THE TWO FAMILIES. * THE materials of this novel are not
superior to those of its prede- cessor .Rose Douglas, perhaps not equal to them in depth and inte- rest; but the reader has the advantage of change of scene. He is taken from a Scottish country parish to a small country town ; he exchanges the coarse and commercial style of Glasgow for the efforts of old family pride to repair its fortunes by dint of a wealthy marriage, with a bride whom both husband and mother-in-law look down upon. A mercenary spirit is the element of both classes ; but it leads to less criminality in the petty tyran- nies of the Glasgow family towards their governess, than in the attempt of the Chamberlyns of Arden to revive the splendour of their family by any means but industry. Is there an undesigned moral lurking under this ?—that the actions of the great neces- sarily partake of their position and that the good deeds will be better, their bad deeds worse, fl their
those of their inferiors in sta-
tion or character P-
The writer has probably advanced in literary merit. The treat- ment of the different scenes is more complete, their depiction neater, rounder, more finished. The prominent persons and so-
ciety at Chapelton are in with perfect verisimilitude, as well, in actual qualities as in the writer's tone. The poor weaver's family, to which the heroine belongs, is a little gem : the piety, the unconscious humility, the resignation' the humble pride of avoiding public assistance, are painted witha delicate touch and a responsive feeling, but without exaggeration or overdoing. The characters of a shepherd lover, of Mr. Wilson, an illegitimate pau- per,..who returns after making his fortune in India, and of 3frs. Mambiri, and her son who marries Eliza Wilson, are not so truly natural, but they are consistent. The excellent manners and lofty sentiments of the Chamberlyns, with their total want of real moral sense, (for their repugnance to the marriage is one of pride, not principle,). aie well marked.
• The Two Families: an Episode in the History of Chapelton. By the Author of "Rose Douglas." In two volumes. Published by Smith and Elder. The object of the writer is to show the importance of religion through life, but more especially in the training of children. This is done by contrasting the career of two families for two genera- tions. The heroine' Annie Wilson, is sustained and happy in trouble and poverty, through her religious disposition and firm re- liance on Providence ; she brings up her daughter to the same, feelings with the same happy results. Ben Wilson, the miniature nabob, his well-connected, goodnatured Glasgow wife, and their daughter, with every worldly means at their disposal, are regard- less of religion, and unhappy. Wilson, indeed, dies early of apo- plexy, that his death may enable his daughter to be thoroughly spoiled • but Mrs. Wilson and Eliza both lead an unhappy life. The discomfort is real enough, but except in the cense- ognences of Eliza Wilson's marriage, perhaps more felt by the looker-on than by the persons themselves. The delineation of a yielding mother and a spoiled child is very well done. The novel, in point of execution, belongs to the new and quiet school, or rather to an old school revived. The persons and inci- dents are those of everyday life, told in a congenial spirit; though the art of the describer may give more pleasure than the reality possesses. The following is a picture of humble poverty and resignation, touching from the ail with which all that is sordid is kept out of sight. "Times grew harder. The poor were exposed to more and more privations. A few.weaveni, unable to obtain sufficient employment to support their fami- lies, emigrated to America, thus linking the interests of the little town with the solitary forests of the far West ' ; but most of them struggled on, hope- less and unsatisfactory as the future appeared, from unwillingness to leave the place where their fathers had lived and where their ashes were laid.
"The Wilsons felt the dulness of the times even more than their neigh- bours. It had always been difficult to provide for the Wants of their large fainily, but now more than ever, from the scarcity of work and the high price of provisions. Illness, too, was never absent from their dwelling. Their second daughter was afflicted with disease of the spine, and constantly confined to bed, while one of the boys was a poor helpless cripple. "They were never heard to complain, however, and few knew the struggle they had to obtain a livelihood. They still managed to preserve a decent appearance in public, and their attendance on ordinances was the same as ever. Poor John Wilson's Sunday coat hung, however, around him in large folds, and his children's faces looked pinched and famine-struck. "Mary's cares and responsibilities increased as years wore on. On her exertions the household principally depended. Her mother was less strong than formerly, and could do little more than wait upon her invalid daughter. Two of the children had got employment as ' herds ' in the neighbourhood of the town, and two, still more advanced, were employed at home in wind- ing the pirns ' for their father and sister, the weavers. Even the poor de- licate cripple, who occupied the child's chair by the fire, was not idle. His mother had taught him to knit stockings, and his white emaciated fingers had attained wonderful proficiency in the art. All but the poor bedridden girl did something for their livelihood. 'Mary's earnings as a weaver were ere long more than her father's. Her exertions to help the family were never ceasing. She was healthy, and had a strong heart and a loving spirit to sustain her; while the poor weaver plodded cheerlessly, though ever silently and patiently, in his daily toil.
"Her parents' weary spirits reposed upon Mary. Her unselfish nature and quiet steady cheerfulness were, indeed, the life and support of the poor struggling household. She had her own sad thoughts, however. Her father and mother advancing in life, and compelled to labour with even more care- fulness than of old for daily bread—her poor delicate sister, whose state re- quired comforts which they had not to bestow—her little brothers and sisters, who eagerly eyed the scanty meals which she dealt among them, and were never satisfied ; all these weighed upon Mary's heart, and drew tears from her eyes in secret. She grieved for them • but she never thought of herself. "And yet her sacrifices were great. She was growing into womEinhood without companions, without interests beyond her own cheerless home. She had no future to look forward to, for how could her family spare her? Her ',oath seemed doomed to wither in the damp dark atmosphere of her father's shop. -She was denied exercise, air, everything that makes existence en- durable to others. From morning till night she was engaged in a constant and depressing kind of labour, save at those brief momenta When she aided her mother to tend the invalid, or when she prepared the meals of the family ; and with all this toil she could only earn a few shillings in the week. That was the disheartening circumstance—to work as she did, and yet only to keep those she loved from actual starvation. "But Mary was not sensible of her sacrifices. To have expressed com- miseration for her situation might have surprised and perplexed her. Her devotion to her relations was simple and involuntary—the impulse of her na- ture. She yielded to it witheut murmuring, and even without conscious- ness. She expected pity as little as she did approval. She would have al- lowed it in the case of her father and mother, her helpless suffering sister, or poor ' cripple Willie,' who was never addressed by the family but with some term expressing sympathy and tenderness, but not in her own. She was strong and healthy, had youth, and hope, and cheerfulness, to sustain her in performing her duty."
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