Mr.
COLLIER's
View
OF
THE
English
Stage
,
&c.
Set
in
a
TRUE
LIGHT
.
THe
aim
of
all
Writers
is
,
Were
these
rules
constantly
,
and
prudently
pursued
,
we
might
hope
for
an
honester
,
as
well
as
wiser
world
,
than
it
has
been
my
fortune
yet
to
find
any
Memoirs
of
,
since
the
multiplication
of
Mankind
.
For
tho
the
Declaimers
of
all
Ages
have
inveighed
with
great
bitterness
against
their
own
times
,
and
extoll'd
the
antecedent
;
yet
even
hence
we
are
furnish'd
with
an
argument
,
that
all
have
been
equally
culpable
,
since
those
times
,
which
we
,
to
humble
our
own
,
affect
so
zealously
to
commend
,
our
Fore-fathers
did
as
vehemently
condemn
;
and
if
we
do
not
find
the
Topicks
of
Satyr
to
be
in
every
Age
the
same
;
we
can
only
from
thence
conclude
,
that
the
Mode
,
and
not
the
Measure
of
Iniquity
is
alter'd
.
But
whether
the
rules
be
strictly
observable
,
or
not
,
may
be
matter
of
doubt
.
For
,
besides
that
grand
Seducer
Interest
,
which
few
withstand
,
Passion
,
Prejudice
,
and
Inclination
,
have
an
almost
irresistible
Influence
over
us
;
and
even
in
the
coolest
,
and
severest
of
our
deliberations
,
we
are
apt
to
give
too
much
to
Prejudice
,
and
to
humour
Appetite
and
Passion
beyond
Reason
.
That
this
is
no
uncommon
case
,
most
of
the
present
Paper-Combats
demonstrate
,
in
which
the
War
on
both
sides
is
carry'd
on
with
an
obstinacy
and
fury
,
very
disproportionate
to
the
trifles
generally
contended
for
.
The
Combatants
enter
the
lists
against
Chimerical
Gyants
of
their
own
raising
,
and
lay
about
'em
like
Ajax
,
or
Cervantes's
Hero
,
amongst
the
Sheep
,
Gyants
,
or
Windmills
,
't
is
all
one
,
if
they
stand
in
their
way
they
must
be
encounter'd
.
The
most
formidable
of
these
,
is
the
Author
of
the
Short
View
of
the
Immorality
and
Profaneness
of
the
English
Stage
.
This
Gentleman
,
some
time
or
other
,
between
sleeping
and
waking
,
had
happen'd
to
hear
some
of
Mr
Durfy's
Rattles
,
and
perhaps
some
saucy
Jack
or
other
of
the
Stage
discharge
an
Oath
or
two
,
and
presently
mistaking
'em
for
a
noise
of
Drums
,
and
volley
of
Shot
,
falls
to
dreaming
of
Invasions
and
Revolutions
,
that
the
Church
Artillery
was
seiz'd
,
and
turn'd
upon
it
;
of
a
terrible
Stage
Plot
,
and
a
huge
Army
in
Ambuscade
behind
the
Play-house
Scenes
;
and
therefore
he
cries
out
to
have
the
Beacons
lighted
,
and
the
Bells
rung
backward
in
every
Parish
,
to
raise
the
Posse
of
Fathers
,
Councils
,
Synods
,
School-men
,
and
the
rest
of
the
Church
Militia
,
and
cast
up
Retrenchments
,
for
the
Vanguard
of
Parnassus
are
upon
'em
.
Then
he
calls
for
his
Durindana
of
a
Goose-quill
,
and
thunders
out
Anathema's
as
thick
as
Hail
shot
.
Thus
instructed
and
appointed
,
he
draws
out
his
forces
,
and
charges
with
such
violence
and
fury
upon
the
Forlorn-Hope
of
the
Stage
,
that
it
had
been
impossible
for
'em
to
have
sustain'd
the
shock
,
if
Pegasus
had
not
been
train'd
of
old
to
the
service
,
and
very
well
acquainted
with
the
temper
of
the
Enemies
Fire
.
This
Anti-poetick
War
has
been
carry'd
on
with
abundance
of
heat
at
divers
times
and
in
divers
Countries
;
Francisco
Maria
,
a
Sicilian
Monk
,
and
P.
Ottonelli
,
a
Jesuit
;
and
was
thence
translated
into
England
,
about
sixty
years
ago
,
by
Dr
Reynolds
and
Mr
Prynne
;
to
France
,
about
thirty
years
ago
,
by
the
Prince
of
Conti
,
the
Sieur
de
Voisin
,
&c.
and
tho
bury'd
for
some
years
in
its
embers
,
broke
out
again
there
not
many
years
ago
into
a
flame
;
at
which
Mr
Collier
took
fire
,
and
reviv'd
the
quarrel
in
England
.
All
these
disputes
have
been
manag'd
with
great
vehemence
and
fierceness
on
the
Agressor's
parts
,
and
had
the
success
been
answerable
to
their
Resolution
,
the
scatter'd
rout
of
Parnassus
had
been
never
able
to
have
rally'd
,
or
made
head
again
;
but
their
Onset
was
like
that
of
the
Turks
and
Tartars
,
the
Noise
was
much
greater
than
the
Execution
.
I
cou'd
never
find
that
the
Muses
were
famous
for
Martial
Exploits
,
or
that
their
Votaries
e're
signaliz'd
themselves
by
any
extraordinary
atchievements
in
the
Polemicks
.
How
comes
it
then
,
that
such
impetuous
Assailants
have
gain'd
no
more
upon
'em
?
For
as
yet
the
very
Outworks
of
Parnassus
seem
to
be
in
no
danger
.
Is
it
the
natural
strength
of
the
Place
,
or
Resolution
of
the
Defendants
that
Protects
'em
?
Before
I
give
a
direct
answer
to
these
questions
,
it
will
be
necessary
to
premise
a
short
account
of
the
occasion
,
state
,
and
progress
of
the
Controversie
,
in
,
and
from
the
time
of
the
Primitive
Fathers
down
to
our
own
Times
;
by
which
we
may
be
enabled
to
make
a
right
Judgment
,
how
far
the
present
Stage
is
affected
by
the
Authorities
,
and
Arguments
urg'd
from
'em
.
It
is
on
all
hands
agreed
,
The
Dramatick
Representations
spring
both
from
one
Original
,
and
were
instituted
for
the
same
general
end
and
purpose
with
the
rest
of
the
Heathen
Games
,
'T
is
probable
the
partition
of
Tragedy
and
Comedy
was
first
made
,
But
when
,
This
being
the
case
,
a
Christian
cou'd
not
be
present
,
or
assist
at
these
representations
,
without
openly
countenancing
or
conforming
to
the
Idolatrous
Worship
of
the
Heathens
;
which
the
Fathers
,
as
became
careful
and
pious
Pastors
,
were
extremely
solicitous
to
prevent
.
They
were
sensible
of
the
difficulties
they
had
to
encounter
,
and
the
obstacles
they
had
to
surmount
.
The
Christian
Religion
was
yet
but
newly
planted
,
and
therefore
till
it
had
taken
sufficient
Root
was
carefully
to
be
cover'd
and
defended
from
the
injuries
of
rude
Blasts
,
and
the
contagion
of
those
rank
superstitious
Weeds
that
grew
about
it
,
by
which
the
Root
might
be
kill'd
,
or
the
Soil
infected
,
and
the
Sap
withdrawn
.
Paganism
was
a
Religion
,
invented
at
first
to
oblige
and
captivate
the
people
,
Against
a
Superstition
thus
fram'd
for
Luxury
,
and
contriv'd
to
cajole
the
Sences
,
Christianity
was
to
make
its
way
,
and
to
drive
out
those
Rites
,
and
destroy
a
Title
founded
upon
the
prescription
of
many
ages
,
supported
by
the
authority
of
the
Civil
Government
,
and
fortify'd
in
its
Possession
by
Prejudice
,
Inclination
and
Interest
;
and
all
this
to
be
done
with
the
assistance
only
of
Truth
,
and
Simplicity
of
Doctrine
and
Manners
;
the
Pomp
,
and
Magnificence
of
their
Solemn
Worship
was
absolutely
to
be
taken
away
,
and
their
licentious
practices
to
be
restrain'd
,
and
reform'd
;
and
instead
of
'em
severe
Principles
,
and
an
austere
course
of
Life
were
to
be
establish'd
,
in
an
Age
,
and
amongst
a
People
,
whom
the
Submission
and
Tribute
of
all
the
World
for
some
ages
,
had
made
wealthy
,
proud
and
wanton
.
It
is
not
therefore
to
be
wonder'd
,
if
those
early
Champions
of
the
Gospel
proportion'd
their
Zeal
and
Vigilance
to
the
pressingness
of
the
occasion
,
[
*
](A36512-e8710-b)
*
Pompa
populo
ingrata
fuit
,
quia
ludis
mora
.
Var
ro
de
Ling.
Lat.
Lib.
4.
and
Seneca
[
†
](A36512-e8730-b)
†
Non
igno
ras
quam
sit
odiosa
Circensibus
Pompa
.
informs
us
,
the
preparatory
Solemnities
were
ungrateful
to
the
spectators
,
who
impatiently
expected
the
Show
.
The
Fathers
,
who
knew
where
their
strength
lay
,
have
employ'd
all
their
Artillery
against
these
Shows
,
their
Batteries
have
play'd
incessantly
upon
'em
,
as
the
only
Forts
that
were
capable
of
making
resistance
,
and
stopping
their
Progress
.
Tho
the
antient
Fathers
bent
their
Rhetorick
,
The
portion
of
those
that
embrac'd
Christianity
was
Mortification
,
and
suffering
,
perpetual
discouragement
,
and
frequent
Persecutions
(
till
the
time
of
Constantine
)
their
Reward
was
in
Reversion
;
their
Expectation
indeed
was
large
,
but
the
Prospect
was
distant
.
Now
present
Ease
and
Enjoyment
are
very
apt
to
prevail
against
a
remote
Hope
.
In
our
common
affairs
of
the
world
,
Futurity
maintains
itself
but
ill
against
the
Present
,
and
neither
the
greatness
,
nor
the
certainty
of
the
Reversion
,
make
good
head
against
immediate
Possession
.
This
was
the
case
of
Christianity
in
its
Infancy
.
The
Heathen
Priesthood
was
contented
with
the
Countenance
and
Encouragement
of
the
State
,
and
submitted
to
the
directions
and
appointment
of
it
,
even
in
matters
relating
to
their
own
Mysteries
;
they
assum'd
no
Dominion
,
or
Jurisdiction
over
private
Consciences
,
either
in
point
of
Principle
or
Practice
;
but
left
those
matters
wholly
to
the
Civil
Government
,
which
made
Laws
for
the
regulation
,
and
appointed
Magistrates
for
the
inspection
of
Men's
Manners
;
in
which
regard
was
had
chiefly
,
if
not
only
,
to
the
Publick
Quiet
and
Security
,
to
the
Preservation
and
Augmentation
of
the
State
.
If
a
scrutiny
was
made
into
the
Conduct
and
Behaviour
of
particular
persons
,
't
was
as
they
were
subordinate
to
the
Publick
,
and
might
be
instrumental
or
prejudicial
to
the
common
welfare
,
either
immediately
,
by
their
practices
,
in
wronging
the
State
,
or
those
under
the
Protection
of
it
;
or
by
withdrawing
themselves
from
,
or
incapacitating
themselves
for
its
service
;
or
consequently
by
debauching
,
and
corrupting
others
by
their
Examples
.
In
all
these
matters
the
Priest
had
no
concern
;
and
therefore
't
was
no
wonder
,
if
the
People
receiv'd
so
easily
,
and
liv'd
so
contentedly
under
a
Religion
,
which
,
tho
false
,
gave
'em
so
little
disturbance
,
and
so
much
satisfaction
.
For
,
as
for
the
Multitude
,
their
Theology
was
like
their
Worship
,
suited
and
adapted
to
their
capacities
,
the
one
consisting
of
surprizing
Fables
,
the
other
of
delightful
Solemnities
.
Those
that
were
wiser
among
'em
,
and
saw
thro
their
Mysteries
,
(
who
were
not
a
few
)
were
many
of
'em
Sacris
initiati
,
and
engaged
in
their
support
;
the
rest
having
no
higher
warrant
than
their
own
Reason
,
and
nothing
more
certain
to
substitute
in
the
room
of
'em
,
were
perhaps
unwilling
to
unsettle
matters
,
and
paying
a
languid
Complacence
,
suffer'd
things
to
run
on
in
the
old
Channel
;
whose
Banks
shou'd
they
break
down
,
they
knew
not
what
course
the
Stream
wou'd
take
,
nor
how
far
the
Confusion
might
spread
.
But
the
Gospel
had
none
of
these
advantages
,
it
was
not
contriv'd
and
modell●d
for
Popularity
,
it
did
not
humour
the
Inclinations
,
and
indulge
the
Appetites
of
the
People
.
To
the
Purity
of
its
Doctrine
,
a
Conformity
of
Life
,
and
Manners
were
requir'd
,
the
Passions
were
to
be
curb'd
,
and
the
Desires
moderated
;
instead
of
Pomp
and
Ceremony
,
Simplicity
and
Sobriety
were
to
be
their
Entertainments
:
their
rampant
Gods
,
whose
fabulous
Histories
gave
countenance
to
Men's
Lusts
,
and
encouragement
to
their
Debaucheries
,
were
to
be
cashier'd
,
and
the
knowledge
and
worship
of
the
True
One
to
be
introduc'd
,
whose
Majesty
was
as
awful
,
as
the
other
was
represented
frolicksome
.
These
were
the
conditions
of
Conversion
from
Heathenism
,
and
the
change
must
needs
appear
disadvantageous
to
meer
Flesh
and
Blood
The
Fathers
therefore
,
who
knew
how
hard
it
was
to
keep
the
Appetites
in
entire
subjection
,
took
care
to
fortifie
as
strongly
as
possible
those
parts
,
in
which
they
expected
the
Rebellion
shou●d
first
break
out
.
the
transition
from
one
Religion
to
another
(
as
Mr
Collier
observes
)
was
natural
;
and
justly
apprehended
,
that
from
a
liking
of
the
Entertainments
themselves
,
they
might
proceed
to
approve
the
occasion
of
'em
;
that
the
seeming
Innocence
and
Virtue
of
'em
might
reconcile
'em
to
a
Superstition
which
recommended
those
excellent
Gifts
after
so
easie
and
agreeable
a
manner
,
or
that
perhaps
the
delights
of
those
places
might
soften
the
temper
of
their
mind
,
and
relax
the
nerves
of
their
zeal
,
and
so
unqualifie
and
indispose
'em
for
those
Austerities
,
which
the
Posture
and
Circumstances
of
the
Christian
Religion
at
that
time
requir'd
.
To
obviate
these
dangers
,
they
summon'd
all
their
Prudence
,
Having
thus
open●d
the
Case
,
as
it
stood
in
the
time
of
the
Primitive
Christians
,
we
shall
proceed
to
examine
,
Whether
there
be
any
manner
of
Analogy
between
the
Roman
Theatre
(
as
to
the
particulars
whereof
they
are
arraign'd
by
the
Fathers
)
and
ours
?
Whether
the
Satyr
of
the
Fathers
comes
full
upon
the
Modern
Poets
?
the
Parity
of
the
Case
makes
their
Reasons
take
place
,
and
their
Authority
revive
upon
us
?
Thus
backt
,
the
Worthies
of
Christendom
,
the
flower
ef
Human
Nature
,
and
the
Top
of
their
Species
,
Mr
Collier
bids
defiance
to
all
the
Stage
Poets
in
general
:
He
declares
'em
to
be
gone
over
into
another
Interest
,
that
aim
to
destroy
Religion
,
Lewdness
and
Atheism
.
For
he
has
a
huge
mind
to
try
his
strength
with
'em
,
Devils
own
Ground
;
but
he
challenges
'em
to
a
tryal
of
skill
at
the
laudable
exercises
of
the
Christian
Olympicks
of
Moorfields
;
which
,
if
they
be
so
hardy
as
to
accept
,
he
'll
call
a
Ring
,
and
for
a
broken
Head
,
or
Limb
,
he
and
his
Fathers
defy
both
North
and
West
.
But
hold
,
Mr
Vinegar
!
have
you
any
commission
from
the
Fathers
to
give
this
Challenge
in
their
Names
?
Does
it
appear
,
that
they
have
any
ground
,
or
reason
of
quarrel
to
the
present
Stage
?
I
believe
not
;
but
as
things
may
be
packt
together
,
and
translated
,
an
able
Interpreter
may
make
'em
speak
as
he
pleases
.
If
they
don't
speak
to
his
mind
he
knows
how
to
correct
'em
,
't
is
but
throwing
in
a
word
or
two
(
as
he
phrases
it
)
to
clear
the
sense
,
to
preserve
the
Spirit
of
the
Original
,
and
keep
the
English
upon
its
Legs
.
'T
is
well
he
has
the
knack
of
Scowring
the
Fathers
,
otherwise
their
Testimonies
wou'd
look
but
rustily
upon
the
present
occasion
.
But
he
can
wash
as
well
as
scowr
,
and
underprop
a
failing
Evidence
upon
occasion
.
'T
is
pity
Mr
Collier
was
not
bred
to
the
Bar
,
this
extraordinary
quality
had
been
of
admirable
service
there
,
to
help
a
bad
Memory
,
and
prompt
a
bashful
Witness
.
The
Fathers
,
good
men
,
cou'd
say
but
little
to
the
Cause
,
but
Dexterity
and
Management
may
do
much
,
and
an
able
Sollicitor
(
like
Mr
Collier
)
will
make
out
notable
proofs
from
very
slender
Evidence
.
The
Fathers
,
as
they
had
reason
,
[
*
](A36512-e9220-b)
*
Et
haec
suntscenico
r●m
●●erabilior●
〈◊〉
do
rum
Comoediae
scilicit
&
Tragoediae
hoc
est
fabu
lae
Poetarum
agendae
in
spectaculis
,
multa
rerturpitudine
sed
nulla
,
saltem
,
sicut
alia
multa
verborum
obscoenitate
compositae
quas
etiam
inter
studia
quae
honesta
,
&
liberalia
vocantur
,
pueri
,
legere
discereque
a
senibus
coguntur
.
De
Civit.
Dei
lib.
2.
St
Augustine
absolves
their
Comedies
and
Tragedies
from
any
fault
in
the
expression
,
and
accuses
only
the
subject
matter
.
The
same
Indictment
he
prefers
against
Homer
,
(
viz.
)
that
he
corrupted
Mens
Morals
by
drawing
such
vicious
Pictures
of
his
Deities
.
[
*
](A36512-e9250-b)
*
Aug.
Conf.
lib.
1.
cap.
16.
Terence
falls
under
his
displeasure
likewise
,
for
introducing
his
young
Libertine
animating
himself
to
,
and
vindicating
himself
after
a
Rape
,
by
the
example
of
Jupiter
,
whose
Intrigue
with
Danae
,
represented
in
a
Picture
,
afforded
him
both
matter
of
Encouragement
and
Excuse
.
Notwithstanding
which
objections
,
this
[
*
](A36512-e9290-b)
*
Didici
in
eis
multa
verba
utilia
se
det
in
rebus
non
vanis
disci
possunt
&
via
tuta
est
,
in
qua
Pueri
ambularent
.
lib.
Confess.
1
cap.
●v
.
Father
confesses
himself
to
have
profited
by
the
reading
of
'em
,
tho
he
thinks
the
same
use
might
have
been
made
of
more
pious
Books
,
which
are
fitter
for
the
use
of
Children
.
Thus
by
the
acknowledgment
of
this
Father
the
Plays
were
not
so
bad
.
as
Mr
Collier
wou'd
infer
from
him
.
The
quarrel
of
the
rest
of
the
Fathers
to
the
Drama
,
was
upon
the
same
account
,
tho
Mr
Surveyor
has
given
a
wrong
prospect
of
it
.
I
hope
there
's
no
reason
to
apprehend
,
that
Jupiter
or
Mercury
shou'd
be
drawn
into
precedent
at
this
time
of
day
,
or
that
any
person
of
Quality
shou'd
turn
Whore-master
,
or
Pimp
out
of
emulation
.
'T
is
true
,
But
he
finds
Comedy
and
Tragedy
Clemen's
Alex●ndri●us
c●ted
against
the
Drama
.
sometimes
condemn'd
for
company
among
the
other
Shows
of
the
Theatre
,
and
therefore
he
is
resolved
,
out
of
his
singular
regard
to
Justice
and
Ingenuity
,
that
whatsoever
is
pronounc'd
against
the
Theatres
in
general
,
shall
light
upon
the
Drama
in
particular
,
which
by
the
unanimous
confession
of
'em
all
was
the
least
offensive
,
and
consequently
the
least
deserv'd
it
.
Clemens
Alexandrinus
cited
?
He
affirms
,
that
the
Circus
and
Theatre
may
not
improperly
be
call'd
the
Chair
of
Pestilence
.
Whence
does
it
appear
,
that
the
Dramatick
Exercises
are
here
aim'd
at
?
Were
the
Mimi
,
Pantomimi
,
and
Archimimi
,
less
concern'd
with
the
Stage
,
or
more
reserv'd
and
modest
in
their
practices
upon
it
?
Were
dancing
naked
,
and
expressing
lewd
Postures
less
criminal
,
or
offensive
to
modesty
?
No
,
he
won't
say
that
;
New
Market
,
that
live
in
the
very
Seat
of
Infection
.
But
the
Fathers
were
men
,
enough
for
a
decent
Execution
.
The
Devil
,
says
he
,
mounted
the
Tragedians
upon
Buskins
,
because
he
would
make
our
Saviour
a
Liar
,
who
says
,
that
no
man
can
add
a
Cubit
to
his
Stature
.
Look
to
it
all
ye
Tiptoe
Beau's
.
Here
the
Devil
shew'd
himself
an
Engineer
,
to
lay
a
Trap
so
long
before
hand
,
to
contrive
and
invent
these
Buskins
only
to
falsify
in
appearance
,
what
was
said
a
thousand
years
after
;
and
the
Father
himself
was
a
very
Matchiavel
to
detect
,
and
counterplot
him
at
last
.
I
have
read
of
a
famous
Scotch
Divine
,
that
signaliz'd
himself
once
upon
occasion
,
by
much
such
another
discovery
,
when
he
found
out
,
that
at
the
dismission
of
all
Creatures
out
of
Noah's
Ark
,
the
reason
why
the
Hawks
were
so
merciful
to
the
Doves
,
as
to
let
'em
escape
unhurt
was
,
that
the
Prophesie
of
Isaiah
,
the
Lamb
should
lye
down
with
the
Lyon
,
might
be
fulfilled
.
This
is
the
nearest
parallel
that
occurs
to
me
from
all
my
reading
,
in
which
the
Scotch
Father
comes
pretty
near
t'other
for
a
strange
reach
of
apprehension
,
tho
't
is
his
misfortune
to
fall
short
in
the
importance
of
the
discovery
.
But
to
wave
all
further
instances
of
this
kind
from
the
Fathers
,
which
are
to
be
found
in
great
plenty
among
'em
,
I
leave
'em
to
be
gather'd
by
those
that
take
more
delight
in
such
Flowers
;
and
shall
confine
my self
to
those
which
Mr.
Collier
has
pickt
out
for
a
Nosegay
for
himself
.
To
begin
therefore
with
Theophilus
Antiochenus
;
He
tells
us
,
that
the
Christians
durst
not
see
the
Prizes
of
the
Gladiators
,
for
fear
of
becoming
accessary
to
the
Murthers
there
committed
,
nor
their
other
Shows
,
upon
the
account
of
their
Indency
and
Prophaneness
.
Here
Mr
Collier
,
as
an
earnest
of
his
future
fair
dealing
uses
the
word
Shows
,
and
because
perhaps
't
is
the
only
instance
to
be
met
with
through
all
his
Quotations
,
he
is
resolv'd
not
to
lose
the
benefit
of
it
,
and
therefore
for
fear
it
should
slip
by
unheeded
,
he
gives
it
in
a
different
character
,
and
an
asterism
along
with
it
,
and
claps
in
the
Margin
Spectacula
.
By
this
sample
of
his
Fidelity
to
his
Author
,
he
thinks
his
performance
warranted
to
his
Readers
,
of
whom
he
knows
the
greatest
part
can't
nor
the
rest
he
hopes
won't
,
be
at
the
trouble
to
confront
his
Translation
with
the
Text
;
and
therefore
before
the
end
of
this
very
Paragraph
,
he
throws
off
all
obligation
to
Truth
and
Just●ce
and
falls
to
managing
and
instructing
his
Evidence
[
*
](A36512-e9870-b)
*
Ibid.
Nec
fas
est
nobis
audire
adulteria
Deorum
Hominumque
quae
suavi
verborum
modulantur
mercede
.
Ad
Autolyc
.
lib.
3.
The
Stage
Adulteries
of
the
Gods
and
Heroes
are
unwarrantable
Entertainments
.
And
so
much
the
worse
,
because
the
Mercenary
Players
set
off
'em
with
all
the
charms
and
advantages
of
speaking
.
The
Translator
very
well
knew
,
that
the
Shews
here
aim'd
at
,
were
not
the
Tragedies
and
Commedies
of
Antiquity
,
but
the
Shews
of
the
Mimi
,
wherein
the
Amours
of
the
Gods
or
Heroes
were
not
related
only
,
but
sung
to
Musick
in
luscious
fulsome
Verse
,
mimickt
in
lewd
dances
with
obscene
Gestures
and
naked
Postures
,
and
even
the
very
Adulteries
and
Rapes
themselves
express'd
by
scandalous
actions
,
for
which
purpose
the
very
Stews
were
rak'd
for
Publick
Prostitutes
for
the
Service
.
These
were
the
Shews
,
that
provok'd
the
just
resentments
of
the
Fathers
,
which
had
nothing
in
Common
with
the
Dramatick
Representations
,
but
the
Place
,
and
the
end
of
their
Representation
,
which
were
the
Publick
Theatres
,
and
Worship
.
But
of
all
the
Publick
Diversions
of
the
Heathens
,
the
Drama
only
remaining
to
us
,
to
keep
the
Authority
upon
its
Legs
,
it
was
necessary
to
give
it
a
new
direction
,
and
turn
in
the
version
,
and
therefore
the
word
Players
was
thrust
in
,
to
fix
the
Scandal
in
the
wrong
place
.
That
these
were
the
Indecencies
,
and
Lewdness
of
the
Theatre
,
so
bitterly
inveigh'd
against
by
these
Pious
men
,
I
cou'd
bring
testimonies
innumerable
;
but
to
avoid
being
tedious
in
a
plain
case
,
I
shall
single
out
St
Cyprian
,
who
being
one
of
the
Worthies
of
Christendome
,
and
the
Top
of
his
Species
,
I
hope
Mr
Collier
will
not
except
against
his
Evidence
.
[
*
](A36512-e9970-b)
*
Theatra
●unt
faediora
,
quo
convenis
verundia
illic
omnis
exuitur
simul
cum
amictu
,
vestis
honor
corporis
,
&
pudor
ponitur
,
denotanda
ac
contrectanda
virginitas
revelatur
.
De
Habit
Virg.
The
Theatres
(
says
he
)
are
yet
more
Lewd
.
There
they
strip
themselves
of
their
Modesty
,
as
well
as
Clothes
,
and
the
honour
as
well
as
screen
of
their
Bodies
is
laid
aside
,
and
Virginity
expos'd
to
the
affronts
both
of
View
,
and
Touch.
Which
Mr
Collier
knows
was
not
practis'd
in
the
Drama
.
But
our
Histrio-Mastix
was
aware
,
that
there
was
nothing
to
be
got
by
square
play
,
therefore
he
has
recourse
to
slight
of
hand
,
and
palms
false
Dice
upon
us
.
In
the
very
next
Paragraph
we
find
him
prompting
Tertullian
to
rail
at
the
Play-house
,
and
the
Bear-Garden
[
*
](A36512-e10060-b)
*
Nihil
nobis
&c.
cum
insania
Circi
cum
impudicitia
Theatri
cum
x●sti
vanitate
.
Apolog.
adv.
Gent.
cap.
38.
.
Which
latter
,
I
suppose
,
was
brought
in
for
the
grace
and
dignity
of
the
Conjunction
.
Here
the
Play-house
,
by
his
old
way
of
Legerdemain
,
is
substituted
for
the
Theatre
;
and
the
most
innocent
of
the
Roman
Diversions
charg'd
with
the
Guilt
and
Pollutions
of
all
the
rest
,
with
which
,
by
his
own
Confession
,
it
was
not
so
much
as
soil'd
.
But
the
shifting
of
Names
levell'd
the
Scandal
right
for
his
purpose
,
and
the
unlearned
Reader
might
perhaps
be
induc'd
to
believe
,
that
the
Father's
quarrel
lay
against
Lincolns-Inn-Fields
,
and
Covent-Garden
;
and
therefore
he
was
resolv'd
not
to
lose
the
benefit
of
so
advantageous
a
Cheat
,
for
so
small
a
condescension
as
falsifying
a
Text.
With
the
same
honest
view
and
intention
,
he
forces
Tertullian
to
call
Pompey's
Theatre
[
*
](A36512-e10150-b)
*
Itaque
Pomperius
magnus
solo
Theatro
minor
,
cum
illam
arcem
omnium
turpitudinum
extruxisset
,
veritus
quandoque
memoriae
suae
Censoriam
Animadverfionem
,
Veneris
aedem
superposuit
,
&c.
,
a
Dramatick
Bawdy-house
.
Here
,
to
conceal
the
Fathers
Age
,
he
shaves
off
his
Beard
,
and
dresses
him
after
his
own
fashion
,
in
a
Steenkirk
and
a
long
Wig
,
that
he
may
look
like
an
acq●aintance
of
our
Stage
,
and
keep
his
Evidence
in
Countenance
.
A
just
Translation
wou'd
not
answer
his
purpose
,
and
therefore
he
has
taken
the
usual
liberty
of
adding
or
altering
,
and
has
clapt
in
the
Dramatick
Bawdy-house
,
to
clear
,
that
is
,
pervert
the
sense
.
It
is
no
justification
,
to
say
that
he
has
not
chang'd
the
Scene
,
that
the
Place
is
the
same
,
tho
he
has
made
bold
to
change
the
Terms
;
in
changing
the
Terms
he
has
chang'd
the
state
of
the
case
,
and
made
the
Author
accuse
the
Drama
of
those
enormities
,
which
were
peculiar
to
the
Shews
of
the
Mimi
,
and
inveigh'd
against
only
by
him
.
Thus
he
uses
his
Father
like
an
Irish
Evidence
,
and
makes
him
depose
with
as
much
latitude
,
as
in
a
Court
of
Record
,
wou'd
even
in
these
corrupt
times
,
cost
a
man
his
Ears
.
To
trace
him
through
all
his
Quotations
from
the
Fathers
,
were
a
task
much
more
tedious
,
than
difficult
.
It
may
suffice
to
take
notice
,
that
he
keeps
to
his
Principle
,
and
never
quotes
any
thing
right
,
which
he
thinks
may
be
made
more
serviceable
by
being
perverted
.
To
prevent
this
Artifice
from
being
seen
through
,
he
endeavours
,
like
a
Fish
in
the
Water
,
to
conceal
the
bottom
by
muddying
the
Stream
.
St.
Cyprian
,
Lactantius
,
Chrysostome
and
Augustine
are
all
manag'd
at
the
same
rate
;
Mr
Collier
,
like
a
stanch
Beagle
,
makes
the
hits
,
whilst
his
Fathers
,
that
like
Whelps
newly
enter'd
,
are
running
Riot
,
have
much
better
Mouths
than
Noses
,
and
make
up
a
great
part
of
the
Cry
,
but
are
of
no
service
in
the
Chase
.
Those
that
have
a
mind
to
tumble
and
sift
over
Mr
Collier's
Rubbish
of
Antiquity
,
may
find
all
his
Quotations
in
Prynne's
Histrio-Mastix
,
honestly
transcrib'd
,
and
more
faithfully
translated
.
To
which
,
or
to
the
Fathers
themselves
,
I
refer
'em
.
His
Translations
are
all
of
a
stamp
,
to
repeat
more
of
'em
wou'd
be
tautology
;
how
different
soever
the
Originals
might
be
,
the
Copies
have
all
the
same
Features
and
Complexions
;
both
Draught
and
Colouring
agree
so
well
,
that
a
very
indifferent
Judge
might
infallibly
discover
'em
all
to
be
Copies
by
one
Hand
,
by
the
Harmony
of
the
Faults
.
But
to
dismiss
the
Fathers
,
who
have
been
oblig'd
to
an
unnecessary
attendance
,
thro
the
disingenuity
of
their
Translator
,
But
tho
the
main
strength
of
this
Attila
of
the
Stage
lies
in
these
Worthies
of
Christendom
,
St.
Cyprian
,
Lactantius
,
Chrysostome
and
Augustine
are
all
manag'd
at
the
same
rate
;
Mr
Collier
,
like
a
stanch
Beagle
,
makes
the
hits
,
whilst
his
Fathers
,
that
like
Whelps
newly
enter'd
,
are
running
Riot
,
have
much
better
Mouths
than
Noses
,
and
make
up
a
great
part
of
the
Cry
,
but
are
of
no
service
in
the
Chase
.
Those
that
have
a
mind
to
tumble
and
sift
over
Mr
Collier's
Rubbish
of
Antiquity
,
may
find
all
his
Quotations
in
Prynne's
Histrio-Mastix
,
honestly
transcrib'd
,
and
more
faithfully
translated
.
To
which
,
or
to
the
Fathers
themselves
,
I
refer
'em
.
His
Translations
are
all
of
a
stamp
,
to
repeat
more
of
'em
wou'd
be
tautology
;
how
different
soever
the
Originals
might
be
,
the
Copies
have
all
the
same
Features
and
Complexions
;
both
Draught
and
Colouring
agree
so
well
,
that
a
very
indifferent
Judge
might
infallibly
discover
'em
all
to
be
Copies
by
one
Hand
,
by
the
Harmony
of
the
Faults
.
But
to
dismiss
the
Fathers
,
who
have
been
oblig'd
to
an
unnecessary
attendance
,
thro
the
disingenuity
of
their
Translator
,
But
tho
the
main
strength
of
this
Attila
of
the
Stage
lies
in
these
Worthies
of
Christendom
,
yet
,
The
Leaders
of
these
are
a
Triumvirate
of
Antient
Greek
Philosophers
,
Plato
,
Xenophon
,
and
Aristotle
.
The
first
of
these
appears
not
in
person
,
that
Plays
raise
the
passions
,
and
pervert
the
use
of
'em
,
and
by
consequence
are
dangerous
●o
morality
.
But
since
he
has
not
thought
fit
to
specify
either
the
nature
or
measure
of
the
danger
,
thus
consequentially
portended
to
morality
,
we
need
not
amuse
our selves
any
longer
about
it
.
Much
such
another
doughty
Authority
is
that
of
Xenophon
.
[
*
](A36512-e10690-b)
*
Ita
de
venereis
etiam
rebus
advalde
juvenes
verba
non
facimus
,
ne
accidente
ad
vehementem
in
eis
libid
.
levitate
,
immodice
huic
libidini
suae
indulgeant
Cyropaed
,
lib.
.
p.
34
The
Persians
(
he
says
)
won't
suffer
their
youth
to
hear
any
thing
,
that
's
amorous
or
bawdy
.
They
were
afraid
want
of
Ballast
might
make
'em
miscarry
,
and
that
it
was
dangerous
to
add
weight
to
the
Byass
of
nature
.
This
quotation
is
strangely
drawn
in
;
it
does
not
so
much
as
squin●
towards
his
purpose
.
Here
's
no
mention
of
any
thing
relating
to
the
Drama
.
Bawdry
indeed
was
forbidden
to
be
talk'd
to
those
,
whose
Reason
was
not
yet
grown
sturdy
enough
to
curb
the
looseness
of
their
Appetites
in
those
Countries
,
where
the
heat
of
the
Climate
,
and
the
warmth
of
their
Constitutions
inclin'd
'em
very
early
,
and
hurried
'em
very
precipitously
to
irregularities
of
that
nature
.
But
if
this
passage
wou'd
not
serve
his
Cause
,
it
wou'd
his
vanity
and
ostentatation
of
reading
,
and
therefore
was
not
to
be
slighted
.
Of
as
great
service
is
the
Authority
of
Aristotle
,
had
look'd
as
far
into
humane
Nature
as
any
man
,
a
greater
profusion
of
Rhetorick
than
in
the
praise
〈◊〉
of
Tragedy
,
which
he
takes
to
be
the
highest
exaltation
of
humane
Wit.
As
for
this
passage
,
which
Mr
Collier
has
pickt
out
,
and
levell'd
at
the
Comedy
of
our
Age
,
it
amounts
to
no
more
than
a
general
[
*
](A36512-e10790-b)
*
Adol●scentulos
autem
&
●amborum
&
Comaediarum
Spectatores
esse
lex
prohibeat
,
prius
quam
●●tatem
attigeri●t
,
〈◊〉
qua
&
〈◊〉
caeteris
accubar●
jam
〈◊〉
rit
,
&
ab
omnibus
,
vel
ebrietatis
,
vel
aliarum
inde
nascentium
rerum
incommodis
discip●lina
liberos
efficiat
Pol.
lib
7.
c.
17.
caution
against
trusting
youth
into
promiscuo●s
Company
,
such
as
resorted
to
publick
places
,
till
they
were
sufficiently
fortify'd
against
the
danger
of
Corruption
,
to
which
they
might
thereby
be
expos'd
.
Drunkenness
was
the
Vice
,
which
the
Philosopher
particularly
instanc'd
in
,
by
which
he
plainly
shews
himself
apprehensive
of
the
Company
,
not
of
the
Play
;
and
therefore
he
would
not
have
young
people
trusted
with
the
liberty
,
and
opportunity
of
contracting
an
acquaintance
,
before
they
were
arriv'd
at
some
tolerable
maturity
of
Judgment
.
But
Mr
Collier
with
a
dexterity
peculiar
to
himself
,
palms
the
general
term
of
Debauchery
,
for
the
particular
one
of
Drunkenness
upon
us
,
that
the
suspicion
might
thereby
be
shifted
from
the
Audience
to
the
Peformance
.
To
back
this
,
and
cover
the
conveyance
,
he
brings
another
Authority
as
little
to
the
purpose
,
where
the
Representation
is
foul
,
the
thoughts
of
the
Audience
must
suffer
.
What
must
they
suffer
?
Wou'd
the
Musick
,
(
as
powerful
as
he
supposes
it
)
make
the
Audience
drunk
,
or
in
love
with
Drunkenness
?
No
,
that
was
no
Vice
of
the
Stage
,
whatever
it
might
be
of
the
Spectators
,
yet
even
by
them
the
Scene
was
not
laid
at
the
Theatres
,
tho
the
Plot
might
,
and
the
Company
perhaps
be
pickt
up
there
.
I
suppose
this
Informer
,
as
inveterate
as
his
malice
is
against
Play-houses
,
will
scarce
charge
'em
as
Schools
of
intemperance
of
that
kind
,
't
is
not
the
practice
of
the
Stage
,
not
so
much
as
behind
the
Scenes
;
and
I
believe
he
will
acquit
Pit
,
Box
,
and
Gallery
of
it
.
For
whatever
some
may
bring
in
their
Heads
,
he
will
find
but
few
with
Bottles
in
their
Hands
there
.
This
made
him
wave
instancing
in
the
particular
of
Aristotle
;
the
retail
scandal
wou'd
not
fit
our
Theatres
,
and
therefore
he
lumps
it
among
'em
by
the
general
name
of
Debauchery
,
and
tacks
this
Citation
concerning
Musick
to
it
,
which
he
hopes
will
give
the
Reader
an
Idea
more
serviceable
to
his
Cause
,
than
Aristotle
intended
,
and
make
a
suitable
impression
upon
him
.
This
Philosopher
forbad
the
resort
to
Comedies
,
only
to
those
whose
virtues
he
durst
not
trust
;
not
to
hinder
their
diversion
from
the
Stage
,
but
to
prevent
their
corruption
from
the
Pit
,
as
King
Charles
the
2d
suppress'd
Conventicles
,
for
the
sake
of
those
,
whose
principles
he
suspected
;
not
to
disturb
the
Devotion
of
a
few
mistaken
well-meaning
Men
,
but
to
prevent
the
practices
of
many
crafty
ill
designing
ones
.
Tully
cries
out
upon
licentious
Plays
and
Poems
,
No
one
,
But
here
I
must
needs
take
notice
,
that
either
Mr
Collier
or
Tully
,
are
extremely
mistaken
,
or
,
which
is
all
one
to
our
purpose
,
that
this
quotation
does
not
speak
the
sense
of
Tully
.
Plautus
and
Terence
are
the
only
Comedians
of
his
acquaintance
,
whose
works
have
been
preserv'd
to
our
times
;
and
consequently
are
the
only
Standards
,
by
which
we
can
form
any
Judgment
,
or
take
any
measure
of
the
Roman
Comedy
before
,
or
about
Cicero's
time
.
Terence
,
who
has
but
one
faulty
bordering
expression
.
Plautus
,
who
is
of
all
antiquity
the
most
exceptionable
▪
rarely
gives
any
smutty
liberties
to
women
,
and
when
he
does
,
't
is
to
Vulgar
and
prostituted
persons
.
The
men
who
talk
intemperately
are
generally
Slaves
.
This
is
a
very
fair
character
from
an
adversary
,
out
of
Character
,
the
Author
forces
his
temper
to
serve
his
design
,
and
caresses
the
Ancients
in
pure
spight
to
the
Moderns
,
as
cunning
Statesmen
sometimes
court
and
cajole
a
Party
they
hate
,
only
to
make
'em
their
tools
against
another
they
fear
,
and
so
make
'em
ruine
each
other
,
and
save
themselves
both
the
trouble
,
and
the
odium
.
This
honest
Policy
Mr
Collier
has
made
use
of
;
for
,
having
routed
(
in
his
own
vain
conceit
)
by
the
help
of
these
Ancients
,
the
present
Stage
Poets
,
he
makes
head
upon
his
Confederates
,
and
those
,
that
in
the
entrance
of
his
Book
deserv●d
no
censure
,
in
the
conclusion
of
it
are
allow'd
no
quarter
.
The
more
plausibly
and
securely
to
put
this
Srratagem
in
execution
,
he
takes
care
to
destroy
his
own
Authority
in
their
favour
,
by
that
of
much
better
men
against
'em
,
or
that
are
(
as
he
manages
the
matter
)
at
least
in
appearance
against
'em
.
This
Author
is
a
sort
of
a
Long-lane
Writer
,
[
*
](A36512-e11320-b)
*
O
praeclaram
emendatricem
vitae
Poeticam
,
quae
Amorem
flagitii
,
&
levitatis
autorem
in
Concilio
Deorum
c●llocandum
putet
!
De
Comaediâ
loquor
quae
si
haec
flagitia
non
probaremus
,
nulla
esset
omni●ò
.
Quaest.
Tusc.
lib.
4.
Tully
complains
,
that
the
Poets
gave
Love
,
the
author
of
so
many
follies
and
disorders
,
a
place
among
the
Deities
,
the
irregularities
of
which
were
the
constant
subject
matter
of
the
Comedies
of
his
time
.
The
severities
of
a
harsh
old
Father
,
Comedies
.
Hereupon
Cicero
cries
out
,
that
if
't
were
not
for
these
Love
extravagances
,
the
Comick
Poets
would
be
destitute
of
a
Plot.
In
which
he
seems
rather
to
tax
'em
with
barrenness
of
Invention
,
than
Immorality
.
'T
is
true
,
the
Moral
of
such
designs
cou'd
not
be
very
extraordinary
,
nor
cou'd
any
very
edifying
doctrine
of
application
be
rais'd
from
the
usual
Catastrophe
of
these
Plays
.
For
the
Poet
generally
took
care
,
after
he
had
embroil'd
matters
beyond
all
seeming
possibility
of
a
reconciliation
,
to
disentangle
all
by
some
Providential
(
if
Mr
Collier
won't
quarrel
at
the
expression
)
Incident
,
and
crown
the
young
Libertine
with
his
wishes
,
moral
Instruction
lost
.
The
Antient
Comedy
was
not
therefore
so
innocent
as
his
Character
,
nor
so
lewd
and
impure
as
his
corrupted
Quotations
wou'd
make
it
.
His
next
Authority
is
from
Livy
,
whose
Evidence
,
The
Motives
are
sometimes
good
,
when
the
means
are
stark
naught
:
These
words
Livy
utterly
disowns
;
[
*
](A36512-e11690-b)
*
Sine
carmine
ullo
sine
imitandorum
carminum
actu
,
Ludiones
ex
Hetruria
acciti
,
ad
Tibicinis
modos
Saltantes
,
haud
indecoros
motus
more
Thusco
dabant
.
Dec.
1.
l.
7.
he
says
,
that
the
Ludi
Scenici
introduc'd
upon
this
occasion
,
consisted
of
certain
dances
,
or
decent
movements
to
Musick
,
perform'd
by
Artists
fetch'd
out
of
Tuscany
,
after
the
manner
of
their
Country
.
Where
lay
the
force
of
the
Contagion
in
this
?
What
danger
of
Infection
from
a
modest
Dance
?
After
this
Livy
proceeds
to
shew
what
were
the
first
steps
that
were
made
towards
the
improvement
of
these
Ludi
Scenici
,
and
concludes
his
short
account
of
their
earliest
Gradations
with
this
Reflection
.
[
*
](A36512-e11760-b)
*
Inter
aliarum
parva
principia
rerum
ludorum
quoque
prima
origo
ponenda
visa
est
,
ut
appareret
,
quam
ab
sano
initio
res
in
hanc
vix
opulentis
regnis
tolerabilem
insaniam
venerit
.
Ibid.
Amongst
other
things
that
have
risen
from
small
beginnings
,
I
thought
fit
to
take
notice
of
Plays
,
that
I
might
shew
from
how
sober
an
Original
this
excessive
Extravagance
,
which
scarce
the
wealthiest
Nations
can
bear
,
is
deriv'd
.
This
Mr
Collier
translates
,
The
motives
are
sometimes
good
,
when
the
means
are
stark
naught
.
'T
is
pretty
plain
,
that
't
is
not
the
Immorality
,
't
was
greater
than
the
wealthiest
Nations
cou'd
well
bear
.
For
't
is
to
be
suppos'd
,
that
wealthy
people
have
as
much
need
of
Morality
as
the
poor
,
tho
they
are
not
oblig'd
to
the
same
measures
of
Thrift
,
and
good
Husbandry
.
Whether
Mr
Collier's
construction
and
application
of
this
passage
be
the
effect
of
his
Malice
or
Ignorance
,
I
leave
the
World
to
judge
.
The
following
is
yet
a
more
perverse
misconstruction
,
to
which
both
Malice
and
Ignorance
have
clubb'd
their
utmost
,
even
to
emulation
,
so
that
't
is
hard
to
distinguish
which
has
the
better
title
to
it
.
Livy
tells
us
[
*
](A36512-e11900-b)
*
Itaque
C●
.
Genutio
,
L.
Aemylio
mamerco
secundum
Coss
.
cum
piaculorum
magis
conquititio
animos
quam
corpora
morbi
afficerent
,
&c.
Ibid.
,
that
the
Romans
were
so
solicitous
about
methods
of
appeasing
the
Gods
,
that
the
anxiety
of
it
was
a
greater
affliction
to
their
Minds
,
than
the
disease
to
their
Bodies
.
This
our
Remarker
,
who
out
of
his
superabundant
understanding
,
knew
better
than
the
Author
himself
what
ought
to
have
been
said
,
thinks
fit
to
render
thus
,
The
Remedy
in
this
case
is
worse
than
the
Disease
,
and
the
Atonement
more
infectious
than
the
Plague
.
Of
the
same
stamp
is
the
Citation
from
Valerius
Maximus
,
whom
he
has
quoted
,
whither
with
less
Faith
or
Uuderstanding
,
is
matter
of
doubt
,
for
he
has
given
great
cause
to
suspect
both
.
This
Author
,
speaking
of
the
Prizes
of
their
Gladiators
,
expresses
his
resentments
of
that
barbarouscustom
,
(
in
which
Citizens
of
Rome
were
often
butcher'd
)
after
this
manner
.
[
*
](A36512-e12010-b)
*
Proximus
militaribus
institutis
ad
urbana
Castra
,
id
est
Theatra
gradus
faciendus
est
,
quoniam
haec
quoque
saepenumero
animosas
acies
in
struxerunt
ex
cogitataque
cultus
Deorum
,
&
hominum
delectationis
causa
,
non
sine
aliquo
pacis
,
rubore
voluptatem
,
&
religionem
civili
sanguine
,
senicorum
portentorum
gratia
,
macularunt
.
Lib.
2.
Cap.
4.
Falseness
and
absurdity
of
Mr
C
—
r
'
s
Paraphrase
These
things
which
were
at
first
invented
for
the
Worship
of
the
Gods
,
and
delight
of
Men
,
were
converted
totheir
destruction
,
staining
both
their
Religion
and
Diversions
,
with
the
Blood
of
Citizens
,
to
the
Scandal
of
Peace
.
'T
is
plain
,
that
by
the
Animosae
Acies
this
Author
meant
nothing
but
the
Nurseries
of
Caestiarii
,
and
Gladiators
,
and
that
by
the
Civilis
Sanguis
he
intended
no
more
of
it
,
than
was
spilt
in
arena
at
those
Prizes
in
quality
of
Gladiators
or
Gaestiarii
,
in
which
the
Spectators
had
no
concern
further
than
in
the
barbarity
of
countenancing
,
and
encouraging
so
cruel
a
practice
.
This
,
tho
bloody
and
abominable
enough
to
give
an
abhorrence
to
honest
considerate
Heathens
,
won't
suffice
Mr
Collier
,
he
despises
single
Sacrifices
,
and
calls
for
Hecatombs
;
he
's
for
breathing
the
Veins
of
the
State
,
and
slucing
the
Vitals
of
the
whole
Commonweath
at
once
.
They
were
the
occasion
of
Civil
Distractions
;
and
that
the
State
first
blush'd
,
then
bled
for
the
Entertainmeut
.
This
is
rare
Paraphrasing
,
Mr.
Collier
allows
himself
a
very
Christian
latitude
in
his
interpretations
.
But
less
wou'd
not
serve
his
turn
,
the
Drama
and
Arena
lay
at
some
distance
in
Old
Rome
,
and
therefore
this
Gentleman
was
resolv'd
to
correct
the
Map
,
and
bring
'em
together
.
But
what
occasion
for
bloodshed
at
a
Comedy
?
Why
Mr.
Paraphraser
wou'd
insinuate
,
that
the
Spectators
and
the
Actors
,
like
Don
Quixot
and
the
Puppets
,
fell
together
by
the
Ears
,
and
so
embroiling
the
State
,
engaged
the
whole
Commonwealth
in
a
Civil
War
.
If
I
could
be
perswaded
of
this
,
I
should
allow
this
Divrsion
to
be
altogether
as
Antichristian
,
as
Bear-baitings
or
Ridings
,
and
could
be
content
,
that
Mr
Collier
,
like
Hudibrass
shou'd
reduce
both
Actors
and
Spectators
by
force
of
Arms
;
the
Prowess
of
the
Champions
seems
so
so
exactly
equal
,
that
I
see
no
cause
to
doubt
,
their
Atchievements
and
Success
proving
parallel
.
He
concludes
(
says
our
Paraphraser
)
the
consequence
of
Plays
intolerable
;
Where
he
finds
this
conclusion
I
can't
tell
,
I
am
sure
not
in
either
of
the
Chapters
cited
by
him
,
nor
I
doubt
through
the
whole
Book
.
But
he
's
a
Discoverer
,
and
has
good
eyes
,
that
will
shew
him
at
a
vast
distance
what
others
can't
see
with
the
help
of
the
best
Telescopes
.
What
he
says
of
the
Massilienses
(
as
he
calls
'em
)
is
no
more
to
his
purpose
,
than
the
former
Evidence
against
the
Gladiatorial
Shews
.
Valerius
Maximus
in
his
sixth
Chapter
says
[
*
](A36512-e12380-b)
*
Eadem
Civitas
(
viz.
Massi●a
)
severitatis
custos
acerrima
est
:
nullum
aditum
in
Scenam
Mimis
dando
,
quorum
argumenta
majore
ex
parte
stuprorum
continent
actus
,
ne
talia
spectandi
consuetudo
etiam
imitaudi
licentiam
sumat
.
Cap.
6.
,
That
the
Marseillians
were
a
very
severe
People
,
that
wou●d
not
suffer
the
Mimicks
to
appear
upon
their
Stage
,
whose
business
generally
it
was
to
present
the
action
of
Rapes
to
publick
view
,
lest
the
sight
of
such
licentious
Practices
,
shou'd
debauch
the
Spectators
to
the
Imitation
of
'em
.
'T
were
needless
to
insist
long
upon
this
passage
,
having
already
shewn
the
vast
difference
between
the
Mimick
and
Dramatick
Representations
.
I
shall
only
observe
,
that
this
Author
,
by
saying
that
the
people
of
Marseilles
deny'd
the
Mimi
the
liberty
of
their
Stage
,
S●neca
,
The
summ
of
this
Philosopher's
Evidence
amounts
to
no
more
than
[
*
](A36512-e12670-b)
*
Nihil
vero
tam
damnosum
bonis
moribus
,
quam
in
aliquo
spectaculo
desidere
;
tunc
enim
per
voluptatem
vitia
facilius
surrepunt
.
Epict.
7.
that
he
thought
Idleness
a
great
corrupter
of
Manners
,
and
that
the
Shows
in
use
among
the
Romans
,
contributed
to
the
making
the
people
Idle
,
and
tainting
'em
with
Luxury
,
and
thereby
rendring
'em
more
dispos'd
to
Vice
.
His
charge
against
the
Shows
is
in
this
place
general
,
and
respects
indifferently
any
of
'em
,
many
of
which
were
in
their
own
Natures
innocent
,
and
void
of
offence
,
yet
were
equally
submitted
to
censure
in
this
passage
with
the
most
scandalous
Seneca
was
not
so
mean
a
Judge
of
Men
,
[
*
](A36512-e12720-b)
*
Tunc
enim
per
voluptatem
,
&c.
p.
235.
.
For
there
Vice
makes
an
insensible
approach
,
and
steals
upon
us
the
disguise
of
pleasure
.
Here
he
wou'd
insinuate
that
the
Vice
,
of
which
the
Philosopher
seems
so
apprehensive
,
was
of
the
growth
of
the
place
,
to
which
purpose
he
translates
the
words
.
Tunc
enim
,
For
there
,
by
which
he
endeavours
to
make
the
infection
local
,
and
renders
the
words
,
Per
voluptatem
,
In
the
disguise
of
Pleasure
,
that
it
may
seem
to
come
artificially
,
and
industriously
recommended
.
Whereas
,
all
that
he
says
imports
no
more
,
than
that
,
when
men's
Minds
,
by
the
flattery
of
those
Diversions
,
were
disarm'd
of
that
severity
,
that
the
Stoicks
(
of
which
Sect
he
was
)
think
requisite
to
the
guard
of
Virtue
,
they
were
more
easily
prevail'd
upon
,
and
led
away
by
vitious
inclinations
.
There
are
yet
behind
in
the
Train
,
Tacitus
,
Plutarch
,
Ovid
,
and
Mr.
Wycherley
,
whom
(
whether
to
shew
his
Judgment
or
his
Manners
I
know
not
)
he
has
rankt
amongst
,
and
under
the
head
of
Pagan
Authorities
;
and
truly
I
think
he
may
as
well
make
a
Pagan
of
him
,
as
an
Evidence
in
this
case
.
But
that
ingenious
Gentleman
ought
not
to
take
it
amiss
;
for
since
all
those
great
Men
of
Antiquity
,
nay
,
even
the
Fathers
themselves
,
the
Worthies
of
Christendom
,
the
Flower
of
Human
Nature
,
and
the
top
of
their
Species
,
are
obliged
every
one
of
'em
to
wear
a
Fool
's
Coat
,
he
has
the
less
reason
to
repine
at
the
Livery
.
These
are
all
summon'd
to
make
up
the
Parade
of
Learning
,
Nero
did
ill
to
make
the
necessities
of
decay'd
Gentlemen
pimp
to
the
betraying
of
their
honour
and
dignity
.
And
that
the
Germans
did
well
to
keep
their
Wives
out
of
harms
way
.
The
complaint
of
Tacitus
is
nothing
to
us
;
his
Caution
indeed
may
be
of
service
,
as
matter
of
instruction
to
Mr
Collier
,
and
his
Proselytes
,
if
he
has
any
,
who
I
hope
will
reap
the
benefit
of
the
German
Example
.
Plutarch
thinks
,
that
Licentious
Poets
ought
to
be
checkt
:
Ay
,
and
licentious
Criticks
too
,
and
corrected
into
the
bargain
:
tho
Sancha
Pancha
and
His
Critick
were
both
submitted
to
the
lash
,
till
one
learnt
Wit
,
and
t'other
Manners
,
and
both
Modesty
.
For
saw●y
Reformers
,
as
well
as
lewd
Poets
,
require
abundance
of
Discipline
to
keep
'em
within
bounds
.
Ovid
,
Air
,
&c.
But
't
is
as
much
to
be
fear'd
,
that
this
universal
Reformation
will
never
be
brought
about
,
till
the
accomplishment
of
the
Prophesie
(
if
I
may
call
it
so
,
without
offending
Mr
Collier
)
of
one
of
our
Poets
Till
Women
cease
to
Charm
,
and
Youth
to
Love
.
So
long
as
there
are
appetites
,
But
Ovid
,
it
seems
,
does
in
some
measure
plead
guilty
,
and
owns
,
that
not
only
the
opportunity
[
*
](A36512-e13210-b)
*
Ludi
quoque
semina
praebent
Nequitiae
.
De
Trist.
lib.
2.
,
but
the
business
of
the
place
sometimes
promotes
lewdness
.
Nor
is
it
to
be
wonder'd
at
,
since
some
of
the
representations
there
were
so
scandalously
lewd
,
as
to
give
offence
to
the
loosest
of
their
Poets
.
[
*
](A36512-e13220-b)
*
Junctam
Pasiphae●
ictaeo
credite
Tauro
,
Vidimus
,
accepit
Fabula
prilca
fidem
.
Mart.
Martial
tells
us
●
,
that
he
saw
the
Story
of
Pasiphae
acted
upon
their
Stage
.
But
these
were
the
Representations
of
their
Mimi
,
the
scandal
of
which
reflects
no
way
upon
the
Drama
,
either
Antient
or
Modern
,
and
will
therefore
give
us
no
occasion
to
dilate
upon
'em
here
.
I
have
at
length
run
thro
all
his
private
Authorities
against
the
Stage
,
has
taken
the
liberty
of
throwing
in
a
word
or
two
,
(
in
translating
the
Fathers
)
to
clear
the
Sense
,
to
preserve
the
Spirit
of
the
Original
,
and
keep
the
English
upon
its
Legs
.
I
hope
by
this
it
appears
,
that
he
has
confounded
the
Sense
,
corrupted
the
Spirit
,
and
set
the
English
upon
Stilts
.
His
Modesty's
too
plain
a
counterfeit
,
to
cheat
those
that
are
not
wilfully
blind
,
't
is
so
slightly
wash'd
over
,
that
the
Brass
appears
at
first
view
;
so
that
whatever
denomination
he
may
give
it
,
like
an
Irish
Half
Crown
,
't
will
soon
fall
to
its
intrinsick
value
.
After
all
,
his
pains
in
citations
are
as
unluckily
bestow'd
,
as
the
Malefactors
Fee
,
who
,
after
he
has
brib'd
the
Ordinary
,
is
call'd
to
read
over
again
to
the
Court
,
and
suffers
at
last
for
his
ignorance
.
To
close
all
,
and
crown
his
Victory
,
Mr
Collier
gives
us
some
State
Censures
(
as
he
calls
'em
)
to
shew
how
much
the
Stage
stands
discourag'd
by
the
Laws
of
other
Countries
,
and
our
own
.
To
begin
with
the
Athenians
.
'T
is
something
surprizing
to
find
the
Authority
of
the
Athenian
State
produc'd
against
the
Drama
,
of
which
they
of
all
the
people
of
the
world
were
the
greatest
Encouragers
.
And
this
very
Law
,
which
is
urg'd
against
Comedy
in
particular
,
is
an
argument
of
the
general
Esteem
it
was
at
that
time
possest
of
.
For
,
had
the
Writing
of
Comedy
been
so
unreputable
a
performance
,
as
Mr
Collier
from
this
passage
of
Plutarch
wou'd
insinuate
,
there
had
been
no
reason
to
suspect
,
that
any
of
the
Judges
of
the
Areopagus
wou'd
have
been
so
madly
indiscreet
,
as
to
have
forfeited
his
Character
and
Reputation
,
by
so
open
and
publick
a
Scandal
;
and
consequently
a
provision
by
Law
against
a
folly
of
that
nature
,
must
have
been
as
senseless
a
Caution
there
,
as
an
Act
here
wou'd
be
,
to
forbid
any
of
the
twelve
Judges
dancing
upon
the
Ropes
,
or
tumbling
thro
a
Hoop
in
publick
.
But
this
Law
makes
directly
against
the
purpose
it
was
quoted
for
,
That
these
Performances
were
not
in
fact
dishonourable
amongst
the
Athenians
,
might
be
made
appear
from
a
million
of
instances
,
were
it
necessary
.
But
the
credit
that
Aristophanes
had
among
the
Athenians
,
which
was
powerful
enough
to
ruine
Socrates
,
is
singly
sure
sufficient
to
destroy
an
assertion
so
weakly
founded
.
So
far
were
they
from
having
Comedy
in
disgrace
,
that
they
encourag'd
,
and
maintain'd
it
at
vast
expence
to
the
Publick
,
and
thought
it
so
proper
an
instrument
of
Reformation
[
*
](A36512-e13660-b)
*
Apud
Graecos
fuit
Lege
concessum
ut
quod
vellet
Comaedia
nominatim
,
&
de
quo
vellet
diceret
.
Cic.
de
Rep.
apud
S.
August
.
de
Civit
dei
,
cap.
9.
,
that
they
gave
it
free
liberty
of
Speech
,
and
priviledg'd
it
to
say
any
thing
,
and
of
any
body
by
name
;
and
this
not
by
connivance
,
but
by
Law
;
there
lay
no
Action
of
Scandal
either
against
Poet
or
Actors
.
This
probably
gave
occasion
to
the
excessive
liberties
of
the
old
Comedy
,
These
reasons
(
since
Plutarch
is
silent
)
may
suffice
to
shew
,
Nor
was
their
kindness
extended
only
to
the
Drama
;
for
the
Bacchanalian
Games
,
even
after
the
abdication
of
Tragedy
and
Comedy
,
tho
they
held
not
an
equal
rank
with
the
other
,
yet
had
some
share
of
their
Favour
;
and
Aeschines
,
who
,
according
to
the
testimony
of
[
*
](A36512-e13850-b)
*
Locata
Opera
tua
illis
Histrionibus
,
qui
suspiriosi
cognominantur
,
tertias
partes
actitabas
.
Demosth
.
Orat.
de
Coron:
And
in
the
same
Oration
he
calls
him
Tertianum
Historionem
.
Demosthenes
,
and
[
†
](A36512-e13880-b)
†
Aeschines
tertias
partes
in
Bacchanalibus
apud
Aristodemum
actitavit
.
Plut.
Aeschine
.
Plutarch
,
was
but
a
third
rate
Actor
[
*
](A36512-e13900-b)
*
Aeschines
legationes
obiit
,
&
multas
alias
,
&
ad
Philippum
de
pace
.
Ibid.
,
yet
was
so
well
consider'd
by
the
State
,
as
to
be
sent
on
several
Embassies
,
and
particularly
to
conclude
a
Peace
with
Philip
of
Macedon
,
than
which
the
State
cou'd
not
have
given
him
a
more
honourable
Employment
.
This
,
I
suppose
,
may
almost
amount
to
a
demonstration
,
that
the
Athenians
had
no
such
scandalous
opinion
of
the
Stage
,
as
Mr
Collier
wou'd
insinuate
,
making
even
Plutarch
himself
Judge
in
the
case
.
It
wou'd
be
impertinent
after
this
to
insist
upon
the
great
Employments
,
with
which
Sophocles
,
and
some
other
of
their
Poets
were
honour'd
;
since
the
already
mention'd
honours
and
privileges
are
a
sufficient
evidence
of
the
Publick
Esteem
.
His
next
State
Opinion
is
that
of
the
Lacedemonians
;
and
here
after
a
flourish
of
his
own
,
he
appeals
to
Plutarch
again
.
The
Lacedemonians
,
I
find
,
if
this
Author
can
but
make
his
reading
appear
,
't
is
no
matter
whether
his
sense
does
or
not
.
Here
is
a
Period
of
five
lines
and
a
half
,
without
any
principal
Verb.
But
the
Author
is
got
into
his
Rhetorical
strain
,
and
't
is
no
matter
for
Grammar
.
For
when
his
Fury's
up
,
Priscian
had
best
stand
out
of
his
way
;
or
take
a
broken
Head
quietly
,
or
woe
be
to
his
bones
.
But
who
told
him
,
that
the
Lacedemonians
were
so
remarkable
for
the
Wisdom
of
their
Laws
?
They
were
indeed
notorious
for
the
unreasonable
severity
and
singularity
of
'em
.
But
I
beg
Mr
Collier's
pardon
,
if
ill
Nature
and
Singularity
ben't
arguments
of
Wisdom
,
a
certain
sowre
,
singular
Remark●r
may
have
written
a
Book
to
call
his
own
understanding
in
question
.
The
Gentleman
,
The
Spartans
were
a
people
something
of
Mr
Collier's
Kidney
,
But
why
did
this
Scourge
of
the
Stage
suppress
the
reason
of
this
Aversion
of
the
Spartans
to
the
Drama
?
Was
it
not
for
his
purpose
?
Well
,
if
he●s
resolv'd
not
to
to
tell
us
,
Plutarch
is
better
natur'd
,
and
will
.
He
says
,
[
*
](A36512-e14320-b)
*
Comaedias
,
&
Tragaedias
non
admittebant
Lacones
,
ut
ntque
serio
,
eos
qu●legibus
contradicerent
audirent
.
Instit.
Lacon
.
This
Authority
falsified
likewise
.
that
the
Lacedemonians
allow'd
neither
Tragedy
nor
Comedy
,
that
they
might
not
hear
any
thing
contradictory
to
their
Laws
.
Here
was
an
Authority
in
appearance
as
serviceable
to
his
purpose
,
as
the
old
broad
Money
was
to
the
Clippers
,
but
he
,
like
some
of
those
unconscionable
Artists
,
that
when
they
had
clipt
a
Six-pence
,
woud
clap
a
Nine-penny
stamp
upon
it
,
cou'd
not
be
contented
with
the
advantage
of
diminution
,
but
he
by
covetously
endeavouring
to
raise
the
value
,
spoiled
the
currency
of
his
Authority
.
This
Government
(
says
he
)
wou'd
not
endure
the
Stage
in
any
form
,
nor
under
any
Regulation
.
What
warrant
has
he
from
Plutarch
for
this
Assertion
?
But
what
does
he
mean
here
by
the
Stage
?
Bear
Garden
Play
(
if
I
may
call
it
so
)
was
not
only
tolerated
,
but
very
much
encouraged
by
the
State
.
Their
Women
too
had
their
Religious
Plays
,
In
the
exclusion
of
the
Drama
,
they
aim'd
only
to
preserve
that
Martial
Spirit
,
which
by
the
whole
course
and
method
of
their
Education
and
Exercises
,
they
endeavour'd
to
infuse
into
,
and
nurse
up
in
their
youth
,
which
they
were
afraid
the
Delicacy
and
Luxury
of
the
Drama
,
as
't
was
practic'd
at
Athens
,
might
soften
,
and
that
the
Elegancy
and
Pleasure
of
those
diversions
wou'd
breed
a
niceness
,
which
wou'd
insensibly
create
a
disgust
in
their
youth
to
the
Manners
and
Customs
of
their
Country
,
and
consequently
make
'em
think
their
Laws
harsh
and
unpolish'd
.
It
was
not
therefore
the
Virtue
of
the
Spartans
,
Whatever
were
the
reasons
that
induc'd
'em
to
banish
the
Drama
,
if
Virtue
was
not
,
't
is
nothing
to
Mr
Collier's
purpose
.
As
for
their
breeding
brave
Men
,
I
believe
they
may
be
match'd
from
the
opposite
State
of
Athens
,
both
for
number
and
quality
.
But
if
the
Athenians
rivall'd
'em
in
Military
Glory
,
they
infinitely
excell'd
'em
in
all
other
valuable
Qualities
,
and
had
as
much
more
Manners
,
as
they
had
Wit
or
Wealth
.
So
that
if
Mr
Collier
will
needs
have
them
for
his
Champions
,
I
must
oppose
their
old
Antagonists
to
'em
,
and
leave
them
to
decide
the
Fate
of
Greece
.
For
I
think
the
opposition
as
unequal
,
as
that
of
Ovid
,
Mulieber
in
Trojam
,
pro
Trojâ
stabat
Apollo
.
The
next
step
he
takes
is
into
Italy
,
and
there
indeed
he
endeavours
to
draw
a
mighty
Republick
into
a
League
Offensive
and
Defensive
.
And
here
,
by
the
means
of
St
Austin
,
he
draws
Tully
in
;
but
since
Tully
does
not
appear
in
propriâ
personâ
we
shall
not
spend
Time
and
Ammunition
upon
him
,
but
pass
on
to
Livy
:
Authority
consider'd
.
P.
241.
Postqu●m
lege
〈◊〉
fabularum
ab
risu
,
〈◊〉
soluto
i●co
res
avocabatur
,
&
ludus
in
artem
paulatim
verterat
,
Juventus
histrionibus
fabellarum
actu
relictu
,
ipsa
inter
se
more
antiquo
ridicula
intexta
versibus
jactitare
caepit
,
quae
inde
exodia
postea
appellata
,
conserta●
;
Fabellis
potissimum
Atellanis
sunt
,
quod
genus
ludorum
ab
Oscis
acceptum
tenuit
juventus
:
nec
ab
histrionibus
pollui
passa
est
.
Eo
institutum
manet
,
ut
Actores
Atellauarum
nec
tri●a
moveantur
,
&
stipendia
tanquam
expertes
artis
Ludicrae
faciant
.
Dec.
1.
l.
7.
Who
,
making
his
personal
appearance
,
is
more
formidable
.
We
read
in
Livy
,
that
the
young
people
in
Rome
kept
the
Fabulae
Atellanae
to
themselves
.
They
wou'd
not
suffer
this
diversion
to
be
blemish'd
by
the
Stage
.
For
this
reason
,
as
the
Historian
observes
,
the
Actors
of
the
Fabulae
Atellanae
were
neither
expell'd
their
Tribe
,
nor
refus'd
to
serve
in
Arms.
Both
which
Penalties
,
it
appears
,
the
common
Players
lay
under
.
Here
Mr
Collier
has
us'd
a
piece
of
Ingenuity
uncommon
with
him
,
and
put
the
words
,
Ab
Histrionibus
pollui
in
the
Margin
to
justifie
his
Translation
.
This
is
a
strain
of
fair
play
,
that
he
has
not
been
persuaded
to
come
up
to
,
since
his
first
quotation
from
Theophilus
Antiochenus
.
Not
but
that
he
was
satisfy'd
of
the
reasonableness
of
the
conduct
,
(
as
appears
by
his
using
it
,
when
't
is
for
his
turn
)
but
because
he
had
cause
to
fear
the
service
of
it
.
In
this
Translation
is
another
of
his
elegancies
of
Speech
:
Were
neither
expell●d
their
Tribe
,
nor
refused
to
serve
in
Arms.
He
means
,
I
suppose
,
prohibited
,
or
denied
the
liberty
of
serving
in
Arms
:
for
refus'd
to
serve
in
Arms
is
not
English
.
To
understand
this
passage
of
Livy
rightly
,
[
*
](A36512-e15100-b)
*
Virtus
superstitione
animis
Ludi
quoque
Scenici
nova
res
bellico●o
populo
,
instituti
dicuntu●
.
Et
ea
ipsa
percgrina
res
suit
.
Ludiones
ex
Hetruria
acciti
.
Ibid.
.
So
that
when
there
seem'd
to
be
a
necessity
of
instituting
expiatory
Plays
,
the
Romans
were
such
absolute
strangers
to
things
of
that
nature
,
that
they
were
forc'd
to
fetch
Artists
out
of
Tuscany
.
It
is
no
wonder
if
the
Romans
,
who
[
*
](A36512-e15150-b)
*
Imitari
deinde
eos
juventus
,
simul
inconditis
inter
se
jocularia
fundentes
versibus
,
cepere
.
Ib.
Acting
of
Plays
first
left
off
by
the
Roman
youth
,
because
of
the
difficulty
.
were
a
people
very
proud
,
and
conceited
of
their
own
performances
,
treated
all
those
Arts
,
and
Artists
,
which
were
not
adapted
to
their
proper
Genius
with
contempt
,
especially
after
they
had
receiv'd
those
Improvements
,
which
render'd
'em
more
artificial
,
and
consequently
more
difficult
.
By
which
means
the
Roman
Youth
,
who
at
first
began
to
imitate
the
Tuscan
Players
,
were
forc●d
to
throw
up
those
refin'd
diversions
to
their
[
†
](A36512-e15200-b)
†
Vernaculis
Artifiribus
.
Ib.
Slaves
,
and
stick
themselves
to
the
old
,
rude
,
simple
way
of
mixing
indigested
Verses
,
and
crude
extempore
raillery
.
Mercenary
Players
,
who
were
upon
this
occasion
distinguish'd
by
the
name
of
[
*
](A36512-e15260-b)
*
Vernaculis
Artisicibus
,
〈◊〉
Hister
〈…〉
Ibid.
Histriones
,
the
Roman
Youth
retaining
to
themselves
only
the
Fabulae
Atellanae
,
which
,
●ecause
of
their
rudeness
and
simplicity
,
requir'd
no
great
skill
or
application
,
as
the
other
did
;
which
,
for
that
reason
,
perhaps
they
were
either
too
Saturnine
,
or
too
proud
to
learn
of
those
,
whom
they
esteem'd
as
Vassals
,
or
Slaves
.
That
this
was
the
reason
of
their
giving
over
the
acting
their
other
Plays
,
and
not
any
turpitude
,
or
dishonesty
in
the
things
themselves
,
Livy
himself
declares
,
by
saying
[
*
](A36512-e15320-b)
*
Postquam
lege
,
that
after
the
introduction
of
the
Fable
,
they
became
too
artificial
for
the
practice
of
their
youth
,
and
therefore
reserving
to
themselves
the
Atellanae
only
,
they
left
the
rest
of
the
Shews
to
those
that
made
it
their
sole
business
.
'T
is
observable
,
that
the
Historian
in
this
account
of
Plays
includes
not
the
Drama
at
all
;
for
he
speaks
here
only
of
the
Fables
,
which
,
after
the
Satyrae
,
were
introduc'd
by
one
Livius
,
and
were
repeated
in
Verse
with
action
and
gestures
to
Musick
.
Tragedy
and
Comedy
were
not
known
to
the
Romans
till
some
ages
after
,
the
progress
of
their
Arms
had
not
made
them
acquainted
with
the
Learning
of
Greece
,
and
the
Wealth
and
Luxury
of
Asia
.
This
mark
therefore
of
Infamy
,
which
was
set
upon
the
Histriones
(
from
which
(
as
Mr
Collier
observes
)
the
Actors
of
the
Fabulae
Atellanae
were
exempt
,
can't
properly
stick
upon
the
Actors
of
Tragedy
,
and
Comedy
as
such
,
that
Law
having
been
made
long
before
the
Drama
was
brought
to
Rome
from
Greece
But
it
was
the
misfortune
of
the
Drama
to
make
its
Publick
Entry
into
Rome
,
Mercenary
Players
,
but
even
after
the
Law
had
branded
these
latter
with
Infamy
and
Disgrace
,
by
excluding
'em
from
their
Tribes
,
and
denying
'em
the
liberty
of
bearing
Arms.
Whether
,
because
making
a
business
,
and
profession
of
diversion
only
,
the
Roman
State
,
which
encourag'd
those
exercises
only
that
tended
towards
hard'ning
their
Youth
,
for
labour
and
military
action
,
as
partly
thro
inclination
,
so
also
out
of
necessity
and
State
interest
,
being
in
its
infamy
surrounded
by
Neighbours
more
potent
than
themselves
,
and
oblig'd
to
subsist
almost
altogether
upon
the
purchase
of
their
Swords
,
thought
fit
,
by
a
publick
discouragement
,
to
deter
their
Youth
from
giving
themselves
up
to
an
Employment
,
that
so
little
suited
the
posture
,
and
condition
of
their
Affairs
at
first
,
and
the
vastness
of
their
Ambition
afterwards
.
Or
,
that
after
the
first
separation
,
occasion'd
(
as
Livy
hints
)
rather
by
the
incapacity
and
unfitness
of
the
Romans
for
Elegancy
,
and
polite
Exercise
,
the
practice
of
the
Stage
,
fell
wholly
into
the
hands
of
Slaves
,
and
Mercenary
Foreigners
,
to
joyn
with
whom
,
the
Magistrates
and
People
,
who
were
extremely
proud
,
and
jealous
of
the
honour
,
and
dignity
of
their
Citizens
as
such
,
thought
it
so
great
an
indignity
and
debasement
that
they
made
provision
by
this
Law
against
it
.
Or
,
lastly
,
that
their
Mimes
&
Pantomimes
were
already
,
before
the
making
of
this
Law
,
arriv'd
at
that
lewd
heighth
of
impudence
,
that
we
have
already
taken
notice
of
,
which
obliged
the
Government
to
take
this
method
to
fright
their
Citizens
from
mixing
in
the
proctice
of
such
impurities
.
Of
these
Reasons
the
two
first
seem
joyntly
to
have
contributed
to
the
production
of
this
Law
:
'T
is
probable
,
Ludi
Scenic●
that
when
Tragedy
and
Comedy
came
upon
the
Roman
Stage
,
being
destitute
of
able
Actors
of
a
higher
Character
,
they
were
necessitated
to
make
use
of
the
Actors
of
the
Scenic
Shews
,
who
,
tho
us'd
to
Representations
differing
very
much
both
in
their
manner
and
end
,
yet
by
their
practice
and
pronunciation
and
gestures
,
had
both
Voice
and
Motion
under
great
command
;
which
made
the
exercise
of
the
Tragick
or
Comick
Stage
,
tho
new
and
unknown
to
'em
before
,
not
difficult
.
By
this
means
the
Actors
of
Tragedy
and
Comedy
,
But
granting
the
meaning
and
intention
of
that
Law
to
reach
the
Dramatick
Actors
,
and
that
using
a
craft
,
which
submits
'em
to
those
compliances
,
for
which
the
other
are
censur'd
;
they
also
are
offenders
against
the
design
of
it
,
and
consequently
are
comprehended
within
the
intent
of
it
,
and
liable
to
the
penalty
.
Yet
even
thus
this
instance
,
giving
it
all
the
scope
that
may
be
in
the
utmostlatitude
of
construction
,
is
no
way
serviceable
to
this
Reformer's
purpose
.
This
would
have
appear'd
very
plain
,
had
the
Law
itself
,
instead
of
the
instance
from
Livy
,
been
produc'd
.
[
*
](A36512-e15880-b)
*
Praetorian
Edict
.
[
†
](A36512-e15890-b)
†
Infamia
notatur
qui
Artis
Iudicae
,
pronunciandive
causa
in
Scenam
prodierit
.
Scena
est
,
ut
Labeo
definit
quae
ludorum
faciendorum
causa
quolibet
loco
,
ubi
quis
consistat
,
moveaturque
spectaculum
sui
praebiturus
,
posita
est
.
L.
1.
&
2.
F.
de
iis
qui
notantur
infamia
.
The
Pretorian
Edict
runs
thus
Whoever
appears
upon
the
Stage
to
speak
,
or
act
,
is
declar'd
infamous
.
Which
Labeo
expounds
thus
.
The
Stage
is
any
place
fitted
up
for
the
use
of
Plays
,
where
any
one
is
to
appear
,
and
by
his
motion
make
himself
a
publick
Spectacle
.
This
Law
being
conceiv'd
in
general
terms
against
all
that
speak
or
act
,
upon
the
Stage
for
the
diversion
of
the
People
,
seems
indeed
naturally
to
include
Comedians
,
and
Tragedians
,
who
do
both
speak
,
and
act
upon
the
Stage
,
and
make
a
show
of
themselves
to
the
People
too
.
Yet
it
does
not
serve
our
Adversaries
cause
at
all
,
who
must
shew
,
that
their
Profession
was
branded
for
the
Immorality
of
it
,
or
he
talks
nothing
to
the
purpose
.
This
Exposition
of
Labeo's
upon
this
Law
,
Spectaculum
sui
praebere
,
make
a
shew
of
themselves
for
hire
;
which
the
Pride
of
the
Romans
might
very
naturally
make
'em
think
to
be
a
Prostitution
of
the
Dignity
and
Character
of
a
Citizen
of
Rome
,
which
deserv'd
to
be
punish'd
with
the
privation
of
that
which
they
had
dishonour'd
.
To
secure
this
point
,
to
be
blemish'd
by
the
Stage
,
are
(
as
has
already
been
observ'd
)
put
into
the
Margin
,
by
which
he
hopes
to
cast
that
blemish
upon
the
Morality
of
the
performance
,
which
in
strictness
regarded
only
the
Persons
,
and
Dignity
of
the
Actors
,
and
that
not
upon
any
Moral
,
but
a
Political
Consideration
.
By
these
Instances
it
may
appear
,
what
violence
of
Construction
is
used
to
rack
and
torture
these
antient
Authors
to
confess
,
and
depose
against
their
Consciences
.
Stretching
the
Text
is
nothing
with
him
,
to
serve
his
purpose
it
must
be
dismember'd
,
that
he
may
have
the
cementing
the
fragments
as
he
pleases
;
by
which
means
he
has
shewn
'em
in
more
unnatural
figures
,
than
even
Posture
Clark
knew
;
Heads
and
Tails
are
so
promiscuously
jumbled
together
,
that
the
most
familiar
posture
you
find
'em
in
,
is
that
of
a
Dog
couchant
,
with
their
Noses
in
their
A
—
s.
But
if
after
all
,
[
*
](A36512-e16190-b)
*
Eos
enim
qui
quaestus
causa
in
certamina
descendunt
,
&
omnes
propter
praemium
in
Scenam
prodeunres
,
famofos
esse
Pegasus
,
&
Nerva
filius
responderunt
.
L.
2.
de
iis
qui
notantur
infamia
.
Those
that
enter
the
Lists
for
the
sake
of
Gain
,
or
appear
upon
the
Stage
for
Reward
,
are
infamous
,
says
Pegasus
,
and
Nerva
the
Son
.
Here
't
is
plain
that
't
was
not
the
nature
of
their
Profession
that
drew
the
censure
upon
'em
,
but
the
condition
of
their
exercising
it
,
which
was
for
hire
,
whereby
they
became
Mercenaries
.
This
disgrace
,
affecting
only
the
Mercenary
Actors
,
reflects
no
way
upon
the
Poets
of
the
Drama
,
and
their
Performances
.
For
had
they
been
scandalous
,
't
is
not
to
be
imagin'd
,
that
so
many
of
the
greatest
men
that
ever
Rome
bred
,
and
the
tenderest
of
their
honour
,
wou'd
have
amus'd
themselves
about
Works
,
in
which
they
must
have
employ'd
abundance
of
Time
,
Learning
,
and
Judgment
,
to
forfeit
their
Reputation
and
Dignity
.
Scipio
Africanus
and
Laelius
were
Julius
and
Augustus
Caesar
,
Collier
▪
has
lately
seduc'd
him
over
to
his
Party
,
and
made
a
Malecontent
of
him
,
was
once
very
well
contented
,
and
easy
at
a
Play
,
and
that
too
,
not
a
sober
Tragedy
or
Comedy
,
[
*
](A36512-e16480-b)
*
In
meridianum
Spectaculumincidi
lusus
Spectans
,
&
sa●les
,
&
aliquid
Laxamenti
Epist.
7.
but
one
of
their
Noonday
Drolls
,
a
kind
of
their
Ludi
Senici
,
more
wretched
and
contemptible
,
than
our
Smithfield
Farces
,
and
less
modest
.
Yet
his
Gravity
was
it
seems
refresh'd
by
it
,
tho
he
's
grown
so
very
squeamish
,
since
his
acquaintance
with
Mr
Collier
that
it
would
be
a
h●rd
matter
to
reconcile
〈◊〉
to
a
grave
Tragedy
,
tho
of
his
own
Wri●ing
(
before
his
rigid
new
friend
,
Mr
Collier
)
some
of
which
are
suppos'd
to
be
yet
extant
amongst
his
Name
sake●s
Collection
of
Tragedies
.
Brutus
,
who
left
behind
him
(
notwithstanding
his
fatal
engagement
in
the
assassination
of
Caesar
,
)
as
high
an
Idea
of
his
Virtue
,
and
as
a
perfect
character
of
an
excellent
moral
m●n
,
as
even
Ca●o
himself
,
was
as
great
an
admirer
and
encourager
of
the
Drama
,
as
any
Roman
of
'em
all
.
And
Tully
himself
,
who
had
as
much
Vanity
and
Pride
as
any
man
breathing
,
thought
it
no
diminution
of
his
dignity
and
character
,
to
contract
an
intimate
friendship
with
Roscius
an
Actor
,
and
publickly
to
espouse
his
Interest
,
and
defend
his
Cause
,
which
a
man
of
his
vanity
and
caution
would
not
have
done
,
had
the
Censure
of
that
Law
upon
his
Profession
,
any
way
affected
in
the
publick
esteem
the
reputation
of
those
among
'em
,
that
had
any
personal
merit
,
as
Roscius
,
AEsopus
,
and
some
others
.
But
tho
these
,
and
many
others
of
the
most
eminent
among
the
Romans
,
were
avow'd
Patrons
,
and
the
suppos'd
at
least
,
if
not
the
real
Author
of
many
of
their
Dramatick
Pieces
,
yet
our
Remarker
finds
,
that
in
the
time
of
Theodosius
all
sorts
of
Players
did
not
come
up
to
the
Reputation
of
those
Great
Men
,
Theodosian
Code
considered
.
and
make
the
top
figures
of
their
time
,
and
therefore
he
claws
'em
away
with
another
swinging
Authority
.
In
the
Theodosian
Code
,
Players
are
call'd
Personae
inhonestae
,
[
*
](A36512-e16760-b)
*
In
loco
honesto
.
place
of
the
Town
.
So
says
Mr
Collier
,
but
the
Emperors
Theodosius
,
Arcadius
,
and
Honorius
,
by
the
Authority
of
whom
this
Law
was
enacted
and
continued
in
force
,
were
somewhat
less
severe
,
and
something
more
particular
,
and
this
Gentleman●s
Version
of
that
Law
,
however
soft
he
may
pretend
it
to
be
,
is
no
very
fair
one
.
Faithfully
render'd
it
runs
thus
.
If
,
[
*
](A36512-e16820-b)
*
Siqua
in
publicis
Porticibus
,
vel
in
his
Civitatum
locis
,
in
quibus
nostrae
solent
Imagines
consecrari
pictura
●●●cmimum
vest●
hum●●i
,
&
rugosis
sinubus
Agitatorem
,
aut
vilem
offerat
Histrionem
,
illico
revellatur
:
neque
unquam
,
post
hac
liceat
in
loco
honesto
personas
in
honestas
ad
no●are
.
In
aditu
vero
Circi
,
vel
in
Theatri
prosceniis
ut
collocentur
,
non
vetamus
,
L.
Siqua
.
Cod.
de
Spectac
.
in
the
publick
Porches
,
or
other
Places
of
the
City
where
Statues
use
to
be
dedicated
to
us
,
the
Picture
of
any
mean
habited
Pantomime
and
Charioteer
with
his
ruffled
Garment
,
or
base
Droll
Actor
be
put
up
,
let
it
be
immediately
pull●d
down
:
nor
shall
it
be
lawful
for
the
future
to
represent
persons
of
such
despicable
Characters
in
places
of
honour
.
But
in
the
entrance
of
the
Circus
,
or
before
the
Stage
of
the
Theatres
they
may
be
allow'd
.
This
,
hail
fellow
,
well
met
with
him
at
a
Publick
Entry
,
or
Audience
.
These
Emperours
,
it
seems
,
thought
it
a
sort
of
Indignity
to
have
every
Scoundrel
Hackney
Coachman
,
Antick
Tumbler
,
or
Droll
Actor
set
up
in
Effigie
by
their
own
Statues
,
which
in
the
times
of
Paganism
were
the
objects
of
Solemn
Worship
,
and
afterwards
of
the
highest
veneration
imaginable
below
it
.
They
thought
it
a
derogation
to
Majesty
(
as
well
they
might
)
to
have
objects
of
ridiculous
mirth
and
scorn
plac'd
so
near
'em
,
and
that
the
tickling
to
laughter
,
which
these
produc●d
in
the
people
,
wou'd
lessen
the
awful
Respect
and
Reverence
expected
to
be
paid
to
the
other
.
But
not
to
carry
matters
so
high
;
Roman
Porticus
to
their
Emperors
)
I
suppose
it
wou●d
be
resented
as
an
affront
,
and
be
by
order
pull'd
down
.
But
if
any
man
should
take
a
fancy
to
the
sign
of
the
King●s
Head
,
and
his
next
Neighbour
to
Mr
Be●terton's
,
I
hardly
think
there
would
come
any
order
from
Whitchall
to
demolish
or
Lamb-black
the
Sign
.
And
tho
perhaps
the
two
first
may
actually
be
found
at
Murray●s
or
some
other
eminent
Limners
in
the
same
Room
yet
I
fancy
the
Painter
will
hardly
incur
the
penalty
of
Crimen
laesae
Majestatis
,
tho
he
should
happen
to
have
drawn
'em
both
with
the
same
Pencil
too
.
Princes
,
tho
very
zealous
and
tender
of
their
honour
,
(
as
they
have
reason
to
be
)
yet
are
not
half
so
nice
and
scrupulous
as
Mr
Collier
.
These
instances
are
exactly
parallel
to
,
and
shew
the
difference
between
the
drift
of
the
Theodosian
Code
,
and
of
his
extravagant
Paraphrase
,
which
having
already
given
the
words
of
,
I
leave
the
Reader
to
judge
of
the
Intention
.
His
instances
from
our
English
Statutes
and
the
Petition
of
his
Godly
Citizens
,
I
shall
take
no
notice
of
,
both
because
I
find
it
sufficiently
done
already
to
my
hands
,
and
because
I
think
em
nothing
to
his
purpose
,
as
I
think
indeed
of
the
greatest
part
of
what
I
have
already
examined
;
but
hitherto
they
seem'd
to
carry
a
face
of
Learning
and
Authority
,
which
might
mislead
the
unlearnd
,
or
surprize
the
unwary
,
if
they
were
not
warn'd
in
time
of
his
disingenuity
in
Quotation
.
His
Authorities
drawn
from
the
several
Canons
of
some
Councils
,
Delenda
est
Carthago
,
But
after
he
has
,
like
a
hot
mettled
Car
,
with
a
bad
Nose
,
over-run
the
Scent
,
and
cry'd
it
false
thro
all
the
●ields
of
Antiquity
,
he
begins
to
be
afraid
of
being
whipt
home
,
and
therefore
begins
to
draw
towards
it
of
himself
.
He
's
sensible
,
that
the
comparison
betwixt
the
Roman
and
English
Stages
will
not
hold
water
,
and
to
answer
the
leaks
,
he
begins
to
ply
the
Pump
,
in
order
to
keep
it
afloat
,
but
it
works
as
hard
,
and
refunds
as
little
as
a
Usurers
Conscience
.
But
it
may
be
objected
,
English
Stage
any
thing
so
bad
as
the
Dancing
of
the
Pantomimi
?
I
don't
say
that
.
The
Modern
Gestures
,
tho
bold
,
and
lewd
too
sometimes
,
are
not
altogether
so
scandalous
as
the
Roman
.
Here
then
we
can
make
'em
some
little
abatement
.
Ay!
But
where
's
the
Boldness
,
Fopling
Flutter's
stratagem
,
and
is
sparing
of
his
Vigour
in
private
,
only
to
be
lavish
of
it
in
publick
,
and
thinks
no
one
Woman
worth
the
loss
of
a
Cut
in
a
Caper
,
which
is
designed
to
make
his
Court
to
the
whole
Sex
.
This
indeed
is
a
dangerous
design
,
and
the
discovery
is
worth
Mr
Collier's
time
and
pains
,
t
is
a
Plot
upon
the
Virtue
of
the
whole
Sex
;
therefore
if
he
has
any
such
thing
in
the
Wind
,
e●en
let
him
follow
his
nose
,
and
cry
it
away
as
loud
as
he
pleases
.
Well
,
but
he
begins
to
relent
again
already
,
these
wamblings
are
a
certain
sign
of
Breeding
,
he
's
in
a
longing
condition
,
that
's
plain
.
Come
t'other
strain
Sir
,
and
up
with
't
.
So
now
it
's
out
.
And
to
go
as
far
in
their
Excuse
as
we
can
,
Really
Sir
this
is
very
kind
,
and
condescending
.
Ib.
P.
22.
that
Charms
,
and
Transports
,
Rufflles
,
and
Becalms
,
and
Governs
,
with
such
an
arbitrary
Authority
,
that
can
make
drunken
Fellows
,
as
soler
,
and
shame-faced
,
as
one
wou●d
wish
.
If
he
can
tell
me
this
,
erit
mihi
magnus
Apoll
,
or
,
what
's
but
one
remove
from
him
,
first
Knight
of
his
own
order
of
the
Welch
Harp
.
Our
Fiddlers
find
to
their
cost
sometimes
the
want
of
this
coercive
power
,
but
perhaps
they
can't
play
a
Dorion
,
and
for
that
piece
of
Ignorance
deserve
the
Fate
they
sometimes
meet
with
,
when
they
unluckily
fall
into
the
Company
of
these
Drunken
Fellows
,
and
get
their
heads
broke
with
their
own
Fiddles
,
in
return
for
their
Musick
.
Yet
to
do
the
Gentleman
all
the
Justice
,
ay
and
the
Favour
too
,
that
we
can
,
in
return
for
his
late
Civility
,
I
must
own
,
that
I
have
seen
at
a
Country
Wake
,
or
so
,
one
of
these
Harm
onious
Knights
of
the
Scrubbado
,
or
a
Melodious
Rubber
of
Hair
and
Catgut
,
lug
a
whole
Parish
of
as
arrant
Logs
,
as
those
that
danced
after
Orpheus
,
by
the
Ears
after
him
,
to
the
next
empty
Barn
,
frisking
,
and
curvetting
at
such
a
frolicksom
rate
,
that
they
could
scarce
keep
their
Legs
together
;
nay
,
such
was
the
power
of
the
Melody
,
that
even
the
solitary
deserted
Gingerbread
Stalls
wagged
after
;
and
all
this
without
the
help
of
one
illegal
string
,
and
but
four
very
untunable
ones
.
What
cou'd
Timotheus
,
or
even
Orpheus
himself
do
more
.
However
I
wou'd
not
have
the
Gentleman
swell
too
much
in
the
Pride
of
his
Victory
,
I
wou'd
not
have
him
insult
too
soon
.
For
,
tho
possibly
these
Knights
of
the
Harp
and
Catgut
might
know
,
how
to
arm
a
sound
,
and
put
force
and
Conquests
in
it
,
yet
had
there
not
been
a
Favourable
Conjuncture
of
Circumstances
,
the
Harmony
,
as
charming
as
it
was
,
had
not
succeeced
so
miraculously
,
nor
produc'd
such
extatick
Raptures
.
For
example
,
had
this
Descendant
from
Orpheus
surpriz'd
'em
at
a
time
,
when
the
Holyday
Clothes
were
laid
up
in
Lavender
,
when
the
Hay
,
or
Harvest
was
abroad
,
or
the
Snow
upon
the
Ground
,
and
the
Cattle
wanted
Foddering
,
when
the
Calf
was
to
be
suckled
,
and
the
Cheese
to
be
set
,
he
might
have
thrummed
his
Harp
out
,
and
cou'd
no
more
have
stirred
those
very
Clods
,
that
leapt
as
mechanically
before
at
the
first
twang
,
as
if
they
had
been
meer
Machines
(
Instruments
strung
,
and
tuned
to
an
Unisone
)
then
he
cou'd
have
raised
the
Turf
,
they
trod
upon
,
by
vertue
of
Ela
,
and
F-ffaut
.
The
Critical
Juncture
mist
,
Roger
had
not
jogged
a
foot
out
of
his
way
,
nor
Madge
out
of
her
Dairy
,
they
had
been
as
regardless
of
his
Harmony
,
as
a
London
Milk
Maid
,
after
the
first
week
in
May
;
〈◊〉
●ntient
Britto●●
〈◊〉
as
easily
have
been
charmed
from
his
scrubbing
Post
.
There
are
indeed
certain
opportunities
to
be
found
by
those
that
skilfully
watch
'em
,
Thus
far
Musick
,
it
shou'd
be
in
the
power
of
a
few
mercenary
Hands
,
to
play
the
People
out
of
their
Sences
,
to
run
away
with
their
understanding
,
and
wind
their
Passions
about
their
Fingers
,
as
they
list
.
I
suppose
few
will
take
it
upon
this
Gentlemans
word
,
that
Musick
is
almost
as
dangerous
,
as
Gunpowder
;
and
requires
no
less
looking
after
,
than
the
Press
or
the
Mint
.
This
Gentleman
sure
has
a
Noise
of
Musick
in
his
head
,
that
has
put
the
Stumm
in
his
Brain
into
a
Ferment
,
and
caused
it
to
work
over
into
all
this
windy
fancy
and
froth
.
He
has
been
a
Tale-gathering
among
the
Antients
,
and
wou●d
put
his
Romantick
Rhapsody
upon
us
for
Authentick
.
But
what
is
yet
more
unreasonable
is
,
that
without
offering
one
Argument
to
prove
either
the
reasonableness
of
his
Opinion
,
or
the
reality
of
his
Instances
,
he
dogmatically
asserts
things
monstrously
,
exceeding
the
stretch
of
the
most
capacious
faith
,
and
yet
expects
that
,
which
alone
is
sufficient
to
destroy
the
credit
of
things
infinitely
more
probable
,
the
vast
distance
of
time
shou'd
warrant
the
truth
of
them
.
As
if
he
believed
all
Mankind
to
be
proselyted
to
the
Paradox
of
a
certain
Father
certum
est
quia
impossibile
.
But
if
the
Power
of
the
Antient
Music
was
so
great
,
as
he
would
perswade
us
,
certainly
Timotheus
was
a
Fool
for
suffering
his
harp
to
be
seized
for
having
one
string
above
publick
Allowance
.
altering
the
notes
,
were
the
way
to
have
the
Laws
repealed
,
and
to
unsettle
the
Constitution
,
he
might
with
a
twang
,
instead
of
taking
a
string
from
his
Harp
,
have
put
one
about
the
Magistrates
Neck
,
and
for
a
Song
have
set
himself
at
the
head
of
Commonwealth
.
But
this
Author
,
who
is
all
along
a
Platonist
in
his
Philosophy
,
is
in
this
point
an
arrant
Bigot
.
The
whole
scheme
and
strain
of
the
Platonick
Philosophy
,
Now
were
I
in
as
cross
a
mood
,
and
as
much
at
leisure
to
be
impertinent
as
this
Admirer
of
the
Antient
Musick
,
who
has
ventur'd
to
affirm
it
as
certain
,
that
our
Improvements
of
this
kind
,
are
little
better
than
Ale-house
Crowds
,
with
respect
to
theirs
.
I
cou'd
with
a
cërtainty
of
Evidence
,
next
to
Demonstration
,
maintain
just
the
Reverse
of
his
Assertion
,
and
prove
that
the
Musick
of
the
Antients
fell
infinitely
short
of
the
Modern
in
point
of
perfection
,
as
well
in
Theory
as
Practice
,
and
that
,
waving
the
fabulous
accounts
,
(
which
none
but
an
Enthusiastick
Bigot
can
seriously
insist
upon
)
all
our
Memoirs
from
Antiquity
will
scarce
make
the
Harps
of
Orpheus
and
Arion
,
&c.
to
triumph
over
a
Jew's
Harp
,
or
Rival
a
Scotch
Bagpipe
.
But
after
all
,
Play-House
Musick
,
and
that
he
is
no
competent
Judge
.
I
don't
say
this
part
of
the
Entertainment
is
directly
vitious
,
because
I
am
not
willing
to
censure
at
Vncertainties
.
How
long
,
I
wonder
,
has
he
been
thus
modest
?
had
he
been
thus
tender
all
along
,
he
had
suppress'd
his
whole
Book
,
and
the
truth
had
suffer'd
nothing
by
the
loss
of
it
.
But
in
earnest
,
is
he
deaf
?
or
does
he
wax
up
his
ears
when
he
goes
to
a
Play
,
as
(
he
says
)
Vlysses
did
,
when
he
sail'd
by
the
Syrens
?
No
,
neither
;
but
,
if
we
may
believe
him
,
Those
that
frequent
the
Play-house
are
the
most
competent
Judges
.
Why
that
's
honestly
said
,
they
are
so
;
keep
but
to
this
,
and
there
's
some
hope
of
an
accommodation
.
But
alas
!
tho
his
zeal
is
a
little
Aguish
now
,
the
hot
●it
comes
on
apace
,
and
then
right
or
wrong
,
He
must
say
,
that
the
performances
of
this
kind
are
much
too
fine
for
the
place
.
Tho
he
has
never
heard
of
one
,
bold
and
lewd
too
sometimes
.
Now
whether
he
means
that
the
Fiddler
himself
is
an
Infidel
of
a
Fiddler
,
or
that
he
has
an
unbelieving
Crowd
,
he
is
desir'd
to
explain
;
for
they
are
both
left
to
be
catechiz'd
by
him
.
But
as
for
the
sounds
produc'd
betwixt
them
,
care
has
been
already
taken
to
clear
'em
,
not
only
from
guilt
,
but
from
all
manner
of
meaning
whatsoever
.
As
for
the
dancing
,
which
he
calls
bold
,
it
may
in
one
sense
be
allow'd
him
;
for
it
must
be
granted
,
that
he
that
ventures
his
neck
to
dance
upon
the
top
of
a
Ladder
,
is
a
very
bold
Fellow
.
If
this
concession
be
of
any
use
to
him
,
't
is
at
his
service
,
whether
the
fraternity
of
Rope-dancers
take
it
well
at
my
hands
or
not
.
But
for
the
Lewdness
,
I
must
remind
him
of
his
appeal
to
those
who
frequent
the
Play-houses
,
(
whom
he
allows
to
be
)
the
most
competent
Judges
.
But
as
their
Judgment
in
these
matters
appears
to
be
indisputable
,
so
the
modesty
of
the
better
part
of
'em
at
least
,
(
I
mean
the
Ladies
)
who
are
the
particular
favourers
of
this
part
of
the
entertainment
,
is
unquestionable
.
Their
countenance
therefore
in
so
plain
a
matter
,
which
being
a
question
of
fact
,
admits
of
no
other
decision
,
ought
to
be
lookt
upon
as
a
definitive
Judgment
against
him
,
and
a
sufficient
vindication
of
our
Stage-dancing
.
I
should
here
dismiss
this
point
without
further
debate
,
If
the
English
Stage
is
more
reserv'd
than
the
Roman
in
the
case
above-mentioned
.
Here
again
I
am
at
a
loss
to
know
whether
this
is
a
fault
of
ignorance
or
design
.
But
be
it
whether
he
pleases
,
the
falseness
of
his
assertion
is
unpardonably
scandalous
;
for
whether
he
has
ventur'd
to
affirm
beyond
,
or
contrary
to
his
knowledge
,
't
is
manifest
he
did
it
with
an
intention
to
impose
upon
his
Readers
,
by
asserting
that
which
he
could
not
know
to
be
true
,
if
he
did
not
certainly
know
it
to
be
false
.
The
Vocal
Musick
of
the
Antient
Stage
was
of
two
sorts
,
But
if
their
Chorus
was
modest
and
harmless
enough
;
the
other
part
of
their
Stage
Vocal
Musick
will
make
ample
amends
,
and
make
the
lewdness
of
our
Poets
appear
,
as
demure
as
a
Quaker
at
a
silent
meeting
.
The
Antients
had
lustier
Appetites
,
and
stronger
Digestions
,
than
the
Moderns
,
and
their
Poets
cookt
thei●
Messes
accordingly
,
they
did
not
stand
to
make
minc'd
Meat
,
or
artificially
to
steal
in
their
Ribaldry
,
and
disguise
it
in
nice
Ragou's
after
the
modern
way
;
they
were
for
whole
Services
,
substantial
Treats
of
Bawdy
.
Nor
do
I
find
,
that
it
recoil'd
upon
the
Stomachs
of
the
generality
of
their
Guests
for
many
Ages
together
.
The
Reader
I
suppose
will
immediately
guess
that
I
mean
the
Ludi
Scenici
,
The
Antients
,
't
is
plain
,
were
not
by
abundance
so
scrupulous
;
if
they
had
,
those
lewd
Drolls
had
never
been
compos'd
,
much
less
represented
.
But
they
were
for
all
naked
,
without
the
vail
of
Figure
or
Dress
,
they
requir●d
Nudities
in
Speech
,
as
well
as
Action
,
the
Audience
went
away
with
satisfaction
,
and
the
Poet
with
applause
.
By
this
we
may
see
,
that
our
Stage
upon
the
comparison
is
not
so
rampantly
lewd
,
as
Mr.
Collier
represents
it
,
nor
the
ancient
so
inoffensive
.
To
dilate
upon
this
head
,
would
be
both
improper
and
impertinent
;
but
these
few
hints
,
which
,
all
that
are
acquainted
with
the
practice
of
the
Roman
Stage
,
know
to
be
true
,
whether
Mr
Collier
does
or
not
,
may
suffice
to
shew
what
an
unfair
Adversary
the
Stage
has
met
with
;
and
to
prove
that
he
is
not
an
upright
,
or
not
a
competent
Judge
of
these
matters
,
in
which
he
unauthoriz'd
undertakes
to
determine
,
and
arrogantly
obtrudes
his
false
Judgment
upon
us
.
Another
of
his
objections
to
the
Stage
in
general
,
is
their
dilating
so
much
upon
the
Argument
of
Love
.
Upon
this
article
he
is
very
lavish
of
his
Rhetorick
,
I
don't
say
the
Stage
fells
all
before
'em
,
and
disables
the
whole
Audience
:
What
means
all
this
unseasonable
Cry
Fire
,
they
are
prepar'd
for
Conquest
and
Empire
,
the
highest
of
their
acquests
,
that
I
could
ever
hear
of
,
was
a
good
keeping
,
which
has
fallen
to
the
share
of
but
a
few
of
'em
;
when
multitudes
of
their
Sex
have
arriv'd
at
greater
matters
without
any
such
formidable
preparations
.
However
,
here
's
Mein
,
and
Equipage
,
and
the
Author
seems
afraid
,
lest
the
raw
Squires
of
the
Pit
should
take
em
for
Quality
in
earnest
,
and
be
dazled
with
the
lustre
of
the
inestimable
Treasure
of
Glass
,
and
Tinsel
,
and
so
catch
the
real
Itch
of
Love
from
their
counterfeit
Scrubbado
.
And
truly
there
's
as
much
reason
to
fear
,
they
shou'd
be
pursu'd
for
their
Fortunes
,
as
their
Love
off
the
Stage
.
To
answer
this
Rant
of
Whimsie
and
Extravagance
seriously
,
were
as
ridiculous
an
undertaking
as
Hudibras's
dispute
with
the
Managers
of
his
West
Country
Ovation
,
and
by
the
sample
we
have
of
our
Antagonist
,
the
issue
wou●d
probably
be
as
cleanly
.
But
if
any
one
thinks
an
answer
to
this
charge
necessary
,
he
may
see
as
much
as
it
will
bear
,
and
more
than
it
deserves
,
in
a
late
Piece
entitled
,
A
Review
of
Mr.
Collier
'
s
View
,
&c.
He
has
yet
another
charge
upon
the
Stage
left
,
and
that
is
their
encouraging
of
Revenge
.
What
is
more
common
than
Duels
and
Quarrelling
,
in
their
Characters
of
Figure
?
Those
Practices
,
which
are
infamous
in
Reason
,
Capital
in
●aw
,
and
Damnable
in
Religion
,
are
the
Credit
of
the
Stage
.
Thus
Rage
and
Resentment
,
Blood
and
Barbarity
are
almost
deified
;
Pride
goes
for
Greatness
,
and
Fiends
and
Heroes
are
made
of
the
same
metal
.
And
thus
the
notion
of
Honour
is
mis-stated
,
the
Maxims
of
Christianity
despised
,
and
the
Peace
of
the
World
disturb'd
One
would
think
he
had
found
out
another
passage
in
Valerius
Maximus
,
and
that
the
Civilis
Sangu●s
was
abroach
again
.
But
Rome
contented
him
then
,
now
nothing
less
than
the
Peace
of
the
whole
World
must
be
disturb'd
about
a
Bawble
.
Sure
he
thinks
all
the
World
of
the
Country-Wife's
opinion
,
that
the
Player
Men
are
the
finest
folks
in
it
.
But
so
far
is
Revenge
from
being
encourag'd
,
Poetick
Justice
is
done
upon
'em
for
it
;
it
is
generally
turn'd
upon
their
own
heads
,
becomes
the
snare
in
which
they
are
taken
,
and
the
immediate
Instrument
of
their
miserable
Catastrophe
.
Thus
in
the
Mourning
Bride
,
Don
Manuel
,
to
glut
his
lust
of
Revenge
,
Comedy
indeed
does
not
afford
us
many
instances
of
this
kind
;
I
grant
that
some
Passions
,
Love
,
Jealousie
,
Anger
,
are
frequently
,
and
sometimes
justly
employ'd
in
Comedy
;
but
then
they
are
to
be
kept
under
,
and
must
not
be
suffer'd
to
get
the
Ascendant
,
and
domineer
over
Reason
;
if
they
do
,
they
are
no
longer
Comick
Passions
.
Love
must
not
carry
'em
beyond
Gallantry
,
and
Gaiety
of
Spirit
in
the
Pride
of
Success
,
nor
further
than
a
light
disquiet
,
such
as
may
excite
their
Industry
,
and
whet
their
Invention
under
disappointments
.
Jealousie
must
not
hurry
'em
beyond
their
Cunning
,
or
make
their
Impatience
betray
their
Plot.
Nor
must
their
Anger
break
out
into
Flames
,
and
push
'em
upon
rash
unadvis'd
Actions
.
Such
Revenges
therefore
,
as
are
the
result
of
Passions
so
moderated
,
and
circumstantiated
,
are
allowable
in
Comedy
;
which
can
never
produce
any
such
terrible
effects
,
as
to
deserve
all
these
furious
Claps
of
Thunder
,
which
Mr
Collier
has
discharg'd
upon
'em
.
Horace
indeed
tells
us
,
that
Comedy
will
raise
its
voice
sometimes
,
and
scold
,
and
swagger
violently
.
Interdum
tamen
&
Vocem
Comoedia
tollit
,
But
this
very
Instance
shews
,
Chremes
,
in
the
Heautontimorumenos
of
Terence
,
who
is
produc'd
by
Horace
as
an
example
of
the
heighth
of
Comick
Passion
,
Instance
from
Terence
ex
was
a
Husband
,
a
Father
,
and
a
Master
,
injur'd
(
at
least
in
his
own
Opinion
)
and
abus'd
in
all
these
capacities
by
his
Wife
,
his
Son
,
and
his
Slave
;
his
Authority
slighted
,
and
what
was
worse
,
his
Understanding
,
(
of
which
he
was
not
a
little
conceited
)
affronted
,
and
He
practic'd
upon
,
and
made
a
Cully
of
by
his
Son
,
and
his
Slave
,
even
in
the
exaltation
of
his
Wit
,
and
Cunning
,
by
his
own
Plot
and
Management
.
These
were
provocations
as
high
as
Comedy
could
well
admit
,
and
consequently
the
rage
,
which
they
must
naturally
produce
in
a
man
of
his
Temper
,
and
Opinion
of
his
own
Prudence
,
must
be
in
proportion
.
Yet
,
what
follows
?
Chremes
does
not
lose
his
Reason
in
his
Anger
,
[
*
](A36512-e19340-b)
*
Hic
,
ita
ut
liberos
est
〈…〉
contutabitur
.
Sed
Syrum
—
Si
vivo
adeo
exornatum
dabo
,
adeo
depexum
,
ut
dum
vivat
meminerit
semper
mei
:
Qui
sibi
me
pro
ridiculo
,
ac
delectamento
putat
.
Non
(
ita
me
Dio
ament
)
auderet
facere
haec
Viduae
mulieri
,
Quae
in
me
fecit
.
His
Son
(
he
tells
you
)
shall
be
reduc'd
by
Words
to
Reason
:
But
as
for
Syrus
,
that
Rogue
,
that
had
made
him
his
Sport
and
his
Laughing-stock
,
he
would
take
such
care
of
him
,
and
put
him
in
such
a
Trim
,
he
should
not
dare
to
put
his
tricks
upon
a
Widow
hereafter
,
as
he
had
done
upon
him
.
What
is
there
in
all
this
,
that
Mr
Collier
with
all
his
Scruples
about
him
can
quarrel
with
?
'T
is
true
,
a
Scene
or
two
after
he
falls
upon
his
Son
,
in
very
opprobrious
terms
,
and
calls
him
Drunkard
,
Blockhead
,
Spendthrift
,
Rake-hell
,
&c.
But
his
Fury
spends
itself
in
a
few
words
,
and
he
comes
immediately
to
composition
with
his
Son
,
and
is
easily
wrought
to
forgive
even
Syrus
too
,
so
that
all
his
fury
is
spent
,
not
to
revenge
the
affront
receiv'd
,
but
to
reclaim
his
Son
.
But
Mr
Collier's
Resentments
are
of
another
Nature
;
Rage
,
Bloud
and
Barbarity
are
the
Ingredients
of
'em
,
and
consequently
they
're
no
composition
for
the
Ingredients
of
Comedy
;
and
Tragedy
,
as
we
have
already
shewn
,
is
no
encourager
of
'em
,
but
just
the
contrary
.
I
can't
see
how
he
can
make
'em
to
be
of
the
proper
growth
of
the
Stage
.
For
Tragedy
,
by
giving
'em
so
odious
a
Dress
and
Air
,
and
so
calamitous
a
Catastrophe
,
as
it
always
does
,
takes
the
most
effectual
course
absolutely
to
eradicate
'em
,
and
to
purge
the
minds
of
the
Audience
of
those
turbulent
Guests
.
Upon
this
Prospect
it
was
,
that
Aristotle
pronounc'd
so
largely
in
favour
of
Tragedy
,
That
it
made
Terror
and
Compassion
the
instruments
,
Arist.
P●et
.
lib.
cap.
6.
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
.
P.
283.
Du●●g
and
Rencounters
against
the
Nature
and
Laws
of
Comedy
.
by
which
it
purified
and
refined
those
very
Passions
in
us
,
and
all
of
the
like
nature
.
But
,
if
Tragedy
be
no
Encourager
of
such
Disorders
,
much
less
can
Comedy
,
which
meddles
not
at
all
with
'em
,
be
with
any
colour
of
Justice
accus'd
.
Comedy
has
nothing
to
do
with
either
Fiends
,
or
Heroes
,
whatever
Stuff
,
or
Metal
they
may
be
made
of
.
'T
is
indeed
a
Fault
to
bring
Duels
and
Rencounters
upon
the
Comick
Stage
,
from
which
some
of
our
Poets
can't
excuse
themselves
.
But
't
is
a
Fault
rather
against
the
rules
of
Poetry
,
and
true
Dramatick
Writing
,
than
those
of
Morality
.
For
,
in
Poetry
as
well
as
Painting
,
we
are
oblig'd
to
draw
after
the
life
,
and
consequently
to
copy
as
well
the
Blemishes
as
the
Beauties
of
the
Original
;
otherwise
the
finest
colours
we
can
bestow
,
are
no
better
than
gay
dawbing
.
The
fault
therefore
of
the
Poet
lies
not
in
shewing
the
imperfections
of
any
of
his
Persons
,
but
in
shewing
them
improperly
,
and
in
the
wrong
place
,
which
is
an
Error
of
his
Judgment
,
not
his
Morals
,
and
wou'd
be
as
great
if
he
shou'd
untowardly
produce
in
Comedy
the
highest
Examples
of
Heroick
Virtue
and
Fortitude
.
An
Instance
of
this
kind
we
have
in
the
Comical
Revenge
,
or
Love
in
a
Tub
,
of
Sir
George
Etherege
,
in
which
the
Duel
,
and
the
Action
of
Bruce
after
it
are
of
a
strain
above
Comedy
.
Those
niceties
of
Honour
,
and
extravagancies
of
Jealousie
and
Despair
are
unnatural
on
the
Comick
Stage
;
and
the
Rescue
from
the
Ruffians
,
for
which
Bruce
in
the
same
Scene
is
oblig'd
to
his
Rival
,
however
brave
and
generous
an
action
it
may
appear
,
consider'd
simply
in
it self
,
is
a
trespass
against
Justice
and
Propriety
of
Manners
in
that
place
.
Indeed
that
whole
Walk
of
the
Play
,
and
the
set
of
Characters
peculiarly
belonging
to
it
,
are
more
nearly
related
to
the
Buskin
,
than
the
Sock
,
and
render
the
Play
one
of
those
which
we
improperly
call
Tragicomedies
.
The
other
Walk
,
as
't
is
one
of
the
most
diverting
,
so
't
is
one
of
the
most
natural
,
and
best
contriv'd
that
ever
came
upon
the
Stage
.
This
may
suffice
to
shew
that
a
Comick
Poet
can't
trespass
against
the
Laws
of
Morality
in
this
nature
,
without
offending
against
the
Laws
of
his
own
Art
;
and
consequently
that
such
a
fault
ought
rather
to
be
lookt
upon
as
an
Error
of
his
Judgment
than
of
his
Will
,
which
may
deserve
the
correction
of
a
Critick
,
but
not
of
a
Moralist
.
But
supposing
that
a
Writer
of
Comedy
Godfrey
Kneller
to
set
up
for
taking
Confessions
,
and
enquire
into
the
Principles
of
any
man
,
in
order
〈◊〉
true
draught
of
his
Face
.
The
Poet
,
as
well
as
the
Painter
is
to
follow
,
not
to
pretend
to
lead
Nature
:
and
if
custom
and
common
practice
have
already
determin'd
the
Point
,
whether
,
according
to
Equity
,
or
not
,
the
Poet
exceeds
his
Commission
,
if
he
presumes
to
run
counter
to
'em
.
So
that
if
a
Comick
Poet
be
so
far
overseen
,
as
to
bring
his
Gentlemen
into
the
Field
,
or
but
so
far
towards
it
as
a
Challenge
,
there
is
no
taking
up
the
matter
without
action
,
or
(
which
is
all
one
to
Mr
Collier's
objection
)
shewing
a
readiness
,
and
disposition
for
it
on
both
sides
.
And
the
Poet
stands
in
need
of
all
his
Skill
,
and
Address
to
save
their
Honour
,
and
reconcile
'em
without
engagement
.
Since
therefore
both
by
the
nature
of
his
subject
,
But
because
some
of
those
Gentlemen
,
that
have
taken
pains
to
proclaim
War
against
the
present
Stage
,
and
have
publish'd
their
censures
of
it
,
seem
to
have
no
true
Idea
of
the
business
of
a
Dramatick
Poet
,
and
have
arraign'd
some
of
the
present
Writers
for
the
Stage
,
either
through
malice
or
misunderstanding
,
of
high
crimes
and
misdemeanours
,
in
many
particulars
for
doing
those
things
which
the
duty
of
a
Poet
oblig'd
'em
to
;
it
may
not
be
amiss
,
for
the
information
of
Mr
Collier
more
especially
,
and
those
whom
his
furious
misgrounded
invectives
may
have
mis-led
,
to
enquire
into
the
nature
and
Laws
of
Stage
Poetry
,
and
the
Practice
of
it
,
both
among
the
Antients
and
Moderns
,
as
far
as
concerns
Morality
,
and
the
depending
Controversie
only
,
and
no
farther
.
And
here
we
may
joyn
issue
with
Mr
Collier
,
and
allow
,
that
The
business
of
Plays
is
to
recommend
Virtue
,
and
discountenance
Vice
;
To
shew
the
Vncertainty
of
Humane
Greatness
,
the
sudden
turns
of
Fate
,
and
the
unhappy
Conclusions
of
Violence
and
Injustice
.
'T
is
to
expose
the
Singularities
of
Pride
and
Fancy
,
to
make
Folly
and
Falshood
contemptible
,
and
to
bring
every
thing
that
is
Ill
under
Infamy
and
Neglect
.
Thus
we
set
out
together
,
Moral
Dialogues
,
wherein
five
or
six
persons
shou'd
meet
,
and
with
abundance
of
Zeal
and
Rhetorick
preach
up
Virtue
,
and
decry
Vice
.
Hereupon
he
falls
upon
the
Poets
with
all
the
Rage
and
Fury
imaginable
,
for
introducing
in
their
Plays
vicious
Characters
,
such
as
in
Tragedy
,
Tyrants
,
Treacherous
Statesmen
,
Crafty
Priests
,
Rebellious
Subjects
,
&c.
In
Comedy
,
Libertines
,
Whores
,
Sharpers
,
Cullies
,
Fops
,
Pimps
,
Parasites
,
and
the
like
.
Now
,
whether
this
conduct
of
the
Poets
,
or
his
Censure
of
it
be
more
justifiable
,
is
the
subject
of
our
Enquiry
.
To
facilitate
which
,
it
will
be
proper
to
establish
some
certain
Standard
,
by
which
we
may
measure
the
Morality
or
Immorality
of
a
Dramatick
Poem
,
and
try
thereby
some
of
the
most
celebrated
Pieces
,
as
well
of
the
Antients
as
Moderns
;
that
their
Beauties
and
Deformities
of
this
kind
,
either
absolute
or
respective
,
may
appear
either
severally
,
or
upon
collation
,
and
the
Poet
be
accordingly
justified
or
condemn'd
.
The
Parts
therefore
of
a
Play
,
Poet.
c.
6.
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
.
in
which
the
Morals
of
the
Play
appear
,
are
the
Fable
,
the
Characters
,
and
the
Discourse
.
Of
these
the
Fable
(
in
Tragedy
especially
)
is
the
most
considerable
,
being
(
according
to
Aristotle
)
the
Primum
Mobile
by
which
all
the
other
parts
are
acted
and
govern'd
,
and
the
principal
Instrument
by
which
the
Passions
are
weeded
and
purg'd
,
by
laying
before
the
Eyes
of
the
Spectators
examples
of
the
miserable
Catastrophe
of
Tyranny
,
Usurpation
,
Pride
,
Cruelty
,
and
Ambition
,
&c.
and
to
crown
suffering
Virtue
with
Success
and
Reward
,
or
to
punish
the
unjust
Oppressors
of
it
with
Ruine
and
Destruction
.
In
Comedy
,
Knaves
,
Misers
,
Sots
,
Coquets
,
Fops
,
Jilts
and
Cullies
,
all
which
Comedy
corrects
by
rendring
'em
unsuccessful
,
and
submitting
them
in
her
Fable
,
to
the
Practices
and
Stratagems
of
others
,
after
such
a
manner
,
as
to
expose
both
Knavery
,
Vanity
,
and
Affectation
,
in
the
conclusion
,
or
winding
up
,
to
the
Scorn
and
Derision
of
the
Spectators
.
And
thus
by
making
Folly
and
Knavery
ridiculous
to
the
View
,
Comedy
gains
her
end
,
stops
the
contagion
,
and
prevents
the
imitation
more
effectually
than
even
Philosophy
herself
,
who
deals
only
in
Precept
can
do
,
as
Horace
,
and
before
him
Aristotle
have
observ'd
,
by
presenting
that
lively
to
the
Sight
,
which
the
other
can
only
inculcate
in
words
.
Segnius
irritant
animos
demissa
per
aures
,
Thus
while
in
the
large
Forest
of
Humane
Affections
,
Tragedy
labours
to
fell
those
sturdy
overgrown
Plants
the
Passions
,
Comedy
employs
itself
in
grubbing
up
the
underwood
of
Vice
,
Folly
and
Affectation
;
and
if
its
Operations
are
of
less
importance
than
those
of
the
former
,
they
make
ample
amends
by
their
more
extended
,
and
almost
universal
Influence
.
But
this
it
seems
is
not
the
design
of
the
Modern
Stage
Poets
;
Great
Enemies
;
and
to
promote
Lewdness
and
Atheism
,
and
to
destroy
Principles
is
their
business
,
if
we
may
believe
Mr
Collier
,
who
has
taken
abundance
of
malicious
Pains
to
incense
the
World
against
'em
;
and
like
an
experienc'd
Incendiary
,
not
only
gives
the
Fire
,
and
blows
the
Coals
,
but
furnishes
Fuel
of
his
own
too
,
to
encrease
the
Flame
.
To
inflame
the
Reckoning
of
the
Modern
Poets
,
Mr
Collier
is
not
content
to
charge
the
English
Poets
with
Faults
of
Negligence
,
The
Oedipus
Tyrannus
of
Sophocles
has
by
the
universal
consent
of
the
learned
of
all
Ages
,
the
greatest
reputation
of
the
Dramatick
Performances
of
Antiquity
,
I
shall
therefore
begin
with
that
,
and
shew
that
the
Fable
of
that
deservedly
admir'd
Piece
is
by
no
means
so
noble
,
instructive
,
and
serviceable
to
Virtue
,
by
its
main
or
general
Moral
,
as
many
of
those
Plays
,
against
which
and
their
Authors
Mr
Collier
inveighs
with
so
much
Bitterness
.
The
Fable
of
the
Oedipus
is
this
;
Fable
of
the
Oedipus
of
Sophocles
.
Laius
,
the
Father
of
Oedipus
,
and
King
of
Thebes
,
was
inform'd
by
an
Oracle
,
that
it
was
his
fate
to
be
slain
by
his
own
Son
,
who
should
be
born
of
his
Wife
Jocasta
.
To
elude
the
threats
of
the
Oracle
,
Laius
,
as
soon
as
the
Child
was
born
,
delivers
him
to
one
of
his
Servants
to
be
murder'd
.
This
man
,
mov'd
to
compassion
by
the
innocence
of
the
Babe
,
instead
of
taking
away
his
life
,
perforating
both
his
Feet
,
and
passing
a
Bend
thro
'em
,
hang'd
him
up
by
the
Heels
,
and
left
him
to
the
disposal
of
Providence
.
In
this
posture
he
was
found
by
a
Domestick
of
Polybus
King
of
Corinth
,
who
,
taking
him
down
,
carried
him
to
his
Master
,
who
being
childless
,
receiv'd
,
educated
,
and
own'd
him
as
his
own
.
Oedipus
being
at
length
grown
up
,
and
being
in
a
contest
of
words
with
a
Corinthian
,
he
reproach'd
with
his
unknown
Birth
,
and
being
a
Foundling
,
of
which
till
that
moment
he
had
by
the
express
order
of
Polybus
,
been
kept
in
ignorance
,
resolves
to
consult
the
Oracle
at
Delphi
about
his
Parentage
,
and
is
order'd
by
the
Oracle
to
seek
no
further
,
for
that
it
was
his
destiny
to
kill
his
Father
,
and
beget
Children
upon
his
Mother
.
Upon
this
answer
,
he
resolves
for
ever
to
abandon
Corinth
,
his
suppos'd
Country
,
and
in
order
thereto
,
takes
his
way
towards
Thebes
,
and
on
the
Road
meets
Laius
,
and
a
quarrel
arising
between
'em
,
he
kills
him
,
and
all
his
followers
,
one
excepted
,
to
whom
upon
his
supplication
he
gives
quarter
.
Arriving
at
Thebes
,
he
finds
that
City
in
great
confusion
,
both
for
the
loss
of
their
King
,
whom
he
knew
not
to
be
the
person
slain
by
him
upon
the
Road
,
and
for
the
prodigious
ravage
and
waste
committed
by
the
Monster
Sphinx
,
who
distress'd
'em
so
,
that
they
durst
scarce
stir
out
of
their
Walls
.
To
rid
themselves
of
the
terrour
of
this
Monster
,
the
Thebans
offer
their
Queen
and
Crown
to
any
man
that
could
resolve
the
Riddle
propounded
by
the
Sphinx
,
upon
the
resolution
of
which
only
they
were
to
be
quit
of
her
.
This
Oedipus
,
notwithstanding
the
miscarriage
of
divers
before
him
,
who
failing
in
their
attempt
were
destroy'd
by
her
,
undertakes
,
and
succeeding
in
it
,
the
Monster
breaks
her
own
Neck
,
and
he
in
reward
,
receives
the
Crown
,
and
Queen
to
Wife
.
For
some
time
Oedipus
governs
with
great
prudence
,
and
has
several
Children
by
Jocasta
.
At
length
a
furious
Plague
arising
,
and
making
great
Havock
in
the
City
,
Oedipus
deputes
Creon
to
the
Oracle
,
to
consult
about
the
Causes
of
,
and
Means
to
be
deliver'd
from
the
Pestilence
.
Thus
far
the
History
of
Oedipus
proceeds
before
the
Action
of
the
Play
commences
;
and
tho
the
whole
action
of
the
Play
naturally
arises
from
this
antecedent
part
,
yet
Sophocles
had
very
artificially
reserv'd
it
to
be
deliver'd
by
way
of
Narration
at
the
unravelling
of
the
Plot
,
which
is
the
most
natural
and
beautiful
of
all
Antiquity
.
But
what
is
only
considerable
to
our
purpose
is
,
that
hitherto
Oedipus
bears
the
character
of
a
Just
and
a
Wise
man
;
and
if
he
be
involv'd
in
any
thing
that
bears
an
appearance
of
Guilt
,
invincible
Ignorance
(
which
the
Schoolmen
hold
to
be
a
good
Plea
)
is
his
excuse
.
But
if
he
is
hitherto
innocent
of
any
intentional
Guilt
,
he
is
thro
the
whole
course
of
the
Action
exemplarily
pious
.
At
his
first
appearance
upon
the
Stage
,
that
he
was
not
equal
to
the
Gods
,
and
had
made
'em
have
recourse
to
their
Altars
.
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
,
This
was
a
bold
complement
from
a
Priest
,
and
the
Priest
of
Jupiter
too
,
the
Soveraign
of
the
Gods
.
But
not
to
insist
too
much
upon
this
Passage
,
Creon
enters
,
and
breaks
off
the
Parley
betwixt
'em
;
He
brings
word
from
the
Oracle
,
that
the
Murtherer
of
Laius
must
be
expell'd
the
Territories
of
Thebes
.
Oedipus
'
Proclamation
.
Who
was
this
Murtherer
was
yet
a
Secret
,
the
Oracle
not
making
that
discovery
.
Oedipus
hereupon
summons
a
meeting
of
the
People
,
and
makes
Proclamation
,
that
if
any
one
privy
to
the
Fact
wou'd
come
in
,
and
make
a
discovery
,
he
shou'd
,
if
concern'd
therein
,
be
indemnified
in
his
Person
,
and
be
oblig'd
only
to
leave
Thebes
.
But
that
if
he
cou'd
inform
of
any
other
Person
therein
concern'd
,
he
shou'd
be
liberally
rewarded
,
and
purchase
his
Favour
by
such
Discovery
.
And
if
any
one
,
conscious
of
this
matter
,
did
out
of
fear
for
himself
or
his
Friend
,
obstinately
refuse
to
break
silence
,
he
requir'd
all
his
Subjects
not
to
give
him
harbour
or
sustenance
,
or
to
hold
any
manner
of
Commerce
or
Correspondence
with
him
.
After
this
he
proceeds
to
imprecate
the
Actor
or
Actors
of
this
Regicide
,
and
extends
the
curse
to
his
own
House
,
if
with
his
privity
he
was
protected
there
.
But
this
method
failing
to
produce
the
desir'd
effect
,
he
consults
Tiresias
the
Prophet
,
by
whom
Oedipus
himself
is
accus'd
of
killing
his
Father
,
and
committing
Incest
with
his
Mother
;
which
Accusation
being
afterwards
confirm'd
by
the
concurring
report
of
the
old
Servant
of
Laius
,
by
whom
he
was
expos'd
in
his
Infancy
,
and
of
the
Domestick
of
Polybus
,
despairing
in
the
horrour
of
these
involuntary
crimes
,
he
tears
out
his
own
Eyes
;
and
Jocasta
,
who
equally
ignorant
was
involv'd
in
the
guilt
of
Incest
,
hangs
herself
.
This
Plot
,
that
they
should
not
rashly
measure
any
man's
Felicity
by
his
present
Fortune
,
but
wait
his
extremest
Moments
,
to
make
a
true
estimate
of
his
Happiness
.
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
,
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
,
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
,
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
;
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
.
Mr
Dryden
,
English
Oedipus
the
same
.
who
has
borrow'd
this
Story
from
Sophocles
,
has
summ'd
up
his
Moral
in
the
two
concluding
lines
of
his
Play
,
in
which
not
only
the
application
seems
to
be
the
same
,
but
the
Lines
themselves
are
a
contracted
Paraphrase
of
Sophocles
own
conclusion
.
Let
none
,
tho
ne're
so
virtuous
,
great
,
and
high
,
Be
judg'd
entirely
blest
before
they
dye
.
This
Moral
,
as
it
carries
nothing
in
it
but
a
lazy
,
But
with
Reverence
to
the
Ashes
of
Sophocles
,
and
submission
to
the
better
Judgment
of
Mr
Dryden
,
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
.
Fortune
herself
,
(
or
Fate
)
destroys
And
Oedipus
himself
,
finding
by
the
relation
of
Jocasta
,
that
the
circumstances
of
the
death
of
Laius
,
agreed
with
those
of
the
persons
slain
by
him
on
the
Road
,
and
beginning
to
be
convinc'd
of
his
own
guilt
,
ushers
in
his
account
of
that
action
,
with
the
fatal
necessity
that
oblig'd
him
to
leave
his
own
Country
;
and
relates
his
Piety
,
as
't
were
by
way
of
alleviation
for
what
follows
.
He
pleads
,
that
being
inform'd
by
the
Oracle
,
that
he
should
kill
his
Father
,
and
commit
Incest
with
his
Mother
,
he
had
quitted
the
expectation
of
a
Crown
,
and
made
himself
a
voluntary
,
and
perpetual
Exile
from
Corinth
,
to
avoid
the
Crimes
he
was
threatned
with
.
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
,
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
.
The
English
Oedipus
is
more
plain
,
and
expresses
himself
more
clearly
in
defence
of
his
Innocence
,
ev'n
while
he
suspects
himself
to
have
been
an
Actor
in
the
Tragedy
of
Laius
.
To
you
good
Gods
,
I
make
my
last
appeal
,
Here
Oedipus
seems
to
suspect
the
truth
of
the
matter
,
and
alledges
his
own
Ignorance
,
and
the
decree
of
the
Gods
in
his
Justification
;
but
the
Ghost
of
Laius
clears
the
point
of
Fatality
,
and
makes
a
better
Apology
for
Oedipus
,
than
't
was
possible
for
him
to
do
for
himself
.
But
he
who
holds
my
Crown
,
These
instances
consider'd
,
together
with
the
Order
,
Contrivance
and
Nature
of
the
Fable
,
as
well
of
the
Greek
,
as
the
English
Poem
,
will
readily
point
out
to
us
a
greater
Moral
,
and
more
naturally
arising
from
the
subject
,
than
that
which
the
two
Poets
have
assign'd
.
For
it
seems
plainly
to
hold
forth
to
us
,
the
irresistable
Power
of
Fate
,
and
the
Vanity
of
human
Wisdom
,
when
oppos'd
to
the
immutable
decrees
of
Providence
,
which
converts
to
its
own
purposes
,
all
our
endeavours
to
defeat
'em
,
and
makes
our
very
Opposition
subservient
to
its
own
designs
.
Seneca
,
Some
Learned
Men
are
of
opinion
,
English
Oedipus
.
But
perhaps
Mr
Dryden
being
justly
prepossessed
for
the
performance
of
Sophocles
in
preference
to
Seneca's
,
his
aim
was
not
so
much
to
enquire
after
any
improvements
,
as
additions
to
Sophocles's
design
,
and
by
that
means
let
slip
this
,
which
was
not
to
his
purpose
,
which
was
to
fit
it
up
to
the
English
Stage
;
for
the
use
of
which
it
needed
not
correction
,
so
much
as
enlargement
;
the
simplicity
of
the
Original
Fable
and
the
Chasms
,
which
the
omission
of
the
Chorus
must
necessarily
make
,
requiring
to
be
fill'd
up
,
and
supply'd
with
an
Vnderplot
and
proper
Episodes
.
And
indeed
he
seems
to
confess
as
much
,
when
he
says
,
that
Seneca
supply'd
'em
with
no
new
hint
but
only
a
relation
,
which
he
makes
of
his
Tyresias
raising
the
Ghost
of
Laius
.
But
having
declar'd
for
the
Moral
of
Seneca
,
as
more
natural
than
that
of
Sophocles
,
considering
the
disproportion
both
of
Reputation
and
Merit
of
these
two
Authors
in
the
Dramatick
way
,
I
must
expect
the
censure
of
those
Criticks
,
that
judge
by
wholesale
,
or
hear-say
,
that
will
admit
of
no
errour
in
any
Author
,
that
themselves
,
or
those
,
in
whom
they
have
an
implicit
Faith
,
admire
;
nor
allow
any
Graces
to
him
,
that
has
not
the
good
fortune
to
be
their
Favourite
.
I
shall
therefore
produce
Seneca's
application
at
large
in
his
own
words
,
as
I
have
already
done
Sophocles's
,
and
then
back
my
opinion
with
an
Observation
or
two
,
drawn
from
the
state
of
the
Fable
,
as
it
lies
in
these
Authors
,
and
leave
'em
to
the
courtesie
of
the
Reader
.
The
last
Song
of
the
Chorus
in
Seneca
,
which
is
what
the
Poet
delivers
by
way
of
Instruction
,
or
Application
to
the
Audience
,
runs
thus
.
Cho.
Fatis
agimur
:
The
summ
of
this
is
;
according
to
the
Doctrine
of
the
Stoicks
)
an
over-ruling
Providence
,
or
Fate
,
that
disposes
and
governs
all
things
;
That
the
Sources
of
mens
Fortunes
,
and
the
Springs
of
their
Actions
are
plac'd
out
of
their
reach
,
inaccessible
to
human
Prudence
,
and
inflexible
to
Entreaties
;
that
they
move
in
a
constant
course
,
inviolable
even
to
the
Gods
themselves
;
that
causes
and
their
effects
are
inseparably
linkt
,
the
first
day
(
of
Life
)
determining
the
last
;
that
the
Caution
of
many
has
been
destructive
to
'em
,
and
that
in
shunning
their
Fate
,
they
have
run
upon
it
.
That
this
is
the
most
natural
Application
,
the
very
contrivance
of
the
Fable
in
all
these
three
Plays
,
will
sufficiently
make
out
.
Seneca
,
and
the
English
Authors
have
,
in
imitation
of
Sophocles
,
made
the
Parricide
and
Incest
of
Oedipus
the
proper
Act
,
and
Deed
of
Fate
,
of
which
he
was
only
the
unhappy
and
unwilling
Instrument
.
Both
his
Father
and
himself
had
been
forewarn'd
,
and
had
us'd
their
utmost
endeavours
to
evade
the
calamities
that
threatned
'em
.
But
those
very
efforts
,
however
seemingly
prudent
,
became
the
Snare
in
which
they
were
taken
,
and
the
means
of
verifying
the
Prediction
of
the
Oracle
.
For
the
exposing
Oedipus
in
his
Infancy
,
was
the
occasion
of
his
Ignorance
of
his
true
Parents
,
and
that
Ignorance
of
all
his
ensuing
miseries
.
All
these
Authors
give
us
a
high
Idea
of
his
Virtue
and
Prudence
;
and
Seneca
as
well
as
the
aforecited
Authors
,
makes
him
sacrifice
his
Expectations
of
a
Crown
,
and
become
a
voluntary
Exile
out
of
an
Abhorrence
of
those
Crimes
,
which
were
predicted
of
him
.
Hic
me
Paternis
expulit
regnis
Timor
.
This
fear
has
banish'd
me
my
Fathers
Realm
.
And
when
he
had
been
accus'd
of
the
murder
of
Laius
,
Obiisse
nostro
Laium
scelere
autumant
Superi
Inferique
sed
animus
contra
innocens
.
Sibique
melius
quam
Deis
notus
,
negat
.
The
Gods
accuse
me
;
but
my
guiltless
mind
The
better
Judge
acquits
me
.
And
in
the
next
Scene
upon
the
news
of
Polybus's
death
,
he
cries
out
,
Genitor
sine
ulla
caede
defunctus
jacet
,
Testor
,
licet
jam
tollere
ad
caelum
pie
Puras
nec
ulla
scelere
metuentes
manus
.
Extinct
my
Father
by
a
Bloudless
death
!
Now
I
may
stretch
to
Heaven
my
guiltless
hands
Fearless
of
any
stain
.
Thus
they
all
agree
to
make
him
just
and
virtuous
in
his
Intentions
to
an
Heroick
Pitch
,
Greek
,
Roman
,
and
English
Authors
.
yet
they
involve
him
in
a
Fatal
Necessity
even
before
his
Birth
,
of
acting
those
things
,
to
which
in
his
Nature
he
had
the
greatest
abhorrence
,
and
make
his
Piety
and
Aversion
to
Wickedness
,
the
very
means
to
entrap
and
entangle
him
in
that
Guilt
,
which
he
so
industriously
fled
from
,
and
which
occasioned
the
Calamities
,
that
afterwards
befel
both
himself
and
Family
.
The
structure
and
disposition
of
this
Fable
,
Had
Laius
submitted
himself
to
the
Pleasure
of
Providence
,
This
consideration
may
supply
us
with
another
Moral
to
this
Fable
,
different
from
any
(
that
I
know
of
)
hitherto
rais'd
upon
it
by
any
Poet
,
either
Antient
or
Modern
.
It
may
instruct
us
,
that
the
Will
of
Heaven
is
not
to
be
disputed
by
Mortals
,
how
severe
soever
,
even
to
Injustice
,
the
Conditions
of
it
may
seem
to
us
;
and
that
whoever
sets
up
his
own
Wisdom
in
opposition
to
it
,
shall
in
that
Presumption
meet
both
his
Crime
and
his
Punishment
.
Nothing
,
if
we
consider
it
simply
in
itself
,
could
be
more
heroically
pious
than
the
resolution
of
Oedipus
to
abandon
a
Crown
,
tale
of
a
Tub
,
a
Story
that
he
did
not
believe
▪
If
he
did
believe
,
he
ought
not
to
escape
the
Censure
and
Punishment
of
a
rash
presumptuous
man
,
for
suffering
his
Vanity
to
triumph
over
his
Faith
,
and
daring
upon
an
insolent
opinion
of
his
own
Ability
to
insult
his
Religion
,
and
hope
●o
prevail
against
,
and
defeat
the
purpose
of
Fate
.
Some
French
Criticks
,
I
am
apt
to
think
upon
consideration
,
English
Oedipus
to
prefer
the
Greek
Moral
to
the
Latine
.
that
the
Authors
of
the
English
Oedipus
,
in
adhering
to
the
simple
old
Greek
Moral
,
acted
rather
by
Judgment
and
Choice
,
than
Oversight
.
For
the
Moral
of
Seneca
,
tho
more
naturally
deducible
from
the
Story
,
is
yet
less
serviceable
,
or
(
to
speak
more
properly
)
more
destructive
to
Practical
Morality
,
as
preaching
up
the
Doctrine
of
absolute
and
universal
Predestination
,
by
which
men
are
denied
the
liberty
of
so
much
as
a
thought
,
as
free
Agents
,
and
are
suppos'd
to
be
acted
,
and
workt
like
Machines
by
an
invisible
,
irresistible
Agent
,
which
winds
'em
up
like
Watches
,
and
orders
their
several
Movements
.
This
Doctrine
,
as
it
destroys
all
title
to
Merit
from
the
best
,
so
it
takes
off
all
fear
of
Guilt
from
the
most
villanous
actions
,
and
must
necessarily
(
if
heartily
believ'd
)
discourage
men
from
the
severer
and
more
troublesome
Duties
of
Religion
,
and
Morality
at
least
,
and
dispose
them
to
resign
themselves
loosely
up
to
the
government
of
their
Appetites
,
and
indulge
their
sensual
Inclinations
;
to
gratify
which
could
be
no
sin
,
to
oppose
'em
no
Virtue
,
and
deserve
neither
blame
nor
thanks
,
according
to
this
Principle
.
Besides
the
unserviceableness
of
this
Moral
to
the
general
end
of
Dramatick
Poetry
,
English
Stage
,
where
it
could
not
hope
for
a
favourable
Reception
;
and
might
therefore
be
by
these
Authors
judiciously
rejected
.
For
tho
this
Musty
Rag
of
Heathen
Stoicism
be
still
worn
by
a
Party
amongst
us
,
that
affect
to
distinguish
themselves
by
Opposition
,
and
Contradiction
,
tho
to
their
own
Principles
,
and
that
pretend
to
act
contrary
to
the
natural
result
of
their
Opinion
,
and
profess
a
severer
Morality
than
their
Neighbours
;
yet
by
the
more
Polite
and
Civilized
Part
of
the
Nation
,
who
are
the
chief
Frequenters
,
and
Support
of
the
Dramatick
Performances
,
it
has
been
long
left
off
,
as
a
Principle
destructive
to
Humanity
,
Virtue
,
and
all
good
Manners
;
and
consequently
would
have
been
exploded
upon
the
Stage
,
and
hazarded
the
success
of
the
whole
Piece
.
But
whether
this
Moral
were
neglected
by
'em
out
of
design
or
oversight
,
nothing
but
what
is
great
and
solemn
throughout
)
will
not
charge
him
with
any
●ill
design
,
or
acting
upon
Malice
prepense
against
Virtue
.
But
if
he
should
,
he
has
already
taken
his
Tryal
before
Aristotle
,
a
more
competent
and
more
upright
Judge
,
and
stands
acquitted
on
Record
,
and
must
be
allow'd
to
be
rectus
in
Curia
.
I
have
been
the
more
particular
in
examining
the
general
Moral
of
this
Play
,
The
rest
of
Sophocles's
Plays
,
being
much
less
considerable
for
their
Success
in
the
World
,
I
shall
dispatch
the
consideration
of
'em
in
as
few
words
as
possible
.
His
Ajax
Flagellifer
stands
first
in
order
,
and
affords
us
no
great
matter
to
reflect
upon
.
Ajax
,
Fable
of
of
Ajax
Flagelli●er
.
disappointed
and
disgrac'd
in
his
suit
for
the
Arms
of
Achilles
,
resents
extreamly
the
Injury
and
Indignity
,
and
resolves
to
be
reveng'd
upon
the
whole
Grecian
Army
.
In
order
thereto
he
makes
a
Sally
from
his
Quarter
by
night
,
in
order
to
kill
all
the
Principal
Officers
.
Minerva
,
to
divert
the
mischief
intended
,
infatuates
him
,
and
turns
him
loose
upon
some
herds
of
Cattle
,
amongst
whom
,
mistaking
'em
for
Greeks
,
he
makes
most
terrible
havock
;
and
returning
to
his
Tent
and
Sences
in
the
morning
,
he
perceives
his
Errour
,
thro
the
confusion
,
shame
,
and
vexation
of
which
,
he
grows
desperate
,
falls
upon
his
Sword
,
and
dies
.
This
is
the
whole
of
the
Fable
.
For
the
contest
that
follows
between
Teucer
,
Menelaus
,
and
Agamemnon
,
is
an
Episode
detach'd
from
,
and
has
nothing
to
do
with
,
and
scarce
any
dependance
upon
the
main
Action
.
Here
we
see
a
man
of
Impetuous
,
Ungovernable
Passion
,
and
of
a
Nice
,
Capricious
Honour
,
that
conceives
himself
injur'd
in
the
most
sensible
part
,
his
honour
,
and
meditates
a
Revenge
proportioned
to
the
Fierceness
of
his
Temper
,
and
the
imagin'd
Greatness
of
the
Affront
.
Minerva
interposes
,
and
turns
his
Rage
,
and
Fury
,
first
to
his
further
disgrace
,
and
then
to
his
destruction
.
The
Moral
of
this
Play
is
not
very
obvious
,
Quos
Deus
vult
perdere
,
Or
2dly
,
We
may
consider
the
Character
of
the
Person
,
a
man
of
Undaunted
Boldness
,
and
Turbulent
Head-strong
Passions
,
and
the
Nature
of
his
Attempt
,
which
was
to
kill
all
the
Grecian
Chiefs
;
and
then
the
Moral
may
be
—
Qui
non
moderabitur
Irae
He
that
suffers
himself
to
be
precipitated
into
action
by
his
Rage
,
will
have
cause
to
rue
the
effects
of
it
.
The
first
of
these
is
the
most
genuine
,
and
natural
.
For
the
misfortune
of
Ajax
seems
not
to
arise
so
much
from
a
repentance
of
his
Undertaking
,
as
from
indignation
,
and
a
bitter
sense
of
the
Scorn
and
Contempt
he
had
drawn
upon
himself
by
so
ridiculous
a
miscarriage
,
and
the
trick
put
upon
him
by
Minerva
.
Ajax
,
advises
him
to
take
warning
,
and
not
to
be
so
far
transported
upon
any
good
Fortune
,
or
presume
so
far
upon
his
own
Prowess
as
to
provoke
the
Gods
by
insolent
Language
;
who
lov'd
Modesty
,
and
hated
Arrogance
.
And
about
the
middle
of
the
Play
,
a
Messenger
relates
to
the
Chorus
,
what
pass'd
between
Chalcas
and
Teucer
about
the
quarrel
,
and
hatred
of
Minerva
to
Ajax
,
Which
was
for
presuming
upon
the
sufficience
of
his
own
Strength
and
Courage
,
and
refusing
her
Protection
and
Assistance
,
which
she
offer'd
him
against
the
Trojans
.
But
this
is
wholly
without
the
Action
(
which
cannot
properly
suggest
any
such
thing
)
and
is
introduc'd
by
way
of
Narration
,
only
to
justifie
the
proceeding
of
Minerva
against
Ajax
,
and
is
no
longer
insisted
on
after
the
death
of
Ajax
.
The
other
Moral
,
viz.
)
Minerva
,
and
produc'd
by
a
sudden
Infatuation
after
a
supernatural
manner
;
and
therefore
the
Poet
cou'd
have
no
just
occasion
to
reflect
upon
the
natural
ill
consequences
of
Passion
,
how
outrageous
or
ungovernable
soever
.
For
this
reason
I
shall
pursue
the
consideration
of
it
no
farther
.
The
next
in
order
is
the
Electra
,
Thro
the
whole
Play
the
Poet
does
not
so
much
as
squint
toward
a
Moral
,
he
lets
nothing
fall
by
which
the
Audience
may
so
much
as
guess
what
he
drives
at
.
But
by
the
contrivance
of
the
Fable
,
wherein
a
Wife
,
that
had
embrued
her
hands
in
her
Husbands
blood
,
after
having
abus'd
his
Bed
,
is
,
together
with
her
Adulterer
and
Fellow
Murtherer
,
after
a
succession
of
some
years
of
prosperous
Villany
,
overtaken
by
Vengeance
from
the
hands
of
the
Son
,
and
slain
;
we
may
conclude
with
Horace
,
Raro
antecedentem
scelestum
Deseruit
pede
paena
claudo
.
That
Divine
Vengeance
seldom
fails
to
overtake
great
Villanies
.
This
is
all
the
Moral
that
I
can
find
in
this
Play
,
nor
do
I
perceive
that
Sophocles
himself
took
care
by
any
overt
Expression
to
intimate
it
to
the
Audience
.
The
Antigone
is
something
better
contriv'd
.
Polynices
.
Creon
orders
her
to
be
shut
up
in
a
Cave
alive
,
and
commands
,
that
no
body
shou'd
relieve
her
.
Haemon
his
Son
pleads
for
her
,
and
unable
to
prevail
,
goes
to
the
Cave
,
and
finds
that
Antigone
his
Mistress
had
hang'd
herself
.
In
the
interim
Tyresias
comes
to
Creon
,
and
tells
him
,
that
he
did
amiss
,
and
that
he
ought
with
all
expedition
to
repair
his
Fault
.
Creon
continues
obstinate
,
and
reviles
the
Prophet
,
who
returns
the
complement
,
and
threatens
Creon
with
the
calamities
that
shou'd
come
immediately
upon
his
Family
for
his
Impiety
and
Obstinacy
,
and
so
leaves
him
.
Creon
after
his
departure
relents
,
and
makes
haste
to
save
Antigone
,
but
comes
too
late
,
and
finds
his
Son
raving
for
the
loss
of
his
Mistress
,
and
hardly
escapes
being
killed
by
him
.
Haemon
kills
himself
,
and
his
Mother
upon
the
News
herself
.
Here
Sophocles
speaks
out
for
himself
,
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
.
—
Wisdom
is
the
first
step
to
Happiness
.
The
Gods
must
not
be
irreverently
treated
.
For
the
great
Punishments
,
that
attended
the
Profane
liberties
of
speech
of
Insolent
Men
,
were
Lessons
of
Humility
at
last
.
The
Oedipus
Coloneus
is
a
Play
,
Fumbling
Age
of
Poetry
,
and
perhaps
began
to
be
sensible
of
some
decay
,
and
therefore
to
support
the
weight
of
that
reputation
,
which
he
had
acquired
in
the
vigour
of
his
Poetry
,
he
pieces
out
the
Lyons
Skin
with
the
Foxes
Tail
,
and
suspecting
his
own
power
to
move
their
Passions
as
formerly
,
makes
use
of
their
Vanity
to
scrue
them
up
to
the
desired
pitch
of
Admiration
and
Satisfaction
.
This
,
if
the
Reader
pleases
,
may
serve
instead
of
a
Plot
,
and
the
success
of
it
may
afford
us
this
Moral
;
that
no
people
is
so
strongly
fortified
against
Flattery
,
but
that
,
if
their
Vanity
be
skilfully
tickled
,
it
will
be
rous'd
,
and
exert
itself
in
favour
of
the
Flatterer
.
This
is
,
indeed
,
beside
the
Action
,
and
in
probability
was
not
the
Moral
,
which
Sophocles
intended
for
the
Publick
;
but
't
is
plain
,
that
't
was
the
secret
Motive
upon
which
he
acted
,
and
the
genuine
Moral
of
his
Conduct
.
The
Fable
of
Oedipus
Coloneus
,
Fable
of
Oedipus
Coloneus
such
as
it
is
in
this
.
Oedipus
,
under
the
Conduct
of
his
Daughter
Antigone
,
arrives
at
a
Grove
near
Athens
consecrated
to
the
Furies
,
whither
he
had
been
directed
by
the
Oracle
to
go
.
Creon
,
endeavours
to
fetch
him
away
by
force
;
Theseus
intervenes
,
and
rescues
him
.
Oedipus
dies
at
last
in
the
place
appointed
by
Fate
and
the
Oracle
.
This
is
a
plain
story
,
Moral
.
Sophocles
seems
to
have
endeavoured
at
something
like
one
in
the
Conclusion
.
For
when
the
Daughters
of
Oedipus
lamented
immoderately
his
death
,
the
Chorus
tells
'em
,
That
they
ought
not
to
bewail
any
longer
one
that
was
come
to
his
desir'd
end
.
The
Trachiniae
seems
almost
as
little
contriv'd
for
Edification
as
the
foregoing
.
The
reflection
that
Sophocles
makes
upon
all
this
,
't
is
all
Jupiter'
s
doing
.
Hyllus
,
in
the
close
,
boldly
accuses
the
Gods
of
[
*
](A36512-e25530-b)
*
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
,
which
signifies
Folly
or
Injustice
.
Injustice
,
for
deserting
their
own
Off-spring
.
He
adds
,
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
,
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
.
These
things
are
a
heavy
Affliction
to
us
,
But
a
scandal
to
them
.
The
Chorus
seconds
his
Complaint
,
and
says
,
that
all
their
Calamities
are
of
Jupiter'
s
sending
.
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
.
This
Fable
and
Application
afford
very
little
matter
of
Moral
Instruction
;
and
the
use
that
the
Poet
himself
makes
of
it
,
is
rather
a
discouragement
to
Virtue
,
since
neither
the
Heroick
Qualities
,
nor
Actions
of
Hercules
,
nor
the
relation
to
Jupiter
,
could
exempt
himself
or
Family
from
such
lamentable
disasters
.
However
,
the
misfortune
of
Dejanira
may
serve
as
a
caution
against
Jealousie
and
Adultery
,
which
two
failings
in
conjunction
,
occasion'd
her
ruin
.
And
Hercules
himself
may
be
an
instance
of
the
dangerous
consequenees
of
a
licentious
ungovern'd
Flame
,
which
at
last
was
the
destruction
of
him
,
who
had
withstood
,
and
baffled
the
utmost
Malice
and
Invention
of
Juno
.
The
Fable
of
the
Philoctetes
is
this
.
Troy
,
Vlysses
and
Pyrrhus
are
sent
to
fetch
him
.
He
refuses
obstinately
to
go
along
with
'em
,
but
Hercules
appearing
,
and
perswading
him
,
he
complies
.
This
likewise
is
a
barren
Story
,
Philoctetes
had
been
barbarously
expos'd
by
his
Confederates
the
Greeks
,
for
which
he
was
irreconcilably
angry
with
'em
,
especially
Vlysses
,
who
had
been
the
Executioner
of
their
Resolutions
in
relation
to
him
.
He
therefore
refuses
obstinately
to
go
with
,
or
to
those
that
had
serv'd
him
so
basely
;
but
Hercules
appearing
,
and
telling
him
,
that
upon
those
terms
,
and
no
other
,
he
must
expect
his
cure
,
and
prosperity
,
the
man
had
so
much
Wit
in
his
Anger
,
as
to
prefer
Health
and
Fame
before
sullen
Revenge
,
which
must
be
his
own
as
well
as
their
disappointment
.
Mr
Collier
wou'd
pass
the
Speech
of
Hercules
upon
us
for
a
Moral
.
remarkably
Moral
soever
the
Conclusion
of
this
Play
may
be
,
the
morality
of
it
no
way
depends
upon
the
Action
foregoing
.
Hercules
prevails
with
Philoctetes
to
go
with
Vlysses
,
and
Pyrrhus
promises
him
Health
,
Honour
,
and
Riches
,
and
recommends
the
care
of
Religion
to
him
.
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
.
Which
,
says
he
,
Jupiter
regards
above
all
things
.
This
was
indeed
good
advice
,
and
matter
of
Instruction
to
the
Audience
,
as
well
as
Philoctetes
;
but
not
arising
any
way
from
the
main
Action
,
it
might
as
properly
have
been
said
at
any
other
time
,
and
upon
any
other
occasion
,
as
this
;
and
if
it
must
serve
for
a
Moral
,
might
as
justly
have
been
the
Moral
of
any
other
Play
.
Thus
I
have
run
through
Sophocles
,
by
Mr
Collier
'
s
own
confession
)
are
form'd
upon
Models
of
Virtue
,
joyn
Innocence
with
Pleasure
,
and
design
the
Improvement
of
the
Audience
.
Upon
this
account
,
and
the
great
Reputation
of
this
Author
,
I
have
been
more
particular
with
him
upon
this
head
,
than
I
design
to
be
with
any
of
the
rest
of
the
Antient
Tragedians
.
I
have
set
before
the
Reader
the
several
Models
of
all
his
remaining
Plays
,
and
have
enquir'd
into
the
Disposition
of
the
Fable
in
relation
to
the
service
of
Morality
,
that
upon
collation
we
may
with
more
certainty
measure
the
comparative
Morality
of
his
and
the
Modern
Plays
on
this
Article
.
Euripides
,
Oeconomy
of
his
Fable
;
but
this
Censure
being
levell'd
rather
at
the
want
of
Artifice
,
than
of
Moral
in
the
Plays
of
Euripides
,
I
shall
make
no
further
use
of
it
here
.
The
character
of
this
Author's
works
wou'd
make
us
naturally
expect
,
that
he
shou'd
be
more
careful
of
this
Article
,
than
either
Aeschylus
,
or
Sophocles
,
who
aim'd
more
at
the
Pathetick
.
The
Plays
of
Euripides
betray
all
along
an
affected
Ostentation
of
Learning
,
Euripides
has
yet
remaining
nineteen
Tragedies
,
to
examin
all
which
,
as
we
have
done
those
of
Sophocles
,
wou'd
be
an
impertinent
,
as
well
as
a
tedious
labour
,
both
to
the
Reader
and
my self
.
I
shall
therefore
content
my self
to
instance
in
a
few
of
'em
,
and
refer
those
that
have
the
Curiosity
and
Patience
,
to
proceed
further
to
the
Author
himself
.
The
Orestes
challenges
the
first
place
upon
the
score
of
its
Reputation
,
and
the
great
Success
it
had
on
the
revival
of
it
,
five
hundred
years
after
the
death
of
the
Author
.
This
play
commences
,
Safety
.
Electra
advises
him
and
Pylades
to
seize
upon
Helen
and
Hermione
,
to
kill
Helen
,
and
to
Article
with
Menelaus
for
their
own
safety
,
with
a
Sword
at
Hermione's
Throat
;
and
if
her
Father
wou'd
not
comply
with
their
demands
,
first
to
dispatch
her
,
then
themselves
.
This
Project
is
put
in
execution
,
and
the
Ladies
are
surpriz'd
,
Apollo
rescues
Helen
,
and
appearing
,
reconciles
Menelaus
and
Orestes
,
and
makes
a
match
betwixt
him
and
Hermione
,
and
betwixt
Pylades
and
Electra
,
and
promising
happiness
to
'em
all
,
tells
'em
,
that
Helen
is
made
a
Goddess
,
and
so
concludes
the
Play
.
In
this
Play
most
of
the
Characters
are
wicked
,
Parricides
;
Tyndarus
is
(
in
his
heart
at
least
)
the
Murtherer
of
his
Grand-children
;
Menelaus
,
the
Betrayer
of
his
Nephew
,
and
Niece
,
whom
he
ought
to
have
protected
;
Helen
,
an
infamous
Woman
,
and
the
accidental
cause
at
least
of
the
Miseries
of
a
great
part
of
Asia
and
Europe
,
yet
clear
of
any
intentional
Guilt
in
this
case
;
Pylades
is
engaged
with
his
Friend
in
an
unjust
attempt
to
murther
Helen
and
her
Daughter
;
Hermione
,
who
is
next
to
a
Mute
in
the
Play
,
is
the
only
unexceptionable
Character
.
This
Play
begins
well
,
The
Moral
(
if
I
may
call
it
so
)
of
this
Story
is
properly
this
,
is
no
dabbling
in
Villany
,
but
that
those
that
are
once
enter'd
,
must
wade
thro
,
if
they
will
be
safe
,
and
justify
one
Crime
by
another
.
But
that
which
makes
the
winding
up
of
this
Play
more
notorious
,
is
,
that
the
Gods
are
made
the
Arbiters
of
all
;
Apollo
appears
in
person
,
and
justifies
Orestes
,
and
promises
him
his
protection
,
and
ensures
the
happiness
of
Pylades
and
Electra
,
who
had
been
the
sole
Incendiary
and
Contriver
of
all
this
Mischief
;
which
is
adding
Impiety
to
the
want
of
Poetick
Justice
,
and
making
Providence
accessary
to
Parricide
,
and
the
Gods
Abbetors
of
Violence
and
Injustice
,
not
to
take
notice
of
the
Deifying
of
Helena
,
who
,
tho
Jove's
Daughter
,
is
a
Woman
of
a
very
infamous
Character
all
through
the
Play
.
I
suppose
the
Moral
of
this
Play
will
hardly
rise
in
Judgment
against
the
Moderns
.
Nor
has
the
Electra
of
of
the
same
Author
any
more
reason
,
it
being
liable
to
the
same
exceptions
with
the
former
,
only
in
this
the
Murther
is
perpetrated
,
in
that
but
designed
;
in
short
,
this
Play
is
the
ground
work
of
the
former
,
and
the
action
of
this
gives
the
reason
,
and
occasion
of
all
that
happens
in
t'other
.
Here
likewise
the
Gods
are
impertinently
brought
in
to
finish
that
,
which
wou'd
of
it self
have
closed
very
naturally
without
'em
.
For
after
the
Death
of
Aegisthus
and
Clytemnestra
there
was
nothing
more
to
be
done
.
But
this
Poet
,
who
is
very
fond
of
Machines
,
tho●
unnecessary
,
after
all
's
over
brings
down
Castor
and
Pollux
to
condemn
the
Fact
,
acquit
the
Murtherers
of
their
Sister
,
and
transfer
the
Guilt
to
Apollo
,
whom
they
accuse
of
[
*
](A36512-e27090-b)
*
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
.
uttering
a
foolish
Oracle
.
However
the
Fable
of
this
Play
being
the
same
with
that
of
the
Electra
of
Sophocles
,
we
may
do
it
the
same
Grace
,
and
allow
it
the
benefit
of
any
Moral
that
may
be
raised
out
of
it
,
tho
not
without
some
violence
,
as
this
Author
has
managed
it
.
What
that
is
I
have
already
observed
in
the
foregoing
Remarks
upon
the
Electra
of
Sophocles
.
The
Medea
,
Hippolytus
,
Ion
,
Hercules
distracted
,
and
several
other
are
likewise
built
upon
various
Models
.
In
these
,
as
in
most
of
Euripides's
Plays
,
the
Gods
are
always
at
one
end
or
t'other
of
the
business
,
they
are
either
the
Promoters
of
the
Crime
,
or
the
Protectors
of
the
Criminals
.
All
is
acted
by
Machine
,
the
Action
is
frequently
forced
,
and
the
Catastrophe
generally
unnatural
.
Yet
notwithstanding
this
extraordinary
licence
,
which
this
Poet
assumes
in
almost
all
his
Plays
,
but
very
few
of
'em
are
so
modell'd
as
to
be
serviceable
to
Virtue
upon
that
Score
.
Medea
,
after
a
course
of
Murthers
,
having
slain
her
own
Brother
,
and
Children
with
her
own
hands
,
and
Pelias
,
Creon
,
and
Creusa
by
her
charms
,
is
taken
particular
care
of
by
Phaebus
,
and
provided
of
a
flying
Chariot
to
make
her
escape
from
Justice
in
.
Hippolitus
has
the
Character
of
a
just
,
The
Ion
is
reckoned
by
the
Learned
Monsieur
Dacier
among
that
kind
of
Tragedies
,
The
Moral
Tragedy
is
a
sort
of
Tragedy
contriv'd
purely
for
the
formation
of
Mens
manners
,
whose
Catastrophe
is
always
happy
.
And
in
the
Page
immediately
foregoing
,
The
Moral
Tragedy
(
says
he
)
treats
neither
of
Death
,
Torments
,
nor
Wounds
,
but
of
the
happiness
of
some
Persons
recommendable
for
their
Virtue
.
Here
therefore
one
might
reasonably
expect
a
perfect
Model
of
Virtue
,
and
a
exact
Scheme
of
Manners
;
for
which
reason
it
may
seem
justly
to
challenge
our
consideration
.
Ion
,
Creusa
his
Mother
,
Apollo
;
Minerva
appears
,
and
confirms
her
Story
,
and
advises
'em
both
to
conceal
this
circumstance
from
Xuthus
,
and
concludes
with
a
sort
of
Epilogue
,
predicting
the
happiness
of
Ion
,
If
this
was
designed
for
a
Moral
Tragedy
,
as
Monsieur
Dacier
thinks
,
and
as
the
Contrivance
of
the
Fable
,
as
well
as
the
Catastrophe
seems
to
argue
,
it
must
be
confessed
that
Euripides
has
forgot
the
main
circumstance
.
For
the
good
Fortune
of
those
Persons
,
whom
he
makes
happy
in
the
Conclusion
is
not
owing
to
their
Virtue
or
Prudence
,
but
to
the
favour
of
Phaebus
,
who
had
too
great
a
Personal
Interest
in
'em
,
to
suffer
'em
to
miscarry
.
Creusa's
Character
is
vitious
all
along
,
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
.
He
died
a
Prey
to
the
Wild
Beasts
.
Here
she
confesses
herself
guilty
of
a
Crime
,
that
is
capital
in
our
Law
,
and
is
so
far
from
repenting
,
that
she
engages
immediately
in
the
design
of
another
of
a
Dye
something
deeper
,
because
Treachery
and
Violence
enter
the
composition
;
in
this
she
is
active
in
the
Murther
,
in
the
former
she
was
only
Passive
.
This
Character
can
hold
forth
nothing
of
Instruction
,
except
it
teach
Women
,
that
have
given
up
their
Honours
,
to
secure
their
Reputations
by
murthering
their
Bastards
;
and
furious
,
jealous
Wives
to
destroy
their
Husbands
Children
and
Heirs
by
other
Women
.
The
Character
of
Ion
is
indeed
not
so
criminal
;
Thus
we
see
in
this
Moral
Play
,
Because
I
have
mention'd
the
Hercules
Furens
,
compar'd
with
the
Trachiniae
of
Sophocles
.
I
will
not
pass
it
absolutely
over
in
Silence
,
tho
it
affords
no
great
matter
of
reflection
;
having
had
occasion
to
take
notice
of
the
Character
and
Sufferings
of
Hercules
in
the
Trachiniae
of
Sophocles
.
There
is
indeed
this
considerable
difference
to
the
disadvantage
of
this
Play
,
in
regard
to
the
Moral
,
Art
,
and
Beauty
of
it
,
that
here
the
misfortunes
of
Hercules
are
wrought
altogether
by
Machine
:
Juno
,
Iris
,
and
Lyssa
or
Madness
(
which
is
here
supposed
a
Daemon
)
are
all
,
and
only
concern'd
in
the
contrivance
;
whereas
in
Sophocles
things
are
naturally
brought
about
,
and
made
the
result
of
Jealousie
and
Credulity
.
What
therefore
in
that
is
but
obliquely
charg'd
upon
the
Gods
,
is
here
directly
laid
upon
'em
.
So
that
,
what
from
the
last
Speech
of
Hyllus
,
and
the
Chorus
is
there
urg'd
against
the
Moral
of
that
Play
,
holds
more
strongly
against
this
.
Besides
the
atrocity
of
the
Fact
,
which
extending
here
to
the
Lives
of
his
Wife
and
Children
,
aggravates
the
guilt
of
Iuno
,
who
cou'd
not
limit
her
malice
to
his
Person
,
without
comprehending
those
Innocents
,
who
by
no
crime
of
their
own
cou'd
have
incurr'd
her
displeasure
.
These
few
instances
may
suffice
to
give
us
a
true
estimate
of
the
care
of
Euripides
,
in
the
formation
of
his
Fables
in
general
,
in
relation
to
the
Grand
or
General
Moral
.
Aeschylus
shou'd
follow
,
Power
and
Force
,
two
Poetical
Persons
,
are
sent
by
Jupiter
to
assist
Vulcan
in
the
chaining
Prometheus
to
a
Rock
.
communicating
the
Celestial
Fire
to
Mortals
;
and
the
reason
of
his
Punishment
,
which
was
that
he
might
learn
to
acquiesce
in
the
administration
of
Jove
,
and
shake
off
his
tenderness
for
Mankind
.
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
.
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
.
This
reason
is
pretty
singular
and
extravagant
,
That
this
was
all
Prometheus's
offence
Vulcan
assures
us
in
his
reply
.
that
this
comes
of
his
fondness
of
Mankind
,
and
thereby
provoking
Jupiter
,
who
was
fierce
,
and
implacable
,
as
all
new
Governours
are
.
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
.
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
.
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
,
This
account
of
Iupiter
seems
to
countenance
a
harsher
Translation
,
than
I
have
given
of
the
fore-going
words
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
,
and
to
expound
'em
in
the
scandalous
sense
of
Tyranny
,
rather
than
of
a
just
and
equal
administration
of
Affairs
.
After
this
Prologue
I
suppose
no
good
Moral
will
be
expected
from
this
Fable
;
the
rest
of
Aeschylus's
Fables
are
manag'd
after
a
manner
little
more
serviceable
,
for
which
reason
I
shall
not
tire
the
Reader
with
the
examination
of
'em
.
After
the
decease
of
this
Triumvirate
of
Poets
,
Greek
Tragedy
.
the
Tragedy
of
Athens
disappears
.
Not
but
they
had
many
Tragedians
after
'em
,
but
neither
did
they
rise
to
a
heighth
of
Reputation
equal
to
these
,
nor
did
their
works
very
long
survive
'em
that
I
know
of
.
Here
therefore
we
lose
the
view
of
the
Ancient
Tragedy
,
for
above
five
hundred
years
together
.
The
next
sight
we
have
of
it
is
at
Rome
,
Medea
,
Hippolytus
,
Troas
,
and
Hercules
Furens
are
taken
from
Plays
all
bearing
the
same
names
in
Euripides
,
except
the
Troas
,
which
,
tho
it
bears
the
same
name
,
yet
is
not
upon
the
same
argument
with
the
Troades
of
Euripides
,
but
is
taken
from
the
Hecuba
,
another
Play
of
the
same
Poet.
The
Oedipus
,
and
Hercules
Oetaeus
,
are
descended
immediately
from
the
Oedipus
Tyrannus
,
and
Trachiniae
of
Sophocles
.
And
't
is
very
probable
the
Thyestes
is
owing
to
the
same
Author
,
tho
the
Greek
Original
be
now
lost
.
For
't
is
not
only
certain
that
Sophocles
wrote
three
Plays
which
bore
that
name
,
but
the
Model
seems
to
bear
more
resemblance
to
the
manner
of
Sophocles
,
than
either
of
the
other
Tragedians
.
The
Agamemnon
plainly
belongs
to
Aeschylus
,
as
does
likewise
the
Thebais
,
in
right
of
his
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
,
tho
the
Thebais
of
Seneca
being
imperfect
,
it
does
not
so
plainly
appear
whether
he
copy'd
it
immediately
from
thence
,
or
at
second
hand
from
the
Phaenissae
of
Euripides
.
The
Octavia
only
is
of
Roman
Original
,
its
Author
is
uncertain
.
For
't
is
justly
suspected
to
belong
to
neither
of
the
Seneca's
.
This
Author
,
(
for
Mr
Collier
seems
to
take
all
these
Plays
to
be
the
work
of
one
man
)
is
censur'd
and
stands
in
some
measure
condemn'd
,
by
Mr
Collier
,
and
therefore
I
should
wave
any
other
scrutiny
into
his
conduct
,
if
I
did
not
find
him
in
some
measure
justified
,
and
in
a
manner
absolv'd
upon
the
comparison
with
the
Moderns
.
But
,
Lipsius
,
Joseph
Scaliger
,
and
Heinsius
,
and
divers
others
very
eminent
for
their
Learning
,
that
we
are
beholding
to
the
famous
Seneca
the
Philosopher
,
for
three
at
least
of
these
Plays
,
the
Medea
,
Hippolytus
,
and
Troas
,
to
which
Farnaby
adds
the
Oedipus
,
we
shall
be
oblig'd
to
pay
more
deference
or
respect
to
'em
,
and
not
to
pass
a
rash
and
unmannerly
censure
upon
any
of
the
remains
of
so
illustrious
an
Author
.
But
Seneca
is
not
at
present
in
Mr
Collier's
favour
,
Collier
.
P.
94.
he
is
declar'd
an
injudicious
,
licentious
Poet
,
upon
whose
liberties
the
Modern
Poets
proceed
;
and
therefore
he
is
not
to
be
receiv'd
into
Grace
,
till
he
has
had
the
Penning
of
a
Recantation
for
him
If
Mr
Collier
did
believe
that
Seneca
the
Philosopher
was
the
Author
of
any
of
those
Plays
,
he
ought
upon
the
merit
of
his
other
works
,
(
by
which
he
may
at
least
pretend
to
vie
with
Mr
Collier
both
zeal
and
service
in
the
cause
of
Virtue
)
to
have
treated
so
excellent
a
Person
with
more
respect
and
honour
,
than
to
have
rank'd
him
with
,
and
made
him
the
Ringleader
of
those
,
whom
he
reckons
Atheists
and
Buffoons
.
If
he
did
not
,
he
cou'd
in
Justice
have
done
no
less
than
set
him
clear
of
the
Imputation
,
which
by
so
rude
and
indiscreet
a
charge
he
has
brought
him
under
.
For
he
cou'd
not
but
know
,
that
the
learned
Persons
before-mentioned
,
whose
Authority
is
of
great
weight
amongst
Men
of
Letters
,
had
deliver'd
their
Opinions
,
that
he
was
the
Author
of
some
of
those
Plays
,
especially
the
Judicious
Heinsius
,
whom
he
cites
,
and
I
shou'd
suppose
he
is
well
acquainted
with
,
unless
he
does
(
which
I
suspect
)
like
some
Persons
,
that
boast
of
their
familiarity
with
great
men
,
whom
they
have
not
the
honour
to
know
.
Had
he
known
their
Opinions
in
this
matter
,
it
had
but
been
a
becoming
piece
of
Modesty
to
have
laid
his
reasons
for
his
dissent
from
'em
before
his
Reader
;
and
not
haughtily
to
have
slighted
their
Authorities
as
not
worth
his
notice
.
Or
at
least
he
ought
not
in
good
manners
to
have
treated
the
Memory
of
that
Philosopher
at
so
scoundrel
a
rate
.
I
suppose
he
will
hardly
justifie
this
Indignity
from
the
misrepresentations
that
have
been
given
of
him
.
For
,
not
to
enter
improperly
into
a
dispute
about
the
validity
of
those
Reports
here
,
whatever
his
private
infirmities
might
be
,
we
are
sure
from
his
works
,
that
he
bent
his
Studies
and
Endeavours
to
the
service
of
Morality
as
heartily
and
successfully
,
as
some
Christians
who
with
greater
helps
and
stronger
invitations
,
seem
to
value
their
Services
much
higher
,
with
less
reason
.
However
Seneca
,
Hercules
Furens
are
only
the
Malefactors
that
are
brought
to
condign
Punishment
.
For
,
as
for
Oedipus
,
we
have
had
occasion
already
to
clear
him
from
the
Aspersion
of
Guilt
,
tho
his
Misfortunes
are
the
most
notorious
,
and
his
Calamities
the
most
deplorable
of
any
upon
the
Antient
Stage
.
Ajax
Oileus
,
whom
Mr.
Collier
produces
as
the
only
instance
of
this
kind
,
Mourning
Bride
shou'd
have
taken
occasion
from
the
Wreck
of
his
Hero
on
the
same
Seas
,
to
have
brought
in
the
Storm
that
cast
away
the
Turkey
Fleet
,
and
describ'd
the
manner
of
Sir
Francis
Wheeler's
Wreck
.
But
if
Seneca
has
been
remiss
upon
this
Article
he
sins
at
least
by
Precedent
,
However
,
Seneca
has
artfully
avoided
these
inconveniences
,
This
Plot
,
as
it
stands
in
Seneca
,
is
one
of
the
neatest
of
Antiquity
,
and
had
the
Author
taken
care
to
disencourage
himself
as
happily
from
Neptune
,
as
he
has
from
Venus
and
Minerva
,
I
see
nothing
inartificial
in
the
disposition
of
it
.
But
Neptune
performing
his
part
extra
Scenam
,
this
fault
is
the
more
pardonable
,
especially
since
't
is
originally
the
oversight
of
Euripides
.
The
rest
of
this
Author's
Plays
varying
little
or
nothing
in
the
Fable
from
the
Greek
Originals
,
Having
thus
run
through
the
Tragedies
of
Antiquity
,
perhaps
something
more
minutely
,
than
may
be
thought
requisite
upon
this
Article
,
I
shall
not
make
many
reflections
upon
the
whole
,
but
leave
'em
to
the
further
consideration
of
the
Reader
,
after
a
Remark
or
two
,
concerning
the
Practice
of
the
Ancients
in
general
,
in
this
respect
.
It
is
observable
,
Aristotle
had
,
From
this
silence
of
Aristotle
,
The
Fable
of
this
Play
is
truly
Moral
.
From
the
whole
it
appears
,
General
Moral
of
the
Plays
.
that
the
Antients
were
not
so
careful
of
their
Models
,
as
Mr
Collier
pretends
;
but
were
on
the
contrary
extremely
negligent
of
the
Moral
in
the
Fables
of
their
Tragedies
.
So
that
if
one
or
two
do
afford
a
tolerable
one
,
we
may
conclude
by
the
slight
notice
they
take
of
it
,
that
they
did
not
see
it
,
or
but
casually
found
it
there
,
rather
than
industriously
sought
it
;
and
that
we
are
more
beholding
to
their
luck
,
than
Judgment
or
good
Intentions
for
'em
.
I
grant
this
way
of
arguing
not
to
be
demonstrative
,
but
it
is
not
therefore
unconclusive
.
For
since
the
sense
of
the
Antients
,
is
not
any
where
(
that
I
know
of
)
delivered
in
express
terms
concerning
this
matter
,
I
take
their
Practice
,
backt
by
the
Authority
of
Aristotle
,
to
be
a
sufficient
warrant
for
any
conclusions
,
that
shall
be
drawn
naturally
from
'em
.
But
if
I
wou'd
indulge
my self
in
the
Liberties
of
Mr.
Collier
,
and
charge
the
Antiens
at
that
loose
rate
,
that
he
does
the
English
Dramatick
Poets
,
I
might
not
only
tax
'em
with
negligence
of
their
Morals
,
but
with
maliciously
discouraging
Vertue
,
and
industriously
promoting
Villany
,
and
Impiety
.
Nor
wou'd
the
Poets
suffer
alone
,
all
the
great
Men
of
Antiquity
,
that
have
commended
their
works
,
must
share
both
the
Guilt
,
and
the
Sentence
;
and
Aristotle
above
the
rest
wou'd
be
even
capitally
criminal
,
his
Art
of
Poetry
is
an
inexhaustible
Spring
of
Corruption
,
an
everlasting
Source
of
Infection
,
that
has
diffus'd
its
Venome
over
the
whole
World
,
and
poison'd
Mankind
almost
universally
with
Villany
,
Impiety
,
Lewdness
,
and
Debauchery
,
of
all
kinds
,
for
above
sixteen
hundred
years
together
.
This
wou'd
be
high
Treason
among
the
Admirers
of
the
Antients
,
yet
't
is
nothing
to
one
of
Mr
Collier's
declamatory
Rants
,
when
he
is
in
one
of
his
Rhetorical
Fits
,
and
about
to
dress
up
a
Character
for
Aristophanes
,
or
any
of
the
English
Poets
.
After
this
disingenuous
rate
't
were
easie
to
turn
the
Satyr
upon
Ages
long
since
past
,
and
railly
in
his
own
words
,
those
whom
he
himself
recommends
to
the
Imitation
of
our
present
Writers
.
An
instance
of
this
kind
mayn't
be
amiss
to
shew
how
easie
't
is
to
misrepresent
the
fairest
intentions
,
and
to
improve
Peccadillo's
into
Crimes
of
the
blackest
Dye
,
to
make
a
hellish
Plot
of
an
oversight
,
and
plunge
Men
over
head
and
ears
in
Brimstone
,
for
Humane
infirmities
.
'T
is
a
Jest
,
that
their
design
was
Virtue
and
Reformation
.
In
good
time
!
They
are
likely
to
combat
Vice
with
Success
,
who
destroy
the
Principles
of
Good
and
Evil.
Wou'd
Euripides
perswade
us
that
his
aim
is
Virtuous
,
and
his
design
Moral
?
Why
then
does
he
make
choice
of
means
so
disproportionate
to
the
end
he
pretends
to
drive
at
?
Why
is
Vice
represented
successful
,
and
Villany
triumphant
,
but
to
encourage
Men
to
the
Practice
of
it
?
Why
is
Medea
,
the
betrayer
of
her
Father
,
and
Country
,
a
Poysoner
,
a
Sorceress
,
and
a
Murtherer
,
one
that
had
run
thro
the
whole
compass
,
and
measur'd
all
the
Paces
of
Villany
,
suffer'd
to
make
her
escape
?
Or
if
she
must
not
be
punish'd
,
why
are
the
Gods
engaged
in
the
matter
,
and
she
taken
into
the
care
of
Providence
,
and
furnished
with
means
of
Escape
at
the
expence
of
a
Miracle
?
Why
are
Orestes
and
Electra
,
Parricides
,
taken
immediately
into
the
Protection
of
Heaven
,
under
Despondency
,
and
the
lashes
of
a
guilty
Conscience
?
Why
are
they
encourag'd
to
bear
up
against
the
convictions
of
their
own
minds
,
and
promis●d
prosperity
from
Heaven
?
Why
is
Hippolytus
maliciously
persecuted
,
and
no
less
then
two
Deities
employ'd
in
his
ruine
,
only
for
being
chaste
by
vow
?
unless
it
be
to
shew
us
,
that
the
World
has
been
mistaken
in
its
notions
of
Providence
,
that
wickedness
is
meritorious
,
and
Innocence
a
Crime
,
that
Virtue
,
and
Vice
,
of
which
the
Philosophers
prate
so
much
,
are
but
the
Whimseys
of
Hypocondriacks
,
the
Dreams
of
speculative
Enthusiasts
.
Are
these
the
Socratick
Dialogues
,
and
this
the
result
of
the
Philosophers
Lectures
?
Is
this
the
Admirer
of
Socrates
,
that
was
reciprocally
so
admir'd
by
him
,
that
he
cou'd
sit
whole
days
with
Patience
at
the
recital
of
his
Plays
?
If
we
may
judge
of
one
by
the
other
,
the
Scholar
was
an
Atheist
,
and
his
Master
little
better
.
Why
else
did
he
not
reprove
him
for
his
blasphemous
Fictions
,
and
making
the
Gods
the
Actors
,
and
Patrons
of
Villany
,
and
reprehend
him
for
mistaking
the
notions
of
Providence
,
confounding
the
Ideas
of
Virtue
and
Vice
,
and
subverting
the
Maxims
of
Morality
?
Thus
we
see
at
this
rate
of
declaiming
not
only
Euripides
,
Murther
,
Incest
,
and
Blasphemy
.
Let
us
see
whether
Aeschylus
or
Sophocles
can
acquit
themselves
any
better
.
If
Aeschylus
had
taken
due
care
of
his
designs
,
Sophocles
has
been
altogether
as
careful
of
Religion
in
his
Philoctetes
.
Can
any
thing
be
more
disserviceable
to
Probity
and
Religion
,
than
these
Examples
of
Injustice
,
Oppression
,
and
Cowardice
in
their
Gods
?
They
cherish
those
Passions
,
I
doubt
not
but
the
sober
admirers
of
the
Greek
Tragedy
will
think
that
the
fumes
of
Mr
Collier's
stumm'd
Rant
are
got
into
my
Head
,
[
*
](A36512-e31570-b)
*
An
Island
famous
for
plenty
of
Hellebore
,
used
in
the
cure
of
Madness
.
Anticyra
,
and
dyet
upon
Hellebore
.
But
tho
I
have
no
such
lewd
thoughts
of
the
great
Men
of
Antiquity
,
yet
so
far
I
shall
presume
to
venture
,
(
without
trespassing
against
Modesty
,
or
breaking
rudely
in
upon
the
harmonious
Judgment
of
the
Learned
for
a
long
Succession
of
Ages
)
as
to
say
,
that
Mr
Collier's
unreasonable
Satyr
comes
as
full
upon
the
Antients
whom
he
admires
and
commends
,
as
upon
the
Moderns
,
whom
he
vilifies
and
condemns
.
The
Modern
Tragedy
is
a
Feild
large
enough
for
us
to
lose
our selves
in
,
and
therefore
I
shall
not
take
the
Liberty
of
ranging
thro
'em
at
large
,
but
for
the
most
part
confine
my self
to
such
as
Mr
Collier
has
already
attackt
.
Upon
presumption
therefore
that
these
are
the
weakest
,
if
these
can
be
defended
,
the
rest
I
suppose
may
hold
out
of
themselves
.
I
shall
begin
with
Shakespear
,
whom
notwithstanding
the
severity
of
Mr
Rhimer
,
English
Dramatics
.
and
the
hard
usage
of
Mr
Collier
,
I
must
still
think
the
Proto-Dramatist
of
England
,
tho
he
fell
short
of
the
Art
of
Johnson
,
and
the
Conversation
of
Beaumont
and
Fletcher
.
Upon
that
account
he
wants
many
of
their
Graces
,
yet
his
Beauties
make
large
amends
for
his
Defects
,
and
Nature
has
richly
provided
him
with
the
materials
,
tho
his
unkind
Fortune
denied
him
the
Art
of
managing
them
to
the
best
Advantage
.
His
Hamlet
,
Hamlet
King
of
Denmark
was
privately
murther'd
by
his
Brother
,
The
late
Kings
Ghost
appears
to
his
Son
young
Hamlet
,
Whatever
defects
the
Criticks
may
find
in
this
Fable
,
Hamlet
.
Polonius
by
playing
the
Spy
meets
a
Fate
,
which
was
neither
expected
by
,
nor
intended
for
him
.
Guildenstern
and
Rosencraus
,
the
Kings
Decoys
,
are
counterplotted
,
and
sent
to
meet
that
fate
,
to
which
they
were
trepanning
the
Prince
.
The
Tyrant
himself
falls
by
his
own
Plot
,
and
by
the
hand
of
the
Son
of
that
Brother
,
whom
he
had
murther'd
.
Laertes
suffers
by
his
own
Treachery
,
and
dies
by
a
Weapon
of
his
own
preparing
.
Thus
every
one's
crime
naturally
produces
his
Punishment
,
and
every
one
(
the
Tyrant
excepted
)
commences
a
Wretch
almost
as
soon
as
a
Villain
.
The
Moral
of
all
this
is
very
obvious
,
shews
us
,
That
the
Greatness
of
the
Offender
does
not
qualifie
the
Offence
,
and
that
no
Humane
Power
,
or
Policy
are
a
sufficent
Guard
against
the
Impartial
Hand
,
and
Eye
of
Providence
,
which
defeats
their
wicked
purposes
,
and
turns
their
dangerous
Machinations
upon
their
own
heads
.
This
Moral
Hamlet
himself
insinuates
to
us
,
when
he
tells
Horatio
,
that
he
ow'd
the
Discovery
of
the
Design
against
his
Life
in
England
,
to
a
rash
indiscreet
curiosity
,
and
thence
makes
this
Inference
.
Our
Indiscretion
sometimes
serves
as
well
,
When
our
dear
Plots
do
fail
,
and
that
shou'd
teach
us
.
There
's
a
Divinity
,
that
shapes
our
ends
,
Rough
hew
'em
how
we
will
.
The
Tragedies
of
this
Author
in
general
are
Moral
and
Instructive
,
King
Lear
,
Timon
of
Athens
,
Macbeth
,
and
some
others
are
so
remarkable
upon
that
score
,
that
't
wou'd
be
impertinent
to
trouble
the
Reader
with
a
minute
examination
of
Plays
so
generally
known
and
approved
.
The
other
Tragedies
upon
which
Mr
Collier
lets
his
indignation
fall
so
heavy
,
are
so
recent
,
and
so
common
in
the
hands
of
every
Play
Reader
,
that
't
is
almost
an
affront
to
their
memories
to
trouble
'em
with
too
particular
a
Recapitulation
.
But
since
we
have
oblig'd
our selves
to
make
good
the
Comparative
innocence
of
the
Moderns
by
instances
upon
the
Parallel
,
Mr
Collier
can
never
desire
fairer
Play
,
than
for
us
to
undertake
the
defence
of
those
very
Plays
,
which
he
himself
has
markt
out
,
and
assigned
us
;
of
which
the
next
in
order
is
the
Orphan
,
against
which
he
enters
the
Lists
as
the
Chaplains
Champion
,
in
whose
Quarrel
and
upon
whose
account
he
is
most
implacably
enraged
.
The
Model
of
this
Play
is
something
like
that
of
Oedipus
,
Acasto
,
Castalio
,
and
Monimia
are
innocent
,
virtuous
Characters
,
and
their
misfortunes
undeserv'd
,
which
made
'em
naturally
objects
of
Pity
and
Commiseration
.
The
fatal
consequences
of
Polydore's
intemperate
lust
,
and
base
rash
action
,
afford
matter
of
Terrour
and
Example
.
This
Play
is
exactly
constituted
according
to
Aristotle
,
who
requires
only
that
Tragedy
shou'd
move
Terrour
and
Compassion
,
which
are
the
proper
Springs
,
by
which
it
works
upon
the
Audience
.
But
Mr
Collier's
in
the
humour
now
,
Pagan
Priesthood
injurious
to
the
Christian
Ministry
.
and
he
scorns
to
circumscribe
his
kindness
to
the
limits
of
the
Christian
Priesthood
,
whether
Orthodox
,
or
Heterodox
.
For
even
the
Mufti
is
allowed
the
benefit
of
his
Clergy
,
and
shares
his
Patronage
.
He
is
furiously
provok'd
at
Mr
Dryden
for
saying
that
Priests
of
all
Religions
are
the
same
,
when
he
himself
at
the
same
time
makes
no
distinction
,
but
treats
the
Priests
of
God
Almighty
,
Mahomet
and
Anubis
with
the
same
respect
.
He
is
for
strengthening
his
Party
,
and
contracting
an
Alliance
with
all
Faiths
and
Complexions
;
he
ransacks
Europe
,
Asia
,
and
Africa
,
and
enters
into
a
religious
League
offensive
and
defensive
with
Sun-burnt
Africans
,
and
Monsters
of
the
Nile
.
To
this
end
,
he
labours
hard
to
find
out
some
relation
between
the
Mufti
and
the
Bishops
,
and
very
dutifully
strains
to
extend
the
scandal
from
Africk
to
England
,
that
what
is
said
of
their
Arch-Priest
may
reflect
upon
our
Prelates
.
The
most
bigotted
Mussulman
of
'em
all
cou'd
not
have
acted
more
for
the
service
of
their
Priests
,
than
to
have
shifted
the
reproach
from
them
to
ours
.
But
I
hope
there
is
no
such
Sympathy
between
'em
(
as
Mr
Collier
injuriously
fancies
)
and
that
to
break
the
Mufti
's
wou'd
not
make
our
Bishops
Heads
ach
,
or
his
black
and
blue
be
seen
in
their
Faces
.
Those
worthy
great
Men
,
who
are
the
honour
of
both
our
Church
and
Nation
,
have
little
reason
to
thank
him
for
endeavouring
to
ally
'em
to
those
,
that
must
of
necessity
,
putting
the
mildest
construction
upon
their
actions
,
be
either
gross
Fools
or
rank
Knaves
;
Fools
if
they
believe
,
and
Knaves
if
they
help
on
the
cheat
and
imposture
of
Mahomet
without
believing
.
Thus
Mr
Collier
puts
a
grosser
affront
upon
our
Religion
and
Clergy
,
than
any
Mr
Dryden
has
done
,
and
his
reproof
deserves
a
severer
correction
,
than
t'others
fault
.
This
perhaps
is
a
liberty
too
great
to
be
indulg'd
in
any
one
but
Mr
Collier's
dear
self
,
and
therefore
to
chastize
Mr
Dryden's
Presumption
and
Insolence
for
but
seeming
to
invade
his
fancied
Property
,
he
falls
most
outrageously
upon
his
Don
Sebastian
.
The
Subject
of
this
Play
bears
a
very
Religious
Moral
,
Don
Sebastian
a
Religious
Play
.
and
consonant
to
the
Tenour
of
the
2d
Commandment
shews
,
that
the
Punishment
of
Mens
crimes
,
shall
extend
not
only
to
their
own
persons
,
but
if
unrepented
shall
reach
their
Posterity
likewise
.
In
this
Fable
Muley
Moloch
,
a
Tyrant
and
an
Usurper
,
Benducar
a
crafty
Villain
and
a
Traytor
,
the
Mufti
a
rascally
Hypocrite
and
a
Traytor
.
These
three
therefore
are
justly
rewarded
for
their
own
proper
Demerits
.
The
Tyrant
falls
by
Treachery
,
the
treacherous
Minister
by
publick
Justice
,
and
the
Hypocrite
is
unmaskt
,
depos'd
,
and
his
Estate
confiscated
.
Sebastian
and
Almeyda
are
Characters
of
extraordinary
Virtue
,
Sebastian
appears
just
and
brave
,
and
Almeyda
chaste
and
constant
to
an
Heroick
Pitch
.
Their
offence
was
involuntary
,
and
a
Sin
of
Ignorance
,
the
unhappy
consequence
of
the
transgression
of
their
Parents
,
and
their
Punishment
is
proportion'd
very
well
to
the
nature
of
their
Trespass
.
For
tho
Incest
be
a
Sin
of
a
very
black
Dye
,
yet
their
Ignorance
of
the
nearness
of
their
Blood
washes
away
their
Guilt
,
and
makes
it
their
misfortune
,
not
their
Crime
.
In
this
case
a
bare
Separation
wou'd
be
a
sufficient
Justification
of
their
Innocence
.
But
a
Judgment
hanging
over
their
heads
for
the
sin
of
their
Parents
,
to
divert
that
something
more
mortifying
was
necessary
,
and
therefore
a
voluntary
abdication
,
exile
,
and
a
recluse
religious
Life
are
thrown
in
by
way
of
Pennance
to
make
weight
,
and
give
the
attonement
its
due
complement
.
But
lest
the
true
Moral
shou'd
escape
the
Audience
,
the
Poet
has
taken
care
to
fix
,
and
summ
it
up
in
the
four
concluding
Lines
Let
Sebastian
and
Almeyda's
Fate
This
dreadful
Sentence
to
the
World
relate
,
That
unrepented
crimes
of
Parents
dead
,
Are
justly
punish'd
on
their
Childrens
heads
.
This
Moral
needs
no
defence
,
and
wou'd
plead
successfully
for
its
Author
,
and
excuse
many
little
Slips
before
any
Judge
less
partially
severe
than
Mr
Collier
.
The
Cleomenes
of
the
same
Author
stands
indicted
upon
the
same
score
,
In
this
Play
he
has
forgot
,
Cleomenes
,
Pantheus
,
Cleanthes
,
Cleonidas
,
Cratisiclea
,
and
Cleora
.
Vice
revels
all
along
,
and
triumps
at
length
in
the
persons
of
Ptolomy
,
Casandra
,
and
Sosybins
.
The
Fidelity
of
Cleomenes
to
his
Nuptial
Vows
is
the
destruction
of
himself
and
all
his
Friends
,
while
the
Luxury
of
Ptolomy
,
the
Wantonness
and
Infidelity
of
Casandra
,
and
the
Treachery
of
Sosybius
,
insult
in
security
unfortunate
Virtue
.
'T
is
true
,
That
Virtue
has
its
altars
tho
neglected
,
even
in
the
most
profligate
Breasts
,
and
that
the
most
inveterate
of
its
Enemies
will
confess
its
Charms
,
when
they
no
longer
dread
its
power
.
Mr
Dryden
has
confin'd
himself
a
little
too
near
the
Story
,
Sosybius
,
Casandra
,
and
Ptolomy
to
attend
Cleomenes
to
the
other
World
.
For
(
with
Submission
to
Mr
Dryden's
better
Judgment
)
I
see
no
necessity
for
letting
the
Curtain
fall
so
immediately
upon
the
Death
of
Cleomenes
.
The
fall
of
his
Hero
ought
to
have
drawn
after
it
a
train
of
Consequence
fatal
to
the
Contrivers
of
it
;
the
ruines
of
a
Hero
of
his
size
and
weight
ought
to
have
crush'd
those
feeble
Aegyptians
.
Had
the
rage
and
despair
,
that
might
naturally
be
supposed
in
a
Woman
of
Cassandra's
furious
temper
,
upon
the
disappointment
of
her
licentious
ungovernable
Flame
,
been
wrought
up
to
the
destruction
of
Sosybius
and
herself
,
Magas
might
have
made
his
appearance
in
Person
,
to
have
finish'd
the
business
,
and
dispatch'd
Ptolomy
.
All
this
might
have
been
done
without
unnaturally
stretching
,
or
making
the
action
double
.
By
this
means
Treachery
,
Lust
,
Infidelity
,
Luxury
,
Cowardice
,
and
Cruelty
,
had
all
met
their
due
reward
.
But
the
Poet
by
tracking
too
closely
the
Steps
of
the
Historian
has
lost
the
Moral
,
which
,
had
he
been
guided
by
,
and
depended
absolutely
upon
his
own
Judgment
,
we
had
no
doubt
been
indebted
to
him
for
.
The
next
and
last
Tragedy
I
shall
instance
in
is
the
Mourning
Bride
.
The
Fable
of
this
Play
is
one
of
the
most
just
,
All
this
as
well
as
the
Moral
is
summ'd
up
so
fully
,
(
To
Alm.
)
Thy
Father
fell
,
where
he
design'd
my
Death
.
Gonsalez
and
Alonzo
,
both
of
Wounds
Expiring
,
have
with
their
last
Breath
Confest
The
just
Decrees
of
Heaven
,
in
turning
on
Themselves
their
own
most
bloody
Purposes
,
To
Garcia
—
O
Garcia
Seest
thou
,
how
just
the
hand
of
Heaven
has
been
?
Let
us
,
that
thro
our
Innocence
survive
,
Still
in
the
Paths
of
Honour
persevere
,
And
not
for
past
,
or
present
ills
despair
:
For
Blessings
ever
wait
on
virtuous
deeds
;
And
tho
a
late
,
a
sure
Reward
succeeds
.
These
I
think
are
all
the
English
Tragedies
,
which
Mr
Collier
has
by
name
excepted
against
.
Taking
therefore
our
View
of
the
Modern
Tragedy
from
that
quarter
,
which
he
has
alotted
to
draw
a
Prospect
of
it
in
,
I
shall
leave
it
to
the
Reader
to
judge
,
whether
have
raised
the
more
beautiful
structures
.
But
if
we
can
with
these
Forces
,
which
our
Enemies
have
raised
for
us
,
make
head
,
and
maintain
our
ground
against
the
united
strength
of
all
Antiquity
,
what
might
have
been
done
,
had
we
had
the
lasting
,
and
sizing
'em
our selves
.
I
shall
only
take
notice
of
two
or
1st
,
That
they
never
are
at
the
expence
of
a
Machine
to
bring
about
a
wicked
Design
,
and
by
consequence
don't
interest
Providence
in
promoting
Villany
;
as
the
Antients
have
notoriously
done
in
many
of
their
Plays
;
of
which
number
are
the
Electra
of
Sophocles
;
the
Electra
,
Orestes
,
Hippolytus
,
Ion
,
and
others
of
Euripides
,
and
the
Thyestes
of
Seneca
.
2dly
,
Prometheus
in
Chains
of
Aeschylus
,
the
Oedipus
of
Sophocles
,
the
Hippolytus
and
Hercules
furens
of
Euripides
,
the
Oedipus
and
Hercules
furens
of
Seneca
,
and
divers
others
of
Antiquity
.
3dly
,
From
this
short
review
of
the
different
conduct
of
the
Antient
and
Modern
Tragedians
,
we
may
see
with
how
much
more
respect
to
Providence
,
and
the
Divine
administration
,
our
Poets
have
behaved
themselves
,
than
they
;
and
how
far
the
Ballance
of
Religion
inclines
to
our
side
.
I
suppose
no
one
can
be
so
silly
,
as
to
think
,
that
I
argue
here
for
the
truth
of
their
Faith
,
but
the
measure
of
it
in
their
respective
perswasions
,
in
which
the
advantage
is
infinitely
on
the
side
of
the
English
Stage
.
The
Fable
of
every
Play
is
undoubtedly
the
Authors
own
,
Mal
a
propos
,
as
a
Judge
wou'd
the
Kings
Evidence
,
if
he
shou'd
prefer
an
Indictment
against
'em
for
speaking
Treason
in
their
Depositions
.
The
Fable
therefore
being
the
main
spring
of
the
Machine
in
Tragedy
,
Poet's
Morals
o●
other
hand
.
For
't
is
possible
,
that
the
Poet's
Morals
may
be
very
good
,
yet
the
Man's
stark
naught
,
that
is
,
that
a
man
may
be
a
good
Moral
Poet
,
yet
a
bad
Man
.
So
on
the
other
hand
we
may
falsly
measure
his
Manners
by
his
management
,
and
impute
to
Malice
and
Design
those
faults
,
which
flow
from
want
of
Judgment
or
Indiscretion
.
This
is
hard
measure
,
but
such
as
Mr
Collier
has
been
very
liberal
of
to
the
Poets
.
It
wou'd
be
a
very
uncharitable
Error
,
shou'd
we
at
any
time
hear
the
sacred
mysteries
of
our
Faith
poorly
explained
,
or
weakly
defended
out
of
the
Pulpit
,
if
we
shou'd
conclude
,
that
the
Preacher
played
booty
and
betrayed
the
cause
he
pretended
to
plead
for
:
And
I
doubt
it
wou'd
fall
heavy
upon
many
,
that
now
pass
for
honest
and
good
Christians
,
I
hope
with
justice
,
if
their
Faith
were
to
be
measured
by
their
Performance
,
and
their
Integrity
by
their
parts
.
But
it
wou'd
be
much
more
unjust
to
Certainly
had
our
Poets
any
such
lewd
Design
of
confounding
the
Distinctions
between
Truth
and
Fiction
,
between
Majesty
and
a
Pageant
;
of
treating
God
like
an
Idol
,
and
bantering
,
the
Scriptures
like
Homer's
Elysium
and
Hesiod's
Theogonia
,
it
wou'd
appear
in
the
Fable
,
which
is
the
part
,
as
we
have
observ'd
,
that
discovers
most
of
the
Poets
proper
Opinion
,
and
gives
him
the
fairest
opportunity
of
stealing
it
artificially
in
,
and
poys'ning
the
Audience
most
effectually
with
least
Suspicion
.
For
tho
the
Fable
,
if
skilfully
contriv'd
,
be
the
Part
which
operates
most
powerfully
,
yet
it
works
after
a
manner
least
sensible
.
We
feel
the
effects
without
suspecting
the
cause
,
and
are
prejudiced
without
looking
after
a
reason
.
If
the
Poets
have
any
such
villanous
Plot
against
Virtue
and
Religion
,
they
are
certainly
the
most
negligent
Fellows
,
or
the
most
unexperienced
in
the
world
to
overlook
the
only
place
of
advantage
upon
the
whole
Stage
for
their
mischievous
purpose
,
where
they
might
work
their
Mines
unmolested
,
and
spring
'em
undiscover'd
to
most
,
and
do
the
greatest
execution
with
the
least
alarm
to
the
Enemy
.
But
they
make
War
like
Dutchmen
,
and
sell
their
Enemies
Ammunition
to
spend
upon
themselves
.
For
all
their
Fables
are
contriv'd
and
modell'd
for
the
service
of
Virtue
and
Religion
,
and
levell'd
against
themselves
,
if
they
be
such
great
Enemies
,
and
so
remarkably
disaffected
,
as
Mr
Collier
says
they
are
.
But
perhaps
he
may
,
either
thro
mistake
or
malice
,
misrepresent
the
matter
;
and
what
was
scoffingly
said
by
the
Turks
to
the
Poles
,
may
be
seriously
applied
to
the
case
before
us
by
both
Parties
,
that
they
did
not
know
of
any
War
betwixt
'em
.
From
the
management
of
the
Fables
of
our
Poets
,
Before
I
take
leave
of
Tragedy
upon
this
Head
,
I
must
take
notice
to
the
Reader
,
that
in
this
Parallel
betwixt
the
Antient
and
Modern
Tragedy
,
I
have
not
wrested
any
thing
to
the
unjust
Prejudice
of
one
,
The
Moderns
,
who
were
sensible
of
the
use
of
one
,
and
the
power
of
t'other
sort
of
Tragedy
,
have
taken
a
happy
Liberty
of
compounding
'em
,
and
throwing
the
simple
Tragedy
quite
aside
,
stick
altogether
to
an
Implex
kind
,
which
is
at
once
both
Moral
and
Pathetick
.
Wherein
they
must
to
their
honour
be
acknowledg'd
,
to
have
made
a
considerable
improvement
of
Tragedy
,
and
to
have
had
a
singular
regard
to
Probity
and
Virtue
;
which
(
without
injustice
to
Antiquity
,
I
may
venture
to
affirm
)
had
very
little
Interest
in
the
Fable
before
.
Nor
can
the
most
partial
Admirer
of
the
Antients
,
[
*
](A36512-e35280-b)
*
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
.
the
misfortunes
of
a
Person
unhappy
thro
his
mistake
,
not
his
Fault
,
as
the
most
proper
Subject
for
Tragedy
;
which
is
directly
opposite
to
this
Rule
,
which
requires
,
that
the
fortune
of
every
one
shou'd
be
adjusted
to
his
Merit
,
whether
good
or
bad
.
'T
is
true
,
Aristotle
thinks
,
that
't
is
inconsistent
with
the
regard
that
is
due
to
Mankind
,
to
represent
such
revolutions
in
the
Fortunes
of
Men
,
as
shall
make
Persons
eminently
Virtuous
unhappy
,
or
notoriously
wicked
successful
and
prosperous
.
But
I
don't
find
that
he
made
their
proper
Demerits
the
Standard
,
or
immediate
Rule
for
Squaring
their
future
Fortune
.
And
if
we
consider
the
examples
he
produces
to
his
own
Rule
,
we
shall
perhaps
be
induc'd
to
believe
,
that
he
did
not
insist
upon
a
very
rigorous
observation
of
it
.
For
of
his
two
instances
,
Oedipus
was
(
as
we
have
already
observ'd
)
a
very
virtuous
Person
,
and
Thyestes
,
according
to
the
traditions
remaining
concerning
him
,
a
very
wicked
One.
So
that
even
while
he
is
laying
down
his
Rule
,
he
seems
to
indulge
a
latitude
in
the
observance
,
and
to
justifie
any
Liberties
,
that
may
be
taken
with
it
,
by
the
Precedent
of
the
best
Play
,
not
only
of
Sophocles
,
but
of
all
Antiquity
.
Monsieur
Dacier
(
who
,
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
.
Who
affected
not
base
Popularity
,
nor
courted
Fortune
.
This
may
suffice
to
clear
him
from
the
imputation
of
Vanity
and
Ambition
,
with
which
Monsieur
Dacier
loads
his
Character
,
and
added
to
the
rest
,
prove
him
an
excellent
Person
;
one
that
,
according
to
Aristotle
,
was
too
good
to
suffer
in
so
extraordinary
a
manner
.
To
digress
no
farther
,
Thus
the
Modern
Stage
,
The
Fable
of
Comedy
will
give
us
very
little
trouble
,
Drama
.
Comedy
deals
altogether
in
Ridicule
,
and
its
Subject
consequently
must
be
such
as
affords
matter
of
ridiculous
Mirth
.
All
its
Machinations
tend
to
the
exciting
that
ill
natur'd
titillation
,
which
carries
scorn
and
contempt
along
with
it
.
It
s
business
is
to
correct
,
and
hinder
the
spreading
of
Folly
and
Knavery
,
by
making
'em
ridiculous
,
and
to
reform
Rascals
and
Coxcombs
by
exposing
'em
.
Aristotle
therefore
has
has
very
judiciously
defined
Comedy
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
.
The
Imitation
of
the
baser
sort
of
People
,
not
in
all
kinds
of
Villany
,
but
in
the
ridiculous
part
,
which
is
one
sort
of
Turpitude
.
The
Action
of
Comedy
must
be
suited
to
the
Actors
,
the
baser
sort
of
People
,
and
consequently
can't
be
of
any
great
importance
either
in
its
nature
or
effects
,
and
therefore
can
afford
no
extraordinary
Moral
.
By
the
baser
sort
of
People
,
Persons
of
low
Extraction
or
Fortune
are
not
heremeant
,
but
Persons
who
by
their
practices
and
Conduct
have
expos'd
themselves
to
Scandal
and
Contempt
.
From
the
Nature
therefore
,
and
quality
of
the
Actors
nothing
great
or
generous
can
be
expected
from
Comedy
.
The
Duping
of
an
old
Knave
,
the
cullying
of
a
Coxcomb
,
the
stealing
of
an
Heiress
from
a
Mercenary
Guardian
,
are
the
usual
exploits
of
Comedy
;
wherein
tho
Gentlemen
are
sometimes
concerned
,
yet
they
are
,
or
ought
always
to
be
such
,
as
have
some
blemish
,
or
other
upon
'em
,
otherwise
they
are
not
fit
for
the
business
they
are
engag'd
in
.
Comedy
seems
to
be
designed
to
teach
Men
Civil
Prudence
,
and
a
convenient
Management
in
respect
of
one
another
,
rather
than
any
thing
of
Morality
;
and
their
private
duty
.
There
their
misfortunes
and
disgraces
are
all
the
immediate
result
of
their
own
Folly
and
Mismanagement
,
and
may
therefore
very
well
cause
men
to
reflect
upon
that
want
of
Wit
and
Caution
,
which
caused
themselves
or
others
to
miscarry
,
and
teach
'em
to
be
more
wary
for
the
future
;
but
it
wou'd
hardly
confer
any
Grace
,
or
mend
their
Principles
.
The
business
of
Comedy
being
ridicule
,
those
Vices
only
fall
under
its
correction
,
Hence
it
will
appear
,
Comick
Stage
.
what
sort
of
Persons
are
most
proper
to
be
employed
in
Comedy
,
which
dealing
altogether
in
Stratagem
and
Intrigue
,
requires
Persons
of
Trick
and
Cunning
on
one
hand
,
and
easie
credulous
Folks
on
the
other
,
otherwise
the
Plot
will
but
go
heavily
forward
.
By
this
means
all
Characters
absolutely
perfect
are
excluded
the
Comick
Stage
.
For
what
has
a
Man
of
pure
Integrity
to
do
with
Intrigues
of
any
kind
?
He
can't
assist
in
the
execution
of
any
design
of
Circumvention
without
forfeiting
his
Character
;
and
to
bring
such
a
Character
upon
the
Stage
to
be
practic'd
upon
,
is
such
an
outrage
to
Virtue
,
that
the
most
licentious
of
our
Poets
have
not
dar'd
to
venture
upon
it
.
I
grant
that
't
is
neither
necessary
,
What
other
natural
occasion
can
be
assigned
for
embroiling
a
Gentleman
of
Quality
,
A
true
Comick
Poet
like
a
good
Droll
Painter
,
Nothing
is
more
frequent
than
to
meet
in
our
common
Conversation
,
What
therefore
is
so
common
and
obvious
in
the
World
,
can't
be
unnatural
upon
the
Stage
,
but
by
using
it
improperly
.
To
put
a
Gentleman
upon
the
Office
of
a
Villain
or
a
Scoundrel
,
or
to
make
a
Man
of
Sense
a
Bubble
or
a
Cully
in
the
Conclusion
,
is
an
abuse
to
the
Character
,
and
a
trespass
against
the
Laws
of
the
Drama
.
If
therefore
the
Poet
employs
any
of
this
Character
,
he
is
obliged
to
give
him
Success
,
notwithstanding
the
blemishes
of
his
Character
.
For
,
with
all
his
Faults
,
he
is
the
best
,
as
well
as
the
most
considerable
Person
,
that
't
is
lawful
for
him
to
make
bold
with
.
And
if
he
is
at
last
brought
to
a
Sense
of
his
Extravagance
and
Errours
,
and
a
resolution
of
amendment
,
the
Poet
has
exerted
his
Authority
to
the
utmost
extent
of
his
Commission
;
and
the
Laws
of
Comedy
exact
no
more
.
Had
Mr
Collier
known
and
consider'd
sufficiently
the
nature
of
Comedy
,
That
no
Liberties
are
to
be
indulg'd
in
Comedy
,
and
that
the
principal
Characters
ought
to
be
in
all
respects
exemplary
,
and
without
Blemish
.
That
this
a
mistake
I
hope
is
very
plain
from
what
has
been
already
said
.
But
because
Mr
Collier
has
taken
the
pains
to
back
,
and
assert
this
erroneous
Opinion
with
a
tedious
Harangue
,
and
some
seemingly
plausible
Arguments
,
it
may
not
be
amiss
to
abstract
one
from
t'other
,
and
consider
the
latter
distinctly
,
without
amusing
our selves
about
his
Pompous
expressions
,
English
Cody
.
and
Formal
Rhetorick
.
The
whole
Summ
of
Mr
Collier's
long
extravagant
charge
against
the
English
Poets
,
especially
the
present
Comick
Poets
,
against
whom
this
Chapter
seems
to
be
particularly
levelled
,
may
be
reduced
to
these
two
heads
.
1st
.
That
by
making
their
Protagonists
,
or
chief
Persons
Licentious
or
debauched
they
encourage
Vice
,
and
Irreligion
,
and
discourage
Virtue
.
2dly
.
That
the
rich
Citizens
are
often
represented
as
Misers
and
Cuckolds
;
and
the
Universities
as
Schools
of
Pedantry
;
and
thereby
Learning
,
Industry
and
Frugality
ridiculed
.
Mr
Collier
,
whose
business
all
thro
his
Book
is
Invective
,
not
Argument
,
lays
himself
forth
with
all
the
Pomp
of
Formal
Eloquence
,
and
vehemence
of
Expression
,
that
he
is
able
,
to
aggravate
the
crime
,
and
amplifie
the
guilt
of
the
Poets
not
to
prove
it
.
He
is
more
sollicitous
to
possess
his
Reader
,
than
convince
him
,
and
for
that
reason
le
ts
slip
the
circumstance
of
proof
as
not
very
material
,
because
he
found
it
wou'd
tye
him
up
to
strict
Argument
,
and
close
Reasoinng
,
which
is
not
for
his
purpose
,
and
insists
upon
the
General
charge
of
Debauchery
and
Impiety
;
which
allowing
him
all
the
Liberties
of
Declamation
and
Harangue
,
give
him
ample
Field-room
to
publish
,
and
display
his
Parts
,
and
his
Malice
together
;
which
he
does
most
egregigiously
,
and
Flourishes
most
triumphantly
.
Never
did
learned
Recorder
insult
poor
Culprit
in
more
formidable
Oratory
,
than
he
does
the
Poets
.
'T
is
true
,
he
offers
several
instances
in
confirmation
of
his
Assertion
,
which
he
draws
from
divers
of
our
English
Comedies
,
which
,
with
the
untoward
gloss
he
puts
upon
'em
,
seem
to
favour
his
malicious
purpose
.
These
I
shall
consider
in
their
proper
places
,
as
far
as
is
absolutely
requisite
to
our
purpose
,
and
leave
the
farther
justification
of
'em
to
the
Gentlemen
more
immediately
concerned
,
who
I
suppose
will
not
be
wanting
to
their
own
necessary
defence
.
We
shall
therefore
proceed
to
the
the
neglect
of
Poetick
Iustice
,
the
encouraging
of
Vice
with
Success
,
and
the
Discouraging
of
Virtue
.
The
whole
weight
of
this
Objection
turns
upon
this
hinge
,
that
the
Protagonists
,
or
chief
Persons
in
Comedy
are
generally
vicious
and
successful
,
which
he
pretends
to
be
against
the
Law
of
Comedy
,
which
is
to
reward
Virtue
and
punish
Vice
.
This
objection
,
as
he
observes
,
was
started
by
Mr
Dryden
against
himself
in
his
preface
to
his
Mock-Astrologer
.
But
he
objects
against
the
answer
,
which
Mr
Dryden
there
makes
to
it
.
That
he
knows
no
such
Law
constantly
observed
in
Comedy
,
either
by
the
Antients
or
Moderns
.
This
Mr
Collier
calls
a
lame
Defence
,
Comedy
,
This
Consideration
it
was
,
those
Poets
had
a
greater
compass
of
Liberty
in
their
Religion
,
and
that
Debauchery
did
not
lie
under
those
discouragements
of
Penalty
and
Scandal
with
them
,
as
it
does
with
us
;
therefore
their
Poets
indulg'd
themselves
in
those
Liberties
,
which
otherwise
they
durst
not
have
taken
.
Plautus
and
Terence
,
especially
the
latter
,
were
nice
Observers
of
Mankind
,
and
greater
Masters
of
their
own
Art
,
than
to
take
an
Improper
Liberty
,
only
because
't
was
not
dangerous
.
But
their
Religion
,
false
as
it
was
,
and
the
Laws
of
their
Country
,
which
were
very
severe
at
Rome
in
this
case
,
requir'd
strict
Morality
,
and
Regularity
of
Life
.
If
therefore
they
had
suspected
,
that
these
Indulgences
had
tended
any
ways
to
the
Debauching
of
their
Youth
,
and
the
Corrupting
of
their
Manners
,
they
durst
not
have
ventur'd
'em
into
publick
view
.
Nor
wou'd
their
Magistrates
,
to
whose
Censure
they
were
particularly
submitted
,
have
suffer'd
examples
of
such
ill
consequence
to
have
been
produc'd
openly
.
Besides
,
Cato
,
whose
Virtue
was
as
sowre
and
austere
,
and
perhaps
as
great
as
Mr
Collier's
,
was
a
great
encourager
of
'em
,
which
't
is
non
probahe
wou'd
have
been
,
had
he
smelt
any
such
dangerous
Plot
in
'em
.
So
that
the
Authority
of
these
Precedents
may
stand
,
and
be
of
service
,
notwithstanding
the
wide
difference
betwixt
Heathenism
,
and
Christianity
,
and
Mr
Collier's
Opinion
to
the
contrary
.
But
Plautus
and
Terence
have
taken
no
such
unjustifiable
liberties
,
But
Plautus
and
Terence
made
their
young
fellows
,
as
Nature
frequently
does
,
wild
and
extravagant
;
at
which
Mr
Collier
is
scandaliz'd
,
and
appeals
from
their
Judgment
to
Horace
,
he
says
)
was
as
good
a
Judge
of
the
Stage
,
as
either
of
those
Comedians
,
yet
seems
to
be
of
another
opinion
.
Let
us
see
how
far
the
Precept
of
Horace
for
the
drawing
of
youth
in
general
differs
from
the
Practice
of
those
Comedians
.
Horace
tells
us
,
that
the
young
Squire
,
as
soon
as
he
has
shaken
off
the
yoak
of
a
Tutor
,
is
for
Dogs
and
Horses
,
(
and
Whores
too
,
as
appears
by
the
sequel
of
his
Character
)
that
he
is
Cereus
in
vitium
flecti
,
This
is
not
a
bare
character
,
But
Mr
Collier
tells
you
,
This
I
believe
is
a
discovery
of
Mr
Collier
'
s
own
,
for
I
don't
find
any
such
accusation
in
Horace
;
he
tells
us
,
that
he
did
by
no
means
admire
the
Versification
and
Raillery
of
Plautus
,
as
their
Ancestors
had
injudiciously
done
,
that
his
Numbers
were
not
true
,
nor
his
Wit
Gentile
.
An
nostri
Proavi
Plautinos
,
&
numeros
,
&
Laudavere
Sales
;
nimium
patienter
utrumque
,
(
Ne
dicam
Stultè
)
mirati
:
si
modo
ego
,
&
vos
Scimus
inurbanum
,
lepido
seponere
dicto
,
Legitimumque
sonum
digitis
callemus
,
&
arte
.
Here
he
excepts
against
the
Numbers
,
and
Raillery
of
Plautus
,
and
arraigns
the
Taste
,
and
Judgment
of
their
Ancestors
,
that
approved
'em
.
But
I
don't
find
that
he
lays
Immodesty
,
or
Obscenity
to
his
charge
.
But
this
seems
to
be
a
strain
in
emulation
of
his
famous
Predecessor
Mr
Prynne
,
St
Paul
expressly
prohibits
Women
from
speaking
publickly
in
the
Church
.
Mr
Collier
in
a
fit
of
Criticism
something
like
this
,
takes
occasion
from
this
Passage
of
Horace
,
to
shew
how
apt
a
Scholar
he
is
;
and
not
to
be
behind
hand
with
Mr
Prynne
,
for
a
Reason
,
has
recourse
to
his
usual
method
of
construction
,
(
in
which
we
have
already
seen
he
has
a
singular
dexterity
)
and
converts
Horace's
charge
of
inharmonious
Verse
and
Clownish
Jests
,
to
Obscenity
and
Immodest
Satyr
.
To
cover
this
piece
of
Legerdemain
,
Sylvis
deducti
caveant
(
me
Judice
)
Fauni
,
But
what
's
all
this
to
Plautus
and
Comedy
,
who
never
had
any
Dealings
with
these
Satyrae
.
After
this
notable
exploit
,
he
launches
out
into
the
wide
Sea
of
Poetry
,
and
flourishes
with
the
Character
that
Horace
gives
of
the
first
Poets
,
Orpheus
,
Amphion
,
&c
,
whom
he
celebrates
as
the
civilizers
of
Mankind
;
but
as
that
affords
little
matter
either
of
Honour
or
Reproach
to
these
,
that
came
so
long
after
them
,
when
the
Muses
,
tho
they
might
have
kept
their
Virtue
,
yet
had
lost
very
much
of
their
Power
,
and
instead
of
commanding
the
Passions
of
their
Auditors
,
were
forced
on
many
occasions
to
comply
with
and
submit
to
their
Whimsies
,
and
humour
their
capri●ious
Appetites
:
It
will
be
impertinent
(
whatever
licence
Mr
Collier
may
assume
)
to
insist
any
longer
upon
a
case
no
way
Paralell
.
For
this
Character
,
which
Horace
bestows
upon
those
Poets
,
was
intended
as
a
complement
of
Poetry
in
general
,
but
not
to
reflect
any
honour
upon
the
Drama
in
particular
,
(
much
less
Comedy
,
the
more
recent
branch
of
it
)
which
was
not
invented
till
long
after
the
time
of
Orpheus
and
Amphion
.
His
next
use
that
he
makes
of
the
Authority
of
Horace
,
he
draws
from
his
Instructions
about
the
Office
of
the
Chorus
.
The
Chorus
(
Horace
tells
us
after
Aristotle
)
ought
to
bear
the
part
of
an
Actor
,
and
take
care
to
say
nothing
incoherent
,
or
incongruous
to
the
main
design
,
but
to
make
his
Song
of
a
piece
with
the
whole
.
From
hence
(
Mr
Collier
infers
that
)
't
is
plain
,
that
Horace
wou'd
have
no
immoral
Character
have
either
Countenance
or
good
Fortune
upon
the
Stage
.
But
here
he
foresees
an
Objection
,
He
answers
,
New
Comedy
.
Had
Mr
Collier
consider'd
who
't
was
that
said
this
,
that
the
Old
Comedy
grew
so
intolerably
abusive
and
scandalous
,
that
a
Law
was
made
to
curb
it
,
and
that
from
that
time
the
Chorus
was
silenc'd
.
Successit
vetus
his
Comaedia
,
This
testimony
of
Horace
is
full
against
Mr
Collier
,
Old
Comedy
had
the
greatest
freedom
of
Speech
,
and
took
the
boldest
liberties
of
any
part
of
the
Play
,
and
consequently
gave
the
greatest
offence
,
and
stood
most
in
need
of
Correction
.
And
Horace
seems
to
insinuate
,
that
the
Chorus
was
not
only
scandalously
offensive
,
but
that
it
was
expressly
filenc'd
by
Law
,
when
he
says
,
—
Lex
est
accepta
,
Chorusque
Turpiter
obticuit
,
sublato
jure
nocendi
.
As
if
the
whole
Business
of
the
Chorus
in
Comedy
had
been
Scandal
,
and
the
Law
levell'd
against
the
Chorus
only
.
The
event
justifies
this
Exposition
;
For
after
the
Publication
of
the
Laws
against
the
Liberty
of
Scandal
,
which
was
grown
so
rampant
in
the
Old
Comedy
,
the
Chorus
vanish'd
and
appear'd
no
more
upon
the
Athenian
Stage
in
Comedy
,
that
we
know
of
.
This
Mr
Collier
denies
,
with
a
Chorus
in
't
.
In
this
Assertion
there
are
two
mistakes
,
The
first
of
these
is
,
that
the
Plutus
of
Aristphanes
is
not
New
Comedy
.
2dly
.
That
in
the
Plutus
,
there
is
no
Chorus
.
The
Learned
(
whom
I
suppose
Mr
Collier
means
by
they
)
divided
the
Greek
Comedy
into
the
three
Classes
,
the
Old
,
the
Middle
,
and
the
New
;
not
to
mention
that
the
Old
Comedy
it self
is
subdivided
into
two
Ages
;
the
latter
of
which
commences
with
Cratinus
,
who
first
distinguisht
the
Parts
,
disposed
the
Acts
,
and
fixt
the
number
of
Actors
;
and
comprehends
Eupolis
,
Aristophaenes
,
and
the
rest
of
the
Comick
Poets
till
the
conclusion
of
the
Popular
Authority
,
and
the
beginning
of
the
Oligarehy
,
from
which
time
to
the
time
of
Alexander
,
that
which
is
now
called
the
Middle
Comedy
flourished
,
till
Menander
,
and
the
Poets
of
his
time
,
Philemon
,
Diphilus
,
Apollodorus
,
and
others
,
quite
altered
the
Face
of
the
Comick
Stage
,
and
introduc'd
that
which
is
now
call'd
the
New
Comedy
.
By
this
Divifion
,
which
is
both
just
,
Plutus
Old
Comedy
.
and
accurate
,
the
Plutus
falls
to
the
share
of
the
Old
Comedy
;
to
which
,
notwithstanding
the
deviations
therein
from
the
former
Practice
of
Aristophanes
,
it
does
most
properly
belong
.
But
if
Mr
Collier
will
have
the
Plutus
of
Aristophanes
to
be
the
first
step
towards
the
Reformation
of
Comedy
at
Athens
,
I
shall
not
much
dispute
the
matter
with
him
.
Because
he
has
in
that
abridged
himself
of
much
of
that
Liberty
,
which
he
has
used
in
his
former
Plays
.
But
granting
even
this
,
Aristophanes
can
at
most
but
lead
up
the
Van
of
the
Middle
Comedy
;
and
is
very
far
distanc'd
by
the
New
.
For
tho
Aristophanes
has
in
some
measure
altered
his
Conduct
in
his
Plutus
,
Old
Comedy
,
and
retrenches
only
some
offensive
Liberties
.
The
Fable
of
the
old
Comedy
was
altogether
Chimerical
,
and
the
Characters
Romantick
and
Whimsical
,
neither
of
'em
drawn
from
the
Observation
of
Nature
,
or
the
business
of
Humane
Life
,
but
pumpt
out
of
the
extravagance
of
the
Poets
Brain
.
The
Spirit
of
these
Entertainments
consisted
in
the
Piquancy
of
the
Raillery
and
Jests
,
and
the
boldness
of
the
Scandal
,
in
which
they
took
excessive
Liberties
with
particular
Persons
,
especially
the
Chorus
,
and
to
which
the
success
of
'em
was
wholy
owing
.
Cratinus
,
Eupolis
,
and
Aristophanes
how
differenc'd
.
Cratinus
is
said
to
have
been
very
bold
,
and
to
have
taxed
people
freely
by
their
names
,
without
miucing
the
matter
,
(
I
had
almost
said
without
Fear
or
Wit
)
and
charged
them
with
all
sorts
of
Crimes
,
without
respect
to
Persons
.
Eupolis
was
somewhat
more
discreet
,
couching
real
Crimes
and
Persons
under
sham
Names
,
and
lashing
his
Fellow
Citizens
on
the
backs
of
feigned
Offenders
.
Aristophanes
was
frequently
no
less
plain
than
Cratinus
in
respect
to
Names
,
but
his
Wit
was
of
another
sort
,
less
Sullen
and
Chagrine
.
He
turned
all
into
Jest
,
and
bantered
those
things
,
which
the
others
reprehended
after
a
manner
more
serious
and
severe
.
Menander
and
the
New
Comedians
formed
their
Models
after
a
very
different
manner
.
Old
Comedy
,
they
began
to
furnish
themselves
from
Observation
and
Experience
,
rather
than
Invention
,
and
to
employ
their
Judgments
more
than
their
Fancies
.
They
raised
the
structure
of
their
Plays
upon
the
Foundations
of
Nature
,
and
made
the
Intrigues
of
the
World
,
and
the
common
Affairs
of
Life
the
Subjects
of
'em
,
and
the
different
orders
of
Mankind
.
A
hard
Father
,
a
difficult
Master
,
a
wild
Son
,
a
crafty
Servant
,
an
impudent
Pandar
,
a
Mercenary
Courtezan
,
and
a
Captive
Virgin
,
were
the
most
usual
Characters
;
which
being
opposite
to
,
and
concerned
with
one
another
,
set
the
Plot
naturally
to
work
,
and
give
occasion
to
set
all
the
Wheels
of
the
Machine
a
going
.
This
may
suffice
to
give
us
an
Idea
of
the
difference
between
the
Old
Comedy
and
the
New
,
New
Comedy
;
tho
the
Poet
contrary
to
his
Custom
makes
use
of
Feigned
Names
,
and
lays
aside
the
Chorus
.
For
tho
these
Innovations
be
here
made
in
Comedy
,
yet
both
the
matter
and
the
Form
(
wherein
consisted
the
main
difference
between
the
Old
Comedy
and
the
New
)
remaining
still
the
same
with
the
rest
of
his
Plays
,
it
can
by
no
means
be
admitted
into
the
New
,
both
matter
and
form
of
which
were
different
,
if
not
directly
opposite
to
the
former
.
Old
Comedy
they
proceeded
from
Generals
that
were
Chimerical
and
false
,
to
argue
particulars
that
were
real
and
true
.
In
the
New
from
Particulars
that
were
imaginary
and
false
,
they
reprehended
Generals
that
were
real
.
The
Old
Comick
Poets
generally
devised
some
extravagant
and
unnatural
,
or
at
least
improbable
tale
,
into
which
they
took
occasion
to
thrust
particular
Facts
and
Persons
that
were
real
,
and
well
known
.
The
New
made
use
of
such
Intrigues
and
Persons
as
were
frequent
and
familiar
amongst
Mankind
,
and
thereby
corrected
the
common
Faults
,
such
as
Avarice
,
Fraud
,
&c.
but
copyed
neither
the
Actions
,
nor
Manners
of
Individuals
;
and
so
reflected
not
particularly
upon
any
One.
The
first
resembled
a
Limner
,
that
cou'd
copy
the
Features
of
a
Face
,
but
cou'd
only
draw
Individuals
like
,
ye
cou'd
not
design
;
the
latter
a
true
Historical
Painter
,
that
aim'd
rather
at
expressing
the
Manners
,
and
Passions
of
Mankind
than
the
countenances
.
In
whose
pieces
you
shou'd
not
amongst
a
Thousand
meet
one
Face
,
that
you
distinctly
knew
,
yet
none
but
what
were
natural
and
significant
,
and
such
as
you
must
acknowledge
you
saw
every
day
.
The
difference
therefore
betwixt
the
Old
Comedy
and
the
New
is
as
great
and
evident
,
as
betwixt
the
Paintings
of
Raphael
Vrbin
,
or
Michael
Angelo
,
and
those
of
Sir
Anthony
Vandike
,
or
Sir
Peter
Lely
.
I
shall
not
therefore
insist
upon
those
lesser
differences
of
Phrase
and
Metre
,
those
already
given
,
being
sufficient
to
inform
a
very
indifferent
Judge
.
However
,
Old
Comedians
,
and
of
himself
in
his
former
Pieces
,
he
seems
to
challenge
the
first
place
in
the
Middle
Comedy
,
which
the
Learned
have
found
it
necessary
to
distinguish
both
from
the
Old
and
the
New
.
Because
several
alterations
were
made
in
Comedy
,
of
which
perhaps
the
Omission
of
the
Chorus
was
none
of
the
least
considerable
,
yet
neither
the
Model
or
Design
were
totally
changed
till
the
time
of
Menander
,
and
his
Cotemporaries
.
Mr
Collier's
second
mistake
in
relation
to
the
Plutus
of
Aristophanes
is
,
in
the
Plutus
.
that
it
has
a
Chorus
in
't
.
If
he
means
that
there
is
a
part
in
this
Play
,
which
is
sustained
by
a
Person
or
Persons
under
the
name
of
Chorus
,
Matter
of
Fact
is
directly
for
him
:
But
if
he
thinks
that
there
is
any
such
thing
as
a
true
Chorus
in
it
,
it
is
as
plain
against
him
.
This
matter
will
easily
be
decided
,
if
we
consider
the
Nature
,
and
Office
of
a
Chorus
in
the
Old
Comedy
.
The
Chorus
in
Comedy
,
I
shall
not
trouble
the
Reader
with
the
Grammatical
division
of
the
parts
of
the
Chorus
,
viz.
)
Ode
,
Antode
,
Strophe
,
and
Antistrophe
,
&c.
which
signify
nothing
to
the
point
before
us
.
But
I
shall
desire
the
Reader
to
take
notice
that
in
the
Plutus
of
Aristophanes
,
this
part
which
alone
constitutes
the
Office
,
and
Business
of
a
Chorus
,
and
which
only
distinguishes
it
from
a
common
Actor
is
entirely
omitted
.
The
Chorus
in
this
Play
appears
but
as
an
ordinary
Actor
,
and
addresses
itself
to
the
other
Actors
only
,
comes
on
,
and
goes
off
without
once
singing
or
speaking
apart
from
the
rest
.
The
Chorus
therefore
,
as
it
is
called
,
in
this
Play
might
more
properly
have
been
personated
by
a
single
man
,
and
called
by
any
other
name
,
since
it
performs
nothing
of
the
Office
.
The
Observation
of
this
defect
of
the
Essential
part
of
the
Chorus
,
made
the
Learned
[
*
](A36512-e40260-b)
*
Etiam
in
●jusdem
Pluto
Chori
desiderantur
,
quod
&
alibi
monebamus
:
ita
tamen
ut
non
omissus
,
sed
exemptus
videatur
.
Poetic
.
lib.
1.
cap.
viii
.
Julius
Scaliger
think
,
that
this
Play
had
been
castrated
,
and
that
the
Chorus
(
which
he
confesses
to
be
wanting
)
was
not
omitted
,
but
taken
away
since
the
writing
of
it
.
But
whether
it
were
,
as
Scaliger
suspects
,
taken
out
after
it
was
finish'd
,
or
omitted
in
the
writing
,
is
not
very
material
;
't
is
plain
we
have
it
not
,
and
't
is
very
probable
that
't
was
the
Author's
own
fear
of
offending
,
that
depriv'd
us
of
it
;
the
want
of
which
caution
in
his
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
cost
Cratinus
his
Life
.
For
had
the
Chorus
of
the
Plutus
ever
been
made
publick
,
I
see
no
reason
why
that
,
as
well
as
the
rest
of
his
Chori
,
should
not
have
been
transmitted
to
us
.
I
would
advise
Mr
Collier
in
the
next
Greek
Play
he
cites
,
to
read
farther
than
the
List
of
the
Persons
of
the
Drama
.
For
't
is
apparently
negligence
,
that
has
led
him
into
this
Errour
,
and
made
him
think
,
that
because
he
found
a
Chorus
there
,
it
must
needs
be
in
the
Play
,
which
he
would
not
have
allow'd
to
be
a
legitimate
Chorus
,
had
he
read
the
Play
,
and
known
the
business
of
a
Chorus
.
'T
is
yet
in
his
Election
which
excuse
shall
stand
for
him
.
Mr
Collier's
Instances
therefore
signifies
nothing
to
his
Argument
,
because
it
does
not
prove
a
Chorus
consistent
with
the
New
Comedy
.
1st
,
Because
the
Plutus
in
which
he
instances
is
not
New
Comedy
.
2dly
,
Because
(
tho
it
were
New
Comedy
)
it
has
no
Chorus
.
So
that
,
I
suppose
,
we
may
lay
the
Authority
of
Aristophanes
aside
in
this
case
.
We
shall
not
trouble
the
Reader
with
a
particular
of
the
Fables
of
Aristophanes
,
which
are
so
extravagantly
Romantick
,
that
't
is
impossible
they
should
be
edifying
.
And
therefore
I
suppose
Mr
Collier
will
not
play
the
Morality
of
the
Greek
Comedy
upon
us
from
that
Quarter
.
But
he
proceeds
to
prove
the
continuance
of
the
Chorus
in
Comedy
by
an
oblique
Inference
from
Aristotle
,
Stage
,
(
yet
)
mentions
nothing
of
the
omission
of
the
Chorus
.
But
in
Mr
Collier
'
s
opinion
,
rather
supposes
the
continuance
of
it
,
by
saying
the
Chorus
was
added
by
the
Government
long
after
the
Invention
of
Comedy
.
Here
the
Silence
of
Aristotle
concerning
the
omission
of
the
Chorus
in
Comedy
,
By
the
same
way
of
arguing
he
might
have
prov'd
,
that
Aristophanes
was
the
the
last
of
the
Comic
Poets
before
Aristotle
,
because
he
has
made
no
mention
of
any
that
succeeded
him
;
and
yet
we
are
sufficiently
inform'd
,
that
there
were
divers
between
Aristotle
and
Aristophanes
.
But
if
at
this
distance
we
must
needs
be
conjecturing
at
reasons
,
[
*
](A36512-e41010-b)
*
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
.
Progress
of
Comedy
〈◊〉
.
a
sort
of
obscene
Songs
compos'd
of
the
same
Deity
,
which
in
conformity
to
the
Law
were
still
continued
his
time
in
the
Villages
.
In
the
next
Chapter
he
proceeds
to
the
Definition
of
Comedy
,
in
order
to
illustrate
the
difference
betwixt
that
and
Tragedy
;
and
then
informs
us
,
that
the
first
steps
towards
the
reducing
Comedy
to
Form
and
Order
,
were
made
in
the
dark
,
and
the
marks
of
'em
too
far
obliterated
to
be
trac'd
backwards
,
through
publick
neglect
,
that
't
was
long
e're
it
came
to
be
Acted
at
the
Expence
of
the
Publick
.
For
that
's
the
meaning
in
this
place
,
of
the
Magistrates
giving
the
Chorus
,
that
is
paying
the
Actors
.
For
he
immediately
subjoyns
,
that
all
before
that
time
were
Volunteers
in
this
Service
,
that
is
,
acted
gratis
.
In
this
account
of
the
growth
of
Comedy
,
However
,
By
this
it
may
appear
,
not
used
in
the
New
Comedy
.
that
whether
a
Chorus
be
consistent
with
New
Comedy
or
not
,
it
was
not
used
in
it
by
the
Antients
.
Nor
was
it
indeed
fit
to
be
used
according
to
the
liberties
of
Aristophanes
.
And
we
may
conclude
from
the
practice
of
all
Ages
and
Nations
ever
since
,
that
they
thought
those
Freedoms
essential
to
the
Chorus
of
Comedy
,
when
they
chose
rather
to
lay
it
wholly
aside
than
to
reform
it
.
If
Moliere
has
,
after
two
thousand
years
discontinuance
,
ventur'd
to
bring
a
Chorus
again
upon
the
Comick
Stage
,
I
don't
find
that
his
performances
of
that
kind
have
any
extraordinary
effect
,
or
that
they
stir
up
many
Imitators
to
follow
his
Example
.
Moliere
was
arrived
at
the
second
Infancy
of
his
Poetry
,
and
might
want
these
helps
to
keep
his
Plays
upon
their
Legs
,
which
by
the
first
Comick
Poets
were
made
use
of
to
teach
theirs
to
go
upright
.
His
more
vigorous
productions
scorn'd
those
Crutches
,
which
the
Issue
of
his
old
Age
,
that
brings
the
Infirmities
of
its
Parent
along
with
it
into
the
world
,
is
forc'd
to
have
recourse
to
for
its
support
.
But
to
what
end
wou'd
Mr
Collier
introduce
the
Chorus
into
the
English
Comedy
?
Puppet
Shews
;
Singing
,
Dancing
,
and
Idolatrous
Part
,
which
,
as
we
have
already
observ'd
,
are
all
either
better
supply'd
otherwise
,
or
absolutely
inconsistent
with
our
Religion
and
Stage
.
Mr
Collier
indeed
seems
to
assign
the
Chorus
another
Office
.
But
all
this
Torrent
of
Misreasoning
and
false
Rhetorick
flows
from
one
Spring
,
the
business
of
Comedy
is
to
instruct
by
example
;
and
he
mistakenly
imagines
,
that
these
ought
to
be
Examples
for
Imitation
.
Whereas
,
if
he
considers
the
nature
of
Comedy
,
he
will
find
just
the
reverse
of
this
fancy
to
be
true
.
For
,
as
we
have
already
taken
notice
,
it
can
employ
no
perfectly
upright
Characters
,
and
consequently
can
afford
no
Examples
,
but
for
Caution
.
Nor
is
Comedy
therefore
to
be
thought
imperfect
,
But
Mr
Collier
is
implacably
enrag'd
at
the
Poets
,
However
,
Mr
Collier
observes
abundance
of
Licentiousness
and
Impurity
in
the
world
,
Chorus
,
or
non
Chorus
,
Mr
Collier
pushes
still
forward
upon
the
mistaken
,
Authority
of
Horace
;
and
maintains
that
Horace
having
expressly
mentioned
the
Beginning
and
Progress
of
Comedy
,
discovers
himself
more
fully
.
He
advises
a
Poet
to
form
his
work
upon
the
Precepts
of
Socrates
and
Plato
,
To
try
the
validity
of
this
Argument
,
we
must
have
recourse
to
the
Original
,
which
will
shew
us
some
misapplication
,
and
some
mistake
of
Horace's
meaning
in
this
short
Paragraph
.
Mr
Collier
links
this
advice
of
Horace
immediately
to
his
account
of
the
Rise
and
Progress
of
Comedy
;
and
that
he
may
appropriate
it
solely
to
Comedy
,
skips
over
a
transition
of
twenty
lines
,
by
which
the
Poet
artificially
passes
from
the
particular
of
Comedy
to
Poetry
in
general
;
and
takes
occasion
to
say
,
that
a
good
Poet
ought
to
be
a
wise
Man
,
and
acquainted
with
the
Writings
of
the
Philosophers
.
For
Socrates
appears
in
this
place
as
the
Representative
of
the
whole
Body
of
Moral
Philosophers
,
and
not
for
himself
and
Plato
only
,
as
Mr
Collier
Imagines
.
Scribendi
recte
sapere
est
Principium
&
●ons
.
The
reason
of
this
he
immediately
subjoyns
,
which
will
also
make
the
application
for
us
.
For
,
says
he
,
The
man
that
knows
what
is
due
to
his
Country
,
and
his
Friends
,
his
obligations
to
Parents
and
Kindred
,
the
Laws
of
Hospitality
,
and
the
duty
of
a
Senator
,
a
Judge
,
and
a
General
,
knows
enough
to
enable
him
to
do
Justice
to
every
Character
.
Qui
didicit
Patriae
quid
debeat
,
This
List
of
Qualifications
seems
prepar'd
only
for
Tragick
and
Epick
Poetry
.
Comedy
,
which
concerns
none
but
the
lesser
Intrigues
of
Mankind
,
and
the
private
Affairs
of
particular
Families
,
or
Persons
,
has
no
dealings
with
the
Publick
,
or
its
Magistrates
;
and
therefore
does
not
seem
to
be
comprehended
in
the
aim
of
these
directions
.
Yet
,
Yet
after
all
he
gave
him
very
large
Priviledges
,
and
extended
his
Charter
,
as
far
as
the
observation
of
Humane
Nature
,
he
allow'd
him
the
liberty
of
saying
any
thing
that
Providence
laid
before
him
,
provided
he
kept
close
to
the
Original
.
To
this
end
he
bids
him
look
upon
the
Examples
that
men
set
him
in
their
Lives
and
Manners
,
and
thence
learn
to
draw
true
pictures
of
Mankind
.
Respicere
exemplar
vitae
,
morumque
jubebo
.
Doctum
Imitatorem
,
&
veras
hinc
ducere
voces
.
The
Mores
,
Poetical
Manners
,
I
shall
give
it
the
Reader
in
his
own
words
.
And
because
't
is
the
only
Statute
Law
of
Parnassus
,
by
which
the
Poets
can
fairly
be
tried
for
any
misdemeanour
,
either
of
Character
or
Expression
,
I
shall
supply
the
Defects
or
Mr
Collier's
report
of
it
from
Aristotle
,
who
is
more
full
and
clear
.
Manners
,
Poetical
Manners
in
the
Language
of
Poetry
,
is
a
propriety
of
Actions
and
Persons
.
To
succeed
in
this
business
there
must
be
a
regard
had
to
Age
,
Sex
,
and
Condition
:
And
nothing
put
into
the
mouths
of
Persons
,
which
disagrees
with
any
of
these
circumstances
.
'T
is
not
enough
to
say
a
witty
thing
,
unless
it
be
spoken
by
a
likely
Person
,
and
upon
a
proper
occasion
.
In
this
account
I
observe
many
things
deficient
,
Age
,
Sex
,
and
Condition
.
Of
these
,
the
first
and
the
last
,
Age
and
Condition
,
are
equivocal
terms
.
The
Author
has
not
taken
care
to
explain
,
whether
he
means
by
Age
,
the
Age
of
a
Person
,
or
the
Age
of
the
World
,
which
he
is
suppos'd
to
live
in
.
For
to
both
these
great
regard
is
to
be
had
,
because
they
difference
the
Characters
equally
.
A
noble
Roman
of
four
and
twenty
in
the
first
Ages
of
the
Commonwealth
,
was
no
more
like
one
of
the
same
Age
under
the
Emperors
,
in
humour
and
inclinations
,
than
either
of
'em
was
like
his
Grandfather
of
Fourscore
.
As
great
,
or
greater
is
the
Ambiguity
of
the
word
Condition
,
whereby
he
has
not
signify'd
whether
he
means
Condition
,
as
to
Estate
,
Quality
,
Vnderstanding
,
or
Circumstances
,
as
to
the
Action
of
the
Play
,
at
the
juncture
when
the
person
does
or
says
any
thing
.
Yet
these
have
all
an
equal
share
in
the
propriety
both
of
Words
and
Actions
,
and
ought
to
be
consider'd
,
otherwise
the
Manners
can
never
be
preserv'd
in
their
Propriety
and
Integrity
.
But
by
supplying
the
Defects
of
this
Account
,
we
shall
remedy
the
danger
of
mistakes
from
the
equivocal
Expressions
contained
in
it
.
Aristotle
requires
four
conditions
to
the
perfection
of
Poetick
Manners
.
1st
,
That
they
be
good
.
By
the
Goodness
of
Manners
the
Philosopher
does
not
here
understand
any
Moral
Goodness
;
for
he
declares
in
this
very
Article
,
that
he
means
only
[
*
](A36512-e43420-b)
*
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
.
that
they
should
be
expressive
of
the
Character
,
and
carry
both
in
words
and
actions
,
the
distinguishing
marks
of
the
Humour
and
Inclinations
of
the
person
,
whether
they
be
morally
Good
or
Bad.
So
that
if
the
Humour
or
natural
Inclinations
of
the
persons
be
sufficiently
markt
in
the
words
and
actions
,
the
Manners
are
good
,
according
to
Aristotle
,
let
'em
be
never
so
vicious
.
Horace
understands
Manners
the
same
way
,
when
he
tells
us
,
that
sometimes
Plays
of
little
Elegance
,
without
Ornament
,
or
Art
,
yet
wherein
the
Manners
were
well
express'd
,
took
better
than
others
,
wherein
they
were
neglected
for
Tinsel
and
Bombast
.
Interdum
speciosa
locis
,
2dly
,
[
*
](A36512-e43570-b)
*
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
.
That
they
be
proper
.
Wherein
this
propriety
consists
Aristotle
has
not
told
us
,
except
in
one
Negative
Instance
,
that
Courage
is
a
Quality
improper
,
or
unbecoming
a
Woman
.
Mr
Collier's
account
of
Poetical
Manners
above-cited
,
relates
to
this
particular
Condition
only
,
yet
is
both
defective
and
equivocal
in
that
.
Horace
has
been
very
full
upon
this
,
and
takes
care
to
describe
at
large
the
different
humours
of
man
in
the
several
Stages
of
his
Life
.
The
same
he
does
to
the
several
orders
and
degrees
of
men
,
according
to
their
respective
Capacities
,
either
Natural
or
Political
,
and
gives
the
Poets
a
great
Charge
not
to
confound
'em
.
To
repeat
his
words
upon
this
occasion
wou'd
be
tedious
,
upon
the
score
of
length
.
However
,
I
shall
endeavour
to
give
the
Reader
as
good
an
Idea
of
this
Poetical
Propriety
,
Humour
,
Fortune
,
Quality
,
Understanding
,
and
present
Condition
,
as
to
the
business
of
the
Play
,
of
the
person
acting
or
speaking
.
Horace
as
well
as
Aristotle
,
has
express'd
all
this
in
one
word
,
Convenientia
,
both
which
I
have
render'd
Proper
.
This
place
does
not
afford
me
room
for
instances
for
each
particular
,
and
therefore
I
shall
desire
the
Reader
's
patience
,
till
the
Subject
calls
for
'em
in
their
proper
places
.
3dly
,
That
they
be
like
.
This
Condition
relates
only
to
Characters
taken
from
Histories
,
Follow
common
Fame
,
Famam
Sequere
.
And
if
he
meddled
with
known
Names
,
to
keep
to
the
known
Characters
,
and
Accounts
of
'em
.
—
Honoratum
si
forte
reponis
Achillem
:
The
likeness
here
design'd
,
is
not
a
Natural
,
but
a
Historical
likeness
.
However
monstrous
a
Character
were
,
if
it
was
form'd
upon
,
and
adjusted
to
common
Fame
,
the
Poet
was
justify'd
.
4thly
,
Here
likewise
Aristotle
puts
in
his
Caveat
,
lest
any
one
by
Equality
of
Manners
shou'd
understand
such
a
steadiness
of
Temper
and
Resolution
,
as
would
exclude
from
the
Stage
the
uncertainty
of
Fickle
Humours
,
which
he
very
well
knew
to
be
the
case
of
a
very
great
part
of
mankind
.
All
that
he
requir'd
was
,
that
they
should
be
all
of
a
piece
,
that
there
might
be
no
dismembring
of
Characters
,
no
repugnancy
to
themselves
in
any
part
of
'em
.
Horace
,
his
best
Interpreter
,
says
,
Let
the
character
be
maintain'd
,
and
let
the
person
appear
the
same
at
his
exit
,
that
he
did
at
his
entrance
,
and
be
consistent
with
himself
.
—
Servetur
ad
imum
Qualis
ab
incepto
processerit
,
The
Philosopher
did
by
no
means
intend
to
cut
off
so
considerable
a
Branch
from
the
revenue
of
Comedy
as
Levity
;
than
which
nothing
deserves
her
Correction
more
,
nothing
fits
her
purpose
better
.
But
he
cautions
the
Poets
,
whenever
they
make
use
of
any
of
these
Unequal
,
or
Uncertain
Tempers
,
to
represent
'em
[
*
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*
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
.
equally
,
or
alike
unequal
thro
the
whole
Piece
;
and
not
to
make
'em
Fickle
and
Inconstant
in
one
Act
,
and
Resolv'd
and
Steady
in
another
.
Upon
these
Rules
we
may
proceed
to
try
the
Characters
,
and
Expressions
of
our
Poets
,
either
in
conjunction
with
the
Antients
,
The
Characters
and
Expressions
have
such
a
natural
dependance
upon
one
another
,
that
they
can't
be
examin'd
apart
,
each
being
justifiable
or
condemnable
upon
the
Evidence
of
the
other
only
.
The
Character
may
offend
two
ways
;
first
,
by
being
unnatural
,
and
consequently
Monstrous
;
2dly
,
by
being
Inconsistent
with
itself
,
and
not
all
of
a
Piece
.
These
Faults
,
when
committed
,
are
likewise
two
ways
discoverable
,
by
the
Actions
,
and
by
the
Expressions
,
when
any
thing
is
done
,
or
said
unnatural
,
or
improper
,
a
Fault
is
committed
against
Character
,
which
is
thereby
broken
,
and
becomes
double
.
The
Faults
of
Expression
are
as
various
as
the
circumstances
against
which
it
may
offend
,
Mr
Collier
might
unquestionably
have
found
our
Poets
remiss
enough
in
the
observation
of
these
Rules
,
and
consequently
guilty
of
faults
deserving
his
or
any
one's
correction
.
But
he
chose
rather
to
brand
'em
with
crimes
of
a
blacker
dye
,
tho
with
less
Justice
and
Truth
,
and
like
an
Irish
.
Evidence
,
by
his
forwardness
to
charge
,
and
the
monstrousness
of
his
allegations
,
destroys
the
credit
of
his
depositions
.
His
charge
against
our
Stage
for
the
mismanagement
of
their
Characters
consists
of
three
general
heads
.
-
1.
Misrepresentation
of
Women
.
-
2.
Abuse
of
the
Clergy
.
-
3.
Rude
treatment
of
the
Nobility
.
To
all
these
I
shall
say
something
general
,
with
regard
to
the
Argument
,
without
entring
into
a
discussion
of
the
Merits
of
those
particular
Instances
which
he
brings
to
back
his
Assertions
.
Not
but
I
think
many
of
'em
easily
to
be
Apologiz'd
for
,
or
rather
to
be
justify'd
;
but
because
it
would
spin
out
this
discourse
to
an
unreasonable
length
,
and
likewise
because
there
are
those
whose
Abilities
in
this
dispute
are
as
much
greater
than
mine
,
as
their
Interest
in
it
,
to
whom
I
leave
it
.
The
Poets
(
says
Mr
Collier
)
make
Women
speak
smuttily
.
Here
again
,
Rapin
observes
that
the
Character
of
Women
is
Modesty
,
and
therefore
Mr
Collier
thinks
,
that
no
Woman
must
be
shewn
without
it
.
Aristotle
has
given
Courage
or
Valour
as
the
Characteristick
or
Mark
of
distinction
proper
to
the
other
Sex
,
which
was
a
notion
so
Antient
,
and
so
universally
receiv'd
,
that
most
Nations
have
given
it
a
denomination
from
the
Sex
,
as
if
peculiar
to
it
.
The
Greeks
call'd
it
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
,
we
Manhood
.
Yet
't
is
no
Solecism
in
Poetical
Manners
to
represent
Men
sometimes
upon
the
Stage
as
Cowards
;
nor
did
any
man
ever
think
the
whole
Sex
affronted
by
it
;
how
near
soever
it
might
touch
some
Individuals
.
If
the
Poets
set
up
these
Women
of
Liberty
for
the
Representatives
of
their
whole
Sex
,
In
Plays
the
Characters
are
neither
Vniversal
nor
General
.
Individuals
.
Characters
of
so
narrow
a
Compass
wou'd
be
of
very
little
use
,
or
diversion
.
Because
they
wou'd
not
appear
natural
,
the
Originals
being
probably
unknown
to
the
greatest
part
,
if
not
the
whole
Audience
;
nor
cou'd
any
of
the
Audience
sind
any
thing
to
correct
in
themselves
by
seeing
the
Infirmity
peculiar
to
a
particular
man
expos'd
.
This
was
indeed
the
method
of
the
Old
Greek
Comedy
;
but
then
they
pick'd
out
publick
persons
,
whom
they
dress'd
in
Fools
Coats
and
expos'd
upon
the
Stage
,
not
in
their
own
own
Shapes
,
but
those
of
the
Poet's
Fancy
;
an
Insolence
,
that
never
would
▪
have
been
endur'd
in
any
,
but
a
Popular
Government
,
where
the
best
of
Men
are
sometimes
sacrificed
to
the
Humours
and
Caprices
of
a
giddy
multitude
.
Yet
even
by
them
it
was
at
last
suppressed
.
The
Characters
therefore
must
neither
be
too
general
,
Life
,
Sexes
and
Tempers
;
some
Artificial
,
and
more
particular
,
as
the
vast
Varieties
and
Shapes
of
Villany
,
Knavery
,
Folly
,
Affectation
and
Humour
,
&c.
All
these
are
within
the
Poet's
Royalty
▪
and
he
may
summon
'em
to
attend
him
,
whenever
he
has
occasion
for
their
service
.
Yet
tho
these
make
up
perhaps
the
greatest
part
of
Mankind
,
he
is
not
fondly
to
imagine
,
that
he
has
any
Authority
over
the
whole
,
or
to
expect
homage
from
any
of
'em
,
as
the
Publick
Representatives
of
their
Sex
.
Yet
even
granting
to
the
Poets
such
an
unlimited
Authority
(
which
I
shall
not
do
)
Mr
Collier's
Argument
falls
to
the
Ground
nevertheless
.
But
he
pursues
his
Argument
to
particulars
,
and
takes
notice
,
that
even
Quality
it self
is
not
excepted
from
these
Mismanagements
.
If
Dignities
conferr'd
true
Merit
,
From
these
more
general
exceptions
,
One
thing
I
must
desire
the
Reader
to
take
notice
of
,
which
is
,
that
I
don't
charge
these
passages
as
faults
,
or
immoralities
upon
the
Antients
,
but
only
instance
in
'em
,
to
shew
the
partiality
of
Mr
Collier
,
who
violently
wrests
the
Words
and
Sense
of
the
Moderns
,
only
to
make
that
monstrous
and
unsufferable
in
them
,
which
he
either
excuses
or
defends
in
the
others
.
Nor
do
I
here
pretend
to
present
the
Reader
with
a
compleat
Collection
of
the
kind
.
I
assure
him
,
that
I
shall
leave
untouch'd
some
hundreds
of
those
instances
which
I
have
actually
observ'd
amongst
the
Greek
and
Latin
Dramatists
,
and
only
give
him
so
many
,
as
are
indispensably
necessary
to
shew
how
unjustly
Mr
Collier
has
drawn
his
parallel
.
For
since
both
Antients
and
Moderns
,
as
Poets
are
submitted
to
,
and
ought
to
be
govern'd
by
the
same
Laws
,
't
is
but
reason
,
that
one
as
well
as
t'other
,
shou'd
be
allow'd
the
benefit
of
'em
.
Shakespear's
Ophelia
comes
first
under
his
Lash
,
Ophelia
was
a
modest
young
Virgin
,
Partie
per
Pale
,
the
death
of
her
Father
,
and
the
loss
of
her
Love
,
which
is
the
utmost
we
can
give
to
the
latter
,
yet
her
passion
is
as
innocent
,
and
inoffensive
in
her
distraction
as
before
,
tho
not
so
reasonable
and
well
govern'd
.
Mr
Collier
has
not
told
us
,
what
he
grounds
his
hard
censure
upon
,
but
we
may
guess
,
that
if
he
be
really
so
angry
as
he
pretends
,
't
is
at
the
mad
Song
,
which
Ophelia
sings
to
the
Queen
,
which
I
shall
venture
to
transcribe
without
fear
of
offending
the
modesty
of
the
most
chaste
Ear.
To
morrow
is
St
Valentine's
day
,
'T
is
strange
this
stuff
shou'd
wamble
so
in
Mr
Collier's
Stomach
,
But
Children
and
Mad
Folks
tell
truth
,
Antigone
,
Antigone
of
Sophocles
.
whom
he
has
produc'd
as
an
instance
of
the
Temperance
,
and
Decency
of
the
Ancients
in
this
respect
,
may
upon
the
Parallel
serve
us
as
an
example
of
the
contrary
.
The
distinguishing
Parts
of
this
Ladies
Character
,
are
Piety
and
Resolution
,
and
she
makes
both
sufficiently
appear
,
she
buries
her
Brother
,
tho
she
knew
she
must
die
for
it
.
And
when
she
receives
her
Sentence
from
Creon
,
which
was
immediately
to
be
put
in
execution
,
she
makes
light
of
Death
,
and
insults
the
Tyrant
.
But
as
she
is
led
to
Execution
,
she
is
unexpectedly
concerned
about
the
Toy
her
Maidenhead
;
't
is
her
great
Affliction
,
that
she
must
go
out
of
the
world
with
that
great
Burthen
about
her
.
Upon
this
occasion
she
is
very
clamorous
,
and
that
it
may
be
taken
notice
of
as
her
main
grievance
,
she
repeats
it
divers
times
over
,
and
chews
the
Cud
upon
it
liberally
.
—
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
,
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
—
Poor
Girl
,
she
does
not
relish
her
Sentence
half
so
well
as
an
Epithalamium
.
She
thinks
a
soft
Bed
,
and
a
warm
Bed-fellow
more
comfortable
by
abundance
,
than
a
cold
Grave
.
And
who
can
blame
her
?
But
Matrimony
runs
strangely
in
her
head
.
For
a
little
after
she
's
at
it
again
,
complaining
of
her
want
of
a
Husband
,
and
is
very
sorry
that
she
must
cross
the
Styx
,
and
visit
her
Parents
with
her
Maiden-head
about
her
.
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
.
And
immediately
after
she
's
at
it
again
.
—
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
Vnmarried
is
still
the
burthen
of
the
Song
.
Nay
,
she
is
so
full
of
it
,
that
she
can't
forbear
talking
of
a
second
Husband
,
in
case
she
were
a
Widow
.
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
.
This
thought
of
a
second
Husband
is
such
a
Refreshment
to
her
,
that
she
can't
forbear
dilating
upon
it
.
One
wou'd
think
by
the
odd
Frolicksomeness
of
her
complaints
,
and
the
whimsical
Comforts
she
finds
out
,
that
she
was
only
going
to
dance
bare-foot
at
a
Sisters
Wedding
.
But
within
a
few
lines
,
she
relapses
again
into
her
agonies
of
despair
,
and
is
more
afraid
of
leading
Apes
in
Hell
,
than
e're
a
hopeless
Antiquated
Damsel
within
our
Bills
of
Mortality
.
She
is
not
so
much
concern'd
at
dying
,
but
to
go
out
of
the
world
,
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
.
and
not
to
have
one
Honey
Moon
,
not
so
much
as
a
merey
Bout
before
she
went
,
was
a
hardship
she
cou'd
not
bear
with
any
temper
.
We
may
find
by
this
Lady's
complaint
,
that
she
was
very
desirous
to
dispose
of
her
Maiden-head
;
but
for
any
thing
that
appears
from
her
complaint
or
behaviour
,
she
was
very
indifferent
to
whom
.
'T
was
a
Burthen
she
long'd
to
be
rid
of
,
and
seem'd
not
to
care
who
eas'd
her
;
for
she
does
not
mention
her
Contract
with
Haemon
,
which
she
decently
might
,
but
laments
her
want
of
a
Husband
in
general
terms
,
without
giving
the
least
hint
of
an
Honourable
Love
for
any
particular
person
.
These
are
extraordinary
Speculations
for
a
dying
Person
.
However
,
Mr
Collier
admires
the
Poets
conduct
in
this
case
,
and
were
he
Ordinary
no
doubt
but
we
shou'd
have
these
Flowers
transplanted
in
great
plenty
to
the
last
Speeches
of
his
dying
Females
.
He
thinks
't
is
out
of
pure
regard
to
Modesty
and
Decency
,
that
Antigone
takes
no
notice
of
Haemon
in
her
complaints
.
I
shall
not
dispute
,
whether
't
were
the
fashion
in
the
days
of
Sophocles
or
not
;
but
I
am
sure
't
is
accounted
but
an
ill
Symptome
of
Modesty
in
our
Age
,
when
a
young
Lady
shews
an
impatience
to
be
married
,
before
she
has
made
a
Settlement
of
her
Affection
upon
any
Individual
Man
.
However
,
—
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
,
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
.
Nor
is
Euripides
a
whit
more
tender
in
this
point
.
The
Royal
Polyxena
,
just
before
she
was
to
be
led
away
as
a
Victim
to
the
Manes
of
Achilles
,
harps
upon
the
same
string
.
It
lies
very
heavy
upon
her
Spirits
,
that
she
must
go
out
of
the
World
in
ignorance
.
—
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
.
This
Princess's
complaint
is
yet
more
unreasonable
than
either
of
the
former
,
and
more
unbecoming
the
Modesty
of
her
Sex
,
and
the
greatness
of
her
Birth
and
Courage
,
as
't
is
both
before
and
afterwards
shew
.
Shewn
as
a
Captive
,
a
part
of
the
Plunder
of
the
sack'd
City
,
one
that
besides
her
own
unhappy
Destiny
,
which
hung
immediately
over
her
head
,
had
the
Ruin
and
Miseries
of
her
Country
and
Family
fresh
in
view
,
to
put
all
wanton
thoughts
out
of
her
head
.
Besides
,
she
cou'd
not
expect
to
ascend
the
insolent
Conquerors
Bed
any
otherwise
than
as
his
Vassal
,
the
Slave
of
his
Lust
and
Pleasure
,
which
,
as
it
was
below
her
to
comply
with
,
but
upon
Force
,
so
it
must
be
a
Slavish
Baseness
,
as
well
as
Wantonness
and
Incontinence
,
to
desire
it
under
her
Circumstances
.
It
were
easy
to
bring
many
Instances
more
of
this
kind
,
but
I
think
.
it
wou'd
be
tedious
and
unnecessary
to
multiply
instances
in
a
plain
case
.
I
think
it
likewise
a
labour
altogether
as
superfluous
to
spend
more
words
to
shew
the
vast
disproportion
between
the
innocent
Extravagance
of
Ophelia's
Frenzy
,
and
the
sober
Rants
of
Antigone
,
Electra
,
and
Polyxena
.
To
suppose
the
Reader
cou'd
over-look
that
,
were
to
affront
his
Understanding
.
But
before
I
part
with
Antigone
,
I
shall
beg
leave
to
make
one
observation
more
.
Cassandra
,
in
reporting
the
misfortunes
of
the
Greeks
,
stops
at
the
Adulteries
of
Clytemnestra
and
Aegiale
.
And
gives
this
handsome
reason
for
making
a
halt
.
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
.
Foul
things
are
best
unsaid
.
From
whence
he
observes
,
that
Some
things
are
dangerous
in
report
,
as
well
as
practice
,
and
many
times
a
Disease
in
the
Description
.
This
Euripides
was
aware
of
,
and
manag'd
accordingly
,
and
was
remarkably
regular
both
in
Stile
and
Manners
.
This
was
indeed
an
extraordinary
piece
of
niceness
in
Euripides
,
more
I
think
by
a
great
deal
,
than
he
was
oblig'd
to
,
and
I
am
sure
more
than
he
has
shewn
upon
other
occasions
.
Cassandra
might
have
foretold
the
Discovery
of
the
Adulteries
of
Clytemnestra
and
Aegiale
,
without
any
Indecencies
of
Language
,
or
shocking
the
most
tender
Ear
,
had
the
Poet
so
pleas'd
.
Sophoclcs
,
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
.
If
Antigone
might
be
thus
free
with
her
own
Family
without
breach
of
Modesty
,
I
can't
see
why
Cassandra
shou'd
be
so
tender
of
an
Enemy
,
whom
she
was
just
going
to
supplant
in
her
Bed
;
and
in
the
divulging
of
whose
Faults
,
as
well
as
Misfortunes
,
she
might
be
allow'd
to
take
some
Pleasure
,
—
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
,
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
.
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
.
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
.
This
Reproof
has
a
strange
Operation
upon
Casandra
.
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
,
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
,
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
.
Is
this
the
Modest
,
the
bashful
Casandra
,
so
demure
,
that
she
can't
name
adultery
,
tho
in
an
Enemy
,
and
yet
so
forward
to
act
it
,
that
no
restraints
of
Shame
or
Misery
can
keep
her
within
bounds
.
It
may
perhaps
be
objected
in
Defence
of
Casandra
,
that
her
Joy
and
Transport
springs
not
from
any
Pleasure
or
Satisfaction
,
that
she
shou'd
take
in
this
Match
,
but
from
the
Prospect
she
had
of
revenging
the
Quarrel
of
her
Family
,
and
the
Ruine
and
Destruction
which
she
foresaw
shou'd
thence
come
upon
the
House
of
Atreus
her
mortal
Enemies
.
Admit
this
to
be
true
.
But
this
is
none
of
Casandra's
case
.
She
shared
indeed
amongst
the
rest
the
common
Fate
,
and
became
a
Slave
,
and
a
Prey
to
the
victors
Lust
and
Avarice
.
This
might
naturally
make
her
wish
the
utter
confusion
of
the
Destroyers
of
her
Country
and
Family
;
but
not
at
the
expence
of
her
Fame
and
Virtue
.
'T
was
all
she
had
left
to
comfort
her
;
and
as
Andromache
in
the
same
Play
cou'd
inform
her
,
of
infinitely
more
worth
,
than
the
wretched
remainder
of
a
servile
Life
.
This
therefore
shou'd
not
have
been
parted
with
at
any
rate
,
much
less
upon
a
slender
consideration
.
Had
she
submitted
to
necessity
only
,
and
comply'd
as
a
Slave
with
reluctance
to
the
desires
of
Agamemnon
,
as
Andromache
does
to
Pyrrhus
,
she
had
saved
hes
Modesty
,
and
secured
her
Revenge
ev'ry
whit
as
well
.
The
Disasters
of
Agamemnon
and
his
House
,
interpreted
as
a
Punishment
of
her's
,
and
her
Family's
wrongs
,
tho
they
were
only
Prophetically
fore-known
by
her
,
had
given
a
sullen
s●rt
of
Comfort
,
and
afforded
a
reason
for
her
resignation
of
her self
to
the
Conquerors
Pleasure
.
But
if
the
Poet
designed
her
for
so
implacable
a
Character
,
as
to
take
such
great
satisfaction
in
,
and
purchase
at
so
dear
a
rate
a
Prospect
only
of
Revenge
at
such
a
distance
,
by
which
she
herself
must
be
crushed
,
and
all
her
Friends
either
dead
,
or
so
dispersed
as
to
have
no
interest
in
the
accomplishment
of
it
:
he
ought
to
have
prepar'd
the
Audience
for
so
unaccountable
an
extravagance
,
by
some
notice
of
the
Violence
of
her
Temper
,
either
by
something
from
her
own
mouth
or
Conduct
previous
to
this
,
or
from
the
mouth
of
some
Friend
of
her's
,
that
might
have
abated
the
surprize
of
such
a
resolution
.
Especially
since
he
was
resolved
she
shou'd
appear
no
more
by
her
future
modest
behaviour
to
qualify
the
Scandal
of
this
Misdemeanour
.
This
Lady
being
set
up
by
Mr
Collier
as
the
Standard
of
Modesty
,
I
have
examined
her
Conduct
the
more
at
large
;
and
am
very
willing
to
leave
it
to
the
decision
of
the
Reader
,
whether
Casandra
or
Ophelia
wou'd
best
become
the
Cloyster
,
or
most
needs
the
Discipline
of
the
Nunnery
in
Moorfields
.
We
have
seen
how
this
Lady
can
behave
her self
upon
occasion
.
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
,
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
.
As
an
old
Woman
she
had
the
priviledge
of
tattling
.
But
as
a
Prudent
Woman
,
she
ought
to
have
handled
her
Daughters
disgrace
a
little
more
tenderly
.
The
good
old
Lady
ne'r
minces
the
matter
,
but
outs
with
all
roundly
,
and
is
concerned
,
that
any
thing
shou'd
abate
of
the
satisfaction
Casandra
might
have
in
so
good
a
Bedfellow
.
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
,
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
.
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
,
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
.
This
is
plain
dealing
,
but
something
below
the
Dignity
of
the
Queen
of
Asia
,
at
the
lowest
ebb
of
her
Fortune
.
What
follows
is
fit
only
for
the
Mouth
of
a
Drunken
Midwife
at
a
Christening
in
Wapping
.
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
,
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
.
After
these
remarkable
Instances
of
the
regularity
of
Euripides
,
'T
were
easie
to
multiply
instances
of
this
nature
from
Euripides
,
Hermione
rails
at
Andromache
in
terms
very
misbecoming
her
Sex
,
Whoever
consults
these
and
divers
Passages
,
as
well
in
Sophocles
as
Euripides
,
will
find
the
most
exceptionable
Passages
in
our
Poets
,
whether
Comick
or
Tragick
very
excusable
,
upon
a
fair
Construction
,
let
it
be
never
so
severe
within
the
Bounds
of
Justice
.
Seneca
has
received
Absolution
,
In
his
Hippolytus
,
Quo
tendis
anime
?
quid
furens
saltus
amas
?
Fatale
miserae
matris
agnosco
malum
,
Peccare
noster
novit
in
Sylvis
amor
.
Genetrix
,
tui
me
miseret
,
infando
malo
Correpta
pecoris
efferi
saevum
ducem
Audax
amasti
.
Torvus
impatiens
guge
Adulter
ille
,
ductor
indomiti
gregis
.
Sed
amabat
aliquid
:
Quis
meas
miserae
Deus
,
Aut
quis
juvare
Daedalus
flammas
queat
?
Non
si
ille
remee●
arte
mopsopia
potens
,
Qui
nostra
caeca
monstra
concluset
domo
,
Promittat
ullam
casibus
nostris
opem
.
—
Nulla
Minois
levi
Defuncta
amore
est
:
jungitur
semper
nefas
.
'T
was
the
fate
of
her
Family
,
it
seems
,
and
she
was
by
no
means
for
contending
with
her
destiny
,
and
therefore
surrenders
upon
the
first
Summons
of
her
passion
.
Her
Mother
,
she
thinks
,
was
much
oblig'd
to
Daedalus
,
whose
ingenuity
brought
her
and
her
horned
Lover
together
.
But
alas
!
Poor
Soul
,
She
's
hard
put
to
't
.
Her
Mother's
Bull
was
a
gentle
tender-hearted
Gallant
,
to
her
Savage
obdurate
Son-in-law
;
and
she
,
good
woman
,
had
no
such
necessary
helps
for
her
Consolation
.
What
must
she
do
?
He
Nurse
advises
her
to
strangle
this
Incestuous
Brat
,
her
Passion
,
in
the
Birth
.
But
she
bravely
resolves
to
push
on
,
whatever
comes
on
't
.
Quemcunque
dederit
exitum
casus
,
feram
.
Is
this
the
modest
Phaedra
,
whose
Language
is
under
such
discipline
?
Can
she
be
so
free
with
the
Infamy
of
her
House
,
make
such
fulsome
descriptions
,
and
envy
her
Mother
the
caresses
of
a
Bull
?
But
the
Nurse
mends
the
matter
,
and
reproves
her
severely
.
Here
therefore
we
may
expect
a
sample
of
strict
and
exemplary
modesty
,
and
chaste
expression
.
Sed
ut
secundus
Numinum
abscondat
favor
Coitus
nefandos
—
and
immediately
after
—
Metue
concubitus
novos
.
Miscere
thalamos
Patris
,
&
Nati
apparas
,
Vteroque
prolem
capere
confusam
impio
.
Is
this
the
disciplin'd
Language
Mr
Collier
boasts
of
?
Such
we
have
indeed
sometimes
under
the
discipline
of
Bridewel
and
Bedlam
,
but
seldom
elsewhere
.
The
most
accomplish'd
Disciple
that
ever
came
out
of
the
late
famous
Academy
of
the
virtuous
Mrs
Meggs
of
notable
Memory
,
cou'd
not
have
been
more
free
in
her
Language
,
as
well
as
Thoughts
.
The
Antients
,
good
Men
,
did
not
puzzle
their
Heads
about
double
entendre's
to
screen
a
foul
thought
,
or
labour
for
Allegories
and
Allusions
,
but
honestly
called
a
Spade
,
a
Spade
,
whenever
they
had
occasion
.
I
believe
these
Ladies
wou'd
be
better
company
for
Joan
of
Naples
,
than
Mr
Dryden's
Leonora
,
if
fulsome
Descriptions
be
so
toothsome
to
her
.
But
Mr
Collier
is
mightily
pleased
,
there
is
no
courting
,
except
in
the
Hercules
Furens
,
where
the
Tyrant
Lycus
addresses
Megara
very
briefly
,
and
in
modest
remote
Language
.
Here
he
has
pointed
us
a
Specimen
of
what
he
calls
modest
and
remote
.
The
Tyrant
had
courted
Megara
,
the
Wife
of
Hercules
,
to
no
purpose
,
she
obstinately
repulsed
him
;
and
therefore
he
turns
him
about
,
and
modestly
(
as
Mr
Collier
thinks
)
thus
addresses
himself
to
Amphitruo
.
You
have
Pimpt
for
Jupiter
to
your
Wife
,
and
shall
do
as
much
for
me
to
your
Daughter-in-Law
,
having
so
expert
a
Master
it
can
be
no
novelty
either
to
her
,
or
her
Husband
,
to
be
civil
to
their
Betters
.
But
if
she
obstinately
refuses
to
comply
,
I
'll
force
her
,
and
beget
a
generous
Race
.
Jovi
dedisti
conjugem
,
Regi
dabis
.
Et
te
magistro
non
novum
hoc
discet
Nurus
,
Etiam
viro
probante
,
meliorem
sequi
,
Sin
copulari
pertinax
taedis
negat
,
Vel
ex
coacta
nobilem
partum
feram
.
This
,
according
to
Mr
Collier
,
is
Distance
and
Modesty
,
Old
Stile
.
If
he
will
make
these
allowances
to
our
Poets
,
I
'll
engage
to
prove
there
never
was
an
immodest
thing
said
upon
the
English
Stage
;
a
task
I
shou'd
be
loth
to
undertake
upon
any
other
terms
,
as
much
as
I
am
perswaded
of
their
comparative
Innocence
.
But
't
is
not
in
his
Judgment
only
,
Nurse
,
Aegisthus
and
Clytemnestra
,
Electra
and
Clytemnestra
;
and
in
divers
others
places
of
the
rest
of
the
Plays
of
that
Collection
.
If
we
should
examine
the
Ancient
Comedy
Roman
Comedy
.
The
Slaves
ate
so
familiar
with
their
Masters
,
that
by
the
freedoms
they
take
,
't
is
hard
to
distinguish
one
from
t'other
,
except
that
the
Slave
bears
the
Character
of
Advantage
,
and
appears
generally
to
have
more
wit
than
his
Master
,
whom
he
is
to
assist
if
he
be
young
,
and
cheat
if
he
be
old
.
Accordingly
we
find
'em
almost
always
bantering
,
quibbling
,
drolling
,
and
jesting
upon
their
Masters
,
when
they
are
together
.
Their
employment
is
usually
to
purchase
their
young
Master
a
Mistress
,
with
the
Hunks
their
Old
Masters
money
.
By
this
means
the
Slaves
become
the
Principal
Character
in
the
Antient
Comedy
,
and
are
the
main
Spring
,
by
which
the
whole
Machine
of
the
Fable
is
set
a
going
.
The
rest
,
which
are
usually
in
the
new
Comedy
,
a
covetous
old
Fellow
,
an
extravagant
young
one
,
a
Bawd
,
a
Whore
,
a
stolen
Virgin
,
are
but
the
under
Wheels
,
whose
motions
are
regulated
altogether
by
those
of
the
Slave
,
who
is
the
Man
of
Intrigue
,
and
carries
all
the
Brains
the
Poet
can
spare
about
him
.
The
old
Man
is
froward
,
suspicious
,
severe
,
and
close-fisted
;
and
sometimes
he
is
represented
easy
and
indulgent
,
but
has
a
scolding
,
turbulent
,
griping
Wife
,
a
churlish
,
parsimonious
Brother
,
or
Relation
,
or
conceited
Wise
Friend
,
that
takes
upon
himself
to
correct
and
govern
him
.
The
young
Fellow
is
in
Love
,
extravagant
,
and
in
want
of
Money
.
The
Bawd
,
whether
Male
,
or
Female
,
is
faithless
,
imposing
,
and
acted
only
by
present
profit
.
The
Whore
,
if
an
experienc'd
one
,
is
altogether
Mercenary
,
if
raw
in
her
Trade
,
she
is
dotingly
fond
and
loving
,
but
under
the
care
of
the
Bawd
.
The
stoln
Virgin
is
always
next
to
a
Mute
.
Their
Plots
are
confined
to
as
narrow
a
compass
,
'T
is
true
,
Gods
,
Brute
Animals
,
and
even
inanimate
Bodies
within
the
Pale
of
the
Stage
.
This
,
as
it
inlarg'd
his
walk
,
encreas'd
his
Liberty
,
which
he
sometimes
abuses
at
a
scandalous
unjustifyable
rate
.
Mr
Collier
,
to
obviate
all
objections
that
might
be
rais'd
from
the
practice
of
Aristophanes
,
whose
Comedies
are
the
only
pieces
of
that
kind
remaining
of
the
Greek
Stage
,
by
way
of
prevention
excepts
against
his
Credit
,
and
endeavours
to
invalidate
his
Evidence
by
accusing
him
of
Atheism
.
But
tho
I
think
Mr
Collier's
Arguments
to
prove
him
an
Atheist
to
be
of
no
validity
,
But
Mr
Collier
,
who
has
a
much
better
hand
at
supposing
than
proving
,
takes
a
very
odd
method
to
clear
the
reputation
of
that
great
man
from
the
suggestions
of
Aristophanes
,
and
the
censure
of
his
Country
,
by
whom
he
was
condemn'd
for
Atheism
.
That
Socrates
was
no
Atheist
is
clear
from
Instances
enow
.
To
mention
but
one
.
The
confidence
he
had
in
his
Daemon
or
Genius
,
by
which
he
govern'd
his
Affairs
,
puts
it
beyond
dispute
.
That
Socrates
held
,
But
if
the
Athenians
could
proceed
Mr
Collier
pretends
to
maintain
his
assertion
by
divers
instances
of
irreverent
passages
in
relation
to
their
Gods
,
Private
Sentiments
of
the
Man
,
and
the
Publick
one's
of
the
Poet.
In
this
latter
capacity
almost
all
sorts
of
Characters
belong
'
〈◊〉
to
him
,
and
he
must
of
consequence
be
frequently
necessitated
to
make
use
of
Thoughts
and
Expressions
very
contrary
to
his
own
proper
opinion
.
The
Athenians
therefore
did
not
lay
these
Liberties
of
the
Stage
,
which
they
knew
the
nature
of
those
Characters
which
he
represented
must
of
course
oblige
him
to
,
as
blemishes
either
in
his
Faith
or
Morals
,
to
his
Charge
.
Had
Mr
Collier
been
Master
of
as
much
Understanding
and
Justice
,
as
these
Heathens
,
not
only
Aristophanes
,
but
our
English
Poets
too
had
met
with
a
fairer
Adversary
,
and
found
civiller
and
honester
treatment
.
'T
were
easie
to
enlarge
in
the
Justification
of
Aristophanes
;
but
Mr
Collier
gives
him
up
,
and
therefore
we
need
no
parallel
between
him
,
and
the
English
Comick
Poets
,
to
prove
the
comparative
modesty
of
the
latter
;
for
which
reason
we
shall
proceed
directly
to
Plautus
whom
he
justifies
upon
the
comparison
.
Plautus
,
very
moderate
,
and
says
,
that
our
single
Plays
shall
far
out-do
all
this
put
together
,
wou'd
in
his
Microscopical
way
of
observing
appear
monstrous
,
and
infinitely
exceed
the
most
malicious
collection
he
can
make
out
of
the
English
Poets
.
But
he
presumes
upon
the
ignorance
of
his
Readers
,
and
imposes
arbitrarily
and
magisterially
what
sense
he
pleases
upon
every
thing
,
and
despotically
coins
Citations
,
which
he
forces
upon
'em
for
genuine
,
upon
no
better
warrant
than
his
own
Will
and
Pleasure
.
But
to
proceed
to
instance
.
In
the
Amphitruo
,
Mercury
,
Abscede
moneo
,
molestus
ne
sies
,
dum
Amphitruo
,
Cum
uxore
modo
ex
hostibus
adveniens
,
voluptatem
capit
.
Upon
this
Amphitruo
asks
,
What
Wife
?
and
is
answer'd
Alcumena
.
This
does
not
satisfy
his
curiosity
,
but
he
must
know
whether
he
lies
with
her
or
not
;
and
is
not
contented
till
he
has
doubl'd
the
Question
,
and
must
be
inform'd
,
whether
they
lie
in
the
same
room
both
or
not
.
Hereupon
Mercury
,
to
cut
the
debate
short
,
gives
him
this
plain
answer
.
Corpore
corpus
incubat
.
Upon
this
Amphitruo
bewails
his
misery
,
and
Mercury
in
mockery
says
,
Lucri'st
,
quod
hic
miseriam
deputat
.
Nam
uxorem
usurariam
Perinde
est
praebere
,
ac
si
agrum
sterilem
fodiendum
loces
.
The
man
's
a
gainer
by
what
he
calls
his
misery
.
For
't
is
as
profitable
to
have
ones
Wife
,
as
ones
Field
till'd
by
another
.
At
this
rate
Mercury
drolls
on
;
I
defy
Mr
Collier
to
prove
any
such
licentious
freedoms
upon
the
English
Amphitruo
,
as
angry
as
he
is
with
it
.
But
perhaps
Mr
Collier
thinks
the
disguise
of
Sosia
,
may
excuse
the
ribaldry
of
Mercury
.
But
this
excuse
won't
serve
his
turn
.
For
Mercury
is
under
no
disguise
to
the
Audience
,
to
whom
this
last
Speech
is
particularly
address'd
.
But
lest
he
should
think
Mercury
a
Mad
God
,
Mea
vi
subacta'st
.
Mr
Collier
knows
the
meaning
of
the
word
Subigo
in
this
case
,
and
must
strain
as
hard
in
this
place
,
as
he
thinks
Lambin
has
done
in
another
,
if
he
will
defend
it
.
The
Asinaria
,
border
upon
rudeness
,
and
I
think
down-right
Bawdy
in
several
places
)
two
more
,
one
betwixt
Argyrippus
,
Philenium
,
Leonida
,
and
Libanus
,
which
is
very
loose
,
and
another
,
which
is
singularly
instructive
,
between
Argyrippus
and
Demaenetus
his
Father
.
One
thing
't
is
necessary
to
take
notice
of
before
we
go
any
further
,
—
uterque
insaniunt
.
Viden'
ut
misere
moliuntur
,
nequen
nt
complecti
satis
.
These
words
are
more
expressive
of
Action
than
Passion
,
though
indeed
they
imply
both
.
Planesium
,
to
mend
the
matter
,
expresses
her
discontent
,
that
the
Servant
did
not
withdraw
,
but
staid
to
be
a
check
upon
'em
.
Iam
huic
voluptati
hoc
adjunctum
odium
est
.
The
Servant
replies
with
indignation
,
and
reprimands
his
Master
for
behaving
himself
so
immodestly
,
—
Ut
immodestis
hic
te
moderere
moribus
I
mention
this
only
to
shew
how
Collier's
Hypothesis
,
would
have
been
a
Capital
misdemeanour
upon
the
English
Stage
,
whatever
it
was
upon
the
Roman
.
Many
more
instances
of
this
kind
,
and
more
plain
ones
might
be
produc'd
,
but
I
have
not
room
for
'em
here
.
However
,
this
may
serve
to
shew
what
sort
of
Nun's
Flesh
Mr
Collier
wou'd
be
at
,
when
he
makes
Vestals
of
such
Lasses
as
this
.
Mr
Collier
is
so
very
fond
of
the
Sobriety
of
Plautus's
Plays
,
there
are
but
four
instances
to
the
contrary
,
as
he
remembers
,
Olympio
,
Palaestrio
,
Stratilax
and
Dordalus
are
the
persons
.
And
the
Women
they
discourse
with
,
are
two
of
them
Slaves
,
and
the
third
a
Wench
.
I
'm
sorry
Mr
Collier's
memory
is
so
bad
,
his
Gambols
before
,
are
Cleostrata
and
Murrhina
,
two
principal
Citizens
Wives
,
Matrons
of
as
great
Quality
and
Virtue
as
any
,
that
e're
trod
the
Roman
Stage
in
Comedy
;
Alcumena
excepted
.
These
Matrons
had
shamm'd
him
with
a
man
in
woman's
Cloaths
for
a
Bride
,
and
big
with
the
expectation
of
the
Issue
of
their
jest
,
fell
to
catechizing
him
about
the
business
.
The
Clown
,
without
regard
to
their
Quality
,
which
was
the
more
considerable
in
Cleostrata
,
because
she
was
his
proper
Mistress
,
and
might
severely
chastise
any
rudeness
,
yet
the
Clown
,
I
say
,
makes
a
very
rank
description
,
and
what
's
worse
,
the
women
were
pleased
with
it
,
and
urge
and
prompt
him
forward
.
Ol.
—
illa
haud
verbum
facit
,
This
,
instead
of
rebating
the
edge
of
his
Mistresses
Appetite
,
inflames
her
curiosity
yet
more
;
she
's
impatient
till
he
proceeds
.
Cl.
Perdis
,
quin
pergis
.
Cl.
—
continuo
stricto
gladio
:
atat
babae
papae
.
Cl.
Quid
papae
.
Ol.
—
Gladium
ne
haberet
metui
,
id
quaerere
occaepi
Dum
gladium
ne
habeat
quaero
,
arripio
capulum
,
Sed
quem
cogito
non
habuit
gladium
,
nam
id
esset
Frigidius
.
Here
the
Booby
began
to
mince
the
matter
;
and
his
Mistress
,
that
lov'd
plain-dealing
,
corrects
him
for
it
,
and
bids
him
speak
out
,
but
he
is
asham'd
,
he
says
,
Cl.
Eloquere
.
Ol.
At
pudet
.
The
Slave
however
has
some
grace
.
His
Mistress
can't
be
satisfy'd
so
,
she
's
for
every
thing
in
as
proper
terms
,
as
if
he
was
giving
evidence
in
a
Court
of
Record
.
But
not
prevailing
that
way
,
she
prompts
and
pumps
him
with
Interrogatories
as
loosely
as
a
waggish
Councel
at
a
Bawdy
Tryal
.
Cl.
Nam
radix
fuit
?
Num
cucumis
?
The
Woman
,
't
is
plain
,
had
a
true
apprehension
of
the
matter
,
but
she
did
not
like
his
clownish
Bashfulness
.
Still
the
fellow
boggles
at
naked
Imagery
;
however
he
improves
,
and
comes
on
apace
.
Ol.
Profecto
non
fuit
quicquam
olerum
Nisi
quicquid
erat
,
calamitas
profecto
attigerat
nunquam
:
Ita
quicquid
erat
,
grande
erat
.
Volo
,
ut
obvortat
cubitissim
,
Verbum
ullum
mutit
,
Surgo
ut
ineam
.
If
we
measure
the
Conversation
of
Plautus's
Ladies
of
Quality
by
this
Standard
,
the
Ladies
of
our
Stage
,
taking
even
the
loosest
,
need
not
be
asham'd
of
their
Breeding
.
Nay
,
they
wou'd
blush
for
their
company
if
they
were
brought
together
.
But
Cleostrata
and
Murrhina
are
not
singular
.
Asinaria
,
Artemona
,
upon
the
discovery
of
her
Husbands
intrigue
,
reflects
upon
his
Failings
towards
her
,
and
makes
a
very
odd
discovery
of
her
own
wants
.
Art
.
—
Ego
censeo
Eum
etiam
hominem
Senatui
dare
operam
,
aut
Clientibus
Ibi
labore
delassatum
noctem
totam
stertere
.
Ille
opere
foris
faciundo
lassus
noctu
advenit
.
Fundum
alienum
arat
,
incultum
familiarem
deserit
.
He
was
(
says
she
)
so
taken
up
with
tilling
another's
ground
,
that
he
let
his
own
lye
fallow
.
This
frankness
of
the
Lady's
complaint
gave
the
Slave
her
Informer
the
boldness
to
put
a
very
homely
question
to
her
.
Possis
si
forte
accubantem
tuum
virum
conspecteris
Cum
corona
amplexum
amicam
,
si
videas
cognoscere
?
Cou'd
you
know
your
Husband
,
if
you
shou'd
see
him
and
his
Mistress
in
a
posture
that
wou'd
not
shew
his
Face
.
This
passage
(
to
use
a
Phrase
of
Mr
Collier's
)
I
have
translated
softly
,
but
very
fairly
.
Yet
even
thus
the
Image
,
which
in
the
Original
is
express'd
in
the
proper
vulgar
terms
,
appears
too
gross
and
plain
,
and
is
such
as
wou'd
not
be
endur'd
upon
our
Stage
,
as
lewd
as
Mr
Collier
thinks
that
and
the
Age.
However
,
The
Men
who
talk
intemperately
are
generally
Slaves
,
says
Mr
Collier
;
and
he
can't
find
any
Gentleman
guilty
of
an
indecent
expression
,
except
Lusiteles
,
who
is
once
over
airy
.
I
shall
help
him
to
another
,
out
of
a
great
number
,
that
are
ready
upon
demand
,
which
is
the
more
authentick
,
because
it
comes
from
a
grave
old
Gentleman
in
no
very
airy
mood
,
but
while
he
is
correcting
another
for
his
Lewdness
and
Debauchery
.
In
the
Miles
Gloriosus
,
Periplectomenes
asks
Pyrgopolinices
the
Souldier
,
Cur
es
ausus
subagitare
alienam
uxorem
,
The
Gravity
of
the
man
here
makes
the
grossness
of
the
Expression
the
more
remarkable
.
After
these
instances
I
hope
Mr
Collier
may
upon
second
thoughts
have
a
better
opinion
of
the
Gentlemen
and
Ladies
of
our
Stage
,
than
heretofore
,
at
least
that
he
will
do
'em
more
Justice
in
his
next
Parallel
.
But
Mr
Collier
has
one
hold
to
retreat
to
yet
,
are
inoffensive
.
If
this
can
be
maintain'd
,
he
has
gain'd
a
great
point
;
Comick
Poet.
Lambin
finds
a
double
entendre
in
the
Prologue
to
the
Paenulus
;
Mr
Collier
thinks
there
is
a
strain
in
the
construction
.
I
must
own
my self
of
Lambin's
opinion
;
but
,
since
Mr
Collier
does
not
here
deliver
himself
after
his
usual
dogmatical
way
,
I
shall
not
insist
upon
this
passage
,
but
proceed
to
instances
,
which
no
violence
of
Construction
can
wrest
to
a
wrong
sense
.
Here
let
us
return
to
the
Casina
,
Epilogue
.
Grex
,
that
speaks
the
Epilogue
,
advises
the
Audience
to
clap
lustily
and
give
the
Poet
his
due
,
and
to
those
that
did
it
,
he
wishes
as
many
Whores
as
they
pleased
,
unknown
to
their
Wives
;
but
to
those
that
did
not
clap
,
he
wishes
a
He-Goat
besmear'd
with
the
Filth
of
a
Ship
for
a
Concubine
.
Nunc
nos
aequum
est
,
manibus
meritis
meritam
mercedem
daffre
,
Qui
faxit
,
clam
uxorem
ducat
scortum
semper
quod
volet
.
Verum
qui
non
manibus
clare
,
quantum
poterit
,
pluserit
,
Ei
pro
scorto
suppon●tur
hircus
unctus
nautea
.
Here
we
have
a
Sample
of
the
Poet's
Morals
,
Demaenetus
his
Wife
had
caught
him
in
a
Bawdy-house
,
whoring
in
his
Son's
company
,
and
rated
him
home
,
which
concludes
the
Action
of
the
Play
.
Hereupon
Grex
by
way
of
application
thus
accosts
the
Audience
.
Hic
senex
siquid
clam
uxorem
suo
animo
fecit
volupe
,
Neque
novum
,
neque
mirum
fecit
,
nec
secus
quam
alii
solent
,
Nec
quisqua
st
tam
ingenio
duro
,
nec
tam
firmo
pectore
Quin
ubi
quicquam
occasionis
sit
,
sibi
faciat
bene
.
Here
the
Poet
justifies
Whoring
,
even
in
an
old
married
man
,
and
pleads
the
common
practice
in
defence
of
it
.
He
thinks
no
man
can
withstand
a
fair
temptation
to
do
himself
good
.
For
with
that
Phrase
,
he
sweetens
the
business
and
qualifies
the
offence
.
Let
Mr
Collier
compare
these
two
Epilogues
with
those
English
ones
to
which
he
refers
,
and
then
condemn
them
,
and
absolve
these
if
he
can
.
Nay
,
even
the
Play
of
which
Plautus
himself
makes
his
boast
,
That
't
was
written
up
to
the
strictest
rules
of
Chastity
;
that
few
such
Comedies
were
to
be
found
,
by
which
those
that
were
already
good
,
might
be
made
better
,
has
a
very
broad
touch
of
Smut
in
the
Epilogue
,
even
at
the
time
he
is
valuing
himself
upon
his
Modesty
,
Spectatores
,
Such
Instances
as
these
crowd
themselves
so
upon
us
almost
every
where
in
Plautus
,
that
't
is
hard
to
pass
'em
over
,
and
endless
to
take
notice
of
'em
.
But
having
already
far
transgressed
the
intended
limits
of
this
discourse
,
I
shall
trespass
no
farther
upon
the
Reader
's
patience
on
this
head
.
His
next
complaint
is
the
abuse
of
the
Clergy
.
First
,
Because
of
their
Relation
to
the
Deity
.
This
Relation
to
the
Deity
he
swells
to
a
monstrous
size
,
Principal
Ministers
of
Gods
Kingdom
,
represent
his
Person
,
to
publish
his
Laws
,
Pass
his
Pardons
,
and
Preside
in
his
Worship
.
Mr
Collier's
Pride
has
here
hurried
him
into
prodigious
Insolence
and
Folly
.
To
raise
his
own
Character
,
he
has
made
a
Pope
of
every
individual
Priest
,
and
given
that
to
the
meanest
of
'em
,
which
the
most
Orthodox
part
of
the
Christian
World
deny
to
the
pretended
Successor
of
St
Peter
?
Is
not
the
whole
world
God's
Kingdom
?
What
then
,
are
its
Kings
,
Princes
,
and
Rulers
,
if
every
Priest
be
before
'em
in
Authority
?
Mr
Collier
,
I
believe
,
is
the
first
bold
Mortal
,
that
ever
pretended
to
represent
the
person
of
God
Almighty
seriously
.
This
to
me
sounds
more
like
Blasphemy
,
than
any
thing
in
the
most
profane
Poet.
The
Pope
indeed
presumes
to
stile
himself
Christ's
Vicar
general
,
but
he
does
not
presume
to
be
the
Representative
of
his
Person
.
As
Mr
Collier
has
assum'd
a
higher
Title
,
so
,
I
suppose
,
he
expects
more
reverence
.
'T
is
strange
that
Enthusiasm
should
shoot
to
such
a
heighth
in
our
cold
Climate
,
which
it
scarce
ever
reach'd
in
Rome
its
Native
Place
.
But
Mr
Collier
keeps
a
hot
Bed
,
where
he
forces
up
violent
Notions
,
in
spight
of
the
opposition
of
an
unnatural
Soil
and
Season
.
But
I
should
be
glad
to
know
,
If
notwithstanding
all
these
Magnificent
expressions
of
himself
,
But
Mr
Collier
finds
,
St.
Paul
,
and
the
Apostles
what
and
how
circumstantiated
.
that
St.
Paul
calls
himself
and
the
rest
of
the
Apostles
the
Ambassadors
of
Christ
,
and
thinks
himself
thereby
sufficiently
warranted
to
take
upon
him
to
represent
the
person
of
God
.
The
word
which
St
Paul
employs
,
2
Cor.
5.
20.
is
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
,
which
signifies
to
come
by
commission
from
another
,
and
consequently
may
probably
enough
be
render'd
,
We
are
the
Embassadors
,
tho
it
does
not
always
import
so
much
.
Mr
Collier
lays
hold
of
the
word
Embassadour
,
and
fancies
himself
in
the
highest
,
and
most
honourable
post
that
can
be
,
under
God
Almighty
,
that
is
,
to
represent
his
Person
,
to
publish
his
Laws
,
Pass
his
Pardons
,
and
Preside
in
his
Worship
.
All
this
indeed
,
except
the
Personal
Representation
,
was
the
Office
of
St
Paul
,
and
the
rest
of
the
Apostles
.
But
without
affronting
,
or
lessening
the
Authority
of
the
Clergy
,
I
think
I
may
lawfully
question
whether
Mr
Collier's
Commission
be
of
equal
Extent
or
Validity
with
theirs
.
They
were
call'd
to
the
Ministry
immediately
by
God
himself
,
endued
with
supernatural
and
miraculous
Faculties
,
and
Powers
both
of
Discerning
,
and
Operation
by
Inspiration
from
the
Holy
Ghost
himself
.
They
were
to
plant
in
the
World
a
new
Faith
,
which
had
not
yet
been
heard
of
,
except
in
a
very
small
part
of
the
world
.
Their
Doctrines
were
reveal'd
immediately
to
themselves
,
and
had
no
other
Evidence
than
their
own
Affirmation
,
and
the
Works
that
they
did
,
to
back
and
confirm
what
they
taught
.
They
had
occasion
for
a
Spirit
more
than
naturally
discerning
to
be
assur'd
of
the
sincerity
of
their
Converts
,
and
for
a
Commission
and
Power
extraordinary
,
to
remit
the
sins
of
those
that
they
found
to
be
true
Penitents
,
and
to
support
themselves
and
their
Proselytes
against
the
Oppressions
of
the
Civil
Power
.
These
circumstances
,
From
these
differences
't
is
plain
,
that
the
Ministry
at
present
stands
upon
quite
another
foot
,
than
it
did
in
the
time
of
the
Apostles
;
and
that
Mr
Collier
challenges
a
relation
to
the
Deity
which
he
has
not
,
and
in
right
of
that
a
greater
Reverence
and
respect
than
is
due
to
him
.
His
second
consideration
is
,
The
Importance
of
their
Office
.
What
that
is
,
has
been
in
great
measure
laid
down
in
the
preceding
Article
.
How
far
they
are
concerned
in
publishing
Gods
Laws
,
and
passing
his
Pardons
has
been
already
examin'd
.
There
was
indeed
a
time
,
when
the
Priests
had
a
Monopoly
of
Faith
and
Salvation
,
and
retail'd
out
Articles
and
Indulgences
to
the
Laity
,
who
repair'd
to
the
Bank
of
Implicit
Faith
and
Merit
for
as
much
as
their
occasions
requir'd
.
But
the
weakness
of
their
Fund
being
discover'd
,
that
Bank
is
broke
long
since
in
England
.
and
the
Laity
have
taken
their
Consciences
into
their
own
Custody
again
,
to
Mr
Collier's
great
Disappointment
.
However
they
preside
(
he
says
)
in
the
Worship
of
God
.
If
he
means
by
presiding
,
Officiating
,
he
presides
over
his
congregation
,
as
a
Clerk
in
Parliament
presides
over
the
House
,
because
he
reads
the
Bills
,
Petitions
,
&c.
to
'em
.
That
to
officiate
in
the
House
of
God
is
an
Employment
of
great
Importance
and
honour
,
I
shall
readily
grant
.
And
as
they
that
perform
their
duty
in
that
station
conscientiously
and
well
deserve
all
due
respect
and
honour
;
so
on
the
other
hand
,
those
that
prostitute
their
Character
to
base
ends
,
and
make
the
Cassock
a
Cover
for
Pride
,
Ambition
,
Avarice
,
Hypocrisie
,
Knavery
,
or
Folly
,
deserve
to
be
corrected
,
and
expos'd
to
the
Publick
.
The
importance
of
the
Office
,
which
Mr
Collier
pleads
in
bar
to
any
Lay
Censure
upon
'em
,
is
a
strong
Argument
for
it
.
For
in
proportion
to
the
weight
of
the
trust
,
ought
to
be
the
check
upon
it
.
There
may
be
many
Faults
amongst
the
inferiour
Clergy
,
Upon
this
account
Mr
Collier's
reasoning
appears
very
odd
and
singular
.
For
if
the
concealing
and
covering
of
Men's
Vices
,
be
the
means
to
advance
and
promote
their
corruption
,
he
seems
to
take
a
sort
of
retrograde
way
to
Reformation
.
But
his
fear
is
,
that
the
Vices
of
some
few
thus
publickly
shewn
,
shou'd
reflect
upon
the
whole
Order
,
and
weaken
their
Credit
and
Authority
in
the
Ministerial
Function
.
This
objection
is
already
answered
in
the
article
of
the
Misrepresentation
of
Women
;
what
has
been
there
said
holds
good
here
,
and
needs
no
repetition
.
It
can
therefore
be
of
no
ill
consequence
;
For
those
that
are
just
,
and
Conscientious
in
the
exercise
of
their
Functions
will
lose
no
Credit
or
Authority
;
and
those
that
are
not
,
have
too
much
,
if
they
have
any
.
If
Priests
be
without
Fault
,
Vice
versa
.
I
grant
,
that
they
ought
not
to
be
corrected
on
the
Stage
for
Lay
Follies
.
Their
Characters
must
be
proper
,
in
order
to
which
,
whether
they
play
the
Fool
or
the
Knave
,
it
must
be
seasoned
with
a
cast
of
the
Profession
;
otherwise
they
are
Lay
Fools
and
Knaves
in
Masquerade
.
But
as
the
Characters
ought
not
to
be
so
general
,
as
to
represent
whole
Bodies
of
Men
,
so
neither
ought
they
to
be
so
particular
,
as
to
stigmatize
Individuals
,
as
they
did
in
the
Old
Comedy
.
If
this
C●ution
be
observed
,
not
only
the
Coll●ctive
Body
of
the
Clergy
,
but
every
individual
Man
amongst
'em
is
safe
from
scandal
from
that
Quarter
.
If
the
Poets
have
not
observ'd
it
,
Mr
Collier
in
vindication
of
the
Clergy
has
a
just
Provocation
to
lash
'em
severely
.
But
if
they
have
,
then
Mr
Collier
does
'em
wrong
,
and
the
Poets
ought
to
resume
the
Whipcerd
,
and
return
the
Compliment
.
His
last
,
They
have
Prescription
for
their
Priviledge
.
Their
Profession
has
been
in
possession
of
esteem
in
all
Ages
and
Countries
.
That
it
has
been
in
Esteem
,
and
that
it
ought
still
to
be
so
,
more
than
it
is
,
I
believe
the
Poets
themselves
will
allow
.
But
that
it
has
always
been
esteemed
so
sacred
,
that
the
Antient
Poets
durst
never
suffer
any
of
their
Persons
of
the
Drama
to
make
bold
with
it
,
I
deny
;
and
I
think
I
shall
demonstrate
the
contrary
.
I
shall
confine
my self
to
the
Dramatick
Poets
,
Experience
teaches
us
much
,
but
before
the
Event
is
seen
,
ne'r
a
Prophet
of
'em
all
can
tell
what
things
will
come
to
.
X.
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
This
is
a
plain
reflection
upon
the
Profession
,
and
so
remarkably
circumstantiated
,
that
there
is
no
doubt
,
but
't
was
the
Poets
real
sense
.
For
't
is
spoken
by
the
Chorus
,
and
made
the
Moral
of
the
Play
.
I
shall
pass
by
the
reproaches
which
Oedipus
makes
Tiresias
,
because
Mr
Collier
says
they
relate
only
to
his
Person
,
tho
he
himself
in
his
Defence
will
allow
no
distinction
betwixt
the
Man
and
the
Priest
.
If
you
make
the
Man
a
Knave
,
the
Priest
must
suffer
under
the
Imputation
.
However
in
the
same
Play●
Jocasta
says
,
She
wou'd
not
give
a
Rush
for
Divination
.
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
In
the
next
Play
Creon
amongst
other
reproaches
tells
Tiresias
,
that
They
were
all
a
Pack
of
Mercenary
Corrupt
Fellows
.
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
.
We
have
not
room
to
multiply
instances
so
far
,
as
we
might
,
but
these
may
suffice
to
shew
,
that
Sophocles
was
not
so
much
afraid
of
a
Priest
as
Mr
Collier
pretends
.
Euripides
is
not
a
whit
more
tender
of
'em
,
whole
tribe
of
'em
a
vain-glorious
rascally
Race
.
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
.
Achilles
in
the
same
Play
(
the
Sobriety
of
whose
Character
Mr
Collier
is
much
in
love
with
)
threatens
Calohas
the
Prophet
before
spoken
of
,
and
breaks
out
into
this
exclamation
;
What
are
Prophets
?
Fellows
that
by
guess
sometimes
tell
truth
,
but
generally
Lies
.
—
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
.
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
,
Pentheus
in
the
Bacchae
uses
Tiresias
very
ruggedly
.
He
charges
him
with
being
Mercenary
,
and
an
Impostor
,
with
seducing
the
People
,
and
introducing
a
new
false
superstitious
Worship
,
and
orders
the
Seats
from
whence
he
took
his
Augural
Observation
to
be
pull'd
down
,
with
abundance
of
other
Menaces
,
and
hard
words
.
These
may
suffice
for
Euripides
at
this
time
.
Seneca
makes
little
use
of
the
Prophets
,
or
Priests
;
The
Instances
of
this
are
innumerable
.
Ajax
,
Creon
,
and
Philoctetes
in
Sophocles
are
extravagant
.
This
Tragedian
affords
abundance
,
but
to
make
a
collection
of
scattered
expressions
,
would
require
more
room
than
we
can
at
present
spare
;
Hecuba
,
Talthybius
exclaims
at
a
strange
rate
upon
the
Consideration
of
the
turn
of
Hecuba's
fortune
.
O
Jupiter
!
what
shall
I
say
?
should
mankind
address
themselves
to
you
:
Or
have
we
been
cheated
with
a
sham
Story
of
Gods
,
and
Providence
,
while
Chance
governs
all
things
?
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
.
Polymestor
is
much
such
another
sort
of
a
Comforter
,
he
cries
out
in
the
same
Play
,
and
upon
the
same
occasion
,
Oh
what
a
slippery
thing
is
Human
Grandeur
,
which
is
never
secure
.
The
Gods
perplex
and
harrass
Mankind
,
that
our
Ignorance
may
support
their
Altars
,
and
Worship
.
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
,
Electra
,
for
a
short
one
has
a
very
pithy
Ejaculation
.
O
Nature
,
what
a
curse
art
thou
upon
Mortals
.
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
.
Her
Brother
Orestes
is
allied
to
her
in
Principles
as
near
as
in
Blood
;
he
can't
tell
what
to
make
of
the
Gods
,
any
more
than
the
two
Gentlemen
before
.
Yet
he
serves
'em
whatever
they
be
.
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
All
that
he
knows
of
'em
is
,
that
they
are
naturally
dilatory
.
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
.
Hecuba
is
much
of
his
mind
;
she
thinks
the
Gods
but
bad
Friends
,
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
.
The
Cyclops
tellVlysses
,
That
Riches
were
the
wise
mans
only
God
,
and
that
he
did
not
care
a
fart
for
Jupiter
;
but
thought
himself
as
great
a
God
as
he
.
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
〈◊〉
.
In
the
Ion
,
which
is
pretended
to
be
a
Moral
Play
,
Creusa
addresses
herself
directly
to
Apollo
,
lewd
Whoremaster
.
Her
Servant
afterwards
calls
him
Rascal
,
and
advises
her
to
set
fire
to
his
Temple
.
With
such
Flowers
as
these
Euripides
abounds
,
which
I
leave
for
others
to
gather
.
Seneca
is
as
full
of
'em
as
he
,
but
I
shall
refer
the
Reader
only
to
the
Chorus
of
the
second
Act
of
his
Troas
,
which
being
spoken
by
the
Chorus
looks
more
like
the
Poet
's
own
Opinion
,
than
if
it
had
come
from
any
other
Person
of
the
Drama
.
Post
mortem
nihil
est
,
Which
is
thus
translated
by
the
Earl
of
Rochester
.
After
Death
nothing
is
,
and
nothing
Death
,
The
utmost
Limits
of
a
Gasp
of
Breath
.
Let
the
Ambitious
Zealot
lay
aside
His
Hopes
of
Heaven
(
whose
Faith
is
but
his
Pride
)
Let
slavish
Souls
lay
by
their
Fear
,
Nor
be
concern'd
which
way
,
or
where
,
After
this
Life
they
shall
be
hurl'd
,
Dead
they
become
the
lumber
of
the
World
.
And
to
that
Mass
of
Matter
shall
be
swept
,
Where
things
destroy'd
with
things
unborn
are
kept
.
Devouring
Time
swallows
us
whole
,
Impartial
Death
confounds
Body
and
Soul
.
For
H●●
,
and
the
foul
Fiend
that
rules
The
everlasting
fiery
Goals
,
Devis'd
by
Rog●●s
,
dreaded
by
Fools
,
With
his
grim
griezly
Dog
that
keeps
the
Door
,
Are
senseless
Stories
,
idle
Tales
,
Dreams
,
Whimseys
,
and
no
more
.
Another
exception
,
they
treat
the
Nobility
rudely
.
I
must
confess
't
is
no
complement
to
make
a
Fool
of
a
Lord
.
But
if
Birth
or
any
other
Chance
shou'd
make
a
Lord
of
a
Fool
,
I
suppose
the
rest
of
that
Noble
Order
wou'd
not
think
themselves
accountable
for
his
Follies
,
or
abus'd
in
his
Picture
.
Shou'd
the
Poets
presume
to
make
such
a
one
the
Representative
of
his
Order
,
and
propose
him
as
a
common
Standard
,
by
which
the
Endowments
of
Quality
in
general
were
to
be
measur'd
,
their
Insolence
wou'd
deserve
the
severest
chastisement
that
cou'd
be
given
.
Or
shou'd
any
one
of
'em
dare
to
characterize
too
nearly
and
particularly
any
of
those
Noble
Persons
,
no
doubt
but
he
wou'd
soon
feel
the
weight
of
his
Resentments
,
and
smart
sorely
for
his
sawcy
Liberty
.
But
while
the
Poet
contents
himself
with
feign'd
Persons
,
and
copies
closely
after
Nature
,
without
pressing
upon
her
in
her
private
recesses
,
and
singling
out
Individuals
from
the
herd
,
if
any
Man
,
of
what
Quality
or
Employment
soever
,
fancies
himself
concern'd
in
the
representation
,
let
him
spoil
the
Picture
by
mending
the
Original
.
For
he
only
is
to
be
blam'd
for
the
Resemblance
.
If
Men
of
Honour
and
Abilities
cou'd
entail
their
Wisdom
and
Virtues
upon
their
Posterity
,
then
a
Title
wou'd
be
a
pretty
sure
sign
of
Personal
Worth
,
and
the
Respect
and
Reverence
that
was
paid
to
the
Founders
of
honourable
Families
ought
to
follow
the
Estate
,
and
the
heir
of
one
shou'd
be
heir
of
t'other
.
But
since
Entails
of
this
kind
are
of
all
kinds
the
most
liable
to
be
cut
off
,
't
is
not
absolutely
impossible
but
there
may
be
such
a
thing
in
the
world
,
as
a
Fop
of
Quality
.
Now
if
there
be
such
a
thing
,
it
does
not
appear
to
me
,
that
because
the
Persons
are
great
,
and
elevated
by
their
Dignity
above
the
rest
of
Mankind
,
and
draw
the
Eyes
of
the
People
upon
'em
,
more
than
other
men
do
,
that
therefore
their
Faults
or
Imperfections
will
be
less
visible
,
or
less
taken
notice
of
,
or
that
the
Splendour
of
their
Figure
is
an
infallible
Antidote
against
the
Infection
of
their
Examples
.
Unless
it
be
so
,
it
is
convenient
that
some
reasonable
Expedient
shou'd
be
allow'd
to
prevent
the
Mischief
of
Imitation
,
and
that
those
who
are
too
big
to
be
aw'd
out
of
their
Follies
,
may
be
sham'd
out
of
'em
.
But
this
is
only
Hypothetically
offer'd
.
Mr
Collier
perhaps
will
tell
us
,
that
there
are
no
such
Persons
,
that
a
Fool
of
Quality
is
a
meer
Poetical
Animal
,
and
ought
to
be
rank'd
amongst
the
Harpyes
,
Hippogryphs
,
Centaurs
,
and
Chimaera's
of
Antiquity
.
If
he
proves
this
,
my
Hypothesis
in
this
point
falls
to
the
ground
,
otherwise
I
think
it
may
stand
in
opposition
to
any
thing
that
has
yet
been
said
.
If
these
and
abundance
of
other
Passages
in
the
Antient
Poets
were
compar'd
with
those
which
Mr
Collier
produces
out
of
the
Moderns
,
the
comparative
Rudeness
and
Prophaness
of
the
latter
wou'd
vanish
.
But
he
presumes
upon
the
laziness
,
or
ignorance
of
the
Majority
of
his
Readers
,
and
does
not
expect
that
any
of
'em
shou'd
be
at
the
pains
to
confront
his
arbitrary
,
and
unfair
accounts
,
with
genuine
quotations
.
But
't
is
time
to
have
compassion
upon
the
Reader
,
who
has
run
the
Gauntlet
thro
a
tedious
Refutation
;
in
which
if
his
satisfaction
equals
his
Patience
,
the
Author
thinks
his
pains
sufficiently
recompenc'd
.
FINIS
.