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

LITERA TUBE,

Live it Down : a Story of the Light Lands. By
J. C. Jeaffreson. 3 vols. Hurst and Biackett.
From the very outset of his career, as a simple
matter of fact and without one particle of affecta-
tion, the young Iran-of-letters who has just given
to the world this very admirable novel, may be said
to have resolutely talren as his guiding principle—
while climbing the steep ascent of what affected
scholars call " the forked hill " in quest of a
literary reputation—Longfellow's soul-inspiring re-
frain of Excelsior! Virtually at the least Mr.
Jeaffreson has done this. He has never flaunted
the fact before us, it is true, as though it were
a motto emblazoned upon a banner borne aloft
like that of the pilgrim in the song. But he
has acted up to it. Hs has, all this while,
worn that motto, one might think, in secret like an
amulet. And now, in penning this his latest work
as a fictionist, Mr. Jeaffreson may be said to have
clambered as far as the Grand llfulets in his upward
course. The summit, which he has yet to reach, is
thus brought more than ever distinctly before him.
Live it Down" is the truest literary work he has
yet done. It is as yet the healthiest product of his
imagination. He has written cleverly before,
but in these three volumes,we hesitate not to assert,
that he has surpassed all his former achievements.
An achievement the book unquestionably is. But,
beyond what it is in itself as an intellectual feat
actually accomplished—it is still more valuable and
interesting in its way, for inasmuch as it yields
larger and larger promise of the writer's advancing,
expanding, and ripening capabilities. It is for this
reason simply that we allude to the altitude here
attained, figuratively speaking, by the author—in
his upward course as one carving out for himself
a career in literature—as in a manner to be not
inaptly mentioned as the Grand Mules in the track
of his ascent. Greater heights he will yet win. Of
that we rest perfectly well assured. But already
this is a noble one itself. From it, Mr. Jeaffreson
may pause for a while to look back, with something
very like a reasonable satisfaction in regard to the
past, and with something very much more than a
vague or half-believing hope in regard to the future
—viewing thus (as he can now) the way he has
already come, and the path he has yet to traverse,
from a nobler standing-point than any he had pre-
viously attained.
In these days of " sensation" romances and " sen-
sation" dramas, it is positively refreshing to look
out again, as one may here through the fairy lattice
of this story, upon a world of fiction really having
somewhat of a resemblance to the world of fact.
Leaning over the sill with Mr. Jeaffreson, as he
flings the casement wide in his very first chapter,
we look over these "Light Lands" of his (which,
by the way, are the lands of Suffolk), breathing, as
we look, a wholesomer and a purer atmosphere
than any we have for some time past
been accustomed to. A murder there is
in the tale before us—but, alas ! so there
is also occasionally a murder in the world of
fact. A secret again, there is, at the core of
the interest of this new and enthralling story of
3 Live it Down"—a secret the actual nature of
which we shall still leave inscrutable to all those who,
having once begun the perusal of the narrative, will
read on (we promise them) through the three volumes,
breathlessly eager to find it out, up to the final
moment of its revelation ! When we have said that
however,we have said all—in reference to what might
be erroneously sneered at, in any way, as sensational
in the building up of the plot. Saving that there
is this central Secret, and that there is this incidental
Murder—the story is a story, almost, one might say,
of everyday life: only that the " time " of it, is thrown
back from the present period by one or two gene-
rations. How possiblythe author can—by this really
marvellous exercise of the imaginative faculty—
have recalled so vividly to view a past, so recent
and yet so remote ! the most difficult " past" of all,
as it seems to us, to depict thus truthfully—just
fairly passes our comprehension. Talk of Miss
Braddon's bewildering familiarity with the ways
and habits and idiosyncracies of stable-helps, and
betting men, and the low blackguard scum and
raff of a metropolis ! Talk of Mr. Anthony
Trollope's amusing and amazing skill in depicting
the varieties of the genus Parson, and yet again (ex-
ceptionally, this, in "Orley Farm") some of the lesser
varieties also of the genus Commercial Traveller !
It is as nothing to that still more amusing and
amazing dexterity with which Mr. Jeaffreson here
depicts the social condition and habits of a country
town, just exactly two generations back, at the turn
of the century ! The only achievement of the like
kind in any way comparable to it, that we can at
this moment recall to our recollection, is the
feat (somewhat of the same kind, only the retrospect
is there thrown not by any means so far back)
performed with admirable adroitness by Miss
Evans in her " Mill on the Floss," where the little
country society surrounding theTullivers is depicted
with a pencil, the every touch of which seems to
vivify ! The moral of Mr. Jeafferson's story of "Live
it Down" is told by the title itself. And a noble,
elevating, heart-strengthening moral it is. Take
any ill that may befall you, under the inscrutable dis-
pensation of Divine providence—this is our author's
argument—take any ill of this kind, in regard to
which you are not, in truth, burthened with a
heavy guilt : and—instead of endeavouring to
hide it, to cloak it over, to ignore its exis-
tence, and so forth—manfully live it down ! The
Hero of the Story here told, is the one who does
this. Edgar Turrett by name, we are introduced to
him at the commencement of the narrative as a
brave, true-hearted young fellow, with the soul of
a sportsman, even to the dashing length of steeple-
chasing ! Edgar is the nephew—well, no, the re-
puted nephew—of old Squire Turrett, of the manor
house at. Merton:Piggott, in Suffolk. At that manor
house, presiding over the household, is the Squire's
Daughter, Edgar's cousin—well, his reputed cousin,
Adelaide. The heroine of the tale, however, is not
A.delaide. Strange to say, in the midst of the fas
Itidious inner circles of Merton Piggott Society—
she (the real love-heroine of the story) appears,
though 'herself no other than the daughter
of a wealthy local trader, and, what is more, an
earnest Dissenter into the bargain. Yet the dis-
senting tradesman's daughter wins her way, in
spite of all obstacles, into the very centre of the in-
nermost circle of Merton Piggott society—that
society being all the while as exclusive as Almacks
in its exceeding regard to the punctilios of distinc-
tion between class and class. Caroline Broombead
—better known through the story by the familiar
diminutive of Carry—is the young lady's name. And,
of course, having mentioned her already as the
heroine of the tale of which Edgar Turrett is the
hero, it hardly remains to be added that those two
young people love and are beloved, and eventually
are united. Around the central figures in this cen-
tral group at Merton Piggott, the teller of the
story depicts other characters, whose mere names
and neculiarities we have not left ourselves space
enough to enumerate. As conspicuous among
these, however, we must at the least mention a
very few. Foremost among them
On of whose
thegin who is
while, upon Edgar terror-
awakening blackleg Alec Barber—tbaelilon,'
at last found murdered; and the more
eventually proved, is
matter. Edgar ac-
murder rests for a long s
is
Tur-
rett, although Edgar, a
Over the pages, by the way,
altogether innocent in the
a
cepts the imputation as trial from heave/1—
story of the Doctor's little
Enb
y this,
daughter Fan—a story incidental to the main
narrative—we wager that more than one trickling
tahnadt Lives
rel a t ei t nthoewn
You have won your place—r. Jeaffreson !
avant,yl\liour latest book,
tear will be dropped.
ti Live it Down "—you have won your place
unmistakeably among contemporary Novelists.
Advance yet farther, if only by the same grada-
tions by which you have already advanced, and a
lasting reputation is now visibly within your
grasp.

Philo-Socrates. By William Ellis.

Pp. 310,

Smith, Elder, and Co.

. .
Gradually instalment by instalment, the author of
" Outlines of Social Economy," has here extended
beyond 300 pages his series of essays enlled " Philo-
Socrates." " A Series of Papers," as the title-page
says, " wherein subjects are investigated which,
there is reason to believe, would have interested
Socrates, and in a manner that he would not dieap-

The Stomach. A Series of Lectures. By L. J.
Sir
James Eyre
pwp. rutleo4 Ha
a.
capital
book
upon the
very subject here selected by Mr. Beale as the
theme of his " Lectures." " The Stomach and its
Difficulties" was the title, if we are not much mis-
taken, given by Sir James to his popular little
treatise upon that organ dreadfully interesting at
all times to a very numerous class—the dyspeptic.
It was worthy, the serio-comic treatise upon the
stomach to which we are referring, of one of the
ablest of the pupils of the gifted and eccentric
Abernethy. There is another brief, but very
clever essay upon the Stomach, by an anonymous
writer facetiously calling himself "A Minister of
the Interior." There are several other works that
we never heard of no doubt upon the same topic.
Nevertheless Mr. Beale's present lectures will—no
matter how many predecessors he may have had as
an inquirer into the mysteries of digestion—be
none the less welcome (because of those predecessors)
to the anxious valitudinarian. The stomach is here
both medically and morally considered, and in both
instances the lecturer is well up to his theme; de-
riving his knowledge, manifestly enough, not only
from his researches alike in the library and the dis-
secting room, but from the stores of information he
has acquired through his own personal observations
as a medical practitioner.

By Charles Tomlinson.

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE,

NORTHERN CIRCUIT.—LIVERPOOL, April 1,
CROWN COURT.
(Before Mr. Baron Martin.)
BREACH OF PROMISE OF MARRIAGE.
The plaintiff, Betsy Jones, is a servant girl, who
formerly held a situation in Liverpool, but who at
the present time is residing in the family of a sur-
geon at Halifax, Yorkshire. The defendant is
Matthias Boumthrey, a master joiner, carrying on
business at Heswell, in Cheshire, but at the time
when the alleged agreement to marry the plaintiff
was made was only a journeyman joiner, working
in Liverpool.
Dr. O'Feely appeared for the plaintiff, and Mr.
Waddy for the defendant.
Dr. O'Feely, in stating the case to the jury, said
the parties in the action were in a comparatively
humble sphere of life—the plaintiff, Betsy Jones,
being a servant girl in the employment of a surgeon
at Halifax ; but he apprehended that the condition
of the plaintiff would not interfere with the jury in
regard to the transactio I, but that they would give
it the same attention as if the parties occupied a
more exalted position in society. It would ap-
pear that in the year 1859 the plaintiff was in
the service of a lady residing in Huskisson-
street, in this town ; and the defendant, who
was then working as a journeyman joiner, was
engaged on some property in the neighbourhood, and
became acquainted with the plaintiff; and from that
time 'up to a recent period it would appear from the
letters that had passed between the parties that a
Warm attachment had existed between them. The
defendant was in the habit of visiting Betsy every
Sunday ; and his conduct was such throughout as
might be expected from a young man who was
deeply in love with a young woman. In the summer
of the year 1860 the plaintiff's then mistress and
family removed to New Brighton, and while there
the plaintiff constantly received letters from the de-
feudant expressing the warmest attachment for her,
and he from time to time also visited her at New
Brighton. Most of these letters had been lost, but
there was one preserved, which possibly the defen-
dant had written to the plaintiff in the warmth of
his attachment,and contained a piece of poetry which
WAS probably his first effort in verse, and which had
been no doubt prompted by his attachment for the
lady in question. He would read the defendant's
effort in poesy to the jury. It was as follows—
" Fcrget me not!
Let not the past fade from thy memory—
The heart that ne'er from thee can roam;
In health and sickness let thy motto be—
' Home, sweet home.' "
If there were no other letters in the case he thought
that the above extract would show the attachment
of the defendant at the time in question for the
'Plaintiff, and which had no doubt made him think
and long for the comforts of home with his beautiful
lady, and had suggested his effusion, in which he
enjoined her to make her motto, " Home, sweet
home." Letters from the defendant continued to
be received by the plaintiff during tee year 1860,
and he (the counsel) also believed during 1861,
when he left town in the exercise of his employ-
ment and went to Woolton. Then, however,
the letters from the defendant became more fre-
quent, the attachment, no doubt, progressing and
increasing, the defendant no doubt receiving ample
encouragement from the plaintiff; and extracts
from some of those letters he would read to them.
Those letters had fortunately been preserved, and
he could read from them to show that the de-
fendant, although not so poetically struck as his
former effusion showed him to be, still, like a re-
spectable English mechanic, his love for the plain-
tiff became stronger, and if not so poetically ex-
pressed was quite as strongly shown by his subse-
quent letters to the plaintiff. One of these letters
he would read as a specimen, and although it was
a solid matter of fact one, it would show the at-
tachment he felt for the plaintiff, and was such a
communication as might be expected from a re-
spectable English mechanic. The first letter he
would read was dated the Ist January, 1561, and
was as follows :—(The learned counsel then read a
very common place love-letter).
His Lordship—Have you any letter that can
show the existence of the contract alleged to have
been entered into by the defendant to marry the
plaintiff.
Dr. O'Feely—l cannot say that there is any let-
ter in the collection which actually points to the
fact of a contract existing between the parties, but
I read the letters which show a very warm attach-
ment. The existence of such contract I will show
by oral testimony. In 1826 (the counsel continued)
a coolness arose between the parties, and about this
time the defendant commenced paying his addresses
to a widow, and when this came to the ears of the
plaintiff, she, with the usual perception of a jealous
woman, at once went to the defendant and demanded
an explanation. He would show that the defen-
dant had in his letters stated that he had formed no
other attachment but that for the plaintiff ; and he
proposed to prove, by the evidence of a Mrs.
Jevons, that he had conducted himself to the
plaintiff as if he were engaged to her, and in-
tended to make her his wife. In one of his letters,
which would be the last that he (the learned gen-
tleman) would read, the defendant said to the plaid-
tiff—" I hope it is cold enough for you these days.
I have been very nearly roasted—for the shop is
very hot—it is nearly as hot as love." In this way
matters went on until June last, when suddenly,
and without any excuse, the defendant—in the hey
day of his affection—without any explanation broke
off his engagement with the plaintiff, and married
a widow who was possessed of some property. This
was a result that could scarcely have been expected
after the expressions of attachment made by the
defendant, which the letters read had shown—it
was scarcely to be believed that he would have so
soon forgotten the lady to whom he was so much
attached ; but such was the case, and he (the learned
counsel) hoped the jury would give the plaintiff
substantial damages for the wrong she had sus-
tained by the conduct of the defendant.
The following evidence was then called:—
Mrs. Edith Jevons said she was the wife of Ellis
Jevons, and resided in Liverpool. Knew the plain-
tiff and the defendant; knew the plaintiff some
time, and the defendant since he was a boy. He
was now about 25 or 26 years of age; the plaintiff
was about the same age. The parties often visited
witness's house.
Dr. O'Feely—Did they act in a way lovers
generally act towards each other ?
His Lordship—What way is that ? (Laughter.)
Dr. O'Feely—That; is a married lady, my lord ;
she knows.
Witness replied she thought they were always
very fond of each other. She did not know what
made her think so. (Laughter.) In reply to a
question the witness said she had forgotten what
took place when she was being courted.
Dr. O'Feely--But appearances would revive the
remembrance. Now, did this young man behave
towards the plaintiff as Mr. Jevons did when court-
ing you ? (Roars of laughter.)
Witness—l cannot tell, it is so long ago. Had
heard the parties speak of marriage, and on one
occasion when the plaintiff was out of a situation
defendant suggested they had better get married.
The plaintiff replied that she wished to wait a little
time longer, and that then their circumstances might
make them more comfortable. That was in 1860.
The lady whom defendant had married was possessed
of some property.
Her father purchasedi property
from witness's father, and was now n possession of
some houses built on the land. Was aware that de-
fendant by the death of his mother had come into
possessionof some money, but did not know the
amount.
Mrs. Sarah Rawlinson, who lives in
Oliver-street,
Windsor, and with whom the defendant had lodged,
said the plaintiff had visited at her house,
and defendant were there Defendant
respect.
always seemed to show plaintiff every and she
together.
Dr. O'Feely—Did he act as lover_
from what you saw ? (laughter)----
Witness—l believe he did; but I never
saw
thing pass between them. Knew the defendant'a;
handwriting, but could not swear that the letters
produced were written by him.
This being the whole of the evidence, his lo
said he thought there was no case—no evidence
of a contract between the parties.
1)r. O'Feely submitted that the evidence of Mrs.
Jevons showed an implied contract.
His Lordship said Mrs. Jevons had not stated
that she ever heard him speak of marriage, except
w hen the plaintiff had advised him to wait until
their circumstances were improved, and then, by her
answer, the plaintiff had absolved him from any
c mtract that might have existed,
Dr. O'Feely submitted that that was a promise
on the part of the defendant. There was only a
condition named, and they had now evidence that
that condition was fulfilled.
His lordship said the question was whether marry-
ing the old widow lady had improved the position
of the defendant. (Laughter.) He advised Dr.
O'Feely to withdraw a juror.
Dr. O'Feely consented to a non-suit being en-
tered, which was accordin
APR gly2 done.
IL .
(Before Mr. Justice Keating and Special Juries.)
HARGREA VES V. GILL BROTHERS.—STRANGE REVELA-
TIONS OF MONETARY TRANSACTION'S BETWEEN MAN-
CHESTER MERCHANTS, SC°.
An action to recover £645 65., money lent.
MS. Edward James, Q.C., in stating the case said
the plaintiff, Mr. Win. Hargreaves, was a commis-
sion agent, carrying on business at 13, Marsden-
square, Manchester; and the defendants, Messrs.
Gill Brothers, general merchants, in business in
High-street, in the same city. The action was for
the recovery of £645 65., money lent by the plain-
tiff to the defendants on three different occasions,

from September to October in last year. Mr.
Stansfield, the confidential clerk and cashier to the
defendants) called upon the plaintiff, re ,resented
that his employers were in need of the sums asked
for to meet certain liabilities, and that by their re-
quest he had come to borrow the amounss.

Mr. Hargreaves, the plaintiff, gave eTidence cor-
roborative of the foregoing. In ems-I-examination
by Mr. Temple, Q.C., the plaintiff acknowledged
that he considered the interest he was to be paid
for the loan of the money, for a day or two, very
large. On one occasion he had received £24 for
the loan of £4OO for 21 days, and on another £8 for
the like sum for the same time. Stansfield never
said that he was borrowing money on his own ac-
count.
By Me. James—One or two of the procuration
drafts are endorsed by the defendants. Stansfield
said that defendants were in the habit of buying
goods from parties who were " hard up" and on
the verge of insolvency at very low prices, and by
which they made large profits; and thus it was
they could afford to pay good interest for loans.
Prior to the three transactions now in question
plaintiff said he had lent defendants £1,600 for a
brief period, for which he (plaintiff) received £57.
Mr. Freeman, clerk in Seweli's Bank, Manches-
ter, proved that £464 odd had been paid into that
bank by Stansfield to th.: credit of the defendants at
the time the money was lent by the plaintiff, and
which included three cheques handed to him (Stans-
field) by the plaintiff.
Mr. James Briggs, merchant, Manchester, said
he had known the defendants six or seven years, and
on several occasions had lent them money (from
£lOO to £800) on the application of and through
Stansfield, for which he (witness) received "We
O U's," signed "Jonathan Gill Brothers, pro G. W.
Stansfield," and the loans were paid with the inte-
rest, generally by Stansfield, but sometimes by the
defendants. Messrs. Gill Brothers had told witness
that they would pay the plaintiff £3OO ; but witness
told them that was ridiculous, and he was sure the
plaintiff would not receive it.
Cross-examined by Mr. Temple—When he lent
the money nothing was said about interest ; there
was a perfect understanding between him and
Messrs. Gill and Stansfield. Mr. Gill said he would
not find in his hooks any such sums due to the
plaintiff as he represented as being owing to him.
James B. Cruikshank, iu the employ of Mr.
Crompton, of Manchester, said he had lent money
to the defendants under precisely similar circum-
stances to those described in the preceding cases ;
that Messrs. Gill never repudiated the authority of
Stansfield to borrow on their account; and that
Messrs. Gill had repaid him on one or two occa-
sions, but were now in his debt.

Hargreaves, and until he met Mr. Hargreaves in
the street on the 18th of October, he was not aware
that Stansfield had borrowed any money from the
plaintiff. Had frequently met Hargreaves at
Briggs's office and at Tyson's chop-house, within a
month or two of that time. While they had an
account at Andrews's bank he endorsed a few, per-