Susan Warner (1849-1885), The Wide Wide World (1850), Tauchnitz edition 1854 Produced by Daniel FROMONT _The Wide, Wide World_ as seen by _The North American Review_, January 1853 ' Miss Warner makes her young girl passionate, though amiable, in her temper; fond of admiration, although withheld by innate delicacy from seeking it unduly. She places her in circumstances of peculiar trial to her peculiar traits, and brings her, by careful gradations, to the state of self- governed and stable virtue which fits woman for her great office in the world; a fitness which would be impaired by the sacrifice of a single grace, or the loss of one sentiment of tenderness. To build such a character on any basis other than a religious one, would have been to fix a palace upon the shifting sands . . . Ellen and Fleda are reared, by their truly feminine and natural experiences, into any thing but "strong-minded women," at least if we accept Mr. Dickens's notion of that dreadful order. They are both of velvet softness; of delicate, downcast beauty; of flitting but abundant smiles, and of even too many and ready tears They live in the affections, as the true woman must; yet they cultivate and prize the understanding, and feel it to be the guardian of goodness, as all wise women should They are conscious of having a power and place in the world, and they claim it without assumption or affectation, and fill it with a quiet self-respect, not inconsistent with modesty and due humility. Such is the ideal presented, and with such skill that we seem at times to be reading a biography. There is a sweetness in the conception and execution that makes the heart and the temper better as we read. So much for the _charm_ of the books. But, on the other hand, we are compelled to say that such magisterial lovers as Mr. Carleton and John Humphreys are not at all to our taste, nor do we believe they would in actual presence be very fascinating to most young ladies ' COLLECTION OF BRITISH AUTHORS. VOL. CCCVIII. THE WIDE, WIDE WORLD BY ELIZABETH WETHERELL. IN ONE VOLUME THE WIDE, WIDE WORLD. BY ELIZABETH WETHERELL. _AUTHOR'S EDITION_. LEIPZIG BERNHARD TAUCHNITZ 1854. "Here at the portal thou dost stand, And with thy little hand Thou openest the mysterious gate, — Into the future's undiscovered land I see its valves expand, As at the touch of FATE! — Into those realms of Love and Hate." LONGFELLOW. THE WIDE, WIDE WORLD. CHAPTER I. Breaking the News. "Mamma, what was that I heard papa saying to you this morning about his lawsuit?" "I cannot tell you just now. Ellen, pick up that shawl and spread it over me." "Mamma! — are you cold in this warm room?" "A little, — there, that will do. Now, my daughter, let me be quiet a while — don't disturb me."