Page:Hannah More (1887 Charlotte Mary Yonge British).djvu/69

Rh Ladies who paint, nor think me partial, An epigram as well as Martial, Yet in all female worth succeed As well as those that cannot read.

Hannah here betrays her entire lack of interest in natural science, antiquities, or scenery, as, indeed, she had no word for the architecture and special charms of Oxford. When shown round Strawberry Hill by Horace Walpole she could only regret her want of interest in natural science or antiquarianism. The frequenters of the Bas Bleu were described, after the fashion of the time, under Latin names, and the satire was couched in the form of a letter to Mrs. Vesey.

To Mr. Pepys, who had there figured as Lælius, she writes:—

"I have been filling up the vacant hours of my convalescence in scribbling a parcel of idle verses, with which I hope to divert my dear Mrs. Vesey in her banishment from London; but as I wish to puzzle her (and right easy is the task), I would not send them directly from here, as the post-mark would be a coup de lumière."

Half was therefore sent in a frank to Mr. Pepys, half in one to another friend. The two parts were to be put together and the whole sent off to Mrs. Vesey without the smallest intimation whence it came. Mr. Pepys thoroughly entered into the spirit of the