The Press.
London, England, 1857-12-26 00:00:00

THE PRESS, DECEMBER 26, 1857.

service. He has been ill-advised enough to prefix to
"Whits Lies" some remarks, in which the following
sentence occurs :

As if the smallest master could not Anglicize French or
any other language : vide " Clouds and Sunshine," which
is French Anglicized.
This is but a lame acknowledgment of the fact
discovered by a correspondent of the Atheneum,
that " Clouds and Sunshine" is something more than
based on the "Claudia" of Madame Dudevant, and,
by placing his Fresent work, as he does, on the same
level, gives us ground for conjecturally assigning to
it some similarly equivocal parentage. In this case
the title becomes rather an awkward one. Apart,
however, from such questions—with which we should
not have the slightest desire to meddle if Mr. Reade
did not force them upon us—we have pleasure in
saying that " White Lies " is an exceedingly interest-
ing and spirited novel ; one of the best, if not the
best, of the present season. We are aware that in
praising it we run counter to the opinion of that
highly respectable class of persona who draw their
mental aliment from the London Journal, and who are
said to have unmistakeably signified their disapproval
of the novel in question as it was hebdomadally pre-
sented to them. This discordance of opinion we
fear we cannot help, as we have the weakness of
thinking that a story may be interesting, both in cha-
racter anti incident, though it should contain neither
forgery, murder, nor suicide, and though none of the
personages should pass through a single trap-door in
the whole course of the narrative. But if Mr.
Reade neglected these indispensable aids to domestic
popularity ; if, in addition, he chose to be so per-
versely aristocratic as to describe the ruined noblesse
of France not only with sympathy, hut with some degree
of enthusiasm ; and if, finally, he was so vexatious as
to tease his simple audience with French phrases
translated literally into English,—what could he
expect but the result which has ensued? Ws think,
however, that he will find no reason to regret
having appealed from the verdict of the kitchen to
that of the drawing-room. Though not so absorbing
in its interest as "It is Never Too Late to Mend,"
his present work shows all the brilliancy and
vivacity of style which distinguished that novel ; the
"situations" are dramatic and telling, and there is
not a single incident described in the book which
does not advance the action of the plot. This latter
quality is a valuable, and among English novelists a
very rare one. Mr. Reade's stage experiences have
probably much to do with his complete perception of
its importance. Mr. Reade shines m.,st, we are in-
clined to think, in his delineation of female charac-
ter, although the moral which the story is intended
to point necessarily obliges the emphasis to be laid
on what may be called its womanish, rather than on
its purely feminine aspect. The female personages
are Madame de Beaurepaire, a Royalist widow in the
latter part of the French Revolution, her two
daughters Josephine and Laure, and Jacintlia, their
servant. To describe the plot, by which the re-
spective lovers of the three latter are gained, lost,
toszed, married, killed, resuscitated, and finally
settled, would exceed our space and spoil the
reader's pleasure in pursuing it through its various
and ingenious surprises. It must suffice to say, that
toe crosses and complications of tl e story arise from
the practice in which Laure and Jacinths indulge of
resorting to " White Lies " in any difficulty which oc-
curs ; and the manner in which, from the little decep-
tions of their mother which love and poverty suggest
to them, they proceed at last to falsehoods which
nearly ruin the happiness of the whole party, is
managed with great skill and a nice attention to the
progress and development of character. The few
reelections which interrupt the narrative are short,
apt, and full of practical wisdoin. Our readers, if
they wish for a thoroughly entertaining and clever
book, cannot do better than send for " White Lies."
3. " Court Secrets " is by far the best novel Mrs.
Thomson has written, and it has surprised us by its
unusually good writing, its piquancy, and the in-
teresting story which it embodies. Mrs. Thomson
has still something to learn in the construction of
her plot. The point is one about which ordinary
readers will perhaps care little, but it must be re•
marked that the " secrets " which begin and end the
narrative are not sufficiently interwoven with the
main action, but rather lie ontsiae it as a frame-
work, without materially affecting its development.
They relate to one of the minor German principali-
ties, the heir to which is stolen and otherwise foully
dealt with in a way for which Mrs. Thomson is not
without warrant in fact. The chief portion of the
story, however, consists of the ups and downs of a
very pretty love affair—the heroine is as charm-
ing a one as we have met with in print lb:• many a
day—enlivened with numerous sketches of character
possessing great fidelity to nature and described with
abundance of point. In the latter respect and in
general style Mrs. Thomson reminds us very forcibly
of Mrs. Gore: in her conception of character and in
the scenery of her localities she recalls from time to
time the Baroness Tautphoeus. We do not imagine
that she has been indebted to either model, for