Page:American Historical Review, Volume 12.djvu/890

 88o Reviews of Books hy the East India Company from its Servants in the East (vol. I. being edited by Mr. Danvers, the others by Mr. Foster), and chiefly for a somewhat later period Mr. Forrest's Bombay Government Papers, " Home Series ", and " Mahratta Series ". Other publications by Gov- ernment in India and various volumes of the Hakluyt Society such as Mr. Thompson's Diary of Richard Cocks, and Mr. Foster's Sir Thomas Roe and Journal of John Jourdain have all been printed since Sir George Birdwood first in 1878 gave the student that invaluable Report on the Old Records of the India Office. These are rich additions to the earlier Calendar of State Papers, East Indies, for which the student has long been indebted to Mr. Sainsbury. This last volume, edited by Mr. Foster, is a sequel to the Letters Re- ceived, which included the year 1617. The method followed is, how- ever, somewhat different. Here, though some documents are given practically in extenso, a considerable abridgment in accordance with the fashion of the Historical Manuscripts Commission has been the rule. This has involved in part a certain repetition in less condensed form of some of the work already done by Mr. Sainsbury. But in many in- stances valuable notes have been added and the introduction is excellent. The documents themselves, whose particular location is indicated in each instance, are chiefly from the Original Correspondence Series, the Marine Records and the Factory Records of the Company, the East Indies series of the Record office and the Egerton MSS. 2122 and 2123 (British Museum). A few are reprinted from Purchas and a few others have already appeared in the Hakluyt Society's Sir Thomas Roe. With these exceptions the documents have not hitherto been published. In 1618 the English had infrequent factories and ports of trade from Arabia to Japan. On the west coast of India Surat was not to be sur- passed by Bombay for another half-century, while on the east coast Masulipatam had not as yet been deserted for either Madras or Calcutta. Among the islands further east the Company still believed its greater profits were to be found; but in 1622 the settlement in Japan was abandoned and in 1623 the bloody results at Amboyna emphasized the strength of the Dutch in the Malay Archipelago. Even on the main- land furious rivalry with the Portuguese had barely made clear the hope of future success for the English. The French and Danes had made their first appearance ; and on all hands, whether from the uncertainties of native princes or the jealousies of European competitors, there was great peril. The profits of Eastern trade had, however, been made evident and the English bent to their task. International rivalry, oriental polities, the economics of Asia, and the conduct of Europeans under alien conditions can all be studied to advantage in Mr. Foster's book. The student of American exploration and history will find much to interest him where perhaps he may scarce expect it. Here he can find further light on tlie character of Sir Thomas Dale, trace the later vov-