The Sun.
London, England, 1856-11-04 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

Little Dorrit. No. XII. By Charles Dickens.
The Dorrits are still upon their Italian travels
—a-pleasuring. The principal portion of the No-
vember number for 1856 (No. xii.) is occupied by
a circumstantial account of their doings in the pa-
laces and among the grandees of Venice. Mr.
Dorrit being " much among Counts and Mar-
quises." Mr. Tinklor, his valet, being in attend-
ance. Mrs. General being accessible at stated
times to the valet, and anybody else connected with
the great House of Dorrit, seated in one of the
Venetian palace-halls, with her feet on " a little
square of carpet, so extremely diminutive in re-
ference to the size of her stone and marble floor,
that she looked as if she might have had it spread
for the trying on of a ready-made pair of shoes ;
or as if she had come into possession of the en-
chanted piece of carpet, bought for forty pieces by
ono of the three princes in the Arabian Nights,
and had that moment been transported on it, at a
wish, into a palatial saloon with which it had no
connection." Gondolas and gondoliers attached
to the establishment of the Dorrit Family, ever
swinging drowsily in a little forest of piles in the
grand canal hard by their temporary residence--
prepared at any moment to glide away over the
surface of the silent highways of the Fairy City
of the Adriatic at the behest or for the behoof, at
the beck and at the bidding, of Mr. Dorrit, late
of the Marshalsea—of Edward Dorrit, Esquire, ex-
Tip of the London billiard-rooms and stable-yards
—of Frederick Dorrit, Esq., until very recently
of the suburban clarionet—of Miss Dorrit, the ex-
danseuse, and of dear little Amy Dorrit—Little
Dorrit, in fact,—the ex-milliner. Besidos the
Dorrits, we are introduced again at Venice to the
Gowans—aud between these two groups of the
Gowans and the Dorrits there flutter out upon our
view, every now and then, the wpnderfully con-
trasting characters of Sparkler the noodle, and
Blandois of Paris, otherwise Rigaud, the mur-
derer ! "Something Wrong Somewhere " (ch. v.)
reveals to us little Amy placed at a disadvantage
by all her relations with the single exception of
old Uncle Frederick. A comatose old gentle-
man, who wakes up nobly in her defence one
fine morning at breakfast. Striking the
table with a great blow (directly she has left
the room), and protesting against her disparage-
ment solemnly, " in the face of God," as against an
act of evil pride and heinous ingratitude. Speak-
ing thus, gesticulating thus, denouncing thus the
miserable family pretensions—(writes our author)
—" As his hand went up above his head and came
down, on the table, it mislit have been a blacksmith's."
Adding—" After a moment's silence it had relaxed

into its usual weak condition." "Something
Right Somewhere" is scarcely so comprehensible a
title to the next chapter (vi.)—revealing to the
reader, as it does, first of all,Sparkler fairly brought
to the feet of Miss Fanny—and secondly, Blandois
of Paris and Lion, "the objectionable dog," sud-
denly at loggerheads—" Instinct," in the latter
instance, proving, as we are told, "stronger than
Training." Lion, in fact, attempts to tear the
unknown murderer in pieces—only to be himself
murdered, poisoned, by the treacherous white hand!
" Mostly, Prunes and Prism" is the heading of the
other chapter (vii.), completing the present number
(xii.) of " Little Dorrit"—a wholly bewildering
phrase, of course, to any and every one who has

_ . ..
not previously had his laugh out in an earlier page
(356), over Mrs. General's correction of Little
Dorrit'sMarshalsea vulgarism in calling her Father

•" Father."

"Papa is a preferable mode of address," observed
Mrs. General. " Father is rather vulgar, my dear.
The word Papa, besides, gives a pretty form to the lips.
Papa, potatoes, poultry, prunes, and prism, are all very
good words for the lips ; especially prunes and prism.
You will find it serviceable, in the formation of a de-

meanour, if you sometimes say to yourself in company

—on entering a room, for instance—Papa, potatoes,
poultry, prunes and prism, prunes and prism."
Wherefore, "Mostly, Prunes and Prism," as the
title of chapter seven, merely implies by the
suggestion of a ludicrous inference, the develop-
ment of a " surface" in Amy's regard, under the
varnishing influence of Mrs. General, seated upon
her elevated coach-box, keeping the proprieties
well together ! Towards the close of the number
the scene is changed from Venice to Rome—from.
Venice, with its "prevailing odor of bilge water
and an ebb tide on a weedy shore," to Rome, "a
city, where everything seemed to be trying to stand
still for ever on the ruins of something else!" An-
ticipations are held out to us, by the way, of two
very astounding events in the History of the Dorrits
—the probable marriage of old Mr. Dorrit and
Mrs. General, of the Varni,,h and the Proprieties,
and the Prunes and Prism surfacing !—and the
possible absorption, a little later on, of the sud-
denly acquired wealth of the family, in—what ?
one of Mr. Merdle's, the Great Merdle's the Mer-
dle's gigantic speculations. We shall see. The
former of these two astounding turns of the wheel
is plainly spoken of—the latter is merely vaguely,
dimly, hinted at Who knows—perhaps the
Dorrits, after all, may settle down again in their old
quarters at the Marshalsea.

Mr. Arle. 2 Tols. Hurst and Blackett.
This tale is apparently the work of a young
writer, one who has insufficiently studied the art of
novel writing, and. who, though not devoid of
ability, is wanting in the tact and discretion ac-
quired by experience. The skill with which
a higher order of novelists unravel their plots, and
by turns thrill the reader with sympathy, or excite
his eager interest by painting faithfully the real
sufferings of life under the garb of fiction, or by
interweaving with their tale some of those startling
events that sometimes prove that "truth is stranger
than fiction," is wanting here. The story is not
without interest, nor the characters without indi-
viduality, but they are sometimes more eccentric
than attractive. Two children who are introduced
are, perhaps, the least pleasing persons in the book.
One of them is of a Spanish family, and, being a
lonely orphan, it is natural that she should be pe-
culiar and unchildlike. But the other, a little
brother of the heroine, is without such excuse. The
heroine is the most attractive person, the hero
being, of course, Mr. Arle. She is the daughter of
Mr. Stanton, a clergyman, who leaves the church
from conscientious. scruples. Hilda Stanton feels
herself bound to break off her engagement with the
heir of the neighbouring manor, owing to the
great change in their worldly position. Her lover
is a weak and vacillating individual, whose family
strongly urge him to agree in her decision. The
engagement is, however, renewed conditionally ;
but before the end of the time of probation the
gentleman meets an heiress of great attractions,
and renounces his former attachment. Mr. Stan-
ton and his son and daughter remove to a quiet
country spot, where Mr. Arle appears on the scene.
The acquaintance between him and Hilda is very
much in the style of those quarrelling lovers who have
lately been the fashion. Mr. Arle has also met
with a disappointment from the falsehood of his
betrothed, and finds in Hilda a more worthy object
of affection. He manifests it in a very eccentric
way, however, and as Hilda often resents his lec-
tures and satires their acquaintance is anything but
harmonious. He proves himself a true friend to
health rendering
them notwithstanding, and on her father's pro-
carioussary he invites him to accompany him to Spain.
His dangliter, strange to say, does not go with
' ci from Mr.
them, and has the bitterness of hearmaavo.
Oa
Arle that her father lies in a foreign
a warmer climate neces-
sary
Arle 'and Hilda
his return after some delays,
arrive at au understanding,tho story, but
over. Thi.-; is the main thread
and events. `Cher©
there are many minor characters and
are only two vo-
lumes,is no ]ack of incident, for thereld do well to avoid the
andltorh;eir troubles are
but the writer
of undoubted truth are
flec lions. Thoughts
frequent introduction ofw
of expression,
withoutn great-care in their
often prirented ; but"oral sentences and re-
often
instead of impressing the
they are apt to
weary
not at all inferior to many
reader. The novel is
introduction and fore©
r every season. It is because
of those which
frequentappear every
of
power and ability that
and novelty
it shows
ndered more critical towards the
the reader
is
rendered
t the writer exercise more judg-
mentinferior parts. *
that he ma'r.es less effort,
at the same time
o doubt achieve for himself many
and he will n
successes in the world of fiction.

The reports brought by the overland mail regarding
the fresh goldfield discovered in New South Wales wilt
cause further arrivals from Australia to be looked for
with great interest. The spot is at Rocky River, near
13,ttburst, which lie; in the inttzior, about 120 miles from
Sydney, and is close to a district marked as extensively
auriferous in the ()facial map published in the Govern-
ment blue-book on the goldfields in January, 1853.
According to some of the statements in the Sydney
papers, the amounts obtained were larger and the suc-
cess more universal than bad been experienced at any
other mines, diggers from Victoria being t'f opinion
that it would prove the richest field yet discovered in
any part of the world. As these allegations aredrepre-
sented tk, have been made after several thousanthesrpeeris-
sons had been for some days on the_ spot,.tzontll;it bandtlaa thethe
ampa
joosristiybiliotyt
such
s'aacycoupnrotsv.e boentterthteo
people of the adjoining colony
ossly exaggerated and
that the whole affair had of Victoria. were affirming
that great disappointment would result,
gr
been