his intelligence, added to his admiration
of her genius, and the warmth of his friendship for her, formed the
strongest spell that held her in subjection to the fascinations of
brilliant society and town life. The early feeling which prompted the
infant wish for "a cottage too low for a clock" was still fresh in her
bosom. The country, with its green pastures and still waters, still
retained its charms for her. "I have naturally," she writes, "but a
small appetite for grandeur, which is always satisfied, even to
indigestion, before I leave town; and I require a long abstinence to
get any relish for it again." After the death of her friend, she
carried into execution the resolution she had long cherished, of
passing a portion of her time in retirement in the country. With this
view, she possessed herself of a little secluded spot, which had
acquired the name of "Cowslip Green," near Bristol.

Still, however, her sensibility to kindness would not let her withhold
herself entirely from her London friends; her annual visits to Mrs.
Garrick brought her back into contact with the world and its crowded
resorts.

From her earliest acquaintance with society, she had seen with sorrow
the levity of manners, the indifference to religion, and the total
disregard of the Sabbath, which prevailed in its higher circles. Not
content with holding herself uncontaminated, she felt it to be her
duty to make an effort for a reformation, and with this end she
published "Thoughts on the Importance of the Manners of the Great to
General Society." To appreciate the value of the effort, we must
remember that these "Thoughts" were not the animadversions of a
recluse, but of one who was flattered, admired, and courted, by the
very people whom she was about to reprove; that the step might
probably exclude her from those circles in which she had hitherto been
so caressed. But the happiness of her friends was dearer to her than
their favor. That the probable consequences did not ensue, does not
diminish her merit. This work and the one which speedily followed it,
"An Essay on the Religion of the Fashionable World," were popular
beyond hope, and the wish of Bishop Porteus, "that it might be placed
in the hands of every person of condition," was almost realized. It is
unnecessary to dwell on these works; they are too well known; they
established her reputation as a great moral writer, possessing a
masterly command of language, and devoting a keen wit