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We have at this time upon our table || Souvenir, or Cabinet of Poetry and Rofour of those beautiful annuals, for the in- || mance, edited by Alaric A. Watts," publishtroduction of which, in this country, three years ago, we are indebted to Mr. Ackermann; and, really, when we contemplate their rich and varied literary contents, and the number and admirable style of their respective embellishments, we are absolutely astonished at the quantum of talent which they display. Three of these four volumes, in imitation of the German almanacks, bear the following titles :-" Forget-Me-Not, a We shall offer a few remarks upon each, Christmas and New-Year's Gift, for 1826," in the order in which they are here menpublished by Ackermann ;-" The Literary || tioned; regretting only that we cannot de

vote to them individually, at least as great
a portion of room as we are permitted to
allot to them collectively. Certainly, with
respect to literature and the arts, the pro-
prietors of these publications have adopted
the most certain mode of ensuring their
success: they appear, indeed, to have en-
listed in their support nearly all the popu-
lar literary talent of the age. It may seem
a little egotistical, perhaps ; but, really, our ||
vanity—or, rather, our consciousness of
desert will not suffer us to resist the
inclination of stating, that, amongst the
host of respectable and highly-gifted con-
tributors to these annuals, we observe
many names to which LA BELLE ASSEM-
BLEE is eminently indebted. Of ladies, we
venture to mention Miss Jane Porter, Miss
Roberts, Mrs. C. B. Wilson, Mrs. Hofland,||
and Miss Pickersgill; and, in the list of
gentlemen's names are-the Rev. W. B.
Clarke, Messrs. Brandreth, Bird, Harral,
Stafford, &c.

Mr. Ackermann, in the preface to this his fourth annual effort, observes:-" The graphic embellishments, fourteen in number, executed in the highest style of the art, will speak for themselves, and sufficiently attest the solicitude of the publisher to produce in this work a bijou in|| every respect worthy of the endearing purpose for which it is designed." This is perfectly just. The view of the Bridge of Sighs, engraved by Le Keux, from a design by Prout, and illustrated by a very striking historical sketch, is the loveliest gem of its class we ever saw. The French Capuchin Convent at Athens, in which Lord Byron resided during his first visit to Greece, is little inferior. The window of the room mostly occupied by his Lordship, and in which he composed parts of his poem of Childe Harold, is indicated. The plate has great interest, also, from its distinct representation of that fine monument of antiquity, the Lantern of Demosthenes, attached to the gable end of the convent, and ascertained to have been erected more than three centuries before the commence

ment of the Christian era. Contemplation," from a design by Westall; and The Child's Dream, The Regretted Ghost, and Sir Everhard (illustrating a tale of Mr. Stafford's) by the same artist, are all more or less entitled to praise; as are Woman's

Love, and Days of Old (illustrating a Saxon Romance of Mr. Harral's) by H. Corbould. Evening Prayer at a Girls' School, engraved by Heath, from a drawing by Singleton, illustrates some charming verses by that first of contemporary female poets, Mrs. Hemans. Of the three views relating to the Pavilion at Brighton, that of the Banqueting Room, designed by Pugin, and engraved by Winckles, is more particularly remarkable for its distinctness and splendour. We have not room to enumerate the others.

Sir Everhard, a Tale of Chivalry; The Intrigues of Venice, by the author of Doblado's Letters; A Village Sketch, by Miss Mitford; The Phantom Voice; and St. Agnes' Fountain, the Romaunt of a Finsbury Archer, by the editor of the Chronicles of London Bridge, are amongst our prose favourites in this volume. Of the poetry, we are particularly pleased with Evening Prayer at School, by Mrs. Hemans; The Island of Atlantis, by the Rev. G. Croly; The Debutante, by Mrs. C. B. Wilson; a Tale of St. Michael's Mount, by Mr. Bird; Stanzas, by Henry Neele, Esq., and, though last not least, a sweet, tender, and graceful tale, entitled The Bride of the Danube, and involving the poetical origin of the myosolis, or forget-me-not, by that young and promising writer Miss Pickersgill. We find also the names of Barton, Miss Landon, the Rev. W. B. Clarke, Brandreth, Bowring, the Rev. R. Polwhele, Mrs. Bowdich, the late Mrs. Cobbold, Montgomery, &c.

It would afford us much pleasure could we find room for a prose specimen from each of these volumes; but as there is not, in any one of them, an entire piece sufficiently short for our purpose, our readers, we trust, will be content with a few poetical effusions, not, perhaps, in every instance selected from the best, but from the shortest. From the Forget-me-not, we shall select the poem to which we have already alluded, by Mrs. Hemans-Evening Prayer at a Girls' School:

Hush! 'tis a holy hour-the quiet room

Seems like a temple, while yon soft lamp

sheds

A faint and starry radiance, through the gloom
And the sweet stillness, down on bright

young heads,

And all their clustering locks, untouch'd by general interest of graphic embellishment, it is impossible, we conceive, to surpass

care,

in prayer.

them,

And bow'd-as flowers are bow'd with night- The Literary Souvenir. We find amongst "the celebrated pictures by Leslie and Newton, entitled The Rivals, and Lovers' Quarrel, now engraved for the first time by T. W. Finden and Rolls; Bolton Abbey, by E. Finden, after a splendid drawing, by Turner; Richmond Hill, by Good

Gaze on, 'tis lovely!-childhood's lip and cheek,

Mantling beneath its earnest brow of thought! Gaze, yet what seest thou in those fair and

meek

And fragile things, as but for sunshine all, after a drawing made by Turner ex

wrought?

pressly for this work; The Forsaken, by

-Thou seest what grief must nurture for the Heath, after a picture by Newton, painted

sky,

also expressly for this work; Lady Louisa Russell, by Thomson, after the well-known statue by Chantrey, in the Gallery at Woburn Abbey, &c." The expense of these productions, as we know from experience, must be enormous; and it is only by the immense sale which meritorious and highly-embellished publications find in this enlightened era, distinguished by its patronage of literature and the arts, that the proprietors can be remunerated. The brownish tinge, possessed by the expensive paper on which the plates in this volume are printed, heightens their effect-gives them a softness and a warmth which must be vainly sought for on paper of intense whiteness.

If in literary merit the Souvenir be not superior to all its competitors, it is assuredly not inferior. The Lovers' Quarrel, a Tale of the English Chronicles; The Diamond Watch; The Rivals; The Two Pictures, or The Golden Bodkin, by the author of Gilbert Earle; The Old Manor House, by Delta; and Rosamunda, a Venetian Fragment, by Miss Roberts, are all capital tales. Amongst the numerous contributors in prose and verse we also find :Alaric Watts, Wiffen, Mrs. Hemans, Miss Landon, the Rev. W. L. Bowles, Montgomery, Miss Jewsbury, the Rev. T. Dale, B. Barton, Malcolm, Hogg, the Rev. R. Polwhele, Galt, Allan Cunningham, the Rev. E. Barnard, Archdeacon Wrangham, Clare the Northamptonshire Peasant, Doubleday, Mrs. Howitt, Campbell, Mrs.

On through the dark days fading from their C. B. Wilson, Southey, Bowring, Milman,

prime,

Miss Mitford, Coleridge, the late Rev.

As a sweet dew to keep your souls from C. R. Maturin, &c.-We have not for a

blight!

long time read any thing finer than Aymer's Tomb, by Mrs. Hemans. Alaric Watts has enriched his volume with several of his own valuable compositions: Richmond In richness and beauty, in variety and Hill, Love's Wealth, My own Fire-Side,

Earth will forsake-oh! happy to have given
Th' unbroken heart's first fragrance unto

Heaven!

The Bachelor's Dilemma, The Poet's Den,
The May-Flowers of Life, The First Kiss,
The Death of Pompey the Great, and A
Remonstrance, are all from his pen. From
these we select, as one of the author's
playful efforts, The Bachelor's Dilemma :-
"How happy could I be with either."
Beggar's Opera.

By all the bright saints in the Missal of Love,
They are both so intensely, bewitchingly fair,
That, let Folly look solemn, and Wisdom re-
prove,

I can't make up my mind which to choose
of the pair.

There is Fanny, whose eye is as blue and as bright

As the depths of Spring-skies in their noontide array;

Whose every fair feature is gleaming in light,

Like the ripple of waves in a sunshiny day:

Whose form, like the willow, so slender and lithe,

Has a thousand wild motions of lightness and grace;

Whose heart, as a bird's, ever buoyant and blithe,

Is the home of the sweetness that breathes from her face.

There is Helen, more stately of gesture and mien,

Whose beauty a world of dark ringlets enshroud;

With a black regal eye, and the step of a queen, And a brow, like the moon breaking bright from a cloud.

With a bosom, whose chords are so tenderly strung,

That a word, nay, a look, oft will waken its sighs;

With a face, like the heart-searching tones of

her tongue,

Full of music that charms both the simple and wise.

In my moments of mirth, amid glitter and glee,
When the soul takes the hue that is brightest

From the blaze of her brightness I turn for relief,

To the pensive and peace-breathing beauty of Helen!

And when sorrow and joy are so blended together,

That to weep I'm unwilling, to smile am as loth;

When the beam may be kicked by the weight of a feather;

I would fain keep it even-by wedding them both!

But since I must fix or on black eyes or blue, Quickly make up my mind 'twixt a Grace and a Muse;

Pr'ythee, Venus, instruct me that course to pursue

Which even Paris himself had been puzzled to choose!

Thus murmured a bard-predetermined to
marry,

But so equally charmed by a Muse and a
Grace,

That though one of his suits might be doomed
to miscarry,

He'd another he straight could prefer in its place!

So, trusting that "Fortune would favour the brave,"

He asked each in her turn, but they both said him nay;

Lively Fanny declared he was somewhat too grave,

And Saint Helen pronounced him a little too gay!

May so awful a fate bid young poets beware How they sport with their hopes till they darken and wither;

For who thus dares presume to make love to a pair,

May be certain he'll ne'er be accepted by

either.

Friendship's Offering, edited by another of our highly-gifted living poets, T. K. Hervey, has its full share of attraction. In literature it will not blush upon comparison with any of its rivals. In all that is before us to-day we find so much to praise, and so little to censure, that, lest we should be suspected of flattery, we are almost tempted abruptly to close our notice. An Adventure amongst the Alps, by the author of And my heart with a host of wild fancies is Gilbert Earle; many pieces by Mr. Her

of any,
From her sister's enchantment my spirit is free,
And the bumper I crown is a bumper to
Fanny.

But when shadows come o'er me of sickness or grief,

swelling,

vey; A Hindoo Girl by an Urn, by L.E.L;