Why then was the _Credential_ swallow'd without chewing, why was not _Hoyden_ lock'd up, and a pause made for farther Enquiry? Did this _Justice_ never hear of such a Thing as Knavery, or had he ever greater reason to guard against it? More wary steps might well have been expected from Sir _Tunbelly_. To run from one extream of Caution, to another of Credulity, is highly improbable. In short, either Lord _Foplington_ and Sir _Tunbelly_ are Fools, or they are not. If they are, where lies the Cunning in over-reaching them? What Conquest can there be without Opposition? If they are not Fools, why does the _Poet_ make them so? Why is their Conduct so gross, so particolour'd, and inconsistent? Take them either way, and the _Plot_ miscarries. The first supposition makes it dull, and the later, incredible. So much for the _Plot_. I shall now in the _4th_. Place touch briefly upon the _Manners_. The _Manners_ in the Language of the _Stage_ have a signification somewhat particular. _Aristotle_ and _Rapin_ call them the Causes and Principles of Action. They are formed upon the Diversities of Age, and Sex, of Fortune, Capacity, and Education. The propriety of _Manners_ consists in a Conformity of Practise, and Principle; of Nature, and Behaviour. For the purpose. An old Man must not appear with the Profuseness and Levity of Youth; A Gentleman must not talk like a Clown, nor a Country Girl like a Town Jilt. And when the _Characters_ are feign'd 'tis _Horace_'s Rule to keep them Uniform, and consistent, and agreeable to their first setting out. The _Poet_ must be careful to hold his _Persons_ tight to their _Calling_ and pretentions. He must not shift, and shuffle, their Understandings; Let them skip from Wits to Blockheads, nor from Courtiers to Pedants; On the other hand. If their business is playing the Fool, keep them strictly to their Duty, and never indulge them in fine Sentences. To manage otherwise, is to desert _Nature_, and makes the _Play_ appear monstrous, and Chimerical. So that instead of an _Image of Life_, 'tis rather an Image of Impossibility. To apply some of these remarks to the _Relapser_. The fine _Berinthia_, one of the Top-Characters, is impudent and Profane. _Lovelace_ would engage her Secrecy, and bids her Swear. She answers _I do_. _Lov._ By what? Berinth. _By Woman._ Lov. _That's Swearing by my Deity, do it by your own, or I shan't believe you._ Berinth. _By Man then._[412]