nsequence for as our Mothers were
certainly never married to either of them it reflects no Dishonour on
our Blood, which is of a most ancient and unpolluted kind. Bertha (the
Mother of Philander) and Agatha (my own Mother) always lived together.
They were neither of them very rich; their united fortunes had
originally amounted to nine thousand Pounds, but as they had always
lived on the principal of it, when we were fifteen it was diminished to
nine Hundred. This nine Hundred they always kept in a Drawer in one
of the Tables which stood in our common sitting Parlour, for the
convenience of having it always at Hand. Whether it was from this
circumstance, of its being easily taken, or from a wish of being
independant, or from an excess of sensibility (for which we were always
remarkable) I cannot now determine, but certain it is that when we had
reached our 15th year, we took the nine Hundred Pounds and ran away.
Having obtained this prize we were determined to manage it with eoconomy
and not to spend it either with folly or Extravagance. To this purpose
we therefore divided it into nine parcels, one of which we devoted to
Victuals, the 2d to Drink, the 3d to Housekeeping, the 4th to Carriages,
the 5th to Horses, the 6th to Servants, the 7th to Amusements, the 8th
to Cloathes and the 9th to Silver Buckles. Having thus arranged our
Expences for two months (for we expected to make the nine Hundred Pounds
last as long) we hastened to London and had the good luck to spend it in
7 weeks and a Day which was 6 Days sooner than we had intended. As soon
as we had thus happily disencumbered ourselves from the weight of
so much money, we began to think of returning to our Mothers, but
accidentally hearing that they were both starved to Death, we gave over
the design and determined to engage ourselves to some strolling Company
of Players, as we had always a turn for the Stage. Accordingly we
offered our services to one and were accepted; our Company was
indeed rather small, as it consisted only of the Manager his wife
and ourselves, but there were fewer to pay and the only inconvenience
attending it was the Scarcity of Plays which for want of People to fill
the Characters, we could perform. We did not mind trifles however--.
One of our most admired Performances was MACBETH, in which we were
truly great. The Manager always played BANQUO himself, his Wife my LADY
MACBETH. I did the THREE WITCHES and Philander acted ALL THE REST. To
say