Clergymen preached against the playhouse then, just as some of them have done since, and will continue so to do until the arrival of the Millennium.

Oftentimes the criticisms of these well-meaning gentlemen had more than a grain of truth to make them half justifiable.

The stage was still far from pure, in spite of the improvement which was going on steadily enough, and there is no denying the fact that several of the worst plays of the Restoration could still claim admirers.

Even "Sir Courtly Nice," wherein occurs one of the most indecent passages ever penned, and one of the most suggestive of songs, was received without a murmur.

Congreve was pardoned for his breaches of decorum, and Dryden was looked upon as quite proper enough for all purposes.
The _morale_ of the players could hardly be called unimpeachable, at least in some instances, but the violations of social rules were not so open as they had been in the old days.