The Sun.
London, England, 1854-07-31 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

The Lake ,4cenery of England. Part VI. Painted
by J. B. Pyne. Lithographed by W. Gauci.
Published by Agnew and Sons, of Manchester.
Another instalment, the sixth, of this costly but
popular serial, illustrative of the " Lake Scenery of
England," has, within the last few days, been is-
sued from the Messrs. Agnew's house at Mancha-
ter. It will be found, on examination, to sustain
the credit already secured to the work by the five
parts previously published, if it does not actually,
in some respects, add, and that materially, to the
admiration won for the eminent painter by the in-
genious and painstaking lithographer. As with
each of its predecessors, Part VI. comprises four
of these noble engravings, accompanied by appro-
priate and explanatory letterpress. The visitors to
the village of Wytheburn, and to the ample sheet
of water in the vicinity of the property of the
Leathes, or Laithes, of Dalehead, will recognise in
the first lithograph the picturesque beauties of
" Thirlemere." The lake of Wytheburn, or Thir-
lemere, washes the foot of He] vellyn, that famed
Hel vellyn, celebrated in the verse of Barry Cornwall,
Southey, Coleridge, and Wordsworth, while, in re-
gard to the stream that issues out of the lake, and
flows thence through the vale of St. John, it may
he remembered that its borders were selected as
the scene of Sir Walter Scott's " Bridal of Trier-
main." The whole view, as portrayed by Mr.
Pyne (who has very happily imparted a human in-
terest to the landscape by the adroit introduction
of a gypsying or picnic party in one corner of the
foreground) embraces a charming variety not only
of lake, but with that also, of hill, valley, and
mountain scenery. As the second lithograph we
have a copy from his noble water colour of the
" Derwent River and Borrowdale." Towards the
left of the picture is introduced the B )wden Stone,
thus described by the poet of Rydal Mount :
" Upon a semi-cirque of turf-clad ground
The bidden nook discovered to our view
A mass of rock, resembling as it lay,
Right at the foot of that moist precipice,
A stranded ship with keel upturned, that rests,
Fearless of winds and waves."
As curiously adding to the interest of the scene,
let it not be forgotten, that after that river "Der-
went " wandering so wildly through that lovely
region of Borrowdale, Mr. Coleridge named one of
his sons in loving and living remembrance. " 'Past
Water" is the subject of the third lithograph—
Wast Water, or wild, or waste water—a scene of
exquisite beauty, but one which is seldom fre-
quented, save by the more adventurous pedestrians.
As the crowning glory of the sixth part comes the
fourth lithograph by M. Gauci, from Mr. Pyne's
matchless delineation of a summer's evening on
"Lake Windermere," or Winaudermere. The oc-
casion chosen by the artist, one of fun, frolic, and
feasting, as shown by the floating bottles, and the
gay boats, with their load of revellers, cool and
merry, under the awnings. The hour is that magic
rime towards twilight, or rather sundown, the ne-
cessary precursor of twilight, " just before the
clouds put on their ruddy, burning tinge "—an
hour, as the painter has recognised, of supreme and
entrancing loveliness. If for nothing else, for the
success of this one lithograph, part six of the
"Lake Scenery of England " would be entitled
to our admiration.

Trial and Triumph. A Novel. By the author of
" The Blacksmith's Daughter," "The Gold-
beater," &c., arc. 3 vols. Newby.
The opening chapters of this story are full of
melodramatic horror. M. Duravel, a French
physician, is summoned to the bedside of the Mar-
quise de Lague. The Marquis is jealous and.
iolent, and the doctor is apprehensive for the safety
of his patient. However, he succeeds in maintain-
ing tranquillity in the sick chamber, and the
heroine of the story is born. The doctor leaves his
patient in safety, but immediately afterwards the
Marchioness dies, evidently poisoned by her hus-
:mud. The chateau, whether from accident or
design, is set on fire, and the nurse escapes with the
infant, whom she brings up as her own. The Mar-
quis immediately afterwards discovers proofs of his
wife's innocence. He seeks for his child, and believes
it dead ; and then, in an agony of remorse and
repentance, disappears from the scene, ,and some
years afterwards we find him in England, a priest,
.inder the name of M. Leinagne, a penitent and
-efortned man. Such is the tragical commence-
ment of the history of Lucille de Laque ;
but, although at times strange and even terrible
incidents are introduced, the story is of a mere
natural and more homely character than might
have been anticipated from the introduction. Lu-
eille's nurse is the wife of an Englishman, and
one who is not much credit to his country. He is
compelled to fly from France for some misde-
meanour, his wife accompanies him, and, dying
soon after, the young Lucille is left to his care.
We meet her again, about the age of eleven, on the
eve of a robbery in which her supposed father is to
take part. The child overhears the conversation
of the robbers. The inmates of the Grange have
been kind to her ; she sets off through the dark-
ness to give them warning off the danger, and then
bravely returns to tell the robbers what she has
' (lone, in order to prevent them from hurrying to
destruction. The resolute and heroic character of
Lucille is displayed through her career of "Trial."
She separates from the robbers, and is educated
by the family at the Grange, and afterwards
enters life as a governess ; the story, as we have
said, becoming more homely and natural. Some
of the characters are very interesting and pleasing,
:and others again are quite the reverse. Mr.
Lampton (in whose family Lucille is at one time
4overnesi) is an evident imitation. of Mr. Manta. -
lini, only he proves himself too much of a villain
to be compared to the amiable admirer of Kate
Nickel by.
The gang of robbers again make their appea
ance, and Mrs. Lampton is murdered by Rib, the
supposed father of Lucille—a horrible incident,
which adds little to the interest of the story, and
were better dispensed with. The same may be
• said of the preliminary murder of the Marchioness.
Poor Lucille shrinks from her reputed father, and
is anxious to find one, however humble, unstained
with crime; but she is not successful in this respect,
and however much faith we may have in the effi-
' cacy of repentance, few readers will feel great sym-
pathy for the Marquis de Laque as a hero, or re-
joice in the "Triumph" of Lucille in gaining
such a father. That, however, is not the
only triumph of the much-tried and virtuous
heroine, and M. Lemagne, immediately on the
restitution of his daughter to her rights, retires
from observation, and is heard of no more till the
death of an old monk, from pestilence, in the East
announces to Lucille the loss of her unhappy father.
We have no particular admiration for novels abound-
ing in horrible and tragical incidents like those
above enumerated ; nevertheless the history is re-
deemed by some pleasing chapters, and the heroine
herself is very attractive. We hear a great deal
too much of the conversation of Rob's companions
in Mother Fippen's den—their bad principles, and
their bad English are not worth either the atten-
tion of reader or writer.

The author of this story will succeed better if be
attempts less. If he trusts more to his own abili-
ties than to any imitation of successful authors,
and if he relies upon the genuine interest which
springs from a happy delineation .of character and
a well-constructed tale, rather than have recourse
to those elements of horror which delight the lovers
of melodrama, but which more than all others
require
to be employed sparingly and with the utmost deli-
cacy and skill. Some of the requirements of a
good novel writer are possessed by thus biographer
of Lucille de Lague, and some portions of her story
have afforded us pleasure in the perusal ; where-
fore, we are inclined to hope that some future and
more judicious trial of skill may award to it
author a more complete and manifest Triumph.

TRE CITY CORPORATION AND TBE ROYAL COMMISSION
OF ENQ
.
lebone vestry it was resolved, en the motion of Mr. Pear-
son, to we are a ,' •
UIRY.—On Saturday at the meeting of the Mary.
that a committee be appointed p pe.ition
t() Parliament against that part of the commissioners
report, which after recommending that the metropolitan
di-tricts should be formed into district corporations, and
that a central board of works, composed of delegates
from each of such new corporations, and also from the
City of London, shall be established, which shall have
control over the taxes which are raised from the whole
metropolis, purposes that the large property now held
by the City shall continue to be administered only by
the corporation of London, and for its exclusive benefit,
and to pray in such petition that such property shall be
administered by the Central Board of Works, or else be
fairly distributed amongst the new district corporation
in such manner as Parliament shall, in its wisdom, deem
meet.