The Sun.
London, England, 1864-08-08 00:00:00

LITERATURE,

RECENT NOVELS.

Denis Donne. By the author of " Sir Victor's
Choice." 3 vole. Tinsley Brothers.

Lady Audley has much to answer for. Not only
did her ill-omened secret occasion the death of an
inconvenient husband, bat, more lamentable still,
it has deteriorated the beau-ideal of female per-
fection in the nineteenth century ! Once upon a
time, it is true, a Marchioness of Brinvilliers
actually existed ; but such an enchantress, with
locks of gold and lips of guile, has only appeared
once or twice in the records of history. With our
fiction writers, nowadays, such a character is the
paragon and favourite. The industrious authoress
of " Sir Victor's Choice," whose skilful penmanship
we not long ago commented on, has now, in tale
fascinating Fanny Conway, presented as with
another claimant for the doubtful came of Circe.
Fanny Conway is beautiful, course, and more
than that she is irresistible. Her toilet, according
to Napoleon's soldier -like comment upon that of
Josephine, is " a perfect arsenal," and her tri-
umphant career. appears assured. When we first
meet Fenn;,, however, her finances are at a low
ebb, and she has not yet secured the object of her
ambit? on, a brilliant marriage. She consents to
aeerqt the situation of governess to the young
'laughter of a country gentleman, one Lyster Donne.
' This gentleman has just married a second wife, a
beautiful and treacherous woman, the equal of
Fanny in flirtation and duplicity, bat greatly her
inferior in strategic resource. Here are two
charming heroines for a domestic novel !
Two delightful specimens of the English
maids and matrons of nowadays. Poor
Mrs. Ellie t was it for this you bestowed
elaborate volumes of valuable advice upon the
rising generation of your countrywomen ? to see
the " Wi yes" and, the "Daughters" of "England"
devote their leisure hours to the elaborate studies
of character, in which shine conspicuous the
Assassin, the Adulteress, and the Anonyms.
'rinse who take delight in the contempla-
tion of such characters with whom " success
is virtue," will find ample amusement in the
sprightly doings and misdoings of Fanny Conway
and Dora Donne. One incident we must particu-
larise, not only because it is the turning-point of the
siory, but also because it affords a happy specimen of
the characters of the heroines and the skill of the
authoress. Dora Donne, the gay young wife of a
middle-aged and most devoted husband, tolerates
the attentions of a former admirer, Lord Allondale.
Some letters from this nobleman having excited the
surprise of the very unsuspicious husband, the
ready-witted Dora suggests that they are intended
'or the governess, and all goes on smoothly till ore

unlucky day, when the majordomo returns home
unexpectedly to find an unwelcome guest, Lord
Allondale, on his knees, kissing the hand of the fair
and false lady. After a moment of terrible conster-
nation, the treacherous Dora declares that Lord
Allond ale is interceding with her for the hand of
the fair Fanny Conway, and she goes in quest of the
governess. When the ambitious Fanny hears of
the dilemma and the excuse, and is asked to send
" a refusal" to Lord Allondale, she flatly declines to
refuse, and declares that she will accept the very
acceptable offer of a coronet and a fortune ! It is
diamond cut diamond. Dora is dismayed, Lord
Allondale is discomfited, Mr, Donna is, of course,
highly satisfied, and the fair Fanny is triumphant.
We will reveal no more. This glimpse is amply
sufficient to exhibit the domestic power of the
authoress in depicting a " situation," and it affords
also a specimen of her very peculier idea of domestic
life in the nineteenth century.

Black Moss. A Tale by a Tarn. 'By the author of
"Miriam May." 2 vols. Richard Bentley.
A very dismal character plays the principal part
in this story, one Gideon Cuyp, the undertaker, of
Black Moss Valley, in Cumberland. When the
first volume opens a deadly fever is devastating
the neighbourhood. Old and young, rich and poor,
become the prey of the deadly pestilence and the
direful undertaker, and help to fill the rotten elm
and greenoak coffins, which Gideon Cuyp supplies
at the lowest price. Like an ogre or a ghoul
Gideon exults in the spread of the deadly disease,
and he does more than exult, he does his best to
facilitate its progress, With his own hand he
diverts the churchyard drain into the stream of
water, which is the village drink. He gets posses.
sion of clothes worn by the victims of the fever
and gives them to the healthful, to bring disease
to their doers. So wholesale is the work of de-
struction, that the village is depopulated, and
Gideon begins to fear that he has somewhat "over-
done " his task. It is difficult to imagine what
pleasure the author of this work could have dis-
covered in designing and describing a character
so despicable and revolting. Assuredly, the
reader finds little pleasure in the study.
The only pleasure associated with the contemplation
of Gideon Cuyp is that with which we cannot but
regard his well-merited end when he falls a victim
to a fate he had been preparing for another. Con-
spicuous among the remaining dramatis po some of
this novel is Fabian Massareene, a member of the
Cabinet at the date of the story; and not only a
member, but the most popular member—" Eng-
land's favourite minister," The Government occa-
sionally gets into an equivocal position it is true,
but it is downright libellous (on the country at all
events) to describe a character like Fabian as the
"favourite" minister of England. The same terrible
mistake, of a nature so revolting that even the
genius of " Ernest Maltravers" could not render
its introduction justifiable, befalls this Fabian
Massareene, he ignorantly makes love to his own
daughter, and then when the truth is revealed to
him confesses the 'shortcomings of his life, and dies;
and we are glad to take leave of him ! What
with the deadly undertaker and the deluding minis-
ter, "Black Moss" is anything but a pleasant place,
and its history constitutes anything but an attrac-
tive record.

Clara Vaughan. A Novel. Three volumes. Mac

milieu and Co.

With the lovers of the mysterious, the terrible,
or the thrilling, Clara Vaughan will readily find
favour. ne beginning is very skilfully arranged.
Almost with the first chapter we are plunged in
medias res —we have, to begin with, the pleasant
excitement of a murder and a mystery. Clara
Vaughan tells her own story. The great event of
her life occurred when she was ten years old. Up
to that time, a nervous, delicate child, her educa-
tion had been purposely neglected. a wise physician
having prescribed for her that she must never be
forced to learn: " She must only learn when it
comes as it were with the wind." " Henceforth"
she says " I learned very little, the wind perhaps
being unfavourable, and all tho little 1 did learn
came from my father's lips." This father is the
object of her childish adoration, and his untimely
fate casts a shadow over her life. Clara's tenth
birthday is a bright and happy day, the last sun-
gleam before years of sorrow.