sir peter.and may you live as happily together as lady teazle and i--intend to do--charles.rowley my old friend--i am sure you congratulate me and i suspect too that i owe you much.
sir oliver.you do, indeed, charles--
rowley.if my efforts to serve you had not succeeded you would have been in my debt for the attempt--but deserve to be happy--and you over-repay me.
sir peter.aye honest rowley always said you would reform.
charles.why as to reforming sir peter i'll make no promises--and that i take to be a proof that i intend to set about it--but here shall be my monitor--my gentle guide.--ah! can i leave the virtuous path those eyes illumine?
tho' thou, dear maid, should'st wave [waive] thy beauty's sway, --thou still must rule--because i will obey:
an humbled fugitive from folly view, no sanctuary near but love and you:
you can indeed each anxious fear remove, for even scandal dies if you approve.[to the audience.]
epilogue
by mr.colman
spoken by lady teazle
i, who was late so volatile and gay, like a trade-wind must now blow all one way, bend all my cares, my studies, and my vows, to one dull rusty weathercock--my spouse!
so wills our virtuous bard--the motley bayes of crying epilogues and laughing plays!
old bachelors, who marry smart young wives, learn from our play to regulate your lives:
each bring his dear to town, all faults upon her--london will prove the very source of honour.