The Sun.
London, England, 1853-04-21 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

Paris After Waterloo. By J. Simpson. Black-

wood.

This volume consists chiefly of a series of sketches
of the different incidents and characters which ap-
peared in the French capital after Waterloo. It
also contains some lively descriptions of the town
and its chief attractions. It includes a revised
edition of a visit to Flanders and the field. The
following anecdote is interesting :
" I had the good fortune to travel from Brussels to
Paris with a young Irish officer and his wife, an Ant-
werp lady of great beauty and very pleasing manners.
The officer had been in the battle of Quatre Bras, as
well as of Waterloo. An anecdote of his fair Belgian,
which he justly took some pride in relating, will further
serve to give an idea of the kind of scenes then occur-
ring. He was in cantonments at Nevilles, having his
wife with him. The unexpected advance of the French
called him off on a moment's notice to Quatre Bras, but
he left his servant with his wife, one horse, and the
family baggage, which was packed on a large ass. Re-
treat at the time was not anticipated, but was suddenly
ordered on Saturday morning, when he contrived to
get a message to his wife to make the best of her
way, attended by the servant, to Brussels. The ser-
vant, a foreigner, had availed himself of the opportu-
nity to take leave of both master and mistress, and made
off with the horse which had been left for the use of the
latter. With a firmness becoming the wife of a British
officer, she boldly commenced on foot her own retreat of
twenty-five miles, leading the ass, and carefully pre-
serving the baggage. She was soon in the midst of the
retreating British army, and much retarded and• en-
dangered by the artillery. Her fatigue was great ; it
rained in waterspouts, and the thunder and lightning
were fearful. She continued her route and got upon the
great road from Charlerois to Brussels, at Waterloo,
when the army on the Saturday evening were taking up
their line. In so extensive a field and large a force it
was in vain to seek her husband ; she knew, moreover,
that the sight of her there would only have embarrassed
and distressed him ; she kept therefore slowly moving
on to Brussels all the Saturday night, the road crowded
with all sorts of conveyances, waggons and horses, mul-
titudes of native fugitives upon it, and many flying into
the great wood, while the wounded worked their painful
way, and some dropped to breathe their last. Many
persons were actually killed by others, if by chance they
stood in the way of their endeavours to save themselves.
And to add to the horrors, the rain continued unabated,
and the thunder and lightning still raged. Eight miles
further, in the night, this young woman marched in the
mud, her boots worn off, so that she was nearly barefoot,
but still went on unhurt. She continued to advance,
and although many lost their baggage and many their
lives, she entered Brussels in the morning in safety, and
without the loss of an article."

Faust, a Tragedy. By Goethe. With Notes,
Grammatical Philological, and Exegetical. By

Falck Lebahn, Ph. D. L'ongman. -
The object of this work is to assist students who
read without a master, and it will doubtless afford
them great advantages. There are three divisions
of notes, the grammatical ones give the rules of
grammar, and the words in German and in Eng-
lish. In the exegetical notes the meaning of the
author is explained in contradiction of many sup-
positions on the subject. In the introductory re-
marks it is observed--

" The popular traditions of northern Germany give
strange accounts of Dr. Faust. They represent him as
having been in the possession of supernatural secrets, of
a magic mantle, and other conjuring apparatus ; he was
said to have performed wonderful feats, with the aid of
his associate and familiar demon, and at last was duly
seized and carried off by the devil as per contract. The
simple fact is, that Dr. Faust, being far in advance of
his era in the physical sciences, made experiments, the
results of which must have apKared superhuman to the
narrow-minded understandings of the people. All that
his contemporaries could not account for, by their own
limited experience, they ascribed to magic and unholy
arts, and Faust paid the usual penalty for superiority
in an age of ignorance, by being traduced as a sorcerer."

The Angler's Companion to the Rivers and Lochs of
Scotland. By Thos. Tod Stoddart. Blackwood.
The fact of this little volume having reached a
second edition sufficiently proves its value ; and,
indeed, from the variety of the information it con-
tains, and the completeness of the directions given,
it would be difficult to imagine a more useful
" Angler's Companion." It displays considerable
knowledge of the subject and of the country, for it
gives a minute account of all the rivers and lochs,
their characteristics, the fish frequenting them, and
the best means for ensnaring them. It has been
revised and subjected to extensive alterations, the
result of the author's increased experience. It is
ornamented by an. engraving of the results of " a
day's fishing," and possesses the useful accompani-
ment of a map of Scotland, illustrative of the
rivers and lochs described.

,e Events of a Year. By Emilie Carlen. 3 vols.

Newby.

This is another of the novels of that celebrated
authoress of the " Birthright," " Woman's Life,"
&c. She is not to be surpassed in the life-like de-
lineation of her characters. They all seem perfect
in their different styles—not that these in question
are pleasing ones. The events are rather painful
than otherwise, but the mode of expression, the
descriptions, the whole arrangement of the plot is
admirable. The Rittmeister is very ably drawn—
bold, stern, and unyielding to those who did not
understand him • but when once his heart was
touched his whole character underwent a change,
or rather developed itself. Then he was affable
and pleasing, possessed of a strong power of fasci-
nation and attraction, almost impossible to resist.
Lavinia was a most remarkable woman, appa-
rently calm and composed ; she was really full of
deep feeling and exciting impulses. A marriage
de convenience between these two unusual person-
ages produced an extraordinary confusion of ideas,
sentiments, and passions ; all turned out right at
last, but it was not till after both had drunk deeply
of the bitter cup of sorrow, and learned the hard
lessons of experience. Julia was a regular spoiled
child—pretty, trifling, and faulty ; she went on
from one extreme to another till we leave her at
last in the enviable position of a tallow-maker.
Some of the subordinates of the tale are very
vividly brought before us, and as an animated pic-
ture of Swedish life it must be regarded.

20
20
50
20

Frank Merryweather. By H. G. Ainslie Young.
2 vols. Newby.
12
This is a very complicated tale. There is a great
deal of the romantic in its events. The hero is 12i
deprived of his father's property by a forged will 25
being brought forward in place of the real desires
of the deceased being executed (he left no actual 16°
will.) Mr. Munroe was a thoroughly selfish man.
12)
His great wealth made him arrogant and conceited ; 12i
but it was impossible for him to enter the high so- 12A
ciety he wished, for his want of education was too T.:
apparent, and his manners were extremely un-
polished. Besides all these disadvantages under 16:4
which he laboured, there was another and a 20
greater—his mode of life in India was necessarily 2
5
contracted, and he was, from his high position, a
person of the greatest consequence in his own St.
circle there ; but at home it was very different. 20
He was lost in the aggregate of celebrities. He St.
could not succeed in gaining a place in the privi-
leged classes of merit and of fashion. He met with 158
one disappointment after another ; and finally, to
cheat his cares, took to opium eating. He nearly 10
caused his death by these means, and it was by a
fortunate change of events only that he was saved. 10
Frank, the hero, is a very interesting character, 25
although he loses some of his attraction from giving 1160
way to passion on one occasion, and subsequently
destroying the life of a valued friend in a duel. 20
Constance was a most unhappy lady. Her mother 5
died, her father did not care for her in the least, St.
and her favourite plans were always thwarted. At 1,
last, however, fortune smiled on her, and the con- 2;
elusion leaves her under the most favourable
auspices. Perhaps the most amusing character is
Mr. Munroe's sister, Aunt Dorothy, who spends
her time in collecting specimens and curiosities. 10
She devoted so much of her senses to these studies 5
that she had not much to spare for every-day life ; 20
and her mistaking a courier for a nobleman in 20
Paris was very ludicrous. On the whole, this 20
story may furnish amusement ; and some of the 2C
sketches of Indian life introduced give a pleasing
variety to the oft-repeated tales of home oc- 2(
currences. 2(

STRIKES AND RISE OF WAGES IN WALES.—Nearly all
the trades in South Wales have followed the movement
initiated by the English operatives for an advance in
"
wages ; and where such addition has been refused, general
recourse has been had to the " strike. In some cases
this has been successful, and the masters have been
obliged to accede to the wishes of the employed; whilst,
on the other hand, in many instances, it has been un-
availing, the employers preferring to obtain fresh bands
rather than comply with the conditions proposed. The
shoemakers in particular seem very generally to have
met with the desired advance, which in some instances
has been as much as 25 per cent. This has been esta-
blished throughout Merthyr, Newport, Caerphilly, Aber-
gavenny, &c. The painters also have had a rise of 10 per
cent., and carpenters and masons have also benefited.
A MOTHER ACCIDENTALLY SHOT BY HER SON.—On
Sunday last a shocking accident occurred to a woman of
the name of Holland, residing in Albion-street, Notting-
ham. It. appears that during the hour of breakfast, on
the morning in question, the son of Mrs. Holland, a boy
about fifteen years of age,
was handling a loaded pistol,
and his mother in attempting to take a crust of bread
out of his hand, either touched the lock of the pistol
herself, or caused her son to do so, as the piece instantly
discharged, and the contents passed into the face of Mrs.
Holland. The pistol was loaded with I shot, and, of
course, inflicted a fearful wound. Surgical assistance:
was immediately procured, and the woman is now doing
as well as can be expected.