The Sun.
London, England, 1847-07-24 00:00:00

EVENING, JULY 24, 1847.

LITERATURE.
FORTESCUE. A IV:x:4. By Skez Han
7.hree i'cls.
In a novel, from the pen of a dramatic write. we
are naturally disposed to look for zotne
winch
,inay, ill a certain degree ilsiinilate it with it,
authors ordinary compositions. For instance we
may expect the heroes and heroines of the tale to he
possessed of a certain vitality mote akin to the self-
acting personages of the drains than the automata of
an ordinary romance, we rn:y- expect pecularities of
temperament to be more nicely discriminated, and
the individuality of character to be more clearly de-
fined. As a drawback to these advantages we may
likewise anticipate that the dran atiA, while he aspires
in a novel as in a drama, to " hold a mirror up to
nature," and pourtray life as it is, will also (forget-
ting for a while his change of materiel) in a novel as
in a drama, endeavour sometimes to effect a compro-
mise between nature and stage effect, and diminish
occasionally the probability of a dencmenzent in order
to enhance the attraction of a " scene." These pecu-
liarities, whether defective or otherwise, may easily
be remarked in this novel by Sheridan Knowles.
Many of the "situations," more especially the climax,
where the chief personages of the tale are are all un
expectedly assembled in a church, bear evidence of.
the dramatic experience of their author. But " For-
tescue" has one great attraction which a drama can
scarcely possess—namely, the earnest, genial, warm-
hearted style in which it is written. Many passages
have evidently been thrown off hurriedly, under the
impulse of the moment, and are consequently most
animated—written con (more, as the saying is, than
which never was saying more expressive. Among
these passages are brief but earnest eulogies of
Shakspere, inspired by a walk to Shakspere's Cliff, of
Thomas Moore, suggested by a casual quotation, and,
above all, of the great namesake and relative of the
author, Richard Brinsley Sheridan. Fortescue is a
distant relative of the great orator, who is, in conse-
quence, frequently alluded to in these volumes. After
referring to Mr. Sheridan's death and the poverty
which surrounded it. Sheridan Knowles, who is evi-
dently his tnost devoted admirer, eloquently and even
passionately eulogises his conduct, and denounces the
little respect shown to his memory in his having no
monument in the new Rouses of Parliament. But Ist
him speak for himself :
" Go, ransack the journals of tho House for any vote
of Sheridan's that was not to the truth of Liberty !—a
phrase of his own, when he was arraigned for laying a
thoughtless wager that the men, most of whom he mis-
trusted, because he knew them, would not succeed in
their efforts to obtain office. If he had a fault in respect
to his devotion to liberty, it was, perhaps, that of his
loving it too mach, where the land of his birth was con-
cerned ; for we perfectly well recollect a night, when
kindled into burning—and how he could barn'.—when
kindled into burning at the enumeration of his country's
ages of oppression and persecution, and at the relation
of the game of blood that had been played, by luring or
goading, to plunge her into insuriectiou ; he snuck the
table with his clenched hand, and exclaimed, •' By
had I been there at the time, I should have been myself a
rebel t
"And Sheridan is not to have a monument in the new
Houses of Parliament! Our love to the
.judicious corn
missioners! 0, for an Apollo to award them the honours
of Midas! Give Burke a niche—not a crevice to She-
ridan! Write it down with a steel pen l—the handle, a
cherished polished splinter from the abandoned hulk of
any one of many ships, which, when they were new, and
well found, and full-manned, he saved at the mutinous
Nore I

"To the kennel with rewards! After this they are
offal and ordure! Lock on!—the Crown—the Ministry
—the Parliament—the country ! and applaud the
discrimination, disinterestedness, and justice of the
sapient junta—Burk,!—But never mind!"

And then follows a passage, which we will not
quote, but which, en passant, we must entirely pro-
test against, namely, some indignant and most
unworthy remarks in reference to one of
the biographers of Sheridan, who is styled,
in irony,"a composer of mechanic's essays,"
—a title which, to our thinking, is a very
honourable one. But while we disapprove of such
observations we can, to a certain extent, excuse
them, because like the warm-hearted eulogiums they
are evidently written hastily under the impulse of
the moment. The following passage relating to the
death of Sheridan is of some interest :
"Fortescue was left alone. Ile read the account of
his cousin's sickness and his death.

"‘ Solitary work!' sighed Fortescue—' A faithful wife
—and one faithful friend!—And poverty—but that ex-
plains it. Providence ! where was the world in his
bitter extremity—the world which he delighted, in-
structed, served? Alone!—Merciful Providence, alone
—But now for company! They will show themselves at
his funeral.'

"He read the description of the funeral, and there,
indeed, they were.
" Nauseous parader Fortescue cried. There was
not one heart among them all!—What troops of them
there were—to enjoy the credit of attending at the obse-
quies which they might have deferred, perhaps for many
a day, had only a few of them clubbed together, as they
do, year after year, for a plate, to be run for by a race-
horse! And his strait must have been known to them—
and there vias not one of them--noble or commoner—
who had not banqueted upon his genius, the most lus-
trous and diversified of his time! •• Die!—but I shall go
to your funeral!" I wonder if they managed to squeeze
out a tear. It would have been carving and gilding to
their hypocrisy! A pity that such a piece of workman-
ship should be put out of hands incomplete. They had
no hearts!—lle had one.'

" Here Fortescue threw down the paper, stamped upon
it, and wept.
•" He had a heart,' Fortescue repeated; and good
reason have I to know it—a heart that never allowed
him to look at his own circumstances when those of an-
other solicited his assistance, and he thought he could
accord it; and if not, he could not refrain from promising
it. Some way or another he must relieve the heart that
never looked upon need, or listened to it, without filling
till it overflowed with compassion. Did I not know that
man? I did, from the first—from the moment that my
poor father introduced me to him, when his full bright
eye looked thoughtfully and cherishinglv upon the boy
of his less fortunate relative. Did I not know that man!
—l)id I not love him!'
" Here Fortescue's tears flowed afresh.

" He had scarce dried them when Airs. Parkyn re-
turned. Observing the newspaper upon the floor, she
stooped to lift it. He anticipated her, and placed it upon
the table.

"' Will you not keep it?' she kindly inquired.
" No, madam. All that I want, and more than I want,
is imprinted upon my heart! Bloodless creatures;'
"' I know what you allude to, but there was one re-
deeming exception. A nobleman—it has been said an
early friend—supplied him with one hundred guineas."
"' Don't believe it, madam!'

•' Why, indeed, I heard but yesterday a new version
of the story, and which I have every reason to regard as
the true one.'

"'Pray tell it me.'

" The act of friendship originated in the suggestion
of an amiable poet, who urged upon Lord II- the
need of a supply, and offered to contribute the moiety.
The proposition was met, and another interview was ap-
pointed ; but when that interview took place the person
solicited declined, upon the plea that your cousin's wi:e
had disabused a common friend as to the existence of
any pecuniary difficulty.'
" And what was the result ?'
" "rhe poet himself gave the money.'
" God bless him ! and the peer, madam ?'
" lie reimbursed the poet to the amount he had pro-
mised, upon ascertaining that his demur had been founded
upon a perfect fallacy.'
" And with whom did the fallacy originate ?'
" With Lord L--, who protsably was misunder-
stood. In my mind the poet had all the honour r
" And let him have it,' rejoined Fortescue.
" "The memory of the kindly deed belongs of right to
him r

" a Rogers r
" ' Yes !'

" The new version of the anecdote was the correct
one ; and it was a pity that one of Sheridan's biogra-
graphers—for Sheridan was the man to whom our hero
had the honour of being allied—should have attributed
to the nobleman the whole credit of a transaction, of the
merits of which his lordship could lay claim, at the most,
to but an inconsiderable and very questionable share.
After all, there was nothing enormous in the boon ! It
could hardly have involved a mortgage ! ~.We ourselves,
when at a pinch, have been ()tiered live times—ay, ten
times the same amount by a Glasgow cotton spinner,
and by a Glasgow merchant sailor-4cions of Nature's
noble family !"

Besides the genial tone of kindliness which pervades
these volumes, they are imbued with a genuine reli-
gious spirit, demonstrating by ths.t best of all teach-
ings—the teaching by example--how beautiful and
happy a feeling is a humble dependence upon God,
and a constant and cheerful submission to His will.
The main object of the work is apparently to incur-
cats the great importance of self-command. Henry
Fortescue, the hero of the story, is a youth of great
promise and good principles, but endued with lively
feelings whose impulse he is ever ready to obey. In
order the better to illlstrate the: evil effects of such a
tendency, the author of his hi.story has placed him
in a somewhat peculiar, and certainly very trying,
situation with regard to the two heroines of the tale
—Marian and Lucy. The charm tters of these ladies,
as opposite as night and day, are both very excel-
lently delineated—that of Lucy is, perhaps, the most
naturally done, that of Alari•in is more ideal.
Marian is represented as the possessor of every
personal grace, and mental and .moral good quality ;
while Lucy, the ill-educated daughter of uneducated
parents, has only a bfautifill face, and
viva-
city of manner, to counter,halance the absence
of every other attraction. Marian is much
younger than Fortescue—he has beenaccus-
tomed to regard her only as: a chill,
yet c hild
as she is, she is devoted to him, at id he himself fully
conscious of her many estimable believesnualitie
that in time she will be a paragon of perfecs- tion.ier
mother is anxious to look upon l'ort escue as a son,
and all his better feelings prompt lii;mto preserve his
heart for Marian. This is a some hat unromantic
and business-like way of dealing with such a subject,
as most novel readers wiwillagree agree, but this is the il-
lustration which the author of " Fortescue" has

adopted in order to enforce his fhoral lesson—nameiy,
the propriety of refusing a present gratification, in order i
to procure a yet greater one in futoro. This s. :d-
-i-mist beyond the power of Fortescue; though fully
impressed with the excellence of Marian, he can with
ditlieuity resist the influence of the fascinating Lucy.
Time parents of Lucy are also anxious for, her union
with our hero, and, encouraged by them the young
larly uses every art to captivate her hesitating lover.
This part of the story is detailed with great minuteness,
and though made to appear in some degree natural
and probable, it is certainly not pleasing, the lady
and
(.I,lieputi if
eetenh, tele
the
:0 n
ducthaving,of
character
L uoafe as it were. changed parts.
Mariany is som
e is"'h verya t forwarddel delicately
tael yd
drawn, she is evidently a favourite with the author.
He has endeavoured, and not unsuccessfully,to
illustrate in her childish devotion, the purity
and unselfishness and other nobler attributes
of love. Her pleasure on receiving a letter
from Fortescue is very happily described
when hardly conscious of her own feelings, she as-
cribes the happiness of her heart to the beauty of' the
weather, " No, indeed, mother ; I never yet saw
the morning that was half so fine as this. It is not
fancy—l feel it." But we have now detailed suffi-
cient, and must leave the denouement undisturbed.
The beginning of the first volume, before the real
story commences, is very interesting, and contains some
very admirable sentiments, but the concluding por-
tion of the third volume, after the real interest is
over, is quite unworthy of the work. The character
and conduct of Marian's uncle, who is then intro-
duced as just arrived from India, is most unnatural
and even revolting. Still we are ready to forget all
imperfections for the sake of the many attractions by
which they are accompanied, namely, among others,
the good moral and the good and ennobling sentiments
which the whole work inculcates; the many agree-
able characters which it introduces to our notice,
among whom we have forgotten to particularise Mrs.
Parkyn, whose kindliness, warm-heartedness, and
plain-spoken manner is very naturally pourtrayed.
The generous tone in which the whole tale is written,
and the bursts of earnest eloquence with which it is
interspersed—these are among the attractions of
which " Fortescue" can boast, to which, let us add,
not the least—the authorship of Sheridan Knowles.