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INTRODUCTION


In the spring of 1698 the rumblings against the excesses of the
English stage broke into a roar with the publication of Jeremy
Collier's _Short View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English
Stage_. A wild joyousness marked Collier's attack, and at times it
seemed as though the zeal of the Lord had eaten him up. But he was no
enthusiast without plan or reason. A man of some learning, he used it
for all it was worth to confound the playwrights and the critics.

Collier was careful to make good use of accepted and honored critical
principles. He contended that the purpose of the stage is to instruct;
he argued for poetic justice; he discussed the unities; he spoke of