Jeremy Collier
Jeremy Collier (23 September 1650 – 26 April
1726) was an English theatre critic, non-juror
bishop and theologian.
Born in Stow cum Quy, Cambridgeshire, Collier
was educated at Caius College, University of
Cambridge, receiving the BA (1673) and MA
(1676). A supporter of James II, he refused to
take the oath of allegiance to William and Mary
after the Glorious Revolution. In 1713 he was
consecrated a non-juror bishop by George Hickes
and two Scottish bishops, Archibald Campbell and
James Gadderar.
Collier was the primus of the nonjuring line
and a strong supporter of the four usages. In
the years following the Revolution he wrote a
series of tracts questioning the legitimacy of
the new monarchs and the deprival of the
Non-juror bishops. He was well known for his
Ecclesiastical History of Great Britain,
1708-1714, which was attacked for its
tendentious political and theological comments,
but nevertheless widely used. His Reasons for
restoring some prayers and directions, as they
stand in the communion-service of the first
English reform’d liturgy, 1717 was the first
salvo in the usages debate. His Essays were
popular in his own day but are now little read.
Collier Controversy
In the history of English drama, Collier is
known for his attack on the comedy of the 1690s
in his Short View of the Immorality and
Profaneness of the English Stage (1698), which
draws for its ammunition mostly on the plays of
William Congreve and John Vanbrugh. During the
English Interregnum, the Puritans, under Oliver
Cromwell, had control of most of the English
government. They placed heavy restrictions on
entertainment and entertainment venues that were
perceived as being pagan or immoral. Most plays
were considered immoral and thus theaters were
shut down all over England. In the English
Restoration (1660), playwrights reacted against
the Puritanical restrictions with much more
decadent plays. The plays produced in the
Restoration drew comparisons to the great
Elizabethan dramas by critics of the day.
Collier's pamphlets sought to stem the spread of
vice but turned out to be the sparks that
kindled a controversial flame between
like-minded Puritans and Restoration dramatists.
Collier devotes nearly 300 pages to decrying
what he perceived as profanity and moral
degeneration in the stage productions of the
era. This ranged from general attacks on the
morality of Restoration theater to very specific
indictments of playwrights of the day. Collier
argued that a venue as influential as the
theater--it was believed then that the theater
should be providing moral instruction--should
not have content that is morally detrimental.
Many of the playwrights responded with equally
vehement attacks, but some were so deeply
affected, they withdrew from theater
permanently, William Congreve amongst them.
Collier's copious writings included The Great
Historical, Geographical, Genealogical and
Poetical Dictionary, published in 1688, with a
second edition in 1701. This was a precursor to
later encyclopedic works, such as that of
Ephraim Chambers.
