non discrimen there is no counsell reason or discretion But to particularize some amonst all The prophane gallant to feed his pleasure the Citty dames to laugh at their owne shames the Country Clowne to tell wonders when hee comes home of the vanities he hath seene the baudes to intice the whores and courtezans to set themselues to sale the cutpurse to steale the pickpocket to filch the knaue to be instructed in more cosoning trickes youth to learne amorous conceits some for one wicked purpose some for another none to any good intent but all fruitlesly to mispend their time But among any others that goe to the Theaters when shall you see an ancient cittizen a chast matron a modest maid a graue Senator a wise Magistrate a iust Iudge a godly Preacher a religious man not blinded in ignorance but making conscience of his wayes you shall neuer see any of these men at Playes for they count it shamefull and ignominious euen an act of reproch that may redound vn to them Then to conclude all seeing Playes are the institution of the Diuell himselfe and the practize of Heathen people nouzeled in ignorance seing they took originall from Paganisme and were dedicated to their Idol-Gods as now also they are the house stage and apparell to Venus the musicke to Apollo the penning to Minerua the songs to the Muses the action and pronounciation to Mercury seeing they are inricht with fables lies dishonesties and all kind of kanueries seeing the actors of them haue been counted ignominious and in all ages by the best men branded with infamy seeing by the wisest men they haue beene expeld out of their common wealth and esteemed as vagabonds corrupters of good manners subuerters of religion in peoples heartes and seducers of men to destruction seeing by some they haue not beene admitted to the Lords table seeing their action both in word and deed is to be abhord seeing they carry the note brand of all kind of cursed people on their backs seeing they were neuer ordained of God to giue instruction but by the Diuell to teach lewdnes and dissolution seeing they are idle drones and preiudiciall to the common wealth seeing none of the best sort will frequent their theaters for very shame seeing the theater is Sathans Synagogue and the diuells owne house seeing Playes haue beene condemned by Pagans and Christians by Synods and Counsells by ancient Fathers and late Writers by both the old and new Testament seeing their subiect and matter is nothing but filthinesse and villany seeing they are full of abuses against which sundry places of Scripture do testifye seeing from them can bee learned no good but any cuill that wickednes can desire Then doe I earnestly intreat cuery one as they loue their owne soules to detest and abandon them As for those which will yet remaine in blindnesle or presume to go to Sathans Sanctuary in hope there to learne any good let them consider in how palpable darkenesle they wander while they forsake the truth and cleaue to fables like vnto whom the Apostle mentioneth some in his 2. Epist to Tim. 4.2 where hee thus exhorteth Timothy Preach the word bee instant in season and out of season improue rebuke exhort with all long suffering and doctrine For the time will come when they will not suffer wholsome Doctine but hauing their eares itching shall after their owne lustes get them a heape of teachers and shall turne their eares from the truth and be giuen vnto fables And finally let me intreat eueâ— one that will reclaime themselues from Playes for the furtherance and execution of their good thought and intention to be are this Sermon of Saint Paul in their mind Ephes 4.17 This I say and testifie in the Lord that yee henceforth wallke not as other Gentiles walke in vanity of their mind hauing their cogitation darkened and beeing strangers from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the bardnes of their heart who being past feeling haue giuen themselues vnto wantonnes to worke all vncleannes enen with greedines But yee 〈◊〉 not so 〈◊〉 Christ If so 〈…〉 â—â—ard him and haue 〈◊〉 taught by him as the truth 〈◊〉 Iesus that yee cast off concerning the conuersation in times just the old man which is corrupt through the dâ—â—â—aueâ—ble lustes and be renewed in the Spirit of your mind Fides ab pudes esse Poetaâ—â—â— Sinugis opus est puâ—ilibus inseruire Et iucunda sequi sprâ—â—â—â—â—â—â—dacia vere FJNIS
A REFVTATION of the Apology for ACTORS Diuided into three briefe Treatises Wherein is confuted and opposed all the chiefe Groundes and Arguments alleaged in defence of Playes And withall in each-Treatise is deciphered Actors 1. Heathenish and Diabolicall institution 2. Their ancient and moderne indignitie 3. The wonderfull abuse of their impious qualitie By I. G. Cicero Officiorum lib. 1. Non ita a natura generati sumus vt ad ludum eâ— Iocum facti esse videamur sed ad seueritatem potius Et ad quoedam studia grauiora atque maiora Imprinted at London by W. White and are to be sold by Thomas Langley in Iuie lane 1615. A Refutation of the Apology for Actors And first touching their Heathenish and Diabolicall institution IMpietie is then growen to its full heigth when it once presumeth to boast of it selfe Playes haue euer been condemned by godly Christians but now the impiety of Players is growen to such excesse that they take vpon them to defende their qualitie And that which Wise and Good men haue euer repudiated for euill they would haue vs receiue and imprace for commodious good Wherevpon one of them amongst the whole crew hath published An Apologie for Actors Which no sooner it had presented it selfe vnto my view but in derision thereof I bought it wondring in my minde what M. Actor could say for himselfe to maintaine his idle Profession But when I had perus'd it read it ouer I considered that thereby too too many credilous people might be seduced and therefore a matter in some sort worth the answering and yet I perceiued such slender assertions to be alleadged in defence thereof that I deemed it not worth the answering by any graue Senior or learned Clarke but rather by some single witted and illiterat Pupill that the victorie being gotten might be the more glorious and the ouerthrow giuen the more shamefull and infamous Wherefore I although ranged amongst the companie of such vnlearned Nouices and sitting lag-tayle in the lowest Fourme of their Shoole haue notwithstanding vndertaken to oppose and refute this Apologie because it doth not require a better Ingene then mine owne to batter all the Bulwarks and Fortresses therein raysed to oppugne the trueth euer hitherto deliuered and preached against these Stagerites and prophane spectacles presented in the Theaters to the as prophane sights of all that goe to be spectators of them Nor in thus doing haue I entreated any to be a Patron and Protector of these vnripe Fruits of my weake vnderstanding against any the callumniations of those that vndoubtedly I expect to resist my good intention being such onely as wallow in worldly pleasure or haue their mindes strictly bound thereto because I know all good men rightly religiously and sinceerely disposed and all such as with Reason shall weigh in the ballance of their sound iudgement what I haue written in this Booke will with emulation striue and if need be contende who shall first patronize my worke And although M. Actor with all his complices and abettors may condemne mee for an vnlearned Punie and withall say that I haue but Shot my Fooles Bolt at him Yet I am perswaded I shall not shoote in vaine but at least-wise wound though I doe not kill I meane giue his Apologie such a Blurre that it shall not be able after neuer so much washing to shew a cleane face againe But in case he shall vpbraide me for my barbarisme and vnpolished Phrases voyde of all elegancie and commendable stile which throughout my whole Treatise I shall perforce vse being I was neuer schooled in the arts of Humanitie nor practized in Rhethoricke Eloquence it skills not For I trust not on him but depende on others for the equitie of the cause I vndertake knowing that Tructh the more naked it appeares the more comely it presents it selfe to all men except her Aduersaries And now to vse no longer or more tedious prolocutions I will set downe the Method I meaue to follow in my succeding Discourse Which is First to refute and oppose such assertions wherewith M. Actor seemes to defend himselfe And afterward to aduance the truth I take in hand yea'uen in the same tripartit diuision as himselfe hath vsed in his Apologie And so ad remaggrediar to the purpose A Iehoue principium GOD who in the beginning Created all thinges for his owne Glorie and next himselfe for the seruice of Mankind among other thinges hath Created many for the Recreation of mans wearied spiritcs that after some refection hee might the more dilengently and earnestly apply himselfe to the honest labours of his Calling This benigne grace of the Almightie men not content thankefully to accept of nor moderatly to vse they haue vnthankfully peruerted and abused turning the grace of God into wantonnesse and in continuance of time by little and little through Sathans meanes haue deuised many vnlawfull artificiall Pleasures whereby they might passe away as their name Pastimes signifie the most precious time of their life which th'Apostle exhorts Warily to redeeme idlely and fruitlesse without any profite to the Church or Common-wealth wherein they liue or to their owne soules which they ought heedfully to regard But to the corruption of their Manners drowning all Virtues in them and choaking vp of the good Seed of the Word which should dwell plentifully in their heartes and in stead thereof sowing the Tares reaped from vngodly and obscaene Stage-playes the most impious and pernitious of all other vnlawfull artificiall Pleasures To the beholding of which very many more is the pitrie quasi vi impetu coguntur are by the prauitie of their nature addicted wholy to Pleasures carryed as it were with force and violence Yea many of them in their heartes willing to consume many Patrimonies yearely spending many poundes on these vaine representations By which meanes the actors of them finde such sweete gaines to maintaine their idle life that they giue their whole industrie to various and mimicall inuentions that they might become Men-pleasors and those most of the prophanest condition and so consequently displeasers of GOD. For noue can serue these two Maisters togeather GOD and Belial And now at last by giuing two howers vaine Babling for as many howers gathering of Money some of them become rich in the Common-wealth and withall proud to publish vnsauorie Apologies for their impious Seminaries of euill Manners their Playes I meane which breed such euill effectes as hereafter euery wheare shall be shewed and withall exhibiting them to the patronage of most Honorable peeres thereby doubly to deceiue them whom they haue already seduced That if such a one protect it Oh 't is a worthy subiect and to be imbraced of them that hate goodnesse and who then dare contradict it Yes assuredly many thousands especially of graue and reuerend Preachers of the Word that hate their Playes for as bad Poyson to the Minde as the byting of a Viper to the Flesh Whom M. Actor in the
enterprize Alexanders Vision So that not the life of Achilles acted before him but the Diuine Vision prickt him forwards to the performance of his atchiuements Other things follow which belonging to the quality of Playes I transferre to handle till the latter part of my Treatise where with other matters together they are to be confuted But the next proofe of Antiquity for Stage-Playes by M Actor alleadged is out of Ouids works That Playes were first instituted in Rome by Romulus which to bee such as Stage-Playes are can neuer be affirmed but to the contrary For the Apologist himselfe doth alleadge that the patterne of the first Theater in Rome was brought from Athens which Act was after the expulsion of their Kings To shew then to others for M Actor himselfe knoweth it what Playes they were Romulus his scircensian Playes They were Circensian Playes such as were kept vpon Olympus Mount to proue the warlike actiuenesse of their Youth in running leaping sword-playing and the like And Circenses they were called because the place was encompassed with swords of Circa and Ensis as saith Seruius For the Antiquity hauing not yet ordayned fit places wherein to exercise their Youth practized them betwixt a riuer side and a ranke of swords that the Idle might see danger on both sides Afterwards Tarquinius Priscus appoynted a Ring for them that the people might stand round as wee make a ring for Wrastlers in More-fields which was called Circus maximus And euery yeere once saith Liuy were these Games celebrated being diuersly named as Magni Romani Circenses Next doth M. Actor ground himselfe vpon his very probable and important argument as he termes it Viz. That in the time when Theaters most flourished at Rome Christ and his Apostles soiourned on the earth yet neither in their Sermons Bookes Acts or Documents haue they so much as named or touched them but were content to passe them ouer Manifestly false For it is a poynt to bee held and knowne it is for a truth that some sinnes there are which neuer were mentioned in holy write in specie and shall wee say then such are no sinnes Nay some sinnes are in the Scriptures vnspoken of which many most learned men are of opinion that they ought not to be publickly handled That the rather being vnknowne the hardnesse of mens hearts should not moue them to the committing of such enormities if knowne they were This were enough to conuince and refute M. Actors important argument but it shall not suffice For it is euen poynted at with the finger both in the olde and in the new Testament In the old Moses setteth downe an euerlasting morall Law both for the present and future times Deut 18.9 where hee warneth the Israelites Prooses of Scipture agaâ—nst Playes that they should not learne to doe after the abhomination of the Gentiles And what abhomination was afterward more rife among the Nations then Playes presented in honour of their Idols And in the new Testament S. Paul 1. Cor chap 8. commandeth the Corinthians that they should abstaine from feasting in Idols Temples and from things consecrate to Idols And Acts 15.20 Write vnto them that they abstaine themselues from filthinesse of Idols And Vers 29. That they abstaine themselues from things offered to Idols Now what was offered and consecrated to the honour of the Idoll Gods or Diuels more then Playes And what filthinesse of Idols should they more auoid then Playes which the more obscene and scurrilous they were presented the better pleased they the Diuels which commanded such solemnities to be kept as shall be declared hereafter wherein maybe espied the Diuels drift in instituting of them that through their obscenity he might corrupt the Gentiles manners Next doth M. Actor obiect that GOD hath created sundry things for delight as Iewels Dainties and Delicates to be moderately vsed the Hare to be hunted the Stagge to be chased c. All this I denie not Yet shall hee neuer make me beleeue that GOD did euer allow of Iuglers and Sortilegers often spoken against by Moses nor of Iesters Vices and Players which are all of a crue Next doth M. Actor affirme hee could neuer yet reade any History of any Common-wealth which did not thriue and prosper whilst these publicke solemnities were had in odoration Heere doth hee seeke to blindfolde the world and leade vs hoodwinckt in a most palpable errour As though partly Playes vpheld the slate of a Common-weale and not rather Vertue cleane opposite against them But although the Apologist hath produced no example to confirme his allegation yet will I recite worthy memorials to the contrary Rome's Common-wealth which in glory surpassed all other in those times when Theaters most flourished then was most pitteously rent and torne For a while after the institution of Stage-playes ensued those most lamentable ciuill warres that were the ouerthrow of the Cities state as I will now declare The fall of Romes Common wealth L. Sylla and Marius two mighty Citizens through their ambition enuied each other so maliciously that their priuate hatred grew into publicke factions And at last their discord was so great that they fought a set battaile at Porte Esquiline Where Marius being put to the worst fled into Africa Marius thus ouercome Sylla going to warre vpon Mithridates left Cinna and Octauius Consulles in the Cittie But Cinna desirous of innouasion seuered himselfe from his fellow and was chased out of the Cittie by him and his faction Which iniurie Cinna endeauouring to reuenge called backe Marius out of Africa And he now maketh bloudie warres vpon his Country and entring it with his angry forces and mighty powers butchered vp numbers in euery corner of the Cittie charging his Souldiers that to whom so euer he returned not the salute they should immediatly dispatch him by which meanes an innumerable company noble and ignoble were slaughtered And then in his seauenth consulship he died Soone after came Sylla out of Asia and rooted out Marius his sonne and all the whole faction of them vtterly And then tooke he vpon him the perpetuall Dictator-ship wherein hee proscribed many thousands of the Romane Citizens with outragious cruelty that they all thought Marius a meeke Lambe in respect of him though during his superiority he tyranized with vnsufferable cruelty and insolence So that betweene both the whole Cittie Streetes Market-places Temples and Theaters themselues were filled with dead carkasses These mens factions afterwards Pompey and Caesar tooke vp a fresh Pompey could endure no equall and Caesar no superiour So that most cruell and deadly warres arose betweene them And at length Caesar getting the vpper hand createth himselfe perpetuall Dictator bringeth the whole Empire vnder his owne subiection reduceth the Common-wealth into a Monarchy And thus whiles Theaters flourished and Stage playes were presented in greatest pompe is the most flourishing estate of the Romane Common-wealth brought into a Monarchy To this ensample many more