Page:The works of Anna Laetitia Barbauld volume 1.djvu/71

 after they had quitted her, to recall herself from time to time to their recollection, by affectionate and playful letters, or welcome presents.

In the conjugal relation, her conduct was guided by the highest principles of love and duty. As a sister, the uninterrupted flow of her affection, manifested by numberless tokens of love,—not alone to her brother, but to every member of his family,—will ever be recalled by them with emotions of tenderness, respect, and gratitude. She passed through a long life without having dropped, it is believed, a single friendship, and without having drawn upon herself a single enmity which could properly be called personal.

We now proceed to offer some account of the contents of the present volumes, with a few remarks on the genius of their author. The small bulk of the writings of