The Sun.
London, England, 1868-06-26 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, J UNE 26, 1868.

LITERATURE.

Robert Falconer. By George MacDonald, LL.D.,
Author of "Alec Forbes of Howglen," &c.
Three Vols. Hurst and Blackett.
" Robert Falconer," with equal justice, might,
even as " Contarini Fleming," be entitled " a
psychological romance," and yet hardly a romance,
but a very Bober reality. The biographer of
" Robert Fdlconer" has given us in these volumes
not so much a record of the adventures of his hero,
as he has unfolded to us the history of his soul. In
his early boyhood, in his anxious youth, in his mature
manhood, the growth, the development, the strug-
gles, temptations, and trials of a heart of no com-
mon sensibility, and an intellect of no ordinary
capacity, are reveale 1 to us, and by one well quali-
fied for the task. Of George MacDonald it may
truly be said that if he " thinks like a sage," he as-
suredly " feels like a man," and never were the
depths of his philosophy and the tenderness of his
human sympathy more powerfully and more
pathetically proved than in this history of R heft
Falconer. In it more than in any of his
previous works, the deep religious feelings of the
writer are very powerf ally revealed. His faith is,
indeed, a " saving faith," and one made manifest
in good works. Too often religious men make their
religion more an affair of creed, and outward form,
and rigid observance, the letter without the spirit..
Robert Falconer, ,on the other hand, goes to the
opposite extreme ; and while his whole life is an
embodiment of the spirit of religion, he appears
to avoid all outward form. Ile frequents no
place of worship as a rule, and yet his life is a life
of prayer. In his individual instance, according to
the showing of his biographer, the result may have
been satisfactory, but for the majority of rden such
an experiment would only prove disastrous.
"A kingdom of the Just, then, let it be,
But first consider how those Just agree."
In his early days Robert Falconer is brought
up by a tender-hearted, but strict and rigi 1,
grandmother. The scene lies, during the
first part of the story, in Sc,-)tland. R hert is a
Se.)tch " laddie," and his " grannie" is a strict
adherent of that very devout but very iutilerant
school of religion which, more than all others, is re-
pellant to the heart of George AlacDo a di. Ilia
frequent allusions to the painful ordeal of a Scottish
Sabbath vividly reveal the intensity of his experi-
ences. Even as Lord Byron (incredible as it ap-
pears) turned with loathing from the thought of
Horace —oven of Horace !—in the recollection of his
school-boy drudgery,
"Which daily turned his sickening memory ;"
so, too often, do the virtues of an overstrained fana-
tical theology rebel against all religious observances,
and it is well if they do not reject religion. It is
not so with Robert Falconer ; his life is a c)nstant
manifestation of his faith. In acts of charity
and love for his brother man whom ho does
see, he endeavours to prove his love for the Master
whom he has never seen, but of whose vivifying
presence he is continually conscious. It could be
wished that such a man, so fervent in faith and so
zealous in action, might COlll3 to learn how both
have their full scope of action in the Church of
Christ. Throughout the whole of these three
volumes beautiful thoughts are scattered with no
sparing hand, and in every page we re•
cognise the tender wisdom of the Christian
philosopher. When he stands by the death-bed of
his dearest friend, Robert Falconer is conseled to
recognise on the beloved features " that awful and
beautiful peace which is the farewell gift of the
soul to its servant." When in the bye-streets of
London he notices a poor woman disfigured by
gin and starvation selling matches, with a little
infant smiling at her bosom, he exclaims, " A
child fresh from God fin is its heaven
where ne one else could. The devil could
drive the woman out of Paradise, bet the devil
cannot drive Paradise out of woman." Very tender
are his sympathies for his unhappy sisters. 'When
he is pleading the cause of the fallen and the re-
pentant he tells his hearers " One thing is clear to
me, that no indulgence of passion destroys the
spiritual nature so much as respectable sel-
fishness." In his philosophical exertions for
his helpless fellow-creatures, Rob rt F c) ner
thus encourages his despondent fellow-labourers :
"He that believeth shall not make haste. There is
plenty of time. You must not imagine that the
result depends on you, or that a single human soal
can be lost because you fail. It shows no faith in
Gad to make frantic efforts or frantic lamentations."
Bit we cannot, with a few specimens like these,
do justice to George MacDonald's noble work.
\Ve must commend it as a whole to the best
attention of our readers, assuring them they
will find therein much food for reflection. As an
evidence of the poetical character of Robert Fal-
coner's reflections, we must quote his remarks on
the shocking carelessness of a mother who will
tremble at the slightest sign of suffering in her
hlis friend reminds
child, but will hear him lie against his brother with-
out the smallest discomfort. When a companion
pushes a street
uwalkingrchin f
rwiththe Falconer,pave pavement,
him that by this hasty action he widens the dis-
tance between the ragged boy and his fellow-men.
Alany snatches of poetry, of b eautiful and thoughtful
poetry, are introduced in this work, but the author
tells us they are from the hand of a dear friend.
There is poetry enough, however, in them, coming
direct from the thoughtful intellect and sympa-
thetic heart of the gifted author of " Robert Fal-
coner."

Z2nobiu, Queen of Palmyra. By the Rev. W. Ware.

One Vol. Warne and Co.

We are glad to see re-issued, in a most attractive
volume, this most enthralling history of the last
lays of Palmyra. Few chapters in the history of
romance are more captivating than those ree3rded
of the later days of romantic glory, and the early
lawn of Christian civilization. The names of Aure-
lian and Zenobia, of Gracchus and L3nginus, of
Lucius Piso and Faustula and Julia, will linger
pleasantly in the memory of all who read this
work, as they do in our own, after the lapse of
many years.

Maximilian, and other Poems. By John Charles
Earle, B.A. One Vol. Burns, Oates, and Co.
This graceful volume of verses, dedicated to a
charitable object, begins with some moving lines
on the " Death of Maximilian," supposed to have
been written by that ill-fated Prince the evening
before his execution.

Artists and 'bobs; or, Sketching in Sunshine. By
Henry Blackburn. One Vol. Sampson Low,
Son, and Marston.

The very delightful author of " The Pyrenees,"
and " Travelling in Spain," has
here given US
another charming description of foreign scenes
and men as they are. Pen and pencil vie with
each other in graphic sketch and practical descrip-
tion. Some of the drawings are ludicrous in the
extreme : witness the " Zouave b. la mode" in the
frontispiece, in which (assuredly not in accord-
ance with the customs of that race !) the Zouave
turns his back alike upon friend and foe.

MUSIC.

~~ ~___._

Mr. H. J St. Leger's New Ballads
Under the titles, respectively, of " Ask Not," and
" Thy Name," two charming ballads have recently
been added to the Love-Songs of the Girl of the
Period [not the Saturday Reviewer's .1 to be trea-
sured up by her,
we feel certain, among the
choicest morceaux lately deposited in the drawer
of her canterbury. They are written and
composed, each of them, by Mr. and' Mrs.
11. J. St. Leger. " Ask Not," winning favour
for itself (asking not in vain) through its
tender interpretation by the lips and voice of
Madilo Angelina Salvi ; "Thy Name" not being
taken in vain when sung by either Miss Fanny
Poole or Mr. Alfred Hemming. " Ask Not," it
should be added, is published by Mr. Duncan David-
son, and the companion ballad by Messrs. Kreutzer,
Samson and Co., by whom has recently been issued
from the press, also, a new edition of Mr. St.
Leger's inspiriting Five La Reine, a song brim-
ming over with loyalty, and to which have been
appended additional verses- in 'reference to their
Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of
Wales.