Act II
Scene a gaming house, with a table, box, dice, &c.
Beverley is discovered sitting.
BEVERLEY.
WHY, what a world is this! The slave that digs for gold, receives his daily pittance, and sleeps contented; while those, for whom he labours, convert their good to mischief; making abundance the means of want. O shame! shame! Had fortune given me but a little, that little had been still my own. But plenty leads to waste; and shallow streams maintain their currents, while swelling rivers beat down their banks, and leave their channels empty. What had I to do with play? I wanted nothing. My wishes and my means were equal. The poor followed me with blessings; love scattered roses on my pillow, and morning waked me to delight.—O, bitter thought! that leads to what I was, by what I am! I would forget both—Who’s there?