The Chinese—by John Stuart Thomson. Indianapolis, The Bobbs-Merrill Company.
The writer of this book was undoubtedly animated by the desire to give his readers a good general idea of the Chinese, and he has crowded into over four hundred pages a tremendo of information with regard tu this people and their country, His style is free rather thoo literary; be relat interesting feature after anther without regard to sequence. As a work of reference the book would therefore be of little value were it not well index and obviously it is not intended aid to the serious student of things Chinese. To the Occidental reader who desires to become acquainted in general way with this kingdom and the customs, politics, business methods, religions of the Chinese, etc., the work may be an acquisition, and no doubt thus achieves the end the author had in view. Unfortanately, how Mr. Thomson dyes not deal wit Chinese in the way in which we should expect in such a book; he has evidently '8 wide experience of the peoples of the southern provinces and not of those of central and northern China, and asa result the characteristics that are most familiar to foreigners residing in these parts of the Empire are relegated, perhaps unconsciously, to the back. somewhat sarprisiag to find in book entitled "The Chinese" that the first ninety-six pages are devoted to matters incident to foreign reeidence in Hongkong and Macao. much space is devoted to. this lo of life in Chins, that Shaoghai Tieotain and other' foreign settle. ments may rightfully lay claim to more than incidental reference to them. The Daily Life of Foreigners in China", is really a series of skeichee of Hongkong life as it appeared to the writer; but the real life of the foreigner is not touched upon. Tnaccaracies of detail are abundant. For instance, riding boys do know the correct way to mount a pony; walers, Arabs and American horses are not now raced at the Hongkong races; and it is exaggeration to say that European ladies do what omen do, sod paint their weather-melted faces." The aspersion cast on the Hongkong Jockey Clab with regard to their attitude towards certain residents, is, in our experience, quite unjustified and ie calculated to create an erroneous impression in the the reader who does not know every one is well aware, but no good objectiis served by besmirching a Colony'e
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.