REVIEW.

Auckland Star, Volume XIX, Issue 3961, 10 April 1883, Page 4

REVIEW.

" Everything is Possible to Will," by Ellen E, Ellis.

To the every-day philosopher, there is no occupation moro Intensely interesting than to study the faces of the people one meets in the by.paths of life and speculate upon the causes that have traced each wrinkle and furrow, or rounded tho features into contented comeliness. And the employment may be pleasantly diversified by picturing in imagination the old age of aome freah, fair face, when the bloom and sunshine of' happy youth shall have been changed into the autumn leaf. We know as well as though the process were already going on, how the line 3of gentleness and clinging affection denote a heart that will wither and die before the blast of cold neglect, while under other and happier sur- | rounding. it may become a source of inexhaustible joy to everyone brought within the I radius of its influence. Anon, we note Ihe mlschie.ous twinkle from fun's eyea, that bears the promise of a su.dued but cheetful maturity, but which may, p'rehance, harden into the fiery glare of the shrew. Then there is the independent, high-spirited girl, who will produce equally well the trusted helpmeet, the baue of some poor henpecked creature's existence, or the dogmatising blue-stocking. No doubt, strongly marked character will rise superior to its environments and bend circumstance, to its will, but, even so, it c.nnot wholly escape from the thraldom of its surroundings, Cromwell wai a character of a very pronouuced type, but ho might have remained nothing more than a successful brewer till the end of hia days but for the fo'ly of King Charh-s the First; aud General ijraot, who made a veiy indifferent tanner, rose to honour and fame upou the seething waves of popular tumult. Without the opportuni y of a deplorablo civil war his military talent would have continued d, rmant; and he possessed no other quality -troug enough to force him upwards to the Presidential ctmir. Now, the writer of the book before us traces wiih a pencil more prosaic than tbe fancy of any nineteenth century phi.osopher, »the seating of adversity's lines upon the face and character of one human being. Narrating under the garb of story the history of her own life, she lays bare with unsparing hand all the workings of her own heart, its hopes and feats and disappointments ; its serious and petty cares and trials; and the gradual moulding of her character in the fires ot a hard experience. The lirst thought which a perusal ol the book suggests, however, is the inappropriatencss of the title—it is a misnomer, 'How Little is Possible to Will," or " We are Creatures of Circumstance," would have better described the current ol the story. The book opens with a picture of a well-meaning frolicsome but dull girl, continually ia trouble over her lessons, -he ha? all the will to learn, but utterly lacks the capacity, and ber sisters wi-.h halt the toil carry off all the honours. " Will" goes for vtiy little in this part of the narrative-and its most conscientious efforts do not save the girl from frequent punishment and the ahame of tbe dunce's atool As the story progresses we find the heroine, md one ot her more talented sisters, the object of attentions from what the parents consider a highly eligible suitor. The ri.tir ij really iv love with him, and does her bes6 to win bis regard. The heroine (Zee), on the conttary, is wholly iudill-rent, but by a strange perversity oo fixes hia affections upon her. Here, again, " will" accomplishes nothing, and a sort of blind chance decides the game. The sister, eager to capture tbi_ d.liying wooer, is finally left with a ore heart, and Zee, whose indifierence amounts almost to aveision, marries him.

ho consequence is tbat the sister, against her will, leads a life of ease and happiness with a more worthy husband, and, equally against her will and foresight, Zee marries a man whose habitualdrunk.nnessisonlyone of many unainiable vices. Zee's after life is pursued by the same adverse fate over-rul-ing all her good purposes. (She strives with ,11 the intensity of an earnest and strongwilled woman to win her husbaud from his .vicioua habits, but utterly without success. Unhappy and disappointed, the contemplates reforming him off tbe face of the earth with a doae of poison and is so doubtful of the power ot her own .ill to prevent tho perpetration of thu crime, that she convulsively hands over the deadly potion to ucr husband with a warning. He, unaffected alike by tear, and threats, pursues tlie even tenor of his dissipated way until a physical etiange iv his constitution, epileptic fits, aud threatening imbecility, bring bim to a stand still, and he becomes a teetotaller. With sobriety, however, returns hia violent temper, Beifishuea., and other aggravating propensities—in none of which thiog. do we see tbat "--veryihingis possible to will," or that will had much t_ no with the matter at any stage.

Tho writ«r perpetually deplores the mijust condition of the law in relation lo married women, which renders the wife the slave of her husbaud—again shewing that her will can make no headway against overpowering adverse inflnencea; and though Mrs Ellis appears to be under the impresui, n ihat if the law had beeu different, Zee's fate would have be*n less harsh, she offers no sufficient reason for believing so, The only road to happiness was by separation from her tormentor, and that alternative was offered to Zee, but the steadily set ber lace against it. Tho book ia both interesting aud instructive, because it unfolds the workings of one human heart with a candour that is rarely ventured upon outside the pages of pure fiction. But it does not teach what the author believes it teaches. Zee's views af her conduct in the early stages of her life ore evidently coloured by the altered opinions of later years. She waa at one time an earnest, and no doubt sincere, adherent to one of the orthodox sects; but having changed .her beliefs— not apparently in the first instance from the breaking in of new intellectual light, but in consequence of come miserable squabble with the pastor and deacons—she afterwards deplores her youthful ardour and appears to regard her sincere profession in the light of hypocrisy. Keflections are plentifully strewn through the narrative, and theso almost invariably assume an exaggerated colouring not drawn from the incidents to which they are attached in the sequence of the story, but arising wholly from the author's present rather strongminded opinions. Her conclusions are often emphasized with that unanswerable feminine utterance, " It is so because I say so," and her approval is given io the same way. In tbe interests of her sex, rather than from any Malthusiau fears, Mrs Ellis believes iv restrictions upon the frequency of maternity, and because Mr Bradlaugh and Mrs Besant have' made themselves conspicuous in this cause, she lavishes upon them praises which Mr Bradlaugh himself would read with an amused amazement. We quote just one passage: " Christ will bo * lifted up' by them (Bradlaugh and Besant) in all bis reforming might, as he has been before in our national history, and they will make men do Christ's work whether they like it or.not." Language like this, applied as it is, gives a rude shock both to our understanding and sense of propriety. In some of the author's sentiments, however, we find no difficulty in concurring. Tbe tyranny of the law aftcctiog married women is a relic of bar. barism, and Conservative England has completely altered it; nor can the change in New Zealand bs long delayed. Of tbe misery and degradation produced by drink, there ia too much melancholy evidence around us, and hundreds of worn creatures in thia city might tell a story more pitiful in its catalogue of sufferings than the life of the ill-fated Zee. Several of the traits in the character of Wiax (Zee's husband)—his meanness, duplicity," and vile temper, might have been touched with a gentler hand. In a small community, and where the identification is so distinct and notorious there could be no good object in exposing foibles which convey to the prying world food only for cruel sporf, without teaching one useful lessoo. Wrax (happily one might almost Bay) did not live to suffer the humiliation which this book would have brought upon him, but the author assures us, in a private note, tbat it was publLhed at his special desire. He could, we opine, hardly have apprehended that the portrait would have posed him in so despicable a light, or he must have taken steps to secure tbe concealment of bis identity. Howbeit, he has passed beyond the reach of our lovo or our hate, and if the lesson of his life cau be of any real service to the world, its publication is perhaps justified. The book is well printed and bound in strong cloth covers, Its price, 3s Cd, is very moderate. No doubt the local interest will induce many to turn with mock curiosity to its pages, and if a study of human nature and not the search for a sensational stoiy inspires their curiosity, they will not lay down the volume wholly disappointed,