ughts; and to that end is forced to make use of
the expedient of speech, no other better way being yet invented for the
communication of thought.

Another very wrong objection has been made by some who have not taken
leisure to distinguish the characters. The hero of the play, as they are
pleased to call him (meaning Mellefont), is a gull, and made a fool, and
cheated. Is every man a gull and a fool that is deceived? At that rate
I'm afraid the two classes of men will be reduced to one, and the knaves
themselves be at a loss to justify their title. But if an open-hearted
honest man, who has an entire confidence in one whom he takes to be his
friend, and whom he has obliged to be so, and who, to confirm him in his
opinion, in all appearance and upon several trials has been so: if this
man be deceived by the treachery of the other, must he of necessity
commence fool immediately, only because the other has proved a villain?
Ay, but there was caution given to Mellefont in the first act by his
friend Careless. Of what nature was that caution? Only to give the
audience some light into the character of Maskwell before his appearance,
and not to convince Mellefont of his treachery; for that was more than
Careless was then able to do: he never knew Maskwell guilty of any
villainy; he was only a sort of man which he did not like. As for his
suspecting his familiarity with my Lady Touchwood, let 'em examine the
answer that Mellefont makes him, and compare it with the conduct of
Maskwell's character through the play.

I would beg 'em again to look into the character of Maskwell before they
accuse Mellefont of weakness for being deceived by him. For upon summing
up the enquiry into this objection, it may be found they have mistaken
cunning in one character for folly in another.

But there is one thing at which I am more concerned than all the false
criticisms that are made upon me, and that is, some of the ladies are
offended. I am heartily sorry for it, for I declare I would rather
disoblige all the critics in the world than one of the fair sex. They
are concerned that I have represented some women vicious and affected.
How can I help it? It is the business of a comic poet to paint the vices
and follies of humankind; and there are but two sexes, male and female,
_men_ and _women_, which have a title to humanity, and if I leave one
half of them out, the work will be imperfect. I should be very glad of
an opportunity to