Lady. Why lookee, Mr. Canker, he may have transgressed probability by it, I grant you—but I will forgive an Author such Transgressions at any time when it is productive of so much Mirth.
Heart. Judiciously observed, my Lady.
Trif. Well, by gad, I like the Ladder of Ropes of all things.
Sir Pat. Upon my Honour so do I.
Nib. Well, I vow I think they are vastly absurd. Pray what do you think, Miss Harriet?
Har. I think it is a very simple and a very probable Machine, and productive of many happy Incidents, every one of which naturall[y] arise out of each other, and have this peculiar Beauty, which other Incidents upon the Stage have not, that each of them begins with a Surprize that raises your Anxiety and ends with a turn the least unexpected, which could you have foreseen, would have been what you would have wished.
Lady. Very nicely distinguished, Harriet; I protest that is the greatest Encomium I have heard of the Play yet.
Heart. And the justest, Madam.
Cank. O intolerable! Monstrous! Shocking! Such Ignorance! (Aside) Pray Madam, not to mention the improbability, where was the Necessity for a Ladder of Ropes?
Sir Pat. What Necessity? Arra why do you ask such a foolish Question? I'll tell you what Necessity—Why it was put there for the young Man, the Templer, to go up Stairs into the House.