This article examines the clerical portraits in some works of John Dryden and Henry Fielding. The literary tradition of portraiture of clergymen, in which both the positive and negative are juxtaposed, remained an integral part of the writers` technique. Dryden provided solid examples of worthy clerics by juxtaposing their exemplary lives with those of the corrupt clerics. Though the balance still existed, the references to good clergymen were politically charged and began to call the clergy`s role as moral reformer into question. Not simply and strictly following the balanced portraiture technique, Fielding provides the reader with varied portraiture of clergymen in which the distinct line between the positive and the negative cannot be drawn. (Hannam University)