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indeed, some care were taken; and speedily there shall be-Yet, let me not be rash-Perhaps this disappointment of my heart may make me too impatient; and some tempers, when reproached, grow more untractable-Here she comesLet me be calm awhile.

Enter LADY TOWNLY.

Going out so soon after dinner, madam? Lady Town. Lard, my lord! what can I possibly do at home?

Lord Town. What does my sister, Lady Grace, do at home?

Lady Town. Why, that is to me amazing! Have you ever any pleasure at home?

Lord Town. It might be in your power, madam, I confess, to make it a little more comfortable to me.

Lady Town. Comfortable! And so, my good lord, you would really have a woman of my rank and spirit stay at home to comfort her husband! Lord! what notions of life some men have!

Lord Town. Don't you think, madam, some ladies' notions are full as extravagant?

Lady Town. Yes, my lord; when the tame doves live cooped within the pen of your cepts, I do think them prodigious indeed.

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Lady Town. Fifty, if you please—To begin, then-in the morning-A married woman may have men at her toilet; invite them to dinner; appoint them a party in the stage-box at the play; engross the conversation there; call them pre-by their christian names; talk louder than the players; from thence jaunt into the city; take a frolicsome supper at an India-House; perhaps, in her gaieté de cœur, toast a pretty fellow; then clatter again to this end of the town; break, with the morning, into an assembly; crowd to the hazard-table; throw a familiar levant upon some sharp, lurching man of quality, and, if he demands his money, turn it off with a loud laugh, and cry-you'll owe it him, to vex him, ha,

Lord Town. And when they fly wild about this town, madam, pray, what must the world think of them, then?

Lady Town. Oh! this world is not so ill-bred as to quarrel with any woman for liking it!

Lord Town. Nor am I, madam, a husband so well-bred, as to bear my wife's being so fond of it in short, the life you lead, madam

Lady Town. Is to me the pleasantest life in the world.

Lord Town. I should not dispute your taste, madam, if a woman had a right to please nobody but herself.

Lady Town. Why! whom would you have her please?

Lord Town. Sometimes her husband.

Lady Town. And don't you think a husband under the same obligation?

Lord Town. Certainly.

Lady Town. Why, then, we are agreed, my lord-For, if I never go abroad till I am weary of being at home-which you know is the case is it not equally reasonable, not to come home till one is weary of being abroad?

Lord. Town. If this be your rule of life, madam, 'tis time to ask you one serious question. Lady Town. Don't let it be long a coming, then for I am in haste.

Lord Town. Madam, when I am serious, I expect a serious answer.

Lady Town. Before I know the question? Lord Town. Psha!-Have I power, madam, to make you serious by entreaty? Lady Town. You have.

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Lady Town. These, now, my lord, are some few of the many modish amusements that distinguish the privilege of a wife, from that of a single woman.

Lord Town. Death, madam! what law has made these liberties less scandalous in a wife, than in an unmarried woman?

Lady Town. Why the strongest law in the world, custom-custom, time out of mind, my lord.

Lord Town. Custom, madam, is the law of fools; but it shall never govern me.

Lady Town. Nay, then, my lord, 'tis time for me to observe the laws of prudence.

Lord Town. I wish I could see an instance of it.

Lady Town. You shall have one this moment, my lord; for I think, when a man begins to lose his temper at home, if a woman has any prudence, why-she'll go abroad 'till he comes to himself again. [Going.

Lord Town. Hold, madam- -I am amazed you are not more uneasy at the life you lead. You don't want sense, and yet seem void of all

humanity; for, with a blush I say it, I think I have not wanted love.

Lady Town. Oh, don't say that, my lord, if you suppose I have my senses!

Lord Town. What is it I have done to you? What can you complain of?

Lady Town. Oh, nothing in the least! 'Tis true, you have heard me say, I have owed my lord Lurcher an hundred pounds these three weeks- —but what then- -a husband is not liable to his wife's debts of honour, you knowand if a silly woman will be uneasy about money she can't be sued for, what's that to him? As long as he loves her, to be sure, she can have nothing to complain of.

Lord Town. By Heaven, if my whole fortune, thrown into your lap, could make you delight in the cheerful duties of a wife, I should think myself a gainer by the purchase.

Lady Town. That is, my lord, I might receive your whole estate, provided you were sure I would not spend a shilling of it.

Lord Town. No, madam; were I master of your heart, your pleasures would be mine; but, different as they are, I'll feed even your follies, to deserve it-Perhaps you may have some other trifling debts of honour abroad, that keep you out of humour at home at least, it shall not be my fault, if I have not more of your company -There, there's a bill of five hundred- -and now, madam

Lady Town. And now, my lord, down to the ground I thank you- -Now I am convinced, were I weak enough to love this man, I should never get a single guinea from him.

[Aside.

. Lord Town. If it be no offence, madamLady Town. Say what you please, my lord; I am in that harmony of spirits, it is impossible to put me out of humour.

Lord Town. How long, in reason then, do you think that sum ought to last you?

Lady Town. Oh, my dear, dear lord! now you have spoiled all again: how is it possible I should answer for an event that so utterly depends upon fortune? But, to shew you that I am more inclined to get money than to throw it away- -I have a strong prepossession, that with this five hundred, I shall win five thousand.

Lord. Town. Madam, if you were to win ten thousand, it would be no satisfaction to me.

Lady Town. Oh, the churl! ten thousand! what! not so much as wish I might win ten thousand!- -Ten thousand! Oh, the charming sum! what infinite pretty things might a woman of spirit do with ten thousand guineas! O' my conscience, if she were a woman of true spirit, she-she might lose them all again.

Lord Town. And I had rather it should be so, madam, provided I could be sure that were the last you would lose.

Lady Town. Well, my lord, to let you see I

design to play all the good house-wife I can; I am now going to a party at quadrille, only to piddle with a little of it, at poor two guineas a fish, with the dutchess of Quiteright. [Exit.

Lord Town. Insensible creature! neither reproaches or indulgence, kindness or severity, can wake her to the least reflection! Continual licence has lulled her into such a lethargy of care, that she speaks of her excesses with the same easy confidence, as if they were so many virtues. What a turn has her head taken!- -But how to cure it—I am afraid the physic must be strong that reaches her- —Lenitives, I see, are to no purpose- -take my friend's opinion- -Manly will speak freely- -my sister with tenderness to both sides. They know my case-I'll talk with them.

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Lady Grace. Pooh, you teaze one, brother! Lord Town. Come, I beg pardon, childthis is not a point, I grant you, to trifle upon; therefore, I hope you'll give me leave to be serious.

Lady Grace. If you desire it, brother; though, upon my word, as to Mr Manly's having any serious thoughts of me-I know nothing of it.

Lord Town. Well-there's nothing wrong in your making a doubt of it-But, in short, I find, by his conversation of late, that he has been looking round the world for a wife; and if you were to look round the world for a husband, he is the first man I would give to you.

Lady Grace. Then, whenever he makes me any offer, brother, I will certainly tell you of it.

Lord Town. Oh! that's the last thing he'll do: he'll never make you an offer, till he's pretty sure it won't be refused.

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Lady Grace. Now you make me curious. Pray, did he ever make any offer of that kind to you? Lord Town. Not directly; but that imports nothing he is a man too well acquainted with the female world to be brought into a high opinion of any one woman, without some well-examined proof of her merit; yet I have reason to believe, that your good sense, your turn of mind, and your way of life, have brought him to so favourable a one of you, that a few days will reduce him to talk plainly to me; which, as yet, (notwithstanding our friendship) I have neither declined nor encouraged him to.

Lady Grace. I am mighty glad we are so near in our way of thinking; for, to tell you the truth, he is much upon the same terms with me: you know he has a satirical turn; but never lashes any folly, without giving due encomiums to its opposite virtue: and, upon such occasions, he is sometimes particular, in turning his compliments upon me, which I don't receive with any reserve, lest he should imagine I take them to myself.

Lord Town. You are right, child: when a man of merit makes his addresses, good sense may give him an answer, without scorn or coquetry. Lady Grace. Hush! he's here

Enter MR MANLY.

Man. My lord, your most obedient. Lord Town. Dear Manly, yours-I was thinking to send to you.

Man. Then, I am glad I am here, my lordLady Grace, I kiss your hands-What, only you two! How many visits may a man make, before he falls into such unfashionable company? A brother and sister soberly sitting at home, when the whole town is a gadding! I question if there is so particular a tête à tête again, in the whole parish of St James's.

Lady Grace. Fy, fy, Mr Manly! how censorious you are!

Man. I had not made the reflection, madam,

but that I saw you an exception to it-Where's my_lady?

Lord Town. That, I believe, is impossible to

guess.

Man. Then I won't try, my lord

Lord Town. But, 'tis probable, I may hear of her, by the time I have been four or five hours in bed.

Man. Now, if that were my case—I believe 1-But, I beg pardon, my lord.

Lord Town. Indeed, sir, you shall not: you will oblige me if you speak out; for it was upon this head I wanted to see you.

Man. Why then, my lord, since you oblige me to proceed-if that were my case-I believe I should certainly sleep in another house.

Lady Grace. How do you mean?
Man. Only a compliment, madam:
Lady Grace. A compliment!

Man. Yes, madam, in rather turning myself out of doors than her.

Lady Grace. Don't you think that would be going too far?

Man. I don't know but it might, madam; for, in strict justice, I think she ought rather to go than I. Lady Grace. This is new doctrine, Mr Manly.

Man. As old, madam, as love, honour, and obey. When a woman will stop at nothing that's wrong, why should a man balance any thing that's right?

Lady Grace. Bless me! but this is fomenting things

Man. Fomentations, madam, are sometimes necessary to dispel tumours: though I do not directly advise my lord to thisThis is only what, upon the same provocation, I would do myself.

Lady Grace. Ay, ay, you would do! Bachelors wives, indeed, are finely governed.

Man. If the married men's were as well-I am apt to think we should not see so many mutual plagues taking the air in separate coaches.

Lady Grace. Well, but suppose it your own case; would you part with your wife, because she now and then stays out in the best company?

Lord Town. Well said, lady Grace! Čome, stand up for the privilege of your sex. This is like to be a warm debate. I shall edify.

Man. Madam, I think a wife, after midnight, has no occasion to be in better company than her husband's; and that frequent unreasonable hours make the best company-the worst she can fall into.

Lady Grace. But if people of condition are to keep company with one another, how is it possible to be done, unless one conforms to their hours?

Man. I can't find that any woman's good breeding obliges her to conform to other people's vices. Lord Town. I doubt, child, here we are got a little on the wrong side of the question.

Lady Grace. Why so, my lord? I can't think the case so bad as Mr Manly states it-People

of quality are not tied down to the rules of those who have their fortunes to make.

Man. No people, madam, are above being tied down to some rules, that have fortunes to lose. Lady Grace. Pooh! I'm sure, if you were to take my side of the argument, you would be able to say something more for it.

Lord Town. Well, what say you to that, Manly?

Man. Why, troth, my lord, I have something to say.

Lady Grace. Ay! that I should be glad to hear, now.

Lord Town. Out with it.

Man. Then, in one word, this, my lord, I have often thought, that the misconduct of my lady has, in a great measure, been owing to your lordship's treatment of her.

Lady Grace. Bless me!

Lord Town. My treatment!

Man. That, I am afraid, we had best not depend upon. But, since you have had so much patience, my lord, even go on with it a day or two more; and, upon her ladyship's next sally, be a little rounder in your expostulations; if that don't work-drop her some cool hints of a determined reformation, and leave her to breakfast upon them.

Lord Town. You are perfectly right. How valuable is a friend, in our anxiety!

Man. Therefore, to divert that, my lord, I beg, for the present, we may call another cause. Lady Grace. Ay, for goodness' sake, let us have done with this.

Lord Town. With all my heart.

Lady Grace. Have you no news abroad, Mr Manly?

Man. A propos-I have some, madam; and I believe, my lord, as extraordinary in its kind— Lord Town. Pray, let us have it.

Man Do you know that your country-neigh

Man. Ay, my lord; you so idolized her before marriage, that you even indulged her like a mis-bour, and my wise kinsman, sir Francis Wrongtress after it in short, you continued the lover, when you should have taken up the husband.

Lady Grace. Oh, frightful! this is worse than t'other; can a husband love a wife too well?

Man. As easy, madam, as a wife may love her husband too little.

Lord Town. So; you two are never like to agree, I find.

Lady Grace. Don't be positive, brother- -I am afraid we are both of a mind already. [Aside.] And do you, at this rate, ever hope to be married, Mr Manly?

Man. Never, madam, till I can meet with a woman that likes my doctrine.

Lady Grace. Tis pity but your mistress should hear it.

Man. Pity me, madam, when I marry the woman that won't hear it.

Lady Grace. I think, at least, he can't say that's me. [Aside. Man. And so, my lord, by giving her more power than was needful, she has none where she wants it; having such entire possession of you, she is not mistress of herself. And, mercy on us! how many fine women's heads have been turned upon the same occasion!

head, is coming to town with his whole family? Lord Town. The fool! What can be his business here?

Man. Oh! of the last importance, I'll assure you- -No less than the business of the nation. Lord Town. Explain.

Man. He has carried his election-against sir John Worthland.

Lord Town. The deuce! What! for-forMan. The famous borough of Guzzledown. Lord Town. A proper representative, indeed! Lady Grace. Pray, Mr Manly, don't I know him?

Man. You have dined with him, madam, when I was last down with my lord, at Bellmont.

Lady Grace. Was not that he that got a little merry before dinner, and overset the tea-table in making his compliments to my lady ?

Man. The same.

Lady Grace. Pray, what are his circumstances? I know but very little of him.

Man. Then he is worth your knowing, I can tell you, madam. His estate, if clear, I believe, might be a good two thousand pounds a-year; though as it was left him, saddled with two jointures, and two weighty mortgages upon it, there is no saying what it is-But that he might be sure never to mend it, he married a profuse young hussy, for love, without a penny of money. Thus, having, like his brave ancestors, provided heirs for the family (for his dove breeds like a tame pigeon), he now finds children and interest-moMan. Well, my lord, to let you see I am some-ney making such a bawling about his ears, that, times upon the side of good nature, I won't absolutely blame you; for the greater your indulgence, the more you have to reproach her with.

Lord Town. Oh, Manly, 'tis too true! there's the source of my disquiet; she knows, and has abused her power; nay, I am still so weak, (with shame I speak it) 'tis not an hour ago, that, in the midst of my impatience-I gave her another bill for five hundred to throw away.

at last, he has taken the friendly advice of his kinsman, the good lord Danglecourt, to run his estate two thousand pounds more in debt, to put Lady Grace. Ay, Mr Manly, here now, I be- the whole management of what is left into Paul gin to come in with you. Who knows, my lord, Pillage's hands, that he may be at leisure himbut you may have a good account of your kind-self to retrieve his affairs, by being a parliament ness?

man.

Lord Town. A most admirable scheme, in- | he's so near common sense, that he passes for a deed! wit in the family.

Man. And, with this prolific prospect, he is now upon his journey to London

Lord Town. What can it end in? Man. Pooh! A journey into the country again.

Lord Town. Do you think he'll stir, till his money is gone; or, at least, till the session is over?

Man. If my intelligence is right, my lord, he won't sit long enough to give his vote for a turnpike.

Lord Town. How so?

Man. Oh, a bitter business; he had scarce a vote in the whole town, beside the returning of ficer., Sir John will certainly have it at the bar of the house, and send him about his business again.

Lady Grace. I beg, of all things, we may have him: I am in love with nature, let her dress be never so homely.

Man. Then desire him to come hither, James. [Exit JAMES. Lady Grace. Pray, what may be Mr Moody's post?

Man. Oh! his maitre d'hotel, his butler, his bailiff, his hind, his huntsman, and sometimeshis companion.

Lord Town. It runs in my head, that the moment this knight has set him down in the house, he will get up, to give them the earliest proof of what importance he is to the public, in his own country.

Man. Yes; and, when they have heard him, he will find, that his utmost importance stands Lord Town. Then he has made a fine business valued at-sometimes being invited to dinner. of it, indeed.

poor

Man. Which, as far as my little interest will go, shall be done in as few days as possible. Lady Grace. But why would you ruin the gentleman's fortune, Mr Manly? Man. No, madam; I would only spoil his project, to save his fortune.

Lady Grace. How are you concerned enough to do either?

Man. Why, I have some obligations to the family, madam: I enjoy, at this time, a pretty estate, which sir Francis was heir-at-law to: but, by his being a booby, the last will of an obstinate old uncle gave it to me,

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James. At our house, sir; he has been gaping and stumping about the streets in his dirty boots, and asking every one he meets, if they can tell him where he may have a good lodging for a parliament man, till he can hire a handsome house, fit for all his family, for he winter.

Man. I am afraid, my lord, I inust wait upon Mr Moody.

Lord Town. Prithee, let us have him here; he will divert us.

Man. Oh, my lord, he's such a cub! Not but

Lady Grace. And her ladyship, I suppose, will make as considerable a figure in her sphere, too?

Man. That you may depend upon: for (if I don't mistake) she has ten times more of the jade in her, than she yet knows of; and she will so improve in this rich soil in a month, that she will visit all the ladies that will let her into their houses; and run in debt to all the shop-keepers that will let her into their books: in short, before her important spouse has made five pounds by his eloquence at Westminster, she will have lost five hundred at dice and quadrille, in the parish of St James's.

Lord Town. So that, by that time he is declared unduly elected, a swarm of duns will be ready for their money; and his worship—will be ready for a gaol.

Man. Yes, yes; that, I reckon, will close the account of this hopeful journey to LondonBut see, here comes the fore-horse of the team. Enter JOHN MOODY.

Oh, honest John!

J. Moody. Ad's waunds and heart, Measter Manly! I'm glad I ha' fun ye. Lawd, lawd, give me a buss! Why, that's friendly, naw.Flesh! I thought we would never ha' got hither. Well, and how do you do, Measter?-Good lack! I beg pardon for my bawldness-I did not see 'at his honour was here.

Lord Town. Mr Moody, your servant: I am glad to see you in London: I hope all the good family is well.

J. Moody, Thanks be praised, your honour, they are all in pretty good heart; tho'f we have had a power of crosses upo' the road.

Lady Grace. I hope my lady has had no hurt, Mr Moody?

J. Moody. Noa, and please your ladyship, she was never in better humour: there's money enough stirring now,

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