_Mary._ Yes, sir, in London. I shall take a place in the coach to-morrow morning; and I hope the people of the inn where it puts up, at the end of the journey, will have the charity to recommend me to an honest service. _Shuff._ Service? Nonsense! You----you must think differently. I'll put you into a situation in town. _Mary._ Will you be so humane, sir? _Shuff._ Should you like Marybone parish, my love? _Mary._ All parishes are the same to me, now I must quit my own, sir. _Shuff._ I'll write a line for you, to a lady in that quarter, and--Oh, here's pen and ink. [_Writes, and talks as he is writing._] I shall be in London myself, in about ten days, and then I'll visit you, to see how you go on. _Mary._ O sir! you are, indeed a friend! _Shuff._ I mean to be your friend, my love. There, [_Giving her the Letter._] Mrs. Brown, Howland-Street; an old acquaintance of mine; a very goodnatured, discreet, elderly lady, I assure you. _Mary._ You are very good, sir, but I shall be ashamed to look such a discreet person in the face, if she hears my story. _Shuff._ No, you needn't;--she has a large stock of charity for the indiscretions of others, believe me. _Mary._ I don't know how to thank you, sir. The unfortunate must look up to such a lady, sure, as a mother. _Shuff._ She has acquired that appellation.----You'll be very comfortable;--and, when I arrive in town, I'll-- _Enter PEREGRINE._ Who have we here?--Oh!--ha!--ha!--This must be the gentleman she mentioned to Frank in her letter.--rather an ancient ami. [_Aside._ _Pereg._ So! I suspected this might be the case. [_Aside._] You are Mr. Rochdale, I presume sir? _Shuff._ Yes, sir, you do presume;--but I am not Mr. Rochdale. _Pereg._ I beg your pardon, sir, for mistaking you for so bad a person. _Shuff._ Mr. Rochdale, sir, is my intimate friend. If you mean to recommend yourself in this quarter, [_Pointing to Mary._] good breeding will suggest to you, that it mustn't be done by abusing him, before me. _Pereg._ I have not acquired that sort of good breeding, sir, which isn't founded on good sense;--and when I call the betrayer of female innocence a bad character, the term, I think, is too true to be abusive. _Shuff._ 'Tis a pity, then, you hav'n't been taught a little better, what is due to polished society. _Pereg._ I am always willing to improve. _Shuff._ I hope, sir, you won't urge me to become your instructor. _Pereg._ You are unequal to the task: if you quarrel with me in the cause of a seducer, you are unfit to teach me the duties of a citizen. _Shuff._ You may make, sir, a very good citizen; but, curse me, if you'll do for the west end of the town. _Pereg._ I make no distinctions in the ends of towns, sir:--the ends of integrity are always uniform: and 'tis only where those ends are most promoted, that the inhabitants of a town, let them live east or west, most preponderate in rational estimation.