LITERATURE OF THE ANNUALS.

SEVERAL of the Annuals have already made their appearance, and amongst them some distinguished for a peculiarity either of nature or accident.

Of these the Oriental may first challenge attention, for the splendour of its decorations and the ambitious character of its literature. Its editor, the Reverend HOBART CAUNTER, has judi- ciously changed the theme of his book before the subject was worn out or the reader wearied. The Oriental no longer contains the points of a tour, but commences the " Lives of the Moghul Emperors ;" two of Wil0111—TAMERLANE and BABER—are dis- missed in the present volume of the series. To describe the con- solidation of the empire under AKHAR, the grandson of BABER, and to exhibit his " profound and benevolent policy ;" to show its hollow splendour under AURUNGZEBE, and develop his deep dis- simulation and hypocrisy, as well as trace the rapid downfal of the Mogul dynasty from internal discordant elements, the devastating invasion of NADIR SHAH, and the growth of the English power, will, we should think, worthily fill two more volumes, and complete another cycle of three. If it should be asked whether such subjects as these-are fitted for Annuals, one of two proverbial axioms may be given in an- swer—"Any thing is better than nothing," or "Whatever is best administered is best." Should information be desired upon the point insinuated in the last remark, it may be said that the execu- tion is excellent for an Annual, respectable in almost any point of comparison, but somewhat deficient in biographical spirit and his- torical grasp, if tested by a high standard. We are aware of the argument that may be built upon European indifference to Oriental characters and events ; but neither of these objections applies to the persons whose lives are narrated in the volume be- fore us. TIMOUR the Tartar belongs, in his public capacity, to universal history ; and, bloody barbarian though he was, he rose above the spirit of his age and country, whilst he concentrated in himself all its vices. His personal character is strongly marked. The events of his youth and early manhood are full of romance, when, as the unsuccessful chief of a petty band, lie was skulking for safety in woods and mountains, or wandering in the deserts with his wife and some half-dozen followers in a state of whole starvation to any one save a Tartar, or displaying almost super- human valour at the head of his followers : his whole career is distinguished by great events and much variety; and he points the same important moral as may be gleaned from the lives of ALEX- ANDER, ZENGHIS KHAN, CHARLES Of Sweden, and NAPOLEON BONAPARTE — the unsubstantial and fleeting nature of mere con- quests. His exploits are, moreover, known from a crowd of histo- rians; and what is better still, he has given, or professed to give, (for, though superstitious, he was an accomplished hypocrite,) an account of his thoughts, feelings, and motives, in an autobiography which, after the concealment of many ages, appeared before the world within the last half century. In the case ef BADER, if the historical interest was less, the biographical was far greater; for

the true founder of the Mogul dynasty of Hindostan was not merely a monarch but a man, and a man who had lived a life of peril and vicissitude without having his feelings blunted or his temper soured —who achieved greatness, and bade defiance to its petrifying power, retaining upon the throne of Delhi the simplicity of his early habits and the cheerful jollity and sociability of his early character, and,

what to posterity was of more importance, who described his

" birth, parentage, and education, life, character, and behaviour," very amply and naïvely in his delightful memoirs. Looking,

therefore, at the men and the materials, we think that, with more judgment and more study, a better book might have been pro- duced. Mr. CA UNTER appears to- confound together history and biography, and that injudiciously. He also seems to have snatched his materials from the first quarry, and to have looked at his sub- jects rather than studied them. Our fair readers may probably by this time be wondering in what manner the prettiest part of an Annual, its plates, can be connected with such subjects as kings and conquerors : and we are able to say, very cleverly. In describing the early training of TIMOUR, for instance, it is natural to speak of the necessity of crossing mountain torrents ; and this subject furnishes a digres- sive description and a plate. The dangers of the jungle to the hunter of beasts or the hunted of men, gives occasion to speak of alligators; and lo ! Mr. DANIELS'S pencil brings before us a bullock attacked by one of those monsters. Both TIMOUR and BABER, in their adversity, commanded what we should call free- booters; helm a picture of a Mogul trooper, with his band and castle. BADER was fond of natural history, a fact which serves to introduce the fire pheasant of Java. The Ganges watered his empire: put down a description of the Ganges and a couple of views. Approaching Delhi, the conqueror passed over a bridge ; which serves to hitch in an account of it and an engraving. Though given to tipple more than would have be- seemed a monarch of greater pretence, SABER was a formally de- vout follower of the Prophet ; thus we have a sketch of a Ma- hometan at prayers. By these and similar ingenuities, the pur- chaser is provided with his two-and-twenty plates.

The following bit of regal criticism occurs in a letter from BASER to his son ; and is worthy of forming a motto to all Po- lite Letter-writers; nor would contributors to Annuals be the worse for laying the latter part to heart.

" In compliance with my wishes, you have indeed written me letters, but you certainly never read them over ; for, had you attempted to read them, you must have found it absolutely impossible, and would then undoubtedly have put them by. I contrived, indeed, to decipher and comprehend the meaning of your last letter, but with much difficulty. It is excessively confused and crabbed. Who ever saw a moanune in prose? Your spelling is not bad, yet

not quite correct. You have written ' with a toe instead of a te, and ' kuling ' with a be instead of a kaf. Your letter may be read ; but, in con- sequence of the far-fetched words you have employed, the meaning is by no means intelligible. You certainly do not excel in letter-writing, and fail chiefly because you have too great a desire to show your acquirements. For the future you should write unaffectedly, with clearness, using plain words, which would cost less trouble both to the writer and reader."

This account of his death is alike characteristic of the simpli- city and unselfish nature of the Irian. The life of his eldest son

being despaired of, the Emperor set out for &unbind, which he reached just as it was supposed lite Prince was at the point of death. Whilst standing by the bed of his son, at this time scarcely conscious of the imperial presence, accompanied by several nobles of his court, one among them, a man of dis- tinguished wisdom and acknowledged piety, observed, that in cases like the pre- sent, the Deity sometimes condescended to accept a vicarious offering ; and re- commended that the monarch should present the must valuable thing lie pos- sessed as a ransom for the life of his heir. Bober assented to this; and ob- serving that, next to the life of Humairion, his own was the thing most prized by him in this world, declared his determination to devote it in the way sug- xested. The nobles unanimously protested against such an act of paternal tenderness, and proposed that he should give the diamond taken at the surrender of Agra, which would be accepted as a sufficient redemption ; pronouncing the purport of the declaration of that noble who had suggested the measure, in which the wise augur himself at once concurred, to be that the most precious of a monarch's worldly possessions would be a more acceptable oblation upon such an occasion than the sacrifice of his life. Baber would not consent to what he conceived to be a false interpretation of a sacred law laid down by the ancient sages ; solemnly affirming, that as nothing in this world could be so pre- .dons as human life, he was determined to relinquish it in order to secure the restoration of his son. His nobles endeavoured to dissuade him from his reso- lution; assuring him that he had put an erroneous construction upon what had been said, and declaring, that according to the well-known maxim of the primi- tive syeds, the most valuable worldly possession would he held upon this occa- sion an effectual offering. The Emperor was deaf to the anxious remonstrances of his friends ; who again proposed that he should offer the beautiful diamond taken at Agra, the finest gem among the imperial treasures. " No gem, of whatever value," said Baber in reply, " can be put in competition with human life: I am therefore determined to offer mine for the restoration of my son." Having come to this final determination, lie entered the Prince's chamber, and walked thrice round his couch, using certain gesticulations customary among the Mohammedans when they visit they deathbed of an expiring relative. Ile hung tenderly over his dying son, and then quitted the apartment, offering up an earnest prayer to God that the malady should be transferred to him, if the Prince might be permitted to recover at no less a sacrifice. After he had been absent some short time, be was heard to exclaim, " I have borne it away ! I lave borne it away !" The Mussulman historians assert that from this moment the Emperor began to sink rapidly, and the Prince to recover. In proportion as the one lost his strength, the other regained, until it became evident to all present that Baber had reached the term of his mortality. Aware of his end, he summoned the principal nobles of his court, and communicated to them his last injunctions. He likewise called Humaioon to his presence ; and having implored him to be affectionate to his family, recommended him to the pi otection of his nobles, from whom lie extorted a promise that they would serve the son with as much fidelity and affection as they had always exhibited towards the father. The scene was touching ; all were moved to teats—they readily assented to what was proposed. But the requests of princes whose power is about to be extinguished by death, are too commonly beard to be disregarded, being rather the signal for faction than the seal of a bond of union. But Saber's mind was quieted by the kind assurances of those around him.

Although not superior, if it be even equal, to the ot'aer Annuals in the merely miscellaneous papers, such as poetry and so forth, the Christian Keepsoke derives a peculiar character from its reli- gious objects, which—speaking in a purely secular sense—impart to it both earnestness and reality. Nor is it in single papers alone that these important qualifications appear. They have created two distinct classes of articles,—the first of which may be termed religious topography, consisting of notices and views of cities that have been distinguished either in ancient or modern times for connexion with the faith ; the second, and in our eyes by much the most attractive, forming a series of biographical sketches of persons eminent for their piety and religious exertions. Of course these must vary in value with the ability and information of the writers, as well as with the nature of their persons. Mrs. HEMANS,

of whom we know so little, at least so little of importance, can never he made of equal interest with Bishop HEBER ; or with THOMAS CLARKSON, the first denouncer and persevering antago- nist of the Slave-trade, which, rare fortune of philanthropists! he lived to see extinguished. WILLIAM CAREY, the first British missionary to Bengal, the profound and skilful Oriental linguist, and the indefatigable translator of the Scriptures into many tongues, must always, in his disinterested struggles with fortune and himself, be a person of far more importance than Bishop RYDER; whose earthly pilgrimage was from preferment to prefer- • A riddle or charade. went, through the influence of h,!s father and brother the Earls of HARROWBY—whose mental progre.cs was a gradual change from the well-bred divine of mere outward morality to the unctious grace of the Evangelical school. In the notice of CLARKSON, some of tbe matter has been taken from documents already before the public (although, we suspect, only familiarly known to a past generation). But who will not be well content to reread that extraordinary autobiographical passage, in which—after the announcement of a univorsity prize-essay upon the theme, " Anne licet Invitos in servitutom dare ?" had turned his thoughts towards the subject—he tells the: effect which the facts he collected produced upon his own mind, and excited Trim to commence his moral crusade. It is possible thi:t the fol- lowing passage from a letter to a friend, descriptive of his inter- view with the Emperor ALEXANDER during the Congress at Aix-

la-Chapelle, may not have appeared for the first time. It will, however, bear reperusal for its intrinsic merit as a clear and graphic narrative, besides its interest as a rich specimen of Im- perial humbug : it is Joseph Surface upon a gigantic scale—PEEL in purple. " It was about nine at night when I was shown into the Emperor's apart- ment. I found him alone. Ile met me at the door, and, shaking me by the hand, said, I had the pleasure of making your acquaintance at Paris.' He then led me some little way into the room, and, leaven; me there, went forward and brought me a chair with his own hand, and de.sired me to sit down. This being done, he went for another chair, and bringing it very near to mine, placed himself close to me, so that we sat opposite to each other. " I began the conversation by informing the Emperor, that, as I supposed the Congress at Aix-la-Chapelle might possibly be the last Congress of Sovereigns for settling the affairs of Europe, its connexions and dependencies, I had availed

myself of the kind permission lie gave me at Paris, of applying to him on behalf of the oppressed Africans ; being unwilling to lose the last opportunity of ren- dering him serviceable to that cause.

" The Emperor replied, that he had read both my letter and my address to the Sovereigns; and that what I had asked him and the other Sovereigns to do, was only reasonable. " Here I repeated the two grand propositions in the address—the necessity of bringing the l'ortuguese time for continuing the trade (which did not expire till IS:25, and then oslg rcidi a condition), down to the Spanish time, which expired in 1520; and secondly, when the two times should have legally expired, that is, both of them iu 1820, then to make any further continuance of the trade piracy. I entreated him not to be deceived by any other propositions ; fur that Mr. 'Wilberforce, myself, and others, who had devoted our time to this subject, were sure that no other means would be effectual.

" He then said very feelingly in these words—' By the providence of God I and my kingdom have been saved from a merciless tyranny ; and I should but ill repay the blessing, if I were not to do every thing in my power to protect the poor Africans against their oppression also.'

" The Emperor then asked, if he could do any thing else for our cause? I told him he could ; - and that I should be greatly obliged to him if he would present one of the addresses to the Emperor of Austria, and another to the King of l'russia, with his own hands. I had brought two of them in my pocket for this purpose. He asked me why I had not presented them before ? I replied, that I had not the honour of knowing either of those Sovereigns as I knew him, nor any of their ministers ; and that I was not only fearful lest these addresses would not be presented to them, but even if they were, that coming into their hands without any recommendation, they would be laid aside, and not read : on the other band, if he (the Emperor) would condescend to present them, I was sure that they would be read, and that, coming from him, they would come with a weight of influence which would secure an attention to their contents. Upon this, the Emperor promised, in the most kind and affable manner, that he would perform the task I had assigned him. " We then rose up from our seats to inspect some articles of African manu- facture, which I had brought with me as a present to him, and which had been laid upon the table. We examined the articles in leather first, one by one; with which he was uncommonly gratified. He said they exhibited not only genius, but taste: lie inquired if they tanned their own leather, and how ? I replied to his question. He said he had never seen neater work, either in Petersburg or in London. We then looked at a dagger and its scabbard, or sheath. I said the sheath was intended as a further but more beautiful speci- men of the work of the poor Africans in leather, and the blade of the dagger as a specimen of their work in iron. Ile examined it very minutely, and asked if the point of the blade was poisoned. I told him, no. He said imme- diately-, ' My poor Tartars do such things.' Their works in cotton-cloth came under our notice next. There was as one piece which attracted his parti- cular notice, and which was undoubtedly very beautiful. It called from him this observation — Manchester,' says he, ' I think, is your great place for manufactures of this sort; do you think they can make a better piece of cotton there?' I told him I thought I had never seen a better piece of workmanship of the kind anywhere. Having gone over all the articles, the Emperor desired me to inform him whether be was to understand that these articles were made by the Africans in their own country,—that is, in their own native villages ; or after they had arrived in America, where they would have an opportunity of seeing European manufactures and experienced workmen in the arts? I replied, that such articles might be found in every African village, both on the coast and in the iuterior, and that they were samples of their own ingenuity without / any connexion with Europeans. Then, said the Emperor, You astonish me ; you have given me a new idea of the state of these poor people. I was not aware that they were so advanced in society. The works you have shown me arc not the works of brutes, but of men endowed with rational and intellectual powers, and capable of being brought to as high a degree of proficiency. as any other men. Africa ought to be allowed to have a taw chance of raising her character in the scale of the civilized world!' I replied, that it was this cruel traffic alone which had prevented Africa from rising to a level with other na- tions ; and that it was only astonishing to me that the natives there had, under its impeding influence, arrived at the perfection which had displayed itself in the specimens of workmanship which be had just seen. " The Emperor having said thus much on this subject, told me that he had been highly gratified, and that he would return me the articles next day. r begged his acceptance of them, having brought them with me from England for that purpose. Ile seemed to hesitate ; but I assured him that I could not take them back. I added, moreover, what a pleasure it would be to me to think that he had in his possession what would always keep him in mild of the poor Africans. He asked me if I had duplicates of them? I said I. had not, perhaps, exact duplicates of them ; but I had others like them, which I con- sidered to be the same thing ; and I should not be regret even that he had

would possessed all I had for they wou much more useful in his keeping than in

mine. He then accepted them, saying, ' I am much obliged to you."

The circumstance of its having been the original stam.whetace

so many Annuals have sprun's, gives the Forget Me Not a pecu- liarity of an accidental kind. In other respects it differs nothing

from the run of the common kind of rivals it has called into being.

There is a binding of morocco and gold ; there are the usual number of plates, and of papers to illustrate them; and there is a due suc- cession of prose and verse, verse and prose—various in the names of their subjects, not in their• nature, still less in their treatment. Like the members of a large family, whose fi,.tures and com- plexions may differ somewhat, though the same expression is stamped upon every face, there is throughout the articles a simi- larity, year after year, which is wearying and wonderful, and whose characteristic is perhaps more fittingly described by the generic title of Annual than by any thing else,—verses that, if they make any pretensions to poetry, resemble something we have read before ; tales that may possess the interest of a siory, but have little or no probability in the events, and whose characters want nature or strength ; whilst the miscellaneous papers—essays, thoughts, or reflections, as the case may be—are either literal, trite, or silly. Of course there are different degress of merit, some being greater, others less; but we are getting tired of estimating the comparative proportions of minnows : here and there indeed, something like a triton may appear, but after all it is only the triter, of a tiny tribe.

The feelings here expressed as a matter of theory have had, we conjecture, a practical operation. In a preface exhibiting a cu- rious compound of reverie, complacency, and misgising, the eldest of the Annuals observes—" What a few years since it was the fashion to commend and to extol, it appears now to be the fashion

to sneer at and to decry." Without pausing to ask what it was the fashion to commend, what it is the fashion to decry, we may venture to defend the depreciators, on various grounds. The love

of variety is part of our nature ; the uniformity even of excellence is irksome. " Toujours perdrix !" was the mournful exclamation of the epicure, whom fate forbade to order his own dinner: what would he have said had he been fed upon hedge-sparrows? The appetite for change which Nature implants, she satisfies by boundless variety. So far from imitating Nature, the Annuals, pretty dears, have fallen back from themselves ; they have got old, and lost the freshness of youth without gaining the solidity of age. And as even that freshness derived all its attraction from

mechanical beauties of form, and none from living character, a pen, a graver, types, paper, a publisher, and impudence, sufficed to set up an Annual; and too many were set up.

If this decision upon universal principles be not enough, look at the signs of the times upera which their fate has cast them.

How different the spirit of the age when they first appeared, from

what it now is ! Then, the Disenters were degraded by the Test Acts, the Catholics altogether excluded; JAMIE MACKIN- Tosm was deemed a great orator and a great man ; the peddling Whigs formed " his Majesty's Opposition," and shrunk from or shirked the most moderate proposals for reforming the Commons ; PEEL was " candied Orange ;" LYNDHURST professed to be rabid Anti-Catholic; the dear Duks: spoke of Ireland as only half-con- quered;" respectable elderly gentlemen, " warm men," who now

admit the propriety of " meeting the times," would have clubbed their purses to prosecute any one who suggested the expulsion of the Bishops, for blasphemy as horrible as that against the Holy Ghost ; the mighty masses, restless, suffering, and aspiring after something, were without definite purpose, and all united in reverence towards that venerable abstraction the Constitution, save a few speculators, who were not considered very mischievous, because they were held to be almost mad. But we have changed all that. And when conquerors and statesmen twist right round, shall Annual-editors presume to persist in an unprofitable consistency? When whole nations advance, and turn from the superstitious worship of forms to a national regard for things, shall poetasters and ready writers of small balderdash remain immoveable? Un- doubtedly they may, for the world cannot coerce mind; but the world can decline to read and to purchase: and in this consum- mation will end the Annuals, and any lengthened comments of ours in regard to them.

We must not, however, part from our oldest friend without a quotation. It shall be a poetical one, and the best we can find— one of MARY Howtpr's, on the use of flowers. Yet, pretty as it is, the dash of Annual literature is in it. A rigid botanist, looking to what is, might say that the flowers of plants contain the organs of production : their use is to propagate the race.

THE USE OF FLOWERS. BY MARY HOWITT.

God might have bade the earth bring forth Enough for great and small, The oak-tree and the cedar-tree, Without a flower at all.

He might have made enough, enough, For every want of ours; For luxury, medicine, and toil, And yet have made no flowers.

The ore within the mountain-mine Requireth none to grow, Nor doth it need the lotus-flower To make the river flow.

The clouds might give abundant rain, The mighty dews might fall, And the herb that keepeth life in man Might yet have drunk them all.

Then wherefore, wherefore were they made, All dyed with rainbow.light ; All fashioned with supremest grace, Upspringing day and night ; Springing in wallies green and low, And on the mountains high, And in the silent wilderness, Where no man passes by ?

Our outward life requires them not—

Then wherefore had they birth ? To minister delight to man, To beautify the earth; To comfort man—to whisper hope, Whene'er his faith is dim ; For whose careth for the flowers, Will much more care for him !

Last year, the preface of the Friendship's Uering announced the loss by death of two of its editors. The introduction to the present volume rings the same knell over two of its contributors,— Mr. SCARG1LL, the author of Truckleborough Hall, a man whose satirical humour was unrivalled; and FRANCIS MACLELLAN, the writer of Sketches of Corfu, and another work, both of which we- duly put into " Progress " on their appearance, and whose lauda- tion is worthily committed to Annual hands. To many these events would look ominous; but, like Hamlet, the proprietors of the Friendship's Oftering defy augury. Yes, in despite of Death and Fate, the publication holds on ; and, considering its antagonists, comes off with credit. Miss STI CKNEY and Mr. HARRISON furnish some very agreeable papers; and there are other contributions of various merit from old hands and new candidates for Annual fame. The crack article, how- ever, is CROFTON CROKER'S " MisIctoe Bough,"—a clever though slight story, and a capital sketch of Irish manners. It is an ex-. ception to what we have said of the Annual genus, for it has both life and character.