nd was so fond of this fellow, whom, it seems, nature
had wonderfully formed to be a cut throat, that he entered into his
schemes, and became a party in promoting his most criminal pleasures.

This murderer had long entertained a passion for Mrs. Bracegirdle, so
well known, as an excellent actress, and who died not many years ago,
that it would be superfluous to give a particular account of her; his
passion was rejected with disdain by Mrs. Bracegirdle, who did not think
such a heart as his worth possessing. The contempt with which she
used captain Hill fired his resentment; he valued himself for being a
gentleman, and an officer in the army, and thought he had a right, at
the first onset, to triumph over the heart of an actress; but in this he
found himself miserably mistaken: Hill, who could not bear the contempt
shewn him by Mrs. Bracegirdle, conceived that her aversion must proceed
from having previously engaged her heart to some more favoured lover;
and though Mr. Mountford was a married man, he became jealous of him,
probably, from no other reason, than the respect with which he observed
Mr. Mountford treat her, and their frequently playing together in the
same scene. Confirmed in this suspicion, he resolved to be revenged on
Mountford, and as he could not possess Mrs. Bracegirdle by gentle means,
he determined to have recourse to violence, and hired some ruffians to
assist him in carrying her off. His chief accomplice in this scheme was
lord Mohun, to whom he communicated his intention, and who concurred
with him in it. They appointed an evening for that purpose, hired a
number of soldiers, and a coach, and went to the playhouse in order to
find Mrs. Bracegirdle, but she having no part in the play of that night,
did not come to the house. They then got intelligence that she was gone
with her mother to sup at one Mrs. Page's in Drury-Lane; thither they
went, and fixed their post, in expectation of Mrs. Bracegirdle's coming
out, when they intended to have executed their scheme against her. She
at last came out, accompanied with her mother and Mr. Page: the two
adventurers made a sign to their hired bravo's, who laid their hands on
Mrs. Bracegirdle: but her mother, who threw her arms round her waist,
preventing them from thrusting her immediately into the coach, and Mr.
Page gaining time to call assistance, their attempt was frustrated, and
Mrs. Bracegirdle, her mother, and Mr. Page, were safely conveyed to her
own h