The Sun.
London, England, 1860-07-14 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

BENTLEY'S STANDARD NOVELS.
Rita : an Autobiography. New Edition.
It is very agreeable to fi:-Al this superior fiction
included in Mr. Bentley's list of cheap books. The

story is very interesting, and there is a vast amount
of talent displayed in the delineations and descrip-
tions throughout. The whole work is far better
than the usual run of novels, and it was well
received at the time of its appearance, besides
having since been extensively circulated in the
libraries about the country, where it is a general
favourite. Rita is a charming heroine. She exer-
cises a peculiar fascination over us from the period
of the first of her reminiscences until the last of
them. She tells us "my very earliest recollection
of home is the fourth storey of a house in a dusky
street in Paris. We moved afterwards to a brighter
apartment near the Champs Elysees, but it is with
this gloomy abode that the first joys and sorrows
of my childhood are associated." This was a typi-
cal dwelling, for until we take leave of her the
unhappy maiden is beset with cares and environed
by difficulties. But she possessed a brave spirit
and a trusting heart. She would fight on, though
the struggle was so great that it might have over-
whelmed any one much less a young girl; and at
last she triumphed over her enemies, and was able
to rest in the evening after a hard day's toil. The
interest of the story becomes most exciting when,
after her mother's death, Rita is surrounded by
snares and pitfalls. Well might her poor mother
have shuddered on her deathbed at the prospect
before her child. She however took hope at last,
and said to her daughter, "I think God will not
let you come to harm, dearest Rita, if you ask
Him." In this blessed assurance she passed
away. " Her cold hand lay in mine, and her
face was towards that glorious sun that
was breaking in the eastern sky." Her wretched
husband returned when his unhappy victim was
removed from the misery of enduring his insults,
and bearing the torments he inflicted upon her.
He had written to say he should return when all
fear of infection was over, and as Rita was
arranging the bed of death the door was thrown
open suddenly, "My father, covered with dust,
stood before me. Curse these servants. I've
been ringing for an hour. What does it mean ?
I'll have them all—why, what's the matter—where,
where is your mother ?' I drew back the shroud.
There she lies at rest, and beyond this world's
cruel wrongs." The grief which the reprobate
man felt was soon over, and he recommenced a
course which plunged his daughter into a state of
misery which could not have been excelled. The
passage which relates the flight of Rita, and her
subsequent desertion of Lord Rawdon, is most ex-
citing, and quite of the old school of romance.
Doubtless, in her fitful life, Rita made many mis-
takes and committed many errors ; but, on the
whole, she comported herself in a manner not often
witnessed in such trying scenes, and she might
congratulate herself at last on having passed
through such fiery ordeals unscathed, and having
surmounted such apparently insuperable obstacles.
This tale is vividly related throughout ; there is a
spirit and an energy infused into its pages which
joined to the striking events recorded, and the
skill with which many of the dramatis persona are
sketched, renders it a prize for those who seek in
the lottery of the libraries for something enter-
taining. There is little doubt that many will like
to obtain a permanent possession of so delightful a,
work, and therefore its cheap republication pro-
mises to be a valuable appearance.
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