The Sun.
London, England, 1860-03-29 00:00:00

LITERATV RE.

Truman's Temptation. A novel. Edited by the
Hon.:Mrs. Ralph Dutton. 3 vols. Hurst and
Blackett.
There are some painful scenes. of domestic life
disclosed in these pages with an earnestness that Is
very effective. It cannot be said that there is much
that is new in the plot of the tale, but, at the same
time, there is nothing tame or inanimate through-
out its tenour. Geraldine is in herself a good sub-
ject for a heroine, for she can think and act, and
although, through the combinat ion of unfortunate
circumstances, she early fixed her fate in a most
unsatisfactory manner, she did not yield to de-
sponding, nor give way to dsspa ir. She strove and
struggled, and in due course sue eeeded in obtaining
sure calm to her distracted mind. The interest
does not, however, depend upon her alone, for
Leonie, her sister-in-law, is another delightful por-
traiture ; and, indeed, she is th e best character in
the story. The author, who I Las created such a
finished character, can do better hereafter, and may
reach to a higher standar d than this can
aspire to. A being like Leonie is sure to be the life
of her circle, which isnot confin ed to home, but ex-
tends to all who come at all within her sphere.
Many mourned for her early tleath, many missed
her bright presence from among them, but though
her days on earth were indeed a span, she accom-
plished more in her bright days of youth than
many who have lingered in this weary world, till
their heads were hoary and their strength com-
pletely spent -with time. Kee was not a precise
style of person, not that such a one could ever be
popular, but she inclined to mirth; her foreign
birth only increased her attractiveness, while she
possessed as true a heart and as warm affections for
home as any English maiden throughout the land.
Geraldine found her indeed a treasure in her deso-
late and blighted life. The description of Lawrence
is excellent. Many such a wily man has insinuated
himself into the good graces of so eiety, and too late has
the world discovered him to be an adventurer. The
arrangement of the sad scenes which led to the
marriage of Geraldine with her brother's tutor is
very clever, and though they may have been copied
from reality in many a splendid mansion, that is
no drawback to their again and again being repro-
inced in the pages of novels. So long as parents
Nell' sacrifice their daughters at the shrine of
vanity, so long should the practice be reprobated
in every available opportunity. Lord Silverton
is a most unfavourable specimen of a husband,
selected by the rules of convenanee, it is true, but
no one forced upon her could have been otherwise
than hateful to a high-spirited girl like Geraldine,
and it is only natural she should listen to the voice
of the tempter who urged her to escape. The
death-bed of Lady Bournemouth is the best satire
on the result of such a life as hers. When her
daughter again stood before her she declared they
deceived her—the pale, careworn woman could not
be her bright and blooming favourite. The girl
was gone, indeed, and the woman was there who,
through her instrumentality, had had to endure
the biting basts of poverty, and, above all other
wretchednesses, to realise the bitter truth that she
had made an ill-assorted marriage. Who was to
blame ? Not the victim who rushed away from
misery on to the edge of a precipice, but those
who were her guardians, by the decrees of heaven, as
well as by the statutes of man. Well might the
mother fear to face her child, well might she fear
still more to meet her end, and to remember that
though Mewls had applauded and relations upheld
her, she was now to face a more righteous tribunal
than the faulty decisions of the self-sufficient and
vain world she belonged to could constitute ; and
if one crime above another can be supposed to
preponderate it must he thatpf the parent who drives
her child to sin rather than abate her own lust of
the eye and pride of life, One of the few deserving
persons here mentioned i 3 Lord Ernest Fitzger-
maine, and it is especially sad to contemplate the
the disappointment of his hopes, when he alone of
alone of all her suitors would have made Geraldine
an excellent husband. Although reserved and un-
prepossessing as many considered him, there was
genuine worth in the young man's nature, and life
to him was a glorious inheritanee that the shadow
of a crossed love should not wholly overcast. He
worked away in foreign climes in his vocation till
his country rung with his name, and his former
detractors were everywhere met with his praises.
Too late did the object of his affection find out the
prize she had lost, but she felt truly that to have
been selected by such a man was no common homour,
and that henceforth she would remain as she was,
and devote herself to her brother. It was one
blessed thing for Geraldine that among her family
she was always welcome.. After death had termi-
nated the sufferings of her wretched husband, she
did not lead an intolerable life. though it was over-
shadowed and appeared worse than it was to those
who remembered her in her opening spring of light
and loveliness. To them she seemed ever a wreck,
but they should have reflected that things might
have been much worse. Gertrude is quite a con-
trast to the other ladies, but she pleases one in her
way, and she is an admirable warning to those
ladies who are apt to forget the day of reckoning
when they attire themselves in gorgeous array, and
who also seek to hide their first folly by subsequent
errors. Sir Henry Kincardine, her husband, is a
very worthy man, and he certainly deserves a
better wife. Many minor personages fill up the
tale in a satisfactory manner, and "Woman's
Temptation" may be considered on the whole as a
fair exposition of some of the most eventful pas-
sages of human existence, and thus, while it is only
of average merit as regards construction and com-
position, it really can lay claim to being of more
importance as regards its subject, and its purpose
is of an elevated aim and exalted character. Few
of the miseries of human existence have caused
more sorrowful lives and bitter deathbeds than the
mistakes that have been made in the outset of the
career of many a home favourite and star of
society.