The Sun.
London, England, 1870-06-07 00:00:00

THE CAPTURED ENGLISHMEN.

Conflicting telegrams have been received in Eng-
land regarding the four Englishmen taken by
Spanish brigands, some declaring that they have
been released, and others that they have not. The
truth, judging from intelligence dated Madrid, Sun-
day, would appear to be that one of the captives,
Mr. Bonell, senior, alone has been allowed to proceed
to Gibraltar, and that, too, only to negotiate for a
ransom, which the brigands demand before they
allow his nephew and servants to go free.

" LOTHAIR."

Nearly all the older magazines this month review
Lothair," and without exception the verdict is hos-
tile. Deliberate reflection has reversed the indis-
criminate praise accorded by the daily press. In several
instances the condemnation is savage. The monthly
organs have obviously not confined themselves to
merely estimating the value of " Lothair " as a lite-
rary work ; they have let their pages out to men
whose criticism is guided by intense personal
antagonism to the novelist. Most savage of all is
the review in Blackwood. The appearance of
this production in the pages of the Tory maga-
zine has given rise to unbounded astonishment.
The writer evidently hates Mr. Disraeli with a hatred
that is beyond concealment. He compares the Con-
servative leader's pictures of high life to " the gin-
inspired dreams of the assistant of some fashionable
haberdasher, who enjoys glimpses of great houses
and great people when die goes out with the goods."
" Lothair" in general is compared to the romances
or the London Journal. The extravagance of the per-
formance is " equalled only by its dulness." It is
" more inflated in expression and ialse in grammar
than the exercises of an aspiring schoolboy of the
fifth form." In point of art the book is
"on a level with the drop-scene of a provincial
theatre." Having paid these and many more
similar compliments to the work itself, the reviewer
proceeds to deal with the author, and to confess that
a portion of the Conservative party hate Mr. Disraeli
unsparingly for the Reform Bill of 1867. Everybody
knew that such was the case; but, though a candid
avowal might be appreciated in the proper place, what
has it to do with " Lothair ?"

The severity of other monthlies is mildness com-
pared with the attack in Blackwood. Never-
theless they are very severe. The Catholic Month
speaks as a Catholic organ might be expected to
speak, after the handling the faith receives in
"Lothair." It expects that Mr. Disraeli will soon
write a book to spew how much England has lost by
becoming Protestant. Fraser is more appreciative
than the rest of its contemporaries. The
Fortnightly Review, which is a monthly at
present, considers the literary work of " Lothair "
well- enough ; but is severe upon the . moral
tone of the novel. The life represented is "rotten
and mean." "Does not the book reek with the
stifling fumes of gold, as when the idiot
puts rails of solid gold round the tomb
which covers his useless old bones ? ls
not the life vapid, aimless, arrogant as if the
world of the human race existed only to gratify its
selfish whims ? " Macmillan rails at Mr. Disraeli's
artificiality and snobbishness. He never feels at home
amongst his great people, suggests the reviewer; he
takes no pleasure in their society. On the whole it
would seem that these critics have less to complain of
the literary merit of the famous book than of the man
who wrote it, and of the peculiarities he introduces
into his work.

THE ELECTIONS.

Two county elections are still pending in England
—for the Isle of Wight and South Leicestershire.
In the former constituency the claims of the " sub-
jected ".sex have been. brought before the Liberal
candidate, Mr. Moffatt. But Mr. Moffatt will not pledge
himself. It was urged on Saturday night that single
women and widows, as they possessed the property
qualifications of the members of the sterner sex,
ought to possess electoral privileges. Mr. Moffat
asked his questioner what he would do in the case of
married women who had property independently of
their husbands; should they have votes ? He
was answered iii the affirmative. Mr. Moffatt
observed, that in that case this question arose,
" Why should one married lady have a
vote and not another ?" It was manifestly
unfair, he thought. But Mr. Mofit forgets that
the same " unfairness" holds in the case of men.
Why had a ten-pounder a vote, and not any other
householder F Why has now a householder a vote,
and not a person who is neither a householder nor a
qualified lodger ? Why, in short, is there a line drawn
anywhere F In South Leicestershire the nomination
takes place to-day, and the polling on Friday. The
fight in this division is expected to be very close.