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    ever , what a Cabinet like the present were likely to do on such a question , is a very venial fault- in any speculative writer . What is of i * rekter significance in the article before us is the historic retrospect of party combinations during the last five-andrtwenty years . According to the reviewer , Peelism ivas a blunder ab initio * Xtvras merel y an elaborate scheme of unprecedentedly slow suicide . The instincts of self-preservation were benumbed by the . substitution of Conservatism for wholesome and

    invigorating Toryism . The traditionary standards , ¦ whereon had for generations been defiantly emblazoned the inherent right of the noble , the -wealthy , the anointed , and the highly educated , to rule over the rest of the community , was lowered by Sir Robert Peel , and an ever-shifting and always indefinite banner , of blended and chequered hues , set up in its stead . As a device for admitted to

    getting into office , the contrivance is have been admirable and complete ; but as a mode of permanently keeping together or guiding a great party in the state , it was fatuous and fatal . How strangely has this train of thought been verified by what we have seen passing before our eyes , during the last few weeks , by the final disintegration of the Conservative party under the leadership of Mr . Disraeli and Lord Derby ! still marked

    Another article , and one of more ability , is that devoted to an analytical description -of Northern Italy under the Austrians . It is , perhaps , as fair and candid a statement of the case in mitigation of damages , -where the cause pf the defendant is admittedly hopeless ; as could well be . In a variety of important particulars the state of Xombardy is shown to be far less unhappy than that of the other portions of the Peninsula , which are governed by native princes and ministers . Commercial and fnunicipal privileges exist in a ligher degree . ; justice , if not always obtainable , isat aireventsnot bought and sold ; education ,

    , , both in the higher and lower branches , is wellproivided for ; the poor have medical care when they are sick , and abundant food and work when they are in health ; the highways are kept in good order , and highway-men or brigands are comparatively unknown . All this confessedly is out-¦ wei ghed in the estimation of the upper and middle classes , by the fact that they have no voice either in the legislative or administrative government ^ of their country , and by the sight daily of foreign garrisons in all their principal towns . _ Nothing which the Germans could do would , "it i * frankly

    owned , appease the inveterate discontent then * armed occupation of the country keeps alive , and the best alleviation , we are assxired , would be the erection of the Milanese into a separate state , with an Austrian arch-duke for Sovereign . The writer forgets his own . previous confession , that where the system of imperial puppetisnx has already been tried in Italy , it has signally failed . There is a pleasant and scholar-like critique on Mr . " Gladstone ' s " -Homer- ; " and a very well vyrit-. ten , but very depreciatory essay on the novels of Sir Bulwer Lytton . Also a paper on the condition and prospects " of art in England , containing

    nothing original or striking , but , nevertheless , well deserving a perusal . In this , as , indeed , throughout the whole of the articles , the predominant tone 3 s perceptible ; and questions of taste in church architecture are treated in the same manner , and tinged with the same colouring as reform of parliament or- the politics of Italy . Let us , in our turn , bo candid , and say , as wo can , with unqualified sincerity , that we hail with satisfaction the unf orbing of an oriilamme of thorough-going Toryism in Church and State ; and ho long as it is borne in 3 cnightly hands and sustained by honourably frank , earnest , and accomplished defenders of the antique faith that is in them , wo shatf always be proud to "break a lanco with them in the open field . It is quite refreshing to find learned and able men , ^ rho really havo such opinions , and who will stand for them , when challenged , liko men .

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    HOUND THE SOFA . Hound the Sqfit . By the author of " Mary Barton , " «• Life of Charlotte Bronte , " &o . London : Sampson , Low , Son , and Co . Good writing is a rare gift noW-a-days . There ia » o laok of smart writers , of brilliant essayists , of spasmodic romanoists ^ -but good writers are flrvv in number and ftw between . In those days of express trains , and shilling novels , and pqnny papers , it cannot woll bo otherwise . Wo have littlo timo to think , loss still to road , and almost

    none at all to write ; as Balzac said , we are like the boa-constrictors , who gorge one day and vomit the next . Style , we fancy , like everything else , is regulated by the universal laws of demand and supply ; and if the supply ef good writing has fallen of £ we suppose the demand has decreased equally . Still , without engaging in useless lamentations about the degeneracy of the age , we are at liberty to regret this decay in the power of composition . There is a poetry about prose , as well as abotit rhyme . There is a beauty about the mere order and composition of a simple sentence , which to trained ears has the melody of music . To us , therefore , as to all others who remain faithful to that sweet rythm worship , each new offering at the shrine of our falling faith is doubly welcome , by

    reason of its very scarceness . On this account , if on no other , we always look forward with pleasure to any work that , comes from the author of " Mary Barton . " Here , at least , we are certain of good English . We have no fear of slip-slop sentences—of fantastic torturings of speech , of turbid and confused imagery . The language is always clear , and pure , and sparks ling , like the water of a mountain rill . It is the work , not of a bad journeyman , but of an artist in writing ; and the love of the true artist for his work can be traced in the composition . Every word has its own place , arid knows and keeps it . There is" no fine writinflr in " Round the Sofa . "

    The very excellence of the style is proved by . the fact that we are at a loss to pick out pieces for quotation ; where all is so good it is difficult to make a choice . We cannot , however , refrain from quoting a passage from the charming tale of " Lady Ludlow , " in which that most delightful of grand old ladies is speaking , about flowers :- — " Attar of roses , again , she disliked . She said it reminded her of the city and of merchants' wives , over rich , over heavy , in its perfume ; and Lilies of the Valley somehow fell under the same condemnation . They were most graceful and elegant to look at ( my lady was quite candid about this ) : flower , leaf , colour — everything was

    refined about them but the smell ; that was too strong . But the great hereditary faculty on which my lady piqued herself , and with reason- ^ - for I never met with any other person who possessed it—was the power she had of perceiving the delicious odour arising from a bed of strawberries in the late autumn , when the leaves were all fading and dying . ' Bacon ' Essays' was one of the few books that lay about in my lady ' s rooms ; andif you took it up and opened it carelessly , it was sure to fall apart at his ' Essay on Gardens . ' f Listen , ' lier ladyship would say , * to what that great philosopher and statesman says : ' Next to that ( he is speaking of violets , my of which remember the

    dear ) is the nmsk rose , ' you great bush at the corner of the south wall , just by the ' blue drawing-room windows . That is the old musk rose—Shakespeare ' s musk rose-r-which is dying out through the kingdom now . But , to return to ray Lord Bacon : ' Then the strawberry-leaves dying , with a most excellent cordial smell . ' Now , the Hanbury ' s can always smell this excellent cordial odour , and very delicious and refreshing it is . . . . . My dear , remember that yon try if you can smell the scent of dying strawberry - leaves in this next autumn . You have some of Ursula Hanbury ' s blood in you , and that gives you a chance . '"

    The very delicacy of this description ( which of itself is evidence enough that these stories ore written by a woman ' s hancV ) stands out in brighter contrast when compared with the works of other modern authoresses . It is a positive relief to come upon writing like this , 'after wading through volumes of such works as " Quecchy " and " Amy Herbert , " and the whole of that race of which the " Heir of Radolyffo " is tho crown and glory . It is liko a draught of good clear alo to a stomach surfeited with gingcr-bcor and lemonade . There is one other speciality of all tho writings

    of the popular author , to which we cannot holp alluding . We leave to them none of that mixture of religion and romance , which is tho bane of oitr modern literature , There is no attempt to enforce tho doctrine of justification by faith , through a dialogue between the angelio heroine ana her earnest lover . "We are ashamed to own , that about those stories thoi'eie no highi moral purpose , noondqavour to solve problems , which all the wisdom of mankind has hitherto failed in solving ; no startling hullaballoo , as if tho existence of evil was a recent and novol discovery . There is , however , something different , and , to our minds , bettov than all this .

    Throughout these volumes , as indeed , throughout every work of the writer , there breathes a spirit of friendly feeling , ' of simple good-will , an d tolerant faith , which works its own way silently . " Round the Sofa" is not one of those works which , in the technical phraseology of tlie reh ' oious world , are termed ^' good books , " but it is one of those books which it is jrood to . read .

    " Round the Sofa" is a collection of stories familiar ere now , we doubt not , to many of our readers in the columns of " Household Words . " The whole of the first volume is occupied b y the story of " Lady Ludlow , " . which , if we are not mistaken , has been expanded and improved since its original appearance . Of the others , the "Poor Clare , " a weird north-country story , and the "Half Brothers , " seem to be new to us . Even if we wished it , it would be scarcely possible to tell in a few -words the thread of any of these stories . You might as well try to give a pencil sketch to a few strokes of a Dutch paintings To all oin * readers we can most sincerely reqommend these volumes as worth reading for the stories alone , and almost , if not better , worth reading for the sake of the writing itself .

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    THE BERTRAMS . The Bertrams , 3 vols . By Anthony Trollope . Chapman and Hall Mb . Tkoixope has not diminished his reputation by "The Bertrams ; " neither will lie have increased it . There is the same amount 6 f acute and sarcastic perception of life and character as distinguishes his former protfuctio ' , but " The Bertrams " wants something of the originality , the freshness , the probability , which are to be found , forMnstance , in his " Barchester Towers ; " The two \ characters which stand out in the strongest relief are George Bertram and Caroline

    Waddipgton , his cousin . The first is a young man of ] 3 lain exterior , but of cultivated and fastidious mind , of high and ultra-romantic principles of honour and disinterestedness , and jjassionately attached to Caroline Waddington . The lady is beautiful , accomplished , high-spirited , and-wayward , but with a touch , arid but a touch , of worldliness . She , too , is secretly attached to George Bertram . The uncle , millionaire whom his hew

    a money-getting , on nep and his grand-daughter are to a certain extent dependent , is desirous of seeing them married , in order that he may leave them heirs to his vast wealth . A series of misunderstandings arise between the young people , and an estrangement ensues , which results in Caroline Waddington giving her hand , but not her heart , to Sir Henry TTnv ^ rmvf-. nr > n . mliitious but risinir barrister , who

    has been tempted to many by the hope of coming in for the reversion of the wealthy uncles moneybags . The il ^ starred union soon proves a source : ol bitter discomfort to husband and-wile . IM mutual love between Caroline and George ^ becomes known to each other when too late , i Ins , when known , arouses the jealousy of Sir Henry ; iccrimination ensues , the wife is insulted beyond female ondnranco , and she quits her husband s root never to return . The uncle , when on his death bed , sends for his nephew ; but although -his wealth might become his nephew ' s W ° V ] ty ™ one word of spoken affection , his nophew , n'OTgu nearly penniless , stubbornly ^ Aiscs to flpcak . that word ; and the old man dies leaving the bufc oMw italSir llcni

    riches to endow a hosp . VXi 2 embarrassed in his circumstance * , . o ® position in society , his prospects , his wiio , and g chancp ; of inheriting tlio uncle ' s wealth , uttcuy lost , commits suicide by shootmg hmiseli . A « a foiu ' years of decent Wow . tho cou « i » come togotlier in tho bonds of matnmony . ljj " ? be rogordod as the main character and the . mwn incidents . There are several episodes ol no iwy inferior interest ; ono in pnrtiouliir-rtho Jc » ob w j yonng clergyman , Arthur Wilkiiijou , nm Addfl Uauntlot—which contrasts ngreoably w 7 { Xinc . passages in tho life of the hero' ihuI ^ roinc ; fir ; Trollopo has in th , i « work «( Tor ( le < lnnothg BDOoimen ofhis keen perception oi oliarnctw , ol u «

    knowledge of life , and oi ' his innn cry »>« »~ BtrongOBF pwwlon that finds plnoo m . the h umjg breast . ¦ But lus pen is dipped dig itl / iii flj l . JJ views of Ufo aroprono to the satiric , and sonic , timofl , when ho th'aws tho character o ft ^ tho portrait can only ho rogardeU as that oj n « Indlviaunl . Wo will givo an extrac a to ^ trato our position . Tho young olcrgyin « n , ArtJ » Wilkineon , has toon presented to iiJiving , ^ ao \ n

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    430 TIE LEADER fHo . 471 , April 2 , 1859 .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), April 2, 1859, page 430, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2288/page/14/