The Sun.
London, England, 1861-01-19 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

Change, or Some Passages in the Life of Basil
Rutherford. By Emily Cuyler. Booth, Regent.
street.
This is a very interesting story, which is more.
over very well written, and can scarcely fail to
meet with general approval. The characters of
the chief persons are excellently described, espe-
cially
.Ermentrude Sherburne. This lady is the
exact impersonation of one of those wild and hasty
tempers who cause so much wretchedness to them-
selves and so much sorrow to all connected with
them. She ruined her hopes of peace, far more of
happiness by rushing into a hasty, ill-advised union
with her cousin, with the wild idea of thereby
succouring her sister. This sister had married
against her father's wish, and he was too much
incensed to afford her any assistance, and her hus-
band being poor she was often much distressed.
Yet only one so wild and reckless as Ermentrnde
would have believed that a man like Ralph could
be ruled, above all, when it is considered that she
openlyinsulted him at his first proposal, and he
knew the motive for which she married him.
He grew indifferent when he had gained his tri-
umph over her, and knew he had blighted her
hopes, she being greatly attached to Basil Ruther-
ford, to whom indeed she was engaged at the time
of her marriage with Ralph. The domestic life of
the Sherburnes •was wrAched in the ex-
treme. Ralph went so far as to intercept the
letters addressed by Anil to her sister, hence the
wretched wife believed properity had hardened her
once attached companion of childhood, and this
added the sharpest sting to her suffering life. Sybil
Rutherford is a very delightful character, and the
most pleasing in the story. She had been engaged
to the brother of Ermentrude and Anil, but the
perverse and cruel father would not agree. She was
of the greatest assistance to all around her, and
proved how much more can be done by calm and
consistent conduct, than by the wild and ill-judged
actions of Ermentrude. Sybil took charge of Grace
Holford, the orphan child of her lover, who married
abroad, and died soon afterwards, leaving his mother-
less daughter to the care of Sybil Rutherford. She
did not do credit to the training of her kind protectres
however, and she far more fulfilled the prediction..
of Basil than the hopes of Sybil. He always said.
that she " bid fair to share the many attractive
qualities for which the stiff-necked predecessors of
her house were so distinguished. In her, Holford
of Holford lives over again in undiminished pride
and perversity. " 'Ha, the orphan child of Anil
and Roland Kirkland way also brought up by
Sybil, and she proved far more estimable than her
cousin. The latter part of the book details
the adventures of these maidens when they
entered upon life. At first sight it appears strange
that !Ma should have married one so much older
than herself ; but it must be remembeaed that she
was no common style of disposition. Her reserved i
manner and strange character made her older n
feeling and conduct, by many years, than her age
warranted ; and besides, she had the image of Basil
entwined with her earliest recollections. He came
like a good angel to the miserable home where her
father was dying in want and loneliness. He
stood by the bedside of the wretched man and
removed the only sting that death could bring to
his resigned spirit, by promising to make the
widow and orphan his care. It is not, then sur-
prising that she should have cherished his memory,
and that at last she should have formed an attach-
ment to one whom she had so long thought of in
her prayers, and dwelt upon in grateful recollec-
tion. Grace behaved in a very undignified manner
in regard to her engagement with Richard Leigh.
The latter named individual was a despicable cha-
racter, and his conduct to his cousin Mary alone
sufficed to stamp him as a vile deceiver and a mean
fortune-hunter. This short tale is replete with
incident and adventure. It is written in an ani-
mated strain, and presents an agreeable variety,
with its numerous personages and; several events,
" Change" is a correct title to such a volume ; and
the reader who expects entertainment will not be
disappointed in the perusal of its pages.

A iFehool Manual of Letter Writing. By the Rev.
John Hunter, M.A. Longman.
This is a useful little manual complied by the
industrious author of many similar works for the
assistance and instruction of the young student.
The value of a good and clear style of epistolary
correspondence to men of any rank, profession, or
business 'can hardly be overrated, and it is there-
fore a matter of some surprise that as a branch of
education it is so little attended to. There is no
surer test of an uncultivated mind and deficient
education than an ill-constructed and badly worded
letter, and all who have a large and various corre-
spondence must have been frequently astonished at
the mistakes committed. The substitution of
" were" for " where," of" his" for is," and, above
all, the sudden change from the use of the third
personal pronoun to the employment of the first, is
an event of constant occurrence in the letters of
persons even of the middle class. The avoidance of
all such errors would be best secured by early
practice in that form of composition, and Mr.
Hunter's little work is well calculated for the pur-
pose. His exercises and rules of punctuation are
very useful, and the explanations of abbreviated
titles, commercial terms, forms of address, &c..,
will be very serviceable to many who have outlived
the age of study. A great number of letters are
given as models, and the author recommends the
modern style of the commercial letters to notice, as
rendering them especially fit for youths intended
for a mercantile career, for whose benefit this useful
little treatise is particularly designed.

The Graduated Series of Reading Lesson Books
for all Classes of English Schools. Books 1 and
2. Longman.
These two little works belong to an admirable
series, and are designed for the use of children
beginning to learn. They are very well
arranged, amusement being brought to the
aid of instruction, and the reading les-
sons, consisting of little simple stories and
nursery rhymes, quite within the comprehen-
sion of children learning to read. By degrees,
longer and less simple lessons are substituted, but
still a homely and colloquial style is maintained,
and the young beginner is led on by insensible
degrees. The second volume follows in sequence,
with miscellaneous sketches, stories of animals, and
adventures. Many passages from the life of the
immortal " Robinson Crusoe" are introduced.
The volumes to come lead on by gradual
steps to a higher class of literature; thus,
the stories of animals are introductory to the
Natural History division of the Third Book.
Throughout, a due regard is had to the various
tastes and inclinations of a child, and every means
adopted to encourage the love of reading, as well as
to facilitate the mere mechanical acquirement of
the art.

71ie Autobiography of Leigh Hunt. With farther
Revision, and an Introduction by his Eldest
Son. Smith and Elder.
Messrs. Smith and Elder have just published
this well-known and popular volume in their half-
crown edition of reprints. The latest additions
and alterations have enhanced the value of the
work, and are all included in its present form.
These memoirs of one so able and so eminent, whose
services in the cause of liberal opinions and inde-
pendent journalism have deserved so much of the
public, need no criticism after this lapse of time.
It only remains to commend the convenience and
moderation of this edition,
in which a small and
portable size is combined with clear And excellent
type.

as I. New Edition.
The Practical Ilouse J
Honlaton and Wright.
professes to be
work
kDomestic Economy
" A complete
and Family
r. Thiis,2.Zlic,
• ~ and tail "
Medical Guide, uLga its title is some-
what pretentious, it contains a large amount of
useful and varied information. The receipts and di-
rections for cooking of all kinds, and the resources
for the remedy of those various domestic accidents
to which every household is liable, will be found of
great service by the young and inexperienced.
housekeeper who may also gather some increased
sense of her responsibilities. from the " Thoughts
and Maxims on Housekeeping," prefixed to the
practical part of the work. The " Family Medical
Guide" will also be found of great service in in-
dicating the symptoms of diseases, and the proper
line of treatment ; and although, as the writer him-
self observes, book-doctoring is at best but a doubt-
ful economy, yet a general idea of the necessities of
the ease and a knowledge of what the sufferer
should avoid and what agencies will assist his cure,
cannot be otherwise than beneficial. Mullu?n in
parvo should be the motto of this little volume,
which will probably be extensively circulated
among householders of the middle class.

The Family Friend. 1860.
This excellent and old-established serial shows
no diminution of character in the volume just
issued. Tales, sketches, needlework patterns,
household recipes, hints on education, gardening,
sanitary measures, poetry, and pastime, ' are
mingled, as of old, in pleasant and useful variety.
The Notes aid Queries for Naturalists contain
much interesting matter ; and the council of defini-
tions is still carried on, affording the subscribers
an interesting amusement and an opportun4y. of
trying their strength in this species of composon:,
There are few members of a family circle virb? could
not gain some degree of service or
.entertainm _cut
from the acquaintance of (I The Foully Freud."