The Contrast | Page 9

Mary; do you be a good girl, mind the
main chance, and
never mind inclination. Why, do
you know that I have been down in
the cellar this
very morning to examine a pipe of Madeira which I

purchased the week you were born, and mean to tap on
your wedding
day?--That pipe cost me fifty pounds
sterling. It was well worth sixty
pounds; but I overreach'
d Ben Bulkhead, the supercargo. I'll tell you


the whole story. You must know that--
Enter SERVANT.
SERVANT.
Sir, Mr. Transfer, the broker is below. [Exit.
VAN ROUGH
Well, Mary, I must go. Remember, and be a good
girl, and mind the
main chance. [Exit.
MARIA, alone.
How deplorable is my situation! How distressing
for a daughter to
find her heart militating with her
filial duty! I know my father loves
me tenderly; why
then do I reluctantly obey him? Heaven knows!

with what reluctance I should oppose the will of a
parent, or set an
example of filial disobedience; at a
parent's command, I could wed
awkwardness and
deformity. Were the heart of my husband good, I

would so magnify his good qualities with the eye
of conjugal
affection, that the defects of his person
and manners should be lost in
the emanation of his
virtues. At a father's command, I could embrace

poverty. Were the poor man my husband, I would
learn resignation
to my lot; I would enliven our frugal
meal with good humour, and
chase away misfortune
from our cottage with a smile. At a father's
command,
I could almost submit to what every female heart
knows
to be the most mortifying, to marry a weak
man, and blush at my
husband's folly in every company
I visited. But to marry a depraved
wretch,
whose only virtue is a polished exterior; who is
actuated by
the unmanly ambition of conquering the
defenceless; whose heart,
insensible to the emotions
of patriotism, dilates at the plaudits of
every unthinking
girl; whose laurels are the sighs and tears of the

miserable victims of his specious behaviour,--can he,
who has no

regard for the peace and happiness of
other families, ever have a due
regard for the peace
and happiness of his own? Would to heaven that

my father were not so hasty in his temper? Surely,
if I were to state
my reasons for declining this match,
he would not compel me to
marry a man, whom,
though my lips may solemnly promise to honour,
I
find my heart must ever despise. [Exit.
END OF THE FIRST ACT.
ACT II. SCENE I.
Enter CHARLOTTE and LETITIA.
CHARLOTTE [at entering].
BETTY, take those things out of the carriage and
carry them to my
chamber; see that you don't tumble
them. My dear, I protest, I think it
was the homeliest
of the whole. I declare I was almost tempted to

return and change it.
LETITIA
Why would you take it?
CHARLOTTE
Didn't Mrs. Catgut say it was the most fashionable?
LETITIA
But, my dear, it will never fit becomingly on you.
CHARLOTTE
I know that; but did you not hear Mrs. Catgut
say it was fashionable?
LETITIA

Did you see that sweet airy cap with the white
sprig?
CHARLOTTE
Yes, and I longed to take it; but, my dear, what
could I do? Did not
Mrs. Catgut say it was the
most fashionable; and if I had not taken it,
was not
that awkward, gawky, Sally Slender, ready to purchase
it
immediately?
LETITIA
Did you observe how she tumbled over the things
at the next shop,
and then went off without purchasing
anything, nor even thanking the
poor man for his
trouble? But, of all the awkward creatures, did you

see Miss Blouze endeavouring to thrust her unmerciful
arm into
those small kid gloves?
CHARLOTTE
Ha, ha, ha, ha!
LETITIA
Then did you take notice with what an affected
warmth of friendship
she and Miss Wasp met? when
all their acquaintance know how
much pleasure they
take in abusing each other in every company.
CHARLOTTE
Lud! Letitia, is that so extraordinary? Why, my
dear, I hope you are
not going to turn sentimentalist.
Scandal, you know, is but amusing
ourselves with the
faults, foibles, follies, and reputations of our
friends;
indeed, I don't know why we should have friends, if
we are
not at liberty to make use of them. But no
person is so ignorant of the
world as to suppose, because
I amuse myself with a lady's faults, that
I am
obliged to quarrel with her person every time we
meet: believe

me, my dear, we should have very few
acquaintance at that rate.
SERVANT enters and delivers a letter to CHAR-
LOTTE, and--[Exit.
CHARLOTTE
You'll excuse me, my dear.
[Opens and reads to herself.
LETITIA
Oh, quite excusable.
CHARLOTTE
As I hope to be married, my brother Henry is in
the city.
LETITIA
What, your brother, Colonel Manly?
CHARLOTTE
Yes, my dear; the only brother I have in the world.
LETITIA
Was he never in this city?
CHARLOTTE
Never nearer than Harlem Heights, where he lay
with his regiment.
LETITIA
What sort of a being is this brother of yours? If
he is as chatty, as
pretty, as sprightly as you, half the
belles in the city will