The Sun.
London, England, 1858-04-10 00:00:00

of the chief actorsare ablydrawn, particul.arly
'
Neth.q.wood and his grand-daughter, and many of
(the feminine .characters are very pleasing. The
author is so manifestly a new comer iuto the fields
of literature, that indulgence must be accorded to
her faults and deficienee3. No doubt with practice
and experience she will learn to moderate her
schemes and conceirrate her powers, giving us one
group of vivid and striking figures, instead of two
generations of extended connections that might
puzzle a genealogist, and a network of plots and
motives it would require a Richelieu to unravel.
Nevertheless, these very faults may render the pre-
sent work acceptable to a large class of novel readers.
Those who seek the excitement of love and hatred
without being very critical as to the manner in
which they are introduced—those who wish to
while away an hour over the pages of fiction, with-
out seeking the skill of a practised writer in an
early effort, will no doubt derive as much enter-
tainment from the records of " The Netherwoods
of Otterpool" as from many a wiser and more
laborious work.

The Old Palace. By Julia Tilt, author of "May
Hamilton," "Laura Talbot," aac. 2 vols.
Bentley.
In these volumes we are presented with a most~pleasing narrative, which is without any effort or
pretence. It is the record of the early years of a
young girl most singularly situated, and whose
adventures are well calculated to form an exciting
passage in the chronicles of a life. The plot is
most ingeniously constructed, and after a long
series of mistakes and mischances, all former suppo-
sitions are shown to be erroneous, and all previous
calculations are proved unreal. The truth is
simple enough when it is at last revealed, but at
the same time all felt that it ought to have bean
declared from the first. No motives of expediency,
and no kind intentioA could justify actions that
cast a slur on the eh iracter of the innocent, and no
causes could sancion the Effect that produced such
feelings on the mind of Theresa. Her old attach-
men ts were uprooted, her earliest ideas of relation-
ship subverted, her notions of right and wrong
confused, from not knowing to whom she should
render obedience, or where she could establish a
claim for assistance. Finally, sha was afraid to
appear to institute inquiries regarding the asser-
tions she had heard, and ashamed of herself on
account of the slur cast on the memory of her
imam ; while all the time she was the member of a
family that received, and meritod all honours, to
whom spotless fame had descended as their most
precious heirloom, down a long line of honourable
ancestors, and the clear lustre of whose renown had
never been darkened by the shadow of suspicion.
It was au undoubted fact that what occasioned such
a result was wrong, and the author has achieved a
brilliant success in delineating so forcibly, and ex-
pressing so clearly, the evils that result from false-
hood, deceit, and subterfuge, and showing fcrth
the necessity of leaving truth alone, in its majesty
anti glory, to defy all enemies and triumph over
every snare. In describing some of the im-
portant scenes, and the chief characters, great
skill is displayed. Mrs. Rosenburgh, in par-
ticular, is a very successful sketch ; her cun-
ning, adroitness, and her subtle spirit, are
depicted in a masterly manner. Envy, hatred,
and malice were the predominant features of
of her disposition, and her conduct may therefore
be supposed. The heroine interests not alone from
her romantic adventures and strange position, but
from her unworldly nature and high spirit. It is
true she had many faults, pre-eminent amongst
which may be ranked pride, but this was redeemed
in a measure by her sincerity and uprightness, and
she was always ready to own her faults and see
their evil tendencies. On the whole, the various
events that took place under the shadow of the
Old Palace are well calculated to afford an agree-
able subject for perusal. The tale goes back from
the familiar fashions of the present day to the
quaint devices of an older generation, and a "glimpse
of the days that are o'er " may not be unwelcome
to those whose eyes-are weary of gazing on the facts
and fictions of the present time. The reader
also meets in these volumes with a "Passage from
Real Life," which is a simple story that is told with
earnestness and simplicity. The chief point on
which it turns is not a pleasing one, but it is de-
scribed with force, and, at the same time, ruled by
a sense of propriety. None can help sympathising
with the misfortunes of Walter Linwood, nor ad-
miring the heroic spirit that actuated him in his
difficult position. The manner in which the
manoeuvres of the elder Linwood are discovered
is very exciting, and it is satisfactory to find that
the cloud which for so long has obscured the
virtuous hero, possesses a silver lining, and that he
was not so unfortunate as ho had at first supposed.
Many of the ideas expressed in these pages are of
a lofty order, and the general purpose of the author
seems to be to uphold that course of life which
vindicates the truth.

A Lover's Quarrel ; or, The County Ball. By the
author of " Cousin Geoffrey," " Married for
Love," &c., &c. 3 vols. Hurst and Blackett.
This story will, doubtless, be welcomed by those
who are pleased by the romantic, and who like
startling incidents introduced; but, at the same
time, the careful and discriminating reader will find
cause to be dissatisfied with some of its features.
There is much that is exaggerated in its composi-
tion. It is hardly likely that a lady so impressed
with the sense of the dignity of her family as was
Mrs. De Vere, should have allowed her daughters
to visit a total stranger to her, and still less probable
that she would have sanctioned an engagement
with one, of whose character she was so ignorant as
that of Courtney Claverhouse. It must also
appear that the scene at Frost's Hotel is overdrawn ;
and the circumstance of the first husband rushing
forward to claim Mrs. Claverhouse in his repulsive
costume, and still more repulsive habits, as she
issued forth iu the gay attire of a wedding guest,
is unpleasing without being effective. In one pas-
sage, however, the author achieves a triumph in
the description of the startling and exciting. It
is the scene at the altar, when the betrayed con-
fronts the betrayer, when the guilty Courtney
beholds her whom he believed in Australia, stand-
ing before him to denounce him in the sight of God
and man. He had deceived her by a false mar-
riage, before he had met the beautiful daughter
of the Da Veros, and by the aid of a friend as
base as himself he bad persuaded her to depart for
Australia, promising that he would follow goon
after. The death of Cecile's father delayed the
wedding fer a year, and thus the news followed
Violet over the seas, and while the arch deceiver
fancied that earth's extension intervened, between
the two fair beings he was sinning against, he was
suddenly disc )vered, on the eve of success, for if the
ceremony had been completed Cecile would have
been his only wife in the eyes of the law. It would
bo well for the peace of many if such exhibitions
occurred in the annals of humanity, as well as in
the pages of fiction. The quarrel of the lovers is
ingeniously depicted, and the excitement into
which Cecile worked up her passionate nature, and
the calm and severe conduct into which Dudley's
overstrained dignity led him, are exactly the ex-
tremes into which such characters would run. The
mistake that occurred about Dudley's engagement
to Eveline is a skilful contrivance, and furnishes
another proof of the ability that distinguishes this
author for intricate and elaborate construction. It
is to be desired that in a future production we may
meet with the same skill of design that here at-
tracts our admiration, with the omission of those
exaggerations and extravagancies that detract from
the merit of a story, which on other grounds may
mot be undeserving of regard.

---
The Voice and its Management. By Frederick
Kingsbury. Cocks and Co., New Burlington-
street.
Mr. Kingsbury commences his instructive
brochure with a full description of the mechanism
of the vocal organ, and illustrates by diagrams the
various parts and actions necessary to the perfect
rendering of au "auld Scots sonnet," or an Italian
&ens.
he management of the breath is carefully con-
Trisa Luost important attainment. Modu-
sideed and explained ; proving that " economy')
expounded in its physiological principles,
and and the nieth,d of uniting the different Registers'
of Voices ; the acquirement of Flexibility, the die-
can sr‘i): Articulation, and the diversified ac-
:a of the Shake, are
repeatedly dilated on,
atii ninacttizuctstinoerous note lessons given for the student's
PrThcte workice. is, unquestionably, a clever compound
of physiological science and artistic taste, but we
think the information contained in it would have
been moregenerally
appreciated, had it been
g
simplified. more

Agents of the British Government are in Baltimore
for the purpose of purchasing three million feet of ship
timber, which will he cut from the mountainous regions
of the Baltim')re and Ohio Railroad.
DEATIt OF Miss. DONALD KING.—We have to re•
card with regret the death, at a comparatively early age,
of this acco oplishrd lady. Mrs. King was confined
about three months since, and, though she at first ap-
p .ared to go on well, she was soon attacked by a disease
which has resulted in her death, which took place on the
G .h inst., at her residence in Lansdowne-place, Russell-
square. She was a most accomplished woman irreepte_c;
tive of her musical talent, being conversant with
French, Italian, and Latin languages. In private_he 'rile
e.
sh 3 was distingui,hed for her a&abi.iti T
year,manwcef rtehe interred lady,wihnothhea dLneonteitql -ugirteeec:CrnePinet.teedryh ye re
a4tle srt-
, day.