The Sun.
London, England, 1858-03-12 00:00:00

MARCH -12, 1858

LITERATURE.

Thf ()Wit ChiT,i.

La,i v

Two

Hurst aabi Blttkett. . •
This is a story well adapted to the large class of
genuine novel readers, who do not seek for any
striking originality or vivid portraiture, but like
a tale with love and sorrow properly mingled, with-
out being very critical as to the plot or the style.
In the present instance the work has additional
attractions, as it deals freely with the members of
fashionable circles, and its hero is the heir apparent
to a dukedom. The principles upheld are- doubt-
less exeellent, but the self-saneifiee describe 3, cer-
tainly did not prod uce any beneficial efibcts, neither
was it an inevitable necessity. There. are some
striking improbabilities_in _the, plot, but it is not a
work to be criticised severely, as it is admirably
adapted to amuse and entertain the lovers of light
literature, being perfectly harmless in its moral tone,
and presenting do remarkable faults to be objected-
to. The hero, the grandson of a duke, is left, by
the early death of his father, an orphan at eight
years old, under the guardianship of Dr. Burgess,
the rector of the parish. Dr. Burgess is a conscien-
tious man, and devotes himself to the welfare of
his pupil. He has one daughter, a little girl of
great beauty, named Brenda, who is unfortunately'
deprived of her mother's care just as she is mo-t in
need of it. As might be supposed, notwithstand-
ing the precautions of Dr. Burgess, an attachment
springs up between the young people, but he be-
comes furious at- the idea, dismisses his ward in,
anger, and makes his daughter write a cold and
deci,ied r-fugal. Lord Edesley, the ward, leaves
tie seighboui hood, and yi• lding to the nianceuvres
of a clever heiress, marries her. Brenda is ueatly
broken-hearted by her father's conduct, and his
illness and death add to her misfortunes. How-
ever, to relieve her father's mind, she agrees to
merry the physician who atten tea him. There is
auce,her love affair pending with the curate of the
palish. Seven years are now supposed to elapse,
end we are introduced to all our old friends, mov-
mg in fashionable circles. Brenda, now Mrs. Carey,
bee tui-g 'tten her old troubles in herdomeeticciuties.
Her husband has become the lion of the.day, Lent
Ell-sley, new Duke of Arran, is miserable aweigh,
with a wife who spends her own fortune and his
too, and comforts herself with opium. Othsr
characters reappear in different positions and
after some time the Duchess kills herself with An
overdose of her favourite stimulant, Dr. Carey
sinks under brain fever, and the novel reader will
-naturally suppose that tha.two old lovers are to be
united. But it is not ao. It is Brenda the
second, who is the second Duchess of Arran,
the daughter of Lord Ellesley's first love,
and "the secret of Brenda,, the elder, went
with her to her grave." There are other epi-
sodes in the tale which serve to diversify it.
Whether the sacrifice was necessary—whether Dr.
Burgess might not have left it to the young man's
grandfather to decide for him—whether a direct
falsehood is ever a duty, together with a few other
questions of like nature, will very probably arise
in the mind of the reader ; but the conflict of duty
and inclination is a favourite point, and no objection
can be raised to the intentions of the writer. Those
who wish for a light and agreeable narrative, inter-
spersed with sketches of fashionable life, will vety
probably be entertained and gratified by this
novel.

The Student's Blackstone. By Robert Malcolm
Kerr, LL. D. John Murray. •
Recent events have directed public attention to the
legal rights of British subjects, and have shownthat
some acquaintance with the exact state of the law is
a very desirable knowledge, the utility of which is
not confined to lawyers alone. Statesmen and po-
liticians, as well as many in less ambitious spheres
of life, will often find this volume a valuable re-
ferenee, while in ordinary business transactions au
acquaintance with the legal rights of master and
servant, guardian and ward, corporations, ac.,
will be of great practical service. Mr. Robert
Kerr has previously issued a new and compendious
edition of the great legal authority, adapted to the
present state of the law. He is therefore
necessarily familiar . with his subject, and
amply qualified for the difficult task of
selection and condensation. He tells us in the
preface that " The Student's Blackstone contains
all those portions of the commentaries which relate
to the British Constitution and the rights of per-
sons. Those branches of the law only have been
excluded with which, although desirable, it is
not equally necessary that every one should be
acquainted ; while such alterations
.and additions
have been made as were necessary. as well to adapt
the work to the present state of the law, as to make
the present volume complete in itself." The chief
additions made by the editor are the introduction
of the rights of the parent State with re-
spect to its colonies ; an abstract of the
articles of union with Ireland, and the changes
introduced into the Parliamentary constitu-
tion by the Reform Act of 1832. He has also
inserted a succinct account of the origin, jurisdic-
tion, and procedure of numerous courts of justice.
Witt' regard to omissions, the greater portion of
the preliminary dissertation- on tile study of the
law has been left out, as being no longer of service ;
but the interesting portion relating to the struggles
between the civilians and lawyers during the first
two centuries after the C”riquest will be met with
in the body of !he volume. We commend the work
to the attention of those who desire to familiarise
themselves with the nature of English law, tmen-
cumbered by legal technicalities, and divested of
alliabstruseness and superannuated forms.

The Royal Princesses of England. By Mrs.
Matthew Hall, author of " The Queens before
the Conquest." Routledge.
Mrs. Hall, the able authoress of " the Queens
before the Conquest," which forms such an admi-
rable introduction to Miss Strickland's celebrated
work, has given us another ♦olume of Royal
biographies. The subject she has selected is an
interesting one, and she has chosen a period which
has not, we believe, been treated of before. She
commences her history where most other chroniclers
have ceased, with the reign of George the First.
She contrives to render the memoirs interesting by
the introduction of little personal anecdotes and
traits of character which preserve individuality
even among the state that enclosed the families of
the Georges. It is a pleasant readable little volume
embellished with a portrait of the Princess Frede-
rick William.

Memoirs of James, Marquis of Montrose. By
James Grant, author of "The Romance of War,"

&c. Routledge.
An interesting memoir of Montrose has besu
given to the public by the clever author of "rho
Romance of War." The life of his subject affords
him every opportunity for combining the excite-
ment of romance with the authority of history. He
traces the marquis's career through all its changing
vicissitudes, from his birth in the ancient burgh of
Montrose, "to the scaffold and the doom." All
readers f Professor Aytoun's spirited lays will
remember the one on " The Execution of Ision-
trose,"—

There was glory on his forehead,
There was lumtre in his eye,
And he never walked to battle
More proudly than to die.
It will readily be imagined that the subject is one
which affords full scope for the author's peculiar
powers and he renders A justice. He has compiled
an interesting and valuable work, which will gratify
many readers, whether among the descendants of
the Cavaliers or Covenanters.

MAIN DRAINAGE AND SEIVAG.E

CEPTIUN OF THE MEIROPuLIB.

A. meeting of the delegates appointed by the vestries
and district boards of the metropolis was held yesterday
at the London Coffee-house, Ludgate-hill, to take into
conideration the whole of the subjects relative to the
(111‘11.4 • drainage of the metropolis, andmoaahydneoopwntsasi
rudece.hr
si
p s.
dient.
mea-
sures illTrheelectheanir wasceth taken z
thereto as
Mr.they John
Tin) following resolutions were agreed to :-1. 6. That
io the opinion of this meeting, consisting of legally-con-
stituted representatives of the ratepayers of the metro-
polis, it is right and expedient to require proof of the
sanatory neceFsity, the ultimate beneficial result, and
t the financialeconomyage i
ht interception coefp tanyion s co
hf
e ithee
further steps be taken towards practically carrying into
extcution the 135th section of the Metropolis Loc 1
fmorettepol
Management Act, 1855. before
wainis, drain-
agethe bed a d banks of the Thames within the metropolis
is highly desirable, and this ni • believing that such.
tine
2. " That it being admitted that the improvement of
capabilities of the
increase the navigable and commercial
river, and tend to remove any malarious Influences now
improvement, if properly designed and executed, would
liable to arise from its waters or its banks, considers
the outlay of the large sum of money proposed tto be
expended for the interception of the sewage from the
river within the metropolitan area as impolitic and
unnecessary."
A committee as the* appointed to carry the resoln•
tions into effect, after which a vote of thanks was
passed to the chairman, and the meeting separated.

THE HIGHLAND BORDERERS.—Forty recruits (soli
the Inverness Couricr ) have joined head-quarters sine.
the 107 volunteers joined their several corps• lb
to
officers of the regiment are apparently taking
con-
sideration the measures suggested by the co
the arm'', by
for improving the sanitary condition_
tofe
____. ilistosit
varying the cooking of the dinnersfe i;s, DJ"
the men have
of boiled meat constantly, as tbte Lice
this
wee. ,
k Fort.
had their dinners baked at less.
few statlons w e h re public oTtu.s
rawirLioneri
George being one of the
are e9tablished for the 1140 of the troops.