⸺ ADVENTURES OF CAPT. BLAKE; or, My Life. (Routledge). 6d. [Bentley, 1835]. 1838. Third ed., 1882.
Really two practically independent stories, that of Major Blake and that of his son, the Captain. The former is far the more interesting, giving a good account of Gen. Humbert’s invasion and of the manners of the peasantry at the time (especially their open-hearted hospitality and kindliness), and some nice descriptions of Connaught scenery. But for an absurd scene of confession in a courthouse no religious bias is displayed. The remaining two volumes are a rambling series of miscellaneous adventures in Portugal, Paris, and London, consisting largely of amorous episodes not edifying, to say the least, and told in a facetious and somewhat vulgar strain.
⸺ THE ADVENTURES OF HECTOR O’HALLORAN AND HIS MAN, MARK ANTONY O’TOOLE. (Warne). 6d. Paper. (N.Y.: Pratt). 0.30. [1842]. n.d. (recently reprinted).
The hero is the son of a landlord and ex-soldier living in the South of Ireland. Beginning with an attack on the castle by local malcontents, Hector and his man pass through a series of adventures (some of which are described with considerable “go”), first in Dublin, then in London, and finally in the Peninsular War under Wellington. Most of the incidents take place amid the lowest society, and some of them are distinctly coarse. There is no character-drawing and little or no attempt to picture the life of the period. The military experiences in Spain form, perhaps, the best part of the book. There is no sympathy for Ireland, and there are some gibes at Catholicism.
⸺ THE ADVENTURES OF CAPT. O’SULLIVAN. Three Vols. (Colburn). [1848]. 1855.
“Or adventures civil, military, and matrimonial of a gentleman on half-pay.” Some of these take place near “Ballysallagh,” in Connaught, where the hero is stationed, his duties being mainly to keep down the Ribbonmen and to hunt for illicit stills. Attitude towards the former somewhat bloodthirsty. The two chief houses belong to the priest and the tithe-proctor, the task of the latter being described as the grinding of money “out of the wretched serfs.” Little plot, long and tedious conversations.
⸺ ERIN GO BRAGH; or, Irish Life Pictures. Two Vols. (Bentley). Portrait. 1859.
A posthumous collection of short stories originally contributed to Bentley’s Miscellany and other magazines. Written in the light, rollicking, high-spirited vein characteristic of Maxwell. Many of them are recollections of actual experience. Prefaced by biographical sketch by Dr. Maginn.
⸺ LUCK IS EVERYTHING; or, The Adventures of Brian O’Linn. Pp. 440. (Routledge). (N.Y.: Pratt). 3.00. 1860.