The Sun.
London, England, 1863-04-01 00:00:00

Fraser's Magazine.

Those who have acquired a relish for the strong-
flavoured, racy, and vivacious fictions which have
for several years past adorned, in a serial form,
the pages of Fraser, will welcome eagerly the new
tale commenced in this April number, and entitled
" Late Laurels." As the initial instalment of the
narrative we have three chapters, headed respec-
tively—the first, " Foreshadowing ;" the second,
"La Belle Dedaigueuse ;" the third, "Defeat."
Even from these three preliminary chapters of the
story, its character can be tolerably well appre-
ciated, so to speak, in anticipation. For
its purport, or tendency, is pretty plainly
hinted at in the "Foreshadowing !" The heroine
that is to be, can be distinctly enough recognised in
Florence Vivian, other wise " La Belle De laigneuse !"
While as to " Defeat," there are few readers
of one of the most animated among our modern
schools of novel• writing but will understand very
readily that it is a kind of defeat leading, in all
probability, to divers unmistakable victories—per-
haps the victory of all most coveted by the momen-
tarily defeated, to wit, Mr. Erie. the hero of the tale.
this temporary defeat of Mr. Erle being, as a mat-
ter of course to those familiar with the style of such
lotions, his refusal by Florence Vivian, "La Belle De
daigneuse." Mr. Ruskin pursues the devious, rather
than the " even tenour of his way" in his thought-
ful but occasionally somewhat eccentric " Essays on
Political Economy"—here continued in Fraser, as a
s€quel topapers which appeared not long ago, from
month to month in the pages of the Cornhill. From
A Chapter on Notables" we extract the following
vivid little vignette sketch of one of those colonels
in the Grande Armee whose memory of tt e Great
Emperor survived his Downfall and his Exile as
tenderly as the passionate remembrance of the dead
lives on in the heart of a bereaved lover
There was another notable who used to frequent the
same cafe as ourselves. We see him still as he enters, and
passes madame with a bow and a smile ; a tall, erect figure,
with the cross of the Legion of Honour on his breast. His
entrance creates a certain sensation, for it is known to all
that he i 4 a relic of the Grande Armee, one of those who
followed Napoleon through every change of climate and
fortune, till he fought his last battle at Waterloo. He
takes his usual place at the little table which is always re•
served for him, and orders his cup of coffee and his small
glass of brandy. These despatched, he is ready for a game
at dominoes with any Englishman present, and if we allow
him to win (which we take care to do), he is supremely
happy. 'lt is the only way I can beat you now,' he says,
with a sort of triste gaiety. And then the old colonel, con-

tent with his victory, begins to tell us of other victories far
more severely contested; and when he comes to speak of
the heroic qualities of his great leader, and the sufferings
he endured in his sea-girt prison, his old eyes grow dim,
and tears may be seen trickling down his withered cheeks."
In this same contribution the writer is guilty of a
flagrant error when ho describes M. Guizot as
present, side by side with Lamartine and
others, when, shortly after the triumph of
the Revolution of February, Mademoiselle Rachel
electrifli-d the Parisians by her memorable singing
of the Marseillaise. At that time M. Guizot was
away in London, as unmistakeably in exile as Mr.
Smith, formerly Louis Philippe, Gr any of the ex-
King's sons. Several fragments of verse are scat-
tered among the prose contributions making up this
current number of Regina. None of these however
are of any particular worth. " April" is one,
" Castelrovinato" enothor, m;erhty Throe,"
another: the longest and moat elaborate being a sixth
portion of "Lawrence Rioinfleld in Ireland," a
portion descriptive, as will be tound, of L )ugh

Bracc:m. Besides which the best of all the tnetri •

eal effusions in this April number of Fraser,
is a most charming and me'olions translatio❑ oy
Sir Edmund Head, of the last Elegy of Propertius.

Half-a-dozen other contributions there ate among
the contents of this very varied number, one of
which half-a-dozen alone, have we time or space
now to particularise. This being another of those
gossipping Essays which have, in a few
years, built up a reputation for A.K.H.8,, placing
him almost upon a level as an essayist with the
gifted Clerk of the Privy Council. " Concerning
the Estimate of Human Beings," such is here taken

as the theme or text of A K.H. B. And pleasantly
do those initials discourse about it—descanting, for
example, thus upon the Pro: and Cons in regard
to Smith :
"For instance," he says, " the things counting against
Smith may be these :

" 1. He has a red nose,
"2. He c =les an extremely baggy cotton umbrella.

"3. He wears a shocking bad hat.

" 4. When you make any statement whatever in his hear-
ing, he immediately begins to prove, by argument, that
your statement cannot possibly be true.
"6. He says tremencluous when he means tlemendous ;
and talks of a prizenter when he means a precentor.

"6. He is constantly saying 'How very euri,us I' also,
Goodness gracious I'
" Whereas the three things making in Smith's favour
may be these :
" 1. He has the kindest of hearts.
"2. He has the clearest of heads.
"3. He is truth and honour impersonate."
How the ballance is struck by A.K.H.8., in re-
gard to Smith, in this matter, may be conjectured
rom the humorist's very way of putting his case.