not only is spiritualism not illustrated in the story, but many things are styled spiritual which they are not in the technical sense, such as a wife's devotion to her husband, and which, judged by the definition of spiritualism given in many places, are the very opposite of spiritual. Indeed, the impression left on our minds by the perusal of this book is, that it is only one or two states of mind which can be called spiritual, and yet there is hardly a state of mind which is not spiritual.

But though we are unable to pronounce Adhyatmiká a successful spiritual novel, we are glad to be able to say, that the story is really a good one, and ought to be read by boys and girls. It impresses upon us in a very effective manner, the duty of being virtuous and benevolent, and it contrasts; in an earnest and winning style the higher part of human nature with the lower. The child-like simplicity with which all this is done is characteristic of the author of Aláler Gharer Dulál, and is really very catching. But if Adhyatmikά is to be made a schoolbook for the benefit of society, the personal sketch of the heroine should be recast in such a way, as to show that the highest form of life does not exclude the idea of marriage. If Babu Pyári Chánd is really anxious to promote the cause of spiritualism by this work, we are afraid he will achieve scant success. For, if celibacy be, as his heroine seems intended to illustrate, a necessary condition for acquiring the truly spiritualistic frame of mind, few, we are afraid, will be inclined to regard that frame of mind as good or desirable.

CRITICAL NOTICES.

GENERAL LITERATURE.

Grammar of the Classical Arabic Language, translated and compiled from the Works of the most approved native or naturalised Authorities. By Mortimer Sloper Howell, Her Majesty's Bengal Civil Service, Member of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, and Fellow of the University of Calcutta. Published under the Authority of the Government, North-West Provinces. In an Introduction and four Parts. Part II. The Verb, and Part III. The Particle. Allahabad. Printed at the North-West Provinces Government Press, 1880.

THE

HE research of which Mr. Howell's work is the outcome. must command the admiration of all who examine it; and it will be generally felt that the task, if it was to be performed at all, could not have been entrusted to more competent hands. At the same time the doubt forces itself upon us whether, after all, the compilation of a grammar on the principle adopted in it is not an anachronism. It looks, in fact, almost like an undoing of the work of those modern grammarians who have applied to the materials embodied in it, or other similar materials, that synthetic method which has elevated grammar into a science, and, whatever its disadvantages, done so much to smooth the path of the student.

The method adopted in Mr. Howell's work is the analytic. It presents us, so to speak, with the threads out of which grammar in the modern European sense is woven. The method is not without its advantages, the chief among them being, perhaps, the wealth of examples with which it presents the student.

Here we have reproduced not only the dicta of the chief native authorities, but their ipsissima verba and the texts on which their conclusions were based. Conflict of opinion not being eliminated, the work is essentially argumentative, and the student is left to choose between opposing authorities. It follows that it is scarcely a work for a beginner, who wants everything authoritatively laid down by some supreme

a

arbiter. Its study with profit, in short, presupposes a large amount of critical judgment on the part of the student, and this he cannot possess without considerable previous knowledge of the subject-matter.

The vast number of abbreviations used by the author will, we fear, prove a serious drawback to the use of the work. For, before he can consult it with any degree of comfort, the reader must devote many days, if not weeks, to the study of these abbreviations, and even then he will need a very good memory to keep them all in mind.

The following paragraph, selected at random, will sufficiently illustrate our meaning :

THE QUADRILITERAL VERB.

در بخ

§ 495. The unaugmented quad. has one (M, SH, L, IA) measure (L, IA) [or] formation (M, SH) for the act. voice (IA) M (M. L), with Fath of the 1st and 3rd (L), trans. (M), like(M) ] G~♪ (M, IA) rolled the stone down, and intrans., like lowered his head (M); one for the pass., like ; and one for the imp., like . The augmented, quad. becomes, through the augment, of five letters, like, or six, like [and] (IA). The augmented [quad.] has (M, SH, L) two (M), [or rather] three (SH), formations (M. L), (1) J2åï (L), as a [495. A.] (SH, L); (2) Mix), as (M, L) (M, SH,

دحرج

دحرج

تدحرج ,I crowded the camels together فاحر نجمت النعم خرجمت .

I), e. 8.

and they crowded togther,

(L); (3) Mail, as (M, L)

was joyful, bil was haughty shuddered (M, SH), J) hastened became swollen (L): which are intrans.

To have given the names of all the authorities in full would, no doubt, have rendered the work much bulkier, but we nevertheless suspect that a good deal of time would thus have been saved, and certainly the work would have been made much less repulsive.

Index Geographicus Indicus, being a List, alphabetically arranged, of the principal Places in Her Imperial Majesty's Indian Empire, with Notes and Statements, Statistical, Political, and Descriptive, of the several Provinces and Administrations of the Empire, the Native States, Independent and Feudatory, attached to, and in political Relationship with, each; and other Information relating to India and the East, with Maps. Names spelt in accordance with recent authorised Orthography. By Frederick Baness, F. R. G. S., F. S. Sc. (Lond.) Survey of India. Surveyor and Chief Draftsman, Geographical and Drawing Franch. Calcutta: W. Newman & Co., 3, Dalhousie Square. London: Edward Stanford, 55, Charing Cross. 1881.

IN

N his Index Geographicus Indicus Mr. Baness has produced one of the most complete works of its kind that we have seen. As a compendium of Indian geography and statistics it stands without a rival, and these words must be taken in their widest sense to convey a correct idea of the information it contains. It is a guide at once to the geography, topographical, physical and political; the statistics, vital and economic; the ethnology, and even the climatology, of the empire; and all this varied information is thrown into such a form that the enquirer can find what he is in search of with the least possible expenditure of time and labour. Whether as a companion to such voluminous works as those of Dr. Hunter, or as a substitute for them, it will prove equally valuable, and no Indian office or study should be without it.

The brief general descriptions by which the tables are accompanied, constitute monographs of the subjects with which they deal, and contain an amount of information out of all proportion to the space they occupy.

Writers who desire to adapt their spelling of Indian names to the scientific system will find the alphabetical Index at the end invaluable as a guide for the purpose,

The accuracy of the work, as far as we have been able to test it, is beyond praise, and the typography is beautifully neat and clear.

The Golden Treasury of the best Songs and Lyrical Poems in the English Language, selected and arranged with Notes, by Francis Turner Palgrave, Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford. Book Fourth. Edited with additional Notes by Peter Peterson, M. A., Ed. Dip. Bombay. Bombay, 1880 (with the permission of Messrs. Macmillan and Co.)

I lyric

N publishing this annotated edition of what is perhaps the

has at once supplied a great educational need and opened up to Indian students a new and fertile source of pleasure. Though there are poets who embody the thoughts that make all the ages kin, each succeeding age, by virtue of those laws of development which govern all mental products, has its own special inspirations and its own appropriate diction, and experience has abundantly shown that a too exclusive application on the part of Native scholars to the works of Milton and Shakespeare leads to results which are at the best one-sided and at the worst grotesque. Lyric poetry, moreover, is that which from its nature partakes most intimately of the spirit of the age that gives it birth; and hitherto the lyric poetry of England has been very much of a hidden book to the native of India. So far as this has been due to want of encouragement, Mr. Peterson's success in obtaining official recognition for the fourth volume of the Golden Treasury as a text book will go a long way towards remedying the defect, while his admirable notes should do as much to remove the obstacle, so far as it is due to special difficulties of interpretation.

Of the selection itself, it would be impossible to speak in too high praise. Though it does not include the works of living writers, it includes most of the best pieces of our modern lyrical writers not living, and nothing which is not excellent and in keeping with the feelings of the day. That everything it contains will be at once understood of native students would perhaps be too much to expect. But Mr. Peterson has left nothing undone to facilitate the work of interpretation.

The Future of the Muhammadans of Bengal. By Saeed. 1258, Solar Hijreh. Printed and published at the Urdoo Guide Press; Calcutta, 1880.

SAE

AEED'S little tractate on the position and prospects of the Musalmans of Bengal is distinguished by a candour, a moderation and a breadth of view which were certain to obtain attention for his opinion; and, if we are not mistaken, they have been very fully considered by the Local Government,

His object is to investigate the causes of the social decay which has overtaken his co-religionists in the Lower Provinces, and to show how it may most effectually be arrested, and the community enabled to recover its lost position.

The causes of the decline pointed out by him are various. The substitution of English for Persian as the Court language combined with the aversion shown by the Muhammadans for English education, have placed them at a serious disadvantage in the race for