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Lub. Yes, I am sure the person will be upon you must downright give them the slip, and run the lawn.

Stea. And fear not to tell him thy mind.

Lub. I sha'n't be sparing of that, I warrant you.
Stea. Urge thy ill usage.

Lub. Never fear me.

away.

Enter LUBIN.

[Exit.

Lub. Gillian, I have just watched the old Quaker

goes well. I have got his consent under his hand to marry the young woman.

Stea. And tell him, that by endeavouring to pre-out, and slipped back to tell you that every thing vent thy happiness, he hath done thee an injury he can never repair. For that riches are given us to comfort, and not distress those beneath us.

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Flo. Yonder he goes; I wonder now how he succeeded?

Stea. Come, Gillian, I was anxious to see thee; the time draweth near, and the sports will shortly begin on the lawn.

Gil. And does he know 'tis me?

Lub. Not a bit; but you know he never forfeits his word, so that we have him safe enough. But don't let us be seen together. I am going to the lawn; we shall have fine sport, I warrant you.

AIR.-GILLIAN.

Again I feel my bosom bound,

My heart sits lightly on its seat;
My griefs are all in rapture drown'd,
In every pulse new pleasures beat.
Upon my troubled mind at last,

Kind fate has pour'd a friendly balm;
So, after dreadful perils past,

At length succeeds a smiling calm.

SCENE III.-A Lawn, with a May-pole.

[Exit.

[Exit.

STEADY, EASY, LUBIN, SOLOMON, GILLIAN, FLORETTA, CICELY, Country Lads and Lasses, discovered.

Stea. Friends and neighbours, it hath been my study since I first came among you, to do whatever might procure me your love and esteem. I have instituted a custom, the salutary effects of which I Gil. I long to be there as much as you do. Stea. I doubt it not; and when thou seest thy-view with great gladness; and each is well entiself the queen of such a set of happy mortals, I know thou wilt consent that this shall be thy bridal day.

Flo. Yes, sir, if you'll consent to her having

Lubin.

Gil. And I can tell you he's to be there.
Stea. Lubin, I'm sure, will not oppose what I

decree.

Gil. I'm sure he won't part with me quietly. Stea. Thou shalt see that he will not dare to murmur at my will and pleasure. But come, we are expected. Verily, I find myself exalted even to transport, in that I am going this day to make thee a bride.

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Second Coun. Ah! I knew you would not guess it. Light, an't please your worship.

Stea. Thou art as much mistaken as he, friend.

Lub. 'Tis my belief 'tis time. Nothing can be longer, because 'twill last for ever; nothing can be shorter, because 'tis gone in a moment; nothing can go slower than it does, when one's away from her one loves, and nothing swifter when one's with her. 'Tis an old saying

Sol. Friend, I hate old sayings.

Lub. That 'tis as precious as gold; and yet we are always throwing it away. And, your worship, as a proof that nothing can be done without it, if the old gentleman we were talking about to-day, had not had the opportunity of my absence, he could not have run away with a certain young damsel.

Stea. Thou hast solved my question aright, and art indeed an ingenious youth. If thou goest on as thou hast begun, I foresee that thou wilt win the dower. Give me now your several claims, sealed up as usual, and go on with the sports while I peruse them.

(A Dance.)

Stea. Hast thou nothing to give, young man? (To Lubin.)

Lub. Why yes, please your worship, I have. Stea. This is addressed unto me! let me view the contents; how! my own hand! Thou expectest, I find, to receive this damsel for thy wife; and

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Lub. Why, you know, you advised me to tell the old gentleman a piece of my mind.

Stea. Thou shalt see the revenge I will take upon thee for this. I will comply with the contents of this paper to the utmost. Here, read this aloud. (To a Countryman.)

Coun. "If the youth Lubin-"

Stea. Thou seest I knew thee then.

Lub. I am afraid have been too cunning for myself.

Stea. You see, neighbours, how I am treated; and I request of you to be witness how much it behoveth us to resent such injuries. Go on.

Coun. 66 If the youth Lubin, will faithfully love and cherish the maiden, called Gillian, and make her a good helpmate, I do freely give my consent to her becoming his wife, and request her friends to do the same."

Lub. How is this!

Stea. This is my revenge. By thy ingenuity thou hast won the dower; and by thy truth and integrity, my friendship.

Lub. Was ever the like?

Gil. I never could abide you before, but now I shall love you as long as I live.

Stea. Verily, my heart warmeth unto you both; your innocency and love are equally respectable. And would the voluptuous man taste a more exquisite sensation than the gratifying his passions, let him prevail upon himself to do a benevolent action.

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A COMEDY, IN FIVE ACTS.-BY MRS. CENTLIVRE.

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Free. Come, Colonel, his majesty's health. You are as melancholy as if you were in love; I wish some of the beauties of Bath ha'n't snapt your heart.

Col. F. Why, 'faith, Freeman, there is something in't: I have seen a lady at Bath, who has kindled such a flame in me, that all the waters there can't quench.

Free. Is she not to be had, Colonel?

Col. F. That's a difficult question to answer; be however, I resolve to try; perhaps you may able to serve me; you merchants know one another. The lady told me herself she was under the charge of four persons.

Free. Odso! 'tis Miss Anne Lovely. Col. F. The same; do you know her? Free. Know her! ay. 'Faith, Colonel, your condition is more desperate than you imagine : why, she is the talk and pity of the whole town; and, it is the opinion of the learned, that she must die a maid.

Col. F. That's somewhat odd, in this charitable city. She's a woman, I hope?

Free. For aught I know; but it had been as well for her, had nature made her any other part of the creation. The man who keeps this house, served her father; he is a very honest fellow, and may

be of use to you: we'll send for him to take a glass with us; he'll give you her whole history, and 'tis worth your hearing.

Col, F. But may one trust him?

Free. With your life. I have obligations enough upon him, to make him do anything: I serve him with wine, (Rings.)

Col. F. Nay, I know him very well myself. I once used to frequent a club that was kept here, Enter Waiter.

Wai. Gentlemen, d'ye call?

Free. Ay; send up your master.
Wai. Yes, sir.

[Exit,

Col. F. Do you know any of this lady's guardians, Freeman?

Free. I know two of them very well.

Enter SACKBUT.

Free. Here comes one will give you an account of them all. Mr. Sackbut, we sent for you to take a glass with us. "Tis a maxim among the friends of the bottle, that, as long as the master is in company, one may be sure of good wine.

Sack. Sir, you shall be sure to have as good wine as you send in. Colonel, your most humble servant; you are welcome to town.

Col. F. I thank you, Mr. Sackbut.

Sack. I am as glad to see you as I should a hundred tuns of French claret, custom free: my service to you, sir. (Drinks.) You don't look so merry as you used to do; aren't you well, Colonel?

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Free. He has got a woman in his head, landlord; can you help him?

Sack. If 'tis in my power, I sha'n't scruple to serve my friend.

Col F. 'Tis one perquisite of your calling.

Sack. Ay; at t'other end of the town, where you officers use, women are good forcers of trade: a well-customed house, a handsome bar-keeper, with clean, obliging drawers, soon get the master an estate; but our citizens seldom do anything but cheat, within the walls. But, as to the lady, Colonel; point you at particulars? Or have you a good champagne stomach? Are you in full pay, or reduced, Colonel ?

Col. F. Reduced, reduced, landlord!

Free. To the miserable condition of a lover. Sack. Pish! that's preferable to half-pay: a woman's resolution may break before the peace: push her home, Colonel, there's no parleying with the

fair sex.

Col. F. Were the lady her own mistress, I have some reasons to believe I should soon command in chief.

Free. You know Miss lovely, Mr. Sackbut?

Sack. Know her! ay, poor Nancy! I have carried her to school many a frosty morning. Alas! if she's the woman, I pity you, Colonel; her father, my old master, was the most whimsical, out-of-the-way tempered man, I ever heard of, as you will guess by his last will and testament. This was his only child; and I have heard him wish her dead a thousand times. He died worth thirty thousand pounds, which he left to his daughter, provided she married with the consent of her guardians; but that she might be sure never to do so, he left her in the care of four men, as opposite to each other as the four elements; each has his quarterly rule, and three months in the year she is obliged to be subject to each of their humours; and they are pretty different, I assure you. She is just come from Bath.

Col. F. "Twas there I saw her.

Sack. Ay, sir; the last quarter was her beau guardian's. She appears in all public places during his reign.

Col. F. She visited a lady, who boarded in the same house with me; I liked her person, and found an opportunity to tell her so. She replied, she had no objection to mine; but if I could not reconcile contradictions, I must not think of her; for that she was condemned to the caprice of four persons, who never yet agreed in any one thing, and she was obliged to please them all.

Sack. "Tis most true, sir; I'll give you a short description of the men, and leave you to judge of the poor lady's condition. One is a kind of virtuoso, a silly, half-witted fellow, but positive and surly, fond of every thing antique and foreign, and wears his clothes of the fashion of the last century, doats upon travellers, and believes more of Sir John Mandeville than he does of the Bible.

Col. F. That must be a rare odd fellow. Sack. Another is a change broker; a fellow that will out-lie the devil for the advantage of stock, and cheat his father that got him, in a bargain; he is a great stickler for trade, and hates every man that wears a sword.

Free. He is a great admirer of the Dutch management, and swears they understand trade better than any nation under the sun.

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Sack. The third is an old beau, that has May in his fancy and dress, but December in his face and his heels he admires all new fashions, and those must be French; loves operas, balls, masquerades, and is always the most tawdry of the whole company on a birth-day.

Col. F. These are pretty opposite one to another, truly; and the fourth, what is he, landlord?

Sack. A very rigid quaker, whose quarter began this day. I saw Miss Lovely go in, not abore two

hours ago: Sir Philip set her down. What think you now, Colonel? Is not the poor lady to be pitied?

Col. F. Ay; and rescued, too, landlord.
Free. In my opinion that's impossible.

Col. F. There is nothing impossible to a lover. What would not a man attempt for a fine woman and thirty thousand pounds? Besides, my honour is at stake: I promised to deliver her, and she bid me win her, and wear her.

Sack. That's fair, 'faith!

Free. If it depended upon knight-errantry, I should not doubt your setting free the damsel; but to have avarice, impertinence, hypocrisy, and pride, at once to deal with, requires more cunning than generally attends a man of honour.

Col. F. My fancy tells me I shall come off with glory: I resolve to try, however. Do you know all the guardians, Mr. Sackbut?

Sack. Very well; they all use my house. Col. F. And will you assist me, if occasion requires?

Sack. In every thing I can, Colonel.

Free. I'll answer for him.

Col. F. First, I'll attack my beau guardian: where lives he?

Sack. 'Faith, somewhere about St. James's; though, to say in what street, I cannot; but any chairman will tell you where Sir Philip Modelove lives.

Free. Oh! you'll find him in the Park at eleven every day; at least, I never pass through at that hour without seeing him there. But what do you intend?

Col. F. To address him in his own way, and find what he designs to do with the lady. Free. And what then?

Col. F. Nay, that I can't tell; but I shall take my measures accordingly.

Sack. Well, 'tis a mad undertaking, in my mind; but here's to your success, Colonel. (Drinks.)

Col. F. "Tis something out of the way, I confess, but fortune may chance to smile, and I succeed.

Bold was the man who ventur'd first to sea,

But the first vent'ring lovers bolder were. The path of love's a dark and dang'rous way, Without a landmark, or one friendly star. And he, that runs the risk, deserves the fair.

[Exeunt.

SCENE II.-An Apartment in Prim's house.
Enter MISS LOVELY and her Maid BETTY.

Betty. Bless me, madam! why do you fret and tease yourself so? This is giving them the advantage, with a witness!

Miss L. Must I be condemned all my life to the preposterous humours of other people, and pointed at by every boy in town? Oh! I could tear my flesh, and curse the hour I was born! Isn't it monstrously ridiculous, that they should desire to impose their quaking dress upon me at these years! When I was a child, no matter what they made me wear; but now

Betty. I would resolve against it, madam; I'd see 'em hanged before I'd put on the pinched cap again.

Miss L. Then I must never expect one moment's ease: she has rung such a peal in my ears already, that I sha'n't have the right use of them this month. What can I do?

Betty. What can you not do, if you will but give your mind to it? Marry, madam.

Miss L. What! and have my fortune go to build churches and hospitals?

Betty. Why, let it go. If the Colonel loves you, as he pretends, he'll marry you without a fortune,

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Betty. I would advise you to make yourself easy, madam.

Miss L. That's not the way, I'm sure. No, no, girl; there are certain ingredients to be mingled with matrimony, without which I may as well change for the worse as the better. When the woman has fortune enough to make the man happy, if he has either honour or good manners, he'll make her easy. Love makes but a slovenly figure in a house, where poverty keeps the door.

Betty. And so you resolve to die a maid, do you, madam?

Miss L. Or have it in my power to make the man I love master of my fortune.

Betty. Then you don't like the Colonel so well as I thought you did, madam, or you would not take such a resolution.

Miss L. It is because I do like him, Betty, that I do take such a resolution.

Betty. Why, do you expect madam, the Colonel can work miracles? Is it possible for him to marry you with the consent of all your guardians?

Miss L. Or he must not marry me at all; and so I told him; and he did not seem displeased with the news. He promised to set me free; and I, on that condition, promised to make him master of that freedom.

Betty. Well! I have read of enchanted castles, ladies delivered from the chains of magic, giants killed, and monsters overcome; so that I shall be the less surprised if the Colonel shall conjure you out of the power of your four guardians: if he does, I am sure he deserves your fortune.

Miss L. And shall have it, girl, if it were ten times as much; for I'll ingenuously confess to thee, that I do love the Colonel above all the men I ever saw: there's something so jaunty in a soldier, a kind of je ne scais quoi air, that makes them more agreeable than all the rest of mankind. They command regard, as who shall say, "We are your defenders; we preserve your beauties from the insults of rude and unpolished foes, and ought to be preferred before those lazy, indolent mortals, who, by dropping into their fathers' estates, set up their coaches, and think to rattle themselves into your affections."

Betty. Nay, madam, I confess that the army has engrossed all the prettiest fellows. A laced coat and a feather have irresistible charms.

Miss L. But the Colonel has all the beauties of the mind, as well as the body. O, all ye powers that favour happy lovers, grant that he may be mine! Thou god of love, if thou be'st aught but name, assist my Feignwell!

Point all thy darts to aid his just design,
And make his plots as prevalent as thine.

ACT II.

SCENE I.-The Park.

[Exeunt.

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Sir P. He has a mind to make love to thee, child.

Enter COLONEL FEIGNWELL.

Wom. It will be to no purpose, if he does. Sir P. Are you resolved to be cruel, then? Col. F. You must be very cruel, indeed, if you can deny anything to so fine a gentleman, madam. (Takes out his watch.) Wom. I never mind the outside of a man.

Col. F. And I'm afraid thou art no judge of the inside.

Sir P. I am positively of your mind, sir; for creatures of her function seldom penetrate beyond the pocket. Wom. Coxcombs! [Aside and exit. Sir P. Pray what says your watch? mine is down. (Pulling out his watch.)

Col. F. I want thirty-six minutes of twelve, sir. (Puts up his watch, and takes out his'snuff-box.) Sir P. May I presume, sir

Col. F. Sir, you honour me. (Presenting the box.) Sir P. He speaks good English; though he must be a foreigner. (Aside.) This snuff is extremely good, and the box prodigious fine: the work is French, I presume, sir.

Col. F. I bought it in Paris, sir. I do think the workmanship pretty neat.

Sir P. Neat! 'tis exquisitely fine, sir! Pray, sir, if I may take the liberty of inquiring,-what country is so happy to claim the birth of the finest gentleman in the universe? France, I presume.

Col. F. Then you don't think me an Englishman?
Sir P. No, upon my soul, don't I.
Col. F. I am sorry for it.

Sir P. Impossible you should wish to be an Englishman! Pardon me, sir, this island could not produce a person of such alertness.

Col. F. As this mirror shews you, sir. (Puts up a pocket-glass to Sir Philip's face.) I know not how to distinguish you, sir; but your mien and address speak you right honourable.

Sir P. Thus great souls judge of others by themselves. I am only adorned with knighthood: that's all, I assure you, sir; my name is Sir Philip Modelove.

Col. F. Of French extraction?
Sir P. My father was French.

Col. F. One may plainly perceive it. There is a certain gaiety peculiar to my nation, (for I will own myself a Frenchman,) which distinguishes us every where. A person of your figure would be a vast addition to a coronet.

Sir P. I must own I had the offer of a barony about five years ago; but I abhorred the fatigue which must have attended it. I could never yet bring myself to join with either party.

Col. F. You are perfectly in the right, Sir Philip:-a fine person should not embark himself in the slovenly concern of politics: dress and pleasure are objects proper for the soul of a fine gentleman.

Sir P. And love!

Col. F. Oh! that's included under the article of pleasure.

Sir P. Parbleu! il est un homme d'esprit. May I crave your name, sir?

Col. F. My name is La Feignwell, sir, at your

service..

Sir P. The La Feignwells are French, I know; though the name is become very numerous in Great Britain, of late years. I was sure you was French the moment I laid my eyes upon you: I could not come into the supposition of your being an Englishman: this island produces few such ornaments.

Col. F. Are you married, Sir Philip?

Sir P. No; nor do I believe I shall ever enter into that honourable state: I have an absolute tendre for the whole sex,

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