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    r-iioycd in early life singular advantages her improvement of which gave a promise of her future eminence . «< That quickness of apprehension by tvliicb she was eminently distinguished , manifested itself from her earliest infancy . uar mother thus writes respecting her in

    a letter which is still preserved : « I . once , indeed ; , knew a little girl who was as eager to learn as her instructors could be to teach her , and who , at two years old , could read sentences and little stories in her wise book > roundly , without spelling , and in half a year more could read as well as most women , but L never knew such another , and I believe never shall . '

    " Her education was expressly domestic , and principally conducted by her excellent mother , a lady whose manners were polished by the early introduction to good company , which her family connexions had procured her ; whilst her

    mind had been-cultivated , and her principles formed , partly by the instructions of religious and enlightened parents , partly by the society of the celebrated Dr . Poddridge , who was for some years domesticated uuder her parental roof .

    " In the middle of the last century a strong prejudice still existed against imparting to females any tincture of classical learning ; and the father of Miss Aikiu , proud as he justly was of her

    uncommon capacity , long refused to gratify her earnest desire of being initiated in this kind of knowledge . At length , however , she in some degree overcame his scruples , and with his assistance she . enabled herself to read the Latin authors

    with pleasure and advantage ; nor did she rest satisfied without gaining some acquaintance with the Greek . "—Mem . l » p . v—vii . Miss / Vikin thus describes Mrs .

    HarVciukl at the a # e of 35 , when she removed with her father to Warrington " : iShe was at , this time possessed of [ TOit beauty—distinct traqes of which slic retained to the latest period of life .

    Her person was slender , her complexion exquisitel y fair , with the bloom of perfect health ; her features were regular and ( n ^! it , and her dark blue eyes beamed will * the light of wit and fancy . " —Mem . PI ' , ix . x .

    . Soon after Mrs . Barbauld ' s marnu £ e , wlmn her prospects were quite uncertain , some distinguished pers , amongst whom was Mrs . Mon-U ^ u e , , ~ at once admirers of" her ^ Miius , and patrons of a more en-Ji « Bed system of female education than

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    was then prevalent—were induced to propose to her to establish under their auspices what might almost have been called a college for young ladies . "—( Mem . p . xvi . ) Flattering as was the proposal , Mrs . Barbauld had the

    modesty and good sense to perceive at once tlie numerous objections to it , some personal to herself , and these she expressed in a paper of remarks here preserved CMem . pp . xvii—xxiv . ) » which is well worth the attention of

    all sucli as are interested an plans of female education . A very pleasing account is given by the biographer of the highly useful part which Mrs . Barbauld took in the

    school established by her husband at Palgrave , and we cannot deny ourselves the satisfaction of extracting two or three passages from this part of the Memoir :

    e < It fortunately happened that two of the eight pupils with which Palgrave School commenced , were endowed with abilities worthy of the culture which such an instructress could alone bestow . One of these , William Taylor , Esq ., of Norwich , known by his English Synonyms , his exquisite Iphigeuia in Tauris from the

    German , his Leonora from Burger , and many other fruits of genius and extensive learning , has constantly acknowledged her with pride and affection for the " mother of his mind 5 " and in a biogrnnhical notice prefixed to the collective Works of Frank Sayers , M . D-, of the same city , author of the Dramatic Sketches of

    Northern Mythology , he has thus recorded the congenial sentiments of his friend : ' Among the instructions bestowed at PaJgrave , Dr . Savers has repeatedly observed to me , that he most valued the lessons of English composition superintended by Mrs .

    Barbauld . On Wednesdays and Saturdays , the boys were called in separate classes to her apartment ; she read a fable , a short story , or a moral essay , to them aloud , and then sent them back into the school-room to write it out on the slates

    in their own words . Each exercise was sepaiately overlooked by her the faults of grammar were obliterated , the vulgar * isms were chastised , the idle epithet ; s were cancelled , and a distinct reason was always assigned for every correction ; so

    that the arts of enduing ana of criticising were in some degree learnt together . Many a lad from the great schools who excels in Latin and Greek , cannot write properly a vernacular letter , for want oi some such discipline . "—Mem . pp . xxv . xxvi " . The solicitations of parents anxious

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    Review * - * -Mrs . Barbauld ? $ Work * . 485 ,

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1825, page 485, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2539/page/31/