The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1868-11-28
Light Literature
CoMErH Up AS FLOWER. An Autobiography.
New York: D. Appleton & Co. Charleston !:
John Russell.

CoMrH Up AS A FLOWER. An Autobiography.
New York: D. Appleton & Co. Charleston
John Russell.
"Cometh Up as Flower" is full-blooded
specimen of o class of novels which has
been very popular of late in England. The
plot of the story is commonplace enough,
but there is quite sufficient brightness and
vivacity about the book to relieve it from
the charge of dullness. 1t is chiefly re-
markable, however, as showing how incom-
petent even considerable cleverness must
always be to disguise, when it is Joined with,
vulgarity and sensuality. The plot OF
the story, as we have said, is common
place enough. There is an old father
sold dad" the cheerful young lady
calls him-who lives with his efervescing
young daughter, iu an old tumble down
house, suited to his equally tumble-down
fortunes. The said young daughter meets
young gentleman with yellow moustache
and Greek face, in churchyard, and in
continently falls headlong in love, accord
ing 10 the burden of the old song, "Oh, she
slowed a bold dragoon, with his long sword,
"saddle, bridle" Of course the bold dra-
COON has no other earthly possessions than
the aforesaid accoutrements, and she being
equally penniless, her lively fancy at once
runs off the probable features of her future
Life with him, described further on as ''ridlng
"in baggage. wagon with several little
"McGregors, male and female, clinging
"about my skirts" In the course OF Two
or three weeks the lovers are sufficiently
advanced to make room for the villain OF
the story, who accordingly makes her ap-
pearance in the shape Of the young
lady's sister Dolly, who is thus described ;
"Dolly was very fair woman to look upon;
ga small oval face, liquid brown eyes that
chad way of looking up meekly and be-
"seechingly that no man less self contained
"then st. Senanus could resist; q little sharp
"cut nose absolutely perfect, sweet grave
"mouth, and an expression nun-like, dove
slike, Madonna-l like; she looked as if her
''life must. be one long prayer. 90 not
"think it was though, or if it was, it was
"a prayer said backwards" This charm
ing person sooa sees how matters are
going between Miss Nelly and the dra-
COON; and as, in the depressed state Of
the family exchequer, it is necessary
that rich baronets and not needy soldiers
should be the sold dads" son-in-law, the
usual machinery in such cases is set to work,
and what with artful Misrepresentation and
forged letters, and such like diableris, the
gallant Major is oleverly induced 10 go off to
parts unknown, and leave the field clear to
certain Sir Hugh Lancaster, who is better
able to patch up the ruined fortunes of the
L'Estranges. To clinch matters, we have
Miss Nelly put into dog cart to drive home
with Sir Hugh from a tets champetre; down
comes the inevitable steam engine-the
horses dash franiically off, the dog-cart is
smashed into smithereens, and Miss Nelly,
as facetious young lady friend afterwards
describes the catastrophe, is "pitched on
ssher head and keeps hourishing her legs
s'in the air until Sir Hugh comes and turns
''her right way up again" AS might be
expected, they have to stay all night at an
inn. and the upshot of the adventure is
that Miss Nelly L'Estrange, minus her yel-
low -moustached and Greek faced lover, con-
sents to wed Sir Hugh and give "hcr ab-
"horring soul into his custody" The
sacrifice being safely accomplished, the
lover comes back, just when there is no
earthly use for him; all is discovered, and
Miss Nelly, who seems to have thoroughly
adopted the maxim made famous by the late
lamented Adah Menken, 'that one should
"marry early, and often !'-"tosses her
"ruddy name" boldly, and expresses her
willingness to leave Sir Hugh and 60 with
the Greek face, anywhere it may choose to
take her. However, the lover rejects this kind
and self. denying offer, rushes away "with
"white set face" and shortly after is put to
an unromantic end by fever and ague at
Lahore; while the girl he leaves behind
him goes off into galloping consumption,
and shows an admiring world how Chris
tian can die, comforted by the conviction
that she is going to rejoin the Greek face
on "the shores where tideless sleep the seas
"of time, soft by the city Of the saints of
"God;" cline, of course, especially we'll
suited TO the development of their respec-
tive characters. Miss Dolly marries lord
With ESQ., year; and things being thus
orthodo1ically settled, according to the new
order of things, the wicked aourishing like
green bay trees, and the innocent relegated
to their eternal rewards, the curtain drops.
Our readers may we'll be puzzled to ac-
count for the extraordinary popularity of
tale, of whose plot the above is ia thful
outline. The style of the book is undeubt-
edly fresh and racy-but the taste is abom-
Unable, and the grammar frequently afro
cious. Whether the secret is to be found
in the fact that the locale, so to speak, OF
the whole story is in the land debatable
hetween Iecencv and indecency, morality