The Sun.
London, England, 1847-01-14 00:00:00

GREEN'S NURSERY ANNUAL,

Among the various multitude of books which have
recently appeared, intended to serve as Christmas
presents and New Year's gifts, it were difficult to
find one more more likely to please the youthful in-
habitants of the nursery, than the very elegant little
volume now before us. Its external embellishments
are most attractive. The binding is peculiarly
beautiful, consisting of a sort of arabesque pat-
tern of blue and crimson on a golden ground ;
the illustrations consist of numerous wood-
cuts, and a few coloured pictures, always great
attractions for children, and every page of the whole
volume is surrounded by a red-coloured flowery bor-
der. The literary portion is well chosen, and is cal-
culated to improve as well as amuse its little readers.
"Arthur's birthday," " Malcolm Duncan," the " Chil-
dren in the wood," &c. will afford sufficient enter-
tainment. " What sort of a heart have you got ?"
" Content and discontent," and other subjects of a
similar character will furnish a mild remon-
strance or gentle admonition ; " Labour and pro-
perty," contains tha first elements of political
economy a la Adam Smith, very simply
explained. There are, of course, numerous
poems scattered through the volume, by far the most
beautiful of which is from the pen of L aman Blanchard,
" Upon the Picture of a Boy endeavouring to lay
Salt upon the Tail of a Bird." The writer com-
mences by describing every action of the anxious
urchin, and very forcibly does he describe them. We
see it all before us—the eager sportsman approaches
—is about to achieve his object—
" Yes, you have it in your tether,
Never more to skim the skies ;
Lodge the salt on this long feather,
Ha ! it flies, it flies."
This anxious pursuit, and this complete disappoint-
ment—trivial in themselves though they be--suggest
to the supposed spectator the following beautiful lines,
in which the author pathetically laments the blighted
hopes of his own life. He tells us that he, too, has
shared the folly of " the baffled sportsmen" we have
been contemplating
" Time, thy feathers turn to arrows ;
I for salt have used thy sand,
Wasting it on hopes, like sparrows,
That elude the hand.
On what raptures I've been counting,
Stooping here, and creeping there,
All to see my bright hopes mounting
High into tke air.
" Half my life I've been pursuing,
Plans often tried before ;
Rhapsodies that end in ruin—
I and thousands more.
This young sportsman, be your warning,
Though you've lost some hours to day,
Others spend their life's fair morning
In no wiser way.
" What hath been my holiest treasure ;
What were ye unto my eyes :
Love and peace, and hope and pleasure,
Birds of paradise.
Spirits that we think to capture,
By a false and childish scheme ;
Until tears dissolve our rapture,
Darkness ends our dream.
" Thus are objects loved the dearest,
Distant as the dazzling star ;
And when we appear the nearest,
Farthest off we are.
Thus have children of all ages,
Seeing bliss before them fly,
Found their hearts but empty cages,
And their hopes on high."

THE ENGLISH MATRON. By the Author of
" The English Gentlewoman."
This is another addition to the now numerous class
of works containing practical advice for the fairer
portion of the community. Supposing the advice in
question to be good, and supposing it to be adopted,
the benefit to be derived from such volumes may be
inestimable. Madam Campan's reply to Napoleon's
interrogation has been quoted again and again, but
it is always appropriate to a subject like this. The
Emperor having inquired of her what she thought
necessary in order to provide a good education for
the youth of France—" Good mothers " was her
reply. Napoleon was struck by the force of this ob-
servation. "We have here," he said, " a system of
education in one word." All works which tend to
elevate the character of women tend to elevate the
character of the next generation—all works
calculated to improve and increase the good
qualities of women tend to increase the
happiness of their homes ; consequently such
works are of no slight importance. The days are,
passed when the advocates for the "rights of woman,'
anxious to advance her to a more prominent, and, as
they deemed, honourable position, attempted to re-
move her from her own apparently humbler butthe
really more noble and elevated sphere. i
attempt was vain, and it is now generally happily
Yitted
that in faithfully discharging her duties and adding
to the happiness of her home she will find at once
her most honourable and happiest employment—
" There woman reigns—the mother. slaughter, wife,
Strews with fresh flowers the narrow way of life.
In the clear heaven ofher delighted eye
An angel guard of loves and graces lie.
Around her knees domestic virtues meet,
And fireside pleasures gambol at her feet."
To add to the happiness of home, by pointing out and
enforcing the duties of a wife, is the object of the
volume now before us. Its chapters are all devoted
to this important subject ; much advice is given
thereon, some excellent, some perhaps not quite so
good—but that after all is matter of opinion. Doubt-
less much may be learned from its pages, but if its
injunctions be not literally complied with its object
will be most likely accomplished by en-
gendering habits of thought on such im-
portant, and often too much neglected, subjects.
Like its predecessor, " The English Gentlewoman,"
this volume is more particularly addressed to ladies
of the higher classes—duties, of course, are the saute

e

fa 42 ranks, but then nuthy tv4inetr iseinti PiOM
nary to be treated of in a work of practieal advice.
The concluding lines of the preface, describing the
main object of the whole, may be correctly addressed
to individuals of every class. "My present work,"
says the authoress, " is intended, with the grace and
help of our Heavenly Father, to assist the happy to
cherish, not to throw away, their blessings—to direct
the afflicted how best to remedy the griefs which
prudence and patience may mitigate or assuage, how
to bear those calamities for which there is no preseut
kelp, no visible cure, but which a fortified mind, an
humble, trusting spirit, and the habit of making the
best of every occurrence, may enable the most unfor-
tunate to overcome."

/G%