The Sun.
London, England, 1854-05-18 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

Aubrey. By the Authoress of " Emilia Wynd-
ham." 3 vols. Hurst and Blackett.
The writings of the authoress of " Emilia Wynd-
ham" have a peculiar fascination. They are quite
dissimilar, both in the freshness of their style, and
the originality of their sentiments, to the majority of
those three-volumed fictions which, to the habitual
novel-reader, present such a wonderful resemblance
to one another. Mrs. Marsh, for such we believe
is the name of the authoress of " Emilia Wynd-
ham," has a most delightful manner of narrating
her story, even although, at times, it degenerates
into mannerism—she appears herself so heartily
interested in her own characters, she talks
of
them as if they wore realities, as if she
knew them and loved them, and sympathised
with them. Those who speak from their own
hearts appeal most forcibly to the hearts of their
hearers, and the earnest interest which this au-
thoress feels in her own creations is one cause, and
not au insignificant one, of the vivid interest
which they inspire in the reader. In the incidents,
as well as in the narration of her story, Mrs.
Marsh oftens ventures to deviate wide]Y urf oi
established routine. In "E;niliaWyndham"she
did not hesitate, in opposition to every custom of
fictitious ju,tice, to render her heroine
ulti-
mately happy with the unattractive Mr.
Damby, instead of following the custom
other novelists, by making Emilia a widowo
'in the beginning of the third volume, and
the happy wife of her early lover in the last chap-
ter. " Aubrey" has, however, no such satisfactory
termination. It is a record of the sufferings of sin
and error, rather than a picture of the triumphs
of virtue. The story is in many parts painful, and
in some quite improbable ; nevertheless, it displays
a wonderful degree.of power both in the conception
and delineation of the characters. Granted that
many of the incidents of the tale are most impro-
bable—those incidents are but the framework for
the development of the characters, and the un-
natural circumstances serve to exhibit a very
natural picture of human passion and action. The
truth of this may be seen by a hasty glimpse
at the main features of the story. Lady Emma is
one of those heroines whom Mrs. Marsh loves to
describe, endowed with every natural perfection,
with good impulses, and a good heart ; but that
heart being undisciplined by guidance, and those
impulses unstrengthened by principles, she is weak
I and yielding as a child to the circumstances
around her, yet she evinces throughout her many
sorrows so much gentleness and sweetness that
we love and pity even while we blame her. In
the first scene of this eventful history, Lady Emma
is in a ball-room, and sitting on a little couch in
a retired corner, listening to the conversation of
an old admiral, she wins the heart of William
Aubrey, who stands at a distance contemplating her.
The admiral's conversation is about the gallantry
and heroism recently evinced by a young naval
captain—Edward Aubrey, the twin-brother of Wil-
liam—and while Emma's eyes are yet dimmed by
the tale she has been listening to, the young
captain enters, is introduTd. to her, and, like
his brother, loses his heart, but, unlike him,
obtains an equivalent for the loss. The char-
acters and the contrast of these two brothers
afford one of the happiest evidences of the author's
skill. Edward, who is the elder, is the darling of

his father's heart and the heir to his immense
wealth, whilst William is neglected and disliked,
and allowed but the merest pittance, lest his claims
should encroach upon those of the elder son, though
the difference of their ages counts by minutes
rather than years. Edward's disposition is genial as
the sunshine, easy, happy, and loving ; he regards his
brother with affection, which, however, William
finds it difficult to repay, for from infancy his
brother has unconsciously robbed him of all he
coveted—not his father's fortune only, but his
father's heart, and the hearts of all around him.

William is by far his brother's superior in intellect;
his temperament is of that exquisitely nervous, and
sensitive nature which renders neglect and unkind-
ness doubly severe. In the opening of the story our
sympathies are entirely with William, most especially
when, with a passion peculiar to such a nature, he
attaches himself to Lady Emma, only to find her
ifninediately afterwards destined to his brother. El-
- Aubrey, with his good nature, is weak, and
easily led away by evil companions. Lord Alger-
non, the brother of Lady Emma, entices him to
the gambling-house. The jealousy of the over-
affectionate father is aroused by his favourite sou's
frequent absences from home, and want of con-
fidence towards him, and William for a time stands
nobly between his father and brother as the advo-
cate of the latter, his own successful rival. W
cannot pursue all the mazes of the story ; suffice
it to say, that at last comes the catastrophe.
Lord Algernon (and this is one of the improbable
incidents to which we have alluded) forges a cheque
in Edward's writing on Mr. Aubrey's banker, and,
leaving the country immediately, draws away his
unconscious friend. The banker, perceiving the
mistake, sends to Mr. Aubrey, who, believing the
writing to be his son's orders the money to be
paid forthwith, and makes no inquiry. E [ward's
absence is deemed a confirmation of his guilt—he
loses his place in his father's affection, and
the inheritance is transferred to William. The
hitherto neglected William now sees life open-
ing to him in a new aspect, and Lady Emma is
within his reach, for. Lady Euna's family are them-
selves so impoverished that a wealthy suitor is cer-
tain of success. Poor Emma had just begun to
dream of happiness. Edward was coming to hold
important converse with her father the very day
her unworthy brother summoned him to his side.
The picture of Emma's eager happiness and gradual
disappointment and heartrending suspense, as hour
after hour on that day passed by, and he
came not, is most vividly portrayed. The
alternations of hope and fear—" the hope that
keeps alive despair"—at length give way to heart-
breaking
certainty. Information is given her of
Edward's guilt ; her parents renounce him, and,
with the prevailing gentleness of her disposition,
she believes the terrible story she is told, and submits
to the threatened separation,even while she cherishes
in her heart her warm affection. Meanwhile
Mr. Aubrey is dying. Edward has discovered his
friend's treachery, and writes a long letter of excul-
pation to his brother, imploring him to explain
everything to his father, and then he hastens to
that father's death-bed. 'What a temptation to
place in the hands of William !—a letter tkat is to
rob him, not only of the rich inheritance, but of
all chance of obtaining her whom he loves, not
wisely, but too well. William is absent from his
father when he receives the letter. He does not
deliberately yield to temptation, but he hesitates—
he delays his journey a little, and at last, gaining a
tardy victory, sets forward—too late. Mr. Aubrey
is dead. Edward has arrived in time to receive
his dying curse. We shall betray no further the
incidents of the drama, but what we have done
was necessary to corroborate both our commenda-
tion and our censure. Here is abundant evidence
of the painful nature of the story, and of the im-
probability of some of the circumstances which it
narrates, but the position of the characters is one
well qualified to exhibit their individual peculiari-
ties. Throughout the novel the character of William
is admirably sustained. Yielding to the influences of
an overwhelming passion he wanders in the path of
duty, but no happiness can alleviate his after-
sufferings. A little of that courage which springs
from au inherent principle of right would have
rendered William Aubrey a noble and a happy man.
A similar lesson is conveyed by the experience of
each of the chief actors. Edward Aubrey is of an-
other order of being to his serious and sensitive
brother. Such a fault as William committed would
have been impossible to his frank nature ; but he too
yields to another temptation, to one assuredlyn
.t s of
less powerful attraction, and yet
conse-
quences fraught with misery incalculable..
The
.
lesson which " Aubrey" teaches is, after all, the
lesson of lite. The best of human beings, the
most
intellectual and the most generous, the highest in-
telligence and the gentlest heart, are alike o
alikre
aans:
sailatde by temptation, of one kind
other. Without au abiding sense of duty
without an adherence to principle rather than
a blind following of a good impulse no virtue can
endure, no individual excellence of temperament
can sustain, its possession in the day of trial. Such
lessonsare hackneyed enough, such sayings are trite
and commonplace, and yet it is necessary that they
should be occasionally presented to our contem-
plation, and most uuostentatiously is the lesson set
forth in "Aubrey." Not a word of sermonising
is to be found. The moral may be drawn by every
reader from the picture of life presented in these
volumes. One character we have not men-
tioned—Alico Craven, the nurse of William. Her
conduct is in many parts exaggerated, but her
affection and her jealousy are naturally portrayed.
At the close of the third volume we learn that she is
in reality the mother of her nursling, and this fact,
which we had surmised long before, affects nothing
as regards this story of " Aubrey ;" but from a
hint in the concluding lines, we are led to expect
that " Aubrey," like " The Wilmingtons," will
have a sequel, and in consequence of the non-
relationship of William and Edward, the widow
of the one may, we imagine, in the next book,
become the wife of the other—thus differ-
ing from the sequel of " Emilia Wyndham."
More than once Mrs. Marsh has continued in a
second novel the history of its predecessor, and
this is, we believe, attributable to the characteristic
we have alluded to, her intense realisation of the
individuality of her heroes and heroines. To her
they are living beings : she cannot bear to lose sight
of them—she must follow their fortunes yet fur-
ther than tho proscribed period. Although We