The sun., 1900-12-22
yEW BOOHS.
s,,.s Reviews Of Important ssd sstssss'iss
New publications


The present Christmas season has becn
.,optlonally prolific. not only In novels.
hnt also IN books Of historical and bioeraphi-
al value 10 som" of these we would direct
,,4ucdio,. attention, although hereafter wa
uny have occasion to examine them at greater
length Here for example. Ia the -Ijfe and
Letters Of Zachary Maoaulay. by his grand
daughter. Niscountoss Knutsford. Edward
Arnold The subject OF uis biography has
b.en ecllpsed BY his more distins uished son.
put hc played an important part In Eng
l,h history hundred years ago and.
ny reason Of hi- strenuous Efforts for
tie abolition Of the slave trade and In the
cnuse Of negro emancipation. deserved to be
commemorated as he has been. by monu-
ment In Westminster Abbey.
In The Forward Policy by Richard Isaac
Bruce. u.ongmansl Il presented an intor-
cstng record Of thirty-fve years work
amorg tho tribes on the northwestern
frontier of India The author Is "a thorough
believer in Sir Robert Sandeman's policy
Of advance. and urges that the whole OF the
northwest frontier should be taken under tho
direct control of the Indian Government
Punitive military measures are pronounced
demoralizing. and the whole territory oc-
cupiei by the north west border tribes should
either be organized as a frontier province
under Chief Commissioner. or placed on
the same footing as Beluchistan. 1t Is well
known that the OF ilions advocated In this vol
ume are held by Lord Roberts. and II Is said
that Lord Salisbury concurs in them. So does
the former viceroy. Lord Northbrook. and
4, may be remembered that Lord Curzon
advised the retention OF Chitral The subject
is exhaustively discussed by the author OF
this book
We are 1 debted to the Ma cmlllans for the
admirably printed and illustrated volume
entitled William Shakespeare" by Hamilton
Wright Mable This Is a study of the poet.
the dramatist and the man. With regard
TO shakespeare's personal character. Mr..
Mabie points out that the adjective sweet"
was commonly applied to him; he was de-
scribed as friendly as having an open and
free nature" and tradition later affirmed
that he was very good company and OF
very ready and pleasant smooth wit" The
two or three vague traditions of regularity
Of life are dismissed by Mr.. Mahie as unsub-
stantiated II is, az the same time. admitted.
that the standards Of Shakespeares time,
the habits of his profession. the Circum-
stances of his early life and the autobio-
graphic note in the Sonnets make 1t probable
that, in his youth at least. he was not i'm
peccable That essentially, however. he was
a sound man living a normal wholesome
life is rendered virtually certain by his
success in dealing with practical affairs
and by his long-sustaiued power OF produc-
ing great works of art on the highest levels
Of thought and workmanship. Such indus
try. sagacity and thrift as Shakespeare showed
are seldom. IL ever. associated with dsor-
derby living, while the consistent objectivity
Of hi, attitude toward life must be deemed
impossible on the part Of any man whose
moral or intellectual sanity Is seriously i'm
paired
A welcome should he given to reprint
~ The Spanish Conquest In America" by
Sir Arthur Helps John Lane. The specific
worth Of this book lies in its point OF view.
the author considering mis- theme in it's re-
lstion 10 the general history of slavery and
10 the government of colonies Since the
work was published. however. the subject
has been further elucidated by research.
and accordingly in the present edition the
text is supplemented or corrected by foot
notes which have been contributed by NJ
Oppenheim, The first volume. which is
now before u.s. carries the reader as far as
the death Of Cardinal Ximenes In 1917 Sir
Arthur Helps IL inclined 10 think that II
Aimenes had lived year or two longer.
and II Charles V had remained in Flanders.
the Indian and the negro races would have
had a widely different fate On such COM
para'ively small events. he says. does the
destiny. not only of nations but Of races.
turn, as If they we're nests of insects. which
are destroyed or saved as the husbandman
happens TO sway his plough to the right
hand or the left, and thus unheedingy avoids
or crushes whole communities a"
In Conrad Weiser" by Joseph s. Walton
George W. Jacobs 4 Coz. We have an ac-
count of the Indian policy OF colonial Penn
svlvania. IL i a useful contribution 10
American history. Up to a late epoch of
colonial times the French had greatly ex-
celled the English in their ability to secure
the friendship and the trade Of the Indians
The Germans and Dutch. too. were signally
successful in Indian traffic not merely be-
cause they were honest but largely because
they took pains to acquire the Indian Ian
Eua8e. In these respects none eXcelled
tonrai Weiser who entered the service
o! II" Province of Pennsylvania about 1888,
His skin in shaping and controlling the In
dian policy OF Colonial Pennsylvania post |
roned the threatened rupture with the Six
Nations until the English Colonies were pre-
pared to cope with their French enemies.
NJ. W II.