The Sun.
London, England, 1864-12-07 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVEMNU, DECEMBER 7, 1864.

NEW NOVELS.

The Queen of the County. By the author of " Mar-
garet and her Bridesmaids." Three Vols. Hurst

and Blackett.

The authoress of " Margaret and her Brides-
maids" and " The Valley of a Hundred Fires" is
a favourite with many readers, Her style is sin-
gularly pleasing and vivacious ; and if her charac-
ters are almost too charming for real life, and her
descriptions almost too couleur de rose, the result
is, nevertheless, sufficiently attractive, and the
novel-reader who seeks to be agreeably enter-
tained is not likely to be disappointed. " The
Queen of the County" is, in every respect, as
graceful and as charming as her predecessors. The
fair Dulce Mallerdean is the narrator of her own
history, the very opening lines of which remind us
of one peculiarity in " The Valley of a Hundred
Fires." In that novel, if we are not mistaken, the
very excellent hero and heroine become the parents
of some sixteen or eighteen little daughters, and
here this new novel, " The Queen of the County"
commences with this reminiscence of the fair
heroine—" In my father's nursery were born twelve
little girls." A curious coincidence, to say the least
of it, reminding one of the chanson of Beranger—
" sur la naissance des
,Mlles." Again, a peculiarity
of this writer is a predeliction for extraordinary
Christian names. In her last work one fair maiden
was called by the Welsh appellation, Nest, and
another was Pearl; and now, the Queen of the
County rejoices in the name of Dulce, and
her favourite sister is called Marblette. We
the more readily comment upon these eccentricities,
because the writer is one who can well afford to
dispense with them. She writes with a facile pen,
and knows how to please many readers. Poor
Dulce's grief in the dark hour of her affliction is
most vividly and naturally portrayed; but although
we rejoice to find th. fair ti Q,Axocoga" living to v good
etc age, surrounded by troops of friends, we must
confess that our credulity as to the verisimilitude of
her history is somewhat shaken when we are called
upon to congratulate the aged lady upon her son of
sixty, her grandson of forty, and her great-grandson,
just celebrating his mhjority l Dulce Mallerdean is
one of the twelve daughters of a gentleman of mode-
rate means; she marries the heir of a wealthy
house, and finds herself at once in a high and re-
sponsible position—a position which she fills with
grace and ability. On her first appearance at the
County Ball she is thus greeted by one of the note.
bilities, Lord Harpendale

THE QUEEN OF THE COUNTY.

We were so anxious to see you. Lady Harpendale said
"For twenty-nine years I have been Queen of the County
—I will look at Peter Mallerdean's wife, and if she is
worthy, I will crown her Queen this very night in my
place."
" Have all counties queens ?"
" I know not—but we have, and we like it."

" And what are her duties ?"
"She must be at the head, possibly the inventor and pro •
rooter of all the good deeds done in the county; she must
be ready to patronise every public meeting; she must set
fashions; adjust quarrels, and be the guide and star of the
whole female population."
" The only arduous part of the duties is adjusting the
quarrels."
" Ah, you are sanguine I Don't be so sanguine. It re.
quires some one very superior to be Queen of this County.
We are not easily pleased. The young peop'e of the present
day are very fast, my dear Mrs Mallerdean. We must have
a stately Queen of the County to restrain them. They
hurry upon their fathers and mothers so rapidly, that, egad
they almost trip us up."
A cloud in the sunny life of the young " Queen" is
the jealousy of her husband's sister, Lady Lanton.
Here is a pleasing sketch of
A NEW BELLE'S STRATAGEM,
We went to Brighton, and I used all the arts I professed
to make Peter forget his melancholy. We had to return to
town all too soon. A court ball was impending, and Peter
was for once rather anxious about my dress and appear-
ance.
He was engaged that night rather late at the House of
Commons, but had bid me dress and go early. I was to
wait for him in the labby, so that we might enter the pre-
sence together.
I was in joyous spirits. My dress pleased me well, and
I diverted myself with thinking how delighted Peter would
be when, throwing off my cloak, I should show myself to
him, adorned with perfect art. That elasticity of spirit
which rose upon the least occasion floated me off into a
mood as happy and rapturous as a child's. Though I did
not allow it to myself, our house had to me and aspect of
home and sunshine, now that Lady Lanton wa3 out of it.
Ensconsed behind the pedestal of a statue in the lobby, I
watched the gay company thronging in, and never felt more
gay.
Una sudden I perceived Lady n3utui, hutsolf aptaeach•
ing, and with her the Countess Hermann. To my astonish•
ment, the latter seemed dressed in the fac-simile of ray
dress. What first struck me was the coronal of plumes,
that were arranged according to a fancy of my own, in a
sort of sweeping circle, that descended low on one side of
the neck. A little circlet of diamonds was the only other
ornament on my head. The countess had precisely the
same. I immediately scanned her dress. It was the exact
copy of mine—white crape looped up with water lilies,
showing a white satin petticoat, embroidered in silver and
Roman pearls. They did not perceive me as they passed in
earnest conversation.
"Yes, I brought him to town for the best advise," Lady
Lanton was saying ; " it is the only thing I could do, but
I took care to leave the children at Mallerdean."
Ah, my dear Bufly, I was pleased at that—it went to my
heart to think that the result of all these quarrelings might
be that I should be separated from you
This was my first thought. The second followed quickly.
Peter would never forgive the public exhibition of his wife
and Lady Hermann appearing so exactly dressed alike as
to remarkable.
Elated as I was with my new dress, my appearance in it,
and the sensation I hoped to make, it was all over now. I
must ask for a chair, and get home as speedily as I could,
that I might reach it before Peter left it. Fortunately .I
was in time.
When I told my tale, he was astonished; and had the
ball not been a royal one, we should certainly not have at-
tended it, But there was no alternative. Peter had but a
minute to admire my dress, when I had to ran and OD nge
it. I think he felt the disappointment even more than I did,
it was so becoming. I now put on a dress of blue gauze,
which was perfectly new, but wanted the grace and deli-
cacy of the other. I exchanged my coronal of feathers for
one long one tipped with blue, which I fastened on to my
head, with the bands of diamonds passing over and over
it.
In less than an hear I was again in the lobby, accom-
panied by my husband, and we passed into the ball-room.
On its very threshold were Lady Lenten and the court.
teas. It seemed as if they meant to join us, as we passed
on our way to the royal circle, but they were so confused at
the unexpected change in my dress, or the utter disregard
Peter paid to their presence, that they allowed some people
to intervene between us, and we were soon lost in the crowd
that crushed on the Presence Chamber. Having made our
obeisance, we joined the Orams, and one or two people
whom we knew, with whom we went into an inner room,
where a limited number of people mere dancing. Here we
agreed to stay, as we were a seltot party, and mostly known
to each other. And here I had the great happiness, as it
seemed to me, of dancing for the first and only time of my
life with Peter.
To a youthful animated spirit dancing is like the embod i
ment of the joy of mind, and when you may freely abandon
yourself to the intoxication of it, because your husband is
your partner, nothing can be more perfect. Tens, within
a short space of time, I had experienced as many different
feelings as there are clouds in an April day.
Before taking leave of Queen Dulee, let us quote a
beautiful thought upon

- -
ANNIVERSARIES.
The return year by year of birthdays, marriage-days, and
mourning-days is good for the soul. Few aro so hardened
but that the return of the day of their birth brings with it
the remembrance that there will be a time when a year.will
come in which there is no birthday for them. Are they
prepared for it ? Again, in marriage-days, those that love
truly, gladly, repeat their vows again, and love ou still
more fondly as each year proves them still more blest in
each other. To those who love not so well, it may be that
these anniversaries soften some hardened place in their
hearts, and so, opening a spring of kindly feeling, heal
wounds that might otherwise have festered and mortified to
death. But the mourner I—on such a day mourner was
baptised in sorrow. The ceremony brought her face to
face with God. His veil was withdrawn, and she felt her-
self almost in the invisible world. On each anniversary she
withdrew into this holy sanctuary again, and issues there-
from strengthened to perform her work. Do not fear these
anniversaries, Dulce. As time mellows the sharpness of
your sorrow, you will court them—the only link in this
world which connects you with the dead.
this tender, loving philosophy pervades the whole
work, and is more than an equivalent for all thee
blemishes we havo hinted at, and justifies the
author's rising popularity.

---
Me Ordeal for Wives. By the Author cf " The
Morals of Mayfair," &c. Three Vols. Hurst and
Blackett.
There have been before now political discusbions,
and severe animadversions upon the rival merits and
demerits of " town" and " country." In a kiudred
spirit the author of the " Ordeal for Wives" is in.

clined to inaugurate a similar controversy in a matri-
monial point of view. We must confess that for
awhile the name of this novel mystified us, but the
meaning is, towards the close, very clearly set forth
in the following oracular announcement, which we
publish for the benefit of all whom it may con-
cern :

Reader, if you aro a man of fortune, and desire the assist-
ance of a young woman in getting rid of that fortune for
you ; if your heart yearns after a companion who shall dress
extravagantly, who shall sit with credit at thehead of your
table, who shall make your house generally attractive to
your friends—do as Mamaduke Scott and as Lord Eltham
did. You need not be at the trouble of travelling to find
what you require. London, Paris, Bath, Brighton, Chel-
tenham—wherever you may be, you will find the material
ready to your hand.
Reader, if you are a man of education, but no money'
and are so inconceivably single-minded as to wish to pos •
seas a woman who shall be bound to you for life; if you
have visions (God knows how, in this generation, they come
into your head I) of a wife who shall work with and for
you, cook your moat and mend your shirts, Ie your house-
keeper and the mother of your children, and your own in-
tellectual companion, and truest, tenderest friend—go and
search for your ideal among the Devonshire Moors I You
won't get her in large cities out of the classes from whom
men take their wives.

And, unfortunately, the Dovonshire Moors are every day
becoming more enclosed.
___

Bred up in these Devonshire moors was Esther
Fleming, the principal heroine of the tale, Her
teacher and guardian being her cousin, Joan E ogle-
heart, a thorough disciplinarian, and one not tole
rant of the weaknesses of humanity; witness, for
example, her approved method of getting rid of a
servant's lover—

manifest in the plot of this story. The stolen
marriage of the youthful heiress of Askerdale Park
is very cleverly arranged, thanks to the Machie-
vellian ingenuity of the "best man" but not the best
adviser of the bridegroom. The latter personage is
himself somewhat ashamed of the underhand part
he is compelled to enact. Not so his friend
Marston, who rejoices with all the pride of
art in the success of his dextrous combinations. It
being essential that the secret marriage of the
heiress shall take place in London, and by banns,
Marston causes these banns to be published in no
less than six out of the way parishes, so as to
elude discovery, end when at last, on the third
Sunday, every hour becomes of importance, he
persuades (by very potent arguments) one clergy-
man to perform the marriage ceremony imme-
diately after the banns are, for the last time,
published, while another goes on with the ordinary
service of the day, there being just sufficient
time before twelve o'clock for the momentous matter
to be legally arranged. So much for strategic skill
The after events which befall the hero and heroine
aro even more surprising, and partake largely of
the sensational. The story is, however, cleverly
designed and pleasantly told.

Nelly:Deane. A Story of Every-day Life. Two Vole.

Nimmo:

A very charming heroine is little Nelly Deane.
Ono of those artless, loveable characters whom
Wordsworth has celebrated—
" A creature not too bright and good,
For human nature's daily food ;
For simple pleasures, artless wiles,
Praise, blame, love, kisses, tears, and smiles."
The character is, no doubt, happily for as all, one
of " every-day life ;" but wo cannot think that the
story of Nelly Deane, as sot forth in these volumes,
is entitled to the definition which appears upon
the title-page. The wicked wiles of Stella
Mortnn_ the young heir,
the shipwreck, the mistaken identity, and last of
all, the extraordinary reccontre of the Scotch ser-
vant and the dying sinner, make up altogether a
story of considerable interest, but hardly one of
everyday life! Old Dr Brown is a very delightful
and not an impossible character.

Maggie Bell; or, The Lost Sister. By Warwick
liolme;author of "The Monona of Bardon." Two

Vole. Maxwell.

The narrator of this story is the tutor of little
Bortie Ainslie, and the lover of Maggie Bell.
B-Irtie's mother, the sister of Maggie the
lost sister, who gives the eecond title to
the book—has miraculously disappeared. When
she is with amazing difficulty discovered, Maggie
has, for the time, vanished away, and become in her
turn the " lost sister." Ultimately they are both
restored to each other, and all ends well, but the
story appears, to our thinking, to be somewhat akin
to a much ado about nothing.

New Music.

-..-

The March des Princes, L'Oiseau Mouche (rondo waltz)
Come back thou happy dream, the Charing Cross Polka,
and the Ali Ben Sou Alle Waltz, Polka, and Quadrille.

The above new pianoforte music, just been published by
Mr. Ward, of the Strand, will doubtless find much favour
during the approaching festive season. The first three
pieces are the composition of Ali Ben Sou Alle, the gentle-
man whose performances on the Turkophone produced
such an impression during the late series of promenade
concerts given by Mr Alfred Mellon. L'Oisesu Mouche is
a peculiarly effective and melodious composition, and one
that cannot fail to become a general favourite. The com-
poser has not confined himself to the production of instru-
mental music, he has also published three very pretty
songs, all of which will be found an agreeable addition to
those already in circulation. The Charing Cross Polka,
by Mr J. C. Kent, is sprightly and telling; and the Ali
Ben Sou Alle Polka, Waltzes, and Quadrille, arranged by
Eugene Dalagarde from the compositions of the gentleman
whose name they bear, are each excellent specimens of
lively dance music.

A Eederal " Ocean-going Monitor"

(From the Neu, York World.)

More than three years ago, a contract was made by the
Secretary of the Navy with Captain Ericsson and his asso-
ciates for the construction of the two ironclad ocean moni-
tors, to be called the Puritan and Dictator. The vessels
were guaranteed to steam 15 knots an hour at sea; and
from time to time Captain Ericsson declared in the papers
that there machines were:destined to revolutionise naval
warfare, Last spring, after the Dictator was substantially
finished, but before she was tried, Congress:was applied to
to pay for one of these vessels—the Puritan—a price equal
to what it would cost to build it now, although, in fact,
the actual cost of building it had been about half of what
now would be estimated, the iron and labour having been
contracted for at the prices of three years ago. To this ap-
plication objections were made by most of the public jour-
nals, and by several senators and members, who insisted
that the Dictator should first be tried, and if she proved
good for anything, then it would bo time enough to in-
demnify the contractors against loss, perhaps to reward them
bya large profit. But this did not satisfy the Navy Depart-
ment, who urged the passage of the bill upon Congress,
and a law was enacted giving the contractors about a mil-
lion and a half of dollars of profit, while the Dictator was
lying ready for steaming, but without having yet been
tried in any respect. Having secured this magnificent do-
nation, given upon tbo representation by its advocates that
the ship could alone cope with the entire navy of England,
the contractors proceeded to try the Dictator at the dock;
in the North river. Precisely what happened is not known
to the public ; but the effect was that the vessel, instead of
steaming to the navy yard as had been announced, Ras
towed there by a number of tugs, although the public had
been notified to stand on the battery and see her steam by.
Then the trial trip was announced. in order to show that
the ship was able to go alone, and as a necessary prelimi-
nary to her acceptance by the Government ; but after work-
ing the engines at the dock no trip was attempted. Just
then Capt. Fox, assistant secretary of the navy, appeared
and spent a couple of days in looking after his peculiar pet,
the Dictator, and immediately the ship was taken off the
hands of the contractors, and the unfortunate people of this
much.swindled country were saddled with a machine which
had hardly yet shown itself capable of self-motion. Mean-
while an expedition at Fortress Monroe was awaiting the
Dictator to complete its force ; but the Dictator did not move.
Instead of that, however, she went on a "cruise" to Staten
Island, in tow of three tugs, and for about ten days she has
been pert irming the duties of a dictator to the oyster boats
about Communipaw. Her history, however, is written by
Captain Ericsson, who informed the public that there was
nothing wrong about the ship, but that some sand had got
into the step of the rudder while lying in the mud of the
navy yard, and so the Dictator was temporarily disabled.
He also assured the public that the engines had been run-
ning at the rate of 59 revolutions a minute with the throttle
valve only one quarter open ; from which we are led to
infer that if the other three quarters were only opened
something terrible would happen, and we waited for that
result. Our patience is at length rewarded, and it has been
announced that the Dictator had returned from her first
cruise to the lower bay, and had made a speed of 7 knots an
hour with 45 revolutions of her engines. We do not feel
disposed to be very critical, but we cannot help calculating
the speed of the screw of the Dictator, and we find that the
ship was going taster than the screw would drive her when
she went 7 knots an hour with 23 revolutions—but we
suppose it to be one of the peculiarities of this sort of ves-
sel that ordinary rules do not apply—a peculiarity parti-
cularly valuable in this ship, because the engines have
demonstrated that they cannot be made to revolve con-
stantly 20 revolutions a minute—GO being the contract
speed—and therefore, unless the ship can go faster than
the wheel which drives her, she is ut•erly useless. This
first cruise was made in commission and fighting trim.
No one has been hurt or wounded—thus showing that the
ironclad is invulnerable, but the ship has gone to the
navy yard for repairs after her difficult and extensive ser-
vice; and the contractors and Capt. Fox are satisfied. If
the taxpayers are not, they ought to turn contractors,

NEW LIFEBOATS.—The National Lifeboat Ineti.

tution has just sent away a fine new lifeboat, 36ft.
long, to be stationed at Pill, Morcombe Bay, Lancashire,
The coat of the lifeboat was collected by the commercial
travellers; Mr W. Bishop, of West-street-road, acting as
treasurer, and Mr R. Affleck, of York-street, Manchester,
performing the duty of secretary. Another lifeboat, of
precisely the same size, will be sent off this day (Wednes-
day) to New Quay, Cardigan Bay. The cost of this last-
named lifeboat was benevolently contributed by the
Ancient Order of Foresters.
A LADY'S SPORTING ADVRNTURR.—Last week
Lord I)..liddleton's foxhounds met at Heslerton.
There was a large party, and among them Mr and Miss
Pinder, of Linton House. During the chase, the. Derwent,
swollen to the brim by the late heavy rains, had to be
crossed. Miss Piner boldly took the stream, following.her
brother. The force of the current, however, lifted her out
of the saddle, and floated her down the river. A cry of
"Miss Pinder in the river" was raised, and Mr Pinder, who
had crossed, dismounted, followed his sister, and brought
her safely to shore, amid the plaudits of the whole hunt.
After a few moments the lady remounted, and although wet
and uncomfortable, as may be supposed, for three hours
continued the chase with as much ardour as the most veteran
sporteman.—Easterrt News,