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THE HOUSE IN ST.
MARTIN'S STREET

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GROVE COTTAGEt
FROGNAL,

HAMPSTEAD, N.W.

THE HOUSE IN ST.
MARTIN'S STREET

BEING CHRONICLES OF
THE B U R N E Y FAMILY

CONSTANC HILL

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY ELLEN
G. HILL AND DUCTIONS

OF PORTRAI ETC.

" I love all that breed whom I can b<: said to
know ; and one or two whom I hardly know,
I love upon ov>.;
love each other." >SON.

NDON: JOHN LANE, THE BODLEY HEAD
IW YORK: JOHN 'PANY. MCMM!

THE HOUSE IN ST.
MARTIN'S STREET

BEING CHRONICLES OF
THE BURNEY FAMILY

CONSTANCE HILL

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY ELLEN
G. HILL AND REPRODUCTIONS
OF PORTRAITS, ETC., ETC.

"I love all that breed whom I can be said to
know ; and one or two whom I hardly know,
I love upon credit, and love them because they
love each other." DR. JOHNSON.

LONDON: JOHN LANE, THE BODLEY HEAD
NEW YORK: JOHN LANE COMPANY. MCMVII

WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, LONDON AND BECCLES.

PREFACE

IT has been observed by a shrewd writer that
" there is no collection of letters belonging to
the eighteenth century that has not an interest
to-day. It is," he adds, "from letters alone that
we can sincerely and honestly reconstruct the
past."

This task 'of sincerely and honestly recon
structing the past, the writer of this work has
endeavoured to perform in relation to the
Burney family, having happily had access to a
large number of their unpublished letters and
journals, which throw fresh light on the material
already before the public.

The episode chosen covers a period of nearly
nine years — from the autumn of 1774 to the
spring of 1783 — during which period the Burneys
were living in a house in St. Martin's Street, the
last of their London homes. The life in that
dwelling of this " most amiable and affectionate of
clever families," and their intercourse with their
interesting friends, is portrayed by its various

Preface

members from the revered head of the house
down to his youngest daughter.

Fanny Burney's love for her father is prover
bial. His affection for her and for all his children
was equally strong. Here is a passage from a
farewell letter written by him to Fanny in 1770
on the point of leaving Dover for France and
Italy.

"I cannot set sail," he writes, " ere I have
given you a word and a wish of kindness and
affection. Continue to love me, and to believe
that I love you, and that my family is never
nearer my heart than when I am obliged to be
far from them. It has ever been necessity, not
choice, that has separated us. Had I an ark like
that of Noah, I would have taken you all in it."

Many of these MS. letters of Fanny's deal
with matters of a private or personal kind, and
reveal her generous and loving nature more
fully than is the case with her published corre
spondence so long known to the reading world.
Her letters about Dr. Johnson are of special
interest. It was from Fanny Burney's pen, as
Macaulay has pointed out, that the public first
learnt "how gentle and endearing his deportment
could be." "Why did not Sir Joshua Reynolds
paint Dr. Johnson when he was speaking to
Dr. Burney or to you ? " asked a mutual friend
of Fanny one day.

Preface

We can well understand that this great man
must have found balm for his irritable nerves in
intercourse with his gentle young friend, and
that even her silence was restful to him, since
it had in it " every engaging expression of modesty
and of intelligent observation/'

Fanny found her pleasure in listening rather
than in talking. A French writer in the Revue des
deux Mondes has noticed this inclination of the
authoress of Evelina. After mentioning some
of the many striking portraits drawn by her,
he says that, brilliant as these are, there is not
one figure in the whole group that affects us
more than "celle de la 'petite Burney ' elle-meme,
silencieuse et timide, promenant autour d'elle, a
travers pres d'un siecle, le sourire ingenument
malicieux de ses grands yeux gris."

The Burney MSS. contain, besides the
correspondence of the family with each other,
many letters addressed to them by Mrs. Thrale,
so full of life and movement that they might
have been written last week. They contain
also letters from " Daddy Crisp," David Garrick,
and others, and in addition to these, Fanny
Burney 's unpublished play of the " Witlings."

Among the books from which material has
been necessarily drawn to be interwoven with
the new matter are the " Early Diaries of
Frances Burney," so ably edited by the late

vii

Preface

Mrs. Raine Ellis, and a special copy of the
" Diary and Letters of Madame d'Arblay "
(edition of 1842), which contains marginal notes
by a granddaughter of Mrs. Barrett, its editor.
Reference has also been made to the recent and
valuable edition edited by Mr. Austin Dobson.

Passages have been introduced from the
" Memoirs of Dr. Burney," by Madame d'Arblay,
from the " Anecdotes of Dr. Johnson," by
Madame Piozzi, and from his " Letters " to
her; and, in certain chapters, from the "Letters
of Horace Walpole," edited by Mrs. Paget
Toynbee.

The grateful thanks of the author of this
work are especially due to the Rev. David
Wauchope and to the Ven. Archdeacon Burney,
for the loan of their Burney MSS. and portraits.
She also wishes to express her gratitude to
Mrs. Chappell, to Colonel Burney, and to Mr.
Leverton Harris, for the loan of miniatures and
other portraits ; and she desires to record her
indebtedness to the late Mrs. Arthur Durham
for permission to introduce part of an interesting
portrait group by Nollekens.

She was permitted by Mr. Wauchope to
examine the original MSS. of the " Diary and
Letters." It was interesting to observe that
where erasures, or small alterations, had been
made (in preparation for publication), this had

viii

Preface

evidently been done with the object of sparing
the feelings of people then living.

Both the author and the illustrator of this
volume have visited all the places connected
with the narrative, and numerous sketches have
been made of the house in St. Martin's Street,
which is happily still standing, and of many
other scenes mentioned in the letters and diaries.

To have been living, as it were, for more
than a year past amidst the Burney family, has
been a source of great pleasure to the present
writer, and she hopes that the reader may find
equal pleasure in that genial atmosphere.

CONSTANCE HILL.

GROVE COTTAGE, FROGNAL,
HAMPSTEAD,

September ', 1906.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

I. THE NEW HOME

II. A VERY PARTICULAR CORRESPONDENCE . .

III. RIVAL SINGERS

IV. NOTABLE QUESTS

V. A GREAT ACTOR

%VI. A PERSISTENT LOVER

VII. LEXIPHANES IN ST. MARTIN'S STREET

VIII. MATTERS PLAYFUL AND PERVERSE .

IX. ACTING AT BARBORNE LODGE ....

X. GLOUCESTER GAIETIES

XI. EVELINA

XII. EVELINA'S ENTRANCE INTO THE WORLD

XIII. THRALE PLACE

XIV. A GREAT PAINTER AND HIS FRIENDS

xv. "THE WITLINGS"

XVI. HOSTILE FLEETS IN THE CHANNEL .

XVII. LIBERTY HALL

XVIII. A WOMAN OF WIT

XIX. A MEMORABLE GATHERING IN THE OPERA HOUSE

XX. THE SPLENDID AND CLASSIC BATH .

30
40
47
57
66

121

137
145

168

177

187
197
206

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

XXI. SWEET PACC 219

XXII. PICTURES IN SOMERSET HOUSE . . . .229

XXIII. THE NEW PARNASSUS 238

XXIV. RIOTERS IN ST. MARTIN'S STREET . . . 254

XXV. A REIGN OF TERROR 265

XXVI. A FLIGHT FROM BATH . . . . -27$

XXVII. PEACE AND PLAYFULNESS ONCE MORE . . . 287..

XXVIII. THE YOUNGEST OF THE DIARISTS .... 300

XXIX. A WEDDING 31?

XXX. CECILIA 325

XXXI. COMPANY AT BRIGHTHELMSTONE .... 335

XXXII. FAREWELL TO THE HOUSE IN ST. MARTIN'S

STREET 347

INDEX 353

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

Portraits of Esther, Charles Rousseau, and Richard Burney
(From the original painting, in the possession of Arch
deacon Burney} ...... Frontispiece

The House in St. Martin's Street (formerly No. i, now 35)

To face 2

Portrait of Frances Burney (From a miniature on an ivory box

in the possession of F. Lever ton Harris, Esq.] To face 8

The Drawing-room, St. Martin's Street . . . .11
The Library or Music-room 19

Portrait of Charles Burney, Mus.D. (From the original
painting by Reynolds, in the possession of Archdeacon
Burney. Photograph kindly lent by the proprietors of
the " Musical Times"} To face 32

The Staircase in St. Martin's Street 35

The " Theban Harp " (From a print in Dr. Burners " History

of Music"} . . 39

Portrait of David Garrick (By Gainsborough} . To face 42

Portrait of Mrs. Garrick (By Gardiner} . . . To face 44

Lamp-holder in Old Iron Work 46

The Dining-parlour in St. Martin's Street .... 53

xiii

List of Illustrations

I'AGE

Leicester Square in the i8th Century 61

Head-dress of the Period . . . . . . -65

The Entrance Door, Barborne Lodge, Worcester . . .76

The Hall, Barborne Lodge 78

The Staircase, Barborne Lodge, and Musicians . . -85

King John's Bridge, Tewkesbury 88

The Hall in Dr. Wall's House, Gloucester . . . • 91 '
Entrance Door of Dr. Wall's House . .96

Facsimile of Sketch by Fanny Burney for the Title-page of

Evelina To face 98

Shop Fronts in the Old Haymarket (From a contemporary

print} 100

Facsimile (reduced) of Letter from Fanny Burney to Mr.

Lowndes To face 102

Facsimile (reduced) of Letter from Fanny Burney to Mr.

Lowndes, in Feigned Handwriting . . . To face 106

The "Bandeau" Head-dress 120

Thrale Place, Streatham (From contemporary prints] . . 122

The "Long Room" at Hampstead as it was in the i8th

Century I2;

Design on an Old Grate 136

Marble Staircase in Sir Joshua Reynolds' House, Leicester

Square I39

The " Esprit Club," Scene from Fanny Burney's Comedy of

the "Witlings" l6l

Old Fanlight .167

xiv

List of Illustrations

PAGE

Mount Edgecumbe, from the Blockhouse at Plymouth (From

an \%th-century print} 171

I Plymouth Sound from Mount Edgecumbe .... 176
; The Entrance Door, Chesington Hall 178

[ | Portrait of Samuel Crisp (After a drawing by G. Dance)

To face 182

i Chimney-piece Ornament in the Drawing-room in St. Martin's

Street ... 186

Portrait of Mrs. Thrale (From a silhouette in the possession of

the Rev. David Wauchope} .... To face 188

I Portrait of Susanna (Susan) Elizabeth Burney (From a

miniature in the possession of Mrs. Chappell) To face 198

| The Old Opera House, Haymarket (burnt down in 1789)

(From an old print} 200

The " Bear Inn," Devizes 207

The Corner House, South Parade, Bath 211

Portrait of Lady Clarges (From the painting by Gainsborough,
in the possession of Edmund Davis, Esq. Photograph
kindly lent by Messrs. Thos. Agnew &•» Sons} . To face 222

Powdering Closet in Dr. Burney's Bedroom .... 227

Scene from Evelina (From a water-colour drawing by
Edward Burney in Archdeacon Burney's collection)

To face 232

Old Fanlight 237

Suite of Parlours in the Corner House of South Parade, Bath 239

Whitehall Stairs, Bath (From an old print} .... 243

Bath Easton Villa 249

List of Illustrations

PAGE

The Bath Easton Vase {From an old print) .... 253
The " Spaniards Inn," Hampstead Heath . . . .261
The " White Hart," Salisbury (Old Entrance) . . .278
Corridor in the " Dolphin Inn," Southampton . . . 283
Old Fanlight 286

Portrait of Charles Rousseau Burney (From the painting by
Gainsborough, in the possession of Colonel Burney)

To face 288

Portion of a Sculptured Group by Nollekens, representing Dr.
Johnson, Sir Joshua Reynolds, and Boswell as Members
of the " Turk's Head Club." (Sketched by kind per
mission of the late Mrs. Arthur Durham} . To face 298

Clement's Inn (From an old print} 302 j

Jem's Room in St. Martin's Street 310

Portrait of Edward Gibbon (By Reynolds} . . To face 312
No. 56, Great Queen Street . . . , . . .316

Bedrooms of the Three Sisters in St. Martin's Street . . 323

A Sedan Chair 334

Houses at Brighthelmstone {From an old sketch} . . . 337

Entrance Door of the House in St. Martin's Street . . 352

The design on the binding of this book represents the initials of

the three Diarists framed by a carved moulding taken

from Mrs. Thrale's house in Bath.

THE HOUSE IN ST.
MARTIN'S STREET

CHAPTER I

THE NEW HOME

IN the autumn of 1774, the Burney family, who
had been living in Queen's Square, moved into
their new home in St. Martin's Street.

" We came," writes Fanny, "ten days ago to
this house which we purpose calling Newton
House or The Observatory, or something that
sounds grand, as Sir Isaak Newton's identical
observatory is still subsisting, and we show it to
all our visitors as our principal lyon. I am very
much pleased with the mansion." And again
she writes : " The house is a large and good one.
It was built by Sir Isaak Newton, and when he
constructed it, it stood in Leicester Fields, not
Sqiiare, that he might have his Observatory
Imannoyed by neighbouring houses ; and his ob
servatory is my favorite sitting place, where I
can retire to read or write any of my private
fancies or vagaries."

This quaint study, with its four glazed walls
perched on the house-top, contained a fireplace,

The House in St. Martin's Street

an ornamented chimney-piece, and a cupboard.
Its windows commanded wide-spreading views of
London and its environs.

The observatory has disappeared, but the
house in St. Martin's Street is still standing, and
its outward appearance is otherwise little altered.
On its southern side rises, as of yore, Orange
Street Chapel, whilst to the north lies Leicester
Square, whose trees can still be seen from a side
window.

If we enter the house we shall find that, in
spite of various changes, it is easy to trace the
form of the rooms in which the Burneys lived.
In some rooms, indeed, there is little or no
change, and throughout the building we are able,
with the help of their journals and letters, to
reconstruct the family surroundings.

The first thing that strikes us is the fine old
oaken staircase, and if we ascend the first flight
of its shallow steps, we shall reach the drawing-
room — a cheerful room whose three lofty, re
cessed windows overlook St. Martin's Street.
We notice its carved wooden chimney-piece, in
the Adam style of decoration, and its deep
cornice beneath the ceiling. This ceiling, as
Fanny tells us, was " prodigiously painted and
ornamented/' but its glories, alas ! have long since
vanished.

Folding - doors opened formerly into the

THE HOUSE IN ST. MARTIN'S STREET

The New Home

i library, which led, and still leads, into a small

narrow room known as " Sir Isaak Newton's

Study." Here Dr. Burney kept his " chaos of

i materials" for his literary work. From the

(library window we see, on the right, the rounded

i windows of the Orange Street Chapel, and, on

j the left, the study windows, while below lies the

narrow space of ground which used to be the

garden.

The library served the Burneys for a music-
room as well as a library. Here stood the
two harpsichords upon which Hetty and her
husband, Charles Rosseau Burney, played duets
to the delight of their audiences. Here, too, the
great singers of the day, just arrived from the
Continent, hastened to display their powers before
the celebrated author of the " History of Music."

On the second floor and above the library
is the room in which Fanny and her sister Susan
slept, while to the front is the best bedroom, with
Dr. Burney' s powdering-closet opening out of it.

On the ground-floor was the small dining, or
living room, usually called "the parlour," whose
form may still be traced in spite of various altera
tions. We still see its panelled walls, its two
windows looking to the front, and its old-fashioned
fireplace, and can fancy that Dr. Burney's bureau,
which we know stood in this room, must have
been placed in a deep recess between the fire-

The House in St. Martin's Street

place and one of the windows. We can also fancy
the polished table in the centre of the room, upon
which the family would take their meals. They
drank tea here at seven o'clock, when many a
friend would drop in, till the numbers sometimes
swelled to quite a large gathering. Their supper
was at eleven, " a meal which is an excuse with
us," writes Fanny, " for chatting over baked
apples." Only a chosen few of the company
were invited to remain for this domestic meal.

Sometimes their more intimate visitors would
make their appearance at an early hour in the
morning, notably that admired and loved friend
of the household, David Garrick. " One morn
ing he called at eight o'clock," writes Fanny,
"and, unfortunately, Susette and I were not
come down stairs. We hurried in vain, for he
discovered our laziness and made us mon
strously ashamed by his raillery. * I shall tell
Mrs. Garrick/ said he, ' that I found the Doctor
reading Petrarch, in flannel like a young man—
but where, says I, where were the young ladies ?
Where do you think were my favorites ? Why,
in bed!'"

On another occasion " as he went out he said
with a very comical face to me, * I like you ! I
like you all ! I like your looks ! I like your
manners ! ' And then, opening his arms with an
air of heroics, he said, ' I am tempted to run away

The New Home

with you all, one after another ! ' We all longed
to say, ' Pray do ! ' "

Sometimes the gentle Sir Joshua Reynolds,
his painting hours over, would drop in from his
house in Leicester Square, to enjoy the society of
his friends in St. Martin's Street, or James Barry
would hurry from his rooms near Oxford Market
for the pleasure of a discussion with Mrs.
Burney, " whose pride in reasoning lay," while
occasionally the great Dr. Johnson, arriving from
Bolt Court with his friend, blind Mrs. Williams,
would make his appearance in the cheerful
parlour for tea and talk.

It was an attractive household. " I love
Burney," says Dr. Johnson ; " my heart goes out
to meet him. I much question if there is in the
world such another man as Dr. Burney." And
the great Italian singer, Pacchierotti, exclaims,
" Oh, how agrtable they are ! I don't know
anybody as agrfable as — as Mr. Dr. Burney's
family ! "

CHAPTER II

A VERY PARTICULAR CORRESPONDENCE

THE family in St. Martin's Street consisted of
Dr. Burney, his second wife (formerly a Mrs.
Allen), his three daughters, Fanny, Susan, and
Charlotte, and his and Mrs. Burney 's little son
Dick. His eldest son, James, was at sea, and
therefore paid only occasional visits to the family
home, although a small parlour, opening into the
garden, always went by the name of " Jem's
room." His second son, Charles, was at Cam
bridge.

Esther, his eldest daughter, had married her
first cousin, Charles Rousseau Burney. They
were living in Tavistock Street, Covent Garden,
and near to them in York Street lived Dr.
Burney 's mother and his sisters "Aunt Becky"
and " Aunt Anne."

A constant frequenter of the former homes of
the Burney family had been Mr. Samuel Crisp
(Fanny's beloved " Daddy Crisp "), the staunch
friend and adviser of the whole household ; one

A Very Particular Correspondence

I whom Macaulay has described as " a scholar, a
thinker, and an excellent counsellor." But Crisp
had now retired to his remote country home in
Surrey— Chesington Hall — where he lived a

| solitary life, shut out from all intercourse with the
outer world, save and except only with the Burney
family. It is to this circumstance that we owe

I the dramatic journal-letters, covering a period of
several years, sent by Fanny to amuse him in his
loneliness, and which called forth from him such
original and racy replies.

In the autumn of 1773, Fanny writes : " I
have now entered into a very particular corre
spondence with Mr. Crisp. I write really a
Journal to him, and in answer he sends me most
delightful, long, and incomparably clever letters,
animadverting upon all the facts, etc., which I
acquaint him with, and dealing with the utmost
sincerity in stating his opinion and giving his
advice. ... He says more in three lines than I
shall in a hundred while I live."

Here is a piece of Crisp's advice : " Let this
declaration serve once for all, that there is no
fault in an epistolary correspondence like stiffness
and study. Dash away whatever comes upper
most ; the sudden sallies of imagination, clap'd
down on paper, just as they arise, are worth
folios, and have all the warmth and merit of that
sort of nonsense that is eloquent in love/'

The House in St. Martin's Street

Another time he remarks : " Your letter was an
excellent one ; but you are devilish long-winded,
pray mend that fault."

The strong language of Mr. Crisp belonged
rather to the days of Queen Anne than to those
of George III., but it proceeded from no coarse
ness of thought ; indeed, he had a heart tender
and refined as that of a woman, and he loved his
" Fannikin " above all else in the world.

Fanny was small and slight of figure, and her
health was often a source of anxiety to her
friends. " What a slight piece of machinery is
the terrestrial part of thee, our Fannikin ! " he
exclaims, "a mere nothing, a blast, a vapour
disorders the spring of thy watch ; and the
mechanism is so frail that it requires no common
hand to set it right again."

In one of her first letters to Crisp, written
after the family had settled in St. Martin's Street,
Fanny describes a visit they had just received
from the Otaheitan Chief, Omai, the same man
of whom the poet Cowper writes in the " Task/'
calling him " the gentle savage." Omai was at
that moment "the lyon of lyons of the town," for
being the first native who had ventured to come
over to this country, he was received as a sort of
representative of our discoveries in the South
Seas, and was feted everywhere. He came to
St. Martin's Street at the invitation of James

FRANCES BURNEY

A Very Particular Correspondence

jBurney, who was lieutenant on the man-of-war in
which he had made his voyage to England, and
with whom he had formed a friendship.

Fanny writes : " I have seen Omai, and if I
am as I intend to be, very minute in my account,
(will you shake hands and be friends ?

" ' Yes, you little Devil you ! so to business, and
no more words/ Very well, I obey.

"... Mr. Strange and Mr. Hayes, at their

own motion, came to dinner to meet our guest.

We did not dine till four. But Omai came at

itwo, and Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander brought

j him, in order to make a short visit to my father.

They were all just come from the House of Lords,

where they had taken Omai to hear the King

make his speech from the throne.

" For my part, I had been confined up stairs
for three days ; however, I am much better, and
obtained leave to come down, though very much
wrapt up, and quite a figure, but I did not chuse
to appear till Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander were
gone. I found Omai seated in the great chair,
and my brother next to him, and talking Otaheite
as fast as possible. You cannot suppose how
fluently and easily Jem speaks it. Mama and
Susy and Charlotte were opposite. As soon as
there was a cessation of talk, Jem introduced me,
and told him I was another sister. He rose and
made a very fine bow, and then seated himself

The House in St. Martin's Street

again. But when Jem went on and told him I
was not well, he again directly rose, and mutter
ing something about the fire, in a very polite
manner insisted upon my taking his seat, and he
would not be refused. He then drew his chair
next to mine, and looking at me with an ex
pression of pity, said, ' Very well to-morrow-
morrow ? ' I imagine he meant, I hope you
will be very well in two or three morrows, and
when I shook my head, he said, ' No f O, very
bad!'

" As he had been at Court he was very fine.
He had on a suit of Manchester velvet, lined
with white satten, a bag, lace ruffles, and a very
handsome sword which the King had given him.
He is tall and very well made, much darker
than I expected to see him, but has a pleasing
countenance. . . . He seems to shame Education,
for his manners are so extremely graceful, and
he is so polite, attentive, and easy, that you would
have thought he came from some foreign Court.

"... At dinner I had the pleasure of sitting
next to him. The moment he was helped he
presented his plate to me, which, when I declined,
he had not the over-shot politeness to offer all
round, as I have seen some people do, but took
it quietly again. He eat heartily and committed
not the slightest blunder at table, neither did he
do anything awkwardly or ungainly.

THE DRAWING-ROOM.

A Very Particular Correspondence

" . . . Mr. Hayes asked him, through Jem,
how he liked the King and his Speech. He had
the politeness to try to answer in English and to
Mr. Hayes, and said, ' Very well, King George!'

"... Before six the coach came. Our man
came in and said, ' Mr. Omai's servant.' He
heard it at once, and answered, ' Very well! He
kept his seat about five minutes after, then rose
and got his hat and sword. My father happening
to be talking to Mr. Strange, Omai stood still,
neither chusing to interrupt him, nor to make his
compliments to any body else first. When he
was disengaged Omai went up to him, and made
an exceeding fine bow — the same to Mama —
then separately to every one in the company,
and then went out with Jem to his coach.

" The conversation of our house has turned
ever since upon Mr. Stanhope and Omai — the
first with all the advantages of Lord Chester
field's instructions, brought up at a great school,
introduced at fifteen to a Court, taught all possible
accomplishments from an infant, and having all
the care, expense, labour and benefit of the best
•education that any man can receive, proved after
it all, a mere pedantic booby ; the second, with no
tutor but Nature, changes, after he is grown up,
his dress, his way of life, his diet, his country and
his friends ; and appears in a new world like a
man [who] had all his life studied the Graces. . . .

The House in St. Martin's Street

I think this shows how much more nature can do
without arty than art with all her refinement un
assisted by nature''

This strange contrast was again suggested to
Fanny's mind when Omai paid his second visit
to England a year later. Writing to Mr. Crisp,
she says : —

" Mr. Burney, Hetty and I took a walk in the
Park on Sunday morning, where, among others,
we saw the young and handsome Duchess of
Devonshire, walking in such an undressed and
slaternly manner as in former times Mrs. Rishton
might have done in Chesington Garden. Two
of her curls came quite unpinned, and fell lank
on one of her shoulders ; one shoe was down at
heel, the trimming of her jacket and coat was in
some places unsown ; her cap was awry ; and her
cloak, which was rusty and powdered, was flung
half on and half off. Had she not had a servant
in a superb livery behind her, she would certainly
have been affronted. Every creature turned
back to stare at her. . . .

" Omai, who was in the Park, called here this
morning, and says that he went to her Grace, and
asked her why she let her hair go in that manner !
Ha, ha, ha ! Don't you laugh at her having a
lesson of attention from an Otaheitan ? "

CHAPTER III

RIVAL SINGERS

EARLY in 1775, Fanny writes to Mr. Crisp:
" I am now going to give myself the delight
of recounting an evening with the celebrated
Signora Agujari ; detta la Bastardini. ... The
visit had been some time arranged, and we
expected her with extreme impatience. Dr.
Maty, who is a little formal, affected man, but
held in the highest class for learning, handed and
presented Signora Agujari. She was accom
panied by Signer Colla, an Italian musician, and
the Revd. Mr. Penneck. She is of middle stature,
and has the misfortune to be lame. ... Her face
is handsome and expressive of all her words.
She has the character of being immensely proud.
She was, however, all civility here, though her
excessive vanity was perpetually self-betrayed.
Signer Colla, to whom she is reported to be
married, is a lively, I might almost say, fiery
Italian.

". . . The conversation was chiefly in French.
«$

The House in St. Martin's Street

We were all languishing to hear Signora Agujari
sing, though as it was not perfectly convenient
to us to offer her fifty guineas for a song, we
were somewhat in fear of requesting one. My
father hinted it to Dr. Maty, Dr. Maty hinted it
to Signer Colla ; Signor Colla did not take the
hint of hinting it to the Bastardini. He said
that she certainly would sing to the Doctor
Burney ; but that she had a slight sore throat,
and would wish to sing to him to the greatest
advantage. He then launched into a most pro
fuse panygyric of my father, of his fame abroad,
and of the great happiness he had in being
introduced to a so c'elebre homme.

" We were all disappointed ; but Signora
Agujari promised to make us another visit very
soon, when she would bring two of her most
favourite airs with her. . . . She asked my father
if he had heard la Gabriella f

"'No/ he said; 'she was in Sicily when he
visited Italy/

11 * Ah, Diable ! ' cried she, " c'est dommage ! '

" Diable is a favourite exclamation with her,
though, in other respects, she is not at all
masculine.

"'Mais vous, Mile./ said my father, 'Tavez-
vous entendue ? '

" ' Oh, no ! ' returned she, and added that they
two could never be in the same place together ;

Rival Singers

and Signer Colla said, that two first singers could
hever meet. ' Two suns/ said Dr. Maty, in
[Italian, ' are never seen at once/

"... My sister [Hetty] was asked by the com-
jpany in general to play ; she begged to be excused,
being quite out of practice. However, the com
pany would not accept of her excuses ; and there-
pore she played a lesson of Bach of Berlin.

"The Bastardini seemed really pleased with
It, and was civil in her commendations. Mr.
Burney then sat down, and, as usual, raised a
general astonishment, though I thought that the
Bastardini seemed more pleased with Hetty's
playing, which is infinitely expressive and full of
taste.

"When they went away she again repeated
Je veindrai (sic) absolument, and Dr. Maty
esquired her to their carriage, adding she would
only wait to be quite in voice.'*

The Bastardini kept her word. Fanny
writes after the great event : —

" And now for the singer of singers ! She
came with Signer Maestro Colla to tea. She
frightened us a little at first, by complaining of
a cold. Mr. Burney, as usual, played first ; and
after that Signora Agujari rose to sing ! We all
rose too, — we seemed all Ear. Had a pin fallen,
I suppose we should have taken it at least for a
thunder-clap. All was hushed and rapt attention.

17 c

The House in St. Martin's Street

"She began with a fulness and power of
voice that astonished us beyond all our possible
expectations. She then lowered it to the most
expressive softness : in short, she was sublime ;
I can use no other word without degrading
her.

"We wished for you, I cannot tell you
how much we wished for you ! The great
singers of former years, whom I have heard
you so emphatically describe, seem to have
all their talents revived in this wonderful
singer ! I could compare her to nothing I
ever heard, but only to what you have heard. !
Your Carestino — Farinelli — Senesino alone are
worthy to be ranked with the Bastardini. Such !
a powerful voice ! — so astonishing a compa«^
reaching from C in the middle of the harpsichord
to two notes above the harpsichord ! Every tone
so clear, so full, so charming ! Then her shake—
so plump, so true, so open ! It is as strong and
distinct as Mr. Burney's upon the harpsichord.
. . . She executes the greatest difficulties that are
possible to be given her with all the ease and
facility that I could say ' My dear daddy ! ' "

Mozart, who heard Agujari sing at Parma
just five years before Fanny wrote these words,
speaks, in a letter, of her " incredibly high
range," and says "she sang the following notes
and passages in my presence/' Here follow

THE LIBRARY OR MUSIC-ROOM.

Rival Singers

several lines of music, of which these are the
concluding bars :—

"Agujari came before 7," continues
Fanny, "and stayed till 12, and was singing
all the time ! . . . She sung in twenty different
styles. The greatest was son regina and son
amante from Didone. Good Heaven ! what a
song ! and how sung ! Then she gave us two or
three Cantabiles, sung divinely, then she chaunted
some Church music in a style so nobly simple and
unadorned, that it stole into one's very soul!
Then she gave us a bravura, with difficulties
which seemed only possible for an instrument in
the hands of a great master; then she spoke
some recitative, so nobly ! In short, whether she
most astonished or most delighted us, I cannot
say, but she is really a sublime singer."

A few months later Gabrielli arrived in
London, and great were the expectations of the
opera-going world. But Gabrielli was as famous
for her caprice as for her voice. The Opera of
Didone having been announced for a certain
evening, the lady, instead of appearing on the
scene when the day arrived, sent an excuse for

The House in St. Martin's Street

her absence at the eleventh hour. " The crowd,"
writes Fanny, who was present, "was prodigious.
People were in horrid passions. . . . One gentle
man blustered furiously, vowing he had come
twenty miles since dinner on purpose to hear
Signora Gabrielli. Poor Yates, the manager,
was obliged to stand at the door from 5 till
past 7 o'clock to appease the rage of the
disappointed public, though every person he sent
away caused him a pang, as he could not but say,
' There goes three shillings ! — there five ! — there
half-a-guinea ! ' Yet if he had not been there,
the house would probably have been pulled
down."

When Gabrielli was singing in Sicily a few
years earlier, her caprices were dealt with in a
summary fashion. For the King, being present
at the performance of an opera in which she
chose to sing in an almost inaudible voice, was
so indignant that he had her clapped into prison !

The Burneys1 second visit to the opera-house
to hear Gabrielli sing was not paid in vain, as on
this occasion the lady condescended to make her
appearance.

Fanny, after giving a detailed account of her
singing to Mr. Crisp, goes on to say : "I know
not what to write. Opinions vary so much that
I would, to Heaven, you would come and hear
and judge for yourself. . . .

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" To tell you I was not disappointed is im
possible. You must already have perceived that
your Tribunal has pronounced well, for Agujari
is still alone and unrivalled !

" Mr. Burney said he was prodigiously let
down; that she was not within ten degrees of
Agujari. Hetty, because she was not an Agujari,
would allow her nothing ; declared that she would
not quit her room to hear her ; that she did not
care whether she went to another opera the
whole season. But Hetty's warm admiration has
been so won by Agujari that she looks upon
Gabrielli as a sort of usurper, in coming upon a
throne that ought to be sacred to its first Queen.
. . . Susey was rather more pleased. For my
part, though I by no means could compare her
with Agujari, I thought the tone of her voice was
extremely sweet. . . . My father, who has at
once more indulgence and more judgement than
any of us, came home in much better humour
with her than his saucy children.

(( She is the universal subject of conversation,
and no two people think alike of her. In the
•gallery every one seemed to think that she gave
herself airs and woitld not sing. In the pit, near
my father, everybody was delighted with her. So
you see you must come and hear her yourself."

Crisp responds : " I am now convinced I had
entertain'd a true and clear idea of Mrs. Gabriel,

The House in St. Martin's Street

and form'd a just estimate of the comparative
merits of her and Bastardini, for which I claim
nothing to myself, but readily give it all to your
faithful portraits of both. ... I can not only
excuse, but applaud Hetty, for her outrageous
preference of Agujari, and I love Charles for
being prodigiously let down.

" As for that Rogue, your father, I could lick
him for his affected coolness and moderation. . . .

" But [for people] to tell one gravely that
Gabriel has a very weak voice — or a weak voice-
but very sweet and polish'd, etc., etc. ! and then
compare her to the Bastard, who, besides sweet
ness and taste, has all the powers of thunder and
lightening in her, who can mark at pleasure every
passage with what degree of strength and soft
ness, light and shade, she pleases ; who can
strike you speechless with majesty, or melt you
with tenderness in the change of a moment ! I
would recommend to such worthy judges, the
sing-song and prettiness of Waller and Cowley,
in preference to the sublimity of Milton and
Homer."

It is interesting to turn from Crisp's shrewd
criticism to David Garrick's judgment of Ga-
brielli's singing, given in an unpublished letter *
to Dr. Burney. This letter was written in
Naples on February 5, 1764, when Gabrielli's

* Burney MSS.
24

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j' youth, beauty and caprice had occasioned an
bniversal delirium among her young countrymen."
kfter remarking that the Italian music of that
(Jay was "all execution, without Simplicity or
Pathos," he goes on to say, " I have heard the
famous Gabrielli, who has indeed astonishing
3owers, great compass of voice and great flexi
bility, but she is always ye same, and though you
ire highly transported at first with her, yet
wanting that nice feeling of ye passions (without
which everything in ye dramatic way will cease to
entertain) she cannot give that variety and that
peculiar Pleasure which alone can support the
ediousness of an Opera — in short, the Musick,
vocal and instrumental, [here] has lost its nature,
and it is all dancing on ye slack rope, and
tumbling through ye hoop."

Fanny gives a lively picture in the following
ournal-letter to Mr. Crisp of the excitement
caused in St. Martin's Street by the claims of the
rival singers.

It appears that on a certain evening in
(November of the year we are writing of (1775),
some notable guests were assembling in the
Burneys' drawing-room.

" I shall introduce them to you," writes Fanny
to Crisp, "as they entered.

"Rat, tat, tat! Enter the Dean of Win
chester . . .

The House in St. Martin's Street

" Dr. Burney : 'Was you at the Opera last
night, Mr. Dean ?'

"Dean ofW.: ' No, Sir, I made an attempt,
but / hate a crowd as much as the ladies love iff
I beg pardon ! ' (Bowing to us.)

" Tat, tat, tat, tat, tat two ! Enter Lady
Edgecumbe. We were all introduced to her,
and were honoured with a most gracious recep
tion. She began a very animated conversation
with my father, and was all condescension, re
partee, (and yet) good humour.

" Dr. Burney : * Your Ladyship was doubtless
at the Opera last night ? '

" Lady Edge. : ' O yes ! But I have not heard
the Gabrielli ! — that is all I can say, I have not
heard her ! I won't allow that I have ! '

" Dr. B. : ' Your Ladyship expected a greater
and more powerful voice ? '

" Lady Edge. : ' Why no, not much. ... But
for me — I have heard Monticelli — I have heard
Mingotti — and I have heard Manzoli ! and I
shall never hear them again ! '

" Dr. King (pushing himself forward] : ' But I
humbly submit to your Ladyship, whether Ga
brielli has yet done herself justice ? ' (N.B. — He
knows, nor cares, a fig for music.)

"Lady Edge.: * Certainly not. But, Dr.
Burney, I have also heard Agujari — and I shall
never hear HER again ! '

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11 Hetty, Fanny, Susette : ( O, Agujari !'

" Dr. B. : ' Your Ladyship wins all their hearts
>y naming Agujari. But I hope you will hear
ler again.'

" Lady Edge. : ' Do pray, Dr. Burney, speak
ibout her to Mrs. Yates. Let her know that
Agujari wishes to sing at the Theatre. . . .
Agujari would greatly fill the Theatre — indeed
he could fill the Pantheon. By Gabrielli, Rauz-
zini seemed to have a great voice : by Agujari
appeared a child/

"Tat, tat, tat! Enter Mr. Charles Boone.
Salutations over.

41 Dr. B. : ' You were at the Opera last night ? '

"Mr. Boone : ' No, my cold was too bad. But
I am told by Mr. Cooper, an excellent judge,
that he had heard enough to pronounce Gabrielli
the greatest singer in the world/

" Tat, tat, tat, tat ! Enter Mr. and Mrs. Brud-
enal. Mr. Brudenal is second brother to the Duke
of Montague. His lady was the Hon. Miss
Legge, a great lady singer, and scholar of
Mingotti. . . .

" The introduction over, the Question of the
Night was repeated — How do you like Gabrielli ?

"Mrs. Brudenal : f O, Lady Edgecumbe and I
are exactly of one mind ; we both agree that she
has not sung yet.'

" Tat, tat, tat ! Enter Mr. Chamier Mr.
27

The House in St. Martin's Street

Chamier, who is the most gallant of men, immedi- '
ately seated himself by Susette and me, and began
a most lively and agreeable conversation ; and
from this time the company, being large, divided
into parties. But I am resolved you shall hear
every body's opinion of Gabrielli.

"Mr. Chamier: 'Well, ladies, I hope you
were entertained at the Opera ? I had the
happiness of sitting next to Dr. Burney.'

" Susy : 1 1 believe I saw you/

" Mr. Chamier : ' I was very sorry I could not
see you. I looked for you/

" Fanny : ' O, we were at a humble distance !
— in the gallery.'

" Mr. Chamier : ' . . . Was not the Gabrielli
charming ? '

" Susy : ' O, y— e— s.'

" Fanny : ' I never expected so much in my
life. I was really in an agitation. I could not
listen to the overture — I could hardly breath till
I heard her/

" Mr. Chamier : ' Well, I am sure she did not
disappoint you ! '

" Fanny : ' I must confess my expectations
were too high raised to be answered/

" Mr. Chamier : ' O, she was not in voice ;
you must regard this as a mere tchantillon!

" Hetty : ' A very feeble and bad one ! '
(N.B. — Between her teeth.)

Rival Singers

" Mr. Chamier : ' I was kept at the theatre a
nil hour after the last dance before I could get
L chair, for the crowd. However, we got into
L party in the Coffee-room, and settled the affairs
of the opera'

" Fanny : ' Then I am sure there could be no
dearth of conversation, for the opinions of every
one concerning Gabrielli are so various.'

" Mr. Chamier : ' O, I beg your pardon ! I
find it the ton to be dissatisfied, "Cest peu de
chose " was echoed and re-echoed partout! "

In Fanny Burney's novel of " Cecilia," there
is a certain Captain Aresby, of the Maccaroni
type, whose style of conversation we think must
have been suggested by that of Mr. Chamier.
Here is a specimen of the Captain's talk : —

4 'What a concourse!" he cries, meeting
Cecilia at Vauxhall. " Are you not accabtie t for
my part I hardly respire. I have really hardly
ever had the honour of being so obstde before. . . .
Assez de monde but nobody here ! a blank partout / "

Lady Edgecumbe, speaking of the Gabrielli,
remarks : " The ceremony of her quitting the
•house when the Opera is over is extremely
curious : First goes a man in a livery to clear the
way; then follows the sister; then the Gabrielli
herself ; then a page to hold her train ; and lastly,
another man who carries her muff, in which is her
little lap-dog."

CHAPTER IV

NOTABLE GUESTS

IN May, 1775, Fanny writes : " We have had I
charming Concert. . . . The party consisted of
the Baron Deiden, the Danish Ambassador, and
the Baroness his lady, who is a sweet woman,
young, pretty, accomplished and graceful. She
is reckoned one of the best lady harpsichord
players in Europe." After mentioning several .
other guests, Fanny goes on to speak of " Mr.
Harris, author of the Three Treatises on Music,
Poetry, and Happiness. He is at the same
time," she says, "learned and polite, intelligent
and humble. . . . Mr. Merlin, the very inginious
mechanic [who] is very diverting in conver
sation. He does not, though a foreigner, want
words; but he arranges and pronounces them
very comically. . . .

"Mr. Jones, a Welsh harper, a silly young
man, was also present. Mr. Jones began the
Concert. He has a fine instrument of Merlin's
construction ; he plays with great neatness and

Notable Guests

i lelicacy ; but as expression must have meaning,
ic does not abound in that commodity. After
[rim, at the request of the Baroness Deiden,
[VI r. Burney went to the harpsichord. He played
pith his usual successful velocity, and his usual
applause. When he had received the compliments
bf the nobility and gentry, my father begged the
Baroness to take his place ; but she would not
at first hear of it. She said in French, which
she almost always speaks, that it was quite out
of the question, and that it would be like a
figurante's dancing after Heinel.* However . . .
jshe was at length prevailed with. She has a
jgreat deal of execution and fire, and plays with
much meaning. . . . Hetty was then pressed to
perform. To avoid emulation she chose to play
a slow movement of Echard's. ... It is a lesson
which is almost unequalled for taste, elegance
and delicacy, and she played it with so much
feeling and expression that the whole company
listened with delighted attention. . . .

" After this we had a song from Miss Louisa
Harris. She has little or no voice, but sings
with great taste, and in a high style. . . . She
said she had rather have sung at a theatre than
before such an audience. . . .

" Then followed the great Feast of the night,
which was Muthel's Duet for two harpsichords,

* A celebrated Flemish danseuse.

The House in St. Martin's Street

by Mr. Burney and my sister. They played
delightfully. It is impossible for admiration to
exceed what the company in general expressed. . . .
The charming Baroness spoke her approbation in
the highest terms. Mr. Harris, and indeed every
body, appeared enchanted."

In the early spring of this same year of whic
we are writing (1775), the Burney family made
the acquaintance of the traveller James Bruc
or, as Fanny calls him, " His Abyssinian Majesty.
She describes the various meetings with him
her diaries of that date, but she also describes
them in a letter to Mr. Crisp, of which the
manuscript lies before us.

The letter is dated March I2th, and begins
and ends with a short paragraph from the pen of
Dr. Burney, who was busily engaged at that time
in writing his " History of Music." The Doctor
had been suffering from a temporary attack of
rheumatism in his hands. " Fanny," he says,
" desires me to write a prologue * to I know not
what she's going to give you — and with my Paw,
too ! Not one strait finger have I in my right
hand ! However, I want to give you some signs
of life after so long an absence and silence. ... I
have to tell you of my poor Book at a dead stop
now — page 352. But what think you of the King
of Abyssinia, who has at length indulged me with

* This " prologue " is given in the " Early Diaries."

DR BURNEY

Notable Guests

2 charming drawings of Instruments, an Abys
sinian Lyre, now in common use, and the Theban
harp, most beautiful indeed, though drawn from
a painting in Diospolis at least 3000 years old.
A letter of description too I have leave to print.
God bless you."

In the first volume of the " History of Music"
we find an engraving of this harp, which is of a
graceful and elegant design.

Fanny, in continuance of the letter to Crisp,
remarks : " I think that I can take no sub
ject which will be so agreeable to you as Mr.
Bruce, and therefore I will devote to him this
letter."

She goes on to describe a meeting with
him at the house of his friend Mrs. Strange,
and speaks of the great traveller as "one
of the haughtiest as well as the tallest of
men." " The day following [our visit]," she
says, "was fixed for this majestic man to come
here.

"Mr. Twining, his wife, and a relation of
hers, were of the party."

This Mr. Twining (known as "Aristotle
Twining ") was an intimate friend of the Burney
family. Fanny speaks of him as "a man of
learning, very fond of music, and a good performer
both on the harpsichord and violin."

Mrs. and Miss Strange having arrived, " They
33

The House in St. Martin's Street

said that his Abyssinian Majesty dined with
General Melville, and was to come as soon ast
possible. We waited tea an hour — but no Mrj
Bruce ! We then drank it, and Mr. Twining]
impatient to hear Mr. Burney, proposed goink
to work, and went into the library where tha
Instruments * are. They were just got thera
when a thundering rap startled us. Mr. Bruc^
was announced, and he entered the room with
air, stalk and dignity of a Monarch.

" We soon found that he was out of humou
that something had disconcerted him. H
drank one dish of tea, and then desired to spea
to my Father, who asked him into his study, whic
is a little snug room through the Library. A
they went out they rencontred Mr. Twining
My Father introduced him to the King
Abyssinia, who bowed, and then they we
on. When the door was shut, Mr. Twinin
advancing to Mrs. Strange and my mother,
with uplifted hands and eyes, said, 'This is th
most awful man I ever saw ! I never felt s
little in my life ! '

"cWell, troth/ said Mrs. Strange, ' nev
mind. If you were six feet high, he would ove
look you, and he can do no more now.'

"When Mr. Twining sat down, he said, inj

* These " Instruments " are sometimes called Harpsichords
sometimes Piano Fortes, in these journals.

THE STAIRCASE.

Notable Guests

| a pretended fright, ' When he returns, if he
should over-look me ! if he should think the
chair empty ! I shall be crushed ; it will be all
over with me ! '

" Mr. Twining again begged Mr. Burney not
to wait longer [for the music] , and so we all
went into the Library, and Mr. B. sat down to
the harpsichord and fired away in a voluntary.
Mr. Twining, charmed with his performance,
exclaimed, drolly, ' Is not this better than being
tall ? ' Mr. Bruce and my Father soon returned,
and we had music for above 2 hours. Mr.
Burney played delightfully, and Hetty accom
panied him in a very fine Duet for the Harpsi
chord and Piano Forte.

" Mr. Twining was enraptured ; Mrs. Strange
listened in silent wonder and pleasure ; and Mr.
Bruce was drawn into a charmed attention — his
features relaxed into smiles, his air lost its fierce
ness ; and good humour, satisfaction and com
placency took place of pride, sternness and
displeasure."

Another notable guest in the house in St.
Martin's Street at this time was Prince Orloff,
the favourite of the Empress Catherine of Russia,
who made his appearance in the modest parlour
blazing with diamonds. It was the fame of the
" matrimonial duets,'* it seems, that had brought
him there ; for having heard them extolled by a

The House in St. Martin's Street

mutual acquaintance — Dr. King — he had peti
tioned Dr. Burney to allow him to hear a
performance. Dr. Burney could not well refuse
to grant this favour to a man who was being
feted, at that very time, at King George's Court;
but his was a strange presence in the Burner
household. As he stalked about the rooms, hi
head towering above the other guests (for he w;
as tall as Mr. Bruce), he was looked upon witl
some feelings of dread, as well as of astonishment
for a sinister rumour was afloat that his jewell<
hands, now clasping those of his kindly host
had actually helped to strangle the late unhapp]
Emperor. His manners, however, were perfectl]
courteous. He was loud in his applause of th<
duets ; and a Russian nobleman who accompanie
him, clapping his snuffbox with great vehement
exclaimed, " Dis is so pretty as ever I heard in
lifer

The narrow thoroughfare of St. Martin'
Street must have been thronged during the*
receptions with stately coaches, sedan-chain
liveried servants, and link boys with their flam]
ing torches. On one occasion a distinguishes
guest, M. le Comte de Guignes, the Fren<
Ambassador, "left," says Fanny, "an amusii
laugh behind him from the pomposity of hi
exit. For not finding, upon quitting the musi<
room, with an abrupt French leave, half

Notable Guests

dozen of our lackeys waiting to anticipate his
Drders, he indignantly and impatiently called
3ut aloud, * Mes geos ! ou sont mes gem ? Que
wnt Us done devenus ? Mes geus ! Je dis ! Mes
?eus ! ' "

CHAPTER V
A GREAT ACTOR

WE find an amusing account of one of Garrick'j
visits to St. Martin's Street in Fanny Burne]
" Memoir " of her father.

" A new housemaid," she writes, " who w;
washing the steps of the door and did not knovl
him, offered some resistance to letting him enter
the house unannounced ; but breaking through
her obstruction he ... ascended the stairs and
rushed into the Doctor's study ; where his voice
in some mock heroics to the damsel, alone pre
ceded him.

" Here he found the Doctor immersed in
papers, manuscripts and books, though under
the hands of his hair-dresser ; while one of his
daughters was reading a newspaper to him ;
another was making his tea, and another was
arranging his books/' When the Doctor apolo
gized for the littered state of his apartment, and
endeavoured to put matters straight, Garrick,
throwing himself into a chair, "called out, * Ay, do

A Great Actor

jnow, Doctor, be in a little confusion ! whisk your
matters all out of their places ; and don't know
where to find a thing that you want for the rest
lof the day ; — and that will make us all com-
|fortable!'

"The Doctor laughingly . . . resumed his
place on the stool, that the furniture of his head
might go through its proper repairs.

" Mr. Garrick then, assuming a solemn gravity,
with a profound air of attention, fastened his eyes
upon the hair-dresser, as if wonder-struck at his
I amazing skill.

"The man, highly gratified by such notice

jfrom the celebrated Garrick, briskly worked on,

frizzing, curling, powdering, and pasting with

assiduous, though flurried importance, and with

marked self-complacency.

" Mr. Garrick . . . seemed wholly absorbed

I in admiring watchfulness . . . putting on, by

degrees, with a power like transformation, a little

mean face of envy and sadness, such as he wore

in 'Abel Drugger';* . . . for, with his mouth

(hanging stupidly open, he fixed his features in so

i vacant an absence of all expression, that he less

resembled himself than some daubed wooden

block in a barber's shop window.

" The friseur . . . became utterly discounte
nanced by so incomprehensible a change, and . . .

* A character in Ben Jonson's Alchemist.
41

The House in St. Martin's Street

hardly knew what he was about. Mr. Garrick
then, suddenly starting up, perked his altered
physiognomy, with the look of a gaping idiot,
full in the man's face.

" Scared and confounded, the perruquier now
turned away his eyes and hastily rolled up two
curls, with all the speed in his power, to make his
retreat. But before he was suffered to escape,
Mr. Garrick, lifting his own miserable scratch
[wig] from his head, and perching it high up in
the air upon his finger and thumb, dolorously, in
a whining voice, squeaked out, ' Pray now, Sir,
do you think, Sir, you could touch up this here
old bob a little bit, Sir?'

" The man now, with open eyes and a broad
grin, scampered pell-mell out of the room ; hardly
able to shut the door ere an uncontrollable horse
laugh proclaimed his ... perception of Mr.
Garrick's mystification."

Fanny, who saw Garrick in the character of
'Abel Drugger ' in 17 73, wrote, on her return home
from the theatre : " Never could I have imagined
such a metamorphose as I saw ; the extreme
meanness, the vulgarity, the low wit, the vacancy
of countenance, the appearance of unlicked nature
in all his motions. In short, never was character
so well entered into, yet so opposite to his own."

There is a story told of a person who had
received a letter of introduction to the great

T. Gainsborough

DAVID GARRICK

A Great Actor

actor, and who happened to see him for the first
time at the theatre in this character, exclaiming
that " now he had seen what a mean-looking
creature Garrick was he should not present his
letter."

Garrick's power of changing his whole
physiognomy was indeed marvellous. On one
occasion, when he was sitting for his portrait to a
very indifferent painter, he took it into his head
to play the artist a trick. After the picture had
progressed for some time, Garrick caught an
opportunity when he was unobserved to change
his whole countenance and expression. The
artist, thinking that his own likeness must have
been at fault, began laboriously to repaint the
face on his canvas ; but no sooner was this
effected than Garrick seized another opportunity
to change his countenance a second time, to one
of a totally different character. The distracted
painter now threw down his pallet and brushes,
exclaiming that he must have been painting the
devil, and would touch his picture no more.

This anecdote was told by Garrick himself to
Sir Joshua Reynolds.

Garrick was passionately fond of children. In
the old days, when the Burneys lived in Poland
Street, he would often appear suddenly amongst
them, and, if the Doctor happened to be out,
would stay and amuse the little tribe of boys and

The House in St. Martin's Street

girls, assuming all kinds of characters for their
entertainment.

In. an unpublished letter of Dr. Burney's,* he
says : " Garrick used to take off the old puppet
show of Punch, placing himself against a wall,
seeming to speak through a comb, and to be
moved by wires. Nobody talked such pretty
nonsense as our great Roscius to children and
lap-dogs."

In an early diary Fanny writes: " Yesterday
after tea, we were cheered indeed ; for rap-tap-
tap-tap, and entered Mr. and Mrs. Garrick with
their two nieces. Mr. Garrick, who has lately
been very ill, is delightfully recovered, looks as
handsome as ever I saw him, is in charming
spirits, and was all animation and good humour.

" I never saw in my life," she says, "such
brilliant piercing eyes as Mr. Garrick's are. In
looking at him when I have chanced to meet
them, I have really not been able to bear their
lustre."

Another contemporary, also a young lady,
speaks of his " brilliant full black eyes," and says
his face was " alive in every muscle and feature."

Speaking of Mrs. Garrick, Fanny remarks :
" Her manners [are] all elegance ; her smiles all
sweetness. There is something so perfectly
graceful in her motion and pleasing in her

* Burney MSS.
44

MRS. GARRICK

A Great Actor

address, that the most trifling words have weight
and power when spoken by her, to oblige and
even delight."

Mrs. Garrick, who had formerly been an
accomplished danseuse on the Austrian stage,
seems always to have retained her grace of
motion. She passed many years in England,
but spoke our language at all times as a foreigner.
Meeting Fanny one day, she addressed her as
her " tear little spark" and explained her meaning
by adding, " Your father is my flame all my life,
and you are a little spark of that flame."

Many a delightful visit to the theatre the
young Burneys owed to the kindness of Garrick
or to that of his charming wife. On one occasion,
when Dr. Burney had modestly asked for two
places in some less-favoured part of the house,
Garrick immediately responded —

"My DEAR DR.,

" I would rather have your family in
my box, than all the Lords and Commons.

" Yours ever,

"D. G."

In May, 1772, Fanny writes : " Maria [Allen],
Susan and myself had the happiness to see
Garrick last night in Richard III. We had
always longed to see him in all his great

The House in St. Martin's Street

characters, though least in this, which is so shock
ing. Garrick was sublimely horrible ! Good
heavens ! how he made me shudder whenever
he appeared ! It is inconceivable how terribly
great he is in this character! I will never see
him so disfigured again ; he seemed so truly
the monster he performed that I felt myself
glow with indignation every time I saw him.''

It is said that Hogarth saw Garrick in Richard
III., and, on the following night, saw him in ' Abel
Drugger.' He was so struck that he said to him,
" You are in your element when you are begrimed
with dirt or up to your elbows in blood." Pope
also saw Garrick, many years earlier, in Richard
///., and remarked to a friend, " That young man
never had his equal, and he will never have a
rival."

CHAPTER VI

A PERSISTENT LOVER

FANNY BURNEY writes in her journal on May 8,
1775: " This month is called a tender one. It
has proved so to me — but not in me. I have
not breathed one sigh, — felt one sensation, — or
uttered one folly the more for the softness of
the season. However, I have met with a youth
whose heart, if he is to be credited, has been less
guarded — indeed, it has yielded itself so suddenly,
that had it been in any other month, I should not
have known how to have accounted for so easy a
conquest.

" The first day of this month I drank tea and
spent the evening at Mr. Burney's, at the request
of my sister, to meet a very stupid family, which
.she told me it would be a charity to herself to
give my time to. This family consisted of Mrs.
O'Connor and her daughter by a first marriage,
Miss Dickinson, who, poor creature, has the
misfortune to be deaf and dumb. They are very
old acquaintances of my grandmother Burney, to

The House in St. Martin's Street

oblige whom my sister invited them. My grand
mother and two aunts, therefore, were of the
party, as was also Mr. Barlow, a young man who
has lived and boarded with Mrs. O'Connor for
about two years.

" Mr. Barlow is rather short, but handsome.
He is a very well-bred . . . good-tempered and
sensible young man . . . and he is highly spoken
of for disposition and morals. He has read more
than he has conversed, and seems to know but
little of the world ; his language, therefore, is stiff
and uncommon, and seems laboured, if not
affected — he has a great desire to please, but no
elegance of manners ; neither, though he may be
very worthy, is he at all agreeable.

" Unfortunately, however, he happened to be
prodigiously civil to me. . . . As my sister knew
not well how to wile away the time, I proposed,
after supper, a round of cross questions. This
was agreed to. Mr. Barlow, who sat next to me,
took near half an hour to settle upon what he
should ask me, and at last his question was,
' What I thought most necessary in Love ? ' I
answered, ' Constancy' I hope, for his own sake,
he will not remember this answer long, though he
readily subscribed to it at the time.

"The coach came for me about eleven. I
rose to go. He earnestly entreated me to stay
one or two minutes. I did not, however, think

A Persistent Lover

such compliance at all requisite. . . . The party
then broke up. When we had all taken leave of
our host and hostess, my grandmother, according
to custom, gave me a kiss and her blessing. I
would fain have eluded my aunts, as nothing can
be so disagreeable as kissing before young men ;
however, they chose it should go round ; and
after them Mrs. O'Connor also saluted me, as
did her daughter, desiring to be better acquainted
with me. This disagreeable ceremony over, Mr.
Barlow came up to me, and making an apology,
which, not suspecting his intention, I did not
understand — he gave me a most ardent salute !
I have seldom been more surprised. ... I
wonder so modest a man could dare be so bold.

" He came downstairs with us, and waited at
the door, I believe, till the coach was out of sight.

" Four days after this meeting, my mother
and Mrs. Young happened to be in the parlour,
when I received a letter which, from the strong
resemblance of the handwriting in the direction
to that of Mr. Crisp, I immediately opened and
thought came from Chesington ; but what was
my surprise to see 'Madam 'at the beginning,
and at the conclusion, — ' Your sincere admirer
and very humble ser* Thos. Barlow/

" I read it three or four times before I could
credit my eyes. An acquaintance so short, and
a procedure so hasty astonished me."

49 E

The House in St. Martin's Street

The following extract from this love-letter,
which contains not a single full stop from
beginning to end, will be sufficient, we think, for
the patience of the reader :—

" Madm, — Uninterrupted happiness we are
told is of a short duration, and is quickly suc
ceeded by Anxiety, which moral Axiom I really
experienced on the Conclusion of May day at
Mr. Charles Burney's, as the singular Pleasure
of your Company was so soon Eclips'd by the
rapidity of ever-flying Time ; but the felicity,
tho' short, was too great to keep within the limits
of one Breast, I must therefore entreat your
Pardon for the Liberty I take, in attempting to
reiterate the satisfaction I then felt, and paying
a Tythe of Justice to the amiable Lady from
whom it proceeded . . . Language cannot
possibly depict the soft Emotions of a mind
captivated by so much Merit, and [I] have now
a Contest between my ardorous Pen, stimulated
by so pleasing and so just a subject on the one
hand, and a dread of being accused of Adulation
on the other ; however, endeavouring at Justice, ,
and taking Truth (in her plainest Attire) for my
Guide, I will venture to declare, that the
Affability, Sweetness, and Sensibility, which i
shone in your every Action, lead me irresistably
to Love and Admire the Mistress of them," etc.

" I took not a moment," writes Fanny, "
5°

A Persistent Lover

deliberate — I felt that my heart was totally
insensible — and I felt that I could never consent
to unite myself to a man who I did not very
highly value."

Her impulse was to send at once such a letter
to Mr. Barlow as would put a stop to any further
applications on his part. But before doing this
she felt bound to consult her father on the subject.
Her father was, as she expresses it, all " indulg
ence and goodness," but he advised her not to
answer Mr. Barlow's letter; advice which went
sorely against the grain with her. " I shewed
Hetty the letter next day," she continues, " and
she most vehemently took the young man's part.

". . . I went afterwards to call on my grand
mother ; my sister followed me, and directly told
her and my aunts of the affair. They all of them
became most zealous advocates of Mr. Barlow. . . .
And my aunt Anne humourously bid me beware
of her and Becky's fate !

" I assured them I was not intimidated, and
that I had rather a thousand times die an old
maid than be married, except from affection."

Poor Fanny had to listen to yet further argu
ments in favour of her suitor, till at last her trials
culminated in a letter from her Daddy Crisp
urging her to reconsider her decision. " Look
round, Fan ! " he exclaims ; " look at your aunts !
.Fanny Burney won't always be what she is now.

The House in St. Martin's Street

. . . Oh, Fan, this is not a marrying age, with
out a handsome fortune ! . . . Suppose you to
lose your father ; — take in all chances. Consider
the situation of an unprotected, unprovided
woman ! Excuse my being so earnest with you.
Assure yourself it proceeds from my regard, and
from (let me say it though it savors of vanity) a
deep knowledge of the world."

Fanny responds : " Forgive me, dearest Mr.
Crisp — forgive me — but, indeed, I cannot act from
worldly motives. You know and have long known
and laughed at my notions and character: con
tinue still to laugh at me — but pray don't make
me cry — for your last letter really made me un
happy. ... I heartily wish I could act by your
advice, and that I could return an attachment
which, strange as it appears to me, I so little
deserve. After all, if I live to be some comfort (as
I flatter myself I am) to my father, I can have no
motive to wish to sign myself other than his and
your ever obliged, affectionate, and devoted,

" FRANCES BURNEY, to the end

" of the chapter. Amen."

In all Fanny's letters of this period relating to
Mr. Barlow's offer she signs her surname, " writ
large? and twice or thrice underlined, to show
that it would, at least, never be changed to
" Barlow."

A Persistent Lover

On May i5th she writes in her journal : " This
morning while we were all at breakfast except my
father, who was in the study, John came into the
parlour and said that a gentleman enquired for
me. , . . The door opened and Mr. Barlow
appeared. He had dressed himself elegantly, but

I ! IL,

.LjL-...

ll ll

— JJ l—il

THE DINING-PARLOUR.

could hardly speak. He bowed two or .three
times — I coloured like scarlet. . . . He stammered
a few words, but could not get on till Susan kindly
came to the rescue and maintained some sort of
conversation. I sat upon thorns from the fear
that he would desire to speak to me alone. I
looked another way and hardly opened my mouth.
In about half an hour he rose to go. ...

The House in St. Martin's Street

" Had I sent an answer [to his letter] this
would not have happened, but it is now too
late."

A chance meeting (to Fanny's no small
annoyance) followed shortly afterwards, at the
house of her grandmother and aunts, where Mr.
Barlow endeavoured to press his suit, and where
she did all in her power to repulse him. But
this persistent lover seemed to be proof against
all opposition, and upon quitting the lady's
presence he addressed a second letter to her, in
which, through the aid of " that powerful Deity
Cupid," he made it evident that his hopes of
success were gaining ground.

This letter was followed in its turn by a
second call in St. Martin's Street, the result of
which is given by Fanny in an unpublished
letter * to her Daddy Crisp, who had now
happily begun to see the matter in a new light.
That letter, which is dated June 10, 1775, ^
before us. It is written on sheets of square
paper, now turned yellow with age. The hand
writing is unusually large and clear.

" I shall not trouble you," she says, " with our
conversation, which you may easily suppose. I
desired to put a final end to the affair, and toldj
[Mr. Barlow] I was unalterably fixed in the
answer I gave him. He stayed, I dare say, 2i|

* Burney MSS.
54

A Persistent Lover

full hours — repeating, and making me repeat, the
same things a thousand times. . . .

11 1 was never more happy than when he left
the house. The conversation had been extremely
disagreeable to me. However, I looked upon the
whole business to be then entirely over, and as to
Mr. B., though his melancholick and disconsolate
looks rather distressed me, yet I felt sure that he
would very soon forget an attachment he had
formed so lightly ; and besides men soon console
themselves.

" But what was my consternation when, the
next morning, my dear father spoke to me in
favour of this man ! He desired me not to be
precipitate, and to keep an opening in case future
enquiries should turn out to the advantage of Mr.
Barlow.

" I was never on my own account so miserable
in my life. I could not endure the idea of
trifling — of seeming not to know my own mind —
nor of waiting, like a mercenary Minx, to hear
whether I should be the better for the alliance
before I let him know whether I deign to accept
him or not ! . . . and I felt that to be united for
ever to a man for whom I had not the least regard,
would cloud every Hour of my future Life."

" That evening, however/* she writes in one
of her published diaries, " I was relieved from
my frights by my father's kindness.

The House in St. Martin's Street

" After supper I went into the study, while
my dear father was alone, to wish him good night,
which I did as cheerfully as I could, though
pretty evidently in dreadful uneasiness. When
I had got to the door he called me back, and
asked some questions concerning a new court-
mourning, kindly saying he would assist Susette.
and me in our fitting out, which he accordingly
did, and affectionately embraced me, saying, ' I
wish I could do more for thee, Fanny ! ' ' Oh,
Sir,' cried I, ' / wish for nothing ! only let me
live with you.' ' My life ! ' cried he, kissing me
kindly, ' thou shalt live with me for ever if thou
wilt ! Thou canst not think I meant to get rid
of thee ? '

" ' I could not, Sir ; I could not ! ' cried I ; 4 I
could not outlive such a thought ! ' and, as I
kissed him — Oh ! how gratefully and thankfully !
with what a relief to my heart ! — I saw his eyes
full of tears, a mark of his tenderness which I
shall never forget ! ' God knows/ continued he,
' I wish not to part with my girls ! — only don't be
too hasty ! '

" Thus relieved, restored to future hopes, I
went to bed, light, happy, and thankful, as if
escaped from destruction.

" From that day to this," she concludes, " my
father, I thank Heaven, has never again men
tioned Mr. Barlow."

CHAPTER VII

LEXIPHANES IN ST. MARTIN'S STREET

FANNY writes to Mr. Crisp on March, 28, 1777 :*
" Now to our Thursday morning party.

" Mrs. and Miss Thrale, Miss Owen, and Mr.
Seward came long before Lexiphanes. Mrs.
Thrale is a very pretty woman still ; she is
extremely lively and chatty ; has no supercilious
or pedantic airs, and is really gay and agreeable.
Her daughter is about twelve years old . . .
Miss Owen, who is a relative, is good-humoured
and sensible enough . . .Mr. Seward is a very
polite, agreeable young man.

"My sister Burney was invited to meet and
play to them. The conversation was supported
with a good deal of vivacity (N.B. — my father
being at home) for about half an hour, and then
Hetty and Susette, for [Susette's] first time in
public, played a duet ; and in the midst of their
performance Dr. Johnson was announced. He

* This letter is docketted by Madame d'Arblay in later years,
" First sight of Dr. Johnson, Mrs. and Miss Thrale, and Mr.
Seward."

The House in St. Martin's Street

is indeed very ill-favoured ; is tall and stout ;
but stoops terribly ; he is almost bent double.
His mouth is almost constantly opening and
shutting as if he was chewing. He has a strange
method of frequently twirling his fingers, and
twisting his hands. His body is in continual
agitation, see-sawing up and down ; his feet are
never a moment quiet ; and, in short, his whole
person is in perpetual motion. His dress, too,
considering the times, and that he had meant to
put on his best becomes, being engaged to dine in
a large company, was as much out of the common
as his figure; he had a large wig, snuff-colour
coat, and gold buttons, but no ruffles to his
[shirt] . . . and black worsted stockings."

It is curious to turn here to Dr. Johnson's
own opinion of his appearance expressed to
Fanny, a few years later, when he found her
one day in the Thrales' drawing-room, gazing
affectionately at his portrait. Peeping over her
shoulder, he called out, with a ludicrous half-
laugh, "Ah ha! — Sam Johnson ! — I see thee!—
and an ugly dog thou art ! "

" He is shockingly near-sighted/' continues
Fanny, "and did not, till she held out her hand
to him, even know Mrs. Thrale. He poked his
nose over the keys of the harpsichord,* till poor

* This account is quoted chiefly from the "Memoir" of Dr.
Burney.

Lexiphanes in St. Martin's Street

Hetty and Susan hardly knew how to play on,
for fear of touching his phiz ; or, which was
harder still, how to keep their countenances. . . .
When the duet was finished, my father introduced
your Hettina to him as an old acquaintance, to
whom, when she was a little girl, he had pre
sented his * Idler/

"His answer to this was imprinting on her
pretty face — not a half-touch of a courtly salute —
but a good, real, substantial, and very loud kiss.

" Everybody was obliged to stroke their chins,
that they might hide their mouths.

". . . His attention was not to be drawn off
two minutes longer from the books, to which
he now strided his way. He pored over them
shelf by shelf, almost brushing them with his
eye-lashes. ... At last, fixing upon something
that happened to hit his fancy, he took it down,
and standing aloof from the company, which he
seemed clean and clear to forget, he began with
out further ceremony and very composedly to
read to himself, and as intently as if he had been
alone in his own study.

"We were all excessively provoked, for we
were languishing, fretting, expiring to hear him
talk — not to see him read ! — what could that do
for us ?

" My sister then played another duet accom
panied by my father, to which Mrs. Thfale seemed

The House in St. Martin's Street

very attentive, and all the rest quietly resigned.
But Dr. Johnson had opened a volume of the
' British Encyclopedia,' and was so deeply en
gaged, that the music, probably, never reached
his ears.

" When it was over, Mrs. Thrale, in a laugh
ing manner, said, ' Pray, Dr. Burney, will you be
so good as to tell me what that song was, and
whose, which Savoi sung last night at Bach's *
concert, and which you did not hear ? '

" My father confessed himself by no means so
able a diviner, not having had time to consult the
stars, though he lived in the house of Sir Isaak
Newton. But anxious to draw Dr. Johnson into
conversation, he ventured to interrupt him with
Mrs. Thrale's conjuring request relative to Bach's
concert.

" The doctor comprehending his drift, good-
naturedly put away his book, and, see-sawing,
with a very humourous smile, drolly repeated,
* Bach, sir ? Bach's concert ? And pray, sir,
who is Bach ? Is he a piper ? '

" You may imagine what exclamations followed
such a question.

" Mrs. Thrale gave a detailed account of the
nature of the concert, and the fame of Mr. Bach,
and the many charming performances she had
heard, with all their varieties, in his rooms.

* J. C. Bach, a son of Johann Sebastian Bach.
60

Lexiphanes in St. Martin's Street

" When there was a pause, * Pray, madam,'
said he, with the calmest gravity, ' what is the
expense for all this ? '

LEICESTER SQUARE IN THE l8TH CENTURY.

"'(),' answered she, 'the expense is — much
trouble and solicitation -to obtain a subscriber's
ticket — or else half-a-guinea.'

The House in St. Martin's Street

" ' Trouble and solicitation/ he replied, ' I will
have nothing to do with ! — but, if he be so fine,—
I will be willing to give ' — he hesitated, and then
finished with — ' eighteen pence/

" Ha ! ha ! Chocolate being then brought,
we returned to the drawing-room ; and Dr. John
son, when drawn away from the books, freely
and with social good-humour gave himself up
to conversation. . . . They talked of Mr. Garrick
and his late exhibition before the King, to whom
and to the Queen and Royal Family he read [his
farce of] " Lethe," in character, cest d dire, in
different voices, and theatrically. . . .

"' They say/ cried Mrs. Thrale, 'that Garrick
was extremely hurt at the coolness of the King's
applause, and did not find his reception such as
he expected/

" ' He has been so long accustomed/ said
Mr. Seward, 'to the thundering approbation of
the theatre, that a mere "Very well" must
necessarily and naturally disappoint him/

"' Sir/ said Dr. Johnson, 'he should not, in a
Royal apartment, expect the hallooing and clamour
of the One Shilling Gallery. . . . He has long
reigned the unequalled favourite of the public,
and, therefore, nobody will mourn his hard lot if
the King and Royal Family were not transported
into rapture upon hearing him read Lethe.
But yet Mr. Garrick will complain to his friends ;

Lexiphanes in St. Martin's Street

and his friends will lament the King's want of
feeling and taste ; and then Mr. Garrick will
kindly excuse the King. He will say that His
Majesty might be thinking of something else;
that the affairs of America might occur to him ;
or some subject of State more important, perhaps,
than Lethe ; but though he will say this himself,
he will not forgive his friends if they do not
contradict him ! '

" Garrick " [remarked the Doctor, presently]
" never enters a room but he regards himself as
the object of general attention, from whom the
entertainment of the company is expected ; and
true it is that he seldom disappoints that expecta
tion : for he has infinite humour, a very just
proportion of wit, and more convivial pleasantry
than almost any man living. But then ^as well
as on the Stage, he is always an Actor ! for he
holds it so incumbent upon him to be sportive,
that his gaiety becomes mechanical from being
habitual."

Johnson's words recall the well-known descrip
tion of Garrick in Goldsmith's " Retaliation " —

" On the stage he was natural, simple, affecting ;
'Twas only that when he was off he was acting."

But Johnson had a high opinion of Garrick's
character in spite of his criticisms. "Garrick,"
said he, "is accused of vanity; but few men

The House in St. Martin's Street

would have borne such unremitting prosperity
with greater, if with equal moderation."

Sir Joshua Reynolds once observed of Dr.
Johnson that he considered this great actor, who
had formerly been his pupil, " to be, as it were,
his property, and that he would allow no man
either to blame or to praise Garrick in his
presence without contradicting him."

Crisp writes to Fanny in answer to her fore
going journal-letter : "How wonderfully well, in
half a dozen masterly touches, has Johnson made
a striking likeness of Garrick ! It half reconciles
me to his heavy Dictionary. I am now con
vinced (putting together your account of him and
what I had heard before) that his real Jorte is
conversation. His quickness, his originality, his
oddities, his singularities (which so well become
him and perhaps would nobody else) must make
him a model of an entertaining companion."

It is remarkable that the recluse Crisp should
thus distinguish the very talents by which this
great man was to be known to posterity. Is it
not by his conversation (recorded, happily,) rather
than by any of his works that Dr. Johnson's
personality has such a firm hold upon us in this
twentieth century ?

" Well, Fanny," continues Crisp, " since I
can't come to London and personally partake of
the turtle feast, you saved and collected me a

Lexiphanes in St. Martin's Street

part of it, so well selected, so well clos'd up, and
packed with such care, that it has all the full
relish, and the high flavour "of the Callipash and
Callipee. This being the case, d'ye think my
modesty will restrain me from crying more,
more ? "

CHAPTER VIII

MATTERS PLAYFUL AND PERVERSE

CHARLOTTE ANN BURNEY, the youngest of Dr.
Burney's four daughters by his first wife, wrote
journals like her elder sisters, though in an
original way of her own. She had a quick eye
to observe traits of character and peculiarities
in those about her, and a lively sense of humour.
Her spirits, we are told, " might be checked, but
could not be subdued," so the reader must pardon
some audacious words which may startle him in
the innocent fun of this girl of sixteen years.

In the following extract from a journal written
in 1777, we meet with Garrick at the theatre,
though no longer as an actor, but as a spectator,
as he had recently retired from the stage.

Garrick, who was seated with his back to
Charlotte and Susan, had not at first seen them ;
but suddenly turning round, he exclaimed —

"'Ha! what is it you!' and so saying he
shook hands with us. Lord, how consequencial
I felt just then!

Matters Playful and Perverse

" ' Well, but you an't alone ? '

" ' Oh, no, Sir, we have a lady with us.' How
friendly, and fatherly, sweet soul !

".'Well, but how have you done this long
while ? I'm so glad to see you/

" ' And we're so proud to be acknowledged,'
answered Susey. She said right, for splitt me if
I'd not a hundred times rather be spoken to by
Garrick in public than by His Majesty, God bless
him!

" There was a Lilliputian dance by about a
dozen children, none more than twelve, I'm sure,
and he asked me very much to go and join
them.

" ' Come, shall you and I make one among
'em ? Come, if you will, I will ; I only wait for
you. We should look as handsome as any of
them.'

" ' I fancy/ rejoined I, ' we should look like
Patagonians among them/

" 'Oh,' says he, 'I should be the/#//<zgonian/

" How amazingly ready he is ! . . . He was
saying that my father had promised to lend him
some journals, and I said Charles was at home,
and would be vastly happy to wait upon him with
the journals.

. " ' What, the Cherry Derry * of the age, is he
in town ? But I don't know whether I can

* A nickname that Garrick had given him.

The House in St. Martin's Street

explain the matter more clearly if I come
myself.'

" L — d, I thought I must have been fain to
take one of Mr. Astley's flying leaps into the pit
for joy ! But I calm'd my transport a little . . .
and could not refrain from asking sister Susey, in
a whisper that he could not help hearing, this
simple question — ' whether Mr. Garrick had
settled to come next morning ? '

" Upon which he turned to me with one of the
gruffest of his lion looks —

" ' I will.'

" ' To-morrow, sir ? '

" * I'll come to-morrow,' answered he, in the
same tone of voice.

" The farce was * Piety in Pattens,' most
wretchedly written and acted, all that I saw of
it, for Susey hadn't patience to stay, though she
might have paid herself by half an hour longer
of [Garrick's] company! He laughed as much
as he could have done at the most excellent
piece in the world. Indeed, to borrow one
of Fanny's expressions, ' it was bad enough to
be good'

"Mr. George Garrick was there, and Garrick
introduced us to him with ' Here's two of my
children, two of the Burneys.' How kind he is
to us all ! He was very intent either upon this
petit piece or his own cogitations, so we were

Matters Playful and Perverse

obliged to sail off without saying anything, to my
no small griggitation.

" Next morning, while I was making my
father's tea, I heard three knocks at the door
(which were the sweetest music I had had my ears

tickled with for many a j , day), upon which,

after knocking down the tea cannister, dropping
the teapot lid into the water, and scalding my
fingers, I tumbled upstairs and met him.

" * Well, why, what did you steal away for ? I
intended to have seen you safe, but what did you
mean by it ? '

" Before I could have given an answer of any
sort, Betty, who stood by with the broom in her
hand, and whose cockles were tickled by his droll
attitudes and way of expressing himself, burst
out laughing ; upon which he fairly caned her
up a whole flight of stairs, desiring at the same
time to know what she laughed for. As soon
as he was safely moored in the chaos* he attacked
me again.

" ' Well, but, Piety in pattens, how came you to
r*un away, hay ? I remember the time when she
was not quite so cruel, when I used to tuck her
under my arm and run away with her, but now
| she runs from me I But Piety in pattens blush'd
|at shaking hands with me in public ! — didn't you,

* A name signifying Dr. Burney's study.

The House in St. Martin's Street

didn't you ? Then the folks all stared, and we (I
admire his saying we) looked so handsome ! . . . '

" He took off Dr. Johnson most admirably.
Indeed, I enjoy'd it doubly from having been in
his company : his see-saw, his pawing, his very
look, and his voice ! . . . He took him off in a
speech (that has stuck in his gizzard ever since
some friendly person was so obliging as to repeat
it to him). ... * Yes, yes ; Davy has some
convivial pleasantries in him ; but 'tis a futile
fellow/

" He ask'd my father how he stood his ground
at Strayhthem.*

" * Oh,' says my father, ' vastly well, and I
can assure you Johnson fights your battles for
you.' Upon which Garrick insisted upon knowing
who with ? But my father declared off for that.

" * Well, but, Burney, I'll never forgive you if
you won't tell me.' . . . And so he went on all
the way downstairs. . . . And when he got out
of the door — 'Well, Burney, here ends our
friendship ! '

" Becket the bookseller came with him, and he
walk'd on a little before Garrick, and he was
impudent enough to take him off, to his face, I
was going to say, but to do him justice he did it|
like a gentleman, behind his back. . . .

" Thus ended his visit, sweet soul ! He ha<

* This is one of Charlotte's puns.

Matters Playful and Perverse

on his favourite scratch wig, his mob wig, as Mr.
Twining calls it ; — but in spite of it he looked as
abominably handsome as I think I ever saw him."

In another journal, of which only fragments
remain, Charlotte describes a rather comical
meeting of wits in St. Martin's Street, of which
we find further details in Fanny's "Memoir" of
her father.

The occasion of this party was a strong
desire, expressed by Mr. Greville (Dr. Burney's
former patron), Mrs. Greville, and their daughter,
Mrs. Crewe, to meet Dr. Johnson and Mrs.
Thrale.

Dr. Burney hoping to take off " what might
be stiff or formidable in an encounter between
these celebrated persons, who were absolute
strangers to one another . . . determined to vary
the energy of intellectual debate by ... the
sweetness of instrumental harmony." For this
purpose he had invited the Italian singer, Signor
Piozzi, as well as the Charles Rousseau Burneys,
to join the gathering; and as soon as the
company were assembled, he called upon Piozzi
for a cantata. " But this move of the Doctor's
proved to be the herald to general discomforture
... for neither the Grevilles nor the Thrales
heeded music beyond what belonged to it as
fashion ; the expectations of the Grevilles were
all occupied by Dr. Johnson ; and those of

The House in St. Martin's Street

the Thrales by Mrs. Greville, the authoress of
the Ode to Indifference."

Dr. Johnson, in the mean time, had come to
the party with every intention to pass two or
three hours very agreeably. He had even
dressed with unusual care. " Dr. Johnson,"
writes Charlotte, " was immensely smart, for him,
— for he had not only a very decent tidy suit of
cloathes on, but his hands, face, and linnen were
clean, and he treated us with his worsted wig
which Mr. Thrale made him a present of, because
it scarce ever gets out of curl, and he generally
diverts himself with laying down just after he has
got a fresh wig on." But Dr. Johnson, it seems,
was " the most silent creature, when not particu
larly drawn out," and Mr. Greville, in spite of his
pride of rank, hesitating to enter into the lists of
argument with this " leviathan of literature," the
company awaited in vain for their discourse.

" Mrs. Thrale of the whole coterie," Fanny
tells us, " was alone at her ease. She feared not
Dr. Johnson, for fear made no part of her
composition," and provoked by the general
dulness of the company, she determined to effect
some kind of diversion. " She suddenly but
softly arose, and, stealing on tip-toe behind
Signer Piozzi, who was accompanying himself on
the pianoforte in an animated arria parlante,
with his back to the company, she began imitating

Matters Playful and Perverse

him by squaring her elbows, elevating them with
ecstatic shrugs of the shoulders, and casting up
her eyes, while languishingly reclining her head,
as if she were not less enthusiastically struck with
the transports of harmony than himself."

This pantomime " was not perceived by Dr.
Johnson, who faced the fire with his back to the
performer." But the general amusement was of
short duration, for " Dr. Burney, shocked lest the
poor Signer should observe and be hurt by this
mimicry, glided gently round to Mrs. Thrale, and
with something between pleasantry and severity
whispered to her, ' Because, madam, you have
no ear yourself for music, will you destroy the
attention of all who, in that one point, are other
wise gifted ? '

" . . . [Mrs. Thrale] took this rebuke with a
candour and a sense of justice the most amiable ;
she nodded her approbation of the admonition,
and, returning to her chair, quietly sat down, as
she afterwards said, like a pretty little miss, for
the remainder of one of the most humdrum
evenings she had ever passed."

Yet another reproof was to be administered
before this " party of pleasure " broke up.

Mr. Greville, finding that Dr. Johnson con
tinued to remain in a silent reverie, chose to keep

* This strange incident marked Mrs. Thrale's first introduction
to the man who was hereafter to be her second husband.

The House in St. Martin's Street

aloof from the company, " and assuming his most
supercilious air of distant superiority, planted
himself, immovable as a noble statue, upon the
hearth, as if a stranger to the whole set."

There is a character in Fanny Burney's novel
of " Cecilia " — the elder Delville — a lofty, pompous
individual, eaten up with family pride, whose
character, it is supposed, was suggested by that
of Mr. Greville.

" Mr. Greville and the other gentlemen were
so kind and considerate," remarks Charlotte, " as to
divert themselves by making a fire-skreen to the
whole room. Dr. Johnson made them make off,
for when nobody would have imagined that he-
had [even] known the gentlemen were in the
room, he said that ' if he was not ashamed, he
would keep the fire from the ladies too/ This
reproof (for a reproof it certainly was, altho'
given in a very comical dry way) was productive
of a scene as good as a comedy ; for Mr. Suard *
tumbled on to the sopha directly, Mr. Thrale on
to a chair, Mr. Davenant sneaked off the premises,
seemingly in as great a fright and as much con
founded as if he had done any bad action, and
Mr. Gruel,f being left solus, was obliged to stalk
off ... and it was pretty evidently against the
grain."

* Seward.

f Charlotte's nickname for Mr. Greville.

CHAPTER IX

ACTING AT BARBORNE LODGE

IN the spring of 1777, Fanny, who was paying a
happy visit at Chesington, was hurried home by
the intelligence that her uncle, Richard Burney,
had arrived in town for the express purpose of
carrying her back with him to Worcester.

This uncle, who was an elder brother of Dr.
Burney, lived, together with his large family of
sons and daughters, at Barborne Lodge, a hand
some red - brick house, standing in its own
grounds, about a mile from the city of Worcester.
The town has now crept out in that direction,
but a hundred years ago Barborne Lodge stood
in the country.

Fanny was rather in awe of her " lordly
uncle," as Crisp dubbed him, but when her shy
ness had worn off, she found he had more of
kindliness towards her than she had at all
suspected.

On her arrival at his house, Fanny found
herself one of a merry party in all the excitement

The House in St. Martin's Street

of preparation for private theatricals. Two plays
had been chosen — "The Way to Keep Him," by
Murphy, and " Tom Thumb," a burlesque by
Fielding. In both dramas Fanny was assigned
important parts, a formidable undertaking to her,

BARRORNE LODGE.

but she almost forgot her " inward terror," in
interest over the part of Tom Thumb, which was
to be enacted by her little niece Nancy, the eldest
child of Charles Rousseau and Hetty Burney,
aged six years, now paying a visit to her grand
father and aunts.

The great day of the performance must have
76

Acting at Barborne Lodge

been April 6th, for Fanny, writing to Susan on
the 7th, gives a full account of the whole affair as
having taken place on the preceding day. " The
morning was ushered in," she writes, " by a
general disturbance. We were all inconceivably
busy ; we contrived, however, for little Nancy's
sake, to rehearse Tom Thumb, and then we
bribed her to lie down, and most fortunately she
slept for more than three hours, which made her
very wakeful all the rest of the day and night.

" At dinner we did not sit down above three
at a time ; one was with the hairdresser, another
finishing some dress, another, some scenery ; and
so on. I was quite amazed to see how my uncle
submitted to all this confusion ; but he was the
first to promote our following our own affairs."

Before five o'clock company began to arrive.

"You can have no idea," continues Fanny,
"what a shatter every new-comer gave me. I
could hardly dress myself, — hardly knew where I
was, — hardly could stand. Betsy, too, was very
much flurried. . . . Richard and James gave all
their thoughts to their own adornment ; Tom
capered about the house in great joy; little
Nancy jumped and laughed ; Edward was
tolerably composed ; but Becky was in an ecstacy
of pleasure, she felt no fright or palpitation. . . .

" We were now quite ready . . . the Band
was got into order for the Overture, and the

The House in St. Martin's Street

company going to be summoned upstairs, when
another chaise arrived, and it proved from
Gloucester, with the Doctor [Wall] and the
Captain [Coussmaker]. I assure you this
frightened me so much, that I most heartily

HALL IN BARBORNE LODGE.

wished myself twenty miles off. I was quite sick,
and, if I had dared, should have given up thefl
part.

"... At length they all came upstairs : a
green curtain was drawn before them, and the

Acting at Barborne Lodge

I Overture was played. Miss Humphries * did all
I the honours ; for Nancy [senior] was engaged as
| prompter, and my uncle, one of the band. . . .
I The Overture, you must know, was performed
I in the passage ; for we had no room for an
I orchestra in the theatre. . . . The theatre looked
I extremely well, and was fitted up in a very
I dramatic manner, with side scenes, and two
I figures of Tragedy and Comedy at each hand,
land a head of Shakespear in the middle. We
I had four changes of scenes.'*

The chief characters in " The Way to Keep
I Him " were cast as follows : —

Lovemore Richard Burney, junr.

| Sir Brilliant Fashion ... James „

Mrs. Lovemore ... Fanny ,,

1! The Widow Bellmour... Rebecca „

I Muslin (servant to Mrs.

Lovemore) ... ... Betsy ,,

[Sideboard (a servant)... Edward ,,

I Pompey (a black servant) Tom „

After describing the various costumes, Fanny

, mentions her own dress as being of green and

grey trimmed with white ribbon. She wore also

||a gauze apron. When the curtain rose the two
servants were seen seated at a table playing at

* A sister-in-law of Mr. Richard Burney.
79

The House in St. Martin's Street

cards ; they were joined by Muslin, whose pai
was acted with much spirit.

"... Next came my scene,'* writes Fanny.
" I was discovered drinking tea. To tell you
how infinitely, how beyond measure I was terri
fied at my situation, I really cannot . . . the few
words I had to speak, before Muslin came to me,
I know not whether I spoke or not, neither does
anybody else. ... I am sure, without flattery, I
looked like a most egregious fool ; for I made no
use of the tea-things, I never tasted a drop ;
once, indeed, I made an attempt, but my hand
shook so violently, I was fain to put down the
cup instantly in order to save my gown.

" . . . Take notice that, from the beginning
to the end, no applause was given to the playi
The company judged that it would be inelegant,;
and therefore, as they all said, forebore; but,
indeed, a little clapping would have been vei
encouraging, and I heartily wish they had not)]
practised such self-denial.

" James, as Sir Brilliant Fashion (who was most]
superbly dressed), entered with an air so im
mensely conceited and affected, and at the same]
time so uncommonly bold, that I could scarceL
stand his abord . . . [but] notwithstanding my|
embarrassment, I found he did the part admir
ably. ... He looked very fashionable, very)
assured, very affected, very every way the thin±

Acting at Barborne Lodge

Not one part in the piece was better or more
properly done ; nor did any give more entertain
ment.

" . . . We were next joined by Richard, whose
non-chalance, half vacancy, and half absence ex
cellently marked the careless, unfeeling husband
which he represented. Between his extreme
unconcern and Sir Brilliant's extreme assurance
I had not much trouble in appearing the only
languid and discontented person in company.

" The act finished by a solo of Betsy, which I
did not hear ; for I ran into a corner to recover
breath against the next act. My uncle was very
good-natured and spoke many comfortable things
to me. ... He said I wanted nothing but
exertion, and charged me to speak louder and
take courage."

Describing the 2nd act, Fanny remarks:
" Fortunately for me, my part and my spirits, in
| this act, had great sympathy ; for Mrs. Lovemore
is almost unhappy enough for a tragedy heroine ;
and I assure you, she lost none of her pathos by
I any giddiness of mine ! I gave her melancholy
feelings very fair play, and looked her misfortunes
with [so] much sadness . . . that I believe some
of my auditors thought me a much better and
I more artificial actress than I dreamt of being
myself ; and I had the satisfaction to hear some
[few buzzes of approbation, which did me no harm."

8l G

The House in St. Martin's Street

The act over. " Again my uncle spoke the
most flattering things to encourage me. . . . ' It
is impossible,' he said, ' to do the part with greater
propriety, or to speak with greater feeling, or
more sensibility ; every, the most insignificant,
thing you say, comes home to me/ You can't
imagine how much this kindness from him
cheered me."

Fanny now took courage and was enabled to
perform the third and final act, when Mrs. Love-
more suddenly assumes a new character, and is
alert, sportive, and triumphant, with proper
spirit. " Richard," she says, " was really charm
ing in this scene ; so thoroughly negligent,
inattentive, and sleepy, that he kept a continual
titter among the young ladies. But when he was
roused from his indifference by Mrs. Lovemore's
pretended alteration of temper and conduct, — he
sung small indeed ! . . . You can hardly suppose
how little he looked ! how mortified ! astonished !
and simple ! It was admirably in character.

" Richard . . . was very delicate and very
comfortable to me in our reconciliation, when
Mrs. Bellmour says, ' Come, kiss and be friends '
... for he excused all the embracing part, and,
without making any fuss, took my hand, which,
bowing over (like Sir Charles Grandison), he
most respectfully pressed to his lips.

"We now all .hastened," continues Fanny,
82

Acting at Barborne Lodge

" to dress for ' Tom Thumb/ and the company
went into the dining-room for some refreshments.
Little Nancy was led away by Miss Humphries,
who made her take a formal leave of the company,
as if going to bed, that they might not expect
what followed. . . . She flew up to me, 'Ay,
Cousin Fanny, I saw you drinking your tea by
yourself, before all the company ! Did you think
they would not see you ? '

" You must know she always calls me Cousin
Fanny, because she says everybody else does ;
so she's sure I can't really be an aunt.

" During the whole performance she had not
the least idea what we all meant, and wanted
several times to join us ; especially while I was
weeping. * Pray, what does Cousin Fanny cry
for, Aunt Hannah ; does she cry really, I say ? ' "

In the burlesque of " Tom Thumb," Fanny
took the part of Huncamunca — a part which she
evidently played with great spirit, since the fun
and nonsense of the whole drama made her quite
forget her fears of the audience.

The farce opens with a ludicrous scene
between Noodle and Doodle. " Then enters the
King," writes Fanny, " which was performed by
Richard most admirably, and with a dignified
drollery that was highly diverting and exceeding
clever. Betsy accompanied him. She was ex
tremely well in the Queen, both in strutting and

The House in St. Martin's Street

pomposity. Their dresses, though made of mere
tinsel and all sort of gaudiness, had a charming
and most theatrical effect. Their crowns, jewels,
trains, etc., were superb.

" Next entered— Tom Thumb !

" When the King says, ' But see ! our warrior
comes ! The great Tom Thumb ! the little hero,
giant-killing boy ! '

"Then there was an immense hub-a~dub, with
drums and trumpets, and a clarionet, to proclaim
his approach.

" The sweet little girl looked as beautiful as
an angel ! She had an exceeding pretty and most
becoming dress, made of pink persian, trimmed
with silver and spangles ; . . . her mantle was
white ; she had a small truncheon in her hand,
and a Vandyke hat ; her own sweet hair was left
to itself.

" . . . The company, none of them expecting
her, were delighted and amazed beyond measure.
A general laugh and exclamations of surprise
went round. Her first speech —

" ' When I'm not thank'd at all, I'm thanked enough ;
I've done my duty, and I've done no more '-

she spoke so loud, and so articulately, and
with such courage, that people could scarce credit
their senses when they looked at her baby face.
I declare, I could hardly help crying ; I was so

Acting at Barborne Lodge

charmed, and at the same time frightened for her.
Oh, how we all wished for Hetty ! It was with

"VI ..m

...: ,,||J l( ' '

"W i.' X

THE MUSICIANS.

difficulty I restrained myself from running on
with her ; and my uncle was so agitated, that he
began, involuntarily, a most vehement clapping ;
a sound to which we had hitherto been strangers ;

The House in St. Martin's Street

but this hint was instantly taken, and it was
echoed and re-echoed by the audience."

*****

We have visited Barborne Lodge and have
peeped into the very rooms where this gay
company assembled on that spring evening a
hundred and thirty years ago. The house is
now forlorn and deserted, but there are traces
left of its former dignity. The staircase, which
leads up to the landing or "passage" where the
band was placed, is adorned with elegant balu
strades. There are four rooms of good size
opening on to this landing, two of which probably
communicated with each other in former days, as
they are divided only by a canvas partition wall.
Between them we fancy the " green curtain " to
have hung.

As we stood in these, now silent, chambers,
we seemed to hear the hum of merry voices, and
the whole scene of the acting rose before our
eyes ! There was the timid Fanny, in her grey
and green attire, as Mrs. Lovemore ; there was
the bold Sir Brilliant Fashion, in all his finery ;
and then again, there was little Nancy, in her
spangled doublet, stepping on to the stage to the
sound of trumpets and drums, and bringing down
the house with applause !

CHAPTER X

GLOUCESTER GAIETIES

FURTHER gaieties awaited the actors of Barborne
Lodge. One of their audience — the eccentric
Dr. Wall — invited the whole company to visit
him and his wife at their house in Gloucester,
to witness a military review and to dance at a
military ball.

This gentleman was a son of the Dr. Wall,
who founded the celebrated china manufactory
of Worcester ; — the W.W. seen on early pieces
of that pottery, signifying "Wall of Worcester."
The Walls' house is still to be seen standing in
the Cathedral close at the south-west corner of
the College Green.

We can imagine the arrival of the Worcester
party, and fancy we see the great "coach and
four," in which we are told the cousins travelled,
passing beneath the tall limes that border the
"Green," and drawing up before the pillared
portico of Dr. Wall's house.

" We arrived at Gloucester about 5 o'clock,"
87

The House in St. Martin's Street

writes Fanny. " Dr. Wall handed us out of the
coach with one shoe all over mud and the other
clean, but without any buckle. He welcomed us
very cordially ; ' but how happened it/ cried he,
' that you did not come by water ? I have been
almost to Tewkesbury to meet you, and walked

^ \K-, '^ip

-fe- x- % -*;*=•

js?H&--:^£wig£ ^s

^— I^T . . • "S;?1

><<&$&£

KING JOHN'S BRIDGE, TEWKESBURY.

along the shore till I was covered with mud ;
there are two or three barges gone up the river
to meet you. . . .'

" He then went up to his wife and returned
with her compliments, and that she was extremely
unhappy she could not wait upon us, but had all
her hair combed out, and was waiting for the
man to come and dress it, who had disappointed
her ever since two o'clock.

" Dr. Wall began immediately to talk of the
88

Gloucester Gaieties

play, and said he could think of nothing else. ' I
hope, Miss Fanny/ said he, 'you are now quite
recovered from the fright of your first appearance
in public ; though, upon my word, I should never
have found it out if they had not told me of it ; it
appeared so well in character, that I took it for
granted that it belonged to the part/

" * It was very fortunate for me/ said I, 'that
I had so serious and melancholy a part; for I
should totally have ruined any other/

"'The character, ma'am/ returned he, 'seemed
wrote on purpose for you ! Captain Coussmaker
says he went to see "The Way to Keep Him"
at Bath, but it was so ill done, that, after all of
you, he could not sit it, so he came out before it
was half over/ >j

It is evident from the effect produced on the
audience that Fanny had performed her part
with far more dramatic power than she had any
idea of. Mrs. Lovemore's was a role, it seems,
calculated to bring out first-rate powers, for it
had been performed by Mrs. Siddons herself.

Fanny continues, " James, in a whisper, asked
me where I thought Richard was. I could not
possibly guess. 'Why/ said he, 'he is in the
back lane leading to the house, standing in the
rain without his great-coat, and talking to Mrs.
Wall, who is leaning out of the window to answer
him, with all her hair about her ears ! ' Thus,

The House in St. Martin's Street

you see, there was no exaggeration — ver prett,
riest-ce pas ? * — of Richard's favour with this
fair lady.

". . . Mrs. Wall did not make her appearance
till tea was half over. The Doctor [had] insisted
that Nancy should make tea, and not wait for
Mrs. Brilly, which, or my Ladyship, he always
calls her. ' I think you know Mrs. Wall's name
is Brilliana.1

" Dr. Wall, though a very indifferent per
former, is really very fond of music, and he has
as strange and mixed a collection of musical
instruments as I never before saw. He brought
them all out of a closet in the parlour . . . one
by one ; and he drew out some tone — such as it
was ! — from each before he changed. First came
a French horn, — then a trumpet, — then a violin,
— a bass, — a bassoon, — a Macaroni fiddle, — and,
in short, I believe he produced twenty of different
kinds. An overture was then attempted, — every
body that possibly could bore a part, — and I
really would not wish to hear a much worse
performance : and yet this music lasted to
supper ! "

This discordant concert must have taken
place in the long drawing-room, on the first
floor, whose three recessed windows overlook
the College Green. When supper was announced,

* An exclamation of Omai's.
90

Gloucester Gaieties

we can fancy we see the whole party descending
by a grand old oaken staircase into the great
square hall, out of which the dining- or supper-
room opens.

" I think I never saw a more queerly droll

HALL IN DK. WALL'S HOUSE.

character," says Fanny, "than Dr. Wall's. He
lives just according to the whim of the moment ;
. . . he says everything that occurs to him,
whether of praise or censure, compliment or
ridicule; [but] he means to offend nobody, and
never dreams of taking offence himself. . . . For
example, looking hard at Betsy, ' Pray/ said he,

The House in St. Martin's Street

'did ever anybody take notice of your eyes?'-
' My eyes, Sir ? — Why ? ' — ' Because they a'n't
fellows, — one is brown and one grey/ "

[Finding the Doctor one morning engaged
with his musical instruments.] "He presently
flung them all away — and what do you think for ?
— why, to run after me, making me run, whether I
would or not . . . but the less he found me
inclined for this sport, the more determined he
seemed to pursue it, and we danced round the
room, Hayed* in and out of the chairs and all
that till it grew so late that he ordered dinner,
saying, ' Come, good folks, let's take care of our
selves. Mrs. Brilly has certainly run away, — we
will have our dinner without further ceremony.'

" The next morning we had but just done
[breakfast] when the Militia began to be drawn
forth upon the College Green, . . . and Lord
Berkeley [their Colonel], who resides next door
but one to the Doctor, appeared before the win
dow. We all flew to put on our hats, and then
went in a body to the door, to see the ceremony
of preparing the men for marching to the field.
Here we were joined by Captain Coussmaker,
Captain Snell, Captain Miers, and heaven knows
who — for Dr. Wall is acquainted with all the
corps, — who are all men of fortune and family.
We were also joined by a Mr. Davis, a young

* The Hay was an old pastoral dance.
92

Gloucester Gaieties

man a neighbour of the Doctor. . . . He is hand
some and agreeable, though I should like him
much better were he less forward. . . .

" We went to the review in two coaches . . .
but Mrs. Wall stayed at home, lest she should
miss a hairdresser she wanted to have to herself
against the Ball ! "

The review took place, it seems, upon a
waste piece of ground that lies beyond the West
Gate of Gloucester, called the Town Ham.

Arrived there, most of the occupants of
the coaches descended, " [but] as I was by no
means well," continues Fanny, " [and] had silk
shoes, I determined to content myself with what
I could see from the coach : and away went all
the rest except Edward. Harry Davis also
insisted on keeping me company ; and he enter
tained me with an account of the state of affairs
in Gloucester ; and told me * that though he loved
dancing better than anything under heaven, and
would give the world to be of our set, yet he
would not go to the Ball to-night for fifty guineas,
because it was a Berkeley Ball, — and he and his
family were Chesters / '

Party feeling was running very high in
Gloucester just then. A certain Mr. William
Chester had been recently returned as member
for the county, but the Honble. George Berke
ley had accused the High Sheriff of partiality

The House in St. Martin's Street

towards Mr. Chester, and had headed a petition
to the House of Commons praying that the
election should be invalidated. Chesters and
Berkeleys were therefore at daggers drawn.

" Dr. Wall," continues Fanny, " advised me,
or rather rioted me, to get out [of the coach] and
go and see the Salute ; and so ... rather than
appear finical and fine-ladyish, I got out, and was
escorted across the field to the rest of the party,
who stood very near Lord Berkeley, the better to
see the ceremony.

" Harry Davis, looking at my shoes, said I
should certainly catch my death if I did not take
care (for it had rained all the morning), and then
put his handkerchief for me to stand upon. I
was quite ashamed of being made such a fuss with,
but he compelled me to comply.

"... When we returned home we found that
Mrs. Wall was still at her toilette ! . . . and when
at last she appeared, she had only her hair
dressed, and very extravagantly, nay, preposter
ously, and no cap on, or any other appearance of
readiness. . . . The hairdresser was appointed to
be with her again by four o'clock. . . .

" When the man came he was seized by so
many, one after another, that we almost feared
we should have been obliged to give up the ball,
it was so very late ere he came near us. The
affair became so serious . . . lest the minuets

Qloucester Gaieties

should be over, that the party was fain to
separate and go off in chairs as soon as they
were ready."

The ball probably took place in the Booth
Hall, since disappeared, which is described as
"a very lofty lath-and-plaster building, full of
windows."

" On arriving at the ball-room," continues
Fanny, " James immediately engaged me for
country dances. Dr. Wall was so differently
wigged that I really did not know him, and when
he came and said to me, * So, Ma'am, I'm glad
to see you here, — why, you like coming late to
these places ? ' I at first took him for a stranger ;
and he plagued me about it all the rest of the
time I remained at Gloucester ... * so you didn't
know me ? ' — made every third sentence. . . .

" It was two o'clock in the morning ere we
sat down to supper [in Dr. Wall's house]. Mr.
Berkeley and Captain Coussmaker were of our
party. We were all in prodigious spirits, and
kept it up till near 5 in the morning.

". . . Dr. Wall, who sat next me, was
mighty facetious . . . indeed he scarce ever
spoke to me but with a quotation from ' Tom
Thumb ' or an allusion to Huncamunca.

"After supper, Richard, James, Betsy, and
Mrs. Wall sang some catches. . . . Mr. Berkeley
sometimes joined the treble part, and Dr. Wall

The House in St. Martin's Street

the bass, but so ludicrously as to make me
laugh immoderately. Richard gave himself a
thousand droll airs, in the Italian way, squaring
his elbows, making faces, heightening his eye
brows, and acting profusely.

" When at length we thought it time to
retire, Mrs. Wall rang for candles — but upon
opening the parlour door . . . we all burst into
a general laughter at the call for candles, for we
found ourselves in broad day-light ! We there
fore wished all the gentlemen good morning and
left them to their wine."

CHAPTER XI

EVELINA

FANNY BURNEY'S chief delight from childhood
had been the scribbling in secret of stories,
poems, and even of tragedies. Reserved and
shy by nature, it was easier to her to give vent
to "her fancies and vagaries" on paper than to
express them by word of mouth. When, how
ever, she had reached the mature age of fifteen,
she became convinced that it was a duty to
combat her growing passion for writing, and, in
a moment of self-denial, she " made over to a
bonfire, in a paved play-court, her whole stock of
prose goods and chattels."

Among the papers thus consumed was a
story which Fanny had called " The History of
Caroline Evelyn." The plot had taken special
hold of her mind, and, ruminating on the subject
some years later, she conceived the idea of
writing a new story upon the adventures of
Caroline's young daughter, Evelina.

How long Fanny was engaged upon this
97 H

The House in St. Martin's Street

work it is impossible to say. She wrote it in
secret, partly in her own home and partly in
her beloved " Liberty Hall," the home of her
Daddy Crisp, at Chesington. In the garden of
that old mansion there is a summer-house still
standing where Fanny used to retire to scribble, i
" We pass our time here very serenely," she
writes from Chesington to her sister Susan (her
only confidant), "and distant as you may think
us from the great world, I sometimes find myself
in the midst of it, though nobody suspects the
brilliancy of the company I occasionally keep."

The very manuscript of Evelina * which
we have looked through, bears evidence of the
manner in which the work was composed. In4
numerable pieces of paper, of all sizes and shapes!
are written upon, sometimes in a leisurely style,
and sometimes in all haste. In this manuscript
the title is given as—

" EVELINE,

or Memoirs of a Young Lady
In a Series of Letters."

This title was afterwards changed, and
Eveline became Evelina. We give a fao;
simile of Fanny's rough draft for the latei
title-page, the wording of which, however, was

* Now in the possession of Mr. F. Leverton Harris.
98

EVELINA

or
A

ENTMNC

into

LIFE

VOLUME I

FANNY BURNEY'S FIRST SKETCH FOR THE TITLE-PAGE OF "EVELINA"

Evelina

again slightly altered before the book appeared
in public, " entrance into Life " becoming
" entrance into the World."

" When the little narrative," writes Fanny in
the " Memoirs" of her father, " began to assume
a * questionable shape/ a wish — as vague as it
was fantastic — crossed the brain of the writer
to see her work in print. She communicated,
under promise of inviolable silence, this idea to
her sisters, who entered into it with much more
amusement than surprise, as they well knew her
taste for quaint sports."

When the first part of the book was com
pleted, "she wrote a letter, without any signa
ture, to offer this unfinished work to a bookseller
[Mr. Dodsley, of Pall Mall], with a promise to
send the sequel in the following year."

But before doing this she took elaborate pre
cautions to keep the authorship of her story a
profound secret. Having for long past been her
father's amanuensis, she feared lest some com
positor, then engaged in printing his " History of
Music," should happen to see and recognize her
handwriting. To protect herself against such an
accident, she copied her whole manuscript in a
feigned hand, and sent in this copy to the book
seller.

Fanny's letter to Mr. Dodsley was forwarded
by the London post, with a desire that the

The House in St. Martin's Street

answer might be addressed under cover to " Mr.
King, at the Orange Coffee House, Haymarket."
Her brother Charles, " without reading a
word of the work . . . joyously undertook to be
her agent at the coffee-house with her letters,

SHOP-FRONTS IN THE OLD HAYMARKET.

and to the bookseller with the manuscript." But
Mr. Dodsley's answer was not propitious. He
declined looking at anything that was anonymous.
The young people having " sat in full committee
upon this lofty reply," finally fixed upon Mr.
Lowndes, bookseller of Fleet Street, for their
next venture.

100

Evelina

And now began Miss Burney's anonymous
correspondence with that person, every letter
being subscribed thus, .

The original letters are still preserved in the
Burney family. Some are in the possession of
Archdeacon Burney, others in that of the de
scendants of Fanny's sister Charlotte, whose
daughter, Mrs. Barrett, edited the " Diary and
Letters" in 1842-6. These last are now lying
before us. They are stitched together, and
are docketted by Fanny in later life as
follows : —

" Some of the

Original Letters

of Mr. Lowndes

The Bookseller.

To the Anonymous Authour

of Evelina —
with 2 Letters of that Authour."

Those two letters of Fanny's are now
printed for the first time, as are also the four
, I Betters of Lowndes that bear the dates respec
tively of Dec. 23rd and Dec. 29th, 1776, and
also Jan. i7th and Nov. nth, 1777. Fanny's
first letter bears the inscription —

101

The House in St. Martin's Street

" To MR. LOWNDES,
(< Bookseller, Fleet Street.

SIR,

"Decr 1776.

" As an author has a kind of natural
claim to a connection with a Bookseller, I hope
that in the character of the former you will
pardon me, although a stranger, for the liberty
I take of requesting you to favour me with an
answer to the following queries : —

"Whether you will take the trouble of can
didly perusing a MS. novel sent to you without
any public name or private recommendation ?

" Whether it is now too late in the year for
printing the first volume of the above MS. this
season ?

" And whether if, after reading, you should
think it worth printing, you would buy the copy
without ever seeing, or knowing, the Author ?

" The singularity of this address, you may
easily imagine, results from a singularity of
situation.

" I must beg you to direct your answer to
Mr. King, To be left at the Orange Coffee
House till called for.

" I am, Sir,

" Your very humble Serv1

" MR. LOWNDES."

102

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s&^ **n ^^V5*^^>- ^~XS

ZflTH *r^? 2*6. ?%* &*»£*£ <rt

*/-tsrv£-^<r ?}4>>f Asf0
stp

*XJ^ ^ -j^tA^-j^ #»**>* %r^ &&,

& & J^-*^^^^* ^^^^^^^^^^r

FACSIMILE (REDUCED) OF FANNY BURNEY'S USUAL HAND-WRITING

Evelina

This letter, which evidently opens the corre
spondence, is not the same as the first letter to
Lowndes in Archdeacon Burney's collection,
which has recently appeared in print* Those
who are familiar with the appearance of that
letter must have noticed (as Mr. Austin Dobson
points out) that there are postmarks upon it which
prove it to have been actually sent to Mr. Lowndes.

The letter, now given in facsimile, was probably
a first draft for the other. It has evidently not been
transmitted by post, but the handwriting would
point to its having been written at the same period.

Upon Fanny Burney's letters to Lowndes in
the Archdeacon's collection there are no dates.
Those now given are dated respectively Dec.
1776 and Jan. i7th, 1777.

Mr. Lowndes' reply to the first letter is as
follows : —

"SIR,

" I've not the least objection to what
you propose, & if you favour me with sight of
your MS. I'll lay aside other Business to read it
& tell you my thoughts of it. With 2 Press's I
can soon make it appear in . print, for now is the

time for a Novel.

"Yr obed' Servt1

"FLEET STREET, " THOS. LOWNDES.

" Dec. 23, 1776."

* See Cornhill Magazine for April, 1905.

The House in St. Martin's Street

Great was the excitement amongst the young
people in St. Martin's Street on the receipt of
this letter ; and Charles, suitably disguised to im
personate " Mr. King," was sent with all haste to
Mr. Lowndes, to convey to him the first volume
of Evelina.

The period of suspense lasted only a few
days, for on the 2Qth Dec. Mr. Lowndes writes —

" SIR,

" I've read and like the Manuscript,
& if you'll send the rest I'll soon run it over.

" Yr obed'

"T. LOWNDES."

•

This letter is addressed at the back as
follows :—

" To Mr. King
at the

Orange Coffee

House.
" To be left
till called
for."

The second volume must have been despatched
about a fortnight later, for Mr. Lowndes writes

on the i ;th Jan. (1777)—

104

Evelina

"SlR,

" I have read your Novel, & can't see
any reason why you should not finish & publish
it compleat. I'm sure it will be your interest as
well as the Bookseller's. You may well add one
volume to these, and I shall more eagerly print
it. ... I would rather print in July than now to
publish an unfinished book. This I submit to
your consideration & with wishes that you may
come into my way of thinking. I'll restore the
Ms to the gentleman that brought it.

" Yr Ob1 Serv1

" T. LOWNDES.

" FLEET-STREET,
" Jany 17th 1777."

Fanny consented to this plan with some
reluctance, as she had hoped that Lowndes
would agree to publish the volumes successively.
We give a facsimile of her letter on the subject,
as it is of special interest, being written in
the " feigned handwriting," and docketted by
Madame D'Arblay in later years: "N.B. This
was the handwriting in which F. B. copied all
•Evelina to have her own unseen."

A period of nine months elapsed before the
third and last volume of Evelina was in the
hands of the publisher. In the mean time Fanny
had made a partial confession to her father of
her secret proceedings. In the ''Prelude to the

105

The House in St. Martin's Street

Worcester Journal," she writes, " Before I made
this journey, while I was taking leave, I was so
much penetrated by my father's kind parting
embrace, that in the fullness of my heart I could
not forbear telling him that I had sent a manuscript
to Mr. Lowndes ; earnestly beseeching him never
to divulge it, nor to demand a sight of such trash
as I could scribble ; assuring him that Charles
had managed to save me from being at all
suspected. He could not help laughing ; but I
believe was much surprised at the communication.
He desired me to acquaint him from time to time
how my work went on, called himself the Pere
confident (sic) and kindly promised to guard my
secret as cautiously as I could wish."

The next letter in our series is from Mr.
Lowndes. It is as follows : —

" SIR,

" I've read this 3d Vol. & think it
better than i & 2d. If you please I'll give you
Twenty Guineas for the Manuscript, and without
loss of time put it to press.

" Yr obedient Serv

" THOS. LOWNDES.
" FLEET-STREET,
"Novr 11, 1777."

This last letter is important, as it gives us the
exact date upon which Mr. Lowndes made his

1 06

(REDUCED) OF FANNY BURNEY'S FEIGNED HAND-WRITING

Evelina

offer of twenty guineas for the complete
work.

Some confusion has arisen as to this and other
details, because when Fanny, fifty years later,
introduced the " Story of the Publication of
Evelina" into the " Memoirs" of her father, she
made various small mistakes, caused probably
by her trusting to her memory of the events,
instead of referring to her own contemporary
records.

Mr. Lowndes's terms were accepted, and early
in the following year (1778) the first copy of the
book was in print.

In the mean time Fanny had had to alter some
of her arrangements. Her brother Charles was
now at Cambridge, and she had asked her cousin
Edward, who was residing with " the Aunts " in
London, to act as her go-between with her
publisher. In consequence of this she had
changed the imaginary name of her agent from
King to Grafton. She had also judged it wise
to divulge her secret to her Aunts " under a vow
of strict secrecy."

"About the middle of January," she writes,
"my cousin Edward brought me a private
message from my Aunts that a parcel was come
for me under the name of Grafton. ... I im
mediately conjectured what the parcel was, and
found [enclosed] the following letter : —

107

The House in St. Martin's Street

" ' Mr. Grafton,*
" ' SIR,

" ' I take the Liberty to send you a
Novel wch a Gent your acquaintance said you
wd hand to him. I beg with expedition as 'tis time
it should be published, & 'tis requested he should
first revise it, or the Reviewers may find a flaw.
11 ' I am

" * Yr obed1 Serv1

" * THOS LOWNDES.
" ' FLEET-STREET,
U'jany7, 1778.'"

One morning, towards the end of this same
month of January, when the ladies of the family
in St. Martin's Street were gathered round their
break fast- table, Mrs. Burney, who was glancing
through a newspaper, suddenly read aloud the
following announcement : —

" This day was published

EVELINA,

or a Young Lady's Entrance into the World.
Printed for T. Lowndes, Fleet-street."

"Mrs. Burney," writes Fanny, in the " Memoirs"
of her father, " who read this unsuspectingly, went

* This letter is given in the " Early Diaries," edited by Mrs.
Raine Ellis.

108

Evelina

on immediately to other articles ; but had she
lifted her eyes from the paper, something more
than suspicion must have met them, from the
conscious colouring of the scribbler, and the
irresistible smiles of the two sisters, Susanna and
Charlotte, who were present." This was the first
intimation that reached Fanny of her book being
launched into the world.

A few weeks later she writes : "My little
book, I am told, is now in all the Circulating
Libraries. I have an exceeding odd sensation
when I consider that it is now in the power of
any and every body to read what I so carefully
hoarded, even from my fast friends, till this last
month or two, — and that a work which was so
lately lodged, in all privacy in my bureau, may
now be seen by every Butcher and Baker,
Cobbler and Tinker throughout the three king
doms for the small tribute of 3 pence." *

* The fee of the circulating library.

CHAPTER XII

EVELINA 'S ENTRANCE INTO THE WORLD

FANNY soon began to hear praises of Evelina
from her cousins and acquaintances who had
chanced to see and read the book, but who had
no suspicion whatever of her being its author.

Her chief dread in the affair was lest she
should provoke the censure of those whom she
most valued and loved. It was for this reason
that she had not, as yet, summoned courage to
divulge the matter to her father, when, in the
month of May, she left home to pay a visit at
Chesington in order to regain strength after a
sharp attack of illness.

Susan writes to her on June 4th : " My father
has at length got Evelina. I have been mon
strously vexed that I was not at home when he
first got it. I am sure I should have cried had
I been present upon his opening the Ode — for the
idea of it never occurs to me without bringing
tears into my eyes."

In this Ode " To " Fanny had inscribed

Evelina s Entrance into the World

her book (though in veiled terms) to her father —
that beloved father of whom it has been truly
said, he was her pattern of all that was good and
attractive in human nature.

One of the verses runs as follows : —

" If in my heart the love of virtue glows,

'Twas planted there by an unerring rule ;
From thy example the pure flame arose,
Thy life, my precept, — thy good words my school."

"Yesterday morning," continues Susan, "when
I was alone with (my father) a few minutes while
he dressed —

" ' Why, Susan,' said he to me, ' I have got
Fan's book.'

" 'Sir, have you ?'

" * Yes ; but I suppose you must not tell her.
Poor Fan's such a prude. ... I shall keep it
locked up in my Sanctum Sanctorum ' — pointing
to his bureau. ' I would not betray the poor girl
for the world ; but upon my soul, I like it vastly.
Do you know, I began to read it with Lady
Hales and Miss Coussmaker yesterday ? '

"'Lord!' cried I, a little alarmed, 'you did
not tell them '

" ' Tell them ? No, certainly. I said 'twas a
book had been recommended to me — they'll
never know, and they like it vastly ; but upon my
word, there's something in the preface and dedi
cation vastly strong and well written — better than

The House in St. Martin's Street

I could have expected — and yet I did not think
'twould be trash when I began it/ "

Soon afterwards, when he had finished
reading the book, he remarked to Susan, " Upon
my soul, I think it the best novel I know, excepting
Fielding s — and in some respects better than his.
. . . Mr. Villars' character is admirably supported
— and rises upon one in every letter ; the lan
guage throughout his letters is as good as any
body need write. (N.B. — Spoken with emphasis
and spirit.) . . . Lord Orville's character is just
what it ought to be — perfectly benevolent and
upright."

"And without btmgfade, I think."

"Oh, certainly; there's a boldness in it that
struck me mightily . . . * Evelina' is in a new
style, too — so perfectly natural and innocent — and
the scene between her and her father, Sir John
Belmont, — I protest I think 'tis a scene for a
Tragedy — / blubber d. . . . For a young woman's
work I look upon it to be really WONDERFUL ! "

("His own words," exclaims Susan, "as I
hope to live ! ")

There is in existence a pretty water-colour
drawing of this same scene by Edward Burney,
which we shall have occasion to speak of again.
In the illustrated edition of Evelina that appeared
in 1779, the designs were by John Hamilton
Mortimer, A.R.A., engraved by Bartolozzi, but

112

Evelina s Entrance into the World

to our thinking this drawing of Edward's has in
it more real sentiment than any of the illustrations
by Mortimer.

During the month of June Dr. Burney joined
his daughter at Chesington for a flying visit. In
a portion of her Diary (hitherto unpublished)
Fanny describes their meeting —

" Chesington,

" June 23rd.

" I have had a visit from my beloved, my
kindest Father, and he came determined to
complete my recovery by his goodness. I was
almost afraid, and quite ashamed to be alone
with him ; but he soon sent for me to his little
Gallery Cabinet, and then with a significant
smile that told me what was coming, and made
me glow to my very forehead with anxious
expectation, he said, * I have read your Book,
Fanny, but you need not blush at it ; it is full
I of merit — it is really extraordinary/ I fell upon
his neck with heart-beating emotion, and he folded
me in his arms so tenderly that I sobbed upon
[his shoulder, so delighted was I with his precious
>probation. But I soon recovered to a gayer
Measure."

Soon after Dr. Burney's return home Mrs.
lurney procured a copy of Evelina, as being
book much talked of ; but she was still wholly

113 '

The House in St. Martin's Street

unsuspicious of the author's having any connection
with her own family. Probably Dr. Burney had
not divulged Fanny's secret, desiring to see the
effect the work would produce on his wife's mind
whilst she was in ignorance of its authorship.

"This morning, between seven and eight,"
writes Susan on July 5th, " I was woke by a noise
in the next room. Upon listening a minute or
two I found it was my father and mother laugh
ing in a most extraordinary manner. Presently
I heard by the voice of the former that he was
reading. ... I had a little suspicion of what it
might be, and started up and went to the door to
satisfy myself. I presently not only discovered
the book he was reading, but even the page . .
they were in the midst of the Ridotto scene—
p. 64 — and the eclats of laughter that accom
panied it did my heart good.

" Every speech of Sir Clement's in this scene
diverted my father no less than me, and at the
question, ' My dear creature — why, where could
you be educated ? ' he laid the book down to laugh
till he cried ; and when it was done said it was
an admirable conversation, the poor girl's mis
takes extremely natural, and the man of fashion's
character touch d with delicacy and written with
great humour and spirit.

" In the next letter * Charlotte joined me, andi

* Evelina is written in the form of Letters.
114

Evelina s Entrance into the World

we stood till we were cramp'd to death, not daring
to move, and almost stifled ourselves with laugh
ing. The next scene was productive of no less
mirth than the Ridotto . . . the . . . letter from
Mr. Villars he read with a tenderness which drew
tears from me. Not a period of it did he pass
over unnoticed. ... I wished with all my heart
you had been with Charlotte and me — for 'tis
impossible by letter to convey an idea to you of
how thoroughly he enjoyed every line of it. This
was the last letter he read ; but I believe 'twas
near twelve before we breakfasted ! "

We can imagine Fanny's delight in reading
this account, and she now begged her father to
communicate her secret, without further delay, to
Mrs. Burney.

In the mean time Evelina had not remained
unnoticed by the press. There had appeared a
few lines of warm commendation of the book in
the London Review as early as February, and in
April there followed an excellent notice in the
Monthly Review^ in which the writer remarks :
* This novel has given us so much pleasure in
the perusal, that we do not hesitate to pronounce
it one of the most sprightly, entertaining, and
agreeable productions of this kind which has of
late fallen under our notice. A great variety of
natural incidents render the narrative extremely
interesting.''

The House in St. Martin's Street

The next account sent by Susan to her sister
is of the effect being produced in the great world
by Evelina and is in connection with a visit paid
by Dr. Burney to Streatham.

On the Doctor's return home he exclaimed to
Susan —

" ' I have such a thing to tell you about poor
Fan!'

" ' Dear sir, what ? ' and I immediately sup-
pos'd he had spoke to Mrs. Thrale.

" ' Why, to-night, we were sitting at tea — only
Johnson, Mrs. Thrale, and me. " Madam," cried
Johnson, see-sawing w\\&& chair, " Mrs. Chol'mley
was talking to me last night of a new novel, which
she says has a very uncommon share of merit —
Evelina. She says she has not been so much
entertained this great while as in reading it, and
that she shall go all over London in order to
discover the author.''

« « « Good G— d ! " cried Mrs. Thrale. " Why,
somebody else mentioned that book to me — Lady
Westcote it was, I believe — the modest writer of
Evelina, she talk'd to me of."

" * " Mrs. Chol'mley says she never met so
much modesty with so much merit in any literary
performance," said Johnson.

" ' " Why," said I, quite coolly and inno
cently, "somebody recommended it to me, too.
I read a little of it, which, indeed, seem'd to

116

Evelina s Entrance into the World

be above the common -place works of this
kind."

"'-Well," said Mrs. Thrale, 'Til get it
certainly ..."

" ' " You must have it, madam," cried Johnson,
" for Mrs. Chol'mley says she shall keep it on her
table the whole summer, that everybody that
knows her may see it — for she says everybody
ought to read it." ' "

Fanny's joyful response to this letter of
Susan's is docketted by her in later years :
" Rapturous and most innocent happiness during
anonymous success."

Early in July Fanny received a letter from
Lowndes, in which he says, " The great World
send here to buy Evelina. A polite lady said,
1 Do, Mr. Lowndes, give me Evelina. I'm
treated as unfashionable for not having read it.'
I think the impression will be sold by Christmas."

She writes to Susan on July 6th —

" Your letter, my dearest Susan, and the
enclosed one from Lowndes have flung me into
such a vehement perturbation that I hardly can
tell whether I wake or dream, and it is even with
difficulty that I can fetch my Breath. I have
been strolling round the garden 3 or 4 times in
hopes of regaining a little quietness. . . . My
dear Susy, what a wonderful affair this has
been ! and how extraordinary is this torrent of

117

The House in St. Martin's Street

success which sweeps down all before it ! I often
think it too much, nay, almost wish it happened
to some other person who had more native
ambition . . ."

Soon afterwards Dr. Burney confided the
secret to Mrs. Thrale, who had already lent the
first volume of Evelina to Dr. Johnson.

She writes to Dr. Burney : " Dr. Johnson
returned home full of the praises of the Book I
had lent him ; and protesting there were passages
in it that might do honour to Richardson. We
talk of it for ever ; and he feels ardent after the
denoument. I lent him the second volume,
which he instantly read, and he is now busy with
the other two (sic). . . . Long, my dear sir, may
you live to enjoy the just praises of your children !
and long may they live to deserve and delight
such a parent !

" . . . Give my letter to my little friend, and
a warm invitation to come and eat fruit while the
season lasts/'

This letter was written on July 22nd. Fanny
writes in her Diary immediately afterwards : "I
do, indeed, feel the most grateful love for her
[Mrs. Thrale]. But Dr. Johnson's approbation !
It almost crazed me with agreeable surprise ; it
gave me such a flight of spirit that I danced a jig
to Mr. Crisp, without any preparation, music, or
explanation, to his no small amazement and

118

Evelina s Entrance into the World

diversion. I left him, however, to make his own
comments upon my friskiness without affording
him the smallest assistance/'

But the time was approaching for Daddy
Crisp's enlightenment.

In the month of August Dr. Burney went
down to Chesington in order to fetch his daughter
home.

"No sooner had the Doctor reached Liberty
Hall," writes Fanny,* " than the two faithful old
friends were shut up in the conjuring closet, where
Dr. Burney rushed at once into ' the midst of
things/ and disclosed the author of the little work
which, for some weeks past, had occupied
Chesington Hall with quotations, conjectures,
and subject matter of talk." For Fanny had
herself read the work aloud to her Daddy Crisp
and to his companions, Mrs. Hamilton and Kitty
Cooke, much enjoying their remarks and their
mystification.

Great and unbounded was the amazement of
Crisp on learning that the author was none other
than his own " Pannikin," and, for some time,
he could only exclaim, "Wonderful — it's wonder
ful ! " Meeting Fanny in the hall soon after
wards, "Why, you little hussy," he cried out,
" an't you ashamed to look me in the face, you
' Evelina,' you ! Why, what a dance have you led

* See " Memoirs of Dr. Burney."
119

The House in St. Martin's Street

me about it ! Oh, you little hussy ; what tricks
have you served me ! "

When he could compose himself sufficiently,
after his great surprise, to hear the details of the
matter, he still "broke out every three instants
with exclamations of astonishment at how I had
found time to write so much unsuspected, and
how and where I had picked up such various
materials, and not a few times did he exclaim
< Wonderful !'"

CHAPTER XIII

THRALE PLACE

DR. BURNEY had stopped at Streatham on his
way to Chesington, and had settled with Mrs.
Thrale that he would call on her again on his
way to town, and would carry Fanny with him ;
and Mrs. Thrale had said, "We all long to know
her!"

Fanny writes in her Diary after her return
home : " London^ August. — I have now to write
an account of the most consequential day I have
spent since my birth : namely, my Streatham visit.

" Our journey to Streatham was the least
pleasant part of the day, for ... I was really in
>the fidgets from thinking what my reception
might be, and from fearing they would expect a
less awkward and backward kind of person than
I was sure they would find.

" Mr. Thrale's house is white and very
pleasantly situated in a fine paddock. Mrs.
Thrale was strolling about, and came to us as we
got out of the chaise.

121

The House in St. Martin's Street

" ' Ah,' cried she, ' I hear Dr. Burney's voice !
And you have brought your daughter ? Well,
now you are good ! '

"She then received me, taking both my
hands, and with mixed politeness and cordiality
welcomed me to Streatham. She led me into

yr-.:<*&&fUaBi*

THRALE PLACE.

the house and addressed herself almost wholly
for a few minutes to my father, as if to give me
an assurance she did not mean to regard me as a
show, or to distress or frighten me by drawing me
out. Afterwards she took me upstairs and showed
me the house . . . but though we were some time
together . . . she did not hint at my book ; and I
love her much more than ever for her delicacy in

122

Thrale Place

avoiding a subject which she could not but see
would have greatly embarrassed me.

"When we returned to the music-room we
found Miss Thrale was with my father. . . . Soon
after Mrs. Thrale took me to the library ; she
talked a little while upon common topics, and
then, at last, she mentioned Evelina.

" ' Yesterday at supper/ said she, ' we talked
it all over, and discussed all your characters ;
but Dr. Johnson's favourite is Mr. Smith. He
declares the fine gentleman manqub was never
better drawn ; and he acted him all the evening,
saying he was " all for the ladies ! " He repeated
whole scenes by heart. I declare I was astonished
at him. Oh, you can't imagine how much he is
pleased with the book.'

"... When we were summoned to dinner
Mrs. Thrale made my father and me sit on each
side of her. I said that I hoped I did not take
Dr. Johnson's place ; for he had not yet appeared.

" ' No/ answered Mrs. Thrale, 'he will sit
- by you, which I am sure will give him great
pleasure.'

" Soon after we were seated this great man
entered and took his place. In the middle of
dinner [he] asked Mrs. Thrale what was in some
little pies that were near him.

" ' Mutton/ answered she ; ' so I don't ask you
to eat any, because I know you despise it.'

123

The House in St. Martin's Street

" ' No, madam, no/ cried he, ' I despise nothing
that is good of its sort ; but I am too proud now
to eat of it. Sitting by Miss Burney makes me
very proud to-day ! ' :

After a good deal of amusing talk, Dr.
Johnson related an anecdote showing the parsi
mony of a certain well-known person. "'And
this/ continued he, 'reminds me of a gentleman
and lady with whom I travelled once ; I suppose
I must call them gentleman and lady, according
to form, because they travelled in their own coach
and four horses. But at the first inn where we
stopped, the lady called for — a pint of ale ! and
when it came, quarrelled with the waiter for not
giving full measure. Now, Madame Duval could
not have done a grosser thing ! '

" Oh, how everybody laughed ! and to be sure
I did not glow at all, nor munch fast, nor look on
my plate, nor lose any part of my usual com
posure ! But how grateful do I feel to this dear
Dr. Johnson for never naming me and the book
as belonging one to the other, and yet making an
allusion that showed his thoughts led to it, and,
at the same time, that seemed to justify the
character as being natural !

" . . . We left Streatham at about eight o'clock,
and Mr. Seward, who handed me into the chaise,
added his interest to the rest, that my father
would not fail to bring me again next week to

124

Thrale Place

stay with them some time. In short, I was loaded
with civilities from them all. And my ride home
was equally happy with the rest of the day, for
my kind and most beloved father was so happy
in my happiness . . . that he could, like myself,
think on no other subject."

In a week's time Fanny was again at
Streatham, fetched thither by Mrs. Thrale her
self, and established as a member of the house
hold.

She writes on Aug. 23rd : " Now for this
morning's breakfast.

" Dr. Johnson, as usual, came last into the
library ; he was in high spirits and full of mirth
and sport. I had the honour of sitting next to
him, and now, all at once, he flung aside his
reserve, thinking perhaps that it was time I
should fling aside mine.

" Mrs. Thrale told him that she intended
taking me to Mr. T 's.

" ' So you ought, Madam,' cried he ; * 'tis your
business to be Cicerone to her.'

"Then suddenly he snatched my hand, and
kissing it —

" ' Ah ! ' he added, ' they will little think what
a tartar you carry to them. . . . Oh, you are a
sly little rogue ! What a Holborn beau have you
drawn ! '

" ' Ay, Miss Burney,' said Mrs. Thrale, ' the
125

The House in St. Martin's Street

Holborn beau is Dr. Johnson's favourite ; and
we have all your characters by heart, from Mr.
Smith up to Lady Louisa/

"'Oh, Mr. Smith — Mr. Smith is the man!'
cried he, laughing violently. ' Harry Fielding
never drew so good a character ! such a fine
varnish of low politeness ! such a struggle to
appear a gentleman ! Madam, there is no
character better drawn anywhere — in any book
or by any author/

"'. . . I know Mr. Smith, too, very well/
cried Mrs. Thrale. * I always have him before
me at the Hampstead Ball, dressed in a white
coat and a tambour waistcoat, worked in green
silk. Poor Mr. Seward ! Mr. Johnson made
him so mad t'other day ! ' ' Why, Seward/ said
he, ' how smart you are dressed ! Why, you
only want a tambour waistcoat to look like Mr.
Smith ! ' "

Readers of Evelina will remember the
scene alluded to, where poor Mr. Smith is com
pelled by old Madame Duval to stand up and
dance with her in the " Long Room " at Hamp
stead, to the great amusement of the company.
The " Long Room " is still in existence, though
it is now divided into a central hall with rooms
on either side. A great beam, however, that
runs the whole length of the ceiling, proves that
the room must have been 75 feet long. There

126

i g
I 3

Thrale Place

are also indications which suggest the spot where
the Musicians' Gallery stood.

In the " Memoirs " of her father, Fanny gives
an amusing account of her first meeting, while
at Streatham, with James Boswell. That gentle
man, who had but just returned to town after a
long absence in Scotland, had not yet heard
either of the existence of Evelina or of that of
its authoress.

Finding to his surprise his usual seat at the
dinner-table next to Dr. Johnson was occupied
by Miss Burney, the poor man moved uneasily
from chair to chair, returning constantly, on some
pretence or other, to the neighbourhood of his
hero.

The Doctor, after giving him a sharp rebuke,
" muttered half to himself, ' Running about in the
middle of meals ! One would take you for a
Brangton ! '

"'A Brangton, sir ?.' repeated Boswell, with
earnestness ; ' what is a Brangton, sir ? '

" ' Where have you lived, sir/ cried the
Doctor, laughing, * and what company have you
kept, not to know that ? '

" Mr. Boswell, now doubly curious . . . said
in a low voice, which he knew the Doctor could
not hear, to Mrs. Thrale, ' Pray, ma'am, what's
a Brangton ? Do me the favour to tell me. Is
it some animal hereabouts ? '

129 K

The House in St. Martin's Street

"Mrs. Thrale only laughed ... but Mr.
Seward cried, * I'll tell you, Boswell, I'll tell you !
if you will walk with me in the paddock ; only
let us wait till the table is cleared, or I shall be
taken for a Brangton too ! ' '

One day Fanny happened to be reading
Johnson's Life of Cowley.

" ' Do,' cried [the Doctor], ' put away that
now, and prattle with me ; I can't make this little
Burney prattle, and I am sure she prattles
well/ "

Fanny was certainly no "prattler." Her
pleasure was to hear others talk, rather than to
talk herself, but her silence had in it, we are told,
" every engaging expression of modesty and of
intelligent observation." It might, indeed, be
said of her, as it was in later years of Madame
Recamier, "elle £coutait avec seduction."

"'To-morrow, sir/ said Mrs. Thrale, 'Mrs.
Montagu dines here, and then you will have talk
enough/

" Dr. Johnson began to see-saw, with a counte
nance strongly expressive of inward fun, and after
enjoying it some time in silence, he suddenly and
with great animation turned to me and cried —

" ' Down with her, Burney ! down with her !
spare her not ! attack her, fight her, and down
with her at once ! You are a rising wit, and she
is at the top ; and when I was beginning the

130

Thrale Place

world, and was nothing and nobody, the joy of
my life was to fire at all the established wits ! and
then everybody loved to halloo me on. ... So
at her, Burney — at her, and down with her ! '

" ' Miss Burney/ cried Mr. Thrale, ' you
must get up your courage for this encounter ! I
think you should begin with Miss Greggory ,*
and down with her first/

"Dr. J. : ' No, no; always fly at the eagle!
Down with Mrs. Montagu herself! I hope she
will come full of Evelina!'

Dr. Johnson sometimes enjoyed a sly joke at
Mrs. Montagu's expense, but he said of her one
day, " She diffuses more knowledge in her con
versation than any woman I know, or indeed
almost any man."

Fanny, writing of the lady's visit after it had
taken place, remarks, " Mrs. Montagu is middle-
sized and very thin, and looks infirm : she has a
sensible and penetrating countenance, and the air
and manner of a woman accustomed to being
distinguished and of great parts. . . . She had
not been in the room ten minutes, ere, turning to
Mrs. Thrale, she said —

" ' Oh, ma'am, but your Evelina — I have
not yet got it. I sent for it, but the book
seller had it not. However, I will certainly
have it.'

* Miss Greggory lived with Mrs. Montagu.
J31

The House in St. Martin's Street

" ' Ay, I hope so,' answered Mrs. Thrale,
1 and I hope you will like it, too ; for 'tis a book
to be liked/ And here she opened out into a
panegyric upon the book, informing Mrs. Montagu
that ' Burke had sat up all night to read it/ that
'Sir Joshua Reynolds had been offering fifty
pounds to know the author,' and that ' Dr. Johnson
had declared that Fielding never wrote so well —
never equal to this book/

" ' Indeed ! ' cried Mrs. Montagu ; ' that I did
not expect, for I have been informed it is the
work of a young lady, and, therefore, though I
expected a very pretty book, I supposed it to be
a work of mere imagination. . . .'

"'Well, ma'am,1 rejoined Mrs. Thrale, ' what
I tell you is literally true ; and, for my part, I am
never better pleased than when good girls write
clever books — and that this is clever— But
all this time we are killing Miss Burney, who
wrote the book herself/

"What a clap of thunder was this! — the last
thing in the world I should have expected before
my face! I know not what bewitched Mrs.
Thrale. . . . All retenue being now at an end, I
fairly and abruptly took to my heels, and ran out
of the room with the utmost trepidation, amidst
astonished exclamations from Mrs. Montagu
and Miss Greggory. . . . When dinner was upon
table I followed the procession, in a tragedy step,

132

Thrale Place

as Mr. Thrale will have it, into the dining-room.
Dr. Johnson was returned."

Mrs. Montagu's new house in Portman
Square being talked of, the lady expressed a
wish to see all the company present at her
house-warming to be given during the ensuing
Spring.

" Everybody bowed and accepted the invite
but me," writes Fanny, " and I thought fitting
not to hear it. ... But Dr. Johnson, who sat
next to me, was determined I should be of the
party, for he suddenly clapped his hand on my
shoulder and called out aloud —

" * Little Burney, you and I will go together ! '

" ' Yes, surely/ cried Mrs. Montagu, ' I shall
hope for the pleasure of seeing Evelina'

" * Evelina ! ' repeated he : * has Mrs. Montagu
then found out Evelina ? '

" ' Yes/ cried she, ' and I am proud of it ; I
am proud that a work so commended should be
a woman's/ f {

"Oh, how my face burnt! . . . Some other
things were said, but I remember them not, for
I could hardly keep my place ; but my sweet,
naughty Mrs. Thrale looked delighted for me.

" I made tea as usual, and Mrs. Montagu
and Miss Greggory seated themselves on each
side of me.

" * I can see/ said the former, * that Miss
133

The House in St. Martin's Street

Burney is very like her father, and that is a
good thing, for everybody would wish to be like
Dr. Burney !'"

The concluding sentences of this scene are
given by Fanny in an unpublished portion of a
journal-letter to her sister Susan.*

" Some time afterwards/' writes Fanny, " Mrs.
Montagu mentioned her being very short-sighted.
. . . Mrs. Thrale said, ' Miss Burney, ma'am,
knows how to allow for that, for she is very near
sighted herself.'

" * I should be glad/ answered Mrs. Montagu,
' to resemble Miss Burney in anything.'

"Ton my word! methinks I hear you cry,
' Fine doings ! ' Miss Greggory was amazingly
sociable, and began regretting my spending the
morning away from them. ... * It was very
hard upon us} and all that . . . and civilities
ran about very thick and very soft."

From this time forth Fanny spent a large
portion of her time at Streatham, where its
mistress and its constant visitor, Dr. Johnson,
became more and more attached to her.

The Doctor, who was much more observant
of people's appearance than we should have
supposed, remarked one day, after looking
earnestly at Fanny, " It's very handsome ! "

" ' What, sir ? ' cried I, amazed.

* Burney MSS.
134

Thrale Place

"'Why, your cap: — I have looked at it
some time, and I like it much. It has not that
vile bandeau across it which I have so often
cursed. . . /

"Mrs. T. : 'Lady Ladd * never wore the
bandeau, and said she never would, because it
is unbecoming/ . . .

" Dr. J. : ' Why, if anybody could have worn
the bandeau, it must have been Lady Ladd, for
there is enough of her to carry it off; but you
are too little for anything ridiculous ; that which
seems nothijig upon a Patagonian will become
very conspicuous upon a Lilliputian, and of you
there is so little in all, that one single absurdity
would swallow up half of you.' '

There is a little anecdote of Dr. Johnson
recorded on a loose piece of paper among the
Burney MSS. to the following effect. The
Doctor, it seems, had been showing a young
bride, who was paying a morning call at
Streatham, the various " lions " of the Park.
" He then asked whether she had been intro
duced to Miss Burney. ' No/ but she very much
wished it.

" ' Ah, child/ said he, « I don't know that an
introduction to Miss Burney would do you much
good, for you look as if you took more pains with
the outside of your head than the inside.' Then,

* Sometimes spelt " Lade."
135

The House in St. Martin's Street

seemingly conscious that he had spoken rudely
and unprovoked, he added, ' And your time has
not been thrown away, for it is a very pretty
head, and very well dressed/ "

Fanny was again at home in the autumn of
1778, and Mrs. Thrale, who was then staying at
Tunbridge Wells, writes to Dr. Burney—

"Miss Burney is naughty, and does not send
a line even to say, ' All's well/ or else I would
tell her how Evelina was the popular Book
upon the Walks all summer ; how some were
talking of Madame Duval as they run up and
down the pantiles ; and some of the Captain ;
how Mrs. Crewe is delighted that your Daughter
is the Author, and how she and I talk of you and
yours all Day long." *

* Burney MSS.

{&>

CHAPTER XIV

A GREAT PAINTER AND HIS FRIENDS

ON a certain Saturday early in January, 1779,
we find Fanny, accompanied by her father and
mother, at a gathering in Sir Joshua Reynolds'
house — a house which is still to be seen, standing
on the western side of Leicester Square. The
drawing-room, where the guests must have been
received, lies on the first floor, its three tall,
recessed windows looking to the front.

We can fancy we see the gay company
ascending the broad marble staircase, which leads
to the parlours, with its quaint, bowed balustrades,
so shaped, it seems, to allow space for the ladies'
hoops. But at the period of which we are
writing, hoops were little worn, except at Court.
The dress of the ladies was graceful and flowing,
such as we see in the contemporary portraits by
Reynolds and Gainsborough.

Fanny, in describing the party, writes of her
kindly host : "His behaviour was exactly what
my wishes would have dictated to him for my

The House in St. Martin's Street

own ease and quietness, for he never once even
alluded to my book, but conversed rationally,
gaily, and serenely ; and so I became more com
fortable than I had been ever since the first
entrance of company.

"[Presently] by a change of seats," she
continues, " I was next to Mrs. Horneck, who,
after some general conversation with me, said, in
a low voice —

" ' I suppose, Miss Burney, I must not speak
of Evelina to you ? '

" * Why, indeed, ma'am/ said I, 'I would
rather you should speak of anything else/

" * Well I must only beg leave to say one
thing, which is, that my daughters had the credit
of first introducing it into this set. ... But where,
Miss Burney, where can, or could, you pick up
such characters ? Where find such variety of
incidents, yet all so natural ? *

" ' Oh, ma'am, anybody might find who
thought them worth looking for/

* " ' / recommended [the book] to Lady
Carysfort, a very sensible woman, and she sat
up the whole night to read it. And then we
prevailed with Sir Joshua to read it, — and when
he once began it he left it neither for sleep nor
food, for, to own the truth, he took to it yet more
passionately than all the rest of us ! ' "

* This paragraph is taken from the Burney MSS.
138

mi .u.tij.. v.v

STAIRCASE IN SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS* HOUSE.

A Great Painter and his Friends

It was at this party that Fanny met Mrs.
Cholmondeley — the " Mad .Cap Mrs. Cholmon-
deley," as Crisp calls her — for the first time after
that lady's learning that she was the authoress of
Evelina. Mrs. Cholmondeley was so eager in
her repeated questions about the novel, and so
blind to poor Fanny's distress, that Sir Joshua,
taking hold of her arm, endeavoured to pull her
away, saying, " Come, come, Mrs. Cholmondeley,
I won't have her overpowered here."

"But Mrs. Cholmondeley, turning to him,
said, with quickness and vehemence, * Why, I
ain't going to kill her ! Don't be afraid.'

" . . . I got away from her," says Fanny,
" and looked over Miss Palmer's cards, but she
was after me in a moment.

" ' Pray, Miss Burney,' cried she aloud, ' do
you know anything of this game ? '

" ' No, ma'am.'

" ' No ? ' repeated she. ' Mafoi, that's pity ! '

" This raised such a laugh I was forced to
move on. . . . Mrs. Cholmondeley hunted me
quite round the card-table, from chair to chair,
repeating various speeches of Madame Duval ;
and when, at last, I got behind a sofa, out of her
reach, she called out aloud, ' Polly, Polly ! only
think ! Miss has danced with a lord ! ' '

Fanny's next meeting with Mrs. Cholmondeley
was of a more agreeable kind. It was in the

141

The House in St. Martin's Street

lady's own house in Hertford Street, whither she
had gone by invitation, together with Dr. and
Mrs. Burney.

" We were received by Mrs. Cholmondeley,"
she writes, " with great politeness, and in a
manner that showed she intended to entirely
throw aside Madame Duval, and to conduct
herself towards me in a new style. . . . She is
determined, I believe, to make me like her ;
and she will, I believe, have full success ; for she
is very clever, very entertaining, and very much
unlike anybody else."

Presently Mr. Sheridan's name was announced,
and after the introductions had been gone through,
" he proceeded," writes Fanny, " to speak of
Evelina in terms of the highest praise ; but I
was in such a ferment from surprise (not to say
pleasure), that I have no recollection of his
expressions. I only remember telling him that I
was much amazed he had spared time to read it,
and that he repeatedly called it a most surprising
book and [then exclaimed], ' But I hope, Miss
Burney, you don't intend to throw away your
pen?'"

Soon afterwards, turning to Sir Joshua, " Mr.
Sheridan said —

"'Sir Joshua, I have been telling Miss
Burney that she must not suffer her pen to be
idle — ought she ? '

142

A Great Painter and his Friends

" Sir Joshua : ' No, indeed ought she not.'

" Mr. Sheridan : ' I think and say she ought
to write a comedy.'

" Sir Joshita : ' I am sure I think so ; and
I hope she will.'

" I could only answer by incredulous ex
clamations.

" ' Consider,' continued Sir Joshua, * you have
already had all the applause and fame you can
have given you in the closet ; but the acclamation
of a theatre will be new to you.'

" And then he put down his trumpet, and
began a violent clapping of his hands.'1

Fanny has recorded another conversation of
a similar nature that took place in Sir Joshua
Reynolds' country house on Richmond Hill,
where for the first time she met Edmund Burke.

After giving a tribute of warm praise to
Evelina, the orator remarked with a smile :
" ' We have had an age for statesmen, an age for
heroes, an age for poets, an age for artists, but
this? bowing [to me] with an air of obsequious
gallantry . . . ' this is the age for women ! '

" * A very happy modern improvement ! ' cried
Sir Joshua, laughing, ' don't you think so, Miss
Burney ? — but that's not a fair question to put to
you ; so we won't make a point of your answering
it. . However, what Mr. Burke said is very true.
The women begin to make a figure in everything,

The House in St. Martin's Street

though I remember when I first came into the
world it was thought but a poor compliment to
say a person did a thing like a lady ! '

" ' Ay, Sir Joshua,' cried Dr. Burney, ' but like
Moliere's physician, nous avons changd tout cela /'

"'Now/ interrupted Mr. Burke warmly, 'to
talk of writing like a lady is the greatest compli
ment that need be wished for by a man ! ' Then
archly shrugging his shoulders, he added, ' What
is left now exclusively for US, and what we are
to devise in our own defence, I know not ! We
seem to have nothing for it but assuming a
sovereign contempt, for the next most dignified
thing to possessing merit is an heroic barbarism
in despising it ! ' :

Fanny's entrance into the great literary world as
one of its members was hailed with delight by her
" Daddy" Crisp. He writes to her at this time—

" I long of all things to see the continuation
of your Journal. If you answer me you have not
continued it, you are unpardonable, and I advise
you to set about it immediately as well as you
can while any trace of it remains in your memory.
It will one day," he adds prophetically, " be the
delight of your old age — it will call back your
youth, your spirits, your pleasures, your friends
(at that time probably long gone off the stage),
and lastly, when your own scene is closed, remain a
valuable treasure for those that come after you."

CHAPTER XV

"THE WITLINGS"

WE have seen that the great Sheridan himself
advised Miss Burney to write for the stage, and
in the mean time her friends at Streatham were
urging the same counsel.

In an unpublished letter from Mrs. Thrale to
Fanny, dated December, 1778, the writer says:
" Sheridan has really behaved with great polite
ness ; pity to let it cool, I think, and Mr. Johnson
says so too. The Stage is certainly the high
road to riches and to fame, and the broad-wheeled
waggons which have gone over it lately will only
have rolled it smooth, I hope, for our elegant

When Fanny was introduced to Mr. Murphy,
the dramatist, he remarked to her with a shrewd
look, " If I had written a certain book — a book I

* " A narrow coach, in which only two persons can sit facing
each other, seldom used by any other than persons of high
character or fashion." See Felton's "Treatise on Carriages,"

I795-

145 L

The House in St. Martin's Street

won't name, but a book I have lately read, i
would next write a Comedy. . . . Comedy is the
fort of that book . . . and if the author — I won't
say who — will write a comedy, I will most readily
and with great pleasure give any advice or
assistance in my power."

Mrs. Montagu, too, had thrown the weight
of her opinion into the scale, for she had observed
to Mrs. Thrale, " If Miss Burney does write a
play, I beg I may know of it, and if she thinks
proper, see it; and all my influence is at her
service."

But Fanny's shrewd adviser at Chesington
gave her a word of warning.

"I plainly foresaw," he writes, "that as your
next step you would be urged, strongly urged,
by your many friends and admirers to undertake
a comedy. I think you capable, highly capable
of it, but in the attempt there are great difficulties
in the way ; some more particularly in the way of
a Fanny than of most people."

After describing the nature of the lively
sallies, bordering on coarseness, then in vogue
on the stage, he goes on to say : " The sum
total amounts to this ; it appears to me extremely
difficult throughout a whole spirited comedy, to
steer clear of those agreeable, frolicsome jeux
d* esprit on the one hand, and languor and heavi
ness on the other : — pray observe, I only say

146

"The Witlings'

difficult — not impracticable — at least to your
dexterity ; and to that I leave it.

" . . . I am very glad that you have secured
Mrs. Montagu for your friend ; her weight and
interest are powerful ; but there is one particular
I do not relish.; though she means it as a mark
of favour and distinction ; — it is where she
says, * If Miss Burney does write a play, I beg
I may know of it, and (if she thinks proper)
see it/

" Now, Fanny, this same seeing it (in a pro
fessed female wit, authoress, and Maecenas into
the bargain) I fear implies too much interference
— implies advising, correcting, altering, &c., &c.,
&c. ; not only so but in so high a critic, the not
submitting to such grand authority might possibly
give a secret, concealed, lurking offense. Now
d'ye see. ... I would have the whole be all my
own — all of a piece ; and to tell you the truth, I
would not give a pin for the advice of the ablest
friend who would not suffer me at last to follow
my own judgment without resentment."

At the end of this letter there follows, in the
original manuscript, a passage in which Crisp
humorously supposes a dialogue between him
self and Fanny — *

" Crisp : ' Most likely, Fanny, this tedious
homily must have tired you.'

* Burney MSS.
H7

The House in St. Martinis Street

"Fanny: 'If you think so why did you
write it ? '

" Crisp : ' I don't know ; it came into my
head ; and as I told you once before on a former
occasion, I have no notion of reserve among
Friends.'

" Fanny : ' You think then I have need of all
this tutoring, and that I can't see my way without
your old Spectacles ? '

" Crisp : ' No, no, Fanny. I think no such
thing, — besides, you have other sorts of Spectacles
at Streatham to put on if you should want them,
but you know old men are much given to garru
lity, and old Daddys particularly that have been
long used to prate, don't know how to give over
in time.'

" Fanny : ' Well, well, prithee have done now.'

" Crisp : ' Allow'd. Agree'd. God bless you,
Adieu.' "

Fanny did write a play after all, which she
called " The Witlings/' and which was finished
by the summer of 1779. She received unbounded
sympathy in her undertaking from her Streatham
friends, and notably from the great Dr. Johnson,
who had become warmly attached to his "little
Burney." Still Fanny had her secret doubts ofi|
success in this new walk of literature, and of all
her advisers she looked to her " two Daddies " to]
give the final judgment upon her work.

148

"The Witlings"

On July 3Oth her father and her sister Susan
were starting for Chesington, and Fanny writes
to Mr. Crisp : "As to the play ... I own I had
wished to be the bearer of it when I visit
Chesington ; but you seem so urgent, and my
father, himself, is so desirous to carry it to you,
that I have given that plan up.

"... And now let me tell you what I wish
in regard to this affair. I should like that your
first reading should have nothing to do with me —
that you should go quick through it, or let my
father read it to you — forgetting all the time, as
much as you can, that Pannikin is the writer, or
even that it is a play in manuscript, and capable
of alterations ; and then, when you have done, I
should like to have three lines, telling me, as
nearly as you can trust my candour, its general
effect. After that take it to your own desk, and
lash it at your leisure."

In Susan Burney' s unpublished diaries and
letters,* we find an account of the reading of
Fanny's play to the assembled household at
Chesington. That household, we would explain,
consisted of Mr. Crisp, his sister Mrs. Cast, and
bright little Charlotte Burney, both of whom were
then staying in the house ; the humble, kindly
Mrs. Hamilton, and her younger companion, the
good-tempered, blundering Kitty Cooke.

* Burney MSS.
149

The House in St. Martin's Street

Susan writes to her sister on Tuesday, August
3rd, "We all assembled soon after breakfast into
Mrs. Cast's room, and my Father, pleased, he said,
to see so respectable an audience began the Piece.

" The Witlings. ' Good/ said Mr. Crisp-
'good — I like the name* — the Dramatis Persona,
too, pleased him, and the name of Codger
occasioned a general grin. . . . The Milliner's
Scene and indeed all the first Act diverted us
extremely all round. ' It's funny — it's funny in
deed/ said Mr. C., who you know does not love
to throw away praise. The second Act . . . did
not flag at all in the reading ; the 3rd is charming
— and they all went off with great spirit.

"Here my Father's voice was so tired that we
were obliged to stop. . . . Soon after supper was
over, however, we returned to our station.

"The fourth Act was, upon the whole, that
which seemed least to exhilarate, or interest, the
audience, though Charlotte laughed, till she was
almost black in the face, at Codger's part, as I
had done before her. The fifth was more gene
rally felt but, to own the truth, it did not meet all
the advantages one could wish. My Father's
voice, sight and lungs were tired. . . . Yet he
exerted himself in the warmest manner through
out the Piece to give it force and spirit, and
except this Act, I believe only yourself would
have read the play better.

150

"The Witlings"

" For my own part the serious parts seemed
even to improve upon me by this 2nd hearing,
and made me for to cry in 2 or 3 places. I wish
there was more of this sort — so does my Father
— so I believe does Mr. Crisp. . . . Codger and
Jack seem characters which divert every body,
and would yet more, I should imagine, in a public
representation. . . . All the sensible ones are struck
with Censor's character, tho' nobody delights
Charlotte like Mr. Codger."

In spite of its many good characters and
spirited dialogue, the verdict pronounced upon
The Witlings by both Mr. Crisp and Dr. Burney,
was adverse. Each felt that the authoress
of " Evelina" had too much to lose to risk the
possibility of failure or even of a partial success.
How Fanny bore her keen disappointment is
shown by the following letters : —

" The fatal knell then is knolled," she writes
to her father, "and ' down among the dead men '
sink the poor Witlings — for ever and for ever
.and for ever !

" I give a sigh, whether I will or not, to their
memory ! for however worthless they were mes
enfans, and one must do one's nature as Mr. Crisp
will tell you of the dog.

" . . . I am sure I speak from the bottom
of my honest heart when I most solemnly de
clare that upon your account any disgrace would

The House in St. Martin's Street

mortify and afflict me more than upon my
own.

". . . You bid me open my heart to you,—
and so my dearest sir, I will, for it is the greatest
happiness of my life that I dare to be sincere to
you. I expected many objections to be raised—
a thousand errors to be pointed out — and a million
of alterations to be proposed : but the suppression
of the piece were words I did not expect. . . . But
. . . the best way I can take of showing that I
have a true sense of the spirit of your condemna
tion, is not to sink sulky and dejected under it,
but to exert myself to the utmost of my power
in endeavours to produce something less repre
hensible/'

Her letter to Crisp is in a lighter vein.

" Well ! ' there are plays that are to be saved,
and plays that are not to be saved/ so good night,
Mr. Dabler ! Good night, Lady Smatter, — Mrs.
Sapient,— Mrs. Voluble,— Mrs. Wheedle,— Cen
sor, — Cecilia, — Beaufort, and you, you great oaf,
— Bobby ! Good night ! good night !

"And good morning, Miss Fanny Burney ! —
I hope now you have opened your eyes for some
time, and will not close them in so drowsy a fit
again, — at least till the full of the moon.

" . . . The only bad thing in this affair, is
that I cannot take the comfort of my poor friend
Dabler, by calling you a crabbed fellow, because

152

"The Witlings"

you write with almost more kindness than ever ;
neither can I (though I try hard) persuade myself
that you have not a grain of taste in your whole
composition.

" This, however, seriously I do believe, that
when my two daddies put their heads together to
concert for me that hissing, groaning, cat-calling
epistle they sent me, they felt as sorry for poor
little Miss Bayes * as she could possibly do for
herself.

". . . Adieu, my dear daddy, I won't be
mortified, and I wont be downed ; — but I will be
proud to find I have, out of my own family, as
well as in it, a friend who loves me well enough
to speak plain truth to me."

*****

The original manuscript of the Witlings
has been placed in our hands. It consists of five
acts, each act forming one scene only. We have
read the play with much interest and amusement,
though recognizing some of the drawbacks which
struck Dr. Burney and Mr. Crisp so forcibly.
We think a specimen of the bright dialogue will
interest our readers, and we therefore give the
following scene. It deals with a meeting of the
" Esprit Club," in which the affected imitators
of the learned ladies of the day are ridiculed.
Mrs. Thrale used to declare, laughingly, that

* A character in the Rehearsal.
'S3

The House in St. Martin's Street

she was sure Lady Smatter was intended for
herself.

Mr. Dabler, we would explain, is a conceited
poet of mean attainments.

THE WITLINGS.

ACT IV.
A Library at Lady Smatter s.

Lady Smatter, Mrs. Sapient, Dablery and Codger,
seated at a round table covered with Books.

Lady Smatter. Now before we begin our
Literary Subjects, allow me to remind you of
the rule established at our last Meeting, that
everyone is to speak his real sentiments, and no
flattery is to taint our discussions.

AIL Agreed.

Lady Smatter. This is the smallest assembly
we have had yet ; some or other of our members
fail us every Time.

Dabler. But where such luminaries are seen
as Lady Smatter and Mrs. Sapient, all others
could only appear to be eclipsed.

Lady Smatter. What have you brought to
regale us with to-night, Mr. Dabler ?

Dabler. Me ? dear Madam, nothing !
154

"The Witlings "

Lady Smatter. Oh barbarous !

Mrs. Sapient. Surely you cannot have been
so cruel ? for, in my opinion, to give pain cause
lessly is rather disobliging.

Dabler. Dear Ladies, you know you may
command me ; but, I protest, I don't think I have
anything worth your hearing.

Lady Smatter. Let us judge for ourselves.
Bless me, Mr. Codger, how insensible you are !
why do not you join in our intreaties ?

Codger. For what, Madam ?

Lady Smatter. For a Poem, to be sure.

Codger. Madam, I understood Mr. Dabler he
had nothing worth your hearing.

Lady Smatter. But surely you do not believe
him ?

Codger. I know no reason, Madam, to doubt
him.

Lady Smatter. O you Goth ! come, dear Mr.
Dabler, produce something at once, if only to
shame him.

Dabler. Your Ladyship has but to speak.
(Takes a paper from his pocket-book, and reads.)

ON A CERTAIN PARTY OF BEAUX ESPRITS.

Learning, here, doth pitch her Tent,
Science, here, her Seeds doth Scatter ;

Learning, in form of Sapient,
Science, in guise of heav'nly Smatter.

155

The House in St. Martin's Street

Lady Smatter. O charming ! beautiful Lines,
indeed.

Mrs. Sapient. Elegant and poignant to a
degree !

Lady Smatter. What do you think, Mr.
Codger, of this Poem ? To be sure (whispering
him) the compliment to Mrs. Sapient is prepos
terously overstrained, but, otherwise, nothing can
be more perfect.

Mrs. Sapient. Mr. Dabler has, indeed, the
happiest turn in the World at easy elegance.
Why, Mr. Codger, you don't speak a Word ?
(Whispering him) Pray, between friends, what
say you to the notion of making Lady Smatter
represent Science ? Don't you think he has been
rather unskilful in his choice ?

Codger. Why, Madam, you give me no Time
to think at all.

Lady Smatter. Well, now to other matters.
I have a little observation to offer upon a Line
of Pope ; he says —

" Most Women have no character at all."

Now I should be glad to know, if this was true
in the Time of Pope, why People should com
plain so much of the depravity of the present
Age?

Dabler. Your Ladyship has asked a Question
that might perplex a Solomon.

.56

"The Witlings"

Mrs. Sapient. It is, indeed, surprisingly
ingenious.

Dabler. Yes, and it reminds me of a little
foolish thing which I composed some time
ago.

Lady Smaller. O pray let us hear it.

Dabler. Your Ladyship commands —

The lovely Iris, young and fair,
Possess'd each charm of Face and Hair
That with the Cyprian's might compare ;
So sweet her Face, so soft her Mind,
So mild she speaks, — she looks so kind, —
To hear, might melt ! to see, might blind !

Lady Sm. 1 1 ( O elegant! enchanting! delicious!

Mrs. Sap. j I3 ( O delightful! pathetic! delicate!

Lady Smaller. Why Mr. Codger, have you
no Soul ? is it possible you can be unmoved by
such poetry as this ?

Codger. I was considering, Madam, what
might be the allusion to which Mr. Dabler
referred, when he said he was reminded of this
little foolish thing, as he was pleased to call it
himself.

Dabler (aside). I should like to toss that old
fellow in a blanket !

Codger. Now, Sir, be so good as to gratify
me by relating what may be the connection
between your Song, and the foregoing Conver
sation ?

157

The House in St. Martin's Street

Dabler (pettishly). Sir, I only meant to read
it to the Ladies.

Lady Smatter. I'm sure you did us great
honour. Mrs. Sapient, the next proposition is
yours.

Mrs. Sapient. Pray did your Ladyship ever
read Dryden ?

Lady Smatter. Dryden ? O yes ! — but I don't
just now recollect him ; — let's see, what has he
writ ?

Dabler. Cymon and Iphigenia.

Lady Smatter. O ay, so he did ; and really
for the Time of Day I think it's mighty pretty.

Dabler. Why yes, it's well enough ; but it
would not do now.

Mrs. Sapient. Pray what does your Ladyship
think of the Spectator ?

Lady Smatter. O, I like it vastly. I've just
read it.

Codger (to Lady Smatter). In regard, Madam,
to those verses of Mr. Dabler, the chief fault I
have to find with them, is

Dabler. Why, Sir, we are upon another
subject now ! (Aside) What an old Curmudgeon !
he has been pondering all this Time only to find
fault !

Mrs. Sapient. For my part, I have always
thought that the best papers in the Spectator
are those of Addison.

158

"The Witlings"

Lady Smaller. Very justly observed !

Dabler. Charmingly said ! exactly my own
opinion.

Mrs. Sapient. Nay, I may be mistaken ; I
only offer it as my private sentiment.

Dabler. I can but wish, Madam, that poor
Addison had lived to hear such praise.

Lady Smaller. Next to Mr. Dabler, my
favourite Poets are Pope and Swift.

Mrs. Sapient. Well, after all, I must confess
I think there are as many pretty things in old
Shakespeare as in anybody.

Lady Smaller. Yes, but he is too common ;
every body can speak well of Shakespeare !

Dabler. I vow I am quite sick of his Name.

Codger. Madam, to the best of my appre
hension, I conceive your Ladyship hath totally
mistaken that Line of Pope which says —

Most women have no Character at all.

Lady Smaller. Mistaken, I, how so, Sir ?
This is curious enough ! (Aside lo Dabler] I
begin to think the poor creature is super
annuated.

Dabler. So do I, Ma'am ; I have observed it
for some Time.

Codger. By no Character, Madam, he only
means

Lady Sma Her. A dad Character, to be sure !
'59

The House in St. Martin's Street

Codger. There, Madam, lieth your Ladyship's
mistake ; he means, I say

Lady Smarter. O dear Sir, don't trouble
yourself to tell me his meaning ; — I dare say I
shall be able to make it out.

Mrs. Sapient (aside to Dabler). How irritable
is her Temper !

Dabler. O intolerably !

Codger. Your Ladyship, Madam, will not
hear me. I was going

Lady Smatter. If you please, Sir, we'll drop
the Subject, for I rather fancy you will give me
no very new information concerning it, — do you
think he will, Mr. Dabler ?

Codger. Mr. Dabler, Madam, is not a com
petent Judge of the case, as

Dabler (rising). Not a Judge, Sir? not a
Judge of Poetry?

Codger. Not in the present circumstance, Sir,
because, as I was going to say

Dabler. Nay then, Sir, I'm sure I'm a Judge
of Nothing !

Codger. That may be, Sir, but is not to the
present purpose ; I was going

Dabler. Suppose, Sir, we refer to the Ladies ?
Pray now, Ladies, which do you think the most
adequate Judge of Poetry, Mr. Codger or your
humble Servant ? Speak sincerely, for I hate
flattery.

1 60

"The Witlings"

Mrs. Sapient. I would by no means be so
ill bred as to determine for Mr. Dabler in the
presence of Mr. Codger, because / have always
thought that a preference of one person implies
less approbation of another ; yet

Codger. Pray, Madam, let me speak ; the
reason, I say

Mrs. Sapient. Yet the well known skill of Mr.
Dabler in this delightful art

Codger. Madam, this interruption is some
what injudicious, since it prevents my ex
plaining

Mrs. Sapient (rising). Injudicious, Sir ? I
am sorry, indeed, if I have merited such an
accusation : there is nothing I have more
scrupulously endeavoured to avoid, for, in my
opinion, to be injudicious is no mark of an extra
ordinary understanding.

Lady Smatter (aside to Dabler). How soon
she's hurt !

Dabler. O most unreasonably !

Codger. Madam, you will never hear me out ;
you prevent my explaining the reason, I say, why
Mr. Dabler cannot decide upon Lady Smatter's
error in judgement

Lady Smatter (rising]. Error in judgement ?
really this is very diverting !

Codger. I say, Madam

Lady Smatter. Nay, Sir, ;tis no great matter ;
163

The House in St. Martin's Street

and yet, I must confess, it's rather a hard case
that, after so many years of intense study, am
most laborious reading, I am not allowed to
criticise a silly line of Pope.

Dabler. And if I, who, from infancy, have

devoted all my Time to the practice of Poetry,

am now thought to know nothing of the mattei

—I should be glad to be informed who has a

better Title ?

Mrs. Sapient. And if I, who, during my
whole life, have made propriety my peculiar
study, am now found to be deficient in it, — I
must really take the liberty to observe that I
must have thrown away a great deal of Time to
very little purpose.

Lady Smatter. And as to this line of Pope—

*****

Enter Censor.

Lady Smatter. Mr. Censor, your entrance is
most critically fortunate ; give me leave to
present you to our society.

Censor. I expected to have seen your Lady
ship alone.

Lady Smatter. Yes, but I have obtained a
dispensation for your admittance to our Esprit
Party. But let us not waste our Time in
common conversation. You must know we are
at present discussing a very knotty point, and \

164 '

"The Witlings"

should be glad of your opinion upon the merits
of the cause.

Dabler. Yes ; and as soon as that is decided,
I have a little choice piece of Literature to com
municate to you which I think you will allow to
be tolerable.

Mrs. Sapienl. And I, too, Sir, must take
the liberty to appeal to your Judgement con
cerning

Censor. Ay, ay, Speak all at a Time, and then
one hearing may do.

Lady Smaller. Mr. Censor, when a point of
the last importance is in agitation, such levity as
this

Dabler. I was going to tell you, Mr. Censor,
that if you have any desire to look at those
verses I was speaking of, I believe I have a
Copy of them in my Pocket. Let's see, — yes,
here they are ; how lucky that I should happen to
have them about me ! (Gives Ihem lo Censor}
(Aside) I think they will surprise him.

Censor (reading] —

That passion which we strongest feel

We all agree to disapprove ;
Yet feebly, feebly, we conceal

Dabler (pettishly}. Sir, you read without any

spirit-
Yet feebly, — feebly we conceal.

165

The House in St. Martin's Street

You should drop your voice at the Second feebly,
or you lose all the effect. (Aside) It puts me
in a fever to hear such fine lines murdered.
Censor (reading).

We all are bound slaves to self love.

Dabler (snatching the paper]. Why you give
it neither emphasis nor expression ! You read
as if you were asleep. (Reading) —

That passion which

Censor. O no more, no more of it. Pray who
is the Author ?

Dabler. Why really I — I don't absolutely
know, — but, by what I have heard, I should take
it to be somebody very, — very clever.

Censor. You should ?

Dabler. Yes : and, indeed, to own the truth,
I have heard it whispered that it is a posthumous
Work of— of— O, of Gay, — ay, of Gay.

Censor. Of Gay ?

Dabler. Yes ; found in a little corner of his
private Bureau.

Censor. And pray, who has the impudence to
make such an assertion ?

Dabler. Who ? — O, as to that, really I don't
know who in particular, — but I assure you not me,
— though, by the way, do you really think it
very bad ?

1 66

"The Witlings'1

Censor. Despicable beyond abuse. Are you
not of the same opinion ?

Dabler. Me ? — why really, as to that — I — I
can't exactly say, — that is, I have hardly read it.
(Aside) What a crabbed fellow! There is not
an ounce of Taste in his whole composition.
Curse me, if I was Nature, if I should not blush
to have made him. Hold ! my Tablets ! a good
thought that ! I'll turn it into a Lampoon, and
drop it at Stapletons'. ( Walks aside and writes
in his Tablets.}

// J^^— • "-. '•*--<:• • \\ v\ /• 'is^*^

CHAPTER XVI

HOSTILE FLEETS IN THE CHANNEL

THE summer of 1779 was a time of public alarm,
for added to the disastrous war in America, both
France and Spain had declared war against
England, and in the month of August their united
fleets suddenly made their appearance in the
Channel.

" Had it not been for vile public news,"
writes Susan Burney, who was then staying at
Chesington, " we should have spent this last week
charmingly, but two days [ago] a report reached
us from Kingston that the French and Spaniards
were landed. Mr. Crisp went to Kingston the
next morning, and came back with a countenance
calculated to terrify and crush temerity itself. . . .
Troops of French and Spaniards were landed at
Falmouth, whilst the combined fleets were throw
ing bombs into Plymouth."

" Oh, Fanny," writes Mr. Crisp, " I fear I
have lived too long ! for I declare I had much
rather be under ground than stay behind to see

1 68

Hostile Fleets in the Channel

the insolent Bourbon trampling under foot this
once happy Island."

The alarm was, indeed, widespread, for
Horace Walpole, writing to a friend on the night
of August 1 8th, remarks : —

" All is true that you will see in the papers of
the Marlborough, Isis, and Southampton being
chased by the French and Spanish fleets of sixty,
or sixty-three sail as [they] were going to join Sir
Charles Hardy. To-day came another express
that the united squadron was off Falmouth on
Saturday. They are probably come to seek and
fight our fleet, which, if not joined by those three
ships, consists of but thirty-six — on whom depend
our fate !

" I could give you details of unreadiness at
home that would shock you ; miracles alone can
counteract it. ... Turn whither you will, whence
is salvation to come to a nation so besotted ? . . .
My opinion is that the enemies will strike in
every place they can

" It is below a man [however] to rail when
England totters to its foundations. Disgraced it
is for ever! In what piteous condition it may
emerge I know not — if it does emerge ; if it does
not, happy they who do not live to see its utter
destruction."

In the Gazatteer of the same date (August

1 8th) a writer observes :—

169

The House in St. Martin's Street

" We are informed that an express is arrived
with an account of the French and Spaniards
being between the English fleet and the English
coast; that they were preparing for an engage
ment, and most important news is expected in a
few hours.

"It was also reported last night that the
united fleets have blocked up Plymouth and
taken the Ramillies of 74 guns, as she was going
to join Sir Charles Hardy's fleet."

The writer goes on to point out the necessity
of unity among our defenders. "At this most
alarming moment," he says, " when the French
and Spaniards ride with bold defiance on our
coasts, and dispute our long-maintained empire
of the sea ... it is indeed time that every
distinction of party should give way."

" Rouse us, Mr. Urban," urges a writer in
the Gentleman s Magazine, "to bring back to
their allegiance our revolted fellow-subjects [in
America], and to repel the insolence of our
natural enemies ! "

In the same number of the Gentleman's Maga
zine a correspondent at Plymouth writes :—

"On the evenings of the i6th, i7th, and i8th
the combined fleets made their appearance off
Plymouth, but, to the astonishment of everybody,
contented themselves with only looking at it.
They were so near the land that the Ardent,

170

Hostile Fleets in the Channel

man-of-war, coming from Portsmouth to join Sir
Charles Hardy, took them for his fleet, and went
so close before she discovered her mistake that
she was attacked [and], it is generally believed,
went to the bottom."

Horace Walpole mentions this same circum
stance in a letter to a friend dated September 5th.
" The Ardent" he writes, " mistaking enemies for
friends, fell among them; but Captain Botelar
was thrown so little off his guard that it took four
ships to master him, and his own sunk as soon as
he and his men were received on board the victor's.
Monsieur D'Orvilliers,* admiring his gallantry,
applauded it. He modestly replied, 'You will
find every captain in our fleet behave in the same

manner.' '

"Great preparations are making here," con
tinues the writer from Plymouth, "for a vigorous
defence. The youth of all ranks have entered
into associations, and the Ordnance have sent in
3000 stand of arms. Orders have been issued
that, in case of a bombardment, the pavement
should be taken up and removed, that the bombs
may sink into the earth without bursting."

It was feared by the officers commanding the
troops that the woods of Mount Edgecumbe might
be used by the enemy as a place of concealment
during an attack upon the dockyard ; and there

* The Admiral of the French Fleet.
173

The House in St. Martin's Street

was a rumour afloat, it seems, that Lord Mount
Edgecumbe had demurred to having his trees
felled when urged to do so. "It is an entire
falsehood," says the writer, " that his lordship
objected to their being cut down. ... All that
he said on the occasion was this : ' If it be abso
lutely necessary for the preservation of the dock
yard that Mount Edgecumbe be destroyed, you
have my ready consent, even to the last shrub . . .
[but] if you are not quite certain, then for heaven's
sake, let them stand/ The generals persevered
in their opinion [of the danger], and the woods
were immediately cut down, with the entire con
currence of the owner."

Mrs. Thrale, in an unpublished letter to Dr.
Burney, written at this time, exclaims : " A fiery
sky indeed ! which way can one bear, to look at
it ? The Opposition people use smoked glasses,
but that only makes matters worse. . . . What
makes Mrs. Burney ill ? Not low spirits, I hope ;
if I did not pity every pain she felt I must be an
ungrateful monkey. Tell her, however, she must
not go to bed to cry for her country while Sir
Charles Hardy keeps the seas. Mrs. Byron *
knows he has orders to fight the combined Fleets
coute que coute"

By this time public feeling was strongly aroused
in all parts of the south of England. Horace

* Wife of Admiral Byron.
174

Hostile Fleets in the Channel

Walpole, writing from Twickenham, says : " Even
this little quiet village is grown a camp. Servants
are learning to fire all day long, and I suppose
soon will demand their wages le pistolet d la
main."

The combined fleets did not remain long
within sight of the Devonshire coast. " But
since their departure," writes a Plymouth corre
spondent of a London paper, " we are nearly as
much subject to doubt and fluctuation in our
intelligence of their operations as you are in
London." Many were the rumours afloat con
cerning them. A paragraph in the Morning
Chronicle informed its readers that "a French
Squadron of eight frigates were cruising on the
Coast of Ireland."

Horace Walpole writes early in September:
" At last we have heard of Sir Charles Hardy off
Plymouth, and yesterday at Portsmouth. Where
the combined are I know not precisely ; but that
such extended lines should not have caught the
eye of each other is very surprising to us inexpert
in winds and tides."

The news of their disappearance was hailed
with joy at Chesington. Susan Burney writes :
" Sunday we received intelligence from my Father
. . . which produced a Revolution in our minds,
for we found that the French had not attempted
to land or attack any part of the Kingdom, and

The House in St. Martin's Street

that, though much was to be dreaded, there yet
remained something to hope."

Happily, all cause for alarm was soon at an
end. It appears that disagreements arose between
the two commanders respecting the mode of attack,
and that the haughty Spaniard precipitately with
drew from the scene of action — thus obliging the
unfortunate Frenchman to withdraw also.

" D'Orvillier has left our channel," writes Mrs.
Thrale, " after cutting a few ships out of Torbay
and chasing Sir Charles to Spithead."

So ended all fear of invasion.

CHAPTER XVII

LIBERTY HALL

CIIESINGTON Hall stands upon rising ground
in a gently undulating plain that lies between
Kingston and Epsom. The present house,
although it was rebuilt a hundred years ago, in
many respects resembles that occupied by Mr.
Crisp, as it was reconstructed upon the original
plan. In Crisp's time the old Hall, with its farm
buildings and ancient dove-cote, was far from any
edifice save and except the little old grey church,
whose wooden belfry could be seen at the further
end of an avenue of chestnuts. Communication,
therefore, with the outer world was maintained
with difficulty. Letters, for instance, had to
wait to be posted till " baker's day," as Fanny
calls it, arrived, when the baker carried them
off to a distant post-town. Even to this day
the Hall is a solitary habitation surrounded by
sloping fields, and reached by a narrow country
lane.

In its large old-fashioned garden fruit-trees,
177 N

The House in St. Martin's Street

vegetables, and flowers consort happily together,
the beds being intersected by long paths of
smooth-shaven grass, flanked by deep box
hedges, while here and there glimpses of far-

m*«« -j

$ .rf^fe^-- r

THE ENTRANCE DOOR, CHESINGTON.

away hills and woods can be seen beneath the
branches of its bordering elms.

To this beloved " Liberty Hall," as Fanny
terms it, the Burney family came as to a second
home.

" There is no place," she writes, " where I
more really enjoy myself rthan at Chesington.

178

Liberty Hall

All the household are kind, hospitable, and
partial to me ; there is no sort of restraint ;
everybody is disengaged and at liberty to pursue
their own inclinations ; and my Daddy Crisp,
who is the soul of the place, is at once so flatter
ingly affectionate to me, and so infinitely, so
beyond comparison, clever in himself, that were
I to be otherwise than happy in his company, I
must be either wholly without feeling or utterly
destitute of understanding."

Fanny's affection for her Daddy Crisp comes
out strikingly in a letter which was written in
the spring of 1779, when Crisp was recovering
from a sharp attack of illness. That letter now
lies before us. The handwriting is unusually
large and clear, Fanny, no doubt, having in her
mind the darkened chamber of an invalid.

" STREATHAM,

" May 20th.
" M¥ DEAR DEAR DADDY,

" Your last sweet letter was the most
acceptable I almost ever received in my life.
Your extreme kindness to me nearly equalled
the joy I had from hearing you were getting
better. I do long to see you most eagerly, and
will with my first power contrive it. Indeed, I
have made everybody here long to see you too,
but I would not for any bribery be as little likely
to have my longing gratified as theirs is.

179

The House in St, Martin's Street

" Your exculpation of me was, like yourself,
liberal and unsuspicious* and indeed, my dear
Daddy, my heart was as unalterably and grate
fully attached to you as it could be ; and so it
must ever remain ; for, for many, many years
you have been more dear to me than any other
person out of my immediate family, in the whole
world, — and this, though I believe I never was
so gross before as to say it to you, is a notorious
fact to all others. ... I am half ashamed of this
zmdelicacy, but your illness and kindness joined
[together] put me off my guard. . . .

" Believe me ever and ever yours,

"F. B."*

Crisp happened to hear, on one occasion,
that Fanny had been sounding his praises to a
new friend.

" How could you have the face," he writes,
" to say to Miss Greggory what you did about
me ? It is well for us both that I live out of
the way and out of the knowledge of the world ;
otherwise how could I hope to escape the dis
grace of being * weighed in the balance and
found wanting ? '

" . . . I am not only well content but de
lighted that your judgment should be warped in

* This letter is quoted in her Preface by the editor of the
" Early Diaries " of Frances Burney.

180

Liberty Hall

my favour by your kindness : but if this Report
of an Evelina should bring on a Scrutiny into
the merits of the Cause, what must I do then ? —
Well ! — love me on ! — Continue in your blind
ness, and I will take my chance for the rest, and
depend upon my obscurity for my security'.' *

The affection, as we know, was mutual ;
indeed, Crisp's greatest happiness in life was in
the intercourse he enjoyed with his " delectable
Fanny," as Mrs. Cast used to call her brother's
favourite.

On learning of a proposed visit from the
Burney family, Crisp writes —

" I am glad to hear, the Burnean System
inclines to a progressive motion towards Ches-
ington. I hope the great Planet will not fail
to be attended with the proper Satellites. . . .
That bright tho' little star, the Pannikin must
(for want of a better place) be lodged next
room to my lump of Earth during the night
time ; but all day, her old Conjuring place, the
little Closet at the end of the Gallery, is destined
to be kept sacred for her use.

" Here let me put a short querie — Suppose
Hetty (with Charles sometimes) should make us
a visit, could the Pannikin, for the sake of one
she loves so dearly, submit to ascend somewhat
nearer to her own native skies, to make room for

* Burney MSS.
181

The House in St. Martin's Street

her ? . . . Send me a line when you all come,
and the sooner the better." *

In the summer of 1 779, Susan and Hetty were
staying at Chesington. Susan writes to her sister
Fanny : " Monday night after supper we were
all made very merry by Mr. Crisp suffering his
wig to be turned the hind part before, and my
cap put over it, Hetty's cloak, and Mrs. Cast's
apron and ruffles. In this ridiculous trim he
danced a minuet with H etty, personify ing Madame
Duval, while she acted Mr. Smith at the Long
Room, Hampstead!"

Fanny has described her Daddy Crisp's laugh
in one of her Diaries. " It first," she says, "puts
every feature in comical motion, and then fairly
shakes his whole frame, so that there are tokens
of thorough enjoyment from head to foot."

Sometimes the evenings at Chesington were
enlivened by music. Mr. Crisp, we are told by
Dr. Burney, "had exquisite taste in all the fine
arts," and was especially devoted to music. It was
for him that the first harpsichord with hammers
(the earliest kind of pianoforte) was brought over
from Italy. He was a keen critic, too, as Susan
was well aware when she remarked : —

" I don't enjoy mes aises much in playing to
Mr. Crisp. He is very fond of Tornate [Sirene],
and has made me chaunt it three times to him,

* Burney MSS.
182

SAMUEL CRISP

Liberty Hall

and as I don't hate the song myself ... I am
not very sorry he takes to it. He is fond of my
father's third Duet of the second set, too, which
we play like anything ! " Here Susan breaks off
her account to observe, " There is so much wind
it has just blown down my inkstand over my
paper. ' Pray, Milady, excuse.' "

The original manuscript of this same letter
lies by our side, and there, across the centre of
the page on which Susan wrote these last words,
is the great black stream of ink, as if it had been
spilt but yesterday !

Fanny had inspired her friends the Thrales,
as we have seen, with a strong desire to make the
acquaintance of her Daddy Crisp. In a letter to
him, dated from Bath, she says: " While I have
been writing, Mr. Thrale called to know what I
was about, and upon my answering 'writing to
my Daddy Crisp,' he said, ' Pray give my compli
ments to him, and tell him, if you will, that when
I return to Streatham, if he likes it, I will come
and see him.'

" O, my dear Daddy, how sweet a frolic for
me ! Pray do like it, that so I may contrive to
get at you, and pray make Mrs. Gast stay, and
pray charge Kitty not to look formal. . . . This
notion and motion has given me so much pleasure
that it has driven from me all other subjects." *

* Burney MSS.
183

The House in St. Martin's Street

When a visit from Mr. and Mrs. Thrale to
Chesington had been finally arranged, Susan
writes to her sister : "Mr. Crisp has so high an
opinion of Mrs. Thrale that he thinks of her
coming without shuddering ! — and that I believe
to be more than one could say of any other lady
whom, like Mrs. Thrale, he has never yet seen."

The visit proved successful in every way,
and Crisp noticed with pleasure "the courteous
readiness and unassuming good-humour with
which Mrs. Thrale received the inartificial civilities
of Kitty Cooke, and the old-fashioned, but cordial,
hospitality of Mrs. Hamilton." This, from "a
celebrated wit, moving in the sphere of high life,"
he had not expected ; neither had she looked for
"the elegance in language and manners" she
found in the Chesington recluse.

On her return home Mrs. Thrale wrote to
Fanny, who had remained behind her at Chesing
ton : " And so I pleased Mr. Crisp, did I ? and
yet he never heard, it seems, the only good things
I said, which were very earnest, and very honest,
and very pressing invitations to him to see
Streatham nearer than through the telescope.
Now, that he did not hear all this was your fault,
Mademoiselle ; for you told me that Mr. Crisp
was old, and Mr. Crisp was infirm ; and if I had
found those things so, I should have spoken
louder, and concluded him to be deaf; but finding

184.

Liberty Hall

him very amiable, and very elegant, and very
polite to me, and very unlike an old man, I never
thought about his being deaf ; and perhaps was a
little coquettish, too, in my manner of making
the invitation. I now repeat it, however, and
give it under my hand, that I should consider
such a visit as a very, very great honour, and so
would Mr. Thrale."

The return visit was duly paid, Fanny accom
panying her Daddy Crisp to Streatham. A warm
welcome awaited them, both from the Thrales
and from the great Dr. Johnson himself, who had
come down from town purposely to meet the
"hermit of Chesington."

After Crisp's departure, Dr. Johnson observed
to Mr. Thrale, " Sir, it is a very singular thing
to see a man with all his powers so much alive,
when he has so long shut himself up from the
world. Such readiness of conception, quickness
of recollection, facility of following discourse
started by others, in a man who has so long had
only the past to feed upon, are rarely to be met
with."

Crisp remarks to Fanny in an unpublished
portion of a letter, dated December 8th : " The
next article that gave me some content was to
understand that my visit to Streatham was well
taken, and that I came off as you say I did, after
appearing before such a Tribunal. I think I was

185

The House in St. Martin's Street

in high luck. I attribute it, however, in great
part to my having a powerful advocate to stand
my Friend ; but the principal cause of my escap
ing so well, I am persuaded, was the bribe I
brought in my hand. You remember the letter
you and I wrote to put off your return to
Streatham for a few days, and Mrs. Thrale's
answer. When she wrote that answer, it is
evident, notwithstanding a veil of great polite
ness, that she was out of humour. But ! — at the
sight of her dear playfellow returned ! — and safely
hous'd under her own roof! — then the features
were all lighted up ! then the eyes sparkled, the
smiles and the dimples began to play, and in a
moment she was all sunshine ! "

CHAPTER XVIII

A WOMAN OF WIT

DR. JOHNSON remarked to Mrs. Thrale one day,
" You have as much sense, and more wit, than
any woman I know ; and yet," he added, " I have
known all the wits from Mrs. Montagu down to
Bet Flint!" And Sir William Pepys, speak
ing in later years of Mrs. Thrale, said he had
" never met with any human being who pos
sessed the talent of conversation to such a
degree."

Fortunately for us, we are able to form some
idea of what that conversation was from Mrs.
Thrale's letters. Her style is so natural, so
spontaneous, so free from all pedantry or affecta
tion, that we seem to hear rather than to read the
words before us.

Mrs. Thrale's special vein of humour comes
out vividly in a series of unpublished letters which
has been placed in our hands.

Here is one written to Dr. Burney about a

* See " A Later Pepys," edited by Alice C. C. Gaussen.

187

The House in St. Martin's Street

sedan-chair accident. It is dated (< Fryday 5,
March 1777."

" MY DEAR SIR,

" Lest you should hear of this hateful
Accident by other means I think it right to tell
you my own story. The truth is my Chairmen
were drunk, and though I got safe out of the
Opera House with them, they flung me flat down
on one side, just as we got into Great George
Street, broke the Chair and all the glasses to
pieces, but I was neither cut, nor hurt, nor
frighted out of my wits. . . . You know I always
send Sam with Queeny from all publick places,
and fortunately as I was crawling out of my shell
they passed by, and taking hold of Sam, I got
home perfectly safe after my adventure. . . .

" Say nothing of it to Johnson if you see him
unless he speaks first. . . . On Fryday, that is
to-day sennight, I shall expect you home. . . .
after that day you are under the care of your
most faithful & obedient

" H. L. T.

"Thank Heaven you had more wit than to go
to the Opera ! "

Again she writes to Dr. Burney on the 6th
November of the same year (she was then staying
at Brighthelmstone).

188

A Woman of Wit

€< DEAR SIR,

" What news shall I tell you of a place
that will, as General Burgoyne says — Physically
speaking, be soon as much evacuated as Phila
delphia ! We have had Dukes and Dutchesses
but nobody has made us amends for Doctor
Burney. . . .

" No sooner were you gone but the people
brought me in a fine Forte Piano, and a gentleman
to tune it, always some Diavolino — when one has
Teeth there's no Meat and when one has Meat
there's no Teeth, &c.

" A propos to nothing at all (but the Meat and
the Teeth) as soon as I had sealed my last letter
to you I ran down to dinner, where being diligent
to help your friend Lady Poole, I hastily swallowed
the bone of a boiled chicken, which would infal
libly have finished me, had not they sent suddenly
for a surgeon who forced it down with the whale
bone and sponge and so, as Macbeth says, I

" ' displaced the mirth
Broke the good meeting— with most admired Disorder.' *

" The Balls are over and Rooms expire to
night, but Mr. Thrale does not mean to stir till
Monday or Tuesday sevennight. We have a lame
Lord left, a deaf Gentleman, and Mr. Palmer who
squints. My Master therefore compels them to

* A favourite quotation of Mrs. Thrale's.
189

The House in St. Martin's Street

come in and we play our cards in the best
Parlour.

" You will see Mr. Johnson before I do, he is
in Fleet Street now, at least I believe so, and
direct to him accordingly by this Post. I wish
you would bring him to Streatham yourself on
Wednesday or Thursday sennight, whichever is
most convenient to you, it would save my horses
a prance the day after their journey, and would
give me a view of the people I most wish to see
— after my own family.

" Mr. Thrale has made me burn my wig and
wear my own hair, so I shall exhibit myself now
in a new character ; . . . but I rather regret my
old peruke than rejoice in its loss, though I do
gain seven years by it in youthful looks.

" Mr. Murphy is more fortunate than we
were : he has won the fine Morrocco Addissons
in a Raffle at Thomases Shop from the Dutchess
of Devonshire who had three chances against
him besides 20 people more.

" . . . Mr. Thrale accepts your good words
and says I may send you more in return, the
rough ones have been liberally bestowed on Mr.
Murphy — but my Master has a real regard for
both of you, only somewhat an odd way of
showing it.

" Let me — (tho' in this commerce you would
rather receive than give I believe) Let me have

190

A Woman of Wit

one letter more before I listen once again to
Pastoral and Rondo, and before I make you
listen to the nonsense of

" Your most faithful

" humble Servant,

"HESTER L. THRALE.

" Best words and best wishes to all the
Burneian System from Newton House to Ota-
heite."

This last word refers to James Burney, who
was then at Otaheite serving under Captain
Cook. Mrs. Thrale took a lively interest in his
career, although she had as yet never seen him.

Upon hearing the news of his being appointed
to the command of his first ship, she writes to
Dr. Burney : * —

"Why this is delightful, dear Sir! Ay and
ten times delightful ; and who says there is no
happiness for honest men and affectionate hearts
in this world ? God give you many years of joy
of your son's virtue and good fortune — there is
no joy like it, though I will have a little myself
in seeing and. feeling yours.

" On Fryday will I pick you up as early as I
can, but in short to dine here and stay here — I

* Burney MSS.
191

The House in St. Martin's Street

do not know how long. You will now be so
good-humoured you will be able to deny me
nothing — Ah, dear Sir, you were never skilled in
Mr. Smith's method of venturing to put a negative
&c., so do not put a negative on the true affection
with which

" I am Yours,

"H. L. T."

Dr. Johnson was as much interested in the
fortunes of James Burney as was Mrs. Thrale.
When James was appointed to the command of
the Bristol, in 1781, Dr. Johnson wrote to her —

" I delight to think of the happiness diffused
among the Burneys. I question if any ship upon
the ocean goes out attended with more good
wishes than that which carries the fate of Burney.
I love all that breed whom I can be said to
know ; and one or two whom I hardly know, I
love upon credit, and love them because they
love each other."

Mrs. Thrale writes to Fanny * —

" Dear Creature ! what a pretty little snug
family talk we had that night before parting :
had not we ? You was so kind and so communi
cative — and I do love you !

"Well, Sir Philip f was sadly disappointed

* Burney MSS.
f Sir Philip Jennings Clarke.
192

A Woman of Wit

not to meet Miss Burney. . . . He will drink but
two dishes of tea now she don't fill it out — * Sir
Philip again ! ' cries out the dear Doctor, * I shall
cut that Sir Philip's throat at last ' — no need, no
need, the throat is too hoarse already. . . . Jerry
Crutchley missed the merriment at his chamber
door — Perkins protests you are a lady of solid
judgement and an old Doctor almost superannuated
who dined here o' Sunday said how he read
Evelina with delight.

" . . .My service to Dick's monkey, has it
a long tail ? and from what country did it come ?
and, as Fanny Brown's father said — what language
can it speak ? chattering perhaps ; I suppose —

" ' The gay chat, more than Reason that charms &c.' "

In one of her letters Mrs. Thrale alludes to
" Johnson and his Blackamoor, and his solid
notions of Love-making." She goes on to say —

" I have asked the S.S. * and Pepys for
Monday next to meet Jenkinson — the solids might
put me in mind of them too — and I hope they'll
have a pleasant drive home by moonlight. . . .

" Adieu my beloved Tyo and keep a corner
of your heart warm for

"Your H. L. T.

" ' We'll all keep a corner the Lady cried out,
We'll all keep a corner was echoed about.' "

* Miss Sophie Streatfield.

193 o

The House in St. Martin's Street

On another occasion Mrs. Thrale writes : —
" Well, and what have I to say to my sweetest
Burney ? I could not wish her good morrow nor
good night through the crack of the Red Room
door lest I should be frighted and think I had
found a crack in my own scull — as well as in so
many of my neighbours. I could not tell her
what passed at our Catorian dinner, for nothing
did pass but hob and nob as I remember. Mrs.
Cator worked at the Win de Graw and went to
sleep like a sensible woman, while the Tit sung
to her. . . . You would have laughed at that, but
all superiority strikes me as respectable, tho' I did
long to say with your friend Kitty — ' Well !
Stupifaction ! ' "

In a letter to Dr. Burney, written when Fanny
was at Streatham, she says : —

"Your dear Fanny is perfectly well and in
company now with half a score of people who
all admire her, but nobody except the inhabitants
of Newton House can love her better than does
your

" H. L. T."

Mrs. Thrale had a ready pen for verse, and
was especially happy in her translations. Here
is an instance a propos of her first sight of ,a
balloon —

194

A Woman of Wit

"I saw one of the first," she writes — "the
very first, Mongolfier, I believe — go up from the
Luxembourg Gardens at Paris ; and in about an
hour after, expressing my anxiety whither Pilatre
de Rosier and his friend Charles were gone
(meaning of course to what part of France they
would be carried), a grave man made reply, 'Je
crois, Madame, qu'ils sont alles, ces Messieurs-la,
pour voir le lieu ou les vents se forment.'

" What fellows Frenchmen are ! and always
have been !

" Abate Parini made a pretty impromptu on
[the balloon] . . . and I translated it. Here it
is : —

"'THE MACHINE SPEAKS.

" ' In empty space behold me hurl'd
The sport and wonder of the world :
Who eager gaze, whilst I aspire
Expanded with aerial fire.

" ' And since man's selfish race demands
More empire than the seas and lands ;
For him my courage mounts the skies
Invoking nature as I rise.

" < Mother of all ! if thus refin'd
My flight can benefit mankind,
Let them by me new realms prepare
And take possession of the air.'"

* * * *

We would mention, in passing, that this
pioneer balloon of Mongolfiers is commemorated

'95

The House in St. Martin's Street

in another poem of the day — " The Botanic
Garden " —by Dr. Darwin. He writes :—

" So on the shoreless air the intrepid Gaul
Launched the vast concave of his buoyant ball ;
Journeying on high the silken castle glides
Bright as a meteor through the azure tides."

In Mrs. Thrale's letters it is the humorous
side of her character that chiefly transpires ; but
the more tender side comes out in the following
delicate and sympathetic translation of some
verses by the Abbe Larignan ; the closing line
of each stanza being " Bon soir la compagnie."
The verses in the original, together with their
translation, are contained in an unpublished letter
to Dr. Burney, bearing the date of August 3Oth,
1779. In later years they appeared in print.

" Arrived at grave and grey Fourscore
'Tis time to think on Life no more,
Time to be gone, and therefore I
Can quit the world without a sigh,
Without or sorrow, care, or fright
Can wish the company, Good night.

" When hence we part 'tis hard to say
Whither we rove or which the way :
But He who sent me here will show
My doubtful footsteps where to go.
So trusting to His truth and might,
I bid the company — Good night."

CHAPTER XIX

A MEMORABLE GATHERING IN THE
OPERA HOUSE

THE editor of the " Early Diaries of Frances
Burney" remarks that during Fanny's frequent
absences from her family, when visiting Mrs.
Thrale, "Susan sent to her at Streatham, or
Brighton, or Bath, delightful (as yet unpublished)
chronicles of all that went on at home. Her
journals," she adds, " abound in traits of the time
and its noted people/'

These unpublished journals are now in our
hands. They form a thick packet of large, square,
yellowish paper ; upon which the handwriting is
firm and clear, and the ink still black. As we
turn over their pages and dwell on the vivid
scenes described by the writer, it seems almost
as if the doors of the house in St. Martin's Street
had opened for us, and that we were taking our
place in the family circle. We hear the chat of
the Burneys round their breakfast-table in the
downstairs parlour ; we catch the strains of music

197

The House in St. Martin's Street

when guests are assembling, during the long
winter evenings, in the upper parlours ; or we
accompany Susan and her sisters in their visits
abroad to friends and acquaintance ; or follow
them to the Opera House or Pantheon to hear
the performance of some favourite singer. But
wherever it may be, we feel the happy influence
of a family "at unity in itself," and where "all
abounded in talents and all were cultivated and
intelligent."

Susan, who had had the advantage of spend
ing about three years at a school in Paris, was an
excellent French scholar. She also knew some
I talian. These acquirements were of much service
in her father's house, as it was frequented by
many foreign musicians, whose acquaintance Dr.
Burney had made when travelling on the Con
tinent, and who were in general little acquainted
with our language.

The reader will probably notice that, in the
course of these pages, the foreigners appear some
times to speak in broken English and sometimes
in perfectly good English. In the latter case
we would point out it is Susan's translation of
their remarks that we are reading.

Most of these journals were written in the
course of the year 1780. At that time the great
Italian singer, Gasparo Pacchierotti, was in
England ; and the Burneys had had the pleasure

198

SUSANNA ELIZABETH BURNEY

A Memorable Gathering

of forming his acquaintance. The acquaintance
had commenced by Dr. Burney's presenting him
with a copy of the first volume of his " History
of Music " (recently published) as an incentive to
read English ; and now both Fanny and Susan
were doing all in their power to teach him to
converse in English. One day he remarked to
Fanny, " Miss Borni give me very much en
courage ; but is very troublesome the difficulties."
Writing in her Journal on the gth March,
Susan describes a great gathering in the Opera
House (or large theatre in the Haymarket) to
hear Pacchierotti sing in Sacchini's opera of
Rinaldo. " We arrived," she says, "just as the
overture began. Our Box was next to the Duke
of Dorset's. . . . Lady Hales was on the stage
of our side, Mrs. Castle and the Ogles in an
upper Stage Box, Lady Clarges and Miss Clarges
in the former's own Box ; Lady Edgecumbe in the
Pitt, Miss Bull, Miss Streatfield, Mr. and Mrs.
Locke, the Duchess of Devonshire in her Box,
• Mrs. Crewe likewise. . . . Rauzzini sat close to
the Orchestra, then Mr. Brudenell, and Mr.
Harris, behind them my Father, Mr. Mason, Sir
Joshua Reynolds, Miss Palmers, Miss Basil, Mrs.
Hayes, Lord Ailsbury in his Box with Lord
Ashburnham, . . . Marchetti with her husband ;
Tenducci, and Mota in the front Boxes, in the
ist Gallery Mrs. and Miss Kirwans with Mr.

199

The House in St. Martin's Stree

and Mrs. Paradise — in short we had the satis
faction of seeing faces we knew everywhere — and
indeed a most brilliant House.

"The Opera went off extremely well. . . .
Pozzi did not sing so well as usual — but Pac-
chierotti — oh, Pacchierotti — how divine he
was !

THE OLD OPERA HOUSE, HAYMARKET.

" In the ' Superbe di me stessoj which was ever
a great favourite of mine, he ... executed the
divisions with that freedom and that grace which
is peculiar to himself, and expressed the pathetic
passages as he, and he alone, can express them.
. . . In his great Scene l Miser o ! che veggo?
between the Drama, the composition and his
performance I was — absolutely melted — and cried

200

A Memorable Gathering

as I did at the first serious opera I heard, when
Guadagni performed Orfeo. I never heard any
thing more touching, nor shall ever recollect it
without emotion. . . .

" It was felt by the Audience wonderfully.
. . . No — not wonderfully, since it was felt only
as it ought to be. Such a murmur spread,
especially from that corner of the Pitt where my
Father sat, of whispered bravos as I scarce ever
heard — and the moment, nay even before the
song was quite done, there was a burst of
vehement applause."

Susan's delight in music is evinced through
out her journals, as is also her tenderness of
heart. This tenderness was, at all times, a
marked feature of her character. We read in
some family papers that " when she was a little
girl at the tragedy of Jane Shore, seeing Jane
Shore pacing about and saying that for three
days she had eaten nothing, ' Then, Ma'am/
said the little girl, * will you please to accept
of my orange ? ' handing it out of the Stage
box." *

After Susan had been present at a second
performance of Rinaldo, she writes : " Every
line of the Opera is beautifully set by Sacchini,
and Pacchierotti, not only in his airs, but in every
word of the Recitative, delighted me. So much

* This incident is alluded to by Hannah More in her " Memoirs."

201

The House in -St. Martin's Street

sense, so much sensibility, such judicious, such
affecting expression does he give to everything ! "

Dr. Burney has written of this great singer :
" There is, in his countenance, a constant play of
features which manifests the sudden workings
and agitations of his soul. He is an enthusiast
in his art, and feels the merit of a composition
. . . with true Italian energy."

It happened that, on the day of this last-
mentioned visit to the Opera House, Susan had
been unwell, " but the music is so fine/' she
writes, " that though I was in pain, from my head
to my foot, before it began, I felt no complaint
during the whole piece. I was in Elysium, and
will insist upon it, that there are medicinal
powers in music."

Writing again in the month of March, Susan
speaks of her having been present at the per
formance of a grand concert at the Pantheon,
whither she had gone in company with her father
and also of Fanny, for the latter was then at
home.

The Pantheon was used as a theatre, and also
as a public promenade. " Imagination," says a
pompous contemporary writer, " cannot well ex
ceed the elegance and grandeur of the apart
ments, the boldness of the paintings, or the effect
produced by the dispositions of the lights, reflected
from gilt vases."

202

A Memorable Gathering

The concert seems to have been followed by
an opera, between the first and second acts of
which the audience adjourned for refreshments.
Dr. Burney invited Pacchierotti to take tea with
his family. " Accordingly," writes Susan, " in
going to the Tea Room, he joined us. ... * Dr.
Burney he tell me you desire my company at
the Tea ? ' said he, looking extremely pleased.
4 Yes, indeed/ said Fanny and I together, ' if you
can come.' ' Oh, Ma'am, I am very happy.'
Accordingly we went to the regions below to
gether — and Fanny and I repeatedly told him
how delighted we had been at his benefit, with his
singing, and [with] the reception he had met
with.

" ' Indeed,' said he, * the pleasure was very
great and affected me indeed very much ! '

Among the performers at the concert were
Fischer, the celebrated hautbois player, and
Cramer, the well-known composer and accom
plished player on the harpsichord.

" I said it pained me," remarks Susan, " to
hear Fischer and Cramer play so divinely with so
little attention or applause. . . ."

" ' Very true,' said he, ' and Fischer, above
all, for he is always new.'

" ' Tis a bad place for music,' said I.

" ' I beg pardon, ma'am ... it is a very
good place if there was any attention . . .

203

The House in St. Martin's Stre<

but no place is good for music if there is not
silence/ "

Fanny has introduced a visit to the Pantheon
in her novel of Evelina. " There was an
exceeding good concert," remarks the heroine,
"but too much talking to hear it well. Indeed,
I was quite astonished to find how little music is
attended to in silence ; for, though everybody
seems to admire, hardly anybody listens."

This habit of talking prevailed to a still
greater extent at the theatre. Mr. Lovel, the
fop in Evelina, observes to Captain Mirvan :
" For my part I confess I seldom listen to the
players. One has so much to do in looking
about and finding out one's acquaintance, that,
really, one has no time to mind the stage. . . .
One merely comes to meet one's friends, and
show that one's alive."

On the 26th March there was a large gather
ing of friends in St. Martin's Street to bid fare
well to Fanny on her departure, with the Thrales,
for Bath. Mrs. Thrale had come to take her
away that same night, and she was accompanied
by many of the Streatham set ; among them the
beautiful Miss Sophie Streatfield (the S.S., as Mrs.
Thrale always calls her), who possessed the
remarkable faculty of "shedding tears at will."
Writing on the following day to Fanny, who
was already on her journey westwards, Susan

204

A Memorable Gathering

remarks : " Well ! when the carriage was driven
off, I ran upstairs and bustled into the room with
Dr. Gillies and Charlotte — a little flustered, but
found the fair S.S. with the tears yet glistening
in her eyes. . . . But Pacchierotti — don't tell
anybody tho' — Pacchierotti's eyes were just in
Miss Streatfield's state, partly owing to his own
concern at your departure, partly to his soft
sympathetic disposition, which was moved by
the sight the S.S. presented to his view. . . .
Pacchierotti would insist upon it that I cried too
— I assured him, with great truth, I never did
those things in public. He said, ' Mrs. Thrale's
friend, she was so affected — she weeped!' He
talked on, but I did not immediately hear him.
' You are very absent/ said he. * It seem to
me that you are particularly attached to Miss
Fanny, and she to you — more than the rest—
there seem but one soul, but one mind between you.
You are two in one/ "

CHAPTER XX

THE SPLENDID AND CLASSIC BATH

LET us follow Fanny in her journey to Bath,
commenced on March 3Oth, and establish her
there before returning to Susan and St. Martin's
Street.

Fanny has described the Thrales' mode of
travelling. " They rode," she tells us, " in a
coach and four," and were " followed by a post-
chaise bearing two maids," and also by <{ two
men on horseback." We can therefore fancy the
small cavalcade passing along the " great western
road " on those early spring days, the travellers
catching glimpses on their way of sunlit river
and hillside, of primrose-bordered lanes, of busy
farmsteads and of thriving country towns.

There had been a royal hunt, it seems, in the
neighbourhood of Windsor on the day preceding
their journey. " We only went to Maidenhead
Bridge the first night," writes Fanny. " Several
stragglers [were] yet remaining at all the inns,
and we heard of nothing but the King and royal
huntsmen and huntswomen.

206

THE "BEAR INN," DEVIZES,

The Splendid and Classic Bath

" The second day we slept at Speen Hill, and
the third we reached Devizes."

Here the travellers halted at the " Bear Inn,"
an old gabled house still to be seen standing
in the market-place. Its main entrance now
opens to the front, but in former times it was at
the side of the inn by the great coaching-yard.
Three massive pillars, with decorated capitals,
give dignity to the old entrance, and make this
part of the building especially quaint and
picturesque.

Fanny and Mrs. Thrale were no sooner settled
in their apartments, than they were surprised by
hearing the sounds of music proceeding from a
parlour near to their own. On inquiry they found
that the musicians were daughters of their host
and hostess — Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence. " But
the wonder of the family," says Fanny, " was yet
to be produced. This was their brother, a lovely
boy of ten years of age, who seems to be not
merely the wonder of their family, but of the
times, for his astonishing skill in drawing. They
protest he has never had any instruction, yet
showed us some of his productions that were
really beautiful. ... I was equally struck with
the boy and his works.

"We found that he had been taken to town
and that all the painters had been very kind to
him, and Sir Joshua Reynolds had pronounced

209 p

The House in St. Martin's Street

him (the mother said) the most promising genius
he had ever met with."

No wonder the parents were, proud of their
little son, who in after years became the well-
known painter, Sir Thomas Lawrence. Thomas,
it seems, possessed great powers of acting as well
as of drawing. There is a summer-house in the
garden of the Inn, where Garrick, it is said (when
halting at the " Bear "), loved to retire with the
child, and where he would listen, by the hour, to
his dramatic recitations.

A pencil-sketch of Lawrence's father (taken
by the son) hangs on the wall of the Inn staircase,
in which the host of the " Bear" is represented as
a portly, dignified individual seated in an arm
chair. He wears a powdered wig, and his coat
is thrown open, displaying a broad waistcoat.
There is also a sketch of Mrs. Lawrence — a
handsome woman wearing a frilled cap tied
under the chin.

After resting one night at Devizes, the
travellers proceeded on their journey, and, in due
course, reached that " liveliest city of the land,"
as a contemporary writer has termed it, "the
splendid and classic Bath."

" We alighted," writes Fanny, " at the York
House, and Mrs. Thrale sent immediately to Sir
Philip Jennings Clarke, who spent the Easter
holidays here. He came instantly, and told us

2IO

THE CORNER HOUSE, SOUTH PARADE.

The Splendid and Classic Bath

of lodgings in the South Parade, whither in the
afternoon we all hied, and Mr. Thrale immedi
ately hired a house at the left corner. It [is]
most deliciously situated ; we have meadows,
hills, Prior Park, ' the soft flowing Avon,' — what
ever Nature has to offer, I think, always in our
view. My room commands all these ; and more
luxury for the eye I cannot form a notion of."

The view from the " house at the left corner,"
or extreme end, of the South Parade, is, to this
day, just as Fanny has described it. The front
of the building faces the Parade, but its eastern
side overlooks the Avon from the summit of a
steep, wooded bank. In former days a flight of
steps, called Whitehall Stairs, led down from the
end of the Parade to the water's edge, where
there was a ferry-boat, called " Tomkins' ferry
boat," to take passengers across the river.

Soon after their arrival in Bath, Mrs. Thrale
writes in an unpublished letter* to Dr. Burney —

" How I do reproach myself for saying,
though only to myself, that I had no time to
write to my dear Dr. Burney ! Yet I do protest
between dressing and marketing and bathing
and fooling, I have not a moment of my own,
any more than you have who are really busy.
Let me, however, thank you for your Fanny
and mine. She is an unspeakable comfort and

* Burney MSS.
213

The House in St. Martin's Street

delight to me, so affectionate, so friendly, so good
to my master. I knew I was right to make you
lend her to me ; she is worth all my entreaties.

"Mr. Thrale feels the benefit of Bath already,
that is, he feels the benefit of being a hundred
miles from the Compting House and the House
of Commons.

"... Mr. Texier's Feste does not make more
noise in London than Mrs. Macartney's suppers do
here ; and till our election is over for a Master
of the Ceremonies, I defy your town to exceed
ours in heat of party or acrimony of abuse, let
Lord North and Lord Shelburne do their worst."

Fanny alludes to this election in an un
published portion of her Diary. After mention
ing the arrival of some morning callers on a
certain Saturday, she says, " We all went in a
body to the Lower Rooms, where a Master of
the Ceremonies was electing. We found them
violently crowded, and parties running very high
for the various candidates. Mr. Tyson was
elected."

There is a portrait of Mr. Tyson in a Bath
Guide of the year 1782. He wears a richly
embroidered coat with lace ruffles; his hair is
powdered, and he smiles blandly from out his
frame of carved flowers and ribbons.

The Old or Lower Rooms, which stood near
the North Parade, are those over which Beau

214

The Splendid and Classic Bath

Nash reigned supreme for so many years. Mrs.
Thrale's earliest recollections went back as far as
those days. She remembered, she tells us, when
a child, " being carried about the rooms by Beau
Nash, and being taken notice of by Lady Caroline,
mother of the famous Charles James Fox."

Curiously enough, Mrs. Thrale (as Madame
Piozzi) lived to see the last of the Old Rooms.
In the year 1820 she gave a great gala in them
to celebrate her eightieth birthday, at which
more than seven hundred people were present,
when the aged lady herself danced a stately
minuet. A few months later these historic rooms
were burnt to the ground.

In the month of May, 1780, Mrs. Thrale,
writing to Dr. Burney, remarks * —

" I suppose you think you have all the music
to yourselves, no such thing ; here is Jerningham
the poet, and he sings songs to a harp — and now
he will have the carpet removed, and then he will
have the fire put out, and then he must wet his
lips with some catlap, and then he must have two
candles placed by him to show off his figure —
and when all's done he sings Arne's ballads in
a voice so low, so tender and so delicate, that,
though the room we sat in was not 20 feet long,
Miss Burney was forced to move her seat that
she might hear the dear creature at all."

* Burney MSS.
215

The House in St. Martin's Street

The witty Lord Mulgrave, who was in Bath
at this time, used to call Jerningham "a pink
and white poet," for it seems that his coat was of
the same pink colour as his cheeks. " He is,"
says Fanny, " all daintification in manner, speech,
and dress, and, while he sings, looks the gentlest
of all dying Corydons ! "

" The [professional] players here are ad
mirable/' writes Mrs. Thrale, " if they would not
sing so. I ran out of the Theatre last night so
precipitately when the people encored a song, our
Evelina has been laughing ever since at the
thoughts on't.

"... Well! I do think Bath as Bath the
loveliest place in the world ; but Terence — is not
it Terence ? — that says a town consists not of the
walls but of the company, was right enough, for
our society really is very dry and coarse ; John
son will die on't if he does come, but he hates the
idea of being left out, he says, so God a mercy.

" Company coming in relieves you, but dis
tresses me ; you will read no more nonsense,
and I must break off and go and talk fine." *

The fame of Evelina had naturally pre
ceded Fanny's advent in Bath. Mr. Crisp's
sister, Mrs. Cast, had written to him from
Somersetshire early in the previous year,
" Nanny Leigh writes me there is a book

* Burney MSS.
216

The Splendid and Classic Bath

entitled Evelina that all Bath are mad after,
said to be written by a Miss Burney, daughter
of Dr. Burney." Fanny, therefore, was hearing
her book talked of on all sides. Chance
acquaintance thanked her for the " vast enter
tainment she had afforded them," and strangers
stared at her and eagerly sought for introductions.

Of one of these strangers, a certain Mrs. G.,
Fanny writes : " She approached us (with an
air of tonish stateliness), and seating herself
nearly opposite to me, fixed her eyes on my face,
and examined it with a superb dignity of assur
ance that made me hardly know what I said
in my answers to Mrs. Lambert and Mrs. Byron."
Presently the lady observed to Mrs. Thrale, in
an audible whisper, " ' She is just what I have
heard — I like her vastly/ . . . and looking at
me with a smile, the softest she could assume,
said, ' I am a great admirer of Evelina — I think
it has very great merit.'

" I dare say," adds Fanny, " she thought the
praise of Dr. Johnson had never been half so
flattering to me/'

One evening Fanny meets Christopher
Anstey, the author of the Bath Guide, together
with other persons of note, at the house of a Mrs.
K. — a Welsh lady " of immense fortune." Look
ing round complacently upon her guests, Mrs. K.
remarks in a whisper to Mrs. Thrale —

217

The House in St. Martin's Street

<c Now, Ma'am, now Mrs. Thrale, I'm quite
happy; for I'm surrounded with people of sense!
Here's Mrs. Montagu and Mrs. Thrale and Miss
Burney. I'm quite surrounded, as I may say, by
people of sense ! "

Fanny often met Lord Mulgrave in society.
Besides being one of the Lords of the Admiralty,
he was himself a distinguished Naval Com
mander, and she had many a lively passage-of-
arms with him over what he termed "her ill-
usage of the Navy " in the character of Captain
Mirvan. When he quitted the neighbourhood
she writes : " Lord Mulgrave takes away with
him more wit than he leaves behind in all Bath,
except what is lodged with Mrs. Thrale. As to
Mrs. Montagu, she reasons well and harangues
well, but wit she has none. Mrs. Thrale has
almost too much ; for, when she is in spirits, it
bursts forth in a torrent almost overwhelming.
Ah ! 'tis a fault she has as much to herself as
her virtues ! "

CHAPTER XXI

SWEET PACC

To return to the unpublished journal-letters of
Susan Burney. She writes to Fanny on April
20th (1780) : " Dr. Johnson has just called, but
for a minute. He had a coach waiting for him,
and would not even sit down, tho' he was very
smiling and good-humoured. He came to tell us
he accepted an invitation which was sent him
this morning to dine with us next Sunday. Mrs.
Williams will likewise come." And writing on
the 24th, she says : " Yesterday Dr. Johnson
and Mrs. Williams came an hour before dinner
—at 3 o'clock."

These two friends must have presented a
striking contrast in their appearance as they
entered the Burneys' parlour. We have already
quoted Fanny's description of the Doctor on
her first sight of him. Here is another account
by a contemporary of Fanny's, Miss Laetitia
Hawkins. " His clothes," she says, "hung loose
. . . the lining of his coat being always visible.

219

The House in St. Martin's Street

I can now call to mind," she adds, " his brown
hand, his metal sleeve buttons, and my surprise
at seeing him with plain wristbands when all
gentlemen wore ruffles ; his coat sleeves being
very wide, showed his linen almost to the elbow.
His wig in common use was cut and bushy."

Miss Hawkins has also described the appear
ance of Mrs. Williams, the " blind poetess." " I
see her now," she writes, " a pale, shrunken old
lady, dressed in scarlet, made in the handsome
French fashion of the day, with a lace cap, with
two stiffened projecting wings on the temples, and
a black lace hood over it, her grey or powdered
hair appearing."

" Dr. Johnson was in very good humour,"
remarks Susan, " and very charming all day.
. . . At dinner he invited me to sit by him.
' Come, my love/ said he, ' it shall be you and
I,' and he kissed my hand ! — Should I forget
that?

". . . Mrs. and Miss Ord arrived at 7 [and]
at about 9, Mr. Greville, Dr. Russel, and Mr.
Harris came. ... At eleven Dr. Johnson said
to my father, f When I last looked at my watch,
sir, it was eight o'clock, and now it is eleven, and
I have not perceived how the time has passed/
And yet," remarks Susan, " he was not asleep
any part of it ! He was full of wit and brilliancy
with Dr. Russel, who alone dared oppose him on

220

Sweet Pace

various subjects, but particularly on politics. Dr.
Russel defended his opinion with so much frank
ness, but gave it up, when hard run, with such
good-humour, that he drew out Dr. Johnson and
contributed greatly to the amusement of the
whole company. . . . Latterly the conversation
took a more learned turn, and Dr. Johnson talked
upon the Greek and other languages, chiefly with
Mr. Harris. Everybody went away apparently
pleased with their visit.

" . . . I went downstairs with Mrs. Williams,
and Dr. Johnson stopped me. ' And how do
you live ? ' said he, ' without Fanny ? ' Very ill,
I told him.

" ' Aye/ said he, shaking his head and laughing,
' I hope she will never come back any more ! '

About this time Susan formed the acquaint
ance of Lady Clarges, the beautiful wife of Sir
Thomas Clarges. They sympathized with each
other in their love of music, and especially in
their admiration of Pacchierotti's singing. Lady
Clarges was herself an accomplished musician.
She is mentioned by Peter Pindar in a poem
upon a <c Drawing-room Reception in St. James's
Palace " in the following way : —

" The lovely Lady Clarges too was there,
To all the Graces as to Music born."

Again we find Lady Clarges identified with

221

The House in St. Martin's Street

music in the fine portrait of her by Gainsborough,
in which she is represented as playing upon the
harp.

Among the Burney MSS. there is a packet
of letters written by her at this period to Susan
Burney. The packet is quaintly docketted by
Madame d'Arblay in later years, "A few of
the Frisky Letters of the sportive, heedless,
happy, and, when she chose it, captivating Lady
Clarges."

The first letter is dated "Thursday" only.
It runs as follows : —

" MY DEAR Miss S. BURNEY,

" Huzza, huzza, I am so happy. Pacc-
hierotti is arrived safe[in England], sweet creature!
. . . Pray, pray, my dear sweet Miss Burney,
persuade him to make me a visit next month. . . .
Tell him Lady Droughom * is at Tunbridge
with Ansani, and that they walk every evening
al chiero delta luna, so he may take his revenge
by cutting her quite and coming to walk with me
in the broiling sun.

" God bless you. I cannot write a word more
at present, but am

" Ever yrs

" L. CLARGES."

* Pacchierotti had visited Lady Droughom when last in
England.

222

T. Gainsborough

LADY CLARGES

Sweet Pace

Again she writes —

"Sunday Night,

" Bortwell.

" CARA PRINCIPESSA,

" I thank you for your kind letter. . . .

1 pass my time very pleasantly. I laugh and
sing and drive all over the country ; have had
some pleasant society and envy no one. . . . We
are about 9 miles from Windsor. I have been

2 or 3 times to promener mes graces upon
Windsor Terrace, and to stare at the King and
Queen. ... I had a letter from Pac about six
weeks ago . . . and perceive that your sister is
a greater favourite with him [than ever].

". . . Fine work about operas! Noverre is
coming for next winter, and we are to have
operas of two acts and all the rest dancing.
They are to dance all Shakespear's plays and
part of the Roman history for the benefit of those
grown gentlemen and ladies who have forgot it,
or have never read it. Poor Pac will die of a
mortification. ... I have no more bad news to
enliven my letter, but remain
(( Yr

"Most humble
" Most obe1

" Most stupid
" And most idle friend

<l L. CLARGES."
223

The House in St. Martin's Street

After meeting this lady at an evening party,
Susan writes : " Lady Clarges looked really
beautiful, was not too highly rouged, [and had]
her hair most fancifully and becomingly dressed.
. . . She was all good-humour and cordiality to me."

Like Susan, Lady Clarges endeavoured to
help Pacchierotti to learn English, but she spoke 1
so rapidly, and used so many words of fashionable
slang, that he was often fairly puzzled by her
instructions. One day she told him he had " cut
her" on some occasion. "Come! vi taglio?"
cried he, quite bewildered.

Pacchierotti received great hospitality in the
houses of Lady Clarges, Lady Mary Duncan,
Lady Edgecumbe, and many other ladies of rank,
but it was in St. Martin's Street that he found
more especially the happiness of friendship.
" Sweet Pace," both Fanny and Susan often call
him in their letters to each other. " How my
father does love him ! " exclaims Susan.

One day we find Pacchierotti telling Susan
of his trials caused by the negligent treatment
of Mr. Sheridan, who was at that time " Con
ductor of the Opera House," from whom he was
unable to obtain payment for his services.

" Indeed, Mr. Sheridan he use me very ill,"
cries Pacchierotti. " I assure you I have a great
will . . . voglia, come si dice ? "

" A great mind" said I.
224

Sweet Pace

" A great mind to call him Rascal. He pro
voke me too much ! . . . I will write him a note."

Accordingly he took from his pocket a bit of
paper, and wrote the following lines : —

" Pacchierotti sends his compts to Mr. Sheridan,
and is very displeased to be obliged to call him
a Rascal — but his conduct is in everything so
irregular he can give no better title to so great

Breaker of his Word. D n him and his way

of thinking, which I wish it may bring him to the
Gallows."

He then drew a gallows with a man hanging,
and himself at the bottom of it pulling down his leg !

"You will be shocked," says Susan, writing to
her sister, " but had you been of the party you
must have laughed. . . . He half frightened me,
[but] he ended by saying that he was not capable
to send anybody such an insult, and when they
met should perhaps scarce reproach [Mr. Sheridan]
with his breach of word."

When Fanny expresses some alarm on re
ceiving the above account, Susan responds,
" Pray don't take too seriously [Pace's] incendiary
letter to Mr. Sheridan, for he was laughing a gorge
deployte all the time he wrote it. ... Indeed,
'twas done more in sport than malice."

Mr. Sheridan's ill-usage of his musicians was
the occasion of a don mot of Mrs. Thrale's. On
hearing that the opera singers would not be

225 Q

The House in St. Martin's Street

likely to get any money from the manager for all
their services during the season, she remarked,
"Why, that fellow grows fat like Heliogabalus
on the tongues of nightingales ! "

A few weeks after Pacchierotti's talk with
Susan, he was again in St. Martin's Street after
having had an interview with Mr. Sheridan.
" He spoke . . . with such candour of Mr. S.,"
writes Susan, " as made me like him better than
ever, ... He said, Mr. Sheridan had assured
him ... he would, in future, be more attentive
to matters of business with [him]. ' Pray do,
sir,' said I, clasping my hands ; ' for you have all
that belongs to a man of genius and of honour—
except punctuality! and he laughed so! ... They
parted excellent friends."

In Susan's Journals we read of many a delight
ful evening in St. Martin's Street spent in listening
to the singing of Pacchierotti. On one occasion
"he sung," says Susan, "some wild melodies such
as the common people of Naples, I think, sing
about the streets, which contained the most
extraordinary modulations imaginable." Then
followed some of his impassioned or pathetic
opera songs. " I listened to him," she says,
" with a delight which brought tears to my eyes."

There seems to have been an endless variety
in the singing of this great master. After hearing
him at the Opera House one evening, Susan

226

Sweet Pace

writes : " He did a hundred delightful things
that I never heard even him attempt before. . . .
He made the finest cadences in the world, and

POWDERING CLOSET IN DR. BURNEY'S BEDROOM.

my father, who has such opportunities of watching
him, says he never makes the same a second
time."

227

The House in St. Martin's Street

Indeed, Dr. Burney, speaking of this remark
able gift, says, " It made Pacchierotti a new singer
to me every time I heard him."*

Pacchierotti frequently performed in operas
in conjunction with Madame Le Brun. Dr.
Burney says that "she was so cold and in
strumental in her manner of singing that they
did not well accord together ; " and Susan, who
felt as her father did, remarks, " Hers is a bad
imitation of an instrument ; his what no instru
mental performer on earth can equal."

On the morning after one of his great achieve
ments, we find Pacchierotti calling in St. Martin's
Street, and when he is congratulated by Susan,
remarking, " But, Miss Susan, believe me what
I tell you — I thought so much of your having
told me you should be at the Opera."

" What a pretty compliment, and how touching
a one was this ! " she remarks to her sister.
" Well ! nobody knew how much they were
obliged to me for his singing so like a divinity !
I think I'll publish it to the world !"

* See Dr. Burney's " History of Music."

CHAPTER XXII

PICTURES IN SOMERSET HOUSE

EARLY in April, Fanny, who was still in Bath,
received a letter from Charlotte, in which the
writer says, " Edward has just finished three
stained drawings in miniature, designs for Evelina
—and most sweet things they are. . . . My father
has shown them to Sir Joshua Reynolds and
asked him whether there would be any impropriety
in putting them into the Exhibition. Sir Joshua
highly approved of the proposal, and sure enough
into the Exhibition they are to go ... he said
some very handsome things of them, and was
much pleased with a picture (that Edward has
introduced into Mr. Villars's parlour) of Dr.
Johnson, as he says he thinks it very natural for
so good a man as Mr. Villars to have a value for
Dr. Johnson."

On receiving this welcome news Fanny wrote
a letter to her cousin Edward thanking him " for
the honour his pencil and taste had conferred
upon her fortunate Evelina'' " With nothing,"

229

The House in St. Martin's Street

she adds, " am I so particularly gratified, as with
your insertion of Dr. Johnson's picture . . . and
proud enough am I that his portrait, your work
manship, and my Dramatis Personee should thus
be united in one performance."

In the course of the month of May, Fanny
and Mrs. Thrale paid a flying visit to London
in consequence of a letter from Dr. Johnson
urging Mrs. Thrale to take a personal share in
canvassing the Borough for her husband's re
election as its Member of Parliament.

Dr. Johnson wrote : " Be brisk, be splendid,
and be public. The voters for the Borough are
too proud and too little dependent to be solicited
by deputies ; they expect the gratification of
seeing the candidate bowing or curtseying before
them. If you are proud they can be sullen.
Such is the call for your presence : what is there
to withhold you ? Mr. Thrale certainly shall not
come ; and yet somebody must appear whom the
people think it worth while to look at." f

Mrs. Thrale went to her house in the Borough,
and Fanny returned to her home in St. Martin's
Street, which she reached on May i2th.

Susan writes in her Journal soon afterwards :
"Saturday morning I went with Fanny to the
Exhibition, which is in Somerset Place, for the
first time. I was charmed with the building and

* Burney MSS. t Piozzi Letters.

230

Pictures in Somerset House

fitting up of the apartments, and infinitely enter
tained with viewing the pictures."

The Royal Academy of Arts had just removed
from Pall Mall, where it had held its Exhibitions
for the first eleven years of its existence. Its
incorporation by Royal Charter was celebrated
by some quaint verses written in 1769, from
which we are tempted to quote the following : —

" Let Science hail this happy year —
Let Fame its rising glories sing
When arts unwonted lustre wear,

And boast a patron in their King :
And here unrivaU'd shall they reign,
For George protects the polish'd train.
*****

" So shall her sons, in science bred,

Diffuse her arts from shore to shore,
And wide her growing genius spread,

As round the world her thunders roar :
• For he who rules the subject main,

Great George — protects the polish'd train."

The passage of a dozen years had not made
our writers more modest, for a critic, in reviewing
the Exhibition of 1780, remarks: " In all ages
the progress of the arts to excellence has been
slow and gradual ; but it is the singular merit of
the Royal Academy of Britain that it has broke
through the fetters with which similar institutions
have hitherto been confined, and by one rapid
stride has attained the pre-eminence of all
competitors."

231

The House in St. Martin's Street

However, there is no doubt that this particular
exhibition was a remarkable one from the large
number of its pictures which have since become
famous.

Dr. Johnson, who was a guest at the Academy
dinner of this year, writes to Mrs. Thrale :
"The Exhibition is eminently splendid. There
is contour and keeping and grace and expression
and all the varieties of artificial excellence. The
apartments are truly very noble. The pictures,
for the sake of a sky-light, are at the top of the
house ; there we dined, and I sat over against
the Archbishop of York. See how I live when
I am not under petticoat government ! "

Susan, writing of her visit to the Royal
Academy, remarks : " On the ground floor in
the Drawing Room are Edward's three sketches
from Evelina^ which are the smallest but not the
most unferior (to use Merlin's word) pieces in
the Room."

One of these sketches is described by Char
lotte as representing " the scene between Evelina
and her father, where she is kneeling, and he, in
an agony, is turning from her." It is the same
scene which so much affected Dr. Burney. The
sketch is reproduced for the first time in these
pages.

" Upstairs we went," continues Susan, " to a
sweet room with emblematical paintings by

232

SCENE FROM "EVELINA"
From a water-colour drawing by Edward Burney

Pictures in Somerset House

Cipriani, and on the ceiling a figure of Theory
in an odious attitude by Sir Joshua Reynolds,

I then through a statue room, where we did not
stop, but passed on to that which is designed for
the students. The ceiling of this is painted in
four compartments representing the four elements
by West ; two separate figures at each end by
Angelica, representing Study, Design, Colouring,
and some other requisite for painting — her
design may in every sense be called beautiful.
This room is to be decorated by all the Acade-

j micians. Sir Joshua has given the King and
Queen already whole length, in their robes.
They seem both admirable portraits. . . .

" After viewing these rooms we ascended into
two others in which the Exhibition is held. . . .

" Gainsborough cuts a great figure this year.
He has several charming landscapes, particularly
one with a Gipsey family and a great number
of admirable portraits. ... A portrait of Madame
Le Brun, a handsome likeness of her . . . and
fischer so like, but so handsome . . . He is
standing with a pen in his hand before a Piano
Forte, his eye cast up, considering whether that
passage is worth setting down, his hautbois lay
ing by him and a fiddle on a chair at a little
distance — 'tis an admirable picture . . . [and]
Crosdill,* one of the most striking and best

* An accomplished Piano Forte and Harpsichord player.
233

The House in St. Martin's Street

portraits I think I ever saw in my life. Had I
ever longed to speak to Mr. Crosdill, I think I
must have done it now."

Of Sir Joshua's pictures Susan mentions his
"Una" as " the sweetest thing in the room;"
his portrait of Prince William Frederick of
Gloucester, "a lovely boy and a most charm
ing picture ; a fine portrait of Lady Beau-
champ, half length and a whole length of Lord
Cholmley."

Angelica Kaufmann, she tells us, had two
fancy pictures, one "a figure representing Re
ligion, very small and very sweet ; " another,
" Modesty embracing Virtuous Love." " Portraits
I fancy," she adds, "as Angelica's imagination
would have afforded more grace and beauty."
She speaks of "two of the Lady Waldegraves
treading on clouds by [Osias] Humphrey, not
a bad picture, but a bad likeness of the ladies
'tis said;" and of " Mrs. Abington as the
Comic Muse, a tinted drawing by Cos way, which
she did not like;" also of "a cavern with Julia
banished thither by Augustus, a charming though
terrific painting by Wright of Derby ; " and she
mentions a picture by Zoffany of a " Room in the
Gallery of Florence called the 'Tribune,' con
taining pictures by Raphael, Correggio, Titian,
and other great masters. . . . The style of each
painter," she says, " is said to be admirably copied,

234

Pictures in Somerset House

and in the foreground are portraits of a number
of English gentlemen who were at Florence when
Zoffany was there, among whom Mr. Bruce is
instantly discoverable. This picture is an exhi
bition of itself."

During Fanny's short sojourn in St. Martin's
Street she saw many of her friends. One evening,
"the Miss Kerwans came to tea," writes Susan,
"and Merlin, and while we were drinking it
Pacchierotti and Bertoni. They were full dressed,
going to the Concert des Dames, but sat as long
as they possibly could. . . . Once when I assisted
Pacchierotti in some word he wanted, ' Ah !
Brava ! Charming ! ' he exclaimed. ' You and you/
said he, bowing to me and then to Fanny, ' assist
me better than anybody!' He then told us
how the Miss Bulls teazed him with their fun.
' " Indeed," I say them, "/ am humbled to
death." "Oh! mumbled, mumbled'' they cry out,
and laugh, indeed, as if they would die. Oh,
what a hard case is mine ! ' exclaimed he, half
laughing.

" [After he and Bertoni had left] came Piozzi,
who I was very happy missed Pacchierotti."

Piozzi appears as both touchy and sensitive
in Susan's journals, and as especially jealous of
Pacchierotti's popularity. At a concert where
the latter had been singing with great effect,
Susan says, " Piozzi spoke to me en passant,

235

The House in St. Martin's Street

but walked off on seeing Pacchierotti and
Bertoni approach, which indeed I was not sorry
for/'

Piozzi could never understand the English
ladies' custom of being denied to visitors when
calls were paid at inconvenient hours, and used
to complain to Susan when he suffered that
" cativa sorte del not a torn''

Fanny quitted her home on the 26th of May,
and joined Mrs. Thrale at her house in the
borough previous to their return to Bath.

" I found my dear Mrs. Thrale," she writes,
" so involved in business, electioneering, canvass
ing, and letter- writing, that, after our first embras-
sades?-tvre. hardly exchanged a word till we got
into the chaise next morning.

" Dr. Johnson, however, who was with her,
received me even joyfully ; and making me sit
by him, began a gay and spirited conversation,
which he kept up till we parted [at night], though
in the midst of this bustle.

" The next morning we rose at four o'clock,
and when we came downstairs, to our great
surprise, found Dr. Johnson waiting to receive
and breakfast with us ; though the night before
he had taken leave of us, and given me the most
cordial and warm assurances of the love he has
for me, which I do indeed believe to be as
sincere as I can wish ; and I failed not to tell

236

Pictures in Somerset House

him the affectionate respect with which I return
it, though, as well as I remember, we never came
to this open declaration before.

" We . . . drank our coffee with him, and
then he handed us both into the chaise."

CHAPTER XXIII

THE NEW PARNASSUS

FANNY writes to Susan on a certain Wednesday
in May, soon after her return to Bath : " The
first thing said to me upon coming downstairs 1
to-day was, ' Here's a letter to Miss Fanny
Burney ! ' * Is there ? ' quoth I, * then I'm sure
'tis from my Daddy Crisp ! ' I took it, however,
and saw 'twas a very different hand. 'Twas
from Pacchierotti ! . . . 'Tis a very sweet letter, ]
and I am highly delighted with it. In my next
I will copy it for you . . . but now I have not a
moment to spare, as the house is filling with
company, and I must run downstairs. . . . I'm
sure I shan't know how to thank him, nor dare !
say half I shall wish."*

Pacchierotti had been patiently labouring at
this English epistle to Fanny, as Susan reports J
to her sister, some time before despatching it.
He had declined all offers of assistance, remark
ing, " Oh, no ! — She — come si did? — She forbade

* Burney MSS.
238

,t,,.v JvA'U/i!^^ :\\

f«*f^ffft±rA*

W ^7fr \\ \IH^

7 /• v / / / \ ' • •• \ \

- ^ I /../,_.. J..J-..U- -,.,Jv..'.\ '•/

"V^" '"' " ' **r'<-*"^^

;~;_ "v, %<=i
M^--^:'»^'\

SUITE OF PARLOURS, SOUTH PARADE.

The New Parnassus

me, prohibited me — hindered me — to show it to
anybody. She will have it all my own nonsense,
and indeed she is so agrdable, I could not decline
to prove to her my bestiality''

" I would fain," says Susan, " have persuaded
him to use some other word, as I know he only
meant bfoise, but he said, c Oh, bestiality, it is
a charming word ! '

Fanny, writing on June 4th of her various
engagements at Bath, says : " We had an excel
lent sermon [on Sunday] from the Bishop of
Peterborough, who preached merely at the
request of Mrs. Thrale. From the Abbey we
went to the Pump-room, where we saw . . .
the beautiful Miss Ditcher, Richardson's grand
daughter.

" At dinner we had the bishop and Dr.
Harrington ; and the bishop, who was in very
high spirits, proposed a frolic, which was that
we should all go to Spring Gardens, where he
should give us tea, and thence proceed to Mr.
Ferry's, to see a very curious house and garden.
Mrs. Thrale pleaded that she had invited
company to tea at home, but the bishop said we
would go early, and should return in time, and
i was so gaily authoritative that he gained his
j point . . .

" Dr. Harrington was engaged to a patient,
and could not be of our party. But the three

241 R

The House in St. Martin's Street

Th rales, the bishop, and I, pursued our scheme,
crossed the Avon, had a sweet walk through the
meadows, and drank tea at Spring Gardens, where
the bishop did the honours with a spirit, a gaiety,
and an activity that jovialized us all, and really
we were prodigiously lively."

In a Bath Guide for the year 1780 the
writer thus describes this place of entertain
ment—

" Just on the other side of the new bridge,
erected by William Pultney, Esq., across the
Avon, is a public garden called Spring Gardens,
very pleasantly and judiciously laid out by Mr.
William Purdie for the summer amusement and
recreation of the inhabitants and company in
this city. A good deal of company meet almost
every evening in the garden to drink tea, etc.
Public breakfasts at is. 6d. each are held here
on Mondays and Thursdays, when music attends,
and dancing, with horns and clarionets."

Fanny, after describing their visit to Mr.
Ferry's house, where several odd contrivances
were shown to them, tells us that she and her
friends had a merry walk home. " Indeed," she
says, " we laughed all the way, and thought but
little how time went till we were again crossing
the Avon, when we were reminded of it by see
ing the windows [of our house] full of company."

The party would cross the river by Tompkins'
242

The New Parnassus

ferry-boat, alighting on the little landing-stage
under embowering trees, at the foot of Whitehall
Stairs. How they must have hurried up the long
flight of steps leading to the South Parade, their
house towering above them !

On entering her drawing-room, Mrs. Thrale,

WHITEHALL STAIRS.

"who was in horrid confusion," found that some
pf her guests were annoyed at having been kept
waiting. "Mrs. Byron," writes Fanny, "half
affronted, had decamped, before we returned, and
Mr. Travell, the beau, looked very grim at this
breach of etiquette, and made his bow just after
we returned. But what was to me most vexatious
was finding that Mrs. Carter^ had been waiting

* Elizabeth Carter, the translator of Epictetus.

The House in St. Martin's Street

for us near an hour. ... As soon as the general
apologies were over, Miss Cooper, who knew my
earnest desire of being introduced to Mrs. Carter,
kindly came up to me, and taking my hand, led
me to her venerable friend, and told her who I
was. Mrs. Carter arose, and received me with
a smiling air of benevolence that more than
answered all my expectations of her. She is
really a noble-looking woman ; I never saw age so
graceful in the female sex yet; her whole face seems
to beam with goodness, piety, and philanthropy.

"She told me she had lately seen some relations
of mine at Mrs. Ord's, who had greatly delighted
her by their musical talents — meaning, I found,
Mr. Burney and our Etty ; and she said some
thing further in their praise and of the pleasure
they had given her ; but as I was standing in a
large circle, all looking on, and as I kept her
standing, I hardly could understand what she
said, and soon after returned to my seat. She
scarce stayed three minutes longer. When she had
left the room I could not forbear following her to
the head of the stairs, on the pretence of in
quiring for her cloak. She then turned round to
me, and looking at me with an air of much kind
ness, said, ' Miss Burney, I have been greatly
obliged to you long before I have seen you, and
must now thank you for the very great entertain
ment you have given me/

244

The New Parnassus

" This was so unexpected a compliment that
I was too much astonished to make any answer.
However, I am very proud of it from Mrs. Carter,
and I will not fail to seek another meeting with
her when I return to town."

In an unpublished portion of her Diary,
Fanny speaks of going with some friends to see
the works of a Mr. Taylor, "a Gentleman painter "
who lived in the Circus. " These works," she
writes, " consist of Landscapes, Mornings, Even
ings, Noons and Nights, as many almost as there
are in a year. The views they exhibit are not
taken from nature . . . but, from his own fancy;
sometimes, therefore, probability seems to have
been neglected. They are in a very peculiar
style, — abounding in splendid ruins, strong light
and shade from suns or moons, and most
luxuriant and variegated foliage."

On leaving Mr. Taylor's house "[our friend]
Mr. Hunt made us accompany him to his house,
which was only four or five doors off, to look at
some prints. They were a collection which he
had purchased abroad, and well worth a long
examination, which, however, they were so far
from having that we hardly saw even the size of
one before it was covered by another ; — and so
anxious was he to show each that in fact we
cannot be said to have seen any."

Writing of the events of a certain Friday
245

The House in St. Martin's Street

early in June, Fanny remarks: "In the evening
was the last ball expected to be at Bath this
season, and therefore, knowing we could go to no
other, it was settled we should go to this. Of
our party were Mrs. Byron -and Augusta, Miss
Philips and Charlotte Lewis.

" Mrs. Byron was placed at the upper end of
the room by Mr. Tyson, because she is honour
able, and her daughter next to her ; I, of course,
the lowest of our party ; but the moment Mr.
Tyson had arranged us, Augusta arose, and
nothing would satisfy her but taking a seat, not
only next to, but below me. . . . She was soon
followed by Captain Brisbane, a young officer,
who had met her in Spring Gardens . . . and
was now presented to her by Mr. Tyson for her
partner [in a minuet]."

The mention of Mr. Tyson's name proves
that this ball was given in the Old or Lower
Rooms, as Mr. Tyson, the reader may remember,
had recently been elected Master of the Ceremonies
for those rooms.

Bath was very proud of her Dressed Balls, in
which the minuets formed a marked feature.
Ladies intending to dance a minuet had to give
in their names beforehand, and both they and
their partners had to appear on the occasion in
full dress. In the preamble of the " Rules of the
Lower Rooms" for the year 1777, the writer

246

The New Parnassus

remarks : "It is universally allowed by foreigners
as well as by persons of the first distinction in
this country . . . that no part of Europe can
boast of anything equal to a Dressed Ball in this
city ; not only on account of the personal charms
of the Ladies, but from the magnificence of the
Rooms." " To the highest votary of fashion,"
observes another writer, " Bath, taken for all in
all, almost bids defiance to meet with its like
again ! "

" Country dances were now preparing/' con
tinues Fanny, "and Captain Bouchier asked me
for the honour of my hand, but I had previously
resolved not to dance, and therefore declined his
offer. But he took of a sudden a fancy to prate
with me, and therefore budged not after the
refusal." Fanny had previously met this " flighty
officer," as she terms him, at a public Breakfast
at Spring Gardens, and had been amused at his
" careless rattle." He now talked to her of
Hannah More, Mrs. Montagu, and Mrs. Carter,
and "said most high and fine things of the
ladies of the present age ; — their writings
and talents." " I soon found," she remarks,
"that he had no small reverence for us blue
stockings."

After a while the company adjourned for tea.
"When that was over," she continues, "and we
all returned to the ball-room, Captain Bouchier

247

The House in St. Martin's Street

followed me, and again took a seat next mine,
which he kept, without once moving the whole
night.

" . . . Before we broke up this captain asked
me if I should be at the play next night. ' Yes/
I could not but say, as we had places taken some
time ; but I did not half like it, for his manner of
asking plainly implied, * If you go why / will.'
When we made our exit he saw me safe out of
the rooms with as much attention as if we had
actually been partners. As we were near home
we did not get into chairs ; and Mr. Travell
joined us in our walk.

" ' Why, what a flirtation ! ' cried Mrs. Thrale.
' Why, Burney, this is a man of taste ! Pray, Mr.
Travell, will it do ? What has he ? '

" * Twenty thousand pounds, ma'am,' answered
the beau.

" ' Oh ho ! has he so ?— Well, well, we'll think
of it.'

" Finding her so facetious, I determined not
to acquaint her with the query concerning the
play, knowing that if I did, and he appeared
there, she would be outrageous in merriment."

About this time Mrs. Thrale writes to Dr.
Johnson : " Our flagstones upon the South
Parade burn one's feet through one's shoes ; but
the Bath belles, fearless of fire ordeal, trip about
secure in cork soles and a clear conscience. . . .

248

The New Parnassus

How does Congreve's Life turn out ? I expect
these Lives to be very clever things after all."
And Dr. Johnson writes to her —

" Do you go to the house where they write for
the myrtle ? You are at all places of high resort,
and bring home hearts by dozens ; while I am
seeking for something to say about men of whom
I know nothing but their verses, and sometimes
very little of them."

" The house where they write for the myrtle "
was none other than the celebrated Bath Easton
Villa, which stood, and still stands, about two
miles from Bath, upon a green hillside over
looking the valley of the Avon.

Horace Walpole, writing in a satirical vein
to a friend of this resort, remarks : " You must
know that near Bath is erected a new Parnassus,
composed of three laurels, a myrtle-tree, a weeping
willow, and a view of the Avon, which has been
christened Helicon. They hold a Parnassus fair
every Thursday, give out rhymes and themes,
t and -all the flux of ^quality contend for the prizes.
A Roman vase, decked with pink ribbons and
myrtles, receives the poetry which is drawn out
every festival ; six judges of these Olympic
games retire and select the brightest composition,
which the respective successful acknowledge,
kneel to Caliope, Lady Miller, kiss her fair hand,
and are crowned by it with myrtle."

251

The House in St. Martin's Street

Fanny writes in her Journal on Thursday,
June 8th : " We went to Bath Easton. . . . The
house is charmingly situated, well fitted up, con
venient and pleasant, and not large, but com
modious and elegant. Thursday is still their
public day for company, though the business of
the Vase is over for this season.

" The room into which we were conducted
was so much crowded we could hardly make our
way. Lady Miller came to the door . . . took my
hand, and led me to a most prodigious fat old
lady, and introduced me to her. This was
Mrs. Riggs, her ladyship's mother, who seems
to have all Bath Easton and its owners under
her feet. ... Sir John was very quiet, but very
civil.

" I saw the place appropriated for the Vase,
but at this time it was removed."

The Vase used to stand upon a column in the
centre of a wide bow-window. We have visited
Bath Easton, and have seen that bow-window,
and we have also peeped into the adjoining
panelled-room where the judges used to retire to
award the prizes.

Among the contributions to the Vase, some
of which were published in 1781, we find the
following lines : —

252

The New Parnassus

ON THE CLOSING OF THE VASE FOR
THE SEASON.

" The glory of this Vase may time prolong
Of Greece and Rome the classic names among ;
No panegyric here can reach the truth
Where wit and beauty charmed th' enamoured youth.
Ye Muses, soon from Miller's groves remote,
To plaintive elegy your strains devote ;
Ye dying Swans, the closing Vase surround
And sweetly sing its life and death renown'd."

CHAPTER XXIV

RIOTERS IN ST. MARTIN'S STREET

SUSAN BURNEY writes in her unpublished
Journal-letters on June 8th (1780): "Oh, my
dear Fanny ! How frightened would you have
been had you known what has been passing in
St. Martin's Street, and indeed in almost every
street in London since I last wrote to you ! . . .

" Monday evening last, before my father,
mother, and Charlotte returned from Mrs.
Reynolds', William came into the parlour with a
face of alarm, and told me there was terrible
rioting about the streets, and that the mob were
breaking several windows in Queen Street and
threatening to set fire to some of the houses
because they were inhabited by Roman Catholics.
The evening before they had burnt down a Chapel
in Moor Fields. . . . However, we were to have
some of this horrid work before our own eyes, for
very shortly after my father [and the others]
returned . . . we heard violent shouts and huzzas
from Leicester Fields, and William, who went to

254

Rioters in St. Martin's Street

see what was the matter, returned to tell us that
the populace had broke into Sir George Saville's
house, and were then emptying it of its furniture.
They had piled up the furniture in the midst of
the Square, and had forced Sir George's servant
to bring them a candle to set fire to it. They
would doubtless have set the house itself on fire
[also] had not the Horse and Foot Guards pre
vented [their doing so]. . . . The flames [seen
from] our Observatory illuminated the whole
Square."

This act of violence marked the commence
ment of the memorable Lord George Gordon
Riots. The rage of the rioters, whose cry was
" No Popery," was especially directed against
Sir George Saville, because he had recently
introduced the Catholic Relief Bill into the
House of Commons. This Bill, as it is well
known, alarmed some of the more bigoted or
ignorant of the Protestants, who determined
to get it rescinded, and had chosen the Lord
George Gordon, a weak-headed fanatic, as their
leader.

Dr. Johnson, writing at this time to Mrs.
Thrale, remarks : " On Friday, the good Pro
testants met in St. George's Fields at the
summons of Lord George Gordon, and marching
to Westminster, insulted the Lords and Commons,
who all bore it with great tameness. At night

255

The House in St. Martin's Street

the outrages began by the demolition of the mass-
house by Lincoln's Inn."*

Susan writes in her Journal : " Tuesday . . .
I went to Lady Hales to dinner, and between six
and seven in the evening, as we expected [friends]
to tea, I took leave. I was somewhat surprised
to find the coachman was so surrounded by a
mob in Leicester Fields that he could with
difficulty get on ; however, as I approached St.
Martin's Street, I found that the crowd increased.
. . . The coachman was unable to turn down our
street, which was as crowded as the City is on a
Lord Mayor's day, but as he passed by, I saw a
great bonfire towards the bottom of it. He set
me down, terrified to death, at the corner of
Long's Court, and accompanied me to our door.
A gentleman, who was passing by, was so good-
natured as to make way for me, and to stop till
I had entered our house, where I found my
mother and Charlotte half out of their wits. They
told me that about half an hour before, many
hundred people came running down our street
huzzaing and shouting, with a blue flag, — that
their particular spite here was against Justice
Hyde, who has a house towards the bottom of
the street, and who had been active in en
deavouring to quell the rioters. He was for
tunately not in his house, for had he fallen into

* Chapel of the Sardinian Ambassador.

Rioters in St. Martin's Street

their hands I believe he would have been torn to
pieces. However, they broke into his house and
acted the same part that they had at Sir George
Saville's. . . . From our windows we saw them
throw chairs, tables, cloathes, in short everything
the house contained, into the street, and as there
was too much furniture for one fire, they made
several. I counted six of these fires, which
reached from the bottom of the street up to the
crossing which separates Orange and Blue Cross
Streets. Such a scene I never before beheld !
As it grew dusk, the wretches who were involved
in smoak and covered with dust, with the flames
glaring upon them, . . . seemed like so many
infernals. . . .

" One thing was remarkable and convinced
me that the mob was secretly directed by some
body above themselves : — they brought an engine
with them, and while they pulled Hyde's house
to pieces and threw everything they found into
the flames, they ordered the engine to play on
the neighbouring houses to prevent their catching
fire.

" . . . When Hyde's house was emptied of
all its furniture, the mob tore away the windows
and window-frames and began to pull up the
floors and the pannels of the rooms. . . . [At
last] the Ringleaders gave the word and away
they all ran past our windows to the bottom of

257 s

The House in St. Martin's Street

Leicester Fields with lighted fire-brands in their
hands like so many Furies, [where] they made
one great bonfire. [They continued their work
of destruction] till between two and three in the
morning.

" Early in the evening about 30 Foot Guards,
with an Ensign at their head, marched into the
street, but the daring populace appeared not the
least alarmed, on the contrary, they welcomed
them with loud shouts and huzzas. The Ensign
made some speech to them, but as I suppose he
dared not oppose so many hundred people ... he
[soon] turned round and marched out of the street
as he came into it, the mob shouting and clapping
the soldiers on their backs as they passed. . . .

" While Mr. Burney, my sister and I stood
at the window, the crowd being then greatly
diminished, as numbers had flown to attack other
places, I saw about ten men and women in a
group looking up at our windows. * No Popery,'
cried they, and repeated this two or three times.
. . . We had no idea that we were ourselves
addressed till one of the men said to the rest,
pointing to us, 'They are all three papists!' 'For
God's sake,' cried poor Hetty, ' Mr. Burney, call
out No Popery or anything ! ' Mr. Burney
accordingly got his hat and huzza'd from the
window. It went against me to hear him, though
it seemed no joke in the present situation of

258

Rioters in St. Martin's Street

things to be marked out by such wretches as
papists. 'God bless your Honour/ they then
cried, and went away very well satisfied.

" Before I went to Lady Hales [this] morning,
Mr. Burke had passed through our street, where
he was beset by a number of wretches, who wanted
to extort from him a promise to vote for repealing
the Act in favour of the Catholics. My mother
saw him and heard him say, ' I beseech you,

gentlemen ; gentlemen, I beg * However,

he was obliged to draw his sword ere he could
get rid of these terrific attendants.

" Baretti called on us, Dr. Gillies, and Edward,
who told us the rioters had gone to Newgate, had
broke open the prison gates, let loose all that
were confined there . . . and had set fire to the
place. [That night], on going up to the Observa
tory, I saw such a scene as I shall never forget, or
think of but with horror. Our own Square was
rendered as light as day by the bonfire made from
[the contents] of Justice Hyde's house, which
received fresh fuel every moment, and on the
other side we saw the flames ascending from
Newgate — a fire in Covent Garden which proved
to be Justice Fielding's house — and another in
Bloomsbury Square which was at Lord Mans
field's." Here the populace, not content with
burning his lordship's " books, pictures, and papers
that were invaluable, set the house itself on fire,

259

The House in St. Martin's Streei

[which], except the outward shell, was completely
burnt."

A newspaper writer of the day remarks :
" The destruction of Lord Mansfield's house may
be considered as a public loss [containing as it
did] 300 manuscript volumes of notes and other
valuable professional papers written with his own
hand, and which were all thus sacrificed to the
fury of an ungovernable mob ! "

The poet Cowper has commemorated this
event in the following lines : —

" So then— the Vandals of our isle,

Sworn foes to sense and law,
Have burnt to dust a nobler pile
Than ever Roman saw !

" And Murray sighs o'er Pope and Swift,

And many a treasure more
The well-judged purchase and the gift
That graced his lettered store.

" Their pages mangled, burn'd and torn,

The loss was his alone;
But ages yet to come shall mourn
The burning of his own"

In the London Chronicle for June 8th we read
that, " A party of the rioters went yesterday to
Caen-Wood in order to pull down Lord Mans
field's house [there], but the militia kept so good
a guard and received them with such firmness
that they thought proper to desist."

Caen -Wood, in reality, owed its safety not so
260

Rioters in St. Martin's Street

much to the action of the militia, as to the spirited
conduct of a single man. After their long march
from London, the rioters halted at the " Spaniards
Inn," a small tavern on the further side of Hamp-
stead Heath, close to the entrance gates of Caen-

THE " SPANIARDS."

Wood. The innkeeper plied them so well with
meat and drink as to keep them safely occupied
whilst he despatched a secret messenger, in all
haste, to the nearest band of soldiers to call them
to the defence of Caen- Wood. The success of
his plan, as we have seen, was complete.

One of the most terrible days during the
261

The House in St. Martin's Street

Gordon Riots was Wednesday, June 7th, known
for long afterwards as " Black Wednesday." In a
contemporary account by a Mr. Vincent,* we are
told that in the afternoon of that day " all the
shops were shut and bits of blue silk, by way of
flags, hung out at most houses, and the words
'No Popery' chalked on the doors and window
shutters by way of deprecating the fury of the
insurgents from which no person thought himself
secure . . . The very Jews in Houndsditch and
Duke's Place were so terrified that they followed
the general example by writing on their shutters,
* This house is a true Protestant ! '

" Men paraded the streets, armed with iron
bars, extorting money at every [house-door],
huzzaing and shouting * No Popery ! ' and the
inhabitants durst not refuse them money. One
man, in particular, was mounted on horseback,
and refused to take anything but gold . . . the
whole city was laid under contribution.

" The mob," continues the writer, " had not
only declared their resolution of firing the prisons
and some private houses, but had avowed their
intention to destroy the Bank, Gray's Inn, the
Temple, Lincoln's Inn, the Grand Arsenal at
Woolwich, and Royal Palaces. A universal

* "A Plain Narrative of the Late Riots and Disturbances in the
Cities of London and Westminster and Borough of Southwark," by
William Vincent, of Gray's Inn, 1780.

262

Rioters in St. Martin's Street

stupor had seized the minds of men. They
looked at one another, and waited with a resigned
consternation for the events which were to follow."

Some attempt at defence, however, was
made by the authorities, who placed bands of
soldiers to protect the Bank, the Guildhall, the
Inns of Court, etc., and had cannon mounted
in the parks. But in spite of these precautions,
as darkness approached the terrified inhabitants
" beheld at the same instant the flames ascending
from the King's Bench, and Fleet prisons, from
New Bridewell, from the Toll-gates on Black-
friars' Bridge, from houses in every quarter of
the town, and particularly from the bottom and
middle of Holborn, where the conflagration was
horrible beyond description."

Susan Burney writes in her Journal, " On
going into the Observatory we saw a yet more
lamentable and shocking appearance than that
of the preceding evening. Such a fire I never
beheld as one of four that were burning with
violence at that time. We afterwards found it was
the house of a great distiller on Holborn Hill,
which, as he was a Papist, was set on fire, and
that the flames communicated very quickly to
a prodigious number of small houses adjoining."

This distillery, Mr. Vincent tells us, contained
immense quantities of spirituous liquors, and
that as the vessels holding them caught fire,

263

k The House in St. Martin's Street

" the liquor ran down the middle of the street
and was taken up by pailfuls and held to the
mouths of the besotted multitude, numbers of
whom perished from inebriation."

" Another great fire," continues Susan, "was
from the Fleet Prison, [while] the King's Bench
was in flames on the other side of us. We could
hear the huzzas, shouts and firing, and shrieks
from some of these terrible scenes of fury and riot."

The Burney household were all up and astir
during that awful night, each one endeavouring
to cheer and comfort the others. At last, how
ever, the flames began to subside, and when
Susan looked from the Observatory windows,
at 4 o'clock in the morning, all that remained,
she says, to mark the scene of devastation in
Holborn, was one great column of smoke.

Horace Walpole, it seems, had witnessed the
conflagration from the top of Gloucester House.
Writing to a friend of his experiences of that
night, he exclaims: "What families ruined!
What wretched wives and mothers ! What public
disgrace ! — Aye ! and where and when and how
will all this confusion end ? and what shall we be
when it is concluded ? I remember the Excise
and the Gin Acts, and the rebels at Derby, and
Wilkes's interlude, and the French at Plymouth ;
but I never, till last night, saw London and
Southwark in flames ! "

CHAPTER XXV

A REIGN OF TERROR

" WE now found," writes Susan, " that we were
in the most imminent danger ourselves, that our
house would be burnt or pillaged, in all proba
bility, and that inevitable ruin must follow to my
beloved father, and to all that belong to him.
The Chapel on one side of our house, Porter's
house at the back of it, the Pawnbroker's on
the other side, Mr. Drummond's in Leicester
Fields, and the house nearly opposite to us, at
the corner of Blue Cross Street, were all destined
to the flames, and there was not the slightest
reason to hope that our house, encircled by so
/nany fires, should escape.

". . . My mother, who looked jaundiced with
terror, wanted us all to set off instantly for
Chesington, but this seemed to me a very wild
scheme ; since our house, had it escaped the
flames, would then have been probably emptied
of its contents by the late Newgate prisoners
and their friends. ... At last I proposed sending

265

The House in St. Martin's Street

some [of our] things to the Boyles', my sister's
and Mr. Kirwan's houses, which seemed all less
exposed than our own to fire. . . . Accordingly
our plate was packed up, and my father him
self went in a coach with it to the Boyles'.
When he returned home ... I assisted him to
pack up his MS. papers in large bags, which
we sent by William, in our coach, to my sister's,
where they were taken in.

" We now sent a 2nd coachfull with my father's
cloathes, my mother's and some other portable
things, [but] William soon came back with all
the things he had taken in the 2nd journey, and
told us that Tavistock Street was so full of
Rioters, who were knocking at several doors
with great fury, that he thought it was not safe
to carry them into Mr. Burney's house."

Susan learnt from her sister that the Rioters
in Tavistock Street came for money, which they
demanded with authority, and declared it was
for the poor prisoners they had rescued from
Newgate. ''Everybody/' said Hetty, "gave
half-crowns, and some more."

"Thursday, the 8th of June, was a memorable
day," writes Susan. "My dear father went out
early into the city ... on foot and visited every
spot where the Rioters had been most busy. Saw
the ruins of Newgate, where everybody went in
and out as freely as they walk under the Piazzas

266

A Reign of Terror

in Covent Garden — went to the Bank, which had
been attempted to be broke into three times
the preceding evening, but was fortunately pre
served by the soldiers. He took some money
in order, dear Soul, to pay everybody to whom
he owed anything while he had anything to give
them. For this purpose he went to Mr. Bremner's
and Mr. Coutts'. ' If we must be ruined/ said
he, 'at least I will have the satisfaction of not
owing a guinea in the world.' He then visited
Lord Townshend, and freely spoke his opinion
as to the necessity of some spirited exertion in
the King or Ministers to put a stop to the horrid
proceedings of a set of lawless, daring and
inhuman ruffians."

A strange apathy, as we have seen, seems
to have taken possession of the mind of the
public during this time of danger. Dr. Johnson
writes to Mrs. Thrale on June gth : " On
Wednesday I walked with Dr. Scot to look at
Newgate, and found it in ruins, with the fire yet
glowing. As I went by the Protestants were
plundering the Sessions-house at the Old Bailey.
There were not, I believe, a hundred, but they
did their work at leisure, in full security, without
sentinels and without trepidation as men lawfully
employed, in full day."

Mr. Richard Burke, in a letter to a friend,
says that he saw some mere boys demolishing a

267

The House in St. Martin's Street

house and burning its effects, no one daring to
obstruct them. " Children," he exclaims, " are
plundering at noon-day the city of London !"

We learn from another source that two
gentlemen "who were standing under the wall of
St. Andrew's Church, Holborn, while the great
Distillery was blazing fiercely, noticed the watch
man walk by at his usual pace, calling the
hour ! "

In the same column of the Morning Chronicle
that gives full details of the rioters' outrages we
find a paragraph giving equally full details of a
Court Reception in St. James's Palace. After
describing the attire of the ladies, the writer goes
on to say : " The gentlemen's dresses were, for
the greater part, of spring silks, flowered and
plain, with tissue waistcoats." His Majesty is
described as wearing a "coat of pea-green striped
silk."

Curiously enough, apathy in the public went
side by side with extreme terror, which moved
people to do anything in their power to pro
pitiate the rioters. We are informed by the
newspapers of the day, that each night the great
city merchants illuminated their houses as a sign
of sympathy with the mob, while in the daytime,
hundreds of people wore blue cockades for the
same reason.

"It will probably be a black night," writes
268

A Reign of Terror

Horace Walpole on June 7th. " I am decking
myself with blue ribbons like a May-day
garland."

In the Morning Post for June gth a writer
remarks : " No business was transacted yesterday
throughout the cities of London and West
minster, every shop being shut from Whitechapel
to Tyburn turnpike."

To return to the Burney household.

In spite of the dangers which surrounded them,
Susan determined to make her way to her aunts'
house in York Street, Covent Garden, that she
might at least endeavour to cheer them. " I
found my aunts," she writes, " as I expected,
terrified to death. The rioters had been in
their street the preceding night to levy contri
butions on all its inhabitants. By accident they
passed by [my aunts'] door without stopping, but
afterwards somebody marked an O upon it, which
it seems the rioters did on the doors of all
[persons] who did not give sufficient [money] to
satisfy them, [and where] they might take
measures to be revenged. No wonder my aunts
were alarmed. I passed by Justice Fielding's
house on my way to York Street, the mere shell
of which remains. It has been more completely
demolished than Hyde's."

During all this time of danger the Burneys
had felt keen anxiety on behalf of their Italian

269

The House in St. Martin's Street

friends, who, as being both Roman Catholics and
foreigners, would be especially obnoxious to the
rioters. One day Pacchierotti called in St.
Martin's Street. " I was astonished to see him,"
writes Susan, "and to hear he came on foot.
His countenance was as serene as ever I saw it,
and he declared to me he was not in the least
frightened. I dared not tell him how frightened
I was myself for him. [But] I begged he would
not expose himself by walking about alone at
such a time as this, when the city seemed to be
inhabited by wild beasts, not human creatures.
1 Why should I fear ? ' said he, smiling. ' I
have committed no fault. . . . To say the truth,
I am not alarmed, because the English nation, it
seem to me, is composed of good-hearted, mild
people.'

" He told me that Mr. Bertoni was terribly
frightened. * He trembles/ said he, ' like a
leaf, as a littel child ! I could not persuade him
to come here with me.' Pacchierotti told me
many people had advised him to take his name
off his door, but he said he did not intend to
do it."

Both Giardini and Sacchini had not only done
this, but had had " No Popery " chalked on their
doors. " Had Pacchierotti been in our part of
the town," continues Susan, " his fearlessness,
even in this particular, would have frightened me

270

A Reign of Terror

for him, but I have heard of no disorders at all
towards Cavendish Square."

Horace Walpole, writing to a friend at this
same time, speaks of returning late in the evening
to a house in the West End and seeing on his
way " Charing Cross, the Haymarket, and Picca
dilly all illuminated from fear . . . though all this
end of the town," he remarks, " is hitherto per
fectly quiet, lines being drawn across the Strand
and Holborn to prevent the mob coming west
ward." He concludes his letter with a touch of
characteristic humour. " As it is now three in
the morning, I shall wish you good night, and
try to get a little sleep myself, if Lord George
Macbeth has not murdered it all. I own I shall
not soon forget the sights I saw from the top
of Gloucester House ! "

Among other visitors in St. Martin's Street,
at this time, Susan mentions " Mr. Davaynes,
[who] showed us," she remarks, "a blue cockade
which, he said, had been his passport through the
,mob. . . . Sir Joshua Reynolds called," she says,
" and said he should afterwards go to Mr. Burke,
whose house was threatened to be served in the
same manner as Sir George Saville's that night.
However, we hear it has escaped."

The rioters had marked Somerset House as
one of the buildings to be destroyed on " Black
Wednesday." This fact was known to every one,

271

The House in St. Martin's Street

but Sir Joshua Reynolds, true to his post as head
of the Royal Academy, spent that anxious day
within its walls. His doing this is proved by a
simple entry in his pocket-book.

Happily by the Qth June affairs had begun to
assume a better aspect. Public spirit was arous
ing, and we read in the Morning Post of that
date, " The barristers and students of the Temple,
with Mr. Mansfield at their head, have armed
themselves for the defence of that inn of Court,
and are spiritedly determined to hazard their
lives in its protection."

And again, " The coal-heavers at Wapping
and the Irish chairmen have formed an associa
tion to oppose the rioters."

Dr. Johnson, writing to Mrs. Thrale on that
same days, says : " The King said in council
that the magistrates had not done their duty, but
that he would do his own, and a proclamation
was published directing us to keep our servants
within doors, as the peace was now to be pre
served by force."

Susan, describing the events of Thursday the
8th, writes : " In the evening we were to remove
some more of my father's MSS., books, cloathes,
etc. Charlotte had the day before made a com-
pleat packing up of everything which belonged to
her. I had no heart to set about this sort of
work for myself. . . However, not to pass for

272

A Reign of Terror

fool-hardy, at about six in the evening I looked
out and began to make up a parcel of my own
cloathes, etc. Horrid work enough ! But my
dear father's return home [from a visit to the
city] carried me downstairs, where I found all the
family rejoicing and exulting [in our safety]."

Dr. Burney had brought the welcome news
that a large body of troops had arrived in
London, that they had already attacked and
beaten a portion of the rioters, and that there was
every hope that peace and security would soon
be re-established.

" Since then," continues Susan, " I have done
nothing but thank God every moment for the
escape we have had, and for the yet greater
escape which the poor Catholic inhabitants of
this place have had, from the rage of a set of
savages.

" On Thursday scarce any one had the courage
to walk about without a blue ribbon in their hats.
Now not one, anywhere, is to be seen.
. " I would fain," continues Susan, " have gone
to my sister's to carry the good news, but my
father was afraid to let me venture, even in the
coach, lest any mob should be assembled, [for] the
soldiers are ordered to fire [on them], and hand
bills are given out to warn all quiet, peaceable
people to keep within doors, lest they should meet
a fate only intended for the riotous and daring.

273 T

The House in St. Martin's Street

" We all went quietly to bed that night at
12 o'clock, and had the first tolerable night's rest
which has fallen to our share since last Monday.

" Oh, my Fanny ! " exclaims Susan to her
sister. "If you had not respected and loved
our blessed father before, how would you have
revered and idolized him could you have seen
him this last week — comforting the distressed
— animating the powerful — and attentive to
every one's interest more than his own. . . God
send [our present] state of tranquillity may take
root!"

Dr. Johnson, writing to Mrs. Thrale on June
loth, says : " The soldiers are stationed so as to
be everywhere within call ; there is no longer any
body of rioters. . . . Lord George was last night
sent to the Tower. . . Everybody walks and eats
and sleeps in security. But the history of the
last week would fill you with amazement. It is
without any modern example."

CHAPTER XXVI

A FLIGHT FROM BATH

ON returning home from their visit to Bath
Easton, Fanny and her friends first heard rumours
of the disturbances in London. News travelled
so slowly in those days that when writing to her
father, even as late as June Qth, we find her still
ignorant of all details.

"My dearest Sir, — How are you?" she asks,
" and what is to come next ? The accounts from
town are so frightful, that I am uneasy, not only
for the city at large, but for every individual I
know in it. I hope to Heaven that, ere you
receive this, all will be once more quiet ; but till
we hear that it is so, I cannot be a moment in
peace. . . . Oh, what dreadful times !

"... I am very anxious indeed about our
dear Etty. Such disturbances in her neighbour
hood, I fear, must have greatly terrified her, and
I am sure she is not in a state of health to bear
terror.

" All the stage-coaches that come into Bath
275

The House in St. Martin's Street

from London are chalked over with ' No Popery/
and Dr. Harrington called here just now and
says the same was chalked this morning upon his
door, and is scrawled in several places about the
town.

"Friday night. The above I writ this
morning, before I recollected this was not post-
day, and all is altered here since. ... To our
utter amazement and consternation the new
Roman Catholic Chapel in this town was set on
fire at about nine o'clock. It is now burning
with a fury that is dreadful, and the house of the
priest belonging to it is in flames too. The poor
persecuted man has, I believe, escaped with life,
though pelted, followed, and very ill-used. Mrs.
Thrale and I have been walking about with the
footmen several times. . . . The rioters do their
work with great composure, and though there are
knots of people in every corner, all execrating
the authors of such outrages, nobody dares oppose
them."

On that same night Mrs. Thrale wrote to a
friend : " The flames of the Romish Chapel are
not yet extinguished, and the rioters are going to
Bristol to burn that. Their shouts are still in
my ears, and I do not believe a dog or cat in the
town sleeps this night."

Fanny writes again to her father on Saturday,
June loth : "I was most cruelly disappointed in

276

A Flight from Bath

not having one word to-day. I am half crazy
with doubt and disturbance in not hearing.
Everybody here is terrified to death. We have
intelligence that Mr. Thrale's house in town is
. . . threatened by the mob with destruction.
Perhaps he may himself be a marked man for
their fury. . . . Some infamous villain has put it
into the paper here that [he] is a papist.

"... We are going directly from Bath, and
intend to stop only at villages. To-night we
shall stop at Wrarminster, not daring to go to
Devizes. This town is now well guarded, but
still we dare not await the event of to-night ; all
the Catholics in the town have privately escaped.

" I know not now," she continues, " when I
shall hear from you. I am in an agony for news.
Our headquarters will be Brighthelmstone, where
I do most fervently entreat you to write — do,
dearest sir, write — if but one word — if but only
you name YOURSELF ! Nothing but your own
hand can now tranquillise me. . . . God bless—
defend — preserve you ! my dearest father. Life
is no life to me while I fear for your safety.

" God bless and save you all ! "

Rumours of the outrages committed in Bath
soon reached London. Horace Walpole writes
to a friend on June i2th: " Last night at
Hampton Court I heard of two Popish Chapels
demolished in Bath, and one at Bristol. My

277

The House in St. Martin's Street

coachman has just been in Twickenham, and says
half Bath is burnt."

Susan writes to Fanny on the same day : " I
had just written the last word of my narrative [of
the riots] when my dear father came in from the

THE "WHITE HART," SALISBURY.

Opera with a countenance so changed since he
had parted from us, that it frightened me even
before he opened his lips. After a little time he
told us that Mr. Sheridan had informed him an
express had arrived from Bath, in which place
the colliers had risen and beaten out the King's
troops that were stationed there. My letter was

278

A Flight from Bath

scarcely gone, however, when it was suggested
by my father that Mr. Thrale would surely leave
Bath instantly on the breaking out of such a
terrible commotion." *

Fanny writes to her father from Salisbury on
June nth : " Here we are, dearest sir, and here
we mean to pass this night. We did not leave
Bath till eight o'clock yesterday evening, at which
time it was filled with dragoons, militia, and armed
constables, not armed with muskets but bludgeons.
These latter were all chairmen, who were sworn
by the mayor in the morning for petty con
stables. . . .

" We set out in the coach-and-four, with two
men on horseback, and got to Warminster . . .
a little before twelve."

The Thrales were in keen anxiety, all this
time, for the fate of their great brewery, and also
for that of their house in the Borough ; but on
reaching Salisbury news arrived from London to
relieve them of their fears.

Mrs. Thrale writes to Dr. Johnson : " Safe !
safe ! safe ! Sir Philip,f kind creature, has been
more than charming ; he has saved us all by his
friendly activity. God bless him ! Do go to his
house and thank him ; pray do, and tell him how
I love him. He loves you, and a visit from
Dr. Johnson will be worth forty letters from me,

* Burney MSS. t Sir Philip Jennings Clarke.

279

The House in St. Martin's Street

though I shall write instantly. Perkins has
behaved like an Emperor ! . . . The villains had
broke in, and our brew-house would have blazed
in ten minutes, when a property of ,£150,000
would have been utterly lost, and its once
flourishing possessors quite undone."

Sir Philip, it seems, had contrived to get a
band of soldiers into the brewery in all haste ;
whilst Perkins had kept " the mob amused with
meat, drink, and huzzas."

Fanny received a letter at this same time
from Charlotte, in which her sister writes :
"Thank Heaven, everybody says now that Mr.
Thrale's house and brewery are as safe as we
can wish them. There was a brewer in Turn
stile that had his house gutted and burnt because
the mob said ' he was a papish, and sold popish
beer/ Did you ever hear of such diabolical
ruffians ?

"... It sounds almost incredible, but they say
that on Wednesday night last, when the mob
was more powerful, more numerous, and out
rageous than ever, there was, nevertheless, a
number of exceedingly genteel people at Rane-
lagh, though they knew not but their houses
might be on fire at the time."

Fanny, writing from Salisbury on June nth,
says : " This morning two more servants came
after us from Bath, and brought us word that

280

A Flight from Bath

the precautions taken by the magistrates, last
night, had had good success, for no attempt of any
sort had been renewed towards a riot. But the
happiest tidings to me were contained in a letter
from Mr. Perkins with an account that all was
quiet in London, and that Lord G. Gordon was
sent to the Tower.

" . . . We intended," she continues, " to have
gone to a private town, but find all quiet here,
and therefore prefer it as much more com
modious."

The inn at Salisbury, where Fanny and the
Thrales stayed, was in all probability the " White
Hart," as it was the chief inn of the place at that
time ; and the Thrales, being wealthy, secured
every comfort when travelling.

The following unpublished letter of Fanny's,
addressed to her father, enables us to follow the
party in their journey : —

" Southampton,

"June I3th.
" MY DEAREST SlR,

"We arrived here yesterday about 7 in
the evening, but the Post always leaves this
town in the morning, and therefore I could not
write.

" Everything here is perfectly tranquil, and
we procured a Morning Post of yesterday that
assures us of the restored tranquillity of London.

281

The House in St. Martin's Street

We are therefore now travelling merely for
pleasure, and as we were hurried from Bath by
fear of riots, we mean to make ourselves amends
by a pleasant tour in these parts.

" . . . Our next exploit is to see Portsmouth,
the shipping, etc., and thence I believe to Spit-
head. Adieu, most dear Sir. My best love to
all, and believe me,

" Most dutifully

" and most affecately,

"Your F.B."

The above letter was probably written in the
" Dolphin Inn," which stands in the High Street
of Southampton, and is conspicuous for its bowed-
windows and its wide entrance, leading to the
coaching-yard behind. The " Dolphin " was the
chief inn of the town in those days. Here
the winter Assembly balls were held ; the dancing
taking place in a long panelled room, now divided
into three rooms, from which the two bowed-
windows project.

From Southampton the travellers proceeded
to Portsmouth, where it seems likely they may
have stayed at the " Fountain Inn," which is one
of the three " elegant inns " mentioned in a con
temporary Portsmouth Guide-book. It stands in
the High Street, nearly opposite the old parish
church.

282

CORRIDOR IN THE "DOLPHIN INN," SOUTHAMPTON.

A Flight from Bath

Fanny passed much of the late summer and
early autumn of this year (1780) with the Thrales;
but in the month of November she was at
Chesington, having stopped on her way thither
for a day and night in St. Martin's Street.

She writes to Mrs. Thrale —

" As I spent only one day in town, I gave it
wholly to my sisters, and they to me; and in
the morning we had by chance such a meeting
as we have not had for very many years. My
two brothers, Susan and Charlotte and myself,
were of course at home, and Hetty, accidentally
. . . called in while we were all at breakfast. I
ran upstairs and dragged my father down out of
his study, to see once more all together his original
progeny, and when he came, he called out,
4 Offspring ! Can you dance ? ' '

After describing a welcome visit, during the
evening, from Pacchierotti, Fanny goes on to
say : " I had no other adventure in London, but
a most delightful incident has happened since I
came here [to Chesington]. We had just done
tea on Friday, and Mrs. Hamilton, Kitty, Jem,
and Mr. Crisp were sitting down to cards when
we were surprised by an express from London,
and it brought a 'Whereas we think fit' from
the Admiralty to appoint Captain Burney to the
command of the Latona, during the absence of
the Honourable Captain Conway. This is one

285

The House in St. Martin's Street

of the best frigates in the navy, of thirty-eight
guns, and immediately, I believe, ready for
service. Jem was almost frantic with ecstasy
of joy ; he sang, laughed, drank to his own
success, and danced about the room with Miss
Kitty till he put her quite out of breath. His
hope is to ... get out immediately, and have a
brush with some of the Dons, Monsieurs, or
Mynheers, while he is in possession of a ship of
sufficient force to attack any frigate he may
meet."

CHAPTER XXVII

PEACE AND PLAYFULNESS ONCE MORE

LET us take up Susan Burney's unpublished
Journals again.

As we turn over the large square pages, we
come to the following account of a musical
gathering which took place in St. Martin's Street
in the autumn of 1780. After mentioning the
arrival of Pacchierotti, Bertoni, and Cramer,
and also of a Mr. Dance, whose name occurs
here for the first time, Susan goes on to say :
" Mr. Burney and my sister had engaged them
selves to dine with Mrs. Ord ; it now grew late,
and my father was on tenter hooks at not seeing
them, and at last took up a tenor himself that
something might be begun. Cramer produced
his fiddle, Mr. Dance the violoncello, and they
played a very pretty trio of Hoffman's which my
father brought in MS. from Germany. Imme
diately after, they played a charming trio of
Vanhall's, during the last movement of which
Mr. Burney arrived, and my sister. . . . Mr.

287

The House in St. Martin's Stree

Burney now took the violoncello, Mr. Dance a
violin to second Cramer, and my father con
tinued at the tenor. They then played a quartette)
of VanhalFs in a, one of the most charming com
positions I ever heard, full of fancy . . . and new
as if it were dropt from the clouds."

Pacchierotti being pressed to sing, declined
doing so until Mr. Burney had given the com
pany one of his brilliant performances on the
harpsichord. This over, Cramer took Mr.
Burney's place at the instrument, while Dance
resumed his violoncello, and thus accompanied,
Pacchierotti struck into one of his most popular
songs in the "Olimpiade." " When it was over,"
writes Susan, " I told him I had heard him sing
this Rondeau as many times as I had fingers,
which is, I believe, literally true, and that he was
always new, and seemed to me to sing it more
perfectly every time I heard him. ' Oh ! ' cried
he, 'Miss Burney is so encouraging to me in
every thing — in music, in language . . . but I
am afraid, sometimes/ he added, 'that they are
my intentions which are only good/

" Pacchierotti . . . continued talking to me
till our attention was called off by Cramer, who
played a solo of his own most admirably, and
exerted himself as much as if he had been
[playing] before a thousand people. . . . Pacchie
rotti told me he had been worshipping Cramer.

288

T. Ga,

CHARLES ROUSSEAU BITRXEY

Peace and Playfulness once more

Indeed ... he speaks of him in the highest
terms that are possible. . . . The evening was
delightfully concluded by a charming quartette of
Haydn's, in which Cramer played incomparably."

Cramer, like Pacchierotti, had experienced
ill-usage from Sheridan. " Shameful, is it not ?"
writes Susan. " But Mr. Sheridan behaves to
all alike, I believe." Then comparing Cramer's
character with that of Giardini, she says, "He
seems to have none of Giardini's satyrical wit, but
to possess a worthy, benevolent mind, which in
clines him to wish peace to all mankind."

Many an old friend or new acquaintance
would drop in upon the Burney household at
their tea-hour.

" Tuesday sennight in the evening," writes
Susan, " Mr. Fontana called with a German
gentleman to speak concerning a Pianoforte
which my father promised to procure for the
former. ... My father was not visible. How
ever, as foreigners you know are never at a loss,
they sat down and stayed tea ; though, as Mr.
Fontana speaks no English, he never attempted
to converse with my mother or Charlotte, which
I regretted more on their account than my own,
as indeed he is an intelligent, polite, and ex
ceeding entertaining man. The German, who
speaks a great deal of very bad English, and
whose French is not much better, divided his

289 u

The House in St. Martin's Street

attention among us. ... Wednesday evening,
just before tea, these two gentlemen called again
to inquire after Dr. Borne, and though he was again
not a' torn, as Piozzi writes it, they entered, drank
tea with us, and stayed pretty late. Thursday
evening I really could scarce forbear laughing
when Mr. Fontana and his German friend were
again announced — 3 days following! . . . Soon
after their arrival came Mr. Franco, a Jew, and
another gentleman with a face very like an owl,
and with a gravity and steadiness of countenance
worthy that venerable bird. These came by
appointment, so that my father appeared at tea,
and we had a very singular party — Italians,
French, Irish, English, Jews, Protestants, Catho
lics, Deists, and what not! As Mr. Fontana
. . . was the best qualified to entertain those
about him, the conversation was entirely in!
French, so that Mr. Franco said at last, ' I shall
begin to forget I am in England/ '

Relating the events of a certain Monday in;
October, Susan says : "In the evening my Aunt;
Nanny came in to tea [from York Street], in hopes,
she acknowledged, that she should meet with no
foreigner, as I had told her we had seen Merlin,
Piozzi, and Baretti so very lately. However,
our tea things were not removed when we were
alarmed by a rap at the door, and who should
enter but llmperatore del Canto and his treasurer

290

Peace and Playfulness once more

— Pacchierotti and Bertoni. I leave you to guess
who was charmed and who looked blank. They
would not drink any tea, but seated themselves
and stayed with us full three hours.

Pacchierotti inquired after Fanny's health,
and mentioned his having written her a note, but
said he was afraid it was full of errors. " ' I am
indeed a truly beast/ said he ; ' my memory is
withered, faded/ 'Impaired' I told him was a
better word.

" ' I am delightful to be in this company,' he
remarked presently. ' So great deal of sense. . . .
All — your sister, yourself, your little brother. . . .
All Mr. Dr. Burney's family. . . . But the best,
I beg pardon, Ma'am/ bowing comically to a [lady
visitor], ' is indeed Dr. Burney/ whom he warmly
embraced.

" ' Go away, Papa/ cried I, laughing. ' Can
you stand that ? ' and accordingly they both ran
away laughing together into the outward room."

Hearing one day that Mrs. Burney was in
disposed, Pacchierotti desired Susan " to present
his grief to her."

"Once when I set him right," says Susan,
" he said ' you level me all the difficulties/ ';

Apropos of some mistake he thought he had
made on another occasion, he said he feared that
he should become the object of Susan's " peculiar

despise."

291

The House in St. Martin's Street

Baretti was a frequent visitor in St. Martin's
Street. After he had been spending an evening
there, Susan writes to Fanny: " Baretti was
not in one of his violent, overbearing humours
. . . but on the contrary was very sociable and
good-humoured. . . . He paid me such fine
compliments as you never heard the like ! . . . And
all this for possessing the art of listening, I
believe ; for I am sure he has never heard me
say anything deserving his fine speeches. He
inquired when you would return from Bright-
helmstone. I told him Tuesday, and said I
hoped soon after to see you. * Yes,' said he,
* I hope she will pay you a visit, though now
she has been exalted to the Thralic Majesty, you
must not expect to see much of her/ '

Dr. Johnson was, as we know, on terms of
friendship with Baretti. He writes to Mrs.
Thrale, who had suffered from the Italian's
strange conduct : " Poor Baretti ! do not quarrel
with him. . . . To be frank, he thinks, is to be
cynical ; and to be independent is, to be rude.
Forgive him, dearest lady, the rather because of
his misbehaviour. I am afraid he learnt part of
me. I hope to set him hereafter a better
example."

On one occasion we find the pompous Fulke
Greville, Dr. Burney's former patron, partaking
of the family dinner at half-past four o'clock.

Peace and Playfulness once more

" Just after tea Merlin* came in," writes Susan,
"and entertained Charlotte, Edward, and [me]
in a low voice, Mr. Greville being too much of a
grim King of the Ghosts for him to dare to
speak loud, but indeed he was infinitely diverting.
. . . He is at work now on the machine so long
projected for taking down extemporary composi
tions, and told my father that then would be the
time for him to profit of all his exterities, in short
he scarce spoke three words the whole evening
without making some such odd blunder. . . .
Edward went away at about nine, and we then
began to suspect Mr, Greville meant to favour
us, not only at dinner, but supper. Monstrous
good of him ! was it not ? At last he said, ' Mrs.
Burney, I think I am paying you a country visit.'
At this hint the cloth was laid for supper. He
had dosed between whiles from tea to supper —
the great men always do at our house I think !
However, at supper he was lively and good-
humoured, and the convivial hilarity of the table
was such that it stript poor Merlin of all his
caution and reserve, and he talked away with his
usual fluency and freedom, and made such
blunders and such faces, and took off people in
so ridiculous a manner, that Mr. Greville, who
had never seen the like before, arched his eye
brows till they were in the middle of his forehead,

* The ingenious French mechanician.
293

The House in St. Martin's Street

and laughed with a mixture of ridicule and
astonishment. "

When the Thrales were in town, they would
often join the impromptu gatherings in St.
Martin's Street. Writing of one of these gather
ings, Susan says: "We had, with the Thrales,
Dr. Johnson, Sir Joshua Reynolds, and Mrs. and
Miss Ord. It was a charming evening, as Dr.
Johnson talked a great deal and delightfully ; but
it is so long ago I should mar the conversation
by attempting to repeat it." On another occasion
we find Dr. Johnson, accompanied by Mrs.
Williams, joining the tea party ; also Mrs.
Reynolds and the American lady, Mrs. Paradise.
But this gathering was not so successful as the
former. "It was an odd sort of evening," writes
Susan, " Dr. Johnson not being in extraordinary
good cue, [and] Mrs. Reynolds shocked to death
at being in deshabille, as Mrs. Paradise was
dressed enough for the Pantheon."

Miss (or Mrs.) Reynolds, as she was usually
called, Sir Joshua's sister, who lived with him and
kept his house, was on intimate terms with the
Burney family. She was a woman of decided
talent, but her talent was combined with much
eccentricity. Her favourite occupation was paint
ing portraits. " Yesterday," writes Dr. Johnson
to Mrs. Thrale, " I sat for my picture to Miss
Reynolds perhaps for the tenth time, and I sat

294

Peace and Playfulness once more

near three hours with the patience of mortal born
to bear ; at last she declared it quite finished, and
seems to think it fine." Johnson, however, did
not compliment her on the production, for he told
her it was "Johnson's grimly ghost." *

Mrs. Reynolds ventured into the paths of
literature as well as of art. Having written an
essay on Taste, she put it into the doctor's hands
for his private criticisms. This essay, we are
told, though possessing real merit, evinced much
" perplexity of ideas," and Johnson frankly avows
" that her notions, though manifesting a depth
of penetration, and a nicety of remark, such as
Locke or Pascal might be proud of, must every
where be rendered smoother and plainer ; and he
doubts whether many of them are clear even to
her own mind."

Joseph Nollekens, the sculptor, and his wife
were occasional visitors in St. Martin's Street.
Fanny has described Nollekens in one of her
early diaries as "a jolly, fat, lisping, laughing,
underbred, good-humoured man." " His merit,"
she says, " seems pretty much confined to his pro
fession, and his language is as vulgar as his works
are elegant." Half a dozen years after writing
these words, she introduced his character into her
novel of " Cecilia " as the vulgar, good-natured
miser Mr. Briggs. Mrs. Raine Ellis, in her

* See Northcote's " Life of Sir Joshua Reynolds."
295

The House in St. Martin's Street

" Introduction " to that novel, has pointed out
that " trait for trait he is here " with "his good-
humour, his simplicity ... his utter want of
respect for persons of rank [or consequence] and
the candour of his stinginess."

One day Nollekens "dropt in at Dr. Burney's
while Piozzi and Signora Corri were singing a
duettino . . . accompanied by the violin. There
was applause ; while it was lessening Nollekens
called out, ' Dr. Burney ! I don't like that kind of
music. I heard a good deal of it in Italy, but I
like the Scotch and English music better.' Dr.
Burney, stepping forward, said, ' Suppose a person
to say, " Well, I have been to Rome, saw the
Apollo, and many fine works, but for all that give
me a good barber's block ! ' " *

Mrs. Nollekens was as handsome as her
husband was plain. She used sometimes to
check her "little Nolly" in his uncouth sayings,
by quoting Dr. Burney's admonitions.

When Dr. Johnson sat to Nollekens for his
bust, he was much displeased, we are told, at the
manner in which the head had been loaded with
hair, which had been done, the sculptor declared,
"to make him look more like an ancient poet."
The hair, it seems, had been " modelled from the
flowing locks of a sturdy Irish beggar, who, after
he had sat an hour, refused to take a shilling,

* See J. T. Smith's " Life and Times of Nollekens."
296

Peace and Playfulness once more

stating that he could have made more by
begging." *

This bust is now to be seen in the National
Portrait Gallery, but Nollekens has given us
another portrait of the Doctor which is not fanci
ful but realistic. It represents him as he lived
and talked, in his wig and cocked hat and his
everyday clothes — even portraying his bandaged
gouty leg ! This portrait appears in a group of
the members of the " Turk's Head Club," which
used to meet at a tavern of that name in Gerrard
Street, Soho, and which afterwards became the
famous " Literary Club/'

A portion of this group, which is in private
hands, is now reproduced. Dr. Johnson, as
President, appears mounted aloft upon a table
conversing with Sir Joshua Reynolds and Bos-
well. There are about a dozen figures in the
whole group. They are from ten to eleven
inches high, and are made of plaster and wax,
coloured. The figures are placed in a long
wooden box, open at the front, representing the
parlour of the Turk's Head. The floor is sanded
and the walls are adorned with the hats of the
company hanging on pegs, with framed pictures
and with chalked-up reckonings. In the centre
Burke stands upon a chair making a speech,
while at the further end Goldsmith, Nollekens,

* See Murphy's " Recollections of Dr. Johnson."
297

The House in St. Martin's Street

and others are grouped round a small table.
The tiny decanters and glasses, cut and engraved,
must have been specially made for this miniature
scene.

Many of the personages have removed their
wigs for greater ease and comfort. Nollekens,
who is in the act of sketching the company, wears
his night-cap.

We must not omit to mention that various
humorous verses are pinned against the walls of
the tavern parlour. Here is a specimen of the
wit of the Turk's Head : —

" Of all the trades from East to West

The cobbler's past contending,
He's like in time to prove the best
Who every day is mending.

" How soft his praise who can amend

The soles of all his neighbours,
Nor is unmindful of his end
Who every day thus labours.'5

The name of James Barry, the painter, often
occurs in Susan's Journals. One evening she
had been drinking tea with her friends the
Kirwans, in the Oxford Road. " At about
eight," she writes, " Mr. Barry came in and
insisted on accompanying me home, though
William was sent for me ; but he liked to finish
his evening, I found, in St. Martin's Street ; and
though poor Charlotte had the toothache, I knew
she would not be sorry to see him, nor my

298

DR. JOHNSON, SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS, AND JAMES BOSWELL

AT A MEETING OF THE "TURK'S HEAD CF.UB "

Part of a sculptured group by Nollekens

Peace and Playfulness once more

mother, because, like herself, he loves argumenta
tion better than any other thing in the world."

Mrs. Burney, who excelled in conversation,
much enjoyed a good discussion of some literary
subject, and she had her favourite talkers in the
same way that her step-daughters had their
favourite musicians. Barry, however, was a
welcome guest to both mother and daughters.

Writing of an evening he had passed with
them, Susan says : " We played at Dumb
Crambo, and I got a forfeit from Bessey Kirwan
and Mr. Barry, for which I made them dance a
minuet. He assured me he didn't know how,
and that he was the clumsiest fellow in the world.
. . . He danced, if dancing it could be called,
with his hands in his breeches pockets, and with
out a hat." But, nevertheless, he ventured to
criticise his partner's performance. " ' She wants
grace and suavity in her motions/ the clumsy
fellow observed, after she and her sister were
gone."

CHAPTER XXVIII

THE YOUNGEST OF THE DIARISTS

AMONG the Burney manuscripts there is a small
square packet of thin yellowish paper containing
twenty-three pages of writing, stitched together at
the back, and bearing the following inscription :—

CHARLOTTE ANN BURNEY,

her Journal,

1781.

None o' your fun,
Son of a Gun.

Charlotte was not twenty years of age when
she penned these pages, which are now given
to the public for the first time. They teem with
the sort of fun and nonsense we should expect
from a bright and lively girl, of whose style the
reader has already had an example written at
a still earlier date. At her present age Charlotte
must have been a very attractive figure in society,
for, while possessing much personal beauty, she

300

The Youngest of the Diarists

was both artless and unaffected. The " lovely
Churlotte " Crisp calls her in allusion to Baretti's
mode of pronouncing her name.

The first entry in the Journal before us is on
Friday, January igth. Charlotte writes : —

"We have made a new acquaintance lately
with Mr. and Mrs. Hoole, the translator of
Metastasio, etc., and his wife, 'an honest, simple
pair ! ' They are both so good, so good-
natured, unaffected, open, cordial, and hospitable,
that I likes 'em, and before I have known them
half a year I daresay I shall love 'em. They
are excessively civil to our family. Mrs. Hoole
can take us to the play with an order every day
in the week if we chose it. Susan and I went
to Macbeth and saw Mrs. Yates in Lady
Macbeth. She is very great in it."

Mr. Hoole held a post in the India House,
but he devoted his leisure time to literature,
and, besides his translations from the Italian,
wrote several original plays, which brought him
into connection with the theatres. He was an
intimate friend of Dr. Johnson, as the reader
may remember, his name occurring frequently in
Boswell's " Life."

There is some doubt as to where Mr. Hoole
and his family were living in the year 1781. It
is known, however, that about this time he had
chambers in Clement's Inn, and that he owned

301

The House in St. Martin's Street

a small country house at Wandsworth, and it
is possible that he may have used his chambers
as his town house. In 1783 the Hooles (as we
learn from a descendant of the family) were
living at No. 56, Great Queen Street. So,
whether it was within the precincts of the quaint
old Inn of Court (now disappeared) or in the

CLEMENT'S INN.

elegant seventeenth-century house still to be seen
in Great Queen Street, that Charlotte visited her
new friends, we are unable to say.

In a portion of her Journal that has appeared
in print she writes : —

"On Sunday last I spent the day entirely
with my friends the Hooles. ... I went to

302

The Youngest of the Diarists

church with them and heard Dr. Franklin preach.
They say he is a preacher that has had a great
run> but I was not delighted with him. He has
a hectoring manner . . . and has a bad voice."

Dr. Franklin, it seems, had a Chapel in Great
Queen Street. Fanny has mentioned him in her
" Diaries." He paid a call upon the Burneys soon
after the publication of Evelina. " In entered a
square old gentleman," she writes, " well-wigged,
formal, grave, and important. ... He regarded
me with a certain dry kind of attention for some
time, [and then asked], ' Is not your name
Evelina, ma'am ? '

Charlotte, writing (in her unpublished journals)
on February 2nd, remarks —

"I went to Mrs. Brooke's new tragedy the
first night of it, with our friends Mr. and Mrs.
Hoole. I think it interesting and affecting.
... Mrs. Yates, in the character of Thameris,
is charming. I would not wish to see it better
performed. The title of the piece is ' The
Siege of Sinope.' The prologue is written by
a Mr. Colliers. I like it not ; 'tis too full of
petitions to the audience to weep. The epilogue
is said to be written by Murphy, author of
'Way to Keep Him,' etc.; 'tis full of humour,
and had justice done it by Mrs. Yates."

Mrs. Yates was the chief actress at this time
at the large theatre in the Haymarket, usually

303

The House in St. Martin's Street

called the " Opera House," where plays and
operas where alternately performed. Fanny
Burney, who was once taken to call on Mrs.
Yates in her house adjoining the theatre,
describes her as having " a very fine figure and
a very handsome face," but says that the ex
pression of her countenance was " infinitely
haughty and hard." " As to poor Mr. Yates,"
she remarks, " he presumed not to take the
liberty, in his own house, to act any other part
than that of a waiter, in which capacity he
arranged the chairs."

" When I came home [from the theatre],"
continues Charlotte, " I found Mr. Poor here,
waiting for an account of the play, and while I
was in the middle of my relation — what foolish
or ridiculous thing I said I can't recollect, but
Mr. Poor burst out a laughing. I really was
quite ashamed, and he is so new an acquaintance
that I could not come to an explanation with
him. I dare say he thinks I am a sad fool. . . .
To be sure I was monstrous vexed, because he
is such a clever man ; and, moreover, I think
like Madame Duval, that it is * one or other the
most disagreeables thing in the world to be
laughed at.s . . .

l( Sunday -, February zotk. — Last Sunday all
our family, except Fanny, who is at Chesington,
went to the Hooles — there was one-and-thirty

304

The Youngest of the Diarists

people — tout ensemble. Dr. Johnson and Mrs.
Williams, the Baron Dimsdale and his lady.
5, i He looks like a country apothecary, and she
;, like a fat landlady. He was a physician, and
Q I used to be yclept Dr. Dismal. He went over
(-|to Russia and inoculated the Empress, and she
ly made him a Baron for his pains. There was
;," the young Baron, an elegant-looking man. Mr.
ie Lastripe,* Miss Mudge, who I think is vain and
irt I uninteresting — well-looking enough and no more.
he | When gentlemen are talking to her she lifts up
I her eyes and then lets them fall down, as nice as
lean be. Mrs. Reynolds and her beautiful niece,
re. | Miss Fanny Johnson, who is thoroughly un-
: I [affected and untaught; not foolish and not
Ml unentertaining. I have been a great deal about
^t I with her, which I think very high minded, as she
vaslmakes every one a foil to her. She is tall and
ncelhas a very fine face, dark eyes, and a beautiful
IP I natural colour. There was young Mr. Hoole,
[iwho is sensible and cultivated. Mrs. Williams
he [pays he is one of the best lads that ever
reathed ; and Miss Polly Todd was there, a
lecided old maid, ' of a little brown colour,'
is Pacchierotti said of Lady Hales. . . . There
vas Mr. Boughton Rons, nephew of Mr. Fulke
jreville, a rich Nabob, and, my father says,
'emarkably cultivated ; he is an elegant- looking

* Usually spelt Latrobe.

305 x

The House in St. Martin's Street

man, and was very civil to me. I had him all
to myself, and when I came home they called
me the Nabobess / . . . Mr. Humphreys, who
I think conceited and unentertaining, and I like
him not, for all he said to me was his usual
question, ' Pray how do all your brothers and
sisters do ? '

" The all-knowing Poor [was there], who came
and stared at all the young ladies most violently,
and made the following speech to me : ' Well,
Miss Charlotte, and what do you say to it all ? '
with such contempt ! How mad I was — 'tis so
provoking to be thought a fool by so clever a
man ! But what can I do ? . . . Jem was making
puns upon his name in a soto voce ; he said when
he was introduced to Mr. Poor, he longed to say,
4 Sir, poor as you are, I shall esteem myself rich
in your acquaintance ! ' — to be sure it is an irre
sistible name for a pun/'

Writing on the same date (February 2oth),
Charlotte says : "There is a new name come upi
for the wits ; they are called the ' Blue-stocking \
Club,' and for shortness the ' Blues.' Dr. Warrenq
told my father that he had a card of invitation
from a lady t'other day to invite him to meet a
little bit of blue!"

The eccentric Mrs. Vesey, the reader may
remember, was the original founder of this Club.
" It owed its name," writes Fanny, in the

306

The Youngest of the Diarists

Memoirs" of her father, "to an apology made
by Mr. Stillingfleet, in declining to accept an
invitation to a literary meeting at Mrs. Vesey's,
from not being, he said, in the habit of displaying
a proper equipment for an evening assembly.
' Pho, pho,' cried she, while she looked inquisi
tively at him and his accoutrements ; ' don't
mind dress ! Come in your blue stockings ! ' !
This he did, " and those words, ever after,
were fixed in playful stigma upon Mrs. Vesey's
associations."

The lady in question, though possessing
"really lively parts and a fertile imagination,"
had " the unguardedness of childhood, joined to
an Hibernian bewilderment of ideas that cast her
incessantly into some burlesque situation." But
"all her oddities and mistakes," we are told,
served but to give zest and originality to her
assemblages. Mrs. Vesey, who suffered from
deafness, " had commonly two or three or more
ear-trumpets hanging to her wrists or slung about
her neck . . . and the instant that any earnestness
of countenance, or animation of gesture struck
her eye, she darted forward, trumpet in hand, to
| enquire what was going on." But in her hurry
I she frequently clapped "the broad part of the
[brazen ear to her temple," and after waiting in
i vain to catch the speaker's remarks, she would
[exclaim dolefully, " I hope nobody has had any

307

The House in St. Martin's Street

bad news to-night but as soon as I come near
anybody, nobody speaks."

Mrs. Vesey's hatred of all stiffness and cere
mony was such that, to prevent anything like a
"circle" being formed, she usually placed her
guests back to back, an arrangement which
necessitated much twisting of necks on their part.
Horace Walpole used to style these gatherings
" Mrs. Vesey's Babel or Chaos."

Very different were the meetings of the Club
in the house of Mrs. Montagu, the " Queen of the
Blues/' as she was called, where form and cere
mony reigned supreme. Here the guests, on
being received by their hostess in her renowned
" Feather - Room," were conducted to seats
solemnly arranged in a wide semi-circle facing
the fire ; and here the hostess, assuming a chair
in their midst, placed " the person of the highest
rank, or consequence, on one side of her, and
the person the most eminent for talents on the
other ; " this " semi-circle remaining during the
whole evening unbroken."

"Mrs. Montagu's form was stately," writes
Fanny, "and her manners dignified. . . . Her
conversational powers were of a truly superior
order . . . but her reputation for wit seemed
always in her thoughts, marring their natural flow
and untutored expression. . . . Her smile . . .
was rarely gay, and her liveliest sallies had [in

308

The Youngest of the Diarists

them] a something of anxiety, rather than of
hilarity — till their success was ascertained by
applause." She was cautious in argument. "No
sudden start of talent,'* or " vivacious new idea,"
we are told, enlivened her even course of reasoning,
or roused her hearers to emulation.

In spite, therefore, of this lady's lofty talents,
we think the members of the Blue-stocking Club
must have found less entertainment in the sedate
meetings held at her house than in the Bohemian
gatherings at Mrs. Vesey's.

Charlotte Burney highly approved of ' ' learned
ladies." She writes in a portion of one of her
Journals that has appeared in print : " In the
afternoon Mr. Poor called on his way to a state
visit. He thought proper to address his conver
sation to me ; and so I got into an argument with
him about Blue ladies. He set off (and indeed
concluded) with such insolent speeches about
women, that I could not resist answering him.
. . . He began with saying that 'he could not
bear Mrs. Montagu on account of her disputing!
and in other words said ' that a woman ought to
read nothing but novels and plays, and talk of
nothing but caps ! '

" 'You are not learned,' [said he], 'are you ?—
I'm sure, you are not learned.'

" What an insolent wretch ! "

Writing on February 2Oth in her unpublished
309

The House in St. Martin's Street

Journals, she says : " I met Captain Williamson
at Mrs. Boyle's a fortnight ago. Jem and all the
officers say he is a tyrannical, overbearing black
guard ; or else, had I judged for myself, I should

"JEM'S'ROOM."

have liked him. He is a genteel-looking man,
and full of rattle — and I like rattles/'

Charlotte writes on Wednesday, February 28th:
" Last Sunday we had a party here of Captain
Jardins, a good-humoured, agreeable - looking,
well-enough, one-armed captain, his two daughters,

310

The Youngest of the Diarists

[and] two Spanish girls, young, raw, and . . . ugly.
Baretti came in, accidentally, and talked away in
Spanish to the girls. Captain Phillips, too, drank
tea here, and Mr. Seward /#r hazard.

" The young ladies sung some Spanish songs,
which I think very ugly ; so gutteral. I don't
believe any one of the party praised them
bonnement.

" ' Charming, indeed/ cried my father ; ' quite
national. '

" ' Exceeding singular' grinned out wicked
Mr. Seward. . . . ' What charming girls they
are ! The youngest is quite a study for a painter ! '

" They brought a portfolio with them of songs,
which they thought it incumbent upon them to
sing all through ; which ceremony I could very
well have excused, as it stopped conversation so ;
and as to Mr. Seward, 1 had much ado to keep
my countenance, for at every fresh song that they
began, he threw himself on his chair in such
utter despondency that it was most delightfully
ridiculous !

" . . . As I was coming home to-day, I heard
a voice just behind me cry, ' How d'ye do, Miss
Charlotte ? ' so I turned round, and found it was
Mr. Seward, and he walked just home with me.
. . . Mrs. Reynolds, who is always making odd
speeches of one kind or another, made a tolerable
odd one to me t'other day. 'Well/ says she,

The House in St. Martin's Street

* Miss Charlotte, as you are so great an admirer
of wits, whenever you go home, you always find
wits enough ; and Mr. Se ward's a wit too, and
they say Mr. Seward's in love with you.'

"What an oddity she is! I think with
Fanny, that I am rather a favourite with him,
but it's very wide of the mark his being in love
with me. Such nonsense !

"March 4*6.— On. Thursday last Mr. Seward
called here ; he was exceeding entertaining — full of
fun and pun. He said the people compared Mr.
Gibbon's bloated cheeks to the jowl of a salmon,
and that they call him cheek by jowl."

" Mr. Gibbon," wrote Fanny, after seeing him
for the first time, " has cheeks of such prodigious
chubbyness that they envelope his nose so com
pletely as to render it, in profile, absolutely
invisible."

There is a story told, by a contemporary
French writer, of Gibbon being introduced to
the stately old Madame du Deffand, who was
blind. The lady, according to her custom,
passed her fingers lightly across his face in order
to ascertain what manner of man he was ; but
when they touched his cheeks she started back
and, supposing that he was puffing them out
purposely, exclaimed with indignation, " Vous
vous moquez de moi, Monsieur ! "

Charlotte writes on April 6th : " There is a
312

Reynolds

EDWARD GIBBON

The Youngest of the Diarists

painter (Gardiner), an odd fish that I can make
nothing of, that I met two or three times at Mrs.
Boyle's." She goes on to say : " My mother,
Fanny, and I drank tea last Sunday at Mrs.
Reynolds's, and there we met Mr. Gardiner and
a Mr. Northcote, a young painter, a disciple of
Sir Joshua Reynolds — a conceited, half-witted,
disagreeable, ugly man — who said that, ' as to
Garrick's acting, he had ideas far beyond it, — and
as to Dr. Johnson's benevolence and abilities, he
knew several of his acquaintance very superior to
Dr. Johnson!' Upon both these subjects my
mother and Fanny condescended to dispute with
him !

" Tuesday, April lotk. — On Saturday last I
dined, drank tea, and supped at my new friends
the Hooles. At dinner there were no females but
Mrs. Hoole, Mrs. Williams, and me. Of gentle
men there were Mr. Boughton Rons, who did me
the honour to make a point of sitting by me — but
I can't get acquainted with him — he is civil to me
too, but there is a hauteur in his manner that
knocks me up. He is a young, handsome, dark,
fierce-looking man, and, they say, knows almost
every language that can be named ; by all
accounts his head is quite a Babel ! — but he has
no ' convivial hilarity ' about him— and those are
the characters to my taste, people that make an
ado.

313

The House in St. Martin's Street

" . . . Mr. Boughton Rons sat at one side of
me and Governor Bouchier on the other, a prosing
Governor enough. Opposite to me sat Dr. John
son in deep mourning, and much out of spirits,
for the death of his friend Mr. Thrale, who died
of a stroke of apoplexy last Wednesday morning.
Next to Dr. Johnson sat Mr., or Captain (I know
not which) Orme, who everybody admired but
me — I thought him a serious clout and not agree
able . . . next to Mr. Boughton Rons sat a bony
Scot, and next to him sat Mr. Hoole and his son,
and next to him the flower of the flock — Mr.
Bos well — the famous Mr. Boswell — who is a
sweet creature. I admire and like him beyond
measure. He is a fine, lively, sensible, unaffected,
honest, manly, good-humoured character. I never
saw him before. He idolizes Dr. Johnson, and
struts about and puts himself into such ridiculous
positions that he is as good as a comedy. He
seems between 40 and 30 ; a good-looking man
enough. N.B. — He has a wife in Scotland, so
there is no scandal in being in raptures about
him."

Boswell mentions this same dinner-party in
his " Life of Dr. Johnson." It is amusing to
compare his and Charlotte's descriptions of the
Governor and the Captain. " On Saturday, April
7th," writes Boswell, " I dined with him [John
son] at Mr. Hoole's with Governour Bouchier and

The Youngest of the Diarists

Captain Orme, both of whom had been long in
the East Indies; and being men of good sense
and observation, were very entertaining."

" Mr. Boswell made a bon-mot upon me,"
continues Charlotte, "that procured him great
applause during dinner. They were speaking of
the Indian women burning themselves upon the
death of their husbands, and in the midst of it,
Mr. Boswell called out from the bottom of the
table, ' Miss Burney, and what do you think of
this burning scheme ? '

" ' Oh/ one of 'em cried, * she had much rather
live, I dare say ! '

"'Ay/ replied Mr. Boswell, 'then, Miss
Burney, you would not like to be a flaming beauty
in India, I fancy/

"... Miss Mudge came in to tea. During
dinner they were talking of the Indian notions of
their castes in life, that whatever caste they are
born in so they are to remain, and so all the
tribe of successors — so Mr. Boswell came and
placed himself between Miss Mudge and me at
the tea-table, and called to the gentlemen who
had been talking of the Indian castes, ' Gentlemen,
I like my caste very well now/

" Mr. Boswell said he had an engagement at
General Paoli's, and turned to Miss Mudge and
me and cried, he ' was sorry for it/ ... I shook my
head at Dr. Johnson, as much as to say, he must

315

The House in St. Martin's Street

wish to stay to be in his company — at which Mr.
Boswell put himself in one of his ridiculous pos
tures and cried, ' Nay, shake not your gory
locks that way ! '

"... He is a charming creature — he told me
he would call here, but I am afraid he won't/'

Here Charlotte's Journal comes to an abrupt
end, as the pages that follow are missing. Her
last entry is — " The Dismals came to tea, a

sad ' contrast, we presume she was going

to say, to the company just described.

CHAPTER XXIX

A WEDDING

THE reader may remember that Charlotte Burney
mentions in her Journal a certain Captain
Phillips, who joined the family when they were
drinking tea one Sunday evening.

Phillips, as the intimate friend of James,
would have been a welcome guest in any case,
but it happened that he possessed a special
attraction in the eyes of the three enthusiastic
daughters of the house ; the fame of a gallant
action having preceded him.

Both he and James had accompanied Captain
Cook on his last and fatal voyage to the Pacific
.Islands; James as a naval officer, Phillips as an
officer of Marines. Phillips was among the hand
ful of Englishmen who were with Captain Cook
on the island of Owhyhee when that great and
good man was suddenly surprised and murdered.
His followers, pursued by the savages, made
all haste to regain their ships, and had just
succeeded in reaching the boats put out for their

317

The House in St. Martin's Street

rescue when Phillips saw "one of the marines,
who was a bad swimmer, struggling in the water,
and in danger of being taken by the enemy. He
immediately jumped into the sea to his assistance,
though much wounded himself, and after receiving
a blow on the head from a stone which nearly
sent him to the bottom, he caught the man by the
hair and brought him safe off." *

Captain Phillips found a powerful attraction
in St. Martin's Street in the person of Miss
Susan Burney. The attraction was mutual, and
before long the two became engaged to be
married.

Fanny, writing to her sister of Captain Phillips
at this period, says : " I repeat my love to him,
which indeed he has sincerely, for I think he
loves my own Susan, as I would wish her loved
by him who is some time to succeed me as her
closest friend and companion." f

The news of the engagement was early
divulged to Mrs. Thrale, who writes to Fanny :
"Well, but I did see Phillips written in that
young man's honest face, tho' nobody pronounced
the word ; so I boldly bid him ' Good morrow,
captain,' at the door, trusting to my own instinct.
. . . Your sweet father, however, this day trusted

* See " History* of Captain Cook's Last Voyage," by Captain
King.

f Burney MSS.

A Wedding

me with the whole secret, and from my heart do
I wish every comfort and joy for the match."

In the autumn of this same year (1781)
Captain Phillips, who had been away for some
months at sea, returned to England. Fanny
writes to Mrs. Thrale from Chesington : " The
Capitano has lately been promoted, and is now
very earnest to accelerate matters ; but my
father, very anxious and fearful for poor Susanne,
does not think there is de quoi manger very
plentifully, and is as earnest for retarding them.
For my own part, I think they could do very
well. I know Susan is a very good economist,
and I know there is not any part of our family
that cannot live upon very little as cheerfully as
most folks upon very much."

On the 22nd November, Captain Phillips made
his appearance unexpectedly at Chesington Hall.
Fanny writes that same evening to her sister :
" I was never so pleased with a visit in my life,
nor ever took one more kindly. We have been
.making merry, and talking treason all the even
ing. Captain Phillips has not only secured me
by an attention to me so flattering and so affec
tionate, but he has won, I can plainly see, my
Daddy and honest Kate and Mrs. Ham into
the bargain, by the openness and frankness of
his behaviour and conversation. He has quite
entered into the spirit of the house.

319

The House in St. Martin's Street

" . . . My Daddy made everybody drink
your health after supper. He has no notion of
reserve, you know, among friends ! — however, no
great occasion after being shown your picture in
a gentleman's possession, which I must own I
begged to have the putting about"*

Susan's portrait here alluded to is evidently
the miniature which is reproduced, for the first
time, in these pages. At the back of the picture
are the words, " The beloved Susan Burney," in
the handwriting of Fanny in later years.

Fanny was busily engaged, during her visit
to Chesington, in writing her novel of Cecilia.
She tried hard to keep her thoughts to her work,
but they would stray, in spite of her efforts, to
Susan and St. Martin's Street.

" Why, my dearest creature," she writes,
" what are you all about ? what is Captain P.
driving at ? why in such a sudden furore for
me ? Have you not plagues enough, filling your
parlour, occupying your hearth, interrupting
serious business, and interfering with treasonable
tfoe-d-tfoes f . ... Tell me then, my love, what you
really mean, for I must have power to tell some
thing, not very trifling, to Mr. Crisp, or he will
not let me off without being absolutely affronted ;
so much has he set his mind upon my staying
here till I have finished my book. I have hinted

* Burney MSS.
320

A Wedding

to him a design of eloping, but his arguments
were rage, and his rage at the same time, I
must own, was argument." *

Dr. Burney was as urgent as Mr. Crisp in
keeping Fanny to her work — work which had
been greatly retarded this year by long visits to
her friend Mrs. Thrale, who had now become a
widow. But as time passed on and the wedding-
day began to be talked of as in the near future,
poor Fanny's impatience at the restraint increased.

" I have not often wished anything more
vehemently," she writes, early in December,
" than to have had the power of answering my
beloved Susy's last letter by taking a chaise,
and quick ! presto ! begone ! driving to St.
Martin's Street without losing a moment ! . . .
I am dying to be with you. I know I could do
so much, so many things for you in the settling
way with folks. Besides — Lord bless me! — I
shall not have a moment to fancy me a new
suit ! — I have all the colours of the rainbow now
.dancing before me, but can't possibly decide at
this distance from the deau-monde.

" What shall we do, my dearest girl ? I will
scrawl night and day if I can. ... O if this book
proves as great a bore to any one else as just now
to me ! — L — d help it ! ... What shall I do with my
father to prevent displeasure ... at my return ? . . .

* Burney MSS.

321 y

The House in St. Martin's Street

I wait here now for nothing else ! I will manage
Mr. Crisp, I will throw my book into a bonfire . „
sooner than for any thing but my father stay
away another minute." *

The wedding was finally fixed for an early
day in January, and Fanny writes on December
iSth, just before leaving Chesington^: "My
most beloved Susy, any good or happiness
or comfort to you would almost raise me
out of the grave. I will drive every ill thing
from me at this important crisis of your life, to
enjoy your good prospects and be glad in your
fair hopes of their continuance. I should not be
thought very glad neither, if I were seen by any
strangers — for there is something to me in the
thought of being so near parting with you as
the inmate of the same house— room — bed — con
fidence and life, that is not very merry fying, though
I would by no means have things altered. Oh,
far from it ! " f

A paragraph in the Gentleman's Magazine,
for the month of January, 1782, announces that
the marriage of Captain Molesworth Phillips and
of Miss Susan Burney took place on the
instant in the Church of St. Martin's-in-the-Fields.

This church, with its imposing pillared portico,
and its broad flight of stone steps, must be thei
same in appearance now as it was in the Burneys'

* Burney MSS. f

322

A Wedding

I day, but its surroundings are greatly changed.
The eastern side of the open space, now forming
Trafalgar Square, was then occupied by the

j "Royal Mewes" and the "Queen's Mewes,"

BEDROOMS OK THE THREE SISTERS.

hile both in front and on either side of the
uilding were the low gabled roofs of a labyrinth
'ticofr»f smaii alleys known as " the Bermudas."

The interior of the church was probably as
ne)3jj>ombre then as it is now, and we can fancy the
ittle wedding party forming a bright spot against

323

The House in St. Martin's Street

the dark background of high-backed pews and
heavy galleries.

There is no record extant of that day's
proceedings, but it is evident, from what Fanny
says in an unpublished letter to Susan, that the
bride and bridegroom went to Chesington — the
Burneys' beloved Liberty Hall — for their honey
moon, and also that they were accompanied
thither by Fanny in her capacity of bridesmaid,
according to the custom of those days.

In this letter, written upon her return home,
and dated January 23rd, Fanny tells of her safe
arrival in St. Martin's Street, "after"— as she
says — " having left you with the only person in
the world I have yet known that could lessen my
regret in leaving you at all."

In the month of February, Captain and Mrs.
Phillips went to Ipswich, where they resided for
some time. There Fanny paid them a visit in
the following July. Writing to her father about
her beloved sister, she says : "I would that
you could but look on [at] the unaffected
happiness, gaiety, and lightness of heart of
this dear creature, and the worthiness, good-
humour, sense, drollery, and kind-heartedness
of her excellent help-mate. I could have no
greater happiness myself," she adds, "than I
receive from witnessing their mutual comfort."

* Burney.MSS.

CHAPTER XXX

CECILIA

FANNY BURNEY had begun to write her novel of
Cecilia as far back as the autumn of 1780, but the
many interruptions that occurred in the following
year much interfered with its progress. Besides
the absorbing interest of her sister's approaching
marriage, more and more of her time was claimed
by Mrs. Thrale, especially since Mr. Thrale's
death. The two friends, it is true, were warmly
attached to each other, but sometimes Mrs.
Thrale would show an eagerness to possess
almost a monopoly of Fanny's affection.

Among the Burney MSS. there is a letter of
•Fanny's to her friend touching upon this delicate
subject.

Fanny is writing from Chesington, where she
had just received the gift of a piece of silk for a
dress from Mrs. Thrale : —

" O dear ! O dear ! What can I say — write —
do — to my dearest, too kind, too sweet Mrs.
Thrale ? Indeed ! — indeed I am wholly at a loss.

3*5

The House in St. Martin's Street

I look at the silk and try to find something to
say about it, but it is so much too good, too hand
some, too everything for me, my lady, that I am
quite baffled. Ah, dearest madam, the pleasure
you take in kind, friendly, and sweet actions,
must here be all that can pay you ! I have
nothing to offer but what you have had long
since, — what you had indeed before a third part of
the kindness you have shown me made it your
due> — for my heart was at first &free gift !

" . . . You see therefore, dearest madam, how
many favours you have causelessly thrown away !
Often, indeed, have I recommended to you to
bestow them where they might make friends, for
here the business is already done : and with all
your liberality of spirit, I shall think you have
the most rapacious of hearts if you wish for still
more love and fondness than you now have from
me ; — for sincerely speaking, you ought not to gain
an inch more, and cannot but by taking place of
the very few who have a right to pre-eminence
which, I will fairly own to you, I should blush to
see them robbed of.

" I fear I have written queerly, but I know
you will not be angry. I write openly, and when
I speak upon the * internal ' to you, why should I
not let you see it as it is ? I am sure few others
have so good reason to like the sight." *

* Burney MSS.
326

Cecilia

It is curious here to see the way in which
Crisp deals with the subject of the division of
Fanny's affections.

" Molly Chute," he writes, " (an intimate and
infinitely agreeable old Friend of mine, long
since dead,) when I used to desire her to love
me a great deal more, would say, ' Look ye, Sam,
I have this stock of love by me/ putting out her
little finger, ' and I can afford you so much,'
measuring off perhaps half the length of her nail,
'and I think that's pretty fair.'

" I thought so too, and was well content
But what shall I do with you who have so many
to content ? You have but your five loaves and
your two fishes, and can you renew the miracle
and feed five thousand ? Well, I must do as I
may, and that is the 'very Nuthook humour of
it.' " *

The year 1781 brought trials of various kinds
into Fanny's life. Besides the death of Mr.
Thrale, to whom she was sincerely attached,
there came a death in her sister Hetty's young
family which touched her yet more nearly. After
noting in her Diary the events of August of that
year, she goes on to say : " Then followed the
most melancholy week with my dearest Hetty
and the sweet suffering little saint that died
almost in my arms, and left me a regret for him

* Burney MSS.
327

The House in St. Martin's Street

that, young as he was, I do indeed believe I shall
always feel." *

In the following autumn Fanny's health gave
way, and she had to submit to the strange medical
treatment of her day. She writes to Crisp from
Streatham on October 2nd : " I have very little
fever but very much cough. Sir Richard Jebb
thinks not so well of me as I think of myself — few
people I suppose do ! — and when he was here last
Sunday ordered me to be blooded again — a thing
I mortally dislike. Asses milk also he forbids,
holding it too nourishing, and even potatoes are
too solid food for me ! He has ordered me to
live wholly on turnips, with a very little dry
bread, and what fruit I like : but nothing else of
any sort. But I may drink Barley-water and
Rennet whey at pleasure ! " f

This letter, in spite of its writer's ill-health,
was accompanied by a few sheets of her Diary
and an offer to send some more shortly.

Crisp writes on October i7th : " If I wish it
you will send me a few more sheets of Journal !
Why . . . you know in your own conscience there
is nothing I suck in so greedily. I fancy all the
odd, uncommon, unaccountable characters in the
nation flock to you to sit for their pictures !

". . . Well, the Horse-leech hath two daughters,
saying ' Give, give ! ' I say the same — but that

* Burney MSS. t Ibid.

3*8

Cecilia

is not all I say — I say ' Come, come ! ' Do but
get [tolerably well] and you shall here follow
your doctor's orders as strictly as where you are.
You shall have your old room, your old bed, a
great chair, a good fire — dfhd as for starving, I
defy Mrs. Thrale with all her ingenuity to come
near us. ... Honest Ham and Kate long to see
you, and are continually crying out, ' When does
Miss Fanny come ? ' " *

At the end of this letter Fanny has written in
later years : —

" N.B. This was followed by a visit of two or
three months to this wise, kind, and invaluable
friend."

But before that visit could be paid Fanny had
to be withdrawn from Thrale Place, which was no
easy matter. Both her * Daddies ' had become
anxious at the long cessation of her literary
work, especially as the fact that she was writing
a new novel had got wind, and the admirers
of Evelina were all eagerly looking for its
•appearance.

Dr. Burney first tried his influence with Mrs.
Thrale, but without success. Then Mr. Crisp, in
spite of his infirmities, took the field. He went
to Streatham and managed, without offending the
lady of the manor, to bear off his Fannikin to
Chesington, and finally to establish her in " the

* Burney MSS.
329

The House in St. Martin's Street

quiet and exclusive possession of what he had
denominated the ' Doctor's Conjuring Closet.' '

The progress of Cecilia had been delayed
more than once by illness, and Mrs. Thrale some
times feared that Fanny might resume her work
before she was fit to do so. Mrs. Thrale touches
on this point in her own lively way : —

" I talked very freely with Dr. Burney," she
writes, " about matters and things and told him
that your anxious earnestness to oblige him had
caused much of the illness we lamented. ' Why/
says he, ' I did tease her to write while she was
away, that the book, so long expected, might at
length be done.'

" ' Very true, my dear Sir,' says Saucebox,
' but whoever robs me of my Friend and leaves
me a Book in her place, injures me grossly, tho'
the Book were an Iliad ! ' " *

Fanny, as we have seen, left Chesington
towards the end of December, in order to be
present at her sister Susan's wedding early in
January. By the end of January she was again
hard at work upon her novel.

We have seen the original MS. of Cecilia.
The name of the heroine had at first been
Albinia, but was afterwards changed to Cecilia,
Albinia being carefully erased throughout the
work, and Cecilia substituted in its place.

* Burney MSS.
330

Cecilia

" 1 am dreadfully busy," she writes to Susan
on February i2th, "and would not write to any
human being but yourself for any pay, so horribly
aches my hand with copying. I have just finished
that drudgery to the ist volume, and yesterday I
spent in Tavistock Street [taking it with me]. . . .

I came off, you will suppose, with flying colours,
for the party was Mr. B., Hetty, two Aunts, and
Edward, and their approbation costs them little
for me, and therefore I dare build nothing on it.
When they will see the 2nd volume I can give
no guess myself." *

And again she writes a couple of months later,

II My Father himself told Pace of his reading and
fondness for the ist volume, and Pace is half wild
with joy and eagerness ! — he dies, he says, ' to
pry a littel into so great work.' " f

" Cecilia ; or Memoirs of an Heiress," was
published, in five 12° volumes, in the month of
June (1782), by Messrs. Payne and Cadell, who
gave the authoress ^150 for the copyright.

How surprised Pacchierotti must have been
when he opened the book to find his own name
contained therein ! This occurs on the occasion
of a visit of Cecilia's to the Opera House, where
"Artaserse" is being performed, and when she
hears, for the first time, the voice of this great
singer. " She found herself by nothing so deeply

* Burney MSS. t Ibid.

331

The House in St. Martin's Street

impressed," writes the author, " as by the plaintive
and beautiful simplicity with which Pacchierotti
uttered the affecting repetition of sono innocente I
His voice, always either sweet or impassioned,
delivered those words in a tone of softness,
pathos, and sensibility that struck her with a
sensation not more new than delightful."

When the book appeared before the public it
created a great sensation. Early in July Fanny
was present at a gathering in Sir Joshua Reynolds'
house, where, on her arrival, she found the company
eagerly discussing her various characters. She
writes to her father, who was then absent from
home : —

" [Amongst the guests] was the dear Dr. John
son, who had been puffing off my book, till the
moment of my arrival. . . . Miss Palmer is mad
with fondness for young Delville. . . . Sir Joshua,
who is still only in the ist volume, says he fore
sees Monckton will be the victor by his deep
designing character, but he seems most diverted
by Miss Leeson, whose * Yes, Ma'am/ 'No,
Ma'am,' ' I don't know/ and ' I can't tell/ he
quoted perpetually. Dr. Johnson supports Hobson
at the Head of the Tribe, and says it is a very
perfect character, and Simkins and Miss Larolles
are very highly in his favour.

"Just as I was coming away and passing
him, he took my hand and, with sundry kind

332

Cecilia

words too tender for a third person, he said, ' I
have again read Harrel's death — it is finely
done ; — it is very finely done ! ! ' " *

Towards the end of July Fanny went to
Ipswich to visit her sister Susan and Captain
Phillips. In the mean time she had received a
letter from Mr. Crisp expressing the warmest
approval of her book. He had read it, already,
at an earlier stage, and had suggested certain
changes, some of which Fanny had carried out.
She writes to him from Ipswich on August 5th :
" Thanks, my dear Daddy, for your very kind
letter. I need not, I am sure, tell you how highly
it gratified me. . . . From the moment you peeped
into my room at Chesington with ' Annikin !
Annikin ! may I come in ? ' ' Yes !— ' It

will do ! it will do ! ' O ! from the moment I
heard those welcome words from the severest of
all my judges, I took inward courage, and my
hopes grew comfortably and lessened my appre
hensions . . . though I cannot say they ever
gave me a promise of such success as last
Tuesday's post brought me in a letter from Mr.
Burke ! ! ! " f

In this letter Burke, after thanking the
authoress for "the very great instruction and
entertainment he had received from her new
present bestowed on the public," goes on to say,

* Burney MSS. t Ibid.

333

The House in St. Martin's Street

" There are few — I believe I may say fairly there
are none at all — that will not find themselves
better informed concerning human nature, and
their stock of observation enriched, by reading
your Cecilia. They certainly will, let their
experience in life and manners be what it may."

Among the Burney MSS. there is a letter
from Dr. Burney to his daughter Susan, in which
he alludes to these words of the great orator.
" Burke thanked Fanny/7 he writes, " for her
instruction, and when I told Johnson this, he
said, ' 'Tis very true, Sir, no man can read it
without having ideas awakened in his mind that
will mend the heart. When Fanny reasons and
writes from her own feelings she is exquisite.' '

CHAPTER XXXI

COMPANY AT BRIGHTHELMSTONE

TOWARDS the end of the month of October (i 782)
Fanny Burney joined her friends Mrs. Thrale
and Dr. Johnson at Brighthelmstone, where Mrs.
Thrale had a house in West Street.

In those days Brighton, we are told, was but
"a large country village by the sea." It boasted,
however, its Assembly Rooms, both at the " Old
Ship" and also at the " Castle Inn," where a
Master of the Ceremonies presided alternately.

When Fanny alighted from her coach, and
was welcomed by Mrs. Thrale, she brought into
the place a personality that created a widespread
.sensation. Her new novel was everywhere the
theme of conversation here as it had been in
London. " No romance was ever more eagerly
snatched from the counters of the booksellers,"
remarks Macaulay. " Cecilia was placed by
general acclamation among the classical novels
of England."

Writing in her Journal on October 2;th,
335

The House in St. Martin's Street

Fanny speaks of having paid a call on Mr. and
Mrs. Pepys, who were then in Brighthelmstone,
" We did not stay with them long," she says,
" but proceeded to the Rooms. Mr. Pepys . . .
wanted to frighten me from going by saying,
1 And has Miss Burney courage to venture to
the Rooms ? I wonder she dares ! '

" . . . I thought of him . . . when I was at
the Rooms, for most violent was the staring and
whispering as I passed and repassed ; in so much
that I shall by no means be in any haste to go
again to them."

And in a letter to her father she says : " I
seem as much a show to all the folks as Omai
could be ; and they stare with as much curiosity,
though they whisper with rather more caution."

In a letter to Susan, dated October 28th, after
speaking of her journey, she says: "The dear
Captain's cakes were most acceptable, and I have
still some for sharp set moments upon occasions of
late dinners ; for we commonly sit not down till
5 o'clock.

" I am very busy indeed in cap and tippet
manufacturing, and am so visited and muched
here, you would suppose me something dropt
from the skies."

Again she writes playfully—

1 'Will you not, my dear Captain, be charmed

* Burney MSS.
336

Company at Brighthelmstone

to hear that it is quite the ton [in this place] to
be of your advice about my phiz and my figure ?
O, it is comical to excess to see how the people's
rage for something marvellous leads them to
talk of me just as Edward has painted me ! His
picture . . . ought to live at this place, where
everybody would confess \\s justice.

HOUSES AT BRIGHTHELMSTONE.

" The day after our first appearance at the
Rooms . . . Mrs. Thrale came into my chamber
and said, * I have a secret to tell you — you know
told you, you might set up for a Beauty when
you fail as a Wit, and now it's done for you at
once ; for Harry Cotton comes and tells me how
all the men admired you at the Rooms.' ... I
have good reason to believe . . . that the man
of men here, Mr. Kaye himself, has led the way
in this surprising discovery, for which I think he
deserves a premium.

337 z

The House in St. Martin's Street

" This much, dear Capitano, quite in private.
I beg our secret may not transpire." *

Edward Burney's " picture " of Fanny, alluded
to in this letter, is the well-known portrait, an
engraving of which prefixes her " Diary and
Letters." When Edward was painting it at
Chesington, in the summer of this same year
(1782), Fanny wrote in an unpublished letter to
Susan, " I believe if I am not underwritten no
one would guess he ever saw me ; much less that
I sat for the Picture called mine. Never was
Portrait so violently flattered. I have taken pains
incredible to make Edward magnify the features
and darken the complexion, but he is impenetrable
in action, though fair and docile in promise."

But Edward Burney painted his cousin a
second time, and this portrait seems to have
been more like the real Fanny Burney than the
other, especially as we see in it the likeness to
her father.f The reader may, perhaps, re
member that when Mrs. Montagu first made
Fanny's acquaintance, she remarked, " I can
see that Miss Burney is very like her father."

It appears from an unpublished letter of
Fanny's to her sister Susan, dated June 3Oth,
1783, that a miniature likeness of her was also
painted. " I sat for the last time [on Saturday]

* Burney MSS.

t This portrait is reproduced in "Juniper Hall."

338

Company at Brighthelmstone

to Mr. Boyle," she writes, "and my miniature is
now improved into a flattered Picture. I don't
know whether Mr. Boyle or his wife is most
fond or most proud of it — but I feel always
teased by their having it and not my Susan."

Among the various social gatherings in
Brighthelmstone at which Fanny was present,
she mentions, in an unpublished letter, one that
took place on the i2th November at the house
of a Lady de Ferrars. " Late in the evening,"
she writes, " the Morning Herald was brought
in, just arrived from town. Lord de Ferrars
. . . with a significant smile, whispered some
thing to Mrs. Thrale, and put it into her hand.
She took it, and Lady de Ferrars insisted upon
her reading aloud.

" I was then engaged in some tittle-tattle
with Harriet Ellerker, and did not at first listen,
I but what was my surprise to hear presently
' Cecilia is a charming young woman'; and in a
[few instants followed a speech in verse, supposed
to be made by Miss Larolles ! I was quite
petrified with astonishment. . . . The imitations
were carried on to old Delville, Morrice, Lady
|Honoria, and Mr. Meadows. I could not
Imagine what they all meant, nor whence they
I have since found they were in an

le.

Epilogue, written by Miles Andrews for Mrs.
iHobart, to speak at a private play."

339

The House in St. Martin's Street

We find from an examination of the news
papers of November i ith (1782), that these verses
appeared in no less than five London papers.
The play was " All in the Wrong," and it was
performed at the house of the Honourable Mrs.
Hobart, at Ham Common. We will give a few
verses of this Epilogue : —

" Our mimic scene closed ; ere you rise to go home
For a little small-talk, lady-like I am come.

******
At the Opera assembled some smart Maccaroni
Begins with some belle the gay conversazione :

* Fore Gad, that Cecilia's a charming young woman !
Were you Miss Larolles at the play at Ham Common ? '
' Oh yes, to be sure ! You can't think how delightful,
The men were so bad, and the women so frightful,
Such a crowd, so much heat, and so little to drink,
The time passed so pleasantly on you can't think.'

' Can there be any pleasure, ma'am ? ' Meadows retorts,
' From my heart I hate all amusements and sports.'
— ' Dear, dear, now how odd ! when I vow and declare
You sat picking your teeth all the time we were there.'

* There — where — pick my teeth — about what ? about when ? J
Is it me you allude to ? — indulge me agen. 3 "

Fanny concludes the account of her evening's
experiences by saying, " The verses were shown
afterwards to Dr. Johnson, and when we got
home, ' Ah/ said he, ' this is the She ! She fills
the whole world ! — a little rogue ! a World
she is in herself, with her Harrels and her
Hobsons!'"*

* Burney MSS.
340

Company at Brighthelmstone

In the mean time the Morning Herald had
found its way to St. Martin's Street, and the
Epilogue had been read with avidity there. Dr.
Burney writes to Fanny : " It is a fresh testimony
of Cecilia s notoriety and publicity among les gens
comme il faut, as I never remember of any book
so soon after publication . . . And so here's a
second edition advertised to-day ; to be published
with all possible expedition — by which I conjecture
that [the book] is now out of print." '*

At the end of Dr. Burney's epistle there is a
postscript written by Charlotte.

" I have copied out the Epilogue for you,"
she says. " My dearest Father and I are both
delighted to find how popular your Book is.

" Sweet Pacchierotti was here yesterday.
He talked of you as usual — said he counted the
moments till your return. . . . He read the
Epilogue, and was much pleased with it. He
said, ' Miss Fanny, her Book is quite in the
fashion now. I hear of it continually ; its merit
$uffs out wherever I go ! ' and then he congratu
lated himself upon the expression 'puffs out' " f

The harrowing scenes in the last volume of
Cecilia seem to have tried the nervous suscepti
bilities of the ladies — nay, even of the gentlemen
-of that day to a surprising extent.

Lady Hales writes to Susan Phillips :—

* Burney MSS. t Ibid.

341

The House in St. Martin's Street

" We have a quarrel against your wicked
Sister who sends us into people's houses with our
eyes swelled out of our heads with weeping for
her lovely, her amiable Cecilia ! . . . Never sure
was there a tale of woe more strongly wrought
than that of the miserable Cecilia's delirium ! . . .
What powers does your Sister possess thus to
work upon the passions !

" Had any one come into the room [whilst we
were reading the book] they would have been
surprised. My children wept and sob'd aloud.
My heart was bursting with agony ! and we all
seemed in despair ! "

Fanny writes from Brighton : " Miss Benson
and Mrs. Hatsel called, . . . Miss Benson told
me that [when reading] the last volume [she]
cried and roared so vehemently that she could
not make her appearance [in public] and was
forced to give up going to the last Ball.

"'But as to Mr. Hatsel' [said his wife], 'he
is madder about [the book] than all of us, and
especially the last volume ; he never takes it up
but he is obliged to run out of the room, it affects
him so much ; yet he is hardly ever at ease when
it is out of his hand.'

"'Miss Benson . . . said she thought I had
taken ' a most unwarrantable liberty with every
body's nerves, to write in such a manner ! '

"'. . . Ah, poor Miss Benson!' said Mrs.
34*

Company at Brighthelmstone

Hatsel, 'she could hardly read two words fol
lowing — now a sentence, now a sob ; — no wonder
we could not get to the Ball.' " *

Even the " learned ladies' " self-control suc
cumbed to the tragic scenes in Cecilia. Mrs.
Chapone's nerves, we are told, were so much
shattered that she was deprived of sleep for a
whole week ; while the Duchess of Portland and
Mrs. Delany " thrice wept their way through the
five volumes." Mrs. Montagu, it is true, was
less discomposed, but even she had her share in
the general commotion. " Miss Burney," she
said, " has made me guilty of a negligence I never
practised before ; I left all my bills and papers
unexamined and never attended to any business
while the book was unfinished." f

During Mrs. Thrale's and her friends' sojourn
at Brighton, Dr. Johnson seems to have been in
an unusually irascible frame of mind. But what
ever his behaviour was to others, he was invariably
gentle and tender to his " little Burney."

Fanny writes early in November to her
father :—

"Our dear Dr. Johnson keeps his health
amazingly, and with me his good humour; but
to own the truth, with scarce anybody else. I
am quite sorry to see how unmercifully he attacks
and riots people. He has raised such a general

* Burney MSS. t Ibid.

343

The House in St. Martin's Street

alarm that he is now omitted in all cards of
invitation sent to the rest of us. ...

" Poor Mr. Pepys was so torn to pieces by
him the other night, in a- party at home, that he
suddenly seized his hat, and abruptly walked out
of the room in the middle of the discourse. . . .
Dr. Delap confesses himself afraid of coming as
usual to the house ; and Mr. Selwyn, having
yesterday declined meeting him at Mr. Hamilton's,
ran away before his return home in the utmost
terror of being severely reprimanded for this
refusal."*

Boswell, as we know, often suffered in this
way. On one occasion, he tells us, after he had
experienced especially rough treatment, adminis
tered in the presence of strangers, he remarked
to Dr. Johnson, " I said to-day to Sir Joshua,
when he observed that you tossed me sometimes,
I don't care how often, or how high he tosses
me, when only friends are present, for then I fall
upon soft ground ; but I do not like falling on
stones, which is the case when enemies are
present. I think this is a pretty good image,
Sir." Johnson : " Sir, it is one of the happiest I
ever have heard."

Dr. Johnson, conscious of his nervous irrita
bility of temper, used sometimes, Mrs. Thrale
tells us, to envy women their resource in the

* Burney MSS.
344

Company at Brighthelm stone

peaceful occupation of needlework. " Needle
work, that most effectual sedative, that grand
soother and composer of woman's distress," as a
graceful writer has termed it. "A man cannot
hem a pocket-handkerchief," said a lady of quality
to Johnson one day, " and so he runs mad and
torments his family and friends/'

" The expression," writes Mrs. Thrale, " struck
the Doctor exceedingly, and when one acquaint
ance grew troublesome, and another unhealthy,
he used to quote [this] observation, 'A man cannot
hem a pocket-handkerchief.' " *

But his best friends, as we know, understood
and loved him dearly, indeed, perhaps all the
more for his possessing some failings common to
humanity. " He has nothing of the bear," said
Goldsmith, "but the skin." And Sir Joshua, in
his " Essay on Johnson's Character," remarks of
him, " To those that loved him not, as rough as
winter ; to those who sought his love, as mild as
summer;" quoting, with a slight variation, the
well-known description of Cardinal Wolsey's
character in " Henry VIII."

Among the Burney MSS. there is a letter
from the Due de Chartres, inviting Dr. Burney
to meet Dr. Johnson at dinner on a certain
Sunday "between three and four o'clock," which,
the writer says, " is the hour most convenient to

* Piozzi Anecdotes.
345

The House in St. Martin's Street

the excellent old Doctor, the best piece of man,
indeed, that the Duke ever saw."

Mrs. Thrale and her special coterie were foncl
of making impromptu translations of any little
French poem that took their fancy.

" Some one in company," she writes, "com
mended the verses of M. de Benserade, ' a son
Lit/

" ' Theatre des ris et des pleurs,
Lit ! ou je nais, et ou je meurs,
Tu nous fait voir comment voisins
Sont nos plaisirs et nos chagrins.'

"To which Johnson replied without hesi
tating: —

" ' In bed we laugh, in bed we cry,
And born in bed, in bed we die ;
The near approach a bed may shew
Of human bliss to human woe.'

" We had got a little French print among us
at Brighthelmstone," she says, "of some people
skating, with these lines written under :—

" ' Sur un mince chrystal Phyver conduit leurs pas,

Le precipice est sous la glace ;
Telle est de nos plaisirs la l^gere surface,
Glissez, mortels ; n'appuyez pas.'

" I begged translations from everybody : Dr.
Johnson gave me this : —

" ' O'er ice the rapid skater flies,

With sport above and death below ;
Where mischief lurks in gay disguise
Thus lightly touch and quickly go.' "

CHAPTER XXXII

FAREWELL TO THE HOUSE IN ST. MARTIN'S
STREET

ON leaving Brighthelmstone early in December
(1782), Fanny Burney returned to London and
was settled once more in St. Martin's Street.

The ovations to her upon the success of
Cecilia continued in full force. The book had
obtained a wide popularity — a popularity which
soon extended even beyond our own shores.
When ten years later Fanny came into connection
with the French Emigres, among whom were
Talleyrand, Madame de Stael, and the Due de
Liancourt, she found, to her surprise, that they
> knew her story by heart, and heard herself
addressed by them by the name of " Cecilia " !
She then learnt, with special pleasure, that the
great and good Lafayette had found a solace,
during his dreary prison life, in her works. " To
the universal admiration for Miss Burney," he
writes, on his release from captivity, " I add a
homage which is based on personal gratitude.

347

The House in St. Martin's Street

Her writings alone had the power to make me
occasionally forget my fate."

Among the Burney relics is a small German
pocket-calendar for the year 1789, which contains
passages from Cecilia translated into German,
together with several illustrations of scenes in
that novel.

Fanny, however, as we have seen, was happily
unspoilt by success. " There is," writes Macaulay,
" abundant proof that she enjoyed with an intense,
though a troubled joy, the honours which her
genius had won ; but it is equally clear that her
happiness sprang from the happiness of her father,
her sister [Susan], and her dear Daddy Crisp. . . .
If she recorded with minute diligence all the
compliments delicate and coarse which she heard
wherever she turned, she recorded them for the
eyes of two or three persons who had loved her
from infancy . . . and to whom her fame gave the
purest and most exquisite delight."

Among the Burney MSS. there is a letter
from Crisp to Fanny, written a few months after
the publication of Evelina, in which he says that
nothing will satisfy him but "a minute Journal
d'ye see — nothing less — send all ; don't be
maidenly and modest on this occasion. Remember
Pope, don't blush ; and as I know already, in
general, the honours you have received — sure
you need not be shy about the particulars."

348

Farewell

Besides the homage paid to her as a writer,
Fanny received homage of a more tender
description in her private life ; upon which light
is thrown in the unpublished letters now in
our hands. Among her admirers — one who
worshipped her as a being far out of his reach —
was the gentle Pacchierotti. "One day," she
writes, "he said 'he hoped for the sake of the
Public I should never marry, as, if I kept single,
I should be the first genius in England ! ' I
promised him there was little danger of my
taking that road to quarrel with the Public ! "

As the time of his departure from England
approached, he grew more and more melancholy,
we are told, and when spending his last evening
in St. Martin's Street, he threw aside his customary
reserve and confessed to Fanny his partiality,
declaring " that in some other situation it might
have made the whole blessing of his life ! "
" Poor, sweet Pacchierotti ! " she exclaims, in a
letter to Susan. " What a strange world is this ! "

Before parting with our friend Pacchierotti,
we should like to say that his career was evidently
uninjured by his hopeless attachment to Fanny
Burney ; indeed, it may possibly have been
ennobled by it. His gentle and modest disposition,
in the midst of the excitement of public applause,
was conspicuous, it seems, throughout his life,
and when he died, at an advanced age, his last

349

The House in St. Martin's Street

words were a prayer to God " to be admitted to
one of the humblest choirs in heaven."

After reading Fanny's words about the im
probability of her ever marrying, it is pleasant to
reflect that a singularly happy marriage awaited
her in the future. It is true that a period of trial
and of separation from those she loved was to
intervene during her life at Court, but in the
society of her husband, the good Chevalier
d'Arblay, and of her little son Alex, all those trials
were forgotten, as were also the splendours of a
palace, for in their sweet cottage home at Book-
ham they found

"room for heart expansion
And peace and joy to dwell."

Crisp did not live to know that the joys of
married life were in store for his Pannikin ; but
in one of his letters he says to her : —

" When you come to be old ... then live upon
remembrance, and think that you have had your
share of the good things of this world and say,
' For what I have received the Lord make me
thankful ! ' "

And now for a word or two about the other
members of the family.

Charlotte was happily married in 1786 to
a Mr. Clement Francis (Private Secretary to
Warren Hastings). He had read Evelina with
delight in India, and came over to England

350

Farewell

hoping to make its authoress his wife ; but his
plans were changed by his meeting and falling in
love with her sister instead !

By this time both James and Charles were
also married.

Many changes were thus gradually taking
place in the household in St. Martin's Street —
changes in outward circumstances, but the love
which bound the family together remained un
changed. Their mutual affection, as well as
" their integrity and high principles, shine out in
every page of their diaries and letters." This is
still further manifested in the great mass of
material forming the Burney MSS.

"Tis a sweet family!" cries Mrs. Thrale,
one day ; and Pacchierotti rejoins, " Sense and
wit inhabit here ; sensibility has taken up her
abode in this house ! "

*****

Let us take a last glance at the home of the
Burney family as it was in their day. We enter
• the drawing-room. There are its three lofty
windows overlooking St. Martin's Street, and
there is its carved chimney-piece around which
the Burneys and their friends so often sat and
talked, and where the words of Garrick and of
Sir Joshua Reynolds and of the great Dr. Johnson
were heard. And there, opening out of the
drawing-room, is the library, or music-room, with

The House in St. Martin's Street

the two harpsichords upon which Hetty and her
husband played their brilliant duets ; and where
the soul-stirring tones of Pacchierotti's voice were
so often heard.

As we turn away we catch a glimpse of Dr.
Burney's study.

And now we are descending the wide oaken
staircase, and it seems as if the strains of music
were following us. We pause for a moment on
the threshold, and then, as we pass into the outer
world, the door of the house in St. Martin's
Street closes behind us.

INDEX

Academy, Royal, its exhibition
of 1780, p. 231-5

Agujari, Signora (called "la
Bastardini "), her visit in St.
Martin's Street, her appear
ance and character, p. 15-17 ;
her singing described by
Fanny Burney, Mozart's
testimony, p. 17-21; her voice
compared with Gabrielli's,
heated discussions, p. 23-4,
26-7

America, disastrous war in, p.
168

Anstey, Christopher (author of
the Bath Guide), p. 217

Arblay, d'Chevalier, p. 350

•Balloon (Mongolfier's), ascent
of, verses on, p. 194-6

Bach, J. C. (called "English
Bach"), son of Johann Sebas
tian Bach, p. 60

Banks, Mr. (afterwards Sir
Joseph), in St. Martin's Street,
p. 9

Barborne Lodge (near Worces
ter), home of Mr. Richard
Burney and family, acting at,
p. 75-86

Baretti, Guiseppe, experiences

during Gordon Riots, p. 259 ;
in St. Martin's Street, Dr.
Johnson's words about him,
p. 292

Barlow, Mr. Thomas, meets
Fanny Burney, his love-
letters, his calls in St.
Martin's Street, his persistent
suit, p. 48-56

Barry, James, R.A., his dis
cussions with Mrs. Burney,
p. 5 ; in St. Martin's Street,
p. 298-9

Bath, Fanny Burney's and the
Thrales' visit to, in 1780, p.
210-18; "Dressed Balls," p.
246-7

Bath Easton Villa, Fanny Bur
ney's visit to, lines on " The
Closing of the Vase," p. 251-3
Berkeley, Lord, "a Berkeley

ball," p. 92-4
Berkeley, Honble. George, p.

93-4
Bertoni, Signer (Italian

musician), p. 235-6, p. 270
Blue-stocking Club, origin of
name, its founder Mrs. Vesey,
p. 306-8
Boone, Mr. Charles, his opinion

of Gabrielli's singing, p. 27
Boswell, James, meets Fanny
Burney at Streatham, anec
dote of, p. 129-30 ; meets
Charlotte Burney at the

353

2 A

Index

Hooles', his bon-mot, p. 314-
16 ; rough treatment from
Dr. Johnson, p. 344
Botelar, Captain, anecdote of,
during threatened invasion,

P- 173
Bouchier, Captain, meets Fanny

Burney in Bath, p. 248
Bouchier, Governor, described

by Charlotte Burney and by

Boswell, p. 314-15
Brighthelmstone, Fanny Bur-

ney's visit to, in 1782 ; its

Assembly Rooms, p. 335-6
Brooke, Mrs., her tragedy, p.

303
Bruce, James (traveller), his

contribution to the " History

of Music," his visit to St.

Martin's Street, "the tallest

of men," p. 32-7, p. 235
Brudenal, Mr., p. 27
Brudenal, Mrs., her opinion

upon Gabrielli's singing, p. 27
Brun, Madame le, her cold

manner of singing, p. 228 ;

her portrait by Gainsborough,

P-233

Burke, Edmund, his praise of
Evelina, p. 143-4 5 attacked
by rioters, p. 259 ; his house
in danger, p. 271 ; his letter
to Fanny Burney in praise of
Cecilia, p. 333-4

Burke, Richard, his experiences
during Gordon Riots, p. 267-8

Burney, Anna Maria (Nancy),
eldest child of Mr. and Mrs.
Charles Rousseau Burney,
acts in "Tom Thumb," p.
76-9, p. 83-6

Burney, Miss Anne (sister of
Dr. Burney), p. 51

Burney, Dr. Charles, moves
into the house in St. Martin's
Street, p. i, p. 3 ; Dr. John
son's affection for him, p. 5 ;
his family described, p. 6 ;
receives Omai, p. 9, p. 13;
receives Agujari, p. 16 ; Ga
brielli's singing, p. 23-4 ; Ga
brielli's singing and Agujari's
compared, p. 26-7 ; his
"History of Music" contri
bution from James Bruce,
visit from James Bruce, p.
32-3 ; from Prince Orloff, p.
38 ; his daughter Fanny Bur
ney 's suitor, Mr. Barlow, p.
5r> P- 55~6 ; Dr. Johnson and
Mrs. Thrale at his house, p.
57-60 ; admiration of Eve-
tma,p. 110-15 5 Dr. Johnson's
praise of book, divulges secret
of authorship to Crisp, p. 1 16-
19 ; takes F. B. to Streatham,
p. 121 -2 ; at gathering in Sir
Joshua Reynolds' house, p. :
137 ; at Mrs. Cholmondeley's
house, at Sir Joshua's house
on Richmond Hill, meets
Edmund Burke, p. 142-4 ;
reads " Witlings " to Chesing-
ton household, his adverse
judgment, F. B's. letter, p. j
149-53 ; unpublished letters
from Mrs. Thrale to, p.
187-92 ; intercourse with
Pacchierotti, his singing, p.
199-203 ; Mrs. Thrale's un
published letters from Bath,
p. 213-16 ; Pacchierotti's
singing, p. 228 ; experiences
during Gordon Riots, p. 266-
7, p. 273-4 ; a musical gather
ing at his house, p. 287-8 ;

354

Index

anxious for F. J3. to continue
her literary work, p. 329-30,
p. 331 ; Burke's praise of
Cecilia, p. 334 ; Epilogue
upon Cecilia, p. 341 ; p. 345

Burney, Mrs. (formerly Mrs.
Allen), p. 5-6 ; publication of
Evelina, p. 108-9 > nrst read
ing of Evelina, p. 113-15 ;
fear of rioters, p. 265 ; excels
in conversation, her argu
ments with James Barry, p.
298-9

Burney, Charles, Jun. (after
wards Dr.), riegociates publi
cation of Evelina, p. 100, p.
102, p. 104, p. 106-7 5 his
marriage, p. 351

Burney, ^Charles Rousseau, his
musical power, p. 3 ; married
his cousin Esther Burney, p.
6 ; at the harpsichord, p.
17-18 ; does not admire Ga-
brielli's singing, p. 23-4 ;
brilliant executant, " Muthel's
Duet," p. 31-2 ; ditto, p. 37,
p. 71, p. 76 ; experiences dur
ing Gordon Riots, p. 258-9,
p. 266 ; plays in concert in St.
Martin's Street, p. 287-8 ; p.

Burney, Charlotte Ann, p. 6, 9 ;
meets Garrick at theatre and
in St. Martin's Street, p. 66-
71 ; meeting of wits in St.
Martin's Street, p. 71-4; p.
109; p. 115; hears "Wit
lings" read at Chesington,
p. 149-51 ; p. 205 ; Edward
Burney's sketches of scenes
in Evelina, p. 229, p. 232 ;
experiences during Gordon
Riots, p. 254, p. 272, p. 280 ;

family meeting in St. Martin's
Street, p. 285, p. 289 ; her
unpublished Journals, inter
course with the Hoole family,
Mr. Poor, Dr. Johnson, Mrs.
Williams, Baron Dimsdale,
etc., p. 300-6; "new name
for wits Blue-stocking Club,"
p. 306 ; approves of " learned
ladies," p. 309; Captain
Phillips, Mr. Seward, nick
name for Gibbon, James
Northcote, Boswell, his bon-
mot, p. 310-16 ; writes of
Cecilia }s success, p. 341 ; her
marriage in 1786 to Clement
Francis, p. 350-1

Burney, Edward Francis
(painter), acts in "Way to
keep him" and "Tom
Thumb," p. 79-86, p. 93 ;
negociates publication of
Evelina, p. 107 ; his sketches
of scenes in Evelina, p. 112-
13; sketches in Royal
Academy Exhibition (1780),
p. 229-30, p. 232 ; experiences
during Gordon Riots, p. 259 ;
his two portraits of Fanny
Burney, p. 337-8

Burney, Elizabeth (Betsy), acts
in " Way to keep him " and
" Tom Thumb," p. 77-86 ; at
Dr. Wall's house, p. 91-2,

P- 95

Burney, Esther (Hetty), her
performance on harpsichord,
p. 3 ; married her cousin
Charles Rousseau Burney,
p. 6 ; p. 14 ; prefers Agujari's
singing to Gabrielli's, p. 23-4,
p. 27 ; her performance of
"Muthel's Duet," p. 31-2, p.

355

Index

37 ; advocates Mr. Barlow's
suit to her sister Fanny, p. 5 1 ;
meets Dr. Johnson, p. 57-60,
p. 71 ; p. 76 ; p. 85 ; at Ches-
ington, p. 182; experiences
during Gordon Riots, p.
258-9, p. 266 ; family meeting
in St. Martin's Street, p. 285 ;
p. 287 ; death of one of her
children, p. 327-8 ; p. 352
Burney, Frances (Fanny), she
describes the house in St.
Martin's Street, p. I ; visit
from Garrick, p. 4-5 ; her
correspondence with Crisp
begun, p. 7-8 ; Omai's visit,
contrasts his character with
Mr. Stanhope's, anecdote of
Omai and Duchess of Devon
shire, p. 8-14 ; Agujari in St.
Martin's Street, p. 15-17 ; her
singing, p. 17-21 ; Gabrielli's
singing and caprices, p. 22-3 ;
claims of rival singers dis
cussed, p. 25-9 ; a concert in
St. Martin's Street, p. 30-2 ;
visit from James Bruce, p.
32-7 ; anecdote of Comte de
Guignes, p. 38-9 ; visit from
Garrick, his mimicry, "Abel
Drugger," p. 40-2 ; Mrs. Gar
rick, Garrick in "Richard
III.," p. 44-6; meets Mr.
Barlow, his love letters to
her, her annoyance, affair de
scribed in unpublished letter
to Crisp, Mr. Barlow dis
missed, p. 49-56 ; first sight
of Dr. Johnson and of Mrs.
Thrale, p. 57-65 ; acts in
" Way to keep him " and
"Tom Thumb," p. 75-86: at
Dr. Wall's, festivities, p. 87-

96 ; early passion for writing,
composition of Evelina, un
published correspondence
with Lowndes, publication of •
book, p. 97-109; Evelinas
early success, her father's ap
proval of book, Mrs. Burney's
interest, well reviewed by
press, p. 110-15; Dr. John
son's approbation, Mrs.
Thrale's delight, secret of
authorship divulged to Mr. J.
Crisp, p. 116-20; first visit to j
Streatham, p. 121-5 5 Dr.
Johnson's praise of Evelina, \
meets James Boswell and Mrs.
Montagu, Evelina's popu
larity, p. 125-6 ; Sir Joshua |
Reynolds', and Sheridan's
advice to write a play, p. \
1 37-43; Burke's praise of
Evelina, p. 143-4 ; advised by j
Murphy to write a comedy, ;
Crisp's warning letter, writes '.
"Witlings," adverse verdict j
of Dr. Burney and Crisp, i
withdraws her play, p. 145-
54 ; scene from " Witlings,"
p. 1 54-67 ; her affection for
Crisp, p. 178-81 ; intercourse
with Pacchierotti, p. 199, p.J
203 ; departure with Thrales
for Bath, p. 203-5 ; at De
vizes, sees future Sir Thomas
Lawrence, p. 206-10 ; arrival
in Bath, house in South
Parade, p. 210-13 ; at Mr.
Tyson's election as M.C. for
Lower Rooms, p. 214 ; writes
of Bath society, Evelina
talked of, Lord Mulgrave's
wit, Mrs. Thrale's wit, p.
216-18 ; Edward Burney's

356

Index

sketches of scenes in Evelina,
sees them in R.A. Exhibition
(1780), p. 229-32 ; returns to
Bath, p. 236-7 ; letter from
Pacchierotti, p. 238-41 ; Bath
festivities, visits Bath Easton
Villa, p. 241-52 ; hears of
Riots in London, outrages in
Bath, quits Bath, at Salisbury
and Southampton, p. 275-82 ;
family meeting in St. Martin's
Street, at Chesington, James
Burney's promotion, p. 285-6 ;
her unpublished letters on her
sister Susan's engagement to
be married to Captain Phillips,
writing Cecilia at Chesington,
Susan's marriage, visits her
and Captain Phillips at
Ipswich, p. 318-24; interrup
tions to progress of Cecilia,
ill-health, visit at Chesington,
P- 325~3° » returns home,
publication of Cecilia, Dr.
Johnson's and Burke's praise
of book, p. 330-4 ; visit to
Brighthelmstone, unpublished
letters from, her portrait by
Edward Burney, her minia
ture, p. 335-9 ; a Cecilia Epi
logue in Morning Herald,
P- 339-41 5 sensation caused
by scenes in Cecilia, p. 341-3 ;
Dr. Johnson's irascibility, p.
143-4 ; returns to London, Ceci
lia's popularity on the Conti
nent, Lafayette's words, Ma-
caulay's appreciation, Crisp's
words, p. 347-8 ; Pacchie-
rotti's attachment to her, p.
349-50 ; marries theChevelier
d'Arblay, Crisp's words, p. 350
Jurney, Hannah (daughter of

Richard Burney of Worcester),
p. 83

Burney, Captain James (after
wards Rear- Admiral), p. 6 ;
brings Omai to St. Martin's
Street, p. 8-13 ; his promo
tion, 191-2 ; appointed to
command of Latona, p.
285-6 ; introduces Captain
Phillips to his family, served
under Captain Cook, p. 317 ;

P-35I

Burney, James (son of Richard
Burney of Worcester), acts
in " Way to keep him " and
" Tom Thumb," p. 77-86 ; at
Dr. Wall's house, p. 89, p. 95

Burney, Rebecca (sister of Dr.
Burney), p. 5 1

Burney, Rebecca (Becky),
daughter of Richard Burney
of Worcester, acts in " Way
to keep him" and "Tom
Thumb," p. 77-86

Burney, Richard (of Worcester),
elder brother of Dr. Burney,
at his house Barborne Lodge,
p. 75-86

Burney, Richard, Junr., acts in
" Way to keep him " and
" Tom Thumb," p. 77-84 ; at
Dr. Wall's house, p. 89-90,
p. 95-6

Burney, Richard (Dick), little
son of Dr. and Mrs. Burney,
p. 6 ; p. 193

Burney, Susan, p. 6 ; p. 9 ; Agu-
jari's and Gabrielli's singing,
p. 23, 27-8 ; sees Dr. Johnson
first time, p. 57~9 ; meets
Garrick at theatre, p. 66-9 ;
p. 109 ; her letters on Eve
lina's success, p. 1 10-12, p.

357

Index

114-17; reading of "Wit
lings," at Chesington, p. 149-
51 ; fear of invasion (1779),
p. 1 68 ; music at Chesington, j
p. 182-3 >' her unpublished
Journals, describes gathering
in Opera House, Pacchie-
rotti's singing, p. 179-202 ;
at the Pantheon, Fischer
and Cramer, Pacchierotti, p.
202-5 5 Dr. Johnson and Mrs.
Williams in St. Martin's
Street, p. 219-21 ; intercourse
with Lady Clarges, p. 221-
4 ; Pacchierotti and Sheridan,
p. 224-6 ; variety in Pacchie-
rotti's singing, p. 226-8 ;
describes in unpublished
journals outrages during Gor
don Riots (1780), witnesses
incendiary fires, p. 254~6o,
p. 263-4 ; Burneys' house in
danger, valuables removed,
p. 265-7 ; Pacchierotti, ar
rival of good news, fear at an
end, p. 269-74 ; hears of
riots in Bath, p. 278-9; family
meeting in St. Martin's Street,
p. 285 ; social intercourse
described in unpublished
journals, a concert, Pacchie
rotti, Cramer, etc., p. 287-91 ;
Baretti, Fulke Greville, Mer
lin, Dr. Johnson, Sir Joshua
Reynolds, etc., p. 292-5 ;
Barry, p. 298-9 ; engaged to
be married to Captain Moles-
worth Phillips, her marriage
(1782), goes to live at Ipswich,
p. 318-24

Burney, Thomas (Tom), acts in
" Way to keep him " and
" Tom Thumb," p. 79-86

Byron, Mrs. (wife of Admiral
Byron), p. 174; in Bath, p.
217, p. 243, p. 246

Byron, Augusta, at Ball in Bath,
p. 246

Carter, Elizabeth (translator of
Epictetus), meets Fanny
Burney in Bath, p. 243-5

Carysfort, Lady, p. 138

Cecilia, novel of, characters in,
p. 29, p. 74, p. 295-6, p. 320 ;
book begun in 1780, p. 325 ;
interruptions to progress,
original MS., p. 329-30 ; its
publication (1782) by Payne
and Cadell, causes great sen
sation, praised by Dr. John
son and Burke, p. 331-4 ; its
extraordinary popularity, p.
335> P- 339-43J popularity
abroad, p. 347-8

Chamier, Anthony, admires
Gabrielli's singing, p. 27-9

Chapone, Mrs., emotion on read
ing Cecilia, p. 343

Chartres, Due de, words about
Dr. Johnson, p. 345-6

Chesington Hall (home of Mr.
Crisp), p. 7 ; Fanny Burney's
visit at, p. 75 ; writes part of I
Evelina there, hears of Eve- \
Una's early success while
there, Dr. Burney's visit, p.
110-13, p. 119; MS. of
"Witlings "-read at, p. 149-
51 ; " Liberty Hall," p. 177-
9 ; Captain and Mrs. Phillips
at, p. 324 ; F. B. writing
Cecilia there, p. 320, p. 329-30

Chester, Mr. William, p. 93-4

358

Index

Cholmondeley, Mrs. (sometimes
Chol'mly), her admiration of
Evelina, p. 116-17; meets
Fanny Burney, p. 141-2

Clarges, Sir Thomas, p. 221

Clarges, Lady, p. 199 ; accom
plished musician, her portrait
by Gainsborough, her letters
to Susan Burney, p. 221-4

Clarke, Sir Philip Jennings,
p. 192-3 ; experiences during
Gordon Riots, p. 279-80

Colla, Signor, p. 15-17

Cook, Captain James (navi
gator), p. 191 ; James Burney
and Molesworth Phillips serve
under him, his murder by
natives of Owhyhee, p. 317

Cooke, Kitty, lives at Chesing-
ton Hall, p. 119; hears
" Witlings " read aloud, p.
149 ; p. 183, 184 ; p. 285-6 ;

P- 329

Coussmaker, Captain, p. 78, p.
89, p. 92, p. 95

Coussmaker, Miss, Dr. Burney
reads Evelina to, p. 1 1 1

Cowper, William, calls Omai
" the gentle savage," p. 8 ; his
lines on the burning of Lord
Mansfield's library, p. 260

Cramer, Wilhelm (musical com
poser), p. 203 ; in St. Martin's
Street, his incomparable play
ing on harpsichord, p. 287-9

Crewe, Mrs., in St. Martin's
Street, p. 71

Crisp, Samuel, friend and ad
viser of Burney family, his
correspondence with Fanny
Burney, p. 6-8 ; his judgment
on singing of Agujari and
Gabrielli, p. 23-4 ; letter on

Mr. Barlow's suit to F. B., p.
$f-2 ; her reply, p. 54-5 ;
letter upon Johnson and Gar-
rick, p. 64-5 ; secret of author
ship of Evelina divulged to
him, p. 118-20; his words
on value of F. B's. Journals,
p. 144; "Witlings," his ad
verse verdict on, F. F's. letter,
p. 146-53 ; fear of invasion, p.
168-9 » his affection for F. B.,
p. 180-2 ; " his exquisite taste
in Fine Arts," p. 182-3 J re
ceives visits from Mr. and
Mrs. Thrale, visits Streatham,
p. 183-6, p. 285 ; receives
visit from Captain Phillips,
p. 319-20 ; Captain and Mrs.
Phillips at Chesington, p.
324 ; letter on division of
F. B's. affections, p. 327 ;
F. B's. visit to Chesington,
p. 328-30 ; his approval of
Cecilia, p. 333 ; his words to
F. B. on her success in life,

P- 348, p. 350
Crutchley, Mr. J., p. 192-3

Davenant, Mr., p. 74

Davis, Mr. H., at Gloucester,
p. 92-4

Deffand, Mme. la Marquise du,
anecdote of, p. 312

Deiden, Baron (Danish Am
bassador), in St. Martin's
Street, p. 30

Deiden, Baroness, in St. Mar
tin's Street, her performance
on harpsichord, p. 30-2

Delany, Mrs., emotion on read
ing Cecilia, p. 343

359

Index

Delap, Dr., p. 344
Devonshire, Georgiana,Duchess

of, anecdote of, p. 14
Dickinson, Miss, p. 49
Dimsdale, Baron, at the Hoole's

house, p. 305
Dodsley, Mr. (bookseller of Pall

Mall), declines to publish

Evelina, p. 99-100
Duncan, Lady Mary, interest in

Pacchierotti, p. 224

Edgecumbe, Lord (Mount),
anecdote of, during fear of
invasion, p. 173-4

Edgecumbe, Emma Lady, in
St. Martin's Street, p. 26-7 ;
at the Opera House, p. 119

Evelina, Novel of, its composi
tion and publication, unpub
lished correspondence with
Lowndes, p. 97-109 ; Dr.
Burney's interest in book, p.
110-15; weH reviewed, Dr.
Johnson's approbation, p.
115-19, p. 123-36 ; "Long
Room at Hampstead," p.
126-9; Burke's praise of book,
p. 143; "Long Room," p.
182; "all Bath mad after,"
p. 217 ; Edward Burney's
sketches of scenes in, p.
229-30, p. 232

Fielding, Justice, house burnt
by rioters, p. 259

Fischer, Johann Christian (haut-
bois player), p. 203 ; his por
trait by Gainsborough, p. 233

Francis, Clement, marries Char
lotte Burney, p. 350-1

Franklin, Dr., his chapel in
Great Queen's Street, anec
dote of, p. 303

Gabrielli, Signora, p. 16-17 ;

her caprice, p. 21 ; singing

compared with Agujari's,

Garrick's opinion, p. 22-5 ;

discussions on, p. 26-9
Gainsborough, Thomas, his

portrait of Lady Clarges, p.

222 ; his pictures in R.A.

Exhibition of 1780, p. 233-4
Gardiner, W. (painter), p. 312-

Garrick, David, friend of Burney
family, p. 4-5 ; unpublished
letter on Gabrielli's singing,
p. 24-5 ; in St. Martin's Street,
his mimicry, power of chang
ing countenance, p. 40-3 ;
fondness for children, his
11 piercing eyes," p. 43-4 ; in
character of Richard III.,
Hogarth's words, Pope's
words, p. 45-6 ; Dr. Johnson's
criticism of his character, p.
61-4 ; intercourse with Bur-
neys, p. 66-71, p. 210

Garrick, Mrs., p. 4; manners
"all elegance," affection for
Dr. Burney, p. 44-5

Gast, Mrs. (sister of Mr. Crisp),
hears " Witlings " read aloud,
p. 149-50; p. 183; writes of
Evelina, p. 216-7

George III., p. 10, p. 13 ; p. 62

Gibbon, Edward (historian),
anecdote of, p. 312

360

Index

Gillies, Dr., p. 205 ; experiences

during Gordon Riots, p. 259
Goldsmith, Oliver, his lines upon

Garrick, p. 63
Gordon, Lord George, his "no

Popery " riots, p. 254-74 ;

riots in Bath, p. 275-9 J in

London, is sent to the Tower,

p. 274, p. 281
Greville, Fulke, in St. Martin's

Street, p. 71, 73-4; p. 220,

p. 292-4

Greville, Mrs., p. 71-2
Guignes, M. le Comte de (French

Ambassador), anecdote of, p.

38-9

Hales, Lady, Dr. Burney reads
Evelina to, p. in ; p. 199;
p. 259 ; emotion on reading
Cecilia, p. 342

Hamilton, Mrs., lives at Chesing-
ton Hall, p. 119 ; hears
"Witlings" read aloud, p. 149 ;
p. 184; p. 285 ; p. 329

Hardy, Sir Charles, Admiral of
Channel Fleet at period of
threatened invasion, p. 169-76

Harris, Mr. James (author of
Three Treatises on Music,
Poetry and Happiness), p.
30-2 ; p. 199 ; in St. Martin's
Street, p. 220, p. 221

Harris, Miss Louisa, her singing,

P. 31

Hawkins, Miss Laetitia, de
scribes Dr. Johnson's appear
ance, also Mrs. Williams'
appearance, p. 219-20

Hayes, Mr., in St. Martin's
Street, p. 9-13

Hobart, Honble. Mrs., recites
Cecilia Epilogue, p. 339-40

Hoole, John (translator of Meta-
stasio), intercourse with Bur
ney family, post in India
House, literary work, friend of
Dr. Johnson, gatherings at his
house described by Charlotte
Burney, p. 301-6, p. 313-16

Hoole, Mrs. John, intercourse
with Burney family, gather
ings at her house described
by Charlotte Burney, p. 301-
6» P- 3i3-i6

Horneck, Mrs., her admiration
of Evelina^ p. 138

House in St. Martin's Street,
Burney family move into,
p. i ; described, p. 6 ; ditto,
p. 197-8; ditto, p. 351-2

Humphrys, Miss (sister-in-law
of Richard Burney of Wor
cester), p. 79, p, 83

Hyde, Justice, his house sacked
by rioters, p. 256-60

Invasion, attempted by French
and Spanish Fleets, con
temporary accounts of, p.
168-76

Jebb, Sir Richard, his medical
treatment of Fanny Burney,
p. 328

Jerningham, Edward, (poet) in
Bath, p. 215-16

Johnson, Dr. Samuel, praise of
Dr. Burney, p. 5 ; first visit
in St. Martin's Street, his
appearance, his conversation,

Index

criticism of Garrick, p. 57-64 ;
at gathering in St. Martin's
Street, p. 71-4 ; interest in
Evelina, p. 116-18; meets
Fanny Burney at Streatham,
his praise of Evelina, talk
about characters in book, p.
123-33 J his observance of
ladies' dress, anecdote of, p.
134-6 ; approves of F. B.
writing a play, p. 145, p. 148 ;
praise of Mr. Crisp's powers
of mind, p. 185 ; ditto of Mrs.
Thrale's wit, p. 187 ; p. 188 ;
p. 190 ; affection for Burney
family, p. 192, p. 193 ', in St.
Martin's Street, appearance
described by Miss L.
Hawkins, p. 219-21 ; in
terested in canvass for Mr.
Thrales' election as M.P. for
Borough, p. 229-30, p. 232 ;
with Mrs. Thrale and F. B.
in Borough, p. 236-7 ; letter
to Mrs. Thrale, p. 251 ;
experiences during Gordon
Riots, p. 255-6, p. 267, p. 272,
p, 274 ; words about Baretti,
p. 292 ; in St. Martin's Street,
anecdote of Mrs. Reynolds,
p. 294-5 ; his portraits by
Nollekens, p. 296-7 ; friend
ship for John Hoole, p. 301 ;
at the Hoole's house, p. 305,
p. 314 ; praise of Cecilia,
332-4 ; at Brighthelmstone,
P- 335 J admiration of charac-

• ters in Cecilia, p. 340 ; his
irascible temper, gentleness
to friends, his translation of
French verses, p. 343-6

Jones, Mr., Welsh harper, p.
30-1

Kaufmann, Angelica, her pic
tures in R.A. Exhibition of
1780, p. 233-4

King, Dr., p. 26, p. 38

Lafayette, General, tribute of
praise to Fanny Burney's
works, p. 347-8

Lawrence, Thomas (afterwards
Sir Thomas), at Devizes, p.
209-10

Liancourt, Due de, p. 347
Lock, William, p. 199
Lock, Mrs. William, p. 199
Lowndes, Thomas (bookseller,
Fleet Street), unpublished
letters concerning Evelina,
p. 100-8 ; success of Evelina,
p. 117

Mansfield, Lord (William
Murray), destruction of his
house and library by rioters,
p. 259-60; his country house
(Caen Wood) saved from
destruction by host of the
" Spaniards Inn," p. 260-1

Maty, Dr., introduces Agujari
to the Burneys, p. 15, p. 16

Merlin, John Joseph, ingenious
French mechanician, p. 30 ;
in St. Martin's Street, p.
293-4

Miller, Sir John (of Bath
Easton Villa), p. 252

Miller, Lady (of Bath Easton
Villa), p. 251-3

Montagu, Mrs. (Elizabeth),

362

Index

meets Fanny Burney at
Streatham, interest in Eve
lina, p. 130-4; hopes F. B.
will write a play, p. 146, p.
147 j in Bath, p. 218, p. 247 ;
"Queen of the Blues," p.
308-9, p. 338 ; interest in
Cecilia, p. 343

More, Hannah, p. 247

Mortimer, John Hamilton,
A.R.A., his illustrations of
Evelina, p. 112-13

Mulgrave, Lord, in Bath, his
wit, p. 216-18

Murphy, Arthur (dramatist),
advises Fanny Burney to
write a comedy, p. 145-6,
p. 190

Newton, Sir Isaak, former
occupant of house in St.
Martin's Street, p. 1-3

Nollekens, Joseph (sculptor),
prototype of " Mr. Briggs " in
Cecilia, his bust of Dr. John
son, his group of members of
"Turk's Head Club" with
Dr. Johnson as President,
p. 295-8

Nollekens, Mrs., p. 296

Northcote, James, R.A., p. 313

O'Connor, Mrs., friend of Mr.
Barlow, p. 47-9

Omai (Otaheitan Chief), "the
gentle savage," contrasted
with Mr. Stanhope, remark
to Duchess of Devonshire,
p. 8-14

Opera House (burnt down

1789), performance of Rinaldo
at, p. 199-202

Orange Coffee House, Hay-
market, Evelina correspond
ence addressed to, p. 100,
p. 102, p. 104

Orange Street Chapel (adjoining
house in St. Martin's Street),
P- 2-3

Ord, Mrs., in St. Martin's Street,
p. 220, p. 294

Ord, Miss, p. 220, p. 294

Orloff, Prince (favourite of Em
press Catherine of Russia), in
St. Martin's Street, p. 37-8

Orme, Captain, described by
Charlotte Burney and by
Boswell, p. 314-15

Orvilliers, M. d' (Admiral of
the French Fleet during
threatened invasion), anec
dote of, p. 173; p. 176

Owen, Miss, p. 57

Pacchierotti, Gasparo (Italian
Singer), his praise of Burney
family, p. 5 ; singing de
scribed by Susan Burney, Dr.
Burney 's words, p. 198-202 ;
at the Pantheon, in St.
Martin's Street, p. 202-5 ;
intercourse with Lady
Clarges, Lady Mary Duncan,
Lady Edgecumbe, Burney's
affection for him, p. 222-4;
ill-treatment from Sheridan,
p. 224-6 ; " endless variety "
in singing, p. 226-8, p. 235 ;
letter (in English) to Fanny
Burney, p. 238-41 ; experi
ence during Gordon Riots,

363

Index

p. 270-1 ; singing in St.
Martin's Street, his modesty,
admiration of Burney family,
p. 287-91 ; interest in Cecilia,
his name appears in book,
p. 331-2 ; success of Cecilia,
p. 341 ; becomes attached to
F. B., p. 349-50; praise of
Burney family, p. 351

Palmer, Miss (niece of Sir
Joshua Reynolds), p. 141

Pantheon, Concert at, inatten
tion of audience, p. 202-4

Paradise, Mrs., p. 200 ; p. 294

Penneck, Mr., p. 15

Pepys, Mr. (afterwards Sir
William), on Mrs. Thrale's
" talent of conversation," p.
187 ; p. 193 ; p. 336 ; rough
treatment from Dr. Johnson,

P- 344
Pepys, Mrs. (afterwards Lady),

P. 336

Perkins, Mr., p. 193 ; saves
Mr. Thrale's brewery from
destruction by rioters, p. 280-1

Peterborough, Bishop of, in
Bath, p. 241-3

Phillips, Captain Molesworth,
p. 311 ; Captain of Marines,
served under Captain Cook,
gallant action, engaged to be
married to Susan Burney,
visit to Chesington, his
marriage (Jan. 1782), settled
in Ipswich, p. 317-24; let
ter from Fanny Burney, p.
336-8

Piozzi, Gabrieli, first meeting
with Mrs. Thrale, p. 71-3 ;
"touchy and sensitive," p.
235-6 ; p. 290 ; p. 296

Poor, Mr., his conversations with

Charlotte Burney, p. 304, p.
306, p. 309

Portland, Duchess of, emotion
on reading Cecilia, p. 343

Queen Charlotte, p. 62

Rauzzini, Venanzio (singer), p.
27 ; at Opera House, p. 199

Reynolds, Sir Joshua, in St.
Martin's Street, p. 5 ; gather
ing at his house in Leicester
Square, urges Fanny Burney
to write a play, p. 137-43 ;
friends at his house on Rich
mond Hill, p. 143-4 ; p. 199 ;
p. 209 ; admires Edward
Burney's sketches of scenes
in Evelina, his pictures in
R.A. Exhibition of 1 780, p.
233-4 5 experiences during
Gordon Riots, p. 271-2; in
St. Martin's Street, p. 294 ;
gathering at his house in
Leicester Square, p. 332-3 ;
p. 344 ; his words on Dr.
Johnson's character, p. 345

Reynolds, Miss (usually called
Mrs.), sister of Sir Joshua, in
St. Martin's Street, anecdotes
of, p. 294-5 ; her eccentricity,
p. 311-12

Riots, Lord George Gordon
( 1 780), contemporary accounts
of, personal experiences of
Burney family during, p. 254-
64 ; riots in Bath, p. 275-81

Rons, Mr. Boughton, at the
Hooles', p. 305, p. 313-14

364

Index

Russel, Dr., talk with Dr.
Johnson, p. 220-1

Saville, Sir George, house sacked
by rioters, p. 255-7

Selwyn, Mr., p. 344

Seward, William, in St. Martin's
Street, p. 57, p. 62 ; at
Streatham, p. 124, p. 126 ;
" full of fun and pun," p. 31 1-
12

Sheridan, Richard Brinsley,
advises Fanny to write a
comedy, p. 142-3, P- H5 J
negligent treatment of Pac-
chierotti, p. 224-6, ditto of
Cramer, p. 289

Solander, Dr., in St. Martin's
Street, p. 9

Stael, Mme. de, p. 347

Stanhope, Mr., p. 13

Strange, Mr. (afterwards Sir
Robert), in St. Martin's Street,

P- 9, P- 13

Strange, Mrs. (afterwards
Lady), in St. Martin's Street,

P- 33-4

Strange, Miss, p. 33
Streatfield, Miss Sophie (the

S. S.), p. 193, p. 199 ; in St.

Martin's Street, p. 204-5

Talleyrand, M. de, p. 347
Thrale, Mr., visit to Chesington,
p. 183-5 ; P- I9° ; in Bath>
p. 213, p. 214 ; canvass for
re - election as M.P. for
Borough, riots in Bath,
brewery in Borough in danger,

brewery saved, leaves Bath,
halts at Salisbury and South
ampton, p. 277-82 ; his death
in April, 1781, p. 314, p. 327
Thrale, Mrs. (afterwards Piozzi),
first visit to St. Martin's Street,
p. 57-62 ; interest in Evelina,
reports Dr. Johnson's praise
of book, p. 1 16-18 ; welcomes
Fanny Burney to Streatham,
lively talk, letter from Tun-
bridge Wells, p. 121 - 36 ;
advises F. B. to write a play,
p. 145, p. 153-4 ; letters during
fear of invasion, p. 174, p. 176 ;
visit to Chesington, receives
Crisp at Streatham, p. 184-6 ;
her wit, her powers of con
versation, p. 187 ; her un
published letters, James
Burney's promotion, her affec
tion for F. B., p. 187-94 ;
ready pen for verse, trans
lations, p. 194-6; departure
with F. B. for Bath, p. 204-5 5
accounts of Bath society in
unpublished letters, p. 213-
16 ; p. 218; in London,
canvasses for Mr. Thrale's
re - election as M.P. for
Borough, p. 230 ; returns with
F. B. to Bath, p. 236-7 ; Bath
festivities,?. 241-3, p. 248-51 ;
visit to Bath Easton, p. 252 ;
riots in Bath, Mr. Thrale's
brewery in Borough in danger,
brewery saved, quits Bath
with Mr. Thrale and F. B.,
halts at Salisbury and South
ampton, p. 276-82 ; letter on
Susan Burney's engagement
to be married to Captain
Phillips, p. 318-19 J Mr.
365

Index

Thrale's death, F. B's. time
claimed by her, p. 325 ; fears
for F. B's. health, p. 330 ; at
Brighthelmstone, visit from
F. B., p. 335-7 ; Dr. Johnson
and needlework, p. 344-5 ; his
translation of French verses,
p. 346 ; her praise of Burney
family, p. 351

Thrale, Miss, in St. Martin's
Street, p. 57 ; p. 188

" Tom Thumb " (Burlesque by
Fielding), p. 83-6

Twining, Revd. Thomas ("Aris
totle Twining "), in St. Mar
tin's Street, p. 33-7, p. 71

Tyson, Mr., elected M.C. for
Lower Rooms in Bath, p. 214,
p. 246

Vesey, Mrs., founder of " Blue
stocking Club," meetings of
members at her house, her
eccentricities, p. 306-9

Wall, Dr., founder of the Wor
cester China manufactory,
p. 87

Wall, Dr. (John), at Barborne
Lodge, p. 78 ; his house in
Gloucester, visit from Fanny
Burney and her cousins, his
eccentricities, p. 87-96

Wall, Mrs. John, p. 88-96

Walpole, Horace, letters on fear
of invasion, p. 169, p. 173-5 '•>
on Bath Easton Villa, p. 251 ;

experiences during Gordon

Riots, p. 264, p. 268-9, P- 27* ;

riots in Bath, p. 277-8
"Way to keep him" (by

Murphy), acted at Barborne

Lodge, p. 76-82, p. 89
West, Benjamin, R.A., ceiling

in Somerset House painted

by him, p. 233
Williams, Mrs. (the blind

poetess), in St. Martin's Street,

p. 5, p. 219 ; appearance

described by Miss Laetitia

Hawkins, p. 220; p. 221; in

St. Martin's Street, p. 294 ;

at the Hooles' house, p. 305
Williamson, Captain, p. 310
Winchester, Dean of, in St.

Martin's Street, p. 25-6
" Witlings, The," Fanny Bur-

ney's unpublished play of, p.

148 - 54 ; scene from play

given, p. 154-7
Wright, Joseph (of Derby), his

picture in R. A. Exhibition

of 1780, p. 234

Yates, Mrs., chief actress at
large theatre (or Opera
House) in Haymarket, p.

303-4
Yates, Mr., p. 304

Zoffany, Johann, R.A., his
picture in R.A. Exhibition
of 1780, p. 234-5

THE END

BY THE SAME AUTHOR

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