The Sun.
London, England, 1845-03-01 00:00:00

of her own powers than she need be, and
has been more severe on herself, than many
of her readers are likely to be. She has
a fluent command of language, and can
turn an expression or introduce a metaphor with
elegance and propriety; she Is also a poetess of no
inconsiderable powers, for, returning to a practice
that modern usage (for there is a fashion in all things)
has almost entirely discontinued, she has introduced
several songs and passages in verse, appropriate to the
circumstances and the persons to whom they are given.
The period in which the tale is laid is that of the civil
wars, when Cavalier was contending with Roundhead,
just after the faithless Charles bad consented to the
execution of the unscrupulous Strafford, who, what-
ever vices he had, never wanted zeal for the cause of
.the King he served. The story itself is intricate in
its plot, but not confused. The main thread of it is
the fate of a daughter of a noble house, stolen
by a gipsy woman from revenge against the
mother, who had married the noble lover
of the dark Egytian, and then poisoned him,
at the instigation of Zara herself, for such is her
name. She meant the affianced bride to be the in-
strument of his death before the nuptials, but the
highborn lady yields to a horrible temptation ' • she
loves another whose poverty has separated him from
her, and she thinks were she mistress of the wealth
of her rich and hated suitor they might be united.
So the marriage is celebrated, and in the midst
of the bridal feast, she gives her husband
the potion supplied her by Zara, and becomes
in the same day a Countess and a widow. She mar-
ries him for whom she has incurred all this guilt, but
never knows happiness or peace again. The gipsy
Zara is in possession of the dreadful secret, and holds
her fate in ,her hands ; her infant is stolen by the
woman who is her destiny, is brought up by the
wild tribe, if not in all the wisdom, at least in all the
accompliphments of the Egyptians. She is beau-
tiful, and skilled in song and dance, with a
mystery hanging over her origin that she
cannot penetrate. She is a heroine of that kind of
which fiction has already presented us with a Mignon,
a Fenella, and an Esmeralda. The courier of the Gitana,
or the " Morning Star" as she is poetically, called,
is the attraction of the book, though the plot is other-
wise complicated with " fierce lovei-and fatal wars."
We extract a sketch of a country town during its
occupation by a party of republican sol.liers
:
"We are in the old market-place—all is activity and cor.-
fusion ; good wives unloading and displaying the reward of
their industry; rosy-cheeked country maidens, with their
white caps and aprons, whose smiles bespoke hearts devoid
of care, as they coquetted with their somewhat clownish
swains. The faces of the young were gay ; they knew not
of sorrow—they rejoiced only in the present; but the old wore
a look of doubt and disquietude casting lingering glances to
where a group of stern Republicans stood, apparently un-
mindful of the busy scene, by the door of the old hostel.
"It was market-day, and owing to this county having
hitherto escaped the surveillance of those strict disci-
plinarians, whose stern code was soon to change the
face of merry England, there were gathered here those
wandering vagabonds whose presence is ever so welcome
amid the monotony of a country town, dancing and
tumbling, and attracting the younger and more unthinking
part of the community, who, notwithstanding the warnings
of their elders, regarded only the amusement of the passing
hour, and crowded round their entertaining visitants. But
even among these daring and vivacious ones, the spirit of
those unwelcome soldiers seemed to have fallen ; and, from
baying experienced their danger, they pursued their vocation
in fear and trembling."
With one other extract, exhibling the political
morality of many a man in that troubled time, we
must conclude our notice :
" What say you to our king—think you his cause will
prosper?"
"His cause is that of right," he replied; "and, on my
soul, I wish him well, and willingly, in his behalf, would shed
the last drop of my blood."
" Gently, gently, my good friend. The hot fire of youth
burns too fiercely in thy breast; thine enthusiasm is too deep
for wisdom. Suppose that he were deserted, ruined, and alone
—a king but in the name, thou wouldst not follow him to
thine own undoing?"
" Ay, to the death."
"And sacrifice," said Lord Vincent, ironically, " a life, for
one who, in his day of power, had you crossed him, would
have signed your doom withdut a sign of regret?"
"The King was ever merciful," said Lionel.
" Ay, merciful and just enough, when he could be so with-
out dang:r to himself; but, as Strafford proved, the mercy
and justice and friendship of a King are not infallible."
" frue," said Lionel ; " the martyred Earl is a sad proof
of the correctness of thy doctrine • there is to every picture
a dark side, and human life and nature have their evil mo-
ments; but yet, there is much, very much, of excellence and
truth on this fair earth."
"Well, well; follow thine own imaginary theory. Cling
to thy King and thy faith, until the structure fall and crush
thee in the ruins."
" And better that than prove myself a renegade and a
traitor."
" Softly, softly ; while a hope of success remains, turn not
away; yet neither wait so long as to be involved in the con-
sequences of failure. Be true to your cause only while it is
consistent with your own safety."

EXTENSIVE FIRE IN CHEAPSIDE.-0111 Thursday,
shortly after one o'clock, the immediate vicinity of Cheap-
side was thrown into a state of the greatest alarm and ex-
citement in consequence of the sudden outbreak of a most
serious fire upon the extensive range of premises belonging
to Messrs. Courtould and Taylor, crape manufacturers,
situate at No. 42, Gutter-lane. The first discovery was
made by police. constable Gannon, 436 City force. It appears
that the officer, wbile passing along his beat, had his atten-
tion directed to the premises by perceiving a dense mass of
smoke issuing out of one of the front windows. Feeling
satisfied that a fire was burning within the building, the
officer sprang his rattle, and commenced knocking at
the street-door. After considerable trouble he succeeded in
arousing Mr. Taylor, his wife, and three other females,
who all made their appearance at the second floor front.
The fire by that time had obtained such a firm hold, and
the smoke was ascending in such dense bodies up the stair-
case, that none of the inmates were able to descend by the
usual means. The intelligence haring been sent to Mr.
Braidwood, the superintendent of fire brigade, that gentle-
man immediately' started to the scene of conflagration with
a couple of engines and the fire-escapes. On his arrival, lie
found the flames; breaking through the shop window with
such vehemence as to 'extend completely across the roadway,
and the fronts of several of the opposite houses were smoking
with the intense beat thrown out by the conflagration. The.
Police having opened the jumping sheet of the London Fire
Establishment, three females precipitated themselves from
the second floor, and were received in safety below, Mrs.
Taylor and another female
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a ladder. By that period whole of the lower. part
premises presented one vivid sheet of fiame,
for causin
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be supposed, the most lively apprehensions safety
the contiguous property. Five engines of the brigade
with those of the parish were soon in full working
order, but the fire still progressing, a messenger was
sent for additional assistance. Mr. Connorton, on being
informed of the outbreak, also proceeded with the.
eWestmp e no:
England engine to the scene. The New River Company
supplied an abundance of water, which waosttobdistributed
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conflagrationthe flames , but
untilth epatierterweenew,eleeereh,uennadblne
had reached almost every portion of the three lower floors of
the building. The total damage will amount to a consider-
ablel sum, as several of the opposite and ad joining inbui
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