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No. 504. iTov. .19, 1859-] THE LEADER 12...
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C.-ECELIA METELLAi Oil ROME ENSLAVED. By...
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CHILDREN'S BOOKS.
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TIIKAVIUTK 13I..E I'll ANT; OK, THE UUNT...
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MY FIRST TRAVELS. J3y Selina Bunbury. In...
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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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Now Or. N'Evek. A Novel, By Miss I}«'Thn...
comes his wife . Poor Tom , broken-hearted , leaves the Hall * with the intention of going abroad , much to the discomfiture of his uncle , a gentleman country fawner , who would much rather " our Betie " have married him . As the Gountess Korvinski , need we say , Bertha was not a happy woman . Her husband soon gets tired of his playthin ^ , and plunges into the excitement of fashionable ' life in London , where at Mrs . Hardingo ' s . he a ain meets Agatha Sherlock , whom he first met m school
Paris on conrin" to England . Agatha was a - fellow of Bertha ' s at Blaekheath . The Count is fascinated with the showy person and winning manners of Agatha , and they are on the point of an elopement when Tom Winter appears on the scene , and prevents them , by informing Agatha ' s aunt of their intention , which he has heard of through the Count ' s servant , known to him in former times . The elopement-is frustrated , and the Count , never very strong in intellect , dies froni the effect of brain fever thus broutrht on . We leave our readers to
finish the story for themselves . The characters are admirably conceived , but we have not space to speak of them individually . The fault of the ^ Tvork , however ,, if fault it can be considered in a novel , is in having so much matter compressed into into so small a space . We have only sketched a rough outline of the story , but it will give an idea how much there is in the whole . Miss Edwards , speaking of the title of her work , in connexion with the subject , says : — " There is never time enough , in this world- —the present moment only is oars . Life is no question of ' to-morrows , ' or ' by-anid-byes , ' , hut a question of 2 $ Tow , or N " ever . " * * * "It is Now or Never in this world ,
and if the experiences of my life have taught me anything thoroughly , it is this ; for to-day is ours , but to-morrow is in the hands of the Lord , and may be Never . And though we may never reap the harvest , we must plant , and water , and weed , and crop , as if we ' were-sure of it , and leave the rest to God . So I _ ay to you , that if you hope to see your child becoine a wise , useful , and happy man , you must first teach him to be a manly boy . " There is plenty of things to reflect on in . Miss Edwards' novel . We consider it a great improvement on the " "White House , " and Tiave some pleasure in recommending it to the notice of our readers .
No. 504. Itov. .19, 1859-] The Leader 12...
No . 504 . iTov . . 19 , 1859- ] THE LEADER 1279
C.-Ecelia Metellai Oil Rome Enslaved. By...
C .-ECELIA METELLAi Oil ROME ENSLAVED . By JEmelia Julia . —Chapman and Hull . " CjecemaMetaua" did not at first sight predispose us in its favour , as the ancient manner of spelling the heroine ' s name , and the _ < e in the writer ' s nom-de-phime . of iEmelia Julia , smacks of pedantry . It will not always do , however , to juxlge of a work from outside appearances any more than that of a man . A gootl coat often hides many defects , but it is as often the reverse . Though many objections may bo raised against the work in parts , there will hardly be but one
while in the midst of his profound and refreshing slumber , a debtor pursued by a relentless creditor conies to his house for protection . Metella only thinks of the injunction of the doctor , and refuses to have her lord awakened . As the person refuses to leave the premises he is expeLled with force . Crassus wakes in time and recovers , but does not hear of his client calling till some time after , when his favourite Gallic slave informs hirn of the circumstance .. Instead of being grateful to Metella fur saving his life , his first thought is the dishonour of his house , ami reproaches her as the cause of it , and is on the point of chastising her
according to the Ttoman custom , when he relents because she faints under the indignity . From this time , however , Metella feels she is degraded , and a coolness is the result , which she nerer outgrows . The assassination of Cnssar is a tale wellknown . After the death of Caesar , Metalla felt a void in her existence . She mourned him long and refused to leave his body until reminded of her conduct by her husband . She finds some comfort , soon , by becoming attached to the cause of Octavianus , the nephew of her hero . She transfers all the feelings of admiration that she lias before felt for Cassar to his nephew and
his cause , ¦ partly , it would seem , to avenge his death , and partly for love to any one of his kind . Octavianus proves utterly unworthy of her heroic conduct . He plays ' a wicked and lying part to allure her from her husband . Thougli she plots for Octavianus—and goes through many hardships and dangers to serve him—she is true to her husband . But neither the _ fear of being thus exposed , nor the indiscretion of her situation with the wil y Octavianus make her swerve from his cause until compelled by
force of circumstances to do so . The end of the story is , that Metella remains faithful through all hor trials to her husband , and lives to see how faithless Octaviaii has been to her by witnessing his marriage with Levia Drusill a . Thus having sacrificed her peace of mind for a worthless man , slie bows down her head , and finally dies . of grief . Such is the end of the Metella of this romance ; the Metella of history is another story , but we are not disposed to complain of this , inasmuch as the writer has written a fiction of no ordinary stamp , and one that bears great promise for her future productions .
opinion of its general merit . . Wo expected to find , from the writer ' s subject and name , n dry , historical novel , solving , in some degree , the character and position of " the mysterious Komiiu lady whose name the work boars , This is not tlie case , however \ the story is . hi g hly romantic , and verv little attention has been paid to historical data . Though the work'iuay be open to some doubts on this head—no more , though , perhaps , than most historical novels—it seems to us , tliu wider the winter has departed from 'histgyy' the ' more the work has gained hi interest , viewed simply as a fiction . Thisatrilcos u * to bo the case with inost historical novels . Thu story opens just , previous to the time , of the death of ' Julius Ciusur , i ' or whom Metcllu has , in consequence of some little
kindliness shown her by him , become one of his moat ardont worshippers . Metella is represented by the writer to bo the wife of Marcus Licinius Crassus , the son of Marcus Licinius Crassus , the member of the first triumvirate , wh ) wna killed in the l ' arinthan war . Crassus is twenty years the senior - of Metella , consequently she does not love him as a woman does a husband of her own ago . Slio honours ami loves him , however , for the goodness and general nobleness of his character , which leads her to look upon him with tho docility of ft . child , and which is strengthening into woman ' s love , whon Crassus falls ill of an attack Of fevor . Ho is on the point of death , and tho doctor loaves strict instructions that ho is not to bo disturbed if ho should aleop . Ho does so , but
Children's Books.
CHILDREN'S BOOKS .
Tiikaviutk 13i..E I'Ll Ant; Ok, The Uunt...
TIIKAVIUTK 13 I .. E I'll ANT ; OK , THE UUNTKRS OF AVA , AND THE KING OF THE GOLDEN" FOOT . Ky \ V-illinnil > alton , author of " Tho Wolf Boy in . China , " & e . —Grlflitli ami Fun-ail . KJIANK AND AN'DUKA ; Olt , FOKKST JAVli IN THE Isr . A-XDOFSARDINIA . By Alfred Klwca . & c ,, author of" Piiul Mlukc . "—Grlfllth ft mi Fnrran . KTXOSTON ' . S ANNUAL- 1 'OU BOY'S , l * iM . -1308 \ vorth and Bnrrison . CHAltLIK AND KKXK , ST | OK PLAY AND VOK 1 C , a . itory of Hazlchurst School . By Miss Bctlmm-KdwimL-s Author of tho " White Moubo by tho Sen . " Of lute years , boy ' s books have become a feature in our literature . To make a manly man , you
What Mr . Dalton has done for China , Mr . Elwes is doing _ for Sardinia , thougli with a more serious intent ; for in his prefa . ee he says- — "It may-be some satisfaction to the reader to learn that this is not mere fiction which is thus presented to him . " Little' is known among the young , or , indeed , the grown-up people of England , about Sardinia , notwithstanding' the kind ' s name is so familiar to them . A . vast deal of very valuable information is to be found in Mr . Elwes' little book . Mr . Kingston has bound up the monthly parts of his magazine . Bound together they maka a handsome volume , highly valuable and instructive to the class of readers for whom it is intended .
¦ " Charlie and Ernest , " by Miss Edwards , is a little work in two parts : the first part is called " Charlie's search after Pleasure , and what became of it . " We know that those who search for pleasure never find it . The second part is entitled , " Ernest ' s search after Work ; " the moral of which is , that he succeeded because he has been industrious enough to learn different languages . As we have said elsewhere , Miss Edwards is -a sensible writer , which is enough : to recommend " Charlie and Ernest" to the notice of our juvenile readers . The four works are first-rrate , and we recommend boys to spend their Christinas money on them in preference to anything else . Parents , see that your boys do this .
must " we the boy manly and healthy exoreises-r at thu same time tench him how to be brave and generous , nnd to love all sports that arc invigorating to the . mi rid niul body . If he will not % ud dry history , you must dilute it with romance and advuntuvc . Acting on this principle , Mi-. Dulton , Mr . Elwes , Mr . Jvingston , and MUs Edward * have , produced four admirable boys' books , and frreat praise is due to them for the manner in which they have for soiuii years past been writing good book * for youth . " Wo have said that of Into years feature in
boys' "books have become quite a our literature , and suspect that this iS owing to many persons reading those books besides boys . Why should they not , ? They are always full o ] ' adventure , written in the narrative form , and contain much information that is worth knowing . Chiria is a fertile theme with Mr . Dulton . lie has already written two or throe works on the people of the Sun . His little book before us professes to bo tho autobiography of Harry Oliver , who gets into many troubles through not knowing the luwtt , and manners , and customs of the Chinese . Many nro tho adventures that ho falls into , but bu being brave , honest , and manly , ho gets tlirougy them safely . In tliis manner Mr . "pulton convoys much information about tho Chinosc
My First Travels. J3y Selina Bunbury. In...
MY FIRST TRAVELS . J 3 y Selina Bunbury . In 2 vols . — T . ( . ' - Now by . The greater part of the contents of these volumes by Miss Bunbury were published when they were written years ago . They contain some good writing , and writing only , for their is nothing new of the people or scenery of which the book treats—and the whole is strung together in a narrative form , purporting to be the writer ' s " pursuit of friends in a foreign ' land . " In this manner Miss Bunbury has " made " ' . a readable book of recollections of
her " first travels" —starting with a bird's-eye view , as it were , of Oxford b y moonlight from Magdalen Bridge , " the grandest view in the world , or in all England . " From Oxford she goes to Paris , in company with a Miss Stride , an English governess , who comes yearly to her native land to bear back to her adopted one a bevy of young ladies —there are no girls in these present times—to whom she imparts all the benefits of Parisian education . " Arriving in Paris , that " emporium of pleasure , the seat of the World ' s seductions , the speck on
the World ' s map where human life can be most enjoyed , and is in the World ' s reasoning the most enjoyable—the place where till tastes can bemost readily gratified , whex-e all senses can be satisfied to repletion "—except liberty , Miss Bunbury !— . ' she finds her friends had left Paris for Orleans , and follows them . When she arrives at Orleai 0 , of course they have just gone somewhere elso , and so she Toes from place to place , like . Taphet in search of a lather , taking advantage to visit all places of interest by the way . On leaving Piiris ^ tho writer visited Blois , Chernoncou . N , Tours ,
Nantes and the Pyrenees . jMi- 's nuuhiiry ' s first view of tho Pyrenees rather disappointed her . She first saw them from the castle tori-noo of Pau : — ?< Tt- was my first , view of the Pyreneesthe dreiuu of my youth developing it . mili in a vision They woro distant still , but in thosottoning KM * of the evening ^^> ro brought nearer even While less clearly discerned ; their heads rested against a rofulifunt sky ; cones , ponks , mid ridges curiously , uvi- ' n fantnuticnlly , indented ; ,. i varied outlinuT-a « rii ? ftntio barrier , inspiring I ] w wish for the w ! nir « , not of tlm < lovo , but of tho eagle , to llymvayand oxploro tlio strange region beyond it Yet at my Ii . r .-st view that in . spirat . ion wns not ni ' von " Sim stayed near them long onougli to a tor ,
her opinion ; probably the change anno over nor when she found her friend * a few d .. y « later . .. "My First Travels" may bo found n readable book of travuls— -to thoso who have not read ot the « imo scones by later travellers than M . »» 1 unburv Tho bout that can bo naid for tlm work IB that it is woll written , and tho worst , I hut it con- ' tuiuM notliing ilow , mid thu work should never have been ro pubHshed ; ns a book of trnycb , written twontv or thirty ycUi-H ago , gives tho young roador very little iclea of tho manners and customs of these clwyH of raihvays , when tho tmvollor thinks n move of a trip to Paris or to tho Pvrono os than ho did formerly of going to Wreonwk-b or to Devonshire .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 19, 1859, page 19, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_19111859/page/19/
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