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    ROMANCES AND TALES.*

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    MISCELLANEOUS BOOKS.f

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    Untitled Article

    THE author of TJte Living among the - Dead has not attached any especial meaning to the above title , which would be equally applicable to any other work of fiction yet upon record , simply signifying the different emotions , passions , and feelings continually enacting around the monuments of pur foi-efathers . This book is decidedly well written , though the incidents are somewhat too much huddled together , and there is an evident want of tact in the arrangement of the characters . The author has also fallen into the fatal error of introducing towards the conclusion three or four retrospective chapters explanatory of events which occurred long before the commencement of his story * and recording the past lives and misfortunes of persons in most of whom , since they have-never been presented bodily upon . the scene , the reader cannot be supposed to take the slightest interest . This is perhaps the greatest mistake a writer of fiction could possibly commit ; it destroys at once all that he has been labouring so long and earnestly to achieve . The sympathy of the reader , thus cut off" from the main thread of the story , gradually subsides into weariness and indifference , and before the end of one of these seemingly interminable digressions , becomes completely obliterated ; and it requires that the last two or three chapters" should be replete with incidents of the most stirring and elevating nature to enable the author to recover the ground he has thus unconsciously lost . The Living among the JDead , however , notwithstanding the blemishes above enumerated , possesses considerable merit . Two or three of the characters are well conceived , and the tone throughout is thoroughly healthy and free from all morbid tendencies . We have no doubt that it will enhance the reputation of the author . A number of tales , entitled Storied Traditions of Scottish Life , form , a volume of odd and , to such as feel an interest in this peculiar kind of lore , not unpleasant reading . All the tales are remarkably well told , and in some instances wrought up to a climax of no ordinary excitement . The story of ' * Sergeant Bavies ' s Ghost , " which at its termination surprised us into . a hearty fit of laughter , deserves a slight sketch at our hands . We give it as follows •—The supposed ghost of Sergeant Davies appears to Sandy M'Pherson and commissions him to inter with due . decency his mouldering remains , which at the time lie exposed on "Christie Hill ; lie also delivers iip to liim the names of his murderers . Demean Clerk and Alexander Macdonald . The noise of this . affair gets bruited abroad , and inquiries are instituted by the civil authorities , which end in the above-mentioned parties being committed for trial . They are , however , ultimately acquitted by their countrymen . Soon after this Duncan Clerk receives his " quietus" in this world , and his widow becomes thereupon open to the addresses of one Allan M'JSTab , an old and neverrwearying suitor , who , in the hope of gaining her favour , promises to bring the traduoer of her late husband to justice upon the charge of perjury . After a short . lapse of time Agnes Clerk , during a lonely walk through an unfrequented path , encouuters a figure bearing the semblance of her deceased lord . The seem hig apparition with as little delsiy as possible reveals the object of his visitation , namely , that his conscience pricks him for the wrongs he committedwhile in the flesh to the aforesaid Allan M'Nub ; he therefore exhorts his widow to make him adequate compensation by bestowing upon him he ? hand . The jjoor woman stands for a few moments in mental perplexity and doubt ; suddenly a new light bretiks in upon her , and , darting forward , she seizes hold of the arm > of the would-be spectre , delivering herself in the following oracular manner : " The deevil ' s in ye for a fuuse loon , but you ' ve Allun M'Jtfab himsel ! and what ' s mair , ye were the ghost o' Sergeant Dnvies !" Say and Seal , by Miss Wetherell , fully justifies the authoress s former reputation . Twoedjtionsnro published of this extraordinary work . It is , perhaps , the best of this excellent writer ' s productions , possessing in the highest degree all that simplicity of style , purity of sentiment , and self-development of character for which her works are rewiarUable . We have only to add that the more expensive edition of this work is profusely illustrated .

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    THE plan of this littlo Stepping stone ia clear and aimpie , m renuy calculated to ensure to tUe learner a " sound knowledge of Greek . Jt is * divided i « tp eleven parts , containing Gospel extracts , fables from . disop , easyodea from Anacrepn , &c . These extracts are alao construerl Into Biiglish , thus making the work a first-rate stepping-Btone for beginners . By the easy , nnd ftt the anmc time thoroughly sound and orlticftl method adopted by the compiler , the learner may soon acquiro a knowledge of the Groelc tongue .

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    308 The Leader and ' Saturday ' Analyst . [ March 31 , 1860 .

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    and the special progress made in each of . these fields during the reign of Henry ; whilst about one-fourth is devoted to a " succinct i ' story of the reign , which gives little of the romantic incident which lends the charm to Henry ' s career . The value of the bulk ; of the book to those who desire to understand the actual condition of France at the period is immense ; but as we have said , the majority -of those who turn to the history of Henry XV . do so for the life and . adventures of the kmg ' . Miss Freer seems to have perfectly comprehended this truth , and her two volumes are a spirited history of Henry and his daring exploits from his accession to the throne to the capture of Paris , which virtually established his sovereignty over France . As a picture of those exploits , and a narrative of the most interesting portions of those dreadful wars , of the whole forty years' horror of which . Davila has so well if not so fairly told us the story , Miss Freer ' swbrlf is deserving of all commendation . We may especially'give her " credit for the ability with which she has treated the awkward subject of Henry ' s amottrs . It would be impossible to write the life or reign of Henry IV . without frequently mentioninghis mistresses . They played too important a part in the history , influenced so much the course of each campaign and the policy of the amorous monarch , to be left unnamed j whilst it would be impossible , iii a boolc written for the English society of these days , to dwell upon their scandalous stones . Miss Freer has avoided the difficulty with great judgment . She will , however , find the task more difficult when she comes to the last years of her hero ' s reign - ^ -her hero , in good truth , for although as a lady she Of course rates Mm soundly for his misconduct ,, and presents with great fairness the consequences of his follies and enprices , still Henry is a hero to her , just as he is to the laborious Ml Poinson . . On this point , however , we must differ from Miss Freer and M . Ppinspn ; and i useless as it may . be to run a tilt against a generally accepted conclusion , ; avow Our own opinion that Henry the Fourth , although brave , able , witty , and courteous , was in the main little better than the best abused moriarchs of his house . We are not unjust enough to try him by the standard of an advanced civilization , and a purer morality . But a monarch who persistently sacrificed his duties to his pleasures , and the childish excesses of whose subservience to the rising favourite were balanced by a-heartless abandonment of the declining one , is not protected from reprobation by . the indulgence which the licertee of that age compels us to allow to all its . heroes . It might have been excusable in a " captain of cavalry , " as Napoleon , in depreciation of hjs . military talents , called him , to waste his time in romantic adventures and sensual excesses ; but it is impossible to acquit the King of France , who loses the opportunity' - of capturing Paris to play the gallant to the Abbess of Montmartre , and risks not only his own life but the lives of his devoted army , by leaving 1 it for a day or two , to visit , in the disg-uise of a miller , Gabrielle D'EJstrees . We will not dwell on such follies ; but who can feel respect for the monarch , or even for the man , who suffered " ' la eharmanteGabrielle , " if not to die , at least to die unavenged ; bought Heririette D ^ Entraques of her father for a certain number of crovyns , and , whennearly sixty , exposed himself to the greatest humiliations , and , perilled the- peace of his country in his mad dotard ' s passion for the child Princess De ConcleP And what can be said in Favour of the . great king , either as Protestant or Catholic ? His religion was , indeed , merely a cloak , without which he would have been nipped in the very bud of his ambitious enterprises . By his profession of Protestantism alone , he maintained himself in the position to claim the throne of France when it legally devolved upon him , By the enthusiastic acceptance of him by the Huguenots as their chief , and by the immense sacrifices they made , he was enabled first to resist the deadly enmity of the Guises , who did not hate him as a Protestant , but as an obstacle to their projects ., and then to compel the adherence of those Catholic subjects \ yho joined him against the League .. Protestantism did everything ; for Henry , and the moment he had obtained from it all that it could give , he abjured it , nnd becamo a Catholic . If political ^ necessities , or , in other words , his own ambitious interests , made this step inevitable , pa the historians who coininend his wisdom , and even his selfsacrifice , Tnag-niloquontly assert , — -at all events * thqy did not oblige him to be ungrateful to the old friends who had ruined thomselves in his cause , and to bestow all honours and rewards upon the relatives of his mistresses , or the pen wh , o bad fought most hardly against him , and only accepted his sovereignty because they could no longer resist it . This sensuality , this ingratitude , this thoughtlessness , this indifference to the feelings or ] services of his friends , so long- as his < rtvn " pleasures were not interfered with , are indelible stains upon the character of Henry , and led him into nriany a fimlfc whioh rises vp against him in condemnation . True , . against those defects ljis admirers may set his generosity and easiness , , but tho prenerosity was of that apurious land much practised in our own days . Honry was generous enough of tho property and labour of othpr persons , and his easiness was merely a dislike to being troubled himself . WithvXl , however , ho was very brave ; Imd moments of high fooling 1 , and if he did not sketch out great soUernes of European polioy himself , could adopt them from others . Mioholot ( we think ) summing up his vices and virtues , hia faults , follies , and abilities , saya that , after all , he w « s but a type of the France of his day . And of our day , too j for France Ss really littlo changed . Paris ruled Franco m tho days of Henry , rules ft more completely now ; and tho spirifc of Paris , the outside , the venoor of civilization , with all the old ferocity and lust of war and rapine underneath , ia tho spirit which rules tho 'Franco of to-day , ana renders Iflurnpo unquiet and distrustful , whilst the old projoqts of Honry . Tv . for a re-arrongomont of

    Europe are again brought forward as the basis upon which the policy of France should rest . There , must have been some stuff in the man ivhose : spirit , after two hundred and fifty years , yet animates the hearts of his countrymen , but all the efforts of his admirers fail to . make Henri Quatre apreux chevalier , or a great king .

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    * Tho Livinq among tho Vend . A Story founded on tfaote . « y Author of « liienhftm . " Arthur Hall , Vixtuo , and Oo . Storied VradWoiw ofSoottish X , ^ - By AIbxanobr LBianTON . Edinburgh : William P . Nimmo ; Siraplcin , Mwflhwll , ana Op . < 3 a V and SocU . By the Author of " Wide WWo Wopld , " and » D ollftrs an < l iJonts . " Anpfchor Edition of same , illustrated . Xiiohurd Bonfcloy . ^ Pqntc OUtasioi . Xo . XX . A M < mptna Mow from tho Bc / jinniM tf Grooh Grammar to Xottotfion . By the , llov . JToHN DAY CpLLIB , M . A ,. fcondpn ; Longroan jvnd Co .

    Romances And Tales.*

    ROMANCES AND TALES *

    Miscellaneous Books.F

    MISCELLANEOUS BOOKS . f

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), March 31, 1860, page 308, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2340/page/16/