The Sun.
London, England, 1836-05-07 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

THE PRIORS OF PI?_IGUE. 3 Vols,
J. Macrone, Landr»). 1836.

The " Priors of Pra,,u;2" is the autobiography of
Mr. Wortley Montagu, who is supposed to he the
son of the celebrated Mary Wortley Montagu, and to
have composed his narrative towards the close of his
life, when a resident with the Priors of Prague, by
whom he was admitted a lay-brother of their Order.
The book is by no means deficient in incidents, some
of a humorous and some of a deck tragic character,
and reminds us in its style, and occasionally in the
graphic vigour of its descriptions, of Captain Trelaw-

ney's " Adventures of a Younger Son." The opening
chapters of the autobiography are the worst, for Mr.
Neale (the author), though he possesses humour, has
nothing of point or epigrammatic smartness about him ;
yet in these chapters he is perpetually affecting both.
The work, however, improves as it goes on ; and the

third volume, which is decidedly the best, contains an
ably written episode of Mr. Wortley's intrigue with a
young married lady of title, brought about, most inno-
cently on his part, by the manceuvring of a female
relative of the fair victim, for reasons which we are left
to guess at, for Mr. Neale gives us no explanation on
this score. The close of this episode is very affecting.
Equally well written are the descriptions of a duel on
the sands of Calais by day-break, and of the personal
appearance and manners of the famous Frederick the
Second.

SCOTT'S PROSE WORKS. Vol. 25.
Cadet!. Edinburgh. 1836.

The volume before us forms the fourth of Sir
Walter Scott's " Tales of a Grandfather," which, next
to his unrivalled Waverley novels, are the most popular
and delightful of his prose compositions. It is embel-
lished with two engravings—one of the famous pass of
Killicrankie, celebrated as being the place where the
Viscount Dundee received his death-wound in the
moment of victory ; and the other of Glencoe, equally
notorious for the atrocious massacre perpetrated there

in the reign of William the Third. The designs from
which these engravings are executed have been fur-

nished by Turner, but, though they are singularly
striking on a first hasty glance, yet they have so much
of a falsetto air about them, that we can scarcely un-
derstand them. This, however, does not apply to Mr.
Miller, the graver, who has accomplished a difficult
and perplexing task with great skill.

INKLINGS OF ADVENTURE. 3 Vols.
Saunders and Otley. London. 1836.

These volumes are by Mr. Willis, author of " Pen-
cillings by the 'Way," and are penned pretty much in
the same light, rapid, slap-dash sort of manner. They
have this advantage, however, over their predecessors,
namely, that there are no personalities in them, and
that Mr. Willis need not regret having written them.
The major part of the volumes consists of tales, the
best of which have already appeared in the " New
Monthly Magazine ;" and the remaining portion, say
one third, of brief sketches of American scenery and
manners. The account of a voyage up the Hudso❑
in a steam-boat, shows much vigour and picturesque
talent, and we may extend the same praise to the des-
cription of the Falls of Niagara, and the scenery in its
immediate neighbourhood, trite as is the theme. Those
who read for mere amusement, and relish an abrupt,
piquant style of narrative, will have no reason to regret
purchasing " Inklings of Adventure."