Windsor-both so picturesque in themselves, and both so surpassingly rich in historical recollections. The one object is accomplished—the other is on the eve of commencement. The project of the "Tower" brought together author and artist-Ainsworth and Cruikshank-in partnership, on equal terms, and on their own responsibility. Considerations, however, connected with publication, led to an arrangement with Bentley, who, taking to himself a third of the profits, and no risk, was appointed to publish the work in monthly parts. By this he realized some six or seven hundred pounds; but it is now out of his hands. It is still as popular as ever, as it must long remain. "Desirous," says Mr. Ainsworth, "of exhibiting the Tower in its triple light of a palace, a prison, and a fortress, the author has shaped his story with reference to that end; and he has also contrived such a series of incidents as should naturally introduce every relic of the old pile-its towers, chapels, halls, chambers, gateways, arches, and draw-bridges-so that no part of it should remain unillustrated." It is curious to observe how this purpose is worked out in entire consistency with an unbroken and uninterrupted narrative. With every necessity imposed upon the historian for going out of his way, in order to realize previously resolved upon effects, there is no appearance of his ever doing so; and indeed, the scene being circumscribed and the locality fixed, there is in this work fewer abrupt turns and changes than in the majority of its predecessors. The historical events chosen for illustration are happily suited for the design: they admit of every variety of agency, and embrace an enormous field in a small space;-they involve the throne and the block, the siege and the stake, the secret plot and the fiery storm of revolt ;—“ the mad battle and the ghastly grave." They comprise the cold insidious foreign bigot, wily as a serpent, and the hot-gospeller, frantic in his fanaticism; the haughty daring noble and the brutal gaoler; the courtly knight and the headsman, a goodly company with an infinite train of "dwarf-and-giant auxiliaries." The characters are extremely numerous; but they are not more skilfully grouped than they are artfully discriminated. Two of them seem to us of first-rate rank in that grand human gallery to which this author has now contributed several noble portraitures; these are, Mary the queen, and the subtle Spaniard, Simon Renard. But the whole space allotted to this memoir would not be too wide a limit for a comprehensive review of the characteristics of this admirable romance. One remark may be allowed. Mr. Ainsworth, in his introductory observations, says, "Opposite the matchless White Tower-William of Orange by the side of William the Conqueror-is that frightful architectural abomination, the grand Store-House. It may not be impossible to remove this ugly and incongruous structure." Not long after this was written, the abused building was burnt down. Should not cant or prejudice, when it traces robberies to novels, have traced the conflagration to this romance! In the first week of 1841, Old Saint Paul's was commenced. The proprietors of the Sunday Times newspaper had proposed to Mr. Ainsworth to write a romance to be published in their journal weekly throughout the year, for which they very liberally offered 1000l. This was a new feature in newspaper management and romance-writing. The offer was accepted: the tale appeared in successive numbers, and at the close of the year (the copyright reverting to Mr. Ainsworth) it was re-issued in three handsome volumes, lavishly illustrated by Franklin. A large edition was disposed of. This work, "a tale of the plague and the fire," abounds, as this explanation denotes, in the terrible and the sublime. The time extends from April, 1665, to September, in the following year, embracing the two most fearful and fatal calamities that ever London was visited with. With what grasping power Mr. Ainsworth has seized upon the prominent points arising out of these scenes of devastation and dismay, those best may judge who can most vividly recall past examples of his art in stirring men's blood and lifting the imagination to a point of horror; but they may not so readily surmise with what a gentle and reconciling humanity he has detained us amidst what was loathsome, to exhibit to us, as it were the lily in the charnel house; and carried us through the pestilence and the flame, to vindicate the severity of human trials, to inculcate salutary lessons of exertion and endurance, and track the course of faith, and courage, and happiness, through all. From the insupportable and unredeemed ghastliness of Defoe's astonishing narrative, we turn to this peopled story, and discover a vitality amidst the shadows of death, and hope stealing silently on through the desolation and the ruin. Mr. Ainsworth's engagement, as editor of "Bentley's Miscellany," terminated with the year 1841, and, in February of the present year, appeared the first number of "Ainsworth's Magazine," a journal of romance, literature, and art. Its success, measured by the sale of the first volume, now completed, surpasses, it is said, by many degrees, that of any similar periodical that ever made its appearance. Its editor had surrounded himself by many able writers, but his reliance, perhaps, was upon a new tale from his own penThe Miser's Daughter. Though scarcely half finished, public opinion seems to have set its seal upon this fine-toned and charmingly-coloured story, as "the favourite and the flower." Of this work, Cruikshank is the illustrator; but Mr. Ainsworth, it seems, purposes to keep the imagination of a second artist employed, for in July he opens, in his Magazine, a new tale, entitled "Windsor Castle," for which the celebrated Tony Johannot is to furnish steel engravings, and Alfred Delamotte, woodcuts. Here draw we to a close, with the observation, that should these new romances, now in a state of progress, share the good fortune of their predecessors, they will not only be extensively read, but dramas will be founded upon them in this country; the Paris press will give them a new shape; America will spread them over her surface; the German translator will ensure them a wide circulation in that land of the mysteries; and even the Dutch, as in the case of Rookwood and Crichton, will mark them for their own. There is one event of a domestic nature that should be mentioned in a more saddened tone at the close. On the 15th of March, in the present year, it was Mr. Ainsworth's affliction to lose his surviving parent-the revered mother, who had taken pride in his rising fame, and had found joy in his constant affection. A beautiful monumental tribute to both parents has just been erected in the cemetery at Kensal Green. What have we to add to what we have here ventured to record, which the engraving that accompanies this memoir will not more happily embody? Should that fail to do justice to his face--to its regularity and delicacy of feature, its manly glow of health, and the cordial nature that lightens it up, we must refer the dissatisfied beholder to Mr. Pickersgill's masterly full-length portrait, exhibited last year; in which the author of The Miser's Daughter may be seen, not as some pale, worn, pining scholar-some fagging, half exhausted, periodical romancer-but as an English gentleman, of goodly stature and well-set limb, with a fine head on his shoulders, and a heart to match. If to this we add a word, it must be to observe, that though the temper of our popular author may be marked by impatience on some occasions, it has never been upon any occasion marked by a want of generosity, whether in conferring benefits, or atoning for errors. His friends regard him as a man with as few failings, blended with fine qualities, as most people; and his enemies know nothing at all about him. He is liberal towards his contemporaries, and quick to feel a kindness rendered to himself. He writes rapidly, and finds leisure, we are told, for a full portion of social enjoyment and relaxation; so that at Kensal manor-house hospitality is a virtue that is always at home. KENSAL MANOR HOUSE, THE RESIDENCE OF THE AUTHOR OF "ROCKWOOD, Amongst the possessions which Mr. Ainsworth has more recently inherited, is the charming residence at Beech-bill, where, as above stated, his early years were passed. To that house, with which all his younger and pleasanter recollections are connected, he meditates, we believe, a return in mature life. But the metropolis and its neighbourhood, the pursuit of fame, and the fields in which he has gathered up many golden sheaves, will long detain him thence the delay only tending to enrich his memories, and double the sweetness of a late retirement. And when that late day shall come, and the home of his childhood shall again be his, may he find the end like the beginning-with its "vision splendid" turned to a reality. AINSWORTH'S MAGAZINE. JULY, 1842. Contents. THE MISER'S DAUGHTER: A TALE. BY THE EDITOR BOOK THE SECOND. Chapter I. A man-of-the-world's advice on a matter of the heart.-The Visit to PAGE 3 AN ARISTOCRATIC DINNER-PARTY IN NEW YORK. BY UNCLE SAM 14 THE SIEGE OF RADICOFANI: A LEGEND OF THE WARS OF THE GUELPHS AND THE GHIBELLINES. BY CHARLES HERVEY THAT'S NEAR ENOUGH! BY LAMAN BLANCHARD THE OLD FAMILY PLACE. BY THE HON. MRS. NORTON. IN THREE A VISIT TO THE CITY OF THE KHALIFS. BY W. FRANCIS AINS- A FAREWELL. BY EDWARD KENEALY, ESQ. A PAPER ON PUFFING. THE SONGS OF ITALY. NO. II. BY EDWARD KENEALY, ESQ. MARY STUART. BY LOUISA STUART COSTELLO MARY O'BRIEN: A TALE. BY LADY HARRIETTE D'ORSAY. ALICE CONNOR OUR QUEEN. BY M. Y. W. EPIGRAM. BY AMICUS A BENGAL YARN. BY CAPTAIN MEDWIN THE LADY'S PAGE: 1. THE NOBLE BROTHERS. BY MISS ELIZA SKELTON PART I. II. SHE THOUGHT OF HIM-AND WEPT! BY LADY HARRIETTE 64 65 IV. POPULAR SONG IN THE BOURBONNAIS. BY LOUISA STUART COSTELLO V. SUNSET AT CAPRI. BY THE HON. JULIA AUGUSTA MAYNARD 66 67 THE RUSSIAN PRINCE: A TALE OF OXFORD. BY LUNETTE. PART II. 73 75 WINDSOR CASTLE: AN HISTORICAL ROMANCE. BY THE EDITOR. I. Of the Earl of Surrey's solitary ramble in the Home Park ;-of the vision II. Of Bryan Bowntance, the host of the Garter;-of the Duke of Shoreditch ;- To Correspondents. AN additional quantity of THE MISER'S DAUGHTER will appear next month. Circumstances have compelled us to give less than we intended in the present number. WINDSOR CASTLE will be continued next month. By a mistake, a beautiful lyric, which ought to have concluded the present part of the " Songs of Italy," has been omitted. As the article terminates abruptly in its present form, it is due to Mr. Kenealy to give the above explanation. Zeta's proposal has been received, and is declined. We repeat, we cannot undertake to publish long continuous stories. Ada's last communication has been received. We shall be glad to hear from her again, and in reference to the questions asked. "The Antiquary," we hope, in our next. We shall be happy to comply as far as possible with the wishes of W. H. We can only offer our best wishes to the very young poet in Bristol. To a flattering inquiry relative to " Crichton," we have to reply that the work has not been "continued;" but there is an intention of carrying the hero into Italy. Our thanks to C. P. for his suggestions; the omission will be supplied. His hint respecting "piracy" is a mistake. The poem was received from the author, one of the most accomplished men of the age, by whom the additional verses were written. We shall be happy to see the tale from the German, promised by E. L. Gratified as we have been by the perusal of the "Indian Chiefs," we cannot advise the publication contemplated. It is at the publisher's. Declined with thanks-The Exile's Farewell, &c.-J. L. L.-J. E. C.-R.W. -the able translation by "Hotspur”-Polin-W. B.—W. M. R.—J. B.—C. C. H. We regret that the length of the translation from A. F. B. wholly precludes our acceptance of it. Communications are at our publisher's for H. E. (“The Papers from Italy," &c.) -C. O. (“Fables")—the authors of The Voyage of Discovery-The GrumblerPoeta nascitur non fit, and Mabel Leland-On the Political Economy of Editors, &c. The Gibraltar Sunrise-Titus Tittlebat-D. A.-Charles Horace W. (the paper, clever as it is, is not available)-Philogenos-The Cat of Distinction-The Alchymist-Dress of our Forefathers. If our Lady's Page were not so circumscribed, it would afford us great pleasure to give "An Irish Girl," who writes so prettily, a place in it for the stanzas entitled "A Poet's Life." We bid her, however, not be discouraged, but try her hand again. We omitted to thank T. A. L., for his complimentary verses on the subject of the "Miser's Daughter," in our last. We were guilty, also, of a similar omission towards the author of the "Humble Ballad by Father Peter." The writer of the latter caustic and clever effusion will perceive that we do not continue the subject, and will scarcely need to be informed why. He has our best thanks nevertheless. Thanks, though we cannot insert it, for the translation of Catullus's Song to Lesbia, which we received from Balliol College, Oxford. The translator is right. The old Roman seemed to enjoy a privilege not to be obtained in the capitalnamely, "Busses without numbers.” We have reserved several communications for consideration-not so much of their merits, as of our space. All correspondents who are not herein answered, will be pleased to understand that we are endeavouring to meet their wishes, and will decide at the earliest moment. The cancel sheet of the first page of the first volume may be had on application to the Publisher. |