The Sun.
London, England, 1863-01-27 00:00:00

LITERATURE

Aurora Floyd. By M. E. Brathlon, Author of
" Lady Audley's Secret." 3 Vols. Tinsley.
This is a singular story that is replete with in-
terest of an exciting kind, and full of incidents of
so startling a nature that they are sure to arrest at-
tention. There is considerable talent displayed in
its reoital from beginning to end, and from many
causes it is sure to rank high among the sensation
novels now so much in vogue. The plot of the
story is original in many points, and towards the
conclusion, so skilfully is it carried on, that the
reader is left for some time in uncertainty as to
whether Aurora actually committed the murder or
not. Knowing her violent temper, and the mad-
dening nature of the circumstances in which she
was placed, one is tempted to fancy that, in the ex-
citement of the moment, she might have lifted tier
hand against one who had destroyed the peace of
her whole life, who had blighted the
hopes end withered the freshness of her
young days, and seemed destined to hover
round her and blast the meridian and close of her
existence. From this idea, however, the image of
"Steenie" soon releases us; for, however unworthy
had been Aurora's actions, there had as yet been no
evidence to show that she harboured any malicious
intentions, or was capable of cruelty, much less of
crime. The details given concerning this passage are
of the most dramatic kind, and redound to the credit
of the authoress, who has effected a masterpiece of
composition. From the first arrival of John Con-
yers at Mellish-park, until his ghastly departure
therefrom to render an account of his awful life,
we are carried on by an irresistible fascination.
Nearly all the characters who figure in this event-
ful epoch are admirably drawn ; the only one to
which exception might be taken is Mrs. Powell ;
her malignity to Aurora is rather overdrawn, as the
latter had done her no actual harm and never came
into collision with her. At the same time the
cunning of this lady is very aptly portrayed; the
various devices and several schemes are amusing to
follow, except that the treachery of her conduct
makes it loathsome to witness. "Steenie" is very
naturally drawn, and it was a warning to Aurora
for her violence and vehemence, that one she
trampled under foot should have been the clause of
such heavy troubles to her, and, indeed, nearly have
brought down upon her a death of disgrace. It is a
positive relief to turn from such wild and stormy
natures to dwell upon the doings of honest John
Mellish. We feel the triumph of rectitude in the
career of this worthy man. He had no gifts
of intellect and no graces of demeanour, but
he was true, stedfast, and sterling. When he
first staggered under the blow of the sudden
calamity that had overtaken him, he was conscien-
tious enough to feel his deficiencies. Sins of com-
mission poor John Mellish could not lay to his
charge, but sins of omission he must plead guilty to.
The worst of his faults, however, sprung from want
of thought, and not from want of heart. The sim-
plicity of his heart has something touching in it.
Instead of railing at his wife, and cursing all around
him, as too many men would have done in his cruel
situation, he only looked to his own conduct as the
cause why the wrath of heaven and the scorn of
men had descended upon him. He confessed, in his
searching self-examination during the night that
succeeded the murder, that he had not deserved his
happiness. In pursuance of this idea we meet with
an earnest exhortation to those whose lives have
been prosperous, whose portion has fallen in plea-
sant places, as to whether they duly consider and
rightly estimate the nature of their services to their
Maker, in proportion to the benefits and blessings
He has showered down upon them :—" It will be a
very small per centage which you will yield your
Master for the ten talents entrusted to your care.
Remember John Howard, fever-stricken and dying;
Mrs. Fry, labouring in criminal prisons;
Florence Nightingale in the bare hospital chambers,
in the close and noxious atmosphere amongst the
dead and the dying. These are the people who
return cent. per cent, for the gifts intrusted to
them. These are the saints whose good deeds shine
amongst the stars for ever and ever; these are
the indefatigable workers who when the toil and
turmoil of the day is done, hear the Master's voice
in the still even time, welcoming them to His rest."
Some may consider John's devotion to his wife is
overdrawn, bat then he had known all along that
there was a secret hanging over her, she had con-
fessed that to him before their marriage, but was
unable, she said, to fathom the mystery or divulge
the dark details of it. John Mellish had trusted
her, and with him trust was once and for
ever. For a moment in the face of
distinct and decisive proof against her, he
wavered for an instant as to whether or not she had
committed the awful act imputed to her by rumour,
but then he thought that she had been led on by
excitement and irritated by provocation on the
part of the deceived, he never for a moment sus-
pected Aurora of deliberate guilt or of a stain on her
reputation. Talbot Bulstrode was of a very supe-
rior cast of mind to his friend ; he was an accom-
plished gentleman, while John Mellish was quite
rustic in his style, but at the same time the simple
Yorkshireman had the advantage in disposition, for
he had more trust, more faith, and more charity.
Talbot, however, made atonement fo. the past by
his zeal and alacrity at last, and there was something
chivalrous in his devotion to the cause of the woman
whom he thought had injured him. Aurora her-
self is a most able portraiture. Coarse as
were her tastes at first, impetuous as her
temper was, and most blameable her conduct
in many respects, we yet feel a sort of regard for
her, and take a deep interest in her fate when she
is verging on such awful prospects. She tones
down also in her ways as time goes on ; and though
there still remain many drawbacks to betray the
want of early culture and careful training in disci-
plining and counteracting the evil influences
around her, still she was not the same as Mrs.
Mellish that she was as Miss Floyd. When she
is attacked by savage hate and surrounded by vile
espionage, when she is enclossd in the toils of a
designing villain, and made the dupe of selfish
cunning, then we forget her faults in indignation
at her wrongs. Still there is an awful warning
contained in the striking passage of this denoue-
ment. We are not allowed to compromise with
crime; the statutes of human laws, the decrees of
divine justice, are alike arrayed against it. No
one can bury his sin in the earth or hide it from
the face of heaven. Years may roll on, friends
may surround, enemies disappear, but the
day of reckoning w:11 surely come. The dark
secret was buried, but the earth has given up her
dead, and the wrath of an offended God is too surely
and searchingly made manifest to crush the guilty.
Aurora thought that she had expiated her fault ;
but who is allowed to mete out the measure of the
sum of his iniquity P However, she suffered con-
siderably altogether ; therefore, we may take leave
of her with the charitable supposition, that her
after-years would roll on freed from the heavy bur-
den of a secret crime. There is an impressive pas-
sage relative to the spread of evil in its countless
ramifications, and the burdens that others have
to bear in consequence of the effects of the crime
being shifted en to their shoulders instead
of the original sinner bearing the weight for him-
self. "The influence of the strong man's evil deed
slowly percolates through insioious channels, of
which he never knows or dreams. The deed of
folly or of guilt does its fatal work when the sinner
who committed it has forgotten his wickedness,
who shall say where and when the results of one
man's evildoing shall cease? The seed of sin en-
genders no common root, shooting straight upwards
through the earth, and bearing a given crop. It is
the germ of a foul running weed, whose straggling
suckers trail underground beyond the ken of mortal
eye, beyond the power of mortal calculation. On
the whole, then, there is ample evidence
in this work of considerable powers of
construction, of great facility in description
of character, and an uncommon talent for sketching
forcible Beeriest From the commencement of the
story the reader would not have supposed it pro-
bable that so much could have been made of it.
We watch the untutored girl becoming gradually a
woman, capable of deep feeling, and influenced by
levated affection, until at last she seems worthy