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Xotices.] THE LEADER 719
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NEW NOVELS,
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CONFIDENCES. By the author of "Rita.' '—...
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About Jamaica : its Past, its-Present, a...
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BOOKS RECEIVED. A Mothers 1 Trial. Hurst...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Xotices.] The Leader 719
Xotices . ] THE LEADER 719
New Novels,
NEW NOVELS ,
Confidences. By The Author Of "Rita.' '—...
CONFIDENCES . By the author of " Rita . '—Smith , Elder and Co . MIRIAM COPLEY : By J . Cordy Jeaffreson ; author of " Novels and Novelists , '' and " Crewe Rise , " 3 vols . — Hurst and Blackett . . WHO IS TO HAVE IT ? A novel , by the author of "The Netherwoods of Otterpool . "—George lioiitledge and Co . A MOTHER'S TRIAL . By the author of "The Discipline of Life , " " The Young Lord , " & c , & C ;— -Hurst and Blackett . SOME YEARS AFTER . A Tale . —John Henry and James Parker . We give the first place among , the new novels to Confidences . " It is not many months since we spoke in very high terms of praise of the author ' s previous work , " Rita . " People that read novels for the story will not be so well pleased with " Confidences j" although we think it by far the best work of the two . But it is perhaps hardly fair to draw a comparison between the two works ; they are written in very different styles . In " Rita" the author employs the pen of a woman writing her own life : in " Confidences" the writer assumes the pen
of a philosophical clergyman . The best idea , we can give tlie reader of the work before us , is to suppose the celebrated philosopher in Goldsmith ' s Citizen of the World transformed into the Rev . Herbert Esdaile , curate , of Ashfbrd . The first part of the work is written in letters by Mr . Esdaile to his sister the Baroness Schonburn , at Dresden . In this correspondence the curate gives a full length portrait of all the notabilities of his parish . As he is a man of vast sympathies , very enlightened views , and a great love for his kind , and having withal peculiar facilities from his position for studying character , it maybe imagined that his letters are pregnant
refinement , and the aesthetic sensibility , which will feel themselves attached , and will respond in their various delicate and refined and altogether exemplary strains ! How severe will wives , whose husbands are neither mad nor felons , be on me ! and how sternly will murder be judged by gentle creatures who are so good Christians , to love their children better than their own souls ! " Miriam Copley" is the ablest of Mr . Jeaftreson s works . . When next we meet with him , we hope his ill humour will have worn away , and that he will have a little better opinion of hum ' an nature .
" Who is to have it r" Who is to have what ? Why , a nice little estate of some three or four hundred acres , and a charming young wife to boot . The story is not very original , nor the author ' s moralising very profound , but the narrative is spirited , and the characters all talk , and most of them act , like ordinary human beings . Christopher Ruxeley has an adopted daughter , and , having no children himself , he wishes to leave his property to her on the condition that she marries Norman Meredith , an illegitimate son , as he thinks , of his elder brother . For this purpose he sends for his old friend , Edward Templeton , to
draw iip his will . Templeton is closeted with the sick man one night to draw up this instrument , but wishing to marry Helen himself he poisons his friend and forges a will that will make the estate of Fernwold come to him if he can play his cards right and marry Helen . , To accomplish this he manages to get her lover Norman married to Lilian Craythorp , a mutual friend * to whom the estate goes for a time . He then seeks poor Helen , in the greatest poverty ( he is her guardian ) , assists
her in the most delicate manner , and finally declares his love . They are only just married when all his villanies explode ; and thus , through one person s wickedness , several are made unhappy . Fortunately he dies , and the estate passes to the proper owner . Most of the characters are well drawn , but on the whole we are not inclined to think that " Who is to have it ? " is any improvement on the au thor ' s previous work , " The Netherwoods of Otterpool . " It will , however , pass muster with most of the novels that are written . to amuse the reader
for an hour or two . " A Mother ' s Trial " is a little work we can recommend . It is the story of a mother ' s love for her son . The tale is very short . A mother wishes her son to be a clergyman . He is hardly fit for the calling ; being more suited by nature for an active life . Being very fond of his mother however , sacrifices his own wishes to please her ; not because she presses him , but because he sees that to do so will make his mother happy .
He enters on his new calling , but his restless impetuous nature will not allow him to remain in the quiet life of a country clergyman . He therefore goes abroad as missionary to find a larger field for his laboiu-. The climate and over-work soon tell on nature , never very strong , and he returns home , to live only just long enough to see liis mother . Such is " A Mother ' s Trial . The work breathes purity and refinement in every page , and convinces ; he reader that the writer is a lady of great
accomplishments . " Some Years After " is the story of woman ' s life , prettily and unaffectedly told , It possesses , however , a fault which may considerably damage its chances of success among ; that class of persons for whom it is intended , and that fault is the extreme length to which the story is drawn out . Wo recommend our readers , however , to endeavour to read it through ; the purpose is excellent , and they will find in it every phase of woman ' s life depicted by a person who has well studied the subject on which she writes .
with philosophical reflections on modern society . Being the parson of the village , he is admitted everywhere ; hears . every one ' s affairs , from Sir Richard Ashfbrd down to Jt > hn Hurst , the infidel . He points out their foibles with the pen of a Goldsmith , and never breaks out into wild diatribes on society because it is not exactly as he wishes it . Generally speaking , we aria not partial to novels when the narrative is told in letters ; we make an exception , however , in favour of " . Confidences , " beconsiderati
cause the tale is only the second on . The writer would have found it rather difficult to have put sill his crude remarks and philosophising in the mouth of one character , if told in the narrative form ; anil in such a case he could not have conveyed so distinctly the impression he has now done ; " Confidences " is written in the most pleasing manner of any novel we have read for years past ; and we advise all our readers to send to Bull ' s , and get it at once , assuring them that they will be heartily pleased with its perusal .
" Miriam Copley" is a peculiar novel . It is very clever , but it is also very faulty . Mr . Jeaffreson has made the best use of his materials , but he has selected nil his characters from one class of persons . They are all selfish , over-reaching people , and would not dp a fellow creature a good turn , if to do so would in the least inconvonience themselves . Had there been anctu-er balance of good and evil depicted in its p ages , the impression lef t after reading it would be far more satisfactory to the reader . As it is , one suspects the author of looking on society from either a jaundiced eye , or a very narrow point of view . The aim of the work is to show that people rubbing shoulders with , and tripping up their neighbours , * and practising all sorts of villanies just without the pale of the law are not the most happy , and that wealth , power , and position will not bring
peace of mind to a dishonourable person . There ai ; e many such persons , and to expose their rottenness is a very fertile theme for the pen of the novelist . Mr . Jeaffreson has done this in a manly earnestness , equal in parts to " Vanity Fair , " but he has done himself great injustice by only allowing the dark side of society . We are not advocates' of the perfect male and female characters that we generally find in novels , but they should certainly not be all of one type , and that typo the least reputable . Had there been only one good among the many characters in " Miriam Copley , " the aim of the author would have been better illustrated ; as the contrast thus shown might have made the work equal to the best of the season . Mr . JeaflVcson ' s tono and stylo may bo gathered from the following Hmall extract : — , ¦ "" Islmllbo pitied—commfsoration is so plentiful and nnorcy so fashionable j then , too , the delicacy , and
About Jamaica : Its Past, Its-Present, A...
About Jamaica : its Past , its-Present , and its Future . By Robert Emery . John Evans . A pamphiet written to remind us that the interests of the . British colonists are identical with our own . The emancipated negroes , it seems , Lave not proved good labourers . The want of labour operates as a cause of the decay of the island . An increase of population is required ; the author , therefore , argues for an Immigration Bill . "We think he is right . The French Correspondent . By I * . Nottelle , B . A . —Simpkin , Marshall , and Co . Selections from the letters and specimens of the handwriting of eminent men . They will prove useful to the learner .
Lays of Judah ; and other Poems . By Robert Frame . Hamilton , Adams and Go . The author writes in a moral and pious spirit ; but lacks poetic fire . Rustic Rhymes . By Frederick Price , Compositor . —Birmingham : Cornish Brothers . There is considerable vivacity and lyrical talent in these modest effusions . ¦ Common Sense , or Deception Detected ; a poem . By Mr . John Bull , J . tm . W . Kent and Co . Tins is put forth as the 2 nd part of the 2 nd edition of a poem , which satirises church , law ; , physic , army , navy , fine arts , science , and literature . The verses are very unskilfully constructed . An English Education ; What it Means , and How it may be Carried Out . By the Rev . George Iliff . — Bell and Daldy . This is a second edition of a small but meritorious essay . The Historical Magazine ; and Notes and Queries , concerning the Antiquities , History , and Biography of America . May , 1859 . —New York : C . B . Richardson . No . 5 of Volume IH . It contains a variety of contents , commencing with a paper on . " The- Westminster Massacre , " read by B . H . Hall , before the New York Historical Society . King Stephen of Hungary ; a Drama , in Five Acts . By a Scene Shifter . . T . C . Newby . We counsel the author to stick to his scene-shifting-, and not again to attempt scene-writing . History and Properties of the Different Varieties of
Natural Guanos . By j . C . Nesbit , F . G . S ., Ac-Roger son and Tuxford . The pamphlet professes to contain analyses of all the different varieties of guano which have been imported into this country during the last eight or ten years . Kingston ' s Magazine for Boys , No . 4 , continues the tale of the three midshipmen , and contains eight other articles , which are readable , entertaining , and instructive . Tail contains the usual variety of articles of the average merit—none that claims special notice .
Ladies' Treasury , No . 28 , is pleasantly illustrated and written . The papers amount to twenty . Studies from the Great Masters . Engraved and printed in colours . By William Dickers . With prose illustrations . Hamilton , Adams , and Co-The subjects are Dietrich ' s " Itinerant Musicians , " and Sir Joshua Reynold's " Infaut Academy . " Both are capitally executed . Baby Man , and other Poevis on Infants . By W . C . Bennetr Chapman and Hall . This reprint of several well-known poems will be authoradmirers
welcome to the ' s . A Guide to Typography . By Henry Beadnoll , Printer . , , ^ , *• Bowcring . No . 8 of an important and useful treatise . Moore ' s National Airs . Edited by Charles William Glover . No 1 . Longman & Co , Tins is the copyright edition , and contains ten ol these excellent lyrics . Weekly Magazine .- ~ Va . vt IV . embraces the contents of four numbers . The tale of » Harry Montford " is continued and illustrated ; and several ot the miscellaneous papers are interesting .
Christianising India . By a Christian Minister . — Simpldn , Marshall and Co . Tub writer disapproves of toaclung the Hindoos the Christian religion by means of the Athanasian creed and other methods considered orthodox . Nevertheless ho disclaims Unitarianism , and simply wishes to oppose the Scripture to the Roman doctrine . Wo agree with him in opinion , that it is " perfectly useless to send inoxporioncod missionaries to India—mon of shallow minds , intellectually and morally considorod . " Parents Cabinet of Amusement and Instruction . — Smith , Klder , and Co . Tun articles In this number ( 0 ) on " Peter tlio Groat '' " Making Telegraphs , " and " Latitude and Longitude , " are of obvious utility , and the general contents arc of merit .
Books Received. A Mothers 1 Trial. Hurst...
BOOKS RECEIVED . A Mothers Trial . Hurst and Blackott , Tl , iibner 27 mi llidtorical Magaxine . No . 3 , N ol . > . * iuwie « A Sha ? oh of the Comparative BvavtU * oft ha French-Jh & feiffKi s *^^* ' . ™ - By nm ° & ft . Spur ™ on A . Hall , V r m , ami Co . AntonU ! l ! iVominis , ArchW » lm tftomltttro . By jlfS ^^ « Sf »! ££% Zo ^ Xfi ^ t ' Par ffoiVUatto . Purls : AlpnonHo TadUe . Lomlree : Wllllnm Jailh . La Boll" Balla . Part II . W . . leilfc ,
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), June 11, 1859, page 11, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_11061859/page/11/
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