The Sun.
London, England, 1856-08-15 00:00:00

'IIRE.

fashionable Lijec ; or, Pttris and London. By Mrs.
Trollop
e. vols. Hurst and Blackett.
The name of the
popular authoress of " The
Barnabys," and maCY
ae other novel of equal vi-
vacity and satire on t 'le follies of society, is certain
to command the attent.
,orr of the world of novel
readers, and to excite .
t;teir curiosity on the an-
nouncement of another wo.r, ic from her indefatigable
pen. Her literary efforts al e nearly as continuous
as those of Mr. James, who has told us so many
tales of the adventures of the ".
fitted by Mrs. solitary traveller."
ra i
Nevertheless it must be ad
Trol-
lope's warmest admirers that he, later works bear
no comparison to her former one s,and some may
feel it a matter of regret that she should peril
her well-earned reputation by ..`he publication
of works which would be pro Tiounced ex-
tremely indifferent were they the Production of
an unknown writer, instead of betlring the
name of one whose success in the world ,of fiction
has rendered her independent of passing criticisms.
The work before us is in no degree superior to her
last, and very little better than the " Life of a
Clever Woman." The plot is improbable,. but
that is a fault that is reads 1y excused in the plea of
novelty. No excuse can be .made, however, for the
apparently interminable eons -ersations that occupy
the greatest part of the three volumes, and which,.
we fear, most readers will be tempted to miss.
The point on which the story turps is not likely
to excite much sympathy for the ht.‘ro whose ab-
surd scruples nearly render all parties miserable.
The heroine is a great heiress, ht.Nr fortune being
entirely under her control, and amounting to up-
wards of a hundred thousand pounds. she foals
in love with the youngest son of an earl, of who:os
affection for her she has no doubt, hut finding that:
he considers her wealth an insuperable obstacle,
she sends an old friend to hint to iiim that she
does not consider it so. This, however, has no
effect on the gentleman, who fort:with de-
parts for the antipodes. The lady there-
upon goes to Paris, benco the second title
of the book, and sets up housekeeping there with
a middle-aged friend and her daughter. In es 1-
deavouring to arrange matters for this daughter
marriage she becomes involved in a mining scheme,
and by some complicated transactions loses all her
fortune. The young Frenchman, who has been
the innocent cause, shoots himself, leaving a widow
and child to deplore his loss. They accompany
Clara, the heroine, to England, and take up their
residence with her old friend and unsuccessful
ambassador, who is a clergyman and has a country
living. A friend of the Earl's son writes to tell'.
him of the wonderful change in Clara's fortune, and..
he returns, being convinced that comparative po-
verty is sufficient to secure happiness. The lady
quite agrees with him, and all is satisfactorily settled,
when, lo ! the head of the mining company re-ap-
pears and restores the heiress's fortune in as expe-
ditious and mysterious a manner as it had been
removed. This does not give much comfort to
poor Clara, who expects her lover will depart
for Australia at once. However, he has become
reconciled to the inevitable misfortune of marrying
an heiress ; so all ends well. Those who expect
much of fashionable life in Paris will be disap-
pointed, for there is very little about it—the inte-
rest chiefly depending on the domestic part. There
is, indeed, an amusing description of an assembly,
where every one smokes in full costume, but there
are not many descriptions of general society in
Paris. Along account of the mediums is given,
and from its tone we should conjecture Mrs. Trol-
lope to be at least half a believer in the wonders of
spirit-rapping. Many of the characters are interest-
ing. Annie and her child are among the most
attractive ; nor is the heroine herself at all a dis-
agreeable sketch, though not always discreet in her
speculations. The work has certainly some novelty,
and occasionally some touches that remind the
reader of Mrs. Trollope's former style. The picture
of the Brixbourg family, for instance, is cleverly
drawn. Notwithstanding, we trust that when we
again meet Mrs. Trollope on the field, where she
has won so many triumphs, it will ba in something
more worthy of her talents and successes. •

MANIFASTO OF THE MARQUIS

D'ALBAYDA OBENSE.

We publish, almost in its entirety, an article sent to
the Madrid press by the recognised chief of the demo-
cratic party in the Cortes. It is a remarkable fact that
those who have published the doctrines of democracy to
the greatest extent are members of the high aristocracy :
it was formerly Count Neves (recently deceased) ; it is
now Orense, a grandee of Spain and Marquis of Albayda.
After stating that he is on the point of starting for
Talencia on " urgent private business," the Marquis
sketches, in rapid outline, the leading features in his own
political career since 1832, and then proceeds to develop,
as follows, the principles of the democratic party in Spain.
"My present opinion is that the partial movements
excited in so many different quarters are the work of
our anoient oppressors, and are designed to produce a
panic among capitalists and the wealthier classes— a stale
plagiarism of the French farce acted out from '4B to
It is clear enough that disorder, and not triumph, is the
object in view. And this is the solution of the, enigma.
"Now we democrats are not a secret society, or a
bchool of levellers. We want a simple cheap government,
a government carried on at half the expense it costs us
now. Far from wishing, like the Communists, that all
property should pass into the hands of the state, we
would even have the mines and wastes converted into
individual property, a true source of national wealth.

" Far from wishing, like the socialists, that the state
should be all in all, constituting itself the universal ma-
nufacturer and the universal cultivator, we contend, on
the contrary, that it ought to leave every department of
productive industry to the energy and enterprise of in-
dividuals, whether isolated or combined in free associa-
tions.

" In our opinion government ought only to concert
itself with those collective interests, which, as they pro-
duce no surplus of profit, would in consequence be
neglected if lett to the exertions of individuals. Of this
kind are the army, the navy, and the police ; the law
tribunals and central offices of administration ; the dip-
lomatic service, and the management of the Customs ;
the Post-office, the Mint, and the standard of weights
and measures. For the maintenance of all these
branches of the puLlic service 600 millions of reals is
amply sufficient.
. • . _

Public charities, prisons, highways, fountains, &c ,
ought to he committed to the management of provincial
or municipal administrations.
" With liberty of action in respect of banks, credit
establishments, joint-stock associations, fairs and mar-
kets, and theatres, with unrestricted education and a
free press, with an absence of state interference in regard
to many other things which Government now takes into
its own control (to the great detriment of all), a vast
savirg would he realised, new professions would start
into existence, and half our present laws would become
nse'sts.

" The rent of the present mines and wastes would re-
lieve us from th 3 burden of the public debt, their value
being estimated at 2,600 millions of reale.
"The church being separated from the state, the
clergy could no longer persecute nor be persecuted ;
they would have no authority except over the conscience.
" This system is so simple that it requires only to be
discussed in order to be approved. If established, it
would be hailed with enthusiasm, for among its imme-
diate benefits would be these : the abolition of conscrip-
tion either for the land or sea service, of indirect taxes,
the excise, patents, and stamps. Direct taxation would
be reduced one half. If there were no more exceptional
tribunals, military or ecclesiastic, the number of func-
tionaries would be vastly reduced. If the councils of the
province or commune should oppress the inhabitants
with excessive rates, they would have the remedy in
their own hands by virtue of universal suffrage, and
would not impute the blame to the central government.
" In a word, there would be liberty in all and for all,
and as a consequence a rapid increase of wealth, the im-
mediate and inevitable result of freedom.

" Let us never be weary of repeating it ; our desire is
not to impoverish the rich, but to enrich as far as pos-
sible the poor. We have voted in favour of railways,
roads, works, establishments of credit—of everything, in
a word, calculated to improve the general prosperity;
and this alone it is which justifies us in having supported
the financial projects of the Moderadoes, with their system
of restriction and centralisation. Our bureaucracy in
Spain has not known how to imitate the aristocracy o
England, which was wise enough to yield in time in order
co avoid impending revolutions. And God grant that
those who are in Paris may not make use of the present
discontent of the nation in order to advance those sinister
projects with which their organs are now menacing us.
" Never, come what may, will we unite ourselves to
those who were our oppressors and destroyers from 1844
to 1854. They know this well ; and that is why they
are incessantly attacking us. According to their
own account it is they who are the victims ; they cannot
appreciate our generous patience. But let them beware.
It this patience should be at length worn out, they
may yet see us assume the attitude which, in dealing
with enemies like these, we ought to have assumed in
1854.
"I implore the democratic portion of the press to give
all the publicity in its power to this communication. I
thank it fur the energy and talent with which it has de-
fended the sacred cause of reform, for it is by this word
that we ought to designate the revolution accomplished
by.organised powers, reserving the word revolution for
thole reforms which the people accomplishes in the hour
of its triumph. In Spain, unfortunately, we have no•
thing but pronanciantentos, and that is the reason of the
well•groundtd mistrust which the masses feel for the
politicians."

The accounts from Oporto yesterday regarding the
prospects of the coming vintage in the Douro are dis-
couraging. The American vines, which up to a few
days back had been free from any bad signs, had sud-
denly manifested the blight to an extent which had de-
stroyed the hopes entertained from the introduction of
those descriptions. This year the disease is said to have
attacked the fine vineyards beyond the factory demarca-
tion, and an instance is quoted of one on the frontiers of
Spain which last season yielded 60 pipes of the best
wine, and which will not now produce six pipes. From
Madoire, Oa ad toes describe a total failure.