An Old Man's Love. By Anthony Trollope. 2 vols. (Blackwood
and Sons.)—This is the last complete novel of the author,—the Land Leaguers, reviewed some time ago in these columns, having been left unfinished. It is certainly much better than the Land Leaguers, though it is scarcely in Mr. Trollope's best manner. The plot may easily be described. Mr. Whittlestaff, a man of fifty, but old for his years, offers a home to Mary Lawrie, a young lady of something more than twenty, daughter to a deceased friend and neighbour. We may say in passing, that the arrangement seems hardly suitable to the rules of society. Mr. Whittlestaff's housekeeper was not more than a servant, and could not be looked upon as a chaperone. Both have had their troubles in love, the gentleman having been shamefully thrown over in his youth, the lady having had a lover who was sent away on account of his poverty, and who disappeared. Mr. Whittle- staff offers marriage to Miss Lawrie, out of love, and Miss Lawrie accepts him out of gratitude. And then, of course, the old lover, John Gordon by name, appears ; and the rest of the story deals with the question, " Will the old lover give way-to the new ?" This is worked out, it seems to us, with a great deal of skill. John Whittlestaff is not heroic in a sentimental fashion. He does not surrender his claims with dignity and grace. He is, on the contrary, terribly ill-tempered and rude about it. Yet he has the root of the matter in him, and is heroic in his way. He deserves to rank with the best of Mr. Trollope's portraits. Mary Lawrie does not interest us so much. We cannot compare her with the figure which made " The Small House at Allington " so agreeable a dwelling. Of minor sketches, the curate who makes so amusing a display of his satisfaction in being engaged, is good ; his young, lady is, and doubtless is meant to be, somewhat vulgar. The novel does not suffer from being shorter than the average.
Previous page
