The Sun.
London, England, 1862-12-02 00:00:00

rAYS.

A Lenten Journey in Umbria and the Marches.
By Thomas Adolphus Trollope. Chapman and
Hal].

Italy, as regards European tourists, conEists of
two parts,—the first comprising the capital cities,
and so much of the country as is discernable froi3
the high roads, and the second the districts which,
lying intermediate and filled with towns once
flourishing and spots historically memorable, are
yet, from the difficulty of access and inferiority of
interest to the beaten track, scarcely ever visited.
Nor for the ordinary tourist would they repay the
trouble. The capitals alone will absorb all the time
he has to spare. In them are contained the most
precious works of art, and in their vicinity 'A ill be
found some of the most charming scenery. For
such a one, then, to hunt about for tenth-rate
cities would be sheer folly ; but with an English
resident in Italy, who may have leisure at command,
the case is different, and we scarcely know any
way of spending a few months more pleasantly, or
profitably, in exploring the wrecks of the numerous
towns which still cling to the sides of the Italian hills
or nestle in the valleys. The record of such a tour
we find in Mr. Trollope's " Lenten Journey," and
we have to thank him for directing attention to a
district much of which is in these days almost un-
known. Umbria and the Matches comprises, as our
readers are doubtless aware, the district lying be-
tween the ancient Etruria, of which Florence is
now the capital, and the 'Adriatic. It is traversed
by the main chain of the Appenines ; is full of
streams, the Arno and Tiber both rising there, and
it contains endless diversity of hill and dale. Start-
ing from Florence, Mr. Trollope proceeded in the
first place to Arezzo, and thence diverged to Citta
di Castello. He puts up at inn there, called la
Cannoniera, formerly one of the five large palaces
of the illustrious Vitelli family, concerning which
he says, " And what palaces they were ! In these
days every house that is, or that professes to be, the
residence of a gentleman, is in Italy called by cour-
tesy a palace. But the five palaces of the Vitelli
were palaces, indeed ! And there they are now •
The stones of them preaching not only ser-
mons on the trite text of ' Sic transit 9,100
mundi,' but also the most eloquent lectures ell
the art of government,' on all the aWO
of political economy, and the principles which rule
the rise and fall of nations. A more melancholy
sight than these squalid wrecks of splendour
can hardly be conceived. And the splendour Was
no mere vulgar display of material wealth. These
Vitelli in their remote little city amid the vineyards
and corn fields of the high valley of the Tiber inilat
have been lovers of art, and bountiful patrons of $
school of artists who flourished under their rule
and died out when it was over. And here
mildewing crumbling walls are the traces of their
works—in some cases much more than the traces 0
sharing in the doom of universal decay and neglect'
From Citta di Castello Mr. Trollope proceeded t°
Gubbio over a road all but impassable. Then Pit
ing south he visited Perugia and Assisi ; after will°,
he made his way to the Adriatic coast, touched
Ancona, rested a night at the little republic of Sa:f.
Marino, and returned to Florence by way
Bologna. He thus covered a very considerable 7..
tent of ground, and saw Italianlife under a CO'ot
paratively unsophisticated aspect. Not the leas
1 part of the volume consists of anecdotes
taken from the old chroniclers, and affording a a
insight into the amenities of mediaeval life; ad
,hose interested in Italian history or art will °ll
,he work suggestive as well as entertaining.

Normanton. By A. J. Barroweliffe. 1 vol. Smith'
Elder, and Co, detail'
Aiming at pre-Raphaelite minuteness of
of a
the author has produced a work which, if not cr
very ambitious order, shows at least careful sttirrbia
of nature and considerable constructive power.
action is supposed to be comprised within five danYt;
and the title designates the village where the eveis-
take place. Zilla Woodthorpe, tho her°ineil/Ugh
" miller's daughter," and to her cousins, -1-7111,
Hastings and Mark Woodthorpe, she is esPee'llaii
" dear." The former, fortuneless, is about to S""
for India, and to the latter, possessed of a good Prh°.
perry, the course of true love seems likely t°"°-
smooth in the extreme. But their positions
become reversed. Mark is arrested on a 415
charge of poaching, and then falls under the gra%
suspicion of being the seducer of the garaekeePert.
daughter, whose life he had saved on her attealPoic
ing self-destruction in the canal. His friends 1:0
coldly en him, and even Zilla's confidence in .cal
is almost shaken, Moreover, at this eit tlof
moment a miser dies, and leaves the bah' io
i°
his fortune to Hugh, whilst the miller erfo
difficulties, and nothing but his dauglitilits
union with Hugh seems likely to sale e
from ruin. But if it is right that Girt Sealy
fiction should have its trials, so, also, it is neer;oag
that it should meet its reward. The gay, inittt by
Hugh turns out to be the seducer, and is e'isolit
the enraged gamekeeper; his victim dies by Pf-ob°
and Mark, whose innocence is now manife7n3' off
tains the prize which of all others he vvishe',„-ie
ig
the hand of Zilla. The execution of the ;:e
clever, the characters are well drawn, an t;
scriptions of scenery are truthful and pleasae'

The Double Prophecy; or, 7rials of the IP'
By William Carleton. 2 vols. Deffi' being
This tale has a double claim on our attention) v-fpli
the author's last work, owing to his declining Ileoat#
(as stated in the dedication), whilst its " ll'aiil,„iotl°
line and general facts" are " true ; " and the ''' fr
chosen is—" Truth is strange—stranger th°lloo6l
tion." The scene is laid in the North of ite.olo
where the father of the heroine, called bllllt
Brindsley, of good character and education! ii,lo
humble circumstances, resided. Having f4le:pt t°
difficulties he enlisted as a soldier, and 'cc: I/°'
India, being forced to leave his wife beheld' to fi
three months after his departure, gave birtP to°
ce thei.i ngahatteoodt
rhaonl whorli,niei
yhea
ayri
years beheld
gofseahegneer:haeid`
daughter. So beautiful was this girl that °el 1!
whenu ep or ensmh ea
enn: wtbt
tea
ers : :,...),s1 7,i 3:0 :r:
ssion, when she was sixteen ; and we soleavw pot
ure our readers that the impression of th°l3riill‘
view we has of her was such as makes hBl3 crib°
back from the very idea of attempting to des IV
her. In her case, description can do nothivg.:,,ithet
thing is impossible, and, for this reason, that '-r 00
the force of the most powerful imaginatihn'..inhoetileff
highest ideal conception of beauty, or"" °'
art, could enable us to reach any
taken from our knowledge of nature
of t,
We date PAII
of the standard which she presented• notion what's° -of+
therefore, attempt a portrait, and we shall no t 9
we can say is, that the light of youth and
be 0d
seemed to emanate like effulgence from her fileeieje
the glory of her eye to stand alone and unpsraidet
among women." Such being her charms, no
W° ofo
she counted many admirers, though the 019 tot
who made any impression on her was a Lientelle
Clinton,
beionging_to a wealthy family in the °it oil
bourhood, and whose mother wishing to br'°;eact
the attachment persuaded Mrs. BrindsleY t° VI
her daughter to a dressmaker in Armagh. Vtlife
to this, however, we must mention that a eon coil'
cfoelrdneidn g Maria
open it till after her dumb fortune-teller had written a predict i°1:: bile
etrh emhaerrroi iangee.i s
Tn ahnei esde
n) s :bt
i:0:o ta
ti
it:
up and sealed with strict injunctions
°0 Ole
produces in Armagh is similar to that in bee eon
cplace, and she here once more meets with Lie., sea
Clinton, whose offer of marriage she rekr:oilig
who consequently shows every symptoms °'' :0 lli
melancholy mad. To avoid such a catastroPb'cord#
mother gives her consent, Maria is sent tona 0°
ing school in London to finish her educatioiog to
there refuses the hand of an earl ; then retuvdictioo,
Ireland she and Clinton are married, the premo o'
is read and found to be "Yon will be a 0
W° A tbel
0.131 A ..
for 0' f 00
then proceed to India, where Clinton,
two titles, one great, th© other greater, ~,:eibt°,
prophecy thus comes true. Soon after th"'ros to
very, is made Knight of the Bath, and Pat.t._, %of
ever, he is killed in action, his vvidoW ret° , 14
Ireland, meets her former titled admirer, (l'O;";110
he reP
the death of his father, a marquis)
heo
le,aio fill'
offer, she accepts it, " the double prop
filled, and thus the tale ends.