198 



The Review of Reviews. 



September lUtli, 1876. 



I suppoxr, whni we ai'e brought into the unseen 

 state, we shall find things so different fi'om what we 

 had expected tliat it would seem as if nothing had 

 hitherto been revealed to us : or, more exactly, it 

 will be like our first sensations on personally know- 

 ing a man whom we had known hitherto only by his 

 writings, when we are led to .say that he is so unlike, 

 vet still like, what we anti<'ipated. — (Vol. II., p. 

 r,(;8.) 



IN CONCLUSION. 



Mr. W'iihid Ward has done his work conscien- 

 tiou.slv and well. It was no light task to i:onden.se 

 even into two portly volumes the sublimated es.sence 

 of the voluminous correspondence of a copious 

 letter writer, who went on writing almost till his 

 death. Newman to the twentieth century is almost 

 as remote a figure as Chillingworth. But he was a 

 good man, who was much persecuted by the Church 

 he adored ; and although it is almost inconceivable 

 that a recognition of the truth of other religions 

 should have appeared to him as the Antichrist of 

 our time, there is no danger that any of the present 

 generation will be tempted by this book to share 

 that eccentric delusion. Indeed, as I have already 

 said, the net effect of its perusal is to strengthen 

 our cnn\iction as to the fallibility of those who act 

 and speak in the name of " Holy Church." 



a \oung niissionar\ who has been invalided home 

 from Africa is l:>rought into sympathetic contact with 

 Diana, a lady \oung and wealthy. Diana invites 

 Da\id, the missionarv. to dinner, in order to make 



MRS. BARCLAY'S NOVELS. 



Much attention has lieen attracted by the enormous 

 sale of '■ The Rosarv," 350,000 having 'been sold 

 in two years. Bv some critics this novel has been 

 con<Jemned as being full iif glaring .sentimentalitx . 

 Sentiment has Ijeen well defined as "susceptibility 

 of emotion " ; lacking this quality no book can 

 reach the necessary level of interest to mortals, men 

 or women either, it is a delightful surprise to find 

 a writer command widespread popularitx who, 

 eschewing crime and vice, chooses rather to tell 

 of reverence, courage, love, and .self-denial. Mrs. 

 Barclav posses.ses the qualities which cndearetl 

 Elizabeth W'etherell and Mrs. Craik to a former 

 generation, but she is nevertheless a woman of her 

 own generation. In " I'he Rosarv " the chief action 

 is centred roinid a high-spirited woman, who, not 

 being pretty, has thought love impossible, and with- 

 out love will not marry ; and a brilliant artist, who 

 having learned, as in a lightning flash, her beauty 

 of .soul, desires to marry her. The incidents de- 

 ])icted are not unusual, and vet (here is a .something 

 which vibrates with subdued \ehemence, making the 

 [ilavers live for the reader and the plav to become 

 mor»- ,nnl more enthralling. The teii.se chord of 

 lialt .-.uppres.sed passion elevates and stimulates the 

 reader to a high level of expectancy, enchaining his 

 interest witlvnit break until the authoress sees fit 

 t'l living her story to a close. 



1 h.- author's latest lxK)k, '' TIk- Folli>wing of the 

 Star." opens in a remote H.impshire parish, where 



MRS. BARCL.A.Y. 



Antbor of '' Tlie Rosary." etc. 



an astounding proposal, but her courage fails her, 

 and instead she gets from his simplicity fresh views 

 of what faith in God means to a believer. By a 

 provision in her un<-le's will she must Iwcome j)ennj- 

 less unless she marries within a year of his death. 

 She has never 'met a man whom she can love, and, 

 iiecessitv compelling, she projx)ses a bargain with 

 David. He is going to Africa never to return, ami 

 as his mission station is unfitted for a woman, Diana 

 desires a formal marriage with him on his way to 

 his slilp, she on her ])art promising to helji him in 

 his work out of her abundance. David passes 

 through a mental and spiritual conflict, but in the 

 end consents. The description . of his .struggle is 

 one of the finest passages in the book, only to he 

 matched with that when, after a long absence, Diana 

 discovers that she really loves him. She leavers her 

 home to give help in a hosi)ital, and there one 

 night, standing in ix'r riiom. she listens to the sing 

 iug of a h\mn in a ni.'ighboiiring mission chapel. 

 '• Who can gauge the power of an inspired hymn 

 of jirayer? As the simjjle melody rose and fell, 

 sung by hundreds of belie\ing hearts, Diana became 

 conscious of an un.seen Presence in the midst, over- 

 .shadowing the personalit\ of the miinster, just as 

 in the nobh' mi;minieiit to Phillips Bn-oks outside 



