“A Popish prince, to a Protestant kingdom, without more, must be the most insufferable tyrant, and exceed the character that any story can furnish for that sort of monster:  And yet all the while to himself a religious and an applauded prince; discharged from the tortures that ordinarily tear and rend the hearts of the most cruel princes, and make them as uneasy to themselves as they are to their subjects, and sometimes prevail so far as to lay some restraints upon their wicked minds.

  “But this his patron will impute to his want of judgment; for this
  poet’s heroes are commonly such monsters as Theseus and Hercules
  are, renowned throughout all ages for destroying.

“But to excuse him, this man hath forsaken his post, and entered upon another province.  To “The Observator"[2] it belongs to confound truth and falsehood; and, by his false colours and impostures, to put out the eyes of the people, and leave them without understanding.

  “But our poet hath not so much art left him as to frame any thing
  agreeable, or verisimilar, to amuse the people, or wherewith to
  deceive them.

  “His province is to corrupt the manners of the nation, and lay waste
  their morals; his understanding is clapt, and his brains are
  vitiated, and he is to rot the age.

“His endeavours are more happily applied, to extinguish the little remains of the virtue of the age by bold impieties, and befooling religion by impious and inept rhymes, to confound virtue and vice, good and evil, and leave us without consciences.

  “And thus we are prepared for destruction.

  “But to give the world a taste of his atheism and impiety, I shall
  recite two of his verses, as recited upon the stage, viz.

    For conscience, and heaven’s fear, religious rules,
    They are all state-bells to toll in pious fools;

which I have done the rather, that some honest judge, or justice, may direct a process against this bold impious man; or some honest surrogate, or official, may find leisure to proceed, ex officio, against him, notwithstanding at present they are so encumbered with the dissenters.

  “Such public blasphemies against religion, never were unpunished in
  any country, or age, but this.

  “But I have made too long a digression, but that it carries with it
  some instructions towards the preserving of the honour of your
  august city, viz.

“That you do not hereafter authorise the stage to expose and revile your great officers, and offices, by the indignities yourselves do them; whilst the Papists clap their hands, and triumph at your public disgraces, and in the hopes they conceive thereby of the ruin of your government, as if that were as sure and certain to them, as it is to us, without doubt, that they once fired it.