The Sun.
London, England, 1854-06-26 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

1 .Tilbury _Wog°, or Passages in the Life of an UMW-
cassfic! Mali. By the author of "Digby Grand."
2 vols. Chapman and Hall.
,I These " Passlges in the Life of an Unsuccessful
Man" were originally published in the Sporting
Magazine, and the favourable reception they met
1 . with has induced the author to publish them in
their present form. It is to be hoped they will
prove a contrast to the list of failures so amus-
ingly recounted. The hero of the autobio-
graphy is seized with the desire of achieving
fame and distinction by his success and dex-
terity in field sports. In these, however, ho
does not attain the celebrity he desires. A series
of untoward accidents always intervenes to defeat
his.object ; and, after a long catalogue of mistakes
and mischances, he is forced to style himself an
unsuccessful man. To add to his troubles, he
marries an attractive widow, who does not appear
so amiable and charming as Mrs. Nogo, as she
did as Mrs. Montague Forbes. Sportsmen will find
many characteristic accounts of foxhounds, harriers,
steeplechas'es, and such subjects, and the general
reader will not fail to be entertained by the narra-
tive which is not so technical in style as to be te-
dious to the uninitiated. It is not devoid of some
slight romance, as the introduction of the follow-
ing graceful song proves :

" THE DAYS WHEN WE MET."
" There is mirth in the sunshine, there's peace in the shade,
There's the fragrance of June on the flower ;
There is love in the whisper that steals through the
glade—
But the sunshine may pale, and the roses may fade,
And the skies may be dark in an hour;
And the heart may grow weary—the brain may forget--
And the loved one be changed since the days when we
met.

There is morning to hope for, when darkness is past ;
There's a dawn that shall smile into day ;
Though the winter be chill, and unsparing the blast,
Yet the flow'ret shall bloom in its spring-time at last,
And the bird carol forth from the spray.
But the heart bath no morrow, when its sunlight is sei
And its music is hushed since the days when we met."

At the close of the volume is a paper on " Scotland
and the Moors," relating exploits in grouse shooting
and deer stalking. The following extract is from
the concluding soliloquy of Mr. Tilbury Nogo :

" Like many a wiser and better man, I have been the
victim of an unworthy ambition—not the noble infirmity
which urges the aspirer to be great—not the heaven-born
sentiment which impels him to be good ; but the paltry,
and unmanly thirst for frivolous distinction, which, et igi-
nating in vanity, finds its end in disappointment and dis-
gust. Not satisfied to take the sports and amusements of
life as I found them, it has been my desire to raise for my-
self a kind of spurious fame for proficiency in pursuits
which, after all, deserve but to be the pastime of an idle
hour, and even this worthless distinction I have failed to
attain. When the man who had spent a lifetime in learn-
ing to balance peas on the point of a needle, was brought
before Alexander, the conqueror of the world ordered him
the appropriate recompense of a packet of needles and a
bushel of peas. Alas !my proficiency has not even de-
served the Macedonian's sarcastic guerdon. Money, time,
and perseverance have been wasted, and I cannot balance
the pea on the needle after all ! In vain have my stud eaten
their heads off at Melton, and I myself gone to the height
of personal inconvenience, not to say bodily peril, to achieve
a first-flight character on the grass. Can I lay my hand
on my heart, and tax my memory with one single instance
on which, after hounds had been running hard for ten
minutes, I was present in the same field with them ? I
have ridden a two-hundred-guinea hunter, and been
pounded by young Graceless on a forty-pound back ! I
have placed nay horse's head at Lord Rapid's tail, and
vowing to stick to him throughout the day, have lost him
in three fields ! No ! High Leicestershire was no arena
for my prowess; and hopeless as was my success in the
pastures, the turf was even worse. What availed it to
elbow my way into the waving mass which constitutes the
Ring at Epsom ; or to swagger, with open betting-book,
and pencil daintily fitted between my front teeth, down
the sunny slopes at Ascot? the `make and-shape' backer
jumped at the odds I offered against his favourite, and
showed his judgment by the form in which his selection
swept past the goal an easy winner, and the only horse I
stood to lose by in the lace ;' or the better-informed leg,
with his liberal investment against the Flyer that broke
down this morning, gave me another opportunity of what
is playfully termed paying and looking pleasant.' Shoot-
ing, deer-stalking, sparring, cricket, hare-hunting, rowing,
fishing, &c., not forgetting my first and only appearance as
a jockey at Weatherley—l have had a turn at them all—
and if this be what is meant by sowing wild oats,' I can
only say that iu my case the crop has failed to pay the ex-
penses of cultivation.

" And what has been the result of thus wasting the
golden, the irretrievable years of early manhood—that im-
portant period in which alone can be laid the foundations
for a future superstructure of utility and self-content, if
not of distinction and renown—an edifice to which success
in the more trifling pursuits of life should be but as the
carving which decorates its pillars, the ornamental work
which softens the severer grandeur of the whole ?
" A brief period of hollow excitement, constantly em-
bittered by dissatisfaction and disappointment ; a con-
sciousness of time misspent and opportunities thrown
away ; something very nearly akin to remorse for the irre-
mediable past ; and above all, the degrading conviction
that though age is steadily and surely stealing on, wisdom
is still as far distant as ever, and the experience which
makes ' even fools wise' has in my own case been entirely
thrown away." •

Transmutation •or the Lord and the Lout. By
N. or M. Chapman and Hall.
Although this story is founded on the often-re-
peated subject of changelings, there is novelty in
many of the events, and a freshness .of style per-
vades it that redeems it from being dull or com-
monplace. The young heroes early displayed the
native tendencies of their characters, such as might
be expected from the stations for which they had
been created. As it happened, however, nothing
but evil and confusion ensued from what should
have been a blessing and a benefit to every one.
The cunning and avarice, which in the son of selfish,
worldly parents was to be expected, and which
would have delighted the Earl and Countess, filled
with dismay and consternation the denizens of the
humble roof under which the heir of Rycot was
brought up. On the other hand, the bold and
reckless daring, the free and careless conduct,
which would have done honour to the miller's son,
only embittered the lordly sphere to which Luko
Harston's child was taken. The chief point of in-
terest is that portion of the narrative where the
real Lord of Rycot commits a murder, which un-
fortunate circumstances attribute to his lowly
representative. The son of the people had
to bear the full fury of the storm which had been
created by the evil conduct of the lordly race of
Rycot. A long life of ill-usage and neglect had
sown the seeds of deadly hatred in the minds of the
earl's tenants ; and no sooner did they suspect his
son than their fury knew no bounds, and with one
accord all rose againSt him. The unfortunate
young man, whose own imprudence had materially
injured his cause, was thrown into prison as a felon.
He was detained for some time before his trial, in
the midst of which, just as all expected him to be
pronounced guilty, an express arrived announcing
that his aged father the earl had just expired. As
a peer of the realm, the prisoner had to be removed
to a higher tribunal. Before that time arrived,
however, through the instrumentality of a valuable
friend he had made in prison, the young earl was
proved innocent. The most pleasing character in
the story is Bessy Harston, the miller's daughter,
whose honest and simple nature is a striking
contrast to the crafty and vindictive tem-
per of her supposed brother. After a great
many trials, she died, in the midst of the trial im-
pending against the earl. The knoWledge that her
brother (as she believed him) had committed mur-
der, brought on brain fever, from which she never
recovered. As she was the favourite of the village,
all crowded round her coffin to pay their last re-
spectful tribute—" and where was there ever a
sweeter face than the one whose whiteness gleamed
like marble, wasted by sickness, worn by anguish,
the touch of death appeared to have re-endowed
poor Bessy with youth and beauty, as with com-
posure and peace." The cause of all this misery,
John, was found dead at an infirmary, where be
had confessed his crimes. After a triumphal re-
turn to Rycot, the young earl busied himself in
ameliorating the condition of his tenants, and so
much good did he effect, that it is observed that,
could Peter Prosset (the old doctor who had
changed the children) hate perceived the results,
he might fancy he had done a wise and virtuous
action by his transmutation.

Transcaucasia' Sketches of the Nations and Races
between the Baltic Sea and the Caspian. By
Baron von Haxthausen. Chapman and Hall. _

This is not one of the numerous works of travel
or geographical description that the present crisis
has called forth, though its title naturally gives
rise to such an idea. It was completed in 1849,
but the unfavourable state of the publishing trade
prevented its appearing at that time. It is now
first given to the English public with the inten-
tion of subsequently producing it in Germany
and France. The author is a Prussian, who
already published a work on the internalstatehaosf
.ared in 1842
Russia, which has not been translaptepde
the author of some articles which a Re is also
in the Allgemeine Zeitung, signed c, A
v. 13.,"
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which displayed so much ability
that many supposed the initials to and
represent knowledge
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Alex-
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Government,
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_luxe shortly after ander von Humboldt.
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ea
.fdavotulrablees viewrin too
represent things in the best this respect
he he is not likely to coincide with the general opinion
of the day. However, indignant readers must re-
member that the work was completed and in pro-
cess of being translated long before the commence-
ment of the events which now give it an additional
interest. Georgia, Circassia, and Armenia, with
all the surrounding provinces, are described,
not with the lively superficial manner of a hasty
traveller, but in the style of one who has evidently
11 searched and studied the subject. While the Eng-
lish reader is likely to differ from him entirely in