an acquaintance was now, also, begun, with one of the most valued, valuable, and lasting friends of dr. burney and his family, mrs. ord; a lady of great mental merit, strict principles, and dignified manners.
without belonging to what was called the blues, or bas bleu society, except as a receiver or a visitor, she selected parties from that set to mix with those of other, or of no denomination, that were sometimes peculiarly well assorted, and were always generally agreeable.
mrs. ord’s was the first coterie into which the doctor, after his abode in st. martin’s-street, initiated
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his family; mrs. burney as a participator, his daughters as appendages, of what might justly be called a conversatione.
the good sense, serene demeanour, and cheerful politeness of the lady of the house, made the first meeting so pleasingly animating to every one present, that another and another followed, from time to time, for a long series of years. what dr. burney observed upon taking leave of this first little assemblage, may be quoted as applicable to every other.
“i rejoice, madam,” he said, “to find that there are still two or three houses, even in these dissipated times, where, through judgment and taste in their selection, people may be called together, not with the aid of cards, to kill time, but with that of conversation, to give it life.”
“and i rejoice the more in the success of mrs. ord,” cried mr. pepys,[52] “because i have known many meetings utterly fail, where equal pleasure has been proposed and expected; but where, though the ingredients, also, have been equally good—the pudding has proved very bad in the eating!”
“the best ingredients,” said dr. burney, “however
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excellent they may be separately, always prove inefficient if they are not well blended; for if any one of them is a little too sour, or a little too bitter—nay, or a little too sweet, they counteract each other. but mrs. ord is an excellent cook, and employs all the refinements of her art in taking care not to put clashing materials into the same mess.”
