mons, I will get a license; and I will go to | she is most apparently void of all affecta sister, and take away the wench by force; and she shall ha' un, or I will lock her up, and keep her upon bread and water as long as she lives.' 'Mr. Western,' said Allworthy, 'shall I beg you will hear my full sentiments on this matter?''Hear thee! ay, to be sure I will,' answered he. 'Why, then, sir,' cries Allworthy, 'I can truly say, without a compliment either to you or the young lady, that when this match was proposed, I embraced it very readily and heartily, from my regard to you both. An alliance between two families so nearly neighbours, and between whom there had always existed so mutual an intercourse and good harmony, I thought a most desirable event; and with regard to the young lady, not only the concurrent opinion of all who knew her, but my own observation, assured me, that she would be an estimable treasure to a good husband. I shall say nothing of her personal qualifications, which certainly are admirable; her good-nature, her charitable disposition, her modesty, are too well known to need any panegyric: but she tion, this difference must be certainly real.' Here Blifil sighed bitterly; upon which Western, whose eyes were full of tears at the praise of Sophia, blubbered out, 'Don't be chicken-hearted, for shat ha' her; d-n me, shat ha' her, if she was twenty times as good.' 'Remember your promise, sir,' cried Allworthy, 'I was not to be interrupted.''Well, shat unt,' answered the squire; 'I won't speak another word.' No 'Now, my good friend,' continued Allworthy, 'I have dwelt so long on the merit of this young lady, partly as I really am in love with her character, and partly that fortune, (for the match in that light is really advantageous on my nephew's side,) might not be imagined to be my principal view in having so eagerly embraced the proposal. Indeed, I heartily wished to receive so great a jewel into my family; but though I may wish for many good things, I would not therefore steal them, or be guilty of violence or injustice to possess myself of them. Now, to force a woman into a marriage contrary to her consentor approbation, any hath one quality which existed in a high is an act of such injustice and oppression, that I wish the laws of our country could restrain it; but a good conscience is never lawless in the worst regulated state, and will provide those laws for itself, which the neglect of legislators hath forgotten to supply. This is surely a case of that kind; for is it not cruel, nay, impious, to force a woman into that state against her will, for her behaviour in which she is to be accountable to the highest and most dreadful court of judicature, and to answer at the peril of her soul? To discharge the matrimonial duties in an adequate manner is no easy task; and shall we lay this burden upon a woman, while we at the same time deprive her of all that assistance which may enable her to undergo it? Shall we tear her very heart from her, while we enjoin her duties to which a whole heart is scarce equal? I must speak very plainly here! I think degree in that best of women, who is now one of the first of angels, which, as it is not of a glaring kind, more commonly escapes observation; so little indeed it is remarked, that I want a word to express it. I must use negatives on this occasion. I never heard any thing of pertness, or what is called repartee, out of her mouth; no pretence to wit, much less to that kind of wisdom which is the result only of great learning and experience; the affectation of which, in a young woman, is as absurd as any of the affectations of an ape. No dictatorial sentiments, no judicial opinions, no profound criticisms. Whenever I have seen her in the company of men, she hath been all attention, with the modesty of a learner, not the forwardness of a teacher. You'll pardon me for it, but I once, to try her only, desired her opinion on a point which was controverted between Mr. parents who act in this manner are acces saries to all the guilt which their children afterwards incur; and of course must, before a just judge, expect to partake of their punishment; but if they could avoid this, good Heaven! is there a soul who can bear the thought of having contributed to the damnation of his child? Thwackum and Mr. Square. To which she answered with much sweetness, "You will pardon me, good Mr. Allworthy, I am sure you cannot in earnest think me capable of deciding any point in which two such gentlemen disagree." Thwackum and Square, who both alike thought themselves sure of a favourable decision, seconded my request. She answered, with the same good-humour, "I must absolutely be excused; for I will affront neither so much, I must decline any further thoughts of the For these reasons, my best neighbour, as I see the inclinations of this young lady are most unhappily averse to my nephew, honour you intended him, though I assure you, I shall always retain the most grateful sense of it.' as to give my judgment on his side." Indeed, she always showed the highest deference to the understanding of men; a quality absolutely essential to the making 'Well, sir,' said Western, (the froth of a good wife. I shall only add, that as bursting forth from his lips the moment they were uncorked,) 'you cannot say but in direct opposition to the will of their paI have heard you out, and now I expect rents. Besides, though the other ladies of you'll hear me; and if I don't answer every the family seem to favour the pretensions word on't, why then I'll consent to gee the matter up. First then, I desire you to answer me one question, did not I beget her? did not I beget her? answer me that. They say, indeed, it is a wise father that knows his own child; but I am sure I have the best title to her, for I bred her up. But I believe you will allow me to be her father; and if I be, am I not to govern my own child? I ask you that, am I not to govern my own child? and if I am to govern her in other matters, surely I am to govern her in this which concerns her most. And what am I desiring all this of my lord, I do not find the lady herself is inclined to give him any countenance; alas! I am too well assured she is not; I am too sensible that wickedest of men remains uppermost in her heart. 'Ay, ay, so he does,' cries Western. 'But surely,' says Blifil, 'when she hears of this murder which he hath committed, if the law should spare his life' 'What's that?" cries Western: 'murder! hath he committed a murder, and is there any hopes of seeing him hanged?Tol de rol, tol lol de rol.' Here he fell a singing and capering about the room. while? Am I desiring her to do any thing Child,' says Allworthy, 'this unhappy passion of yours distresses me beyond measure. I heartily pity you, and would do every fair thing to promote your success.' 'I desire no more,' cries Blifil: 'I am convinced my dear uncle hath a better opinion of me than to think that I myself would accept of more.' for me? to give me any thing? Zu much on t'other side, that I am only desiring her to take away half my estate now, and t'other half when I die. Well, and what is it all vor? Why is unt it to make her happy? It's enough to make one mad to hear volks talk. If I was going to marry myself, then she should ha' reason to cry and to blubber; but, on the contrary, han't I offered to bind down my land in zuch a manner, that I could not marry if I would, zeeing as narro' woman upon earth would ha' me. What the devil in hell can I do 'Well, well,' cries the squire, 'nothing more? I contribute to her damnation!- of that kind shall be attempted; we will Zounds! I'd zee all the world d-n'd bevore her little vinger should be hurt. Indeed, Mr. Allworthy, you must excuse me, but I am surprised to hear you talk in zuch a manner; and I must say, take it how you will, that I thought you had more sense.' Allworthy resented this reflection only 'Lookee,' says Allworthy, 'you have my leave to write, to visit, if she will permit it, but I insist on no thoughts of violence. I will have no confinement, nothing of that kind attempted.' try a little longer what fair means will effect; and if this fellow be but hanged out of the way-Tol lol de rol! I never heard better news in my life-I warrant every thing goes to my mind. Do, prithee, dear Allworthy, come and dine with me at the Hercules Pillars: I have bespoke a shoul with a smile; nor could he, if he would der of mutton roasted, and a spare rib of have endeavoured it, have conveyed into that smile any mixture of malice or contempt. His smiles at folly were indeed such as we may suppose the angels bestow on the absurdities of mankind. Blifil now desired to be permitted to speak a few words. As to using any violence on the young lady, I am sure I shall never consent to it. My conscience will not permit me to use violence on any one, much less on a lady, for whom, however cruel she is to me, I shall always preserve the purest and sincerest affection; but yet I have read, that women are seldom proof against perseverance. Why may I not he, then, by such perseverance, at last to gain those inclinations, in which for the future I shall, perhaps, have no rival? for as for this lord, Mr. Western is so kind to prefer me to him; and sure, sir, you will not deny but that a parent hath at least a negative voice in these matters; nay, I have heard this very young lady herself say so more than once, and declare, that she thought children inexcusable who married pork, and a fowl and egg-sauce. There will be nobody but ourselves, unless we have a mind to have the landlord; for I have sent Parson Supple down to Basingstoke, after my tobacco-box, which I left at an inn there, and I would not lose it for the world; for it is an old acquaintance for above twenty years standing. I can tell you, landlord is a vast comical bitch; you will like un hugely.' Mr. Allworthy at last agreed to this invitation, and soon after the squire went off, singing and capering at the hopes of seeing the speedy tragical end of poor Jones. When he was gone, Mr. Allworthy resumed the aforesaid subject with much gravity. He told his nephew, 'He wished, with all his heart, he would endeavour to conquer a passion, in which I cannot,' says he, flatter you with any hopes of succeeding. It is certainly a vulgar error, that aversion in a woman may be conquered by perseverance. Indifference may, perhaps, sometimes yield to it; but the usual triumphs gained by perseverance in a lover, are, over caprice, prudence, affectation, her own chamber, and rarely escapes a sin and often an exorbitant degree of levity, which excites women, not overwarm in their constitutions, to indulge their vanity by prolonging the time of courtship, even when they are well enough pleased with the object, and resolve, (if they ever resolve at all,) to make him a very pitiful amends in the end. But a fixed dislike, as I am afraid this is, will rather gather strength, than be conquered by time. Besides, my dear, I have another apprehension which you must excuse. I am afraid this passion which you have for this fine young creature, hath her beautiful person too much for its object, and is unworthy of the name of that love which is the only foundation of matrimonial felicity. To admire, to like, and to long, for the possession of a beautiful woman, without any regard to her sentiments towards us, is, I am afraid, too natural; but love, I believe, is the child of love only; at least, I am pretty confident, that to love the creature, who, we are assured, hates us, is not in human nature. Examine your heart, therefore, thoroughly, my good boy, and if, upon examination, you have but the least suspicion of this kind, I am sure your own virtue and religion will impel you to drive so vicious a passion from your heart, and your good sense will soon enable you to do it without pain.' The reader may pretty well guess Blifil's answer; but if he should be at a loss, we are not, at present, at leisure to satisfy him, as our history now hastens on to matters of higher importance, and we can no longer bear to be absent from Sophia. gle season from the jaws of some devourer or other; for if her friends protect her from some, it is only to deliver her over to one of their own choosing, often more disagreeable to her than any of the rest; while whole herds or flocks of other women securely, and scarce regarded, traverse the park, the play, the opera, and the assembly; and though, for the most part at least, they are at last devoured, yet for a long time they wanton in liberty, without disturbance or control. Of all these paragons, none ever tasted more of this persecution than poor Sophia. Her ill stars were not contented with all she had suffered on account of Blifil, they now raised her another pursuer, who seemed likely to torment her no less than the other had done. For though her aunt was less violent, she was no less assiduous in teazing her, than her father had been before. Th The servants were no sooner departed after dinner, than Mrs. Western, who had opened the matter to Sophia, informed her, 'That she expected his lordship that very afternoon, and intended to take the first opportunity of leaving her alone with him.'If you do, madam,' answered Sophia, with some spirit, 'I shall take the first opportunity of leaving him by himself.' - How, madam!' cries the aunt: 'is this the return you make me for my kindness, in relieving you from your confinement at your father's?'-'You know, madam,' said Sophia, 'the cause of that confinement was a refusal to comply with my father, in accepting a man I detested; and will my dear aunt, who hath relieved me from that distress, involve me in another equally bad?? -'And do you think, then, madam,' answered Mrs. Western, 'that there is no difference between my Lord Fellamar, and Mr. Blifil? Very little, in my opinion,' cries Sophia; 'and if I must be condemned to one, I would certainly have the merit of sacrificing myself to my father's pleasure.' ، Then my pleasure, I find,' said the aunt, hath very little weight with you; but that consideration shall not move me. I act THE lowing heifer, and the bleating ewe, in herds and flocks, may ramble safe and unregarded through the pastures. These are, indeed, hereafter doomed to be the prey of man; yet many years are they suffered to enjoy their liberty undisturbed. But if from nobler motives. The view of aggrana plump doe be discovered to have escaped dizing my family, of ennobling yourself, is from the forest, and to repose herself in what I proceed upon. Have you no sense some field or grove, the whole parish is pre- of ambition? Are there no charms in the no imputation on mine. I will never suffer | father luckily came in at that instant, or the world to say of me, that I encouraged Heaven knows what rudeness he intended sently alarmed, every man is ready to set his dogs after her; and if she is preserved from the rest by the good squire, it is only that he may secure her for his own eating. I have often considered a very fine young woman of fortune and fashion, when first found strayed from the pale of her nursery, to be in pretty much the same situation with this doe. The town is immediately in an uproar, she is hunted from park to play, from court to assembly, from assembly to thoughts of having a coronet on your coach?'-' None, upon my honour,' said Sophia. ' A pincushion upon my coach would please me just as well.' 'Never mention honour,' cries the aunt. 'It becomes not the mouth of such a wretch. I am sorry, niece, you force me to use these words; but I cannot bear your grovelling temper; you have none of the blood of the Westerns in you. But, however mean and base your own ideas are, you shall bring you in refusing one of the best matches in England; a match, which, besides its advantage in fortune, would do honour to almost any family; and hath, indeed, in title, the advantage of ours.''Surely,' says Sophia, 'I am born deficient, and have not the senses with which other people are blessed; there must be certainly some sense which can relish the delights of sound and show, which I have not; for surely mankind would not labour so much, nor sacrifice so much, for the obtaining, nor would they be so elate and proud with possessing, what appeared to them, as it doth to me, the most insignificant of all trifles.' 'No, no, miss,' cries the aunt; 'you are born with as many senses as other people; but, I assure you, you are not born with a sufficient understanding to make a fool of me, or to expose my conduct to the world: so I declare thus to you upon my word, and you know, I believe, how fixed my resolutions are, unless you agree to see his lordship this afternoon, I will, with my own hands, deliver you to-morrow morning to my brother, and will never henceforth interfere with you, nor see your face again.' Sophia stood a few moments silent after this speech, which was uttered in a most angry and peremptory tone; and then, bursting into tears, she cried, 'Do with me, madam, whatever you please: I am the most miserable undone wretch upon earth; if my dear aunt forsakes me, where shall I look for a protector?" - 'My dear niece,' cries she, 'you will have a very good protector in his lordship; a protector, whom nothing but a hankering after that vile fellow Jones can make you decline.'-'Indeed, madam,' said Sophia, 'you wrong me. How can you imagine, after what you have shown me, if I had ever any such thoughts, that I should not banish them for ever? If it will satisfy you, I will receive the sacrament upon it, never to see his face again.'-'But, child, dear child,' said the aunt, be reasonable: can you invent a single objection?" -'I have already, I think, told you a sufficient objection,' answered Sophia. 'What,' cries the aunt; 'I remember none.' - 'Sure, madam,' said Sophia, 'I told you he had to have proceeded to.' - 'I am astonished and confounded,' cries the aunt. 'No woman of the name of Western hath been ever treated so, since we were a family. I would have torn the eyes of a prince out, if he had attempted such freedoms with me. It is impossible! sure, Sophia, you must invent this to raise my indignation against him.' - 'I hope, madam,' said Sophia, 'you have too good an opinion of me, to imagine me capable of telling an untruth. Upon my soul it is true.' - 'I should have stabbed him to the heart, had I been present,' returned the aunt. Yet surely he could have no dishonourable design: it is impossible! he durst not: besides, his proposals show he had not: for they are not only honourable, but generous. I don't know; the age allows too great freedoms. A distant salute is all I would have allowed before the ceremony. I have had lovers formerly, not so long ago neither; several lovers, though I never would consent to marriage, and I never encouraged the least freedom. It is a foolish custom, and what I never would agree to. No man kissed more of me than my cheek. It is as much as one can bring one's self to give lips up to a husband; and, indeed, could I ever have been persuaded to marry, I believe I should not have soon been brought to endure so much.' 'You will pardon me, dear madam,' said Sophia, 'if I make one observation: you own you have had many lovers, and the world knows it, even if you should deny it. You refused them all, and, I am convinced, one coronet at least among them.'-'You say true, dear Sophy,' answered she; 'I had once the offer of a title.'-' Why, then,' said Sophia, 'will you not suffer me to refuse this once?"-'It is true, child,' said she, 'I have refused the offer of a title; but it was not so good an offer; that is, not so very, very good an offer.'-' Yes, madam,' said Sophia; 'but you have had very great proposals from men of vast fortunes. It was not the first, nor the second, nor the third, advantageous match that offered itself.''I own it was not,' said she. 'Well, madam,' continued Sophia, 'and why may better than this? You are now but a young woman, and, I am convinced, would not promise to yield to the first lover, of fortune, nay, or of title too. I am a very young woman, and sure I need not despair.' - Well, my dear, dear Sophy,' cries the aunt, what would you have me say?"'Why, I only beg that I may not be left alone, at least, this evening: grant me that, used me in the rudest and vilest manner.'- I not expect to have a second, perhaps, 'Indeed, child,' answered she, 'I never heard you, or did not understand you: but what do you mean by this rude, vile manner?'--'Indeed, madam,' said Sophia, 'I am almost ashamed to tell you. He caught me in his arms, pulled me down upon the settee, and thrust his hand into my bosom, and kissed it with such violence that I have the mark upon my left breast at this mo ment.' 'Indeed!" said Mrs. Western. 'Yes, and I will submit, if you think, after what indeed, madam,' answered Sophia: 'my is passed, I ought to see him in your com pany.'-'Well, I will grant it,' cries the aunt. Sophy, you know I love you, and can deny you nothing. You know the easiness of my nature; I have not always been so easy. I have been formerly of compassion is not to be numbered among our general faults. The black ingredient which fouls our disposition is envy. Hence our eye is seldom, I am afraid, turned upward to those who are manifestly greater, thought cruel: by the men, I mean. I was better, wiser, or happier, than ourselves, called the cruel Parthenissa. I have broke many a window that has had verses to the cruel Parthenissa on it. Sophy, I was never so handsome as you, and yet I had something of you formerly. I am a little altered. Kingdoms and states, as Tully Cicero says in his epistles, undergo dergo alterations, and so must the human form.' Thus without some degree of malignity; while we commonly look downwards on the mean and miserable, with sufficient benevolence and pity. In fact, I have remarked, that most of the defects which have discovered themselves in the friendships within my observation, have arisen from envy only; hellish vice; and yet one from which I have a run she on for near half an hour upon her-known very few absolutely exempt. But self, and her conquests, and her cruelty, till the arrival of my lord; who, after a most tedious visit, during which Mrs. Western never once offered to leave the room, retired, not much more satisfied with the aunt, than with the niece. For Sophia had brought her aunt into so excellent a temper, that she consented to almost every thing her niece said; and agreed, that little distant behaviour might not be improper to so forward a lover. a enough of a subject, which, if pursued, would lead me too far. Whether it was that Fortune was apprehensive lest Jones should sink under the weight of his adversity, and that she might thus lose any future opportunity of tormenting him; or whether she really abated somewhat of her severity towards him, she seemed a little to relax her persecution, by sending him the company of two such faithful friends, and what is, perhaps, more rare, a faithful servant. For Partridge, though Thus Sophia, by a little well-directed flattery, for which surely none will blame he had many imperfections, wanted not her, obtained a little ease for herself, and, fidelity; and though fear would not suffer at least, put off the evil day. And now we him to be hanged for his master, yet the have seen our heroine in a better situation world, I believe, could not have bribed him than she hath been for a long time before, to desert his cause. we will look a little after Mr. Jones, whom we left in the most deplorable situation that can well be imagined. WHEN Mr. Allworthy and his nephew went to meet Mr. Western, Mrs. Miller set forwards to her son-in-law's lodgings, in order to acquaint him with the accident which had befallen his friend Jones: but he had known it long before from Partridge, (for Jones, when he left Mrs. Miller, had been furnished with a room in the same house with Mr. Nightingale.) The good woman found her daughter under great affliction on the account of Mr. Jones, whom having comforted as well as she could, she set forwards to the Gatehouse, where she heard he was, and where Mr. Nightingale was arrived before her. The firmness and constancy of a true friend is a circumstance so extremely delightful to persons in any kind of distress, that the distress itself, if it be only temporary, and admits of relief, is more than compensated by bringing this comfort with it. Nor are instances of this kind so rare, as some superficial and inaccurate observers have reported. To say the truth, want While Jones was expressing great satisfaction in the presence of his friends, Partridge brought an account that Mr. Fitzpatrick was still alive, though the surgeon declared that he had very little hopes. Upon which Jones fetching a deep sigh, Nightingale said to him, 'My dear Tom, why should you afflict yourself so upon an accident, which, whatever be the consequence, can be attended with no danger to you, and in which your conscience cannot accuse you of having been in the least to blame. If the fellow should die, what have you done more than taken away the life of a ruffian in your own defence? So will the coroner's inquest certainly find it; and then you will be easily admitted to bail; and though you must undergo the form of a trial, yet it is a trial which many men would stand for you for a shilling.'-'Come, come, Mr. Jones,' says Mrs. Miller, 'cheer yourself up. I knew you could not be the aggressor, and so I told Mr. Allworthy, and so he shall acknowledge too, before I have done with him.' Jones gravely answered, 'That whatever might be his fate, he should always lament the having shed the blood of one of his fellow-creatures, as one of the highest misfortunes which could have befallen him. But I have another misfortune of the tenderest kind. O! Mrs. Miller, I have lost what I held most dear upon earth.'-'That |