1830.] 



Domestic and Foreign. 



601 



was affirmed to be* to multiply slaves. 

 All this kind of nonsense vanishes be- 

 fore precise inquiry. The elephant of 

 the menageries occupies the writer's 

 first division of his subject. His struc- 

 ture is next exhibited in connection 

 with his natural habits. Then comes 

 the Indian elephant in a state of con- 

 finementhis fertility in that state his 

 growth and the modes of capturing 

 wild ones in Asia. Then the African 

 elephant, and descriptions of elephant 

 hunts. Then their domestic employ- 

 ment in the East training docility 



travelling sports exhibitions of cruel- 

 ty processions and ceremonies and, 

 finally, their employment in the wars of 

 modern Asia. The author has neglected 

 no source of accurate information as to 

 either the elephant's wild state or do- 

 mestic one his anatomical structure or 

 his habits and propensities and has sup- 

 plied a volume that classes justly under 

 the title of Entertaining Knowledge. 

 The cuts are numerous, and though 

 some of them are coarse, all of them are 

 spirited, and much to the purpose. 



FINE ARTS' PUBLICATIONS. 



THE ANNUALS. 



THE appearance of the illustrations of 

 certain of these " elegant trifles" last month 

 the blossom of the fruit that was to fol- 

 low the gold-laced outriders of the gay 

 procession prepared us for the scene which 

 we now survey ; a table covered with lite- 

 rary luxuries, dainties that too often excite 

 the palate without gratifying it and that 

 resemble rather the French dishes and con- 

 fectionary of a repast than the more solid 

 essentials that should accompany them. 

 Let us make the most of our dessert, then, 

 in the absence of a dinner ; let us endea- 

 vour to subsist for a time upon the " smiles 

 and wine" that they offer ; and if we 

 cannot say much for their flavour, let us 

 content ourselves with the poetical assu- 

 rance that they are really of " the brightest 

 hue." 



It is of little consequence which we take 

 up first. Which lies nearest us ? the 

 Friendship's Offering. Here it is at once 

 elegant and substantial. The talents of 

 Leslie and Humpbrys have been actively 

 employed upon the opening plate Ade- 

 laide ; it is a fair and tasteful commence- 

 ment. The Last Look can scarcely be 

 called a look of any kind ; so foolish an 

 expression would destroy the effect of a 

 much better performance than this. The 

 Maid of Rajast'han, by Col. James Tod 

 and E. Finden, is an Indian gem soft 

 and sparkling. The kneeling lover in the 

 Rejected, awnkens very little surprise in us 

 that the lady should disdain him ; though 

 he might justly return the compliment, for 

 she is scarcely less lack-a-daisical. The 

 Accepted, a companion to this, is quite 

 worthy of it. The Mountain Torrent, 

 Puser and Goodall, is, with the exception 

 of the water, a very beautiful production ; 

 though still inferior to St. Mark's Place, 

 Venice Prout and Roberts one of the 

 sweetest and most sunny that we have seen. 

 It seems touched with Italian light. Asca- 

 nius in the Lap of Venus, Wood and 

 Davenport, is another ;, it is a., graceful, 

 spirited, and poetical composition, delicately 

 sngraved. Mary Queen of Scots is remark- 



M.M. New Series. VOL. X. No. 5f). 



able for being the worst of the thousand 

 and one Marys that we remember ; but it 

 is amply atoned for by the beauty of the 

 Halt of the Caravan, Purser and Brandard, 

 which is novel, brilliant, and picturesque. 

 Auld Robin Gray, though too dark, evinces 

 the proper feeling of the ballad it is by 

 Rolls, from a picture by Wood. Carlo 

 Dolci crowns the volume with the head of 

 Poesie, to which Wm. Finden has given 

 all the warmth, tenderness and finish that 

 an engraving of this size is susceptible 

 of. Of the literature we shall say little 

 because we think little of it. Miss 

 Mitford's Country Tale, that opens the 

 volume, and Mr. St. John's Valley of 

 the Shadow of Death, that terminates it, 

 are among the best. The latter is strik- 

 ingly impressive. Mr. M'Farlane's Tale 

 of Venice, Mrs. Hall's Patty Conway, Mr. 

 Banim's Stolen Sheep, Mr. Fraser's Halt 

 of the Caravan ; and among the poetry 

 Mary Howitt's Countess Lamberti, are 

 papers of superior merit equalled by two 

 or three others ; and for the rest, the at- 

 traction lies principally in the names 

 among which are those of Kennedy, Barry 

 Cornwall, Hon. Mrs. Norton, Leitch Ritchie, 

 T. H. Bayly, Allan Cunningham, Miss 

 Jewsbury, Dr. Bowring, Mr. Pringle, Mr. 

 Hervey, &c. &c. 



The above remarks will apply, almost 

 word for word, to the Forget-Me-Not. 

 Yet, perhaps, upon the whole, there are 

 fewer blemishes and fewer beauties. The 

 first plate, Queen Esther, has all the pecu- 

 liarities of Martin, with few of his excel- 

 lences ; and the vignette is despicably 

 tasteless and absurd. The False One, by 

 Miss Sharpe and J. Agar, is, with the ex- 

 ception of the two principal figures, an 

 elegant composition. An Italian Scene, by 

 Barrett and Freebairn, is pleasingly exe- 

 cuted ; and the Cat's Paw of E. Landseer, 

 engraved by Graves, though not clearly 

 made out, is full of humour. The Political 

 Cobbler, Chisholme and Shenton, and the 

 Japanese Palace, Prout and Carter, also 

 evince opposite orders of merit. If the 

 lady whom Mr. Corbould has represented 



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