Her chief literary work during this period consisted of Sacred Dramas—­Moses in the Bulrushes, David and Goliath, Belshazzar, and Daniel.  She was prompted to this undertaking by a desire to provide, not plays for the stage, but a substitute for some of the pernicious literature of the day which fell into the hands of young people, and also to afford instruction in the common facts of Scripture, The gross ignorance of the Bible amongst fashionable people astonished her one day, when Sir Joshua Reynolds told her that on showing his picture of Samuel to some great patrons they asked him who Samuel was?  The work answered the purpose for which it was intended, and passed through nineteen editions, receiving high commendation from Bishop Lowth and others.  Her poem Sensibility was also included in this successful volume.

A poem, The Bas Bleu, or Conversation, written in a lively and facetious strain, owed its origin to the mistakes of a foreigner who gave the literal designation of the Bas-Bleu to a party of friends who had been humorously called the “Blue Stockings.”

At the King’s request a manuscript copy of the poem was sent to him; and Dr. Johnson went so far in his praise of the effusion as to say that there was no name in poetry that might not be glad to own it.  A little later Miss More wrote Florio, a poem describing the occupation of a young man of fashion, and his final escape from a life of pleasure to one of usefulness.

By the death of Dr. Johnson in 1784, Miss More lost the best friend she ever had in London.  She had been with the Doctor at his last communion at St. Clement’s Church, and saw too plainly his altered condition.  Bound to each other by strong intellectual and stronger religious sympathies, the separation caused a void in Miss More’s life which was never afterwards filled.  Theirs was a friendship born at first sight.  For more than ten years it grew and flourished, with mutual benefit and happiness to the stern moralist and his promising protege.  Whilst the rugged common-sense and sound literary judgments of the Doctor imparted increasing accuracy and insight to his friend’s views of the world and of literature, it was the sparkle, freshness, and wit of Miss More’s conversation, and her light-heartedness of character, that often dispelled the clouds of depression from the mental horizon of her sage and trusty adviser, and smoothed the rough edges of his outspoken opinions.  In religion, it was probably the Doctor’s uncompromising fidelity to first principles, and to a fearless practice of truth, that helped to fortify his “dear child,” as he called Miss More, in maintaining her integrity amidst the bewildering voices and garish scenes of Vanity Fair.

IV.

COWSLIP GREEN.

About the time of Dr. Johnson’s death, in 1784, Hannah More became the possessor of a rural spot, called Cowslip Green, some ten miles from Bristol.  Here she built herself a cottage, intending to make it her place of retirement for a large portion of each year.  In the cultivation of her garden she found leisure for reflection as well as an opportunity to pursue a favourite occupation.