The Sun.
London, England, 1850-06-27 00:00:00

TELE STN,

derness ccncealed by him under a grotesque and
almost repulsive bearing encircles him at last with
the halo of thl.l, reader's sympathy and admiratiun.
Here and there the minuteness of description is car-
ried by our authoress to an extent but little short of
being ludicrous, as where she informs us very seriously
(Vol. 111., p. 325) of Anne's coAtaine at her
marriage—she " wore a gown of violet co-
lourt d silk with a velvet manle of the
same hue, trimmed with fur, and a rice straw bonnet,
with a -white. veil !!"-- Surely this is nothing less than.
tie pretty garrulity of a lady-writer? Sometimes
again our fair novelist is guilty of little anachronisms,
as where, towards the conclusion of the tale, she
says (Vol 111., p. 192)--" She found Mrs. Dysart's
carriage and a servant waiting for her at the coach-
office—for I am writing of ten years ago, when there
was no railway in bcotland, except that between
Edinburgh and Glasgow"—and yet (forgetting that
she is still writing cif " ten years ago") she says
shortly afterwards (Vol. 111., p. 202)—" In the
evening, although the gay season had long been over
and the town was almost empty, tie latter, in concert
with her mother, generally contrived to assemble two
or three young persons to have a little music and a
polka." Ten years ago that bewitching dance was
not in existence. Apart, however, from a few inter-
mittent blemishes scattered through the volumes,
" Anne D.) sari," appears to U 3 to be a novel singu-
larly deserving of commendation, auguring largely
for the future popularity of its intelligent and accom-
plished authoress.

TIIE TAR AN TAS ; Travelling Impressions of
Young Russia. By Count So ltiegub.
Vassily lvanovitsch and Ivan Vassilievitsch, two
worthy Russian gentlemen, says the preliminary
advertisement to the " Tarantas," are anxious to avoid
all such inflammatory and dispute-provoking topics as
politics, eithe'r foreign or domestic ; but they believe
that the social system of that considerable member cf
the European family of nations which is called
Russia, is as interesting as it is little known and un-
derstood in this conntry, tnd they further believe
that they are better able to act as interpreters or
showmen of their father-land, than are any of those
foreigners who have hitherto attempted to get behind
the scenes of that mighty and important theatre. The
" Tarantas," therefore, professes to be a Russian's tra-
velling impressions of Russia, and bearing this in mind,
its readers will be continually astonished by the impar-
tial and even critical spirit by which it is animated.
The Tarantas itself is a huge, unwieldy, but very
commodious vehicle, which transports its owner
Vassily Ivano,vitsch (an old-fashioned country gentle-
man), and Ivan Vassilievitsch (a member of Young
Russia returned from a European tour), from Moscow
to Kazan. Ivan carries in his hand a blank volume,
to record his travelling impressions, but his journey,
full of incidents as it is, is, nevertheless, to him pro-
ductive of continual disappointment. The chief
fault we can find with the little ,volume is its
very light and superficial character ; but this
was, perhaps, its writers object when he en..
titled it " Travelling Impressions." Instead of
descriptions of men and manners we find only
brief units and passing allusions, its pictures of social
life are shadowy glimpses or bare sketches. Tuffs
peculiar style bas, nevertheless, its advantages
Vague and incidental as is its mode of affording in-
formation, information is, nevertheless, afforded.
Among the most effective descriptions of Russian
life is the following melancholy picture of