The Sun.
London, England, 1861-06-03 00:00:00

"Chronicle of Current History" is continued with
conciseness and spirit.

Bentley's Miscellany.
Harrison Ainsworth's radiant Historical Romance
" The Constable of the Tower," as hitherto during
so many months past, again leads off the new
number of Bentley's Miscellany. This time, how-
ever, with no illustration from the hand of that
facile artist John Gilbert—and, what is yet more
remarkable, without any explanation whatever as
to the cause of that unwonted absence of embellish-
ment. Not that Mr. Ainsworth's story this month
really needs pictorial adornment. It is, in fact,
wholly independent of the artist's aid—Ainsworth's
pen colouring the page into life as vividly as though
that pen were the brush of a painter. With eight
additional chapters, the Second Book of " The Con-
stable" is brought to a conclusion. The Constable
himself—and so far the work appears (in the pre-
sent instalment,"at least) somewhat of a misnomer
—passes across the scene only for the briefest in-
terval, and then quite incidentally. If Sir John
Gage has little to do this month towards the deve-
lopment of the plot of the narrative, the Lord
High Admiral has everything to do with
it. That handsome personage has certainly
seized upon the lion's share of the interest inspired
by this courtly tale of love and ambition. Every
one is (in importance) subordinated to him—his
brother, the Lord Protector—his wife, the Queen
Dowager—his erst-while lady-love, the Princess
Elizabeth—his Majesty himself, the boy-king
Edward VI. ! Mr. Ainsworth tells us (as who but Mr.
Ainsworth could tell us P) how a gorgeous fête was
given by the Lord-Admiral at Seymour House; how
the lord Admiral's marriage with the Queen
(Catherine Parr) was announced; how in spite of
that the Lord Admiral's passion was revived for
the Princess Elizabeth; how the Lord Admiral
furnished money to his royal nephew; how the
Lord Admiral deigned to lay the young King's
grievances before Parliament ; how the Lord Ad-
miral's letter was transcribed by the compliant hand
of the sovereign ; and finally, and this is without any
question the most powerfully written chapter of all,
how the Lord Admiral and the Lord Protector were
again—when it might least have been expected—
reconciled ! Some passages in this stormy interview
between the two brothers we must give, if only in
evidence of the skill with which the characters are
discriminated. 003-mour ham hpen conferring with
King Edward and is about to retire from the royal
presence with an obeisance.

But ere he could do so he was stopped by the sudden en-
trance of tho Lord Protector, accompanied by the Earls of
Warwick and Arundel, Lord Russell, Sir Wra . Paget, and Sir
John Gage. For a moment the Admiral was taken aback,
but quickly recovering himself, ho drew himself up to his
full height, and regarded his brother with a glance of de-
fiance.

" Soh ! you are here, my lord, in direct defiance of my
injunctions," cried Somerset.
" My uncle is here at my request," cried Edward, throw-
ing himself between them. " I sent for him."
" Your majesty will not be able to screen him," observed
Somerset. "I am too well informed of his plots. He will
be brought to account for his treasonable designs."
" Treasonable I" exclaimed Edward. " Nay, your high-
ness, the Admiral has been guilty of no treason in coming to
me."

" Ile will have to answer to the council for what he has
done," rejoined the Protector, "and it will be for them to
decide whether his designs are treasonable or not. I charge
him with a flagrant disobedience of my commands and au-
thority—with constantly labouring and studying to put into
your Majesty's head a dislike of the government of the
realm and of my doings. I charge him with endeavouring
as much as in him lies, to persuade your Majesty, being of
too tender years to direct your own affairs, to take upon
yourself the government and management of the realm to
the danger of your person, and the peril of the whole king-
dom. Let him deny these charges, if he can."
" I will answer them at once," replied the Admiral,
boldly. "Itis no treason to be hero with the King, my
nephew, in disobedience to your grace's mandate. I deny
tF at 1 have sou ht to create a dislike of the government in
my royal nephew's mind ; but I will not deny that I have
said that his affairs might be better managed, and that he
himself ought to be better ordered—and that I would do
my best to have him better ordered."
" You are an audacious traitor, and glory in your guilt,"
cried the Protector. " But you have crowned your offences
by obtaining a letter from the King whereby you seek to
accomplish your object of supplanting me in the governor..
ship of the Royal person. But you will be balked in your
design."
" What paper hath your lordship in your hand P" de-
manded the Earl of Warwick of the Admiral.
" A. letter to the Houses of Parliament, which I myself
shall deliver to-morrow. 'Tis written by his Majesty, and
signed by him, as ye may see."
But drawn up by yourself," remarked Warwick. "My
lord, you have done wrong."
"In what respect ?" cried the Admiral, fiercely. "The
King is dissatisfied with the governor of his person, and
would change him."
" Who has made him so dissatisfied ?" asked Warwick.
" Not I," rejoined the Admiral. "You would seem to
infer that his Majesty cannot judge for himself ; that he
cannot tell whether he is well or ill ordered ; that he is
willing to be kept in subjection, to be deprived of the
society he most affects, and to be stinted in his purse.
You think he cannot find out all these things without my
aid. But I tell you, my lord of Warwick, that his
majesty has found them out, and is determined to have re-
dress, if not from you, from Parliament."
"My Lord Admiral, you will never deliver that letter,"
observed Warwick, in a stern tone.
" Your lordship is mistaken," rejoined Seymour.
"In the name of the couopil T
. command yon to OW it
up to his highness the Lord Protector," said Warwick.
"What if I refuse ?" rejoined Seymour.
" We will order your immediate arrest," said the earl.
" Sooner than surrender it to him I will destroy it," cried
the Admiral, tearing the letter in pieces.
" What have you done, my lord ?" cried the King,
alarmed at the proceeding.
" You will destroy yourself if you go on thus, my lord,"
observed Sir John Gage, in a low tone to the Admiral.
"The authority of the council is not to be braved with im-
punity."

" ram not to be frightened, good Sir John," rejoined
Seymour, haughtily. " I fear neither the council nor the
Lord Protector. They will not molest me."
The event proves the reasonableness of Seymour's
boast, for the Lord Protector is speedily cowed by
him (in a whispered converse away from the rest)
into a meek pretence at least of reconciliation. It
is at that point that the narrative breaks off for the
time being with the close of Book the Second.
As the crowning glory of the romance will come,
of course, the record by Harrison Ainsworth of the
Rise and Fall of the younger and haughtier Lord
Protector !
i A few words as to the remaining con-
tributions n this new number of Bentley's Miscel-
lany. " The House, Blaswick" is brought to a con-
clusion. It is the oddest little instalment. Less
than three pages. Yet it is sufficient. Frederick
Marshall, in continuation of his series about French
Trade and Population, give us an instructive chap-
ter on " Education " among our imperial neigh-
bours. Monkshood, in his " Mingle Mangle," has
another pleasant little chat about Town and
Country, as usual interspersed with abundant quo-
tations. Dudley Costello begins to awaken more
interest in the reader's mind in 'behalf of his young
hero " Lorn Loriot"—the lasi of whose adventures
is capitally told, i. e., the passing of the forged
cheque at the banking house. Besides all which
Ouida has another of his sparkling little pungent
witty historiettes of Love in High Life.

The New Monthly.
The opening article in this magazine is generally
devoted to foreign subjects, and the one before us
is no exception to the rule. It refers to Cilicia,
, which it styles " the most beautiful and interesting
' of all the provinces of Lesser Asia," and is founded
on a recent work by M. Victor Langlois. This
gentleman, it seems from the account here given of
, him, is a distinguished French archeologist, who,
) in December, 1851, we are told, presented a work
on numismatics to the Emperor. The Emperor
did not then enjoy the imperial dignity, but we
suppose that M. Langlois, out of gratitude for the
favour shown to him, has not hesitated to con-
fer the title a little before the time. The Emperor,
glancing at the book, asked if the writer had tra-
velled in Asia, to which M. Langlois replied that
he had not, but hinted that he would he happy to
do so under Government auspices. The conversa-
tion terminated, but eight days. later he received a
commission from the Minister of Public Instruc-
tion to explore Cilicia. An abstract of his work is
given in the paper before us, which may interest
the reader. The story of " East Lynne" is con-
tinued, and probably approaches its termination.
Sir Francis Levison is arrested for the murder
of Hallijohn, and the unfortunate Richard Hare
has a prospect of being cleared from suspicion.
Mr. Carlyle is returned as member for Lynne, his
victory being secure even without the rival candi-
date's capture by the police in the midst of the
election. Poor little William Carlyle is doomed by
the physician, and his mother nearly betrays her-
self in her grief and anxiety. The unnatural
position of Lady Isabel in her former home is most
painful, and mars the reader's pleasure in the vivid
and life-like style of the story. Sir Nathaniel, in
his " Notes on Note-Worthies," tells us of Cardinal
Alberoni, one of those ambitious Churchmen whose
fortune it was to experience the proverbially fickle
favour of kings. In this instance, however, his
sadden dismissal was very like an act of historical
justice, repaying his own treachery to Princess
Orsini, perhaps better known as Madame des
Ursins. M. du Chaillu's famous book on the
Gorillas is the subject of an entertaining article,
which gives copious extrects from the volume in
question. Mrs. Bushby commences another story
of West Indian life, under the title of " Why is she
an Old Maid ?" Another work of fiction going on
is the history of Granville de Vigne, in the present
instalment of which the marriage between De
Vigne and Constance Trefusis takes place, and the
passionate and self-willed hero speedily realises the
value of his friends' warnings. The punishment
of his own misdoings is merited, however
great might be the treachery of the deceiver.
For poetical contributions we have some verses on
" The Rose in the City Alley," by Nicholas Michell,
And the following humorous recipe for the conic
sections by W. C. Kent, which is dedicated to the
4 /wily mews (Author of the immortal Wm, beginning