The Sun. — 1864-01-09 (London, England)

LITERATURE.  SVvia's Lovers. By Mrs. Gaskell. Illustrated  edition. One vol. Smith and Elder,  The new volume of Messrs. Smith and Elder's illustrated edition of popular novels contains Mrs. Gaskell's very enthralling tale of " Sylvia's Lovers" —a tale well adapted to demonstrate the peculiar powers of that gifted writer. Sylvia herself is a charming compound of rustic coquetry and passionate tenderness, bearing a faint resetnblance in these characteristics to that most attractive of all Mrs. Gaskell's heroines, unrivalled Mary Barton. The scene of Sylvia's story is the north-east coast of England, about a century back, at 'a time when the most iniquitous and un-English press-gang wus in vogue. One of the earliest chapt'rs, " Home from Greenland," describes in the heart-stirring language of simple truthfulness the exuberant delight of the wives and mothers of the fishing town when the whaling vessel containing those most dearlyloved is within sight of shore returning from a six months' expedition to the Northern Seas. Very vividly and powerfully, and even passionately is the scene portrayed when the brave sailors on landing, before they can reach the out-stretched arms yearning to embrace them, are seized upon by the lurking ambush of the press-gang and carried off for years of foreign service under the very eyes of their friends and families. In describing scenes like these Mrs. Gaskell's earnest eloquence of style, inspired as it is by strong sympathetic feelings, acquires a peculiar force. We will not betray the secrets of the story to those who may happen to be unacquainted with it. One of Sylvia's lovers is a gallant tar, the other a landsman, and not a very worthy specimen of his class. The latter loves, not wisely, but too well, and shrinks from no treachery in order to win the day. Some of the minor characters, especially old Kester, are drawn with great spirit. The volume is illustrated by some half-dozen engravings of a peculiarly uninteresting style. They are tame and commonplace by the side of Mrs. Gaskell's vivid and lifelike pen-and-ink descriptions.  Anecdotal Memoirs of English Princes. By W. H• Davenport Adams, author of " Memorable Battles in English History," &c. Two Vols. Newby. In these two very interesting volumes Mr. Davenport Adams has given us some of the most attractive chapters from the Romance of English History. The pen of no fiction-writer, however sensational his powers, can equal the marvels of truth. The extraordinary vicissitudes crowded into a few short years, in some of the lives here recorded, are almost incredible. They are, of course, familiar to all acquainted with English history, and yet they are well worthy of re-pet usa , especially when set, forth in the simple and interesting manner in which they are here arranged. This book, says Mr. Davenport Adams, is designed " not for the critic or the scholar, but for that muchsuffering individual, the general reader." The first Prince whose history is here recorded is Edward of Woodstock—the memorable Black Prince—the last is Frederick Louis of Hanover, the father of George 111. The biographies are not confined only to the Princes of Wales, the Duke of Gloucester, the youngest son of Charles 1., the Duke of Mt,nmouth, " the darling of the English People," James, Duke of York, and others of Equal interest and importance are very judiciously included in the list. In turning over the records of the last Stuart King, it is curious to observe that James 11., by his two wives, Anne Hyde and Mary of Modena, had no less than sixteen children, and yet, in the next generation, the Royal Stuart race became extinct—Sic transit gloria munch !  Lost and Saved. By the Hon. Mrs. Norton. One  Vol. Hurst and Blackett.  A cheap edition of Mrs. Norton's recent novel will be welcome to many readers. As we criticised the work at length on its first appearance, we have only now to notice its attractive appearance in its new form, embellished with a very charming frontispiece by Millais. Very charming does Beatrice Brooke appear in this picture, but the artist, preRaphaelite though he is, has sadly idealised his theme. The scene which he intended to pourtray is that trying women• of temptation when poor Beatrice, returning home " weary, dusty, discouraged," found Frank peevish, sick, and suffering. With the child asleep in her lap, the wretched mother contemplates the idea of suicide, and all who have read the story will remember that simple touch of nature, when the child slipping from her lap awakens all her maternal love and anxiety the very moment after she had been planning the death of the little innocent ! Can any one recognise in Mr. Millais' very elegant and exquisitely attired mother and child a glimpse of the weary, dusty, disheartened mother, and the sick suffering baby ? It is a pretty picture, a charming picture indeed, but it is not Mrs. Norton's despairing Beatrice.  The Medical Circular ; a Journal of Practica Medicine, Surgery, and Therapeutics.  The Medical Circular begins a new and improved series with the new year. Conspicuous among its contents will henceforth appear timely extracts from the case-books of" practical men—" men who cannot find time to sit down to prepare a course of six or twelve lectures for this or that journal; but who would not regard it as a tax upon their time to transcribe from their daily records of cases, some which will serve to elucieate a successful mode of practice or confirm or refute a suppused medical tact." Such examples, from trustworthy sources. cannot fail to prove highly interesting and beneficial to the various members of the profession. The Mediccil Circular has long been in the habit of uffering, tnrough its summaries and translations, a reflex of all the medical knowledge of the da) throughout the whole country. This excellent and useful practice will be continued in the new series, with a synopsis of the spirit of the Periodicals, reviews of Medical norks, and a general summary of all interesting intelligence. The editorial remarks which introduce this new number of a new series, are written in a spirit of fairness and genuine esprit de-corps, which augur well for the merit and success of the new enterprise.