The Sun.
London, England, 1834-10-30 00:00:00

TV.4RLEIGH; OR, THE FATAL

Br MRS. BRAY.
3 Vols. London, Longman and Co., 1834• scenes
A wild and interesting tale, and some of the sre
of the stirring period in which the main incidents so
placed, drawn with a bold and vigorous hand' a,,
period in the history of England is capable of enih°Lith
ing so many strange fancies—of giving life and trore,
to such a number of inconsistencies in human nah in,
in action and in opinion—as the short space whiea his
tervened between the rupture of Charles an to
Parliament, and the appearance of thatsll
Prince on the scaffold. It is during this jar' 00-
gloomy reign of lawless terror, that Mrs. Bray
an
mences her tale : the scene is laid near
Mount Edgcumbe in Devonshire, and is neveteres.
moved beyond the borders of the adjoining c 0 s,
In the dialogues, of which there is no lack,,r_si,
Bray manifests a familiar acquaintance with the
wellian cant, which, we regret to say, is still too
fro:s
valent among us. But, surely, removed as Wea to
the influences of that melancholy period, it is tniithies
do justice to all parties, and not suffer our 'sYmPagrsy
to get the upper hand of our judgment. Mrs.
Sept,
throws the. whole guilt at the door of the pallid
the
and frequently treats all who assisted in deth an
King, with no better grace than if she were herselfoif
N:arnleigrt:
exiled favourite of the court, recording the hister'
her own contemporaries. Now, in truth, Charl,e,l,,
common with the whole of his family, "9 d
proud, vacillating, blood-thirsty, superstitious, It' 01
grateful. He provoked the doom which awaited blocfr
much as we may deplore the shedding of s° 10115
blood, it requires not the spirit of a seer to ensoo
to assert, that had Cromwell and the Parliament
sob
into his hands, for every drop of blood that wasie
there would have flowed a torrent. The struggdot
a fearful one on both sides, nor is it to be e%PeerebotO
any party triumphing under such circumstancescis; bat
be wholly guiltless of abusing power so obtain' s
and
direful as were the deeds of the stern covenanter'
cruel as was the policy of Cromwell, and wehattlie
the atrocity of both, still let it be remembered t
King conjured up these evil-demons by his °PiPr
of his people, and that the victory of Cronv'veciJ
-
1-1 belle
triumph of freedom over royal despotism, t-e
effects of which have been since often felt and °lb
by every Sovereign State in Europe. Althosoeseig
are general admirers of Mrs. Bray's manner °Ai. °of her
up the incidents which connect the main b°4,,pr
tale, and, consequently, feel disposed to treat 'iris itil°
every lenity, we cannot but remark, that she,faher lor4
many errors which are unworthy of a writer °l, ode to
experience. Thus she takes leave of one elliise
take up another ; introduces a stranger in tt'll tlll
of a fray, and suffers the action to stand stock
she has given the history of himself and his IPCO'PIi;
tors ; and here and there halts to pay a Ic)aav stie;
ment, leaving the reader to lament as he Inh'er,
an untoward dispersion of all the illusions n'ci
which her own imagination had pole' pis°
him. All this is not only ecarouon t 001
but absolutely disagreeable, and must aiSgljpsp' tilk6
who would be among the first to ackuns"::ioc"
merits of the fair authoress. There is als° t°
s; 511"
of what is called fine writing in these v°1111140:1
the main characters are but indifferently dr°
of the female portion of them particularly ~50.91)1e to
fact is, we do not know them sufficiently t° uestsll
say what they would do under different eirculDgesl
iind even as they are presented to us, the) lotdthe.
gether but an indifferent specimen of 111.111#,(10:,!:
The men want wisdom sadly, and the "'omen
ters too—are not overstocked with filial pietY'
the authoress would have us think otherwise' voltle'r''
lest two passages from different parts of these
Foes'
as a fair specimen of the writer's deseriPtifce oeV°l:4
The first records a shipwreck on the reef °ll'ortise,&
which now stands the Eddystone Light 66
runs thus : o°oo
" The vessel, after the boat had quitted her' crapsecji,'"
course ; but scarcely had a quarter of an hour e
a shrill cry was heard of—' Breakers head ILI vt °veil 'lei
deck, and in less than five minutes at-he shiP that
it %VP
Eddystone reef. So tremendous was the shocic, t"-deol,
her stern ; and the waves, like so many Writ ablerisli
the game is hunted down, rushed in upon the ;
as if eager to devour their prey. ThePre was n° -19-ietat,°l dr4l,
now saw that their fate was inevitable, yet /I'4
What an interval for the sufferers The'thunder--tefurilca4
and dreadful organ pipe'—seemed in mockery With the
eso
groans and cries of agony that rose and mingled 'lv
of the waves, as they came rolling on, raisingce to'. o.'
their towering heads, as executioners who adviani frit fr,
office ; whilst the heavens that appeared ° sP;jee
sheets of lightnincr, only dispelled -the darkin,eps' °uritlb, sif
hour to show a dreadful scene—P a boundless and cte''
The next extract is of a different ell°
60t
equally forcible :___ and:ood'
" An officer in attendance went up to berg or3tycho
tta
the
edforrcachiesi
lihdn her to
heretlodr
letitthitrelee ;sghbi
ruelat,
stshhaeromsfhlohosekh
doov
raffgeghdiesrthoi
hot:a trbilbeca:,toin
trait
looked at the girl with a strong expression of the ,f
affection, as she said, Mary, my child, aPe'-- ra;i
God sees you.' these, ",°,re3",,''
" The child, animated and encouraged n and In 'OPof
her mother, looked round, and all felt surpriseZ ; titgegoi
by the uncommon beauty and innocence of "en-101°,4/Ictedil
She seemed about eight years old—her 01°_,,r g b 9 'ha
the liveliest and most delicate hues - her hairylit."7,:,boia;
ringlets bright as gold, and her eye' was clea thea— of bey
softest tints of a summer sky Such We' objeC Srld
looked steadily round, till het:eye cavtglit IliebetllYetr°o
search; and than in a voice, and a manner that too bell
fear, yet not unmingled with a degree of reselu:ears,A-de Jr/
scarcely be expected from one of her tender 'the `airli-
out her hand, and pointing with the sheath of t C%el
t 139
to Sir John Copplestone,as he sat in the c°ur
There is the man who did the murder !' I,rin Icirt
" The astonishment, the confusion, the ation; "°010'),
sudden accusation produced, baffles all descriP of, ,5 ICC j
the err' r of his 116
plestone, thus unexpectedly 'charged with
appeared to be at once overwhelmed by the berh°lo
ings. He seemed as if stunned by a sudden • Of ;or° ol
deprived him almost of sense as well as mntiont4,s3 goo'
the act of rising from his seat, and atternpn fallen to tile
,d
his head became dizzy, and he' would have
„
but for the support of those around him. •
fixed" As
itself
ehlef
ot thus stood
the
tsohoeda
sheath
drawing
theing his
her hand. It was a thing too well known tohad del Bhe
ing the sheath of that very weapon ANllieh, one °, of id
him from ancient times, and bad belong" to;:e 00'00°01
ccstors; a knight, commonly known bY "0, beenliotrYlos
white-spur Copplestone ;' this knight 11°111 de or
(as a mark of honour for some distinguished se silver oes,,
the lists) at all times to wear silver spurs--t.hre. Oleo efteeco
spur was beautifully represented in chased no aersons ive d
man_ P tha .110
he
now in the hand of the little girl ; and Y
daggerb revva thhi h
tteerclui:itil3l,o,l),lt:,,
seenwh o hadhiln long
wear kint,o na-sn t
hSei rd
aJgoghenr it ohpapcli ecs
far
lately, his favourite and usual weapon. __so ceof
As his mind rested on this silent witnes
.5
„Tel,
be called—the paleness of death stole over.%
slighte cool ;
his lips looked as livid as those of a corpaFv;ering. eY osterie
rtaeinel/cs ss' tP;llt.i!
sion shook his hardy frame ; and his crtoi have n°
To"'of
seemed as if chained by fascination, an last closed
withdraw itself from the fatal sheath) at ' the 5 ,01)iet
start, weary with gazing, and glad to, s.hut out t lota, 0114
terrible an object. Again he opened nis _Os revianleare6;
towardssseweeam tedfelhli
nefarvouemtnt
e,hrtiisll
cheeks,
despairnothingec ks, a
at
nbdu hists thoooleici
.:11;tueeb
h:ec: r
reo ift
spirit appeared at once to die within him, w
so extreme was his mental agony,
science-struck, silent, self-convicted, aco nu".
nest
his courage, at a blow thus suddetsiodale.:n'tjaclia-ao.'s::Phull!illi;W?ll.9s
on the attestation of a child."
themselves to us after a perusal otfe
0.
'St YWaleersleesssregardiesrasgris
legend, which has raised our estuna t
str:_otto p
Such are the few observations Nivhich,l\Bl3,veisteliilig!'l3V(so
hpisroinicner'otfijcell
anti
twaelelli-iktendolivynomaanothtoorcosse:
in her own works—were her
01:05 of
jos
ifoocuaniditiinegs_athensawset
tbt
old story-telling manner of wea_viro
W.. are veroY,
adventures, which still cling to hero W.. 000. il/0
raensdhethteo
dpirsen3seisntntio.hnein
episo
er std
most
tagsrhoeoawh.olculdostihoj7ttsltyrutcatkivce VOte
the 11,.. -

~-.sent clay.