The Sun.
London, England, 1852-11-29 00:00:00

sit
LITER A TUB •K 44'
•
Reuben Medlicott ; or, the Coming
by M. W. Savage, author of "41* t)Mirt-'4,
the Albany." 3 vols. Chapman
The author of " The Bachelor tt3tip
has deservedly found favour with the rea war,
lic. There is so much shrewdness in his perce ptiona
of character, and so much spirit in his delineations
that his heroes and heroines are invested with an
individuality not commonly met with in the novel-
characters of the present day. lii his new work,
Mr. Savage has adventured upon a somewhat am-
bitious attempt. His aim is not wily to amuse,
but to instruct, his reader,—to instruct by a warn-
ing example. His satire is directed against a not
uncommon error of modern education, namely, that
ambition which seeks to acquire "many things," not
to accomplish "much"—multanon muttum. Reuben
Medlicott, whose name is an indication of his cha-
racter—for, like the Reuben of ancient times, he is
"unstable as water," and, like the poem of Tennyson,
his acquirements are " a medley"—Reuben Medli-
cott is the " coming man," " always coming, but
never come," bountifully laden with the flowers
in no single instance, are de-
of promise, which,
veloped into the fruits of performance. With
abilities sufficient to raise him to a prominent place
in any particular career, he aims at all things and
accomplishes nothing. Among his many accom-
plishments, Reuben is unfortunately conspicuous
for a fluency of language, hardly to be called elo-
quence, seeing that it consists in an abundance of
words rather than thoughts ; but with his injudicious
admirers it passes for oratory of the most brilliant
order, and Reuben is elected as the representative
of his native town of Chichester. His failure in
the House of Commons, and his failures in his other
multitudinous undertakings—his affectation and
foppery—his abounding self-confidence and provok-
ing versatility, are described in that felicitous man-
ner in which the author of the "Bachelor of the
Albany" excels. Quiet sarcasm alternates with
lively satire in these pages, and wiles the reader on
through what would otherwise be somewhat of a
dull history, for the life of Reuben Medlicott, frill
of warning though it be, is not of itself sufficiently
interesting to keep our attention suspended through-
out three volumes. Many passages, especially in
his earlier life—the tour in Wales for example—
might have been omitted with little detri-
ment to the value of the work. In the group
which immediately encircles Reuben, are many
capitally drawn characters. His father is a
country vicar, a quiet easy man, devoted to
gardening, his mother the daughter of Dean, after-
wards Bishop Wyndham, is a learned lady, to whom
Reuben is greatly indebted for the medley acquire-
ments which characterise him. His biographer
shrewdly remarks, that had the vicar cultivated
his cabbages less and his son more, or had his mo-
ther's stockings been of another colour, it might
have been better for Reuben. The Barsac family
with whom our hero in his school days becomes ac-
quainted, are admirably sketched by that same
pencil which portrayed the Narrowsmiths and the
Spreads. The daughters of the family are
surnamed by Reuben's schoolfellows, Pale
Sherry, Brown Sherry, and Dry Sherry,
Mr. Barsac, being a wine merchant. Pale Sherry,
the object of Reuben's boyish love, becomes the
bride of his grandfather, Dean Wyndham, one of
the most effective characters in the book. The various
school companions of Reuben, the energetic
Winning, the poetic Hyacinth, the selfish De
Tabley, and even the booby son of the Chichester
Apothecary, Theodore Pigwideon, attain in the
course of the narrative to honourable positions in
their several walks of. life ; but Reuben, the pro-
mising and brilliant, is left behind, and in his me-
lancholy old age a miserable wreck, points a moral
to the " coming men" of the new genera-
tion—"perdidi Iy/tam." For the benefit of that
moral, we commend the work to our readers,
and if, as we have intimated, the story is somewhat
too long drawn out, ample compensation will be
found in the lively and sparkling manner in which
it is at times narrated. Every " book" is pre-
faced with an "argument," written in a comic
strain, which is occasionally very happy.

The Romance of the Forum. By P. Burke, of
the Inner Temple. 2 vols. Colburn.

This work contains a series of narratives, scenes,
and ancedo tes from Courts of Justice. It is truly
observed in the preface, that " these volumes de-
rive their contents from matter of truth more
strange and startling than any flight of fiction,
however daring and fantastic. No one unaccus-
tomed to such perusal could imagine these records
to be of a character so remarkable, or of a nature so
interesting. They have, indeed, a right to the
title of romance, for in no pages of fiction has the
novelist ever introduced the like wonders, the
Alme horrors, or similar convictions. The real has
here its triumph over the ideal, nature prevails be-
yond art, and the revelations of truth are shown to
surpass the suppositions of fable and the imaginings
of fancy. In many instances the scenes referred
to have been passed abroad, and such information
has been gleaned from various foreign works. In
this respect the English have been behind other
countries, it has been remarked, for few accounts of
remarkable trials have been preserved, a circum-
stance to be regretted, both intellectually and
morally—as such must be of service to the student,
and of information to the general reader ; while
they hold out a solemn warning to the devotees of
crime that the deepest cunning will not make a
crooked way look straight, or the greatest caution
keep their dark deeds from coming one day to the
light of justice. " Thus far shalt thou go, but no
farther," has the voice of retribution declared to the
sinner in many a convicted outrage.
The following anecdote of a canine discoverer of
crime is very interesting :

" Aubri de Mondidier, a gentleman of family and for-
tune in Montargis, travelling alone through the forest of
Bondi, near Paris, was murdered, and buried under a
tree. His dog, an English bull-dog, would not quit his
master's grave for several days, till at length, compelled
by hunger, he proceeded to the house of an intimate
friend of the unfortunate Aubri, at Paris, and by his
melancholy howling seemed desirous of expressing the
loss they had both sustained. He repeated his cries, ran
to the door, looked back to see if any one followed him,
returned to his master's friend, pulled him by the sleeve,
and, with dumb eloquence, entreated him to go with him.
The singularity of all these actions of the dog, added to
the circumstance of his coming there without his master,
whose faithful companion he had always been, prompted
the company to follow the animal, who conducted them
to a tree, where he renewed his howl, scratching the
earth with his feet, significantly entreating them to
search that particular spot. Accordingly, on digging,
the body of the unhappy Aubri w
was
fbsus'ind Some
tilne
the
after, the dog accidentally met thehChevalier
Macaire, when, instantly seizing him by the throat, he was
with great difficulty compelled to quit his hold. The king,
struck with such a collection of circumstantial evidence
against Macaire, determined to refer the decision to the
chance of battle; in other words, he gave orders for a
combat between the Chevalier and the dog. The lists
were appointed in the Isle of Notre Dame, then an unen-
closed, uninhabited place—Macaire's weapon being a
great cudgel. The dog had an empty castle allowed him
for his retreat, to enable him to recover breath. Every-
thing being prepared, the dog no sooner found himself at
liberty than he ran round his adversary, -avoiding his
blows, and menacing him on every side, till his strength
was exhausted—then, springing forward, he grasped Jilin
by the throat, threw him on the ground, and obliged
him to confess his guilt in the presence of all. In con-
zequence, the Chevalier was convicted Oil his own
acknowledgment, and beheaded."

Punch's Pocket-Book for 1853.
Evans. Bradbury and
Although crammed full of facetix, of course, as
usual, " Punch's Pocket-Book "is among the most
useful, as it is also among the most delightful, of
about the State, all about
Almanacks. In the old roan-cover, " tongue-tied"
form, it comprises an extraordinary mass of infor-
,i,axes_and it does this, moreover,
illation. It explains all
the Legislature, all about Commerce, all about the
are the tables and statistics with the
drollest wood-cuts from the drawings f e
while Law all
enliveningabou t
o John
Tenniel. These wood-cuts, by thest 'lay,
con-
ceived in the " extravagantest "
diveval school of art, known as that of of the me-
Raphaelites. They show us our dearuat of the Pr
e-
" annual" offering
hunch-
back (with a leer) presenting little his
to the British Lion—the g
Royal Kitchen under the rapturous pomp of the
Household"—the gifts head of the " Queen's
under that of "Ambassadors
of a bla,cka.moor envoy
very squeamish
under that of the aboardc the vessel of the State,
armour, and the ' Legislature "—the man in
and the ecstatic Lord Mayor's gingerbread coach,
Corporation." Dr
policeman, under that of the " City
o est among them all, however,
are the sketches
(with the natty
littleli illustrative of " Amusements "
y debardeurs and Punch as a
French
postillion in the Vauxhall masquerade)
and "Population " (with a cherubic brat in
the arms of its male
parent at midnight)—.
and " Hackney Coach and Cab Fares " (with
such a Gent remonstrating with such a Jehu !)
Besides all these attractions, the " Pocket-
Book" contains the customary supply of blank
leaves for cash account, diary, and memoranda. A
sort of literary and pictorial supplement comprises
humorous contributions in prose and verse,
embellished by John Leech—the omnium gatherwm
of stray witticisms not inserted in the London
Charivari.

Loss OF THE BRITISH SHIP AOLUS.—GIBRALTAR,
Nov. 15.—The British ship Rolus, of upwards of 1,000
tons burden, IW3finn, master, from Cardiff, bound to
Valparaiso, with a cargo of coals, was lost on the night
of the 10th ult., 10 miles to the southward of Casablanca
(Davel-baida), during 4 thick fog.