The Sun.
London, England, 1856-09-17 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

Arthur Brandon. 2 Vols. Hurst and Vaal
This work possesses spirit and originality, th°l2gp.
the plot is not particularly pleasing, and the ti-
is too often wanting in refinement and elegance'f
We are introduced to a large and varied circle
acquaintances ; some of them, however, are 1111"
ludicrous than agreeable. Among this number 10 ire;
lady whose violent manners and brusque'ie ,113/
caused her friends to transform her name of 1108'
Bedford Lumley into Mrs. Bedlam, and, of coal
they are constantly making mistakes, ata
calling her by the wrong name. A very opPct..
character is the unhappy Mrs. Pynoher, vi 47,
refined feelings are perpetually receiving stive,c.
shocks from her husband, the Major, who 15 „,
markable for nothing but his dingy appearance's
and five polka-loving daughters. The hero lens
poor artist, who is abandoned by his aystriel
father, and obtains a precarious livelihood by
D
profession. The motto of the book is taken fromt
Locksley Hall, " Cursed be the social ties tlaie
warp us from the living truth," and refers to en
o fthe often discussed topics of social prejudice an,„
injustice. To add to the cruelty of Arthur's fathers
conduct, ho had obtained possession °f.„ol
bond which secured to his son the °II
of. eight thorgand pounds, left to him.
ea
his grandfather. After many years this is resta.th
to him in consequence of his father's marriage Ivlol
an heiress, who herself presents him with the nolinst
of which he was so unjustly deprived. The 111"nd
agreeable part of the story refers to Nests 41!"-io
Nelly,.two friends and companions. The firs'a.
the object of Arthur's vain attachment ; 110We1.7
after some time, the lady changes her mind, Ili
all ends well. Nell y becomes the wife of an°tTeao
artist, a devoted friend of Brandon's ; but she.t,
before the conclusion., Her husband is a pill':
sopher, who, inheriting a fortune of fifteen th.
sand a year, resigns two-thirds of it, as he consil';
no man is justly entitled to more than', DTI
thousand per annum. The reader will fee
disposed to forgive him his eccentricities, in con. sr'
deration of his being one of the few interesting
characters in the book. The author, in pursuit
variety we suppose, has surrounded his princiP'
figures with such a crowd of second-rate characters,
almost all vulgar or unprepossessing, that the l°3'
pre ssion produced by the dramatis persona is all:
thing but agreeable. Thole who like caricatures
better than portraits will probably be attracted 1/3:1
this very feature, and this class of readers will fn
plenty to gratify their love of the humorous'
There are some parts of the story that are roll;
well written and interesting ; it is therefore a nlatt,,,
of regret when the writer allows the humorous. ".,,
degenerate into the vulgar, and force of expresen
end in want of refinement. The descriptions 0.
Italy are pleasing and attractive. Several chap'
tern at the end are employed in them, as the 80%
opens at Rome and ends there, though the Be° f
in the interim changes to England. No wa.
characte-, variety, and incident is apparent In "ti
tale, but there is sometimes a want of taste an,,,
;connection. The force and energy of the writer
opinions on the cause he has taken up, the gr
tesqueness and absurdity of some of his characte,,if
and the occasional touches of pathos and interesc: j
will no doubt render it attractive to many ri°l,
readers, though it cannot be ranked high ara°°''
recent works of fiction.

ELOPEMENT EXTRAORDINARY.—On Thursday,
w-
-12 o'clock, a labouring man, about 35 years of age) and
observed to walk along our quays travel-stained e°,,,
tired. He had walked barefooted all the way frf,""
Magherafelt in search of a truant and unfaithful vi"ert'
who bad eloped on the previous day with a young 13?1,'d.
in the neighbourhood, taking with her two of her
ran and 4/. in money, the property of her deserted b°_.
band. He had ascertained that they,
and he expecte,,,
left ItandalstoW:i
for Belfast by the railway at 5 p.m.
that they would make their escape across the Channel
d..
elude his detection. On inquiry being made by the 131
bour constables it turned out that his wife, her Para
mour, and the children left in the Glasgow boat thenre
vious evening. The poor man then called on a gtl to
man in town, who kindly supplied him with money
carry him home.—Bonner of Ulder.

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