The Philippine Islands. By John Forman, F.R.G.S. (Sampson Low, Marston,
and Co.)—Mr. Forman's long professional resi- dence in the Philippines has fully qualified him to write on the geo- graphical, social, and commercial, as well as on the historical and ethnographical features of these Spanish dependencies. And though the author is a Roman Catholic, he is frank enough to say :—" The blind obedience to one system of Christianity, even in its grossly exaggerated form, has had the effect desired by the State, of bringing about social unity to an advanced degree. Yet, so far as I have observed, it appears evident that the native understands extremely little of the 'inward and spiritual grace 'of religion. He is so material and realistic, so devoid of all concep- tion of things abstract, that his ideas rarely, if ever, soar beyond the contemplation of the 'outward and visible signs of Christian belief.' The symbols of faith and the observance of religious rites are to him religion itself. He confounds morality with re- ligion. Natives go to church because it is the custom." (p. 150.) It is a pity the author has allowed himself to write, in his "Pro- logue, such statements as these :—" The hope of ever extinguishing warfare is as meagre as the advantage of such a state of things would be" (p. 2) ; "The right of conquest is undeniable. Our estimate of what is right and wrong is derived from Nature,— where else should we seek the standard of right ? " (p. 2.) Mr. Forman is not at his best in his "Prologue."
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