of the matter , but she did not like his clownish bashfulness . still the fellow boggles at naked imagery ; however he improves , and comes on apace . ol. profecto non fuit quicquam olerum nisi quicquid erat , calamitas profecto attigerat nunquam : ita quicquid erat , grande erat . volo , ut obvortat cubitissim , verbum ullum mutit , surgo ut ineam . if we measure the conversation of plautus's ladies of quality by this standard , the ladies of our stage , taking even the loosest , need not be asham'd of their breeding . nay , they wou'd blush for their company if they were brought together . but cleostrata and murrhina are not singular . in the asinaria , artemona , upon the discovery of her husbands intrigue , reflects upon his failings towards her , and makes a very odd discovery of her own wants . art. — ego censeo eum etiam hominem senatui dare operam , aut clientibus ibi labore delassatum noctem totam stertere . ille opere foris faciundo lassus noctu advenit . fundum alienum arat , incultum familiarem deserit . he was ( says she ) so taken up with tilling another's ground , that he let his own lye fallow . this frankness of the lady's complaint gave the slave her informer the boldness to put a very homely question to her . possis si forte accubantem tuum virum conspecteris cum corona amplexum amicam , si videas cognoscere ? cou'd you know your husband , if you shou'd see him and his mistress in a posture that wou'd not shew his face . this passage ( to use a phrase of mr collier's ) i have translated softly , but very fairly . yet even thus the image , which in the original is express'd in the proper vulgar terms , appears too gross and plain , and is such as wou'd not be endur'd upon our stage , as lewd as mr collier thinks that and the age. however , the men who talk intemperately are generally slaves , says mr collier ; and he can't find any gentleman guilty of an indecent expression , except lusiteles , who is once over airy . i shall help him to another , out of a great number , that are ready upon demand , which is the more authentick , because it comes from a grave old gentleman in no very airy mood , but while he is correcting another for his lewd ness and debauchery . in the miles gloriosus , periplectomenes asks pyrgopolinices the souldier , cur es ausus subagitare alienam uxorem , impudens ? the gravity of the man here makes the grossness of the expression the more remarkable . after these instances i hope mr collier may upon second thoughts have a better opinion of the gentlemen and ladies of our stage , than heretofore , at least that he will do 'em more justice in his next parallel . but mr collier has one hold to retreat to yet , from whence he must be driven before we part . plautus his prologues and epilogues are inoffensive . if this can be maintain'd , he has gain'd a great point ; but here , as in other places , he triumphs before victory . the prologue and epilogue are properly the speeches of the poet , and 't is in them , if any where , that we discover the morals of a comick poet. lambin finds a double entendre in the prologue to the paenulus ; mr collier thinks there is a strain in the construction . i must own my self of lambin's opinion ; but , since mr collier does not here deliver himself after his usual dogmatical way , i shall not insist upon this passage , but proceed to instances , which no violence of construction can wrest to a wrong sense . here let us return to the casina , to which the poet gives a very smutty conclusion , and a more smutty epilogue . grex , that speaks the epilogue , advises the audience to clap lustily and give the poet his due , and to those that did it , he wishes as many whores as they pleased , unknown to their wives ; but to those that did not clap , he wishes a he-goat besmear'd with the filth of a ship for a concubine . nunc nos aequum est , manibus meritis meritam mercedem daffre , qui faxit , clam uxorem ducat scortum semper quod volet . verum qui non manibus clare , quantum poterit , pluserit , ei pro scorto suppon●tur hircus unctus nautea . here we have a sample of the poet's morals , which mr collier has warranted , as we have already seen . in the epilogue to the asinaria , if we may take plautus's word , we may have a taste of the manners of his age and country , which mr collier is likewise very fond of . from both which put together , we may give a reasonable guess at mr collier's own palate in such matters . demaenetus his wife had caught him in a bawdy-house , whoring in his son's company , and rated him home , which concludes the action of the play. hereupon grex by way of application thus accosts the audience . hic senex siquid clam uxorem suo animo fecit volupe , neque novum , neque mirum fecit , nec secus quam alii solent , nec quisqua st tam ingenio duro , nec tam firmo pectore quin ubi quicquam occasionis sit , sibi faciat bene . here the poet justifies whoring , even in an old married man , and pleads the common practice in defence of it . he thinks no man can withstand a fair temptation to do himself good . for with that phrase , he sweetens the business and qualifies the offence . let mr collier compare these two epilogues with those english ones to which he refers , and then condemn them , and absolve these if he can . nay , even the play of which plautus himself makes his boast , that 't was written up to the strictest rules of chastity ; that few such comedies were to be found , by which those that were already good , might be made better , has a very broad touch of smut in the epilogue , even at the time he is valuing himself upon his modesty , spectatores , ad pudicos mores facta haec fabula est . neque in hac subagitationes sunt — hujusmodi paucas poetae reperiunt comaedias , vbi boni meliores fiant — such instances as these crowd themselves so upon us almost every where in plautus , that 't is hard to pass 'em over , and endless to take notice of ' em . but having already far transgressed the intended limits of this discourse , i shall trespass no farther upon the reader 's patience on this head . his next complaint is the abuse of the clergy . were this complaint justly grounded , it would merit not only his , but all honest men's indignation , and resentments . but this charge does not seem to be sufficiently made out . for 't is raised upon a very weak foundation , a mistaken notion , that priests above all the rest of mankind , are by priviledge exempted from having their faults taken notice of this way ; his reason for this shall be consider'd by and by . i suppose , if mr collier's band hung awry , or his face was dirty , he would use the assistance of a glass to make all right and clean . why then does he reject the use of that which might do the same office for his mind , and help him to correct the follies and management of his life ? the case is plain , he is blind to his own faults , and mad that any one else should see ' em . this makes him call the shewing any of their failings , exposing the clergy , as if thereby only they became publick , not considering that the glass shews our faults to our selves only ; other people can see 'em as plainly and as readily without its help . but mr collier , who takes every thing by the wrong handle , looks upon a correction as a reproach , and had rather a fault should pass unmended , than be taken notice of . but because he pleads a peculiar charter for the exemption of the priesthood , let us see how he makes out his title . the considerations , upon which he founds it , are three . first , because of their relation to the deity . this relation to the deity he swells to a monstrous size , and blows himself presumptuously up in his own conceit , to a condition something above mortal . he pretends to no less , than to be one of the principal ministers of gods kingdom , to represent his person , to publish his laws , pass his pardons , and preside in his worship . mr collier's pride has here hurried him into prodigious insolence and folly. to raise his own character , he has made a pope of every individual priest , and given that to the meanest of 'em , which the most orthodox part of the christian world deny to the pretended successor of st peter ? is not the whole world god's kingdom ? what then , are its kings , princes , and rulers , if every priest be before 'em in authority ? mr collier , i believe , is the first bold mortal , that ever pretended to represent the person of god almighty seriously . this to me sounds more like blasphemy , than any thing in the most profane poet. the pope indeed presumes to stile himself christ's vicar general , but he does not presume to be the representative of his person . as mr collier has assum'd a higher title , so , i suppose , he expects more reverence . 't is strange that enthusiasm should shoot to such a heighth in our cold climate , which it scarce ever reach'd in rome its native place . but mr collier keeps a hot bed , where he forces up violent notions , in spight of the opposition of an unnatural soil and season . but i should be glad to know , wherein this personal representation consists . does he pretend , like the pope , to possess any of the divine attributes ? infallibility , even of the church itself , has been long since justly exploded by all sober christians , that know , and dare to use their reason in the guidance of their consciences . and the pope himself in the heighth of his pride and usurpation , never pretended to more . but in what does this vain creature resemble his creator ? can a groveling mortal sustain the majesty and figure of omnipotence . if notwithstanding all these magnificent expressions of himself , and his order , mr collier means no more , than than that a priest derives a subordinate authority from the church , to exercise his function in spiritual matters conformably to her directions , then all this insolent profane bombast dwindles to nothing . for tho a very great power and trust is repos'd in the church , yet i don't find , that this power was ever lodg'd entire with the priest , or any other single person whatsoever . and therefore mr collier grasps at too much , when he claims the same respect , and deference for every priest , that is , or ought to be paid to the church , and the governours of it . but mr collier finds , that st. paul calls himself and the rest of the apostles the ambassadors of christ , and thinks himself thereby sufficiently warranted to take upon him to represent the person of god. the word which st paul employs , 2 cor. 5. 20. is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which signifies to come by commission from another , and consequently may probably enough be render'd , we are the embassadors , tho it does not always import so much . mr collier lays hold of the word embassadour , and fancies himself in the highest , and most honourable post that can be , under god almighty , that is , to represent his person , to publish his laws , pass his pardons , and preside in his worship . all this indeed , except the personal representation , was the office of st paul , and the rest of the apostles . but without affronting , or lessening the authority of the clergy , i think i may lawfully question whether mr collier's commission be of equal extent or validity with theirs . they were call'd to the ministry immediately by god himself , endued with supernatural and miraculous faculties , and powers both of discerning , and operation by inspiration from the holy ghost himself . they were to plant in the world a new faith , which had not yet been heard of , except in a very small part of the world . their doctrines were reveal'd immediately to themselves , and had no other evidence than their own affirmation , and the works that they did , to back and confirm what they taught . they had occasion for a spirit more than naturally discerning to be assur'd of the sincerity of their converts , and for a commission and power extraordinary , to remit the sins of those that they found to be true penitents , and to support themselves and their proselytes against the oppressions of the civil power . these circumstances , as i take it , make a very wide difference between the ministry , and commission of the apostles , and the other immediate disciples of our saviour , and the christian ministry at this time . for first , they have now no immediate call to the ministry , whatever some enthusiastick or knavish sectaries may pretend . secondly , they have no natural gifts above other men , to warrant a pretence to an extraordinary mission . thirdly , they have now no peculiar revelation , nor any other rule of faith , or source of doctrine , which is not common to all mankind with them . the scriptures lie open for all that will look into 'em , and our clergy pretend to no supernatural gift of exposition above the laity , and consequently can offer no new matter of faith. fourthly , they pretend to no spirit of discerning above the condition of meer humanity to enable 'em to see into mens hearts , and judge of the sincerity of their repentance , and consequently must dispose of pardons blindfold , if they exercise any such power , otherwise than conditional , and upon the terms express'd in scripture . but the pronouncing an absolution on those terms , is not passing a pardon , any more than allowing the benefit of the clergy to a malefactor in a court of judicature is an act of grace in the bench. lastly , since the world became christian , those extraordinary commissions , which the apostles and primitive christians had , ceas'd with the reasons of ' em . for when the princes and rulers of the world became the proselytes and protectors of christianity , there was no further occasion to propagate the gospel by extraordinary methods , which had the civil power on its side . by this means the care of the church devolv'd upon the state , and the priesthood became subordinate to it . for tho no state or prince can make any thing a rule of faith , which was not so before in its nature , or by some higher obligation , yet in matters of practice in things indifferent towards which the scriptures leave us at liberty , they have in all countries ( not under the usurpation of the pope ) asserted their authority by ordering and directing the forms and models of church government , and appointing the persons of the governours , who are therefore undoubtedly subordinate to those , by whose authority they govern . from these differences 't is plain , that the ministry at present stands upon quite another foot , than it did in the time of the apostles ; and that mr collier challenges a relation to the deity which he has not , and in right of that a greater reverence and respect than is due to him . his second consideration is , the importance of their office. what that is , has been in great measure laid down in the preceding article . how far they are concerned in publishing gods laws , and passing his pardons has been already examin'd . there was indeed a time , when the priests had a monopoly of faith and salvation , and retail'd out articles and indulgences to the laity , who repair'd to the bank of implicit faith and merit for as much as their occasions requir'd . but the weakness of their fund being discover'd , that bank is broke long since in england . and the laity have taken their consciences into their own custody again , to mr collier's great disappointment . however they preside ( he says ) in the worship of god. if he means by presiding , officiating , he presides over his congregation , as a clerk in parliament presides over the house , because he reads the bills , petitions , &c. to ' em . that to officiate in the house of god is an employment of great importance and honour , i shall readily grant . and as they that perform their duty in that station conscientiously and well deserve all due respect and honour ; so on the other hand , those that prostitute their character to base ends , and make the cassock a cover for pride , ambition , avarice , hypocrisie , knavery , or folly , deserve to be corrected , and expos'd to the publick . the importance of the office , which mr collier pleads in bar to any lay censure upon 'em , is a strong argument for it . for in proportion to the weight of the trust , ought to be the check upon it . there may be many faults amongst the inferiour clergy , which escape the notice , or do not fall properly under the cognizance of the ordinary , which 't is convenient shou'd be amended , for the reputation of the order , and the good of the offenders themselves . mr collier thinks otherwise , he owns that they ought not to be seen , but he would have the people's eyes put out , rather than the offence remov'd . a blot's no blot till 't is hit ; so the reputation of the clergy be safe , 't is no matter for their manners ; for the sin lies in the scandal . else why is he so angry with the poets , for taking notice , that there is such a thing now and then to be seen in the world as a faulty clergy-man ? the order does not pretend to be any more exempt from failings , than other men . then where 's the offence in shewing what those frailties are , to which they lie most expos'd ? 't is true , this can't be done in the dramatick way , without the appearance of the offender by his proxy ; which stirs mr collier's blood , who would have the laity believe 'em absolutely without fault . 't were well if they were so indeed , but since they are not , i think it not just nor reasonable , that the laity shou'd be cheated into such a belief . the man that labours too much to conceal his faults , shews that he aims rather at impunity than repentance . for men seldom think of reformation , while they can run on in a prosperous course of undiscover'd villany . upon this account mr collier's reasoning appears very odd and singular . for if the concealing and covering of men's vices , be the means to advance and promote their corruption , he seems to take a sort of retrograde way to reformation . but his fear is , that the vices of some few thus publickly shewn , shou'd reflect upon the whole order , and weaken their credit and authority in the ministerial function . this objection is already answered in the article of the misrepresentation of women ; what has been there said holds good here , and needs no repetition . it can therefore be of no ill consequence ; for those that are just , and conscientious in the exercise of their functions will lose no credit or authority ; and those that are not , have too much , if they have any . if priests be without fault , then to paint 'em with any is a misrepresentation , and an abuse , a malicious slandering of the order . but if they be not , 't is fit that the rotten sheep shou'd be mark'd and driven from the flock , to prevent the contagion , whether of the disease or the scandal , which are equally catching . but mr collier has learnt politicks of hudibras , and wou'd have priests whipt by proxy ; their faults shou'd be chastised on laymens backs . we thank him for his kindness , and are very willing to be his deputies , provided he can prove that the physick will have its effect that way . i have been told , that a purge given to a wet nurse , wou'd operate with the child ; but i never heard of a med'cine that wou'd work vice versa . i grant , that they ought not to be corrected on the stage for lay follies . their characters must be proper , in order to which , whether they play the fool or the knave , it must be seasoned with a cast of the profession ; otherwise they are lay fools and knaves in masquerade . but as the characters ought not to be so general , as to represent whole bodies of men , so neither ought they to be so particular , as to stigmatize individuals , as they did in the old comedy . if this c●ution be observed , not only the coll●ctive body of the clergy , but every individual man amongst 'em is safe from scandal from that quarter . if the poets have not observ'd it , mr collier in vindication of the clergy has a just provocation to lash 'em severely . but if they have , then mr collier does 'em wrong , and the poets ought to resume the whipcerd , and return the compliment . his last , and , as it appears by his dilating so largely upon it , his strongest consideration is , that they have prescription for their priviledge . their profession has been in possession of esteem in all ages and countries . that it has been in esteem , and that it ought still to be so , more than it is , i believe the poets themselves will allow . but that it has always been esteemed so sacred , that the antient poets durst never suffer any of their persons of the drama to make bold with it , i deny ; and i think i shall demonstrate the contrary . i shall confine my self to the dramatick poets , and only observe , that so the priest be well treated 't is no matter how his god is served . for homer is caressed at a high rate , for putting a crown upon chryses's head , tho he uses the whole tribe of the gods like scoundrels . the first poet , that i shall produce is sophocles . in the close of his ajax the chorus gives us the moral of the play in these words ; experience teaches us much , but before the event is seen , ne'r a prophet of 'em all can tell what things will come to . x. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . this is a plain reflection upon the profession , and so remarkably circumstantiated , that there is no doubt , but 't was the poets real sense . for 't is spoken by the chorus , and made the moral of the play. i shall pass by the reproaches which oedipus makes tiresias , because mr collier says they relate only to his person , tho he himself in his defence will allow no distinction betwixt the man and the priest . if you make the man a knave , the priest must suffer under the imputation . however in the same play● jocasta says , she wou'd not give a rush for divination . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 — in the next play creon amongst other reproaches tells tiresias , that they were all a pack of mercenary corrupt fellows . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . we have not room to multiply instances so far , as we might , but these may suffice to shew , that sophocles was not so much afraid of a priest as mr collier pretends . euripides is not a whit more tender of 'em , agamemnon calls the whole tribe of 'em a vain-glorious rascally race . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . achilles in the same play ( the sobriety of whose character mr collier is much in love with ) threatens calohas the prophet before spoken of , and breaks out into this exclamation ; what are prophets ? fellows that by guess sometimes tell truth , but generally lies . — 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . pentheus in the bacchae uses tiresias very ruggedly . he charges him with being mercenary , and an impostor , with seducing the people , and introducing a new false superstitious worship , and orders the seats from whence he took his augural observation to be pull'd down , with abundance of other menaces , and hard words . these may suffice for euripides at this time . seneca makes little use of the prophets , or priests ; tiresias appears twice in his oedipus , and calchas once only to deliver an oracle . oedipus charges tiresias with confederating with creon , and charging a false crime upon him , and traiterously endeavouring to supplant him in his throne . these instances sufficiently demonstrate , that the antients were not afraid to make their persons of the drama speak pertinently to their character , tho they should thereby happen to bear hard upon their priests . nay , they thought it no offence to make 'em speak things inconsistent with piety , and the religion of their country . the instances of this are innumerable . the rants of ajax , creon , and philoctetes in sophocles are extravagant . this tragedian affords abundance , but to make a collection of scattered expressions , would require more room than we can at present spare ; however , euripides and seneca afford divers so very remarkable , that i can't pass 'em over absolutely without notice . in the hecuba , talthybius exclaims at a strange rate upon the consideration of the turn of hecuba's fortune . o jupiter ! what shall i say ? should mankind address themselves to you : or have we been cheated with a sham story of gods , and providence , while chance governs all things ? 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . polymestor is much such another sort of a comforter , he cries out in the same play , and upon the same occasion , oh what a slippery thing is human grandeur , which is never secure . the gods perplex and harrass mankind , that our ignorance may support their altars , and worship . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . electra , for a short one has a very pithy ejaculation . o nature , what a curse art thou upon mortals . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . her brother orestes is allied to her in principles as near as in blood ; he can't tell what to make of the gods , any more than the two gentlemen before . yet he serves 'em whatever they be . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all that he knows of 'em is , that they are naturally dilatory . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . hecuba is much of his mind ; she thinks the gods but bad friends , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . the cyclops tellvlysses , that riches were the wise mans only god , and that he did not care a fart for jupiter ; but thought himself as great a god as he . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . in the ion , which is pretended to be a moral play , creusa addresses herself directly to apollo , and cals him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , lewd whoremaster . her servant afterwards calls him rascal , and advises her to set fire to his temple . with such flowers as these euripides abounds , which i leave for others to gather . seneca is as full of 'em as he , but i shall refer the reader only to the chorus of the second act of his troas , which being spoken by the chorus looks more like the poet 's own opinion , than if it had come from any other person of the drama . post mortem nihil est , ipsaque mors nihil , velocis spatij meta novissima . spem ponant avidi , soliciti metum . quaeris quo jaceas post obitum loco ? quo non nata jacent . tempus nos avidum devorat , & chaos . mors individua est noxia corpori , nec parcens animae . taenara , & aspero regnum sub domino , limen & obsidens custos non facili cerberus ostio , rumores vacui , verbaque inania , et par solicito fabula somnio . which is thus translated by the earl of rochester . after death nothing is , and nothing death , the utmost limits of a gasp of breath . let the ambitious zealot lay aside his hopes of heaven ( whose faith is but his pride ) let slavish souls lay by their fear , nor be concern'd which way , or where , after this life they shall be hurl'd , dead they become the lumber of the world. and to that mass of matter shall be swept , where things destroy'd with things unborn are kept . devouring time swallows us whole , impartial death confounds body and soul. for h●● , and the foul fiend that rules the everlasting fiery goals , devis'd by rog●●s , dreaded by fools , with his grim griezly dog that keeps the door , are senseless stories , idle tales , dreams , whimseys , and no more . another exception , which mr collier makes to the stage is , that they treat the nobility rudely . i must confess 't is no complement to make a fool of a lord. but if birth or any other chance shou'd make a lord of a fool , i suppose the rest of that noble order wou'd not think themselves accountable for his follies , or abus'd in his picture . shou'd the poets presume to make such a one the representative of his order , and propose him as a common standard , by which the endowments of quality in general were to be measur'd , their insolence wou'd deserve the severest chastisement that cou'd be given . or shou'd any one of 'em dare to characterize too nearly and particularly any of those noble persons , no doubt but he wou'd soon feel the weight of his resentments , and smart sorely for his sawcy liberty . but while the poet contents himself with feign'd persons , and copies closely after nature , without pressing upon her in her private recesses , and singling out individuals from the herd , if any man , of what quality or employment soever , fancies himself concern'd in the representation , let him spoil the picture by mending the original . for he only is to be blam'd for the resemblance . if men of honour and abilities cou'd entail their wisdom and virtues upon their posterity , then a title wou'd be a pretty sure sign of personal worth , and the respect and reverence that was paid to the founders of honourable families ought to follow the estate , and the heir of one shou'd be heir of t'other . but since entails of this kind are of all kinds the most liable to be cut off , 't is not absolutely impossible but there may be such a thing in the world , as a fop of quality . now if there be such a thing , it does not appear to me , that because the persons are great , and elevated by their dignity above the rest of mankind , and draw the eyes of the people upon 'em , more than other men do , that therefore their faults or imperfections will be less visible , or less taken notice of , or that the splendour of their figure is an infallible antidote against the infection of their examples . unless it be so , it is convenient that some reasonable expedient shou'd be allow'd to prevent the mischief of imitation , and that those who are too big to be aw'd out of their follies , may be sham'd out of ' em . but this is only hypothetically offer'd . mr collier perhaps will tell us , that there are no such persons , that a fool of quality is a meer poetical animal , and ought to be rank'd amongst the harpyes , hippogryphs , centaurs , and chimaera's of antiquity . if he proves this , my hypothesis in this point falls to the ground , otherwise i think it may stand in opposition to any thing that has yet been said . if these and abundance of other passages in the antient poets were compar'd with those which mr collier produces out of the moderns , the comparative rudeness and prophaness of the latter wou'd vanish . but he presumes upon the laziness , or ignorance of the majority of his readers , and does not expect that any of 'em shou'd be at the pains to confront his arbitrary , and unfair accounts , with genuine quotations . but 't is time to have compassion upon the reader , who has run the gauntlet thro a tedious refutation ; in which if his satisfaction equals his patience , the author thinks his pains sufficiently recompenc'd . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a36512-e7720 introduction . the quarrel to the modern stage first formally commenc'd in spain . shows among tbe heathens of religious pare●tage . the drama of the same extraction . tragedy & comedy originally one thing . when first distinguisht the stage under the patronage of bacchus . paganism a religion contriv'd for popularity . heathen religion all ceremony . * pompa populo ingrata fuit , quia ludis mora . var ro de ling. lat. lib. 4. † non igno ras quam sit odiosa circensibus pompa . idolatry of the stage , the principal argument of the fathers against it . heathen plays danger●●s temptations 〈◊〉 new christian converts . zeal of the fathers ●g●inst 'em not u●ne●es●ary . view p. 276. p. 277. p. 1. p. 124. praef. p. 257. disingen●ir● of mr. collier . praef. idolatry the main objestions of the fathers to the ancient drama . * et haec suntscenico r●m ●●erabilior● 〈◊〉 do rum comoediae scilicit & tragoediae hoc est fabu lae poetarum agendae in spectaculis , multa rerturpitudine sed nulla , saltem , sicut alia multa verborum obscoenitate compositae quas etiam inter studia quae honesta , & liberalia vocantur , pueri , legere discereque a senibus coguntur . de civit. dei lib. 2. * aug. conf. lib. 1. cap. 16. * didici in eis multa verba utilia se det in rebus non vanis disci possunt & via tuta est , in qua pueri ambularent . lib. confess . 1 cap. ●v . mimick shews among the romans scandalous● lewd , the drama no at all . clemen's alex●ndri●us c●ted against the drama . view p. 260 nec inconcine stadia & theatra pestilentiae c●thaedram quis vocaverit . paedag . lib. 3. cap. ii . view p. 277. the fathers sametimes over rigorous sic & tragaedos cothurnis extulit diabolus , quia nemo potest adjicere cubitum unum ad staturam suam , men dacem face re vult christum . tert. de spectac . cap. 23. view . p 252. * ibid. nec fas est nobis audire adulteria deorum hominumque quae suavi verborum modulantur mercede . ad autolyc . lib. 3. * theatra ●unt faediora , quo convenis verundia illic omnis exuitur simul cum amictu , vestis honor corporis , & pudor ponitur , denotanda ac contrectanda virginitas revelatur . de habit virg. * nihil nobis &c. cum insania circi cum impudicitia theatri cum x●sti vanitate . apolog. adv . gent. cap. 38. * itaque pomperius magnus solo theatro minor , cum illam arcem omnium turpitudinum extruxisset , veritus quandoque memoriae suae censoriam animadverfionem , veneris aedem superposuit , &c. the authority of the fathers short of the case . caution of mr c-ll-r the authority of the fathers short of the case . caution of mr c-ll-r plato's authority consider'd . xenophon . * ita de venereis etiam rebus advalde juvenes verba non facimus , ne accidente ad vehementem in eis libid . levitate , immodice huic libidini suae indulgeant cyropaed , lib. . p. 34 aristotle . plays forbidden to young people upon the score of the tempta●●ns from the company . * adol●scentulos autem & ●amborum & comaediarum spectatores esse lex prohibeat , prius quam ●●tatem attigeri●t , 〈◊〉 qua & 〈◊〉 caeteris accubar● jam 〈◊〉 rit , & ab omnibus , vel ebrietatis , vel aliarum inde nascentium rerum incommodis discip●lina liberos efficiat pol. lib 7. c. 17. view page 234. view p. 235. licentiousness not defended . mr coll. character of terence & plautus . view p. 20. ib. p. 15 , 16 , &c. this character in●idious . the a'sci●ation● patch'd up of incoherent fragments . * o praeclaram emendatricem vitae poeticam , quae amorem flagitii , & levitatis autorem in concilio deorum c●llocandum putet ! de comaediâ loquor quae si haec flagitia non probaremus , nulla esset omni●ò . quaest . tusc . lib. 4. the invention of the roman comick poets barren . ●oetick justice neglected by them . livie's authority abus'd . p ▪ 255. * sine carmine ullo sine imitandorum carminum actu , ludiones ex hetruria acciti , ad tibicinis modos saltantes , haud indecoros motus more thusco dabant . dec. 1. l. 7. * inter aliarum parva principia rerum ludorum quoque prima origo ponenda visa est , ut appareret , quam ab sano initio res in hanc vix opulentis regnis tolerabilem insaniam venerit . ibid. the luxury and expensiveness of these shews , not their immorality , condemn'd by livy . * itaque c● . genutio , l. aemylio mamerco secundum coss . cum piaculorum magis conquititio animos quam corpora morbi afficerent , &c. ibid. valerius maximus misquoted , * proximus militaribus institutis ad urbana castra , id est theatra gradus faciendus est , quoniam haec quoque saepenumero animosas acies in struxerunt ex cogitataque cultus deorum , & hominum delectationis causa , non sine aliquo pacis , rubore voluptatem , & religionem civili sanguine , senicorum portentorum gratia , macularunt . lib. 2. cap. 4. falseness and absurdity of mr c — r ' s paraphrase p. 235. ibid. this conclusion not to be found in valerius . * eadem civitas ( viz. massi●a ) severitatis custos acerrima est : nullum aditum in scenam mimis dando , quorum argumenta majore ex parte stuprorum continent actus , ne talia spectandi consuetudo etiam imitaudi licentiam sumat . cap. 6. stage allow'd at marseilles . seneca's authority nothing to the purpose . * nihil vero tam damnosum bonis moribus , quam in aliquo spectaculo desidere ; tunc enim per voluptatem vitia facilius surrepunt . epict. 7. 〈◊〉 p●●verted . * tunc enim per voluptatem , &c. p. 235. 〈◊〉 , &c. impertinently cited . ovid and mr wycherly say nothing against the stage , but the audience . too great severity of no service to morality . * ludi quoque semina praebent nequitiae . de trist . lib. 2. * junctam pasiphae● ictaeo credite tauro , vidimus , accepit fabula prilca fidem . mart. mr c — 's licentious method of misquoting unsufferable . p 240. the athenia●s , the greatest friends in the world to the stage . this law a direct argument against 〈◊〉 collier . * apud graecos fuit lege concessum ut quod vellet comaedia nominatim , & de quo vellet diceret . cic. de rep. apud s. august . de civit dei , cap. 9. the old comedy of the greeks exceeding licentious . comedy , why no proper exercise for a iudge . * locata opera tua illis histrionibus , qui suspiriosi cognominantur , tertias partes actitabas . demosth . orat. de coron : and in the same oration he calls him tertianum historionem . † aeschines tertias partes in bacchanalibus apud aristodemum actitavit . plut. aeschine . * aeschines legationes obiit , & multas alias , & ad philippum de pace . ibid. opinion of the spartans p. 240. theft tolerated at lacedemon , character of the spartans● * comaedias , & tragaedias non admittebant lacones , ut ntque serio , eos qu●legibus contradicerent audirent . instit . lacon . this authority falsified likewise . politeness , the objection of the spartans to the drama . all sorts of plays not prohibited at lacedemon . lib. 4. morality , not the reason of rejecting the stage . livy's authority consider'd . p. 241. postqu●m lege 〈◊〉 fabularum ab risu , 〈◊〉 soluto i●co res avocabatur , & ludus in artem paulatim verterat , juventus histrionibus fabellarum actu relictu , ipsa inter se more antiquo ridicula intexta versibus jactitare caepit , quae inde exodia postea appellata , conserta● ; fabellis potissimum atellanis sunt , quod genus ludorum ab oscis acceptum tenuit juventus : nec ab histrionibus pollui passa est . eo institutum manet , ut actores atellauarum nec tri●a moveantur , & stipendia tanquam expertes artis ludicrae faciant . dec. 1. l. 7. ancient romans an unrefined people . * virtus superstitione animis ludi quoque scenici nova res bellico●o populo , instituti dicuntu● . et ea ipsa percgrina res suit . ludiones ex hetruria acciti . ibid. * imitari deinde eos juventus , simul inconditis inter se jocularia fundentes versibus , cepere . ib. acting of plays first left off by the roman youth , because of the difficulty . † vernaculis artifiribus . ib. histrio●e● , who so called . * vernaculis artisicibus , 〈◊〉 hister 〈…〉 ibid. * postquam lege conjectural reason why players were noted with inf●my . two sins most probable . drama at first necessitated to use the actors of the ludi scenic● the actors of tragedy and comedy , therefore only call'd histriones . * praetorian edict . † infamia notatur qui artis iudicae , pronunciandive causa in scenam prodierit . scena est , ut labeo definit quae ludorum faciendorum causa quolibet loco , ubi quis consistat , moveaturque spectaculum sui praebiturus , posita est . l. 1. & 2. f. de iis qui notantur infamia . labeo's position shews the intent of that edict mr coll●ers disingenuity in this point . the roman censure extended only to the mercenary actors as such . * eos enim qui quaestus causa in certamina descendunt , & omnes propter praemium in scenam prodeunres , famofos esse pegasus , & nerva filius responderunt . l. 2. de iis qui notantur infamia . scipio and ●●lius writers to the stage , ●r assisting to it . julius and augustus caesar , and seneca , &c. * in meridianum spectaculumincidi lusus spectans , & sa●les , & aliquid laxamenti epist . 7. law of the theodosian code considered . p. 241. * in loco honesto . * siqua in publicis porticibus , vel in his civitatum locis , in quibus nostrae solent imagines consecrari pictura ●●●cmimum vest● hum●●i , & rugosis sinubus agitatorem , aut vilem offerat histrionem , illico revellatur : neque unquam , post hac liceat in loco honesto personas in honestas ad no●are . in aditu vero circi , vel in theatri prosceniis ut collocentur , non vetamus , l. siqua . cod. de spectac . meaning of the theodosian law. parallel instances . authori●ies from the councils already answere●d . quarrel to the stage unjust . p. 277. ancient stage infinitely more scandalous , and lewd than the modern . stage dancing as now practiced inoffensive to modesty . p. 277. mr coll's notion of the extravagant power of musick ridiculous . collier's moral essay vol. 2d p 21 ib. p. 22. moral essay vol. 2. p. 21. power of musick owing to contingent circumstances . influence of sounds indeterminate . p. 279. p. 280. p. 179. the author a platonist . moral essay , vol. 2. p. 23. not acquainted with the subject he treats of . p. 278. p. 278. ibid. his charge rash . comparative morality of the vocal music of the antient and modern stages . p. 280. antient vocal musick . chorus , its office . their mi●i . p. 281. his objections from the topick of love , a declamatory rant . p. 282. meer frenzy . p. 283. revenge not encouraged by the stage . instance in the mourning bride . passion not proper in comedy . love , jealousie , &c. how to be used in comedy . hor. art. poet. exposition of horace's observation . instance from terence ex * hic , ita ut liberos est 〈…〉 contutabitur . sed syrum — si vivo adeo exornatum dabo , adeo depexum , ut dum vivat meminerit semper mei : qui sibi me pro ridiculo , ac delectamento putat . non ( ita me dio ament ) auderet facere haec viduae mulieri , quae in me fecit . p. 283. tragedy in the judgment of aristotle . arist . p●et . lib. cap. 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . p. 283. du●●g and rencounters against the nature and laws of comedy . duel in love in a tub , against the rules of comedy . comick poet obliged to draw according to nature . collier's moral e●say about duelling . no breach of morality without offending against the laws of the stage . p. 1. mr collier in his end of stage poetry . mistaken in his method of prosecuting that end . morals of a play wherin shewn . poet. c. 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . folly and knavery , the subjects of comedy . de art. poet. praef. pag. 1 , 2. mr. collier's character of the ancient poets invidious . fable the principal part of a play. fable of the oedipus of sophocles . piety of oedipus . sophocl . oedip. tyrann . oedipus ' proclamation . 〈…〉 . moral of the english oedipus the same . meerly speculative . not very natural . oed p. 39. oed. p. 33. proper moral . moral of seneca seneca the philosopher suppos'd the author . his morals neglected by the authors of the english oedipus . preface to oedip. senec. oedip. p. 107. summ of seneca's moral . oedipus's justification of himself . harmony of the greek , roman , and english authors . levity of fortune not the occasion of the fall of oedipus . opposition of providence . presumption of laius . another moral . presumption of oedipus . oedipus in sophocles , and the rest of the tragedians a predestinarian . french moral . n●cromancy a●d all sorts of divin●tion allowed by the religion of the heathens . conjecture at the reasons that induc'd the authors of the english oedipus to prefer the greek moral to the latine . seneca's moral 〈◊〉 proper for the english stage . greek and roman moral unservi●●● to virtue . p. 28 oedipus , why so mi●●●ly examined . fable of of ajax flagelli●er . moral somewhat obscare . moral . 2d moral . moral of the author not arising naturally from the action . 2d moral not very natural . fable of the electra . moral . fable of the antigone . moral . oedipus coloneus . fable of oedipus coloneus no moral . trachiniae its fable . moral of sophocles . * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which signifies folly or injustice . philoctetes , the fable . no moral . speech of hercules not pertinent to the action . p. 93. ibid. art. poet. cap. xiii . character of the plays of euripides in general . fable of the orestes characters all vicious . not of a piece all through . moral . * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . media , &c. fable of the hippolitus . ion a moral tragedy . remarques surle xix chapitre de la poetique d' aristote . fable of ion precedent to the action . fable commencing with the action . main condition of moral tragedy neglected in this . creasa's a wicked character . ion's character indifferent . of no service to morality . hercules furens compar'd with the trachiniae of sophocles . character of aeschylus . edit . hen. steph. his prometheus immoral . jupiter abus'd by the poet under the persons of power and force . the abuse back● 〈◊〉 vulcan . deficiency of the greek tragedy . tragedy at rome . bo row'd from the greeks . seneca the philosopher suppos'd the author of ' em . seneca udjustly aspers'd by mr collier . p. 94. seneca careless of poetick justice . ajax and oileus . an improper instance of it . seneca limited by precedent . hippolytus of seneca examined . more artificial than the hippolytus of euripides . the moral . the rest chose copies from the greek . octavia illcontriv'd and insipid . general reflections on the ancient tragedy . aristotle's division of tragedy . moral plays not much encouraged at athens . alcestis of euripides a moral tragedy . antients careless of the general moral of the plays . consequence of mr collier's loose way of writing . turn'd upon the ancients . p. 286. socrates by this means condemned . aeschylus arraign'd by mr collier's precedent . sophocles p. 28● . extravagance of this way of declaiming . * an island famous for plenty of hellebore , used in the cure of madness . shakespear preferr'd to all the rest of the english dramatics . censure of hamlet unjust . fable of hamlet , before the commencement of the action . fable after the action commences . poetick justice exactly observed in this play. moral of hamlet . tragedies of this author generally moral . the orphan . the moral good . mr collier's zeal for the pagan priesthood injurious to the christian ministry . don sebastian a religious play. reason of mr collier's ●ua●rel to the cleomenes . mor●l wanting to the cleomenes . m●●al●● ference . the poet too faithful to the history . mourning bride . fable very just and regular . moral excellent . advantages of the moderns over the antients in the morals of their fables . providence not employed to promote villany . nor to oppress virtue . nor to protect malefactors . modern poets more religious than the antients . the fable of the poets disposal . characters and expressions not so . the fable if any , the evidence of the poets ●●nion . mr collier's a false , and perverse measure . the fable the engine of greatest and most secret execution upon the audience . p. 95. not abused to any ill end by our poets . apology for the antients . moral plays not esteem'd at athens . moral and pathetick reconciled , and united by the moderns . poetick justice neglected by the antients in general . * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . monsi●ur dacier's exception ●●o monsi●ur corneille answered . po●t●ck justice a ●●odern ●●vention . modern stage on this account pr●f-rable of the antient . fable of comedy 〈◊〉 in comedy the action and persons l●w . the correction of folly the proper business of comedy perfect virtue excluded the comick stage . some infirmity required to qualifie a character for comedy . ne gentlemen but men of pleasure sit for comedy . comick poetry and droll painting compar'd . such characters real and common . mr collier's mistake concerning the nature of comedy . heads of mr collier's charge against english cody . his first article examined . this rule repugnant to the nature of comedy . reason why . indulgence of plautus and terence to vicious young people misplaced by mr collier . p. 149. plautus and terence faithful copyers from nature . opinion of horace enquir'd into . p. 149. art. poet. this not a bare character but a rule . p. 149. sense of horace in this place mistaken or perverted by mr collier . parity of reasoning betwixt mr prynn and mr collier . another outrage to horace . art. p●●t . use of a chorus according to horace . objection . mr collier's answer . reply to mr collier's answer . art. poet. chorus in old comedy . plutus of aristophanes . p. 150. double mistake of mr collier . by this the plutus old comedy . fable of old comedy of what kind . characters of cratinus , eupolis , and aristophanes how differenc'd . new comedy how differing from the old. plutus not new comedy . satire of the old comedy particular . of the new general . arisstophanes the bginner of the middle comedy . no chorus in the plutus . office of the chorus in comedy . the parts essential to a chorus omitted in the flutus . * etiam in ●jusdem pluto chori desiderantur , quod & alibi monebamus : ita tamen ut non omissus , sed exemptus videatur . poetic . lib. 1. cap. viii . unconc●●●● inf●r●nce from aristotle . p. 150. silence of aristotle no argument in this case reason of aristotle's silence in this point . his account of the rise of the drama . cap. 4. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . progress of comedy 〈◊〉 . brevity of aristotle . cap. 4. a particular treatise of comedy written by aristotle , but lost . chorus not used in the new comedy . chorus altogether improper for the comick stage in england . used at puppet shews . function assigned the chorus by mr collier . original errour of mr collier . loose characters in comedy no encouragement to debauchery . ridiculous fear if mr collier . theatres wrongfully accused by him . sense of horace again perverted . p. 151 hor. art. poet. ibid. this advice political , not moral . manners here signified poetical not mor●● mr collier's description of poetical manners p. 165. def●ctive and esiv●cal . aristotle's description . * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . hor. art. poet. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . propriety of manners requir'd wherein it consists . similitude of manners hor. art. poet. equality of manners what . art. poet. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . faults of characters what . faults of expression manifold . some heads of mr collier's charge . p. 8 , 9 , 12. this point mistaken . faults of particular no reflection upon the sex in general . universals and individuals improper characters . what characters proper two sorts of resemblances in poetry . quality no just reason for exemption . mr collier's collect in from the antients very loosely made . objection to ophelia . character of ophelia . objection groundless & friv . ●o● . ● . mad song . ●oolish but ●●ffensive . antients more faulty then this . instance in the antigone of sophocles . instance in electra of the same author . p. 35. antigone in sophocles not so nice . casandra not so nice as mr collier pretends . e●travagance of casandra . indecency again●● character . misbehaviour of hecuba . love and t●nderness used by the moderns . lust and violence by the antients . numerous instances of this kind to be found in euripides . some referr'd to . seneca examin'd upon this article . miscarriage of phaedra . modesty of lycus consider . references to other instances . these faults less pardonable in tragedy , than comedy . slaves th● top charact●rs of the roman comedy . very little variety in th●●●r plots . greater liberty taken by aristophanes . aristophanes whether an atheist or not 〈◊〉 to the purpose . this argument considered . rigour of the athenians to socrates a sort of acqui●ment of aristophanes . mr collier's ●o proof of 〈◊〉 assertion . the opinion of the man not measured by the expressions of the poet at athens liberties of plautus greater than those of the english stage . p. 15. instances from the amphi●●io . remarkable circumstances of this passage . the disguise under which mercury appears no excuse for his misbehaviour . jupiter not more modest . instances from the asinaria . instance of singular morality . plautus's lovers more active than talkative . instanced from the curtulio . comparative modesty of the virgins of the antient stage hence to be observed . mr collier's own exceptions taken notice of . p. 17. his instance in olympio grosly mistaken or misrepresented . casina act 5 scen. 2. in●●ance from the as●naria . slaves not the only off●nders of this kind in plautus . miles glo●iosus . 〈…〉 logues and ●pilogues no● always ●noff●ns●● . p 17. this prov'd from the epilogue to the casina . epilogue to the asinaria an encouragement to lewdness . captivi . epilogue to the captivi . complaint of the abuse of the clergy not well grounded . their relation to the deity to considered . p. 127. 128. personal representation of deity absurd . the power of the church not lodged with the priest . mission of st. paul , and the apostles what and how circumstantiated . difference betwixt their commission and that of the present ministry . importance of their office no exemption . some faults not cognizable by the ordinary . priests not misrepresented unless faultless . his plea from prescription examined . instance to the contrary from sophocles . ajax flagellifer . oedipus tyrannus . antigone . eurip●des not mo●e tender of priests . iphigenia in aulid ▪ . ibidem . s●neca meddles little with 〈◊〉 . ajex an●igone and ph●●octetes . euripides and seneca full of prophane expressions . hecuba . ibidem . orestes . ibidem . ibidem . troades . cyclops . ion. troas . rude treatment of the nobility a false charge . love's kingdom a pastoral trage-comedy : not as it was acted at the theatre near lincolns-inn, but as it was written, and since corrected / by richard flecknoe ; with a short treatise of the english stage, &c. by the same author. flecknoe, richard, d. 1678? this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a39719 of text r14723 in the english short title catalog (wing f1229). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish.this text has not been fully proofread approx. 150 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 52 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a39719 wing f1229 estc r14723 12207439 ocm 12207439 56202

this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission.

early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a39719) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 56202) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 915:3) love's kingdom a pastoral trage-comedy : not as it was acted at the theatre near lincolns-inn, but as it was written, and since corrected / by richard flecknoe ; with a short treatise of the english stage, &c. by the same author. flecknoe, richard, d. 1678? [8], 81, [14] p. printed by r. wood for the author, london : 1664. reproduction of original in huntington library. an alteration of the author's love's dominion. "a short discourse of the english stage": p. [4]-[14]
eng theater -great britain -history. shcnolove's kingdomflecknoe, richard16642333616000006.86b the rate of 6.86 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the b category of texts with fewer than 10 defects per 10,000 words. 2003-08 assigned for keying and markup 2003-08 keyed and coded from proquest page images 2003-09 sampled and proofread 2003-09 text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-10 batch review (qc) and xml conversion

love's kingdom .

a pastoral trage-comedy .

not as it was acted at the theatre near lincolns-inn , but as it was written , and since corrected

by richard flecknoe .

with a short treatise of the english stage , &c , by the same author .

london , printed by r. wood for the author , 1664.

licensed ,

april 22 , 1664. roger l' estrange .
to his excellence , william , lord marquess of newcastle . my noble lord ,

the people , who ( as one sayes well ) are iudges without iudgement , and authors without authority , had condemn'd this play on the stage , for want of being rightly represented unto them ; at which , many noble persons were so much offended , as i could not in any one act do it more right , or give them more satisfaction , then by printing it , to shew its innocence . as it is , it has had the honour to have been approv'd by most of the better and wiser sort ; and if your excellence but adde unto it your approbation , i desire no more . it wants much of the ornament of the stage , but thã¢t by a lively imagination may easily be supplyed : for my part , unless it may be presented as i writ it , and as i intended it , i had rather it shu'd be read then acted , and have the world for theatre , rather then the stage .

having said thus much by way of prologue , i leave you to the play , remaining alwayes ,

your excellencies most humble , and most devoted servant , richard flecknoe .
to the noble readers .

to think to write without faults , is to think to peel a bulbus root to the last rinde , or sweep an earthen floor to the last grain of dust ; and 't is hãªre , as in the mint , where if the dross exceed not the pure or , it passes for currant coin. the greatest fault in this kinde of writing , is to erre agã¢inst art and decorum , of which i hope this play is free ; who findes fault with the mirth in it , never consider how here with us , mirth in playes of this kinde is like alloy in coin , which though it abases it , yet makes it more passible . for the rhyme , 't is more excusable in pastorals , then in other playes ; and where i leave the rhyme or numbers , i imagin'd , that as a good actor was like a good singer , so a good play was like a good song ; where 't is not necessary all notes shu'd be of an equal length . for the plot 't is neat and handsome , and the language soft and gentle , suitable to the persons who speak , neither on the ground , nor in the clouds ; but just like the stage , somewhat elevated above the common . in neither , no stifness , and ( i hope ) no impertinence nor extravagance ; into which , your young writers are apt to run ; who whilst they know not well what to do , and are anxious to do enough , most commonly overdo . those who think it so easie now to make a good play , will tell me some twenty years hence how hard it is ; when they will finde that 't is not a good humor or two in a comedy will do it , ( which are good supports 't is true ; but to think they will make a play , is to think a pillar or two sufficient to make a house ) nor the writing a fine copy of verses or two , sufficient to make a tragedy , or trage-comedy ; but there must go a genius as well as ingenium to 't , with long exercise and experience . but to leave their playes , and return to ours ; if you like it for whom i writ it , i have my end , which was onely in an innocent and harmless way , to divert my self and you .

the persons represented . the prologue spoken by venus from the clouds theotimus , loves arch-flamin , and governour of cyprus . polydor , loves inquisitor . diophantes , one of the advocates of loves court. palemon , a noble cypriot in love with bellinda , and lov'd by filena . evander , a stranger come to loves kingdom on devotion . pamphilus . a vicious young fellow , stranger to love's kingdom , and imagining all as vicious as himself . philander , a noble cretian , & bellinda's betroth'd bellinda , a noble cretian nymph , stranger in love's kingdom . filena , a noble cyprian nymph . amaranthe , governess of the nymphs . cloria , mellissa , lydia , with others . nymphs of cyprus . chorus � of musicians , and young virgins . 2 aruspices . love's sacrificators . the popa , or sacred executioner . guards , &c. the scene , cyprus , with all the rules of time and place so exactly observ'd , as whilst for time 't is all compriz'd in as few hours as there are acts ; for place , it never goes out of the view or prospect of loves temple .
the prologue . spoken by venus from the clouds . if ever you have heard of venus name , goddess of beauty , i that venus am ; who have to day descended from my sphere , to welcome you unto love's kingdom here ; or rather to my sphere am come , since i am present no where more , nor in the sky ; nor any island in the world , then this , that wholly from the world divided is : for cupid , you behold him here in me , ( for there where beauty is , love needs must be ) or you may yet more easily descry him 'mong the ladies in each beauteous eye ; and 'mongst the gallants , may as easily trace him to their bosoms , from each beauteous face . may then fair ladies you , finde all your servants true ; and gallants , may you finde the ladies all as kinde , as by your noble favours you declare how much you friends unto love's kingdom are ; of which your selves compose so great a part in your fair eyes , and in your loving heart .
love's kingdom .
actus primus . enter evander and pamphilus . the scene , a delightful landskip or paisage . evander .

is 't not a pleasant place ?

pamph. as e're i saw ; but i can see no wenches yet , and that i long for . ev.

why ?

pam. what a question 's that ? why do the hungry long for meat i pray ? ev. then i perceive you are an epicure in love , and onely wo'd feed your body . pam. i am no platonick philosopher , who while they feed their mindes , do starve themselves ; give me a love that ha's some substance in it . ev. well , this is no time for to convert you ; behold some coming here . enter a troop of nymphs and shepherds , singing and dancing hand in hand .
the song . come , and in this pleasant grove , sacred to the queen of love , let our voices and our feet in harmonious number meet ; thus we sing the year throughout , and merrily , merrily dance about .
�xeunt . ev. o happy land ! of all the sun surveys , where thus perpetually they pass their dayes ; and if onely a living death it be , or dying life to live in misery ; seeing their joyful lives , we well may say , in all the world there are none live but they . pa. they 're dainty wenches i le say that for them , and i must needs follow them . ev.

nay prethee .

pam. never talk of it , i can hold no more then a good greyhound when he sees the hare , or hawk the quarry ; it is all my sport and inclination , and by their mirth and jollity i know they 're right , and of the game . ev. there 's your errour and ignorance now , who do not know , how true vertue is a chearful thing , rendring its favourites and followers far more chearful too , more vertuous they are . pam. hang vertue ! i know no chearfulness but laughing , and i 'me sure all the nymphs here are as supple and pliant as kids-leather gloves , a gentle pluck or two will easily draw them on . ev. how know you that ? who came but yesternight a stranger hither . pam. and how know you the contrary ? who came but hither yesternight along with me ? let it suffice i know all women by instinct ; and is not this love's kingdom ? answer me to that . ev.

well , what then ?

pam. why then i am in mine , for i 'me the loving'st creature ( thou doest not know me yet ) i tell thee i was such a forward childe , i fell in love with my nurse in the very cradle ; and they were forc't to wean me , for fear of spoiling her milk . ev. a great deflowrer of nurses it seems you are but had you not better tarry till diophantes comes , who ha's promis'd to be our guide , and instruct us in their manners and customs here ? pam. tarry you for him if you please , my busines can best be dispatcht alone , and i need no tutors nor conductors for 't . i thank you . ev. well , thank your self if any harm come of it . pam. no harm i 'le warrant you , but rather good , the good of posterity , whose business i am going about ; and methinks i hear the children yet unborn , crying out unto me to make haste , and so i will my little pretty sweet babes . exit . ev. what a wild fellow 's this ? i 'm sorry & asham'd ( now i know him better ) that i came along with him to cyprus here ; who knows no more of love then beasts do � and 's so bravely impudent and vicious , he puts vice & impudence to the extreamest proof and shames not to be impudent enough : but here comes diophantes . enter diophantes . dio. noble evander , i must demand your pardon if i instead of waiting on you , have made you wait for me ; but i am advocate in love's court you know , where so many petty quarrels of lovers are daily to be reconcil'd . w � ave scarcely any vacancy at all , nor had we dispatcht so soon to day , but for the grand solemnity i' th' temple . ev.

what 's that i pray ?

dio. why , 't is the anniversary feast of venus , our sea-born goddesses first arrival here upon the cyprian shore . ev. and with good reason you celebrate that with all solemnity , that renders you so famous through all the world . di. and to add to th' general solemnity o th' day there 's a particular ceremony too renders it more solemn . ev.

what ?

dio. why , you must know that all strangers by th' laws of cyprus here are after three moneths residence to swear they love some one i th' isle , or else be banisht ; now sir , three moneths to day are just expir'd , since there arriv'd a nymph the most admir'd , and most deserving admiration , as ever in love's kingdom yet was known ; and whether she 'l take the solemn oath or no , onely her self and the deity do know ; for to all else 't is doubtful . ev. can it be doubted that any here sho'd love , where they are all born and bred lovers ; the very air inspires it , and 't is as natural for them to love , as 't is to live and breath . dio. true sir , but for our admiration the gods work miracles sometimes , and she is one ; but where 's your friend pamphilus ? ev. rambled somewhere abroad , i know not whither . dio. of what humour , i pray , and disposition is he ? ev.

why , harmless and merry , only a little wilde

dio. he thinks perhaps our nymphs are wanton here ; but sir , i can assure you they are all so chaste and pure , as christal you wo'd say is not more pure , nor ice more clear then they ; and for the land , know sir , in all the spacious world there 's not a more religious place , where love with greater purity is profest , nor serv'd and honour'd with more pious breast . ev. i 've understood so much , and therefore come expresly hither on devotion , to render my vows & off'rings at his sacred shrine dio. i applaud you for 't , and may the powers divine for every prayer that you send up to them , send you as many blessings down agen . ev.

soft ! who are those come here ?

dio. oh now you 'l see a noble ceremony and solemnity . enter theotimus with assistants of loves sacrifiâ��ators , with asperges and thuribles besprinkling and incensing the place . the. far hence be all profane , whilst here with solemn rites thus every year , to render all our lovers true , we element love's kingdom new ; that no heart may too strongly beat , we give its fires a temperate heat ; we give its waters vertuous force , to swage them ( taken in their source ) fogs of perjur'd vows and oaths , which spotless truth and candour loaths , we purge the air from , and the earth from every strange and monstrous birth : for as some lands their monsters fear , lust onely is our monster here ; as others pois'nous beasts molest , so avarice is our pois'nous beast : from which when once a land is freed , then , thãªn love's kingdom 't is indeed . exeunt manent evander & diophontes . ev.

a ceremony as religious as great !

di. y'admire too soon , & have seen nothing yet , if but compar'd to what you 'l see anon , worthy your sight and admiration . exeunt . enter palemon in desperate action , withheld by polydor. pol.

you wo'nt be mad ?

pal. i will be nothing but for love , and for love i will be any thing ; � pray unhand me : � shall bellinda , the divine bellinda be banisht hence to day , and shall palemon see it , and shall he live ? pol. and shall the gallant and the brave palemon dye onely for fear of death ? how low � and poorly wo'd it shew ! and that 's the worst ; but i hope better still : venus the goddess of this isle has oft done greater miracles then this , to make one young and fair to love . pal. o polydor ! who has miracles for hopes , has hopes too nigh despair . pol. i grant you , but yours are far from that ; � for ha's she not promis'd , if any i' th' isle she loves , it shall be you : and is this no hope ? no comfort ? pal. just as much as 'mong the numerous and unhappy throng of her excluded lovers to stand next the door , first expos'd to the affront , and nighest concern'd in the disgrace . pol. nay , if you give your self despair , 't is in vain to give you hope ; suppose the worst : if you love fair bellinda , as you say , and she perchance be banisht hence today , what hinders you from following her ? vainly and ridiculously does he complain of winter , who by following the sun might still enjoy the spring � pal. i , � but following an ecclipsed sun , what shu'd he gain by it , but onely by that fatal light to have every thing appear more sad and dismal then if it absent were ? pol. well , though it seem more to be wisht then hop'd , that she shu'd love you ; yet take this from me , your nymphs are bashful , and so cautious too , they will not seem to love , although they do : and 'twod appear a miracle to me , she shu'd not feel love who makes so many feel it ; or that her heart shu'd resist that alone , was never yet resisted by any one : � but there 's i fear some farther misery in 't , and the gods are highly offended w' ye , or they 'd ne're inflict on you as they do so heavy a punishment to love one , who neglects you ; and the while , to neglect one so dearly loves ye , and see where she does come . enter filena . fi. where shu'd this nymph be ? she 's not at home , nor in the sacred grove ; and 't is too soon to go to th' temple yet . pol.

well , i 'le leave you .

pal. what , will you go and leave me alone then ? pol.

how can i leave you better accompanied ?

pal.

in company of one i hate !

pol. in company of one who dearly loves you , and for your hate to her in these pretty skirmishes , there is no fear of danger ; for now y' are foes , and then the peace is made , and you are friends agen , and so i leave you . exit . pal. what shall i do ? she has spy'd me , and there 's no avoiding her ; i 'de best dissemble then , and by one importunity avoid another : � gentle filena , well met . fi. kinde looks aside . that guild the sun-shine , as that guilds the day : kinde words , whose ravishing sweetness melts into my heart at sun-shine of those looks of his ; how i 'me o'rejoyed with them ! pal.

i have a suit unto you .

fi.

and i another to you .

pal. to me ! fye , fye , nymphs sue to men ! fi. why , not palemon here , where love 's not onely love , but vertue too ; it no wayes misbeseems a nymph to wooe : � but what 's your suit ? you may be sure that i am too much yours ( palemon ) to deny you any thing . pal. you know filena , how much i love bellinda , and how much i long to know if she loves me , which you can tell me best , are confident of all the secrets of her breast . fi. some secrets she confides to me 't is true , but of her love i know no more then you ; for that 's a warfare where each one 's a spy , and every rival is an enemy : she 'd ne're trust me with 't then , whom she does know am both a lover , and her rival too . pal. howe're filena , you do know at least those softer minuts , when nymphs minds are best dispos'd for the impressions of love ; in one of those then prethee do but move my suit unto her , especially before she goes to th' temple , when she must needs be more dispos'd then ever , and thou shu'dst infinitely oblige me by so dear a courtesie . d' ye hear ? fi.

i do , and will you hear me now ?

pal. if y 'ave any new thing to say i will , but of old businesses i pray no more . fi.

that can't be old that 's every day renew'd .

pal. and how can that be new i pray , that needs renovation every day ? but of this enough : � prethee filena go , and if you love me as you say you do ; know now 's best time to shew 't , for love's best shown , by doing their wills we love before our own . fi. well then , to shew how much , how dearly i love you , i will go ; and though love a burthen be , which two hearts equally shu'd bear , and then 't is sweet and light : but when once all the weight lyes upon one alone , a grievous and intollerable one : my heart shall bear it yet , and ne're repine , or else i 'le not acknowledge it to be mine . pal.

that 's bravely and nobly resolv'd .

fi.

but is there no hope , no pitty for filena ?

pal. to deal ingeniously w' ye , and not abuse you with civility , there 's pitty , but no hope ; for bellinda has all my stock of love , and consequently for loving any other has rendred me so poor , as i can dye , but i can love no more . fi. since you are so resolv'd , palemon know , filena too can dye as well as you ; and be assur'd that the same messenger brings news palemon does bellinda wed , shall carry back the news , filena's dead . pal. soft , soft filena , for i 'de have you know , to th' thing call'd dying there goes more then so ; and every coward is valiant enough to talk of death , but when it comes to th' proof , their hearts do fail , as yours no doubt will too , wherefore dear filena i 'le be gone , and shall not fear to leave you here alone . spoken scornfully . �xit . fi. cruel palemon ! is 't not enough , that thou refusest me , but thou must scorn me too ? this is not to be endur'd ! one nobly born can better suffer injury then scorn ; but what do i say wretch as i am , or how com these high thoughts in one that 's faln so low : i 'me now engag'd , what ever does befall , � and those who are slaves to love must suffer all . exit . enter pamphilus , looking after her . pam. hey ! whurr ! there boults another wench , the warren's all full of them , and i , like a good tumbler , am ready to throw my self after every one : � and see here coms another ! & alone too ? enter amarantha . this opportunity is the shell that love is hatched of , and the nymphs here just like young lapwings run away with 't on their heads ; you shall see how i 'le accoast her now . � fair nymph , might i be so bold i pray , to request the time o' th' day of you ? am. oh sir , with all my heart , it shall be any time o th' day you please for me , i 'le not stick w' ye for half an hour or so . pa. lo ye there now ! there 's ne're a sextons wife in all cyprus co'd answer ye more courteously : a kinde wench i 'le warrant her ; � let 's see what 's next now ? pox on 't , i better know what to do with wenches then what to say to them ; and we complementers of the first head , when w' are past our legs & faces are past the greatest part of our discourse : � it shall be so , and how have you done i faith , since i saw you last ? am. right and methodical ! how d' ye ? and what 's a clock ? i 'le wager now next is , what news ? or somewhat about the weather the ordinary discourse of those who can discourse of nothing , � and when was 't i pray you saw me last ? pam. why , in plato's great year , don't you remember it ? i do as perfectly as if 't were but to day ; by the same token , meeting you just as i do now , i took you by the hand , and kissing it , led you just into such another grove as this . am. just no such matter : pray stay a little , sure you don't remember well . pam. most perfectly , by the same token i saluted you too . she puts him by . am. i knew you were quite wide , not me i 'le assure you . pam.

you can't deny 't i 'me sure .

am.

indeed sir but i can .

pam. and thereupon i told you , that having so fair opportunity ; but lose it , you 'd never have the like agen . am.

opportunity for what ?

pam. nay , if you know not that , we shal never have done ; � com leave dissembling i know you nymphs here are all so learned , as your husbands can teach you nothing on the marriage-night , but what you knew before . am. bless me ! i never heard man talk thus wildely ! pam. and how first time you went abroad after fifteen , when you return'd agen , you found y 'ad left your gloves , handkercher , and maidenhead , with some such odd toyes behinde you . am. wilder and wilder still ! i begin to be , afraid of him , pray let me go ; is this discourse for maids ? pam. i , as good a milkmaid as my nurse i 'le warrant you ; � but stay , she may be one perhaps , and that 't is makes her so shie and timerous , for maids apprehend the loss of a maidenhead as fearfully , as the loss of an arm or leg , and imagine they shall be maim'd forever after . � come , come , ne're fear , i perswade you to nothing but what i will do w' ye my self for company . am. i 'me more and more afeard of him , i wo'd some body wo'd come to rid me of him , and see in happy time here 's some , and yonder 's more : now i may be some pass over the stage . as merry with him , as he ha's been with me : � cry mercy sir , now i remember this plato's great year you talk of as perfectly pam. oh do you so ! i knew you could not forget it . am. by the same token theotimus chief governour of the isle past by with a numerous train just as we were alone together . pam.

yonder i think he comes indeed .

am.

when i made bold to ask you one question sir ,

pam.

what was that ?

am.

why , whether you lov'd dancing or no ?

ham.

oh exceedingly .

am. right , so you told me ; and thereupon i said he 'd help you then to a certain spritely instrument to dance after call'd a whip , a whip ; d' ye hear sir , worth a hundred of your kits and violins , to make such gallants as your self to frisk and caper . pam. umh ! i remember nothing of all this now , but be shrew me next plato's great year i fear � i shall indeed , ' less i get me gone the sooner . am. nay , hark ye , hark ye sir , pray don't go yet ; now i remember me i can tell ye what time o' th' day 't is too . pam. as for that , i know it now i thank you , it is time for me to get me gone , as i take it . exit . am. why then farewel my platonick philosopher , and anteplatonick lover . enter theotimus , chorus of musicians , and young virgins , polydor , evander , diophantes , palemon , &c. the song sung by a bass , tenor , and treble . chorus sings .

prais'd be the deities above !

ten.

we love .

bass.

we lov'd .

treb.

and we shall love .

cho. o ye blest immortal powers ! grant this happy land of ours

1. pure fires , 2. pure fewel ,

cho. all things pure , and that our flames may ever dure . the. now children , in a word to tell , what noble love is , ( mark me well ) it is the counterpoise that mindes to fair and vertuous things inclines ; it is the gust we have , and sence , of every noble excellence ; it is the pulse , by which we know whether our souls have life or no ; and such a soft and gentle fire , as kindles and inflames desire , until it all like incense burns , and unto melting sweetness turns . ev. whose heart melts not within his breast at hearing this ? the.

who 's that ?

dio. a noble stranger come hither on devotion unto love's sacred shrine . the.

he 's welcome .

evan. kisses his hands . pal. somewhat more then this to boo't , by experience i can adde unto 't ; love is a union of all we happy and unhappy call ; a mixture where together meet both pleasing pain , and bitter sweet ; the greatest joy and greatest woe a mortal breast can ever know , to shew its great disparity in fair bellinda and in me ; in her face 't is a paradice , where all delicious pleasure lies , and in my heart it is a hell , where all your worst of torments dwell . th. once more y' are welcom � now set forwards and with all the pomp and ceremony you may proceed to celebration of the day . exeunt . manent theotimus and polydor. the. polydor , stay you , you 're loves inquisitor ; look well unto your charge , we hear there are ( besides atheists , who impious deny love's sacred power and authority ; and libertines , whose vicious lives are such , as they profane the deity as much ) new heresies in love sprung up of late , platonicks , scepticks , dangerous to the state ; e're they take deeper root , and farther spread , be it your care to see 'um extirpated . pol.

it shall , most reverend sir.

the. other abuses there are beside , 'gainst which we must most carefully provide ; as talking of cupid so familiarly , as if he were some vulgar deity ; and making love the business and employ of every idle girle , and wanton boy ; taking of every fond desire for it , whilst difference 'twixt them is as infinite , as 'twixt folly and wisdom , vertue and vice , or deep abyss , and highest paradice . � this must be lookt unto . pol.

as 't is most fit .

the.

is the nymph summon'd to the temple yet ?

pol.

't is not time yet till the sixth hour be past

the. when 't is , be it your care to summon her , and see that all be ready for the solemnity : � this day peculiarly love is thine , work miracles , and shew thy self divine . finis actus primi .
actus 2. bellinda sola . the scene , a wood or boscage . bellinda . ye aged oaks , the semi-gods abodes , and who your selves in ancient times were gods � and solitary woods , whose walks and shade lovers so oft their confidents have made , whilst never did your walks nor shades disclose either a lovers joyes , or lovers woes : you i dare trust with secrets , which i ne're durst trust with any since my coming here : i love , � but oh! if any list'ning ear shu'd have o'reheard me now , as 't is my fear ! and see where this inquisitive nymph do's come ? wo'd she were deaf , or else that i 'de been dumb . enter filena . fi. i faith , i faith . i 'me glad i 've found you . bell.

why ?

fi.

for now 't is clear you love .

bell. how so ? � 't is as i fear'd , she has o'reheard me . aside . fi.

these very trees and woods declare it .

aside . bel. ay me ! this 't is to trust ones minde with trees , whose leaves whisper with every wind ; with woods , whose very walks & shades have ears , and babbling eccho that tells all it hears . fi. she fears , 't is a good sign , i le urge her further � your solitude and retirement too confirms it ; for no nymph here retir'd from company ever walks alone ; but love is still gentle companion of her solitary thoughts . bell.

if that be all , 't is well .

aside . fi. and why shu'd you with so much caution now conceal this from me ? as i did not know how love did all things out of chaos make , and all to chaos wo'd agen turn back : if all things did not love , from gods and men to senseless and inanimate things agen ; and what a monster shu'd bellinda prove , if onely she of all things did not love ? bel. of all the nymphs that ever spoke with tongue , this nymph has magick i must bless me from ! fi. where is the friendship y've so long profest to make me such a stranger to your breast ? bel. trust me dear friend , if what you say be true , i am more stranger to my breast then you . fi.

see how you blush now when you tell me so !

bel. ay me ! mine own blushes betray me too ! what is it can be secret in a lover , when even their blushes do their loves discover ? fi. what and sigh too ! nay then you love , 't is clear ; for , but for love , none ever sighed here . bel. my sighs betray me too ! how many traytors have lovers about them ? aside . fi. but why shu'd yã´u sigh ! you live happily ; and sighs are for the miserable , such as i : â�� palemon loves yã´u , and so loves you too , as he even pines away for love of you ; consumes with grief , languishes with despair , melts into tears , and sighs himself to air ; faith , give him some comfort e're you go unto the temple , sweet bellinda do ; poor youth , he 's in so desperate estate , i fear , lest after it may come too late . bel. what greater comfort can he expect of me , then that , if any i' th' isle i love , 't is he ? fi. poor comfort , that it shall be him alone , if any i' th' isle you love , if you love none ; this is to mock his hopes ; and they deny rather then grant , who promise doubtfully . bell. more ( filena ) i neither will nor can give him , until i go to th' temple anon , and there consult the gods what i shu'd do . fi. consult your own thoughts rather , and your minde . bell. 't is not easie as you think to finde the source and origin of our thoughts and minde ; of which t'one is so deep , t'other so high , as there are opticks made to pierce the sky , plummets to sound the bottom o' th' ocean ; but for to pierce and sound a heart there 's none . within . bellinda , bellinda . enter polydor. bell.

here ! who calls ?

pol.

't is i.

fi. gentle polydor , what news from th' temple w' ye ? pol. nothing , but onely all 's prepared there for th' grand solemnity , and onely fair bellinda's presence expected . bell. if 't be so , let us away . pol.

soft , 't is not time to go this hour yet .

bell. and that a day will seem to be a moneth , a year , a very age to me . exit joyfully . pol.

d' ye think she knows ?

fi. i know not , let 's divine , and joyn your observations to mine : � d' ye mark with how great joy away she went ? none goes so chearfully to banishment . pol. but if her body 's here , and mind elsewhere , 't is she does banish us , and not we her . fi. well , if she love , i wonder at her art can carry fire so smother'd in her heart , as none nor by the flame nor smoak can know whether sh'ave any in her breast or no. pol. and if she do not love agen , then she of all the nymphs i yet did ever see , the most my admiration does move , t' have so much beauty , and so little love . fi.

i 'le follow and observe her better .

pol. do , and i 'le but stay awhile and follow you . exit filena . enter pamphilus . pam. that wench ! that wench wo'd i give a limb for now , though i halted to an hospital for it , ( and there are many have ventur'd as far for wenches as that comes to ) i must needs have her , and h㪠here shall be my agent in the business . � d' ye hear , d' ye hear sir , a word with you i pray . pol.

with me ! your pleasure sir ?

pam.

d' ye know that nymph there ?

pol.

very well , what then ?

pam. why then i shu'd desire your better acquaintance ; for look ye , suppose a man shu'd have a minde unto her . pol.

a minde , what minde ?

pam.

why , a moneths minde or so .

pol.

why then , after a moneth you may be rid of 't

pam.

i hope sir you do not mock me ?

pol. indeed sir , but i do , � you must pardon me . pam. 't is well you confess it , and ask my pardon , i shu'd be very angry else , i can tell you pol. this is some simple stranger , ignorant of our manners and customs , rather meriting pitty then anger . aside . aside . pam. he understands nothing but plain down-right language i see , that calls every thing by its right name : � well sir , since i perceive you are a little dull , in plainer terms i 'de fain � � you understood me . whispers . pol.

how sir !

pam.

even so sir ,

pol.

d' ye know where you are ?

pam.

why , in love's kingdom , where shu'd i be ?

pol. but not in lusts � remember that . pam. pox a these nice distinctions ! that onely serve to break dunces heads , and keep maidenheads so long , till they are quite marr'd : � come , come , i know no other love but what i 've told you . pol. then you must be taught , and learn other language too , or else this isle ( i can tell you ) will prove too hot for you . pam. wo'd the nymphs were not so cold , and let the isle be what it will. aside . pol. and now to instruct you a little better , know that for all lewd and lascivious speeches we have a gentle punishment here , called whipping . pam.

gentle d'ye call it ?

pol. and for fowl libidinousness , an other excellent remedy call'd castrating that takes it clear away . pam. clear with a witness , bless me and all mine from it : why this is cruel sir � have you no regard then to peoples infirmities ? pol. o yes , a special one , for your wild and unruly heats of youth , w 'ave an admirable way of cooling 'um , by marrying 'um unto old women of fourscore , there 's a cooler for you . pam. a cooler with a vengeance ! ah ha ! it makes my teeth chatter in my head to think of it but sure sir y' are not in earnest all this while ? pol. it seems sir you love to jest , but look to 't , and say y 'ad fair warning ; � and so farewel . exit . pa� . farewel quoth ye ? marry 't is time to bid farewel indeed if this be so , whipping , castrating , and marrying to old women of fourscore ! a great consolation for a man that loves a wench ; but he said all this sure onely to fright me ; yet let him say what he will , woo'd i had that wench say i. enter amaranthe , cloria , lydia , melissa , &c. whow ? here comes a whole ocean of them ! now am i in my element , and i shall wallow like a porposs amongst them . am. what my platonick philosopher , and anteplatonick lover agen ? pam. 'slid is she there ? i 'd best be gon then , i 'm as feard of her as a dog is of a whip . am. what is he going ? i must needs have some sport with him before he goes . � hark ye , hark ye sir , pray stay a little . pam. now will she trappan me into a whipping , i 'm sure ; yet i am such a fool i must needs tarry . am. these nymphs here wo'd be glad of your better acquaintance : pam.

with all my heart .

lyd.

what means amarinthe ?

am. come nearer , nearer yet ; now nymphs look on him ( i pray ) and mark him well . pam. this goes well hitherto � i must prepare my self to court um now . am. and now be 't known unto you all , he 's one whom y' are to bless your selves from , as from some ghost or goblin . � pam.

how 's this ?

am. for he 'l haunt you , haunt you worse then they , and stick t' ye faster then burrs , or rather pitch that defiles all it touches : there is no purifying your selvs a month after h 'as once been in your company . mel.

bless us from him !

pam. the devil 's in her : in what a fair way of courtship was i , and how sh 'as put me out of it ? am. yet ( wo'd ye think it ? ) he imagins all the nymphs are in love with him , nay will swear it , if they look but on him once , and then talk so lewdly , as shews him all groom and foot-boy within , however without he appears a gentleman . pam. she 'l make me all groom and foot-boy presently , she 'as half transformed me already . am. nay , hold up your head sir , and ben't asham'd of your commendations . pam. commendations d'ye call it ? i wonder what are your reproaches , if these be your commendations . aside . lyd.

sure amaranthe you wrong him .

pam. i indeed , does she sweet heart , lyd.

forbear , and know your distance sir.

am. nay he 's like a spannel , hold him at arms end , or he 'l be in your bosom presently . mel.

nay , now y' are too cruel .

am. if he wo'd either spare his own or others modesty , i wo'd be content to spare him yet ? pam.

i must suffer i see .

am. but see theotimus coming , � cultivating our youth , and sowing in their tender mindes the seeds of all our future happiness , for 't is not the culter o' th' land , but of the minde makes people happy ; and as that 's done well or ill , so they are happy or unhappy still . enter theotimus , chorus of musicians , and young virgins , diophantes , evander , &c. the. now tender virgins all draw near , and loves diviner doctrine hear ; first , nymphs be modest as you go , for just as by the pulse we know the bodies state , so we as well by th' eyes , the state o' th' minde may tell ; and rowling eyes do but betray a heart that rowls as well as they . chor. sings . o fly then far glances that are but outward signs , by which we finde the inward temper of the minde ; and rowling eyes do but betray a heart that rowls as well as they . pam. hei day , now will these wenches wear their eyes like spectacles on their noses , and look as demurely as cows in bon-graces . the. then for your kisses , oh , be sure no virgins ever those endure ; for you are flowers and blooming trees , and men are such deflowring bees : let once their kisses light upon ye , they soon will suck all sweetness from ye , and womens lips with kissing us'd will look but just like cherries bruis'd . chor. sings . o fly then far kisses that are like bees that suck all sweetness from ye ; let 'um once but light upon you : and womens lips with kissing us'd , will look but just like cherries bruis'd . pam. now will these wenches lips grow as cold as dogs noses , if they leave off kissing once . the. but above all take heed agen you fly and shun the touch of men ; for there 's no canker more devours , nor mildew more blasts tender flowers , then men will you , whose lightest touch will soon your fresher beauties smutch ; and once but tainted in your hue , you well may bid the world adieu . chor. sings . o fly then far touches that are so blasting , as the lightest touch will soon your fresher beauties smutch ; and once but tainted in your hue , you well may bid the world adieu . pam. 't is time to bid the world adieu indeed , if there be no touching ' um . th. now that we ben't expected there , 't is time to th' temple to repair : � set forwards there before . exeunt . manent diophantes , evander , pamphilus , amaranthe , cloria , lydia , melissa . ev. oh! pamphilus well met ; and how d' ye finde the nymphs here , ha ? pam. as i co'd wish , the kindest lovingst souls as e're i met withal . am. how 's this ! let 's stand close , and over hear him . pam. you need not multiply the phenix to sum up the number of all the maidenheads i shall leave in cyprus here , before i 've done with 'um . am.

d' ye hear ?

ev.

is 't possible !

pam. no , no , i knew not the humor and disposition of the nymps here , i. em.

troth , and so i think still .

aside . pam.

i hope now you 'l believe me another time ?

ev.

it may be so , but now i swear i do not .

aside . dio. yet let us sooth and humour him to have some sport with him ; � you know all the nimphs here then ? pam.

o most intimately .

diop .

amaranthe , cloria , lydia , melissa ?

pam. all , all � and have had favours from every one of them , this ring from one , this ribband from a second , this jewel from a third . mel.

what a lying fellow 's this !

dio.

and what think you of cloria ?

pam. she kisses well , i 've gone no farther with her yet , but there is hope i may in time . clo.

shall i indure this ?

am.

nay prethee ,

dio.

and lydia ?

pam. with her i must confess i 've had a little more samiliarity . lyd.

there 's no induring this !

am. yet this was he you thought i wrong'd . lyd. hang him , none can , but onely by reporting too well of him . pam.

for amarinthe she 's the coyest of 'um all �

am.

i thank you .

pam. and was so angry with me for a kiss i stole from her , but i soon pacified her : dio.

as how ?

pam. why , i told her that rather then that shud make a war betwixt us , which was wont to be the signe of peace with others , i 'd make her double satisfaction ; and for one kiss i took from her , wo'd give her two . ev. so then ( as you imagin'd 'um ) you finde all the nymphs here as supple and plyant as kids leather gloves , a gentle pluck or two will easily draw 'um om . pam. draw 'um on ! wou'd some body wou'd draw 'um off for me : i fear i shall be ravisht by ' um . am. out upon him , i 'le hear no more , let 's go , and as we pass , shew him all the neglect and scorn we can possible . they pass by him frowningly and exeunt . dio.

d' ye mark how they frown upon him ?

pam. favours , meer favours , believe it gentlemen , and onely invitations to follow 'um ; you see how i am courted , and must pardon me . exit . dio. the man 's as impudent as vain i see , and though this hitherto be but in jest you whom he counts his friend may tell him best , if he imagines with injurious lyes to get him honour by their injuries : our nymphs are all of such unquestion'd fame , he 'l sooner punishment , then credit gain . exeunt . enter palemon . pal. this way the fair bellinda is to pass unto the temple , and although she has forbid me speaking to her on pain of her displeasure , i may see her howsoe're ; and as she goes to th' temple , feast mine eyes , which happiness she to my tongue denyes . � enter bellinda , filena , polydor. see where she comes , and now it fares with me as with those sick , who whilst they long to see the cup they may not taste , become but more thirsty with sight of 't then they were before . fi. behold palemon , as i 've appointed him i th way , can we invent no stratagem to make her now with favourable eye regard him ? think , i 'le second you . pol. i 'le try : whose that palemon ? fi. think it be , but let 's go on and think not on him . exeunt bellinda and polyder . pal.

she my enemy !

pol. ben't deceiv'd palemon , for 't was said to make her think of you the more � for just as winde or fanning does the fire so prohibition more inflames desire . exit . pal. i fain wo'd follow her , but i know that she wo'd be offended with it ; and for me to offend her now , were to undo my self , and in the haven shipwrack all my wealth . exit . finis actus secundi .
actus 3. enter diophantes and evander . the scene , loves temple surrounded with pillars of the dorick order , with a dome or cupilo o' th' top , and the statues or simulachrums of venus and cupid on an altar in the midst of the temple , all transparent . diophantes . this is loves temple , here who e're repairs , findes love propitious to their vows and prayers : regard not then the proud materials , or outward structure of the vaults and walls ; but mark the altar , and the sacred shrine , then which the world has nothing more divine . ev. methinks there 's somewhat more then humane here fills me with reverence and holy fear ! dio.

peace , the ceremony begins .

ev. and do the nymphs begin it ? enter all the nymphs in solemn manner , addressing themselves unto the altar . dio. yes , for of that sex , vertues and graces are of thã¢t , all that is beautiful and fair ; and as the care of cupids is to men , so that of venus's rites is due to them . ev. i understand , and every thing i see is ordered here with rare oeconomy . fi. thou fairest , brightest star in heaven , and most benigne of all the seven ; if on this day ( when every year we celebrate thy coming here : ) thou dost not hear our prayers ; 't is we are rather wanting unto thee then thou to us ; for thou wod'st grant ( we know ) what ever we do want , if we ( on our parts ) did but crave what e're is fit for us to have ; grant then to celebrate thy feast a holy and religious breast , vertue , high honour , beauty , health , and minde above all other wealth ; let others ask what boon they please , all that we crave of thee are these : all. oh hear our vows and prayers as we do purely love and honour thee . soft musick . fi. thou doest confirm us by this harmony , o love our vows are pleasing unto thee . ev. now i perceive it is our faults , not theirs , if when we pray , the gods don't hear our prayers . dio.

peace now , the other ceremony begins .

fi.

let us retire then , and give place to them .

enter theotimus , chorus of musicians one way , bellinda the other , brought in by polydor , pamphilus , &c. chorus sings . divinest love does all command , in fire and water , air and land ; and all with his commands inspire in land and water , air and fire . the.

where is the nymph ?

pol. great sir , behold her here ; � bear back , bear back , room for the nymph there . pam. now will he break my head , onely to shew his authority , ( you 'l see ) ' less i get me out of the way the sooner . the. then fair and gentle nymph draw near , and all our ceremonies hear , which to religion do dispence both mystery and reverence : we first must charm you silent , then must vail and blinde your eyes agen ; that you may see and speak with none , untill the ceremony's done : then y' are to go to th' sacred cell , where a full hour you are to dwell , before you are produc't to swear , you love some one in cyprus here ; or else ( refusing it ) be sent into perpetual banishment . � if then y 'ave any thing to say , now speak it freely whilst you may . bel. prudence assist me , thou that best canst tell , aside . what i shu'd say , and what i shu'd conceal ; � knowing great sir , how w'ar the gods chief care , more dear to them , then to our selves we are : behold bellinda here resigned stands to obey your laws , and their divine commands . the. a wise and pious resignation ! most pleasing unto heaven , and such an one as even necessitates the gods to grant all that we mortals crave , and all we want . � reach us the sacred wand to charm her silent then .
the charm. still-born silence , thou that art flood-gate of the deeper heart , off-spring of a heavenly kinde , frost o' th' mouth , and thaw o th' minde ; admirations chiefest tongue , leave thy desart shades , among ancient hermits hallowed cells , where retyr'd devotion dwells , with thy enthusiasmes come ceize this maid , and strike her dumb .
pam. if every man that 's troubled with a shrew'd wife had but this charm , how happy shud he be ? the. now , reach us the sacred veil � where such a cloud of mysteries lyes , as whilst we with it blinde your eyes , if onely you convert your sight , from th' outward to the inward light , illuminates your soul and minde sent from above , you soon will finde the sun here in its brightest sphere , will darker then a shade appear . he vails her . pam. now were she and i to play at blinde-man-buff together , ah ! what dainty sport shu'd we two make ? she shu'd catch me , or i 'de catch her , ' tshu'd cost one of us a fall else . the. now to the sacred cell set on , where w 're to leave her all alone , until the hour 's expir'd , and then to th' temple all repair agen . exeunt . manet pamphilus . pam. wo'd i were in the sacred cell with her now , what holy work shu'd she and i make together ? if these holy whorsons did not hinder us ; as most commonly they hinder all good sport . � well , here will i spread my nets to catch some of the nymphs in their return ; 't is hard if they all 'scape me : enter 1 nymph . and see here 's one already . � fair nymph , might i desire the honor to wait upon you home ? 1

no indeed sir.

pam.

and why so ?

1 because 't is not the custom for nimphs in this country to go alone with men pam. but 't is the custom for men in our country when they 're alone with women , to offer them the courtesie of � you know what . 1

i know not what you mean !

pam. the more 's the pitty you shu'd live to these years , and be so ignorant ; the nymphs in our countrey wo'd have understood me presently : 1 they better understand what belongs to men perhaps ; but we sir , better what belongs to women . exit . pam. goodly , goodly ! how say ye by that ? i was deceiv'd in her ; but here comes another , if i understand any thing in women , will be more kinde . � fair nymph , enter 2 nymph . 2

pray keep your way sir , and trouble me not .

pam. this is worse then to'ther ! did you but know how much i love you , you 'd never refuse my courtesie . 2 and did you but know how little i care for it , you 'd never offer it . ham. hei ho ! have ye the heart to hear me sigh thus , and never pitty me ? 2 yes indeed , and to laugh at you for it too , to hear you sigh thus like a broken-winded bellows , or a dry pump and spend so much breath in vain , as we shall never wonder hereafter at lapland witches selling winde so cheap . pam. but i shall alwayes wonder , that hãªre in venus school the nymphs shu'd learn no more compassion . 2 now ye talk of schools , i must to the graces grove , where all the nymphs are gone to learn their lessons . exit . pam. and i will follow them ; strange that all shu'd be honest ! i have heard of one or two in a countrey , or so , but all , ã¢ll , was never heard of before ! i don't despair yet . well . exit . enter amaranthe , filena , cloria , lydia , melissa . the scene , the graces grove , the statues of the three graces in the midst , all hand in hand embrac'd . am. now nymphs , here in the graces grove , a place which beauty most does love , and gentle love most highly prize , let 's fall unto our exercise of studying all those gracious parts , which most do take and conquer hearts . enter pamphilus . pam. now will i stand here conceal'd , and observe them ; they say , all women when they are alone , put off their modesties ; i shu'd be glad to see it . am. first nymphs , in honour of the graces let us compose our looks and faces to gentle smiles , for no frowns here in any face shu'd e're appear . pam. if i thought they would not frown , i shu'd soon be amongst them . am. and next , as we our faces do , we must compose our garments too with such a decency , as best becomes the modest to be drest . pam. wo'd they 'd put off their garments once , that 's it i look for . am. but since the graces of the minde are those which most adorn our kinde , it ought to be our chiefest care to render our interiours fair ; counting th' exterior nothing else , but outward garments of our selves . pam. give me the out-side , and take the inside who 's list . am. other graces there are beside , which nymphs shu'd carefully provide , as dancing , singing , and such arts , which through the sences strike their hearts ; and give ( where ever they are found ) that dangerous yet gentle wound , which never can be cur'd again , till hymen ease their amorous pain . pam. i co'd ease and cure it a great deal better , if they would but let me alone with them . am. then let us sing , that eccho may the sound unto the woods conveigh ; and after raising it more high , the woods conveigh it to the sky ; that heaven and earth may both partake the harmony your voices make . here the nymphs sing . pam. i co'd make othergess musick with them , if i were but master of the quire amongst them . am. now let 's have a dance , to shew , how that which does enchant men so , is not the magick of the face , the red and white , nor bodies grace ; but 't is the magick of the feet , where all harmonious numbers meet . here the nymphs dance . pam. i think there 's witchcraft in 't indeed , for i can as well be hang'd as hold now , but i must have a frisk amongst them ; hei for our town ! he comes out dancing . fi. a man amongst us ! what insolence is this ? exit . pam. nay , never look so strange on it , â�� there are those can dance too , you shall see else . he dances 'em about one after another . mel.

was ever seen the like ?

pam.

yes twenty times , � how say you ?

lyd.

away , are you not asham'd ?

pa. no indeed , i was never asham'd in my life � nay , you must have your turn too . clo.

let me go , � or i 'le cry out else .

pam. 't is yet too soon , i 'le give you more cause presently . lyd.

away melissa .

exit . mel.

away cloria .

exit . clo.

away lydia .

exit . am. away all of you , this is a rudeness must be complained of . exeunt omnes , manet pamphilus . pam. look ye ! is not this a lamentable case ? that all the nymphs shu'd flye me as chickens do a kite , or birds some strange owl ; yet i protest , i mean them no more harm , then their fathers did their mothers , as they shu'd soon perceive , if they wo'd but try me once ; i fear i shall never do any good on them , yet i must follow them still : for the devil 's in 't , when once we begin to follow wenches , we can never give over . exit enter philander solus . the scene , the cyprian shore , a waving sea afar off discovered , &c. phi. hail happy island ! natures chiefest care , where all things love , and all things fruitful are ; where spring-tide makes perpetual residence , and rigid winter 's ever banisht hence ; in you , ( o blest and happy land ) in you i shall finde her , ( if the oracle be true ) through all the islands of th' egean main , these three moneths i have sought , and sought in vain ; till here arriving now at last , i see so vaste a solitude , as amazes me ! nor on the barren mauritanean shore , or lybian desart , scarcely co'd be more ! enter palemon . pal. i 'le hide me no longer from my fears , nor fly the danger , 't is childish and cowardly , and ( well considered ) rather does increase our dangers and our fears , then make them less ; for looking through that false optick fear , danger does still more terrible appear , and terrors in the dark far more afright ( th' imagination of 't ) then in the light : i 'le then to the temple , and whate're befal by help of this , i am prepar'd for all . pointing to his sword. phi. sir , might a stranger here desire to know why all your houses are deserted so , as if some plague had swept 'um ; and the land depopulated , as if some enemies hand had mow'd it with the sword ! to me it does appear to wonder strange , that love shu'd thus leave his own land unpeopled , whilst he peoples all others so abundantly ! pal. know sir , 't is not for want of people here , loves kingdom does so desolate appear , but just as we perceive from every part , the blood does all retire unto the heart , in any great commotion or dismay ; so all the people , in no less , to day are gone to th' temple , in expectancy o' th' issue of our great solemnity . phi.

what 's that ?

pal. why , by the laws of cyprus , here all strangers after three moneths are to swear they love some one i' th island , or be sent away into perpetual banishment : now sir , this oath a nymph to day must take , phi. and why shu'd that so great commotion make ? pal. 'cause she 's the joy or grief of every one ; joy if she stay , and grief if she be gone . phi.

what is this nymph so much exacts your care ,

pal. one who some three moneths since arrived here , wrack't on the coast , ( the rest all drown'd but she ) in whom appear'd so great divinity ; it was another venus you 'd have swore , born of the sea , and landing on the shore . phi. just so long 't is since she was stoln away from crete , to barbarous pyrates made a prey ; and her name , sir , pal. bellinda , sir , they call this admirable nymph : phi. her name and all ? and where is she ? pal. i' th sacred cell inclos'd , ready to take the oath . phi. and is 't suppos'd she 'l take it ? pal. that as yet , there 's none can tell but this ( unto my grief ) i can full well , that less she does , you here behold in me the wretchedst lover ever eye did see , or ever liv'd in memory of men ; phi.

heavens ! what do i hear ? � are you her lover then ?

pal. shu'd i deny it , these trees wou'd tell you i am , upon whose barks so oft i 've carv'd her name ; this shore so oft my lamentations hears â�� and sea that i 've augmented with my tears ; as with my sighs the air ; these sir , all these will tell you i am , though i shu'd hold my peace . phi. o heaven ! in vain why did you valor give , if i can hear this now , and let him live ? but stay , if seeing and loving her be a crime , i must kill all mankinde as well as him ; for all wo'd guilty be , and you shou'd finde none innocent , but the senseless , and the blinde : i 'le then suspend my anger , till i know whether bellinda does love him or no ; for there , thãªre onely the offence does lie , else hãª's the person offended , and not i ; for never tyrant invented greater pain , then 't is to love , and not be lov'd again . â�� it shall be so â�� and pray sir , mayn't one see this nymph you speak of ? pal. please you go with me unto the temple sir , there you may both see her , and hear her take the sacred oath . phi.

so confident !

pal. i 've a promise sir from her makes me hope so . phi. then i may well despair â�� aside . yet will i not be jealous , for that , though it begins in love , does end in hate , and i hãªr love to mine so far prefer , as i may hate my self , but never her â�� yet it is strange , if what he sayes be true ! pal. but has she any relation unto you , you seem so much concern'd for her , sir ? phi. no other but what a sister has unto a brother ; if she be th' same as i imagine her : pal. then i beseech you sir , till some more near relation and bond may binde me t' ye , you wo'd be pleas'd for to accept of me for your most humble servant . phi. that sir , i may not ; but please you do me the courtesie to shew me th' way unto the temple , and you shou'd much oblige me . pal. that sir i shall do to shew my obedience , or any thing i may . exit . pal. phi. i 'le follow you then , please you to lead the way . â�� now dearest love , in this thy kingdom be as kinde and as propitious unto me . as through thy grace and favour i hope to finde ease for my wearied limbs and troubled minde ; and a calm port and sure retreat at last after so many storms and dangers past . ex. phil. finis actus tertii .
actus 4. enter palemon and philander . the scene , loves temple , as before , two aruspiece with burning censors , &c. palemon . now hãªre love at thy sacred shine i offer up these vows of mine , â�� father of dear and tender thoughts , thou who the hardest bosom softs ; soften bellinda's heart , and make her but thy dear impressions take ; so shall i burn arabian gums , and offer up whole hecatombs upon thy altar , whilst thy fires shall shine as bright as my desires . 1. arus . whilst he the deity does invoke the flame ascends in troubled smoke : phi. what sort of offering mine shall be , divinest love's best known to thee ; nor spices , nor arabian gums , nor yet of beasts whole hecatombs : these are too low and earthly , mine are far more heavenly and divine ; an adamantine faith , and such as jealousie can never touch : a constant heart , and loyal breast , these are the offerings thou lov'st best . 2. arus . loves fires ne're brighter yet appear'd , who e're thou art , thy vows are heard . enter theotimus , chorus of musicians one way , bellinda 'tother , with all the nymphs , polydor , evander , diophantes , pamphilus , &c. pal.

now see here where she comes .

phi. her noble frame , habit , and stature tells me 't is the same ? the.

why comes she not away ?

pol.

what ails she there ?

am.

help , help , she swounds :

lyd.

give her , give her more air ?

the. hold , hold , i charge you , and let none presume to touch the consecrated veil . pol. behold she 's come to her self again ; the. let the solemnity go on then . phi.

now i clearly see 't is she .

the. now on this book here lay your hands , cover'd with skins of doves and swans ; and love so help you as you swear , unfeignedly you love one here . phi. now philander thou shalt know whether she be true or no : pal ; and i know my destiny , whether i 'me to live or dye . the. thus i uncharm your tongue , now speak and to our joyes your silence break . bel. then by loves sacred deity i swear , i love one in the isle . phi.

what do i hear !

the.

enough , � the charm agen , i thus apply .

pal.

o me , most happy !

phi.

and most unhappy i !

the. now bear her to the cell again , where yet an hour she 's to remain ; suffer'd to see nor speak with none untill the hour be past and gone . chor. sings . praised be love does all command in fire and water , air , and land , and all with his commands inspire in land and water , air and fire . exeunt . manet filena . fi. bellinda love ! nay then my fears i see were not in vain , and nothing's left for me , but onely death ; when nothing else prevails , that 's the last remedy , and never fails . enter palemon , and seeing her , returns . stay , stay palemon ; this is the last time we shall ever meet ; stay then and hear me , it is nobler yet to kill me like the basilisk with your sight , then like the parthians , kill me with your flight � but he is gone ( alas ) and does deny me the last office of humanity of closing of my dying eyes in death , and when i expire , receive my latest breath . � the many wayes that lead to death do make me yet irresolute which way to take ; but some way i must take , and speedily resolve upon it too , what e're it be . exit . enter pamphilus . the scene , the precints of the temple . pam. strange ! that i can finde no way to fasten on these nymphs ? here comes one now , enter first nymph . and i 'le try a way with her that seldom fails they say . � fair nymph please you to accept these jewels here ? 1 , nym.

wherefore sir ?

pam.

onely to buy your love , nothing else

1. nym. bless me ! throws them away and exit . simony in love ! pam. this is the first wench as ever i met withal , that refus'd presents when they were offer'd her , and i think will be the last . � this is a strange countrey , where a man can't get a wench neither for love nor money ? well , i perceive this handling 'um with so much ceremony is that which spoils 'um , and makes 'um so nice and ticklish there is no touching 'um : women shu'd be handled like nettles , but press them hard and you may do any thing with them , and i 'le try that way with the next i meet . enter filena . fil. i have bethought me of a way to dye and must go seek out amaranthe's help . pam. stay lady , a word with you i pray before you go . layes hold on her . fil. was ever such a rudeness ? unhand me sir , and know that virgins are like sacred reliques beheld with reverence ; but let men come to touch 'um once , their reverence is gone , � what wou'd you with me ? pam. what a question 's that ? when a man 's alone with a woman , you may easily guess what he wou'd have with her . fil. hence and avoid my sight , for now i see , how all that we call vicious is in thee ; foul corrupter of honour , as cankers of fairest flowers , shame of thy sex , dishonourer of ours � pam.

whow , whow ! is the woman mad ?

fi. avoid my sight i say , thy glowing eyes like basilisks will kill me else ; go and repent thee of thy crying sins . exit . pam. what are those ? i know no crying sins i have , but mine own bastards : â�� well , go thy wayes , if e're thou marriest , i 'le give thy husband this comì�fort , he shall have no other issue of thee but nails and teeth , if thou be'st such a vixen . enter evander and diophantes . ev. now pamphilus , what 's the matter , that the nymph is gone in such a rage away ? pam. nothing , nothing , onely i offer'd her the courtesie o th' countrey , and she refus'd it , that is all . ev. why then , i see you need not multiply the phenix , to sum up all the maidenheads you 'l leave in cyprus , before you have done with them . pam.

well , well , you do not know yet .

ev. yes , but we do sir , more then you imagine � of a certain nymph , you met in plato's great year , and how she entertain'd you . pam.

' slid ! how comes he to know of that ?

ev. and of divers other encounters with them since , when you could not desire to be better mockt and laught at then you were . dio. and now sir , pray as you finde our nymphs here , so report of them ; and know 't is not the way for men to gain them reputation here , to make themselves more vicious then they are . pam.

nay , if he chide once i 'me gone .

ev. y' are deceiv'd , he chides you not , but rather gives you good counsel . pam. that is as 't is taken , � 't is good councel to those who mean to follow it ; � but to me 't is flat chiding , and i 'le hear no more of it . ev.

nay pray .

pam. not i i swear , � chide me ! who have liv'd like a saint here , and not toucht a wench to day ! exit . ev.

but tarry a little .

dio. no , let him go , i see he 's forfeited to vice and debauchery beyond redemption ; and such as he , when vice is once turn'd nature , ne're repent , till they find their shame , or feel their punishment exeunt . enter filena and amaranthe meeting . the scene , a landskip or paisage . fi. amaranthe , � well met , i 've sought you all about , and co'd not rest until i 'de found you out ; you know , whilst you and i the other day in yonder mead , beheld our young lambs play , one of them stragling from the rest ) we spy'd fell down , stretcht forth its tender limbs , and dy'd in as short time as i 've been telling t' ye , and wondring what the reason of 't shu'd be , you said 't was with eating a venomous herb grew there . am.

't is true , � what then ?

fi. you know besides how here , where love is even the vital air we breath , and its privation consequently death ; depriv'd once of our love , 't is lawful for us to despair and dye . am.

whither tends this discourse i wonder ?

fi. now amaranthe , i must entreat of thee one courtesie . am. what need you with so many circumstances intreat her whom you may command ? what is 't ? fi. 't is , that thou'dst shew me this same slye and subtle thief , that so insensibly does steal us from our selves , the lookers on do scarce perceive w' are going , till w' are gone . am. and why wo'd you know this ? fi.

onely for curiosity .

am. take heed , take heed filena , it is no good curiosity to desire to know such dangerous secrets , as we well may say , their ignorance does no harm , their knowledge may . fi. see amaranthe how unkinde th' art grown ! wo'dst all my secrets know , but tell me none : but now to satisfie your curiosity , in plainer terms , know i 'm resolv'd to dye ; and having heard how death's a bitter cup , to tell thee true , before i drink it up , i 'de sweeten it so , as though the fates do please , that i shu'd live in pain , i 'de dye with ease . am.

how , you dye ! now the gods forbid !

fi. no , no , thou art deceiv'd ; for amaranthe know , they are so good , as when 't is misery for us to live , i 'me sure they 'd have us dye . am.

but think , think what death is .

fi. what is it more , then going to rest when we are weary , or sleep when we 'd rest . am. i grant you , when w' are dead death is like rest , and th' grave but like our bed ; but if we chance to finde unrest there , thãªn as we lye down , can we rise up agen ? fi. what is in t'other life , i cannot tell ; but what there is in this , i know so well , as i 'me resolv'd to dye ; spare then your pain to seek to hinder me , for 't is in vain : â�� there 's but one way to live , but nature ha's provided us to dye a thousand wayes ; and hinder us from living every one can do , but hinder us from dying none . am. i must take some other way to hinder her , aside â�ª for this but makes her long for death the more . and for the way that she ha's chose to dye , unknown to her , i know a remedy : â�� well then , since you are so resolv'd , i 'le shew you this venomous herb , upon condition you let me ha'th ' tempering it , to make 't so sweet , you even shall be enamour'd with taste of it . fi. on any condition amaranthe i 'le dye , but on no condition live in misery ; life is not worth it , and for noble spirits 't is brave necessity , when they can't honourably live , to dye ; whilst to ignoble ones the gods do give for punishment , dishonourably to live . exeunt . enter philander . phi. since no where we a constant woman finde , but all light and wavering as the winde ; and there is no woman in all this wide circumference true , but she was never try'd ! why shu'd i grieve as 't were my fate alone , what 's common i perceive to every one ? but these are thoughts unworthy her and me , for 't is not hers , but my inconstancy ; if i can think her false , when i do know falshood wo'd even be truth , if she were so : and nature of things quite change , rather then she what she has been , shu'd ever cease to be . enter palemon . pal. oh fortunate palemon ! and the more , the more unfortunate thou wert before ! and happy pains , happy affliction ! from which such pleasure and such joys do come ! now i perceive there 's none can better tell what heaven is , then who first have past through hell . â�� methinks great conquerors who in triumph come charg'd with the spoils of conquerd nations home are but the types of me , who in triumph go to th' temple to enjoy bellinda now . exiturus phi. death ! if i can suffer this , i shall deserve it : â�� pray stay sir , for you have another victory to gain , and enemy ( i 'de have you know ) to overcome , before you triumph so ! pal.

what victory d' ye mean , what enemy ?

phi. why , i my self and the victory over me ; for know , bellinda's mine , and i her lover . pal.

you ! did you not say you were her brother ?

phi. i , but that was onely a disguise put on , to hide what thãªn was fit shu'd not be known . pal. why this does take all faith away from you ; for eith'r 't was true or false you said before ; if true , why then 't is false you tell me now ; if false , there 's no believing of you more . phi. this fine dilemma wo'd serve prettily i th' school , but not i th' field ; where it must be somewhat of finer temper then your words must make bellinda yours , i mean our swords . layes hand on 's sword. pal. i pray sir hold , and e're you go so far , consider but a little where we are , here in love's kingdom , in a peaceful place , where never any strife or quarrel was , but onely loving ones . phi.

and is not ours for love too ?

pal. if it be , let love decide it , are you content to put it to his tribunal and arbitrement ? phi. that 's a way poor , and low spirits findes , this is the tribunal and arbitrement of mighty mindes ; draws . 't were folly in me to refer my cause unto my enemies tribunal and laws . pal. fortune as well as love 's your enemy , of her as well as love you fear'd shu'd be . phi. for love already he 's declar'd my foe , what fortune yet may do , i do not know ; i 'le try at least , my comfort is i can not be in worse condition then i am ; cast down so low , it is not in the power of love , or fortune , e're to cast me lower . enter polydor. pol. what 's here ? � a quarrel tow'rds ! our peace disturb'd , and their offensive swords th' uncivil arbitrers of civil strife , already drawn , threatning each others life : our guards , � where are they there ? exit hastily . phi. we are discry'd , before they come , our quarrel let 's decide . pal. do , and you 'l see how they but bluntly fight , who first consider not their causes right ; whilst those who well consider it before , have but their courages whetted by 't the more , phi. and unto me considering is but like the weak opposing of some bank or dike unto some torrents rage , which more y'oppose , more raging and impetuous it grows . they fight enter polydor with guards , and parts them . pol. hold , hold , i charge you in loves name , or else we are to seize your weapons and your selves . phi.

what violence is this ?

pol. your self 's the cause , who first have violate loves peaceful laws . phi. then in loves kingdom here shall lovers be depriv'd both of their loves and liberty ? pol.

what love d' ye mean ?

phi.

bellinda , who is my betroathed .

pol.

how ! she your betroathed !

phi.

i , all crete can witness it .

pol. if this be so , y 'ave too much witness here already , and you 've discovered a secret , which now 't is known , may prove bellinda's ruine and your own . pal. o heavens ! â�� now i remember me by another law ; who e're doth falsifie the sacred oath ; are instantly to dye , sacrific'd to th' offended deity : but e're it comes to that , my life shall pay the forfeiture of hers . pol. come let 's away , palemon , you 've your cliã¢mber for prison ; you sir , must along with me unto theotimus to be examin'd . pal.

i obey you .

phi.

and i obey necessity .

exeunt . manet palemon : pal. vvell fortune , thou giddy goddess , if bellinda be to dye , and thou hast onely rais'd me up so high , to cast me down with greater force , i 'le fall so gallantly and bravely , yet as all shall say at least , how e're unfortunate palemon yet deserv'd a better fate . enter amaranthe in haste with other nymphs � am. run , � run , and seek her all about , or she 's but dead ; and when y 'ave found her out , bring me word presently , as you love her life . � vvas never a more unfortunate maid and wife ? exeunt nymphs several wayes . pal.

what busie haste is this .

am. what are you there ? flye , flye palemon , or the nymphs will tear you in pieces . pal.

why ?

am. for killing the gentlest maid eye ever saw , or cyprus ever had ; pal.

what maid d' ye mean ?

am.

filena .

pal.

why ! is she dead ?

am. dead , dead , kill'd by your cruelty and see poor soul what she does write to me , she reads . filena's letter . pardon me amaranthe , for having taken the poison unknown unto you , and deceiv'd you once in my life , rather then you shu'd deceive me in my death . commend me to palemon , and tell him , that as i liv'd in hope of his love , so now i dye for despair of it : and let him aster i am dead but wish me rest , and i shall rest in peace . � filena . am. and so i hope thou do'st fair gentle maid , or th' gods shu'd else be most unkinde and cruel , shu'd they not to thee grant that rest in death , which thou in life didst want . � now you who for cruelty surpass the cruel'st savage beast that ever was ; some tyger bore thee sure , or thou wert bred with tygers milk at least , and nourished : if thou who art the cause of all canst hear this , and not vent a sigh , nor shed a tear . pal. as for my sighing and my weeping , that is an expression too effeminate ; onely for single losses : such as mine requires expressions far more masculine : where grief and sorrows are redoubled , for dying bellinda , and filena dead . exit . am. what 's that ? bellinda dying does he say ? sure love and death have chang'd their darts to day , and there 's some planet reigns will kill us all , but i forget filena . enter a nymph . oh now i shall hear news of her � well have you found her ? mel. no , but lydia sayes sh'ave trac't her footsteps to the sacred grove . am. take a cruise presently of purest water then , and follow me ; yet there is hope i may retard her fate , and save her life , which love does make her hate . finis actus quarti .
actus 5. filena sola . the scene , a wood or boscage . filena . the poison now 's arriv'd unto my heart , the place assign'd where life and i must part ; and where i must resign my latest breath , then farewel life , and welcome sweetest death ; to prisoners freedom , to the weary rest , comfort to th' sad , and ease to the opprest : who 'd then indure such worlds of miseries , when life 's but pain , and death no more but this ! now , now i dye , yet love lives in me still , falls : as if what love does wound , death durst not kill . who doubt then whether thou immortal art , ( o mighty love ) could they but see my heart , and bosom here , where thou canst never dye , it would assert thy immortality . enter pamphilus . pam. bless me ! amongst what a generation of nymphs am i fallen here , who are all so precise and pure ; as when they come but where men are , they take the wind of 'um , for fear of being got with child ; as spanish ginnets are , and when they go away brush themselves carefully from the dust , for fear of a spice of fornication , ever since they understood that man 's but made of dust . ha! what have we here ? a nymph a sleep : ah pretty rogue , have i caught you napping ? she sleeps as snug and soundly as a young sucking pig , you can scarce perceive her breath ; what a great blessing is a sleeping woman ? for they 'l lie quietly yet � methinks i shud know her . enter lydia . lyd. no news of her yet ? 't is strange ? but who is here ? my goblin agen ? what 's that he looks so wistly at i wonder ? a nymph asleep ? for modesties sake i 'le wake her � out alas 't is she ? and dead ? help , help the glory of our hamlets here , the pride of all our plains , grace of the nymphs , delight of , all the swains , our isles chief ornament ; filena's dead ! the gentlest nymph as cyprus ever bread . exit . pam. how , is she dead ? what a beast was i then to let her go , for i 'me sure she was alive . enter lydia agen with polydor and guards . pol. a nymph dead in our wood ! it cannot be , here are no savage beasts , and much less men so barbarous and savage to kill and murther 'um � where is she ? lyd.

there .

pol. alas , 't is she indeed , how came she dead , d' ye know ? lyd. not i , onely in this posture i found her , and that stranger by her there . pol. oh , i know him , and have cause to suspect , considering his former misdemeanors here ; that he 's the likeliest man to have murther'd her , seize on him , and let him be examined . pam. so , now am i finely serv'd for hunting after wenches , to be catcht my self , instead of catching them , and like to be hang'd for it , for ought i see : well , if i be , my comfort is i 'm not the first man that wenching has brought unto the gallows , nor am like to be the last . enter amaranthe , with the other nymphs . am , where is she ? where is she ? stand from about her there . � pam. so wou'd i with all my heart , if i cu'd get away . am.

she is not dead , but onely intranc't . �

pam.

marry and i 'm but little better .

am. you 'l see with this cool water she 'l strait revive again . pam. and hot water will scarce bring me to my self again . mel.

take my tears too if water can only do 't ,

lyd.

and mine ,

clo.

and mine ,

mel.

and all of ours to boot .

enter palemon . pol. o palemon welcome , i sent for you by order of theotimus , to let you know strange news of bellinda . pal. i fear i am but too familiar with it already . they whisper . am. see , she begins to stir , and opens her eyes ; i told you their fair light was but ecclipst and not extinguisht quite . pol.

then you may let him go ;

pam. marry , and i 'le be gone then as fast as i can , and flye the land too , before i 'le be put in such a fright again . exit : fil. where am i ? in what region of the dead ! not in hell sure , for there are far more horrid visions then are here ; nor yet in heaven , for there agen are far more glorious ones ; where am i then ? an.

she thinks she 's dead still .

fil. ha , palemon here ! nay then i see love takes delight still in tormenting me , and there 's some middle place 'twixt heaven and hell , where wretched lovers , such as i , do dwell ; where sh'ud i go to flye the sight of men , and where to flye loves fires and arrows , when where e're i go , just like the wounded dear , i flye in vain , that which i carry here . exit . am. go follow her , and look carefully unto her , her wandring minde you 'l see will come anon unto its self , when her amazement 's gone . pal. whate're it be , methinks there 's somewhat here whispers remorse , and chides me ( as it were ) for my unkindness , and stern cruelty unto this nymph , who thus wo'd dye for me ; but as loud windes won't let us hear the soft and gentle voice of others ; so the thought of dying for bellinda , will not let me hear its voice nor hearken to it yet . enter diophantes . dio. o noble youth ! whose famous memory shall never be forgot , or ever be remembred without praise . pal. what news brings diophantes , he 's so transported with it ? dio. thã¢t , which had i a thousand tongues to tell , or you a thousand ears to hear , wou'd well deserve them all . â�� soon as 't was rumored , bellinda must dye for having falsified the sacred oath : but this stranger instantly offered himself with such alacrity to dye for her ; as love ne're gain'd so glorious a victory , nor ever so triumpht over death before . pal. oh me ! if this be so , i shall become th' derision and the scorn of every one ; and was his offer accepted ? dio. that you know by th' laws here co'd not be refus'd him . pal. how ! ha's he prevented me ? but do i stand senseless and stupid , as i were dead here , â�� and had not a life to lose as well as he ? no generous stranger whosoe're thou be , since thou wert born my rival , thou shalt prove i 'le rival thee in death as well as love. exit . pol.

i fear the event of this !

am. and so do i ; but wherefore is bellinda doom'd to dye ? pol. for perjury and falshood , whilst she swore , she lov'd one here , being betroath'd before unto that stranger there . am. all thã¢t may be without forswearing yet and perjury ; for what if he she swore she lov'd be he she was betroath'd unto ? pol. that cannot be , for she was in the sacred cell 't is clear , long time before he e're arrived here ; in sequestration , separated from society of all , mean time her tongue charm'd silent , and eyes blinded as they were , how co'd she see or know that he was here ? dio.

are you convinced yet ?

am. no , not alwayes they convinced are , who know not what to say ; for my part until farther proof shall shew her guilty , i shall ne're believe her so : for just as images in tapestry do all appear distorted and awry , until they 're fully explicate , and then we see they appear all right and streight agen ; so sh㪠we now think guilty , we may finde innocent perhaps , when she explains her minde . pol. pray heaven she may ! mean time let us go see this stranger , who shall ever honour'd be alive and dead ; and be all lovers boast , and honour to love's kingdom . am. and that most deservedly , for never any yet for truly loving did more honour get ; nor ever any whilst the world lasts , or there 's lovers in the world shall e're get more . exeunt . enter theotimus , chorus of musicians , philander led to sacrifice crown'd victim-wise , youths and virgins with baskets of flowers strewing the way , &c. evander . the. go noble youth , who does in dying prove death , who has power o're all , has none o're love and shews to th' world , that who refuse to give their lives for honour ne're deserv'd to live � go take with thee this consolation , you lose a life that easily wo'd be gone ; but gain one by 't , when thousand years are past , and thousand other lives , shall alwayes last ; and though you might have longer liv'd , yet know , you ne're could dye more gloriously then now ; to have all our youths and virgins strew with flowers all the way you go , with roses and with mirtle boughs adorning your victorious browes ; and singing with triumphant song your praises as you go along . chorus sings . thus shall he ever honour'd be , who dyes for love and constancy ; and thus be ever prais'd , who dyes love's martyr , and his sacrifice . the. and if alive you thus are honoured , much more you shall be after you are dead ; if such as you can e're be said to dye , by whose noble example and memory , a thousand lovers when y' are dead and gone , shall spring up in the world instead of one ; who every year on pilgrimage shall come to honour your dead ashes in their tomb ; seeing whose votive gifts and offerings , the greatest and the mightiest of kings , in envying you , and wishing them their own , shall for your tomb gladly exchange their throne chorus sings . thus shall he ever honour'd be , who dyes for love and constancy ; and thus be ever prais'd , who dyes love's martyr , and his sacrifice . enter palemon , diophantes , polydor , amaranthe , &c. following . pal.

justice , justice , sir.

the.

for what ? or against whom ?

pal. against that stranger there , who 'd rob me of the honour and happiness of dying for bellinda . phi. he 's more unjust then i , who ' as rob'd me of the honour and happiness of living for her , and now won't let me dye . pal. as if no rocks nor seas , nor flames there were nor other wayes of dying , but for her ? chuse any of them you please , your choice is free , onely dying for her belongs to me . phi. you may live for her , what wo'd you more ? were i so happy as you , who 's list for me shu'd dye . pal. you talk as if there were no life to come , no blessed shades nor no elizium ; where those who have been lovers here possess eternity of joyes and happiness . phi. heaven is my witness i ne're think upon the joyes and pleasures of elizium , nor any joyes or pleasures whatsoe're but that of dying and suffering for her . ev. how like two towering hawks they mount and soar , love never flew so high a flight before ! dio.

there'l be no end of this .

pol. peace , let them alone , greater example of love was never shown ! the. then let bellinda come , and sentence give whether of them shu'd dye , and whether live ; are you content ? pal.

i am .

phi. and so am i ready for her either to live or dye . the. bring her forth thãªn , with all the ceremonies requisite in so dire a sacrifice , all the nymphs in mourning accompaning her , the fatal axe and executioner before her , and ( the whilst they go along ) the chorus singing of her funeral song . the song , sung whilst the nymphs put on their mourning veils . oh! oh! oh! oh! never was there greater woe , let us all the habits borrow , and the face of grief and sorrow ; who 'd not spare a sigh nor tear from all mishaps to spend it here ! enter bellinda veil'd , brought in by polydor , the popa , or sacred executioner before her , all the nymphs weeping , &c. ev.

wherefore this ceremony , since she 's not to dye ?

di.

onely for terrour and formality .

th. come , � thus i unveil thy eyes , that thou mayest see unto what misery and calamity t' hast brought thy self and us , and thus uncharm thy tongue , the fatal cause of all this harm . bel. what means these sable weeds and mourning chear ? whilst not a face but wears death's livery here ! th. 't is all for thee , ( unhappy nymph ) put on , that thou shud'st dye so untimely , and so young . bel. i understand you not , nor can i fear death , whilst my dearest life , philander's here . pal.

how 's this ?

she goes to embrace philander , and he turns away ev.

this is more strange then t'other !

bel. ha! philander prove unkinde ! nay , then away with the fatal axe and executioner , and all these deadly preparations here , they need not now ; one unkinde look or two of his , can kill me sooner then they can do . the. it is thy falshood and perfidity , ( unfortunate nymph ) that kills thee , and not he ; whilst falsly and perfidiously you swore , you lov'd one here , being betroath'd before unto another . bel. how ! i ne're did swear , that i lov'd any but philander here ! pal.

oh killing declaration !

the. that cant't be . for as for him , all cyprus knows that he arriv'd not here , till after you were inclos'd i th' facred cell , and separated from all conversation ; i th' mean time your tongue charm'd silent , and eyes blinded as they were , how could you see or know that he was here ? bel. love is a fire , and there needs no eye , but onely heat to tell when fire is nigh ; and lovers by their glowing bosoms know when those are near they love : but lest this now might seem too mystical , to make 't more clear , as in the temple i came forth to swear , i heard his voice , and swounding instantly for joy to hear it , whilst officiously they lifted up my veil to give me air , i glanc'd my eyes aside , and saw him there , the.

can any thing be more clear ?

pol. or any more deceiv'd in judgement , then we were before ? am.

did i not tell you she was innocent , i ?

bel.

yet can you doubt my faith and constancy ?

phi. no , but i doubt whet'r yet i wake or dream , my extasie and joy is so extream . they embrace . ev. see how they stand so ravisht with delight , and so transported each in t'others sight , 't can scarcely be conceiv'd by humane breast , much less by humane tongue can be exprest . th. disturb them not , � & now a word with you palemon . fi.

now love grant my hopes be true .

bel.

co'd you be jealous of me ?

phi. dearest know , i shu'd not love so dearly as i do , were i not jealous ; for jealousie 's but scorching of loves fire , and he shu'd be but a cold lover , who sometimes at least felt not a little of it in his breast . the. come , come , i here command you to restore that heart unto her , you took from her before ; for all the isle knows 't was filena , who enkindled the first sparks of love in you ; till ( haplesly for both ) bellinda came , and after rais'd those sparks unto a flame , and holy vestals ne're with greater care preserve their fires , then we loves fire's air , enkindling one straight in anothers room . pal.

in tepid hearths fires kindle not so soon .

the. call not that tepid , where late such a fire did burn , ne're any in cyprus flamed higher . pal. but loves fires once extinguisht , leave hearts more tepid , and cold then e're they were before . the. come , don't dispute , for i 'm to be obey'd , and now but look upon this gentle maid , and tell me truly , did you ever see a fairer , or a sweeter nymph then she ! one for whose love there 's not a gentle swain in all the land , but sighs , and sighs in vain ; and she to love you , and to love you so , she willingly would dye for love of you : what cleansing water , or what purging flame can expiate your not loving her again ? fi. fall all the fault on this devoted head , rather then blame him for 't , wou'd i were dead ; 't is my unworthiness , and no fault of his , he does not love , if any fault there is . the. yet ( obstinate as you are ) are you not mov'd to love again where y' are so dearly lov'd ? pal. these vaults and walls built for eternity , love's temple shall be sooner mov'd then i : the. nay then 't is needful we apply i see our utmost and extreamest remedy , lest the contagion o' th' example shu'd nourish bad humors , and corrupt the good : ) let him to th' desart island straight be led whither all loves rebels are banished . pal. unto what place so e're i am confin'd , i may change place , but cannot change my mind : but stay ! what sudden earthquakes this i feel , makes the walls totter , and foundations reel o' th' temple here ! the. 't is well , 't is a good sign , love who moves stones will move that heart of thine , more hard then they � and see o wondrous sight ! the temples fill'd with unaccustom'd light ; and love with flaming brand amidst it flyes , illuminating with it all the skies : now ( rebel as thou art ) thou soon shalt know whether love's god have any power or no. pal. just as some gentle gale does fan the fire , there 's somewhat here within that does inspire my breast , and now't increases more and more , till that which onely was a spark before does by degrees so mighty a flame become , as i am all but one incendium ! o love , to whom all bosoms must submit , i feel thy mighty hand , and reverence it ! the. just so phaebus , the delphick god inspires , the pythonesses breast with sacred fires , onely the god of love more mildly burns , and ' stead of raging unto sweetness turns . chorus sings . so gentle love does all command in fire and water , air and land , and all with his commands inspire in land and water , aire and fire . pal.

and can you pardon me ?

fi. i can pardon any thing in my palemon , but onely his doubting whether i can or no. and for the rest , account my self by love most highly blest , ( who payes debts best the longer he forbears ) t' have all my morning sighs and evening tears , my daily griefs and nightly sorrows past , rewarded thus abundantly at last . they embrace . pal.

my dear filena .

fi.

my dearest , dearest palemon .

the. enough , enough , leave your embraces till at fitter season you may take your fill of such delicious pleasures and contents , such sweet delights , such joyes and ravishments , no heart can e're conceive , no tongue express the thousandth part of their deliciousness . � to phi. and bel. now see and wonder , these are lovers too , this is the least of miracles love can do . phi. noble palemon , i congratulate your and the fair filena's happy fate : pal. and i , noble philander , rejoyce no less at your and fair bellinda's happiness . the. never was more abundant joy , and now to th' paradice of happy lovers go , where with redoubled flames love's god does prove whose hearts are most capacious of love : and then with all becoming rites and state , when once your marriages are celebrate ; philander you , and fair bellinda may at your best pleasure either go or stay . exeunt . manet evander , to whom pamphilus enters : pam.

and what shall we do ?

evan. i for my part , since there 's so much joy and happiness in marriage , resolve first to go home and dispose of all i have , and after come and marry here . pam. promise you so won't i , if there be no wenches nor wenching businesses here , it is no place for me ; wherefore my word is , come here no more . ev.

and mine is , come agen .

pam. i 'm sure i shall have the greatest part of my opinion . ev. and i all the nobler and the better � and now let 's see which number is the greater .
finis .
filena's song , of the commutation of love's and death's darts . in the narrative style . love and death o' th' way once meeting , having past a friendly greeting : sleep their weary eye-lids closing , lay them down themselves reposing . love whom divers cares molested , could not sleep , but while death rested , all in haste away he postes him , but his haste full dearly costs him : for it chanc't that going to sleeping both did give their darts in keeping unto night , who errors mother , blindly knowing not one from t'other , gave love death 's , and ne're perceiv'd it , whilst as blindely love receiv'd it ; since which time their darts confounding , love now kills instead of wounding : death our hearts with sweetness filling , gently wounds instead of killing .
another song . celia weeps , and those fair eyes which sparkling diamonds were before , whose precious brightness none could prize , dissolves into a pearly showre . celia smiles , and straight does render her fair eyes diamonds again , which after shine with greater splendor , as the sun does after rain . now if the reason you would know , why pearls and diamonds fall and rise ; their prices just go high or low , as they are worn in celia's eyes .
finis .

a short discourse of the english stage .

a short discourse of the english stage . to his excellency , the lord marquess of new castle . my noble lord ,

i send your excellency here a short discourse of the english stage , ( which if you pleas'd you could far better treat of then my self ) but before i begin it , i will speak a word or two of thã´se of other countreys .

about the midst of the last century , playes , after a long discontinuance , and civil death in a manner , began to be reviv'd again , first in italy by guarino , tasso , de porta , and others ; and afterwards in spain by lopes de vega ; the french beginning later by reason of their civil wars , cardinal richlieu being the first that brought them into that vouge and esteem as now they are ; well knowing how much the acting noble and heroick playes , conferr'd to the instilling a noble and heroick spirit into the nation . for ã»s , we began before them , and if since they seem to have out-stript us , 't is because our stage ha's stood at a stand this many years ; nor may we doubt , but now we shall soon out-strip them again , if we hold on but as we begin . of the dutch i speak nothing , because they are but slow , and follow other nations onely afar off : but to return unto our present subject .

playes ( which so flourisht amongst the greeks , and afterwards amongst the romans ) were almost wholly abolished when their empire was first converted to christianity , and their theaters , together with their temples , for the most part , demolished as reliques of paganisme , some few onely reserved and dedicate to the service of the true god , as they had been to their false gods before ; from which time to the last age , they acted nothing here , but playes of the holy scripture , or saints lives ; and that without any certain theaters or set companies , till about the beginning of queen elizabeths reign , they began here to assemble into companies , and set up theaters , first in the city , ( as in the innyards of the cross-keyes , and bull in grace and bishops-gate street at this day is to be seen ) till that fanatick spirit which then began with the stage , and after ended with the throne , banisht them thence into the suburbs , as after they did the kingdom , in the beginning of our civil wars . in which time , playes were so little incompatible with religion , and the theater with the church , as on week-dayes after vespers , both the children of the chappel and st. pauls , acted playes , the one in white-friers , the other behinde the convocation-house in pauls , till people growing more precise , and playes more licentious , the theatre of pauls was quite supprest , and that of the children of the chappel , converted to the use of the children of the revels .

in this time were poets and actors in their greatest flourish , iohnson , shakespear , with beaumont and fletcher their poets , and field and burbidge their actors .

for playes , shakespear was one of the first , who inverted the dramatick stile , from dull history to quick comedy , upon whom iohnson refin'd ; as beaumont and fletcher first writ in the heroick way , upon whom suckling and others endeavoured to refine agen � one saying wittily of his aglaura , that 't was full of fine flowers , but they seem'd rather stuck , then growing there ; as another of shakespear's writings , that 't was a fine garden , but it wanted weeding .

there are few of our english playes ( excepting onely some few of iohnsons ) without some faults or other ; and if the french have fewer then our english , 't is because they confine themselves to narrower limits , and consequently have less liberty to erre .

the chief faults of ours , are our huddling too much matter together , and making them too long and intricate ; we imagining we never have intrigue enough , till we lose our selves and auditors , who shu'd be led in a maze , but not a mist ; and through turning and winding wayes , but sã´ still , as they may finde their way at last .

a good play shu'd be like a good stuff , closely and evenly wrought , without any breakes , thrums , or loose ends in 'um , or like a good picture well painted and designed ; the plot or contrivement , the design , the writing , the coloris , and counterplot , the shaddowings , with other embellishments : or finally , it shu'd be like a well contriv'd garden , cast into its walks and counterwalks , betwixt an alley and a wilderness , neither too plain , nor too confus'd . of all arts , that of the dramatick poet is the most difficult and most subject to censure ; for in all others , they write onely of some particular subject , as the mathematician of mathematicks , or philosopher of philosophy ; but in that , the poet must write of every thing , and every one undertakes to judge of it .

a dramatick poet is to the stage as a pilot to the ship ; and to the actors , as an architect to the builders , or master to his schollars : he is to be a good moral philosopher , but yet more learned in men then books . he is to be a wise , as well as a witty man , and a good man , as well as a good poet ; and i 'de allow him to be so far a good fellow too , to take a chearful cup to whet his wits , so he take not so much to dull 'um , and whet 'um quite away .

to compare our english dramatick poets together ( without taxing them ) shakespear excelled in a natural vein , fletcher in wit , and iohnson in gravity and ponderousness of style ; whose onely fault was , he was too elaborate ; and had he mixt less erudition with his playes , they had been more pleasant and delightful then they are . comparing him with shakespear , you shall see the difference betwixt nature and art ; and with fletcher , the difference betwixt wit and judgement : wit being an exuberant thing , like nilus , never more commendable then when it overflowes ; but judgement a stayed and reposed thing , alwayes containing it self within its bounds and limits .

beaumont and fletcher were excellent in their kinde , but they often err'd against decorum , seldom representing a valiant man without somewhat of the braggadoccio , nor an honourable woman without somewhat of dol common in her : to say nothing of their irreverent representing kings persons on the stage , who shu'd never be represented , but with revãªrence : besides , fletcher was the first who introduc't that witty obscenity in his playes , which like poison infused in pleasant liquor , is alwayes the more dangerous the more delightful . and here to speak a word or two of wit , it is the spirit and quintessence of speech , extracted out of the substance of the thing we speak of , having nothing of the superfice , or dross of words ( as clenches , quibbles , gingles , and such like trifles have ) it is that , in pleasant and facetious discourse , as eloquence is in grave and serious ; not learnt by art and precept , but nature and company . 't is in vain to say any more of it ; for if i could tell you what it were , it would not be what it is ; being somewhat above expression , and such a volatil thing , as 't is altogether as volatil to describe .

it was the happiness of the actors of those times to have such poets as these to instruct them , and write for them ; and no less of those poets to have such docile and excellent actors to act their playes , as a field and burbidge ; of whom we may say , that he was a delightful proteus , so wholly transforming himself into his part , and putting off himself with his cloathes , as he never ( not so much as in the tyring-house ) assum'd himself again until the play was done : there being as much difference betwixt him and one of our common actors , as between a ballad-singer who onely mouths it , and an excellent singer , who knows all his graces , and can artfully vary and modulate his voice , even to know how much breath he is to give to every syllable . he had all the parts of an excellent orator , ( animating his words with speaking , and speech with action ) his auditors being never more delighted then when he spake , nor more sorry then when he held his peace ; yet even thãªn , he was an excellent actor still , never falling in his part when he had done speaking ; but with his looks and gesture , maintaining it still unto the heighth , he imagining age quod agis , onely spoke to him : so as those who call him a player do him wrong , no man being less idle then he , whose whole life is nothing else but action ; with only this difference from other mens , that as what is but a play to them , is his business ; so their business is but a play to him .

now , for the difference betwixt our theaters and those of former times , they were but plain and simple , with no other scenes , nor decorations of the stage , but onely old tapestry , and the stage strew'd with rushes , ( with their habits accordingly ) whereas ours now for cost and ornament are arriv'd to the heighth of magnificence ; but that which makes our stage the better , makes our playes the worse perhaps , they striving now to make them more for sight , then hearing ; whence that solid joy of the interior is lost , and that benefit which men formerly receiv'd from playes , from which they seldom or never went away , but far better and wiser then they came .

the stage being a harmless and innocent recreation ; where the minde is recreated and delighted , and that ludus literarum , or school of good language and behaviour , that makes youth soonest man , and man soonest good and vertuous , by joyning example to precept , and the pleasure of seeing to that of hearing . it s chiefest end is , to render folly ridiculous , vice odious , and vertue and noblenesse so amiable and lovely , as , every one shu'd be delighted and enamoured with it ; from which when it deflects ; as , corruptio optimi pessima : of the best it becomes the worst of recreations . and this his majesty well understood , when after his happy restauration , he took such care to purge it from all vice and obscenity ; and would to god he had found all bodies and humours as apt and easie to be purg'd and reform'd as thã¢t .

for scenes and machines they are no new invention , our masks and some of our playes in former times ( though not so ordinary ) having had as good or rather better then any we have now .

they are excellent helps of imagination , most grateful deceptions of the sight , and graceful and becoming ornaments of the stage , transporting you easily without lassitude from one place to another ; or rather by a kinde of delightful magick , whilst you sit still , does bring the place to you . of this curious art the italians ( this latter age ) are the greatest masters , the french good proficients , and we in england onely schollars and learners yet , having proceeded no further then to bare painting , and not arriv'd to the stupendious wonders of your great ingeniers , especially not knowing yet how to place our lights , for the more advantage and illuminating of the scenes .

and thus much suffices it briefly to have said of all that concerns our modern stage , onely to give others occasion to say more .

finis .
beauty in distress as it is acted at the theatre in little lincolns-inn-fields by his majesties servants / written by mr. motteux ; with a discourse of the lawfulness & unlawfulness of plays, lately written by the learned father caffaro, divinity-professor at paris, sent in a letter to the author by a divine of the church of england. motteux, peter anthony, 1660-1718. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a51496 of text r36604 in the english short title catalog (wing m2945). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish.this text has not been fully proofread approx. 231 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 47 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a51496 wing m2945 estc r36604 15742820 ocm 15742820 104583

this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission.

early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a51496) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 104583) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1153:5) beauty in distress as it is acted at the theatre in little lincolns-inn-fields by his majesties servants / written by mr. motteux ; with a discourse of the lawfulness & unlawfulness of plays, lately written by the learned father caffaro, divinity-professor at paris, sent in a letter to the author by a divine of the church of england. motteux, peter anthony, 1660-1718. caffaro, francesco, ca. 1650-1720. xxxi, [1], 58, [2] p. printed for daniel brown ... and rich. parker ..., london : 1698. "a letter from a divine of the church of england to the author of the tragedy call'd beauty in distress, concerning the lawfulness and unlawfulness of plays": p. ix-xxvi. reproduction of original in the huntington library.
eng theater -religious aspects. shcnobeauty in distressmotteux, peter16984063931000007.63b the rate of 7.63 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the b category of texts with fewer than 10 defects per 10,000 words. 2005-01 assigned for keying and markup 2005-01 keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-02 sampled and proofread 2005-02 text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-04 batch review (qc) and xml conversion

beauty in distress . a tragedy . as it is acted at the theatre in little lincolns-inn-fields . by his majesty's servants .

written by mr. motteux .

with a discourse of the lawfulness & unlawfulness of plays , lately written in french by the learned father caffaro , divinity-professor at paris . sent in a letter to the author by a divine of the church of england .

london , printed for daniel brown , at the black swan and bible without temple-bar ; and rich. parker at the unicorn under the piazza of the royal exchange . 1698.

there is newly published , the usefulness of the stage , to the happiness of mankind , to government , and to religion . occasioned by a late book , written by jeremy collier , m. a. by mr. dennis . printed for rich. parker .

to the honourable henry heveningham , esq sir ,

as beauty in distress has always found protection from the generous and the brave , to throw herself into honorable hands and hospitable walls , she seeks a patron here ; fearless even of greater dangers than those she has happily escap'd , when your condescending goodness emboldens her to aspire to favours which her humble thoughts wou'd scarce permit her to expect . but while my fair unfortunate rests secure under so auspicious a roof , my unhappier hero will inevitably be lost there : he 'll find that sweetness of temper , that gracefulness , that tenderness of soul , and every lovely qualification so much above him , that , where he enters with pride , he will sit down with envy . he will find you dividing your equally grateful conversation betwixt the gravity of the wise , the gayety of the witty , and the easy sprightliness of the fair , and entertaining the solid , the ingenious and the beauteous , so as to improve the first , cheer the second , and charm the last . for , as none seems to have more studied the art of pleasing those whom the best deserving wou'd please , so a particular genius of gallantry distinguishes you from most of those who make any considerable figure among the beau monde . you wisely consider that by such a spirit the best men have been inspir'd with sentiments productive of the noblest actions , and 't is cheifly owing to such examples as your self , that 't is kept up in this degenerating age , when so many seem fondest of estranging themselves from the most harmless recreations and improvements . more happy those , who , like you , are convinc'd , that , by a pleasing converse with the other sex , ours insensibly gains that graceful deportment , that elegant politeness , and those accomplishments which the ingenious fair seldom fail to impart more effectually than the most lavish nature itself , and even that love of glory , which a desire to please 'em awakes or rather inspires in hearts . in that ingaging society , learning soon loses its pedantry , youth its indiscretion , and bravery its roughness ; and man becomes with ease and pleasure an absolute master of those graces that change a rude mass into a perfect gentleman . but i ought not to dwell on the praise of others , while i have so fair an opportunity to enlarge on yours . the character which you have still maintain'd , is what the ablest pens might be ambitious of drawing ; but what colours of speech shall rethoric , or poetry it self , that bolder painting , use , to do justice to the great original ? if like too many others you had need to borrow some glory from the reflected lustre of your ancestry , the remotest ages wou'd supply you with hereditary marks of honor , while we trace up yours long before the conquest , and find among the many noble branches of so illustrious a family , some of your ancestors enriching your scutcheon in the holy wars by extraordinary atchievements of honour . and the acquisition of laurels before the walls of jerusalem ; and one particularly , killing in single combat the champion of the saracens before the king and the whole army , to the immortal glory of his name and country .

but we need not look so far back as to chronicles and monuments , when we have living objects of admiration ; before us artful painters , when they wou'd copy such , endeavour to set every perfection in its truest light , and either to veil , extenuate , or throw into shades those defects of which nature is so seldom free ; they strive to heighten every grace , yet so as to preserve the original likeness , and give an advantageous idea of what they represent . while thus they flatter nature , i could only wish the first of these talents , conscious that i should have no occasion to exert the others , to give a just idea of your accomplishments . but extrordinary qualifications are yet more uneasily describ'd to the eyes of the mind , than extraordinary features to those of the body , and i have not so much of the author , but that a sense of modesty and my own incapacity , check my presumptuous desires . besides , even truth it self begins to cease to please the most deserving , when it makes too bold with their praise ; and the illnatur'd world is apt to term that flattery , which often is but a just acknowledgment , and the incentive , and only reward of vertue in this world ; the want of merit of most men making 'em displeased to hear the worth of others , and their envy and uncharitable thoughts charging the fairest and most lively complexions with using artifice . for my part , i hope never to seem so imprudent as to debase with flattery the real worth which i wou'd extol ; i know that thus to add imaginary virtue to the true , is like the injudicious laying paint on a good face , where some natural beauty is wanting , this only serves to disgrace the other charms , and make deformity more conspicuous . yet , without so much as attemping a slight sketch of your particular endowments , ( tho most poetical dedications have more of the picture than of the epistle ) to whom shou'd aspiring writers make their court , but such as you , by whose countenancing generosity , poetry , music , and other ingenious arts are incourag'd ? you , whose known zeal for those whom you espouse , and humanity to all the world , make every one fond of sharing your smiles . 't is as you influence those whom we are proudest of pleasing , that even our most labour'd pieces must expect to be receiv'd ; and as you supply us with instructions and examples , that we are enabled to succeed . 't is not from the vulgar order of men that we must learn to write to the heart , to touch the soul , to trifle agreeably , be witty without affectation , solid without dulness , lofty without bombast , and familiar without meanness .

but i ought to finish this address , lest i usurp some of those moments which are due to your more entertaining diversions ; and as the business of this epistle is not more to secure to this tragedy the honour of your patronage , than to assure you of the deep respect of the author , i cannot conclude better than with a solemn protestation of being eternally , with the utmost veneration .

your most humble and most obedient servant , peter motteus .
the preface .

i have no reason to complain of the reception which this tragedy met with , tho it appear'd first at a time not very favourable to composures of this kind , and divested of all the things that now recommend a play most to the liking of the many . for it has no singing , no dancing , no mixture of comedy , no mirth , no change of scene , no rich dresses , no show , no rants , no similies , no battle , no killing on the stage , no ghost , no prodigy ; and , what 's yet more , no smut , no profaneness , nor immorality . besides : 't is a single plot , and the whole story , notwithstanding the great number of turns in it , is transacted on one individual spot of ground , and in no more time than the representation takes up , which is an uncommon confinement ; the rather if you consider that the scenes are unbroken , no two and two coming on to talk and then go out meerly because they had no more to say . here i study'd to bring the actors to that place only because they have business there , and make 'em go away because their concerns call for them elsewhere yet never without leaving some actor on , from the beginning to the end of the act. add to this the confinement in writing to a moral , the whole design tending to make good the last line in the poem ; and the difficulty in cloathing a fiction like this with words that may keep up the dignity of verse , while the tale requires all the freedom and natural turn of prose .

i had the satisfaction of seeing the audience pleasingly surpriz'd by the turns in the plot ; and if , as i am willing to believe , they came on somewhat too fast , 't is a fault which i can with ease avoid another time . perhaps they only seem so now , because several things were left out , to make the play the shorter .

such as it is , it has had the honour of forcing tears from the fairest eyes , and what i cannot too thankfully and humbly acknowledge , of being the happy occasion of recommending me to her royal highnesses bounty ; her princely gift alone outweighing the benefit of a sixth representation : this most excellent and pious princess being pleas'd to encourage thus an inoffensive writer , doubtless that he may still keep to strict morality , even in the circumstances of a melancholic fortune .

i might say something now of the present disputes about the lawfulness or unlawfulnes : of the stage , but refer you to the following letter , which ( as the booksellers , who are men of fair and unquestion'd reputation , and above countenancing any little trick , can testifie ) was really writ by a worthy divine of the church of england .

i cannot be too cautious ; for i find my uninterrupted good success has rais'd me enemies . but , since 't is common for better pens than my self to be abus'd by the worst , as long as my writings continue to be as well receiv'd as they have been from the first , i can calmly leave envy and detraction in their deserv'd obscurity .

i only beg leave to add the following lines , out of a poem which before i wrote for the stage i inscrib'd to a reverend clergyman : as they were then my sentiments , they are , and i hope will be still �

the poet 's character of himself . to what hard fate a muse her vot'ries binds , still forc'd by need to rack their weary'd minds ; to sooth a dull , ungrateful , impious age , th' eternal drudges of the press and stage ; this moment baffled , thoughtless of the past , still rich in hopes , and wretched to the last ; inspir'd by fits , but oftner dull than wise , and fond of fame , which yet they sacrifice ! ah , cruel fortune , tyrant of my life , to fools so kind , with poets still at strife , thou mayst constrain thy slave to lose his right to dear-bought fame , the poet 's best delight ; but never shall my dearer honour be , thou prostitute , a prostitute to thee . oh , let me ne're prophane celestial fire , quench sacred flames , or kindle loose desire ; or , to base flatt'ring and detraction bent , poyson the weak , and stab the innocent . oh! that my muse in some retreat might sing britain's great ruler , and heav'ns greater king ! ev'n our wing'd brother-poets of the grove strive here below to rival those above . each morning they their warbling voices raise , inspir'd by nature , nature's god to praise . the lab'ring swain by them beguiles his cares , yet by his arts , their callow brood insnares ; then , blinded taught t' unlearn their native strain , and cag'd for life , the wretches sing for grain . so 't is with us , at first by nature free , our lays were sacred as our deity : but by a selfish world inslav'd , while young , blinded by vice , we 're taught a meaner song : kept close and bare , we ne're enjoy the spring , the town our cage , where we must starve or sing .
a letter from a divine of the church of england , to the author of the tragedy call'd , beavty in distress , concerning the lawfulness and unlawfulness of plays . sir ,

since you have been pleas'd to desire my opinion about the lawfulness or unlawfulness of writing plays for the stage , i shall give it you with all the freedom and impartiality which becomes one of my function . vpon reflecting on the present management of our theaters , on the actions , humors , and characters which are daily represented there , which are for the most part so leud and immodest , as to tend very much to the debauching the youth and gentry of our english nation ; i might very well diswade you from giving any countenance to such unmanly practices , by offering any of your works to the service of the stage .

but tho the theatral representations are become an offence and scandal to most , yet i am not of their mind , who think plays are absolutely unlawful , and the best way to reform is wholly to suppress them : for certainly they might be of very great use , not only for the diversion and pleasure , but also for the correction and information of mankind . 't is no crime to eat or drink , but the sin lies in the excessive and immoderate vse , or rather abuse of those things which we either eat or drink : the case is much the same with plays . in their own nature they are innocent and harmless diversions ; but then indeed they become sinful and unlawful , to be made , acted , or seen , when they transgress the bounds of virtue and religion ; shock our nature , put our modesty to the blush ; imprint nauseous and unbecoming images on our minds ; and in a word , when they are such as are a scandal to the author , and an offence to the audience .

i am not willing ( sir ) to believe so hardly of the age , ( tho 't is bad enough in all conscience ) but that most of the persons who frequent the theatres , would be as well pleas'd to see a play of decorum and modesty acted , as they would be to see a leud and atheistical comedy . 't is upon this consideration that i am willing to encourage you in your design of writing plays for the stage ; for you have too much prudence , honour , and conscience , to subject the sacred nine to base and servile ends . 't is to be hop'd that such as you may be a means of reforming the abuses of the stage , and of shewing the world that a poet may be a man of sense and parts , without renouncing his virtue .

i shall not trouble you at present with any farther thoughts of my own , but will here give you the sentiments of a very judicious divine upon this subject . it seems he was consulted by a gentleman , whether plays were lawful or not , and whether he might in conscience exercise his parts that way : to this the divine replies in the ensuing letter , shewing how far plays are lawful and necessary , and when they become unlawful and sinful ; the resolution of this will , i presume , come up to your purpose .

the letter is as follows . sir ,

i have avoided as much as i could giving you my opinion in writing about plays , considering the niceness of the subject , and my own incapacity : but since you press me still to cure you of that scrupulous fear which lies upon your mind , i must pass over those two difficulties , chusing rather to expose my self on your account , than not to ease you of your doubts . in truth , sir , the more i examine the holy fathers , the more i read the divines , and consult the casuists , the less able i find my self to determin any thing in this matter . i had no sooner found something in favour of the drama among the schoolmen , who are almost all of them for allowing it , but i perceiv'd my self surrounded with abundance of passages out of the councils and the fathers , who have all of them declaim'd against publick shows .

this question would have been soon determin'd , if the holy scripture had said any thing about it . but as tertullian very well observes , we no where find that we are as expresly forbidden in scripture to go to the circus and theatre , to see the fightings of gladiators , or be assisting in any show , as we are forbid to worship idols , or the being guilty of murder , treason and adultery . if you read the scriptures over and over , you will never meet with any express and particular precept against plays . the fathers assert that we cannot in conscience be any ways assisting to the drama ; the schoolmen maintain the contrary : let us therefore endeavour to make use of st. cyprian's rule , who says , that reason is to be heard where holy writ is silent ; and let us try to reconcile the conclusions of the divines with the determination of the fathers of the church .

but because 't is a very nice point , and the question consists in reconciling them together , i will not advance any thing of my own sentiments , but bring st. thomas aquinas to speak for me ; who being on one side a very religious father , and holy doctor of the church , and on the other side , the angel of the school , the master and head of all the divines , seems to me the most proper of any to reconcile the disagreeing opinions of both parties . in the second part of his summs , among others , he starts this question , what we ought to think of sports and diversions ? and he returns in answer to himself , that provided they be moderate , he does not only not think them sinful , but in some measure good and conformable to that virtue which aristotle stiles eutrapelia , whose business 't is to set just bounds to our pleasures . the reason which he alledges for it is this , that a man being fatigu'd by the serious actions of life , has need of an agreeable refreshment , which he can find no where so well as in plays : and to back his opinion , that great casuist produces that of st. augustin in his own words , in short , i would have you take care of your self , for 't is the part of a wise man , sometimes to unbend his mind which is too intent upon his bussness .

now , continues st. thomas , how can this relaxation of the mind be effected , if not by diverting words or actions ? 't is not therefore sinful or unbecoming a wise and virtuous man , to allow himself some innocent pleasures . this holy doctor does even in some sort reckon it a sin to refrain from diversion ; because ( says he ) whatever is contrary to reason , is vicious ; now 't is contrary to reason that a man should be so unsociable and hard upon others , as to oppose their innocent pleasures , never to bear a part in their diversions , or contribute to 'em by his words or actions . therefore seneca had a great deal of reason to say upon this occasion , demean your selves in your conversation with so much prudence and discretion , that none may charge you with being morose , or despise you as one unfit for human converse : for 't is a vice to fall out with all mankind , and thus to be imputed a morose and salvage creature .

't is easy , sir , to determine from those words of that father , that under the general term of recreations he comprehends the drama , when he says , that this unbending of the mind , which is a virtue , is perform'd by diverting words and actions . now what is more proper and peculiar to plays than this , since they only consist in jocose and witty words and actions , such as produce delight and recreate the mind ? i do not think you will find in any other diversion , words and actions thus united together . but hearken , i beseech you , once more to this great scholar .

it seems ( says he ) as if those players who spend their whole lives on the stage , did transgress the bounds of innocent diversion . if then excessive diversion be a sin ( as certainly 't is ) the players are in a state of sin ; and so likewise are all those who assist at stage-representations , and they who give any thing to them are , as it were , abetters of their sin ; which seems to be false ; for we read in the lives of the fathers , that one day it was reveal'd to st. paphnutius , that in the other life he should not arrive to a higher degree of glory than a certain player .

if the objection which st. thomas here starts be nice , his answer is as delicate and solid . diversion ( replys this excellent doctor ) being therefore necessary for the comfort of human life , we may appoint several employments for this very end , which are lawful . thus the employment of players being established to afford men an honest recreation , has nothing in it , in my mind , which deserves to be prohibited ; and i do not look upon them to be in a state of sin , provided they make use of this sort of recreation with moderation , that is , provided they neither speak nor act any thing which is unlawful ; mix nothing that is sacred with profane , and never act in a prohibited time . and tho they may have no other employment of life , with respect to other men , yet with respect to themselves and to god , they have other very serious employments , such as when they pray to god , govern their passions , and give alms to the poor . from hence i conclude , that those who in moderation pay or assist them are guilty of no sin , but do an act of justice , since they only give them the reward of their labour . but if any one should squander away his whole estate upon them , or countenance players who act after a scandalous and unlawful way , i make no question but that he sins , and gives them encouragement to sin ; and 't is in this sense that st. augustin's words are to be taken , when he says , that to give one's estate away to players , is rather a vice than a virtue .

to prove that 't is only the excess which ought to be condemned in all sports and diversions , and that the holy fathers had no other design in declaiming against plays , st. thomas explains what he means by excess , and lays it down as an indispensible maxim , that in every thing which may be regulated according to reason , that which transgresses this rule is to be reckon'd superfluous , and that which does not come up to it defective . now , continues he , diverting words and actions may be regulated according to reason : the excess therefore in them is , when they do not agree to this rule , or are defective by the circumstances which ought to be applied to them . 't is upon this maxim that we ought to return answer to the authorities of the fathers of the church , since according to st. thomas , they declaim only against the excess in plays , and we shall offer nothing on this subject , but in imitation of this great doctor , who , as his way was , applying to all the fathers the answer which he gives to only one , answers st. chrysostom in this manner . that eloquent father had said , that it was not god who was the author of sports , but the devil ; and the more to back what he had advanc'd , produc'd this passage out of holy writ ; the people sat down to eat and drink , and rose up to play . but st. thomas is for having those words of the great chrysostom , to be understood of excessive and immoderate sports ; and he adds , that excess in play is a foolish pleasure , stil'd by st. gregory the daughter of gluttony and sin ; and that in this sense it is written , that the people sat down to eat and drink , and rose up to play . this is the answer which we are to make to whatever may be objected against us out of the fathers , and the rather , because in examining them without prejudice , 't is easy to perceive , that if they did declaim so much against the drama , it was only because in their times its excess was criminal and immoderate ; whereas had they seen it as 't is now-a-days in france , conformable to good manners and right reason , they would not have inveigh'd against it . but plays as they were acted in the time of our forefathers , were so abominable and infamous , that those pious men could not but employ their greatest zeal against a thing which was so very offensive to the church . for is it not the excess of plays , for instance , against which tertullian cries out , when he says ; let us not go to the theatre , which is a particular scene of immodesty and debauchery , where nothing is lik'd but what is disapprov'd elsewhere ; and what is thought most excellent , is commonly what is infamous and lewd . a player , for instance , acts there with the most shameful and naked gestures ; women forgetting the modesty of their sex , dare do that on the stage , and in the view of all the world , which others would blush to commit at home where no body could see them . there they represent the rape of virgins , the infamous victims of publick debauchery ; so much the more wretched , because expos'd to the view of such women as are suppos'd to be ignorant of such licentiousness . they are there made the subject of the young mens mirth ; there you are directed to the place where they prostitute themselves ; there they tell you how much they get by their infamous trade , and there in a word those strumpets are commended in the presence of those who ought to be ignorant of all those things . i say nothing , adds this father , of what ought to be buried in eternal silence , for fear that by barely mentioning such horrid actions , i should in some measure be guilty of them .

but the other fathers are not so reserv'd as he , and make no scruple to discover all they know about it . you must not imagine that i am ambitious of quoting all they have said : those matters which are so freely handled in another language , might prove offensive in ours ; therefore i will only leave you to guess what exorbitances they have mention'd , by some of those lesser infamies of which i dare give an account out of their writings .

salvian was afraid to say any thing about it : who ( says he ) can treat of those shameful representations , those dishonest speeches , and of those lascivious and immodest actions , the enormity and offence of which are discoverable by that restraint which they in their own nature impose upon us not to rehearse them ?

lactantius is not so reserv'd , his most favourable thoughts about it are these . to what end do those impudent actions of the players tend , but to debauch the youth of the age ? their effeminate bodies in womens dresses , represent the most lascivious gestures of the most dissolute . and a little lower , he says , from the licentiousness of speech , they proceed to that of action : they , at the instance of the people , strip , debauch'd women stark naked on the publick theatre , &c. pray be you judge , whether what this father adds , can be acceptable to modesty .

st. cyprian , who ex professo composed a book of publick shows , describes at large all the infamous practices there . we may also read something of that abominable custom of their appearing naked on the theatres , in st. chrysostom , st. jerom , and st. augustin . the first of these does not scruple comparing those of his time who went to plays to david , who took pleasure in seeing bathsheba naked in her bath ; and saying that the theatre is the rendevouz of all manner of debaucheries , that 't is full of impudence , abomination , and impiety . a more modern writer ( viz. alexander ab alexandro ) describing the shows of the antients , and especially their bacchanalia , gives us such horrible pictures of their publick infamies and prostitutions , that i should tremble to repeat them . you may imagin , sir , there could be nothing of good in them , since the infamous heliogabalus was the author of some of them . but lest you should suppose that plays were much the same as they are now ; and that 't was only to disswade the faithful from frequenting the stage , that the fathers represented it in such frightful colours ; let us consult profane authors . valerius maximus , speaking of the detestable custom which the romans had , of exposing upon the theatre the naked bodies of debauch'd women , and the naked bodies of young boys , relates of m. p. cato , that he being one day at those sights , and understanding by his favourite favonius , that out of the respect which they bore to him , the people were asham'd to desire the players should appear naked on the theatre ; this great man withdrew , that he might not by his presence hinder that which was so customary . seneca gives us the same account of cato , and commends him for his being unwilling to see those debauch'd women naked . i dare not repeat to you the words of lampridius , because they are too fulsom , when he says , that the emperor heliogabalus , who in a play represented venus , showed himself all naked upon the stage with the utmost signs of impudence . we also find that the public shows of the antients were as dreadfully impious , as they were immoral . there ( says st. chrysostom ) they blaspheme the name of god , and no sooner have the players vented a blasphemous expression , but a loud applause follows . this is what oblig'd the third council of carthage by a canon to condemn players as blasphemers : let not the laicks themselves be present at the shows , for it has been always unlawful for any christian to go into the company of blasphemers .

now who would not cry down the stage , if it were so full of immorality and profaneness ? there is no need of being one of the fathers , the light of nature is sufficient to condemn so great an excess . thus we read in st. chrysostom , that certain barbarians having heard of those theatral plays , express'd themselves in those terms worthy of the greatest philosophers , viz. 't is fit that the romans , when they invented this kind of pleasures , should be look'd upon as persons who had neither wives nor children . and alcibiades among other things is commended for having cast a certain comedian , nam'd eupolis , into the sea , for being so impudent as to repeat some infamous verses in his presence , adding at his punishment this expression , thou hast plung'd me often in the debaucheries of the stage , and for once i will plunge thee into the depths of the sea.

you may easily perceive , sir , that all those passages out of the fathers , and a thousand others which i could produce out of them against stage-plays , prove nothing against the drama as it now stands in france . it would be superfluous to stand making a comparison between the one and the other ; i desire that you would only take notice , that far from weakning the doctrine of st. thomas , all that has been hitherto alledg'd serves only to strengthen it : for 't is only against the excess of the stage that the fathers appear'd so zealous , whereas if they had found it divested of those unhappy circumstances which then attended it , they would have been of st. thomas's opinion , and at least have look'd upon it as indifferent .

i thought it proper to relate all this to you before i ventur'd to discover my own thoughts on this subject ; and upon those indisputable principles which i have laid down , i affirm , that in my judgment , plays in their own nature , and taken in themselves , independent from any other circumstance whether good or bad , ought to be reckon'd among the number of things purely indifferent . upon due examination you will find it to be the opinion even of tertullian and st. cyprian , the two who seem to declaim most against the drama .

to begin with tertullian , at the same time that he abominates the infamy of publick shows , he starts this objection to himself : god ( says he ) has made all things , and given them to men , and consequently they are all good , such as the circus , lions , voices , &c. what then makes the use of them unlawful ? to this he answers , that 't is true , all things were instituted by god , but that they were corrupted by the evil spirit : that iron , for instance , is as much god's creature as plants and angels ; that notwithstanding this , god did not make these creatures to be instruments of murder , poison , and magick , tho men by their wickedness deprave them to those uses ; and that what renders a great many things evil , which in their own nature are indifferent , is not their institution but corruption . from hence , if we apply this way of arguing to publick shows , it follows , that consider'd in their own nature , they are as harmless as angels , plants , and iron ; but that 't is the evil spirit that has chang'd , perverted , and spoil'd ' em . you see then that tertullian has reckon'd stage-plays among indifferent actions , and that what he condemns in them is only the excess .

st. cyprian , speaking of david's dancing before the ark , owns that there is no harm in dancing or singing ; but yet , says he , this is no excuse for christians , who are present at those lascivious dances and impure songs , which are in honour of idols . whence 't is easy for you to infer , that this holy doctor does not absolutely condemn dancing , singing , operas , and comedies , but only those shows that represented fables after the lascivious manner of the greeks and romans , and which were celebrated in honour of idols . this is likewise st. bonaventure's opinion , who says expresly , that shows are good and lawful if they are attended with necessary precautions and circumstances . the great albertus his master taught him this doctrine : and the words which i met with upon this subject in st. antoninus , archbishop of florence , are so pertinent that i cannot forbear inserting them here . the profession of a comedian ( says he ) because it is useful for the diversion of men which is requisite , is not forbidden in its own nature : from whence it follows , that it is no less lawful to get one's livelihood by this art , &c. and in another place , comedy is a mixture of pleasant speeches and actions , for the diversion of a mans self , or for that of ather . if nothing is mix'd in it either unbecoming , or an affront to god , or prejudicial to one's neighbour , 't is an effect of that virtue which is call'd eutrapelia ; for the mind which is fatigu'd by internal cares , as the body is by external labour , has as much need of repose as the body has of nourishment . this repose is procur'd by those kind of diverting speeches and actions which are call'd plays . can any thing , sir , be said of greater weight in favour of comedy ? yet he who says it , is a man of undoubted sanctity : how comes it to pass that he does not declaim as loudly against it , as the antients did ? 't is because the drama grows more correct and perfect every day ; and i have observ'd in reading the holy fathers , that the nearer they come to our times , the more favourable they are to plays , because the stage was not so licentious as before . thus likewise we see , that it is not prohibited by the saint of our times , the great francis de sales , who might without dispute serve as a pattern to all directors . and fontana de ferrara in his institutes relates , that the famous saint , charles borromeus , allow'd stage-plays in his diocess , by an order in the year 1583. yet upon condition , that before they were acted they should be revis'd and licens'd by his grand vicar , for fear any thing which is immodest should be in them . this pious and learned cardinal did then allow of modest comedies , and condemn'd only the immodest and profane , as appears by the third council which he held at milan in the year 1572.

beside this multitude of testimonies which are in my favour , i might likewise form a strong proof taken from the words and practice of the holy fathers in general , and observe that those who have cry'd out so mightily against the stage , have been as violent in declaiming against playing at cards , dice , &c. they have inveigh'd against banquets and feasts , against luxury and gaudy dresses , against lofty buildings , magnificent houses , rich furniture , rare painting , &c. st. chrysostom has whole homilies upon this subject : we find a particular catalogue of them in the pedagogue of st. clement alexandrinus : st. augustin treats very largely of them in most of his works , and particularly in his letter to possidonius . st. cyprian quoted by the same st. augustin , st. gregory , in a word , all the fathers have warmly declaim'd claim'd against the luxury and richness of apparel ; sometimes exciting us to follow the example of st. john baptist , who for the austerity of his life was so highly commended by our saviour . and yet we find that they did not raise so many doubts of conscience in mens minds upon this score , as they did upon the account of stage-plays ; and none made a scruple either of wearing habits sutable to their quality , nor of living at ease , provided they did it within the compass of modesty and moderation . why then should we not extend this indulgence to shows , and affirm , that as the reproaches of the doctors of the church are applicable to luxury , intemperance , and prodigality , but not to the innocent and moderate use of the good things of this life , so we may interpret their words of immoral and profane plays , but not of those that do not transgress the rules of prudence and morality ?

to prove ( says albertus magnus ) that the scripture does not condemn plays , dancing , and shows , consider'd singly , and without those offensive circumstances which make them condemnable ; do not we read in exodus , that miriam the prophetess , the sister of aaron , took a timbrel in her hand , and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances , exod. 15. 20 ? does not the royal prophet say ( psal. 68. 25 , 27. ) that benjamin was among the damsels who played with timbrels ? nay , does not god himself , by the mouth of jeremiah , chap. 31. 4. promise the jews , that upon their return from chaldee , they should play upon timbrels , and go forth in the dances of them that make merry ? therefore ( concludes albertus magnus ) dances and pleasures are not in themselves sinful or unlawful , but made so by the criminal circumstances added to them : and i would not enjoin a penitent to abstain from them , since god himself not only permits , but promises them . and indeed take away the excess which may possibly creep into dramatick representations , and i know no harm in them : for 't is a kind of speaking picture , wherein are represented histories or fables for the diversion , and very often for the instruction of men .

hitherto we find nothing amiss in the design of the stage ; but perhaps its enemies will object , that it must needs be bad however , because 't is prohibited . i protest , sir , i never yet thought the prohibition of any thing made it sinful , but on the contrary , that the viciousness of it made it to be prohibited . but let us consult those places of scripture which seem to forbid plays , and such like shows , and try to explain them , not as we please , but by the words of the greatest doctors . albertus magnus , who has collected all those passages , shall give us the explanation of them . the first which he mentions is that of st. paul , who seems to reduce all those sports to immodesty ; for the apostle exhorting men to avoid that sin , expresses himself thus , 1 cor. 10. as some of them fell into impurity , of whom it is written , the people sat down to eat and drink , and rose up to play . the second is taken out of exodus , chap. 32. where we find that dances were first invented before idols ; and by this they prove that 't is an idolatrous institution , to excite men to impurity . the third is that of isaiah , chap. 3. who in the name of god denounces great threatnings against those kind of sports ; because the daughters of zion are haughty , and walk with stretched forth necks , and wanton eyes , walking and tripping as they go , and making a tinkling with their feet : therefore the lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of zion , &c. and lastly , 't is pretended that st. paul includes all publick sights in those famous words , 1 thess. 5. 22. abstain from all appearance of evil. but albertus magnus returns this reply to all those passages , that dancing , &c. which are not in their own nature evil , may become so by being attended with those unhappy circumstances which st. paul is to be understood to speak of : that 't is false to assert that they never danc'd but before idols ; and that it has been done upon other occasions , witness miriam the sister of moses and aaron , whom we formerly mention'd : that god by the mouth of his prophet , reproves only those impudent gestures , with which the dancing of the jews was attended . and lastly , that st. paul forbids even the appearance of real evil , and not of that which may become so by accident and bad circumstances .

but you will say , if plays are good in themselves , why are the actors of them noted with infamy in justinian's institutes ? but pray let me ask you a question or two ; does that soldier sin who runs away in battel for fear of being kill'd ? or does a young widow , who cannot live single , commit a mortal sin by marrying a second husband before her year is up ? and yet the same book brands both of them with a note of infamy , and a thousand other persons whose actions are not criminal . 't is therefore a very weak consequence to prove the sinfulness of an action , because 't is noted as infamous : suppose it true , that players were infamous by acting on the stage , i would fain know why the youth of the universities , and other persons very prudent , and sometimes of the best quality , who for their own diversion , and without scandal act parts in play , are not as infamous as the common players . i hope none will say , 't is because the latter act to get by it , whereas the others do it for their diversion , for that is a very wretched argument . suppose any action be evil in it self , what signifies it whether a man gets by it or no ? it will still be evil , and no circumstance can alter its nature : so that as a perjur'd man , or a calumniator , branded with infamy by the law you cited , will be always infamous , let them be in what circumstances soever ; so plays cannot be represented upon any occasion or motive whatever , without incurring the stain of infamy , which you say is cast upon it . but to understand the meaning of the laws , 't is requisite to have recourse to those doctors who have expounded them . pray see what the famous baldus says on this subject ; the players who act in a modest way , either to divert themselves or please others , and who commit nothing against good manners , are not to be reputed infamous . you perceive then according to this commentator , that the infamy falls only on those who act infamous plays .

since time changes every thing , men of equity ought to consider things in the time wherein they are . were not the physicians themselves turn'd out of rome as infamous persons ? and in the esteem wherein now they are , is there the least sign of their infamy remaining ? why then should any reflection stick on so ingenious a profession , which in france ( and perhaps elsewhere ) is become rather the school of virtue than that of vice ? the reason why formerly players were declar'd infamous , was the infamy so predominant in the plays which they acted , and the infamy which they themselves added to it by their shameful way of acting . but now since that reason is out of doors , without doubt its consequences are abolish'd ; and if any consequences are to be drawn from it , 't is that plays being altogether unblameable , those who act them , provided they live honestly , ought not to be reckon'd among the number of dishonourable persons . this is so far true , that the being a player does not degrade any man's quality . floridor , who is said to have been the greatest player france ever had , being a gentleman by birth , was not judg'd unworthy of that title upon the account of his profession : and when enquiry was made about the false nobless , he was admitted by the king and council to make out the truth of his , which by right of inheritance descended to his posterity . those of the opera , if born gentlemen , by the establishment of that academy of musick , are not to lose their quality : now are there prerogatives for the one which are not to be allow'd the other ? and if there be any distinction between them , have not all ages determin'd it in favor of comedy , since by the consent of all nations , poetry is the elder sister of musick ?

several doctors ( you say ) or at least such as pretend to be so , have shown you certain rituals , which forbid the confessors to administer the sacraments to players , which they confirm by the authority of several councils . to this i answer , that those rituals , and the canons of those councils , only mean it of such players who act scandalous pieces , or who act them immodestly . but let those people tell you what difference they make between stage-plays and other kinds of sports ; for as to the rituals , the canons , the councils , &c. they make none , but equally prohibit them all . yet your doctors who talk so loudly of the fathers and councils , do not so scrupulously follow their decisions against gaming and other sports . we find that the abbots , priests , bishops and ecclesiasticks make no difficulty of playing , and pretend that all the censures of the fathers ought to be understood of the excess in sports , and not of those which are moderate , and us'd without much application to pass away a little time . why then should not the same thing be urg'd , and the same indulgence allow'd in behalf of plays , since we find such a dispensation with respect to other sports ? besides , should you ask the bishops and prelates what they think of plays , they would declare , that when they are modest , and have nothing in them which wounds morality and christianity , they do not pretend to censure them . and even if they were silent in the case , one may guess at their opinion by their conduct , since in those very diocesses where those severe rituals are us'd , plays are acted , tolerated , and perhaps approv'd . if they are bad , why are they tolerated ? as they are acted at paris , i see no fault in them . 't is true , i cannot pass a definitive judgment upon them , since i never go to see them : but there are three very easy ways of knowing what is done at the theatres , and i acknowledg that i have made use of all three . the first is to inform one self of it by men of parts and probity , who out of that horror they have to sin , would not allow themselves to be present at those sort of shows , if sinful . the next is , to judg by the confessions of those who go thither of the evil effects which plays produce upon their minds . the third is the reading of the plays : and i protest that by these ways i have not been able to discover the least appearance of the excess which the fathers with so much justice condemn'd in plays . a world of people of eminent virtue , and of a very nice , not to say scrupulous conscience , have been forced to own to me that the plays on the french theatre are at present so pure , that there is nothing in them which can offend the chastest ear : every day at court the bishops , cardinals , and nuncio's of the pope make no scruple to be present at them ; and it would be no less impudence than folly , to conclude that all those great prelates are profane libertines , since they authorize the crime by their presence . 't is rather a sign that the plays are so pure and regular , that none need be asham'd or afraid to see them . i have likewise sometimes made a reflection ( which to me seems of some weight . ) upon casting my eyes on the bills pasted up at the corners of streets , wherein all manner of persons are invited to come to the plays which are acted by the king's authority , and by his majesty's servants : i thought to my self , if they invited people to some bad action , to be in infamous places , &c. 't is certain that the magistrates would be so far from allowing the publication of those bills , that they would severely punish the authors of them , who abus'd the king's authority , by inviting his good subjects to the commission of such enormities . therefore concluded i , 't is plain that plays are not so bad , since the magistrates do not put them down , nor the prelates make any opposition to them , and since they act by the privilege of a religious prince , who would not by his presence authorize a crime , of which he would be more guilty than others .

as to confessions , i could never by their means find out this pretended mischief of plays : for if it were the source of so many crimes , it would from thence follow that the rich who frequent the theatres , would be the greatest sinners ; and yet we find that 't is pretty equal , and that the poor who never saw a play are as guilty as the rich of anger , revenge , uncleanness , and pride . i would therefore rather conclude , and that with some reason too , that those sins are the effects of human weakness or malice , which take an occasion of sinning from all manner of objects indifferently .

as to the reading of the plays which are now acted in france , i never could find in those i have perus'd , any thing which could any ways offend christianity or good manners . the greatest fault that can be found in them is , that most of the subjects are taken out of fables ; and yet what harm is there in that ? they are such fables out of which may be taken very fine instructions of morality , capable of inspiring men with a love of virtue , and a detestation of vice. these are the words of a very great man ( peter bishop of blois ) who maintains , that 't is lawful to extract truths out of heathen fables , and that 't is no more than receiving arms from our very enemies .

to leave nothing unresolv'd , let me examin the precautions which the doctors give us in going to a play. as to the lawfulness of the drama , st. thomas , st. bonaventure , st. antonine , and above all albertus magnus has said that in all sports we ought to take care of three things . the first is , that we should not seek for pleasure in immodest words or actions , as they did in the times of the antients ; an unhappy custom which cicero laments in these words : there is a kind of jesting which is sordid , insolent , wicked , and obscene . the second thing we are to take care of , says albertus , is , that when we would refresh our spirits , we should not entirely lose the gravity of the soul , which gives st. ambrose occasion to say : let us beware , lest in giving our spirits some relaxation , we lose the harmony of our souls , where the virtues form an agreeable consort . and the third condition required in our sports , as well as in all the other actions of our lives , is , that they be sutable to the person , time and place , and regulated by all the other circumstances which may render them inoffensive . it would be easy for me to prove that none of these qualifications are wanting to the plays , as they are in france ; from whence you ought to conclude that they are good and allowable .

after all i have said for plays , you cannot question but they ought to be such as are free from all immodest speeches and actions . you have told me your self , that the players are very careful of this point , and that they would not so much as suffer , when they accept of any piece , that it should have any thing in it indecent , licentious , equivocal , or the least word under which any poison might be conceal'd .

we have very severe laws in france against blasphemers ; they are bor'd through the tongue , they are condemn'd even to be burn'd : and should we caress the players , or give them any privilege if they were blasphemers , libertines , or profane ?

we own , say our reformers , that they dare not openly speak any thing that is profane , nor act upon the stage those infamies which were formerly acted there , but there is still something remaining of its primitive corruption disguis'd under gay names . is there any play acted now , where there is not some love-intrigue or other ? where the passions are not represented in all their light ? and where mention is not made of ambition , jealousy , revenge and hatred ? a dangerous school for youth , where they are easily dispos'd to raise real passions in their hearts by seeing feign'd ones represented ! the first duty of a christian is to suppress his passions , and not to expose himself to the growth of them ; and by a necessary consequence , nothing is more pernicious than that which is capable of exciting them .

a fine speech this for a rigid declaimer , but not sound enough for an equitable divine ! is there no difference , think ye , between an action or a word which may by accident raise the passions , and those which do it in reality ?

the last are absolutely unlawful and sinful ; and tho it might happen that a man might be unmov'd by them , yet we are oblig'd to avoid them , because 't is only by chance that they produce not their effect , whereas in their own nature they are always attended with pernicious consequences . but for those actions and words which may by accident raise the passions , we cannot justly condemn them ; and we must even fly to desarts to avoid them ; for we cannot walk a step , read a book , enter a church , or live in the world , without meeting with a thousand things capable of exciting the passions . must a woman because she is handsom never go to church , for fear of exciting the lust of a debauchee ? must the great in courts , and the magistrates lay aside that splendor which is becoming , and perhaps necessary to them , for fear of exciting ambition , and a desire of riches in others ? must a man never wear a sword for fear of being guilty of murder ? this would be ridiculous : and tho by misfortune a scandal happen , and an occasion of sinning be taken , 't is a passive , not an active scandal , ( pardon those school-terms ) 't is an occasion taken , not given , which kind alone we are order'd to avoid ; for as to the first , 't is impossible to avoid it , and sometimes , to foresee it .

all histories ( not excepting the bible ) make use of such words as express the passions , and relate great actions of which they have been the cause . and will it be a crime to read history , because we may there meet with something which may be an occasion of our falling ? by no means , unless it be a scandalous , profane and loose history , such a one as does infallibly stir up dangerous passions , and then 't is no longer an occasion taken , but given . but this is not the character of our plays ; for tho they speak of love , hatred , ambition , revenge , and the like , 't is not done with an intention of exciting those kinds of passions in the audience ; nor are there any such scandalous circumstances in them , as will infallibly produce such mischievous effects in their minds . besides , as the wise lycurgus said , shall we destroy all the vines , because some men get drunk with the juice of the grape ? an ill use has and may be made of the most sacred things , such as are the holy scriptures , and consequently of the most indifferent and least serious : yet neither the one nor the other ought to be forbidden , unless we would forbid every thing that may be put to an ill use.

as to the second qualification which our casuists require in sports , which is to avoid breaking the harmony of the soul by the excess and length of our pleasures ; it may be said , that neither those who go to plays , nor those who compose them , nor those who act them , so far unbend their minds , as to destroy that just disposition of soul. as for the first , they have their liberty to go or stay away ; and after a days labour , two hours of refreshment may be allow'd . as for the authors and players , whose profession seems to be one contied diversion , they do not certainly look upon their lives to be a play , since they have other serious business in their families , besides the common duties of christians to perform .

as for the circumstance of time , of which our casuists would have us take care , it is observed in france , where they never act but at proper hours . one of the things against which the fathers declaim'd the most was , the time of acting the plays ; they lasted the whole day , and people had scarce any time to go to church . thus st. chrysostom complains ; that the christians in his time , and in his diocess , did not only go to plays , but were so intent upon them that they staid whole days at those infamous sights , without going one moment to church . st. john of damascus condemn'd the same excess , in these words , there are several towns where the inhabitants are from morning to night feasting their eyes with all manner of sights , and in hearing always immodest songs , which cannot chuse but raise in their minds wicked desires . is there any thing to be found like this in our plays ? they begin at five or six a clock , when divine service is over , the prayers and sermon ended ; when the church doors are shut , and people have had time enough to bestow on business and devotion ; and they end about eight or nine .

as for the circumstance of places , 't is observ'd in france ; for , whereas formerly they acted in churches , now they have publick theatres for the purpose .

the circumstance of the persons is also observ'd , for those who act are civil people , who have undertaken the employ , and generally behave themselves in it with decency ; at least there are as few ill men among them , as in other professions : their vice arises from their own corrupt nature , and not from the state or calling they are in , since all are not like them . i have convers'd , and am particularly acquainted with some of them , who out of the theatre , and in their own families , live the most exemplary life in the world : and you have told me your self , that all of them in general , out of their common stock , contribute a considerable sum to pious and charitable uses ; of which the magistrates and superiors of the convents could give sufficient testimony . i question whether we can say as much of those zealous persons who inveigh so loudly against them .

i am conscious , sir , that some people will blame me for having follow'd the most favourable opinion concerning plays ; for 't is now the fashion to teach an austere doctrine , and not to practise it : but i assure you i have wholly been govern'd by truth , wishing still to observe that father's rule who directs us to form our actions by the most severe opinions , and our doctrine by the most indulgent . i am ,

sir , yours , &c.

by this judicious dissertation , you may find your whole desire satisfied : you see he has brought the schoolmen to speak in favour of the drama , and has explain'd the invectives of the fathers against it , so as to make them on its side . he has answer'd the most material objections which can be brought against the stage , and given very necessary precautions to such as go to the play-houses : you perceive 't is a french divine , * , [ father caffaro , brother to the duke of � ] one of the romish religion , who has given us his thoughts in this letter ; and 't is in behalf of the plays acted in france that he has here argu'd . but were he to see our english stage , he would never say such fine things of it ; unless he saw it stockt only with plays and entertainments , innocently diverting , and strictly moral ; as those which you have hitherto so successfully publish'd , are generally allow'd to be .

give me leave before i conclude , to thank you for the sight of your beauty in distress , which i 'l assure you pleas'd me so much in the reading , that i scarce imagin how it can yield greater satisfaction to those that see it acted . were it not for offending you , i might justly enlarge my self in its commendation ; but i forbear , since a perusal of it will give an idea of it much above what can be said by ,

sir , your real friend to serve you
to my friend , the avthor . 't is hard , my friend , to write in such an age , as damns not only poets , but the stage . that sacred art , by heav'n it self infus'd , which moses , david , salomon have us'd , is now to be no more : the muses foes wou'd sink their maker's praises into prose . were they content to prune the lavish vine of straggling branches , and improve the wine , who but a mad man wou'd his faults defend ? all wou'd submit ; for all but fools will mend . but , when to common sense they give the lie , and turn distorted words to blasphemy , they give the scandal ; and the wise discern , their glosses teach an age too apt to learn. what i have loosly , or profanely writ , let them to fires ( their due desert ) commit . nor , when accus'd by me , let them complain : their faults and not their function i arraign . rebellion , worse than witchcraft , they pursu'd : the pulpit preach'd the crime ; the people ru'd . the stage was silenc'd : for the saints wou'd see in fields perform'd their plotted tragedy . but let us first reform : and then so live , that we may teach our teachers to forgive . our desk be plac'd below their lofty chairs , ours be the practice , as the precept theirs . the moral part at least we may divide , humility reward , and punish pride : ambition , int'rest , avarice accuse : these are the province of the tragic muse. these hast thou chosen ; and the public voice has equal'd thy performance , with thy choice . time , action , place , are so preserv'd by thee that ev'n corneille , might with envy see th' alliance of his tripled unity . thy incidents , perhaps , too thick are sown ; but too much plenty is thy fault alone : at least but two , can that good crime commit ; thou in design , and wycherley in wit. let thy own gauls condemn thee if they dare ; contended to be thinly regular . born there , but not for them , our fruitful soil with more increase rewards thy happy toil. their tongue infeebled , is refin'd so much , that , like pure gold , it bends at ev'ry touch : our sturdy teuton , yet will art obey , more fit for manly thought , and strengthen'd with allay . but whence art thou inspir'd , and thou alone to flourish in an idiom , not thine own ? it moves our wonder , that a foreign guest shou'd over-match the most , and match the best . in underpraising , thy deserts i wrong : here , find the first deficience of our tongue : words , once my stock , are wanting to commend so great a poet , and so good a friend . john dryden .
prologue . enter a player . play.

gentlemen , i am sent to acquaint you , that , by reason of an accident , there can be no prologue spoke to day ; but the play will begin immediately .

enter mr. bowen . mr. bowen . how 's that ? no prologue ? go , this must not be ; i 'll rather speak one now extempore . [ exit player . stay : how shall i begin ? � i have it now � gallants ! � hold ! i forgot to make my bow. [ bows . gallants , our author � ay , that 's well begun , our author � to � for � hold , i can't go on : this modesty does strangely balk a man. why should i strive to help these tragic actors ? hang 'em , they make you dull , like any doctors . well , if for nothing but grave stuff you 're all , i too will rant , and toss my awful head , till from the battlements of yon' high wall the mob look pale to see me look so red . but what shall i say next ? � o! stay , i 've got the epilogue ; i 'll speak it now . why not ? more poet-bays than one , when all things fail , turn thus the tail to head , and head to tail. i hate to sneak in , and be hist away , begging for mercy , when you 've damn'd the play � prompter , take th' epilogue , and prompt me right ; we 're always damn'd imperfect the first night . [ the prompter takes a paper from him , and retires to prompt . prompter . you 've seen the play. mr. bo. how 's that ? prom. you 've seen the play � mr. bo. you 've seen the play ! why , that won't do ? but stay . we 'l let that pass ; if you han't seen 't , you may . what 's next ? prom. you think � mr. bo. you think your time mispent ; but know , 't was studied to be play'd in lent ; a time when some of you so nice were grown , y' abstain'd from ev'ry kind of flesh , but one . you topers , leaving wine , to grow devout , got only drunk in darby , punch and stout . nay ev'n we players , not over-godly neither , fasted the week , that none of you came hither . but that 's no fast to what poor poets fear . if his play 's damn'd , he keeps lent all the year . now you , instead of fasting , went to spark it , to race , cock , bet , and lose by stiff-dick at new market ; while drooping here we did your loss condole , tugging with viva viva barbacole . so we laid this play by , when you were gone , for you sparks now to mortify upon ; you know a reformation's coming on . then bear these moral scenes with resignation , t'inure you to be ween'd from darling fornication .
the epilogue , spoken by mrs. bracegirdle . poys'ning and stabbing you have seen me scape , and , what you think no mighty thing , a rape : but can poor poet scape , like richer drudges , the dreadful votes of his five hundred judges ? he has no epilogue . what shall he do ? h 'as sent me a petition here for you . that 's it � cry ' mercy ! that 's a billetdoux . [ she pulls out a paper , and puts it up in haste ; then pulls out a petition , and reads it . ] reads . to you great wits , dread critics , nicest beaux ! gay sparks with borrow'd wit , and masks with borrow'd [ clothes ! you , who to chat or ogle fill yond' benches , or tempt with love our modest orange wenches ! rakes , cuckolds , ci�� , squires � cullies great and small ! i think , sirs , this p�tition's to you all . [ speaks this line of her self . reads . the trembling author , by this short petition , most humbly shows , he 's in a sad condition : doom'd to be thought profane , or write dull trash , venture damnation , or some zealot's lash : h 'as chose to trust your clemency to live , for well he knows , that sometimes you forgive . then spare these scenes , and let all people see plays may be lik'd , yet grave and moral be . seem pleas'd and edifi'd to go away , and your petitioner shall never pray � without remembring you and his third day . [ here ends the petition . ] now , sirs , i 'd know what you would have him ask ? as for you rakes , that 's no uneasy task , good wine for you , full pockets , and a mask . and for you , masks , still in your pray'rs � but stay , who ever knew a vizard mask to pray ? for cits , he shou'd ask trade ; for courtiers , places ; for squires , more wit ; and for you , beaux , more graces , kind trusting taylors , full wigs , and new faces ; and for you , jockeys , better luck at races : for sharpers wealthy bubbles , and much play ; for souldiers , no more fighting , and full pay. but 't were in vain to mention ev'ry head , i guess a poet's pray'rs are quickly said ; he seldom prays but to avoid his curse , an empty play-house , and an empty purse . yet , ladies , for your smiles ours chiefly prays : you make a muse , and ev'vy spirit raise . grace this first offspring of his tragic vein with one kind smile , that 's his most valu'd gain .
dramatis personae . men. mr. betterton . don vincentio disguis'd like a black , by the name of morat . in love with placentia . mr. verbruggen . ricardo , in love with placentia , contracted to laura . mr. kynaston . d. ferdinand governor of lisbon . mr. hodgson . d. fabiano his son in love with placentia . mr. arnold . zemet , a black , vincentio's servant . captain of a brigantine . his lieutenant . two monks . bravoes . sailors . guards . servants . women . mrs. barry . laura a widow lady , privately contracted to ricardo . mrs. bracegirdle . placentia . mrs. moore . morella . mrs. prince . melinda . laura's two children , women , &c.

scene

an antichamber in d. vincentio's house in lisbon .

the time of action from 5 to 8 in the evening .

beauty in distress : a tragedy . act i. the scene throughout the play is an anti chamber . enter vincentio in a moorish-dress , his skin black'd over , assuming the name of morat . zemet his servant . mor. ah ! poor vincentio , alter'd more by passions than by this new disguise , who now cou'd know thee ? thou' rt grown a stranger to thy very self . 't is scarce a year since i fled hence to afric ; but oh ! how sorrow , sickness , and fatigue , and most my anxious love , since that , have chang'd me . i doubt i wear this borrow'd black and dress rather to try placentia , thus unknown , than to reclaim and save my wicked brother . zemet . you 're but too kind to him , my lord. i hear , that when a fatal duel forc'd you hence , he stab'd the friend who strove to get your pardon , to hinder your return . mor. with what unnat'ral joy , he , in the morning , heard us confirm the tidings of my death ! zem. my lord , if he 's as wicked as he 's thought , ' twou'd have been ill in him to have done better . bad men still act themselves in ev'ry thing that 's bad , and are not to be blam'd for barb'rous actions , more than the beasts of prey for cruelty : nor is it for their vices , but their natures , we shou'd destroy 'em both . mor. yes , he 's my shame ; but still my brother ; therefore yet a while let lisbon think me dead , as i 'm reported . in this disguise i thought fit to confirm it ; for , shou'd they think i live , the king wou'd never grant him his pardon for don carlo's murther . zem. it seems he 's sure of it , for he has left the sanctuary , and lords it in your house . mo. upon the confirmation of my death , the king has sign'd the warrant for his pardon ; so to prevent th' extinction of our name , which royal gratitude still makes him value . then let him revel , till the seals are past , as a sole brother in my large estate ; that done , i will revive , a severe check on all his future life . zem. i wish yours be secure , my lord ! tools of destruction still stand ready prest to a bad hand , and murther watches sure . then , give me leave to fear . mo. i 'll keep prevention's eye upon the watch ; but i disdain to fear . for death must come , and 't is no matter when : once in the grave , long life and short are both become the same . death levels all : age , beauty , wealth , and titles , lye undistinguish'd , huddled up together , and none complain of what , or when , or how . oh! i cou'd wish my dust with thy dead parents lay blended in one urn on africk's shore , rather than languish thus in hopeless love , and see my father's glory turn rusly in this brother . zem. ah! my lord , that rusts not , since it shines so bright in you . mor. zemet , no more . i here expect placentia ; this is her way from chappel � see , she comes . � withdraw . [ exit zemet . she comes , and weeps for me , for the false news i brought her . cruel fate , deal me less pity , and some love � enter placentia weeping . mor. to himself . ] i shiver � how my heart beats ! ev'n thro' this hue , i fear , she 'll read my soul's disorder � now i burn . let love be drawn no more with golden darts , but arm'd with fires : i feel him in my veins . how shall i speak ? plac. oh! gen'rous don vincentio , as soon shall i forget my self as thee . mo. aside . ] now , by my love , there 's life in that kind sorrow ; it bids me hope , and speak . to her . ] why , madam , will you lavish thus your tears on my dead friend ? he ne're cou'd gain your love ; yet , if departed souls see things on earth , placentia is vincentio's present object , and not one tear she sheds but he must prize at a much greater value than his life . plac. can i do less than weep for that brave lord ? oh! sir , you were a stranger to his worth . mor. no , madam ; none cou'd know vincentio better than did morat ; and you will think so too , when i relate some passages he told me . he said , you were the cause of all those sighs he had betray'd so often , and i pitied ; he said , such beauty and such cruelty ne're met in one before ; and yet methinks your tears and sorrow contradict his words � aside . ] if i talk long , i shall betray my self . plac. since my best lord ( for so i always call'd him ) made you no stranger to those humble thoughts , the only blemish of his noble life , i will a little clear that passage to you � his vertuous mother , for what cause i know not , took me from humble birth , to breed me as her child . mor. madam , he told me this , and that his mother had made your fortune equal to her daughters ; commanding him to see you nobly married , or a nun. but love , he said , doubled that pious charge , and he ne'er wish'd for any wife but you . oh! why did you refuse to make him happy ? plac. to clear my self to you , i 'll tell you that which shou'd not be reveal'd , were he still living . mor. aside . ] now i begin to tremble . plac. his mother found out that unhappy love ; and , lest it shou'd dishonour his great name , taught me t' obey him , as my lord and brother ; but charg'd me , as i tender'd heav'n , my soul , her memory , or any thing that 's sacred , i ne're shou'd marry him . mor. aside . ] oh! patience heav'n ! plac. this was her daily , and her last request ; and , that i might religiously perform it , resolving with my self a single life , i solemnly did swear , never to wed above my humble birth . mor. aside . ] 't will be in vain to live after this story . oh! mother � you mix'd the worst of curses with that breath that gave your wretched son his latest blessing . plac. you 're strangely mov'd ! � but see ricardo ! i wou'd shun him . enter ricardo . servants after him . ric. you were my brother's servants ; i dismiss you � placentia , stay . serv. my lord , our wages . ric. do men like me pay wages ? serv. my lord � ric. talk with my steward ! hence ! be gone ! [ ex. servants . well , madam ? plac. my lord. ric. so scornful still ! i will no longer bear it . pla. asi . ] how i dread his vile love , since now he 's master here ! ric. how now , morat ? what , you 've been talking now of my dead brother , and the creature weeps . 't is true , the humble fop indulg'd her pride with honourable love , tho' still she scorn'd him . mo. asi . ] hold ! patience yet ! thus most heirs treat the dead . to ric. ] my lord , i was your brother's worthless friend , and know how much he did esteem this lady , as i believe , not without due defert . ric. oh , dull morat ! thou dost not know this trifle ; thou art a moor , and look'st on outward toys , fine cloaths and jewels ; why , these things are mine ; i 'll strip her of 'em all , if she consents not to yield to my embraces . mor. my lord , i fancy 't is not in your power . ric. hark you , morat ; i suffer'd you my house for the good news this morning you confirm'd . but ne're believe i made you of my council . mor. no ; if you had , i shou'd advise you better than thus to forfeit all your house's honour by most ignoble actions . ric. how 's this , slave ? mo. by all my former honour , that name slave , did not you share your noble brother's blood , shou'd cost the dearest drop about your heart . ric. sure , he 's run mad � out of my house , thou frenzy . mor. i will not stir . your brother made me joynt-executor with this fair lady ; i 'll soon prove his will , and till i 've seen it all perform'd , i 'll stay . ric. you mean , till th' inquisition seizes you . do you not , moor ? you two executors ! mor. laugh not too fast , my lord : your inquisition can't fright me ; for tho' my complection's black , my soul is white and christian , which , i fear , the holy font has not made yours . ric. insolent slave ! who waits ! what hoa ! not one of my new train to rid me of this moor ? nay , then i 'll do 't my self . [ draws , mor. closes with him , and disarms him , mor. inhospitable wretch ! plac. hold ! help ! help ! mor. here , take your sword , and put it up , proud lord , but oh ! insult no further , if you 'd live . [ gives him back his sword. enter servants and zemet . ric. aside . ] disarm'd ! and by a moor ! but he 's not worth a second danger . i 've some trusty bravo's , who safely shall correct his insolence . to his servants . ] hence , slaves ! there 's now no need of you . exeunt servants and zemet . mor. my lord , yet think from what great stock you sprung , and how a nobleman shou'd keep that name : 't is not to be preserv'd by dead mens actions ; you must have living vertues , or 't is lost � come , i perceive that you attend with shame my too severe reproof , and i repent it ; i 'll leave you to repent too for the cause . madam , some other time i 'll wait on you . [ exit morat . pla. aside , and going . a brave good man , well worth vincentio's friendship ! ri. stay , scornful thing . pla. i must not . ri. must not ? pla. no � you 've forfeited at last all the respect i ow'd you . ri. yes , you shall stay : i 'll know what you 've been hatching , that i 'm thus brav'd with a forg'd will. 't is vain : your reign is out ; the fool my brother 's dead , and i 'll command what hitherto i begg'd . you 're now my ward , my prisoner if i please : you 're not in those cold climes , where maids and wives rove where they please , as shameless as unquestion'd , to wrong the dull contented herd of men. if you 'll be paid my mother's legacy , that lavish gift , a portion for a princess , your proud pretended vertue laid aside , meet my embraces willingly to morrow , or soon by force you shall . till then think of it . pla. i 'll think on daggers for the ravisher , to cool his fires , or save my self from shame . yes , ev'n the fam'd lucretia i 'll out-vye ; not let the tarquin force the brutal joy , but kill him first , or with my honour dye . exit placen . ri. thou fir'st me so , that for revenge i cou'd � i cou'd even marry thee , young fury . but at a cheaper rate i 'll ease my rage : she and my sisters harden one another in rigid coyness , and in hate of me , but they shall wed , and leave this house to morrow ; then by wiles , threats , or force , i 'll deal with t'other . who waits ? enter servant . serv. my lord ! ric. call both my sisters . serv. yes , my lord. [ exit servant . ric. i must prepare 'em to receive new lovers ; tho' now few women need such preparations . enter morella and melinda . ric. still weeping ! d' you grieve at my good fortune ? come , i 've got young husbands for you : that , i take to be the surest way to dry a virgin 's tears . to morrow don fabiano shall be yours , morella ; and don paulo yours , melinda . mel. aside . ] his lewd friend paulo ! morel . fabiano ! poor placentia's lover ! ric. what , dumb ? are they not noble , rich , and young ? morel . oh! let us hear of nothing , sir , but grief . alas ! we cannot even think of those my brother's choice design'd us once for husbands . ric. you need not : for , their hopes , like him , must dye . no more � compose your looks to meet my friends . enter a servant . ser. don ferdinand , my lord , is just a lighting ric. aside . the governor ! he brings his son fabiano ! i 'll meet him � sisters stay till i return . [ exit ric. and serv. morel . oh! dismal news ! now we indeed are wretched . compleatly wretched . alas poor vincentio ! how soon we feel thy loss , thou best of brothers ! enter placentia . plac. dear orphan ladies , let us mingle sorrows . alas , i 'm an unhappy orphan too . like you , methinks , i mourn a brother's loss , and what 's yet more , a friend 's . morel . a friend 's indeed ! alas , my dear , i doubt your tears , like ours , will flow from several springs . i 'm bid to wed to morrow your fabiano . plac. hah ! but why am i startled and disorder'd ? tho' , to my soul 's eternal dear disquiet , we love each other , ev'n to meer distraction , my hopes are lost , for i must keep my vow . i wish a mutual love might link your fates . morel . oh! wish not this , my dear , my heart is fix'd : don philip , or a cloyster . plac. fabiano , with his father ! oh my heart ! i must not stay ; yet i am rooted here . ric. sister morella , let my lord be us'd as his great merit , and my choice deserve . ferd. son , scorn ignoble love ! see there your better fate . ri. aside to ferd. let 's not seem to observe 'em , while he whispers his first love-complement . all infancies are bashful , and that of love is most . pla. aside . ] amazement ! sure he loves her ! how they whisper ! what do i feel ? 't is more than love ; 't is jealousie , i fear . am i then jealous ? what , of him i 'd lose ? i will not : sure he came in hopes to see me . away , curst jealousie ! thou needless physick , that turn'st our health to voluntary sickness , i dash thee from me like a poyson � yet i will look . mel. aside to plac. ] my dear , you 're jealous ? pla. aside . not at all � yet i must gaze � i 'm rack'd � i cannot bear it . exit placentia . mel , aside . ] i must follow her . [ exit mel. ferd. what 's that bright vision which now shot from hence , swift as a star ? ric. a falling one , a glaring fatal meteor , the worthless creature of my mother's favour , her fortune ample , but her birth unknown . ferd. 't is a fair destruction ! i blush to own i 've heard my son was dazled by her deluding beams . this made me hasten to fix him quickly in a nobler choice : which was my motive to demand your sister when i engag'd to get your pardon sign'd . fa. aside to morel . ] madam , you know the tye upon my heart , the longings of my soul , placentia's love : my trust in your kind pity brought me hither , which all my father's threats cou'd scarce have done . then let 's retire , since by your gen'rous suff'rance i may see her once more : for , if i stay , i shall act love so ill , it will betray us . [ ex. fa. and morel . ric. she 's his , my lord : the conqu'ror leads his prize . ferd. aside . ] now , as i love bright honour , this sight charms me , and makes my age , in spight of time , run back . 't is true , this lord has dimm'd his house's glory ; but now i hope 't will clear . high birth , tho' clouded with fashionable vices , will at last exert it self and shine . enter a servant to ricardo . ser. my lord , a lady in a veil desires to speak with your lordship . fer. my lord , i 'll leave you , and in an hour return . ri. your lordship's servant � [ ex. ferd. and servant . to his serv. ] conduct the lady in � i fear 't is laura � but why shou'd i fear ? she 's kind , she 's fair � but oh ! i 'm bound to wed her : i on that score , was trusted with her fortune , and lost it all at play. she 's heard the news , and comes prepar'd to share my joys � i dread her : let me wed nothing but variety . but i 'll dissemble yet ; for tho' when pleas'd she 's smiling as the morn , cool as the evening , and calm as is the night , when urg'd , she rages like the meridian sun 's collected beams ; proud of her charms , tho' lavish of her love ; gen'rous , and free , and daring , like a man ; but jealous and revengeful , like a woman � 't is she � now help me , cunning , once to feign a joy as great as hers � my laura ! enter laura . lau. fly off my veil ! oh! let me rush at once into his heart , into his very soul. ri. my life , my all ! lau. oh let me gaze � i cannot speak for joy-oh happy change ! when the profuseness of my love had left me nothing to give to save thy life , but mine , to see thee rais'd at once to honour , wealth , and freedom , from shame , from death , and ruine , 't is rapture , 't is delight transcending words , too vast for thought , and ev'n too strong for souls , 't is perfect joy , and pleasure in extream . ri. oh! do not talk of honour , wealth , and freedom : your self , you 's sel 's 's the greatest , dearest blessing . lau. in being so to thee , thy laura's blest , life of my life , and genius of my soul ; thy very shadow brings me more delight than all the substance of the world besides ; for i 've no being , when i 'm torn from thee ; or , if i find i've one , 't is only by my pains . ri. oh! sympathy of hearts ! my only joy ! 't was not less pain to me to be forc'd from thee , than now 't is pleasure thus to meet thee kind . lau. oh! now i hope we 're met to part no more . let me no longer hear nor think of absence . absence to some gives relish to their joy , a breathing to their pleasures ; but to me 't was death , when to the monast'ry you fled , and to be safe lay hid . ri. ah! madam � lau. madam ! fye , leave this dull formality . does it suit love of such a growth as ours ? i shou'd abhor it , came it not from thee . ri. oh! stop this torrent of unbounded love. joy came before but like a quick'ning shower on a parch'd soil , and greedily i drunk it ; but now i 'm overwhelm'd , and drown'd in joy � thus now all lovers lye to one another . [ aside . lau. dear man , thou' rt doubly pleas'd now thou can'st raise me as i wou'd thee , were but thy fortune mine ; for thou' rt no needy younger brother now , thy laura shall no longer have the pleasure of lavishing her wealth on love , and thee . indeed she cou'd not . ri. extravagance of goodness ! lau. alas ! i fear'd that lisbon wou'd have seen me with those two little orphans , my poor children , a forc'd dependant on the cold loath'd alms of proud upbraiding friends : for all i 've left is threaten'd to be seiz'd . the thought on 't damps my joy ; wealth but let it dye with all our former sorrows . i 'm rich enough , since i 've thy love , that can command thy soon as the priest has ratified our contract , which now now your brother 's dead , and my first year of widowhood expir'd , need be no secret. we 'll live like gods. say , shall we not ? methinks thou art not glad enough . ri. excess of joy , like that of grief , is dumb ; " and , like vast streams , too deep for noise , flows silent , " while shallow torrents roar , then cease to be . i fear she 'll find me out . [ aside . lau. " but tell me , when shall be the happy day ? ri. " soon as some short formalities of law " have giv'n me full possession of th' estate , " the best artificers shall strain , to hasten " the wish'd-for time , and make our nuptials sumptuous . lau. " then , like a palace , we 'll this house adorn . " the walls shall scorn with arras to be cloath'd , " unless the gold shames there the shading silk . " amazing wonders that dissemble life " in each apartment , shall beguile the gazers . " the spoils of india , and more distant climes " shall croud , and rear their fronts on rival rarities , " in antique order , various as their make ; " and ev'n the fragrant wood , which in compartments " floors the vast rooms , seem proud to bear the load . ri. " oh! elegance in luxury ! oh! sex resin'd in fancy � aside . ] " to undo the other . lau. oh! now methinks we solemnize our nuptials , a num'rous train with all melodious sounds salute us and the morn . then we , far brighter , ascend our coach , or love's triumphal chariot . garlands and arches grace and roof our way , and flow'ry sweets , profusely strow'd , perfume it . joy in each face , and blessings in each mouth . ri. oh! theme for ever charming � to a widow . [ aside . lau. then , my ricardo , then � ri. oh! then my laura � lau. the crowded board shall tempt our num'rous guests with all that can indulge luxuriant taste . " conduits shall lavish wine , and richer liquors , and all the muses labour to inchant us . ri. and then at night my goddess � lau. ten thousand tapers shall revive the day , while at a solemn ball , the pride of lisbon shall shine and revel � ri. and tir'd at last with all these smaller joys , leave us to perfect pleasure . thus , my goddess , thus will ricardo ravish all thy senses ; unpeople th' elements to feast thy taste , to charm thy ears , rob ev'n the spheres of musick , tire art and nature to regale thy sight , inform thy brain with ev'ry grateful odor , thy touch with bliss , and ravish ev'ry pow'r , till in one sence we lose the other four . [ embraces her . enter two monks . 1. monk. my lord. ri. what mean these monks ? 1. monk. my lord , we 've weighty business , that claims your private ear with utmost speed . lau. some dead man's alms � 1. monk. hear us this moment , if you love your self . ri. then follow me � pray pardon me , dear madam . i 'll strive to meet you here again this moment � or at your own house rather . to himself . ] 't was well dissembl'd : but i 'm glad i 'm eas'd . how loath'd a thing must a fond woman be ! ev'n monks are welcome , when from her they free . [ ex. ric. and monks � lau. curs'd be the holy duns ! those bold intruders into the privacies of blinded mortals , self-privileg'd to break-in on the great ! those craving idlers , who preach charity , yet never had one spark for one another ! presumptuous beggars , who with saint-like mein , with proud humility , and sawcy meekness can seem at best but impudently good . the doatards know ( for well they know our sex ) that what a woman never will forgive is an intruder , whose preventing words force from her arms her lover to remove , in the wild sallies of unfinish'd love. exit . the end of the first act.
act ii. enter morella and melinda . mel. why do we leave fabiano with placentia ? i dare trust all his vertues , but his prudence . he loves � he 'll stay too long , and be discover'd . morel . fear not , my brother 's busie with two fathers ; and tho' placentia loves , she shuns her lover ; like him she languishes , unhappy maid ; but her discretion , and yet more her vow , force that despairing lord for ever from her � and see , she comes ; he follows ; � both in tears ! in pity let 's avoid ' em . enter placentia , follow'd by fabiano . [ exeunt morel . and mel. fab. stay , cruel maid ! oh turn , and cast one look ! one look , tho' 't were a frown , and but to see me dye . pla. alas , i dare not , must not meet your eyes : they must not see how mine partake their sorrows . fly , fly , my lord , where equal greatness calls leave poor placentia to her humble fate . fab. not hear me ! pla. i dread those words that make ev'n ruine please , the tempting musick of your syren love. fab. can it bring ruine to be match'd to greatness ? pla. when by the match that greatness is debas'd . fab. why will you still urge this , too humble fair ? oh! wrong not thus your merit , and my love. pla. witness , ye sacred pow'rs that read my soul ! witness , my blushes , and these grateful tears , how much i prize you , gen'rous , dear fabiano ! for ev'ry sigh you breath , i sigh another . oh! had our births been equal as our passions , we might have lov'd on still . i see the heav'n of joy , your love , wou'd give me ; but , like a wretch condemn'd to endless torments , the vast abyss between , adds to my pain : i wish , i sigh , i grieve , i rage in vain ; i wou'd ascend , but cannot break my chain . fab. love equals all , and you 're most sure of mine . pla. i still shou'd fear to lose what i deserve not , still dread my equal's envy , and the scorn of yours : and thus shou'd live more wretched yet than now , this fatal now , that sees me tear my heart , while thus i tear my self for ever from you . [ going . fa. you tear my heart , but shall not tear me from you . [ kneels thus you shall drag me , while i suffer life ; and when i 've eas'd my wretched soul with this , [ draws a dagger . 't will hover o're you still , to wait for yours . for sure in death we 're equal , and may joyn . pla. oh! hold ! and rise ! fright me not with your danger , nor humble me yet more with your submissions . fab. raise then at once a wretch to love and you. to rise thus , i 'll descend , and mix with humble swains , in lowly cottages , and rustick weeds , and there forget that fatal thing call'd greatness . pla. oh! rise , degrade it not by kneeling thus . fab. no , let your answer make me rise or fall . pla. alas ! my lord , i know this wou'd but prove a dream , that might a while indulge your fancy , while mem'ry wou'd lye lock'd in the first sleep that love might lull it too ; but too too soon you 'd wake to hatred of your self and me . enter d. ferdinand . fab. starts and rises . ferd. my son ! base man ! i thought t' have found you with morella ! but hear me swear ; by my great ancestors ! that hour fabiano weds below his rank makes him a stranger to my blood for ever . pla. you might have spar'd that just , but rigid doom , and left my love the glory of our parting . for , sir , i love your son ; so well i love him , that rather than i 'll curse his gen'rous passion , by suffering him to bless me with himself , i 'll leave my wealth , friends , nay , the dear man for ever . bear witness , you whose breasts confess the pangs of truest , te nd'rest , fondest , fiercest love ! bear witness , heav'n ! and all that hear me swear ! i leave ev'n him , ev'n all that 's kind and dear , for endless grief , a cloyster and despair . [ exit . fab. my love ! � my father ! � both conspire my ruine ! some angel stop her , and recall your vows ! no pity � yes , you 're kind , at once you kill me , and thus will quickly end the worst of pains . fer. unequal nuptials show not love , but madness . if you 're my son , leave this ignoble creature . fab. leave her ! ignoble ! give me patience , heav'n ! and duty check my rage ! a father said it . oh! that you knew her , sir ! you 'd see in her , that worth , whence true nobility began : she claims a birth immediately from heav'n . fer. no more . she never shall be yours . haste to morella , noble , and more charming . fab. ah sir ! i can love nothing but placentia . rather take back the wretched life you gave me ! [ kneels . draw , draw your sword , rip up my panting bosom ; you 'll find a heart where that sad truth is written . pity my youth ! pity your son ! � fer. 't is vain � reason and time will bring you to your self . fab. oh stay ! [ follows him crawling on his knees . fer. away � comply , or never see me more . [ ferd. breaks from fabiano , and exit . fab. yes , cruel father ; yes , unkind placentia , i 'll never see you more � you shall not see how wretched you have made me . i 've one friend yet , i hope ; his ship shall cast me on some abandon'd shore : there i will dye ; pitied , perhaps , by beasts more kind than man. more wise , more happy brutes , i envy you ! with you 't is will and beauty make the choice , ne're crost by the lov'd female , nor your syres . no dream of greatness bars your am'rous joys . curst be the first who made the vain distinction , taught to boast borrow'd fame from ancient dust , that fancied distance between equal emmets ! curst be the poys'nous notion , and may he that slights true merit for a vain degree , love humble worth , be scorn'd , or curs'd like me . and that the vice an ampler curse may find , curst be th' ambitious , which is all mankind . [ exit . enter placentia , as fabiano goes off . pla. his busie grief usurp'd his very sight . he 's gone , and cou'd not see me ; wou'd he had ! alas ! i shou'd , i wou'd have call'd , but cou'd not . who will protect me now ? � oh! noble moor , assist me to preserve my threaten'd honour . enter morat and zemet . mor. can worth , like yours , want a protector , madam ? my best friend us'd me so to eccho back his sighs , when he repeated dying tales of you , that he has fill'd my breast with the like zeal of serving you : that zeal may look like love ; but , fear not , madam , rarely love gets in but at some chink where hope had crept in first , and i who know how you us'd don vincentio can never hope this figure cou'd prevail . then give me leave to serve you , and my actions shall ne're oppose the dictates of your will. pla. it were a sin to doubt your honour , sir. let your man wait � and i will tell you things that are yet secrets to all souls but mine . mor. zemet observe who comes , and give us notice . [ exit zemet . pla. let guilty persons blush : i have no cause : the passion i must own admits no shame ; tho' i confess , i love : oh noble moor ! you will have cause to pity me as much as e're you did vincentio . mor. do i live ? � [ aside , and starting . or have i chang'd my being with my form ? pla. what shou'd surprize the moor ? � sir , tho' i want your help , or such a friend 's , yet let not that divert your thoughts from your own great concerns . morat . no , madam , these are fits that sometimes shake me : my soul and body are by turns at odds , and fain wou'd part ; yet , like false friends , each strives not to be thought to give most cause for such a separation : but now i 'm well again � you say you love , madam , and that i shall have cause to pity you . sure , he that is the cause , is deaf and blind ; else either sence , and you , might teach him love. pla. nay , i 'm so miserable , worthy moor , that 't was his passion that gave birth to mine : but , as fate orders it , all i've to beg , is that you wou'd convey me to some cloyster , where i may ever weep and pray for him . mor. aside . ] sure 't is for me , 't is for the poor vincentio she thus wou'd weep and pray . oh wou'd it were ! to pla. ] madam , i 'm bound to wait on your commands ; but can there be a cause for such despair ? pla. too many , sir , for had not fate contriv'd to snatch him , and all hopes , for ever from me , yet i too well regard his future glory , e're to have fullied it with my mean blood. mor. aside . ] 't is my self � it can be no man else she thus despairs for . first she shall name me , then i 'll own my self . to pla. ] madam , you may well trust me with his name , that can be happy thus in spight of fate . pla. i will not hide his name , from one that knows so much of his concerns : 't is � enter zemet . zem. ricardo's coming . pla. heav'n guard me from his sight ! � morat . i 'll strive to meet you here again with speed . curse on his coming ! but why am i troubl'd ? [ exit plac. by what she said , 't is plain 't is me she means . revive , vincentio ! doubts and fears remove ! she must be mine , since she confesses love. the man that 's lov'd , of conquest never fails : love pleads , and bribes , and forces , and prevails . [ ex. morat . zem. ricardo seem'd dejected ; i 'll observe him . enter ricardo . ri. this mine brings instant ruine when 't is sprung ; it rends the main foundation of my greatness . sees zemet . ] ha! thou black imp , what do'st thou here ? hence vanish ! [ exit zemet . they and their papers will so prove the thing , there will be no out-facing it � oh curst discovery ! this morning in the sanctuary i trembl'd . e're noon i revel'd as sole master here : yet now , e're six at night , these monks have rung a fatal knell to all my new-born joys . with this day 's sun my fortune rose and falls . but with the next may it not rise again ? they 've giv'n me time to get my pardon seal'd , e're they divulge the truth � i 'll have them kill'd � but how ? by this they 're in their cells at prayers . no , i must think again � assist me , hell , � i have it . at night for africa i 'll ship the sisters , where i will marry one , and then return . but why not get placentia ? there i 'll fix : placentia shall be mine . enter morat and zemet . ri. hah ! � [ starts seeing morat . mor. does your guilt make you start ? ri. art thou immortal , moor ? mor. yes , ravisher , all good men are immortal . death is entail'd on none but such as you , who wear him still about you in your crimes , yet justly fear him as the greatest evil. ric. placentia has inform'd him of my threats . [ aside . mor. base man , with gyant blood , and pigmy honour , i hear thou talk'st of ravishing placentia , but if thou dar'st but wish it , that bad soul , that soul of thine , hard and impenetrable to ev'ry thing that 's good , shall be let out to seek its place among relentless devils . ri. aside . ] sleep my resentments ! now my fortune 's chang'd . to him . ] i loath the thought , tho' once i threaten'd it , to try her vertue ; but , since that , my doubts are chang'd to admiration of her worth. mor. oh that there were but hopes you yet wou'd mend ! i 'm bound , and strive to love you , as you 're call'd vincentio's brother , and his father's son. in war's brave school , your father was my master ; who bad me dare , and taught me how to fight . he rush'd like light'ning on firm troops of foes , unnerv'd their ranks , and shatter'd them to ruine , and floor'd the field with honourable slaughter : but after conquest , mild as tender virgins , protected vertue in his very foes � if you 'll be noble , learn to act like him . ri. i 'll learn of you , brave moor , if you will teach me , your words can shame and charm us into vertue . methinks your tongue , like glorious victory , instils a soul of valour through my veins , and all my nerves seem knit with double force . i 'm now engag'd , but in an hour , i shall be proud of being taught by you , and fixing you my friend . mor. till then , farewel . love truly , and i ll give you leave to hope ; for as your love encreases , vertue will. 't was love alone first civiliz'd mankind , and dull instinct to sprightly sense refin'd . in savage nakedness man liv'd and toyl'd , uglier than brutes , more wretched , and as wild ; till emulation to be lik'd and lov'd , started invention , and the man improv'd : but 't is not love , weak bodies to controul , love only triumphs o're the stronger soul. [ exit morat . and min. ri. i 'll strive to work thee to my purpose , moor. thou' rt brave , but free and credulous to a fault � for ruin'd laura's good , and more for mine , i wish placentia may with equal ease be wheadled into marriage ! startling change ! she little thinks she 's great , and i am nothing ; oh! i cou'd rave and bellow execrations . hell curse these monks , emphatically curse 'em � enter four bravoes . ri. my bravoes ! 1. bravo . your lordship's servants . ri. i sent for you to punish a rude moor , but i 'll suspend a while my just revenge : i 've business of more moment . there 's gold for you . [ ric. gives 'em money . 1. br. thanks , my good lord , whose throat must we cut now ? ri. there 's milder mischief brooding . hire me a ship , that by use of oars as well as sails , may put to sea this night . at any rate , by any means i must have it to night , and you shall go with me . succeed , and your reward shall be so great you shall no longer skulk disguis'd ; but live at large , above the scandal of your lives . 1. br. conclude this done , my lord ; our friends will help us . if by fair means we cannot get a ship , we 'll seize on one . ri. success wait on my friends ! [ exit bravoes . enter a servant , with a letter in his hand . ri. what letter 's this ? serv. my lord , 't is for placentia . [ exit servant , ric. opens and reads the letter ri. go , i 'll deliver it � ha ! from fabiano ! � how ? leaving portugal for ever ! embark this moment ! by my hopes 't is well ! enter laura . [ ricardo seems surpriz'd , and puts up the letter hastily . ri. hah ! � my soul's joy , i did not expect you here . lau. i read that in your eyes , my lord , but i expected you , tho' 't was in vain , i fear . what letter were you reading ? ri. 't is private business . lau. i desire to see it . ri. wou'd you be made uneasie with my cares ? lau. unless i see 't , i shall be more uneasie . ri. trust me , my love , you need not , nay you shall not , tho' ev'n from you i must a while conceal it . lau. from me ! can you conceal it then from me ? ri. suppose it were a challenge from a foe , or a more dang'rous secret from a friend ? lau. say rather from a mistress : false ricardo . ri. will you still chide , and without reason still ? lau. false and ingrate , i have but too much reason ; yet if i chide , i chide but like a dove , in gentle murmurs . but urge me no longer . give me the letter , for i rave to see it . ri. what , will you still controul me like a slave ? will you still claim so insolent a right ? lau. traytor to gratitude , to love , and me , what is 't i claim , but leave to be assur'd of thy heart's truth , or of its falshood rather ? for now i 've too much cause to think thee false . ri. your jealousie , that jaundice of your mind , perverts all objects to it's sickly colour . lau. what , are my charms then vanish'd with my fortune ? � 't was otherwise when this base rebel languish'd at my feet , trembling as guilt , humble as begging want ; charm'd with a look , transported with a smile , and extasied with a reviving word . love gently rack'd all secrets from his breast , made him live more in me than in himself , prevent my very wish , and open all his soul. did it not traytor ? ri. it did , it shall , my life , then pray be calmer . lau. and have i made thee lord of all my wishes , given thee my wealth , and my more valued love , to be deny'd a triste ? base man , dare but be false , dare but deny me , i 'll sacrifice thee to my injur'd charms , tho' thou wert kneeling at the very altar � give me the letter . ri. since nothing else will satisfie you , take it . 't is only from fabiano to placentia ; for whom he 's leaving portugal by stealth . you see , he begs this may not yet be known � puzzled . ] then � i 'ad a mind � to try your jealous temper � and fear'd � it might incline you � to misconstrue my caution in thus op'ning a love-letter to one that 's a dependant on my house . lau. hah ! sure you love her , or your guilty mind , which so long labour'd for a faint excuse , had ne're suggested such prepost'rous doubts . you seem'd surpriz'd too at my sight ; your face had scarce the pow'r to shape a gay disguise . ri. to clear at once my innocence , permit me to send for her � who waits ? enter servant . serv. my lord � ri. acquaint placentia , that i 'm here , and have a letter for her . [ exit servant . my life , from yonder closet if you please , you may behold unseen our mutual hatred in her looks and mine . [ lau. steps aside . enter placentia , morella , melinda . ri. aside . ] she 's here ! this news will strangely grieve her � to pla. ] you 're well attended . pla. so we shou'd be to come to you , my lord. your pleasure ? ri. here 's a letter from fabiano , � who 's fled by sea. [ gives her the letter , she reads it . pla. oh killing news ! morel . poor parted lovers ! how i pity them ! pla. is he then fled ? fled without seeing me ? fled my fabiano ? oh! 't was too too cruel . thy last farewel wou'd pain me worse than death ; yet i wou'd suffer more for one dear parting look � but sure i wrong thee ; we cou'd ne're have born it . how my soul mourns , some dream or angel tell thee ! my soul ! oh no! 't is fled with thee , and grief alone informs this widdow'd falling body . [ falls . morel . rise , rise , my dear . mel. sink not beneath your sorrows . pla. let me dye here ; for i 've out-liv'd my self . break , throbbing heart ! break now ! break ! what , not yet ! well , stubborn life , i 'll punish thee for lasting , melt thee away in tears , and breathe thee out in sighs ; 'till i'm grown of one substance with my grave . she 's rais'd ] i 'll drag thee where thou shalt converse with nothing but walls , and heav'n , and sorrow , and his image . off then , gay dress ! vain pageantry , away ! thou once lov'd house , where my years rowl'd so smoothly , adieu for ever ! � adieu , my dear , my only friends ! adieu to all but grief , and the dear thoughts of him . he 's lost , he 's lost , and pleasure is no more . morel . let 's follow her , and strive to calm her mind . [ ex. placentia , morel . and mel. ri. prevent her going out . [ aside to a servant . serv. i will , my lord. [ exit servant . ri. to laura , who comes forward . ] you see the love between us . lau. did i not dread her , i cou'd pity her , ri. grieve not for her , my love. a widow'd nymph of course a while despairs , but nothing dries so soon as woman's tears . clouds dull the sun , then fall apace in rain , and sprightlier smiles adorn his face again . such , now your doubts are clear'd , you shou'd appear , and with kind looks your injur'd lover chear . lau. were those doubts clear'd � ri. unkind ! now i must chide . what , jealous still ? lau. still jealous , since still loving . ri. but i 've a sure way left to ease your mind . lau. how ? � ri. let to morrow be our nuptial day . lau. to morrow ! ri. yes , we 'll wave tedious state. hymen shall bless us . oh! let me seal that promise on your lips ; thus , thus your doubts shall all be lost in joys , and kiss'd away as oft as they return . lau. shall i still doubt � no , tho' i still had cause , i must believe thy dear bewitching tongue . conduct me home , and oh ! forgive me , my ricardo . i cannot bear a rival in your heart . while woman must to one confine her love , why shou'd man claim the privilege to rove ? we cou'd dispense with change as well as you : women lose more than men by being true . yet tho' you blame our sex , yours most deceives ; man leaves us oft , but woman seldom leaves . be just then , urge us not to change of mind ! or give us leave to rove , or be your selves confin'd . [ exeunt . the end of the second act.
act iii. enter placentia in a plain white dress � morella and melinda . pla. why am i thus detain'd ? now in this dress i 'm fitted for a cloyster : oh! fabiano ! thou leav'st the land , i 'll leave the world for thee . morel . oh! grieve us not , by grieving thus your self . society in woes will make them lighter , but ours grow heavier while we share your load . pla. i 'd silence my rude grief , wou'd it be silenc'd ; but tender love , love newly wean'd , and hopeless will , like all other infants , pine and rage , tho' check'd by reason that denies the food . enter ricardo . ri. where , where 's the chaste placentia ? sisters , tell her i 'll crown at last the vertue which i try'd . what , all in tears ? she too in this mean dress ? you feed her grief . away ! i say , be gone . [ ex. mor. and mel. leave tears and cloysters , madam , to those wretches whom the world leaves , and who must leave the world ; who surfeit first , then practice abstinence , turn nuns , and then repent their rash repentance . 't is true , my brother 's dead , fabiano's gone ; but i am left more charm'd with your perfections . pla , i pray you , leave me . ri. look not on me as being still the same ; behold your convert , madam , 't was impossible to love you , and love vice , which you detest . you , and my change of fortune , have at last , made me reflect , and rous'd me into vertue . my threats were but to try you . pla. i shall rejoyce , my lord , to find the change , tho' t is ill jesting in the shape of vice ; " for 't will be long before i shall shake off , " the horror that surprise stamp'd on my soul. in the mean time , i beg you 'll give me leave in some retirement to compose my mind . ri. oh! leave me not , blest maid , " you 're my good angel , " that bear me upwards , govern my best thoughts , " and bid me think of heav'n , and view it in you . " but , if you leave me , e're my callow vertue " grows fledg'd , and strong to soar with outstretch'd wings , " too soon my dead habitual weight of vice " will make me flag , and fall to worse perdition . " take me now , save a soul , confirm me yours . " o save me , lest you answer it to heav'n . a priest , a known priest , waits to joyn our hands . oh come ! i will not leave you till you 've blest me . pla. what means my lord ! oh heav'ns ! what shall i say ! yes , i will bless you � if you 'll let me go . but as for marrying you , forbid it love ! forbid it honour ! and forbid it heav'n ! " this wou'd be cursing you , and then my self . " change , rather change this dreadful love to hatred ! ri. i 've play'd the tyrant , but i know you 're mild as a forgiving saint . here on my knees , ( but that 's too proud a posture ) thus then falling with prostrate body , and more humbled mind , repentant , chang'd ricardo , begs your pardon . pla. oh rise , my lord ! 't was granted e're you ask'd it . ri. oh! add your love , or let me sink for ever . pla. my lord � i must not , cannot hear you thus . ri. thus have i sworn to kiss your steps , and dye , unless this day , this very day you 're kind , stoop to be mine , and condescend to rise . pla. alas ! i too have sworn , this ne're shall be . ri. i 'll beg so earnestly , so humbly , � pla. my lord , i thought you knew placentia better . spare this affected cringing ! 't wou'd be vain , tho' 't were not feign'd ; for such a whirl of humour , so quick a fall from one extream to t'other , betrays less love than a distemper'd mind . ri. rises . ] 't is true , i 'm craz'd , i 'm mad , mad as wild frenzy , to starve my noble pride , to glut a slave's . why , cruel stars , why do i court this creature , this infect , born to crawl and lick the dust , till foster'd here , ungratefully to sting me ? oh! i cou'd burst , and tear my flesh with rage . but why do i not rather crush it dead ? pla. murther ! oh save me ! � [ she wou'd run off , he stops her . ri. none but your self can save , or you or me . you shall be wretched , if you 'll make me so : " for , good or bad , you now must share my fate . this steel , or else this juice , shall end us both . [ shews her a bottle and a dagger . 't is like the poys'nous love i suck'd from thee ; no antidote can stop the bane's progression ; it creeps thro' ev'ry vein , preys on the blood , and ling'ring gives a sure , tho' lazy death . relent , or now i drink , and thou shalt pledge me . pla. oh horror ! hold ! let 's parley o're our fate . give me some time , my lord , i beg it on my knees , a month , a week , a day ; oh mercy ! mercy ! � ri. no , it must be this instant now . pla. what shall i say ? i dye with terror . o hold ! oh think of hell , my lord � ri. hell's mild to what i feel . pla. i can but dye [ he keeps the bottle close to his mouth . ri. i 've drank the liquid death . now chuse thy fate . pla. oh lost ! lost ! ri. chuse quickly , or � pla. oh! give me time to pray . ri. the poyson will do that . pla. i thought 't was but to try me . but give it me . 't is th' only welcome present you cou'd have made me , and i thank you for 't . i only wish my dear , my lost fabiano , thou coud'st have seen these tears , the best return , my niggard fate wou'd suffer me to make thee . oh! if a helpless , friendless , dying maid may form a wish ! oh hear me , hear me heaven ! let all the dear man's sorrows dye with me . and , if another e're can love so well , let some chaste noble beauty love him thus , and make him happier than i've made him wretched . enter fabiano , thrusting away some servants , and runs to placentia . fab. hence ! slaves ! she 's here . pla. hah ! � ri. return'd ! fab. yes , here to dye . look up , my life , my soul , [ he embraces her . placentia , see 't is i , 't is thy fabiano , pla. 't is he ; some angel brings him � my lov'd lord � [ she drops the bottle . fab. my fate � [ they embrace . pla. oh! i forget my fears , my grief , my very self , at this dear sight . fab. senses awake ! and thou my wand'ring soul , unwind thy self out of this maze of joy. art thou at large , or in placentia's arms ? ri. must i bear this ? my lord , what do you mean ? fab. to kill you , if you dare once more disturb me . ri. you 're in my house , but � fab. what ? ri. i 'll say no more � i fear his greatness now , tho' not his sword [ aside . pla. tho' love had not betray'd me into fondness , revenge it self had don 't , to plague this monster ; to make his eyes drink jealousies worst poyson , more gnawing than the draught he swallow'd now , or that which he design'd me . fab. how ! � ri. no poyson , madam , nothing but a philtre , a lover's harmless trick to fright and win you . to ease your mind , i 'll send for her that made it . � and for some others too � ( aside . ) [ exit ricardo . pla. i dread his coming back . fab. fear nothing , madam , i 've a friend waits without with some choice men. pla. i thought i never shou'd have seen you more . where have you been ? why did you write that letter ? was it to break my heart ? 't was too unkind , yet i pray'd for you . i wou'd have dy'd , but pitying heav'n reserv'd me for this blest moment , e're we part for ever , for we must part . fab. part ! no , first let the monarch part with crowns , the brave with honour , and the saint with heav'n . pla. oh reason , honour , duty ! � fab. oh love ! love ! love ! great love against them all . pla. i 've sworn to leave you ; nor must i examine whether i shall outlive the killing loss . fab. no , you will not leave me : i will ne're believe it : placentia loves me � placentia will not let me dye . pla. sure heav'n will forgive this sally of a heart , startled and wild with joy , this riot of starv'd love , tho' rigid honour dares not warrant it . oh! lead me quickly to the convent , that � re-enter ricardo . ri. she whom i sent for , madam , will soon tell you � fab. nothing that can deserve our stay � farewel � leading out placentia . ri. stay , do not lead my beauteous charge to ruine . fab. she 's led from ruine , when she 's led from you . ri. hold ! hear me ! for i 'll here dispute my right . fab. then somewhere else , and not with words dispute it . ri. tho' now with words , some fitter time with this . [ shows his sword. i claim her as my due . i best deserve her . fab. who e're pretends desert , deserves her least . ri. she 's oblig'd to my family . fab. but i 'm oblig'd to her . ri. you 've nothing ; but i 've an estate to give her . fab. i chuse to lose one for her . but that 's little ; i 'd give the globe to bribe her to a smile . pla. oh! cease so needless a debate , my lords ; nor rate so high a worthless maid's esteem . know both , i 'd sworn , before i knew your love , never to wed above my rank � i 'm going to a cloyster . then , if you love me , shew it now , my lords . be pleas'd to leave me there . ri. no , madam , i 'll sooner leave the world. fab. let me conduct you , madam . ri. hold ! fab. forbear , or in your very house i 'll kill you . ri. hah ! will you break the laws of hospitality ? fab. talk'st thou of hospitality , and dar'st detain her there ? 't is sacrilege and death . draw , fight , and dye . [ he draws . pla. oh hold ! ri. tho' i dare fight , why shou'd i leave to chance what prudence can secure ? [ aside . the shortness of my sword makes you insult , but � fab. give it me , and take mine . [ fabiano gives him his sword , and takes his in the scabbard . ri. take it , and use it if you can . � pla. oh! hold , my lords ! fab. a broken sword ! hah ! villain ! [ he draws the sword , which appears to be a broken blade . ri. stir not , be silent , hear me , and you 're safe . live happy with my sister , i with her ; but dye , if you persist t'obstruct my bliss . pla. oh! wed her , wed her , tho' i dye my lord. fab. i 'll yet disarm thee , traytor . [ fabiano with the broken sword strives to close with ricardo . ri. i wou'd not kill thee ! who waits ! � enter four servants , with swords . ri. seize that mad-man . [ fabiano snatches a sword from one of 'em , and keeps 'em off . fab. what , hoa ! my friends ! pla. help , murther ! help ! � enter captain , with two others , who fight ricardo's party . cap. courage , my lord , we 're here ! slaves ! villains ! dye . enter don ferdinand , with musqueteers , who present , and all the combatants cease fighting . fer. hold ! or my guards shall fire among you . ri. 't is well you 're come at last , my lord , your son was forcing his way out with this ungrateful maid , to wed her , and leave portugal by sea. fer. i scarce believ'd the messenger you sent me : nay , now i scarce believe my very eyes . what , my reproof , my counsel , my commands , my pray'rs , my threats , my oaths , all unregarded ? it cannot be ; fabiano is my son : my son wou'd not at once lose wealth , lose honour , lose my love , lose my blessing , a father's love , and blessing , for a trifle ; for all this he must lose , or leave this maid , to wed my nobler choice , the fair morella . fab. thus , as to heav'n , to you , sir , kneels your son ; and that heav'n knows , i scarce can reverence it , more than i do my father . oh! i 'd lose the life you gave me , rather than your blessing . but love , like mine , is deaf necessity ; 't is fate it self , and who can alter fate ? if love 's a crime in me , 't is its own punishment : for hope , that soften'd all its pains , is lost . then curse me not yet more : alas ! your blessing is all your wretched son has left to lose . for soon he 'll take his everlasting leave of friends , of you , of her , and life , i hope . fer. rise , hear age speak ! fabiana ! wisdom's old . fab. my lord , my father , oh! let me kneeling thus attend your will. fer. rise , rise , my son , nor let thy poor old father lose the sole comfort of his widow'd years . thou art my only child . alas ! i liv'd but by the hopes of seeing thee renew the ���ries of our race , by equal marriage . have i for this declin'd a second choice , and liv'd in solitary widowhood ? oh! do not hurry thus thy self and me to the dark grave , and worse oblivion's death . i beg it , 't is thy father begs it . see these tears , they 're the last drops , the dying hand of age has left to dew this drooping with'ring plant � oh speak ! fab. can nature plead against it self ? i cannot speak : my throbbing heart's too full . fer. then kill me , cruel son ; that parricide will be less barb'rous than the other � speak ! fab. then with obedient boldness i must own , i cannot wed morella . fer. just heav'n ! what have i done ? what are my crimes ? that i must thus be punish'd with this son ? � but sure he 's not my son : such disobedience , such meanness , must and shall be strangers to my blood. now , as i hate base thoughts , he 's rous'd my rage . degenerate boy , thou scandal to my race , retract thy words , consent , lest , in my fury , i wrong the dead , and ev'n suspect thy mother . fab. oh! use me as you please ; but spare my mother ! for your own sake , for hers , tread gently on her grave . fer. no , she was vertue 's self , but sure some peasant impos'd thee on me , and displac'd the heir . be banish'd then my house , my heart , my thoughts ! be stript of all � fab. but my placentia's love : you cannot take that from me . fer. tortures and daggers ! wretch , lose all but that . ri. aside to ferd. ] my lord , let him rave on . he 's lost all use of reason in this fit of love's high fever ; but it cannot last . leave him with me , i 'll watch its crisis and declension . first , i 'll remove the cause , this fatal charmer , then soon my sister shall restore his reason . fer. 't is well advis'd � guards stay � obey my lord. curst be this frantick love , that rashly hurries unequal pairs into the nuptial noose ! how bitter proves the fair forbidden fruit ! how lost , how naked man then finds himself ! how short , how false the bliss , how long the woe ; a few good nights , a thousand dismal days . then the fierce lover grows a tame dull husband , and the kind mistress a vexatious wife . how like an ass , how like himself he looks , wishing to part , more than he did to joyn ; while wife and husband curse th' unequal state , wedded for love , then cuckolded for hate . [ exit ferd. ri. retire you tempting mischief to your chamber . pla. oh! rather to a cell . ri. leave that to me . pla. oh! once more let me see him . ri. you shall not see him more . [ fabiano who was talking to the captain , runs suddenly to prevent her going out . fab. see me no more ? then i 'm poor indeed ; yes , i will see her , tho' her sight were death . ri. hold ! my lord. fab. forbear ! despair is frantick ; play not with it ; i 've lost all hopes but of one parting look ; rob me not of that last , that cruel pleasure . pla. oh rigid fate , why must i thus undo him � " but i my self shall soon be more than punish'd , " lonesome , self-banish'd , buried to the world , " my life shall be a kind of ling'ring death . " course weeds my cloathing , a poor cell my lodging , " bare walls my only prospect , the cold ground , " or harder floor , my bed ; and grief my end. fab. " oh! why did i come back ! why wou'd i see her ! pla. " then , if at dead at night you chance to wake , " oh! think of me , and say , now poor placentia " is risen in the dark , and in the cold , " to pray for me , to pray for her fabiano : " for then will i be praying on my knees , " that heav'n may bless you and your future bride . fab. too gen'rous fair , oh! spare your grief's profusion ; show me less love , be cruel out of pity ; tell me you hate me , i shall be less wretched . pla. i cannot ; oh! then leave me , quickly leave me ; fly my contagious grief . oh! 't will infect you . i merit not your care , much less your love. and yet forgive , and let me love you still . as for your grief , impose it on me , heav'n ! for i am grown familiar with affliction . but live , and think your death my greatest dread . fab. then i must strive to live : but oh ! placentia , 't will cost my love much dearer than to dye . if one hour's absence made me wild with sorrow , how shall i live , for ever parted from you , by hills and seas , and the more fatal cloyster ? how bear the sun shou'd rise , the sun shou'd set , and i ne're blest with my placentia's sight ? yet fear not , my complaints shou'd reach your cell . no , not so much as the tidings of my death shall give you cause to think there liv'd on earth so lost a wretch as i. ri. take her away , she heightens his distraction . fab. oh! stay one moment more , then tear me from my self , here let me seal my everlasting leave . [ kisses her hand . farewel , thou innocent , thou blest destruction ! kind cruelty , sweet torment of my soul ; all that 's delight and pain transcending thought ; my soul , my blessing , and my earthly heav'n . pla. farewel . ric. part them . fab. oh! let me take another parting look . ri. force 'em asunder . [ ricardo's servants strive to part ' em . capt. i cannot bear � ri. hold , stir not , on your lives . [ to the captain and his attendants . fab. hold , impious , sacrilegious villains , hold ! pull , hale , drag , cut , part , tear me limb from limb , yet still i 'll hold � she 's gone . [ struggles with ricardo's men. pla. farewel , thou dear unhappy man , farewel . [ placentia is led off . fab. wolves , tigers , fiends , you shall not 'scape unpunish'd . ri. aside . ] he 'll but obstruct me , if he stays � i 'll free him . to fab. ] my lord , 't was needful cruelty to force you from her . but i 'll yet prove your friend , and free you instantly . go travel when you please ; i 'll not impose my sister on you , tho' your father wou'd . this private way you may get out unseen . fa. to ri. ] tho' i can't thank you , i accept the offer . to the captain aside . ] captain , once more i 'll try to see placentia ; then i 'll aboard your brigantine again . capt. my lord , part of my men ashore keep close together , the rest aboard wait for us : all the slaves sit ready at their oars . fa. alas ! poor men ! tho' they 're not half so wretched as my self . ri. guards i dismiss you . [ ex. fabiano , captain , and his attendants one way , and the guards another way . he 's gone , and she 's secur'd � so far 't is well � page , tell placentia , that fabiano's here , and has prevail'd with me to let him see her . [ exit servant . this may decoy her hither � my time 's short , yet i will fetch thee back , and tug with thee , thou shifting fortune � e're thou part'st from me , resolve to leave some of the spoyls i hold ; i will not be left naked � enter placentia hastily . pla. hah ! deceiv'd � ri. nay , start not back , he 's gone for ever now . pla. and do you think to keep me here by force ? ri. yes , force must act , when kinder usage fails : i 'll give you still an hour : but then resolve to wed me , or appease my am'rous rage . pla. wer 't thou as great , as lawless pow'r cou'd make thee , and i as poor as nature first design'd me , know , rather than i 'd serve thy horrid pleasures , i 'd fly to desarts , to the land of sorrow , bear with the want of freedom , light and food . nay , i wou'd plunge in seas , and ev'n in hell , but that , i know , thou wou'dst torment me there . such is my hate , i 'll desperately dare , and , to shun thee , all other curses bear . ri. then hear thy doom . out of meer spight i love thee , love thee with most inveterate bent of mind . and thus will hate thee worse ; yes worse i 'll hate thee , when force has gain'd what thou deny'st my love. that which will quench my flame , shall kindle thine ; then for the pleasing cure to me thou 'lt run , still close thou 'lt follow , but as fast i 'll shun : from wealth , from me , i 'll calmly see thee torn , and leave thee nothing but thy naked scorn . pla. hear thou , the surer fate attends thy crimes ; in sudden wealth , as sudden a decay : then universal hate , in pressing want ; and , in that want , sickness without relief . thus lingring , thou shalt envy starving beggars ; shame and reproach clogging thy heavy hours . then , guilty conscience hurrying on despair , hang between heav'n and earth , as fit for neither ; and none endeav'ring thy curst life to save , dye without tears or pray'rs , and want a grave . exit . ri. 't is well thou' rt gone , proud thing . i 'm urg'd so far , i scarce cou'd hold from making good my threats . 't is yet too soon , but if my plot succeeds thou shalt be mine , or bear thy share of ruin. if i'm left hopeless , hope not to be spar'd . no , when i fall unpittied , perish nature ; dye all that 's humane in me but revenge ; like a fall'n spright to desperation driv'n , i 'd be more damn'd to keep my foes from heav'n ; with pow'rful spight i 'll all their hopes destroy , and drag 'em downwards with a dismal joy. exit .
act iv. enter morat , and zemet , who keeps at a distance . morat . the day 's grown old , and almost lost in night : work in each street gives way to soft amusements : all nature's business seems now to be love. the wind with stronger sighs salutes the flowers , descending clouds embrace and kiss the earth . and , while the sun on the sea's bosome rests , th' officious moon , who winks , with half a face , lends a securer light to meeting lovers . for now they meet ; th' impatient happy youth sees his kind nymph come tripping or'e the plain : they fly , they rush into each others arms , the lover's bless'd and rifles all her charms . thus eager , but less certain , here i come to seek my better fate , my lov'd placentia . make haste , o night , extend thy sable wings ! let nature wear a blacker face than mine , when the fair owns her love , and i my self , when with kind rudeness , i force willing kisses , hide , hide placentia's blushes from my eyes , or with excess of joy , the bless'd vincentio dyes . enter ricardo , and two bravoes . ri. but are you sure the ship 's at your disposal . 1 bra. the brigantine is ours , my lord ; we could not get one sor any hire ; but seiz'd on this with ease . most of the men were gone ashore . besides the captain is a new revolted pyrate , who was as glad of us as we of him . enter servants with lights , which they set upon the table . hush ! here 's the moor ! � in half an hour attend me . morat aside . whisp'ring and bravoes ! sure there 's mischief hatching . for once i 'll force my self to seem a villain , to sift out , and prevent it � ri. you 're punctual , worthy moor , but why so thoughtful ? morat . i was but thinking why men , who know each other to be cheats , shou'd to their prejudice strive to seem honest . ri. what , do you think i now dissemble with you ? morat . why not , my lord ? since i my self dissembled . ri. how ! you ? plain-dealing blunt morat dissemble ? mor. we all for love , revenge , or int'rest feign , and all , for diff'rent ends , seem diff'rent men , then shift like play'rs , and are ourselves again . ev'n the most wise , with studied labour , hide , when flatter'd , joy ; and when exalted , pride . old maids , if such there be , dissemble youth ; young widows , sorrow ; wives and husbands , truth . the heir feigns joy , if his sick friends revive , yet almost dyes for grief that they 're alive ; the trader rails at thieves who forests range , cants , prays , yet cheats , and shakes a whole exchange . the common jilt , with face and passion feign'd , hugs some rich fool , nor leaves him , till he 's drain'd . dissembling's all mankind's prerogative we know 't is us'd by all , yet still believe , and thus are all deceiv'd , and all alike deceive . ri. i 've been deceiv'd indeed . what , wou'd you tempt your convert to relapse ? mor. come , come , unmask my lord , i 'm bare-fac'd now , and know you ; know me too ; i 'm left executor , and the will gives your sisters and placentia most of th' estate . i 've nothing but my sword ; command it , and my pow'r , so i may share some of the gain you by my means may reap . ri. shall i believe thee true ? mor. like all mankind , true to my interest . ri. then thou 'lt be true to me � come to my arms , thou surest , best of friends . with feeble oaths we 'll not each other bind ; no tye but int'rest strongly links mankind . mor. you love placentia ? ri. i love no woman , but i lust for all ; and her above the rest ; tho hopeless yet : but now i 've a design , you soon shall know � a flourish for a serenade . hark , music ! � sure this serenade's for her ; 't is giv'n so near her window ; let 's put out the lights ; perhaps we may know more . they put out the lights . morat . placentia ! hah ! i find i am not proof against th'intruding monster jealousy . out of my heart , thou gnawing envious passion ! tho look'st so like a vice , i will not lodge thee . a serenading symphony is heard , as from without . enter placentia while 't is perform'd . pla. what wretch has chos'n this night for serenades ? alas ! my only charmer's gone for ever , and with him all the joys these notes wou'd summon . they might as well before church-windows revel , and with unheeded numbers tempt the dead . yet have my hopeless wishes drawn me hither , where i unseen may best inform my self , whether , as i suspect , these are not this musicians . perhaps he 's not gone yet , but stays to free me . time was i shou�d have trembl'd thus alone , but grief and fear itself have made me bold . enter fabiano , captain , a servant , with a dark lanthorn . ha! who are these ? fa. she 's here ; fear not , my soul. 't is your adorer . morat . ha! ( starting . ri. stir not yet . ( aside to mor. fa. take this , thou friendly guide , with my best thanks , and watch to let us out . gives the servant money . ex. servant . pla. oh! i am all surprize . why wou'd you venture thus ? why , with this musick ? is 't to punish me ? fa. think not those accents meant to move the soul. oh! lovely maid , more musick 's in your name ; they 're but the mournful prelude to my dirge ; and serve t' amuse observing spyes one way , that we more safely may escape another : for i am come once more to see and free you , then go , where my despair shall neer torment you . pla. oh i must share your grief where e're you go ; you never can be absent from my heart . morat . i hope , i dream . ( aside � ) is this the love i blest my self withal ! fa. sighs stop my words . pla. and tears obstruct my sight . fa. oh! if you lov'd ! pla. i love you but too well , for my soul 's quiet , dear unhappy man. morat , oh cursed sound ! he 's lov'd ! he 's but too happy . aside . pla. go prosecute your generous design , see foreign lands , and visit distant courts ! fa. since you will have me go , i will placentia : but not to courts . no , i will find some desart : there will i linger out a wretched being , till grief that nurse of sighs , can yield no more , and with your name upon my lips , i dye . pla. alas , my wishes contradict themselves ; i wish you'd lov'd me still , i wish you wou'd forget me . yet love me , love me still , where e're you go . morat . racks , wheels , and vultures ! � ( aside . ) pla. stay , but one moment , i will fetch some jewels ; " to pay my portion to the monastry , " then i 'll fly thither under your conduct , for there 's no safety here , now brave vincentio's dead . ex : pla. morat . oh! that he were ! � ( aside . ) i can forbear no longer . who are you there , that with false lights and vows seek to dishonor noble families , zemet comes up to morat . ) by ravishing young virgins from their houses ? fa. whoe're thou art , i justly fling the lye back in thy face . mor. our quarrel 's just o' both sides , if 't be so : then let not odds on mine e're make it less . how many are you arm'd ? fa. we 're only two , yet dare defie you all ; tho , if the moon 's faint light deceives me not , you 're three . mor. that shall not be ; ricardo , now stand by . draw , zemet � ri. aside . no , i 'll get lights � i hope they 'll rid me of a rival . exit ricardo . fa. whoe're thou art , tho thy reproach was base , yet this proceeding's noble . wou'd we had the sun to light us to each other's face . i wou'd see thine let 's to some fitter place to sight this quarrel , for which i know no motive but thy rudeness . mor. yes , there are many ; but my face wou'd show by light but little otherwise than now . i am the moor , deceas'd vincentio's friend . fa. i ever lov'd him ; and , for his sake , i wou'd not kill thee , moor. mor. but he wou'd thee , if he were in my place , for stealing thus from him placentia's love . but i 'll revenge at once his wrongs and mine . fa. were he alive . i 'd not invade his right ; and as for thee , how canst thou say i wrong'd thee ? mor. oh! ye immortal pow'rs ! what , have i got a talking syllogistick enemy ? and for a prize great as placentia's heart ? know , whosoe're thou art , i love placentia . will that yet rouse thy courage ? fa. hah ! thou love her ! vile black ! i 'll free her from that shame , or dye . morat fights fabiano , the capt. fights zemet , and disarms him out of sight , then ( to joyn with fabiano , ) he re-enters , supporting hims�elf on his sword. zem. ( without . ) disarm'd ! curst chance ! help ! help ! capt. unlucky wound ! he has hurt me in the thigh , and now i 'm useless . [ falls . enter placentia , who offers to step between them . pla. oh! hold ! or know you kill a harmless maid . [ they stop . morat . madam , retire . fa. leave us a while , dear madam . pla. no , here i 'll take my death , or hinder yours . fa. oh! fly ! while this moor lives , i cannot free you . pla. ah! why so cruel , moor ! morat . i love and will not lose you . pla. the name of love is posion'd on thy tongue . oh! sully not my virtue with thy passion . can you now think me worth your care , my lord ? fa. heav'n can receive no spots from blasphemy ; but , spight of that , the pious pay their duty , and mine 's to dye or free you . ( offers to fight again . ) pla. oh! stay ! hold ! if you love your selves or me , who first desists , i 'll think the truest lover . fa. must i not punish him ? she suddenly interposes and holds fabiano . pla. yes in my arms � thus punish him more safely . now , moor , if thou woud'st kill him , kill me too . enter ricardo , zemet , and servantss with lights . mor. fabiano ! ri. how does my worthy friend ? mor. oh! never worse . ri. where are you wounded , sir ? mor. oh! at the heart � by killing jealousy . fa. madam , till morning i must leave you here , and then i 'll wait on you . pla. oh that 's too long , where honour is unsafe . mor. let him protect you there , if i am grown so fear'd a ravisher . fa. madam , we will : my wounded friend wants help , the moor is brave , and thus we must be safe . mor. zemet , while i retire , stay and observe ' em . ex. morat . ri. o do not fear me , madam : what i threatn'd is far from my intent , 't was but to fright you into complying . i adore your virtue . [ the captain is carried in . oh pardon me , be blest , and make me so . [ he kneels to placentia . enter laura , with her two children led by servants . lau. confusion ! ri. hah ! they start and look amazedly at each other . lau. ruin'd ! ri. both , if you stay . ( aside to laura . ) you found me begging here a reconcilement of this fair enemy , who 's wedded to a cloyster ; but i 'll withdraw with you , to know what fit usurps your patience , madam . lau. no , learn that here . ri. oh hold ! retire , or we 're undone . ( aside to laura . lau. no , perjur'd man. all here shall known my wrongs . despair disclaims reserves : 't is as i fear'd ; impatient creditors drive me from home , just now my goods were seiz'd , and here thy heart . all , all , i find , is lost � of what the fondness of my late husband left me when he dy'd , i 've nothing now , but these his helpless infants ; these innocents , depriv'd like their poor mother , ev'n of a place to lay their little heads . 1 child . oh sad ! have we then ne'r another home ? i 'm hungry , cold , and tir'd , indeed i am . lau. oh wretched children , but more wretched mother ! fa. this scene adds grief to grief , yet tempts to stay : ri. i share your sorrows , madam : let 's withdraw , you may expect to find a friend in me . lau. a friend ! how cold , how unlike one he talks ! and looks , as if i were his wife already . i 'm lost , he 's false ! i saw it . this confirms it . i can no longer doubt the dreadful truth . but if revenge � [ looks angrily upon placentia going . pla. i dare no longer stay . lau. stay , thou invader of my right . fa. hold , madam . ( interposing . lau. stay , i 'm all patience yet ! let me peruse you , madam � thou vulgar thing , thou face mean as thy birth , how durst thou tempt the creature of my love ? i 'm now convinc'd that nothing but a philtre cou'd thus divert his choice from me to thee . but wer 't thou beauty's queen , thy charms are vain , i 'd blast them all , my conquest to maintain . dare but to hope my slave to disengage , not heav'n it self shall shield thee from my rage . pla. if don ricardo's yours , pray keep him , madam . i cou'd ev'n hate my self for pleasing him ; then think not i 'll e're court his odious love , sooner shall freedom doat on tyranny , sooner will i be perjur'd , or he true . [ ex. plac. led by fabiano . zem. after 'em lau. by her disdain , it shou'd be so . � just powers ! shou'd he shun me , to doat on one who shuns him , ' twou'd be revenge , yet heighten my disgrace . am i then fallen so low to seek him whom she scorns ? ri. i still am true � but hear me . [ aside to laura . lau. no , thou can'st only be thy self , and false . i 've heard too much , i 'm cur'd at once and loath thee . i thought not , i so tamely cou'd have born thy change ; but 't is so poor , i scorn thee now . raise my fortunes high as they stood , our contract shall be void . ri. can you mean this ? lan. witness it , all that hear me ! ri. then be it so . lau. do you consent ? ri. i do . lau. first perish she , thou , i and all the world. persidious fool ! cou'd'st thou presume to think i 'd give thee leave to live and be another's ? ri. i was a fool , � for i believ'd a woman ! lau. and i a greater , i believ'd a man � ri. what shall i do ? out of meer pity i must use her ill . ( aside curst be your love , and your assuming pride , still thus vexatious , but most curst your cunning ! thus do too many of your sex deceive us ; for they can feign and lye and weep at will. � reserv'dness is a bawd to their stol'n pleasures . for , as some wear fine cloaths with empty purses , they 've but the dress of virtue , not the substance . their modesty's as thin , as are their veils , worn alike ev'ry where , but in their chambers . their reason is a slave to their wild passions , their honesty to the desires of men , and their best vertue 's damn'd hypocrisy � lau. and what 's your sexe's who thus rail at ours , to hide your worse dissembling , which all ours is but to counterplot ; while all the faults , for which you blame us , are still caus'd by you ? you , who all promise , and who all betray ; who use your stronger sense to ruin our weakness : and take a greater freedom to be bad , nay , boast ev'n of more vice than you can act ; force us to feign , and live recluse like slaves , yet damn us for a slip , of which you glory . you , proud , deluding , treach'rous tyrant � men : your very heroes are but bold destroyers , your good companions are but libertines , ( walks about discontentedly . and your fond lovers but designing traytors . ri. to himself . i find 't is vain to think t'outrail a woman . i must try softer means . trust me , were both undone , if you rave on ; to laura following her . but if you 're calm , i 'll double your estate . lau. cruel , how durst thou thus affront my love ? what did i ever wish for , but thy heart ? did i desire thy wealth ? did i not give thee all i possest and beggar these young wretches , whose sight now fills my drooping soul with grief , ( weeps ) and sinks my spirits to the lowest ebb ; for , with our wealth , our spirits sink , i find . ri. oh check that love � you know not what you ask . whate're i seem , i scorn t' undo you more . i am � oh! i shall say too much ! i swear , ( aside the dismal truth was on my lips � farewel � ( going lau. stay ! oh! i dye with shame , but cannot leave him . heav'ns , is this he who swore eternal truth ! ( holds him ri. do , rail on , curse me , hate me , scorn me , spurn me , that i may dare to wrong you , or we 're ruin'd ! heav'n knows 't is fate , more than my falsehood , parts us � lau. oh racks ! oh pangs ! oh that we could but deal with love , when slighted , as we can with friendship , part company , and love and friendship too . but 't will not be � i burst with grief and rage . must i bear this ? is there no way to ease ? my rival � i 'll find her out , and give her instant death . ( going ri. hold madam � ( ricardo hinders her . lau. let me go . ri. you must not . lau. prevented ! and by thee ? oh my heart breaks ! my rage works inwards � help ; i faint � i dye ! swoons in her womens arms , and is laid in an arm-chair . wom. oh help my lady ! ri. run to my closet ! i 've rich cordials there � by heavens i pity her ! exit ricardo's servant . yes , from my soul i do . her charms , her love deserve a better fate ! oh! i cou'd kill my self , my most unhappy fickle self ! but hold ! wou'd that relieve her ? no : then live , ricardo , live to supply her wants out of placentia's fortune � but how ? while laura lives , she 'll still obstruct thee . " oh! whither am i driv'n ? thoughts not so far ! " but if she lives we 're ruin'd both ! a dreadful truth ! " i feel a strange remorse . stay , life 's to her a greater pain than death . then let her dye � " down checking scruples . let me tell my soul " 't is a kind act , and necessary mischief . re-enter servant with a case of bottles , ri. opens it , takes out one , and causes some drops to be pour'd into laura's mouth . few drops of this will soon restore her sences � and in few hours give her eternal rest . [ aside . ] woman . how your hand shakes , my lord. ri. alas ! i 'm much concern'd for her , poor lady � see , she revives . lau. more cruelly to dye . for , to the wretched , life 's a punishment , and most to me , lost , hopeless , yet still loving . oh women , women , boast your pow'r no more . how soon our pride is humbled ! first we triumph , but oh 't is only with more weight to feel th' insulting scorn of our rebellious slaves . weep , laura weep ! think how with this false charmer ( checking thy native haughtiness of soul ) thou cou'dst have liv'd an humble cottage mate , a pattern to all wives . yet now he slights thee ; tho ruin'd for his sake , and unpossest . oh let me rave , be mad , tear , tear my hair , my face , my eyes , curse their weak charms , groan on the ground , and grovel till at last it hides me in a grave . throws-herself on the ground � ri. pray , madam , rise . there 's an apartment ready to receive you . lau. away ! � think not i 'll stay in this ungrateful house � no , let me lye expos'd to the bleak air , on the cold pavement , in some lonesome street ; a lodging fit for my forlorn condition ; while my poor children , freezing , tir'd , half famisht , with tears and moans pierce the most cruel hearts , and with cold scraps feed miserable life . oh dismal , dismal thought ! but 't will not long torment me : i shall run mad , i hope . yet then , i fear , as on my straw i rave , a doleful spectacle , still with a sigh to all my sex i 'll cry , thus , thus , poor laura fares for being true . ri. oh! how this shakes my soul ! she shall not dye . ( aside . run , fetch physicians � but hold , i 'm mad too . how will that help her ? � gently raise her up , then lead her hence to rest . they raise her up � lau. it must be to the grave then . wou'd it were , so my curst rival were but there with me ! oh how the thoughts of her inflame my soul ! may a wrong'd woman's curses soon o'retake her , wrinkles , deformity , desires , and scorn , detracting blast her fame , worst plagues her charms , eternal disappointments , grief , disquiet , confusion shame , and misery like mine pursue her , and the cause of my despair . ( ex. lau. cum suis. ri. to himself . how my soul 's rackt ; shame combating with pity ! methinks i see her still , and the bane's working � i feel her pangs , i hear her groans � oh horror ! enter bravoes , and lieutenant . brav. my lord � ri. to himself . it shall not be ; i 'll save her , tho i perish � bra. my lord ! he 's lost in thought . ri. to himself . but will that ease her ? bra. my lord � ri. hah ! � ( starting bra. i 've brought the captain of the ship : our friends wait with his men without . ri. i thank thee , hell ! thou hast determin'd me . aside plate , money , jewels , and the chief , the women , this very night shall all be shipt for afric . to the bravo . come , let 's make all things ready for our flight ; then in placentia's lodgings seize fabiano ; he 'll be an hostage for our future pardon , oh laura ! � but i cannot help thy fall. necessity makes . villains of us all . exeunt
act v. enter placentia , fabiano . pla. oh haste , let 's fly , my lord ! � ricardo's threats , his busie gloomy looks , his odd expressions , that lady's wrongs , her rage , and all things here , must have convinc'd you , 't is unsafe to stay . fa. but oh my captain ? pla. the danger cannot reach him . enter three bravoes , who surprize fab. take his sword , throw it by , and bind him . fa. ha! villains ! by whose orders am i seiz'd ? 1 bra. by don ricardo's hedesigns no hurt : as for you , madam , you must now deliver your money , plate , and jewels ; else we 've orders to take 'em all by force . pla. assist me then , despair ! ( aside . ) if there 's no remedy , go with me yonder ; to them you 'll find much more than e're your hearts cou'd wish : 1 bra. search ev'ry where , while i attend ricardo . exit . two of the bravoes run to the place pointed to 'em by placentia , she steps out after 'em , locks a door , and re-enters immediately . pla. by happy chance i 've lockt the villains in , while eagerly they rush'd to seize their prey � i must unbind you , but i tremble so , i scarce have pow'r to do it . she begins to unbind him . enter ricardo hastily , with a dagger in his hand . ri. hold ! pla. and fa. hah ! ri. attempt to free him , and he dyes . fa. thus robbers steal our wealth , then leave us bound . ri. you 're robb'd of nothing since she 'd be a nun ; neither shall you be left , but go with us . fa. she shall not go . pla. villain , i will not go ; and rather wou'd be wedded to the plague . ri. oh! how that blush of rage , that sullen grace , that scornful smile , now blended with a frown , that soft emotion , and that wild of beauty fire my hot blood ! it mantles , bubbles , boyls ! my full veins swell , and the revulsive red whirls flushing o're my face . oh i 'm all transport ! i must , i will be blest , the coy placentia , since she 'll not be my wife , shall be my mistress . come , quickly yield ! for i 'll this very moment . secure my bliss , lest my design shou'd fail . fa. if thou' rt a man , unbind and kill me first . ri. rave on , and like the damn'd now feel a hell , to see me seize the heav'n of love by force . pla. oh save me , heav'n ! ricardo , think of heav'n . fa. hold ! is the man lost in the lustful brute ? thou lookst a man , then bear thee now like one , ri. so i intend � come , with me , or i 'll force you . pulls pla. while fabiano is striving privately to unbind himself . pla. can fruit while immature indulge the taste ? oh! stay ! do not prophane th' unyielding tree ; kind usage and necessity at last may ripen crabbed hate to gen'rous love. ri. i scorn the fruit which of itself do's fall , i love a pleasure i must struggle for . pla. your appetite 's deprav'd , your love distemper'd . ri. if 't is deprav'd , and t'other a disease , then , sweet or sowr , the physick must be taken ; besides , resistance will enhaunce the blessing ; insatiate in the riot of my joys , i 'll bribe , or teach , or force you to be pleas'd . i 'll grasp the trembling , panting , struggling maid , grac'd with variety of new disorder ; her dress , her tresses loose , and in her face roses , and lillies in alternate chase . i 'll see her beg , and beg , to be deny'd , with heaving breasts , soft looks , short balmy sighs , kind broken words , and trickling pearly tears , while my proud rival by , sees , rages , and despairs . fa. racks , wheels , and fires , must i be still restrain'd ! [ striving to unbind his legs . ri. comply ! pla. i must not . ri. marry me then . pla. hope . ri. i hate long sieges � 't is soldier-like to storm . pla. but not to storm weak woman ! oh! forbear ! [ kneels . ri. i 'll stab thee then . [ in a threatning posture , then suddenly embraces her : pla. i 'll thank you . ri. when 't is done � thou charming stubborn folly. thou foe to thy own pleasure � what still foolish ? � sure i can grapple with you . pla. oh heav'n ! crush , crush us both with thunder ! oh ! my lord ! fa. curst sight ! death to my eyes ! hell to my soul ! i cannot bear it blast , thunder , striek , burn , tear me or my bands ! � ha! � now , fate , i half forgive thee � rises , having freed his legs , comes up to ricardo . turn , monster ! ri. away ! fly instant fate ! 't is in my hand . " thou mayst more safely tempt the greedy lyon , " when with contracted paws he grumbles o're his prey . be gone ! i never threaten twice . villain , stab , or desist . pushes ric. roughly . offers to stab him . pla. steps between . ri. fond , rash fool , take thy wish ! fa. hah ! what means placentia ? pla. to rob you of that blow ; i want it most . fa. restraint , your danger , check , distract , unman me � oh! my placentia ! oh ricardo spare her ! pla. oh! my fabiano ! oh ricardo , spare him ! ri. too long i 've trifl'd � stand out of death's way . pla. no , strike , strike thro my heart ! still thus i 'll stand , between the dear unhappy man and fate . ri. the dearer he 's , the sooner he shall dye . pla. oh! take the wealth i now was leaving ! kill me ! " alas my death will mend my wretched state , " and i , instead of burying my self living " within the lonesom walls of some poor cloyster , " will lye more quiet in the silent grave , " forgot among the solitary tombs . but on my knees , which fear has scarce left able to bear my trembling body , by your love , by the remaining tears of this sad day , by your best hopes , and by your future safety , let me adjure you , spare him , spare my honour , nor act a crime you 'd wish undone too late . fa. down stubborn heart ! bend knees ! placentia kneels . a goddess kneels ; but see a greater wonder , ricardo ! see thy rival at thy feet ! not to beg life ! ah no! i wish to dye : spare her ! oh spare her ! let my blood attone . ri. something i feel like pity ; but i 'll hide it � [ aside . ] or yield , or wed me now , or both shall dye . to pla. who holds him by the arm . let go your hold � pla. oh do no drag me thus ! fa. bound as i am , i 'll strive to snatch thy dagger . fa. with both his hands seizes ricardo's dagger . they struggle . ri. falls . she gets his sword , and points it to his breast . ri. hah ! pla. " now , villain , tremble ! stir , and thou dy'st . ri. " oh do not kill me � i 'm not fit to dye � pla. " nor ever wi lt ; therefore unfit to live : " what shou'dst thou fear , thou' rt all a devil already . " thy lowest fall can be but into hell. ri. " oh , that 's uncharitable ! pla. " then that 's like thee : " infection 's busie where you breathe ! dye � pla. offers to kill ri. fa. hinders her . fa. " hold , dear placentia , let me interpose : " i'll shield him , but to punish him my self . pla. " no , his sword must let out his tainted blood . ri. " let not blood stain your innocence . pla. " a monster 's blood ne'r stains the hand that sheds it . ri. " can a virgin do this ? pla. " a virgin wrong'd can more . ri. " 't is not her office to be cruel . pla. " but 't is ev'ry one's office to do justice . ri. " oh! you are pious , and you must forgive . pla. " now you can preach that pity you deny'd . ri. " oh! 't was excess of love that urg'd my crime . pla. " thou never hadst that goodness as to love . dye , virtue strikes , not i. fa. hold , madam , free my hands ; i 'll kill him then . pla. why venture twice your life against a villain ? fa. what can i have to lose , when you are lost ? ri. aside . i hate this lingring � thus i 'll scape or dye . starts up suddenly , and runs out . pla. ha! now he 's scap'd , and 't is our turn to fear . fa. i 'll fly for help , unbind me . enter morella , melinda , and two of their women . morel . we 've heard a dismal noise � fabiano bound ! pla. 't is now no time to talk ; secure that door . they bar the doors on the side where ri. came out . theft , rape and murder are at hand � some of you , ring the bell , it may bring help . they unbind fabiano , who takes up the sword. fa. quick , call the captain : now his wound is bound , tho lame , he may assist . exit serv. ri. without . open the door . fa. no , not to thieves and ravishers . ri. without . we 'll break 'em open then . ( knocks and wrenches without . morel . heaven send us succour first . pla. i fear it much . the bell is rung . enter captain , supporting himself on a stick . fa. why , then i can but dye for you , placentia . cap. talk not of dying , sir , but of defence . let 's keep close by the passage , there we shall better make our party good . the door is burst open , the women shriek . enter ricardo , bravoes , sailers and lieutenant . ri. fall on ! ri. and the bravoes fight , fa. and the capt. who give way by degrees , till the lieutenant finding his capt. there , falls on the bravoes , and with the help of the sailors disarms them and ricardo . lieu. our captain 's here ! fall on the rogues . cap. my men are here , beyond my expectation . ri. betray'd by cursed pyrates ! cap. lieutenant , what 's the matter ? lieu. our brigantine , sir , was o're-pow'r'd by villains ; so many of our men being on shore . they came upon us so at unawares , there was no other help but joyning with them . i told them i was a revolted pyrate , who would be glad of such good company ; and thus , since that , i 've trac'd them in their mischiefs , being resolv'd to seize 'em , when my men were got together , as they are now . fa. where is the moor ? lieu we cannot find him yet . fa. bind all the villains , and confine ricardo . enter don vincentio undisguis'd , with attendants . vin. forbear , presumptuous lord ! fa. how ! don vincentio living ! mol. and mar. hah ! 't is my brother's ghost ! ri. risen from the grave ; vin. why d' you all shun me ? but perhaps you ought . yet , tho much chang'd , i am vincentio still . pla. alive ! oh grant it heav'n . vin. you 've been impos'd upon , i find . ri. oh my dear brother , how i mourn'd for you ! [ runs to embrace him . pla. " come i 'll believe he lives , tho 't were a dream , " that i may know one joyful moment more . [ the ladies and ri. run to embrace him , he makes 'em sign to forbear . vin. spare compliments ! it is your love i 'd have ; when i am sure of that , the rest is needless . ri. my lord , your ear a moment . ( ri. whispers vin. ) vinc. i find , there have been strange disorders here . placentia , as for you , i hear you 're grown an absolute disposer of your self . pla. ah can your soul more than your face be chang'd ! you did not use to meet our joys this way . oh! my best lord ! upon my knees i beg that calumny may not possess your soul ! vin. ( aside . ) how am i chang'd indeed ; i can stand by , and see placentia kneel . oh! jealousy , thou hast perverted all my noble nature : thou drov'st out flatt'ring hope when most secure , and all my gen'rous passions follow'd it . fa. do's it become placentia thus to kneel , my lord ? vin. if you dislike her low condition , raise her ! fa. so , i can , sir , and to as high a pitch as yours , tho mounted thus in all its pride . vin. my lord , you 've in my absence stoln a jewel ( to f. aside . i priz'd above my life , my very being . restore it me again on your sword 's point ; and by the grove where i kill'd rash don john. fa. to him . ] i 'll meet you ; say no more � rise , noble maid . pla. no , i will grow to earth , except my lord turns merciful again , and hears me speak ! vin. aside . hopes of revenge have beat out jealousy , and i 'm my self again � ah lovely maid , to what but heav'n shou'd so much beauty kneel ? oh! i was mad , placentia ! quickly rise , or i shall sink into the earth for shame : his words made no impression on my mind . ri. my lord , pray keep your temper , nor suspect me ; for i have proofs , i wish the moor were here ! he first betray'd their ill designs to me . vin. why then , ye equal judges , hear him speak ! i am the moor � do you start , base traducer ? but thou' rt below my thoughts ? 't is you , placentia , i now must chide . " why , cruel fair , " why will you thus shut out your lovely self " from all the world ? i prize no other wealth , " and wou'd you , wou'd you steal your self from him " who without you must dye ? for oh placentia , " none can divide the body from the soul. " yet make that body live . pla. " alas ! vows firm as fate for ever part us . vin. " yet stay , that i may see you shine at court. pla. " ah no! my lord , vertue shines best in cloysters . vin. " but oh ! if you 're resolv'd to live recluse , " and make your fond vincentio miserable , " why must another offer you to heav'n ? pla. " you shall dispose of me , my lord , my heart is by a secret charm bound to fabiano , but yet , its duty must be wholly yours . vin. oh! break that cursed charm , or else deny all thoughts that prompt a friendship or respect . respect was welcome from you , when i thought none had a stronger tye upon your soul. but that respect � is now below contempt . pla. oh! tho i love him � vin. oh unspeak those words . ten thousand vipers stung me at the sound ; ten thousand thoughts , all wild , all black , all dismal , work my mad brain . oh , say you love him not . you weep � you are dumb � you will not ? cruel maid ! teach me , yet pow'rs to move her � oh i wou'd invoke men , angels , friends , to wrest him from her heart : but 't will be vain : how long have i not su'd ? hours , days , months , years , are past ; yet still she 's marble . i 'll dye then � yes ; but first my rival shall . i 'm ripe for ruin , like some batter'd wall , but haughty foe , i 'll crush thee with my fall . fa. kill me , i 'll thank you ; for i 'm hopeless too . but live , my lord , and think me not your foe . nothing but barbarous wrong done to placentia cou'd make me draw my sword against my friend . vin. must i be wicked e're i can be eas'd ? take , take your friendship back . oh why am i thus curst . my brother a base wretch , my friend my rival , and what 's yet worse , a rival lov'd ! oh tortures ! but what most racks my soul , this very evening i thought my self the happy'st man on earth . from such a hope , in full career to bliss , thus to be hurried down a precipice to dash on deep despair ! it kills my reason , confounds my brains , my heart , and tears my very soul. flings himself on the ground . pla. compose his mind , good heav'n ! morel . rise , my dear brother . mel. oh why will you lye thus ? vin. oh why indeed indeed ! my sword , my sword shou'd end me and my pain . [ rises and draws his sword. fa. hold ! are you mad ? [ takes his sword from him , and others hold him . let reason end 'em , and preserve your life . vin. away ; life 's my worst foe , and you the next ; think not t' impose it on me . reason's self , nay patience , says my ills are past her cure . oh harship ! i 'm ev'n deny'd the priviledge of dying . then hear , thou heav'n ! why sleeps thy thunder ? end me ! delay not thus my wisht for dissolution . oh rid me of intolerable life . fa. forgive your friends , and live my lord. vin my friends ! wou'd you be thought my friend ? fa. yes , from my soul. vin. then dare be such , and rid me now of life . fa. wou'd that be like a friend ? reflect , my lord : exert your soul , and bear like your great self . vin. will you not kill me then ? fa. were ev'ry door to ease shut up but death , unwillingly i wou'd . vin. there 's no other . fa. then i must be cruelly kind . ( draws his sword. ) pla. my lord � fa. madam forbear ? let one friend ease another . vin. well said ? come , take your sword my friend , and lay its point close to my breast ? ( fa. gives him back his sword. that when i do you the same hated office , we both may fall at once . vin. what , both ! forbid it friendship ! i dare not buy my ease at your life's cost . fa. see , whither passion hurried you , my lord ! were wilful death an ease , shou'd you deny it him that gives it you ? for i too am most wretched . but life 's the gift of heav'n , and we must wait till heav'n commands it back , to gain a better . vin. oh! you have touch'd my soul ! come to my arms ! i 'm reconcil'd to wretchedness , to life , nay , ev'n to you : tho rivals we 'll agree : let 's all three joyn as partners in affliction . till heav'n be mov'd , while nature mourns to find three hearts so wretched , yet so truly kind . enter zemet . zem. my ld , don ferdinand , with guards was forcing entrance , but , hearing you 're return'd , wou'd only kiss your hand . fa. my lord conceal me , lest i be detain'd . vin. to fab. retire into that room � go bring him in . ( to zem. [ exit . fa. and zemet severally . enter don ferdinand , with zemet with him . fer. welcome , my lord , to portugal , that mourn'd the brave vincentio's loss ! the king himself has worn a noble sorrow for your death ; and doubtless will rejoyce , to see you contradict that most unwelcome news . vin. i must employ my friends , my lord , for a new pardon , 't was i that caus'd the rumour to be spread ; but 't was to save a brother . fer. he 's no brother . vin. my lord , he 's but an ill one , i confess : yet , nature still will work . fer. i 'll say no more , till i have got your promise , of one thing . vin. name it , my lord ; a gift that you can ask must needs be too well plac'd to be deny'd . fer. i had a son , and hope once more to have him , if this fair lady will restore him to me , once i despis'd her , but admire her now . i ask her for his wife , my lord , that 's all . vin. all ! � ask me my lord , to rip my breast my self , and give you thence my heart . ask any thing , rather than ask placentia for your son. she must be mine , or no man's in the world. fer. my lord , she is your sister . vin. hah ! my sister . ri. aside . ] nay then 't is time to fly : these perjur'd monks , tho he 's not dead have made the secret known . fer. lay hold on him ! � ( going is stopt by the lieutenant . ) enter the 2 monks . this villain , shall no longer be your plague . 1. monk. no , he 's a peasants son , and she your sister . vin. can heav'n and earth conspire to make me wretched ? sister , that word ne're sounded ill till now . sister brings in 't eternal separation . fathers , you shou'd be messengers of joy . 1. monk. i hope , my lord , we shall , if you 'll but hear . vin let me hear any thing but sister from you . that fatal sound will murther me at once ; i dare not understand you . but since i 'm doom'd to hear some dreadful story ; 't is fit i shou'd possess my soul with thoughts of the most dismal kind ! � i need not study . placentia loves another � that 's enough . alas ! what racks , what tortures can be worse ! now tell the rest � yet on the ground i 'll lye lest i drop down , when she is prov'd my sister . ' there , wretched lover , measure out thy grave . [ throws him on the ground . now strike the blow that must cut off all hopes . 1. monk. read that , my lord ! it is a declaration under his parents hands . gives vinc. a paper . vin. this is enough � placentia is my sister . oh! my heart ! turn , turn thy self about , that i may ask why this was done ? 1 monk. my lord , you 've heard your sickly infancy gave but a doubtful promise of your life . this made your father wish another son. but daughters still deceiv'd him . now your mother then big with child , had heard him rashly say , if that too prov'd a daughter , he should wish she never had been his . this made such an impression on her mind , that to preserve his love , he being absent , seeing it prov'd a girl , she chang'd the child . this fault her youth committed , and her age repented . so she with us deposited this trust , to be reveal'd , if you dy'd without issue . if not , to be kept secret . but just heav'n has brought the secret out before its time . yet with no breach of trust on our-side neither , since we believ'd you dead , when we reveal'd it . vin. have i not patience , fathers , thus to hear such killing news , yet lye here without raving ? but i 'll do something too . [ starts up and exit . monks and servant � after him . pla. look to my lord ! fer. alas ! he 's much disturb'd � as for these villains , to dungeons with them . but for this mock-lord � degrade him first . strip of this rich garb , then cloath him as befits his state and birth . [ ex. saylors , bravoes and ricardo . that thus my lord may see him dragg'd to prison . morel . oh sister ; 't is more joy to find you thus , than 't is to lose that wretch . pla. this doubles the delight i took in friendship , but my love for you was so great before , it cannot now encrease . re-enter ricardo , in an old gown with attendants . ri. now , fortune , nature , i owe you nothing but a wretched being . take back the thankless gift , and then we 're even , " nor rack my soul with dread of endless flames . there 's hell enough on earth in guilty minds . " to lose at once the heav'n of love and greatness , " then be condemn'd to life , or dye a branded villain ! " curst thought ! a branded villain . ha! i feel " a warmth new to my heart , thaw the hard lump , " and shake my shudd'ring frame . oh my past life , thou mak'st me doubt the future . alas , i dare not hope i may repent � laura � oh run , for pities sake ! she is poyson'd . get antidotes ! but tell her not , i did it . fer. run , help the lady . ( exit servant . ) ri. oh! lead me from her sight , to chains and galleys , to toyl , to shame , to want , to pinching cold , to scorching heat , to stripes , to worse remorse , and ever-new variety of woes . all , all these pains are slight , to those i bear , struggling for hope with horror and despair . laura in the passage . ] stay ! poys'ner fiend , ! take this and this . ( exit ricardo bloody , guarded by the lieutenant , &c. ser. hold , madam . pla. more horrors yet ! oh let 's avoid that sight . ex. pla. with fer. morel . and mel. enter laura and richardo . she holds a dagger in her hand , and drops it as she struggles with the servants . lau. why do you hold me ? let me end that monster ! ri. strike , injur'd goodness ; strike again ; i 'll thank you . " compleat the work of death , that moves too slow . " but oh ! first hear me , take some antidote . lau. must i be held , and punisht with his sight ? " free me , or take him hence , for horror shakes me ev'n at the thoughts that he 's of humane form . ri. he kneels ) oh stay ; look on the most undone of creatures , a devil in guilt , but a repenting devil . oh! cou'd but heav'n and you forgive . lau. avant � devils can't repent , nor be forgiven . ri. but ev'n the worst of men , thus prostrate trembling , not daring to look up , near death , will sigh to heav'n . " oh! you 're so much its likeness , " sure its best attribute , divine forgiveness " may yet be show'r'd ev'n on a wretch like me . " a wretch , more , more than a wretch , there 's not a name " that can express my miserable state . lau. let go my robes . ri. oh never , never , the drowning wretch cannot forego his hold ; that lost , i sink for ever . lau. " i 'd sink with thee , that thou might'st sink yet lower . " think on my wrongs , thou fiend , thy breach of vows , " ingratitude , that ev'n thy sex must startle , " poyson thy kind return for all my wealth , " for all my love , and what cries most for vengeance , " those poor young orphans ! oh my ruin'd children . ri. oh! take some antidote ! lau. no , i wou'd dye : what shou'd i live for now ? see behind me nothing left in life �ut misery , terrible misery . ri. oh laura � lau. wil't thou still plague me ? dye , and let me dye . ri. " oh! had you heard me , but an hour ago , " we might have liv'd . alas you little know " what 's now divulg'd ; i 'm not vincentio's brother . death to a wretch like me has lost its horror ; death shou'd have snatch'd me in my fancy'd greatness ; but now my base original , my crimes , my shame call for severer punishments . the rack shou'd stretch my limbs , and show me death in view , then pull the blessing back , that i might long be tortur'd . then let me starve with those poor helpless orphans , whom i have robb'd of the support their dying father left . lau. " oh now thou 'st touch'd my soul , " and laid my crimes as well as thine in view . " i , i , was left entrusted with the care. " how shall i meet my husbands shade ? methinks " i see his angry ghost ! he frowns � oh hide me . " forgive , blest soul ; forgive a poor deluded woman ! � " but oh ! my children , how can you forgive me ? � " yet once more let me see 'em � stay ; i dare not , � " oh dismal f��e ; a dying mother dreads to see her children . ri. " oh not to you , to me they owe their ruin ; " oh me , on me alone shou'd vengeance fall . " add to my torments , heav'n , so they have ease . " oh! tho' she curst me still , tho' she ne're knew " 't was for their good i strove to wed placentia , i 'd bear an age of hell to mend your fates . lau. amazement ! his guilt lessens . can it be ? he pities me , pities my children too . take back thy pity , take it back , ricardo . it gains so much upon my easy heart that i shall wrong my self , and give thee mine . ri. pity'd ! am i then pityd ? oh ! thou goodness , if thou can'st pity , sure thou can'st forgive , � but oh the poyson ! that must wake heav'ns vengeance , and seal the ears of mercy ; lau. t was charity to kill me : but thy falshood was a worse poyson to my doating heart � yet we 've all faults . alas , we all want mercy � we must forgive , � heav'n pardon thee , and me ! ri. what do i hear ? lau. but fly ! my children's sight may force forgiveness back . ri. is that forgiveness ? see , i bleed apace . oh pardon , e're i dye . lau. oh! i've a vice of mercy in me . ri. let me embrace your knees , breath out my soul. [ embraces her knees . enter children . lau. my children ! off , away . [ pushes him away . ri. i dare not see 'em , and i cannot leave her ! throws himself on his face . lau. " away , you dearfond wretches . why d' you cling ? " i 've ruin'd you ; but oh ! i 'm ruin'd worse . " poor innocents , they little know their misery , " i feel it double for them , wretched mother . oh had my woes fall'n only on my self , i 'd think 'em gentle , but this worse affliction intail'd on you , poor helpless guiltless orphans , it turns my brains , distracts me � 't is too much . oh dreadful change ! oh vanity of life ! death is the only blessing a fond mother [ she falls , and then she sees the dagger by her and takes it up privately . can wish her dearest children � ha ! the dagger . do's not fate hint by this , i ought to ease ' em ? must they be left , to want ? to beg ? to starve ? i 'll do 't ; but oh what arm can hurt such sweetness ? i cannot strike � i cannot bear their looks � but must they live to curse me , shame their name , and dye perhaps an ignominious death ? no , i must strike � 1. child . pray , mother , don't look so , indeed it frights me oh pray ben't angry ! oh i 'll hug and kiss you . lau. away , we 're ruin'd , and we ought to dye . 1. child . oh my dear mother , live ; we 'll beg for you . lau. beg ! cou'd you beg ? 1. child . yes , for our dearest mother . lau. oh this disarms me . live , my dearest children � live and be happier , you instruct your mother , ( she throws away the dagger and embraces her children . and i too ought to live � if there be means � but oh the poyson it works , hah ! it shoots hell into my blood ! i am all wound . my head ; my breast ! i burn ! heart , i cleave my sides ! brains , burst my skull ! help ! help ! oh gently , gently ! � ( they offer to help her . ri. " oh horror ! curse thy sufferings off on me , " thou martyr'd goodness � hurl your bolts , you powers ! " grind , grind me into dust , " and on each atom double all her pains . " so laura's eas'd , ricardo will not murmur ! lau. oh! give me ease ! where 's death ? the coward dares not come , affrighted at my torments . my br��th's a fire . help ! water , ice ! heav'n , pity me . give ��� some of the cold my children are to suffer . lieut. take hence these innocents , too much they move . lau. oh pity them � i call'd on death , and lo , he 's come at last . but oh the thoughts of them , makes me now welcome him with that sad heaviness that sinks despairing sinners . oh heav'n ! � oh my children ! � ( dyes . wom. she 's dead , she 's dead . ri. " hah ! and do i still live ? " be dry my eyes , and you , my wounds , weep faster . " oh let me look , and sigh my last at once . oh killing sight when shall i overtake thee , thou only fair ? oh! never , never , never . 't is not for guilt like mine to mount with thee : i feel my self in hell , and mercy's self can never stoop so low . " fain wou'd i pray � ha ! a grim vision frights me . " oh heav'n ! oh save me ! hah ! a hand is stretcht " to raise me up to heav'n , let me get hold � " but oh ! dark vapours rise between � i cannot see it re-enter ferdinand , and a servant . no news yet of vincentio ? � oh most dismal sight ! fer. remove that scene of grief � force off that wretch . ri. oh you shall never part us � no , i will , i will be joyn'd with her at least in death ! � oh laura ! laura , ( laura is carried off , ricardo follows , bolding by the garments , but is forced off , faints , falls and is carried off . fer. a doleful scene ! but where 's my lord vincentio . i dread some greater mischief from his stay. enter zemet . zem. run , find placentia ? don vincentio's coming , a conqu'ror o're his noble self at last . ( exit servant he brings my lord fabiano to be blest . fer. my son ! enter vincentio and fabiano at one door � placentia , morella , and melinda at the other . vin. love's sacrific'd at last to reason , take her , she 's yours , my lord. fa. oh 't is too much at once � oh rapture � oh placentia . pla. oh my lov'd lord ! � [ he embraces her . fa. my life ! my soul ! oh i am lost in bliss , and suffer with delight . thou kind omnipotence , forgive my doubts , i thought thou cou'dst not thus have blest a mortal � my lord , my father ! [ kneels to his father . fer. oh my dear son , be blest , and let my tears now speak my joy as once they did my grief . vin. thus providence has wrought my desperate cure . oh! you , no more my mistress nor my rival , live happy . long be crown'd with blessings which no single state can give . my heart has fed so long on hopeless love that it wou'd surfeit , shou'd it feed on other . glory shall be my darling mistress now . off then , soft frenzy ! let me rouze my soul. in martial fields let fame possess it whole : while all who know , whence sprung these dangers here , learn from small crimes great mischiefs to beware . ex. omnes . finis .
books printed for d. brown , at the black swan and bible , without temple-bar . 1 the canterbury guess : or , a bargain broken . a comedy , acted at the theatre royal. written by mr ravenscroft . 2 the sullen lovers : or , the curious impertinents . a comedy , written by tho. shadwel . 3 the cornish comedy , as it is acted at the royal theatre in dorset garden , by his majestys servants . 4 dr colbatch's 4 tracts his treatise of the gout , and doctrine of asids further asserted . 5 a late voyage to st kilda , the remotest of all the herbrides or western isles of scotland , with a history of the island natural , moral , &c. by mr martin , gent. books printed for r. parker , under the royal exchange in cornhil . 1. of wisdom 3 books , written originally in french by the sieur de charron , with an account of the author , made english by george stanhope , d. d. late fellow of kings colledge in cambridge , from the best edition . corrected and enlarged by the author a little before his death . 2 the roman history , from the building of the city to the perfect settlement of the empire . by augustus caesar ; containing the space of 727 years , designed as well for the understanding the roman authors as the roman affairs . by lawrence echard , a. m. 3 the roman history from the settlement of the empire by augustus caesar , to the removal of the imperial seat by constantine the great , containing the space of 355 years , vol. 2. for the use of his highness the duke of glocester . by lawrence echard , a m. 4 the history of the revolution in sweden , &c. 5 the history of the revolutions in sweden , occasioned by the change of religion , and alteration of the government in that kingdom . written originally in french , by the abbot vertot : printed at paris ; and done into english by j. mitchel , m. d. with a map of sweden , denmark , and norway . the second edition . in which the whole work is revis'd and corrected ; and almost the whole second part , which was done by another hand , newly translated . 6. a relation of a voyage made in the years 1695 , 1696 , 1697. on the coast of africa , streights of magellan , brasil , cagenna , and the antilles , by a squadron of french men of war , under the command of m. de gennes . by the sieur froger , voluntier-engineer on board the english falcon. illustrated with divers strange figures , drawn to the life . 7. the modest critic , or remarks on the most eminent historians , ancient and modern ; with useful cautions and instructions as well for writing as reading history ; wherein the sense of the greatest men on this subject is faithfully abridg'd , by one of the society of the port royal. 8. poems on several occasions , written in imitation of the manner of anacreon , with other poems , letters , and translations , by mr oldmixon . 9. the centlemans journal , or the monthly miscellany , by way of letter to a gentleman in the country ; consisting of news , history , philosophy , poetry , musicks &c. compleat sets , or single ones . by mr. motteux . 10. busby's greek grammar . 11. ca�bridge phrases . 12. dr. sydenham's compleat method of curing almost all diseases , and description of their symptoms ; to which are now added , 5 discourses of the same author concerning the pleurisy , gout , hystorical passion , dropsy , and rheumatism . abridg'd and faithfully translated out of the original latin , with short and useful notes on the former part , written by a learned physician , and never before printed ; the third edition . 13. the art of preserving and restoring health , explaining the nature and causes of the distempers that afflict mankind . also shewing that every man is , or may be his own physician . to which is added , a treatise of the most simple and effectual remedies for the diseases of men and women . writtten in french by j. hammond m. d. and faithfully translated into english. the novelty , every act a play , being a short pastoral comedy , masque , tragedy , and farce , after the italian manner � written by mr motteux , and others . finis .
notes, typically marginal, from the original text
notes for div a51496-e850 * see journal des scavans , paris . histoire des ouvrage des scavans , roterdam : & oeuvres de boursault .