Education. 283 



particular distinction is due to Mrs. Cocxburn/ 

 Mrs Carter/ Mrs. Barbauld, Mrs. Lennox, 

 Mrs. Montague/ Mrs. Macaulay Graham, 

 Mrs. Chapone, Mrs. Radcliffe, Miss Hannah 

 More/ Miss Seward, Mrs. D'Arelay, Miss 

 Charlotte Smith, Miss Hamilton, Miss Wake- 

 field, and many others, of Great-Britain; Mrs. 

 Grierson/ and Mrs. Edgeworth, of Ireland: 

 Madame Dacier, and Madame Chatelet/ of 

 France; together with many more/ equally worthy 

 of respectful notice, and who have long held a 

 high place among literary females. 



The extension and improvement of female edu- 



d An acute and celebrated metaphysician of Great-Britain, who died in 

 1749. Her works have been since printed in two volumes octavo. 



e Miss Elizabeth Carter, an English lady of great erudition, and 



of distinguished talents. Her translation of EpUtetus is generally known. 



f " It is no trivial praise," says Mr. Polewhele, "to say that Mrs. 



Montague is the best female critic ever produced in any country." 



Unsex'd Females, p. 42. Note. 



g Miss Hannah More is one of the most illustrious ornaments of her 

 sex that the eighteenth century produced. " To great natural endowments," 

 says a late writer, " she has added the learning of lady Jane Grav with-* 

 " out the pedantry, and the piety of Mrs. Rowe without the enthusi- 

 *' asm." As no female writer in the English language is more celebrated 

 than Miss More, so there is certainly no one to whom the general in- 

 terests of virtue, and especially the female sex, are more indebted than 

 to her. She has delineated the true honour and happiness of woman more 

 faithfully, perhaps, than any other writer, and has plead her cause with 

 discrimination, with dignity, and with effect. 



b Mrs. Constantia Grierson, descended fromverypoor and illiter- 

 ate parents, in the county of Kilkenny, in Ireland. She was born in the 

 year 1706, and died in 1733, in the 27th year of her age. She was pro- 

 foundly acquainted with Grecian and Roman literature ; published editions 

 of Terence and Tacitus, which are among the best extant ; and addressed 

 an elegant Greek epigram to the son of Lord Cartaret, by the influence 

 of which nobleman her husband procured a patent to be the King's printer 

 for Ireland, on condition that the life and character of Mrs. Grierson 

 should be inserted in it, as a monument in honour of her learning. 



i The numerous and profound works of Madame Dacier, in classic 

 literature, are well known ; as are also the talents and learning of Madame 

 du Chatelet, the able commentator on Newton. 



j To this list may be added the names of the Margravine of Anspach, 

 Mrs. D0B30N, Mrs. Brooke, Mrs. Cowley, Mrs. Yearsley, Mrs. 

 Inchbald, Mrs. West, Miss Lee, Miss Williams, and several others, 

 distinguished in the walks of polite literature ; and also the honourable 

 Mrs. Damer, Mrs. Francis, and Mrs. Thomas, celebrated f'-r their ac- 

 quirements in the ancient languages. 



