Merry England; or, Nobles and Serfs. By W. H. Ainsworth.
3 vols. (Tinsley Brothers.)—There is little to be said about Mr. Ainsworth's romances except to announce what the title does not always explain, the subject with which they deal. Merry England, in the present in- stance, must have an almost ironical meaning. There are few associa- tions of mirth with the medieval insurrections, whether successful or unsuccessful ; with the causes that provoked them, with the history of their progress, or the results which followed on them. The rising of Wat Tyler is no exception to this rule. Mr. Ainsworth has, as usual, studied his subject with attention, keeps carefully to the patterns of his fashions and manners, and is fairly readable,—though we miss the fire, sometimes, perhaps, rather lurid, but still generally effective, which illuminated the work of his youth. Tales of this sort are written, of course, by rules which it is generally found convenient to observe. Among these rules there seems to be one which demands a by-plot of love. It strikes us that these figures of lovers are more than ordinarily con- ventional and unlifelike. What can be more absurd than to find Wat Tyler's daughter falling hopelessly in love with King Richard IL, and dying of a broken heart? We do not remember anything like it since we found in an American religious fiction the account of an unhappy attachment between Mary Magdalene and John the Baptist.
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