_Clinton Bradshaw; or The Adventures of a Lawyer. Philadelphia: Carey,
Lea & Blanchard._
We have no doubt this book will be a favorite with many readers--but
for our own parts we do not like it. While the author aims at
originality, and evidently fancies himself the pioneer of a new region
in fictitious literature, he has, we think, unwittingly stumbled upon
that very worst species of imitation, _the paraphrasical_. _Clinton
Bradshaw, or the Adventures of a Lawyer_, is intended, we humbly
conceive, as a _pendant_, in America, to _Henry Pelham, or the
Adventures of a Gentleman_, in England. There are, however, some
little awkward discrepancies. When Pelham luxuriates in the
drawing-room, and Bradshaw is obstreperous in the tavern, no ingenuity
can sustain a parallel. The polished manners of the one are not
equalled by even the self-polished pumps of the other. When the
British hero is witty and _recherché_, the American fails to rival him
by merely trying to be both. The exquisite's conversation is sentiment
itself, and we have no stomach afterwards for the lawyer's sentiment
and water.
"The plan of this novel," says a correspondent of a contemporary
Magazine, for whose _editorial_ opinions we have the highest respect,
"is exceedingly simple, and the moral it unfolds, if not of the most
elevated kind, is still useful and highly applicable to our existing
state of society. It is the story of a young lawyer of limited means,
and popular talents, whose ambition urges him to elevate himself by
all the honorable methods in his power. His professional pursuits lead
him among the coarsest criminals, while his political career brings
him in contact with the venal and corrupt of all parties. But true
alike to himself and the community of which he is a member, the stern
principles of a republican, and the uncompromising spirit of a
gentleman, are operative under all circumstances." These words we
quote as affording, in a brief space, some idea of the plot of Clinton
Bradshaw. We repeat, however, that we dislike the novel, considered
_as a novel_. Some detached passages are very good. The chief
excellence of the book consists in a certain Flemish caricaturing of
vulgar habitudes and action. The whole puts us irresistibly in mind of
_High Life below Stairs_. Its author is, we understand, a gentleman of
Cincinnati.