These books are both written with the same object in view: to expound to the world at large the beneficence of certain forms of mis sionary activity and the extent to which those efforts are divinely sup. ported, and guided. The shorter work is that setting out in pamphlct form the experience of Mr. and Mrs, Porteous and Miss Gem: mell. They were fully known to the readers of the "North-China Daily News" in the words of its Nanchang Correspondent." Mr. iuewis, who puts together this gra phic account, is looking mainly. to instructing pathe opi Eng. land regarding the influence of missionary work on Chinese in the! Interior. The lesson might be well extended to China, for there is eer-tainly food for thought in the ovidence forthcoming of the genuine solicitude of the villagers for the safety of the missionaries. The! risks which some of these humble folk took to save their friends were eloquent of the sincerity of " their: affection, It is also noteworthy, that among the bandits themselves of humanity was not lack-striking contrast to the ex-Periences of the unfortunate Mi Nettleton and Diss Harrison in the adjoining. province.
Yet, when all is said and done, this story is by no means so im: Pressive as the admittedly—propagandist account of the work of the Salvation Army in the slums of London. It ix dificult to resist conviction that in their gallant assault on the crime, poverty and misery of darkest London, the off-cers of the Salvation Army are achieving results which have the overwhelming merit of permanency and definite rehabilitation. Not should it be forgotten that the d fers, definite and—psychological ficulties ¢ncountercd by the "Army Officers" are in no way loss formidable than any to be met with in China, The glamour of life in the heart of a foreign country, with its uncertainties "and surprises, should net tind the reader to the Immense amount of moral courage and physical endurance required to face the horrors of savagery act in the midst of ates the book, He always gets his may, oven to the very end with the bottle of madeira. He is only al little man, but so was Napoleon, and! although 'Lekholm never had" the Power of swift decision and action of Napoleon yet by a certain amount of reasoning, sometimes braced up by a stiff drink, he imposed his will even upon his wife, a Topfer, who to the end moodily declares' there Would have been no trouble at all had the children been Topfers instead of Lekholms.
But the old lacemaker is really] heroic. Ife served long ago in some war which nobody seems to remem ber and exhibits a newspaper sat. ting showing how Volunteer Lek-holm showed such amazing bravery' that the day was von, Il retains his tunic and medals but as the years pass and he grows more und more insignificant the—town! really thinks that he never performer the act he performed—because] they really cannot conceive how a man so small as he could have done it, That is what real military fame gets a man just like the old soldier and war in any country. Bravery] in the face of death makes hin heroic: the passage of years makes! him slightly ridiculous in_popular estimation and people barely toler fate him. Lekholm's town is no exception although Lekholm stoutly defies all ridicule by appearing in full uniform years and years afterwards when the King visits the town, Through one daughter and three sons the Lekholm family grows fol-owing the same idea of the lacemaker with varying success, the branches of the family tree spread-ting in varied and strangely diverse directions, but strangely enough there is strong musical gift whi crops up very often. It starts with Anders, a sergeant in the. regimental band, a man of remarkable social gifts, 'a tremendous eapacit7 written in no spi tinction, but it merely bring out facts which are sometimes overlooked by the most earnes formers. In many ways it may be said, for example, that the work of the Salvation Army in London finds its true counterpart not so_much in the mission field up the Valley. of the Yangtze as in the mission. hall in Chapei where the ricsha coolies find their place of refuge and consolation.—r.tt. for liquor, and some ability in musical "composition. Anders would never fit in the English Forsytes, He lived o* in inn where he could earn his kup by entertaining the clients. Ho fell off his horse at the torand manceuvres being thoroughly drunk. He joined the Good Tem-Dlars, found his inspiration for Composition decreasing in direct ratio to his abstention from liquor, the Interna: march. and joees which im national fame he took the periods Nobody could amuse the children like Anders when with a pencil he rapped upon his teeth and by inflating or deflating his checks hho produced the most convince Swedish military tattoo.
But while there is a vein of Dick-asian humour thoroughout the story and the final reunion on the lacemaker's hundredth birthday seems happy enough the reader feels that the biblical precept which heaps on successive generations the of the fathers is somewhat oxcessively borne'out by the Lekholms. Tht Forsytes in their progress to the stars suitored, but not like the -Lekholms. Suffering is the badge of the Lekholm tribe and that what makes them more haman, San-Shine after rain: kindly feeling and humanity after suffering. An cxcellent book.—a.p.r.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.