LITERARY NOTICES by Editor

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Apr 26, 1905

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 31, No. 17.

LITERARY NOTICES.

By Editor

“The Story of the Congo Free State.” By Henry Wellington Wack, F.R.G.S. 634 pages, 125 half-tone illustrations and one large map of Central Africa. Cloth, price, $3.75, post-paid. Published by G. P. Putnam’s Sons, New York and London.

This work purports to give the social, political, and economic aspects of the present system of government in Central Africa, particularly in the Congo Free State. The real purpose of the book, however, is to defend the Belgian administration of the Congo against the attacks of its accusers. For some time, accusations of most flagrant mismanagement and terrible cruelty have been made against Congo officials; and the king of Belgium, who is the sovereign also of the Congo State, has been accused of exploiting that territory for his own private benefit, and holding the natives in a sort of slavery to enhance his profits. His officials are accused of mutilating the natives when they have not brought in the amount of raw rubber designated by the state. Mr. Wack takes issue in the strongest manner with all these accusations; he makes the king of Belgium appear as a much maligned and disinterested philanthropist, pouring out his private fortune solely in the interests of the people of the Congo Free State; he declares the mutilation stories pure fabrications, so far as Belgian officials are concerned; and the exacting of a certain amount of labor each month is represented as simply a matter of light taxation, one of whose purposes is to inculcate habits of industry on the part of the native. Mr. Wack lays upon certain Protestant missionaries and envious British merchants the chief blame for the stories of Congo atrocities; and declares that, as the guardian of the welfare of its people, the Congo Free State has nothing to learn, either in theory or practise, from the most enlightened governments of the world. He has certainly presented a strong brief in the case. How strong the case that has been or can be presented by the other side, we do not know. It is plainly apparent that the Congo Free State is partial to the Roman Catholic religion and its exponents; and, altho Protestant missionaries are admitted by this author to have been in the Congo country earlier than the Catholics, no illustration of Protestant missionaries, or Protestant enterprises, or Protestant missions or schools are to be found in this work, while such illustrations in connection with Catholic propaganda are numerous. Catholic missions and missionaries are specially favored by that government; the criticisms of that administration do not come from Catholic missionaries. There is much interesting history given in this work regarding the establishment of the Congo Free State, and the suppression of the slave trade by Belgian officials. But before accepting as truth all of Mr. Wack’s statements concerning King Leopold’s disinterested benevolence, we advise our readers to obtain and read the publications of the Congo Reform Association, 721 Tremont Temple, Boston, Mass.

“Forgery; Its Detection and Illustration.” 300 pages, copiously illustrated. By Daniel T. Ames. Ames-Rollinson Co., New York City.

The above is the title of an interesting and instructive book which has been laid upon our table. The author is one well qualified to speak. For more than twoscore of years Mr. Ames has been a student of handwriting, as teacher, author, publisher, and expert. He was the founder, and for twenty years the editor, of the Penman’s Art Journal, of New York, which has stood the recognized authority in all phases of the art of writing.

Furthermore, the author has for years made handwriting a special study for the one object of distinguishing between genuine and forged or simulated writing. He has given expert testimony in more than 1,200 cases in all parts of this country, and in England and France. Over fifty of the most noted cases appear in this book, amply illustrated, showing the methods by which forgery is detected. Among these are the Fair case, the Morey-Garfield letter, the Molineaux case, the Dreyfus case, and others of world note. There is also a chapter on the celebrated Junius letters.

But the book is of interest as indicating how character can be judged by handwriting, as perhaps by no other one thing. There are also two chapters on inks and papers.

We confess after reading this book that our respect for true handwriting experts is greatly augmented.

“What a Young Man Ought to Know.” By Sylvanus Stall, D.D. Revised Edition. Price $1.00. Vir Publishing Company, Philadelphia, Pa.

This is one of the “Self and Sex Series,” which we have before noticed and commended. Certainly Dr. Stall has treated these avoided subjects with exceptional skill, delicacy, and strength. Some of these books have been translated into European and Asiatic languages; and large editions have been sold. It is a good book to place in the hands of young men over eighteen years of age. It is a good book for fathers to read with their sons.

“Tor, a Street Boy of Jerusalem.” By Florence Morse Kingsley, with illustrations by F. A. Eckman, Price 50 cents. Henry Altemus Company, Philadelphia.

It is an interesting story of just what might have been in the days when our Lord was upon the earth. Tor is healed by Jesus, and there is born into his heart a desire to bring others to the Saviour.