not understand her Meaning; at
least, she could say for herself, she had not plainly express'd any thing to
him; and as to Mrs. Slipslop, she imagined she could bribe her to Secrecy.
    But what hurt her most was, that in reality she had not so entirely
conquered her Passion; the little God lay lurking in her Heart, tho' Anger and
Disdain so hoodwinked her, that she could not see him. She was a thousand times
on the very Brink of revoking the Sentence she had passed against the poor
Youth. Love became his Advocate, and whispered many things in his favour. Honour
likewise endeavoured to vindicate his Crime, and Pity to mitigate his
Punishment; on the other side, Pride and Revenge spoke as loudly against him:
and thus the poor Lady was tortured with Perplexity; opposite Passions
distracting and tearing her Mind different ways.
    So have I seen, in the Hall of Westminster; where Serjeant Bramble hath been
retained on the right Side, and Serjeant Puzzle on the left; the Balance of
Opinion (so equal were their Fees) alternately incline to either Scale. Now
Bramble throws in an Argument, and Puzzle's Scale strikes the Beam; again,
Bramble shares the like Fate, overpowered by the Weight of Puzzle. Here Bramble
hits, there Puzzle strikes; here one has you, there t'other has you; 'till at
last all becomes one Scene of Confusion in the tortured Minds of the Hearers;
equal Wagers are laid on the Success, and neither Judge nor Jury can possibly
make any thing of the Matter; all Things are so enveloped by the careful
Serjeants in Doubt and Obscurity.
    Or as it happens in the Conscience, where Honour and Honesty pull one way,
and a Bribe and Necessity another. - If it was only our present Business to make
Similies, we could produce many more to this Purpose: but a Similie (as well as
a Word) to the Wise. We shall therefore see a little after our Hero, for whom
the Reader is doubtless in some pain.
 

                                   Chapter X

Joseph writes another Letter: His Transactions with Mr. Peter Pounce, etc. with
                         his Departure from Lady Booby.
 
The disconsolate Joseph, would not have had an Understanding sufficient for the
principal Subject of such a Book as this, if he had any longer misunderstood the
Drift of his Mistress; and indeed that he did not discern it sooner, the Reader
will be pleased to apply to an Unwillingness in him to discover what he must
condemn in her as a Fault. Having therefore quitted her Presence, he retired
into his