The Sun.
London, England, 1863-08-10 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

Three Lires in One. 3 vole. Hurst and Blanket

This story is so very unequal in parts, that we
might almost incline to doubt its being all the work
of one hand; that it is so, we ultimately be-
lieve, but that hand is one as yet unpractised in the
mysteries of the craft. For a first work, however,
as we are inclined to regard it, it evinces, with all
its faults, no little power, and no small amount of
the imaginative faculty. We shall expect better
things hereafter at the hands of the author of
" Three Lives in One The first volume relates
the struggles of the orphan,
family of an improvident
doctor. The scenes and characters are not simply
domestic but commonplace, and trivial. We will
confess, now that we have fiaished the book, that our
perusal of it nearly came to an end in the course of
that same first volume! As e.n evidence of the height
to which absurdity of description can go, imagine
the following—The orphan family aforesaid part
let
of their house, and among their lodgers arrive a young
lady and gentleman of title. The morning after
their arrival, Katherine Montague waits upon Lady
Geraldine Harcourt to inquire her orders for dinner.
Lady Geraldine, in her morning-dress, is described
as being so remarkably charming that, we are told,
" Katherine could avant, have worshipped her!"
As the story advances, however, the tone improves.
The hero is one Ralph, whose three very different
lives as Ralph Palmer, Ralph Clarendel, and Ralph
Acres constitute the subject of the history
—Three Lives in One. This life, or
lives, of Ralph is, from first to last,
a series of great improbabilities. Until
sixteen he grows up as the eldest son and heir
of Lord Clarendel, the son of the Earl of St. Mark.
Ralph, as the heir, is an object of interest to every
one. It is then discovered that he is not Lord
Clarendel'a lawful son, that Lady Clarendel is not
his mother, but one Mrs. Palmer, whom he has
regarded as his nurse. Full of indignation and
eager for revenge, Ralpb, instead of seeking for
a fortune in accordance with the education he
has received, resolves, with a foolish de-
fiant pride, to give up the aristocracy and
join his mother's class. He goes to the village of
Acres, where he was born, takes the name of
Palmer, and becomes a field labourer ! A little
later on we find him a domestic servant—a youth
who until sixteen had received the education of a
gentleman I At length he finds a more suitable
career—as a soldier—where he rises from the
ranks, and is adopted by Colonel Clarendel, and
begins his second life. We will not follow his
eventful fortunes step by step. Suffice it
to say, that in his fitful career he learns,
by painful experience, the folly of him who
would set class against class. A Chartist, a
demagogue burning for revenge on the aristocracy,
Ralph Palmer is for a while the idol of that class to
whom he devotes himself heart and soul. Very
bitter and heart-sickening is the disappointment
that ensues, when having made " idols " of the
people he " finds them clay." In his third career
Ralph Acres, if a sadder, is a wiser and a better
man. Improbable and even ridiculous as his story is
in parts, it contains a very truthful lesson, and reads
a warning to the young and enthusiastic. It abounds
with life and adventure, and, as we have already
said, with all its faults, it leads us to expect future
excellence from its author.
UNIVERSITY INTELLIGENCE.