Frances Burney’s Memoirs2 of her father, her letters to Daddy Crisp, and her Diary, together, give us a pretty distinct idea of her life in the little street south of Leicester Square. From the time when Dr. Burney became established in that quarter, the circle of his friends and his reputation steadily3 widened. In no long time he made acquaintance with his neighbours, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Miss Reynolds, and their nieces, the Misses Palmer; with another neighbour, the sculptor4 Nollekens; with the painter Barry, Harris of Salisbury,[15] Mrs. Ord, Sir Joseph Banks, and Abyssinian Bruce, then just returned from his travels. All these and others were, from time to time, to be found in the Doctor’s modest drawing-room, together with many old friends, such as the 33Stranges, Garrick, Colman, Mason, the Hooles, father and son, Twining, and Baretti.
We have, in the ‘Memoirs,’ an account of David Garrick’s first call at the house in St. Martin’s Street, which, though written in the author’s later style, was no doubt derived5 from contemporary notes or journals:—It was early morning, and the doorsteps were being washed by a new housemaid, who, not recognising the actor, demurred7 to his entering unannounced. He brushed past her, ran upstairs, and burst into the Doctor’s study. Here he found the master of the house under the hands of his hairdresser; while Susanna was reading a newspaper to him, Charlotte making his tea, and Fanny arranging his books. There was a litter of papers everywhere. Burney would have cleared a chair, but the visitor plumped down into one that was well cushioned with pamphlets, crying: ‘Ay, do now, Doctor, be in a little confusion! Whisk your matters all out of their places, and don’t know where to find a thing that you want for the rest of the day, and that will make us all comfortable.’ The Doctor then, laughing, returned to his place on the stool, that his wig8—or, as Madame d’Arblay calls it, the furniture of his head—might go through its proper repairs. David, assuming a solemn air of profound attention, fastened his eyes upon the hairdresser, as if wonderstruck at his amazing skill. The man, highly gratified by such notice from the celebrated9 Garrick, briskly worked on, frizzing, curling, powdering, and pasting, after the mode of the day, with the utmost importance and self-complacency. Garrick himself had on what he called his scratch wig, which was so uncommonly10 ill-arranged and frightful11 that the whole family agreed no one else could have appeared in such a state in the public streets without risk of being hooted12 at. He dropped now all talk with the 34Doctor, not even answering what he said, and seemed wholly absorbed in watching what was going on; putting on, by degrees, with a power like transformation13, a little mean face of envy and sadness, such as he wore in representing Abel Drugger, till at length, in the eyes of the spectators, he passed out of himself altogether, and, with his mouth hanging stupidly open, and his features vacant of all expression, he became the likeness14 of some daubed wooden block in a barber’s shop window. The friseur, who at the beginning had felt flattered on seeing his operations so curiously15 observed, was put out of countenance16 by this incomprehensible change, became presently so embarrassed that he hardly knew what he was about, and at last fell into utter consternation17. Scared and confounded, he hastily rolled up the last two curls, and prepared to make his retreat; but before he could escape, Garrick, lifting his own miserable18 scratch from his head, and holding it out on his finger and thumb, squeaked19 out in a whining20 voice, ‘Pray now, sir, do you think, sir, you could touch me up this here old bob a little bit, sir?’
The hairdresser dismissed, the actor, who could not help acting21, proceeded to give further proofs of his versatility22. ‘And so, Doctor,’ he began, ‘you, with your tag-rag and bobtail there——’ Here he pointed23 to some shelves of shabby books and tracts24, which he started up to examine; the next moment, becoming an auctioneer, he offered for sale these valuable works, each worth a hundred pounds, and proclaimed that they were ‘going, going, going, at a penny apiece.’ Then, quietly reseating himself: ‘And so, Doctor,’ he continued, ‘you, and tag-rag and bobtail there, shut yourselves up in this snug25 little bookstall, with all your bright elves around you, to rest your understanding!’ There were loud cries of mock indignation from the young people at the idea of papa 35resting his understanding. Garrick apologized in his best stage manner, and after some further talk, inquired, ‘But when, Doctor, shall we have out the History of Histories? Do let me know in time, that I may prepare to blow the trumpet27 of fame.’ Of course, this was a prelude28 to his appearing in the character of a cheap-jack, advertising29 ‘the only true History.’ Invited to the parlour to breakfast, he excused himself on the plea of being engaged at home to Twiss[16] and Boswell, whom immediately he took off to the life. Encouraged by the laughter of his audience, this most reprehensible30 person, who set no bounds to his levity31, proceeded to offer an imitation of Dr. Johnson himself. He sincerely honoured and loved Dr. Johnson, he said, but that great man had eccentricities32 which his most attached admirers were irresistibly33 impelled34 to mimic35. Arranging, therefore, his dress so as to enlarge his person, in some strange way, several inches beyond its natural size, assuming the voice and authoritative36 port of the lexicographer37, and giving a thundering stamp on the carpet, the devout38 worshipper of Dr. Johnson delivered, with sundry39 extraordinary attitudes and gestures, a short dialogue that had passed between them during the preceding week:
“David! Will you lend me your ‘Petrarca’?”
“Y—e—s, sir!”
“David, you sigh?”
“Sir, you shall have it, certainly.”
“Accordingly,” Garrick continued, “the book—stupendously bound—I sent to him that very evening. But scarcely had he taken the noble quarto in his hands, when, as Boswell tells me, he poured forth40 a Greek ejaculation, and a couplet or two from Horace; and then, in one of those fits of enthusiasm which always 36seem to require that he should spread his arms aloft in the air, his haste was so great to debarrass them for that purpose, that he suddenly pounces41 my poor ‘Petrarca’ over his head upon the floor—Russia leather, gold border, and all! And then, standing26 for several minutes erect42, lost in abstraction, he forgot, probably, that he had ever seen it, and left my poor dislocated Beauty to the mercy of the housemaid’s morning mop!”
This concluded the performance, and the performer presently took his leave. After he had said good-bye, and left the room, he hastily came back, whimsically laughing, and said: ‘Here’s one of your maids downstairs that I love prodigiously44 to talk to, because she is so cross! She was washing, and rubbing, and scrubbing, and whitening and brightening your steps this morning, and would hardly let me pass. Egad, sir, she did not know the great Roscius! But I frightened her a little just now: “Child,” says I, “you don’t guess whom you have the happiness to see! Do you know that I am one of the first geniuses of the age? You would faint away upon the spot if you could only imagine who I am!”’
One familiar face was no longer seen at Burney’s house. Mr. Crisp had become subject to such frequent fits of gout that his visits to London were almost given up, and he rarely slept even a single night away from Chesington. But his interest in musical and literary news, and in all that concerned the Burney family, continued unabated. What he could no more take part in himself was duly communicated to him by letter.
How early the correspondence between Frances and the family friend began we are not informed. But it must have commenced long before she was old enough to be admitted to parties such as she had now to describe to her ‘daddy.’ In a passage written at seventy-two, she has 37set down “a charge delivered to me by our dear vehement45 Mr. Crisp at the opening of my juvenile46 correspondence with him: ‘Harkee, you little monkey! dash away whatever comes uppermost; if you stop to consider either what you say, or what may be said of you, I would not give one fig47 for your letters.’” So rough a speech could not have been addressed, even by a professed48 cynic, to any young lady very far advanced in her teens. In the letters from which we are about to quote, Miss Fanny prattles49 to the old man with perfect ease and confidence, showing that she felt herself on terms of established familiarity, and was quite free from the shyness and embarrassment50 that would attend a timid girl’s first efforts to entertain him.
For many years Dr. Burney had given informal evening concerts at his house. These entertainments, to which he had been prompted by Crisp, began in Poland Street, were continued in Queen Square, and attained51 their highest distinction in St. Martin’s Street. There was no band, no hired singer, no programme, no admission by ticket. A word from the courteous52 host was the only invitation needed or expected. But the company, as well as the music, was attractive even to guests accustomed to fashionable society. Before his writings made him famous, Burney’s extensive acquaintance brought him visitors whom the curious were anxious to meet. Some came to see Sir Constantine Phipps, afterwards Lord Mulgrave, on his return from his Arctic voyage. Others came for a view of Omai, whom Captain Cook had imported from the South Seas. On one occasion the gentle savage53 obliged the musical audience with a Tahitian love-song, which proved to be a mere54 confused rumbling55 of uncouth56 sounds. Whatever the incident of the evening, Crisp looked for a full report of it from ‘his Fannikin.’
38The sense of humour which we may still see brimming over in her portrait was greatly provoked by Bruce, the particular lion of that day. The explorer was reported to have brought home with him drawings of a Theban harp57 at least three thousand years old, and of an Abyssinian lyre in present use, about which Fanny was evidently more sceptical than her father, who was always ready to welcome materials for his ‘History.’ ‘The Abyssinians have lyres, have they?’ said George Selwyn; ‘well, they have one less since he left their country.’ Bruce was a personage of stupendous height and breadth, whose pompous58 manners were proportioned to his size and fame. ‘He is the tallest man you ever saw in your life—at least gratis,’ wrote the observer. Nevertheless ‘the man-mountain’ condescended59 to the Burneys. In the season of his greatest glory, he figured several times at the Doctor’s concerts, of which visits faithful accounts were duly despatched to Chesington. On one of these evenings Mr. Bruce even consented to stay supper, “which, you know,” says Fanny, “with us is nothing but a permission to sit over a table for chat, and roast potatoes or apples. But now,” she continues, “to perfect your acquaintance with this towering Ethiopian, where do you think he will take you during supper? To the source, or sources, you cry, of the Nile? to Thebes? to its temple? to an arietta on the Theban harp? or perhaps to banqueting on hot raw beef in Abyssinia? No such thing, my dear Mr. Crisp—no such thing. Travellers who mean to write their travels are fit for nothing but to represent the gap at your whist-table at Chesington, when you have only three players; for they are dummies60. Mr. Bruce left all his exploits, his wanderings, his vanishings, his reappearances, his harps61 so celestial62, and his bullocks so terrestrial, to plant all our entertainment within a hundred 39yards of our own coterie63; namely, at the masquerades at the Haymarket.” Then follows a story of a practical jest not worth copying. “To have looked at Mr. Bruce in his glee at this buffoonery, you must really have been amused; though methinks I see, supposing you had been with us, the picturesque64 rising of your brow, and all the dignity of your Roman nose, while you would have stared at such familiar delight in an active joke as to transport into so merry an espiègle the seven-footed loftiness of the haughty65 and impetuous tourist from the sands of Ethiopia, and the waters of Abyssinia; whom, nevertheless, I have now the honour to portray66 in his robe de chambre, that is, in private society, to my dear Chesington daddy.”
But far greater things were to follow this stalking of the African lion. The Continental67 reputation which Dr. Burney acquired by his tours, and which was extended by the first instalment of his ‘History,’ ‘attracted to his house,’ as Macaulay points out, ‘the most eminent68 musical performers of that age. The greatest Italian singers who visited England regarded him as the dispenser of fame in their art, and exerted themselves to obtain his suffrage69. Pacchierotti[17] became his intimate friend. The rapacious70 Agujari,[18] who sang for nobody else under fifty pounds an air, sang her best for Dr. Burney without a fee; and in the company of Dr. Burney even the haughty and eccentric Gabrielli[19] constrained71 herself to behave with civility. It was thus in his power to give, with scarcely any expense, concerts equal to those of the 40aristocracy. On such occasions the quiet street in which he lived was blocked up by coroneted chariots, and his little drawing-room was crowded with peers, peeresses, ministers, and ambassadors.’
The following extract from one of Fanny’s letters contains a full description of the most memorable72 of these musical evenings, though it was one on which no foreign artist performed:
“You reproach me, my dear Mr. Crisp, for not sending you an account of our last two concerts. But the fact is, I have not anything new to tell you. The music has always been the same: the matrimonial duets[20] are so much à la mode, that no other thing in our house is now demanded. But if I can write you nothing new about music, you want, I well know you will say, to hear some conversations.
My dear Mr. Crisp, there is, at this moment, no such thing as conversation. There is only one question asked, meet whom you may, namely: ‘How do you like Gabrielli?’ and only two modes, contradictory73, to be sure, but very steady, of reply: either, ‘Of all things upon earth!’ or, ‘Not the least bit in the whole world!’
Well, now I will present you with a specimen74, beginning with our last concert but one, and arranging the persons of the drama in the order of their actual appearance.
But, imprimis, I should tell you that the motive75 to this concert was a particular request to my father from Dr. King, our old friend, and the chaplain to the British—something—at St. Petersburg, that he would give a little music to a certain mighty76 personage, who, somehow or 41other how, must needs take, transiently at least, a front place in future history, namely, the famed favourite of the Empress Catherine of Russia—Prince[21] Orloff.
There, my dear Mr. Crisp! what say you to seeing such a doughty77 personage as that in a private house, at a private party, of a private individual—fresh imported from the Czarina of all the Russias, to sip78 a cup of tea in St. Martin’s Street? I wonder whether future historians will happen to mention this circumstance? I am thinking of sending it to all the keepers of records. But I see your rising eyebrows79 at this name—your start—your disgust—yet big curiosity.
Well, suppose the family assembled, its honoured chief in the midst—and Tat, tat, tat, tat, at the door.
Enter Dr. Ogle80, Dean of Winchester.
Dr. Burney, after the usual ceremonies:—‘Did you hear the Gabrielli last night, Mr. Dean?’
The Dean: ‘No, Doctor, I made the attempt, but soon retreated, for I hate a crowd—as much as the ladies love it! I beg pardon!’ bowing with a sort of civil sneer81 at us fair sex.
My mother was entering upon a spirited defence, when—Tat, tat, tat.
Enter Dr. King.
He brought the compliments of Prince Orloff, with his Highness’s apologies for being so late; but he was obliged to dine at Lord Buckingham’s, and thence to show himself at Lady Harrington’s.
As nobody thought of inquiring into Dr. King’s opinion of La Gabrielli, conversation was at a stand, till—Tat, tat, tat, tat, too, and
42Enter Lady Edgcumbe.
We were all introduced to her, and she was very chatty, courteous, and entertaining. [Lady Edgcumbe is asked the usual question about Gabrielli, as also are the Honourable82 Mr. and Mrs. Brudenel, who appear next. Then we are introduced in succession to the Baron83 Demidoff, Harris of Salisbury, and Lord Bruce.] At length—Tat, tat, tat, tat, tat, tat, tat, tat, too!
Enter his Highness Prince Orloff.
Have you heard the dreadful story of the thumb, by which this terrible Prince is said to have throttled84 the late Emperor of Russia, Peter, by suddenly pressing his windpipe while he was drinking? I hope it is not true; and Dr. King, of whom, while he resided in Russia, Prince Orloff was the patron, denies the charge. Nevertheless, it is so currently reported, that neither Susan nor I could keep it one moment from our thoughts; and we both shrank from him with secret horror, heartily85 wishing him in his own Black Sea.
His sight, however, produced a strong sensation, both in those who believed, and those who discredited86 this disgusting barbarity; for another story, not perhaps of less real, though of less sanguinary guilt87, is not a tale of rumour88, but a crime of certainty; namely, that he is the first favourite of the cruel, inhuman89 Empress—if it be true that she connived90 at this horrible murder.
His Highness was immediately preceded by another Russian nobleman, whose name I have forgot; and followed by a noble Hessian, General Bawr.
Prince Orloff is of stupendous stature, something resembling Mr. Bruce. He is handsome, tall, fat, upright, magnificent. His dress was superb. Besides the blue garter, he had a star of diamonds of prodigious43 brilliancy, 43a shoulder-knot of the same lustre91 and value, and a picture of the Empress hung about his neck, set round with diamonds of such brightness and magnitude that, when near the light, they were too dazzling for the eye. His jewels, Dr. King says, are estimated at one hundred thousand pounds sterling92.
His air and address are showy, striking, and assiduously courteous. He had a look that frequently seemed to say, ‘I hope you observe that I come from a polished Court? I hope you take note that I am no Cossack?’ Yet, with all this display of commanding affability, he seems, from his native taste and humour, ‘agreeably addicted93 to pleasantry,’ He speaks very little English, but knows French perfectly94.
His introduction to my father, in which Dr. King pompously95 figured, passed in the drawing-room. The library was so crowded that he could only show himself at the door, which was barely high enough not to discompose his prodigious toupee96. He bowed to Mr. Chamier,[22] then my next neighbour, whom he had somewhere met; but I was so impressed by the shocking rumours97 of his horrible actions, that involuntarily I drew back even from a bow of vicinity; murmuring to Mr. Chamier, ‘He looks so potent98 and mighty, I do not like to be near him!’
‘He has been less unfortunate,’ answered Mr. Chamier archly, ‘elsewhere; such objection has not been made to him by all ladies.’
Lord Bruce, who knew, immediately rose to make way for him, and moved to another end of the room. The Prince instantly held out his vast hand, in which, if he had also held a cambric handkerchief, it must have looked like a white flag on the top of a mast—so much higher than the 44most tip-top height of every head in the room was his spread-out arm, as he exclaimed, ‘Ah! milord me fuit!’
His Honour,[23] then, rising also, with a profound reverence99, offered his seat to his Highness; but he positively100 refused to accept it, and declared that if Mr. Brudenel would not be seated, he would himself retire; and seeing Mr. Brudenel demur6, still begging his Highness to take the chair, he cried, with a laugh, but very peremptorily101, ‘Non, non, monsieur! Je ne le veux pas! Je suis opiniatre, moi; un peu comme Messieurs les Anglais!’
Mr. Brudenel then reseated himself; and the corner of a form appearing to be vacant, from the pains taken by poor Susan to shrink away from Mr. Orloff, his Highness suddenly dropped down upon it his immense weight, with a force—notwithstanding a palpable and studied endeavour to avoid doing mischief—that threatened his gigantic person with plumping upon the floor, and terrified all on the opposite side of the form with the danger of visiting the ceiling.
Perceiving Susan strive, though vainly, from want of space, to glide102 further off from him, and struck, perhaps, by her sweet countenance, ‘Ah, ha!’ he cried, ‘je tiens ici, je vois, une petite prisonnière!’
Charlotte, blooming like a budding little Hebe, actually stole into a corner from affright at the whispered history of his thumb ferocity.
Mr. Chamier, who now probably had developed what passed in my mind, contrived103, very comically, to disclose his similar sentiment; for, making a quiet way to my ear, he said in a low voice, ‘I wish Dr. Burney had invited Omiah here tonight instead of Prince Orloff!’—meaning, 45no doubt, of the two exotics, he should have preferred the most innocent!
The grand duet of Müthel was now called for, and played; but I can tell you nothing extra of the admiration104 it excited. Your Hettina looked remarkably105 pretty; and, added to the applause given to the music, everybody had something to observe upon the singularity of the performers being husband and wife. Prince Orloff was witty106 quite to facetiousness107; sarcastically109 marking something beyond what he said, by a certain ogling110, half-cynical, half-amorous cast of his eyes; and declaring he should take care to initiate111 all the foreign academies of natural philosophy in the secret of the harmony that might be produced by such nuptial112 concord113.
The Russian nobleman who accompanied Prince Orloff, and who knew English, they told us, so well that he was the best interpreter for his Highness in his visits, gave us now a specimen of his proficiency114; for, clapping his fore-finger upon a superfine snuff-box, he exclaimed, when the duet was finished, ‘Ma foi, dis is so pretty as never I hear in my life!’
General Bawr also, to whom Mr. Harris directed my attention, was greatly charmed. He is tall, and of stern and martial115 aspect. ‘He is a man,’ said Mr. Harris, ‘to be looked at, from his courage, conduct, and success during the last Russian war; when, though a Hessian by birth, he was a lieutenant-general in the service of the Empress of Russia, and obtained the two military stars, which you now see him wear on each side, by his valour!’...
Then followed, to vary the entertainment, singing by Mrs. Brudenel.
Prince Orloff inquired very particularly of Dr. King who we four young female Burneys were; for we were all 46dressed alike, on account of our mourning; and when Dr. King answered, ‘Dr. Burney’s daughters,’ he was quite astonished, for he had not thought our dear father, he said, more than thirty years of age, if so much.
Mr. Harris, in a whisper, told me he wished some of the ladies would desire to see the miniature of the Empress a little nearer; the monstrous116 height of the Prince putting it quite out of view to his old eyes and short figure; and being a man, he could not, he said, presume to ask such an indulgence as that of holding it in his own hands. Delighted to do anything for this excellent Mr. Harris, and quite at my ease with poor prosing Dr. King, I told him the wish of Mr. Harris. Dr. King whispered the desire to M. de Demidoff; M. de Demidoff did the same to General de Bawr; and General de Bawr dauntlessly made the petition to the Prince, in the name of The Ladies.
The Prince laughed, rather sardonically118; yet with ready good humour complied, telling the General, pretty much sans ceremonie, to untie119 the ribbon round his neck, and give the picture into the possession of The Ladies.
He was very gallant120 and debonnaire upon the occasion, entreating121 they would by no means hurry themselves; yet his smile, as his eye sharply followed the progress from hand to hand of the miniature, had a suspicious cast of investigating whether it would be worth his while to ask any favour of them in return! and through all the superb magnificence of his display of courtly manners, a little bit of the Cossack, methought, broke out, when he desired to know whether The Ladies wished for anything else—declaring, with a smiling bow, and rolling, languishing122, yet half-contemptuous eyes, that, if The Ladies would issue their commands, they should strip him entirely123!
You may suppose, after that, nobody asked for a closer 47view of any more of his ornaments124! The good, yet unaffectedly humorous philosopher of Salisbury could not help laughing, even while actually blushing at it, that his own curiosity should have involved The Ladies in this supercilious125 sort of sarcastic108 homage126.
There was hardly any looking at the picture of the Empress for the glare of the diamonds. One of them, I really believe, was as big as a nutmeg; though I am somewhat ashamed to undignify my subject by so culinary a comparison.
When we were all satisfied, the miniature was restored by General Bawr to the Prince, who took it with stately complacency; condescendingly making a smiling bow to each fair female who had had possession of it, and receiving from her in return a lowly courtesy.
Mr. Harris, who was the most curious to see the Empress, because his son, Sir James,[24] was, or is intended to be, Minister at her Court, had slyly looked over every shoulder that held her; but would not venture, he archly whispered, to take the picture in his own hands, lest he should be included by the Prince amongst The Ladies, as an old woman!
Have you had enough of this concert, my dear Mr. Crisp? I have given it in detail, for the humour of letting you see how absorbing of the public voice is La Gabrielli; and also for describing to you Prince Orloff, a man who, when time lets out facts, and drives in mysteries, must necessarily make a considerable figure, good or bad—but certainly not indifferent—in European history. Besides, I want your opinion whether there is not an odd and striking resemblance in general manners, as well as in herculean strength and height, in this Siberian Prince and his Abyssinian Majesty127?”
48On another musical evening, of which Fanny wrote an account, there were present: the French Ambassador, the Count de Guignes, at whose request the concert was given; the Danish Ambassador, Baron Deiden, and his wife; the Groom128 of the Stole, Lord Ashburnham, ‘with his gold key dangling129 from his pocket;’ Lord Barrington from the War Office, and Lord Sandwich, First Lord of the Admiralty. Of this last, the boon-companion and denouncer[25] of Wilkes, Miss Fanny na?vely asks, “I want to know why he is called Jemmy Twitcher in the newspapers? Do pray tell me that.”
Very seldom, in these latter days, does any private carriage, with or without a coronet on its panels, turn into the decayed thoroughfare running down from the bottom of Leicester Square. ‘Vulgarly-peopled,’ according to Madame d’Arblay, even in her father’s time, St. Martin’s Street has since fallen many degrees lower yet. The house to which the fashionable world was drawn130 by the charms of Burney’s music stands on the east side, immediately above the chapel131 at the corner of Orange Street. The glass observatory132 which Dr. Burney repaired, and which he subsequently rebuilt when it was blown away by a gale133 of wind, has long since disappeared. It was replaced by a wooden[26] erection, or what Macaulay 49calls ‘a square turret,’ which, when the essayist wrote, distinguished134 the house from all the surrounding buildings. This erection also has been removed, but the house itself cannot be mistaken by any passer-by who cares to see it. A tablet on the front bears the inscription135: ‘Sir Isaac Newton, philosopher, lived here.’ The house is at present the quarters of the United Service Warrant Officers’ Club. No great effort is required to imagine the plain, silent Newton passing in and out of that slender doorway136. The movements of the man qui genus humanum ingenio superavit were without noise and ostentation137. We may let half a century go by in thought, and with equal ease picture to ourselves David Garrick tripping up the steps before breakfast; Samuel Johnson rolling up them for a call, on his way to dine with Mrs. Montagu; pleasant Dr. Burney briskly setting out on his daily round of lessons; and demure138 Miss Fanny sallying forth to seek an interview incognita with her publisher. But how call up the scene, when the lacqueys of Count Orloff—Orloff the Big, Walpole calls him—thundered at the knocker, or when officers of the Household, displaying the ensigns of their rank, peers with stars and orders, and great ladies arrayed in brocaded silks and immense head-dresses, followed one another up a confined staircase[27] into a couple of small and crowded reception-rooms? Standing opposite to the club where our gallant petty officers of to-day congregate139, and noticing that to the left of it, on the other side of Long’s Court, there is now a cheap lodging-house for working men, and that a little further to the left, at the entrance from the Square, the roadway narrows, as we 50learn from the “Memoirs” that it did in Burney’s time, till there is barely room for a single vehicle of moderate size to pass, we recognise the limitations of the human fancy. It is difficult to conceive of a great aristocratic crowd assembling in such a place. We can understand the pride with which Fanny set down the prolonged rat-tat-tat-tat-too that announced the arrival of each titled and decorated visitor. We may observe the pains she took to draw and colour for her country correspondent groups of dazzling figures such as had never been seen in the more spacious140 area of Queen Square. But they are gone, and in presence of the dirt and squalor which have made St. Martin’s Street little better than an East-End slum, their shadows will not revisit the glimpses of the moon. Sic transit141 gloria mundi.
Somewhat later, Dr. Burney formed a new connection which had an important influence on the life of his second daughter. He was invited to Streatham by Mr. and Mrs. Thrale to give lessons in music to their eldest142 daughter, familiarly called Queeny, who afterwards became Viscountess Keith. There, besides winning the regard of the Thrales, he renewed his acquaintance with Dr. Johnson, to whom he had made himself known by letter twenty-two years before. Johnson, who had no ear, despised music, and was wont143 to speak slightingly of its professors, but he conceived a strong liking144 for Burney. In bringing out the ‘Tour to the Hebrides,’ the author confessed that he had kept his friend’s Musical Tours in view. At this time, Richard, the youngest son of Dr. Burney, born of his second marriage, was preparing for Winchester School, whither his father proposed conveying him in person. Johnson, who was a friend of Dr. Warton, the headmaster, volunteered to accompany them, and introduce the new pupil. This joint145 expedition of Johnson and 51Burney was followed by a similar one to Oxford146, and their intercourse147 became so cordial that Mrs. Thrale and Johnson arranged to meet in St. Martin’s Street, there to make acquaintance with Burney’s family, to look over his library, and to see Newton’s house. Fanny, who had just come up from Chesington, wrote an account of this visit to her daddy:
“My dearest Mr. Crisp,
My father seemed well pleased at my returning to my time; so that is no small consolation148 and pleasure to me for the pain of quitting you. So now to our Thursday morning and Dr. Johnson, according to my promise.
We were all—by we, I mean Suzette, Charlotte, and I—for my mother had seen him before, as had my sister Burney; but we three were all in a twitter from violent expectation and curiosity for the sight of this monarch149 of books and authors.
Mrs. and Miss Thrale, Miss Owen, and Mr. Seward,[28] came long before Lexiphanes. Mrs. Thrale is a pretty woman still, though she has some defect in the mouth that looks like a cut or scar; but her nose is very handsome, her complexion150 very fair; she has the embonpoint charmant, and her eyes are blue and lustrous151. She is extremely lively and chatty, and showed none of the supercilious or pedantic152 airs so freely, or rather so scoffingly153, attributed by you envious154 lords of the creation to women of learning or celebrity155; on the contrary, she is full of sport, remarkably gay, and excessively agreeable. I liked her in everything except her entrance into the room, which was rather florid and flourishing, as who should say, ‘It’s I!—no less a person than Mrs. Thrale!’ However, all that ostentation wore out in the course of 52the visit, which lasted the whole morning; and you could not have helped liking her, she is so very entertaining—though not simple enough, I believe, for quite winning your heart....
The conversation was supported with a great deal of vivacity156, as usual when il Signor Padrone is at home; but I can write you none of it, as I was still in the same twitter, twitter, twitter, I have acknowledged, to see Dr. Johnson. Nothing could have heightened my impatience—unless Pope could have been brought to life again—or, perhaps, Shakespeare!
This confab was broken up by a duet between your Hettina and, for the first time to company-listeners, Suzette; who, however, escaped much fright, for she soon found she had no musical critics to encounter in Mrs. Thrale and Mr. Seward, or Miss Owen, who know not a flat from a sharp, nor a crotchet from a quaver. But every knowledge is not given to everybody—except to two gentle wights of my acquaintance: the one commonly hight il Padre, and the other il Dadda. Do you know any such sort of people, sir? Well, in the midst of this performance, and before the second movement was come to a close, Dr. Johnson was announced!
Now, my dear Mr. Crisp, if you like a description of emotions and sensations—but I know you treat them all as burlesque157; so let’s proceed.
Everybody rose to do him honour, and he returned the attention with the most formal courtesy. My father then, having welcomed him with the warmest respect, whispered to him that music was going forward, which he would not, my father thinks, have found out; and, placing him on the best seat vacant, told his daughters to go on with the duet; while Dr. Johnson, intently rolling towards them one eye—for they say he does 53not see with the other—made a grave nod, and gave a dignified158 motion with one hand, in silent approvance of the proceeding159.
But now, my dear Mr. Crisp, I am mortified160 to own—what you, who always smile at my enthusiasm, will hear without caring a straw for—that he is, indeed, very ill-favoured. Yet he has naturally a noble figure; tall, stout161, grand, and authoritative: but he stoops horribly; his back is quite round: his mouth is continually opening and shutting, as if he were chewing something; he has a singular method of twirling his fingers, and twisting his hands: his vast body is in constant agitation162, see-sawing backwards163 and forwards: his feet are never a moment quiet; and his whole person looked often as if it were going to roll itself, quite voluntarily, from his chair to the floor.
Since such is his appearance to a person so prejudiced in his favour as I am, how I must more than ever reverence his abilities, when I tell you that, upon asking my father why he had not prepared us for such uncouth, untoward164 strangeness, he laughed heartily, and said he had entirely forgotten that the same impression had been, at first, made upon himself, but had been lost even on the second interview—how I long to see him again, to lose it, too!—for knowing the value of what would come out when he spoke165, he ceased to observe the defects that were out while he was silent.
But you always charge me to write without reserve or reservation, and so I obey, as usual. Else, I should be ashamed to acknowledge having remarked such exterior166 blemishes167 in so exalted168 a character.
His dress, considering the times, and that he had meant to put on all his best becomes—for he was engaged to dine with a very fine party at Mrs. Montagu’s—was as much out of the common road as his figure. He had a 54large, full, bushy wig, a snuff-colour coat, with gold buttons (or, peradventure, brass), but no ruffles169 to his doughty fists; and not, I suppose, to be taken for a Blue, though going to the Blue Queen, he had on very coarse black worsted stockings.
He is shockingly near-sighted; a thousand times more so than either my Padre or myself. He did not even know Mrs. Thrale, till she held out her hand to him, which she did very engagingly. After the first few minutes, he drew his chair close to the pianoforte, and then bent170 down his nose quite over the keys, to examine them, and the four hands at work upon them; till poor Hetty and Susan hardly knew how to play on, for fear of touching171 his phiz; or, which was harder still, how to keep their countenances172; and the less, as Mr. Seward, who seems to be very droll173 and shrewd, and was much diverted, ogled174 them slyly, with a provoking expression of arch enjoyment175 of their apprehensions176.
When the duet was finished, my father introduced your Hettina to him, as an old acquaintance, to whom, when she was a little girl, he had presented his Idler.
His answer to this was imprinting177 on her pretty face—not a half touch of a courtly salute—but a good, real, substantial, and very loud kiss.
Everybody was obliged to stroke their chins, that they might hide their mouths.
Beyond this chaste178 embrace, his attention was not to be drawn off two minutes longer from the books, to which he now strided his way; for we had left the drawing-room for the library, on account of the pianoforte. He pored over them, shelf by shelf, almost brushing them with his eyelashes from near examination. At last, fixing upon something that happened to hit his fancy, he took it down; and, standing aloof179 from the company, which he 55seemed clean and clear to forget, he began, without further ceremony, and very composedly, to read to himself; and as intently as if he had been alone in his own study.
We were all excessively provoked: for we were languishing, fretting180, expiring to hear him talk—not to see him read! What could that do for us?
My sister then played another duet, accompanied by my father, to which Miss Thrale seemed very attentive181; and all the rest quietly resigned. But Dr. Johnson had opened a volume of the British Encyclop?dia, and was so deeply engaged, that the music, probably, never reached his ears.
When it was over, Mrs. Thrale, in a laughing manner, said: ‘Pray, Dr. Burney, will you be so good as to tell me what that song was, and whose, which Savoi sang last night at Bach’s[29] concert, and which you did not hear?’
My father confessed himself by no means so able a diviner, not having had time to consult the stars, though he lived in the house of Sir Isaac Newton. But, anxious to draw Dr. Johnson into conversation, he ventured to interrupt him with Mrs. Thrale’s conjuring182 request relative to Bach’s concert.
The Doctor, comprehending his drift, good-naturedly put away his book, and, see-sawing, with a very humorous smile, drolly183 repeated: ‘Bach, sir?—Bach’s concert? And pray, sir, who is Bach? Is he a piper?’
You may imagine what exclamations184 followed such a question.
Mrs. Thrale gave a detailed185 account of the nature of the concert, and the fame of Mr. Bach, and the many charming performances she had heard, with all their varieties, in his rooms.
When there was a pause, ‘Pray, madam,’ said he, with the calmest gravity, ‘what is the expense for all this?’
56‘Oh,’ answered she, ‘the expense is much trouble and solicitation186 to obtain a subscriber’s ticket—or else, half a guinea!’
‘Trouble and solicitation,’ he replied, ‘I will have nothing to do with; but, if it be so fine, I would be willing to give’—he hesitated, and then finished with—‘eighteen-pence.’
Ha! ha! Chocolate being then brought, we returned to the drawing-room; and Dr. Johnson, when drawn away from the books, freely, and with social good-humour, gave himself up to conversation.
The intended dinner of Mrs. Montagu being mentioned, Dr. Johnson laughingly told us that he had received the most flattering note that he had ever read, or that anybody else had ever read, of invitation from that lady.
‘So have I, too!’ cried Mrs. Thrale. ‘So, if a note from Mrs. Montagu is to be boasted of, I beg mine may not be forgotten.’
‘Your note, madam,’ cried Dr. Johnson, smiling, ‘can bear no comparison with mine; for I am at the head of all the philosophers—she says.’
‘And I,’ returned Mrs. Thrale, ‘have all the Muses187 in my train.’
‘A fair battle!’ cried my father. ‘Come, compliment for compliment, and see who will hold out longest!’
‘I am afraid for Mrs. Thrale,’ said Mr. Seward; ‘for I know that Mrs. Montagu exerts all her forces when she sings the praises of Dr. Johnson.’
‘Oh yes,’ cried Mrs. Thrale, ‘she has often praised him till he has been ready to faint.’
‘Well,’ said my father, ‘you two ladies must get him fairly between you to-day, and see which can lay on the paint the thickest—Mrs. Montagu or Mrs. Thrale.’
57‘I had rather,’ said the Doctor very composedly, ‘go to Bach’s concert!’”
Not long after the morning call described in our last extract, Johnson spent an evening in St. Martin’s Street, for the purpose of being introduced to Mr. and Mrs. Greville. The Doctor came with Mr. and Mrs. Thrale. Signor Piozzi was there, invited to amuse the company by his musical skill. But the account of the second visit reads much less pleasantly than that of the first. This is due in great part to the different behaviour of the principal guests. Burney’s old patron, Greville, had for years been going steadily down hill, through indulgence in play and other extravagances. The loss of his fortune, perhaps, inclined him to assert more stiffly the claims of his rank. At any rate, in presence of the Thrales and Johnson, he thought it necessary to appear superior to the brewer’s wealth and the author’s fame. Johnson seems to have only half perceived his disdain188; but the Doctor was not in a mood for talking, and Greville made no attempt to draw him out. Nor are the actors only changed on this subsequent occasion; the narrator is changed also. Instead of a letter by Fanny Burney, dashed off in the hey-day of youth and spirits, we have a formal account by her later self, Madame d’Arblay, composed in the peculiar189 style which makes a great part of the ‘Memoirs’ such difficult reading. However, as this account records Mrs. Thrale’s first meeting with the man who was destined190 to exercise a fatal influence on her after-life, we give a portion of it here:
“Mrs. Thrale, of the whole coterie, was alone at her ease. She feared not Dr. Johnson; for fear made no part of her composition; and with Mrs. Greville, as a fair 58rival genius, she would have been glad, from curiosity, to have had the honour of a little tilt191, in full carelessness of its event; for though triumphant192 when victorious193, she had spirits so volatile194, and such utter exemption195 from envy or spleen, that she was gaily196 free from mortification197 when vanquished198. But she knew the meeting to have been fabricated for Dr. Johnson, and, therefore, though not without difficulty, constrained herself to be passive.
“When, however, she observed the sardonic117 disposition199 of Mr. Greville to stare around him at the whole company in curious silence, she felt a defiance200 against his aristocracy beat in every pulse; for, however grandly he might look back to the long ancestry201 of the Brookes and the Grevilles, she had a glowing consciousness that her own blood, rapid and fluent, flowed in her veins202 from Adam of Saltsburg;[30] and, at length, provoked by the dulness of a taciturnity that, in the midst of such renowned203 interlocutors, produced as narcotic204 a torpor205 as could have been caused by a dearth206 the most barren of human faculties207, she grew tired of the music, and yet more tired of remaining, what as little suited her inclinations208 as her abilities, a mere cipher209 in the company; and, holding such a position, and all its concomitants, to be ridiculous, her spirits rose rebelliously210 above her control, and, in a fit of utter recklessness of what might be thought of her by her fine new acquaintance, she suddenly but softly arose, and stealing on tip-toe behind Signor Piozzi, who was accompanying himself on the pianoforte to an animated211 aria212 parlante, with his back to the company, and his face to the wall, she ludicrously began imitating him by squaring her elbows, elevating them with ecstatic shrugs213 of the shoulders, and casting up her eyes, while 59languishingly reclining her head, as if she were not less enthusiastically, though somewhat more suddenly, struck with the transports of harmony than himself.
“This grotesque214 ebullition of ungovernable gaiety was not perceived by Dr. Johnson, who faced the fire, with his back to the performer and the instrument. But the amusement which such an unlooked-for exhibition caused to the party was momentary215; for Dr. Burney, shocked lest the poor Signor should observe, and be hurt by this mimicry216, glided217 gently round to Mrs. Thrale, and, with something between pleasantry and severity, whispered to her, ‘Because, madam, you have no ear yourself for music, will you destroy the attention of all who, in that one point, are otherwise gifted?’
“It was now that shone the brightest attribute of Mrs. Thrale, sweetness of temper. She took this rebuke218 with a candour, and a sense of its justice the most amiable219; she nodded her approbation220 of the admonition; and, returning to her chair, quietly sat down, as she afterwards said, like a pretty little miss, for the remainder of one of the most humdrum221 evenings that she had ever passed.
“Strange, indeed, strange and most strange, the event considered, was this opening intercourse between Mrs. Thrale and Signor Piozzi. Little could she imagine that the person she was thus called away from holding up to ridicule222, would become, but a few years afterwards, the idol223 of her fancy, and the lord of her destiny! And little did the company present imagine, that this burlesque scene was but the first of a drama the most extraordinary of real life, of which these two persons were to be the hero and heroine; though, when the catastrophe224 was known, this incident, witnessed by so many, was recollected225 and repeated from coterie to coterie throughout London, with comments and sarcasms226 of endless variety.”
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1
stature
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| n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材 | |
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memoirs
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| n.回忆录；回忆录传( mem,自oir的名词复数) | |
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3
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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sculptor
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| n.雕刻家，雕刻家 | |
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5
derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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demur
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| v．表示异议，反对 | |
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demurred
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| v.表示异议，反对( demur的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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wig
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| n.假发 | |
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celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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uncommonly
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| adv. 稀罕(极，非常) | |
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frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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12
hooted
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| （使）作汽笛声响，作汽车喇叭声( hoot的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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13
transformation
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| n.变化；改造；转变 | |
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likeness
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| n.相像，相似（之处） | |
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curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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16
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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17
consternation
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| n.大为吃惊，惊骇 | |
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miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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squeaked
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| v.短促地尖叫( squeak的过去式和过去分词 )；吱吱叫；告密；充当告密者 | |
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20
whining
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| n. 抱怨，牢骚 v. 哭诉，发牢骚 | |
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acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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22
versatility
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| n.多才多艺，多样性，多功能 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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tracts
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| 大片土地( tract的名词复数 )； 地带； （体内的）道； （尤指宣扬宗教、伦理或政治的）短文 | |
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snug
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| adj.温暖舒适的，合身的，安全的；v.使整洁干净，舒适地依靠，紧贴；n.（英）酒吧里的私房 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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trumpet
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| n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘 | |
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prelude
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| n.序言，前兆，序曲 | |
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advertising
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| n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的 | |
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reprehensible
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| adj.该受责备的 | |
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levity
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| n.轻率，轻浮，不稳定，多变 | |
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eccentricities
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| n.古怪行为( eccentricity的名词复数 )；反常；怪癖 | |
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irresistibly
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| adv.无法抵抗地，不能自持地；极为诱惑人地 | |
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impelled
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| v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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mimic
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| v.模仿，戏弄；n.模仿他人言行的人 | |
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authoritative
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| adj.有权威的，可相信的；命令式的；官方的 | |
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lexicographer
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| n.辞典编纂人 | |
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devout
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| adj.虔诚的，虔敬的，衷心的 (n.devoutness) | |
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sundry
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| adj.各式各样的，种种的 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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pounces
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| v.突然袭击( pounce的第三人称单数 )；猛扑；一眼看出；抓住机会（进行抨击） | |
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erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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43
prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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prodigiously
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| adv.异常地，惊人地，巨大地 | |
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45
vehement
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| adj.感情强烈的；热烈的；(人)有强烈感情的 | |
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46
juvenile
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| n.青少年，少年读物；adj.青少年的，幼稚的 | |
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fig
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| n.无花果(树) | |
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48
professed
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| 公开声称的，伪称的，已立誓信教的 | |
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prattles
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| v.（小孩般）天真无邪地说话( prattle的第三人称单数 )；发出连续而无意义的声音；闲扯；东拉西扯 | |
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50
embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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51
attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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52
courteous
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| adj.彬彬有礼的，客气的 | |
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53
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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54
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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55
rumbling
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| n. 隆隆声, 辘辘声 adj. 隆隆响的 动词rumble的现在分词 | |
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56
uncouth
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| adj.无教养的，粗鲁的 | |
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harp
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| n.竖琴；天琴座 | |
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pompous
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| adj.傲慢的，自大的；夸大的；豪华的 | |
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condescended
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| 屈尊，俯就( condescend的过去式和过去分词 )； 故意表示和蔼可亲 | |
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dummies
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| n.仿制品( dummy的名词复数 )；橡皮奶头；笨蛋；假传球 | |
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harps
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| abbr.harpsichord 拨弦古钢琴n.竖琴( harp的名词复数 ) | |
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celestial
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| adj.天体的；天上的 | |
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coterie
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| n.(有共同兴趣的)小团体，小圈子 | |
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picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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portray
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| v.描写，描述；画(人物、景象等) | |
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continental
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| adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的 | |
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eminent
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| adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的 | |
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suffrage
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| n.投票，选举权，参政权 | |
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70
rapacious
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| adj.贪婪的，强夺的 | |
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71
constrained
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| adj.束缚的,节制的 | |
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72
memorable
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| adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的 | |
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73
contradictory
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| adj.反驳的，反对的，抗辩的；n.正反对，矛盾对立 | |
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74
specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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75
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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76
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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77
doughty
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| adj.勇猛的，坚强的 | |
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78
sip
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| v.小口地喝，抿，呷；n.一小口的量 | |
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79
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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80
ogle
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| v.看；送秋波；n.秋波，媚眼 | |
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81
sneer
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| v.轻蔑；嘲笑；n.嘲笑，讥讽的言语 | |
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82
honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
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83
baron
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|
| n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王 | |
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84
throttled
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| v.扼杀( throttle的过去式和过去分词 )；勒死；使窒息；压制 | |
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85
heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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86
discredited
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| 不足信的，不名誉的 | |
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87
guilt
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| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
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88
rumour
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| n.谣言，谣传，传闻 | |
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89
inhuman
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|
| adj.残忍的，不人道的，无人性的 | |
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90
connived
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|
| v.密谋 ( connive的过去式和过去分词 )；搞阴谋；默许；纵容 | |
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91
lustre
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| n.光亮，光泽；荣誉 | |
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92
sterling
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| adj.英币的(纯粹的，货真价实的)；n.英国货币(英镑) | |
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93
addicted
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|
| adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的 | |
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94
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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95
pompously
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| adv.傲慢地，盛大壮观地；大模大样 | |
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96
toupee
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| n.假发 | |
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97
rumours
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| n.传闻( rumour的名词复数 )；风闻；谣言；谣传 | |
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98
potent
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| adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的 | |
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99
reverence
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|
| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
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100
positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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101
peremptorily
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| adv.紧急地，不容分说地，专横地 | |
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102
glide
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| n./v.溜，滑行；(时间)消逝 | |
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103
contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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104
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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105
remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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106
witty
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| adj.机智的，风趣的 | |
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107
facetiousness
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| n.滑稽 | |
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108
sarcastic
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| adj.讥讽的，讽刺的，嘲弄的 | |
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109
sarcastically
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| adv.挖苦地，讽刺地 | |
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110
ogling
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| v.（向…）抛媚眼，送秋波( ogle的现在分词 ) | |
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111
initiate
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| vt.开始，创始，发动；启蒙，使入门；引入 | |
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112
nuptial
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| adj.婚姻的，婚礼的 | |
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113
concord
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| n.和谐；协调 | |
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114
proficiency
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| n.精通，熟练，精练 | |
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115
martial
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| adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的 | |
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116
monstrous
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|
| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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117
sardonic
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|
| adj.嘲笑的，冷笑的，讥讽的 | |
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118
sardonically
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| adv.讽刺地，冷嘲地 | |
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119
untie
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| vt.解开，松开；解放 | |
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120
gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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121
entreating
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| 恳求，乞求( entreat的现在分词 ) | |
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122
languishing
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| a. 衰弱下去的 | |
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123
entirely
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|
| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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124
ornaments
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| n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 )；点缀；装饰品；首饰v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的第三人称单数 ) | |
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125
supercilious
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|
| adj.目中无人的，高傲的；adv.高傲地；n.高傲 | |
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126
homage
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| n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬 | |
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127
majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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128
groom
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| vt.给（马、狗等）梳毛，照料，使...整洁 | |
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129
dangling
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|
| 悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
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130
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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131
chapel
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| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
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132
observatory
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| n.天文台，气象台，瞭望台，观测台 | |
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133
gale
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| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
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134
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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135
inscription
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|
| n.（尤指石块上的）刻印文字，铭文，碑文 | |
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136
doorway
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|
| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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137
ostentation
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|
| n.夸耀，卖弄 | |
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138
demure
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| adj.严肃的；端庄的 | |
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139
congregate
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| v.(使)集合，聚集 | |
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140
spacious
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|
| adj.广阔的，宽敞的 | |
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141
transit
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| n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过 | |
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142
eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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143
wont
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|
| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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144
liking
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| n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢 | |
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145
joint
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|
| adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合 | |
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146
Oxford
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| n.牛津（英国城市） | |
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147
intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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148
consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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149
monarch
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| n.帝王，君主，最高统治者 | |
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150
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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151
lustrous
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|
| adj.有光泽的；光辉的 | |
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152
pedantic
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|
| adj.卖弄学问的；迂腐的 | |
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153
scoffingly
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| 带冷笑地 | |
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154
envious
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|
| adj.嫉妒的，羡慕的 | |
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155
celebrity
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|
| n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望 | |
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156
vivacity
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| n.快活，活泼，精神充沛 | |
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157
burlesque
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|
| v.嘲弄，戏仿；n.嘲弄，取笑，滑稽模仿 | |
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158
dignified
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|
| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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159
proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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160
mortified
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|
| v.使受辱( mortify的过去式和过去分词 )；伤害（人的感情）；克制；抑制（肉体、情感等） | |
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162
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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163
backwards
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|
| adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地 | |
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164
untoward
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|
| adj.不利的，不幸的，困难重重的 | |
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165
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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166
exterior
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|
| adj.外部的，外在的；表面的 | |
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167
blemishes
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| n.（身体的）瘢点( blemish的名词复数 )；伤疤；瑕疵；污点 | |
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168
exalted
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| adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的 | |
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169
ruffles
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| 褶裥花边( ruffle的名词复数 ) | |
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170
bent
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|
| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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171
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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172
countenances
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| n.面容( countenance的名词复数 )；表情；镇静；道义支持 | |
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173
droll
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| adj.古怪的，好笑的 | |
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174
ogled
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| v.（向…）抛媚眼，送秋波( ogle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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175
enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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176
apprehensions
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| 疑惧 | |
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177
imprinting
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|
| n.胚教，铭记（动物生命早期即起作用的一种学习机能）；印记 | |
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178
chaste
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| adj.贞洁的；有道德的；善良的；简朴的 | |
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179
aloof
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| adj.远离的；冷淡的，漠不关心的 | |
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180
fretting
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| n. 微振磨损 adj. 烦躁的, 焦虑的 | |
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181
attentive
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| adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的 | |
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182
conjuring
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| n.魔术 | |
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183
drolly
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|
| adv.古里古怪地；滑稽地；幽默地；诙谐地 | |
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184
exclamations
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|
| n.呼喊( exclamation的名词复数 )；感叹；感叹语；感叹词 | |
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185
detailed
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|
| adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的 | |
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186
solicitation
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| n.诱惑；揽货；恳切地要求；游说 | |
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187
muses
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的第三人称单数 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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188
disdain
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| n.鄙视，轻视；v.轻视，鄙视，不屑 | |
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189
peculiar
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|
| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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190
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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191
tilt
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| v.(使)倾侧；(使)倾斜；n.倾侧；倾斜 | |
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192
triumphant
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|
| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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193
victorious
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| adj.胜利的，得胜的 | |
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194
volatile
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|
| adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质 | |
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195
exemption
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| n.豁免，免税额，免除 | |
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196
gaily
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| adv.欢乐地，高兴地 | |
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197
mortification
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| n.耻辱，屈辱 | |
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198
vanquished
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| v.征服( vanquish的过去式和过去分词 )；战胜；克服；抑制 | |
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199
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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200
defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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201
ancestry
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| n.祖先，家世 | |
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202
veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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203
renowned
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| adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的 | |
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204
narcotic
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| n.麻醉药，镇静剂；adj.麻醉的，催眠的 | |
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torpor
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| n.迟钝；麻木；（动物的）冬眠 | |
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206
dearth
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| n.缺乏，粮食不足，饥谨 | |
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207
faculties
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| n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院 | |
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208
inclinations
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| 倾向( inclination的名词复数 )； 倾斜； 爱好； 斜坡 | |
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209
cipher
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| n.零；无影响力的人；密码 | |
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rebelliously
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| adv.造反地，难以控制地 | |
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animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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aria
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| n.独唱曲，咏叹调 | |
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213
shrugs
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| n.耸肩（以表示冷淡，怀疑等）( shrug的名词复数 ) | |
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214
grotesque
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| adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物） | |
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215
momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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216
mimicry
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| n.（生物）拟态，模仿 | |
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217
glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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218
rebuke
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| v.指责，非难，斥责 [反]praise | |
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amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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220
approbation
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| n.称赞；认可 | |
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221
humdrum
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| adj.单调的，乏味的 | |
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222
ridicule
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| v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄 | |
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223
idol
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| n.偶像，红人，宠儿 | |
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224
catastrophe
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| n.大灾难，大祸 | |
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225
recollected
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| adj.冷静的；镇定的；被回忆起的；沉思默想的v.记起，想起( recollect的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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226
sarcasms
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| n.讥讽，讽刺，挖苦( sarcasm的名词复数 ) | |
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