The Sun.
London, England, 1856-01-31 00:00:00

POLITICAL DINNERS.

Olive Hastings. A Novel. By Mrs. Parry. 3
vols. Hurst and Blackett.
This story is well calculated to wile away soli-
tude or amuse an idle hour. It is somewhat more
romantic than the generality of novels now met
with, and it will thus be attractive to those who
delight in tracing a heroine's adventures through
countless dangers and amid sundry snares—at one
time surrounded by friends, and suddenly the prey
of cruel enemies,
and abandoned to despair. Olive
Hastings is a pleasing and charming personage to
grace a romance and adorn a narrative. She was
singularly situated, and the plut is ingeniously
constructed, and all the events which led to her
strange position in Mrs. Dugeon's family are pro-
bable. Some of the characters who figure in the
scene are strikingly described, and give a vigour
and vivacity to the tale. Edward Crichton, with
his melancholy tendency and gloomy ideas, the
result of a neglected youth Colonel Merlin, who
possessed naturally a good disposition and kind
heart, but who, by want of self-command, andl
wrong companions, had perverted the one and
warped the other, are contrasts effectively brought
before the reader. One went from bad to worse,
till an awful death completed a neglected life, with-
out a moment's preparation for the " weighty cares
of an eternal scene ; ' the other gradually amending
what was wrong in his life and rendering himself
more worthy of the excellent maiden on whom he
had fixed his affections. The worldly and selfish
temper of Mrs. Dugeon and Miss Shamwell are
truthfully sketched, and we may form a notion
from their proceedings of what the unfortunate
have to encounter who are bound by natural, legal,
or circumstantial ties to such natures. Poor Olive
found treacherous friends in such a family, and a
dreary home in that house over which Miss Sham-
well presided. Only her inexperience could
have induced her to bind herself as an apprentice
to the wily woman, who, under the guise of
friendly assistance, was making all things subser-
vient to her interest. Mary Dugeon, the coquette,
is a likely instarace of what conceit and ill temper
will bring their victims to. She nearly met with an
agonising and untimely grave as the sequel of her
rash and headstrong conduct, and it is not to be
wondered at that she should, from the period of
her restoration to health and strength, determine
on a quiet and secluded mode of life. It is only an
event of retributive justice, when the crafty and
cunning set at Portglou are caught in their own
toils, and while they retire into disgraceful obscu-
rity, they hear of their escaped victims taking
their exalted places, amid the great and good
of the land. Tho unlucky ,4 Will," who was
driven about in all directions by the cruel family,
is interesting from his zeal and fidelity to the cause
of the orphan, Olive, who was a fellow-sufferer in
the same house as himself. It is satisfactory to
hear of his meeting with friends at last. Olive's
various captures and escapes are exciting, and
if such occurrences are rare nowadays, in com-
parison to what they used to be, it is not unlikely
that so vehement a nun as Colonel Merlin should
seek to profit by stratagem when common forms
did not avail him. Be was urged on and goaded
to his base acts by a still more adroit deceiver, who
spent his life from youth to ago in the practise of
evil works. He died at last by the hand of him
whom he had led astray. With her gentle man-
ners and meek spirit Olive possessed a determina-
tion and energy tha-, rose equal to any emergency,
and hence she escaped wonderfully out of the
hands of her enemies. "Deprived of all, of every
stay, save Innocence and Heaven," she came un-
harmed out of the conflict, and triumphed in the
majesty of devotion and truth. Her story is
capable of enlivening by its variety, and interest-
ing by its depth of feeling, and the right purpose
displayed in its coiaposition. The reader is intro-
duced to numerous phases of society, which con-
tain graphic sketches of good and evil, and several
characters appear chose diversity of disposition are
skilfully depicted, thus presenting altogether an
attractive novel fot perusal.