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    munities did not swallow up his ardent attachment to individuals , nor did his regard to their higher interests lead him to overlook their personal sufferings . He descends to give particular advice to one friend respecting the

    management of his health . In his grief for the sickness of another , and his joy at his recovery , he does not pretend to a feeling purely disinterested , but gratefully acknowledges that his joy was partly for his own sake , " lest he should have sorrow

    upon sorrow . " These soft touches of sympathy for individuals particularly dear to him , in a man so likeminded with Christ , in the instances of Lazarus and John , are a sufficient refutation of the whimsical assertion

    of a lively genius , that particular friendships are hostile to the spirit of Christianity . "—Vol . II . Chap . i . Much more could I write on this subject , and many beautiful and striking passages could I adduce from this

    work , but my limits will not allow me to indulge my inclination . I must , therefore , here conclude my remarks on the productions of Mrs . More , convinced that my readers will concur with me in a feeling of gratitude for the services she has rendered to

    religion by her literary labours . I trust she has already received part of her reward in the knowledge of the utility of her efforts ; for 1 am convinced that no one can rise from the attentive perusal of her works , without feeling that his conscience has been

    awakened , his sensibilities touched , and his heart , for a time at least , made better . If the brief notice which I have taken of her productions should lead any to a more careful study of them , the chief purpose for which it was written will have been answered .

    It is now my duty to take a cursory view of some of the few—too few fruits of the genius of our first living female poet , Mrs . Barbauld . Her powerful eloquence , her chaste enthusiasm , and her devotional feelings ,

    make such an impression on her readers , that deep is the regret they feel , that her powers of writing should not have been more frequently employed . Nor is this regret felt only by those whose love and respect for her private character lead them to look with partial interest on the productions of her

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    pen . Who is there , of whatever sect or party , that has read her Essay on the Inconsistency of Human Expectations , her Address to the Deity , her Summer Evening ' s Meditation , her

    Thoughts on Devotional Taste , who does not long for more of the eloquent , elevated and tender breathings of such a mind ? Her Thoughts , See includes some remarks on sects and

    establishments , a subject though so often treated of , yet not exhausted . We shall see how the one subject leads on to the other . The Essay begins with stating religion to be considered under three different views : —

    as a system of opinions , in which the faculty of reason is employed ; as a principle regulating the conduct , when it becomes a habit ; and , lastly , as a taste , in which sense it is properly called devotion . The Authoress then

    proceeds to give the following description of the spirit of devotion . ' * There is a devotion , generous , liberal and humane , the child of more exalted feelings than base minds can

    enter into , which assimilates man to higher natures , and lifts him ' above this visible diurnal sphere / Its pleasures are ultimate , and when early cultivated , continue vivid even in that uncomfortable season of life when

    some of the passions are extinct , when imagination is dead , and the heart begins to contract within itself . Those who want this taste , want a sense , a part of their nature , and

    should not presume to judge of feelings to which they must ever be strangers . No one pretends to be a judge in poetry or the fine arts , who has not both a natural and a cultivated relish

    for them ; and shall the narrow-minded children of earth , absorbed in low pursuits , dare to treat as visionary , objects which they have never made themselves acquainted with ? Silence on such subjects will better become them . But to vindicate the pleasures of devotion from those who have

    neither taste nor knowledge about them , is not the present object- It rather deserves our inquiry , what causes have contributed to check the operation of religious impressions amongst those who have steady principles , and are well disposed to virtue . " Among the causes which operate to cheek the spirit of devotion , are mentioned , the

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    748 Female WriieYs &n Practical Divinily .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1822, page 748, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2519/page/28/