The Press.
London, England, 1858-06-26 00:00:00

THE PRESS, JUNE 26, 1858.

with its " set grey life and apathetic end," is such
as might have formed part of the library of Poe's
" House of Usher."
2. "Billets and Bivouacs" (another brilliant
wrapper) is certainly about the most flimsy affair in
the guise of a novel that was ever offered to the
public. It reads like the letters of some" Own Co-
rrespondent," with the preciseinformation omitted,
and the facetious sod digressive portions—the shaves
of the camp and practical jokes of the barrack-room
—developed to an inordinate degree. There is a
faint attempt at something like a love-story, and one
rather exciting adventure. The other adventures,"
such as they are, belong to the Persian war alit the
Indian mutiny. When we add that the hero's chi-
valrous friend—who dies early—is called " Percy,"
and that the low comedy ensigns are named
" Squiffy " and " Scruffins," we shall have conveyed
a sufficiently clear idea of both book and author.
:t. This is another of the gaudy covers. " Par-
thenia " belongs to that epoch of bastard classicalism
illustrated by the potentate whom Lord Kenyon
used to call "Julian the Apostle." The final struggle
of Paganism and Christianity is not a bad subject for
the background of a fiction ; but the character of
Mien himself is not one which we can readily asso-
ciate with the softer affections. The loves of Julian
and Parthenia are unfortunate at the outset because
she is a Pagan and her lover is a Christian ; they
are equally unfortunate at the close, when the parties
have exchanged situations. The story is carried on
to the death of the Emperor and the seclusion of
Parthenia in a convent; the latter of which events,
though probable enough, is a tame conclusion, and
one to which the stirring times of Christian persecu-
tion might have been made to lend some more tragic
interest. The story is rather a vehicle for costume,
conversation, and history, than for the ordinary events
of a novel. It is well enough done, but the result is
not violently exciting.
4. By her first novel, " My Brother's Wife," Miss
Edwards acquired a sudden reputation which her
two succeeding works have not increased ; if, indeed,
they have not positively impaired it. She showed
herself from the first possessed of an elegant style,
a sensibility to natural beauty and a great power of
describing it, united with an unusual cleverness in
the unwinding of a more than usually absorbing plot.
The same talents were apparent in her second story,
" The Ladder of Life," but the interest was more
languid and the characters less freshl} drawn. In
" Hand and Glove" we observe the same charac-
teristics, but the plot shows such poverty of invention
that a vigorous effort will be necessary on a fourth
occasion to lift the authoress out of the " ruck " of
novelists of whom " guards e passe " is the only
fitting epitaph. A handsome, accomplished, and
insinuating gentleman, who turns out to be a swin-
dler, and gives place to the constant lover of sterling
worth ; and the "rough diamond," more or less of
the Rochester stamp, who (as the practised reader
can discern) is to reward the much-enduring heroine,
strangely blind till the last chapter to his admiration,
for having baited her throughout the story, by mar-
rying her at the end 01 it—are materials with which
we have become as familiar as with the figures of a
quadrille, and which a writer like Miss Edwards
ought to be above employing. We must also pro-
test against the gross improbability shown in the
description of M. Hamel, the incongruity of whose
habits and character with his position as a minister
of religion would certainly have caused inquiry long
before the period at which the exigencies of the
story make it necessary to expose him. His attack
on M. Deligny, at M. Vaudon's dinner-party, is any-
thing but gentlemanlike, though the authoress
seems to be unaware of the fact. One or two of the
other characters are fairly enough done, and the
smoothness and elegance of the style make the book
pleasant reading enough. But Miss Edwards must
really take care next time, if she wishes to extend, or
even continue, her present extensive popularity. ,
II

PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED:—.IOiit 24.
nooks.
The Official Illuatraled Guides to the South-Eastern Railway
and its Branches. W. H. Smith and Co.
Peloponnesus. Notes of Study and Travel. By W. J.
Clark, M.A. J. W. Parker and Son.
Frank Beresford ; or, Life in the Army. By Captain
Curling. Charles J. Skeet.
An Earnest Exhortation to Christian Unity. By the Chief
of Sinners. Partridge and Co.
The Ckrgynsan's Legal Handbook. By James Murray
Dale. Seeley, Jackson, and Co.
Prayer,' with Texts of Scripture for Every Day is the Year.
By a Member of Parliament. Seeley, Jackson, and Co.
A History of England, during the Reign al George 111. By
William Massey, M.P. Vol. If. J. W. Parker and Son.
Day by Day at Luck-noto. A Journal of the Siege of Luck.
now. By Mrs. Case. It. Bentley.
The Poetical Works of the late Alfred Johnstone Hailing-
worth. With Memoir of the Author. Edited by Dr.
George Sexton, F. 11.11.8. Seeend Edition. Vol. I.

C. J. Skeet.
The Art of Extempore Speaking. By M. Bautain.
Boaw•orth and Harrison.
&Pagan Bishops and Rural Deana. By Thomas
Brett, LL.D. Macmillan and Co.