LITERARY NOTICES

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 12, 19 December 1862, Page 3

LITERARY NOTICES

(From SmitJi, JElderand Co.'s Monthly Circular 1 ) Oliver Blake's Good Work : A Novel. By John Cordy Jcaffreson, Author of "A Book about Doctors."

A Story of the present clay, very cleverly managed by extracts from the diaries of three different persons. The approaching denoument includes the following passage in an interview between Lord Byfield and his wife, and a little attention to its drift will let the i reader into the secret of the story. Lord Byetield stutters in his speech, it will be observed, and his wife (Olive Blake)— thougl/ she no longer claims the title, having dii* covered the facts connected with a previous marriage— has suddenly visited him to coiipleteher "good work" — the restoration 50 honor of his first victim : — ; ; " I wished to speak to you about Etty Tree, Iprd Byfield," I said. . / " A — ay, a— ay ? " lie exclaimed, looking tf me with a startled expression. , I was silent. q ■ '/ H — have y — you hoard anything of her? *' Don't you mean have you found her ? " ' < ' S— surely,— c— exactly. T — that i— ifwhat I mean." / "I want to know, Lord Byefild, if #o«can tell me anything of her." ! ~ "I — It — told you, years since, Lad/ Byileld, that I know nothing of her." " Lord Byfield, if it were possible pt you to speak to my question, -without falsehood or evasion, you would say,— "Three days aCer she disturbed you in Grosvenor Square, I 'caused Sir Charles "Norton to sign an order, couraittins: her to confinement as a lunatic in ' Be.le-Vuc,' Dr. Hankinson's asylum, in Berkshire-Dr. Atkins and Dr. Teesdale being induced bymy misrepresentations to sign a certificate of lor mental insanity. I sent her to Belle-Vue/ and there she has been ever since, Dr. Hankiruon having received from me £400 per annum fir keeping her a prisoner. And there she is prisoner at this time.' " » \V_ho t— told you this ? " Stammered Lord Byfield. " Never mind, my Lord," I aiswered, " where I acquired my information. If ydi had made me tLo ansxver I have just now hypotietically placed in your lips, the statement wou.u have been erroneous in one respect." He started up again, and igain sank back into his chair. . " Etty Tree is not in confinement in JLselleYue." / A deadly pallor came overhis face. " Ettry Tree," I continued, speaking very slowly "has not seen tho inside cf Bclle-Vue for nearly eight years. «W— what?" " Ay, ray lord, won't ym prosecute Dr. TTankinson for taking your £<100 per annum and playing you false? Etty Tree hss been my guest at Fulham for more than j£ven years and eleven months." " Gr — go o—on0 — on ; th— that's not all." " No, it is not all. I will go on ; but first I must take you back many yaars, to the time when my dear father was alive." (We omit this statement of Byfield's past life, and of the manner in which he had falsified the register of the first marriage ; the narrator continues.) — As I came to a pause, the man rose, shaking in every limb, and the lips of his bloodless face having scarce power enough to obey his will. " W— hat w— witn— ness h — have y— you t— to th — this m — mad st — story ? " he could just stammer out. "Sit down," I said, quietly, "and I will tell y ou >" He sat down obediently; watching me intently, as if he wished to see the words, as they come from my lips. *'•' You may well ask for my evidence, Lord Byfield," I continued. " Mr. llobavt, the Clergyman, is dead. The woman who signed her name Annie Walker is dead. Sir George "Watchitis dead. Your victim Etty,is mad, — proved mad by the certificate of two most honorable physicians. You want my evidence. "Why, man isn't the fact of my telling you the secret of your life's crime sufllceint evidence against you ? Is not the fact of your anxiety to confine Annette for life, as a lunatic sufficient evidence against you? Why need I tell you that wearing apparel marked with your victim's name, and left for nigh fifteen years in the " Warwick Arms,' "is evidence against you ? That your glove dropped in church during the ceremony, is evidence- against you? That the best 'experts' of London are ready to swear that Arthur Feversharn of the register is in your handwriting, and to be evidence againt you ? That the maid of the 'Warwick Arms ' remembers you, and remembers Your victim also? That witnesses are ready to come from Monaco, and give evidence against you ? Do you want more evidence ? It would weary me to tell you all the evidence I have against you. Let me- finish. Etty, your wronged wife (and no mad girl) is evidence aga hist you, ready to appeal to the laws for protection and justice. I (the victim of you, who are the vulgar criminal, a bigamist) am evidence agaist you. The Clerk of St.Dunstan's Church is evidence against you. Mr. Castleton took him to the soiree of the lloyal Society a few evenings since. You spoke to Mr. Castleton yourself. The man walking with him as you did so was the clerk of St. Dunstan's taken to that assembly for the express purpose of identifying you — as a felon, liable to the punishment of transportation for life. Lord Byfield, no man (however rich and powerful he may be) should play the rogue, who has such a brand as you on your upper lip, and such a scar as you have on the back of your neck ! " I ceased, — rising as I brought this last scornful speech to a conclusion. The man, too, also arose, shaking convulsively in every limb. In another instant he was grovelling at my feet, and plucking at the skirts of my dress, aud imploring for mercy #

The circumstances hinted at in this dia logue are worked out in the story with, dramatic effect, and often with much power. The story is by far more attractive than the opening chapters would lead the reader to expect.