The Sun.
London, England, 1857-12-10 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

r...,, ; 7
r- '. ~,

Such is Life ' • Sketches and Poems. By Doubleyou.
Second Edition. Samuel Byre. Bouverie-street.
This little work is one of a class that has become
very popular during late years. Perhaps it is the
absence of effort that renders it a favourite with
writers and readers. If it isnot possible for it to reach,
the dignity of an epic poem, or excite the thrilling
interest aroused by a great master-fiction, it is at
least secure from a fall from the top of Mount Par-
nassus, or from provoking a smile when the reader
should be in tears of sympathy. Unprejudiced
readers must own that these melancholy results are
by no means uncommon, and that though the old
poet's advice that
" He who aims the sky
Shoots higher far than he that means a tree,"
may be true of the guiding principles of life, it is
scarcely so in literature, and the consequence is too
often the same as that attending the efforts of the
philosopher in " Itasselas," who, in trying to ex-
ceed his natural powers made a very undignified
descent. Manufactured wings will not carry
an author or a poet very far, and the
wise man will prefer to keep on level ground. The
scenes and incidents of daily life, the little adven-
tures of an omnibus ride, or a country excursion
can furnish thoughts and pictures to beguile
leisure hour, as this little volume very successfully
testifies. The author draws pleasant home pictures
with little satiric touches and occasional glimpses of
deeper feeling. The following extract exhibits both
these qualities in the companion portraits of a
schoolmaster and his wife— •
" Our master, Dr. Bounce, was a self-contained human
abstraction, and at the same time he was an awful reality.
It was said that he had never had a friend—or rather
whispered, for not much was said about the Doctor--
and I should think truly, for there was that repulsive
something in his manner which seemed to raise, so to
speak, an impalpable barrier between himself and his
fellows. He was an angular, heavy-browed, harsh,
cruel, black-visaged, unrelenting man, who had written
a work upon The Persecution of the Early Chris-
tians.' This work was, alas ! read regularly is
the school ; and it always seemed to me when
I thought of his ideas, and measured them with
his actions—(he was powerful in action, as our backo
could bear witness) that he viewed Christianity,
as it were, from afar ; as though be fancied that too
close a familiarity might diminish respect. Distance
lends enchantment to the view.' Past and present are
distinct, so are preaching and practice. Only come
down in the morning a few minutes after the fixed time
and he would soon show you the difference, in big
estimation, between an early Christian and a late one.
I am not competent to pronounce an opinion as to the
literary worth of the Doctor's great work, but if long
and unremitting practical experience can empower anauthor to grasp his subject and treat it with success, 1
can readily understand his writing one upon The
Persecution of Youthful Christians.' I always though
the period chosen for the work was admirably suited to
the writer, since those early times were, sad to BAP.
somewhat rancorous and savage. But the fact of to
being an author added materially to our awe of the wen!
and his austerity and taciturnity aided his reputation for
power and thought, as is frequently the case witk olls°l
a great-small man, in this great-little world of ours. "
Mrs. Bounce, the Doctor's good lady,' was pleas
' sant, good-looking, and naturally kindly; but va
painfully repressed, kept down, and schooled by her
lord. When I consider her lonely life amidst Insugi;
her worst of all solitude amidst a crowd, and reolsal:e„t
how her really loving nature would. peer and peep r
timidly, in gentle looks, and gentle acts, in unlooked-Ys
kindnesses and indulgences, coming at unlooked-for
e
times and periods—but always when he happened to be
absent—l quite understand how, undemonstrative es she
was, she universally inspired a sort of quiet liking
respect. The truth is, the poor matron was full of..t°
tender memory of an only child, of whom she loved 11
talk on all possible occasions ; and was particularly 30
markedly kind, as we frequently noticed, to mother' s•
boys. The anchor of her affections was with the little
bark that had early gone down, and her heart way buried
with it. In the cold, shallow bosom of the Doctor,
there was neither depth nor "holding-ground." Thy
anchor of a woman's affections could neither sink not
fasten there.
There is a consolatioa attached to the death of a little
child that does not, and cannot belong to any other suck
loss. It is impossible for the heart to analyse, at firsts
a great new grief, but when Time, the Comforter, hag
done his soothing work, it is a sacred joy, in- the- !sage
of a little child, that great as the loss of the priceless
pretty treasure has been to us here, we have the certainty
• of the greater possession, as it were, of a little angel
tin l
which
she
er esaplolyk think
he
rthl
oi es
sp, ofeolrt
aldame,ith fromthis,
alm
othe
wwi
tahy.
i
sessor—l have lost a child on earth : I have gained an
'wuhtakt nao w ing
Thought,clearly
a dwe rh, atto et le wv
aa tat) tahnadt shepurify
felt.
the A .nd
p os-
angel in heaven
The poetry in the work is occasionally good, but the
author's talents seem more to fit him for prose
writing. The poetry is occasionally a little too
ambitious for its quality, and this can never be said
i of the prose. The following verses are forcible and
► well expressed ; they are from a poem on Lamar-
tine's address to the mob in 1848 :
"One of Time's mightiest Souls WAR voicbd then,

Thed
A List overo
rd M
maya tst-ce
or
ff Mind
I
we ssteoeo dVi
nt tbw
true
rg-reraot men,'di
The Ideal with power to rule the Real endowid.
"Too really great to tread Strife's shamble-path,
And ride on Falsehood into temporal power ;
Too really great to fear a Mob's mad wrath,
And great enough to rule that awful hour I
"Through him Life's Sacred Temple then was spared,
And wanton bloodshed and remorse were saved ;
Yet, had their Cause, for God and Right declared,
His Eagle spirit any odds hat braved.
"Such acted poems shine in History's word
A spirit once prepared to do or die—
Within the Mortal the Eternal stired
Has conquered more than half its victory."
The most industrious reader cannot always be
studying standard works, or even lighter books of
many volumes. A little work like the present is
very acceptable to till up the crevices, and that it
is so is proved by the ready demand for a second
edition. We anticipate meeting the author again in
some higher walk of literature, for that he has
talent and feeling are evidenced by his pages. Ile
is not deficient in obsorvation, but he must be
careful that his taste for the humorous does not
lead him too far ; for, while the value of true
humour is readily admitted, nothing is more
wearisome than trying to be funny, and into tie
many writers of the present day degenerate. W
can recommend this little work for those who wish
to pass an hour pleasantly, and its spirit is not et
all unsuitable for the coming holidays.

Outram and Havelock,'s Persian Cantpaigo. 131
Captain G. R. Hunt, 78th Highlanders. Edited
By G. Townsend. Routledge.
The mere title of this book would be sufficient
to secure it an immediate circulation. At a period
wizen the country is watching with the deepest
anxiety the struggles and perils of these two brave
men and illustrious generals, a record of their pre-
vious exploits and victories together cannot fail to
be highly interesting. This interest is heightened
in the present instance by the fact that the author
of this little volume, himself a soldier, has latell
fallen in the discharge of his duties. A summary
of Persian history, with an account of our variouint e
differences with ;that country, and an inquiry o
the cause of the late war, is prefixed to the narrative
by Mr. Townsend, author of "Russell's Moderns
Europe Epitomised." This information will be
useful at the present moment to many readers.
As the volume is of moderate size, and the tyPe
largo, the reader must not expect to find minute or
elaborate details, but the work will probably be
the more popular, as it gives a clear mad compre
hensive outline of the various events. It has soVea
ral illustrations' and is likely to be a popular and
successful work.