VII. Central Asia (Ouralo-altaic languages and peoples). VIII. Semitic languages and literatures (Hebrew, Aramaic, Ethiopian, Assyriology). IX. Mussulman Literature, History, Civilization X. Egyptology and African languages. XI. Greece Orient. XII. Languages, peoples and civilization of America (in connection with the languages and civilization of Asia). It is anticipated that there will be at least 500 members. A great number of papers have already been sent in. There is every prospect that the Congress will be highly successful. We shall give a full and special report of the proceedings in our next issue. INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF THE HISTORY OF RELIGIONS. This Congress will assemble in Paris from the 3rd to the 9th September in connection with the International Exhibition of 1900. It will be purely of a historical nature. The sections are as follows: I. Non-civilized religions; religions of America before Columbus. III. History of the religions of Egypt. IV. History of Semitic religions (Assyro-Chaldean, Asia Minor, V. History of the religions of India and Iran. VI. History of the ancient religions of Greece and Rome. VII. Religions of the Germans, Celts, and Slavs; prehistoric archa ology of Europe. VIII. History of Christianity in the first centuries, the Middle Ages, and modern times. The secretaries are Messrs. Léon Marillier and Jean Réville, à la Sorbonne, Paris. Subscriptions not less than 10 francs. THEODORE BECK. 1859-1899. He The Mahomedans of Northern India have sustained an irreparable loss. In 1898 they lost their illustrious leader, Sir Syad Ahmad,* and now they have lost the Principal of the M. A. O. College, Aligarh,† whose life-work was the complement of the Syad's. Theodore Beck is no more. passed peacefully away at Simla on September 2, the victim of an Indian climate and overwork, at the early age of forty. His parents were Quakers. His father had taken a prominent part in various public affairs; his uncle was Secretary of the Anti-Slavery League, and a devotion to great causes * See "Personal Reminiscences," July, 1898, pp. 45-51. † See "A Mahomedan University for Northern India," October, 1898, pp. 273-282. was traditional in the family. Having taken his degree at Cambridge, young Beck was appointed Principal of the M. A. O. College, Aligarh, when only twenty-four, without previous training, and with few obvious qualifications, except the courage and enthusiasm of youth, the ardour of his sympathy, and a considerable power of lucid exposition. The condition of the Aligarh College at the time was chaotic. The finances were in disorder, discipline was in abeyance, the trustees were numerous and unmanageable, and although Sir Syad Ahmad, the founder of the college, imposed his own iron will in all matters of importance, individual trustees showed their zeal by intermeddling in the details of college life. Nor could the European staff look forward to any of the advantages which usually tempt men to India. Their position was insecure; their pay uncertain; there were no prospects of advancement, and little hop.s of a pension. But young Beck united to an enthusiasm and sympathy almost feminine a large-hearted candour and openness of mind which always grew, and a perseverance and courage that never failed. His earliest care was the reorganization of the college. By degrees he reformed the discipline, brought the boarding-house under supervision, introduced sports and debating societies, and enforced the observance of religious duties. He dined at the common table, became the friend and adviser of his students, and in numberless ways assisted them after they had left. Moreover, he collected around him a small staff of Englishmem as sympathetic and zealous as himself. His chief difficulty lay with the trustees, and on some occasions he had to stake his whole position on the conflict; but courage and tact and the assistance of the Syad carried him through successfully. For the Syad he entertained a regard which speedily ripened on both sides into the warmest friendship. The large and generous conceptions of the Syad had filled him from the commencement with enthusiastic admiration. He adopted not only the educational but also the political programme (the two are inseparable) of the Syad, and became the chief exponent of the Syad's views to the English-speaking public. He was thus for many years the spokesman of the most intelligent and cultured portion of the Mahomedan community. He explained their attitude with regard to all the more important questions of the day, and obtained much sympathy for their aspirations from Englishmen of note. The professors of the Aligarh College have produced works of permanent value, like Mr. Arnold's scholarly and sympathetic "Preaching of Islam," and Mr. Morrison's treatise on the Principles of Government in India. Mr. Beck's essays and letters were no less able, but they mainly dealt with practical matters, and it will be difficult for his successors to exercise an influence on the course of affairs so considerable and direct. For the first fifteen years Mr. Beck's work was necessarily subordinate to the Syad's; but on the death of Sir Syad Ahmad, in 1898, the existence of the college depended chiefly on the Principal. The position happened at the time to be unusually difficult. There had been serious defalcations, the accounts were in utter disorder, the staff was for months without pay. The trustees (many of them) were a prey to jealousy and intrigue; the local leaders bitterly opposed each other, and were rival candidates for the inheritance of the Syad's authority. General anarchy threatened to overtake the college. It was Mr. Beck's greatest triumph to bring order out of this fermenting chaos. The finances have been put on a sound footing, and placed under the supervision of a board. A special committee, on which the teaching staff is largely represented, controls the interior discipline of the college, and the powers of the trustees are strictly defined, while the irresponsible interference of individuals is rendered impossible. The jealousies of rival leaders have been temporarily appeased, if not quenched, and a passable modus vivendi has been established. These things Mr. Beck accomplished with good wishes from many, but direct help from few. Unfortunately, his enemies have been of his own household, and there is reason to believe that his illness was aggravated by the treachery of some whom he had most warmly defended. He has left us at a time when we deemed we could not spare him; but his memory will remain, a solace to his friends, and an example to Mahomedans to show how an Englishman could love them. J. K. REVIEWS AND NOTICES. THOMAS BURLEIGH; LONDON, 1899. 1. Lakhmi, the Rajput's Bride. A tale of Gujarat in Western India, by ALEXANDER ROGERS (late of the Bombay Civil Service), author of the "Ráni of Jhansi," and other Eastern works. This tale is written in the fam liar metre of the "Lady of the Lake," "Marmion," etc. Her husband, an independent Rájpút chief, comes to her father's fort to take home with him his bride, to whom he has, according to Rájpút custom, been married in early childhood. On the way they are waylaid by a band of marauding Kolis, and the bride is carried off and held to ransom, which is paid by her father. On the bride's arrival at her future home, the young chief determines on revenge, and sets off with two separate bands, one headed by himself, and another by his younger brother. The latter is attacked at night by the same band of Kolis and severely wounded, and dies of his wounds. Thereupon his widow determines to undergo the rite of Sati—that is, burn herself with her husband's body—and of this ceremonial a vivid account is given. Soon after this the bride has a child, which unfortunately is a girl, and the disappointed father attempts its life by rubbing opium on its mother's breasts, to be imbibed with its milk. The mother awakes, and, horrified at the fearful deed, escapes to her father's home with her child by the aid of the Koli chief. Here she is followed by her husband, and on his attempting to take her away by force stabs herself. The tragic finale had better be read in the original. CLARENDON PRESS; OXFORD, LONDON, EDINBURGH, NEW YORK. 2. The "Oxford English Dictionary": a New English Dictionary on Historical Principles, founded mainly on the materials collected by the Philological Society, edited by DR. JAMES A. H. MURRAY, with the assistance of many scholars and men of science. Sections-Vol. iv. : Germano—Glasscloth; vol. v.: Heel-Hod and Hod-Horizontal. We have frequently referred to the excellence of this magnificent work, which is being published as fast as possible. Section Heel-Hod was published in January last, and sections Germano-Glass-cloth (forming part of vol. iv.) and Heel-Hod (forming part of vol. v.) appeared in April last. Section Germano-Glass-cloth contains words to the number of 2,053, compared with Johnson of 190; words i!lustrated by quotations 1,638, to 150 in Johnson; and the number of illustrative quotations 8,488, to 547 of Johnson. About one-fourth of that section is taken up with the articles on the verbs get and give, and their derivatives. The large space occupied by these verbs has been necessary, on account of the extreme generality of their fundamental meaning, and the consequent great variety in their specific applications. There is also an unusually large number of words ultimately of Oriental origin, as gharry, ghazal, ghazi, ghee, ghoul, ghurry, and many others. In section Heel-Hod there are 3,934 words, compared with 403 of Johnson; words illustrated by quotation 2,929, as compared with 322 of Johnson; and 13,768 illustrative quotations, to 905 of Johnson. One interesting feature in this section is. the laborious treatment of the numerous pronomial words derived from, and connected with, the pronoun he. The longest article is that on the adjective high, which with its compounds (among which are the historic appellations High Church, High Churchman, high-flyer) occupies no fewer than twenty-six columns. In section Hod-Horizontal there are 2,037 words, to 176 in Johnson; 1,444 words illustrated by quotation, to 134 in Johnson; and 7,320 illustrative quotations, to 590 in Johnson. This section exhibits examples of the chief elements of the current English vocabulary. Words of native or Teutonic origin preponderate. Words from the Greek are numerous. "Honey-moon" emerges as a cynical term, "applyed to those marryed persons that love well at first, and decline in affection afterwards; it is hony now, but it will change as the moon." The explanation of words and phrases is frequently amusing, highly interesting, and exhaustive. ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND Co.; WESTMINster. 3. Imperial Rule in India, being an Examination of the Principles Proper to the Government of Dependencies, by THEODORE MORISON. This work is intended to suggest how the transition from one phase of political development to another may be effected. The learned professor, with great acuteness and force, discusses great principles, and applies them specially to our rule in India. He surveys a wide field, including the principle which ought to constitute a permanent nation, the present condition of India with regard to political administration, the freedom of the press, education in schools and universities, and concludes that the only way to weld together the various races, considering their antecedent histories and position, and their different religions, is to promote a sentiment of loyalty to one person—that is, the Empress of India, as the direct ruler, instead of the present formula, the "Government of India." This sentiment, he maintains, is in thorough accordance with the feelings and aspirations of Hindoos and Mussulmans alike, and furnishes the only probable solution of creating and maintaining an Indian nation under the British Crown. He concludes his important and exhaustive discussion in the following words, which ought to be seriously weighed by every statesman who desires to promote the welfare of the people of India, and the unity of the British Empire. He says: "I have argued that we cannot bring a sentiment of nationality into being, except by encouraging the various communities to unite in supporting one central authority, be that central authority common to all India, or distinct for each several province. I have tried to show that if loyalty is based upon devotion to the person of the Empress, it will be readily yielded by the people of India, and that it is our duty to encourage and foster that loyalty by all means in our power, because salus reipublicæ suprema lex, and that statesmen are therefore justified in employing all the resources of the commonwealth to create the conditions without which the very existence of the state is precarious. I have tried to show that in her present stage of development it has been a mistake to apply to India those principles of government which have been |