29 JUNE 1912, Page 39

Sun Tat Son and the Awakening of China. By James

Cantlie and C. Sheridan Jones. (Jerrold and Sons. Os. not.)—It will be remembered that it was Dr. Cantlie who in 1896 was informed of' Sun Yat Son's imprisonment at the Chinese Embassy and succeeded in effecting his release through Lord Salisbury's inter- vention. The portion of the book written by him is considerably the most interesting, consisting as it does almost entirely of personal reminiscences. He gives copies of throe letters written to him and his wife by Sun Yat Sen in the early part of this year. One of them, dated March 12th at Nanking, contains the following passage, which is of significance :—" It is true that the Tel Ching dynasty is a thing of the past,' but the dethrone- ment of the Manchus does not mean the complete salvation of China. We have an enormous amount of work ahead of us, and it must be accomplished in order that she may be ranked as a great power among the family of nations." In addition to the per- sonal accounts of Sun Yat Sen the book contains a very short account of the latter years of the Manchus—apparently based to a large extent upon Mr. Bland and Mr. Backhouse—as well as a miscellaneous chapter on "Things Chinese."