As a periodical writer she compared Johnson unfavourably with Steele and
Addison:


"The _Rambler_ is certainly a strong misnomer; he always plods in the
beaten road of his predecessors, following the _Spectator_ (with the
same pace a pack-horse would do a hunter) in the style that is proper to
lengthen a paper. These writers may, perhaps, be of service to the
public, which is saying a great deal in their favour. There are numbers
of both sexes who never read anything but such productions, and cannot
spare time, from doing nothing, to go through a sixpenny pamphlet. Such
gentle readers may be improved by a moral hint, which, though repeated
over and over, from generation to generation, they never heard in their
lives. I should be glad to know the name of this laborious author."




CHAPTER XV

LADY MARY ON EDUCATION AND WOMAN'S RIGHTS

The choice of books for children's reading--The dangers of a narrow
education--Lady Mary advocates the higher education of women--Girls
should be taught languages--Lady Mary's theories of education for
girls--Women writers in Italy--A "rumpus" made by ladies in the House of
Lords--Woman's Rights--Lady Mary's views on religion.


In spite of her own fondness for books, Lady Mary was not a wholehearted