The Sun.
London, England, 1835-11-07 00:00:00

THE ANNUALS.

Pittr.NDSHIP'S OFFERING.
Smith. London. 1835.
The Friendship's Offering f‘m.. which has just
reached us, is fully eVfaa:l to the best of its predeces-
sors, notwithstanding the Editor's modestly c,B.prssed
apprehensions that it may h tbMitlerea inferior, in
consequence of the death of Messrs. Pringle and
Inglis, both of which gentlemen, in turn, superintended
many of the volumes. The Illustrations are nume-
rous,
and executed, for the most part, with consider-
able ability. The frontispiece presents us with o. hair-
length figure of a female, the simple beauty and ex•
pression of whose countenance might set A sentimen-
tally disposed poet raving through at leant dozen
sonnets. The drapery is not harsh, and wiry, and
stilly disposed, as is too often the c?.;;;; with the smaller
class of engravings, but ;;;;Is in natural, easy folds ;.
and the satin ha f, ;:nat smooth, glittering look, which
it is so I,Atititult for aught but painting to convey.
T:,e " Festival " is from a design supplied by Peruse,
who, in the style and quality of his landscape, has not
unsuccessfully imitated Claude's manner. Ruins of
old Grecian temples, thickly overshadowed by richest
foliage, make up the foreground; while the back-
ground is supplied by all the most attractive features
of the milder and more picturesque forms of scenery ;
a low range of hills being dimly seen in remote dis-
tance, just on the horizon's verge ; while in the inter-
mediate space, the eye glances over luxuriant fields,
through which small rivers arc sparkling like so many
silver threads ; scattered coppice woods; and. cottages
peeping up among the groves in which they are par-
tially embosomed. A few male and female groupes
are introduced in the centre of the foreground, so
as to break what might be otherwise deemed the
monotonous, still life of the picture. The " Would-
be Ninon", is a print whose name sufficiently denotes
its character. The principal female figure is that of
an arch, lively coquette. Of the literary contents, the
best are the verses entitled " Retrospection," contri-
, buted by the late Mr. Inglis, and one of his earliest
poetic effusions ; and " My Schoolmaster's Daughter,"
by the author of " Truckleborough Hall."

FORGET-ME-NO T.
Ackermann, London. -1835.

from the threshold 'of his London residence. He
tells us little di nothing more than Dr. Granville has
already told us, with much More fUllneSs of detail, in
his two bulky Octakre, In Mos-
Cow, hOWeVet., it Is bllt justice 10 State; that he fur-
Mshes us with much more novel and entertailing
matter. His Sketth tip the Wahading peasant
approaching I<lle tlhl ntissiati capital ; of the awe
aria astorilshrnetit Whith seize Oil every faculty,
p
When N fltst ti'WkiVS frOut afar" the rout and
beautiO Ot her towers arid (lorries and
spires ;" and of ektaq when the sound
of her thOUsana Babis ~,rtfteti dii liis eat; IS loittient,
Alid Gen impassioned. Imifiediately afterwards, how-
ever, follow some syedifliantie; irt;addlirig diiecdOtes—
intended., k(.04 aiifaci the attentiOn dtid ex-
cite the sympathies of the more
.Well-bred, aristocratic
readers. of the Pictiiresque .Auittio.labOtit the Em-
peror Nicholas Gild his wonaatut dottestit virtues.
't Atter breakfast," says Mr. nitchie3 " the &vetoes
first care is to go to the nursery to Sed IliN thildren,
and ascertain how they have slept. He takes each of
them, kisses them, romps with them, for he is full of
frolic, and glad to be a boy again, when the cares of the
world will let him." On reading this drivelling rub-
bish, our thoughts were at once carried back to the re-
collection of the poor Polish infants, torn by this ido-
later of little children from their mothers' arms, at
midnight, and sent to perish by hundreds on the road
to Siberia ! We thought, too, of the well-authenti-
cated fact of the little corpses which were seen care-
lessly piled up on the high road to St. Petersburgh ;
and of, the parents bewailing the loss of those who
should never again bless their sight ; and as the
current of our reflections carried us back to the

This, we believe, is the oldest of the Annuals, but
nevertheless exhibits not the slightest traces of languor
or decay, but wears its age, like old Adam in the Win-
ter's Tale, who, it may be remembered, was- as hale,
hearty, and merry a fellow at eighty, as he was at
twenty. The plates are eleven in number, and are all
executed with that care and attention to propriety of
effect which characterize the engravings published by
Ackermann. The best, or at any rate the most inte-
resting, is the " Young Enchanter," for which Wood
has supplied the design. The face of the' youthful
female who is seated on a mossy bank, receiving, and
replying to, by no means reluctantly, the salute of Cu-
pid, is full of feminine sweetness and sensibility. The
outline, too, of the young God's figure, is very easy
and flowing. The little bit of landscape which makes
up the background completes the charm of the picture,
which is of a highly poetical character. We cannot
speak equally well of the " Dying 'Sister," for though
the subject is pathetic, the mode of treatment bears
marks of any thing but pathos. The sister, who
is seated by the bed-side of her expiring relative,
does not look as if her heart were touched, but as if

times when these fiendish cruelties were perpetrated
by express order of the Russian Herod, our disgust
at the above canting anecdote of his gentle nature
was such as we can scarcely find words to express. If
Mr. Ritchie really believes Nicholas to be the esti-
mable being which he pretty broadly insinuates he is,
we can only say he must be a man of unbounded
gullibility ; and we would no more trust his estimate of
character, than we would that of the veriest idiot that
ever shook his cap aro bells, and thought himself a
Solomon. Lord Dudley Stuart knows far more
about Nicholas than the Editor of the Pictu-
resque Annual ; and he assured us the other
day, in an eloquent speech which he delivered
at Castle Douglas, that the accounts published
respecting the Czar's treatment of the poor Poles, so
far from exaggerating the truth, actually understated it.
We pin our faith on his Lordship in preference to Mr.
Ritchie. Of the Illustrations to this Annual, we have
no need to speak, as we have already made them the
subject of notice.

LITERATURE.

OLD BACHELORS:
THEIR VARIETIRS, CHARACTERS, AND CONDITIONS.

she were simply in a state of wonderment. This,
however, is the painter's, not the engraver's faul'

RE SUN, LONIION, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7,, 1855,

very act of levelling a pistol at Leslie, he himself falls
by an unseen hand, and his last moment is embittered
by the fiendish execrations of his wife. The girl
whom he seduced is likewise present, a maniac ; and
by a strange coincidence, for which novel writers can
only satisfactorily account, there is present at his death
the only family in New York whom Leslie would have
wished there at such a moment. -
This talc has two great faults. It is exceedingly
impreihable ; and about ten times over-written. The
author may have travelled much in Italy, but he
knows nothing pf the manners and customs of the
inhabitduts+ His sketcbes of society in New York
are Cattlitily tiSif 10 us. If they be correct delinea-
tions of fashionable life, then Heaven preserve us from
crossing the Atlantic. Still, as
the appftilidn.tion
”rogress of American
cblication of
aj
we are deeply interestedtrie ,r
literature, we by no means regret the
and
this 'l'oth It will repay the trouble of are ding,
a
that is as nitiCh as ought to be expected from a
novel )
whether English of Anterleati:

THE Afft,
Br ROBBRT 111(1DIE.
London : Ward and Co. 1835.
It was but the other day we noticed Mr. Mudie's
delightful volume, entitled " The Earth," and here
we have another of the same size, named " The
Air," and in the course of a month we are pro-
mised a third, to be called " The Sea." Truly, the
author must be a person of astonishing industry, to
write so much and so well, in the brief period of a couple of
months. Yet we can discover no marks of haste in
the works themselves. They are alike excellent in
matter and manner. Mr. Mudie is a most grace-
ful and agreeable writer ; his representations are as
vivid as if they were traced on canvas ; and though
his language is intelligible to infants, there is not a
sentence in bis works which has about it the ap-
pearance of a studied simplicity. " The Air" will be
invaluable to all who are either about to engage in
the studies of pneumatics and chemistry ; and who
with a wish to learn its properties and operations, are
denied the means of applying themselves scientifically
to such pursuits. We strongly recommend it to
fathers of families, as an excellent present for their
children ; while by masters of public schools a more
handsome Christmas offering could not be selected
for favourite pupils than one or more of Mr. Mudie's
very popular little treatises.

LARDIVER'S CABINET CYCLOP_>EDLI•
Yoh LXXII.
London, Longman and Co.
The subject of this volume is the Natural History
and Classification of Quadrupeds, by William Svvainson,
Esq.—so celebrated for the many important additions
which he has made to the Natural History of this
country. The work is divided into three parts, which
are severally embellished with appropriate engravings.
The first treats of the great divisions of organimed
matter, and the relation which quadrupeds bear to other
groups of the animal kingdom, with an examination of
the theories of Linnaeus, Virey, Cuvier, and M'Leary.
The second examines the habits of the various qua-
druped tribes ; and the third relates entirely to the
class Mammalia, arranged according to its natural
affinities. The: volume deserves to become popular,
as does the work of which it forms a part.

MANUAL OF ENTOMOLOGY,
FROM TAY GERMAN OF DR. HERMANN RUBMRISTER.