amount of injustice and oppression resulting from the old system and if possible now aggravated under the new development may be seen and guessed in the lively pages of Mr. Pritchard, who, as a practising Barrister in the Indian courts, was much behind the scenes, and, known to be unconnected with the Government, allowed to see and hear much which most Europeans resident in India little dream of. His Chronicles pass from grave to gay and from sad to amusing; red tape and official routine, strict integrity and false accusations, absurd schemes and laughable occurrences, incredible folly and horrible injustice pass before the eyes of the reader in a long and brilliant array of varying incidents. The book is of equal value both to those who know India and those who do not.

25. Abridgment of the History of India, by J. C. MARSHMAN, C.S.I. (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood and Sons, 1893; 6s.). We welcome this abridgment of Marshman's well-known and much valued work, very neatly published in one handy volume. The early and the Muhammadan periods have been condensed, while the British epoch, as of much greater importance, has been expanded into fuller detail. It forms an accurate History of India, for reference regarding leading events, notable persons and important circumstances, from the earliest times to the assumption of the Government of India by the Crown directly. A subsequent section gives in 30 pages a summary of events from 1858 to 1891-appropriately concluding with the last census. Very unaccountably the date of 27th March 1893 is placed immediately after the statement that the Imperial census was taken “this year"!

26. The Indian Mutiny: Selections from State Papers, edited by G. W. FORREST, B.A., Vol. I. (Calcutta: Military Dept. Press, 1893). Mr. Forrest is so well known for his painstaking and judicious selections from the records of the Government of India, over which he so ably and diligently presides as Director, that we need only say here that this volume. -the first of a series to follow-is well worthy of his high reputation. The Series is to present to the public all the available State papers relating to the Mutiny. He has divided the mighty mass into three classes; and the present volume gives us the first of these, relating to the Barrackpur, Berhampur, Meerut and Delhi revolts, down to the capture of the last named city. We have not space except for a brief review of this bulky book-pp. 493+ clviii+ci. The introduction gives an admirably clear and succinct account of the events till the capture of Delhi; but a few corrections are needed. At the Cashmere gate (p. 25) there was no "long drawbridge; for it crossed only the moat, here but a few feet wide. Some Christians were left unmolested in Delhi (p. 30), mostly belonging to families that had served previous emperors. The Kussauli range does not rise abruptly from the plains (p. 32), but lies beyond the Sewalik ridge. A far more important mistake is that of decrying Lord Lawrence's advice of pushing straight for Delhi, and saying it must have led to disaster, forgetful of the fact that it was the delay in the attack which gave strength to the defence. The selection of papers is very good, and besides some new matter, furnishes most interesting details of the Siege of Delhi; but the chief interest centres naturally round the vexed question of the cartridges. NEW SERIES. VOL. VI.

KK

Mr.

Regarding this we note first that more information is required: why, for instance, are we not given the papers on which the Governor General's minute of the 27th March 1857 was based, p. 88: "Enquiry was immediately made as to the composition of the grease. The tallow used had been supplied by a contractor, and it was ascertained that no sufficient precautions had been taken in the Arsenal to ensure the absence in it of all matter which might be objectionable to the Sepoys." The only other paper bearing on this point is the rather off-hand D.O. of Col. A. Abbott, C.B., Inspector General of Ordnance, given at pp. 3 and 4: "I hear that objection has been made by the Sepoys to use the cartridges . . . because one end is . . . greasy. It is absolutely necessary that grease should be used. . . It was of cocoanut oil and bees wax. The present grease is tallow. I think that a committee should decide what grease should be employed." Surely there is more than this in the Indian archives. In fact, our impression is strengthened that, no matter how much designing malcontents may have utilized the feeling to provoke a rebellion, the chief and in truth the only thing that drove the soldiers to a mutiny was the supposed attack on their caste and religious system. General Hearsey seems to have been the only one to understand from the beginning that more than the Sepoys themselves were concerned in the matter; and that even when they became convinced that the cartridges were innocent of all pollution, they still could not use them so long as their relatives and friends all over India, were persuaded that their use entailed loss of caste. Forrest fails to see this even now; for at p. 6 he says: "Concessions made to the murmurs and threats of an ignorant race only increase their perversity and folly." Should we then act on the principle that when the culpable folly of a few officers, as in 1857, has excited a universal fear of religious interference, we should do nothing to allay it? Who can say if Abbott and his assistants had been dismissed with ignominy from the service, and a plain straightforward proclamation been made to all India, the mutiny would not have been averted? Mr. Forrest's own pages show that the Sepoys literally had no other grievance; that, to the last, they continued subordinate and respectful; and that only the blindness of the Government in failing to see that they had to deal with the public opinion of India, even more than with the demands of the Sepoys, forced the reluctant soldiery to their fatal act. When the 19th Regiment was disbanded, in the General Order read at that sad parade, there is some very vague generality, but no categorical denial of an attempt to tamper with the caste of the men. The disbanding, moreover, was about the best means that could have been adopted for spreading the evil. Had General Hearsey and Major J. Bontein's recommendations been followed in place of the ignorant and shortsighted ideas of higher placed officials, much evil might have been avoided. The book is sure to be studied with the greatest care, and will be read with the deepest interest; for not only has lapse of time failed to lessen the captivating grasp of the story of the Indian Mutiny, but the papers here given both show more clearly its inner working, and convey lessons of care and caution in the details of administration which our officers, both Civil and Military, in India will do well to keep in mind. In England the book can be got at the India Office.

27. A Practical Arabic Grammar, Part I., compiled by MAJOR A. O. GREEN, R.E., 3rd edition (Oxford: The Clarendon Press). The circumstance that this Grammar should, in so short a time have passed through a third edition, would lead one to suppose that it is a work of great excellence. No doubt, the book has its sphere of usefulness, but otherwise we have not been able to discover anything very remarkable in it. If this Grammar reaches a fourth edition the following corrections should, we think, be made: Page 5, No. 11— is not a servile letter; p. 10, Lesson 2, in as much as there is nothing more regular in the Arabic language than the feminines of Adjectives denoting colour, it is absurd to call this an irregular formation; on the same page with is a blunder and

,22 .p ; واسعين cannot form its plural واسع . 14 on page كنتي so is

nation is, with Kasra not Damma, the

have the Kasra and no Damma.

p. 64 "illustrious" is

changed into after

not and; as

C

same on p. 23 should

P. 27 is not a village, but a town.

P. 120, 172, the is also regularly land; this should have been men

tioned. P. 120, the form is used to express any quality which is very

L

conspicuous, especially colour or distortion, so black, not merely to become black.

is to become intensely

28. English Arabic Vocabulary, by LIEUT.-COLONEL E. V. STACE, C.B. (London: Bernard Quaritch), 218 pp., 8vo. The author of this vocabulary takes pains to impress upon his readers that he is treating of colloquial and not classical Arabic, as if the former were not, at least three-fourths, in perfect accord with classical usage. To accentuate, no doubt, as much as possible the difference supposed to exist between so called colloquial and classical Arabic, the author carefully registers in his vocabulary the vulgarest and lowest expressions in preference to more refined-though not less colloquial terms-whenever he has the choice. It appears from a perusal of this book that the charmed circle of true colloquialism is somewhat narrow in Aden, for the following words seem to be unknown there, or perhaps the author has purposely omitted them on account of their classical associations: absent from Colonel Stace's colloquial vocabulary is the word Heaven-but Hell is well represented by three incisive Arabic words, all, no doubt, thoroughly in use. Mosque, Synagogue and Church are also, it seems, words that it is unnecessary to know in Aden Society. But what may be considered their opposites are conscientiously registered in the compilation before us. Prophet, Priest and Apostle are omitted but Missionary figures and so do useful words like Intriguer, Pimp, etc. Moslem, Christian and Jew are left unmentioned in these select colloquial leaves, as the author probably found that the term "Infidel" takes the place, in common parlance, of these three words. We believe the work aims at some completeness for we find an out-of-the-way word with an out-of-the-way spelling, to wit, "hickledy-pickledy." We wish the student. joy in his study of this vocabulary; if eminently successful, he may in time aspire to rival the language of an Arab menial. The plan of the author of illustrating the use of words by short phrases is excellent.

29. Village Communities, by SIR H. MAINE (London: John Murray).

We are glad to see a new edition of this standard work. The excellence of the former edition has, it appears, left no room for improvement in the new issue.

30. platil εblow Sawáti' Al Ilhám (Radiant inspiration). This bulky volume issued from the famous Nawul Kishore Press, Lucknow, is a commentary on the Qurán written by Abul Feid Feidi in the year 1582 A.D. A lengthy prologue and a piece of poetry introduce the work, which is distinguished by the peculiarity that the author has throughout restricted himself to words which are composed of "unpointed" letters, thus omitting one half of the letters composing the Arabic Alphabet. It goes without saying that the commentary is, in consequence, to be regarded chiefly as a curiosity and as a valuable collection of obsolete words and difficult constructions.

31. The Wisdom of Naushirwan the Just--commonly called Tauqiyat-iKisrawiya (Lucknow, Nawul Kishore Press, 1892). Students of Persian will feel grateful to Mr. W. Young, B.A., C.S.I., for having edited, transliterated and translated this most interesting, though somewhat difficult work; the book reflects credit alike on the editor and the publisher.

32. Krypto- Monotheismus in den Religionen der Alten Chinesen und anderer Völker von FERD. ADALBERT JUNKER VON LANGEGG (Wilhelm Engelmann, Leipzig; and Williams and Norgate, London). This is an exceedingly interesting book on the consistent Monotheism hidden in Oriental religions-chiefly that of the Ancient Chinese-discoverable by esoteric inquiry and research into the sacred religious books and traditions that are available to the student of Comparative Religion. The learned author was principally stimulated to these inquiries by travels in the East and association with indigenous Oriental scholars—who, after all, generally possess a more accurate knowledge of their respective religions than their European critics at home, who often do not even know the language in which any particular form of religious belief, on which they pose as authorities, is expressed.

The book before us treats of a vast subject into which considerations of space do not permit us here to enter; we must content ourselves with recommending its perusal to all whose studies lie in this direction. The chapter on Zoroastrian "supposed" dualism, but real monotheism, is especially interesting though it is, perhaps, not so thorough and accurate as other chapters are.

33. The latest addition to the series of works, issued under the distinguished editorship of Karl Dziatzko of Göttingen, on Bibliography and the collection of books, is a booklet by the editor, sent to us by the publisher M. Spirgatis of Leipzig, on the development and present state of Scientific libraries in Germany (Entwickelung und gegenwärtiger Stand der wissenschaftlichen Bibliotheken Deutschlands). The historical portion of the little work is much more interesting than what might be supposed from the title.

OUR LIBRARY TABLE.

We have on our table: Journal of the United Service Institution of India (Simla Times Press, May, 1893), containing a very full and interesting geography of Russian Turkestan, by N. V. Ostroumoff, translated by Lt. E. Peach; A Dream, and other poems, by Hafid (Madras: Srinavasa, Vavadachari, 1893)-three little poems in rhyme preceded by a long dream, apparently symbolic, in blank verse; Annual report of the Reformatory School at Yerrowda for 1892 (Bombay: Government Central Press, 1893, 4 as.), an institution with just over 100 inmates, where we note that the mark system has been introduced with good effect; The Tracing Board in Modern Oriental and Medieval Operative Masonry, by C. Purdon Clarke, C.I.E. (Margate: Kebles Gazette Office, 1893), a learned technical discussion printed in 4to. with 6 full page illustrations; The Allahabad Review (Church Mission Press, July, 1893), by M. Hamidullah, Barrister-at-law, in English and Urdu; The Currency Question, by the Right Hon. A. J. Balfour, M.P. (London: E. Wilson and Co.; Manchester: J. E. Cornish, 1893), a very good statement of Bimetallism, but leaving unexplained why the Conservative Party have taken up an attitude of opposition against the closing of the Indian mints to free coinage of silver at the goodwill of any importer; Bostan-i-Khiyal-Ji (Lucknow: Nawul Kishore

Press, 2 vols.).

We beg to acknowledge, with thanks, the following works: 1. Boletin de la Sociedad Geografica de Madrid (Fortenet), among the articles of which, always valuable, are the continuation of the history of Gibraltar since 1779 and an interesting note on Andrew de Morales and his observations on Ocean-currents at the close of the 15th century; 2. Proceedings of the Royal Colonial Institute, 1892-93, by the Secretary, where British Federation, New Guinea, British Guiana, Australia, and British Columbia are discussed in addition to much other matter, including Mr. F. C. Sellous' Incidents of a Hunter's Life in S. Africa; 3. The Geographical Journal, January to June, 1893 (London, E. Stanford), which among the usual details regarding the Royal Geographical Society contains, as matter of great special interest for our readers, Mr. W. M. Conway's Hisper Pass, C. Hore's journey in Borneo, F. C. Sellous' South Africa, Captain Bowers' Across Thibet, E. A. Floyer's Routes in the deserts of Egypt, and Alfred Sharpe's Central African Explorations; 4. La Civilta Cattolica, containing among other articles the continuation of Fr. de Caras' Hittites, and of the Historical novel "The Day after the Deluge," which grows in interest; 5. The Contemporary Review (London, Isbister and Co.); 6. The National Review (London, W. H. Allen and Co.) ; 7. La Minerva (Roma, Sociétà Laziàle), a monthly extract from English and other Reviews; 8. Biblia, the New York monthly Biblical and Oriental Magazine; 9. Le Polybiblion (Paris: Rue St. Simon); 10. The Review of Reviews (London); 11. The Strand Magazine and 12. The Picture Magazine, both of which are excellent; 13. The Religious Review of Reviews (London: Catherine Street); 14. The Missionary Review of Reviews, New York: Funk and Wagnalls); 15. La Revue des Revues (Paris); 16. La Revue Générale (Bruxelles: Société Belge de Librairie); 17. The Library Review (London: