The Sun.
London, England, 1859-06-30 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

The Lees of Blendon-hall : an Autobiography. By
the author of " Alice Wentworth," &c. 3 vols.
Hurst and Blackett.
The peculiarly intricate style of this story will
attract those readers who love the marvellous.
There is something very painful in the idea of the
step-father having murdered thelather of Alswitha.
The various attendant circumstances are narrated
with great skill, and there is an additional excite-
ment imparted to the sketch in consequence of the
heroine's being of so tender an age when the awful
event occurred. It was through her instrumentality
that the fatal secret was at last discovered ; for,
her memory having retained the events, her added
sense enabled her to comprehend more fully the
action that to her infant intelligence had seemed
so strange. Her brother Godfrey is a fine charac-
ter, but he is too impetuous, and he occasioned
much suffering by his needless violence, and there
was too much revenge in his spirit, instead of
merely seeking to let justice take its course. Owen
Wyndham is a most despicable character. Apart
from the crimes he committed, there is a meanness
and malignity in his nature that is appalling. His
brother Hugh is very different. It is to be re-
gretted that the author should have described him
as the object of Alswitha's regard. It increases the
confusion without adding to the interest. It jars
upon the feelings, at the conclusion, to be informed
that she was willing to unite herself to one who
was connected with the murder of her father.
Although he was violent, it is satisfactory to find
Godfrey Lee, with his stern determination, come
to the rescue, and, by his machinations, prevent so
direful a catastrophe from occurring. There is
retributive justice in the last page of the life of
Owen ; and Hugh's fall at the battle of the Alma
was a blessing to himself, for his existence had
become intolerable to him. Neither can the early
death of Alswitha be regretted. Her life had been
one of trial, and death was her only true release.
Altogether a most powerful story in its way is this
record of sin, shame, and suffering ; and the skill
of the writer of " Alice Wentworth" has suffered
no eclipse in the compilation of these volumes.

Through the Shadows. By the Author of " Sidney
Grey." 3 vols. Hurst and Blackett.
The writer of this tale has formerly distinguished
herself by some charming children's stories. It
was evident, even from their pages, that the know-
ledge of character, the depth of feeling, and the
clear unaffected style of the authoress was equally
capable of pourtraying the joys and sorrows of
older and darker years. She has proved herself
fully competent to this task in the novel before us,
whose mournfully expressive title is singularly-
appropriate. Unpropitious circumstances, uncon-
genial companions, and their own wilfulness or
weakness, bring over the young hearts of the
story heavy and abiding clouds, which throw dark
shadows on their paths. All these sorrows are real
and pressing, such as meet us at every turn in life,
such as sit at every domestic feast "like the
Egyptian skeleton, and press heavily on the
hearts of the home circle, though the world
without may know little of them. An unprin-
cipled youth whose reckless extravagance involves
bim in crime ; a harsh and exacting rela-
tive who is constantly twitting those around her
with want of gratitude for favours bestowed; a
weak and irritable man, whose frenzied pursuit of
failing speculations, renders his temper unbearable
and his fortunes irretrievable; the constant pressing
cares attending a small and encumbered income ;
such are the chief troubles that overcloud the lives
of Alice Earle and Ruth Brandon when we are
first introduced to them. By and bye, the shadows
thicken on their paths, but it would be injustice to
the authoress to unfold the plot so briefly
and incompletely. It is enough to say, her
characters, though vividly drawn, are all
lifelike ; and though the events of the story are not
extravagant, they have an air of freshness and
novelty about them that is not common in th• fic-
tions of the day. The plot is very ingeniously
arranged, though neither complicated nor mysti-
cal. The reader has a dim perception from the first
of the sorrow and suffering which will be the fruit
of the wilfulness of Ruth, the weakness of Alice,
the suspicious reserve of Sebastian, and the reck-
lessness of Frederick. Maxwell Earle, the brother
of Sebastian and cousin of Alice, is one of the most
attractive characters in the book; yet his suffering
sentiment to usurp the place of principle, and his
allowing himself to follow the claims of ideal self-
sacrifice, instead of the plain practical duty,
brought bitter fruits to many. The character
of Sebastion, though peculiar, is ably drawn. It is
shown how the unpropitious influences of his child-
hood, his severance from his mother's love and
household ties, weighed upon a nature both proud
and sensitive, and impressed him with a morbid
distrust of his power of inspiring affection which
brought much subsequent suffering. The catastrophe
of the story occurs in the second volume, but the
interest of the reader is sustained till the close. The
picture of Alice, gentle and mournful, tending with
unceasing care the wants of her childish and
querulous parent, yet ever with a pause in her
labours looking with mental vision on the
frost-bound ships, and the wide trackless ice which
pitilessly shut out hope or explanation, lingers on
the reader's memory. Ruth, the earnest and true-
hearted, whose great object in life was to shield
sorrow from those she loved, brought on herself
the heaviest punishment she could have devised by
her rebellious refusal to bear the trial sent her.
She resolved with all the strength of
her
determined nature that her mother should be
spared the knowledge of Frederick's crimes. On
herself she said should be the consequences of the
steps she took to avert it ; she was ready to
face them, whatever they might be. She reaped
the reward of those who defy the decrees of
Heaven, and wilfully endeavour to shape their own
destinies. Not on herself the consequences fell,
but on those most dear to her. And, in the midst
of the unavailing regret for sorrow which she had
brought but could not take away, the gentle
inyalid whom she had wished to spare died, with
words of tender reproach on her t
The ihnattuit"isoonmoef-
thing had been kept from
the mother's lovewasHtoaorcrlieeatrissigf• hotrecdibtloy be baffled
or deceived. Aunt
and few would be inclined to pi▪ ty the lonely old
age which her bitter tongue and exacting selfish-
, ne brought upon her. Many minor characters,
each individual and peculiar, fill up the scene. Mr.
Meyer and his son Harry, Caroline Brandon and her
husband, Miss Dudleigh and her companion, are each
separate portraits, though only in outline. There
is no question of the writer's power in construction
of plot or delineation of character; the interest of the
story, and the individuality of the dramatis per-
sax are sufficient proofs of her abilities in loth re-
spects. Her lessons are drawn from life, of whose
trials and sufferings she has evidently seen much.
The pure and straightforward simplicity of
the unspoken moral of her pages, is only what
might have been anticipated from the
author of " Sidney Grey." Now through the toil
and conflict of the troubled lives of men and women,
she teaches the same truths ; of peace that comes
through much patience ; of hope that rewards the
upward looking spirit ; of faith, that crowns the
heroism of suffering nobly borne : till learning
the lessons of life and sorrow, the anxious heart,
the wilful mind, the weak and craven spirit are led
even by the troubles which they shrank from "out
of darkness into light, through the shadows."