(Enter SIR ROBERT and SIDEBOARD)
Sir Robert. What, is this part of his French Manners? Neither
to come home to Dinner, nor send word?
Sideboard. I wish some Accident has not happen'd, Sir. (A
knocking at the Door)
Sir Robert. Perhaps this is he—
Sideboard. Walk in Gentlemen.
(Enter WILDFIRE and FOXCHASE)
Wildfire. Sir Robert, your most obedient—we have made bold
to come and take share of a Dinner with your Son.
Sir Robert. Gentlemen, you're heartily welcome—but I don't
know what's become of him.
Wildfire. He'll be here immediately, Sir, with a very splendid
Retinue—he has got the Mob after his Chariot all the way from the
Park.
(Enter ROGER)
Roger. Here he comes, but in such a Pickle—the French
Parlevous picked a quarrel with the People and there's the new
Paper vis-a-vis all demolish'd. There's Lady Betty all towzled,
and the Mounsieurs beat to Stockfish—here comes the Squire.
(Enter JACK all splashed)
Jack. Pardie! There is no Regulation, no Police in this
Country—to serve a Gentleman at this rate, my new vis-a-vis, and
touts mes gens—deranged in this manner by them.
Wildfire. What a Pickle the Fellow's in!
Sir Robert. A sad figure indeed.
Jack. This is it to live in a Country of Liberty.
(Enter a chair with the Glasses all shatter'd)
Lady Betty. (Comes out) Oh! I shall certainly expire in this
Country! My dear Monsieur de Broughton was there ever anything
so barbarous and inhospitable!
Roger. It's my Opinion, if I had not been there to speak English
for un, they'd a kill un all.
Mob. (Without) Hurra! No Mounsieurs, no wooden Shoes.
(A Noise if the windows were breaking)
Mob. Hurra! No French Spys!
(Enter ST. LOUIS)
St. Louis. Jarnie, Monsieur, I was going up de hide in de garret,
and this stone come Pauf—here by my head.
Roger. I'll go and speak to un, they'll give over for an honest
Englishman, I warrant un. (Exit)
Lady Betty. What a pack of Savages!
Jack. They have no police; at Paris one of the Canaille dare
not come within the Atmosphere of a Man of Condition—there, for
sending forty Livres to the Lieutenant of the Police, a Man of Quality
may run a Scoundrel thro' the Body.
Sir Robert. Well, well, come let's in to dinner—Mr. Florid,
and the French Gentleman are waiting for us.
Lady Betty. Oh, I could not eat in this condition—I'll step
upstairs to M'am'selle Harriet. (Exit)
Jack. And I'll go up to my Toilette.
Wildfire. No, no, you shall come and dine.
Sir Robert. That's right, Lads, bring him along. (Exeunt)
(Enter ROGER with a Tankard in his hand)
Roger. There, I gave un something to drink, and they've quiet.
Sideboard. Young Master's greatly chang'd Roger.
Roger. He is greatly chang'd indeed; here's my sarvice to you.
Sideboard. He must have spent a great deal of Money abroad.
Roger. Ay, ay, Sir Robert never stinted un for that.
Sideboard. We were all in a sad way about him at one time.
Roger. Ay, that was when the French Marquis run un thro'
the Body; Lord help ye, I was in a sad Pucker—as sure as you are
there I thought we had lost un—thoff he deserv'd it in part too.
I'll tell you how it was. He was got one day bragging of his Amorous,
I think they call it—and so some young thing was toasted—she
was painted up to the Eyes, I warrant her—they all paint there
Master Sideboard, like so many Dolls.
Sideboard. So I have heard.
Roger. Here's my sarvice to you—and so when the young
woman was toasted, odds my Heart, what does the Squire, but says
he, what signifies drinking she—I have had she; thoff he never had
her atall Master Sideboard, a had not indeed. I have had she, says
the Squire, give us a new face. Had she says the Marquis do you
know she is my Sister? I know that says the Squire, and I lov'd
her the better for it. And so the Marquis grew bloody angry and
run un thro' the small Ribs—a did indeed.
Sideboard. We were all afraid he would have died.
Roger. Here's my sarvice to you, a wish a had never set a
foot in their Country. I never had so much as a hearty meal while
I was among un, excepten a Month or two in the beginning, when
the Squire liv'd with some of his Country Folks in the Rue de
Butchery—I think they call it.
Sideboard. No place like our Country, I believe Roger, let
'em say what they will.
Roger. You have hit it Master Sideboard, you have indeed.
Dear Heart, they have such Laws there—why a poor Servant dare
not give his Opinion there of the Government.
Sideboard. No!
Roger. No—if he does, he's taken up with a Letter Scratched,
and sent to the Bastile, and if you ask a reason for it, all they say
to you is—de parlour oi. Why now here we can each talk of folks
at Helm and of Taxes, and know as much of the matter as any of
un.
Sideboard. That's the Privilege of an Englishman, Roger.
Roger. And then a Sarvant there has no Vails—a Butler's
place is nothing there, a poor Gentleman may come and dine there,
and you're oblig'd to be as civil to him, as if he had money in his
Pocket, and was oblig'd to give you more than his dinner is worth,
as they do in England. I had rather live with an honest Citizen,
who brings his friend home from change to his own dinner, mayhap
a Leg of Mutton and a Pudding, and if you fix yourself well at the
Door, you are sure to touch un for a Hog.
Sideboard. A poor servant had better be a country curate than
that.
Roger. I am sure I hated them all the time I was there and
their lingo and all. Such outlandish Names they have for things—what
do you think they call a Horse? Cheval. And Beef, now what
do you think they call Beef?
Sideboard. I can't say.
Roger. They call it Beff—and sometimes they call it Bulli,
the honest Beef of old England is call'd Beff by un. And what do
you think they call the French King?
Sideboard. The grand Monarque.
Roger. It's worser than that, it is not as you read in the Flying
Mercury and the Country Journal, but they call un the King of
France, they do indeed.
Sideboard. Hush! The bell rings, I must go into 'em.
Roger. Do so, Master Sideboard, and I'll step down—Beff,
I'll tell you what Master Sideboard, it's my Opinion they'll never
come to speak English while they live—Beff. (Exeunt)
(Scene discovers them [JACK, WILDFIRE, FOXCHASE,
SIR ROBERT, ABBÉ, and FLORID] at Table)
Jack. Mort de ma Vie! I am burnt alive.
Wildfire. Come, come, off with your Glass.
Foxchase. Ay, ay, off with this Bumper.
Jack. Gentlemen, I believe you take me for the Fire Eater, I
can't swallow liquid Flames; can't we have the coffee and the
Liquor?
Wildfire. There's more trouble with one Fellow that won't
drink, than with fifty that will, off with it I say.
Sir Robert. Drink Boy, you're fairly hunted.
Jack. (Drinks) Vive l'Amour.
Wildfire. And so Monsieur Abbé, you say that the French are
making great Armaments.
Abbé. Ver great Marine, Monsieur, ver great Marine.
Jack. The French are a very politic Nation; they never make
a Treaty, but with an Intent to break it, when it suits their Conveniency—so
you'll find they will at last give Laws, as Fashions to
Europe.
Wildfire. Never fear, you'll find that John Bull will be too
many for Louis Baboon any day in the year. Let 'em land here,
we'll shew 'em what a figure Slaves will cut in a Land of Liberty.
Come now, I'll give you a Toast—Monsieur need not drink it, but
as he began the subject he must excuse my National Partiality—here's
Old England for ever.
All. Hurra! Hurra! Hurra!
Jack. L'Angleterre.
Wildfire. L'Angleterre! Say it in plain English, Old England.
Florid. (Drunk) Ay, ay, give me another Bumper to it—it's
both agreeable to the Public Sense and the Moral Sense.
Jack. Old England. (Squeamishly)
Foxchase. Wounds! I wish they have not made a Papist of
him.
Jack. A Papist! Do you suppose there's Religion in France?
Abbé. Ah! Pour ça non—parmi les honêtes Gens, wid les
Espirits forts, dare is none at all. Religion it is ver pretty Bagatelle
to quarrel about, but ma foi, dat is all.
Florid. Yes, they have the Religion of Nature, and the Theory
of agreeable Sensations. (Drinks) They have the Ideas of Beauty
and Virtue, and by the favor of the Sylvan Nymphs, they pursue
their platonic Loves (Drinks) and invoking first the Genius of the
Place—what is the Bottle come round again? This is indulging the
Pleasurable Perceptions arising from the Organ of Bodily Sensations
(Drinks) and invoking first the Genius of the Place (Very
drunk) obtain some faint and distant view of the Sovereign Genius,
and first Beauty.
Wildfire. Pha! Sauce with your Jargons—come Foxchase give
us an honest song.
Foxchase. With all my Heart. (During the song Jack steals
off)
Wildfire. Hang the Fellow—he's off.
Foxchase. Let's after him. (Exeunt)
Florid. Ay, let's bring him back to indulge the Social Affections.
Sir Robert. Gentlemen never mind him, let's make an End of
our Bottle. I am afraid Mr. Quicksett is in the right. (Follows)
Abbé. (Sings)
Boire a long trait
De ce vin frais
Et ne jamais quitter la Table,
Que pour Dancer
Rire a Chanter
C'est se jouir d'un sort delectable.
(Exeunt)
(Scene another Apartment. Enter LADY
BETTY and HARRIET)
Lady Betty. Well, but my dear Harriet, I assure you.
Harriet. Nay, but Ma'am, how can your Ladyship say so?
Lady Betty. Surely Madamoiselle Harriet you'll give me leave
to know better than one who has never been beyond the Dust and
Smoke of melancholy London.
Harriet. Well, I protest and now I can scarcely refrain from
laughing at the Conceit of it.
Lady Betty. The Conceit!
Harriet. Dear Ma'am, your Ladyship can't be in earnest, sure,
there's no Mystery—
Lady Betty. No Mystery—but I tell you there's a Je ne sais
quoi—
Harriet. Dear Ma'am, I hope your Ladyship won't be in a passion
about it.
Lady Betty. Is it not enough to provoke anybody to be contradicted
in a thing that a person has voyag'd for? But I tell you Madam,
not one in a thousand of the English know how to blow the Nose—it's
a thing not understood in this country.
Harriet. With all my Heart, Ma'am, if you will have it so.
Lady Betty. It's very true though—the people of this Country
don't know how to blow the Nose—or to walk, or to sit down, or to
rise up, or to cough, or to spit, or to sneeze—now let me hear you
sneeze.
Harriet. I wou'd oblige you Ma'am with such a thing, if I possibly
cou'd.
Lady Betty. Oh, you can't then, here, take a pinch of snuff
to provoke a Sneeze. (Gives snuff)
Harriet. I have no Objection to a pinch of snuff, Ma'am. (Takes snuff)
Lady Betty. Look ye there, now, that's not the way to take
Snuff. The thing does not consist in stuffing it up the Nostrils,
as if you were gormandizing upon it—with your Arm lifted up, and
your Head shrunk down, just as if you were frighten'd at something—but
it must be introduced as a grace to Conversation. Now observe
me—I make the most of my Person—hold my Head up with an
air. Then suppose me in the middle of a story about an Amour, or
the French Court, or a new fashion, or what you will—then I open
my Snuff-box, then look at myself in the glass, and reclaim a straggling
Hair—then I proceed. I wave my Arm out to its full length,
then I gradually bring it to, forming a graceful Semicircle, and never
move my head towards my hand—thus (Mimicks) but I make my
hand pay its devoirs to my head—thus. (Mimicks) Then I apply
my fingers with the utmost delicatesse—and I smile—I smile and
look as if I were thinking—and then I don't souse my hand down
at once, thus—(Mimicks) but I restore it to its place in the same
graceful manner—thus—you see now the Semicircle opens. Then
with an elegant turn of my wrist, I drop my Arm in a gentle dying—dying
fall.
Harriet. Well now as I live and breathe, my Lady Betty I never
cou'd have thought there was so much Consequence in a Trifle.
Lady Betty. Trifle! Trifles are the most important things in
Life. The Beau Monde is made up of Trifles—Paris is made up of
Trifles—I am made up of Trifles—the French are all Trifles, and
so vive la Bagatelle. But my dear Madamoiselle Harriet you're a
perfect corpse child, let me put on a little Rouge—no, I have none
about me; and then your Cap (Takes off a very small one)—fie,
done, it's large enough for a Soapboiler's Wife—here let me put
this Bouquet in your Hair. There, now you have Cap enough—the
Creature looked odiously handsome before—I cou'd not bear it.
Harriet. Dear Ma'am, but I'm afraid I shall take cold.
Lady Betty. Cold! What then? If you do, you'll be in the
fashion. But I assure you, child, you must voyage, indeed, and
'till you do, I lend you one of my faces to keep you in Countenance.
Harriet. Ma'am I am very much oblig'd to you, but Heav'n has
given me a face.
Lady Betty. Heav'n has given you a face! He! He! He! Well
to be sure that notion is downright Insulaire, fit only for an Island—the
Sentiments of the Continent, I assure you my dear are much
sublimer. Heav'n has given you a face—but I'll give you a better
face, you shall have one of mine—how do you like this face? It
has been generally taken notice of. They may talk what they will
of their great Painters—my brush exceeds 'em all—the Coloring is
so mellow, and so rich and so glowing—
Harriet. Ma'am as for your coloring, nobody can dispute it—but
don't your Ladyship think a great Painter can draw a little
more like the life?
Lady Betty. Like the life! That's a cold northern Sentiment
again—why can't you see that if it were like the life one might
soon become an old face? Now I like to be a new face every day—then
the men cry, what a deal of sweetness my Lady Betty has in
her face—ay, and what a deal of fire—and what a deal of meaning—and
what a—and what a Je ne sais quoi! But I shall lay aside
this face soon, and you shall have the preference of it.
Harriet. Dear Ma'am, I wou'd not rob your Ladyship on any
Account.
Lady Betty. Oh you'll not derob me at all, and then I'll let
you have a Copy of my Receipt how to be a fine Lady, it was made
in Paris upon the most minute observation. I was assisted in it by
Monsieur Capriole my dancing Master, Madam D'Epingle my Milliner,
La Jeuness my hair dresser, and Fanchonette my waiting Maid.
Harriet. Dear Ma'am, let me have it of all things—it must
needs be a curiosity.
Lady Betty. I believe I have it in my Pocket—here it is—I'll
read it to you. "Take a score of French Phrases, everyday, bien
tournées, and mix 'em well together to qualify the Barbarity of the
English. Be sure to have a thorough contempt for the Milliners and
the Tradesfolk of your own country. Be sure never to visit with
your Husband, if you have a mind to be happy with him, don't see
the horrid creature above one in a quarter."
Harriet. I suppose your Ladyship means as Falstaff says in
a quarter of an hour.
Lady Betty. Well, by all that's pleasant, I shall never survive
that. No child, once in a quarter of a year is enough to see the
domestic Animal, to get one's pin-money of him—or to make him
mortgage—or sell—or anything to pay one's gaming Debts. But
I'll go on. "Be sure to have a Douceur and a fierté ready to command
in the Countenance." Now if one of these Insulaires—one
of these Island People shou'd come within the Hemisphere of my
Hoop there's my fierté—and if one meets with anything that has
voyaged, that has depatriated as the Clive calls it in the Play—there's
my Douceur—but don't interrupt. "Be sure never to be
happy if anybody of your acquaintance keeps more Card Tables
than yourself—"
Harriet. Is that an Essential to Happiness Ma'am?
Lady Betty. Assurement Ma'am'selle. A fine Lady can never
sleep in her Bed if anybody that she has a regard for keeps more
Card Tables than herself. There was my Lady Fanny Brilliant,
and I, vying about it for a whole half year—first she had twenty—then
I had five more—then she kept Sundays then I kept Sundays—then
she had thirty—then I had forty—then she added, then I added—then
she—then I—then she again—then I again—'till at last,
there was not a Hole or corner in the House but was cramm'd—and
you'd think the front of the House wou'd come down, with all the
Men's backs lolling out of the Window. I was oblig'd to play in my
Bed-chamber in the Servant's Hall—everywhere—and if she had
urg'd me further I should have had a Tent in the Courtyard, and on
the leads of the House, but upon casting up the Accounts, I had
the Majority by seven—and I lost a cool fifteen hundred more than
her.
(Enter JACK BROUGHTON)
Jack. Mesdames, votre tres humble—I have made my Escape
from the Savages below—I believe they are following me—no—à
la mode d'Angleterre to make an end of their Bottle.
Lady Betty. And mon cher Cavalier, you are come most à
propos to decide a dispute between Miss Harriet and me. Is it not
true what Molière says, there is no happiness out of Paris?
Jack. Madam, hors de Paris, il n'y a pas de salut. The French
to be sure, are the dearest creatures in the World. Under an absolute
Monarch, you'll see them dance, and sing, and laugh, and ogle,
and dress, and display their pretty little small talk—while an English
John Trott, with his head full of Politics, shall knit his brow,
and grumble, and plod, unhappy and discontented amidst all his
boasted Liberty and Pudding.
Lady Betty. Then the French Ladies, what lives they lead!
The Husband makes it the Business of his life to ruin himself for
his Wife's diversions. They keep separate chariots as well as
separate Beds. She is sure to have the handsomest fellows for her
Laqueys—they are all sur le bon Ton. And then the pleasures of
the agreeable Billet-doux, and dear enchanting Quadrille.
Jack. Oh my Lady Betty! The Joys of a life of Play are inexpressible—it
leads a Person into the politest company, actuates
the Spirits with the sweetest Vicissitudes of Passions—hope and
fear, Pleasure and Anxiety, running an eternal Round.
Lady Betty. There Madamoiselle Harriet, there's a life for
you, but dear Heart, I must run away, this is Opera Night.
Harriet. Is your Ladyship very fond of Operas?
Lady Betty. Do you think Ma'am, I am like your English
people of Quality, that go only because everybody goes—I'm a very
Lady Townly for Operas—I expire at an Opera! Oh that enchanting
air. (Sings)
Harriet. Don't you think a good Play has something more rational
and more natural than an Opera?
Lady Betty. I detest Plays—but I shall go to the first good
Play that's acted—my Lady Tattleaid and I have made a Party to
go and talk at the first good Play. But mon cher Cavalier, what do
you think? When I arriv'd on this Island, I expected to hear of nothing
but politics, and Crown Point and Scalping, but I find all the
People of Fashion's thoughts are taken up about another thing—they're
all in an uproar about an Opera-singer's sore Throat—some
say there was a sore throat—others say there was not a sore throat.
You know Lord Maggoti, he spoke to me the other night, to be of
his Party for the Sore Throat. I have not taken my Party yet, tho'
I believe I shall be for the Sore Throat; but I must be gone.
Harriet. Had not your Ladyship better spend the Evening with
us?
Lady Betty. No, Madamoiselle, I must run away—Lord it's
six o'clock—I shall be too late. I have an appointment there—Signora
Sorethroatini is to take notice of me, after her first Song.
Harriet. That will certainly do your Ladyship a great deal of
Honor.
Lady Betty. Assurement, it will—there was my Lady Scatterbrain
making Interest for it—but she can't have a Curts'y 'till
Tuesday—and who wou'd choose to have it on a Tuesday—there
will be nobody there to see it. But it will be charming tonight,
when at the End of her Song she drops me a Salute—then I rise up
and I return it; then all the Eyes are directed to me, and the whisper
runs along the Rows, "Did you not see the Sorethroatini do the
Honors to Lady Betty Mockmode?"
(Without) Jarnie! Les Anglois sont les Diables.
Jack. Hey! What's the meaning of all this?
(Enter French Servants and throw themselves
on their Knees one with his Nose bloody, another without a Wig)
St. Louis. Monsieur, pour l'amour de Dieu!
Bourguignon. Ayez pitié de moi Monsieur.
La Fleur. Ah mon Dieu! Partagez nous Monsieur.
Jack. How comes this?
St. Louis. (Pointing to his nose) De Englishman bob wid his
head.
Bourguignon. And give me one knock in my Stomach make me
tink my Soul and Body, and all come up.
La Fleur. Monsieur—tare all my Coat.
Jack. Who's without there? Roger—let some attend.
(Enter ROGER with his fist doubled)
Roger. It's my Opinion Master I cou'd beat a dozen of 'em, I
cou'd indeed.
Jack. What is all the meaning of this?
Roger. They're always doing Keekshaws, and quarrelling with
the Cook—so that there's no Peace for us below stairs, and when
I was abroad they were always jeering me, and so I bethink me now
that I am in a Land of Liberty, a free born Briton shou'd not be impos'd
upon by such Powder-Puffs.
Jack. Sirrah! Get out of the Room, or you shall walk off with
two Ears less.
Roger. I will Master, thoff an' I said, it's my Opinion I cou'd
beat a dozen of un—I cou'd indeed.
(Exit)
Jack. Pauvre St. Louis, Bourguignon, La Fleur, courage. I
will accommodate you better in a few days.
St. Louis. Fort bien Monsieur.
(Enter SIR ROBERT)
Sir Robert. I don't like all these strange doings here in my
House. But come, come, Harriet, I must desire you to show this
Lady into the next Room. Here's your Father coming upstairs, and
he desires to have a little private conversation with my Son.
Lady Betty. So mon pauvre Marquis, they are going to make
you a mere John Trott of an English Husband, sullenly civil to
your Spouse, and morosely disobliging to the rest of the World—so
a l'honneur, I leave you to your Tête à tête. Ma'm'selle Harriet, a
good Evening, you shall certainly have one of my faces, and the
Receipt—but I must run away to the Sorethroatini. (Exit)
Sir Robert. Now Jack, be upon your Guard—why don't those
French Fellows get out of the Room? Go down Stairs Monsieur. I
wou'd not have Mr. Quicksett see 'em for the world. Mr. Quicksett
has his oddities, Jack, and hates the French so at this Juncture,
that he wou'd willingly pay half his Estate in Taxes, to help 'em
to a good drubbing, but be upon your guard, and talk discreetly.
Jack. Had not I better get St. Louis to arrange my dress before
I receive the Gentleman's Visit?
Sir Robert. No, no, you must show no French Airs—he is willing
to settle his Estate on his Daughter—and I long to have the
Match concluded—so take care you don't spoil all. Here he comes.
(Enter QUICKSETT)
Mr. Quicksett, this is my Son—Son, this is Mr. Quicksett, and so
now I'll leave you together. (Exit)
Quicksett. Ay, he answers the Description I had of him.
Jack. Pardie, voila un droll de figure—I wish I was dress'd
out that I might make the Man of Quality for him—but I'll shew him
a pretty Gentleman as it is. Monsieur, votre tres humble—your
commands with me, Sir.
Quicksett. (Takes a chair and sits) Why look ye young Man,
your Father is my old Acquaintance, and as he propos'd this Match,
I had as soon marry my Daughter into Sir Robert Broughton's Family,
as any at all—but I then must not throw my Girl away and I must
like the Man before I settle her for Life do you see?
Jack. Ma foi, voila un homme sans façon, sans Ceremonie—I'll
sit down too. (Draws a chair)
Quicksett. But your French Education, young Gentleman, I
am afraid won't recommend you to me. Odds my Life, it seems to
have made a downright coxcomb of you.
Jack. Mr. Quicksett, if you are for indulging your Raillery, I
shall be oblig'd to you—I love Raillery of all things—it is to me
a party of pleasure, but prenez garde a vous—take care Mr. Quicksett.
My Raillery is so brisk, it is like your fire Arms that discharge
I don't know how often in a minute—Pi! Pa! Pauf!
Quicksett. Yes, it's just as I heard. (Aside)
Jack. Well, but courage, Mr. Quicksett, don't be frighten'd—you
set out very well—keep it up. Vous ne repondez rien—'tis
your turn now. (Pauses) Hem! Plait-il Mr. Quicksett, I wait your
pleasure, Sir. Pardie! I believe the Gentleman is going to take a
Nap. O—this is an English Visit, and I'll sustain an English Conversation.
(He continues silent for some time, looks at Mr. Quicksett
and at last addresses him) How do you do? How do y'do?
What News? A very dull day. Egad I wish Monsieur Abbé were
looking in upon us, it wou'd furnish him with some pleasant Hints
for his Remarks on the English Nation. En bien, Mr. Quicksett—upon
my Soul you have a great deal of very pretty Phrases, and
most admirable repartee.
Quicksett. I hear you, Sir, I observe you—this is your French
Education.
Jack. French Education is the only thing in the World to form
a pretty Gentleman—it gives a man a notion how to live, and a
taste for Intrigue.
Quicksett. You've had a great many Intrigues, I suppose.
Jack. Intrigue, Mr. Quicksett is the Pleasure of Life. If you
were to see me in a Circle of French Ladies—before I went abroad
I had not assurance to look a modest Woman in the face—but now—Je
badine—I amuse them with small Talk—Je papillon—I am a
very Butterfly.
Quicksett. That I do verily believe—go on, Sir, give yourself
Airs.
Jack. A Frenchman is the only Person breathing that knows
how to give himself Airs—a Frenchman has manners and in short
everything. Is a Frenchman in a circle? He takes care neither to
say anything nor do anything but what is perfectly obliging. He
possibly lends his Ear to one—makes an obliging answer to another,
recommends himself to this person with a whisper—to that with a
Smile. He declares a civil War of Raillery upon some Person of
Wit, says a handsome thing to the Mother, and a soft thing to the
Daughter. Do you pay a visit to a Frenchman's Wife? He commodiously
withdraws knowing that he is there de trop, that there
is no manner of Occasion for him. And if he goes to take a Walk,
he does it, thus—with an air—Ha! Ha! Head erect—with a Mien
that says, "See me go by," and then the Ladies, they do so ogle,
and so admire, and their hearts do so pit-a-pat, and they say to
themselves, "Well to be sure that's a pretty fellow." Then cries
he, "I know what you'd be at; vous voudriez me possesser—you
would be glad to have me, you would be glad to have me." And
then in all public places he smiles content, as much as to say,
"Well to be sure, Je suis un aimable fripon—I am an agreeable
Devil."
Quicksett. So, so, there's enough of it—it will never do—here.
I don't come often to Town—but when I do, I generally see
everything strange. Here, here's three Shillings for you.
Jack. What is this more of your Raillery, Sir?
Quicksett. There, take it (Throws the Money down)—you're
worth three Shillings of any man's Money, and so now I'll go and
see the Dromedary, and the tall man at Charing Cross.
(Enter SIR ROBERT)
Sir Robert. Well, Mr. Quicksett, I told you he was reform'd.
Quicksett. No, no it will never do—he is reform'd indeed!
To be plain with you Sir Robert, he's little better than a Monkey,
I think. I have heard how he had the Mob at his heels today, and
I don't wonder at it. There's no harm done, Sir Robert, I'll take
the Girl into the Country with me.
Sir Robert. Nay but dear Mr. Quicksett, let me speak to you.
Quicksett. In short his Journey to France has made him a
mere Ragout—and so I'll go and order Harriet to pack up all her
things.
Sir Robert. (To Jack) I told you what your foppery wou'd do—Ecod
I am so provok'd I cou'd find it in my Heart to marry the
Girl myself.
Quicksett. I'll tell you what, Sir Robert—you're still hale
and hearty, and to show how willing I am to match with you, say
but the word and you shall have her yourself before that weasen-fac'd
thing—but where's Harriet? (Exit)
Sir Robert. Nay, nay, but Mr. Quicksett. (Follows him)
Jack. Hey! Who's without there? Here comes that clodpated
fellow—
(Enter ROGER)
Roger, let all my People be ready for me to dress.
Roger. Why the things are detained at the Coostum Hoose,
and so there's no cloaths, unless you'll put on Something out of
the old Trunk, you left above Stairs before you went abroad.
Jack. What, put on an English dress!
Roger. It would give my heart joy to see it, Master.
Jack. Was ever an unfortunate Gentleman in such distress?
Such a day of Embarras, I never knew—pelted by the Mob, and my
Father now threatening to have the Girl himself. Old Cojer is still
a tough piece of Oak, and if he shou'd get a chopping Boy Egad,
it may spoil the Beau. Let me see—why as my French Manners
are all mere Affectation and as it will be much harder for me to
keep it up I don't know whether I had not better own the Truth.
Roger. You had, indeed Master, and be a brave Englishman
as you was before.
Jack. Egad, I have a mind to surprize 'em with another Frolick—let
me take a moment's thought. Roger do you follow me upstairs. (Exit)
(Reenter SIR ROBERT and QUICKSETT)
Sir Robert. The young Man, Mr. Quicksett has no harm in him
in the main—
Quicksett. Well but you know I am a downright Englishman,
and I can never think of marrying my Daughter to a ridiculous ape
of those perfidious Frenchman who have always been the Disturbers
of Europe—and now have put the Nation to such an Expense.
(Enter HARRIET)
Harriet. Did you send for me, Sir?
Quicksett. Yes child; you must pack up all your things, and
to get ready to go with me into the country to-morrow Morning.
Harriet. I shall be ready to obey you, Sir.
Sir Robert. Well, but Mr. Quicksett believe me, when he is
got off this folly, the young Man may still make a figure.
(Enter ROGER)
Roger. Odds my heart! He'll be downstairs presently; a has
taken another frolick, as he calls it, but if he sticks to it, it will
be the best frolick I ever knew un to take.
Sir Robert. What's the matter Roger?
Roger. It will do your Heart good to see un—but here a comes.
(Enter JACK in an English Dress)
Jack. There Gentlemen, behold me once more an honest Englishman.
Quicksett. Why now, indeed, he looks like something.
Sir Robert. Can this be in earnest Lad?
Jack. In downright Earnest, I assure you, Sir. I consider'd
my French Manners as an Incumbrance after the many disasters of
this day, and so I resolv'd at one bold fling, to discharge my whole
Retinue of follies, and since my heart is in fact engag'd to this
Lady, I hope Mr. Quicksett, you will now give her hand to an undisguised
Briton.
Quicksett. The Name and Look of a Briton warms my Blood,
and if I thought you in earnest—
Jack. Sir, you may depend I shall have sense enough never
to despise my own country again.
Quicksett. Here, here, take her hand, she's yours from this
Moment.
Roger. Ay, I knew there was true blood at the Bottom.
Sir Robert. This is so unexpected a change I am transported
with joy—Mr. Wildfire—Mr. Foxchase, come up and be partners of
my Happiness.
Jack. They'll be glad to see me an honest fellow again.
(Enter WILDFIRE and FOXCHASE)
My dear Boy Wildfire give us your hand.
Wildfire. Can I believe my Eyes?
Jack. Nay, never stare, man. Foxchase, I am glad to see
thee. Here's to your old friend Jack Broughton. I'll on with my
Buckskins, and take a hunt with you to-morrow morning.
Wildfire. That's right my boy—away with the ridiculous outside
of a Frenchman; take honest Nature for your guide, and be
only what she intends you.
Jack. Ay, we'll all reform; you shall for the future Endeavor
be polite Englishmen—and I will only imitate the sensible Frenchman.
Wildfire. Come, come, I own it to be wrong, and acknowledge
I have been in the opposite Extream to you, an absurd Imitation
of a Modern Blood.
Jack. You shall go down with me to Broughton Hall where
you shall be the terror of all the Foxes for twenty Miles round, and
in time we'll get a Girl to reform you too.
Foxchase. I don't care if I try the Experiment.
Quicksett. And now Sir Robert since your Son is so hopeful
a young Man I'll sign the marriage Settlement as soon as you please.
Sir Robert. The lawyers will be here immediately.
Jack. And in the mean time here come two Persons to whom
I must speak a few words, towards compleating this day's Business.
(Enter ABBÉ and FLORID very drunk)
Abbé. (Sings) Quand je suis a Table, tout me rejouit—ah!
Pardie! You are ver fine Party dere altogether.
Florid. Had not you better come and indulge the Social Affections
over the remainder of the Bottle?
Jack. A very pretty condition for a travelling Governor.
Florid. That amazing connexion between the Organs of bodily
Sensation, and the faculties of Moral Perception.
Jack. Take him out of the Room; he shall be discharg'd to-morrow
morning, as a vain Pretender to a Philosophy which his
conduct shews him to be incapable of relishing. I remember when
I was at the University I heard that several Men of distinguished
Genius, were admirers of that System, and in their hands it may
have its lustre, but Mr. Florid's principles, shew that he is very
little enamour'd with the Ideas of Beauty and Nature.
Harriet. And pray Sir, when you dismiss him, give him back
this Letter.
Jack. (Reads) "To Miss Harriet Quicksett—Ideas of Beauty
and Virtue—good and beautiful are the same—enjoy with me Order,
Harmony, and Proportion, O—sweetest of Sensations—Moral Sense—Eternal
admirer, with the most enthusiastic Imagination. Florid."
A very honest design, and agreeable to his moral fitness of things.
Florid. Why, there is no Incongruity in the Claim. Let me try
it upon my Muscles, that's the way I always try a Proposition—for
Ridicule being the Test of Truth—if the incongruous appearances
provoke my Muscles to the Sensation of Laughter, my mind is urged
to reject the claim with a gay contempt.
Jack. Take him out of the Room.
Florid. The Pleasures of a mislike Apprehension—thou Plastic
Nature—empower'd Creatures etc. (Exit)
Abbé. Mais mon Chevalier de Broughton, what sort of dress
is dat?
Jack. Ecoutez Monsieur l'Abbé, I brought you over to write
Remarks on the English Nation, but shall no longer harbour a conceal'd
Enemy to my Country. As the frolick was mine it's fit that
I pay for it and you shall be supply'd with Money to carry you back
to your own Country.
Abbé. Il faut que je retourne donc?
Jack. You must, Sir, and when you are arriv'd, divest yourself
of your Prejudices; don't follow the Example of Voltaire and Abbé
Le Blanc, but dare to speak the Truth. Tell your countrymen you
heard here of a King determin'd to prosecute a vigorous War, but
more desirous of an honorable Peace—tell 'em we have Ministers
who understand the true Interest of their country, and are determin'd
to maintain the just rights of Great Britain—tell 'em that plain good
Sense, honor, honesty, and a regard for our word, are the characteristicks
of the English Nation—and tell 'em the most ridiculous object
you saw in this country is a Frenchify'd Englishman.
Abbé. Mais, Monsieur, est-il possible!
Jack. No more Monsieur l'Abbé—I wish you well, and take
my leave.
Abbé. Pardie! Den I must go back. I shall now go play a
game at Trick-Track with my friend Monsieur d'Eschallot, and den
I look over my little Memorandum. To-morrow Morning, I take my
Party to go back to Paris. I assure you Monsieur de Broughton,
you have now give me ver pretty Memorandum—and so Messieurs
and Mesdames, à l'honneur. I shall represent your liberalité—and
love Shakespeare more than ever. (Exit singing)
Quicksett. Wounds! Sir Robert, what a pity it had been, this
young fellow shou'd be lost, and I believe I shall rejoice in him
for a son-in-Law.
Jack. I hope it will prove so, and now since we are happy
together let mirth conclude the Evening, and let us my dear Wildfire
celebrate our Reformation with an English Country Dance.
Wildfire. With all my Heart, and in good time; here come some
other visitors that will joyn us.
Jack.
The wide Extremes of modern Life, you've seen,
The home-bred, Blood, the travel'd Coxcomb's mien,
But let not riot, Virtue's place supply,
Nor Gallic affectation mock the Eye.
So shall all politeness grow from Sense alone,
And the fair smile with Beauties all their own.
FINIS
The Augustan Reprint Society
WILLIAM ANDREWS CLARK
MEMORIAL LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES
PUBLICATIONS IN PRINT
1948-1949
16. Henry Nevil Payne, The Fatal Jealousie (1673).
18. Anonymous, "Of Genius," in The Occasional Paper, Vol. III, No. 10
(1719), and Aaron Hill, Preface to The Creation (1720).
1949-1950
19. Susanna Centlivre, The Busie Body (1709).
20. Lewis Theobald, Preface to the Works of Shakespeare (1734).
22. Samuel Johnson, The Vanity of Human Wishes (1749), and two
Rambler papers (1750).
23. John Dryden, His Majesties Declaration Defended (1681).
1951-1952
31. Thomas Gray, An Elegy Wrote in a Country Churchyard (1751), and
The Eton College Manuscript.
1952-1953
41. Bernard Mandeville, A Letter to Dion (1732).
1963-1964
104. Thomas D'Urfey, Wonders in the Sun; or, The Kingdom of the Birds
(1706).
1964-1965
110. John Tutchin, Selected Poems (1685-1700).
111. Anonymous, Political Justice (1736).
112. Robert Dodsley, An Essay on Fable (1764).
113. T. R., An Essay Concerning Critical and Curious Learning (1698).
114. Two Poems Against Pope: Leonard Welsted, One Epistle to Mr. A.
Pope (1730), and Anonymous, The Blatant Beast (1742).
1965-1966
115. Daniel Defoe and others, Accounts of the Apparition of Mrs. Veal.
116. Charles Macklin, The Covent Garden Theatre (1752).
117. Sir George L'Estrange, Citt and Bumpkin (1680).
118. Henry More, Enthusiasmus Triumphatus (1662).
119. Thomas Traherne, Meditations on the Six Days of the Creation (1717).
120. Bernard Mandeville, Aesop Dress'd or a Collection of Fables (1704).
1966-1967
123. Edmond Malone, Cursory Observations on the Poems Attributed to
Mr. Thomas Rowley (1782).
124. Anonymous, The Female Wits (1704).
125. Anonymous, The Scribleriad (1742). Lord Hervey, The Difference
Between Verbal and Practical Virtue (1742).
126. Le Lutrin: an Heroick Poem, Written Originally in French by Monsieur
Boileau: Made English by N. O. (1682).
1967-1968
127-
128. Charles Macklin, A Will and No Will, or a Bone for the Lawyers
(1746). The New Play Criticiz'd, or The Plague of Envy (1747).
129. Lawrence Echard, Prefaces to Terence's Comedies (1694) and
Plautus's Comedies (1694).
130. Henry More, Democritus Platonissans (1646).
131. John Evelyn, The History of Sabatai Sevi, The Suppos'd Messiah
of the Jews (1669).
132. Walter Harte, An Essay on Satire, Particularly on the Dunciad
(1730).
Publications of the first fifteen years of the Society (numbers 1-90) are available
in paperbound units of six issues at $16.00 per unit, from the Kraus Reprint
Company, 16 East 46th Street, New York, N.Y. 10017.
Publications in print are available at the regular membership rate of $5.00 yearly.
Prices of single issues may be obtained upon request. Subsequent publications
may be checked in the annual prospectus.
William Andrews Clark Memorial Library: University of California, Los Angeles
The Augustan Reprint Society
2520 CIMARRON STREET, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90018
General Editors: William E. Conway, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library; George Robert Guffey,
University of California, Los Angeles; Maximillian E. Novak, University of California, Los Angeles
Corresponding Secretary: Mrs. Edna C. Davis, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
The Society's purpose is to publish rare Restoration and eighteenth-century works (usually as facsimile reproductions).
All income of the Society is devoted to defraying costs of publication and mailing.
Correspondence concerning memberships in the United States and Canada should be addressed to the Corresponding
Secretary at the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, 2520 Cimarron Street, Los Angeles, California. Correspondence
concerning editorial matters may be addressed to the General Editors at the same address. Manuscripts of
introductions should conform to the recommendations of the MLA Style Sheet. The membership fee is $5.00 a year in
the United States and Canada and £1.16.6 in Great Britain and Europe. British and European prospective members
should address B. H. Blackwell, Broad Street, Oxford, England. Copies of back issues in print may be obtained from
the Corresponding Secretary.
Publications of the first fifteen years of the Society (numbers 1-90) are available in paperbound units of six issues at
$16.00 per unit, from the Kraus Reprint Company, 16 East 46th Street, New York, N. Y. 10017.
Make check or money order payable to The Regents of the University of California
REGULAR PUBLICATIONS FOR 1968-1969
133. John Courtenay, A Poetical Review of the Literary and Moral Character of the Late Samuel Johnson (1786).
Introduction by Robert E. Kelley.
134. John Downes, Roscius Anglicanus (1708). Introduction by John Loftis.
135. Sir John Hill, Hypochondriasis, a Practical Treatise on the Nature and Cure of that Disorder Call'd the Hyp or
Hypo (1766). Introduction by G. S. Rousseau.
136. Thomas Sheridan, Discourse ... Being Introductory to His Course of Lectures on Elocution and the English
Language (1759). Introduction by G. P. Mohrman.
137. Arthur Murphy, The Englishman From Paris (1756). Introduction by Simon Trefman. Previously unpublished
manuscript.
138. [Catherine Trotter], Olinda's Adventures (1718). Introduction by Robert Adams Day.
SPECIAL PUBLICATION FOR 1968-1969
After THE TEMPEST. Introduction by George Robert Guffey.
Next in the continuing series of special publications by the Society will be After THE TEMPEST, a volume including
the Dryden-Davenant version of The Tempest (1670); the "operatic" Tempest (1674); Thomas Duffet's Mock-Tempest
(1675); and the "Garrick" Tempest (1756), with an Introduction by George Robert Guffey.
Already published in this series are:
1. John Ogilby, The Fables of Aesop Paraphras'd in Verse (1668), with an Introduction by Earl Miner.
2. John Gay, Fables (1727, 1738), with an Introduction by Vinton A. Dearing.
3. Elkanah Settle, The Empress of Morocco (1673) with five plates; Notes and Observations on the Empress of Morocco (1674)
by John Dryden, John Crowne and Thomas Shadwell; Notes and Observations on the Empress of Morocco Revised (1674)
by Elkanah Settle; and The Empress of Morocco. A Farce (1674) by Thomas Duffet; with an Introduction by
Maximillian E. Novak.
Price to members of the Society, $2.50 for the first copy of each title, and $3.25 for additional copies. Price to
non-members, $4.00. Standing orders for this continuing series of Special Publications will be accepted. British and
European orders should be addressed to B. H. Blackwell, Broad Street, Oxford, England.
The footnotes have been rearranged to put them after the paragraphs
rather than at the end of the sections.
On Page iii, "&c" was replaced with "&c.".
On Page 6, a period was added after "JACK BROUGHTON'S Apartment".