And now by this time I conceive the ill Manners of the _Stage_ may be in some measure apparent; And that the _Clergy_ deserve none of that Coarse Usage which it puts upon them. I confess I know no _Profession_ that has made a more creditable Figure, that has better Customs for their Privileges, and better Reasons to maintain them. And here setting aside the point of Conscience, where lies the Decency of falling foul upon this _Order_? What Propriety is there in Misrepresentation? In confounding Respects, disguising Features, and painting Things out of all Colour and Complexion? This crossing upon Nature and Reason, is great Ignorance, and out of Rule. And now what Pleasure is there in Misbehaviour and Abuse? Is it such an Entertainment to see Religion worryed by Atheism, and Things the most Solemn and Significant tumbled and tost by Buffoons? A Man may laugh at a Puppy's tearing a Wardrobe, but I think 'twere altogether as discreet to beat him off. Well! but the _Clergy_ mismanage sometimes, and they must be told of their Faults. What then? Are the _Poets_ their _Ordinaries_? Is the _Pulpit_ under the Discipline of the _Stage_? And are those fit to correct the Church, that are not fit to come into it? Besides, What makes them fly out upon the _Function_; and rail by wholesale? Is the _Priesthood_ a crime, and the service of God a disadvantage? I grant Persons and Things are not always suited. A good _Post_ may be ill kept, but then the Censure should keep close to the Fault, and the Office not suffer for the Manager. The _Clergy_ may have their Failings sometimes like others, but what then? The _Character_ is still untarnish'd. The _Men_ may be Little, but the _Priests_ are not so. And therefore like other People, they ought to be treated by their best Distinction. If 'tis Objected that the _Clergy_ in _Plays_ are commonly _Chaplains_, And that these _Belonging_ to Persons of Quality they were obliged to represent them servile and submissive. To this I Answer _1st._ In my former remark, that the _Stage_ often outrages the whole _Order_, without regard to any particular Office. But were it not so in the _2d._ Place, They quite overlook the Character, and mistake the Business of _Chaplains_. They are no _Servants_, neither do they _Belong_ to any _Body_, but God Almighty. This Point I have fully proved in another, _Treatise_,[286] and thither I refer the _Reader_. CHAP. IV. _The Stage-Poets make their Principal Persons Vitious, and reward them at the End of the Play._