Selected quad for the lemma: england_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
england_n	bishop_n	council_n	pope_n	2,529	5	6.4206	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A57291	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 (1698)	Wing R1468; ESTC R17141	128,520	226

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 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 That no Believer should marry a Stage-Player on pain of Excommunication 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 The Council of Arles in that same Kingdom held Anno 326. Enacted the like 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 The Council of Hippo 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 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 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 That Stage-Plays are against the Comm●ndments of God And that Stage-Players should not be admitted as Evidences against any Person but in their proper Causes The Council of Carthage held An. 419. declared all Stage-Players to be infamous Persons and uncapable of bearing Evidence 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 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 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 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-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