The Press. — 1857-12-26 (London, England)

THE PRESS, DECEMBER 26, 1857.  service. He has been ill-advised enough to prefix to "Whits Lies" some remarks, in which the following sentence occurs :  As if the smallest master could not Anglicize French or any other language : vide " Clouds and Sunshine," which is French Anglicized. This is but a lame acknowledgment of the fact discovered by a correspondent of the Atheneum, that " Clouds and Sunshine" is something more than based on the "Claudia" of Madame Dudevant, and, by placing his Fresent work, as he does, on the same level, gives us ground for conjecturally assigning to it some similarly equivocal parentage. In this case the title becomes rather an awkward one. Apart, however, from such questions—with which we should not have the slightest desire to meddle if Mr. Reade did not force them upon us—we have pleasure in saying that " White Lies " is an exceedingly interesting and spirited novel ; one of the best, if not the best, of the present season. We are aware that in praising it we run counter to the opinion of that highly respectable class of persona who draw their mental aliment from the London Journal, and who are said to have unmistakeably signified their disapproval of the novel in question as it was hebdomadally presented to them. This discordance of opinion we fear we cannot help, as we have the weakness of thinking that a story may be interesting, both in character anti incident, though it should contain neither forgery, murder, nor suicide, and though none of the personages should pass through a single trap-door in the whole course of the narrative. But if Mr. Reade neglected these indispensable aids to domestic popularity ; if, in addition, he chose to be so perversely aristocratic as to describe the ruined noblesse of France not only with sympathy, hut with some degree of enthusiasm ; and if, finally, he was so vexatious as to tease his simple audience with French phrases translated literally into English,—what could he expect but the result which has ensued? Ws think, however, that he will find no reason to regret having appealed from the verdict of the kitchen to that of the drawing-room. Though not so absorbing in its interest as "It is Never Too Late to Mend," his present work shows all the brilliancy and vivacity of style which distinguished that novel ; the "situations" are dramatic and telling, and there is not a single incident described in the book which does not advance the action of the plot. This latter quality is a valuable, and among English novelists a very rare one. Mr. Reade's stage experiences have probably much to do with his complete perception of its importance. Mr. Reade shines m.,st, we are inclined to think, in his delineation of female character, although the moral which the story is intended to point necessarily obliges the emphasis to be laid on what may be called its womanish, rather than on its purely feminine aspect. The female personages are Madame de Beaurepaire, a Royalist widow in the latter part of the French Revolution, her two daughters Josephine and Laure, and Jacintlia, their servant. To describe the plot, by which the respective lovers of the three latter are gained, lost, toszed, married, killed, resuscitated, and finally settled, would exceed our space and spoil the reader's pleasure in pursuing it through its various and ingenious surprises. It must suffice to say, that toe crosses and complications of tl e story arise from the practice in which Laure and Jacinths indulge of resorting to " White Lies " in any difficulty which occurs ; and the manner in which, from the little deceptions of their mother which love and poverty suggest to them, they proceed at last to falsehoods which nearly ruin the happiness of the whole party, is managed with great skill and a nice attention to the progress and development of character. The few reelections which interrupt the narrative are short, apt, and full of practical wisdoin. Our readers, if they wish for a thoroughly entertaining and clever book, cannot do better than send for " White Lies." 3. " Court Secrets " is by far the best novel Mrs. Thomson has written, and it has surprised us by its unusually good writing, its piquancy, and the interesting story which it embodies. Mrs. Thomson has still something to learn in the construction of her plot. The point is one about which ordinary readers will perhaps care little, but it must be re• marked that the " secrets " which begin and end the narrative are not sufficiently interwoven with the main action, but rather lie ontsiae it as a framework, without materially affecting its development. They relate to one of the minor German principalities, the heir to which is stolen and otherwise foully dealt with in a way for which Mrs. Thomson is not without warrant in fact. The chief portion of the story, however, consists of the ups and downs of a very pretty love affair—the heroine is as charming a one as we have met with in print lb:• many a day—enlivened with numerous sketches of character possessing great fidelity to nature and described with abundance of point. In the latter respect and in general style Mrs. Thomson reminds us very forcibly of Mrs. Gore: in her conception of character and in the scenery of her localities she recalls from time to time the Baroness Tautphoeus. We do not imagine that she has been indebted to either model, for 

Article type: NotIncident