The Sun.
London, England, 1836-05-16 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

THE MA SCA REN HA S. 3 Vols.
Smith : London, 1836.
The period to which this tale refers, is that stirring
one of the decline of the Portuguese alAtlvority jtm
India, «hen the Mogul power was in its meridian,
and that of the Mahratta just rising above the hoii6on.
The incidents of the story are worked out ‘N'ith un-
eontmon skill, and arc throughout rLpktt± with deep inte-
rest ; and the plot is conducted =And unravelled with a
degree of inoenuity and uncxrceicdness, worthy almost
of Fielding. Not a few of the characters, that of Suva,
for instance, and Sevaoi the founder of the modern
:31ahratta dynasty--a striking compound of high-
funded patriotism, sagacity, and resolution, yet who
Was at the same time a despot capal)l2 of the triP':,L
.wanton acts of barbarity and perfidiousness—a:,:e pour-
.trayed with a masculine vioour which we courd scarcdy
,
have anticipated from a lady—for it is *o the pen of a
fo'nale, we understand, that we ;:tre indebted for this
ttnpressive fiction. Still less could we have expected
that one of the fair sex could have drawn such a cha-
racter as that of Gomez, the pirate chief, which for its
duing energy, even. Scott himself has scarcely ,?or.
passed in his broad, well-known sketch of Dirk Hat-
teraick, the Dutch smuggler. If there he any defect
in the tale, it is that in the closing scenes, where the
Rajah Sevagi, who has leagued himself with the pirate
Gomez, sits in judgment on the prisoners of war who
;Ire brought before his tribunal, there is rather too pro-
fuse and melodramatic a display of horrors. The
learning and various research exhibited throughout
the story are of no ordinary character ; and the cursory
allusions and descriptions are everywhere as remarkable
for their scrupulous fidelity, as the style is for its easy
avid equable flow. As a favourable sample of the fair
authoress's manner, we quote her minute description
of that fine oriental city, Delhi, during the reign of
Aurungzebe, the period of its greatest glory :
"
tiTl-Je glare of mid-day had given way to the mellowed
Tnts which float before the sun-sinking of a tropical climate.
he hum of many voices announced that the merchants and
;artisans of Delhi, who had retired from meridian fervor into
the depths of their coolest recesses, now thronged to resume
their respective places beneath the arcades which bordered
the streets, and the occupations discontinued during the
scorching, zephyrless reign of an oriental noon.
But it was riot the sedately industrious alone who swarmed
Zln the awakened city :—jugglers, morris-dancers, mountebanks,
splayed all the perfection of trickery, all the adroitness of
legerdemain, and won, even from the solemn, opium-tranced
Moslem, an unwilling smile. Numerous Ambassadors had
been deputed by foreign potentates to hail the accession, or
rather usurpation of Aurungzebe, and with their trains came
ktwatry a curious straggler, grim devotee, and venturous traf-
ker these, mingling with the motley groups who passed
Along the streets, or paraded the divans, formed a shifting,
assemblage of colours and costumes. Usbecs, Ara-
bians, Abyssinians, the Bonze of Siam, the merchant of Bou-
tin, the Portuguese Jesuit, and the Dutch sailor, chequered
With the Brahmin, the Moollnb, the Fakir and the Banian,
presented, by their fantastic or picturesque attire, an ever ani-
kated pantomimic scene, whose grotesque performers the East
alone could group.
" Delhi was now the focus of novelty, the emporium of
Wealth and marAcence : specimens of the people and the
produce of ev-ery nation seemed collected in its resplendent Ba-
zars; the resident merchants and mechanics, incited by vanity
bumthe hope of a speedy and advantageous sale for goods which
ire*.aained unpurchased during the civil wars between Au-
l%sebe and his brothers, now laid aside the caution which
~"dprompted them, in less propitious times, to conceal from
the greedy rapacity of governors their choicest gems and mer-
thandize. Another and more influential cause for this display
might, perhaps, have been found in a firman of Aurungzebe,
ordering that all traders and manufacturers in his imperial city
of Jehanabad should, on this day, under penalty of the Korrah,
set fortlrtheir secret hoards ; this crafty prince, with his usual
policy, softening such arbitrary rescript by the annexment, that
neither Omrah nor Mansebdar should compel the upright
dealer to abate a peyssa of the price affixed to his wares.
longer fearing the great man's forcible or fraudful ap-
propriation of his treasures, the lapidary displayed his rarest
gems, quaintly arranged upon his broad flat casket, whose silver
wet-work enhanced the brilliants' sparkle, and preserved them
from the dexterous pilferer, while in more misty light, within
a thicker web, to hide its flaws, was placed the fractured or
the speckled diamond. The goldsmith, vain of his imitative
Craft, pointed out the accuracy of his emblematic ornaments ;
his coronets, resembling Persian chain-work, his coin-like pen.
dants, stamped with a Koran phrase for preservation of the
Moslem maiden ; and for the high-caste Hindoo he displayed
the golden carcanet, bearing in full relief the advents of her
./nythologic deity, the nine avatars of heaven-born Khrisna ;
for more plebeian purchase lay exposed less costly trinkets,
bracelets and anklets, finer, nose and ear-rings. Beneath
the next arcade the mercer hung his silks, whose rainbow dyes
Illtoembered even tie freaks of woman's fancy, while in the.
st4er substance of the stiff brocade were deftly woven castles
tints ' elephants gods, monkeys, and pagodas. Yet were all
e and all devices thrown into elipse b y th brilliant
?"lotzes of Masulipatam, whose roses wanted only fragrance
Cheat the wondering eye into belief of their reality. Fur-
on were seen the wool of Persia and Thibet, wrought byhmer
. skill,
tan into the ample shawl and sash : the carpet,
t*hose downy fabric made it more esteemed than all the gor-
e'llta floor-cloths of Ghulan • linens and muslins so exqui-
f„.t.elY woven, that to behold them, Egypt's famed artificers,
t;ir spite, had burned their looms. Other coved roofs gave out
.ne Perfume of their wares, musk, sandal, frankincense, myrrh
'NI attar ; innumerable kar-khanehs, displayed turbans and gir.
ttfiles of golden tissue, curious embroidery, velvets, calicuts, and
;:tiat costly stuff too delicate for more than one day's service.
aaars were lined with splendid trappings; housings of silk,
l'isters of velvet, bridles and stirrups studded with gems.
bitllliething rich or peculiar, stamped genuine from its birth-
; rle,ce, was set forth in every nook ; in a word, or rather in
glen tial metaphor, those winged griffons, which are said to
jd the treasure-crypts of the Ghooles and Afnits, seemed
111len riches of their subterranes on the capital of Hindostan."

4tISON'S THSTORY OF EUROPE. Vol. V.
. Blackwood : Edinburgh, 1836.
lq This volume commences with the peace of Amiens
the veer
latti lBOl, and goes down to the memorable
of Jena—in which the independence of Prussia
ilt4 annihilated—in 1806. Like the preceding vo-
-Attl.P4, it is characterised by candour and impartiality,
'd does justice to the valour and discipline of those
"ineible. French legions who, during the remarkable
Zic'ds of which the historian here treats, swept
4 urope from one extremity to the other. The most
tnittated portion of the volume, is the account of the
;:ttle of Austerlitz, which is given more in detail, and
or amore glowing, chivalrous spirit, than any narrative
decisive conflict we ever remember to have seen.
e'er little more condensation of style and matter, how-
Av, Would improve the merit of Mr. Alison's history.
cannot refuse ourselves the temptation of quoting
the eloquent and generous sketch of the character of
trench and English sailors, during the revolution-
,f,Y wars The world has never seen such a body
I,eseatiren as those of England throughout the pro-
kiB4 the revolutionary war, dauntless to their enc.
yet Yet submissive to their chiefs—brave in clVtipti,
,e9Ol in danger—impetuous in assault) yet patient
, uerp,
-uee—capable of the utmost efforts of patriotic
qevot:
titivlirn, yet attentive to the most ininuts points of
fseio diseiplinc—submissive to ceders equally when
the 8-the muzzles of au enemy's broadside, or braving
to
att,r):is of the northern ocean—capable of endur-
fr,zke the vertical rays of the torrid zone, or the
e -'
the in severity of an arctic winter—cherishing amidst
Ste,,fregularities of naval life, the warm:' of domestic
%re,e..°ll; and nursing amidst the solitude of the
the ennobling sentiments of religious duty.
i4ft:ltitneh virtues, not a transient, but an enduring fabric
INNoed• It is by such fortitude that a lasting im-
all 44'1 on human affairs is produced. But amidst
navy; admiration for the character of the British
eslev7stined to rival in the annals of the world, the
Dsyk)a.t3. of the Roman legions, we must not omit to
1414111.415 t tribute to the memery of their gallant and
tgowlluate, but not on that account less estimable an-
thi'ts• In the long and arduous struggle which
the three'
centuries the French navy maintained with
» r
ea "4h, they were called to the exercise of quali-
p,
tts the ePs still more worthy of admiration. Their's
vistor courage which can resolutely advance, not to
t° e» but to defeat ; the heroism which knows how
_
(1111,1 sou .I(er Hot onl danger but oblouy
$l%l, d b, which can
Lrave y q
ly maintain a sinking cause, uncheered
raf but Yof public sympathy, which, under a sense
'44 can return to a combat in which disaster only
aht •
jelliated ; and sacrifice not only life, but re-