The Sun.
London, England, 1862-12-26 00:00:00

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draw attention succinctly to all these circumstances
which are established beyond a doubt, and to fix
them alone in the mind of the reader. his narrative
c,:mmences with the return of Napoleon from Elba, his
political calculations, his resources and exertions,
scene of the Champ de Mai, and the meeting of the
Chambers. He then shows the character and growth,of
the Anglo-allied and Prussian armies, their dispositions and
functions with the preparations of their commanders. We'
aro then taken to the battle -field, and are shown the general
position of the army en the eve of the campaign, and affix
the opening of hostilities, the position, strength, and forma-
tion of the French army, the three days' fighting, and the
final victory by the allies over the great commander and his
warlike hosts. The event s which took place atter the deci-
aive battle then brought forward, including the invasion of
France by the allies, their march on Paris, the interregnum
and capitulation : and finally we have a succinct account of
all that followed the flight of Napoleon and the final retri-
bution, Those who have already learnt enough of the battle
of Waterloo and Napoleon will find in this book a very clear
and explicit resume of what they knew before, and those
who have still to acquire information on the subject will
pick it up in these pages in the shortest and most explicit
manner, while the facts may be implicitly depended on.

A Prodigal Son. By Dutton Cook. HUrst and Blackett.
Mr, Hadfield had two sons, the elder of whom, an un•
doubted scamp, having taken up with a ballet dancer, made
a fool of himself and married her. His father, being an
irascible old gentleman, was not easily pacified, and in a
quarrel with his son, forgetting that he was past his boy-
hood, gave him a blow, which his son returned with sue!
a strong push as sent his father reeling over the fender,
and cut his head. The son was driven from the presence
of his parent, who never saw him again until he was on his
death-bed. At his last hour a scene of violence takes
place, when the father, not beingasatisfiedaa‘the,,,aas_re-
pentance, cuts him off with a shilling, and leaves him as
wanderer and a beggar upon earth. This is the prodigal
son. Ile then took his journey into a far country, and
there wasted his substance in riotous living, and it will be
generally thought that he richly deserved his punishment.
He was not, however, altogether bad. He had sown
his wild oats, and was ready to be converted to good
when better influence should be exercised over him. During
a severe illness, brought on by mental anxiety, he was
nursed in the house of a medical gentleman by his two beau-
tiful daughters, one of whom, by name Violet Fuller, be-
comes the heroine of the tale. An affection springs up be-
tween them ; and the influence of an amiable woman effects
a change in the heart of the prodigal—he becomes a re-
formed man, and is accepted as the husband of the luvely
Violet. Before such a consummation, however, could take
place, it was, of course, necessary to have a vast deal of
love-making, and we are, consequently, favoured with some
wonderful specimens of letters interchanged between the
happy pair that would make fine specimens for young novel
readers to copy. It may be true that every man is a fool
when he is in love, and that at such times he writes what
he is heartily ashamed of when he comes to his senses ; but
there really is nothing so supremely absurd as the love effu-
sions of young people, when brought before the light, and
scanned by the eye of reason. Read over the last great
love case in the law reports, and you'll surely find that
shrieks of laughter follow the putting in evidence the letters
of the poor wretches concerned. It is not as though nobody
in court had ever heard before of such intensely comic
things as love-letters, nor as though the judge on the bench
might not have written such things himself in days gone
by; but it is the simple fact that no one can see the follies
of others exposed without laughing at them. We may
have done many foolish things in our lives besides writing
a nonsensical letter, but we do not like to be reminded of
them. If the author desired to bring such matters into
ridicule he could not have done so more effectually than by
the absurd specimens of love-letters with which he has filled
twenty pages of his book. He facetiously tells us that
these two samples will probably suffice to show the
contents of the many letters that passed, and if so it is
a very melancholy fact. After the marriage had been
consummated the happy couple immured themselves in a
small London apartment, to the end that the prodigal
might obtain literary employment, by which Ihe
should be enabled to support himself and family.
For those who are accustomed to such labour the hero's
prospects would not be very superlative ; however, he was
fortunate, and contrived to keep his head above water un-
til a sad accident befel him, which was no less than the re-
appearance of his former wife, the ballet-girl to whom he
had been married while leading a profligate life abroad. To
be sure she made everybody believe that he thought she was
dead ; and let us hope it was so. However, this little
catastrophe set all parties by the ears, and gave rise to some
very interesting situations; consequently we cannot regret
the calamity. The interview between the two wives is very
well depicted. Number one calls upon number two in order
that she may satisfy herself as to the personal appearance
of her rival, and at the interview which takes place she re-
veals the dreaded secret that number two is no longer a
wife, and that her infant soa is not what he ought to have
been. Number two is naturally upset by this intelligence,
and takes a course that was well calculated to show the
depth of grief under which she was suffering, for she caught
up her baby and ran screaming through the streets of Lon-
don. Having, however, escaped being locked up as a
lunatic, she at last thought of what ought to have occurred
to her at first, that the best place for her future residence
would be the house of her father ; and so she called a cab,
drove off to the railway station, and soon after arrived safely
under the paternal roof. Other matters of serious import
now take plaee. It is discovered that our hero's first wife
was already married to a Frenchman when she bestowed
her hand on him, and this gentleman, in the character of a
Parisian policeman, comes forward in the nick of time, and
discloses the whole truth. All mysteries are now cleared up,
and the reformed prodigal retires with his second wife into
country life, and receives from his generous younger brother
a portion of that patrimoaywhich his father haddeprived him
of. Notwithstanding some little inconsistency in the con-
duct of the principal parties to this novel, there are several
well •drawn characters. The retired picture-dealer, for
instance, who finds a resemblance in all his friends and
acquaintances to some famous picture of the old
masters. " There is Old Sally, she is a perfect Rembrandt ;
she ought never to be touched, much less cleaned; just a
little dusting now and then with a silk handkerchief, that
would be quite sufficient. She has got the right snuffy
sort of shadow under her nose, and all her wrinkles are in
the most superb impasto you ever set eyes upon; and our
friend upstairs is a very respectable Velasquez, fit for any
gallery, with a particular kind of glassing, he might even
be taken for a Spagno]ette, and by no means a bad spezi-
men of the master. Then the lady, she is a genuine Raphael,
and a fine production of the school; she has not changed
for the last two years, but is as good as ever, the colour has
not gone down a bit. That's the thing with the old mas-
ters, no mistake about them, last beautiful for ever I Her
sister from the country was very beautiful. Sometimes I I
thought she was a Lancret, and there were moments when
I never regarded her as a Grenze. As for the baby, I don't
object to the baby upstairs. In fact, a baby is not so bad
as it is painted. I don't like its crying, I confess, but it is
nothing to what I thought it would be, and, then, its
chuckle and crowing are certainly pleasant. Only to think
of the Rembrandt downstairs taking such a fancy to the
baby. Somehow women seem to get intoxicated with babies;
now the baby is decidedly Flemish; it isn't nice in point
of colour, the flesh tones are particularly hot and overdone;
it's wanting in expression, too, and repose, not quite right
in point of drawing, but it is not to be looked upon as a
finished work of art at present; it's a mere sketch, but
perhaps, they will make a Flamingo of it, modelled for
Rubees.” There are other new characters in the book,
and the plot is good. It will, therefore, find many readers
among the admirers of works of fiction.

4 ?angled Skein. In 3 Volumes. By Albany Fonblanque,

Jun. Tinsley Brothers.
Many persons have already perused this novel, as it ap•
peered in the pages of the St. James's Magazine. Its title at
once suggests a complicated plotf which is skilfully worked
out, and the events are well combined, though they will not
be unfamiliar to the reader of sensation novels ; in which
olass of literature, murder, bigamy, and villany of all dyes,
form prom nent parts. Mr. Fonblanque possesses an agree-
able and piquant style, which, applied even to a less excit-
ing plot, might result in a very successful work. In the
first few chapters, much more is vaguely hinted at as hav-
ing happened, or as about to take place, than is eventually
explained or carried out; but enough transpires to secure
the attention of the reader to the last page, and win his
sympathies for the noble and conscientious Stephen Frank-
land and his worthy lady-love, Grace Lee. The plot turns
for the most part on the murder of Frankland's friend, and
the various grounds which exist for su,:pecting the mur-
derer to be Frankland's father. A relative of Grace Lee is
arrested on suspicion of the crime, and circumstantial evi-
dence goes strongly against the man ; ho is, however,
finally acquitted on the timely discovery of the criminal,
The character of Frankland's father, a weak-minded indi-
vidual, apparently created to be despised, is ably drawn.
Having run through his property, he, upon the death of
his first wife, marries an heiress, who insists on his adop-
tion of her own name, and Sir George Frankland is accoid-
ingly converted into Sir George Tremlett, and lives on his
wife's property, until she elopes with a gallant colonel of
rather questionable repute. There is a son, Francis, and
on the delineation of the character of this particularly dis-
agreeable young gentleman more than ordinary pains have
expended. He acts as a good foil for displaying the more
amiable traits in the character of his half-brother. Among
other things ho takes a malicious pleasure in reminding his
father of his dependence on my Lady Tremlett, and con-
trives in various ways to fender himself as little respected
Or loved as it is possible for one to be who is heir to an ex-
tensive property, Enough may be seen from this reference