Dr. Burney writes
(_Ann. Reg._ 1784, p. 331):--'Foreigners must have been astonished at so
numerous a band, moving in such exact measure, without the assistance of
a Coryphaeus to beat time. Rousseau says that "the more time is beaten,
the less it is kept."' There were upwards of 500 performers.
[875] See _ante_, iii. 242.
[876] Lady Wronghead, whispers Mrs. Motherly, pointing to Myrtilla.
'_Mrs. Motherly_. Only a niece of mine, Madam, that lives with me; she
will be proud to give your Ladyship any assistance in her power.
'_Lady Wronghead_. A pretty sort of a young woman--Jenny, you two must
be acquainted.
'_Jenny_. O Mamma! I am never strange in a strange place. _Salutes
Myrtilla_.' _The Provoked Husband; or, A Journey to London_, act ii. sc.
1, by Vanbrugh and Colley Gibber. It was not therefore Squire Richard
whom Johnson quoted, but his sister.
[877] See _ante_, p. 191.
[878] See Macaulay's _Essays_, ed. 1843, i. 353, for his application of
this story.
[879] She too was learned; for according to Hannah More (_Memoirs_, i.
292) she had learnt Hebrew, merely to be useful to her husband.
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