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 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 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.”