The country
magistrate used on the bench language too coarse, brutal, and vulgar for
a modern tap-room. Fine gentlemen in London vied with each other in the
lowest ribaldry and the grossest profanity. The poets of the time, from
Dryden to Durfey, ministered to the popular licentiousness. The most
shameless indecency polluted their pages. The theatre and the brothel
were in strict unison. The Church winked at the vice which opposed
itself to the austere morality or hypocrisy of Puritanism. The superior
clergy, with a few noble exceptions, were self-seekers and courtiers; the
inferior were idle, ignorant hangerson upon blaspheming squires and
knights of the shire. The domestic chaplain, of all men living, held the
most unenviable position. "If he was permitted to dine with the family,
he was expected to content himself with the plainest fare. He might fill
himself with the corned beef and carrots; but as soon as the tarts and
cheese-cakes made their appearance he quitted his seat, and stood aloof
till he was summoned to return thanks for the repast, from a great part
of which he had been excluded.
Pages:
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52