University of Virginia Library

SCENE IV.

Mrs. Briar enters.
Charlotte.
Dearest Mother,
O! help to break the Storm that's low'ring o'er me:
My unkind Father, tho he means me well,
Is tearing me from all that I hold dear
On Earth, except himself and you, he threatens
To rend me from my Freeman, from my Love.

Mrs. Briar.
With the Submission of an humble Wife,
With Earnestness I now intreat my Husband
To recollect the Vows he pay'd to me.
Had I, when of our Daughter's Age, been torn
From you, I shou'd not now, so well I know
My Heart, have liv'd to intercede for her.

Briar.
Dost thou imagine that thou lov'st the Girl
Better than I, or dost thou think thyself
More wise and able to contrive her Good
Than is thine Husband?

Mrs. Briar.
I am not so vain,
(For humble as my Fortune is my Mind,)
I'm not so vain, I say, to think myself
So wise and able to contrive as you;
Nor do I think my Love exceeds your own
For our dear Child; but I believe I know
The painful Workings of her tender Heart,
By what I well remember to have felt
Myself for you.

Briar.
Tho you do thwart my Will,
I cannot hate you; for you've always been
A good and an obedient Wife.

Charlotte.
Heaven give
Her Words Success.

[Aside.
Briar.
But if I once resolve,
Your Words are spent in vain, idly they pass
Like gentle Winds over the standing Corn,
Ruffle the Ears, but leave no Trace behind.
My Brother's Son shall make her soon a Bride:
I'm going to prepare her for her Journey;
Do you prepare the Girl to bear it well.

[He goes.