The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-25 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

A Terrible Wonzan ; or, Strong and True. By
Austyn Graham, author of " The Parson and
the Poor." Two vols. John Maxwell and Com-
pany, Fleet-street.
This is a very peculiar sort of story, which may
at least lay claim to some scrt of originality, since
its heroine can rarely find a counterpart among
the many fictitious characters that figure in the
pages of romance. Eardley Smith is a remarkable
woman, and one that possesses too many good
qualities and kind feelings not to make us regret
ner errors. The lamentable course which Eardley
adopted was the more to be deprecated, since she
could have assisted her lost friend and soothed her
dying moments without in any way compromising
her own honour, or sacrificing her prcspects in life.
A more false position than that in which she placed
herself, her friends, and the unfortunate child of
Mildred cannot well be imagined. There is some-
thing painful in this passage of the story,something
which shocks the feelings and jars on the taste of
the reader. The idea of Eartiley trying to shield
her friend's honour at the expense of her
own is quite preposterous, and nothing
could excuse the attempt. In the first
place, it was practising a gross deceit on society,
and it was also violating the strict injunction to
avoid even the appearance of evil, which more or
less should be that shegives way to such
mistaken notions, aad marks out herself such
a strange mode of procedure. It occurs to
the mind on perusing the details of Eard-
ley's extraordinary arrangements after her dis-
covery of Mildred, that she made a great mis-
take in arrogating.to herself the task of settling the
right and wrong in social questions,instead of calmly
following the acknowledged and recognised rules
the guiding principle of all virtuous lives,
and actuate the undertakings of the conscien-
tious and well-meaning. There is a false morality
in all this which cannot be approved of, and which
cannot be approved of, and which, indeeed, may be
productive of the worst results to those who are
influenced by its precepts. We must not do evil
that good may come of it, and Eardley did not
do her part to adjust the difficulties of the case by
running into such a false position. Mildred was
weak in the extreme, but she was more sinned
against than sinning ; however, Eardley's strength
seemed nearly as fatal to her progress in life as her
protegee's weakness. If both the one and the other
had put their strength in a higher help than man
can afford, and followed the precepts of that religion
which makes the weak strong, and forbids the lofty
to rely on themselves, how different would their
fade have been ; as It was one wealthy succumbed
to rain, the other dared the world to do its worst,
and seemed more inclined to do wrong to show her
indifference to opinion, than to do right, and appear
to yield to other's views or conform to their notions.
So far as this moral is deduced from the fitful pages
before us a useful lesson may be learned, but if the
author's intention is to vindicate the line of conduct
pursued by Eardley, he cannot expect the sympathy
of his readers or fulfil the object of his exertions.
Apart from this, the chief subject of discussion,
there are some noticeable incidents introduced, and
some well-drawn characters sketched, that impart
a vivacity to the work, and increase the interest.

The Musical Monthly. No. 1. Office, 40, Great

Marlborough-street.

The musical public has-long been in want of a
serial to represent their tastes and interests, and
they have at last offered for their acceptnnce a
magazine of very great and varied attractions. It
has many of the usual characteristics of its monthly
contemporaries—tales, sketches, poems, criticisms,
&c. It has, besides, literary, artistic, and musical
notes and notices, and a summary of the events of
the month, and articles on the drama. A corner is
set aside; too, for original songs for music, a fact
which we hope may tend to raise in some degree
the poetical merits of our popular ballads. The
most distinctive and fascinating feature of the
"Musical Monthly," however, is the publication of
an original musical composition with each number
—not a thin sheet or insignificant page, but a piece
of music got up in the style of the best musicsellers.
The contribution in the number before us is styled
"The Happy Christmas Quadrille," and is arranged
from the popular muse of olden time. It consists
of eight full-sized pages in a psettily illustrated
wrapper, and when taken out of the magazine forms
a graceful addition to the music stand. For the
February part we are promised " The Frost Fairy
Galop," and though we may hope that the title will
no longer be appropriate, we have no doubt its at-
tractions, external and internal, will rival those of
the " Christmas Quadrille," and like it, enliven
many festive gatherings.