 Both her collections, however, contained portraits of the author and accounts of her life; the account written in 1790 and published in the first volume is the source of most that is known of her.Her poetry celebrates the countryside and engages in public debates on topics such as abolitionism and cruelty to animals.Cowper compared her favourably with Mary Leapor, a labouring-class poet of the previous generation, citing her "strong natural genius."