But the most extensive Abuse of Parts and Ingenuity, appears in the
loose Productions of our Writers to the Stage. It was the Complaint
of the celebrated Wit of _Spain, Michael de Cervantes_, before-cited,
that the Comedies in his Time were not only extravagant and monstrous
in their Contrivance, but likewise the Exemplars of Vice and
Representations of Lewdness: But had the Plays in _Spain_, at that
Time, been as Immoral and Unchaste as the daily Entertainments of the
_British_ Theatre, which have a manifest Tendency to vitiate the Taste
of the People, fill their Imaginations with obscene Ideas, and their
Lives with Levity, Idleness and Luxury; I say, if that great Man,
whose Judgment was equal to his admirable Genius, had seen Religion
and Vertue so derided, and Modesty, Reservedness, and Decency so
insulted and expos'd, his Zeal for the Honour of his Country, and his
Love of Mankind, would have animated him to have attack'd the Comick
Poets with the same Spirit, with which he assaulted the prevailing
Folly of his Age, the Romantick Atchievements of Knights Errant; his
Wit and good Sense would have made those merry Authors as odious for
poisoning the People with their loose and immoral Writings, as he made
the others ridiculous for their extravagant and idle Tales.
No doubt a Comedy may be so contriv'd, that it may at once become
delightful, and promote Prudence and Sobriety of Manners; that is,
when the Characters are well chosen, justly delineated, and every
where distinguish'd; When the various Manners are exactly imitated and
carry'd on with Propriety and Uniformity; when the principal Action
contains an instructive Moral, and all the Parts in a regular
Connexion, Dependance and Proportion, illustrate and support each
other, and have a manifest Influence on the main Event; When the
Incidents are well imagin'd, and result from the Manners of the
Dramatick Persons, when the Turns are surprizing, the Knots or
Obstructions natural and unconstrain'd, and the unraveling of them,
tho unforeseen, yet free and easy; and when the Diction is pure,
proper and elegant, as well as chaste and inoffensive to the modest
and vertuous Hearers.
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