University of Virginia Library

SCENE II.

Mrs. Freeman enters.
Briar.
Madam, this unexpected Visit here—

Mrs. Freeman.
No slight Occasion wou'd have brought me here.
My Husband has inform'd me that my Son
Has, in the lavish Moments of his Love,
Made to your Girl an Off'ring of his Heart.

Briar.
And you are come to make us sensible
Of the great Honour which you now intend us.

Mrs. Freeman.
An Honour that's too great for you or her.

Briar.
Believe me, Madam, you are too presuming.
Whate'er your Bus'ness is, tell it in Words
As plain as is the Man to whom you speak.

Charlotte.
O! my poor Heart on what a Wreck thou'rt thrown!

(To herself.
Mrs. Freeman.
Then plainly my Design is this, to tell you
That your Thoughts soar above your low Condition.
Whate'er my Son's misguided Love may be,
Whate'er his Father's Resolution is,
Your Daughter ne'er must wed a Son of mine.
Look round about you, and you soon may find
A Husband for the Girl that suits her Birth
Among the lab'ring honest Hinds of Kent.

Charlotte.
Alas! whatever is my humble Lot,
Eternal Blessings be on Freeman's Head!

[She weeps.
Briar.
Waste not a Tear, my Child.—Woman be gone;
Civility to thee wou'd be a Crime.
Know that my Daughter, cloath'd by Nature's Hand
With artless Beauty, and adorn'd with Truth
And Modesty, wou'd grace thy Family
With such a Picture of the female Sex
As never yet it saw.

Mrs. Freeman.
I tell thee, Man—

Briar.
I tell thee, Woman, I will hear no more.
Your own unmeaning Pride was the first Cause
Of all my Hate to Freeman's Family,
Which has encreas'd with Time, and now is fix'd,
Fast as the Roots of Oaks, in Briar's Heart.
As for my Child, she shall this Day be sent
Where Freeman's Son shall ne'er behold her more.
Away, my Ears are deaf to your Reply.

[He thrusts her out.