From Lady Davers, in Answer to the preceding.

My dear Brother,

I do most heartily congratulate you on the Recovery of Master Billy, and the good Way my Sister is in. I am the more rejoic’d, as her sweet Face is not likely to suffer by the Malady; for, be the Beauties of the Mind what they will, those of Person are no small Recommendation, with some Folks, I am sure; and I began to be afraid, that when it was hardly possible for both conjoined to keep a roving Mind constant, that one only would not be sufficient.

This News gives me the more Pleasure, because I am well inform’d, that a certain gay Lady was pleased to give herself Airs upon hearing of my Sister's Illness; as, That she could not be sorry for it; for now she should look upon herself as the prettiest Woman in England. She meant only, I suppose, as to outward Prettiness, Brother!

You give me the Name of a ready Censurer. I own, I think myself to be not a little interested in all that regards my Brother, and his Honour. But when some People are not readier to censure, than others to trespass, I know not whether they can with Justice be styled censorious.

But however that be, the Rod seems to have been held up, as a Warning—and that the Blow, in the irreparable Deprivation, is not given, is a Mercy, that I hope will be deserved; tho’ you never can those very signal ones you receive at the Divine Hands, beyond any Gentleman I know. For even (if I shall not be deemed censorious again) your very Vices have been turned to your Felicity, as if God would try the Nobleness of the Heart he has given you, by overcoming you (in Answer to my Sister's constant Prayers, as well as mine) by Mercies rather than by Judgments.

I might give Instances of the Truth of this Observation, in almost all the Actions and Attempts of your past Life: And take care, (if you are displeased, I will speak it) take care, thou bold Wretch, that if this Method be ingratefully slighted, the uplifted Arm fall not down with double Weight on thy devoted Head!

My dear Lady,

I will now proceed with my melancholy Account.

Not knowing what to do, and Mr. B. not coming nearme, and the Clock striking Twelve, I ventur’d to send this Billet to him, by Polly.

Dear Sir,

I know you chuse not to be invaded when you retire into your Closet; and yet, being very uneasy on account of your abrupt Departure, and heavy Displeasure, I take the Liberty to write these few Lines.

I own, Sir, that the sudden Flow of Tears which involuntarily burst from me, at your kind Expressions to the Countess in my Favour, when I had thought for more than a Month past, you were angry with me, and which had distress’d my weak Mind beyond Expression, might appear unaccountable to you. But had you kindly waited but one Moment, till this Fit, which was rather owing to my Joy and my Gratitude, than to Perverseness, had been over, (and I knew the Time when you would have generously soothed it!) I should have had the Happiness of a more serene and favourable Parting.

Will you permit me, Sir, (Polly shall wait your Answer) to attend you? I dare not come without your Permission; for should you be as angry as you were, I know not how I should bear it. But if you say I may come down, I hope to satisfy you, that I intended not any Offence. Do, dear Sir, permit me to attend you. I can say no more, than that I am

Your ever dutiful

P. B.

Polly return’d with the following.—So, thought I, a Letter! I could have spared that, I am sure. I expected no Favour from it. So, tremblingly, open’d it.

My Dear,

I would not have you sit up for me. We are getting apace into the matrimonial Recriminations. You knew the Time!—So did I, my Dear!—But it seems that Time is over with both; and I have had the Mortification, for some past Weeks, I may say, to come home to a very different Pamela, than I used to leave all Company and all Pleasure for.—I hope we shall better understand one another. But you cannot see me at present with any Advantage to yourself; and I would not, that any thing farther should pass, to add to the Regrets of both.

From Lady Davers to Mr. B.

My dearest Brother,

Altho’ I believe it is needless to put a Gentleman of your generous Spirit in mind of doing a worthy Action; yet, as I do not know whether you have thought of what I am going to hint to you, I cannot forbear a Line or two with regard to the good old Couple in Kent.

I am sure, if, for our Sins, God Almighty should take from us my incomparable Sister, (forgive me, my dear Brother, but to intimate what may be, altho’ I hourly pray, as her trying Minute approaches, that it will not) you will, for her sake, take care that her honest Parents have not the Loss of your Favour, to deepen the inconsolable one, they will have, in such a Case, of the best of Daughters.

I say, I am sure you will do as generously by them as ever: And I dare say, your sweet Pamela doubts it not: Yet as you know how sensible she is of every Favour done to them, it is the Countess's Opinion, and mine, and Lady Betty's too, that you give her this Assurance in some legal Way; for as she is naturally apprehensive, and thinks more of her Circumstance, than, for your sake, she chuses to express to you, it will be like a Cordial to her dutiful and grateful Heart; and I do not know, if it will not contribute, more than any one Thing, to make her go thro’ her Task with Ease and Safety.

I know how much your Heart is wrapp’d up in the dear Creature: And you are a worthy Brother, to let it be so!—You will excuse me therefore, I am sure, for this my Officiousness.

I have no Doubt that God will spare her to us, because, altho’ we may not be worthy of so much Excellence, yet we now all unite so gratefully to thank Him for such a worthy Relation, that I hope we shall not be depriv’d of an Example so necessary to us all.

I can have but one Fear; and that is, that, young as she is, she seems ripen’d for Glory; she seems to have liv’d long enough for herself. But for You, and for Us, that God will still spare her, shall be the hourly Prayer of,

My dear worthy Brother,

Your ever affectionate Sister,

B. Davers.

My dearest Child,

Your Mother and I have as well considered the Case you put, as we are able; and we think your own Reasons very good; and it is pity, a thousand Pities, your honoured Husband will not allow them, as you, my Dear, make it such a Point with you. Very few Ladies would give their Spouses, we believe, the Trouble of this Debate; and few Gentlemen are so very nice as yours in this respect; for I (but what signifies what such a mean Soul as I think, compar’d to so learned and brave a Gentleman; yet I) always thought your dear Mother, and she has been a pretty Woman too in her Time, never look’d so lovely, as when I saw the dear Creature, like the Pelican in the Wilderness, feeding her young ones from her kind Breast:—And had I had ever so noble an Estate, I am sure I should have thought so.

But since the good ‘Squire cannot take this Pleasure; since he so much values your Person; since he gives you Warning, that it may estrange his Affections; since he is impatient of Denial, and thinks so highly of his Prerogative; since he may, if disobliged, resume some bad Habits, and so you may have all your Prayers and Hopes in his perfect Reformation frustrated, and find your own Power to do Good more narrow’d, as I may say; we think, besides the Obedience you have vowed to him, and is the Duty of every good Wife, you ought to give up the Point, and acquiesce; for this seemeth to us, to be the lesser Evil; and God Almighty, if it should be your Duty, will not be less merciful than Men; who, as his Honour says, by the Laws of the Realm, excuse a Wife when she is faulty by the Command of the Husband; and we hope, the Fault he is pleased to make you commit, (if a Fault, for he really gives very praise-worthy Motives for his Dispensation) will not lie at his own Door. So e’en resolve my dearest Child, to submit to it, and with Chearfulness too.

God send you an happy Hour! but who knows, when the Time comes, whether it may not be proper to dispense with this Duty, as you deem it, on other Accounts?

My beloved Lady G.

You will excuse my long Silence, when you are reminded of the Occasions to which it has been owing; for some of them you know; and when you are told the others.

In the first Place, I was oblig’d to pay a dutiful and concerning Visit to Kent, where my good Father was taken ill of a Fever, and my Mother of an Ague: And think, Madam, how this must affect me, from their Time of Life!—O Death! Death! thou mayst knock at the Doors of Tenements so frail, but so beloved: We cannot help ourselves: But we will not let thee in, if we can possibly avoid it; for the Lives of such dear Parents are a Part of my own Life: And, if God see fit, I cannot spare them! Indeed I cannot!

Mr. B. kindly accompany’dme, apprehending, that his beloved Presence would be necessary, if that Recovery of them both, in which I thankfully rejoice, had not taken Effect; especially, as a Circumstance I am, I think, always in, added more Weight to his Apprehensions.

I had hardly return’d from Kent to Bedfordshire, and look’d round, when I was oblig’d to set out to attend Lady Davers, who sent me word, that she should die, that was her strong Term, if she saw me not, to comfort and recover, by my Counsel and Presence, so she was pleas’d to express herself, her sick Lord, who was just got out of an intermittent Fever, which left him without any Spirits, and was occasion’d by fretting at the Conduct of her stupid Nephew, those also were her Words.

For you must have heard, (Every-body hears when a Man of Quality does a foolish Thing!) and it has been in all the News-papers, That—‘On Wednesday last the Right Honourable John (Jackey, they should have said) Lord H. Nephew to the Right Honourable William Lord Davers, was marry’d to the Honourable Mrs. P. Relict of J. P. of Twickenham, Esq; a Lady of celebrated Beauty, and ample Fortune.’

From Sir SIMON DARNFORD, in Reply.

Hark ye me, ‘Squire B.——A Word in your Ear!——I like neither you, nor your Wife, to be plain with you, well enough to trust my Polly with you. What! you are to shew her, in your Lady's Case, all the Game of a Lying-in, I suppose; and, at least, set the Girl a longing to make one in the Dance, before I have found out the proper Man for her Partner!

But here's War declar’d against my poor Gums, it seems. Well, I will never open my Mouth before your Lady, as long as I live, if I can help it. I have for these Ten Years avoided to put on my Cravat; and for what Reason, do you think?—Why, because I could not bear to see what Ruins a few Years have made in a Visage, that us’d to inspire Love and Terror as it pleas’d.—And here your—What-shall-I-call-her of a Wife, with all the Insolence of Youth and Beauty on her Side, follows me with a Glass, and would make me look in it, whether I will or not. I’m a plaguy good-humour’d old Fellow—if I am an old Fellow—or I should not bear the Insults contain’d in your Letter. Between you and your Lady, you make a wretched Figure of me, that's certain—And yet, ‘tis taking my Part, with a P–x to you, Mr. B. I would have said; but on your Lady's Account—You see I have as much more Charity than her, as she has Purity than me; or I should not have put in that Saving Clause in her Behalf.

Dismounted Spectacles, arch Mouth, Gums of shining Jet, and such-like fine Descriptions, are these yours, or your Lady’s? I’d be glad to know that, Mr. B.—

Well but, What a D---l must a Man do?—I’d be glad at any Rate to stand in your Lady's Graces, that I would:Nor would I be the last Rake and Libertine unreform’d by her Example, which I suppose will make Virtue the Fashion, if she goes on at the Rate she does.

In Answer to the preceding.

How you overwhelm me with your Goodness, my dearest Lady, in every Word of your last welcome Letter, is beyond my Power to express! How nobly has your Lady contrived, in your ever-valu’d Present, to encourage a doubting and apprehensive Mind! And how does it contribute to my Joy andmy Glory, that I am deemed by the noble Sister ofmy best Beloved, not wholly unworthy of being the humble Means to continue, and, perhaps, to perpetuate, a Family so antient and so honourable!——

This, Madam, when I contemplate, and look upon what I was—What can I say!—How shall I express the Sense of the Honour, done me!—And when, skipping over for a few Moments, the other engaging Particulars in your Ladyship's Letter, I come to the last charming Paragraph, I amdoubly affected to see myself seemingly upbraided, but so politely imbolden’d to assume an Appellation, that otherwise I hardly dar’d to assume.

I—humble I—who never had a Sister before!—To find one now in Lady Davers!OMadam, you, and only you, can teach me Words fit to express the Joy and the Gratitude that fill my delighted Heart!—But thus much I am taught, and thus much I can say, tho’ at a Loss for other Words, that there is something more than the Low-born can imagine in Birth and Education. This is so evident in your Lady's Actions, Words, and Manner, that it strikes one with a becoming Reverence; and we look up with Awe to a Condition we emulate in vain, when raised by partial Favour, like what I have found; and are confounded, when we see Grandeur of Soul join’d with Grandeur of Birth and Condition; and a noble Lady acting thus nobly, as Lady Davers acts.

My best Wishes, and a thousand Blessings, attend your Ladyship in all you undertake! And I am persuaded the latter will, and a Peace and Satisfaction of Mind incomparably to be preferr’d to whatever else this World can afford, in the new Regulations, which you, and my dear Lady Countess, have set on Foot in your Families: And when I can have the Happiness to know what they are, I shall, I am confident, greatly improve my own Methods by them.

My dear Miss,

One more Letter, and I have done for a great while; because I hope your Presence will put an End to the Occasion. I shall now tell you ofmy second Visit to the Dairy-house, where we went to Breakfast, in the Chariot and Four, because of the Distance, which is Ten pretty long Miles.

I transcrib’d for you, from Letters written formerly to my dear Parents, an Account of my former Dairy-house Visit, and what the People were, and whom I saw there; and altho’ I besought you to keep that Affair to yourself, as too touching a Point to the Reputation of my Mr. B. to be known but to you only, and even to destroy it, when you had perused it; yet, I make no doubt, you remember the Story, and so I need not repeat any Part of that Account.

When we arrived there, we found at the Door, expecting us, (for they heard the Chariot-wheels at a Distance) my pretty Miss Goodwin, accompanied by two other Misses, who had earned their Ride, and attended by the Governess's Daughter, a discreet young Gentlewoman. As soon as I stepp’d out, Miss ran into my Arms with great Eagerness, and I as tenderly embraced her, and leading her into the Parlour, asked her abundance of Questions about her Work, and her Lessons; and among the rest, If she had merited this Distinction of the Chaise and Dairy-house Breakfast, or if it were owing to her Uncle's Favour, and to that of her Governess? The young Gentlewoman assur’d me it was to both, and shew’d me Miss's Needleworks, and Penmanship, and the Child was highly pleased with my Commendations.

I took a good deal of Notice of the other two Misses, for their Schoolfellow's sake, and made each of them a Present of some little Toys; and my Miss, of a Number of pretty Trinkets, with which she was highly delighted, and I told her, that I would wait upon her Governess, when I came from London into the Country again, and see in what Order she kept her little Matters; for, above all things, I loved pretty housewifely Misses; and then, I would bring her more.

From Mrs. B. to Lady DAVERS.

My good Lady,

You command me to acquaint you with the Proceedings between Mr. Murray and Miss Nanny Darnford: And Miss Polly makes it very easy for me to obey you, in this Particular, and in very few Words; for she says, Every thing was adjusted before she came away, and the Ceremony, she believes, may be performed by this Time. She rejoices that she was out of the way of it: For she says, Love is so aukward a Thing to Mr. Murray, and Good-humour so uncommon an one to Miss Nancy, that she hopes she shall never see such another Courtship.

Mr. B. teizes Miss, that she is a little piqu’d, and that she shew’d it by a satirical Fling or two in a former Letter to me, that her humble Servant took her at her Word: And yet he acknowleges, that he believes she despises him, as by his Conduct he has shewn, that he deserves to be despised by her.

She says, nothing has piqu’d her in the whole Affair, but the Triumph it gave to that ill-natur’d Girl, as she justly calls her Sister, who has insulted her unmercifully on that Account; and yet with so low and mean a Spite, that she has been vex’d at herself to shew the least Concern on the Occasion. But ungenerous Teizing is an intolerable thing, as she says; and often repeated, will vex a Mind naturally above it: Had it, says she, come from any body else, I should not have heeded it; but how can one despise a Sister?

We have been at the Play-house several times; and give me Leave to say, Madam, (for I have now read as well as seen several) That I think the Stage, by proper Regulations,might be made a profitable Amusement. But nothing more convinces one, than these Representations, of the Truth of the common Observation, That the best Things, corrupted, may prove the worst.

From Lady Davers to Mrs. B.

My dear Pamela,

I had intended to have been with you before this; but my Lord has been a little indisposed with the Gout, and Jackey too has had an Intermittent Fever; but they are pretty well recovered, and it shall not be long before I see you, now I understand you are return’d from your Kentish Expedition.

We have been exceedingly diverted with your Papers. You have given us, by their Means, many a delightful Hour, that otherwise would have hung heavy upon us; and we are all charm’d with you. Lady Betty, as well as her noble Mamma, has always been of our Party, whenever we have read your Accounts. She is a dear generous Lady, and has shed many a Tear over them, as indeed we all have; and my Lord has not been unmov’d, nor Jackey neither, at some of your Distresses and Reflections. Indeed, Pamela, you are a charming Creature, and an Ornament to our Sex.We wanted to have had you among us an hundred times, as we read, that we might have lov’d, and kiss’d, and thank’d you.

But after all, my Brother, generous and noble as he was, when your Trials were over, was a strange wicked young Fellow; and happy it was for you both, that he was so cleverly caught in the Trap he had laid for your Virtue.

I can assure you, my Lord longs to see you, and will accompany me; for, he says, he has but a faint Idea of your Person. I tell him, and tell them all, that you are the finest Girl, and the most improv’d in Person and Mind, I ever beheld; and I am not afraid, altho’ they should imagine all they can in your Favour, from my Account of you, that they will be disappointed when they see you, and converse with you. But one thing more you must do for us, and then we will love you still more; and that is, you must send us the rest of your Papers, down to your Marriage at least, and further, if you have written further; for we all long to see the rest, as you relate it, tho’ we know in general what has passed.

From Mrs. B. to Lady Davers.

My dearest Lady,

I must beg Pardon, for having been in this great Town, more than a Week, and not having found an Opportunity to tender my Devoirs to your Ladyship. You know, dear Madam, what Hurries and Fatiguesmust attend such a Journey, to one in my way, and to an intire new Settlement, in which an hundred things must be done, and attended to, with a Preference to other Occasions, however delightful. Yet, I must own, we found a stately, a well-order’d, and a convenient House: But although it is not far from Fields, and has an airy Opening to its back Part, and its Front a Square, as it is called, yet I am not reconcil’d to it, so intirely as to the beloved Mansion we left.

My dear Mr. B. has been, and is, busily imploy’d in ordering some few Alterations, to make things still more commodious. He has furnish’d me out a little pretty Library; and has allotted me very convenient Apartments besides: And the Furniture of every Place is rich, as befits the Mind and Fortune of the generous Owner. But I shall not offer at Particulars, because we hope to have the Honour of a Visit from my good Lord, and your Ladyship, before the Winter Weather sets in, to make the Roads too dirty and deep; but it is proper to mention, that the House is so large, that we make a great Number of Beds, the more conveniently to receive the Honours your Ladyship, and my Lord, and Mr. B.'s other Friends will do us.

I have not yet been at any of the publick Diversions. Mr. B. has carry’d me, by gentle Turns, out of his Workmens way, Ten Miles round this over-grown Capital, and through the principal of its numerous Streets. The Villages, that lie spangled about this vast Circumference, as well on the other Side the noble Thames, (which I had before a Notion of, from Sir John Denham's celebrated Cooper's Hill 1) as well as on the Middlesex Side, are beautiful, both by Buildings and Situation, beyond what I could conceive, and several of them seem larger than many of our Country Towns of Note. But it would be impertinent to trouble your Ladyship with these Matters, who are no Stranger to what is worthy of Notice in London.

From Miss Darnford to Mrs. B.

My dearest Mrs. B.

We are greatly obliged to you for every particular Article in your entertaining Journal, which you have brought sooner than we wish’d to a Conclusion. We cannot express how much we admire you for your judicious Charities, so easy to be practised, yet so uncommon in the Manner; and for your inimitable Conduct in the Affair of your frail Polly, and the silly Mr. H.

Your Account of the Visit of the Four Rakes, and of your Parting with your noble Guests; your Verses, and Mr. H.'s Letter, (an Original indeed!) have all greatly entertain’d us, as your Prerogative Hints have amus’d us: But we defer our Opinions of those Hints, till we have the Case more fully explain’d.

But, my dear Friend, are you not in Danger of falling into a too thoughtful and gloomy way? By the latter Part of your Letter, we are afraid you are; and my Mamma, and Mrs. Jones, and Mrs. Peters, injoin me to write, to caution you on that Head. But there is the less need of it, because your Prudence will always suggest to you Reasons, as it does in that very Letter, that must out-balance your Fears. Think little, and hope much, is a good Lesson in your Case, and to a Lady of your Temper; and I hope Lady Davers will not in vain have given you that Caution. After all, I dare say, your Thoughtfulness is but symptomatical, and will go off, in proper Time.

Mean time, permit me to chuse you a Subject, that will certainly divert you. You must know, that I have been a diligent Observer of the Conduct of People in the marry’d Life to each other, and have often pronounced, that there cannot be any tolerable Happiness in it, unless the one or the other makes such Sacrifices of their Inclinations and Humours, as renders it a State very little desirable to free and generous Minds. Of this I see an Instance in our own Family; for tho’ my Papa and Mamma live very happily, it is all owing to one Side, I need not say which.

My dearest Lady,

A thousand Thanks for your Goodness to me: But I hope all will be well. I hope God will inable me to act so prudent a Part as will touch his generous Breast. Be pleased to tell me what your Ladyship has heard; but it becomes notme, I think, till I cannot help it, tomake any Appeals; for, I know, those will not be excus’d; and I do all I can to suppress my Uneasiness before him. But I pay for it, when I am alone. My Nursery, and my Reliance on God, (I should have said the latter first) are all my Consolation.—God preserve and bless you, my good Lady, and my Noble Lord; (But I am apt to think your Ladyship's Presence will not avail) prays,

Your affectionate and obliged

P. B.

My dear Miss Darnford,

At your Desire, and to oblige your honoured Mamma, and your good Neighbours, I will now acquaint you with the Arrival of Lady Davers, and will write what passes between us: I will not say worthy of Notice; for were I to do so, I should be more brief, perhaps, by much, than you seem to expect. But as my Time is pretty much taken up, and I find I shall be obliged to write a Bit now and a Bit then, you must excuse me, if I dispense with some Forms, which I ought to observe, when I write to one I so dearly love; and so I will give it Journal-wise, as it were, and have no Regard, when it would fetter or break in upon my Freedom of Narration, to Inscription or Subscription; but send it as I have Opportunity: And if you please to favour me so far, as to lend it me, after you have read the Stuff, for the Perusal of my Father and Mother, to whom my Duty and Promise require me to give an Account of my Proceedings, it will save me Transcription, for which I shall have no Time; and then you will excuse Blots and Blurs, and I will trouble myself no further for Apologies on that score, but this one for all.

If you think it worth while, when they have read it, you shall have it again.

Wednesday Morning, Six o’Clock.

For my dear Friend permits me to rise an Hour sooner than my Wont, that I may have Time to scribble; for he is always pleased to see me so imploy’d, or in Reading; often saying, when I am at my Needle, (as his Sister once wrote)a Your Maids can do this, Pamela; but they cannot write as you can. And yet, as he tells me, when I chuse to follow my Needle, as a Diversion from too intense Study, as he is pleased to call it, (but, alas! I know not what Study is, as may be easily guessed by my hasty writing, putting down every thing as it comes) I shall then do as I please.

In Answer to the preceding.

My dear Mrs. B.

You charm us all, with your Letters. Mr. Peters says he will never go to bed, nor rise, but he will pray for you, and desires I will return his thankful Acknowlegements for your favourable Opinion of him, and kind Allowances. If there be an Angel on Earth, he says you are one. My Papa, altho’ he has seen your stinging Reflection upon his Refusal to protect you, is delighted with you too; and says, when you come down to Lincolnshire again, he will be undertaken by you in good Earnest; for he thinks he was wrong to deny you his Protection.

We are pleas’d with your Apology for Mr. B. ‘Tis so much the Part of a good Wife to extenuate her Husband's Faults, and make the best of his bad Qualities, in order to give the World a good Opinion of him; that, together with the affecting Instances of your Humility, in looking back with so much true Greatness of Mind, to what you were, make us all join to admire you, and own, that nobody can deserve what you deserve.

Yet I amsorry,my dear Friend, to find, notwithstanding your Defence of Mr. B. that you have any Apprehensions about London. ‘Tis pity any thing should give you Concern. As to Mr. B.'s talking in Favour of Polygamy, you cannot expect, that he can shake off all his bad Notions at once. And it must be a great Comfort to you, that his Actions do not correspond, and that his Liberties have been reduced to Notions only. In time, we hope that he will be every thing you wish him. If not, with such an Example before him, he will be the more culpable.

We all smiled at the Description of your own uncommon Courtship. And as they say, the Days of Courtship are the happiest Part of Life, if we had not known that your Days of Marriage are happier by far, than any other body's Courtship, we must needs have pity’d you. But as the one were Days of Trial and Temptation, the other are Days of Reward and Happiness: May the last always continue to be so, and you’ll have no Occasion to think any body happier than Mrs. B.

Thursday Morning, Six o’Clock.

Our Breakfast Conversation Yesterday, (at which only Mrs. Worden, my Lady's Woman, and my Polly attended) was so whimsically particular, tho’ I doubt some of it, at least, will appear too trifling) that I cannot help acquainting my dear Miss Darnford with it, who is desirous of knowing all that relates to Lady Davers's Conduct towards me.

You must know then, that I have the Honour to stand very high in the Graces of Lord Davers, who on every Occasion is pleased to call me his good Sister, his dear Sister, and sometimes his charming Sister ; and he tells me, he will not be out of my Company for an Hour together, while he stays here, if he can help it.

My Lady seems to relish this very well in the main, tho’ she cannot quite so readily, yet, frame her Mouth to the Sound of the Word Sister, as my Lord does; of which this that follows is one Instance.

His Lordship had called me by that tender Name twice before, and saying, I will drink another Dish, I think, my good Sister ; my Lady said, Your Lordship has got a Word by the End, that you seem mighty fond of: I have taken Notice, that you have called Pamela, Sister, Sister, Sister, no less than Three times in a Quarter of an Hour.

My Lord looked a little serious: I shall one Day or other, said he, be allow’d to chuse my own Words and Phrases, I hope: Your Sister, Mr. B. added he, often questions whether I am at Age or not, tho’ the House of Peers made no Scruple of admitting me among them some Years ago.

Mr. B. said, severely, but with a smiling Air, ‘Tis well she has such a Gentleman as your Lordship for a Husband, whose affectionate Indulgence overlooks all her saucy Sallies. I am sure, when you took her out of our Family into your own, we all thought ourselves bound to pray for you.

I thought this a great Trial of my Lady's Patience: But it was from Mr. B. And she said, with a half-pleasant, half-serious Air, How now, Confidence!—None but my Brother could have said this, whose violent Spirit was always much more intolerable than mine: But I can tell you, Mr. B.

My dearest Mr. B.

I will continue my Subject, altho’ I have not had an Opportunity to know whether you approve ofmy Notions or not, by reason of the Excursions you have been pleas’d to allow me to make in your beloved Company, to the Sea-ports of this Kingdom, and to the more noted inland Towns of Essex, Kent, Sussex, Hampshire, and Dorsetshire, which have given me infinite Delight and Pleasure, and inlarg’d my Notions of the Wealth and Power of the Kingdom, in which God's Goodness has given you so considerable a Stake.

My next Topick will be upon an Home Education, which Mr. Locke prefers, for several weighty Reasons, to a School one, provided such a Tutor can be procur’d, as he makes next to an Impossibility to procure. The Gentleman has set forth the Inconveniencies of both, and was himself so discourag’d on a Review of them, that he was ready, as he says, to throw up his Pen. My chief Cares, dear Sir, on this Head, are threefold: ist, The Difficulty, which, as I said, Mr. Locke makes almost insuperable, to find a Tutor qualify’d. 2dly, The Necessity there is, according to Mr. Locke, of keeping the Youth out of the Company of the meaner Servants, who may set him bad Examples. And, next, Those still greater Difficulties, which will arise from the Examples of his Parents, if they are not very discreet and circumspect.

As to the Qualifications of the Tutor, Mr. Locke supposes, that he is to be so learned, so discreet, so wise, in short, so perfect a Man, that, I doubt, and so does Mr. Locke, such an one is hardly possible to be met with for this humble and slavish Imployment. I presume, Sir, to call it so, because of the too little Regard that is generally paid to these useful Men in the Families of the Great, where they are too frequently put upon a Foot with the uppermost Servants, and the rather, if they happen to be Men of Modesty.

“I would,” says this Gentleman, “from Childrens first beginning to talk, have some discreet, sober, nay, wise Person about them, whose Care it should be to fashion them right, and to keep them from all Ill; especially the Infection of bad Company.”

Dear Pamela,

I am very glad thy honest Man has let thee into the Affair of Sally Godfrey. But pr’ythee, Pamela, give us an Account of the Manner in which he did it, and of thy Thoughts upon it; for that is a critical Case and according as he has represented it, so shall I know what to say of it before you and him: For I would not make Mischief between you for the World.

This, let me tell you, will be a trying Part of your Conduct. For he loves the Child; and will judge of you by your Conduct towards it. He dearly loved her Mother; and, notwithstanding her Fault, she well deserv’d it: For she was a sensible, ay, and a modest Lady, and of an ancient and genteel Family. But he was Heir to a noble Estate, was of a bold and enterprising Spirit, fond of Intrigue——Don't let this concern you.— You’ll have the greater Happiness and Merit too, if you can hold him—And ‘tis my Opinion, if any body can, you will.—Then he did not like the young Lady's Mother, who sought artfully to intrap him. So that the poor Girl, divided between her Inclination for him, and her Duty to her designing Mother, gave into the Plot upon him; and he thought himself, vile Wretch as he was, for all that!—at Liberty to set up Plot against Plot, and the poor Lady's Honour was the Sacrifice.

I hope you spoke well of her to him. I hope you received the Child kindly.—I hope you had Presence of Mind to do this.—For it was a nice Part to act; and all his Observations were up, I dare say, on the Occasion.——Do, let me hear how it was. There's my good Pamela, do. And write, I charge you, freely and without Restraint; for altho’ I am not your Mother, yet am I his elder Sister, you know—and, as such—come, I will say so, in hopes you’ll oblige me——your Sister, and so intitled to expect a Compliance with my Request: For is there not a Duty, in degree, to elder Sisters from younger?

From Mrs. B. to Miss Darnford. In Answer to Letters XXXV. and XXXVI.

My dear Miss Darnford,

I skip over the little Transactions of several Days, to let you know how much you rejoice me, in telling me Sir Simon has been so kind as to comply with my Wishes. Both your charming Letters came to my Hand together, and I thank you an hundred times for them; and I thank your dear Mamma, and Sir Simon too, for the Pleasure they have given me in this obliging Permission. How happy shall we be together! But how long will you be permitted to stay, tho’?—All the Winter, I hope:—And then, when that is over, let us set out together, if God shall spare us, directly for Lincolnshire, and so pass most of the Summer too in each other's Company. What a sweet Thought is this!—Let me indulge it a little while.

Mr. B. read your Letters, and says, You are a charming young Lady, and surpass yourself in every Letter. I told him, that he was more interested in the Pleasure I took in this Favour of Sir Simon’s, than he imagin’d. As how, my Dear? said he. A plain Case, Sir, reply’d I: For endeavouring to improve myself by Miss Darnford 's Conversation and Behaviour, I shall every Day be more worthy of your Favour. He kindly would have it, that nobody, no, not Miss Darnford herself, excelled me.

’Tis right, you know, Miss, he should think so—tho’ I must know nothing at all, if I was not sensible how inferior I am to my dear Miss Darnford: And yet, when I look abroad now-and-then, I could be a proud Slut, if I would, and not yield the Palm to many others.—But don't let every body know how vain I am. Yet they may too, if they take in, at the same time, that I have some Excuse, when I have won so happily the Favour of two such Judges, as Mr. B. and Miss Darnford, and had the good Fortune, too, to rejoice in that of Lady Davers, and the Countess of C.