Tales of Fashionable Life. By MISS EDGEWORTH, Author of "Practical Education," "Belinda," "Castle Rackrent," &c. &c. 3 vols. 12mo. pp. 1450. Johnson. London: 1812.

THE writings of Miss Edgeworth exhibit so singular an union of sober sense and inexhaustible invention so minute a knowledge of all that distinguishes manners, or touches on happiness in every condition of human fortune and so just an estimate both of the real sources of enjoyment, and of the illusions by which they are obstructed, that it cannot be thought wonderful that we should separate her from the ordinary manufacturers of novels, and speak of her Tales as works of more serious importance than much of the true history and solemn philosophy that come daily under our inspection. The great business of life, and the object of all arts and acquisitions, is undoubtedly to be happy; and though our success in this grand endeavour depends, in some degree, upon external circumstances, over which we have no control, and still more on temper and dispositions, which can only be controlled by gradual and systematic exertion, a very great deal depends also upon creeds and opinions, which may be effectually and even suddenly rectified, by a few hints from authority that cannot be questioned, or a few illustrations so fair and striking, as neither to be misapplied nor neglected. We are all, no doubt, formed, in a great degree, by the circumstances in which we are placed, and the beings by whom we are surrounded; but still we have all theories of happiness notions of ambition, and opinions as to the summum bonum, of our own - more or less developed, and more or less original, according to our situation and character- but influencing our conduct and feelings at every moment of our lives, and leading us on

FASHIONABLE TALES, GOOD FOR LOWER PEOPLE. 17

to disappointment, and away from real gratification, as powerfully as mere ignorance or passion. It is to the correction of those erroneous theories that Miss Edgeworth has applied herself in that series of moral fictions, the last portion of which has recently come to our hands; and in which, we think, she has combined more solid instruction with more universal entertainment, and given more practical lessons of wisdom, with less tediousness and less pretension, than any other writer with whom we are acquainted.

When we reviewed the first part of these Tales which are devoted to the delineation of fashionable life, we ventured to express a doubt, whether the author was justifiable for expending so large a quantity of her moral medicines on so small a body of patients and upon patients too whom she had every reason to fear would turn out incurable. Upon reflection, however, we are now inclined to recall this sentiment. The vices and illusions of fashionable life are, for the most part, merely the vices and illusions of human nature-presented sometimes in the most conspicuous, and almost always in only their most seductive form;-and even where they are not merely fostered and embellished, but actually generated only in that exalted region, it is very well known that they "drop upon the place beneath," and are speedily propagated and diffused into the world below. To expose them, therefore, in this their original and proudest sphere, is not only to purify the stream at its source, but to counteract their pernicious influence precisely where it is most formidable and extensive. To point out the miseries of those infinite and laborious pursuits in which persons who pretend to be fashionable consume their days, would be but an unprofitable task; while nobody could be found who would admit that they belonged to the class of pretenders; and all that remained therefore was to show, that the pursuits themselves were prepos terous; and inflicted the same miseries upon the unquestioned leaders of fashion, as upon the humblest of their followers. For this task, too, Miss Edgeworth possessed certain advantages of which it would have been equally

18 MISS EDGEWORTH-HIGH QUALITIES FOR HER WORK.

unnatural and unfortunate for her readers, if she had not sought to avail herself.

We have said, that the hints by which we may be enabled to correct those errors of opinion which so frequently derange the whole scheme of life, must be given by one whose authority is not liable to dispute. Persons of fashion, therefore, and pretenders to fashion, will never derive any considerable benefit from all the edifying essays and apologies that superannuated governesses and preceptors may indite for their reformation; — nor from the volumes of sermons which learned divines may put forth for the amendment of the age; nor the ingenious discourses which philosophers may publish, from the love of fame, money, or mankind. Their feeling as to all such monitors is, that they know nothing at all about the matter, and have nothing to do with personages so much above them; - and so they laugh at their prosing and presumption and throw them aside, with a mingled sense of contempt and indignation. Now, Miss Edgeworth happens fortunately to be born in the condition of a lady familiar from early life with the polite world, and liable to no suspicion of having become an author from any other motives than those she has been pleased to assign.

But it is by no means enough that we should be on a footing, in point of rank, with those to whom we are moved to address our instructions. It is necessary that we should also have some relish for the pleasures we accuse them of overrating, and some pretensions to the glory we ask them to despise. If a man, without stomach or palate, takes it into his head to lecture against the pleasures of the table or an old maid against flirtation — or a miser against extravagance, they may say as many wise and just things as they please but they may be sure that they will either be laughed at, or not listened to; and that all their dissuasives will be set down to the score of mere ignorance or envy. In the same way, a man or woman who is obviously without talents to shine or please in fashionable life, may utter any quantity of striking truths as to its folly or unsatis

DOES GOOD, AND FINDS IT FAME.

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factoriness, without ever commanding the attention of one of its votaries. The inference is so ready, and so consolatory-that all those wise reflections are the fruit of disappointment and mortification—that they want to reduce all the world to their own dull level and to deprive others of gratifications which they are themselves incapable of tasting. The judgment of Miss Edgeworth, however, we think, is not in any very imminent danger of being disabled by this ingenious imputation; since, if we were to select any one of the traits that are indicated by her writings as peculiarly characteristic, and peculiarly entitled to praise, we should specify the singular force of judgment and self-denial, which has enabled her to resist the temptation of being the most brilliant and fashionable writer of her day, in order to be the most useful and instructive.

The writer who conceived the characters, and reported the conversations of Lady Delacour Lady Geraldine- and Lady Dashfort (to take but these three out of her copious dramatis persona), certainly need not be afraid of being excelled by any of her contemporaries, in that faithful but flattering representation of the spoken language of persons of wit and politeness of the present day in that light and graceful tone of raillery and argument and in that gift of sportive but cutting médisance, which is sure of success in those circles, where success is supposed to be most difficult, and most desirable. With the consciousness of such rare qualifications, we do think it required no ordinary degree of fortitude to withstand the temptation of being the flattering delineator of fashionable manners, instead of their enlightened corrector; and to prefer the chance of amending the age in which she lived, to the certainty of enjoying its applauses. Miss Edgeworth, however, is entitled to the praise of this magnanimity:- For not only has she abstained from dressing any of her favourites in this glittering drapery, but she has uniformly exhibited it in such a way as to mark its subordination to the natural graces it is sometimes allowed to eclipse, and to point out the defects it still more frequently con

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MISS EDGEWORTH THE ABSENTEE.

ceals. It is a very rare talent, certainly, to be able to delineate both solid virtues and captivating accomplishments with the same force and fidelity;— but it is a still rarer exercise of that talent, to render the former both more amiable and more attractive than the latter—and, without depriving wit and vivacity of any of their advantages, to win not only our affections, but our admiration away from them, to the less dazzling qualities of the heart and the understanding. By what resources Miss Edgeworth is enabled to perform this feat, we leave our readers to discover, from the perusal of her writings; — of which it is our present business to present them with a slender account, and a scanty sample.

These three new volumes contain but three stories; the first filling exactly a volume, the second half a volume, and the last no less than a volume and a half. The first, which is entitled "Vivian," is intended to show not only into what absurdities, but into what guilt and wretchedness, a person, otherways estimable, may be brought by that "infirmity of purpose" which renders him incapable of resisting the solicitations of others, - of saying No, in short, on proper occasions. The moral, perhaps, is brought a little too constantly forward; and a little more exaggeration is admitted into the construction of the story, than Miss Edgeworth generally employs; -but it is full of characters and incidents and good sense, like all her other productions.*

But we pass at once to the last, the longest, and by far the most interesting of these tales. It is entitled, "The Absentee;" and is intended to expose the folly and misery of renouncing the respectable character of country ladies and gentlemen, to push, through intolerable expense, and more intolerable scorn, into the outer circles of fashion in London. That the case may be sufficiently striking, Miss Edgeworth has taken her example in an Irish family, of large fortune, and considerable rank in the peerage; and has enriched her main

* I now omit the original account of the two first tales; and give only what relates to the last,—and most interesting, and characteristic.