Scene 4.
 
                           PEACHUM, MRS. PEACHUM.
  MRS. PEACHUM. What of Bob Booty, Husband? I hope nothing bad hath betided 
him. You know, my Dear, he's a favourite Customer of mine. 'Twas he made me 
a present of this Ring.
  PEACHUM. I have set his Name down in the Black List, that's all, my Dear; 
he spends his Life among Women, and as soon as his Money is gone, one or 
other of the Ladies will hang him for the Reward, and there's forty Pounds 
lost to us for-ever.
  MRS. PEACHUM. You know, my Dear, I never meddle in matters of Death; I 
always leave those Affairs to you. Women indeed are bitter bad Judges in 
these cases, for they are so partial to the Brave that they think every Man 
handsome who is going to the Camp or the Gallows.
 
                        Air III.--Cold and raw, &c.
 
              If any Wench Venus's Girdle wear,
                Though she be never so ugly;
              Lilies and Roses will quickly appear,
                And her Face look wond'rously smugly.
              Beneath the left Ear so fit but a Cord,
                (A Rope so charming a a Zone is!)
              The Youth in his Cart hath the Air of a Lord,
                And we cry, There goes an Adonis!
 
But really Husband, you should not be too hard-hearted, for you never had a 
finer, braver set of Men than at present. We have not had a Murder among 
them all, these seven Months. And truly, my Dear, that is a great Blessing.
  PEACHUM. What a dickens is the Woman always a whimpring about Murder for? 
No Gentleman is ever look'd upon the worse for killing a Man in his own 
Defense; and if Business cannot be carried on without it, what would you 
have a Gentleman do? 
  MRS. PEACHUM. If I am in the wrong, my Dear, you must excuse me, for no 
body can help the Frailty of an over-scrupulous Conscience.
  PEACHUM. Murder is as fashionable a Crime as a Man can be guilty of. How 
many fine Gentlemen have we in Newgate every Year, purely upon that 
Article! If they have wherewithal to persuade the Jury to bring it in 
Manslaughter, what are they the worse for it? So, my Dear, have done upon 
this Subject. Was Captain Macheath here this Morning for the Bank-Notes 
he left with you last Week? 
  MRS. PEACHUM. Yes, my Dear; and though the Bank hath stopt Payment, he 
was so cheerful and so agreeable! Sure there is not a finer Gentleman upon 
the Road than the Captain! If he comes from Bagshot at any reasonable 
Hour, he hath promis'd to make one this Evening with Polly and me, and Bob 
Booty at a party of Quadrille. Pray, my dear, is the Captain rich? 
  PEACHUM. The Captain keeps too good Company ever to grow rich. 
Mary-bone and the Chocolate-houses are his undoing. The Man that 
proposes to get Money by Play should have the Education of a fine 
Gentleman, and be train'd up to it from his Youth. 
  MRS. PEACHUM. Really, I am sorry upon Polly's Account the Captain hath 
not more Discretion. What Business hath he to keep Company with Lords and 
Gentlemen? he should leave them to prey upon one another.
  PEACHUM. Upon Polly's Account! What a plague does the Woman mean?---Upon 
Polly's Account!
  MRS. PEACHUM. Captain Macheath is very fond of the Girl.
  PEACHUM. And what then?
  MRS. PEACHUM. If I have any Skill in the Ways of Women, I am sure Polly 
thinks him a very pretty Man.
  PEACHUM. And what then? You would not be so mad as to have the Wench 
marry him! Gamesters and Highwaymen are generally very good to their 
Whores, but they are very Devils to their Wives.
  MRS. PEACHUM. But if Polly should be in Love, how should we help her, or 
how can she help herself? Poor Girl, I am in the utmost Concern about her.
 
             Air IV.--Why is your faithful Slave disdained? &c.
              If Love the Virgin's Heart invade,
              How, like a Moth, the simple Maid
                Still plays about the Flame!
              If soon she be not made a Wife,
              Her Honour's sing'd, and then for Life
                She's--what I dare not name.
 
  PEACHUM. Look ye, Wife. A handsome Wench in our way of Business is as 
profitable as at the Bar of a Temple Coffee-House, who looks upon it as 
her livelihood to grant every Liberty but one. You see I would not indulge 
the Girl as far as prudently we can. In anything, but Marriage! After that, 
my Dear, how shall we be safe? Are we not then in her Husband's Power? For 
a Husband hath the absolute Power over all a Wife's Secrets but her own. If 
the Girl had the Discretion of a Court-Lady, who can have a Dozen young 
Fellows at her Ear without complying with one, I should not matter it; but 
Polly is Tinder, and a Spark will at once set her on a Flame. Married! If 
the Wench does not know her own Profit, sure she knows her own Pleasure 
better than to make herself a Property! My Daughter to me should be, like a 
Court-Lady to a Minister of State, a Key to the whole Gang. Married! If the 
Affair is not already done, I'll terrify her from it, by the Example of our 
Neighbours. 
  MRS. PEACHUM. May-hap, my Dear, you may injure the Girl. She loves to 
imitate the fine Ladies, and she may only allow the Captain liberties in 
the view of Interest.
  PEACHUM. But 'tis your Duty, your Duty, my Dear, to warn the Girl against 
her Ruin, and to instruct her how to make the most of her Beauty. I'll go 
to her this moment, and sift her. In the mean time, Wife, rip out the 
Coronets and Marks of these Dozen of Cambric Handkerchiefs, for I can 
dispose of them this Afternoon to a Chap in the City.
 
 
                                  Scene 5.
                               MRS. PEACHUM.