BOOKS AND BOOKMEN.

Evening Star, Issue 11445, 12 January 1901, Page 1

BOOKS AND BOOKMEN.

'Canadian Camp Life.' By Frames E. Herring. London: T. Fisher Unwin. A pkasanily-written, simple, and unaffected account of a summer's outing on the shores of one of the many bays of Western Canada. A family residing near Westminster decide to go camping in 'preference: to the more orthodox way of putting in the hot months of the year, and the humdrum, ordinary, uneventful record of their fun and pleasantries is.told bv one of the- young ladies of the party. There is really nothing m the nature of literature, novel, or romance, as popularly understood, about the book. It is simply such a record, rather disconnected and with an unpleasant habit of introducing people without giving the reader much information as to who or what they are as happens to tens of thousands the wide world over whenever they go to the seaside or out picnicking. There are pages about bathing, cooking, riding, rowing, and evenings round the camp fire, and just",a little—a very little—bit «of lovemaking ' mixed up with salmon fishing, Indian squaws, and slight references to the grandeur and majesty of the scenery of a land where Nature 'has been so prodigal and lavish in her manifestations. Otherwise, we fear that there is nothing in' Canadian Camp Life' to tempt more than a very limited circle of readers. It is one of those books that call for neither praise nor blame, being such a one as any young man or woman of intelligence, and with a weakness for keeping a diary, could produce after a few weeks' outdoor life. Of the binding, illustrations, and pictures, we can only ky that, though in excess of its literary merits, thev undoubtedly serve to make it a most suitable and agreeable book for presentation; ■"-' Sultan Mahomed Elan, Mir MunshiVrtothe Amir, the editor of the 'Life of Abdur, Rahman, Amir of-Afghanistan,' makes 'thV bold claim, from a Western point of view, that the present Amir' of the buffer Stale which intervenes between our Indian Dependency and the vast territories under, thesway of the Czar of .All the Russias is "one' of the greatest men now living"'; and'in his work, just published by Mr John Mur r ray. the author has succeeded in unfoWing a biographical story of marvellous interest. It is a many-sided book. It>has much political signjfiomce.v and it is so full k of acfventure and strange vicissitudes,that'it> reads like a new series of talesfrom 'The Srabian : Nights.' It is the storv of a man who was a prisoner in fetters at one time and a cook at another; a Viceroy at one time and a subject of the Viceroy at another; an engineer and a blacksmith at one lime and a ruler at another. The life of such a man cannot fail to be of interest. To the editor ■ of the work the Amir is a hero, and as much of the narrative is stated to have been dictated by the-Amir himself its authenticity may be vouched for. We submit a'few extracts which will indicate the varied interest of its pages. One of the chapters in the book contains the philosophic reflections of the Amir upon the duties and privileges of kings. The following is a specimen: Kings stand to their countries as the viceregeivU of God. Either directly, or thrbugh their Ministers,, they exercise the rights cf Fortune or Misfortuiie-of life and of death: —over those who are placed under their rule. JSut they must always remember that the Almighty King of Kings, whose viceroys they are expects them to treat all His creatures with equal kindness and justice, without distinction of color (be they black, fair, or red), no matter what their religion may be (whether Moslems, Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, even those who do not believe in the existence of God Himself). Arguing from this point, kings must act without partiality, and give equal rights and privileges to those who enter their service, or who take up their abode in his country, just as if they were his own subjects, irrespective of nationality .or religion, to carry out the example of that Ak mighty King whose assistants they are', in temporal affairs.

It is interesting to learn that the Amir was very favorably impressed by Lord Curzon, the present Viceroy of India, when a few yexi-H ago he visited Cabul. The Amir writes thus about the visit:—

Several friendly conversations took place between us, for though he did not understand Persian, and I did not; understand English, we were able, to communicate through Mir Mun»hi. From these conversations he appeared to be a very genial, hard-working, well-informed, experienced, and ambitious young man. He was witty and full of humor, and wc often laughed at his amusing stories. . Though Mr Curzon's visit was a private and a friendly one, and not in any way in an official capacity, yet still we touched upon and discussed all the important affairs of my Government. The special topics of conversation were as to the North-west frontier of Afghanistan, and as ; to my successor to the . throne. My sons, Habibullah Khan and Nasruliah Khan, also invited Mr Curzon to thoir booses, and they all passed very pleasant evenings. I was so pleased with his visit that it still further added to my desire and anxiety that I, my sons, and officials, should sec other members of the English aristocracy and officials as often as possible. With regard to the future of bis country the Amir has very decided opinions:— There is no doubt that Afghanistan is a country that will either rise to be a very strong, famous kingdom, or: will be swept altogether from the surface of ttie earth. Thus latter state of things/would come about if the country came under'the'rule of an inexperienced and weak Amir. In this case the country would divided, and the very name of the kingdom of Afghanistan would cease to exist. To illustrate my meaning, and make my statement clearer, I must say § that it is impossible that Afghanistan should over take a middle course. It is quite out of the question that it could ever exist as a kingdom if, cut up into a number of' small • Weak states. For.if the Government were not.strong enough and wise enough to protect the kingdom from aggression, without , help from outside, the_cbuntry would surely ' and certainly bo annexed by one or other of the aggressors. Neither Russia nor England could take and occupy the whole country alone; for instance, England could not allow Russia to tako possession of the whole cf ! , Afghanistan, for in that case England could ' not retain, possession of India without, encountering a great many dangers and difficulties. And contrariwise, Russia could not sit still and allow England to take possession of the whole of Afghanistan without herself sharing'in the booty. ' THE A B C OF IT A Kidney Education starts with Backecha moans kidney ache, lame back means lame kidneys, weak hack means weak .kidneys, cure * means Doan's Backache Kidney Pitts. Bead about the free distribution in thisipaper, »W„ '- call at Marshall Pharmacy, v 'Bs Princes street,/ * Tuesday, January 15.—{AdvtJ - l\ . . <v„, i "What do-yon mean?". * married twice. Issfihe InVfum-tfx&teNM'k widow?". " lis£&<S&§Mnhi

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