340 REVIEW.-On an equitable Property Tax. dium of assessment, in the direct way ment, that 270 millions are annually It is further to be observed, generally, that all the popular political nostrums of the present day, have a tendency to ruin the wealthy, both in respect to property and influence, and to make public measures media of swindling and robbery. "But the rich," says Burke, are only bankers for the poor," and were all the projects executed to the full, circumstances would soon force things back again into a state ten times worse than they were before. " [Oct living, clothing, &c. from the profits of his toil. "Potatoes constitute the almost sole food of the labouring poor, because they are the What then will be cheapest article of life. the consumption of this article by a family of four, and the cost of the quantity required? "No man capable of performing a good day's work, can be supported in health and strength, under ten pounds weight of potatoes (or, half a peck) during the twentyfour hours. His wife and two children will (at a low estimate) require two thirds of the same quantity. "Potatoes cannot be averaged lower than 6s. per sack, or 6d. the peck. The cost of the labourer's food therefore (presuming that this cheapest of all aliments constitutes his entire support) for the whole year will amount to 4. 16s., the charge of sixteen sacks. The wife and children will consume two thirds of the same quantity, amounting to 31. 4s., making together with the first mentioned sum 81. per annum. "The cottage or lodgings occupied by every labourer's family, may be fairly averaged at 31. 3s. per annum. "Every labourer must expend at the least 12s. annually in shoes; for a new pair 9s.; for repairing the old ones 3s. The expense of this article, for his wife and children, will be under-estimated at 8s.; making a total 1. per annum. "The various articles of clothing, independently of shoes required by a labourer, will cost annually at the lowest estimate (including mending) 1. 58.; those for his wife and children 1. 108. making a total of 31. 15s. "The fuel of a labourer's family will (upon an average) cost 1. per annum. "The above totals, added together, will amount to the sum of 16. 18s.; leaving a surplus out of the labourer's annual earnings, of 31. 18s. to furnish tools, candles, soap, and the numerous other little articles which are necessary for the support of a family under the most humble circumstances, in a civilized country." THE ANNUALS. But our author, although mounted upon a cheval de bataille which will break down under him, is, though a monomaniac, a sensible fellow in all the undiseased points, and we with Forget Me Not, for 1832. By F. Shoberl pleasure extract a passage which be of use to philanthropists. may "The wages of a labourer in the southern moiety of England, may be estimated (at a high average throughout the year, and supposing him to be constantly employed) at Ss. per week, or 20l. 16s. per annum. "The number of persons depending upon every labourer, for maintenance and support, may be averaged throughout England at three (that is to say, a wife and two children), making, together with himself, four persons to be supplied with all the means of Ackermann. THE first-born of all the Annuals again takes priority in the series of publication. It appears in the field as the glad harbinger of a numerous tribe to which it has given birth; and which are now competitors of no ordinary character. Indeed some of the younger scions of the literary family of Annuals, may be said to have surpassed in beauty their accomplished prototype-so easy is it to im.... prove on what others have invented 1831.] REVIEW.-The Annuals-Forget-Me-Not. But in this reforming age, when the whole island is " frightened from its propriety" by the desire of change and innovation, it was not to be expected that the spirited proprietor of the "Forget Me Not," would long remain in the rear of his numerous rivals. While they were richly apparelled in all the gay colours of silk and gold, or splendid embossments, the humble paste-board cover, however prettily coloured, could no longer be considered worthy of this great age of improvement. The proprietor has therefore remodelled the external appearance of his offspring, and clothed it in the splendid but durable attire of crimson silk, which supersedes the necessity of a pasteboard case, as heretofore, to protect it from the soil of a dusty table. We consider it necessary to notice this circumstance, as the present appearance of this our favourite Annual, might induce many to suppose that the aged parent had at length been gathered unto its fathers." It is an old friend with a new face, though still retaining all its original and intrinsic worth. The embellishments are usually the most attractive features of the Annuals; and the exquisite skill with which they are executed greatly conduces to their value; but the high talent required for these engravings, and the extensive demand for that talent, has added materially to the cost of their production; and nothing but the great number of copies produced could possibly remunerate the publishers. On no profession, perhaps, has the creation of this class of books had so much influence as on that of the engraver. Plates for which, a few years since, first-rate artists were content to receive thirty or forty guineas, cannot now be obtained under one hundred, or one hundred and twenty; and it has been publicly asserted that one hundred and fifty, and even one hundred and eighty, have been paid for single engravings for the Annuals. Many of these performances are consequently real master-pieces of art, and possess a perfection, a delicacy, and a finish, heretofore unexampled in book-plates. It cannot be denied that to the excellence of their embellishments the Annuals owe the greatest portion of their popularity: and it has been the singular fortune of these works to prove the truth of the para 341 dox, that a part is more valuable than the whole-inasmuch as sets of their engravings are regularly sold at a higher rate than the entire volumes from which they have been separated. It is well known also that single proof impressions of particular plates have obtained a price superior to that of the complete work. In this year's Forget Me Not,' there are eleven highly finished engravings, by the first-rate artists, exclusive of the vignette title-page, engraved by Carter. In each there is so much beauty, delicacy, and graphic effect, that it would be almost an invidious task to particularize their individual merits. The subjects are, The Triumph of Mordecai,' by E. Finden, from a design by J. Martin; Don Juan and Haidee,' by W. Finden, from a drawing by J. Holmes; 'Uncle Toby and the Widow,' by C. Rolls, from H. Richter; Mariana,' by R. Graves, from a painting by Sir Thomas Lawrence; The Thunder-storm,’ by W. Finden, from J. Wood; 'Toka,' by J. Carter, from a drawing by W. Purser; The Stage-struck Hero,' by T. Engleheart, from a painting by W. Kidd; The Frosty Reception,' by S. Davenport, from W. Buss; 'Mayence,' by J. Carter, from a drawing by S. Prout; The Disappointment,' by S. Davenport, from H. Corbould; La Pensée,' by Mrs. Hamilton, from a painting by J. Holmes.' Among the prose productions are some of considerable interest; but their length prevents our making a selection. They are the contributions of some of the most powerful writers of the day. The Vision of Robert the Bruce,' the Ordeal of Toka,' Serjeant Hawkins,' Galt's Salvator Nienti,' White Lynx of the Long Knives,' &c. are all of a pleasing character, and will repay the trouble of perusal. The poetical pieces are but limited in number. The Triumph of Mordecai,' which illustrates the frontispiece; Uncle Toby and the Widow,' Don Juan and Haidee,' though anonymous, we believe to be the productions of Dr. Croly; and they are not unworthy of his classic mind. Haynes Bayley, in his poetical illustration of La Pensée,' is not so felicitous as usual; and Thomas Hood, in his 'Stage-struck Hero," is less facetious than heretofore. We cannot close our remarks without presenting the following 342 REVIEW.-Juvenile Forget-Me-Not.-Landscape Annual. [Oct. pleasing specimen of the poetical con tributions. SONG. THE nightingale is warbling His anthem to the rose ; Where the woodroof sweetly blows. The rocks are clad in moonlight, But the river sings in shade; When the spirit pours its stream The light of Passion's dream. Oh! the smile of Eve is lovely, When it sinks on flower and tree, And Twilight's reign is holy But the moonlight hours for me! There is not a dream of youth, R. F. H. ACKERMANN'S Juvenile Forget Me Not is the production of the same Editor, and, as the title expresses, is admirably calculated for a "Christmas, New Year's, and Birth-day present for youth of both sexes;" all the stories being of a simple and amusing character. Many of the plates have the exquisite finish of their parent annual. The subjects are The Vanquished Lion,' by T. Landseer, from a drawing by E. Landseer; The Boudoir,' by J. Romney, from W. Hunt; The Little Artist,' by H. C. Shenton, from a painting by T. Passmore; Returning from Market,' by J. Carter, from W. Shayer; The Shepherd Boy,' by H. Rolls, from H. Warren; Avvocata,' by W. R. Smith, from T. Uwins; I William and his Story-Books,' by W. Chevalier, from A. Chisholme; and, The Ballad,' by W. Chevalier, from a painting by R. Farrier. The Landscape Annual for 1832. Being the Tourist in Italy, by T. Roscoe ; illustrated from Drawings by J. D. Harding. Jennings. IN the two preceding volumes of the Landscape Annual, Switzerland and the northern districts of Italy were delineated. Now the brighter regions of the South are before us; and a more magnificent theatre for the classic mind of the talented Editor, could not have been selected. Italy is endeared to us by many delightful recollections. She has been alternately the great theatre of human glory and of human degradation. Her classic soil is the first object of every tourist; and her splendid remains, though in ruins, are associated with the liveliest feelings of enthusiasm and delight. Italy, indeed, must ever be the most attractive of all countries to the traveller. She possesses charms to be found in no other; the character of her scenes, and the details of her multiform and wonderful history being in endless variety. Within the circle of a few hundred miles, the Italian tourist views cities, each of which might be regarded as the capital of a distinct kingdom. "Scenes of the most inspiring beauty (says the Editor) -histories equally connected with the brightest and the darkest periods of man's career-fields strewed with the relics of many a perished city and generation-have supplied subjects for the pencil of the artist, and these have been elaborated with a degree of ease and assiduity, which, it is hoped, will reflect the greatest credit both upon the conductors of the plates, and upon the engravers." On opening this splendid volume, it is difficult to decide whether the richness of the embellishments, or the elegance of the accompanying descriptions, should claim pre-eminence. The powers of the artist and the skill of the engraver, with some few exceptions, are united in giving an almost magical effect to the different views,associated as they are with so many interesting reminiscences. The subjects selected by Mr. Harding are twenty-four in number, among which are views of Milan Cathedral, Florence, Naples, Baiæ, Persana, Sorrento, &c. The interior view of Milan Cathedral,' looking towards the high altar (engraved by Higham), forms the subject of the frontispiece. It is a splendid specimen of Italian ecclesiastical architecture; and all the subordinate details of the engraving are executed with wonderful precision, delicacy, and effect. The view of Lago Maggiore,' engraved by Miller, is of a character entirely different from the preceding. The talents of the artist are of another 1831.] cast. REVIEW.-The Landscape Annual. Here all the beauties of nature and aerial perspective are made to combine in perfection. The reflections of commingling light and shade in the fore-ground, the liquid stillness of the unrippled lake, and the soft touches of the burine in delineating the receding hills and distant fleecy clouds,are all worthy the first masters of modern art. Lake Maggiore was in truth a fine subject for the pencil of the artist and the skill of the engraver; and they have not failed to do it ample justice. "This noble collection of waters (says the Editor, in his accompanying description,) rivals in beauty the loveliest of the world. Language might exhaust itself in searching for epithets to describe the exquisite clearness of its waves, the sylvan grandeur of its verdant scenes, or the varied aspect which its vast and lovely panorama presents of green solitudes and smiling villages,-of woods where silence and meditation love to dwell, and villas the resort of all that is bright and elegant in social life. The ancient name of this magnificent piece of water was Lacus Verbanus, an appellation for which antiquaries are at a loss to account, some ascribing it to the vernal sweetness of the air upon its shores, and others supposing it to have been derived from the name of some village in the neighbourhood. Its present title of Maggiore is also accounted for in different ways by various writers; some of them believing that it was originally so described, from the great accommodation it affords the inhabitants of the country for carrying on their trade; and others, with a far better show of reason, asserting that it is so termed on account of its being the largest lake in Italy. According to the measurement adopted by Paolo Morigia, it is forty-five miles in length, and seven in width at its broadest part. The only lakes which come in competition with it are those of Como and Garda. But the former of these is only thirty-seven miles and a half long, and between four and five broad. The latter is wider than the Lago Maggiore, being from fourteen to fifteen miles across, but considerably shorter, its length being about the same as that of Como. * 典 "The three islands in the lake, which have received their appellation from the family of Borromeo, are fit jewels for the bosom of such bright and placid waters. That known by the name of Isola Bella is usually considered as the most beautiful, and has been described as a 'pyramid of sweetmeats,' ornamented with green festoons and flowers; a simile which Mr. Hazlitt says he once conceived to be a heavy German conceit, 343 but which he afterwards found to be a literal description. The character of this fertile little island may be hence easily imagined. It consists of eight terraces rising one above another, each of which is thickly covered with foliage of the richest hues and fragrance, while stout branching forest trees spread their arms over these exquisite and delicate gardens, and small silvery fountains stream continually down the slopes, and lose themselves in the lake. From the midst of this natural furniture of Isola Bella rises a beautiful palace, the rooms of which contain several paintings by Peter Molyn, commonly called Tempesta, an artist of considerable genius, and who found refuge in this island, when pursued alike by the sword of justice and the terrors of his own evil conscience. * This remarkable man closed his evil but distinguished career in 1701, and his paintings, which are rarely to be met with out of Italy, are highly valuable.” * * Of a similar character with Lago Maggiore are the views of Florence,' from the Cascina, engraved by Goodhall; Spoleto,' by Rodaway; 'Lake and Town of Nemi,' by Varrall; 'Naples,' (two views); Puzzuoli,' (two views); Baiæ,' (two views). The other subjects are of a more wild and romantic description, or of an architectural character; as the view of the 'Ponte Sancta Trinità,' erected over the river Arno; Pelago,' near Florence; Castle of Nepi ;' 'Gensano ;' 'the Ghigi Palace, at Arricia;' 'Sancta Lucia,' Vietri,' &c. It is an ungrateful task to cavil with minor details in such a galaxy of beauty as these plates present; but in two or three instances there is a scratchiness of effect in the figures of the foreground, particularly in the Ghigi Palace,' by Jeavons, and Vietri,' by Smith. The Temple of Clitumnus,' engraved by Jorden, so celebrated in classical history, is a delightful picture. The water and broken ground, with the tower-crowned heights of the distant view, materially heighten the effect of the tout ensemble. We shall close our review with the following remarks of the Editor: "Italy, bright and beautiful as it is, has few spots which the wanderer leaves with more regret than the calm, fertile district of the Clitumnus. No where in the world, perhaps, has the genius of pastoral life had a more favourite abode. In the ages of antiquity, when the influences of nature were the chief source of poetic feeling, it was peopled by the fairest creations of rural 344 REVIEW.-Friendship's Offering. "In no part of Italy, indeed, did the religious or poetical feelings of the inhabitants so nearly resemble those of the more intellectual Grecians, as on the banks of the Clitumnus. The people in the neighbourhood retained the character of their ancestors of the isles of the sea, long after the original cause of that similarity may be supposed to have ceased from operating. "The green steep on which stands the temple of the Clitumnus forms, with its surrounding glades, a scene well fitted to make us believe that the tales of the pastoral writers were far from being altogether fictitious." Friendship's Offering. "FRIENDSHIP'S Offering" appears with additional claims to our admiration. We fully agree with the Editor that the embellishments have been selected and engraved with a degree of care even surpassing that bestowed on any previous volume. The three-quarters length portrait of Lady Carrington, engraved by Rolls, which forms the frontispiece, was the last female portrait executed by Sir T. Lawrence, who finished it, as he himself declared, with the most fastidious care, and considered it one of his most successful productions. The original is in the possession of John Capel, esq. M. P. The Fairy of the Lake,' by Finden, from a drawing by Richter, is a fanciful but sweetly executed extravaganza of the imagination. The Poet's Dream,' by Goodyear, from Westall, is beautifully imaginative; Expectation,'' the Palace,''the Greek Mother,' Myrrhina and Myrso,' 'the Embarkation,' and the Orphan,' are such as might be expected from the varied talents of artists like Finden, Holmes, Rolls, Dean, &c. In adverting to the literary department, we observe the names of many common-place contributors who are in the habit of supplying the pages of the Annuals; thus making up a kind of olla podrida of good, bad, and indif [Oct. ferent materials. Some of the prose productions are interesting, particularly the Temptation of the Capuchins,' the first settlers in the Ohio,' by Galt, and the Golden Basket Bearer,' by J. A. St. John. With some few exceptions, the poetical pieces are very mediocre. Some are destitute of common rhythm, and others, by conceited phraseology, 'o'erstep the modesty of nature.' Such are frequently the compositions of Mr. Housman, a fertile contributor to the Annuals; of whose imaginative genius we present the following specimen, entitled TWILIGHT :' "The spirit-hour of Eve with smile benign Shadows the earth; rocks, fields, and mountains lie, Shrouded in colourless tranquillity, Beneath the starry vault: The sweetbreathed kine,' [resign Couched on the jewelled grass, themselves To timely sleep, soothed by the breeze's sigh, And the dim river's blended harmony, Whose snaky folds through grey mists faintly shine. Twilight! ineek season set apart for thought; E'en as a gulf art thou 'twixt night and day; Wherein who lingers, owns the potent sway Of old remembrances; and visions fraught With primal sympathies around him float; Sweet as Eolian numbers-vague as they!" What a strange combination of heterogeneous imagery. Here is the sweet hour of approaching eve haunted by spirits, accompanied by shadows and sable shrouds, yet assuming a smile benign;' and the whole enveloped in colourless tranquillity,' as if tranquillity— -a mere abstract idea, could be red, blue, white, or green, or possess a visible quality. What are the folds of a river? We have heard of the windings or the meanderings of a river, but never of its 'folding,' twisting, or circumvolving. The idea of 'twilight' being a 'gulf 'twixt night and day,' where the traveller is to linger in contemplation, is ridiculous. Twilight,' according to common-sense notions, is the uniting of or insensibly blending night with day; but a gulf would for ever separate them. Query, may not gulf be a poetic error for bridge! On the bad taste of rhyming the words tranquillity' and harmony' with 'lie' and 'sigh,' in so short a piece, it is unnecessary to dwell, |