Be it principally thy part, Jack, who art a parading fellow, and aimest at wisdom, to keep thy brother-varlets from blundering; for, as thou must have observed from what I have written, we have the most watchful and most penetrating lady in the world to deal with; a lady worth deceiving! but whose eyes will piece to the bottom of your shallow souls the moment she hears you open.  Do you therefore place thyself between Mowbray and Tourville:  their toes to be played upon and commanded by thine, if they go wrong:  thy elbows to be the ministers of approbation.

As to your general behaviour; no hypocrisy!—­I hate it:  so does my charmer.  If I had studied for it, I believe I could have been an hypocrite:  but my general character is so well known, that I should have been suspected at once, had I aimed at making myself too white.  But what necessity can there be for hypocrisy, unless the generality of the sex were to refuse us for our immoralities?  The best of them love to have the credit for reforming us.  Let the sweet souls try for it:  if they fail, their intent was good.  That will be a consolation to them.  And as to us, our work will be the easier; our sins the fewer:  since they will draw themselves in with a very little of our help; and we shall save a parcel of cursed falsehoods, and appear to be what we are both to angels and men.—­Mean time their very grandmothers will acquit us, and reproach them with their self-do, self-have, and as having erred against knowledge, and ventured against manifest appearances.  What folly, therefore, for men of our character to be hypocrites!

Be sure to instruct the rest, and do thou thyself remember, not to talk obscenely.  You know I never permitted any of you to talk obscenely.  Time enough for that, when ye grow old, and can only talk.  Besides, ye must consider Prisc.’s affected character, my goddess’s real one.  Far from obscenity, therefore, do not so much as touch upon the double entendre.  What! as I have often said, cannot you touch a lady’s heart without wounding her ear?

It is necessary that ye should appear worse men than myself.  You cannot help appearing so, you’ll say.  Well, then, there will be the less restraint upon you—­the less restraint, the less affectation.—­And if Belton begins his favourite subject in behalf of keeping, it may make me take upon myself to oppose him:  but fear not; I shall not give the argument all my force.

She must have some curiosity, I think, to see what sort of men my companions are:  she will not expect any of you to be saints.  Are you not men born to considerable fortunes, although ye are not all of you men of parts?  Who is it in this mortal life that wealth does not mislead?  And as it gives people the power of being mischievous, does it not require great virtue to forbear the use of that power?  Is not the devil said to be the god of this world?  Are we not children of this world?  Well, then! let me tell thee my opinion—­It is this, that were it not for the poor and the middling, the world would probably, long ago, have been destroyed by fire from Heaven.  Ungrateful wretches the rest, thou wilt be apt to say, to make such sorry returns, as they generally do make, to the poor and the middling!