I admire practised heart, or the decorums of a virtuous character, must be The miscellaneous pieces are of unequal merit; many of them contain rich treasures of thought and expression; some are of the first order of excellence, and all are capable of affording either instruction or pleasure. The essay 'Against Inconsistency in our Expectations' deserves all the praise it has ever received. It contains a great deal of sound practical ethics, and much sprightliness and eloquence. We can hardly point to a piece, which, within the same compass, embodies more good sense, and presents views of life more just or more happily illustrated. The longest piece in the volume, of all Mrs Barbauld's compositions, is that called forth by the publication of Wakefield's Enquiry concerning Public or Social Worship.' Though occasional in its origin, it relates to topics of general and permanent interest, and exhibits a compass of thought, a force of argument, and a correctness and felicity of language, which entitle it to rank with the best productions of English literature. Of the remaining pieces in this volume, those on 'Education' and Prejudice,' will perhaps be read with the deepest interest. They were among the author's later productions, and may be regarded as containing the results of her maturest reflections, aided by wide observation and long experience. They bear the impress of her usual good sense and practical judgment, have more than her usual share of spirited and impressive The first has a tendency to calm the anxious fears of III. NO. 53. gracefully in the same sentence, where a synonyme would the awkwardness, and express the sense equally well. threadbare quotation, 'longing, lingering look behind,' co upon us something like half a dozen times. Many parts of work bear evident marks of haste in the composition. notice these, not as flagrant faults, but as blemishes, whic little more attention, or careful revision would have prevent The author's doctrine, that the slaves in Louisiana are the 'h piest people there, and in general far more so than their maste is extraordinary, to say the least of it. If such be the true state things, the wonder is, that the masters are not wise enough change places with their slaves, and grasp for themselves t felicity of servitude. Why be the wretched master, when it so easy to turn the tables, and become the happy slave? ART. VIII. The Works of Anna Lætitia Barbauld, wi a Memoir by Lucy Aikin. 2 vols. 12mo. New York and Cambridge, Massachusetts. MRS Barbauld may be considered a fortunate and successfu writer. It is now more than half a century since she becam a favorite with the public. Her first efforts succeeded in ob taining the applause of those, who were capable of receiving gratification from chaste productions of taste and intellect; and her early fame was not clouded by any deficiencies or negligence, in the attempts of maturer years. She published only at long intervals, and sparingly, during a protracted life, and gave to the world, therefore, only her best thoughts, struck out in her happier moments of inspiration, and carefully revised and polished. She always secured public respect. Few, who have written in our times, have inspired more warm and uniform regard; few have left a name, which virtue and taste will more delight to honor. The age is marked not more by the amount, than by the excellence, of its female literature. Until within a comparatively recent period, the appearance of a female writer, of merit sufficient to secure her a place among the classical authors of her country, was a rare phenomenon. We had a Dacier, a Mon tague, a Sévigné, and a few others, but their contributions to the general stock of elegant and useful literature were very scanty. The whole of their productions of any value, which have survived to the present day, might be compressed within a very few volumes, and if annihilated, would hardly be missed. Our female literature has now swollen to a large bulk. Of the whole mass of publications, by which the age has been instructed or amused, no contemptible portion has been furnished by the gentler sex. Nor have their effusions been wholly of a light, or frivolous character, fitted only to obtain a temporary popularity, founded on caprice or bad taste. Many of them will bear comparison with the best productions of the human intellect, at this or in any period. They have a compass, strength, and richness, which stamp on them features of durability and excellence. With few exceptions, too, they are distinguished for chasteness of sentiment and style, and are exerting a decided and important influence over the public mind. A large proportion of the popular female literature, which has been produced since the middle of the last century, has been fitted not merely to furnish innocent gratification; it has partaken of a moral, practical cast, and tended to chasten and reform public taste and sentiment. It has rendered important aid to virtue, by rescuing fiction from the service of corruption and profligacy, and converting it into a powerful agent in correcting the moral judgments, and refining and exalting the moral feelings of the community. It has performed much for the cause of education, making us feel our want of a literature adapted to the demands of juvenile understandings, and doing something to meet this want. Learning has assumed a more popular garb, than she formerly wore, and is becoming more easy of access, more simple and familiar. She is no longer the tenant solely of universities and cloisters; she has laid aside her scholastic robes, and has gone forth into the world, and is carrying instruction and solace into every hamlet and cottage. The writings of several distinguished females have had great influence in effecting this change, so auspicious to the best interests of human nature. Among these, Mrs Barbauld holds a conspicuous rank. This will appear no faint praise, when it is recollected, that she numbered among her contemporaries De Staël, More, Steele, Baillie, Edgeworth, and others who shared with them the patronage of the public. If she was inferior to some of these in particular traits of mental excellence; if she had less of inspiration, was less soaring and discursive than Madame De Staël; less conversant with manners and life, less rich and inventive, than Miss Edgeworth; and less severe, less enthusiastic, less sublimated, and, if you please, less extravagant than Hannah More, she possessed qualities, which happily nodifying and aiding each other, formed a union so useful, rare, and venerable, that no praise we can bestow on her, we had almost said, is in danger of appearing misplaced or excessive." Mrs Barbauld was nurtured in solitude, and under circumstances well adapted to strengthen habits of reflection, and form a pure taste. She was born at Kibworth Harcourt, in Leicestershire, June 20th, 1743, and was the only daughter of the Rev. John Aikin, then teacher of a dissenting Academy in that place, and afterwards classical tutor in the academy at Warrington. She was distinguished from infancy for quickness of apprehension; she was eager for knowledge, and was enabled, with the assistance of her father, to obtain some tincture of classical learning, at that time rare as a female accomplishment. Her first publication was a volume of poems, which was given to the world in 1773, during her residence at Warrington. In 1774, having become united with Mr Barbauld, who had accepted the charge of a dissenting congregation at Palgrave, she retired with him to that place. He immediately opened a boarding school, and Mrs Barbauld participated with him in the task of instruction, taking the departments of English composition, geography, and declamation. Her instructions appear to have been highly valued; they are described as having been popular and impressive, and were remembered with delight by several individuals, who have since distinguished themselves in literature and public life. She received as 'her own peculiar pupils' several boys almost in infant years, and it was for the use of this younger class, that the well known 'Hymns in Prose for Children' were originally written. Having passed eleven years of fatiguing occupation at Palgrave, Mr and Mrs Barbauld determined on quitting it; and, having sought relaxation for an interval of several months on the continent, they returned to London in June, 1786, and early in the next year fixed themselves at Hampstead. While here, in 1790 and the two following years, besides several performances on topics suggested by passing events, she produced her 'Remarks on Mr Gilbert Wakefield's Enquiry into the Expediency and Propriety of Public or Social Worship,' and furnished some contributions to the popular work of her brother, 'Evenings at Home,' the first volume of which appeared in 1792. She offered nothing more to the public for several years, excepting two critical essays, one prefixed to an edition of Akenside's 'Pleasures of Imagination,' and the other to Collins's Odes. In 1802 she removed with Mr Barbauld to Stoke Newington, then the residence of her brother, the late Dr Aikin, Mr Barbauld having previously accepted an invitation to become pastor of the congregation formerly under the care of Dr Price, at Newington Green. Mrs Barbauld had a strong feeling of attachment to what has been termed the Augustan age of English literature, and in 1804 she gratified this feeling by presenting to the public a selection, designed principally for the use of young persons, from the Spectator, Tatler, and Guardian, to which she prefixed a critical essay of great merit. Her remarks in this essay on the character and influence of those celebrated productions, on the almost idolatrous veneration with which they were for many years viewed, the revolutions of public taste they have since passed through, and the comparative neglect into which they have now sunk, and particularly her observations on the genius, character, and style of Addison, we consider among her happiest effusions. She was next employed in making a selection from the letters of Richardson, the novelist, which she published in 1804, in six volumes, prefixing a life of the author, and a review of his works. In 1808 she was deprived of her husband, who appears to have been a man every way deserving of respect. An interesting memoir of him, from the pen of Mrs Barbauld, was published in 'The Monthly Repository of Theology and General Literature,' from which we make the following extract. 'The scenes of life Mr Barbauld passed through were common ones, but his character was not a common one. His reasoning powers were acute and sharpened by exercise.' 'He had an uncommon flow of conversation on those points which had engaged his attention, and delivered himself with a warmth, which enlivened the driest subject. He was equally at home in English and French literature; and the exquisite sensibility of his mind, with the early culture his taste had received, rendered him an excellent judge of all those works which appeal to the heart and the imagination.' In her hours of dejection, occasioned by his death, Mrs Barbauld sought relief in literary occupation, and in 1810 edited a |