The Sun.
London, England, 1863-10-23 00:00:00

A HAPPY FAMILY.

This habit of always styling Lindsay " yer Honour,"
was one of Milly Ryan's many peculiarities. As before
mentioned, her affection for him had been always mingled
with a degree of deference and humility which, under the
circumstances, was extraordinary. She attended him sedu-
lously, like a servant, and often against his will, though he
soon became so used to it that he made no remark upon the
matter. In this she insisted upon Lynch and Jarmy fol-
lowing her example, which the former always did willingly
enough, the latter with sulky and jealous reluctance, which
Increased from natural perverseness the more he observed
the deference of Lynch towards his illegitimate brother.
Dan Lynch availed himself of this to foster and encourage
ill feeling between them, which was no difficult task, Lind-
say having always viewed his brother with an indifference
which easily led to dislike. As for Jarmy Kavanagh,
strong young giant as he was, he regarded both his
grandmother and Lindsay in nearly the same way,
with mingled suspicion, awe, and doubt; while
Dan Lynch he hated and despised from his innermost
soul. In Rafferty's house alone he found comfort and con-
solation for the many slights, some real and others fancied,
that he received in his grandmother's house. He had often
thought and intended to leave it altogether, and labour for
his own support through the country, where he had many
friends; but, just as he had made up his mind to do so, and
endure a fearful anathema from Milly Ryan, which he fore-
saw would inevitably attend any such declaration of inde-
pendence, both Lindsay and Lynch went over to London,
where the former was said to be pursuing some law studies,
under the tutelag4 of Mr. Bristowe. When they were gone,
Jarmy, who at all times was very useful to his grandmother,
now found their absence the greatest possible relief; his
life became happy all at once, he laboured and worked with
right good will, and earnestly, devoutly wishing he might
never again behold either of the absent faces. In this he
was doomed to disappointment, fur both returned after a few
months, to the joy of Milly Ryan, who declared with truth
that she had hardly enjoyed one night's "real sleep" till
she again beheld her favourite. The old disputes, heart-
burnings, and jealousies again woke up, however, and
blazed fierce as ever. Lynch had lost no opportunity in
setting his young master against Jarmy Kavanagh, whose
fiery temper continually threatened most desperate strife, in
which probably one life at least would have been lost, but
for the steady influence which the energy of Milly Ryan's
character maintained over spirits wild and intractable, in-
deed, yet not more so than her own. Lindsay himself had
always the appearance and manner of a man of mild and
gentle temper, and so he generally was ; but, as Milly often
repeated to Lynch, and to him alone, " There's none knows
his Honour and the real high spirit he has in him but my-
self—no one in all this world but myself."

With such elements, the stormy nature of the
plot may be imagined. Hardly a single character
invites our sympathy, and not a single chapter pre-
sents us with any redeeming incident. The episode
of Lady Annora adds nothing to the interest of the
work. Her character and her story are singularly
unattractive. The tale itself, as we have already
said, is of a peculiarly interesting nature, but the
interest is not pleasing, and the incidents are most
painful,

Ralph ; or, St. Sepulchre's and St. Stephen's. By
Arthur Arnold. Two vols. Tinsley.

_ •. _
From St. Sepulchre's to St. Stephen's the con-
trast is sufficiently startling, but such are indeed
the opposite points of Ralph's history. His connec-
tion with St. Sepulchre's is, however, only acciden-
tal. The supposed son of an honest charwoman,
Mrs. Dixon, and her very dishonest husband, little
Ralph is taken by them to witness the execution of
a murderer, Tommy Cooper. Seated on Dixon's
shoulder, his attention is directed to the unhappy
culprit, and then, while his young heart is thrilling

with terrified emotions,Dixon cruelly tells him that
Tommy Cooper is his father. This supposed revela-
tion is full of horror to the sensitive child, and its
recollection casts a shadow over his future life. Of
course he is not the son of Cooper, nor of Dixon.
His real parentage is discovered, after a proper
amount of mystery. By a most improbable acci-
dent Ralph, wishing to take another name, takes
unconsciously his father's name, his own actual
patronymic ! Improbable though it is in many
points, the story is sufficiently interesting. Mr.
Baxter and Mr. Ireton are two very delightful in-
dividuals, whom one is gratified to meet with, al-
though only in a book; and Julia Baxter, and Mrs.
Evelyn, and Lady Edith are very charming heroines.
The fatal accident that befalls Major Evelyn at the
moment of his attempted crime is very skilfully ar-
ranged, As a happy specimen of the author's style,
we may quote the following :