CRISPIN KEN*.
OF all the different varieties of fiction which the ingenuity of man has hitherto succeeded in inventing; that which is commonly known as "the religious novel" is to our thinking, at once the least credit.. able to the author and the least profitable to the reader. This con- venient and compendious term is generally employed to denote those works in which an attempt is made to employ the ordinary machinery of a novel as a means of holdiug up to ridicule, or to more serious reprobation, that particular set of religious opinions which may happen to be distasteful to the writer. The principal characteristics which, as a general rule, are common to all members of this class, are virulence and one-sidedness ; 'polities which are as little ad- mirable in a novelist as they are in a theologian. The book now before us is a remarkably well-developed specimen of the religions novel, and its perusal has certainly done nothing towards modifying in any degree our opinion of the class to which it belongs. Those who are acquainted with the former production of the same author will not require to be told that the particular form of religious belief which he has selected as the object of his attack, is that which is- commonly known by the name of Evangelical or Low Church. These tenets appear to be our author's favourite aversion; and, as he is not one of those who think it advisable, under any circum- stances, to conceal his feelings, it is no matter for surprise to find in Crispin Ken the class-characteristics to which we have already alluded developed to an unusual degree. The book has, more- over, certain peculiarities of its own which give it a distinctive character, and to which it is worth while briefly to direct the reader's. attention. Foremost among these is, we cannot say the improba- bility, but the utter and absolute impossibility, of the story. A very brief recapitulation of the principal features of the plot will suffice to show that our opinion on this point, strong as it is, is fully justified by the facts. Reuben Ken, the father of Crispin, is a poor curate in the north of England; who is literally starved to death on a miserable stipend of 601. a year. He has originally a wholesome leaning towards High Church views ; but, being a man of a weak mind, and labouring under the mistaken impression that conciliation is a Chris- tian duty, he makes so many concessions to the Dissenters in his parish that he destroys his own authority without gaining in the slightest degree the good-will or respect of his opponents. Such is, in our author's opinion, the invariable consequence of a policy of conciliation in religious matters ; and, in order to give his views on this point a semblance of impartiality, he adopts the not very honest expedient of putting them into the mouth of a dissenting pawn- broker, who has a turn for preaching, and is a very formidable rival to Reuben Ken. Crispin, who succeeds his fattier, adopts a precisely opposite principle of action, and thereby, as a matter of course, de- prives the pawnbroker of the whole of his congregation. The chief interest of the story, however, centres, not in its nominal hero, but in its first villain, who is a very remarkable person indeed. He is. the squire of Reuben Ken's parish, and rejoices in the extraordinary name of Ruy Lyle. At the death of his father, who was a city man, he inherited a considerable sum of money, by the aid of which he found no difficulty in assuming the position of "the head and hope" of the evangelical world. At the same time he had a strong taste for betting and horse-racing, the indulgence of which he contrived to combine with the discharge of his religions duties in a remarkably ingenious manner. He used to go down to Epsom with his pocket full of tracts, which he distributed to the people on the course, until, watching his opportunity, he suddenly assumed some mysterious disguise which he had at hand, slipped into the ring, and proceeded to transact the serious business of the day. So matters went on until Voltigeur's year, when Ruy Lyle, who had laid the odds against that horse to any amount, found himself a ruined man. Having, however, some time previously married the daughter of a very wealthy man, he, with great presence of mind, at once ordered her to poison her father; a command which the poor woman, to the best of her ability, • Crispin Ken. By the Author of "Miriam May.' Two volumes, London: Saun- ders, Otley, end Co. as a single man. His reputation for sanctity, coupled with a pe-
culiar way which he had about him, gave him an influence which pelling them to answer his thoughts without taking the trouble of putting them into words. This great man cast an eye of favour upon Crispin Ken's sister, and proceeoled in the most artistic manner to poison a neighbouring clergyman to whom she was already en- gaged. The consummation of this design was, however, prevented by Lyle's wife, who, with her idiot son, had settled in the same ing his son rather in his way, got rid of him by pushing him into a mill-race, where he was effectually drowned. This act was, unfortu- nately, witnessed by Crispin Ken, owing to whose testimony the inquest on the child's body terminated in a verdict of wilful murder PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.
and children. On more than one occasion the travellers were brought revelation may excite surprise in certain quarters, he is quite pre- into unpleasantly close proximity with the stern realities of war. It pared to admit ; but he distinctly asserts that the character is drawn was only a very short time after their visit to Damascus that the mas- from the life, and observes that " as the Evangelical platform happens sacre of Christians occurred in that city, in which the Dutch Consul to have supplied the matter, it cannot object to its application." He was killed, and the American Consul wounded. When they arrived attaches so much importance to this statement, that lie has seen fit at Tyre, they found that war had actually broken out. An attack on to repeat it in a paragraph which he has appended to the advertise- the town by the Druses was momentarily expected : the house of the meat of his work in the leading literary journals of the day. We English Consul had been put into a state of defence, and was strongly have no special interest either in the Evangelical or in any other garrisoned by the Christian inhabitants ; and the women and children, party in the Church ; but every lover of justice and fair play has a together with as much valuable property as couldbe moved on so short right to call upon the author of Crispin Ken to substantiate his a notice, were placed in small boats, and anchored behind the yacht. charges by some evidence more definite and tangible than his own At the request of the Consul, the yacht took up a position from which vague and unsupported assertion. Until he dces this no amount of her guns could command the isthmus at the entrance of the town ; and it was probably owing to the fear inspired by her presence that mere iteration, However creditable it may be to his audacity and con- the threatened attack was finally averted. It does not often happen sistency, can in any way affect our belief as to the fact. We may that the ordinary course of a summer's voyage is broken into and en- further observe that, even granting, for the sake of argument, the livened by incidents of so stirring a nature. Mrs. Harvey's narrative possibility that at some time or other there may have been among the of these events, as well as her account of the numerous places of note leaders of the Evangelical party as great a villain as Ruy Lyle, it is which she visited, is straightforward, unaffected, and remarkably free grossly unfair to draw a general conclusion as to the character of from feminine exaggeration ; and we have great pleasure in heartily the party from a single exceptional instance. This consideration is recommending her book to all who take an interest in the scenes which so obvious, that we are almost ashamed to mention it ; but, never- it describes.
theless, it does not appear to have suggested itself to the mind of our In-Door Plants, and How to Grow them. By E. A. Maling. London :
author. Smith, Elder, and Co.—The object of this very compact and useful
are compelled to reside in town, .to gratify their favourite propensity Crispin Ken, which is scarcely less remarkable than its matter. Oar in the most effectual and economical manner. Its author is thoroughly author's former production was, in a literary point of view, princi- master of his subject; and, being aware that it is necessary in many pally notable for the extraordinary affectation of its style ; and the cases not only to prescribe what should be done, but also to give di- same peculiarity is abundantly perceptible in the present work. His rections how to do it, he imparts the most minute instruction on object appears to be to produce, at any cost, what lie considers to be every conceivable point of detail connected with in-door floriculture. a novel and startling. effect ; and consequently, however simple what Any lady who possesses his work, however inexperienced she may be he has to say may be, he takes infinite pains to say it in a singular ih the management of flowers, may, at a very moderate outlay of time and unusual manner. Most of his characters have names whith, to and money, ensure a constant supply of these most beautiful and ef- say the least, are very rarely met with in real life. Besides Ruy festive ornaments for a drawing-room, and at the same time provide Lyle, to whom we have already alluded, there is Crispin's sister, whose herself with a pleasant and profitable employment for her leisure name is Mona ; his mother, whose maiden name was Edith Dane ; and hours. his wife, Ivy Thane, who, we are told, "had ever been beautiful a .Philo-Socrates. Part II. Among the Boys. By William Ellis, Author of " Religion in Common Life," &c. London : Smith, Elder, great way beyond what is often seen." We will give two or three and Co.—The object of this publication is, Mr. Ellis tells, us,
samples, selected selected quite at random, of our author's general style. Of vestigate subjects which, there is reason to believe, would have in- Reuben Ken's father, we are told "that from that day till he died, terested Socrates, in a manner that he would not disapprove were he Richard Ken talked in no wise for forty and five minutes to any other among us now, gifted with the knowledge, and familiar with the habits than to the man of loans." A neighbour gave Reuben Ken a cow and doings, of our times." If Mr. Ellis means to exhaust the whole which, it was supposed, had ceased to yield any milk ; "but these range of subjects indicated by this rather extensive programme, he veterinary and friendly calculations were in the end at fault, and so has got his work cut out for him for some time to come ; for we can it turned out that no dry beast was the gift cow." Sometimes our finite imagine that Socrates, were he now alive, would be interested author's grammar is seriously at fault. Thus, he tells us that "ever in every science at present existing, from pin-making to pnli- after this, one of those who Richard Ken gave up to his whole bate tical economy. The objects in which he is supposed to take an in- was on the present occasion belong to the latter, rather than to the Caleb Dane ;" and again, "after all, he was a friend who my
father trusted." Elsewhere he gives the accusative case its full re- bu • , Interchange, Weights and Measures, Money, and Price. As
verge, by stating that "what went against her to feel was that, had re the method employed by Mr. Ellis, it is Socratic so far as it it been him, she must almost have stopped." Once more: "But it proceeds by question and answer ; but it differs essentially from its well may be, that the agony, which has never seemed to suffer, whilst model in being calculated and designed to elicit, not the ignorance but the smile has beamed its ever love, as the coverlet must go to get the knowledge, of the party questioned. Mr. Ellis's interlocutors a crust, has never yet been told." Our author's punctuation is so would, we are inclined to think, be much tougher customers than the extraordinary throughout the whole book, that we can only account remarkably accommodating gentlemen with whom Socrates had to for it by supposing that he arranges it according to some private sys- deal. Take, for instance, the following specimen, selected quite at tem of his own. At all events we are quite unable to explain on any random: " P. The prevailing rate of interest being given, can we other supposition the profusion of commas in the following sentence : estimate the portion of profit attributable to the personal qualities of the administrator of capital? B. If we subtract the interest on "The sensualist, who likes everything comfortable, and well ground
the capital employed from the total pro the remainder may be taken down to the corner, of what he believes to be the religion to which to represent the remuneration of administrative capacity in conjunc- he clings, thinks it ever so great, a pity that, clergymen do not do tion with the advantages of an acquired position." A boy who can such things, as will enable them to get a bit of meat at less rare in- give off-hand such an answer as this has not much to learn from his tervals "; or for the semicolon in this passage : "Jasper Lyle, who be- teacher. Mr. Ellis has fallen into the error of supposing that the lieved nothing in Him to whom we build up churches, never ; went Socratic method consists simply in putting the knowledge possessed, to church." We will conclude with one more extract which reminds and designed to be imparted, by the master, into the mouth of the us of nothing so much as the well-known speech of one of the LL.'s pupil.
at the Le-vee of the Hon. Elijah Pograin A Guide to the Isle of Man. By the Rev. Joseph Cumming, M.A.,
" Oh days, hours, minutes, what will be their measure, what their span, in F.G.S. The East Coast of EnglanA from the Thames to the Tweed. By the balance of the agonies that shall fret the coil you yet shall step on? Atoms Mackenzie C. E. Waloott, M.A. London : Stanford.—These two as they shall be, when you take their reckoning in the past, hold them when you volumes constitute a valuable addition to the very useful series of can; believe in them, before your shrivelling faith shall see in every loveliness a guide-books already published by Mr. Stanford. The first is precisely lie. And when it seems you can, take thought that what you grasp, or better similar, bath in outward form and in the =Wel:gent of its contents,
forthwith obeyed. He rewarded her ready compliance by imme- said, that what you think you grasp, has no more substance than the pictures of diately turning her out of doors, and shortly afterwards purchased Reuben Ken's parish, and established himself there sleep, or the night mists of summer. And when it seems you can, the ' when' a large estate in shall be the' lie' its mockery the life.' Ever' shall be the dream—the waking 'never.
Such is the novel which we are assured, on the authority of a con- none could explain and none could resist. People could hear his temporary, is the general subject of conversation at the present day. footsteps when he was half a mile away, and he had a faculty of com- It is quite clear that no appreciable portion of whatever notoriety it may enjoy can be attributed to its literary merits ; and we cannot but think that, had it not been for the controversy attending the appear- ance of its predecessor, Miriam May, that work would soon have been forgotten, and its successor would never have seen the light. However this may be, we can only regret that our author has so completely disqualified himself for deserving the same praise which village, in the humble capacity of a mad beggar. At last Ray, find- he accords to John Wycherley, who, we are told, " did not talk at all the average of nonsense, whilst he never set up for a satirist."
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