New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-09-16
MAX MULLER.
HIS REcoLLEcrIoNs OF HIS lNolAN
FRIENDS


Professor Muller diseeursed OF afus's' hiis .,
bssxars he was sure Of being ahuefs'oou
,ns nr.s,n, volume he putr the reader at as
s, "wha, seems Ia me to prevent
mil appreciation Of the intellectual sohle'e"'en''
~ .r,IA,t and medimvai india" he says -
,h., thew sra mostly looked upon as we io"h
- ,na nrodixie. I'm our exhibitions, as sirhpi'
,,r,o,s" He adds a surrniee that the eio""
,st,s Of the SONS OF India have perhaps ho'
something to do with this mistaken s''''"oo'
Well mistaken not, the stttuoe
tremely difricut to change. Thinss Hluiah nv
ytiu simply curious to a vast NUMBER OF pe'
Die neither uninteilisent nor uneoucateu anu
we fear that Professor Miller Will nave 10 pay
the penalty In this instance. His Indian reoo'ie'-
t,ops will be read with friendly attention. ou'
hardly with complete sympathy, and we SuSpe0'
that among the many pages OF sohoia.i9 on
thusiasm on matters Of Eastern philosophy '"e
little fragments OF purely personal gossip WIN
be welcomed with something like relief Ihus
Mr. Dvarkanath Tagore is never so inter-
esting In Professor M0ller's "reminiscences
Of him as when he his portrayed IN
some of his merely human aspects Th's
gentleman while at Paris lived in Oriental
magniicence When Louis Philippe ana MS
Court attended one Of his grand evening parties
they found the room hung with Indian shawls'
q. that time much desired by French ladies'
The Indian Prince placed a shawl on the
shoulders Of each lady she left the room
DR.. Tagore was fond OF the English, but ne
took mischievous delight in noting the foibles
of their clergy He kept a kind Of black book,
ssvs Professor Muller in which he entered
"uhstever did not rebound much to the honor
Of any bishops priests or deacons." II was from
Mr. Tagore that our author derived some inter
esting impressions Of Indian music. The Orlen-
tai played and sang some OF this for him. out'
saws Professor Miller, II confess l was some
what taken aback. I could discern neither
melody nor rhythm nor harmony In what ne
sang" Mr.. Tagore protested that Just as ne
had at first found It impossible to like French
and italian music but had come to enjoy both,
so his listener would in time, If he applied him
self discover the charm of Indian music. But
we are told that Professor H II. Wilson once
went to a native teacher OF music In india ana
was informed that it would take him half a
year to learn enough to be even candidate TOT
further instruction, and only at the end OF nVe
years could he hope to master the theory ana
practice Of the art. OF another Indian gentle
man the Maharajah of Vizianagfram. Professor
Miller tells a story testifying to truly oriental
generosity. This Prince wrote to England for a
veda" This was obtained at premium on
the original price, but when second copy was
desired it could not be obtained for love or
money. as the work was out Of print and second
hand copies were in the last degree scarce. The
editor explained to the Maharajah. on being
asked why a new edition not printed, that
no publisher would bear the expense. Promptly
the Maharajah offered to pay whatever was
necessary for the printing, If Professor Miller
would undertake the labor Of revising the text
This plan was adopted, the new edition was
brought out in four volumes and the MaharaJah
footed the bill OF 1000 The interesting point
moreover is that the Maharajah was neither
student nor an antiquarian nor theologian,
but, on the contrary, a man Of the world, very
fond OF racing and hunting, He distinguished
himself on one occasion as was told, by riding
up the staircase TO the very roof Of his palace
When in one Of my last letters I asked him
what had induced him TO spend so large a sum
on the Rig-Veda,' he replied that India wanted
its Bible. and ne added, 1T may benefit me
hereafter" Apropos Of the desire Of India for
It's Bible, II is mentioned that the arrival Of the
edition printed in England created tremen-
dous commotion In the East The ancient litera-
ture of India having been entirely muemonio,
there persisted through centuries deep preju
dice against the circulation Of manuscripts.
Formerly as in the time Of the Laws Of Manu-"
SAWS Professor Miller 1T was even forbidden
20 write the Veda or TO sell copies of II. That
70 sacred and a more than sacred work should
have been published for the first time by bar
harlan, and that hundreds Of copies Of II should
suddenly be for sale in the streets OF Benares,
Bombay and Poonah, was at first very great
shock to the orthodox" 1t is said that the OPP
position was so great that the Brahmins at
Poonah would not even touch Professor Mdllers
book. They called assembly and a man who
was not q Brahman read out the edition The
Brahmans may have been suspicious. but that
their respect was compelled il shown by The
fact that from this reading they corrected the
manuscripts in their possession. We may note
IN passing that. according 10 Professor Muller,
the "Rig-Veda" in its purest form does not
countenance the burning Of widows. The verse
cited by the Brahmans in justification Of that
cruel practice had been tempered with at
some time In order 10 bring IT into harmony
with the barbarOus custom.
Professor Miller observes In his fourth chap
ter that he WOULD not be surprised II some Of
his readers often said In their secret heart,
what In all the world can that 'Veda' be to
which this misguided man has devoted the
whole Of his Nfe?' He essays 10 answer this
question. and gives us, in the attempt some of
his most interesting pages We cannot repro
duce all his learned and lucid remarks. but the
following may be quoted
The vedas, as we possess them, are four sys-
Dramatically arranged collections Of hymns ana
verses, and the Veda is often used In the sense
of these four Vedas taken together The first
and most important Veda is the Rg-Veda.
which has often and not without some truth,
been called the only true Veda 1t contains
1O71, or with some additions the Valakhilya
hymns, 102S hymns each on an average con-
tanning about ten voices. They are all addressed
20 Devatas or deities, and whatever subject is
addressed in these hymns, down TO bows arrows.
and stones, is supposed to become, ipso facto,
a Devata while the poet is called the seer or
Rishi The metres numerous and strictly
regulated, though there Is more freedom in them
than In the later artificial poetry OF India The
IL h.. Neda wei INT 10 he re-