Nay, Sir, 'tis an evident cafe. 'Tis ftrange that all husbands fhould prove fo blind, • That a wife's real merits they ne'er can find, Tho' they ftrike all the rest of mankind. Lycom. How can you be fo ridiculous? By thefe airs, Madam, you would have me believe you are jealous. 6 Thef. Whence had you this contemptibie opinion of < me? Jealous! If I was fo, I have a spirit above owning it. I would never heighten your pleasure by letting you have the fatisfaction of knowing I was un6 eafy. Lycom. Let me beg you, my dear, to keep your temper. Theaf. Since I have been fo unguarded as to own it; give me leave to tell you, Sir, that was I of a lower rank, it would keep you in fome awe, becaufe you would then know I could take my revenge. Lycom. You forget your duty, child. Theaf. There is a duty too due from a husband.' 'AIR XII. Black Joke. Lycom. Then must I bear eternal strife, Both night and day put in mind of a wife, Theaf. D'ye think I'll bear eternal flight, And not complain when I'm robb'd of my right? Call you this, Sir, but whimsical fears? Lycom. Can nought then fill this raging storm? Theaf. Yes. What you promis'd if you wou'd perform. Pr'ythee teaze me no more. Lycom. • Theaf. • Lycom. I can never give o'er, Till I find you as fond and as kind as before. Will you ne'er afk A poffible talk? • Would Would you have me fo unhofpitable as to deny her my protection?' Theaf. 'Tis not, Sir, that I prefume to controul you in your pleasures. Yet you might, methinks, have fhewed that tenderness for me to have acted with a little more reserve. 'Women are not fo blind as husbands imagine. Were there no other circumstances, your coolness to me, your indifference.-How I defpife myfelf for this confeffion! Pardon me, Sir, love made me thus indifcreet. Theafpe weeping. • Oh, love, plead my pardon, nor plead it in vain; 'Twas you that was jealous, 'twas you was in pain ; Yet why fhould you fpeak? To what purpose or end I must be unhappy if love can offend. Yet was ever a design of this kind fo manifeft, fo bare-faced! Theafpe angry. To what a pitch is man profufe, But for mere fhow, and nought befide.. She cou'd prove, beyond all doubt, • With more than enough he was supply'd.” The princess Califta hath fhewn an uncommon confidence in your majeity. The woman, no doubt, depends upon. it, that her daughter's charms are not to be refifted. Lycom. Nay, dear child, don't be fcandalous. AIR XV. Joan's Placket. Reputations hack'd and hew'd, B 3 Thus 6 Thus while fhe rends Both foes and friends, Theaf. You are in fo particular a manner obliged to her, that I am not furprifed at your taking her part. Lycam. But, dear Madam, why at prefent is all this violent flufter? Theaf. Afk your own heart, afk your own conduc. Thofe can best inform you.'Twould have been more obliging, if Pyrrha and you had kept me out of this impudent fecret. You know, Sir, I have rea• fon. Lycom. If one woman's virtue depended upon another's fufpicions, where fhould we find a woman of common modefty? Indeed, child, I think you injure her; believe her virtuous. 6 Theaf. When a man hath ruined a woman, he thinks himself obliged in honour to stand up for her reputa tion. Lycom. If you will believe only your own unaccountable fufpicions, and are determined not to hear reafon, I must leave you to your perverfe humours. What would you have me fay? What would you have me do? Theaf. Shew your hofpitality (as you call it) to me, • and put that creature out of the palace. 6 Lycom. I have a greater regard to yours and my own quiet, than ever to comply with the extravagant paffions of a jealous woman. man in her power 2 Theaf. You have taken then your refolutions, I find ; and I am fentenced to neglect.- -Did ever a woman 6 marry but with the probability of having at least one What a wretched wife am I ! [Weeps. Lycom.' Jealoufy from a wife, even to a man of quality, is now looked upon as ill-manners, though the affair be never so public. But without a caufe! I beg you, Madam, to fay no more upon this fubject. Theaf. Though you, Sir, may think her fit company for for you; methinks the very fame reasons might tell you that he is not fo very reputabie a companion for your daughters. Lycom. Since a paffionate woman will only believe her felf, I must leave you, Madam, to enjoy your obstinacy, I know but that way of putting an end to the difpute. AIR XVI. We've cheated the Parfon, Ec. Though woman's glib tongue, when her paffions are fir'd, Since woman will have both her word and her way, I obey, Since woman will have both her word and her way. [Ex. Theaf. Would I had been more upon the referve! But husbands are horridly provoking; they know the frailty of the fex, and never fail to take the advantage of our paffions to make us expofe ourselves by contradiction,Artemona. Art. Madam. Enter Artemona. Theaf. Is that creature, that (what do you call her ?) that princefs, gone? Art. Yes, Madam. Theaf.. Why did not she take that aukward thing, her daughter, with her? Art. The advantages fhe might receive in her education, might be an inducement to leave her. Theaf. Might that be an inducement ?" Art. Besides,' in her prefent circumstance, it might be inconvenient to take her daughter with her. Theaf. Can't you find out any other reason for leaving her? Art. Your courtesy, Madam; your hospitality. Art. No other reason? Theaf. Would I could believe there was no other! 6 Theaf. I hate a girl that is fo intolerably forward. • Art. 6 • Art. I never obferved any thing but thofe little liberties that girls of her age will take, when they are among themfelves.-Perhaps thofe particular diftinctions the princeffes fhew her, may have made her too 'familiar.I am not, Madam, an advocate for her behaviour. Theaj. A look fo very audacious! Now the filthy men, who love every thing that is impudent, call that fpirit.- But there are, Artemona, fome particular diftinctions from a certain perfon, who of late hath been very particular to me, that might indeed make 'her too familiar. Art, Heaven forbid ! Theaf. How precarious is the happiness of a wife, when it is in the power of every new face to deftroy • it!-Now, dear Artemona, tell me fincerely, don't you, from what you yourself have observed, think L have reafon to be unealy? Art, That I have obferved! Theaf. Dear Artemona, don't frighten thyfelf. I am not accufing you, but talking to you as a friend. • Art. 'AIR XVII. Fairy Elves. Oh, guard your hours from care, For the with fancy'd fprites, • Herfelf torments and frights. • Thus the frets, and pines, and grieves, Raifing fears that the believes.' Theaf. I hate myself too for having fo much condefcenfon and humility as to be jealous. 'Tis flattering the man that ufes one ill; and 'tis wanting the natural pride that belongs to the fex. What a wretched, mean, contemptible figure is a jealous woman!" How have I expofed myfelf! Art. Your majefly is fafe in the confidence repofed in me. Theaf. That is not the cafe, Artemona. Lycomedes knows I am unhappy. I have owned it, and was fo unguarded as to accute him.' Arts |