The Sun.
London, England, 1852-01-27 00:00:00

EVEN:
TUESDAY

LITERATURE.

CASTLE DELORAINE; or, the Ruined Peer.
By Maria Priscilla Smith. 3 Vols. Bentley.
To convey political opinions through the medium
of a work of fiction, is not, generally speaking, an easy
or a successful undertaking, buh the authoress of
"Castle Deloraine" has been unusually fortunate,
both in the selection of her theme and in the manner
in which she has presented it to the public. The in-
terest of the story is not diminished by its poli-
tical . bearing. The novelist is not sacrificed to
the politician; on the contrary, whatever ad-
verse opinions may be elicited by the infe-
rences drawn from the ruined fortunes of Castle
Deloraine, there can be but one opinion as to the in-
teresting nature of the love-story which from first to
last fascinates the reader's attention, and (far more
forcibly than; any other chapters written with that
avowed intention) points a moral, and teaches a ter-
rible lesson. In the conception and arrangement of
this work Miss Smith exhibits some of the most
necessary characteristics of a good novelist.
The characters of both heroines are skil-
fully and beautifully drawn, and the unfor-
tunate hero is by turns the object of our pity
and indignation. The story, be it added, is of a
mournful and even tragic nature, occasionally con-
taining so much of natural pathos as powerfully to
affect the heart of the reader. For these portions of
her work we hold Miss Smith to be entitled to higher
praise than for the more argumentative chapters, ex-
cellent though these may be ; for the novelist should,
to our thinking, share in the aspiration of him who
said, " Let who will make the laws of a
country so that I make the ballads." He who can
sway the hearts of many possesses the true power.
The politics of "Castle Deloraine" are-of the most
liberal and truly popular character. The tenantry of
Deloraine are a specimen of that miserable class
ground down to the death to Pay rents to an absent
landlord, and that landlord, " the ruined Peer," is
himself forced to resort to all the expedients of po-
verty while nominally the possessor of vast estates,
which he is prevented from either disposing of or
enjoying, partly by the instrumentality of bad laws
and partly through his own iniquitous conduct, for
no laws, however good, could have given happiness
or respectabilty to a Lord Deloraine. We may safely
commend this novel to the reading public as, apart
from a fascinating story, it contains much judicious
and thoughtful writing. The sorrows of the poor
cannot be too often brought under the consideration
of the powerful.
" Evi3 io vvroasht
From want of thought,
As well as want of heart.'
hence we must feel grateful to all who, like Miss
Smith, introduce the neglected and disagreeable topic
in a pleasing guise to high places, where otherwise it
might be passed over and its very existence ignored.

POETRY FOR CHILDHOOD. POETRY
FOR YOUTH. Original and Selected. By
Miss Jermyn.
An excellent collection cf poems of real merit,
very much in contrast to the works usually arranged
for children. " The Poetry for Youth" is also of a
superior class, being extracts from the best authors.
Miss Jermyn has displayed much taste and judgment
in the selection of these pieces.

A VISIT TO ARUNDEL CASTLE.
This is a description of Arundel Castle and the
scenery surrounding. It contains, a history of the
Earls of Arundel. It describes tne position of the
castle, the dungeons, the Old Keep, the owls, &c. It
gives an account of the siege of the castle and its
restoration. It is profusely illustrated.

CHAMBERS'S PAPERS FOR THE PEOPLE.
This is the twelfth volume of this excellent series,
and contains its usual variety. There are two tales,
in one of which, "Marfreda ; or the Icelanders," is de-
scribed the anxiety felt by the inhabitants of that
distant island to share in the literary and scientific
advantages of the more civilized world. There are
also articles on the Incas of Peru, the Progress of
America, and the Duke of Wellington.

..----- ---
HOW TO EMIGRATE ; a Tale for All Classes.
By William Kingston, Esq.
An interesting tale, describing the adventures of
several families who emigrate to Australia. It gives
directions which are very useful to such adventurers.
It speaks in a calm and reasonable manner of the
prospects of colonists, and while greatly advocating
emigration does not deny that toil and perseverance
are necessary to attain the desired end.

A TRIP to the UNITED STATES and CA-
NADA. hi a Series of Letters. By Edward W.
Watkin.
Among the numerous books of travel which have
of late years been issued from the British press we
cannot particularise any one more intrinsically valua-
ble than the excellent and unpretentious volume of
Mr. Watkin. It is replete with a mass of valuable
information, lucidly and succinctly conveyed by the
pen of an evidently clear-headed and practical man.
The circumstances and progress of North America
cannpt but be deeply interesting to every thinking
man of "the mother country," considering the im-
portance and extent of our mutual commercial rela-
tions, and the peculiar intimacy of the alliance sub-
sisting between us. Hitherto those visitors to the
States who have given their impressions to the public
have rather sought to contribute to our amusement,
by depicting the social peculiarities of our Transat-
lantic kinsmen, than to present a candid and impartial
view of the mighty resources, the daring energy, and
the shrewd intelligence of the
citizens of the wonder-
ful Western Federation. Not so the writer of the
letters before us, who within the compass of 150
pages offers a plain unvarnished tale of the expe-
riences of his brief but comprehensive travel, which
may well put more ambitious writers to the blush.
16 Any English youngster," says Mr. Watkins, " will
tell you that
"Americans speak through their noses,
spit, and hold
slaves; but how few, even of the most intelligent, know
that better English is spoken h
-y the mass of American,
than by the majority of English citizens, and that
education is practically an institution of the United
States, and universal; though ut home it hardly exists
as a system, and can never be extended in any truly
national direction
it
exciting a war of parties!
Be the reason what it m
-Y) we have been in the habit
of looking k
up to it. Th down on Ameurica. We shall soon perhaps
have to looose who wish to gaze at ruins
ewels
need not go to it. These wh, only yearn for the sight
of crown j, or ancient armour, had better stay
away. But to all who
would see the realm which
Nature has spread out,
in her largest features, for the
development of the Aogio_o
oaxon race, under institutions
once deemed Utopian, and
even yet wondered at as
experimental—to all who would see how a people can
g —North America is the country of irresistible
row
attraction?'
Mr. Watkin dates the first two of his series of letters A
(which are dedicated to Mr. the
Carr Glyn, LP.
chairman of the London
11(1North-Western Railway
from on board
Company)
which ha left Liverpool the steam-ship Asia, in
and the last, when withinn the 16th of August last,a
of England, tb
shores On `"0 7th of the following Octo-
few hours return to the
ber. This was quick work
a mind to digest, and a h ,but he had an eye to see,.
and to describe, in no ordi-
nary degree of excellence.
, afterLaandstianyg at New York
of forty-eight
on the 28th of August
"slow" one, Decants()
'Judson to Albany in a boat
hours, he steamed up
ithe
it progresses at the rate
hour inclusive of stoppages,
calledo f
0 n
aseventeen milesl
Reindeer does the journey
Champlainwren
at whereas,li n
ratew we
of
arc
tweett ody,
nt hra rettw
enty -two miles an hour.
tady
Thence through Schmec
to Saratoga ; up the
; across the frontier to the
banks beautiful
nf the Lakest.
; and so to Montreal on
the evening of the 2d sof
, September. By steamer our
tourist next dropped uown t_
' Quebec, with its im-
pregnable citadel and admirable commercialosition
and retracing his course up the river, ,
, work p
ed along
Lake Ontario from
Kingston to Toronto,
which he describes as being evidently a
highly prosperous place. "It has a thoroughly
Anglo-Saxon cast about it, and looks new and bright.
Everywhere is the appearance of vigorous trade and
rapid extension." Niagara is, of course, next visited,
and well and graphically is the great wonder of the
West described. We then find him at Detroit,
whence by rail, through' the country of the Black
Hawks and of Tecumseh, and steamer across Lake
Michigan, he reaches Chicago on the 11th. Chicago
is on the verge of the great prairies of the Illinois, to
get a view of which was the main object of our tra-
veller's crossing a
the k
l_e, and after indulging this
reasonable curiosity he steams across to " Miehigan
city," on the southern shore, and drive_
8 back through
Laporte and Carlilse Hill to Detroit. 'Jere he had an
opportunity of hearing one of
the most eminent
members of the American bar, Governor Seward,
whose name is familiar to our readers
as the warm
friend of Kossuth in his present ;
vait to the States.
Again crossing Lake Erie, he proceeds by "
public work of America,"the
of (then
r4ailroadbut
distance
recently completed, a
that miles, from
revisiting Dunkirk to New york,_
1 g at city on the
17th, after his debghtfu
the excursion27th, two
and a half
weeks. Between then , the day. of his
andleave of absence departure for Europe (hisl3 Boston, and being out),
he visits New Haven, . , Lowell, on the
Baltimore, one side,and Philadelphia, e) and Washing-
ton on he other. This certainlyDid was.
not letting the
grass grow under hisfeet- our limits permit we
extracts from this-
would indulge freely in
littlein-
teresting more than
cordially
cordially recommend itattention, more g amount of
par-
ticularly for the condensed
.information as
of the American to the system and progress
1• contains rican railways.
On this head Letter XX .matter well worth
entire little volume ; and when it is
the price of the
public land con,t&red that shvery, the
'a t )rest • system, and
almost every great topic of
I(independentis
also treated of
in a masterly sketch
which we subjoin from the
preface)
we cannot be