The Express.
London, England, 1867-10-24 00:00:00

NEW NOVELS.

Sehnii,ll, and "th, r Sbwies. By ANTHONY
Tnommer:. Alexander Strahan.
.Flo, i :Muir; or, Lure works Wooders By A. M.
DONELAN. 2 vols. Chapman and Hall.
TriAtoinix Will. By ALlra KING. 3 vole.
Hurst and Blackett.
Ntighlootr.. By the Author of
" Paul Massie." 3 vols. Tinsley Brothers.
The T. Mitlory. By 30MEPH SHERIDAN LE
FANU. 3 vols. Tinsley Brothers.
l'he Brother, Iht ; or, Within Sir Weds. By
EMILIE FLV4:AItE CARMEN. Bentley.

Mr. Trollops is an artist who requires a broad
01111114 on which to work out his conceptions.
Give him sufficient space and there are few who
will deny that he can fill it admirably. But his
peculiar craft prevents the happy execution of
cabinet pictures. Lotto Sdoniaft, and other
No) irs is a collection of nine sketches, marked,
we need scarcely say, with ability and good feeling.
They show the handicraft of their author • they
are good after their kind—very much better,
indeed, than many of the short tales that satisfy
the readers of magazines ; but they will add no-
thing to the reputation Mr. Trollops has acquired
as a writer of fiction. If Richardson had attempted
to tell a story in a few pages, we may feel quite sure
ho would have failed, and, from a literary and
artistic point of view, Mr. Trollope has failed also.
As specimens of the novelist's an these tales are
not good • as stories for cheap aerials they are very
good indeed. " Lotta Schmidt," which takes the
precedence, and gives a title to the volume, affords
us a glimpse of German life among the lower orders.
It is an accurate and suggestive representation.
Lotta is a pretty girl of the Viennese type, tall and
slender, but with " none of that appearance of
feminine weakness which is so common among us
with girls who are tall and slim." She has jet
black hair and dark blue eyes, and a well-formed
but somewhat prominent nose.
But over-riding everything in her personal appearance,
is her form, countenance, and gait, was that singular
fierceness of independence, as though she were constantly
asserting that she would never submit herself to the incon-
venience of feminine softness. And yet Lotta Schmidt
was a simple girl, with a girl's heart, looking forward to
find all that she was to have of human happiness in the
love of some man, and expecting and hoping to do her
duty as a married woman and the mother of a family.
Nor would she have been at all coy in saying as much bad
the subject of her lifs's prospects become matter of conver-
sation in any company, no more than one lad would be
coy in saying that he hoped to be a doctor or another in
declaring a wish for the army.

Lotta has two lovers, one a musician of 45, who
leads the band in the beer hall of the Volksgarten,
a worthy, simple soul, known to us as Herr Crip-
pel ; the other, Fritz Planken, a handsome young
fellow, who dresses well and flourishes a little
amber-headed cane, and as he sits by Lotta's side
and looks up into Lotta's face, so dismays the
musician that when it becomes ris turn to play on
the violin, he can with difficulty sound a note.
But Herr Crippel recovers his self-possession before
long, and plays on the zither until the tears roll
down Lotta's cheeks, and the old men who had
listened to him for twenty years declare that ho
had never played so well. How Lotta and Fritz
Planken quarrel, how the latter deems it incum-
bent to assert his manhood and to dance with
whom he pleases, how Herr Crippel discovers to
his surprise and joy that, despite his age
and his thin hairs, he has won at length a
warm heart for which he had been sighing for
years, we leave Mr. Trollops to tell. The " Ad-
ventures of Fred Pickering " is a short story with a
very useful moral. It describes the difficulties of a
young fellow who forsakes his father's profession
of the law, marries a girl of nineteen, and endea-
vours to seek his fortune in London as a writer
for the press. Of course, he comes to grief,
and is thankful to return to the drudgery of his
father's office. Then, there is a good Irish tale,
entitled, " rather Giles of Ballymoy," which
smacks racily of the soil, and will make the reader
laugh. It is like the rest of the stories, very'
slight in substance, but is told with spirit and
with a breadth of humour in which Mr. Trollops
rarely indulges. For the rest we may specially note
two stories as good of their kind—the one a sea-
piece, called " Malachi's Cove ;" the other, " Miss
Ophelia Gledd," who is a young lady and beauty
of Boston, Massachusetts, and lives after the
manner of young ladies in that free country.
The writer, who is supposed to be a Mr. Green,
asks, when he has told the story, whether Ophelia,
who has married an Englishman, will be received
in London as a lady ? Her former lover, American
born, declares that " she hasn't the gait 'of going
that would suit London," and we think ourselves
that she is wise in securing a loophole of escape in
case her reception here prove unplmant.
Flora Adair' or Lose works Wonders, bears, we
think, traces of a female band, or of a feminine
understanding. The feeling which pervades the
novel is good ; the argument is singularly feeble.
The wonder which is here wrought by love is the
conversion of en Englishman who doubts the
truth of Christianity, into an Englishman who ac-
cepts the Pope and all the distinctive doctrines of
papal Rome. We are told in this novel that Rome
the seat of Divine truth living upon earth ;"
that she is " the living mother of a living world,"
and that " her government is the highest of all—
the government of love." After this the reader
will not be surprised to learn that Flora Adair
staggers the scepticism of her lover, Mr. Earns-
cliffe, by the remark that Fra Angelico, who was
according to his ideas an ignorant monk and a
worshipper of images, could paint angels, while
Landseer cannot.

Do you like Fra Angelieo'sn pictures?" asked Flom.
" Yes. be id an exquisite painter. • Yeti'e was, according
to your ideas, an ignorant monk, and a worshipper of
inuiges • nevertheless I dare say that your enlightened
Landseer could not paint anything to equal his angels.
Yet he is generally considered to he one of your best
painters." ' But it is not fair, Flora, to compare them,"
answered Mr. Farneeliffe, laughing at the mere idea of
such a comparison. "Fm Angelica's std Lawlmer's
are altogether different styles." Of course they are.
Bow could mama sod truth, and superstition and igno-
rance produce the same style of painter? And it was just
that which struck me ; the difference in elevation of style
and subject shown by the disciple of truth and intellect
over the poor superstitions monk." Mr. Earnaeliffe
smiled, but remained silent, and Flora said, " Why do you
not answer, Edwin? lime I annoyed you?" " Annoyed
me' No. I did not speak because I was thinking over
your words. It is strange, no doubt, that the painters of
the middle ages should be of so much higher an order than
those of our own time. To be candid with you, this
redaction has often occurred to me before now. but I
turned away from it as one of the many riddles which rea-
son could not explain. I wish it could be satisfactorily
cleared up." "It can be, Edwin."

The point of the story lies in the statement
that Rome regards marriage as an indissoluble tie,
while prntestarits permit the bond to be rescinded.
The writer apparently forgets that this union, holy
and inviolable though it be, has sometimes been
annulled by a dispensation, and for money. Let
that pass, however. The sacrifice made by the
heroine of her love for her faith merits admiration,
as all sacrifices do which are made for the sake of
conscience. The character of Flora is not drawn
with much distinctness, nor indeed do any of the
personages brought forward in the tale possess a
strong individuality. We hear of " the strength
and grandeur" of the hero's character; but he
strikes us as a somewhat ordinary mortal, familiar
enough in the pages of novelists, if not in common
life. There are two sisters with the hazel eyes and
red hair now so fashionable in novels, who play a
prominent part, one of them a lively, cheerful,
good-hearted girl, who is happy in courtship and
in marriage ; the other a young female-fiend—the

term is not too strong—who, because Mr. Earns- yams had numbered something more than half a century.
chile will not fall in love with her, endeavours to Then, as she settled herself ceo-utltably to sleep she
destroy his happiness for life. A more unnatural lisldiefidi:l.ra
Laulnificetttoinse'grOwing thing
tired of can '
her.n' sea
In
or repulsive character than that of Mary Elton we Lis than six mouths I prophesy he will run away with the
have rarely met with even in fiction. On the whole lady's maid ; and then won't there be a nice scandal in the
Flora Adair is perhaps nearly up to the average county?"
of average novels. There is some skill in the plot, It would be easy, but it is unnecessary, to add to
and if the characters are puppets they play their these specimens of the small female talk which
parts without attracting too much attention to the serves so constantly as padding to the pages of
springs and wires which move them. The episode modern novelists. We trust that it is only to be
which describes the winning ways and warm affec- found in fiction. We will not believe that English
tion of a pretty little Italian girl named Anina ladies—sensitive, delicate, and refined, as they are
forms, we think, the pleasantest portion of the can thus stoop to the scandal of the wash-tub,
novel. and degrade themselves by attempting to degrade
" The spiritual dissolves itself into reality, and others. The credit of the beat half of the race is
reality passes over into the spiritual," is the ob- sullied by these assertion : so far as they are honest,
scure, and as it seems to us inappropriate, motto women are false. Is it true, or is it not true, that a
selected by the authoress of Sir Tristram's Wit/. plain woman naturally speaks evil of a beauty; that
The plot of the story is founded upon a blunder, an old maid must necessarily look with envy on a
for although an English baronet, like any other maiden who is betrothed, or on a woman happily
Englishman, can by will transmit an unentaileci married ; and that whether a woman's character be
estate to his younger son, he cannot alienate the stainless or doubtful she is certain to have de-
title. This, however, is a mistake which will not tractors among her female friends ? For our part,
trouble the novel-reader. For him the main gees- having some faith in humanity, we believe that the
tion is, whether the tale will furnish him with the representation made by lady novelists is incorrect,
requisite amount of excitement and amusement ? and we shall continue to believe this until they can
It is a question which we find it difficult to answer ; show better cause to the contrary than they have
but perhaps we shall best satisfy the inquiry attempted at present.
by a slight analysis of the tale. The hero, Sir The best word to be said in favour of a novel is
Edward Morden, who has a fine mansion on the that it is thoroughly interesting, and that the in-
Welch coast, is in love when the story opens with terest is of a healthy, invigorating kind. This
his beautiful young cousin, Sydney Ashton, who, praise may, on the whole, be awarded to The
although wilful, is affectionate and true-hearted. ?Potentate Neighbours, although the story is not
Oddly enough she is married from her future home, ' entirely free from the vices of sensational fiction.
but before the wedding takes place we are intro- The characters are clearly and powerfully drawn ;
duped to a number of lady visitors, and, among the plot, though slight, is cleverly developed ; there
others, to Nina Grant, a lady with great personal is very little superfluous writing ; and the author
attractions, and supposed to be a widow, who has possesses a quiet strength and a moderation of
been invited to stay at the house. Her manners are tone which are all the more appreciable because
sometimes charming, sometimes strange, and Sir they are so rare. The novel is not one, indeed,
Edward is at first puzzled by her conduct, and likely to survive beyond the brief lifetime enjoyed
then suspicious of it. So he watches her, as men by works of its class, but during that ephemeral
are not wont to watch their guests, and once sir- existence its success ought to be certain. The
' prises her at midnight in his study, and on another scenes of the tale, like the scenes in Sir Tristram's
occasion wakes up to see her in his bedroom. Will, are chiefly laid in Cumberland, ins village
I Moreover, he and Sydney also have been frequently where Lennon, the hero, has mold-fashioned, half-
alarmed by strange noises in the house, and the inhabited house, and over which Dr. Alwyn, a fine
young bride elect has been warned more than once manly specimen of an elderly clergyman, and
by some mysterious and unseen being not to marry Myra, his young and handsome wife, exercise
her cousin. But not only is there mystery in the spiritual jurisdiction. For Mrs. Alwyn looks after
house, there is mystery also outside it, as one of her husband's parish with as much energy as Mrs.
the guests discovered to his infinite concern. The Proudie exhibited (alas that we must speak of her
little personage who thus startled Mr. Fitzoozel is in the past tense!) in the regulation of the Bishop's
a deaf and dumb woman, who has the will, if not diocese. But Myra's activity is all "pure womanly."
the power, to be a guardian angel to Sir Edward, She works with her husband, not in spite of him :
and strives to upset the machinations of those who and if the young wife is not passionately devoted
are leagued against him. The principal actor in to her grey-headed spouse she loves him in a gentle
the plot is Mrs. Grant, who is urged on by her way, and is worthy lof him. Ralph Lennon, a dis-
mother, a woman who has taken the situa- appointed man, with strong powers that have never
tion of upper servant at Llanmorden-house, in found a proper outlet, is the hero of the story,
order to accomplish her designs. Of course her which opens with his return from Australia to a
relationship to Mrs. Grant is unknown and mums- heavy, sombre old building at Waterdale. It may
petted by Sir Edward or by his guests. The be observed here, in parenthese, that it is a commotion
master of the house does, however, tax the lady custom with our novelists to represent their heroes
with designs against him, although unconscious of as men who have suffered or sinned greatly, who
their nature, and he does this so plainly that it have profound thoughts, lofty aspirations, and
would have been consistent if he had requested strong repressed passions. In two of the novels
her to leave his roof at once. When a gentleman before us this peculiarity is apparent. Mr. Earns-
tells a lady that he is determined to search into cliffe, in Flora Adair has a "strangely stern
her secrets, and when the lady defies him to do his expression " in hie eyes, and " his firm and reso-
worst, it is high time, one would think, that their lute mouth betokened an ardent, passionate
connection as hoist and guest should be broken nature." He has a proud spirit of self-reliance, an
asunder. The only thing Sir Edward could do, we iron will, and a high forehead marked by many a
are told, now that he was certain that she was line of sorrow. Moreover, he is utterly opposed to
plotting against him, was to watch her and wait the creeds as well as to the conventionalisms of his
for events. We should have thought that the countrymen. Ralph Lennon, too, is represented
obvious thing to do was to give the lady her conof. ' as having a broken, defeated look about him ; he
But we must remember the exigencies of the returns to England, the home of his lost love, " a
novelist. Therefore Mrs. Grant remains as the disappointed, and to some extent a perverted,
guest of her enemy until her design is achieved, man ;" he has flung his youth away, passion has
and then, not very long after Sir Edward's mar- "led him to something like despair ;" he has dis-
riage, appears in hot haste the family solicitor, de- i tinguished himself by social lawlessness and theolo-
mending to see Sir Tristram's will, by which the gical rebellion. Notwithstanding all these " wild
estates and title had descended to the present oats," Ralph is manly and brave, warm-hearted
possessor instead of to the elder branch of the and self-sacrificing. He! is what would be called
of Thu will is nowhere to be found, and the a " philosophical radical," and entertains,
claimant to the estate and honours of Sir Edward in Dr. Alwyn's opinion, very crude and
is Launcelot Morden, whose wife is the lady known revolutionary notions. He thinks him, however, a
to us as Mrs. Grant. The baronet and his faith- fine fellow in spite of them, and so with some con-
ful young wife submit patiently to their fate, fusion and self-consciousness does the doctor's
and go abroad at once, when Sir Edward saves the wife. In plain language, Myra Alwyn, good little
only child of Nina from destruction, and then, wife as she is, falls in love with Lennon almost at
although in an interview with her she clearly first sight, and although she struggles bravely and
acknowledges her guilt, he takes no step towards successfully with the passion, we don't quite like
retrieving his position, but settles at Blois and the representation of it as depicted in the story.
endeavours to sustain himself as a writer of fiction. A pure English wife, and a good Christian to boot,
For the development of the plot the intervention of is not likely to imbibe feelings akin to love for a
Zitta, the poor dumb woman, is necessary. She single gentleman who, so far from encouraging
had been carried away to the continent before Sir them, is wholly unaware of their existence. For
Edward's marriage, in order that she might not the purposes of the novelist, however, this secret
communicate to him the secret she had discovered. emotion proves very serviceable. There must have
She is kept in constraint, but Sir Edward hears of been something in Mrs. Alwyn's manner a little
her, and her gaoler hears of him, and endeavours different from the manner of most clergymen's
to escape with his prey. The pursuit is eager, and wives, for Walter Warton, a political speculator,
at last successful. Zitta is discovered in one of those who had married Lennon's first love, and occupies,
lonely large, mysterious houses with which we are all with his " belongings," a prominent part in the
familiar in fiction, and dies immediately after re- story, does not scruple to make love to Myra, and
vealing her secret. In consequence of it the hero after proper discouragement from the lady ventures
appears once more in Wales, haunts the neighbour- to play the same game a second time. The scene
hood of Llanmorden House, and makes his way by is powerfully depicted, and is a good specimen of
night into the bedroom of Nina's child, where he the author's style. This lady, however, is not the
confronts the mother in her dressing gown, who, heroine of the story, and the reader's keenest
" overcome by shame and fear, sinks upon the interest is centered upon Grace Ethelstono, a
ground, and hides her face in the bed-curtains." Sir charming and finely-developed character. Many
Edward, it seems, had watched Nina for some time of the subordinate personages arealsoclearlydefined
through the open door before entering the room, and delicately drawn, and as a novel both of
" half feeling as though ho were performing an un- incident and character The Waterdale Neigh-
warrantable and ungentlemanly action in thus bourn merits high commendation. The confirmed
intruding upon her privacy." We shall not spoil novel reader will enjoy it, and those of us who take
the novel for those who may care to read it by up a story occasionally as a relief from sterner
narrating the conclusion of the plot. The story is studies will find the relaxation e e seek for in these
certainly clever, and there is some art in its con- pages.
struction, but it is art of a low order. When will The Tenants of Maury, which is reprinted from
novel writers learn to trust more to nature and less the Dublin University Magazine, must be dismissed
to the trumpery machinery which has been used in a few words, for our space is nearly exhausted.
ad nauseam, and seldom to much purpose, by their Mr. Le Fanu is a clever writer, and this novel is
predecessors / There are two faults in Sir Tris- very clever, but, notwithstanding the ability dis-
train's Will on which we would fain say a word played, it is a difficult novel to read. The story
or two before closing the volumes. They are not halts in the telling. The humour strikes us as
peculiar to this novel, but may be constantly met forced, the pathos will not draw tears, and there is
with in sensational fiction. Whenever a wicked sometimes a jesting way of treating serious topics
woman occupies a prominent place—and she gene- which, although probably intended to amuse the
rally does occupy it in this kind of fiction—the reader, is more likely to offend him. The charac-
novelist is almost sure to transform her into a tent are numerous, and on the whole well sustained,
model saint, or at least into a sister of charity, at but we do not care much about the fortunes of any
last. Now, of course it is very right that naughty of them—not for the Etherage girls, one of whom
people should repent and become good, and that a is a silly old maid and the other a common-place
change is continually taking place from vice to young one ; not for the good-natured automaton-
purity, from brutality to tenderness, from grosslike duenna who watches overthe heroine ; not much
selfishness to self-denial, we have no doubt what- even for the heroine herself, or for Cleve Verney,
ever. Were it otherwise, the lessons of Christianity her selfish lover and husband ; not for Rebecca
would be false, and the progress of the world hope- Mervyn, although her character is a fine imagina-
less. But the transition as it takes place in life is tive conception; not for honest Tom Sedley, whose
never forced, is generally gradual, while in ordi- unanticipated elevation to the peerage forms the
nary fictions the rapidity with which the process is climax to the mystery of the plot. By the bye
effected, and the moral it is supposed to teach, this novel of Mr. Le Palm's may be regarded as
leave an unwholesome influence on the mind. a curiosity in typography. The pages are
Another fault, which is perhaps more common and as thickly studded with italics as the map in
even more offensive, is generally confined to female " Bradshaw " is covered with lines of railroad.
writers, and is strikingly prominent in Sir
Tristnan's Will. Every lady is suppcsed to in- Can the author suppose that he adds force to the
dulgo i of narrative, or raciness to the dialogue, by such a
n scandal and to speak evil every other
en-
lady whose physical charms may be superior to her plethora of emphasis ? or is it possible that ho
trusted the revision of the sheets to some practical
own. Thus, for instance, in the novel before us, joker who resolved to raise the laugh against hint
no rs sooner had M. Grant retired to her room, after
being introduced to the ladies at Llanmorden ty this ridiculous device? The love of italicising
Homes, than one of them exclaims that her nose is is a feminine foible, and one of the last in which we
should have expected a man of letters to indulge.
not aristocratic, another observes that her bonnet 1 The Brothers' Bet is a lively piece of comedy, very
is old-fashioned • and aactirdtom"efdeelsmuicrishtir= amusing to read, and marked by the freshness and
that she has not been
h. umour which are characteristic of the writer. It
society." When Nina usurps the title of Lady 11 a mere sketch, but one worth a score of the highly-
Morden, we are told that the neighbouring ladies finished . .
highly-
did not refuse to dine at her house whenever she ' pictures worked up by ordinary novelists.
We do not care to ask whether the clever little story
asked them, "partly because there were always a is
possible or probable ; enough that it is admirably
number of eligible young men there, which it was worked out, and that the characters act their parts
such a nice thing for the dear girls to meet ; and to perfection. In the management of the dramatis
I partly because they wished to find out something
and . the ludicrous rseno , in ludicrous development of the
to criticise in their hostess's manner, appearance,
or behaviour." After one of these visits the ladies plot,Madlle. Carlin displays considerable dramatic
:kill. Indeed, The Brothers' Bet might easily have
as they are driven home employ themselves "in been cast in another form, and adapted for the stage.
picking to pieces their late hostess, after the man- ,
I ner of fashionable guests in general ; " and this is
the way in which they do it :
THE WAGES QCESTION AT BOLTON.—The dispute
"tier mama— g is what I Call ridiculously theatrical,"
said one. " Did you ever, my dear Lady Harriet, see any-
between the employers and the employed in the cotton
thing so overdressed " remarked a world.
.. She gives trade at Bolton has been settled. At • meeting held on
Monday night, the self-actor minders agreed to submit to
herself the airs of a princess ; and, after all, I don't
believe she is the daughter of any
in a third.
one better than a Hie proposed reduction, and hence the threatened lock-
Spanish orange merchant," chimed
.. I cal out, which would have affected the spinners, strippers
and grinders, and csrdroom hands, is happily averted.
her manner with men most objectionable. I don't much
like being with her. I am afraid when gentlemen see
The self-actor minders resumed work yesterday morn-
me in such company they will Hinds they may take too in-
The reduction is 5 per cent., and is general
thr
great liberties,- observed an aristocratic spinster whose oughout the cotton trade in Bolton.