The Sun.
London, England, 1847-05-31 00:00:00

MAY 31, 1847.

the juvenile band of the institution, who, daring the
evening, played several national airs. Mr. Angus
Mackay, and Mr. Donald Mackay, the Queen's
piper, and the piper of the Highland Society, also con-
tributed to the hilarity of the evening.
The company did not separate till a late hour.
Mr. Harker was the toastmaster.

LITERATURE,
MARITADUKE HERBERT; or, THE FATAL
ERROR. A Novel. By the Countess of Blessing-
ton. 3 vols.
To say that "Marmaduke Herbert" is what is techni-
cally termed a well-written novel, that the style is easy
and elegant, the descriptions animated, and the story
interesting, appears to be hardly necessary, when we
say that itis written by Lady Blessington. Her readers
must be already acquainted with that vivacity of
manner and truthfulness of narration which impart a
great charm to her writings, and invest them with
such an air of vitality. In these attractive qualities
" Marmaduke Herbert" is in no wise deficient ; its
chief feature, however, is a very powerful delineation
of some peculiarities of temperament and unfortunate
circumstances consequent thereupon. The chief in-
cidents of the story are of a striking, and, indeed,
startling character ; the plot is well conceived and
well contrived, admirably calculated to effect what
vie presume to have been the object of the writer,
namely, the analyzation. and exemplification of the
peculiarities of a nature at once affectionate, proud,
reserved, and morbidly sensitive—a nature which, by
causing its unfortunate possessor to dread the impu-
tation almost as much as the commission of a fault,
rendered him morally and mentally a coward and in+
volved him in a series of " fatal errors," exposing him,
moreover, to a remorse and agony seldom attending the
qualities,
se.dhh ae
The
no
hobeudu example
fvaet ul
described
oe tpi s
their
afo
good
onr h
ibsodedaim nvieg,
instructionn)ffr gevccoatorsf
affectionate
eewmcttei
ohitrotfaenenhdaditsefefaults—mis-
takes. whattauarnlr
ot Talley-
rand
edsyn_etsim betterhbiaysd:
the pernicious counsels of a guardian to whom he
was at an early age consigned, who taught him to avoid
All intimacy with his companions, and to look on all
with suspicion ; and consoled him, when by such
conduct he found himself an object of dislike, with
the assurance that all popular persons were either
lupes or dupers. This counsel so far increased the
natural defects of his character, that with real good
feelings he kept up an appearance of evil, Without
friends in his childhood, shrinking from sympathy,
although of a most ardent nature, the consequences
of his own unfortunate conduct, raised up a wall of
separation even between him and his wife; and, in
.peaking of his affection for his child, he observes,

' .c over this burning lava of love was a deep and bar-
; ,lened incrustation of reserve that concealed the fire:'
• Such is the character of the hero of these volumes ;
his feelings and his failings are most effectively por-
trayed, and his story must interest all who read it,
though some only may experience pleasure in the
perusal. Among these we certainly cannot count
ourselves, for while we admit the whole story to be
well written, interesting, and full of feeling, and
' while we admire the talent and acknowledge the
merit which it displays, we must also admit that
' its perusal has afforded us little pleasure.
In the close contemplation of such a history as Mar-
maduke Herbert's, a series of secret sorrows, heart-
burnings and apprehensions, in the picture of his
miserable domestic life, though both he and his wife
were tenderly attached to each other, above all in the
story of her sufferings, as detailed in a private
journal of her own—all of which, because described
with much truthfulness and feeling, are only in con-
iequence more heart-rending—we should feel a sort
of pleasure somewhat akin to that afforded by a close
inspection of the dying agonies of a battle-field.
There are some, nevertheless, with whose sensibility
we
ielighahvteinnothweish contotemfind fault,
plation who experience
of
fficti
tiousmh
sorrows,
anduc
to these the story of " Marmaduke Herbert" will ne-
cessarily be most interesting. The journal of the un-
happy wife is perhaps the most beautiful and natural,
and also the most painful part of the whole book.
Written in a style of exceeding simplicity and ten-
derness, it presents a very accurate picture of the
emotions of a young and ardent heart. 'Without
attempting to give any description of the plot, it may
be as well to mention the main incident, which gives
a colour to the whole story, the " fatal error" which
gives its name to the book. Marmaduke Herbert,
summoned to his mother's death-bed, arrives only in
time to attend her funeral, and obe,ther Last.3viabes.
In these she commends to his care her constant com-
panions and dearest friends, a widow lady and her
two daughters, one of whom it is her anxious hope
that he may choose for his wife. Marmaduke, not
having as yet seen any of these ladies, is wandering
on a steep and precipitous path, overhanging the
iea, when he perceives a young girl sleeping. on a
rustic seat—struck by her great beauty, rightly
divining her to be the maiden intended for his wife,
he, yielding to the impulse of the moment, proceeds
to commence the acquaintance by pressing his lips to
her brow. The young lady aroused and alarmed,
hurries away, anxious to explain and apologise, he
pursues her—terrified and bewildered, she loses her
footing, falls over the precipice, and is killed. Nothing
can exceed the agony and horror of Marma•
duke, unless, perhaps, it is the madness of his
subsequent conduct. Instead of leaving the
body where its appearance would at once sug-
gest a very probable accident, he is terrified,
lest his foolish conduct may be discovered, and con-
ceals, and after Wards inters it. The consciousness of
having occasioned so terrible a calamity, and more
especially the concealment of it, for, not to a single
individual does he confide his secret, preys upon his
mind and embitters his life. His subsequent mar-
ltfuatilielovuen, unhappy
nyot gpirrolduacl:
s. His natural reserve
ttrihi
vaoegu mar-
riage
of
fwt ihmt
ehu
mutual
ahs
leu t iaos ef p
mn
euso
is naturally much increased by the gloomy thoughts
ever present in his mind, or ever recalled by the most
trivial incident, and this reserve, as a natural conse-
quence, imposes a restraint upon his wife, destroys
all interchange of confidence or expression of sym-
pathy, which is rendered doubly painful to both by
their still enduring affection. All this is most power-
fully described. Innumerable incidents or accidents,
so unimportant in themselves, so momentous in their
consequences—those trifles which " make the sum of
human things"—are detailed with a fidelity and
naturalness which give an air of probability to the
whole. In speaking of' the troubles of Marmaduke
we have omitted to mention one which caused him
no little embarrassment. During the ravings of a
brain fever, he makes mention of much relating to
the most terrible event of his life ; the man hired to
nurse him, imagining him, in consequence, to have
been guilty of a murder, makes use of the information
thoer th ad
m one obtainedfr onifrohmimh iosnd
he ous wanderings
is
recovery.
The two
eeaxk-
and sensitive man, dreading the threatened exposure,
complies, and having once done so, the fact of his
having purchased silence is taken as a proof that he
has something terrible to conceal. From what
we have said, those who take pleasure in such
things will see that here is a delightful combination
of perplexities, and anxieties, and troubles : evasions,
and plots, and counterplots ; a story boasting of a
hero surrounded by as many difficulties, and oppressed
by as many griefs as ever fell to the lot of any hero of
romance—a heroine possessed of the three qualities
most necessary for all heroines, being in the superla-
tive degree beautiful, affectionate, and unhappy. The
admirers of " Marmaduke Herbert " will, conse-
quently, we doubt not, be very numerous. The style
Is at once graceful and vivacious, and many parts are
written in a very feeling and natural manner.

A WHIM AND ITS CONSEQUENCES.
A Novel. Three Vols.

With some inelegancies of style, and other minor
imperfections, this novel contains a story of con-
siderable interest. The beginning led us to expect
very little, but it is not fair to judge from a begin-
ning, unless the author be one of great experience,
and, even then, either from his not quite feeling his
way, or from our not being as yet quite familiar to
him, there is a sort of formality generally apparent
which in inexperienced writers degenerates into
awkwardness, while in others it is only manifested by
a little elaboration of description, or some similar de-
fect. The commencement of almost every work,
of almost every description, is only another verifica-
tion of Sir Walter Scott's very appropriate compari-
son, doubtless written from experience, of the hesita-
tion of an author at the beginning of his task being
changed into confidence as he proceeds i—
" As shallop launched on river's tide,
That slow and fearful leaves the side,
But, when it feels the middle stream,
Drives downward swift as lightning's beam."
And so, apparently, the author of *se volumes found
nea wcotcin which form the chief
h:tabl"
it, when he reached the middle seam, and entered
into the interest of his story, his hesitations and diffi-
culties apparently much decreased, or at all events
they are less manifest to the reader. The style, too,
seemed to improve; perhaps in the interest of the
oeullne, but that its very name
whole tale,
story the author forgot his
aarmlea,aninsnaee
certainly
t ns u
rsT, andhale iysaopleve
nrehhowivamhgp
somewhat
from the same cause, we forgot to pay much attention
to them. The plot, we have said, is interestim and is
improbablemwwoho
ure erl
deo
bv
imply,
r very
hangs
ne
aryt
hd e theeuffc
,
csequences
part of the story follow from r
it

PRICE SD.

Without entering into the details of the plot we will
briefly state to what these terms " Whim' and " Con-
sequences" apply. Chandos, the hero of the tale,
finds himself on his father's death left almost de-
pendent on his elder brother, with whom he is on
unbrotherly terms ; he resolves in consequence to
carve out his own fortune, and being desirous of
learning somewhat concerning the mode of living
of the poorer orders, or as he himself expresses it,
having hitherto looked down on the valley from
the mountain, being desirous of feeling what it was
to look up to the mountain from the valley,
he begins his independent career as one of
the lower classes, and accepts a situation as a garde-
ner—that is the " Whim." We pass over many of
the Consequences, as, for instance, his finding in the
daughter of his master, a young lady whom he has
met with in better circumstances, and who, of course,
recognises him, we will only allude to the principle
one, the main feature of the story, which is his
arrest and trial for murder under the most suspi-
cious circumstances. We do not much approve of
the introduction of murders in that lighter species of
literature which is chiefly intended to amuse ; by
frequently meeting with such terrible themes, we
become almost habituated to them, and they fail
in creating that impression which they should.
" Vice is a monster of such hideous mien, &c."
But, in the present instance, there is little or nothing
of a disagreeable character ; the murder is only, as it
were, incidentally introduced ; the interest does not
dwell upon it so much as upon the close chain of cir-
cumstantial evidence that seems to hem the prisoner
n. The friend and counsel of the hero is evidently
intended to represent some- real character—Sir
William Follett apparently. He appears here as pre-
senting a happy union of professional skill and private
good-nature. The description of his unremitting
labours is perhaps not inaccurately portrayed ; work-
ing on incessantly, and then taking some refreshment
instead of repose • trying, as he expresses it, every
day the cause of " Wine versus Weariness." The
whole details of the trial are given fully, perhaps too
fully, but they are sufficiently interesting. We must
object, however, to the somewhat censorious remarks
respecting trials by judge and jury. One object, in-
deed, of this history of a trial is epparently to
show how in spite of the much approved system a
man may be condemned on evidence utterly false,
and also acquitted on evidence equally without
foundation. The inelegancies of style to which we
have alluded arise apparently from the author's anx-
iety to express himself in a forcible and natural man-
ner, hence he occasionally degenerates into vulgarity,
and occasionally from making too much effort to
appear natural falls into the opposite extreme. More
e-pecially are these defects apparent in his compa-
risons or metaphors, which is peculiarly unfortunate,
because, in such cases especially, elegance is desirable,
and truthfulness is absolutely essential. But our author
has in some cases forgotten these essentials in his
manifest desire to appear natural and unrestrained.
For instance, can anything be more inelegant, and
what for a simile is far worse, more inappropriate
than his describing to us his hero pursuing his jour-
ney in stormy weather, with a sleety wind blowing
in his face, " poking its icy fingers into his eyes:
Again, at the conclusion, he describes to us how
the happiness of his hero and heroine, though, of
course, exceedingly great, was nevertheless like all
human felicity, subject to temporary variations " as
a healthy man may have a cold now and then." We
must confess that these comparisons are not to our
liking, and we mention them here because they are,
in our opinion, calculated to reflect little credit on
the writer, and they may be in future so readily
avoided. Notwithstanding these blemishes, as we have
already said, the story contained in these volumes is
full of interest, and although there are many novels
better written, and evincing more of talent, there are
many which will be found less amusing, and less
agreeable on perusal, than this history of " A Whim
and its Consequences."

T R ACE Y ; or, The Apparition. A tale of the last

century. By Alrs. Thomson. 3 vas.
We must confess that the second title of this work
did not lead us to enter on its perusal with any very
favourable anticipations ; not that we are so unro-
mantic as to object to all mention of the " millions of
spiritual creatures" that " walk the earth," but we
prefer meeting with them in some legend or ballad, or
traditionary tale • a novel should, to our thinking,
treat rather of the world we live in than the world of
shadows. Consequently, as.we have said, we did not
commence the story of " Tracey" with any very fa-
vourable expectations. It proved, however, to be far
better than we had anticipated. The whole work, in-
deed, gives abundant evidence of the talent of its
writer ; it is in many respects greatly superior to
many recently published novels. The story, though
perhaps not of a very pleasing character, is on the
whole sufficiently interesting. We did not find it so
much of a ghost-story as we had expected; the "ap-
parition" hardly plays a sufficiently prominent part to
warrant the introduction of its name on the title-
page, and yet, partly perhaps, from that very introduc-
tion, and partly from other causes, a sombre hue is,
as it were, thrown over the whole scene ; the entire
tale is invested with a degree of solemnity and gloom.
This is perhaps partly attributable to the epoch of the
narrative, " the last century," when the various
minutiae of social life were so different from what
they are at present ; and it is also partly,
and indeed particularly attributable to the
peculiar style employed by the authoress,
in order to make it appear that the events
which she narrates, veritably transpired. _ Many

little artifices have been employed, and very skilfully,
to favour this illusion ; some events are spoken of
with a degree of reserve, as if it was quite certain
that they had occurred, but it was unnecessary for
us to dwell upon them, while of others no explana-
tory mention is made ; they are briefly referred to,
as if we took it for granted they had transpired, in
the same way in which we might speak of events of
history. All this is exceedingly well contrived and
tends to increase the interest of the story, and to
impart to it an air of reality. The dramatis per-
swim presents an infinite variety of characters, some
very interesting, some not very natural. The most
conspicuous is, of course, Tracey, or, as he is gene-
rally called, Lord Ravenspur, " the bad Lord Ra-
venspur." His character is one not very uncommon
in novels, or, perhaps, in real life, an unequal com-
pound of good and bad ; one object of the volumes
of which he is the hero, is to show bow much of evil
may be effected by a rich and powerful man, espe-
cially one who, like Tracey, was gifted with the
most attractive and captivating qualities of mind and
manners, to such an extent that years after his
death most virtuous persons spoke of him chiefly
as being "so pleasant." It is to this Lord
Ravenspur that the " apparition " makes its
appearance—an apparition of a young girl, who
in consequence of his ill-conduct towards her, bad
committed suicide, she comes to tell him that his days
are numbered, and to inform him of the hour of his
death. This is no very uncommon incident in stories of
ghostly visitations, and had it been omitted altogether
the interest of the book would have been but little
diminished. The love-story—and what is a novel
without a love-story ?—is not a very satisfactory or
very attractive one. The heroine is, of course, very
beautiful and very amiable ; the hero appears not very
well qualified to enact the part of a lover, being
greatly deficient in that trustfulness or confidence
which is about as essential to the existence of love as
is the keystone to the arch, consequently during the
whole of these three volumes we fiad them, more
especially the lady, perpetually in incertitude, suffer-
ing all the tortures of suspense which those ho have
experienced it acknowledge to be worse than the
certainty of sorrow. From these and similar cir-
cumstances the story is not, as we have said, of a very
pleasing character ; it possesses, however, many
attractions; more especially, and for a work of this
character it is no small recommendation, there is a
certain degree of novelty or freshness in many of the
incidents, and indeed, to a certain extent in the whole
story, added to which it is related in a very vigorous
and effective manner, and is calculated on the whole
to interest its readers, and to add to the reputation of
its authoress.

BOGU.E'S EUROPEAN LIBRARY.
fIISTORY OF SPANISH LITERATURE. Bg
Frederick Bouterweh.

HISTORY of the ROMAN REPUBLIC. By j
Michetet.

HISTORY of the NORMAN CONQUEST of
ENGLAND. By Augustin Thierry.
CINQ MARS. An Historical Romance. By Alfred
de Vigny.
We admire the taste and discrimination with which
the component works of this serial are selected
Excellence of binding, of 'typography, and of embel-
lishment, compactness of form, and cheapness, im-
portant considerations as they are in the book trade,
are, of course, wholly subordinate to the character of
the publication, the merits of which they are only
intended to enhance. Mr. Rogue is manifestly aware
of this, and so likewise is his general editor Mr. Wil-
liam Hazlitt ; and the consequence is a periodical of
extraordinary and almost unique value. No compo-
sitions are allowed admittance into the collection° butu _
those of acknowledged excellence and unive.rmsal P
forP the
larity. Nor is there any apparent favouritism
literature of any one country beyond that
trans-
tiosf another,
unless, indeed, it be visible in a morefrequent
lation from the masterpieces of the prolific literature