possible, in hopes the manager may come. Lie still, poor fluttering heart it cannot be the lord of all your wishes! it cannot surely be your ador'd Belville!

Re-enter Miss LEESON.

[Exit.

3

Miss Lees. Hav'n't I left my Romeo and Juliet here? O yes, there it is.

Enter BELVILLE.

Bel.- -0, were those eyes in Heav'n, They'd thro the starry region shine so bright, That birds would sing, and think it was the morn! Miss Lees. Ah, my dear Mr. Frankly ! I'm so glad you are come! I was dying to see you.

Bel. Kiss me, my dear;--why didn't you send me word of your intention to come away last night?

Miss Lees. I hadn't time: but as I knew where the lodgings were, I thought I should be able to find you by a note to the coffee-house I always directed to. Bel. Kiss me again, my little sparkler ! Miss Lees. Nay, I won't be kiss'd in this manner! for though I am going on the stage, I intend to have some regard for my character. But, ha, ha, ha! I am glad you are come now: I have company above stairs.

Bel. Company! that's unlucky at this time, for I wanted to make you intirely easy about your character. [Aside.] And pray, my dear, who is your company? You know we must be very cautious, for fear of your relations.

Miss Lees. O, they are only ladies. But one of them is the most beautiful creature in the world I Bel. The devil she is !

Miss Lees. An earth-treading star, and makes dim heavens light.

Bel. Zounds! I'll take a peep at the star, who knows but I may have an opportunity of making another actress.

Miss Lees. Come, charmert charmer!
Bel.

Wer't thou as far,

As that vast shore, wash'd by the farthest sea,
I would adventure for such merchandise.

[Asida.

Now let's see what fortune has sent us above stairs.

[Exeunt.

SCENE 11.

Changes to a Dining Room at Miss LEESON's. Mrs. BELVILLE and Lady RACHEL discovered.

Mrs. Bel. This is a most ignorant young creature, Lady Rachel.

Lady Rach. Why I think she is did you observe how she slighted my offer of instructing her t

Enter Miss LEESON.

Mis Lees. Ladies!-ladies !- here he is! here is

Mr. Frankly I

Enter BELVILLE bowing very low, and not seeing the

Ladies.

Bel. Ladies, your most obedient.

Mrs. Bel. Let me, if possible, recollect myself

Sir, your most obedient humble servant.

Bel. Zounds! let me out of the house.

Lady Rach. What do I see?

Miss Lees. You seem, ladies, to know this gentle

man?

Mrs. Bel. [Taking hold of him.] You sha'n't go, renegade-You laugh'd at my credulity this morning, and I must now laugh at your embarrassment. Bel. What a kind thing it would be in any body to blow out my stupid brains?

Lady Rach. I'll mark this down for an incident in my comedy.

Miss Lees. What do you hang your head for, Mr. Frankly?

Bel. Be so good as to ask that lady, my dear.The devil has been long in my debt, and now he pays me home with a witness.

Mrs. Bel. What a cruel thing it is to let Mrs. Tempest out, my love, without somebody to take care of her !

Miss Lees, What, do you know Mrs. Tempest, madam?

Mrs. Bel. Yes, my dear; and I am pretty well acquainted with this gentleman.

Miss Lees. What, isn't this gentleman the manager of a playhouse in Ireland !

Bel. The curtain is almost dropt, my dear; the farce is nearly over, and you'll be speedily acquainted with the catastrophe.

Enter Mrs. TEMPEST.

Mrs. Tem. Yes, sir, the curtain is almost dropt: I have had spies to watch your haunts, and the catastrophe ends in your detection-Come, you abandon'd slut

Miss Lees. And have I elop'd after all, without being brought upon the stage?

Mrs. Tem. I don't know that you would be brought upon the stage; but I am sure you were near being brought upon the town. I hope, madam, for the future, you'll set me down a mad-woman. [To Mrs. Bel.

Mrs. Bel. Mr. Belville, you'll make my apologies to this lady, and acknowledge that I think her perfectly in her senses.

Bel. I wish that I had intirely lost mine. Lady Rach. [Writing.] I wish that I had intirely lost mine. A very natural wish in such a situation.

Mrs. Temp. Come, you audacious minx, come away. You shall be sent into Yorkshire this very evening; and see what your poor mother will say to you, hussy.

Miss Lees. I will go on the stage, if I die for't; and 'tis some comfort there's a play-house at York. [Exit Mrs. Tempest, and Miss Leeson. Bel. Nancy, I am so asham'd, so humbled, and so penitent, that if you knew what passes here, I am sure you would forgive me.

Mrs. Bel. My love, though I cannot say I rejoice in your infidelity, yet, believe me, I pity your distress; let us therefore think no more of this.

Lady Rach. [Writing.] And think no more of this. -This conduct is new in a wife, and very dramatic.

Bel. Where, my angel, have you acquired so many requisites to charm with ?

Mrs. Bel. In your society, my dear; and believe me -that a wife may be as true a friend as any bottle. companion upon earth, though she can neither get merry with you over night, nor blow your brains about some foolish quarrel in the morning.

Bel. If wives knew the omnipotence of virtue, where she wears a smile upon her face, they'd all follow your bewitching example, and make a faith. less husband quite an incredible character.

Lady Rach. Quite an incredible character!-Let me set down that. [Writing.]

SCENE III.

Changes to General SAVAGE's. Enter General and Captain.

Gen. Yes, Horace, I have been just visiting at Belville's.

Capt. You found nobody at home, but Mis Walsingham ?

Gen. No, but I'd a long conversation with her, and upon a very interesting subject.