if
the present Stage has not been so terrible an Enemy to Christianity,
but on the contrary, has afforded a great deal of good to the World;
that a Regulated Stage wou'd be of infinite Service to the Nation.

I have proposed it as an Argument in Defence of a Regular Stage, that
it lies on its Adversaries to prove it against Law or Scripture, and
so might leave it justify'd till some Person or other make the
Discovery to the World: But because 'tis my Opinion 'tis utterly
impossible, I shall give you some Reasons why I think it not only
lawful in it self but very necessary in this populous City. And,
First, if we consider the Matter that ought to be represented, whether
it be Tragedy or Comedy; there is nothing in either that can offend
Religion or Good Manners.

Tragedy is a Representation of an Action by some Great Man, teaching
us to regulate our Passions with exactness, and by shewing the strange
and differing Accidents of Life, to which the most important Persons
are subject; proving to us that Vice never goes unpunished; and that
true Happiness does not chiefly consist in the Enjoyment of this
World.

Comedy is a Representation of common Conversation; and its Design is
to represent things Natural; to shew the Faults of Particular Men in
order to correct the Faults of the Publick, and to amend the People
thro' a fear of being expos'd, with this Observation, That the
Ridiculous of the Stage is to be only a Copy of the Ridiculous found
in Nature.

In short, 'tis the Property both of Tragedy and Comedy to instruct:
The Characters in both are to be Natural; and the Persons concern'd in
the whole Action, are to be such whose Vertues ought to provoke us to
an Emulation, or whose Vices ought to deter us from imitating their
Example, The Language and Sentiments are to be suitable to each
Character: A Wife, Good, and Great Man is to say nothing but what is
natural for such a one to say: The Gallant Man is to appear with all
the Qualities of a Man of Honour: and the Fool in his proper colour'd
Coat. The Vices of the Wicked are not to be represented so nicely, as
punish'd severely; that is, a Vicious Person is not to be allow'd to
plead in favour of his Vices, or to represent his Villany so calmly as
to tempt any Man to try Practices in another Place. Vice is only to be
brought there to be condemn'd, and the reason of this is, that our
Terrour may be excited, and all our Passions vent themselves with
Strength and Reason