This was a little too much affected. Don't you think fo, Lucy? The Doctor, it is evident by his anfwer, did. Dr B. It is not likely that fuch a fubject can arife between Mifs Byron and me: And it is ftrange, methinks, that ladies calling each other fifters,. fhould not be abfolutely miftrefs of this queftion. Lord L. Very right, Doctor Bartlett. But ladies will, in thefe points, take a compafs before they explain themselves. A man of Doctor Bartlett's penetration and uprightnefs, ladies, fhould not be treated with distance. We are of opinion, Doctor, that Mifs Byron, fuppofing that fhe is abfolutely difengaged, could make no difficulty to prefer my brother to all the men in the world. What think you? Dr B. I have no doubt of it: She thinks herfelf under obligation to him. She is goodnefs itfelf. She muft love goodnefs. Sir Charles's perfon, his vivacity, his addrefs, his underftanding-What woman would not prefer him to all the men fhe ever faw? He has met with admirers among the fex in every nation in which he has fet his foot [Ah! Lucy!] You, ladies, muft have feen, forgive me (bowing to each), that Mifs Byron has a more than grateful refpect for your brother. Mifs Gr. We think fo, Doctor; and wanted to know if you did; and fo, as my Lord fays, fetched a little compafs about; which we fhould not have done to you. But you fay, That my brother has had numbers of admirers-Pray, Doctor, is there any one lady (We imagine there is) that he has preferred to another, in the different nations he has travelled through? Lord L. Ay, Doctor, we want to know this; and if you thought there were not, we fhould make no fcruple to explain ourfelves, as well to Mifs Byron. as to my brother. Don't you long to know what answer the Doctor returned to this, Lucy? I was out of breath with D. 3 impatience, impatience, when Mifs Grandifon repeated it to me. The Doctor hefitated-And at laft faid, I wish with all my heart Mifs Byron could be Lady Grandifon. Mifs Gr. COULD be !-Could be, faid each! And COULD be! faid the fool to Mifs Grandifon, when the repeated it, her heart quite funk. Dr B. (fmiling). You hinted, ladies, that you are not fure that Mifs Byron is abfolutely difengaged. But, to be open, and above board, I have reafon to believe, that your brother would be concerned, if he knew it, that you should think of putting fuch a queftion as this to any-body but himfelf. Why don't you? He once complained to me, that he was afraid his fifters looked upon him as a referved man; and condefcended to call upon me to put him right, if I thought his appearance fuch as would give you grounds for the furmife. There are two or three affairs of intricacy that he is engaged in, and particularly one that hangs in fufpenfe; and he would not be fond, I believe of mentioning it, till he can do it with certainty: But elfe, ladies, there is not a more frank-hearted man in the world than your brother. See, Lucy, how cautious we ought to be in paffing judgment on the actions of others, efpecially on thofe of good men, when we want to fasten blame upon them; perhaps with a low view (envying their fuperior worth) to bring them down to our own level! For are we not all apt to measure the merits of others by our own ftandard, and to give praise or difpraise to actions or fentiments, as they fquare with our own? Lord L. Perhaps, Doctor Bartlett, you don't think yourself at liberty to answer, whether thefe particular affairs are of fuch a nature, as will interfere with the hopes we have of bringing to effect a marriage between my brother and Mifs Byron? Dr B. Dr B. I had rather refer to Sir Charles himself on this fubject. If any man in the world deserves from prudence and integrity of heart to be happy in this life, that man is Sir Charles Grandifon. But he is not quite happy. Ah, Lucy!-The Doctor proceeded. Your bro-ther, ladies, has often faid to me, That there was hardly a man living who had a more fincere value for the fex than he had; who had been more diftinguished by the favour of worthy women; yet, who had paid dearer for that diftinction than he had done. Lady L. Paid dearer! Good heaven! Mifs Gr. How could that be? Lord L. I always abroad heard the ladies reckon upon Sir Charles as their own man. His vivacity, his perfonal accomplishments, his politenefs, his generofity, his bravery!-Every woman who spoke of him put him down for a man of gallantry. And is he not a truly gallant man?-I never mentioned it before-But a Lady Olivia, of Florence, was much talked of, when I was in that city, as being in love with the handfome Englishman, as our brother was commonly called there Lady Olivia! Lady Olivia! repeated each fifter; and why did not your Lordship? Why! because, tho' fhe was in love with him, he had no thoughts of her: And, as the Doctor fays, fhe is but one of thofe who, where-ever he fet his foot, admired him. Blefs me, thought I, what a black fwan is a good man!--Why, as I have often thought (to the credit of our fex), will not all the men be good? Lady L. My Lord, you must tell us more of this Lady Olivia. Lord L. I know very little more of her. She was reputed to be a woman of high quality and fortune, and great fpirit. I once faw her. She is a fine figure of a woman. give Dr Bartlett can, no doubt, an account of her. you a Mifs Gr. Ah, Doctor! What a hiftory could you give us of our brother, if you pleafed !-But as there is no likelihood that this lady will be any thing to my brother, let us return to our firft fubject. Lady L. By all means. Pray, Dr Bartlett, do you know what my brother's opinion is of Mifs Byron ? Dr B. The highest that man can have of woman. Lady L. As we are fo very defirous to fee my brother happily married, and think he never could have a woman fo likely to make him happy, would you advife us to propofe the alliance to him? We would not to her, unlefs we thought there were room to hope for his approbation, and that in a very high degree. Dr B. I am under fome concern, my dear ladies, to be thought to know more of your brother's heart than fifters do, whom he loves fo dearly, and who equally love him. I beseech you, give me not fo much more confequence with him than you imagine you have yourselves. 1 fhall be afraid, if you do, that the favour I wish to ftand in with you, is owing more to your brother's diftinction of me than to your own hearts. Lord L. I fee not why we may not talk to my brother directly on this head. Whence is it that we are all three infenfibly drawn in, by each other's example, to this distance between him and us?—It is not his fault. Did we ever afk him a queftion that he did not directly anfwer, and that without fhewing the leaft affectation or reserve? Ms Gr. He came over to us all at once fo perfect, after an eight or nine years abfence, with fo much power, and fuch a will to do us good, that we were awed into a kind of reverence for him. Lady L. Too great obligations from one fide will indeed create distance on the other. Grateful hearts hearts will always retain a fenfe of favours heaped upon them. Dr B. You would give pain to his noble heart, did he think that you put fuch a value upon what he has done. I do affure you, that he thinks he has hardly performed his duty by his fifters: And, as occafions may ftill offer, you will find he thinks fo. But let me beg of you to treat him without referve or diffidence; and that you would put to him all those questions which you would wish to be anfwered. You will find him, I dare fay, very candid, and very explicit. Mifs Gr. That shall be my task, when I next fee him. But, dear Doctor Bartlett, if you love us, communicate to us all that is proper for us to fee, of the correspondence that paffes between him and you. The Doctor, it feems, bowed; but answered not. So you fee, Lucy, upon the whole, that I have no great reafon to build fo much, as my uncle, in his last letter, imagines I do, on the intereft of these ladies, and my Lord L. with their brother. Two ar three intricate affairs on his hands: One of them fill in fufpenfe; of which, for that reafon, he makes a fecret: He is not quite happy: Greatly diftinguifbed by the favour of worthy women: Who would wonder at that?-But has paid dear for the diftinction! -What can one fay? What can one think? He once faid himself, that his life was a various life; and that fome unhappy things had befallen him. If the prudence of fuch a man could not fhield him from misfortune, who can be exempted from it?— And from worthy women too!-That's the wonder-But is Olivia one of the worthy women?I fancy he must defpife us all. I fancy he will never think of incumbering himself with one of a fex, that has made him pay fo dear for the general diftinction he has met with from it. As to his politen efs |