"Next to the great ball, what
makes the most noise is the marriage of an old maid,
who lives in this street, without a portion, to a man
of 7,000_l._ _per annum_, and they say 40,000_l._ in
ready money. Her equipage and liveries outshine any
body's in town. He has presented her with 3,000_l._
in jewels; and never was man more smitten with these
charms that had lain invisible for these forty years;
but, with all his glory, never bride had fewer enviers,
the dear beast of a man is so filthy, frightful,
odious, and detestable. I would turn away such a
footman for fear of spoiling my dinner, while he waited
at table. They were married on Friday, and came to
church _en parade_ on Sunday. I happened to sit in
the pew with them, and had the honour of seeing Mrs.
Bride fall fast asleep in the middle of the sermon, and
snore very comfortably; which made several women in the
church think the bridegroom not quite so ugly as they
did before. Envious people say 'twas all counterfeited
to please him, but I believe that to be scandal; for I
dare swear, nothing but downright necessity could make
her miss one word of the sermon. He professes to have
married her for her devotion, patience, meekness, and
other Christian virtues he observed in her: his first
wife (who has left no children) being very handsome,
and so good-natured as to have ventured her own
salvation to secure his. He has married this lady to
have a companion in that paradise where his first has
given him a title. I believe I have given you too much
of this couple; but they are not to be comprehended in
few words.
"My dear Mrs. Hewet, remember me and
believe that nothing can put you out of my head."
The noble dukes of the present day, and the learned members of the
faculty, are by no means of so sportive a turn as they were in the
goodly times of Mrs. Hewet. We confess we should like to have to get up
some fine morning to be in St. James's Park in time to see some such
elegant struggle between the Duke of Devonshire and Sir Henry Halford as
the following:
"There is another story that I
had from a hand I dare depend upon. The Duke of Grafton
and Dr. Garth ran a foot-match in the Mall of 200
yards, and the latter, to his immortal glory, beat."
With a strong turn for building herself, Lady Mary makes some sensible
remarks on its folly in others.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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