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. 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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 .