The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1826-05-04 00:00:00

THE NEW XOVE!. WoODSTOCK.

ll'oculsfrek, a new wcrk by Coe /swim, of the Waverly novels.
has feeenity made its avpeitranee. It iv founded on an historical
basis, includi^g that period of the Commonwealth which is marked
out by the battle of Worcester upon the one hind, and the seizure
of the royal palace and demesne of Woodstock upon the other.
Amongst the personages to whose acquaintance we are Introduced
are Cromwell and Charles the Second—Crumwell. the Wielofloll4
General of the Roundheels, and Charlts, the exiled Prince, in
whom the hopes of the t avaliers, though with a taint prospect of
fulfilment, reposed at the time. Besides those illustrious names,
we are brought aequeintetl with many others, transmitted in the
history of the period, such as Deslewough, Harrison, and Sir
Henry Lee; and with others again, who, though not transmitted,
may be fairly referred to the same age, in consequence of the ad-
!nimble dexterity with which the author has described its pecu-
liarities in beintes of his own creation.
It he had any distinct moral or principle in view, which the
story in its prominent features was intended to Inculeate,that moral
or that principle tow loyalty; for Sir Henry Lee, who, whether
the suthnr's favourite or not, will certainly he the favourite of his
readers, is a noble specimen of the disinterested chivalrous attach.
fluent to Kings which characterized some of the finest spirits of that
day, when Kings had so little to give them. We would not be
understood as insinuating by this conjecture that injustice has
been done to either of the two great parties then existing, or
to either of the two great personages whom they reganled
as their leaders. On the contrary, we acknowledge that ex-
aggeration has been avoided upon both sides of the question.
The author does not seem to have resolved, like let. Johnson. the
moralist, that " the Whig dogs should never have the best of it."
Cromwell is given credit for such vi es as he could fairly lay
claim to, and Charles is depicted with such vices as belonged to
him—vices not then matured, but destined ultimately to point him
out as one of the most unworthy pupils th.it ever disgraced the
discipline of adversity. Sir Henry. however, as we have already
stated, is the principal figure. His temper ruffled by the disasters
which had befallen the Royal cause, but his spirit unsubdued,
even by the death whit+ seemed to threaten its adherents, he
stand's, in the midst of friend* and encomia. as venerable for his
dimes as his yeses. We Allow him with unabated interest
through all the changes of fortune; arid it is with a feeling of
rrnlancholy pleasure that we take leave of him at last, when, his
difficulties overcome and his wishes radioed, he expires in the very
act of witnessing the return of the King and the restoration of
monarchy in England.
' Colonel Evened. his nephew, who had fought against the King,
but who seems, notwithstanding, to he somewhat neutralized in his
republican ardour by a passion of a different deeeription, inspired
by his pretty cousin, Mistress Alice Lee, le rather an insipid cha-
' ratter. lie doe. well enough for a lover, it I. true, being both hand-
some and brave, and thereto,w his pahliell is returned by the
daughter of the staunch old Knight ; but I prejudices of the Ist-
tee hre opposed to the marriage until, at the request of the King,
he labs down his isost"ity and cements to their union. This, which,
if we except a little amour in the kitchen. constitutes the whole
love.businese of tine work, assists to vary the interest and brighten
the tone of a tale founded in the troubled times of the country. We
cameo help thinking that the fair Mistress Alice bee would have
been more interesting had she been le.s perfect. By one ekes of
readers this objection will he Considered paramount; but if mo-
rality condescends to be indebted to works of amusement for aid,
the sweet calin delineation of filial piety and maidenly decorum ex-
hibited to this sketch may boast a higher commendation than any
that can be derived from the mere sanction of criticism. At the
same time let it not be supposed that those who wish for mixed
characters, of good and evil, will not find their taste sufficiently
consulted in the novel nr romance of IVondslnek. To say nothing
of Sir Harry Lee, who is compounded enough in all conscience,
such names as those of Cromwell and the second Charles are at
once a guarantee that virtue *ball not have every thing her own
way. The fact is, that the female is the only individual who trans.
greases the rule of human imperfection. We have one Vl'ildrake,
a drunken Royalist; Tomkins, hoisted Tomkins," a hypocrite
and a spy ; and several of the revolution gentry upon both sides,
whose characters appear not only in the mixed uniform of nature.
but freckled here anti there with many an unsightly blotch peculiar
to the diseased and feverish times in which they lived. But it is
impossible to take leave of this port of the subject, without notic-
ing that extraordinary power by which (to use a fine expression of
art) this writer make his pictures " start out of the canvas." It is
not merely that his characters are well drawn and ingeniously diver-
sified, and consistently pursued, they seem, -as it were, to live and
move in his pages; their motives and actions, and conversations,
are PM only probable and reasonable, but carry with them a kind
of evidence o,i they are real, us if the author had turn them liv-
ing out of history, or flutter snatched them from the hand of na-
ture herself, and held them by some necromantic spell within the
circle of his own animated productiotie.

The plot is fabricated with the same bold and careless pen
which pervades every portion of the work. It abounds with strik-
ing scenes, many of them wrought to the highest pitch of interest ;
though we regret to say that the general effect which in Iroodstotk.
as in all well-constructed edifices, whether of rusierial or intellec-
tual workmanship ought to impress the mind most strongly, is en-
feebled by the dispromtionaes intrusion of desalptions, particu-
lars. and details. We Ogret also to observe, that the carelessness
of the style degenerates sometimes into slovenliness, though it
startles us occasionally with fine combinations and glowing peg-
sages, which have all the appearance of accident, hut are neverthe-
less accidents such as happen to none but writers of the most ex-
alted genius. Still it is much to be regretted that the author of the
fratieffy novels should have voluntarily declined the eminent sta.
don hl which nature intended him among the names that live
through all time. %Ye do not presume to say that he has altogether
forfeited his c+Ance, though he has considerably compromised his
claim upon the notice of posterity, by the haste to which he has
sacrificed a desire so congenial to the great spirits of all ages. Am-
bition has been the cause of many a fall, but here is a writer who
has fallen through the want of it. Yet let net envy rejoice, nor
mediocrity plume itself upon his disaster—his fall is like that of
a giant, from the highest mountain to a mountain beneath.
What we have just said applies to almost all his works, not ex-
clusively to Wovd•tock, whisk in our judgment occupies a middle
station, in point of uterit, between his earliest and latest productio,,s.
But it is time that we should proceed to give some extracts. The
interest of the reader is bespoke very early for the fair heroine,
Alice Lee., in the hiflowirg eloquent apostrophe.
" But ah. Alice Lee—so sweet, so gentle, so condescending, in
thy loveliness, wily is my story to turn upon thy fallen fortune,.
and why not rather to the period, when, in the very dismounting
from your palfrey, you attracted as many eyes as if an angel had
descended, as many blessings as if' the benignant Being had conic
fraught with rood tidings? No creature wert thou of an idle ro-
mancer's imagination—no being fantastically bedizened with incon-
sistent pertectione--thy merits made me love thee well—and as for
thy faults—l think they made me love thee better."
But, for all this. Alice has no faults, unless, as we have already
intimated, it be the fault of perfection.
The following passage breathes a spirit of delicate gallantry,
which reminds us strohgly of Sterne.
•• The rest ai t:lc asseveration was lost in Phcene's ear, so closely
did the Keeper's lips approach it ; and if they approached so very
near us to touch her cheek, grief, like impatience, /lath its privileges,
and poor l'hcebe had enough of serious alarm to prevent her from
demurring upon sick a trifle."
We select the next as one of those touches of descriptive beauty
in which tit,. toithor so much excels.

31eanwille, the weather began to shew Itself as propitious to
Cromwell, as he had found most incidents in the course of his career.
The grey mist, which had hitherto obscured every thing, and ren.
dered marching in the wood embarrassing and difficult, had now
given way to the moon, which, after many efforts, at length forced
lite way through the vapour, and hung her dim cresset in the hea.
yens, which she enlightened us the dying lamp of an anchorite
does the cell in which he reposes."
One of the noblest descriptions of all is that in which the author
paints the effects of Cromwell's mistake upon himself and Wild.
rake, when he exposes the portrait of Charles the First instead of
that of his son.

The first motion of Cromwell indicated a purpose of hastily
replacing the picture, and it seemed as if an effort was necessary to
repress his disinclination to look upon it. But he dal repress it,
and placing the picture against the wall, withdrew slowly and
sternly, as it', in defiance of his own feelings, he was determined to
gain a place from which to see it to advantage. It was well for
Icildrake that his dangerous companion had not turned an eye on
him, for las blood also kindled when he saw the portrait of his
master in the hands of the chief author of his death. Being a tierce
and desperate man, he commanded his passion with great difficulty,
and if on its that violence he had been provided with a suitable
weapon, it is possible Cromwell would never have ascended higher
In his bold ascent towards supreme power."
" But thin natural and sudden flash of indignation, which rushed
through the veins of an ordinary man like Wildrake, was pre-
sently subdued when confronted with the strong yet stifled emotion
displayed by so powerful a character as Cromwell. As the cavalier
looked on his dark and bold countenance, agitated by inward and
indescribable feelings, he found his own violence of spirit die away
and lose itself in tear and wonder. So true is it that, as greater
lights swallow up and extinguish the display of ,those which are
less, so men of great, capacious, and over-ruling mindri, bear aside
and subdue, In tlviir climax of passion, the more feeble wills and
passions of others as when a river joins a brook, the fiercer tor.
rent shoulders aside the smaller stream."

IVe shall conclude our extracts with the affecting passage which
concludes the work itself. It it a description of the death of Sir
Henry bee, who hail gone in extreme old age. accompanied by
his family, to witness the entrance of the King into London
at the liesttation. After describing the notice taken of him by
his beloved master, the historian thus proceeds :

•` The array moved on ; the Pound of trumpet,' and drums again
rose amid the acclainstions, which had been silent while the King
stopped; while the effect of the whole procession resuming its
motion was so splendidly dazzling, that even /likes anxiety about
her father's health was far a moment suspended, while her eye fol-
lowed the long line of varied brilliancy that proceeded over the
heath. When she looked again at Sir Henry, she was startled to
see that his cheek, which had gained some colour during his eon.
versation with the King, had relapsed into earthy paleness, that
Ida eyes were chised. and opened not again ; and that his futures
expressed, amid their quietude, u rigidity which in not that of sleep.
They ran to his assistance, but it was too late. The light that
burned so low in the socket had leaped up and expired in one ex.
hilirating flash."

Even in there parwarea, beautiful and powerful in they are, the
most negligent perusal will be sufficient to detect many instances
of neglect but the stamp of genius rears upon them. and critics
have little more to do than witness the deal, and WC it delivered
into the hand, of fame.