ART. IV.-1. The Women of England, &c. by Mrs. Ellis. Fifteenth Edition.

2. Memoir of Mrs. Ann H. Judson, &c. London, 1830.

"WE have many valuable dissertations upon female character, as exhibited on the broad scale of virtue ; but no direct definition of those minor parts of domestic and social intercourse which strengthen into habit, and consequently form the basis of moral character."

"Had I not known before the commencement of this work, its progress would soon have convinced me, that in order to perform my task with candour and faithfulness, I must renounce all idea of what is called fine writing; because the very nature of the duty I have undertaken, restricts me to the consideration of subjects, too minute in themselves to admit of their being expatiated upon with eloquence by the writer-too familiar to produce upon the reader any startling effect."

We would adopt these words from Mrs. Ellis as prefatory to our own remarks on the same subject. A book that, within a few years, has gone through fifteen editions, stands in no need of our commendations. With many defects of style, Mrs. Ellis is a valuable observer on what she aptly terms "the minor morals of domestic life." To us, she appears to lay undue stress on that golden time, the date of which it is difficult to ascertain, when people were infinitely wiser, better and happier than they now are. There is likewise something ornate and ambitious in her style, which leaves the impression that she had rejected a great many simple words and phrases, without, after all, hitting upon a very happy mode of expression. Nor do we assent to the exclusive nationality of the characteristics, good or bad, which she attributes to English women. Having noticed, as in critical duty bound, these defects in the book before us, we proceed to the pleasanter work of recommending it to our country-women. It abounds in practical and practicable hints on relative duty; in accurate sketches of domestic life, and in warm appeals to what is best and most loveable in the feminine character. Take as a sample the following passage, answering the question, "For what is woman most valued, admired, and beloved ?"

"In answer to this, I have little hesitation in saying,-For her disinterested kindness. Look at all the heroines, whether of romance or reality-at all the female characters that are held up to universal admiration—at all who have gone down to

honoured graves, amongst the tears and the lamentations of their survivors. Have these been the learned, the accomplished women; the women who could speak many languages, who could solve problems, and elucidate systems of philosophy? No: or if they have, they have also been women who were dignified with the majesty of moral greatness-women who regarded not themselves, their own feebleness, or their own susceptibility of pain, but who, endued with an almost superhuman energy, could trample under-foot every impediment that intervened between them and the accomplishment of some great object upon which their hopes were fixed, while that object was wholly unconnected with their own personal exaltation or enjoyment, and related only to some beloved object, whose suffering was their sorrow, whose good, their gain.

"Woman, with all her accumulation of minute disquietudes, her weakness, and her sensibility, is but a meagre item in the catalogue of humanity; but, roused by a sufficient motive to forget all these, or, rather, continually forgetting them because she has other and nobler thoughts to occupy her mind, woman is truly and majestically great.

"Never yet, however, was woman great, because she had great acquirements; nor can she ever be great in herself-personally, and without instrumentality-as an object, not an agent."

These doctrines will bear transplantation into any climate; the details of duty vary, but the principles are steadfast. We have selected the above passage, as a fair specimen of what we have blamed as well as what we have praised in Mrs. Ellis' style. The first paragraph is clear and unmistakeable; the second is rather superfine. If, however, we rightly understand her meaning, we entirely agree with her; a woman makes an admirable adjective, enhancing the value of the noun to which she is joined, but is of comparatively little value when standing alone.

It may appear rather an abrupt transition from domestic life in England, to the biography of an American Missionary in Burmah; but we feel that there is no incongruity between the two subjects. Mrs. Judson's narrative exhibits the practical working of the principles Mrs. Ellis enforces. And, though few who read these pages, have exactly the same field of duty that lay before the wife of a Christian Missionary, yet we believe no woman desirous of doing right can read Mrs. Judson's memoir without benefit.

It would be a pleasant task to study and sketch the characters of those women who, within the last thirty years, have

landed on these shores as the wives of Missionaries. From a like number, in any other position, it would be difficult to select so many who have done honor to their sex and religion, and we have never heard of one who brought disgrace on either. In our Mofussil stations, Missionaries, especially if they be not the accredited agents of the Established Church, are exceedingly little known to those among whom they reside. There is often a lamentably exclusive spirit on one side, particularly among the clergy, which we are bound to say does not exist on the other. A chaplain will rarely, if ever, listen to the sermon or prayer of a dissenter; but we never met a dissenter who objected to join in the worship or receive the instructions of a churchman. Let us not quarrel with light, because it does not come through our own windows. If we see one casting out devils,'-exorcising the evil spirits of ignorance and idolatry,in the Saviour's name, are we to forbid him, because he followeth not with us?' He, by whose name we call ourselves, has answered that question.

Often, on reaching some place which we knew to be a Missionary station, have we felt grieved and surprised at the apathy and ignorance shewn by the lay inhabitants of a cantonment when the Misionaries were mentioned. Frequently, they seem hardly aware of the existence in their immediate neighbourhood of people whose business it is 'to proclaim the glad tidings;' or they speak disparagingly of them and their labours. We have afterwards visited the little Apostolic colony, and there we have seen, as at Agra, children who have been rescued from starvation, crime or slavery, taught the word of God, instructed in the arts of civilized life, and habituated to its comforts: a little leaven working in the inert mass around. Or, as at Futtygur, we have found not only mental and religious instruction going forward, but an important manufacture established, sufficient, if we mistake not, to cover the expences of the orphan school and mission; or as at Loodiana, we have seen the scriptures, and other books, translated, printed, and circulated in a variety of languages. And, what is still more important, we have, at each establishment seen a little community diffusing divine truth, not merely by direct preaching, but by the mute eloquence of example. Those who have never visited these Missionary locations, would probably be surprised to find their domestic skill, mechanical dexterity, intellectual culture, and even refined taste. The Mission premises are generally beyond the limits of the cantonment, and form a little world in itself: an orphan school, a printing press, a workshop, a garden, a chapel and a burying-ground, are all frequently to be seen within

the enclosure, where every thing breathes the air of quiet activity, habitual cheerfulness, and exquisite order. The burialground conveys to an old Indian, home feelings that are rarely aroused in this country. With scarcely an exception, we all cherish the hope of ending our days at home, and almost every European grave in India is the record of an untimely death. Even, among those who have relinquished the prospect of returning to Europe, few can guess where their bodies will be laid; very few can look at the grave of a wife, a child, or a brother, and anticipate being buried in the same spot. A Missionary family however have not only renounced their native land, to live and die among the heathen, but have usually restricted themselves to a given field of labour. One after another of their slender band is removed; now an infant, now a mother; perhaps the patriarch of the enterprize, or, it may be, one in the vigor and prime of life, who had just devoted himself to the work. Each is laid in the quiet enclosure on which his eyes had daily rested; and of the survivors, each reckons on being sooner or later buried there too.

Among the pioneers of Missionary enterprize in Asia, the Judsons shine conspicuously. They were natives of Massachusetts, in the United States; he had resolved on a Missionary life before he became acquainted with Miss Hasseltine, and she counted her cost when she married Mr. Judson. It is pleasant to observe the spirit in which this couple undertook their work, and to watch this steady operation of the same principles throughout their career. Mr. Judson, when asking Mr. Hasseltine's consent to the marriage, writes thus

"I have now to ask you whether you can consent to part with your daughter, early next spring, to see her no more in this world; whether you can consent to her departure for a heathen land, and her subjection to the hardships and sufferings of a Missionary life; whether you can consent to her exposure to the dangers of the ocean, to the fatal influence of the southern climate of India; to every kind of want and distress; to degradation, persecution, insult, and perhaps a violent death. Can you consent to all this, for the sake of Him who left his heavenly home, and died for her and you; for the sake of perishing, immortal souls; for the sake of Zion, and the glory of God?" -(Page 52).

In a similar strain writes his betrothed to a female friend.* "I feel willing, and expect, if nothing in Providence prevent, to spend my days in this world in heathen lands. *** My deter

* Mrs. H. Tighe.

minations are not hasty, or formed without viewing the dangers, trials and hardships attendant on a Missionary life. Nor were my determinations formed in consequence of an attachment to an earthly object; but, with a sense of my obligations to God, and with a full conviction of its being a call in providence, and consequently my duty. My feelings have been exquisite in regard to this subject. Now, my mind is settled and composed, and is willing to leave the event with God,-none can support me under trials and afflictions but him. In him alone, I feel a disposition to confide."—(Page 54).

These may appear only the glowing expressions of youthful enthusiasm, for the writer had scarcely passed her twentieth year, and her affections had just been given to the man with whom she was "to spend her days in this world in a heathen land;" but the event proved that there was no self-deception. These words were written, on the 8th of September, 1810, and it was on the 23d October, 1826, that Mrs. Judson closed her career. During the sixteen intervening years, her confidence in God was assailed by many a tempest, but it fell not, because it was founded upon a rock.'

When the Judsons, accompanied by some other Missionaries, landed at Calcutta in February 1812, they received a welcome not unlike that which awaited certain other individuals, who once arrived at Thessalonica on a similar errand, "These that have turned the world upside down, are come hither also." The admission into India of any one not in the Company's Service, was in those days deemed objectionable by the local Government; and those who came to preach Christianity to the heathen, were considered doubly formidable. Our business, however is not at present to criticise our rulers, but to trace the outline of an exemplary female character, we will, therefore, only remark, that being deported from the Company's territories, and finding no eligible opening for their labours in the Isle of France, the Judsons embarked for Rangoon.

The work before us is chiefly composed of Mrs. Judson's letters and extracts from her private diaries. These are exceedingly interesting, and exhibit in simple, unambitious language, the good sense, piety, and fortitude that characterized her life. It strikes us as one great beauty in her character that she wholly merged her own tastes and pursuits in those of her husband. She was willing, not only to labour for the good of others, but to study exactly what kind of work devolved properly on the wife of a Christian Missionary. In every case, a wife is useful and happy just in proportion as she can thus identify herself with her husband. He may have a thousand