remained under her care; when out of her
teens, she commenced the study of theology under the guidance of Dr.
Stonhouse, a clergyman of Bristol.

At the age of seventeen, finding that the young people in her circle
were in the habit of learning passages from plays which frequently
savoured of unhealthy sentiment, she conceived the idea of providing a
harmless substitute, and thereupon wrote a pastoral drama, _The Search
after Happiness_. A little later she produced another drama, _The
Inflexible Captive_, founded on Metastasio's opera of _Regulus_.

Encouraged in various ways by numerous friends, on whose judgment she
could safely rely, she appears to have taken pains to qualify herself
for a literary career. She studied Latin, Italian, and Spanish,
translated from the best compositions, wrote pieces in imitation of
celebrated authors, and thus tried to cultivate her mind, and to form
the groundwork of a good and pleasing style.

Such literary prospects, however, seemed likely to be exchanged for
those of a rural domestic life; for at the age of twenty-two she
received and accepted an offer of marriage from a country gentleman of
wealth and high character. The wedding-day was fixed, but was postponed
more than once, owing to the bridegroom's indecision. At length he lost
his chance; for the bride, yielding to the advice of friends, declined
to be trifled with any longer, and broke off the engagement. To make
some amends for his treatment, and to compensate for her resignation, at
the prospect of marriage, of her interest in the school which she and
her sister were conducting at Bristol, he settled upon her an annuity,
and at his death bequeathed her a thousand pounds. The settlement was
made without her knowledge; and it was not without the utmost difficulty
that her friends prevailed in persuading her to agree to the
arrangement. From this time forward she seems to have set her face
against matrimony, for she firmly declined other offers.

A few years afterwards, on arriving at the age of twenty-eight, a
long-cherished wish was realised. Since childhood she had longed to
visit London. As a child her favourite amusement was to make a carriage
of a chair, and invite her sisters to ride with her to London "to see
bishops and booksellers." Through girlhood to womanhood the desire
gathered strength. In 1773 she set off with two of her sisters to pay
her first visit to the Metropolis.

II.

IN "VANITY FAIR."