The Sun.
London, England, 1848-02-15 00:00:00

TUEgDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 15 1848.

tion 8. At the close of the session of 1846, the Noble
Lord's Bill; having passed, and they having received
the assure ace of a representative constitution, they
oailed for Otago, where, he believed, they had now
arrived.

Mr. AC l-LIONEY—They are now on the sea.
Lord LI:NCOLN—At all events, when they arrived,
they would' find that the constitution on the faith of
which they emicrated was suspended for five years.
Mr. M. LILNES—They have gone to the southern
island.

Lord LINCOLN—But it was well known that the
suspension of the constitution applied alike to all parts
of the colon r. Governor Grey had taken the view
which all the world took, and at once suspended this
constitution as impracticable. It was condemned here,
and condemned there—all the New Zealand papers
were opposed`to it. w. It was on the suggestion of thelGo-
vernor that thitc constitution was now to be suspended
for five years. To this he should not object, were the
interval occupied in devising some more practicable
measure ; but a suspension implied an abstract approval
of the constitution. Rather let the Government confess
in substance, what was confessed in spirit, that the
thing was wholly inapplicable to the colony, and repeal
it at once. Hu recommended this, because he was
anxious to see the colony in possession of a real repre-
sentative constitution.—(Hear, hear.) As to the fitness
of the colony for receiving such a constitution, the
Governor had expressed a very decided opinion ; to
the southern island especially, he thought such a consti-
tution might safely and properly be granted. Probably
it would be urged, that uniformity was a reason for
suspending the constitution in the whole of the colony ;
but it was extremely likely that, before the BM now
under discussion arrived in the colony, the representative
constitution, bad as it was, would have been established
in the southern island. The uncertainty in which these
continual changes involved the colonists was a great
evil. At one time a representative constitution founded
on universal suffrage was given them; then the whole
power was vested in the Governor, who might grant or
refuse such constitutions at his pleasure. This was a
very unfair responsibility to cast on an individual ; and
the Noble Lord (Grey) seemed sensible of that. By the
fifth clause of the Bill before the House the Governor
, was even authorised to regulate the qualification of the
burgesses. In this country such a power would be
thought most unconstitutional and improper, and would
be regarded in the colony with great distrust. The
Noble Lord in his dispatch empowered the Governor to
grant licenses to vote; and though such a power would
donbtless be properly exercised by Governor Grey, yet
he was not immortal, and his successor might be less
judicious.—(Hear, hear.) Upon the whole, he
thought it would be far better to withdraw his
Bill, and bring in one of one clause, entirely repealing
the Act of 1846, and empowering the Governor to
establish suitable municipal institutions in the whole
colony. It was evident from the Governor's recent
dispatches, that the colony was in a very critical state;
and on this ground he had avoided the introduction of
many exciting topics, being sincerely desirous to see
past errors corrected. As the Government valued the
peace of the colony, and the well-being of those emi-
grants who had gone thither on the faith of enjoying a
representative government, he hoped they would early
consider the question, and not let the matter rest where
it was till the fire years had nearly expired.

Mr. LABOUCHERE assured the Noble Lord that
he was fully sensible of the importance of the subject;
but he thought many of the points now urged would be
better discussed in Committee. He hoped the whole of
the time of the House would not be consumed in preli-
minary discussion. He would not revive the discussion
on the land question, but would assure the House that
there existed not the smallest difference of opinion be-
tween the Noble Lord at the hoed of the Colonial De-
partment and Governor Grey on the subject of the waste
lands. This was confirmed by a letter which had been
received in this country from a missionary in New Zea-
land. On a former occasion he (Mr. Labouchere) had
said he could not acquit the Bishop of New Zealand
of indiscretion : he must now express, on his own part,
and that of the Noble Lord (Grey) their thanks to
the Right Reverend Prelate for his successful exertions
towards effecting a settlement of the differences which
existed with the missionaries on the subject of the
grants.—(Hear, hear.) As the present Bill proposed
the suspension of the constitution, he did not feel it
necessary to answer sari.allm the objections which had
been raised against It by the Noble Lord opposite.
Otherwise it would not have been difficult to defend the
steps which had been previously taken by Government.
The Noble Lord had come into the Colonial. office at the
end of a session of Parliament, and found the Govern-
ment pledged to grant representative institutions to New
Zealand. He had accordingly sent out this constitu-
tion- but it, was to his credit that, as soon as it was
found inapplicable, he had directed its suspension.—
(HAI', hear.) As to the Scotch emigrants, it could not
be- m*de matter of complaint on their account that,
when they arrived in the island, they found that
institutions which were inapplicable to the colony
had been suspended. All were agreed that this con-
stitution should be either suspended or abolished;
but! to adopt the recommendation _ of the Noble Lord
opposite for the withdrawal of this Bill would bo
extremely unwise.—(Hear, hear.) It was truo that
extraordinary powers were proposed to be given to the
Governor, but this was the only course which could
safely and promptly be adopted for putting the colony
in possession of suitable representative institutions.
The population would thus be prepared for the posses-
sion of such institutions; and the Governor might gradu-
ally introduce such widening of the franchise and exten-
sion of liberties as he might see to be desirable. Gover-
nor Grey said that the southern part of New Zealand,
where the majority consisted of white inhabitants, and
where the aborigines were but few, was fitted to receive
free institutions, but it was not ripe for such as they
possessed at home.—(" Hear, hear,' from the Opposi-
tion.) The Noble Lord called this a " hybrid constitu-
tion." He (Mr. Labouchere) did not defend it as a per-
manent system, but it was a constitution, however, that
was not unknown in the colonies; and, recollecting that
the Noble Lord was a member of a Cabinet which,
under the auspices of Lord Stanley, had sent out a con-
stitution exactly similar to Newfoundland, after suspend-
ing a more popular one, he was surprised that the Noble
Lord should call it a hybrid constitution. A similar con-
stitution was established in Guiana, and it existed at that
moment in New South Wales. This Bill would empower
the Governor to increase the number of the legislative
council, which was desirable, because it was proper that
he should surround himself with the bout local advice,
when so much responsibility was thrown upon him.
There were to be provincial councils, into which he
might infuse as much or as little of the popular element
as he thought fit. All this was to be done by ordinance,
but it was to be subject to the approval of the Crown.
The Noble Lord laid great stress on the preservation of
municipal institutions. But the Bill before the House
did not interfere with the establishment of municipal
institutions. He had stated the reasons why
he did not think the proposal of the Noble Lord was so
good as that of her Majesty's Government, which he
considered would lead to such free institutions in New
Zealand as would be consistent with their welfare and
safety.
The House then went into Committee. Clauses 1,
2, and 8 were agreed to. On clause 4 being proposed,
Mr. GLADSTONE said he wished to point to
something which appeared to him to be defective in
of the Bill. The Right Hon. Gentleman
the suspension of the Bill rather than its
the ground that, having held out to the people
rdtohefepefeNefilarediaswemodniZnealand the hope of free institutions, they
d theis
conform
requested
one t which
ought not to do anything to create a doubt of their
intention to carry them into effect as soon as pos-
sible. Now, he could not see that the passing of the Bill
of 1846 had furthered the cause of free institutions in the
colonies. On the contrary, he thought it rather tended
to damage that cause. The promulgation of the consti-
tution had proved a serious cause of danger to the co-
lony,
ss :nidngexteoitaend graveimpression re on the part of the natives
that
apprehensions—whether these
werethe constitution would place power in the hands of
the settlers, or from a feeling on the part of the settlers
that they would be excluded from participating in it, its
consequence of the clause requiring reading and writing
as a necessary qualification for the elective franchise, he
did not know. He was afraid, therefore, that its mere
suspension would leave some of that excitement which
menaced the peace of the colony. There might be a
balance of theoretical advantage in retaining it in the
statute•book. The present measure, however, was not
hichGovertnhoer north and south of the colony,
and.
Grey asked for. He drew a
ion'between
the Secretary of State to ask Parliament
to nfo
rm proceedings to that distinction. But the
Government did not recognise that distinction, and
they threw upon Governor Grey single-handed the
responsibility of drawing the distinction between the
north and south. He confessed he very much doubted
the wisdom of such a course.
Right Hon. Gentle-
down the outline by
which the Governor was to be
Mr. LABOUCHERE remained unconvinced of the
Gentleman thought
guided, but he (Mr. La-
g]. advisabilityeo
svot
eet
rdtn.hme
eTcnohtue r o
Rightwhih
should
lay
theyo n
bouchere) was of opinion that it was much wiser, in the
thatam dav
Gentle-
man
s a
thesbui
circumstances of the colony, to throw the discretion on
the Governor: and the council, rather than undertake
themselves what was a most difficult thing—namely, to
lay down exactly what should be done with respect to
institutions which after all must be but temporary. With
regard to the feeling of apprehension arising from the
constitution being only suspended, he did not think
that there was any ground for alarm as to the effect of
the new institutions on the rights of the aborigines.
Mr. DISRAELI asked, was it to be endured that
a Colonial Minister was to make the debug of his
official career by sending out a measure which the
local authorities were obliged to scout ? This was
an act of legislation produced by one of the most
enormous errors ever perpetrated by a Secretary of
State. The very name of New Zealand was synonymous
with wholesale jobbing and official ignorance; but the act
of the Colonial-office with respect to it was worse than
all the other instances of official ignorance that ever
came to his knowledge. It was only last session the
grants were obliged to be made in order to stifle the
complaints of people who could justly complain of official
mismanagement. They were about to begin this session
by passing another Act to save a Minister. This was
nothing else than an attempt to save Earl Grey's
reputation. Save him if possible by argument, but let
them not brag the House of Commons through the mire
in order to silence complaints of one of the most
scandalous acts ever perpetrated by a Minister of the
Crown.
Mr. V. SMITH tboug,ht, when an Hon. Member do-
nounced so violently the acts of a Minister of the Crown
he ought to have borne in mind what was the state of
the colony when the constitution of Earl Grey was pro-
mulgated. That constitution lay on the table of the
House all last session, snd was unobserved on by the
Noble Lord or the He... Member opposite.
Mr. LABOUCHEUE considered that it was a very

proper principle in the House to lay down that there'
should be municipal institutions for New Zealand. •
Mr. AGLIONBY thanked the Noble Member fur .
Falkirk for the manner in which he had raised the pre-
sent discussion. He urged the necessity of no longer
withholding a good constitution from the colonists.
Settlers from these islands, they were fully competent to '
exercise any constitutional rights which might be ex-
tended to them. He thought that the provisions of th,
present measure threw too much responsibility upon the
Governor of New Zealand. At least the first principles
of self-government for the colony ought to be laid down
by the Government at home, to be then, if you like, ape .
plied by the local governor. •
Sir R. PEEL had heard with the utmost satisfaction
that there was no material difference between Lord
Grey and Governor Grey on the subject, so fruitful of
peril, the settlement of the claims to land. It was in
the highest degree essential that we should aet
with entire good faith towards the natives in this respet
He thought that most unjust censures had been pass. el
on his Noble Friend the late Secretary for the Colonists,
in relation to his view of the construction of the tree te
of Waitangi. He considered that it would be better at
once and wholly to repeal the constitution of 1846, fee
companying that repeal with the clear statement that ere
were prepared to give the colony a constitution bast id
upon sound constitutional principles, not, however, ho
the meantime, being too explicit as to the exact detai
of those principles, or too ostentatiously putting forward
an indiscriminate application of the English constitutio n.
It would be necessary to wait for Governor Grey's
deliberate opinion upon each point before any decisif rn
was formed by the Government at home. The Goveri
relent would scarcely venture, he thought, to put as tl se
preamble to their suspending Bill the real reasons whirth
induced them to frame it. Ho recommended the adeip-
time of municipal institutions as the best medium of
introducing a representative system of government
But the representative system recommended to Geo-
vernor Grey was, that he was to choose the electors.
He (Sir R. Peel) believed Governor Grey to be abs- re
the usual order of civil governors; but certainly the it te
structions of the Ministry would give him the power of
making as large or as small a constituency as possible,
and though Governor Grey might not be disposed to
avail himself of that power, few civil governors cou Id
resist the temptation. What he complained of was, the
nature of the declarations made by the Government iin
respect to New Zealand. Let the Government adopt
some qualification that was intelligible. It was said
that many of the young chiefs were men of great prid.s;
why not, therefore, give them an elective franchise uporn
some uniform scale of qualification, and thus put an end
to the possibility of rousing a feeling of enmity tower( is
the Government on their part ? Such were the
views he entertained on the subject, and ho askeid
the House to put on record its desire to adopt frete
institutions, and to teach the inhabitants of Ne vie
Zealand that they were to be put on a level as British
subjects with the settlers in that colony.
Mr. LABOUCHERE objected to the introduction 4ef
municipal institutions in New Zealand, and adhered do
the plan proposed, of giving Governor Grey the power
of granting certificates for the purpose of constituting
electors. As to the question raised respecting the con-
stitution. he considered on the whole that it was adl-
visable to suspend the constitution, and not to abrogates
it entirely, as suggested. Ho did not believe that after
all the proofs of interest in the prosperity of New Zen-
land which the Parliament of England had displayed
there could be so unfounded a jalousy entertained in
that colony with respect to the suspension of the constii-
tution as was imputed to the natives.
Capt. HARRIS was at a loss to conceive whether the
proposed suspension for five years of the constitution
granted to New Zealand was for the purpose of enabling
the natives to qualify themselves for electors by learning
to read and write English in the interim. lie believed
that municipal institutions were well adapted to the
colony, and he entreated the Government to repeal the
constitution, and if at a future period it might be thought
necessary to revive it in another form, he would then be
prepared to consider that question.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER ex-
plained the instructions issued by Earl Grey to Governor
Grey with respect to the certificates to be granted by
him qualifying natives for electors under the constitu-
tion of New Zealand.
Mr. DRUMMOND stigmatised the whole proceedings
of the Government towards the New Zealanders as a
series of oppression and injustice that inflicted the
greatest dishonour on them.
Mr. M. MILNES said his Hon. Friend who had just
sat down had totally mistaken the whole tone of the
treaty of Waitangi. He believed that there never had
been a fairer attempt to raise and improve a savage
people than that which had been made by the English
colonists in New Zealand.
After an attempt by Mr. BROTHERTON to adjourn
the debate,
Sir R. INGLIS said that Government claimed supre-
macy for the Crown in New Zealand. Now supremacy
could only arise from first discovery, conquest, or treaty..
If Government leant upon treaty, their treaty secured
the rights of the natives, He looked upon the treaty of
Waitangi as being as binding as the treaty of Utrecht ;
and until he learned that power was to be substituted
for right he should consider all the natives of Neer
Zealand as well entitled to the benefits of their treaty
as if they had been the most civilised people in the
world.
Mr. MUTT concurred in the greater part of the
speech of the Noble Lord (Lincoln); but he begged to
express his hope that the constitution of so important er
colony as Now Zealand would not bo su-pended for five
years. He did not think that the substitute offered ta
the settlers would be considered by them as an equiva-
lent for their constitution, and therefore he trusted that
Government would at once set themselves about putting
the affairs of the colony in a train for the assumption ot
popular rights.
Mr. SCOTT regretted that the treaty of Waitangi
had not been observed. In the matter of land sales he
trusted that the spirit of that treaty would be respected.
Another hardship connected with the sale of laud was
the rule by wilier' the natives could only tell their land
to the Governor, whose maximum price to the settlerei
was 20s. the acre. He did not approve of the suspen-
sion of the constitution for five years, and doubted whe-
ther it would not have been better to abrogate it alto-
gether, waiting for a fitting opportunity to establish et
new and suitable one.
Clauses 4 and 5 were agreed to, as were the remaining
clauses, and the House resumed.
MONTGOMERY ELECTION.
The SPEAKER read a letter from Mr. Pugh, stating
that he had been returned for Montgomery borough by
389 electors, and that the same number had voted for
Mr. Chohnondeley, who had since informed him that het
did not intend to defend his seat.
On the motion of Sir R. PEEL it was ordered, in
conformity with the precedent in 11 th George 111 ,
when a double return was made for Scarborough, that
the Clerk of the Crown should attend the House to-
morrow (this day), and amend the return, by striking
out the name of the gentleman who did not wish to sit.
IMPEACHMENT OF LORD PALMERSTON.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER having
moved the order of the day for going into a Committee
of Supply, formally to take a vote upon Exchequer-bills,
Mr. URQUIIABX said that it was notorious that the
Government had used means to prevent the motion of
the Hon. Mt mber for Youghal being brought on, and he
therefore would move the adjournment of the House.
Mr. W. S. O'BRIEN seconded the motion, because
ho thought that injustice had been dune the Hon.
Gentleman.
Lord D. STUART said, that if he felt as the Hon.
Member for Youghal, he would certainly persist in his
them oTt iihoieno ,neb.
HuGtAewnNtticlue
Elmd
fairnti o
otwinterrupt
oldf ttahkee
Et
the hx.ecpunbEl
advicecg business.
intihz te
sss.
ai
d,
Noble r
Lord behind him, Government would do their best to
keep him a House on a notice-day.—(Hear.) It was
desirable for the public interest that the vote he proposed
to take to-night should be taken, as a matter of form,
before the Noble Lord at the head of the Government
made his financial statement.
The O'GORMAN MAHON admitted that he had ex-
ercised all the power he possessed to induce Members to
retire on the occasion referred to—(Laughter)—for the
purpose of marking his disapproval of what he consi-
dered the factious course pursued by the Hon. and
Learned Member (Mr. Anstey),:vvho had brought for-
ward his motion in opposition to the expressed wish of
both sides of the House.—(Hear.)
Mr. ANSTEY said he had given the Government, in
the early part of the evening, every opportunity to
afford him the assurance that he should have an oppor-
tunity of bringing on his motion; but no such assurance
had been given. He and other Hon. Members had re-
mained all the evening, at great inconvenience, and he
was now asked to surrender the only advantage he had
been able to obtain. If the Right Hon. Gentleman
would name a day next week for the Committee of
Supply, and fix it at an early hour, he would accede to
the request now made; otherwise, he was quite ready to
proceed. It was perfectly notorious that, on the former
evening, the Hon. and Noble Gentlemen who acted as
whippers-in to the Government had used their efforts to
count the House.—(Laughter.)
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said it
was desirable that the Hon. and Learned Gentleman
might take an early day—say that day fortnight—when
his motion would probably stand first, and Government
would do all in their power to secure him a House. As
to bringing the motion on when a Committee of Supply
was fixed, he would have just the same opportunity on
any future occasion of a Committee of Supply. No ad-
vantage could be gained to-night by bringing the
motion on at this late hour.
Mr. ANSTEY agreed to postpone his motion till the
day named by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and
hoped that good faith would be kept with him.
The motion was then withdrawn, and the House went

into
COMMITTEE OF SUPPLY%
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said the
vote he had to propose was the usual annual vote for the
payment of outstanding Exchequer bills.
The vote, the amount of which was 17,543,500 L, was
then agreed to.
The House resumed and then adjourned at a quarter
after one o'clock.

RECRUITS FOR THE ARMT.—lrswicu.—On Tues-
day last, several fine young men, recruits of the 95th
regiment of foot left this town en route to join the depot
in Ireland. Among the rest were two countrymen, who
came a short distance to hear the lecture lately delivered
at the Town Hall, in this borough by Mr. Plummer, on
the Folly of the Sword. The account given by the lec-
turer of the enormous sums received by the Duke of
Wellington contrasted so strongly with the miserable
pittance of 10d. a day which they were receiving as agri-
cultural labourers, that they instantly became desirous
of trying their fortunes in the tented field, and observing
Sergeant Rontree, who is recruiting for the above corps,
in the room, offered themselves as candidates for a red
►Chronick,
coat and were socePtedo•-auffigh

SECOND EDITION OF "NOW AND
THEN."
Our opinion of Mr. Warren's latest fiction has
been corroborated, not merely by the commendations
of our Contemporaries, but by the coincident opinion
of the Public. A little more than one calendar
month has elapsed since the first appearance of " NOW
and Then," and a second edition has already proved
requisite. This, we take it, is a healthful sign as to
the state of the average taste in literature. The prac-
tical encomium which has thus been pronounced upon
the volume, to our thinking, affords a favourable
prognostic for our more natural and inartificial novel-
ist* it is a sufficient attestation that the perceptive
faculties of English readers have not been perma-
nently blurred by the mists of caricature, and that
their imaginations have not been actually diseased by
the prurient effusions which have latterly achieved a
certain degree of popularity. Neither the success of
" The Diary of a Late Physician," or of " Ten Thou-
sand a Year," proved this fact so forcibly as the em
phatic and almost unanimous approval expressed
upon the unostentatious merits of "Now and Then."
Remarkable as were the powers betrayed in the two
preceding works, the genius of the author received from
each of the subjects a degree of adventitious aid such as
derogated in some measure from their excellence as

literary compositions. In " The Diary of a Late
Physician," for example, curiosity was excited by the
hideous revelations of physical suffering which con-
stitutes the experience of a medical practitioner. On
the other hand, " Ten Thousand a Year" was ren-
dered the vehicle for political sarcasms, such as could
not fail from their bitterness, and occasionally even
from their personalities, to tickle the appetite of a
numerous class of partizans. One production was to
a considerable extent assisted in the acquisition of a
speedier renown by the excitement caused by its
many agonizing narratives; the other was invested
with a very different but equally potent air of fasci-
nation by its adroit and earnest appeals to the pas-
sions of politicians. In the last work of Mr. War-
ren, however, no extraneous help whatever has been
sought after—no bait is tendered in its pages to the
morbid or the factious—the chapters are not tesse-
lated by the ghastly shadows of agony, nor are the
characters of the story coloured with the brilliant
hues of sarcastic allusion. " Now and Then"
is as simple as an English tale can be :
simple in construction ; simple in diction ; simple in
interest, and eminently simple in purpose. The plot
flows onward as naturally, and, if one may so speak,
as spontaneously as a river—narrow and clear at its
commencement, varied and meandering as it pro-
gresses, and spreading out in dimensions, and
in
ing more profound in moral, and more rapidinci-
dent, as it approaches its conclusion. On reviewing
the work immediately upon its first publication we
commented upon this distinguishing and laudable
peculiarity. While, moreover, we expressed our ad-
miration of what appeared to us to be its most con-
spicuous excellences—its elegant and idiomatic lan-
guage, the clever development of the story, the
truthfulness of its characters, and the majestic moral
of which it was intended to be the enforcement—we
did not abstain from taking exception to several of its
incidental and more noticeable blemishes. In the new
edition which has just been issued we perceive
not merely a moderate extension of the fiction, but
the evidences of a very careful and even scrupulous
emendation. Although Mr. Warren still preserves
the austerity of old Adam Ayliffe's manner towards
the close of the volume, he elevates and ennobles the
misfortunes of the younger Adam by interpolating in
the remarks of good Parson Hylton the following
exquisite passages of consolation :
" Great and terrible are the sufferings both of mind
and body which you have undergone ; but they have
been inflicted upon you by an Allwise, Just, and Incom-
prehensible God. Your duty is humble and joyful sub-
mission to all His dispensations : He owes you nothing:
you owe Him everything. As He is your Maker, so He
is your Judge ! It is for Him alono to deal with you,
both here and hereafter, as seemeth best to His infinite
wisdom. Had you perished on the scaffold : had you
died in ignominious exile after leading a long life of
bodily agony—insect of the dust ! What could you
have said against it to your Omnipotent Creator ? But
in judgment He has remembered mercy : He has given
you the consolations of religion : RESIGNATION : peace
of mind, even in your very sorrow. Awfully incom-
prehensible in His nature, He has yet permitted
you to see in Him a FATHER who chasteneth those
whom He loveth, and even vouchsafes to them some few
glimpses of His wondrous government of the world.
Long suffering, He stoops even to reason with His crea-
tures ! And is it no mark of His favour and blessing
that you are now here ? Alive ? With your loving
wife beside yon ? And your venerable father alive to
welcome you ? And your character and innocence
vindicated before all mankind?"

Among the minor, or rather verbal improvements, in the
second edition, we must especially mention the circum-
stance that the author seems to have rectifiedthroughout
the scholarly blunder of reversing the positions of
the nominative and objective cases in their relation to
the verb. Graceful in Latinity, it is a practice which
sounds awkward enough in English composition, and
fur this reason we are gratified to find that the pure
Saxon utterances of "Now and Then" are no longer
injured by its recurrence. We direct attention like-
wise to these minute corrections, for the pur-
pose of showing that the new edition is
something better than a simple reprint. Already it
would seem that "Now and Then " has acquired for
itself an audience beyond the shores of England.
From its republication in the United States it appears
to have obtained a fresh multitude of readers
beyond the Atlantic ; at Leipzic and at
Paris it starts forth suddenly in French and
German translations. This rapidity of diffusion is
chiefly attributable of course to the celebrity already
acquired by Mr. Warren, for we cannot but think
that the simplicity, the naturalness, aad the exalted
morality of "Now and Then" will at the outset prove
somewhat distasteful to those who have been hitherto
glutted with the exaggerations of a romantic, ornate,
and indecent literature. In America, for instance,
the wholesome and inimitable fancies of Washington
Irving have been latterly neglected for the extrava-
gant and sometimes preposterous conceits of Edgar
A. Poe. In Germany the fantastic visions of Richter
and the domestic puerilities of Schokke have
become the fashionable themes of panegyric ;
while in France it is notorious that public
delicacy is perpetually outraged by aswarm of veteran
or incipient feuilletonicts, by the grim imaginings of
De Balzac, the voluptuous delineations of Sand, the
impudent laxity of Dumas, the distortions of Sue, and
the lascivious dreamings of De Kock. Amidst such a
fraternity of vicious writers 111 r. Warren may in a
foreign version exercise no mean or evanescent influ-
ence—for with the daintiest purity of purpose he
combines a masculine energy and an enthralling in-
terest, qualities which are absolutely essential to con-
quer the prejudices inspired by a depraved and vitiated
school. If " Now and Then" can only tend to beat
down the Standard of the Flesh in the hearts of the
novel-readers of Paris and Prussia, and to elevate in
its stead that Standard of the Spirit which is the
banner of Christianity, it will have nobly fulfilled a
mission which it is eminently qualified to accomplish,
and will have diffused beyond the circumference of a
clique that abiding zeal for religion which burns so
brightly in the ideal hearts of Adam Ayliffe and
Henry Hylton.