, 1874-03-08
LITERATURE.



- +ba n1enaration Of the present memoir, with
sp,ectious fran her works. in the hope OF
rrstor;nr the author to her original position of
pro1ninence and popularity. Tue task ia diff
chit. not to SOY impossible, one. The literary IA
vor1tes Of one generation seldom the favoiites
of tf,e next. Tho intellectual taste changes with
avarv decada. Theexpetience included within the
span Of an ordinary life il reproduced on a moro
aytonded e.ale in the history Of mankind. The
hooks which please Us in youth are not likely to
be those which satisfy our mature and declining
wears. Az time progressos. We ontgroN authors.
with the exceptiou OF those who are immortal,
and compan;ons for every age and mood,-and
Law them aside as wo lay aside the garments that
have outlasted their fashion and usefulness.
And so. as the world moves on, and the spirit Of
thu are expands aud advances, requiring new
Intelligence, new aims, and Necessities, ola
things of every sort lose their adaptoduess, and
must consent to bo rejestcd or forgotten, Or AZ
sun,e fresh forms, III keeping with tho impulse
and need Of the hour
In the day when Mrs. Barbauld wrote. book-
rex and it VAS distinction to compose claver
essay, skilful sonnet, or an amusing story.
The women of England who had the ability or
inclination to turn from the pleasures aud duties
of fashionable Or domestic life, ani seek fame
through print, could almost oe counted on onos
tiugers. There was good Hannah More, whom
va remember moro forher plety than her genius;
Mrs. Cuapoue Fanny Burney, afterwards Mad
anne D'Arp.ay, mud M1a- Montague, who mar11ed
tor u position, aud did not BLUSH to
acknowledge that she was never LII love
N ler 1ife,-w1ose elegant homo
was the centre oi the literary circles Of London,
and who for her Wit, added to her wealth., WAS
at the mead OF the tamous bas dtus Of her day.
| And. q little later, hera were MIss Edgworth,
Mrs. Austin, Joannle Balle, aud humber
gtaduxliy multiplying AZ tne years wore on.
But things we're not then rs they arc now,
when every third lady we lneot-iB 1t an oyel-
estimate :-:las puckcrs on her brow and Ink on
| her fingers, belraying the application OF ler
novers n the peu wuon every newspaper ono
.aln. m is liable to have arIlclos al profound
N Thought aud finished in style AZ the essayh Of
| Addison OF johnson, tuo "rltcrl Of which would
DO. dl eam OF claiming Any Particular ctelt LOT
their work, not cyo!. so 1n1cA ~ recognition
! pf their authorship.
HIM any OF the writer's mentioned above -four
| islad hundred years latcr,-tnat III Ill the
| nineteenth Instead Of the eighteenth CENTURY
lheir heads would not 1lse above the lesel OF
hcores who steud as high as ever they old, ont
| VINO do not acuieve anything Ake their reputac
| tIon. because they ate SO numerous there is no
| slusu1.llly to distinguish them Ihls Is not
said 70 det1act from cue just estimate OF OLD ana
| rcyorcd authors, but to take away that unduo
feeling of ave with which time ls apt to inspire
us and winch inte1feres with our holding men
nud thiucy of the past at their right yauo.
! but wuy try to iinlgme the works OF these
srritar. ns ti,a products Ut this era? 1t u lm-
| possible to CONCEIVE Of them as such. Their
method ia foreign, aud 80 also Ii much OF tAeE
| motiye Ihuy are as alien as though they be-
| lon.ed to another language as well as another
! ara They are to bo stuoied rs antiques, as III
terpreters OF the character Of the preceding cen
;ury, as proYenito1s OF tho spirit OF The present
| We are to examine them as We investigate the
t history Of our ancestors for au explanation u
| their and our own idlosyncrasies. We cannot
| expect to have the tonduess for them, the en-
| iorment IN them, which NO have Ill the Eo.d8
/; aud lives Of our contemporaries. lhey are H.
te,ostiug and instructive, out OF reuote afhniacs,
! and Inadequate 70 our tasto aud requirements
t they Gun never recover the popularity 1ney naa
| in tleir day and generation.
| It ii good thing, however, to have occasional
+; new edi1lous Of these old writer's. Ihey ano'sid
! be kept accessible to the teador- AZ stanual ds
| and classics. there will always be some ~! oemaou
/ for them. but not lively market. The present
memoir il written by one very much II earnest.
and very conscientious but not OF magnetic
turce sufficient to Hspro others with her el-
/ hublasm. .,,
.tt.-ctiye personal 1.lalitles fine mental gifts,
t1a ,.ssd BY better than average educaton, aud
| of deep aud consistent piety. She was the
dnn.,h:ar and tho wife Of Dissenting ministers,
and. as such, enjoyed respectable SOCIAL RANK,
partnerships. Her passage through LIE,
| whicl, extended from 1743 to 1o25, Wa
| Misunderstanding breaking its quiet monot-
ouy other than tue Incidents common to
| tho lot OF ordinary mortals. For several years.
after her marriage she was engaged. with hor
! husband, In the chaTge OF pnvate boarding
| school. 1t was for her young pupils that she
y wrote tho Eurly Lessons for Children" and
II Prose HYMNS, two books which attained .
wide popularity, and laid The foundation fos that ma
higher order Of lu9eQue ute1atu1o "AAeo AAe
cuiminated in our day.
Among her other literary Works were poluca' 1
r2amphlets volume OF poetry, q Life q Or lticu'
arayon the novelist critical and miscellaneous
essays, ETC., etc. Her devotional hymns nave
fonnd d place in the psalmody OF 7ar.ons 1eiis.
ara determinations, aud have nado he1
name familiar to Christian worship
ers ~ wherever English is sung, ihe
closing stanza Of her poem on Life" com
posed when, she WAS 10 years OF st;7e, was g1eak
fayorito with Wordsworth Crabb ROBINSON
ment1ous thst he once heard Wordsworth aag
am not III the habit Of grudginS ptaople tneli
good things, but I wish 1 had writttu those
lines" They run as follows:
| Life know net zhat thou xrt,
But know that thou aud n.ust part;
And when, or bow, or where we met,
owu to me's secret Jee-
Life! We've been long logother,
Through pleasant and Erough cloudy weather
'Tis hard 10 part when friends arc dear,
Perhaps twill c.>st sigh, tear;
Then, steal away giye little warning,
Cnoose thine own t. me;
Say not Goodnight --but, In soms brighter cline,
Bid me Good Morning.
Mrs. Barbauids pr ,>ee style was elegant, d Jug :,
u.e manners OF tho polite world OF her tia'e: ,o
sttSle passage from one Of aet ieses ~ thsT
lssr sample Of this, and also oncloses tne usl
p1 ovning sentiments rcgardlL tema1e eatIs, y,
ticu. Tue latter are not likely t. os 1etsueG y
conservative women OF tho p. ~ent psrity1; ts1;,
The.:y show however, the distance as.s pupn' . w
opinion has travelled in just hnud4 ~ yes 80
The letter is dated 1774, aud was written ~ Au
swer to proposal for the establishment ~ ;a[ a.
academy or college ior girls-an innos. ~, ~
upon Tue existing order OF things which h os
Barbaud decidedly discouraged. She writes:
Young gentlemen who aro to display their E,oxl-
edge to sh, world should havc every motive Of euua
ton; should be formed into regular classes; should
have all tue honors, and If say the pomp.
Of learning set before hem to cali up thoic ardor It
is their business, and they should app!y to 1t ia
such But young Indies, who ought only to hayc such
General uncture Of knowledge to mako them agree
xbe companions to Of sense, and to enable them
to find rational Amusement for solitary hour, should