The Sun.
London, England, 1842-07-25 00:00:00

LITERATURt.
The CASTLES and ABBEYS _of ENGLAND-

Part VI. Mortimer, Landoa, 1842.-
In the Part before us we have copious and minute
details respecting the Castle of Kenilworth, and the
visit of Queen Elizabeth to this fine old baronial edi-
fice, at the period of its greatest splendour, when the
famous Earl of Leicester was its owner. Sir Walter
Scott, it may be remembered, has turned this visit to
excellent account in his admirable romance of "Kenil-
worth," and, if we may judge from the various en-
gravings given in the present Part, his sketches of the
Castle, as it stood in the sixteenth century, are as cor-
rect as they are vivid and picturesque. The building,
it seems, is one of great antiquity, having been founded
in the reign of King Henry the First, by Geoffrey de
Clinton, Treasurer and Lord Chamberlain ; it is now,
however, in the last stage of decay, and even the bed
of its once extensive grounds is but a rushy swamp.
The engravings illustrative of the, Castle are executed
with great skill and apparent fidelity, and the letter-
press descriptions, by the editor, Doctor Beattie, are
concise and pertinent.

STONEHENGE. 3 Vols. Bentley, London, 1842.
In this romantic story, which it is plain to see, is
the result of no little' research and pains-taking, an
attempt has been made to pourtray the domestic
manners and usages of the Romans, in the days of the
Emperor Nero ; the characters and persecutions of
the Christian converts during that sanguinary period ;
and their mode of secret worship, while exposed
hourly to the prying eyes of their enemies in the
Imperial city. Sketches also—for the most part
vivid and accurate—are given of the social life of the
Britons, and their mysterious Druidical rites, per-
formed in the chief temple of their priests, Stone-
henge, whence the tale derives its title. The hero is
a young man namen Pudens, son of the Arch-Druid,
but who has been torn from his parents in infancy,
and educated in Rome. Unconscious of his parentage,
he feels all the contempt of a Roman soldier for the
British barbarians, but having unexpectedly en-
countered his father one night in the neighbourhood
of Stonehenge, the secret of his birth is revealed to
him, and then he decides on taking part with his op-
pressed countrymen against his former friends and
associates. Accordingly he accompanies the Arch-
Druid to the capital city of the British King Ar-
viragus, near the site of modern Bath, by whom he is
hospitably received and introduced to his daughter
Roscrana. Soon afterwards the King's troops are de-
feated with prodigious loss by the Roman General
Suetonius, and Roscrana is taken captive, and, on the
General's recal to the imperial city, she accompanies
him as a sort of hostage, and is lodged at the house of
the philosopher, Seneca, of the luxury and magnifi-
cence of whose palace we have a very graphic descrip•
tion. Pudens, too, after various changes of fortune,
finds his way to Rome, where he contrives to renew
his acquaintance with Roscrana, and to become inti-
mate with Lucan, Martial, and many of the eminent
poets and historians of that day. Ultimately both he
and his " lady love" are converted to Christianity,
chiefly through the instrumentality of St. Paul, who
is then preaching the Gospel at Rome; and in due
time they return to Britain, just in time to receive the
blessing, and close the eyes of King Arviragus.
From this sketch, slight as it is, it will be seen that
Stonehenge possesses many striking points of interest,
and will be sure to please the better educated class of
readers, if only by reason of its antiquarian know-
ledge, the strength and simplicity of its languar, and
the familiar acquaintance which it shows with the
rich stores of classical literature. Had some of its
descriptions been abridged, or stirring incidents sub-
stituted for them, we think that the tale would have
been improved—at least as regards its ad captandum
qualities ; for in one place the narrative actually
comes to a dead halt, while the author is cataloguing,
with the minuteness of an auctioneer, the furniture,
busts, paintings, &c. of Seneca's palace. But, despite
these drawbacks, Stonehenge is a very superior work,
the production of a thoughtful and cultivated in-
tellect.