tion was not published till many years afterwards, yet she may be said to have then commenced her literary career, which till 1824, when her last work, "Spirit of Prayer," was issued, was steadily pursued for sixty-three years. The next important event of her life is thus relate by Mrs. Elwood:—
"When about twenty-two years of age, she received and accepted an offer of marriage from Mr. Turner, a gentleman of large fortune, but considerably her senior. Their acquaintance had commenced in consequence of some young relatives of Mr. Turner's being at the Misses More's school, who generally spent their holidays at their cousin's beautiful residence at Belmont, near Bristol, whither they were permitted to invite some of their young friends; and Hannah and Patty More, being near their own age, were generally among those invited. The affair was so far advanced that the wedding-day was actually fixed, and Hannah, having given up her share in her sisters' establishment, had gone to considerable expense in making her preparations,—when Mr. Turner, who appears to have been of eccentric temper, was induced to postpone the completion of his engagement; and as this was done more than once, her friends at length interfered, and prevailed on her to relinquish the marriage altogether, though this was against the wishes of the capricious gentleman.
To make some amends for his thus trifling with her affections, Mr. Turner insisted upon being allowed to settle an annuity upon her, which she at first rejected, but subsequently, through the medium of her friend, Dr. Stonehouse, who consented to be the agent and trustee, she was at length prevailed on to allow a sum to be settled upon her, which should enable her hereafter to devote herself to the pursuits of literature.
She had soon after another opportunity of marrying, which was declined, and from this time she seems to have formed the resolution, to which she ever afterwards adhered, of remaining single."
In 1774, she became acquainted with the great tragedian, David Garrick; he and his wife soon formed a warm attachment for the young authoress, invited her to their house in London, and introduced her to the literary and fashionable world. She was there presented to Sir Joshua Reynolds, Edmund Burke, and Dr. Johnson; how highly she prized the privilege of such acquaintances may be gathered from her letters. She constantly wrote to her sisters at Bristol, describing in a style of easy elegance whatever interested her in London.
Her first acquaintance with that much-abused class, the publishers, is thus narrated by Mrs. Elwood:—
"Hannah More again visited London, in 1775, and in the course of this year the eulogiums and attentions she had received induced her, as she observed to her sisters, to try her real value, by writing a small poem and offering it to Cadell. The legendary tale of 'Sir Eldred of the Bower' was, accordingly, composed in a fortnight's time, to which she added 'The Bleeding Rock,' which had been written some years previously. Cadell offered her a handsome sum for these poems, telling her if he could discover what Goldsmith received for the 'Deserted Village,' he would make up the deficiency, whatever it might be.
Thus commenced Hannah More's acquaintance with Mr. Cadell, who was, by a singular coincidence, a native of the same village
