_Mrs. Rack._ And you I take to be a slanderous Cynic of two-and-thirty.--Twenty years hence, one might have forgiven such a libel!--Now, Sir, hear my definition of a Fine Lady:--She is a creature for whom Nature has done much, and Education more; she has Taste, Elegance, Spirit, Understanding. In her manner she is free, in her morals nice. Her behaviour is undistinguishingly polite to her Husband, and all mankind;--her sentiments are for their hours of retirement. In a word, a Fine Lady is the life of conversation, the spirit of society, the joy of the public!--Pleasure follows where ever she appears, and the kindest wishes attend her slumbers.--Make haste, then, my dear Lady Frances, commence Fine Lady, and force your Husband to acknowledge the justness of my picture! _Lady Fran._ I am sure 'tis a delightful one. How can you dislike it, Sir George? You painted Fashionable Life in colours so disgusting, that I thought I hated it; but, on a nearer view, it seems charming. I have hitherto lived in obscurity; 'tis time that I should be a Woman of the World. I long to begin;--my heart pants with expectation and delight! _Mrs. Rack._ Come, then; let us begin directly. I am inpatient to introduce you to that Society, which you were born to ornament and charm. _Lady Fran._ Adieu! my Love!--We shall meet again at dinner. (_Going._) _Sir Geo._ Sure, I am in a dream!--Fanny! _Lady Fran._ (_returning_) Sir George? _Sir Geo._ Will you go without me? _Mrs. Rack._ Will you go without me!--ha! ha! ha! what a pathetic address! Why, sure you would not always be seen side by side, like two beans upon a stalk. Are you afraid to trust Lady Frances with me, Sir? _Sir George._ Heaven and earth! with whom can a man trust his wife, in the present state of society? Formerly there were distinctions of character amongst ye: every class of females had its particular description; Grandmothers were pious, Aunts, discreet, Old Maids censorious! but now aunts, grandmothers, girls, and maiden gentlewomen, are all the same creature;--a wrinkle more or less is the sole difference between ye. _Mrs. Rack._ That Maiden Gentlewomen have lost their censoriousness, is surely not in your catalogue of grievances. _Sir Geo._ Indeed it is--and ranked amongst the most serious grievances.--Things went well, Madam, when the tongues of three or four old Virgins kept all the Wives and Daughters of a parish in awe. They were the Dragons that guarded the Hesperian fruit; and I wonder they have not been oblig'd, by act of parliament, to resume their function. _Mrs. Rack._ Ha! ha! ha! and pension'd, I suppose, for making strict enquiries into the lives and conversations of their neighbours.