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
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
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