The Sun.
London, England, 1847-01-22 00:00:00

-
. _
_____ - ------ :5 -„-,.• -
_
. _ .
_,..
e ....
/ /114/2----_,...: irc.„r____c_c .(........) 6974_,/1/ 4_06/ d-7, .7.,,z64--'• 4.4.4.„-c„.6-
7„,..A.
/./.t/Acic.:;,,e...,
• , •
• _
. :.:. _v.m,......„...,
it 4
%., ..c... ... 4 _ itzt...., ..,:_,...,R.....
. ~
0.. • A,..,
1 .„.,
_ , . ..•.,
•
,4 ...
r. • -...,,,.... r 1 ,
\N, \...' 1.,,,,. -..
y--,,,j
_..._.,. - ~- #4, s,„
~..4 --..----,.. ..---,-", ~, .....,-,.,1. -•-
7-;: .Z..,9,1,,,, '7,Rte°-
4\
,c'ej4,
. ~..-4.• . . .. -- - t.
-T.......-;-; .....'' i 4 • ,/,‘
--a- . ) .---,--'
.....
i
.g 7;- I -..-'. 1 - ). -,
I-4 1.1 , / i' 4 ,.,2„4 P,,,,:
~....iii,,
,-,1--,; ~li9-x1... 7:4.)*"1/'W---------DIE Iv 7‘(14:42,473T1 ' -4°12.......re1'17171-1:it.._„,....-:. I%'''' ''..'
' ' .-44 I) :
4'4 ''''.- ~i ‘*kl''''-'--- ----,. r, /4'4 4•
i 5:,,,,. 144
-,'----
‘„,.,L.:;),,Lvrepoi It , . 1--,,% czot.,; z.:. co ..:__ f.," „.,.,, ~,..,,,,..,,, ___. ._ . -....- • 1 .
~..N ,c...„ •
- i j -4 ,
~. - • .

PrticE SD.

""Z

`3/

v.-. -1 S if
N
1"--4.,z ..__,
--,--._E-
LITERATURE, - -,/ --,..•-•.:, -
THE WILL; or, THE HALF-BROTLIE '19,1<4,.:1-:-C,31;...fiL'4: j
A Romance. 3 Vole. -k.,..,-_, ,--,-- ',.“...iil a ,
This novel is founded upon a MOSE romantic km end \ ‘.l_, .Tl_
_l77'"-- '..."
'/,
in Italian history—the conspiracy of Count Fieco_,...ki.--.. '-'' .! -:.-, ;-..'
conspiracy remarkable for the extraordinary 5t.414-yd k . ---'------;:.--'.„,"
with which it was planned, and for the untoward keel- I •+.:Viz.i v
,
dent by which its designs were frustrated, even in the
very moment of victory. For_ some years prior to 154`i',
the famous Andrew Doria possessed almost 9,,vereign -
power in the Genoese Republic ; the pride and hauteur
of bis grand nephew, Giannetino' gavo great offence to •
the nobles of Genoa, above all to Fiesco, Count of
Lavagna, and instigated him to enter into a conspiracy -
for the purpose of .overthrowing the power of the Dories,.
and obtaining, the chief authority for himself. The idea-
was one that might have been entertained by any am- ,
bitious man, but it was in the manner of carrying it out'
that the peculiar skill and ability of Fiesco were madeT,
manifest. Notwithstanding the time required to bring

•
the project to maturity, and the great number of persons)
necessarily_ enlisted in his seivice, the utmost; .secrecy
was pri-served, and, the better -to obviate ail suspicion,,
Fiesco, in unbounded hospitality and dissipation, appa-
rently devoted his whole time and thoughts to the
,irit r,f plettiure. This line of conduct was, in two wayr,,
favourable to his pkits ; it increased the security cut;
confidence of the Dorias, while the la vi, ii es
penditure and magnificence which it oeeasioned,`
added -to the popular marr:ers of the Count, and,
won for him the general good-will. At length the de--;
cisive moment arrised ; iri the dead of night armed braids;
of conspirators stacked the city—themselves all pre-
pared and acting in concert, the enemy taken by tun.'
prise, all things favoured them ; G.tannetino Doria was,
killed, all the strongholds were in the hands'of Fieseo's-
party, and he himself now secure
-of victory proceeded'
to capture the galleys in the harbour : passing across a'
plank, he slipped, tell in the water, and the weight
his armour causing him- to sink, perii-hed in the very:
hotir of triumph. Deprived of their leader, the catspi--,
raters Were soon defeated and destroyed; and the mag-,
nificent project, so long and so -skilfully:prepared, so
vigorously - and.. so victoriously effected, melted away
's even as the baseless fabric of a vision." It is upon.:
Most interesting event . that the romance of " The
Will, or the Half-brothers" is founded, and it is chiefly,l
inasmuch as they relate to that event, -that the volumes
are attractive and worthy of perusal. They are apps=
rently written by an unpractised hand—at least
.one un-
practised in careful composition, for although the whole
is told in an interesting and sometimes very animate&
reamer, the seutences,are_very frequently ill-conztructed,
and occasionally not very easy to Understand, owing
sometimes to defective punctuation (perhaps more
the fault of the printer than of the author) and some-,

times to the considerable distance which intervened
between the subject and the verb—rendering it almost
necessary here and there to read a sentence over twice,
in order clearly to comprehend it. We mention- these
defects in all kindness to the author, because they are
defects which in his subsequent efforts he may so easily
avoid, and which, if not avoided, must be greatly detri,
mental to all his endeavours. Count Fiesco is of course
not the only hero of the novel ; there is a fictitious tale
interwoven with the historical romance which is well
enough in its way, but in this, as in many other cases;
truth is not only stranger, but faimore interesting, thati
fiction, and the last volume, containing the account of the
conspiracy, is by much the best of the three. The mae-
vellous incidents of the eventful evening are excellently
well described, but perhaps the happiest and most effec-
tive description is that of a scene occurring in the Doria
Palace on the very day before the outbreak. The am-
bassador of Milan having received some intelligence
cerning the conspiracy, laid it before the Dorias, but
both Andrew and his grand-nephew, deceived by the
conduct of the count, were very reluctant to credit the
information. In the midst of the conference, Fick()
himself made his appearance, for the purpose of ob-
tainingi Doria's consent to the departure of a galley
which, under some pretence, he had fitted out, and which
consent was very necessary for the success of the even-
ing's enterprise. The manner in which the Count
allayed all half-awakened suspicions, and obtained the
object of his visit—indeed, the whole scene—is very
effectively described.