demonstration of the Spirit and of Power yet this great Apostle of the Gentiles was brought up at the Feet of Gamaliel and had more humane Learning than 20 of our fluttering Doctors It is not my design to cry down Eloquence in a Preacher nor to commend a rough way of Expression from the Pulpit Eloquence is the Gift of God and commended in the Preacher Apollos but at the same time we are told That he was mighty in the Scriptures and taught diligently the things of the Lord It 's reckoned highly prophane and Mr. Collier has smartly reproved it for Poets to apply the Phrase of the Scripture to the use of the Stage and I see no reason why Vice Versa it should not be liable to that same Censure to adopt the Phrase of the Stage for the Language of the Pulpit not that it 's absolutely Unlawful for a Preache◠to quote an apposite Sentence or Verse either from Greek Latine or other Poets The Apostle himself hath taught us the contrary by his own Example when he tells the Cretians that one of their own Poets says 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But it is an intolerable Affectation of Novelty when a New Word or a Quaint Phrase is no sooner published in a Play or Gazzette but we shall the next Sunday after hear it out of the Pulpit This is so far from holding fast the Form of sound Words as St. Paul enjoyned Timothy that it is rather the prophane and vain Babbling he commanded him to avoid and which Calvin upon the place says is Inanis tinnitus profanus Simulatque Doctores it a inflant suas tibias ad suam Eloquentiam Venditandam A prophane and empty Jingle which the Doctors make use of to set off their Eloquence It were an easie matter to quote as many Sermons guilty of these Vanities as Mr. Collier has quoted Plays guilty of abusing Scripture but for obvious Reasons I forbear it The only cause why I mention it is to shew that it is not the Poets alone that support the Credit of the Stage and that what is Criminal in a Poet is ten times worse in a Priest and therefore they ought not to pass without a Reproof It 's known there are many godly Persons amongst our Clergy who bewail those things and oppose them as much as they can but there is a mighty Neglect somewhere and the World will hardly be perswaded that our Church of England is unanimous in this Matter else it were easie for them who shook King James out of his Throne to overturn the Stage It is not to be supposed that the King and Parliament would deny the Clergy such a Request if it were duly presented and considering how much the Nation hath suffered in its Morals and Religion by the Licentiousness of the Stage it 's high time that some effectual Course should be taken to suppress it But there 's reason to fear that the Faction begun by Arch-bishop Laud has still too great an interest amongst our Clergy for scarcely can any other reason be imagined why after so many Years Experience of the Mischief of the Stage the Church should be so silent in this Matter That there is something in this I am very apt to think because of the Deference many of the Clergy men pay to the Memory of that Prelate and of his Master King Charles I. whom he help'd to mislead In those Times as Mr. Prin acquaints us in his Histriomastix none were accounted Enemies to the Play-house but Puritans and Precisians and in opposition to them it probably was that Laud and his Clergy became its Patrons and it is not unlike that many of the Less-thinking Church-men continue still to favour it on that Account as being unwilling to condemn that for which King Charles I. and Arch-bishop Laud testified so much Passion but these Gentlemen would do well to remember That the Defence of the Stage was never so much the Characteristick of their church as was the Doctrine of Passive Obedience and seeing the Majority of them have relinquished that they are infinitely the more to blame for still adhering to this If a Petition of the Londoners had so much Influence on Queen Elizabeth as to get the Play-houses suppress'd and if the Stage was expresly condemned by a Statute of King Iames I. we have no reason to despair of obtaining the same now upon the like Application And methinks the Clergy are more concerned to stir in it than ever seeing it would appear by Mr. Collier's third Chapter Of the Clergy abused by the Stage that the Theatre is now become a Nusano◠to themselves It is apparent enough from what has been said already that the Clergy are chargeable with the Mischief of the Stage by the omitting of what their Character obliges them to do against it and that many of them are also Culpable by seeming to hallow its Phrase in the Pulpit but this is not all as will appear by what follows We have heard that the Stage was condemned by Act of Parliament in King Iames I. Time but reviv'd again in the Reign of K. Charles contrary to Law and that Operas were practised in his own Court by his Royal Authority on Sundays Now considering how much that Prince was devoted to the Interest of the Clergy it 's highly improbable that he would have atttempted any such thing had the then Governing part of the Church given him faithful warning against it but Laud and the other topping Church-men of that time were so far from opposing it that they concur'd with him imposed a Book of Sports and Pastimes upon all their Clergy to be read to the People on Sundays which was a fair step towards converting all the Churches of the Nation into Play-houses This great Example did so much incourage the Stage that Mr. Prin tells us in his Book before-mentioned in two Years time there were above 40000 Play-Books printed They became more vendible than the choicest Sermons Grew up from Quarto's to Folio's were printed on far better Paper than most of the Octavo or Quarto Bibles and were more saleable than they And Shackspeers Plays in particular were printed in the best◠Paper The two old Play-houses were rebuilt and enlarged and a new Theatre erected so that there were then six Play-houses in London twice the number of those in Rome in Nero's Time which though a much more spacious City Seneca complains of as being too many That Faction of the Clergy became at last so enamour'd of the Stage that the same Author informs us He had heard some Preachers call their Text a Land-skip or Picture and others a Play or Spectacle dividing their Texts into Actors Spectators Scenes c. as if they had been Acting a Play Upon which he complains of their using Play-house Phrases Clinches and strong Lines as they called them and that it was to to frequent to have Sermons in respect of their Divisions
time of the Reformation here in England several good Christians propagated the Protestant Doctrine under the Veil of Dialogues by way of Comedy and Tragedy insomuch that the Popish Clergy got them forbidden by the 34 and 35 of Henry 8. c. I. The famous Du Plessis Mornay writ a Tragedy of Ieptha's Daughter The great Poet Buchanan did the like he wrote also another call'd Baptistes and translated into Latin the Medea and Alcestis of Euripides but it will not therefore follow that those great Men approv'd the Stage Buchanan in his Dedication of Alcestis to Margaret of France Sister of Henry II. recommends that Tragedy to her because there is no mention in it of Parricid Witchraft or other Crimes with which Tragedians commonly abound so that by this he rather Censures than approves the Theatre Our Author's Assertion That the Stage was Established in Queen Elizabeths Time and flourished in that of K. Iames upon which Spencer Bacon and Raleigh three Prodigies of Wit appear'd all at once and that we had no first-rate Writer till Henry VIII is like the rest of his Learning and Confidence It was so far from being established in Queen Elizabeths Time tho' it had then but too much Incouragement that all the Play-houses in London were suppressed upon a Petition to that Queen in 1580. The Stage was restrained by the 14th and 39th of her Reign and Books against it there dedicated to her Secretary Walsingham and it was so far from flourishing in King Iames I. time that in the 1st Year of his Reign Stage-Players were by Act of Parliament declared Rogues and Vagabonds c. as has been already said under the Head of The English State against the Stage As to the Learning of Bacon and Raleigh it surpasses Mr. Dennis's Skill to prove that it was any way owing to the Stage and indeed according to his solid way of Writing he owns as much himself when he says immediately upon the Establishment of the Drama those three Prodigies of Wit appear'd And I must likewise observe That Bacon and Raleigh as he calls them employed themselves in more generous and manly Studies than any the Stage can boast of as appears by the Learned Works they have left behind them As to the other part of his Assertion that we had no first-rate Writer on any Subject before Henry VIII it 's an injury to the Nation and a proof of his own Assurance and Ignorance To name but a few What does he say to Rog. Bacon who liv'd in the 13th Centry and for his skill in the Mathematicks was esteemed a Conjurer and summoned to appear at Rome on that account where he cleared himself and was sent back again To go a little higher What does he think of the Venerable Bede who liv'd in the beginning of the 8th Century from the Birth of Christ to whose time Bale reckons but 79 British Writers Did he never hear of Sir Thomas Littleton the Oracle of the Law who liv'd in the Reign of Henry VI. of Bracton or Fortescue But because I will trouble my Reader with no more I would advise Mr. Dennis to turn over Bale's Centuries of English Writers and there he will find his bold Assertion to be shamefully False For in the 8th Century that Author reckons 18 more Writers besides Bede 7 in the 9th 14 in the 10th 18 in the 11th 87 in the 12th amongst whom were 6 of the Decem. Angliae Scriptores 123 in the 13th 244 in the 14th 137 in the 15th and from thence to the Year 1557. but 137 more Not that these were all First rate Writers but it is sufficient to shew that the State of Learning was not so low in England as Mr. Dennis would represent it to have been And that the increase and decrease of Learning has no dependency on the Stage all that our Plays can pretend to teach being only some scraps of Rhetoâ—ick and History which may be much better learn'd elsewhere The Reflections which he casts on the Parliament times when the Stage was abolish'd are full of Malice and Ignorance No Man can expect that Learning should flourish during an Intestine War yet those Times were not without Eminent Scholars in all Faculties and upon Enquiry it will be found that most of the great Men England can boast of laid the Foundation of their Studies and formed their Thoughts before the Stage was restored by King Charles II. The World cannot deny but Selden and Milton were famous for Learning tho' they were of the Parliaments side ow'd nothing of their Education to the Stage Nor can our Author pretend that the Lord Chief Justice Halcs or the Beginners of the Royal Society the Doctors Ward Wilkins Wallis c. or the famous Mr. Boyle were any thing indebted to the Theatre for their great Learning The slovenly Reflection he casts on the Divines of those times sufficiently discovers that he 's but sorrily read in Divinity The Doctors Calamy Case and Manton whom he mentions with so much Contempt are approv'd by better Judges than any that writes for the Theatre the good acceptance which the latter's Volumes of Sermons have met with from the Publick have sufficiently proclaimed their Value and if our Author had a little bethought himself the great Archbishop Usher flourished in those times who was no Friend to the Stage The most Learned Bishop of Worcester whom he forgets to mention was well advanc'd in his Studies and had given sufficient proof of his Extraordinary Abilities before the Revival of the Stage and I dare boldly aver that the Theatre afforded him none of those Learned Arguments by which of late he hath baffled the Deistâ— and Socinians The Bishop of Salisbury whose Learning has made him famous owes his Education to a Country where the Stage never took root The late Arch-bishop Tillotson ow'd nothing of his great Endowments to the Theatre And I Question whether Mr. Lock and Mr. Newton whose Learning he mentions wiâ—h deserved applause will give it under their Hands that they have had any Benefit by it This Venemous Reflection That none were encourag'd in the Parliament times but Hypocritical Fools whose abominable Canting was Christned Gift and their Dulness Grace is no Scandal from the Pen of an Ignorant Libertine It 's very well known that some of them that are yet alive such as Dr. Bates Mr. How Mr. Alsoâ— c. are in general esteem by the Learned Men of all Sides the two former were particularly respâ—cted by the late Arch-bishop Tillotson for their great Learning and Worth and the latter is sufficiently known to the World for the Accuteness of his Pen his admirable Talent of Preaching and Universal Learning It 's needâ—ess to mention Dr. Owen Mr. Baxter Mr. Câ—arnock and Mr. Pool deceased and I had almost forgot to mention the Poly-Glot a Laborious and Learned Work the Birth of which is owing to those times In a word The Reflection is so malicious and ill grounded that
Girls thus The Syracusian entred like Bacchus with Pipe before him playing a rioting Tune Theâ— Entred Ariadne gorgeously apparrel'd like a Bridâ— and sat down before the Company She 〈◊〉 not go to meet Bacchus as a dancing nor roâ—â— from her Seat but made such Signs as discover'd he might have an easie Conquest Wheâ— Bacchus beheld her he expressed his Passion as much as possible in his Dance and drawing near her fell down on his Knees embraced anâ— kissed her she tho' with some faint resemblance of Coyness and Modesty embraced him again At this the Spectators gave shouts of Applause Then Bacchus rose up and taking Ariadne with him there was nothing to be seen but Hugging and Kissing The Spectators perceiving that both of them were Handsom and that they kissed and embraced in good Earnest they be held them with great Attention and hearing Bacchus ask her If she lov'd him and she affirming with an Oath that she did The whole Audience swore That the Boy and the Girl lov'd one another in Reality for they did not Act like those who had been taught only to personaâ—â— those Gestures but like such as had a mind to perform that which they had of a long time earnestly desir'd At last when the Company perceived that they were clasped in one anothers Arms. Those that had no Wives swore they would Marry and those that were Married took Horse and went Home to their Wives immediately CAP. X. The English State against the STAGE THE Author of The Defence of Dramamatick Poetry endeavours in the next place to ward of the Blow given to the Stage by English Statutes and alledges that the 〈◊〉 of Iaâ—â— was but a Temporary Act to hold in â—orce but that Sessions of Parliament Which by 〈◊〉 leave is a mistake the Words being That it â—â—ould continue to the end of the next Parliament And it was afterwards continued again by the 3d of Car. Cap. 4. to the end of the 1st Session of the â—ext Parliament And I must also here take leave to tell him that Mr. Prin who it 's suppos'd understood the â—aw as well as he was of Opinion that the Stage-Players might have been punished in the Year 1633. by Vertue of that Act which was many Years after the 1st of Iames. But be that how it will thus much we have â—â—n'd at least That Stage-Players were declared â—o be Rogues and Vagabonds by the three Estates of England met in Parliament and ordered to be â—ent to the House of Correction to be Imprisoned 〈◊〉 on the Stocks and Whip'd and if they continued 〈◊〉 Play notwithstanding that they should be burnt 〈◊〉 an Hot Iron of the breadth of an English Sâ—â—lling with a great Roman R in the leâ—t Shoulâ—er which should there remain as a perpetual Mark of a Rogue If they still continued Obstinate they were to be Banished and if they return'd agâ—â— and continued incorrigible they were to be exeâ—â—ted as Felons This is the more remarkable that by this Act the Licenses allowed to be giv'n by Peers 〈◊〉 Players of Interludes by the 39th of Eliz. were taken away and no reserve made for any Playâ—â—â— whatever and the occasion of the making this Act was the doubts that arose upon the 39th 〈◊〉 Eliz. and that former Statutes were not so eâ—â—â—â—tual for suppressing those Plays and Interludes â—s was expected Our Author in the next place seems to call 〈◊〉 Question the Truth of that Petition of the Loâ—doners to Q. Elizabeth about 1580 for suppressing the Playhouses Makes some Raileries upoâ— Mr. Collier for Rawlidge his Author because 〈◊〉 known to the Booksellers in St. Paul's Church Yard or Little-Brittain makes himself Spoâ—â— with the Godly Citizens that were the Petitioners quotes Stow to prove that Queen Elizabeth eâ—couraged the Darlings of the Stage allowed theâ— Liveries and Wages as Grooms of the Chamber and insinuates that the Playhouses mentioned iâ— the Petition were only Gaming-Houses I answer That Mr. Prin from whom I suppose Mr. Collier had the Account of this Petition quotes as his Author Mr. Richard Rawlidge 〈◊〉 Monster lately found out Printed in London 1628. p. 2 3 4. Which though it may perhaps 〈◊〉 hard to be met with it does not therefore argâ—â— that there never was any such Author anâ— because Mr. Collier has been somewhat desectiâ—â— in his Quotation here our Author may be pleâ—sed to know that Rawlidge says in the same place That all the Play-houses within the City weâ—e Pull'd down by Order of Her Majesty and Coâ—â—cil upon this Petition viz. One in Grace-Churcâ— Street one in Bishops-Gate-Street one near Pauls one on Ludgate-Hill and one in White-Friers As to the Favour shew'd afterwards to some of the Stage Players by Queen Elizabeth it argues only a Change at Court but says nothing for the Lawfulâ—ess of the Stage K. Charles â— who there 's no doubt our Author reckons nothing Inferiour to Queen Elizabeth in Piety made a Law in the first year of his Reign condemning Stage-Plays and yet afteâ—wards set up Enterludes at Whitehall on the Sabbath Day which I suppose there 's very few will commend him for If Queen Elizabeth design'd to Reform the Stage as she had done the Church as our Author would seem to insinuate p. 11. The Event hath prov'd that the Success was not alike There 's few that read Plays or frequent the Play-House but must own if they will speak Truth that the Reformation there goes Retrograde which verifies an Observation of them that I have heard often That when you have Reformed the Stage all you can it will be good for nothing But as one says of Cucumbers after you have added Oil Vinegar and Pepper they are fitter to be thrown to the Dunghill than taken into the Body Upon the whole however our Author may please himself with his Raileries this will appear uncontrovertibly true that the Laws of England have many times restrained and some times totally discharged the Stage whereas he cannot bring one Statute that ever Commanded or Commended it By the 4th of Hen. 4. Cap. 27. All Players Minstrels and Vagabonds were Banished out of Wales because they had occasioned Mischiefs there They were forbid by the 12th of Richard 2. C. 6 11. By the 17th of Edward 4. C. 3. By the 11th and 19th of Hen 7. Cap. 12. And by the 33d of Hen. 8. C. 9. Together with Dicing Houses and other unlawful Games hecause of Seditions Conspiracies Robberies and other Misdemeanours that had ensued upon them By the 3d of Henry 8. C. 9. All Mummers or Persons disguising themselves with Visors or otherwise should be seiz'd and punished as Vagabonds upon which Polydor Virgil who wrote about 10 years after says That the English who in this are wiser than other Nations have made it Capital for any Person to put on a Visor or a Players Habit. It is evident likewise that the Stage was restrained by the 14th and 39th of Eliz. That it
was more severely restricted if not totally discharged by the first and third of Iames and first of Charles And that the Stage was culpable in those times as well as now For Jesting with Scripture and prophanely using the Name of God and the Trinity From all which it will appear to any unprejudic'd Person that whatever Opinion might have been sometimes entertained of it by the Court the Opinion of the English State which includes the Court and Parliament too hath not at any time been very favourable to it CAP. XI Seditiâ—ns and Tumults occasioned by theâ—â— STAGE OUR Author Page 13. upbraids Mr. Collier For not quoting a more Modern National Opinion against the Stage when it lay under a more Universal Abdication viz. in the Reign of those later Powers at the Helm who with no little Activity leaped over the Block and the whole Whitehall-Stage it stood upon and yet stumbled at the Straw c. A prosane Comedy and Tragedy were all Heathen and Antichristian but pious Regicide and Rebellion were Religion and Sanctity with them The Camel would go down but the Gnat stuck in their Throats He ought by all means to have quoted this National Opinion of the Stage in pure Gratitude to the Patrons of his Book the Gentlemen of the Calves-Head-Feast who have made it their particular bosom Favorite c. Here 's a great deal more of ill Nature than Wit whether we take it with respect to the Nation to Mr. Collier or to the particular Party he reflects upon It 's a Malicious False and Unmannerly Reflection upon the Nation to insinuate that King Charles I. was cut off by their Authority when the World knows that it was the Act of a prevailing Head-strong Faction contrary to the Sense of the Nation and of that very Parliamenâ— who began the Opposition to King Charles for his Tyranny and Oppression if Levying of Money without Consent of Parliament and forcing the Citizens of London and others that would not lend him the Summs he demanded to serve as Soldiers in his Fleet and Army and a hundred other such things may be call'd by that Name It is Malicious upon Mr. Collier to the highest degree who is known to the World to be for Passive Obedience the opposite Extreme It is as full of Spite against those who are Enemies to the Stage many of whom abhor the Memory of that Fact and are zealous Sons of the Church of England though at the same time they detest Tyranny be it in Prince or Prelate But to repay our Author in his own Coin we have had a later instance of Friends to the Stage as Goodman and others engaged in a Design of as black a Nature if the Assassination of the bravest Prince in the Universe may be so accounted But lest they object That this is but one instance we shall bring Antiquity in for further Evidence and in the first Place St. Chrysostom who tells us That the Players and Play haunteâ—s of his time were most notorious Adulterers the Authors of many Tumults and Seditions setting People together by the Ears with idle Rumors filling Cities with Commotions and were more savage than the most cruel Beasts Tertullian Cyprian and Clemens Alexanandrinus declaim against Tragedies and Comedies As Bloody Impious and Prodigal Pastimes which occasion Tumults and Seditions Gregory Nazianzen informes us That Plays and Interludes disturbed Cities raised Sedition among the People taught Men how to Quarrel sharpned ill Tongues destroyed the mutual Love of Citizens and set Families at Variance Cornelius Tacitus acquaints us in his Annals That the Stage-players in Rome grew so Seditious that after many renew'd Complaints against them by the Pretors Tiberius and the Senate baâ—ished them out of Italy Marcus Aurelius testifies That because of the Adulteries Rapes Murthers Tumults and other Outrages occasion'd and committed by Stage-players he was forc'd to banish them out of Italy into Hellespont where he commanded Lambert his Deputy to keep them hard at Work Suetonius tells us That in Nero's Time there were so many Seditions Quarrels Com. motions and Misdemeanours in the Roman Theatre That Nero himself though he took great delight in them suppressed all Plays by a solenan Edict Caesar Bulengerus informs us That under Hypatius and Belisarius there were at least 35000 Men slain in a Commotion and Tumult raised at a Cirque Play In the time of Theodorick King of Italy we are imâ—ormed by Cassiodorus That there were so many Tumults Quarrels and Commotions raised at Stage Plays that he was forced upon the complaint of the People to write to the Senate to punish the Mutineers and suppress their Insolencies But there being no reforming of them he gave Orders wholly to suppress them We have heard already that the Statute of the 4th of Henry 4. Cap. 27. restrained them in Wales because of the Commotions Murthers and Rebellions they occasioned there The Statute of the 3d of Henry 8. Cap. 9. against Mummers proceeded from the like Cause And we are informed That Kets Rebellion in the 3d of Edward VI. was concerted at and partly occasioned by a Meeting at a Stage-play at Wimonham to which the Country people resorting were by the Instigation of one Iohn Flowerdew first incouraged to pull down the Inclosures and then to rebel Nay I refer our Author to his own Stow in his Survey of London where he shall find an Account of diverse Tumults and Riots occasion'd by Stage-Plays Those Tumults Seditions and Rebellions being by the fore-mentioned Authors charged upon the Stage let the Defender of Dramatick Poetry wipe off the Imputation if he can or give us as good Authorities to prove that Enmity to the Stage did ever produce such Effects CAP. XII The Grecian and Roman State against the STAGE THE Defender Page 14. triumphs over Mr. Collier for telling us That the Athenians thought Comedy so unreputable a Performance that they made a Law That no Judge of the Areopagus should write one becaâ—se that only prohibited a Judge from writing a Coâ—â—edy An Argument says our Author enough to set Heraclitus himself a smiling But I would pray the Reviewer not to insult lest the Athenians themselves should give him a rebuke and speak their Mind more freely than Mr. Collier has done for them For if we may believe Plutarch Though the Athenians put great Honout upon Actors and Play-Poets at first yet growing Wiser by dear bought Experience at last when they found that the Stage had effeminated their Spirits exhausted their Treasures and brought sundry Mischiefs upon them they abandoned the same and enacted a publick Law against it that no Man should thenceforth presume to Pen or Act a Comedy and declared all common Actors Infamous from that time forward The Defender owns That the Lacedemonians passed a positive Bill of Exclusion against the Stage and I shall make hold to add their Reasons from Plutarch
nothing can justifie my insisting so much upon it but that it was necessary to Answer a Fool according to his Folly lest he should be wise in his own Conceit I come now to his Second Part. Where in the first Chapter he asserts with his usual Confidence That the Stage is useful to the Government which if true the Antient Greeks and Romans who understood Government the best of any People in the Gentile World were very much in the wrong when they banished the Stage by the Decree of the State as has been already mentioned and the Government of England were mightily out in their Measures in the time of King Iames and Charles I. when by Act of Parliament Stageâ—Players were declared Rogues and Vagabonds If the Stage be such a Sovereign Remedy against Ambition and the Immoderate Love of Pleasure as Mr. Dennis would have it what unlucky Stars were they that marr'd its Influence and prevented its curing of Iulius Caesar Nero and others of old and three of our own successive Kings of late who encouraged and frequented it more than any of their Predecessors How came the Jews to be so foully mistaken as to think that the Stage would over-turn their Constitution as I have already prov'd from Iosephus or did old Samuel's Spirit of Prophecy forsake him when he recommended the perusal of the Law of God to the Kings of Israel as the properest Method to keep them steady in their Administration Had there been such Poets amongst them in those days who as Mr. Dennis has it are sometimes by a Spirit not their own exalted to Divinity They would have prescribed Tragedy as the best Remedy against their inconsiderate Ambition and immoderate love of pleasure Nothing says Mr. Dennis is more capable than Tragedy of raising the Soul and giving it that Greatness that Courage that Force and that Constancy which are the Qualifications that make men deserve to command others which is evident from Experience For they who in all Countries and in all Ages have appeared most to feel the power of Tragedy have been the most deserving and the greatest of Men. Aeschylus among the Athenians was a great Captain and Tragick Poet. Sophocles an able States man and a victorious General The very greatest among the Romans were so far touch'd with the Drama as either to write their Plays themselves or to build their Theatres witness Scipio Lelius Lucullus Mecenas Iulius and Augustus None among the French has shew'd so much greatness of Mind as Richlieu and none so much passion for the Drama which was so great that he writ several Plays with that very hand which at the same time was laying the Plan of the French Universal Monarchy This is one of Mr. Dennis's raptures when exalted to Divinity which inspir'd his Pen with irresistible Arguments But I am afraid his Divinity is not of the right stamp for had he look'd into the Divine Records he would have found that Moses Ioshua Iepthah Samson David and others have far out-done all that he has nam'd for greatness of Courage and qualifications for Government and yet never one of them saw a Tragedy Hunniades Scanderbeg Tamerlan Zisca Gustavus Adolphus were equal for Valour to any of his great Samplars and yet not one of 'em were inspir'd by the Stage Then for the mighty Richlieu he was so far over-match'd by his own Contemporary Oliver the Stage-hater that for all the Courage of his Tragical Pen he could not save himself nor his Country from trembling when the Usurper Roar'd Nor was the Theatre able to cure his own Ambition But notwithstanding Mr. Dennis's probatum est with the same Hand that he wrote his Plays he laid the foundation of the hatefullest Tyranny that Europe hath known for several Ages I must also make bold to tell Mr. Dennis that the countenance given to the Stage by Iulius Caesar Pompey and other aspiring Romans seems rather to have been the effect of their Ambition than propos'd as a cure for it that by immersing the people in Debanchery and Pleasures they should be render'd the less careful of their Expiring Liberties which the Senate being aware of thought fit whilst they had any power left them to cashier the Stage and this being the Opinion of the State is more to be regarded than that of any particular person how great soever It 's likewise worthy of our observation that Augustus himself and severall other Emperours who favour'd the Stage were sore'd to discharge it at last as a Nursery of Lewdness and Villany Scipio Nascica a great General who by Vote of the Senate was declar'd the best Man of the Common-wealth because of his extraordinary Valour Prudence and Morality suppress'd the Stage as destructive to the Morals of the People Trajan who if Pliny may be credited was one of the best Roman Emperours did the like And the Emperour Alexander Severus who was none of the worlt of them withdrew the Pensions of the Players so that all that were great among the Romans were far from favouring the Stage The Influence which Mr. Dennis ascribes to the Stage in preventing Rebellions amongst the People is equally ridiculous with his other Propositions It 's but a few of the People at best who have either time opportunity or money to frequent the Theatre so that by necessary consequence its Influence can never be universal but besides he is contradicted by matter of fact the Incouragement given to the Stage here in England could neither prevent the opposition made by the Parliament and People to Charles the I st nor the Plots of the Papists against Charles the IId nor the Revolt of the Nation from the last K. Iames. The Stage in France could not prevent the Rebellion against Lewis XIV during his Minority and it 's remarkable that the Protestants of that Kingdom who have declar'd against the Theatre in a National Council as before mentioned were his firmest Friends It 's pleasant to read how this Stage Panegyrist will in spite of History and common Sense ascribe all the Great things done by the Greeks and Romans to the Influence of the Stage when the States of both condemned them as occasioning a dissolution of Manners which render'd them unfit either to defend themselves or to conquer others And Themistocles in particular who is one of the Generals he mentions had so low an Opinion of the Theatre that he made a Law against Magistrates frequenting it lest the Common wealth should seem to play and loiter in the Stage Pericles another of them who was joint Pretor with Sophocles rebuk'd his Companion for beholding and commending a beautiful Boy telling him that wanton looks did not become a Pretor what would he have said then of the Modern Stage Our Author has forgot to mention Alexander the Great the Discipline and Apparel of whose Army smelt nothing at all of the gawdy and lascivious Theatre and yet his Conquests exceeded all
those of the other Greek Captains he hath nam'd Then as to his Roman Instances Scipio Africanus was so far from approving the Follies of the Stage that he pitied the Common-wealth as drawing near its Ruine when he saw the Children of the Nobility bred up to Dancing and singing to the praise of Stage-Players which their Ancestors reckon'd disgraceful and therefore his building or rather advising a sort of Reform as to the Seats of the Theatre to distinguish the Senators from the People seems rather to have proceeded from a Compliance with Custom and a design to humour the Times than from his approbation of Stage-Plays Besides there 's no man acquainted with Roman History but must needs know that their Theatres were applied to other uses as publick Orations and the Execution of Malefactors so that the Erecting of a Theatre will not always infer the approbation of the Drama Pompey indeed built a Theatre of Stone after the former had been destroyed by Scipio Nasica and to prevent its being demolish'd by the Censors in time to come Erected a Temple of Venus on the top of it which was no great proof that it was designed for a Reformation of Manners and this the Senate was so sensible of that they blam'd Pompey for Building his Theatre as I have said already Mr. Dennis in the same ridiculous manner ascribes the Union of the French and their Conquests to the Influence of the Drama and the loss of their Conquests to the ceasing of the spirit of Dramatick Poetry among 'em before the beginning of the last War But if he would be pleased to look back to the Time of Charlemaigne who was a Mortal Enemy to the Stage he will find that France extended her Conquests a great deal further then under his Conduct than she has done by the Influence of the Drama under Lewis XIV and kept them longer too And I would pray him to observe that our own Glorious Sovereign King William who hath oblig'd the French to resign their Conquests is no great Admirer of the Stage so that it 's something else than the Drama that hath given him the Ascendant over France And the World must own that his Courage and Conduct and Qualifications for Government are equal to any of those whom Mr. Dennis has mentioned as the great Patrons of the Theatre In his Second Chapter he would perswade the World That the Stage is particularly useful to the English and especially the present Government because the English are more prone to Rebellion than any People upon the Face of the Earth and that we have been longer at quiet since the flourishing of the Drama than at any time before since the Conquest and that the Civil War was begun by those that were Enemies to the Stage So much for its Usefulness to the English in general Then he proves its Usefulness to this Government in particular Because some of its Friends would prove averse to it if the Stage were either suppress'd or very much discouraged and that it diverts the Enemies of the Government hinders their Plotting and frequenting Iacobite Conventicles Here 's another piece of Civility to the Nation again They are the greatest Rebels on Earth according to him but this I have answer'd already That we have had more Peace since the flourishing of the Drama than at any time since the Conquest is false It cannot be said to have flourished but since the Restoration of Charles II. For it was restrained in Queen Elizabeths Time by Act of Parliament and banished the City of London as has been already said yet her 's was a Long and a Peaceable Reign Stage-Players were condemned as Rogues in that of King Iames yet we had Peace all his time But the unanswerable Argument is this Those that rebell'd against Charles I. were Enemies to the Stage But if Mr. Dennis will be pleased to look back he will find I have proved That the Incendiaries and Fomenters of the Civil War were the Friends of the Stage who taught Rebellion against our Constitution set the King above all Laws and would have trod Parliaments under foot who are two thirds of our Government if the two States of Lords and Commons may be allowed that Name But if this will not do what will Mr. Dennis reply if I tell him that those very Men who were Enemies to the Stage or at least their Successors in Principle and Practice who abhor the Tyranny of 41 as much as Mr. Dennis abhors the Rebellion on 't are the firmest Friends this Government has And here I 'll venture to say once for all That it 's very dangerous to our present Establishment to have the Theatre manag'd by such kind of Persons as our Author and others who exclaim with so much Malice and Ignoraâ—â—â— against those very Maxims which contribâ—â—◠〈◊〉 the Happy Revolution for if resisting or dethroning a Prince be in no case Lawful which is the common Theme and known Principle of most of the Libellers against 41 it will by necessary Consequence condemn the Revolution of 1688. So very useful are some of the late Advocates and Authors for the Stage to the present Government I will not say all that have writ Plays for I know that Mr. Tate and some others whose Parts deserve a better Imployment are Persons of Generous English Principles Our Authors Insinuation that the Suppression or Discouraging of the Stage would create an Aversion in any of the Friends of the Government to the present Constitution is so very silly that certainly he must be ashamed of it himself upon second Thoughts Does he think that a Prince of such Courage and Bravery as ours puts any Value upon the Friendship or Enmity of a parcel of Men who have been declared Rogues and Vagabonds by the Statute or that the Nation would any way resent the overturning of the Stage which never had any continued Footing nor settled Incouragement among us but under the Reign of a Luxurious Prince especially considering how Instrumental it has been to the debauching of our Youth Does he think that the People who have look'd on with Satisfaction to see several of those Non-jurant Bishops turn'd out of their Sees though once they ador'd them when Petitioners against King Iames's Declaration would bestow one sigh on the lew'd Stage though it were first pull'd down and then built up again to make its own Funeral Pile The contrary would be so true that thousands of Husbands Parents and Masters who have had their Wives Children and Servants debauched by it would gladly throw up their Hatts at such a Bonfire and lay such a curse upon those that should ever attempt to erect another Stage as Ioshua laid upon the Re-builder of Iericho The Nation is brought to a delicate pass indeed when we must not talk of overturning the Stage but a parcel of debauched Wits will threaten the Government If the Thing were worthy of His Majesties Notice he might well
It had been more becoming a Supream Magistrate to provide against such unsuitable Matches by wholsom Laws than to have had them represented as the Subject of Mirth on a Stage as it would have been more decent for an University to have given him such Counsel than to divert him with such ridiculous Entertainment The Dialogue betwixt Albumazar Pandolfo and Cricca about Astrology is a meer Rhapsody of studied Nonsence which looks very unlike the Practice of Christians whose great Law-giver tells them They must be accountable for every idle Word The Courtship betwixt Trincalo a Farmer and Armellina Pandolfo's Maid wherein Trincalo compares himself to a lusty strong Ass and her to a Wanton young Filly and that they should have a race of Mules if she were willing is so very Coarse and throws so much Contempt upon the Country Farmers who are so useful to the Nation that it can neither be reconciled to the Maxims of Christianity nor Common Policy In short the whole Comedy is far from having any thing of a tendency to Vertue in it except Reflections upon the City as not affording a Dozen of Chast VIRGINS and the like on Sheriffs and Justices of Peace as Cheating and Hectoring their Neighbours and representing Country Gentlemen as minding nothing but Wenching and Drinking and young Gentlewomen talking smuttily of their Amours be vertâ—ous Representations If it be said as usual that those Vices are represented in order to make them be abhorr'd and the Guilty Persons ashamed of them it is easie to Answer That a Supream Magistrate is authoriz'd by God and the Laws of his Country to punish those Vices by the Sword of Justice which will be ten times more effectual than making them the Subject of Diversion on a Stage I come next to the Royal Slave a Tragi Comedy presented to the King and Queen by the Students of Christ-Church in Oxford The Prologue to the King and Queen is on the Representation of one of the Person Magi discovered in a Temple worshipping the Sun and at the sight of a new Majesty he leaves the Altar and addresseth himself to the Throne What Moral this can include is hard to determine except it were that they had a mind to insinuate that it was no Crime to Sacrifice Religion to the Court as too many of them attempted to do in reality when they embrac'd Doctrines contrary to those of the Church of England for which some of them as Laud Montague and others were censur'd by the Parliament afterwards In the Prologue to the University there 's a Jerk at some that they call Late damned Books and wich they hoped would inspire none of the University with a harsh Opinion of the Play which they alledge was so innocent that the â—ittle Ruff or Careless might be present at it without fear and they valued themselves highly upon the Presence of their Majesties as giving Life to the Performance and the King's Servants spoke much in the same manner when they presented it before them at Hampton Court The first Act represents a parcel of drunken Ephesian Captives revelling in their Chains and calling for VVhere 's but bidding their Goaler and his Wife be sure that they did not suffer any of the Young Students of the LAW to forestal the Market The Goaler too has a Jerk at the Custom of Singing Psalms at the Gallows All which I humbly conceive was an Entertainment no way suited to the Royal Majesty of a King nor to the modesty of a Queen Nor was it any thing for the Credit of the Nation that the Reins of Publick Discipline should be so far let loose as to suffer such Practices amongst the young Students of the Law if that was the Moral of the Fable The Rape attempted afterwards upon the Persian Queen and her Ladies by those Ephesian Captives and their lewd Discourses from time to time was no very good Lesson nor meet Entertainment for a Queen And their bringing in the Persian Courtiers yielding compleat Obedience to Cratander a Mock-King for three Days because Arsamnes their Prince commanded it and at the same time divested himself of his Authority for that space seems to teach the slavish Doctrineâ— so much then contended for by the Court that iâ— was unlawful to resist the King or any having his Commission under any Pretence whatsoever tho' he should ev'n overturn the Foundations of their Constitution as here their Counterfeit Arsamnes did by making a Captive King of Persia. Nay and this Play too which they pretend was so fram'd as it could give no offence to the Gravity of the University or Clergy represents Atossa the Queen a little inclining to the Taint of an Unlawful Amour with Cratander the Three-Daysâ—King and him Entertaining it also tho' at the same time he is their chief Pattern of Vertue Indeed there 's Praxaspis's Saying in the Second Scene that seemed to be a Saâ—yrical hint tho' I cannot think coâ—sidering the Temper of the Stage that 't was so design'd Viz. that when one of the Ladies wondred that they had not chosen Cratander a Queen for Company to impe his Reign Praxaspis answer'd That the Female Sex was too Imperious to Rule and would do as much harm in a Kingdom as a Monkey in a Glass-shop move and remove till they had broken all Had her then Majesty taken the hint and forborn medling with Affairs of State it 's probable that Matters had not come to that fatal Exit they did which is one Instance more to convince our Advocates of the Stâ—ge that those who frequent and admire it most are never reform'd by it I shall forbear any further Remarks upon those Plays these being enough to make good the Charge that our Universities have encouraged the Stage which is so much the more Criminal in â—hem because they ought to instruct the Nation by their Example as well as their Learning Methinks the Reverence they ow'd to the Antient Philosophers Fathers and Councils besides what our first Reformers the Acts of Parliament and those of their own Convocations requir'd from them should have restrained them But to the great Misfortune of the Nation neither thâ—se nor any Consideration whatever were able to prevail with them so that the Universities became infected with the Contagion of the Stage and they being the Nurseries of Officers for the Church and State it was no wonder if the Infection spread from them all over the Kingdom especially being patroniz'd by the Court and A. B. Laud and his Faction of the Church This encourag'd particular Students afterwards such a Barton Holydâ—y and Gaspar Main both of Christ-Church Oxford to write Plays The latter in his Comedy call'd The Amorous VVar is so very foul and smutty that it may well deserve the Name of down-right Lewdness but it 's supposed he thought it Attonement sufficient to jerk at the City and Parliament which he does there with abundance of more Malice than Wit Neither Time nor Room will now
allow me to enquire into later Instances of the Theatres being Encouâ—ag'd by the Universities but 't is to be fear'd there 's no great Reform amongst them as to this matter which I am the more inclin'd to believe by the following Prologue which was spoke at a Musick-Act in the University of Cambridge about two Years ago PROLOGUE THE Doctors being always much inclin'd To favor and instruct the Female kind Out of their wonted Goodness thought it meet The Ladies we in Mother-Tongue shou'd greet For surely Cambridge wou'd be much to blame To let 'em go no wiser than they came Whom Nature in so fine a Mould hath wrought So pliant and so yielding to be taught That in one Minute any Man may show And teach 'em all their Aged Mothers know Yet do whate'er you can they 'll have an itching For further Knowledge and some deeper Teaching Pity such pregnant Parts were not remov'd To Colleges and by some Helps improv'd Bless us the Age would be extream discerning If all the Females too were big with Learning I 'm sure our Cambridge Ladies know the Art Can all the Learned Mystery impart When an old Book-learn'd Sybil dry and lean With hollow Eyes long Phiz and wither'd skin Whose every Tooth but that of Colt is gone Can be caress'd by vig'rous Twenty One And Joy to her blest Consort married be Anno Aetatis suae 63. And then w'have a new trim'd Lady posted down To front the Country and oblige the Town Who tho' a love to Learning she pretends Yet I susupect since here I lately saw Some of her well-dress'd Am'rous Temple-Friends She follows not the Gospel but the Law Bless'd Cambridge where 't is hard to find a Maid Except in some old Reveren'd Doctors Bed For they good Men to study much inclin'd Among the Stars their Nightily-pleasures find Whilst they on Virgo all their hours bestow The Wife continues Virgin still b w. Yet our Professors What pity 't is such Follies shou'd miscarry Wou'd got an Act of Parliament to marry How wou'd you like a Lover who shou'd speak And kiss and sigh and compliment in Greek From whose strong Loins shou'd spring great Tau's and Sigma's Black Princes and a Noble Race of Pigmies FINIS * Pref. to Beauty in Distress Defence of Dramatick Poetry Usefulness of the Stage c. †Mr. Dennis in his Usefulness of the Stage * Valer. Max. l. 6. c. 3. § 12. †Iustin. Cod. l. 5. Tit. 17. De Repud Novella 22. 117. †De Speâ—lac c. 24. * Hom. 6. in Matt. †Tertul. de spectaculis * Defence of Dramatick Poetry p. 30 37. †De Vita Contemp. lib. 3. cap. 6. fol. 105. * Epist. 22. c. 15. †De Vita Contemp. lib. 1. c. 23 24 25. †Epist. l. 1. Epist. 62 63 * Cap. 16. †1 Cor. 2. 4. †Acts 18. 24 25. * Tit. 1. 12. * 2 Tim. 1. 13. †1 Tim. 6. 20. * pag. 935. †pag. 929. * pag. 241. a Consâ—itu Apost l. 1. c. 8. b de Recta Edu ad Selucum p. 1063. c de Iâ—ololat c. 1â— d in Luc. lib. 1. v. 1. e Epist. 22. cap. 13. and Epist. 146. ad Daâ—as f de falsa Relig. c. 12. 15. g de Civit. Dei l. 2. c 1. 8. h Can. 16. * De Regum Institut l. 4. p. 120. * Masâ—aus in Vit. Ignat. l. 4. â— 8. †Homil in â—ant Proem in Ezech. * De Vanit Scienti cap. 64. * Lib. de Reâ—pub 2. * Cap. 15. * page 11. †De Civiâ— Dei l. 4. c. 1. * Ib. l. 2. c. 13. * Ibid. l. 1. c. 32 33 * Dâ— speâ—â—ac cap. 24. to 28. †Ib. Art 2. ad â—â— art 3 Resp. Primâ— secundae q. 102. art 6. ad sextum secunda secundae q. 162. art 2 3 * Beauty in distress page 4. * Hom. de David Saul Tom. 1. Col. 511. de verbis Isaiae Vidi Dâ—m Hâ—m 1. Col. 1283 Orat. 6. Tom. 5. Col. 1471. †Hom. 38. in Matth. Tom. 2. Col. 298. * Mâ—tth 5. 28. * Beauty in distress p. XV. †Cap. 4 5 6. and 24. * Cap. 7. 25 †Cap. 17. * De specâ—ac c. 18. †Ib. cap. 17. ‖ Ibid. cap. 25. * Ibid. cap. 10. †Apol. adv Gent. c. 38. * De spect c. 17. 24. * Ib. cap. 25 26 27. †Ib. c. 17. * Beauty in Distress pag. XVI †Epist. l. 1. Epist. 10. Eucratio †Lib. de spectac Ep. l. 2. Ep. 2. donato * De habitu Virgin pag. 242. * De spect p. 243 244 * Beauty in Distress p. 14. †De Verâ— Cultu cap. 20. lib. 6. †Divâ—nâ—rum Instit. Epitome cap. 6. †De Gubernatiâ—ne Dei lib. 6. p. 193 194. * Ib. p. 185 186. 1 Can. 57. 2 Can. 62. 3 Can. 67. 4 Can. 5. 5 Can. 5. 6 Can. 20. 7 Can. 13 and 35. 8 Can. 11 and 35. 9 Can. 68 and 88. 1 Can. 12. 2 Can. 28. 3 Can. 96. 4 Can. 2. 5 Can. 8. 6 Can. 22. 7 Can. 7. * Sess. 24. Surius Tom. 4. p. 979. * Beauty in Distress pag. 21. †Can. 15. 16. Surius Tom. 3. p. 734. * Tertulliâ—n de Spectaculis Eccles. Hiâ—â— l. 5. c. 17. * Mat. 5. 29. †Exodus 23. 13. * Vid. Gerh. Ioh. Voss. de Idol l. 2. c. 8. * Mat. 5. 13. †Matthew 18. 6. * page 11. * Rise and Progress of Religious Societies p. 125. * De causa Dei l. 1. c. 1. Coroll 20. †Dialog l. 3. cap. 1. †Poor mans Library part 1. fol. 13 39. * Part 1. Miscel. 6. prelect 2. fol. 46 c. * p. 43 44 * Psalm 50 18. * page 13. Defence of Dramatick Poetry * page 19. * School of Abuse * Convivium apud Xenophon Oper. Graec. Lat. Francofurti p. 893 c. * pag. 3. * Defence of Dramatick Poetry pag. 7 8 9 10 11. * Hist. Mastix p. 492. * Hom. 38. in Mat. Tom. 2. * De Spect. â— 17 18. †De Spect. l. 2. Ep. 2. ‖ Paedagogi l. 3. c. 11. * De rectâ— Educatione ad Seleucum p. 1063. * Annal. Lib. 4. c. 3. * Marcus Aurelius Lib. 1. Cap. 14. and lib 2. â—p 12 â—d Lamber◠†Sueton in vit Nero. Sect. 16 26. * De Circo Romano c. 47. †Variarum L. 1. Epist. 20 30. L. 3. Ep. 51. and Lib. 7. Epist. 10. * Holinshead p. 1028. Nâ— 20 â—0 Nevils Hist. of Ket's Stirs †Cap. 16. * De Gloria Atheniensium †pag. 14. * Lacon Institut * pag. 17. * Liv. l. 48. Aug. de Civit Dei l. 1 c. 31 c. and lib. 2. c. 12 c.. †Marcus Aur. c. 14. †Dien Casâ—â—â— Rom. 〈◊〉 l 5◠†Dia in vit Trajaâ—â— * Aâ—nal liâ— 14. c. 3. †Guevara his Dial of Princes †pag. 17. * Zosâ—n l. 2 Baron Spondan Aâ—no 303. §. 3. Euseb. de vit Constan. lib. 3.