The Sun.
London, England, 1859-05-14 00:00:00

Davenport Dunn ; a Man of Our Day. Bye
Charles Lever, author of " Marry Lorrequer,
&c., &c. With illustrations, by " Phiz." Chap"
man and Hall.
• of
Mr. Lever has added another to the long' list
his popular and brilliant serials. His merits as
s
writer and the attractions of his style are known toi
many readers ; but on this occasion he has followee•
a somewhat different course from the one he hag
usually taken, and has pursued another obj
than that of merely entertaining the reader.
of
has sought to portray the career of a great want.°
business, the chairman of countless companies, the
director of numerous railways, a member of Parlia-
ment, a stockbroker, and speculator par excellence.
yet withal, as the vignette happily shows, a man °f
straw, who is ably imposing upon the throngs
admiring dupes who surround him. It is unfortii
nately only too easy to discover the prototyPefer
Davenport Dunn in " a man of our day," and t
Lever has ably drawn the difficult portrait. 11
he does not let the interest of the story depend soleito
upon such an unsatisfactory individual. There is
old Grog Davis, as he is familiarly termed, the
sporting character, who is mixed up in some
dark transactions, and from whose desperate 10,11 f
Davenport Dunn at last receives the due rewaro,o
his crimes. Then, there is his beautiful daughtfr
Lizzy, far too good and attractive for her miserable
position, and Sybella Kellett, the other heroine'
one of those extraordinary young ladies whom Mr.
Lever sometimes paints. The plot of the atoll',
though extremely complicated, affords full see,Pe.,
for the display of the peculiarities of the author
style, and the introduetiuti of the Crimean 1/,'
enables Mr. Lever to recur to his favourite deserir
tions of the incidents of military life. Charles
Conway, one of the heroes, or rather chief figures'
for there is no regular hero, is a young .1118',,
man, who, having frittered away a fine Pr;
perty on the turf, sells his commission
and enlists as a private. Mr. Beecher, too, is ni;
ably drawn character. The manner in which t
cunning Davis tyrannises over his victim is skil-
fully shown, but the reader cannot help regretting
that the fair Lizzy is left in no better coniPailli;
She is one of the most interesting of the drainte
personce, and her painful position awakens hr
reader's sympathy. There are crowds of leaser
characters, and a variety of incident and elaboribt;
tion of plot that is almost bewildering. It will of
a most acceptable volume to the many admirers et
Mr. Lever's writings, and will probably attrilter
the attention of many who might regard his ligh
works with indifference.

Life in Tuscany. By Mabel Sharman Crawford
Smith and Elder. -ft N.
Hong Kong tollfanilla. By Henry T. Ellis,
Smith and Elder.
These two volumes of travels take us to /ell
different parts of the world, and show us the c,.,-;
lised race under very different auspices. vmro
treats of the glorious and melancholy laud whtehe
the lingering memories of the past enhance of
sorrow of the present, and where the lovelinesrrs
nature is reflected in the marvels of art. 1°.,„
other transports us from this mournful and ben,
tiful land of dreams to the semi-civilisation vo
the Philippines, the acquaintance of Indian.;
and occasionally to the matter-of-fact pre-
sence of the very material denizens of
Celestial Empire. Mr. Ellis took advantage of 01)-
weeks' leave of absence from his duties at 'le,/
Kong to take a trip to Manilla, the carro
of the largest of those islands, which wfie
made so familiar to many by Gironiere's
account of " Twenty Years in the Philippine%
The believers in this wonderful traveller's tales isr,l.o
be very indignant with the old man whom Mr. ki"*,
encountered, who contradicted many of them. TL'et,i,
must console themselves, like our author, by thins"
ing that age must have interfered with his znenior:c;
Mr. Ellis gives an entertaining account of life 1
these islands, and his acquaintance with the InditiAlla
and Spaniards. The numerous illustrations a'it
to the attractions of the volume, which, as
relates to a part of the world little known "9,
visited, will probably gratify the eurioart
Miss Crawford's work is more interesting.
is true that it cannot boast the charm of novell'r
for the list of Italian travels must considerably in-
crease the difficulties of the Museum cataloguu•
But it is a subject which is alway t
s attractive,2e
treated with freshness and simplicity. The volnio
before us has an especial interest at the Presen
time, since it is chiefly to the people of that countl;
their character, position, and tendencies, that
th
authoress has turned her attention. She justly
observes, in her preface, that the classic and llis'of
rival associations of Italy, and the treasures
ye
ancient and modern art which it contains, ha :t
been the theme of so many eloquent writers this, it
would be superfluous for any one not higui
squucahl i fied
subjects. by e aur naivni gn g and
llived
e dr efsoera r c h
ten, tmo
otnrtehast
in
Tuscany, she was enabled to form some opinie,llll
with regard to the condition of the people, wh,.'er
she has expressed with grace and clearness. flea
remarks on the condition of women in Italy, an
the slavery and ignorance in which they are keP,."
are well worthy of perusal. She dwells much urtt
this point, and few will deny the truth of her
f
Italian
inferenceh e
women
farthestet
no
off,theo n
Lt
hdoeengdroand nationalin
org effect
America
character. of t
?"
Whichstate
st
i asked all
Italian lady of the authoress one day. And oblie
receiving the answer, given with secret wonder,
st
be
remarked, " What a very large city America inure
be !" Two young ladies living in Florence vi'e`,4
ignorant of the existence of one of the boasts
sue
Italy—the celebrated Lake of Como. These
anecdotes, and many others respecting
strict rules which prevent women from walk/114
few steps alone, are amusing enough to read, 70
they are startling from the amount of ignorance
and cowardice they display, and the weakness of
character and inertness of children brought uP
such mothers is not surprising. The authores
whose English privileges and English courage
astonished her Italian friends, is well qualified t°
speak on such a subject, and she discusses it with
an earnestness and ability that impresses the reaaea
favourably. Her chapters on society, manners, and
similar topics, are especially
worthy of perusald a 1
those who do not coincide in her views of politi
questions: will not differ from her decisions °:
social matters. The incidental descriptions al.;
welloanr
eav
se iymr i
egt
wtoe
ohn
da, t andhl
at
Ist
nho
iene
eda
oc
scfuotbmhj
eep
captnl,
eytahi
snaagtn
we
ie lesl
tuhsatvr
eats seen
volume'et
for some time.

The Quarterly Review. No. CCV.
Already in our leading columns we have referred
I. to two out of the eight elaborate papers coat us
N
buted to the present number of the ever-vigo
old Quarterly. The paper on the "National °a,
lery," indeed, could hardly fail to command ce,_?t
general notice, at a time when the future of tvi!,
growing collection of art-treasures, and that als.?,ut;
the Royal Academy, hitherto the companion 011,,
advancing fortunes, would seem to be trembling
the balance, dependant upon the whim of hisiltnYal
ou
Highness, upon the taste of the trustees, and !ir
the munificence of the Treasury. The chapte on
r
"Law Reform" again is invested with intermit.
even for non•professional readers, by its directct
sociation with the genius and labours of the greatest
of all our law reformers, and otherwise in so
respects one of the most illustrious men now
Henry Lord Brougham. Carlyle's great biogrßPe
of " Friedrich 11. of Prussia " is the subject ~,f
opening criticism in this number of the Quo'''. "
in the course of which it is happily observed
" So far as it is possible to extract the essence from „ass
Carlyle's philosophy, and reduce it to the narrow ee_Latd" as
of a few words, it may perhaps not unfairly be des
Ar-
a system of protest in favour of work against talk—e:
nestness against trifling—of sincerity against pretensie
Subsequently " The Minstrelsy of Scotland"-If
recently illustrated by the distinct labours
es
Charles Ro6ers, William Ay bil
toun, and Janes
Maidment—is fervently eulogised by a thoroug d
appreciative reviewer. Speaking of the songs ate,
ballads of old Scotia, he writes thus eloquently
"Brave youth and fair girlhood kindle at their strain;
They
stoetulanadf'sthfeamieerasamersowyeeast? aasndthe breezes
nationality as the honey of the gNorth'tastes of
Scotland can never become a prosaic country while Buell5
literature survives to keep alive the romance of her reputa-
tion."embhaealmthheerr.

astic on Diceeesis
A chapter upon " Baron Bunsen and the Chronology
of the Bible" carries us into Egypt—while another,
referring, among other works of other antiquaries,
gossiping.2ll
to the learned Dr. Oliver, of Exeter, and h'
in another direction, down into green, fertile, beau'
tiful " Devonshire." There is a very readable all:
Exoniensis, takes us willingly
111. and Charles James Fox ;" and at the close oil
paper further on, in relation to ~ Georg_
the number a comprehensive survey of " Foreign
Affairs," with especial reference to the war in Ital•
spii nging ou
out of the relations between Lorabaral
and Sardinia.

count given of the trial of " Trevor v. Tre'v°l":",
the culminating point of the interest of the 'ruche
novel—but that we conceiveour so doing would b,Qa
superfluous as unreasonable under the circumstano.
" The Man of Fortune" is the third—as the !Port
ing writers say, " a good third"—in the series o'D•
cheap original novels recently issued from the press'
by the Messrs. Routledge. As such the writer Is
secure of a large audience—to that audience we
commend the perusal of his animated " StorY of
the Present Day," as one the frequent humour, and
(towards the close of it) the vivid interest of whichwill cause many a reader to look forward hopefully
for the appearance of the next tale from the pen °
Albany Fonblanque.