Literature.

Literature .

REVIEW . The Curates of Miversdale .- Recollections of the Life of a Clergyman . Written by Himself , 3 vols . Hurst & Blackett . Tins is a " Novel" on an entirely novel principle . It bears internal evidence of its being the work of a brother , one , who has

attained considerable eminence in the Craft , who is determined to tell his experience—experience as versatile as it is interesting—to his own probable detriment . On liis very title page , our author astonishes us with a motto , consisting of a favourite saying of the late Duke of Wellington—which ive recollect reading in Samuel Rogers' Table Talk— " I should like to tell the truth ; but if I did ,

I should be torn to pieces , here or abroad . " The Duke held his tongue and died a natural death ; our author preaches , ancl we fear the consequences , as far as lie personally is concerned . The book opens with " The Editor ' s Chapter "—the work seems to have undergone editorial revision—a chapter replete with good humoured banter and playful hints at certain reviewers .

The author , in a confidential tete-a-tete with his editor , gives a bird ' s eye view of his experience , for a quarter of a century , ancl at the same time his reasons for his unwillingness to appear as an author . The following passage from "The Editor ' s Chapter " may give our readers an idea of what we moan : —

"Nay , nay , I am not going to do so foolish a thing as to expose myself , not only to the execration ; but also to tho excruciation oi the world . I adopt the Duke of Wellington ' s sentiment . . , "To the execration . ' to the excruciation of tlie world ! What a cosmopolitan you are aiming to bo ! Pray , sir , what do you mean by the ' execration , ' and ' excruciation' of the world ? " " Why I mean thafc Prussia will find , if I am weak enough to turn author , something in my book for which she would hold me

up to scorn and contempt , if not hold me down , iu case I go there again , somewhere where I would rather not be . Russia may discover something for ivhich she may think me worthy—should I revisit tho land of the Czar—of the knout or Siberia . I can stand neither ; I am too thin-skinned for the former , and too susceptible of cold for the latter . Turkey will no doubt detect much in it for which she might feel herself justified—should I be foolish enough fco fly again to Istamboul—to warm my understanding 1 ivith the agreeable

bastinado , or give me the sack ancl a dip in the Iiosphorus—either of ivhich would not be pleasant . As for the first , I am ticklish to hysterics , besides being left without a sole to stand upon ; as for the second , I cannot swim , besides making it very difficult for mc to bold my head above water . Austria may read something iu my volumes which mi ght dispose her—should Ihe tempted to go again to that beautiful country—to permit me to try the atmosphere of her manifold dungeons and black holes . Prance may extract something irom my innocent performance , which , she may think , bears

her no alternative but to break the alliance between her upright self and perfidious Albion ; and moreover , think that she had at last obtained a pretext for invading England . Jv ' oiv , my dear Dr . Senex , you understand what I mean by the ' execration' and ' excruciation' of the world , you know that I am no respectei- of persons ; I say what I think ; ancl what I say—pardon the slang—I sticks to . " .... "Even so , 1 am as badly oil' as ever ; I shall expose myself to the execration and excruciation of all England

, Protestants and Papists , High Churchmen and Low Churchmen , Baptists and Anabaptists , Independents and Wcsleyans , Tories , and Whigs , Convei'satives and Radicals , smokers and anti-tobacconists , moderate men and total obstainevs—in short , every light dissenter and shady politician , however widely they might differ in other things , would all combine , conspire , and unite , to rise up in judgment against me , and pour contempt upon my diminished little ' head . Doctor

No , no , Senex , I will rather hide that head and not expose it to the venomous shafts and cutting lashes of these individuals . " The book purports to be the autobiography of a certain curate-George Holdswonh by name—of a certain lUversdale ; but the vicissitudes of four curates of Rivcrsdale are distinctly sketched by the writer . If our readers expect a highlwrought-romance

y up , ivith all the appendages of labyrintliian plot , surprising , unimagiiicd , inconceivable , and highly-improbable incident—if they expect tine jingling , bufc meaningless , words—they will be cruelly disappointed . We never read a more matter-of-fact . , a mora

sensible , a more suggestive novel than ' ¦ ihe Curates of Rivcrsdale . This it was which charmed us so much . If ive may judge of tlie character of the author from the style of his work , we should bo inclined to pronounce that he utterly eschews writing cheap fiction for the million—the thoughtless , the giddy , the sentimental . He has manifestly written his book for the other class—the thinking , the sedate , the sober-serious . It is the best Ecclesiastical tale thafc we have ever read . Instead of being dedicated to the Duke of Manchester , it should have been inscribed " to the Upper ancl Lower Houses of Convocation . " The author makes one of his

" curates "—the Rev . Benedict Montleone , a scion of a noble Judms-Spanish family , a sort of " Sidonia , " in holy orders—as well as the late far-famed Neander , another Hebrew , analyse , criticise , expose , and denounce , with a most unsparing hand , the faults and blemishes which disfigure our ecclesiastical system . "We hesitate nofc in affirming that it is the very best conceived and the very best begotten novel of the season and of the time . There is not a

chapter ivhich can be dispensed ivith , so replete ivith interest do ive consider the book . "We were very iiuicli struck with the equal number of good , bad , ancl indifferent characters in the book . The author seems to

delight in holding up his great characters for the admiration and imitation of his readers , as he does tho others for their reprobation and avoidance . Thus , for instance , whilst he sternly impales a few Hibernian clerics in England , he speaks in the following terms of them iu their native land -. — " I found the Ivisli clergy , as a body , at homo iu Ireland , learned , pious , self-denying , hard-working Christiaii pastors" ( vol . ii ., p . 2 GS ) . The following , without endorsing all his sentiments , wo pick out as worthy of great consideration : —

" Volume upon volume might bo published on the new scenes and experiences which were thus forced upon my observation . I have seen and heard things in connection with pious frauds which , harrowed up my soul , freezed my Wood , made my eyes start from their spheres , and each particular hair to stand on end—I have heard and witnessed abuses in Church patronage wtiieli made tho money-changers and the cattle-vendors iu . Jerusalem's Temple honest men , in comparison with the modern traders and brokers in .

the dock of Gocl anil the souls of men . "I have heard of and seen , on the other hand , piety ancl devotion , self-denial , goodness , justice , and mercy faith , hope , and charity , which would stand comparison with the holy deeds which distinguished ' the goodly fellowship of the Prophet : ; , the glorious company of the Apostles , and the noble army of Martyrs . ' But ail this must remain , for a while afc least , amongst the records of my private archives . "I shall just state at present , the sum and substance of my experience and conviction with vei ' evence to one . particular . The most useless , and perhaps the most injurious sections of the Church , aro

the extremes of hig h and low . 1 am led to su-ncet the spiritual sanity of that clerical mind which thinks that a man cannot ; be an evangelical preacher of the Gospel , who does not hold forth in a , black gown , and who has daily service according to the Boole of Common Prayer . On the other hand , I cannot help believing that the clerical mind , which insists that prayers should Vic intoned or monotoned by the minister , and the psalms chanted by the choristers in long cassocks . I say I cannot help believing that such a clerical

mind is verging on imbecility I say again , both those extremes are not only useless , as far as practical purposes are concerned , as regards teaching the ignorant masse- ; , hut positively injurious to the I ' . eal of the church . The extreme low Evangelicals allow their zeal to boil over in exasperated speeches on platforms , and angry polemical sermons in pulpits ; whilst the extreme high Tractnvian lets his fervour evaporate in nasal whining and chanting of the prayers and praises due to the Ahni-rhty , iu very indifferent

theatrical style . In neither case do the spiritually blind and ileal ' receive their sight and hearing . In neither case have the pom- the gospel preached to them . Neverthclese , there are yz- 'od and conscientious men in both the above extremes . ' ' We cannot make many extracts from the work under review , as wo are at a loss which to choose . We agree in- tolo in tbe following remarks of a contemporary * ¦ . — "' The Curates of Rivcrsdale' is evidently the work of a man of very great experience and of considerable ability . Wc do not