pretty, timid young orphan ; a coarse sea captain ; an ugly,
insolent fop, blazing in a superb court dress ; another fop, as
ugly and as insolent, but lodged on Snow-hill and tricked out in
second-hand finery for the Hampstead ball; an old woman,

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wrinkles and rouge, flirting her fan with the air of a miss of
seventeen and screaming in a dialect made up of vulgar French and
vulgar English; a poet, lean and ragged, with a broad Scotch
accent. By degrees these shadows acquired stronger and stronger
consistence ; the impulse which urged Frances to write became
irresistible; and the result was the "History of Evelina."

Then came, naturally enough, a wish, mingled with many fears, to
appear before the public ; for, timid as Frances was, and
bashful, and altogether unaccustomed to hear her own praises, it
is clear that she wanted neither a strong passion for
distinction, nor a just confidence in her own powers. Her scheme
was to become, if possible, a candidate for fame without running
any risk of disgrace. She had not money to bear the expense of
printing. It was therefore necessary that some bookseller should
be induced to take the risk; and such a bookseller was not
readily found. Dodsley refused even to look at the manuscript
unless he were intrusted with the name of the author. A
publisher in Fleet-street, named Lowndes, was more complaisant.
Some correspondence took place between this person and Miss
Burney, who took the name of Grafton, and desired that the
letters addressed to her might be left at the Orange
Coffee-house. But, before the bargain was finally struck, Fanny