Page:The works of Anna Laetitia Barbauld volume 1.djvu/78

 self, to be the best that was ever attempted; because it reflected the colour of his thoughts, no less than the turn of his expressions. Here it appears as a foil to the "easy and inimitable graces" of her own natural manner. Of the Essay against In consistency in our expectations, the editor feels it superfluous to speak: it has long been acknowledged to stand at the head of its class.

Of a different character are her Thoughts on the Devotional Taste, on Sects and on Establishments. This piece betrays, it must be confessed, that propensity to tread on dangerous ground which some times appears an instinct of genius. It recommends a spirit of devotion which yet she is obliged to allow to be in some measure incompatible with an enlightened and philosophical theology. That part, however, which delineates the characteristics of sects and of establishments, and