ROBERT, CLEMENCE,
Is a Parisian, and one of the most popular contributors to public amusement among the writers of the Roman Feuilleton. Her stories are for the most part interesting; generally they are based upon some historical event. "Vincent de Paule" is one of the best, in which the evangelical piety of that father of the fatherless is beautifully described. It would be useless and impossible to give a catalogue of all the productions of so fertile a pen, but we will mention some of the most noted of her tales:—"Louise de Lorraine;" "Anne de Mantoue;" "Le Capitaine Mandrin:" "Le Cardinal Wolsey;" "Jeanne de Castille." The style of this lady is clear and expressive; her sentiments are always delicate and refined. There is in the minds of many, a brand of impropriety upon French novels—this, with one or two notorious exceptions, is just only when applied to the writings of Frenchmen—the romances of the lady authors are almost universally free from any taint of indelicacy, and their morality is based upon the truths of religion.
ROBERTS, EMMA,
Was born about the year 1794, and descended from a Welsh family of great respectability. After her father's decease, Emma Roberts, who was the youngest of two sisters, resided with her mother, a lady of some literary pretensions, in the city of Bath, where she early devoted herself to the acquisition of knowledge. While prosecuting her researches for her first literary performance, she evinced so much diligence and perseverance, that the officers of the British Museum, where she was accustomed to study, were induced to render her every assistance in their power. This work was published in two volumes, in 1827, under the title of "Memoirs of the Rival Houses of York and Lancaster; or the White and Red Roses," and, although it is written in a perspicuous and pleasing manner, yet it did not meet with that success to which it was entitled by its merits.
On the death of her mother, and the marriage of her sister to Captain R. A. M'Naughten, of the Bengal army, Miss Roberts was induced to accompany her brother-in-law and sister to India, in 1828, where she spent the two following years between the stations of Agra, Cawnpore, and Etawa, in the upper provinces of the Bengal Presidency. A spirited account of these places subsequently appeared from her pen in "The Asiatic Journal," the first description being published in December, 1832. A selection of these papers was made in 1835, under the title of "Scenes and Characteristics of Hindoostan," and, unlike most works upon India, it met with a favourable reception from the English public. During her residence at Cawnpore, Miss Roberts published a little volume of poetry, entitled "Oriental Scenes," which she dedicated to her friend, Miss Landon. It was republished in England, in 1832, and contains some very pleasing specimens of glowing description and graceful imagery.
The death of her sister, which took place in 1831, caused Miss Roberts to return to Calcutta. Here her pen was in constant activity, and, besides various contributions to periodicals, she undertook the task of editing a newspaper—"The Oriental Observer." After residing for a year in Calcutta, the loss of her health forced her to return home, and she reached London in 1883. Here she
