The Press.
London, England, 1858-09-18 00:00:00

emancipation from parental control to which
every man of mature age is entitled by the law o f
nature. The only feeling which the narrative
excites, besides that of wonder, is a sort of com-
passionate contempt ; and, whatever may have
been the Priest's own intention in writing it, we
cannot think highly of the judgment of the friend
who gives it to the world. The editor requires
us to believe that Mathilde has in her lover's
account been treated with "too much for-
bearance," and that her enthusiasm for him
" veered round with the changing breeze of
" public interest." 'We arc, of course, unable to
judge how far this is true, but it seems to us that
the Priest's own perversity was quite sufficient
to alienate the affections of any woman. Indeed,
as the lady (though she formed an engagement
which was broken off) is after all left unmarried,
we have no reason to suppose that she is other-
wise than faithful to the memory of her betrothed
up to the present date.—So much for the ethics
of the book. If we put out of sight the irrita-
tingly effeminate nature of the sentiments and
expressions, its literary execution is unquestion-
ably good, and there are some passages of real
eloquence. The part relating to the Ilungarian
insurrection is interesting and graphic, and many
of the scenes of social life show a vigour which
would have enabled the author to write a good
novel if he could have managed to divert his
mind from the perpetual contemplation of his
own real and imag►nary wrongs. There is a
certain psychological interest in the view of such
a character, but it is certainly not one which the
generality of readers can be expected to treat
with sympathy, much less with admiration or
regret.

Eva Desmond ; or, Mutation. Three Vols.
London: Smith and Elder.
" EVA DESMOND " is one of those works which
really merit the title of a very pretty story. The
heroine—a pretty, lively, clever Irish girl, not
over-burdened with this world's wealth—is intro-
duced to us at the house of her rich English
uncle, Mr. Clifton, owner of Oakstone-hall, on
the banks of the Kennet. She has five cousins—
Ernest, destined for the Church, with whom she
is inclined to be in love ; Edward, for the army,
who is inclined to be in love with her; Agnes,
Myra, and Arlette. As the first-named gentle-
man plays a most important part in the history,
we shall give his portrait as it occurs in the
thirteenth page :
He was young—had but jnst attained his twenty-second
year; but he might have been t ken for at least three or
four years older, for he was one of those in whom manhood
developes itself at an earlier period, and in a stronger mea•
sure, than in the usual order that nature deals with man-
kind. His limbs, clothed with ail the roundness and
plumpness of youth, were heavier and more muscular than
is generally seen at his age ; and that, combined with the
expansion of his deep chest and square well-formed shoul-
ders, showed that his great natural strength had been
increased by c..ntinual athletic exercise. His step, though
elastic, was firm ; his attitude, erect, but natural ; his head
well and even proudly set. The bead itself was eminently
handsome: classically formed, it was adorneu with a pro-
fusion of black glossy hair, which fell more in waves than
curls (and would, in itself, have been enough to constitu:e
the beauty of any head;, and large, black, and well kept
whiskers.
His white ferehend was high and broad enough for
beauty, though perhaps not sufficiently so for what our
ideas associate with great intellectual powers. The portion
immediately above the eye, where the perceptive organs he,
Was prominent; which, with the clink eyebrow npon it,
gave the well-set eye a depth of expression it would not
otherwise have possessed. The eye itself was of that dark
grey colour, midway between blue and hazel, which, when
too bright to be examined closely, looks black ; and he had
a certain quick impetuous way of glancing at any one who
advanced an opinion he deemed erroneous, or expressed a
thought he recognized as just or clever, that made it seem
to look you through. In repose, there was it steadfast
concentrated look in the eye, and in the compression of
the full handsomely formed lips, which told !hat the owner
would throw his whole mind and body into any enterprize
he undertook, and once undertaken, would pereev
carry it through : though that such enterprize would I.e of
a practical rather than of an imaginative or sentimental
nature perhaps a physiognomist would determine. His
smile was very charming : there was something so sincere
and frank—such manly kindness in it. But he did not
often smile : his more habitual expression was grave ; and
not unfrequently his eyes appeared to smile without his
lips bearing them company. Altogether, without so close
a scrutiny as the foregoing, take him as lie was, wholly
independent of the adjunctive auxiliaries of dress, no
one could fail to pronounce him a singularly bawd-
some man.

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After Edward's departure Ernest becomes
gradually more and more alive to the charms of
his beautiful cousin, and the first volume and a