“C. has sent me
‘The
Engagement,’ which engaged me too much
yesterday, being but a heathenish employment for Sunday. Two hundred and fifty
pages ought not to warrant an opinion; but I own the first two hundred gave me
no notion of a perform-
| 148 | R. PLUMER WARD. |
“Then I missed originality; and though Horatia promised to be charming, I felt a want of striking character in the persons introduced.
“Then I was astonished with certain strange phrases, such as the ‘folds of one’s thoughts,’ ‘a long line’s nobility,’ and ‘a rich one’s affluence.’ The very first sentence startled me, when I found that, on a door softly opening, a young and graceful form, instead of entering, tenanted a room. I feared the announcement of affectation of style, which, with me, kills the best performance in other respects.
“Shall I own, too (I am willing to believe it my own
fault), that I find the phraseology often obscure, and that I cannot easily
tell what the author is at in his characters. I do not yet understand why
Lady Mornington, with all her
loftiness, should, when her
| R. PLUMER WARD. | 149 |
“You will say that it is quite unfair to judge by two hundred and fifty pages, and I quite agree, on the question of general merits; but still I think the mere harbingers of a story, and particularly if they are to become the actors of it, ought to be introduced with some impression. Here, also, they are commended to us principally by what the author says of them, not what they say themselves. Witness Miss Belleisle; always confining myself to my first two hundred and fifty pages, which, however, is a very great proportion of the first volume.
“You will laugh at me if I add my discontent even at
the uncouth title of the hero. Where the deuce was there ever an Earl
of Haslingham, much less one whose dreams were haunted by a
child six years old? I own, however, and am glad to do so, that his character
begins to open a considerable
| 150 | R. PLUMER WARD. |
“Now, before you propose to cut my throat for all this, ‘consider,’ as Tinsel says, ‘I am but a coxcomb,’ and, like a coxcomb, am hazarding a plunge without having learned to swim. I certainly confess myself rash, and even unjust, by venturing to say so much, with so very little knowledge of what is to come. I shall, therefore, have the greatest pleasure hereafter in making an ample amende; particularly if Haslingham (still confound the name!) realises the expectation founded upon the peculiarities of his character and qualities, which have begun to be opened.
“If you are very angry, luckily for me you will perhaps be too busy to vent it, and this, perhaps, is what has made me so bold. With this consolation, believe me yours, à l’ordinaire,
| R. PLUMER WARD. | 151 |
“By the way, is any similarity intended between Haslingham and Tremaine, or Horatia and Georgina?”
