The Sun.
London, England, 1859-05-27 00:00:00

Robert 3fornay. By Max Ferrer. Chapman

arid Hall.

There is a thoughtful style about this book that
may attract the notice of the reader who seeks for
something beyond the superficial. The character
of Mornay himself is a strange one, but the peculiar
points of it are finely traced and accurately defined.
Under the smooth current of outward prosperity,
and beneath the gaudy glare of worldly fashion, \
are introduced to many shrewd dissertations and
clever criticisms on existing follies and extant
faults. The description of Falkland is admirably
given, and exposes most successfully the prevalent
errors of judgment into which the self-sufficient
and selfish youth of the day are apt to fall. What
real feeling he possessed was carefully concealed
under a mask, and he lived an artificial existence.
Harry Winsome is a very pleasing character, and
it is very satisfactory to find him renouncing the
idle and extravagant habits into which he had
fallen, and commencing his life afresh under better
inspirations and happier auspices. The conflicting
circumstances which attended the engagement of
Harry and Miss Markham, and his hopeless
attachment to Mrs. Lovess, the widow, are ingeni-
ously narrated, and form an exciting passage in the
story. There is also an interesting episode con-
cerning Mornay and Mabel Farion, although there
are more painful scenes, and the conduct of Mornay
in Italy was reprehensible in the extreme, and led
to misery on one side and misundcrstanding on the
other. Many of the numerous persons who appear
on the scene are sketched in a skilful manner, and
those who object to the serious part of the re-
flections may find ample amusement in the vivid
descriptions that abound in this sparkling volume.

The Mothers of Great Men. By Mrs. Ellis, author
of " The Women of England," &c. Bentley.

Mrs. Ellis has justly observed in her preface
that she has a noble subject. The influence of
mothers on their sons is a subject well worthy of
consideration. It is a generally admitted fact that
the mothers of great men, if not themselves eminent,
have been frequently distinguished by force of
character, elevation of sentiment, or some peculiarity
that marks them out from the commonplace. Phy-
siologists, and psychologists may indulge in specu-
lations as to the inheritance of characteristics ; but
it is a more interesting as well as well as a more
instructive view of the question to reflect upon the
moral influence of the mother over her child. The
inculcation of high and noble feelings, no less by
example than precept, depends greatly upon the
maternal influence, and it must be a high toned
mind and a character of unusual strength that re-
sists the deteriorating effects of a mean and selfish
mother. In many instances, among the celebrities
of the world especially, the mother's care is needed
less to elevate and inspire than to soothe and
moderate. The authoress remarks upon the irre-
parable loss of a motner's love to the distracted
mind and sensitive nerves of the gentle Cowper.
Though fully appreciating the interest and import-
ance of her su',ject, Mrs. Ellis has not succeeded
in rendering her work all it might have been. The
style is somewhat heavy, and she expresses her
regret that facts have in many instances failed her ;
indeed, many of the most estimable and devoted
mothers may be little known beyond their own
immediate circle. The teaching of the mother, too,
is something intangible, consisting less in positive
words and direct actions than in the general influ-
ence of high principles and generous sentiments
over the tender minds of children. The authoress
has, we imagine, endeavoured to be too precise in
her definitions. A general portrait of the
mother in her home life is as much as can
be expected, unless she has herself mixed in an
extended sphere of usefulness. Nevertheless, the
work is full of interest, and if not quite carrying
out the author's intentions or the reader's expecta-
tions, conveys much valuable information, and
suggests reflection. The characters she has chosen
for illustration are many of them well known. The
first is Monica, the admirable mother of St.
Augustine, the fulfilment of whose maternal hopes
was granted her after many years of patience and
prayer. The story of her dream, which foretold
the conversion of her son is well known. The
mother of Alfred the Great comes next in succession,
though in truth she ought not to have been included,
for, as is familiar to most readers, the young Judith
was only the stepmother of the future king. Still,
as tradition tells that her instructions taught him
to read, and her songs made him familiar with deeds
of chivalry, she deserves a place in these records of
maternal care. Margaret Beaufort, the mother of
Henry VII., and foundress of many collegiate
institutions, the "venerable Margaret" of Gray's ,
ode, fills an interesting chapter. Louisa of Savoy,
the mother of another sovereign, is equally remark-
able in character, though not equally estimable. If
her clear head and firm hand ruled the troubled
kingdom safely during her son's captivity in Spain,
we must not forget that it was her ungovernable
pride and vindictive temper that turned the sword of
Bourbon against his country. Her avarice, too,
has no claim upon our indulgence, since her secret '
hoards were not forthcoming for the payment of
her son's ransom. She had not experienced those
vicissitudes which induced Letitia Bonaparte to say,
when remonstrated with for her economical propen-
sities, " Who knows but I may one day have to find
bread for all these kings ?" Louisa's granddaughter,
also the mother of a king,fills a considerable portion
of the volume. Jeanne d.'Albret, Queen of Navarre,
and leader of the Huguenots, was a very different
person from the selfish and superstitious mother
of Francis I. Yet she had her grandmother's
energy of character, joined to abilities which were
her own. The events of her career are matters of
history, and have recently been the subject of a
very valuable and interesting work from the pen
of Miss Freer. As the mother of Henry IV. she
fills a place in this catalogue, and the record of her
life is full of interest. The mother of John Wesley,
a woman of remarkable strength of mind and de-
cision of character, is another of the conspicuous
figures. She was fully impressed with the sense
of her maternal responsibilities, and attached great
importance to the virtue of obedience. It is re-
corded of her that she taught her babies to " cry
softly," though it is not said by what means this
desirable result was obtained. Letitia Bonaparte,
" Madame Wre," of course fills a place in such a
record, and her portrait. is the frontispiece to the
volume. The mother of Lord Byron, whose cruelly
capricious treatment of the poet's sensitive child-
hood may justly be blamed for many of his sub-
sequent errors, is another of the remaining subjects.
The authoress laments her inability to discover the
facts she is convinced are in existence. She has,
however, opened a suggestive subject, and it may
be subsequently followed up by herself or by others.
The work before us is not without its lesson and its
object. It may serve to awaken some heedless
mothers to a sense of their responsibilities, and it
furnishes the best answer to the conflicting argu-
ments in favour of women's rights, and against the
extension of women's education. The sketches
before us reply, women are not devoid of power,
when the tone and tenour of a whole life is com-
mitted to their charge; but what cultivation of
intellect, what extension of knowledge, what eleva-
tion of sentiment can be superfluous for the fuj-