The Sun.
London, England, 1835-04-22 00:00:00

DARTFORD STEEPLE CHACE.

A sweepstakes of 5 sovs. each, with 50 sovs. added.
The line marked out was in the valley between Farmingham and
Dartford, to the extent of four miles, crossing the river several
times, and containing forty leaps. They came in as follows :
Mr. Seffert's br. m. Parasol (Mr. J. Mason) ... 1
Mr. Okins's ch. g. O'Craden
Mr. Armstrong's Locksley
The remaining four, viz. Sir W. Geary's br. h. Arab (Marquis
of Waterford), Mr. G. Gavin's b. g. Cornet, Mr. Bryant's ch. g.
Bamford, and Mr. Weston's Rocket, were distanced. The Mar-
quis of Waterford fell at the third leap, his horse following the
course of the others for two miles and a half, taking his leaps in the
most beautiful style, without his rider. The riding of Mr. Mason
and Mr. Bean was first-rate, particularly the latter. Several of
the riders, with their horses, met with falls and duckings, but no-
thing serious occurred to mar the pleasure of the day.

The Jersey Races are to take place on the 29th of next month.

THE LIBRARY.

BENTLEY'S LIBRARY OF STANDARD
NOVELS AND ROMANCES.

(From' the Printing Machine of Saturday, April 11.)
In the first number of the Printing Machine, we ren-
dered justice to Mr. Bentley, who under the general title
that stands at the head of this short notice, had pre-
sented a selection from those copyrights of which he had
previously sold a dear edition, and by reprinting them
closely, yet legibly and elegantly, had rendered the works
generally accessible to a new set of readers, at one-fifth
of their original price. Since that allusion, which was
meant to direct our readers' attention to what was really
good and cheap, the publication has continued to be con-
ducted on the same honest diffusion of principles; and it
is due to Mr. Bentley to state, that his selection of novels
and romances has been, on the whole, very judicious. In
forty-four volumes, which have now been published, the
degree of merit of course varies ; but we do not see a
single volume that can be objected to, either on the score
of dullness or immorality, while the large majority of them
are occupied by such authors as Godwin, Cooper, Mrs.
Brunton, Miss Austen, Galt, Grattan, Banim, Beckford,
M. G. Lewis, Gleig, and Morier, who are among the very
best of our modern novel and romance writers. We have
had occasion to express our opinions of the merits of
several of the authors just named, and though we seldom
deal in unqualified praise, and rather avoid than seek
phrases and terse sentences such as booksellers like to
cut out and put into newspaper advertisements, we believe
our commendations have not been deficient in sincere
warmth, or wanting in that simple, straight-forward tone
which draws sensible people's attention to a book much
better than exaggeration and puff. We have expressed
our warm admiration of Mr. Beckford's " Vathek," and
Mr. Morier's immortal tale of " Hajji Baba," both of which
works have been recently published in Mr. Bentley's col-
lection. We have done justice to Mr. Galt in his peculiar
and only good line, and " Lawrie Todd," the very best of
his good tales is included in this series. Of Miss Austen
we have said that we consider her novels as by far the best
of their kind, and we have done what we could to make
them more generally appreciated, and no fewer than five of
Mr. Bentley's elegant little volumes are devoted to this
excellent writer, containing her " Sense and Sensibility,"
" Emma," " Mansfield Park," " Northanger Abbey," " Pride
and Prejudice," and " Persuasion."
There is one great and original author—a writer whose
fine, bold, idiomatic English alone, ought to claim the re-
verence of all readers—whom we have long wished for an
opportunity of honouring. We mean Mr. Godwin, whose
novels contain more materials for thinking—more meta-
physical grasp—more agitating scenes—and more exquisite
pictures of domestic happiness, than we should know where
to find united in any modern author. We own to no
abatement of our admiration of Walter Scott when we say,
that in some parts of novel writing (and those, though not
the most popular, the very highest) Godwin infinitely sur-
passes him. We never can forget the impression made
upon our minds by the first reading of that wonderful tale
" Caleb Williams ;"—and the very same sensations we
felt—the same breathless, gasping anxiety, the same riveting
interest—the same awe and wonderment, have been ac-
knowledged by some of the finest intellects of our times.
Mr. Canning used to say of it that it was the most asto-

wishing book he ever -readrand the late Lord Dudley, whom
we mention not because he was a lord, but because he was
a man of genius in the true and lofty acceptation of the
term, said be had never been so much affected by any
other human production. We have seen nearly the same
effect and heart-stirring produced on foreigners of different
nations who could only read it in translations wherein the
magic of the style was lost. In Mr. Godwin's " St. Leon"
and in his " Fleetwood" there is a good deal of the same
extraordinary power displayed, and, though not so con-
stantly as " Caleb Williams," both these stories awaken
some of the strongest of our feelings, and make us fancy at
times that we are actors or spectators in a real scene and
series of events instead of being mere readers of a work of
imagination. Every page bears the impress of a superior
mind, and even where the narrative flags or fails altogether,
there is generally something to excite a solemn train of
thought—a something that only Mr. Godwin can do. It
is in the first part of " St. Leon," before the hero has ob-
tained the fatal gift of the elixir, by which he can command
immortal youth and endless wealth, that the finest specimen
of this writer's talents in describing the charms of domestic
life, occur. It is there, too, that in drawing the character
of Marguerite, the wife of St.. Leon, Mr. Godwin has given
one of the most beautiful and touching representations of
female virtue, modesty, tenderness, generosity, nobleness of
soul, and self-denial, that was ever conceived by the heart
and intellect of man.

Owing to various causes these novels, though fervently
admired in many quarters, have not had the extensive and
general popularity they deserve. At the time they were
produced (though that time is not very remote) the taste
and aspirations of the people were decidedly much lower
than they now are, for such trash as the Leandenhall-street
Minerva romances were eagerly devoured by the many,
while " Caleb Williams," and " St. Leon," and " Fleetwood,"
were left comparatively untouched, and were only read by
the few. That was also a season of violent prejudice and
illiberality. On account of some metaphysical political
speculations, a hue-and-cry was raised against Mr. Godwin
by the Church-and-State people, who then carried every
thing pretty much their own way, and who visited upon his
novels what they considered the sins of his " Political
Justice," and his other works of that nature. In his old
age Mr. Godwin may now be consoled by seeing, that if
such prejudices are not wholly extinct, the violence and
persecution that accompanied them have either entirely
gone out, or have become powerless as engines of attack
and oppression. By introducing the three novels we have
last mentioned into his collection Mr. Bentley has greatly
increased its value, and we hope by these means the
tales will be widely and rapidly diffused.
Some of the best of the novels of our American brother,
Cooper, viz., " The Red Rover," " The Spy," " The Last
of the Mohicans," " The Pioneers," " The Prairie," " The
Borderers," and " The Water-W itch," have been already
published in this series. We do not include Mr. Cooper's
" Bravo" among the best ; for we think so little of it, that
we wish it had been excluded. Lewis's story of the " Bravo
of Venice" is a very different affair ; it is indeed a wonder-
fully clever work of its kind, and we are glad to see it re-
appear where it does.
Young people may be delighted with them now, as we
used to be when we were young ; but we are too old to find
much pleasure in such novels as " Thaddeus of Warsaw,"
" The Scottish Chiefs," "The Hungarian Brothers," and
" The Pastor's Fire-side," by the Miss Porters ; but we
can still relish many of " The Canterbury Tales," by the
Miss Lees, and think they very properly occupy a place in
the collection.

We would willingly devote a page to a moral writer of
so much excellence as Mrs. Brunton, but for the present
we have only time to say that her two admirable stories—
" Self-Control" and " Discipline"—have already appeared.
Mr. Bentley has included, among these standard novels,
translations of the " Corinne, or Italy" of Madame de Stael,
" The Hunchback of Notre Dame" of Victor Hugo, and
" The Betrothed" of Manzoni.

We have now mentioned nearly all the novels and ro-
mances which have been published in this collection. From
the few words we have said, the reader will perceive that
there is great merit and abundant variety in the series.
Each volume has a frontispiece and a vignette, contains a
complete work in itself (except in three instances), and
sells for 6s. The form of the publication recommends itself
not only by its cheapness, but by its great convenience.
It is a pleasure every lover of a good novel will feel, to be
able to put it into one's pocket for a day's stroll in the
country, or the like, in one compact volume, instead of
lugging it about in three volumes. We should think this
series and method of publication exceedingly well adapted
to our now numerous and constantly increasing book-clubs
in the country.