r S .-i- 1 L I E) RARY OF THE U N IVLRSITY Of ILLINOIS 823 L9sab v.\ CENTRAL CIRCULATION BOOKSTACKS The person charging this material is re- sponsible for its renewal or its return to the library from which it was borrowed on or before the Latest Date stamped below. The Minimum Fee for each Lost Book is $50.00. Theft/ mutilation, and underlining of boolcs are reasons for disciplinary action and may result in dismissal from the University. TO RENEW CALL TELEPHONE CENTER, 333-8400 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN j/iN 5 m SEP 2 9 1994 When renewing by phone, write new due date below previous due date. L162 Zvf^- Y,<^ \ 4 ILA BEJLILE SAUVA'GE, OR A PROGRESS THROUGH THE BEAU'MONDE. IN TWO VOLUMES. BY - MR. L Y T T L E T O N, AUTHOR OF THE FOLLIES OF FASHION, LOTTERY OF LIFF, (SLc. ** Quicquid agunt homines, nostri est farrago libelli." JUVENA*. VOL. \, LONDON: PRINTED AT THE FOR LANE AND NEWMAN, LEADENH ALL-STREET. 1803. SX3 Lf^/ie Reader is introduced to the Beau^ ^ monde. — A learned Dijjertation upon it, ^ which mai/ be read or pajjed oxer. HEN a reader is introduced to a new fubjed:, he is moft frequently ho- noured with a preface ;— he has more reafon to expert one when he is introduced to a new world* As we are about to do him this laft favour, we will not detrafit > from the benefit by conferring it in aa imperfed manner : he fhall have, there- fore> a defcription of our new world. A In n PKOLOGUEr In the firil: place, as to the name of this world, it is called the Beau^ monde, or the fine Iforld, in contra- di Hi nation, and by way of marking its fuperior excellence above this common and vulgar world that God has m.ade : and, to confefs the truth, the diftindion is not without reafon. A certain witty, but rather blafphernous, I meant to fay fashlonahle King ufed to wi£h that he had been confulted in the creation, adding, that he Vvould have given the Maker fome hints w^hich might have improved his plan. I'he framers of the beau-nionde feem to have profited by the hints of this Monarch ; and the conflituticn of their world — the fine one we are now defcribing. PROLOGUE. \. iii defcriblng, has many confiderable im- provements upon the old one. But before we proceed, we think it necefiary to correcfl an idea of our readers. In the term we now m.ake ufe of, a Jine world, he is not to under ftand what is intended by that word in its general fignification ; he is not tb underftand us according to the ftricft definition of his geography ; it is not a certain portion of duft and water, of h'ght and darknefs, of fire and air, blended and kneaded together into a round heavy ball, that conftitutes' th'isjine world : — by no means, for this is the compofition of the vulgar world we have jull been arraigning. The term A 2 and IV PROLOGUE. and difFefence are more eafily explained by an example. ^ When we fpeak of a very puifiant, or Royal Family, we fay the Iloufe of Brunfwick, or the Houfe of Stewart. Now what do we intend by this expreffion ? Not the brick or ftone houfes in which thef^ families refide, but the families them- felves. It is in the fame manner with our term, the Jine world -, we do not mean the world itfelf, but the inha- bitants of this world. Having now fettled the name, we might proceed to the fituation of the heau-monde > but locality is a thing that does not belong to it. 'L1\q beau- monde, like the flying iiland of Laputa, 3 is PROLOGUE. \r is for ever changing Its place ; — It is now at London, now at Bath, now at Briflol, and now at Brighton. Wherever the Emperor is, lay the Civilians, there is Rome — wherever fafhion reigns, there is the heau-monde. It may become a queflion whether this Jine world was known to the An- cients. It has been the boafl of modera times to have difcovered one new world, that of America; and it might raife us in our opinion to flatter ourfelves that we have difcovered two ;— but I am much afraid this honour is not exclufively our's. I have heard of ftrong arguments A 3 againft VI PROLOGUE. againfl: our cxclufive acquaintance with this beau-monde. I would fain get over them, but I confefs the paffages are rather choking. Let us examine them, and, with as much impartiality as we can, difcufs their feparate claims to the honour of a firft difcovery. But I fhould firft premife that, as the inhabitants of Scotland are called Britons, fo thofe of the heau-mnnde are called people of fafliion — no matter, in either cafe, wherefore. Let us now, then, proceed to the /Vncients. If we fhould chance to find any people of fafhion amongft them, 'tis plain they muft have been members of the heau^ monde. Let us firft turn over our Grecian PROLOGUE. ' Vll Grecian Hiftory. Here is a ftrong paflage in almoil our firft page. The temples and ftatues of the Gods in the city of Athens were, during one nighty all defaced j the ftreets were covered with the broken nofes of the infulted Deities, and there was not one God in Athens that had not fuifered fome cruel bruife. This outrageous ad; was gene- rally attributed to Alcibiades, a young Nobleman, a confirmed infidel, and a contemner of all religion. It was faid that, with a large party of other young Noblem.en, he had fallied from a tavern, and in a drunken frolic had comimitted this impious facrilege. What fhall we fay to all this ? Here A 4 is VIU PROLOGUE. is infidelity, infult on religion, tavern- fallies, and a drunken frolic — ftrong, very ftrong prefumptions indeed that this young Nobleman was a man of faftiion. But let us examine him further. For this aifl Alcibiades was banifhed ; and, retiring to Sparta, was received at. the Court of Agis with every ho{j:)i- tality the Palace could aiFord. His eafy mariner, his gay wit, and a character fo verfable as to take any colour, re- commended him to the higheft efteem and friendfliip of the King, and he repaid him by debauching his wife. 'J here is now no longer doubt—Alci- bLides was certainly a man of fafhion, an PROLOGUE. IX an infidel, an adulterer, and one betraying the confidence of his friend, and repaying the greateft benefits by the bafeft ingratitude. ¥/ill any one further doubt that Alcibiades was a man of faihion ? We have done with the Greeks ; kt us now turn to the Romans- One day, in the prefence of Julius C^ar, a courtier was fpeaking with fome feverity againft another; but was checked by the Dictator, who defired him to fpare him, for he did not deferve fuch reproaches. ** Not deferve them !" exclaimed the angry courtier ; *' why, what think you X PROLOGUE. you of a man who was caught with his neighbour's wife?'* '' What do I think of him ?" re- plied Caefar, calmly, ^' why I think him a very carelefs fellow." A very fafhionable anfwer, and an argument of a very fafhionable opinion ! Caefar, beyond all doubt, was the lierfact man of fashion, — If we want any further proofs of their acquaintance with the beau-7nonde, and their fre- quent exercife of its moft valuable privileges, of their modifh manners, their modifh morals, and the whole fyftem of their fafhionable life, let us •fearch the writers of their own times for information. Scarcely a page but what PROLOGUE. Xi what win prefent us with what we feek — z. perfon of exquisite fashion ! Let us take up their Juvenal, and we fhall meet as many men of fafhion as in our own Court Calendar itfelf. For inftance, let us fee how the Komans amufed themfelves. Here is the anfwer to our wiflies — ** Non loculls comitantibus itur ** Ad cafum tabulae, pofita fed ludltur area,'* What do we fay to this ? Is not this an example of the true heaii- monde P Can Sir W himfelf, or Lord C -, play with a m.ore fafhion- able fpirit ? — One more inftance, and we have done. Let us fee their economy and matrimonial policy, « Cum Xii PROLOGUE. *' Cum leno accipiat moechi bona, fi capiendi ** Jus nullum uxori, dodus fpedtare lacunar, *' Dodus et ad calicem vigilanti fiertereliaro." A very faOiionable bargain, a very fafliloRable flecp, and every party con- cerned a perfon of the higheft ton ! What do my Lord and Lady, and a certain diftinguifhed perfonage fay to this ? They vidll certainly acknowledge them to be people of the firft circle in the mode. It appears then, from this our very impartial examination, that the leau-monde is not the fair boail of later difcoveries, but was equally know^n to the Ancients ^s to the Moderns. "We are forry that juftice has wrung from us this confeflion ; wc would have wiilied. PROLOGUE. XllI wifhed, indeed, that the credit of the dilcovery might have turned out to, be our own ; but truth and hiftory are unfortunately againft us. But now to the fubjedt of the fol- lowing letters : — the intention of them^ is to lead the reader through the world we have been defcribing, to point his road, and to aflift him in his progrefs through the heau-monde. They fur- nifh him witli a chart which may govern his voyage in all the variety of his way ; they begin with him from the very point of embarkation. He fees a young country girl, v/ith decent manners, good morals, and a careful education, enter upon a faihionable courfe 3 he fees^ her carried through the / different XIV PROLOGUE. different fcenes of the heau-monde, and guided by a gay, feducing, and artful woman of fafhion ; he will per- ceive that the protedtrefs underftands her work, and is competent to her undertaking. She points out examples inftead of giving precepts j and, pre- fenting fcenes and characters, leaves her young pupil to draw an unbiafTed infe- rence. In one word, and what includes the whole art of inftruftion, jfhe does not herfelf endeavour to teach her pupil, but leaves her more wifely to inftrucSt herfelf. lie fees, likewife, in what this progrefs of the country girl termi- nates ; and my young readers, who are delirous of imitation, have only to follow the fame track to arrive at the fame goal. \ And PROLOGUE. XV And the further to encourage them In attempting it, we have prefented them with two charafters, whofe pro- grefs in this courie of faihion, even in fpite of Nature, may infuire the mofl liberal hopes of fuccefs. In the cha- racters of Lord and Lady Varnifh he will fee Nature forced, in her own defpite, into fafhionable accompllfh- ments. By nature they are both feeling and generous ; by habits of faihion they have exchanged all feeling for indif- ference. It is true, their feelings, par- ticularly the fofter ones of the lady, will often burit forth ; but fafliion again interferes, renews her broken bar, and recals them once more to their apathy and indifference. . Let XVI PROLOGUE* Let this produce the effedt we have intended. Should any readers be troubled by fimilar virtues — fhould their minds be equally kind and benevolent, and therefore equally unfuited to fa- Ihionable accompliihments, let them not on that account defpair — let them ftart on the courfe of fafhion, and they will foon overcome the reftraints of what is called virtue. It only remains to add one thing more. The ftory, for the moft part, is true — many of the charadters are living ; and the reader, if acquainted with what is called high life, may eafily recognife them. LA BELLE S^UF^GE, >e#*w«s=- LETTER I. Ladi/ Varnish to Airs, Frail, DEAR FRAIL, JL EN thoufand thanks to the dear fpafons that have again brought round the month of October. It is this month that concludes the hated, though necelTary period, during which Fafhion banifhes her votaries frora her true feat, the capital, and cond:mns VOL. I, B thefu 2 LA BELLE SAUVAGE. them to a detcftable penance in the fields and woods of the country. Horrid fields 1 — abominable groves 1 — This, 3'ou will fay — or rather, like all correfpondents, I will fay for you, is no very poetical addrefs. You are right, my dear — it is not fo. The country and all its inhabitants are my rooted averfion. It may fuit a native Squire, a dunned Poet, or a retiring Alderman ; but 1 am a woman of faI]>ion, aixl have nothing to fay to either of them. The country is to me a necefTary exile, and an efcape from it a return topleafure, fplen- dour, and happinefs. In fliort, I came to it v/'ith as much ill- humour as I went to my bed, when another of thofe vik neceffities, which trouble women of fafhion in common with their vulgar inferiors, obliged me to give his Lord- (hip an heir ; and I fliall now leave it whth ' as much pleafure as I then left my nurlery, and LA BELLE SAtTVAGE. 3 and returned from the duties of a mother to the poignant delights of a fa.liionable life. Congratulate me,, my dear Frail, that the time of departure is now at hand. I (hall leave this place in a few days : I Oiall have time, however, to Vv^rite you two or three letters before this event j and as I love you, I fhall certainly have the charity to continue my correfpondence even when returned to London. Your difagreeable affair v^ili prevent your coming amongft us this feafon — but keep up your fpirits, my dear; they will talk of it but for a time, when fome new adventure of the fame kind wiiiarife, and divert tlTeir fcandal into another channel. Malice m.uft always have a vi61:im ; but I have obferved this dif- ference between fafhionable malice — I me^.r^ the malice of a London drawing-room, and B 2 the 4 '•A BELLE SAUVAGE. the vulgar backbiting of a country neigh- bourhood. The one is content to teaze, torment, and play with its unfortunate objcd: — the other is a bloody demon, and demands a complete facrifice. I wifh you could only hear how our country ladies treat each other's weaknefles. I have heard a harflier conflirudlion put upon an innocent whifper, than our mod malignant fcandal- loving coteries would affix to a mafquerade afiignation. Tak^ my advice, my dear, and fupport ycur fpirits — Scandal mud have a vidim -, but it is her delight, like that of the Priefts of old, to offer up on the altar the mofl: pure and unfpotted one. The affair will foon blow over, and you may again return to your element. Some few prudes, perhaps, who envy you your charms and your gallant, may gratify their Ipleen by reminding the world of your LA BELLE SAUVAGE. ^ faiiX'pds^whtn it has good-naturedly forgiven and forgotten it. Sucli you know there are in all focieties, who afFedt freezing and diftant looks to their frail friends, and {'COca their flips-draw arguments of (cif-congratulation| *< happy," as they fay, " in their own good fortune, in not being that weak, wretched, undone thing, a beauty r — All frivolous pretence, my dear ! A handfome woman, I grant you, is fubjed to temptations, and, like good Queen Emma, is perpetually walking over burning ploughlhares. Then thofe odious opportunities, as the men call them — fuch as vifits to milliners, jaunts to Windfor and Hampton Court, befides faunters in the Park by moonlight, and Ranelagh afTignations j thefe, I confefs, afford ' ftrong inftances of a fine creature's frailty : — but not to wi(h to be handfome for fear of being undone pfhaw, child I it B 3 would 6 LA BELLE SAUVAtSE. would be as unreafonable not to wiih to have been born, becaufe we mufl: one day- be old," Youth and beauty were Naturc*s bed gift, and meant for enjoyment; and thofe that fuffer them to rull and fpoil in their polTeiiion, are guilty of contradiftisDn to her fovereign will and pleafures. I am fummoned to fupper. Good-night, dear creature !-^I will write again to-morrow, and do all in my power to relieve your prefent dejedion. Again good- night, and believe me Your fincere and afFedionate friend, £. VARNISH, LETTER LA BELLE SAUVAGE. LETTER IL From the fame to the fame. A HAVE juft feen a friend of your*s, who bad the charity to turn his horfes' heads towards Clarebrook, and pay me a morning vifit. Can you guefs who it is ? I defy you, my dear. — Why then^ to relieve yoa at once, and perhaps to relieve myfelf by telling you — (for the eagernefs to tell a fecret is fbmetimes equal to that of hearing it) — my vifitor was no other than the charmins; man himfelf! Yes, the objed of your late levity— the fource of your prefcnt banifh- B 4 me^t — 8 LA BELLE SAUVAGE. ment — the envy of all imitating coxcombs, the aim of all rifing toads — the gallant, gay Lothario — Sir Harry Loveday ! Do you tremble, figh, or blufh ? But I forget, my dear — you are a woman cf falliion, and are therefore exempted from every feeling of nature. Nature may rife in the cheeks as flie rules in the hearts of thefe country ladies j but as the habits of fafhionable life fo effedually banilh her from our hearts, wc have ourfelves had the pjudence to drive her from our faces. To give you a fingle inftance : — how often are we under a necedity of profeffing what we do not mean ; in other words, and perhaps fuch as a furly moral id: would ufe, how often muds we profefs an ablblute 1 — e. Now if we could not do this without a bluQi, to how many inconveniences would the forms of fafliionable life fubjedl us 1 — But enough of this. I gave LA BELLE SAUVAGE. ^ I gave my vifitor a mon hearty weK come^^,,! was eaten up- with fpleen before his arrival, and contriving how to kill the lagging day. I was as melancholy as the. great clock in our hall — or, rather, I was like it. 1 had nothing now to do but count thetime, whilft my former occupation was to kill it. And is it not reafonable, as a great wit has obferved, to pay time in its own coin, and deftroy that which deftroys every thing^eife ? — But to Sir Harry.. After fome previous bows, &c. &c. I put a piece of civil reftraint upon him ; and exer- cifing a fpecies of hofpitality 1 had learned in Ireland, ordered his horfi^s to be locked up in- the flabie, and compelled him to flay dinner, and pafs the day. He was in great fpirits,. and, to ulc a pretty ftrong metaphor, his v/it was beaming as the fun j and, in fpitc B 5 o£ f-0 LA BELLI SAITVAGB* of the odious foliage that flood oppofite our dining-room windows, his elegant and Iprightly merriment made me imagine myfelf already in St. James's Square. I made him repeat to me the whole of your affair, and he told me fome circumftances of which I was before ignorant. He fays your hufband, the Colonel, followed you and himfelf to your milliner's, Mrs. Etching, and that he burfl in upon your converfation while Sir Harry was upon his knees. You, of courfe, fainted. They fought. Sir Harry was defperately wounded, and the Colonel left you with a tragical and ridi- culous threat that he would never return— '*- No never. Madam, ftwill you fee me again 1" Is itpoffible, my dear, he could have made himfelf fo ridiculous ? I really thought he had LA BELLE SAUVAGS, II had been mors the man of fafhion than to give into any of thefc foolQi energies; and the beait-monde ha? hitherto been in a great error, an'd beftowed upon hi^i the credit he little deferves, of having borne his misfortune with a truly fafhronable indif^ ference. — My Lord Lounge, who has the mod facetious knack at improving a ftory, tells every thing to the credit of the Colonel. He fays that, on perceiving the interrup- tion he had been guilty of, your hufband bovvcd, and begged pardon for an intrufion « on a party to which he was not invited ; but as he bad long owed a grudge to Sir Harry for rivalling him with a favourite Opera-dancer, under the pretended feelings of an injured hufband, lie took an oppor« t unity to gratify the fpiie of a piqued lover, and bade the Baronet draw. Sir Harry, perceiving him in a bantering B 6 humour. 12 LA BELLE SAUVAGE. liumour, and being hlmfelf In a (late of equal good tcn:^per, would have excufed himfelF, and turned the matter off in that tone of raillery which tlie Colonel Teemed to aflfume. Your huiband, however, in- filled on fatisfadtion ; but preferving an jnimitahlQ fang fr 02 d even in his obftinacy, added, in a rallying tone, '* that he had laid a bet he would kill a man before he went to bed, and he could not lofe fo fair an occafion of winriing his wager.*' This was Lord Lounge's ftory. Whether true or not, I ccnfefs I prefer it to Sir Harry's : it fets the Colonel in a better light — it fhews him poffefTed of thofe dif- tinRuiQiino, charaderiftics of a man of falhion — a pleafant indifference, and a habit of elegant levity in affairs generally efteemed of the mod ferious nature. 1 have LA BELLE SAUVAGE. I"; I have now got the truth out of Sir Harry* I wrote the former part of my letter while he was at his wine. The Clergyman of the parifh dining with us, and Sir Harry being amufed with the novelty of his charader, they remained at table till ihvQn o'clock, when I fummoned them to their coffee. I received them with the reprimand they fo well merited, for the exclufive entertainment they had afforded each other, and their polite remembrance of me. Sir Harry diverted ft with his ufual addrefs ; and a kind of archnefs in his eye explained to me that he had made the ufe I expeded of the honeft Ciergymaru But I almoft forgot to tell you wh^t I hinted at in the beginning of this paiTage. Sir Harry has confeffed that Lord Lounge's ftory is the true one, and his own only a far ridlcu'e. But it fcems your hufband 14 LA BELLE SAUVAGE. hufbind has left you, and taken away with him his dear Opera-dancer. Peace ber with him ! We amufed ourfelves during the even- ing with the humours of our honefi" and really agreeable country preacher. But I will not give you any of the conver- fation, lince he has invited us to dine with him on Friday nexty as I propofe leaving the country on the Saturday. ^ You (hall have a defcription of our viiit, and our worthy hofl fhall be drawn in full length. This is Wednefday ; I fliall write, there- fore, only two more letters to you before I reach town. How delightful is the idea that my exile will h foon be ended 1 — that a few days will tranfport me to the regions of gaiety and pleafure ! I fhall again lead in the ball-room, and (hine In the rout, faint with eeHacies at an Opera, and perhaps 6 vifit LA BELLE SAITVAGE* JJ vifit the vulgar playhoufe on my dancing- mafler's benefit. But a truce with thefe raptures. The country, after all, is in fome degree neceflary ; it revives one's fpirits when too much jaded by diflipation, and qualifies us, by a courfe of temporary abfte- mioufnefs, for the fatigues of a new winter- campaign. — But I am fwelling my letter to an unufual length, and mud put an end to our mutual fatigue, by alTuring you that I am Your's moft fincerely, E. VARNISK* LETTER ^6 LA BELLE SAUVACB, LETTER III. Lady Varnish in Continuation. C^ONFESS, my dear — don't I tire you to death with my fcrawl. I will continue it, however, at the hazard of giving you a fit of the fpleen. The vifit to our country Reflor is paid, and is well worth defcription. Have you any taftc for fimplicity and nature } There was a time, my dear Frail, when v/e both had a portion, the lead fpice of which in our prefcnt condition would be eileemed folly and romance. Now then for a rural fcene. LA BELLE SAUVAGE. I7 fcenc, ancient fioiplicity, and a village dinner. About three cclock Sir Harry and myf<;lf in a fociable drov^ for the Par# fonage, and the diftanee being but three miles, we foon reached it. The honcft Re(5lor came out to hand me from the vehicle, and I rejeded Sir Harry's aflfift- ance for that of his honell rival. He conduced us immediately into the houfe, though Sir Harry deUiyed a few nninutes at the gate, and exprcfled his admiration at the neat elegance of the Parfonage : it was really of a moft ftriking fimplicity. Con- ceive one of thofc cottages you have often feen in a fancy landicape, fcated on the brow of a fluall hill, and this hill green as an emerald ; conceive its walls clothed with grape-vines, and its windows fcarcely vifible through the embof^ming foliage s in (hort, conceive iS LA BELLE SAUVAGB. conceive fwallows' nefts, a thatched roof, and the lawn in which it flands enclofed into a kind of fnugnefs by the fLirrounding (hrub- bery, and you will have fomc image of this elegant Parfonage, He condii<5led us inta a parlour at the back of his houfe, — " I dine," faid he, *' when alone, at two o'clock ; but as you are people of faQiioHj I fliall fliew ray breeding by keeping you waiting till four. We have half an hour yet then : — will your Ladyfliip walk in my garden ?" We readily accepted his invitation, and followed him through a glafs door into the lawn. The garden was as ilriking as the houfe : it was very long — two high walls on the cad and weft, his houfe on the north, and a ftreatn of water on the fouth end, contained it. The walls, however, were entirely concealed by trees, (hrubs, or vines. By LA BELLE SAUVAGE- t^ By thefe boundaries it was endofed from the country without ; and being narrow enough to give the idea of fnugnefs, without being fo much (6 as to have an air of huddle or confinement, it prefented the moft perfed iaiage of retirement and village fecurity. By how ftrange and inexplicable a chain are cur thoughts hnked together, and with how gentle a touch do the chords of the heart vibrate 1 The tranquil beatity, the calm fecurity, the air of peace and innocence in this village retirement;!' recalled to my mind the memory of diftant days, when 1 would take in my hand one of m^ favourite Romances, and throwing myfelf under fpmc overfhadowing tree, would fell into an in* fenfible fleep i and following my fancy ia its fairy rovings, dream of love and rapture in a fcene like this. Oh Frail ! I once had 'feeling ! Dear giriifli days, why are you (a 20 LA BELLE SAUVAGS. {o foon fled ? -Day.s^ of innocence, and nights of reft, are you indeed; fled, for ever 1—^ and for what have. I exchanged you ? Dear Frail, excufe my nonftnf^ I— what a fl range heart have I ! 1 wrote the preceding pafiage, would you believe it, in tears ! Some levity has finee fucceeded, and I am nov/ kughing at my weakncfs. How ftupid is that rule of pedatitry which affixes what it calls a diftinguifhing trait to every cha- radler, and decides againft all variation from it as unnatural contradidlion I — It is remark^. that hiftorians never err more than in giving.a chara«5ter ; they make no allow- ance for humour lund caprice, but impute the mod trifling adioas to ^eep apd fecret caufes. If a King is out of humour,: he has difcovered a plot, though he is all the time* perhaps, fretting at his copk or his miftrefs : ia LA BELLE SAUVAGS. 21 In fliort, tliey would fix a man to the flraight path, and condemn thofe deviations which are more natural than a perpetual confiftency, as frivolous and abfi]r'oiled mutton, the turoiLS as white as the table- cloth, and the homely apple-pudding, more than I ever did the moil faihionabie dinner. He made us no apology for the plainners of our entertainment, but turned it into a compliment in a manner of fome elegance. — " I have not given you a fafliionable dinner," faid he, '* becaufe I could then have only given you what you could better have at home, nor could I have furniQied a difh which you have not tafted before j but in a country dinner you will at ieafl find one dilh to your tafte — that of novelty -, and I am happy to fee that you, Sir Harry, do it fo much honour.*' He had reafon in what he faid, for Sir Harry t24 LA BELLE SAUVAGE. Harry really aftonilhed me, fo heartily did he relilh his dinner. He had the appetite of a fchoolboy in the holidays ; and the old houfekeeper chuckled to fee fo fine a man eat fo much of her apple-pudding. The dinner over, our hofi:, having firfl: faid grace, jofe from table, and defired us to follow him into the garden. We obeyed, and he led the v/ay to the middle of it, where was a raifed mound, covered with green turf, and on it a kind of arbour around a low oak-tree, v%'hich arofe from its middle. Here a deflert of filberts, apples, pears, and other fruit was prepared for usj and fet out with a neat tafbe on a table covered with a green cloth. From the arbour v/e could command the whole of the garden, from the houfe at the top, to the ftream at the bottom ; and as the afternoon LA BELLE SAUVAGE, tj afternoon was very fine, you can imagine nothing more pkafant* An odd compa- rifon came into my head. The iimple and refpedtable figure of our hofl eating dried fruits under an overhanging oak, made me for a moment draw a refemblance between him and one of the ancient patri- archs i and I could think of nothing but Abraham under the palm-tree. The fight of the water flill improved the thought, and I was expeding to fee a Sarah come up from it with a pail. There is certainly, my dear, fomething delightful in fimplicity ; the thought took up my whole mind, and I almoft fighed that thefe were not patri- archal days. Gould you have thought that I had a heart capable of fuch variety of feeling ? Yet once I had indeed fenfibility, and how was it mifufed 1 You (hall know feme time or another. Frail, VOL, lb c We ^6 LA B^LLE SAUVAGE. We returned to the houfe to our tea, and almoft immediately afterwards drove home. I have juft written the following letter to my Lord ; and as every information will be charity, and you are kind enough to fay you read to the end of my letters, I ■will copy it out for you. To my Lord Varnish, " MY DEAR LORD, " The winter has again come round, and with it the neceflity of my return to town. I only want the wings to fly — you will, perhaps, fay to flutter; and it is in your Lord fliip's power to furnifh them, by tranfmitting me fome orders on your banker. With your pcrmiflion, my Lord, I fhall take LA EELLE SATJVAGS. TJ take a (hare in Lady Shuffle's Faro Bank : I think It will turn to account — a word I have juft learned by a letter from your ileward, who fays the rents arc all paid, and that he has no money in hand to fend mc. I believe he is a rogue, my Lord ; he goes to Church twice on Sundays, and has taken an odd whim into his head to infl:ru<5t the pfalm-fingers of the village. Heaven knows they want it ! — for I have never endured the Church fince I lad heard them. This flupid fluff is all this flupid village can furnilh me with to write to you. ** Pray, my Lord, let me know your own affairs — how your eledlioncering goes on, and whether you are likely to fuccecd. Does my uncle Sir Hilary give you all the fupport he promifed ? I fuppofe you mull drink yourfelf blind to pleafe the brutes. It is c 2 rather jj8 LA BELLE SAUVAGE, rather whimfical, methinks, that a man mull lofe his reafon before he can become a Member of Parliament ; but the misfor- tune of it is, to judge at leafl by the con- dudl of mofl of them, that they never recover it during their whole fitting. I beg pardon for troubling you with this letter, for I fuppofe the tumult of an eledion takes up all your time. Adieu, my Lord — but do not forget the orders ; for J purpofe to fet off fbr London in a few days. " I am, my Lord, &c. &c/' LETTER LA BELLE SAUVAGE. 2^ LETTER IV. Lady Varnish to Mrs, Frail. MY DEAR FRAIL» ,i\S I (hall leave the country at the end of the week, I fhall trouble you with this,, and perhaps another letter before my de- parture. You defire me to write with more particularity ; but fuch is the barrennefs of all fubjedl-matter in a country neighbour- hood, that the inftance of my compliance would lead you to repent your too hafty c 3 demand. JO LA BELLE SAUVAGE. demand. In this letter, however, 1 can promife you more entertainment than I fear you have found in any of my preceding. , Being at breakfafl: this morning with a lady of fafhion in my neighbourhood, after obferving on the uncommon finenefs of the feafon, and the unufual brightnefs of the day, fhe propofed a vifit to a lady in our vicinity. — " She is a widow," faid (he, *' and there is fomething {o fingular in her pafl: life, that her hiftory is not unlike one of the fidrions of romance. She has a very large jointure, and her grounds are laid out "with a taftc and fancy v/hich remind us of the defcription of fairy land. She has met with one misfortune, which has made fo deep an impreffion on her mind, that, after a lapfe of twenty years, its traits are dill vifible. Her mind, however, is naturally of LA BELLE SAUVAGE. 3 1 of that amiable turn, fo kindly conftituted by nature, and fo cultivated by the habits of a fuperior education, that though mis- fortune may foften, it cannot four her. I was the companion and fchoolfellow of her early years j I have been a witnefs, there- fore, of the greater part of the events, which, if it will contribute to your amufement,'* (addreffing herfelf to me and another lady of our party), ** T will relate." We entreated her to proceed, as the lady, the fubjed of her narrative, is a charadler as well known as generally refpecfled through the county. — '* No,',' replied (he, " I will not relate it at prefent : we will order our coach for the yifit, and you (hall hear it on your way. You will reliOi the flory better when you are on the road to fee its heroine." c 4 The ja LA BELLE SAUVAGE. The carriage was accordingly ordered ; and as the diftance was about feven miles, we haftened to our feats. We were no fooner without the gates of the grounds in which the houfe of our friend is feated, than I xequefted the performance of her promife. She thus began. HISTORY OF BELISE. *^ The name of this lady is Belife, a French nam©,^ and derived from a lady of quality on the Continent who flood her godmother. Her father was a gentleman of this neighbourhood, a man of birth and ample feftate. She was an only child, and ffiis was the firft misfortune of her life. Her parents, with a blind fondnefs too -■'' ' ufiial LA BELLE SAUVAGE. ^J ufual with fuch children, Indulged her from earlieft infancy in every wifh, and thus encouraged in her that fickly delicacy of mind which was of fo fatal confequence to her future happinefs. Her next misfortune was the lofs of her mother, when fhe had fcarcely attained her twelfth year. Belife upon this event left fchool, whence fhe was' called to the confolation of her father; and liis afFedion would not fufFer her to return. A governefs was taken into the houfe, and every mafter of eminence in every elegant accomplifliment engaged to attend her. With advantages like thefe, the mofl inferior talents might have become refpedlable y but the quick mind, the lively imagination of Belife, her ready wit, and prompt concep- tion turned thefe opportunities to the belt account, " Thus highly cultivated, (lie became C-5 at 34 I-A BELLE SAUVAG£. at iixteen pofTclTed of all tbofe acconi- plifhments which, if void of Intrinfic value, are yet admirable, when not made to iland in place of more folid virtues, and which beftow a grace and fplendour, if not an utility upon life. To all thefe attain- ments of education (he added the gifts of Nature ; — fhe was tall in perfon, of a com- plexion which (hewed life and fpirits, an oval face (haded with hair of a dark auburn, a fairy fhape and lightnefs, and an eye whofe darting luftre was tempered with feminine foftnefs : in (hort, at fixteen (he was the toaft of the country. "In the neighbourhood of Belife, and within a few miles of her houfe, lived two gentlemen, who, by the death oftheir fathers, had obtained an early poire(rion of their eftates. Thefe were the chief candidates for her favour. Her father had referred them to Belife herlelf. LA B£LLE SAUVAGE. 2S herfelF, informing them that the education be had given his daughter enabled her ta chufe for herfelf, and that wherever that choice might fall, it fhould be confirmed hj his confent. With this fo candid anfwer, the gentlemen began their addrefTes, and exerted themfelves to gain her good opinion,* Belife had feme difficulty to decide between her lovers. If Lyfander had the better wit, Acafto had the better perfon ; if Lyfander had more of the manly charader, Acailo had more of that fupplenefs which enabled him to affume the tone of every one with whom he converfed. In the wit of Lyfander there was an acutenefs which infpired fome- thing of dread; Acafto was gay and trifling, eafy to his own faults, and indifferent to thofe of others : — Acafto, in fhort, was the more agreeable lover, but Lyfander feemed beft fuited for the huft>and. As Belif6 and myfelf have walked up thefe lanes through c 6 which 36 ^A. BELLE SAUVAGE, which we are now driving, we would often difpute on the different qualities of the two lovers. One day, however, a circumftance happened which determined her choice. As it marks the fingularity of her charadler, and has fomething ftrange in itfelf, I will relate it. " One morning as we were walking before the houfe, and converfing as ufual on their feparate merits, the caprice took me to fpeak in favour of Acaflo, in order to judge how the heart of my friend was difpofed. < Well, for my part,' I exclaimed, * were I to determine, Belife, my choice Hiould fall upon Acafto.* * But he is fo great a coxcomb,' fhe replied. < That is, my dear,* returned I, ' he has fo much of that gaiety and good humour - J which LA BELLE SAUVAGE. ^7 which pleafe the generality of our fex, and / is fo unufual among men j and if the greater part abufe it, it is that they want talents to reach it. It is a cufcomary kind of policy to affedl to defpife what they have not the power to attain. It is an artifice that faves our credit, and converts our incapacity to acquire a quality, into the feeming virtue of defpifing it. Shew me any man/ I continued, ' with the gifts of a coxcomb, who has not become a coxcomb. More- over, if we may believe the moralifls, thofe marriages are generally the mofl happy where the parties are mod alike — where there is mod harmony of temper and moft fimi- litude of purfuit. Now let me afk you, my dear, what can more refemble a woman than a coxcomb ?* " Belif^ laughed, and added that I had pleaded 58 LA BELLE SAUVAGE. pleaded the caufe well. — ' And here/ (lie cried, * comes your client — demand your fee.' " We were how joined by AcaRo, who, difmounting, and leading his horfe, begged we might continue our converfation, and enquired into the nature of it. * Certainly/ replied Belife : * we have fallen into an argument upon which of two- qualities a rational preference fiiould be grounded — wit and good- humour are the fubjeds. This lady has taken the part of good-humour, and I have been defending wit. Pray what is your opinion, Sir ?' ' Why, with your pardon, Madam, I mufl pafs over to this fide of the houfe ; this lady's preference, I confefs, is mine. The value of any quality mufl be rated according LA BELLE SAUVAOE. 39 according to its utilltj in life — in other words, according to its effedl in promoting our happinefs. Now, who will deny that good-humour does more promote this end than all the wit in the world ? The hap- pinefs of doineftic life, the pleafures of fociety and converfation, depend entirely upon this quality ; and there are thcufands who, with very moderate pretenfions to intellectual diflindtions, diffufe joy and life around them by the mere poiGTeiTion of this homely gift. But here comes Lyfander to give his fentiments.' " Lyfander having joined us, was informed by his rival of the nature of our converfa- tion 'y and I thought, upon mentioning the difpute between wit and good-humour, he appeared as if he underftood the meaning of the argument, which had efcapedhis more (hallow^ 40 LA BELLE SAUVAGE. fhallovv rival. He feemed to perceive that his miftrcfs was comparing her two lovers, and endeavouring to weigh, by their own aflidance, their different qualities. « I confefs,' faid he, in giving his opi- nion, ' my preference is for what you are pleafed to call zvi!, but which, with your permiffion, I will change intounderftanding. And you muft give me leave to remark, an error. In fetting wit on one fide, and good-humour on the other, you feem to have adopted as a principle that there is a kind of natural incongruity between them, and that they cannot be mixed together in the fame perfon. A very common error ; but there is no fuch natural diftindion. There are many who have been equally known for good underftanding, and, to ufe a vulgar expreflionj for good tempers. There is LA BELLE SAUVAGE. 4I is a difference, indeed, between the Infipid gocxi-nature — a blind inftindt of a fool, and that higher kind which marks the man of underftanding. A man of good-nature will, indeed, relieve any diftrefs which is immediately prefented to his eyes, but he will relieve it in a common way. A man of underftanding will fometimes flep out of his way, and will do things of which the other would have never thought.' " Lyfander had fcarcely finifhcd, when a poor woman, apparently the wife of a foldier, came up to us, and afked alms. She had a fine child with her, but both mother and child, though it was a cold wintry day,^ we're fo thinly clad, that they feemed finking beneath the inclemency of the feafon, Acafto, with his ufual good- nature, gave her fome loofe filver. She next applied to Lyfander^^, 42 LA BELLE SAUVAGE. Lyfander, who, to our aftonidimcnt, pulling off his great coat, threw it over the woman and her infant, and giving her fome money, defired her to haften to the next town, as he forefaw a fall of fnow. The woman took her leave, but had proceeded only a few fteps, when excefs of fatigue brought her to the ground. Acaflo ran and affifted her, and the woman prefently continued on her way. Lyfander, as foon as he faw her fall, without feeming to go to her affiilance, or telling us his intention, walked to the houfe of Belife*s father, which was not far diftant from the road where we were walking. We were at a lofs to know what he intended, when in iefs than a quarter of an hour we faw him return in his phaeton ; and bowing as he pafTcd, and telling Belife that he dined wjth her father, he proceeded onwards, and foon reached the woman and child. He inftantly . LA BELLE SAUVAGE. 43 inflaEtly took them up, and having no fervant with him, drove off himfelr. Acafto and myfclf laughed, but Belife appeared ferious, and in a fliort time penfive. " In truth, it was this fingular and half- ludicrous circumftance that determined her choice. Her mind, which had all the warm enthufiafm of romance, was fenfibly (Iruck by a iingularity like this ; and her heart was, from this day, decided in favour of Ly- fander. He foon perceived her preference, and purfued her by his importunities into an acknowledgment of his being an accepted lover. As his family and fortune were unexceptionable^ the choice of the daughter was confirmed by the confent of the father : in (hort, the day was foon fixed which was to give him Belife for ever. In the meantime, the fuccefs of his rival was foon vifible to Aca^o^ and he faw it with an indifference 44 ^A BELLE SAUVAGE. indifference which even aftonifhed thofe that beft knew the eafinefs of his temper. " As Belife and myfelf were one day walking, Acailo perceived us from a diflance, and inftantly rode up. — ' I am come,' faid he, taking Belife's hand, * with a dire intent.' ' How fo ?' faid Belife. ' Why to put you to the rack. Madam* In (hort, I have now a bufinefs of fome importance.' " At this I was preparing to leave them. He flopped me.. * Nay, Madam, it may concern you too,' faid he. ** I waited to hear him. ^ Pray LA SELLE SAUVAGE. 45 * Pray may I aik your fentiments,' he continued, ' on the condudt of thofe ladies who gratify their vanity at the expence of their lovers' peace — who> while pofitively engaged to one man, give a tacit encourage* ment to a hundred others^ whofe too favourable opinion may have put them in the way of being fo fooled ?* " I faw Belife bite her lips at this remark, which was evidently levelled at herfelf. She aflented, however, to the obfervation, and with as admirable addrefs as candour^ added — * I not only agree with you. Sir ; but were I myfelf in that fituation — I mean, had I two lovers, and had determined iri favour of one, the other would have but to afk my fentiments, and my acknowledged preference for his rival fhould put an end to his future hopes.' * Thank 46 LA BELLE SAUVAGE. * Thank you, Madam,* faid he ^ ^ I acknowledge your principle, and I now claim it. Will you be pleafed to anfvver me a plain queftion ?' -'* Belife, well knowing what was coming, biufhed, but replied firmly that (he was ready toanfwerhim. In (hort, (he acknow- ledged her preference for Lyfander. Acafto rallied his own ill luck with great good- humour and wit j and Belife, with an in- confiRency but too common among our fcx, feemed really difconcerted at the eafy in- difference with which her rejcded lover bore his difmifTal. " In a few weeks after this, Belife and Lyfander were married. For fome time they realized the expedtations that had been LA BELLE SAUVAGE. 47 been formed ; and, as their good qualities deferved, enjoyed the higheft portion of domeftic felicity. Acafto continued to vifit ihem, and nothing was talked of throughout the country but the long friend- fliip and fteady harmony of the rivals — a friendiliip that held out againfi their clafhing pretenfions in the courfe of fo long an addrefs to the fame woman. But this aftonifhment was foon diflipated, this mutual confidence foon deftroyed, and all their domeftic happinefs, in one rafli moment, and by one foible, equally in the charader of Lyfandcrand his wife, loft for ever." By this time we arrived at the avenue leading to the houfe, and my companion delayed her fequel till after the vifit. I am weary of writing on the fame fubjed ; and having 48 LA BELLE SAUVAGE. having juft received an anfwer from my Lordj I enclofe it for you. I fhall take another opportunity of giving you what remains of the hiftory of Belile. , From Lord Varnish to Lady Var?2ish. *^ MY DEAR LADY V. '' The bearer of this will bring you the brdejs on my banker. As you brought me a fortune, yOu (hall fhare it. You know I always hated that felfidi iliiberality which is but too common amongft our Noblemen, and which leads them to indulge themfelves in every extravagance, whilfl they deny their wives and fons that little fufficiency which is neceflary to their rank. This is a meannefs LA BELLE SAUVAGE. 49 a meannefs of which I (hall never be guiky. Spend as you like, Madam ; I fet but little limits to my own expences., and can therefore have no right to prefcribe any to your^s. la the name of all good, ihen, no more hefitation, my Lady V., in afking money of me. Let us fpend with equal hand ; and (hould our extravagance oblige us to fell, we will cut a card for the benefit of the laft mortgage. The ilev/ard has no money you fay ! He certainly is a rogue — his hypocrify is a flrong prefumption : but you mufl not difmifs him ; for as the world goes, a rogus may be ufeful. I wifh the fellow' had been a lawyer, and then his roguery might have helped us in ourprefent ele(5bion. I begin to deteft this town ; the fools are fo honeft, that they will not fell themfelves j and though we have a dozen VOL. I. D lawyers 50 LA BELLE SAUVAGE. lawyers employed, the town gets drunk at our expence, and then votes for the cppofite party. " But now to the chief purport of my letter. Your uncle, Sir Hilary, is left guardian to his niece, your coufin, Mifs Rachael. She is a Norfolk heirefs, and of the immenfe fortune of fifty thoufand pounds ! Her father brought her up in the true country ftyle, and (he is totally ignorant of all the forms of falb.ionable life. Plague take this letter and my circuitous pen 1 But to finidi all in one word. Your Ladyfhip is to break this young favage in ; you muft take her to town with you this winter, and lick the young bear into fome pafTable fhape. I have promifed Sir Hilary. Have the goodnefs to let him fee I have fome influence* LA BELLE SAUVAGE. 51 influence. She will arrive at Clarebrook to-morrow night. " Dear Madam, your Ladyfliip's, &c. « VARNISH.** LETTER III. Lady Varnish to Mrs, Frail, JL LEAVE the country to-morrow or the day following ^ you v/ill receive this, and poffibly another letter before my arrival in town. I will now proceed to the fequel ' of the hiilory of Belife. Having refumed our feats, my companion D 2 continued ymvERsnt Off luiwo® 32 LA BELLE SAUVAGE. continued her narrative, I (hall dill give her relation in her own words. — " I finidied, I think," faid fhe, " \^ith telling you of the happinefs which Lyfander and Belife enjoyed in the firft feafon of their union. I mentioned, however, that this happinels was Ihort, and foon interrupted by fcenes of milery. I added, that this was caufed by one unfortunate weaknefs, which thus deftroyed the elfed of a thouland other good qualities m the character of Lyfander. ** Lyfander, with all that manly firmnefs and conflancy of mind which conftitutc a marked charafler, had one foible — that of a warm and impetuous temper. In fpite of the curbing reftrainrs of his flrong reafon, this heat would fometimes break forth ; and if inflamed by the leafl oppofition, rage with a fury that left all decorum far behind— a cafl LA BELLE SAUVAGE. ^^ a caft of mind very common ; and as to its effe<5ls on the happinefs of ourfelves and others, more truly pernicious th^n any paflion whatfoever. Every other vice is attended by fome temptation ; fomething is gained, or at leaft propofcd to be gained, and the confcioufnefs of criminality is afiuaged by the reflecftion that if fomething is loft in peace, fomething is acquired in profit. But the pafTionate man is vicious only to his own coft s he works indaflrioufly the mifery of himfelf and thofe around him, and his facrifice of felf-efteem is not com- penfated by any returningadvantages. — This foible of her hufband was truly painful to Belife, as the long indulgence of her parents had formed her m.ind to a more than common fenfibility. She herfelf, however, was not without a foible, of equal danger to her own and her hufband's peace. This was P 3 a kind 54 '.A BELLE ^AUVAGE. a kind of haughtinefs of mind which, when fupported by' confcioufnefs of right, dif- dained to yield, and paid too little regard to the opinions of others. To this was added a lively and unreftrained refentment of any treatment Ihe imagined unjuft. la tliefe foibles,the fource of their fubfequent misfortune was found* " Acafto, as I have faid, continued to vifit -at their houfe, and Lyfander admitted him with his ufual confidence. In giving the character of Acafto, I have defcribed him rather as a coxcomb, than as having any thing mifchievous in his deiigns. He had a levity, however, which is frequently as dangerous as vice, and not unulually leads into it. His love for Eeli.e was not dimi- nifhed eit'^er by her marriage or her cruelty ; and tiiough he carefuliy concealed it from otherS;^ LA BELLE SAUVAGE. 55 Others, and even endeavoured to hide it from himfelf, the flame yet lived, wanting only opportunity to burft forth, and bum with ftronger vigour than ever. ' " The opennefs of Belife, and a certain playfulnefs in her temper, which made her addided to raillery, and therefore eafily pardoning it, unfortunately encouraged thefe imprudent fentlments in Acafto ; and he found himfelf daily more confirmed in his dishonourable pafiion. He ftruggled for fome time with his principles, which, though qot naturally vicious, were yet too weak to maintain the contefl -, and in a kind of defpair of his own virtue, he furrendered himfelf up to the^fweet delufion. <* Lyfander, though not addidted to jea- loufy, was yet a little difpleafed with fome D 4 fymptoms 56 LA BELLE SAVYAGE. fymptoms he perceived in his friend. His fufpicions did not reft here, but were foon increafed by a trifling incident. ," Belifcwas fond of plays, and this humour would often lead her to declaim and acb a favourite part with Acafto. It happened one day that Acafio, according to fome palTage he was performing, had thrown himfelf on his knees before Belifcj when the door en a fudden opened, and her hufband entered. Acafto in great confufion endeavoured to rife; and as the fituation had fome awkwardnefs, Beiife bluftied as Che ejiplained it. Lyfander faid not a word, bet left the room. Beiife was irritated by this unjuft fufpicijn 5 and in fubfervience to that fatal fcible, that pride of mind I have mentiooed before, difdained fubmirting tQ LA BELLE 5AUVAGE. 57 to explain, where fhe was confcious there was nothing to defend. . " Lyfander, as is cuftomary with men of his pafTionate cad, conftrued this haughtinefs of his wife into difguft of himfelf, and dif- dained with equal pride to feek that con- vidion which was not voluntarily offered. Thus was their mutual happinefs facrificed to a falfe pride and a miftaken delicacy : each confidered it a point of honour not to be the firft in fub million, *' Acafto ftill continued his vifits, and both hufband and wife, from the fame ftubborn principle, ftill continued to receive them as before. From this time, however, a cool- nefs arofe between the couple, and termi- nated Ihorcly in that fure forerunner of wedded mifery— feparate tables and beds. D 5 The 58 LA BELLE SAUVAGE, The maid, who was immediately attendant on the perfbn of Belife, was a French girl, and had all that fpirit and zed of intrigue which diftinguiflies that kind of creatures. She foon penetrated into the love of Acaflo, and the groundlefs jealoufy of her mafter : and when flie had made the dif- covery, (he determined to turn it to account. For this purpofe (he would contrive to meet Acafto, and beginning an artful converfation with him, endeavoured to make him believe that the indifference of Belife was but pre- tended, and that (he was more favourable to him than he imagined : moreover, that the change in her hulband'scondud towards her had worked fome change in his favour. The girl, however, with an admirable arti- fice, had taken care not to ruin her part by overacting it ; and in what flie reported as having feen, or heard from her miflrefs, had LA BELLE SAUVAGE. ^9 had faid nothing which could appear too contradiiftory to the known modefty of her Lady. This gave her words a degree of credit, which the common fenfe of Acaflo would otherwife have refufed them ; and his ardent, love rendered the deception the more eafy, as it was thus made the more pleafing. In (hort, he fuffered the girl to perfuade him to write to his miftrefs, and (he herfelf undertook to deliver the letter. " Having written a billet, he put it into the hands of this confidante, and accom- panying it with a purfe, enrreated her to execute the commiffion with care and kcrecy. The girl promifed every thing,^ and departed. She had fcarceiy left him,- when he remembered, in his perturbation,- that he had forgotten to feal his letter^- This, however, gave him Uttle concern at d6 the 6o LA BELLE SAUVAGE. the time ; but you will foon fee that this- trifling circumftance was of more ferious confequence than the letter itfelf— it con- firmed a fufpicion into a belief. *< The girl had nofboner departed with the letter, and undertaken to deliver it, than Ihe began confidering with herfelf how (lie could beft execute her trull. Something was neceflary to be done ; (he had received one large bribe already, and expeded to receive many more. She was too v/ell per- fuaded of the virtue of her miftrefs to attempt at once delivering it into her hands ; not but that (he entertained hopes that the love and merit of Acafto might at length foften this rigid virtue, and render her fervices, at fome future time, as acceptable to Be?ife herfelf as they were now to her loven Being LA BELLE SAUVAGE* 6l Being wrapped in thefe thoughts, (he had entered the houfe, and pafled on to her miftrefs's room. An open drawer on her Lady's drefling table happened to catch her eye; at that moment flie heard a Hep, and in mere defpair of any other expe- dient, (he threw the letter into the drawer^ where it could not fail to meet the attention of her Lady. She had not, however, the confidence to wait the efFedt of her fcheme, but hurried out of the room. At the fame moment her miflrefs entered ; (he was pre- paring for a morning vifit,, and happened to go to another table, and in the hurry of preparation, and her carriage waiting, (he did not difcover the billet. " Lyfander happened at this time to be writing fome letters in the next chamber, * when, wanting a feal, and not having his own 62 liA BELLE SAUVAG:P, own at hand, be ftepped into Belife's room to feek her's. Going up to the drefllng- table, his eye caught the open letter -, he feized it with great agitation, and haftily retired to his own room. Here he locked the door, and tore open the letter. Its concents were as follow :— To Bdif^. «'And are you then at lafl:, my Belife,. lefs infenfible to my love ? Have I at length touched your heart, and will my paiBon be rewarded by your pity ? Will you add one greater proof? I cannot fee you at the houfe of Lyfander. Need 1 giv,e any further explanation ? ^ , « Your*s> « ACASTO.' «' Lyfander, LA BELLE SAUVAGE, £j ^^Lyfander, blinded with jealbufy, wasnow Gonfirmed in his fufpicions. They were ftill more increafed by an incident I have mentioned : Acafto had forgotten to feal his letter, and his meflenger had gratified her curiofity by reading it. She was employed, indeed,, in this, when, hearing the ftep of her miftrefs, (lie had thrown it into the open drawer. " Lyfanderknew that his wife had but that i^oment left the room, and that no one but himfelf had fince entered it. This unhappy concurrence of circumftances put the matter beyond doubt. His wife^ therefore, had feen the letter — the letter itfelf acknowledged feme prior favour, and with a confidence that could only arife from the, moft liberal encouragement, requefted an appointment, Lyfander was convinced.^ S " At ^4 ^A BELLE SAVVAGE. " At this inftant a fudden thought ftruck him. He remembered that his wife was gone to pay a vifit j this correfponded, he thought, with the requeft in the note. He had no room for doubt — his jealoufy was blown into a flame. He loaded his piftols, mounted his horfe, and took the road to Acafto's houfe. ** In the meantime Belife was proceeding to pay the vifit I have mentioned. It hap- pened by one of thofe unfortunate accidents, which almoft confirm U5 in the belief of fate, and a certain and necelTary defliny, that Belie was actually on her way to viftt the filler of her lover. " Belife was not ignorant of her hufband'^s jealoufy, and her friends had often remon- flrated with her, and amongft them myfelf, againfl: LA BELLE SAUVAGE. 65 againft an intimacy with Acafto's frfler in the prefent complexion of affairs. But her unhappy foible, the pride of innocence, made her difdain all appearance of concef- lion, and rather increafed the frequency of her vifits to this lady. She defied all cen- fure, from an aflarance of its groundleflhefs; and being fupported by a confcious inno- cence, would ftoop to no fubmilTion. She was now, therefore, in the very houfe of Acafto, and her carriage remaining at the door. " Lyfander, who had pufhed hishorfe to its full, goaded on by jealoufy and revenge, arrived at the avenue leading to the houfe the moment Belife, in her carriage, flopped at the gate. He favv Acaflo come to the door, take her hand, and condud her within. This was enough. He perceived a lad 66 LA BELLE SAUVAGE. a lad at a diftance, whom he beckoned to him, and difpatched withamelTage toAcafto, It was — * That a ftrange gentleman defired to fee him on bufiiiefs of importance.' y Acafto, furprifed at this fingularmeflage, came, direded by the bo)'', to the entrance of the avenue. Lyfander, in the fury of his ^aCTion, immediately cdllarcd him, and prefenting a piftol in one hand, held in the other the fatal biliec. He then retreated a few paces, and levelling his piilol, fired it, defiling Acaflo to do the- fame. The fhot wounded his rival, who, irritated by pain, difcharged his own piftol. The ball entered the heart of Ly&nder, who fell dead upon the fpot I " Inthemcantiri:iej the affrighted lad who had. conduflied AcaftPj^ feeing the violence of the LA BELLE SAUVAGE. 67 the gentlemen, had fled to the houfe, and fpread the alarm. The lifter of Acafto,. hearing that the llranger, for the lad knew not Lyfander by any other name, had pre- fented a piftol at her brother, hurried to the place in gre^-t terror,, followed by Belife^ who was yet ignorant of the dreadful event. They arrived at the moment Lyfander fell, and Belife in that moment recognifed her hufband, and fprang forward inftindively. Belife, too confounded as yet to compre- hend the extent of her misfortune, attempted to raife him up, but found that he was dead ! She gave a (hriek of niadnefa and horror;^ and fell fenfelefs befide him 5 *< Endeavour now to prefent to your mind the horrid fcene ! The fifter of Acafto- flanching the blood which fljwed from her brother's wound — Lyfander dead^ and 6S LA BELLE SAUVAGE. his wife, to all appearance fo, befide him — the piftols lying in the road, and a whole parifh, for the people were fad coUedling, furrounding the fpot 1 *' I will here conclude my hiftpry, . fmce I perceive, what pain T have given you by the horrid recital. I will only add that Belife remained for fome years in a date of perfc(5b infenfibility, almoft approaching to idiotifm. Her fenfes, however, were at length pro- videntially reftored j but as they brought her to the full perception of her misfortune, I have fometimes thought the lofs of them would have been more tolerable. She ftili retains her grief, and will often wholly feclude herfelf from fociety, and fpend the day in tears. Her religion, 1 believe, and the warm confidence flie derives from it', is what has preferved her fi'om incurable madnefs. LA BELLE SAUVAOE. 69 niadnefs. Acaflo likewife felt fenfibly his misfortune in having murdered his friend by his own hand s and, to diffipate his grief, and give time for the flory to die av^^ay, he fled to the Continent. He is now a (incere penitent, and has lately returned j but his former gay fpirits are loft, and he fometimes experiences the diftradtion of a mind wholly poiTclied by melancholy." Well, my dear, here is the end of poor B.'hfe's hiftory. What think you of it ? After having written fo long a tale, I will not write a comment on it as tedious as the tale itfdf.- The text mud not be over- burthened with notes, to make obfcure what is already plain i yet tiiis one thing I will add, that to refufe an explanation in dubious circumflances, is at leafttodeferve afuf. *70 LA BELLE SAUVAGE, a fufpicion, if not an accufation of guilt ^ and that thofe who are carelefs, whether they are thought innocent or not, are for the mod part (though I allow fome few exceptions) in the high road of being what they are only fufpeded.* Heavens, Frail, what a fentlment ! It is as tedious as thofe Scripture paraphrafes which we meet in fentimental comedies. But I am heartily tired j fo good-night, my dear !" Tour's afFeflionately, E. VARNISH, Letter LA 2ELLE SAUVAGE. *Jt LETTER IV. Lady Varnish to Mrs, Frail, MY DEAR FRAIL, JL HIS is the laft letter you will receive from me from Clarebrock, as I depart for London to-morrow. Yes, my dear, the period of my banifhment is now arrived ; I am about to return to the light, life, and liberty of the dear town. There is nothing more intolerable than what is called, retirement. lam j2 LA BELLE SAUVAGE. I am interrupted by a coach driving up to my gate — the liveries are Sir Hilary's 5 it is his niece ; therefore the young favage, as my Lord is pleafed to call her. I mull defcend to receive her. I will not clofe this letter till I have feen her, and told you what I think of her. But adieu for the prefent I * * * -Sf: * It is now twelve o^clock. I have jufl difmiffcd my young charge to her chamber, and I alTure you very unwilHngly, for I am quite charmed with her. She is a tall, well-fliaped girl, auburn hair, a fair, open forehead, eyes vivid, fparkling, and full of meaning. Her temper is gay and candid, and (lie carries fuch an air of happinefs, good-humour, and fimplicity in her face, that it is impoffible to fee her without a great degree of intereft. I really love the girl LA BELLE SAUVAGE. 73 girl already. We have not been acquainted two hours, and are become as familiar as two fchool-girls. I was amufed during fupper by her youthful eagernefs -, her mind is all hope, and the rapture of the novel fcene fhe is about to enter, illumines her eyes with a new life. I am as pleafed to anfwer queftions as file to afk them : m_y readinefs and atren- tion delight her ; and with all the' affec- tionate fimplicity of youth, which ever feels before it acts, and repays kindnefs with libera] interef!:, ihe is already as much at- tached to me as though we had been com- panions from childhood. How flattering is fondnefs to a heart that is not infenfible ! I repeat it again. Frail, in the midil of all my careleiTnefs 1 am confcious I have fuch a heart : it wants but an objed to awake it VOL. I. E into 74 I-A BELLE SAUVAGE. into feeling. It has once loved, and Oh ivith what excefs of tendernefs ! It was betrayed and deferted by its dearefl object ; it flill preferves it in remembrance, and lofes all anger for the defertion in regret for the lofs. Yes, my dear, I ftill love Hilario — ftill retain the fond hope that he may not be loft to me for ever. 1 have promifed you my ft range hiftory, and you fhall have it on my arrival in town. Good-night, my dear ! I was going to conclude, when my eye caught a letter that lay on my dreffing-table, and which my young eleve brought me from her uncle. I, have enclofed it for you : it will difplay a new character — that of a rough, but manly country gentleman. He has a good eftate, but his worth has given him a greater influ- ence than his rents ; and he can almoft command LA EELLE SAUVAGE. 75 command a county by the love and refpect his integrity has procured him. But read his letter. Sir Hilaiy H. to Ladi/ Varnish, <^ MADAM, " I have fent my niece accord- ing to your Ladyfhip's invitation, and fhe brings this letter in her hand. With your pardon, Madam, I will take the liberty of addrelTing a few hncs to your attention. " This young girl was the only daughter of my late brother, and is therefore my niece ; and in the country, my Lady, we love our brothers and our nieces. I love her as my own child ; and to do her but juftice, the girl is a good girl, Madam, and £ 2 well 76 I^A BELLE SAUVAGE. well deferves it. I commit her, therefore, to yx>ur Ladydiip's protedlion as I would commit my own daughter j and you will excufe my earneflnefs when I recommend her in the fame manner. ^* A few weeks ago a carriage was over- turned by my park, and a young lady and her father came to my hall for protedlion. I (liould have told you that the accident was in the night, and that the weather was rainy and tempeftuous. It is my rule. Madam, and a rule I learned from my old fathers before me, never to difmifs a flranger from my gate without hrft perfuading him to enter it, and then, fliutting it behind him, endeavour to keep him as. long as I can, *' Thefe flrangers were from London -, and the LA BELLE SAUVAGE. 77 the young lady, being of the fame age with my niece, ilept in the fame bed with her, and remained at my houfe feme days. Im- mediately after her departure, I obferved a change in th€ difpofition of my niece, who, from being the gayefl girl in the whole county, was now become the dulleft. To make fhort of the matter, Madam, I foon perceived the caufe of this change. Her late companion and bedfello\y had amufed her, during her (lay, with gay defcriptions of London, the falLions, the Court, the Operas, &c. &c. ; and nothing would now pleafe her but to go to London to be poli/ksd, (lie faid (repeating, I fuppofe, after her new friend), and learn the manners of what (lie called the beau-monde, ** I tried to diffuade her from it, but her melancholy and lifllelTnefs would then return. E3 In 7^ LA BELLE SAUVAGE. In fl-jort, my Lady, as I love my girl, and fhe is my brother's own daughter, and as I never refufed her any thing in my life, I could not withhold my confent. You have received 'her to indulge her wiOies, and have undertaken to teach her the polite world. " It is on this rubje(51:, Madam, I have fomething lerious to add. Be pleafed to remember, my Lady, what you have now received from me, and return me at the end of the winter what you have thus received from me in the beginning. I have fent you a plain-thinking, a plain-fpoken, a plain- dreffing, honed country girl— one who always fpeaks as (he thinks, and one that thinks as a hoiiicly wit and fober re^ifon taught her grandmother to think before her. She loves her relations, refpedls her Clergy- man, and attends her Church. She fpeaks LA BELLE SAUVAGE. 79 fpeaks humbly, afts meekly, and confiders an inferior as a fellow-creature. •* Not to take up your time with a long letter, I will tell your Ladyfhip in a few more words what (he is. She is a honeft, a comely, a good-humoured, and good- principled country girl. She has a lover as honed as herfelf. They have pledged them- (elves to each other, and it is my intention to have them married on her return from your LadyQiip's protedion. " Such, Madam, is the girl you will receive from my hands, and fuch I (hall demand from your charge when the time of her vifit is expired. Introduce her as you pleafe into the gay world -, I give you leave to add what improvements you chufe : I only ftipulate that Ihe ihould not be polifhed out £4 of 8b LA BELLE SAUVAG£. of her natural good manners, or refined out of her natural integrity. I again repeat, return me my girl ! — return me the fame hcnePty, the fame fimplicity, and the fame innocence I have feat you, ''■ Your Ladyfliip, I trufl:, will excufe my freedom : I love my girl, and feel too anxif uily to flatter. I again enjoin you, Madam, to return me my country girl. " Madam, " Your Ladyfliip's kinfman ** And humble fervant, " HILARY H.'* There, iry dear, what think you of this country gentleman ? — or rather, from the wdefcription he has given of the manners, morals, LA BELLE SAUVAGE* 8l morals, and education of mv young charge, what opinion have you for red o[ her ? Yet be affiired fne is not the Hottentot here defcribed : (he has fenfe, and that of the better fort ; a vivacity, a gaiety of manner, and a mind rich enough for the feeds of fafhion to take good root in. Country breeding, though it has confined her experience, has not curtailed her ideas; they range wildly, and form to themfelves greater expeclcUions from the introdudlion about to take place, than even that intro- duction will realize. I doubt whether Sir Hilary will fee the advice in his letter ful- fiiled. The inn(?cence, the iirnplicity, and candour he h:\s icnt me, will be left behind her in tov/n with her country clothes. We ail of us, I fear, polidi like meta's; v;hat we gain in bright nef?, we fail not to lofe 1 5 ia 82 LA BELLE SAUVAGE. in fubflance. Then the poor fliepherd to whom the filly girl has pledged herfelf! He, I think, will not find his chance improved by having his miftrefs introduced into life ! Good luck to 'him 1 I cannot help fmiling at the idea. It is very late, fo once for all adieu ! Youi's, &c. E. VARNISHv LETTFR LA BELLE SAUVAGE. 83 LETTER V. London, Saturday Night » OH MY DEAR COUSIN JENNY, JL AM fo pleafed, and frightened, and attonifhed, and confounded, that 1 neither know what I do, what I fay, or what I write. I can only tell you that I am now writing in bed ; and I find I fhall never be able to write at any 01 her time, or in any other manner. Time is one thing in the country, and another in town. I always had too much of it there j but here, ^6 if §4 LA BELLE SAUVAGE. if I had ten times as much more, I could find an ufe for it all. Wc fct off from Clarebrook at eleven o'clock this morning, my Lady and myfelf in the travelling coach, and my maid Jenny and my Lady's maids in another chaife be- hind us. The road was very dull, but I fcarce perceived it 3 for I was thinking fo much of my journey's end, that I had got many- miles before I well knew I was in a coach. My Lady coufm was very gay and good- humoured i fhe fometimes laughed at my queilions, but Ihe always anfwered them-; and you may be fure, my dear, I afked her a great many. I remember ilie particularly laughed at one thing I faid to her. I told her I was afraid we fhould get in town {o late, and be fo tired by the time we got to bed, that we (hould overlleep ourfelves in the LA BELLE 9AUVACE. S^ the morning, and be too late to drefs for Church. Her Ladyfliip laughed, though, for the Hfe of me, coufin Jenny, I cannot make out for what ; but it muft certainly have been at fometiiing in my manner of fpbaking, for as people of faQiion are fo much better taught than others, they muft certainly be better and more ferious ; they cannot laugh at going to Church, who muft have read fo many good books, and received {o much good inftruclion. We arrived at Epplng to dinner about five o'clock ; and having made a very hafty meal, agiin got into our coaches, and drove for London. It was now quite dark, but the road was lighted with lamps : yes, as fure as you are alive, coufin Jenny, there were lamps on each fide; but I fup- pofe this was done out of compliment to •5 ' my S6 LA BELLE SAUVAGE. my Lady. They heard, perhaps, that we were coming up by this road, and chofe to pay us this pretty compliment. I alkcd my Lady if this was not the cafe, and (he again only laughed. I wifli fhe would get rid of this odious trick, for I fometimes almoft imagine that fhe is laughing at me. It is certainly very rude ; and if flie puts me in a paliion, I fnall not mind telling her fo. It was now getting later, and the long journey had made me fall afleep even againft my will, when I was awoke by my coufin Lady with a flight jog ; — and. Oh coufin Jenny ! how can I tell you what I now faw 1 — We had got into the middle of the ftreets of London — and fuch a fight, my dear I Every thing fo bright, fo gay, fo bullling I-— LA BELLE SAUVAGE. Sj buftling ! — the lamps burning, the jewel- fhops lighted up, the coaches rattling, and the people thronging ! You may remember, coufin, reading of the City of Bagdad in the Arabian Nights. Read it again, Jenny, for it is an exadl defcription of London. To-morrow we dine with my Lady Lurewell, and I lliall write you an account of our vifit. Give my love to Squire Robert, and tell him to remember to write to me next Wednefday j — I'll then anfwer him on Saturday, and we'll manage in this manner whilft I flay in town. Tell him, as I am not down in the country, 1 can fee no bufinefs he will have at the next Chriftmas aiiemblies, and that I would much rather he would flay away ; but if he mufb go, tell him I infifi upon his not dancing with Mifs G . I'll never write or fee 88 LA BELLE SAUVAGE, fee him again if he does ; and he may go about his bufinefs for a bafe and un- faithful man. Bid him, in (horc, be as true to me as if I were always before his eyes, and remember our broken fixpence and exchaFTge of hair. Abfence fhould make no difference in a true lover. — Good night. It is now fo late that I mud go to fleep. Your's, dear coufin, RACHAEL H . LETTER LA BELLE SAUVAGE. 8^ LETTER VI. London^ Saturday^ Nov, 2S, PEAR JENNY, vJ'QR vifit is paid, and I am writing you an account of it in bed. I have already told you that this is the only time I have to fpare. But I have a great deal to tell you, and fo muft make hafle to begin. As I am in a flrange houfe, I begged that my maid Jenny mi^ht fleep in the clclet of my bedroom, and my Lady ordered that 90 LA BELLE SAUVAG2. that it (liould be fo. When I av/oke this morning, and thought by the hght it was near ten o'clock, our country Church hours, I called up Jenny in a great hurry, and we both drefTed ourfelves immediately fo as to be ready for Church. We went dov\'n ilairs, and meeting a fervant, 1 afked him if we were time enough. The fellow flared, but afked Jenny — ** Time enough for what ?" Jenny told him that we wanted to know if we were time enough for Church, and i* my Lady was yet gone. The faucy rafcal burft out into a laugh. Dear coufm Jenny, what can they all mean by this liughing ? I have as good a face as my Lady herfelf ; I neither fquint, nor have a crooked nofc ! What is it, then, tl.at they a'l fee to laugh at?— Well, I told you that the fellow lau-^hed. At LA BELLE SAUVAGE. 9! At this moment the flreet-door being opened by the porter, Jenny heard the laft bell of a neighbouring chapel ; and taking hold of my arm—" Come, Mifs," cried the girl, " we Ihall be too late elfe— my Lady mufl have gone !*' — And fo faying, fhe pulled me out of the door, and we walked i3p the ftreet as fad as we could, for fear of being too late. I happened, however, to turn my eyes back, when I faw all my aunt's fervants, and a crowd of others that had joined them, collevfted round the door, and flaring at us with the ftrongeft aftonifh- ment. Dear coufin, what can all this mean ? To Church, however, w^e went, heard a fermon, and returned home about one. The porter, as I thought, feemed to gria as he let us in. My Lady's msid came to teU ja LA BELLE SAUVAGE, tell me thac her Ladyfhip waited breakfaft. I accordingly went up, and my Lady ^received me very kindly. Obferving my bonnet on, fhe afked me in fome aflonifti- ment where I had been. I told her to Church.— «« To Church 1" cried (he, and dropped her tea-cup ! The Lady's maid, who was in waiting, /ell a giggling, till my Lady checked her. She then told me that people of faQilon never went to Church, and that I mud (lay away, or be laughed at — that thefe things were only for the lower order of the people. Tell me, coufin, what I muft do ; I cannot endure to be laughed at. And furcly thefe people of fafhion muft know what is rightt Well, it muft be fo ; I muft not for the future venture to Church. At LA BELLE SAUVAGE. 53 At four o'clock we drove to Lady LurewelTs to dinner. There was a very* large party both of gendemen and ladies. I was at firft a little uneafy about this Church affair : 1 wanted to be a woman of fafhion, and yet I was unwilling to give up Church, But T heard a converfation at this table that Kas made me happy again, and fet me free from all fears on this fubjecfl. Colonel Brilliant, a gentleman whom they here call a wit, had an argument with my Lady Flafh on religion. The Colonel faid an infinite number of very fprightly things, and the lady was equally entertaining to the com- pany. They at firft fild fuch things as made my very hair ftand at an end -, but when I faw the whole company take it fo merrily, I thought within myfelf that it could not be {o bad as it appeared to me. There were a great many grave and fome old ^4 I-A BELLE SAUVAGE. old gentlemen at table j but they lauglied as well as the others at the Colonel's jefls. But what had more weight with me than any thing elfe, there was a Clergyman at table, a very well-bred man, and, as I hear, a man of fafliion. 1 expedled he would have attacked the Colonel ; but, inftead of that, he fmiled as if he were pleafed, and even laid fome light things that made the company laugh, and the Colonel fliook him by the hand, and called him a very honed fellow. Now the Clergyman would not have been filent if the Colonel had not been right ! But I am now going to mention a thing which will at firfb frighten you. I law fome tables fet, which at firft I could fcarcely underfland, but they had every appearance of card-cables : yet I could fcarcely LA BELLE SAUVAGE. pj Icarcely believe that people of fafliion would play at cards on a Sunday till I faw all the company rife, and advance to the tables. My Lady coufin delired me to cut in, but I was really frightened ; and pretending to have a bad head- ache, excufcd my (elf, and went and fat myfelf down on a fofa. Here 1 was foon joined by the polite Cler- gyman, who had excufed himfelf from playing as well as myfelf, and this more fully perfuaded me that I had been right in my refufal to join them. I determined, however, to know his opinion, and there- fore, to draw him into a converfation, faid — " J wondered they could phy at card^." ** I wonder at it too, Madam,'* faid he. " It is fo wicked !" faid I. *' Madam !" repeated he, and with almoft as ^6 LA BELLE SAUVAGE. as rude a dare as the fervants had given me in the morning. «^ Why pray. Sir/' faid I, "do you think it no harm to play at cards on a Sunday r " Harm, Madam !" replied he , " about as much harm, Madam, as there is in my taking fnuff. 1 take fnuffto amufe myfelf, and this good company play at cards for the fame purpofe. Here, Colonel," cried he to the Colonel, who was advancing to us, *' here is a young lady has a queftion to put to you. Is it allowable to play at cards on a Sunday ?" '* A council, a council 1" cried the Colonel -, apd immediately a number of young people, who had not played, coUeded around him, and afked him what he meant. He aifumed a tone of the molt ludicrous gravity, explained LA BELLE SAUVAGE. ^7 explained the quedion, and infilled on a fair agitation. ' The Dodor here,' fays he, fhall take the chair as prefident.* c In fhort they argued the point j and the debate being finifhed juil as the tables rofe, and other parties were called to cut in, the Colonel called on the Clergyman, as he had now heard the whole matter, to give his deteraiination. ** Weil/' replied he, taking my hand, and leading me to a card -table, *' I determine it in this m.anner : this young lady fnall take a hand with me.'' When I returned hom.e, my Lady coufin was pleafed to tell me that my condu6t that evening gave her great fatlsfadlion, VOL. I. F and 98 LA BELLE SAUVACE. and promifed a quick progrcfs in fafliionable attainments. — " You have now, my dear,'^ faid fhe, " overcome two country preju- dices ; you can take your feat at a card- table, and adt up to the mode, in a polite difregard to what they are pleafed to call the Sabbath. Go on in this way, my dear, and I fliall not blulh in a month's time to prefent ycu at Court." Hey ! — here's feme one at my chamber door! 'Tis Jenny : fliebcgs metoenclofe a letter of her's in my frank to you. 'Tis to one of her fellow-fervants, and I think I mud humour her. She'll not feal it (he fays, for (he's (lire you'll like to read it. — Good night, coufin ! \ Letter LA BELLE SAUVAGE. 99 The enclofed Letter. Sunday Night, <« DEAR FANNY JENKINS, " I promifed ycu and all my fellow- fervants that I would v/rite to you ibmething about this place. Oh Fanny! it is one of the wlckedeft places in the world j but the people are all ^o gay in their vvickednefs, that it is impoilible to hate them. They laugh at every thing ferious s but then they laugh in fuch a manner, that you cannot help laughing with them. Here is one gentleman in our family — (I call him a gentleman, though he is only a fervant, for all fervants are here gentlemen) — but this perfon, I fay, made F 2 us JOO LA BELLE SAUVAGE. US all merry lad night ; and can you guefs, Fanny, what about ? Why, as furc as you are alive, by jefling upon Parfons ! Oh, they are a fad, wicked people ! ** But 1 Ihall now frighten you. Would you believe, Fanny, after we fervants had finifhed our tea, the houfekeeper fent her compliriients to us, and would be glad of our company to make up a party at cards ! I would not play for a good while, though they did nothing but laugh and fncer at me for my country fimplicity. But when they told me their miftrelTes and mailers did the fame, I would not believe them. They perfuaded me, however, at lad ; and as my betters played, I thought it would be vanity in me to refufe ; fo I took my feat, and I believe they let me win to encourage me. «' YouMI LA BELLE SAUVAGE. lOI ** You'll tell Mr. Roger, the young coachman, to write to me every Wed- nefday, as Squire Robert, his young mader, does to our Mifs Rachael i and tell him to mind what he is about, and be true to me. My Lady's late footman, the gay young man I have mentioned before, would have kiffed me laft night ; but tell Mr. Roger I would not let him. Mifs has been kind enough to put this letter into her's, and Mifs Jenny will give it you. Give my duty to all at home, and believe me •' Your's, &c. '* jenny/* fZ LETTER 102 lA feJSLLE SAUVAG£» LETTER VII. From Lady Varnish to Mrs. FraiL St, James's^ Square, VLAK FKAIt, JL HAVE not written to you for fome^ time ; and what is dill worfe, I have a letter of your's now laying by me, which I received three days ago, and have not found time to anfwer it yet. I (hall not, however, trouble you with an excufe, and make a light offence ftili more intolerable by tedious 6 apologies » np^hgm, I remember a celebrated faying of a man of wit and faOiion of the prefent day. Some one had been guilty of one of thefe flight offences, and was opprefTing him with fame of thefe tedious excufes, when he ftopped him by a gentle tap on the (houlder,— ** My good friend, I have par- doned your offence, but I (liall give you a challenge for your apologies.*' You will do me the juftice to believe (hat I have not intentionally negle^led you. I have always detefled that peevifhnefs of friendfhip, which only refembles the firfl: love of a young girl — is always making ics parties uoeafy by its foolifh jealoufies, always taking affronts, and always requiring apo- logies. We have known each other too long, and are too well acquainted with each Other's temper and difpoiition to indulge F 4 fuch I04 LA BELLE SAUVAGJE. fuch petty fufpicions. Educated from^our childhood at the fame fchool, partners of the fame bed in our early years, and of the fame focieties in our maturer life, we love each other from a kind of habit — a power I can afTure you much ftronger than that of any paffion whatever. Let this long fi'iend- fhip,. therefore, give us a mutual confi- dence 3 let us not trouble each other with childifh reproaches of neglcd and indif- ference, becaufe a fpleen or an tnterrupting vifitor happens to delay a promifed letter beyond its dated tiiiie. You aik me ho.v I fucceed with my young elevey the Savage, as you and my Lord are pleafcd to call her. As for my Lord, I fufpedl his fincerity. The girl is really very hand feme, and, to anfwer your enquiries as to my fuccefs, very docile and traflable. LA BELLE 3AU7AGE, lOj tradable. I have every hope that a winter under my tuition will make her a complete woman of fafhion. I affare you her pro- grefs already is by no means contemptible : (lie has not been in town a fortnight^ and fhe games on Sundays, and has dropped her prayers. We muft not be in too great a hurry. The firft flep towards a falhionablc religion is indifference; and this ftep once gained, the next, that of ridiculing all religion, Coon follows of courfe. You ma7 wonder, perhaps, why I fliould begin with rooting out this prejudice. My anfwer is, that I was afraid this unfaQiionable attachment to religion might prove the greatell obllacle to her ready reception of my fafhionable precepts. How many of our elegant levities would flie have beheld with terror if this country prejudice had nof F 5 beea I06 LA BELLE SAUVAGE, been previoufly eradicated ! I (hould have had her blufh at a falfehood, and call fafhionable liberties by their harfh country names. Flattery would be meannefs, and iri*fincerity of profeflion a downright lie. Confefs, then, that I have a6led the Machiavel in my art, and begun with the necefTary foundation, I huve cleared away all former rubbilh, bruihed away every oppofing prejudice, and may now build whatever flrudure I plcafe. Yes, my dear, I repeat it again, this oneobftade removed, my bufinefs b now done, and J may leave tny pupil to herfelf. This, however, I fliall not do, I will finiQi my work, and you (hall behold her, by the end of this winter, the completefl modern woman of faQ:ion. She is now in the road, and will foon reach the goal. But LA BELLE SAUVAGE. IO7 But now to perform what I have long promifed, and you have at length demanded. I (hall give you, therefore, my full hiftory, and in the courfe of it confefs what one woman but very feldom coniefTes to another : fo now prepare to hear what I believe will not afloni(h you a little. My father was a Clergyman, the Reverend Dr. Lyttleton, a gentleman of good preferment, and, I need not add, of a moft refpedable family. He lived on his Redory of A , in the county of Norfolk, and fupported a fcyle of elegance which few private gentlem^en could imitate. My mother was of a good family : (he died very early in life, and before I had well attained my fourteenth year. I was tbeir only child, and the favour of an aunt had F 6 already I08 LA BELLE SAUVAGE. already bequeathed me a fortune of ten thoufand pounds. Such \Aas my fituation on the death of my mother. As my father found himfelf in a {late of folitude by this untimely death of his wife, and as his real regard for her (for he was no man of fafliion) rendered fuch a flate peculiarly irkfome, he determined to take me from my fcl:ioo], and place me at the head of his houfe and table. I had been in this fituation but a few days, when my father received a letter from an old friend of his, condoling with him on his recent lofs. At the end of this letter was this pafTage : — " But I have now a propofal to make, which I flatter myfelf will be equally agreeable to both of us* My only fon is going abroad in about fix months, but LA BELLE SAUVAGE. IG^ but I could wiQi him to be better prepared for his tour. Need I add any more ?" As foon as my father read this pafTage, he determined to comply with the requeft it implied, and the more readily {o, as the young gentleman was our near relation^ An invitation was accordingly fcnt, ac- cepted, and a day fixed for his arrival. He arrived on this cay, and was received by my father with pleafure ; and, to confefs the truth, as a gay, open youth» he was no lefs pleafing to me. There is a certain age, let prudes deny it as they will, when it is impoffible for us to fee any of the oppofite fex without fome intereft. Nature will prevail, the kindling wi(li will rife, the heart will beat and confefs its feelings, and even Modedy itfelf may blufh • at no LA BELLE SAUVAGE. at the images it will find in the bofom of its own votaries. J confefs, for my part, I did not fee Hilario, for fo 1 (liall call him^ with indifference. He was of my own age, and in my own rank of life ; our families were conceded — we were dillant relations ; and what was, j-jerhaps, llrongeft of all, were going to live in tlie fame hoiife for th^ next fix months. Strong circucp- {lances all thefe to the lively fancy of a girl of fifteen, and enough in good confcicnce to fet her a dreaming on future proba- bilities. I foon had reafon to imagine that I had not been feen with lefs emocion by Hilario. He took every cccaiion that offered to entertain mxe alone ; and our converfation beginning in levity, infenfibly affumed that tone of fentiment which is the true language of LA EELLE SAUVAGE, III of a beginning paflion. This ferioufnefs incrcafed with the progrefs of its caufe. At length, as we were one day walking in the garden, with the true fpirit of female coquetry I began bantering him on this ferioufnefs, of which I fo well knew the fource, and infilled on it that it could only "arife from fome gentle pafiion. He allowed that it did. I afked him t-o make me his confidante. He faid he would ; and then began defcribing his pafiion in the mofl glowing colours, not, however, adding the name of its objedl, I told him, therefore;^ his confidence was not perfect, and dem.anded the name of his miflrefs, though I codd fcarcely conceal the emotion he had raifed. He told me to comm.and him to name her, and he would obey me, I afifumed a tone of levity, and obeyed. He immediately dropped on' his knee, and took my hand. — " Dear Ill LA BELLE SAU7AGE, *^ Dear Mifs Lyttleton, is it necefTary that I fhould name her ? But I only obey your command, Madam. Yes, E.niiy, it is yourfelf : I offer you a heart that never felt but for you -, and if the moil ardent love can render it worth acceptance, it is not unworthy of you !' In (liort, to keep you no longer in fuf- penfe, I accepted his love, but defired him to make it known to my father. He promifed he would do fo, but requefted my permiflion to delay it a few days, that he might fix on the moft unexceptionable man- ner to make fuch an avowal. I gave him my confent^ and we feparated. I fear you may think iiie too minute, but it is difficult to avoid minutenefs upon a fubjed of this nature ; — there is always a lively LA BELLE SAUVAOE. IIJ lively pleafure in retracing the fcenes of early life j and how ii thii pkafure increaftd, when the fcencs thus retraced were thofc of love and happinefs I Oh Frail ! there was a time, and our memory may cafily recal it^ when both you and myfelf could feel, when our hearts beat as Nature bade them, and even prudence could fcarce reprefs the rifuig figh as we took a hafty leave of our favoured fchoolboys. But this is now over, and we arc women of faQ-^ion, But to return to my ftory. — ^.PQuw !-« an Interruption— fome intruding vifuor I I mud break off. Farewell ! E. VAJIWISH, LETTER 1*4 lA BELLE SAUYAGSd LETTIE VIII, Lady Vavrnjh in Conthniation> ELL, my dear, what flutterer do you think Fortune has fent me in the viutor i mentioned ? Why, one as hke herfelf as pofTible, as volatile, capricious, and in* conftant — in Oiort,. only diiicring in gender j for as (he is the greatefl: coquette^ io is he the completeft coxcomb in the world. Afcer this portrait in miniature, I fcarcely need- fubfcribe his name j but to prevent mif- takes, it was. the man himfclf — yes, that incorrigible Sir Harry Loveday ! The wretcli lA SELti §AtJVA6E. 115 wa*l€h has juft lift mi, but hai pfQm\M to dini with me t©-.m©ff©w, Bus now tq conclude my ftory,^ =.-=. Hilario retired that evening to hh chamber, and wrote a letter to his father,, which he intended to fend the next morning, I rofe rather early, as was my ufual cuftom 5 and as it was fummer, and a lovely morn' ing, walked into the garden. I had not been there long, before I faw Hilario ad- vancing towards me with a letter in his hand, and in a flow ftep. I dreaded fome- thing, and took, the offered letter from his hand. Thefe were its contents :— ^ *' DEAR SON, " I told you fome months ago that, as my age was great, and my life more uncertain. tl6 ^ LA BELLE SAUVAOH. uncertain every day, I had only the one mdt of feeing you married. I have provided you with an allianee in the family of the Earl of Clermont, whofc daughter, with an ample fortune, waits your acceptance. I have written to Dr. Lyttleton, and expefk you will fet off for this place the day after you receive this. " Your affeftionate father/' Such were the contents of this dreaded letter 5 but I had^ fcarcely time to exprefs my fcntiments, before we faw my father approaching towards us. He held in his hand the letter he had juft received, paid the young man a few complimentSj^ and then pulling out a large packet, defired me to follow him to hi$ ftudy. I followed him tremblings LA BELLE SAUVAGE. HJ trembling, and in fome confternation at what bufinefs he could polTibly have with me. When we entered the fludy, he defired me to fit down, and attend to what hefaid. He then addrelTed me. ** You know, my dear, that your aunt has left you a fortune of ten thoufand pounds ; but I believe you are unacquainted with a ftipulation annexed to that bequcil. Do not interrupt mc !" (feeing me about to fpeak.) " This condition is, that you marry your coufin, and her nephew, my Lord VarniOi. My Lord has now returned from abroad, and will be here in a few days to complete this engagement. I forgot to tell you that he is under ^n obligation equally with yourfelf j your aunt's property was bequeathed IlS LA BELLE SAUVAGE, bequeathed between you, under the condi- tion of this intermarriage. I perceive the fuddennefs of the affair has rather agitated you : I'll leave you to recover yourfelf.'* As he was going out of the room, Hilario entered, and feeing me in tears, and thinking the caufe of them might be (ome difcovery aiy father had made of our cor- refpondence, took my father's hand, and abruptly exclaimed — " You are unjufl, Sir j if there be any fault, it is folely mine." My father could only ftare, and demand his meaning, at the fame time looking angrily and alarmed at me. Hilario now perceived his error, but it was too late to repair it. He was under the neceffity of entering into a full, explanation, which he ended by an avowal of his palfion, and his fixed rcfo- lution "LA BELLE 3AUVAGE. II9 lution to oppofe the defigns of his father. My father heard him with patience, and then, taking hold of his arm, defired him to attend him in the garden. They left the room together, and through the windows of the parlour I foon faw them in the moft earnevh converfation*. j\iy father appeared all fteadinefs and firmnefs; my lover was at firft pafTionate, but at length, to my great aftonifnment, became to all appearance calm and temperate, and as if perfediy refigned to the necefiity of our affairs. This tranquillity of my lover excited my indignation, as I could only find one caufe to which I could with any probability affign it. This was, that he had fubmitted to I20 LA BELLE SAUVAGE. to my father's firmnels of rejedion, and facrificed me to this and his own intereft. Full of this opinion, I hefitated to obey the fummdns to dinner -, but went down at i aft, through the fear of irritating my father. My father and lover were both feated ; the latter rofe on my entrance, but did not venture to raife his eyes. The dinner palled with little faid on any (ide, except by my father, who endea- voured now and then to break the awk- wardnefsof a total filence. The deflert was fet. My lover drank my health. I raifed my eyes, met his, and gave him a look of mixed contempt and indignation. He im- mediately withdrew his eyes, and taking an apple, cut it open, and offered it me. I thought this civility, under fuch circum- ftances, a piece of unpardonable infolencc, and, LA BELLE SAUVAGE. l2t and, to fnew my refentment, puflied it away with an abrupt jerk of my hand. The apple fell on the table, and a flip of paper fell out of it on the ground. I immediately put my foot on it, and my father luckily not obferving it, contrived to take it up^ and retire a few minutes after. 1 flew to my chamber, and locking my door, tore open my billet. Its contents were as follow : — " DEAR EMILY, ^' Your father is pofitive, and there is nothing to be hoped from mine. There is only one ftep to be taken, but I w^nt the opportunity to inform you of it. Your facher will take care to give us no oppor- tunity to be alone. What then is to be VOL. I. " G done ? 122 LA BELLE SAUVAGE. done? Nothing, except you have tliat real regard for me, and that confidence which would accompany fuch a regard, as to grant a* requeft I am going to make. It is this—- that you will not go to your bed fo early to n'ght, but keep your maid with you, and lit up in your chamber. 1 will knock at a convenient time, and you muft admit me. 'Tis now you muft fliew your regard in your confidence. I am going out wilh your father, and we fhall not return till twelve at night j fo that I can receive no anfwer to this letter. Doy for Heaven's fake, admit me when I knock!" This letter raifed that flrugglc in my mind between the two oppofite principles of love and prudence, which a young girl, j^et alive to modefty, always feels on fuch an LA BELLE SAtJVAGE. 1 23 anoccafibn 5 and the event was what is ufual in fuch contentions. Love prevailed over a ftrid decorum, and I determined to admit him as he requefted. Your's, &c. E. VARNISH* LETTER LX. Lady Varnish in Continuatiofl, DEAR FRAIL, .0\V glowing niuft have been thofe original fenfations of pleafure which, thus blunted by the revolution of years, yet revive in my mind as 1 now write ! My memory again awakens them to their original G 2 vigour. 124 I'A BELLE SAUVAGE. Vigour, and I feel as though acting in the fctnes I now only defcribe. In fpite of my long habits of fafhionable indifference, I flill find I am a woman — I ftill find I have a heart, and I find it by feeling. Dear Frail, would you imagine, what is neverthelefs true, that I have written this pafTage with tears ? Yet, laugh at me as you pleafe, I cannot but lament what I now am, when my recalling memory prefents me with what I once was. But now to my ftory. » I retired to my chamber, my maid following me, about eleven o'clock ; and having feated ourfelves by the fire, I defired her to read, to pafs away the time. Whether by accident, or, as I have (ince thought, by defign, fiie brought one of thofe high- coloured Novels, where Profligacy is pre- fented to the young iinagination in all her brighteft appendages, and where Vice lofes aU LA BELLE SAUVAGE. I25 all its deformity in the dazzling elegance of its drefs. The memory of fome paft fufFerings, which I may afcribe to that cor- ruption of principle which this author pro- duced in my mind, makes me ftill hear his name with horror. A thoufand and ten thoufand curfes overtake him and his whole clafs who thus poifon the iprings of know- ledge, and, attacking us in a manneF which no virtue can relift, inflame our imagination, and thus make us the inflruments of our own corruption ! In (hort, to delay you no longer by my refledions, the gay profligacy of the author and his charaders had their full effed, and contributed perhaps more than any thing elfe to the fubfequent events. I felt that fl;earmg languor which is fo dan- gerous to virtue— I grew warm with thofe G 3 emotions 10,6 LA BELLE SAUVAGE, amotions which are the fever of departing modefty, and the fure forerunner of its. dilTolution,. At this moment the clock ftruck twelve, and I thought I heard a tap at the door. My heart beat violently. I liftened again, It was repeated. My maid roft, opened the door, and my lover wa$ at the inllant at my feet, I was fome time before I could recover myfelf from my confufion, and the ardour of Hilario continued it flill longer. — " Heave you to-morrow, my Emily,'' faid he, ** and I fear I leave you for ever !" I afked him his meaning. " My meaning,** repeated he, " is too \ plain. LA BELLE SAUVAGE. J2^ plain. Our fathers are both oppofed to Gur union. You v/ell know the firmnefs ofyour's: he thinks his honour coric^ned to break our eno;a2;ement. You know the fteadinefsand decifion with which he always afts. I fhall no fooner have left his houfc, than he will contrive foaiething that will feparate us for ever.*' This was too true, and I was well acquainted with this part of my father's charader. If he had any fault, it was this obflinacy of maintaining any favourite pur- pofe. In this refped he was the moft unyielding of men ; and, as his addrefs was equal to his conftancy, to undertake a point of whatever difficulty was with him to carry it. This refledion of my lover had there- G 4 fore 128 LA BELLE SAUVAGE, fore its full effed, though I had the prudence- to endeavour to cor.ceal it frora him. I allured him of my firmnefs, and conjured him to place a reliance on my faith. — *< There is but one way," repeated he — ** an infiant marria5:e/* o I could- only anfwer by a ftare of afloniflimcnt. He went to the door, and, to my further amazement, and even a degree of terror* introduced a gentleman in the habit of a Clergyman. Then taking my hand — "It is now, Madam, you mud convince m.e of your firmnefs. This gen- tleman, whom you know as well as myfelf, is a Roman Catholic Prieft, and is willing to rifk even the feverities of the law in uniting us. It is true that this aifl will want fome of the formalities the laws require. It is in this part of it, therefore, that you muft LA BELLE SAUVAGE. I29 mud (hew your confidence in my honour, your belief that I Ihall not be the more ready to become a villain, becaufe the laws happen to prefent me with an opportunity of becoming one with impunity." I will not lengthen my ilory ; you may guefs the conclufion of this fcene. My lover prevailed, the ceremony was performed, and the maid and the Pried left the room. My hufband did not leave me before it was already hght : he took a laft and very tender farewell of me, adding he fhould leave my father's immediately after break- faft. He advifed me not to make my appearance till his departure, left I fhould find it difficult to conceal my feelings. He again embraced me, promifed to write to me, and took his leave, G 5 Faithlefsj 130 LA BELLE SAUVAGE. Faithlefs, barbarous man \ — Oh God ! who could have expeded fuch deceit 1 For three weeks I was left in all the agony of negleded love : I then heard, though not from himfelf, that he was gone abroad. My fenfes ahnoft left me at this information^ but I had ftill too much pride to difcover my injuries. My health, however, was afFe(5led. My father perceived it, and fent me down to a bathing-place. I will now finifti my ftory. My father died in my abfence, and, from a fpirit of refentment, I gave my hand to my Lord Yarnifli, having firft confulted a lawyer on the legality of fuch a ftep. I was under age when my firft marriage was thus cfFedcd ', it was performed contrary to the rites of our eflablilhed Church, and my lawyer declared me free in law to marry again. LA BELLE SAUVAGE. I3I again. My refentment filenced my con- fcience, and I became Lady Varnifh. A fervant has juft brought me the following letter from my Lord, *' MY LADY, " We have carried our elefllon, and one half of the town is drunk with joy, and the other for confoiation. Such, my dear, is the happy fpirit of a free government : once in every fcven years the whole nation may get drunk at the expence of their governors. " I never was a friend to what fome people are pleafed to call the liberties of their country j and my Lord G himfelf (liall confefs that I rival even him in my efibrts" G 6 to 132 LA BELLE SAU-VAGE.- to put an end to them. What, in fadV, are thefe liberties? Why fomething that the people may fell, and that we, their governors, nmft buy. 'Tis a moft infufFerable piece of expence to us ; one might almofl: buy a county for what it cods one to become its leprefentative. However, I'll be even with them. They have coft me ten thoufand pounds j and ten thoufand pounds will I, by fome means or other, make of them* I fliall put them up to audtion ; and the devil may take them if he prove the beft bidder. ** As my bufinefs, therefore, is now over, I Qiall wait on your Ladylhip immediately. Get a bed put up for me^ uniefs you have a mind to be troubled with a bedfellow. I am really in an excellent humour, and fl^all become gallant prefently. Without flattery. LA BELLE SAUVAGE. IrJJi flattery, my dear, I think you the hand- fomeft woman in England ; and confidering. we have been fo long married, this compli- ment is not without its value. Marriage is> indeed,, the fevereft tefc of both the beauty and the merit of the wife. You have flood this tefb. Madam, and therefore may claim the apple. 1 told you 1 fhould be gallaat. " How do you go on v^ith the young Savage ? Is fhe handfome, for I have never feen her ? — Adieu ! — I ihall be with you immediately, I am really in a hurry to embrace you. " I intended to have fent off this letter, but forgoc it till the poft had gone. I have now re-opened it, and having nothing better 134 JLA BELLE SAUVAGE. better to do, (liall continue it to the end of my paper. I hear you have undertaken an affair of fome difficulty in the inftruflion of the young Savage in faOiionable man- ners. What could Sir Hilary mean by appointing you her bear-leader ? — But take your revenge of her, by making her a fource of your amufement. There are two ways of ufing a friend ; to ufe them to our own purpofes is the moft reafonable and the mod fafhionable. Follow my advice. I con- clude this letter in the town of Newmarket. J am about to purfue my journey over the defolate heath with which this town is furrounded. The firft thing I fhall attempt in my new capacity of a Member of Par- liament, fliail be to get a Bill of Inclofure ; for the wind bites intolerably through this expofed road. Indeed this part of the country has no other appearance than that 5 of LA BELLE SAUVAGE.- I35 cf the abode of defolatioQ ; and were Famine to appear in perfon, and feek a fuitable (ite for her throne and palace, (he could fix oa no other place than Newmarket Heath.— Adieu ! ^* Your's, " VARNISH.'* LETTER X, From Mifs Rachael to her Coujin Jmny. DEAR JANE^ .Y Lord has juft arrived. He is a very agreeable man ; and if my Lady was noc bis wife, (he could not help loving him. I dare 136 LA BELLE SAUVAGE. I dare fay you'll be furprifed at this fentence j but that will happen from your not being a woman of faQiion. Love is a country ware, my dear, and may fuit your groves and fields ; but we women of fafliion — for I have already got the name of a girl of falliion — rejed it as a prejudice, and laugh at its very name. You have a great deal to learn, coufin, and I think I'll undertake to teach you. Come, my dear, I'll give you a lefTon as I have juft received it myfelf. As it happened to be a very fine da,y, my Lady, about two o'clock, ordered her carriage, and two gentlemen coming in as we were going to fet off, perfuaded them to- attend us. As we drove down Picca- dilly, my Lady looked up to the windows of a handfome houfe, and turning to one of the LA BELLE SAUVAGE. I37 the gentlemen, aiked him if Colonel Free- Jove and his Lady had fettled their terms of reparation ? *' No, Madam," replied he : " they have agreed to feparate, bat they cannot agree on what terms. The lady afks a third of his fortune to fupport her feparate eftablifh- ment ; but as the Colonel reprefented to her that he had two miftrelTes, neither of whom it was in his power to fhake off, fhe has taken that into her confideration, and lowered her demand 2oa quarter. 1 believe they will conclude upon this." *' And has fhe any obje(5lion to any other of the articles ?" aiked the other gentleman^ " No,'* replied the firft fpeaker ; *« it would be rather extraordinary if fhe had, for they allow her every thing (he can wifh ; (he is to have whatever fociety, and of whatever fex (lie pleafes. In return, (he is toi 138 LA SELLE SAUVAGB/ to permit the Colonel to refide with his miftrefs. They are both, y'ou know, very fafhionable people, and the reparation agrees in every point with what the fafhion of the day requires under fuch cirGui-ndances.'* You will read this with the fame ado* jiifhment I (hould have heard it a fortnight ago ; but 1 am now becoming a girl of fadiion, and every body compliments me on my progrefs, I have now learned what matrimony, as well as religion, really is. The firft, my dear, is a faQiionable con- venience to repair a ruined fortune, and the wife is of no other value than that of being the vehicle of her portion. And as for religion, it is an invention to preferve good manners in the vulgar, but is entirely ufelefs to the fuperlor knowledge of high life. But have a care, Jane, how you fl^ew this part LA BELLE SAUVAGE. IJp part of my letter to rrxy uncle : he is too country-bred to rellQi the town fafhions. I (liould not 'mention them to you, only that I wifh you to have the fame accom- plidiments as myfelf ; and as we learned to dance together, fo to learn to be women of falWon together, Buc you lofe a great deal by not being with us, I have Jearned fomething, indeed, by what my Lady has faid to me, but a thoufand times more by what I have feen and heard myfelf. My Lady takes great pains with me, and my Lord has promifed to affift in making nie a complete woman of falhion. But there is one thing I find great difnculty in, and this is to underftand their meaning by their words. Every thing has a fafliionable name ; and the language of town and country i$ as different as that of two different 140 LA BEtLE SAUVAGE, different nations. When we learned Frencli together, our flupid matter ufed to tell us that ^fauX'pas was a flip of the foot : — now can you gucfs, my dear, what a faux-pas is in this town language ? Why, what I dare not mention. But endeavour to con- ceive a married woman as wicked, or^ in our town language, as gay as (he well can be> and you will have an idea of a fauX'pas^ It is in the fame manner with almoft every other word. My Lord was men- tioning this morning that his dearell friend \yas ruined, I afked him why then he did not go to his affiflance. He afked me what ht had to do with him, and why he fiiould affift him ?— " Why/' replied I, '' an't he your friend ?*' He LA BELLE SAUVAGE. I4I He laughed s and I thought my Lady feemed vexed that I had fo little improved tinder her, as to imagine it a duty of a man of fafhion to aflift a ruined man, becaufe he happened to be his friend. RACHAEL H 2 LETTER XL From the fame to the fame^ DEAR JANE, IVJLY Lord continues fo civil to me, and fo conftantly attends on me, that I am almofl inclined to believe he is really in love with me. Don't be frightened, coufm Jane ! This is the falhion here, and indeed I think 14^ LA BELLE SAUVAGE. I think one of the mofl reafonable they have. As a man is laughed at for loving his wife, it is but fair, I think, to allow him to love fomcbody elfe. . Sir Harry Loveday called upon us this morning, and my Lord propofed a party to Kenfington. Gardens. It was immediately accepted. My Lord took me in his cur- ricle, and my Lady went with Sir Harry in his. We foon arrived at the Gardens, and proceeded to walk. There was a great deal of company, and mod of them were known, and add relied our party. Sir Harry and my Lord were very brilliant, and rallied the company very agreeably. — ** That old gentleman there,'* faid Sir Harry, " fepa^* rated from his flill older wife laft week. He has taken an Opera-dancer into his houfe LA BELLE SAUVAGE. I4J houfe for a miftrefs, and his wife, who, as I have faid, is fliil older than himfelf, has fet up a faro-table, in conjun^lion with a young Nobleman, and they both live under the fame roof.** ** I have never feen a greater alTemblage of faQiion," faid my Lord, " fince I have vifited thefe Gardens. But do you fee that lady in yonder walk ? She is a newly- married woman." ** A newly -married woman !" repeated my Lady ; ** why, it is my Lady , and, to my knowledge, (he has been married thefe ten years." ** You are very right. Madam,'* faid his Lord (hip ; *^ but what I have faid is ftill true. She' was married to her prefent hufbrind only the day before yeflerday." *' Then 144 ^A BELLE SAUVAGE. ** Then her former hufband is dead V* fald I. *' Not fo either, Madam," repeated he. ** There — you faw that gentleman pafs her in the walk, and touch his hat to her ! — that was her hufband a few days ago. And you fee another gentleman now ad- vancing, and takingher arm ! — that. Madam, is her prefent hufband." There's for you, Jane — what do you think of this ? — and when would your country education have taught you thefe fafhions ? Such a fight as this in your village would have called as great a mob around it as the travelling monkeys and mountebanks that viHt your yearly fair. Two hufbands, both living at the fame time, and pafling each other in the fame walk — each civilly bowing to the other — the LA BELLE SAUVAGE. I45 the lady taking the arm of one of them, and the othet pafiing her with a touch of his hat. Such, my dear, are thefe charming fafhions. Oh coufin Jane, what do you lofe by being in the country i To-morrow night we go to the play. My Lady coufin neglects nothing to make me a girl of fafhion, and fhe tells me the playhoufe and fome of our befl comedies will give me fome ufeful hints to complete my fafnionablc education. 1 fliall write to you to-morrow, and give you a defcripcion of my enter- tainment. — Good night at prefent 1 Re- member to read my letters with proper attention j and as I always tell you what I fee and hear, you may learn the fafhions in the country. Your's, &c. RACHAEL. VOL. I. H LETTER 146 LA BELLE SAUVAGE. LETTER XII. From tlie fame to the fame, DEAR JANS, 1 FIAVE jufl come from tlie play, and almofc frightened out of my fcr.fes. Oh, fuch an event ! But I'll tell you every thing in order. Sir Harry dined with us, in order to attend us to the Theatre. About feven o'clock we all got into our coach, that is to fay, my Lord and Lady, Sir Harry, and myfelf. We foon arrived, took, our places in a ftage- box, and the play began. The name of the play was the Beggar's Opera. But LA BELLE SAUVAGE. I47 But here I was again not a little fur- prifed. As I knew that fo many people of falhion fo conftantly attended the play- houfe, I had imr^.glned to myfelf that a play was really a genteel thing, and in fame degree fuited to the polite company that was to fee it ; but I foon found that I had formed a very wrong opinion. The cha- rad'ers ox the play, fo far from being any thing of a genteel nature,, were all either thieves or gaolers. Tiie women were all what I will not mention, and the principal charafcer of the piece is very near being hanied. But fome of the fongs were delightful; and there were two fingers, a Mrs. C and Mr. K , whofe perjormance gave rne great pleafure. They both of them fung with the greateft tafte, and in a ftyh H 2 foccrior 148 LA BELLE SAUVAGE. fupeiior to any thing I have ever heard. But I could not help thinking that Mr. K ■' would have a6led better if he had not been fo full of ridiculous motions, and what my Lord cilled the mimicry of his charader. He could fcarcely fay the ilightcft thing without accompanying it with fome of thefc imitating motions. It is very fooiiili, too, his throwing glafles about. But perhaps this may be natural enough in the character of a highwayman. It is abominable, however, in a genteel charadler; or wben a gentleman drinks a glafs of wine, it is not very uliial for him to throw his alafs out of the window. t>^ Out of compliment to me, as the play- houfe was a novelty, they {laid to fee the entertainment. It was much more into- lerable than the play. If the play had fome 6 vulgarity tA BELLE SAUVAGIi, I49 vulgarity m its characters, k had a great deal of wit and fprightiineft in its dialogue* But it was not fo with the entertainment ; it was as flupid as it was low. I was out of all patience, and very glad when we returned to our coach. As we drove home, the night being very fine, and our converfation interefting. Sir Harry whimfically propofed that we would take him to Richmond, where he is on a vifit to my Lord . We laughed, and immediately agreed to take him halt way. The coachman was ordered to drive in the Richmond road, but could fcarcely forbear a ftare of aflonilhment. The converfation on the road turned upon the play we had juft feen. My Lady V, faid that the charaders in the piece were H 3 certainly 150 LA BELLE SAUVAGE. certainly all vulgar, but that this in her opinion fl^ewcd tlic greater genius of its nuthor ; for how admirable is his ingenuity which has given fuch dialogue to fuch cha- radlerg, and this without any apparent im- propriety ! My Lord agreed to tlie juflice of her remark, but added, that this vv-as not tlie only objedion to this play. — '' The Beggar's Opera," fays he, '' is juftly to be reprO' bated, on account cf its moral : it is faid to have lent many upon the road. What think you, Sir Harry ?" '' Why, my Lord," replied he, '' I cannot fay I agree with you. The Beg- gar's Opera, in my opinion, is a very harmlefs play ; it certainly prefents the cha- ra6ler of a fjccefsful highwayman. But if there be any tlung criminal in the reprefentation LA BELLE SAUVAGE. I5I reprsfentation of fuccefsful viliany, we muft burn even our graveft hidories. But my opinion is, that a Macheath on the ftage is to the full as harmlefs as a Cromwell in our hiftory. I really think the play very harmkfs/* Sir Harry had fcarcely done fpeaking, when we heard a horfeman galloping behind us, and prefently a tremendous voice ex- claiming *' Stop !" — A highwayman then , came up to the lide of the coach, and prefenting ia. piftol, demanded our money. My Lady fainted, my Lord and Sir Harry both fired, and the feilovv dropped. The gentlemen immediately got out to fecure him. He was wounded in the fide, but flill attempted to make his efcape. The noife of the piftols, however, brought up the patrole of the road, and the fellow was H 4 taken 152 LA BELLE SAUVAGE. taken into cuHody, My Lord and Sir Harry gave in tbtir names, and promifed to attend his examination the next morning. I fliall write you an account of it, at leaft; if it be wcrth the trouble. Sir Harry then got into a coach, and proceeded on the remainder of his journey to Richmond. We recovered my Lady, and returned to town. — Good night, or rather good morning, for it is now two o'cipck. Your's, &c. RACHAIL H. LETTER LA BELLE SAUVAGE. 1^3 LEITER XIIL Fro77i Lad}/ Varmjli to JlLs. Frail. DEAR FRAIL3 i HAVE once m'^re to make my apologies that I have ag^in pafTcJoneofourcorrefpond- ingd-iys without a ktter ;, but when I formed this engagement of a re^u'ar corre pondence on thefe fixed and predetermined days, J did not fo well cpnfider the nature of the promife I niade. I forgot that, before I could vvri'e, it would be necefTary to have fomcthing to write about, A faihionable H 3 life 154 ^A BELL^ SAUVACE. life is certainly a life of hurry and buftlej but it is a hurry and buftle without much variety. The beau monde is airways in motion, but its motion is nearly always the fame. The rout of to-day has but little difference from the rout of to-morrow, and the card table of Monday is the card-table of the week. You mud not think me, therefore, weary of writing to you if 1 fometimes intermit our correi]>>ondence : it will not be a dearth of friend 111 ip, but a dearth of mitter that will prevent me. If I (l^OLild ftiU write regularly under fuch a p<. however, they were neceffary ^ the rogues knew it, and railed their pric6 accordingly, " Th^y had the further infolence, after my dedion, to bring me a whole firing of petitions, which they inflrudted me to lay before the Houfe ; but here I flopped them, — ^ Gentlemen/ (aid I, « if you had chofen iCl LA BELLB SAUVAG2. nis to your Boroughi 1 fliould have been its (ervant ; but as you have Told me your Borough, you muPc permit mc to confiJer niyicif as its mafter.' " Here th?y began hifTing mc, but I Hill continued — * Yes, gentlemen, I repeat it again, your mailer, and by tLe fame title as I am mailer of the horfe 1 now ride. Both the horfe and the Borough are my property by pur- chale 'y I have paid a fair price for you both. For your Borough, indeed, I fear. I have paid too m.uch, and more than I fliall be able to fell you for again. Go, my honeft friends,' added 1 ; ' your petitions may fuit your interefl, but they do not exadly tally with mine,' «' Saymg which, I fpurred my horfe, the whole LA BELLE SAUVAGE. 163 whole town biffing and hooting ; but I took no other notice of them than to give theai a damn for their venahty, and ride away to reprefent them. " I have confiderably injured my fortune, but my luck and wit hav.e furnifhcd me with an opportunity to repair it. You have feen, I think, Sir Hilary's niece, Mifs Rachael, and know that (lie has a-n immenfe fortune. She is now in the fame houfe with me, and under the tuition of my Lady V. Her Ladyfhip has undertaken to form her into a woman of flifliion -, but it is for me to complete her in that charader. You will afk me, perhaps, what I mean : — I anfwer, wait the event. You may take this in the meantime, that I v/ant the lady's fortune, and (liall have no objedion to her perfon. You will again afK. me if 1 mean to feduce her. I again anfwer you. No. I think no womaa 164 tA BELLE SAt^VAG«. wom^iti worth the troubk ©f a ftdudtioH, • What then do you mem ?* you'll ery out» 1 again anfwer you^-wait the event. ** In the meantime, my defigns proceed as I could wiih, and I have not a doubt of my fa- cefs. The girl ahxudy thinks more favourably of me than of anv man (he has yet ( JL HAVE got fuch a habit of writing, that I am now as regular at my pen as I formerly was at my prayers. I have under- taken, you know, to give you the fame Icfifons I have received myfelf, and I can only do this by defcribing the fame fcenes. My Lady does not teach me the beaii-monde as a governefs would do ; fhe does not fay, do this, and forbear that, but fhe carries me into all its fcenes, and gives me no other precept but to ufe my eyes. Whatever I fee in the day, I think upon at night. 14 I will 176 LA BELLE SAUVAGT. I will endeavour to give you the lame advantages : 1 will prefent you every night with the circumftances of the day. You mufl confider my letters as a kind of fables^ where certain charaflers are put in adlion, and it is left to your own ingenuity to find the xno-ral. Sir Harry breakfafled with us again this morning. During our continuance at table, a fervant entered with a paper in his hand ; and being afked what he had there, anfwered that a lady had given it him at the door, and waited without for an anfwer. Sir Harry took it from him, and read it. It appeared to be a petition from an emigrant French family of diftindtion, who were now reduced to the greatefi diflrefs, though formerly of the firft fortuiie in their own Country. The huu.^Aiid iiiUAfclf wa^ abfent abroad. LA BELLE SAUVAGE. I'^J abroad, in the army of the Prince of Conde, and the petition was brought by his vvi'e. It dated that (he could not have been in- duced to make the prefent application, but that her young family were in the greateft diftrefs. The petition was very fimple and very pathetic, and the gentlemen declared it to be written with a moft uncommon elo- quence. My Lacy was evidently affedeJ. Sir Harry added that he had hit.e uoubt of its being genuine. Upon this I immediately felt for my purfe ; but my Lady checked me, and I returned it to my pocket. My Lady then took the petition from Sir Harry, returned it to the fervant, and bade him take it back to the lady. I 5 «' And 178 LA BELLE SAUVAG2, « And what anfwer, Madam ?'* fald the man. " Hey !'* fald my Lady ; " why where did you live lad, John, that you do noc know how to anfwer fuch queflions ?" " With a Jew, Madam," replied the man, " where a petition was never fent back without fomething for the petitioner." " Well, friend," fays my Lord, " you now live with a man of fafhion ; fo return the petit ion J and fay that the family are not at home.*' When the man had left the room, the gentlemen began laughing at his odd reply, that his former fervice had been that of a Jew. My Lord, however, faid that the fellow was a pithy knave, and he was mif- taken if he did not mean fomething by his retort, A loud LA BELLE SAUVAGE, IJ^ A loud knock at the door announced fome vifitor, and one of the managers of the Opera was introduced. " Oh, true/* fays my Lady, " we muft pay our Opera fubfcription. Have you paid your's, Sir Hitrry ?'* Sir Harry declared he had not, but would now follow ner LadyQiip's example. My Lady then threw down fifty guineas, and Sir Harry ]mid a fubfcription of twenty. The fervant, who had made the odd retort to my Lady, (hook his head, and I heard him mutter — *' Lllgoback to my Jew again.*' Your's,. RACHAEL H.. -i 6 LETTER iSo LA BELLE SA'UVAGE. LETTER XVI. From the fame to the fame, PEAR JANE, 1 GAVE you a (hort lefibn yeflerday—I* Ihall give you a longer to-day. Every day I become more and more acquainted with the beau-monde^ and, as my Lord and Lady tell me, fliall foon complete my progrefs. A-propos of my Lord j he is certainly what you country people call in love with me. He almoil made me a declaration yellerday j and when I fmiled and men- tioned his Lady, declared that he refpedted her, but he And here he was pleafed to LA BELLE SAUVAGE. iSs to affetfl a cough — a kind of fafhionable impudence, or rather impudent modefty which you have no idea of in the country. You'll afk me how I received this fpeech and condu6l of my Lord, Why, as a girl of faOiion ought to receive it ! — I flruck him with my fan, laughed, and ran away. After our breakfaft my Lord propofed a party to an audion of pidlures at ChriRie's Rooms. My Lady agreed to it. The coach was ordered, and we drove off. When we arrived at the rooms, we found them full of company. — '' Good Heaven/' faid I, *' are all thefe people come to buy pictures ?'* " No," replied my Lord, " nor one half of them." " Fo? lS2 LA BELLE SAUVAGE. " For what then are they here ?'* rejoined I. *« For the fame purpofe,'* replied my Lord, " that leads them to every place where they can have no bufinefb — the fame purpofe that leads them to a Church, though they never pray — to a playhoufe, though they never liflen — and to an Opera, though they never underftand. In fliort, to kill that worft of all enemies. Time !'* Sir Harfy now joined us, and the audion- began. I favv a fat, vulgar looking man, who fcemed the foremoft amongfl: the bid- ders. He outbid the whole company, and raifed the prices to the higheft extravagance. His eagernefs for fuch ele- gant pictures, contrafted with a meannefs of appearance, and a heavinefs of look, ftruck me with the greatcll aitoniQiraent. I turned to LA BELLE SAUVAGE. iSj ta my Lord. — *^ Is it poffible, my Lord," faid I, '' that that man can want piflures ?'* " No, coufin," replied he, «« but he wants furniture. He is a man who has made his fortune in India, and is now 2fl\nor to furnifli his houfe. Pidlures, he thinks, will look better on his walls than paper.'' A gentleman here turned round to my Lord. — *' Plague take the fellow 1" cried hej, pointing to the audioneer ; " do you know, my Lord, he has knocked me down that curfed pidture there !" " You bid for it, I fuppofe," faid Sir Harry. "Yes,'* rejoined he, *' but I had no intention of buying it." " Then why did you bid for it ?** added my Lord. " Becaufe," replied he, « the pidure is 5 a fine 184 I-A BELLE SAUVAGE. a fine one, and my miftrefs happens to be in the room/' I have now been a woman of fafhion for fome weeks, and was beginning to imagine that nothing could aftonidi me. I now perceived my error, for the next pidlure that was fet up furprifed even me. It was a Venus and an Adonis by Titian, very finely painted, but I thought a great deal too free. Sir Harry, however^ began bid- ding for it immediately. My Lord made him a bow, and bid again (l him. The pidure was immediately knoeked down to my Lord. He defired it to be fent home, and then taming to my Lad)% to my further aftonilhment prefented it to her to hang up in her drefiing«room. The pldure has been fince fent home,. and LA BELLE SAITVAGE. 1 85 and my Lady and myfelf have been to look at it. You muft not wonder at this, for nobody minds an indecent pi or hover on the wings of fancy through all the mazes of the ball, without that wearinefs of drefs and prepara- tion which is no fmall dedudion from the latisfadlion of fafliionable purfaits. Indeed I have not rafhly compared this beau-monde to 1^2 LA BELLE SAUVAGE. to a fcicnce ; for I know nothing more diffi- cult to learn, or which requires more attention or more natural genius. There are fome natures which ara utterly inca- pable, either for want of readinefs of com- prehenfion, or fome other caufc, of attaining this knowledge. One of the firll, and, in all other refpe6l?3 moil amiable perfonages in the kingdom, the Duchefs of Y , is of this number ; for though llie has paiTed her life in every fphere of fafnion, ihe has maile fo little progrefs in its precepts, that ihe is daily commitiing a thoufand miftakcs, which excite the ailonilhment of the beau-monde* Slie is conlcicntioully ftrid in the difcharge of every conjugal and Chritfian duty, though conjugal faith and Chridianicy are in equal repute — that is to Uy, are equally fubjeds of LA &ELLB SAirVAGE* ipj of ridicule throughout every circle of the ton. She patronizes thofe public charities which it is the fafhion to overlookj and -overlooks thofe polite inftitutions, the Ita'ian Opera and the Pic-Nic Theatre, which it is equally the fa/hion to encourage. In a word, (he has committed fo many of thefe unfalliionable errors^ that nothing but her high dignity could fecure her from ridicule ; and if (he continues them much longer, even that dignity will avail her little. It is one diftindion of the beau* monde that all heretics from its fyftem are excluded from the communion of the faithful. By a word peculiar to the beau-monde^ and which I muft therefore explain, they are voted a bore j and they are no fooner branded with this appellation, than they fink into a negled and contempt from which a Peerage itfelf will not raife them, VOL. I. K The ^^ LA BELLE SAUVAGE. The mention of this word recals to my -memory that part of your letter where you complain that you arc frequently at a lofs to underftand, and add that your brother's College exercifes are more intelligible than many parts of my letters. I will now, therefore, endeavour to relieve you from this perplexity, and prefent you with a vocabulary, or portable didionary, of the language of the beau-mondii. As the defi- nition is fomctimes rather long, I fhall put the word above, and fubjoin to it the explanation. The human race, according to the moral .writers, is divided into two fpecies — good men and bad men. The language of the beaii-monde preferves this divifion, but makes a flight variation of the terms. The good and bad of the moralifts are changed by the LA BELLE SAUVAGE. I95 the beatt'tnonde into good company and bad company. GOOD COMPANY* Any one on the lift of Peerage; any Member of Parliament ; Officers of the Guards ; Colonels of every defcription j any one who is willing to lofe, or has credit enough to be admitted to win an eftate ; Dowagers with good jointures ; epicures with good receipts ; pimps of ready talents ; any who can drefs to the point of the mode, provided only that he exercife no vifible trade — that is to fay, any one who has no other means of livelihood but his wits :— all, or any of thefe, are men of fafhion, and arc comprehended under the general term oi^ood company • K 1 thX> 196 LA BELLE SAUVA68. BAD COMPANY. Any one who is neither on the lift of Peerage, nor within the call of the Houfe, land, having neither of thefe, nor any of 'the before-mentioned diftindions, has no •falhionablc talent to fupply their defedl ^ •any one who obferves the divifions of nature, and calls night and day by the rules of aflronomy j any one who avoids the gaining- table as a fcene of ruin ; any one who would hcfitate to riik his fortune, and, having loft it to the winner, would not recover it by ^he facrifice of his wife's honour j or any one who, though he adniired the beauty or vvit of the wile of his friend, would hefitate to feduce her : — all, or any of thefe, ar and fa contrary to our ufual acceptance of the ternns which it employs, that it will require fome time and fome efforts of ftudy to comprehend it. But do not defpair \ every thing is pofTible to induflry, united with genius. To do you juftice, you do not want the latter ; and I flatter myfelf I (hall be able to excite you by a fpirit of emulation to the former. To proceed, therefore, with my defi- nitions of the vocabulary of the beau-mond^, I again fummon you to attention, for you will have need of your utmofl wit. If you have ever read your grandmainma's JVhoh Duty of Marty you muft remember the remark, or precept, that the fyftem of our K 4 duties f 200 LA BELLE SAUVAG£. duties depends in a great degree upon our lituation, and that every ftate has duties peculiar to itfclf. It is in this manner with the heau-mGnde. The other part of the* world is governed by a lyftem of duties which we call morality — the beau-monde by a> fyfteni which is diftinguiflied by the name of honour, HONOUR. Honour, as may indeed be colle<5i:ed from^ what we have above faid, may be confidered as a more lax morality ^ it is a principle whofe curb is lefs (harp, and whofe reins are lefs flridt than what morality impofes upon their humbler fellows. Thus niorality teaches us to difcharge every due j but honour extends this precept only to thofe debts which it dignifies with its own name. Morality LA RELLE 5AUVAGE, 20f Morality teaches us to abftain from every injury, whether upon the peace or property of our neighbour; but honour limits thfs prohibition to the narrowed, bounds — it allows us to feduce either the wife or daughter of a friend, but commands us to give him fatisfadt ion— that is to fay, to en*, deavour to (hoot him through the head* Nor is it lefs eafy with regard to our attempts upon his property ; for (hould a man of fafliion underftand a game, and know his friend, to be utterly ignorant of.it, honour will allow him to make every advantage of his fuperior fkill, and win the fortune, everv to the lad (hilling, of his credulous adver* fary. And (hould this adverfary be a woman, and fhe find it in any manner inconvenient to pay the full amount of her lofs, honour will: allow her to complete the balance by K5 the a02 lA BELI/E SAUVAGB. the facrlfice of her perfon. In a word, honour is a fpecies of fafhionable morality which can juftly be compared to nothing but an Highgate oath : it admits every thing to which one can feel the flighted inclination, and prohibits nothing but what one might eafily avoid without fuch pro- hibition. I have mentioned, in a preceding para- graph, a letter which I received a few days fince from a young lady of fafhion. As it contains all tbefe fafhionable terms, I will prefent you with the whole, and it may ferve you as a kind of exercife in the pre- ceding vocabulary. As it cannot fail to improve you, perhaps to entertain you, I fhall give it you, without the abridgement of a fingle word, in its full length. I (hail have occafion, however, in fome places, to make LA BELLI? SAUV AGE. aOJ make my remarks upon it j for as you are not as yet perfedt in the fcience of the deau-monde, there are parts which will require a comment. 7b Mifs Rachael H. ** MY DEAR CREATURE, " I am really dead, and you muft confider this letter as coming rather from my Ihade than myfelf* This moil odious of all towns ! — Horrible town ! What crime have I committed that (hould merit a punifhment like this — a banifhment from the capital in the very meridian of its fplen- dour, and a confinement to the dulnefs of a provincial city ? Could not my uncle have been troubled with the gout, but K.6 -what a04 I-A BELLE SAUVAGE. what I muft be called to attend him, and in the courfe of attendance, be perhaps killed with- the fpleen ? Really there is nothing more troublefome than thefe relations. A prude, in a celebrated French comedy, wifhes that the human race might be pro* pagated and kept up like cabbages -y and though a woman, I could alniofl join in the wi(h to efcape from the tribe of imper- tinent relations. " It was no later than yeflerday fortnight that my father fent me one of the mofl extraordinary letters ever received by a girl of fa(hion. He commanded me to take ' no more of my moonlight walks with Colonel Brilliant. Could any thing be more abfurd than fuch a prohibition ? The Colonel, as every body knows, is a man of the firft falhion, and therefore it can be no dilgrace to LA BELLE SAUVAGE. Q.OJ to be feen in his <:ompan)^ Befides this, I might add that we never are feen -, for as the Colonel admires folitude, we are careful to chufe the moft folitary Vv'aiks, and fuch 2S are at the greateft diftance from the town. Add to this, that my maid, Flip- pant, always attends behind us, and that I have given her a firidl command never to be out of call ; fo that, fhould the Colonel be rude, I could always fummon her to my afTiflance. The Colonel's man, moreover. Setter, has taken a fancy to the girl ; and as he is employed in entertaining her during the convcrfation of his mafter and myfelf, he is no lefs at my call than the girl herfelf, and would doubtlefs remonftrate with his mailer, fhould he attempt any rudcncfs. •* You may perceive, from thefe circum- ftances, how very innocent and very fecure thefe ao6 LA BELLE SAUVAGE. thefc walks mufl: be, and therefore how unreafonabfe are the compiaiiit and prohi- bition of my father ! But,^ as the Colonel fays, all fathers are alike, and there is but one way in which a girl of fafliion fhould receive fuch remonftrances — that is to fay, (he fliould treat them with the contempt they merit." I fliall here, coufin Jane, give you a fliort comment upon the above paffage. There are two things (as the Parfons fay) to which T muft here direft your attention. la the firft place — you cannot fail to remark with what attention my fadiionablc friend regards her relations, and more particularly her father. She juftly confiders that it is a thing of chance, and not of choice, to be a father j and that as the gift of her life cannot LA BELLE SAUVAGE. 207 cannot be confidered as any voluntary favour to herfelf, (he cannot imagine herfelf bound to owe him any thing upon that fcore. You will find fome difficulty, I fear> to comprehend the whole force of this argument ; and, to confefs the truth, I did not underftand it myfelf till my Lord had the goodnefs to explain it to me : but I now comprehend it perfedtly, and have by thefe means got above thofe country pre* judiccs, which impofe upon us that heavy burden of obligation to our more immediate relations. If my uncle (hould have a gout, I would not indeed heiitate to help him to his crutch ; but having given it to him, I (hould think it a very fufficient fupport without adding the offer of my arm. In the fecond place — this pafifage of my 3 friend's 208 LA BE1.LE SAUVAGE. friend's letter will confir.-n my definition of the morality of the i^eau monde. How would they (tare in your odious country fhould a young lady indulge herfclf in any of the innocent liberties of which (he has made mention ! — yet the morility of fafhion — I mean the manners of high life, permit it all. Indeed nothing can be more common, or lefs thought of, than a walk by moonlight. If the hufband of a fafhionable woman be out of temper — it he treat her with too much neglect, and any more intolerable hardinefs, a man like the Colonel is always at hand to accompany her in a walk by moonlight, and the lady returns in the beft temper and in the mod agreeable fpirits. Is a young Mifs devoured by the fpleen or vapours, a walk by moonlight with a man like (he Colonel is certain to reftore her. I have indeed frequently feen fome of thefe ladies LA B£LLE SAirVAOE. 2O9 Jadies on their return from tbcfe moonlight wanderings, and have been focnetimes iur* prifed at the ludden and favourable change of their looks and appearance. Their com- plexions, which but a few minutes before were of a deadly pale, have been fuddenly improved into the glow of health, and their eyes appeared to fparkle with new luftre. Such is the efficacy of the moonlight walks of the people of fi(h ion. I will now prefent you with the re- mainder of my friend's letter, but with the omiflion of thofe paiTages which are not to my prefent purpofe. After fome flouriOies, (he thus proceeds : — # # * * # " What could Lady Belle mean by faying that I (hould find any body here ? "I have 210 LA BELLE SAUVAGE. have been here thefe two months, but I have as yet fcen nobcdy. The Church h indeed crowded on a Sunday, but there is abfolutely not a foul there. There is not a man of falhion within fifteen miles of us^ and even at that diftancc there arc only two — one of them Mr. ShufHe, who has lately loft an eftate at Hazard., and Colonel Cog,, who won it. Thefe are the only two mea of falhion in the country. 1 pray my ftars that 1 may foon efcape from it I " Lady Belle moreover added, that there was not unfrequently feme good company in the next town of . I really widi to know what my Lady Belle can mean by this egregious mifreprefentation. You will afk me, perhaps, whether fo rich a neigh^ bourhood cannot afford one circle of good company. Noj my dear> not one ! I hear, indeed^ LA BELLE SAUVAGE. 211 indeed, that the Dowager Countefs — had a ruftic route, and that with feme difficulty (he had fummoned fome good company. Shuffle and Cog were both there, and, with about three more of their com* panions, made up all the fafhion which attended. It is really a wretched neigh- bourhood ! — nothing to be feen but great trees — nothing to be heard but the ear- piercing whittling or boiflerous merriment of village hinds. Oh that I could again return to the dear buftlc of London I — but the wilh is vain, for my uncle's gout has returned. " I have no news to write ; for as yoa know nothing of any one here, you would hear about their concerns with as much indifference as myfelf. I had almoft for- gotten to tell you that Mr. Shuffle is to dine with 212 LA BBLLE SAUVAGB. with US to-morrow. It is faid that hiseflate is fcarcely fufficient to pay his l>fles to the Colonel ; but as Shuffle is a man of mofl: undoubted honour, it is beh'eved he will find fome way to fupply the deficiency. He is the guardian of an heirefs of a great property: he may turn this^ perhaps, ta tovae account, though it is rather believed he will endeavour to perfuade his wife to lurrender her fettlement^ ** There is one eircumftance which gives great ftrength to this report. His uife and himfelf were lately on what we cdiWfaJlohyiable terms — that is to fay, on no terms at all : but now that the hufband has loft hiseftate, the wife feems to have regained his affefbion. This change is therefore juftly fufpeded to point at her fetdement. I cannot, however, determine with any exaClnefs upon this . . point. LA BtLLE ^AUVAGE. 2x3 pointj but 1 will venture toafljrt as certain, that the Colonel will not lofe a guinea of his full demand -, for ShulBw is a man of fuch pe.fedb honour, that he will pay his lofs, though he fliould fell both his wife and ward. " Your's, &c. &c/* There, my dear,, what think you of -this letter, which I have given you word for word ? It will give you no fmall infight into the language and principles of the he^u mondi. Read it again and again : you cannot expedt to become a woman of fafhion without much pains, and long and fteady attention. You fhall want nothing that I can conter for this purpofe. Next to the pleafurc of learning is that of teaching : 1 again, therefore, promife that I will defcribe with tI4 I-A BELLE SAUVAOE. with equal fidelity and minutenefs whatever fcenes I may happen to vifit. * 4ie * * * I have written this long letter in the interval between drcfTing and dinner, and I hope, coufin, it has ferved to enliven your time as it has to kill mine. Hark 1 — the bell rings, and I muft attend below. — But firft I will confult my glafs ! 1 have pleafed myfelf prodigiouily ! What would my uncle think, were he to lee me now ?— Adieu ! Your's, KACHAEL H. LETTER LA BELLE SAUVAGE. 21^ LETTER XVIIL *From the fame to the fame. DEAR JANE, 1 SUMMON you to attention again. This morning my Lord put a newfpaper into my hands, which he called the Chronicle of Fafhion — The Regiiler of the Polite World. — " Here, my dear," faid he, " you will not be puzzled with politics and parties, but will learn the more ufeful intelligence of the bean monde. You will have here difpatches from drawing-rooms, routs, and aiTcmblies, and will fee ** Who gave the ball, and who the fupper laft/'" •* You 2l6 LA 6ELLE SAUVAGEa ** You will find thefe, my dear, far different from your country newfpapers/* added my Lady. " They are, indeed, odious trafh I — News from the Afllzes — the Judge's charge — horfe and Gock-maiches — and all the vulgar fcandal of a race-ball 1'* <' The bed intelligence with them," continued my Lord, ** is certainly what your Ladyfliip has mentioned ; but here," holding up the newfpapcr, ** inllead of the lift of condemned criminals, you have the names of the vifitants at every falliionable party ; and inftead of an account of the convids fehtenced to Botany Bay, you have the arrangements of the beau-monde ioi a whole winter to come/* " Why, really, my Lord," cried I, ** the news in a country paper i^ nothing more than that Lord Startali's JelTamy ran againft Squire Coverly's Eclipfe, and dijlanced him hollow LA BELLE SAUVAGE, 217 JivUow the firfi heat /—that the bay filly has won the fubfcription purfe, and the three- years-old colt has put in for the fvveepftak.es. Then comes fome fi'thy nonfenfe about the great horfe Sampfon and his groom, and an advertifement from the btil feeder of fighting cocks. *: * # « 5f!^ I mufl now write you a defcription of a fupper party. "" Imagine me there, at a very full and elegant table. All was noif:; and confufion for fome time, and I could neither hear nor talk. At length I was abie to l.ilen to the converfation of my neighbou-^s, and as it is fuch as will give you an infjght into what is termed the amufement of good company, and the- effence of faihionable converfation, I (liall tranfcribe vis niu:h of ic as I can recoiled:, VOL, 1. L «« I'll CLlZ LA BELLE SACVAGE. " ril lay you a thoufand guineas/' cried a gentleman, " (he had paint on an incli thick r ** Don*t lay,** cried a fecond; *' I faw it with my own eyes." " So did I," exclaimed a third ; " her face has naturally a pretty ftrong down upon it ; and, egad ! I could fee it peeping through the varniih, like hair through a trowel of mortar !" " Egad, very true !'* cried the firft ; ** and for the fame realbn (he lets the brijiles grow on her cheeks, that they may hold the enamel together." Here there was a loud laugh from the company, and the gentleman who began the convcrfation being a noble Peer, enjoyed the full triumph of his wit. «* Nay, LA BELLE SAUVAGE. 2I9 ** Nay, upon my word,** cried a lady, " (he whom you have been abufing, my Lord, is my very particular friend, and you (hould at leaft fpare her charade r before me." " On the contrary, Madam,^' returned the Peer, " I fpeak before you becaufe yoa are her friend, and are beft qualified to know if I report truth.'* '* Your Lordfnip is really candid, but I mufl confefs her face was not made badly lad night.*' " Indeed it was," exclaimed a fecond lady, ^* but it was not from want of tafte in herfelf, but inattention in her maid, who, out of revenge for her miftrefs's rivalling her with a favourite footman, only finifhed one fide, and ief: the other of a pale white, without a ftreak of carnation." ** Aye, that (he did,'* cried an old Dov\'- ager, " which made her right cheek for all the L 2 world 110 LA BELLE SAUVAGE." world like a new brick houfe, and her left like an old white-wafhed wall !" A loud laugh was again echoed from ^^ery part of the table, and the converfaticn was now thought, as it is ufually termed, ex- tremely brilliant. *' Nay, 'pon my privilege," continued my Lord, *' her maid and llie are excellent hands !^ — quite Michael Angelo and Caracci. Let one defign, and t'other finilh, ai-d you hive the mod perfed piece in the woiki ! Egad ! but Abigail (hall be my toad ! I recommended her to my old aunt. Lady F])flap;' «« What,'* cried a General, *« to her ! Why (he '' ** Aye, I know what you are going to fay/* rephed my Lord : *' if (lie fpent half the LA BELLE SAUVAGE. 22j the money in refitting her old manfion- houf>i that (he does in repairing the ruins of her flice, fo much the better for me who atH her /a^V." ** Wiiy, my Lord," cried a lady, " is it pofTible that old woman can be flill alive r '* To my forrow. Madam," rejoined the Peer, ** and lad autumn and my phyfician have difappointed me." *« Faith !" cried the General, " ht^r Ladylhip is like a man of war, and paint only ferves to hold her timbers together." " Well, I vow," exclaimed a young lady, " old Lady Flyflap's face looks mighty young." *' True," cried my Lord, " young a^ the creation j and, d — m.e, but it is half as old !" L3 Again 222 LA BELLE SAUVAGE. Again the Peer was cheered with burfts of laughter, and began to plume himfclf prodigioufiy on the fuccefs of his wit. " But what do you think, my Lord," interrupted the General, ** of Mifs Biddy Bid well ? She, I recoiled, is to your LordQiip's tafte," ** IVas — was^ my dear General," replied the Peer. ♦* Let this glafs be my poifon, but (he was once a fine, very fine girl ! — But then, let me fee j — egad ! 'twas before I bought my title, and that's now in ils tenth year." *' Mifs Bidwell, however,'* rejoined ano- ther lady, ** is now come out by way of revival, with new fcenery and decorations.'* ** Aye," faid another, <* but fne won't go down now — the ftamp is too antique. Ben John Ton LA BELLE SAUVAGE. 223 Jobnfon and Biddy Bidwell won't fuit the prefent taftc." " No, no,'* cried the Baronet, " we can't agree to that -, I hate a diOi twice ferved up, however dreffed and garnlQied. I am willing enough to praife the cook, but won't be pcrfuaded to tafle it a fecond time." '* Ton my word," cried an elderly lady> " you are all mighty fevere on Mifs Bid- well, and take no notice of Lady Gro- tefque," «• She !" cried the Peer, '' is (he alive ? *' I had a fcarf and hatband fent for her funeral thefc five years ago." " Faith i'* added the General, " I always thought (he died in childbed, when (he brought her hu(band, who you know, my Lord, was a poor old crippled fellow of feventy, t/iree children at a birth r " Fie ! ^tV^ cried a lady, *' you miftake; L 4 it 224 ^^ BELLE SAUVAGE, it was iw/'ns. I, for one, as a relation, wejit to wifh my Lord joy of an /leir ^ and the old man was thrown into fuch a perilous pa (Hon J /or what I can't tell^ that 1 was glad to make my efcape out of the room.** *' Well but," rejoined the Peer, *Ms (lie flill alive?" '* Alive, my Lord !" returned the lady, ** aye, and married too ! Why fhe has four children by her fecond hulband, who, they do fay, brings up the two (lie had by her former as if they were his own." *' True, true," cried the Peer, " he was nephew to the old Lord, and took her, chat her jointure m.ight fall into the eftate* Well, and how does fhe look — young as ever ?" " Her face is young enough,*' cried the lady, '' fince it is put on every morning 1 But yet how horrid is that !-^not corre- fponding LA BELLE SAUVAGE. 225 fponding with the reft of her body ; and " '^ Aye," interrupted the General, ^' like a new fleeple to an old Church 1 And then the jewels with which Qie is loaded '* " Notonefalfe, upon my honour,*' cried the lady ; "I know when fhe bought them — they are ineftimable !'* *' And the only thing eftimable about her,'' continued the General j '' for hef Ladyfhip, like an Egyptian mummy, is only to be valued for the fpices (he is pre- ferved in," " Ha! ha ! ha !" roared out the Peer; *' take my death. General, but you fpare nobody 1 What think you, ladies and gen- tlemen, of the old Lady Purfer ?" " What," cried a lady, *« the old fat Dowager who is always fpraining her ankle ! Is it fhe you mean ?'* L 5 " Whom !226 LA BELLE SAUVAGE. " Whom elfe fliould I mean ?'* rejoined the Peer. *' You, Sir Harry, have {ccn her dance at Ahiiack*s with a hat and feathers on her head ! Tell me, what do you think her like ?" " Like, my Lord," replied the Baronet, " why, like the moving helmet with the plume i-n the Caflle of Otranto T' " Well, but her daughter,^'* cried the General, *' the young widow ! She, I un- derfiand, is a great fortune and a beauty." "Let me fee,*' faid the Peer; '* her hulband has not been dead thefe three months, fo fhe does not come into company as yet. Prithee, who is to be her fecond ?" "Her hufband's fteward/* replied the General : •* he rjiade a fortune out of the eftate, and (he has no other way of fecuring her jointure than by having him..'* I have LA BELLE SAUVAGE, 227 I have given you this converfation as a fpccimen of what is moftly heard in the circles of the heau-monde. With politics and parties they have little to do ; fcandal is their only amufement,, and we mufl con- fefs it is a fubjedl that never tires, but pofTefTes an inexhauftiblc fund of novelty. Other fafhions may only lafl a feafon or two^ but fcandal is one that never dies^ t6 LETTER 228 LA BELLE SAUVACE LETTER XIX. From the fame to the famCo DEAR JANE, HE pen is fcareely ever out of my hand, yet cannot all my induftry keep pace with the variety of the beau-monde^. I have no time, however, for preliminary obfervations, but muft hurry you inftantly u hJ i >£ '^/•* ,./ V " \ t k Va'"^ l^ \ ^