Jeremy Collier

“ Jeremy Collier considered that the understanding needs a kind climate for its health, and that a reader of nice observation might ascertain from the book in what latitude, season, or circumstances, it had been written. The opponents are powerful. ”

“ His comedies are all remarkable for wit and sparkling dialogue, but their profanity and licentiousness have driven them from the stage. These latter qualities brought them under the lash of Jeremy Collier (q.v.) in his Short View of the English Stage. Congreve rushed into controversy with his critic who, however, proved too strong for him. C. was a favourite at Court, and had various lucrative offices conferred upon him. In his latter years he was blind; otherwise his life was prosperous, and he achieved his chief ambition of being admired as a fine gentleman and gallant. ”

“ In the homes and small social circles where their influence could be felt was being prepared a body of moral indignation, a desire for uprightness and purity of life, that gave to Jeremy Collier's attack on the stage in 1698 so overwhelming a response, and that was the sustaining force back of the Societies for the Reformation of Manners in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century. ”

“ The home and social life that emerges from scattered hints and records in these religious writings is as remote from that portrayed in contemporary court memoirs or diaries as is the general tone of Paradise Lost or Pilgrim's Progress, and is worth dwelling upon as illustrative of that body of almost unrecognized solid morality that gave to Jeremy Collier a background of public approval when he attacked the immorality of the stage, and through the stage, the immorality of the stage-going people. ”

“ And are People the best Friends where they have the least Reason to be so? But not only the Inclinations to Friendship must Languish upon this Scheme, but the very Powers of it are as it were destroy'd. 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 ”

“ To keep her alive only to sully her Reputation, and discover the Rankness of her Breath, was very Cruel. But it may be said the Freedoms of Distraction go for nothing, a Feavour has no Faults, and a Man non Compos, may kill without Murther. ”

“ A Great Compliment to Quality to tell them there is not above a quarter of them Honest! This was not the Roman Breeding, Terence and Plautus his Strumpets were Little people; but of this more hereafter.
3dly. They have oftentimes not so much as the poor refuge of a Double Meaning to fly to. So that you are under a necessity either of taking Ribaldry or Nonsence. And when the Sentence has two Handles, the worst is generally turn'd to the Audience. The Matter is so Contrived that the Smut and Scum of the Thought rises uppermost; And like a Picture drawn to Sight, looks always upon the Company. ”

“ There is no Vanity in necessary Defence. To wipe off Aspersions, and rescue Things from Mistake, is but bare Justice: Besides, where the Honour of God, and the Publick Interest are concern'd, a Man is bound to speak. To argue from a resembling Instance. He that has the Kings Commission ought to Maintain it. To let it suffer under Rudeness is to betray it. To be tame and silent in such cases, is not Modesty but Meanness, Humility obliges no Man to desert his Trust ”

“ And a Man that is sick, seldom has his Tast true. Besides, supposing we throw Capacity out of the Question, and make Experiment and Sensation the Judge; Granting this, we ought not to chop at every Bait, nor Fly out at every Thing that strikes the Fancy. The meer Agreableness must not overbear us, without distinguishing upon the Quality, and the Means. Pleasure how charming soever, must not be fetched out of Vice. An Estate is a pretty thing, but if we purchase by Falshood, and Knavery, {161}we pay too much for't. ”

“ I'm mistaken if we have not Lewdness enough of our own Growth, without Importing from our Neighbours. No. This can't be. 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. I hope Modesty is much better than Resemblance. The Imitation of an ill Thing is the worse for being exact: And sometimes to report a Fault is to repeat it. ”

“ Religion is insulted, and the most serious Matters turn'd into Ridicule! As if the Blindside of an Audience ought to be caress'd, and their Folly and Atheism entertain'd in the first Place. Yes, if the Palate is pleas'd, no matter tho' the Body is Poyson'd! For can one die of an easier Disease than Diversion? But Raillery apart, certainly Mirth and Laughing, without respect to the Cause, are not such supreme Satisfactions! A man has sometimes Pleasure in losing his Wits. Frensy, and Possession, will shake the Lungs, and brighten the Face ”

“ One would think Mankind were not the same, that Reason was to be read Backward, and Vertue and Vice had changed PlaceProvok'd Wife. p. 41. .
What then? Must Life be huddled over, Nature left imperfect, and the Humour of the Town not shown? And pray where lies the Grievance of all This? Must we relate whatever is done, and is every Thing fit for Representation? is a Man that has the Plague proper to make a Sight of? And must he needs come Abroad when he breaths Infection, and leaves the Tokens upon the Company? What then must we know nothing? Look you! All Experiments are not worth the making. ”

“ 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. ”

“ This Jupiter is not contented with his success against Amphitrion, unless he brings Alcmena into the Confederacy, and makes her a Party ex post Facto. He would not have her think of her Husband, but her Lover, that is, her Whoremaster. 'Tis not the success, but the manner of gaining it which is all in all. 'Tis the Vice which is the charming Circumstance. Innocence and Regularity, are dangerous Companions; They spoil Satisfaction, and make every Thing insipid! Unless People take care to discharge their Virtue, and clear off their Conscience, their Senses will vanish immediately! ”

“ There is Drum and Trumpet in his Verse. 'Tis apt to excite an Heroick Ardour, to awaken, warm, and push forward to Action. But his Mettal is not always under Management. His Inclination for the Sublime; carrys him too far: He is sometimes Embarrass'd with Epithites. His Metaphors are too stiff, and far fetch'd; and he rises rather in Sound, than in Sence. However generally speaking, his Materials are both shining and solid, and his Thoughts lofty, and uncommon. This Tragedian had always a nice regard to Good Manners. He knew corrupting the People was the greatest disservice to the Commonwealth ”

“ I'm sorry to see Art so meanly Prostituted: Atheism ought to have nothing Charming in its Retinue. 'Tis great Pity Debauchery should have the Assistance of a fine Hand, to whet the Appetite, and play it down.
Now granting the Play-House-Musick not vitious in the Composition, yet the design of it is to refresh the Idea's of the Action, to keep Time with the Poem, and be true to the Subject. For this Reason among others the Tunes are generally Airy and Gailliardizing; They are contriv'd on purpose to excite a sportive Humour, and spread a Gaity upon the Spirits. ”

“ For Priests, and Religion always stand and fall together; Now Religion is the Basis of Government, and Man is a wretched Companion without it. When Conscience takes its Leave, Good Faith, and Good Nature goes with it. Atheism is all Self, Mean and Mercenary. The Atheist has no Hereafter, and therefore will be sure to make the most of this World. Interest, and Pleasure, are the Gods he Worships, and to these he'll Sacrifice every Thing else. ”

“ Nothing will serve to settle them but a plain Text of Scripture. They hover in uncertainty because 'tis not said as expresly thou shalt not go to the Play-House, as 'tis thou shalt not Kill. But this looks more like Fencing than Argument. For we have the Meaning of the prohibition tho' not the sound, in the first Psalm. Blessed is the Man that walks not in the Council of the Ungodly, nor stands in the way of Sinners, nor sits in the Seat of the Scornful. ”

“ But Deputy Lieutenants Children don't {221}use to appear with the Behaviour of Beggars. To breed all People alike, and make no distinction between a Seat, and a Cottage, is not over artful, nor very ceremonious to the Country Gentlemen. The Relapser gives Miss a pretty Soliloquy, I'll transcribe it for the Reader.
She swears by her Maker, 'tis well I have a Husband a coming, or I'de Marry the Baker I would so. No body can knock at the Gate, but presently I must be lock'd up, and, here's the Young Gray-hound——can run loose about the House all day long, she can, 'tis very well!!p. ”

“ Collier, Jeremy (1650-1726) .—Church historian and controversialist, b. at Stow, Cambridgeshire, ed. at Ipswich and Camb., entered the Church, and became Rector of Ampton, Suffolk, lecturer of Gray's Inn, London, and ultimately a nonjuring bishop. He was a man of war from his youth, and was engaged in controversies almost until his death. His first important one was with Gilbert Burnet, and led to his being imprisoned in Newgate. He was, however, a man of real learning. ”

“ In 1712 George Hickes was the only survivor of the nonjuring bishops, and in the next year Collier was consecrated. He had a share in an attempt made towards union with the Greek Church. He had a long correspondence with the Eastern authorities, his last letters on the subject being written in 1725. Collier preferred the version of the Book of Common Prayer issued in 1549, and regretted that certain practices and petitions there enjoined were omitted in later editions. His first tract on the subject, Reasons for Restoring some Prayers (1717) , was followed by others. ”

“ To make sure work on't, there's nothing like Destroying of Principles; Practise must follow of Course. For to have no good Principles, is to have no Reason to be Good. Now 'tis not to be expected that people should check their Appetites, and balk their Satisfactions, they don't know why. If Virtue has no Prospect, 'tis not worth the owning. Who would be troubled with Conscience if 'tis only a Bugbear, and has nothing in't but Vision, and the Spleen? ”

“ Smuttiness is a Fault in Behaviour as well as in Religion. 'Tis a very Coarse Diversion, the Entertainment of those who are generally least both in Sense, and Station. The looser part of the Mob, have no true relish of Decency and Honour, and want Education, and Thought, to furnish out a gentile Conversation. Barrenness of Fancy makes them often take up with those Scandalous Liberties. A Vitious Imagination may blot a great deal of Paper at this rate with ease enough: And 'tis possible Convenience may sometimes invite to the Expedient. ”

“ 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. ”

“ A Lewd Play with good Musick is like a Loadstone Arm'd, it draws much stronger than before.
Now why should it be in the power of a few mercenary Hands to play People out of their Senses, to run away with their Understandings, and wind their Passions about their Fingers as they list? Musick is almost as dangerous as Gunpowder; And it may be requires looking after no less than the Press, or the Mint. 'Tis possible a Publick Regulation might not be amiss. No less a Philosopher than Plato seems to be of this Opinion. He is clearly for keeping up the old grave, and solemn way of Playing. ”

“ Tun-belly falls into the same Misfortune of a Wit, and rallies above the force of his Capacity.p. 85. But the place having a mixture of Profaness, I shall forbear to cite it. Now to what purpose should a Fools Coat be embroider'd? Finery in the wrong place is but expensive Ridiculousness. Besides, I don't perceive the Relapser was in any Condition to be thus liberal. And when a Poet is not overstock'd, to squander away his Wit among his Block-heads, is meer Distraction. His men of Sense will smart for this prodigality. Lovelace in his discourse of Friendship, shall be the first Instance. ”

“ To exchange Virtue for Behaviour is a hard Bargain. Is not plain Honesty much better than Hypocrisy well Dress'd? What's Sight good for without Substance? What is a well Bred Libertine but a well bred Knave? One that can't prefer Conscience to Pleasure, without calling himself Fool: And will sell his Friend, or his Father, if need be, for his Convenience.
In short: Nothing can be more disserviceable to Probity and Religion, than the management of the Stage. It cherishes those Passions, and rewards those Vices, which 'tis the business of Reason to discountenance. ”

“ And yet it may be, they might meet some there lamenting their own Debauchery. No Man will breed his Son upon the High-way, to harden his Courage; Neither will any one go on board a Leaky Vessel, to learn the Art of shifting in a Wreck the better. My conclusion is, let no body go to the Infamous Play-House. A place of such staring Contradiction to the Strictness and Sobriety of Religion: A Place hated by God, and haunted by the Devil. Let no man I say learn to relish any thing that's said there; For 'tis all but Poyson handsomly prepared.' Didac. ”