The Sun.
London, England, 1832-11-30 00:00:00

J~ ~ ''_ 3

LITERATURE.

CRAVEN DERBY. Two VoLs.
LONDON, 1832.

There is much talent, chiefly of a descriptive
character, in this historical legend, though the
descriptions are too redundant, and in many
places too much overlaid with verbiage. The
author is also immoderately fond of epithet, and
uses three, and sometimes four, to express
what would be far more luminously and effi-
cie►►tly expressed in one. These are symptoms
of unpractised authorship, which habit and study
will not fail to correct in due season. The
scene of Craven Derby is laid partly in England
and partly in Palestine. Its time of action is
the Crusades, when ther great Saladin, at the
head of his Saracen warriors, filled all Christen-
dom with terror and admiration of his prowess.
This is a dangerous epoch to take up, for it at
once recalls the recollection of Sir Walter Scott
and the splendid romance of the " Talisman."
The writer, however, all things considered, has
executed a difficult task with considerable address
and spirit. His characters, both male and
female, are numerous, and highly coloured, a
little too much so, we suspect, for the taste of
the day, which inclines rather to portraits of real
life than to glittering, all-accomplished heroes
and heroines of romance. This again is the
fault of youth, and comparative inexperience
in literature. We ,must, however,. in justice,
state that the author's sketches of King Bichard
and Saladin are true to history ; the scene
wherein he brings them in direct contrast with
each other, and paints the personal appearance
of the two heroes, is in particular, distinguished
by a bold, dramatic spirit. The storm off the
coast of Devonshire is also a powerful specimen
of descriptive vigour, though the subject from the
days of the Roman Ovid down to those of the
American Cooper has been attempted more or
less by six out of every ten writers, whether in
prose or verse, and is comparatively easy of ex-
ecution. On the whole, Craven Derby may be
pronounced a pleasant, readable tale—more
especially for young ladies of a sentimental turn
of mind who have not yet eloped from their
teens. We have no space for extracts.

LIVES OF BANDITTI AND ROBBERS.
Two VOLS. LONDON, 1832.

The perusal of this amusing work will serve
to dispel those romantic notions which young
folks, who are at all of an imaginative cast of
mind, arc so apt to entertain respecting the
Spanish and Italian brigands. They will here
find—for Mr. Macfarlane writes as one tho-
roughly and familiarly acquainted with his sub-
ject,—that banditti are not exactly the sort of
heroes that we meet with in English romance,
Spanish novel, or German tragedy. There are no
Alessandro Massaronis, no Charles Moors, no
Captain Itolandos, among them. Few or none
of them are given to frolic or jesting ; they deal
with more serious matters ; none of them weep
like Schiller's hero at sight of the setting sun ;
or like Planche's, at the recollection of their
mothers. They are, with scarcely one excep-
tion, hardy, cold-blooded, stupid, bigoted
scoundrels, with scarcely one redeeming trait of
humanity among them all. In comparing Spa-
nish with Italian brigands, the question is not
one of degree of goodness, but of depravity.
All fall far below even the ordinary standard of
iniquity, though it is but justice to say of the
Spanish robber, that when grafted on the priest
(as he but too often is) he makes as close an
approximation to pure diabolism as the imper-
fect limits of human nature will allow. Mr.
Macfarlane abounds in anecdotes of these una-
dulterated vagabonds ; who without one linger-
ing spark of pity, generosity, or romance in their
composition, commit crimes out of very wanton-
ness, which humanity shudders but to read of. It
really seems that even the character of the bri-
gand has degenerated of late years. In the cha-
racter of robbers—more especially of Italian
ones of the last century—Mr. Macfarlane shows
that there was now and then a touch of remorse
and sentiment visible ; but among the present
there is nothing of the sort. It is, however, a fine,
almost a redeeming, anecdote he tells of the Ita-
lian bandit, who, on hearing that his band had
plundered Tasso, compelled them to refund all
the
they had taken, and even to pay homageuaisigledafui
nfde
irmtsoomoc
genius of the great poet. But this is the only
agreeable one in his work. The rest are a mon-
strousity.
in
T itsproper
ro will,
ieislrsl
le hi
goo, t
of fraud, ,sssoeur
fvpaeer point
rst toi isoent
a,
b r
, and
ral.
The volumes are well written, beautifully embel-
lished, and full of dramatic incident and authen-
tic anecdotes. We select the following for quo-
tation :

" Little more than a month after the adventures in the
forest of St. Euphemia, Calabria was inundated by new
partisans and adventurers. The author of the Letters
"calls them all brigands, as usual, and abuses the English
in Sicily for cooperating with them. 'The force, how.
ever, for the greater part, did not consist of professional
robbers, but of Bourbonists of Calabria and other disaf-
fected provinces. They were commanded by a certain
S!arella, who styl-11 himself' Chief of the Independents
of Basilicata.' His dress,' saps the French officer, was
gorgeous, and he was followed by a great number of saddle-
horses and mules, which, they said, carried considerable
treasure. Here then, at length, was a chief worthy to
measure swords with, and, what was still more important,
a rich booty to be seized. What a stimulus for our sol-
diers! Though they had already marched thirty miles,
they demanded to set out again after having nken
little rest, and at four o'clock in the morning they were in
pur-
sued. I
l S'e march,
fauwing the route which this horde had pur-
o could not miss the way, for numberless broken-
down animals marked out the perilous paths which tra-
verse these horrible mountains.'
44 Having toiled on from four in the morning till night-
fall, the French gained the top of a mountain covered
with wood, and thought, at last, that they were sure of
those they pursued; for from a deep gorge through which
brawled a mountain stream, they heard a confused noise,
which indicated the presence of a numerous assemblage of
men, who, from their position, they judged could be no
others than the brigands. Circumstances favoured an
attack by surprise. Two columns of 50 men each were
marched to the opposite end of the gorge to fall
on their rear or harass their retreat, while the rest
aa s t
of the French were to attack them in front. But
scarcely bad they begun to move to this effect, when
fired some shots whizzed by their offieer—the author of
the
peasants who bad accompanied the French, and pretended
to act as guides, but who now, having given the alarm to
tat:
shotsofficer
d
beenene
his pace, and as-
certainedby a group o f
Letters.
htheir friends the brigands, were flying across the wild
a t
The
country. He then beard a tremendous uproar rise from
the dark, deep gorge, where the outlaws were snaking
every possible exertion to secure their plunder, and betake
themselves to flight.
_

,-;-‘ Not an instant was to be lost. Our troops hurried

rapidly down from the mountain, and precipitated them-
selves into the torrent. We soon found ourselves mingled
pell-mell with them in that state of disorder and confusion
which is inseparable from an attack in the nighttime;
and the glimmering lieht of the shots that were fired on
all sides, enabled us to see them running off at the top of
their speed. The columns appointed to cut off their re
treat not having arrived on the spot, and the darkness of
the night preventing all pursuit, these brigands regained
without further impediinent, but not without considerable
loss, the mountains of Syla. Next day, we found several
brigands dead or dying, and the soldiers brought in a
great number of mules and asses, but which, unfortu-
nately, conveyed no part of the treasures of Scarolla ;
they were loaded, however, with his canteens, and to
these we did ample justice.'
" Scarolla and his horde retreated through the Cala-
hriaa, followed in vain by the French, who zooid not
again come up with them. They thence threw themselves
across still wider mountains, and entered without molesta-
tion the States of the Church. They had established
themselves on the steep heights of Monte Polio°, to rest
awhile after their extraordinary fatigues, when directed
merely by chance, a French moveable column, employed
on altogether different business, surprised them in a pro.
found sleep, and killed great numbers of them. The re-
mainder were routed on ad sides, and the French soldiers
obtained so considerable a bloty, that they were seen play
ing at petits-palely with Spanish doubloons. Scarolla did
not fall then, but he was so severely wounded as to be
obliged to take refuge with some shepherds, who for a
thousand ducats, gave him up to the French. He was
hanged shortly after."