as Yes, he looked back into the bygone summer days of his youth; and in the green lanes, and flowery gardens of his native country, beneath the spreading elm tree's shade, or by the wimpling streamlet, there he beheld again such visions might, he thought, have wooed the most eager victim of unlawful pleasure back into the paths of purity and peace. But in his case all had failed-failed for this world, at least, and he must journey on alone, a guilty man, with the brand upon his brow, but still not an outcast-not forsakennot left to the promptings of his own selfishness, nor the guidance of his own passions. No, even with him there was a place for repentance, and though he found it with tears, yet he found also that in the same way he had entered upon the possession of a peace which surpassed all that he could have imagined or desired of earthly happiness without it. This, however, did not long continue to be enough for Seymour Clifton to do. He had a higher call in life than to recline in the lap of indulgence, and to give only where it was a pleasure to bestow. With more abundant means, Seymour knew well that his responsibilities were widely extended. If he did not advise or exhort his fellow beings in public, he sought them out in private, and devoted himself to their best interests with no less assiduity and zeal. Such men are soon known, and eagerly sought after. Thus Seymour Clifton was not long in finding a sphere of usefulness in all respects as extensive as his means; and of all who had suffered from the mother's mistake, he was in the end the most useful, the happiest, and the best beloved. This simple history of the Clifton family, and of the mistakes which involved them in so much suffering, has not been written to blame, but to encourage. Mistakes will occur, so long as we look upon human life with partial and imperfect vision. Much, we believe, might be done in the way of clearing that vision; but even where this is not the case, much may be done to render the consequences of our mistakes less calamitous than they often are. Seymour Clifton had nothing to prevent his return to his native country, and in the course of years the once pale youth caine back with sunburnt cheek, and hair a little sprinkled here and there with silvery threads. Who could have imagined such a change in one whose delicacy of face and person were scarcely surpassed by that native delicacy of mind which had made the accustomed hardships of life so There is no labour in life, there can much more painful to him than to others? be none, so hard as that which is perWho could have imagined such a change? | formed without a natural fitness in the And yet there was the same smile ever. labourer for the work which he has to do; His friends thought it sweeter now than neither is there any which so generally in the days of his youthful beauty. proves unsuccessful. On the other hand, there scarcely seems any limit to the power of those who live and work in their proper element. Whatever our friends can do towards placing us in these circumstances partakes of the nature of the highest benevolence, as well as assimilates to the profoundest wisdom. This then is the true science of life, both as regards ourselves and others. Seymour had not come back to trouble anyone, or to excite dubious calculations about his means of living. He had waited until a successful speculation had placed himself and his brother in the possession of means more ample than he had ever expected to enjoy; and he came in consequence to see in what way he could best assist his parents, or any other members of his own family who might benefit by the use of a little addition to their means. He found, however, no want-no absence of the most liberal enjoyment in any of the pleasant homes in which he was so welcome a visitor; and the bachelor uncle was obliged to content himself with bestowing, upon increased numbers, those elegant and well-chosen presents which it had always been a luxury to him to give. Happily for us, there is a wisdom which sees and understands our own wants, and where we ought to be. Happily for us, there is a benevolence beyond that of man, ever ready to assist in rectifying the mistakes which even those who love us best are perpetually committing. Happily for us There's a Divinity that shapes our ends, 368 SKETCH OF THE LITERARY CAREER OF MRS. ELLIS. then Miss Sarah Stickney, first formed the SKETCH OF THE LITERARY CA- project of writing a series of simple stories REER OF MRS. ELLIS. (WITH A PORTRAIT). THE readers of the Family Friend have, no doubt, derived pleasure from the perusal of the interesting tale by Mrs. Ellis, the "Mother's Mistake," which is concluded in the present volume; and they will, we think, be desirous of having some particulars respecting the distinguished authoress. The following notices may be relied upon as authentic and impartial. For a writer of many books, Mrs. Ellis is singularly unknown to the public in her personal character; so much so, that she might almost be said scarcely to have made the acquaintance of a single reviewer, nor ever to have done anything to conciliate the favour of one. How far this has been a disadvantage to her as an authoress, it might be difficult to decide; but certainly, for one who values comfort more than distinction, and independence more than favour, a life of retirement and obscurity has much to recommend it in the way of enjoyment, and especially much to recommend it to a domestic woman. The early life and habits of all writers have undoubtedly much to do with the general style of their works. That of Mrs. Ellis was spent entirely in the country, and in a peculiarly independent manner. Her affections through a motherless girlhood were drawn out by nature, rather than society. Her love of animals, and her power of winning them into companionship, was extraordinary. Her delight, too, in all that was lovely or sublime in scenery led her often into habits of solitary musing, which her subsequent high sense of practical duty had much difficulty in correcting. It is probably owing to causes of this nature, as well as a naturally imaginative temperament, that Mrs. Ellis has been able to blend, in no very ordinary manner, a certain amount of romance with her reality; or, in other words, an intense love of art and appreciation of beauty, with considerable practical usefulness. In her native home, situated on the eastern coast of Yorkshire, Mrs. Ellis, for the purpose of illustrating certain moral truths, supposed by her to be of great importance to the well-being of society. These stories, under the general title of "Pictures of Private Life," appeared in three volumes, at intervals of about one year, and were published by Messrs. Smith and Elder,-to whom the writer was introduced by her highly valued friend, Thomas Pringle, the noble and enterprising advocate of the rights of South Africa. At his hospitable house at Highgate, Miss Sarah Stickney first became acquainted with the literary circle of which he formed the most valued link. But losing him, she lost all desire to seek any other literary association; and, retiring to her home in the north, she there wrote, first the genuine work of her heart, "The Poetry of Life," a series of essays, in two volumes; and next after that, a story, in three volumes, entitled, "Home; or, the Iron Rule." These were both published by Messrs Saunders and Otley. Mrs. Ellis's next work-and the first after her marriage with the Rev. William Ellis-was that by which she is best known as a writer, "The Women of England." A fact, perhaps more curious than uncommon, is worthy of observation in connection with this volume. Mrs. Ellis has often been heard to say, that of all she ever wrote this work had least to do with her own private feelings, cost her the least thought, and was committed to the printer's hands with the least care about its failure or success; while, on the other hand, those works upon which she bestowed the most feeling, thought, and consequent anxiety-those which she sent forth with something like the love of a mother for a favourite child-were the least esteemed by the public; or, at all events, were the most limited in their circulation. These were the "Poetry of Life;" and, at a much later period, "Prevention better than Cure." In all probability the publishers of "The Women of England" "expected as little from the work as the author herself did. The copyright was sold to Messrs. Fisher and Son, for a comparatively trifling sum. The work had a rapid and extensive sale. Its title was a happy one; and, beyond this, SKETCH OF THE LITERARY CAREER OF MRS. ELLIS. it had the good fortune to embody in its pages what many people had been thinking, and were thinking at the time, without finding expression for. In considering the wonderful success of this very simple work, Mrs. Ellis has often been heard to express the opinion, that any writer of common sense who is fortunate enough to discover, and take up, the subject about which many minds have felt, perhaps, rather than thought, may easily write a book that will pass through eighteen or twenty editions, provided only they are lucky in the title, and, above all, are first in the field. To come afterwards into the same field, even with a tenfold amount of skill and talent, is a very different affair. Mrs. Ellis made the experiment with three other volumes on the Mothers, Wives, and Daughters of England; but these, though very superior in some respects, and tolerably successful, never attained the popularity of the first. Soon after the "Women of England" appeared, Mrs. Ellis commenced a series of stories under the title of, "Family Secrets." These were published by the same parties in monthly numbers, and found a very extensive sale. They were written with the view of introducing the subject of temperance, on which the author was much interested, to a class of readers which at that time the great question of total abstinence had scarcely reached; and for all the repugnance-and it was not a little-which attended both the writing and the first issue of these stories, the author was more than rewarded by the tokens of sympathy which attended their reception in various quarters, as well as by the incalculably large number of copies that were sold. "The Sons of the Soil," a poem descriptive of rural life and scenery, appeared about the same time; and subsequently, while residing in the South of France, "Summer and Winter in the Py renees." During the period of her connection with Messrs. Fisher and Son, Mrs. Ellis edited for many years "The Juvenile Scrap-Book ;" and for some time, "The Drawing-Room Scrap-Book." At a later period, she wrote two other stories in monthly numbers, which were published by Messrs. Tallis and Co. The first of 369 these was entitled, "Social Distinction ;" the second, "Self-Deception." Altogether, Mrs. Ellis has written more books than it would be easy for an ordinary memory to recollect. She has generally laboured with a sound moral aim; and that she has laboured earnestly, too, her enemies, if she has any, would be candid enough to admit. At the same time, however, it must be allowed that so much writing, without any very extensive range of subjects, must almost necessarily lead to repeating truisms. This, however, is in some measure atoned for by untiring ingenuity of invention, and by considerable knowledge of human character, which enables her to impart an air of reality and truth to her descriptions. The very nature of some of Mrs. Ellis's works, specifying as they do the most minute and practical of social and domestic duties, has also involved her in a somewhat dictatorial style of writing, which has sometimes given offence where she would have been much more happy to conciliate; drawing, very naturally, upon herself a spirit of retort, and inquiry as to how far, in her own habits, she acts out what she preaches to others. Inquiries of this nature Mrs. Ellis has been able to endure with considerable composure, her life being, as already stated, one of a peculiarly domestic nature; so much so, that to all who knew her best, and especiallyto herself, her books are but as an accident in her experience, having very little to do with the chief objects of her life. One of these is worthy of mention here, as affording much practical data on which to found her opinions of the moral wants of human nature, and the necessary training of youth in a manner calculated to supply those wants. For the last eight years Mrs. Ellis, in connection with an intimate friend, has had the superintendence of a school for young ladies; and in the general plans and conduct of this school, many of her ideas of the qualifications necessary for an honourable, useful, and happy female character, are attempted to be carried out. How far this attempt has been productive of the results so much to be desired, the next generation of Englishwomen will be better able to say than those of the present. |