"Had I spirits left to tell you of his actions, how strongly filial duty has suppressed his love, and how concealment still has doubled all his obligations, the pride, the joy of his alliance, sir, would warm you heart as he has conquered mine."
The Conscious Lovers
First performed November, 1722. At least 87 entries in ESTC (1722, 1723, 1724, 1725, 1729, 1730, 1732, 1733, 1735, 1736, 1740, 1741, 1743, 1744, 1746, 1747, 1751, 1755, 1757, 1759, 1760, 1761, 1764, 1767, 1768, 1770, 1771, 1774, 1776, 1777, 1778, 1780, 1782, 1785, 1789, 1791, 1793, 1794).<br>
<br>
Text from <u>The Conscious Lovers. A Comedy. As It Is Acted at the Theatre Royal in Drury-Lane, by His Majesty's Servants. Written by Richard Steele</u> (London: Printed for J. Tonson, 1723).<br>
<br>
Reading in Scott McMillin's <u>Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Comedy</u>. Norton Critical Edition. (New York: Norton, 1973).