SECTION IX. 507 tegces to virtue, and who well knew the qualities of the theatre, and its mischievous influence, writes thus of it, It would be endless to trace all the vice That from the playhouse takes immediate rise. It is the unexhausted magazine That stocks the Land with vanity and sin. By flourishing so long, Numbers have been undone, both old and young. And many hundred souls are now noblest, Which else had dy'd in peace and found eternal rest. As for any of my friends who are not yet convinced of the justice of these censures, I entreat them to read what Mr. Col- lier, Mr. Bedford, and Mr. Lawe have written on this subject. And though I would by no means justify and support every re- mark they have made, yet I think every reader who has a modest and pious soul, and has the cause of God and virtue near his heart, will be a little afraid to give his presence there, lest he should seem to encourage such incentives to iniquity and profane- ness : or if he should go thither once, merely to see and know what it is, I will persuade myselfhe will not make it his practice, or frequent that house of infection. But you will say, There is some advantage to be gained by these entertainments, there is a deal offtne language in them, and fashionable airs of conversation: there are many of the fooleries of life exposed in the theatre, which suit not a more solemn place ; and comedies will teach us to know the world, and to avoid the ridicule of the age. But let my younger friends, who are so willing to improve in their knowledge of the world and politeness, remember, that whatsoever may be gotten, there is much more to be lost among those perilous and enticing scenes of vanity : the risk of their virtue and serious religion, can never be recompensed by the learning a few fine speeches and modish airs, or the correction of some awkward and unfashionable piece of behaviour. This is to plunge headlong into the sea, that I may wash off a little dirt from my coat, or to venture on poison in order to cure q pimple. Besides, most or all of these ends might be attained by read- ing some few of the best of them in private : though I confess, I am cautious how I recommend this practice, because I think that almost all these dramatic composures in our age, have some dangerous mixtures in them. Those volumes of short essays which are entitled the Spectator, will give a sufficient knowledge of the ways of the world, and cure us of a hundred little follies, without the danger that there is in reading of plays : though even in those very volumes, I could heartily wish that here and there a leaf were left, out, wherein the writers speak too favourably of the st age, and now and then (though rarely) introduce a sentence that would raise a blush in the face of strict virtue.
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