with himself, that, to kill an hour or two
before dinner, he would frequently be seen seated on a tombstone in the
churchyard, yawning; staring at the church clock, and comparing it with
his own watch;--in short, in some degree resembling

"Patience on a monument."

[Illustration: A SEA-SIDE TIME-KILLER--(_Dover._)]

* * * * *

The reader will conclude by these specimens that fun and frolic are the
characteristics of the _Dramatic Annual_; and we have given him a
spice of its best humour. These Cuts, by the way, are in a style which
all illustrators would do well to cultivate. We have seen much labour
expended on illustrations of works of humour, such as fine etchy work,
and points wrought up with extreme delicacy. The effect, however, is any
but humorous: you think of painstaking and trouble, whereas a few lines
vividly dashed off, by their unstudied style, will ensure a laugh, where
more elaborate productions only remind us of effort. Hood's pen-and-ink
cuts are excellent in their way--as bits of fun, but not of art. Now,
Brooke's designs are both works of fun and art.

* * * * *

THE FAMILY CABINET ATLAS

Is completed with the Twelfth Part, in the same style of excellence
as it was commenced. In this portion are two plates, exhibiting a
comparative view of Inland Seas and Principal Lakes of the Eastern
and Western Hemispheres--which alone are worth the price of the Part.
Altogether, the uniformity and elegance of this work reflect high credit
on the taste and talent of every one concerned in its production; and it
really deserves a place on every writing-table not already provided with
an Atlas. For constant reference, too, it is well calculated, by its
convenient size, and is preferable to the cumbrous folio, as well as the
varnished, rustling, roller map.

* * * * *

THE KING'S SECRET.

Hundreds of persons have probably been disappointed by this
work--an historical novel, of the time of Edward the Third, by
Mr. Power, of Covent Garden Theatre. Scandal-loving people are so fond of
concatenation, or stringing circumstances, causes, and effects together,
that in the present case they made up their minds to some _secret_ of
our times: some boudoir story of Windsor or St. James's, which might
show how royalty loves. On the contrary, "the _secret_" does not
come out;--the reader is only tickled, his curiosity ex