(_Edited by Mrs. S.C. Hall._)
This is a delightful little book for the improvement of the mind and
heart, as well as for the amusement, of young persons. It is full of
prose and poetic story, pretty incident and anecdote--all which convey
some useful moral, and point to some really good end and purpose. It
is still a book for the play-room, notwithstanding it treats of botany
and zoology. Travelling on the Ice, by Dr. Walsh, explains "what put
it into Captain Parry's head to go to the North Pole;" the Poet's
Invitation, by Allan Cunningham, is sweet and simple; the Shamrock, by
L.E.L., consists of some clever lines, accompanying a portrait of two
fairy sisters and a little laughing brother--
The image of a happy child
Doth link itself with all
That natural loveliness, which least
Reminds us of our fall.
Somewhat of angel purity,
Somewhat of angel grace,
Ere longer years bring shade and toil.
Are on a childish face.
My Dog Quail contains some amusing anecdotes by the late Dr. Walsh;
and in the Settlers, a dialogue, by Miss Leslie, of Philadelphia, are
a few touching points of distinction between savage and civilized
life; the Indian Island, by L.E.L., is more of a story; a Walk in a
Flower Garden is from the accomplished pen of Mrs. Loudon, explaining
to two juvenile inquirers the origin of the names and properties of
certain plants; a Girl's Farewell to the River Lee, by Charles Swain,
is plaintively interesting; Seven and Seventeen, by Mrs. S.C. Hall, is
clever and lively, and full of home truth; the Sailor's Wife is a
pensive ballad-tale of the sea, by M. Howitt, and likely to linger on
the mind of childhood; the First Weavers, by the Rev. C. Williams, is
as ingenious in its way as Professor Rennie's Bird or Insect
Architecture: it enumerates many interesting processes of weaving by
insects and birds, who, unlike human artificers, pursue their tasks in
the untainted atmosphere of nature;--there are also two or three
pretty playful prose sketches, and some clever lines by Miss Leslie,
of Philadelphia, on C.R. Leslie's picture of Lady Jane Grey's
reluctance to accept the crown of England. We quote the concluding
lines, by L.E.L., to accompany the frontispiece:--