de upon his rear: Rochester, Middlesex,
Sedley, Etheredge, and all the whole band of wits, exposed him in
numberless ballads, and diverted the public at his expense.

The Chevalier de Grammont was highly pleased with these lively and
humorous compositions; and wherever this subject was mentioned, never
failed to produce his supplement upon the occasion: "It is strange,"
said he, "that the country, which is little better than a gallows or
a grave for young people, is allotted in this land only for the
unfortunate, and not for the guilty! poor Lady Chesterfield, for some
unguarded looks, is immediately seized upon by an angry husband, who
will oblige her to spend her Christmas at a country-house, a hundred and
fifty miles from London; while here there are a thousand ladies who
are left at liberty to do whatever they please, and who indulge in that
liberty, and whose conduct, in short, deserves a daily bastinado. I name
no person, God forbid I should; but Lady Middleton, Lady Denham, the
queen's and the duchess's maids of honour, and a hundred others, bestow
their favours to the right and to the left, and not the least notice is
taken of their conduct. As for Lady Shrewsbury, she is conspicuous. I
would take a wager she might have a man killed for her every day, find
she would only hold her head the higher for it: one would suppose she
imported from Rome plenary indulgences for her conduct: there are three
or four gentlemen who wear an ounce of her hair made into bracelets, and
no person finds any fault; and yet shall such a cross-grained fool as
Chesterfield be permitted to exercise an act of tyranny, altogether
unknown in this country, upon the prettiest woman in England, and all
for a mere trifle: but I am his humble servant; his precautions will
avail him nothing; on the contrary, very often a woman, who had no bad
intentions when she was suffered to remain in tranquillity, is prompted
to such conduct by revenge, or reduced to it by necessity: this is
as true as the gospel: hear now what Francisco's saraband says on the
subject:

"Tell me, jealous-paced swain,
What avail thy idle arts,
To divide united hearts?
Love, like the wind, I trow,
Will, where it listeth, blow;
So, prithee, peace, for all thy cares are vain.

"When you are by,
Nor wishful look, be sure, nor eloquent sigh,
Shall dare those inward fires discover,
Whic