The Sun.
London, England, 1860-07-18 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

Castle _Richmond. By Anthony Trollope, author
of the " Bertrams," &c., &c. 3 vols. Chapman
and Hall.
This author has been some years before the
public, but recently he has particularly distinguished
himself. There is something standard and solid
in his writings which conveys the unmistakable
impression that, whether or no the reader approves
the subject-matter before him, he is dwelling on
something out of the common. This story of
" Castle Richmond" deserves encomiums for its
vigorous style, bold sketches, free spirit, and fine
language. The plot of the story is not new, but in
some measure a novelty is introduced at the con-
clusion. Of the persons introduced into these pages
some stand' out in bold relief, made bright with the
glorious feelings that animate them ; others hover
in the distance dim and dark with their night-shade
purposes. Owen Fitzgerald is a fine dashing speci-
men of a hero, he is most calculated to attract at
first sight, but on further acquaintance he does not
impress so favourably. There remain the daring
spirit and the high sense of honour, but there lurks
in the background too much self-reliance and too
much assumption in his bearing. He spoils the
effect of his really excellent qualities by being too
conscious of the value himself. He had no right
to insist on Clara Desmond being engaged to him
on the strength of his having made a transient im-
pression upon her inexperienced . and uncultivated
mind in youth. True, she might have waited long
and wandered far before she encountered a braver
defender or a more devoted lover; but that was not
the question, and 0 wen would have shown more
real appreciation of that love he so vaunted had
he recognised the .sacred force of engagements.
Entered upon in sunshine, they should not be
iightly cancelled in storm. No man possessed of
proper self-respect would have yielded to the sug-
gestion made by Owen to Herbert to take the
estates not his own by law, and to give up the
bride he considered his own by solemn contract,
and whom no fatal discovery of first mar-
riages could take from him. In the time
of trials the latent qualities come forth grandly to
proclaim what good there is in the nature, and
Herbert, who might to some have appeared a tame
spiritless youth beside his princely rival a
Malcolm Groome to serve as a foil to a Roderick
Dhu—has certainly the advantage, He was not
a particularly strong character ; he had been reared
in luxury and unnerved by prosperity. His path
seemed smooth for his feet ; his sky above seemed
fair and serene, when suddenly the danger loomed
in the distance. He was exposed to as hard a
trial as could test the spirit, and try the heart of
any man, and doubly hard to a youth, and above
all one so circumstanced. He could have hardly
met with a more crushing blow than the news im-
parted to him by Mr. Prendergast. Sir Thomas,
his father, had married his mother, while her
former husband lived, and gone was the bright
future, and vanished every hope of happiness.
Such agony comes seldom in a lifetime, but when
it falls in the morning of one's days it is over-
whelming. In this emergency Herbert came out
in a very creditable manner, and Clara certainly
reflected honour on her sex for constancy and
courage. Owen, on the contrary, behaved in a
very unbecoming manner. The fact of his refus-
ing to take possession of the estates on the death of
the unhappy Sir Thomas was not in itself sufficient
to indicate his character. There was something
noble inherent in his nature which when left to
itself could never triumph in the agony of another,
and his relation's bitter affliction made their dwell-
ing-house as sacred from his entrance as master,
as if all the certificates in the kingdom had been
unimpeachable witnesses to the authenticity of the
marriage, and the death of the first husband at the
right time been affirmed and ratified by a hundred
witnesses. But real merit 'consists in being true
in all things, and it is no sacrifice to relinquish
what we prize not. Broad lands and lofty titles
0 wen did not want ; but he wanted what
Herbert prized more—the Lady Clara for
his wife. It was mean to attempt to com-
promise faith and feeling with empty names
and sordid dross. Herbert acted to the
spirit of the immortal truth expressed in these
lines—
"Honour an 3 shtme from no condition rise ;
Act well your part—there all the honour lies."
It could not affect his merit, whether Abraham
Mollett reposed beneath the churchyard turf, or
whether, for the affliction of many, lie survival to
cumber the earth ; but it did affect his fame if
he made unworthy compromises, and showed all he
cared to keep and feared to lose were the treasures
that must one day meet the moth and the rust-
Lady Clara is at first 'not very enthusiastic about
her engagement; but when trouble comes, she
rouses herself to look it in the face, and in the