The Sun.
London, England, 1860-07-14 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

BENTLEY'S STANDARD NOVELS.
_Rita : an Autobiography. New Edition.

It is very agreeable to find this superior fiction
included in Mr. Bentley's list of cheap books. The
story is very interesting, and there is a vast amount
of talent displayed in the delineations and descrip-
tions throughout. The whole work is far better
than the usual run of novels, and it was well
received at the time of its appearance, besides
having since been extensively circulated in the
libraries about the country, where it is a general
favourite. Rita is a charming heroine. She exer-
cises a peculiar fascination over us from the period
of the first of her reminiscences until the last of
them. She tells us "my very earliest recollection
of home is the fourth storey of a house in a dusky
street in Paris. We moved afterwards to a brighter
apartment near the Champs Elysees, but it is with
this gloomy abode that the first joys and sorrows
of my childhood are associated." This was a typi-
cal dwelling, for until we take leave of her the
unhappy maiden is beset with cares and environed
by difficulties. But she possessed a brave spirit
and a trusting heart. She would fight on, though
the struggle was so great that it might have over-
whelmed any one much less a young girl; and at
last she triumphed over her enemies, and was able
to rest in the evening after a hard day's toil. The
interest of the story becomes niost exciting when,
after her mother's death, Rita is surrounded by
snares and pitfalls. Well might her poor mother
have shuddered on her deathbed at the prospect
before her child. She however took hope at last,
and said to her daughter, "I think God will not
let you come to harm, dearest Rita, if you ask
Him." In this blessed assurance she passed
away. " Her cold hand lay in mine, and her
face was towards that glorious sun that
was breaking in the eastern sky." Her wretched
husband returned when his unhappy victim was
removed from the misery of enduring his insults,
and bearing the torments he inflicted upon her.
He had written to say he should return when all
fear of infection was over, and as Rita was
arranging the bed of death the door was thrown
' open suddenly, "My father, covered with dust,
stood before me. Curse these servants. I've
been ringing. for an hour. What does it mean ?
I'll have them all—why, what's the matter—where,
where is your mother ?' I drew back the shroud.
There she lies at rest, and beyond this world's
cruel wrongs." The grief which the reprobate
man felt was soon over, and he recommenced a
course which plunged his daughter into a state of
misery which could not have been excelled. The
passage which relates the flight of Rita, and her
subsequent desertion of Lord Rawdon, is most ex-
citing, and quite of the old school of romance.
Doubtless, in her fitful life, Rita made many mis-
takes and committed many errors ; but, on the
whole, she comported herself in a manner not often
witnessed in such trying scenes, and she might
congratulate herself at last on having passed
through such fiery ordeals unscathed, and having
surmounted such apparently insuperable obstacles.
This tale is vividly related throughout ; there is a
spirit and an energy infused into its pages which
joined to the striking events recorded, and the
skill with which many of the dramatis personce are
sketched, renders it a prize for those wio seek in
the lottery of the libraries for somethi:ig enter-
taining. There is little doubt that many like
to obtain a permanent possession of so delig.htful a
work, and therefore its cheap republications pro-
mises to be a valuable appearance.

The Oldest of the Old World, By Sophia May

Eckley. Bentley.

The record of a lady's wanderings amid the ruins
of Thebes and Memphis, or even through the streets
of Jerusalem, and by the desolate shores of the
Dead Sea, present little positive novelty in these
adventurous and stirring times. Still, it is never
totally uninteresting to meet with a fresh and
simply-written account of a traveller's impressions
when first visiting the scenes and localities ennobled
and consecrated by history, sacred and profane, by
the memories of the great ones of old, and by the
masters of song, in whose verse their names and
deeds have been recorded. The route taken by our
authoress was one which offered the greatest at-.
tractions to a cultivated and intelligent mind,
stored with the recollections of the past. Starting
from Leghorn, and passing by Naples, Pompeii,
and Sicily, the travellers paused at Malta,
visited the Cathedral and the Library of the
Knights, and the other curiosities of the island.
Thence they proceeded to Cairo, and explored the
marvels of Egypt; afterwards travelling through
the Holy Land, an account of which occupies a
good share of the volume. Constantinople, Rhodes,
and Athens formed part of their homeward journey,
and at the conclusion of six months they were once
more in Italy, having visited " the oldest of the Old
World" in that brief interval of time. The work
is written in a clear and easy style, and the strong
religious convictions of the author cause her to in-
troduce reflections drawn from the sacred writings,
which will render her work all the more attractive
to a large number of our readers. There is nothing
very new or striking in the volume, as it tells an
often-told tale, but it is especially suited for young
people, to whom it offers an agreeable mixture of
pleasant reading and historical information.