Amidst the jumble of political shibboleths, mainly drawn from the vocabulary of extreme Radical sentimentalists, which Mr. Mallik supplies to his readers in rich abundance, two may be selected which give the keynote to his opinions.  The first, which is inscribed on the title-page, is St. Paul’s statement to the Athenians that all nations of men are of one blood.  The second, which occurs towards the close of his work, is that “sane Imperialism is political Idealism.”  Both statements are paradoxical.  Both contain a germ of truth.  In both cases an extreme application of the principle involved would lead to dire consequences.  The first aphorism leads us to the unquestionably sound conclusion that Newton, equally with a pygmy from the forests of Central Africa, was a human being.  It does not take us much further.  The second aphorism bids us remember that the statesman who is incapable of conceiving and attempting to realise an ideal is a mere empiricist, but it omits to mention that if this same statesman, in pursuit of his ideal, neglects all his facts and allows himself to become an inhabitant of a political Cloud Cuckoo-land, he will certainly ruin his own reputation, and may not improbably inflict very great injury upon the country and people which form the subject of his crude experiments.  On the whole, if we are to apply that proverbial philosophy which is so dear to the mind of all Europeanised Easterns to the solution of political problems, it will perhaps be as well to bear constantly in mind the excellent Sanskrit maxim which, amidst a collection of wise saws, Mr. Mallik quotes in his final chapter, “A wise man thinks of both pro and con.”

Starting with a basis of somewhat extreme idealism, it is not surprising that Mr. Mallik has developed not only into an ardent Indian nationalist, but also into an advanced Indian Radical.  As to the latter characteristic, he manifestly does not like the upper classes of his own country.  They are, in fact, as bad or even worse than English peers.  They are “like the ‘idle rich’ elsewhere; they squander annually in luxuries and frivolities huge sums of money, besides hoarding up jewels, gold and silver of immense value.”  Occasionally, they pose as “upholders of the Government.”  “Even so they do not conceal their fangs.  When small measures of conciliation have in recent times been proposed, the ‘Peers’ in India have not been slow to proclaim through their organs that the Government were rousing their suspicion.”

Turning, however, to the relations between Europe and Asia, Mr. Mallik says that it is often asserted that the two continents “cannot understand each other—­that Asia is a mystery to Europe, and must always remain so.”  Most people who have considered this subject have so far thought that the main reason why Europeans find it difficult to understand Asia is because, in some matters, Asia is difficult to understand.  They have, therefore, been deeply grateful to men like the late Sir Alfred