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diff --git a/old/13484.txt b/old/13484.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..51c3081 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/13484.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1531 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Essay upon Wit, by Sir Richard Blackmore, et +al + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Essay upon Wit + +Author: Sir Richard Blackmore + +Release Date: September 17, 2004 [eBook #13484] +[Date last updated: February 15, 2005] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ESSAY UPON WIT*** + + +E-text prepared by S. R. Ellison, David Starner, and the Project Gutenberg +Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + + + +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 Society +May 1946 +Price: 60c + + + +Membership in the Augustan Reprint Society entitles the subscriber +to six publications issued each year. The annual membership fee +is $2.50. Address subscriptions and communications to the Augustan +Reprint Society in care of the General Editors: Richard C. Boys, +University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan; or Edward N. Hooker +or 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 the +ascendent in the literary world, as they were in the Restoration and +after the first World War. Yet those with a more sober view of life +are never submerged, even when they are overshadowed. The court of +the restored Charles gave full play to the indelicacy of Rochester, +Dryden, and their circles, but most of their contemporaries were +probably more content to read George Herbert, Queries, Baxter, and +Bunyan. Though the fashionable and urbane remained dominant in letters +through the age of Dryden, the forces of morality were rallying, and +after 1688 the court (with which Blackmore was connected) threw +its weight on the side of virtue. Jeremy Collier was but the most +important voice of a great movement, destined to have its effect on +literature. + +Sir Richard Blackmore contributed his share to the growing wave of +bourgeois morality, which in the 18th century was reflected in the +middle-class appeal of Addison and Steel, Lillo's _London Merchant_, +and Richardson's almost feminine plea for virtue rewarded. A +physician, Blackmore had turned to poetry for relaxation and composed +his soporific epics, by his own admission, in the coffee-houses and in +his coach while visiting patients. In the preface, to _Prince Arthur_ +(1695) the City Bard took occasion to flay the Wits of the day for +their immorality, an attack which he followed up in 1697 with the +Preface to _King Arthur_, whose thinly disguised political allegory +won him a knighthood. Up to this point the Wits had treated him with +amused scorn, but when he called his big guns into action in the +_Satyr against Wit_ (dated 1700 but issued late in 1699) the Wits set +out to crush him for once and all. _Commendatory Verses on the Author +of the Two Arthurs and the Satyr against Wit_ (1700), the reply, +was far from commendatory. Edited by Tom Brown and sponsored by +Christopher Codrington, this miscellany attempted in scurrilous and +often bad verse to laugh the Knight out of literary existence. Its +main distinction lies in the list of contributors, among whom were Sir +Charles Sedley, Richard Steele, Tom Brown, and probably John +Dennis. Blackmore's supporters answered _Commendatory Verses_ with +_Discommendatory_ _Verses on Those Which are Truly Commendatory, on +the Author of the Two Arthurs, and the Satyr against Wit_. (1700). +It is not at all certain that Blackmore emerged second best in this +exchange of blows in the miscellanies. At any rate, unabashed he went +on to write more epics on Elizabeth, Alfred, Job, and to win himself a +doubtful 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 something +which, in common practice, is evil and vicious, to be eradicated as +quickly as possible. It is the enemy of virtue and religion (in the +Preface to _Creation_, 1712, he links it with atheism), a form of +insanity, in opposition to 'Right Reason', and the seducer of young +men. Combatting its iniquities, Blackmore proposes to set up a Bank +and Mint of Wit to assure that it will be refined and purified. By +this process, the works of Dryden, Congreve, Southerne, Wycherley, +Garth, and Vanbrugh will be melted down to separate the sludge from +the pure metal. In the _Nature of Man_ (1711) he takes a more kindly +attitude towards Wit and pairs it with Sense, Reason, Genius, and even +Piety. While he is moderate in his denunciation of Wit in the _Essay +upon 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 immoral +subjects, raillery, ridicule, and satire. It is chiefly useful as +ornamentation: "The Addition of Wit to Proper Subjects, is like the +artful Improvement of the Cook, who by his exquisite Sauce gives to a +plain 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 earlier +Blackmore had sneered at Addison in the _Satyr against Wit_, a jibe +that drew Steele's reply in _Commendatory Verses_. + +Blackmore's _Essay upon Wit_ appeared in his _Essays upon Several +Subjects_; the one-volume first edition of this work was published +in 1716 and was followed by the second edition, in two volumes, the +following year. The present reprint is from the first edition. The +1716 _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 them +with great Force to those voluptuous Objects, that please their +Appetites and gratify their Senses; and which not only by their +early Acquaintance and Familiarity, but as they are adapted to the +prevailing Instincts of Nature, are more esteem'd and pursu'd than all +other Satisfactions. As those inferior Enjoyments, that only affect +the Organs of the Body are chiefly coveted, so next to these, that +light and facetious Qualification of the Mind, that diverts the +Hearers and is proper to produce Mirth and Alacrity, has, in all +Ages, by the greatest Part of Mankind, been admir'd and applauded. No +Productions of Human Understanding are receiv'd with such a general +Pleasure and Approbation, as those that abound with Wit and Humour, +on which the People set a greater Value, than on the wisest and most +instructive Discourses. Hence a pleasant Man is always caress'd above +a wise one, and Ridicule and Satyr, that entertain the Laughers, often +put solid Reason and useful Science out of Countenance. The wanton +Temper of the Nation has been gratify'd so long with the high +Seasonings of Wit and Raillery in Writing and Conversation, that +now almost all Things that are not accommodated to their Relish by a +strong Infusion of those Ingredients, are rejected as the heavy and +insipid Performances of Men of a plain Understanding and meer Masters +of Sense. + +Since the Power of Wit is so prevalent, and has obtained such Esteem +and Popularity, that a Man endow'd with this agreeable Quality, is by +many look'd on as a Heavenly Being, if compar'd with others, who have +nothing but Learning and a clear arguing Head; it will be worth the +while to search into its Nature, and examine its Usefulness, and take +a View of those fatal Effects which it produces, when it happens to be +misapply'd. + +Tho perhaps the Talent which we call Wit, like that of Humour, is +as clearly understood by its simple Term, as by the most labour'd +Description; an Argument or which is this, That many ingenious +Persons, by their unsuccessful Essays to explain it, have rather +obscur'd than illustrated its Idea; I will notwithstanding adventure +to give the Definition of it, which tho it may fall short of +Perfection, yet I imagine, will come nearer to it, than any that has +yet appear'd. _Wit is a Qualification of the Mind, that raises and +enlivens cold Sentiments and plain Propositions, by giving them an +elegant and surprizing Turn_. + +It is evident, that Wit cannot essentially consist in the Justness and +Propriety of the Thoughts, that is, the Conformity of our Conceptions +to the Objects we conceive; for this is the Definition of Truth, when +taken in a Physical Sense; nor in the Purity of Words and Expression, +for this may be eminent in the Cold, Didactick Stile, and in the +correct Writers of History and Philosophy: But Wit is that which +imparts Spirit to our Conceptions and Diction, by giving them a lively +and novel, and therefore an agreeable Form: And thus its Nature is +limited and diversify'd from all other intellectual Endowments. Wit +therefore is the Accomplishment of a warm, sprightly, and fertile +Imagination, enrich'd with great Variety of proper Ideas; which active +Principle is however under the Direction of a regular Judgment, that +takes care of the Choice of just and suitable Materials, prescribes to +the tighter Faculties the due Bounds of their Sport and Activity, and +assists and guides them, while they imprint on the Conceptions of the +Mind their peculiar and delightful Figures. The Addition of Wit to +proper Subjects, is like the artful Improvement of the Cook, who by +his exquisite Sauce gives to a plain Dish, a pleasant and unusual +Relish. A Man of this Character works on simple Proportions a rich +Embroidery of Flowers and Figures, and imitates the curious Artist, +who studs and inlays his prepar'd Steel with Devices of Gold and +Silver. But Wit is not only the Improvement of a plain Piece by +intellectual Enameling; besides this, it animates and warms a cold +Sentiment, 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 as +elegant and surprizing Turn. It always conveys the Thought of the +Speaker or Writer cloath'd in a pleasing, but foreign Dress, in which +it never appear'd to the Hearer before, who however had been long +acquainted with it; and this Appearance in the Habit of a Stranger +must be admirable, since Surprize naturally arises from Novelty, +as Delight and Wonder result from Surprize; which I have more fully +explain'd in the former Essay. + +As to its efficient Cause; Wit owes its Production to an extraordinary +and peculiar Temperament in the Constitution of the Possessors of it, +in which is found a Concurrence of regular and exalted Ferments, and +an Affluence of Animal Spirits refin'd and rectify'd to a great +degree of Purity; whence being endow'd with Vivacity, Brightness and +Celerity, as well in their Reflexions as direct Motions, they become +proper Instruments for the sprightly Operations of the Mind; by which +means the Imagination can with great Facility range, the wide Field of +Nature, contemplate an infinite Variety of Objects, and by observing +the Similitude and Disagreement of their several Qualities, single +out and abstract, and then suit and unite those Ideas, which will best +serve its purpose. Hence beautiful Allusions, surprizing Metaphors and +admirable Sentiments are always ready at hand: And while the Fancy is +full of Images collected from innumerable Objects and their different +Qualities, Relations and Habitudes, it can at pleasure dress a common +Notion in a strange, but becoming Garb; by which, as before observ'd, +the same Thought will appear a new one, to the great Delight and +Wonder of the Hearer. What we call Genius results from this particular +happy Complexion in the first Formation of the Person that enjoys it, +and is Nature's Gift, but diversify'd by various specifick Characters +and Limitations, as its active Fire is blended and allay'd by +different Proportions of Phlegm, or reduc'd and regulated by the +Contrast of opposite Ferments. Therefore as there happens in the +Composition of a facetious Genius a greater or less, tho still an +inferior degree of Judgment and Prudence, and different Kinds +of Instincts and Passions, one Man of Wit will be vary'd and +distinguish'd from another. That Distinction that seems common to +Persons of this Denomination, is an inferior Degree of Wisdom and +Discretion; and tho these two Qualities, Wit and Discretion, are +almost incapable of a friendly Agreement, and will not, but with great +Difficulty, be work'd together and incorporated in the Constitution of +any Individual; yet this Observation is not so conspicuous in any, as +in those, whose native Complexion comes the nearest to a Subversion +and Absence of Mind, tho it should never degenerate into that +distemper'd Elevation of the Spirits: Nothing is more common, than to +see Persons of this Class always Think Right, and always Act Wrong; +admirable for the richness, delicacy, and brightness of their +Imaginations, and at the same Time to be pity'd for their want +of Prudence and common Sense; abounding with excellent Maxims and +instructive Sentiments, which however are not of the least Use to +themselves in the Conduct of their Lives. And hence it is certain, +that tho the Gentlemen of a pleasant and witty Turn of Mind often make +the industrious Merchant, and grave Persons of all Professions, the +Subjects of their Raillery, and expose them as stupid Creatures, not +supportable in good Company; yet these in their Turn believe they have +as great a right, as indeed they have, to reproach the others for +want of Industry, good Sense, and regular Oeconomy, much more valuable +Talents than those, which any mere Wit can boast of; and therefore +wise Parents, who from a tender Concern for the Honour and Happiness +of their Children, earnestly desire they may excel in intellectual +Endowments, should, instead of refin'd Parts and a Genius turn'd for +pleasant Conversation, wish them a solid Understanding and a Faculty +of close and clear Reasoning, these Qualifications being likely to +make them good Men, and the other only good Companions. + +And this leads to another Observation, namely, That Persons of +facetious Talents and agreeable Humour, in whose Temperament, +Judgment, and Discretion, as before observ'd, are usually found in a +disproportionate Measure, are more inclin'd than others to Levity and +dissolute Manners: The same swiftness of Thought and sprightliness of +Imagination, that qualifies them for ingenious Conversation, Sports of +Fancy and Comick Writing, do likewise give them an exquisite Taste +of sensual Pleasures, and expose them to the prevailing Power of +Tempting, tho forbidden Enjoyments. The Passions and Appetites +of these Men, from the same Spring from whence they derive their +extraordinary Parts, that is, a Redundancy of warm and lively Spirits, +are more violent and impatient of Restraint, than those in a cooler +and less active Complexion, who however may be more eminent in the +superior Faculties of the Mind: Hence it will be no wonder, that while +their Propensions to Pleasure are much stronger, and their Reason much +weaker than those of other Men, they should be less able than others, +to resist the Allurements of criminal Delights; and this Remark is +confirm'd by daily Experience. How few of this facetious and comick +Species of Men, caress'd and applauded for their shining Parts and +witty Discourses, escape the Snares that encompass them, and preserve +their Vertue and Sobriety of Manners? It too often happens, that a +Man elevated above the rest by his uncommon Genius, is as much +distinguish'd by his extraordinary Immorality: And it would be well +if it stop'd here; but by degrees he often grows much worse, by adding +Impiety and Profaneness to Looseness of Manners: For being unable, +that is, having a moral Impotence of Will to restrain his evil +Propensions and govern his vicious Appetites, and finding his guilty +Enjoyments, attended with inward Uneasiness and unavoidable Remorse, +and being conscious that his irregular Life is inconsistent with +Safety and Happiness in a Future State; to remove the troublesome +Misgivings of his Mind from the Apprehensions of Guilt here, and rid +himself of the Fears of Suffering hereafter, he at length disclaims +the Belief of a Supream Being and a Future Existence, and with +much ado brings over his Judgment to the side of his Passions: This +ingenious Libertine, having too little strength of Reason to subdue +his Appetites, and too much Wit to think, that if that be not done, +he shall escape at last Divine Punishment, abolishes his Creed for the +Quiet of his Mind, and renounces his God to preserve his Vices. + +The Objects about which Wit is exercis'd, are the common and less +important Actions of Life. It is the Province of the Civil Magistrate +to make Laws against enormous Crimes and great Immoralities, and by +punishing Offenders, to deter Men from the like Transgressions; but +they take no notice of lower Errors, either because they have not such +noxious Influence on the State, or because it is impossible to foresee +and enumerate their numberless Classes, and prevent their Growth: +Where then the Legislator ends, the Comick Genius begins, and presides +over the low and ordinary Affairs and Manners of Life. It extends +its Power and Jurisdiction over the wide Field of inferior Faults and +ridiculous 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 it +exercises his Genius on the ordinary Customs and Manners of Life, +either in Conversation, or Comick Writing. It has therefore no +place in the Works where severe Knowledge and Judgment are chiefly +exercis'd; those superior Productions of the Understanding must be +express'd in a clear and strong manner, without intervening Strains +of Wit or facetious Fancies, which, were they admitted, would appear +incongruous and impertinent, and diminish the Merit of the Writing. +Hence Wit has no place in History, Philology, Philosophy, or in the +greater Lyrick or Epick Poems; the two last of which containing +either the Praises of Deities or Demi-Gods, or treating of lofty and +illustrious Subjects; such as the Foundation, Rise, and Revolution of +Kingdoms, Commotions of State, Battles, Triumphs, solemn Embassies, +and various other important Actions of Princes and Heroes, are exalted +above the Sphere of Wit and Humour. The Strength and Dignity of the +sublime Stile is debas'd and adulterated by the foreign and improper +Mixture of light Sentiments, and pretty Fancies. These Sallies and +Sports of the Imagination, will no more advance the Beauty of such +superior Productions, than the Addition of glittering Tinsel and glass +Beads will improve the Imperial Purple, or adorn the Crowns of great +Monarchs. And therefore we see, with what judicious Care _Virgil_ has +avoided this Error; how clear are his celebrated Writings from the +least sprinkling of Wit and pleasant Conceits, which corrupt the +Purity, debase the Majesty, and sully the Lustre of the greater +Species of Poetry? And as the Gravity and Chastness of the sublime +Stile, in the Works last mention'd, will not endure the gay Ornaments +of Fancy; so does that light Dress more misbecome the pious and wise +Discourses, that come either from the Pulpit or the Press. Wit is so +far from being a Grace or Improvement of Divine Eloquence, that on the +contrary, it destroys its Dignity, breaks its Force, and renders it +base and puerile. + +The End and Usefulness of this ingenious Qualification, is to delight +and instruct. It animates and sweetens Conversation, by raising +innocent Mirth and good Humour; and by this Effect it relieves +Domestick Cares, revives Men of Business and studious Professions, and +softens the Asperity of morose Dispositions. It suspends uneasy +and anxious Thoughts, dispels cloudy and fallen Melancholy, and by +unbending and exhilerating the Minds of the Assembly, gives them new +Life and Spirit to resume the Labour of their respective Employments. +The Exercise of Wit and a pleasant Genius, excels all other +Recreations. What is the Satisfaction that arises from Country Sports, +or the politer Diversions of Balls and Operas, compar'd with the +delightful Conversation of Men of Parts and facetious Talents? Other +Amusements, how agreeable soever, only please the Body and gratify the +Senses, but this strikes the Imagination, touches the Passions, and +recreates the Intellectual Faculties. And as the Taste of the Soul is +more delicate and exquisite than that of the Body, so much superior +are 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 and +Wine are flat Entertainments, unless some ingenious Persons are +present to improve their Taste, and enliven the Company by agreeable +Discourses. + +Another part of the Province in which Wit is properly exercis'd, are +ingenious Writings, intended to please and improve the People; and +this is more various and extensive than Comick Poetry, tho of the same +Kind; for it takes in not only the Subjects of Prudence and Decency, +regular Behaviour and vertuous Actions, but likewise the justness of +Human Sentiments and Opinions in Points of Controversy; of the +last, the Dialogue of Dr. _Eachard_ against Mr. _Hobbes_ is a famous +Example, where, by great Strength and Solidity of Reason, mixt with +agreeable Wit and Raillery, he entertains and informs the Reader, and +at once exposes and confutes the conceited Philosopher. An Instance of +the first is, the celebrated History of _Don Quixote_, compil'd by +the _Spanish_ Wit _Michael de Cervantes_; a Book so well imagin'd, +and writ with so much Spirit and fine Raillery, that it effectually +procur'd the End of the admirable Author; for by turning into Mirth +and Ridicule the reigning Folly of Romantick Chivalry, and freeing the +Minds of the People from that fashionable Delusion, he broke the Force +of as strong an Enchantment, and destroy'd as great a Monster as was +ever pretended to be vanquish'd by their imaginary Heroes. And many +more Books on other moral Subjects have been compos'd with much Wit +and Vivacity in our own and foreign Countries, to expose Vice +and Folly, and promote Decency and Sobriety of Manners. But the +Productions of this Nature, which have of late appear'd in this +Nation, whether we regard the just and generous Sentiments, the +fertile Invention, the Variety of Subjects, the surprizing Turns of +Wit and facetious Imagination, the genteel Satire, the Purity and +Propriety of the Words, and the Beauty and Dignity of the Diction, +have surpass'd all the Productions of this kind, that have been +publish'd in any Age or Country. The Reader no doubt is before-hand +with me, and concludes, that I mean the _Tatler_ and _Spectator_, +which for the greatest Part, have all the Perfection of Writing, and +all the Advantages of Wit and Humour, that are requir'd to entertain +and instruct the People: And it must chiefly be owing to the great +Depravity of Manners in these loose and degenerate Times, that such +worthy Performances have produc'd no better Effects. + +But this excellent and amiable Qualification of the Mind is too apt to +be abus'd and perverted to ill purposes. Instead of being ingag'd on +the Side of Vertue, and us'd to promote just Notions and Regularity of +Life, it is frequently employ'd to expose the most Sacred Things, +to turn Gravity and reserv'd Behaviour into Ridicule, to keep in +Countenance Vice and Irreligion, and with a petulant and unrestrain'd +Liberty, to deride the Principles and Practices of the wisest and best +of Men. The Conversation of ingenious Libertines generally turns upon +Reveal'd Religion and the venerable Teachers of it; or on those of +the Laity, who seem most sincere in the Belief of Christianity, and +express the greatest Conformity in their Actions to the Precepts of +it. Nothing gives so high a Seasoning to their Raillery, and more +improves the Taste of their Jests, than some sharp and pointed +Ingredients, that wound Religion and the Professors of it; whereof +some are made the Entertainment of the Company by these facetious +Scoffers, and expos'd as Persons fetter'd with Prepossessions, and +biass'd by Notions of Vertue, deriv'd from Education and the early +Instructions of canting Parents. Others are represented as indebted +for their Piety to the Prevalency of the Spleen, and an immoderate +mixture of Melancholy in their Complexion, which, say they, give +to the Mind a superstitious Turn, and fill the Head with religious +Chimeras, frightful Phantomes of Guilt, and idle Fears of imaginary +Punishments; while others are ridicul'd as Men of a cold and +phlegmatick Complexion, without Spirit and native Fire; who derive, +say they, their Vertue, not from Choice or Restraint of Appetite, but +from their deadness and indisposition to Pleasure; not from the Power +of their Reason, but the Weakness of their Passions. It would be +endless to enumerate the various Ways which the atheistical Wit and +merry Libertine employ, to take off all Veneration of Religion, +and expose its Adherents to publick Derision. This is certainly the +greatest Abuse of Wit imaginable. In all the Errors and monstrous +Productions of Nature, can any appear more deform'd than a Man of +Parts, who employs his admirable Qualities in bringing Piety into +Contempt, putting Vertue to the Blush, and making Sobriety of Manners +the common Subject of his Mirth; while with Zeal and Industry, he +propagates the malignant Contagion of Vice and Irreligion, poisons +his Friends and Admirers, and promotes the Destruction of his native +Country? And if these foolish Wits and ingenious Madmen could reflect, +they would soon be convinc'd, that while they are engag'd against +Religion they hurt themselves; and that Wit and Humour thus +misapply'd, will prove but a wretched Compensation for their want of +Vertue. + +In this Place I crave leave to transcribe some Passages relating to +this Subject, from the Writings of a good Judge of Wit, and as great +a Master of it as perhaps any Nation ever bred, I mean Archbishop +_Tillotson_; "I know not how it comes to pass, _says he_, that some +Men have the Fortune to be esteem'd Wits, only for jesting out of the +common Road, and for making bold to scoff at those things, which the +greatest Part of Mankind reverence--. If Men did truly consult the +Interest, either of their Safety or Reputation, they would never +exercise their Wit in such dangerous Matters. Wit is a very +commendable Quality, but then a wise Man should have the keeping of +it. 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 season +Conversation, to represent what is Praise-worthy to the greatest +Advantage, and to expose the Vices and Follies of Men, such things as +are in themselves truly ridiculous: But if it be apply'd to the +Abuse of the gravest and most serious Matters, it then loses its +Commendation. If any Man thinks he abounds in this Quality, and +hath Wit to spare, there is scope enough for it within the Bounds of +Religion and Decency; and when it transgresseth these, it degenerates +into Insolence and Impiety--And afterwards: A sharp Wit may find +something in the wisest Man, whereby to expose him to the Contempt +of injudicious People. The gravest Book that ever was written, may be +made ridiculous, by applying the Sayings of it to a foolish purpose, +for a Jest may be obtruded upon any thing; and therefore no Man ought +to have the less Reverence for the Principles of Religion, or for the +Holy Scriptures, because idle and profane Wits can break Jests +upon them. Nothing is so easy, as to take particular Phrases and +Expressions out of the best Book in the World, and to abuse them, by +forcing an odd and ridiculous Sense upon them." And in another place, +having mention'd the most proper Objects of Wit, he thus expresses +himself,--"This I say on purpose to recommend to Men a nobler Exercise +for their Wits, and if it be possible, to put them out of Conceit with +that scoffing Humour, which is so easy and so ill-natur'd, and is not +only an Enemy to Religion, but to every thing else that is wise and +worthy; and I am very much mistaken, if the State as well as the +Church, the Civil Government as well as Religion, do not in a short +space find the intolerable Inconvenience of this Humour." + +Tho the Persons addicted to this impious Folly, expose the sacred +Mysteries of Christianity, and make its Votaries the common Topick of +their Raillery, it cannot thence be concluded, that they are certain +that those whom they thus deride, as whimsical, stupid, and deluded +Men, have not the least Reason to support their Religious Principles +and Practice; for if they were sure of this, they would treat such +unhappy Persons as Men rob'd of their Senses, with Tenderness and +Compassion; for none will allow such distemper'd Minds to be proper +Subjects of Ridicule and Derision: But those, who attentively observe +the Manner and Air of these jesting Libertines, when they laugh at +Vertue, will see plainly their licentious Mirth springs from other +Principles; either from this, That the Example of many Persons, who +in earnest embrace and profess the Articles of Religion, continually +disturbs their Opinion of themselves, and creates severe Misgivings +and Distrust in their Minds, lest their Notions about Religion should +not be true, when they observe, that many Persons of eminent Parts, +superior Reason and Erudition, maintain with Zeal quite contrary +Sentiments; or else it proceeds from their Hatred of Men of Vertue, +founded in the Dissimilitude of Dispositions and Manners, and +Disagreement in Interest, Employments and Designs; or from an Envy of +their great Merit, innocent Life, and worthy Actions, which from the +prevailing Power of their own vicious Inclinations, they are unable +to imitate; for after all their Raillery and Expressions of Contempt, +Vertue has that native Lustre and amiable Appearance, that will compel +Men secretly to esteem it, even while they deride the Possessors of +it. Such is the Pride and Vanity of degenerate Nature, that loose Men +will always endeavour to level the eminent Characters of religious and +sober Persons, and reduce them to the inferior Degree of their own: +And for that end, they will labour to sink the Opinion and Esteem of +any Excellence or Merit, to which themselves can make no Pretence. +While they cannot equal the bright Example of Vertue in others, they +strive to sully or efface it, and by turning it into Ridicule, make +it seem rather the Dishonour and Deformity, than the Beauty and +Perfection of the Mind: And if they can disgrace Religion, and subvert +all moral Distinction, Men will be valu'd only for their intellectual +Endowments, and then they imagine they have gain'd their Point, since +the Superiority of Wit, as they suppose, is on their Side. These +seem to me the genuine and natural Causes, why Men of great Parts +and extraordinary Wit, but of loose Principles and immoral Lives, who +above all others affect Popularity and gasp after Applause, take so +much Pleasure, without the least regard to Modesty and Decency, in a +Christian Country to mock Religion and jerk with spiteful Satire Men +of Vertue and inoffensive Behaviour. + +WIT is likewise misapply'd, when exercis'd to ridicule any unavoidable +Defects and Deformities of Body or Mind; for since nothing is a moral +Blemish, but as it is the Effect of our own Choice, nothing can be +disgraceful but what is voluntary, and brought freely upon our selves; +and since nothing is the proper Object of Raillery and Ridicule, but +what is shameful, it must be a Violence to Reason and Humanity, to +reproach and expose another for any thing that was not in his Power to +escape. And therefore to make a Man contemptible, and the Jest of +the Company, by deriding him for his mishapen Body, ill figur'd Face, +stammering Speech, or low Degree of Understanding, is a great Abuse of +ingenious Faculties. + +Nor is it a less criminal Use of this Talent, when it is exercis'd +in lascivious and obscene Discourses. The Venom is not less, but more +infectious and destructive, when convey'd by artful Insinuation and a +delicate Turn of Wit; when impure Sentiments are express'd by Men of a +heavy and gross Imagination, in direct and open Terms, the Company +are put out of Countenance, and nauseate the Coarseness of the +Conversation: but a Man of Wit gilds the Poison, dresses his wanton +Thoughts in a beautiful Habit, and by slanting and side Approaches, +possesses the Imagination of the Hearers, before his Design is well +discover'd; by which means he more effectually gains Admission to the +Mind, and fills the Fancy with immodest Ideas. + +Nothing can be more ill-manner'd, or disagreeable to Persons of Vertue +and Sobriety of Manners, than wanton and obscene Expressions; on +which Subject the excellent Archbishop _Tillotson_ has the following +Paragraph: "Nothing that trespasses upon the Modesty of the Company, +and the Decency of Conversation, can become the Mouth of a wise and +vertuous Person. This kind of Conversation would fain pass for Wit +among some sort of Persons, to whom it is acceptable; but whatever +savours of Rudeness and Immodesty, and Ill-Manners, is very far from +deserving that Name; and they that are sober and vertuous cannot +entertain any Discourse of this kind, with Approbation and Acceptance. +A well bred Person will never offend in this way. And therefore it +cannot but be esteem'd as an Affront to modest Company, and a rude +presuming 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 as +misapply their Time, when to gain Applause and increase their +Popularity, they run, without Distinction, into Company, and by +too great Condescention and false Humanity, mingle in inferior and +unworthy Assemblies; where delighted with the silly Approbation of +ignorant Laughers, they shine forth in a great Effusion of Wit and +Humour; by which they make themselves cheap, if not contemptible in +the Opinion of wise and discerning Persons. Men of singular Wit, like +Women of great Beauty, should never be unguarded; for if not endow'd +with a decent Reservedness, a modest Air, and a discreet Behaviour, +they sink in their Value, and by appearing in all Places, and becoming +common and familiar, lose, in a great measure, their Honour, and the +Opinion of their Merit. It is a meretricious Prostitution of Wit, when +the Possessors of it can deny no Addresses, and refuse no Invitations +and Appointments, but suffer themselves to be shown at every +Entertainment; Besides the gratifying of their Vanity, by a constant +pursuit of Approbation and Praise, which is the Spring whence this +Prodigality of Parts and waste of facetious Humour chiefly arise; it +is evident, they spend a great deal of Time, of which a wise Man can +give no Account, while Wit, which should in its proper place, renew +and revive the Spirits for useful Employment, becomes a continu'd +Diversion, and makes everlasting Idleness the Business of Life. + +It is pity that a Man of fine Spirit and a fertile, as well +as delicate Imagination, should think himself engag'd in high +Conversation, when he is only employ'd in the lowest Affairs that +concern Mankind. His Post is of the same Kind, and but the next +in Order above that of Players on Instruments, admirable Voices, +excellent Actors on the Stage, and famous Dancers; whose Province is +only to amuse and recreate; and is therefore far below theirs, who +are 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 Welfare +and Benefit of the Publick, are more valuable, because more useful, +than the Employments of those, who apply themselves only, or +principally, to divert and entertain the Fancy; and therefore must be +as much preferable to the Occupation or Profession of a Wit, as the +Improvement and Happiness of Men is to be regarded above their Mirth +and Recreation. I allow, that the Talents of these ingenious Men +are very much to be esteem'd in their proper place; that is, as they +unbend the Mind, relieve the Satiety of Contemplation and Labour, and +by the Delight which they give, refresh the Spirits and fit them for +the Returns of Study and Employment: But then it must be granted, +that, as I have said, this is the meanest, as being the least +beneficial Province in which our intellectual Faculties can be +engag'd; and therefore these facetious Men can only claim the highest +Rank among those, who are Inventors or Ministers of Pleasure, and +provide 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, as +more useful, to the singing Bird, and the Parrot. The Ox, that ploughs +the Field and brings home the Harvest, the Horse, the Mule, and +even the stupid Ass, that carry their Owners, or their Goods and +Merchandize, are more to be regarded than the Hound, the Lap-Dog, +and various other Animals that seem to have been created only for +our Pleasure and Amusement: And the Reason of this is very evident, +Mankind may be very happy, and States and Kingdoms may remain in a +flourishing Condition, tho there were no such diverting Creatures +in the World: And from the same Consideration, Men, tho of a lower +Station, who are not only beneficial, but necessary to the Well-being +of Human Societies, are of far greater Importance, and therefore +deserve more Esteem than those, who only are subservient to our +Recreation; for the World may still subsist, and continue in very +comfortable Circumstances without one, but not without the other: And +'tis easy to name some learned and powerful Communities, the Envy and +Terror of their Neighbours, who tho they abound in Men of good Sense +and diligent Application to Business, yet have few Wits and Jesters +among them to make them merry. + +The Truth of what I have asserted will farther appear, if we reflect +that generally Men of a plain Understanding and good Sense, but of +great Industry and Capacity for Business, are in all Governments +advanc'd to Posts of Trust and great Employments in the State, while +meer Wits are regarded as Men of the lowest Merit, and accordingly are +promoted to the meaner and less profitable Places, being look'd on, +by reason of their Inapplication and volatile Temper, as unfit for a +higher Station. + +Another pernicious Abuse of Wit is that which appears in the Writings +of some ingenious Men, who are so hardy as to expose from the Press +the most venerable Subjects, and treat Vertue and Sobriety of Manners +with Raillery and Ridicule. Several, in their Books, have many +sarcastical and spiteful Strokes at Religion in general, while others +make themselves pleasant with the Principles of the Christian. Of +the last kind this Age has seen a most audacious Example in the Book +intitul'd, _A Tale of a Tub_. Had this Writing been publish'd in a +Pagan or Popish Nation, who are justly impatient of all Indignity +offer'd to the Establish'd Religion of their Country, no doubt but the +Author would have receiv'd the Punishment he deserv'd. But the Fate of +this impious Buffoon is very different; for in a Protestant Kingdom, +zealous of their Civil and Religious Immunities, he has not only +escap'd Affronts and the Effects of publick Resentment, but has +been caress'd and patroniz'd by Persons of great Figure and of all +Denominations. Violent Party-Men, who differ'd in all Things besides, +agreed, in their Turn, to shew particular Respect and Friendship to +this insolent Derider of the Worship of his Country, till at last the +reputed Writer is not only gone off with Impunity, but triumphs in his +Dignity and Preferment. I do not know, that any Inquiry or Search was +ever made after this Writing, or that any Reward was ever offer'd +for the Discovery of the Author, or that the infamous Book was ever +condemn'd to be burnt in Publick: Whether this proceeds from the +excessive Esteem and Love that Men in Power, during the late Reign, +had for Wit, or their defeat of Zeal and Concern for the Christian +Religion, will be determin'd best by those, who are best acquainted +with their Character. + +But the most extensive Abuse of Parts and Ingenuity, appears in the +loose Productions of our Writers to the Stage. It was the Complaint +of the celebrated Wit of _Spain, Michael de Cervantes_, before-cited, +that the Comedies in his Time were not only extravagant and monstrous +in their Contrivance, but likewise the Exemplars of Vice and +Representations of Lewdness: But had the Plays in _Spain_, at that +Time, been as Immoral and Unchaste as the daily Entertainments of the +_British_ Theatre, which have a manifest Tendency to vitiate the Taste +of the People, fill their Imaginations with obscene Ideas, and their +Lives with Levity, Idleness and Luxury; I say, if that great Man, +whose Judgment was equal to his admirable Genius, had seen Religion +and Vertue so derided, and Modesty, Reservedness, and Decency so +insulted and expos'd, his Zeal for the Honour of his Country, and his +Love of Mankind, would have animated him to have attack'd the Comick +Poets with the same Spirit, with which he assaulted the prevailing +Folly of his Age, the Romantick Atchievements of Knights Errant; his +Wit and good Sense would have made those merry Authors as odious for +poisoning the People with their loose and immoral Writings, as he made +the others ridiculous for their extravagant and idle Tales. + +No doubt a Comedy may be so contriv'd, that it may at once become +delightful, and promote Prudence and Sobriety of Manners; that is, +when the Characters are well chosen, justly delineated, and every +where distinguish'd; When the various Manners are exactly imitated and +carry'd on with Propriety and Uniformity; when the principal Action +contains an instructive Moral, and all the Parts in a regular +Connexion, Dependance and Proportion, illustrate and support each +other, and have a manifest Influence on the main Event; When the +Incidents are well imagin'd, and result from the Manners of the +Dramatick Persons, when the Turns are surprizing, the Knots or +Obstructions 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 modest +and vertuous Hearers. So regular and beautiful a Piece as this cannot +but greatly please and divert, as well as instruct the Audience. Nor +is it, I imagine, from want of Knowledge of the Rules of Writing, +nor of sufficient Genius, in which this Nation abounds, that so few +Comedies, distinguish'd by these Perfections, have been produc'd: But +this Defect arises partly from this, that the Comick Poets are often +Men of loose Manners, and therefore unlikely Persons to undertake the +Promotion 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 may +happen, that a loose Poet as well as Preacher, merely from his just +Manner of Thinking, and his Sense of Decency in forming Discourses +becoming his Character, may entertain the Audience with laudable +Performances. + +Another, and the chief Cause of the Immorality of the Theatre, is +the ill Taste of the People, who, notwithstanding they have applauded +several 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 Genius +for Tragedy as any Nation in any Age has produc'd, yet still frequent +and encoutage the loosest Comedies. It happens, that the greatest part +of Men of Wit and Humour, who not being easy in their Fortunes, +work for the Stage, and are Day-Labourers to the Muses, lie under +a Necessity of bringing those Productions to Market, which are in +Fashion, and therefore vendible; while others, tho of ever so much +greater Value, would be turn'd back upon their Hands; nor would the +Actors, who live by their Employment, as the Comick Writers do by +theirs, undertake to represent an Innocent, and much less a Comedy of +yet 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 hitherto +they have prov'd unsuccessful; the Stage is become Impregnable, where +loose Poets, supported by Numbers, Power, and Interest, in Defiance +of all Rules of Decency and Vertue, still provide new Snares +and Temptations to seduce the People, and corrupt their Manners. +Notwithstanding the earnest Cries of this great City, that importune +these Writers to reform the Theatre, and no longer to infest her +Youth, and draw their Inclinations from their Professions and +Employments; notwithstanding the Sighs and Tears of many once +flourishing, but now disconsolate Families, ruin'd by the dissolute +Lives of their chief Branches, who lost their Vertue by frequenting +the fatal Entertainments of the Theatre; notwithstanding the wise and +sober part of the Kingdom earnestly sollicit them to spare the +People, to stop the spreading Plague and slay the destroying Pen, they +persevere with intrepid Resolution and inexorable Cruelty, to poison +the Minds, and ruin the Morals of the Nation. + +The great Archbishop _Tillotson_ has set our present Theatre in a true +Light in his Discourse upon _Corrupt Communication_: + +"I shall only speak a few words concerning Plays, which as they are +now 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 that +which the present Age cannot so well brook, and would not perhaps be +so just and reasonable; because it is very possible they might be +so fram'd and govern'd by such Rules, as not only to be innocently +diverting, but instructing and useful, to put some Vices and Follies +out of Countenance, which cannot perhaps be so decently reprov'd, nor +so effectually expos'd and corrected any other way. But as the Stage +now is, they are intollerable, and not fit to be permitted in a +civiliz'd, much less a Christian Nation. They do most notoriously +minister both to Infidelity and Vice. By the Profaneness of them, they +are apt to instil bad Principles into the Minds of Men, and to +lessen that awe and reverence which all Men ought to have for God and +Religion: and by their Lewdness they teach Vice, and are apt to infect +the Minds of Men, and dispose them to lewd and dissolute Practices. + +"And therefore I do not see how any Persons pretending to Sobriety and +Vertue, and especially to the pure and holy Religion of our Blessed +Saviour, can, without great Guilt, and open Contradiction to his holy +Profession, be present at such lewd and immodest Plays, much less +frequent them, as too many do, who yet would take it very ill to be +shut out of the Communion of Christians, as they would most certainly +have been in the first and purest Ages of Christianity." + +And not only wise and sober Men have declar'd their detestation of +the Immorality of the Stage, but eminent Poets themselves, who have +written the most applauded Comedies, have own'd, that the Theatre +stands in great need of Restraints and Regulation, and wish'd that +Plays were compil'd in such an inoffensive Manner, that not only +discreet 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 the +dissolute Court of King _Charles_ the Second, and sometimes upon the +vitiated 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 and +Statute Laws may honestly inform a just Prince how far his Prerogative +extends, so I may be allow'd to tell your Lordship, who by an +indisputed Title are the King of Poets, what an Extent of Power you +have, and how lawfully you may exercise it over the petulant Scriblers +of the Age. As Lord Chamberlain, you are absolute by your Office, in +all that belongs to the Decency and good Manners of the Stage; You can +banish thence Scurrility and Profaneness, and restrain the licentious +Insolence of the Poets and their Actors, in all things that shock the +publick Quiet or the Reputation of private Persons, under the Notion +of _Humour_." Hence it evidently appears, that Mr _Dryden_ look'd on +the Decency of the Stage to be violated in his Time, by licentious and +insolent Poets; and I wish I could say, that there is less Reason +of Complaint in ours; In a Copy of Verses, publish'd in one of the +Volumes of the Miscellany Poems, the same celebrated Author inveighs +against the Lewdness and Pollutions of the Stage in the strongest +Expressions that can be conceiv'd; and in his latter days, when +his Judgment was more Mature, he condemns all his loose and profane +Writings to the Flames, which, he says, they justly deserve: Which +is not only a free and ingenious Confession of his Fault, but a +considerable Mark of Repentance, and worthy to be imitated by his +Successors, who have broken in upon the Rules of Vertue and Modesty in +the like manner. + +Tho all Men of Vertue, who wish well to Mankind, and are zealous for +the Happiness of their Country, cannot but observe the mischievous +Effects of these licentious Dramatick Compositions, yet they will find +it very difficult to suggest an effectual Remedy for the Cure of so +obstinate an Evil. The ingenious _Spaniard_ mention'd before, for +stopping the Progress of this contagious Lewdness in his Country, +propos'd to the Government, that an Officer or Inspector might be +establish'd, with Authority to peruse and correct the Poet's Writings, +and that no Comedies should be presented to the Publick without his +Licence and Approbation. + +But if this would have been sufficient to have prevented or remov'd +this hurtful Practice, the _British_ Nation would long since have had +no reason to complain on this Subject. We have Officers intrusted +with this useful and important Power, and are able, if they please, to +hinder the spreading of the Infection, by not permitting such noxious +Productions to appear in Publick: But whether those Inspectors have +had a true Taste and Judgment themselves, or have diligently apply'd +themselves to the Reading and Amending the Comedies put into +their Hands for their Approbation, or whether they comply with the +Importunity of the Actors, who tell them, that such is the Disposition +of the Audience, that no Plays of that kind will appear beautiful, if +they are strip'd of those Embellishments and Ornaments of Wit, which +some morose and unfashionable People stile impure and obscene, and +that to leave out those ingenious Strokes and Heightnings of Fancy, +and put into the Mouths of the Actors only good Sense and modest and +clean Expressions, is to clear and refine our Comedies from the most +entertaining and delightful Parts: Perhaps they assure them, that the +Audience will endure no Reformation of the Stage, and that it were +altogether as adviseable to shut up the Doors of the Play-House, as to +attempt a Regulation of the Pleasures and Diversions of it. + +But tho Men who love their Country, born down with a Torrent of +profane Libertines, Persons without Taste and Distinction of Vertue +and Vice, have almost despair'd of seeing the Comick Poets reform'd, +and the exorbitant Liberties of the Stage restrain'd within the Limits +of modest Language and decent Behaviour; yet now their Hopes revive, +and they promise to themselves a sudden and effectual Reformation of +these Abuses, since the Government has plac'd so worthy a Person at +the Head of the Actors, and given him ample Authority to rectify their +Errors: What a happy Revolution, what a regular and clean Stage may +justly be now expected? How free from all sordid and impure Mixtures, +how innocent, as well as diverting, will our Comedies appear, when +they have been corrected and refin'd by such an accomplish'd Director +of the Dramatick Poets? One that has a true and delicate Taste, and +who is sensible of the Indecencies and hurtful Nature of our Plays; +who has engag'd his celebrated Pen, in defiance of sneering Wits and +powerful Libertines, on the Side of Vertue, and has propagated the +Esteem of Morals, Humanity, Decorum and Sobriety of Manners; who +with great Spirit, Genius, and Courage, to his lasting Honour, has +publickly expos'd the Absurdities, Vices, and Follies, that stain +and disgrace the Theatre; in which Censure he has not spar'd his own +Performances: One who has express'd a warm Zeal on this Subject, and +declar'd his generous Intention, if it were in his Power, to cleanse +these polluted Places, and not to suffer a Comedy to be presented but +what had past a severe Examination, and where all things which might +shock 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, and +notwithstanding the vigorous Efforts which will be made by this +Reformer, Immorality shall maintain its ground and keep Possession +of the Theatre, some other Expedients may be suggested to procure +a Regulation. It might, perhaps be desirable, that a few Persons +of Importance, Men of Learning, Gravity, and good Taste, might be +commission'd by Authority, as a Check upon the Actors, to censure +and suppress any Dramatick Entertainments that shall offend against +Religion, Sobriety of Manners, or the Publick Peace; and all Persons +should be encourag'd to send them such loose or profane Passages which +they hear from the Stage, or read in the printed Plays: Nor will it +be less expedient, that they should be instructed to peruse the Plays +already publish'd, and which are now publickly acted, and to expunge +all offensive and criminal Mixtures, that hereafter they may become +a clean and innocent Diversion. Besides, this End would the more +effectually be accomplish'd, if the Writers of Comedy, Farce, and +Interludes, were rewarded and supported by Means independent on the +Actors: For while the Poets, who write for a Maintenance, are paid by +the Theatre, they will be under a great Temptation to write as desir'd +and directed by the Actors, which was the Complaint of _Cervantes_ +above-cited, concerning the Comick Poets of _Spain_. The Actors, we +may safely conclude, are not restrain'd by such rigorous Precepts +of Vertue, but that they will always be inclin'd to present those +Performances which will best fill the House and promote their +Interest; and therefore they will readily humour the vitiated Taste of +the Audience, by acting the most immoral Plays, while they find their +account in doing so: And that which confirms this Observation is, that +they never, as far as I have heard, rejected any Comedy merely for +its Looseness, tho I believe they have refus'd many for want of +that entertaining Quality. Now were the Comick Writers provided of a +Subsistence some other way, they would be deliver'd from the Necessity +of complying with their Actors, by writing such Plays as they +shall bespeak, or at least approve, as the most likely to invite a +profitable Audience. + +It would prove an effectual Remedy for this Evil, if the Ladies would +discountenance these loose Comedies, by expressing their dislike, and +refusing to be present when they are acted: And this no doubt they +would do, were they inform'd, that the Comedies which they encourage +by their Appearance at the Theatre, are full of wanton Sentiments, +obscene Allusions, and immodest Ideas, contain'd in Expressions of +a double Meaning: for it cannot be imagin'd they would bear with +Unconcernedness, much less with Pleasure, Discourses in Publick, which +they detest as unsufferable in private Convention, if they knew them +to be unchast. And should the Ladies assert their Esteem of Vertue, +and declare openly on the Side of Modesty, the most attractive Beauty +of the fair Sex, as certainly they would do, if they understood how +much those amiable Qualities have been expos'd and affronted by our +most eminent Comick Poets; this would lay the Ax to the Root, and at +one Blow destroy this pernicious Practice; for after this, what Writer +would transgress the Rules of Decency and Purity of Expression, when +he knows, that by his immodest Mixtures he shall fright the Ladies +from the House? + +It would be another effectual Means to redress the Grievance of the +Stage, if the Clergy could be prevail'd upon to condemn from +the Pulpit and the Press, as well as in their Conversation, the +unjustifiable Entertainments of the Theatre; would they insist upon +it, and urge it as a necessary Duty of the People to avoid these +Occasions, and at least Appearances of Evil; would they shew them, +that by frequenting these unwarrantable Diversions, they rush into +Snares, court Temptation, and invite others to follow their criminal +Example; would they set before them the Hazard of playing on the nice +and dubious Limits of Innocence, and adventuring to the utmost Extent +of Vertue and the Frontier of Vice, there would be great hopes of +stemming this strong Tide of Iniquity. And this is no more than the +indispensable Obligation, which our Divines are under, whose proper +Province it is to warn the People of their Danger, and to press +them earnestly to fly from it. This venerable Order have, by solemn +Engagements, set themselves apart, as spiritual Guides, to point out +the fatal Rocks and treacherous Sands to their Neighbours, that they +may not make Shipwreck of Modesty and Innocence, and plunge into the +Depths of Irreligion and Vice: Nor is it obvious, why these Reverend +Teachers, by their Silence and Neutrality, should give Profaneness and +Immorality such fair Play, as if the Controversy between the Stage +and the Pulpit were compremis'd, and the Poets and the Priests +were engag'd, as indeed they ought to be, in the same good Designs, +Interests, and Pursuits. It is certain, that this Mildness, and +friendly Behaviour of the Clergy to the Comick Writers, cannot arise +from any Respect or handsome Usage which that sacred Order has met +with on the Theatre, where they have been so often jerk'd and expos'd +in such a manner, that their Divine Function has been wounded through +their Sides. + +The Clergy lie under such manifest Obligations to attack publick +Immorality, wherever it is found, and by whatsoever Patrons of Power, +Dignity, and Interest it is shelter'd and supported, thar, as I +have suggested, it is not easy to imagine whence their Lenity and +Tenderness for the Theatre can proceed. But if the true Reason of +it, whatever it is, and which is so hard to be accounted for, were +remov'd, and our Divines would interest themselves with Zeal in the +Cause of Vertue, in respect to our Dramatick Entertainments, as they +espouse and defend it in all other Instances, I cannot believe that +the Stage, without a Regulation, would be able to stand, when batter'd +with Vigor from the Pulpit. The Poets and Players would soon find +themselves oblig'd to restrain their licentious Conduct, reform +the Theatre, and present to the Town, if not instructive, at least +inoffensive and unshocking Diversions. And it is very desirable, that +this Expedient were set on foot, that the Honour of the _English_ +Theatre may be retriev'd; that while we justly boast of our Priority +in Wit and Humour to our Neighbours, we may not be oblig'd to +acknowledge the great Inferiority of our Comedies, in respect of +Cleanness and moral Beauty: that we may not be reproach'd, that while +we profess a Reform'd and pure Religion, we encourage an immodest and +unreform'd Theatre, and that we are very defective in the Practice +of Vertue and Regularity of Manners, while these Abominations are +indulg'd, and these unhallow'd Groves and High Places of Immorality +are 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 several +subjects published by Sir _Richard Blackmore_; and though I agree +with him in many of his excellent observations, I cannot but take +that reasonable freedom, which he himself makes use of, with regard +to other writers, to dissent from him in some few particulars. In his +reflexions upon works of wit and humour, he observes how unequal they +are to combate vice and folly; and seems to think, that the finest +rallery and satire, though directed by these generous views, never +reclaimed one vicious man, or made one fool depart from his folly. + +This is a position very hard to be contradicted, because no Author +knows the number or names of his converts. As for the _Tatlers_ and +_Spectators_ in particular, which are obliged to this ingenious and +useful Author for the character he has given of them, they were so +generally dispersed in single sheets, and have since been printed +in so great numbers, that it is to be hoped they have made some +proselytes to the interests, if not to the practice of wisdom and +virtue, among such a multitude of readers. + +I need not remind this learned Gentleman, that _Socrates_, who was the +greatest propagator of morality in the heathen world, and a martyr +for the Unity of the Godhead, was so famous for the exercise of this +talent among the politest people of antiquity, that he gained the name +of [Greek: ha Eibon] _the Drole_. + +There are very good effects which visibly arose from the +above-mentioned performances and others of the like nature; as, in the +first place, they diverted rallery from improper objects, and gave a +new turn to ridicule, which for many years had been exerted on persons +and things of a sacred and serious nature. They endeavoured to make +mirth instructive, and, if they failed in this great end, they must +be allowed at least to have made it innocent. If wit and humour begin +again to relapse into their former licentiousness, they can never hope +for approbation from those who know that rallery is useless when it +has no moral under it, and pernicious when it attacks any thing that +is either unblameable or praise-worthy. To this we may add, what has +been commonly observed, that it is not difficult to be merry on the +side of vice, as serious objects act the most capable of ridicule; as +the party, which naturally favour such a mirth, is the most numerous; +and as there are the most standing jests and patterns for imitation in +this kind of writing. + +In the next place: Such productions of wit and humour, as have a +tendency to expose vice and folly, furnish useful diversions to all +kinds of readers. The good or prudent man may, by these means, be +diverted without prejudice to his discretion, or morality. Rallery, +under such regulations, unbends the mind from serious studies and +severer contemplations, without throwing it off from its proper bias. +It carries on the same design that is promoted by Authors of a graver +turn, and only does it in another manner. It also awakens reflexion +in those who are the most indifferent in the cause of virtue or +knowledge, by setting before them the absurdity of such practices +as are generally unobserved, by reason of their being common or +fashionable: Nay, it sometimes catches the dissolute and abandoned +before they are aware of it: who are often betrayed to laugh at +themselves, and upon reflexion find, that they are merry at their own +expence. I might farther take notice, that by entertainments of this +kind, a man may be chearful in solitude, and not be forced to seek for +company every time he has a mind to be merry. + +The last advantage I shall mention from compositions of this nature +when thus restrained, is, that they shew wisdom and virtue are far +from being inconsistent with politeness and good humour. They make +morality appear amiable to people of gay dispositions, and refute the +common objection against religion, which represents it as only fit +for gloomy and melancholy tempers. It was the motto of a Bishop very +eminent for his piety and good works in King _Charles_ the Second's +reign, _In servi Deo & laetare_, 'Serve God and be chearful.' Those +therefore who supply the world with such entertainments of mirth as +are instructive, or at least harmless, may be thought to deserve well +of mankind; to which I shall only add, that they retrieve the honour +of polite learning, and answer those sour Enthusiasts who affect +to stigmatize the finest and most elegant Authors, both ancient and +modern, (which they have never read) as dangerous to religion, and +destructive of all sound and saving knowledge. + +Our nation are such lovers of mirth and humour, that it is impossible +for detached papers, which come out on stated days, either to have +a general run, or long continuance, if they are not diversified and +enlivened from time to time, with subjects and thoughts, accommodated +to this taste, which so prevails among our countrymen. No periodical +Author, who always maintains his gravity, and does not sometimes +sacrifice to the Graces, must expect to keep in vogue for any +considerable time. Political speculations in particular, however just +and important, are of so dry and austere a nature, that they will not +go down with the public without frequent seasonings of this kind. The +work may be well performed, but will never take, if it is not set off +with proper scenes and decorations. A mere Politician is but a dull +companion, and, if he is always wise, is in great danger of being +tiresom or ridiculous. + +Besides, papers of entertainment are necessary to increase the +number of readers, especially among those of different notions and +principles; who by this means may be betrayed to give you a fair +hearing, and to know what you have to say for yourself. I might +likewise observe, that in all political writings there is something +that grates upon the mind of the most candid reader, in opinions which +are not conformable to his own way of thinking; and that the harshness +of reasoning is not a little softned and smoothed by the infusions of +mirth and pleasantry. + +Political speculations do likewise furnish us with several objects +that may very innocently be ridiculed, and which are regarded as such +by men of sense in all parties; of this kind are the passions of our +States-women, and the reasonings of our Fox-hunters. + +A Writer who makes fame the chief end of his endeavours, and would be +more desirous of pleasing than of improving his readers, might find +an inexhaustible fund of mirth in politics. Scandal and satire are +never-failing gratifications to the public. Detraction and obloquy +are received with as much eagerness as wit and humour. Should a writer +single out particular persons, or point his rallery at any order of +men, who by their profession ought to be exempt from it; should he +slander the innocent, or satirize the miserable; or should he, even +on the proper subjects of derision, give the full play to his mirth, +without regard to decency and good-manners; he might be sure of +pleasing a great part of his readers, but must be a very ill man, if +by such a proceeding he could please himself. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ESSAY UPON WIT*** + + +******* This file should be named 13484.txt or 13484.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/3/4/8/13484 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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