Part 20

This is the seventh number of this invaluable work. Its editor, from the first year of its publication, is understood to have been J. E. Worcester, Esq. the indefatigable author and compiler of a number of works requiring great industry, perseverance, and talent. Nearly twenty years ago he became known to the public by his Universal Gazetteer, a second edition of which, at the present time, we agree with the North American Review in thinking would be highly acceptable to the public. Mr. Worcester has also published a Gazetteer of the United States--The Elements of Geography--the Elements of History--The Historical Atlas--an Edition of Johnson's Dictionary, as improved by Todd and abridged by Chalmers--an Abridgment of the American Dictionary of Dr. Webster--and, lastly, A Comprehensive Pronouncing and Explanatory Dictionary of the English Language, with Pronouncing Vocabularies of Classical, Scripture, and Modern Geographical Names--all of them works of intrinsic merit.

The American Almanac has long had a well-established reputation, and Mr. Worcester is understood to have prepared, invariably, all of its valuable contents with the exception of the astronomical department. When we consider the great variety of topics treated of, and the extreme difficulty of procuring accurate information in relation to many of them, we must all admire the energy of the editor in having brought the work to its present high state of perfection and utility. We know of no publication of the kind more fully entitled to be called "A Repository of Useful Knowledge."

The Almanac for 1836 contains the usual Register of the General and State Governments, together with a vast amount of statistical and miscellaneous matter; but "it is more particularly characterized by an account of the principal Benevolent Institutions in the United States, and a view of the Ecclesiastical Statistics of the Religious Denominations."

We believe that no work of an equal extent in America contains as much important statistical information as the seven volumes of the American Almanac. We are happy to learn that complete sets of the publication can still be obtained.

CLINTON BRADSHAW.

_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.

ENGLISH ANNUALS.

_Friendship's Offering and Winter's Wreath for 1836_--a beautiful _souvenir_. The literary portion unusually good. The tale of _The Countess_, by Mrs. Norton, is the best article in the book. The embellishments are mostly of a high order. Plate No. 7--The Countess, engraved by H. T. Ryall, from an original painting by E. T. Parris, is exquisite indeed--unsurpassed by any plate within our knowledge.

_The Forget Me Not for 1836, edited by Shoberl_, is, perhaps, superior to the Winter's Wreath in pictorial, although slightly inferior in literary merit. _All_ the engravings here are admirable.

_Fisher's Drawing-Room Scrap-Book for 1836, edited by L. E. L._ is, in typographical beauty, unrivalled.--The literary portion of the work is but _so so_, although written nearly altogether by L. E. L. These Annuals may all be obtained, in Richmond, at the bookstore of Mr. C. Hall.