The Sun.
London, England, 1850-08-14 00:00:00

THE SUN,

LITERATURE.
THE MISER'S SECRET; or, the Days of
James the First. An Historical Romance. 3 Vols.
If, as we are inclined to believe, the " Mieer's
Secret" be the anonymous production of a practised
hand, it will add considerably to an already esta-
blished reputation ; if, on the contrary, it be a first
work, its author bids fair to occupy hereafter a pro-
minent place among the writers of fiction. The nar-
rative is throughout rendered excessively interesting
by the skilful entanglement and equally skilful
denouement of a very complicated plot, or series of
plots. Also a variety of characters are introduced in
the course of the " Miser's Secret," and their differ-
ent peculiarities are discriminated with considerable
care, and the various portraits are, in many instances,
endued with an air of life and individuality.
Although ostensibly a tale of the reign of King
James, many of the facts related are equally appro-
priate to the reign of Queen Victoria. The sketch
of Normanbury and its inhabitant:, for example, if a
little overdrawn, bears a strong resemblance to many
a family group undergoing that most trying of ordeals
—"keeping up appearances." Sir Hugh Ellicombe,
"a fine old English gentleinaii," has dissipated his
patrimony by a course of extravagance, and ruin
threatens the ancient house of Normanbury, when
the gentle, but most shrewd end skilful Lady Elli-
combe steps forward and devotes all her thoughts
and the best years of her life to the never-ending task
of maintaining the dignity of Normanbury with an
empty purse, and so hiding the secret of its poverty.
Sir Hugh, incapable of arranging his own affairs,
scorns the idea of being guided by his wife,
and Lady Ellicombe, very skilfully "conceal-
ing the iron hand with the velvet glove,"
actually rules the household and its master, while she
is apparently the most submissive of the submissive.
Lady Ellicombe's character is well portrayed, and it
very effectually exemplifies the baneful consequences
of deceit. Evil must not be committed even in the
hope that good may come of it ; and the Lady of
Normanbury, naturally excellent and noble-hearted,
becomes at last ready to sacrifice the happiness of
others and to do violence to every kindly feeling in
furtherance of her darling object. The lesson would
be less impressive if its subject had been less gentle
and less loveable than the mistaken Lady
Ellicombe. Contrasted with this unhappy de-
ceiver is her truthful and high -minded son.
The prosperity of his house and the happiness of his
beloved mother, cannot for one moment incline Ger-
vase Ellicombe to enact a lie. The excellence and
beauty of truth are most happily and effectively por-
trayed in this portion of the history of the " Miser's
Secret." The incident which gives its title to the
book is never actually revealed to us, but we have a
shrewd guess that the revelation of the " secret "
would be fatal to the existence of the " miser." If
our conjecture be correct, the conception of such an
idea is a proof of the author's talent, and is, moreover,
a mournful but not less truthful satire upon the
mammon-worship which flourishes not less fatally
in our days than in the days of King James. Like
Sir Hugh Ellicombe, Oliver Newport had in his
early days squandered his property, and, less fortu-
nate than his friend, had been (by unfair means) dis-
possessed of his estate. At the opening of the tale he
returns, accompanied by his young daughter, from a
long exile, in the hope of at length re-obtaining the
house of his forefathers. The unwelcome revenant
is received with contumely, when lo ! it appears that
he carries with him sundry ponderous and carefully
guarded chests. Of course these chests contain trea-
sure, and Oliver Newport is a miser! Henceforth,
in his shabby apparel, he is a welcome guest. He
lives at the expense of others, a farthing of his own
money is'never expended. He is rich, and that pass-
port is sufficient. The readers of the " Miser's
Secret" will, like ourselves, be disposed to doubt the
reality of the miser's wealth, and they will at the
same time recognise the truthfulness of this device,
which demonstrates how a reputation of wealth may
be the master-key which opens all doors and many
hearts. It is not, to say the least of it, very flatter-
ing to human nature this lesson conveyed in the life
,of the reputed miser, nevertheless few will venture
to gainsay its apparent truthfulness. We have re-
vealed thus much of the foundation of the tale, in
order to exhibit its interesting character; but the
more interesting portion we shall leave untouched—
namely, the love stories of Frances Cake and of
Florence Newport—two very charming, but very
dissimilar characters. The daughter of the miser is
a creature of joy and sunshine ; speaking of her own
happy temperament sbe says—" I never would turn
my back upon the sun and stand in my own shadow"—
a lesson which many a misanthrope and many a sen-
timental damsel would do well to learn from the
miser's daughter. The other heroine, Frances Coke,
is the daughter of the great lawyer. Were it not
that we always view with extreme dissatisfaction such
a public exhibition, whether real or fictitious, of the
records of private life, we should be inclined to be-
stow much commendation on the chapters in these
volumes descriptive of Coke and Bacon. The pas-
sage in which the latter is depicted, unhappy even in
his triumph, is very felicitous :
" And was the I,_ird Keeper happier than the Attor-
ney-General had been? No; the cloud was aid! darker
upon Vie brow of Bacon, end ines of deeper disquietude
were upon his Lace. At that moment the mail whose
living peace and pleasure had best consisted in laying up
future honour for his own name, in prosecuting those
glorious schemes if intellectual greatness which the
scope of his own great mind could grasp and his own
intellect oould measure—this Luau was suffering the pur-
gatory of petty cares, of mean, of grovelling embarrass-
ments. . • . . The great man brought his own
punishment upon himself, because he was little in his
purposes. He, to whom science was an open book, and
to whom literature opened the gates of its own paradise,
what had he to do with the empty dross of worldly ho-
nour—the gawda and toys of worldly vanities—cr the
grasping posts of ambition—which ha could only descend
to fill, since he was already far above them?"
Contrasted with this, and even more powerfully de-
scribed, is the situation of the disappointed rival of
the Lord Chancellor, the conscientious and honourable,
but unfortunate Coke—the dismissed Chief Justice.
At thtimoment of Coke's failing fortunes his daughter
Frances, not yielding so much to the persuasions of
her lover as to the vehement authority of her mother,
the imperious Lady Coke, is about to fly from her
father's house and become a wife in disobedience to
his commands. But although the lady-mother has
forgotten the feelings and the dales of a wife, Frances
cannot overcome the natural emotions of a daughter.
On the morning of her intended flight, while her
mother is preparing for the journey, Frances timidly
approaches her father's room. She sees him with care-
worn brow, oppressed with gloomy thoughts. This
scene is the best written and the most beautiful in the
work. The repentant daughter throws herself in
her father's arms, and voluntarily pledges herself to
be obedient to his wishes. We have, however, said
enough, and more than enough, to corroborate our
assertion that the " Miser's Secret " will reflect
honour upon its author. The scenes in which King James
bears a part, in one of which the King's shrewdness
is very happily exhibited, we must, with many other
interesting matters, leave to the readers of the " Mi-
ser's Secret." There is a somewhat dramatic charac-
ter about the arrangement of the incidents, more
especially in the last scene, 'where all the actors are,
somewhat improbably, assembled together. This
peculiarity does not add to the value of the novel as
a work of art, yet it perhaps increases the interest of
the various catastrophes. Many effective similes and
truthful thoughts are given in a few emphatic words ;
one of the happiest is the observation, that " there
was a sneer in the curl of Lady Ellicombe's lips,
wrapped up like the cankeriog insect in the rose-
bud." In any future production, the author will do
well to bestow a little more care upon the style in
which he relates his heroes' and heroines' ver y inte-
resting adventures.

THE AMY° TT ' S HOME. A Tale for Childreu.
This is an agreeable little volume, consisting of a
series of family pictures ; and we do not doubt that it
will afford much entertainment to those for whose
benefit it is designed.

THE VALE OF CEDARS. A Tale of the
Fifteenth Century. By Grace Aguilar.
Many 01 our readers have, probably, seen this
beautiful tale in the pages of the Belle Assemblee,
but they will, undoubtedly, be glad of an opportu-
nity of possessing it in a more collected form. The
scene is laid in Spain, during the reign of Ferdinand
and Isabella. It is one of the most interesting pro-
ductions of its talented authoress; and the trials of
the unfortunate and persecuted, but most heroic and
upright Marie are told with great power and effect.
All readers will sympathise with the authoress in her
admiration of Isabella of Castile, of whom she draws
a most interesting character.