in a Christian Nation, They do most notoriously minister_, says he,
_both to Infidelity and Vice. By the Prophaneness of them they are apt
to instil bad Principles into the Minds of Men, and to lessen that Awe,
and Reverence which all Men ought to have for God and Religion: and by
their Lewdness they teach Vice, and art apt to infect the Minds of Men,
and dispose them to Lewd and Dissolute Practices. And therefore_, says
he, _I do not see how any Person pretending to Sobriety and Virtue, and
especially to the pure and holy Religion of our Blessed Saviour; can,
without great Guilt and open Contradiction to his Holy Profession, be
present at such Lewd and Immodest Plays, much less frequent them, as too
many do, who would yet take it very ill to be shut out of the Communion
of Christians, as they would most certainly have been in the first and
purest Ages of Christianity._

This is the Opinion, _Madam_, of that Excellent Man: and, one would
think, it should put those Persons who are the Encouragers of Plays, and
the Frequenters of them, when they read it, upon an Enquiry, What it is
they are doing? Whether they are not carrying on the Designs of the
great Enemy of Mankind? But if that will not prevail upon them, let 'em
reflect upon the late Instance of God's _severe Displeasure_ against us,
and tell me then, whether they think it consistent with that
_Humiliation_ and _Repentance_ which this great Judgment ought to awaken
in us, and which _Her Majesty_, by Her late Gracious _Proclamation_,
calls upon us to Exercise, to be ever again present at a _Place_, where
they must often hear the Name of _God_ Prophaned, and every thing that
is _Serious_ made a Jest of? A _Place_ which they cannot but know, and
must own, (if put to the Question) has contributed so much to the
_Corrupting_ the present Age; and which, 'tis to be fear'd, is one of
those _accursed things_, that has provok'd the Almighty to be so angry
with us.