Enter SIR JOHN FLOWERDALE and JENKINS.

Sir J. F. So, then, the mystery is discovered :—but is it possible that my daughter's refusal of Colonel Oldboy's son should proceed from a clandestine engagement, and that engagement with Lionel ?

Jenk. My niece, sir, is in her young lady's secrets; and, Lord knows, she had little design to betray them; but having remarked some odd expressions of her's yesterday, when she came down to me this morning with the letter, I questioned her; and, in short, drew the whole affair out; upon which I feigned a recollection of some business with you, and desired her to carry the letter to Colonel Oldboy's herself, while I came up hither. Yes, sir, and it is my duty to tell you; else I would rather die than be the means of wounding the heart of my dear young lady; for if there is one upon earth of truly noble and delicate sentiments

Sir J. F. I thought so once, Jenkins.

Jenk. And think so still: Oh, good Sir John, now is the time for you to exert that character of worth and gentleness, which the world, so deservedly, has given you. You have, indeed, cause to be offended; but, consider, sir, your daughter is young, beautiful, and amiable; the poor youth unexperienced, sensible, and at a time of life when such temptations are hard to be resisted: their opportunities were many, their cast of thinking the same.

Sir J. F. Jenkins, I can allow for all these things; but the young hypoerites, there's the thing, Jenkins; their hypocrisy, their hypocrisy wounds me.

Jenk. Call it by a gentler name, sir; modesty on her part, apprehension on his.

Sir J. F. Then what opportunity have they had? They never were together but when my sister or myself made one of the company : besides, I had so firm a reliance on Lionel's honour and gratitude

Jenk. Sir, as we were standing in the next room, I heard a message delivered from Mr Lionel, desiring leave to wait upon your daughter; I dare swear they will be here presently; suppose we were to step into that closet, and overhear their conversation?

Sir J. F. What, Jenkins, after having lived so many years in confidence with my child, shall I become an eves-dropper, to detect her?

Jenk. It is necessary at present.-Come in, my dear master, let us only consider that we were once young like them; subject to the same passions, the same indiscretions; and it is the duty of every man to pardon errors incident to his kind. [Exeunt,

Exter CLARISSA and LIONEL.

Clar. Sir, you desired to speak to me; I need not tell you the present situation of my heart; it is full. Whatever you have to say, I beg you will explain yourself; and, if possible, rid me of the anxiety under which I have laboured for some hours.

Lionel. Madam, your anxiety cannot be greater than mine; I come, indeed, to speak to you; and yet, I know not how; I come to advise you, shall I say, as a friend? yes, as a friend to your glory, your felicity; dearer to me than my life.

Clar. Go on, sir.

Lionel. Sir John Flowerdale, madam, is such a father as few are blessed with; his care, his prudence has provided for you a match-Your refusal renders him inconsolable. Listen to no suggestions that would pervert you from your duty, but make the worthiest of men happy by submitting to his will.

Clar. How, sir, after what passed between us yesterday evening, can you advise me to marry Mr Jessamy?

Lionel. I would advise you to marry any one, madam, rather than a villain.

Clar. A villain, sir?

Lionel. I should be the worst of villains, madam, was I to talk to you in any other strain: Nay, am I not a villain, at once treacherous and ungrateful? Received into this house as an asylum, what have I done? Betrayed the confidence of the friend that trusted me; endeavoured to sacrifice his peace, and the honour of his family, to my own unwarrantable desires.

Clar. Say no more, sir; say no more; I see my error too late; I have parted from the rules prescribed to my sex; I have mistaken indecorum for a laudable sincerity; and it is just I should meet with the treatment my imprudence deserves.

Lionel. Oh, my Clarissa! my heart is broke; I am hateful to myself, for loving you ;-yet, before I leave you for ever, I will once more touch that lovely hand-indulge my fondness with a last look-pray for your health and prosperity.

Clar. Can you forsake me?-Have I then given my affections to a man who rejects and disregards them? -Let me throw myself at my father's feet: he is generous and compassionate :-He knows your worth

Lionel. Mention it not-were you stripped of fortune, reduced to the meanest station, and I a monarch of the globe, I should glory in raising you to universal empire; but as it is

AIR.

O dry those tears, like melted ore,
Fast dropping on my heart they fall:
Think, think no more of me; no more
The mem❜ry of past scenes recall.

On a wild sea of passion tost,
I split upon the fatal shelf;

Friendship and love at once are lost,
And now I wish to lose myself.

[Exit.

Enter JENNY.

Jenny. O, madam! I have betrayed you. I have gone and said something I should not have said to my uncle Jenkins; and, as sure as day, he has gone and told it all to Sir John.

Enter SIR JOHN FLOWERDALE and JENKINS,

Clar. My father!

Sir J. F. Go, Jenkins, and desire that young gentleman to come back-[Exit JENKINS.] stay where you are. But, what have I done to you, my child? How have I deserved, that you should treat me like an enemy? Has there been any undesigned rigour in my conduct, or terror in my looks?

Clar. Oh, sir!

Enter JENKINS and LIONEL.

Jenk. Here is Mr Lionel.

Sir J. F. Come in-When I tell you, that I am instructed in all your proceedings, and that I have been ear-witness to your conversation in this place, you will, perhaps, imagine what my thoughts are of you, and the measures which justice prescribes me to follow.

Lionel. Sir, I have nothing to say in my own defence; I stand before you, self-convicted, self-condemned, and shall submit without murmuring to the sentence of my judge.

Sir J. F. As for you, Clarissa, since your earliest infancy, you have known no parent but me; I have been to you, at once, both father and mother; and, that I might the better fulfil those united duties, though left a widower in the prime of my days, I would never enter into a second marriage-I loved you for your likeness to your dear mother; but that mother never F

deceived me-and there the likeness fails-you have repaid my affection with dissimulation.- Clarissa, you should have trusted me.- -As for you, Mr Lionel, what terms can I find strong enough to paint the excess of my friendship!-I loved, I esteemed, I honoured your father: he was a brave, a generous, and a sincere man; I thought you inherited his good qualities-you were left an orphan; I adopted you, put you upon the footing of my own son ; educated you like a gentleman; and designed you for a profession, to which I thought your virtues would have been an ornament. What return you have made me, you seem to be acquainted with yourself, and, therefore, I shall not repeat it-Yet, remember, as an aggravation of your guilt, that the last mark of my bounty was conferred upon you in the very instant when you were undermining my designs. Now, sir, I have but one thing more to say to you take my daughter; was she worth a million, she is at your service.

Lionel. To me, sir !-your daughter-do you give her to me?-Without fortune without friends— without

Sir J. F. You have them all in your heart; him, whom virtue raises, fortune cannot abase.

Clar. O, sir, let me on my knees kiss that dear hand-acknowledge my error, and entreat forgiveness and blessing.

Sir J. F. You have not erred, my dear daughter; you have distinguished. It is I should ask pardon, for this little trial of you, for I am happier in the sonin-law you have given me, than if you had married a prince.

Lionel. My patron-my friend-my father-I would fain say something; but, as your goodness exceeds all bounds

Sir J. F. I think I hear a coach drive into the court; it is Colonel Oldboy's family; I will go and