The Sun.
London, England, 1857-10-08 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

The Story of My Life. By Lord William Lennox,
Author of " Compton Audley," &c. 3 vols.
Hurst and Blackett.
These volumes present a remarkable variety to
the reader, many different scenes of society being
brought before the notice, and the several person.,
ages introduced in them affording a
.striking con-
trast to those novels, which follow exclusively the
fortunes of the hero or heroine, briefly referring to
all others. The adventures of the hero, Arthur
Pembroke, are chronicled, and he certainly ran a
career worthy of notice, for it was plentifully diver-
sified in incident, and his wandering course is illus-
trative of the fate of others also strangely circum-
stanced. At the commencement of his record he
relates how he was sent to a school, in no ways cele-
brated for wise rule or elevated doctrines, where
his mania for practical jokes caused such commotion
that to avert the consequences he ran away. He
was to have gone to sea, but his evil fate went before
him, and such tales of his exploits reached the ears
of the officials that his services were dispensed with.
He subsequently entered the army, where his va-
rious doings form an agreeable subject for study ;
but he meanwhile gives, par parenthese, the SUM-, •
mary of the life and deeds of some whom he en.-
counters in the highway of existence. Of these
none is more amusing than Major Skittowe. The
zeal and assiduity which this worthy displays to
further his purposes and execute his devices might
shame many a better man intent on a higher object.
His best trick was the adroitness with which he con-
trived to Jester). himself on a friend as the dinner
hour approached, or the careless, easy manner in
which he sometimes dropped in as the meal was
being served. He had a habit of always walking
forward while the accounts were being called for at
any establishment. Mingled with some public affairs,
such as races, horsedealing, &c., in the description of
which some useful hints may be gathered, there is a
private story of no mean interest. MaryWinterburn
was a superior character, and though pleasing and
amiable, she was not of the doll-like description of
beauty ; she would not sit still and bear her wrongs
meekly ; she possessed a spirit, and when roused to
indignation it was not an easy task to control her.
This Arthur Pembroke found out too late ; they
had been privately married, and he had been come
pelled to join his regiment, leaving her in town.
ft would have been more prudent to have waited
for years to bring discretion to both ; but, instead
of doing such a wise thing, they married in baste,
and had plenty of time to repent ; for Mary,
alarmed at some reports she heard went abroad,
and her husband, offended at her anger, remained
at home alone for several years, to ruminate on the
ill-luck that attended him wherever his steps
strayed. He had forgotten to be more cautious in
his conduct than before his marriage, and also had
been unwise enough not to mention his plans to
his wife. Whatever has been concealed from us
always acquires a double force when discovered at
last, and hence the catastrophe occurred. It is not
pleasant to the reader to dwell on the passage of
Arthur Pembroke's narrative, in which he makes
mentimr of his acquaintance with Ada Oastleton ;
it was inconsistent with honour and right feeling
to go on as he did, when he knew that he had been
introduced to her family under false pretences.
Some of the events mentioned are very graphically
described, and one of the most exciting is the
struggle made by Pembroke and some of his friends
to reach town in order to stop the agents from de-
livering the money for a cheque that bad been ob-
tained under false pretences. Any readers desirous
of leaving the heavy folio and the dry tome for a
peep into a lighter and livelier publication, cannot
do better than possess themselves of the " Story of
My Life," in which a series of
" Quips, and cranks, and wanton wiles"
is displayed before them in endless variety. Added
t ) this, as the story dates some years back, it may
not be uninteresting to take notice of the then
celebrities of the day and hour, and to compare •
some of the past arrangements of fashion and frolio
with those of the present.