MONTHLY REVIEW OF LITERATURE. 306 



faults ; faults which, in a second edition, he will be sure to amend : faults of 

 so ordinary a kind that it were absurd to calculate upon publishing in the 

 absence of the like inaccuracies. Of one thing we are sure, that, by this last 

 production, if not by his "Ocean Queen," Mr. Milton has established his 

 fame as a poet. We thus take our leave, with a belief that we have barely 

 done justice to Mr. Milton's deserts. 



Scenes and Characteristics of Hindostan, with sketches of Anglo- 

 Indian Society. By EMMA ROBERTS. In three volumes. London, 

 Allen & Co., 1835. 



These volumes, consisting of a series of contributions originally published 

 in the Asiatic Journal, are well represented by an eastern editor as " light, 

 animated, and graphic ;" they describe manners and people with spirit, and 

 scenery with a tone of poetical feeling which alone can do justice to the 

 magnificence of the eastern world. They are, indeed, what they profess to 

 be. The " scenes and characteristics " are evidently those of nature ; and if 

 there be any deficiency of embellishment, it is because there is no sacrifice 

 made to fidelity of representation. Miss Roberts, besides being a genius, is 

 something more ; and, accordingly, we had not proceeded many pages before 

 we found that it required on her part the use of a bridle to restrain her wit. 

 From beginning to end, however, the style generally is elegant for its sim- 

 plicity, seldom demanding too much of our comprehension, and never verbose. 

 Indeed, the interest with which the subject itself is clothed is well adapted to 

 secure the attention without the extrinsic attractions by which it is intro- 

 duced. We are glad of the opportunity this month of introducing to our 

 readers a work so well calculated to satisfy the growing enquiry into the 

 economy of Asiatic society, together with a paper in a preceding page, the 

 commencement of a series in elucidation of the civil polity of China. Much 

 has unquestionably been done to make us acquainted with those distant 

 people, but the aim of our author is to make us familiar with them : and 

 there is scarcely any particular connected with their domestic habits which 

 has not received considerably more than a passing notice from her pen. Of 

 course it was to be expected that Miss Roberts would keep in view the 

 curiosity of a certain class of readers, and that she would entertain a laudable 

 desire for its gratification. Speaking of domestic happiness, she remarks 



"The greatest drawback upon the chances of happiness in an Indian mar- 

 riage exists in the sort of compulsion sometimes used to effect the consent of 

 a lady. Many young women in India may be considered almost homeless; 

 their parents or friends have no means of providing for them except by a 

 matrimonial establishment ; they feel that they are burthens upon families 

 who can ill afford to support them, and they do not consider themselves at 

 liberty to refuse an offer, although the person proposing may not be particularly 

 agreeable to them. Mrs. Malaprop tells us, that it is safest to begin with a 

 little aversion, and the truth of her aphorism has been frequently exemplified 

 in India ; gratitude and esteem are admirable substitutes for love they last 

 much longer, and the affection, based upon such solid supports, is purer in its 

 nature, and far more durable, than that which owes its existence to mere 

 fancy. It is rarely that a wife leaves the protection of her husband, and, in 

 the instances that have occurred, it is generally observed that the lady has 

 made a love-match. 



" But though marriages of convenience, in nine cases out often, turn out 

 very happily, we are by no means prepared to dispute the propriety of freedom 

 of choice on the part of the bride, and deem those daughters, sisters, and 

 nieces most fortunate, who live in the bosoms of relatives not anxious to dis- 

 pose of them to the first suitor who may apply. It is only under these happy 



