are too young, my dear
Temple," said she, "to know the baseness of men in general, and too
short a time acquainted with the court to know the character of its
inhabitants. I will give you a short sketch of the principal persons, to
the best of my knowledge, without injury to any one; for I abominate the
trade of scandal.

"In the first place, then, you ought to set it down as an undoubted
fact that all courtiers are deficient either in honesty, good sense,
judgment, wit, or sincerity; that is to say, if any of them by chance
possess some one of these qualities, you may depend upon it he is
defective in the rest: sumptuous in their equipages, deep play, a great
opinion of their own merit, and contempt of that of others, are their
chief characteristics.

"Interest or pleasure are the motives of all their actions: those who
are led by the first would sell God Almighty, as Judas sold his Master,
and that for less money. I could relate you a thousand noble instances
of this, if I had time. As for the sectaries of pleasure, or those who
pretend to be such, for they are not all so bad as they endeavour to
make themselves appear, these gentlemen pay no manner of regard either
to promises, oaths, law, or religion; that is to say, they are literally
no respecters of persons; they care neither for God nor man, if they can
but gain their ends. They look upon maids of honour only as amusements,
placed expressly at court for their entertainment; and the more merit
any one has, the more she is exposed to their impertinence, if she gives
any ear to them; and to their malicious calumnies, when she ceases to
attend to them. As for husbands, this is not the place to find them; for
unless money or caprice make up the match, there is but little hopes
of being married: virtue and beauty in this respect here are equally
useless. Lady Falmouth is the only instance of a maid of honour well
married without a portion; and if you were to ask her poor weak husband
for what reason he married her, I am persuaded that he can assign none,
unless it be her great red ears and broad feet. As for the pale Lady
Yarborough, who appeared so proud of her match, she is wife, to be sure,
of a great country bumpkin, who, the very week after their marriage, bid
her take her farewell of the town for ever, in consequence of five or
six thousand pounds a year he enjoys on the borders of Cornwall. Alas!
poor Miss Blague! I saw her go away about this time twelvemonth