Page:Hannah More (1887 Charlotte Mary Yonge British).djvu/31

Rh two houses at the Adelphi and at Hampton, and was received cordially in society. Indeed, Garrick kept his home entirely apart from his profession, and Mrs. Montagu declared that she had only once met an actor there, and never had seen a card in it.

The Garricks were curious to see the lady who had written the letter about "King Lear," and no sooner did they meet her than a liking began, which ripened into a strong friendship. At their house, the next day, Hannah met Mrs. Montagu; and Miss Reynolds immediately after procured her a meeting with Dr. Johnson himself, who astonished her by coming forward to meet her with Sir Joshua's macaw on his arm, and repeating the first verse of a morning hymn which she had written. Then followed an introduction to Edmund Burke, "the sublime and beautiful Edmund Burke," as Sally wrote; and altogether the sisters were made free of what was probably the choicest circle of intelligent society then in existence; not so brilliant, original, or elegant as those salons at Paris, where "philosophy" was already preparing the way for change, but infinitely purer, deeper, and more conscientious, and with no lack of vivacity.

The three sisters, with their high cultivation, lively manners, country simplicity, and warm enthusiasm, must have been delightful to their new friends, who were for the most part by a good many years their