The Iris: A Literary and Religious Offering

Rev. Drs. Rudge and Booker; the Rev. Messrs. C. R. Ashfield, J. H. Caunter, Pearson, Creed, Thomas, Cushman (of Philadelphia), the Author of 'Cottage Melodies,' Edmund Morris, of Philadelphia, and many other Correspondents, English and American, by whose kindness he hopes to profit in a future volume.

The EMBELLISHMENTS will be found, it is presumed, to say the least, not inferior, either in interest or in execution, to those of the preceding volume. In the selection of these, the Editor can claim no merit; but he willingly becomes the organ of the Proprietors, in offering their most grateful acknowledgments to the Most Noble the MARQUIS OF EXETER, to whom they are indebted for permission to engrave the exquisite picture of Christ Blessing the Bread, by Carlo Dolci; and The Mother and Child, by Correggio: to SAMUEL ROGERS, Esq., whose kindness supplied the picture of Christ meeting Mary in the Garden, by Titian : and to the GOVERNORS of the FOUNDLING HOSPITAL,

for the interesting subject, by West, which constitutes the Frontispiece. The Vignette, Christ Crowned with Thorns, is from an original drawing, by the late lamented President of the Royal Academy, now in the possession of the Publishers; -and should the introduction of Engravings from modern Artists be considered as a departure from the original plan, the distinguished names of Sir Joshua Reynolds, Benjamin West, and Sir Thomas Lawrence, three brilliant hues, blending to form an "IRIS" of British art- - will doubtless be accepted as an apology.

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It only remains to add, that the principle on which this Work was originally planned, "that recreative reading should be made subservient to the great ends of religious and moral instruction;' a principle which the Public has sanctioned by its approval has been rigidly adhered to in the

volume for 1831. And if we cannot adopt the quaint but high-sounding titles which our ancestors gave to publications of a similar nature to the

present; if we cannot designate our "Annual" as a GORGEOUS GALLERY OF GALLANT INVENTIONS, or a PARADISE OF DAINTY DEVICES, or a PHOENIX NEST, or even a GARDEN OF THE MUSES; we may, at least, claim for it the more modest appellation of a SMALL HANDFUL OF FRAGRANT FLOWERS, SELECTED AND GATHERED OUT OF THE LOVELY GARDEN OF HOLY SCRIPTURE; and address, in the name of our "IRIS," both to readers and reviewers, the following humble but expressive lines of the worthy old Editor, Nicholas Breton.

Since I, poor book, am put into thy hand,
Although the tome or volume little be,
Yet, reader dear, that I be throughly scanned
With zealous mind, I beg and crave of thee:
Ne seem to judge, or sentence thine to frame,
Before throughout thou dost peruse the same.

If, then, I cast a jewel unto thee,

Play not the cock that Æsop speaketh on;
Who rather craved a barleycorn to see

Than for to find the costly precious stone.
But if I might give counsel, like the rest,

First read, then choose such fruits as like thee best.

T. D.

CONTENTS.

[The Pieces marked (*) continue the Series of Scripture Illustrations,
by the Editor.]

PREFACE

A Scene of the Pestilence. By the Author of "The

Last of the Plantagenets"

The Wizard. By Miss Jewsbury

The Martyr: a Dramatic Sketch. By William Howitt