Steal from the throng to haunts untrod, and give the sign To parting friends: such death be mine.' The last paper is On the Institution of Posts in general, and on the Post-office of Great Britain in particular, which contains some curious statements. It closes with the Gross and Net Revenue of the Post-office for the Year ending January 5, 1823; viz. General Post-office of London, 1,605,2271. - Two- nny Post, 100,7391. - Scotland, 184,1437.-Ireland, 52,7911.-Expences, 607,6861. Leaving a net revenue of 1,335,2141.- Prodigious! Art. 28. The Graces; or, Literary Souvenir for 1824. 12mo. Boards. Hurst and Co. This is another very elegant work, of the same novel kind as that which we have mentioned in the preceding article, but with several differences. The engravings are only two, but very good; and it contains the months described in verse, with a calendar of the flower-garden, - an obituary of celebrated persons, lists of bankers, public offices, &c. - besides tales, poems, and a collection of jeux d'esprit. The names of the contributors are not given. We shall also in this instance copy one of the poems: 'LONELINESS. The beauty and bloom of the Summer are past, A mantle of mist on his morning is cast, • But transient and cold as he is, we regret For what star, in the twilight's pale canopy set, • And thus, though with sorrowing fondness we trace Yet still there awaits us a heavier blow, Among the bons mots, the following is good, if true: The Emperor Alexander, during the occupation of Paris, was present at the anniversary of one of the hospitals. Plates were handed round for contributions, and they were borne by some of the patrons' wives and daughters. The plate was held to the Emperor by an extremely pretty girl. As he gave his Louis d'ors, be whispered, whispered," Mademoiselle, this is for your bright eyes." The girl courtesied, and presented the plate again. "What," said the Emperor, more ?" "Yes, Sire," said she, "I now want something for the poor." The Emperor, amused by her ingenuity, repeated his donation. Go, go," said he, "all your features are petitioners." 66 The frontispiece, to this volume is an excellent engraving, of Titian's famous picture of his daughter, with the casket; and the work, like its predecessor, is altogether very handsomely sent forth. The Graces are evidently rivals to the Forget Me Not : but we shall abstain from comparisons, as we do not forget that they are not graceful. Is not the title of this publication too identical with that of an Allegory by Wieland, mentioned in our Number for November last, p. 333.? CORRESPONDENCE. "almost We are favored with a letter from Mr. Danby, with reference to the conclusion of our account of his " Thoughts," (Review for November last, p. 264.) where we remarked that it was profanation to quote Horace as Smart translated him, viz. as if he were a prose writer :" on which Mr. D. observes; I am fully disposed to join with you in estimating him as "the most fascinating and delightful poet that ever lived;" and, impressed as I am with this feeling, I can only attribute my not having credit given me by you for it, to my want of power to do fuller justice to the poet whom we both so deservedly admire.' We are glad to find that there is no difference on this head between our truly respectable correspondent and ourselves, and willingly thus state his expression of his feelings.. A communication has reached us from the widow of the late Mr. Charles Stothard, now Mrs. Bray, respecting the review of her Tour in Normandy in our last Number; in which, adverting to our remark on verbal inaccuracies, she desires to state that she intrusted that work to the revision of a friend; and that, when she published the Memoirs of her late lamented husband,' her eyes were in so seriously disordered a state, that she could but little attend to the correction of the press.' - Our fair correspondent is inclined to persevere in her remarks on domestic customs in Normandy, and on the French character, on the ground of experience;' and we maintain our objections to them, for the same 6 reason. Eques Auratus shall have our serious consideration. *** The APPENDIX to the preceding volume of the Review is published with this Number, and contains accounts of various important FOREIGN PUBLICATIONS; with the General Title, Table of Contents, and Index, for the Volume. THE MONTHLY REVIEW, For FEBRUARY, 1824. ART. I. Sir John Malcolm's Memoir of Central India. WE E proceed with our report of this valuable work, the general bearing and character of which we have already intimated to our readers in the first part of this article. Chapters vi. and vii. contain several interesting particulars relative to the Holkars. The founder of the family, Mulhar Row Holkar, rose from the humble condition of a shepherd to the giddy heights of power. 'He was 76 years of age when he died; he had for more than forty years of his life been a commander of reputation, and during the latter part of this period was certainly one of the most distinguished in the Mahratta confederacy. His remains were interred at a place now named, in honour of him, Mulhargunge, in the district of Alumpoor, and about 40 miles from Gualior. Although inferior to Madhajee Sindia as a statesman, Mulhar Row was his equal, if not his superior, as a warrior. For simplicity of manners, and manly courage, no Mahratta leader stands higher in the opinion of his countrymen; nor were his talents limited to those of a soldier. His administration of the countries subject to his direct control was firm, but considerate; and if we judge of his character by his conduct to the petty Rajpoot princes of Malwa, the conclusion will be favourable to his memory. He conciliated their respect, if not their regard, by his good faith and moderation in the exercise of power. Many of them were his associates and adherents, and their descendants still speak of his memory with sentiments of gratitude. This feeling, however, may owe much of its strength to the opposite conduct of some of his successors. The principal virtue of Mulhar Row was his generosity. He had personally no regard for money; he was wont to declare (probably with truth) that he understood nothing of accounts, and he listened with impatience to those ministers who recommended the diminution of his frequent largesses. To his relations, and indeed to all Mahrattas, he was uncommonly kind. It is stated of this chief, that in his conduct to the Paishwah, and in the performance of all his duties as a member of the Mahratta confederacy, he did that from the heart which Madhajee Sindia did from the head; the one was a plain, sincere soldier, VOL. CIII. I and and the other added to great qualities all the art of a crafty politician. • Mulhar Row Holkar had only one son, Kundee Row; who, some years before the battle of Paniput, was killed at the siege of Kumbhere, near Deig. This prince had married Alia Bhye, of a family of the name of Sindia, by whom he had one son and one daughter. To the former, whose name was Mallee Row, Ragobah Dada (the uncle of the reigning Paishwah, who was then commanding the Mahratta armies in Central India) immediately sent a Khelaut, or honorary dress, recognizing him by the act as successor to the power and possessions of his grandfather. This youth, however, did not long enjoy the dignity; and his death, which occurred nine months after his elevation, was very melancholy. He had been always considered of weak and unsettled intellect, but no symptom of positive insanity had appeared before he came to the head of the government, when every action displayed it. His conduct was at first more marked by extremes of folly than of guilt. The life of his mother was devoted to acts of charity and benevolence, and she was particularly kind to Brahmins. This tribe became objects of Mallee Row's malicious ridicule. It was a common usage with him to place scorpions in clothes and slippers that he gave them; he also put these venomous reptiles in pots filled with rupees, which he invited the holy mendicants to take; and, when their eager cupidity caused them to be stung, his joy was as excessive, as the grief of the pious Alia Bhye, who used to lament aloud her hard destiny, in having a perfect demon born to her as a son. The avowed sentiments of his wickedness, and his incapacity for government, have given rise to a report, that this admirable woman hastened the death of her own offspring. Every evidence proves this to be false, and his death is referred by all that have been interrogated (and among them many were on the spot when it occurred) to the same cause. He had slain, in a jealous fury, an embroiderer, who, he believed, had formed an intimacy with a female servant of his family. The innocence of the man was established, and remorse for the crime brought on so severe a paroxysm of madness in Mallee Row as to alarm all for his life. It is a confirmed belief with many of the natives of India, that departed spirits have, on some occasions, the power of seizing upon and destroying the living. It was rumoured, that the embroiderer was a man with supernatural power, that he warned Mallee Row not to slay him, or he would take terrible vengeance; and the ravings of the latter were imputed to the person he had murdered, and who, according to their preposterous belief, now haunted him in the form of a Jin, or demon, Bhye, satisfied of this fact, used to sit days and nights by the bed of her afflicted son, holding communion, as she thought, with the spirit that possessed him, and who spoke to her through his organs. She shed tears in abundance, and passed whole hours in prayer. In the hope of soothing the demon, she offered to build a temple to the deceased, and to settle an estate upon his family, if he would only leave her son. But all was vain; a voice still seemed to answer, Alia "He "He slew me innocent, and I will have his life." Such is the popular tale of the death of Mallee Row; an event that only merits notice as connected with the history of Alia Bhye, whom it compelled to come forward to save from ruin the interests of the family she represented, and to exhibit, in the person of a female, that combined talent, virtue, and energy, which made her, while she lived, a blessing to the country over which she ruled, and has associated her memory with every plan of improvement and just government in the province of Malwa.' Alia Bhye is pourtrayed with great spirit. As wife and mother of the two last representatives of the family, she resolved to assert her exclusive right to choose a successor : the troops of Holkar were enthusiastic in her cause; and she shewed her determination to lead them to combat, by fitting four bows with quivers full of arrows to the corners of her houdah, or seat on her elephant: judiciously selecting Tukajee, a chief of the Holkar tribe, for her commander. Her authority remained during 30 years undisturbed by jealousy or ambition. We are greatly prepossessed in favour of Tukajee, by the temper, gratitude, and obedience which he evinced towards Alia Bhye. Throughout the long period that intervened between his elevation and her death, which occurred two years previous to his own, there never was any serious dispute, much less a rupture, be tween them. This reflects great credit on both; but, perhaps, the greatest on Alia Bhye, whose government of the Holkar territories in Central India must now be noticed. It presents us with few events like those which have been narrated; but its merit consists in their absence. The character of her administration was for more than thirty years the basis of the prosperity which attended the dynasty to which she belonged; and although, latterly, it was obscured by the genius and success of Madhajee Sindia, it continued to sustain its rank during her life as one of the principal branches of the Mahratta empire. The manner in which the authority of the state was divided between Tukajee and Alia Bhye has been already mentioned. The management of all the provinces in Malwa and Nemaur was the peculiar department of the latter; and her great object was, by a just and moderate government, to improve the condition of the country, while she promoted the happiness of her subjects. She maintained but a small force independent of the territorial militia; but her troops were sufficient, aided by the equity of her administration, to preserve internal tranquillity; and she relied on the army of the state, actively employed in Hindustan and the Deckan, and on her own reputation, for safety against all external enemies. It is not common with the Hindus (unless in those provinces where they have learnt the degrading usage from their Mahomedan conquerors) to confine females, or to compel them to wear veils. The Mahrattas of rank (even the Brahmins) have, with I 2 few |