University of Virginia Library

SCENE VIII.

Briar's House.
Y. Freeman and Briar.
Y. Freeman.
Once more I tell you, Sir, with Truth assure you,
That what my Mother did was all unknown
To us.

Briar.
It may be so; yet shall my Child
Ne'er be subjected to her hateful Pride,
Who, in her peevish Moods, wou'd ev'ry Day
Upbraid her with her Father's Lowlyness;
And who wou'd let her know that all she wears
Is but the Badge of Charity. Rather
Than match my Girl to Wretchedness like that,
I'd throw her on the barren Heath to dwell
In a poor homely Hut, thatch'd by the Hands
Of her laborious Husband, whose hard Toil
Shou'd be their chief Support, while she at Home
Plys, from the morning to the ev'ning Sun,
The Spinning-Wheel, a constant household Drudge.

Y. Freeman.
My Mother now repents her Rashness, and
Wishes to call your Child her own.

Briar.
Which she
Shall never do: I thank her for her Visit;
For she by that has shew'd me what a Fury
My poor Child has escap'd.

Y. Freeman.
With the Respect
Due to the Fountain of my Charlotte's Life—

Briar.
Your Eloquence, young Man, will now be vain:
All you can say to me no more can move me
Than can contending Winds remove a Mountain.

Y. Freeman.
Since my Intreatys fail, I must demand.
Restore to me my Wife, my Virgin Wife,
Whom yester Sun, with an unclouded Face,
Beheld in Wedlock's Bands to Freeman join'd.

Briar.
O! this is well, you pillage first my Fold,
And then with an undaunted Brow demand
The Lamb that I've retaken from the Thief.
The Negligence with which you've treated me,
By daring to seduce my Child to Marriage,
Without so much as asking my Consent,
Shews me in what mean Light you place her Father:
But know, unthinking Youth, this Disrespect
Throws thee as far from my Regard as is
The West from East; and I will part my Daughter,
If I am able, I will part her from you,
As far asunder as the North and South.

Y. Freeman.
You can as soon drive from the Stars their Brightness,
As from my Charlotte's Thoughts expel her Freeman;
Where-e'er she is, she will be always mine;
You can as soon make Vice and Virtue one,
As you can make my lov'd, my faithful, Bride
Bestow her Heart or Hand on any other:
She is my Wife, and, dow'rless as she is,
More lov'd by me than by the Eye the Light,
Or by the Ear than is the Charmer's Voice:
I go, but I shall come to you again,
And make you render up a true Account
Of the great Treasure you withhold from me.

[He goes.