where the Foscarini and the Donati dwelt, in those days when Venice was at her height of mystery and magnificence. The other side is, on the contrary, just the image of a Dutch town; the masses of floating planks, the low tile-covered buildings, the crowded warehouses-mean, dingy, but full of wealth and industry -are the exact semblance of the towns which like those of the haughty bride of the Adriatic, rose from the very bosom of the deep-Amsterdam and Venice. The his tory of the Italians is picturesque and chivalric, but that of the Dutch has always seemed to me the beau-idéal of honourable industry, rational exertion, generally enjoyed liberty, and all strong in more than one brave defence. He does not deserve to read history, who does not enjoy the gallant manner in which they beat back Louis XIV.

The two banks of the river embody the English nation," thought Charles; "there is its magnificence and its poetry, its terraces, its pillars, and its carved emblazonings; and on the other is its trade, its industry, its warehouses, and their many signs of skill and toil. Ah! the sun is rising over them, as if in encouragement. I here take the last lesson of my destiny. I have chosen the wrong side of the river -forced upon exertion, what had I to do with the poetry of life?”

The river became at every instant more beautiful; long lines of crimson light trembled in the stream; fifty painted spires glittered in the bright air, each marking one of those sacred fanes where the dead find a hallowed rest, and the living a hallowed hope. In the midst arose the giant dome of St. Paul's-a mighty shrine, fit for the thanksgiving of a mighty people. As yet, the many houses around lay in unbroken repose; the gardens of the Temple looked green and quiet as if far away in some lonely valley; and the few solitary trees scattered among the houses seemed to drink the fresh morning air, and rejoice. "How strong is the love of the country in all indwellers of towns!" exclaimed Charles. "How many creepers, shutting out the dark wall, can I see from this spot! how many pots of bright-coloured and sweetscented plants are carefully nursed in windows, which, but for them, would be dreary indeed! And yet, even here, is that wretched inequality in which fate delights alike in the animate and inanimate world. What have those miserable trees and shrubs done, that they should thus be surrounded by an unnatural world of brick,-the air, which is their life, close and poisoned, and the very rain, which should refresh them, but washing down the soot and dust from the roofs above; and all this, when so many of their race flourish in the glad and open fields, their free branches spreading to the morning dews and the summer showers, while the earliest growth of violets springs beneath their shade.'

He turned discontentedly to the other side of the bridge.

"Beautiful!" was his involuntary ejaculation. The waves were freighted as if with Tyrian purple, so rich was the sky which they mirrored; the graceful arches of Westminster Bridge stretched lightly across, and, shining like alabaster, rose the carved walls of the fine old Abbey, where sleep the noblest of England's dead. Honour to the glorious past!-how it honoured us! Once we were the future, and how much was done for our sake!-The contrast between above and below the bridge is very striking. Below, all seems for use, except

Somerset House-and even that, when we think, is but a superb office-and the Temple gardens: all is crowded, dingy, and commercial. Above, wealth has arrived at luxury; and the grounds behind Whitehall, the large and ornamental houses, have all the outward signs of rank and riches.

Charles turned sullenly from them, and watched the boats now floating with the tide. As yet few were in motion; the huge barges rested by the banks, but two or three colliers came on with their large black sails, and darkening the glistening river as they passed. At this moment, the sweet chimes of St. Bride struck five, and the sound was immediately repeated by the many clocks on every side for an instant, the air was filled with music.

"Curious it is," murmured our hero, "that every hour of our day is repeated from myriad chimes, and yet how rarely do we attend to the clock striking! Alas! how emblematic is this of the way in which we neglect the many signs of time! How terrible, when we think of what Time may achieve, is the manner in which we waste it! At the end of every man's life, at least three-quarters of the mighty element of which that life was composed, will be found void-lost-nay, utterly forgotten! And yet that time, laboured and husbanded, might have built palaces, gathered wealth, and, still greater, made an imperishable name."

Art. VII-1. Fifty-one original Fables, with Morals and Ethical Index, embellished with Eighty-five original Designs, by R. Cruickshank engraved on Wood. Also, a Translation of Plutarch's Banquet of the Seven Sages, revised for this Work. 8vo. pp. 251. Price 12s. London, 1833.

2. Flowers of Fable; culled from Epictetus, Croxall, Dodsley, Gay, Cowper, Pope, Moore, Merrick, Denis, and Tapner; with original Translations from La Fontaine, Krasicki, Herder, Gellert, Lessing, Pignotti, and others: the whole selected for the Instruction of Youth, and pruned of all objectionable Matter. Embellished with One Hundred and Fifty Engravings on Wood. 18mo. pp. 352. Price 5s. London, 1832.

3. Moral Fables and Parables. By Ingram Cobbin, M.A. 24mo. pp. 167. Price 2s. London, 1832.

AN original fable is a novelty; and Dean Swift, who could

imitate almost any style, confesses, in a letter to Gay, that he could never succeed in a fable. Mr. Crithannah, the Author of the first of these publications, modestly states, that if per' adventure five out of his fifty should prove worthy of the know'ledge of posterity, his literary ambition will be satisfied.' Posterity, we cannot answer for; but he has taken the best possible method of gaining the favour of Posterity's worshipful predecessor, the public, by employing Mr. R. Cruickshank to illustrate these fables by some extremely clever and humorous designs, ex

cellently cut on wood. We should wish to pick out one of the five best, if possible, but are not sure whether the Author would fix upon the following as one.

FABLE XVII.

THE THISTLE AND THE WHEAT.

"What an unarmed, pusillanimous, humble being art thou!" said a Thistle to a blade of Wheat; "without a weapon to repulse an enemy, and contented to keep the benefit of thy acquirements within a circumscribed space. Why dost thou not make a bustle in the world as I do, keeping every one at bay, and when I choose, disseminating my opinions East, West, North, and South?" "I am not", replied the Wheat, "aware of having any enemies; and therefore need no weapon of defence. If I possess cultivated abilities, I am satisfied to comfort and instruct my immediate neighbourhood therewith, and my instructions are received cordially. Thou needest not to pride thyself on spreading afar thy opinions, since thy neighbours wish not for them; and, for my own part, I am inclined to believe that, wherever thy wild doctrines take root, they invariably prove a curse.'

999

Lest we should have failed to choose aright, we will make room for another specimen.

FABLE XXXIII.

" THE COW AND THE GOAT.

'A Cow was grazing in a rich meadow, when raising her head, she observed a Goat tearing some ivy from a tree that grew hard by. Interested for his welfare, " Desist ", said she, " from browsing on those poisonous leaves, and partake with me of this delicious herbage." To this warning the Goat paid no attention, but continued to eat. At last, the Cow thought proper, in kindness, to employ her superior strength, and drove him away. "I doubt not", said the Goat, "that your intentions are good, and that you consider you are doing me a personal favour;-as such, I give you credit for your good will; but permit me to tell you that your solicitude savours too much of the powerful to be, under any circumstances, convincing, and that in this instance, founded as it is in ignorance of what is wholesome for me and delicious to my palate, it is absurdly intrusive."'

We have not room to insert the Moral. A high tone of moral sentiment pervades the work, and the Author's object has evidently been to promote the improvement of his readers.

The Flowers of Fable deserves high praise, as well for its excellent design as for its tasteful execution. Most of the collections of Fables which find their way into schools, and into the hands of young persons, on the strength of their supposed harmlessness and prescriptive reputation, contain many fables of very doubtful tendency, inculcating craft, selfishness, or expediency,

6

or marked by other glaring improprieties. In the present collection, drawn from a great variety of sources, great care has been taken, both in the selection, and in the exclusion of all objectionable expressions. The dull, lengthy applications' of Croxall and other prosing commentators, have been discarded, and the spirit of the fable is indicated by a brief sentence or a few lines of verse, or by the introduction of an engraved tail-piece which aims at delineating the fact, while the fable narrates the fiction. Such is the plan of the volume. In a collection of this description, little novelty is to be looked for; but the fables from the Polish of Krasicki are new to us, and we shall transcribe one as a specimen. We regret that we cannot give a specimen of the wood engravings, which add not a little to the attractiveness of this nice little book.

THE BROOK AND THE FOUNTAIN.

A Fountain varied gambols played,
Close by an humble brook;

While gently murmuring through the glade,
Its peaceful course it took.

Perhaps it gave one envious gaze
Upon the Fountain's height;
While glittering in the morning rays,
Pre-eminently bright.

'In all the colours of the sky
Alternately it shone:

The Brook observed it with a sigh,
But quielly rolled on.

The owner of the Fountain died;
Neglect soon brought decay;
The bursting pipes were ill supplied;
The Fountain ceased to play.

But still the Brook its peaceful course

Continued to pursue;

Her ample, inexhausted source

From Nature's fount she drew.

"Now," said the Brook, "I bless my fate,

My shewy rival gone;
Contented in its native state,

My little stream rolls on.

"And all the world has cause, indeed,
To own with grateful heart,

How much great Nature's works excel

The feeble works of art."'

Mr. Cobbin's modest labours are designed for the benefit and amusement of infant minds.' Most of them are illustrative of the real habits of the birds or animals which are introduced; and they are well adapted by their simple style for the youngest readers. We must give a specimen.

FABLE XXV.

6 THE FALLING KITE.

A Kite having risen to a very great height, moved in the air as stately as a prince, and looked down with much contempt on all below. "What a superior being I am now!" said the Kite; "who has ever ascended so high as I have? What a poor grovelling set of beings are all those beneath me! I despise them." And then he shook his head in derision; and then he wagged his tail; and again he steered along with so much state as if the air were all his own, and as if every thing must make way before him; when suddenly the string broke, and down fell the kite with greater haste than he ascended, and was greatly hurt in the fall.'

NOTICE.

Art. VIII. The Englishman's Almanack; or, Daily Calendar of General Information for the United Kingdom, for the Year of Our Lord 1833. Containing, with a Complete Calendar of the Year, including the Revolutions of the Heavenly Bodies, Times of High Water, Anniversaries, and Historical Memoranda, Statistics of English Counties; Copious Tables of the Population of Different Districts in England, shewing the Proportion of Population to Acre, and of Crime to Population, &c. &c. The Jewish and Mahometan Calendars: Lists of the Peers, the Ministry, Corporation of London, Bankers, &c., the New Duties on Imported Goods, the Expenditure for 1833; the Colonies, &c. And a Statement of the Representation of Great Britain and Ireland, as Established by the Reform Act, with Valuable Particulars of that Law. 18mo. 2s. 6d. stitched.

AMONG the Annuals, those which lay claim to the most venerable antiquity, those which interest all readers, and speak a language intelligible to all nations, the Almanacks, ought not to be overlooked. It is indeed only of late that they have assumed a literary character,— that they have fallen in with the march of intellect. Some of our Almanacks have long supported a scientific reputation. We have before us the Eighty-fourth impression of White's Ephemeris or Celestial Atlas', edited by Dr. Olinthus Gregory, our best astronomical Almanack. The Lady's Diary, singularly enough, not less than the Gentleman's Diary, has been distinguished by its mathematical as well as enigmatic lore. The Englishman's Almanack is a younger competitor for public favour. The quantity and value of statistical informa