_Char._ No, my lord, for I also am in a station where I _too_ command respect, where I respect and am respected. I therefore well know what is due to my superiors; and this duty I never forget, till those above me forget what they owe to themselves. _Lord A._ I am not aware, good cousin, that I have ever yet forfeited my title to the respect I claim. _Char._ You have, my lord: for high rank forfeits every claim to distinction when it exacts submissive humility from those beneath it, while at the same time it refuses a graceful condescension in exchange. _Sir R._ Charles, Charles, these sentiments but ill become the dependent state in which Fortune has placed you. _Char._ Dependent state! Dependent upon whom! What, on _him_! my titled, tawdry cousin there? What are his pretensions, that he shall presume to brand me as a poor dependent!--What are _his_ claims to independence? How does he spend the income Fortune has allotted to him? Does he rejoice to revive in the mansion of his ancestors the spirit of old English hospitality? Do the eyes of aged tenants twinkle with joy when they hope his coming? do the poor bless his arrival? I say no. He is the lord of land--and is also, what he seems still more proud of, a lord of parliament; but I will front him in both capacities, and frankly tell him, that in the first he is a burthen to his own estate, and not a benefactor; and in the second, a peer but not a prop. _Sir R._ Charles, how dare you thus persevere! You cannot deny, rash and foolish boy, that you are in a dependant state. Your very profession proves it. _Char._ O, father, spare that insult! The profession I glory to belong to, is above dependence--yes! while we live and fight, we feel, and gratefully acknowledge, that our pay depends on our king and country, and therefore you _may_ style us dependant; but in the hour of battle we wish for nothing more than to show that the glory and safety of the nation _depends on us_; and by our death or blood to repay all previous obligation. _Sir R._ Dismiss this subject. _Char._ With all my heart--My cousin was the subject, and he's a fatiguing one. _Sir R._ Though you do not love your cousin, you ought to pay that deference to his rank which you refuse to his person. _Char._ Sir, I do; like a fine mansion in the hands of a bad inhabitant. I admire the building, but despise the tenant. _Lord A._ This insolence is intolerable, and will not be forgotten. You may find, hot sir, that Where my friendship is despised, my resentment may be feared. I well know the latent motives for this insult. It is the language of a losing gamester, and is treated with deserved contempt by a _successful rival_. [_Exit._ _Char._ Ha! a _successful rival_! Is this possible? _Sir. R._ It is. The treaty of marriage between lord Austencourt and Helen is this morning concluded. _Char._ And does she consent? _Sir R._ There can be little doubt of that.