The Sun.
London, England, 1855-05-04 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

The Secret History of a Household. By the
Author of "Alice Wentworth." 3 Vols.

Hurst and Blackett.
This is in many respects a painful story, but it
must be acknowledged by all who peruse it that
it is remarkable for the clever delineation of its
character, and the skilful arrangement tof its scenes.
The bold and manly Everard Mansell, and the
high-spirited and steadfast Barbara, stand out in
striking relief from the timid and gentle Ellen,
and her wayward suspicious husband, who, as
Barbara's brother took every opportunity of mak-
ing an unworthy use of his power over his admir-
able sister. Everard, on the contrary, with all his
determination and decision, was easily influenced
in a right cause. Not so the evil-minded Stapyl-
ton. lie was not naturally bad, he could admire
and reverence virtue in another, and he could de-
nounce vice as energetically as any one, but he never
troubled himself to consider that the virtue ho
acknowledged as excellent we should practise as
well as praise ; nor that the vice he condemned in
others his fellow-creatures despised in himself.
" Thou art the man" might with justice and reason
have been said to him, but Ralph had no friend to
say it to him. Ellen, his unfortunate wife, was
placed in such peculiar circumstances that it is hard
to say she was wrong in yielding to what her hus-
band wished, as it would be unwise to say she was
right. In one case she was tmquestionably re-
prehensible in accompanying Gertrude abroad. If
the intention of the author is to favour her decision
it is a mistaken view ofpropriety. Mercy is the bright-
est attribute of the Christian character, but mercy to
thepenitent does not mean screening the guilty frcin
the just consequences of crime, and charity, that
often misapplied and perverted word, is not to shut
nut and supersede justice altogether, bat to soften
and smooth its rugged decrees. The only quality
that we are told belongs to both worlds, that will
flourish in heaven when earth is no more, is truly
too sacred to be invoked in such a cause, or to ap-
pear in such a scene as the one alluded to. It was
not charity nor mercy : it was kindness of heart,
genuine, but mistaken ; and it was love for her
erring husband, self sacrificing, but erroneous,
that led Ellen into the snare laid out for her by her
cunning and selfish enemies. That she came out
as pure as she entered, that one guilty person died
blessing her name, and the other lived to make her
atonement, by at last appreciating her devotion,
was not an excuse. " Evil is not. to be done that
good may come of it." It was impossible for Ellen
to look into futurity, and see the sun behind the
clouds of her horizon, but it was possible for
her, as for every one in temptation and
trouble, to think of present duty and present
consequences. The past was stamped in records
which human ingenuity could not efface. The
future was in' the direction of powers human saga-
citYcouldnot fathom ; only the present span of action
was their own, and three' more mistaken and mis-
judging individuals never ruled it. The effects of
their self-inflicted tortures were that (none giving
the others credit for really wishing such extraordi-
nary manoeuvres) each suspected the others of
duplicity and deceit. Gertrude, in horrible ago-
nies, breathed her last from the effects of the long
put• off discovery, which it was flying in the face
of Providence to suppose could be smuggled for
ever. Ellen was put aside by her cruel and jealous
husband, while she could not defend herself from
having compromised her spotless fame in setting
out at all on the foreign tour. The day of retn-
butiion was at hand for them, indeed ; and
scarcely has the reader blamed the trans-
action before the transactors theinselves are
overwhelmed with misery and confusion. It is one
thing to go astray and mislead others, and another
to make crooked things straight, and black look
white. So they all found, and made others find
too ; and when Gertrude was laid in her untimely
grave, and Ralph and Ellen—the former finding out
his mistake, and the latter forgiving him, went to
Canada—those whohad any insight into their careers
could not fail to be admonished by their tales. It
did not need to sit down in solitude to find out the
meaning of their lives ; those who ran ever so giddy
or busy a course could read it; and it would be well
for the social well-being of others, if all who thus
erred ,lould, " departing, leave behind them" an
imprint of their steps, for the warning of those
who we mid walk in the same way ; and a murmur
of their misery to linger in the memory, as the
handwr long on the wall, to betoken when the
citadel is in danger. It is the province of the no-
velist to idealise realities, and,, in the gal)
of fiction, to manifest facts ; but, though
the privilege has many ramifications, it is
best employed and answers its highest purpose
when it narrows its limits and curtails its compass.
The more Jife-like, the nearer to nature and the
closer to truth, the sooner is the story understood
and the better appreciated. In the present in-
stance this cautious rule is observed, and we have
no adventitious aids of effect in scenes or persons,
and few flights of fancy to herald the way. The
circumstances are quietly told, as becomes a sombre
episode in human life, which the narrative here in
question undoubtedly chronicles ; and if it cannot
it does its best to show its
aspir© to keep off evil,
c.letormity, without entering into detail or over-
w.lrking its object. " The Secret History of a
u sehoid" is the history for the most part of the
wick, 3d ; but their sins found them out, and the
50115 e of uprightness is vindicated by their suffer-
inv. a.m.: shame.