The School for Wives. ry done to herfelf, than that to the helpless infant. The more fhe reflected, the more fhe was aftonifhed, that a woman should act a part fo krongly in oppofition to nature; and by often painting to herfelf the woes to which the poor deferted child might be, probably, expofed, fhe became, at length, fo diffolved in foft compaffion, as to form a refolution, of which few, except herfelf, would have been capable. 651 a time, (which she mentioned exactly to her) and who had given fifty guineas to be eafed for ever of the trouble of it. "I am a near relation," continued Amafina, " of the gentleman to whom the little wretch owes its being, and who cannot confent that any thing which does fo, though begot in an unwarrantable way, fhould be deferted and expofed in the manner fuch children often are: I, therefore, defire that you will let me fee it, if it is alive, that I may provide for it in a different way than it can be expected you should do for the poor pittance left by the mother." The woman then began to expatiate on the impoffibility of her taking the care fhe could wish to do with children left with her on thofe terms; adding, that heaven knew she did all the could, and often laid out more than the received: affuring her, also, that the child the enquired after was alive, and a fine boy; and that he was with a perfon who, indeed, nursed for the parish, but who was a very good fort of woman, and did her duty. Having been acquainted, by her officious friend, with the name and habitation of the woman with whom this poor little creature had been left, fhe muffled herself up in her cloak, and without making any perfon privy to her defign, went in an hackney-chair to her house. The woman received her with a great deal of respect and kindness, imagining fhe was come on business fimilar to that in which the Belindas of the age are engaged, who, though they love the criminal part of an amour, hate the fhame of being detected when the "dirty deed is done." She was immediately conducted into a private room, and informed, that fhe might be quite free in the communica-if tion of any thing to her, as fhe was a perfon who had been intrusted by those who would not be thought guilty of able, in a manner more ample than you falfe ftep for all the world. "That may be," replied Amafina, "but I must have him removed, and you can provide another, who can be depended on, I have orders from the father to fatisfy you for you trou nurfe whom you can recommend, and I will give you a meeting." can defire. In the mean time," conThe virtuous Amafina blushed at be- tinued fhe, putting five guineas into ing fufpected by this woman to be guil- her hand, take this as an earnest, ty of an act her foul fhuddered at the and let the child be brought here tothoughts of what an other fhould com-morrow about this hour, with a new mit,and foon put an end to the harangues fhe was making on her own care, fkill, and fidelity." I come not," faid the wife of Palamon," on the bufinefs you feem to think; and yet it is bufinefs which no lefs requires your fecrecy. I have no unhappy infant to leave with you, but am come to eafe you of one you have lately taken charge of." The midwife looked very much furprised to hear her speak in this manner, and knew not well what answer to make; but Amafina put an end to her fufpenfe, by telling her that fhe was in the fecret of a lady who was delivered of a child at her house such A great deal more converfation paffed between them concerning this af fair on the conclufion of which the woman agreed to do whatever was de-. fired of her, and was, doubtless, no lefs rejoiced at the offer made her by the unknown lady before her, than the herself was at the thoughts of preferving from mifery an innocent creature, for which, though she had not feen it, the felt a kind of natural affection, as Palamon was its father. The next day this excellent pattern of good-nature and conjugal love, took with her every thing proper for a child to wear, which he was determined to make her own by adoption; and as foon as fhe faw the fweet boy in his nurfe's arms, fhe took him, embraced him, and kiffed him with a tenderness little less than maternal. Having agreed upon terms, fhe caufed him to be dreffed, in her prefence, in the rich cloaths fhe had brought for him; and every thing being fettled highly to the fatisfaction of all parties, fhe returned home with a fecret contentment in her mind which no words are able to exprefs. (To be concluded in the Supplement.) foon difcovered their mutual attachment; and provoked at the prefumption (as he called it) of Charles, he burst into the grotto, and flood before the trembling Augufta with the greateft expreflion of difappointment and rage in his countenance. Terror fo far overcame my fair friend, that the fainted in Charles's arms. He fupported her with the greatest tenderness, but Mr. Nugent commanded him to leave the place, and turning to his daughter, who was now recovered, he bid her prepare to receive Lord Wilton as her husband, as foon as he should return from London; and turning to Charles, told him he might stay that night in his houfe, but that he expect The Hory of Captain HERBERT and ed he fhould quit it in the morning. Mifs AUGUSTA NUGENT. I In a Series of Letters. You may be fure my time was not fpent very agreeably. I left the dining-room foon after dinner, to enquire (Continued from Page 582.) after my two friends, who were both in their chambers. I found Augufta Mrs. NUGENT to Ms SIDNEY. reading a billet, which fhe hastily put Am fure, dear Louifa, my will into her bofom. you I concluded it came be amazed at the news I have to from Charles, and therefore did not difcommunicate to you. My fair Au- trefs her by asking the contents. I fat gufta has left us, and we are unable with her till eleven at night, and at partto conjecture where she is gone: all we ing fhe came to me with open arms, and can affert with any degree of certainty, embraced me with unusual tenderness. is that he is gone off with Charles Herbert. But I will give you an account of what has happened fince my laft letter, which left me employed in confoling the two lovers on their approaching separation. A few days previous to the time fixed for Charles's departure, Mifa Nugent and he were walking in the grove, and fo much were they taken up with their own affairs, that they remained there till long after the bell had rung for dinner. Mr. Nugent, at laft grew uneafy at their long ftay, and refolved to go himfelf and feek them. I accompanied him, and we had not proceeded far through the winding of the grove, before we heard the found of voices in a little grotto in the thickest part of it. We foon difcovered it to be Augufta endeavouring to comfort the penive Charles, with all that foft elo quence which only love could infpire. Mr. Nugent, from their converfation, After I had left her, I ftepped to Charles's room, and tapping at the door, he opened it." How is my Augufta ?" faid he. I affured him the feemed quite compofed, and begged that he would endeavour to take fome reft. He faid his, mind was too much disturbed to think of reft, and bursting into tears, he hastily fhut the door. Early in the morning I was difturbed by Mifs Nugent's maid, with an account that her mistress could no where be found, but that on her dreffing-table fhe had found a note for me.. I opened it.-It contained her thanks for my friendship, and affured me that the terror of being forced to be the wife of Lord Wilton, had driven her to the fad neceffity of taking fhelter in the arms of the man she loved. Mr. Nugent is enraged to the greateft degree; but I hope in time he may be reconciled to the unfortunate pair. Adieu- when we hear any thing of Mifs Willis to Mifs Eliza Willis. 653 them I will write. Excufe the many | woman ought first to be well acquainterrors which my confufion may haveed with his character before the conoccafioned, and believe me, With fincere affection, Your's, CAROLINE NUGENT. fents to tie the indiffoluble knot, which can never be loofened, or rather untied. But by what I have feen in Mr. Gordon, he is as amiable for a man as Mifs Wallis is for a woman; and after being in the house with him above a month, can judge a little of his mind; that is, whether he is fenLETTERS.fible and well bred. But where have (To be continued.) 4 SERIES of (Continued from Page 601.) LETTER VI. Mrs. WILLIS to Mifs ELIZA WILLIS. WE Percy-Place. I been rambling all this while on a theme which 1 delight to dwell on. I was giving you an account of the day; but you know how thofe kind of vifits are spent, fo will not make this letter any longer though if I had a mind to do it cannot, as we are E were all yesterday at Sir going to have company to dinner, and William Warcourt's, at Ma- is within an hour of the appointed ple-Park to spend the day, and a very time for that neceffary meal; befides, agreeable one it proved: there was amuft drefs, which now a-days is a great deal of company. Lady War- great article, and cannot be difpenfed court is very polite and elegant in with. Adieu. her manners as well as in her perfon, which is to be fure very handfome, and the fets it off to the beft advantage. Mifs Wallis was there also, and I never faw her look prettier than fhe did that day. Mr. Gordon too feemed to look on her with particular Yours affectionately, (To be continued.). pleasure. I have fet my heart on that To the EDITOR of the LADY'S MA GAZINE.. MR. or MRS. EDITOR, NDEED I know not what title to I you by, because your being a match fome time; they both feem made for each other: fhe is an only child, and has a very good fortune her father and mother are fenfible clever people; fhe has received a good education, and with thofe requi-lections have more than the female in fites, exclufive of her fortune, would them; but I AM a WOMAN, and theremake a defirable companion for life to fore am much chagrined on account any man. But I hear you fay," What of the liberties taken with my sex ; a is a pretty perfon, a good education, little hop-o'er-my-thumb had the imwithout thofe effential qualities, good pertinence to break into my private temper, and an accomplished mind." meditations at the theatre, with an humTrue, my dear, I beg her pardon, ble request to take off my calash, befor not mentioning them both, which cause he could not fee Mifs Young in I have seen fufficient of to judge they the laft Eaft-Indian Tragedy; though are equally aniable: they are cer- to hear, he said, was a rapture, but, tainly of great confequence in the on my account he loft half the pleamarriage ftate; and if nobody en- fure he had purchafed at the pit-door, tered that ftate without thofe good which he understood was both to qualities, we fhould, I believe, fel-bear and to fer." I will oblige you, dom feldom hear of fo many unhappy matches. Not but the man is very often in fault, and for that reafon a Sir."-Ilugged off my calafh.-"That will not do, Madam. I wish you had taken your head off with it."-Sir, you you incroach upon preconceffions as whalebone-petticoats out-do ours by all your fex do."-I gave him a look, feveral yards circumference, and cover which ought to have killed him; but fome acres of ground. in vindication of the modern ftyle of heads, be fo good as to infert the following extract from the works of a lady, who knew more of dress, than any be fellow can pretend to. LETTER IX. THOUGH I have fo lately troubled you, my dear fifter, with a long letter, yet I will keep my promise in giving you an account of my first going to court. In order to that ceremony, I was fqueezed up in a gown, and adorned with a gorget, and the other implements thereunto belonging, a dress very inconvenient, but which certainly fhews the neck and fhape to great advantage. I cannot forbear giving you a defcription of fome of the fafhions here, which are more monftrous and contrary to all common fenfe and reafon than it is poffible for you to imagine. They build certain fabricks of gawze on their heads about a yard high, confifting of three or four flories, fortified with numberlefs yards of heavy ribbon. The foundation of this ftructure is a thing they call a bourlé, which is exactly of the fame fhape and kind, but about four times as big as thofe rolls our prudent milk-maids make ufe of to fix their pails upon. This machine they cover with their own hair, which they mix with a great deal of falfe, it being a particular beauty to have their heads too large to go into a moderate tub. Their hair is prodigiously powdered to conceal the mixture, and fet out with three or four rows of bodkins wonderfully large, that ftick out two or three inches from their hair, made of diamonds, pearls, red, green, and yellow ftones, that it certainly requires as much art and experience to carry the load upright as to dance upon May-Day with the garland. Their : You may easily fuppofe how this extraordinary drefs fets off and improves the natural ugliness with which God Almighty has been pleafed to endue them generally speaking. Even the lovely emprefs is obliged to comply in fome degree with thefe abfurd fafhions, which they would not quit for all the world. I had a private audience (according to ceremony) of half an hour; and then all the other ladies were permitted to come and make their court. I was perfectly charmed with the emprefs; I cannot, however, tell you that her features are regular her eyes are not large, but have a lively look, full of fweetnefs; her complexion the fineft 1 ever faw; her nofe and forehead well made; but her mouth has ten thousand charms that touch the foul. When fhe fmiles it is with a beauty and sweetness that forces admiration. She has a vaft quantity of fine hair; but then her perfon! one muft fpeak of it poetically to do it juftice: all that the poèts have faid of the mien of Juno, the air of Venus come not up to the truth: the graces move with her; the famous ftatue of Medicis was not formed with more delicate propertions; nothing can be added to the beauty of her neck and hands: till I faw them, I did not believe there was any in nature fo perfect; and I was almoft forry that my rank here did not permit me to kifs them; but they are kiffed fufficiently, for every body that waits on her pay that homage at their entrance, and when they take leave. When the ladies were come in, fhe fat down to Quinze. I could not play at a game I never had feca before; and the ordered me a seat at her right-hand, and had the goodness to talk to me very much, with that We imagine that lady Mary chofe to deal in the hyperbolical, and that inltead of acres the might have intended to have faid' yards, or ells Flemish. grace Lady M. W. Montague on the Ladies Head-dreffes. 565 downright chamber-maids. I had an audience next day of the emprefs's mother, a princefs of great virtue and goodnefs; but who piques herself too much on violent devotion: fhe is perpetually performing extraordinary acts of penance, without having done any thing to deferve them. She has the fame number of maids of honour, whom fhe fuffers to go in colours; but the herself never quits her mourning; and fure nothing can be more difmal than the mourning here, even for a brother: there is not the leaft bit of linen to be feen; all black crape inftead of it. The neck, ears, and fide of the face are covered with a plaited piece of the fame ftuff, and the face that peeps out in the midft of it, looks as if it was pilloried. The widows over and above wear a crape forehead-cloth; and in this folemn weed go to all the places of diverfion without fcruple. The next day I was to wait on the grace fo natural to her. I expected, every moment when the men were to come in to pay their court, but this drawing room is very different to that of London; no man enters it but the grand-mafter, who comes to advertife the emprefs of the approach of the emperor. His Imperial majefty did me the honour of fpeaking to me in a very obliging manner; but he never fpeaks to any of the other ladies; and the whole paffes with a gravity and air of ceremony that has fomething very formal in it. The emprefs Amelia, dowager of the late emperor Jofeph came this evening to wait on the reigning emprefs, followed by the two arch-ducheffes, her daughters, who are very agreeable young princeffes. Their Imperial majefties arofe, and went to meet her at the door of the room; after which fhe was feated in an arm chair-next the emprefs, and in the fame manner at fupper, and there the men had the permiffion of paying their court. The arch-emprefs Amelia, who is now at her ducheffes fat on chairs with backs without arms. The table was entirely ferved and the difhes fet on by the emprefs's maids of honour, which are twelve young ladies of the first quality. They have no falary but their chambers at court, where they live in a fort of confinement, not being fuffered to go to the affemblies or public places in town, except in compliment to the fifter of a maid whom the emprefs prefents with her picture, fet in diamonds. The three first of them are called Ladies of the Key, and wear gold keys by their fides: but what I find moft pleasant is the custom which obliges them as long as they live, after they have left the empreffes's fervice, to make her fome prefent every year on the day of her feaft. Her majefty is attended by no married women but the grande matre, who is generally a widow of the firft quality, always very old, and is at the fame time groom of the ftole, and mother of the maids. The dreffers are not at all in the figure they pretend to in England, being looked upon no otherwife than as place of retirement, half a mile from |