, in a
coach with four such lean horses, that I cannot believe she is yet half
way to her miserable little castle. What can be the matter! all the
girls seem afflicted with the rage of wedlock, and however small
their portion of charms may be, they think it only necessary to show
themselves at court in order to pick and choose their men: but was this
in reality the case, the being a wife is the most wretched condition
imaginable for a person of nice sentiments. Believe me, my dear Temple,
the pleasures of matrimony are so inconsiderable in comparison with its
inconveniences, that I cannot imagine how any reasonable creature can
resolve upon it: rather fly, therefore, from this irksome engagement
than court it. Jealousy, formerly a stranger to these happy isles, is
now coming into fashion, with many recent examples of which you are
acquainted. However brilliant the phantom may appear, suffer not
yourself to be caught by its splendour, and never be so weak as to
transform your slave into your tyrant: as long as you preserve your own
liberty, you will be mistress of that of others. I will relate to you a
very recent proof of the perfidy of man to our sex, and of the impunity
they experience in all attempts upon our innocence. The Earl of Oxford
fell in love with a handsome, graceful actress belonging to the duke's
theatre, who performed to perfection, particularly the part of Roxana,
in a very fashionable new play, insomuch that she ever after retained
that name: this creature being both very virtuous and very modest, or,
if you please, wonderfully obstinate, proudly rejected the addresses and
presents of the Earl of Oxford. This resistance inflamed his passion:
he had recourse to invectives, and even to spells; but all in vain. This
disappointment had such effect upon him that he could neither eat nor
drink; this did not signify to him; but his passion at length became so
violent, that he could neither play nor smoke. In this extremity love
had recourse to Hymen; the Earl of Oxford, one of the first peers of
the realm, is, you know, a very handsome man: he is of the order of the
garter, which greatly adds to an air naturally noble. In short, from his
outward appearance, you would suppose he was really possessed of
some sense; but as soon as ever you hear him speak, you are perfectly
convinced of the contrary. This passionate lover presented her with a
promise of marriage, in due form, signed with his own hand: she would
no