Page:An Essay on the Opera's After the Italian Manner.pdf/14

 a People mut have a very good hare of Virtue as well as Undertanding before they can receive it among them, that it is o very agreeable to good Government, that mot of the great Men who have writ of the Art of Governing, from Plato down to Harrington, have writ either Plays or Directions, or Rules for the Stage. That ome of the greatet Monarchs and greatet Miniters of State have not only encourag’d Plays, but have writ them themelves; that ome of the greatet Philoophers have done the ame, that here in England indeed Two or Three formal affected Bigots have endeavour’d to contradict all thee and the common Sene of Men, and upon a pretence of making all Men good Chritians, which Chrit and his Apotles have o often told us never will be, have actually made Thouands ten times wore than they would have been without them. That the conequence of their Writings has been, that Plays have been for ome Yeans dicourag’d, and Diverions etablih’d in the room of them, that have really been and are like to be ten times more prejudicial to the Publick than ever Plays were pretended to be. That one of thoe Diverions has been gaming, which has done unpeakable harm to both Sexes in every part of the Town: That gaming, ince the publihing the Books againt the Stage has increas’d Ten-fold, and that the number of Bankrupts during that time has been as much augmented; that the number of Cuckolds in all likely-hood has advanc’d proportionably: That gaming, by giving