rather of one who beats
the time, than of a performer.

I was no sooner retired to my lodgings, but I ran over in my thoughts
the several characters of this fair assembly, which I shall give some
account of, because they are various in their kind, and may each of them
stand as a sample of a whole species.

The person who pleased me most was a flute, an instrument that, without
any great compass, has something exquisitely sweet and soft in its
sound: it lulls and soothes the ear, and fills it with such a gentle
kind of melody, as keeps the mind awake without startling it, and raises
a most agreeable passion between transport and indolence. In short, the
music of the flute is the conversation of a mild and amiable woman, that
has nothing in it very elevated, or at the same time anything mean or
trivial.

I must here observe, that the hautboy is the most perfect of the flute
species, which, with all the sweetness of the sound, has a great
strength and variety of notes; though at the same time I must observe,
that the hautboy in one sex is as scarce as the harpsichord in the
other.

By the side of the flute there sat a flageolet, for so I must call a
certain young lady, who fancied herself a wit, despised the music of the
flute as low and insipid, and would be entertaining the company with
tart ill-natured observations, pert fancies, and little turns, which she
imagined to be full of life and spirit. The flageolet therefore does not
differ from the flute so much in the compass of its notes, as in the
shrillness and sharpness of the sound. We must however take notice, that
the flageolets among their own sex are more valued and esteemed than the
flutes.

There chanced to be a coquette in the concert, that with a great many
skittish notes, affected squeaks, and studied inconsistencies,
distinguished herself from the rest of the company. She did not speak a
word during the whole trial; but I thought she would never have done
upon the opera. One while she would break out upon, "That hideous king!"
then upon the "charming blackmoor!" Then, "Oh that dear lion!" Then
would hum over two or three notes; then run to the window to see what
coach was coming. The coquette therefore I must distinguish by that
musical instrument which is commonly known by the name of a kit, that is
more jiggish than the fiddle itself, and never sounds but to a dance.

The fourth person who bore a part in the conversation was a prude, who
stuck to