 of
robbing the Lady; which if they intended,« he said, »he had the good Fortune to
prevent.« »I never had a Robbery committed in my House since I have kept it,«
cries the Landlady: »I wou'd have you to know, Sir, I harbour no Highwaymen
here; I scorn the Word, thof I say it. None but honest, good Gentlefolks, are
welcome to my House; and, I thank good Luck, I have always had enow of such
Customers; indeed as many as I could entertain. Here hath been my Lord -« and
then she repeated over a Catalogue of Names and Titles, many of which we might,
perhaps, be guilty of a Breach of Privilege by inserting.
    Jones, after much Patience, at length interrupted her, by making an Apology
to Mrs. Waters, for having appeared before her in his Shirt, assuring her, »That
nothing but a Concern for her Safety could have prevailed on him to do it.« The
Reader may inform himself of her Answer, and, indeed, of her whole Behaviour to
the End of the Scene, by considering the Situation which she affected, it being
that of a modest Lady, who was awakened out of her Sleep by three strange Men in
her Chamber. This was the Part which she undertook to perform; and, indeed, she
executed it so well, that none of our Theatrical Actresses could exceed her, in
any of their Performances, either on or off the Stage.
    And hence, I think, we may very fairly draw an Argument, to prove how
extremely natural Virtue is to the Fair Sex: For tho' there is not, perhaps, one
in ten thousand who is capable of making a good Actress; and even among these we
rarely see two who are equally able to personate the same Character; yet this of
Virtue they can all admirably well put on; and as well those Individuals who
have it not, as those who possess it, can all act it to the utmost Degree of
Perfection.
    When the Men were all departed, Mrs. Waters recovering from her Fear,
recovered likewise from her Anger, and spoke in much gentler Accents to the
Landlady, who did not so readily quit her Concern for the Reputation of the
House, in Favour of which she began again to number the many great Persons who
had slept under her Roof; but the Lady stopt her short, and having absolutely
acquitted her of having had any Share in the past Disturbance, begged to be left
to her Repose, which, she
