Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 7, 1896.djvu/318

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
292
Reviews.

whose contributions to anthropological science, incomplete as they are through circumstances for which he was in no way responsible, are still of extreme value, he richly deserves to be remembered, not merely by his own religious circle, but by the ever-widening circle of scientific students; and his gifts to the Folk-lore Society constitute a special claim on our gratitude. It is impossible to read the record of his struggles and his work, put together by Miss Benham with judgment and skill, without feeling something of the reverence and love which he inspired in all with whom he came into contact. If we recognise his limitations and his weakness, they are but the common weaknesses and limitations of humanity; and we do not on their account feel less warmly towards him.

Not the least valuable part of the record is the account, contributed by Miss Godden, of the bishop's scientific work. Miss Godden has undeniable qualifications for this task. Although her contribution is not a long one (the scale on which the biography was planned precluded that) she manages to convey to the reader a clear view of Dr. Callaway's aims and difficulties, and summarises with great ability the results of his philological and ethnological inquiries. Nor has she failed to point out his anticipations of scientific theories which have since been formally propounded and elaborated by writers at home, and most of which are now accepted by students. It must be a subject of bitter regret that the Government grant was withdrawn before the work of collection and publication was finished. The loss is one alike to missions, to government, and to science; and we are forced to ask whether the remaining manuscripts are still in existence, and whether someone cannot be found competent to edit them, and, what is equally important—whether there be not some fund out of which the expense can be met. The indifference of the British Government to scientific inquiries of the kind pursued by Dr. Callaway, in the face of its responsibilities to a multitude of subject-races, is a scandal to the world.