The Sun.
London, England, 1856-11-27 00:00:00

LI Ei,ATU F„

The Mildmayes; or, the Clergyman's Secret. By
Danby North. 3 vols. Chapman and Hall.
This is a story of twenty years ago, and the date
may perhaps be allowed to account for some of the
extraordinary incidents. It is a tale of a most ro-
mantic character, and, in the present day, would
be extremely improbable. The Mildmayes are two
beautiful sisters, and form a very attractive pair of
heroines, though their ambition and love of wealth
involve them in serious troubles. Their cousin,
Eustace Mildmaye, is the clergyman whose secret
gives the second name to the book. Lady Rock-
forest is the evil genius of all parties. She is half
out of her mind, and regards the two sisters with
most vindictive feelings, owing to some injuries
rece ved from their mother. Added to this, the
old romance of a false heir is introduced, Lady
Rockforest having substituted the child of her
nurse for her own infant, which had died, in order
to secure the property. This crime she confessed
to Eustace Mildmaye in a moment of excitement.
Influenced, partly by a dislike to repeating a con-
fession, and partly by a fear of the threats of Lady
Rockforest and her attendants, he concealed the
fact, which embittered his life and gave rise to
much subsequent misery. The conclusion of
the story is most romantic. The sisters
are carried off to the wild and deserted mansion of
Lady Rockforest, in accordance with the plans of
their half crazy enemy. One of them undergoes
such a succession of frights and accidents that the
finale leaves her with grey hair. However, their
friends come to the rescue, and Lady Rockforest
dies ; another evil character commits suicide, and the
remainder of their aiders and abettors are surren-
dered to justice. The unfortunate clergyman dies,
from an illness resulting from mental agitation, and
the sisters are both married to some other actors in
the tale. Though extremely unlikely and romantic,
many will no doubt find matter for admiration and
interest in the exciting scenes described. To the
lovers of the wild and startling it offers considerable
attractions; while those who prefer the reflection of
real life in fiction will be disappointed. But the
mystery preserved throughout, and the intricate
character of the plot, together with the many un-
common features of the story, give it an air of
originality and excitement that qualifies it to take
its place in the class of romantic fictions, even
though the romance borders on the extravagant
and the originality occasi
touches the absurd.

Russian, Popular Tales. Chapman and Hall.
This little volume is translated from the German
version, and edited by Jacob Grimm, famous for
his edition of " Household Stories." The t .les are
met with, we are told, in every part of Russia,
and the lower orders amuse themselves with theta
in the winter evenings. They are much of tho
same class as most old romantic stories, with fairy
adjuncts. Some indigenous Sclavonie features are
pointed out to our notice in the introduction,
while other parts, it is confessed, bear a stroll
resemblance to some of the old German household
fairy tales. They are only interesting to the gen.:
ral reader from the fact that so little is know'
about the tastes and customs of the Russian lower
classes that the perusal of their favourite narratives
.
may throw some light on their national peculiari
ties. Nevertheless, an hour's entertainment 11:0,
be gathered from the record of the wonderful (3%
ploits of the giant-killing heroes. The book 1
handsomely bound, and illustrated with woodcut.'