Page:The works of Anna Laetitia Barbauld volume 1.djvu/18

 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 I never knew such another, and I believe never shall."

Her education was entirely 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. Doddridge, who was for some years domesticated under her parental roof.