BEACONSFIELD'S NOVEL.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XVI, Issue 22, 26 January 1881, Page 4

BEACONSFIELD'S NOVEL.

t" Christian World,"] The sensation of the publishing sea- j son— a new cnree-volunoe novel, by the Earl of Benconefield— is now in the n»nds of the public. Naturally enough the book has been looked for with eager interest, end, although, according to the traditions of the trade, it is brought out &6 the usual expensive rate, — a guinea and a-balf for the first three i volumes— 'the publishers have issued a first edition of ten thoaaar-d Copies, and of these Mr Charles Mudie, ever anxious to meet the demands of hie subscribers, has placed no less than three thousand copies in his circulating library. That Lord BeaconeGeld should beguile the leisure of his retirement by literary labors is what might have been ' expected ; be won his early fame as a i brilliant novelist, and during the many years of his political career, end even when the cafes and responsibilities of a Prime Mioiater of England were upon his shoulders, be has never laid aside his literary character and likings. Indeed his enemiEß have often remarked that be regarded the tffaira of State; rather from the point of view of a writer of sensational fiction than from that of a true statesman. Now, bi seventy-five years of age, he has produced & book, which, although marred by some of his characteristic faults and defects, bears testimony to an astonishing vigor and vivacity of intelleot, and which, whatever the critics may say, tbe public will surely read, and rernJ with delighted attentioa. In "EndymioD," Lord Beacotisfield takes us uftei his accustomed manner, into the world of politics and fashion, a world with which, it must be admitted-, he ha'a had ample ppo:tunities of familiarising himself. He indulges^one might almost say, revels, as is his wont, in ornate deecripions of splendidly endowed and splendidly dressed men ami women, and oi their equally splendid drawing-roome and daily eurroundicge, nod he diaiiDguiehes all his favorites by high sounding, and, in many cases, fantastic natneF, such as Endymion, Myro, Imogene, Bercngaria, Zanobia, and so on. He lifts the curtain and allows us to take a peep behiud the Bcenes, at tbe manoeuvring^ anxieties, discussion!, and changeful experiences of the people who are leaders in the world of politics and fashion, and who by humbler mortals are still spoken of, even in these democratic days, as "the great." In fact Lord Beßconefield admits us to tbesociety of — if we may be allowed on expressive vulgarism — the very "tip-top" people, aod permits us to listen to the private conferences, and even sometimes to become acquainted with tbe secret thoughts of the men and women who are commonly supposed to " make history." Not that he goes very profoundly into the matter ; it is not Lord Beaconsfield's '* forte " to analyse motives or to expound principles, fie 13 satisfied, for the most part, to touob upon the surface of things ; and he ib too much an artist to turn a novel into a tbin disguise for a Bet of mere political disquisitions of philosophical theories. Tbe majority of his bearers enjoy his books all tbe better for this, and it ntay afford some of them a harmless ncd ingenious pastime to endeavor to connect the utterances of the different characters of his boobs — utterances by turns sententious, paradoxical, extravagant, smusing, erratic, and eloquent — wiih the views or supposed views of thedistinpuiehed author; but it may be doubted whether the result of the process will be very conclusive. Lord Beaconsfield, whether estimated by his career as a politician or as a man of letters, must alwttye, from tbe characteristics of his temperament and genius, remain a puzzle to his contecnporarieß, and particularly to tbe ordinary Englishman. In "Endymian" Lord Beacomfield has taken again the theme which he has made ; peculiarly his owe — the history of the ; parentage, early We, struggle*, and ; triumphs of a politician. The period ; covered opens with the year 1827, and in the first volume tbe attention of the reader is more occupied by the father and the grandfather of tbe hero, both of them figures of importance in the ! political world, than by the hero himself. We have eketches of the Queen of London Society and of the Tory party, and of many of the people who cast in (heir lot with each political 1 party of the time, Several of these are evidently sketches of well-known personages, although tbe writer hes not hesitated Io uee bia imagination with regard to facts, snd is not afraid of some anßchroniemp. "Wo have lively reports of conversations upon tbe state of public effdr?, in which the expressions of incredulity as to the possibility of a collapse of tke Tory party, and tbe remarks made on the subject of Reform, by the superior people who were shocked at the audacity of the lower orders in presuming to think end to speak for hemselves, are set forth with great vivacity and cleverness. Mingling with tbe political events indicated in \ the narrative there are glimpses of tbe then impending ecclesiastical changes, and there are also touches of persons 1 and domestic life not without power and even pathoß. When Endymidn is thirteen years of ege, bis father, Mr William Pitt Ferrary falls in the crash which overtakes the Wellington Ministry, and ha e to give op the sweets of office, end together with them his splendid establishments in London and Wimbledon, and to retire into the country. Tbe account of tbe life of tbe family in their rural retreat is interesting in many weye, and bos in it also a eadly tragic element. Endymion, at sixteen years of agp, enterß Somerset House 88 a Government clerk, end thence passes on bis way to fame and power. Bat there ie a heroine as well as a hero— Myra, the twin sister of Endymion — and we suspect that most readers will feel a profounder interest in her cbarecterend fortunes even than in those of her brother. She certainly is a creation eminently characteristic of the Bulbor'u peculiar genius. In the loDg run both Endymion and Myra attfiin to more of worldly grandeur than even Myro who wos ambitious, cod believed in the possibility of success, ever ventured to dream of — although by tbe w&j, it strikes us as an anti- climax, \n Lord Befteoriafleld'i

worst manner to present our heroine to us in one cf the la&t scenes, in company with her royal husband—for she became a Queen— Bitting down to a Lord Mayer's banquet! Therfc is a vein of romance its the career of the two leading persousges of the story, end the strbng affection between the brother and sister is described with a touch perhaps of that false sentiment in which Lord Beacoasfield is apt to indulge. Still, the book cannot but be a Buccess, not only because it waß written by its author-, but also because its pages touch, and touch with a light and skilful hand, upon so many subjects — political, religious, social, and pereonal-«-about which moat people are glad to hear the observations and reflections of a cleve^ experienced man of the world.