CRITICAL NOTICES OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. 431 



speak of a prose comiimnication by T. K. Hervey, entitled ** The Bear 

 of Carniola" — it is a wild and romantic story, full of fire, yet relieved 

 with traces of subduing tenderness. ** The Love-suit," by Captain 

 M'Naghten, is a pleasing piece of amateur poetry, not remarkable for 

 strength whatever it may be for smoothness : ** The River," by Charles 

 Swain, is very charming ; the woods, the vale and fields, are all rendered 

 more grand, more beautiful, and more lovely by the silver stream.— 

 " The Fortunes of Alice Law,'' a tale by William Howitt, is full of thought 

 and energy, exhibiting a profound investigation of human nature, and 

 moving us by its inimitable simplicity, its truth, its earnestness and deep 

 pathos ; it is, in fact, the crown of the volume. " The Parents to their 

 Children," by the Rev. R. Polwhele, breathes a fine strain of religious 

 fervour, and conveys a noble and impressive lesson to the young : " The 

 child of genius," by G. Morine, is striking : " Now or never,'' a tale by 

 Mrs. Gore, is pretty and interesting, written in a sprightly vein, but 

 scarcely equal to many of the lighter productions of her fascinating 

 pen : — '* Vows," by Leontine, are more unintelligible than we could wish ; 

 encumbered with words in which unfortunately sound is more affected 

 than sense, the meaning of the writer staggers and swoons away beneath 

 its ponderous trappings and too glittering ornaments. " The Forsaken," 

 by Delta, is pleasing and musical : *' The Cottage in the Hebrides," by 

 N. Michell, Esq. is a fascinating little bit of landscape scenery, Hobbima, 

 or Ruysdael would have painted it with effect. The prose account of the 

 Protestant burial-ground at Rome, is picturesque and abounding with 

 interesting incident and striking and beautiful reflections : the lines on 

 the death of *' Rudolph Ackermann" are energetic, and form a fine eulo- 

 gium upon the moral virtues, the taste, feeling, liberality, and patriotic 

 philanthropy of that amiable and enterprising man. 



We have now touched carefully and impartially upon the greater 

 portion of the contents of this very pleasmg volume, and although we 

 employ not one of the superlatives too lavishly and indiscriminately 

 bestowed upon works of this class, we do not hesitate to recommend the 

 Forget-me-not for 1835, to the good graces of that portion of the public 

 in which its principal patrons are generally found. 



The Oriental Annual, or, Scenes in India j comprising twenty-two En- 

 gravings from Original Drawings, by William Daniell, R. A. and a 

 Descriptive Account, by the Rev. Hobart Caunter, B. D. London : 

 Churton, Holies-street. 1835. 



This is one of the Annuals — those fairy books of beauty — to which 

 the appellation " valuable," may be truly and fearlessly applied. Its 

 object is not to impress upon the attention some trite moral with which 

 we are as intimate as with our night-cap ; nor to entertain us with some 

 piece of sickly sentiment or jejune gaiety limping along like a super- 

 annuated beau of the champs Elys^es tricked out in the fluttering extra- 

 vagance of the mode. To inform as well as to interest is the aim of " the 

 Oriental Annual," and while we dwell with pleasure and curiosity upon 

 the really exquisite embellishments of this superb publication, we feel 

 an increased satisfaction in the knowledge that in the literary portion of 

 the work we are presented with an accurate and a minute description of 

 the scenes. 



The Rev. Gentleman to whose pleasing and intelligent pen we are 

 indebted for the text of this charming volume, is well qualified for the 

 task he has undertaken ; a personal acquaintance with the country he 

 depicts — with the natives, their manners, customs, social character and 



