New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-01-21
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
A SOCIETY NOVEL.

| A SOCIETY NOVEL.
TIFF HOUSE OF A MERCHANT PRINCE. A Novel
Of Nev.York BY WILLIAM HENRY BISHOP limo.
| pp. 42O. Uoughton, Mfiin Co.
| Mr. Bishop has one of the chief qualifications of
successful novelist the art of telling story with
| ont letting the interest flag. lie does this With
| little use of incidents surprises but merely by
the Gift of direct and vivacous narrative. There Is
skeleton in the cupboard of the merchant prince,
and hints of criminal mystery arc presented now
| and then with impressive effect as we go on with
| the tale but the management OF this material is
the least successful part of the book. ard although
| the catastrophe is dramatic the hnal explanation
will strike most readers as weak and unsatisfactory.
Yet in spite of the defect OF the plot the story Is full
of lile and although the progress of events never
| startling the movement Is invariably animated and
| entertaining. Nobody who reads il ut all Will have
the least desile to skip. Nearly all the personages
are distinct, but they presented hastily with
| few ouick and vigorous outlines The author has
no taste for the anal ysis OF character, or the dis
section OF motives or the tracing OF complex inilu-
ences. There some charming indications OF
fine feeling and OF poetical insight in his pages
for instance III the description Of the quiet even
ing when Ottilie and cambridge are thrown to-
cether ut critical period of their fortunes, IN the
house Of Mrs. Hastings, and accident presents the
Young lawyer to the fascinated eyes of the girl
9There was q certain penetrating feeling of do
mesticty in their situation. BY little stretch OF the
imagination it might have been they who we're at
home and Mrs. Hastings their guest" 1t Is princi
paly however, with the superficial aspects of life
that Mr. Bishop chooses to deal, marshalling his
men and women before us as they appear to their
acquaintances, and disclosing no more OF their
inner nature than shrewd observer n ght discover
from their actions and conversation In polite 40
clety.
HIS method suits his theme. The society which
he exhibits is tie fashionable society of modern
New York. in which strong passions, high motives
refined and original traits, not TO he looked for
among the springs Of action Even the gentlest and
purest Of his characters move in this gay and some
what reckless and more OF less vulgar thIon2, and
we see them only in company to which display Of
the nober impulses of the human heart would per-
haps be scarcely ineligible. As q dclineation OF
certain outward phases of life in the great city his
novel is admirable. Its descriptions are not only
marvelousy graphic and exact. but the proper OBJ
ieots for description chosen with Judgment. so
that the bits of realism plentifuIly scattered
through the chapters heighten the general effect
instead of obscuring it. For example, there are
| vivid sketches Of tho tides Of business In lower
| Broadway, OF bright Sunday promenade on the
Avenue of the streets at night when the theatres
are emptyine, OF hot summer in town, OF garden
party at Fort Washington, of the gorgeous New
York autumn, when the great city is bathed In
an atmosphere Of liquid amber" and the streets
brilliant with gay color and picturesque hustle
These passages show a quick eye a1d lively fancy
They are never over.drawn on the contrary. they
are brief and extremely simple; and they serve a
valuable purpose in surrounding the characters
with harmonious and interesting accessories, set
ting them in their natural environment. and quick
% ho ofo ha
themselves arc fair types. The merchant prince
proud of his rm and ambitious to represent the
richest district of New-York in The National Con-
gress, and thence to proceed TO the head of the
Treasury the dull wife and the stylish" daugh-
ter; the spendthrift son OF millionaire manufac-
turer; the fat-witted scion of on old family the
gentlemanly adventuIer the sweet country cousin;
the earnest yonng lawyer; the score of empty club
men all are drawn to the lite. without ill nature
and without Caricature Mr.. Bishop seems TO have
caught the patterE of their minds as we'll as the
flavor of their conversation, and the tone of the
dinner parties and receptions at which they the
prominent figures. lie hardly ventures outside this
circ'e. The only society which he presents in con-
trast with heirs is assembled IN the parlors OF lit
erary lady, and here author appears to be not
quite at home The tTavesty of an intellectual
yersaziono exhibited in Mrs. Stoueglasss evenings
will perhaps be set down as gross builesque; but
such absurd gatherings of imitation lions arc CON-
mon enough in New-Yor1 and other cities, and the
chief fault we have to find with the chapter is not
that it IS exaggerated, but that the experience it
describes is not characteristic of metropolitan So
ciety. as the fashionable experiences certainly sre
As a compensation for this fault of proportion, il
should he mentioned that of the diaogue in
this episode is extremely natural and irresistbly
droll Whether or no Mr. Bishop has consciously
yielded to the temptation to ridicue real persons Ia
these laughable pages may be open to question.
With our wicked propensity to enjoy the mslor-
tunes OF our friends shall possibly take certain
satisfaction IN identifying the originals of one or
two OF the personsges but none of the portrats-if
they are portrats-arc so close that be sure
of them; and il will be reasonable to conclude that
the few partial resemblances accidental. or at
least not intended to be recognized. Mr.. Bisb-
ops art is so strictly legitimate In other that
shall be slow to suspect him of au outrage upon
the proprieties
The criticism will no doubt be made upon the
novel that it presents q false view of New-York
life, because IL deals with only one side of It, and
that not the best side. Our merchant princes as a
class of finer stamp than Harvey, the
model OF our New-Yor bellies Is not Angelica even
Kingb0lts rare and IL is to be hored that Mr.
Bishops scenes in the Empire Club are as excep-
tonal as the Stoneglass reception. But il Is the
privilege OF the satirlsr to concern himself only
with those aspects Of society which suit bis immedi
ate purpose the follies that Justify his mockery
the vices that deserve his lash. We look uQon the