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    either of Mrs . Grimstone ' s former novels ; and so far &s it excite * interest , it cannot fail of benefiting society . The elevation of woman is the great object of Mrs , Grimstone ' s desire ; not that fantastic elevation which does not recognize equality even while professing adoration , but seeks only the glory of the worshipper ; nor that which the Portuguese sometimes bestow on the image of a saint , to-day the object of grovelling and frequent

    prayers , and to-morrow flogged and thrown into the river : but an elevation into her legitimate position , as an intellectual and moral being , the friend of man , the instructor of childhood , the object of the strongest emotions , the source of the brightest happiness , the living and lovely impulse to all that is wisest , noblest , and most blessed upon earth . This position woman has

    not yet occupied . Civilization and Christianity have done much for her ; but they have not yet done all for her , any more than they have for man . Their influences are only in progress ; and that progress is often obstructed by prejudices which would have perpetuated barbarism , heathenism , and feudalism . We cannot treat Mrs . Gritnstone merely as a novelist . The

    praise which we have bestowed on this story might be supported and exemplified by extracts , consisting of incidents well imagined and well told ; characters delineated with nice discrimination ; pictures admirably grouped ; scenes , pathetic , tender , burlesque , and impressive ; and conversations sustained with dramatic propriety , and full of truth , wit , and wisdom . But , instead of occupying what little space we can now spare with such specimens , or with an analysis of the story , we turn at once to her higher

    character of a moralist , and recommend her volumes to the attention of all who are interested in that social reform and progress , to which the amendment of political institutions is comparatively trifling , or of which it is symptomatic . The conception of Cleone ' s character approximates closely to the ideal of female perfection . Nor is the consistency of this character very palpably sacrificed for the production of entanglement . Her errors may be regarded as unavoidable ; and would not generally be considered errors ; for , in committing them , she acts in accordance with the prevailing notions of society . And

    yet her history is one of the keenest suffering . And the acuteness of that suffering derives its bitterest aggravation from the superiority of her mind and heart . Those who say , how is this ? can scarcely have looked deeper than the very surface of human life . Cleone is formed for imparting and receiving happiness by hut

    the agency of affection . Her attachment is reciprocated ; she and her lover are divided and permanently distanced from each other , in ignorance of the fact , and , on her part , with a false impression of the contrary , which is very naturally accounted for . He has proper pride , and she has proper delicacy ; who shall condemn them ? and so is sown the seed of the subsequent mw-

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    30 & Cleone *

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1834, page 300, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2632/page/72/