e devil!

_Pon._ Yes, sir; the devil, and his uncle, your father, if I may be
allowed the expression. [_Exit._

_Enter_ sir Rowland _and_ lord Austencourt.

_Char._ My dear father, I am heartily glad to see you--

_Sir R._ How is this, Charles! returned thus unexpectedly?

_Char._ Unexpected pleasure, they say, sir, is always most welcome--I
hope you find it so.

_Sir R._ This conduct, youngster, requires explanation.

_Char._ Sir, I have it ready at my tongue's end--My lord, I ask your
pardon--I'm glad to see you too.

_Lord A._ I wish, sir, I could return the compliment; but this
extraordinary conduct--

_Char._ No apologies, my lord, for your civil speech--you might easily
have returned the compliment in the same words, and, believe me, with as
much sincerity as it was offered.

_Sir R._ This is no time for dissention, sir--

_Lord A._ My cousin forgets, sir Rowland, that although united by ties
of consanguinity, _birth_ and _fortune_ have placed me in a station
which commands some respect.

_Char._ No, my lord, for I also am in a station where I _too_ command
respect, where I respect and am respected. I therefore well know what is
due to my superiors; and this duty I never forget, till those above me
forget what they owe to themselves.

_Lord A._ I am not aware, good cousin, that I have ever yet forfeited my
title to the respect I claim.

_Char._ You have, my lord: for high rank forfeits every claim to
distinction when it exacts submissive humility from those beneath it,
while at the same time it refuses a graceful condescension in exchange.

_Sir R._ Charles, Charles, these sentiments but ill become the dependent
state in which Fortune has placed you.

_Char._ Dependent state! Dependent upon whom! What, on _him_! my titled,
tawdry cousin there? What are his pretensions, that he shall presume to
brand me as a poor dependent!--What are _his_ claims to independence?
How does he spend the income Fortune has allotted to him? Does he
rejoice to revive in the mansion of his ancestors the spirit of old
English hospitality? Do the eyes of aged tenants twinkle with joy when
they hope his coming? do the poor bless his arrival? I say no. He is the
lord of land--and is also, what he seems still more proud of, a lord of
parliament; but I will front him in both capacities, and frankly tell
him, that in the first he is a burthen to his own estate, and not a
benefactor; and in the second, a peer but not a pr