Chapter 13
128
CHAP. XIII.
One tragical Incident relieved by another; or, as is very natural, a Fit of the Spleen relieved by a Fit of the Gout.
IT hath been already observed, that Lord Dellwyn had no other Inducement to undertake so long a Journey as that from his own Castle to Bristol, but his Lady's being advised to go thither, as the only apparent Means of recovering her Health. This Purpose now being visibly effected, his Lordship began to turn his Thoughts on measuring back again the Distance between the Hot-wells and his own Seat.
If Variety is capable of filling every Hour of the married State with the
highest
129
highest Joy, then might it be said that Lord and Lady Dellwyn were completely blessed; for every Idea that had the Power of raising Pleasure in the Bosom of the one, depressed that of the other with Sorrow and Affliction. The Thought of returning home filled his Lordship with Delight; but, on the other Hand, raised in her Ladyship the highest Terror. My Lord grew weary of a public Place, which Want of Health and Strength would not suffer him to enjoy. My Lady dreaded the Change from a Variety of Company, which elated her Imagination, and at once procured her both Pleasure and Health, to a solitary Retirement with a Companion disgustful to her Fancy, and whose very Affection was displeasing and tiresome: She had already experienced what it was to languish and suffer Life in that Situation. A Renewal of the gaping, yawning Scene; as she herself expressed it; was beheld with Horror; and never was the old Proverb, that "A burnt Child dreads
G 5 "the
130
"the Fire," more fully exemplified, than in her present Fears of returning from whence she came.
Lady Dellwyn had now accustomed herself to make a fair Riddance of that Burthen, her Time, by a continual Round of Amusement; which she contrived so artfully, as to imagine she was constantly employed in some necessary Business; and she was always in as violent a Hurry, as if some grand State Affair had waited for her Dispatch. The late Laureat, in the Apology for his Life, gives a very humorous Description of his Brother Manager, Mr. Wilks, and calls him The Bustle-master General: A Term which gives no inadequate Idea of several Personages on the great Theatre of the World.
The gay Disposition of Lady Dellwyn's Mind banished all Power of Reflexion; by which Means the Thought of this certain Stroke of returning home, unless prevented by the more
cer-
131
tain Stroke of "having Lived," found no Room for Admittance; neither did the daily dropping off of her Acquaintance bring it to her Memory.
This Expression of "having lived" was, it seems, a Form amongst the Romans, by which they avoided the Mention of the Word Death; and is used by Cicero, in Ben Johnson's Tragedy of Catiline, to inform the Senate of Catiline's Execution. I do not say this Flying the Idea of Death is quite so proper in a Nation where Christianity is professed; but I was led into it by being Witness to the following Story: A Lady who was at the Hot-wells, apparently in the last Stage of her Life, was so terrified by the Mention of Death, that it was the Business of her Attendants to caution all her Acquaintance against using this Word; declaring it was enough to throw their Lady into immediate Convulsions: An Effect
G 6 I should
132
I should be very sorry to have on my Readers. But to leave this Digression:
I believe Music, Dancing, Cards, and a mixed Company of a Variety of People, who seem to have entered into a Combination of appearing outwardly pleased with one another (whatever Heart-burnings there may be within) are almost all the Ingredients which constitute what is generally called a public Place; and whilst that subsisted, it was indifferent to Lady Dellwyn of what Individuals it was composed: For she could not, with any Colour of Justice, be accused of much Partiality to any Particulars.
There is nothing perhaps presents us with more exact, or more frequent Pictures of human Life in general, than these kind of public Meetings, which periodically draw together a Concourse of a great Variety of Persons of all Kinds and Stations, and for all Manner of Purposes: Here are Diseases and
Health,
133
Health, gay Diversions and biting Pains, kill-time Amusements, and languid wearied Spirits, so blended and intermixed, that "Woman's Will" (even in the Judgment of Hamlet, when his own Mother had forfeited his good Opinion) could not with more Propriety be called One "undistinguished Space." There also are Tales
Told by an Ideot, full of Sound and Fury,
Signifying nothing!
There also are poor Players,
That strut, and fret their Hour upon the Stage,
And then are heard no more!
Players who perform their Parts to deceive themselves only: They differ indeed widely, in some Circumstances, from their Brother Comedians on the Theatres of Covent-garden and Drury- lane; both exert themselves to excite Laughter in their Spectators; but these are
134
are so generous as to bestow all their Labour gratis; they act, like Gentlemen, for their own Diversion: They defray all the Expence themselves, unless it happens that their Friends, or Posterity, contribute towards it, without their Consent; their Inclinations not having been consulted.
Pale Spectres crawl from the Card or Billiard Tables one Moment, and vanish the next, like Ghosts, and become Lumps of Clay. This Consideration pursued would naturally lead to Reflexions, that might perhaps be thought too grave: I will therefore imitate the Politeness of Dame Quickly, who, whilst there was the least remaining Hope of the Life of her Friend Sir John Falstaff, endeavoured to comfort him with the Consideration, that "there was no Need to think upon God as yet."
The gayest, the most covetous, or the most ambitious Disposition, in the
midst
135
midst of the most earnest Pursuit of Pleasure, Money, or Honours, could not possibly be more displeased at being remided that this World is not a lasting Home, than Lady Dellwyn was at her Lord's reminding her, that his Castle was her proper Habitation: He threw out some such broad Hints of an intended Journey thither, as could not be easily misunderstood; for he even mentioned, that he now thought it necessary to fix the Time for that Purpose.
It is amazing with what Velocity all Lady Dellwyn's Indispositions were returning; and there seemed to be a great Probability of her growing much worse than ever; when a violent Fit of the Gout, seizing his Lordship's great Toe, put an absolute Negative on his intended Journey, and stopped the Progress of his Lady's Relapse into all the Distempers which she came to Bristol to remove.
Again
136
Again was exemplified the Truth of the foregoing Observation, on the total Want of Sympathy between Lord Dellwyn and his Lady; for the Pain he suffered prevented the Approach of the Evil she dreaded, and his Illness gave her Health and Spirits. But here I would not be understood as if I intended to accuse Lady Dellwyn of an ill-natured Delight in her Lord's Sufferings; her Spirits were revived by the Gratification of her Love only; of that Kind of Love, which is always to be found in great Abundance in those Bosoms which never harbour any other; a Love of indulging her own Humour, a Self-complaisance, which gave her great Satisfaction from any Incident which could be conducive to her own desired Purpose. My Lord's Gout appeared to her exactly in the same Point of Light, as if the Overflowing of the Water, or any other Accident, had prevented her dreaded Journey.
When
137
When Lord Dellwyn was afflicted with the Gout at home and his Lady was in her mortified State, lamenting and repenting her own Folly, whilst her Mind had contracted such a gloomy Melancholy, as rendered her incapable of any Delight; she was as willing to be languid and uneasy in his Apartment, as in any other Part of her hated Home. She endeavoured to behave as well as she possibly could, in a Situation in which Truth was never on any Account to appear; but now she might say, with the Cobler's Wife transformed into the fine Lady, in the Play,
The Scene is chang'd, I'm alter'd quite:
For Engagement arose on Engage- ment; her Imagination was on the Wing, flying daily after new Pleasures; and nothing but absolute Force could have confined her to an Attendance on Sickness and Complaint.
When
138
When Lord Dellwyn determined to make Miss Lucum his Countess, he had not once suffered the Poilibility of her desiring any Pleasures separate from his to approach his Thoughts; and therefore the greater was his present Disappointment. His Lordship was naturally of an impatient Disposition; his Will from his Infancy was permitted to range with an uncontrouled Licence; Pain now increased the Impetuosity of his Temper, and any Disappointment was too rugged and too unusual to be endured by him with any tolerable Degree of Patience.
Now therefore Lord Dellwyn began to apply a Receipt for his Lady's Delight in going abroad, which has ever been known experimentally to fail of its intended Purpose; and yet in the same Circumtances is, and, I believe, without pretending to any great Share of Foreknowlege, I may say, will be always applied.
Time,
139
Time, Fashion, later Discoveries, with many other Accidents, may very possibly throw out of Use the most ingenious mortal Invention; but every Receipt, which derives its Original from Nature herself, is always remembered, and put in Pratice, by all her Sons in the same Situation: And now my Lord Dellwyn, in order to engage his Lady to love his Company, grew churlish, morose, and peevish; which had the usual Effect, and made the Entrance under his Roof her absolute Abhorence.
C H A P
Chapter 14
Page 140
CHAP. XIV.
Several Methods of conveying our Ideas, by diversifying the Use of Language.
THERE are Three Ways of Communication of the human Species by Speech: The First is that of talking Face to Face; which seems the best calculated for the Pleasure of friendly Intercourse: The Second deals in talking of one another when absent; and this is much the safest Way of venting Abuse; as a Man may without Danger, by this Method, murther as many Reputations as Bobadill could Bodies: The Third is a Kind of a middle Way between both; which, according as it is managed, may be turned to any Purpose. It is a Method of talking at one another; that
is,
Page 141
is, when we make Choice of some absent Person, whose Character we describe, intending thereby covertly to convey our Thoughts of some of the present Company; and by this means we may either make a Compliment so elegant, as to extract from it every gross or fulsome Part, or dart the most malignant Satire on any of our Companions; which, should they attempt seriously to resent, it is easy to stare, wonder what they mean, and thus skulk behind the absent Person, whose Name is borrowed on these Occasions, like the ancient Heroes behind the Shields formed by Vulcanian Hands. There is Reason to believe this Manner of Conversation is of polite Invention; because it never arrived at Billingsgate, Wapping, or any of the most celebrated Seminaries of Abuse. Indeed there is no Shield wanting; where no Weapons but Fists are used; nor any covert Method necessary, where Scolding flows with vulgar Eloquence in its own native Colours, and vulgar ldeas
are
Page 142
are naturally dressed in their own brawling Phrases and coarse Language.
There was at that time at Bristol a Gentleman and his Lady, whose Names were Saunders; who entered into the State of Matrimony with a mutual Affection, and who seemed to be much more properly matched than is the general Fate of Mankind: An uncommen Share of Beauty adorned them both, and a lively and strong Capacity rendered them reciprocally agreeable to each other: Their Friends were always welcome; but the Addition of more Company was never necessary to their Happiness. Their Fortune was full sufficient to support them in every desirable Indulgence; and they were so reasonable, as, with all these Advantages, to be perfectly satisfied. The Content of their Minds rendered their Dispositions as excellent, as were either their elegant Forms, or good Understandings. Mrs. Saunders was remark-
able
Page 143
able for an uncommon Vivacity when her Husband was present, as Lady Dell.Wyn was (her Lord being in Sight) for the contrary.
When Lord Dellwyn had an Inclination to vent his Spleen on his Lady, by the Method of Conversation above-mentioned, and was talking at her, he generally chose Mrs. Saunders, as the Person whose Praises were continually sounded to Lady Dellwyn's Reproach. Many times she passed this over without returning any Answer; but rather smiling to herself at the Thought of Lord Dellwyn's forgetting the great Difference there was between Mr. Saunders and himself.
Lady Dellwyn promised her Lord one Day to stay at home, if he would permit her to invite Cotany to Dinner. She selected her favourite Acquiantance; and particularly a young Gentleman lately arrived, whom she had marked in her Mind as worthy of
4 exciting
Page 144
exciting her Endeavors to gain his Admiration: For she was pleased to have a large Train of respectful Admirers; who expected nothing more than now-and-then a gracious Smile for their Attendance; altho' she was not particular in her Behaviour to any one of them.
My Lord soon began to trumpet forth the Praises of Mrs. Saunders, more especially enumerating all those Virtues in which he thought his Lady most deficient; and exclaiming greatly on the Happiness of Mr. Saunders, in having a Wife with such excellent Qualifications. Honest Praise, under which no lurking Satire is couched, is, I believe, always attended with a placid Countenance; but my Lord cast a Look on his Lady, which sufficiently indicated his Meaning.
Whenever this kind of Conversation happens between Man and Wife, all those Persons present, who are endued
with
Page 145
with Modesty and Good-nature, are confounded, and ready to blush for the Folly of those who have not Decency enough to blush for themselves: But where the true Love of Laughter dwells, it gives a fine Opportunity for the highest Ridicule; which is enjoyed inwardly while present, and vented in all Companies as soon as absent. The whole Company sat looking down on their Plates, not daring to look up, and were in great Confusion; except Lady Dellwyn herself, whose Indignation was then her uppermost Passion; and she replied with an uncommon Degree of Warmth:
"My Lord, I have somewhere read, or heard, a Story of an Army, which, after having lost a Battle, either by the Cowardice or Misconduct of its Leader, declared, that if it could change Generals, it would willingly fight the Battle over again; and should be under no manner of Apprehension, but that,
VOL. I. H "under
Page 146
"under such a Commander, it should prove its Bravery, and come off Conqueror."
The proper Instant of Time being chose for the Introduction of this Story, and the significant Look that Lady Dellwyn darted at her Lord, rendered the Application of it too obvious to be mistaken by an Infant.
The Company was chiefly composed of the Young and Gay; who naturally enjoyed Lord Dellwyn's Confusion, and his Lady's triumphant Countenance. The real Contrast Nature had, made between his Lordship and Mr. Saunders, could not be brought to his View, without his being very uneasy at the Comparison. He chose not to behold it; but would have continued forever satirizing his Lady with the Virtues of Mrs. Saunders; well satisfied, that if she had been his Wife, her Behaviour to him would have been the same as it was to her present Husband,
had
Page 147
had not Lady Dellwyn held up a Glass before him, in which she forced him to view himself in the same Piece with Mr. Saunders; so artfully managing it, that the whole Company could behold the Two Figures at Length. Lord Dellwyn's Eyes had been accustomed to turn all the Objects of Nature into Profiles, to look but on one Side, and on that only which his Inclinations prompted him to behold; and a whole Face was to him a Kind of Prodigy.
The Dissimulation which Lady Dellwyn had chose to bring herself under a Necessity of putting on, had been to her a Labour almost insupportable; for to no one Thought that was uppermost in her Mind had she dared to give Utterance. The Body, by being stretched to its Height, and properly exercised, grows and invigorates; but by continual Stooping, and remaining in the Posture, we may cramp ourselves, shrink our Sinews, and dwindle into Dwarfs. So the Mind, by ex-
H 2 erting
Page 148
erting its Faculties, may enlarge its Capacity, and invigorate the Understanding; but when every Thought is confined, and every Effort of the Imagination damped, the Mind is cramped, and shrinks into a dwarfish Nothing. This eligible Life had Lady Dellwyn long led; nor did she dare to be totally silent, lest through her Silence her Contempt should appear: But now she was growing by degrees into that Sort of Character, which seems to be intended by the Appellation of, A Woman of Spirit, she scorned any longer to give herself the Trouble of concealing her Thoughts; and her Sentiments of her Lord were generally very apparent in her Conversation.
Lord Dellwyn, with the Exception only of her going abroad and leaving him alone more than he chose, had hitherto had no great Reason to be displeased with her Behaviour; her Coquetry with Lord Clermont, as she so readily complied with her Lord's De-
sire
Page 149
sire on that Occasion, had rather given her an Opportunity of making a Merit for herself in her Lord's Eyes: But now when he was peevish with Pain, and ready to take fire at every the least Provocation, this spirited Reply of his Lady's roused him to Anger; and from that Moment a certain Degree of Hatred towards her took place in his Bosom, and for the first time helped him to discover that, which had never been a Secret to any of his Acquaintance but himself; namely, that he had not done a very prudent Action in marrying Miss Lucum.
This Discovery had often been the Subject of great Mirth and Ridicule to others; but yet was entirely new to his Lordship, and sensibly piqued his Pride; disappointing all his reasonable Hopes of purchasing the Affections of a young Beauty by his Pomp and Title. He was now full of Indignation; and as he found, that notwithstanding all his Expences; he was as far from hav-
H 3 ing
Page 150
ing secured his Lady's Affections as ever, he grew niggardly to her Pleasures; and, by a repeated Refusal of her Requests, opened her Eyes also to behold a Matter of Fact, on which she had never yet reflected: For Experience shewed her, that she had not, by marrying a Man of a large Fortune, obtained any great Proportion of Property which she could call her own, or command at her Pleasure.
The Soliloquy continually passing and repassing in the Thoughts of Lord Dellwyn, was in Substance as follows:
Have I raised a young Woman of plebeian Rank to almost the highest Sphere in this Country? Have I, for her Sake, connected myself with her Father when he was despised and abandoned by the rest of Mankind? Have I been so profuse to her Pleasures, that she might have spent my
For-
Page 151
Fortune at her Will? And for all these great Advantages on her Side, I have requested only her Love and Affection, and that she should delight in my Company. Small Favours surely, in comparison of those I have conferred on her: And do I now at last find myself utterly displeasing in her Eyes?
Oh! Ingratitude, Ingratitude! base Ingratitude!
Lady Dellwyn had her Soliloquy also; and I believe her Ideas will be pretty exactly expressed in Words to this Effect:
Have I been basely betrayed to marry a Man whose Person I detest, whose Conversation I lothe, and whose Understanding I despise? Have I, at his Request, avoided Lord Clermont, whom I could easily perceive was in Love with me with the greatest Sincerity? Have I sacrificed my Bloom and Beauty, which might have gained me Lovers
H 4 of
Page 152
of equal Rank with that of this proud Lord, whom I have been foolishly perswaded to gratify? And doth he now, for all these invaluable Favours, grow covetous to my Expences, and morosely refuse me my very reasonable Requests?
Oh! Ingratitude, Ingratitude! base Ingratitude!
Thus, tho' Lord and Lady Dellwyn differed so widely in their Sentiments, yet, from various Premises, they each drew the same Conclusion; and now, in their new Manner of talking at each other, the Ingratitude of Mankind was their general Exclamation: And
They talk'd about it, Goddess, and about it,
till they confused themselves, and all others, whose unfortunate Lot it was to converse with them both together.
They
Page 153
They were now truly become Two unamiable Figures; for on the one hand might be seen (to speak plainly) a haughty, discontented, extravagant Wife; and on the other, a morose, covetous, and disappointed Husband. But a little to soften the Harshness of these Ideas, and to use Expressions which found more polite, it may be said, that Lord Dellwyn was candid enough to acknowlege his Error in marrying, and prudently considerate of Futurity in this World at the Age of Sixty-three; and that his Countess was become a Lady of Spirit.
The END of the FIRST BOOK.
H 5 THE
CHAP. XIV.
Several Methods of conveying our Ideas, by diversifying the Use of Language.
THERE are Three Ways of Communication of the human Species by Speech: The First is that of talking Face to Face; which seems the best calculated for the Pleasure of friendly Intercourse: The Second deals in talking of one another when absent; and this is much the safest Way of venting Abuse; as a Man may without Danger, by this Method, murther as many Reputations as Bobadill could Bodies: The Third is a Kind of a middle Way between both; which, according as it is managed, may be turned to any Purpose. It is a Method of talking at one another; that
is,
Page 141
is, when we make Choice of some absent Person, whose Character we describe, intending thereby covertly to convey our Thoughts of some of the present Company; and by this means we may either make a Compliment so elegant, as to extract from it every gross or fulsome Part, or dart the most malignant Satire on any of our Companions; which, should they attempt seriously to resent, it is easy to stare, wonder what they mean, and thus skulk behind the absent Person, whose Name is borrowed on these Occasions, like the ancient Heroes behind the Shields formed by Vulcanian Hands. There is Reason to believe this Manner of Conversation is of polite Invention; because it never arrived at Billingsgate, Wapping, or any of the most celebrated Seminaries of Abuse. Indeed there is no Shield wanting; where no Weapons but Fists are used; nor any covert Method necessary, where Scolding flows with vulgar Eloquence in its own native Colours, and vulgar ldeas
are
Page 142
are naturally dressed in their own brawling Phrases and coarse Language.
There was at that time at Bristol a Gentleman and his Lady, whose Names were Saunders; who entered into the State of Matrimony with a mutual Affection, and who seemed to be much more properly matched than is the general Fate of Mankind: An uncommen Share of Beauty adorned them both, and a lively and strong Capacity rendered them reciprocally agreeable to each other: Their Friends were always welcome; but the Addition of more Company was never necessary to their Happiness. Their Fortune was full sufficient to support them in every desirable Indulgence; and they were so reasonable, as, with all these Advantages, to be perfectly satisfied. The Content of their Minds rendered their Dispositions as excellent, as were either their elegant Forms, or good Understandings. Mrs. Saunders was remark-
able
Page 143
able for an uncommon Vivacity when her Husband was present, as Lady Dell.Wyn was (her Lord being in Sight) for the contrary.
When Lord Dellwyn had an Inclination to vent his Spleen on his Lady, by the Method of Conversation above-mentioned, and was talking at her, he generally chose Mrs. Saunders, as the Person whose Praises were continually sounded to Lady Dellwyn's Reproach. Many times she passed this over without returning any Answer; but rather smiling to herself at the Thought of Lord Dellwyn's forgetting the great Difference there was between Mr. Saunders and himself.
Lady Dellwyn promised her Lord one Day to stay at home, if he would permit her to invite Cotany to Dinner. She selected her favourite Acquiantance; and particularly a young Gentleman lately arrived, whom she had marked in her Mind as worthy of
4 exciting
Page 144
exciting her Endeavors to gain his Admiration: For she was pleased to have a large Train of respectful Admirers; who expected nothing more than now-and-then a gracious Smile for their Attendance; altho' she was not particular in her Behaviour to any one of them.
My Lord soon began to trumpet forth the Praises of Mrs. Saunders, more especially enumerating all those Virtues in which he thought his Lady most deficient; and exclaiming greatly on the Happiness of Mr. Saunders, in having a Wife with such excellent Qualifications. Honest Praise, under which no lurking Satire is couched, is, I believe, always attended with a placid Countenance; but my Lord cast a Look on his Lady, which sufficiently indicated his Meaning.
Whenever this kind of Conversation happens between Man and Wife, all those Persons present, who are endued
with
Page 145
with Modesty and Good-nature, are confounded, and ready to blush for the Folly of those who have not Decency enough to blush for themselves: But where the true Love of Laughter dwells, it gives a fine Opportunity for the highest Ridicule; which is enjoyed inwardly while present, and vented in all Companies as soon as absent. The whole Company sat looking down on their Plates, not daring to look up, and were in great Confusion; except Lady Dellwyn herself, whose Indignation was then her uppermost Passion; and she replied with an uncommon Degree of Warmth:
"My Lord, I have somewhere read, or heard, a Story of an Army, which, after having lost a Battle, either by the Cowardice or Misconduct of its Leader, declared, that if it could change Generals, it would willingly fight the Battle over again; and should be under no manner of Apprehension, but that,
VOL. I. H "under
Page 146
"under such a Commander, it should prove its Bravery, and come off Conqueror."
The proper Instant of Time being chose for the Introduction of this Story, and the significant Look that Lady Dellwyn darted at her Lord, rendered the Application of it too obvious to be mistaken by an Infant.
The Company was chiefly composed of the Young and Gay; who naturally enjoyed Lord Dellwyn's Confusion, and his Lady's triumphant Countenance. The real Contrast Nature had, made between his Lordship and Mr. Saunders, could not be brought to his View, without his being very uneasy at the Comparison. He chose not to behold it; but would have continued forever satirizing his Lady with the Virtues of Mrs. Saunders; well satisfied, that if she had been his Wife, her Behaviour to him would have been the same as it was to her present Husband,
had
Page 147
had not Lady Dellwyn held up a Glass before him, in which she forced him to view himself in the same Piece with Mr. Saunders; so artfully managing it, that the whole Company could behold the Two Figures at Length. Lord Dellwyn's Eyes had been accustomed to turn all the Objects of Nature into Profiles, to look but on one Side, and on that only which his Inclinations prompted him to behold; and a whole Face was to him a Kind of Prodigy.
The Dissimulation which Lady Dellwyn had chose to bring herself under a Necessity of putting on, had been to her a Labour almost insupportable; for to no one Thought that was uppermost in her Mind had she dared to give Utterance. The Body, by being stretched to its Height, and properly exercised, grows and invigorates; but by continual Stooping, and remaining in the Posture, we may cramp ourselves, shrink our Sinews, and dwindle into Dwarfs. So the Mind, by ex-
H 2 erting
Page 148
erting its Faculties, may enlarge its Capacity, and invigorate the Understanding; but when every Thought is confined, and every Effort of the Imagination damped, the Mind is cramped, and shrinks into a dwarfish Nothing. This eligible Life had Lady Dellwyn long led; nor did she dare to be totally silent, lest through her Silence her Contempt should appear: But now she was growing by degrees into that Sort of Character, which seems to be intended by the Appellation of, A Woman of Spirit, she scorned any longer to give herself the Trouble of concealing her Thoughts; and her Sentiments of her Lord were generally very apparent in her Conversation.
Lord Dellwyn, with the Exception only of her going abroad and leaving him alone more than he chose, had hitherto had no great Reason to be displeased with her Behaviour; her Coquetry with Lord Clermont, as she so readily complied with her Lord's De-
sire
Page 149
sire on that Occasion, had rather given her an Opportunity of making a Merit for herself in her Lord's Eyes: But now when he was peevish with Pain, and ready to take fire at every the least Provocation, this spirited Reply of his Lady's roused him to Anger; and from that Moment a certain Degree of Hatred towards her took place in his Bosom, and for the first time helped him to discover that, which had never been a Secret to any of his Acquaintance but himself; namely, that he had not done a very prudent Action in marrying Miss Lucum.
This Discovery had often been the Subject of great Mirth and Ridicule to others; but yet was entirely new to his Lordship, and sensibly piqued his Pride; disappointing all his reasonable Hopes of purchasing the Affections of a young Beauty by his Pomp and Title. He was now full of Indignation; and as he found, that notwithstanding all his Expences; he was as far from hav-
H 3 ing
Page 150
ing secured his Lady's Affections as ever, he grew niggardly to her Pleasures; and, by a repeated Refusal of her Requests, opened her Eyes also to behold a Matter of Fact, on which she had never yet reflected: For Experience shewed her, that she had not, by marrying a Man of a large Fortune, obtained any great Proportion of Property which she could call her own, or command at her Pleasure.
The Soliloquy continually passing and repassing in the Thoughts of Lord Dellwyn, was in Substance as follows:
Have I raised a young Woman of plebeian Rank to almost the highest Sphere in this Country? Have I, for her Sake, connected myself with her Father when he was despised and abandoned by the rest of Mankind? Have I been so profuse to her Pleasures, that she might have spent my
For-
Page 151
Fortune at her Will? And for all these great Advantages on her Side, I have requested only her Love and Affection, and that she should delight in my Company. Small Favours surely, in comparison of those I have conferred on her: And do I now at last find myself utterly displeasing in her Eyes?
Oh! Ingratitude, Ingratitude! base Ingratitude!
Lady Dellwyn had her Soliloquy also; and I believe her Ideas will be pretty exactly expressed in Words to this Effect:
Have I been basely betrayed to marry a Man whose Person I detest, whose Conversation I lothe, and whose Understanding I despise? Have I, at his Request, avoided Lord Clermont, whom I could easily perceive was in Love with me with the greatest Sincerity? Have I sacrificed my Bloom and Beauty, which might have gained me Lovers
H 4 of
Page 152
of equal Rank with that of this proud Lord, whom I have been foolishly perswaded to gratify? And doth he now, for all these invaluable Favours, grow covetous to my Expences, and morosely refuse me my very reasonable Requests?
Oh! Ingratitude, Ingratitude! base Ingratitude!
Thus, tho' Lord and Lady Dellwyn differed so widely in their Sentiments, yet, from various Premises, they each drew the same Conclusion; and now, in their new Manner of talking at each other, the Ingratitude of Mankind was their general Exclamation: And
They talk'd about it, Goddess, and about it,
till they confused themselves, and all others, whose unfortunate Lot it was to converse with them both together.
They
Page 153
They were now truly become Two unamiable Figures; for on the one hand might be seen (to speak plainly) a haughty, discontented, extravagant Wife; and on the other, a morose, covetous, and disappointed Husband. But a little to soften the Harshness of these Ideas, and to use Expressions which found more polite, it may be said, that Lord Dellwyn was candid enough to acknowlege his Error in marrying, and prudently considerate of Futurity in this World at the Age of Sixty-three; and that his Countess was become a Lady of Spirit.
The END of the FIRST BOOK.
H 5 THE
Notes to Vol. 1, Book 1, Chapter 13
The last Laureat: Cf. Cibber, Colley. An Apology for the Life of Mr. Colley Cibber, Comedian and Late Patentee of the Theatre-Royal. London: Printed by John Watts for the author, 1740. Eighteenth Century Collections Online. Gale. California State Univ. Northridge.
"From this Time, then, Wilks became first Minister, or Bustle-master-general of the Company. He, now, seem'd to take new Delight, in keeping the Actors close to their Business; and got every Play reviv'd with Care, in which he had acted the chief Part, in Dublin" (149)
"From this Time, then, Wilks became first Minister, or Bustle-master-general of the Company. He, now, seem'd to take new Delight, in keeping the Actors close to their Business; and got every Play reviv'd with Care, in which he had acted the chief Part, in Dublin" (149)
Notes to Vol. 1, Book 1, Chapter 14
murther-archaic spelling of 'murder' (google)
Bobadill-reference to Captain Bobadill, a boastful, cowardly soldier in Jonson's Every Man in his Humour (google books)
fulsome-"Offensive to normal tastes or sensibilities; exciting aversion or repugnance; disgusting, repulsive, odious" (OED)
Vulcanian Hands-reference from William Pattison's poem "The Court of Venus" (A complete edition of the poets of Great Britain by Robert Anderson) (google books)
.Wyn-no '.' in front of 'Wyn'
niggardly-archaic adverb meaning "in a stingy or meager manner" (google)
plebeian-adjective from ancient Rome meaning "a commoner, as opposed to one of the privileged patricians" (OED)
perswaded-meant to be "persuaded"
Futurity-noun meaning "The quality, state, or fact of being future" (OED)