It will have been noticed that, with the exception of Lady Huntingdon, no female has been mentioned as having taken any prominent part in the Evangelical Revival.  The mother of the Wesleys, Mrs. Fletcher, Mrs. Newton, Mrs. Cecil, and perhaps Mrs. C. Wesley, were all excellent specimens of Evangelical Christians; but their influence was exercised solely in private.  Neither by writing nor in any other way did they come prominently forward.  This is all the more noteworthy, because, so far as the principles of Evangelicalism were concerned, there was no reason why there should not have been many Lady Huntingdons among the Evangelical leaders.  That there were not, is, perhaps, owing to the fact that there was a certain robustness of character common to all the chiefs of the party.  One can scarcely conceive Venn, or Newton,[834] or Scott, or the Milners being led by women.  There is, however, one exception to the rule.

Hannah More (1745-1833), by her writings and by her practical work in a sphere where such work was sorely needed, won an honourable place among the Evangelical worthies.  Her accomplishments and attainments, her ready wit and social talents, gave her a place in society higher than that to which her birth entitled her, long before she came under the influence of the Evangelical party.  It was by slow degrees that she embraced one by one the peculiar tenets of that school.[835] Perhaps to the very end she never thoroughly identified herself with it, though her religious character was unquestionably formed under Evangelical influences.  She formed a sort of link between Evangelicalism and the outer world.  The intimate friend of David and Mrs. Garrick, of Dr. Johnson, of Horace Walpole, of Bishop Horne and Bishop Shute Harrington on the one hand, of John Newton, Wilberforce, the two Thorntons and Bishop Porteus on the other, she had points of contact with people of very different ways of thinking.  It was this wide sympathy which enabled her to gain the ear of the public.  ‘You have a great advantage, madam,’ wrote Newton to her; ’there is a circle by which what you write will be read; and which will hardly read anything of a religious kind that is not written by you.’[836] The popularity of her writings, which were very numerous, was extraordinary.  Her ’Thoughts on the Manners of the Great’ (1788) showed much moral courage.  It was published anonymously, not because she was afraid of being known as the author, but simply because ’she hoped it might be attributed to a better person, and so might produce a greater effect.’  The secret of the authorship was, however, soon discovered, and the effect was not spoiled.  To the credit also of the fashionable world, it must be added that her popularity was not diminished.  The success of her effort exceeded her most sanguine expectations.  Seven large editions were sold in a few months, the second in little more than a week, the third in four hours.  Its influence was traceable in the abandonment