The Sun.
London, England, 1861-04-15 00:00:00

after a first summons, is liable imprisonment for
eight to 20 days ; after a second summons, to
from three to six months' imprisonment in the
house of correction ; after the third summons, to
imprisonment from six months to two years.
Any person resisting in any manner the armed
force is liable to five years' imprisonment in a
fortress.

" 5. Any person inciting resistance to the armed
force is liable to double the above penalties.
"' 6. Any person inciting or provoking assem-
blages prohibited in Article 1, is liable to imprison-
ment in the house of correction from six months to
two years ; the same is applicable to persons issuing
lithographic sheets or handbills of an insurrection-
ary nature. Any person distributing such band-
bills is liable to imprisonment for eight days to 20
days.

" 7. Should other offences be committed in these
assemblages not here notified, they will come under
the regular laws.

" 8. Should assemblages or disturbances occur
frequently in the same locality, the instigators and
promoters of the same will be conveyed to a for-
tress, to await their trial.

" ' 9. The Director- General of the Interior and of
Justice is charged with the execution of the present
decree, which is to be inserted in the code of laws.
" Issued at Warsaw on the Bth of April, 1861.
" Prince GORTSCHAKOFF.
" WOLOUSKI.
(Countersigned) „ „7.

LITERATURE.

Silas -Varner, the Weaver of Ravelee. By George
Eliot, author of " Adam Bede," &c. William
Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh and London.
A new work by this celebrated author is sure to
attract a considerable share of attention, inasmuch
as nothing has proceeded from the pen of the com-
poser of " Adam Bede" that is not worthy to hold
a place among the best attainments of the day, and
to rank high in intellectual supremacy over many
superior and standard books. This last produc-
tion is much simpler in style and shorter in length
than its predecessors, but it is more pleasing than
the " Mill on the Floss" in some respects. The
character and career of Silas Marner are admirably
conceived and executed. He is a perfect specimen
of his class of disposition, and more talent is dis-
played in the short sentences that tell us of the
lonely silent man, who is the humble weaver of the
rural district, than is often met with in the elabo-
rate details that swell the records of the magnates
and potentates that shine forth conspicuous in the
golden legends of romance. The story itself is
not very complicated, but one or two points of
importance are strikingly introduced. In particu-
lar mar be mentioned the discovery of Dunstan in
the stone it sixteen years after he had robbed the
weaver of his hard earnings, and departed hidden
by the friendly darkness, as he thought, from all
unfriendly watchers. Hei rushed away from the
blazing, hearth of the man he had robbed, but the
avenger was even then on his track, and he sunk
into destruction with his precious treasure. A more
sudden and solemn judgment could hardly be
afforded. to the guilty beings who might have been
present at his finding. There lay the gold in its
case even as it had gone down on that night long
years a go, bat the man, then in the flush of youth
and the pride of strength, what was he ? A blanched
and withered skeleton, while his undying part
they k new had been removed at once to its account,
gone to stand in that world where the deeds of
dark') liss are brought to light and the secrets of
the innermost heart shall be revealed. The
brothers of the "Red House" were not very
shinin.:g lights to their humbler neighbours. The
eldest son, Godfrey Cass, was far superior to Dun-
stan, but he was easily led, and very deficient in
moral courage. He had contracted a mar-
riage with a woman of low rank and
unsuittible habits for one in his position.
He coin cealed this from his father and friends, and to
all ap-p earance was devoted to a beautiful young
lady of the village. One New Year's-night another
visitant came to the weaver's cottage—not a guilty
man, but an innocent child. Silas, on searching,
found its mother lying perished in the snow outside
the doer. He hurried to Squire Case's, where every
one was assembled, and there the father saw his
child in the weaver's arms. All he thought of and
trusted in was that its mother's sleep amid the
snow might prove to have been her last long rest.
It was found that the sleep was indeed that of eter-
nal si]lence, and then the deceitful man would not
claim his child. He left it in the hands of the kind
but eocentric man, whom injustice and cruelty had
hardened, but whose heart ever softened et the
sight .of sorrow and suffering. Godfrey, however,
did ne.t escape without retribution. In the eyes of
men all prospered, he married Miss Lammeter, who
proved an excellent woman, but disappointment
marked him for its own. He had set his heart on
children that he should not blush to own, but the
only one that came was early taken away. While
he saw his eldest one blooming in health, as the rose
of the village, and filling the gloomy house of the
weaver with the light of radiant youth, and cheer-
ing him with the gaiety of the joyous spirit un-
dimmed by care and anxiety, which can only
belong to life's fresh morning,- the halls of the rich
man were deserted, and his hearth remained deso-
late. At last, when the finger of heaven seemed to
point out his brother's crime, Godfrey was fright-
ened ; he told his wife his fatal secret, and proposed
that they should claim the neglected child, but
here again he was met with a failure. Silas sternly
told him that he had no right, as he had not done
so earlier, and had lived all these years in the im-
mediate vicinity without making a sign that the
outcast child was the heiress of his estates ; also
Eppie refused to accede to the request that had
been tendered too late, and proved unwelcome to
her feelings. She had been brought up to consi-
der the weaver her father, and she could not be
reconciled to the thoughts of transplanting herself
to grandeur that could never be congenial. The
most pleasing portion of the story is that which
records the change that came over the spirit of
Silas from the day when the child appeared
as an angel visitant on his threshold.
It seemed as if, with the disappearance of
his dearly-loved gold, had vanished his bitter-
ness, hatred, and contempt for the human race,
and that with the presence of the child dawned a
new day on the sad night of his dreary existence.
The loss he so bitterly lamented at the outset was
his gain indeed. It brought better thoughts to
his mind, it forced him to mingle with his fellow-
men, and it showed him the futility of setting the
affections of his heart on the perishable treasures
that were the heritage of moth and rust, or the
future harvest of thieves. At the right moment
the child came to claim his eare, to revive the dor-
mant flame of love that had so long been extin-
guished in his breast, and to raise up the thoughts
that had grovelled in the dust, to the exalted goal
of which they were worthy. He then beheld a
true motive and a right incentive for toil in the
helpless innocent; his earnings no more should be

buried in the ground, useless to others and perni-
cious to himself. He had no further call to wor

ship at the shrine of Mammon a helpless slave and a
soul-bound suppliant, for brighter and better work
awaited him. His was now a noble toil, and a
blessed endeavour : to protect a wandering child
from a cold and cruel world, in whose rough high-
ways her feet had so early strayed, to train up a
young being in the ways of peace and pleasantness,
that she might walk in uprightness in her pil-
grimage below, and to influence and inform the
spirit that was to survive the fleeting and fading
fashion of this world, to exist in a glorious immor-
tality beyond the bounds of time and space. The
effect produced on him is finely portrayed in the
following passage :—" In old days there were
angels who came and took men by the hand and
led them away from the city of destruction. We
see no white-winged angels now. But yet men are
led away from threatening destruction ; a hand is
put into theirs, which leads them forth gently to-
wards a calm and bright land, so that they look. no
more backward ; and the hand may be a little
child's !" There was more of her father than her
mother in Eppie. She had inherited none of the
vulgarity that had been the characteristic of that
unfortunate woman, who, in her desire for ven-
geance on her neglectful husband, had taken that
desperate walk in the bitter winter night whose
snows had stopped her on her cruel errand, and
shrouded her in their icy folds of sepulchre till
she should wake to the everlasting morning. The
village of Raveloe, in its poor simplicity, was rich
in illustrations and rife with warnings that were
as the handwriting on the wall, to teach
the careless and inform the ignorant. Silas
made an idol of his gold, and it vanished as if by
magic, and for long years no trace could be found
of its whereabouts. Dunstan Cass had seized
another's right to enable himself to indulge in sin
and rioting, and a dark and sudden doom overtook
him. The unhappy wife had rushed on in heedless
haste to annoy her husband and disgrace him before
his father and his friends, when a numbing power
stayed her, and she was frustrated in her purpose.
Effie had the inherent grace of her father's gentle
blood mingled with the rusticity in which she was
nurtured. She was likewise brought up in a
superior style to the herd around her. " Perfect
love has a breath of poetry which can exalt the
relations of the least instructed human beings, and
this breath of poetry had surrounded Eppie from
the time when she had followed the bright gleam
that had beckoned her to Silas's hearth." She had
sense, justice, and reason on her side when she de-
clined to fbliow her haughty father to his grand
abode. Her home was fixed, and her heart could
not falter in its path or waver in its allegiance, He
who had deserted her mother, denied his child, and

deceived his family had no claim on her reverence;
and he who, in the depths of poverty, had wel-
comed one who had no claim on his labour, and
made her happy by the kindness of his care, he she
felt was her friend, her protector, and her guide,
and she did not intend to desert him. Godfrey
could not deny the truth of this, and he returned to
his childless home; Some of the village characters
are very aptly described in their quaint style, ana,
present great knowledge of men and customs 'Ol.
life on the part of the author. Dolly Winthrop is
a very original person, and some of her suggestions
were more likely to impress the mind with their.
downright earnestness than many more laboured
orations and studied phrases. She was of essen-
tial service to Silas in his moods of doubtfulness
and dismay at the strange events of his life. 111
referring to the calamities that had caused hill' tg
quit his native place and come to Raveloe be 138'
said "It is dark to me; I doubt it will be dark to
the last." " Well, yes, Master Marner," said
Dolly, "I doubt it may. It's the will of Them
t
above as a many things should be dark to us ;
there's some things as I've never felt in tue
dark about, and they're mostly what comes
i'the day's work. You were hard done
by that once, Master Marner, and it seas
as we'll never know the rights of it; bat that
does not hinder there being a rights, Alasteirf
Marner, for all it's dark to you and me." a
this idea of the ignorant woman were embrace
and accepted by the wise and learned ones 10°
fill the high places of humanity, there might be
more real knowledge diffused, that would help to
guide in the intricate paths, and smooth the
rugged roads of life, and there would be more 0
that precious wisdom extant which would adora
its possessor as a rare gem of priceless setting'
and which would lead them in the ways of
plea-
santness and peace. Silas Marner may not fulfil
the expectations of those who may be looking
out for something very striking from one whose
works have been admired and appreciated far
and near, and rendered their author renowned
among those whose writings have influenced and
impressed the minds of their generation, and or/
possibly may survive their own day, to exhibit t°,
another class of society the fashions and foibles 01
this present moment. Yet there is more feeling in,
many passages of this work than in its brilliant
predecessors, and while some of their errors re-
main, the general style seems mellowed by 3
softer impress, and tuned to a finer tone. Tile
lesson of life, as taught to Silas Marner, may„
teach many who are wiser, and the task will nOl
be a profitless one. The satisfaction to be derived
from the perusal of a superior book does not eels°
when the interest of the tale is over ; but rests
in the memory as the vibration of sweetness that
lingers in the ears when the sounding chords
have been swept along by the magical touch of
melody. So the master-mind of genius can fas-
cinate with an irresistible attraction, and shine
with an immortal lustre, and where we Ineet
with a work that approaches in any degree t."
the high standard of perfection as regards merit
of style or might of expression, we must appre-
ciate and admire it accordingly. The enthusiastic
reception that was awarded to " Adam Bede" i°
not likely to await this, its successor, in the list°
of competition for public favour, but whereas it,
displays much of that shining order of talent that
irradiated its pages, it may expect, not unreason"
ably, some reflex of the glory of its success, 313"
some shadow of the grace of its approval.

Framley Parsonage. By Anthony Trollope, author
of " Barchester Towers, &c. &c. 3 vols. Smith,
Elder, and Co.
"Framley Parsonage," as most of its readers Wiil
probably be aware, has long been one of the chief
attractions of the Cornhill Magazine. The saying;
and doings of the quiet little world at Framley, °
Mark Roberts, and his wife and sister at the par;
sonage, of Lord Lufton and his mother a&
Framley Court, of Mr. Sowerby and the Duke,
of Omnium, of our old clerical friends
Barchester and their families, have added
greatly to the interest with which the sub"
scribers to that able and successful serial /10"
regarded the regular arrival of the orange cover'
And now that the tale is told, that the actors have
played their part out in its pages, the reap Pear
ance of Framley Parsonage" in true novel fashion
was of course to be looked for. Now that it is thus
gathered together and presented to the world, the
brilliant author of " Castle Richmond" and " The
Bertrams" need not fear a comparison with his
later works. Though less striking as a whole,
possessing less vivid interest in the plot, and lesS
connection in the chain of incident, it is so simple
and life-like in its interest, so natural and clever in
its delineations of character, that many readers
will deem it more pleasing than their former
favourites. Its faults may be attributed in some
measure to the manner of its first publication, a
degree of prolixity and rambling being sometimes
perceptible, and the crowd of individuals brought
before us being sufficient to perplex if not to con'
fuse the ordinary reader. This may, however, be
the more readily excused, as the author's great
forte is undoubtedly the portrayal of character.
His dramatis persona are numerous indeed, yet
each has an individual idiosyncrasy, maintainea,
by skilful touches, given when the portrait "nigh'
be most easily slighted by a less finished artist'
And these characters are natural, not impossible
heroes and heroines, not highflown or even very
high principled in their prevailing sentiments, 12°'
hardened monsters and criminals. They are oral'
nary men and;women, such as are met with every
day ; ;pleasant, genial, and frank, ;some of them'
others hard, keen, worldly, not scrupling to benefit
themselves at the expense of a friend. The good
predominates largely in some—the bad in others'
but mingled in all, as it is in our daily. l'fe;•
Mr. Trollope does not make the mistake that is 8:
common with historians and novelists, of dividing
mankind into black and white. His worst ch:LW;
ters have some touches of human feeling, his best
some traces of human weakness. Mark Roberts/
vicar of Framley, and one of the heroes, has indeed
rather more than his share of this weakness, all
although natural enough, he is by no means the most
interesting person in the book. Instead of arousing
the reader's sympathy for his troubles, he often
awakens his contempt, and is scarcely good enough
for his gracious and loveable wife. Mark Roberts
is one of those fortunate individuals whose path in
life has been an uninterrupted course of successes.
A school friendship with young Lord Lufton led
to his widowed mother's bestowal of a wealthy
living. The lady he selected for his wife suited the
views of his patroness, and when we are introduced
to him settled at the parsonage he has nothing to
trouble him. But he brings perplexity on himself
by a rash intimacy with an embarrassed spend-
thrift, who induces him to put his name to bills for
his benefit. Those who have very slight experience
in life or in novels need not be told how this ends,
although it hangs over the rash parson's head for
some time. Meanwhile Mark's sister, Lucy, comes
to live at the parsonage, and Lord Lufton, who is t 4,,,
fine attractive character, prefers her to the bride of
his mother's choosing. Lady Lufton is one of the
principal actors throughout the story. She is all
excellent woman, a devoted mother, and a faithful-
friend, hut, like other admirable people, she prefers
her own way to that of those around her. Mark
Robarts has been involved in several dilemmas, be-
cause the patroness of the living is inclined to interfere
with its incumbent, and his acquaintance with some
obnoxious neighbours occasions a stormy scene be-
tween his wife and her old friend Lady Luftou•
Lucy Roberts, who is a fresh and original charac-
ter, possessed of quick wit and ardent feeling, re-
ceives Lord Lufton's suit most ungraciously, giving
him a decided refusal, and when pressed for a roe,
son, declaring that she is indifferent to him. She
after wards reproaches herself for this falsehood,
knowing that pride, joined to her fear of Lady
Lufton's displeasure, has really actuated her. Lord
Lufton makes another attempt through her brother
Mark, but she repeats her refusal, admitting, h°Ne
ever, that she will consent if his mother asks her,
which she knows is not very probable. Lady
ton is aghast, and plans an interview with LucY'
who is as proud as herself. Lord Lufton departs
for Norway, and the matter is left in abeyance. (An
this affair centres the chief interest of the story, s;
Lord Lufton and Lucy are certainly its ra°e;
attractive characters. How all is set right ad
last, how the mother's pride is conquered, a°
how the threatened execution, on account of the
dreadful bills, is stayed, we leave the reader to
discover, only he may be confident that it d°l
happen, for Mr. Trollope, knowing perhaps th,t,
he excels in melodrama and sparkling come,%
rather than in tragedy, is fond of making his
heroes and heroines happy, and bringing about
cheerful denouement. The nuroc:rous ranks °et
secondary figures are well worth study. We me
again most of our old friends of "BarchesterT~.i~~'ers,
as well as renewing an acquaintance with "Doe Ir.
Thorne" and many of his associates. Miss Pun
stable, shrewd. witty, kind, and flippant as of
old,
steps forward to greet us ; Mary Thorne, now Airy.
Frank Gresham, appears in the character of match_
maker, while the worthy Doctor himself occupies
r
a position by no means insignificant. Then au
familiar friends of the cathedral city claim ree.e,g;
r.ition. Mrs. Prouclio, more vixenish and meddle'
some than ever, with the meek bishop in her train ;
Mrs. Grantiy, her courteous enemy, with her beat.
ti ful but passionless daughter, whose portrait 1.5
somewhat overdrawn in its unimpressionable piaci..
dity ; the archdeacon, who is seen seldomer than we
could wish ; Dr. Arabia and his wife, once the much
courted Mrs. Bold of Barchester, and others with
them. Mr. Trollops has not improved in his esti-
mate of the clerical character, and although he says
truly, in extenuation of Mark Roberts' weakness.