Enter MANLY.
It must be so, Montague! and it is not all the tribe of Mandevilles
that shall convince me that a nation, to become great, must first
become dissipated. Luxury is surely the bane of a nation: Luxury!
which enervates both soul and body, by opening a thousand new sources
of enjoyment, opens, also, a thousand new sources of contention and
want: Luxury! which renders a people weak at home, and accessible to
bribery, corruption, and force from abroad. When the Grecian states
knew no other tools than the axe and the saw, the Grecians were a
great, a free, and a happy people. The kings of Greece devoted their
lives to the service of their country, and her senators knew no other
superiority over their fellow-citizens than a glorious pre-eminence in
danger and virtue. They exhibited to the world a noble spectacle,--a
number of independent states united by a similarity of language,
sentiment, manners, common interest, and common consent, in one grand
mutual league of protection. And, thus united, long might they have
continued the cherishers of arts and sciences, the protectors of the
oppressed, the scourge of tyrants, and the safe asylum of liberty. But
when foreign gold, and still more pernicious foreign luxury, had crept
among them, they sapped the vitals of their virtue. The virtues of
their ancestors were only found in their writings. Envy and suspicion,
the vices of little minds, possessed them. The various states
engendered jealousies of each other; and, more unfortunately, growing
jealous of their great federal council, the Amphictyons, they forgot
that their common safety had existed, and would exist, in giving them
an honourable extensive prerogative. The common good was lost in the
pursuit of private interest; and that people who, by uniting, might
have stood against the world in arms, by dividing, crumbled into
ruin;--their name is now only known in the page of the historian, and
what they once were is all we have left to admire. Oh! that America!
Oh! that my country, would, in this her day, learn the things which
belong to her peace!
Enter DIMPLE.
DIMPLE
You are Colonel Manly, I presume?
MANLY
At your service, Sir.
DIMPLE
My name is Dimple, Sir. I have the honour to be a lodger in the same
house with you, and, hearing you were in the Mall, came hither to take
the liberty of joining you.
MANLY
You are very obliging, Sir.
DIMPLE
As I understand you are a stranger here, Sir, I have taken the liberty
to introduce myself to your acquaintance, as possibly I may have it in
my power to point out some things in this city worthy your notice.
MANLY An attention to strangers is worthy a liberal mind, and must ever
be gratefully received. But to a soldier, who has no fixed abode, such
attentions are particularly pleasing.
DIMPLE
Sir, there is no character so respectable as that of a soldier. And,
indeed, when we reflect how much we owe to those brave men who have
suffered so much in the service of their country, and secured to us
those inestimable blessings that we now enjoy, our liberty and
independence, they demand every attention which gratitude can pay. For
my own part, I never meet an officer, but I embrace him as my friend,
nor a private in distress, but I insensibly extend my charity to
him.--I have hit the Bumkin off very tolerably.
[Aside.
MANLY
Give me your hand, Sir! I do not proffer this hand to everybody; but
you steal into my heart. I hope I am as insensible to flattery as most
men; but I declare (it may be my weak side) that I never hear the name
of soldier mentioned with respect, but I experience a thrill of
pleasure which I never feel on any other occasion.
DIMPLE
Will you give me leave, my dear Colonel, to confer an obligation on
myself, by shewing you some civilities during your stay here, and
giving a similar opportunity to some of my friends?
MANLY
Sir, I thank you; but I believe my stay in this city will be very short.
DIMPLE
I can introduce you to some men of excellent sense, in whose company
you will esteem yourself happy; and, by way of amusement, to some fine
girls, who will listen to your soft things with pleasure.
MANLY
Sir, I should be proud of the honour of being acquainted with those
gentlemen;--but, as for the ladies, I don't understand you.
DIMPLE
Why, Sir, I need not tell you, that when a young gentleman is alone
with a young lady he must say some soft things to her fair
cheek--indeed, the lady will expect it. To be sure, there is not much
pleasure when a man of the world and a finished coquette meet, who
perfectly know each other; but how delicious is it to excite the
emotions of joy, hope, expectation, and delight in the bosom of a
lovely girl who believes every tittle of what you say to be serious!
MANLY
Serious, Sir! In my opinion, the man who, under pretensions of
marriage, can plant thorns in the bosom of an innocent, unsuspecting
girl is more detestable than a common robber, in the same proportion as
private violence is more despicable than open force, and money of less
value than happiness.
DIMPLE
How he awes me by the superiority of his sentiments. [Aside.] As you
say, Sir, a gentleman should be cautious how he mentions marriage.
MANLY
Cautious, Sir! No person more approves of an intercourse between the
sexes than I do. Female conversation softens our manners, whilst our
discourse, from the superiority of our literary advantages, improves
their minds. But, in our young country, where there is no such thing
as gallantry, when a gentleman speaks of love to a lady, whether he
mentions marriage or not, she ought to conclude either that he meant to
insult her or that his intentions are the most serious and honourable.
How mean, how cruel, is it, by a thousand tender assiduities, to win
the affections of an amiable girl, and, though you leave her virtue
unspotted, to betray her into the appearance of so many tender
partialities, that every man of delicacy would suppress his inclination
towards her, by supposing her heart engaged! Can any man, for the
trivial gratification of his leisure hours, affect the happiness of a
whole life! His not having spoken of marriage may add to his perfidy,
but can be no excuse for his conduct.
DIMPLE
Sir, I admire your sentiments;--they are mine. The light observations
that fell from me were only a principle of the tongue; they came not
from the heart; my practice has ever disapproved these principles.
MANLY
I believe you, Sir. I should with reluctance suppose that those
pernicious sentiments could find admittance into the heart of a
gentleman.
DIMPLE
I am now, Sir, going to visit a family, where, if you please, I will
have the honour of introducing you. Mr. Manly's ward, Miss Letitia, is
a young lady of immense fortune; and his niece, Miss Charlotte Manly,
is a young lady of great sprightliness and beauty.
MANLY
That gentleman, Sir, is my uncle, and Miss Manly my sister.
DIMPLE
The devil she is! [Aside.] Miss Manly your sister, Sir? I rejoice to
hear it, and feel a double pleasure in being known to you.--Plague on
him! I wish he was at Boston again, with all my soul. [Aside.]
MANLY
Come, Sir, will you go?
DIMPLE
I will follow you in a moment, Sir. [Exit Manly.] Plague on it! this
is unlucky. A fighting brother is a cursed appendage to a fine girl.
Egad! I just stopped in time; had he not discovered himself, in two
minutes more I should have told him how well I was with his sister.
Indeed, I cannot see the satisfaction of an intrigue, if one can't have
the pleasure of communicating it to our friends. [Exit.
END OF THE THIRD ACT.