onduct, they exposed it to additional ridicule and
contempt; and he saw himself in danger of being despised by the whole
nation. He resolved to seize the first opportunity to choke those canals
through which the torrent of censure had flowed upon his character.
The manager of a play-house communicated to him a manuscript farce,
intituled, The Golden Rump, which was fraught with treason and abuse
upon the government, and had been presented to the stage for exhibition.
This performance was produced in the house of commons. The minister
descanted upon the insolence, the malice, the immorality, and the
seditious calumny which had been of late propagated in theatrical
pieces. A bill was brought in to limit the number of playhouses; to
subject all dramatic writings to the inspection of the lord chamberlain;
and to compel them to take out a license for every production before it
could appear on the stage. Notwithstanding a vigorous opposition,
this bill passed through both houses with extraordinary despatch, and
obtained the royal sanction. In this debate the earl of Chesterfield
distinguished himself by an excellent speech, that will ever endear his
character to all the friends of genius and literature, to all those who
are warmed with zeal for the liberties of their country. "Our stage,"
said he, "ought certainly to be kept in due bounds; but for this
purpose, our laws as they stand at present are sufficient. If our
stage-players at any time exceed those bounds, they ought to be
prosecuted; they may be punished. We have precedents, we have examples
of persons punished for things less criminal than some pieces which have
been lately represented; a new law must, therefore unnecessary; and in
the present case it cannot be unnecessary without being dangerous. Every
unnecessary restraint is a fetter upon the legs, is a shackle upon the
hands, of liberty. One of the greatest blessings we enjoy, one of the
greatest blessings a people can enjoy, is liberty. But every good in
this life has its allay of evil. Licentiousness is the allay of liberty.
It is an ebullition, an excrescence; it is a speck upon the eye of
the political body, which I can never touch but with a gentle, with a
trembling hand; lest I destroy the body, lest I injure the eye, upon
which it is apt to appear. If the stage becomes at any time licentious,
if a play appears to be a libel upon the government, or upon any
particular man, the king's courts are open; the law