TIIE CLANDESTINE MARRIAGE, AND THE SISTERS.

THESE VOIR:TICS :AFC well fitted to contribute towards realizing CRAY'S notion of Paradise—" to lounge upon 0 sofit and read new novels." Not that they display any striking genius or compre- hensive obsert :aka, but because they will very pleasantly en- gage the mind, without exciting it to the impatience or restless- ness that approachss pain ; anti NViliC11, by 'dirt by, never resu'..ts from It judichaus imitation of' nature. Both the stories of Miss NVALLACE are sufficiently interesting to carry the reader along: and though they may not in their main tsairse truly reflect the probabilities of hih., yet all the accessories are natural enough. Without any gustat dramatic power over character, slue draws her persons slightly butt consistsatly,aod inves:s some with rather strik- ing traits of individuality. Her dialogue is very often sprightly, and her reflections apt and fresh. Miss WALLACE is filSO hi critic and a connoisseur, and varies her pages with some just observations on poetry and the arts. But perhaps her elder excellence is in the exhibition of every-day female character, and of feat de husband- hunting arts, if' that can be called art which shows what ought to be concealed. The :\Iisses 'Thornhill are capital in their war : none but a female could have hit them off' so truly witlumt rendering them disgusting ; perhaps none but a feimule would have ventured to have drawn them as they art. The apparent object of Miss WALLAVE in both her tales, is to impress upon her sex that marriiige is not absolutely essential to female respectability; and, whether so or not, is unlikely to be at• 1:uilled by obviously buying-out tbr it. 'Without goiti.r, into the story of either tale, which might diminish the pleasure of' (lie reader, and front the slightness of both could not be (lone very dectut(..1.‘, use may say that the writer's school is that ()I' sliss minute picture of (summon characters and (summon events in the upper el tss of middle life, with a passing sketch (uf society above them. She is perhaps lees chiborately finished and less purely natural than Alias A cs.rEs ; anii lass labsured than .d.ISS ;NIAIITINE117, which renders liar pictures lighter in effect.

The greater part or t Is. settee in both tales is laid in the country; Miss WALL wu: having, apoarently, but little nequaintanue with town lire beyond exhibitions and great parties. And here, to the life, is 4 vir.r.ser. (tussle.

Now flue ),hstoss hspt two iiisi4-ssrvallus ,o01 a toon—an elderly respect-

able• !Woking Wan, sthn 41111 Mit Wwir a liVerV ut lln•V laul it varril:4e, but no

horses; which tlie people of NYargrave tool. loi. grailied was a retie of better Clout's, Nlorcover, the Wargrave people wotidt•red who w is 01 al b•1111 I.11 the garde'', is they 1111(1 heard of no gardener, and of course il (mold fiat he ex- peetsit that ii Irmo :sir of livery would stoop I o make hittlytlf generally useful : nail they charitably wondered how poor 'Mrs. Nlertnit would he utile to get on with only one house-maid, and seven bed-roams, or eight, they were not quite sure which; and indeed, they wondered how she could possibly take a house

which had so many more rooms than she could want. Again, they were at fault with regard to her exact age: they hail thought, the first Sunday that she came to church, that she was an elderly 'oman; and the next Sunday, by a uatund transition, they pronounced her :mite a young woman, and indeed wondered if those two tall girls could possibly he her own daughters ; and then the married ladies, who had daughters of their own, pitied Mrs. Merton for haviog two such remarkably plain daughters ; and the single ladies said, behind the married ladies hacks, that it MIS very easy to know Irhy Mrs. Brown and jUrs. Hobson and Mrs. Clapton talked so, Ibr the :Miss Mertons were a great dLtal ladter.looking than their poor girls. Then all the holies together pitied 'Mrs. Merton for bringing two girls to such an out-of the-way place asWargravo, where tlo•re was now scarcely any society, and where she could get no good masters—as tIeLy found to their to:4 with their girls; and they asked each other how she exp,atted her daughters to settle in such a place—for they supposed she did not expect to live for ever ; with several other pleas :nit que:dions. which to this day remained unanswered. But though the curiosity id' everybody was very strong. I ant happy to state that their sense of propriety was much stronger. Nobody would call on Mrs. Merton until somebody leni called nest, or until somebody had found out who she was. • She might he a swi totter, or a Rmnan Catholic, or : this last conjecture was only expressed by a long shake of the limit.

PEMALE CONVERSATION AND EDUCATION.

The Misses Thornhill and a :Miss Ford, v. I. had stepped in to pay a morn- , ing visit. kept up, however, a very lively tliftlogue without her aid. They had two or three imprwtant matters to discuss. They could not de- tide whether Mr. Franklin haled hest in a Intown or a claret coat ; they lotd not made up their minds whether Mr. 'Mapleton deserved to be called Moat- some or not; and they wee,. micertain of the influence which a full uniferm would have upon Copia:ft Nugent's beauty, Mr beautiful they all pronounced hint to he.

Daring their argot:tent, Miss Denham fell into a reverie concerning the

education 01 Woiiieit ' what part of it was so radii:filly detiadiye iti.inliOnS ! to cause such a wad misapplitration of their pow,rs, such ill-root:Med thoughts. It usis not that they were !mot supplied Vii I :011eient knowledge, bceause or.o.ioo ii th, koowkage wInch ii o qui rod by compulsion :no: forgot ten at ones. or at the In-it learned reluetantly, awl therefore imperfeetty. hoe be- lesi; or oiyortooit:,, is needful Mr h, ne.plireinent of tb.4,14 know- led.to tin-it is often suppoed: a woman who h !sail taught to read, write, and cipher, bolds in ber band the key to every scleme, every branch or learning. She mhailded if it wils wke in any station to do tome than enable a woman to

help herself to knowle4e it' she wished for it. Somethiog import:lot not-t

bale been omitted in the c. of the Thornbitls, and hundreds like them. to oorasion thuir grievous frienlity. They had rou'iyed as nonth moral instroes ties as was customary ; nod report spoke favourably of their kindness to 1Iwir poor neigithiens, niol of their general behaviour io seriou, matters. Bat t bey cauhl not corral from the commonest observer their inordinate vanity, ii 1 the impLitienee with whieh they looked forward to marriage aS the st,onmabt b.,- ?mu. She ',visited that women could value IL, admiration of the other sex at its exact worth : or fmilio, that that they oIl lit coovioced their vidldo efforts to :Ittain it defeated their own end.

LOVE OE ADMIRATION IN IVO:III:N.

She Filial that it Wai eortadtilv foolish to mind the remarks of silly people, but they were just the reit:al.:is 'she always (111 mind. 'Wise remarks might i it disagree:dile. but they cbriLl it vs./id; whereas front silly oliservations yoa reaped nothing hut tte vexation. sitie tliongl.t it Waft a bad habit to j,' it oft the sohjeet of love am/ inarritige, partly hecatt.... they. were not jesting sulijects, and pacti% bccamm it was very Mkt; ions for gie', to built of nothing: else. Fanny thougld it was a vulgar ; bat die to know N,hy 3uss Deidiam „1„..

je:!f...1 to it : she :stis: wislo :I to be married.

" 'filen," said Nliss I they liv iuo means wish for a positive good,

but in many enses great au t; lasting evil. Now it does not :Teak well for

their sense to desire it, the abstract so uncertain a thing; and this habit girls to angle for tho admiration, if' not l'or the lomil of every digit de man they meet will 'flit. is another proof of want of sense ; for although every sensible woolatt wili plize the good opinion of imam of' talent and high cliaracte,:, adimr.tnan ot law,t men is Ii -101'6'14 111/1111 Ilualities for which at wanion has little l'Ca"soll to esteem herself: They admire cowardice ; they ad- mire ignurance ; they admire trifling; they admire an elaborate toilet, (to pro- duce which more time, thrtught, and money are expended than most women have any right to spare :) they admire high attainnment in accom1lish:in:1ms, though they know it los ix ell purchased by the sacrifice of most hots wrant duties; they admire ill.tempes, it' it is prettily displayed, and lint directed themsehes; uli to,.:afre what they cannot respect, and women, un- luckily, would rather be id shed even a little thart respceted very much.

A ourricAr, rocoltd:m.

Mr. Alaplet on was certain that Aliss 1/eultam was a prolleient in music. She dbelatmed it, to K.. sure ; left then lie was used to put circumstances to- gether, and he had come to the conclusion that she was a second Thalberg ; and therefore she was the proper person to solve at tloulo Mr him. if she Ivould be so obliging,. She 1V15 aware of the outrageous :1,11111r:it ion bestowed by En,- lisltmen Num Italian singers ; now was it setting thshion aside, that that generality (if people could apie,:ciate a degree of perfect:on that English pro- 'fessors were nimble to attain?

liss Denham bad no reasmt to give for her opinion, but s' .e thought they could. Slit' hurl remarked. jim painting and semilpture. that those efforts of art were still admired whirli had for ages remained unequalled. She thought the pswer to admire outstripped the power to perform.

"I'mmilouldemlly," replied Al r. Alaplcton "but (dies not tin' one bear an

exact proportion to the other? A nation that can only produce artists of at certain degree or ex,...11, m.o. ram only in the iin.ss appreciate excellence to at cer- tain 1,suit, do not speak of those Mho dm-ott. their lives to any particular alquirement, and who, ti. h.011.`. 111V Itilk to comprehend at/ i/Vini/oto the greatness they mere striving after." But there are sumo thing,: not possible to neottire niusie mid paint ing- poetry for instanee. t ytot do not deny a pereeptim Of the Charms oi1

poetry to thme mho cantata prodtlet. it ?''

" 1:: no conv do I deny the perception to individuals; hot I slim:111 judge of the enjoyme at that It nation received i'caui poetr■ by that which it has produced." RAININC, la.NOwl.Elot;

APPRECIATION.

it Afier all, it is liltrcciatiotl rather than .praise that is delightful," said Mr. Mapleton. " artist, for instance, how tired he must be of hearing his pic- tures called beautiful, exquisite !'—of bring told for the hundredth time that he hiss surpassed himself: but let any tow point out to him one of his own thoughts on the CaliVaSS, which he supposed likely to escape the general eye, and how grateful it is."

wOMEN TIlE ltEsT JI:Dnusa or REAt'TY.

" it is rare to hear from a lady such a candid aeknowlodgment of another's beauties," s:60. Mr. .11/e Lacy. " Do you think so? " said Kate : " now, it has always occurred to me, that women are pine to admit one of their own sex to he beautiful, if she is SO; hut they are nal ura'lly more fastidious than men."

" Why so: "

Id.eause they rend more poetry, and more frequently lerrrn to draw and paint, en ,l Ill, renal. have a more true perception of what beautiful than men have. 'They tinoty %% hen a Mee offends against preporlito, and harooMV more readily than tie it, and therefore are accused of' behig envious of tin said face's charms. Nita, generally think a WOmall pretty, it' she is large and lively, an if she takes pleasure io their society." Ono of tiomismiTt11:4 rules for the formation of a connoisseur was, always to observe "that the picture WI iii Iti hall. been better if the painter had taken niore pains." We do not say that this remark tyldios to The Clandestine .7111arriaLte and 7110, Sister8 ; for there is an ease and finish about the execution, vhich is generally the result of care. Ilut, botb wen,. would have been better had the fair writer studied fiction as an art : and by art we do not mcall the vulg,ar idea. which associates the name of artist with a certain degree of na_clatnieal acquirement, and dubs with that title every two-legged animal that can " draw from nature." ( ht the c,nt.- try art, in its higher meaning, is a pit-sly intellectual faculty— at tiit applied to the exercise ot a particular pursuit. Art utnaot add a magic value to any one's materials; nor eon it impart the t-ivifying power necessary to invest them t ith life. But art can giyo a s,,,mbig addition, by eta;,t 1 ag on!' IllatIU1' In In' used to the best advantage, and by Pre' ability from wasting or mis- l'IroItS. To iliustrat, meaniag In- reference to the tales butitre us, nothing, as a genei::1 rule, should ever be intro-

duced into a tvork of art which In:. there : but several

of :'-hiss NV.% dialogues are of this kind: and. however clever or lively, resemble " passages tilat 1nd to nothing." The same rule applies to charaetcrs--their us.: may he very slight, like the • I servant" or " officer" of a play : but they shotild have some connexion with the story or the peuonsiii it2Y-Iiich is scarcely the case with Lath! Anne I■caumont. A title. a.t itt. sh..uld have some

foundation in work itself,—which "The i 1: st ate 1arriage

hardly it is only upon reflection. after h k i ni,thed, th.11 dn. r remembers what marriage : Funny would have been at nore appropriate name. The hr. aking-off of Fanny's first match. a:tal the death of her fuller, are ton a.brupt and sudden- enougn in a melodrama, but too melodramatic for a book ; ; and die conclusion wants roundness and completeness.

'f he deii:cts of the heroes toad tine's ChatS not, perhaps. to he altog,etht r ant:I:tinted to want of :rt. 1. alt to a deficiency NV:ilt.'11 few

minds can thoroughly supply. ti.is as it may. the heroes of