The Sun.
London, England, 1855-03-30 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

...
Constance Herbert. By Geraldine Jewsbury'autnut
of "Marian Withers," &c. 3 vols. Burst and
Blackett.
The authoress of this work is already
to" the readers of romance. Her former
of
have displayed considerable ability, o°ll2bine of re,
a pleasing style, and have shown no want ,
The pretent
source iu incident or character. tae,.although written with equal talent, and beirf 1:2_4.,
Well knor
haps more striking than its predecessors, es.wo'n
however, be said to leave a pleasing julpretvio"
arietY
the reader's mind. Though possessing a greathe chief
of character, and many impressive events,
d there is
feature in the plot is such a painful one,
able, that
at least one incident so extremely illWr°bcia donlesti°
it fails to convey the idea of a natural en 1
("end of
narrative, but seems rather an ancient bereh can-
some mysterious and hopeless fatality v 7 to whiehL
not be evaded or baffled. The chief polbt, .nopity--
we have before alluded, is hereditarY bloorainX
We are sorry to see this painful subirettoreaneots-
such a favourite incident for the pea °i- ',,erablancE"
" Constance Herbert" bears a strong resemblance'
under
to a very clever novel which lately appe..-the like_
the title of g, The House of Raby ;" and •ci nee a
ness is still further increased 4.)y a coin ol .° each
names, the aunts of the heroines, w the%tory,
case occupy a prominent place in of
being both named Margaret. The father
tut
the unfortunate Constance is the deseen• sus
of a family in which, for man
one has always been afflicted with non ed.
disorder ; but in her case the evil is inoreas
by the fact of her mother, soon after her marriage'
having become insane. Her father,- whose cater
is skilfully traced from his first deterioration. 01
character down to his miserable end; is totally
unfitted to be her guide or counsellor. She is en-
-3' generatioa
tirely in charge of her aunt, Margaret, who is
described as devoting all her thoughts and ener-
gies to the convideration of how she may best Pre'
pare her beloved niece for .the knowledge of her
heavy destiny. She arranges very injudicioiksifs
however, for she allows her to mix in society an• 4
to form a strong attachment, and then, when asked
for her sanction to her engagement, conveys
her to see an idiot, whom she then tells h'rr
is her mother. The unhappy Constance to
quite overwhelmed, and it is long hef°re
she recovers from the shock. In the mean;
time, her father has become worse and worse, an
in the end becomes engaged in such a questionable
affair that police-officers disturb his last moment;
The aunt is dead, and Mr. Herbert has aur,..ii,
parted with the family estate, and at the end 01
story Constance is left alone and almost friendleasj:
She is, however, in possession of au iadePettrdi_
fortune and estate, thanks to the most atraeung
dinary and unnatural event of the hook. , Loos
Englishman, while travelling in Paris, "44 Bre
to see Constance walking with her father. to ar
rushes after them, and follows the Bather t ater
gambling house. e joins him in play wig ced to*
night, in the vain hope of becoming
his daughter. He at length proposes for her, heynerev•
is haughtily repulsed by Mr. Herbert,.
11, leav-
upon he goes to a lawyer, makes a
d scireturning'
ing all his property to Constance, an- r
event
to his hotel commits suicide, having neves. If
spoken to the object of i introuu _
anal
b-s Bftectioncestore.
the aut,horess had informed us that the arieri3iol9"
of this hero had been insane we should F., _ how,
not have been surprised. We are led to in r
tPal'Ae be-
rea,soanre,
sob.
ever, that he had previously been a
ing. Some minor improbabilities there
_gawp,
as the marriage of Miss Wilmot and 51r. re sorry'
but this is the most remarkable. We a,n talents'
that a writer possessing miss Jewsbur4 s,styla
and reputation should condescend to before us Ist
of writing. The object which she seti:est expressea
however, worthy of all praise. It dad to articulat"
in L'Envoy :—" If we have sueeee;
entreat our
ing any principle in this book, it t
the sternest
is
to
readers to have boldness to act 1111 right. Al-
requirements that duty claims to 014 theni'
though it may at the time seemling they
re
it will in the end prove life. Not
le will prove
nounce for the sake of a higher Pribebl.Pd
1 the ra fhe fee;
to have been worth keeping. We Martin, Ir--
well in the quaint words of Barry .
trusts ~
1, „iself--
he wrote by way of an epitaph of ."1-
11 0131 y
cc i Reader, if you my words will
na mot.'
You'll gladly do and suffer ally so tbe
exPre° co -
The motto " Point de Faiblesse" also
Ova ii.s - work
idea of a high and resolute deterininati,.°ll:titho-il's
stance Herbert, with all its faults, sh
to
powers, and we shall look forward
from ss Jewsbury, not doubting su
excel her present production.
—.......!
main
aVethwerat fax

those brotauhsge ......—...----.._______
thaTnheittoahccounts from Australia by the overland
reach nary, an are
The barometer higher yesterdal at Sntljan.isiltalfrrztl".oB,ll.o
hb3telebnsyt
kowttnaeoJswAannrgno:
tfeu;:sttejiiondlaty.
sys
.hi.alice_:.;;..oo
most welcomeAs sign of fine weather. .. a daily WW2--
pm. soon as the Paris Exhibition oPen"'. - led
BlTkEeet
South ' communication will be
IP
tern Can-
. ampton and Havre. The fitting
Puany's steamer Wonder, a fast and fine vessel, is
P to be put on that
MELANCHOLY line.
MOLY DEATH OF A YOUNG LADY
last, Of Lady 'ul.lll
the young d.
wages
hebetirea
bert expiredan su ering .
Commandercrew
after a few hours' intense,
truly excellent daughter :13.111aDc_1elia. ascitfbtr°°ebdpri,'.
ev nt
the bite of her favourite cat. This distressing - ed.
establis
hasT thrown a deep gloom over the entire neighbourboos,
o J.
thHe. psaedldwleyn,steaattnislioyompoarrybehr!etogptabl
Bth ou Tuesday, and obtained leave of abser.ca t
EXPENSE, &C., OF CHAPELS .LBBOAD.
of
April.
the Treasautryintothfeor
moved for by Mr. and yaets TterbdAi
—A. retool
shows th
eyearign Consuls
1 st bs7sBlefioer at 'hi
e3t:voiesnsl77;
of' chaplains and chapels abroad, aosinsto6f.79ll3Bl;lechAP'-'153
1,0851. fur the building and repair''
of liuspitals at Madeira and °port i •
at Bahia and Pernambuco ; 8/ for tbe elPer'sbes
expenseB of buria'-gr,unds, nil. Tile 'eXPe."°,°:s:4ltc;
rird-grounds amounted to 100/. in 1849,and le '--
Si. 78. 9d. only. In many years nothinii owns to 100
been spent under this head. The contributioss of tht;
English Government towards the expense bf churches silo
chapels in China amounted in 1852 to 15/. (again st
4981. in 1851), and for the building and repair of churchas
, to nil, although 2,5707
-- was expended for this purpol e
and for t
in the years 1849 and 1850. The expense of chapels,
claplair., and lyirial-grounds in curinexion with her Alf
jeety s einba..*;es and mi,,,ons arorco (not ineluded i a
t!.10 foregoing r.-.:turn Atn
) ounted in 1653 to 1:11311.,
'',v'?.irlst, 1,252/. ✓in 1352
ense, and Dc,s/. In 151, This
S lass,
return inuiudea the exps of embassies a the Coiirts
o fAthenF, Constantinople, Copenhagen .
, Naplo, Poi*
1 Turin and Vienna,