The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-02-22 00:00:00

rote lovely phases of the human mind—to

paint the flowers and the bright herbage which adorn the
path of life—to lead the mind of youth and age to the glad-
dening waters of innocence and virtue, of elevating thought
and refreshing purity, rather than to drag them to the con-

templation of degrade,
Amongst the foremost of tl

g crime and devastating passion

pse talented ladies who have

us " chosen the better part" in the field of literary exer-

tion, the authoress of the work before us is deserving of ho-
nourable mention. Mrs. Ellis has not devoted herself to

the effort to startle us into admiration of genius perverted;
she has taken no bold flight into the regions of poetry or

she has neither descended to become the literary
sweeper of the scandal and frivolities of the boudoir or the
drawing-room. And yet she evidently possesses talent and
cultivation of mind sufficient to enable her to shine in these,
the more popular and remunerating walks of authorship.
But from the quiet thoughtfulness of her own heart she has
poured forth a succession of elegant and instructive volumes,

romance

which, we trust, are destined to find their way and to carry

the pure enjoyment and happiness, which a strict attention to
their teachings will ensure, to the bosom of many an English
home. Amongst the productions of her yen we have already
been favoured with " The Women of England, their Social
Duties and Domestic Habits," " Summer and Winter in
the Pyrennees," " Hints to those who would make Home
happy," " Sons of the Soil," " Fisher's Juvenile Scrap
Book," &c., in all of which is breathed a spirit and a use-
fulness which entitle her to our warmest approbation.

" The Daughters of England " is well worthy of the pre-
vious reputation of the amiable authoress ; and we can with
confidence recommend it as a manual of sound practical wis-
dom, admirably calculated to assist in developing and form-
ing, in the best and most lovely mould, the female mind. To
some, perhaps, it may at first sight appear that Mrs. Ellis is
too much of a precisian ; that jn the system of educational
and mental training which she points out to the acceptance of
the daughters of England, the useful, the solid, and the reli-
gious attributes of the female character are placed in too
great prominence, whilst ornamental and fashionable accom-
plishments are weighed too slightingly. Such may be the
first impressions of many readers ; but highly as the author-
ess evidently and deservedly values the former, an attentive
perusal of her present work will, we are confident, be suffici-
ent to dispel the misunderstanding, which webave only alluded
to from a conviction how dangerous a bar to the proper ap-

preciation of the instructions of anv monitor is an erroneous

first impression

As an example of the style in which our authoress treats
her subject, we had marked several passages for quotation.
We must be content, however, with the following from the
chapter entitled—" Beauty, Health, and Temper."
" Those who are accustomed to enlightened views on this
subject, will know also that there are different kinds of per-
sonal beauty, amongst which, that of form and colouring
holds a very inferior rank. There is a beauty of expression,
for instance, of sweetness, of nobility, of intellectual refine-
ment, of feeling, of animation, of meekness, of resignation,
and many other kinds of beauty, which may all be allied to
the plainest features, and yet may remain to give pleasure
long after the blooming cheek has faded, and silver gray has
mingled with the hair. And how far more powerful in their
influence upon others, are some of these kinds of beauty !
for, after all, beauty depends more upon the movements of
the face, than upon the form of the features when at rest;
and thus, a countenance habitually under the influence of
amiable feelings acquires a beauty of the highest order, from
the frequency with which such feelings are the originating
cause of the movements or expressions which stamp their
chayacter upon it. _ _

" Who has not waited for the first opening of the lips of a
celebrated belle, to see whether her claims would be sup-
ported by
" "The mind, the music breathing from her face • '
and who has not occasionally turned away repelled by the
utter blank, or worse than blank, which the simple move-
ment of the mouth, in speaking or smiling, has revealed ?
" The language of poetry describes the loud laugh as in-
dicative of the vulgar mind; and certainly there are expres-
sions, conveyed even through the medium of a smile, which
need not Lavater to inform us that refinement of feeling, or
elevation of soul, have little to do with the fair countenance
on which they are impressed. On the other hand, there are
plain women sometimes met with in society, every movement
of whose features is instinct with intelligence ; who, from
the genuine heart-warm smiles which play about the mouth,
the sweetly modulated voice, and the lighting up of an eye
that looks as if it could comprehend the universe,' become
perfectly beautiful to those who understand them, and still
more so to those who live with them, and love them. Before
such pretensions to beauty as these, how soon do the pink
and white of a merely pretty face vanish into nothing!"

The Asiatic Journal. February, 1842. London : W. H
Allen and Co., Leadenhall-street.