V vr /Si \ / A REINFORCEMENT V • OF THE REASONS Proving that the Stage is an Unchristian Diversion. O R, A VINDICATION of the APPENDIX to the Uuse and Abuse of Diver¬ sions, a Sermon on Luke xix. 13. J In Anfwer to The REMARKS of an Anonymous Author- -. . 2" it a jube tolli theatra. Ovid. Hoftes plane fumus, non generis bumani tamen, fed erroris. Tertul. adv. Gentes. ■ r * By the Rev d George Anders on V.D.M. Author of the Sermon and Appendix. EDINBURGH: Printed by R. Fleming, for J. M‘Euen, and fold at his Shop; and at London by J. Pemberton, at the Golden Buck, over againft St. Dmftan’s Church in Fleetftreet. Mdccxxxiii. E R R A T A. I IAge 6 1. l Bondage r. Bandage, p. lo.-l 1 1< ; o. >.»• f v. others, f. 22. I- n. r. Hypercntiov, ^ -. r . •. o- «, *# • been. f. 4 «. /. 4 - BuiWay r.fcuftoon io. j^* fj gg, /. 17 . add , aftep too C>) p> * >9* tut' Sj£/! 18 . for Spirits r. SportS. p. 4°>4* lor " i “4 V * 3 r y"' ##44 I'*#? a jfi. A. : -ifV. T "* ..Nk . ( t ) I R, the Omifliori otahf "Epithet which may belong to you, fuch as Reverend , &<*. becaufe it is contrary to the Rules of Good-breeding, to take Notice of £tiy Man who choofeS efthef to travel or to write incognito . It is a Piece of common Civility to return ati Anfwer to a Letter, efpecially when it re¬ quires one, whether it really deferves it 6t not* And tho’ yours to me, did not come dire&Jy to my Hands, perhaps thro’the Ne¬ gligence of the Bearer, I think my felf o- bliged to anfwer it, in the fame Manner in yvhich you write, that is, by the Prefs. A I ( 2 ) I told you, in my Sermon (a), That I cannot have fo low an Opinion of Man¬ kind, as to perfuade my felf that any Man would allow himfelf to live in an habitual Breach of a Law of God, and in a conftant Negiec’t of any Duty of his holy Chriftian !frofejfion , and at the fame Time, enjoy the Peace and Approbation of his own Mind, if he had not fome private Principles of his own to fupport him, and to enable him to look his Confidence in the Face. There- fore, without the greateft Injuftice, and without contradi&ing my own Principles, I cannot but look upon you to be fincerely of an Opinion different from mine, con¬ cerning the Sinfulnefs of Stage-plays, It would be very hard indeed, and exceeding¬ ly unfair, fhould I refufe you what I hope for from my Superiors, I t may not perhaps be amifs, to inform you that fome People are offended with me, for fpeaking of the Government and my [elf in the fame Sentence, and for Pet¬ ting up my Opinion in the Matter of Stage- plays as fuperior to the Wifdom of the Na¬ tion. (a) Page 7 . ( J ) tion. A Sheet printed in this City, intitled. Hints in defence of dramatical Entertain¬ ment , to me feem’d to call upon the civil Power, in Defence of the Stage , with fully as much Ill-breeding as Difcretion, when he fays, that to remonftrate againft it, is Flying in the Face of the Government , an intolerable Rudenejs , and a Hair brained Stupidity. The Man was elated, upon a Decree obtain’d in the Seffion of our Sena¬ tors of Juftice, declaring Revellings and Stage-plays lawful Tdiverfion. And as I wrote, in the Face of that Decree, with fuch a brisk Accufer at my Hand, I thought it proper to make the beft Apology that I could, to excufe my felf at their Hands, who look upon the Sentence of a judge, as an A& of the Government . But you. Sir, are fo candid, as to think it no Crime in any Man to differ from another in his Opinion ; or even, for a Subject to differ from his Sove¬ reign. You juftly give the fame Freedom to others, which you take to your felf. And tho* I thought that I went far enough in making Allowances for the Miftakes of Men, I find you go greater Lengths: But, upon fecond Thoughts, I am perfuaded you exceed in your favourable Opinion of Error. A 2 I ( 4 ) I did fay (&), If what I have faid havp no Influence upon the Judgment of any one , the worfl that 1 Jhall think of my Readers* is , that they are honeftly, tho* culpably, in an Error. When I read thefe Words of yours, I will not fay that I look upon you as honeftly tho ’ culpably in an Error , I con- fefs I made a Stop, thinking you fufpe&ed my Sincerity; as if your Meaning had been, that you could not fay that I was honeftly in an Error. Some People have taken upon them to fay, that I write againft my own Judgment, becaufe fo much Seve¬ rity doth not agree with my Character and military Education. J pray God forgiye them. But I was glad, both for your Sake and for my own, to find that you intend¬ ed no more by the Exprelfion, than that a Man who was honeftly miftaken, ^yas in »o Fault at all. Had you remembered that I fay (c\ €t It is impoffible that Ignorance can always f‘ excufe, becaufe if there is any Duty in- “ cumbent upon us, it is our Duty to know ‘ c it. All that is required of us as ", , ... .« a > - ' n (i »i p) To the Reader. Qr) Page 34. M<\n a ”<* ( 5 ) * and Chriftians , we are bound to' under- * ftand. Oar very Ignorance of our Duty and the Reverend Dr . Sykes , in their Anfwers to The Grounds and Reafons , &c.’ But, Dear Sir , examine your Pofition a little better, and I hope God will enable you to underftand the Reafon why the holy Pfalmift fays, Who can underjland his. Errors ? Lord cleanfe thou me from fecret Faults. Pray to God to give you his Holt Spirit to lead you unto the Know¬ ledge of all neceflary Truths. ‘You are pleafed, Sir, to approve of my poor Endeavours to ferve my God and the Souls of Men, and to fay, a few Things excepted, you could fubfcribe my Sermon. Thefe Exceptions, I promife my felf, cannot be material; for had they been of Importance, your Chriftian Charity would have prevail’d with your Endeavours to have fet me right. And is not a.fad Matter that the fafhionable Folks of this Place are as mad as ever upon their Di- verfions ? If it were not, that Minifters of the Gospel are obliged to do their Duty and exonerate their own Confciences, they might as well hold their Peace, as fpeak againft any B Vice C *o ) Vice that prevails with the politer Part of Mankind, and hath once got a Head of aU Church Difcipline. For thefe think themfelves above all minifterial Admoniti¬ ons, and others follow their Example. I have done my beft to expofe that delufory Pretence that moil People make for an idle Life, that is, that they are innocent , and do no Hurt in their Generation ,* and feeing I have done it to your Satisfa&ion, 1 hope whatever this may do, you will, with the Afliftance of Divine Grace, regard it in your future Converfation, Notions and O- pinions fignify nothing, but in fo far as they affect and influence our Practice. But, Sir, If a Man who hath the Pro¬ sperity of his *Country at Heart , can never be too copious and hardly too fe very Bane of Society. I could give you Authors of Repute and Credit, both ancient and modern, who have thought the Stage ruinous to Nations; and fome particularly, who have afcribed the Ruin of Greece and the Fall of the Roman Empire to it. But I know you’ll fay that this is nothing to you, who only contend for a well regu-> lated Stage, fuch as Greeks and Romans never had. Before I enter upon an Examination of your Remarks , I find my felf obliged to give an Account of my very (hort appen¬ dix. My laft Conclufion, fuitable to the Title, is (g), ‘ c Seeing all Filthinels, fooliih ‘ c Talking and Jelling is Hill the Pra&ice 5‘ of the Stage, and feeing all Interludes, B % Tra- Cr) P^e 57. I ( 12 ) ** Tragedies, Comedies, Farces, are com- ‘‘ prehended in the Word Revelling ., then 4 are they forbidden as finful and unchri- u ftian,” And I fill] think that in the Ma¬ nagement of the Argument, I have put no¬ thing in this ConcJufion which was not in the Premifles. I fiift of all affirm and prove. That tho’ the Stage were in itfelf the inoft innocent and harmlels Diver fion in the World, it may, for the Abufe of it, become the Subject of a Divine Prohibi¬ tion. Under which Head, I fnew tha: the Stage hath been abufed, and therefore dif- Couraged by whole Nations; and that it continues to be abufed to this Day. So the Cafe hath flood for the Space of Two thoufand three hundred Years, And from this I argue, That it would be no un- rcafonabie Hardfhip, nor favour too much of Severity, if God, forefeeing the in? corrigible Wickednefs of the Stage, or, at feafl, the hitherto uncorreefted Abufe of the Theatre, flioisld have forbidden it altogether in the Gospel $ and, for Fear of being mis¬ apprehended, I conclude that Head, and put it in Italick, Such a Prohibition then is very pojfible. And this Proposition, I ap¬ prehend, is of Ufe in the Controverfy. T«e ( x ? ) The Patrons of the Stage, having found that the primitive Fathers of the Church, fet themfelves ftrongly againft the Theatres of their Time, bethought themfelves hoty they might evade the Force of their Autho¬ rity ; fome one Way, and fome another.' One pretends that they declaimed againft it becaufe it was idolatrous,- another, becaufe it was dangerous to new Converts, who lived among the Heathens, whofe Religion they had forlaken. And a Third, becaufe thofe Diverfions were imfuitablc to the per¬ fected State of the Church of Christ. For thefe and fuch like Reafons they highly; commend the neceftary Zeal of thofe Fa¬ thers in running down the Stage-plays of the Heathens. And yet, at the fame Time,' fome others of thole Prote&ors of the The¬ atre, triumph in the total Silence of the A- poftles with regard to dramatical Diverji- ons , which they could not but obferve while they travelled through the World in Exe¬ cution of their Apoftolical Commiflion. Upon this Head Mr. Congreve firft, and then our City-hinter , who copies him, have fome ludicrous and invidious Things, which I thought fit not to mention. You are p!ea£ ed to obferve, that'I turn the Argument a- gainft ( 14 ) gainft the Author (and I think I do it juft- ]y) and, for that very Reafon, maintain that the Apo flies neither were, nor could be fi- Jent with regard to the Subject. A n d becaufe Mr. Filmer hath mantain- ed that that Paflage Fph. v. doth not make againft the Heathen Stage, or the Stage of Chnftians (for I cannot as yet fay the Chri- Jiian Stage ) with a fuitable Sanction $ I thought it well worth my Pains to make the contrary appear, by putting the PafTage in a better Light. And it is to be feen ( a ) that I conclude from it, that the Apojlle Tend here declares againjl the Stage-plays of the Heathens , and againjl all Stage- plays whatever , in which Filthinefs , foolfb Talking orjejling is praffiifed. And becaufe this is but a Confequence, I then endeavour to Ihew that the Stage is exprefly forbidden under the Word Revel-, ling: And if I have endeavoured to give an Account of its Signification, it was only to fhew that it was the Opinion of our Tran-- Jlatorsy that Stage-plays are forbidden by the Apofiles Peter and Paul . And my Words are (b) “ It is therefore certain that, in («) Page 54. <$) Page 44. ( 15 ) « in the Opinion of our Tranflators , the “ Stage is condemned as Heathen and JJfh « chriftian ? And whether you or they have miftaken the Original , fhall be considered in its proper Place. And I conclude the whole with anfweringlomeThings common¬ ly advanced in Favour of the Stage. Ex- cufe this long Analyfis of a very fbort peiidix. I find that you have miftaken the greater Part of my Argument, and I am a- fraid others may have done the like, I thought my Meaning in the whole was in¬ telligible enough: But I fee what appears plain to one’s felf, may be obfcure to a- nother. I had rather blame myfelf for Want of Perfpicuity, than entertain the leaft Thought of your wilful Mifreprefentations. Pardon me for this, if you expedt to be ex- cufed for fome Things in your own Per¬ formance, which might have got a clearer Turn, and been put in better Order. ' But, Sir, I cannot forbear complaining of you for one Thing which runs through the whole Remarks. You imagine that e- very Thing I fay, mnft feparately and de- monjlratwely , make out the laft Conclufion, that the Stage is finful and Unchrijlian. And ;' A / " . .. r A , * : , ■ ' I ( It ) r And this you exped from the Title of my appendix. At this Rate, you would fo cramp and fetter one, that he could not move a Step but in Form and Figure. For my part, I think it is very well, when what a Man fays hath any Tendency to facili¬ tate and inforce the Belief of what he pro- pofes to perfuade, and when the whole of the Thing , put together, bears upon the main and ultimate Point. Had I taken Oc- cafion to have given a fhort Hiftory of the Stage, and told you that it made its firft Appearance at Athens in the Days of Solon , would you prefently come upon me with a formidable Syllogifm ? <4 What was pra&if- warm, and powerful Influence of the Stage upon the Morals of mortal Men, yet {till it may, for the Abufe of it, poffibly become the Subject of a divine Prohibition. And this I think you very near acknowledge (I cannot be ppfitive) in yonr very next Para¬ graph, which, becaufe to me it appears fomething intricate and perplexed, I take the Liberty to tranfcribc. to good Mo¬ rals and to Society , than the rnojl aban¬ don d Play-writer ever durfi bring upon the Stage , yet, I hope, this hath not frequent¬ ly happened; you cannot fay, that Ser¬ mons ordinarily corrupt the Minds and vi¬ tiate the Manners of Preachers and Hearers. I talk upon the Footing of Chriftianity, and I am under no Neceflity to vindicate that Divine Ordinance. Idolatry and Perlecu- tion have been and ftill are preached up in feme Places; but Idolatry, Atheifm and all Manner of Impieties and Impurities have been prefented to the World from the Stage. But to cut this fhort, I fay, if the Pulpit, from firft to laft, had done as little Good and as much Hurt to Mankind, as the Stage hath done, to me it would become a Matter highly worth Confedera¬ tion, ( 25 ) tioh, whether even divine Appointment together with the Hopes of future Amend¬ ment, could protect the Practice of preach¬ ing any longer. I fhould be apt to look Upon the univerfal bad Confequences of it, which by a moral Necelfity, led into bufes, as a tacite Difpenfation of the Com¬ mand, preach the Word. But as a Divine Inftitution can never be attended with fuch deplorable Effects and Confluences, this is but a mere hypothetical Argument. And I verily believe that thefe who now plead for Mercy to the profane Stagehand for Patience with bad Plays until better Can be got, would be the firft to lay their Hands upon the Pulpits, provided there was no Diverlion in them, and would be very for¬ ward to have a Law enacted, declaring all Preachers Vagabonds and fiurdy Beg - gars. And, Sir, you are one of thefe that plead for a well reformed and regulat¬ ed Stage. Your Pleadings (hall be confi- dered, but I mult firft vindicate my own Pofitions from your injurious Remarks. I cannot fay that it is my Fault you have miftaken the Story of the Lacedemonian , whofaid, That, in Tragedy, the Athenians P played ( *« ) played the Fool in good earned. For his Observation was not made merely upon the Matter and Manner of thefe Plays, but u- pon the Charges they cod the State. For, "Plutarch, in the Place quoted (rt), fays, they cod them as much as would have maintain’d a good Fleet at Sea, and a con¬ siderable Army by Land. And, I fancy, in Inch a Cafe, had you known it, you your fed would liave taken fide with me, as i did with the wife Spartan. For, their putting fuch a high Value opon Tragedy mud be foolifh in the Eyes of all wife Men. For this they are blamed and ridiculed by the Hidorian JuJlin ( b ). I likewife take the Freedom to fet you right as to the Influence of tragical Reprefenta- ttons upon the Minds and Morals of the Athenians. For, let me aflure you, that that the juft Dignity and chafte Morality which you fpeak of fa Phrafe borrowed from fame Play-poet) was neverowing to their Tragick-poets, whofe Remains fcarce contain fo much as one good Moral in them. This is not mine, but a Genfure pad upon them by an eminent Patron of the modern (a) De gloria Atbcnienfium. (&) Lib. vi. ( 27 ) Stage (c). He fays, i. “ The Ancients noto- riouily in ter eft Providence in promoting “ Villany. in many of their Plays, of which tc Number are the EleSlra of Sop ft ode/* Ct the Elettra, Orejies , HyppolituJ y lonapd “ others of Euripides, and the Thyejles “ of Seneca . 2. They manifeftly make the “ gods the immediate ACtors in* or Di- “ rectors of the Misfortunes of virtuous tc Perfonsj as in the Prometheus in Chains tc of j&fchylus, the OEdipus of Sophocles ; ** the Hyppolitus and Hercules furens of “ Euripides , and the OEdipus and Her- “ cules furens of Seneca , and divers others •* of Antiquity. 3. The Ancients provide u Malefactors vrith a miraculous Delivery* “ or have Recourfc to fuch extraordinary c ‘ Methods, as exceed the Reach of hu- 11 man Force or Gunning, fo as to in title * Providence to the Protection of them, “ which was their frequent Practice* as in u the Elettra of Sophocles , the Medea , the “ Ore lies , the Ekftra and others of En- ripides , the Medea of Seneca , &c.” If you fhould differ in your Opinion from this learned Gentleman there’s nothing in it. Da It (c) Author of the ancient and modem Stage furreyed. Page 218. (■ »s ) ft is common for the Champions of the Theatre, like ill difciplined Troops, to tall foul of one another in Time of Aftion, The Inftance which you are pleafed to give of the Juft Dignity and chafle Moralir p of the Athenians kept up by their Tragipk-Poets, is juft againft you. For fiad they known no more of the Matter jthan what they learned from the Stage, they would not have taken Offence at Eu¬ ripides . The Man intended to teach them Jdeligiqn as well as Morality, pr rather to unteach them fome eftablifhed Notions a- bout Jupiter (d). He began his Play, 0 Jupiter of whom we know nothing but the Name , and they who wprfhipped this Ju¬ piter as their chief Qeity, without confi- dering whether it was in Character or out of it, hifled him for his Pains. IJpon which he changed his Language and faid, Q Ju¬ piter whofe Name agrees with thy Divini¬ ty . They had learned fo much of their Religion from other Hands, that they would not fuffer the Poet to diferedit it, tho’ but in Jeft. Ypp (/f) pjutarcb. de amor#. r 2 9 ) You fay, “ That to be able to draw a conclufive Argument from the Law made ■ c againft an Areopagite's Writing a Come- dy, one fhould know at what Time it f e was made, whether before or after Me- ‘ c nander ?” Had you known, 5Vr, that before Menander appeared, the Athenian r had ab¬ dicated both Comedy and Tragedy, yoll would not have asked the Queftion. A Suc- ceffion, it is true, of Comick and Tragick Poets continued until the Times of Augaf- tus C that I make Ufe of the Obfer- vation as a conclufive Argument) 1 fay, I obferve that the Papifts, who admit the Diftin&ion of Venial and Damnable , do not ufiially higle fo hard againft a Gofpel Command, or Prohibition, and are more ready to admit fome Actions to be Sins, than the Proteftants who want their Salvo. Forlnftance, our Lord and Saviour hath faid ( b ). But I jay unto you, that every idle Word that Men Jhall fpeak , they jhall gine an Account thereof at the Day of Judgment . Moft Popifh Interpreters, by idle Words , underhand ufelefs and unprofitable Words, and thefe they reckon fo many venial Sins; But I could (hew you that fome Proteftants, for fear thefe manyufe- lels Words might dreadfully inflame their Account at the great Day , having Re- courfe to the Occafion upon which they were fpoken, choofe rather to underhand it as an Appendix to the great Sin againft the Holy Ghost, and that without the leaft Regard to the Epithet, Idle. And I F 2 have ( b ) Mat. xii, 36. ( 44 ) have a flxong Sufpicion, that could I prove that Comedies and Tragedies were but Sy/ferns of idle and unprofitable Words, they who admire thefe fublime Diverfions, would rather choofe to make idle Words fignifie the Sin againft the Holy Ghost, than allow that our Lord condemns their darling Stage-plays, f don’t fay, Sir, that you would ; for I think you have not left yourfelf that Evafion, by acknowledging that idle and unprofitable Words are finful, and loudly exclaimed againjl in the Holy Scriptures. But, to return to your Remarks. You fiippofe that I was to prove fomething, viz. that there were fome Texts of Scrip¬ ture, declaring either exprefly or implicitly againft the Stage. Very true. And I have given Infiances of both Sorts. Here you furprize me with laying a Blunder to my Door, when you fay, That, inftead ot that <£ I lay upon my Adverfary the Burden of c ‘ proving the contrary of my Propofition, * and thereby invert my own Cafe, which is that of one affirming, and not barely “ denying, but indeed the Obfervation doth not hold.” But indeed the Obfervation ( 45 ) doth not hold. Well faid. You muft mean this your own judicious and candid Obfervar tion upon my Way of Reafoning(for I know: of no Obfervation I had made, or of any other that you refer to), and that it doth not hold is indeed a juft Acknowledgment, and more than I expected from you. To make Filthinefs^ foolijh talking or jefling? /weep both Comedies and 'Tragedies my Author fays, is to put the Apoflle' s Meaning to a higher Pitch than ever he in¬ tended. And here, I ask the Queftion, Which Way can any Man know that the y^po file's Meaning was not fo high as to reach the Comedies and Tragedies of his own Time ? Tis a hard Cafe indeed, that I cannot expiefs my Meaning by Way of Queftion, without an Accufation of chang¬ ing Sides immediately, and putting the Burden of Probation from off myfclf upon my Adverfary. I firft join with him 3 in allowing the Apoflle's Words to demolifh the Theatres of the Heathens, for being incumbered with Filthinefs?foolijh Talking and yefling. To take off the Force of this, my Adveriarv fays, the Apoftle’s Meaning .was not fo high. And I reply, this is more than ( 4* ) than he, or any Man can know ; and this is precifely the Meaning of my Queftion. I alledge the Words of Scripture in their obvious Meaning j and if he was to reftrain their Senfe to fave the Theatres, he was o- bliged to give a Reafbn for it. He thought fo himfelf, and attempts it boldly. I fol¬ low him his full Length, and, to your Sa¬ tisfaction, and even to raife your Indigna¬ tion againft him, difprove his Commenta¬ ry. And then after all, I give what I ftill think, the true and genuine Meaning of the Paffage. And let me ask you, is this chang¬ ing Sides, and fhifting the iProof I under¬ took? My good Friend, you fee if I have put the Proof of a Negative upon the De¬ fendant, he is not feniible of it himfelf; and I have very foon eafed his Shoulders oi the Load. I apprehend, Sir , you do me more Injuffice than I have done him, by faying, that ), and were much the fame with the Morologi or Moriones, the Merry Andrews of the Ro- G a man (a) Animadvertes lepidos & falfos, quos vocant in iaude efle; Eutrapelos fcurras, parafitos in vitio, apud DamaJJium de IJiodoro. Julius C*far Bullengerus, deTheatro Lib. i. Cap. 42. de apinariis & ridiculis. (£) Alia funt ditta jocularia & mimica quae rifum excitant, & ab iis dicun- tur quos Gr*sci facetos vocant & fatfos ; aut ft effufi, aut impudenter ridiculi funt, fcurras « Idem ibid. ( 5 * ) man Theatre (c). The Aifchrologi or filthy Speakers were the worft of all, and fcarce had any Place or Poll upon the Theatre, after the Suppreffion of the old Comedy • And for thi sAriftotle(d) is my Witnefs, who fays that the Aifchrologia or filthy /peak¬ ing was the Wit of the old Comedy , and the Eutrapelia , the Wit of the new. And thefe three Orders of a difgraceful Kind of merry Men, were ordinarily called the Pa- rajites of Apollo. All of them, likewife, have a Relation to the Stage, and were a Sort of Officers that belonged to the Thea¬ tre. Now it is fomething very remarkable* that the Apojlle in the Text under Confir deration, Eph. v. 4 . Filthinejs , foolijh ‘Talking and j^efling, fays nothing at all of the Epicharites , with whom the Heathens found no Fault; and that the other three are exprefly mentioned, with a Gradation, bey. ginning with the worft. Allowing, Sir , thefe three Words (?) ufed by the Apoftle tq be nearly related, or in fome Meafure expletive^ or (c) Morologus latius patet qus\m Mario , fed pene idea* funk Idem ibid. ( d) Ad Niconjach. JLib. 2. (e) or ’Aand Ei/^?7sA/^ ( 51 ) ©r explanatory of one another (as you your* felf obferve in another Cafe) then the A* pojlle's Meaning is exceedingly neat and clean: But as you reftri# the Senfc of one of them, they do nqt make up fp gqod a Set, or agree fo well together, Obserye likewife that the Explication of the Paffage, which I here make you a Prefent of, is very agreeable to what the Apojile adds byWay of Oppofition: Nei¬ ther Filthinefs, nor foolijb talking or jefl¬ ing, which are not convenient, but rather giving of thanks. The Religion of the Heathens entred almoft into all their Mat¬ ters, and was a confiderable Part of their Stage-plays. The Word here ten giving of Thanks (a), was very early adopted by the primitive Chriftians to fignify the Sa¬ crament of the Lord's Supper, at the Ad- miniftration of which, they always fung a Hymn of Praife and Thankfgiving. For which Reafon, I am inclined to think, tho’ I do not pretend to be pofitive, that the Apojile's Meaning is, Tour own Chriflian Solemnity of the Lord's Supper becomes you better than the. religious Liverjions of the Heathens „ Zv&ezm ( 54 ) Heathens. And a little lower, perhaps with Refpe& to the Komoi(ot which immediate¬ ly) we find the Apoftle thus befpeaking the Ephefians (b). And be not drunk with Wine , wherein is Excefs ,• but be filled with the Spirit , fpeaking to yourfelves in Tfalms and Hymns , and fpiritual Songs, making Melody in your Heart to the LOKD. And to the Colojjians he fays (c), Let the Word of CHRIST dwell in you richly in all Wifdom, teaching and admomjhing one a* nother in Ti alms and Hymns and fpiritual Songs , Jinging with Gi ace in your Hearts to the LORD. And fo the Apoftle James (fooliJh talking or jefting. And, I beg pardon to fay it, you do not a- ^ Rs- ( 5« ) R hmark further. That in the l)ays of the Apoftle Paul , the Theatre was ram* pant. The Apojlte was well acquainted with the Terms of Art; For he wrote this Epiftle to the Ephefians from Rome. Thofe to whom he wrote, were as well acquaint* ed with them, as was he himfelf. And whatever we, who live at this Diftance of Time, think, they were in no Manner of Danger of Mifunderftanding him. I think. Sir, I may now leave it to yourfelt to de«* termine, notwithftanding your Prejudices, whether or not the Word Eutrapelia fig* nifies precifely a mil-bred jfffront (for no more you will allow it to bear/ or thea¬ trical Jefting and Bujfoonry. Pray, Sir, look over my Paraphrafe upon thefe fix Verles again, tho’ you have at firft defpifed it, and confider, as candidly as you can, what I have now faid in fupport of it* And if I can fo far prevail with you, I hope you’ll be of another Mind as to the Law- fulnefs of Stage-plays. More, upon this Head, doth not occur to me at prefent, to convince you of your Miftake. May God, by his Grace, fupply what is wanting, and perfuade you, that you wrong the dpoftle\ Meanr i 57 ) Meaning (I don’t fay induftrioufly) only to favour the Stage. Judge now, as Stews are forbidden by the fame Laws which forbid Uncieannefs, whether or not, tjje Stage is forbidden by the fame Law which forbids Filthinefs, foolijh Talking and Jeft- ing, which are exprefly the B tiffoonries of it? I can as little fcparate, in my Idea , the Buf- foonries of the Theatre from the Theatre, as you can feparate Uncieannefs trom Stews* I admit that I do take Notice of the Word Revelling , and explain it,becaufe, I thought, and think ftill, that it is not commonly wel| enough underftood. But to what Purpofe do J infift upon the Force of it} Is it to prove from our Tranflation, that the Apojlles for~ bid Stage-plays? That would be a very ex¬ traordinary Attempt indeed. Whatever you do, I hope no Body elfc will think me lo ftupid. But if Revellings takes in ail publick Shews, and the Stage among the refl, (I have a Decreet of the Lords of Council and ScJJiott for what I alledge) and if the Word, m England, about the Time our Tranflation was made, fignified Plays and Interludes ufed in Noblemen’s Houfes .and Inns of Court (a), I hope I might very H well ( a ) Bailee’s Dictionary. ( $S ) well fay, It is therefore Certain , that, iff the Opinion of our Tranflators, the Stage is condemned ar Heathen and UnchriJUan. This I fay ftill, and more than this I did not fay before. You, Sir, have taken Occasion from your own Miftake to prove upon me? that by the Matter of the Revels, is meant a f?uftice of the Peace. The Morologi Mortones and Merry Andrews were fome- times allowed to laugh at their own filly Jetts. Tho’ Revelling may come from the French Word Reveiller, yet it was very gqod Englijh when our Tranflation was made. And both in French and Englijh , it hath much the fame Signification. For Reveleux fignifies Wanton, Lafcivious , Shamelejs and Unruly. I fuppofe our Word Reveldry or Ribaldry (for R. and V- are often interchanged) comes from the Root Revel. For what I know, Fencing Schools are under the Office of the Matter of the Revels, and an Adt of Parliament, per¬ haps Iefs, might put Reading Schools and Writing Schools under his Infpe&ion too. But all this notwithftanding, I fhould not think that our Tranflators, by the Word Revelling, condemn the Ufe of Arms, Read¬ ing and Writing. And tho’ Rom, xiii. they have ( 59 ) have rendred Komof by rioting; (perhaps they had better retained the Word Revel" ling ) and tho’ they knew what a Tnmalt and Mob was* and what was the Office of a Jufiice of the Teace, yet I do not think that with all your Logicks and Ergo* s yoa can prove that they make a JuJlice of the Peace a Mafter of the Mob, or that ajuftice, and a Mafter of the Revels, are the fame Thing. This, Sir , I take to be one of your harmlefs Jefts. But, I think you are in earneft, when after having made Rioting and Revelling fynonimous Terms, you conclude that Ko- tnos and Afotia are fynonimous Terms too. I was always of Opinion, that a Tranflation was to be corre&ed by the Original; and that our Englijh is neither the Rule nor the Standard of explaining the Greek . And if your Argument is good ad hominem , you yourfelf muft be the Homo. Pray, Sir, Don’t be angry; for I cannot forbear to tell you, that this is one of the idle ft Things , which you , as a Tatron of the Stage , have dropt as the main Ground upon which you. rely, when from it you conclude. That the Apoftle only forbids excejfive merry-making* H 2 or ( ) or filthy Stage-plays; you might, with as good Grounds, have laid filthy merry-mak¬ ing and excejfive Stage-plays. As it is plain that it was the Opinion of our Translators that Stage-plays are finful and unchfiftian, I laid and endeavoured to prove that they had not miftaken the Mean¬ ing of the Mpofiles. And to this Purpofe I alledge “ That Kotnos is a Word of exten- Ce live Signification, and takes in all vain, %i Jafcivious,ludicrous and jocular Reprefen- “ tritionsj not only dancing and luxurious «* Feaftingj but wanton, light, and amorous cc Interludes (to which you add Flute-Mu- “ fick), and that I believe it is the very fame « from which the Word Comedy is derived.” Out of all which you allow nothing to be both meaned and forbidden, but only an Excefs of Merry-making , and a Debauch of good Eellowfhip. You give up Interludes to fea - fon Debauchery with all your Heart. But you will not allow that Kotnos hath any Thing to do with vain, lalcivious, ludicrous and jocular Reprefentations. And tho’ you allow that fuch Interludes, commonly made Part of the Heathen Merry-makings and tho’ I have proved from Tlutarch , that ( 6t ) they were the Tip-top of fuch Entertain¬ ments, yet will you not allow them to come into die KomoU nor fuffer the Apottle to condemn them, tho’ you condemn them yourfelf. O! Dear Sir , What is the Mat¬ ter? What makes you fo fcanty, fo ferimp, fo niggardly an Interpreter of the holy Scrip¬ tures? By this obftinate and barefac’d Eva- fion of yours, you confirm me more and moro in my Opinion, that Komos doth take in In¬ terludes. Dancing andi^te-Mufick, you do allow fometimes to go along with KomoSi becaufe you think that no Body will con¬ demn thefe as unchriftian Diverfions. But Interludes of any Kind muft have no relati¬ on to the Word, tho’ it was thought by Plutarch , who knew thofe Entertainments very well, that it was almoft as impoflible to make one of thofe Merry-makings , with¬ out Menander > as without Wine ; and tho’ it was as ufual to fend for Comedians on thofe Occafions, as it is now with us to fend for Fidlcrs and Pipers to a Country Wed¬ ding; and tho’ Tlutarch tells us exprefly (a) that Mulick, Dancing, Farces and Jeft- ing, made up a great Part of Heathen Ban¬ queting; and further fays. That no Body can (a) Sympof, lib. i. Queft. i. ( 6i ) can deny that Komazo , which, among other Things, lignifies to celebrate and praife with Hymns and Songs, comes from Komos (a). And one of my modern Lexicographers fays, That he who was the Subject of the Song or Poem, was called the Matter of the Komos ( b): So Komax , which lignifies & petulant* talkative, but never a drunken or gluttonijh Fellow, comes from Komos . I do allow that Stephanus had good Rea- fon to tranflate Komos by CommeJJatio $ for Plutarch who lived long enough at Rome to underftand Latin , made the fame Tran- flafion before him (c). But he writes Co- mejfatio. And this ComeJJatio you take for the mere eating and drinking Part of good Fellovojhip. I believe you’ll grant, that Pliny the Second's panegyrical Oration to ‘Trajan is one ot the moll exad and elabo¬ rate Pieces of all Antiquity, in which, fome maintain there is not one fuperflous or ill chofen Word: And in that very Oration, he places CommeJJdtio (Tor fo I find it there writ¬ er) Sympof. Lib. 7. Quell. 6. ( b ) K«f ot Surmnif, a- peliatur is in cujus laudem hymnus eft ab aliquo leriptus. (c) Syai' { <3 ) . written) among the ludicrouS Arts (d)i So, 4 Sir, you juft gain nothing at all to your . Purpofe from the Latin Tranflation of Ro¬ mos, fince the Komos of the Greeks , and the Comejfatio of the Romans , were juft of the fame Kind and Natute. I fancy I am better founded to fay, that Komos hath no¬ thing to do with eating and drinking , than you are in faying that it hath nothing to do with Inter hides. The Latin Word JtJJare fignifi.es to fing without a mufical Inftru- ment, as it fometimes, when the Inftrument is fubjoined, fignifies playing without Jing- ing. And JJJhmentum fignifies a Song or Poem of Praife, as Komos fometimes doth. And what do yon think, Sir? May not the W r ord in Latin be Comaffatio ? I pretend no Demonftrations in Etymologies. How¬ ever, I have Urfinus fo far on my Side, that he lays the Word fliould be writ with a t and not with e. Julius C, tho’ perhaps yon will not, I hope others will allow, that Komot , among other Things, fignifies Interludes, and that more properly than Excefs in eating and drinking, which you reftrift it to. I gave it as my Opinion, that the Word Comedy comes from Komos. This you are pleafed to call a Whim of a modern Cri- tick Scaliger. I might fteal this Authority from you to favour my own Caufe fo far as it goes, but until I fee very good Reafon to think otherwife, I rather believe he was on your Side. At leaft Julius Csfar Scaliger in his firft Book of Poeticks (h), to mefeems to fay fo. But had you yourfelt, Sir> found it out Yefterday, I do think it much more ingenious and rational than what you have fixed upon, tho’ fupported with great An¬ tiquity Yoifii., (a) Di&us eft comazon, quod mimus effet Sc ridiculus. u4pud Ziphilin. de Theatro, Lib. i. Cap. 42. (b) Juventus vacni temporis otio atque licentia noftis a~ bufa, fecuri vei heri, vel patroni, vei parentum, p?r pagos (nontlum ^nim in urbes conveneram) difeurrere: Legimus enun apud Livium comeflaciones, qui mos cum ipfo -nomine iimtul ad nos dedu&as eft, unde hos lufas quos vicatim exerct- re ~t, mv oeS'i'V ly TRfl- apte comedia in dixere. ( *s ) Equity, comparatively fpeaking. For rec¬ koning from Cadmus , who firft brought writ¬ ing into Greece , the Greek had been a writ¬ ten Language nine hundred Years before rfriflotle; fo that with refpedt to the Rife and Origine of the Greek , he was pretty much a Modern himfelf. He cou'd only guefs at thele Things, and fo may we. Ge¬ nerally the Antienfs were but indifferent E- tymologifts ( b ). Of my Opinion, are Bu - lengerus (cj, and Gerardus Joannes V'oiJJius (d). It is true, Boffins thinks that Komos is derived from Chamus , or, as it is in our Tranflation, i Kings xi. 7. Chemojhi the Bacchus of the Moabites for whom Solomon built a Temple; and likewife fays that Ko» mos was the God that prefided in the Gre - cian Comeflations or riotous Feafts,* but all this notwithftanding, he affirms that Comedy comes from the Word. I think it ncedlefs to name fome other able Criticks, who are of the fame Opinion: For I perceive their Au¬ thority hath no Credit with you. To this JComos-, Bacchus-, or Chamus , the Heathens confecrated their Bacchanals, which con- I lifted (b) Witnefs Varro de Lingua Latina, (c) Orta eft co¬ media T» KOfM? ‘ c which is no more than a mere Suppofiti- “ on, fuch a reformed Stage comes into the ft Apoftolical Prohibtion ” c* But I am entire¬ ly at a Lofs, what to make of this abftraCfc theoretical Point, when you fay (a), That the Loofenefsand Immorality of the Stag® in Time pall, “ doth not hinder the Rule ** to be good i and the Execution of it is “ far from being impracticable; nay, there ■“ are Offices in Being, which if duly ex- “ ercifed, would cut off all Complaints, and “ this Rule, in general, you fum up in two it admirable Lines of Mr. Pope. “ Such founds (b) alone Jhould pleafe a Britifh Ea?\ , to confi- “ der the Bufinefs of a Player, and to com- * pare it with theChriftian Profeffion, with- “ out being fenfible, that there is nothing ,e more unworthy of a Child of GOD, and “ of a Member of Jesos Christ, than this “ Employment. I do not fpeak of the <£ grofs Immoralities only, and the diflo- ff lute Manner in which the Women appear “ on the Stage, becaufe thofe who juftify (C Plays, always feparate thofe Sort of Dif* ?* orders from them in their Imagination, 1 ‘ c though they are never feparated in Effeflk. “ I fpeak only of that which is abfolutely infeparable from them. ’Tis an Employ- “ ment, the End of which is the Diverfion againft which I am not obliged, by the Title of my Appendix, to fay a Word. But that the Stage is a Means of Inftru&ion, is a mere Pretence unfeafonably infilled on, when an index expurgatorius is as much wanting as ever. Tho’ Mufick and Poetry have been made Ufe of for religious Purpo- fes, and have been employed in the Praife and Adoration of our great Gop and Cre¬ ator, yet it hath commonly been pervert¬ ed to Diverfion. And tho’ in Poems, whe¬ ther Epick or Dramaticky there are here and there fo.me moral aijd. religious Senti¬ ments C 9* ) mentis interfperfed, yet all of them takeh together do not amount to one Tenth Part of the Morality contained in Solomon’s Proverb r, or the Tenth Part of the Devo¬ tion to be found in hisRoyal Father’s The Heathens, at leaft moft of them, in¬ tended no more than Diverfion in their theatrical Poems. W hen the Stage was pot in Repute in France , during the Miniftry of Cardinal Richelieu , Diverfion was the only Aim. In the Days of King Charles the Firft, Sport and Diverfion was all the Ufe pretend¬ ed to be made of Stage-plays. And flow to begin to talk of thefe Plays as a Means of Inftru&ion, as noble and fublime, as the warmeft Incentives to Virtue, and the moft powerful Prefervatives againft Vice) is to fpeak of them, not as Plajs t but as Lec¬ tures of Morality, it is to anticipate the COmrfiendatibn of a Thing not yet in Be¬ ing, and to fubftitute fome new imaginary Method of Inftru&ion in place of them. I remember to have feen, in the Hands of Mr. Charles Gildon , a Pfojed of his in Manu- feript, for promoting Virtue and Morality. But tho’ he himfclt was a Dramatick Poet, he removed it from the Play-houfe and the dramatical Methods Some ingenious Per- M z ion _ ( 92 ) fon was to compofe a Speech, with all the Flowers of Oratory and Rhetorick, and then he himlelf, if duly qualified, or ano¬ ther Perfon indued with all the Graces and Advantages of fpeaking, was to pronounce it in a Houfe to be built for that Purpofe in the Center of Lincoln s-Ian-Square. And Sir , if you intend to reform the Stage from all Unchriftian Expreffions, and convert it into a Chapel of Eafc for Ledtures of Mo¬ rality and Virtue (which I think is not much wanted at prefent), there’s one Thing which I take the Freedom to put you in Mind of, that is, to employ no Preachers of Morality but fuch whofe Lives are mo¬ ral. For when it happens that a Minifter of the Gospel Ipeaks fuch Things as bear hard upon the Hearers, his Life and Con- verfation is diligently fearcbed into, in or¬ der to find out fome Faults of his to ex - cufe their own. Your Actors, or Orators mutt be brought into Repute. For there’s nothing more abfurd than to value the Art, and at the fame Time to defpife the Artitt. You mutt try if you can prevail with the Uiuverfity of Edinburgh or Herdermch to make them Duffiors of moral Eloquence. And after all,, I would gladly know what great ( 93 ) great Difference there would be betwixt turning all Play-houfes into philofophica] Churches, and Cutting them up altogether. I am afraid, Sir, your Audience would be very thin, and if your Moral Lectures were as cxpenfive as are the prefent Plays, your Doors would fhut of their own Accord. But -while your fublime Method of promoting Virtue is ftill carried on in the dramatick Way, tho’ no worfe Performances fhould ever come upon the Stage than Cato , or the Funeral, I do think they are a&ually for¬ bidden in the Gospel, and are finful and unchriftian in themfelves. I think, Sir , you infinuate (#), that Tra¬ gedy ftands clear of all apoftolical Prohibi¬ tion, becaufe it never was a Part of theiCo- moi ov Comejfations: It is very like ; for, as I obferved from Plutarch, it was both im¬ proper and impracticable. The Machine¬ ry ufed in it would have iftade it an Enter¬ tainment fit only for a State, or a powerful and wealthy Prince, to have treated with. But do you think, that it Hands as clear of Filthinefs, foolijh Talking and JeJling ? If Tragedies were not cleaner than your Stan- (<*) Page 21. Standard @at% there wds both Fifth inefs and foolifh Talking in them. By foolifh Speaking I do not mean the 'merry Andrew s Part, but much idle and unprofitable Speak¬ ing j and this, you fay, is loudly exclaimed agamft in the Holy Scriptures. It iis a long expenfive Tale, finely gilded Ovfct with the Beauties of Poefy, and r all to very little Pur- pofe at beft. The Moral of Plays is com¬ monly itrmm’d up in the laft Lines j and Cato concludes From hehce let fierce contending Nations know What dire Effefts from 'civil Dtfcord flovj : *Fis this that jhakes our Country with Alarms , And gives up Rome a Frey to Roman Arms ; Produce's Fraird f and Cruelty^ and Strife , Ahd iobs the gUilty World of Cato’/ 'Life. And I hive feeto more Senfe much bet¬ ter fuforced ift an eighteenthly of a Ser¬ mon, than thele fix Li ties contain. Ci¬ vil Difcords did deprive the World of the Life of a Man, who chofe rather to take it away with his 0#n horrid Hand, than to en)oy it by the good Will and Favour of Cdfar. A Man Who would Wot Wait for betteriTimes, nor fee his Country governed hut ( 95 ) by,t it\ bis pwn Way. The Speech pf Soar pfovius {a) is fo naughty, that I foybpay to tranfcribe it. Tragedies are ip t^em^dyes world than Comedies. lV^y Keafons I have given already. Comedies of low Ti/e, arc the moft lyarmlefs, ay might be the moft hprmlefs of all j and yet thejje ate for¬ bidden, Ephef. v. 4. And tho’ A l rl$qui,n$ Jokes may be haymlefs ip themfelyes,au<| thq* the Mprologia of the Moriones pf $0- 7/2^2 Theatre might have been innocent too, yet Chriftians are not allowed to divert themfeives with them. The Stage defiled them, and fo doth it defile Tragedies, tho* they were not finful and unchriftian in them- feives. The Argument acquires Force when applied to them. At belt they were, and aye but Pl.ayi, an improper Kind of Jefts, Fiftions of Fiffions, Shadows of Shadows* full of tuperfluous, unprofitable, filthy, wick¬ ed and hurtful Speaking- If the Appftle hath directly condemned pne Branch of dra¬ matical aud theatrical Entertaimept more inoffensively managed by Menander y than the other Part was managed by JEfchylus, Sophocles* Euripides^ or any other Tragick Poet that I know of; (for there’s no more of (a). Aft iii. Scene j. ( 96 ) of the Grecians have had their Works pre¬ fer ved, and I cannot think, that Senecas Tragedies were known when the Apoftle wrote to the JEphefians ) I am as well pcr- fuaded as I can be of any Thing, that he did not except Tragedy when he condemn¬ ed Comedy. I doubt if in the ApoftJe’s Days there were any Tragedies adted ; at leaft nothing occurs to me at prefent, to in¬ duce me to think that there were. A Man muft not without very good Grounds be pofitive as to an hiftorical Negative: I there¬ fore leave this Matter of Fa£ undeter¬ mined. Sir, I took notice, that it is, common¬ ly pleaded for the Stage, that it recom¬ mends Virtue and ridicules Vice; that is, when it is any ways regular; for often it recommends Vice and ridicules Virtue, juft as the Poet and Audience can agree. But fuppofing the beft, that Virtue is never dref- fed up in a ridiculous Manner, and that Sin and Wickednefs is never put in an ho¬ nourable Apparel, and that many, take their Word, are edified by them. Suppofing, I fay all this as true, as it is falfe in Fadt, the Thing is prohibited, and we ought to for- ( 97 ) forbear. And if I have proved the Di~ vine Prohibition, all you fay, or can fay, tho’ you fhould fay twenty Times more than is true in Favour of the Stage, and all the happy Effects it miglr have upon us as we are MenandChriftians, is entirely out of the Cafe $ becaufe Things innocent and even ufeful in themfelves, may be forbid¬ den by a divine Law, even when the fafe ufe of them is not next to impojfible ; fothat your Infinuation of the Lofs which Man¬ kind might fuftain in their Civil and Chri- ftian Capacities, fhould they be deprived of a well regulated Stage, can never weaken any fcriptural Proof, which I have brought againft it. But the Truth is, the World can fuffer nothing at all by a total Abrogation of Stage-Plays j For as I have laid, God tC hath provided another Way for the Re- “ formation and Salvation of a loft World^ and they are therefore out of their Duty, 4t who have recourfe to any prohibited £ ‘ Means for attaining that great and glori- tC ous End. And what did all the W T it and « Wifdom, all the Poefy and Profe, all the * l Eloquence and Oratory of the World, a- and fee if Stage Plays are a- mong the ordinary Means whereby Christ communicateth to ns the Benefits of hi? Mediation and Redemption* Perufe your JBibky and fee if theatrical Performance?, or any other particular Diversion whatever, is recommended to us as a Means of re¬ forming Mankind. Yqu are very far out in faying, u That if a well regulated Stage it is to be banifhed as fuperfluous, and even N t “ finful ( 100 ) 4£ finful (as implying an Imperfeftion in the 44 Scripture) you can fee no way to fave ££ moral Conventions, Effays and Ser- 44 mons, which all muft be given up, in correct them ; for the Effect always fol¬ lows the Nature of the Caufc. To fhew the Succefs of Riftcule y you think fit to mention the Rebuke given by Elijah to the Priefts of Baal , who mock¬ ed them, and faid, i Kings xviii. 27. Cry aloud $ for he is a God , either he is a talk - ingy or he is purfuing*. or he is on a Jour¬ ney y or per adventure he Jleepeth and mujl he awaked. It you read the Context, you will lee, that this was without Succefs: For the Priefts of Baal continued in their Ido¬ latry, and fuffered Death for it; and the People was convinced that the GOD of If- rael was the only true GOD, when _£//- jab 's Sacrifice was miraculoufly confumed with ( U 9 ) with Fire from Heaven. But if yon have adduced th is Paffage to juftify Men’s mak* ing Sport andDiverfion with Sin, I do think you have miffed your Mark. I admit there are Ironies and Sarca/ins in the Bible ^ and that this Pafifage is one of them. Our blef* fed Saviour, Matth. vi. 7. lays, But when ye pray, ufe not vain Repetitions as the Heathens do ; for they think that they jhdl he heard for their much /peaking. And fo the Priefts of Baal called upon the Name of Baal , from Morning even untill Noon 5 faying, 0 Baal hear us. And this they re* peated over and over. They expected tQ be heard for the Labour of their Lqng& Their Idolatry was grofs, and their Man¬ ner of Worfhip was abfiird. The Prophet’s Words are a ftrong and a (harp Argument againft both. He reafons with them, as you fay, ah abjurdo. No more I believe you intend to make of his Argument. Sure you cannot fay, that the Prophet diverts himfelf with their Idolatry, If he did, we> may fafely renounce his Example as our Rule in Morals. And is there not a very great Difference betwixt a ftrong Argument, or a (harp Rebuke ufed againft Sin, and making a Sport and Diverfion of our own, or other ( 120 ) other Mens ’Sins? I allow of Arguments ab abfurdoy and I allow them to be ftriftly conclufive too. And though they are not fo direft Proofs as Arguments and Demon- ftration a priori , we need not fall out about our Logicks. But then, I hope, in Return, you Will allow, that fuch Arguments are not a Subject ot Laughter, or a Provocati¬ on to it. If you’ll perufe but Euclid's E- Uments , either by Barrow., or by des Chales , you (hall find leveral Demonftrations con¬ cluding (). E. A. which is abfurd. And, though perhaps I am as little Proof againft a Jeft as fome other Men, yet I muft Con - fefs I never laughed at any of them. I cannot judge of you by myfelf; for I have known fome People laugh at holding up a Finger. But, Sir, can you ferioufly think, that a Man who goes to the PJay-houfe for his Diverfion, (and not one of a thoufand go to that Place with a more commend¬ able Defign) can keep his Char after as a Cbriftian in laughing at all the Crimes which are there burlefqued, and are made the Subjeft of Sport for the Audience? The very beft that can be faid for him, is, that he is fo well diverted with the Play, and laughs fo heartily at what he fees and hears, ( , ) that he forgets that Sin is the Subject: And thus, for the Sake of a Jeft, he doth not think that it is a Sin, or he thinks the more lightly of it, and is thereby inured to think as little of Vice out of a Play* houfe as in it* You allow, that the Diftemper of Sin calls for our Sorrow, and Rivers of Tears j but you add, that Oceans of Tears can have no Influence as to the Remedy * And you think it a more proper Method tp fet Men a laughing to hurft the Ahfcefs of Wickednefs in their Breafts, than to induce them to mourn and weep for it; Sure you cannot mean, to fee a Man a laughing at his own Sins, in order to lead him to Re¬ pentance } for that would be a tragi-comi* cal Kind of Contrition. And for your laughing at the Sins of other Men, it is ftill, in my Opinion, to fall under the Cha¬ racter of Solomons Fool, who makes a Mock at Sin. It can have no good EffeCt upon you, and as little upon them. Nei¬ ther you nor they, by Means of Mirth and Diverfion, fliall ever be induced to love your Sins, as Sins , the lefs. But how you come to fay, that Oceans of Tears can have Q no ( ) no Influence as to the Remedy of Sin, 1 cannot imagine. You and I believe, that it is only for the Merits of the Lord Ji- sbs Christ that our Sins are pardoned ; and that he hath given himfelf for us> to re¬ deem us from all Iniquity , and purify un¬ to himfelf a peculiar People , zealous of good Works (a). I hope you’ll admit, that Re¬ pentance is a Mean, and an abfolutely ne- ceflary Pre-requifite to Pardon of Sins and Amendment of Life. And how then hath it cdme into your Head, and how hath it come out of it, to fay, that Tears have no Influence as to the Remedy of Sin? Are not Tears of Repentance a proper Mearis of putting away Sin? We are command¬ ed to mourn for our own, and to mourn for the Sins of others. It is a Duty both of natural and revealed Religion, and it is fomething like Profanenefs, to prefer Redi- cule as the more apt and powerful Means of the Reformation and Salvation of Man¬ kind. It will be for your Honour to retraft this as an Inadvertancy, as I hope you will all that you have faid in Favour of the Stage, and believe, for the Reafons that I have given,- that it is in itfeif a finful Di- yerfion, ( a) Tit. ii. 14. ( 123 ) verfion, and is prohibited in the holy Scrip - tures. Your Conclufion is, The Stage not bef ing in itj elf(infill, we are not to wrefl Scrip*, ture to prove an abfolute Prohibition of it. I do not take this for an Innuendo that I wreft Scripture induftrioufly from an A ver¬ fion conceived againft the Stage. I ant obliged to believe you have a better Opini¬ on of me. Men get Notions of Things fometimes by Reafoning , and fometi'mes by Inclinations . I was a very young " Mari when I firlt took up my Opinion of the Slnfulnefs of the Stage. It was nor fr'oni the Remarks that I had made upon Plays? A6tor$, and the iil Confequences of. theatri¬ cal Affemblies. I had no Prejudice agWnft Stage-plays more than againft any other Diverfion, though even then, I am lorry,T had feen fome 'in. Britain and abroad. It was only by perufing my Bible that I had formed a Judgment againft them as an un- chriftian Diverfion. I own I had not great Smugglings with royfelf to look upon them as fuchj feeing, at beft, they were only a Diverfion, which a good Chriftian, upon the leaft Sufpicion of its Unlawfulnefs ought Q 2 to ( 124 ) to forbear. From fuch a Beginning my Reafons againft the Stage have grown to the Pitch you now fee them at. And, #>» if you would but ferioufly confider what we are contending about, with the fame Spirit and Impartiality that I have done, X am alrnoft perfuaded, that at laft you would be of my Mind: For obferve, |. It is a very hard Matter to explain a Text of Scripture to Demonftration, efpeci- ally when there are but a few to the fame Purpofe. Nor is it neceffary that all the Articles of our revealed Religion fhould be fo many Truths of the fame Evidence with this, dll the dngles of a Triangle are equal to tzvo right. GOD, if he thought it proper, could eafily convince the moft obftinate Minds, and fet every Truth of the Gospel in a Light ftrong enough to force away all Prejudices from before it, as the Sun dilpels Darknefs. But in fuch a forced and yiolent Conviction on our Part, there would be nothing virtuous or commendable. God will have fomething Praife-worthy and re- wardable, even in our Faith and Affent to the DoCtrines of Revelation. The Affent to fuch Things is an ACtion of the Mind, t W V * * r ■ : « • - '< * * * t '• - - * < • » * Where¬ at , ( l2 5 ) wherein Candor and Ingenuity have as con- fiderable a Part as Clearnefs of Underftand- ing and Strength of Judgment. II. In judging of the Meaning of any Text of Scripture, Regard muft always be had to the Nature and Importance of the Thing fuppofed to be or not to be reveal¬ ed : Therefore when the Law feems to point againft any Duty of natural Religion, I do not think that all the Learning, Language and Criticifm in the World, could convince me, that with fuch a Face, and in fuch a Senffe, it was of divine Inftitution. And if Jbraham had had no ftronger Proof of GOD’s Command to facrifice his Son than a Text of Scripture, I cannot think but he might have ufed twenty honeft and com¬ mendable Shifts to have evaded fuch a Senfe of it. And, ' III. When any Thing appears to be a di¬ vine Command, which obliges me to ex- pole my Life or Health to great Danger, and which puts me into great Troubles and Inconveniencies, and Difficulties, and which takes from me a great Part of my world¬ ly Subitance, my GOD allows me to exa¬ mine ( 1*6 ) mine the Matter narrowly, and to fatisfy myfelf of the Meaning and Spirit of the Law, before I fubmit to it as a Rule of my Life. But, IV. When the Thing fuppofed to be or not to be prohibited or commanded, is in itfelf indifferent, and the doin g or omitting it doth neither hurt nor help me much, when it doth not wrong me in my Health, my Reputation, or in any of the real Com¬ forts and Conveniencies of Life, I freely acknowlege, that I make very little Diffi¬ culty to admit any probable Senfe to make it. a Matter of Command or Prohibition. The Nature of the Thing doth not want the greateft Degree of textual Evidence ; and it is want of Candor and Ingenuity that makes us require it. The Application of thefe Rules to the Cafe before us, is obvious. The Queftion betwixt you and me is, Whether the Di- yerfion of the Stage is forbidden in the Gos¬ pel? I fuppofe, Sir, you are neither Adtor nor Undertaker. You can fuftain no Lofs of Health, Eilate or Reputation, in not at¬ tending Stage-plays. The utmoft Inconve- niency ( 127 ) niency that can happen upon your Ab- fence from thofe dramatical Occalions and Entertainments, is but to crofs a childifh and fond Inclination to one particular Spott. And muft no lefs be fufficient to prevail upon your Forbearance than the higheft Evidence of a fcriptural Prohibition? Nay, Sift if this is the Cafe with you, allow me to fay, that you a6t an unmanly, unreafo- nable, and fintui Part. It is your Bufinefs, as a Chriltian, to be fure that your Diver- fions are all lawful. Not only a Probabi « /fry, but like wife a bare PoJJibility of their Unlaw folnefs, fhould hinder you from tak¬ ing your Pleafure in them. It is not fo much the Bufinefs of Minifters to demon- Jfrate the Unlawfulnefs of Stage-plays, as it is yours to abftain from them until you have fatisfied yourfelf that they are alto¬ gether allowed in the Gospel. The Rea- fons that I have given you, and all that hath been brought againfl the Stage as an nnchrijiian fiiverfion , are fo many fuper abounding Arguments to diffuade you from it. And now let me put thisQ>>eftion to you, or rather, dear Sir., put it home to your own Confcience, Whether, for a Fro- lick, you would venture Twenty Pound up¬ on ( ia8 ) on no better Security than you have for believing, that your Reafons for the Stage are better than mine againft it* And if in fuch a Cafe you think your Money would be unfafe, were an equitable and difcerning Judge to determine, then confider the Dan¬ ger of your Soul. And let me earneftly be- feech you, as my Brother in the Lord Jesus Christ, don’t, for a Frolick, break through a Law of his. He is our dear and amiable Redeemer , and let us love and fear and honour him, and keep at a Diftance from every Thing that hath but an Appearance of Difobedience to his holy Commandments. Pray, expofe not your- felf, I may fay for nothing, to his fove- reign and fore Difpleafure. It is not whe¬ ther you or I can talk moft or beft upon the Subject, but which of us a£ts the moft Cbriftian, reafonable, innocent, inoffenfive, and prudent Part, with Rcfpeft to the Di- verfion of the Stage, that will be determin¬ ed in the great Lay of the LORD. In a dying Hour, I am fure a Review of the Time fpent in theatrical Entertainments,will afford you no great Comfort: And it may, for all that you think of it now, be the Grief and ; ( ,I2p .) - * and Vexation of your poor departing Spirit. m v 4;^ ’ r . T: ■ Si r, tho’ yoti' have not, I know o- thers'r have made *an Objection againft my Explication of thofe Paffages of Scripture that I infift upon as a divine Prohibition of Stage-plays, that is, that none of the Fa¬ thers, whether Latin or Greek , who wrote againft the Stage, have made Ufe of them the fame Way that I do; tho’ they muft have been better acquainted with the Heathen Stage* and with the Genius and Nature of the Language than I or any Man ’can pretend to be, at this Didance of Time. ‘In anfwer to this,' 1 own, l do not find that they did, bat to be politive that they did not ufe and explain thefe Texts, as I have don,e, woqld require a Review of all their Works. But l am afraid there'its more of §hift than Sincerity in this Objection. Tor "did the Defenders of the Stage put any Value upon the Authority of thefe Fathers of the Church, they would difpute the Lawful-*' nefs and Chriftianity of theatrical Enter¬ tainment no longer,* For all of them,' as Occafion offer’d, condemn it. But if my ^Explication be juft in itfelf, it is not the lei's R juft ' k . . ; , ( tfo ) , , , ... . juft and cxd&, only because none of them have mentioned it. Things have been found out by Accident, that have efcaped the Ob- lcrvation of many who had better Oppor¬ tunities to have made the Difcovery, and vvho had made it their Bufinefs to fearch for it. And if there is any Strength in the Obje> * they fliould do with any Purpofe fincerely ^ 4 to obey: But if they would obey, that 4 which GOD Commands them, is to for- 4 fake their Wickednefs and become his 4 Servants ; and then there will be no room 4 for the Queftion. 2. But if they will con- 4 tinue in a finful and ungodly State, it is in * vain to contrive how they may fpo.vt them- . 4 felves without Sin. But we may tell them 4 that if the Sport be materially lawful, it 4 is not the Matter they are bound to tor- 4 fake, but the finful End and Manner .■ And ( ) 4 And' till this, be reformed, they canndt but f fin. 3. A lawful Recreation muft be a * Means fitly chofen and ufed to this End* 4 If it hath not Aptitude to fit us for GOD’s ‘.Service in our ordinary Callings and Duty, * it can be to us no lawful Recreation, * Tho’ it be lawful to another that it is a * Help to, it is unlawful to us, 4. There- ‘ fore all Recreations are unlawful which * are themfelvcs preferred before our r Cal- 4 lings, or which are uled by a Man that € liveth idly and in no Calling, and hath c no ordinary Work to make him need them, « For thefe are not fit Means,which exclude « our End, infteadof furthering it. 5. There- < fore all thofe are unlawful Sports which f are ufed only to delight a carnal Fantafy, c and have no higher End than to pleafe 5 the fickly Mind that loveth them. 6 . And * therefore all thofe are unlawful Sports f which really unfit us for the Duties of our * Callings and the Service of GOD: J¥hich s * laying the Benefit and Hurt together,, do < hinder ns as much or more than they help * us j which is the £afe of all voluptuous ? Wantons. 7. All Diverfioris are unlaw- * ful which take up any Part of the Time t which we fhould fpend in greater Works: Such ( 137 ) * Such are all thofe that are unfea Portable * (as on the Lord’s Day without Neceffity, 4 or when we fhould be at Prayer or any 4 other Duty): And all thofe that take up * more Time than the End of a Recreatfc- 4 on doth neccflarily require (which is too 1 common). 8. If a Recreation be profane, * as making Sport of holy Things , it is a 4 mockingof God, and a Villany unbefeem* * ing any of his Creatures, p. They arb * unlawful Diverfions which are ufed to thb 4 Wrong of others. As Plays that defamb 4 and reproach other Men, and hunting' anil 4 hawking that treads down poor Men's 4 Corn and Hedges, io. It is linful to make 4 Sport of other Mens finning, or to a& it * ourfelves, fo as to become Partakers of it, 4 which is too common with Comedians 4 and other profane Wits . it. Unclean, 4 obfcene Recreations are unlawful when 4 Filthinefs or Wantonnefs is reprefented 4 without a due Expreffion of its Odioufi- * nefs, or with obfcene Words and Actions. 4 JEph. v. 34. 12. Thofe Sports are un? 4 lawful which occafion the multiplying of 4 idle Words about them, and engage Play- ? ers in foolifh, needlefs and unprofitable 4 Prating. 13. Thofe Sports are finful S which ( lii ) which plainly tend to provoke ourfelves or others to fin, as to Luft, Swearing, Coifing, Railing, Fighting, or the like. 14. Thofe alfo are unlawful which are the Exercife of Covctoufnefs to win other Mens Money, or tend to ftir it up in thofe we play with. 15. Cruel Recreati¬ ons are unlawful, as taking Pleafure in beholding Duellers , Fighters , or any that abufe each other, or any other Creatures that ueedlefly torment each other, id. Too coftly Recreation alfo is unlawful: When you are but God’s Stewards, and imrft be accountable to him for all you have* ’tis finful to expend it needlefly on Sports. 17. Unneceffary Recreations for¬ bidden by our lawful Governors are un¬ lawful. If they were lawful before to thee, yet now they are not; becaufe your King, your Paftor, your Parents, your Matters have Power to rule and reftrain you m fuch Things; and you mutt obey them. 18. and LaJUy , If you have the Choice of divers Recreations before you, you mutt chufe the fitted:: And if you chafe one that is Jefs fit and profitable, when a fitter might be chofen, it is your Sin ; tho’ that which you chufe were law¬ ful, if you had no other. To ( *39 ) T o all thefe I add from the fame pious and accurate Author,1 9, That our Diverfioirs become to os unlawful when they gire Of¬ fence to others, or tend to infnare them to Sin. “ If ye are fure of yourfelves that ye ‘ fin not in your Games and Sports, are you ‘fure that your Companions do not, that ‘ they have no Luff or Vanity of Mind at * Stage-plays. If yon fay we are not bound ‘ to keep other Men from Sin, I anfwer, yon * are bound to do your beft towards it: ‘And you are bound not to contribute wil- * Jingly to their Sins, and to forbear a Thing ‘ indifferent to avoid the fcandalizing and ‘ tempting another. If Paul would never ‘ eat Flefh while he lived rather than make ‘ a weak Brother offend, Rom. xiv. 21. ‘ fhould not your Spirits be fubjed to as ‘ great Charity. He faith, 1 Cor. viii. 13. 4 It is good neither to eat Flejh, nor to ‘ drink (Vine, nor any Thing whereby the ‘ weak Brother Jlumbleth , or is offended, or * made weak. Obj. Then we muft give over 4 our Meat, and Drinh and Cloaths and all. 4 Anf. It followeth not that we muft for- ‘ fake our Duty to prevent another Man’s ‘ Sin, becaufe we muft forfake our Pleafures S * in v a ( 140 ) in Things indifferent. If you knew what ? Sin is, and what it is to fave or lofe ano- * ther Man’s Soul, you would not make a c Sport of other Mens Sins, or fo ealily con- * tribute to their Damnation, and think ‘ your fepfual Pleafure a good Excufe. In ‘ fuch Cafes ( a ) We that are ftrong ought * to hear the Infirmities of the Weak , that ‘ is to compaflionate them as we do Chil- c dren in their Weaknefs, and not to pleafe c ourfelves to their Hurt; Let every one of 1 us pleafe his Neighbor for his Good, to' * JEdifiqation, preferring the Edification ot « anpther’s Sou) before the Pleafure of opr * Bodies; for even Christ pleafed not him- ‘ felf. If Christ loft his Life to fave Men ‘ from Sin, wii| not you lofe your Sport for ‘ it? The higher any Man’s Reputation is for Piety, Virtue and Knowledge, the more cautious he ought to be in his Conduct. And you, Sir, who make a Profeflion of the Holy Chriftian Faiths (and I hope you* are fincere-in it) you \yho befides, lay claim to more than ordinary Learning, you who take upon, you to a$ the Part of a Divine* an Hiftorian, a Liriguift and Critick, and to underftand the Subject of the Stage much better than other Men, unlefs you are fur© '(a) Rom. xv, 1, 2j 3, that ( HI ) that thofe who generally frequent Stage- plays are all of them of the fame Mind with yourfelf, and can behave themfelves inof- fenfively and innocently while they fee and hear, you ought not to go there at all. Here, 1 fays one, a Man of Piety and profound - Learning, and one who has ft tidied the Matter thoroughly, makes no Scruple to go to a Play-houfe, and why Chould I be more fcrupulous than he: 1 This, you know, is an ill Way of Reafoning ; for your Know¬ ledge and Conicience can be no Rule for another Man’s CondufL He certainly fins, and you give occafion to it. In another Place my worthy Author Mr. Baxter hath ' one Reafon more againft the Stage which I cannot omit, that is, 2®, “ The beft that ‘ can be faid of Stage-plays, is, that they are ‘ -controverted and of doubtful Lawfuln6fs: ‘ And there are other Diversions in Abun* * dance of undoubted and uncontroverted ‘ Lawfulnefs, for the fame honeft Ends and * Pu^pofes: And, it is therefore a Sin to da * that which is douhtful, without Need. ‘ And fare the Lawfulnefs of Stage-plays is ‘ controverted with a Witnefs. It is not * iome humourfome, morofe and mclan* « choly Fanatick orEnthufiaft that hold the No *.. Negative; but the whole primitive Church, ‘ You have againft yon, the Councils and ‘ Fathers, many antient Laws and Canons, * many Papifts, and thefe remarkable for 4 their Learning and Sobriety; many Di~ * vines of the Proteftant Perfwafion, and ? whole Churches, particularly the Church * of which, I fnppofe you are a Member 4 at leaft. And will you hold to a Thing * undoubtedly unneceffary againft the Judg- * ment of fo many that account it finful? Bt Mr. Baxter's XVII.Qualification of a Diverfion, you are bound to obey them that watch and work for you in the Lord, in fuch an indifferent Matter as a particular Dt- verfion. And your Ministers , at leaft all of them within this Presbytery, together with the Ruling Elders, have unanimoufly renew¬ ed their Remonftrance againft Stage-Plays. I know that many treat this as a contemptible way ofReafoning, and are fo much offended -—with an Advice or Admonition of their Pal- tors, that they think it a Meannefs of Spirit* a disparaging their Underftanding, and a Sur¬ render of their Reafon, and a Submiflion to be ridden by Priejls at their Pleafure,to com¬ ply with it. It is not now as it hath been with the ( 143 ) the World. When the Laity fcarde had much Learning as to be able to write theif Names, the Clergy had a brave Occafion to impofe their Directions upon them. But nowr they think themfelves capable to teach their Teachers. The Laity y I acknowledge are many of them well learned, but for ordinary their Learning doth not run much in the Re¬ ligious Way. But for all their Learning in Lavj and Pbyfick they are well enough diC pofcd to confult with the Do&or when they are Sick, and with the Advocate when they have a Law Suit upon their Hands. A Con. cern for their Souls, equal to that for their Perfbns and Eftates, would difpofe them to confult their Minifters about what is Sin and what is Duty. And fometimes they do but it is juft when they are going to taketheij Trial for a blefled or miferable Eternity. When the Stage made its Hrft Appearance in this City, the Minifters oppofed it in their Station as J^Tinifters, but not as MaglC trates. A Gentleman, who I believe hath been oftner than once idly employed, wrote to the Author of the Independent Whig for hig Affiftance to fupport the PJay-houfe, That Author, knowing that it was to no purpofe to defend the Lawfulnefs of the Stage, took hi$ ( *44 ) his ufual Method to run down the Miniftry of the Gospel ? And as Nature hath bellow¬ ed upon him a great Stock of Rudenefs* Which he hath improved beyond many his Equals in an A verfion to all Clergy men, lie re¬ turned ah Anfvver full of ffiveCtives againft them, for Impertinence, incroaching and of- ficioufly meddling with every Thing. Arid tho’ he knows Very little of the Conftitution ©f this Church and the Spirit of theMiniftry, he treats both with the greatefi Contempt* He is ihalloW in his Reafonings, but exceed¬ ingly Deep-mouthed iuScurrility andRailing. And tho’he himfelf is one of the worft bred Writers of the Age, he delights much in ma¬ king his Remarks upon the breeding of others. When he writes to the World, he imagines he is teaching Boys in School, and fcolding them for not Learning their Book. But whe¬ ther the Minifters of this Church, in their Remonftrance againft the Stage, have given him or his Correfpondent here, an Occafion to libel the whole Clergy of the Chriftian World, I appeal to the Admonition and Ex¬ hortation of the Presbytery of Edinburgh t dated November 30.1727. * { *45 ) f The Presbytery taking to their Confide* f ration, that there is lately come to thisCity/ e a Cohipany of Scagi-players, who ate ab- * ting Playswithin the;Predn&s of it, ancf * have begun with a&iog one, which is filfd' ‘ With, horrid Sw earing* Obfc e n ity and Ek- ‘ preflions of a double Meaning* tending di- * re&ly to corrupt the Minds of thertSpefta-* ‘ tots andtothe Pra&ice of the groffdk; fnu* * moralities and'there being good'Jteafen 5 ‘ from printed Advertisement of theirs f handed about the Town* to eKpb& that the f Plays whie.h they ihall hereafter a& will be" ,* of the like pernicious Teridency.' And' it * being evident from long Experiehfce,’that* ‘ it is in vain to expert any fuch Reformation * c of the Statgoas is €or{fil|ent with * tian Life The Presbytery judge 'it their J 6 Duty^out of Goncetrvfor the Glory of G6®)/ * the Interoft of Religion, and the Gdod T of * c theSoa'JsrCommittedtotbbir Charge^plainly 4 ‘ to declare tbeir SeBtifnenfe, and to toa'rh* ■5 all within their Bounds of the' Dariger th'dy * * incur by enco&raging&hd frequenting, thtefe * f Plays. The Stage, as 11 hsfth been f ged in all Ages of the Chriftian World,* ? -hath been etc* lookt upon by the Chriftian . T Ghurehes ( > A< ) f Churches of all different Communions, as « & Seminar? of Impiety and Vice. Many * Councils in the early and purer Ages of the * Church, confifting of great Numbers of « Members in different Parts of theChriftian * World (whole Determinations are too 4 large to be here particularly quoted, but 4 may be feen in the Collections which have * been made of them by the learned) have 4 condemn’d all Adtors of Stage-plays to Ex- * communication, and difcharged, under fe- 4 VereCenfures, all Profeffors of both Sexes of 4 the Chriftian Communion to be prefent at, * or otherways to encourage Stage-plays. 4 The larger Catecbtfm of the Weftminfter 4 Afjjembly ., authorifed by our own General 4 Aflembliesjpublickly taught in this Church, 4 does teach us that lafcivious Songs and 4 Stageplays,are Sins forbidden in the Seventh 4 Commandment, as being Provocations to 4 Uncleannefs. The Presbytery lerioufly 4 confidering all thofe Things, and withal « that the Holy Scriptures, the infallible 4 Rule of Faith and Manners, do condemn 4 all Impurity and Vice and every Thing * that leads to it, that it commands us to 4 abftain from all Appearance of Evil, and 4 to watch again ft all corrupt Communica- ‘ lions ( 147 ) 4 tions, fooltfh Jefting and Talking, and to 4 beware of partaking of others Mens Sins ; * they do therefore , in the Fear of the Lord 4 warn, exhort and obteft all within their 4 Bounds, as they regard the Glory ot God, * the Honour and filtered of our Holy Reli- 4 gion, and the Salvation of their own Souls,' * and of the Souls of fuch as are deareft to 4 them, that they ferioufly lay to heart the * Spirit and Genius of our holy Religion, 4 and endeavour in their Stations to pro- 4 mote, by their Influence atjd Example, 4 the Faith and Practice of it; and for that 4 End, to difcourage thefe Stage-plays, to * abftain from attending them themfelves,’ ‘ and redrain fuch as depend upon them, * or are under their Influence, from doing c fo: And particularly recommend it toMi- 4 nifters and other Church-Officers to ufe 4 all proper Methods with fuch as may be 4 under Prejudices from Curiofity or mi- 4 (taken Notions of fafhionable Diversion, 4 to reclaim them from fuch wrongous Im-* 4 preffions and pernicious Inclinations, and 4 to keep them from running themfelves in-* 4 to fuch dangers Snares. And do ear- 4 nedly befeech Perfons of all Ranks and 4 Conditions, that in an Age fo corrupt and T $ de- . c H* ) * 4 e'genafatc, they may, inftead of Contri- •* buting any Thing to the growing Corrup¬ tion of it, diftinguifh themfelves by clean- * fin| themfelves from all Filth inefsof the i' Flefh and Spirit, and by giving all Dili- “ gehce to be found of our Loro in Peace, ‘ without Spot-and blamelefs. And the < Presbytery appoints this to be read from t all the’Pulpits within their Bounds, on s . Sabbath next, immediately after Sermon *■ i ti! thb Forenoon. -Emra&e-d by Nicol Spence Ckrk . i.: ; It lo . ‘ I-bbllqve no Body but the Independent Whig hlmfelf would look upon this Admo¬ nition to be any more than what the Duty of Minifters required at their Hands. If they have meddled with Mens Diverfions it is only by Way of Exhortation. There’s no judicious Chriftian but looks upon the prefent Englijh Stage to be a Seminary of Vice* and that Gentleman might have found many more proper Occafions of li¬ belling all the Clergy of the Chriftian World, than this Admonition of the Presbytery of Edinburgh to the Peopletfunder their Mi- niflry to abftain from Stage-plays. '*** -*•* . k \r ; ' * i r * * * §IR) ( C M9 ) ' Sir, If I have faid fomethlng mote thaS was juft neceflafy to vindicate my Pofiti • ons concerning the Lawfulnefs of Stages plays from your RernarkSy l have done it for your Sake, and the Sake of others^ more than for my own. The Diverfion of the Stage I look upon as finful and unchrfc Ilian i and though' perhaps I have reafoneftt againft it with little SUccefs, yet I have the Satisfa&ion of having done my Duty, and of being more and more confirmed in n$ti| Opinion. My Task is harder than yoUrs 1 . I have the Heads arid Hearts of People againft me, and you have their Inclinati¬ ons on your Side of the Queftion. And all thofe who are in Love with the fublimo Sport of the Theatre, will believe, that yoti have the better of the Argument, whether* they underftand it or not. Whatever Ef- fe<5t publick Debates may have upon others,* they feldom or never change the Minds of the Difputants. A certain Sort of Self-lovo begets in us an pbftinate Fondness of eve¬ ry Thing we can call our own . It is our Property, and we will not part with it. Nor would it be altogether fo bad, if Men only retained their own Opinions. But, what is worfe, they frequently acquire a # , ( 140 ) fnean Opinion of one another. We have no Meafure for another Man’s judgment, but our own, and he that differs from us, is of Neceflity, confidered as our Inferior in that Particular. Many a Time have I been made Judge, firft by one and then by the other Difputant, if ever I heard fuch Mon- fen/e . And, fince I am apprifed of this Weaknefs and Partiality of human Nature, I fhall guard myfelf the more ftrongly again ft all contemptible Thoughts of you. I believe the Subject is new to you, and that you have not taken Time fufficient to think upon what you have written. On another Occafion you may appear, in my Eyes, with more Advantage, And if you fhould think fit to write again upon the fame Subject, you muft not expefl to hear from me in hafle. Employment more agreeable, and more ufeful than writing Controvarfy, probably will take up my Thoughts, for fome Time. Mean Time let me aflbre you, that I fhall, with Plea¬ sure, embrace every Occafion to ferve you, I heartily wifh you all fpiritual and tem¬ poral Profperityl and earneftly recommend you to GOD, who only can make you wife unto Salvation. . F. / * N I S, - J \ I 75 5 k- (o ( f 5