The Sun.
London, England, 1850-05-16 00:00:00

LITERATURE
THE DALTONS; or, Three Roads in lift'
NO. I. By Charles Lever.
Welcome once again to Harry Lorrequer, hula,'l
favourite, ever genial and good-humoured.
,d
generally speaking, can be augured, either good, ua•
or inditlereut, from the first number of a work day
tined to be divided into twenty similar instaltneals.
Yet from the three chapters of the present 0113:
tnencenaent we should be disposed to predict hsPR
consequences. Already has Mr. Lever contrived l 0
invest the principal characters of the nsrrativB.t
s,
namely, the Daltons themselves—with an inure'
that secures for them our syrepathies
the very outset. And this ithout
them the unnaturally perfect creatures °`
mere romance. Old Dalton, beggared by hri/I°,:d,
improvidence, and exiled from his native land, lre'-ind
has faults enough to make him strictly huilialVfor
yet good qualities enough to enlist our
Strip'regara
him instanter. Frank Dalton, his only son' s
ling, though a haughty, self-sufficient fellow o
s_ll
manner, is at heart actuated by many eoble,
generous impulses. Ellen Dalton, his elder 51_113v
though deformed and melancholy, bewitches n'beir
her pervading gentleness ; and Kate Dal:e°'
younger sister, though vein and volatile, exere,
5.
by her wit and beauty an irresistible foo•Pid
tion. Even old Andy, the huntsman,
from extreme senility, and monkey-like n
our
appearance, contrives to obtain some share 'i
sympathies by his attachment to a fallen an e 9
poverished family. The scene opens, after their.
season has closed, at the fashionable U, roan rot is
ing place of Baden-Baden. Our first interlie Bess with three late sojourners at the Hotel de lintilbse-t;
one a young man named Albert Jekyll AD" a the
Scotch soldier, named Colonel Hagerstone, of,
third, already mentioned, that is
hog say,l3ol'sgs
nonage than old Dalton. I sub
t is caracteristicallii
of Colonel Haggerstone "his voice R's wc'he,
sharp, and ringing; the voice of a nl5ll 4E4
when he said a thing, would not brook being II",' I
to repeat it." One Sir Gilbert Stafford 01010er
wealthy baronet, whose fortunes are solneirla bf
tangled with those of the Daltons, driven trieeo
rough weather encountered in the mountains, coo'
at the hotel, where the three gentlemen are stl" hoVi-
versing. The completest sketch in the number,
ever, is that of the figure, character, and cler'd▪ -
of the little toy-maker, Hans Rackle. t °llo'
pro:nises to make a grotesque but n°- f the
pleasant addition to the family group ° of
Daltons at Baden. The present installnel,lloo
the story closes with the departure of Frank
foot journey to Vienna, where he has to re`n-tere•
s 5
cadetship in the Austrian service through th",";beric• '
of his father's uncle, Count Dalton Von Auer' oar
" Phis" has contributed two charming etehinbi'Vort
of Hans inveighing against the " Horrors of, oti.
and another of " The Farewell Kiss." It is 'fes-ceri
fully said by the author, when speaking of the P.--;tich
of Ellen Dalton—" Oh! if the utterings ot
tbere,
devotion never rise to heaven or meet acceptance„ ivh°
they at least bring balm to the spirit of 11`1; dual
syllables them, building up a hope whose fotio:utli-a r
tig
are above the casualties of humanity, and, i
courage that mere self-reliance never gave." e v
oTre lal‘
cielental mention of a blackleg called
Matthews " (p. 4) causes us to marvel whether
kill
pig-headed person of obtuse perceptive faculties .e of
charge Mr. Lever with an intentional insult I°.e„ tbe
the best comic actors on the English stage, 1-
same way that some of our testy COLltetnporahrieso'
the sister country charged Mr. Thackeray tit; tsli'
dering Miss Hayes, the Irish songstress. The
ation would be sufficiently ridiculous.
BEST,
_HALF...HOURS WITH THE BEST,
MORS. Part 1. Edited by Charles 11-nub. •
eA
One of the most valuable and brilliant sellajfer
issued from the press, we are -satisfied that ife
Of
hours will also prove, if it has not
proved, one of the most popular. Every „"ecsz
instalment combines seven " half-hours, got'
" half•hour" being a quotation from the -00
tered and voluminous productions of Welter'
authors of our own and of other countries. '-rage,
nately, some are poetical and some P for
the seventh extract, namely, one stlita`ltbiai
perusal on Sundays, being of an 010'
or religious character. Thus we have a contellair
tive chaunt from George Herbert, an eloquell,tosll,
quisition from Hooker, a fragment from Robe'
one of the immortal epistles of Pascal, or an e5.r5,11;41
the "measures and offices of friendship" by u;;eaer
Taylor. Each quotation has a brief but COncis
sive note, biographical and critical, prefixed
this manner we turn at one time to the "11"i-40'
Perkin IV arbeek," as recounted by Lord 13 Spa
and at another, read the " Death of t 11" tt.
of Gaston de Foix," as told by
fine old chronicler Froissart. Here ire adds'
Canning's great " Speech at Plymouth," there-1
son's famous papers on "Sir Roger de Covet of
Now Charles Lamb complains of " The Pt Op
Beggars," and now Wordsworth sings again t"):t°e'"
of " The Good Lord Clifford." When coNP 1110
the yearly volume will comprise specimen9° belt
writings of more than three hundred of t'„ _t t
authors who have ever written. We trtl3-dure
Knight may not restrict to twelve months the
Lion of this most excellent periodical.

THE INITIALS. A Novel. 3 Tr°15.0144
An English traveller, one Mr. Hamilton, 11!
he tour of the continent, pauses at an hotel.;o olf°
varia, discontented and ennui, tired of "1-0310'
society, and not knowing whither to bend Pl'ely,
At this very moment arrives, most opportt!A° ootel;
letter addressed to " Mr. Hamilton," at the $9l; Or
The letter is signed with the initials A..11,ir
seems to come from a friend of a Hatnilt°,
viting. him to join a party at Seon. With 5°1%61 P;
gi.vitigs as to whether the epistle is really inteivo °'
himself, yet delighted with such a prospect °`,:nitit)he"'
venture, the traveller proceeds to obey the iOl-to
Such is the incident which gives its CP",,
novel. It is only important inasmuch it
of$1,8;
means of introducing the hero to t'.,`",
personages of the narrative. Numer°Tre ba
his mistakes and disappointments he.i° eibe:
can encounter the genuine A. Z., and bie;
that is accomplished he discovers, as might Ifiroillf°,,,a
expected, that he is not the invited Mt. 11.,,909t
As a picture of Bavarian life this book is P.
re it;
lightful, the domestic scenes and charactersder
vested with a charming actuality, and u°
guidance of the fascinating A. Z. and her alitolltri
husband, the reader, in company with gli°3".tteti"'
made acquainted with the diverting difficultie9 ,g le(
ing an Alpine hunt, and the equally interestlriocells
culiarities of a most interesting and primitivef
peasantry. "Bavaria (writes the author ° or)
Initials") is not likely to be soon again (if ere fits
tranquil and happy as when these pages sr t
written; then the most intelligent pess,sl3" not :f
have refused to leave his waltz, h,.'s not
beer, or his joyous jiidel, for the sake en to
newspaper that ever was printed, or 'ilijort,
bi
hear a political discussion between the school
and the parish priest. Great is the chtl°,giight',
has taken place in this respect." Its very ue,"
and most naturally drawn delineations of theilices,,el",
.and customs, both town and country, °f e
in general, and Bavaria in particular, in:IV/Trete':
culiar attraction to " The Initials." In these 0-rsete-'0
and also in the pourtrayal of individual the
the author evinces very considerable skill' fto/1:
insignificant details which form the contents
b°oo
of. the chapters resemble a " much ado fared
thing," the irresistible manner in which We ere
of
on in their perusal is a most convincing Pr°,, Opt
author's great ability. As regards the story ie °„i
with many elements of interest, it is marred tcso,
eyes, as we suspect it will be in those t. its hero(
novel-readers, by the disagreeable character °, a.rodo,
Among the amiable, good-hearted, delightful den
Bavarians here introduced to us, our count,r.',olo"o/
pears to be little better than a cold-hearted' it ill
ficient coxcomb—a character which whatever mend
00
be in a moral point of view) is in a hero °f ro
jerl 0
far worse than the possession of far olere,,ister're.
faults. The heroines of the tale are two or nerd
unlike and asaffectionate as any two sister! e ears bet
Crescentz, the younger, is almost a child i¢ of r
gaietY pe.s
quite a child in the frankness and
affectionate disposition, while Hildegarde• ,Wl3tOneb'ela
trait is sketched with a delicate and niasterlYssd 01/ocl
reserved and proud in demeanour, but ever veil !be
her real character gleams through the th,tof
reveals a greater depth of feeling than does vourpaPo
more demonstrative Crescentz. Hamilton, Poled !jog?
le temps, mikes love to Crescentz, but,. snake-ball •
surprised by the warmth with which his mta he 1„1,0
affection is repaid, coolly tells her that :1
younger son, and too poor to think of re'l „Alts, pot•
then, while she is weeping over this u.nexP ,o,
so she had better dismiss him from her th°e:red tribe
merit, transfers his attentions to fli.ldegtsva con.ct
style of the narrative and all the inceden,:stingnr
rasters of " The Initials" being most p
,sf the
hero
most attractive, with the solitary excePti."thust -10
our only regret in perusing the tale nAtticP
mysterious billet fell into the hands of tu'' r
Mr. Hamilton.

THE HAND
guidancehiapy of Providence, if rrii
- -----7-.
are they who, believing in
Read,e exclude
ua
di
e.
from
the
diet,
bto
of GOD in HISTORY: By .1- ° /
the terms " luck" and " chance." if
snytht
and unprejudiced inquirer looks back potuli to'
vicissitudes of his personal experience he will etttl
fre ue
maq ntly be amazed at perceiving how freqa
,oria
to matters he lamented, and would have given the ''',, 011
alter at the time, have proved ullimatelY folo
for the best." The planets do not 0,001
with a greater exactitude and btirt;glf
than is visible in the arrangement of the seori_,ol,
chance affairs of life. The volume now before rep
American work, was written for -the purlof;e °
oho:
gop
vectioirai
9.