27 JANUARY 1900, Page 37

Lights and Shadows of a Long Episcopate. By the Bishop

of Minnesota. (Macmillan and Co. 17s. net.)—Bishop Whipple began life as a politician and soon blossomed into a Colonel. He -does not tell us exactly in what arm of the service, but we can guess it in his humorous remark that when his corps was ordered to the Canadian frontier, the regulars, by settling the business off-hand, " saved its military reputation " Then his thoughts took another direction. He was ordained in 1849, and ten years afterwards he was elected Bishop of Minnesota. This brought him into direct relation with what has been the great work of his life, the evangelisation of the Red Indian race and the support of their rights in regard to the Government of the United States. This is naturally the great subject of his book ; on other matters he has from time to time something interesting to say, but this is the thing that manifestly fills his heart. His experiences with Indian converts, scholars, and disciples are decidedly encourag- ing. Andrew Good - Thunder, a devout layman, and the Reverend J. S. Enmegabowh, the first a Sioux, the second a Chippewa, show, in the Bishop's descriptions, as friends of whom any one might be proud. The seamy side of the story is to be found in the dealings of the Government with this people. The Bishop allows that Canada has had a less difficult task in arranging Indian affairs; there has been less pressure of immigra- tion, and no crowds of greedy settlers clamouring for a share in the reservations. But his judgment is distinctly adverse to his own countrymen. The subject, however, is not one to be discussed in these columns. The energy, the zeal, and not less the good sense and the bonhomie of the Bishop are manifest throughout the volume. And he is an enthusiastic and success- fill angler. Among other achievements, he has caught tarpons in Florida, possibly the finest of all sports of the kind. We learn from him that the largest tarpon ever landed—it weighed 102 lb. and measured 8 ft. 2 in.—was caught by a lady. After playing the fish a long time she naturally grew a little weary and her husband offered to relieve her. " If you touch that rod," she cried, " I shall apply for a divorce."