he became half demented, rushing into extravagance and dishonesty. And now that the hunt was up he blew his tantivy horn, declared himself huntsman, and halloing on his pack, rode himself desperately back into official grace. For after all, martyrdom when too prolonged is apt to lose its point. His book fell like a thunderbolt into the coffee-houses and drawing-rooms where art was discussed with intelligence, and life lived reasonably according to the manners of the day. Nobody could quite penetrate the design of this squib, with its absurd confusion of issues; a true jeremiad in style, in which to dally with vice seemed the same sort of crime as to trifle with the Aristotelian unities. Congreve, who had been severely handled, was as much bewildered as hurt; Wycherley was growling angrily in the country; while Dryden, who at his age was not going to allow himself to be much bothered, was contemptuously ready to admit anything, since no admission of the kind Collier sought would affect the literary quality of his plays. The actors, for their part, professed themselves quite at a loss. Everybody knew the stage to be a moral instrument, so why should Collier attack it? They were forced to be content with the solution of the actor Haines, who said that "Collier himself was a morality mender, and, you know, two of a trade never agree ". Vanbrugh, whose scent seemed to stink hottest in the nose of the pack, could not make head nor tail of all this pother made by one of those very | carpers "with plod shoes, a little band, and greasy hair" against whom he had warned the readers of The Relapse. He could not understand why he should be singled out above all others as a monster of depravity. Surely one need not pay much attention; for men of sense would 1 Cibber. never think any the worse of a play or of its author on account of the mud-slinging of a man who runs amuck at all'. No doubt the affair would soon blow over. The worst of it was, however, that the book achieved instant and enormous popularity. Edition after edition was called for. Collier was hailed as a great reformer, and the decree of outlawry against him allowed to fall into abeyance. Thousands welcomed the book with that acrimonious delight with which the stupid always greet an attack upon their betters in intellect or sensibility. Perhaps also the citizens saw their chance of retaliating upon the heartless playwrights who always made the 'cit' look a goat, and duly supplied him with horns. No doubt Alderman Fondlewife and Alderman Gripe presented copies to their consorts. Collier certainly knew his public; and moreover the book was vigorously written, and amusing to read, whatever view of art or morality you might hold. And it soon became clear that it was a dangerous book, for early in May the justices of Middlesex presented ' the playhouses to be 'nurseries of debauchery and blasphemy', and they also presented Congreve for writing The Double Dealer, D'Urfey Don Quixote, and Tonson and Briscoe for printing these works. They further declared that "women frequenting the playhouses in masks tended much to debauchery and immorality"," a side-issue in which they were probably right. Indeed, Collier's pack yelped so noisily that a drowsy and neglected act of James I against profane swearing,2 to which the reverend divine had drawn attention, was put into force. Prosecutions were begun for lewdness and blasphemy; and informers stationed in the theatres Luttrell, 10th and 12th May 1698. 2 Ward. For text see Courthope, p. 95. caught the words from the mouths of the actors, and carried them red-hot to the justices. It was evident that this young histrio-mastix' would have to be answered. The play from the other side began on the 17th of May with A Vindication of the Stage, perhaps by Wycherley,1 a light, amusing piece of writing that had no effect whatever. It was followed by a volume of Filmer's, not much to the purpose, being chiefly concerned to show that the Greeks and Romans were not free from the guilt of having written smutty things. On the 6th June, however, there appeared the only considerable answer, by Dennis, the raging critic, who in The Usefulness of the Stage laid stress upon Collier's unfair controversial method, and also gave the sense of antiquity upon the argument, turning the tables with some skill. For instance, Collier had quoted the lines of Ovid which Dryden had translated: But above all, the Play-House is the Place; There's Choice of Quarry in that narrow Chace. apropos of which Dennis quoted a little more Ovid anent the value of Church Parade for the same purpose, and remarked, " And have we not here a merry person, who brings an authority against going to theatres, which is as direct against going to church? Nay, and upon the very same account too." Such hits were telling, but on the whole the book was too learned, and attacked the question from too high an angle of general philosophic aesthetics, to act as an effective counterblast. The public, indeed, had small time to digest that work, for two days after its issue there appeared A Short Vindication of The Relapse and the Provok'd Wife, 1 Gosse, Congreve; Macaulay, Rest. Dram. 66 of course by Vanbrugh, though like the plays it bore no signature. Collier's 'lampoon', he declared, although contemptible enough, was now a thing no farther to be laughed at ", because it had "got credit enough to brand the persons it mentions". But although it must be answered, it was extremely difficult to do so, because Collier's "play is so wild, I must be content to take the ball as it comes, and return it if I can ". The Short View was indeed a slippery thing, for, as Dennis had written with a virulence almost equal to Collier's, the parson was so far from having shown in his book either the meekness of a Christian, or the humility of an exemplary pastor, that he has neither the reasoning of a man of sense in it, nor the style of a polite man, nor the sincerity of an honest man, nor the humanity of a gentleman or a man of letters ". Vanbrugh could not hope to equal this Jeremiah Collier in invective, nor would he wish to imitate his florid polemics. He could only oppose the common-sense view of a man of the world, and this, unless handled by a master, offers but meagre resistance to fanatical revilings. So wild indeed was Collier's play, that not only was it sometimes impossible to see into what part of the court he was aiming the ball, but in some places it was beyond the endeavours of man to take him seriously. To do so, to make too vigorous a defence, might even expose a man to ridicule. What could you make of a fellow who said that the characters in The Relapse" swore in solitude and cold blood, under thought and deliberation, for business. and exercise ", and declared this to be a terrible circumstance', when after all, the stretch of the profaneness lay in Lord Foppington's 'Gad!' and Miss Hoyden's 'Icod!'? "This ", said Vanbrugh, "is all this gentleman's zeal is in such a ferment about." Now," he continued, "whether such words are entirely justifiable or not, there's this at least to be said for 'em: that people of the nicest rank both in their religion and their manners throughout Christendom use 'em." That certainly might be a sufficient defence for their use by frail flesh in daily life, but was it applicable to a work of art? If Collier attacked a play as though it were a sermon, Vanbrugh defended it as though it might be a speech in Parliament. But Vanbrugh had done worse than offend against decorum, he had jested against the holy order of priests, and the Reverend Mr. Collier, taking one or two phrases such as Berinthia's " Mr. Worthy used you like a text, he took you all to pieces", brought all his turgid eloquence to bear on the assault. "There are few of these last Quotations", he fumed, "but what are plain Blasphemy, and within the Law. They look reeking from Pandaemonium, and almost smell of Fire and Brimstone. This is an Eruption of Hell with a Witness! I almost wonder the smoke of it has not darken'd the Sun, and turned the air to Plague and Poison! These are outrageous Provocations; enough to arm all Nature in Revenge; to exhaust the Judgements of Heaven, and sink the Island in the Sea!" For a simple-minded gentleman, who has merely designed to divert the spleen of his countrymen, to be accused of nearly bringing the worst horrors of the Apocalypse upon his native land, must be sore trial-when it gets beyond a joke-for how can one answer preposterous fustian? Indeed, at one point Vanbrugh gave up the contest as hopeless, and resorted to burlesque. When Collier accused him of denying revealed light by making Amanda say, "Good Gods, what slippery stuff are men composed of! Sure the account of the creation's false, and 'twas the woman's rib they |