The Sun.
London, England, 1860-05-31 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

The Curates of Riversdale. Revelations in the
life of a Clergyman, Written by himself.
Three vols. Hurst and Blackett.

The motto prefixed to this work is as follows
" I should like to tell the truth, but if I did I should
be torn to pieces here or abroad." It will be evi-
dent to the reader that no fear of the above inflic-
tion has deterred the writer of these pages from
expressing himself at all times freely, forcibly, and
fully on all points. This cannot be called a desir-
able sort of publication, and although it certainly
does not deserve the severe strictures that have
been passed upon it in some quarters, it is not suit-
able to introduce the themes here descanted upon
in such a style as the one here adopted. If much
of what is said and inferred in these
accounts is true, it is not by bringing the
ministers of the church into contempt that the
evils will be rectified, and by making all things se-
condary to the purposes of raising a laugh or
passing a censure, nothing will be rightly judged
or calmly considered. The best wishers of the
author should have persuaded him not to throw
away the chance of making an impression which
his talents could readily have done by being at
times so inflated in his style, and at others so
ludicrous in his descriptions. But few can read
with a grave countenance the account given of
the farewell visit paid to a great professor abroad.
The scene is intended for pathos, but it more
closely resembles burlesque. The forced attempt
to produce the sublime out of nothing has led to
the creation of what has been called the next step
-to the ridiculous. It is not to b 3 supposed
however, that there are no redeeming features in
these volumes ; on the contrary, they display many
points of merit, and the description of some of the
characters are admirable. Mr. Fitznil is a mas-
terly sketch of a ranter—grandiloquent at one
moment and nearly choking with passion at the
next. The only clear impression he conveys to the
mind is that he considered himself of the church
militant in the widest acceptation of the term, for
he started improbable theories, gave absurd eluci-
dations of Scripture, and then resented all inter-
ference, and stormed at all who differed from him
in a manner more suitable to the political dema-
gogue than to a minister of the Gospel of peace.
With more care and much skilful pruning this
might have made a good work of its class,
but as it is it represents in a forci-
ble manner many things that it is of conse-
quence to think upon. We meet with some cha-
racters of interest in these pages, and especially
must be mentioned Monteleone, who was a splendid
genius, and who further evinced those better quali-
ties which, ever attractive, are peculiarly welcome
in a teacher of divinity. In his short life he effected
more than did many twice his age, and his early
death seemed, in his case, a summons of mercy to
the kingdom for which he had laboured so strenu-
ously to prepare his brethren. " The Curates of
Riversdale" has many faults and some mistakes,
but it has also merits to counterbalance, in a great
measure, the drawbacks, and the author gives every
assurance of being animated by a sincere wish to
do good service to the cause of whieh he treats,
though he has encountered so many lets and hin-
drances in his path that he has stumbled more than
once. On a future occasion it is to be hoped that
he may display more care and caution in dwelling
on sacred topics; while he can, at the same time,
call into exercise his voluminous knowledge and
great fluency of expression which are apparent in.
these volumes in an eminent degree.

The Firstborn ;or a Mother's Trials. By the
Author of "My Lady." Three vols. Smith.
and Elder.
This author is very clever, but it is to be regretted
that he cannot select happier subjects for the plots
of his novels. There is something unnatural in
Amy leaving her infant in the manner describe&
Allowing she had been persuaded in the first
instance to depart under the promise of the child
being sent for, it is against all probability that she
should have so tamely acquiesced in the cruel
decision of her husband, afterwards so plainly
declared to her. It is more likely that the brutal
opposition to her desire would have roused the
gentle young creature to a state of fury, rather
than that it should have stupified her. Maternal
anxiety is the one thing above all others that
makes the weak strong, the timid bold, the simple
wise, and the gentle fierce. The author has
exhibited considerable skill in depicting the
life-long yearning for the lost treasure that
haunted the mother all the long years ; while
other children thronged the home, none
the daughter of her youth, whom she had
re-
placed the lost Aprile, the first-born baby,
fondly imagined would live to be her delight in
infancy, her hope in childhood, and in her maturer
years that solace and stay that the eldest daughter
so often proves to a careworn mother, and which
no son, though the cherished heir of a long line,
and the pride of his parent's heart, can ever be so
effectually. Some of the members of the Crawford
family are most ably delineated, in particular
Gertrude. She is the best pourtrayed personage
in the story ; life-like and animated, she seems to
stand before us in her proud beauty, her daring
spirit, and her high endowments. Uncle Moly-
neux is another natural character. There is some-
thing very genuine in this quaint disciple of the old
school ; and it must be confessed that Charles
Crawford was more lucky than he deserved in pos-
sessing so kind a relation and so munificent a bene-
factor. The concluding passages are very exciting,
and the tortures that the guilty Crawford under-
went in some measure expiated his crime. Alto-
gether this story is a superior one; and the reader
will find in perusing it that it is one of those works
that,
if not pleasing, attract by their powerful
style, and
study. "T winch are always desirable subjects for
he First.-born" can therefore be fearlessly
recommended, in the conviction that the praise be-
stowed on it cannot be other than what is due to
the combination of taste and skill that produced it.

The Stock Exchange Committee yesterday again
adjourned the Pullinger investigation till Friday. An ear
eport will be desirable in order to extinguish a multitud
of rumours that are in circulation, most of which are totall
without foundation. It is believed that the new case now
under consideration will show a grievous want of strictness
and discretion on the part of the persons concerned, and
will also strengthen the opinion that in the management of
the bank the supervision over the clerks must have been
lax, but that in other respects it will develope no new fea-
ture. Meanwhile, it is certain that the course of the Stock
Exchange Committee will be one of inexorable imparti-
ality.