Page:A happy half-century and other essays.djvu/21

 Rh antislavery epistle, declaring that its energy "springs from the real spirit of virtue." Yet to us the picture of the depraved and luxurious West Indian ladies—about whom it is safe to say good Mrs. Barbauld knew very little—seems one of the most unconsciously humorous things in English verse.

There are moments when Mrs. Barbauld soars to the inimitable, when she reaches the highest and happiest effect that absurdity is able to produce.

is one of these inspirations; and another is this pregnant sentence, which occurs in a chapter of advice to young girls: "An ass is much better adapted than a horse to show off a lady."

To point to Hannah More as a brilliant and bewildering example of sustained success is to give the most convincing proof that it was a