The Sun.
London, England, 1849-03-13 00:00:00

LITERATURE.
DUDLEY CRANBOJRNE ; or, a Woman's
History. 3 Vol..
The writer of these volumes tells us that it has
not been his object to seek interest by stratagem and
a cunningly contrived plot, but he has preferred
rather to found his claim to attention on correct de-
lineation of character, and the grave or lively manner
in which he has endeavoured to present certain views
and,thoughts. In so doing, he has aimed wisely, and,
to a certain extent, he has succeeded in carrying out
his idea. His delineations of character are occa-
sionally very effectiverand his manner, whether grave
or lively, is generally interesting. Still, much as he
disparages a " cunningly-contrived plot," a plot was
necessary to give vitality to his characters. Now
although it answers that purpose admirably, and al-
though its various incidents serve to bring out the
lights and shadows of individual portraits, the
plot contrived by the author of " Dudlg
Cranbourne'' is not a very natural one. It
contains, to our thinking, one or two glaringimprobabi-
lities. These imperfections, however, are redeemed by
the truthful painting of other portions. Once or twice
during our perusal of the work we have been some-
what disagreeably impressed in its behalf; but on
closing the third volume we must confess that those
disagreeable impressions had disappeared, and the
effect of the book as a whole is pleasing and salutary.
It teaches a double moral lesson—in one instance with
most painful force. The title-page bears a motto
from La l3ruyere, to the effect that some men differ
so greatly from themselves at different periods of
their life, that it is impossible to judge their charac-
ters in early youth. This assertion is illustrated by
the career of Dudley Cranbourne. Reared in the
worst possible school, familiar with extravagance and
depravity from his childhood, his heart is not utterly
corrupted, when a change of scene and of situation
brings him into close companionship with a noble--
minded man and his pure-hearted family. Dudley,
still very young and impressionable, yields at once
to the ennobling influences of this friendship,
the good:points of his character develop themselves—
he is thenceforth another and a better man. From
this time the fortunes of Dudley are full of vicissi-
tudes, but he himself remains unchanged, and his
character, frank, earnest, and manly, yet gentle and
affectionate to an extreme, is more really interesting
than that of any novel-hero we have met with for a
considerable period We have given but a very brief
summary of Dudley's most eventful career, but we
leave the unravellingof the plot to the curiosity of,the
reader. We have mentioned only so much of it to
show the moral which it teaches—and a very useful
moral it is—namely, that if evil communica-
tions corrupt good manners, good influences
have an equally powerful, but contrary effect.
But "Dudley Cranbourne" teaches also another
lesson. Its title-page tells us it is a " woman's his-
tory"—a history on the old theme, ce n'est que le
premier pas qui coi2te. Favourite as that theme is
with fiction writers, it has here been treated in an
unusual and a very effective manner. The first
volume opens in the quiet village of Loagfern, where
a Mrs. Cameron, the widow of an officer, lives in re-
tirement with an only child. Mrs. Cameron is re
presented as almost a paragon of perfection. She is
the favourite of old and young—charitable, good,
gentle ; in short, possessed of every virtue, " yet not-
withstanding her life of peace and well-doing, Mrs.
Cameron was not happy. There was a void in her
heart, for she was young and very beautiful, and she
thought with a pang that she was henceforth to pass
through life in loneliness of heart." She was, how-
ever, mistaken in this supposition. Lord Cran-
bourne bas a castle in the neighbourhood, and
he forms an acquaintance with the widow. Lord
Cranbourne is represented as a noble-minded, admir-
able man. He is gloomy and melancholy, for he is
unhappily married. He passes his time in retirement
in the country, while his countess is flirting in town.
Lord Cranbourne and Mrs. Cameron become friends,
but after a while the lady, suspecting that their
' friendship deserves another name, gwithdraws herself
from his Lordship's society. He resolves to leave the
country, but first insists upon saying farewell, and
here follows one of the glaring imprebabilities to
which we have alluded, as disfiguring the pages of
" Dudley Cranbourne." Lord Cranbourne and Mrs.
Cameron, be it remembered, are no longer actuated by
the passions of youth, both are of virtuous and admir-
able character, parents living in retirement educating
their children—the one a nobleman duly conscious of
the responsibilities of his high position, the other the
widow of an officer and the daughter of a proud
family. When she refused the hand of William
Durham (one of the noblest characters in the book),
we were told " Mrs. Cameron was not a woman to be
lightly won ; she had been a St. Clair, and some of
the pride of that proud race might perhaps
have been found even in her gentle nature, though
she was not conscious of it." Bearing all these things
in mind, we cannot but think the catastrophe most im-
probable. Lord Cranbourne, returning from the visit
in which he had proposed bidding farewell to Mrs.
Cameron, is thrown from his horse and killed. The
unhappy woman is left to bear her shame and sorrow
alone. After the birth of Dudley Cranbourne—her
son and the son of Lord Cranbourne—the metamor-
phosis in her character takes place. Twenty years
afterwards we are introduced to a Mrs. Cameron,
whom it is difficult to recognise as the once proud
Emma St. Clair, The cause of her altered manners
is however natural enough. After her fall she had
at first thought of assuming anotherTname, and still
continuing her retired life, " but that solitude which
had before only been haunted by melancholy became
insupportable, now she had remorse and guilt for her
companions." She turned to society for refuge—" she
sought forgetfulnes,and found despair." Shut out from
the companionship of her former friends, she became
compelled to associate with characters from whom
she would once have turned with disgust. But we
have pursued the " woman's history " far enough—
the lesson is vividly but painfully set forth. To re-
turn again to the consideration of the book as a
whole, we must say that it affords ample room for
condensation. The scenes from low life are far from
pleasing; here and there they are amusing, but such
themes soon grow tedious. The author, in his
anxiety to avoid a cunningly-contrived plot, has fallen
into the opposite extreme, and become much too
prolix in his episodes and descriptions. One-third of
" Dudley Cranbourne," especially of the first volume,
might be very well dispensed with, and the remain-
ing portions would, in consequence, be far more in-
teresting than at present. En revanche for this pass-
ing condemnation, we must cite some of the
more attractive features of " Dudley Cran-
bourne." The author has told us that one
of his great objects has been to render
his pages attractive by the grave or lively manner in
which he has presented various scenes and thoughts,
and in this he has been successful. Many of the thoughts
and reflections which occur in " Dudley Cranbourne"
testify that its writer thinks much, and often well.
Here-is one truthful sentence taken at random :--
"None are so unhappy as those whose conduct is
vicious, yet whose hearts still yearn mornfully after
virtue. Hell must, indeed, be hell, if it be peopled
with fallen angels !" Here is a sentence which we
cannot pass over without a passing censure, it is
illiberal to an unpardonable degree::—" What a mean,
cold-blooded, heartless race, are the nobles of our
day! An occasional bright example in vain endeavours
to disprove this assertion, and they are only excep-
tions to a rule, which is fearfully general. Our no-
bility have neither the chivalry of their remote ances-
tors, nor the wisdom and talent that grace their order
at a later period," &c. We were about to enumerate
a list of noble noblemen, beginning with the
friend of the Poles Lord Dudley
and the friend of the poor—Lordt t
hese Ashley,are
but on a second reflection we presume Out
"Dudley
the "exceptions" to which the ofauthor.Stuart,r
Cnorbanilbitoyuransea"
body.allucl alludes.
Ile Islhisoucldondheamvenactoinotneisnteodfb.tint
self with a less comprehensive
our nobility are in a politicalpocienntsoufre.vieAws
far
cfrloasms,
a class, most assuredly their private
"
characters are but
as
far, very far, from meriting the
censure of Dudley Cranbourne,"—" a
sweeping
mean, cold-blooded, heartless race !" Mrs. Cameron's
terrible and continued extravagance, which repeatedly
overwhelms her with debt, gives occasion for this
author's favouring his readers with some very excel-
lent admonitions on the subject of debt and debtors.
It also enables him to throw a light upon the ini-
quitous proceedings of Messrs. Fleeceman and Co.,
for the benefit of those ignorant persons
(though in
these enlightened days their number can be but
few), who may be unacquainted with the prac-
tices of such gentlemen. Besides the thoughtful
and
truthful observations, sometimes very beautifully ex.
pressed, which are to be met with in its pages,
" Dudley Cranbourne," notwithstanding its some-
what improbable plot, abounds in natural touches.
But we have lingered lonegetnotugh
attention over these f
ourvo -
lumes, we must commend
readers " with all their imperfections on their head."
We shall, however, expect something yet better at
the hands of the author of " Dudley Cranbourne."
This production amply testifies that he does not lack
abilities, and those abilities would be more manifest
if he were content to winnow the chaff from the
genuine grain.

THE MAN MADE OF MONEY. By Douglas
Jerrold. Part VI.
This is the concluding number of perhaps the
most philosophical work that Douglas Jerrold has
yet given to the world. With all the shrewd tact,
the sarcastic wit, and the delightfvl style of the
tales of Voltaire, it has none of their cynicism, and
no one can rise from the perusal of the " an made of
Money" without being not only a wiser, but a better
man.

The Siekhs:are so called, as the disciples of Nanick
Shah, the founder of their sect, in tho) 15th century ;
from althock.sitamo, to km.