A10335:222
Th'overthrow of stage-plays, by the way of controversy betwixt D. Gager and D. Rainoldes…Th'overthrow of stage-playes, by the way of controversie betwixt D. Gager and D. Rainoldes…
Th'overthrow of stage-plays, by the way of controversy betwixt D. Gager and D. Rainoldes wherein all the reasons that can be made for them are notably refuted; th'objections answered, and the case so cleared and resolved, as that the judgement of any man, that is not froward and perverse, may easily be satisfied. Wherein is manifestly proved, that it is not only unlawful to be an actor, but a beholder of those vanities. Whereunto are added also and annexed in th'end certain latin letters betwixt the said Master Rainoldes, and D. Gentiles, reader of the civill law in Oxford, concerning the same matter.Th'overthrow of stage-playes, by the way of controversie betwixt D. Gager and D. Rainoldes wherein all the reasons that can be made for them are notably refuted; th'objections aunswered, and the case so cleared and resolved, as that the iudgement of any man, that is not froward and perverse, may easelie be satisfied. Wherein is manifestly proved, that it is not onely vnlawfull to bee an actor, but a beholder of those vanities. Wherevnto are added also and annexed in th'end certeine latine letters betwixt the sayed Maister Rainoldes, and D. Gentiles, reader of the civill law in Oxford, concerning the same matter.
Middelburg: printed by Richard Schilders, 1599
Title page typeset from the transcription.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
Quod eo magis opus fuisse ut facerem jam sentio & cerno, quia, quae mihi maximè omnium capitalis sententia vide batur, nempe, abusum malorum non esse malum, sed bonum: eam tu significas te in libris bellicis denuò defensurum; & ita defensurum, ut ab argutiolae, quam dixi, opprobrio distinctionem tuam vindices Augustini & Lactantii autoritate. Quid igitur? An argumentum meum, quo stuprum, adulterium, incestum, & quodvis facinus ac flagitium ea argutiola defendi posse docui, Augustini etiam atque Lactantii autoritate profligabis? Omnino, tanquam aliquid tale cogitares, postquàm ex eorum altero notasses, bonum in nuptiis esse usum mali concupiscentiae carnis; ex altero, vitia non esse quibus rectè uti licet: Sic, inquis, uti possumus concupiscentia carnis; sic mendacio; &c. Ubi, si particula ista, &c. non referatur ad incestum, & caetera mala à me commemorata; quod (opinor) abominabere; quanquam quae ad alia referatut, non video; sed si ad ea non referatur: argumentum igitur meum ab exemplo Antiochi & novercae, ita solidum & firmum, ut ne attingere quidem illud ausus sis, satis adhuc habet ad mei dicti veritatem de vanitate argutiolae tuae comprobandam. Veruntamen, ut idem Augustini quoque, testis à te ipso & pro te citati, autoritate corroborari scias: lege doctissimam gravissimamque leius disputationem, qua tanquam ex professo tuam de malorum abusu (quem vocas) sententiam refellens, quum ex ea consequens esse demonstrasset, ⟨p. 180⟩nec falsum testimonium, nec furtum, nec adulterium, nec ullum malum opus malum fore, sed bonum, si bona intenione, bono fine, perpetretur; Quis ista dicat, inquit, nisi qui res humanas omnesque conatur mores legesque subverter? Clarissimum documentū quàm iniuriosè, ne quid dicam gravius, & Patrum testimonia & Scripturas tracts. Nam mAugustinus ait eos concupiscentiae malo bene uti qui licitè procreandis liberis operam dant, nut pede vitiato rectè quis utitur quum ad aliquod bonum claudicando pervenit: nec propter claudicationis malum mala est illa perventio, nec propter illius perventionis bonum bona est claudicatio. Tu bonum esse mali usum sic contendis, ut malum mendacii, ceu claudicationis, malum esse neges, quum eo quis ad bonū pervenit: & eum, cui Deus pedes dedit integros, see mutilare jubes, ut aliquò accedat quò nulli nisi claudo fortasse datur aditus.