The literary reputation of Madame de Genlis is so well
established, that the public are readily disposed to anticipate pleasure from every
new production of her cultivated mind; and we have satisfaction in acknowledging,
after having perused the volumes before us, that disappointment has not superseded
expectation. We regret that this ingenious lady should have had reason for
complaining of the insidious enemy Calumny: but, if she
has been enabled to support its injustice with the fortitude inspired by conscious
innocence, (such as she de-[Page 187]scribes to be the recompense of the injured
Pauline,) she will not (as a moralist) regret the experience, whatever painful
sensations it may have occasioned.

The Rival Mothers are two ladies who enter the lists
of competition on the subject of maternal affection. If they do not stand on fair
and
equal ground respecting pretension, since they cannot both be the mother, they meet
at least on the point of conduct. Each makes an important sacrifice to the little
idol Léocadie:— the sacrifice of reputation is offered
by one to the preservation of the infant; and that of parental intercourse and
endearment is endured by the other, for the maintenance of
her reputation. Yet, as the latter incessantly demonstrates, by the frequent
testimonials of unremitting superintendence, that her heart never relaxes on the
affectionate interests of maternal love and duty, Solomon himself might have been
puzzled to decide which was the real parent; while the extravagant personal fondness
of Pauline might have contributed to impose on even his sagacity.

The narrative of the novel is pleasing and interesting. The characters, indeed, are
delineated à la française; and exceptions consequently
arise against a few occasional tints of unnatural colouring; which, by overstepping
the modesty of nature, gives too much the semblance of romance to the work, and is
not adapted to that species of writing in which, the author tells us, the story is
meant as a vehicle to convey the principles of sound and pure morality. We also
differ from Madame de Genlis on the
subject of reputation. Her heroine, Pauline, stands chargeable with gross
inconsistencies on this head. She is represented as tremblingly alive to general
sensibility on the subject of virtue, yet she is apparently indifferent to its
appropriate estimation in the opinion of others; and she throws away her good name,
"as 'twere a careless trifle."—She is attacked by the grossest calumny:—accused of
adultery, hypocrisy, and falsehood;— yet she writes to her friend—''Do not bewail the loss of my reputation; it is of all the illusions of life, that which I regret the
least and despise the most.' Of what value, then, is the jewel reputation; if
such apathy, is to be attached to it?—By this indifference to character, Madame de Genlis loses sight of her
professedly supreme object, the encouragement and improvement of morals; since the
desire of being esteemed by the world, if it ought not to be the primum mobile of our actions, must at least be admitted
as a stimulating principle, without which the current of virtue would be liable to
stagnate. Though often a charming human creature, this
lady is but too apt to degenerate into a French court
lady; one moment, we admire her; the next, we despise the formal painted
wooden [Page 188]doll. We turn with disgust from the allegoric garden, the
romantic machinery, and the theatrical personifications; and we would also gladly
erase the many unnatural events that crowd her novel: yet let us remember that French
and English Nature differs, and that the author is
acquainted only with the former;— whom we consider as a degenerate goddess.

The style of these letters is sprightly and animated, bidding defiance to the foul
fiend Ennui.—The translator of a work of this kind
finds it almost impossible to transfuse into another language that spirit and
vivacity, with that beautiful and elegant tour de
phrase, which so peculiarly characterize the French writers of eminence; and
mere fidelity produces flatness and insipidity. In many passages, however, the
present translator is successful in catching a ray of the author’s illuminated
pencil; and the version of the ingenious lines with the double sens, found in the oratory, is extremely well executed.