The Sun.
London, England, 1861-04-24 00:00:00

LITEI?ATURE.

Agnes Tremorne. By L. Blagden. 2 vols.
Smith, Elder, and Co.
The scene of this singular and melancholy story
is laid in Rome, thirty years ago, when Italian
regeneration was still the vision of political enthu
blasts and dreaming patriots, and few votaries of
fashion and frivolity sauntered past the marvels of
creative genius. The two worlds of politics and
art divide the story. The heroine, Agnes Tremorne,
is an artist of rare ability, and her cousin. the
betrothed of her sister, is immured in the dungeons
of Spielberg, and the final catastrophe is brought
about through the agency of a secret society. The
plot of the story is singular in the extreme, and in
some respects painful and unpleasing. Agnes has
a sister, Imogene, younger than herself, and
gifted with rare beauty and a highly sensi-
tive organisation. On the day preceding
that fixed for her marriage, Herbert,
her intended husband, had been arrested, and
his distracted friends and relatives could learn no
more of his fate. The shock threw Imogene into a
fearful and mysterions illness in which her reason-
ing powers were affected and her memory lost.
Each day she fancied was the one before her
wedding, and only the influences of mesmerism
could soothe her nervous irritability. Meanwhile
her father dies brokenhearted having previously
lost his estate, and the sole responsibility falls upon
Agnes, who devotes herself entirely to the charge
of her invalid sister, whom she keeps in happy
ignorance of the loss of friends and fortune, and
supports by her untiring industry. Godfrey Went-
worth, the hero of the story, is an Englishman of
fortune who has been residing in Rome for some
years. An early disappointment has embittered
him and made him shun society. He becomes
accidentally acquainted with Agnes and her
sister, and offers to assist in the arduous task of
mesmerising. He has been a friend of the unfor-
tunate Herbert, and is noted for a remarkable re-
semblance to him. To the consternation of both
Wentworth and Agnes, Imogene mistakes him for
Herbert, and her delight at his supposed return
restores her wonderfully. They are afraid to nude.
ceive her, and Agnes suffers herself to be persuaded
against her better judgment to let the delusion
continue. Imogene recovers rapidly, and mean-
while an ardent affection springs up between
Agnes and Wentworth. They are much perplexed
by the state of affairs, and Wentworth resolves to
go himself to Spielberg to obtain news of Herbert,
who is reported to have escaped. He is, in truth,
in Rome, but a dangerous illness, and a series of
unfortunate circumstances have prevented him
from tracing them. Before Wentworth under-
takes his journey, however, he is murdered
through the jealousy of Moroni, an Italian lover of
Agnes, who has contrived to awake the suspicion
of a secret society, by the likeness between Herbert
and his friend. The very day after the assassina-
tion Herbert appears, in time to save Imogene from
a second shock, but not soon enough, to preserve
Agnes from life long sorrow. Many other per-
sons are mixed up in the story, both Italian and
English, but the chief merit of the book does not
lie in the plot or characters. It is rather in the
style, which is correct and elevated in tone, and the
thoughts, which are often original, and always noble
and truthful. The work is evidently the result of
great care, and the author expresses his
own sentiments through those of his charac-
ters. A keen perception of the beautiful and an
intense love of art are also perceptible. The de-
scriptions of Italy, and the conversations and reflec-
tions are the most agreeable parts of the work,
since there is much in the story which jars on the
reader. It shows, however, originality and inven-
tion to have constructed so singular a plot, although
there is a great drawback to its merits in the fact of
its extravagance and improbability. We shall
hope to meet the writer again, when his literary
ability and principles of artistic and social excel-
lence .may be displayed through a more natural
and satisfactory medium.