The Sun.
London, England, 1848-01-20 00:00:00

THE LAST OF THE FAIRIES. By G. P. B.

James. Parry.
In " Christmas books " a profusion of illustrations
and embellishments is apparently deemed indispen-
sable. All, or almost all, are consequently distin-
guished for the elegance of their appearance and the
beauty of their decorations. But in the " Last of
the Fairies " a more than ordinary care seems to have
been bestowed upon external attractions. In addition to
the usual accompaniment of numerous engravings in
illustration of the story, every page of the whole
volume is surrounded by a fanciful border. These
borders are of various hues and various patterns,
some representing graceful wreaths of flowers, others
formal arabesques, others imaginary devices, but all
are remarkable for extreme elegance of design and
delicacy of colouring, and their combination imparts
a very pleasing effect to the little volume. The
" Last of the Fairies" is not, as its name would lead
us to believe, a fairy tale, indeed the title appears to
be a misnomer, and although not exactly told so, we
are given to understand that the last of the fairies
was no fairy at all 1 The narrative is divided into
three " epochs." " Epoch the first" refers to the
final struggles of the Cavaliers and Roundheads, and
contains an account of the battle of Worcester.
" Epoch the second" tells of the days of the Common-
wealth, and " Epoch the third" of the Restoration.
The plot is exceedingly simple, but the characters
are many of them very interesting, and their dif-
ferent peculiarities are effectively portrayed. Here
and there we meet with some pleasing sentiment or
truthful thought, and the whole tale is narrated in
that smooth and pleasant style which characterises
most of the writings of Mr James.

FORTUNE AND FORTITUDE. By Thomas

Miller.

The name of this little book is almost a sermon
in itself, at least it is calculated to awaken some be
neficial reflections by thus putting in juxtaposition
two words somewhat similar in sound, but very dif-
ferent in signification—fortune and fortitude. So apt
are men to " call good evil and evil good," that, if
given the choice, very few would hesitate as to
which of these to prefer. The fickle goddess would
be the universal favourite, although every reflecting
person would be compelled to acknowledge her ina-
bility to afford sure happiness; whereas the possession
of fortitude renders a man almost independent of cir-
cumstances, and superior to misfortune. Whether is
it more desirable to have wealth or power itself, with
the chance of losing it at any moment, or to possess
the means of acquiring, and perhaps retaining, wealth
and power, or at least of ensuring happiness with or
without them ? Such is the question asked and an-
swered by Thomas Miller's Christmas book. And
very effectively is it answered, and the truth
of the answer demonstrated by illustrations.
In the lives of Jack Hardy, the son of a poor washer-
woman, and of Augustus Errantdale, the heir of a
wealthy family, the different advantages of fortune
and fortitude are very forcibly exemplified. The most
interesting part of the narrative is that which records
the adventures of honest, persevering Jack. His gra-
dual rise and progress is detailed with a minuteness
that gives it an air of actuality, and renders it very
attractive. The successful career of Jack appears in
striking contrast to the unhappy history of his " for-
tunate" companion. The pictures of humble life,
and the incidental allusions to rural scenes contained
n this volume, are given in Thomas Miller's usually
tfelicitous manner when speaking of such themes.
Theillustrations, which adorn this little work are
somewhat strange accompaniments to the writings of
,such an author, being a series of views of the public
buildings of London, not inappropriately introduced,
however, as the story relates to the metropolis, And
were it otherwise, country scenes would be super-
fluous, as the author of " Rural Sketches" pourtrays
them so effectively with his pen. " Fortune and For-
titude," besides being an interesting little tale, is
valuable as affording an useful lesson and a most en-
couraging example.

A PLOT AND A PEERAGE.
Although this tale occupies only a single and
somewhat diminutive volume, yet, from the intricacy
of its' plot, and the variety of its characters, it bears
considerable affinity to the ordinary three-tomed
novel. However, it makes its appearance in a crimson
cover along with the Christmas books, and accordingly
with them we number it. The personages who play
a part in this " Plot" are, as we have already inti-
mated, very numerous, and the whole narrative is
crowded with adventures. The " Plot" for obtaining
the " Peerage " is occasioned by the following cir-
cumstances At the opening of the tale we find
that Lord Petersham, an English Peer, has recently
died abroad, where he had been resident for many years;
and we furthermore disc Over, that before his departure
from England he had been privately married, and had
entrusted the charge of an infant son and heir to a
Mr. Brandon, who had brought him up with his own
Bon.. Owing, however, to the ill-treatment of this
Mr. Brandon both boys had "run away." On the death
of Lord Petersham, a claimant for the " Peerage"
comes forward in the person of one Staunton, a man
of great cunning and cleverness, who declares himself
to be the missing heir. his " plot" is almost suc-
cessful, and he nearly attains the desired " peerage,''
when first one and then the other of the missing youths
makes his appearance, no one knowing which of the
three individuals is Lord Petersham, except Mr.
Brandon, a most unprincipled man, whose word can-
not be relied on. From this brief summary it
will be seen that the "plot" is very intricate,
and sufficiently interesting. It is detailed in a very
lively and animated manner, but the general effect
would be more pleasing were not many of the charac-
ters evidently caricatures. The political sentiments of
Mr. Shuttleworth—a thorough democrat and libeller,
who, on finding Lord Petersham turns out to be his
nephew, suddenly becomes awakened to the excellence
of the aristocracy—are effectively described. Unlike
the other Christmas books, this work contains no
illustrations, but the author happily expresses a hope
that his conceptions may be welcome to his readers,
although not iatroduced "by the graphic card of a
mutual artistic acquaintance.

/ESOP'S FABLES, Versified and Set to Music.
In the history of 2Esop it is narrated that once
during the time of his servitude, a merchant, on ex-
posing him for sale in the public slave market, placed
him between two beautiful white slaves, in order that
his exceeding ugliness might render their charms
more conspicuous. We are irresistibly reminded of
this anecdote by the appearance of this little volume,
in which the inimitable fables of the Phrygian philo-
sopher appear in the fair companionship of poetry and
music. We are ignorant of the result of the slave
merchant's speculation ; we do not know whether he
found a readier sale for his wares in consequence of
his cunning arrangement of show ; but we should
imagine that the happy combination of wit and wis-
dom, " versified and set to music," would render this
little volume generally attractive. It possesses the
higher and valuable qualifications of tending to make
its readers merry and wise.