The Sun.
London, England, 1861-09-06 00:00:00

THE LANDLADY IN DIFFICTJLTIES.

" Philip said he respected and admired that woman :
and worthy of respect she was in her way. She painted
her face and grinned at poverty. She laughed and rattled
with care gnawing at her side. She had to coax the milk-
man out of his human kindness : to pour oil—his own oil—.
upon the stormy epicier's soul : to melt the tutterman : to
tap the wine merchant : to mollify the butcher : to invent
new pretexts for the landlord : to reconcile the lady boarders,
Mrs. General Baynes, let us say, and the Honourable Mrs.
Boldero, who were always quarrelling : to see that the din-
ner, when procured, was cooked properly; that Francois, to
whom she owed ever so many months' wages, was not too
rebellious or intoxicated ; that Auguste, also her creditor,
had his glass clean and his lamps in order. And this work
done and the hour of 6 o'clock arriving, she had to carve
and be agreeable to her table ; not to hear the growls of the
discontented (and at what table d'hote are there not grum-
blers ?) ; to have a word for everybody present ; a smile and,
a laugh for Mrs. Bunch (with whom there had been very
likely a dreadful row in the morning) ; a recce-Ai for the
colonel ; a polite phrase for the general's lady ; and even a
good word and compliment for sulky Auguste, who just be-
fore dinner-time had unfolded the napkin of mutiny about
his wages. Was not this enough work for a woman to do ?"
The second article, " Food —How to take it," is in-
teresting and judicious, although it requires, like
its subject, to be taken cum grano sails. "Keeping
Up Appearances" will not find favour with the lady
readers of the Cornhill, as it advocates prudence
versus sentiment, and echoes, in spirit, the cele-
brated dictum of Punch, "Advice to persons about
to marry—Don't."

Temple Bar.

" The Seven Sons of Mammon" is continued, and
this portion is very important, inasmuch as the
most striking personage of the tale is now verging
towards the crisis of her doom. Florence Armytage
is doomed, and the hounds are on her track
Meanwhile she, like many another victim, is
desporting herself in her brief hour on the stage of
life's meanest vanitieth and thus she will be
hued on to destruction. The designation of
this woman is one of the cleverest sketches
of this author, and exhibits considerable knowledge
of the world. This magazine is celebrated for its
fictions. "For Better for Worse" is finished. It
is a pleasing tale, full of domestic sketches and
replete with wise hints on social subjects. Many a
Sir Philip now walking the earth may learn in
these pages not to be ashamed of the partner he
has chosen, but to stand by her against the
observations of his family with the same daring he
exhibited on his first choosing her for his wife, in
her retirement and isolation. Ethel, too,
has her c3unterparts in life, and these
may take the lesson to heart, not to slight
the affection they have prized too highly, but to be
consistent through good and evil, for " Better" and
for " Worse," as they thread the mazes of life's
tangled labyrinth. " School Girls and Girls'
Schools" is an instructive article that takes note of
the various improvements that have taken place in
the department of female education. "London
Poems" is this month called "The River." It is
well written, and contains some impressive truths.
" The Corporal's Story" is a peculiar record of ad-
ventures that a man met with in his endeavours to
form a second marriage.

Mac Man's Magazine.

This number commences with the first part of an
essay by Dr. Felix Eberty on " Good and Evil,"
the exact object of which it is difficult to define.
He enters into a consideration of the causes which

influence different individuals as to what is right
and what is wrong ; he has come to no conclusion
as 3 et, but perhaps in the second part he will in-
form us by what means we are to determine the
point without the aid of conscience. " Romsoe
Church: A Legend from the Baltic," by Prince Fre-
derick of Schleswig-Holstein, will be found inte-
resting by the lovers of the marvellous and the
horrible. The story appeared some years ago in
the " Casket." Prince Frederick's account is more
voluminous. Mr. Kingsley's tale of " Ravens
hoe" is continued. Charles visits Lady Ascot
and finds that Adelaide has eloped with Lord
Welter ; he recounts the history of his own
ruin, and then, unknown to the kind old
lady, leaves the house and repairs to London,
where he takes employment with a lieutenant in
the army as groom. Lieutenant Hornby is a fine
character as far as we can as yet judge of him. He
discovers at once that Charles is a gentleman, and
they become friends. Finding his groom seated on
a wheelbarrow ruminating one day, he thus ad-
dressed him
You mustn't sit and mope there, Horton," said the
lieutenant ' • "it never does to mope. I know it is inter-
nally hard to help it, and of course you can't associate with
servants, and that sort of thing, at first ; but you will get
used to it. If you think I don't know you are a gentleman,
you are mistaken. I don't know who you are, and shall
not try to find out, Pll lend you books or anything of that
sort ; but you mustn't brood over it. I can't stand seeing
my fellows wretched, more especially a fellow like you.
If it had been to save his life, Charles couldn't say a
m ord. He looked up at the lieutenant and nodded his head.
The lieutenant understood him well enough, and said to
himself,
" Poor fellow I"
So there arose between these two a feeling which light-
ened Charles's servitude, and which before the end came had
grown into a liking. Charles's vengeance was not for
Hornby, for the injury did not come from him. His ven-
geance was reserved for another, and we shall see how he
took it.
Lady Ascot was furious at finding that her nephew
had bolted, and endeavoured to trace him by the
aid of the detective police, but failed in her object,
for Mr. Scotlandyard, the eminent detective, only
furnished her with thieves and scoundrels who
answered to her description of Cha les. Her indig-
nation in reading his letters is highly amusing.
Mary arrives at Lady Hainault's, and is very kindly
received. Her ladyship is out, but Mary goes to
the nursery to see the children. She meets
Lord Hainault at the door, and takes it for a good
sign that he goes to the nursery before leaving
home, but she retires to rest in doubt as to her recep-
tion by Lady Hainault, with what cause the fol-
lowing extract will show :
She left the nursery with a thankful heart; but, never-
theless, she cried herself to sleep. " I wonder, shell I like
Lady Hainault; Charles used to. But she is very proud,
I believe. I cannot remember much of her.—How those
carriages growl and roll, alreost like the sea, and char old
Ravenshoe." Then, after a time, she slept.
There was a light in her eyes, not of dawn, which awoke
her. A tall, handsome woman, in silk and jewels, who came
and knelt beside her and kissed her, said that now her 01
home was broken up, she must make one there, and be a
sister to her, and many other kind words of the same sort.
It was Lady Hainault, the long Burton gill (as Madam
Adelaide called her) come home from her last party; and
in ouch kind keeping I think we may leave little Mary for
the present.
Gaps in the Solar System
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