ESSAY UPON WIT

by

Sir Richard Blackmore

1716

With Commentary by Joseph Addison (Freeholder, No. 45, 1716)and an Introduction by Richard C. Boys

_Series One: Essays on Wit_No. 1

Sir Richard Blackmore's_Essay upon Wit (1716)_

and 

Joseph Addison's _Freeholder, No. 45 (1716)_

With an Introduction by Richard C. Boys

The Augustan Reprint SocietyMay 1946Price: 60c

Membership in the Augustan Reprint Society entitles the subscriberto six publications issued each year. The annual membership feeis $2. 50. Address subscriptions and communications to the AugustanReprint Society in care of the General Editors: Richard C. Boys, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan; or Edward N. Hookeror H. T. Swedenberg, Jr. , University of California, Los Angeles 24, California. 

Introduction

The battle between the puritans and the sophisticates is never ending. At certain stages of cultural development the worldly wise are in theascendent in the literary world, as they were in the Restoration andafter the first World War. Yet those with a more sober view of lifeare never submerged, even when they are overshadowed. The court ofthe restored Charles gave full play to the indelicacy of Rochester, Dryden, and their circles, but most of their contemporaries wereprobably more content to read George Herbert, Queries, Baxter, andBunyan. Though the fashionable and urbane remained dominant in lettersthrough the age of Dryden, the forces of morality were rallying, andafter 1688 the court (with which Blackmore was connected) threwits weight on the side of virtue. Jeremy Collier was but the mostimportant voice of a great movement, destined to have its effect onliterature. 

Sir Richard Blackmore contributed his share to the growing wave ofbourgeois morality, which in the 18th century was reflected in themiddle-class appeal of Addison and Steel, Lillo's _London Merchant_, and Richardson's almost feminine plea for virtue rewarded. Aphysician, Blackmore had turned to poetry for relaxation and composedhis soporific epics, by his own admission, in the coffee-houses and inhis coach while visiting patients. In the preface, to _Prince Arthur_(1695) the City Bard took occasion to flay the Wits of the day fortheir immorality, an attack which he followed up in 1697 with thePreface to _King Arthur_, whose thinly disguised political allegorywon him a knighthood. Up to this point the Wits had treated him withamused scorn, but when he called his big guns into action in the_Satyr against Wit_ (dated 1700 but issued late in 1699) the Wits setout to crush him for once and all. _Commendatory Verses on the Authorof the Two Arthurs and the Satyr against Wit_ (1700), the reply, was far from commendatory. Edited by Tom Brown and sponsored byChristopher Codrington, this miscellany attempted in scurrilous andoften bad verse to laugh the Knight out of literary existence. Itsmain distinction lies in the list of contributors, among whom were SirCharles Sedley, Richard Steele, Tom Brown, and probably JohnDennis. Blackmore's supporters answered _Commendatory Verses_ with_Discommendatory_ _Verses on Those Which are Truly Commendatory, onthe Author of the Two Arthurs, and the Satyr against Wit_. (1700). It is not at all certain that Blackmore emerged second best in thisexchange of blows in the miscellanies. At any rate, unabashed he wenton to write more epics on Elizabeth, Alfred, Job, and to win himself adoubtful immortality by being pilloried in Pope's _Dunciad_. 

Throughout his writings Blackmore has a good deal to say about Wit, and much about the abuse of it. While Swift in the _Tale of a Tub_scolds the Wits for their addiction to nonsense and irreligion, Blackmore goes still further in the _Satyr_, seeing Wit as somethingwhich, in common practice, is evil and vicious, to be eradicated asquickly as possible. It is the enemy of virtue and religion (in thePreface to _Creation_, 1712, he links it with atheism), a form ofinsanity, in opposition to 'Right Reason', and the seducer of youngmen. Combatting its iniquities, Blackmore proposes to set up a Bankand Mint of Wit to assure that it will be refined and purified. Bythis process, the works of Dryden, Congreve, Southerne, Wycherley, Garth, and Vanbrugh will be melted down to separate the sludge fromthe pure metal. In the _Nature of Man_ (1711) he takes a more kindlyattitude towards Wit and pairs it with Sense, Reason, Genius, and evenPiety. While he is moderate in his denunciation of Wit in the _Essayupon Wit_, he does insist that even at its best it can never be noble. Wit is harmful, he states, because it is often employed in immoralsubjects, raillery, ridicule, and satire. It is chiefly useful asornamentation: "The Addition of Wit to Proper Subjects, is like theartful Improvement of the Cook, who by his exquisite Sauce gives to aplain Dish, a pleasant and unusual Relish". 

Addison's _Freeholder_ essay (No. 45) was inspired by Blackmore's_Essay upon Wit_, to which he paid a compliment in his opening remarks(much to the disgust of Swift, who accused him of double-dealing). Although Addison had praised Blackmore's _Creation_ warmly in the_Spectator_ No. 339, he had not always been friendly, for earlierBlackmore had sneered at Addison in the _Satyr against Wit_, a jibethat drew Steele's reply in _Commendatory Verses_. 

Blackmore's _Essay upon Wit_ appeared in his _Essays upon SeveralSubjects_; the one-volume first edition of this work was publishedin 1716 and was followed by the second edition, in two volumes, thefollowing year. The present reprint is from the first edition. The1716 _Freeholder_ No. 45 here reproduced is from the edition of 1758. Both copies are owned by the University of Michigan. 

 Richard C. Boys

 University of Michigan

AN ESSAY UPON WIT. 

The Inclinations of Men, in this their degenerate State, carry themwith great Force to those voluptuous Objects, that please theirAppetites and gratify their Senses; and which not only by theirearly Acquaintance and Familiarity, but as they are adapted to theprevailing Instincts of Nature, are more esteem'd and pursu'd than allother Satisfactions. As those inferior Enjoyments, that only affectthe Organs of the Body are chiefly coveted, so next to these, thatlight and facetious Qualification of the Mind, that diverts theHearers and is proper to produce Mirth and Alacrity, has, in allAges, by the greatest Part of Mankind, been admir'd and applauded. NoProductions of Human Understanding are receiv'd with such a generalPleasure and Approbation, as those that abound with Wit and Humour, on which the People set a greater Value, than on the wisest and mostinstructive Discourses. Hence a pleasant Man is always caress'd abovea wise one, and Ridicule and Satyr, that entertain the Laughers, oftenput solid Reason and useful Science out of Countenance. The wantonTemper of the Nation has been gratify'd so long with the highSeasonings of Wit and Raillery in Writing and Conversation, thatnow almost all Things that are not accommodated to their Relish by astrong Infusion of those Ingredients, are rejected as the heavy andinsipid Performances of Men of a plain Understanding and meer Mastersof Sense. 

Since the Power of Wit is so prevalent, and has obtained such Esteemand Popularity, that a Man endow'd with this agreeable Quality, is bymany look'd on as a Heavenly Being, if compar'd with others, who havenothing but Learning and a clear arguing Head; it will be worth thewhile to search into its Nature, and examine its Usefulness, and takea View of those fatal Effects which it produces, when it happens to bemisapply'd. 

Tho perhaps the Talent which we call Wit, like that of Humour, isas clearly understood by its simple Term, as by the most labour'dDescription; an Argument or which is this, That many ingeniousPersons, by their unsuccessful Essays to explain it, have ratherobscur'd than illustrated its Idea; I will notwithstanding adventureto give the Definition of it, which tho it may fall short ofPerfection, yet I imagine, will come nearer to it, than any that hasyet appear'd. _Wit is a Qualification of the Mind, that raises andenlivens cold Sentiments and plain Propositions, by giving them anelegant and surprizing Turn_. 

It is evident, that Wit cannot essentially consist in the Justness andPropriety of the Thoughts, that is, the Conformity of our Conceptionsto the Objects we conceive; for this is the Definition of Truth, whentaken in a Physical Sense; nor in the Purity of Words and Expression, for this may be eminent in the Cold, Didactick Stile, and in thecorrect Writers of History and Philosophy: But Wit is that whichimparts Spirit to our Conceptions and Diction, by giving them a livelyand novel, and therefore an agreeable Form: And thus its Nature islimited and diversify'd from all other intellectual Endowments. Wittherefore is the Accomplishment of a warm, sprightly, and fertileImagination, enrich'd with great Variety of proper Ideas; which activePrinciple is however under the Direction of a regular Judgment, thattakes care of the Choice of just and suitable Materials, prescribes tothe tighter Faculties the due Bounds of their Sport and Activity, andassists and guides them, while they imprint on the Conceptions of theMind their peculiar and delightful Figures. The Addition of Wit toproper Subjects, is like the artful Improvement of the Cook, who byhis exquisite Sauce gives to a plain Dish, a pleasant and unusualRelish. A Man of this Character works on simple Proportions a richEmbroidery of Flowers and Figures, and imitates the curious Artist, who studs and inlays his prepar'd Steel with Devices of Gold andSilver. But Wit is not only the Improvement of a plain Piece byintellectual Enameling; besides this, it animates and warms a coldSentiment, and makes it glow with Life and Vigor; and this it effects, as is express'd in the last Part of the Definition, by giving it aselegant and surprizing Turn. It always conveys the Thought of theSpeaker or Writer cloath'd in a pleasing, but foreign Dress, in whichit never appear'd to the Hearer before, who however had been longacquainted with it; and this Appearance in the Habit of a Strangermust be admirable, since Surprize naturally arises from Novelty, as Delight and Wonder result from Surprize; which I have more fullyexplain'd in the former Essay. 

As to its efficient Cause; Wit owes its Production to an extraordinaryand peculiar Temperament in the Constitution of the Possessors of it, in which is found a Concurrence of regular and exalted Ferments, andan Affluence of Animal Spirits refin'd and rectify'd to a greatdegree of Purity; whence being endow'd with Vivacity, Brightness andCelerity, as well in their Reflexions as direct Motions, they becomeproper Instruments for the sprightly Operations of the Mind; by whichmeans the Imagination can with great Facility range, the wide Field ofNature, contemplate an infinite Variety of Objects, and by observingthe Similitude and Disagreement of their several Qualities, singleout and abstract, and then suit and unite those Ideas, which will bestserve its purpose. Hence beautiful Allusions, surprizing Metaphors andadmirable Sentiments are always ready at hand: And while the Fancy isfull of Images collected from innumerable Objects and their differentQualities, Relations and Habitudes, it can at pleasure dress a commonNotion in a strange, but becoming Garb; by which, as before observ'd, the same Thought will appear a new one, to the great Delight andWonder of the Hearer. What we call Genius results from this particularhappy Complexion in the first Formation of the Person that enjoys it, and is Nature's Gift, but diversify'd by various specifick Charactersand Limitations, as its active Fire is blended and allay'd bydifferent Proportions of Phlegm, or reduc'd and regulated by theContrast of opposite Ferments. Therefore as there happens in theComposition of a facetious Genius a greater or less, tho still aninferior degree of Judgment and Prudence, and different Kindsof Instincts and Passions, one Man of Wit will be vary'd anddistinguish'd from another. That Distinction that seems common toPersons of this Denomination, is an inferior Degree of Wisdom andDiscretion; and tho these two Qualities, Wit and Discretion, arealmost incapable of a friendly Agreement, and will not, but with greatDifficulty, be work'd together and incorporated in the Constitution ofany Individual; yet this Observation is not so conspicuous in any, asin those, whose native Complexion comes the nearest to a Subversionand Absence of Mind, tho it should never degenerate into thatdistemper'd Elevation of the Spirits: Nothing is more common, than tosee Persons of this Class always Think Right, and always Act Wrong;admirable for the richness, delicacy, and brightness of theirImaginations, and at the same Time to be pity'd for their wantof Prudence and common Sense; abounding with excellent Maxims andinstructive Sentiments, which however are not of the least Use tothemselves in the Conduct of their Lives. And hence it is certain, that tho the Gentlemen of a pleasant and witty Turn of Mind often makethe industrious Merchant, and grave Persons of all Professions, theSubjects of their Raillery, and expose them as stupid Creatures, notsupportable in good Company; yet these in their Turn believe they haveas great a right, as indeed they have, to reproach the others forwant of Industry, good Sense, and regular Oeconomy, much more valuableTalents than those, which any mere Wit can boast of; and thereforewise Parents, who from a tender Concern for the Honour and Happinessof their Children, earnestly desire they may excel in intellectualEndowments, should, instead of refin'd Parts and a Genius turn'd forpleasant Conversation, wish them a solid Understanding and a Facultyof close and clear Reasoning, these Qualifications being likely tomake them good Men, and the other only good Companions. 

And this leads to another Observation, namely, That Persons offacetious Talents and agreeable Humour, in whose Temperament, Judgment, and Discretion, as before observ'd, are usually found in adisproportionate Measure, are more inclin'd than others to Levity anddissolute Manners: The same swiftness of Thought and sprightliness ofImagination, that qualifies them for ingenious Conversation, Sports ofFancy and Comick Writing, do likewise give them an exquisite Tasteof sensual Pleasures, and expose them to the prevailing Power ofTempting, tho forbidden Enjoyments. The Passions and Appetitesof these Men, from the same Spring from whence they derive theirextraordinary Parts, that is, a Redundancy of warm and lively Spirits, are more violent and impatient of Restraint, than those in a coolerand less active Complexion, who however may be more eminent in thesuperior Faculties of the Mind: Hence it will be no wonder, that whiletheir Propensions to Pleasure are much stronger, and their Reason muchweaker than those of other Men, they should be less able than others, to resist the Allurements of criminal Delights; and this Remark isconfirm'd by daily Experience. How few of this facetious and comickSpecies of Men, caress'd and applauded for their shining Parts andwitty Discourses, escape the Snares that encompass them, and preservetheir Vertue and Sobriety of Manners? It too often happens, that aMan elevated above the rest by his uncommon Genius, is as muchdistinguish'd by his extraordinary Immorality: And it would be wellif it stop'd here; but by degrees he often grows much worse, by addingImpiety and Profaneness to Looseness of Manners: For being unable, that is, having a moral Impotence of Will to restrain his evilPropensions and govern his vicious Appetites, and finding his guiltyEnjoyments, attended with inward Uneasiness and unavoidable Remorse, and being conscious that his irregular Life is inconsistent withSafety and Happiness in a Future State; to remove the troublesomeMisgivings of his Mind from the Apprehensions of Guilt here, and ridhimself of the Fears of Suffering hereafter, he at length disclaimsthe Belief of a Supream Being and a Future Existence, and withmuch ado brings over his Judgment to the side of his Passions: Thisingenious Libertine, having too little strength of Reason to subduehis Appetites, and too much Wit to think, that if that be not done, he shall escape at last Divine Punishment, abolishes his Creed for theQuiet of his Mind, and renounces his God to preserve his Vices. 

The Objects about which Wit is exercis'd, are the common and lessimportant Actions of Life. It is the Province of the Civil Magistrateto make Laws against enormous Crimes and great Immoralities, and bypunishing Offenders, to deter Men from the like Transgressions; butthey take no notice of lower Errors, either because they have not suchnoxious Influence on the State, or because it is impossible to foreseeand enumerate their numberless Classes, and prevent their Growth:Where then the Legislator ends, the Comick Genius begins, and presidesover the low and ordinary Affairs and Manners of Life. It extendsits Power and Jurisdiction over the wide Field of inferior Faults andridiculous Follies, over the Districts of Indiscretion, Indecency, and Impertinence, and is Visitor of the Regions void of Discipline, Politeness, and Civility. 

Wit is employ'd in its own Province, when the Possessor of itexercises his Genius on the ordinary Customs and Manners of Life, either in Conversation, or Comick Writing. It has therefore noplace in the Works where severe Knowledge and Judgment are chieflyexercis'd; those superior Productions of the Understanding must beexpress'd in a clear and strong manner, without intervening Strainsof Wit or facetious Fancies, which, were they admitted, would appearincongruous and impertinent, and diminish the Merit of the Writing. Hence Wit has no place in History, Philology, Philosophy, or in thegreater Lyrick or Epick Poems; the two last of which containingeither the Praises of Deities or Demi-Gods, or treating of lofty andillustrious Subjects; such as the Foundation, Rise, and Revolution ofKingdoms, Commotions of State, Battles, Triumphs, solemn Embassies, and various other important Actions of Princes and Heroes, are exaltedabove the Sphere of Wit and Humour. The Strength and Dignity of thesublime Stile is debas'd and adulterated by the foreign and improperMixture of light Sentiments, and pretty Fancies. These Sallies andSports of the Imagination, will no more advance the Beauty of suchsuperior Productions, than the Addition of glittering Tinsel and glassBeads will improve the Imperial Purple, or adorn the Crowns of greatMonarchs. And therefore we see, with what judicious Care _Virgil_ hasavoided this Error; how clear are his celebrated Writings from theleast sprinkling of Wit and pleasant Conceits, which corrupt thePurity, debase the Majesty, and sully the Lustre of the greaterSpecies of Poetry? And as the Gravity and Chastness of the sublimeStile, in the Works last mention'd, will not endure the gay Ornamentsof Fancy; so does that light Dress more misbecome the pious and wiseDiscourses, that come either from the Pulpit or the Press. Wit is sofar from being a Grace or Improvement of Divine Eloquence, that on thecontrary, it destroys its Dignity, breaks its Force, and renders itbase and puerile. 

The End and Usefulness of this ingenious Qualification, is to delightand instruct. It animates and sweetens Conversation, by raisinginnocent Mirth and good Humour; and by this Effect it relievesDomestick Cares, revives Men of Business and studious Professions, andsoftens the Asperity of morose Dispositions. It suspends uneasyand anxious Thoughts, dispels cloudy and fallen Melancholy, and byunbending and exhilerating the Minds of the Assembly, gives them newLife and Spirit to resume the Labour of their respective Employments. The Exercise of Wit and a pleasant Genius, excels all otherRecreations. What is the Satisfaction that arises from Country Sports, or the politer Diversions of Balls and Operas, compar'd with thedelightful Conversation of Men of Parts and facetious Talents? OtherAmusements, how agreeable soever, only please the Body and gratify theSenses, but this strikes the Imagination, touches the Passions, andrecreates the Intellectual Faculties. And as the Taste of the Soul ismore delicate and exquisite than that of the Body, so much superiorare the Pleasures of one to those of the other: It is no wonder then, that the Assemblies of Friends are dull and heavy, that Feasts andWine are flat Entertainments, unless some ingenious Persons arepresent to improve their Taste, and enliven the Company by agreeableDiscourses. 

Another part of the Province in which Wit is properly exercis'd, areingenious Writings, intended to please and improve the People; andthis is more various and extensive than Comick Poetry, tho of the sameKind; for it takes in not only the Subjects of Prudence and Decency, regular Behaviour and vertuous Actions, but likewise the justness ofHuman Sentiments and Opinions in Points of Controversy; of thelast, the Dialogue of Dr. _Eachard_ against Mr. _Hobbes_ is a famousExample, where, by great Strength and Solidity of Reason, mixt withagreeable Wit and Raillery, he entertains and informs the Reader, andat once exposes and confutes the conceited Philosopher. An Instance ofthe first is, the celebrated History of _Don Quixote_, compil'd bythe _Spanish_ Wit _Michael de Cervantes_; a Book so well imagin'd, and writ with so much Spirit and fine Raillery, that it effectuallyprocur'd the End of the admirable Author; for by turning into Mirthand Ridicule the reigning Folly of Romantick Chivalry, and freeing theMinds of the People from that fashionable Delusion, he broke the Forceof as strong an Enchantment, and destroy'd as great a Monster as wasever pretended to be vanquish'd by their imaginary Heroes. And manymore Books on other moral Subjects have been compos'd with much Witand Vivacity in our own and foreign Countries, to expose Viceand Folly, and promote Decency and Sobriety of Manners. But theProductions of this Nature, which have of late appear'd in thisNation, whether we regard the just and generous Sentiments, thefertile Invention, the Variety of Subjects, the surprizing Turns ofWit and facetious Imagination, the genteel Satire, the Purity andPropriety of the Words, and the Beauty and Dignity of the Diction, have surpass'd all the Productions of this kind, that have beenpublish'd in any Age or Country. The Reader no doubt is before-handwith me, and concludes, that I mean the _Tatler_ and _Spectator_, which for the greatest Part, have all the Perfection of Writing, andall the Advantages of Wit and Humour, that are requir'd to entertainand instruct the People: And it must chiefly be owing to the greatDepravity of Manners in these loose and degenerate Times, that suchworthy Performances have produc'd no better Effects. 

But this excellent and amiable Qualification of the Mind is too apt tobe abus'd and perverted to ill purposes. Instead of being ingag'd onthe Side of Vertue, and us'd to promote just Notions and Regularity ofLife, it is frequently employ'd to expose the most Sacred Things, to turn Gravity and reserv'd Behaviour into Ridicule, to keep inCountenance Vice and Irreligion, and with a petulant and unrestrain'dLiberty, to deride the Principles and Practices of the wisest and bestof Men. The Conversation of ingenious Libertines generally turns uponReveal'd Religion and the venerable Teachers of it; or on those ofthe Laity, who seem most sincere in the Belief of Christianity, andexpress the greatest Conformity in their Actions to the Precepts ofit. Nothing gives so high a Seasoning to their Raillery, and moreimproves the Taste of their Jests, than some sharp and pointedIngredients, that wound Religion and the Professors of it; whereofsome are made the Entertainment of the Company by these facetiousScoffers, and expos'd as Persons fetter'd with Prepossessions, andbiass'd by Notions of Vertue, deriv'd from Education and the earlyInstructions of canting Parents. Others are represented as indebtedfor their Piety to the Prevalency of the Spleen, and an immoderatemixture of Melancholy in their Complexion, which, say they, giveto the Mind a superstitious Turn, and fill the Head with religiousChimeras, frightful Phantomes of Guilt, and idle Fears of imaginaryPunishments; while others are ridicul'd as Men of a cold andphlegmatick Complexion, without Spirit and native Fire; who derive, say they, their Vertue, not from Choice or Restraint of Appetite, butfrom their deadness and indisposition to Pleasure; not from the Powerof their Reason, but the Weakness of their Passions. It would beendless to enumerate the various Ways which the atheistical Wit andmerry Libertine employ, to take off all Veneration of Religion, and expose its Adherents to publick Derision. This is certainly thegreatest Abuse of Wit imaginable. In all the Errors and monstrousProductions of Nature, can any appear more deform'd than a Man ofParts, who employs his admirable Qualities in bringing Piety intoContempt, putting Vertue to the Blush, and making Sobriety of Mannersthe common Subject of his Mirth; while with Zeal and Industry, hepropagates the malignant Contagion of Vice and Irreligion, poisonshis Friends and Admirers, and promotes the Destruction of his nativeCountry? And if these foolish Wits and ingenious Madmen could reflect, they would soon be convinc'd, that while they are engag'd againstReligion they hurt themselves; and that Wit and Humour thusmisapply'd, will prove but a wretched Compensation for their want ofVertue. 

In this Place I crave leave to transcribe some Passages relating tothis Subject, from the Writings of a good Judge of Wit, and as greata Master of it as perhaps any Nation ever bred, I mean Archbishop_Tillotson_; "I know not how it comes to pass, _says he_, that someMen have the Fortune to be esteem'd Wits, only for jesting out of thecommon Road, and for making bold to scoff at those things, which thegreatest Part of Mankind reverence--. If Men did truly consult theInterest, either of their Safety or Reputation, they would neverexercise their Wit in such dangerous Matters. Wit is a verycommendable Quality, but then a wise Man should have the keeping ofit. It is a sharp Weapon, as apt for Mischief as for good Purposes, if it be not well manag'd: The proper use of it is to seasonConversation, to represent what is Praise-worthy to the greatestAdvantage, and to expose the Vices and Follies of Men, such things asare in themselves truly ridiculous: But if it be apply'd to theAbuse of the gravest and most serious Matters, it then loses itsCommendation. If any Man thinks he abounds in this Quality, andhath Wit to spare, there is scope enough for it within the Bounds ofReligion and Decency; and when it transgresseth these, it degeneratesinto Insolence and Impiety--And afterwards: A sharp Wit may findsomething in the wisest Man, whereby to expose him to the Contemptof injudicious People. The gravest Book that ever was written, may bemade ridiculous, by applying the Sayings of it to a foolish purpose, for a Jest may be obtruded upon any thing; and therefore no Man oughtto have the less Reverence for the Principles of Religion, or for theHoly Scriptures, because idle and profane Wits can break Jestsupon them. Nothing is so easy, as to take particular Phrases andExpressions out of the best Book in the World, and to abuse them, byforcing an odd and ridiculous Sense upon them. " And in another place, having mention'd the most proper Objects of Wit, he thus expresseshimself, --"This I say on purpose to recommend to Men a nobler Exercisefor their Wits, and if it be possible, to put them out of Conceit withthat scoffing Humour, which is so easy and so ill-natur'd, and is notonly an Enemy to Religion, but to every thing else that is wise andworthy; and I am very much mistaken, if the State as well as theChurch, the Civil Government as well as Religion, do not in a shortspace find the intolerable Inconvenience of this Humour. "

Tho the Persons addicted to this impious Folly, expose the sacredMysteries of Christianity, and make its Votaries the common Topick oftheir Raillery, it cannot thence be concluded, that they are certainthat those whom they thus deride, as whimsical, stupid, and deludedMen, have not the least Reason to support their Religious Principlesand Practice; for if they were sure of this, they would treat suchunhappy Persons as Men rob'd of their Senses, with Tenderness andCompassion; for none will allow such distemper'd Minds to be properSubjects of Ridicule and Derision: But those, who attentively observethe Manner and Air of these jesting Libertines, when they laugh atVertue, will see plainly their licentious Mirth springs from otherPrinciples; either from this, That the Example of many Persons, whoin earnest embrace and profess the Articles of Religion, continuallydisturbs their Opinion of themselves, and creates severe Misgivingsand Distrust in their Minds, lest their Notions about Religion shouldnot be true, when they observe, that many Persons of eminent Parts, superior Reason and Erudition, maintain with Zeal quite contrarySentiments; or else it proceeds from their Hatred of Men of Vertue, founded in the Dissimilitude of Dispositions and Manners, andDisagreement in Interest, Employments and Designs; or from an Envy oftheir great Merit, innocent Life, and worthy Actions, which from theprevailing Power of their own vicious Inclinations, they are unableto imitate; for after all their Raillery and Expressions of Contempt, Vertue has that native Lustre and amiable Appearance, that will compelMen secretly to esteem it, even while they deride the Possessors ofit. Such is the Pride and Vanity of degenerate Nature, that loose Menwill always endeavour to level the eminent Characters of religious andsober Persons, and reduce them to the inferior Degree of their own:And for that end, they will labour to sink the Opinion and Esteem ofany Excellence or Merit, to which themselves can make no Pretence. While they cannot equal the bright Example of Vertue in others, theystrive to sully or efface it, and by turning it into Ridicule, makeit seem rather the Dishonour and Deformity, than the Beauty andPerfection of the Mind: And if they can disgrace Religion, and subvertall moral Distinction, Men will be valu'd only for their intellectualEndowments, and then they imagine they have gain'd their Point, sincethe Superiority of Wit, as they suppose, is on their Side. Theseseem to me the genuine and natural Causes, why Men of great Partsand extraordinary Wit, but of loose Principles and immoral Lives, whoabove all others affect Popularity and gasp after Applause, take somuch Pleasure, without the least regard to Modesty and Decency, in aChristian Country to mock Religion and jerk with spiteful Satire Menof Vertue and inoffensive Behaviour. 

WIT is likewise misapply'd, when exercis'd to ridicule any unavoidableDefects and Deformities of Body or Mind; for since nothing is a moralBlemish, but as it is the Effect of our own Choice, nothing can bedisgraceful but what is voluntary, and brought freely upon our selves;and since nothing is the proper Object of Raillery and Ridicule, butwhat is shameful, it must be a Violence to Reason and Humanity, toreproach and expose another for any thing that was not in his Power toescape. And therefore to make a Man contemptible, and the Jest ofthe Company, by deriding him for his mishapen Body, ill figur'd Face, stammering Speech, or low Degree of Understanding, is a great Abuse ofingenious Faculties. 

Nor is it a less criminal Use of this Talent, when it is exercis'din lascivious and obscene Discourses. The Venom is not less, but moreinfectious and destructive, when convey'd by artful Insinuation and adelicate Turn of Wit; when impure Sentiments are express'd by Men of aheavy and gross Imagination, in direct and open Terms, the Companyare put out of Countenance, and nauseate the Coarseness of theConversation: but a Man of Wit gilds the Poison, dresses his wantonThoughts in a beautiful Habit, and by slanting and side Approaches, possesses the Imagination of the Hearers, before his Design is welldiscover'd; by which means he more effectually gains Admission to theMind, and fills the Fancy with immodest Ideas. 

Nothing can be more ill-manner'd, or disagreeable to Persons of Vertueand Sobriety of Manners, than wanton and obscene Expressions; onwhich Subject the excellent Archbishop _Tillotson_ has the followingParagraph: "Nothing that trespasses upon the Modesty of the Company, and the Decency of Conversation, can become the Mouth of a wise andvertuous Person. This kind of Conversation would fain pass for Witamong some sort of Persons, to whom it is acceptable; but whateversavours of Rudeness and Immodesty, and Ill-Manners, is very far fromdeserving that Name; and they that are sober and vertuous cannotentertain any Discourse of this kind, with Approbation and Acceptance. A well bred Person will never offend in this way. And therefore itcannot but be esteem'd as an Affront to modest Company, and a rudepresuming upon their Approbation, impudently taking it for granted, that all others are as lewd and dissolute as themselves. "

Men of finer Spirits do likewise abuse their Parts, as well asmisapply their Time, when to gain Applause and increase theirPopularity, they run, without Distinction, into Company, and bytoo great Condescention and false Humanity, mingle in inferior andunworthy Assemblies; where delighted with the silly Approbation ofignorant Laughers, they shine forth in a great Effusion of Wit andHumour; by which they make themselves cheap, if not contemptible inthe Opinion of wise and discerning Persons. Men of singular Wit, likeWomen of great Beauty, should never be unguarded; for if not endow'dwith a decent Reservedness, a modest Air, and a discreet Behaviour, they sink in their Value, and by appearing in all Places, and becomingcommon and familiar, lose, in a great measure, their Honour, and theOpinion of their Merit. It is a meretricious Prostitution of Wit, whenthe Possessors of it can deny no Addresses, and refuse no Invitationsand Appointments, but suffer themselves to be shown at everyEntertainment; Besides the gratifying of their Vanity, by a constantpursuit of Approbation and Praise, which is the Spring whence thisProdigality of Parts and waste of facetious Humour chiefly arise; itis evident, they spend a great deal of Time, of which a wise Man cangive no Account, while Wit, which should in its proper place, renewand revive the Spirits for useful Employment, becomes a continu'dDiversion, and makes everlasting Idleness the Business of Life. 

It is pity that a Man of fine Spirit and a fertile, as wellas delicate Imagination, should think himself engag'd in highConversation, when he is only employ'd in the lowest Affairs thatconcern Mankind. His Post is of the same Kind, and but the nextin Order above that of Players on Instruments, admirable Voices, excellent Actors on the Stage, and famous Dancers; whose Province isonly to amuse and recreate; and is therefore far below theirs, whoare either busied in governing the State, defending their Country, improving the Minds, or relieving the Bodies of other Men. 

Hence the Labours of the meanest Persons, that conduce to the Welfareand Benefit of the Publick, are more valuable, because more useful, than the Employments of those, who apply themselves only, orprincipally, to divert and entertain the Fancy; and therefore must beas much preferable to the Occupation or Profession of a Wit, as theImprovement and Happiness of Men is to be regarded above their Mirthand Recreation. I allow, that the Talents of these ingenious Menare very much to be esteem'd in their proper place; that is, as theyunbend the Mind, relieve the Satiety of Contemplation and Labour, andby the Delight which they give, refresh the Spirits and fit them forthe Returns of Study and Employment: But then it must be granted, that, as I have said, this is the meanest, as being the leastbeneficial Province in which our intellectual Faculties can beengag'd; and therefore these facetious Men can only claim the highestRank among those, who are Inventors or Ministers of Pleasure, andprovide Amusements and Recreations for the Busy and the Wise. 

I would illustrate what I have asserted by the following Reflection. Domestick Fowls, the Hen, the Turkey, and Goose are preferable, asmore useful, to the singing Bird, and the Parrot. The Ox, that ploughsthe Field and brings home the Harvest, the Horse, the Mule, andeven the stupid Ass, that carry their Owners, or their Goods andMerchandize, are more to be regarded than the Hound, the Lap-Dog, and various other Animals that seem to have been created only forour Pleasure and Amusement: And the Reason of this is very evident, Mankind may be very happy, and States and Kingdoms may remain in aflourishing Condition, tho there were no such diverting Creaturesin the World: And from the same Consideration, Men, tho of a lowerStation, who are not only beneficial, but necessary to the Well-beingof Human Societies, are of far greater Importance, and thereforedeserve more Esteem than those, who only are subservient to ourRecreation; for the World may still subsist, and continue in verycomfortable Circumstances without one, but not without the other: And'tis easy to name some learned and powerful Communities, the Envy andTerror of their Neighbours, who tho they abound in Men of good Senseand diligent Application to Business, yet have few Wits and Jestersamong them to make them merry. 

The Truth of what I have asserted will farther appear, if we reflectthat generally Men of a plain Understanding and good Sense, but ofgreat Industry and Capacity for Business, are in all Governmentsadvanc'd to Posts of Trust and great Employments in the State, whilemeer Wits are regarded as Men of the lowest Merit, and accordingly arepromoted to the meaner and less profitable Places, being look'd on, by reason of their Inapplication and volatile Temper, as unfit for ahigher Station. 

Another pernicious Abuse of Wit is that which appears in the Writingsof some ingenious Men, who are so hardy as to expose from the Pressthe most venerable Subjects, and treat Vertue and Sobriety of Mannerswith Raillery and Ridicule. Several, in their Books, have manysarcastical and spiteful Strokes at Religion in general, while othersmake themselves pleasant with the Principles of the Christian. Ofthe last kind this Age has seen a most audacious Example in the Bookintitul'd, _A Tale of a Tub_. Had this Writing been publish'd in aPagan or Popish Nation, who are justly impatient of all Indignityoffer'd to the Establish'd Religion of their Country, no doubt but theAuthor would have receiv'd the Punishment he deserv'd. But the Fate ofthis impious Buffoon is very different; for in a Protestant Kingdom, zealous of their Civil and Religious Immunities, he has not onlyescap'd Affronts and the Effects of publick Resentment, but hasbeen caress'd and patroniz'd by Persons of great Figure and of allDenominations. Violent Party-Men, who differ'd in all Things besides, agreed, in their Turn, to shew particular Respect and Friendship tothis insolent Derider of the Worship of his Country, till at last thereputed Writer is not only gone off with Impunity, but triumphs in hisDignity and Preferment. I do not know, that any Inquiry or Search wasever made after this Writing, or that any Reward was ever offer'dfor the Discovery of the Author, or that the infamous Book was evercondemn'd to be burnt in Publick: Whether this proceeds from theexcessive Esteem and Love that Men in Power, during the late Reign, had for Wit, or their defeat of Zeal and Concern for the ChristianReligion, will be determin'd best by those, who are best acquaintedwith their Character. 

But the most extensive Abuse of Parts and Ingenuity, appears in theloose Productions of our Writers to the Stage. It was the Complaintof the celebrated Wit of _Spain, Michael de Cervantes_, before-cited, that the Comedies in his Time were not only extravagant and monstrousin their Contrivance, but likewise the Exemplars of Vice andRepresentations of Lewdness: But had the Plays in _Spain_, at thatTime, been as Immoral and Unchaste as the daily Entertainments of the_British_ Theatre, which have a manifest Tendency to vitiate the Tasteof the People, fill their Imaginations with obscene Ideas, and theirLives with Levity, Idleness and Luxury; I say, if that great Man, whose Judgment was equal to his admirable Genius, had seen Religionand Vertue so derided, and Modesty, Reservedness, and Decency soinsulted and expos'd, his Zeal for the Honour of his Country, and hisLove of Mankind, would have animated him to have attack'd the ComickPoets with the same Spirit, with which he assaulted the prevailingFolly of his Age, the Romantick Atchievements of Knights Errant; hisWit and good Sense would have made those merry Authors as odious forpoisoning the People with their loose and immoral Writings, as he madethe others ridiculous for their extravagant and idle Tales. 

No doubt a Comedy may be so contriv'd, that it may at once becomedelightful, and promote Prudence and Sobriety of Manners; that is, when the Characters are well chosen, justly delineated, and everywhere distinguish'd; When the various Manners are exactly imitated andcarry'd on with Propriety and Uniformity; when the principal Actioncontains an instructive Moral, and all the Parts in a regularConnexion, Dependance and Proportion, illustrate and support eachother, and have a manifest Influence on the main Event; When theIncidents are well imagin'd, and result from the Manners of theDramatick Persons, when the Turns are surprizing, the Knots orObstructions natural and unconstrain'd, and the unraveling of them, tho unforeseen, yet free and easy; and when the Diction is pure, proper and elegant, as well as chaste and inoffensive to the modestand vertuous Hearers. So regular and beautiful a Piece as this cannotbut greatly please and divert, as well as instruct the Audience. Noris it, I imagine, from want of Knowledge of the Rules of Writing, nor of sufficient Genius, in which this Nation abounds, that so fewComedies, distinguish'd by these Perfections, have been produc'd: Butthis Defect arises partly from this, that the Comick Poets are oftenMen of loose Manners, and therefore unlikely Persons to undertake thePromotion and Encouragement of Vertue, of which they have no Taste, and to discountenance Imprudence and Immorality, when by doing so, they must expose their own Character to derision; tho sometimes it mayhappen, that a loose Poet as well as Preacher, merely from his justManner of Thinking, and his Sense of Decency in forming Discoursesbecoming his Character, may entertain the Audience with laudablePerformances. 

Another, and the chief Cause of the Immorality of the Theatre, isthe ill Taste of the People, who, notwithstanding they have applaudedseveral clean and regular Ttagedies, such as those which have of late, appear'd that are worthy of the greatest Commendation, especially_Cato_ and the Plays for the most part of Mr. _Row_, as great a Geniusfor Tragedy as any Nation in any Age has produc'd, yet still frequentand encoutage the loosest Comedies. It happens, that the greatest partof Men of Wit and Humour, who not being easy in their Fortunes, work for the Stage, and are Day-Labourers to the Muses, lie undera Necessity of bringing those Productions to Market, which are inFashion, and therefore vendible; while others, tho of ever so muchgreater Value, would be turn'd back upon their Hands; nor would theActors, who live by their Employment, as the Comick Writers do bytheirs, undertake to represent an Innocent, and much less a Comedy ofyet higher Merit. 

Tho several Assaults have been made upon the Comick Poets in Fashion, and many Batteries have been rais'd against the Theatre, yet hithertothey have prov'd unsuccessful; the Stage is become Impregnable, whereloose Poets, supported by Numbers, Power, and Interest, in Defianceof all Rules of Decency and Vertue, still provide new Snaresand Temptations to seduce the People, and corrupt their Manners. Notwithstanding the earnest Cries of this great City, that importunethese Writers to reform the Theatre, and no longer to infest herYouth, and draw their Inclinations from their Professions andEmployments; notwithstanding the Sighs and Tears of many onceflourishing, but now disconsolate Families, ruin'd by the dissoluteLives of their chief Branches, who lost their Vertue by frequentingthe fatal Entertainments of the Theatre; notwithstanding the wise andsober part of the Kingdom earnestly sollicit them to spare thePeople, to stop the spreading Plague and slay the destroying Pen, theypersevere with intrepid Resolution and inexorable Cruelty, to poisonthe Minds, and ruin the Morals of the Nation. 

The great Archbishop _Tillotson_ has set our present Theatre in a trueLight in his Discourse upon _Corrupt Communication_:

"I shall only speak a few words concerning Plays, which as they arenow order'd among us, are a mighty Reproach to the Age and Nation. 

"To speak against them in general, may be thought too severe, and thatwhich the present Age cannot so well brook, and would not perhaps beso just and reasonable; because it is very possible they might beso fram'd and govern'd by such Rules, as not only to be innocentlydiverting, but instructing and useful, to put some Vices and Folliesout of Countenance, which cannot perhaps be so decently reprov'd, norso effectually expos'd and corrected any other way. But as the Stagenow is, they are intollerable, and not fit to be permitted in aciviliz'd, much less a Christian Nation. They do most notoriouslyminister both to Infidelity and Vice. By the Profaneness of them, theyare apt to instil bad Principles into the Minds of Men, and tolessen that awe and reverence which all Men ought to have for God andReligion: and by their Lewdness they teach Vice, and are apt to infectthe Minds of Men, and dispose them to lewd and dissolute Practices. 

"And therefore I do not see how any Persons pretending to Sobriety andVertue, and especially to the pure and holy Religion of our BlessedSaviour, can, without great Guilt, and open Contradiction to his holyProfession, be present at such lewd and immodest Plays, much lessfrequent them, as too many do, who yet would take it very ill to beshut out of the Communion of Christians, as they would most certainlyhave been in the first and purest Ages of Christianity. "

And not only wise and sober Men have declar'd their detestation ofthe Immorality of the Stage, but eminent Poets themselves, who havewritten the most applauded Comedies, have own'd, that the Theatrestands in great need of Restraints and Regulation, and wish'd thatPlays were compil'd in such an inoffensive Manner, that not onlydiscreet and vertuous Persons of the Laity, but a Bishop himself, without being shock'd, might be present while they were acted. Mr. _Dryden_ has, up and down in his Prefatory Discourses and Dedications, freely aeknowledg'd the Looseness of our Dramatick Entertainments, which sometimes he charges upon the Countenance given to it by thedissolute Court of King _Charles_ the Second, and sometimes upon thevitiated Taste of the People. In his Dedication of _Juvenal_, made_English_, to the late famous Earl of _Dorset_, he thus bespeaks him;"As a Counsellor bred up in the Knowledge of the Municipal andStatute Laws may honestly inform a just Prince how far his Prerogativeextends, so I may be allow'd to tell your Lordship, who by anindisputed Title are the King of Poets, what an Extent of Power youhave, and how lawfully you may exercise it over the petulant Scriblersof the Age. As Lord Chamberlain, you are absolute by your Office, inall that belongs to the Decency and good Manners of the Stage; You canbanish thence Scurrility and Profaneness, and restrain the licentiousInsolence of the Poets and their Actors, in all things that shock thepublick Quiet or the Reputation of private Persons, under the Notionof _Humour_. " Hence it evidently appears, that Mr _Dryden_ look'd onthe Decency of the Stage to be violated in his Time, by licentious andinsolent Poets; and I wish I could say, that there is less Reasonof Complaint in ours; In a Copy of Verses, publish'd in one of theVolumes of the Miscellany Poems, the same celebrated Author inveighsagainst the Lewdness and Pollutions of the Stage in the strongestExpressions that can be conceiv'd; and in his latter days, whenhis Judgment was more Mature, he condemns all his loose and profaneWritings to the Flames, which, he says, they justly deserve: Whichis not only a free and ingenious Confession of his Fault, but aconsiderable Mark of Repentance, and worthy to be imitated by hisSuccessors, who have broken in upon the Rules of Vertue and Modesty inthe like manner. 

Tho all Men of Vertue, who wish well to Mankind, and are zealous forthe Happiness of their Country, cannot but observe the mischievousEffects of these licentious Dramatick Compositions, yet they will findit very difficult to suggest an effectual Remedy for the Cure of soobstinate an Evil. The ingenious _Spaniard_ mention'd before, forstopping the Progress of this contagious Lewdness in his Country, propos'd to the Government, that an Officer or Inspector might beestablish'd, with Authority to peruse and correct the Poet's Writings, and that no Comedies should be presented to the Publick without hisLicence and Approbation. 

But if this would have been sufficient to have prevented or remov'dthis hurtful Practice, the _British_ Nation would long since have hadno reason to complain on this Subject. We have Officers intrustedwith this useful and important Power, and are able, if they please, tohinder the spreading of the Infection, by not permitting such noxiousProductions to appear in Publick: But whether those Inspectors havehad a true Taste and Judgment themselves, or have diligently apply'dthemselves to the Reading and Amending the Comedies put intotheir Hands for their Approbation, or whether they comply with theImportunity of the Actors, who tell them, that such is the Dispositionof the Audience, that no Plays of that kind will appear beautiful, ifthey are strip'd of those Embellishments and Ornaments of Wit, whichsome morose and unfashionable People stile impure and obscene, andthat to leave out those ingenious Strokes and Heightnings of Fancy, and put into the Mouths of the Actors only good Sense and modest andclean Expressions, is to clear and refine our Comedies from the mostentertaining and delightful Parts: Perhaps they assure them, that theAudience will endure no Reformation of the Stage, and that it werealtogether as adviseable to shut up the Doors of the Play-House, as toattempt a Regulation of the Pleasures and Diversions of it. 

But tho Men who love their Country, born down with a Torrent ofprofane Libertines, Persons without Taste and Distinction of Vertueand Vice, have almost despair'd of seeing the Comick Poets reform'd, and the exorbitant Liberties of the Stage restrain'd within the Limitsof modest Language and decent Behaviour; yet now their Hopes revive, and they promise to themselves a sudden and effectual Reformation ofthese Abuses, since the Government has plac'd so worthy a Person atthe Head of the Actors, and given him ample Authority to rectify theirErrors: What a happy Revolution, what a regular and clean Stage mayjustly be now expected? How free from all sordid and impure Mixtures, how innocent, as well as diverting, will our Comedies appear, whenthey have been corrected and refin'd by such an accomplish'd Directorof the Dramatick Poets? One that has a true and delicate Taste, andwho is sensible of the Indecencies and hurtful Nature of our Plays;who has engag'd his celebrated Pen, in defiance of sneering Wits andpowerful Libertines, on the Side of Vertue, and has propagated theEsteem of Morals, Humanity, Decorum and Sobriety of Manners; whowith great Spirit, Genius, and Courage, to his lasting Honour, haspublickly expos'd the Absurdities, Vices, and Follies, that stainand disgrace the Theatre; in which Censure he has not spar'd his ownPerformances: One who has express'd a warm Zeal on this Subject, anddeclar'd his generous Intention, if it were in his Power, to cleansethese polluted Places, and not to suffer a Comedy to be presented butwhat had past a severe Examination, and where all things which mightshock a modest Ear, or be look'd on as repugnant to good Manners, might be expung'd. 

But if these fair Expectations should be blasted in the Bloom, andnotwithstanding the vigorous Efforts which will be made by thisReformer, Immorality shall maintain its ground and keep Possessionof the Theatre, some other Expedients may be suggested to procurea Regulation. It might, perhaps be desirable, that a few Personsof Importance, Men of Learning, Gravity, and good Taste, might becommission'd by Authority, as a Check upon the Actors, to censureand suppress any Dramatick Entertainments that shall offend againstReligion, Sobriety of Manners, or the Publick Peace; and all Personsshould be encourag'd to send them such loose or profane Passages whichthey hear from the Stage, or read in the printed Plays: Nor will itbe less expedient, that they should be instructed to peruse the Playsalready publish'd, and which are now publickly acted, and to expungeall offensive and criminal Mixtures, that hereafter they may becomea clean and innocent Diversion. Besides, this End would the moreeffectually be accomplish'd, if the Writers of Comedy, Farce, andInterludes, were rewarded and supported by Means independent on theActors: For while the Poets, who write for a Maintenance, are paid bythe Theatre, they will be under a great Temptation to write as desir'dand directed by the Actors, which was the Complaint of _Cervantes_above-cited, concerning the Comick Poets of _Spain_. The Actors, wemay safely conclude, are not restrain'd by such rigorous Preceptsof Vertue, but that they will always be inclin'd to present thosePerformances which will best fill the House and promote theirInterest; and therefore they will readily humour the vitiated Taste ofthe Audience, by acting the most immoral Plays, while they find theiraccount in doing so: And that which confirms this Observation is, thatthey never, as far as I have heard, rejected any Comedy merely forits Looseness, tho I believe they have refus'd many for want ofthat entertaining Quality. Now were the Comick Writers provided of aSubsistence some other way, they would be deliver'd from the Necessityof complying with their Actors, by writing such Plays as theyshall bespeak, or at least approve, as the most likely to invite aprofitable Audience. 

It would prove an effectual Remedy for this Evil, if the Ladies woulddiscountenance these loose Comedies, by expressing their dislike, andrefusing to be present when they are acted: And this no doubt theywould do, were they inform'd, that the Comedies which they encourageby their Appearance at the Theatre, are full of wanton Sentiments, obscene Allusions, and immodest Ideas, contain'd in Expressions ofa double Meaning: for it cannot be imagin'd they would bear withUnconcernedness, much less with Pleasure, Discourses in Publick, whichthey detest as unsufferable in private Convention, if they knew themto be unchast. And should the Ladies assert their Esteem of Vertue, and declare openly on the Side of Modesty, the most attractive Beautyof the fair Sex, as certainly they would do, if they understood howmuch those amiable Qualities have been expos'd and affronted by ourmost eminent Comick Poets; this would lay the Ax to the Root, and atone Blow destroy this pernicious Practice; for after this, what Writerwould transgress the Rules of Decency and Purity of Expression, whenhe knows, that by his immodest Mixtures he shall fright the Ladiesfrom the House?

It would be another effectual Means to redress the Grievance of theStage, if the Clergy could be prevail'd upon to condemn fromthe Pulpit and the Press, as well as in their Conversation, theunjustifiable Entertainments of the Theatre; would they insist uponit, and urge it as a necessary Duty of the People to avoid theseOccasions, and at least Appearances of Evil; would they shew them, that by frequenting these unwarrantable Diversions, they rush intoSnares, court Temptation, and invite others to follow their criminalExample; would they set before them the Hazard of playing on the niceand dubious Limits of Innocence, and adventuring to the utmost Extentof Vertue and the Frontier of Vice, there would be great hopes ofstemming this strong Tide of Iniquity. And this is no more than theindispensable Obligation, which our Divines are under, whose properProvince it is to warn the People of their Danger, and to pressthem earnestly to fly from it. This venerable Order have, by solemnEngagements, set themselves apart, as spiritual Guides, to point outthe fatal Rocks and treacherous Sands to their Neighbours, that theymay not make Shipwreck of Modesty and Innocence, and plunge into theDepths of Irreligion and Vice: Nor is it obvious, why these ReverendTeachers, by their Silence and Neutrality, should give Profaneness andImmorality such fair Play, as if the Controversy between the Stageand the Pulpit were compremis'd, and the Poets and the Priestswere engag'd, as indeed they ought to be, in the same good Designs, Interests, and Pursuits. It is certain, that this Mildness, andfriendly Behaviour of the Clergy to the Comick Writers, cannot arisefrom any Respect or handsome Usage which that sacred Order has metwith on the Theatre, where they have been so often jerk'd and expos'din such a manner, that their Divine Function has been wounded throughtheir Sides. 

The Clergy lie under such manifest Obligations to attack publickImmorality, wherever it is found, and by whatsoever Patrons of Power, Dignity, and Interest it is shelter'd and supported, thar, as Ihave suggested, it is not easy to imagine whence their Lenity andTenderness for the Theatre can proceed. But if the true Reason ofit, whatever it is, and which is so hard to be accounted for, wereremov'd, and our Divines would interest themselves with Zeal in theCause of Vertue, in respect to our Dramatick Entertainments, as theyespouse and defend it in all other Instances, I cannot believe thatthe Stage, without a Regulation, would be able to stand, when batter'dwith Vigor from the Pulpit. The Poets and Players would soon findthemselves oblig'd to restrain their licentious Conduct, reformthe Theatre, and present to the Town, if not instructive, at leastinoffensive and unshocking Diversions. And it is very desirable, thatthis Expedient were set on foot, that the Honour of the _English_Theatre may be retriev'd; that while we justly boast of our Priorityin Wit and Humour to our Neighbours, we may not be oblig'd toacknowledge the great Inferiority of our Comedies, in respect ofCleanness and moral Beauty: that we may not be reproach'd, that whilewe profess a Reform'd and pure Religion, we encourage an immodest andunreform'd Theatre, and that we are very defective in the Practiceof Vertue and Regularity of Manners, while these Abominations areindulg'd, and these unhallow'd Groves and High Places of Immoralityare frequented without Disturbance. 

[Illustration]

No 45 The FREE-HOLDER

No 45 Friday, May 25. 

 _Nimium risus pretium esi si probitatis impendis constat_ Quintil. 

Laughter is bought too dear, if it be at the expence of honesty. 

I have lately read, with much pleasure, the Essays upon severalsubjects published by Sir _Richard Blackmore_; and though I agreewith him in many of his excellent observations, I cannot but takethat reasonable freedom, which he himself makes use of, with regardto other writers, to dissent from him in some few particulars. In hisreflexions upon works of wit and humour, he observes how unequal theyare to combate vice and folly; and seems to think, that the finestrallery and satire, though directed by these generous views, neverreclaimed one vicious man, or made one fool depart from his folly. 

This is a position very hard to be contradicted, because no Authorknows the number or names of his converts. As for the _Tatlers_ and_Spectators_ in particular, which are obliged to this ingenious anduseful Author for the character he has given of them, they were sogenerally dispersed in single sheets, and have since been printedin so great numbers, that it is to be hoped they have made someproselytes to the interests, if not to the practice of wisdom andvirtue, among such a multitude of readers. 

I need not remind this learned Gentleman, that _Socrates_, who was thegreatest propagator of morality in the heathen world, and a martyrfor the Unity of the Godhead, was so famous for the exercise of thistalent among the politest people of antiquity, that he gained the nameof [Greek: ha Eibôn] _the Drôle_. 

There are very good effects which visibly arose from theabove-mentioned performances and others of the like nature; as, in thefirst place, they diverted rallery from improper objects, and gave anew turn to ridicule, which for many years had been exerted on personsand things of a sacred and serious nature. They endeavoured to makemirth instructive, and, if they failed in this great end, they mustbe allowed at least to have made it innocent. If wit and humour beginagain to relapse into their former licentiousness, they can never hopefor approbation from those who know that rallery is useless when ithas no moral under it, and pernicious when it attacks any thing thatis either unblameable or praise-worthy. To this we may add, what hasbeen commonly observed, that it is not difficult to be merry on theside of vice, as serious objects act the most capable of ridicule; asthe party, which naturally favour such a mirth, is the most numerous;and as there are the most standing jests and patterns for imitation inthis kind of writing. 

In the next place: Such productions of wit and humour, as have atendency to expose vice and folly, furnish useful diversions to allkinds of readers. The good or prudent man may, by these means, bediverted without prejudice to his discretion, or morality. Rallery, under such regulations, unbends the mind from serious studies andseverer contemplations, without throwing it off from its proper bias. It carries on the same design that is promoted by Authors of a graverturn, and only does it in another manner. It also awakens reflexionin those who are the most indifferent in the cause of virtue orknowledge, by setting before them the absurdity of such practicesas are generally unobserved, by reason of their being common orfashionable: Nay, it sometimes catches the dissolute and abandonedbefore they are aware of it: who are often betrayed to laugh atthemselves, and upon reflexion find, that they are merry at their ownexpence. I might farther take notice, that by entertainments of thiskind, a man may be chearful in solitude, and not be forced to seek forcompany every time he has a mind to be merry. 

The last advantage I shall mention from compositions of this naturewhen thus restrained, is, that they shew wisdom and virtue are farfrom being inconsistent with politeness and good humour. They makemorality appear amiable to people of gay dispositions, and refute thecommon objection against religion, which represents it as only fitfor gloomy and melancholy tempers. It was the motto of a Bishop veryeminent for his piety and good works in King _Charles_ the Second'sreign, _In servi Deo & lætare_, 'Serve God and be chearful. ' Thosetherefore who supply the world with such entertainments of mirth asare instructive, or at least harmless, may be thought to deserve wellof mankind; to which I shall only add, that they retrieve the honourof polite learning, and answer those sour Enthusiasts who affectto stigmatize the finest and most elegant Authors, both ancient andmodern, (which they have never read) as dangerous to religion, anddestructive of all sound and saving knowledge. 

Our nation are such lovers of mirth and humour, that it is impossiblefor detached papers, which come out on stated days, either to havea general run, or long continuance, if they are not diversified andenlivened from time to time, with subjects and thoughts, accommodatedto this taste, which so prevails among our countrymen. No periodicalAuthor, who always maintains his gravity, and does not sometimessacrifice to the Graces, must expect to keep in vogue for anyconsiderable time. Political speculations in particular, however justand important, are of so dry and austere a nature, that they will notgo down with the public without frequent seasonings of this kind. Thework may be well performed, but will never take, if it is not set offwith proper scenes and decorations. A mere Politician is but a dullcompanion, and, if he is always wise, is in great danger of beingtiresom or ridiculous. 

Besides, papers of entertainment are necessary to increase thenumber of readers, especially among those of different notions andprinciples; who by this means may be betrayed to give you a fairhearing, and to know what you have to say for yourself. I mightlikewise observe, that in all political writings there is somethingthat grates upon the mind of the most candid reader, in opinions whichare not conformable to his own way of thinking; and that the harshnessof reasoning is not a little softned and smoothed by the infusions ofmirth and pleasantry. 

Political speculations do likewise furnish us with several objectsthat may very innocently be ridiculed, and which are regarded as suchby men of sense in all parties; of this kind are the passions of ourStates-women, and the reasonings of our Fox-hunters. 

A Writer who makes fame the chief end of his endeavours, and would bemore desirous of pleasing than of improving his readers, might findan inexhaustible fund of mirth in politics. Scandal and satire arenever-failing gratifications to the public. Detraction and obloquyare received with as much eagerness as wit and humour. Should a writersingle out particular persons, or point his rallery at any order ofmen, who by their profession ought to be exempt from it; should heslander the innocent, or satirize the miserable; or should he, evenon the proper subjects of derision, give the full play to his mirth, without regard to decency and good-manners; he might be sure ofpleasing a great part of his readers, but must be a very ill man, ifby such a proceeding he could please himself.