The Sun.
London, England, 1864-10-03 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

Charles Dickens's New Serial Story.
Our Mutual Friend. By Charles Dickens. No. VI.

Several new characters are introduced to our
notice in this latest instalment of " Our Mutual
Friend"—one or two among them decided originals.
And foremost among these ought at once to bs
particularised a little creature destined, r,r we are
very much mistaken, to ba embalmed with tears
of love amo g our tenderest recollections. A child
—a dwarf—a girl—a something—a tiny, weakly
being, at once graceful and grotesque, pathetic and
ridiculous—Fanny Cleaver baptismally—Misslenny
Wren according to her own whimsical choice of
a soub •iquet —The Person of the House in a
social paint of view— a Doll's Dressmaker,
when defined commercially or professionally.
The interview between her and her old drunken
father is, in several particulars—as where " the
swollen lead-coloured under-lip trembled with a
shameful whine"—something very strange and
wonderful of its kind. We know not whether to
think of this unnatural reversal of the relative
positions of the two, The Person of the House and
TheßadChild, with love or with loathing, with tender
pity or with actual disgust. Another new character
admirably well defined, even in these first feW
touches, is—the schoolmaster, Bradley Headstone.
The description of the Toy Neighbourhood, by the
way, where his school stands, is inimitable—just
one of thosa rapidly-pencilled Bt:z vignettes that
are nv, rvels of realistic word painting. A Toy Neigh.
bourhood, it looked like, we are told, as if it had been
taken in blocks out of a box by a child of a partico

larly incoherent mind and set up anyhow. The last
chapter in the number is, after all, however, the
chapter in it. A Piece of Work it is called—the
said piece of work being an exquisitely humorous
and covertly satirical account of the manner
in which Veneering obtains a seat in Parliament.
The comicality of the whole of this description is
something delightful. The legal gentleman ill
Britannia's confidence—the way in which both
Veneering and Mrs. Veneering acknowledge to
each other " we must work," each thereupon setting

to work accordingly—Twemlow's energetic do-no•
thing co-operation at the club Lady Tippins's
resolute determination to assist in bringing him
(Veneering) in for Pocket Breaches —Podsnap.s
eminently practical suggestion of their all dining
together at Veneering's (all those friends of his,
that is to say, that are rallying, rearing, roaring,
reeling rarullarulling round him) their all
dining thus together at Veneering's for the pur-
pose of reporting progress and comparing notes
above all the extraordinary assiduity and devotional
zeal in ' Veneering's behalf, evidenced by
Boots and Brewer in taking cabs' and
going about—every minute touch, here, as we
read on, is a fresh provocative to laughter.
Pre-eminent among these exquisite touches et
humour being three so rare and irresistible in their
way as to require their being thus separately partial
calarised. Firstly—Brewer's master-stroke at the
close of Veneering's luxurious dinner, namely,
his notion of hurrying down to the
House to see how things are looking.
Secondly the Analytical's diabo:ical impulse
to suggest that Baby's dream of the Fairies was
attributable to " Wind"—throwing up his situa-
tion upon the spot while suggesting it. Thirdly,
and lastly, Twemlow's ejaculatory moan, in a sort
of despairing collapse, in reference to Vsneering----
" I shall either go distracted, or die, of this man•
He comes upon me too late in life. lam not
strong enough to bear him ! "—with which the
number closes delightfully.

The Warriors of our Wooden !Valls and their
Victories. By L. Bradshaw Walker. One Vol.,

pp. 296. Second Riition. Aylett and Son.
A glorious boy's book—full of chivalric anecdotes,
hairsbreadth 'scapes, and perillous adventures. The
gift-book of gift-books for any young reefer who
has just had tacked on to his uniform jacket that
gold-lace promise of the sea•ciptaia's epaulette
yclept, in maritime slang, the midshipman's curse.
Here, in these brief, but sufficient records of the
deeds of " derring do" (and " done," shall we say ?)
the intending emulator of the old dead and gone
Sea Lions of England may read about such match•
less feats of arms (achieved upon the great deep) as
lend all the fascination of romance to the personal
histories of heroes like Horatio Nelson an! Cuthbert
Collingwood, Sir Francis Drake and Sir Philip
Broke, Lord Exmouth and Lord Dandonald. It is
impossible to turn the pages of this enthralling little
volume without feeling one's heroic sympathies and
patriotic ardour exalted and intensified.

Can You Forgive iier ? By Anthony Trollops•

No. X.

Half of Mr Anthony Trollope's lively task is done,
in the way of propounding this still rather pro-
blematic question to hia multitude of readers. Before
the close (in this tenth number of his current serial
tale) of the first of the two volumes, into which it ie
divided, our author tells us that, so far as he him'
self is concerned, he has already forgiven her ! Set
so, however—we are perfectly well satisfied of thie
—not so, in the least, has it yet come to be with ael
one of Mr Trollope's readers in the present instance'
Not only have we not yet forgiven her, but we can't,
for the life of us, imagine the probability, hardl99
we might even say, the possibility, of our forgiving
her (Alice Vavasour, that is) in the hereafter. 111°
plot, so far, is simply odious—and the characters one
and all are very nearly detestable. The only cheer
meter in any way really worthy or meritorionet
meaning John Gray of Nethercoats, is at the beet,
after all, a very slow and a somewhat spoor)/
character indeed. The rest of the people
in the tale, alike • male and female, are—(l:
must needs reiterate the words with a sort of
emphasis of indignation), nearly detestable. Lad,
Glencora is not as yet quite lost—her ausband'e
Mr Palliser's forehead is not as yet full✓y adorned--;
George Vavasour has not as yet revealed hinasel;
to be completely and undeniably a mean and sordid
scoundrel—and so forth with all the rest of them'
But these extrernest degradations and debasement°
arc (before half the book is done) all but accomplished'
In the present number, particularly towards the
close of it, there is a good deal of coarse fua in the
rival wooing of Mr. Ctieesacre and Captain Bell el lel,l
the Widow Greenow playing fast and loose Wtil
them most amusingly. _ _ll

POMPEY'S HEAD.—The O 1 the head
Pompey, the aboriginal who was lately shot by N'
Stuckey, in the far north, have been placed in the Sol'tll
Australian Institute for the inspection of students in etbnhi
logy and others interested in the history of this aborigine
celebrity, the only regular South Australian bushrangers
South Australian Register.
CRYSTAL PALACE.—The illumination of the gre
raat
centre basin during the playing of the fountains will
be
posted this evening at 7 o'clock,accompanied by batteries off
shells and Roman candles, and concluding with a flight
of rockets,