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

EVENING, APRIL 10, 1858.

Biographical and Critical _Essays. 2 vols. By A.
Hayward, Q.O. Longman and Co.

Mr. Hayward has long been known and appre-
ciated as an able contributor to the "Edinburgh,"
" Quarterly," "North British," and other first-
class Reviews ; and many of our readers are,
doubtless, familiar with the articles reprinted in
these volumes. It is scarcely necessary to say, that
we cordially welcome them in their new form, as
valuable additions to our library shelves; for the
mastery and lucid style in which the author min-
gles the,factsof interesting biography, with the com-
ments of sound criticism, is attractive alike to the
educated scholar and the one who merely "dips into
a book" for casual aibusement. Mr. Hayward
give Us brief, but comprehensive, records of Sydney
Smith, Samuel Rogers, James Smith, Lord Ches-
terfield, Lord Eldon, The Countess Hahn-Hahn,
and numerous other celebrities connected with
Literature, whose characteristics and principles are
discussed with free and impartial treatment. Lord
Chesterfield's fallacies and errors ara judiciously
exposed, and his reputation for taste, elegance, and
refinement appears to be mere superficial polish on
a vet.) inferior sort of " Brummagem" moral metal.
His method of training his son evinced no great
depth of judgment, or acuteness of perception ;
and his endeavours to create a diamond out of a
pebble, was attended with just and salutary disap
pointment. Mr. Hayward's opinion of the Ches-
terfieldian system of human cultivation is thus ex-
pressed—
It is clear, however, that his lordship fell into what
strikes us to be a great error regarding the attention to
be paid to natural character or genius, and the possi-
bility or prudence of controlling it. He has an unlimited
confidence in education ; he thinks that the human mind
and body may be trained to anything; that it is our
own fault if we do not obtain the supreme control of
our passions, the entire command of our faces, and the
complete mastery of our limbs ; that, if we will but take
pains, we may possess most of the goof qualities, and
avoid all the bad ; that we may be as learned, eloqeemt,
graceful, and agreeable as we please ; that any young
man may take his degree in the art of tieasing as regu-
larly as in the classics, and beceme in due course the
craning of the women and the envy of the men ; or,
without the least reference to natural aptitude, may
confidently set about makieg himself a courtier, a diplo
matist, or an orator—in short, anything but a poet ;
which, possibly out of respect for the old maxim, is
allowed to form an exception to the theory. Yet some-
thing may be done even with poets. —"lf Shakspeare's
genius had been cultivated, those beauties which we so
justly admire would have been undisguised by those ex-
travagancies and that nonsense with which , key are fre-
quently accompanied."
Acting on these principles, Lord Chesterfield devotee
his best energie4, during a seriee of years, to the task of
qualifying young Stanhepe to play the very part of all
others for which be zeal palpably unfit. A heavy-look-
ing, loutish lad, wi,h good dispositions and a taste for
solid acquirement-a is to be manufac'uredvin•o an easy,
gracrful man of la dmion ; to be endowed invita Minerva
with all the superficial accemplshrnonts, and inoculated,
in his own despite, with all the lighter vices ; in the hope
(teo often vain) that they will pelish without hardeni, g,
and be abandoned at the proper season for the graver
cares and higher duties of society. Lord Chesterfield
might just as well have told such a son to be six feet
high as to be eloquent, to have a Roman nose as to be
graceful, to mite like Pope as to how bite the Due de
Richelieu ; and we strongly suspect that the donkey
playing I,p-dog, was a fair type of the neophyte in the
boudoir of la petite Blot, if indeed he over got so far.
The tenacity wish which the Eeri clung to his plan long
dafter every one else had seen its hopelessness,
is won-
Thel scales grew thicker and thicker, instead of
dropping from his eyes ; his son must and shall be a
modern Alcibiades ; all his old friends and former • tresses are adjured to make him one • and by m
suppose,
of putting the youth
entirely hiseawsea,yhe ise
expresly told that a hundred eyes
are watching him •
and that, if he eventually falls short of the ideal
dard, he may lay his account with finding allfathsteralny-
laveur and affection at an end for ever.
The result is well known. Time only one of his
father's favourite accomplishments which young Stan-
hope acquired and improved upon, was dissimulation •
and the skill with which he managed to conceal his
private marriage during so many years, shows that he
was no mean proficient in it. But we do not found our
judgment on the result. The scheme was absurd from
the beginning ; the whole theory is radically wrong.
The poet Rogers receives all, if not something more,
than he has a right to. That he was felicitous in
rhythm, fastidious in pluuseology, and correct in
style, we readily admit. That he possessed the vigour,
originality, and condensation essential to constitute
a "real poet," we strenuously deny. Poems that
are intended to endure the " wear and tear" of
ages, must have a portion of the strong, hempen
coil of Genius in their weaving, and not trust en-
tirely to the pretty, delicately-tinted silken fill-
mods of Fancy. There is much aptitude in these
remarks on his " Epistle to a Friend :"
The "EoiAle" is a vehicle for conveying, after the
manner of Horace and (in parts) of Pope, the writer's
notions of social comfort and happiness, as influenced
by residence, furciture, books, pictures, and companion.,
—subjects on all of which he was adinirably qualified a,
speak. His precepts are delivered in a series of grace-
ful could-te, and eaforced by authorities collected in the
notes. Of curse, he is all der moderation, simplicity,
and retire nent,—what poet or poetaster is not —with
about the same amount of prawical earnestness as
Grattan, when he declared he could be c,,ntent in a
small neat house, with cold meat, bread, and beer, and
plenty of claret; or as a couple from May Fair, who, when
they talk if love in a cottage, are dreaming of o,cottage
like the dairy-house at Tayrneuh or Cashiohury. All
Rogers wanted, way to be able to enjoy every pleasure
or luxury he really cared about ; and as he did not care
about a numerous establishment or a large house, the
model eida te which he invites his friend is of restricted
dimensions-
-

Here no state chambers in long lino unfold,
Bright with broad mirrors, rough with fretted gold :
Vet modest ornament with use combined,
Attracts the eye to exercise tho mind.
Small change of scene, small space bid home requires,
Who leads a life of satisfied desires."
This strikis us to be what Partridge would call a non
sequaar. Like the Presbyterian divine who, after pray-
ing ht all the lady of the manor's desires migt.t be
gratifiaed, judiciously added, "provided they be virtu-
ous,"—ltigers' after laying down that a life of eati,,fied
deiires implied a contracted sphere of action, should
have added "provided they be limited." The spend-
thrift who complained there was no living in England
like a gentleman under forty thauand a-year, would not
have led a life of ratified desires, with small change of
scene, or small space to disport in.
The Countess Hahn-Hahn, whose works, like
those of George Sand (Madame Dudevaut), fre-
quently form the subjects for a qut stion of their
moral doubt, with accompanying denunciations of
the writer ; is here very fairly digested, and evi-
dently thoroughly understood. We are told that
"she does not say our hearts are desperately
wicked, but she says that they are desperately fickle;
instead oftelling us to obey their capricious impulses,
she expressly tells us to bridle them ; and she
inculcates the due discharge of the domestic duties
as the best sedative for restlessness." It is pro-
bable that sonic degree of prejudice may be dissi-
pated by Mr. Hayward's declaration, that "she is
just the sort of writer who must be read, and read
carefully, to be appreciated."
The sterling integrity and brilliant talent of Syd-
ney Smith are vividly pourtrayed, in an article cal-
culated to stimulate the honourable ambition, and
elevate the intellect of the aspiring living; while it
renders a just tribute to the gifted dead. The second
volume commences with a lengthy paper on
"American Orators and Statesmen," in which, ex-
cellent writing and acute discrimination are pro-
minent. In connection with an illustration of the
oratory of Daniel Webster, we find an anecdote of
Rowland Hill, which we believe to be less hack-
neyed than most of the aorie3 relating to that ec-
centric preacher :
The late Rowland Hill understood human nature
well. His chapel having been infested by pickpockets,
he took occasion to remind the congregation that there
was an all-seeing Providence, to whom all hearts are
open,
and from wham nu secrets were hid ; " bet lest,"
h.! added, " there may be any present who are insensible
to such reflection,,, I beg leave to stets there are also
two Bow •stroet officers on the 100k-out."

and "Parisian Morals
"Journalism in France,"
and Manners," are equa.lly instructive and enter-
taining, strongly tempting us to copious extracts,
did not want of space forbid the indulgence. A
tn
deal of amusing in 'oration is affoAlei in " Bri-
tish _Field Sports ;" and a__ couple of papers on
c:Manntlrs and Riquette," and
" The Art of
Dining," vv ill find numerous and interested readers.
Run- stly recominendini; thee volumes to the no-
tice of the reading public, we conclude our notice
with a trait of the Great Nap ,loon showing up
the " lion" at ''feeding time :".___

The habit of eaiing fast and carelerely is supposed to
have paralysed Napoleon on two ri the most critical
occasions of his life--the battles of Borodino and Leipsic.
On each of these occasions he is known t, have been
suffering from indigestion. 0 the third day of Dresden,
,
too (as the German novelist Hoffman, who was in the
town, assert), the Emperor a energies were impaired
by the effects of a shoulder of mutton stuffed with
onions.
There can be no doubt that Napoleon's irregularity as
to meals injured his health and shortened his life. The
general order to his hoasehold was to have cutlets and
roast chicken ready at all hours, night and day, and it
was observed to the letter by Isis maitre-d'hotd, Dunand,
who had been a celebrated cock. In his more dignified
capacity, he contrived to fall in with the humour.) of his
Imperial master, and, by so doing, to be of essential
use at critical emergencies, when an hour of prolonged
flurry or irritation might have cost a province or a
throne. On one occasion, when matters had gone wrong
in some quarter, Napoleon returned from the Conseil
d'Etat in one of his worst tempera and most discontented
moods. A dejeuner a la fourchette, comprising his
favourite dishes, was served up, and Napoleon, who
fasted since daybreak, took his seat. But he had hardly
swallowed a mouthful, when apparently some inoppor-

e 4-!'ort,,,,f nr r.,,..11,ct:0n ettieg his. brain to tradnef4.;
L -sithwit crsre hi chair, ht.
upiiitea uis luuL—,ash I went the sable—crash I went
the dejeuner ; and the Emperor, springing up, paced
the room with rapid and perturbed strides, indicative of
the most frenzied rage. Dunand looked on without
moving a muscle, and quietly gave the fitting orders to
his staff. Quick as thought the wreck was cleared
away, an exact duplicate of the dcjeu2zer appeared as if
by magic, and its presence was quietly announced by
the customary "Scs Majeste est servie." Napoleon felt
the delicacy and appreciated the tact of this mode of
service. .2lferci Men, mon cher Dunand and one of his
inimitable smiles showed that the hurricane had blown
over. Whether Napoleon was a hero to his valet-de-
chambre we will not pretend to say, beat he was certainly
a hero to his maitre-d'hotel.

The Timely Retreat ; or, a Year in Bengal. By
Two Sisters. Second Elition. 2 vols. Bentley.
These volumes contain a vary lively and pleasant
narrative of the
.adventures of two sisters, who paid
a visit to their orother in Bengal the year before
the mutinies. The fresh and animated style of the
work, and the novelty of the proceeding, combine
to give an air of interest and vivacity to its pages,
which will afford entertainment to many readers.
The entire absence of pretenson, and the avoidance
of all serious or instinctive details, add to its re-
commendation. It professes to be nothing more than
what it is—the sight-seeings and doings of twolight-
hearted and adventurous maidens, whose faithful
return at the promised time was the means of their
escaping imminent peril. Having all their lives
heard of India as a household word, and having
many members of their family established out
there, the two sisters were suddenly seized with the
idea of forming a personal acquaintance with the
land of their dreams, and paying a visit to their
brother, who held a judicial appointment at
Dhoorgur, better known as Meerut. Their
mother having made the journey several times her-
s,lf, saw no objection to the plin, and off they
started, fully resolved not to exceed their twelve•
months' leave of absence. They started in high
spirits, and quite prepared to put up with any uu
avoidable deficiencies or iuconveuiences of the route
with a good grace. Their journey up the country,
however, presented some formidable difficulties.
The writer was' attacked with 'ever, and had
scarcely recovered when her sister succumbed to
the same evil influence. They hal allowed them-
saves to be driven on in their " gliarrie," dur-
ing the beat of the day, and the fatigue
and sun were too much. Added to their
troubles, their conveyance broke down in the mid-
dle of the night, when the opportune arrival of
their brother to meet them, relieved them from
their dilemma. Their arrival in their brother's
bachelor establishment excited groat astonishment
among the native servant, who peeped and spied
everywhere. Three ayahs always sat on the floor
of their roem to watch the progressof their toilettes,
and the cushions for the fasuionab!e arrangement
of the hair produced the greatest excitement.
Their experience of Indian life was not at all agree-
able. They found the tedium of it insupportable,
notwithstanding the civility of the neighbours to
the new corners. The monotony and lassitude of
a country life iu India is thus described :

It is nearly impossible to give people at home the
slightest idea of the monotonous sameness of a lady's life
in the hot weather even in a large station ; but I can
never hope to describe anything like the utterly dreary
existence of ladies at a❑ on station (as I have heard it
done), the complete stagnation of all amusement, almost
of employment, the utter hteeitude and exhaustion of the
body, and the perfect depression and prostration of the
mental energies. Suppose you are (as is often the case)
the only lady at the station, your husband gees out to
office about ten o'c]ock. Now, if you have any children,
fortunate, indeed, are yon ; those unt'ring little mortals
will always give full employment to any one who chooses
to take much trouble about them. Their powers of life
are fresh and young ; there is an unending spring ef
vital energy about them, which even the hot weather
cannot subdue. In the simple fact of dro4sieg them up
far their morning and evening drives, the lauguil mother
may find some occupation and exerci,e for her taste at
least; but supposing you have no children, or they are
in Englsnd, what remains to be done I Literallynothing.
Until about 7 o'clock you know no single event (with
the exception of tiffio) will occur to break the monotony
of the day. The piano is too much out of Lute to be
bearable ; besides, the exertion of touching it is too
great; you have written up all your correspondence,
you have read all the amusing books in the house, and
have not energy enough to begin any others, you cannot
possibly sleep any more; if you look out of the window
the glare blinds you ; and if you could bsarit you would
see nothing—no moving creature to break the stillness.
Just as the Indian poet observes—

Nothing comes by day
But shadows on the wall ;
Nothing comes by night
But the grim jackal.
If a woman has a highly-cultivated mind, and many
resources within herself, she may battle more bravely
against the adverse circumstances around her ; but when
failing health is added to all the rest, there are few people
who will not at least deteriorate very much, it they do
not altogether succumb. When 7 o'clock comes at last,
and you get into the carriage, there are, perhaps, only
two drives to choose from, both of which you know so
well and are so wearied of. When you are out you see
no one save two or three exhausted gentlemen, driven
out by ennui to take a breath of air, such as it is, hot
end glowing. You return to find your husband too tired
with his day's work to speak, almost to listen to you.
After existing in this way for five or six years, can you
be surprised to hear a lady say, as I once did, after de-
scribing the dreary stagnation of her life as being agree-
ably (iiveraifiel by a dangerous fever, when she over-
heard the attendants saying there was not the slightest
hope of her recovery—her only sensation being extreme
thankfulness. " Here, then, is at lost an till of this
weary existence altogether." No doubt it was very
wicked of her, and she ought to Lave had duff reni.
thoughts in her mind at such a time; but I cannot Lelp
thinking it was exceedingly natural. Probably military
men suffer as much from ennui as ladies do; but then
they have generally some kind of mess to resort to, and
e Lillie al table, as well as the solace of smoking. Besiies,
I naturally pity my own sex the most.
The sameness of their lives was most unplea-
santly varied by the dangerous illness of Nora,
one of the sisters, who felt ill of a fever, and who
was given up by the doctors. filer despairing re-
latives insisted on moving her to the fresher air of
the hills, despite their threats, and after a most
painful and anxious journey they arrived in safety,
and were rewarded by her gradual recovery.
They remained for some time on the Landour hills,
just above Mussoorie, " perched upon a little
promontory 7,000 feet high." The author thus
describes the rainy se won in the hills
As the season advances the rain is something astonish-
ing—a perfect torrent pouring on day and night, without
cessation ; so you can scarcely hear yourself speak in the
house from the clatter of the drops on
of soilontheroaonfd.
vDegoetawu
it comes, till you believe every atom
tion must inevitably be swept away, and all the houses
be carried down in the flood. In England there is a fall
of about 30 inches of rain scattered throughout the whole
Year, but here 106 inches must fall in three months ;
consequently, no wonder it comes down with a will, as if
it had no time to spare. At Cbeeunee, higher up, lam
told there is a fall of 600 inches during the rains ; but
I see no object to be gained by going to such a place, as
one could easily stand under a waterfall at home, and so
realise the sensation to perfection.

But when the rains begin to break up, what language
can describe the marvellous beauty and endless variety
of the Himalayan sunsets ? No word-picture, however
truthful, no artist's hand, however skilful, can hope to
approach their sublime magnificence. You may talk of
glowing gold and flaming scarlet ; you may picture the
small floating clouds, lookinc, quite black against the
fiery crimson behind, and the dark, pa►pitating, purple
mountains, rearing their solemn heads high into the soft
paly green of the sky around—all this may give you a
vague, soothing idea of grandeur—but the reslity ! you
cannot imagine it ; you must go there to see for your-
s° f, and feel awed by the mystaious immensity of God's
world.

Our adventurous heroines subsequently accom-
panied their brother on a shooting excursion to
the Himalayas, which filled them with delight,
and gave them the most agreeable recollections of
India that they possessed. They submitted to all
sorts of strange conveyances and modes of
transit with unshaken equanimity, though, to
judge by the representations given, some of
them were safficieutly alarming. They re-
turned to their former quarters in safety, ho iv-
ever. The numerous illustraions to the work
must not be omitted in the catalogue of its merits.
They were taken chiefly on the spots iepre
sented. Of the extravagance and roguery of
the servants of an Indian establishment, who ne-
cessarily, have almost unlimited power in their
hands, the author draws a mournful picture. The
waste and cheating seem almost inevitable, and
when the victims endeavour to check it in one way
they feel morally certain it is made up in another.
One lady told the writer that she found the expense
was the same whether mho kept company or not.
Another family had an old Kbansameh who had
been thirty years iu their service, and who acknow-
ledged having saved 30,000 rupees out of a salary
of 14 rupees per mouth. Surely some means
should he found to check such an abominable sys-
tem. The following affords a somewhat melan-
choly picture of an Anglo Indian life :

" A civilian's duties are so varied that it would take
a long time and a clear heal to make them at all com-
prehensible to English understandings. In the North-
West Provinces, in addition to the whole judicial busi-
ness arising from the crimes and misdemeanours of some
1,200,000 human beings, be has the revenues of a dis-
trict of perhaps 2,500 square miles to collect. In tnanYl
insta,ocas the roads of the district are under his orders ;1
he has to superintend and often supply the engitoee!lrg I
work of all the bridges revired ; any public, building-
come under his supervision ; any Extra work,
,bowevEr
incongruous, is always thrown on the civilian s shoul-
ders ; and I assure you the amount of businsss thus ac-
cumulated forms no light weight
a man of moderate
health and average abilities. Fancy sitting all lay in a
i
hot Butchery, crowded to suffotia,lop with reeking na-
Oyes, the punkah over your head pit giving y

alifficiPnt eircol.ition of air to allow European lunge to
f viral iuLetious. Ttie whOl, day is occu-
pied by hearing native witnesses for various caees, who
are all, you know, striving to prevaricate, intrigue, and
tell untruths to the best of their.povver.
* * *
" My brother used to leave home about eleven (hav-
ing generally got through a number of audiences in his
private office), and remain hearing causes in Kutchery
sill about seven, without the slightest intermission for
tiffin or rest. Sometimes he would be much later, and
when I asked him what had detained him, the usual
reply was, "06, such a busy day, and even now I have
left seventy witnesses unheard, who must go on in addi-
tion to to-morrow's work." I am sure the whole time
we were in India, Keith did not accompany us six times
on our evening drive. After Kutebery, he bad always
to go down and visit his prisoners in gaol; at the close
of this day's work, was it any wonder he should be too
tired to read, almost too exhausted to eat his dinner, or
too languid to converse.

"Of course, in cold weather, all miseries are more
endurable; bat after some years of this kind of life you
meet with depressed and saddened men, with earnest
hollow eyes, who tell you they know they have given
the best energies and years of their lives to a land that
can repay them nothing, and that for all these long,
weary years of patient toil, they can never hope at home
for even a word of credit, much less fame; the moat
enviable lot they can look forward to is respectable obli-
vion. You may strive to answer these moody thoughts
with some old stereotyped consolation as 'duty is its
own reward,' but the common-place truism dies on
your lips, for the man does not complain, he only
states an undeniable fact ; and though, doubtless,
every man should do his duty without hope of re-
ward, still, who has not sometimes dreamed that the
sweet breath of Fame had touched his name and
made it glorious And then their apparently high
salaries are far more so in name then in reality.
Nearly every civilian I saw was in debt—perhaps a
debt contracted during his griffinage, and which, like
an incubus, follows him throughout his career ; be-
sides, a civilian has to keep up a better establishment
than a military man, and, as he gets on in the
service, he pays proportionately more for every article
he requires. Many civilians' wives have told me,
when their husbands rose to higher positions, their
increased salaries were in reality no saving, for their
utmost efforts only showed them more fully how en-
tirely they were in the hands of their servants, who
al ways expect increased wages, and succeed in making
the house-bills increase in pia portion ; and what can
ooe helpless Eeglishwoman do, when opposed to a
whole brotherhood of natives ? 'My coachman left
me when my husband was made joint magistrate,'
said one lady, because I refused to raise his wages ;
but he is a very good coachman, and I advise you to
teke him ; but as your brother is collector, of course
you must give him more.'"
On their return route the travellers visited Delhi
and Agra. At. the la ter place they, of course,
directed their steps to the Taj Muhal, which they
describe in the following terms :
Who may attempt to de,cribe the Taj ? It is
utterly hopeless, and no picture, unfortunately, can
approach it either—ltalian refinement grafted on Ori-
ental imagination. It is certain that many Italians,
probably prisoners, were carried up here by the great
Shah Jeleate, and either compelled, or bribed, to aid in
decorating this colossal gift to posterity. The exqui-
site inlaid work—of flowers in their natural colours—
which decorates the whole building inside and out, is
precisely like the Florentine work of to-day ; and the
marble ornaments now manufactured in Agra are very
similar is character to those of Italy. After all, it is
the grandest monument in the world of a love which
death could nut subdue. Offerings of fresh flowers are
daily laid on the tomb of MuentAz, and I gathered
some feeling rose-loaves from her last resting-place with
more reverence, and treasured with far more care, than
I did a fl iwer from the tomb of Abelard and Ileloise
at Pere la Chaise. We visited the Taj again at night,
and saw it under all aspects, brillian,ly illuminated with
pink and blue lights, when it looked very like the c!os-
ing scene of an extravaganza at home, and you fslt dis-
appointed that the littfe fairies in silver tissue did not
appear; then the tall minarets at the sides were lighted
up with different coloured fires, and flang weird eliffcts
of light over the building, till at last the natives bad
exhausted all their devices, aed he moon was allowed
unchecked to pour her glorious radiance over everything,
and made the Taj appear softer and larger, till it looked
like a vast pearl, whose glosi'g hues every ingaet
I grew more lovely and trauyarent, its exquisite outline
every moment more unearthly and ethereal; the broad
river sleeping quietly by, with its banks doted by nu-
merous Musjide (teniple,), and f tiryiike pavilions close
at hand, where hippy people who have time to spare
may live for weeks under the shadow of the T..j, and
imbue their souls with the spirit of its beauty. Such
was hot our favoured lot ? we were to return home to
dream intoxicating dreams, and wake tixt morning to
have our devotion to yesterday's idol shaken by a visit
to the Motee Muejel (Temple of Pear!), a numberless
collection of arches, formed entirely of white marble,
the effect of which it is impossible to describe ; and the
only picture I saw doing it a shadow of justice is one I
have by a Delhi artist, in which the intricacy of detail
has been followed with a faithful earnestness and a
laborious patience that would task an Englishman sorely
to imitate

After undergoing all sorts of miseries during their
overland route home, they brought their adven-
turous expedition to a successful Owe, barely in
tim-, for within a month after their return
the mutiny broke out. The author has pur-
posely avoided alluding to any of the recent
tr.►gelies enacted in the spots they so chearfuly
visited, wishing to give a picture of what India
once wa', before the storm of desolation and mutiny
had swept over the land. The recollectiot, of those
dreadful scenes are present with the leader, and
throw a mournful shadow over the lively pages ;
but he cannot do otherwise that peruse with plea-
cute a record so unpretending and so animated.

The Netherwoods of Otterpool. 3 vols. Bentley.
This novel is evidently the production of a young
and unpractised writer. There is consithrable in-
genuity in the plot, and the characters are diver-
:dfied, and occas:onally well drawn. Its chief
_ _

defect is the great number of events and characters,
which are so crowded in'o its pages, and follow
each other in such rapid succession, that the reader
becomes almost confused by the profusion of inci-
dents and intricacy of motives. The earlier portion
of the work is more successful than the latter
volume. The chief point of the story is the rival
claims to the succession to a large estate, claims
not in law but in equ ty. Philip Netherwood,
is the owner of the extensive property of
Otterpool. He is a widower, with a son and a
daughter. The son forms an attachment to the
daughter of a neighbouring baronet, between whom
and his father a feud existed. After various inop-
portune occurrences, Philip Nether wood disin-
herits his son, who immediately marries his be-
loved Lucy, and after some years of difficulty and
struggle, succeeds to his uncle's property and be-
comes independent. Meanwhile Philip Nether-
wood's intention of making his daughter his heiress
is frustrated by the determined opposition of her-
self and her husband, and is finally prevented by
their early deaths, his daughter not long surviving
her husband's fall at Waterloo. They leave one child,
a daughter, Annie, who becomes her grandfather's
idol and intended heiress. She is very fond of her
uncle, whom she often meets at the house of her
father's sister, and is still more so of her cousin
Philip. She grows up a thoughtful and high-
principled girl, and is much distressed when she is
told of her uncle's exclusion from the family estate.
Her impressions are still further confirmed by a
letter from her dead mother, who charges her to
follow in her footsteps. Henceforth the great aim
of her life is to see Otterpool restored to her uncle ;
and after many endeavours and much persuasion,
her grandfather at last consents to receive Philip
into his favour, though he obstinately refuses to be
reconciled to Philip's father. Annie is obliged to
be contented with this for some time, and her
grandfather devises what he thinks an excellent
plan for setting all to rights—the marriage of
Philip and Annie, when thelatter is eighteen. Annie
would have preferred the restitution of her uncle, but
she is much attached to Philip, so agrees to the plan.
Philip, however, though outwardly consenting, has
taken as unreasonable dislike to Annie through
her unintentionally supplanting his father. Affairs
proceed in this manner till a severe illness re-
duces Mr. Nether wood to the brink of the
grave. After a long period, he at length agrees to
see his sou and forgive him, signing at the same

... ....
time a revocation of all his former will.A. This
Frank Nether Wood keeps secret, not wishing to
deprive his niece of her property. Me inwhile
Annie is miserable enough, bring convinced that
Philip does not like her, and yet not daring to
draw back from her engagement, thinking that h
only way in which justice can b 3 done. Htoerrvra,
dis-
tress at length induces her uncle to bring
to hi:.
the testament that restores the estatecrssolvas her
Annie is delighted, and immediately,-, I however,
engagement with her cousin,.
tin dws )/1-43'
changes his mind as soon as hhe.
nersuasions, and
ii rejected.
Annie, however, is deaf to his against her
finally, that she may not
bil'ileele's hous .3 secretly,
better judgment, leaves
whore she obtains a situation
and comes to Loudon, ;-1.10 lier uncle and his
M"nw u'anxietyand commence as governess.
with . a
family are distractedWnenevai Annie heirs of their
fruitless search
changes her ?mine or leaves her situl-
approach, she
matters go on fur a considerable period.
d so Ina- •
tion, an
length all is happily arranged, with the ti Ming
At bring shot on the
drawbackof Philip barricades of
Paris
during the revolution of 1839. However,
he filially recovers, and a merry wedding closes tht-
work. It will be seen that part of the story is very
improbable. If the author had contented herself
with the development of the st )ry as regarded
Frank and his father, or Puilip and his bride, it
would have been better. The flight and pursuit of
Annie would have been better omitted, and a gra-
ditil or eventual reconciliation with Philip substi-
tuted. The great crowd of minor characters should
also have been diminished, and the episode of Lady
. Elizabeth is, to say the least, not very likely. Some

of the chief actors are ably drawn, particularly Philip
Neth-rwood and his grand-daughter, and many of
the feminine characters are very pleasing. The
author is so manifestly a new-comer into the fields
of literature, that indulgence must be accorded to
her faults and deficiences. No doubt with practice
and experience she will learn to moderate her
schemes and concentrate 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
otives 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 is
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," dz 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 been
declared from the first. No motives of expediency,
and no kind intentions, could justify actions that
cast a slur on the character of the innocent, and no
causes could sanction the effect that produced such
feelings on the mind of Theresa. Tier old attach-
ments were uprooted, her earliest ideas of relation.
ship subverted, her notions of right and wrong
coofused, from not knowing to whom she should
render obedience, or where she could establish a
claim for assistance. Finally, ehe 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
name ; while all the time she was the member of a
family that received, and merited 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 forth
the necessity of leaving truth alone, in its majesty
and 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. Roseuburgh, in par-
ticular, is a very successful slietch ; her cun-
ning, adroitness, and her subtle spirit, are
depicted in a masterly manner. Etivy, hatred,
and malice were the predominant features of
of her disposition, and her conduct may therefore
be supp:aed. The heruiue interests not alp. ne from
In r romantic adventures and strange position, but
from her unworldly nature and high spirit. It is
true she had many faula, pre-eminent amongst
which may lea ranked pride, but this was ledeme,l
in a measure by her sincerity and upriehtuess, and
she was always ready to own her Lulls and see
their evil tendencies. On the whole, the various
events that took place under the shadow of the
Old Pal ice are well calculated to afford au agree-
able subject for pert-al. The tale goes back from
the familiar fashions of the present day to the
quaint devices of an older, generatior, and a "glimpse
of the days hat are o'er" may not b 3 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 will a "Passage from
Real Life," which is a simple story that is told with
earnestness and simplicity. The chi f point on
which it turns is not a pleasing one, but it is de-
scribed with force, and, at the same tune, ruled by
a sense of propriety. None can help sympathising
with the misfortunes of Walter Linwood, nor ad-
miring the hero'c spirit that actuated him in his
difficult position. The manner in which the
maucsuvres 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 he had at first supposed.
Mary 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.
Thera 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 in the gay attire of a wedding guest,
is uupleasing 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 Courtnee,
behclds 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 Veres, and by the aid of a friend as
base as himself he bad persuaded her to depart for
Australia, promising that he would follow soon
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 3vered, 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
be 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_m
exaggerations and extravagancies that detract from
the merit of a story, which on other grouucle may
mot be undeserving of regard.

The Voice and its Management. By Frederick
Kingsbury. Cocks and Co., New Burling,on..
street.
Mr. Kingsbury commences his instructive
brochure with a full description of the mechanism
"auld Scots sonnet," or an Italian
of the vocal organ, and illustrates by diagrams the
various parts and ctious necemary to the perfect
alinement of the breath is carefully con-
read ering of au
Scene.
proving that " economy"
xidpoe:pialdaeidnedin;iti
physiological principles,
in its us", is a most important attainment. Modu-
lationsidTehreecs aet
and the meth ,d of uniting different Registers
of Voices ; the acquirement of Flexibility, the dis-
tinctness of Articu!ation, and the diversified ac-
centuations of the Shake, are amply dilated on,
and numerous note lessons ' given for the student's
practice.

- The work is, unquestionably, a clever compound
cf physiological science and artistic taste, but we
think the information contained in it would have
been more zenerally appreciated, had it been more
simplified.

Agents cf the British Government are in Ba'timore
for the purpose of purchasing three million feet of ship
timber, which will be cut from the mountainous region:
of the Baltim.,re and Ohio Railroad.
DESTH OF MRS. DONALD KING.—We have to re-
c )r.l with regret the death, at a comparatively early age,
of this acco npli.;h:d lady. Mre. King was confined
abut three mouton since, and, though she at first Ap-
p 3ared to go on well, she was soon attacked by a disease
which has resulted in her death, which took place on the
6 h inst., at her residence in Langdowne-place, Russell-
square. She was a most accomplished woman irrespec-
tive of her musical talent, being conversant with the
French, Italian, and Latin languages. In private life
sh was distingui bed for her aiCabi ity. The re.
wit n cf the laoy, who had not quite competed Ler 41st
were interred in the K,,'LsaLgreenCtmeery yester-
day.