The Sun.
London, England, 1847-10-29 00:00:00

LITERATURE.
Three Yds. By the Author of "Second
Love.'
On the appearance of " Second Love," we augured
the production of still better things by its author,
when his style was more mellowed by practice and
his fruitful imagination more modulated in its pro-
fusion. Our anticipations are being fulfilled.
" Gisella " is a bolder venture than its predecessor,
seeing that it is a fiction extending over three post
octavo volumes instead of over one and a half. And
inasmuch as the interest is equally well sustained,
without any of that exaggerated passion which occa-
sionally marred the naturalness of " Second Love "
reminding one more of the blue-lights and gun-
powder of a melodrama than of the spontaneous
sparkle of a vaudeville, or the unforced pathos of a
tragic-comedy--" Gisella "
is a work more calcu-
lated to enhance the reputation of its writer as a
novelist. Let him persevere, without frittering his
powers away in periodicals, without emulating G.
P. H. James or C. P. de Kock in multiplicity of
corrapositions, and without contenting himself with
such a lazy renown as that acquired by the volup-
tuous Beckford in penning the single tale of
" Vatheck"—and he may inscribe his name among
the most successful romancists of his generation.
He has already many of the fundamental qualifica-
tions—a teeming fancy, a playful and voluble dic-
tion, a ready idea of character, a felicitous combina-
tion of incident, and a capacity for painting scenery
in word; and stenographing dialogues with the skil-
fulness of a reporter. In these particulars both
" Second Love ' and " Gisella" are remarkable,
but the latter is especially so. A new region—
unharrowed by the hack storytellers of the
circulating libraries--is opened,
and the reader enters
upon the narration, in consequence,
with an agreeable
sense of freshness. Hungary is that region, and we
call it new to the world of novels advisedly, notwith-
standing the previous publication several years
ago of the " Hungarian Brothers ;" for in spite
of the graceful sketches of country and cus-
toms there given by Miss Porter, Hungary
was then only presented as in a glimpse, and
has lain fallow ever since. From the prefatory pre-
sentation prefixed to " Gisella" it would appear that
the author has qualified himself to become a painter
of Hungarian scenes and a describer of Hungarian
habits, by a sojourn in that Austrian dependency,
while resident on the domain of Hermine, Countess
Rasoumoffsky, née, De Marczibanyi—a personage,
whether or not, of a resemblance in identity with
Citizen Herman Melville, late the visitant of Typee
and Omoo. Already the lovers of fictitious narratives
have been charmed by translated novelties from Swe-
den, such as the books of Miss Bremer, or others from
Denmark, such as those of Hans Christian Andersen.
Romance readers seem to have flown in despair to the
banks of the Zuider Zee and the Baltic, from the
bloody besoms of de Balzac' and the blind murderers
of Eugene Sue. They will surely rejoice, therefore,
when they are conveyed away in fancy to a land so
historic and picturesque as Hungary, not on the kite
of a translator but upon the wings of an ori-
ginal writer. Into Hungary then the reader
is conveyed instanter on the opening of the
firstchapter, and there his imagination continues to be
while perusing the supplemental notice at the close
of the last volume. The scenery is Hungarian, the
and
the
characters
incidents
cairdee
nts arare
peculiarly Hungarian, the costumes,
Hungarian. h
At thee manners,
very outset of the story we have descriptions, for ex-
ample of a mirage on the waste plains or Puszta, of a
hurricane of sand, and of a thunder-storm on the
Danube, each depicted with peculiar vividness. Im-
mediately before the hurricane commences we are
introduced to Aladar, the hero, and Gisella, the
heroine of the tale. The first is a splendid idealism
of the peasant noble of Hungary, and in his fortunes
the principal interest of the story is concentrated.
About Gisella, on the other hand, there is thrown
such a mystery at the commencement and such a dis-
appointing annoyance at the termination of the work,
that we are rather curious as to her vicissitudes and
disposition than inspired with admiration in her be-
half. As we are solicitous that many of our readers
should themselves enjoy the gratification we have ex-
perienced in reading this second novel by the author
of " Second Love," we will abstain from a practice
for which we entertain in the abstract a singular dis-
relish, namely, that of.analysing the plot of the piece,
and giving a crude synopsis or skeleton of the inci-
dents. It necessarily diminishes the interest of the
work to whomsoever might examine it subsequently.
The chief points of attraction in " Gisella' are the
scenes laid in the Greek monastery, among
the banditti, in the hovel of the Jew
Balthazar with the " porcelain-blue eyes," in
the lonely mansion of the Countess, and along
the perilous journey to Vienna. Unhappily we are
just now impelled to devour with a double curiosity
the passages relating to the principal peril of that
journey—namely, the prevalence of the cholera in
Germany during 1831. z—from its re-appearance in
those countries during this very autumn, and its
gradual advance westward towards ourselves. The
author has here seized a theme such as Sue had al-
ready introduced into his " Juif Errant," and
Bulwer in his " Rienzi," and Ainsworth in his " Old
St. Paul's," and Horace Smith in his "Brambletve
House." Among the other characters depicted in
" Gisella," the most worthy of mention are those of
Irma, the sister of Aladar, Ilka, the idiot girl, Pe-
tike, the pot-binder, Paprika, his dog, Sobri or
Shubry, the robber, Black Hallo, his associate, Bro-
ther Achacius, and the Archimandrid, The Archi-
mandrid is the demon of the story—a sort of Arbaces,
the Egyptian, with more of his malice and cunning,
and less of his sublime audacity and genius. Petike
is a droll fellow enough, and a good fellow to boot,
but his drollery is carried rather to exaggeration—
like that of an extra-comic gentleman in a farce.
Ilka, again, is certainly the most precocious imp of a
child, and the most sagacious and inspired idiot con-
ceivable. Sobri is, however, to us the gem of the
book. The introduction of this celebrated free-
booter would have redeemed the rest of the work, had
the residue been indifferent instead of excellent.
Sobri—and who, some may ask, is Sobri? Sobri or
Shubry is no creation of the fancy, but a reality and
an existence—a robber who, in truth, " merited the
name of the Hungarian Robin Hood." Here is the
first outline of his appearance :

GISELLA.

" He was a fine striking looking young fellow, of
wild and vigorous aspect ; the character of his bold and
rough, but eminently handsome, face, wore a strange
mixture of the brightest sunbeams of a joyous humour
with the shades of melancholy. He was attired after
the fashion of the country; but the skirts of his spread-
ing white trousers were embroidered with the gayest
colours in worsted, and adorned with long coloured
fringe ; and the ends of his long wide shirt-sleeves,
which hung through the arm-holes of his dark open
waistcoat, glittering with a quantity of bright, flat,
metal buttons, were likewise decorated with embroidery.
A white short cloak, or MIT, fancifully adorned with
patches of bright cloth, in flowers and arabesques, about
the collar, rims, and pocket-hole slits, the sleeves of
which, bound up at the extremities, showed that they
were never meant for use, was slung in Hussar fashion
over one shoulder, A broad hat, the brim of which was
turned up on all sides, and laced with a Vandyked band
of what might have been once yellow lace, was stuck
jauntily on his head, and surmounted by a few wild-
goose feathers and artificial flowers, which raised their
heads from behind the brim, like a nosegay out of a
spreading vase. From beneath the hat, his thick curl-
ing black hair streamed down in masses, and contributed,
with his long wire-drawn mustachios, to give a greater
air of wildness to his whole appearance. To his boots
were attached very long spurs of bright, well-cleaned
metal, which he clanked together sonorously, as, he
knocked his heels with a lively movement, in speaking.
On the table he had laid a whip, the handle of which
was short, but the lash immeasurably long, and attached
by several small rosettes of leather strips of various
colours. The tobacco bag, which was stuck into the
leather girdle that tightly bound his waist, and gave an
appearance of extraordinary width to his broad chest,
was likewise embroidered in silks with the gayest
flowers. A short pipe was stuck between his teeth, and
jerked upwards with a sort of protrusion of the under jaw,
in such a manner as not to prevent his speaking without
removing it. As he addressed the travellers, he was
employed in passing over his head a flat round gourd, or
bottle of wine, which hung by a coloured cord upon his
back."

In a subsequent passage the author observes of
Sobri

" Among the many characters assumed by this singular
individual, that of the wild herdsman of the plains was
one of the most frequent ; and it was under this form,
and in this dress, that the celebrated robber was chiefly
known among the common people, over whom he
exercised, far and wide, an influence scarcely less great
than that which he possessed over his gang • under this
form it was.that he was generally described in popular
story. But so various and delusive were the disguises
he was accustomed to assume, with marvellous versa-
tility, of all ages and even of all ranks of men, that for a
long time it was a matter of dispute in the journals of
the day, and even among those who had seen him, con-
versed with him, and might have been supposed to know
him well, whether he was young or old, well-formed or
broken down, tall or short, of peasant birth and manner,
or of better education. To the people, Sobri was the
Haroun al Rasehid of their song and legend—to some,
all,th e
the
demonfantastic of d
heroknes darkness--to two i others,ld ram
aannce7gel of light—
to

He re-appears in various parts of the tale afterwards,
and, other disguises, in that of a grizzled old
.
tinker. As a corollary to what we have already re-
marked about this renowned bandit, and as an ap-
propriate specimen of the manner in which the writer
can depict a thrilling incident, we give the following
account of the escape, in a boat, at night, across the
Danube, when the river was vigilantly guarded by
the sanitary officers, for the purpose of preventing the
diffusion of the cholera :
" The storm, which had broken over the heads of the
fugitives in the boat, had alreddy well nigh spent its
violence. Although the wind blew as blows the wind of
the thunder-cloud down the stream, yet its force was not
sufficient to offer any very material impediment to the
efforts of the two hardy men who plied the boat across
the river; and none of the moll
party were disposed to