The Sun.
London, England, 1834-12-13 00:00:00

LITERATURE,

MY DAUGHTER'S BOOK;
cobrumnva A SELE.CTION OF APPROVED READINGS

IX LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ART,
41)IrTRD TO THE FORMATION OF THE CHARACTER OF WOMAN.

London : Baldwin and Cradock. 1834.

LA more agreeable, entertaining, and delightful Vo-
n' Tie than this, or one to which fewer objections can
Justly he made—with regard to variety, brevity, and
proper selection—is a rarity which we have yet to dis-
nOser among the class of books which form the Juve-
lic Libraries of the rising generation. There is not
_
Page, from the first to the last, in this book (and it
contains above 480) which is not rich in instructive
anecdote, grave reflection, choice flowers of sweet
Petry, with here and there lessons of wisdom, ad
t, dressed to young ladies, which we would recommend
;ern, to treasure up in their " heart of hearts." As
the work is principally intended for the use of young fe-
males, the Editor has carefully gathered—in the briefest
!'°ssible form—from the most celebrated modern travel-
lers, accounts of the condition, habits, and morals, and
Other influence of women in every country of whose domes-
tlc customs we have any knowledge. With the remarks
Which frequently occur throughout this volume, on the
general defectiveness of female education, we most
readily accord. In the knowledge of all that really
constitutes the affairs of life, our most fashionalAy
educated women are deplorably deficient. They seem
`; to be. intended for any purpose rather than that of dis-
the ordinary duties of good wives and tender
mothers. It seems to be the study of fashionable
.women to discover what is least profitable in the wide
field of intellectual acquirements, in order to impose
• It as the only task worthy the attention of their
,e.hildren. Often and often has this ill judged partia-
ity for frivolous, or at best unprofitable, studies in
* persons, themselves well informed, filled us with
Wonder. Nor can we yet account for so strange a perver-
sion of judgment, especially as all women are willing to
Confess that to talk bad French, strum and scream in a
Concordia discors, or to waltz with the libertine gesture
of a Parisian Opera dancer, are not the most effectual
Means of controling the will of a headstrong husband,
or the best qualifications for rearing up a family in the
fear of God. Far be it from us to say that the know-
ledge of languages, of music, and of graces neces-
sary to an appearance in the ball-room, ought wholly
to be dispensed with in female education. It is not
.the use, but the abuse of these accomplishments of
Which we complain. It is the making those things
ALL which ought to form the PARTS of a minor
'?'ART. Of ethics, or the science of morality, women
in general know nothing ; and yet this comprises the
whole range of civil, domestic, and religious duties.
Women complain that the tyranny of men is the cause
of their deficiency in useful information. Now men
have sins enough to answer for, without adding others
of which they are not, and have not been, guilty.
The vanity of women prevented, and prevents, their
being properly educated. The mother will not
have her daughters moralized, and sermonized,
and made mopes of, to satisfy the whims of antiquated
visionaries and Bedlamite enthusiasts I Her dear
girls are incapable of wrong, and she knows better
than to sour their minds with crabbed lectures on the
distinctions of good and evil, just as if the charming
creatures did not know of themselves how to act pro-
Peri), on all occasions. No, no I the dancing, the
French, the music, and the drawing masters, are the
Only proper and genteel instructors for such sweet in-
ntxents. If they want any thing else, they will have
time enough to learn it the year before they come out.
This is the substance of a lecture which is repeatedly
a drawing-room, by the mother of
delivered in many
a young family ; and the consequences are sooner' or
later felt and deplored by society. It would seem,
in short, from the language of many women on
this subject, that domestic virtues, like dresses,
'would be worn out before the time for putting
them in practice, if assumed before marriage.
This volume is well calculated to correct many of
the most
will form prevalent errors in female education ; and
libraries. av,ery valuable acquisition to young ladies'
u e regret that the length to which our
observations have extended prevents us from extracting
in our columns some of the beautiful passages which
abound in almost every page. The whole is a sweet
well-trimmed flower-garden, in which at every turning
a nosegay of every hue, fragrant as the breath of
morning, may be gathered.

SELECTIONS FROM THE ENGLISH POETS

FROM SPENSER TO BEATTIE.

London : Scott and Webster, Charterhouse-squat e. 1835.

In the beauty of its embellishments this volume
deserves to be classed with the Annuals ; while, in its
letter-press, it is as undying as the language in which
it is published. It is embellished with a portrait of
goldsmith, from the well-known painting by Rey-
noNls, with twenty-four handsome illustrations from
Corl;ould, by Heath, Rolls, and Finden. Some of the
engravings are well executed. In the selection from
the poets a sound judgment, a classical taste, and a
poetic fancy have been exercised. The volume neces-
sarily contains but a very few of the fine passages to
be met with in the works of the greatest of our poets ;
but it is no small praise to say of it, that it does not
contain a line which we would wish to see omitted.
It is admirably adapted for the school-room ; and we
cordially recommend it to parents and teachers as a
valuable Christmas Present and New Year's Gift for
good children.