There is something very interesting associated with a well-arranged and
elegant album, embodying passages of delicate taste and superior talent,
and containing the diversified, playful, pointed, eloquent, and original
papers, of a number of intellectual and distinguished contributors.
I had, a short time ago, one of these beautiful albums placed in my hand,
which was characterized by marked and pre-eminent excellencies. In addition
to its being bound in the most splendid manner, and containing the most
tasteful embellishments, on paper exquisitely embossed, it was adorned with
appropriate contributions, from the vigorous mind of Mrs. Hannah
Moore--from the pure and classic taste of the eloquent Robert Hall--from
the fervid and poetic imagination of James Montgomery--and many an elegant
and beauteous production, communicated by our superior and ingenious
writers. It was deeply interesting to mark the specimens of penmanship
which the various contributors furnished: the bold hand of one--the neat
style of another--the careless and dashing strokes of another--and the
stiff, awkward, and almost illegible writing of another. I was much struck,
also, with the variety of mind which the album exhibited: on one page,
there was the comic strain of Hood; on another, the pure and exquisite
taste of Campbell; on another, the fire and vividness of Scott; on another,
the minute and graphic painting of Crabbe; and on another, the bold,
condensed, and impassioned style, in which Byron so peculiarly excelled.
Now, if all albums could be of this character, their value would be
intrinsic and superior, and they would be permanently interesting, because
to them we could frequently recur with refreshing and peculiar enjoyment. I
regret, however, to say, that the majority of albums are comparatively
valueless: they are written with so much negligence; many of the pieces are
of so light and frivolous a character; there is so much childish and
mawkish sentimentality in numbers of the effusions poured forth; and there
is so great a destitution of solid, original, and striking thought, that,
in my unpretending, yet honest estimation, the majority of albums are worth
comparatively nothing. A good album should contain pieces of genuine
talent; should be marked by no frivolity or childishness; should be
concise, pointed, and powerful in its contributions; and should embody
valuable moral principle; and, to secure these excellencies, the possessor
of an elegant album should not place it in the hand of any, accompanied
with the request that a contribution be inserted, without ascertaining, in
the first instance, that the person solicited is of genuine taste and
talent, and real principle; because, if these qualifications be not
developed, an album will be merely filled with trifling, crude,
unconnected, and worthless pieces--marked by no beauty, exhibiting no
taste, characterized by no originality, and inculcating no valuable
sentiment.