The Sun.
London, England, 1857-08-19 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

The Young Bride. A Novel. By Mrs. Briscoe.
3 vols. Hurst and Blackett.
By the exercise of ingenuity, the reader is pre-
sented with an almost original plot, which, as the
story proceeds,
developedb into a most interesting
record of struggles vely.encountered and suffer-
ings nobly borne by a meek and gentio spirit, who
seems at first sight only fitted for an existence
equable and tranquil. Mary Bulstrode had cause
exclaim—

" Then, happy, low lie down—
Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown."
for the cares of her high position early weighed ber
down, and the burden they ultimately im-
posed upon her quenched the brightness of her
hopes, and dimmed the vista of her career at its

outset. At a time when others of her -age are
awakening from the dreamy ignorance of childhood
only to find new charms in the increased know
ledge of life's pleasures, and new ecstasy in their
own perfected appreciation of them, when above
them the sunshine and around them
the flowers
seem to whisper that theirs, too, is the season of
spring, and to bid them "In their gay youth, the
youth of May, - rejoice," Mary was over whOlteed
with a secret sorrow. Her grandfather was a et:' ern
and ruthless old man, who knew neither compun,l"
tion nor considerston when his wishes were paea-.
mount. He sacrificed to the Moloch of his ambi-
tion his fair grandchild with as blind a zesl and as
fanatic a rage as ever disgraced the banks of the
Ganges, or darkened the light of a tropical noon-
day. He contrived by some balse arts to effect a
marriage between the cousins, the heirs to his
vast estates, Mary and Harold, the pre-
text for his unseemly haste being, that ae
as his nephew was proceeding to India for a long
stay, the weight of years migh', not permit hial
to survive till his return, then to consummate th•
ardently desired union. Sir Aldrich Bulstrode did
not gain by his victory, he was taught his faults by
the sharpest of lifes lessons, the failure of the ful-
filment of his hopes. His whole subsequent terra
of existence, prolonged far beyond all expectation,
was replete with retribution. It is remarked in
" Ceningsby," that " the altars of Nemesis are be-
neath ev,,ry outraged roof," and Bulstrode Hall
was truly haunted by the ghosts of an avenging
spirit. From the day of the fatal contract dreary
desolation, or dreadful dismay was visible. The
first penalty paid by the old man was his having t°
relinquish his beloved Mary's presence, for her
nerves were so shattered that she had to travel and
he was too infirm to accompany her. With a great
deal of power has the authoress traced the gradual
dawning of the bitter truth on Mary's unfolding
intelligence and maturing mind. S Trow quickened
her faculties, and while deepening her sense of the
outrage, roused her senses to the danger and strung
her nerves to the conflict. Sir Aldrich had mis-

taken his position. In the frame of the maiden
who seemed so plastic in his hands, there
was vital a nature to which fear was un-
known and which wrong made resistless,
there was glowing a spirit worthy of the daughter
of a race of heroes, which had come down to her
througha long line of chivalric ancestors, andburned
with all the fire of their noble name. Mary Bul-
strode was the true descendant of warrior chiefs and
belted knights, and had she been left in her lonely'
bower she would have adorned her home with an
the domestic graces and feminine refinements 0,
any fair dame of ancient memory ; but alone and
unprotected, hers was not the sphere for passive
virtues to shine iu, but for the exercise of the
watchword arise. It is singularly interesting
to trace the further fortunes of this gifted heroine,
her night wanderings, her day ambushes, her signal
escapes, and her hairbreadth risks. Success even'
tually crowned her efforts, but she lived in constant
dread. The brightest years of her life, in the love'
liness of its spring and the youth of its beauty, she
was fated to wander in exile, to rest in rude and'
uncultivated families, in order to escape the terror
that awaited her at home. Her adventures were
different in the Irish and Scotch retreats she found:
but they were alike unsuited to her. It is pleasing
to notice how she gradually made her way with
every one by her sweet manners and winning grace'
It is not surprising that such unwonted attractiono
as the heiress of Bulstrode possessed should have
excited the astonishment of all with whom she came
in contact, and that thus gradually the news should
transpire to her wary foes, who followed on her
track as the wild Indian keeps the trail ofhis
enemy through mighty forests. In nothing did the
upright character of the maiden more declare itself
than in her conduct in regard to Colonel Hardy,
who had become attached to her, as Miss Dalton, 0,
friendless governess, as he sup.)osed. It was nevi
for Mary to find any one devoted to her entlrelf
without reference to her rank and degree, but she
knew her duty and her doom. The charms of
friendship, the magic of love, were not for her, who
might never rest in a home on earth, but keep
wandering as the desert tribes,
whose onl land of
promise was far away beyond the rolling Jordan of
lif's stormy tides. As might be imagined, Hardy
did not see the possibility of meeting his bard fate,
with calmness, but her example finally influenced
him, and he was her protector from a distance, 04
far as was practicable to a being so assailed. S°
deep is the sympathy awakened for her sufferings.
.
and so strong the indignation that is excited agatn"
their authors, that it is a feeling of relief that en'
sues when Harold is taken away. The jarring sexy"
sation experienced by death appearing, as the agent
to work out a desired end, is not apparent here, for
it was not by her own fikult or even folly that Mari
Bulstrode had been unfortunate, and the 1113 P
happy man was a torment to himself, as well as an
infliction to others. Too late he found out that
there were other qualities in his bride than the ad'
vantages of position he had hoped for, but she had
been so much roused by his conduct as
_ll,
man, to her as a child, that she could na"
look on him in the light of anything but an enema,
, The trials of the fitful youth of " Mrs. Bulstrode,
as she was mockingly styled, are related with fl
vigorous, yet a mournful eloquence. If we triumpb
at-the project never being brought to a terming'
tion, we lament that its beginning was the " dire'
ful spring of unnumbered woes." Yet, to show Of
deepest feelings, suffering must be witnessed, and
to make manifest the hidden springs of human 110
siu must appear, and deeds of darkness see the
light of day. With it 3 peculiar design and power:
ful execution, its vivid sketches and striking 0113,
ratters, its scenes of so startling an import, and. 0!
so
gdleoerpioautsi interest,
creation
nodf, aboveth e
noble
ob all,
awithud
pure,tsher heroine
so
novel has a chance of obtaining some renown. iv
presents, in a remarkable manner, to the gaze,
page of life's history not often unfolded, the misery
of the only victims allowed at the altars of
.e
civilised age, maidens given in marriage to selt
conventional forms, or family purposes. It is tint!
that such nameless martyrs should be vindicated)
and a debt is due to the authoress who has so ably
described the sacrifice. The young bride appear!
with a smile that struggles with a tear, crowneu,
with the snowy blossoms of the orange flower, bob
for a marriage thus recorded, the only suitable
wreath, should be entwined of the cypress and the
ivy.