The Sun.
London, England, 1856-03-12 00:00:00

LITE RATURE.

Madeline Clare ; or, the Important Secret. BI
Colburn Mayne. 3 vols. Hurst and Blackett.
This is a romantic story, agreeably narrated,
and well arranged. Though a great portion is of
a melancholy cast, the general tenour of the style
is sparkling and lively. The descriptions of the
country are vividly described, and evidently with
the genial spirit and 'enthusiastic energy of one
who descants upon a theme that is kindred to bis
nature and congenial to his taste. The hero,
Philip Clarges, is a noble character, and one who
is deserving of his prominent position. The ladies
of the tale are not so attractive. Mabel does not
appear much, on the scene ; thus, although the
finest disposition of the two, she does not claim se
large a share of- notice as the heroine Madeline
Clare. There is something unsatisfying in her
career ; she seems so bright and beautiful a charae'
ter, until tried at last she fails. Yet it is probable
that, though 'painful, it may be a real and likely
occurrence, that one like her should approach hat
not attain to the standard of perfection. She came
trusting to the might of earth, not looking to the
majesty of Heaven for support, and in her worship
of the beautiful she did not pay homage to the
sternershrine of duty and self-sacrifice. She was My
patient and impetuous, and being greatly beset and
troubled, she threwlaway her own peace of mind bf
an impulse of rage and mortification. After her union
with the treacherous Temple, she is lost to us for
interest or excitement ; there is but one goal for
her to travel to, where she must pass from tae
stirring scenes of worldly excitements to the rest
of the grave. A pure and spotless nature like here
could not endure to exist with one like Herbert
Temple, and hence she was worried and harassed
by the unequal and unnatural strife. Her death
was inevitable, but it was not beneath the skies of
Italy that she passed away, as she had supposed.
Stung with remorse, her deceiving husband put
an end to his ill-starred career, and then the for
lorn Madeline returned home to die. During her
brief experience with the world, Madeline had suf'
fered keenly, and had also enjoyed. with excess.
Her temperament was one which is not often happg,
and the description of her ideas and fancies when
all seemed prosperous, reveals that such a nature
expects too much from a perishing state like this,
" Then every emotion of the inner reflects its owe
beauty on the outer world. Earth has a bloom,
and ocean a purple ; we look on the heavens that
store no cloud, and the wilderness is brightened
by the rose. The breezes as they pass us make
melody as of the lute and viol, and the very wind!!
of heaven sing rejoicingly on our path.'
Thus Madeline regarded her future course, and
she was disappointed. She did not cultivate
that better knowledge of the world around her and
within her that sorrow and suffering could .have
taught her. In her case, after a short struggle,
she would have been freed from trouble, and eve'
if not, how grand and glorious would have been
the contest, instead of her precipitate retreat into
the ambush made ready for her. There are enough
rash and vacillating tempers in the world to, fall
a prey, without the high and lofty natures adding
to the awful list. With Madeline, however, the
error was soon seen, and the rest of life becari!
a purifying preparation for a better. She , hag
passed through the ordeal which, fiery and consume
ing, had left the best feelings of her heart incor'
ruptible and immortal. They were preserved from
the taint of sin and evil by her stedfast spirit and
devotion to right. The mystery that hangs
b over,
the life of Philip Clarees is one of deep import, and
skilfully devised and worked out. The other per:
sons who appear on the scene are calculated to add
interest to its relation, and the descriptions of the
circles of high life into which the heroine enters for
a short time, diffuse a brilliancy over the narrative.
Altogether, " Madeline Clare" cannotfail to please
those who are charmed by romance, and interested
by an attractive story. There is great variety in
the different natures presented before us, and the
intricacy of the plot possesses marvels to fascinate
the lovers of mystery. The bright and sparkling
character of its composition, the lovely scenery,
picturesquely described, all combine to create for
it an interest, and impart to it a merit.

Audubon. By Mrs. Horace Sr. John. Longman)
Brown, Green, and Longmans.
A pleasing narrative of the adventures and dig'
coveries of the great naturalist in the New World,
dezived from his own works and from fragments
published in the United States. A work that mg
Ise placed with advantage in the hands of both
young and old, and likely to be an acceptable pre'
sent.

POLISH NATIONALITY.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

- - -
Sin,—The Sun ever strenuously maintains the
rights of deserted Poland. But there is much rea'
son to fear that the sun of heaven will not ever
again shine on her as an independent nation. The
land of the brave, the noble, the intelligent, there
is much reason to fear, will still remain under the
tyrannic sway of Russia. And why ? Plainly for
the reason that you have so often and so forcibly
given, that Germanism holds its sway over (whot
she was wont to be) independent, ➢ZIGHTY England
Let us refer to that enchanting work, Miss PorfeCts
" Thaddeus of Warsaw," and particularly to its
motto—

" 0 ! bloodiest picture in the book of time,
Sarmatia fell, unwept, without a crime ! "

Also to a more recent period, when, in defiance of
one of the articles of the Treaty of Vienna, guarair
teed by both France and England, Russia was
allowed again to 'subjugate Poland, without an
attempt made by either to assist her. The two kJ'
lowing lines written at the time were very appro•
priate to that infamy--

" 0 ! shame to thee, Albion ! 0 ! shame to thee, Gaul,
That Russia should triumph, that Warsaw should fall !"
Yours obediently,

AN OLD SOLDIER.
11th Mardi, 185 G.

HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND THE

MEDICAL PROFESSION.

We see that Mr. Hopley, to whose earnest ad-
vocacy of the cause of Health and Education we
have frequently endeavoured to draw the attention
of our metropolitan sanitary societies, has been de-
livering at Brighton a course of eight lectures, than
which, as we gather from a Brighton contemporary,
" a more intellectual, a more valuable, and a more
eloquent course has never been delivered in the
Brighton Town Hall ; " and which the Sussex Ex-
press characterises as " a brilliant course, listened
to with the deepest attention by brilliant and
fashionable audiences." In an after-lecture speech
Mr. Hopley closed the proceedings with a well-
merited compliment to the medical profession. He
said :

" He would mention one other circumstance which had
gratified him not a little. He thought his audience would
agree with him, that if any one class of the community had
a better excuse than any other for not attending these
lectures, it was the medical faculty. The faculty could not
expect to gain any physiological knowledge from him, they
being more capable of instructing him in physiological' facts
than he of instructing them ; nor did these gentlemen want
to be informed of the distressful condition of the labouring
population, since their avocations naturally led them N hers
sickness most abounded—namely, among the miserable, un-
drained, unwatered dwellings of the fever-stricken poor ; nor
did medical gentlemen require to be informed of the large
amount of preventable disease and preventable death under
which the world is suffering, since few are better acquainted
than themselves with these sad facts. When the audience con-
sidered all this, and considered further that after a hard day's
toil these gentlemen are liable to he summoned, at any time of
the night, to attend at the couch of the sick and dying, his
audience would, he was sure, agree with him that the medical
profession might have made for themselves a very tolerable ex-
cuse for resting quietly at home instead of spending their evens
ins at these lectures. But what had been the case ? In three
or four instances there had been members of the profession
on the platform ; in three distinct instances a member of the
medical profession had taken the chair; to-night he felt proud
to see himself supported by the profession on his right hand
and the profession on his left ; and he thought that he might
venture to say that not a lecture of the series had been delivered
without some of the most eminent of the medical faculty of
Brighton taking thei r seats among the audience. Why had these
gentlemen been present here? They had come forward—utter
strangers to him—to set their seal, as it were, on the truths
which it had been his duty to utter. With liberal minds
and large hearts—hearts that felt for the misery on w'bich
they were obliged day by day to look—(hear)—they had come
forward to help him, a non-professional man, to expound
those physiological laws the observance of which they (the
faculty) knew would be of immense benefit to the human
family. (Applause.) None were more fully aware than these
gentlemen that if these laws were more generally understood
and observed there would be less need of medical attendance
—("Hear" from the platform) —less need to consult the physi-
cian, less need of medicines of every kind, and corsequently
there would be a considerable diminution in the incomes of
the medical faculty ; yet ho had always found—whether in
London or in country towns, whether in places where he
was known or places where he was a stranger—these
gentlemen were ready to come forward and support the
truth of the adage that "prevention was better than cure."
(Much applause.) He did not think it right to omit this
opportunity of saying these few words. He would rather
have said them in the absence of these members of the
faculty, whose kind courtesy he could not but say was the
more gratifying to him, inasmuch as, before his visit to
Brighton, they were—the majority of them—perfect strangers
to him ; he had not possessed any introductions to them,
nor did he know them even by name until they came volun-
tarily forward to aid him in his humble endeavours to benefit
his fellows. (Hear and applause.) He would detain the
audience no longer than to express his very sincere thanks
for the kind and earnest attention which they had been so
good as to bestow upon him during the whole of these din.
courses.—The lecturer sat down amid loudly-expressed ap-
probation, and the meeting separated."

We regret to announce the demise, at Nice, on S&
turday last, of the Hon. Thornas Liddell, !second son of
the late Lord Rayensworth.