This leads us to speak of the Plot; and we are constrained to say
that a more inartistic, unfinished piece of work we cannot remember.
There is a lamentable waste of capital on Squire Deacon's
sportsmanlike propensities. Why not have something come of them? We
are not anxious to have the man hanged, or even indicted; but we did
expect a magnanimous pardon to be extended to him by Mr. Linden; and
although that gentleman was altogether too magnanimous before, we
should have acquiesced mildly. And what becomes of Mrs. Derrick?
There we are in earnest; for Mrs. Derrick is an especial favorite
with us. It seems as if our authors had become bewildered, and,
finding themselves fairly at a loss what to do with their characters,
who drift helplessly along through a great part of the second volume,
had seized desperately on the hero and heroine, determined to save
them at least, and, having borne them to a place of refuge, had
concluded to let the others look after themselves.
What redeems the novel, and gives it its peculiar and exquisite
charm, is the execution of certain detached passages. We have never
seen the drollery of a genuine Yankee to more advantage than in "Say
and Seal.
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