NEW EDITIONS.—The fourths edition of The Rise and Expansion of
the British Dominion in India, by Sir Alfred Lyall (John Murray, 5s. net), contains a new chapter in which the author, carries on the story down to the present time under the two headings of "External Politics" and "Internal Administration." The period includes the half century during which India has been under the Crown. One lesson stands out clear above all others,— that we must not be afraid of responsibility. Mr. Gladstone doubtless seemed to be acting with discretion when in 1873 ho refused to guarantee Afghanistan against foreign aggression, but it was a discretion that turned out to be very costly. The guarantee refused to Sher Ali was given to Abduralintan,in.1880, and it has brought security to us and great opportunities of improvement to. Afghanistan itself. Of comae there• is, and must be, a per contra account, so to speak. The iniperii urgentia fata seem- to press us into regions of peril. Our wisdom is not to crouch under_ them. As to administration, we commend to our readers the weighty words in which the historian states the situation. A few of them wo quote. " We are seriously preparing for the slow devohition of self-governing principles. But undoubtedly this is an operation of extraordinary difficulty, for we have no precedents to guide us in the experi- ment." Another : "Preserve undisturbed and indisputable the fabric of British sovereignty, which is to the political machine what the iron rails are to the locomotive, the. foundation and permanent way upon which all progress must move." If wo could only give the orators of the Congress a year of Indian life such as it was before the British raj was heard of !—Messrs. Long- man publish a "Pocket Edition "of 'Short 'Studies, by J. A.PrOudo. It is in five volumes (2s. net per vol.) The essays contained number forty-eight in all, the latest in date having been 'written in 1882.—A considerably enlarged edition of the From St. Francis to Dante, by C. G. Coulton, noticed in the Spectator, November 10th, 1906, has been published.—The Chronicle of Salimbene appears at much gloater length, and various questions of a strongly controversial character are noticed in it. Salim- bene, who belonged to the second generation of Franciscan friars, is a witness of considerable importance, especially In the much disputed matter of the morality of the mediaeval clergy and laity.—We have received a 'fourth edition of a book of which it is impossible 'to SPeak too highly. This is Off the Rocks: Stories of the Deep • Sea ' Fi.sher-folk, of Labrador, by Wilfred T. Grenfoll (Marshall Brothers, 36. 6d.) Mr. Gronfell may be described as a medical missionary.' We would specially mention the character ' sketaes of " Little 'Prince Pomiak," " Uncle Silas,", " Peter Wright : Mail Carrier," and " Uncle Rube."
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