New-York tribune., 1883-12-21
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
R1u,wER,s AUTOBIOGRAPHY.

,,sbed manuscripts to his son, Wluh u ie'Ioi ""''
;nc his wishes in respect to them There were Sow
eral complete plays, number OF more OF eSS rug
.,on+orv sketches, many unfinished novels. essays
ond noems the first volume of a History OF Atuehs'
and-most interesting probably of allan autooog
~onbv coming down TO the year 1925. THIS was not
=. be MI blished unless his saw fit to write the
ost Of the story The present Earl has decided. III
deference to his fathers known desres' 10 acctp'
that task and the Autobiography, supplemented ny
tive extracts from the miscellaneous literary
re,nans. now appears as the first mstalment oi Tie
pOus work. ,;,o os
Tho interest of the Autobiography IS quite as
,uucb literary as personal 1t Is supposed 10 nave
been written between 1852 aud 1888, that Is III the
neriod of Bulwer's best prose oi whlch INC NaA-
80 aud ~Mv Novel" are the most conspicuous
examples; and it is remarkably elegant ana oriii-
liant niece of work, executed with fastidious care
ond a sbarp eve for effect. 1t is, indeed. such d
striking specimen of narrative composition 'ha' we
sonetimes find il hard to realize that IL is true we
are in the company of young gentleman Ot the leI-
ham tyne saunterina through fashionable society,
making love with great frequency ana lerNor' anu
meditating poetry in which the persohlnca''"h VI
qualities is carefully indicated by capitai ii' io'
ters But there is no reason to doubt tii't !" 'no
r,o;n the storv is accurate and frank 1t was not
easy to take Buwer quite seriously ID the IlS' par
of his career vet there is evidence from MS coiie
snondence that in some of the very passages Oh us
Autobiography which seem most imaginative he
,os really most sincere. The affectatlons which
Yellowplush ridculed tremendously, covered u
great deal of strong though perhaps not very NOME
emotion Fortunately the Autobiography is con-
Gned IN that Youthful time when the feelings are
unrest and it was written at an age when the
apthor had outgrown some of his frivolitles. IL
contains little therefore of the Bullwlg, at whom
the world has been laughing for nearly hall cell
tury Frdse,'s Magazine says the aut0Olographer'
9under the auspices of Dr. Maglnn ana MI lhach-
eray long continued to assail me. not IN any lorn
that can fairly be called criticism, but with KIND
of ribald impertnence offered, so lar as can re-
member to no other writer OF my tlme u Is qu'o
true. as Bulwer complains, that the lampooh WIS
directed against the author as well rs HIS "oIhS'
hnt he was an author who at that time put so many
of his personal foibes into his work that the
q ribald impertnence" was not undeserved' The
Earl of Lytton states the case in another way wheh
he states that man ever wrote more directly ont
of his own heart" and that the most interesting
ond instructive realities" of his fathers life were
interviewer with his work as an imaginative
authorr The Autobiography closes just before the
beginning of his literary career; but II SHOWS the
Influences which governed his first essays IN author
shin and TO some extent it undoubtedly reveals ana
explains the Bulwer of the fashionable novel.
He did not know the date of his birth When
questioned about it, he used TO reply 1t Is Cretan
mystery: and in the Autobiography he says " IL
some curious mpertinents are anxious to Know III
what year of our Lord that event took place. iet
them find out for themselves HIS son mas louhd
ont bv an examination of parish registers and the
year is now known to be 1903. winch is niue
earlier than Bulwer supposed. AS matter OF
course he begins his story with pages OF family
history. for he was vain of his ancestry, rs well as
of the small hands and feet which he regarded as
Transmitted indication OF good blood; but these
genealogical passages are too entertaining 10 DC
thought superfuous. His grandfather Bulwer was
n handsome and well educated country gentleman,
with the polished manners of the old school, an
active magistrate and hospitable bon vivant. HIS
two daughters are said to have been pupils OF
Eugene Aram, then schoolmaster at Lynn. OF his
four sons Austin and Edward went INTO the Church'
William and John into the Army
John was remarkable for beauty, for g0od-natuTe
and for his attachment to the bottle He is said to
have captivated the Duchess of Rutland during the
famous Irish viceroyaty OF the cOnvlylal duke: but
he made some sad mlsalliance and he died young.
Austin and Edward saw the first In knee-breeches
and shovel hat. He was tall and stately, with an
aQuiline countenance of great majesty, and long,
flowing hair. When abroad in the shovel hat, he
looked every inch a dignitary of the Church. AT
home by the inge nook. with bis irOn-gray locks
grand features and gaunt, warriOr-like frame, he
realized my ideal of Viking. Edward was a smart
short. lively man; with manners less provincial
than Austins. and a merry laugh. No two brothers
could he more unlike in appearance; but they
agreed, at least, i'll eccentricity OF character and
Nv father William Earle Bulwer, was the eldest
of these sons. He was educated at North Walsham
Grammar School, and went up to the family college,
Pembroke Hall, as a Fellow COmm0ner. When
was at Cambridge, an old barber named Wagstaile
asserted that he remembered him well as "a gay,
wild young gentleman, little given TO Minerva: to
phuS nd tn
ing to hear that at Cambridge he was almost lntl-
mate with the great William Pitt; for except that
they were, both, of imperiOus character, and per-
haps at that time may have had political notions IN
common, there was little enough between them TO
warrant the ASSOCIATION OF the so9ei ~ of S
SOD of Chatham with the wild and hei{ her ol tie
Norfolk Justice But, friendship IS often pro-
dueed by similar circumstances as well as by con-
genial pursuits so the secret OF ther intimacy VI IN
truth il exised) may possibly be found In the TACT
that they were Fellow COmmoners of the same col
lege lin which Fellow Commoners were few. and
under the same tutor, DR. Pretyman; 10 whom they
We're both warmly attached.
NV father, on leaving college, entered the Army,
and rose with some rapdty TO the rank OF Colonel;
II attached to the fair SEX nc was not less aacheu
TO his personal liberty. Though very AMBITIOUS
man, he could not be induced to match that would
indeed have tempted ambition, uncOunteracted by
other interests passions. The Earl OF - had
two daughters cO-helresses to prlnceiy fortunes
and, taking a liking to the rising Young soldier
these young ladies. My father, who had much of
the bluntness of Norfol man, refused point blank;
nor did he ever in his later and wiser days give
better reason for this folly than that he was not
satisfied with the shape of her l@dyshiPs nose.
The fact however, was that he had contracted
romantic If Illicit, attachment 10 young person OF
great beauty, who eoped with him from board
fny-school in which she was teacher; and though
too naughty a man 10 marry beneath him, he had
at least Justice enough to say that, while she lived
he would never marry any one else The END OF thls
poor young woman was tragioal. She was killed by
the kick of horse
After the death of his mistress, Colonel Buwer
proposed to Miss Lytton, and with some demur was
accepted. He was mperious, exacting and
gouty gentleman, and the marriage was not happy.
Edward, the third son, was the object of his
mothers especial tenderness and of his fathers
aversion. When the boy was four years of age. the
peppery soldier (he was General by this tmel died
suddenly of gout