The Sun.
London, England, 1861-05-18 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

La Beata. By Adolphus Trollope, author of " A
Decade of Italian Women," &c. Two Vols.
Chapman and Hall.
This sketch of Italian life is a very able one, and
its melancholy east may attract some readers. La
Beata is a gentle, timid young creature, who is
totally unfit to cope with the hard fate that befalls
her. Filippo Lonari is a selfish man, for whom
one feels nothing but indignation and contempt.
His conduct towards this helpless young girl, who
trusted in him, was most despicable, and it is with
satisfaction that we learn his after life was embit-
tered by the recollection of his ingratitude and
deceit. There is something very touching in the
mild resignation with which " Tina," as she was
called, aequiceed in the solitude to which she was
consigned by her reckless and rothleoa guardian,
and the description of her days, after she had re-
turned to the old home, is a solemn account of hopes
blighted, and asad instance of a broken heart, adding
another to the countless hosts of victims who have
been immolated at the shrine of selfishness. The
details given of the gradual change that took place
in the views of Filippo are very natural, and may
serve as an evidence of the deterioration of charac-
ter that is often engendered by prosperity.
Wrong as the connection was that existed
between the young painter and the ignorant
girl, there were allowances to be made, on account
of the state of society in which he lived, and the
extreme simplicity of her views of life. But for the
cold-blooded cruelty and the heartless calculations
that devised the scheme, that consigned the young
creature to a:deserted life, there was no excuse to be
offered by the most considerate of well-wishers, and
no palliation to be found in the tenets of any law
human or divine. When the plan had been con-
summated the machinator was utterly wretched,
and the voice of accusing conscience was continually
soundinc, in his ears. His last years were spent in
a spot where he had ample leisure to dwell on the
enormities of his conduct. After his last interview
with La Beata on her, ourney to the hospital, which
had proved her journey to the grave, he had
vanished from Florence, and we hear again of
him in a very different sphere. "High up among
the beech and pine forests that still clothe that
part of the Apennines which looks on and encloses
toe Dante-Sung valley of the Casentino is the cele-
brated monastery of Camaldoli." In that retired
spot, in that remote locality do we again encounter
the recreant fugitive. Here, when his victim slept
peacefully, did he survive to feel the sting of re-
morse, and to mourn over his guilty course. "He
still saw those white arms stretching out towards
him from the black misere cordia' bier under the
moonlight in the Piazza at Florence. There had
been no hour of his life since that night in which
he had not seen them. In the chapel,
even as prostrate before the altar he bent his fore.
head against the marble of the pavement ; in the
midnight sleepless hours of his cell, while the wind
among the pine forests wailed its weird and fitting
accompaniment to his imaginings, in the feverish
dreaming of his short and fitful sleep the image
which that instant had burned in upon his brain
was never absent from him." It was the best
tribute to the influence exercised by the simplest
natures, if they are only stedfast and true, that
La Beata was cherished by the few who had
known her, and that Filippo was despised by
the many who had seen and appreciated his
talents and predicted his future fame and coming
fortune. What is true always impresses, and
what is false ever irritates the mind of the be-
holder. Her faults were hidden by Ler sufferings
and she lived on in the memory of her people as
a gentle victim, and a confiding maiden, never so
truly to be called by her appellation of "La
Beata," as when she folded her hands meekly
and passed away from this painful world where
she had been more sinned against than sinning,
to mingle in the land of spirits with the saints
whose earthly semblance she had borne in her
tranquil mien and her peaceful features. He on
the contrary was regarded as an alien from the
brethren of arts, and an outcast from the com-
munity of citizens. As a sketch of Italian life
this little volume may be studied with attention
and many will admire the vivacity with which
some of the scenes are described. Certainly sin
brought its own purishment in the sorrows of
Tina in her lonely dwelling, and the sufferings
of Filippo in his Apennine solitude. "La Beata"
is not an unworthy successor to the many dis-
tinguished and successful works of this author,
and some of its interesting passages, eloquent
descriptions, and sparkling sketches may gain for
it approval from discriminating readers.

The _English, at Home. By Alphonse Esquiros.
Translated and Edited by Lascelles Wraxall.
Two vols. Chapman and Hall.
It is always interesting, though often unsatis-
tory, to survey ourselves from a foreigner's point of
view, although, generally speaking, we are more
amused at the extravagance of the caricature than
impressed by the fidelity of the likeness. The
work before us, however, is a refreshing excep-
tion to the general rule. It is fair and candid in
its tone, shows an intimate acquaintance with
England and its people, and manifests throughout
a spirit of cordial and independent admiration for
our country and its institutions. The essays, of
which it is composed, appeared in the Revue des
Deux Mondes, the organ of the Constitutional
party in France, and immediately secured public
attention and approval. The editor considers that
they exercised a beneficial influence in their own
country, where the impressions of England are too
frequently drawn from unfair and depreciating
accounts. It must indeed have required some
literary courage for M. Esquiros to have published
so favourable a notice of the English, and more
especially of the Volunteers, during the late period
of mutual suspicion and distrust. As he says him-
self, in testimony of the independence of his
opinions :—" A proud and free nation would not
desire a homage that was not independent. When
I wrote these essays I had not the slightest idea
that they would be ever translated into English. I
was addressing France, and the best way of court-
ing her favour in the present day is not exactly
by opening her eyes to the grand events that take
place across the Channel." The essays are
disconnected, and pass suddenly from one subject
to the other. This is, of course, accounted for by
the fact of their having been contributed to a
journal, and usually taking up the subject that was
the topic of the day. The first few chapters, strange
to say, are on the geology of Great Britain, and
will interest the scientific. The writer considers
the natural formation of the country to have
influenced its prosperity, since "the excellent
geological products make excellent workmen."
Passing from the country he comes to the race, and
traces the influence of the successive arrivals of
Saxons, Danes, and Normans. The result, he says,
is the imposing spectacle of variety in unity. The
English is a composite nation, and hence its
strength. One feature, which particularly impressed
him, in the national character, was its peculiarity.
"In Belgium and Holland I felt I had one foot
still on the moral soil of France, which extends
far beyond the frontiers. Here there is nothing of
the sort; on the contrary, you feel yourself carried
away by a civilisation gifted, like planets, with a
peculiar movement of its own. From this island
Continental life appears like the French Coast from
Dover hill ; it is a point scarce visible to the eye
in the immensity of the mist." The British masses,
he says, think that every foreigner is a Frenchman,
and he therefore concludes that they only recognise
the right of existence to themselves and the
French. The English possess, also, an unlimited
idea of their own greatness, and have
little sympathy with foreigners. He makes,
however, an honourable exception, saying,
that in a court of law the feelings of
the judges and the public are always inclined to
prctect the man whom his native soil does not pro'
tect. The subjects which M. Esquiros selects in
illustration of the national character are somewhat
singular, and certainly not those usually
met with
in books of this class. The gipsies, the puppet-
showmen, country 'races the costermongers, the
mudlarks, the shoeblacks, the chimneysweeps, are
all included. English beer occupies a prominent
position in pages which leave unnoticed our Legis-
lature, our law courts, our places of public resort,
and our
_social and domestic system. From the
busy gathering at the hop-picking 'to the malt-
houses, the breweries, and the public-houses, our
author trace* the progress of thia national *cage,

EXPLANATION.—B. Barometer, corrected and reduced
to 32 deg at mean sea level ; each 10 feet of vertical rise
causing about 1-100th of an inch diminution, and each 10
deg above 32 deg causing nearly 3-100ths increase. E.
Exposed thermometer in shade. M. Moistened bulb (for
evaporation and dew-point). D. Direction of wind (true—
not magnetic). F. Force (1 to 12—estimated). C. Cloud
(1 to 9). I. Initials :—b,, blue sky; c., clouds (detached) ;
f., fog. ;, h., hail ; 1., lightning ; m., misty (hazy) ; 0.,
overcast (dull) ; r., rain ; s,, snow ; t., thunder. A letter
repeated augments—thus, r.r., much rain. S. Sea disturb-
ance (1 to 9).