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habit of disputing on religions subjects , ridicule the " superstitious fear of superstition , " which many entertain , and the " reproach which has been cast upon devotional writerb , that they are apt to run into the language of love . " The remarks on the first of these causes are so forcible and
just , that I should readily be pardoned , if pardon were needed , for inserting them . " In the first place , there is nothing more prejudicial to the feeling's of a devout heart , than a habit of
disputing on religious subjects . Free inquiry is undoubtedly necessary to establish a rational belief ; but a disputatious spirit , and fondness for controversy , gives the mind a sceptical turn , with an aptness to call in question the most established truths . It
is impossible to preserve that deep reverence for the Deity with which We ought to regard him , when all his attributes , and even his very existence , become the subject of familiar debate . Candour demands that a man allow
his opponent an unlimited freedom of speech , and it is not easy , in the heat of discourse , to avoid falling into an indecent or a careless expression ; hence those who think seldomer on religious subjects , often treat them with more
respect than those whose profession keeps them constantly in their view . " " As the ear loses its delicacy by being only obliged to hear coarse and vulgar language , so the veneration for religion wears off by hearing- it treated with disregard , though we
ourselves are emploved in deiendiner it : selves are employed in defending it ; and to this it is owing that many who have confirmed themselves in the belief of religion , have never been able to recover that strong and affectionate sense of it which they had before they began to inquire , and have wondered to find their devotion weaker when
their faith was better grounded . " Having thus considered the various causes which contribute to deaden the
spirit of devotion , our Authoress proceeds to " inquire in what manner it is affected by the different modes of reli g ion , " and thus introduces her remarks on sects and establishments ,
which are so connected together , that it would be doing injustice to them to quote any part , and I shall therefore refer my readers to the Essay itself . Mrs . Barbauld has employed her pen in a most usefirt way in compiling the
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Female Writers 6 n Practical Divinity . ? 49
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devotional pieces which are placed at the end of the volume . They are takeft from the Psalms and the Book of Jot * , the objectionable parts being omitted , and are thus in the highest degree adapted for family worship . It is
much to be regretted that this valuable little volume is out of print , and I believe that I express the general wish when I beg for its republication . I must not quit this subject without
stating that the Essay ha 3 not my entire approbation . 1 think that though it professes to treat of devotional taste , and not religious principle , it is still too imaginative . Though I do not believe that Mrs . Barbauld could
approach such an awful subject with improper familiarity , yet there is too much of the language of poetry and romance , instead of that calm , though warm , that sedate , though animated tone of feeling , which the theme demands .
It is curious to observe the difference in the style of writing of Mrs . Barbauld and Mrs . More . Both have the same end in view , both are forcible and eloquent , and yet this force and eloquence are of totally different kinds . Mrs . More awakens and
impresses us , and we listen to her warnings with an awe which would make us believe that we are on no equality with her . We stand reproved uiirder her solemn exhortations . But with Mrs . Barbauld it is different . She meets our ideas , and seems to express meets our ideasand seems to express
, what had passed through our own minds , much more forcibly than we ourselves could have done . We have a fellow-feeling with her in all that she says , and it is thus that we are carried away t > y her fervour of feeling ,
and are tempted to overlook all errors , and all that borders on extravagance , in consideration of the justice with , which she paints our passions and emotions , and touches every chord of feeling in our bosoms . This is more especially to be said with respect to
her poetry . Who has not felt in reading her sublime Address to the Deity , that he meets with his own aspirations , clothed in finer language than he could have found , and illustrated by loftier imagery than his own imagination could have furnished him with ? Before I conclude , I must take notice of one who , frad she lived , would
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1822, page 749, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2519/page/29/
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