The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1898-03-13
Wer den Dichter will vcrstchen
MusS in Dichtcrs Landc gehen,

Wer den Dichter will vcrstehen
Muss in Dichtcrs Landc gehen,
or, roughly translated. ne who would I'M
derstand the poet must know the poets
country.
The history OF India is a labyrinth re-
quiring much time, thought and patience
to penetrate. It's literary history
the Oriental and intricate quality
of thought which makes the mind
of the Hindu almost Incompetence
sible to the Westerner. Mr.. Frazers
work is q synopsis rather than anything
else. He gathers together the salient
points of Indian literature, and without
trying to go into too many details, gives
one d reasonably clear idea of the life
and thought of the Hindu. In the be
ginning, it appears. the fair-skinned
Aryan race came into India through the
Khyber Pass, displacing the darker
skinned aborigines; and the author
brings out an idea which will DE unIa
miliar to most people. that the comoli-
Gated caste system of that country had
its origin in race prejudice. 1t was a des-
perate attempt to keep the race of the
conquerors distinct from that of the con-
quered. Every known penalty seems to
have been used to prevent this result,
and the mixed races, in all their shades,
condemned as far as possible to be SER
wants of the pure Aryan. Some of the
tribuIations of the English in India may
be accounted for by the knowledge Of
this fact. The Vedic Hymns seem to
have been the only thing preserved Of
the original traditions of the invading
! Aryans. These tribes seem never to have
/ been very numerous, and the way in
! which they spread themselves over the
/ vast territory of India made it Impossible
/ for them to have a really united ma
3 rhrT-
/ up and was interfused with traditional
! religion. the religion. again, partaking Of
/ the trivial characteristics of the people
/ in various parts of India. The religious,
social and literary thought of the people
thus became thoroughly combined In
their literature.
Much of the ground covered in this
/ book has already been traversed by
/ Max Muller in his various works on the
! origin and growth of the worlds relig-
ions and the worlds literature. The be-
/ ginning of literature in India, as in other
| nations, seems to have been the hymn,
Thence in the effort to think back to the
foundation of things and the origin and
destiny of the soul. came metaphysical
and philosophical speculation, in which
India has gone deeper. probably, than
any Western nation is now aware. The
research of English savants into the oc-
cultism Of India dates back a compare.
lively short time, and it is quite posi-
BILE that mysteries still exist in the Hindu
priesthood which have not been exploited
| before European eyes Whether this be
so or not unquestionably the most valu
able contribution which India has made
to the worlds literature has been in the
realm Of metaphysics After considering
this phase Of national development tn,
author goes on to treat Of Buddhism, anC
of the epic and the drama. The drama
Of Indian literature is thing which car
| hardly be translated. Much of ii ha:
root in the beginnings Of tribal exist
ence. and is comprehensive only by al
| Indian.
The last chapter or two is from on
point of view. the most interesting OF all
Here the author treats Of the foreigne
in the land. and the fusinR Of old ant
new in such movements as the highe
education in colleges and universities
and the Brahmo-Somai in religion. Tn
marvellous quickness of adaptation show
by the Hindu is eXemplified in the de
scription of the work Of English-educate
Hindus in the novel, the poem and tn
drama. There are poems, written in tn
comparatively unmanageable language o
the English. with the tropic fervor ant
! intensity Of spirit burning through tn
lines. There is an account of a play, bit
! terly satirical in tone, describing the ad
vent of an English cultiVator of indig
among peaceful villagers. The Englis
= planter is described as upbrading his ma
tive manager for want of zeal. and i
f answered thus: 'Sahib, what signs 0
! | fear hast thou seen in me? When l hav
= entered upon this indigo profession I hav
thrown off all fear, shame and honour
2 and the destroying Of COWS. Brahmans, 0
4 women. and the burning down of house
j. are become my ornaments" The play
q a curious and rather grotesque miXtur
of national feeling, resentment, nativ
= thought and burlesque of the EnglishmaT
= What the end of this unique fusion o
i conflict or both, between an old and CON
. plicated civilization and a raw and ae
a gressive comparatively young civiiza
0 ton will be, can hardly be conjectureC
e The question IS one which Mr.. FraZe
= does not attempt to answer.
e CNew York: Charles Scribner's Son:
= Washington: All booksellers)