I was living a chapter in some one of Miss Austin’s novels.
The work which I have now the pleasure of introducing, is of the familiar and living class whose progress I have thus slightly endeavoured to sketch. It contains a
"Living lay,
Familiar matter of to-day;
The natural loss and pain
That has been, and may be again."
"Duty and Inclination" are too often at war with each other in this world of trial and of trouble. To show how the very contest works together for ultimate good, how the character is strengthened and elevated by the contest, has been our author's object.
Hopes that deceive, yet leave behind
A better state within the mind;
The meek and yet exalted mood
Of strong, yet tender, fortitude—
Such is the material wrought up in the following pages; such is the course here traced of "Duty and Inclination." It cannot fail to excite the sympathies of the young, while it must equally satisfy the judgment of the old. Among the characters, I shall only permit myself to draw attention to those
