The Sun.
London, England, 1867-01-29 00:00:00

must be prepared to make some sacrifice of internal crucibles, with that awful furnace always before
consistency. The Government has only to disclaim him steadily burning away his heart, his life,
all intention of Reform, and the Liberal phalanx is his home affections, the ties that bind him to hisre-united. It is seldom easy to disintegrate a party, wife and children. Stick by stick his home, his
fortune, all his hopes in this world and the next,
but a Ministerial Reform Bill would probably either all go to feed that ever-smouldering fire before
separate Mr. Gladstone from his more moderate which he watches day and night. And still ho
followers, or compel him to break with Mr. Bright. hopes on—and still he finds a little more fuel to
It will be difficult for any Liberal member, unless he feed his loved furnace with, until all—even hope—
agrees with Mr. Lowe, to refuse his concurrence in has at last disappeared. Then there is his wife,
a resolution affirming the urgency of Reform. The the most charming woman that even Balzac, the
Conservatives, aided by the seceders, were never portrayer of women par excellence, ever sketched.
No one who has ever read the book can forget
strong enough in the List session to &feat the Go- that lame woman, so beautiful in her deformity,
vernmeut on the main issues raised by the bill ; and so patient, so gentle, so loving, even when she
although Mr. Gladstone experienced many checks, sees her husband dragging her and her children to
inevitable ruin. This is, for all practical
the whole of the book ; but what a book it is
purposes„
there was always some special reason or excuse for
supporting the various amendments as they were We know of nothing among the compositions of
successively proposed. The events of the autumn our own countrymen which can compare with it
and winter have assuredly not diminished the rea- for a moment. But it is, above all, in the de-
sons for introducing a bill ; and the inaction of the lineation of women that the French mode of;
Government would enable the Opposition to raise novel-writing allows most room for successful
the question in the most advantageous form. Mr. treatment. It is always difficult for a man to de-
scribe a woman, and some of the greatest English
Gladstone is not known to have spent any part of writers have signally failed in the attempt. Shak-
the winter at Capua ; and unless his vigour and rest- speare's weak point lies decidedly in his female
lessness have been unaccountably exchanged for characters. Juliet is too sensual, Desdemona too
Epicurean indifference, he will not allow many days weak, Beatrice is a hoyden. If we want genuine
to pass before he gives notice of a decisive motion conceptions of female character, full of force and
yet of nature, we must certainly seek them, with
or resolution. Many of his party are content to
postpone their return to power until Lord Russell very few exceptions, in the works of Frenchmen.
It is true that the means too often used to bring
has retired, and perhaps until Mr. Gladstone has out their characters are offensive to good taste.
become quieter ; but they will nevertheless answer It is considered that female nature is never por-
Mr. Brand's familiar call, and on a vote implying trayed to such advantage as under the influence
o
want of confidence the mildest Reformers must lief trial and sorrow ; and so the greatest sorrow
a woman can endure—the sorrow of a sin which is
down with Mr. Bright. If the Ministers survive the irreparable, so far as this world goes—is too fre-
session, their policy, whatever may be its character, quently made the medium of delineations which in
will have been in some degree justified by success. themselves are elegant and artistic to the last
Compulsory resignation before Easter would be degree. Of course, we put on one side such coarse
little less than ignominious. To have held office for and disgusting creations as M. About's Madelon, or
the Dames aux Camelias of M. Dumas, Fils.Thank
six months when it was impossible to lose it, to
have enjoyed power and distributed patronage on the heaven ! we have no parallel for these, except in
the very lowest classes of our sensational litera-
faith of a policy which would not bear the inspection ture. Our remarks would rather apply to such
of Parliament, would be scarcely more creditable than works as Les Fourches Caudines and lllaxeme Hum-
to dine at a tavern and fail to pay the bill. Lord Derby bert, by M. Achard, in both of which works the
and his colleagues ought not to have taken office un-
lesson taught is round and the artistic treatment
less there was a reasonable prospect of satisfying the from a psychological point of view perfect; the
House of Commons, with or without Reform. The principal incident is one which English novelists
have fortunately been generally careful to avoid
proposal of a writer in the Edinburgh Review to touching upon. It appears to be a prevailing
depose Mr. Gladstone from the place of leader is idea with modern writers of fiction that the
slightly ungenerous and wholly impracticable. It turning point of a novel must be a sin of some
is
.a minor objection to the change that there is no kind or another • and we trust we shall not be con-
• •
sidered cyn ifsa, iftion is to be a
one to take Mr. Gladstone's place. Like Jupiter iu representation of }actual life,that
thismust be to some
the Iliad, the late leader of the House of Corn- extent the case. After all, when we get beyond
mons might safely defy his colleagues and followers the province of the hagiologist into which, of
to try their collected strength against him, while he course, the novelist cannot enter, we shall find the
muc
h too monotonous for the
h
singly held the golden chain which binds the party lives of good people mu
pla
purposes of The cid the
together. Fifty years ago the Whigs tried the expe- "
me n whose livesfiction. glided on like theexistences riversof that
riment of importing Mr. Ponsonby from Ireland as water the woodlands" would not have afforded
a safe and harmless leader ; and the result is corn- much interest if sin and sorrow had not penetrated
memorated in " the trial of Henry Brougham," as into Arcadie, and if Evangeline had gone on
reported by Mr. Peel in the
watching her father and his neighbour playing
Yew Whig Guide. The
real leader was supposed to have called the sham chess until the time came for her to marry her
Not
leader an old woman, and Mr. Gladstone would that we
swain and " live happily ever after."
we believe much good comes of portraying
probably behave with similar disrespect to any crime; nor for the matter of that do we believe
usurper who might be substituted in his place. The much good ever came to anyone from reading
more advanced Liberals would unanimously refuse novels. It is to some extent a necessity of our
to recognise any other chief, and many malcontents artificial state of existence, like smoking, or
would shrink from avowing the distrust and irrita- making morning calls, or putting on dress clothes;
but those who have strength of mind to do with-
tion which they express freely in private. Mr. out it are probably the best off in the end.
Disraeli has survived many attempts to substitute Nevertheless, it is as well, on a subject in which
respectable mediocrity for unsafe genius. Mr. there is so much difference between ourselves
Gladstone has as strong a claim of personal supe- and our neighbours across the Channel, that we
should have a distinct appreciation of that differ-
riority, although Mr. Lowe, if he had retained his
ence, and be able to discern their strong points
party orthodoxy, might have proved himself a for- as well as our own.
midable competitor. Although political suicide is
not beyond the range of possibility, Mr. Gladstone
has no reason to fear party assassination. The pro-
fession of extreme opinions would amount to abdi-
cation ; and it would be in the highest degree inju-
dicious to precipitate the schism. At present Mr.
Gladstone is under no temptation to offer impru-
dent pledges. His latest political professions after
the end of the session were conciliatory and mode-
rate, and a justifiable desire to resume office would
not be furthered by displays of extravagance or of
passion. If Mr. Gladstone were to rely exclusively
on Radical support, he would be locking the door
in his own face for the sake of showing his agility
in climbing in through the window. Except
in the prosecution of common hostilities against
the Government, Mr. Bright and his little lot
of adherents will be more sharply isolated
than in former sessions. Having deliberately
and repeatedly excited the mob against the House
of Commons, Mr. Bright has elected to rely on
intimidation rather than on persuasion. Mr. Seymour
lately took a singularly awkward opportunity of ex-
pressing a feeling which is more general than his
liability to blunder. Liberal members of the purest
strain hold that, if they venture, like Mr. Neate, to
depart from Mr. Bright's opinions, they are at=
tacked with reckless abuse by papers like the
Morning Star, and by agitators of the rank of
Mr. Beales. There are probably not twenty
members in the house who are associated with Mr.
Bright by any stronger bond than terror. If any of
his supposed adherents attempt to assert their iude-
pendence,they are denounced to their constituents and
the country as traitors to the popular cause. It
is highly to the credit of the metropolitan mem-
bers that, with the exception of Mr. Mill, they
have given no countenance to the mob meetings
which have been held in London. Unless either
Mr. Gladstone or the Liberal party commit some
extraordinary blunder, Mr. Bright's influence in
the house is not likely to increase. On the whole,
the omens are favourable to the Opposition, al-
though the manipulation of the entrails has been
in the hands of the Government. Any successful
contrivance for avoiding Ministerial defeat would
even now be not unwelcome to the expectant vic-
tors. It is unfortunate that a common interest
cannot unite the House of Commons in the pur-
suit of a common object.
laVnE Su'llldlNoSuTbEtlet
dGAfazEctrrEtbOaNt
majority of
FthReENI
—TI ti iEs
Englishmen, even among the better in • f ormed.
classes, look upon everything French with a cer-
tain feeling of contempt. This is probably due in
part to the tenacity with hw lc our countrymen
. cling to the traditions of times of
and still more, to their • intense absorption in
pursuits which leave but little time for inquir-
ing into the habits and modes of thought of their
neighbours. And this is more true, and will re-
main true longer, of French literature than of
anything else connected with France ;_ because
literature requires a more careful study and a
more educated mind to undertake that study than,
perhaps, any other of the numberless branches
into which the subjects of difference between the
two countries may be divided. And yet the fault
is, not that Englishman do not read French
books, but that when they do read them, they
only look at them from an English point of view,
and thus they lose, as it were, the true key to
their meaning. This is particularly the case in
fiction, where, perhaps, the divergence of the two
modes of writing shows itself most strongly. The
general complaint made by English readers against
French novels is, that they have little or no story.
In the home-made productions to which they are
accustomed, the plot generally extends from the
cradle to the grave of one or two persons, with,
perhaps, a short biographical sketch of their
parents and grand-parents to begin with. All
the details of their lives are carefully described ;
and the great thing to do is to place them in the
most peculiar circumstances, and make them per-
form the most extraordinary actions that the writer
can possibly conceive. This idea has reached its
fullest development in our own day, in the con-
struction of what is called " sensation" writing.
Its aim is to create interest in incident rather than
in individual characters, and its origin may be
clearly traced to the fact that the majority of
our novelists have so long sacrificed character to
"plot" that they finished by almost entirely disre-
garding it. A French novel is, on the other
hand, almost invariable a psychological study,
pur et simple. Incident there only occupies
, a secondary place—its object is to show its effect
upon the characters of individuals. The French
novelist makes the mind of man—the impressions
it receives from external circumstances, and the
result of those impressions in forming and modify
ing it—his principal subjects of study. Perhaps
Balzac is the most perfect example of this mode
of writing. In his works almost every variety,
every phase of human nature is to be found por-
trayed ; and though his incident is never inartis-
, tic, it is always strictly subordinated to the higher
task—the description of character. To illustrate
our meaning, take that exquisite work La ROcherche
de l'Absolu. It has positively no plot, properly so
, called. The whole story may be summed up in
half a dozen words ; the entire interest of the
work is made to turn upon the mental condi-
tion of some two or three persons. First, there is
the head of the family, buried in his laboratory,
L without a thought beyond the contents of his

COUNTRY MARKETS.

NORTHAMPTON-JAN. 26.

New white wheat, 58s to 655; new rod, 46s to 64s ; old
white, 62s to 68s; old red, 61s to 66s per 36 stono. Barley
for malting, 42s to 51s per qr. ; grinding, 29s to 36s per 30
stone. Oats, old, 26s to 33s ; new, 23s to 32s per 24 stone•
Beans, old, 46s to 49s ; now, 42s to 45s per 38 stone. Peas,
38s to 42s per 36 stone.

COLCHEST:

'ER-JAN. 26.

Wheat, white 6Ze 70s Beans, Idazagan......33a 400
red 628 078 Middle and 5ma11...948 98S
Barley.... 42a 66s Peas, white. 3
Oats ..... ". —s —8 grey ...36s
.

IRD-JAN. 25.

plied with wheat, but millers
iclination to buy a poor
last week. Spring corn of
t quoted.
Yeas, Partridge 418 439
White ..328 36/
B,iling s —4
Dun....
408
.
............
. . ra
Beans, Tick, old 408 45s
riew 388 926
Harrow ticks 42s 469
new 403 446
Mazagan. 303 431

11-JAN. 26.