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culties in the acquisition of knowledge, by introducing intricate elaboration of needless analysis. Take, for instance, Declensions of Nouns (pp. 95-133): cases are multiplied to no less than 8, whereas in Hindi, if we stick to real case, i.e., inflection of a noun, there are only two in each number, the casus rectus and the casus obliquus. Of the case in Ne.-a peculiar form, generally called the "agent" case, he fails to give any better explanation than we had before. For the advanced student fuller grammatical and dialectic details are put in a smaller type than that which gives the essentials for beginners. But while admiring the learning and patience of the author, we would recommend his issuing a grammar for beginners by itself; and the curtailment of it as much as possible, not so much by omitting what he here gives, as by putting it in fewer words, using a simpler method and adopting a closer arrangement. As it stands at present, the work is sure to frighten beginners, though it is of value to advanced students, and a delight to masters of the language.

3. School History of India, by G. U. POPE, D.D. (London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1892; 2s. 6d.) We are simply astonished at this book. Method in arrangement, accuracy of statement, and due proportion in treatment are all conspicuous by their absence. The first defect leads to frequent repetition and to unnatural disconnection of narrative. A glaring instance is the entire relegation of the first Sikh war from p. 233its natural position-to p. 259, thus treating the reader, in chap. ix., to detailed consequences of an event related in chap. x. With inaccurate statements the pages simply bristle. Hodgson is put in the Guides, and slays the Princes "near Humayon's tomb," instead of the City Gate; a general massacre is related at Meerut, in 1857, which did not occur; and the last of the Moguls is credited with instigating a mutiny of which he was a mere tool. As a sample of undue proportion, compare the Barrackpur Mutiny at p. 213, with Bishop Cotton at p. 249. The book is, moreover, incomplete, closing with Lord Dufferin in 1888; and though the Punjab and Mysore needlessly have a separate chapter for each, the former ends with Lord Lawrence, and the latter with 1867. Even the Index is defective; Shiahs and Sunnis have a reference to p. 54, where there is not a word about either. Sir W. Hunter's scholarly "Brief History of the Indian Empire" leaves no room for this far inferior work.

4. The Rise of the British Dominion in India, by SIR ALFRED LYALL, K.C.B, D.C.L. (London: John Murray. 1893; 4s. 6d.) This is an historical work of quite a different type from the preceding. It does not aim at being a detailed narrative. It is cast in the form of a systematic survey of the history of the British in India till the Company was replaced by the Empire, and of all the conditions, both European and Indian, which attended its progress to full development. Sir Alfred shows fully the antecedent and concomitant circumstances of European rivalry and warfarewhich are so much neglected in most histories of India. He rapidly groups. together a series of events, and then discusses them and their surroundings with critical acumen and statesmanly knowledge. His narratives are terse and accurate, his sketches of character correct, vivid, and lifelike, his critical and political remarks valuable and sound; and occasionally he is.

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even novel, without being crotchety. Sir Alfred's well-written book deserves to be studied both in England and India: in the former, that England may realize the greatness of her task and obligation, and the best method of securing the loyal friendship of what will soon be a mighty nation; and in the latter, that India may not only revive her gratitude to England. for what has been done in rescuing her from the anarchy of former times, but may also feel that her best friend and support among the nations of the earth is and will be the power whose rise is depicted in these pages, and proved to be a blessing to the country it governs. Sir A. Lyall's book deserves to be a great success.

5. Early Bibles of America, by JOHN WRIGHT, D.D. (New York: Thomas Whittaker, 1892.) Well got up, with several facsimile title-pages, this book has evidently been a labour of love for the author, who, with great pains, tells us all that can be said regarding the various Bibles produced in America. Of course, in a country which, for Europe, practically dates from the sixteenth century, the word " Early " has a peculiar meaning. The first Bible noticed is Eliot's in "the Indian language," which must have been a strange rendering, judging from the title-pages. from some errors pointed out in this book, and especially from the fact that Mr. Eliot read an English Bible to an uneducated but English-speaking Indian, who seems to have given an off-hand translation of the same! This was in. 1661. The Saur (German) Bible came in in 1743; the Aitken (English) in 1782; the Douai (English) in 1790. The word "early" now surely cannot suit the enumeration; in fact, Eliot's is the only edition to which it can, in any real sense, be applied. Dr. Wright, however, continues his lists to 1822. There is some curious reading in the book, and much to interest the Bibliophilist: the ordinary reader will simply say-Cui bono?

6. The Marquess of Hastings, K.G., by MAJOR J. Ross of Bladensburg, C.B. (Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1893. 2s. 6d.) This volume is the sixteenth already issued in the Rulers of India Series, edited by Sir W. W. Hunter; and it is deserving of a place among its predecessors, which though necessarily of varying merit, have nearly all reached a very high degree of excellence. Major Ross, too, has written, on the whole, a very good history of Lord Hastings and his times, though the want of personal acquaintance with India (as we had to notice also elsewhere in the Series) makes him fall into blunders, occasionally absurd: e.g. at p. 68 where Gwalior is made to lie "only 3 marches from the Doáb, 5 from Delhi and 5 from Agra." There are many needless repetitions of the same statements and facts, and an occasional "bull" reveals the author's nationality; but he has a good grasp of his subject and does it ample justice. The biographical part of the book is unusually full for this series: Lord Hastings' character is well sketched; and the events in which he took part before going to India are succinctly described. The then state of India,-the policies of different leading personages,-the players who divided the stage between them, the clashing interests of rivals,-the turbulence and irregularities which characterized the time, land, and people are all vigorously and well portrayed. The book is not only important as one in an excellent series, but is interesting also in itself. Major Ross does not fail to paint Lord

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Hastings as a good object-lesson to Secretaries of State who wish to rule India from England over the shoulders of more competent officials and statesmen on the spot. Lord Hastings, who in England had condemned the vigour and imperialism of Lord Wellesley, had no sooner reached India, than his eyes were opened, and he carried out with equal vigour what he had before tried to prevent. Major Ross is not quite candid in his criticisms on the military operations in India undertaken by Lord Hastings, who was directly responsible for the minute subdivision of the army, that, as much by chance and by extraordinary prowess on which no one should have counted, destroyed the Pindaris. Nor is our author felicitous in his use of language. Holkar and Scindhia, the Bhonsla and the Peshwa were doubtless foolish in waging war against the British forces; but to talk of "rebellion," "revolt" and "insurrection," in their case, show> that Major Ross has not understood the then independent condition of these chiefs. These blemishes should disappear in the second edition, which we hope this volume will reach, as most of its predecessors have done.

7. Church and State in India, by SIR THEODORE C. HOPE, K.C.S.I. (London: The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1893; 6d.), is a pamphlet the importance of which must not be gauged by its size or price. Its 48 pages of closely printed 8vo. contain an Introduction, Statistics, the existing system of State aid, its disadvantages and shortcomings, and the proposal of a new System. Sir Theodore is, of course, a special pleader, and his brochure has the defects of the special pleader-it is unfair and onesided. For instance, making at p. 7 a comparison of the rates of increase of Christians and of the general population, he gives the former at 22.65 and the latter at 131 per cent. But the important fact is omitted that the 22.65 is got by comparing the Christians of India in 1881 with the Christians of India + Burma in 1891. Removing this undue addition, the increase is only 15'005 :-quite another pair of shoes. He is unfair, too, in the general statement that state aid is given to all denominations. Here details should follow, but do not: for Anglicanism has special favour. Take as an instance the low salaries, arbitrary restrictions and unjust deprivations of pensions of the Catholic Chaplains to troops in India, as compared with Anglican and Presbyterian Chaplains. Hence the statement, at p. 41, that all religions are concurrently endowed, is not the entire truth: one of then: gets a great deal more than its share. Of late, too, a deliberate effort is being made to raise the Anglican Church, (which according to Sir Theodore himself has less than of the Christians of India) to the dignity of an established State Church. While nothing else is allowed to be done for other denominations, beyond what was done some 40 years ago, the Anglican establishment has increased, partly at least with Government aid and taxpayers' money, to an unjust and uncalled for extent. At the late consecration of a needless Bishop of Lucknow, 12 Anglican Bishops were present-mostly Government officials,-when 40 years ago there were only 3; and no more than 3 seem needed by the comparatively few members of this Church. Sir Theodore now advocates a new system of concurrent endowments. For the details of his project

we refer our readers to this pregnant and important pamphlet, pp. 45-47. His work deserves to be carefully read, though we disapprove of any State aid, in the peculiar circumstances of India; and we would much rather see the voluntary system adopted. especially by the rich Anglican community in India.

8. Notes on the Indian Currency, by J. TEALE. (Manchester and London: John Heywood, 1892; 1s.) is a small pamphlet of less than 16 pages, deal ing with the question of the Indian exchange; but it fails to detail any practical plan for its improvement and settlement, though it suggests that the Indian Rupee should be restored to its value of 1870. There are several inaccuracies and fallacies; as, e.g. at p. 13 the hackneyed statement that a falling exchange is profitable to India, up to a certain point. Still the brochure should be read by all who are interested in this great question, as it is only by full and ample discussion that the public can hope for that thorough knowledge of the subject, without which all temporary shifts are but ventures in the dark.

His remarks on their

9. Chinese Stories, by ROBERT K. DOUGLAS. (Edinburgh and London : W. Blackwood and Sons, 1893; 12s. 6d.) While the publishers here give us a well-printed, well-illustrated and well-bound volume, Professor Douglas presents, in the nine tales and two poems which it contains, a delicious treat quite racy of true Chinese flavours. The selection is varied and attractive, the style excellent and full without being tediously prolix in detail, and the descriptions accurate and graphic. Prof. Douglas's Chinese think, act and live very like real Chinese. ways and idiosyncrasies interspersed in the tales, like the excellent introduction in which he deals with the early Chinese literature of this class, are, as might be expected from the learned Professor, the touches of a master. Different kinds of readers will be attracted by different tales in this set-only the first, we hope, of a Series. Each has its own peculiarity. Specially entertaining we found the Twins, A twice married couple, How a Chinese B.A. was won, and it's sequel Le Ming's Marriage. Best of all perhaps in its quaint life-like details and its natural human pathos is A Chinese Girl Graduate. We cordially invite all our readers to share the pleasure we have enjoyed in the perusal of this delightful book, in which positively the only defect requiring remedy in future editions is the appearance of a very few verbal inaccuracies-e g. "these kind."

10. Letters from South Africa, by "THE TIMES" SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT. (London: Macmillan and Co., 1893; 35.) These graphic letters, which drew so much attention when first published in The Times, are here reproduced in the form of a 116-page book. The first letter gives a description of the Kimberley diamond mines and the condition of its workers, both white and black, which puts the place in a most attractive light, and forms a splendid contrast to the squalor and misery of mines nearer home. From Kimberley to the Transvaal and on to Pretoria and Bloemfontein, through Basutoland and on to King William's Town and Peitermaritzburg, we are treated to the same picturesque descriptions of scenery, life, and manners; while shrewd observations on present wants and future prospects combine to present a very enjoyable book, whence

one learns much regarding a little known country and the problems in it already crying lustily for solution.

11. The A.B. C. of Foreign Exchanges, by GEORGE CLARE. (London: Macmillan and Co, 1893; 3s.) These lectures, delivered to the Institute of Bankers, are what they profess to be, a clear exposition of the principles of Exchange, regarding which much ignorance is found, even among many who claim to be authorities on the subject. Hence while absolutely necessary for those who enter the money market as professionals, they will be extremely valuable to the general reader; for Exchange is a matter which even the general public should now try to be practically versed in. To our readers this book will be more particularly interesting, as it concerns the practical question of Indian Exchange and currency. Not that the author condescends to give even a little space to the professional discussion of that question, the main difficulty of which lies in the determination of English financiers (idiotically supported by Secretaries of State and Governors-General) to screw the last possible farthing out of India. But the very principles which our author demonstrates clearly show that the obstacles to the rehabilitation of the Indian Exchange lie in easily removable circumstances, such as the closing of India to absurdly easy free coinage of silver, the coining of sovereigns in India, and the cessation of the sale. of Council Bills in London. If you wish to see for yourself how artificial is the set made against the Indian Exchange, apply Mr. Clare's principles, as laid down in this book, to the well-known but unconsidered facts of the enormous surplus of India's exports over her imports.

12. Four Months in Persia, and a visit to Trans-Caspia, by C. E. BIDDULPH, M.A., F.R.G.S., M.R.A.S. (London: Kegan Paul and Co., 1892; 3s 6d.) This acute traveller and facile writer relates his short journey through Persia in 1891, next giving a shorter statement of what he had seen in Trans-Caspia in 1890. The book, as the author states in his short preface, is chiefly compiled from his contributions to several periodicals, including the Asiatic Quarterly Review. Among the points well brought out by our author are the inconveniences of travel in Persia, increased in his case by neglect or contempt of appliances which more careful or fastidious travellers make it a point to secure,-the glaring evils of the Persian theory and practice of governing, neither few nor small, the scantiness of the resources of Persia, and the smallness of its population,-its want of roads and dearth. of mineral wealth. He makes shrewd remarks, draws sound conclusions, and gives excellent topographical and geographical descriptions. His style is plain, flowing, humorous, and pleasant. His Review of Troops at Teheran is excellent (p. 25). His strictures on the Armenians at Julfa--equally applicable to Armenians everywhere,-show a just appreciation of the characteristics of that race. There is little to find fault with in Mr. Biddulph, except his repeated comparisons of things Persian with things Indian, which he too often concludes with hits against the native States of India, as unjust as they are out of place. E.g., at p. 93 he says "Our cantonments are crowded with the warehouses of native merchants, who have taken refuge there from the lawlessness and misrule rampant on all sides when once the boundary between British and Native territory has

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