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SPECULATIVE ROMANCE.*-
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It was in 1848 that demonstfations beganto be made in Sardinia against the Jesuits ; and , by the efforts of Count Cavour , " the royal gift of a constitution" was obtained from the monarch . Thewarot independence followed , in which Count Cavourwas called on for the full exercise of his characteristic prudence . His reliance was upon England ; - ^ -and his dread- the ultra-democrats of his own country , by whom he was thoroughly hated . The defeat ofNovara , however , made his services needful , and placed him in the first rank ot Sardinian statesmen . By the middle of 1851 , Coirnt .. Gavour was firmly established in the Cabinet as minister of Agriculture and Commerce , of Naval affairs , and of Finance . Not only in these departments , but in others reform was carried out ; for the impulse once given , the movement spread in all directions . Count < -, avonr carried the victory ag-ainst the Protectionists , and " at the end of the session handed in a complete report on the improved financial position of the state , which inspired foreign capitalists . with sufficient confidence to induce them to conclude with Sardinia a contract for a
loan of £ 3 , 000 , 000 . " In 1852 , Count Cavour again visited England , and also travelled in France , and received honours in both countries . By October pf tlint year , great excitement prevailed in Sardinia on the Civil Mjirriage question , on which the clerical party had become rampant . Gioberti , too , had just died , and the crisis hastened . Count Cavour was now called on to form a Cabinet . His efforts were directed to tlie improvement of the national finances ; but even so late as 1856 lie was nevertheless compelled to have recourse to repeated loans . "We must leave the details of the Oriental War , and the subsequent rupture of Sardinia with Austria to the recollection of ortr readers . The events are too recent to need or justify repetition . We are not
called upon to discuss tire eondition-of-Italy question in-, a biographical article . Mr . Cooper has stated it clearly enough in the little volume before us , to which we must -refer our readers . To us belongs simply the task of recognising Count Cavour's present return to power . To the language tmiformly . held , and the sentiinents constantly expressed , by the Sardinian Premier , are due the successful position taken by Piedmont against the aggressions of Austria , and the dominion which the former now holds ^ in Central Italy , whether in immediate possession or certain reversion . In his hands now remains to be done what the treaty of Villafranca left incomplete j" and to none worthier , or more able , could the destinies of Italy be confided . . ¦¦' - . ¦ : -. j . .
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Feb . 25 , I 860 , ] The Leader ( Mid Saturday Analyst . 187
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A TRULY great novel is . a rarity that should be estimated by the public at its real value . There is in every department of literature nolack of that stale commodity , rhediocrity ; but genuine superiority is a jewel as rare as it is costly , and should , as such , be received and welcomed by all who profess admiration for the productions of genius . . Yes and No is decidedly a most extraordinary novel . The author has enlisted in it powers fiir above the average order . Evidences of deep thinking- and laborious research aie visible throughput the three volumes , while the comprehensive mind , of the writer is capable of embracing the most abstnise principles . He is also endowed with the rare faculty of demonstrating tliesc principles to others with . clearness and perspicuity . Moreover , the eloquent and inspiring language in which the author gradually manifests to the reader his deeper and more subtle
thoughts and theories , is rather instrumental iiv aiding than retarding the progress of the story , and is , in fivct , for the full realizar tion of the author ' s conception , a necessary parf ; of it . In short , the novelist has , in the present instance , amply secured his , production from the imputation of heaviness or tediousness , by providing for himself a sure foundation in the form of si stirring and exciting plot . The whole is admirably constructed ; not a fault is to be found with the masterly manner in which the events are made ( o grow , one out of the other , without the slightest deviation from tho straight line of nature and consistency / We are carried irresistibly along with the stream of the narrative , gently at first , then growing gradually faster and faster , till we find ourselves enlinted in a perfect whirlpool of excitement , from which we are not allowed to escape till the termination of his journev . Tlio title of this work is
curious— - ' Yes and No ..- The reader , as his eye first glances over the page , is puzzled to conjecture what can be the author ' s motive for such an eccentric heading , and what possible relation it can bear to the contents of the three Volumes . Ho is not , however , left long in doubt ; the first two or three chapters are sufficient to enlighten him upon tins score , and he speedily discovers that , the idea which has evidently suggested the title is not confined to one particular portion of the novel , but is carried consistently through the whole . Indeed , these two 8 \ % nif \ ca , nt paroles have hero been employed in their highest and most comprehensive sense j moaning nothing more nor less than the negative and nftirmativo of man ' s whole moral nature . The hero , Rnlpli Esdnilo . ayouth of refined temperament and hig-h intellectual capacities , but whoso mind , early perverted from the true channel in which its awakening thoughts and fnoultios ought to expand and flow , becomes a perfect olmos of error ;
dogmatism , and unbelief . Every noble institutioni rendered venerable by the customs and practices of many past generations , is by him ignominiously plucked from its pedestal of honour , and submitted to take its trial at the bar of his own judgment , which he , in his selfinfatuation , places foremost in the ranks with the wisdom of sages , whose oracular- tongues have long fcince been silenced . No system of religious belief , from the idolatrous , "worship of the ancient Egyptians to the very latest amendments of modern Protestantism , elicits the smallest amount of reverence in his wayward , undisciplined heart . He is , in fact , a personified negative . Casting about in a sea of doubt , " he tortures himself with long metaphysical disputations , with a view to extinguishing the single gleam of light which still flickers in his nobler nature , till the last remnant of faith in an overruling and omniscient Deity and the immortality of his own struggling soul , is argued and speculated away . With such tendencies , it is not surprising that Ralph should forfeit the esteem and confidence of most of his companions ; . and , having once fallen under the suspicion of being an accessory , if not the principal party , concerned in a murder , he should at once be considered guilty by societyat laVg-e . Immediately after the above outrage our hero " disappears , which , of course , is considered as conclusive evidence of his complicity . The author , allows us to follow the course of the wanderer into foreign countries . We find him first in the city of Lyons , where he is preparing , in conjunction with Monsieur Roget , to start a French newspaper , entitled , ZesJSouches du Hkone , through which he contemplates regenerating the world , upsetting every religious and political institution , and making palpable ° unto all men the indisputable truth as demonstrated in his own wild and fallacious theories . Failing in this , however , he wanders still further * until at last he arrives in the heart of Italy . Here he becomes acquainted a certain Major Hampden , to whom he discloses the history of his past life and the foul suspicions which compel his temporary banishment from his native city . The two soon become united in the closest bonds of amity and friendship , arid Ralph ultimately accompanies his benefactor in a grand tour through Egypti Previously to this , however , he becomes secretly enamoured of a young lady , whose name he believes to be Effie Craigie , and to whom he had been several times introduced during his residence in Rome . This circumstance , and the death of his patron , which takes place before the termination of their eastern expedition , causes an entire revolution in the mind and sentiments of the young sceptic , who , after much suffering , gradu ^ ally becomes convinced of the folly of his former speculations , and thereupon renounces for ever the unsatisfactory , turbulent , and ever-perplexing " No , " for the diviner , purer , heaven-born principle shadowed forth in the spirit-trusting " Yes . " By the indefatigable exertions of his brpther Frederick , Ralph ' s innocence of the crime formerly laid to his charge is indisputably proved ; and he returns to England , to discover , alas ! thjit he and his brother are rivals for the love of Clara Maberly , who tunis out to be identical with Effie Graigiei for whom our hero had already imbibed so serious , and at the time so hopeless , an attachment . The brothers generously waive their individual claims in favour pf each other ; but Ralph , whose constitution has been seriously impaired during the last few years , sinks vapidly into a decline , and at last , in the presence of his earthly idol , and in peace and charity with all around him , the " spirit that had battled with a thousand noes" passed into the realm of the " everlasting yea . ^ . The JEJarVs Cedar' / " is a novel pf considerable merit ; there is a quaintness about it particularly pleasing ; all the characters are well and efficiently developed , and the attention of the reader is never allowed to wander from the real centre of attraction . It is also extremely well written ; and the author's descriptive faculties are even more than . ordinary . ' The story is simple , but interesting . Lord § t . Lo , a wealthy Irish nobleman , having , two years after the death , of his first wife , contracted a second alliance , takos to riotous and disorderly habits , and becomes a perfect tool in the Jiiands of his calculating- partner . * Lndy St . Lo , an unprincipled wpmian , whose only redeeming point is her passionate love of her own offspring , naturally considers the children of her husband ' s first marriage as etumblingblooks in the future career of her own . I )« ath comes to her relief in two instances , ami one nlono remains as a check to the fulfilment of her wishes- This obnoxious individual , Lady Hpnoria , a young" huly of engaging manners and singularly excitable temperament , becomes there . upon the solo object of her stepmother ' s , evil machinations . Wo will not spoil t , ho reader ' s enjoyment , in case he should huppen at some future period to peruse t ! iiis interesting little romance , by revealing the whole of this shameless woman's perfidious scheme . Suffice jt to say , that , after a great deal of misery and vexation on all sidos , the whole comes to a hig-hly agreeable ai » d satisfactory conclusion . The Stepmotlter is a very neat and well-sustained story ; though unpretending in its general details , yet decidedly interesting . The plot principally turns upon a young Protestant lady , who is induced , by a designing cousin , to embrace for a time the toneta ol the Roman Catholic faith . Under these circumstances , site cntorn , as a temporary shelter , the convent of Notre JPnme Doininiouines m . Malta , and is afterwards forcibly and illegally detained by its Suporieuro . Ultimately , however , she obtain * her relouse , and retribution , is tloalt upon ull who had wilfully abused and misguided her . .. , AthoUrte-, or , tho Cdrtlo by tho 8 aa , is also ' a moritorious production ; mid wo have no doubt that tho tone of piety wluoh pervades tho whole of this pletwant little ronmnco will moot with the-genuine sympathy of all who peruso its well-filled png-es ,
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* Yen and No ' ) or , Glimpses qftho Oroat Conflict . Threo vols . Mao mill an nnd Co . . Tho 28 arl'a , Gi > d ( tra , Two toIs . I * . Booth . The Stepmother ; or / Will S / io be a' JS ' iw , By FjLOttEls ' aH , Ono to ! Jnmoa JJldolcvvood . AHnelinoi or , H ! hoOa » tlo by tho Sea . By Lodjtsa 6 xbwa » t . Two vole J . H , and Jamica P » rkor « iritLi <
Speculative Romance.*-
SPECULATIVE ROMANCE . *
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 25, 1860, page 187, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2335/page/15/
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