The Sun.
London, England, 1835-02-11 00:00:00

4.4 *..,•••••,,51

LITERATURE.

C. HANCES AND CHANGES. 3 Vols.
It. ' is Saunders and Ottley.
ilot often that we read through a novel at the
re.se, ,
"ay. Time has been that this class of litera-
ture h ,
to . a" great. charms for us,.and we were accustomed
s 'evour, a s morceaux, volume after volume of the
this re spect ;
spi-
rit est flavour. But a change has come over our spi-
air it 1
not that our imagination and fancy
these deaf', within us, as to make us unwilling to read
~..e,"saYlngs and doings" of fictitious characters, but
tiler tha
gr. there has been of lat, a dearth of interest
shout them.
We are, however, satisfied that novel writing has
hardly; as yet been fairly applied to its most legitimate
cirld nOst useful purposes—these are morals, and the
prevel opement and direction of the principles of social
".• Here there is still a wide field open for the
,cnltil vim) of the novelist—a field in which there have
been few reapers beyond Miss Austen and Miss Edge-
-ortt neither of whom have carried away even•a tithe
of
ita produce. The authoress of " Chances and
ohs
ages" has stepped into their track—and has shown
Zrs,
well worthy to rank as their companion—com-
ofni,llg a's she does in herself many of the best portions
the intellectual excellencies of the two eminent wo-
toet, have just mentioned. .
the best picture of a woman to be found within the
be more
range of modern fictitious writiiT. Nothing can
more true to nature than the description given of her .
nascent and declared love for the profligate Hamilton,
andr_ tothing can he conceived more beautiful or more
utetesting than the struggle made by the high and
1:.11re-minded girl, to shake off his hold upon her affec-
t 'We say the struggle—for it is here that the au-
oforess has shevrn her tact and her intimate knowledge
the workings of a woman's heart. The whole of
Catharine', history is well conceived, and well ma-
bld, and it ic; worthy of beini! held up as a lesson
"....°e the
eies of the sex.
There •
us is vane trait in this work which has charme
thA ii
greatly, and this is the application of Religion to
v"
and/ characters of Catharine and her father.
It '
0,1 has
been sometimes cantingly objected, that it was
6
felt tto Thirigle the sanctity of religious hopes and
be rs With the light details of a novel. Nothing can
i more alasurd, for by this endeavour to shut up Reli-
groohtl:witl.lin the pale of sermons and of churches, we
4 of some of its very best and most grateful influ-
io e.es* It comes before us at times in the present work
th its
Inn st lovely garb—cheering and consoling
esorrowsof every-day life. 'We see its soothing
Influence exhibited as powerfully upon the lightsome-
uB3 and sensibility of Catharine and Mariette, as
Pan the venerable rector, and the almost apostolic
na11(1---and we feel ourselves all the better for so
tieeii,g it.
11e • incidents of the story are in themselves simple,
their great charm consisting in their verisimilitude, and
:f the grace of diction, and the fine feminine pathos
many of the feelings embodied in it. The style is
rklshed, and often classical ; and there is a range of
adading and Thinking developed in it, which shows the
tietni.th o re „
to be one of the few literary ladies who
ter to controul their imagination by reading and
ection. A little bit of pedantry peeps out here and
there.
th There i
w
s a slight sketch of, and a residence amongst,
e
Menses of the rallies of Piedmont—somewhat
b11,,,.' of place certainly ; but it will be read with interest
4 many readers. It, however, protracts somewhat the
nottemertt of the story, and rather breaks the interest
o.rvividly kept up in the first two volumes. ,
is, ~:41"e are many capital and characteristic sketches
n'Te'ed through these volumes—and many sound
-n:ns on humble life, which we wish Miss Mar-
-1„„.e.-° Would collect into a volume. Take the fol-
"'wing
tOtznVerY time a poor man is rescued from parish relief, I
good 'Ton a loyal subject being preserved to the state, and
lamy l
h_na.era.ber to society. I thank God. I have preserved. a. _
843,"inshioners from the injustice and disgrace of beinb pa.ihd
l'atkPrt of their lawful hard-earned wages out
. of the par.is
setting 'them the example, by so doing, of extortion
they Ingratitude which we are loud in accusing them of when
fol
Ne ha w it—as they are naturally enough ready to do, when
Pepd Ye io
once deprived them of every feeling of honest .d e-
Oiveenee, and confounded all 'their notions of right and wrong._
Rivi The my text-book, my dear. I have long thought of
the eg a discourse on the words, Thou shalt not sleep with
Zages of an hireling in
14 following is a " Fashionable's" idea of dining
011
t in the country 7,
tcl,, is a bore to dine out when one comes into the country.
elle retired. No man in his senses would seek the wilds of
itgitiven to see plough-boys, dresied out in livery-coats,
. run
jirmest each other with boiled turkies and roasted pigs, and
the glasses in the ears of the guests before they can get
401411 unfisted_and then, I suppose, Miss Brays.wick and ber
ittid er will give toasts and sentiments—' The single married,
aAd tthe married happy'--and Champagne to real friends,
arees al pain to our sham friends ;' and then such of the party
die blessed with singing faces' will be called on to favour
rr,l_llePnay with a song—voice or taste being unnecessary."
4 n eaork is deserving of very high praise. It will
fear ding from beginning to end—no slight thing
or
„ a novel ; and, what is more, it will bear and invite
a-econd readizia. We cordially recommend it to the
Pnblic.