Page:Elizabeth Fry (Pitman 1884).djvu/20

12 resolutions made in view of this journey to London, we find that she determined not to be vain or silly, to be independent of the opinion of others, not to make dress a study, and to read the Bible at all available opportunities. It was perhaps wise in her father to permit this reasonings philosophical daughter of his to see the gaieties of London life before coming to a final decision, respecting taking up the cross of plain Quakerism; but had her mind been less finely balanced, her judgment less trained, and her principles less formed, the result might have been disastrous.

She went, and mingled somewhat freely with the popular life of the great city. She was taken to Drury Lane, and Covent Garden theatres, and to other places of amusement, but she could not "like plays" She saw some good actors; witnessed "Hamlet," Bluebeard," and other dramas, but confesses that she "cannot like or enjoy them"; they seemed "so artificial." Then she somewhat oddly says that when her hair was dressed "she felt like a monkey," and finally concluded that "London was not the place for heartful pleasure." With her natural, sound commonsense, her discernment, her intelligence and purity of mind, these amusements seemed far below the level of those fitted to satisfy a rational being—so far that she almost looked down on them with contempt. The truth was, that having tasted a little of the purer joy of religion, all other substitutes were stale and flat, and this although she scarcely knew enough of the matter to be able correctly to analyze her own feelings.

Among the persons Elizabeth encountered in the metropolis, are found mentioned Amelia Opie, Mrs. Siddons, Mrs. Inchbald, "Peter Pindar," and last, but by no means least, the Prince of Wales. Not that she