Henry Thrale's table was one of the best in London. By degrees it became known that at Streatham one might always be sure of an excellent dinner and the best conversation in England. Dr. Johnson voiced, not only his own, but the general opinion, that to smile with the wise and to feed with the rich was very close upon human felicity; and he would have admitted, had his attention been called to it, that there was at least one house in London in which people could enjoy themselves as much as at a capital inn.
[Illustration: TITLE OF MISS BURNEY'S "EVELINA." First Edition]
And people did. For the best description of life at Streatham we must turn to the pages of Fanny Burney (Madame d'Arblay). Her diary is a work of art, but that part of it which pleases most is where the art is so concealed that one feels that the daily entries are intended for no other eye than the writer's. It is its confidential character which is its greatest charm. As the years pass, it loses this quality, and to the extent that it does so it becomes less interesting to us. "Evelina" has just been published and Fanny has become a welcome guest at the Thrales' when the record opens. "I have now to write an account of the most consequential day I have spent since my birth; namely, my Streatham visit," is an early entry. Johnson is there and "is very proud to sit by Miss Burney at dinner." Mrs. Thrale, described as a very pretty woman, gay and agreeable, without a trace of pedantry, repeats some lines in French, and Dr. Johnson quotes Latin which Mrs. Thrale turns into excellent English.
Then the talk is of Garrick, who, some one says, appears to be getting old, on which Johnson remarks that it must be remembered that his face has had more wear and tear than any other man's. Then Mrs. Montagu is mentioned, and the merits of her book on Shakespeare are discussed, and Reynolds and his art, and finally the talk drifts back again to "Evelina," and Dr. Johnson, stimulated by the gayety of an excellent dinner in such surroundings, cries, "Harry Fielding never drew so good a character.... There is no character better drawn anywhere--in any book, by any author"; and Fanny pinches herself in delight, under the table, as she had a right to do, for was not the great Cham of literature praising her?