The Sun.
London, England, 1838-04-07 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

QUEEN ELIZABETH AND HER TIMES,
In Two Vols.
BY THOMAS WRIGHT, M. A., 6'e..
London, Colburn, 1838.
Mr. Wright's work, which consists of a series of original
letters, selected 11 ith discriminating industry from the idited
private correspondence of Queen Elizabeth and herne Cour-
tiers, is constructed on the same plan as Ellis's Letters,
and the Marchmont Papers ; and is well calculated to throw
flood of new light upon some of the most obscure passages
in the eventful
"'P, political history of England's Virgin Sove-
Among the letters which the reader will peruse
svith the greatest advantage, we class the official corres-
.. pondence of
the Cecil, afterwards Lord Treasurer Burghley ;
Cecil,
of the Earls of Leicester, Sussex, Shrewsury,
Murray. of the Duke of Norfolk ; of Secretaries Was ng-
ham and Smith ; and of Sir Christopher Hatton, Randolph,
Throgmorton, Drury, and Sir P. Knollys. But while we
most cheerfully admit the great value of these ocuments,
and the important service rendered
to the historicdal student
by their publication, we take leave entirely to dissent from
the conclusions which the learned Editor in his introduction. We have examineddraws from them
them with some
tare, and taking them in conjunction with the documents of
contemporary writers, they neither acquit Elizabeth of the
Judicial murder of the unfortunate Queen of Scots, nor
Lord Robert Dudley of incapacity as Commander of the
expedition for the
Provin relief of the Protestants of the United
ought ces. In justice to the memory of Mary, Mr. Wright
to have included her letters to Elizabeth, in a col-
lection of Papers published ostensibly with a view to make
the actors and counsellors in the great political events of
an important periodand in our history " speak for themselves,',
quently to make their own impression upon the
mind of the future
of every historian. Mr. 'Wright's faith in the
truth
statement made by the Ministers and servants
of Elizabeth in theirofficial letters appears to be unbounded;
and we are occasionally not a little surprised to find him
draw inferences from phrases the very reverse of what they
would appear to us to warrant. For example, Cecil, in a
letter to Sussex, relative to the arrival of Queen Mary in
Scotland, says---,, the Quene's Majestic bath these ships in
the North Seas to preserve the fyshers from the pyratts.
I thynk they will he sorry to see hyr pass." Mr. Wright
at once assumes these words to amount to a grave declara-
tion that neither Elizabeth nor her Minister wished to in-
tercept Mary on her voyage ; though Cecil states, in a pre-
vious letter, that he had refused her a free passage from
France. Now, to us the language of Cecil would seem to
imply a directly contrary meaning. The fleet appointed to
intercept Mary was, for very poltic reasons, o stensibly
ordered to scour the Channel fora the protection of the
Northern fisheries. Cecil was not such a ninny as to dis-
close such of his schemes as were likely to prove unsuccess-
ful, when he knew a disclosure would prove detrimental to
the interests of his Royal Mistress.
These volumes are dedicated by permissicn to the Queen,
and embellished with portraits of Elizabeth, her favourite
Minister Burghley, and Sir Robert Cecil. The portraits
are taken from original paintings in the collection of the
Marquis of Exeter, and are very beautifully executed. As
a whole, this collection of letters is, as we above observed,
invaluable ; though the prejudices of the Editor against the
beautiful but unfortunate tialit Queen of Scots, and his Par-
a bay to Elizabeth, who, after all, was a great Queen but
d woman, will not fail to raise against it a host of
enemies.

THE COURTIAR'S DAUGHTER.
In Three Vole.
lY LADY STRYWAY.
London, Colburn, 1838.
This is a novel for the many. At such an announcement
the disciples of old Jeremy Bentham and Robert Owen
Will prick up their ears,in expectation of having them re-
galed with the doctrines of a fair and fashionable preacher
of a new political and social millenium. We will undeceive
them at once. Lady Stepney is no system-monger ; but
she deals extensively in the horrible, the terrible, the wild,
the fanciful, the fashionable, the tender, and the improbable
--all wares in more demand among the many than all the
systems of Smith, Malthus, Ricardo, Scrope, and Marti-
nePu put together. The hero of Lady Stepney's tale is a
Precious rascal, and unquestionably- would have been hanged,
had he not taken it into his head to save the country the
"Pense of his execution. But to make amends for this,
the heroine is interesting, high-born, very pretty, very well
educated, very romantic, and very much in love. The
is
incidents of the story are presumed to have taken
Place in England since the commencement of the present
century ; and as they serve to illustrate a state of society
of which some of our readers may have as faint a concep-
tion as we profess to have ourselves, we will give the lead-
ing events in a few words.
The only son of a rich English Earl forms an acquaint-
ance with a young man of obscure birth, some low cunning,
and no principle, born upon his father's estates. This fel-
low, whose name is Joyce, introduces the young Peer to a
village belle, with whom be was on the eve of being united
in marriage ; and, as might be expected, the Peer is smit-
ten, the lady delighted with her conquest, and poor Joyce
jilted, The plebeian lover, enraged at his disappointment
rows reenge, and, to effect his purpose, tells the young
Lord some naughty stories about the brittleness of the
lady's reputation
of rank , whereupon he deserts her, marries a lady
into suitable to his own, and the forsaken damsel sinks
a deeP melancholy. In the meantime, Joyce, who,
upon the accession of the Peer to his paternal hnours, is
appointed Steward, contrives to establish in the mind of Isis
Lord 4 belief that his Countess has been unfaithful to his
bed
the Earl is dangerouslyto wounded, and while confined
his room, Joyce secretly removes the Countess to a sub-
s dungeon, where he contrives to keep her for
Somewhere about twelve years, shut out from all commu-
nionwith her kind. During all this time the Countess is
stiPpose be dead and buried ; for to quiet all suspicions
Upon this head, Joyce had managed to poison his quondam
lever, whom he caused to be interred as the Countess.
All s
this
air m
does not look very probable ; but that is Lady Step-
neY' aff
, not ours. Upon his recovery from.his wound,
1' ,the Earl removes with his only daughter to London, were
shines at Court as a political star of the first magnitude.
While filling the office of Ambassador at a foreign Court,
tfamily he noble heiress returns to the hereditary mansion of her
; whereupon Joyce, for no conceivable motive, does
nothing for weeks together but plot her destruction. With
that sagacity for which young ladies of seventeen are pro-
verbial, she half divines his thoughts, and of scantly on her guard. But course is con-
her person d
al safety not oc-
cupy her thoughts so exclusively
as to prevent heroes thinking
of any thing else. She is seen by the son of her mother's
l'oPposed seducer, a most accomplished youth, and her
equal in rank, and tho consequence is a tender attachment
42 mutual as it is ardent, But Joyce, who is never idle
the
mischief is to he done, resolves upon the murder of
.° Young Nobleman while passing through a wood at
.4'ght to visit the noble damsel of the castle. She receives
Intimation of his villainy, disguises and arms herself with a
Piste], and, at the critical moment, wounds the wicked
steward and saves her lover. Subsequently Joyce attempts
P°isen his master ; succeeds in poisoning himself; and
t_it es after making a full disclosure of all his villanies, The
Uountess is released, her innocence established, and the
c'Unif folks rendered as ha
make them.ppy as love and marriage can
" „ Of thedo
peculiar merits of a novel so constructed, we leave
e worl t Lents, form its own opinion. It abounds in inci-
ho but they are such as Radcliffe and Lewis would
1,1.2uv 4lighted to paint, We must say that we do not ap-
of
aevelf o theitin attempts recently made to revive this school
-wrg,

THE ROBBER.
Ay TN In 3 Vole.
AtfrilOß OF " RICHELIEU," " THE alrsr,"
London, Longman and Co., 1838.
the
in this novel are all laid in England, about the
oof the 0 Restoration ; and the characters are the crea-
-4,043.nf an intellect equal to the task of giving distinctness
Individ
Is sin;ple to even common-place people. The plot
°io'ls and would delight us more were there less oh-
tiri ar
, tho development. The Earl of Danemore,
Deli' en. from his country during the Protectorate of Crom-
, t k
th, a danes refuge in France, where he secretly marries
hilii.g nhter of an illustrious nobleman, who elopes with
ttir e subsequently repudiates her by fraud, and re-
tonnillg to England marries another lady, who bears him a
pre: t° whom he resolves to leave all his property, to the
jildice of his only son by his former marriage. There