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Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia
of the Canadian Provinces,
Fifth Edition
Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia
of the Canadian Provinces,
Fifth Edition
 Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Canadian
Provinces, Fifth Edition

Project Editor Rights and Acquisitions Product Design

Jennifer York Stock Margie Abendroth, Jackie Jones, Kelly A. Jennifer Wahi
Quin, Tim Sisler
Editorial Composition
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Manufacturing
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Junior Worldmark encyclopedia of the canadian provinces / [edited by] Timothy L. Gall and
Susan Bevan Gall. --5th ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4144-1060-9 (hardcover)
1. Canada--Encyclopedias, Juvenile. 2. Canadian provinces--Encyclopedias, Juvenile. I. Gall, Timothy L.
II. Gall, Susan B.
F1008.J86 2007
971’.003--dc22
2007003908

ISBN-13: ISBN-10:

978-1-4144-1060-9 1-4144-1060-3

This title is also available as an ebook

ISBN 13: 978-1-4144-2957-1, ISBN 10: 1-4144-2957-6
Contact your Thomson Gale representative for ordering information
Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
 Table of Contents

Reader’s Guide vi
Guide to Articles ix

Alberta 1
British Columbia 23
Manitoba 45
New Brunswick 65
Newfoundland and Labrador 85
The Northwest Territories 101
Nova Scotia 119
Nunavut 139
Ontario 155
Prince Edward Island 179
Québec 197
Saskatchewan 221
Yukon Territory 239
Canada 253
Glossary 275
Abbreviations & Acronyms 286
Index 287

v
Reader’s Guide

Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Canadian tual description of the provincial flag. Next, a
Provinces, Fifth Edition, presents profiles of the listing of the official provincial animal, bird, fish,
ten Canadian provinces and three territories, flower, tree, gem, etc. is given. The introductory
arranged alphabetically in one volume. Also information ends with the standard time given
included is an article on Canada itself. The by time zone in relation to Greenwich mean time
Worldmark design organizes facts and data about (GMT). The world is divided into 24 time zones,
every province in a common structure. Every each one hour apart. The Greenwich meridian,
profile contains a map showing the province and which is 0 degrees, passes through Greenwich,
its location in the nation. England, a suburb of London. Greenwich is at
Sources the center of the initial time zone, known as
Greenwich mean time. All times given are con-
Due to the broad scope of this encyclopedia verted from noon in this zone. The time reported
many sources were consulted in compiling the for the province is the official time zone.
information and statistics presented in this vol-
ume. However, special recognition is due to the Organization
many tourist bureaus, convention centers, press
The body of each profile is arranged in 40 num-
offices, and provincial agencies that contributed
bered headings as follows:
data and information, including the photographs
that illustrate this encyclopedia. 1 Location and Size. Statistics are given on
area and boundary length.
Profile Features
The Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of the 2 Topography. Dominant geographic features
Canadian Provinces structure—40 numbered including terrain and major rivers and lakes are
headings—allows students to compare two or described.
more provinces in a variety of ways.
Each province profile begins by listing the
3 Climate. Temperature and rainfall are given
for the various regions of the province in both
origin of the provincial name, its nickname, the English and metric units.
capital, the date it entered the union, the pro-
vincial motto, and a description of the coat of 4 Plants and Animals. Described here are the
arms. The profile also presents a picture and tex- plants and animals native to the province.

vi Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Canadian Provinces, Fifth Edition

 Reader’s Guide

5 Environmental Protection. Destruction of 14 Local Government. The system of local

natural resources—forests, water supply, air—is government structure is summarized.
described here. Statistics on solid waste produc-
tion, hazardous waste sites, and endangered and
15 Judicial System. Structure of the court
system and the jurisdiction of courts in each cat-
extinct species are also included.
egory is provided. Crime rates are also included.
6 Population. Census statistics and popula-
16 Migration. Population shifts since the
tion estimates are provided. Population density
end of World War II are summarized.
and major urban populations are summarized.

7 Ethnic Groups. The major ethnic groups 17 Economy. This section presents the key
elements of the economy. Major industries and
are described. Where appropriate, some descrip-
employment figures are also summarized.
tion of the influence or history of ethnicity is
provided. 18 Income. Wages and income are
8 Languages. The regional dialects of the
summarized.
province are summarized as well as the number 19 Industry. Key industries are listed, and
of people speaking languages other than English important aspects of industrial development are
at home. described.
9 Religions. The population is broken down 20 Labor. Statistics are given on the civilian
according to religion and/or denominations. labor force, including numbers of workers, lead-
10 Transportation. Statistics on roads,
ing areas of employment, and unemployment
figures.
railways, waterways, and air traffic, along with
a listing of key ports for trade and travel, are 21 Agriculture. Statistics on key agricul-
provided. tural crops, market share, and total farm income
11 History. Includes a concise summary of are provided.
the province’s history from ancient times (where 22 Domesticated Animals. Statistics on
appropriate) to the present. livestock—cattle, hogs, sheep, etc.—and the
12 Provincial Government. The form of
land area devoted to raising them are given.

government is described, and the process of gov- 23 Fishing. The relative significance of fish-
erning is summarized. A table of the province’s ing to the province is provided, with statistics on
premiers accompanies this section. fish and seafood products.

13 Political Parties. Describes the signifi- 24 Forestry. Land area classified as forest is
cant political parties through history, where given, along with a listing of key forest products
appropriate, and the influential parties in the and a description of government policy toward
mid-1990s. forest land.

Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Canadian Provinces, Fifth Edition vii

Reader’s Guide

25 Mining. Description of mineral depos- 36 Press. Major daily and Sunday news-
its and statistics on related mining activity and papers are listed together with data on their
export are provided. circulations.
26 Energy and Power. Description of the 37 Tourism, Travel, and Recreation. Under
province’s power resources, including electricity this heading, the student will find a summary of
produced and oil reserves and production, are the importance of tourism to the province and
provided.
factors affecting the tourism industry. Key tour-
27 Commerce. A summary of trade within ist attractions are listed.
Canada and with the rest of the world.
38 Sports. The major sports teams in the
28 Public Finance. Revenues and expendi- province, both professional and collegiate, are
tures are provided. summarized.
29 Taxation. The tax system is explained. 39 Famous People. In this section, some
30 Health. Statistics on and description of of the best-known citizens of the province are
such public health factors as disease and suicide listed. When a person is noted in a province that
rates, principal causes of death, numbers of hos- is not the province of his of her birth, the birth-
pitals and medical facilities appear here. place is given.

31 Housing. Housing shortages and govern- 40 Bibliography. The bibliographic and

ment programs to build housing are described. Web site listings at the end of each profile are
Statistics on numbers of dwellings and median provided as a guide for further research.
home values are provided. Because many terms used in this encyclope-
32 Education. Statistical data on educa- dia will be new to students, the volume includes
tional achievement and primary and secondary a glossary and a list of abbreviations and acro-
schools is given. Major universities are listed, nyms. A keyword index completes the volume.
and government programs to foster education
are described. Comments and Suggestions

33 Arts. A summary of the major cultural We welcome your comments on the Junior
Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Canadian
institutions is provided.
Provinces, Fifth Edition, as well as your sugges-
34 Libraries and Museums. Major librar- tions for features to be included in future edi-
ies and museums are listed. tions. Please write: Editors, Junior Worldmark
35 Communications. The state of telecom- Encyclopedia of the Canadian Provinces, U•X•L,
munications (television, radio, and telephone) is 27500 Drake Road, Farmington Hills, MI
summarized. 48331-3535; or call toll-free: 1-800-877-4253.

viii Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Canadian Provinces, Fifth Edition

 Guide to Articles
All information contained within an article is uniformly keyed by means of a number
to the left of the subject headings. A heading such as “Population,” for example,
carries the same key numeral (6) in every article. Therefore, to find information
about the population of Alberta, consult the table of contents for the page number
where the Alberta article begins and look for section 6.

Introductory matter for each 25 Mining Housing 31

province includes: 26 Energy and Power Income 18
Origin of province name 27 Commerce Industry 19
Nickname 28 Public Finance Judicial System 15
Capital 29 Taxation Labor 20
Date entered confederation 30 Health Languages 8
Motto 31 Housing Libraries and Museums 34
Coat of arms 32 Education Local Government 14
Flag 33 Arts Location and Size 1
Symbols (animal, tree, flower, etc.) 34 Libraries and Museums Migration 16
35 Communications Mining 25
Sections listed numerically 36 Press Plants and Animals 4
1 Location and Size 37 Tourism, Travel, and
Political Parties 13
2 Topography Recreation
3 Climate Population 6
38 Sports
4 Plants and Animals Press 36
39 Famous Persons
5 Environmental Protection Public Finance 28
40 Bibliography
6 Population Religions 9
7 Ethnic Groups Alphabetical listing of sections Sports 38
8 Languages Agriculture 21 State Government 12
9 Religions Arts 33 Taxation 29
10 Transportation Bibliography 40 Topography 2
11 History Climate 3 Tourism, Travel, and
12 Provincial Government Commerce 27 Recreation 37
13 Political Parties Communications 35 Transportation 10
14 Local Government Domesticated Animals 22
15 Judicial System Economy 17 Explanation of symbols
16 Migration Education 32 A fiscal split year is indicated by a
17 Economy Energy and Power 26 stroke (e.g. 2003/04).
18 Income Environmental Protection 5 Note that 1 billion = 1,000 million
19 Industry Ethnic Groups 7 = 109.
20 Labor Famous Persons 39 The use of a small dash (e.g.,
21 Agriculture Fishing 23 2003–04) normally signifies the
22 Domesticated Animals Forestry 24 full period of calendar years
23 Fishing Health 30 covered (including the end year
24 Forestry History 11 indicated).

Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Canadian Provinces, Fifth Edition ix

Alberta

O RIGIN OF PROV I NCE NAM E : Named after

Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, fourth daughter of
Queen Victoria.
N I CKNAME : Princess Province, Energy Province, or
Sunshine Province.
C AP ITAL: Edmonton.
ENT ERED CONFEDE RATI ON: 1 September 1905.
M OT TO: Fortis et liber (Strong and free).
C OAT OF ARMS: In the center, the provincial shield
of arms displays the red Cross of St. George at 1 Location and Size
the top on a white background (representing the
province’s bond with the United Kingdom), foothills
The westernmost of Canada’s three Prairie
and mountains in the center (symbolizing the Provinces, Alberta is bordered on the north
Canadian Rockies), and a wheat field at the bottom by the Northwest Territories, on the east by
(representing the province’s chief agricultural crop). Saskatchewan, on the south by the US state of
Above the shield is a crest with a beaver carrying a Montana, and on the west by British Columbia.
royal crown on its back. Supporting the shield are a
Alberta lies between the 49th and 60th paral-
lion to the left and pronghorn antelope to the right.
Beneath the shield the provincial motto appears,
lels, at virtually the same latitude as the United
with a grassy mount and wild roses. Kingdom. Alberta is 756 miles (1,217 kilome-
FLAG: The flag bears the provincial shield of arms ters) from north to south and between 182 and
centered on a royal ultramarine blue background. 404 miles (293 and 650 kilometers) in width
FLORAL EMBLEM: Wild rose (also known as prickly from west to east. Nearly equal in size to the state
rose).
of Texas and covering an area of some 255,284
TA RTAN: Alberta Tartan (green, gold, blue, pink, and
square miles (661,185 square kilometers), the
black).
M AMMAL: Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep. province is Canada’s fourth largest.
B IRD: Great horned owl.
TREE: Lodgepole pine.
ST ONE: Petrified wood.
2 Topography
TI ME: 5 AM MST = noon GMT. Roughly half of the southwestern section of the
province is dominated by mountains and foot-

Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Canadian Provinces, Fifth Edition 1

Alberta

hills—striking reminders of the glaciers that, over

millions of years, formed, moved, and receded in Alberta
the area. Peaks of the Rocky Mountains located Population Profile
in Alberta range from 6,989 to 12,294 feet Estimated 2006 population 3,290,350
(2,130 to 3,747 meters) in elevation. Population change, 2001–2006 10.6%
Percent Urban/Rural populations, 2001
The foothills, which form a gentle link Urban 80.9%
between mountain and prairie landscapes, fea- Rural 19.1%
Foreign born population 14.9%
ture heavily forested areas and grasslands used Population by ethnicity
for grazing cattle. Beneath their surface, the Canadian 813,485
English 753,190
foothills contain some of the province’s richest German 576,350
deposits of coal and sour gas (natural gas con- Scottish 556,575
Irish 461,065
taining hydrogen sulfide, which needs refining French 332,675
before being used in household furnaces and for Ukrainian 285,725
Dutch (Netherlands) 149,225
other common uses). North American Indian 144,040
The remainder of the province—approx- Polish 137,625
Norwegian 120,045
imately 90% of the land area—forms part Métis 63,620
of the interior plain of North America. The
Population by Age Group
plains include the forested areas that dominate
the northern part of the province and the vast
stretches of northern muskeg (bog) that overlie
much of Alberta’s oil and gas deposits and oil 65 and over (10%)
0 to 14 (19%)
sands (sand mixed with petroleum).

3 Climate
Alberta has what is known as a continental cli-
mate. It is characterized by vivid seasonal con-
15 to 64 (71%)
trasts in which long, cold winters are balanced
by mild to hot summers. The climate also fea-
tures an unusually high number of sunny days,
Major Cities by Population
no matter what the season. In fact, Alberta has
City Population, 2006
more sunny days than any other province and
Calgary 988,193
is therefore sometimes called the “Sunshine Edmonton 730,372
Province.” Although the whole province is cov- Red Deer 82,772
Lethbridge 74,637
ered in cold air in winter, in the southwest a mild St. Albert 57,719
Medicine Hat 56,997
wind, the “Chinook,” frequently funnels through Wood Buffalo 51,496
the mountains from the Pacific Ocean. Grande Prairie 47,076
Airdrie 28,927
The average daily temperature for Calgary Spruce Grove 19,496
ranges from 15°f (-9°c) in January to 62°f

2 Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Canadian Provinces, Fifth Edition

 Alberta

NORTH
WEST TERRI ALBERTA
TORIES
Indian Cabins 0 50 100 Miles

0 50 100 Kilometers

Slave
y
Ha
Lake
Habay Meander River Athabasca
 e

c
P ea
Fort
Chipewyan

Hay
Fort Vermilion
 Mamawi
Lake Embarras
Portage
a


h ag

Keg Carcajou
nc

River
i
Ch

a
asc
Athab
P eace
BIA

Fort MacKay
Wabas 
c a
COLUM

Chipewyan Lake
Hines

Peace Creek Fort
 Grimshaw
McMurray
 
Fairview Peace River


Watino
BRITISH

Lesser Slave
High Prairie
Grande Lake Conklin

S moky

Prairie
 Margie

Faust Slave
Lake
Sa nd

Athabasca

Fort Assiniboine Amisk
 ve
ca Barrhead Bea r
as  Bonnyville
h ab 
At Whitecourt Redwater N. Saskatchew
 an St. Paul
R

Edson
Morinville
St. Albert
SASKATCHEWAN
 Fort Saskatchewan
Hinton Spruce Grove  
O

 Stony Plain   Vegreville

Mercoal Edmonton

Devon Led uc
Lloydminster
C

Jasper Camrose
 Wetaskiwin 

K

Ponoka
ttle


Ba

Nordegg

Y

Lacombe
Mt. Alberta  Stettler
11,873 ft (3,619 m)
Rocky 
Mountain  Castor Coronation
House Red
Mt. Forbes Deer
11,850 ft (3,612 m)

Olds 
Hanna
M

Re Cereal
Drumheller
d
De 
Airdrie
 er
O

Calgary
U

Mt. Assiniboine
 11,870 ft (3,618 m) B ow
an
N

High River e

tch

Vulcan  a
S. Sask

Brooks
Nanton
T


A

Claresholm
 Medicine
Hat
Taber
I N

Lethbridge
Raymond
Magrath
Milk
S

U N I T E D S T A T E S

Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Canadian Provinces, Fifth Edition 3

Alberta

Alberta and British Columbia are separated by the Great Divide, also known as the Continental Divide. The Great Divide
is formed by the Rocky Mountains. It is the high point of land that determines whether water flows east or west. (In this
case rivers flow east through Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba to the Hudson Bay or west through British Columbia
to the Pacific Ocean.) JEAN KNIGHT/EPD PHOTOS.

(17°c) in July. Normal daily temperatures for America. In 2006, there were 10 threatened or
Edmonton are 10°f (-12°c) in January and 64°f endangered plant species, including the slender
(18°c) in July. The warmest recorded tempera- mouse-ear-cress and the western blue flag.
ture in Alberta was 110°f (43.3°c) on 21 July Alberta animal species include 90 mam-
1931 at Bassano Dam; the coldest ever recorded
mals, 270 breeding birds, 50 fish, 18 reptiles and
was -78°f (-61.1°c) on 11 January 1911 at Fort
amphibians, and 20,000 insects. In 2006, there
Vermilion.
were 28 endangered or threatened animal species.
4 Plants and Animals Endangered mammals include the swift fox and
Ord’s kangaroo rat; endangered birds include the
Alberta has 1,767 known species of vascu-
burrowing owl, Eskimo curlew, mountain plover,
lar plants (ferns and all plants that reproduce
through seeds), of which 87 are rare in Canada piping plover, and whooping crane. Threatened
and 59 rare in North America. Nonvascular spe- animals include the wood bison, the loggerhead
cies (such as mosses and lichens) number 1,180, shrike, peregrine falcon, and woodland caribou.
of which about 30–50% are rare in North The Banff Longnose Dace has become extinct.

4 Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Canadian Provinces, Fifth Edition

 Alberta

Water pollution is one of the more notable

environmental concerns in Alberta. Water qual-
ity tends to be poorer downstream of urban,
industrial, or agricultural development. In cer-
tain lakes and rivers mercury levels in some
types of fish have forced Health and Welfare
Canada to issue fish consumption advisories.
Most of the mercury found in fish comes from
natural sources in soils and sediment in Alberta.
Additional problems, however, come from diox-
ins and furans, toxins that are generated from
the burning of organic materials and also orig-
inate in wastewater discharges from industrial
sites. In Alberta, paper mills are the most com-
mon source for dioxin and furan contamination
of water resources.
In 2002, a total of 2,890,294 metric tons of
nonhazardous waste was disposed of in Alberta.
Of that total, residential sources accounted for
The Columbia Icefield in Jasper National Park is a 866,398 metric tons, while industrial, com-
remnant of the thick ice mass that once covered most of
mercial and institutional sources accounted for
Western Canada’s mountains. AP IMAGES.
1,380,306 metric tons, and construction and
5 Environmental Protection
demolition sources accounted for 643,590 met-
ric tons.
Since the 1950s, Alberta’s development policy Alberta Environmental Protection was
for using forests and other renewable resources formed in 1992. The agency is responsible for
has viewed land, water, vegetation, and wildlife providing and maintaining clean air, water,
management as one ecosystem (an ecological and soil; protecting wildlife, forests, parks, and
unit consisting of the organisms and the envi- other natural resources; and making sure that
ronment within a given area). The use of these the development of these resources is truly sus-
resources is based strictly on keeping the ecosys- tainable. On 1 September 1993 the Alberta
tem intact. Environmental Protection and Enhancement
Air quality is generally good, and the inci- Act (AEPEA) went into effect, aiming to improve
dence of smog is much less frequent in Edmonton the province’s environment through a variety of
and Calgary than in other large Canadian cities. programs.
The province has the highest rate of carbon diox- In 2001/02, stringent new emissions stan-
ide emissions per capita (per person) in Canada. dards were established for all new coal-fired
Alberta’s solid waste to landfills declined by over electricity generating plants and for expansions
25% from the late 1980s to the late 1990s. to existing plants. Regulations for beverage

Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Canadian Provinces, Fifth Edition 5

Alberta

Visitors watch a moose in Malign Lake, Jasper National Park. Malign Lake is the largest glacier-fed lake in the Rocky
Mountains. PAUL CHESLEY/STONE/GETTY IMAGES.

container recycling were expanded to include a 2006 estimated population of 730,372) and
Alberta-based brewers. Consumers in Alberta Calgary (with a population of 988,193). Calgary
now receive refunds on their beer bottles and is Canada’s fourth-largest city. Other urban areas,
cans, and those bottles and cans do not have to and their 2006 populations include: Red Deer,
wind up in landfills. Offenders of environmental 82,772; Lethbridge, 74,637; St. Albert, 57,719;
regulations paid nearly c$755,000 in fines and Medicine Hat, 56,997; Wood Buffalo, 51,496;
penalties in 2001/02. and Grande Prairie, 47,076. Nineteen percent of
the population is under the age of 14. Seniors
6 Population over the age of 65 account for only 10% of the
population. The median age in Alberta in 2001
As of 1 April 2006, Alberta had an estimated was 35. The national average was 37.6.
population of 3.29 million inhabitants, or
slightly more than 10% of the national popu-
lation. Approximately 80% of Albertans live in
7 Ethnic Groups
urban areas. More than half live in the two main Roughly 47% of Albertans are of British descent.
cities—Edmonton, the province’s capital (with Other ethnic backgrounds with the largest

6 Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Canadian Provinces, Fifth Edition

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again to himself the eyes which he had transitorily employed to see
how his superb compliment was taken: though not before I had
caught from my kind Sir Joshua, a look of congratulatory
sportiveness, conveyed by a comic nod.
My dear Mr. Crisp will be the last to want to be told that I received
this speech as the mere effervescence of chivalrous gallantry in Mr.
Burke:—yet, to be its object, even in pleasantry,—O, my dear Mr.
Crisp, how could I have foreseen such a distinction? My dear father’s
eyes glistened—I wish you could have had a glimpse of him!
“There has been,” Mr. Burke then, smilingly, resumed, “an age for all
excellence; we have had an age for statesmen; an age for heroes;
an age for poets; an age for artists;—but This,” bowing down, with
an air of obsequious gallantry, his head almost upon the table cloth,
“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,” continued the dear natural knight, “what Mr. Burke says is
very true, now. The women begin to make a figure in every thing.
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 my father, “but, like Moliere’s physician, nous
avons changé tout cela!”
“Very true, Dr. Burney,” replied the Knight; “but I remember the time
—and so, I dare say, do you—when it was thought a slight, if not a
sneer, to speak any thing of a lady’s performance: it was only in
mockery to talk of painting like a lady; singing like a lady; playing
like a lady—”
“But now,” interrupted Mr. Burke, warmly, “to talk of writing like a
lady, is the greatest compliment that need be wished for by a man!”
Would you believe it, my daddy—every body now, himself and my
father excepted, turned about, Sir Joshua leading the way—to make
a little playful bow to ... can you ever guess to whom?
Mr. Burke, then, archly shrugging his shoulders, 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!”
I can recollect nothing else—so adieu!
One word, however, more, by way of my last speech and confession
on this subject. Should you demand, now that I have seen, in their
own social circles, the two first men of letters of our day, how, in
one word, I should discriminate them; I answer, that I think Dr.
Johnson the first Discourser, and Mr. Burke the first Converser, of the
British empire.

MR. GIBBON.
It may seem strange, in giving an account of this meeting, not to
have recited even one speech from so celebrated an author as Mr.
Gibbon. But not one is recollected. His countenance looked always
serene; yet he did not appear to be at his ease. His name and future
fame seemed to be more in his thoughts than the present society, or
than any present enjoyment: and the exalted spirits of Mr. Burke, at
this period, might rather alarm than allure a man whose sole care in
existence seemed that of paying his court to posterity; and induce
him, therefore, to evade coming into collision with so dauntless a
compeer; from the sage apprehension of making a less splendid
figure, at this moment, as a colloquial competitor, than he had
reason to expect making, hereafter, as a Roman historian.
Sir Joshua Reynolds, however, gave, sportively, and with much self-
amusement, another turn to his silence; for after significantly, in a
whisper, asking the Memorialist, whether she had remarked the
taciturnity of Mr. Gibbon?—he laughingly demanded also, whether
she had discovered its cause?
“No,” she answered; “nor guessed it.”
“Why, he’s terribly afraid you’ll snatch at him for a character in your
next book!”
It may easily be imagined that the few words, but highly
distinguishing manner in which Mr. Burke had so courteously marked
his kindness towards Evelina; or, A Young Lady’s Entrance into the
World, awakened in the mind of Dr. Burney no small impatience to
develop what might be his opinion of Cecilia; or, the Memoirs of an
Heiress, just then on the eve of publication.
And not long was his parental anxiety kept in suspense. That
generous orator had no sooner given an eager perusal to the work,
than he condescended to write a letter of the most indulgent, nay
eloquent approvance to its highly honoured author; for whom he
vivaciously displayed a flattering partiality, to which he inviolably
adhered through every change, either in his own affairs, or in hers,
to the end of his life.

All the manuscript memorandums that remain of the year 1782, in

the hand-writing of Dr. Burney, are teeming with kind exultation at
the progress of this second publication; though the anecdote that
most amused him, and that he wrote triumphantly to the author,
was one that had been recounted to him personally at Buxton,
whence the then Lord Chancellor, Thurlow, went on a visit to Lord
Gower,[42] at Trentham Hall; where, on being conducted to a
splendid library, he took a volume of Cecilia out of his pocket,
exclaiming, “What signify all your fine and flourishing works here?
See! I have brought you a little book that’s worth them all!” and he
threw it upon the table, open, comically, at the passage where
Hobson talks of “my Lord High Chancellor, and the like of that.”

From the time of the Richmond Hill assemblage, the acquaintance of

Dr. Burney with Mr. Burke ripened into a regard that was soon
mellowed into true and genial friendship, such as well suited the
primitive characters, however it might clash, occasionally, with the
current politics, of both.
Influenced by such a chief, the whole of the family of Mr. Burke
followed his example; and the son, brother, and cousin, always
joined the Doctor and his daughter upon every accidental
opportunity: while Mrs. Burke called in St. Martin’s-street to fix the
acquaintance, by a pressing invitation to both father and daughter,
to pass a week at Beaconsfield.
Not to have done this at so favourable a juncture in the spirits, the
powers, and the happiness of Mr. Burke, always rested on both their
minds with considerable regret; and on one of them it rests still! for
an hour with Mr. Burke, in that bright halcyon season of his glory,
concentrated in matter, and embellished in manner, as much wit,
wisdom, and information, as might have demanded weeks, months,
—perhaps more—to elicit from any other person:—and even,
perhaps, at any other period, from himself:—Dr. Johnson always
excepted.
But the engagements of Dr. Burney tied him to the capital; and no
suspicion occurred that the same resplendent sunshine which then
illuminated the fortune, the faculties, and the character of Mr. Burke,
would not equally vivify a future invitation. Not one foreboding cloud
lowered in the air with misty menace of the deadly tempests, public
and domestic, that were hurtling over the head of that exalted but
passion-swayed orator; though such were so soon to darken the
refulgence, now so vivid, of his felicity and his fame; the public, by
warping his judgment—the domestic, by breaking his heart!
 MRS. THRALE.
Dr. Burney, when the Cecilian business was arranged, again
conveyed the Memorialist to Streatham. No further reluctance on his
part, nor exhortations on that of Mr. Crisp, sought to withdraw her
from that spot, where, while it was in its glory, they had so recently,
and with pride, seen her distinguished. And truly eager was her own
haste, when mistress of her time, to try once more to soothe those
sorrows and chagrins in which she had most largely participated, by
answering to the call, which had never ceased tenderly to pursue
her, of return.
With alacrity, therefore, though not with gaiety, they re-entered the
Streatham gates—but they soon perceived that they found not what
they had left!
Changed, indeed, was Streatham! Gone its chief, and changed his
relict! unaccountably, incomprehensibly, indefinably changed! She
was absent and agitated; not two minutes could she remain in a
place; she scarcely seemed to know whom she saw; her speech was
so hurried it was hardly intelligible; her eyes were assiduously
averted from those who sought them; and her smiles were faint and
forced.
The Doctor, who had no opportunity to communicate his remarks,
went back, as usual, to town; where soon also, with his tendency, as
usual, to view every thing cheerfully, he revolved in his mind the
new cares and avocations by which Mrs. Thrale was perplexed; and
persuaded himself that the alteration which had struck him, was
simply the effect of her new position.
Too near, however, were the observations of the Memorialist for so
easy a solution. The change in her friend was equally dark and
melancholy: yet not personal to the Memorialist was any alteration.
No affection there was lessened; no kindness cooled; on the
contrary, Mrs. Thrale was more fervent in both; more touchingly
tender; and softened in disposition beyond all expression, all
description: but in every thing else,—in health, spirits, comfort,
general looks, and manner, the change was at once universal and
deplorable. All was misery and mystery: misery the most restless;
mystery the most unfathomable.
The mystery, however, soon ceased; the solicitations of the most
affectionate sympathy could not long be urged in vain;—the mystery
passed away—not so the misery! That, when revealed, was but to
both parties doubled, from the different feelings set in movement by
its disclosure.
The astonishing history of the enigmatical attachment which
impelled Mrs. Thrale to her second marriage, is now as well known
as her name: but its details belong not to the history of Dr. Burney;
though the fact too deeply interested him, and was too intimately
felt in his social habits, to be passed over in silence in any memoirs
of his life.
But while ignorant yet of its cause, more and more struck he
became at every meeting, by a species of general alienation which
pervaded all around at Streatham. His visits, which, heretofore, had
seemed galas to Mrs. Thrale, were now begun and ended almost
without notice: and all others,—Dr. Johnson not excepted,—were
cast into the same gulph of general neglect, or forgetfulness;—all,—
save singly this Memorialist!—to whom, the fatal secret once
acknowledged, Mrs. Thrale clung for comfort; though she saw, and
generously pardoned, how wide she was from meeting approbation.
In this retired, though far from tranquil manner, passed many
months; during which, with the acquiescent consent of the Doctor,
his daughter, wholly devoted to her unhappy friend, remained
uninterruptedly at sad and altered Streatham; sedulously avoiding,
what at other times she most wished, a tête à tête with her father.
Bound by ties indissoluble of honour not to betray a trust that, in the
ignorance of her pity, she had herself unwittingly sought, even to
him she was as immutably silent, on this subject, as to all others—
save, singly, to the eldest daughter[43] of the house; whose conduct,
through scenes of dreadful difficulty, notwithstanding her extreme
youth, was even exemplary; and to whom the self-beguiled, yet
generous mother, gave full and free permission to confide every
thought and feeling to the Memorialist.
And here let a tribute of friendship be offered up to the shrine of
remembrance, due from a thousand ineffaceably tender
recollections. Not wildly, and with male and headstrong passions, as
has currently been asserted, was this connexion brought to bear on
the part of Mrs. Thrale. It was struggled against at times with even
agonizing energy; and with efforts so vehement, as nearly to destroy
the poor machine they were exerted to save. But the subtle poison
had glided into her veins so unsuspectedly, and, at first, so
unopposedly, that the whole fabric was infected with its venom;
which seemed to become a part, never to be dislodged, of its
system.
It was, indeed, the positive opinion of her physician and friend, Sir
Lucas Pepys, that so excited were her feelings, and so shattered, by
their early indulgence, was her frame, that the crisis which might be
produced through the medium of decided resistance, offered no
other alternative but death or madness!

Various incidental circumstances began, at length, to open the

reluctant eyes of Dr. Burney to an impelled, though clouded
foresight, of the portentous event which might latently be the cause
of the alteration of all around at Streatham. He then naturally
wished for some explanation with his daughter, though he never
forced, or even claimed her confidence; well knowing, that
voluntarily to give it him had been her earliest delight.
But in taking her home with him one morning, to pass a day in St.
Martin’s-Street, he almost involuntarily, in driving from the paddock,
turned back his head towards the house, and, in a tone the most
impressive, sighed out: “Adieu, Streatham!—Adieu!”
His daughter perceived his eyes were glistening; though he presently
dropt them, and bowed down his head, as if not to distress her by
any look of examination; and said no more.
Her tears, which had long been with difficulty restrained from
overflowing in his presence, through grief at the unhappiness, and
even more at what she thought the infatuation of her friend, now
burst forth, from emotions that surprised away forbearance.
Dr. Burney sat silent and quiet, to give her time for recollection;
though fully expecting a trusting communication.
She gave, however, none: his commands alone could have forced a
disclosure; but he soon felt convinced, by her taciturnity, that she
must have been bound to concealment. He pitied, therefore, but
respected her secrecy; and, clearing his brow, finished the little
journey in conversing upon their own affairs.
This delicacy of kindness, which the Memorialist cannot recollect and
not record, filled her with ever living gratitude.

DR. JOHNSON.
A few weeks earlier, the Memorialist had passed a nearly similar
scene with Dr. Johnson. Not, however, she believes, from the same
formidable species of surmise; but from the wounds inflicted upon
his injured sensibility, through the palpably altered looks, tone, and
deportment, of the bewildered lady of the mansion; who, cruelly
aware what would be his wrath, and how overwhelming his
reproaches against her projected union, wished to break up their
residing under the same roof before it should be proclaimed.
This gave to her whole behaviour towards Dr. Johnson, a sort of
restless petulancy, of which she was sometimes hardly conscious; at
others, nearly reckless; but which hurt him far more than she
purposed, though short of the point at which she aimed, of
precipitating a change of dwelling that would elude its being cast,
either by himself or the world, upon a passion that her
understanding blushed to own; even while she was sacrificing to it
all of inborn dignity that she had been bred to hold most sacred.
Dr. Johnson, while still uninformed of an entanglement it was
impossible he should conjecture, attributed her varying humours to
the effect of wayward health meeting a sort of sudden wayward
power: and imagined that caprices, which he judged to be partly
feminine, and partly wealthy, would soberize themselves away in
being unnoticed. He adhered, therefore, to what he thought his
post, in being the ostensible guardian protector of the relict and
progeny of the late chief of the house; taking no open or visible
notice of the alteration in the successor—save only at times, and
when they were tête à tête, to this Memorialist; to whom he
frequently murmured portentous observations on the woeful, nay
alarming deterioration in health and disposition of her whom, so
lately, he had signalized as the gay mistress of Streatham.
But at length, as she became more and more dissatisfied with her
own situation, and impatient for its relief, she grew less and less
scrupulous with regard to her celebrated guest: she slighted his
counsel; did not heed his remonstrances; avoided his society; was
ready at a moment’s hint to lend him her carriage when he wished
to return to Bolt Court; but awaited a formal request to accord it for
bringing him back.
The Doctor then began to be stung; his own aspect became altered;
and depression, with indignant uneasiness, sat upon his venerable
front.
It was at this moment that, finding the Memorialist was going one
morning to St. Martin’s-Street, he desired a cast thither in the
carriage, and then to be set down at Bolt Court.
Aware of his disturbance, and far too well aware how short it was of
what it would become when the cause of all that passed should be
detected, it was in trembling that the Memorialist accompanied him
to the coach, filled with dread of offending him by any reserve,
should he force upon her any inquiry; and yet impressed with the
utter impossibility of betraying a trusted secret.
His look was stern, though dejected, as he followed her into the
vehicle; but when his eye, which, however short sighted, was quick
to mental perception, saw how ill at ease appeared his companion,
all sternness subsided into an undisguised expression of the
strongest emotion, that seemed to claim her sympathy, though to
revolt from her compassion; while, with a shaking hand, and
pointing finger, he directed her looks to the mansion from which
they were driving; and, when they faced it from the coach window,
as they turned into Streatham Common, tremulously exclaiming:
“That house ... is lost to me—for ever!”
During a moment he then fixed upon her an interrogative eye, that
impetuously demanded: “Do you not perceive the change I am
experiencing?”
A sorrowing sigh was her only answer.
Pride and delicacy then united to make him leave her to her
taciturnity.
He was too deeply, however, disturbed to start or to bear any other
subject; and neither of them uttered a single word till the coach
stopt in St. Martin’s-street, and the house and the carriage door
were opened for their separation! He then suddenly and expressively
looked at her, abruptly grasped her hand, and, with an air of
affection, though in a low, husky voice, murmured rather than said:
“Good morning, dear lady!” but turned his head quickly away, to
avoid any species of answer.
She was deeply touched by so gentle an acquiescence in her
declining the confidential discourse upon which he had indubitably
meant to open, relative to this mysterious alienation. But she had
the comfort to be satisfied, that he saw and believed in her sincere
participation in his feelings; while he allowed for the grateful
attachment that bound her to a friend so loved; who, to her at least,
still manifested a fervour of regard that resisted all change; alike
from this new partiality, and from the undisguised, and even
strenuous opposition of the Memorialist to its indulgence.
The “Adieu, Streatham!” that had been uttered figuratively by Dr.
Burney, without any knowledge of its nearness to reality, was now
fast approaching to becoming a mere matter of fact; for, to the
almost equal grief, however far from equal loss, of Dr. Johnson and
Dr. Burney, Streatham, a short time afterwards, though not publicly
relinquished, was quitted by Mrs. Thrale and her family.
Both friends rejoiced, however, that the library and the pictures, at
least, on this first breaking up, fell into the hands of so able an
appreciator of literature and of painting, as the Earl of Shelburne.[44]
Mrs. Thrale removed first to Brighton, and next repaired to pass a
winter in Argyll Street, previously to fixing her ultimate proceedings.

GENERAL PAOLI.
The last little narration that was written to Mr. Crisp of any party at
Streatham, as it contains a description of the celebrated Corsican
General, Paoli, with whom Dr. Burney had there been invited to dine;
and whom Mr. Crisp, also, had been pressed, though unavailingly, to
meet; will here be copied, in the hope that the reader, like Dr.
Burney, will learn with pleasure General Paoli’s own history of his
opening intercourse with Mr. Boswell.
 TO SAMUEL CRISP, ESQ.,
Chesington.
How sorry am I, my dear Mr. Crisp, that you could not come to
Streatham at the time Mrs. Thrale hoped to see you; for when are
we likely to meet at Streatham again? And you would have been
much pleased, I am sure, with the famous Corsican General, Paoli,
who spent the day there, and was extremely communicative and
agreeable.
He is a very pleasing man; tall and genteel in his person, remarkably
attentive, obliging, and polite; and as soft and mild in his speech, as
if he came from feeding sheep in Corsica, like a shepherd; rather
than as if he had left the warlike field where he had led his armies to
battle.
I will give you a little specimen of his language and discourse, as
they are now fresh in my ears.
When Mrs. Thrale named me, he started back, though smilingly, and
said: ‘I am very glad enough to see you in the face, Miss Evelina,
which I have wished for long enough. O charming book! I give it you
my word I have read it often enough. It is my favourite studioso for
apprehending the English language; which is difficult often. I pray
you, Miss Evelina, write some more little volumes of the quickest.’
I disclaimed the name, and was walking away; but he followed me
with an apology. ‘I pray your pardon, Mademoiselle. My ideas got in
a blunder often. It is Miss Borni what name I meant to accentuate, I
pray your pardon, Miss Evelina. I make very much error in my
English many times enough.’
My father then lead him to speak of Mr. Boswell, by inquiring into the
commencement of their connexion.
“He came,” answered the General, “to my country sudden, and he
fetched me some letters of recommending him. But I was of the
belief he might, in the verity, be no other person but one imposter.
And I supposed, in my mente, he was in the privacy one espy; for I
look away from him to my other companies, and, in one moment,
when I look back to him, I behold it in his hands his tablet, and one
pencil! O, he was at the work, I give it you my honour, of writing
down all what I say to some persons whatsoever in the room!
Indeed I was angry enough. Pretty much so, I give it you my word.
But soon after, I discern he was no impostor, and besides, no espy;
for soon I find it out I was myself only the monster he came to
observe, and to describe with one pencil in his tablet! O, is a very
good man, Mr. Boswell, in the bottom! so cheerful, so witty, so
gentle, so talkable. But, at the first, O, I was indeed faché of the
sufficient. I was in one passion, in my mente, very well.”
He had brought with him to Streatham a dog, of which he is
exceeding fond; but he apologised for being so accompanied, from
the safety which he owed to that faithful animal, as a guard from
robbers. “I walk out,” he cried, “when I will one night, and I lose
myself. The dark it comes on of a blackish colour. I don’t know
where I put my foot! In a moment comes behind me one hard step.
I go on. The hard step he follow. Sudden I turn round; a little fierce,
it may be. I meeted one man: an ogly one. He had not sleeped in
the night! He was so big whatsoever; with one clob stick, so thick to
my arm. He lifted it up. I had no pistollettos; I call my dog. I open
his mouth, for the survey to his teeth. My friend, I say, look to the
muzzle! Give me your clob stick at the moment, or he shall destroy
you when you are ten! The man kept his clob stick; but he took up
his heels, and he ran away from that time to this moment!”
After this, talking of the Irish giant who is now shewn in town, he
said, “He is so large, I am as a baby! I look at him, and I feel so
little as a child! Indeed my indignation it rises when I see him hold
up one arm, spread out to the full, to make me walk under it for my
canopy! I am as nothing! and it turns my bile more than whatsoever
to find myself in the power of one man, who fetches from me half a
crown for looking at his seven feet!”
All this comic English he pronounces in a manner the most comically
pompous. Nevertheless, my father thinks he will soon speak better,
and that he seems less to want language than patience to assort it;
hurrying on impetuously, and any how, rather than stopping for
recollection.
He diverted us all very much after dinner, by begging leave of Mrs.
Thrale to give “one toast;” and then, with smiling pomposity,
pronouncing “The great Vagabond!” meaning to designate Dr.
Johnson as “The Rambler.”
This is the last visit remembered, or, at least, narrated, of
Streatham.

HISTORY OF MUSIC.
Streatham thus gone, though the intercourse with Mrs. Thrale, who
now resided in Argyle-street, London, was as fondly, if not as
happily, sustained as ever, Dr. Burney had again his first amanuensis
and librarian wholly under his roof; and the pleasure of his parental
feelings doubled those of his renown; for the new author was
included, with the most flattering distinction, in almost every
invitation that he received, or acquaintance that he made, where a
female presided in the society.
Never was practical proof more conspicuous of the power of
surmounting every difficulty that rises against our progress to an
appointed end, when Inclination and Business take each other by
the hand in its pursuit, than was now evinced by the conduct and
success of Dr. Burney in his musical enterprize.
He vigilantly visited both the Universities, leaving nothing
uninvestigated that assiduity or address could ferret out to his
purpose. The following account of these visits is copied from his own
memorials:
“I went three several years to the Bodleian and other libraries in [Pg 260]
that most admirable seminary of learning and science, the Oxford
University. I had previously spent a week at Cambridge; and, at both
those Universities, I had, in my researches, discovered curious and rare
manuscript tracts on Music of the middle ages, before the invention of the
press, not mentioned in any of the printed or manuscript catalogues; and
which the most learned librarians did not know were in existence, from
the several different Treatises in Latin, French, and obsolete English, being
bound up in odd volumes, and only the first of them mentioned in the
lettering, or title of the volume. At Christ Church, to which Dr. Aldrich had
bequeathed his musical library, I met with innumerable compositions by
the best Masters of Italy, as well as of our own country, that were then
extant; such as Carissimi, Luigi, Cesti, Stradella, Tye, Tallis, Bird, Morley,
and Purcel. I made a catalogue of this admirable collection, including the
tracts and musical compositions of the learned and ingenious Dean, its
founder; a copy of which I had the honour to present to the college.”

The British Museum Library he ransacked, pen in hand, repeatedly:

that of Sir Joseph Bankes was as open to him as his own: Mr. Garrick
conducted him, by appointment, to that of the Earl of Shelburne,
afterwards Marquis of Lansdowne; which was personally shewn to
him, with distinguished consideration, by that literary nobleman. To
name every other to which he had access would be prolixity; but to
omit that of his Majesty, George the Third, would be insensibility. Dr.
Burney was permitted to make a full examination of its noble
contents; and to take thence whatever extracts he thought
conducive to his design, by his Majesty’s own gracious orders,
delivered through the then librarian, Mr. Barnard.
But for bringing these accumulating materials into play, time still,
with all the vigilance of his grasp upon its fragments, was wanting;
and to counteract the relentless calls of his professional business, he
was forced to superadd an unsparing requisition upon his sleep—the
only creditor that he never paid.
 SAM’S CLUB.
Immediately after vacating Streatham, Dr. Burney was called upon,
by his great and good friend of Bolt Court, to become a member of a
club which he was then instituting for the emolument of Samuel, a
footman of the late Mr. Thrale. This man, who was no longer wanted
for the broken establishment of Streatham, had saved sufficient
money for setting up a humble species of hotel, to which this club
would be a manifest advantage. It was called, from the name of the
honest domestic whom Dr. Johnson wished to serve, Sam’s Club. It
was held in Essex-street, in the Strand. Its rules, &c. are printed by
Mr. Boswell.
To enumerate all the coteries to which the Doctor, with his new
associate, now resorted, would be uninteresting, for almost all are
passed away! and nearly all are forgotten; though there was scarcely
a name in their several sets that did not, at that time, carry some
weight of public opinion. Such of them, nevertheless, that have left
lasting memorials of their character, their wit, or their abilities, may
not unacceptably be selected for some passing observations.

BAS BLEU SOCIETIES.

To begin with what still is famous in the annals of conversation, the
Bas Bleu Societies.
The first of these was then in the meridian of its lustre, but had
been instituted many years previously at Bath. It owed its name 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, with her well known, yet always
original simplicity, while she looked, inquisitively, at him and his
accoutrements; “don’t mind dress! Come in your blue stockings!”
With which words, humourously repeating them as he entered the
apartment of the chosen coterie, Mr. Stillingfleet claimed permission
for appearing, according to order. And those words, ever after, were
fixed, in playful stigma, upon Mrs. Vesey’s associations.[45]
This original coterie was still headed by Mrs. Vesey, though it was
transferred from Bath to London. Dr. Burney and this Memorialist
were now initiated into the midst of it. And however ridicule, in
public, from those who had no taste for this bluism; or envy, in
secret, from those who had no admission to it, might seek to
depreciate its merit, it afforded to all lovers of intellectual
entertainment a variety of amusement, an exemption from form, and
a carte blanche certainty of good-humour from the amiable and
artless hostess, that rendered it as agreeable as it was singular: for
Mrs. Vesey was as mirth-provoking from her oddities and mistakes,
as Falstaff was wit-inspiring from his vaunting cowardice and
sportive epicurism.
There was something so like the manoeuvres of a character in a
comedy in the manners and movements of Mrs. Vesey, that the
company seemed rather to feel themselves assembled, at their own
cost and pleasure, in some public apartment, to saunter or to
repose; to talk or to hold their tongues; to gaze around, or to drop
asleep, as best might suit their humours; than drawn together to
receive and to bestow, the civilities of given and accepted
invitations.
Her fears were so great of the horror, as it was styled, of a circle,
from the ceremony and awe which it produced, that she pushed all
the small sofas, as well as chairs, pell-mell about the apartments, so
as not to leave even a zig-zag path of communication free from
impediment: and her greatest delight was to place the seats back to
back, so that those who occupied them could perceive no more of
their nearest neighbour than if the parties had been sent into
different rooms: an arrangement that could only be eluded by such a
twisting of the neck as to threaten the interlocutors with a
spasmodic affection.
But there was never any distress beyond risibility: and the company
that was collected was so generally of a superior cast, that talents
and conversation soon found—as when do they miss it?—their own
level: and all these extraneous whims merely served to give zest and
originality to the assemblage.
Mrs. Vesey was of a character to which it is hardly possible to find a
parallel, so untrue would it be to brand it with positive folly; yet so
glaringly was it marked by almost incredible simplicity.
With really lively parts, a fertile imagination, and a pleasant
quickness of remark, she had the unguardedness of childhood,
joined to an Hibernian bewilderment of ideas that cast her
incessantly into some burlesque situation; and incited even the most
partial, and even the most sensitive of her own countrymen, to
relate stories, speeches, and anecdotes of her astonishing self-
perplexities, her confusion about times and circumstances, and her
inconceivable jumble of recollections between what had happened,
or what might have happened; and what had befallen others that
she imagined had befallen herself; that made her name, though it
could never be pronounced without personal regard, be constantly
coupled with something grotesque.
But what most contributed to render the scenes of her social circle
nearly dramatic in comic effect, was her deafness; for with all the
pity due to that socialless infirmity; and all the pity doubly due to
one who still sought conversation as the first of human delights, it
was impossible, with a grave face, to behold her manner of
constantly marring the pleasure of which she was in pursuit.
She had commonly two or three, or more, eartrumpets hanging to
her wrists, or slung about her neck; or tost upon the chimney-piece
or table; with intention to try them, severally and alternately, upon
different speakers, as occasion might arise; and the instant that any
earnestness of countenance, or animation of gesture, struck her eye,
she darted forward, trumpet in hand, to inquire what was going on;
but almost always arrived at the speaker at the moment that he was
become, in his turn, the hearer; and eagerly held her brazen
instrument to his mouth to catch sounds that were already past and
gone. And, after quietly listening some minutes, she would gently
utter her disappointment, by crying: “Well! I really thought you were
talking of something?”
And then, though a whole group would hold it fitting to flock around
her, and recount what had been said; if a smile caught her roving
eye from any opposite direction, the fear of losing something more
entertaining, would make her beg not to trouble them, and again
rush on to the gayer talkers. But as a laugh is excited more
commonly by sportive nonsense than by wit, she usually gleaned
nothing from her change of place, and hastened therefore back to
ask for the rest of what she had interrupted. But generally finding
that set dispersing, or dispersed, she would look around her with a
forlorn surprise, and cry: “I can’t conceive why it is that nobody talks
tonight? I can’t catch a word!”
Or, if some one of peculiar note were engaging attention; if Sir
William Hamilton, for example, were describing Herculaneum or
Pompeii; or Mrs. Carter and Mrs. Hannah More were discussing some
new author, or favourite work; or if the then still beautiful, though
old, Duchess of Leinster, was encountering the beautiful and young
Duchess of Devonshire; or, if Mr. Burke, having stept in, and,
marking no one with whom he wished to exchange ideas, had seized
upon the first book or pamphlet he could catch, to soothe his
harassed mind by reading—which he not seldom did, and most
incomparably, a passage or two aloud; circumstances of such a sort
would arouse in her so great an earnestness for participation, that
she would hasten from one spot to another, in constant hope of
better fare; frequently clapping, in her hurry, the broad part of the
brazen ear to her temple: but after waiting, with anxious impatience,
for the development she expected, but waiting in vain, she would
drop her trumpet, and almost dolorously exclaim: “I hope nobody
has had any bad news to night? but as soon as I come near any
body, nobody speaks!”
Yet, with all these peculiarities, Mrs. Vesey was eminently amiable,
candid, gentle, and even sensible; but she had an ardour to know
whatever was going forward, and to see whoever was named, that
kept her curiosity constantly in a panic; and almost dangerously
increased the singular wanderings of her imagination.
Here, amongst the few remaining men of letters of the preceding
literary era, Dr. Burney met Horace Walpole, Owen Cambridge, and
Soame Jenyns, who were commonly, then, denominated the old
wits; but who rarely, indeed, were surrounded by any new ones who
stood much chance of vying with them in readiness of repartee, pith
of matter, terseness of expression, or pleasantry in expanding gay
ideas.

MRS. MONTAGU.
“Yet, while to Mrs. Vesey, the Bas Bleu society owed its origin and its
epithet, the meetings that took place at Mrs. Montagu’s were soon
more popularly known by that denomination; for though they could
not be more fashionable, they were far more splendid.
Mrs. Montagu had built a superb new house, which was
magnificently fitted up, and appeared to be rather appropriate for
princes, nobles, and courtiers, than for poets, philosophers, and blue
stocking votaries. And here, in fact, rank and talents were so
frequently brought together, that what the satirist uttered scoffingly,
the author pronounced proudly, in setting aside the original claimant,
to dub Mrs. Montagu Queen of the Blues.
This majestic title was hers, in fact, from more flattering rights than
hang upon mere pre-eminence of riches or station. Her Essay on the
Learning and Genius of Shakespeare; and the literary zeal which
made her the voluntary champion of our immortal bard, had so
national a claim to support and to praise, that her book, on its first
coming out, had gained the almost general plaudits that mounted
her, thenceforward, to the Parnassian heights of female British
literature.
But, while the same bas bleu appellation was given to these two
houses of rendezvous, neither that, nor even the same associates,
could render them similar. Their grandeur, or their simplicity, their
magnitude, or their diminutiveness, were by no means the principal
cause of this difference: it was far more attributable to the Lady
Presidents than to their abodes: for though they instilled not their
characters into their visitors, their characters bore so large a share in
their visitors’ reception and accommodation, as to influence
materially the turn of the discourse, and the humour of the parties,
at their houses.
At Mrs. Montagu’s, the semi-circle that faced the fire retained during
the whole evening its unbroken form, with a precision that made it
seem described by a Brobdignagian compass. The lady of the castle
commonly placed herself at the upper end of the room, near the
commencement of the curve, so as to be courteously visible to all
her guests; having the person of the highest rank, or consequence,
properly, on one side, and the person the most eminent for talents,
sagaciously, on the other; or as near to her chair, and her converse,
as her favouring eye, and a complacent bow of the head, could
invite him to that distinction.[46]
Her conversational powers were of a truly superior order; strong,
just, clear, and often eloquent. Her process in argument,
notwithstanding an earnest solicitude for pre-eminence, was
uniformly polite and candid. But her reputation for wit seemed
always in her thoughts, marring their natural flow, and untutored
expression. No sudden start of talent urged forth any precarious
opinion; no vivacious new idea varied her logical course of
ratiocination. Her smile, though most generally benignant, was rarely
gay; and her liveliest sallies had a something of anxiety rather than
of hilarity—till their success was ascertained by applause.
Her form was stately, and her manners were dignified. Her face
retained strong remains of beauty throughout life; and though its
native cast was evidently that of severity, its expression was
softened off in discourse by an almost constant desire to please.
If beneficence be judged by the happiness which it diffuses, whose
claim, by that proof, shall stand higher than that of Mrs. Montagu,
from the munificence with which she celebrated her annual festival
for those hapless artificers, who perform the most abject offices of
any authorized calling, in being the active guardians of our blazing
hearths?[47]
Not to vain glory, then, but to kindness of heart, should be adjudged
the publicity of that superb charity, which made its jetty objects, for
one bright morning, cease to consider themselves as degraded
outcasts from society.
Not all the lyrics of all the rhymsters, nor all the warblings of all the
spring-feathered choristers, could hail the opening smiles of May, like
the fragrance of that roasted beef, and the pulpy softness of those
puddings of plums, with which Mrs. Montagu yearly renovated those
sooty little agents to the safety of our most blessing luxury.
Taken for all in all, Mrs. Montagu was rare in her attainments;
splendid in her conduct; open to the calls of charity; forward to
precede those of indigent genius; and unchangeably just and firm in
the application of her interest, her principles, and her fortune, to the
encouragement of loyalty, and the support of virtue.
In this house, amongst innumerable high personages and renowned
conversers, Dr. Burney met the famous Hervey, Bishop of Derry, late
Earl of Bristol; who then stood foremost in sustaining the character
for wit and originality that had signalised his race, in the preceding
century, by the current phrase of the day, that the world was
peopled with men, women, and Herveys.
Here, also, the Honourable Horace Walpole, afterwards Lord Orford,
sometimes put forth his quaint, singular, often original, generally
sarcastic, and always entertaining powers.
And here the Doctor met the antique General Oglethorpe, who was
pointed out to him by Mr. Walpole for a man nearly in his hundredth
year; an assertion that, though exaggerated, easily gained credit,
from his gaunt figure and appearance. The General was pleasing,
well bred, and gentle.
Horace Walpole, sportively desirous, as he whispered to Dr. Burney,
that the Doctor’s daughter should see the humours of a man so near
to counting his age by a century, insisted, one night at this house,
upon forming a little group for that purpose; to which he invited,
also, Mr. and Mrs. Locke: exhibiting thus the two principal points of
his own character, from which he rarely deviated: a thirst of
amusement from what was singular; with a taste yet more forcible
for elegance from what was excellent.
At the side of General Oglethorpe, Mr. Walpole, though much past
seventy, had almost the look, and had quite the air of enjoyment of
a man who was yet almost young: and so skeleton-like was the
General’s meagre form, that, by the same species of comparison, Mr.
Walpole almost appeared, and, again, almost seemed to think
himself, if not absolutely fat, at least not despoiled of his
embonpoint; though so lank was his thinness, that every other
person who stood in his vicinity, might pass as if accoutred and
stuffed for a stage representation of Falstaff.[48]
 MRS. THRALE.
But—previously to the late Streatham catastrophe—blither, more
bland, and more gleeful still, was the personal celebrity of Mrs.
Thrale, than that of either Mrs. Montagu or Mrs. Vesey. Mrs. Vesey,
indeed, gentle and diffident, dreamed not of any competition: but
Mrs. Montagu and Mrs. Thrale had long been set up as fair rival
candidates for colloquial eminence; and each of them thought the
other alone worthy to be her peer. Openly, therefore, when they
met, they combatted for precedence of admiration; with placid,
though high-strained intellectual exertion on one side, and an
exuberant pleasantry of classical allusion or quotation on the other,
without the smallest malice in either; for so different were their
tastes as well as attributes, that neither of them envied, while each
did justice to the powers of her opponent.
The blue parties at Mrs. Thrale’s, though neither marked with as
much splendour as those of Mrs. Montagu, nor with so curious a
selection of distinguished individuals as those of Mrs. Vesey, were
yet held of equal height with either in general estimation, as Dr.
Johnson, “himself a host,” was usually at Mrs. Thrale’s; or was
always, by her company, expected: and as she herself possessed
powers of entertainment more vivifying in gaiety than any of her
competitors.

Various other meetings were formed in imitation of the same plan of

dispensing with cards, music, dice, dancing, or the regales of the
festive board, to concentrate in intellectual entertainment all the
hopes of the guest, and the efforts of the host and hostess. And,
with respect to colloquial elegance, such a plan certainly is of the
first order for bringing into play the highest energies of our nature;
and stimulating their fairest exercise in discussions upon the several
subjects that rise with every rising day; and that take and give a
fresh colour to Thought as well as to Expression, from the mind of
every fresh discriminator.
And such meetings, when the parties were well assorted, and in
good-humour, formed, at that time, a coalition of talents, and a
brilliancy of exertion, that produced the most informing
dissertations, or the happiest sallies of wit and pleasantry, that could
emanate from social intercourse.

HON. MISS MONCTON.[49]

One of the most striking parties of this description, after the three
chiefs, was at the residence of the Hon. Miss Moncton; where there
was a still more resplendent circle of rank, and a more distinguished
assemblage of foreigners, than at any other; with always, in
addition, somebody or something uncommon and unexpected, to
cause, or to gratify curiosity.
Not merely as fearful of form as Mrs. Vesey was Miss Moncton; she
went farther; she frequently left her general guests wholly to
themselves. There was always, she knew, good fare for intellectual
entertainment; and those who had courage to seek might partake of
its advantages; while those who had not that quality, might amuse
themselves as lookers on. And though some might be disconcerted,
no one who had candour could be offended, when they saw, from
the sprightly good-humour of their hostess, that this reception was
instigated by gay, not studied singularity.
Miss Moncton usually sat about the middle of the room, lounging on
one chair, while bending over the back of another, in a thin fine
muslin dress, even at Christmas; while all around her were in satins,
or tissues; and without advancing to meet any one, or rising, or
placing, or troubling herself to see whether there were any seats left
for them, she would turn round her head to the announcement of a
name, give a nod, a smile, and a short “How do you do?—” and
then, chatting on with her own set, leave them to seek their fortune.
To these splendid, and truly uncommon assemblages, Dr. Burney
and his daughter accepted, occasionally, some of the frequent
invitations with which they were honoured.
And here they had sometimes the happiness to meet, amidst the
nobles and dames of the land, with all the towering height of his
almost universal superiority, Mr. Burke; who, sure, from the
connexions of the lady president, to find many chosen friends with
whom he could coalesce or combat upon literary or general topics,
commonly entered the grand saloon with a spirited yet gentle air,
that shewed him full fraught with the generous purpose to receive as
well as to dispense social pleasure; untinged with one bitter drop of
political rancour; and clarified from all acidity of party sarcasm.
And here, too, though only latterly, and very rarely, appeared the
sole star that rose still higher in the gaze of the world, Dr. Johnson.
Miss Moncton had met with the Doctor at Brighton, where that
animated lady eagerly sought him as a gem to crown her coteries;
persevering in her attacks for conquest, with an enthusiasm that did
honour to her taste; till the Doctor, surprised and pleased, rewarded
her exertions by a good-humoured compliance with her invitations.
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