The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1855-09-04 00:00:00

SUPPLEMENT TO THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

People b
°f lee y.ntle who had peculiar opportu-
e.ajso a third acquainted with them. We
iy, .. part of " The Imperial. Policy of
.40fgliZg much valuable information on. a
el'Y With which the public is butlittle
to,, • The deli htf 1
t-`4tiee," is g . u story entitled "Zaidee :
fort continued with unabated interest
.4d,t, ,le' of the heroine. In a review of
vet that
cgs Tennyson," the Poet Laureate
itioarims, castigation which his maudlin pro-
, ePter of the Illerits. This is followed byanother
ILlcrtll..v,e amusing " Notes on Canada and
:oht Lifs2t States of America." A paper on
Oti‘,l • ,tat„,_
Phra".l to thare for the Holidays, Part 1.," is
te4,ltl. "teiprgan of slang, vulgarity, and
4' treatB far Life in London," which the
?oeafraec to ,I .too tenderly. Such a paper is
Ile icatitleelllsation. After a spirit-stirring
ittell e'Pteniber Wagram ; or Victory in Death, '
`14.4i,e per
week. onlikuber concludes with a well-
re Villen `` Our beginning of the last
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,peak Learn . .....................-
L. Shawl fp:, a Guide for all who wish, to
The l''. "te Correctly. London : John
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nefeetiv.,—'43e Th 7 the somewhat quaint title of
Prete,-,,early erkled to supply the place of
1:11bp ."411),g• maeation. It is a simple and
aaf; esitioh Praer .. .
„eal f,--, at „leal. guide to punctuation,
higher principles of gram-
the
'4llBtllleti'o4ne. It is well suited to the
the deielase Ntho, b__
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elleies of elementary instruction.
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L'ecoh,.tigie 'neaps for disseminating a taste
rizt4g „,g," the beauty and value of which
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acknowledged by de-
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skill, the attraction is rather
4., ereF it It°t,herwise. The piece we have
illte leottez ; the ' Morceau de salon," composed
. ttitt 111440: second is one of a series of
b"eitik-' cemaposed by Theodore Oesten,
-41 ILe on; lkiggested by certain favourite
434;4 rtittiluefore us being from Rossini's
l ,fotretkoleetedi." The last-named is a
' It '-‘e • °Pen, of " Rigoletto," trans-
' toidclitlll4llll4llo-forte by W. Vincent Wal-
'eted,hen4,,eonsiderable taste and. judg-
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.

1441, :11 s . DY.
kr 14 14 oirroN wrote a novel. -It was
)le.ll extremely pretty study, abounding
4478, china inkstands, gold pens, green-
-448) mother-of-pearl leaf-cutters, musical
4140 f other incentives to literary labour.
•
it were read by the author to his

lady-friends when he paid morning visits to
them, and to gentleman-friends when they partook
of a bachelor dinner with him • the hearers una-
nimously pronounced the work to be extremely
interesting, and the reader fully coincided with
them. Lorton was a man of independent fortune,
and he resolved to publish on his own account.
The proofs were corrected, and the novel came
forth to the world, and Lorton appeared to "awake
one morning and find himself famous," like Byron
after the publication of " Childe Harold." But
book-clubs and country libraries abstained from
ordering it ; the superior reviews passed it over,
the inferior ones thought it needless " to break a
butterfly upon the wheel," therefore dismissed it
with some such remark as, " A commonplace,
insipid novel"—" A work 'singularly deficient in
plot, character, and dialogue."—" We recommend
the author of Cedar Cottage' to let his first work
prove his last,"--and similar little specimens of

mildly caustic disapprobation. Lorton was much
to be pitied ; he had been so confident of the
success of his novel, that he had introduced it
to his friends with a flourish of trumpets, and had
prepared himself most amiably to accept of the
enconiums of the Edinburgh and Quarterly re-
views, a dozen invitations to stay at the country
houses of literary peers of the realm, and a few
friendly notes of congratulation from the leading
novelists of the day.
Poor Lorton ! after building so many delight-
ful castles in the air, it was very mortifying to
find them so suddenly levelled with the ground ;
however, his wounded vanity was destined to be
healed in a very agreeable manner. Authors
who are unfortunate in affairs of the heart, have
been likened to Apollo, who " grasped at love
and filled his arms with bays." Such an exchange
was reversed in the case of Lorton ; the bays
eluded his grasp, but love was favourable to him.
At the house of a friend, Lorton was introduced
to Ellen Tresham, the only daughter of a rich
widow ; she possessed pleasing looks, engaging
manners, an amiable temper, and an independent
fortune, and it was evident that Lorton had made
an impression upon her heart, for Lorton was
young and handsome. Ellen Tresham read Lor-
ton's novel twice through, being the only person
who had ever been known to have subjected
themselves to such a penance. She declared that
it was the very best novel of the season, (she must
have been deeply in love to have thought so !) and
she dimly hinted the possibility that it might have
been kept in the background, owing to the machi-
nations of some of the jealous authors of the day.
Nothing could be more prosperous than the whole
course of Lawton's wooing. Ellen's mother gave
a prompt and cheerful consent to his proposals,
after she had ascertained that he had won the
affections of her daughter ; and even Mr. Brans-
combe, the intimate friend of the family, found
his enquiries respecting Lorton's funded property
and moral character so very satisfactorily answered,
that he did not make himself nearly so disagree-
able as friends of the family are wont to be on
similar occasions. Branscombe, of course, made
all arrangements concerning settlements and pin-
money, and some might have thought him rather
exacting in the latter article, but Lorton received
his dictation in very good part ; he had already
an easy income—Ellen's fortune would make no
contemptible addition to it, and he deemed it per-
fectly consistent that Ellen should have a hand-
some private allowance, feeling assured that she
would never make an imprudent use of it.
The wedding day arrived. Branscombe gave
the bride away. Mrs. Tresham parted from her
daughter with becoming fortitude, knowing that
she was to live within the distance of a mile from
her ; and the young couple took a delightful tour
on the continent, and at the end of two months

returned to Lorton's house, which had been in
great part refurnished in honour of its new
mistress.

A year had elapsed, and Lorton, when the
novelty of married life was over, felt a slight
return of his old trouble—want of occupation,
and said one day to his wife that " he had a great
mind to try his fortune at another novel ; many
Were unsuccessful in a first attempt, who acquitted
themselves extremely well when a little more time
and experience had matured their powers." Ellen
was doubtful what answer to return to her perse-
vering husband ; it was true that "Cedar Cottage,"
as his work, appeared very interesting and clever
in her eyes ; but she was aware that in this
opinion she stood in a minority of one, and that
Lorton's second work would probably be the

means of renewing to him all the vexations and

disappointments of his first. Something of this
kind Ellen ventured to hint to Lorton ; but he
was manifestly so wounded and grieved by
her lukewarmness, that she quickly withdrew her
opposition to his wishes, and the ensuing morning
Lorton seated himself at his writing-table, and
began his second novel. .

When Mrs. Tresham was informed of her son-
in-law's renewed literary labours, she merely
responded " Indeed, my love," to her daughter ;
but when she next saw Branscombe, she expressed
herself with more energy on the subject, saying
that " she thought it quite a pity that Lorton
should mistake his talent so much ; it was very
evident that the public cared nothing about novels,
unless they were extremely well written ; and
there were abundance of ways of spending money
far more desirable than transforming it into
printed sheets of paper, to lay on the shelves of a
publisher's warehouse."
Such a speech from the gentle, placid Mrs.
Tresham, was equal to a lecture or a lampoon
from any other person ; and Branscombe imme-
diately called upon Ellen, and used all his influ-
ence with her to induce her to confer again with
her husband on the subject, and prevail on him
to burn the half-dozen sheets he had already
written of " The Statesman's Daughter," such
being the name of the new novel, for both Ellen
and Lorton had considered that " Cedar Cottage"
was far too simple and unassuming a title, and
that it was desirable that the forthcoming work
should enter the world under a more dignified
appellation. Ellen, however, was quite resolved
not to interfere with the literary propensities of
her hushand ; "he loved employment," she said,
"and what would be more elevating and delightful
than the employment of the pen ? Lorton was
perfectly happy at that moment in his study."
"In proportion to his present happiness," said
Branscombe, " will be his mortification when he
finds that The Statesman's Daughter' will be
quite as much neglected as Cedar Cottage.'

" And are you sure it will be a defeat ?'"- timidly
asked Ellen.

" I was never more sure of anything in my
life," replied Branscombe ; " and it is the office
of a friend, and surely, Ellen, a wife ought to be the
best and truest of friends, to tell poor Lorton that
he is pursuing a cheating phantom, when he gives
chase, a second time, to the capricious goddess
Fame." _ _

" Might not friendship," said Ellen, " be shown
in some other way than by giving unwelcome

admonition ?"
" I am at a loss to know in what way," said
Branscombe ; "but if I can in any manner serve
you or Lorton, Ellen, you must very well know
that you may command my services."
At length, " The Statesman's Daughter" was
completed, and put into the hands of the pub-
lisher of " Cedar Cottage," and in due time was
given forth to the reading world. Public opinion

is proverbially changeable, and it proved to be so
in a remarkable degree on the present occasion.
Two or three of the minor magazines had notices
of it, in which they most ingeniously contrived to
dilate on its few merits, an to extract its best
passages.; and a magazine of graver character
remarked (certainly with much justice) that "it
was written with scrupulous propriety, and that
there was nothing in it which would be at all
dangerous to the morals of the young." It
was advertised with unsparing liberality, and
occasionally appended to the advertisement was a
startling and high-flown encomium on the work,
which purported to be an extract from a publica-
tion denominated " Morning Paper."
" How well I predicted my present success,
dearest Ellen !" said Lorton to his wife. "' Cedar
Cottage' was a crude, hastily-written work ; I
cannot wonder at its failure ; now, in The States-
man's Daughter' I have really written like myself."
" Quite so," replied his wife.

" And," continued Lorton, " the constant sale
of the copies proves, even more plainly than the
praises of the reviewers and newspapers, the esti-
mation in which the public holds my talents ;
the second .edition will be out next week. I
think, Ellen, that I shall certainly write a new
novel every year."
"Will not that be too much for your health ?"
asked Ellen, nervously.
" For my fame, Ellen, I suppose you mean,"
replied her husband ; " I am rather surprised
that you should make such a remark ; but I sup-
pose you gather your opinion of my abilities, not
from the public, but from your particular friend,
Mr. Branscombe."

"Do not mention his name in such a way,"
said Ellen," the tears starting to her eyes ; " he
is a true and real friend to you.".

A conviction had for some time been slowly
stealing on Lorton, that Branscombe had a
stronger regard for Ellen than the friend of a
family ought to have for that family's youngest
and fairest member.

At length Lorton's suspicions were brought
to a point ; he entered the room when Ellen was
reading a letter. _ _

" From Branscombe, I presume," said he,
recognising the peculiar handwriting, as he
looked over her shoulder. "If there are no
secrets in it, Ellen, let us hear how our friend
can have contrived to fill up two sheets of note
paper to you."
Ellen hastily murmured that there was nothing
particular in it.
Lorton's doubts were now painfully increased ;
he called that morning on Mrs. Tresham, and in
the course of conversation asked her, with seem-
ing carelessness, if Branscombe had ever been
the lover of Ellen in her single days.
It was seldom that the very quiet Mrs.
Tresham laughed so heartily as she did when she
replied to this question. "Dear me ! no. Brans-
combe knew Ellen from a baby ; he gave her the
first coral necklace and the first wax doll that
she ever had in her life, and he would have given
her bon-bons without number if I had allowed
him to do so ; he could not have been fonder of
her if she had been his own daughter ; it is not
very likely that he would ever have thought of
her as a wife."

Lorton quitted his mother-in-law, not at all
convinced by her oratory, and determined that his
doubts should be speedily set at rest; although a
novelist, he had no idea of allowing a misunder-
standing to extend through an indefinite length
of time-for the want of speaking a dozen words.
The next morning he left his study an hour earlier
than usual, and ascended to an apartment over the
drawing-room; fortherly, an unoccupied bed-