{"collection":"philosophy-ethics","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_13484/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_13484","id":"gutenberg_13484","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13484","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Essays, Letters & Speeches","Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Wit and humor"],"text":"ESSAY UPON WIT\n\nby\n\nSir Richard Blackmore\n\n1716\n\nWith Commentary by Joseph Addison (Freeholder, No. 45, 1716)\nand an Introduction by Richard C. Boys\n\n\n\n\n_Series One: Essays on Wit_\nNo. 1\n\n\nSir Richard Blackmore's\n_Essay upon Wit (1716)_\n\nand \n\nJoseph Addison's \n_Freeholder, No. 45 (1716)_\n\nWith an Introduction by \nRichard C. Boys\n\n\nThe Augustan Reprint Society\nMay 1946\nPrice: 60c\n\n\n\nMembership in the Augustan Reprint Society entitles the subscriber\nto six publications issued each year. The annual membership fee\nis $2.50. Address subscriptions and communications to the Augustan\nReprint Society in care of the General Editors: Richard C. Boys,\nUniversity of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan; or Edward N. Hooker\nor H.T. Swedenberg, Jr., University of California, Los Angeles 24,\nCalifornia.\n\n\n\nIntroduction\n\n\nThe battle between the puritans and the sophisticates is never ending.\nAt certain stages of cultural development the worldly wise are in the\nascendent in the literary world, as they were in the Restoration and\nafter the first World War. Yet those with a more sober view of life\nare never submerged, even when they are overshadowed. The court of\nthe restored Charles gave full play to the indelicacy of Rochester,\nDryden, and their circles, but most of their contemporaries were\nprobably more content to read George Herbert, Queries, Baxter, and\nBunyan. Though the fashionable and urbane remained dominant in letters\nthrough the age of Dryden, the forces of morality were rallying, and\nafter 1688 the court (with which Blackmore was connected) threw\nits weight on the side of virtue. Jeremy Collier was but the most\nimportant voice of a great movement, destined to have its effect on\nliterature.\n\nSir Richard Blackmore contributed his share to the growing wave of\nbourgeois morality, which in the 18th century was reflected in the\nmiddle-class appeal of Addison and Steel, Lillo's _London Merchant_,\nand Richardson's almost feminine plea for virtue rewarded. A\nphysician, Blackmore had turned to poetry for relaxation and composed\nhis soporific epics, by his own admission, in the coffee-houses and in\nhis coach while visiting patients. In the preface, to _Prince Arthur_\n(1695) the City Bard took occasion to flay the Wits of the day for\ntheir immorality, an attack which he followed up in 1697 with the\nPreface to _King Arthur_, whose thinly disguised political allegory\nwon him a knighthood. Up to this point the Wits had treated him with\namused scorn, but when he called his big guns into action in the\n_Satyr against Wit_ (dated 1700 but issued late in 1699) the Wits set\nout to crush him for once and all. _Commendatory Verses on the Author\nof the Two Arthurs and the Satyr against Wit_ (1700), the reply,\nwas far from commendatory. Edited by Tom Brown and sponsored by\nChristopher Codrington, this miscellany attempted in scurrilous and\noften bad verse to laugh the Knight out of literary existence. Its\nmain distinction lies in the list of contributors, among whom were Sir\nCharles Sedley, Richard Steele, Tom Brown, and probably John\nDennis. Blackmore's supporters answered _Commendatory Verses_ with\n_Discommendatory_ _Verses on Those Which are Truly Commendatory, on\nthe Author of the Two Arthurs, and the Satyr against Wit_. (1700).\nIt is not at all certain that Blackmore emerged second best in this\nexchange of blows in the miscellanies. At any rate, unabashed he went\non to write more epics on Elizabeth, Alfred, Job, and to win himself a\ndoubtful immortality by being pilloried in Pope's _Dunciad_.\n\nThroughout his writings Blackmore has a good deal to say about Wit,\nand much about the abuse of it. While Swift in the _Tale of a Tub_\nscolds the Wits for their addiction to nonsense and irreligion,\nBlackmore goes still further in the _Satyr_, seeing Wit as something\nwhich, in common practice, is evil and vicious, to be eradicated as\nquickly as possible. It is the enemy of virtue and religion (in the\nPreface to _Creation_, 1712, he links it with atheism), a form of\ninsanity, in opposition to 'Right Reason', and the seducer of young\nmen. Combatting its iniquities, Blackmore proposes to set up a Bank\nand Mint of Wit to assure that it will be refined and purified. By\nthis process, the works of Dryden, Congreve, Southerne, Wycherley,\nGarth, and Vanbrugh will be melted down to separate the sludge from\nthe pure metal. In the _Nature of Man_ (1711) he takes a more kindly\nattitude towards Wit and pairs it with Sense, Reason, Genius, and even\nPiety. While he is moderate in his denunciation of Wit in the _Essay\nupon Wit_, he does insist that even at its best it can never be noble.\nWit is harmful, he states, because it is often employed in immoral\nsubjects, raillery, ridicule, and satire. It is chiefly useful as\nornamentation: \"The Addition of Wit to Proper Subjects, is like the\nartful Improvement of the Cook, who by his exquisite Sauce gives to a\nplain Dish, a pleasant and unusual Relish\".\n\nAddison's _Freeholder_ essay (No. 45) was inspired by Blackmore's\n_Essay upon Wit_, to which he paid a compliment in his opening remarks\n(much to the disgust of Swift, who accused him of double-dealing).\nAlthough Addison had praised Blackmore's _Creation_ warmly in the\n_Spectator_ No. 339, he had not always been friendly, for earlier\nBlackmore had sneered at Addison in the _Satyr against Wit_, a jibe\nthat drew Steele's reply in _Commendatory Verses_.\n\nBlackmore's _Essay upon Wit_ appeared in his _Essays upon Several\nSubjects_; the one-volume first edition of this work was published\nin 1716 and was followed by the second edition, in two volumes, the\nfollowing year. The present reprint is from the first edition. The\n1716 _Freeholder_ No. 45 here reproduced is from the edition of 1758.\nBoth copies are owned by the University of Michigan.\n\n  Richard C. Boys\n\n  University of Michigan\n\n\n\n\nAN ESSAY UPON WIT.\n\n\nThe Inclinations of Men, in this their degenerate State, carry them\nwith great Force to those voluptuous Objects, that please their\nAppetites and gratify their Senses; and which not only by their\nearly Acquaintance and Familiarity, but as they are adapted to the\nprevailing Instincts of Nature, are more esteem'd and pursu'd than all\nother Satisfactions. As those inferior Enjoyments, that only affect\nthe Organs of the Body are chiefly coveted, so next to these, that\nlight and facetious Qualification of the Mind, that diverts the\nHearers and is proper to produce Mirth and Alacrity, has, in all\nAges, by the greatest Part of Mankind, been admir'd and applauded. No\nProductions of Human Understanding are receiv'd with such a general\nPleasure and Approbation, as those that abound with Wit and Humour,\non which the People set a greater Value, than on the wisest and most\ninstructive Discourses. Hence a pleasant Man is always caress'd above\na wise one, and Ridicule and Satyr, that entertain the Laughers, often\nput solid Reason and useful Science out of Countenance. The wanton\nTemper of the Nation has been gratify'd so long with the high\nSeasonings of Wit and Raillery in Writing and Conversation, that\nnow almost all Things that are not accommodated to their Relish by a\nstrong Infusion of those Ingredients, are rejected as the heavy and\ninsipid Performances of Men of a plain Understanding and meer Masters\nof Sense.\n\nSince the Power of Wit is so prevalent, and has obtained such Esteem\nand Popularity, that a Man endow'd with this agreeable Quality, is by\nmany look'd on as a Heavenly Being, if compar'd with others, who have\nnothing but Learning and a clear arguing Head; it will be worth the\nwhile to search into its Nature, and examine its Usefulness, and take\na View of those fatal Effects which it produces, when it happens to be\nmisapply'd.\n\nTho perhaps the Talent which we call Wit, like that of Humour, is\nas clearly understood by its simple Term, as by the most labour'd\nDescription; an Argument or which is this, That many ingenious\nPersons, by their unsuccessful Essays to explain it, have rather\nobscur'd than illustrated its Idea; I will notwithstanding adventure\nto give the Definition of it, which tho it may fall short of\nPerfection, yet I imagine, will come nearer to it, than any that has\nyet appear'd. _Wit is a Qualification of the Mind, that raises and\nenlivens cold Sentiments and plain Propositions, by giving them an\nelegant and surprizing Turn_.\n\nIt is evident, that Wit cannot essentially consist in the Justness and\nPropriety of the Thoughts, that is, the Conformity of our Conceptions\nto the Objects we conceive; for this is the Definition of Truth, when\ntaken in a Physical Sense; nor in the Purity of Words and Expression,\nfor this may be eminent in the Cold, Didactick Stile, and in the\ncorrect Writers of History and Philosophy: But Wit is that which\nimparts Spirit to our Conceptions and Diction, by giving them a lively\nand novel, and therefore an agreeable Form: And thus its Nature is\nlimited and diversify'd from all other intellectual Endowments. Wit\ntherefore is the Accomplishment of a warm, sprightly, and fertile\nImagination, enrich'd with great Variety of proper Ideas; which active\nPrinciple is however under the Direction of a regular Judgment, that\ntakes care of the Choice of just and suitable Materials, prescribes to\nthe tighter Faculties the due Bounds of their Sport and Activity, and\nassists and guides them, while they imprint on the Conceptions of the\nMind their peculiar and delightful Figures. The Addition of Wit to\nproper Subjects, is like the artful Improvement of the Cook, who by\nhis exquisite Sauce gives to a plain Dish, a pleasant and unusual\nRelish. A Man of this Character works on simple Proportions a rich\nEmbroidery of Flowers and Figures, and imitates the curious Artist,\nwho studs and inlays his prepar'd Steel with Devices of Gold and\nSilver. But Wit is not only the Improvement of a plain Piece by\nintellectual Enameling; besides this, it animates and warms a cold\nSentiment, and makes it glow with Life and Vigor; and this it effects,\nas is express'd in the last Part of the Definition, by giving it as\nelegant and surprizing Turn. It always conveys the Thought of the\nSpeaker or Writer cloath'd in a pleasing, but foreign Dress, in which\nit never appear'd to the Hearer before, who however had been long\nacquainted with it; and this Appearance in the Habit of a Stranger\nmust be admirable, since Surprize naturally arises from Novelty,\nas Delight and Wonder result from Surprize; which I have more fully\nexplain'd in the former Essay.\n\nAs to its efficient Cause; Wit owes its Production to an extraordinary\nand peculiar Temperament in the Constitution of the Possessors of it,\nin which is found a Concurrence of regular and exalted Ferments, and\nan Affluence of Animal Spirits refin'd and rectify'd to a great\ndegree of Purity; whence being endow'd with Vivacity, Brightness and\nCelerity, as well in their Reflexions as direct Motions, they become\nproper Instruments for the sprightly Operations of the Mind; by which\nmeans the Imagination can with great Facility range, the wide Field of\nNature, contemplate an infinite Variety of Objects, and by observing\nthe Similitude and Disagreement of their several Qualities, single\nout and abstract, and then suit and unite those Ideas, which will best\nserve its purpose. Hence beautiful Allusions, surprizing Metaphors and\nadmirable Sentiments are always ready at hand: And while the Fancy is\nfull of Images collected from innumerable Objects and their different\nQualities, Relations and Habitudes, it can at pleasure dress a common\nNotion in a strange, but becoming Garb; by which, as before observ'd,\nthe same Thought will appear a new one, to the great Delight and\nWonder of the Hearer. What we call Genius results from this particular\nhappy Complexion in the first Formation of the Person that enjoys it,\nand is Nature's Gift, but diversify'd by various specifick Characters\nand Limitations, as its active Fire is blended and allay'd by\ndifferent Proportions of Phlegm, or reduc'd and regulated by the\nContrast of opposite Ferments. Therefore as there happens in the\nComposition of a facetious Genius a greater or less, tho still an\ninferior degree of Judgment and Prudence, and different Kinds\nof Instincts and Passions, one Man of Wit will be vary'd and\ndistinguish'd from another. That Distinction that seems common to\nPersons of this Denomination, is an inferior Degree of Wisdom and\nDiscretion; and tho these two Qualities, Wit and Discretion, are\nalmost incapable of a friendly Agreement, and will not, but with great\nDifficulty, be work'd together and incorporated in the Constitution of\nany Individual; yet this Observation is not so conspicuous in any, as\nin those, whose native Complexion comes the nearest to a Subversion\nand Absence of Mind, tho it should never degenerate into that\ndistemper'd Elevation of the Spirits: Nothing is more common, than to\nsee Persons of this Class always Think Right, and always Act Wrong;\nadmirable for the richness, delicacy, and brightness of their\nImaginations, and at the same Time to be pity'd for their want\nof Prudence and common Sense; abounding with excellent Maxims and\ninstructive Sentiments, which however are not of the least Use to\nthemselves in the Conduct of their Lives. And hence it is certain,\nthat tho the Gentlemen of a pleasant and witty Turn of Mind often make\nthe industrious Merchant, and grave Persons of all Professions, the\nSubjects of their Raillery, and expose them as stupid Creatures, not\nsupportable in good Company; yet these in their Turn believe they have\nas great a right, as indeed they have, to reproach the others for\nwant of Industry, good Sense, and regular Oeconomy, much more valuable\nTalents than those, which any mere Wit can boast of; and therefore\nwise Parents, who from a tender Concern for the Honour and Happiness\nof their Children, earnestly desire they may excel in intellectual\nEndowments, should, instead of refin'd Parts and a Genius turn'd for\npleasant Conversation, wish them a solid Understanding and a Faculty\nof close and clear Reasoning, these Qualifications being likely to\nmake them good Men, and the other only good Companions.\n\nAnd this leads to another Observation, namely, That Persons of\nfacetious Talents and agreeable Humour, in whose Temperament,\nJudgment, and Discretion, as before observ'd, are usually found in a\ndisproportionate Measure, are more inclin'd than others to Levity and\ndissolute Manners: The same swiftness of Thought and sprightliness of\nImagination, that qualifies them for ingenious Conversation, Sports of\nFancy and Comick Writing, do likewise give them an exquisite Taste\nof sensual Pleasures, and expose them to the prevailing Power of\nTempting, tho forbidden Enjoyments. The Passions and Appetites\nof these Men, from the same Spring from whence they derive their\nextraordinary Parts, that is, a Redundancy of warm and lively Spirits,\nare more violent and impatient of Restraint, than those in a cooler\nand less active Complexion, who however may be more eminent in the\nsuperior Faculties of the Mind: Hence it will be no wonder, that while\ntheir Propensions to Pleasure are much stronger, and their Reason much\nweaker than those of other Men, they should be less able than others,\nto resist the Allurements of criminal Delights; and this Remark is\nconfirm'd by daily Experience. How few of this facetious and comick\nSpecies of Men, caress'd and applauded for their shining Parts and\nwitty Discourses, escape the Snares that encompass them, and preserve\ntheir Vertue and Sobriety of Manners? It too often happens, that a\nMan elevated above the rest by his uncommon Genius, is as much\ndistinguish'd by his extraordinary Immorality: And it would be well\nif it stop'd here; but by degrees he often grows much worse, by adding\nImpiety and Profaneness to Looseness of Manners: For being unable,\nthat is, having a moral Impotence of Will to restrain his evil\nPropensions and govern his vicious Appetites, and finding his guilty\nEnjoyments, attended with inward Uneasiness and unavoidable Remorse,\nand being conscious that his irregular Life is inconsistent with\nSafety and Happiness in a Future State; to remove the troublesome\nMisgivings of his Mind from the Apprehensions of Guilt here, and rid\nhimself of the Fears of Suffering hereafter, he at length disclaims\nthe Belief of a Supream Being and a Future Existence, and with\nmuch ado brings over his Judgment to the side of his Passions: This\ningenious Libertine, having too little strength of Reason to subdue\nhis Appetites, and too much Wit to think, that if that be not done,\nhe shall escape at last Divine Punishment, abolishes his Creed for the\nQuiet of his Mind, and renounces his God to preserve his Vices.\n\nThe Objects about which Wit is exercis'd, are the common and less\nimportant Actions of Life. It is the Province of the Civil Magistrate\nto make Laws against enormous Crimes and great Immoralities, and by\npunishing Offenders, to deter Men from the like Transgressions; but\nthey take no notice of lower Errors, either because they have not such\nnoxious Influence on the State, or because it is impossible to foresee\nand enumerate their numberless Classes, and prevent their Growth:\nWhere then the Legislator ends, the Comick Genius begins, and presides\nover the low and ordinary Affairs and Manners of Life. It extends\nits Power and Jurisdiction over the wide Field of inferior Faults and\nridiculous Follies, over the Districts of Indiscretion, Indecency,\nand Impertinence, and is Visitor of the Regions void of Discipline,\nPoliteness, and Civility.\n\nWit is employ'd in its own Province, when the Possessor of it\nexercises his Genius on the ordinary Customs and Manners of Life,\neither in Conversation, or Comick Writing. It has therefore no\nplace in the Works where severe Knowledge and Judgment are chiefly\nexercis'd; those superior Productions of the Understanding must be\nexpress'd in a clear and strong manner, without intervening Strains\nof Wit or facetious Fancies, which, were they admitted, would appear\nincongruous and impertinent, and diminish the Merit of the Writing.\nHence Wit has no place in History, Philology, Philosophy, or in the\ngreater Lyrick or Epick Poems; the two last of which containing\neither the Praises of Deities or Demi-Gods, or treating of lofty and\nillustrious Subjects; such as the Foundation, Rise, and Revolution of\nKingdoms, Commotions of State, Battles, Triumphs, solemn Embassies,\nand various other important Actions of Princes and Heroes, are exalted\nabove the Sphere of Wit and Humour. The Strength and Dignity of the\nsublime Stile is debas'd and adulterated by the foreign and improper\nMixture of light Sentiments, and pretty Fancies. These Sallies and\nSports of the Imagination, will no more advance the Beauty of such\nsuperior Productions, than the Addition of glittering Tinsel and glass\nBeads will improve the Imperial Purple, or adorn the Crowns of great\nMonarchs. And therefore we see, with what judicious Care _Virgil_ has\navoided this Error; how clear are his celebrated Writings from the\nleast sprinkling of Wit and pleasant Conceits, which corrupt the\nPurity, debase the Majesty, and sully the Lustre of the greater\nSpecies of Poetry? And as the Gravity and Chastness of the sublime\nStile, in the Works last mention'd, will not endure the gay Ornaments\nof Fancy; so does that light Dress more misbecome the pious and wise\nDiscourses, that come either from the Pulpit or the Press. Wit is so\nfar from being a Grace or Improvement of Divine Eloquence, that on the\ncontrary, it destroys its Dignity, breaks its Force, and renders it\nbase and puerile.\n\nThe End and Usefulness of this ingenious Qualification, is to delight\nand instruct. It animates and sweetens Conversation, by raising\ninnocent Mirth and good Humour; and by this Effect it relieves\nDomestick Cares, revives Men of Business and studious Professions, and\nsoftens the Asperity of morose Dispositions. It suspends uneasy\nand anxious Thoughts, dispels cloudy and fallen Melancholy, and by\nunbending and exhilerating the Minds of the Assembly, gives them new\nLife and Spirit to resume the Labour of their respective Employments.\nThe Exercise of Wit and a pleasant Genius, excels all other\nRecreations. What is the Satisfaction that arises from Country Sports,\nor the politer Diversions of Balls and Operas, compar'd with the\ndelightful Conversation of Men of Parts and facetious Talents? Other\nAmusements, how agreeable soever, only please the Body and gratify the\nSenses, but this strikes the Imagination, touches the Passions, and\nrecreates the Intellectual Faculties. And as the Taste of the Soul is\nmore delicate and exquisite than that of the Body, so much superior\nare the Pleasures of one to those of the other: It is no wonder then,\nthat the Assemblies of Friends are dull and heavy, that Feasts and\nWine are flat Entertainments, unless some ingenious Persons are\npresent to improve their Taste, and enliven the Company by agreeable\nDiscourses.\n\nAnother part of the Province in which Wit is properly exercis'd, are\ningenious Writings, intended to please and improve the People; and\nthis is more various and extensive than Comick Poetry, tho of the same\nKind; for it takes in not only the Subjects of Prudence and Decency,\nregular Behaviour and vertuous Actions, but likewise the justness of\nHuman Sentiments and Opinions in Points of Controversy; of the\nlast, the Dialogue of Dr. _Eachard_ against Mr. _Hobbes_ is a famous\nExample, where, by great Strength and Solidity of Reason, mixt with\nagreeable Wit and Raillery, he entertains and informs the Reader, and\nat once exposes and confutes the conceited Philosopher. An Instance of\nthe first is, the celebrated History of _Don Quixote_, compil'd by\nthe _Spanish_ Wit _Michael de Cervantes_; a Book so well imagin'd,\nand writ with so much Spirit and fine Raillery, that it effectually\nprocur'd the End of the admirable Author; for by turning into Mirth\nand Ridicule the reigning Folly of Romantick Chivalry, and freeing the\nMinds of the People from that fashionable Delusion, he broke the Force\nof as strong an Enchantment, and destroy'd as great a Monster as was\never pretended to be vanquish'd by their imaginary Heroes. And many\nmore Books on other moral Subjects have been compos'd with much Wit\nand Vivacity in our own and foreign Countries, to expose Vice\nand Folly, and promote Decency and Sobriety of Manners. But the\nProductions of this Nature, which have of late appear'd in this\nNation, whether we regard the just and generous Sentiments, the\nfertile Invention, the Variety of Subjects, the surprizing Turns of\nWit and facetious Imagination, the genteel Satire, the Purity and\nPropriety of the Words, and the Beauty and Dignity of the Diction,\nhave surpass'd all the Productions of this kind, that have been\npublish'd in any Age or Country. The Reader no doubt is before-hand\nwith me, and concludes, that I mean the _Tatler_ and _Spectator_,\nwhich for the greatest Part, have all the Perfection of Writing, and\nall the Advantages of Wit and Humour, that are requir'd to entertain\nand instruct the People: And it must chiefly be owing to the great\nDepravity of Manners in these loose and degenerate Times, that such\nworthy Performances have produc'd no better Effects.\n\nBut this excellent and amiable Qualification of the Mind is too apt to\nbe abus'd and perverted to ill purposes. Instead of being ingag'd on\nthe Side of Vertue, and us'd to promote just Notions and Regularity of\nLife, it is frequently employ'd to expose the most Sacred Things,\nto turn Gravity and reserv'd Behaviour into Ridicule, to keep in\nCountenance Vice and Irreligion, and with a petulant and unrestrain'd\nLiberty, to deride the Principles and Practices of the wisest and best\nof Men. The Conversation of ingenious Libertines generally turns upon\nReveal'd Religion and the venerable Teachers of it; or on those of\nthe Laity, who seem most sincere in the Belief of Christianity, and\nexpress the greatest Conformity in their Actions to the Precepts of\nit. Nothing gives so high a Seasoning to their Raillery, and more\nimproves the Taste of their Jests, than some sharp and pointed\nIngredients, that wound Religion and the Professors of it; whereof\nsome are made the Entertainment of the Company by these facetious\nScoffers, and expos'd as Persons fetter'd with Prepossessions, and\nbiass'd by Notions of Vertue, deriv'd from Education and the early\nInstructions of canting Parents. Others are represented as indebted\nfor their Piety to the Prevalency of the Spleen, and an immoderate\nmixture of Melancholy in their Complexion, which, say they, give\nto the Mind a superstitious Turn, and fill the Head with religious\nChimeras, frightful Phantomes of Guilt, and idle Fears of imaginary\nPunishments; while others are ridicul'd as Men of a cold and\nphlegmatick Complexion, without Spirit and native Fire; who derive,\nsay they, their Vertue, not from Choice or Restraint of Appetite, but\nfrom their deadness and indisposition to Pleasure; not from the Power\nof their Reason, but the Weakness of their Passions. It would be\nendless to enumerate the various Ways which the atheistical Wit and\nmerry Libertine employ, to take off all Veneration of Religion,\nand expose its Adherents to publick Derision. This is certainly the\ngreatest Abuse of Wit imaginable. In all the Errors and monstrous\nProductions of Nature, can any appear more deform'd than a Man of\nParts, who employs his admirable Qualities in bringing Piety into\nContempt, putting Vertue to the Blush, and making Sobriety of Manners\nthe common Subject of his Mirth; while with Zeal and Industry, he\npropagates the malignant Contagion of Vice and Irreligion, poisons\nhis Friends and Admirers, and promotes the Destruction of his native\nCountry? And if these foolish Wits and ingenious Madmen could reflect,\nthey would soon be convinc'd, that while they are engag'd against\nReligion they hurt themselves; and that Wit and Humour thus\nmisapply'd, will prove but a wretched Compensation for their want of\nVertue.\n\nIn this Place I crave leave to transcribe some Passages relating to\nthis Subject, from the Writings of a good Judge of Wit, and as great\na Master of it as perhaps any Nation ever bred, I mean Archbishop\n_Tillotson_; \"I know not how it comes to pass, _says he_, that some\nMen have the Fortune to be esteem'd Wits, only for jesting out of the\ncommon Road, and for making bold to scoff at those things, which the\ngreatest Part of Mankind reverence--. If Men did truly consult the\nInterest, either of their Safety or Reputation, they would never\nexercise their Wit in such dangerous Matters. Wit is a very\ncommendable Quality, but then a wise Man should have the keeping of\nit. It is a sharp Weapon, as apt for Mischief as for good Purposes,\nif it be not well manag'd: The proper use of it is to season\nConversation, to represent what is Praise-worthy to the greatest\nAdvantage, and to expose the Vices and Follies of Men, such things as\nare in themselves truly ridiculous: But if it be apply'd to the\nAbuse of the gravest and most serious Matters, it then loses its\nCommendation. If any Man thinks he abounds in this Quality, and\nhath Wit to spare, there is scope enough for it within the Bounds of\nReligion and Decency; and when it transgresseth these, it degenerates\ninto Insolence and Impiety--And afterwards: A sharp Wit may find\nsomething in the wisest Man, whereby to expose him to the Contempt\nof injudicious People. The gravest Book that ever was written, may be\nmade ridiculous, by applying the Sayings of it to a foolish purpose,\nfor a Jest may be obtruded upon any thing; and therefore no Man ought\nto have the less Reverence for the Principles of Religion, or for the\nHoly Scriptures, because idle and profane Wits can break Jests\nupon them. Nothing is so easy, as to take particular Phrases and\nExpressions out of the best Book in the World, and to abuse them, by\nforcing an odd and ridiculous Sense upon them.\" And in another place,\nhaving mention'd the most proper Objects of Wit, he thus expresses\nhimself,--\"This I say on purpose to recommend to Men a nobler Exercise\nfor their Wits, and if it be possible, to put them out of Conceit with\nthat scoffing Humour, which is so easy and so ill-natur'd, and is not\nonly an Enemy to Religion, but to every thing else that is wise and\nworthy; and I am very much mistaken, if the State as well as the\nChurch, the Civil Government as well as Religion, do not in a short\nspace find the intolerable Inconvenience of this Humour.\"\n\nTho the Persons addicted to this impious Folly, expose the sacred\nMysteries of Christianity, and make its Votaries the common Topick of\ntheir Raillery, it cannot thence be concluded, that they are certain\nthat those whom they thus deride, as whimsical, stupid, and deluded\nMen, have not the least Reason to support their Religious Principles\nand Practice; for if they were sure of this, they would treat such\nunhappy Persons as Men rob'd of their Senses, with Tenderness and\nCompassion; for none will allow such distemper'd Minds to be proper\nSubjects of Ridicule and Derision: But those, who attentively observe\nthe Manner and Air of these jesting Libertines, when they laugh at\nVertue, will see plainly their licentious Mirth springs from other\nPrinciples; either from this, That the Example of many Persons, who\nin earnest embrace and profess the Articles of Religion, continually\ndisturbs their Opinion of themselves, and creates severe Misgivings\nand Distrust in their Minds, lest their Notions about Religion should\nnot be true, when they observe, that many Persons of eminent Parts,\nsuperior Reason and Erudition, maintain with Zeal quite contrary\nSentiments; or else it proceeds from their Hatred of Men of Vertue,\nfounded in the Dissimilitude of Dispositions and Manners, and\nDisagreement in Interest, Employments and Designs; or from an Envy of\ntheir great Merit, innocent Life, and worthy Actions, which from the\nprevailing Power of their own vicious Inclinations, they are unable\nto imitate; for after all their Raillery and Expressions of Contempt,\nVertue has that native Lustre and amiable Appearance, that will compel\nMen secretly to esteem it, even while they deride the Possessors of\nit. Such is the Pride and Vanity of degenerate Nature, that loose Men\nwill always endeavour to level the eminent Characters of religious and\nsober Persons, and reduce them to the inferior Degree of their own:\nAnd for that end, they will labour to sink the Opinion and Esteem of\nany Excellence or Merit, to which themselves can make no Pretence.\nWhile they cannot equal the bright Example of Vertue in others, they\nstrive to sully or efface it, and by turning it into Ridicule, make\nit seem rather the Dishonour and Deformity, than the Beauty and\nPerfection of the Mind: And if they can disgrace Religion, and subvert\nall moral Distinction, Men will be valu'd only for their intellectual\nEndowments, and then they imagine they have gain'd their Point, since\nthe Superiority of Wit, as they suppose, is on their Side. These\nseem to me the genuine and natural Causes, why Men of great Parts\nand extraordinary Wit, but of loose Principles and immoral Lives, who\nabove all others affect Popularity and gasp after Applause, take so\nmuch Pleasure, without the least regard to Modesty and Decency, in a\nChristian Country to mock Religion and jerk with spiteful Satire Men\nof Vertue and inoffensive Behaviour.\n\nWIT is likewise misapply'd, when exercis'd to ridicule any unavoidable\nDefects and Deformities of Body or Mind; for since nothing is a moral\nBlemish, but as it is the Effect of our own Choice, nothing can be\ndisgraceful but what is voluntary, and brought freely upon our selves;\nand since nothing is the proper Object of Raillery and Ridicule, but\nwhat is shameful, it must be a Violence to Reason and Humanity, to\nreproach and expose another for any thing that was not in his Power to\nescape. And therefore to make a Man contemptible, and the Jest of\nthe Company, by deriding him for his mishapen Body, ill figur'd Face,\nstammering Speech, or low Degree of Understanding, is a great Abuse of\ningenious Faculties.\n\nNor is it a less criminal Use of this Talent, when it is exercis'd\nin lascivious and obscene Discourses. The Venom is not less, but more\ninfectious and destructive, when convey'd by artful Insinuation and a\ndelicate Turn of Wit; when impure Sentiments are express'd by Men of a\nheavy and gross Imagination, in direct and open Terms, the Company\nare put out of Countenance, and nauseate the Coarseness of the\nConversation: but a Man of Wit gilds the Poison, dresses his wanton\nThoughts in a beautiful Habit, and by slanting and side Approaches,\npossesses the Imagination of the Hearers, before his Design is well\ndiscover'd; by which means he more effectually gains Admission to the\nMind, and fills the Fancy with immodest Ideas.\n\nNothing can be more ill-manner'd, or disagreeable to Persons of Vertue\nand Sobriety of Manners, than wanton and obscene Expressions; on\nwhich Subject the excellent Archbishop _Tillotson_ has the following\nParagraph: \"Nothing that trespasses upon the Modesty of the Company,\nand the Decency of Conversation, can become the Mouth of a wise and\nvertuous Person. This kind of Conversation would fain pass for Wit\namong some sort of Persons, to whom it is acceptable; but whatever\nsavours of Rudeness and Immodesty, and Ill-Manners, is very far from\ndeserving that Name; and they that are sober and vertuous cannot\nentertain any Discourse of this kind, with Approbation and Acceptance.\nA well bred Person will never offend in this way. And therefore it\ncannot but be esteem'd as an Affront to modest Company, and a rude\npresuming upon their Approbation, impudently taking it for granted,\nthat all others are as lewd and dissolute as themselves.\"\n\nMen of finer Spirits do likewise abuse their Parts, as well as\nmisapply their Time, when to gain Applause and increase their\nPopularity, they run, without Distinction, into Company, and by\ntoo great Condescention and false Humanity, mingle in inferior and\nunworthy Assemblies; where delighted with the silly Approbation of\nignorant Laughers, they shine forth in a great Effusion of Wit and\nHumour; by which they make themselves cheap, if not contemptible in\nthe Opinion of wise and discerning Persons. Men of singular Wit, like\nWomen of great Beauty, should never be unguarded; for if not endow'd\nwith a decent Reservedness, a modest Air, and a discreet Behaviour,\nthey sink in their Value, and by appearing in all Places, and becoming\ncommon and familiar, lose, in a great measure, their Honour, and the\nOpinion of their Merit. It is a meretricious Prostitution of Wit, when\nthe Possessors of it can deny no Addresses, and refuse no Invitations\nand Appointments, but suffer themselves to be shown at every\nEntertainment; Besides the gratifying of their Vanity, by a constant\npursuit of Approbation and Praise, which is the Spring whence this\nProdigality of Parts and waste of facetious Humour chiefly arise; it\nis evident, they spend a great deal of Time, of which a wise Man can\ngive no Account, while Wit, which should in its proper place, renew\nand revive the Spirits for useful Employment, becomes a continu'd\nDiversion, and makes everlasting Idleness the Business of Life.\n\nIt is pity that a Man of fine Spirit and a fertile, as well\nas delicate Imagination, should think himself engag'd in high\nConversation, when he is only employ'd in the lowest Affairs that\nconcern Mankind. His Post is of the same Kind, and but the next\nin Order above that of Players on Instruments, admirable Voices,\nexcellent Actors on the Stage, and famous Dancers; whose Province is\nonly to amuse and recreate; and is therefore far below theirs, who\nare either busied in governing the State, defending their Country,\nimproving the Minds, or relieving the Bodies of other Men.\n\nHence the Labours of the meanest Persons, that conduce to the Welfare\nand Benefit of the Publick, are more valuable, because more useful,\nthan the Employments of those, who apply themselves only, or\nprincipally, to divert and entertain the Fancy; and therefore must be\nas much preferable to the Occupation or Profession of a Wit, as the\nImprovement and Happiness of Men is to be regarded above their Mirth\nand Recreation. I allow, that the Talents of these ingenious Men\nare very much to be esteem'd in their proper place; that is, as they\nunbend the Mind, relieve the Satiety of Contemplation and Labour, and\nby the Delight which they give, refresh the Spirits and fit them for\nthe Returns of Study and Employment: But then it must be granted,\nthat, as I have said, this is the meanest, as being the least\nbeneficial Province in which our intellectual Faculties can be\nengag'd; and therefore these facetious Men can only claim the highest\nRank among those, who are Inventors or Ministers of Pleasure, and\nprovide Amusements and Recreations for the Busy and the Wise.\n\nI would illustrate what I have asserted by the following Reflection.\nDomestick Fowls, the Hen, the Turkey, and Goose are preferable, as\nmore useful, to the singing Bird, and the Parrot. The Ox, that ploughs\nthe Field and brings home the Harvest, the Horse, the Mule, and\neven the stupid Ass, that carry their Owners, or their Goods and\nMerchandize, are more to be regarded than the Hound, the Lap-Dog,\nand various other Animals that seem to have been created only for\nour Pleasure and Amusement: And the Reason of this is very evident,\nMankind may be very happy, and States and Kingdoms may remain in a\nflourishing Condition, tho there were no such diverting Creatures\nin the World: And from the same Consideration, Men, tho of a lower\nStation, who are not only beneficial, but necessary to the Well-being\nof Human Societies, are of far greater Importance, and therefore\ndeserve more Esteem than those, who only are subservient to our\nRecreation; for the World may still subsist, and continue in very\ncomfortable Circumstances without one, but not without the other: And\n'tis easy to name some learned and powerful Communities, the Envy and\nTerror of their Neighbours, who tho they abound in Men of good Sense\nand diligent Application to Business, yet have few Wits and Jesters\namong them to make them merry.\n\nThe Truth of what I have asserted will farther appear, if we reflect\nthat generally Men of a plain Understanding and good Sense, but of\ngreat Industry and Capacity for Business, are in all Governments\nadvanc'd to Posts of Trust and great Employments in the State, while\nmeer Wits are regarded as Men of the lowest Merit, and accordingly are\npromoted to the meaner and less profitable Places, being look'd on,\nby reason of their Inapplication and volatile Temper, as unfit for a\nhigher Station.\n\nAnother pernicious Abuse of Wit is that which appears in the Writings\nof some ingenious Men, who are so hardy as to expose from the Press\nthe most venerable Subjects, and treat Vertue and Sobriety of Manners\nwith Raillery and Ridicule. Several, in their Books, have many\nsarcastical and spiteful Strokes at Religion in general, while others\nmake themselves pleasant with the Principles of the Christian. Of\nthe last kind this Age has seen a most audacious Example in the Book\nintitul'd, _A Tale of a Tub_. Had this Writing been publish'd in a\nPagan or Popish Nation, who are justly impatient of all Indignity\noffer'd to the Establish'd Religion of their Country, no doubt but the\nAuthor would have receiv'd the Punishment he deserv'd. But the Fate of\nthis impious Buffoon is very different; for in a Protestant Kingdom,\nzealous of their Civil and Religious Immunities, he has not only\nescap'd Affronts and the Effects of publick Resentment, but has\nbeen caress'd and patroniz'd by Persons of great Figure and of all\nDenominations. Violent Party-Men, who differ'd in all Things besides,\nagreed, in their Turn, to shew particular Respect and Friendship to\nthis insolent Derider of the Worship of his Country, till at last the\nreputed Writer is not only gone off with Impunity, but triumphs in his\nDignity and Preferment. I do not know, that any Inquiry or Search was\never made after this Writing, or that any Reward was ever offer'd\nfor the Discovery of the Author, or that the infamous Book was ever\ncondemn'd to be burnt in Publick: Whether this proceeds from the\nexcessive Esteem and Love that Men in Power, during the late Reign,\nhad for Wit, or their defeat of Zeal and Concern for the Christian\nReligion, will be determin'd best by those, who are best acquainted\nwith their Character.\n\nBut the most extensive Abuse of Parts and Ingenuity, appears in the\nloose Productions of our Writers to the Stage. It was the Complaint\nof the celebrated Wit of _Spain, Michael de Cervantes_, before-cited,\nthat the Comedies in his Time were not only extravagant and monstrous\nin their Contrivance, but likewise the Exemplars of Vice and\nRepresentations of Lewdness: But had the Plays in _Spain_, at that\nTime, been as Immoral and Unchaste as the daily Entertainments of the\n_British_ Theatre, which have a manifest Tendency to vitiate the Taste\nof the People, fill their Imaginations with obscene Ideas, and their\nLives with Levity, Idleness and Luxury; I say, if that great Man,\nwhose Judgment was equal to his admirable Genius, had seen Religion\nand Vertue so derided, and Modesty, Reservedness, and Decency so\ninsulted and expos'd, his Zeal for the Honour of his Country, and his\nLove of Mankind, would have animated him to have attack'd the Comick\nPoets with the same Spirit, with which he assaulted the prevailing\nFolly of his Age, the Romantick Atchievements of Knights Errant; his\nWit and good Sense would have made those merry Authors as odious for\npoisoning the People with their loose and immoral Writings, as he made\nthe others ridiculous for their extravagant and idle Tales.\n\nNo doubt a Comedy may be so contriv'd, that it may at once become\ndelightful, and promote Prudence and Sobriety of Manners; that is,\nwhen the Characters are well chosen, justly delineated, and every\nwhere distinguish'd; When the various Manners are exactly imitated and\ncarry'd on with Propriety and Uniformity; when the principal Action\ncontains an instructive Moral, and all the Parts in a regular\nConnexion, Dependance and Proportion, illustrate and support each\nother, and have a manifest Influence on the main Event; When the\nIncidents are well imagin'd, and result from the Manners of the\nDramatick Persons, when the Turns are surprizing, the Knots or\nObstructions natural and unconstrain'd, and the unraveling of them,\ntho unforeseen, yet free and easy; and when the Diction is pure,\nproper and elegant, as well as chaste and inoffensive to the modest\nand vertuous Hearers. So regular and beautiful a Piece as this cannot\nbut greatly please and divert, as well as instruct the Audience. Nor\nis it, I imagine, from want of Knowledge of the Rules of Writing,\nnor of sufficient Genius, in which this Nation abounds, that so few\nComedies, distinguish'd by these Perfections, have been produc'd: But\nthis Defect arises partly from this, that the Comick Poets are often\nMen of loose Manners, and therefore unlikely Persons to undertake the\nPromotion and Encouragement of Vertue, of which they have no Taste,\nand to discountenance Imprudence and Immorality, when by doing so,\nthey must expose their own Character to derision; tho sometimes it may\nhappen, that a loose Poet as well as Preacher, merely from his just\nManner of Thinking, and his Sense of Decency in forming Discourses\nbecoming his Character, may entertain the Audience with laudable\nPerformances.\n\nAnother, and the chief Cause of the Immorality of the Theatre, is\nthe ill Taste of the People, who, notwithstanding they have applauded\nseveral clean and regular Ttagedies, such as those which have of late,\nappear'd that are worthy of the greatest Commendation, especially\n_Cato_ and the Plays for the most part of Mr. _Row_, as great a Genius\nfor Tragedy as any Nation in any Age has produc'd, yet still frequent\nand encoutage the loosest Comedies. It happens, that the greatest part\nof Men of Wit and Humour, who not being easy in their Fortunes,\nwork for the Stage, and are Day-Labourers to the Muses, lie under\na Necessity of bringing those Productions to Market, which are in\nFashion, and therefore vendible; while others, tho of ever so much\ngreater Value, would be turn'd back upon their Hands; nor would the\nActors, who live by their Employment, as the Comick Writers do by\ntheirs, undertake to represent an Innocent, and much less a Comedy of\nyet higher Merit.\n\nTho several Assaults have been made upon the Comick Poets in Fashion,\nand many Batteries have been rais'd against the Theatre, yet hitherto\nthey have prov'd unsuccessful; the Stage is become Impregnable, where\nloose Poets, supported by Numbers, Power, and Interest, in Defiance\nof all Rules of Decency and Vertue, still provide new Snares\nand Temptations to seduce the People, and corrupt their Manners.\nNotwithstanding the earnest Cries of this great City, that importune\nthese Writers to reform the Theatre, and no longer to infest her\nYouth, and draw their Inclinations from their Professions and\nEmployments; notwithstanding the Sighs and Tears of many once\nflourishing, but now disconsolate Families, ruin'd by the dissolute\nLives of their chief Branches, who lost their Vertue by frequenting\nthe fatal Entertainments of the Theatre; notwithstanding the wise and\nsober part of the Kingdom earnestly sollicit them to spare the\nPeople, to stop the spreading Plague and slay the destroying Pen, they\npersevere with intrepid Resolution and inexorable Cruelty, to poison\nthe Minds, and ruin the Morals of the Nation.\n\nThe great Archbishop _Tillotson_ has set our present Theatre in a true\nLight in his Discourse upon _Corrupt Communication_:\n\n\"I shall only speak a few words concerning Plays, which as they are\nnow order'd among us, are a mighty Reproach to the Age and Nation.\n\n\"To speak against them in general, may be thought too severe, and that\nwhich the present Age cannot so well brook, and would not perhaps be\nso just and reasonable; because it is very possible they might be\nso fram'd and govern'd by such Rules, as not only to be innocently\ndiverting, but instructing and useful, to put some Vices and Follies\nout of Countenance, which cannot perhaps be so decently reprov'd, nor\nso effectually expos'd and corrected any other way. But as the Stage\nnow is, they are intollerable, and not fit to be permitted in a\nciviliz'd, much less a Christian Nation. They do most notoriously\nminister both to Infidelity and Vice. By the Profaneness of them, they\nare apt to instil bad Principles into the Minds of Men, and to\nlessen that awe and reverence which all Men ought to have for God and\nReligion: and by their Lewdness they teach Vice, and are apt to infect\nthe Minds of Men, and dispose them to lewd and dissolute Practices.\n\n\"And therefore I do not see how any Persons pretending to Sobriety and\nVertue, and especially to the pure and holy Religion of our Blessed\nSaviour, can, without great Guilt, and open Contradiction to his holy\nProfession, be present at such lewd and immodest Plays, much less\nfrequent them, as too many do, who yet would take it very ill to be\nshut out of the Communion of Christians, as they would most certainly\nhave been in the first and purest Ages of Christianity.\"\n\nAnd not only wise and sober Men have declar'd their detestation of\nthe Immorality of the Stage, but eminent Poets themselves, who have\nwritten the most applauded Comedies, have own'd, that the Theatre\nstands in great need of Restraints and Regulation, and wish'd that\nPlays were compil'd in such an inoffensive Manner, that not only\ndiscreet and vertuous Persons of the Laity, but a Bishop himself,\nwithout being shock'd, might be present while they were acted. Mr.\n_Dryden_ has, up and down in his Prefatory Discourses and Dedications,\nfreely aeknowledg'd the Looseness of our Dramatick Entertainments,\nwhich sometimes he charges upon the Countenance given to it by the\ndissolute Court of King _Charles_ the Second, and sometimes upon the\nvitiated Taste of the People. In his Dedication of _Juvenal_, made\n_English_, to the late famous Earl of _Dorset_, he thus bespeaks him;\n\"As a Counsellor bred up in the Knowledge of the Municipal and\nStatute Laws may honestly inform a just Prince how far his Prerogative\nextends, so I may be allow'd to tell your Lordship, who by an\nindisputed Title are the King of Poets, what an Extent of Power you\nhave, and how lawfully you may exercise it over the petulant Scriblers\nof the Age. As Lord Chamberlain, you are absolute by your Office, in\nall that belongs to the Decency and good Manners of the Stage; You can\nbanish thence Scurrility and Profaneness, and restrain the licentious\nInsolence of the Poets and their Actors, in all things that shock the\npublick Quiet or the Reputation of private Persons, under the Notion\nof _Humour_.\" Hence it evidently appears, that Mr _Dryden_ look'd on\nthe Decency of the Stage to be violated in his Time, by licentious and\ninsolent Poets; and I wish I could say, that there is less Reason\nof Complaint in ours; In a Copy of Verses, publish'd in one of the\nVolumes of the Miscellany Poems, the same celebrated Author inveighs\nagainst the Lewdness and Pollutions of the Stage in the strongest\nExpressions that can be conceiv'd; and in his latter days, when\nhis Judgment was more Mature, he condemns all his loose and profane\nWritings to the Flames, which, he says, they justly deserve: Which\nis not only a free and ingenious Confession of his Fault, but a\nconsiderable Mark of Repentance, and worthy to be imitated by his\nSuccessors, who have broken in upon the Rules of Vertue and Modesty in\nthe like manner.\n\nTho all Men of Vertue, who wish well to Mankind, and are zealous for\nthe Happiness of their Country, cannot but observe the mischievous\nEffects of these licentious Dramatick Compositions, yet they will find\nit very difficult to suggest an effectual Remedy for the Cure of so\nobstinate an Evil. The ingenious _Spaniard_ mention'd before, for\nstopping the Progress of this contagious Lewdness in his Country,\npropos'd to the Government, that an Officer or Inspector might be\nestablish'd, with Authority to peruse and correct the Poet's Writings,\nand that no Comedies should be presented to the Publick without his\nLicence and Approbation.\n\nBut if this would have been sufficient to have prevented or remov'd\nthis hurtful Practice, the _British_ Nation would long since have had\nno reason to complain on this Subject. We have Officers intrusted\nwith this useful and important Power, and are able, if they please, to\nhinder the spreading of the Infection, by not permitting such noxious\nProductions to appear in Publick: But whether those Inspectors have\nhad a true Taste and Judgment themselves, or have diligently apply'd\nthemselves to the Reading and Amending the Comedies put into\ntheir Hands for their Approbation, or whether they comply with the\nImportunity of the Actors, who tell them, that such is the Disposition\nof the Audience, that no Plays of that kind will appear beautiful, if\nthey are strip'd of those Embellishments and Ornaments of Wit, which\nsome morose and unfashionable People stile impure and obscene, and\nthat to leave out those ingenious Strokes and Heightnings of Fancy,\nand put into the Mouths of the Actors only good Sense and modest and\nclean Expressions, is to clear and refine our Comedies from the most\nentertaining and delightful Parts: Perhaps they assure them, that the\nAudience will endure no Reformation of the Stage, and that it were\naltogether as adviseable to shut up the Doors of the Play-House, as to\nattempt a Regulation of the Pleasures and Diversions of it.\n\nBut tho Men who love their Country, born down with a Torrent of\nprofane Libertines, Persons without Taste and Distinction of Vertue\nand Vice, have almost despair'd of seeing the Comick Poets reform'd,\nand the exorbitant Liberties of the Stage restrain'd within the Limits\nof modest Language and decent Behaviour; yet now their Hopes revive,\nand they promise to themselves a sudden and effectual Reformation of\nthese Abuses, since the Government has plac'd so worthy a Person at\nthe Head of the Actors, and given him ample Authority to rectify their\nErrors: What a happy Revolution, what a regular and clean Stage may\njustly be now expected? How free from all sordid and impure Mixtures,\nhow innocent, as well as diverting, will our Comedies appear, when\nthey have been corrected and refin'd by such an accomplish'd Director\nof the Dramatick Poets? One that has a true and delicate Taste, and\nwho is sensible of the Indecencies and hurtful Nature of our Plays;\nwho has engag'd his celebrated Pen, in defiance of sneering Wits and\npowerful Libertines, on the Side of Vertue, and has propagated the\nEsteem of Morals, Humanity, Decorum and Sobriety of Manners; who\nwith great Spirit, Genius, and Courage, to his lasting Honour, has\npublickly expos'd the Absurdities, Vices, and Follies, that stain\nand disgrace the Theatre; in which Censure he has not spar'd his own\nPerformances: One who has express'd a warm Zeal on this Subject, and\ndeclar'd his generous Intention, if it were in his Power, to cleanse\nthese polluted Places, and not to suffer a Comedy to be presented but\nwhat had past a severe Examination, and where all things which might\nshock a modest Ear, or be look'd on as repugnant to good Manners,\nmight be expung'd.\n\nBut if these fair Expectations should be blasted in the Bloom, and\nnotwithstanding the vigorous Efforts which will be made by this\nReformer, Immorality shall maintain its ground and keep Possession\nof the Theatre, some other Expedients may be suggested to procure\na Regulation. It might, perhaps be desirable, that a few Persons\nof Importance, Men of Learning, Gravity, and good Taste, might be\ncommission'd by Authority, as a Check upon the Actors, to censure\nand suppress any Dramatick Entertainments that shall offend against\nReligion, Sobriety of Manners, or the Publick Peace; and all Persons\nshould be encourag'd to send them such loose or profane Passages which\nthey hear from the Stage, or read in the printed Plays: Nor will it\nbe less expedient, that they should be instructed to peruse the Plays\nalready publish'd, and which are now publickly acted, and to expunge\nall offensive and criminal Mixtures, that hereafter they may become\na clean and innocent Diversion. Besides, this End would the more\neffectually be accomplish'd, if the Writers of Comedy, Farce, and\nInterludes, were rewarded and supported by Means independent on the\nActors: For while the Poets, who write for a Maintenance, are paid by\nthe Theatre, they will be under a great Temptation to write as desir'd\nand directed by the Actors, which was the Complaint of _Cervantes_\nabove-cited, concerning the Comick Poets of _Spain_. The Actors, we\nmay safely conclude, are not restrain'd by such rigorous Precepts\nof Vertue, but that they will always be inclin'd to present those\nPerformances which will best fill the House and promote their\nInterest; and therefore they will readily humour the vitiated Taste of\nthe Audience, by acting the most immoral Plays, while they find their\naccount in doing so: And that which confirms this Observation is, that\nthey never, as far as I have heard, rejected any Comedy merely for\nits Looseness, tho I believe they have refus'd many for want of\nthat entertaining Quality. Now were the Comick Writers provided of a\nSubsistence some other way, they would be deliver'd from the Necessity\nof complying with their Actors, by writing such Plays as they\nshall bespeak, or at least approve, as the most likely to invite a\nprofitable Audience.\n\nIt would prove an effectual Remedy for this Evil, if the Ladies would\ndiscountenance these loose Comedies, by expressing their dislike, and\nrefusing to be present when they are acted: And this no doubt they\nwould do, were they inform'd, that the Comedies which they encourage\nby their Appearance at the Theatre, are full of wanton Sentiments,\nobscene Allusions, and immodest Ideas, contain'd in Expressions of\na double Meaning: for it cannot be imagin'd they would bear with\nUnconcernedness, much less with Pleasure, Discourses in Publick, which\nthey detest as unsufferable in private Convention, if they knew them\nto be unchast. And should the Ladies assert their Esteem of Vertue,\nand declare openly on the Side of Modesty, the most attractive Beauty\nof the fair Sex, as certainly they would do, if they understood how\nmuch those amiable Qualities have been expos'd and affronted by our\nmost eminent Comick Poets; this would lay the Ax to the Root, and at\none Blow destroy this pernicious Practice; for after this, what Writer\nwould transgress the Rules of Decency and Purity of Expression, when\nhe knows, that by his immodest Mixtures he shall fright the Ladies\nfrom the House?\n\nIt would be another effectual Means to redress the Grievance of the\nStage, if the Clergy could be prevail'd upon to condemn from\nthe Pulpit and the Press, as well as in their Conversation, the\nunjustifiable Entertainments of the Theatre; would they insist upon\nit, and urge it as a necessary Duty of the People to avoid these\nOccasions, and at least Appearances of Evil; would they shew them,\nthat by frequenting these unwarrantable Diversions, they rush into\nSnares, court Temptation, and invite others to follow their criminal\nExample; would they set before them the Hazard of playing on the nice\nand dubious Limits of Innocence, and adventuring to the utmost Extent\nof Vertue and the Frontier of Vice, there would be great hopes of\nstemming this strong Tide of Iniquity. And this is no more than the\nindispensable Obligation, which our Divines are under, whose proper\nProvince it is to warn the People of their Danger, and to press\nthem earnestly to fly from it. This venerable Order have, by solemn\nEngagements, set themselves apart, as spiritual Guides, to point out\nthe fatal Rocks and treacherous Sands to their Neighbours, that they\nmay not make Shipwreck of Modesty and Innocence, and plunge into the\nDepths of Irreligion and Vice: Nor is it obvious, why these Reverend\nTeachers, by their Silence and Neutrality, should give Profaneness and\nImmorality such fair Play, as if the Controversy between the Stage\nand the Pulpit were compremis'd, and the Poets and the Priests\nwere engag'd, as indeed they ought to be, in the same good Designs,\nInterests, and Pursuits. It is certain, that this Mildness, and\nfriendly Behaviour of the Clergy to the Comick Writers, cannot arise\nfrom any Respect or handsome Usage which that sacred Order has met\nwith on the Theatre, where they have been so often jerk'd and expos'd\nin such a manner, that their Divine Function has been wounded through\ntheir Sides.\n\nThe Clergy lie under such manifest Obligations to attack publick\nImmorality, wherever it is found, and by whatsoever Patrons of Power,\nDignity, and Interest it is shelter'd and supported, thar, as I\nhave suggested, it is not easy to imagine whence their Lenity and\nTenderness for the Theatre can proceed. But if the true Reason of\nit, whatever it is, and which is so hard to be accounted for, were\nremov'd, and our Divines would interest themselves with Zeal in the\nCause of Vertue, in respect to our Dramatick Entertainments, as they\nespouse and defend it in all other Instances, I cannot believe that\nthe Stage, without a Regulation, would be able to stand, when batter'd\nwith Vigor from the Pulpit. The Poets and Players would soon find\nthemselves oblig'd to restrain their licentious Conduct, reform\nthe Theatre, and present to the Town, if not instructive, at least\ninoffensive and unshocking Diversions. And it is very desirable, that\nthis Expedient were set on foot, that the Honour of the _English_\nTheatre may be retriev'd; that while we justly boast of our Priority\nin Wit and Humour to our Neighbours, we may not be oblig'd to\nacknowledge the great Inferiority of our Comedies, in respect of\nCleanness and moral Beauty: that we may not be reproach'd, that while\nwe profess a Reform'd and pure Religion, we encourage an immodest and\nunreform'd Theatre, and that we are very defective in the Practice\nof Vertue and Regularity of Manners, while these Abominations are\nindulg'd, and these unhallow'd Groves and High Places of Immorality\nare frequented without Disturbance.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNo 45 The FREE-HOLDER\n\n\nNo 45 Friday, May 25.\n\n  _Nimium risus pretium esi si probitatis impendis constat_\n  Quintil.\n\nLaughter is bought too dear, if it be at the expence of honesty.\n\n\nI have lately read, with much pleasure, the Essays upon several\nsubjects published by Sir _Richard Blackmore_; and though I agree\nwith him in many of his excellent observations, I cannot but take\nthat reasonable freedom, which he himself makes use of, with regard\nto other writers, to dissent from him in some few particulars. In his\nreflexions upon works of wit and humour, he observes how unequal they\nare to combate vice and folly; and seems to think, that the finest\nrallery and satire, though directed by these generous views, never\nreclaimed one vicious man, or made one fool depart from his folly.\n\nThis is a position very hard to be contradicted, because no Author\nknows the number or names of his converts. As for the _Tatlers_ and\n_Spectators_ in particular, which are obliged to this ingenious and\nuseful Author for the character he has given of them, they were so\ngenerally dispersed in single sheets, and have since been printed\nin so great numbers, that it is to be hoped they have made some\nproselytes to the interests, if not to the practice of wisdom and\nvirtue, among such a multitude of readers.\n\nI need not remind this learned Gentleman, that _Socrates_, who was the\ngreatest propagator of morality in the heathen world, and a martyr\nfor the Unity of the Godhead, was so famous for the exercise of this\ntalent among the politest people of antiquity, that he gained the name\nof [Greek: ha Eib\u00f4n] _the Dr\u00f4le_.\n\nThere are very good effects which visibly arose from the\nabove-mentioned performances and others of the like nature; as, in the\nfirst place, they diverted rallery from improper objects, and gave a\nnew turn to ridicule, which for many years had been exerted on persons\nand things of a sacred and serious nature. They endeavoured to make\nmirth instructive, and, if they failed in this great end, they must\nbe allowed at least to have made it innocent. If wit and humour begin\nagain to relapse into their former licentiousness, they can never hope\nfor approbation from those who know that rallery is useless when it\nhas no moral under it, and pernicious when it attacks any thing that\nis either unblameable or praise-worthy. To this we may add, what has\nbeen commonly observed, that it is not difficult to be merry on the\nside of vice, as serious objects act the most capable of ridicule; as\nthe party, which naturally favour such a mirth, is the most numerous;\nand as there are the most standing jests and patterns for imitation in\nthis kind of writing.\n\nIn the next place: Such productions of wit and humour, as have a\ntendency to expose vice and folly, furnish useful diversions to all\nkinds of readers. The good or prudent man may, by these means, be\ndiverted without prejudice to his discretion, or morality. Rallery,\nunder such regulations, unbends the mind from serious studies and\nseverer contemplations, without throwing it off from its proper bias.\nIt carries on the same design that is promoted by Authors of a graver\nturn, and only does it in another manner. It also awakens reflexion\nin those who are the most indifferent in the cause of virtue or\nknowledge, by setting before them the absurdity of such practices\nas are generally unobserved, by reason of their being common or\nfashionable: Nay, it sometimes catches the dissolute and abandoned\nbefore they are aware of it: who are often betrayed to laugh at\nthemselves, and upon reflexion find, that they are merry at their own\nexpence. I might farther take notice, that by entertainments of this\nkind, a man may be chearful in solitude, and not be forced to seek for\ncompany every time he has a mind to be merry.\n\nThe last advantage I shall mention from compositions of this nature\nwhen thus restrained, is, that they shew wisdom and virtue are far\nfrom being inconsistent with politeness and good humour. They make\nmorality appear amiable to people of gay dispositions, and refute the\ncommon objection against religion, which represents it as only fit\nfor gloomy and melancholy tempers. It was the motto of a Bishop very\neminent for his piety and good works in King _Charles_ the Second's\nreign, _In servi Deo & l\u00e6tare_, 'Serve God and be chearful.' Those\ntherefore who supply the world with such entertainments of mirth as\nare instructive, or at least harmless, may be thought to deserve well\nof mankind; to which I shall only add, that they retrieve the honour\nof polite learning, and answer those sour Enthusiasts who affect\nto stigmatize the finest and most elegant Authors, both ancient and\nmodern, (which they have never read) as dangerous to religion, and\ndestructive of all sound and saving knowledge.\n\nOur nation are such lovers of mirth and humour, that it is impossible\nfor detached papers, which come out on stated days, either to have\na general run, or long continuance, if they are not diversified and\nenlivened from time to time, with subjects and thoughts, accommodated\nto this taste, which so prevails among our countrymen. No periodical\nAuthor, who always maintains his gravity, and does not sometimes\nsacrifice to the Graces, must expect to keep in vogue for any\nconsiderable time. Political speculations in particular, however just\nand important, are of so dry and austere a nature, that they will not\ngo down with the public without frequent seasonings of this kind. The\nwork may be well performed, but will never take, if it is not set off\nwith proper scenes and decorations. A mere Politician is but a dull\ncompanion, and, if he is always wise, is in great danger of being\ntiresom or ridiculous.\n\nBesides, papers of entertainment are necessary to increase the\nnumber of readers, especially among those of different notions and\nprinciples; who by this means may be betrayed to give you a fair\nhearing, and to know what you have to say for yourself. I might\nlikewise observe, that in all political writings there is something\nthat grates upon the mind of the most candid reader, in opinions which\nare not conformable to his own way of thinking; and that the harshness\nof reasoning is not a little softned and smoothed by the infusions of\nmirth and pleasantry.\n\nPolitical speculations do likewise furnish us with several objects\nthat may very innocently be ridiculed, and which are regarded as such\nby men of sense in all parties; of this kind are the passions of our\nStates-women, and the reasonings of our Fox-hunters.\n\nA Writer who makes fame the chief end of his endeavours, and would be\nmore desirous of pleasing than of improving his readers, might find\nan inexhaustible fund of mirth in politics. Scandal and satire are\nnever-failing gratifications to the public. Detraction and obloquy\nare received with as much eagerness as wit and humour. Should a writer\nsingle out particular persons, or point his rallery at any order of\nmen, who by their profession ought to be exempt from it; should he\nslander the innocent, or satirize the miserable; or should he, even\non the proper subjects of derision, give the full play to his mirth,\nwithout regard to decency and good-manners; he might be sure of\npleasing a great part of his readers, but must be a very ill man, if\nby such a proceeding he could please himself.","title":"Essay upon Wit","tradition":"philosophy-ethics","translated_text":null,"word_count":11370}