The Sun.
London, England, 1856-05-07 00:00:00

THE SUN CONDON WEDNIFSDAY EV.E.4tlt.,:i*'• MAY 7, 1856.

mory, who, in their foreign policy, had no other
object in view than the maintenance of treaties and
the consolidation of the peace of Europe. When, re-
cently, war burst forth suddenly, you fulfilled my inten-
tions—when you endeavoured to calm public opinion,
which was alarmed respecting the ambitious views attri-
buted to Russia, and by the judicious manner in which
you acted within the limits of your duties you contri-
buted to the work of peace, happily accomplished. In
relieving you, at your request, from the management of
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I consider it a duty to
express to you on this occasion from my innermost
heart all the gratitude I feel for the care and labour
you have bestowed in the course of a career as long
as it has been worthily filled. Being desirous of con-
solidating peace by cultivating friendly relations with
foreign States, I am convinced that by leaving you the
title of Chancellor of the Empire, I shall find in your
experience the most useful help for the realisation of the
object I have in view. In expressing my special favour
towards you (biertveillance particuliere), I confer upon
you the portrait set in diamonds with the effigy of my
father of glorious memory, added to my own, to be worn
at the buttonhole with the riband of St. Andrew.

" I remain, invariably yours affectionately,

" ALEXANDER."

LITERATURE.

Leonora. By the Hon. Mrs. Moberly, Author of
the "Love Match." 3 vols. Smith and Elder.
Those who are pleased with the complicated in
stories, and the details of the subtle and crafty,
will welcome the appearance of this novel. The
character of the heroine is fully describe I in the
motto, " I would not have such a heart in my
bosom for the dignity of the whole body." Leo-
nora Stratford is one calculated to draw attention,
and oven interest of a peculiar sort, after her, by
her courage, her cleverness, and her self-control.
It is true that all these qualities were displayed
and exercised in the cause of wrong, but the skill
of the authoress has shown forth effectually the
difference between persistence in truth and false-
hood. Leonora's whole career set forward the
latter, and its close held out a solemn warning to
all votaries of deceit. The plot is dexterously
concocted, and the circumstances, if strange, are
not improbable, considering the persons concerned
in the transactions. Besides, many redeeming na-
tures are introduced, who form attractive and agree-
able distractions from the constant contemplation
of the wily ensnarer. It would not be to the purpose
to descant or dilate upon the exact occurrences of
the narrative ; it must be read to be understood ;
and those who object to any subterfuge being
made the turning point of a story had better not
attempt the perusal. Those, on the contrary,
who see artistic skill, and constructive excellence,
in deep laid schemes, and manifold manoeuvres,
will be delighted with the records of the fitful
fever of Leonora's life. Among the most exciting
of the scenes, is that in which the discovery of the
jewels is made by the rightful owner. It is in a
case like this that the real retribution of sin con-
sists, not in the upbraiding of conscience in lonely
hours, or the arguments of advisers, but in the
sudden enlightenment, the momentary disclosure.
If ever such a deceiver and heartless offender
could inspire pity, it would be then, caught in her
own snares, foiled when she thought herself secure,
and the crowning object of her ambition made the
climax of her ruin. It is also worthy of notice to
observe the curious dilemma in which Leonora
found herself with her three admirers. If any-
thing could have showed her character more fully
than another, it would be the fact of her seriously
contemplating the possibility of a union with either
of her two daily visitors, while she preferred the
third, who kept back, and while every real senti-
ment she possessed worthy of the name, was buried
in the grave of her former lover. He who slept
in his untimely tomb, cut off in the prime of life
by her caprice and folly, had left behind him an
avenging spirit. Leonora thought by leaving the
country of her crimes, she could leave their conse-
quences and their recollections. But very different
was the result. Likewise, in her project of a des-
perate remedy, to a desperate case, she failed ut-
terly. In the hour of peril of discovery she closed
with the offer of Stuart Devereux. Cast off by
the man she respected, for her deceit, spurned by
the only one living she could have loved, in conse-
quence of his knowledge of her previous life, she
rushed off madly with one she neither loved, re-
spected, nor expected to derive much advantage
from. All this was done to blind her friends,
but she never failed more utterly. The con-
fusion and unseemly haste awakened suspicious,
and above all the shock of the deceit killed her
father, whose greatest fault was over-confidence in
her. Such an event gained her more odium among
primitive country neighbours than the most inge-
nious tale of misdoings in a foreign land, imper-
fectly known and confusedly stated, could have
occasioned a hundred times magnified. Further
on, when abroad, if she had kept quiet, as becomes
those surrounded by pitfalls of their own creation
to be, she might have done well in comparison ;
but no, she must have applause of some kind, and
in the hour of her unworthy triumph, she laid her-
self open to the observation of her enemies. The
epitome of her existence may be summed up in a
remark in " Coningsby." " The altars of Ne-
mesis are beneath every outraged roof," for where-
ever she was, however situated, the same ghastly
spectre stood before her, not as a symbol, or an
allegory, in the restless day, or the sleepless night,
but in some tangible shape, some visible form, it
walked the earth beside her. In her sad end is
seen the moral—all had failed her on which she
had depended, fame, rank, riches, power. She
was despised by all, but most of all by herself. In
contradistinction to her, the sweet and innocent
Alice Percy is truly welcome. After such au in-
stance of treachery and wiles, as is evidenced by
Leonora, a heart that knew no guile, like Alice's,
appears the gift that crowns all others in, the human
character. In the various events that occur many
different persons engage attention, and the seekers
after the humorous will be gratified by the ludi-
crous adventures of Mrs. Percy Linklater and her
provoking husband. Sir Edward Devereux is a
fine, straightforward character, and what is seen
of him conduces to the adornment of the tale. On
the whole, " Leonora" is an ingeniously con-
structed, artistically arranged, and ably executed
narrative. It cannot be called pleasing in its style,
but it is certainly powerful, and may be profitable
to those, who fancy the career of the evil-doer is
smooth and smiling for the present whatever
future consequences ensue. They will see, naturally
explained, and truly represented, the let and
hindrance of the guilty mind. Friends were de-
ceived, enemies were circumvented, appearances
flattered, chance favoured ; but was this peace for
Leonora? The worm that dieth not had its ever-
lasting vitality in her fear of discovery, while the
shame of such an ordeal, the disgrace of such a day,
was branded on her memory in characters of flame,
as the burning of a fire that caa never be
quenched.