Jeremy Collier

“ Or in plain English, our Souls are nothing but our Bodies. And then when the Body dies you may guess what becomes of them! Thus the Authorities of Religion are weaken'd, and the prospect of the other World almost shut up. And is this a likely Supposition for Sincerity and good Nature? Do's Honour use to rise upon the Ruines of Conscience? And are People the best Friends where they have the least Reason to be so? ”

“ Have we not a clearer Light to direct us, and greater Punishments to make us afraid. Is there no Distinction between Truth and Fiction, between Majesty and a Pageant? Must God be treated like an Idol, and the Scriptures banter'd like Homers Elysium, and Hesiods Theogonia? ”

“ To go to Heaven in jeast, is the way to go to Hell in earnest. In the Fourth Act, Lewdness is represented with that Gaity, as if the Crime was purely imaginary, and lay only in ignorance and preciseness. ”

“ Swearing looks like the beginning of a Quarrel, to which Women have an aversion: As being neither armed by Nature, nor disciplin'd by Custome for such rough Disputes. A Woman will start at a Soldiers Oath, almost as much as at the Report of his Pistol: And therefore a well Bred Man will no more Swear, than Fight in the Company of Ladies.
A Second Branch of the Profaness of the Stage is their Abuse of Religion, and Holy Scripture. And here sometimes they don't stop short of Blasphemy. ”

“ Profaness tho' never so well corrected is not to be endured. It ought to be Banish'd without Proviso, or Limitation. No pretence of Character or Punishment, can excuse it; or any Stage-Discipline make it tolerable. 'Tis grating to Christian Ears, dishonourable to the Majesty of God, and dangerous in the Example. And in a Word, It tends to no point, unless it be to wear off the horrour of the Practise, to weaken the force of Conscience, and teach the Language of the Damn'd. ”

“ Love, and Quarrels, Success, and Disappointment, Temper, and Passion, must be varnish'd, and set off with Oaths. At some times, and with some Poets Swearing is no ordinary Releif. It stands up in the room of Sense, gives Spirit to a flat Expression, and makes a Period Musical and Round. In short, 'tis almost all the Rhetorick, and Reason some People are Masters of: The manner of performance is different. Some times they mince the matter; change the Letter, and keep the Sense,Gad for God. as if they had a mind to steal a Swearing, and break the Commandement without Sin. ”

“ What Christian can be unconcern'd at such intolerable Abuses? What can be a juster Reason for indignation than Insolence and Atheism? Resentment can never be better shown, nor Aversion more seasonably exerted! Nature made the Ferment and Rising of the Blood, for such occasions as This. ”

“ Here the Poet stands for Abraham; and the Patron for God Almighty: And where lies the Wit of all this? In the Decency of the Comparison? I doubt not. And for the next City he would have spared, he is out in the Allusion. 'Tis no Zoar, but much rather Sodom and Gomorrah, Let them take care the Fire and Brimstone does not follow: And that those who are so bold with Abraham's Petition, are not forced to that of Dives. To beg Protection for a Lewd Book in Scripture Phrase, is very extraordinary! 'Tis in effect to Prostitute the Holy Rhetorick, and send the Bible to the Brothell! ”

“ He that prefers his Conscience to his Life, and has Courage to Maintain his Reason; He that is thus qualified must be a good Friend; And he that falls short, is no good Christian. And since the Poet is pleas'd to find fault with Christianity, let us examine his own Scheme. Our Minds (says he) are perpetually wrought on by the Temperament of our Bodies, which makes me suspect they are nearer Allyed than either our Philosophers, or School Divines will allow them to be.Ibid. ”

“ By this Systeme no Man can say his Soul is his own. He can't be assured the same Colours of Reason and Desire will last. Any little Accident from without may metamorphose his Fancy, and push him upon a new set of Thoughts. Matter and Motion are the most Humorsom Capricious Things in Nature ”

“ Because they are not blasted with Lightning, transfixt with Thunder, and Guarded off with Devils, they think there's no such matter as a day of Reckoning. But let no Man be Deceiv'd, God is not mock'd;Gal. 6. not without danger they may be assur'd. Let them retreat in time, before the Floods run over them: Before they come to that place, where Madness will have no Musick, nor Blasphemy any Diversion.
And here it may not be amiss to look a little into the Behaviour of the Heathens. Now 'tis no wonder to find them run riot upon this Subject. ”

“ An Author must have Right done him, and be shown in his own shape, and Complexion. Yes by all means! Vice must be disrobed, and People poyson'd, and all for the sake of Justice! To do Right to such an Author is to burn him. ”

“ In short a Man at this rate must be a Friend or an Enemy in spite of his Teeth, and just as long as the Atoms please and no longer. Every Change in Figure and Impulse, must alter the Idea, and wear off the former Impression. So that by these Principles, Friendship will depend on the Seasons, and we must look in the Weather Glass for our Inclinations. But this 'tis to Refine upon Revelation, and grow wiser than Wisdom! ”

“ The Modern Poets, proceed upon the Liberties of Seneca, Their Madmen are very seldom reckon'd with. They are profane without Censure, and defie the Living God with success. Nay, in some respect they exceed even Seneca himself. He flies out only under Impatience ”

“ The Imitation of an ill Thing is the worse for being exact: And sometimes to report a Fault is to repeat it.
To return to his Plays. In Love Triumphant, Garcia makes Veramond this Compliment:
May Heaven and your brave Son, and above all,
Your own prevailing Genius guard your Age.Love Triumph. p. 3.
What is meant by his Genius, in this place, is not easy to Discover, only that 'tis something which is a better Guard than Heaven. But 'tis no Matter for the Sense, as long as the Profaness is clear. In this Act, Colonel Sancho lets Carlos know the old Jew is dead, which he calls good news. ”

“ And since the Business must be undertaken, why was not the Thought Blanched, the Expression made remote, and the ill Features cast into shadows? I'm mistaken if we have not Lewdness enough of our own Growth, without Importing from our Neighbours. ”

“ And the Stage must either reform, or not thrive upon Profaness.
3dly Swearing in the Playhouse is an ungentlemanly, as well as an unchristian Practice. The Ladies make a considerable part of the Audience. Now Swearing before Women is reckon'd a Breach of good Behaviour, and therefore a civil Atheist will forbear it. The custom seems to go upon this Presumption; that the Impressions of Religion are strongest in Women, and more generally spread. ”

“ But to make Ballads upon the Statute-Book, and a Jest of Authority, is much worse. Atheists may fancy what they please, but God will Arise and Maintain his own Cause, and Vindicate his Honour in due time. ”

“ Why the rich Jew my Father. He is gone to the Bosom, of Abraham his Father, and I his Christian Son am left sole Heir.Id. p. 11. A very mannerly Story! But why does the Poet acquaint us with Sanchos Religion? The case is pretty plain: 'tis to give a lustre to his Profaness, and make him burlesque St. Luke with the better Grace. Alphonso complains to Victoria that Nature doats with Age.Id. p. 11. His reason is, because Brother and Sister can't Marry as they did at first: 'Tis very well! We know what Nature means in the Language of Christianity, and especially under the Notion of a Law-giver. ”

“ The Manicheans who made Creation the work of the Devil, could scarcely have been thus Coarse.26. But the Poet was Jeremy's Tutor, and so that Mystery is at an end. Sr. Samson carries on the Expostulation, rails at the Structure of Human Bodies, and says,p. 27. Nature has been Provident only to Bears, and Spiders; This is the Authors Paraphrase on the 139 Psalm; And thus he gives God thanks for the Advantage of his Being! The Play advances from one wickedness to another, from the Works of God, to the Abuse of his Word. Foresight confesses 'tis Natural for Men to mistake.p. ”

“ Certainly the Poet never expects to be there. Such a light Turn would have agreed much better to a Man who was in the Dark, and was feeling for his Stockings. But let those who talk of Fumbling for their Limbs, take care they don't find them too fast. ”

“ Tattle I thank you, you would have interposed between me and Heaven, but Providence has laid Purgatory in your way.p. 91. Thus Heaven is debas'd into an Amour, and Providence brought in to direct the Paultry concerns of the Stage! Angelica concludes much in the same strain: Men are generally Hypocrites And Infidels, they pretend to Worship, but have neither Zeal, nor Faith; How few like Valentine would persevere unto Martyrdom? ”

“ But then his Eye is burnt out in the fifth Act. And the Chorus in Heraclidæ affirm it next to Madness not to worship the Gods. I grant he has some profane Passages stand uncorrected, and what wonder is it to see a Pagan Miscarry? Seneca, as he was inferiour in Judgment to the Greeks, so he is more frequent, and uncautious, in his Flights of extravagance. His Hero's and Heroines, are excessively bold with the Superior Beings. They rave to Distraction, and he does not often call them to an account for't. 'Tis true Ajax Oileus is made an Example for Blaspheming in a Storm. ”

“ That is, it sees Wickedness but conceals it. He Courts much at the same rate a little before. When a Man comes to a great Lady, he is fain to approach her with Fear, and Reverence, methinks there's something of Godliness in't.p. 24. Here you have the Scripture burlesqu'd, and the Pulpit Admonition apply'd to Whoring.Hebr. 12.
34. 36. Afterwards Jacinta out of her great Breeding and Christianity, swears by Alla, and Mahomet, and makes a Jest upon Hell. Wildblood tells his Man that such undesigning Rogues as he, make a Drudge of poor Providence. ”

“ For the Gods whom all People have the greatest reason to fear, are most slighted by him.Pseud. A. 1. 3.
The Greek Tragedians are more staunch, and write nearer the Scheme of Natural Religion. 'Tis true, they have some bold expressions: But then they generally reprove the Liberty, and punish the Men. Prometheus in Æschylus blusters with a great deal of Noise, and Stubborness.Prom. vinct. 57. He is not for changing Conditions with Mercury: And chuses rather to be miserable, than to submit even to Jupiter himself. The Chorus rebuke him for his Pride, and threaten him with greater Punishment. ”

“ A little before, Lætitia when her Intrigue with Bellmour was almost discover'd, supports her self with this Consideration. All my comfort lies in his impudence, and Heaven be prais'd, he has a Considerable Portion. This is the Play-house Grace, and thus Lewdness is made a part of Devotion! Ther's another Instance still behind: 'Tis that of Sharper to Vain-Love, and lies thus.
I have been a kind of God Father to you, yonder: I have promis'd and vow'd something in your Name, which I think you are bound to Perform.Id. 49. For Christians to droll upon their Baptism is somewhat extraordinary ”