Belv. In her sleep! 'Sdeath, Sir, what is it you mean? Bel. So, you are forming a thousand ridiculous conjectures, warrant. What an unhappy temper! perpetually fretting yourself, and suspecting your mistress. You went abroad in the same state of mind, and now when you are returned, and ought to ask her forgiveness for your doubts and suspicions, you are instantly relapsing into the same unmanly folly. Belv. Mighty well, Sir. Yet do not misunderstand me; if desire that I should consider you as my have friend, let your attendance at Arabella's be less frequent. you any Bel. A pretty reasonable request! But that it certainly will not, Belville, for I am attracted thither by a woman not a whit inferior to Arabella. Belv. I understand you, Sir. You would, no doubt, insinuate that your visits at her house are made in favor of Belinda. The veil is too thin, Mr. Belmour, it is easily seen through. I can, however, boast of having one man whose virtue I have experienced. On Lovemore I may rely yes, in him, thank heaven! I can confide. [Exit Belville. Bel. And you will most certainly be deceived. What a perpetual self-tormentor!--But we had better follow, and endeavour to guard him against the machinations of his friend. [Exeunt Belmour and Modely. SCENE II. Enter ARABELLA and BELINDA. Ara. And is Belville really arrived, Belinda ? Bel. He is; and will, no doubt, be shortly here. Ara. You think so? Then we'll plague him delightfully. Bel. Sister, sister, you'll certainly lose him if you trifle with his happiness so ungenerously. Ara. Ungenerously! What, after leaving me on such a ridiculous pretence! so absurdly jealous of half the townday after day soliciting new quarrels with me, after millions of forgivenesses on my part-Ungenerously! No, if I' suffer his temper to gain an entire ascendency over him, it will end in tyranny to me. I am determined to flirt with every man I know, merely to make him a little reasonable. Bel. I am somewhat doubtful of the force of the remedy but it's your business, and so Ara. But you forget, my dear Arabella, that he is yet in his noviciate. Hemust pass the customary time of probation, you know, before it can be permitted him to take the vows. Bel. Nature, I am persuaded, pleads powerfully for him in your breast. Let, then, her arguments decide the cause. Ara. Pardon me, Belinda, my cause is of some importance. To trust to the pleadings of Nature alone, were unwise; I have, therefore, called in the assistance of Art. Bel. I rather conceive that you are employing Art in opposition to Nature; and noi, as you would insiuuate, in her aid. Ara. Well, well, you are counsel for Nature, and I am the advocate of Art. To which, you may ask, should we trust? To neither, perhaps, separately; united, however, their power may be great; but this is a matter which we must leave to be settled by time. [Enter SERVANT.] Serv. Mr. Belmour, Madam. Bel. Permit me, Madam, to introduce Mr. Witling to you-The pink of complaisance, and one of the first-rate wits of the age. Ara. I am by no means ignorant of Mr. Witling's merit, Sir, and shall be proud of being known to him. Wit. You do me infinite honor, Madam: the height of my ambition is to be numbered among your slaves; for as I never had the happiness of seeing you before, so I never till now saw perfect beauty. Ara. Vastly flattering-Prodigiously obliging indeed. This, Mr. Witling, is, I suppose, the preliminary compliments; the first essay of elegant adulation. Wit. O, by no means; plain prose is much too humble for introductory civility-No, Madam, that is yet to come. Here, indeed, is something more adequate to the occasion; allow me to present it—A small copy of verses, the pure inspiration of your beauty. Ara. What celebrate my charms before you had seen me, Mr. Witling? Wit. O, Madam, report spoke loudly in your praise, and I have worshipped the echo. With your leave, I will repeat them. (Reads affectedly.) "O Arabella! loveliest of thy sex! How d'ye like them, Madam? Ara. O, extravagantly! Truly elegant, upon my word. Bel. They are, indeed, Mr. Witling, Prior's ease with Waller's softness. Wit. Madam! 'pon my soul, I beg your pardon: I have been strangely inattentive Bel. Inattentive! O, pray dont think of complimenting me; the verses are the most accommodating I ever heard. Though you addressed them to my sister, they'll do just as well for me, or any other lady. Belm. Ha, ha, Witling, you are a lucky fellow: the ladies are contending for you already. Each, you see, has a desire to appropriate your verses to herself. Wit. They are too good; too obliging, indeed. But our society shall panegyrize them as they deserve. Ara. Your society-Pray what society, Mr. Witling? Wit. O Lord, Ma'am, a little literary institution— Billy Madrigal, Dick Distich, Jack Epigram, Sir Phelim O'Satire, and myself. We have a weekly meeting, Madam, to propose subjects for the exercise of our genius. As critics too, we carry terror with us. Sometimes, indeed, a writer will endeavour to shelter himself from our censures, by dedicating his performance to one of our members. This, it is true, has met with success: but if there be any particular merit in the piece, we who act in the double capacity of authors and critics, are under the necessity of crushing him. The reason is obvious-But mum for that. In a word, we are the admiration of those who do not write, and the dread of those who do. Belm. Well, but when you really meet with excellenceWit. Excellence! Gad, if you come to that, who shall contend with us? O, Sir, when once we get among your wits without money, impudent rogues who have nothing but genius to recommend 'ein, then begins our sport, egad. Why there's Littlewit, now-faith, I forgot to mention him-he, Sir, is at our head; he first laid down that admirable rule, " that when we must give praise, we are to conclude it with a but." Belm. Very ingenious, faith. Wit. Aye, and very convenient too, Sir; for it has all the effect of damning, with the appearance of candor. Belm. Right: and the poor devil of an author may not unaptly be compared to Sisyphus; for when he has rolled the stone to the top of the hill, slap come you, his evil genius, and trundle it down again. Wit. Just so, by Jupiter! Gad, you seem to conceive these things. I'll try to make you one of us; by the Lord Harry, I will. Belm. You are greatly obliging, Sir-(Speaks aside to Arabella.) And yet my ambition- [Enter SERVANT.] But let us go, Witling; there's company. Ara. "Tis Belville, as I live! Shall I see him, Sister? -I think I wont-You may send him away. Yet, stay; I think I will see him too-You may show him up. (Exit Servant.) Belmour, you are not going? Belm. Mr. Witling and myself, Madam, have a particular engagement; you must allow us to retire. (aside) It were better that Belville should not at the present moment find me here. Ara. Mr. Witling will make us happy by calling here very frequently. Wit. You do me honor. I shall certainly profit by your indulgence. [Exeunt Willing and Belmour. Ara. What a conquest I have made? But here comes Belville-Now, Belinda! [Enter BELVILLE.] Belv. (Eagerly seizing her hand.) My life! my love!— Ara. (Coldly) Belville so soon returned? Belv. Can my so speedy return be disagreeable to Arabella? Ara. No; only a little unexpected. Well, but the curiosities; the petits bijoux; the foreign trinkets; where are they?—I am all impatience till I see 'em. Belo. Ridiculous, to talk of such trifles at so interesting a meeting. Ara. So you are returned from Paris without having brought a single article as a testimony of your esteem, or that might have assisted in increasing mine? an admirable lover, I must confess. Belv. Is it possible that you can be seriously offended, and on so absurd a pretence?-If instead of eagerly returning to you, I had protracted my stay in the search of baubles Ara. Vastly well, Sir-You upbraid me with a want of sense, because I am good-natured enough to inform you of your neglect. Why, Modely, now-he was gone just the same time that you were, and he could find opportunity. Belv. Modely, Madam? Ara. Yes, Modely, Sir. Don't you know the gentleman? Belo. Perfectly well, Madam'; and you are not unacquainted with him, I find. Ara. Far from it, I assure you, Sir. Lord, he is the most agreeable creature.-Then his manner of presenting any thing is so engaging, that I vow, Belinda, had I not even been prejudiced in his favor, I could never have resisted the temptation. Bel. Do not be dismayed, Mr. Belville. This is only one of Arabella's whims-by way of trial, as she terms it. Belv. True, Madam, to try if I am really the infatuated slave whom she imagines me to be. Ara. Well, Sir, since you have so sagaciously disco vered the experiment, I must request the favor that you will instantly leave me. Belv. If, Madam, I imagined you sincere, no power on earth should keep me. Ara. Sincere! Did I ever give you any reason to doubt of my sincerity? Belv. After your late behaviour, how can you, Ara bella, ask me such a question? Ara. But if I say that such is my pleasure-If I declare, on any occasion, that such is my will Belo. Right, Madam-a "Woman's will," and this, no one, I presume, must oppose. Ara. What, you are for arguing; for reasoning, I sup pose. O, I detest a reasoning man! What, to have a confident creature come to one with a why and a wherefore No. XIII. N. Br. Th. VOL. IV. D |