They decry the play,
but in such a manner, that it has the effect of a recommendation. They
call it "a dull entertainment;" and that is a dangerous word, I must
confess, from one of the greatest masters in human nature, of that
faculty. Now I can forgive them this reproach too, after all the rest;
for this play does openly discover the original and root of the
practices and principles, both of their party and cause; and they are
so well acquainted with all the trains and mazes of rebellion, that
there is nothing new to them in the whole history. Or what if it were
a little insipid, there was no conjuring that I remember in "Pope
Joan;" and the "Lancashire Witches" were without doubt the most
insipid jades that ever flew upon a stage; and even these, by the
favour of a party, made a shift to hold up their heads.[4] Now, if we
have out-done these plays in their own dull way, their authors have
some sort of privilege to throw the first stone; but we shall rather
chuse to yield the point of dulness, than contend for it, against so
indisputable a claim.
But "matters of state (it seems) are canvassed on the stage, and
things of the gravest concernment there managed;" and who were the
aggressors, I beseech you, but a few factious, popular hirelings, that
by tampering the theatres, and by poisoning the people, made a
play-house more seditious than a conventicle; so that the loyal party
crave only the same freedom of defending the government, which the
other took beforehand of exposing and defaming it.
Pages:
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169