MRS. BARBAULD.* IMMEDIATELY after Mrs. Barbauld's death, a memoir of

her was written by her niece, Lucy Aikin, and published with her collected works ; but in telling the story of her aunt's life, Mies Aikin was hampered, not only by those general considerations of delicacy towards near relatives of the dead, which make the immediate publication of the details of private life undesirable, but also by special circumstances arising out of the mental disease with which Mr. Barbauld was for many years afflicted, and the memoir was consequently very brief and sketchy. Time has now removed all objectiou to the publication of a fuller Life, and two ladies have

• Memoir of Mrs. Barbauld, including Letters and Notices of her Family and Friends. By her Great-Niece, Anne Letitia Le Breton. London: George Bell and Sons. 1874.

A Memoir of Mrs. Anne Letitia Barbauld, with Many of her Letters. By Grace A. Ellis. Boston, Massachusetts: Osgood. 1874.

simultaneously addressed themselves to the task of supplying the deficiencies of the early memoir.

Mrs. Barbauld's two biographers have done their work in very different ways. Mrs. Le Breton, who tells us she is grand-niece of the poetess, has confined herself to compiling a supple- ment to Miss Aikin's memoir. Her volume consists chiefly of a minute account of her great-aunt's ancestry, taken from some hitherto unpublished memorials of Lucy Aikin', and a correspond- ence between Mrs. Barbauld and Miss Edgeworth. These are strung upon a rather slight thread of narrative, and in the early chapters text and quotation are so curiously mingled together, that the reader is often at a loss to know whether it is Mrs. Le Breton or Miss Aikin who is speaking. On the whole, though there are good and amusing elements in the book, it is a disap- pointing one ; the letters to Miss Edgeworth are very far Irons being the most interesting specimens of Mrs. Barbauld's corre- spondence, and we would willingly exchange some of the informa- tion about her ancestors for a few more details about herself. In the other book, which is written by an American lady, more is attempted and more achieved. Mrs. Ellis has taken a great deal of trouble to bring before us the milieu in which Mrs. Barbauld lived ; she has illumined her subject with side-lights from the letters and conversations of the literary men and women of the day, and she has given us short biographical sketches of many of Mrs. Barbauld's friends ; indeed, in her anxiety to make us feel at home in the world in which Mrs. Barbauld moved, she often con- fuses us with unnecessary information, which is made more diffi- cult of digestion by the fact that it is conveyed in a rather clumsy style. Scrnetimes her awkwardness of construction leads to serious misunderstanding. For instance, at page 142, in speaking of a letter in which Mrs. Barbauld tells her brother, Dr. Aikin, of the insanity of a son of Howard the philanthropist, she makes it appear that a son of Dr. Aikin had &so gone out of his mind ; whereas we more than suspect that this was not her intention, and we know that such was not the case.

But this work of calling back to life a society that has passed away is EO difficult in itself, and Mrs. Ellis is so modest as to her qualifications for performing it, that as we lay down her volumes, we are, on the whole, more disposed to feel grateful for what she has done for us, than to be critical as to imperfections of manner ; the more so, as the picture which the conscientious efforts of the biographer fail to produce, seems to shape itself spontaneously out of the many graphic and suggestive touches given us by Mrs. Barbauld herself in her pleasant letters. These letters constitute the chief charm of Mrs. Ellis's biographical volume, and their interest is heightened when we read them in the light of the selected essays and poems which fill the second volume of the book, and find how many of the thoughts and fancies which there acquire a finished expression were first thrown out in the course of familiar correspondence ; while we value the wisdom of the essays and the elevation of the poetry all the more, for seeing how these qualities of wisdom and elevation were intimately blended with every word and act of the writer. For nothing is more striking about Mrs. Barbauld than the perfect homogeneity of her life and works ; her writings are the natural outcome of her character, and her actions are only the practical expression of the sentiments which direct her pen. Though she would pro- bably have repudiated indignantly the appellation of a female politician, she watched with a sympathetic interest the larger political movements of her day, and in all her comments on passing events, whether in private letters or published compositions, we find her invariably on the side of justice, of humanity, of mode- ration. She possessed in perfection the invaluable talent of weighing the possible against the ideal, and striking the balance of wisdom between the two. Her essay on Prejudices is an ad- mirable instance of this, and we commend it to the perusal of that singular school of anachronists who think they utter the ultimate word of wisdom when they revive the pardonable fallacies of the great reactionist of the eighteenth century, and proclaim the right of every child to form its own opinions on the sole batis of individual experience.

"I once 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 correctly without spelling, and in half a year more could read as well as most women ; but I never knew another, and I believe never shall."

So wrote Mrs. Barbauld's mother, shaking her head over the dull- ness of a less talented generation, unable "to read with ease at twenty months," and we smile sadly to think that the precocity of one who has conferred so many benefits of instruction and amusement on the world of little boys and girls should have bleu

turned into a rod with which to scourge the comparative back- wardness of her own nephew and niece. That it was out of

" wise " books she read when she was two years old does not surprise us in the least. We feel sure she must have been wise from her cradle, and when in the course of a metaphysical dis- cussion between her father and a student who is an inmate of the Aikin household we hear a little voice saying, "I think you are mis- taken, papa," we turn at once to the side of the table on which the fair-haired, blue-eyed maiden of five years old is sitting, confident that it is from thence we must expect the word of wisdom. The

reverend doctor is expressing an opinion that "joy, accurately defined, cannot have place in a state of perfect felicity, since it sup- poses an accession of happiness," when his little daughter hints that he is wrong. "Why so, Letitia?" and Letitia, who is not going to disappoint us by showing that she has spoken without book, replies, "Because in the chapter 1 read to you this morning in the Testament it is said there is more joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth than over ninety and nine persons that need no repentance." Let no one, however, fear that all Letitia's early energy was consumed by close reasoning. She had an active body, as well as an active mind, and her mother was not without fears of her developing into a "hoyden ;" and to avert this evil, she held her with a rather tight rein, and was assiduous in the incul- cation of feminine graces and accomplishments, and careful to keep her from too intimate companionship with the boys in the school of which her father was master. But neither wise books from her father's library nor her mother's lessons in decorum appear to have interfered with her enjoyment of the freedom of country life, and we learn that she acquired a skill in gymnastic exercises which

somewhat startled young-lady cousins from London. There is an amusing description (taken by Mrs. Le Breton from Lucy Aikin's papers) of a scene in which, while still quite a young girl, she escaped from the importunities of a farmer who was making her an offer of marriage, by running nimbly up a tree which grew by the garden-wall and letting herself down in the lane beyond.

One of the most interesting chapters of Mrs. Ellie's book is that in which she tells us the history of the Dissenting Academy which was established at Warrington in the year 1758, and in which Mrs.

Barbauld's father filled the post of classical tutor. Of the high- toned, cultivated society which grew up around the Academy, and in the midst of which Mrs. Barbauld's early womanhood was passed, Mrs. Ellis writes :—

" Simplicity of life and manners, combined with intellectual pursuits and tastes, made Warrington during this period a charming residence for one of Miss Aikin's genius and love of literature and society. Though struggling with poverty and the annoyance attendant on straitened means, the tutors were men of learning, refinement, and good reputation, and the students were young men of good families and position, and while they were inmates of the tutors' houses, behaved in a quiet and dignified manner."

There are indications in Mrs. Barbauld's letters of the time that there was much in the life at Warrington which she enjoyed. it was there that she first formed many of the friendships which lasted through her life, notably that with Dr. and Mrs. Priestley ; and it was there that she wrote and published many of her best works in prose and poetry. But there are also indications that her life at this period was not entirely congenial to her. The scholarly Puritans of Warrington appear to have had the defects of their qualities, mid to have created an atmosphere about them 'which was too cold and unsympathetic to be quite agreeable to the young poetess, who, however, appears to have done her best to conform to the tone of the surrounding society ; for Madame

D'Arblay, speaking of an interview with her much later in life, rejoices that the flight of her youth has taken with it a great portion of an almost set smile which had an air of determined complacence and prepared acquiescence that seemed to result from a sweetness which never risked being off its guard. Her resi- dence at Warrington was brought to a natural termination by her marriage with the Rev. Charles Rochemont Barbauld, a Dissenting minister, who had been educated in the aca- demy, but whose character was even more out of harmony with the general tone of the place than that of Mrs. Bar- bauld herself. This marriage much surprised and disappointed her family and friends, who considered that she was throwing her- self away on a person quite unworthy of her talents and virtues.

There were indeed grave objections to the union, for Mr. Bar- bauld had already experienced one fit of insanity, and the excessive excitability of his temperament pointed only too surely to the probable return of mental disorder. But when we read the elo- quent euloginta written of him after death by his widow, we can- not agree with Mrs. Le Breton in thinking that the terms in which Miss Lucy Aikin wrote of her aunt's affection for him were "no doubt appropriate." Miss Atkin spoke of that attachment as the "illusion of a romantic fancy, not of a tender heart," and thought that only the uncongenial home atmosphere preventing the free ex- pansion of her aunt's young affections could account for her having been "caught by crazy demonstrations of amorous rapture, set off with theatrical French manners, or conceiving of such an exagge- rated passion as a safe foundation on which to raise the sober struc- ture of domestic happiness"; but Miss Aikin herself is obliged to admit, that "his moral character did honour to her choice ;" and if one- half of the graces of mind and heart which Mrs. Barbauld painted in the published character of her husband—which is one of the most beautiful of her writings—were really his, we do not think it necessary to seek an explanation of her attachment to him in "the baleful influence of the Nouvelle Haloise." That Rousseau exercised a great influence upon her character at this time is not un- likely, but seeing that her writings are entirely free from the para- doxes and ingenious absurdities which are the common snare of the disciples of the high-priest of Nature, we think that in her case his influence was wholly beneficial, and that its effects may be traced in the awakening in her of a certain emotional spontaneity, which became in a manner her specific quality, marking her off from the literary women who were her contemporaries. This

side of her character found a systematic expression in. the essay on "The Devotional Taste," which she published shortly after her

marriage. This essay was not appreciated at the time it was written, but that was only to be expected, seeing that it treated of a sense which the writer explicitly declared was wanting to her generation. But to us it seems worthy to rank with her beat pieces. It is not inferior to them in style or in grasp of thought, and it goes beyond them in subtlety—a quality not so generally characteristic of Mrs. Barbauld's writings. We regret that neither of her present biographers has thought it worth reprinting.

Mrs. Barbauld's married life was a busy one, and its varied duties left her little time for literary work. For a number of years her husband kept a boarding school, to which many parents of rank and fortune sent their sons ; and of these pupils of her husband, many, who afterwards attained distinction, preserved through life an affectionate reverence for Mrs. Barbauld, who, besides exercising a wise supervision of the domestic arrangements of the school, took also her share in the work of teaching. Here is a picture of her life, shortly after marriage, taken from one (of her letters to her brother, Dr. Aikin

"Dear Brother —I doubt not but you have been mumbling in your gizzard for some time, and muttering between your teeth, 'What is this lazy sister of ours about ?' Now, to prove to you that I am not lazy, I will tell you what I have been about. First, then, making up beds ; secondly, scolding my maids, preparing for company; and lastly, drawing up and delivering lectures on geography. Give me joy of our success, for we shall have twenty-seven scholars before the vacation, and two more have bespoken places at midsummer, so that we do not doubt of being now full ; nay, Sir, I can assure you it is said in this county that it will soon be a favour to be on Mr. Barbauld's list ; you have no objection, I hope, to a little boasting."

We never like Mrs. Barbauld better than in her letters to her brother. Nothing can be more charming to read of than the tender friendship which subsisted between them through life, the mutual respect and admiration, the full confidence and trust. Very soon after marriage Mrs. Barbauld despaired of having children of her own, and wrote to beg her brother to allow her to adopt one of his family. To this request Dr. and Mrs. Aikin responded by con- fiding to their sister's care their second child, Charles, then a boy of two years old, and shortly after, Mrs. Barbauld wrote to them, on her return from a visit to London :—

"Now, for the first time, Mr. Barbauld and I experienced the pleasure of having something to come home for, and of finding our dear Charles in perfect health, and glad to see us again."

Visits to London and Norwich were the holiday relaxation of the Barbaulds, and Mrs. Barbauld's letters give us amusing glimpses of the social life both of the capital and of the provincial town. Of Norwich society she writes :— " We have been so much engaged with dinners and suppers, that though I fully intended to write from thence, and began a letter, I really could not finish it. The heads of all the Norwich people are in a. whirl, occasioned by the routs which have been introduced amongst them this winter; and such a bustle with writing cards a month before- hand, throwing down partitions, moving beds, (h. Do you know the different terms ? There is a squeeze, a fuss, a drive, a rout, and lastly, a hurricane, when the whole house is full from top to bottom. It is matter of great triumph to me that we enjoy the latter for ten months in the year.'

The lateness of London hours scandalises her :— " We are got into the visiting way here, which I do not consider quite as idle employment, because it leads to connections; but the hours are intolerably late. The other day, at Mrs. Chapone's, none of her party

but ourselves was come at a quarter before eight, and the first lady that arrived said she hurried away from dinner without waiting for the coffee."

Mrs. Ellis is very angry with Wordsworth for having said that Mrs. Barbauld "was spoiled as a poetess by being a Dissenter, and concerned-with a Dissenting academy ;" she reminds him, with ques- tionable relevancy, that the great Lake poet was himself the son of an attorney, and was at one time a distributor of stamps, "all of which makes it rather unjust to blame Mrs. Barbauld for the position in life to which she was born." We can appreciate heartily the high moral earnestness and the unconventional spirit of the school in which she was brought up, but we confess to being rather of Wordsworth's opinion, that the atmosphere of intellectual Dissent, and the sectarian influences which were about her through life, were not, on the whole, favourable to the development of her poetic genius. As a poet, she has every merit but that of possessing the essential poetic qualities. If lofty sentiment expressed in stately verse and well-chosen language constitutes poetry, Mrs. Barbauld's poems deserve the high praise which Mrs. Ellis gives them ; but if we have a right to ask of the poet something above and beyond this, if we may expect him to lift the veil, and show us the occult mysteries of thought and feeling which elude our leas delicate prose-perceptions, then we think Mrs. Barbauld has no title to rank with the beet of our singers. There is a very tender and graceful poem of hers on "Life" which has more of the specific quality of poetry than any of her other writings, and of this Wordsworth used to say that he envied it her. We are not sure that a tiny fragment of a dialogue with Death—the last thing she ever wrote—does not come next to it in this kind of rank. It is given at the end of Mrs. Le Breton's memoir, and is, we think, the gem of her volume.