356 MONTHLY REVIEW OF LITERATURE. 



VIEWS IN THE EAST, &c. ; FHOM SKETCHES BY CAPTAIN ELLIOT, R. N. 

 PART XX. LONDON. FISHER. 1833. 



THIS work is now completed ; and it seerns worthy of being added to the 

 numerous topographical illustrations already published ; not being inferior 

 to the majority of them although, from a deficiency of picturesque effect, 

 and a certain hardness of style in the engravings, it will not bear comparison 

 with the best. In the plate, for instance, representing the Interior of Ele- 

 phanta, the outlines are cutting being edged by shadows without repose, 

 and contrasted with lights destitute of breadth. The figures, too, in this 

 plate, instead of assisting to give an idea of gigantic proportions to the 

 carved work, rather tend to diminish it by their own height. In the Chinese 

 Junk, Canton River, there is a nakedness about the composition, which is 

 not counteracted by any peculiar distribution of light and shade. There is, 

 however, considerable merit in the execution of parts of the engravings, by 



Messrs. WOOLNOTH and CHALLIS. 



% 



THE MORAL CHARACTER OF BRITAIN THE CAUSE OF ITS POLITICAL EMI- 

 NENCE. INTRODUCTORY LECTURE, DELIVERED IN THE MECHANICS' 

 INSTITUTION OF GLASGOW, Nov. 12, 1832, BY JOHN C. COLQUHOUN, 

 ESQ., GLASGOW. W COLLINS ; OLIVER AND BOYD, EDINBURGH ; AND 

 SIMPKIN AND MARSHALL, LONDON. 



THE object of the author of this pamphlet is to prove, that whatever pros- 

 perity this country may have enjoyed, has been owing to the influence of 

 Christianity, For this purpose, he takes a cursory view of European history 

 since the conquest, and by comparing the state of other countries with our 

 own, at the period of their numerous revolutions, refers the preservation of 

 the monarchical institutions of Britain to the moral character of its people. 

 The author attributes much good to the preaching of Wesley and Whitfield, 

 in a political point of view ; and says, that men such as these save a country 

 from ruin he has forgotten the writings of Defoe. Whitfield and Wesley, 

 however, cared not a straw about political eminence, as those words are 

 commonly understood. Bloodshed, slaughter, war, oppression, corruption, 

 and luxuiy, are not inconsistent with political eminence, though opposed to 

 Christianity. Heavy taxes, a corrupt majority, and brute force, will raise 

 the glory and political eminence of a country, much more effectually than all 

 the preaching of a Taylor, or the philanthropy of a Howard. 



REPORT FROM THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON SECONDARY PUNISHMENTS ; 



WISH NOTES AND APPENDIX. BY THE COMMITTEE OF THE SOCIETY 



FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF PRISON DISCIPLINE. 1833. J.&A. ARCH, 



CORNHILL ; LONGMAN AND Co., &c. 



THIS is a very interesting publication, and one which, at the present 

 period, is well worthy the attention of the politician and philanthropist. 

 According to the Report, crime appears to have been fearfully on the in- 

 crease within these last few years. The committals in England and Wales 

 amounted, in 1817, to 56,308; in 1824, to 92,848; and in 1831, to 121,518! 

 Part of this increase the Committee attribute to the inadequacy of secondary 

 punishments, which they have considered under the heads of Prison Disci- 

 pline, The Penitentiary, the Hulks, and The Penal Colonies. The two last 

 appear to be regarded by prisoners as desirable destinations, and as states 

 rather of restriction than punishment. So lenient is the treatment of a cul- 

 prit in the docks, that, according to more than one witness, " many labour- 

 ers would be glad to change places with him, and would be much better off 

 than they were before ;" and it is also in evidence before the House, " that 

 the generality of those who are transported consider it as a party of plea- 

 sure." The great evil, however, attendant on these secondary punishments, 



