The Press.
London, England, 1855-06-16 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

Very different to "Aspen Court" in aim and cha-
racter will be found Eustace Conyers.* It be-
longs to that order of novels exceedingly abundant
just now, iu which moral questions are presented to us
through the medium of heroes and heroines. We
worship Minerva in a muslin dress, and shrink
from philosophy without an amour to sweeten it.
Whether this condescension to the indolence of the
age be really inevitable might form the subject of an
interesting discussion ; but we must at present
assume that it is ; and, considering who have pre-
ceded him, it is no disparagement to Mr. Hannay to
say that this is the class of novelists in which he
must rank. In " Eustace Conyers" a weighty
political and social theory is attached to the
rather slender thread of a nautical tale. But
it is superior to others of a similar class in its
earnestness and its freshness. The young men who
talk politics are not politicians. We are free from
the gossip of clubs, and the slang of factories ; we
are able to stand off, as it were, from the political
world, and get a more comprehensive view of the
conflict there waging. It is highly interesting as
affording a glimpse of what is going on in the
minds of, we doubt not, a numerous class of the
rising generation, especially among men of educa-
tion who are debarred from an active share in
' politics, a conviction, that is, that they have been, to
use a vulgar term, " bamboozled" by the democratic
party. That the real claims and real merits of the
aristocracy have been carefully buried under a load
of misrepresentation—in flue, a kind of reaction in
favour of feudalism. But we shall return to this
subject presently.
We have said that the thread of the story is a
slender one; we may add that it is composed of very
ordinary materials. The hero goes to sea—makes
friends—comes home again—falls in love with the
heiress of his ancestral estates—is rejected by her
father—makes some odd discoveries about the
brother—harsh parent dies of disease of the heart—
curtain thrown over the last painful scene—on the
rising of which everybody is made happy in the most
approved and orthodox fashion. But if there is
nothing of more than average merit in the plot, the
capital delineation of one or two of the characters
will more than repay us. The old clergyman, the
father of Eustace, is excellent, uniting the charac-
teristics of Roland and Caxton into one most original
portrait; proud of his lineage, partly for its own
sake, partly because it is connected with his favorite
study of coats of arms, charters, and pedigrees;
steeped in classic lore, yet prizing it, if possible, less
for its own inherent beauty than for the aristocratic
associations with which it is allied ; viewing every
question that can be submitted to him under its re-
lation to one of these two ideas that govern his
being ; and his whole character mellowed, as Mr.
Hannay might say, by a golden hue of traditions,
like an autumn noon by the hazy sunlight of Sep-
tember.

The hero himself is a good, honest youth—
straightforward, hearty, and tender—loving his pro-
fession, respecting his superiors, and fearing his God
—a good old hero of the good old times, such as Scott
has given us in Roland GrEeme and Quentin Dur-
ward. A refreshing change after the pre-Raphael-
itish heroes whom Mr. Thackeray has brought into
fashion. Not that these are not of surpassing ex-
cellence in their way, but they require study; and it
is agreeable sometimes to pass on from Mr. Millais
to the pleasing groups and landscapes of Frith and
Creswick. Many of Mr. Hannay's other characters
are very cleverly drawn, though, perhaps, not quite
so natural. Henry Mildew, the able and ambitious
Oxonian, who is depicted with considerable know-
ledge of the world, though with less of that portion
of it which is known by the title of university men.
They have many peculiar faults, but flippancy and
premature selfishness are not among them. Don
Emmanuel, the Brazilian Epicurus, who may be true
or not, for all we know : travellers see strange sights,
and the Don may be one of them—only we think Mr.
Hannay should have made him a Mormonite.
That would have been new, and in strict keeping
with his character, for the Don cannot "form a con-
" caption of the beautiful apart from the idea of en-
" joying it." However, his conversation affords Mr.
Hannay the occsAion of one of his best sayings :
The Don would pluck a rose of Sharon and put it in
his buttonhole as indifferently as any other. Oh, the
subtle epicurean warming his while hands al altar fires.
Of the others, Hilderstone is a mere man of straw,
and Poor does nothing adequate to the prominence
given him. While as to the rest of the young naval
officers, Messrs. Pearlstuds, Frogleyfox, and Co., we
hardly know whether to consider them a joke or a
blunder. These young gentlemen toss off the con-
dition of Europe or the philosophy of life in a couple
of pointed epigrams ; quaff their claret and chide
their duns with the graceful ease of a Sheridan ; and
display generally a precocious manhood which we
have never met with in youths of twenty either in
colleges or mes.rooms. Whether such line spi.its

* Esisiace Conyers. A Novel. By James Hannay. Author
" Singleton Fontenoy. London: BUPA And Blaoksti

SATURDAY,

are fair specimens of sailors we will not undertake
to determine ; but it is certainly a revelation for
which the British public was not entirely prepared.
We are inclined to think that here Mr. Hannay has
let his wit get the better of his judgment, and has
forgotten that however much the service may be im-
proved it is not radically changed ; that a Chester-
field among middies is not a leas anomaly than a
Benbow among admirals.
_

Mr. liannai's style is throughout worthy of our
highest commendation. Whether he is plucking a
parvenu, describing a period, or dissecting a preju-
dice, painting the soft beauty of an English gir., or
the peculiar richness of an English landscape,
whether love-making, fighting, or carousing be the
subject of his pencil, we are sure to have a picture
that arrests the attention. Every word tells. He
never labours to make us understand him, because
he is thinking more of his subject than his readers ;
and he is always clear, because his language is the
impress of clear conceptions. We subjoin an ex-
tract from his description of modern country
houses

Every trim little shrub just beginning to sprout has a
" cocky " air, as if it would say, " Sir, a bead gardener,
with a large income, and a staff of men, looks after me,"
The sleek lilies in the very neat ponds seem to observe,
" Sir, if you pull us, you will be given in charge !" No
Dryad dare haunt the grounds, or she would be arrested
for trespassing.— Vol. i.,p. Ib7.
The peculiar political tenets of which "Eustace
Conyers" is intended to be the exponent are rather
to be gathered from the general tone than from any
distinct statement. In the first place we are at once
to discard the delusion that the aristocracy of this
country is represented by the peerage. The descen-
dants of the feudal landholders, whether titled or
otherwise, rich or poor, are the real aristocracy; and
if we measure them by this standard we shall find
that to their ranks belongs a far larger proportion of
England's worthies, past and present, than the
country has been accustomed to believe. Milton,
Ben Jonson, and Dynes Clinton, Scott, Shelley,
Coliingwood, Nelson, and Napier, are cited as in-
stances. The aristocracy, therefore, have not become
effete ; the old Norman blood is as potent as of
yore ; and half the evils of the day are attributable
to the fact that wealthy plebeians are perpetually
buying out the old gentry and usurping their places
both in the country and the Government. This is
the natural result of our commercial development.
But we cannot have our cake and eat it; we cannot
nourish at the same time the virtues of the soldier
and the huckster.

Here, by-the-bye, we may as well observe that as
to the question of " blood" Saxon and Norman are
in reality quite on a par, the Normans being only
a later emigration of the same Scandinavian race;
for it is a mistake to suppose that the companions of
Hengist and Horse were akin to what we now call
Germans. The English Saxon is the brother of the
Dane, and both, as well as their Norman conquerors,
come alike of that famous old people whose descen-
dants are still, like their forefathers, the lords of the
ocean.

A second point is a vindication of the character
of our ancestors :

It must be remembered (bays Mr. Hannay) that if they
had the lion's share, it was because they were the hone,
which is surely an excellent reason.
And again, p. 17 :

The purchasers of land (i.e., the present ones) hate
never attained that relation to the people which belonged
to the old families. Feudal superiority is founded on
personal excellence ; but money is a brute force—s me-
chanical thing.

Hence we may educe three distinct propositions.
First, that our feudal ancestors perfectly deserved
what they won; secondly, that their descendants are
not as a rule degenerate ; and, thirdly, that the
feudal system itself called into play a much higher
class of feelings than our present one—a mixture of
plutocracy and oligarchy—the force of the latter
neutralised by the timidity of the former. These
maxims, combined with a sympathetic appreciation
of courage, devotion, and gentleness, constitute Mr.
Hannay's theory, on which we pass no opinion our-
selves, but the enunciation of which we may without
the slightest exaggeration pronounce the most signi-
ficant symptoms of the times since the appearance of
"Coningsby." Mr. Hannay is no academic dreamer,
no hired advocate of some crotchetiy capitalist. He
is a perfectly independent and perfectly sincere
wnter : and these are the conclusions to which a lung
study of the past, and a sagacious observation of the
present, have conducted him.
Frank Hilton+ is a military novel on what may be
called the Lever principle; full of dashing exploits,
extraordinary Arab horses, and still more extraor-
dinary men and women. The " business " allotted
to the different characters is distributed on the good
old time-honoured principle of " aivisiun of labour,"
all the scoundrelism being performed by one gentle-
man, a sicked captain of dragoons; all the hair-
breadth escapes and generous self-sacrifices by

JUNE 16, 1855.

another, the virtuous and faithful hero; all the
paasive endurance by the gentle heroine; all the fun
(what there is of it, which is of the very mildest
hue) by an Irish captain; and the lofty tragic work
by a mysterious emir with a long pipe and a short
sister. It is not the lot of an ordinary observer in
real life, even under the extraordinary circumstances
in which Mr. Grant's characters are placed, to meet
with personages so sharply distinguished one from
another, so entirely possessed by one particular
virtue or vice, or by one particular class of virtues
and vices, as the men and women in " Frank
Hilton." How easily read would be the " painful
riddle " of human character if it were ! In spite,
however, of this theatricalness in the characters, of the
extreme improbability of the incidents, and the
absurdity of the devices by which the lovers ate
alternately separated and brought together, there
is enough of novelty in the scenes to render the
book readable and in parts even interesting.

alusir.

ROYAL ITALIAN OPERA.

THE Trovatore was repeated on Tuesday with the
usual cast, and on Thursday a long night was given,
in which the first act of Norma was followed by the
Barbiere di Seviglia. Grisi was in magnificent
voice, and was received with greater applause than
usual. In the Barbiere Madame Viardot undertook
the character of Rosina, with Lablache and Formes as
Dr. Bartolo and Don Basilio, while Mario and Tam-
burini filled up the cast as Almaviva and Figaro. As
far as his acting went, Tamburini was perfectly
full of vivacity and esprit, but his voice, as we
remember upon his first appearance, is anything but
the voice of other days. However, he got well
through the " Largo el factotum," and, on the
whole, by his perfect appreciation of character,
made good amends for his failing in voice.
Not that want of voice should always be a re-
cognised failing in the principal barytone of the
Italian Opera; but Tamburini is an exception, and a
great favorite. Lablache, as Dr. Bartolo, is too well
known to need description, if description can be
given of so incomparable, so genuine, a piece of
acting. Formes, as Don Basilio, was inimitable;
and Mario was the best Almaviva that has been
seen. His singing, especially in the "Ecco ridenti,"
and in the duet with Figaro, was exquisite. But the
gem of the evening was the Rosina of Madame
Viardot. The freshness and esprit which she threw
into the part, her brilliant vocalisation, the elaborate
embellishments which she frequently introduced—
albeit against strict musical taste—and her refined
and delicate acting, gained for her the greatest
success in this her first appearance as Rosina in
England. The audience, which was extremely
crowded, were in an unusually cordial humour,
probably owing to the intense heat of the house,
which was super-tropical when the curtain was
down, and enthusiastically applauded the favorite
airs. Lucrezia Borgia is to be repeated to night,
and an extra night to be given on Monday.

PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY.—The seventh concert,
given on Monday evening, was honoured by the pre-
sence of her Majesty and Prince Albert, accompanied
by a numerous suite. The programme, by royal
command, was as follows :