not mentioned in the " Diary "; but we have observed several
expressions from which we infer that the sum was considerable.
That the sale would be great, nobody could doubt; and Frances now
had shrewd and experienced advisers, who would not suffer her to
wrong herself. We have been told that the publishers gave her
two thousand pounds, and we have no doubt that they might have
given a still larger sum without being losers.(16)

"Cecilia" was published in the summer of 1782. The curiosity of
the town was intense. We have been informed by persons who
remember those days, that no romance of Sir Walter Scott was more
impatiently awaited or more eagerly snatched from the counters of
the booksellers. High as public expectation was, it was amply
satisfied; and "Cecilia" was placed, by general acclamation,
among the classical novels of England.

Miss Burney was now thirty. Her youth had been singularly
prosperous; but clouds soon began to gather over that clear and
radiant dawn. Events deeply painful to a heart so kind as that
of Frances followed each other in rapid succession. She was
first called upon to attend the deathbed of her best friend,
Samuel Crisp. When she returned to St. Martin's-street after
performing this melancholy duty, she was appalled by hearing that
Johnson had been struck with paralysis, and, not many months
Later, she parted from him for the last time with solemn
tenderness. He wished to look on her once more; and on the day
before his death she long remained in tears on the stairs leading
to his bedroom, in the hope that she might be called in to
receive his blessing. But he was then sinking fast, and, though
he sent her an affectionate message, was unable to see her. But