The Press.
London, England, 1857-06-20 00:00:00

NOTICES OF BOOKS.

" NOTHING New" (1) is a collection of tales by the
authoress of "John Halifax," published originally
in various leading periodicals. The three best in
the series ate "Lord Erlistoun," "A Low Marriage,"
and "The Double House ;" the first especially,
which is marked by many of the writer's most cha-
racteristic merits—quiet power, skilful contrasts,
and the art of exciting and sustaining sympathy.
The character of Mark is a good deal like that of
John Halifax himself, while that of Jean, in its com-
bination of true womanly tenderness with resolute
self-control, is one of the most successful female
portraits with which we are acquainted. In " A Low
Marriage " we see how a nature, coarse, but not
radically bad, may under kind and judicious treat-
ment be elevated to a higher level, and imbued with
a considerable share of refinement. The old lady-
mother, Mrs. Rochdale, is a fine specimen of mingled
pride and generosity, and the conduct by which both
are exhibited in action at the same moment is won.
derfully natural and touching. "The Double House"
is perhaps the most truly interesting, in the ordinary
sense of that word. The mystery is skillfully
maintained, and the conception of the story seems
wholly original. That the incidents verge on the
improbable is certainly quite true, but the details are
all wotked out with so much truthfulness that we
lose sight of any exaggeration in the plot. The
remaining tales are not equal to the just pretensions
of this very able writer, and indeed suggest a doubt
how far it is expedient in an author gifted with Miss
Muloch's special qualities to devote herself to the
composition of short tales. It is not always that the
power suitable both to such productions and also to
the elaboration of a longer and more developed story,
are united in the same person. For instance, Mr.
Wilkie Collins' tales are among the most successful
of their kind, whereas his tbree-volumd novels have
hitherto been comparative failures. The converse
may be found as well. But even were it not so, in
a writer of such high capacities as the authoress of

(1) Nothing New. Tales. By the Author of " J
OetttleMaD," the QC. 9 Tots. Loudn: litue4 wad

610

"John Halifax" we cannot help thinking that the
rapid production of magazine tales must have a
tendency to weaken and waste powers that were in-
tend,d for more sustained efforts. _ _ _

" Helen and Olga" (2) is the story of an English
governess in a Russian family. It is written in a
very pleasant style, and gives a tolerably impartial
picture of Russian society. Olga, the Russian young
lady, is very lively and attractive, and her gradual
improvement under the influence of the young Eng
fish woman very interesting. The following sketch of
a Russian country house is worth quotation :

They were now at the door of a dilapidated old stone
mansion, which, facing the north, and surrounded by
untidy, neglected plantations, looked gloomy enough; but
yet more than respectable—dignified.
Stephanie had already arrived, and awaited them among
a group of servants in the hall. Olga led the way through
a vestibule and ante-room to the drawing•room. It was
more stately, but more shabby, than Helen had expected.
An old yellow flock paper with tarnished gold moulding
covered the damp walls; some large misty mirrors and
portraits, by different and indifferent artists, hung round
the room ; the heavily-carved chairs and sofas, not of the
cinque-cento school, were covered with faded and dirty
yellow satin; there were no books, flowers, vases, or
musical instruments to give any air of elegance.

" My pianoforte is in my own dressing room," said Olga.
" I will have it brought down tomorrow ; but hitherto I
have had no one in the house whom I cared to play to or
please, except, indeed, Henri, when he came to shoot wild
ducks. Well, Helen, what is your impression ?"
"I have hardly had time to form one," said Helen.
" Give me till to•morrow."

" Unfavourable of course," said Olga, laughing. " Well,
it cannot be helped. ro me it never looked so cheerful as
your presence makes it already. To-morrow we will set
things in order. Meanwhile, I will show you your room,
which is close to mine ; so you need have no fears, even in
this old rambling house, wherein the ghost of my great•
grandfather is said to walk, robed in a long caftan, on
windy, wintry nights. There is no need for us to dress for
one another—we will have coffee, stroll up the lime-tree
alley to the river, come home to eat strawberry ice, chat a
little, read a little, and go to bed."
Helen found the premises included a long disused
concert-room and theatre, but neither chapel nor library.
Her own room was hung with a common striped paper,
decorated with some po3r prints and small pictures of
saints ; with an old-fashioned toilette-glass in a dark
wooden frame carved in flourishes like curled leaves. It
looked out on an orchard full of crooked apple, cherry, and
plum trees overgrown with moss, and well populated,
apparently. by jackdaws, sparrows, and squirrels. A
wooden wall divided the orchard from a kitchen-garden,
full of cabbages, onions, carrots, and common potherbs ;
beyond which were corn-fields, and the thatched roofs of a
ew cottages.

Olga's room, which was only divided from Helen's by a
dressing room, had a different aspect, and a prettier look-
out, though there was something desolate iu the acces-
s wies of a broken fountain, an overturned atoae urn, a
headless statue lying among the long grass, and a ruinous
p

"To Be or Not to Be " (3) is a religious story which
we do not much admire. It contains, however,
certain powerfully-written passages, of which the
following is a sample. We may premise that the
scene is laid at the time of the cholera in Denmark,
and the sufferer is the betrothed of Niels Bryde :
But he was soon awakened: a message had come from
Herr Arons ; Esther had been taken ill, her family were
in the greatest consternation, and the physician who had
attended them in Copenhagen had been sent for ; but she
had expressed a wiTh to see Niels Bryde, therefore the car-
riage had been despatched for him.
Niels Bryde experienced a shock such as he had never
before felt. Esther ill ! She, whom but the previous day
he had seen glowing in health, and sparkling with anima-
tiou! He threw himself into the carriage, and bade the
coachman drive fast. Sad faces met him.

" She is dying!" said the mother.
nance has changed."

" Her whole counte-

" That need not cause any fear," said Niels Bryde, though
he felt hie heart beat faster.

He entered l'er neat bedroom, the walls of which were
covered with engravings. Esther was lying with her eyes
closed, pale, with features expressive of exhanstion ; the
cold grasp of Death had already changed her countenance
—for that she was about to become his prey, there could
not be a doubt. That face, yesterday so lighted up with
smiles, so sparkling with intellect, so blooming with health,
how altered it was ! The features were sharp, the smile
round her mouth was a furrow, and under the closed eyes,
hitherto so full of intelligence, was a dark blue line. She
opened her eyes, after a time, and looked about her; she
perceived that Niels Itryde was there, bid it was only as if
through a mist that she saw hint. He felt her breathing;
it was icescold, like the air in a deep cold well in summer•
time.

" Thank you for coming," she said ; her voice sounded
if it had come from a distance. " Only tell me, will it be
over soon ? Science says that this is— "
" Death !" said Niels Bryde, involuntarily and calmly—
he was stupefied by this unexpected misfortune. Every-
thing seemed swimming round with him.
"And Faith says," she whispered, it is Life r —she
p onounced the last word with emphasis, while she pressed
his hand in hers. It was not a moment for conversation,
not another word was said. Her eyes seemed to sink

(2) Helen and Olga. A Russian Tale. By the Arthur of
Mary Powell." London: Arthur Hall and Cu.
(3) To B.; or Not to BeA Novel. By Hans Christian
Altdotion, Author of ° Tho Liaprovlsotore." Loudon ; Bentley.

THE PRESS.

deeper in, and as when warm air passes over a figure of ice
it loses its impressed shape, thus annihilation passed over
that form the soul's image of beauty, her hand became like
marble, and yet it grasped firmly. "It is life !" These
three words were the bridge between " To be or not to
be ?" here, amidst those who loved her.
" She is dead !" sobbed her mother.
" Dead !" was echoed around, but not uttered by Niels
Ttryde, he had not that word on his lips or in his mind.
Esther, in whom were centred his happiest thoughts, she
the bright, clear, living spirit, away—extinguished ! Ex-
tinguished like a fire, with nothing but ashes remaining of
her! Ashes that never more could be revived! No, he
could not entertain that thought, could not admit that
idea; he felt convinced that she was not dead, passed fur
ever front consciousness and life into nothingness.

"The Buccaneer" (4) is a good old-fashioned
story of the days of the Commonwealth. There is
the bold buccaneer with a savage manner and a
good heart; the hypocritical Puritan, who quotes
Scripture and seduces women ; the secret cave by
the seashore, and the old manor- house with its oak
chambers; two graceful heroines in high and low
life respectively, and the proper amount of heroes
to match. For our part, we must confess we have a
lingering regard for this species of fiction. Novels
of high art and low morals, and high morals and low
art—novels with " a purpose "—novels religious,
social, and political, have so taken possession of this
department of literature, that a tale in the old style
of adventures, conspiracies, and escapes, with a
wholesome odour of gunpowder and burning mixed
with the gleam of rapiers and the glimmer of blue
scarfs, has become uncommonly refreshing. All this
Mrs. Hall provides for us ; the incidents are strung
together with a skilful hand, and set off by the
advantages of a light and practised style.

" Olive " (5), a reprint of a very charming story,
demands but few words. It is written, as all novel.
readers must remember, with great power and
pathos, and it most thoroughly deserves a place
among the cheap editions of the day.
" Fides " (6) is a tale composed, no doubt, with
the very best intentions. We are sorry to say, how-
ever, that, apparently from want of practice in com-
position, the work on the whole is a failure. The
events are jumbled into one another, and the changes
of disposition on the part of the principal characters
are insufficiently explained. The writer would seem
to possess a certain amount of ability, and with due
labour and self•discipline may, perhaps, succeed
hereafter.

PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED-TONE 18.
BOOKS.

The Two Aristocracies. A Novel. By Mrs. Gore. 3 vols.

Hurst and Blackett
Magdalen Stqfford ; or, a Gleam of Sunshine on a Rainy
Day. Bell and Daldy
Oran and other Poems. By Alexander T. M'Clean.

T. Murray and Son
The Legend of Gkncore and other Poems. By the Rev. John
Anderson. Longmans
Pictures of the Heavens. Mozley
A Concordance of the Prayer Book Version of the Psalms.
Mozley
Such is Life. By " Doubleyou." Eyre
French and English Phrase. Book. Lambert and Co.
The Curse of the Black Lady. A Legend of Brabant.
Hodgson
L'Elat de la Question Napolitaine. Dolman
The Farmer's Boy. By Robert Bloomfield. Sampson Low

PAMPHLF.T9.

Instructions in the Art of Swimming. By C. Richardson,
Esq. Ridgway—Block Plans for the New Got-eminent
Offices. Ridgway— Vacation Thoughts on Capital Punish-
ments. Cash—('atalogue of the Pictures in the National
Gallery. Spottiswoode.

COSTA'S " Eta."—At Exeter•hall, on Wednesday
night, the Sacred Harmonic Society paid their
provincial visitors the graceful compliment of
inviting them to a splendid performance of the
conductor's oratorio, Eli, the principal parts sung by
Mme. Novelle, Miss Dolby, Sims Reeves, Montem
Smith, Weiss, and Formes. Reeves was encored en•
thusiastically in the exciting " War song," and the
unaccompanied quartet in the second part was also
tedemanded. Despite of the morning's fatigue at
the Crystal Palace, the executants were quite up to
the mark.

TIIE SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUM, as soon as her
Majesty and the members of the Legislature have paid
private visits to it, will be opened to the public, both
in the daytime and the evening, on and after Wednes-
day, the 24th inst. Besides the various collections
of architecture, sculpture, patented inventions, &c.,
the Sheepshanks pictures will be exhibited in the
new gallery erected expressly to receive them. The
admission of the public to the museum lighted up in
the evening is the first experiment of the kind with a
public institution, and it is hoped will be acceptable
to those who work in the daytime.

(4) The Buccaneer. By Mrs. S. C. Hall. London: Hodgson.
(5) olive. A Novel. By the Author of " The Ogilvies.
Lon,lon : Chapman and Hall.
(6) Fides. By the Author of " Gabrielle, or the Sisters," 4tc.
Loudon: Newby.