I do not doubt your love, Sir, and it is my duty to obey you.I will endeavour to make my duty and inclination go hand in hand.
VAN ROUGH
Well, Well, Mary; do you be a good girl, mind the main chance, and never mind inclination.Why, do you know that I have been down in the cellar this very morning to examine a pipe of Madeira which Ipurchased the week you were born, and mean to tap on your wedding day?--That pipe cost me fifty pounds sterling.It was well worth sixty pounds; but I over-reach'd Ben Bulkhead, the supercargo.I'll tell you the whole story.You must know that--Enter SERVANT.
SERVANT.
Sir, Mr.Transfer, the broker is below.[Exit.
VAN ROUGH
Well, Mary, I must go.Remember, and be a good girl, and mind the main chance.[Exit.
MARIA, alone.
How deplorable is my situation! How distressing for a daughter to find her heart militating with her filial duty! I know my father loves me tenderly; why then do I reluctantly obey him? Heaven knows!
with what reluctance I should oppose the will of a parent, or set an example of filial disobedience; at a parent's command, I could wed awkwardness and deformity.Were the heart of my husband good, Iwould so magnify his good qualities with the eye of conjugal affection, that the defects of his person and manners should be lost in the emanation of his virtues.At a father's command, I could embrace poverty.Were the poor man my husband, I would learn resignation to my lot; I would enliven our frugal meal with good humour, and chase away misfortune from our cottage with a smile.At a father's command, I could almost submit to what every female heart knows to be the most mortifying, to marry a weak man, and blush at my husband's folly in every com-pany I visited.But to marry a depraved wretch, whose only virtue is a polished exterior; who is actuated by the unmanly ambition of conquering the defenceless; whose heart, insensible to the emotions of patriotism, dilates at the plaudits of every unthink-ing girl; whose laurels are the sighs and tears of the miserable victims of his specious behaviour,--can he, who has no regard for the peace and happiness of other families, ever have a due regard for the peace and happiness of his own? Would to heaven that my father were not so hasty in his temper? Surely, if I were to state my reasons for declining this match, he would not compel me to marry a man, whom, though my lips may solemnly promise to honour, Ifind my heart must ever despise.[Exit.
END OF THE FIRST ACT.
ACT II.SCENE I.
Enter CHARLOTTE and LETITIA.
CHARLOTTE [at entering].
BETTY, take those things out of the carriage and carry them to my chamber; see that you don't tumble them.My dear, I protest, I think it was the home-liest of the whole.I declare I was almost tempted to return and change it.
LETITIA
Why would you take it?
CHARLOTTE
Didn't Mrs.Catgut say it was the most fashionable?
LETITIA
But, my dear, it will never fit becomingly on you.
CHARLOTTE
I know that; but did you not hear Mrs.Catgut say it was fashionable?
LETITIA
Did you see that sweet airy cap with the white sprig?
CHARLOTTE
Yes, and I longed to take it; but, my dear, what could I do? Did not Mrs.Catgut say it was the most fashionable; and if I had not taken it, was not that awkward, gawky, Sally Slender, ready to purchase it immediately?
LETITIA
Did you observe how she tumbled over the things at the next shop, and then went off without purchasing anything, nor even thanking the poor man for his trouble? But, of all the awkward creatures, did you see Miss Blouze endeavouring to thrust her unmerciful arm into those small kid gloves?
CHARLOTTE
Ha, ha, ha, ha!
LETITIA
Then did you take notice with what an affected warmth of friendship she and Miss Wasp met? when all their acquaintance know how much pleasure they take in abusing each other in every company.
CHARLOTTE
Lud! Letitia, is that so extraordinary? Why, my dear, I hope you are not going to turn sentimentalist.
Scandal, you know, is but amusing ourselves with the faults, foibles, follies, and reputations of our friends;indeed, I don't know why we should have friends, if we are not at liberty to make use of them.But no person is so ignorant of the world as to suppose, be-cause I amuse myself with a lady's faults, that I am obliged to quarrel with her person every time we meet: believe me, my dear, we should have very few acquaintance at that rate.
SERVANT enters and delivers a letter to CHAR-LOTTE, and--[Exit.
CHARLOTTE
You'll excuse me, my dear.
[Opens and reads to herself.
LETITIA
Oh, quite excusable.
CHARLOTTE
As I hope to be married, my brother Henry is in the city.
LETITIA
What, your brother, Colonel Manly?
CHARLOTTE
Yes, my dear; the only brother I have in the world.
LETITIA
Was he never in this city?
CHARLOTTE
Never nearer than Harlem Heights, where he lay with his regiment.
LETITIA
What sort of a being is this brother of yours? If he is as chatty, as pretty, as sprightly as you, half the belles in the city will be pulling caps for him.
CHARLOTTE
My brother is the very counterpart and reverse of me: I am gay, he is grave; I am airy, he is solid; Iam ever selecting the most pleasing objects for my laughter, he has a tear for every pitiful one.And thus, whilst he is plucking the briars and thorns from the path of the unfortunate, I am strewing my own path with roses.
LETITIA
My sweet friend, not quite so poetical, and a little more particular.
CHARLOTTE
Hands off, Letitia.I feel the rage of simile upon me; I can't talk to you in any other way.My brother has a heart replete with the noblest sentiments, but then, it is like--it is like--Oh! you provoking girl, you have deranged all my ideas--it is like--Oh! Ihave it--his heart is like an old maiden lady's band-box; it contains many costly things, arranged with the most scrupulous nicety, yet the misfortune is that they are too delicate, costly, and antiquated for com-mon use.
LETITIA
By what I can pick out of your flowery description, your brother is no beau.
CHARLOTTE
