oil a horn, and you were the woman to perform the
delectable feat."

Polly had found her heart not a very lofty one, not a very sensitive
one--but an honest and kind heart in the main, which was permitted to
extricate itself from the slough of luxury and self-indulgence, and beat
warmly and faithfully throughout the rest of its course.

ON THE STAGE AND OFF THE STAGE.

I.--THE "BEAR" AT BATH.

The Place was old Bath, in the days immediately succeeding those of
Alexander Pope and William Hogarth, and dovetailing into those of Horace
Walpole and the Wesleys.

The Age was one of rackets and reaction from morning till night, and
Bath was the head-quarters of the first--the scene of the pump-room, the
raffle, the public breakfast, the junketing at mid-day, the ball at
midnight, the play, the ridotto.

The Scene was a private room in the "Bear," when it was crowded with
peers, bullies, rooks, highwaymen, leaders of fashion, waiting-women,
and stage stars. The "Bear" was held by great Mrs. Price, a hostess
large, shining, portly--a friendly great woman, too magnificent to be
fussy, or mean, or spiteful. The "Bear" looked out on the Parade, with
its throngs of beaux--veritable beaux, with Beau Nash at their
head--wigged, caned, and snuff-boxed, and belles with trains borne by
black boys, cambric caps and aprons, and abundance of velvet patches. In
and out of its yawning doorway strutted fine gentlemen, chaplains, and
wits, while grooms, public and private, swarmed round the house. Its
broad stairs and low wide corridors, traversed by the more private
company, led to sitting rooms of all degrees, panelled with oak or lined
with cedar, with worked worsted wonders in the shape of chairs, and
China monsters by way of ornaments.

The Person was a handsome woman, attired negligently in what was called
a sacque, with a mob-cap. She sat sipping a dish of tea, as sober women
will after fatigue or in anticipation of exertion, and making occasional
reference to some shabby, well-worn volumes and printed sheets piled up
beside her. Her attitude was studious, for days when a chapter of the
Bible, a cookery recipe, a paper by Addison or Dick Steele, or a copy of
verses, included all the knowledge after which the gentler sex aspired;
her retirement was remarkable at that gay era, and in that gadding
neighbourhood; and her morning dress, though it would not have offended
a Tabitha Tidy, looked plain among the silvered mazarines