L. P. Fiddle, faddle, don't tell me of this and that, and ev'ry Thing in the World, but give me Mathemacular Demonstration, anfwer me directly-But I have not Patience-Oh! The Impiety of it, as I was faying, and the unparallell'd Wickedness! O merciful Father! How could you think to reverfe Nature fo, to make the Daughter the Means of procuring the Mother?

Mel. The Daughter to procure the Mother!

L. P. Ay, for tho' I am not Cynthia's own Mother, I am her Father's Wife; and that's near enough to make it Inceft,

Mel. Inceft! O my precious Aunt, and the Devil in Conjunction.

[Afide. L. P. O reflect upon the Horror of that, and then the Guilt of deceiving every Body; marrying the Daughter, only to make a Cuckold of the Father; and then feducing me, debauching my Purity, and perverting me from the Road of Virtue, in which I have trod thus long, and never made one Trip, not one faux pas; O confider it, what would you have to answer for, if you fhould provoke me to Frailty? Alas! Humanity is feeble, Heav'n knows! very feeble, and unable to fupport it felf.

Mel. Where am I? Is it Day? and am I awake? Madam

L. P. And no Body knows how Circumftances may happen together,Tomy thinking, now I could refift the strongest Temptation,But yet I know, 'tis impoffible for me to know whether I could or not, there's no Certainty in the Things of this Life.

i Mel. Madam, pray give me leave to ask you one Queftion.

L. P. O Lord, ask me the Queftion, I'll fwear I'll refufe its fwear I'll deny it-therefore don't ask me, nay you shan't ask me, I fwear I'll deny it. O Gemini, you have brought all the Blood into my Face; I warrant I am as red as a Turky Cock; O fy, Coufin Mellefont ! Mel. Nay, Madam, hear me; I mean

L.

L. P. Hear you, no, no; I'll deny you first, and hear you afterwards. For one does not know how one's Mind may change upon hearing.-Hearing is one of the Senfes, and all the Senfes are fallible; I won't trust my Honour, I affure you; my Honour is infallible and uncomatable.

Mel. For Heav'ns fake, Madam,

L. P. O name it no more- Blefs me, how can you talk of Heav'n! and have fo much Wickedness in your Heart? May be you don't think it a Sin,They fay fome of you Gentlemen don't think it a Sin,- May be it is no Sin to them that don't think it so; Indeed, if I did not think it a Sin-But ftill my Honour, if it were no Sin, But then, to marry my Daughter, for the Conveniency of frequent Opportunities,-I'll never confent to that; as fure as can be, I'll break the Match. Mel. Death and Amazement,-Madam, upon my

Knees

nature.

L. P. Nay, nay, rife up, come you shall fee my GoodI know Love is powerful, and no Body can help his Paffion: 'Tis not your Fault; nor I fwear it is not mine,How can I help it, if I have Charms? And how can you help it, if you are made a Captive? I fwear it is pity it should be a Fault,- -But my Honour,well, but your Honour too but the Sin!well but the Neceffity O Lord, here's fome Body coming, I dare not stay. Well, you must confider of your Crime; and ftrive as much as can be against it,-ftrive be fure -But don't be melancholick, don't defpair,-But never think that I'll grant you any thing; O Lord, no;-But be fure you lay afide all Thoughts of the Marriage, for tho' I know you don't love Cynthia, only as a Blind for your Paffion to me; yet it will make me Jealous,

Lord, what did I fay? Jealous! no, no, I can't be jealous, for I must not love you, therefore don't hope,But don't despair neither,O, they're coming, I must fly.

SCENE

SCENE VI.

Mellefont alone.

Mel. [after a Paufe.] So then,-spite of my Care and Forefight, I am caught, caught in my Security, Yet this was but a fhallow Artifice, unworthy of my Matchiavilian Aunt: There must be more behind, this is but the first Flash, the priming of her Engine; Deftruction Jollows hard, if not most presently prevented.

SCENE VII.

[To him] Maskwell.

Mel. Maskwell, welcome, thy Presence is a view of Land, appearing to my fhipwrack'd Hopes: The Witch has rais'd the Storm, and her Minifters have done their Work; you see the Veffels are parted.

Mask. I know it; I met Sir Paul towing away Cynthia: Come, trouble not your Head, I'll join you together ere to Morrow Morning, or drown between you in the Attempt.

Mel. There's Comfort in a Hand ftretch'd out, to one that's finking; tho' ne'er fo far off.

Mask. No finking, nor no Danger,-Come, cheer up; why you don't know, that while I plead for you, your Aunt has given me a retaining Fee ;-Nay, I am your greatest Enemy, and the does but Journey-Work under me.

Mel. Ha! How's this?

Mask

Mask. What d'ye think of my being employ'd in the Execution of all her Plots? Ha, ha, ha, by Heav'n it's true; I have undertaken to break the Match, I have undertaken to make your Uncle difinherit you, to get you turn'd out of Doors; and to-Ha, ha, ha, I can't tell you for Laughing, Oh she has open'd her Heart to

me,

-I am to turn you a grazing, and to- -Ha, ha, ha, marry Cynthia my felf; there's a Plot for you. Mel. Ha! O fee, I fee my rifing Sun! Light breaks thro' Clouds upon me, and I shall live in Day-O my Maskwell! How fhall I thank or praise thee; Thou haft outwitted Woman.- -But tell me, how could't thou thus get into her Confidence?-Ha! How? But was it her Contrivance to perfuade my Lady Plyant to this extravagant Belief?

Mask. It was, and to tell you the Truth I encourag'd it for your Diversion: Tho' it made you a little uneafy for the prefent, yet the Reflexion of it must needs be entertaining, -I warrant she was very violent at firft.

Mel. Ha, ha, ha, ay, a very Fury; but I was most afraid of her Violence at last,- -If you had not come as you did, I don't know what she might have attempted.

Mask, Ha, ha, ha, I know her Temper.-Well, you must know then, that all my Contrivances were but Bubbles; 'till at laft I pretended to have been long fecretly in love with Cynthia; that did my Business; that convinced your Aunt, I might be trufted; fince it was as much my Interest as hers to break the Match: Then, fhe thought my Jealoufy might qualify me to affift her in her Revenge. And, in short, in that Belief, told me the Secrets of her Heart. At length we made this Agreement, if I accomplish her Designs (as I told you before) fhe has engag'd to put Cynthia with all her Fortune into my Power. Mel. She is moft gracious in her Favour, Well, and dear Jack, how haft thou contrived?

Mask. I would not have you stay to hear it now; for I don't know, but she may come this Way; I am to

meet

meet her anon; after that, I'll tell you the whole Matter; be here in this Gallery an Hour hence, by that time I imagine our Confultation may be over.

Mel. I will; 'till then Succefs attend thee.

'Till then, Succefs will attend me; for when I meet you, I meet the only Obftacle to my Fortune. Cynthia, let thy Beauty gild my Crimes; and whatsoever I commit of Treachery or Deceit, fhall be imputed to me as a Merit Treachery, what Treachery? Love cancels all the Bonds of Friendship, and fets Men right upon their first Foundations.

Duty to Kings, Piety to Parents, Gratitude to Benefactors, and Fidelity to Friends, are different and particular Ties: But the Name of Rival cuts 'em all afunder, and is a general Acquittance Rival is equal, and Love like Death an univerfal Leveller of Mankind. Ha! But is there not fuch a Thing as Honesty? Yes, and whofoever has it about him, bears an Enemy in his Breaft: For your honest Man, as I take it, is that nice, fcrupulous, conscientious Perfon, who will cheat no Body but himself; fuch another Coxcomb, as your wife Man, who is too hard for all the World, and will be made a Fool of by no Body, but himself: Ha, ha, ha: Well for Wisdom and Honesty, give me Cunning and Hypocrify; oh, 'tis fuch a Pleasure, to angle for fair-fac'd Fools! Then that hungry Gudgeon Credulity will bite at any thing-Why, let me fee, I have the fame Face, the fame Words and Accents, when I fpeak what I do think; and when I speak what I do not thinkthe very fame and dear Diffimulation is the only Art, not to be known from Nature.

Why