The Project Gutenberg eBook ofThe Female Wits

The Project Gutenberg eBook ofThe Female WitsThis ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.Title: The Female WitsAuthor: AnonymousEditor: Lucyle HookRelease date: September 27, 2011 [eBook #37546]Language: EnglishCredits: Produced by Chris Curnow, Katie Hernandez, Joseph Cooperand the Online Distributed Proofreading Team athttp://www.pgdp.net*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FEMALE WITS ***

This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.

Title: The Female WitsAuthor: AnonymousEditor: Lucyle HookRelease date: September 27, 2011 [eBook #37546]Language: EnglishCredits: Produced by Chris Curnow, Katie Hernandez, Joseph Cooperand the Online Distributed Proofreading Team athttp://www.pgdp.net

Title: The Female Wits

Author: AnonymousEditor: Lucyle Hook

Author: Anonymous

Editor: Lucyle Hook

Release date: September 27, 2011 [eBook #37546]

Language: English

Credits: Produced by Chris Curnow, Katie Hernandez, Joseph Cooperand the Online Distributed Proofreading Team athttp://www.pgdp.net

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FEMALE WITS ***

(1704)

Introduction byLUCYLE HOOK

PUBLICATION NUMBER 124

WILLIAM ANDREWS CLARK MEMORIAL LIBRARY

University of California, Los Angeles

1967

George Robert Guffey,University of California, Los AngelesEarl Miner,University of California, Los AngelesMaximillian E. Novak,University of California, Los AngelesRobert Vosper,William Andrews Clark Memorial Library

Richard C. Boys,University of MichiganJames L. Clifford,Columbia UniversityRalph Cohen,University of California, Los AngelesVinton A. Dearing,University of California, Los AngelesArthur Friedman,University of ChicagoLouis A. Landa,Princeton UniversitySamuel H. Monk,University of MinnesotaEverett T. Moore,University of California, Los AngelesLawrence Clark Powell,William Andrews Clark Memorial LibraryJames Sutherland,University College, LondonH. T. Swedenberg, Jr.,University of California, Los Angeles

Edna C. Davis,William Andrews Clark Memorial Library

The Female Wits; Or, The Triumvirate of Poets at Rehearsal, published anonymously in 1704 with "written by Mr. W. M." on the titlepage, was played at the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane around October, 1696.[1]A devastating satire in the manner of Buckingham'sThe Rehearsal, it attacks all plays by women playwrights but Mary de la Riviere Manley's blood and thunder female tragedy,The Royal Mischief(1696), in particular.The Female WitsresemblesThe Rehearsalin that the satire is directed not only at the subject matter and style of a particular type of drama but supplies searing portrayals of recognizable persons—in this case, of Mrs. Manley herself, and to a lesser degree, of Mary Pix and Catherine Trotter (later Cockburn). It also follows Buckingham's satire in that the actors play double roles—that of the characters assigned to them and their own—and in so doing, reveal their own personalities with astonishing clarity.

Colley Cibber tells the best stories of the chaos that ensued after the secession of Betterton and most of the veteran actors in 1695 from the dominance of Christopher Rich at Drury Lane.[2]Since Betterton had been virtual dictator in London since 1682, he was able to command the efforts, at least at first, of most of the well-known playwrights who had written for the company before the establishment of his theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields. Young playwrights scrambled to ingratiate themselves with one or the other of the two London managements. Among them, there had been three women with four plays in less than a year.

When Mrs. Manley arrived upon the dramatic scene with her first play,The Lost Lover; Or, The Jealous Husband, in March, 1696, she bore the brunt of a growing criticism against a surfeit of female plays. But when she protested in the preface of the printed version that "I think my Treatment much severer than I deserv'd; I am satisfied the bare Name of being a Woman's Play damn'd it beyond its own want of Merit," she took upon herself the combined animus of the masculine critics. In the same preface, she challenged them boldly with "Once more, my OffendedJudges, I am to appear before you, once more in possibility of giving you the like Damning Satisfaction; there is a Tragedy of mine Rehearsing, which 'tis too late to recall, I consent it meet with the same Fortune." The other play wasThe Royal Mischief.

One learns fromThe Female Witsthat Mrs. Manley considered herself privileged at Drury Lane, thatThe Royal Mischiefhad gone into rehearsal, but that her imperious manner had alienated the actors who laughed at her dramatic pretentions; and that she had stormed out of the Theatre Royal vowing never again to honor them with her works. After much bickering among patrons, patentees, players, and playwright,The Royal Mischiefwas finally presented by the newly formed Betterton company at Lincoln's Inn Fields in May, 1696, instead of by the company of actors led by George Powell at the rival Drury Lane Theatre. At least, this is what is represented inThe Female Wits, and although highly exaggerated, it is essentially true. The time: March or April, 1696.

The Female Witsis correctly compared in its preface to the satiric masterpiece which had been written as a corrective to the bombastic tragedy supplied by Dryden, Howard, and others in the early years of the Restoration. WithThe Rehearsal, Buckingham and his fellow wits had supposedly succeeded in laughing heroic tragedy into oblivion in the 1670's. By the 1690's, another type of heroic drama, equally unrealistic but tinged with sentimentality, was enjoying a certain success. The chief purveyors of this new drama which pleased the Ladies were a group of women who seemed impervious to masculine criticism. In the 1690's, therefore, another set of self-appointed critics evidently dedicated itself to laughing the female authors off the stage.A Comparison between the Two Stages, an anonymous satirical summary of drama from 1695 to 1702, echoes the attitude of the author ofThe Female Witstoward women playwrights. WhenThe Lost Lover, Mrs. Manley's first play, is brought up for discussion, Critick demands

What occasion had you to name a Lady in the confoundedWork you're about?

Sullen: Here's a Play of hers.Critick: The Devil there is: I wonder in my Heart we are so lostto all Sense and Reason: What a Pox have the Women todo with the Muses? I grant you the Poets call the NineMuses by the Names of Women, but why so? not becausethe Sex had any thing to do with Poetry, but because inthe Sex they're much fitter for prostitution.Rambler: Abusive, now you're abusive, Mr. Critick.Critick: Sir, I tell you we are abus'd: I hate these Petticoat-Authors;'tis false Grammar, there's no Feminine for theLatin word, 'tis entirely of the Masculine Gender.... Let'em scribble on, till they can serve all the Pastry-cooksin Town, the Tobacconists and Grocers with Waste-paper[3].

AlthoughThe Royal Mischiefwas the immediate pretext forThe Female Wits, the true cause of the attack was the surprising success of the women playwrights with the Ladies in the boxes who were beginning to enjoy the "Solace of Tears" and to dominate theatrical taste in the middle 1690's. After Aphra Behn's death in 1689, a shattering blow to rising feminism, women had not ventured thus far to write for the stage. Mrs. Behn, however, was still a powerful influence, and her name was invoked by every woman who put pen to paper.

Mrs. Manley openly aspired to be a second Astrea. Certainly there are striking similarities. As in Aphra Behn's case, nothing Mrs. Manley ever wrote as drama or fiction could equal the events of her own life[4]. Her father died when she was fourteen, leaving her in the care of a cousin who took her inheritance, went through a sham marriage with her, abandoned her before their child was born, and left her to starve before she was sixteen. She was befriended by Barbara Castlemaine, Duchess of Cleveland, the notorious former mistress of Charles II, whose character Mrs. Manley draws as Hillaria inThe Adventures of Rivella(1714), and whose lineaments are certainly to be seen in the character of Homais in the warmer passages ofThe Royal Mischief. After Mrs. Manley's cruel dismissal by the Duchess, by her own account she spent two years wandering unknown from place to place in England, and during this time, she wrote plays for her diversion.

During the 1690's, despite the supposition of some modern critics that heroic tragedy was out of style, the great classics of the three preceding decades continued to be played by the Betterton company in whose stock repertory they had been since their inception: Lee'sThe Rival Queens, Banks'The UnhappyFavourite, Otway'sVenice Preserv'd, and many of Dryden's (The Indian Emperour,The Conquest of Granada,All for Love). In fact, Dryden was still writing and pleasing audiences with tragicomedies that contained the ingredients of the old heroic tragedy. Since the same company of actors was presenting the old plays (indeed, most of the actors were still playing their original roles), the histrionic magic of the early tragic hero could still lift an audience to the empyrean heights reached in the heady first years of the restoration of Charles II. If there is anything strange in Mrs. Manley'sThe Royal Mischiefin 1696, it is not that it was an heroic play but that the leading character was a woman, Homais, who out-hectors and out-loves all of the Restoration Alexanders, Montezumas, and Drawcansirs written for and by men.

If her own account ofThe Royal Mischiefis true, Mrs. Manley wrote it after she left the household of the Duchess of Cleveland, some time between 1692 and 1694. Since there was only one theatre in London from 1682 to 1695, she wrote for Thomas Betterton, Elizabeth Barry, Anne Bracegirdle, Edward Kynaston, and other veterans in the Betterton company, who were the prototypes for the characters in the early heroic plays. She could have known no others. When Betterton seceded from the Theatre Royal in 1695 and set up the independent theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields, Mrs. Manley, already committed to Drury Lane because of her first play, gave Drury LaneThe Royal Mischiefeven though it had been written for the Betterton company. Circumstances, then, dictated thatThe Royal Mischiefwas finally played by the actors for whom it had been written originally.

It is likely, however, thatThe Female Witswould never have been written if Thomas Betterton had not aggravated the situation by producingThe Royal Mischiefas quickly as possible after Mrs. Manley had withdrawn it from Drury Lane under such provocative circumstances. It was played immediately at Lincoln's Inn Fields in April or May, 1696, seemingly at the insistence of the Duke of Devonshire to whom Mrs. Manley dedicated it. When it was published in June, the author was supported by her sister playwrights in commendatory verses included with the play. Catherine Trotter possibly earned her inclusion inThe Female Witswhen she wrote,

You were our Champion, and the Glory ours.Well you've maintain'd our equal right in Fame,To which vain Man had quite engrost the claim:

Mary Pix confirmed her place in the satire with her panegyric:

You the unequal'd wonder of the Age,Pride of our Sex, and Glory of the Age,Like Sappho Charming, like Afra Eloquent,Like Chast Orinda, sweetly Innocent.

Mrs. Manley minced no words in the printed version in answer to the flurry of criticism that had greetedThe Royal Mischiefwhen it was played: "I should not have given my self and the Town the trouble of a Preface if the aspersions of my Enemies had not made it necessary." According to her, in spite of "ill nature, Envy, and Detraction,"The Royal Mischiefwas successful (it had a run of six nights) even though some of the ladies professed to be shocked at "the warmth of it, as they are pleas'd to call it.... I do not doubt when the Ladies have given themselves the trouble of reading, and comparing it with others, they'll find the prejudice against our Sex, and not refuse me the satisfaction of entertaining them...." Everything Mrs. Manley wrote, however, simply added to the ridicule that had been mounting against women playwrights, andThe Female Witsis merely the distillation of the general attitude of the self-appointed critics and wits at the Rose and the Grecian, at Maynwaring's and at Will's.

In defendingThe Royal Mischiefand its reception, she said of the actress who played the unbelievably wicked Homais: "... Mrs. Barry, who by all that saw her, is concluded to have exceeded that perfection which before she was justly thought to have arrived at; my Obligations to her were the greater, since against her own approbation, she excell'd and made the part of an ill Woman, not only entertaining, but admirable." Years later inThe Adventures of Rivella, she was to say, "Mrs. Barry distinguish'd herself as much as in any Part that ever she play'd. I have since heard Rivella laugh and wonder that a Man of Mr. Betterton's grave Sense and Judgment should think well enough of the Productions of a Woman of Eighteen, to bring it upon the Stage in so handsome a Manner as he did...."[5]

It is easy to believe Mrs. Manley's high commendation of the actress but difficult to credit Mrs. Barry's objection to playing a part that was a natural sequel to all the heroic and sometimes wicked women she had played throughout her career. Her audience identified her with Lee's Roxana inThe Rival Queens, Dryden's Cleopatra inAll for Love, and his recent Cassandra inCleomenes. Every playwright since 1680 had written expressly for her: Otway's Monimia inThe Orphanwas her first great part in 1680, followed two years later by Belvidera inVenice Preserv'd. Southerne had given her Isabella inThe Fatal Marriagein 1694, Congreve was still to write for her his Zara inThe Mourning Bridein 1697, and Rowe his Calista inThe Fair Penitentin 1703. Cibber, in 1740, remembered her "Presence of elevated Dignity ... her Voice full, clear, and strong, so that no Violence of Passion could be too much for her." He emphasized that in "Scenes of Anger, Defiance, or Resentment, while she was impetuous, and terrible, she pour'd out the Sentiment with an enchanting Harmony."[6]

Mrs. Barry's ability and her strength of voice in expressing the passions led to the full development of the rant, which was the test of the dramatic actress as the aria is the test of the opera singer. Ordinarily in a tragedy, there were two: one, the melodious expression of unattainable love in the first part of the play, and the second in the death scene, usually of raving madness. InThe Royal Mischief, there are at least six major rants, each more powerful and surprising than the one preceding it. If Mrs. Barry's ability was ever tested, it was with Mrs. Manley's Homais.

The story is that of another Messalina. Homais, married to the unloved Prince of Libardian, had had many lovers in her progress to the throne of Phasia: among them, Ismael, who had remained her creature and is willing to kill the Prince for one more night's favors. Even her eunuch Acmat is more than a mere pander to her desire for her husband's nephew, Levan Dadian, whom she has never seen but for whom she writhes nightly upon her bed in erotic desire, stimulated only by his life size picture and secondhand descriptions of him. She conspires with Acmat to inflame Levan Dadian with desire for her (her portrait was enough) and to bring about a meeting even though that prince was bringing home with him his virtuous bride, Bassima, princess of Colchis. Herproposal to enslave Levan Dadian might have been difficult if it had not been for the fact that years before, during a war between Phasia and Colchis, Osman, great general and now Chief Vizier to the Prince of Libardian, had captured Bassima, fallen in love with her (and she with him), but without a word on either side before and after he had freed her, they had remained platonically true to each other in spite of the passage of years, Osman's marriage to Selima, sister of his Prince, the offer (and rejection) of Homais' love, and of Bassima's recent marriage to Levan Dadian. When Levan Dadian brings Bassima to court, the recognition between Osman and Bassima is endured in silence, but the trusting Osman bares his heart to Homais' creature Ismael, who inflames the hitherto platonic Osman with unholy desire for the pure Bassima. The wily Acmat insinuates distrust for Bassima into Levan Dadian's heart at the same time that he inspires lust for Homais and brings about the promised meeting. Homais immediately sets about disposing of everyone who stands in her way. The Prince of Libardian is to be dispatched by Ismael. Osman is to be accused of infidelity with Bassima, who is to be poisoned by Ismael. Word of this gets to Osman, who urges Bassima to flee with or without him, but she refuses because her virtue would be called into question in either case. But plans go awry, the Prince is not dispatched, and while Levan Dadian is absent, Homais is seized by her husband and given the choice of drinking poison or submitting to death by the bow-string. She charms him out of killing her, and he, overcome by her beauty, weakly believes her promises and sets her free to pursue her wickedness.

Bassima, however, has been poisoned and is dying when Osman comes to her, urging the consumation of their passion then and there, before it is too late. Her gentle refusal to stray from virtue on her deathbed awakens him from his unplatonic spell, and he begs forgiveness but is interrupted in the middle of his contrite speech, led away, crammed alive into a cannon, and shot off. The soldiers, led by Ismael, revolt in favor of Homais and declare her queen. For a heady moment, she has attained her every desire as she stands exulting over the dying Bassima, whose husband is somewhat disturbed by the turn ofevents but whose attention is diverted when Homais takes him in her arms. But at the height of her triumph, the Prince burst in, sword in hand, and runs Homais through before she can change his mind. Unrepenting to the end, she goes to her death and into her final rant with defiance on her lovely lusty lips as she ticks off the men in her life one by one. In the last three minutes, Osman's faithful but jealous wife gathers his smoking remains, Levan Dadian falls on his sword, and the Prince of Libardian ends the play with

O horrour, horrour, horrour!What Mischief two fair Guilty Eyes have wrought;Let Lovers all look here, and shun the Dotage.To Heaven my dismal Thoughts shall straight be turn'd,And all these sad Dissasters truly mourn'd.

There is no need to point out thatThe Royal Mischiefinvited parody. Everything was in excess. No woman had ever been so lustfully wicked as Homais (played by Elizabeth Barry), no heroine so pure as Bassima (Anne Bracegirdle), no hero so faithfully platonic (Thomas Betterton), no husband so duped as the Prince of Libardian (Edward Kynaston), no wife so weakly jealous as Selima (Elizabeth Bowman), no man so easily a prey to lust as Levan Dadian (John Bowman), so much a creature as Ismael (John Hodgson), so vile a tool as Acmat (John Freeman). Each character was a stick figure for a single quality. Incidents happened so rapidly that continual surprise is the predominant emotion if one discounts the miasma of hot surging sex that hovers over the entire production. But it must have been effective when played by the greatest actors in London.

After reading both plays, one can believe that immediately after the presentation ofThe Royal Mischief, someone began putting together the parodies of obviously over-written scenes and high-flown language, burlesques of heroic acting by the acknowledged past-masters of the art, Thomas Betterton and Elizabeth Barry, as well as the mincing pasquinade of Anne Bracegirdle, who was as virtuous as the pure role she played. SinceThe Royal Mischiefwas played in May, near the end of the season, there was ample time to gloat over its absurdities duringthe summer months and haveThe Female Witsready for the delectation of the Town early the following season. Like all satires, it had its day while the original was still fresh in the minds of the theatre-going public but was immediately forgotten becauseThe Royal Mischiefdid not become a stock play.

The Female Witsis a continuous hilarious romp of scenes fromThe Royal Mischiefand an entire gallery of burlesqued portraits of the famous actors who were as much under fire as Mrs. Manley herself. Elizabeth Barry's histrionic style of acting is held up to derision when Frances Maria Knight, who was playing the character satirizing Homais as well as a caricature of Mrs. Barry, is told to "stamp like Queen Statira does ... that always gets a Clap. No Stamp, and Hug yourself: Oh the strong Exstasie!" When Homais is stabbed, Marsilia gives the order, "D'ye hear, Property Man, be sure some red Ink is handsomely convey'd to Mrs. Knight." Penkethman, a short, slap-stick comedian mimicking six-foot Betterton as the faithful Osman is told to "Fetch long Strides; walk thus; your Arms strutting, your voice big, and your Eyes terrible"; and later, "Louder ... strain your Voice: I tell you, Mr. Pinkethman, this speaking Loud gets the Clap." Mrs. Bracegirdle's famous "pathetic" style of acting is parodied when Marsilia instructs Miss Cross how to speak a line: "Give me leave to instruct you in a moving Cry. Oh! there's a great deal of Art in crying: Hold your Handkerchief thus; let it meet your Eyes, thus; your Head declin'd, thus; now, in a perfect whine, crying out these words,

By these Tears, which never cease to Flow."

Reverse situations are used as comic devices. Possibly the climax of absurdity is reached when Miss Cross and Penkethman, instead of dying horrible deaths, find themselves on the roof-top (instead of in the dungeon) climbing into a celestial chariot that the Prince had been building for fifty years. They escape their pursuing enemies, thus making merry with the tragic conclusion ofThe Royal Mischiefand using the same theatrical machinery that was being employed inBrutus of Alba. Marsilia caps this scene by describing in detail the events which were played seriously inThe Royal Mischief:

You must know, my Lord, at first I design'd this for a Tragedy; and they were both taken; She was Poyson'd, and dy'd, like an Innocent Lamb, as she was indeed: I was studying a Death for him; once I thought Boys shou'd shoot him to Death with Pot-Guns; ... and that wou'd have been Disgrace enough, you know: But at length I resolv'd to ram him into a great Gun, and scatter him o're the sturdy Plain: This, I say, was my first resolve. But I consider'd, 'twou'd break the Lady's Heart; so there is nothing in their Parts Tragical; but as your Lordship shall see miraculously I turn'd it into an Opera.

The continual interruptions in the rehearsal by Marsilia giving orders to the increasingly irritated actors, their hostile asides as they come out of their roles to ask bewildered questions, object to her directions, or attempt to resign their parts keep the stage in an uproar. The asinine remarks of her sycophantic followers, her own erratic behavior which culminates in her rage and her stalking out, vowing to take her play to Lincoln's Inn Fields, while George Powell, Mrs. Knight, and Miss Cross double up with laughter—all makeThe Female Witsan hilarious piece of dramatic satire as well as a valuable theatrical document.

All but forgotten, as it was when it was published in 1704, the played version ofThe Female Witshad its impact on women playwrights in 1696. Mrs. Manley did not produce another play untilAlmynawas acted in Lincoln's Inn Fields in 1706, ten years later. As a result of the unjustified attack upon her, Mrs. Pix thereafter wrote for Lincoln's Inn Fields, and at the beginning of the 1697-98 season was engaged in a name-calling dispute with Drury Lane over the flagrant plagiarism of one of her plays by George Powell, the actor who figures prominently inThe Female Wits. Mrs. Trotter gave her plays to the Betterton group until 1700 when a new management regulated affairs at Drury Lane.

Whether Mrs. Manley was driven from the stage for ten years by the jeers of the Town is a matter of debate. She became one of the leading Tory pamphleteers, political editors, and literary hacks in London, employed for years and respected in an odd way by such people as Richard Steele and Dean Swift. Her mostfamous work,The Secret Memoirs and Manners of Several Persons of Quality ... by the New Atalanta(1709) and her semi-autobiographicalThe Adventures of Rivella(1714) caused government inquiries, and she never ceased to be a controversial figure.

Up to the present time, no one has ventured to say who wroteThe Female Wits. The titlepage gives "Mr. W. M." as the author, but this information is immediately refuted by the preface signed "W. M." which gives most of the facts of composition, performance, and publication. According to the preface, the satire was written by a friend (now dead), and the "Quality" had insisted it be played at Drury Lane, where it had enjoyed a run of six nights and could have continued longer "had the Company thought fit to oblige the Taste of the Town in General rather than that of some particular Persons."The Female Witswas published in 1704 even though "the Town has almost lost the Remembrance of it," but unless the taste of the critics today is different from what it was in 1696, readers cannot fail to have as much satisfaction as the earlier audience had in seeing it. W. M.'s identification of Mrs. Manley as Marsilia, Mrs. Pix as Mrs. Wellfed, and Mrs. Trotter as Calista as well as his commendation of the acting of Mr. and Mrs. Powell, and his praise of Mrs. Verbruggen (now deceased also) are expressions of nostalgia from a man whose duty to his dead friend is now accomplished. He ends his laconic preface with a reference to the reformers led by Jeremy Collier, "a Fig for their Censures, which can neither affect him that Wrote this Play, nor him that Publishes it."[7]

It is evident that the anonymous author knew all of the actors at Drury Lane intimately: "honest" George Powell, who "regards neither Times nor Seasons in Drinking," Mrs. Lucas, the dancer, and her coffee habit, hoydenish Letitia Cross with her sassy aside of "now have I such a mind to kick him i'th'chops" about some show-off fop who wished to kiss the strap of her shoe in homage, Frances Marie Knight's haughty withdrawal from any complication with Mrs. Manley or the other playwrights. His knowledge of Mrs. Manley's colossal arrogance, of Mrs. Pix's easy-going acceptance of her great bulk and lack of charm, of beautiful Mrs. Trotter's considerable learning in the classics and her early tendencytoward critical writing—all are sharply etched from observation and intimate knowledge.

The Female Witshas all the remarks of having been put together by group effort, and the evidence points to the actors at Drury Lane, a number of whom had already shown writing ability: Joseph Haynes, Colley Cibber, Hildebrand Horden, and George Powell. Especially George Powell had been active with four plays and two operas already to his credit, one of which,Brutus of Alba, must have been running concurrently withThe Female Witsin October, 1696. BecauseThe Female Witsis episodic in character, loosely strung together with songs and dances, it may well have come from various sources recognizable to the audience. For example, Letitia Cross is asked to sing "her dialogue," readily consents, and Mr. Leveridge, a frequent partner, is called to sing the second part. It may or may not be a coincidence thatBrutus of Albacontains a dialogue between a flirtatious young girl and an impotent old man featuring Miss Cross[8]. The song achieved a certain notoriety because of its frankness, was re-issued as a separate piece, and is the type of entertainment that would have been repeated in a burlesque likeThe Female Wits. Other members of the company contribute their specialities: Miss Cross also performs "her dance," Mr. Pate sings an Italian Song. The only song that can be identified positively is "A Scotch Song Sung by Mrs. Lucas at the Theatre," the chorus of which one of the characters sings when he asks her to favor them with her "Last Dance."[9]

Perhaps Joe Haynes, the famous comedian, best fills the role of chief author, as Buckingham was credited with the authorship ofThe Rehearsal, although it was known that every wit in Town had a hand in it. For over twenty years, Haynes had played the part of Bayes, which satirized Dryden, and was recognized as the zany of the London theatrical world with special licence to burlesque any person or institution that came under his critical eye. The same sort of mad inventiveness peculiar to his elaborate hoaxes upon the public, the incisive satire in his written or ad-libbed prologues and epilogues, and the special touches added to the character parts written for him are present inThe FemaleWits. He had published a mock heroic tragedy (no record of performance) in 1692 which significantly enjoyed a second printing in 1696. Because of his scatological language and outrageous pranks, he was in and out of trouble with the authorities, both public and theatrical, throughout his career. He was one of the principal comedians through the period under consideration, had been in Mrs. Manley's first play (as indeed had all of the principal players inThe Female Wits), and would have been one of the first to resent Mrs. Manley's haughty manner; since he had nothing to lose, he would have been the logical ring-leader in satirizing both the playwright and the veteran actors at Lincoln's Inn Fields.

With so much writing and acting talent among the hungry, ambitious player-authors at Drury Lane, there is little need to look far afield, but Haynes does qualify in another special way for authorship. W. M. states that the author was dead before 1704. Haynes died in June, 1701, and Tobyas Thomas,[10]the author ofThe Life of the Late Famous Comedian, Jo. Hayns, a picaresque, jest-book type of biography published the same year, reveals the interesting information in the dedicatory epistle to William Mann that Haynes had been a friend and visitor in Mann's home at Charnham in Kent, and that Mann had encouraged Thomas to write the biography. Whether William Mann is Mr. W. M. and the comedian is the friend in the preface toThe Female Witsmay never be known, but Joe Haynes, aided and abetted by fellow actors, patrons, friends, and self-appointed critics, all of them with a reason to satirize the female writers and the too-successful actors at Lincoln's Inn Fields, could easily have headed up the group effort that resulted in thecommedia del arteconcoction that finally saw print in 1704.

The prologue and epilogue were added at the time of publication. Topical allusions range from the Collier Controversy, which began in 1698 and continued actively for more than a decade, to John Tutchin, controversial editor ofThe Observator(which began in 1702), to a mention of the great storm of November 26, 1703, which Collier and his followers believed to be a punishment for England's wickedness, to the proclamation early in 1704 by Queen Anne prohibiting the wearing of masks at theplayhouses. More important, however, is the fact that the tone of the prologue and epilogue is entirely different from that found in the play. The tempered language of a decade later than the play is not in keeping with the raucous satire directed at the three women playwrights and the rival actors at Lincoln's Inn Fields that must have kept the audience in a roar of laughter.

The Female Witsis an important document to historians of the theatre, coming as it did at the very end of the Restoration period and just preceding the changes brought about by Collier's attacks upon the theatre which accelerated the establishment of sentimental comedy and tragedy. The play illuminates at least four areas about which we know very little: the personalities of the three women playwrights at the beginning of their careers, the excellent portraits of some of the little known players, the acting techniques that are parodied so broadly that it is possible to recognize the original practice, and the rehearsal customs and stage directions employed which give new light or confirm what is already known. Granted, all are outrageously exaggerated, but a discerning eye can detect the truth that lurks behind any satire, parody, or lampoon. That kernel of truth must be there, or there is nothing to laugh about.

Columbia University

[1]See the entry under Unknown Authors, Allardyce Nicoll,A History of English Drama, 1660-1900(Cambridge, 1955), I, 441. Also see William van Lennep,The London Stage, 1660-1800(Carbondale, 1965), Part I, 1660-1700, pp. 467-468.Wing notes a 1697 edition, but an examination of the severely cropped copy of the 1704 edition at the Huntington Library gives the first clue for the creation of a ghost: the imprint was sacrificed to the Kemble-Devonshire insistence on uniformity in size, and a later hand supplied the conjectured date of presentation, not the date of publication. Noted as a questioned publication date in Woodward-McManaway,Check List(no. 374), the date of 1697 was next cautiously recorded in Nicoll (Ibidem) as a possible date for a first edition. It then entered the Wing Catalogue as the first edition, mistakenly making the 1704 the second edition.

Wing notes a 1697 edition, but an examination of the severely cropped copy of the 1704 edition at the Huntington Library gives the first clue for the creation of a ghost: the imprint was sacrificed to the Kemble-Devonshire insistence on uniformity in size, and a later hand supplied the conjectured date of presentation, not the date of publication. Noted as a questioned publication date in Woodward-McManaway,Check List(no. 374), the date of 1697 was next cautiously recorded in Nicoll (Ibidem) as a possible date for a first edition. It then entered the Wing Catalogue as the first edition, mistakenly making the 1704 the second edition.

[2]Colley Cibber,An Apology for the Life(London, 1740), chaps. IV-VII.

[3]A Comparison between the Two Stages, ed. Staring B. Wells (Princeton, 1942), p. 17.

[4]SeeDNB; Paul Bunyan Anderson, "Mistress Manley's Biography,"Modern Philology, XXXIII (1936), 261-278; Gwendolyn B. Needham, "Mary de la Riviere, Tory Defender,"HLQ, XII (1948-49), 253-288; Needham, "Mrs. Manley, an Eighteenth-Century Wife of Bath,"HLQ, XIV (1950-51), 259-284.

[5]Mary de la Riviere Manley,The Adventures of Rivella(London, 1714), p. 41.

[6]Cibber, p. 95.

[7]There was at least one avid reader ofThe Female Wits. The Reverend Arthur Bedford of Bristol, one of Collier's followers who spent his entire career attacking the theatres, mentions it forty times inThe Evil and Danger of Stage-Plays(1706). He used it as an example in all the categories of wickedness that Collier had set up inA Short View of the Prophaneness and Immorality of the English Stage, the original attack in 1698.

[8]"Why dost thou fly me, pretty Maid," fromThe Single Songs, with the Dialogue, Sung in ... Brutus of Alba. Composed by Daniel Purcell (London, 1696). Henry E. Huntington LibraryDevonshire Plays, vol. 8 (131929-35).

[9]"By Moonlight on the Green," Henry E. Huntington LibraryCollection of Broadsides, vol. 5 (Huth 81013).

[10]Tobyas Thomas has been thought to be a pen-name for Tom Brown, but there is no reason to question that he was one of Haynes' fellow-actors who never rose higher than secondary roles. He played a part inThe Female Wits.

The text of this edition ofThe Female Witsis reproduced from a copy in the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library.

As it was Acted several Days successively with great Applause

Written by Mr.W. M.

Ita Astutim sibi Arrogat Hominem Ingenia Ut Homines credas.Cic.

LONDON, Printed forWilliam Turner, at theAngelatLincolns-InnBack-Gate,William Davis, at theBlack BullinCornhil,Bernard Lintott, at theMiddle-Temple-Gate, andTho. Brown, at theBlackamoors Headnear theSavoy. 1704.Price1s.6d.

Though the Success of this Play has been such, as to need no Apology for the Publication of it; it having been Acted six Days running without intermission; and being likely to have continued much longer, had the Company thought fit to oblige the Taste of the Town in General, rather than that of some particular Persons; yet the lateness of its appearance abroad, after its being Acted some Years since with great Applause, seems to require that the Reader should be satisfied why it should fall under his Censure at a time when the Town has almost lost the Remembrance of it. In order to this, I take it for necessary to Premise, that the Author of it, a Man of more Modesty than the Generality of our present Writers, tho' not of less Merit than the best of 'em, was neither fond of his own Performances, nor desirous others should fall in love with them. What he writ was for his own Diversion; and he could hardly be persuaded by the Quality to make it theirs, till his good Temper got the better of his Aversion to write himself among the List of the Poets; and he was prevail'd upon to put it into the Hands of the Gentlemen belonging to the Theatre inDrury-Lane, who did him the same Justice, as was done by him to Dramatick Poetry and the Stage. Among the rest, Mr.Poweland his Wife excell'd in the Characters they represented, as did Mrs.Verbruggen, who play'd the Chief Character, and whose Loss we must ever regret, as the Chief Actress in her Kind, who never had any one that exceeded her, or ever will have one that can come up to her, unless a Miracle intervenes for the support of theEnglishStage. It is written in imitation of the Rehearsal; and though we must not presume to say it comes up to the Character of the Duke ofBuckingham's Works, yet it does not fall short of it, so much as many of our Modern Performances, that please more for the sake of their Patrons than the real Worth of those that Writ 'em. And to let those that shall give it their Perusal, into the Knowledge of the Female Wits, who are here hinted at, they are to understand; the Lady whose Play is rehears'd, personates one Mrs.M—ly, a Gentlewoman sufficiently known for a Correspondence with the Muses some time since, though she has of late discontinu'd it, (I presume for some more profitable Employ) and those that go under the Names of Mrs.Welfed, andCalista, are Mrs.P—xand Mrs.T——r, two Gentlewomen that have made no small struggle in the World to get into Print; and who are now in such a State of Wedlock to Pen and Ink, that it will be very difficult for 'em to get out of it. Whether the Characters are just or no, that is left to the Reader's determination: But the Auditors thought the Pictures were true, or they would have condemn'd the Person that drew 'em, in less than six Days. What remains is, to justifie the Publication of it, and to acquaint the World, that the Author being deceas'd, I got a Copy of it; and out of my desire to divert the Publick, I thought it might not be unacceptable if it saw the Light. In short, if it pleases as much in the Reading, as it did in the Acting, the Reader cannot fail of his Satisfaction; if not, the Taste of the Criticks is different from what it was some Years since: And so, a Fig for their Censures, which can neither affect him that Wrote this Play, nor him that Publishes it.

SCENE a Dressing-Room, Table and Toylet Furnish'd, &c.

EnterMarsiliain a Night-Gown, followed byPatience.

Mar.Why, thou thoughtless inconsiderable Animal! Thou driv'ling dreaming Lump! Is it not past Nine o'Clock? Must not I be at the Rehearsal by Ten, Brainless? And here's a Toylet scarce half furnish'd!

Pat.I am about it, Madam.

Mar.Yes, like a Snail!—--. Mount, my aspiring Spirit! Mount! Hit yon azure Roof, and justle Gods! [Repeats.

Pat.Madam, your things are ready.

Mar.Abominable! Intollerable! past enduring! [Stamps.Speak to me whilst I'm Repeating! Interrupting Wretch! What, a Thought more worth Than worlds of thee!—--what a Thought have I lost!— Ay, ay, 'tis gone, 'tis gone beyond the Clouds. [Cries.Whither now, Mischievous? Do I use to Dress without Attendance? So, finely prepar'd, Mrs. Negligence! I never wear any Patches!

Pat.Madam.

Mar.I ask you if ever you saw me wear any Patches? Whose Cook maid wert thou prithee? The Barbarous Noise of thy Heels is enough to put the Melody of the Muses out of ones Head.——Almond Milk for my Hands.——Sower! By Heav'n this Monster designs to Poyson me.

Pat.Indeed, Madam; 'tis but just made; I wou'd not offer such an affront to those charming Hands for the World.

Mar.Commended by thee! I shall grow sick of 'em.—— Well, butPatty, are not you vain enough to hope from the fragments of my Discourse you may pick up a Play? Come, be diligent, it might pass amongst a Crowd, And do as well as some of its Predecessors.

Pat.Nothing but flattery brings my Lady into a good humour. [Aside.With your Ladyship's directions I might aim at something.

Mar.My Necklace.

Pat.Here's a Neck! such a Shape! such a Skin!—-- [Tying it on.Oh! if I were a Man, I shoud run Mad!

Mar.Humph! The Girl has more Sense than I imagin'd, She finds out those Perfections all the Beau-mond have admired.— Well,Patty, after my Third day I'll give you this Gown and Pettycoat.

Pat.Your Ladyship will make one of Velvet, I suppose.

Mar.I guess I may; see who knocks. [Goes out, and returns.

Pat.Madam, 'tis Mrs.Wellfed.

Mar.That ill-bred, ill shap'd Creature! Let her come up, she's foolish and open-hearted, I shall pick something out of her that may do her Mischief, or serve me to Laugh at.

Pat.Madam, you invited her to the Rehearsal this Morning.

Mar.What if I did? she might have attended me at the Play-house.——Go, fetch her up.

Enter Mrs.WellfedandPatty.

Mrs.Wellfed. Good morrow, Madam.

Mar.Your Servant, dear Mrs.Wellfed, I have been longing for you this Half-hour.

Mrs.Wellf.'Tis near Ten.

Mar.Ay, my Impertinence is such a Trifle—But, Madam, are we not to expect some more of your Works?

Mrs.Wellf.Yes; I am playing the Fool again.—— The story is——

Mar.Nay, for a Story, Madam, you must give me leave to say, there's none like mine; The turns are so surprizing, the Love so passionate, the Lines so strong. 'Gad I'm afraid there's not a Female Actress inEnglandcan reach 'em.

Mrs.Wellf.My Language!

Mar.Now you talk of Language, what do you think a Lord said to me t'other day? That he had heard I was a Traveller, and he believ'd my Voyage had been to the Poets Elyzium, for mortal Fires cou'd never inspire such words! Was not this fine?

Mrs.Wellf.Extravagantly fine! But, as I was saying——

Mar.Mark but these two Lines.

Mrs.Wellf.Madam, I have heard 'em already; you know you repeated every word of your Play last Night.

Mar.I hope, Mrs.Wellfed, the Lines will bear the being heard twice and twice, else 'twou'd be bad for the Sparks who are never absent from the Play-house, and must hear 'em Seventeen or Eighteen Nights together.

Mrs.Wellf.How Madam!that's Three or Four more than theOld Batchelourheld out.

Mar.Madam, I dare affirm there's not two such Lines in the Play you nam'd: Madam, I'm sorry I am forc'd to tell you, Interruption is the rudest thing in the World.

Mrs.Wellf.I am dumb. Pray proceed.

Mar.Pray observe.——

My Scorching Raptures make a Boy ofJove,That Ramping God shall learn of me to Love.

My Scorching——

Mrs.Wellf.Won't the Ladies think some of those Expressions indecent?

Mar.Interrupting again, by Heav'n!—--Sure, Madam, I understand the Ladies better than you. To my knowledge they love words that have warmth, and fire,&c.in 'em.—Here,Patty, give me a Glass ofSherry; my Spirits are gone.——No Manchet Sot! Ah! the Glass [Brings a Glass.not clean! She takes this opportunity, because she knows I never fret before Company, I! do I use to Drink a Thimble full at a time?— Take that to wash your Face. [Throws it in her Face.

Pat.These are Poetical Ladies with a Pox to 'em. (Aside.

Mar.My Service to you Madam, I think you drink in a Morning.

Mrs.Wellf.Yes, else I had never come to this bigness, Madam, to the encreasing that inexhausted spring of Poetry:that it may swell, o'erflow, and bless the barren Land.

Mar.Incomparable, I protest!

Pat.MadamCalistato wait upon your Ladyship.

Mar.Do you know her Child?

Mrs.Wellf.No.

Mar.Oh! 'Tis the vainest; proudest, senseless Thing, she pretends to Grammar, writes in Mood and Figure; does every thing methodically.——Poor Creature! She shews me her Works first; I always commend 'em, with a Design she shou'd expose 'em, and the Town be so kind to laugh her out of her Follies.

Mr.Wellf.That's hard in a Friend.

Mar.But 'tis very usual.——Dunce! Why do you let her stay so long? [Exit Pat. Re-enter withCalista. My bestCalista! The charming'st Nymph of allApollo's Train, let me Embrace thee!

Mr.Wellf.So, I suppose my Reception was preceeded like this. [Aside.]

Mar.Pray know this Lady, she is a Sister of ours.

Calista.She's big enough to be the Mother of the Muses. [Aside.Madam, your Servant.

Mrs.Wellf. Madam, yours. [Salute.

Mar.Now here's the Female Triumvirate; methinks 'twou'd be but civil of the Men to lay down their Pens for one Year, and let us divert the Town, but if we shou'd, they'd certainly be asham'd ever to take 'em up again.

Calis.From yours we expect Wonders.

Mar.Has any Celebrated Poet of the Age been lately to look over any of your Scenes, Madam?

Calis.Yes, yes, one that you know, and who makes that his pretence for daily Visits.

Mar.But I had rather see one dear Player than all the Poets in the Kingdom.

Calis.Good Gad! That you shou'd be in Love with an Old Man!

Mar.He is so with me; and you'll grant 'tis a harder Task to Re-kindle dying Coals, than set Tinder on a Blaze.

Mr.Wellf.I guess the Spark. But why then is your Play at this House?

Mar.I thought you had known 't had been anOpera; and such anOpera! But I wont talk on't, 'till you see it. Mrs.Wellfed, is not your Lodgings often fill'd with the Cabals of Poets and Judges?

Mr.Wellf.Faith, Madam, I'll not tell a Lye for the matter; they never do me the Honour.

Mar.I thought so, when I ask'd her. [Aside toCalista.

Mr.Wellf.My Brats are forc'd to appear of my own raising.

Mar.Nay, Mrs.Wellfed, they don't come to others to assist, but admire.

Pat.Madam, Mr.Aw'dwelland Mr.Praiseallare below.

Mar.Dear Ladies, step in with me, whilst I put on my Mantua: Bring 'em up, and then come to me.——What does thatAw'dwellhere again to Day? Did not I do him the Honour to go abroad with him yesterday? Sure that's enough for his Trifle of a Scarf. Come Ladies.That Ramping God shall learn of me to Love.[Exeunt.

Enter Mr.Aw'dwelland Mr.Praiseall.

Mr.Aw'dw.So, Mr.Praiseall, you are come, I suppose, to pay your Tribute of Encomiums to the Fair Lady and her Works.

Mr.Prais.The Lady sometimes does me the Honour to Communicate; my poor Abilities are at her Service, tho' I own my self weak.

Aw'dw.Then you are not fit for the Ladies Service, to my Knowledge.

Prais.Why, Sir? I was long anOxonion, 'till a good Estate and the Practice of the Law, tempted me from my studies.

Aw'dw.Sir, I'll tell you my Opinion of the University Students: They are commonly as dull as they are dirty, and their Conversation is as wretched as their Feeding; yet every Man thinks his Parts unquestionable, if he has been atOxford.——Now all the Observation I have made ofOxford, is, it's a good Place to improve Beggars, and to spoil Gentlemen, to make young Master vain, and think no Body has Wit but himself.

Prais.While the Lady has more complaisant Sentiments, yours shan't disturb me, Sir, I assure you.

Aw'dw.What is't bewitches me toMarsilia! I know her a Coquet; I know her vain and ungrateful; yet, wise asAlmanzor, knowing all this, I still love on! [Aside.

Prais.I wishMarsiliawou'd come! That fellow looks as if he had a Mind to quarrel. I hate the sight of a bent Brow in a Morning; I am always unlucky the whole Day after.

Aw'dw.Oh, one thing more of your DarlingOxford. You know, if you get Learning, it robs Man of his noblest Part, Courage. This your mighty Bard, by Experience owns, the Learned are Cowards by Profession. Do you feel any of your Martial Heat returns?

Prais.Ay, he will quarrel, I find.—— [Aside.Sir, I was never taught to practice Feats of Arms in a Lady's Anti-Chamber.

Aw'dw.The Fool's afraid: Yet shall I have the Pleasure to seeMarsiliaprefer this Fop to me before my Face. [Exit.

EnterMarsilia, Calista,and Mrs.Wellfed.

Mars.I must beg your Learned Ladyship's Pardon.Aristotlenever said such a Word, upon my Credit.——Patty, What an Air these Pinners have?Pull 'em more behind.——Oh my Stars, she has pull'd my Head-cloaths off!

Calist.I cannot but re-mind you, Madam, you are mistaken; for I readAristotlein his own Language: The Translation may alter the Expression.

Aw'dw.Oh that I cou'd but Conjure up the Old Philosopher, to hear these Women pull him in pieces!

Mar.Nay, Madam, if you are resolv'd to have the last Word, I ha' done; for I am no lover of Words, upon my Credit.

Prais.I am glad to hear her say sh'as done, for I dare not interrupt her.—Madam, your Ladyship's most humble.——

Mars.Mr.Praiseall, Yours.

Prais.CharmingCalista, I kiss those enchanting Fingers.

Mars.Humph! That might ha' been said to me more properly. [Aside.

Prais.Mrs.Wellfed, tho' last, not least.

Mrs.Wellf.That's right, Mr.Praiseall.

Prais.In Love, I meant, Mrs.Wellfed.

Mr.Wellf.Prethee, addGood Tribonus, don't steal by halves, Mr.Praiseall.

Prais.Lord, you are so quick!

Mar.Well, you are come to go with us to the Rehearsal.

Prais.'Tis a pleasing Duty, Madam, to wait on your Ladyship: But then to hear the wondrous Product of your Brain, is such a Happiness, I only want some ofMarsilia's Eloquence to express it.

Aw'dw.How this Flattery transports her! Swells her Pride almost to bursting. [Aside.

Mars.I do avow, Mr.Praiseall, you are the most complaisant Man of the Age.

Aw'dw.Are you yet at Leisure, Madam, to tell me how you do?

Mars.You see my Engagements, and have chosen a very busie Time to ask such an insignificant Question.

Aw'dw.What, it wants a Courtly Phrase?

Mars.Must I meet with nothing but interruption? Mr.Praiseall!

Prais.Madam?

Mars.I think I have not seen you these two Days.

Prais.So long I've liv'd inGreenland, seen no Sun, not felt no warmth.

Mars.Heav'ns! Mr.Praiseall, why don't you write? Words like those ought to be preserv'd in Characters indelible, not lost in Air.

Aw'dw.'Tis pity your Ladyship does not carry a Commonplace Book.

Mars.For your self 'twou'd be more useful.—— But, as I was going to tell you, Mr.Praiseall, since I saw you, I have laid a Design to alterCateline's Conspiracy.

Prais.An Undertaking fit for so great a Hand.

Mars.Nay, I intend to make use only of the first Speech.

Aw'dw.That will be an Alteration indeed!

Mars.Your Opinion was not ask'd. Nor wou'd I meddle with that, but to let the World, that is so partial to those old Fellows, see the difference of a modern Genius.——You know that Speech, Mr.Praiseall, and the Ladies too, I presume.

Calista.I know it so well, as to have turn'd it intoLatin.

Prais.That was extraordinary. But let me tell you, MadamCalista, 'tis a harder Task to mend it inEnglish.

Mars.True, true, Mr.Praiseall; That all the Universe must own.——Patty. Give me another Glass of Sherry, that I may speak loud and clear.——Mr.Praiseall, my Service to you.

Prais.I kiss your unequall'd Hand.

Mrs.Wellfed.This drinking is the best part of the Entertainment in my Opinion. [Aside.

Mars.Now, Mr.Praiseall.

Prais.I am all Ear.

Mars.I wou'd you were——I was just beginning to speak.

Prais.Mum, I ha' done a Fault.

Aw'dw.Sure this Scene will chace her from my Soul. [Aside.

Mars.Thy Head! Thy Head! Proud City!— I'll say no more of his; I don't love to repeat other Peoples Works;—now my own.— Thy solid Stones, and thy cemented Walls, this Arm shall scatter into Atoms; then on thy Ruins will I mount! Mount my aspiring Spirit mount! Hit yon Azure Roof, and justle Gods;— [Ex.Patty. My Fan, my Fan,Patty.— [All clap.

Prais.Ah! PoorBen! PoorBen! You know, Madam, there was a famous Poet pick'd many a Hole in his Coat in several Prefaces.—He found fault, but never mended the Matter—Your Ladyship has lay'd his Honour in the Dust.—PoorBen! 'Tis well thou art dead; this News had broke thy Heart.

Mars.Then in theConspiracy, I makeFulviaa Woman of the nicest Honour; and such Scenes!

Mrs.Wellf.Madam, you forget the Rehearsal.

Mars.Oh Gods! That I could live in a Cave! Ecchoes wou'd repeat, but not interrupt me; Madam, if you are beholden to those Creatures, I am not; let 'em wait, let 'em wait, or live without me if they can.

EnterPatty.

Pat.Madam, your Chair Men are come.

Mars.Let them wait, they are paid for't.

Pat.Not yet to my Knowledge, what ever they be after the third Day; there's a long Bill I'm sure.— [Aside.

Mars.How do you think to go Mrs.Wellfed? ShallPat.call you another Chair?

Mrs.Wellf.I have no Inclination to break poor Mens Backs; I thank you, Madam, I'll go a Foot.

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