The Sun.
London, England, 1863-04-02 00:00:00

A WORD FOR MISS BRADDON.

Those who have read " Lady Audley's Secret"
will not need to be reminded of the important posi
tion which the incident of arson occupies in the
story. The burning of Mr. M.yburn's mill by
" the turn-outs" occupies no such position in Mr.
Fullom's story, and is not tie work of any of the
principal actors in it. As for the coincidence of
describing the red light in the sky, we should be
curious to see any piece of descriptive writing into
which a conflagration is introduced, which omits
to notice that circumstance.
But, perhaps, the choicest piece of critical inge-
nuity displayed by Mr. Fullom, in drawing up his
indictment of plagiarism, is the fo' lowing :
MAN OF THE WORLD. LADY AUDLEY'S SECRET.
Danvers prevents Rosalie Lady Audley prevents ter
from denouncing his intended first husbecond marrieanand irom dounc-
marriage with Eleanor, by Inv-, her rge by
pushing her over the preei- dropping him in the well.
pace (pp. 39v, 403, 404).
The reader has only to compare for a moment, the
relative situations of the persons alluded to in these
passages, to perceive the absurdity of Mr, Fallow s
charge in this particular.
But the plain fact of the matter is, that there is
no clause in this most impudent indictment which is
not as destitute of foundation as those which we
have quoted. The coincidences and resemblances,
such as they are, belong altogether to the same cate-
gory as Fluellen's celebrated comparison between
the rivers of Macedon and those of Monmouth, and
if they were to be held to justify plagiarism for
one moment, it would be impossible for any author
to escape conviction. If Mr. Fullom's case against
Miss Braddon is to hold good, any other novelist
(say Sir Walter Scott or Mr. Charles Dickens) has
an equally good case for complaint. We have only
to draw a few comparisons somewhat in this style,
and the whole case is proved •

MISS BRADDON. SIR W. SCOTT. MR. C. DICKENS
Lady Audley is a Robe Bradwar- Dora is a y_-ung
young and beauti- dine is a y.,ungand and beautiful wo-
ful woman, with be otifui woman, man, with fair ha,r
fair hair and blue with fair hair and and blue eyes, and
eyes, and a power blue ryes, and a avower of •t rut-
of at raatiog the po 4-erot attracting ing the affection of
affection ot those the affection of those about her.
about her. those about ber.

MISS ERA DDON. MR. C DICKENS.
Captain dder is a pea- Captain ()utile is a seaisr-
faring per6o,., of rough man- lug per so, of rough manners
ners and an amiable disposi- and an amiable dispoEition
tion (though somewh q ad- (though somewhat addioted
dieted to rum), and is deeply to rum) aedis de-ply attached
attached to Aurora. to Florence Dombey.
Nothing could be easier than to prove accusations
of plagiarism in this way ad infinitum ; but nothing,
our readers admit, could well be more absurd. It
Mr. Fullom's object in putting forward this charge
is to revive the sale of an inconveniently large
"remainder," it is not improbable that the curiosity
which naturally leads people to inquire into such
matters for themselves, will cause his hopes to be
partly realised; but whether this proceeding will
tend to increase his reputation or Letter his position
as a man of letters is another question. To those who
de look into the matter for themselves, we can
confidently appeal for a decision, whether we have
treated Mr. Fullom at all unfairly in pronouncing
his charge to be utterly destitute of foundation. As
for the lady, she has written to the Morning Herald
a brief di claitr.er of ever having read one line of
Sir. Fullom's book, and we entirely believe her.
Moreover, we advise her to rest satisfied with her
ignorance—unless, indeed, she chooses to peruse his
pages with a view of studying what to avoid, in
which case they might be of some use. And this
is a branch of knowledge in which Miss Braddon
has yet much to learn.—From the " Critic" for
April, 1863.

HOLYDAYS AT THE LAW OFFICES.—To-morrow
(Friday) the offices of the Common Law Courts will be
closed, and will be re-opened on Wednesday morning•