New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-09-20
NEW PUBLICATIONS..
AN ECCENTRIC BOOK

AN ECCENTRIC BOOK.
TIL, GuEBERs OF HEBRON. An Introtucvtio oIoi TO
W NE the Jews as Brahmans, the shepherds OF
Canaan the Amorites. kheti anu A+ a. e p,ramid
sun rc emgS of Khufu the Mtha Mysteries the
Mithra Baptism. and succesSNe ~ Tshionism Ry
samue; F1es Dunlap, -. Ar'hG soS o. the Mysteres
the Spirit History Of Nan Man Con of Man. Pr vi
zoos. Go place. 80,
Aside from what ii aims 10 prove this massive No'-
ume has a value in the discussion oil 'he qu ,.,
how free a writer should make with material drawn
e., other languages than his Own. II the matter
transferred TO this book from contemporary OF r.
cent German authors were cancelled the iei'N''.,-
would cover few pages. The author Is ''oious"'
candid In the matter. He acknowledge his huept
.dn4ss everywhere. Even II he had not done ul's
to-noaiv II wou.l still be shown by his dictioh' III
which foreign idioms nestle side by side win 'hoSe
proper 10 English To find such Gernar'~'" io
as Iukretius and MeTkury for famil2r La''" Aa''
IS hardly less an indication OF source thah 10 "s',
unon the German abbrevation d. l. where one "ou''
ox,ec, I . or something OF the same sort MT Dun
Ian goes even further He initiates the ihul''"u"i
vagaries of his authorities. WITHIN the H"i'' "a
,are are 10 found such variations IN 'he Io'i Va
single Semitic phrase as Abkath roche' HNn''i'
Rochel and Afkath r6che. These forms may e'C"
y. defenslbe from the point OF view or those WHO
used them. but they cannot be equally useiu' 10,
Mr. Dunlap's purpose. When kanan' hahdai a
Chananite are found the same page the resui. 10
confusing Sometimes the authors WhOn MI Du'aP
follows adopted particular orthography III the 'dS
., = given word in order TO open argument in
etymology Mr. Dunlap appropriates the argument
and then calmly demoishes IL by speiiins 'he worn
a different way the mex; time II occurs Meah"hie
he has changed from work to another, ana ne j.
apparenty unconscious OF the probability that the
writer OF the second book would have denounced the
argument OF his predecessor with veheHehce dS Ut
terly false and untrustworthy But there was par
tc,ar reason why Mr.. Dunlap should nave peeh
careful in the matter of uniform spelling HIS book
was intended prove that the Hebrew reieloh anu
&c later offsprng Christianity and Isiam were all
derived from ancient India. Under any circumstances
that is not an easy thesis to prove but II becomes an
the more difficult when burdened Win minute III
constituencies
The first duty OF writer VINO porro"S i'o'''
works in languages other than his own Is 10 ms
readers He must recast his material again ana
again until 1t takes form which VIII be pam 10
them Only those who have tried 1t Know what
heartbreaking labor 1t is to convert mixed mass
of learning TO a consistent unity But the result
often justifes the effort. When the work Is done
as II should be- IL is seen that an Infinite NUMBER
of details have been handled with such skill that
each In its place proves just what 1t was in'ehueu
10 prove and at the same time contributes 10 the
main purpose. The man who has accomphshed
his task in this way. and at the same time mas ac-
knovledged his indebtedness. has divine rish' 10
borrow, the right OF a creator But MI Duniap
stopped short Just at the point where MS WORK was
only fairly begun He collected MS materla' "''n
Industry and rearranged it by scattering the quo
tatlons from each foreign author as widely as pos
sib,e. Then. If weary, he turned his miscellany
over 10 the printer. The fragments which ne mas
translated longer serve the purpose INTENDED .!
the original author for the chain that hnKed theih
together has been severed and thrown away; nor
are they OF value in Mr.. Dunaps scheme since
no has not taken the trouble to make clear at every
step why each fragment has been used. Now no
two men. even when they wrote on the same
theme ever had exactly Identical aims Each OF
tn. authors whom Mr.. Dunlap used had his own
particular object In view. and by Jumohns 'hel'
works together. he argued not his own case put
a whole group OF propositions most of which have
little TO do with his professed purpose.
Learning is indeed free. No man can hope 10
prevent his Investigations reflections from oelhg
used by others for new purpose. But ne may
Justly complain when systematic literary crea-
ton of his has been disjonted and pun 10
gether in a new form that rivals by the confusion
and dsproportion of its members the inquire OF
Sin in Paradise Lost" or the nameless picture
in Horaces Art of Poetry" Moreover. by MS
method Mr. Dunlap has reproduced all those Teu-
tonic pecuarties which most offensive 10
readers Of English. In addition TO the footnotes
at the bottom of the page. the text Itself Is loaded
with references the approved German iashloh'
The work OF reading the book is hardly Less than
that Of compiling ii. 1t should not be called a
book but the material for book. Mr.. Dunlap
should have patiently rewritten it from END 10
end II would not then have overrun thousand
pages and the reader would have had the pleas
ure of finding out just what Mr.. Dunlap was driV-
ing at Nevertheless. as II stands, the volume mas
its uses 1t is a copious commonplace book OF ex-
tracts and citations bearing on innumerabe ques-
lions In religion Orient alism, Semitic history ana
myth. Pains taken TO verify number OF ref
erences show that these rule trustworthy.
They Will guide patient reader TO many sources
which he might otherwise overlook. The only de-
feet about them is that they are superhuous Where
Mr. Dunlap has placed them. pamphlet would
have sufficed prove that the mythology, gnosis,
Cabala and supernal mysteries of the East were
not divine truths, but human erroneous concep-
tions For the argument must look simply 10 some
primary error which vitiates the whole scheme OF
thought in each of these mystical systems surely
a. thousand pages were not needed 10 prove that
the East left THE infinite minute sources and re-
sources in Natures vitality and Natures growth
TO the scientist, the chemist, the naturalist and
the biologist in later ages 10 estimate and dis-
cover" AS contribution TO the religious dls-
putes of the present day, the book reads almost
like a practical joke. huge modification AS
,vclopedia Of out-of-theway learning 1t Will ofter
be found useful for purposes which its compiler
never had in mind.