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Article REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. ← Page 7 of 9 →
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Review Of New Publications.
To say that Mrs . D'Arblay always writes correctly and elegantly , -would be , to those who have read her former productions , to tell theni what they already know ; to those who have not read them , we recommend the perusal of Camilla , in proof of what we assert . To make a partial extraCt from so long a performance , may perhaps appear like plucking a leaf from a forest ; but the following definition of Ton , in volume 3 d , must be pleasing to our readers .
c Ton , in the scale of connoisseurs in the certain circles , is as much above fashion , as fashion is above fortune : for though the latter is an ingredient that all alike covet to possess , it is courted without being respefted , and desired without being honoured , except only by those who , from ' earliest life , have been taught to earn it as a business . Ton , meanwhile , is as attainable without birth as without understanding , though in all the certain circles it takes lace of either . To define what it is would be as
p difficult to the most renowned of its votaries , as to an utter stranger to its attributes . That those who call themselves of the ton either lead , or hold cheap all others , is obtrusively evident : but how and by what art they attain such pre-eminence , they would be perplexed to explain . That some whim has happily called forth imitators ; that some strange phrase lias been adopted ; that something odd in dress has become popular ; that some beauty , or some deformity , no matter which , has found annotators ;
may commonly be traced as the ori gin of their first public notice . But to whichever of these accidents their early feme may be attributed , its establishment and its glory is built upon vanity that knows no deficiency , or insolence that knows no blush . '
Tne moral throughout is very pure ; this we shall give in the words of the fair writer , which end the last volume . * With joy expanding to that thankfulness which maybe called the beauty of piety , the virtuous Tyrolds , as their first blessings , received these blessings of their children : and the beneficent Sir Hugh felt every wish so satisfied , he could scarcely occupy himself again with a projeCl—save a maxim of prudence , drawn from his own experience , which he daily planned teaching to the little
generation rising around him ; to avoid , from the disasters of their Uncle , the dangers and temptations , to their descendants , of unsettled collateral expeditions . ' Thus ended the long , conflicts , doubts , suspences , and sufferings of Edgar and Camilla ; avho , without one inevitable calamity , one unavoidable distress , so nearly fell the sacrifice to the two extremes of imprudence and suspicion , to the natural heedlessness of youth unguided , or to the acquired
distrust of experience that had been wounded . Edgar , by generous confidence , became the repository of her every thought ; and her friends read her exquisite lot in a gaiety no longer to be feared -. while , faithful to his word , making Etherington , Cleves , and Beech Park , his alternate dwellings , he rarely parted her from her fond parents and enraptured Uncle . And Dr . Marchmont , as he saw the pure innocence , open frankness , and spotless honour of her heart , found her virtues , her errors , her facility , or her desperation ,
but // piBitre of Youth ; and regretting the false light given by the spirit of comparison , in the hypothesis which he had formed from individual experience , acknowledged its injustice , its narrowness , and its arrogance . What , at last , so diversified as man ? What so little to be judged by his fellow ?'
Upon the whole , we are quite of opinion , that Camilla is a picture which must , upon inspection , please every true Connoiseur . As a lesson of morality for young people , to guard them against the ill consequences of precipitance in their aftions , we strongly recommend it ; and we will venture to add , that it may be read by all with amusement , and by most with instruction ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Review Of New Publications.
To say that Mrs . D'Arblay always writes correctly and elegantly , -would be , to those who have read her former productions , to tell theni what they already know ; to those who have not read them , we recommend the perusal of Camilla , in proof of what we assert . To make a partial extraCt from so long a performance , may perhaps appear like plucking a leaf from a forest ; but the following definition of Ton , in volume 3 d , must be pleasing to our readers .
c Ton , in the scale of connoisseurs in the certain circles , is as much above fashion , as fashion is above fortune : for though the latter is an ingredient that all alike covet to possess , it is courted without being respefted , and desired without being honoured , except only by those who , from ' earliest life , have been taught to earn it as a business . Ton , meanwhile , is as attainable without birth as without understanding , though in all the certain circles it takes lace of either . To define what it is would be as
p difficult to the most renowned of its votaries , as to an utter stranger to its attributes . That those who call themselves of the ton either lead , or hold cheap all others , is obtrusively evident : but how and by what art they attain such pre-eminence , they would be perplexed to explain . That some whim has happily called forth imitators ; that some strange phrase lias been adopted ; that something odd in dress has become popular ; that some beauty , or some deformity , no matter which , has found annotators ;
may commonly be traced as the ori gin of their first public notice . But to whichever of these accidents their early feme may be attributed , its establishment and its glory is built upon vanity that knows no deficiency , or insolence that knows no blush . '
Tne moral throughout is very pure ; this we shall give in the words of the fair writer , which end the last volume . * With joy expanding to that thankfulness which maybe called the beauty of piety , the virtuous Tyrolds , as their first blessings , received these blessings of their children : and the beneficent Sir Hugh felt every wish so satisfied , he could scarcely occupy himself again with a projeCl—save a maxim of prudence , drawn from his own experience , which he daily planned teaching to the little
generation rising around him ; to avoid , from the disasters of their Uncle , the dangers and temptations , to their descendants , of unsettled collateral expeditions . ' Thus ended the long , conflicts , doubts , suspences , and sufferings of Edgar and Camilla ; avho , without one inevitable calamity , one unavoidable distress , so nearly fell the sacrifice to the two extremes of imprudence and suspicion , to the natural heedlessness of youth unguided , or to the acquired
distrust of experience that had been wounded . Edgar , by generous confidence , became the repository of her every thought ; and her friends read her exquisite lot in a gaiety no longer to be feared -. while , faithful to his word , making Etherington , Cleves , and Beech Park , his alternate dwellings , he rarely parted her from her fond parents and enraptured Uncle . And Dr . Marchmont , as he saw the pure innocence , open frankness , and spotless honour of her heart , found her virtues , her errors , her facility , or her desperation ,
but // piBitre of Youth ; and regretting the false light given by the spirit of comparison , in the hypothesis which he had formed from individual experience , acknowledged its injustice , its narrowness , and its arrogance . What , at last , so diversified as man ? What so little to be judged by his fellow ?'
Upon the whole , we are quite of opinion , that Camilla is a picture which must , upon inspection , please every true Connoiseur . As a lesson of morality for young people , to guard them against the ill consequences of precipitance in their aftions , we strongly recommend it ; and we will venture to add , that it may be read by all with amusement , and by most with instruction ,