Among the Poetry are some pretty verses by Lord Porchester; but it is
well that metrical pieces do not predominate, for some of the writers
are sadly unmusical sonneteers.

The "Letters from Lord Byron to several Friends" are not of interest
enough for the space they occupy.

The _Plates_ are beyond praise. The Frontispiece Portrait of Lady
Georgiana Agar Ellis, by Charles Heath, is one of the most exquisite
ever engraved; and two plates illustrating Sir Walter Scott's _House of
Aspen_ have the effect of beautiful pictures on a blank wall. _Two_
views of Virginia Water are, perhaps, questionable in the same volume;
but they are admirably engraved. Wilkie's "beautiful, though," as Lord
Normanby says, "somewhat slight cabinet picture of the Princess Doria
and the Pilgrims[1]" has been finely executed by Heath; and a View of
Venice, from a drawing by Prout, is a masterpiece of Freebairne. Equal
to either of these is The Faithful Servant, engraved by Goodyear, after
Cooper, and Dorothea, the title-page plate. Of The Bride, engraved by
Charles Heath, from a picture by Leslie, it is impossible to speak in
terms of sufficient praise, as it is, without exception, one of the
loveliest prints ever beheld. We have had our laugh at The Portrait, a
scene from Foote, painted by Smirke, and engraved by Portbury. Its whim
and humour is describable only by the British Aristophanes. We can only
add, that it is Lady Pentweazle sitting to Carmine for her portrait--the
look that he despairs of imitating, as we do Foote's account of her
family:--


[1] Some nice calculators have estimated that the various sums