The Sun. — 1855-03-30 (London, England)

LITERATURE.  ... Constance Herbert. By Geraldine Jewsbury'autnut of "Marian Withers," &c. 3 vols. Burst and Blackett. The authoress of this work is already to" the readers of romance. Her former of have displayed considerable ability, o°ll2bine of re, a pleasing style, and have shown no want , The pretent source iu incident or character. tae,.although written with equal talent, and beirf 1:2_4., Well knor haps more striking than its predecessors, es.wo'n however, be said to leave a pleasing julpretvio" arietY the reader's mind. Though possessing a greathe chief of character, and many impressive events, d there is feature in the plot is such a painful one, able, that at least one incident so extremely illWr°bcia donlesti° it fails to convey the idea of a natural en 1 ("end of narrative, but seems rather an ancient bereh cansome mysterious and hopeless fatality v 7 to whiehL not be evaded or baffled. The chief polbt, .nopity-we have before alluded, is hereditarY bloorainX We are sorry to see this painful subirettoreaneotssuch a favourite incident for the pea °i- ',,erablancE" " Constance Herbert" bears a strong resemblance' under to a very clever novel which lately appe..-the like_ the title of g, The House of Raby ;" and •ci nee a ness is still further increased 4.)y a coin ol .° each names, the aunts of the heroines, w the%tory, case occupy a prominent place in of being both named Margaret. The father tut the unfortunate Constance is the deseen• sus of a family in which, for man one has always been afflicted with non ed. disorder ; but in her case the evil is inoreas by the fact of her mother, soon after her marriage' having become insane. Her father,- whose cater is skilfully traced from his first deterioration. 01 character down to his miserable end; is totally unfitted to be her guide or counsellor. She is en-3' generatioa tirely in charge of her aunt, Margaret, who is described as devoting all her thoughts and energies to the convideration of how she may best Pre' pare her beloved niece for .the knowledge of her heavy destiny. She arranges very injudicioiksifs however, for she allows her to mix in society an• 4 to form a strong attachment, and then, when asked for her sanction to her engagement, conveys her to see an idiot, whom she then tells h'rr is her mother. The unhappy Constance to quite overwhelmed, and it is long hef°re she recovers from the shock. In the mean; time, her father has become worse and worse, an in the end becomes engaged in such a questionable affair that police-officers disturb his last moment; The aunt is dead, and Mr. Herbert has aur,..ii, parted with the family estate, and at the end 01 story Constance is left alone and almost friendleasj: She is, however, in possession of au iadePettrdi_ fortune and estate, thanks to the most atraeung dinary and unnatural event of the hook. , Loos Englishman, while travelling in Paris, "44 Bre to see Constance walking with her father. to ar rushes after them, and follows the Bather t ater gambling house. e joins him in play wig ced to* night, in the vain hope of becoming his daughter. He at length proposes for her, heynerev• is haughtily repulsed by Mr. Herbert,. 11, leavupon he goes to a lawyer, makes a d scireturning' ing all his property to Constance, an- r event to his hotel commits suicide, having neves. If spoken to the object of i introuu _ anal b-s Bftectioncestore. the aut,horess had informed us that the arieri3iol9" of this hero had been insane we should F., _ how, not have been surprised. We are led to in r tPal'Ae berea,soanre, sob. ever, that he had previously been a ing. Some minor improbabilities there _gawp, as the marriage of Miss Wilmot and 51r. re sorry' but this is the most remarkable. We a,n talents' that a writer possessing miss Jewsbur4 s,styla and reputation should condescend to before us Ist of writing. The object which she seti:est expressea however, worthy of all praise. It dad to articulat" in L'Envoy :—" If we have sueeee; entreat our ing any principle in this book, it t the sternest is to readers to have boldness to act 1111 right. Alrequirements that duty claims to 014 theni' though it may at the time seemling they re it will in the end prove life. Not le will prove nounce for the sake of a higher Pribebl.Pd 1 the ra fhe fee; to have been worth keeping. We Martin, Ir-well in the quaint words of Barry . trusts ~ 1, „iself-he wrote by way of an epitaph of ."111 0131 y cc i Reader, if you my words will na mot.' You'll gladly do and suffer ally so tbe exPre° co The motto " Point de Faiblesse" also Ova ii.s - work idea of a high and resolute deterininati,.°ll:titho-il's stance Herbert, with all its faults, sh to powers, and we shall look forward from ss Jewsbury, not doubting su excel her present production. —.......! main aVethwerat fax  those brotauhsge ......—...----.._______ thaTnheittoahccounts from Australia by the overland reach nary, an are The barometer higher yesterdal at Sntljan.isiltalfrrztl".oB,ll.o hb3telebnsyt kowttnaeoJswAannrgno: tfeu;:sttejiiondlaty. sys .hi.alice_:.;;..oo most welcomeAs sign of fine weather. .. a daily WW2-pm. soon as the Paris Exhibition oPen"'. - led BlTkEeet South ' communication will be IP tern Can. ampton and Havre. The fitting Puany's steamer Wonder, a fast and fine vessel, is P to be put on that MELANCHOLY line. MOLY DEATH OF A YOUNG LADY last, Of Lady 'ul.lll the young d. wages hebetirea bert expiredan su ering . Commandercrew after a few hours' intense, truly excellent daughter :13.111aDc_1elia. ascitfbtr°°ebdpri,'. ev nt the bite of her favourite cat. This distressing - ed. establis hasT thrown a deep gloom over the entire neighbourboos, o J. thHe. psaedldwleyn,steaattnislioyompoarrybehr!etogptabl Bth ou Tuesday, and obtained leave of abser.ca t