J831.] C 15 ] 



THE CALENDAR OF KINGS. 



The changes in the various conditions of society have naturally been 

 the old theme of moralists and divines. But if the world goes on as it 

 has been going of late, all our maxims on the topic must be taken from 

 the highest rank alone. In what family, in what village, in what other 

 condition of life have there been so many reverses and changes as 

 among the rulers of nations during the last year, whether from the 

 throne to exile, or from the throne to the grave. Here is a list of one 

 single twelvemonth's work of fortune and nature among the mightiest of 

 the mighty : — 



France Charles X Deposed. 



Algiers ]\Iahmoud Turned out. 



Rome Pius VIII Dead. 



Saxony Anthony Deposed. 



Naples Francis ' Dead. 



Belgium WiUiam Deposed. 



Sardinia Charles Felix Dead. 



Brunswick Duke Charles Deposed. 



Greece Capo D'Istrias Resigned. 



Brazils Don Pedro I Abdicated. 



To which we must add, with more regret, George the Fourth, by whose 

 decease two crowns were vacated at once — England and Hanover. 



In this list we have said nothing of Constantine the Beloved—" our 

 eldest brother," whom the Poles hunted out of the land with so strong 

 an inclination for catching him ; and whose moustaches are not yet safe 

 from the rebel-razor. In fact, the moustache cause is going down rapidly in 

 all quarters, and the time will soon come, when his Highness of Cum- 

 berland will be the only illustrious wearer of those wild-boarish orna- 

 ments in Europe. In the hst we have also omitted the Illustrious of 

 the East, where, however, a throne is too like a pillory, or the top step 

 of the guillotine, to make us wonder at any thing, but that men with 

 heads on their shoulders will take the trouble of mounting it; — a 

 sovereign a week being the average allowance among the turban- wearers 

 beyond the Indus. 



A correspondent from the land of the sun thus describes the employ- 

 ment of one of the monarchs ;— " His JVIajesty of Luck)iow amuses his 

 leisure liours with flying kites ; and, in order that no mistake may be 

 made as to whose kite flies highest, or as to the fortunate wight who 

 leaves his competitors behind him, his Majesty has fixed upon scarlet as 

 the royal colour, and has issued a proclamation to his loving subjects, 

 forbidding them the use of scarlet kites I" The Indian wits say, that 

 his sport is of the most heroic description, and that European kings are, 

 three-fourths of their time, doing nothing but flying scarlet kites, or 

 raising the wind to fly them. The Great Mogul, whose lineaments grace 

 the envelop to every pack of cards, has been fleeced both of power 

 and dominions, and is a mere pensioner of our own government, subsisting 

 upon the grant of a considerable annual stipend ; his authority is vir- 

 tually confined to the control of his own domestic household, which 

 is extensive, and, doubtless, sufficiently unmanageable. From him we 

 hear at the utmost twice a year ; once, on the occasion of his paying 



